Succession: Colin Harvey and His Time as Everton Manager by Nathan O’Hagan – Review
By Karl Hornsey
Following in the footsteps of any iconic football manager is always regarded as a poisoned chalice and only the very best, or luckiest, can make it work. This new offering from Nathan O’Hagan focuses on the tenure of Colin Harvey as Everton manager in the late 1980s and very early 1990s, when he stepped up to replace the man with whom he will always be inextricably linked, Howard Kendall.
The fact that Harvey went back to being assistant to Kendall at Everton upon the latter’s return, and then youth team coach in Kendall’s third stint as manager perhaps says everything about the man – completely devoted to the club, but someone who never found being in charge completely comfortable.
As a young fan at the time, O’Hagan’s take on that period is a fascinating one, and his interviews with local journalists give an insight into what was a very curious time in English football. Harvey’s tenure can only be regarded as a failure, though it’s arguable whether anyone else could reasonably have done any better in the circumstances, as Everton struggled to maintain the success that had seen them become one of the best teams in Europe.
“Personal tale”
O’Hagan dissects Harvey’s reign in a linear chronological manner, starting each season with a look at those joining and leaving the club, on how matters behind the scenes were gradually seeing Everton left behind the likes of local rivals Liverpool and the rapidly improving Arsenal and Manchester United, and how the new players fared in replacing some of the club’s most revered legends. Harvey doesn’t come across as a man who enjoyed his time at the helm, and his signings were more miss than hit, and there are painful moments that make you wonder why anyone would want to take on such a position.
The context of Harvey’s time in charge is also hugely important, as this was the period when English clubs were banned from European competition and one before the riches of TV money began to flood into the game, with foreign players also a rare exception compared to just a few years later.
Everton as a club never quite got to grips with any of this, and their previous position as one of the ‘Big Five’ soon evaporated. O’Hagan’s passion for the club shines through, making this a very personal tale as well, and he wears the weary crown of a supporter now ground down by decades of underachievement. Taking this game by game and season by season makes for a simple recollection of life at the club, with short chapters also making it a very easy read, and one that tells a salutary tale to any supporter, that success should never be taken for granted.
If the author meant to portray Harvey as a thoroughly decent man in the wrong role at the wrong time, then he himself has done a thoroughly decent job.
Succession: Colin Harvey and His Time as Everton Manager by Nathan O’Hagan is published by Pitch Publishing
Karl’s love of writing was piqued at the age of eight, when he won a Blue Peter badge in an essay-writing competition. The location of said badge might be a mystery now, but the memory never fades. Hours spent writing about sport as a teenager, in pre-internet years when you had to make your entertainment, honed his skills, and Karl has worked in TV and radio listings at PA Media for 28 years, and the age of hybrid working means 50% of that can be at home listening to Classic FM and thinking about his next visit to his beloved Yorkshire Dales.
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