Colchester 5-2 Blades...

[GrayBlade]

Just saying...

February 6th 1982. We were top of the league and flying, and yet were 4-1 down at half time, and even Keith Edwards's goal couldn't turn things around. We Blades were sick as dogs, the result and performance was so out of character, but it was just one of those days, but we won our next two games 4-0, and finished up winning the league by 5 points.

This team is far better than the 1982 one as it the manager in my opinion, but of course players back then didn't have the added pressure of trial by Twitter and other social media. Some of the negative comments I've read on Twitter are just beyond belief, it's like some were just waiting for the chance to have a pop at a team that has done us proud so far this season.

Games like yesterday happen to most promotion-chasing clubs once or twice a season, so let's not overreact and write players off too soon guys. It's how the team responds now that matters, and hopefully it'll be a repeat of 1982. UTB.

 

[HodgysBrokenThumb]

Just saying...

February 6th 1982. We were top of the league and flying, and yet were 4-1 down at half time, and even Keith Edwards's goal couldn't turn things around. We Blades were sick as dogs, the result and performance was so out of character, but it was just one of those days, but we won our next two games 4-0, and finished up winning the league by 5 points.

This team is far better than the 1982 one as it the manager in my opinion, but of course players back then didn't have the added pressure of trial by Twitter and other social media. Some of the negative comments I've read on Twitter are just beyond belief, it's like some were just waiting for the chance to have a pop at a team that has done us proud so far this season.

Games like yesterday happen to most promotion-chasing clubs once or twice a season, so let's not overreact and write players off too soon guys. It's how the team responds now that matters, and hopefully it'll be a repeat of 1982. UTB.

Agree with that. If you look at the EFL tables, league leaders Newcastle, Doncaster, and us have very similar points totals. Can't afford many more games like Southend at home and Walsall away, but that is true of most promotion teams most years. Also agree this team is probably better than 1982 (which was 1 league lower, of course); but the Morris/Edwards combination was special.

 

[Captain]

and it was on MOTD, a 4th div game how times have changed!

 

[anglian blade]

The Colchester game was down to the jinx I put on the blades - which has only been lifted in the last few years. Take any unexpected heavy defeat in London and the East of England in the last 40 years and the chances I was there

 

[Kentblade]

Just saying...

February 6th 1982. We were top of the league and flying, and yet were 4-1 down at half time, and even Keith Edwards's goal couldn't turn things around. We Blades were sick as dogs, the result and performance was so out of character, but it was just one of those days, but we won our next two games 4-0, and finished up winning the league by 5 points.

This team is far better than the 1982 one as it the manager in my opinion, but of course players back then didn't have the added pressure of trial by Twitter and other social media. Some of the negative comments I've read on Twitter are just beyond belief, it's like some were just waiting for the chance to have a pop at a team that has done us proud so far this season.

Games like yesterday happen to most promotion-chasing clubs once or twice a season, so let's not overreact and write players off too soon guys. It's how the team responds now that matters, and hopefully it'll be a repeat of 1982. UTB.

Very true GrayBlade.
Remember it well as we were there.
In those days if I recall correctly if you wanted a moan it meant writing a letter to the Green Un to be included in the section "In off the Post "
By the time folk read it the week after another game or possibly two if a night match was on had been played we had moved on.
I am not certain but I do not recall tele text in those days.
How technology has changed the football scene.

UTB.

 

[GrayBlade]

Very true GrayBlade.
Remember it well as we were there.
In those days if I recall correctly if you wanted a moan it meant writing a letter to the Green Un to be included in the section "In off the Post "
By the time folk read it the week after another game or possibly two if a night match was on had been played we had moved on.
I am not certain but I do not recall tele text in those days.
How technology has changed the football scene.

UTB.

'Tell it to Tony', Tony Hardesty in the Green-Un. That brings back good memories KB. Just like today on social media, we were sure that some of the negative letters had been written by the other lot pretending to be Blades.

To be honest if I was a professional football club manager, I think I'd ban my players from using the likes of Twitter. Any virtual back-slapping they may occasionally get after a decent performance is totally outweighed by the depth of vitriol they can receive if a game is lost. There are some pretty sad people out there who it seems just can't wait to say stuff that's way over the top. Players need to have hides like rhinos to brush it off, and I'm not sure at this level too many have. UTB.

 

[Bladebri]

Very true GrayBlade.
Remember it well as we were there.
In those days if I recall correctly if you wanted a moan it meant writing a letter to the Green Un to be included in the section "In off the Post "
By the time folk read it the week after another game or possibly two if a night match was on had been played we had moved on.
I am not certain but I do not recall tele text in those days.
How technology has changed the football scene.

UTB.

Couldn't you have faxed it to the stir

 

[GrayBlade]

Agree with that. If you look at the EFL tables, league leaders Newcastle, Doncaster, and us have very similar points totals. Can't afford many more games like Southend at home and Walsall away, but that is true of most promotion teams most years. Also agree this team is probably better than 1982 (which was 1 league lower, of course); but the Morris/Edwards combination was special.

And Newcastle had the embarrassment of losing at home to the Pork.

Just seen Man City get mullered 4-0 by Everton's kids. It happens mate, as I said it's how we respond that matters isn't it?

 

[GrayBlade]

The Colchester game was down to the jinx I put on the blades - which has only been lifted in the last few years. Take any unexpected heavy defeat in London and the East of England in the last 40 years and the chances I was there

Please don't go anywhere near Peterborough and MKD then.

You know it makes sense AB.

 

[JordoBlade]

We lost 4-2 at Leicester away when we were promoted to the Prem.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Shock results happen, also remember the Man U side that won the league getting beat 6-2 at Southampton, didn't stop them though because they were the best team in the league. I expect Wilder will show the lads the errors of their ways and give them the Scarborough warning, the defending on show yesterday will not be tolerated again, pretty sure of that.

 

[Silent Blade]

1938-39 Millwall 4 Blades 0

1952-53 Plymouth 5 Blades 2, Hull 4 Blades 0, Luton 4 Blades 1, Blades 1 Rotherham 4

1960-61 Swansea 3 Blades 0

1970-71 Swindon 3 Blades 0

1981-82 Colchester 5 Blades 2

1983-84 Hull 4 Blades 1, Wigan 3 Blades 0

1988-89 We didnt lose any match by more than 2 goals but we lost 12 matches (7 of them against teams who finished in bottom 4)

1989-90 Oxford 3 Blades 0, West Ham 5 Blades 0, L**ds 4 Blades 0

2005-06 Blades 1 Watford 4

4 heavy defeats in 1952-53 is a lot for a team to finish as champions with 60 points (85 if it was 3 points for a win) in total from 42 games

 

[Willie Carlin]

Just saying...

February 6th 1982. We were top of the league and flying, and yet were 4-1 down at half time, and even Keith Edwards's goal couldn't turn things around. We Blades were sick as dogs, the result and performance was so out of character, but it was just one of those days, but we won our next two games 4-0, and finished up winning the league by 5 points.

This team is far better than the 1982 one as it the manager in my opinion, but of course players back then didn't have the added pressure of trial by Twitter and other social media. Some of the negative comments I've read on Twitter are just beyond belief, it's like some were just waiting for the chance to have a pop at a team that has done us proud so far this season.

Games like yesterday happen to most promotion-chasing clubs once or twice a season, so let's not overreact and write players off too soon guys. It's how the team responds now that matters, and hopefully it'll be a repeat of 1982. UTB.

Didn't we beat Bristol City 3 0 at their place when they went up?

 

[DifferentClass]

I am not certain but I do not recall tele text in those days.

Teletext has been around since mid-70s but most didn't get it till 80s.

 

[GrayBlade]

Didn't we beat Bristol City 3 0 at their place when they went up?

It was 3-1 actually WC, we came from a goal down February 2015, and scored 3 away under Clough, so it looks like this is the right time of year for shocks mate.

 

[Good Pinch Of Snuff]

Posted this on the other thread, the day we wore their away kit I think....

 

[Blade_In_Sydney]

Shock results happen, also remember the Man U side that won the league getting beat 6-2 at Southampton, didn't stop them though because they were the best team in the league. I expect Wilder will show the lads the errors of their ways and give them the Scarborough warning, the defending on show yesterday will not be tolerated again, pretty sure of that.

Wasn't the problem there the colour of the away strip again? Black, which Fergy promised should not be worn again. Time to dump the green boys.

 

[Sheffsteel]

and it was on MOTD, a 4th div game how times have changed!

Was going to say that.
At the time I remember thinking we've won almost every match playing well that seaon
But as soon as we're shown to the nation on Match of the Day we get thrashed and play poorly. Typical eh?

 

[GrayBlade]

Posted this on the other thread, the day we wore their away kit I think....

Yes I think your right re the kit being theirs, and history short of repeated itself on Saturday crap kit wise. I don't think I've seen that video since back then, I've just spotted myself and a dear departed mate going mental when TK took the pen. Happy daze!

I also recall with fondness our tradition of changing ends as well as the team at half-time back then.

 

[GrayBlade]

1938-39 Millwall 4 Blades 0

1952-53 Plymouth 5 Blades 2, Hull 4 Blades 0, Luton 4 Blades 1, Blades 1 Rotherham 4

1960-61 Swansea 3 Blades 0

1970-71 Swindon 3 Blades 0

1981-82 Colchester 5 Blades 2

1983-84 Hull 4 Blades 1, Wigan 3 Blades 0

1988-89 We didnt lose any match by more than 2 goals but we lost 12 matches (7 of them against teams who finished in bottom 4)

1989-90 Oxford 3 Blades 0, West Ham 5 Blades 0, L**ds 4 Blades 0

2005-06 Blades 1 Watford 4

4 heavy defeats in 1952-53 is a lot for a team to finish as champions with 60 points (85 if it was 3 points for a win) in total from 42 games

That sums it up perfectly Silent, and it's no different for other clubs. The times that a club steamrolls it's way to a title or promotion unblemished by a few dodgy games are few and far between, Arsenal are probably the most obvious exception.

And there were 'no contest' home games that we should have won easily but ended up drawing or even losing along the way to promotion. It's football, 11v11 and too many variables for it to be an exact science. If it wasn't like it is, we would never have a cup upset and the game would be dreary and predictable, a bit like the Scottish Premier League.

 

[Kenilworth]

Yes I think your right re the kit being theirs, and history short of repeated itself on Saturday crap kit wise. I don't think I've seen that video since back then, I've just spotted myself and a dear departed mate going mental when TK took the pen. Happy daze!

I also recall with fondness our tradition of changing ends as well as the team at half-time back then.

I was there too
Can't remember which end I was on, covered or uncovered. I vaguely recall being on the uncovers end.
We just left gaping holes all over the place and Waugh had a bit of a mare. Parallels to Moore last Satdi.

Edwards - clinical

 

[Cheets]

We wore Colchester's away kit because sponsored shirts weren't allowed on TV in those days and we were sponsored by Bentleys. I'm assuming it must have been short notice that we were on MOTD. Given that it was early February, a postponement elsewhere perhaps?

 

[South Bucks]

I was there too
Can't remember which end I was on, covered or uncovered. I vaguely recall being on the uncovers end.
We just left gaping holes all over the place and Waugh had a bit of a mare. Parallels to Moore last Satdi.

Edwards - clinical

I was there also but can't remember the detail much apart from Kenworthy's penalty so thanks whoever posted the clip. It was a bit of a surprise result at the time. Best match I saw that season was a few weeks later away at Peterborough and we won about 4-0 and looked class, knew we were goin up then.

Important thing with any defeat is to learn from it and not to do the same things again.

 

[JohnDenver]

It was 3-1 actually WC, we came from a goal down February 2015, and scored 3 away under Clough, so it looks like this is the right time of year for shocks mate.

A few parallels there. City played 3-5-2 and we looked to hit on the break with Murphy's pace. It's a system that is vulnerable to teams with pace and the ability to break.

 

[JJ Sefton]

We wore Colchester's away kit because sponsored shirts weren't allowed on TV in those days and we were sponsored by Bentleys. I'm assuming it must have been short notice that we were on MOTD. Given that it was early February, a postponement elsewhere perhaps?

That was the only Fourth Division match MOTD showed that season, but lower league game coverage was not uncommon back then...

https://sites.google.com/site/motdlistings/home/1981-82

Back then if you bought rights off the Football League that covered all four divisions.

Anyway...

 

[GrayBlade]

A few parallels there. City played 3-5-2 and we looked to hit on the break with Murphy's pace. It's a system that is vulnerable to teams with pace and the ability to break.

Definitely JD. But if we've got the playing staff to play as we've done so far, I still think we'll get more points away from home rather than reverting to a flat back four or similar. The guy on Channel 5 said Walsall have sussed us out, but I think it's more about them having the players to do so. Playing against a back 3 isn't rocket science or new, and if the clubs we've beaten in the own back yards had the wherewithal, we'd have dipped more than we have done mate.

And apart from all that especially after the last two seasons, how good is it to see our lads really going for it in every game?

 

[Eyeball]

Just saying...yes
I was there
Bleedin awful day in a fantastic season

February 6th 1982. We were top of the league and flying, and yet were 4-1 down at half time, and even Keith Edwards's goal couldn't turn things around. We Blades were sick as dogs, the result and performance was so out of character, but it was just one of those days, but we won our next two games 4-0, and finished up winning the league by 5 points.

This team is far better than the 1982 one as it the manager in my opinion, but of course players back then didn't have the added pressure of trial by Twitter and other social media. Some of the negative comments I've read on Twitter are just beyond belief, it's like some were just waiting for the chance to have a pop at a team that has done us proud so far this season.

Games like yesterday happen to most promotion-chasing clubs once or twice a season, so let's not overreact and write players off too soon guys. It's how the team responds now that matters, and hopefully it'll be a repeat of 1982. UTB.

 

[anglian blade]

I was there too
Can't remember which end I was on, covered or uncovered. I vaguely recall being on the uncovers end.
We just left gaping holes all over the place and Waugh had a bit of a mare. Parallels to Moore last Satdi.

Edwards - clinical

I remember thinking Colchester was sort of round the North Circular and east a bit and then finding myself driving another 50 miles. Then arriving at a place with wooden planks to stand on and wondering whether they would survive the bouncing up and down that was going on.

Being stuffed 5-2 on top of that certainly made it the low point of my United watching career