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Critics roundly claimed that Bobby Robson picked some mediocre players during his first two years in the job as a sign of desperation to label his own spell as England coach straightaway and lay the Greenwood ghost to rest. In fairness, Robson had to experiment as the 1984 European Championships, should England get to them, needed a shiny new squad and the only way to find that squad was to pick any player showing a spot of form or potential for the friendlies. Robson took a touring party full of untried players to Australia in the summer of 1983 and among them was the QPR defensive midfielder John Gregory, a late debutant at 29, given his chance because Bryan Robson wasn't on the party.
Gregory started all three tour games against Australia, two of which were bore draws and the third a narrow win, but the coach felt he had benefitted from John's adaptation and, in the captain's continued absence for the serious stuff, kept faith with Gregory when Denmark came to Wembley for a crucial European Championship qualifier. The 1-0 defeat proved ultimately crucial to England's failure to qualify and sparked Press protest about Robson's tactics but Gregory kept his place for the following qualifier in Hungary (though he moved to right back as the skipper returned) as England stylishly beat their hosts 3-0.
Afterwards, with England's captain back in the groove and specialist right backs Viv Anderson and Mike Duxbury also returning to the fold, Gregory was cast aside, with a final swansong coming in an appalling 1-0 defeat in Wrexham against Wales during the 1984 Home Internationals. With England not going to that summer's European Championships, Robson could start thinking of a World Cup, and there was little chance that Gregory was going to be a consideration by the time Mexico came into view. (Matthew Rudd)
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