Palace v West Brom

[Guest Garryswfcowl72]

Does anyone remember watching this game on Sky it was a midweek game & if palace won it would have sent us down they drew so it went to final day to stay up which obviously we drew 2-2 & went down but watching that game against West Brom was absolute torture 

[Mike C]

Yes, I was a student in Manchester at the time and watched it. Remember it vividly, I had to get very drunk whilst watching it. Only for us to be relegated the following weekend!

[mcmigo]

The 2-2 draw with Palace was a sickening performance.  The end of an absolute disaster of a season.   My all time worst season supporting Wednesday.    Started OK, then Laws went from being a really decent boss to a disaster overnight.  The stuff about the missing millions, then the disaster appointment of Alan Irvine and the slide to relegation.  Horrific season.

 

If only the server could be dredged to find the infamous thread before ( i think) the Palace game, maybe the game before which I think we drew 0-0,  when @DeeJayOne asked for good luck messages to be posted for the players to read.  We have had some hostile stuff on herein the last few months after the beatings from Blackburn, Brentford etc but nothing compared to that thread.  

 

 

[DeeJayOne]

6 minutes ago, mcmigo said:

The 2-2 draw with Palace was a sickening performance.  The end of an absolute disaster of a season.   My all time worst season supporting Wednesday.    Started OK, then Laws went from being a really decent boss to a disaster overnight.  The stuff about the missing millions, then the disaster appointment of Alan Irvine and the slide to relegation.  Horrific season.

 

If only the server could be dredged to find the infamous thread before ( i think) the Palace game, maybe the game before which I think we drew 0-0,  when @DeeJayOne asked for good luck messages to be posted for the players to read.  We have had some hostile stuff on herein the last few months after the beatings from Blackburn, Brentford etc but nothing compared to that thread.  

 

 

 

Jesus... I remember that.

 

The manager asked for that to happen. He wanted the players to know it was all for the fans, and wanted the fans to back them with some positive messages before the big game.

 

I remember him asking me how it was going. "Errrr... not too bad... just don't let anyone read Owlstalk, yeah?"

 

It was just an Owlstalk thing though - there were loads of positive messages from everywhere else (Facebook, Twitter, etc), Hillsborough School kids all did various messages and drawings from memory. Think they were all plastered on the walls of the changing room and all the players were made to go round and read them all before the match. I've got a photo of them somewhere I think.

 

 

[@owlstalk]

 

That thread was CLASSIC

 

[mcmigo]

2 minutes ago, DeeJayOne said:

 

Jesus... I remember that.

 

The manager asked for that to happen. He wanted the players to know it was all for the fans, and wanted the fans to back them with some positive messages before the big game.

 

I remember him asking me how it was going. "Errrr... not too bad... just don't let anyone read Owlstalk, yeah?"

 

It was just an Owlstalk thing though - there were loads of positive messages from everywhere else (Facebook, Twitter, etc), Hillsborough School kids all did various messages and drawings from memory. Think they were all plastered on the walls of the changing room and all the players were made to go round and read them all before the match. I've got a photo of them somewhere I think.

 

 

The thread was pulled after 24 hours if I recall - it was 16 pages of absolute poison by that stage and was getting worse by the page!  Maybe you should have stuck some of that stuff up given the subsequent terrible performance in that Palace game!

 

We were so awful that season.  Everything went wrong.   That game, I looked up the team we played that day,   we had Eddie Nolan playing for us - I have no memory at all of him.  Team was a total mess. 

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, DeeJayOne said:

 

Jesus... I remember that.

 

The manager asked for that to happen. He wanted the players to know it was all for the fans, and wanted the fans to back them with some positive messages before the big game.

 

I remember him asking me how it was going. "Errrr... not too bad... just don't let anyone read Owlstalk, yeah?"

 

It was just an Owlstalk thing though - there were loads of positive messages from everywhere else (Facebook, Twitter, etc), Hillsborough School kids all did various messages and drawings from memory. Think they were all plastered on the walls of the changing room and all the players were made to go round and read them all before the match. I've got a photo of them somewhere I think.

 

 

 

It seemed ill-advised to me. You are going to get positive stuff from primary school kids wishing their heroes well but it was never going to work on here with weather-worn older fans given the way the season had gone on and off the field. 

 

Realistically that game gave us a one-off chance but Palace were a better side than us and we were only in touching distance of them due to the points deduction. 

Saying that, looking back Irvine didn't cover himself in glory. We needed the win and started with an attacking line-up with Clarke, Varney & Tudgay but when Clarke made it 1-1 and stupidly got injured celebrating, Irvine went for Soares from the bench instead of Jeffers. Not saying Jeffers would have won us the game but why choose to bring in a midfielder for a striker when you are in the same position you started the game in but with 45 minutes less to play with?

 

 

[Onge]

12 minutes ago, mcmigo said:

That game, I looked up the team we played that day,   we had Eddie Nolan playing for us - I have no memory at all of him.  Team was a total mess. 

I was at that game (I live in south London and my boss was a Palace fan) and I've no memory of Eddie Nolan either! It was an early kick-off on a Sunday I seem to remember... Took me an eternity to get home as well... What a depressing day that was...

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Garryswfcowl72 said:

Does anyone remember watching this game on Sky it was a midweek game & if palace won it would have sent us down they drew so it went to final day to stay up which obviously we drew 2-2 & went down but watching that game against West Brom was absolute torture 

 

Yep, remember it well. It was a huge relief when the final whistle went in that game and we had at least got the chance to decide our own fate........

[DeeJayOne]

Just now, hirstyboywonder said:

 

It seemed ill-advised to me. You are going to get positive stuff from primary school kids wishing their heroes well but it was never going to work on here with weather-worn older fans given the way the season had gone on and off the field. 

 

Realistically that game gave us a one-off chance but Palace were a better side than us and we were only in touching distance of them due to the points deduction. 

Saying that, looking back Irvine didn't cover himself in glory. We needed the win and started with an attacking line-up with Clarke, Varney & Tudgay but when Clarke made it 1-1 and stupidly got injured celebrating, Irvine went for Soares from the bench instead of Jeffers. Not saying Jeffers would have won us the game but why choose to bring in a midfielder for a striker when you are in the same position you started the game in but with 45 minutes less to play with?

 

 

 

I agree.

 

For the most part, it was targeted at kids but like anything the club put out people feel it is directed entirely at them and some people took it the wrong way.

 

Not that it is a good idea in the first place of course... it was a godawful idea (and why football managers shouldn't insist on directing fan communications - especially unpopular managers).

 

It was hilarious to see the breakdown in real time. That thread would be amazing to read back. I think I tried in vain to soften it a bit, but it was an uncontrollable monster that went from bad, to worse, to complete disaster territory. I don't think there has ever been a more comprehensive affirmation that a manager and his team have completely lost the fanbase.

 

 

Side note to that whole game... the one abiding memory I have is afterwards, feeling numb about the relegation and hearing some noise from outside literally minutes after the final whistle... looking across the bridge at the back of the South Stand where fans were still slowly pouring out, a Range Rover had pulled up banging out loud music... Esajas, JJ and Clarke (remember he had got injured) literally DANCED and LAUGHED their way through the fans across the bridge and into the Range Rover, which then did a wheelspin and raced off. T*ssers.

 

 

[DJMortimer]

Ah, the tactical genius of Alan Irvine. I remember the last few minutes when we desperately needed a goal. Luke Varney, arguably our best finisher stuck out wide and Etienne Esajas (who would have been better in that position) and the one most likely (alright, not very often) to beat a couple of people and create an opening, watching the ball repeatedly sailing backwards and forwards over his head in central midfield. What a depressing experience of rugby union style booting it up and down the field. 

 

That season really was torture. I think back to all those times when the fans were able to generate a big atmosphere, even when we've been poor or over matched and players have risen to the occasion. And this was nothing like that. The enthusiasm had inexorably been sucked out of the club by the manager's tiresome, insipid fear of everyone we came up against and players incapable of inspiration performances. In the penultimate game, such was this defensive mindset he had us holding on for a draw at Cardiff that in the grand scheme of things would have been completely useless. As it was, we lost anyway. When Purse equalised near the end and supposedly raised hopes, I had absolutely no faith we'd get the winner and barely celebrated. 

[DJMortimer]

7 minutes ago, DeeJayOne said:

 

Side note to that whole game... the one abiding memory I have is afterwards, feeling numb about the relegation and hearing some noise from outside literally minutes after the final whistle... looking across the bridge at the back of the South Stand where fans were still slowly pouring out, a Range Rover had pulled up banging out loud music... Esajas, JJ and Clarke (remember he had got injured) literally DANCED and LAUGHED their way through the fans across the bridge and into the Range Rover, which then did a wheelspin and raced off. T*ssers.

 

 

Surprised about Johnson, but just in case there aren't enough reasons to think Clarke was a ballbag, here's another.

 

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, DeeJayOne said:

 

I agree.

 

For the most part, it was targeted at kids but like anything the club put out people feel it is directed entirely at them and some people took it the wrong way.

 

Not that it is a good idea in the first place of course... it was a godawful idea (and why football managers shouldn't insist on directing fan communications - especially unpopular managers).

 

It was hilarious to see the breakdown in real time. That thread would be amazing to read back. I think I tried in vain to soften it a bit, but it was an uncontrollable monster that went from bad, to worse, to complete disaster territory. I don't think there has ever been a more comprehensive affirmation that a manager and his team have completely lost the fanbase.

 

 

Side note to that whole game... the one abiding memory I have is afterwards, feeling numb about the relegation and hearing some noise from outside literally minutes after the final whistle... looking across the bridge at the back of the South Stand where fans were still slowly pouring out, a Range Rover had pulled up banging out loud music... Esajas, JJ and Clarke (remember he had got injured) literally DANCED and LAUGHED their way through the fans across the bridge and into the Range Rover, which then did a wheelspin and raced off. T*ssers.

 

 

 

I didn't used to post as much back then but I am fairly sure I had a pop at you for trying to defend it!

 

The stuff about JJ, Clarke & Esajas is hugely disappointing but sadly not a surprise to me. I remember after an away game somewhere we had stayed behind as I used to know a couple of guys who did our coverage for Hallam FM back in the day and occasionally went to games with them. Whike the manager interviews were being conducted and players were filtering back to the coach, I think it was JJ and possibly Wade Small, instead of getting on the coach got into the back of a pimped out car, slapping a young 'lady' on the backside as they got in. Needless to say we had lost the game but it didn't seem to matter to some. 

[DeeJayOne]

3 minutes ago, DJMortimer said:

 

Surprised about Johnson, but just in case there aren't enough reasons to think Clarke was a ballbag, here's another.

 

 

To be honest I nearly didn't put JJ because he wasn't as bad as the others... I think he was just part of that group of players at that time and getting his lift.  

 

For the most part he was a decent guy and one of my favourite players for a good while.

 

I could tell some right stories about Clarke though...

 

 

[mcmigo]

9 minutes ago, DJMortimer said:

Ah, the tactical genius of Alan Irvine. I remember the last few minutes when we desperately needed a goal. Luke Varney, arguably our best finisher stuck out wide and Etienne Esajas (who would have been better in that position) and the one most likely (alright, not very often) to beat a couple of people and create an opening, watching the ball repeatedly sailing backwards and forwards over his head in central midfield. What a depressing experience of rugby union style booting it up and down the field. 

 

That season really was torture. I think back to all those times when the fans were able to generate a big atmosphere, even when we've been poor or over matched and players have risen to the occasion. And this was nothing like that. The enthusiasm had inexorably been sucked out of the club by the manager's tiresome, insipid fear of everyone we came up against and players incapable of inspiration performances. In the penultimate game, such was this defensive mindset he had us holding on for a draw at Cardiff that in the grand scheme of things would have been completely useless. As it was, we lost anyway. When Purse equalised near the end and supposedly raised hopes, I had absolutely no faith we'd get the winner and barely celebrated. 

Be honest - do you remember Eddie Nolan?  If someone said to me, name that starting team that day, I would have been close but i could have been guessing for the rest of my life and not got that one.

 

 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, mcmigo said:

Be honest - do you remember Eddie Nolan?  If someone said to me, name that starting team that day, I would have been close but i could have been guessing for the rest of my life and not got that one.

 

 

 

I remember the name but that's it and only because you mentioned it. I couldn't tell you which position he played in and can't think of a single thing he did of note, good or bad. 

[DJMortimer]

4 minutes ago, mcmigo said:

Be honest - do you remember Eddie Nolan?  If someone said to me, name that starting team that day, I would have been close but i could have been guessing for the rest of my life and not got that one.

 

 

I was just going to reply, "I remember his name - does that help?", and I was beaten to it. Was he a right back? Maybe I'm mixing him up with someone else, but I seem to recall him cutting in from the right side and getting a goal at Hillsborough? When you look at all the heroes of the past, it comes to something when you struggle to think of even one thing about a player. But it is a suitable legacy for that dire team.

[mcmigo]

To be fair that was our first season without our talismanic chairman DA at the helm,

it was always going to end in tears.

[torryowl]

5 hours ago, mcmigo said:

 

 

   I looked up the team we played that day,   we had Eddie Nolan playing for us - I have no memory at all of him.  

your not on your own  mate .cant recall him at all …

[Bulldog]

The infamous Jeffers ducking under the cross / corner when he was 3 yards out in the last minute!!

What made this whole day worse was I was on nights so had a load of time to kill, consequently I was almost literally the last man to leave the ground after watching the palace fans singing away and goading us.