I'm a great believer that incidents in a game can define a season.

Yesterday when Jon Flanagan saved that ball on the line I said straight away that that had probably kept us up. Preserving that 6 point gap was absolutely massive and he ensured.just that

No doubt about that at all.

 

The more serious debate is Rioch or Greaves.I'd go for the latter in winning the 2nd Div title and keeping us up for a season just about beats Rioch.

 

 

however, greaves spent half a million on clement and cantello

 

and took 3 years to get us up

 

might have been very different had we gone up earlier

https://www.bwfc.co.uk/news/2018/march/a-note-from-the-chairman3/

 

Semi-relevent.

 

Sweaty Ken's "note from the chairman" - we have reported our accounts on time for the first time in several years and if we have a strong 4th quarter we will have been profitable for the first year since 2005.

 

Turning point?

This is what makes football a bit shit though - success for a club like Bolton, Charlton or Stoke these days is being in the PL for an extended period of time, and getting to an FA Cup Semi-Final once every 10 or 15 years. The sad thing is, the longer a team stays in the PL, the more debt they seem to build up for themselves and the larger the issues when they do eventually get relegated.

 

 

Every now and then a team bucks the trend, such as Leicester winning the league and/or somebody shit like Portsmouth or Wigan winning the FA Cup - but let's be honest, it wouldn't come as a massive surprise if the winners, each season for the next 25 years, of the Premier League and FA Cup came from one of Arsenal, Tottenham, Man City, Man Utd, Liverpool or Chelsea 90% of the time.........unless another Billionaire enters the frame of course

It’s true, it does make things a bit shit and probably dangerous to think too much into it as you’d never go again and that’s when football becomes a tv show rather than a sporting, social event. As No Balls (Lampard fingers towards the sky) used to say, it’s a lifestyle choice

Bill Ridding must have been in the uber-genius class having won us the cup and beat the Munichs in the final.

Not that most of you would remember that far back.

I don't need to have been around to know comparisons with medieval times are totally irrelevant

 

The game has changed immeasurably

Just like Alf Ramsey and the World Cup winning team. All dinosaurs and totally irrelevant.

They sure as buggery wouldn't win it today

 

You can only beat what you come up against but surely you agree ridding at least had a chance to win the league....which he didn't achieve

 

Allardyce didn't have a prayer

They sure as buggery wouldn't win it today

 

You can only beat what you come up against but surely you agree ridding at least had a chance to win the league....which he didn't achieve

 

Allardyce didn't have a prayer

 

Abolition of the maximum wage in 1961 was the turning point...

It was certainly the beginning of the bend

 

Chuck in home teams keeping their gate money then sky, champions leagues, proper game changers

 

Comparing ridding and allardyce is a nonsense

 

And I really can't stand the walrus

Winning a trophy should/would be remembered more fondly

How close did we actually come to winning the league?

 

I know we came 3rd a couple of times? But how much was in it? Did we bottle it etc?

It was certainly the beginning of the bend

 

Chuck in home teams keeping their gate money then sky, champions leagues, proper game changers

 

Comparing ridding and allardyce is a nonsense

 

And I really can't stand the walrus

I didn't compare Ridding directly to Allardyce. MancWanderer said no one was in the brilliant category because they hadn't won a trophy.

I put Ridding in the 'uber-genius' class because he did and beat the scum to achieve it.

Edited March 20, 20188 yr by H

MancWanderer also put Phil Neal in the same bracket as Parky. Ergo his rating criteria is somewhat flawed!

How close did we actually come to winning the league?

 

I know we came 3rd a couple of times? But how much was in it? Did we bottle it etc?

1891/92

 

1) Sunderland 42pts

2) Preston 37pts

3) Bolton 36pts

Last six games of season W4 D0 L2 included in this 1-4 defeat to Sunderland.

 

1920/21

 

1) Burnley 59pts

2) Man city 54pts

3) Bolton 52pts

Last six games of season W4 D0 L2

 

1924/25

 

1) Huddersfield town 58pts

2) West Brom 56pts

3) Bolton 55pts

 

Last six games of season W4 D1 L1 Drew 0-0 with West Brom last game.

Edited March 20, 20188 yr by dusan nikolic

So 24 was probably as good as it got, specially with Huddersfield being very strong

 

Just crossed my mind

 

Back then what was the holy trail

 

League or fa cup

So 24 was probably as good as it got, specially with Huddersfield being very strong

 

Just crossed my mind

 

Back then what was the holy trail

 

League or fa cup

Good question, from a supporters perspective it looks like the FA. Cup was a massive draw , a big proportion of clubs record attendances were achieved in the FA.Cup in the 1920's to 40's.

1891/92

 

1) Sunderland 42pts

2) Preston 37pts

3) Bolton 36pts

Last six games of season W4 D0 L2 included in this 1-4 defeat to Sunderland.

 

1920/21

 

1) Burnley 59pts

2) Man city 54pts

3) Bolton 52pts

Last six games of season W4 D0 L2

 

1924/25

 

1) Huddersfield town 58pts

2) West Brom 56pts

3) Bolton 55pts

 

Last six games of season W4 D1 L1 Drew 0-0 with West Brom last game.

 

All at 2 points for a win so nowhere near.

MancWanderer also put Phil Neal in the same bracket as Parky. Ergo his rating criteria is somewhat flawed!

What's up, are you gay?

I didn't compare Ridding directly to Allardyce. MancWanderer said no one was in the brilliant category because they hadn't won a trophy.

I put Ridding in the 'uber-genius' class because he did and beat the scum to achieve it.

I’m too young to have been around in the Ridding era so could only comment on those managers I’d experienced. That said I would agree with you

MancWanderer also put Phil Neal in the same bracket as Parky. Ergo his rating criteria is somewhat flawed!

Bearing in mind the circumstances he inherited he did a good job imo. No money, a ton of debt and a team heading to Div 4 (or were we already there?). He laid the foundations for the Rioch years stabilising the club and pointing it in the right direction. Not too dissimilar to Parky

Everybody knows that the greatest turning point in the history of football was when Tony Kelly came on when we were losing to Everton away in the FA Cup.

Bearing in mind the circumstances he inherited he did a good job imo. No money, a ton of debt and a team heading to Div 4 (or were we already there?). He laid the foundations for the Rioch years stabilising the club and pointing it in the right direction. Not too dissimilar to Parky

Agree.

Bearing in mind the circumstances he inherited he did a good job imo. No money, a ton of debt and a team heading to Div 4 (or were we already there?). He laid the foundations for the Rioch years stabilising the club and pointing it in the right direction. Not too dissimilar to Parky

Im with you on that. Set up Bruce to kick on. Just couldn’t quite get us over the line

Bearing in mind the circumstances he inherited he did a good job imo. No money, a ton of debt and a team heading to Div 4 (or were we already there?). He laid the foundations for the Rioch years stabilising the club and pointing it in the right direction. Not too dissimilar to Parky

Oh he took us down to 4th all right. And was taking us back there - finishing just 6 points above relegation in his last season, losing 3 of last 4 games, etc, etc. It’s a fallacy Neal put us in a position to build. Bruce Rioch transformed the culture and aspirations of club and imo we have him solely to thank for putting us on the up.

Oh he took us down to 4th all right. And was taking us back there - finishing just 6 points above relegation in his last season, losing 3 of last 4 games, etc, etc. It’s a fallacy Neal put us in a position to build. Bruce Rioch transformed the culture and aspirations of club and imo we have him solely to thank for putting us on the up.

I'm sure Bruce Rioch would certainly thank Phil Neal for discovering Andy Walker from Celtic Reserves, after all he plundered 26 league goals for him in 92/93.

Also don't forget in Neal's penultimate season he missed promotion on fucking goal difference and then narrowly lost the Play off final ( a position unthinkable 5 years before) .

 

3 Wembley finals, 2 club record unbeaten runs , 1 promotion , 2 play off appearances and all done on a shoestring , there was no £300,000 available for Phil Neal to sign the likes of David Lee.

 

After a shaky start and the shrewd introduction of Mick Brown as his assistant Phil Neal brought back a real feel good factor back to a club in the doldrums.

 

Think of this ,out of the 12 players who appeared in the promotion winning game v Preston , 9 were Phil Neal signings , if that doesn't entitle him to some credit for building the platform for Bruce Rioch then I don't know what does.

Edited March 21, 20188 yr by dusan nikolic

I'm sure Bruce Rioch would certainly thank Phil Neal for discovering Andy Walker from Celtic Reserves, after all he plundered 26 league goals for him in 92/93.

Also don't forget in Neal's penultimate season he missed promotion on fucking goal difference and then narrowly lost the Play off final ( a position unthinkable 5 years before) .

 

3 Wembley finals, 2 club record unbeaten runs , 1 promotion , 2 play off appearances and all done on a shoestring , there was no £300,000 available for Phil Neal to sign the likes of David Lee.

 

After a shaky start and the shrewd introduction of Mick Brown as his assistant Phil Neal brought back a real feel good factor back to a club in the doldrums.

 

Think of this ,out of the 12 players who appeared in the promotion winning game v Preston , 9 were Phil Neal signings , if that doesn't entitle him to some credit for building the platform for Bruce Rioch then I don't know what does.

That seems pretty irrefutable

 

However, I’d argue that the feel good factor wasn’t that strong when folk were changing Warbies our and Neal out on a regular basis towards the end of his reign

 

I only really start remembering BWFC life under Neal and even to me it felt “unsettled”