Brian Horton has never lost his West Midlands accent but every so often a very slight Mancunian twang squeezes through. Normally towards the end of the name Manchester City. A bit like the locals.
He had no affinity to the area before a shock appointment five games into a season almost two decades ago, one that saw the tabloids cry ‘Brian who?’ when he was plucked from Second Division Oxford United.
Horton replaced Peter Reid at Maine Road and unwittingly walked into a club entrenched in a nasty civil war, with mass demonstrations against owner Peter Swales the normality.