collapse collapse

Please donate to help towards the costs of keeping this site going. Thank You.

Follow us on...

Author Topic: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team  (Read 31110 times)

Offline cdbearsfan

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 61464
  • Location: Yardley Massive
  • I still hate Bono.
  • GM : 03.02.2025
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #15 on: April 05, 2020, 04:57:11 PM »
Our strikers were never scoring thirty a season but they were decent enough. Those stats back up my theory that we never scored nearly enough goals from midfield. Also, can't remember very many set piece goals.

Online Simon Page

  • Member
  • Posts: 4959
  • Location: Oh to be in the very north North Stand
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #16 on: April 05, 2020, 05:07:38 PM »
There were quite a few pointing out at the time that we didn't have 20+ a season strikers. Made it all the more galling that we missed out on Shearer and Sutton in consecutive seasons.

Offline PeterWithesShin

  • Member
  • Posts: 67448
  • GM : 17.03.2015
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #17 on: April 05, 2020, 05:15:25 PM »
We only once had a 12 league goals a season man under Atkinson, never mind 20 or 30 a year.

Online AV82EC

  • Member
  • Posts: 10232
  • Location: Macclesfield
  • GM : 22.02.2024
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #18 on: April 05, 2020, 05:32:51 PM »
We were a superbly coached side by Dave Sexton at the time, very easy on the eye, but lacked goals all over the pitch. We never strengthened properly from a position of strength (repeat ad infinitum).

Offline brontebilly

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9283
  • GM : 09.06.2024
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #19 on: April 05, 2020, 05:41:32 PM »
Our strikers were never scoring thirty a season but they were decent enough. Those stats back up my theory that we never scored nearly enough goals from midfield. Also, can't remember very many set piece goals.

What happened Tony Daley's form around then? Ray Houghton was pushing on alright by then, had a brilliant game v Inter that I recall but didn't start the league cup final. Graham Fenton never really kicked on either.

Offline dave.woodhall

  • Moderator
  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 61434
  • Location: Treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry.
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #20 on: April 05, 2020, 05:48:19 PM »
Our strikers were never scoring thirty a season but they were decent enough. Those stats back up my theory that we never scored nearly enough goals from midfield. Also, can't remember very many set piece goals.

What happened Tony Daley's form around then? Ray Houghton was pushing on alright by then, had a brilliant game v Inter that I recall but didn't start the league cup final. Graham Fenton never really kicked on either.

Again, I don't think BFR really fancied Daley. Houghton was a bit hit & miss all the time he was here and Fenton just never made the breakthrough.

Offline FatSam

  • Member
  • Posts: 1272
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #21 on: April 05, 2020, 05:50:39 PM »
During the lockdown I've been bingeing on Nessun Dorma podcast about 80s and 90s football. I've listened to a couple of episodes recently that touch on the 92/93 season; S2 Ep3: Oldham Athletic 1989-1994 which in part discusses our loss at home to Oldham which sealed the title for Man U, and S1 Ep19: Man United Finally Win The Title which obviously covers that whole season, but from their perspective.

I was at school at the time and only went to a few games that season. My recall is poor at the best of times, and I've realised that my memories of the season are very sporadic. I'd forgotten for example that we beat Man U twice at home before Christmas, in the league and league cup. On the podcast Rob Smyth talks about how pivotal the signing of Cantona was in changing the culture and attitude at Man U, and pulling their form together. We obviously bought Saunders early in the season, which made us a lot more competitive also.

Many key players (with a few notable exceptions) were 30 and older by 94. With hindsight it doesn't look like Atkinson had a very sustainable attitude to squad-building. Little's work in the summer of 95 obviously rectified this, but I suppose in an ideal world it wouldn't have been necessary. The best managers are able to re-build from a position of strength, often breaking up a successful team to rejuvenate it.




Offline cdbearsfan

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 61464
  • Location: Yardley Massive
  • I still hate Bono.
  • GM : 03.02.2025
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #22 on: April 05, 2020, 06:15:13 PM »
We only once had a 12 league goals a season man under Atkinson, never mind 20 or 30 a year.

Yeah but, as a partnership, they scored a fair few for a while. Saunders was always working his arse off all over the pitch, too, so may well have scored more if we had invested in a more energetic, youthful, midfield to do more work for him.

Offline PeterWithesShin

  • Member
  • Posts: 67448
  • GM : 17.03.2015
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #23 on: April 05, 2020, 06:21:08 PM »
Saunders didn't score many as he wasn't that good for a record signing. And if both strikers barely get into double figures each season then it really isn't a partnership that scores a fair few.

Offline Mister E

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 16580
  • Location: Mostly the Republic of Yorkshire (N)
  • GM : 16.02.2025
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #24 on: April 05, 2020, 07:16:22 PM »
This for sure, we stopped scoring goals and a bit of luck went against us and it all went with Manure, the day they beat Sheff Wed and I think we drew with Coventry.

Was that the day when Manure were given 9 minutes of 'Fergie' time by the referee?
We drew 1-1 vs Coventry and played very lethargically. Manc did indeed enjoy over 7 minutes of extra time when Spud'ead scored a winner.

Offline brontebilly

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9283
  • GM : 09.06.2024
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #25 on: April 05, 2020, 07:20:35 PM »
There were quite a few pointing out at the time that we didn't have 20+ a season strikers. Made it all the more galling that we missed out on Shearer and Sutton in consecutive seasons.

Interestingly ,Man Utd only once in the 90s had a 20 goals a season striker in the league (Yorke 99/00). It didn't hurt them too much, don't think they were as successful when having to rely on RVN in later years for the bulk of their goals.


Offline Damo70

  • Member
  • Posts: 30877
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #26 on: April 05, 2020, 07:23:51 PM »
Personally I always saw 1990 as more of a missed opportunity to 1993. I came out of White Hart Lane in late February convinced we would win the title. But instead of kicking on we immediately lost at home to Wimbledon and away to Coventry (I think Mountfield got injured at Coventry and was out for a while). We dropped points at QPR and lost to poor Palace and Man City sides. We relied too much on Platt for our goals, Ian Olney was young and knackered after leading the line all season and Cascarino didn't hit the ground running. 1992-1993 was our Ipswich season. We played Manure three times and beat them twice and drew once. It was looking good when we won at Forest but the next week we drew with Coventry whilst Bruce scored those late goals for Manure against Wednesday. We then lost our last three games which made United's triumph look far more emphatic then it was prior to the last but one game.

Offline Damo70

  • Member
  • Posts: 30877
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #27 on: April 05, 2020, 07:25:15 PM »
This for sure, we stopped scoring goals and a bit of luck went against us and it all went with Manure, the day they beat Sheff Wed and I think we drew with Coventry.

Was that the day when Manure were given 9 minutes of 'Fergie' time by the referee?
We drew 1-1 vs Coventry and played very lethargically. Manc did indeed enjoy over 7 minutes of extra time when Spud'ead scored a winner.

Not that it makes much difference but Coventry was 0-0 not 1-1.

Offline Deano's Mullet

  • Member
  • Posts: 22150
  • Location: Erdington now Sussex
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #28 on: April 05, 2020, 07:43:50 PM »
I think we have all stated this before but if we kept Yorke up front in 1993 we might have won it. Dalian was well off the pace when he came back the last games of that season.
The following year we obviously showed our quality in the cup but BFR came up with a 433 trying to accommodate Whittingham  up front as well as Atkinson and Saunders and this didn't really do anything for all three of them. And in midfield Townsend had replaced Garry Parker who was more deadly in front of goal - Townsend didn't really set the place on fire until Little was our boss. Him and Richardson were maybe too similar. Atkinson, Daley and Saunders aside, we weren't the paciest team either at a time when the speed of the game was changing.
I suppose the lack of consistent scorers ultimately cost BFR his job. Deano actually thrived for a short time down to having Fashanu alongside him but injuries and other interests sidelined Fash and Ron seemed not to trust Yorke too much towards the end while Dalian was too lethargic. Performances were pretty attractive in the 14 games or so that ended BFRs reign but we had problems finishing the chances we made.

Offline brontebilly

  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 9283
  • GM : 09.06.2024
Re: The rapid decline of the 92/93 team
« Reply #29 on: April 05, 2020, 07:55:08 PM »
I'm not sure the like sof Whittingham, Phil King and Fashanu were good enough to replace the players from 92/93 that needed replacing.

Townsend came in too that summer and was certainly a very good signing for the club. United signed Roy Keane though. Blackburn had signed a young Alan Shearer the season before. BFR seemed to prefer the experienced pro though.

 


SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal