I remember after beating Leeds,Venables said to Big Mal that he would like to play in the next round,that being the Chelsea match.
They aked Allison what he thought about Venables request and he said that he told him he had two weeks get fully match fit,so that soon put a stop to that idea.

........................Then along came Johnny Byrne! and the rest, as they say, is history.....................

Terry Venables owes a lot to Big Mal as he brought him to Palace from QPR when Don Rogers went the other way.
It wasn't to Venables liking at the time,apparently,but after he put him on a coaching course he soon became his number two.
That set him up well.

........................Then along came Johnny Byrne! and the rest, as they say, is history.....................

My Big Mal moment is from before he became Palace manager. Back then Palace let wheelchairs onto the pitch, so I sat next to the visitors dugout for many years before Palace got posh and put us in the stands.

He was manager of Plymouth Argyle, the weather was awful and the pitch a mud bath. Plymouth had loads of chances but kept falling over, and BM, just a couple of feet away, was getting more and more upset.

With almost the last kick of the game, Plymouth got the ball in the box, an unmarked Plymouth player took a mighty swing at the ball and missed, ending up on his back.

Big Mal shot out of the dugout, knelt on the touchline and pounded his fists into the puddles.

On 5 Live today Chris Coleman (i think Mark Bright backed this fact up too) said that Big Mal gave Palace the nickname 'the Eagles' as he thought 'the Glaziers' was too boring.

When i see him, it's gonna be painful. Skinny little cont.

I always thought that you guys were in danger sitting as close to the pitch as that.
One smack from the ball could cause serious harm to you and others,hope they all feel safer now.

........................Then along came Johnny Byrne! and the rest, as they say, is history.....................