One crumb of comfort from the past???

[spyinthesky]

After the glorious Cup Final win in 1976 and an unfortunate loss to Liverpool in the Charity Shield, there were great hopes for the forthcoming season in Division 2 (todays Championship)
The first seven games were:

H.... Carlisle                 1-2
A......Millwall                0-0
A......Hull                      0-4
H......Sheffield Utd      1-1
A......Burnley               .0-2
H.....Nottm Forest       2-2
A.....Charlton...............2-6
  So after seven games we had three points and were sat rock bottom of the table.
  I remember coming back from The Valley after the humbling by Charlton feeling a bit shell shocked like many of us feel today.
  The game sticks in my mind not only because of the abject performance by the Saints team, who were pre season favourites for promotion, but four of us had freebie tickets in the small main stand that, in those days, sat rather forlornly surrounded by massive banks of uncovered and virtually empty terracing..
We arrived late due to traffic and by the time stewards had ejected Charlton fans who were in our seats, we were two down and had to sit and put up with Charlton fans taking the piss for the rest of the game.
At least we didnt have to suffer a 400 mile odd journey home.
Any way the object of this post is to try and offer up a bit of positivity after today's shit show as our picked up as the 1976/78 season progressed and the following year we were promoted back to the top division.
Here's hoping.

[sadoldgit]

12 minutes ago, spyinthesky said:

After the glorious Cup Final win in 1976 and an unfortunate loss to Liverpool in the Charity Shield, there were great hopes for the forthcoming season in Division 2 (todays Championship)
The first seven games were:

H.... Carlisle                 1-2
A......Millwall                0-0
A......Hull                      0-4
H......Sheffield Utd      1-1
A......Burnley               .0-2
H.....Nottm Forest       2-2
A.....Charlton...............2-6
  So after seven games we had three points and were sat rock bottom of the table.
  I remember coming back from The Valley after the humbling by Charlton feeling a bit shell shocked like many of us feel today.
  The game sticks in my mind not only because of the abject performance by the Saints team, who were pre season favourites for promotion, but four of us had freebie tickets in the small main stand that, in those days, sat rather forlornly surrounded by massive banks of uncovered and virtually empty terracing..
We arrived late due to traffic and by the time stewards had ejected Charlton fans who were in our seats, we were two down and had to sit and put up with Charlton fans taking the piss for the rest of the game.
At least we didnt have to suffer a 400 mile odd journey home.
Any way the object of this post is to try and offer up a bit of positivity after today's shit show as our picked up as the 1976/78 season progressed and the following year we were promoted back to the top division.
Here's hoping.

I was at that Charlton game too. A guy I used to go to school with was playing CH for them at the time (Les Berry). We were standing in the open and I seem to remember getting soaked. Their wingers ripped us apart down the flanks all game but we had plenty of chances to score too. I went to the rematch at The Dell too which we won 3-1 if memory serves and were a much better outfit by then.

The Charity Shield match was excellent. Although we lost 1-0 I thought we looked much better against Liverpool than we did against United in the cup. Happy days!

Edited 2 September, 2023 by sadoldgit
Added text

[teamsaint]

Although that ended up being an incredibly exciting and   memorable season, it was a very mediocre league campaign. But of course the following season was a different matter. Perhaps we need some patience. But I doubt that RM will get away with much more of what happened today. 

[bpsaint]

How many sides get promoted after getting battered 5-0? It certainly didn’t happen in 2011/12. I’m sure there’s been some freak results for promoted teams recently but that’s knocked the stuffing out of me today, things were pretty positive before kick off.

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, bpsaint said:

How many sides get promoted after getting battered 5-0? It certainly didn’t happen in 2011/12. I’m sure there’s been some freak results for promoted teams recently but that’s knocked the stuffing out of me today, things were pretty positive before kick off.

Yeah that's my feel, teams who get automatically promoted (i.e 80-90+ points) do not get stuffed 5-0 in any game. It shows a lack of grit and you need grit in this league.

We seem incapable of keeping the ball out of the net and if we don't sort that out, we're never going to be in the race for automatics.

[AlexLaw76]

4 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Yeah that's my feel, teams who get automatically promoted (i.e 80-90+ points) do not get stuffed 5-0 in any game. It shows a lack of grit and you need grit in this league.

We seem incapable of keeping the ball out of the net and if we don't sort that out, we're never going to be in the race for automatics.

Absolutely right. Last time we went up, we never even won the league, but no way did we get smashed like that.

Edit - Bright and Blackpool away we lost 3-0 a piece. Didn;t we go down to 10 men in those games?

The manager his zero excuses to be fair

Edited 2 September, 2023 by AlexLaw76

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Absolutely right. Last time we went up, we never even won the league, but no way did we get smashed like that.

Edit - Bright and Blackpool away we lost 3-0 a piece. Didn;t we go down to 10 men in those games?

The manager his zero excuses to be fair

Yeah, we got done at Brighton 3-0 - I remember that one. But that was it, bad days at the office - take it on the chin and get home. But to let it get to 5-0 is not a good look on a team who want to be 'winners', very weak. They've got a lot to learn.

The midfield worries me if I'm honest. We have no steal in there other than a 19 year old Charles. When we came up last time we had Morgan, Hammond, Cork and Chaplow snapping in and adding that bite. We were just played through today, no one got near the opposition. I don't want to get carried away as it's just 1 game, but the nature of it has rung some really big alarm bells in my head. Hopefully they come to nothing.

[AlexLaw76]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

Yeah, we got done at Brighton 3-0 - I remember that one. But that was it, bad days at the office - take it on the chin and get home. But to let it get to 5-0 is not a good look on a team who want to be 'winners', very weak. They've got a lot to learn.

The midfield worries me if I'm honest. We have no steal in there other than a 19 year old Charles. When we came up last time we had Morgan, Hammond, Cork and Chaplow snapping in and adding that bite. We were just played through today, no one got near the opposition. I don't want to get carried away as it's just 1 game, but the nature of it has rung some really big alarm bells in my head. Hopefully they come to nothing.

When we did lose to Brighton, we only lost 1 of the next 14. 

I wonder if we can repeat that.

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

When we did lose to Brighton, we only lost 1 of the next 14. 

I wonder if we can repeat that.

That's what I mentioned in the match thread - we can't let this result define our season, we need to react against Leicester. They lost as well so they'll be saying the same I'm sure.

This month is going to be brutal and if we continue to defend like we are then we will end it in the bottom half of this league.

Edited 2 September, 2023 by S-Clarke

[AlexLaw76]

6 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

That's what I mentioned in the match thread - we can't let this result define our season, we need to react against Leicester. They lost as well so they'll be saying the same I'm sure.

This month is going to be brutal and if we continue to defend like we are then we will end it in the bottom half of this league.

I fear you are right. But so far, the moment we face anyone of the better teams (not even the best), we shed goals for fun. 

We are wide open, and try to be way too clever. Previously, we had the 'noise' about all the players leaving. The squad we have now (with the window shut), the manager has no excuses.

I don't mean we have a god given right to batter every team. That never happens. But just continuing as we are will lead to Martin's removal - simple as that. He has no reason to play so many players out of position...we has more tools at his disposal than literally everyone else in the league. We are already paying Ralph and Mad Nate to do gardening.....Martin has to work out

Edited 2 September, 2023 by AlexLaw76

[wadesmith]

You know things are bad when our crumb of comfort is a season we came 9th! 😊 

[stknowle]

2 hours ago, spyinthesky said:

After the glorious Cup Final win in 1976 and an unfortunate loss to Liverpool in the Charity Shield, there were great hopes for the forthcoming season in Division 2 (todays Championship)
The first seven games were:

H.... Carlisle                 1-2
A......Millwall                0-0
A......Hull                      0-4
H......Sheffield Utd      1-1
A......Burnley               .0-2
H.....Nottm Forest       2-2
A.....Charlton...............2-6
  So after seven games we had three points and were sat rock bottom of the table.
  I remember coming back from The Valley after the humbling by Charlton feeling a bit shell shocked like many of us feel today.
  The game sticks in my mind not only because of the abject performance by the Saints team, who were pre season favourites for promotion, but four of us had freebie tickets in the small main stand that, in those days, sat rather forlornly surrounded by massive banks of uncovered and virtually empty terracing..
We arrived late due to traffic and by the time stewards had ejected Charlton fans who were in our seats, we were two down and had to sit and put up with Charlton fans taking the piss for the rest of the game.
At least we didnt have to suffer a 400 mile odd journey home.
Any way the object of this post is to try and offer up a bit of positivity after today's shit show as our picked up as the 1976/78 season progressed and the following year we were promoted back to the top division.
Here's hoping.

……

Edited 2 September, 2023 by stknowle
Realised crumb of comfort an illusion after reading Wadesmiths post

[Polaroid Saint]

"It's a funny old game," said Pooh.

[Patches O Houlihan]

 

47 minutes ago, bpsaint said:

How many sides get promoted after getting battered 5-0? It certainly didn’t happen in 2011/12. I’m sure there’s been some freak results for promoted teams recently but that’s knocked the stuffing out of me today, things were pretty positive before kick off.

38 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Absolutely right. Last time we went up, we never even won the league, but no way did we get smashed like that.

Edit - Bright and Blackpool away we lost 3-0 a piece. Didn;t we go down to 10 men in those games?

The manager his zero excuses to be fair

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022–23_Burnley_F.C._season

According to this after 5 games Burnley were on 6 points (not 10) and in early November they were beaten 5-2 at Sheffield United. 

We're all hurting this evening, but there has been some other eyebrow raising results today, and the Championship is known for this sort of thing. We're used to the dull predictability of the modern PL.

Small crumbs of comfort...

[Stud mark of doom]

Seem to remember in our first season in league one Norwich lost 7-1 at home in their first game (to Dean Hammond’s Colchester). Fans ripped up their new season tickets and threw them at the manager. 
 

They got promoted, two season running. 

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, Stud mark of doom said:

Seem to remember in our first season in league one Norwich lost 7-1 at home in their first game (to Dean Hammond’s Colchester). Fans ripped up their new season tickets and threw them at the manager. 
 

They got promoted, two season running. 

That's a good point actually, forgot about that result. They did sack Gunn shortly after that though and brought in Paul Lambert - who was in charge of Colchester that game I think.

[Lord Duckhunter]

1 hour ago, S-Clarke said:

Yeah that's my feel, teams who get automatically promoted (i.e 80-90+ points) do not get stuffed 5-0 in any game. It shows a lack of grit and you need grit in this league.

 

Burnley lost 5-2 & ended up with 101 points. 

[Stud mark of doom]

I also vaguely remember Man City were destroyed in the league cup by a team managed by Nathan Jones, and won every other completion they entered in the same season a while back.

[CB Fry]

17 hours ago, Stud mark of doom said:

I also vaguely remember Man City were destroyed in the league cup by a team managed by Nathan Jones, and won every other completion they entered in the same season a while back.

We've already been destroyed in the League Cup this season by Gillingham.

No one us going to be mistaking us for Manchester City anytime soon, regardless of how many of their children we take from them.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

39 minutes ago, CB Fry said:

...regardless of how many of their children we take from them.

That sounded horrible! It's also upset our head of youth recruitment...

🙂

[JRM]

18 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Burnley lost 5-2 & ended up with 101 points. 

How many clean sheets did Burnley keep last season? 

[Dig Dig]

Jesus, state of this place today. Crumb of comfort is that we’re 3 points off top, won’t be playing yesterdays 11 again and have shown we can play a shit load better than yesterday. It was a car crash of a game, but it happens, especially conceding so early. Writing off the manager and the season because of it is a tad OTT. 

[Shropshire Saint]

In our promotion season 1965/6 we lost 5-1 to Coventry in September. Four days later we beat Wolves 9-3.

 

Edited 3 September, 2023 by Shropshire Saint
Adding more info.

[Kenilworthy]

Also no one can really call themselves a proper Saints manager until they have been in charge for a right drubbing: Ted Bates conceded 8 at Everton and 7 at Leeds, Lawrie conceded 7 at Ipswich and Watford, Chris Nicholl conceded 7 and 6 at Luton...

[Roo1976]

On 02/09/2023 at 16:56, spyinthesky said:

After the glorious Cup Final win in 1976 and an unfortunate loss to Liverpool in the Charity Shield, there were great hopes for the forthcoming season in Division 2 (todays Championship)
The first seven games were:

H.... Carlisle                 1-2
A......Millwall                0-0
A......Hull                      0-4
H......Sheffield Utd      1-1
A......Burnley               .0-2
H.....Nottm Forest       2-2
A.....Charlton...............2-6
  So after seven games we had three points and were sat rock bottom of the table.
  I remember coming back from The Valley after the humbling by Charlton feeling a bit shell shocked like many of us feel today.
  The game sticks in my mind not only because of the abject performance by the Saints team, who were pre season favourites for promotion, but four of us had freebie tickets in the small main stand that, in those days, sat rather forlornly surrounded by massive banks of uncovered and virtually empty terracing..
We arrived late due to traffic and by the time stewards had ejected Charlton fans who were in our seats, we were two down and had to sit and put up with Charlton fans taking the piss for the rest of the game.
At least we didnt have to suffer a 400 mile odd journey home.
Any way the object of this post is to try and offer up a bit of positivity after today's shit show as our picked up as the 1976/78 season progressed and the following year we were promoted back to the top division.
Here's hoping.

just checked back on the leagues for that season for nostalgia...........Brentford finished 15th in div 4.

[Badger]

On 03/09/2023 at 17:23, Shropshire Saint said:

In our promotion season 1965/6 we lost 5-1 to Coventry in September. Four days later we beat Wolves 9-3.

 

 

On 02/09/2023 at 20:39, Lord Duckhunter said:

Burnley lost 5-2 & ended up with 101 points. 

Thanks for posting these snippets, grounds for optimism .. perhaps 

[CB Fry]

On 02/09/2023 at 20:39, Lord Duckhunter said:

Burnley lost 5-2 & ended up with 101 points. 

They lost 5-2 in November, when they'd been top for weeks.

Even though the team that beat them 5-2 was fellow auto promoted team Sheffield United, the Blades didn't knock Burnley off top spot, and they stayed top for the rest of the season, from November to May.

The 5-2 in November was Burnleys second defeat of the season. In November.

Already, we are not Burnley and we are not going to be Burnley this season.

[Badger]

On 02/09/2023 at 16:56, spyinthesky said:

After the glorious Cup Final win in 1976 and an unfortunate loss to Liverpool in the Charity Shield, there were great hopes for the forthcoming season in Division 2 (todays Championship)
The first seven games were:

H.... Carlisle                 1-2
A......Millwall                0-0
A......Hull                      0-4
H......Sheffield Utd      1-1
A......Burnley               .0-2
H.....Nottm Forest       2-2
A.....Charlton...............2-6
  So after seven games we had three points and were sat rock bottom of the table.
  I remember coming back from The Valley after the humbling by Charlton feeling a bit shell shocked like many of us feel today.
  The game sticks in my mind not only because of the abject performance by the Saints team, who were pre season favourites for promotion, but four of us had freebie tickets in the small main stand that, in those days, sat rather forlornly surrounded by massive banks of uncovered and virtually empty terracing..
We arrived late due to traffic and by the time stewards had ejected Charlton fans who were in our seats, we were two down and had to sit and put up with Charlton fans taking the piss for the rest of the game.
At least we didnt have to suffer a 400 mile odd journey home.
Any way the object of this post is to try and offer up a bit of positivity after today's shit show as our picked up as the 1976/78 season progressed and the following year we were promoted back to the top division.
Here's hoping.

Good original post taking me back to 76/77.

Couple of things which I remember and compare with our current situation:

Goalkeeper issues - due to injury (rather than the crap available to him) Lawrie had to bring in GK’s on loan, Colin Boulton and Jim Montgomery. Turner just played in the European matches. Shame we can’t do that now.

Striker - signed Ted MacDougall mid or  end of September. No bloody transfer window to worry about.

In December signed Alan Ball. Wonder if any 31 year old former World Cup winners would drop to the Championship this year (and be affordable). Or would they rather sit on the Chelsea or City bench be paid millions and not play ?