Former Manchester City manager John Bond brought flair to the pitch and flamboyance off it Having given notice of his abilities to galvanise a team at Bournemouth between 1970 and 1973, Bond progressed to Norwich City, whose fans still recall his seven years there warmly. He brought flair to the team on the field and flamboyance to the club off it. Norwich even reached the 1975 League Cup final with players such as Ted MacDougall and Phil Boyer. They lost to Aston Villa but that team is still revered in Norfolk. Bond's ethos was embodied in his reaction to a 5-4 loss to Coventry City on Dec 27 1977. Bond observed that he would rather lose a thriller like that than share the points in a 0-0 bore draw. He wanted to entertain. "During his tenure he brought players such as World Cup winner Martin Peters to Norwich City, which helped trigger an exciting brand of attacking football at Carrow Road," said Norwich in a statement. Manchester City came calling in 1980. Walking into the dressing room, Bond immediately sensed a lack of belief. He drafted in experienced pros such as Gerry Gow, Tommy Hutchison and Bobby McDonald, their nous helping the team reach the League Cup semi-final and an epic FA Cup final in 1981. That was a good City team, also containing such names as Joe Corrigan, Ray Ranson, Tommy Caton, Paul Power, Steve MacKenzie and Kevin Reeves, while Dennis Tueart came off the bench. It required one of the greatest FA Cup goals to defeat them in the final - Ricky Villa's famous dribble. "When he spoke, you listened," Power told BBC North West Tonight. He had a big personality. He wouldn't suffer fools but he wasn't a bully. If he felt he needed a firm word, he'd do it on a one-to-one basis and wouldn't belittle people in front of each other. Bond was a gift for television. Asked about possible transfer targets on Match of the Day, the then Manchester City manager replied: "I have one or two irons in the fire, but I am holding them close to my chest!" After City, Bond went to Burnley, Swansea, Birmingham, Shrewsbury and eventually Witton Albion in the Northern Premier League in 1998, but the managerial magic was largely gone, barring the odd famous result. He remained in demand by TV, being a lively pundit. "John was a great character," his old team-mate and assistant Ken Brown told whufc.com. He said what he thought and, at times, he riled people, but he was honest. As a player, he was strong and I loved playing alongside him - but my memories are not just of a great team-mate, but as a special friend.