Relegation Thread 2023/24

[Deutsch Wolf]

It wasn't the defeat as such, they were the better team at Burnden, more the manner and the Bully on the pitch moment. Not an original thought but the away game should have been a dead rubber. I didn't like Shilton as an England keeper from the mid 80s onwards, him having a blinder 10 years after that was inexplicable and that's before we knew he was a cunt

I watched decent length highlights of the home game back during lockdown, he made a lot of saves but very few good ones. Our own crap finishing really. Although of course I've never been sure why they were even allowed to sign him.

01/02 hurt more for me and I didn't even live in England at the time. 96/97 too probably, because we totally threw that away before the playoffs, then you have the injury time nonsense at Selhurst Park.

 

[Langers]

I never know with the Sliding Doors 1995 moment (bear in mind we'd have had Reading in the final who finished above us and outplayed us twice). We weren't a very good team under Taylor, lots of fun moments but so horribly flawed. Nothing about his post-Wolves career says he would have been a good PL manager either.

Whilst I can't disagree with any of this, the gap between the top 2 divisions was nowhere near what it was now. If we'd have gone up then, we'd have been a pretty big lure for prospective players.

Of course, we'll never know what might have happened but for me, that's always been the biggest opportunity we had.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Whilst I can't disagree with any of this, the gap between the top 2 divisions was nowhere near what it was now. If we'd have gone up then, we'd have been a pretty big lure for prospective players.

Of course, we'll never know what might have happened but for me, that's always been the biggest opportunity we had.

Definitely in the sense that we *could* have done what Blackburn/Newcastle did.

But I don't think Graham Taylor - lovely, lovely man as he was and something I only properly appreciated long after he left Wolves - was getting us there, regardless of budget. His football was already outdated by then.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

It wasn't the defeat as such, they were the better team at Burnden, more the manner and the Bully on the pitch moment. Not an original thought but the away game should have been a dead rubber. I didn't like Shilton as an England keeper from the mid 80s onwards, him having a blinder 10 years after that was inexplicable and that's before we knew he was a cunt

Speaking of Shilton I saw John Barnes at an after dinner speaker thing at Aggborough last Friday. He confirmed that story about Shilton throwing his toys out about Robson wanting to give Woods and Beasant half a game each in the 3rd place playoff against Italy because he was a selfish cunt.

Surprised Bobby Robson wasn't a bit stronger about that really.

Neither Beasant or Woods ever played a World Cup minute as a result.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Whilst I can't disagree with any of this, the gap between the top 2 divisions was nowhere near what it was now. If we'd have gone up then, we'd have been a pretty big lure for prospective players.

Of course, we'll never know what might have happened but for me, that's always been the biggest opportunity we had.

Especially when you look at how well Blackburn and Leeds had done following their promotions in preceeding years.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Especially when you look at how well Blackburn and Leeds had done following their promotions in preceeding years.

Blackburn had Kenny Dalglish and then signed one of the best strikers in the world for a British record fee (they tried to sign Gary Lineker before they went up too). Leeds had a superb midfield (Speed-Batty-McAllister-Strachan) before they kicked a ball in the top flight.

We weren't that level on either count.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Blackburn had Kenny Dalglish and then signed one of the best strikers in the world for a British record fee (they tried to sign Gary Lineker before they went up too). Leeds had a superb midfield (Speed-Batty-McAllister-Strachan) before they kicked a ball in the Premier League.

We weren't that level on either count.

No, but we'd signed an England International in Thomas, a Championship winner in Atkins (!) and Daley and Froggatt, who were both significant scalps to drop down to the Championship. I think we'd have certainly been incredibly ambitious in that summer had we gone up, we were a bigger club, with a better ground than Blackburn, I'd imagine we'd have been fishing in the same pond.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Blackburn had already won the league by then.

I very much doubt we'd have been rivalling Newcastle for signing Les Ferdinand for £6m and that's the landscape in 1995.

 

[jd1981]

I think we’d have had period similar to what we’ve had in the last 6 years had 94/95 materialised in promotion.
We had a clutch of players who would have been decent at Pl level Froggatt, Goodman, Bull, Richards, Venus etc also remember 94/95 was the season the PL reverted to its 20 team league so only 2 went up so it was a bad season to challenge.
The biggest fuck up was not challenging the season after when Sunderland and Derby went up automatically, both were average and were beaten heavily at Molineux that season hey ho.
I’ve lived the pl dream and still am just feeling sorry for my teenage self.

 

[Tyrannosaurus Dan]

01/02 hurt more for me and I didn't even live in England at the time. 96/97 too probably, because we totally threw that away before the playoffs, then you have the injury time nonsense at Selhurst Park.

01/02 was properly sickening. I’m still haunted by that Igor Balis penalty.

 

[Tony Towner]

I've put this up before but the only teams not relegated since the last day Hunt goal are the Sky 6 and Everton. Even if we'd gone up the chances are would have come back down at some point. Which I appreciate is easy to say probably staring at our 7th season in a row in the PL.

 

[Tony Towner]

01/02 was properly sickening. I’m still haunted by that Igor Balis penalty.

After the City game on Good Friday I took the dogs out with an 8 pack of lager and didn't come back until they'd been drunk. The most alcy moment in my life as that was the day you knew it was gone. The play off defeat barely touched me, that was just an inevitability

 

[jd1981]

The current flux of football means you’re never established in the PL you’ve just been there a long time eventually a season comes a long with your name on it.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

Blackburn had already won the league by then.

I very much doubt we'd have been rivalling Newcastle for signing Les Ferdinand for £6m and that's the landscape in 1995.

It was only a year or two earlier that we were one of the biggest spenders in the country though wasn't it, why wouldn't that have been repeated and exceeded had we gone up that season?

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

01/02 was properly sickening. I’m still haunted by that Igor Balis penalty.

You can't control other games.

You can control being 2-0 up at Blues after half an hour then drawing, and leading twice at Forest and drawing (incorporating a ludicrous Nathan Blake miss). Or not beating Stockport at home, when they only got 26 points all season.

And Jones continually sending out patently knackered players when we had a huge squad was incredibly poor management.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

It was only a year or two earlier that we were one of the biggest spenders in the country though wasn't it, why wouldn't that have been repeated and exceeded had we gone up that season?

You really think we could/would have been in that market?

I fundamentally disagree.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

01/02 was properly sickening. I’m still haunted by that Igor Balis penalty.

Why don't we have a cry emoji.

 

[Elephant Pyjamas]

You really think we could/would have been in that market?

I fundamentally disagree.

Well given our previous huge spends, yes. The evidence was there.

 

[Deutsch Wolf]

Ok, for the avoidance of doubt I do not think we would have signed Les Ferdinand

 

[jd1981]

As said I think we’d have thrown the cheque book at years 1 & 2 then drawn it back once we’d been in the league a few seasons very similar to now. The level of signings very similar to what we did in 18/19. Regardless of what anyone thinks Man Utd, Newcastle, Arsenal, Liverpool, Blackburn, Leeds, Spurs, Chelsea, Everton would’ve been ahead of us in attractiveness.