Viking Supporters Co-operative
Viking Chat => Viking Chat => Topic started by: BillyStubbsTears on December 30, 2017, 09:20:57 pm
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Ten years ago last night. I was thinking about this on the way home last night
We’d just won three on the bounce over Xmas. Three comfortable, dominating wins. We were on the brink of the best few years in half a century.
A few days before that, I’d been ranting that O’Driscoll had to go. We’d had a shocking start to the season. 11 points from the first ten games, following on from a very poor end to the previous season. Form had picked up over October and November, but the performances were often turgid and devoid of anything resembling structure. And the Yeovil shambles just seemed like an inevitable capitulation.
I’d been convinced that the manager was a charlatan. Amply supported by the Board, he’d put together an expensive squad that was playing as far less than the sum of its parts. I was certain that we were going nowhere with him in charge.
Thank goodness the Board don’t listen to internet gobshites, eh?
And who knows. Maybe history does repeat.
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........I didn't like to say, like.
;)
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And earlier that season we had Luton Town v Doncaster Rovers 6th October 2007 (just checked my facts)
that was the last chance saloon match for SOD lose that and he got the sack Rovers took the lead and they got a debatable goal for a 1-1 draw and the rest is history --
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BB
Aye. If the club listened to internet gobshites, we’d have dropped Marquis weeks ago.
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BST
Maybe the club did listen and it was the internet gobshites that caused the improvement in his performances.
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In the first part of that 2007-08 season we went from one extreme to another, though not in the space of 90 minutes as the team have done this season.
We had some dreadful performances - Plymouth away in the Carling Cup is one which sticks in my mind as we looked so weak, yet four days later we went all the way down to Swansea (who won the league at a canter) and beat them 2-1 - playing some of the best football that we had done in years at that point.
Yet before that Swansea game, we'd been winless in the league thoughout August.
We also played Huddersfield (whatever happened to them?) off the park on Sky Sports, had a cracker of a 4-2 win over Leyton Orient, but capitulated in a couple of other games - Yeovil, as mentioned, and Southend away wasn't very pretty either.
Just goes to show what we know!
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Fans want to see change/improvement instantly don’t they when in reality it takes time.
I speak to a lot of big hitters from the football betting syndicates, stats/expected goals etc, and they all told me our stats were far superior to our league position and at the same level we had to move up the league. Just shows you not to judge football on results.
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The Yeovil was dreadful. I wanted him to go. He was persisting with Mark Wilson in midfield finally dropped him and Green come in for a run in the team.
We never looked back after that.
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BB
Aye. If the club listened to internet gobshites, we’d have dropped Marquis weeks ago.
has he scored yet ?
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Managers are never given time nowadays,look at Lee Johnson at Bristol City he lost 8 on trot last year and fans wanted rid,sent hate mail etc now look at them,give em time!!!
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Fans want to see change/improvement instantly don’t they when in reality it takes time.
I speak to a lot of big hitters from the football betting syndicates, stats/expected goals etc, and they all told me our stats were far superior to our league position and at the same level we had to move up the league. Just shows you not to judge football on results.
Gaz
Interesting. That was the feeling that I’d had for much of the Autumn. That we were more than holding our own in most matches, but a little luck, a little lapse in concentration was costing us dearly.
It tends to even out over a season. On another night, Rochdale might have scored 3 or 4 against us. Or May’s shot would have hit the defender and ballooned over the bar.
From what I’ve seen this year, I’d say that 10th place is a fair reflection of what we are. This side should not be remotely close to being in a relegation scrap. But it’s a bit off being top end contenders.
I’d have taken that back in August.
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BB
Aye. If the club listened to internet gobshites, we’d have dropped Marquis weeks ago.
has he scored yet ?
No. Shite isn’t he?
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Fans want to see change/improvement instantly don’t they when in reality it takes time.
I speak to a lot of big hitters from the football betting syndicates, stats/expected goals etc, and they all told me our stats were far superior to our league position and at the same level we had to move up the league. Just shows you not to judge football on results.
Gaz
Interesting. That was the feeling that I’d had for much of the Autumn. That we were more than holding our own in most matches, but a little luck, a little lapse in concentration was costing us dearly.
It tends to even out over a season. On another night, Rochdale might have scored 3 or 4 against us. Or May’s shot would have hit the defender and ballooned over the bar.
From what I’ve seen this year, I’d say that 10th place is a fair reflection of what we are. This side should not be remotely close to being in a relegation scrap. But it’s a bit off being top end contenders.
I’d have taken that back in August.
Same. It was moments in games where it was going wrong as opposed to it being a full reflection of the games.
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BB
Aye. If the club listened to internet gobshites, we’d have dropped Marquis weeks ago.
has he scored yet ?
It's a team game don't forget, this "proper" grown men's football..
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In the first part of that 2007-08 season we went from one extreme to another, though not in the space of 90 minutes as the team have done this season.
We had some dreadful performances - Plymouth away in the Carling Cup is one which sticks in my mind as we looked so weak, yet four days later we went all the way down to Swansea (who won the league at a canter) and beat them 2-1 - playing some of the best football that we had done in years at that point.
Yet before that Swansea game, we'd been winless in the league thoughout August.
We also played Huddersfield (whatever happened to them?) off the park on Sky Sports, had a cracker of a 4-2 win over Leyton Orient, but capitulated in a couple of other games - Yeovil, as mentioned, and Southend away wasn't very pretty either.
Just goes to show what we know!
With 2 worldies from Wellens, at our end, if I remember.. Shame we had just lost away at Hartlepool.. Racked up a few miles that season!
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And in that 2007/08 promotion season we beat Northampton Town on Boxing Day. Is it an omen. Who knows. Unlikely but not impossible.
Seasons with 7/8 are significant or at least the last 2 are.
1997/98 and 2007/08 Both will live long in the memory, one very sad and one very happy. 2017/18 ???
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In the first part of that 2007-08 season we went from one extreme to another, though not in the space of 90 minutes as the team have done this season.
We had some dreadful performances - Plymouth away in the Carling Cup is one which sticks in my mind as we looked so weak, yet four days later we went all the way down to Swansea (who won the league at a canter) and beat them 2-1 - playing some of the best football that we had done in years at that point.
Yet before that Swansea game, we'd been winless in the league thoughout August.
We also played Huddersfield (whatever happened to them?) off the park on Sky Sports, had a cracker of a 4-2 win over Leyton Orient, but capitulated in a couple of other games - Yeovil, as mentioned, and Southend away wasn't very pretty either.
Just goes to show what we know!
With 2 worldies from Wellens, at our end, if I remember.. Shame we had just lost away at Hartlepool.. Racked up a few miles that season!
Playing in the blue and white hoops, if I remember right.
Another collapse I'd forgot that occurred around the same time - losing 2-0 (and capitulating) in a night game at Northampton.
Compare that to the superb wins and great performances later on in the season at Millwall, Leeds, Tranmere, etc.
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And in that 2007/08 promotion season we beat Northampton Town on Boxing Day. Is it an omen. Who knows. Unlikely but not impossible.
Seasons with 7/8 are significant or at least the last 2 are.
1997/98 and 2007/08 Both will live long in the memory, one very sad and one very happy. 2017/18 ???
We beat Northampton 1-0 In 1983 and were promoted that season. The game was also played on December 26th! Mmmm!
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Lump on!
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And in that 2007/08 promotion season we beat Northampton Town on Boxing Day. Is it an omen. Who knows. Unlikely but not impossible.
Seasons with 7/8 are significant or at least the last 2 are.
1997/98 and 2007/08 Both will live long in the memory, one very sad and one very happy. 2017/18 ???
We beat Northampton 1-0 In 1983 and were promoted that season. The game was also played on December 26th! Mmmm!
I don’t remember that one in 1983.
Its nailed on then, another trip to Wembley. Who do you fancy beating in the final?
Got to be another local club so it’s either Scunthorpe or Bradford.
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Won't happen. But I'd like to beat Rotherham at Wembley.
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Won't happen. But I'd like to beat Rotherham at Wembley.
Rotherham won’t finish in top six so that’s why I didn’t mention them. But yes I agree with you RedJ
Love to beat them at Wembley.
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Can't see history repeating. Getting a bit ahead of ourselves there.
No reason why we still can't have a decent season though.
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I remember the turn in our form in 2007/08 coincided with Paul Green becoming a regular starter having been used as a substitute after struggling to find his form.
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And in that 2007/08 promotion season we beat Northampton Town on Boxing Day. Is it an omen. Who knows. Unlikely but not impossible.
Seasons with 7/8 are significant or at least the last 2 are.
1997/98 and 2007/08 Both will live long in the memory, one very sad and one very happy. 2017/18 ???
We were relegated in 1947-48, 1957-58 and 1987-88 :chair:
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Can't see history repeating. Getting a bit ahead of ourselves there.
No reason why we still can't have a decent season though.
I agree I know I am getting ahead of myself. But being positive is important. If the Manager, coach and players believe they can make a challenge for the play offs then it can be achieved.
One game at a time of course and we have some tough fixtures coming up, Shrewsbury and Scunthorpe both away in the space of 4 days. Any points gained in those two matches are a bonus.
We need to make the Keepmoat a fortress for the rest of the season.
Two quality additions to the squad in midfield and up front and who knows what can be achieved.
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And in that 2007/08 promotion season we beat Northampton Town on Boxing Day. Is it an omen. Who knows. Unlikely but not impossible.
Seasons with 7/8 are significant or at least the last 2 are.
1997/98 and 2007/08 Both will live long in the memory, one very sad and one very happy. 2017/18 ???
We were relegated in 1947-48, 1957-58 and 1987-88 :chair:
You could have kept those stats to yourself.
I did say 7/8 was significant. So we have turned the corner in 2007/08 so it will be a promotion year this season.
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Only the top 4 have conceded more goals than us this season.
So we all know where we need to improve.
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And in that 2007/08 promotion season we beat Northampton Town on Boxing Day. Is it an omen. Who knows. Unlikely but not impossible.
Seasons with 7/8 are significant or at least the last 2 are.
1997/98 and 2007/08 Both will live long in the memory, one very sad and one very happy. 2017/18 ???
We were relegated in 1947-48, 1957-58 and 1987-88 :chair:
You could have kept those stats to yourself.
I did say 7/8 was significant. So we have turned the corner in 2007/08 so it will be a promotion year this season.
I don’t go too much for omens. A friend of mine had his wedding reception in a marquee, and part of it blew down in a strong gust of wind. He asked me if it was an omen, but I said it was just a poor tent.
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Only the top 4 have conceded more goals than us this season.
So we all know where we need to improve.
Do you mean less mate?
Frostys dad suggested results are the only thing that matters in football.
On the face of it that's correct but if you're consistently playing well and not getting he results you know that at some point this will change.
The first season in the championship being a prime example
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And in that 2007/08 promotion season we beat Northampton Town on Boxing Day. Is it an omen. Who knows. Unlikely but not impossible.
Seasons with 7/8 are significant or at least the last 2 are.
1997/98 and 2007/08 Both will live long in the memory, one very sad and one very happy. 2017/18 ???
We were relegated in 1947-48, 1957-58 and 1987-88 :chair:
You could have kept those stats to yourself.
I did say 7/8 was significant. So we have turned the corner in 2007/08 so it will be a promotion year this season.
I don’t go too much for omens. A friend of mine had his wedding reception in a marquee, and part of it blew down in a strong gust of wind. He asked me if it was an omen, but I said it was just a poor tent.
I prefer your statistics material😄
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And in that 2007/08 promotion season we beat Northampton Town on Boxing Day. Is it an omen. Who knows. Unlikely but not impossible.
Seasons with 7/8 are significant or at least the last 2 are.
1997/98 and 2007/08 Both will live long in the memory, one very sad and one very happy. 2017/18 ???
We beat Northampton 1-0 In 1983 and were promoted that season. The game was also played on December 26th! Mmmm!
We had that shocking collapse when we were last relegated and not many of us saw that coming so why shouldn’t we have the opposite run this season.
Right now the top six isn’t too far away and a good January could see us right on the edge of it.
February hasn’t been good to us in recent years but nothing stays the same does it.
I hope we do make the playoffs because our record in them is good.
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Only the top 4 have conceded more goals than us this season.
So we all know where we need to improve.
Do you mean less mate?
Frostys dad suggested results are the only thing that matters in football.
On the face of it that's correct but if you're consistently playing well and not getting he results you know that at some point this will change.
The first season in the championship being a prime example
Yes I meant less of course.
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Have to admit that my take on that period is slightly different to BST's.
We'd just got a little bit form going around mid-late November that had taken us into the top 6. A huge relief for everyone given the weight of expectation around the club. It had been a stuttering start to the season. The general view was that we had the players, we had the manager and we could boss anyone on our day but that we needed to gain a bit of consistency, something that had proved elusive for the first couple of months of the season.
We did seem to click around November-December although we got badly beaten early in the new year by a rampant Swansea.
This year doesn't compare. We've got some good players, but we haven't got a great squad. Generally, we'll struggle against the top 6 but we've got enough to beat the teams below and around us. For me it feels a bit more Dave Penney circa 2005 than SOD 2007. Happy to be proved wrong of course but, in all honesty, I don't see it coming together for us this season.
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Frostys dad suggested results are the only thing that matters in football.
On the face of it that's correct but if you're consistently playing well and not getting he results you know that at some point this will change.
The first season in the championship being a prime example
absolute horseshit - this is rovers we're talking about and therefore as you very well know the results count for absolutely f**k all unless everyone's seen the most scintillating brand of mesmerising, attacking football conceivable, all the players are each other's best mates, are playing for nowt and have no personal ambitions to further or better themselves, there are fantastic pies being handed out in your seat (and free beer) and the signs all over the place saying "park here without paying and you will get fined" only apply to other people who haven't paid, and not you, personally, because you are special and are above such nonsence
mr f (senior's) results nonsense is only applicable in some bizarre parallel universe where success or failure is based purely and simply on how good you are at actually playing the game, which is utterly nonsensical...
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BigH
I’m not directly comparing our performance this year to the 2007 vintage. That squad was obviously far stronger.
What I’m saying is that, relative to expectations, the two seasons are very similar.
Poor end to the previous season.
Poor start to this season.
Slowly improving results in Oct & Nov, but with a style of play that generally underwhelmed, and looked awful when we didn’t win. (The Yeovil performance in Dec 07 was appalling, but not that much worse than the ploddingly witless and virtually chanceless draws we’d ground out against Tranmere and Brighton in the previous 2 home games.)
An inability to get any consistent form going (only 2 back to back wins in the first 20 league games of 2007/08 from that squad was awful.)
And then the real click coming over the Xmas period.
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Uncanny
In 2007-08, the six matches up to and including New Year’s Day went DLWWWD
This year, the same 6 are LDWWWD
I remember wondering if the draw at Walsall on 1 Jan 2008 marked the end of our uptick in form. In fact, we were at the early stages of a run of P16 W13 D1 L2 which took us to 2nd place.
Let’s have a repeat of that run please.
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Does our league position run in 10 year cycles?
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Uncanny
In 2007-08, the six matches up to and including New Year’s Day went DLWWWD
This year, the same 6 are LDWWWD
I remember wondering if the draw at Walsall on 1 Jan 2008 marked the end of our uptick in form. In fact, we were at the early stages of a run of P16 W13 D1 L2 which took us to 2nd place.
Let’s have a repeat of that run please.
IIRC, if we'd won that game at Walsall then we could have gone up to second in the league at that point.
Wasn't it the start of a run of form where we had to play all the promotion contenders? Leeds, Swansea, Carlisle, etc?
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We should have won that game at Walsall but for a close miss by Lewis Guy near the end..
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And in that 2007/08 promotion season we beat Northampton Town on Boxing Day. Is it an omen. Who knows. Unlikely but not impossible.
Seasons with 7/8 are significant or at least the last 2 are.
1997/98 and 2007/08 Both will live long in the memory, one very sad and one very happy. 2017/18 ???
We beat Northampton 1-0 In 1983 and were promoted that season. The game was also played on December 26th! Mmmm!
We had that shocking collapse when we were last relegated and not many of us saw that coming so why shouldn’t we have the opposite run this season.
Right now the top six isn’t too far away and a good January could see us right on the edge of it.
February hasn’t been good to us in recent years but nothing stays the same does it.
I hope we do make the playoffs because our record in them is good.
That is an understatement, our record is 100%.
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And in that 2007/08 promotion season we beat Northampton Town on Boxing Day. Is it an omen. Who knows. Unlikely but not impossible.
Seasons with 7/8 are significant or at least the last 2 are.
1997/98 and 2007/08 Both will live long in the memory, one very sad and one very happy. 2017/18 ???
We beat Northampton 1-0 In 1983 and were promoted that season. The game was also played on December 26th! Mmmm!
We had that shocking collapse when we were last relegated and not many of us saw that coming so why shouldn’t we have the opposite run this season.
Right now the top six isn’t too far away and a good January could see us right on the edge of it.
February hasn’t been good to us in recent years but nothing stays the same does it.
I hope we do make the playoffs because our record in them is good.
That is an understatement, our record is 100%.
I know mate, including Daggers of course, two out of two.