By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions. We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
sheepy - ruining atmosphere with unrequired stand upgrades burley, as manager buck stops with him players, let manager down counago.. took stewart out for months fans - expected to much wright, for some reason going to Arsenal Eufa Cup qualification - to many games?
A combination of not being ready for Europe and poor recruitment. Although by the sounds of it the squad was such a tight knit unit that it would have been difficult whoever came in.
I thought it had been well established that it was all Bluey's fault.
The goalkeeping situation didn't help though, Sereni appeared to upset team balance, Marshall was good but perhaps not Premier League material and then when he found himself in front of a North Stand that seemed to want him to fail...
Also towards the end of that season it looked like we were struggling but safe until Liverpool took the guts out of us and then all self belief deserted most of the team.
I believe one major factor not listed was Dale Roberts' illness. Burley made some baffling decisions that season (freezing out Wilnis, Sereni, Magilton), and I wonder if had Roberts been there advising him he wouldn't have made some of those errors of judgement.
Burley - he told his chairman who to buy who in turn trusted the manager.
A senior member of the club at the time told me that Sheepshanks basically went completely overboard after the 1st prem season.
Sheppy asked George what his expectations were for the next season, to which George replied "17th". Sheppy then went full "Well hang on, we're in Europe now. We should be setting our expectations a lot higher." After that, Burley didn't really stand a chance.
Titus: "When I watch the match again on television, I'll just be thinking that could have got us relegated," he said. "It has killed us really. The referee was 25 yards away, looking through a crowd of bodies and couldn't really see.
Titus: "When I watch the match again on television, I'll just be thinking that could have got us relegated," he said. "It has killed us really. The referee was 25 yards away, looking through a crowd of bodies and couldn't really see.
It's not Wright's fault, but the loss of Wright was the key domino that forced everything to fall behind it.
Meant we signed the woeful Andy Marshall, and then made Burley panic at start of season needing to get a better keeper in - when Poom deal didn't get done we eneded up with Sereni, who was a very good keeper, but clearly disruptive and helped break the dressing room.
Also, the baffling choice from Burley to not play Sereni in the new year after he'd asked to be rested for a FA Cup game against a non-league team on a frozen pitch was insane.
Burley got lots wrong that year, whilst Sheepshanks continued to back him which was probably his only choice
Combination of a lot of those but I would say in this order
1 Burley - took a team that finished fifth, spent millions and took us down. What none of us realised at the time was that Dale Roberts' illness had a huge effect. 2 Players and complacency. I remember Matt Holland being interviewed between the two Prem seasons and saying now we had finished fifth we should fight for fourth. Commendable but what we should have been aiming for was fourth from bottom.We took maximum points (18) from the three relegated teams the season we finished fifth (Coventry, Bradford and Man City) and the teams that came up (Bolton included) were far harder propositions. 3 Europe was a huge distraction, for fans as well as players. 4 Stewart's injury
I never really blame the building of the ground because all the financial experts at the time said you needed a 30,000 capacity stadium to compete in the Prem, and Sheepy knew the demand for tickets was there in the top flight. Now that equation has been turned on its head due to the TV money, clubs like Bournemouth can compete with tiny grounds because there is so much more cash flying about.
Titus: "When I watch the match again on television, I'll just be thinking that could have got us relegated," he said. "It has killed us really. The referee was 25 yards away, looking through a crowd of bodies and couldn't really see.
We should of actually survived as we put together a good run over Xmas. Just needed one more win.
The ground is poor in my opinion.
But the biggest issue was splashing the cash and breaking up a good side. We needed a replacement for Scow, however, that was all we needed to do. We had Darren Bent, Ambros, Westlake, Richards and more in the youth coming through who could of boosted the bench which would of done a better job than what we purchased.
I also think we were a tad unlucky with injuries.
Sheepshanks was also a culprit. I know he was a fan, however, he didn't budget for relegation. We were always going to struggle second season.
In the spirit of reconciliation and happiness at the end of the Banter Era (RIP) and as a result of promotion I have cleared out my ignore list. Look forwards to reading your posts!
It's not Wright's fault, but the loss of Wright was the key domino that forced everything to fall behind it.
Meant we signed the woeful Andy Marshall, and then made Burley panic at start of season needing to get a better keeper in - when Poom deal didn't get done we eneded up with Sereni, who was a very good keeper, but clearly disruptive and helped break the dressing room.
Also, the baffling choice from Burley to not play Sereni in the new year after he'd asked to be rested for a FA Cup game against a non-league team on a frozen pitch was insane.
Burley got lots wrong that year, whilst Sheepshanks continued to back him which was probably his only choice
Think that's about right. Marshall was hopeless although we had a fair run with him in the side didn't we. Sereni was decent, but I'd argue he wasn't good at all in the games he played in the second half of the season.
Fundamentally the transfer business we did over the summer wasn't good.
The signings of Sereni and Finidi on bigger money than everyone else upset the dressing room dynamic, players who were with the club at the time have said as much. It was, as others have said, part of an approach to push on from fifth rather than consolidating, which should have been the aim.
Also a lack of due diligence on those signings. Didn't take a lot of digging to discover there were concerns whether one of those high profile signings had his best days quite a long way behind him.
Jim Magilton's absence from the side was also a very big loss, was a very key man in the team which did so well the previous year.
Meant that the whole club was in unfamiliar territory for the second season(with no realistic ambition or direction left) meaning that things could spiral out of control much more easily.
The signings of Sereni and Finidi on bigger money than everyone else upset the dressing room dynamic, players who were with the club at the time have said as much. It was, as others have said, part of an approach to push on from fifth rather than consolidating, which should have been the aim.
Also a lack of due diligence on those signings. Didn't take a lot of digging to discover there were concerns whether one of those high profile signings had his best days quite a long way behind him.
Jim Magilton's absence from the side was also a very big loss, was a very key man in the team which did so well the previous year.
I would argue that had Finidi not gone to the African Nations that year - we could well have stayed up - he was playing so well - as was the team. His loss at that point was significant.
As an aside, he was also part of a rather epic PR goal:
Ade Akinbiyi couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo...
I would argue that had Finidi not gone to the African Nations that year - we could well have stayed up - he was playing so well - as was the team. His loss at that point was significant.
As an aside, he was also part of a rather epic PR goal:
He had his moments certainly, and scored some very memorable and important goals, but there were too many games when he was a peripheral figure. Certainly nowhere near the marquee signing he was billed as and promised to be on his home debut. The legs had gone, sadly.
I believe one major factor not listed was Dale Roberts' illness. Burley made some baffling decisions that season (freezing out Wilnis, Sereni, Magilton), and I wonder if had Roberts been there advising him he wouldn't have made some of those errors of judgement.
I've always said this.
I think Roberts had much more influence on things than we realised at the time.
I also think that Sheepshanks ego writing cheques the club couldn't afford was a major factor as well but that's another story!
It's not Wright's fault, but the loss of Wright was the key domino that forced everything to fall behind it.
Meant we signed the woeful Andy Marshall, and then made Burley panic at start of season needing to get a better keeper in - when Poom deal didn't get done we eneded up with Sereni, who was a very good keeper, but clearly disruptive and helped break the dressing room.
Also, the baffling choice from Burley to not play Sereni in the new year after he'd asked to be rested for a FA Cup game against a non-league team on a frozen pitch was insane.
Burley got lots wrong that year, whilst Sheepshanks continued to back him which was probably his only choice
If I remember rightly, the decision to sign another keeper was as a specialist had said Marshall would be out for much of the season with a back injury. As it was another specialist sorted him out in a couple of weeks. Obviously, he still found the step up from playing at Norwich too big a leap for him.
He had his moments certainly, and scored some very memorable and important goals, but there were too many games when he was a peripheral figure. Certainly nowhere near the marquee signing he was billed as and promised to be on his home debut. The legs had gone, sadly.
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.
