The manager walked into the press conference dressed in the most outlandish looking shiny nylon red jacket. Carrying of all things a squash racket. "He seemed more anxious to talk about squash than his record deal," was how the BBC described the moment. Not bothering to sit down, perhaps he was already late for the squash court, the man dubbed as the greatest manager England never had addressed his audience. An immediate hush descended over the room. "He has all the equipment needed to be a highly successful player thats why we have invested £1,000,000 of Nottingham Forests money." The historic seven-figure transfer fee had been breached. February 9th, 1979 was the day English football welcomed its very first £1 million player, when Trevor Francis moved the short distance from Birmingham City to Nottingham Forest. Deal brokered by Brian Clough esquire. No hair dryer required. The mavericks maverick. "Is there any formula you want him to fit into?" a member of the media brassily inquired. "No, no, no. We have no formula here apart from success." Clough immediately retorted. He wasnt kidding. Id like to see José Mourinho take over a team languishing in mid-table mediocrity in the Championship, guide them to the pinnacle of English football and win the BPL at the very first time of asking. As an encore? Win the European Cup the following season, knocking the holders out in the first round. The first question asked of Trevor Francis at his unveiling was if he felt any burden by becoming that million pound man. Clough had taken care of that by always claiming the fee was only £999,999. The actual total figure with taxes and fees worked out at £1,180,000. This though was no shirt wearing, badge kissing moment. Photo ops didnt fit with the times. In any case Nottingham Forest didnt sign a shirt sponsor until 2 years later. Francis though did arrive to the lunch time announcement with his fur coat wearing WAG. That was about as Hollywood as the occasion got. Contrast this to where we are today as the €100m Gareth Bale to Real Madrid cliff hanger looks set to go down to the deadline day wire. Fully aware in this social media driven era football now resides in which confidentiality is the opportunity cost - Madrid brazenly erected a stage inside their stadium in which it is expected Bale will be unveiled from. Jutting out from the sacred directors box of Estadio Bernabeu where the original Los Blancos legend Alfredo Di Stéfano anoints each new arrival, the stage that was put up shortly after Madrid opened up their campaign with the 2-1 victory August 18th against Betis, looks like it will have to be ripped down. No not because Bale isnt eventually going to get his shirt wearing, badge kissing moment. The little matter of a home La Liga date on Sunday is appearing rather ominously on Madrids immediate horizon. A mighty embarrassing moment for President Perez and all concerned at the home of world footballs biggest revenue generators. Perhaps Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy will oblige and pick up the demolition and reconstruction costs. Bale, who by all accounts yesterday afternoon was out shopping in one of Londons smarter looking shopping districts. Cristiano will be so proud of you Gareth, especially for that pink t-shirt and matching baseball cap get up that was flashed around Twitter. Now if you think Madrids courtship of Bale, the soon to be anointed GB11, seems to have gone on far longer than Tolstoys War and Peace then you better think again. Brian Cloughs assistant Peter Taylor revealed at Francis unveiling - which occurred around what could be best described as a mid-priced ranged coffee table - Nottingham Forest had initially reached out to Birmingham City a full eight years before finally landing their million pound man. Remind me again, how long before the transfer window closes. Please no extensions Mr. Platini, especially so for your old mate Arsene. The UEFA President himself was drawn into the sorry mess at yesterdays Champions League group stage draw. Where he rather prophetically stated, "Today a player is more a product than a footballer with a whole pile of people trying to get commissions. I think we and FIFA should think about that and find something more healthy." Whenever we finally get to eclipse that €100m moment the soft spoken Bale is sure to be asked if his slender frame feels the weight of such an obnoxious sum. Dont answer. What matters is what Bale does on the pitch and not necessarily on that world famous manicured one that adorns the Spanish capital. If Bale can achieve what Trevor Francis did within months of signing for Forest then all will be forgotten. Even Cristiano will forgive you for eclipsing his £80m word record sum. Thats presuming hes not back home to Old Trafford Tuesday morning for €100m and €1. It was May 30th, 1979 the occasion the European Cup Final. Not even four months after signing for Forest who should pop up at the far post in first half added time with the diving header? You guessed it, Trevor Francis. The lone goal of the game, and with it Forest crowned European Champions. No badge kissing. Just a 25-year old footballer doing what he loved doing best - scoring goals, not gals. Over to you Gareth, No pressure then mate. You can reach and follow Noel Butler at: Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca @TheSoccerNoel Air Max 270 Homme Moins Cher . -- Atlanta Braves pitcher Tommy Hanson is being checked for a possible concussion after blowing a tire on his way to the first workout of spring training. Air Max Plus Pas Cher Destockage .A. Happs hold on a spot in the Blue Jays starting rotation is in question. http://www.outletairmaxpascher.fr/fausse-vapormax-noir.html. The roster changes have been constant and continuous since late last year, but even with their 46-man roster set for the start of the season, the banged-up Bombers will be kicking off Week 1 with a handful of fresh faces and back-ups in the starting lineup. Air Max 97 Off White Outlet . Indeed, must be among the greatest challenges in all of sports. The pressure he applies, from set to set, game to game, point to point, shot to shot. Air Max 90 Homme Promo . Or maybe he already did. Clark hit his first homer, Wily Peralta pitched into the seventh inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Miami Marlins 4-1 Wednesday night. MALMO, Sweden -- As the minutes ticked down on Canadas victory over the United States, the overwhelmingly Canadian crowd of 3,882 at the Isstadion chanted "Foo-KAL-eh!" That was for goaltender Zach Fucale, the key man in Tuesdays 3-2 win that gave Canada first place in its preliminary round group and a date with Switzerland in the quarter-finals of the world junior hockey championship. "It gave me a lot of energy," the 18-year-old said. "It was very special. "It just lifts you and you sort of play in the moment. It was good for me and the team." Fucale, given a second straight start after helping Canada to a 5-3 win over Slovakia on Saturday, couldnt recall ever having his name chanted quite that way. "Maybe a couple of thousand chanting against me," he offered with a laugh. "In Quebec City it happened. Maybe tonight a little louder." Connor McDavid and Curtis Lazar scored in the third period and Fucale stoned Connor Carrick on a breakaway. Stefan Matteau scored for the Americans with 2:15 left to play on a shot that eluded Fucales glove, but Canada shut the door the rest of the way to pull off a win in their toughest, most emotionally charged game of the tournament. American captain Riley Barber and Canadas Nic Petan traded goals in the second frame, after Fucale shone in a scoreless first period in which the Americans controlled the play and had a 13-6 shot advantage. Only a regulation time win would give Canada (3-0-1) first place over the U.S. (3-1-0). The Canadians will face Switzerland in the quarter-finals on Thursday at the Isstadion. As usual, coach Brent Sutter wasnt offering much insight about his teams upcoming opponent. "We now have 48 hours to prepare for our next opponent. Our focus over the next two days needs to be on this game and only on this game," was all he would say. The Swiss pulled off a 4-3 shootout win over Finland, but it didnt lift them out of fourth place in their group. What the win did, however, was give the Americans a very tough quarter-final opponent in Russia. The Canadian squad got all it needed to win -- solid goaltending, timely scoring and strong special teams play. The Americans went into the game with a whopping 58 per cent power play success rate (11-for-19), but were held scoreless during all three man advantages. Canada answered with Lazars power-play marker in five opportunities. "It was the first time weve been minus on special teams in four games and that was the difference," said American coach Don Lucia. Technically, Barbers goal at 3:29 of the second was short-handed. The teams were each down a man and Barber came around the net and caught Fucale moving the wrong way one second after Canadas Taylor Leiers slashing call expired. Some hard work by Anthony Mantha produced the tying goal at 12:49, as he used his long reach to push the puck to the left side where Petan trailed in late to beat Jon Gilles to an open side. Petan had scored the game-winner and an empty-neet goal in Canadas 5-3 win over Slovakia on Monday.dddddddddddd Mantha picked up his team-leading 10th point in four games. Canada killed a penalty to start the third and then got one just as their own power play ended 3:54 into the third when Josh Morrissey got the puck to the net and McDavid had two chances to slide it past Gilles. The 16-year-old McDavid was under pressure since his benching in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Czech Republic, and scoring a goal could go a long way to restoring confidence in the highly skilled Erie Otters forward. "Maybe a little bit," said McDavid. "As a hockey player you have to stay even keeled. Things happen in the game. The highs, the lows. You have to remain pretty confident. I think Ive done a pretty good job of that." Lazar was camped in front for the re-direct on a power play at 6:13 as the puck went from Derrick Pouliot to Jonathan Drouin to the Edmonton forward for his second goal in as many games. "Im really getting into my element," the Ottawa Senators prospect said. "Coach Sutters been moving me around. Ive played centre, right and left wing. Im still getting used to things, but it feels good to contribute." The game also saw big forward Frederik Gauthier moved from left wing to centre, where he drew praise from Sutter for winning several defensive zone faceoffs. But most of the post-game attention was on Fucale, the chatty goaltender who backstopped the Halifax Mooseheads to a Memorial Cup last spring. Fucale was dropped to backing up Jake Paterson after the first of three pre-tournament exhibition games, but it looks like hes Sutters man now. "Hes a confident young man and he stood tall," said Sutter. "We need that." Fucales teammates laugh about Fucales non-stop talking, even when hes by himself in the net during games. "I try to stay low key, but maybe I talk a lot," Fucale said. "I love Zach," said forward and fellow Montreal Canadiens prospect Charles Hudon. "I played with him peewee and bantam (in Boisbriand, Que.) and he had the same swagger. "He was always cocky. It was a good for him and I think the crowd loved it too." "It was unbelievable standing on the blue-line at the end of the game with the fans chanting Fucale," said McDavid. "I had chills and it wasnt for me, so I cant imagine how he felt. "You see a lot of goalies and theyre pretty weird. They have their routines and you cant talk to them, but hes really relaxed and honestly, he does have that swagger." Canada also got a boost with the return of big defenceman Griffin Reinhart after serving a four-game suspension for a slash at last years world juniors. Reinhart was counted on to be the leader on defence and he showed it with 20 minutes of ice time, mostly paired with Matt Dumba. He finally got to play at a world juniors with his younger brother, forward Sam Reinhart. The two were on the ice together a lot, especially while penalty killing. ' ' '