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didn't realise till now that Chops was offside when he won the pen.
But we should have had a pen later on.
Swings and roundabouts.
If we had played like that for the whole final I think we'd have beaten Blackpool...
or if Bothroyd hadn't gone off injured...
or if...
Both at their best I believe Hoillet is the better all round footballer.Quote:
Originally Posted by NYCBlue
Not much in it though.
And me.Quote:
Originally Posted by billy.ronson
Same.Quote:
Originally Posted by the other bob wilson
In my opinion, a squad with the 09/10 team's ability and the current lots attitude would win promotion from the Championship most seasons. The 09/10 side was a bit flat track bullyish though. While it's difficult to imagine the 19/20 squad going 4-0 up in any game, I'm certain that they wouldn't end up drawing it like the side from ten years ago did against the team which finished bottom of the league that year when they went from four up at Peterborough to four all, they also lost at home to relegated Plymouth.
McPhail had one of the best footballing minds of all the players I've seen over the years down the City. Rarely chose the wrong option and one of those players who was always able to create a little bit extra time and space for himself.Quote:
Originally Posted by mrbluejay
Better than any of the current squad in that position.
Exactly. The 14 losses illustrate that perfectly.Quote:
Originally Posted by the other bob wilson
Peterborough like to turn us over.
When they got relegated and Malkys team won the Championship they did the double over us.
The 4 all game was pathetic though.
Wasn't it you who coined that phrase for that side - flat track bullies?Quote:
Originally Posted by the other bob wilson
Fair enough.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman
Your post about that midfield 4 got me thinking. It looked quite lightweight but creative. That season that midfield 4 played together 5 times in the league, though McPhail went off injured early in one of those. We won all 4 of those where the 4 played at least a full first half.
Reading (a) W 1-0
Coventry (h) W 2-0
Sheff Utd (a) W 4-3
QPR (a) W 1-0
Leicester (a) W 1-0
Leicester (h) L 2-3
Blackpool (n) L 2-3
5 wins out of 7 was pretty decent. Interesting that we kept 4 clean sheets but conceded 3 in each of the other 3. 13 goals scored in 7 games but 9 conceded wasn't so good.
It would have been interesting had Jones continued with that. McPhail's injuries that season prevented that, of course, but it might have been a decent ploy to put Rae or another defensive midfielder in when we played a midfield 5 and dropped Chopra.
With Bothroyd injured we should have gone with 3 central midfielders in that final.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee
McCormack could have been in the line up wide along with Burke. Whitts Mcphail Ledley woud still have been a bit too lightweight for Blackpools 3 but im sure would have been better than what happened in the final.
Jones was too one dimensional.
A horrible day that final.
I've always avoided looking at that final for obvious reasons. What is amazing is that he picked a pretty fluid, attacking midfield of players who were all comfortable on the ball and were good passers, yet chose to launch long balls out of defence because this midfield was outnumbered.Quote:
Originally Posted by Hilts
If someone with a bit of nous could have taken over that side after that playoff defeat, we'd have won automatic the following season with the players we had.
Absolutely this ^^^Quote:
Originally Posted by Hilts
Yes we played some good stuff at times and had good players but our team performances and the performances of those of the players were either very good or very average.
I've heard many waxing lyrical about DJ's wonderful football, but to achieve success in football you need more than one strategy.
Holloway did a job on Jones in that final, we were overrun in MF.
Of course the team had its flaws and of course the manager had his flaws, but one thing that I think rarely gets acknowledged when these sorts of conversations take place is just how cheaply the side was put together, both at the time and in relative terms by comparison to recent squads.Quote:
Originally Posted by MacAdder
Watching that game again today was a genuine pleasure. I'd never seen anything but brief highlights of it before. To watch the whole 90 minutes, extra time and penalties was great fun. As I've already said earlier in the thread, some of the team's control, passing, speed of movement and speed of thought was truly brilliant by comparison to what we've got used to seeing from City in recent years. Bothroyd was especially good, but the likes of Chopra, Burke, Whittingham and McPhail also looked truly outstanding by Championship standards. And that was during a game the side lost 3-2!
I think and correct me if I am wrong , that we had a massive wage bill under Jones and he , possibly as much as warnock , preferred older experienced players to youth . We didn't make many big money signings under Jones but considering our income we were shelling out wages well above what was coming in .Quote:
Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman
Peter Ridsdale confirmed as much once in a radio interview, where he said he and Jones decided on an approach of paying little in transfer fees in order to have a larger wage bill which might attract some better free transfers.Quote:
Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY
Where did we get chopra from again? Jay was free from wolves wasn’t he? That team probably cost less than Gary madine....:facepalm:
By then we'd paid Sunderland the £4 million they'd paid us for him. Jay wasn't wanted by Wolves after a disappointing stint there.Quote:
Originally Posted by goats
With the Chopra transfer, it's probably close. Without it, it isn't.
Ultimately the team was put together from freebies and misfits by offering them good wages to perform. They failed to get us promoted, regardless of the entertainment.
Ricky Simicea was a quality player , box to box midfielderQuote:
Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee
His follow up goal at Palace after chopra had hit the bar was great anticipation
He was worth his wages , whatever they were
Probably not great as he was out of favour.Quote:
Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY
I remember not being the greatest fan of his when he signed. I didn't think he would do much for us given his previous appearances, particularly at Villa. Apparently he told Jones he wanted to be a box to box midfielder and Jones told him to do it. We had a great few months from him. Even West Brom fans were asking why he never performed for them like he did for us.
Sadly it was short lived and we finished in the bottom half.
You're wrong.Quote:
Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY
That was the strategy, but to describe the wage bill as massive is inaccurate by Championship standards at the time. The wage bill that year was £16.7 million and the operating loss was under a million. The main problem was the club didn't have a rich backer and had no way to service its mounting debts.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric the Half a Bee
Compare those figures to the recent Warnock promotion season, when the wage bill was more than £48 million and the operating loss was £34 million.
What was the average championship wage then though? We we up there? Clearly, it’s ridiculous now mind.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman
It was still one of the highest wage bills in the division at the time.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman
The staggering stat for me in this is how much the Championship wage bill has risen in a decade.
Agree with this, wouldn't put any of our current midfielders in the team ahead of McPhail.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Bloop