BladesPod: Reliving the 02/03 "Triple Assault" season

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Beans

Beans

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Afternoon all,

Thanks for all your feedback on the 97/98 retrospective Roygbiv and I did - we thought we'd turn our attention to 2002/03 next, and the Triple Assault season as United reached two cup semifinals and the playoff final.

In a lot of ways I think about this season much more fondly than the season in which we actually got promoted a few years later - so many players at their peak, late goals, great goals, a real feeling that the team was never beaten.

We ended up talking for absolutely ages (I'm blaming self-isolation and the opportunity to actually talk about football again), so it's a two-parter. Obviously you can listen back to back if you would like. Here we go, thanks as always for listening!

Part One:

Part Two:

And you can also listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts ;)
 

Fantastic...binged it already...oops!

It’s not until listening to this that I’ve realised I have zero recollection of this season up until the league cup game vs Leeds.

It was the first season in a few years that I didn’t get a season ticket. I’d turned 17 so didn’t get the concession price anymore. It had been pretty grim visiting the Lane since ‘97/‘98. Warnock had steered us away from the bottom after the Heath spell, but the football was quite poor, the club seemed to lack ambition (and money), crowds were low by today’s standard and it was the most enjoyable place to be. My weekends had become more centred around Friday nights in Corp, Saturday nights in Leadmill and hangovers on a Sunday...visiting the Lane felt like more of a chore.

However, my timing couldn’t have been worse. I went to the Leeds game, fell back in love with the Blades and paid to go to every high profile league and cup game for the rest of the season (incl Old Trafford & Cardiff). I think this season is the one responsible for the deep bond I feel with my club and this the first squad I felt real affinity to. I cried as a kid when Stein sent us down and when Hopkin scored, but the rollercoaster of this season definitely cemented the relationship I still have with my beloved Blades. It restored the faith, the love and the pride in my club and these feelings haven’t left me since.
 
Another great listen. This year was my first at uni, and the first since 97/98 that I hadn’t had a season ticket. Some part 1 thoughts:
  • You touch on it at the start, but there was a lot of either luck or inspired decisions in terms of how our team ultimately ended up settling. Consider that early in the season: Jags at this stage hadn’t played in defence I think at any point in any previous season, and started the season in midfield; we had Yates and Ullathorne as fullbacks; Onuora was signed to be the illusive strike-partner for Asaba that we’d struggled to find in the seasons till then (they’d been a really successful partnership together at Gillingham); JP McGovern was I think intended to be long term right wing, and played a few of the early games with the listed Nuddy benched.
  • Injuries to Yates and Onuora basically forced Jags to be tried suddenly at right-back, and suddenly pushed Allison into a more significant role. This did take till we were well into September to happen though, or indeed later – I think after some games in the middle of defence when Page was injured, Wolves away was the first time we tried Jags at right back (though a little longer till he settled there)
  • @Roygbiv’s memory of the derby is the same as mine – it felt like an absolutely ridiculous smash and grab by them. Pressman was ridiculous, Tonge had the sort of game stretching them that Brooks had there 15 years later. Considering how well we played in that one, we still had Onuora up front, Jags in midfield, and both Nuddy and Brown on the bench.
  • On Tom Hark’s first appearance as goal music, I’m 90% sure that while not used for every one of his goals, G-Sinc would use the song in place of the other goal music when Ndlovu scored, with fans chanting his name to it (Ndlovu’s, not G-Sinc’s). This is why I think in the programme notes it was referred to as “The Peter Ndlovu song”. I wasn’t at the Leeds game, but don’t think it was used for Ndlovu’s goal that game – they probably couldn’t switch the CDs in time with all the excitement.
  • The 3-1 derby win I watched in a pub near halls – I‘ve mentioned this a couple of times before, but I was the only United fan there, and the only Wednesday fan jumped up as Quinn scored for them (I did the same with increasing volume for all three), and can remember it as just not a great win over Wednesday, but a great win over that particular fan. I had no idea who he was then, but we became good mates, realised after that that we were both the fans in the pub that night, and I was his best man 8 years ago.
  • It seems odd that considering his end of season total, going into the derby match Brown had only 6 of his goals at this stage. The goal at Portsmouth really kick-started the goal run.

 
Nice one chaps, owt to keep the real world at bay at the moment.
 
Extra memory on the Brighton away game. The ref (Phil Prosser) was heavily criticised by Coppell for awarding the two penalties, and I can remember this being a rare moment where the ref went to the post-match press conference. There was a local Brighton journalist that was whining about the decisions and asking how he could give each penalty, and Prosser gave a thoroughly enjoyable brief answer for both, mildly tinged with annoyance at having to explain what were fairly standard decisions. I think he laughs to someone next to him when the journalist basically asks the same question again on his follow-up. I’ve no idea why, but Brighton stuck the video of it on “BrightonWorld” in a can’t-believe-it attitude. One of my favourite ref interviews ever.

It was brought up ahead of our game with them this season:
The name Phil Prosser used to be dirty words for Albion fans. Maybe it still is for some.

1585572418157.jpeg

This piece is worth the read for just how hilarious it got – even an MP complained about his performance!

wearebrighton.com

Phil Prosser the tosser who caused defeat in Coppell's first Brighton game

Phil Prosser handed Sheffield United 2-4 victory by giving two ridiculous penalties in the final four minutes of the Blades vist to Brighton in 2002
wearebrighton.com wearebrighton.com
 
LoughboroBlade said:
Extra memory on the Brighton away game. The ref (Phil Prosser) was heavily criticised by Coppell for awarding the two penalties, and I can remember this being a rare moment where the ref went to the post-match press conference. There was a local Brighton journalist that was whining about the decisions and asking how he could give each penalty, and Prosser gave a thoroughly enjoyable brief answer for both, mildly tinged with annoyance at having to explain what were fairly standard decisions. I think he laughs to someone next to him when the journalist basically asks the same question again on his follow-up. I’ve no idea why, but Brighton stuck the video of it on “BrightonWorld” in a can’t-believe-it attitude. One of my favourite ref interviews ever.

It was brought up ahead of our game with them this season:
The name Phil Prosser used to be dirty words for Albion fans. Maybe it still is for some.

View attachment 75325

This piece is worth the read for just how hilarious it got – even an MP complained about his performance!

wearebrighton.com

Phil Prosser the tosser who caused defeat in Coppell's first Brighton game

Phil Prosser handed Sheffield United 2-4 victory by giving two ridiculous penalties in the final four minutes of the Blades vist to Brighton in 2002
wearebrighton.com wearebrighton.com
Click to expand...

"Prosser the Tosser" :D I had no memory of any controversy here. Here's the first penalty, can't really tell if Kuipers gets the ball but he certainly sends Asaba flying (skip to 13:54 if the timestamp doesn't work)



Interestingly the award for the second penalty is not included...

Overall though this is a hilarious overreaction seeing as it was still mid-October! Hardly a decisive fixture. The only thing I can think of is that they were so desperate for a win at that point, I've just looked and they got 4 points from their first 2 games and then lost their next 12 (twelve!) in a row, of which we were the 11th. Remarkably, they only went down by 5 points and finished just a single point behind Wednesday.
 
I remember that Brighton away match quite vividly. Their fans were furious and "invaded" the running track around the Withdean.

Merciless taunting by the United fans - albeit from a long long way away.
 
Michael Tonge, what a fantastic talent he was. Unorthodox, but great balance, two good feet, direct, creative... he could have been exceptional. Probably should have left for Liverpool when he had the chance he went stale with us.
 
CaptainMorgans said:
Michael Tonge, what a fantastic talent he was. Unorthodox, but great balance, two good feet, direct, creative... he could have been exceptional. Probably should have left for Liverpool when he had the chance he went stale with us.
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I’m sure if the chance was ever real he’d have gone. But he never had the pace to be a top player. And as it turned out, he lacked the fire too.

Still one of my all time favourite players. If he wasn’t flawed he’d have left us years beforehand.
 
Tyrone Thompson incidentally ended up at Scarborough playing alongside ex youth keeper Leigh Walker and ex player Colin Cryan. He’d turned down a move there when ex coach Russell Slade was manager there but ended up joining them instead when ex player Nick Henry was the manager. He’s now an agent, and was/is Jake Wright’s agent.

A couple of comments on the pod about how this was a better season than the promotion 3 seasons later. I don’t disagree that it was more exciting, though part of the enjoyment of 05/06 was in knowing that the likes of Kenny, Jagielka, Montgomery, Tonge had all done it having had that disappointment too.
 
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LoughboroBlade said:
@Roygbiv’s memory of the derby is the same as mine – it felt like an absolutely ridiculous smash and grab by them. Pressman was ridiculous, Tonge had the sort of game stretching them that Brooks had there 15 years later. Considering how well we played in that one, we still had Onuora up front, Jags in midfield, and both Nuddy and Brown on the bench.
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And the same as me. We absolutely battered them and it was almost comical the chances we missed coupled with Pressman's saves. Then of course they nicked a couple at the end.

We watched it in Crouchy 's local in Crouch End and I can't remember being as angry about a United match ever, and then had a big hangover at work the next day. In fact I remember a lot of hangovers this season...

There were a number of other derbies like this in this sort of time period when we should have beaten them but didn't.
 
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Really enjoying this (keep listening in-between having calls at work).

It is interesting to think that at one point, Tonge was genuinely being touted by Liverpool, Juventus etc. I wonder where it all went wrong for him? Arguably when he left us as he had a decent season in the Premier League, from memory.

Saying that, his run always made me laugh.
 
S64 Blade said:
Really enjoying this (keep listening in-between having calls at work).

It is interesting to think that at one point, Tonge was genuinely being touted by Liverpool, Juventus etc. I wonder where it all went wrong for him? Arguably when he left us as he had a decent season in the Premier League, from memory.

Saying that, his run always made me laugh.
Click to expand...

I thought I remembered him getting a bad injury immediately after this season, but he actually played every league game in 03/04, dipping to 34 and 30 for the two following seasons.

He really looked like he was going to be a prolific attacker but only scored 39 goals in his entire career from 544 games. 20% of his career goals came in that 02/03 season with us. He definitely had a good career but maybe there was an element of surprise with him about that first season that teams adjusted to in subsequent years? Or maybe that 02/03 season was just a ridiculous outlier where he was just in insanely good form relative to his "actual" ability (a bit like Brown's season) and he was just never able to recapture it.
 

S64 Blade said:
Really enjoying this (keep listening in-between having calls at work).

It is interesting to think that at one point, Tonge was genuinely being touted by Liverpool, Juventus etc. I wonder where it all went wrong for him? Arguably when he left us as he had a decent season in the Premier League, from memory.

Saying that, his run always made me laugh.
Click to expand...

I think there’s a little over-exaggeration on Tonge. Yes, he wasn’t as explosive as he was in that season, but his career with us was a successful one. What hampered him in my view was moving him into the middle in subsequent seasons – brought about really with Brown’s exit, he really wasn’t tough enough for that at the time and it took him till 05/06 to really start being consistent there. In the PL the next year I thought he did very well, and the demands of the division seemed to suit him more. He didn’t become the quick-footed winger he showed signs of becoming back then (a right footed centre-mid at left-wing feels fairly novel in itself), but then neither did Monty despite bursting onto the scene on the wing.

Tonge’s first goal I can remember well, was against Crewe the previous season. Myself and Father Dougal were in the exec seats having been the lucky two users to have won the BladesUnited (or ViewPoints, can’t remember which) draw for the messageboard’s sponsorship of Michael Brown that season. It was the first time I’d placed a bet on a game, we had a striker shortage at the time (Adrian Littlejohn had just returned as an emergency striker), and I stuck a fiver on Tonge for the first goal at 18/1. I think his goal was the only one of the game.
 
Really enjoyable as ever. thanks for taking the time to do this.

A memorable season for me in a non footballing respect as I became a Dad. I well remember pacing the living room listening to the closing stages of the Leeds League Cup game with a cranky Revolution Jr in my arms and throwing him up in the air (and catching him!) when the late goals went in.

Some thoughts about the season:

1. It showed the best and worst of Warnock. He got the best out of a blend of youth and experience, did not break the bank in doing so, and created a "never say die" attitude which saw us score a number of late goals. On the other hand, he made a bewildering number of late season changes to the team - too its detriment - gave up on auto promotion too early (the one point from 2 games at Selhurst was the nail in the coffin) and there were arguably too many new faces. Plus he ended the season feuding with a referee, again.

2. I think you guys are right - the Leeds LC game was a big turning point, in the same way that Gillingham away was for Wilder, and though the season ended in disaster it really signalled an upturn in the club's fortunes. Gates really picked up the following season, and the seeds of promotion were sown, as a number of the squad would be mainstays 3 years on.

3. I am always saying this, but Michael Tonge's career pattern is an odd one. He had the best season of his career - but it was only the third year (really the second, as he had only 2 games in the first) of a 19 year career. He seemed to slip back from those standards, little by little, year by year. At the time I used to say that this was partly because he did not have Brown and McCall or players of that calibre with him so he did not have the freedom he had when we was younger. He is also supposedly a mild mannered person away from the pitch. Perhaps he didn't have an aggressive edge.

4. As well as Kenny played, the choice of Kenny over Brown for POYT is the worst decision I can remember in my lifetime in terms of that award. Brown was the best player in the division, yet alone the team.

5. We played 61 competitive games that season and Kenny played in 59 of them, missing the Ipswich cup tie (Wilko de Vogt played in goal) and the last game of the season at Watford (Alan Kelly's brother Gary played in goal). This is, I believe, a single season club record.

6. John Paul McGovern scored in the league and in both cups for us that season. Not a lot of people know that.

7. The Ipswich Cup game was a terrific game that, as Ben said, everyone forgets about because there were so many other good games that season. Brown's second goal was the hardest shot I've ever seen live (I watched the Pig home game in a pub on TV).

8. I have commented before on this board on the odd nature of the Wimbledon away game, played in front of the lowest crowd for a Blades league game since 1901. There were about 1000 Blades there (a good number of whom were in suits having come straight from work) and about 200 other people scattered around Selhurst. Ben Doane's career was ended by a bad injury that night.

9. I actually thought we could beat Arsenal. That was the only FA Cup semi I've ever been to where I thought we had a chance beforehand (though at HT in 1993 and 2014 I thought we might win).

10. Warnock's record against the Pigs was actually pretty good. It was W4 D3 L1 in the league, and we lost the league cup tie in 2000-1 as well. Kevin Pressman was almost single handedly responsible for preventing us from winning the 4 league games, and our shitty finishing cost us the league cup tie.

11. I might pick the playoff semi as my best game ever at the Lane. it's certainly the best night match. the only one that touches it is the 2-0 win over the Pigs in November 1991.

12. I still don't understand some of Warnock's selection decisions for the PO Final (Mark Rankine?) but I will defend to the death his decision to leave out Dean Windass, who had been mailing it in for about 3 or 4 weeks and was shocking in both legs of the PO Semi Final. Again, I went thinking we were going to win. I stopped thinking that for big games after that defeat, until Wilder came along.
 
Beans said:
I thought I remembered him getting a bad injury immediately after this season, but he actually played every league game in 03/04, dipping to 34 and 30 for the two following seasons.

He really looked like he was going to be a prolific attacker but only scored 39 goals in his entire career from 544 games. 20% of his career goals came in that 02/03 season with us. He definitely had a good career but maybe there was an element of surprise with him about that first season that teams adjusted to in subsequent years? Or maybe that 02/03 season was just a ridiculous outlier where he was just in insanely good form relative to his "actual" ability (a bit like Brown's season) and he was just never able to recapture it.
Click to expand...
He always seemed very much a 'confidence player' to me too. I think you're probably right in that the freedom of the 02/03 season helped him (his confidence could only grow, if nobody knew how to handle him!).
 
Revolution said:
12. I still don't understand some of Warnock's selection decisions for the PO Final (Mark Rankine?) but I will defend to the death his decision to leave out Dean Windass, who had been mailing it in for about 3 or 4 weeks and was shocking in both legs of the PO Semi Final.
Click to expand...

I agree on the Windass point – I don’t really know exactly why it was, but he’d seemed to go a bit missing towards the end of the season. Though I still felt he and Kabba was the best partnership we had of the options available.

The Rankine decision is a little more complicated. Unlike Windass, Rankine had gained a lot of credit from the two playoff games, particularly the 2nd leg, and while my preference was certainly still for McCall there was a genuine debate among fans about who should get the nod. Not only had McCall had a few niggles the last month, but there was a growing view (harsh in my opinion) that his legs had gone due to the overly-long season. McCall hadn’t been as involved after the Arsenal game, and hadn’t featured at all in the playoffs. Rankine was considered to be much fresher, match-fit, motivated against an old side etc. Much of the rhetoric on this being a mistake of Warnock’s came retrospectively. For me it was clear about 30 mins in that it had been a massive error. McCall’s absence though doesn’t excuse the whole team collectively freezing that first half.
 
As per Revs point, I never understood why we gave up the ghost far to easy on the autos, we had a great chance of keeping in touch and a very favourable run in.
 
The Triple Assault season played out as the SARS crisis gripped China.

Global disasters seem to correlate nicely with Blades purple patches, just look at 1914 and 1939.
 
I’m just watching the YouTube video of this and something I’ve not seen mentioned/asked before. In the game when we beat Wednesday 3-1 at the Lane, is it Garry Monk who heads the ball to Brown for the second goal?
 
LJBlade said:
I’m just watching the YouTube video of this and something I’ve not seen mentioned/asked before. In the game when we beat Wednesday 3-1 at the Lane, is it Garry Monk who heads the ball to Brown for the second goal?
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Based on rewatching it just now (I need no excuse), it certainly is.

Which reminds me, McCall’s assist for Kabba’s effort is one of the best assists I think I‘ve seen. It is ridiculous – he sees the faintest of opportunities, closes the defender down, manages to slide it in mid air off the defender and tackle a cross in for Kabba. It’s every day easily the defender’s ball and then it’s snatched off him by McCall. That first goal was crucial – if he doesn’t do that, we might not get the result we did.

Greatest Assist Of All Time.
 
LoughboroBlade said:
Based on rewatching it just now (I need no excuse), it certainly is.

Which reminds me, McCall’s assist for Kabba’s effort is one of the best assists I think I‘ve seen. It is ridiculous – he sees the faintest of opportunities, closes the defender down, manages to slide it in mid air off the defender and tackle a cross in for Kabba. It’s every day easily the defender’s ball and then it’s snatched off him by McCall. That first goal was crucial – if he doesn’t do that, we might not get the result we did.

Greatest Assist Of All Time.
Click to expand...

Its not just the assist though, the finish is absolutely quality as well. I was just watching it and thinking how under appreciated that whole move is amongst United fans. It’s only Browny’s goal that ever seems to get a mention.
 
LJBlade said:
Its not just the assist though, the finish is absolutely quality as well.
Click to expand...

Not taking anything away from the Kabba finish (though Kamara reckons it took a nick off Geary...), but as that was focused on quite a bit in the Pod I wanted to get my McCall praise in as I thought that was a little overlooked.
 
LoughboroBlade said:
Not taking anything away from the Kabba finish (though Kamara reckons it took a nick off Geary...), but as that was focused on quite a bit in the Pod I wanted to get my McCall praise in as I thought that was a little overlooked.
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I was a tad disappointed that we didn't mention McCall more. We just never really got on to him proplely but he absolutely pivotal in that team. Should have undoubtedly played in the final
 
Roygbiv said:
I was a tad disappointed that we didn't mention McCall more. We just never really got on to him proplely but he absolutely pivotal in that team. Should have undoubtedly played in the final
Click to expand...

I see what you’re saying but we were like rabbits in headlights for first half, we’ll never know if Mcall would have made a difference.

rankine has played well in previous games as well.
 

Roygbiv said:
I was a tad disappointed that we didn't mention McCall more. We just never really got on to him proplely but he absolutely pivotal in that team. Should have undoubtedly played in the final
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He seemed to be such a big talker in the team – it might just be a coincidence, but the best football of Tonge & Brown’s career came while McCall was at his most influential.

I wanted him to start in Cardiff. I don’t know whether it actually would have changed the outcome, but I’m very confident we wouldn’t have looked any worse that first half.
 
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