The rapid decline of the 92/93 team

[Deano's Mullet]

I enjoyed that Villa v Utd clip. Thank you.

I cannot now remember, did Yorke immediately become our top striker after Little came in? BFR favoured Atkinson and Saunders to the end. Yorke probably should have been the star striker earlier than he was (based on that clip!)

I think the first few games of 94/95 showed Ron's preference was for Fashanu and Saunders. I remember Andy Gray saying after a couple of games that it certainly made a difference to Saunders' game having a big man up front to win the aerial battles. Then Fashanu got injured around the time of the away leg with Inter and Dalian/Whittifngham/Fenton/Yorke  all interchanged as Saunders' partner up until Ron was sacked. Lamptey made the odd cameo too.

Wasn't Fashanu about 33 at that point? I just thought he came as back up rather than regular first choice. Bit like if Grant Holt had come in and regularly started when we loaned him in that January.

Fashanu started the first five games or so of the season while Dalian was a sub so i am guessing he was either 1st choice or that Ron hoped this was spur Dalian on. It literally took an injury to Fashanu for Dalian to start games again. Fashanu's age was nothing surprising really as a fair few of the team were over thirty.

[LeeB]

He was a shit signing, but he actually wasn't that bad when he actually played for us.

I've seen worse.

[LeeB]

Also remember Ron saying when he signed that he wasn't "just a big duck egg", like anyone else in the world would've ever suggested he was.

Perfect Ronglish, makes no sense but you know exactly what he means.

[KevinGage]

From memory, Fashanu said he was chatting to Ron at USA 94 about Nigerian midfielders or forwards who may be available.

Ron then asked if he was open to a move.

There was logic to the signing. As a side, we were too nice to play against at times.  And whatever Fash was as a player, he wasn't that. So an intriguing one.

But @ 33, well past it by then. And played like it, for the most part. With our other key players over 30 at that stage, we should have looked elsewhere.

Didn't he cost in excess £1.5 million then as well?  Still a fair chunk of change in that period, even in the mad world of football.

Amokachi or Sunny Oliseh etc would have been a better fit for us at that point.

[CT]

Fashanu wore his Wimbledon sweat band for the first few games didn't he? I seem to recall that didn't go down too well.

Wasn't it tough guy Ryan Giggs that did him at OT? I cant remember for sure, even though I was there!

[Deano's Mullet]

It was Giggs.

About 2-3 games earlier he managed to score in consecutive games vs QPR and Forest. At half time vs QPR he was substituted and raced straight back to London for some emergency dental work. His goal cane from a free kick that I remember involved a scuffle over who was going to take it between Teale and Bosnich. As you  can imagine Teale won!

I think Fashanu was popular. I remember when the season ended with another slump and Andy Townsend put part of the decline down to losing Fash to injury. He was never going to be a long term signing. I reckon BFR reckoned JF would emulate Cyrille Regis three seasons earlier in doing a decent job for a brief season or two.

[Damo70]

I was pleased when we signed Fashanu as I had always thought he was a decent and rather underrated striker and certainly a physical presence. I think his goals record was decent too. I think the problem was that he had already had different irons in different fires by that point in his football career. He had an office in London from where he ran a football agency (hence the first contact with BFR when Fashanu was trying to bring Nigerian players over into the Premier League) and had also started doing TV work.

[Deano's Mullet]

I was pleased when we signed Fashanu as I had always thought he was a decent and rather underrated striker and certainly a physical presence. I think his goals record was decent too. I think the problem was that he had already had different irons in different fires by that point in his football career. He had an office in London from where he ran a football agency (hence the first contact with BFR when Fashanu was trying to bring Nigerian players over into the Premier League) and had also started doing TV work.

Yeah he was doing Gladiators in Brum NIA at the time too. When I say ye was popular I meant with the other players. I know most supporters weren't too impressed by his signing.

[London Villan]

Didnt we sign Whittingham that summer too? Then played him as a winger?

[Deano's Mullet]

Didnt we sign Whittingham that summer too? Then played him as a winger?

Whittingham was a year earlier and played up front but ended up on loan at Wolves before the season was over. I was excited when we signed him as he had just hit 42 goals for Pompey that year but it just didn't work out. First two shirts I ever had names on were Saunders 9 in 93 and Whittingham 22 in 1994 about a week before he left for Sheff Weds. My dad was not impressed as it was a costly name! I still own it now.

[SoccerHQ]

Ha when I first saw Fashanu in mid 90s on TV I just assume that was all he did. Pretty impressed to learn he was a decent footballer aswell.

Awooga!

[Chico Hamilton III]

Wasn't it tough guy Ryan Giggs that did him at OT? I cant remember for sure, even though I was there!

It was. My claim to fame was that I was on Match Of The Day that evening - for some reason the cameras panned right in in on me while I was clapping as Fashanu was carried off after Giggs had "done him".

 I had no idea until i got home and found loads of messages on my answerphone (one of those old machines with a tape recorder fitted to capture messages). Good job I'd recorded MOTD ( on one of those old video machines). 

[eamonn]

I thought you'd be risking ejection, cursing at Giggs and "giving him the wanker's".

[LeeB]

Wasn't it tough guy Ryan Giggs that did him at OT? I cant remember for sure, even though I was there!

It was. My claim to fame was that I was on Match Of The Day that evening - for some reason the cameras panned right in in on me while I was clapping as Fashanu was carried off after Giggs had "done him".

 I had no idea until i got home and found loads of messages on my answerphone (one of those old machines with a tape recorder fitted to capture messages). Good job I'd recorded MOTD ( on one of those old video machines). 

It's funny but I remember it as him doing himself whilst trying to do Giggs, in a Gascoigne stylee.

[brontebilly]

I enjoyed that Villa v Utd clip. Thank you.

I cannot now remember, did Yorke immediately become our top striker after Little came in? BFR favoured Atkinson and Saunders to the end. Yorke probably should have been the star striker earlier than he was (based on that clip!)

I think the first few games of 94/95 showed Ron's preference was for Fashanu and Saunders. I remember Andy Gray saying after a couple of games that it certainly made a difference to Saunders' game having a big man up front to win the aerial battles. Then Fashanu got injured around the time of the away leg with Inter and Dalian/Whittifngham/Fenton/Yorke  all interchanged as Saunders' partner up until Ron was sacked. Lamptey made the odd cameo too.

Wasn't Fashanu about 33 at that point? I just thought he came as back up rather than regular first choice. Bit like if Grant Holt had come in and regularly started when we loaned him in that January.

Fashanu started the first five games or so of the season while Dalian was a sub so i am guessing he was either 1st choice or that Ron hoped this was spur Dalian on. It literally took an injury to Fashanu for Dalian to start games again. Fashanu's age was nothing surprising really as a fair few of the team were over thirty.

We already had Saunders, Atkinson, Yorke and Whittingham as strikers though. Back then squad rotation wasn't really all that popular either so we were definitely overstaffed up top. Pity Whittingham didn't work out in hindsight.

Signing a 33 yr old Fashanu while Daley and Froggatt were leaving wasn't the best use of budget by BFR. Only left us with Houghton (32) as a wide player, or Staunton, Atkinson or Yorke shoved out of position. Houghton had been dropped for the league cup final in 93/94 so his decline was in evidence before then.