Stud mark of doom

From what I saw he seemed fairly ok, so clearly a massive upgrade on Baz.

Has reminded me that Chivers also played and scored against us in our first game back at the top level in 78/79 - a 3-1 loss at Norwich.

First football game I can remember is the 76 cup final, watched on our black and white TV, celebrating in the road outside afterwards and in town the next day. first game was a 2-0 win against Sheffield United in 77/78 and then every home game until the end of the season culminating in our promotion against spurs and a pitch invasion. Within a few years I’d been to Wembley, saw us play in Europe with Keegan, Ball, Channon, George, etc - all before I’d gone to secondary school.

Surely most people with a good knowledge of the game would say the benchmarks are - The Banks one, in some summer tournament in Mexico before most people had colour TVs, and Alan Blayney’s superlative save from Alan Shearer at SMS, on the last day of ‘the hardest league in the world’ season 2003/4 - officially awarded the ‘Sky save of the season’ later that day. I think Blayney’s is generally considered to be the most memorable across the globe. COYR.

Just had a call from my son. teams are out - one change from Saturday Bazunu (long pause) is still playing - Sceinza is on the bench. FFS /COYS

Corner of the goal is generous - the exact middle of the goal also works fine, as Oxford’s frontman found.

The bit that summed it up for me was Fraser getting caught offside - and the commentator suggesting he had “gone too soon”. Not sure how you go too soon where the only play you ever make is back inside to the midfielder, to take the sting out of things, so we can recycle it yet again.

Let’s hope there are no late Christmas presents handed out today…

I was also at Loftus Road that day - quite a good shout for the best away performance I’ve ever seen from us. We blew them away. I recall one of the broadsheets saying we had a successfully imported the ‘catenachio’ style of play from Italy. Was it Jason Dodd’s debut? Benali also breaking through to claim a regular spot. Famously, we blew the champions Liverpool away 4-1 (going on 8-1) at the Dell the following week. Happy days.

I enjoyed us beating Exeter City 3-1 in league 1 in front of a sold out St Mary’s.

If we had swapped keepers for the season so far, we’d probably be neck and neck in the table.

From memory the first Sky game was a Monday night game against Man united in August 92. I remember the air being so dense with firework explosive after the match it was difficult to breath. I think the CKTK game might have been Leeds United the following month - also an evening game. Didn’t the lead singer goad the Leeds fans during their ‘set’?

I thought it was a game where the lead changed several times. I think I recall Danny Wallace saying he’d left the pitch thinking we’d lost 5-4 as there were so many goals flying in (and it was before we got the late 80s scoreboard at the Archers end).

Great shout - legend has it that Neil cocked his head back as he crossed the halfway line in preparing for the inevitable ‘butt’ and instant straight red. That has reminded me - what about the bruise brother (Neil and Shearer) coming on as subs to turn round the Swindon cup tie, from 0-2 to 4-2 in the Nichol era.

The day we changed the transfer target algorithm weightings, setting potential future resale value to maximum and team improvement to minimum.

I was in primary school in Woolston - annd often going to The Dell with a few classmates. I can remember our headmaster coming into our classroom - on route to all classrooms with the incredible news - and asking the teacher (neither of whom had ever mentioned football as far as I can recall) whether he could have a word. The teacher then announced the important news to the class. Probably the most memorable school day of my life!

Got to be the MLT winner in the last game at The Dell. Incredible. Not in that league, but also enjoyed the winner in the 4-3 v Norwich in the relegation year because of the amazing celebrations, anticipating yet another great escape. oh, and losing my Fez at Selhurst Park, beating Wimbledon in the actual great escape. Trip to Milan was great too - pity about the result.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55241014 Only 5 years ago - unlucky to only take a point at 15th placed Arsenal. A win would have put us top. We had to make do with third. Before people in charge started saying things like “if something is working well, consider breaking it”. Worth listening to the Ralph interview.

This “three games a week” phrase is getting ubiquitous. I think I even heard one of the players suggesting we have been playing three games every week. No wonder we are struggling in the second half. I think the club would be well advised to employ a maths/days of the week expert to come in and explain that playing on Saturday, Tuesday and then Saturday is not three games a week - as you don’t have two of the same days in a week. As Sir Clive Woodward would tell us, these marginal mental gains could be the difference between success and failure. (Although, iirc, when we finished second in 83/84 didn’t we finish the season playing on Saturday Tuesday and Thursday, winning all three - and with only one sub.) Please highlight all false claims of playing theee games in a week here.

Yes - same for me and my son, since a recent app update went through

I’m sure there was a game last season (palace away) where the same thing happened to Ramesdale - basically blocked off/mild push as the corner came in leaving to a simple heading goal. after the match Juric said the ref had told him that all managers had been briefed at the start of the season, that no foul would be given for that sort of thing. Juric didn’t know as he wasn’t in the country at the start of the season - but o think Ramsdale got a bit more protection from his teammates at corners after that.

Last time I made it to Norwich it ended 4-4 iirc. Paul Rideout piledriver, a brace for Rod Wallace, and possibly MLT on the scoresheet. 1989 maybe? Think we were 4-2 up at one point, so it was a long trip back. Although in fairness it was also a bloody long way on the way up too. I’m expecting another great performance from an incredible forward line on Saturday. COYR.

Although, if our one way of playing invariably involves us racing into a 3 or more goal lead inside the first 30 minutes of every match, playing some of the most aesthetically pleasing football we have seen in many a year, I could possibly get comfortable with it.

Re the Brum goal, a point Jo Tessem made was that both the similar shots from Scienza in the first half were better and more difficult to save as closer to the far post - but their keeper tips them both round the post.