Have we ever had a more humiliating season ?

[Gassin's finest]

That season had a terrible finale but this has been like a fairly constant slap in the face.

It's akin to watching this gif for half an hour:

View attachment 10895

I could watch that gif for 30 mins and still be laughing my bollocks off at it!

 

[Stoof]

I could watch that gif for 30 mins and still be laughing my bollocks off at it!

Which makes it my best analogy ever, given that's what people are doing in our direction ...

 

[Coyboy]

To be honest, this season reminds me very much of Jol's last full season. We were absolutely turgid to watch, especially away from home, and you could see our defence was shambolic and Jol refused to recognise that Dawson and Robinson were at the heart of the problems and he kept making platitudes about pressing from the front but couldn't get the team to do it etc. We still finished 5th but it was nothing but grind performances against shit teams that got us there.

The difference was we were still in the honeymoon period of only just becoming good enough to compete for 4th/5th so forgave and accepted it as the price of progress.

We've now spent several seasons up there duking it out for 3rd/4th/5th so season's like this hurt more.

No matter what people thought of AVB, 18 months sitting where we were, with several players new to this league/country and shawn of every last one of the top draw players we'd had over that last several years, needing stability through transition, was a really, really stupid thing to do. Even Jol got nearly 4 years, as did Redknapp and they had better relative circumstances than AVB was working in.

06/07?

The two seaons were nothing like each other. In that season we started playing more expansive football at a slight defensive cost, had the best of Berbatov and Keane, a decent UEFA cup run and finished behind a fairly entrenched top four.

 

[jezz]

I'm guessing @Monkey boy means two Prem goals from open play, which is all Soldado has managed this season. I still rate Soldado very highly, and in the right set-up he could be a great asset to have, but two goals from open play is a very poor return.

Penalties win games. Sorry they count towards his tally as far as I'm concerned.
They are harder than tap ins.
In the stats for the season so far it's 11.
How many penalites did Ronaldo score in his 40 odd goal season?
No one says they didn't count, they just say he scored forty odd goals.

 

[Spurger King]

Penalties win games. Sorry they count towards his tally as far as I'm concerned.
They are harder than tap ins.
In the stats for the season so far it's 11.
How many penalites did Ronaldo score in his 40 odd goal season?
No one says they didn't count, they just say he scored forty odd goals.

I'm not disregarding the penalties. His penalty record is fantastic, and it's great to finally be able to have some confidence when we win one. However, as a striker he needs to be scoring more than two goals from open play.

 

[shelfboy68]

From Bill Nick till now I cannot think of a worse time. The relegation was down to having a poor side. This side should be getting humiliated the way they do. If someone had of told me that the bindipperas would stick 10 past us without reply over two game or that the spammers would have beaten us twice in a matter of weeks I would have carted them off to the funny farm notwithstanding the other defeats to Norwich, Citeh and L'arse.

In terms of the squad that had finished fifth previous and the finance spent this has to be up there with the real shit teams.
I have never seen so many hammerings and collapses a side with no character or balls no excuses.

 

[jezz]

I'm not disregarding the penalties. His penalty record is fantastic, and it's great to finally be able to have some confidence when we win one. However, as a striker he needs to be scoring more than two goals from open play.

I agree 100%.
With the creatives playing I think he will.
And he showed this in the Europa league.
Pity the manager missed it or ignored it.

 

[m*****73]

Listen, for all the irate indignation and feather spitting apoplexy going on right now, I still wouldn't swap where we are now for any time between about 1993 and 2005. That was a baron football wasteland of a place to be.

Levy fucked up big time sacking AVB when he did. His biggest mistake since taking over as chairman. And there is shit that needs addressing and a better man than Sherwood to do it by the looks of things. But despite several humiliating score lines, things have been much, much worse.

Levy's biggest mistake as chairman was sacking Redknapp. He was the only manager in Levy's tenure at the club who achieved anything close to the success that we wanted and needed. For a short time under Harry, we were one of the 'big 4' again.... now? we just roll over and get hammered by the 'big 4'

 

[whitelanefever]

Levy's biggest mistake as chairman was sacking Redknapp. He was the only manager in Levy's tenure at the club who achieved anything close to the success that we wanted and needed. For a short time under Harry, we were one of the 'big 4' again.... now? we just roll over and get hammered by the 'big 4'

We got battered plenty against big teams under Harry, Levy's biggest mistake was appointing AVB he created a team with a tactical straight jacket on & unable to think for themselves & lacking character. To think Van Gal was available when Harry got the boot & didn't hire him & chose AVB tells us all we need to know about Levy.. He hasn't got a clue about football

 

[Bus-Conductor]

06/07?

The two seaons were nothing like each other. In that season we started playing more expansive football at a slight defensive cost, had the best of Berbatov and Keane, a decent UEFA cup run and finished behind a fairly entrenched top four.

But that's what's happening under Sherwood, he has come in and tried to remedy the perceived robotic sterility of AVB by being more expansive, all that's happened is that it has exposed defensive frailties and we are still creatively sterile most of the time.

This is what happened in that last season under Jol. Previous season we were dogged but incredibly dour (four CM's across midfield sometimes) but his attempt to be more expansive just exposed the likes of Dawson and Robinson and his own tactical and coaching inability to get players to work and press off the ball. And away from home both seasons we were shockingly bad.

 

[Coyboy]

Levy's biggest mistake as chairman was sacking Redknapp. He was the only manager in Levy's tenure at the club who achieved anything close to the success that we wanted and needed. For a short time under Harry, we were one of the 'big 4' again.... now? we just roll over and get hammered by the 'big 4'

From a footballing perspective, yes. From a sort of policitical perspective, he may have had good reason what with the court case, the England job and the slump in form. It would have been nice if they had kissed and made up but it did feel that the relationship was irreperably damaged.

And in hindsight, we could have got a good young manager and many were available- like Rogers, Martinez or Moyes.

Jol was even more of a mistake because it set a dangerous precedent: manager does well, team has a slight downturn in form, director of football doesn't play well with manager, manager goes rinse and repeat. Why Levy cannot give managers time and accept no team (even City or Chelsea) improve in a linear fashion year on year is incredibly frustrating?

I don't think AVB should necessarily have been sacked but then again I don't know if he was. None of us do and we know even less about what goes on behind closed doors. I doubt many do.

 

[Coyboy]

But that's what's happening under Sherwood, he has come in and tried to remedy the perceived robotic sterility of AVB by being more expansive, all that's happened is that it has exposed defensive frailties and we are still creatively sterile most of the time.

This is what happened in that last season under Jol. Previous season we were dogged but incredibly dour (four CM's across midfield sometimes) but his attempt to be more expansive just exposed the likes of Dawson and Robinson and his own tactical and coaching inability to get players to work and press off the ball. And away from home both seasons we were shockingly bad.

Yes but we ended that season very well and were not getting thrashed and beaten so easily (United, Liverpool and Arsenal beat us by 3 but that was ended in January). As a team we were progressing this time 7 years ago. And we seldom played four across the middle, Lennon played a lot of that season- 05/06. Different era, but we were far more creative then than we are now.

That season was a transitional season in the sense of moving from one style of play to another with only a slight step backwards in terms of points, I believe. This season is frankly just a mess.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Levy's biggest mistake as chairman was sacking Redknapp. He was the only manager in Levy's tenure at the club who achieved anything close to the success that we wanted and needed. For a short time under Harry, we were one of the 'big 4' again.... now? we just roll over and get hammered by the 'big 4'

Redknapp wasted our best chance to cement ourselves as a top four club at the expense of Arsenal two seasons running with the best team we've had for 25 years. I have no problem with his sacking at all.

 

[Coyboy]

Other than City and Chelsesa, what teams have "cemented" a top four place? Even the latter missed out by conventional methods in 2012. Arsenal are now clinging on for dear life. Putting aside the fact that Redknapp got is into that position in the first place, the idea we would have got into the CL and lived happily ever after is fiction.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Yes but we ended that season very well and were not getting thrashed and beaten so easily (United, Liverpool and Arsenal beat us by 3 but that was ended in January). As a team we were progressing this time 7 years ago. And we seldom played four across the middle, Lennon played a lot of that season- 05/06. Different era, but we were far more creative then than we are now.

That season was a transitional season in the sense of moving from one style of play to another with only a slight step backwards in terms of points, I believe. This season is frankly just a mess.

We may well end this season ok, with close to our record points haul in the EPL - which was last season. This has been much more a transitional season than 06-07. We wren't far more creative than we are now. We only scored 57 goals that season and I reckon if we get Adebayor fit by the end of the season we'll possibly only be 4 or 5 off that this season. And if we'd played him all season we'd have almost certainly equaled or bettered that tally.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Other than City and Chelsesa, what teams have "cemented" a top four place? Even the latter missed out by conventional methods in 2012. Arsenal are now clinging on for dear life. Putting aside the fact that Redknapp got is into that position in the first place, the idea we would have got into the CL and lived happily ever after is fiction.

I didn't say we would have lived happily ever after, but having CL football 3 years running would have added 90m+ to our balance sheet and also meant we could be attracting better players 3 years running, maybe even retaining our better players as well, and the obvious benefits that all those circumstances would have. Which is how this shit self perpetuates itself continually and why teams such as Arsenal, ManU, Chelsea have spent 1 season outside CL football collectively for god knows how many years.

Redknapp took us the quantum leap of one place better than Jol did twice and AVB did once. That was great but he also had the strongest team of any of those managers.

Achieving CL three seasons running would have put us in a whole new ball game, and at the same time weakened drastically a main (non sugar daddy funded) rival.

Redknapp pissed that opportunity away with poor management of resources.

 

[Coyboy]

We may well end this season ok, with close to our record points haul in the EPL - which was last season. This has been much more a transitional season than 06-07. We wren't far more creative than we are now. We only scored 57 goals that season and I reckon if we get Adebayor fit by the end of the season we'll possibly only be 4 or 5 off that this season. And if we'd played him all season we'd have almost certainly equaled or bettered that tally.

Of course we may but that's optimistic speculation right now. So we have still scored more and I think I read on another thread how almost half out goals have been due to errors.

2006/07 wasn't a great season by any stretch, especially the beginning but I don't see the parallels with this, nor have you shown any.

Re the above post, constantly attacking Redknapp for not getting CL footy is pretty flawed logic when it was he who got us into that position in the first place and were it not for Chelsea getting lucky in the CL, would have twice.

And we would have been punching above our weight by being in the top four, in terms of financial clout.

 

[onthetwo]

weve gone from spunking a load of cash, keeping Bale and potentially competing for the title to an utter shambles on the field managed by a YTS traineee who thinks hes some kind of guru so relative to where my expectations were in July it feels like a massive fall. The only positive i can think is that we wont get releagted and might not have to play in the Wafer next season.

 

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

Redknapp wasted our best chance to cement ourselves as a top four club at the expense of Arsenal two seasons running with the best team we've had for 25 years. I have no problem with his sacking at all.

At the end of the day Redknapp did a fantastic job. There seems to be alot of revisionism on here. People talking about he had the players. If it was so easy why were we barely able to win a game stretching back from after the carling cup win to when he took over. Pavlyuchenko, Bent and Frazier Campbell as our forward options, Jenas and Zokora in midfield, Alan Hutton at right back. Some of that squad and team was shocking. This myth that he walked into this fantastic side is complete tripe. Yes he had good players in his time that either signed or improved under him. His biggest problem was perception. People didn't like/rate him before and liked to be seen as right. As an example if Sherwood only picked up a couple of points from now to the end of the season(lets be honest not beyond the realms) and for some reason started as manager next season but could only get say 2 points from 8 games with Soldado, Lemela, etc all still struggling, then we get someone like Van gaal, Klopp or someone sexy in and within 18 months gets us in the top four, with Lemela Soldado, Paulinho looking like world beaters, do you think the keyboard tacticians on here are going to say no he didn't do a great job, he had the players. Any Tom, Dick or Harry could of done the job, Like bollocks they will.

 

[Nocando]

At the end of the day Redknapp did a fantastic job. There seems to be alot of revisionism on here. People talking about he had the players. If it was so easy why were we barely able to win a game stretching back from after the carling cup win to when he took over. Pavlyuchenko, Bent and Frazier Campbell as our forward options, Jenas and Zokora in midfield, Alan Hutton at right back. Some of that squad and team was shocking. This myth that he walked into this fantastic side is complete tripe. Yes he had good players in his time that either signed or improved under him. His biggest problem was perception. People didn't like/rate him before and liked to be seen as right. As an example if Sherwood only picked up a couple of points from now to the end of the season(lets be honest not beyond the realms) and for some reason started as manager next season but could only get say 2 points from 8 games with Soldado, Lemela, etc all still struggling, then we get someone like Van gaal, Klopp or someone sexy in and within 18 months gets us in the top four, with Lemela Soldado, Paulinho looking like world beaters, do you think the keyboard tacticians on here are going to say no he didn't do a great job, he had the players. Any Tom, Dick or Harry could of done the job, Like bollocks they will.

Great post and there's a good reason why Harry was one of the longest running premiership managers.

There were plenty of people, like BC, who wanted him out. Ultimately they got what they wished for and are now paying the price. However it's lost on a lot of them, as I wouldnt be surprised if some of them lament over and pine for those days again.

Of course AVB was never given a chance but when a chairman and the fans don't appreciate what they have until it's gone, they shouldn't be surprised when this comes back to bite them.

Keep throwing those dice people.