Guest SnookerOwl Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I think I remember things differently to some of you. Di Canio had to go, the only mistake was accepting Wet Ham's first offer which Redknapp has since admitted was a joke offer to see if we were interested in selling and he never expected to get Di Canio for that price. As for Francis trying to break up Atkinson's team...wtf, Trevor took over in the summer before the 91/92 season and didn't start to dismantle the team until the summer after the 92/93 season, so basically he kept more or less the bones of Ron's team for two seasons and then decided he wanted to stamp his authority . That team had 2 or 3 more seasons left in the tank. Many of Francis's signings were p!ss poor in comparison to that team, hence why we went on a MASSIVE slide from then onwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Owlscott1 Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Even to this day, it brings my blood to a boil how we treated him after that incident. Im not saying what he did was right, far from it, looking back now our club did the right thing in fining him. What followed after that was a complete joke, forcing him to leave the club was the wrong decision. Players have done worse things at other clubs, and the club have still supported that player after everything calms down. The same should have happend with Di Canio. I remember a TV special (cant remember the programme) by the BBC where they went to Rome to find Di Canio after he went AWOL, they found him outside some cafe. He was saying what the club said to him straight after the incident, basically get out the club we don't want you anymore. Bet they think differently now. It was Rob Mcaffery sky sports news Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Quality Players & Managers we have lost needlessly in my life as an Owl. ( players we did n't push boat out for) Albert Quixall; Harry Catterick;(Joe Baker) Tony Kay; Wilf Smith; Peter Eustace; John Quinn; Ian Knight; Dalian Atkinson; Ron Atkinson(twice); (Eric Cantona); Roland Nilsson; Siggi Jonsson Sorry but I have only dealt with what I consider to be an absoloute elite in quality. johnny quinn and absolute elite quality .....not sure about that nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prendo's boots Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 ....Dave 'oooh look at me' Richards attitude to Big Ron second time round as already mentioned...just wanted to prove a point....what a TW@T!!!...we'd have been up there for quite a while longer and plans were in place for Pearson working alongside BR too...if only!!!...He handled Carbone and Di Canio properly too...(anyone remember the friendly away at Rangers 2-2 they got one each!!!)...im seething now all over again here!!!... .ah well....ONWARDS AND UPWARDS !!!.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s.armo Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Warhurst was a one season wonder up front, never did it again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dukeries Owl Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I'm old enough to remember the dark days of the 70's when we had a very good right back called Richard Walden who we had to sell to Newport County for financial reasons FFS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto_Man Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 (edited) That team had 2 or 3 more seasons left in the tank. Many of Francis's signings were p!ss poor in comparison to that team, hence why we went on a MASSIVE slide from then onwards. Oh I quite agree, but to say he broke the team up to somehow stamp his authority on it is incorrect and doesn't make sense. Edited February 6, 2012 by Otto_Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hack-Abusi Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 from my time Sibon Kuqi De Bilde Carbone Stefanovich Di Canio Quinn Bromby Thome Kovacevic Ian Taylor Chris Bart Williams Kevin Pressman Paul Heffernan Frank Simek Deon Burton Juan Cobian Wayne Collins i'm sure there are a hell of a lot more transfers where we've ballsed up on big time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetsheri Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I think selling Paul Warhurst and keeping Hirsty was a mistake thats been overlooked. Rumour at the time was that the pair didn't get on..so much so Hirsty threatened to chin him. Things escalated and warhurst left. Always remember warhurst debut at home to Everton. He was majestic at the back, just glided across the pitch. Pace to spare.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
York_Owl Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Francis was not a good man manager. But he did take us to 2 finals in 93 plus we had a real shot as being champions until a week or two before Leeds finally pipped ManU. He also signed and got the best out of Waddle and converted Warhurst from a talented but error prone defender into a goal machine. I think your summary of him is harsh. But we had already won the League Cup under Atkinson. With the right additions to the squad we should have won more trophies and possibly even the league in 91-92. Francis made some great signings, Waddle, Walker, Warhurst (as a forward not centre half as you mention) and Bart Williams but also made some bad signings (Jemson, Ingesson, Nolan, Sinton, Andy Pearce, Poric) the non-signing of Cantona plus, as has been mentioned, he let some key players go way too early like Pearson, Harkes, Palmer, Worthington, Nilsson (maybe not Francis's fault), Warhurst. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owl in Nottingham Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I agree with SnookerOwl Warhurst was on fire that season. Pace and shots that were invariably on target. Should have started him in the cup final Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I agree with SnookerOwl Warhurst was on fire that season. Pace and shots that were invariably on target. Should have started him in the cup final instead of who ?...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest phshaw Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 However bad some of the managers have been, Pleat really does take some beating. He couldn't handle characters and made bad decision after bad decision with no regard to the long term ramifications. Even with the Waddler he turns down a 500,000 bid from Celtic at end of the '96 season, only to release him a couple of months later for nothing. He had no regard for the club or it's supporters and only thought about No.1. I detested him and still refuse to listen to his disingenuous comments when speaking on the radio. Thank God for Megson!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest davidhigton Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Surely, one of the worst transfers would be that of a player called John Hickton, who went on to score over 190 goals in 500 hundred appearances in a ten year career at Middlesborough. What a set of wallies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RolandWaddle Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 John Harkes to Derby. Such an underated player for us and seemed to really have th club at heart. He could play 4 or 5 positions really well and never let us down. He had a great rapport with the fans and was a key member of the squad both in terms of playing ability and team spirit. I was gutted when Francis let him go to Derby. Derby at the time were pretty bloody average and John Harkes epitomised the spirit around the club at the time. It was about this time that we let some key members of the squad go; Harkes, Worthington, Palmer and never got near to replacing em. Tricky Trev was great for us for many years, but towards the end of his spell as manager he made some poor transfer decisions. Don't get me started on Pleat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Surely, one of the worst transfers would be that of a player called John Hickton, who went on to score over 190 goals in 500 hundred appearances in a ten year career at Middlesborough. What a set of wallies. possibly david but hickton wasnt in the team when he left plus he wasnt a favourite with the fans .he was replaced by john ritchie who cost a lot of money and was at the time a much better player with a superoir scoring record so would have been hard for him to get in the starting eleven.cant argue with you though he did very well at boro over a long period . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taff_Owl Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Goce Sedloski. Just highlighted how daft we and the transfer market had got Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theowlsman Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Di Canio. End of Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torryowl Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 John Harkes to Derby. Such an underated player for us and seemed to really have th club at heart. He could play 4 or 5 positions really well and never let us down. He had a great rapport with the fans and was a key member of the squad both in terms of playing ability and team spirit. I was gutted when Francis let him go to Derby. Derby at the time were pretty bloody average and John Harkes epitomised the spirit around the club at the time. It was about this time that we let some key members of the squad go; Harkes, Worthington, Palmer and never got near to replacing em. Tricky Trev was great for us for many years, but towards the end of his spell as manager he made some poor transfer decisions. Don't get me started on Pleat. didnt harkes leave because he wanted more money something that probably wasnt in francis's hands .i'm sure if richards had been a bit more forthcoming with the wages palmer and worthington would have stayed as well .these were good players who im sure francis didnt want to lose but the replacements he got (nolan /taylor )wernt up to scratch thats for sure . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RolandWaddle Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 There was a contract dispute, but I don't think he was out of contract. The money spent on his contract would have been worth every penny when you conisder some of the replacements brought in at the time, who weren't a patch on what was there previously; Atherton, Pearce, Nolan, Taylor et al. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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