The Great Entertainers?

[Darren]

So, what went wrong with that team?
I think it was mentioned that they suddenly lost four on the bounce having been top for 10 matches.
They ended up slowly sliding down the table to 10th and finished the next two seasons in around 14th.

So why did we suddenly slip from being outstanding in 1971 to comparatively average in 1972?
Did we sell anyone? Did somebody get injured?
Did other teams work out how to nullify us? Why couldn’t we sustain that brilliant form?

Basically I think our momentum from promotion took us through the first 10 games of 71-72 and then reality caught up with us.

Although that was a great team by United's standards, the reality is that they were a middling top tier team, as was shown by their performances from Oct 71 onwards. Its the first two months of that season that are the aberation, not the following 3 years.

 

[oldblade]

Basically I think our momentum from promotion took us through the first 10 games of 71-72 and then reality caught up with us.

Although that was a great team by United's standards, the reality is that they were a middling top tier team, as was shown by their performances from Oct 71 onwards. Its the first two months of that season that are the aberation, not the following 3 years.

I think that in the first half of the 1970s, there was not the huge disparity in ability between the top sides and the rest. All the sides in the division were a lot closer than they are now. Hence, in a way all matches were more difficult because of that.

Most sides could beat anyone in the division, and Derby were the only side to win the league title twice from 1969-70 until 1974-5. Five different sides won it in 6 seasons.

I felt that we always stood a good chance of winning, no matter who we were playing. Our problem seemed to be consistency, and although our first choice lineup was good I don't think we had much strength in depth.

 

[Silent Blade]

So, what went wrong with that team?
I think it was mentioned that they suddenly lost four on the bounce having been top for 10 matches.
They ended up slowly sliding down the table to 10th and finished the next two seasons in around 14th.

So why did we suddenly slip from being outstanding in 1971 to comparatively average in 1972?
Did we sell anyone? Did somebody get injured?
Did other teams work out how to nullify us? Why couldn’t we sustain that brilliant form?

a) Best's wonder goal (some argue that it wouldnt have happened if Hemsley stayed on the pitch) with only 6 minutes left made it hard for us to get back onto level terms with only 6 minutes left

b) we were winning early in the next game (home to Stoke) when Woody scored the penalty. Stoke got two goals from set pieces (John Ritchie and Dennis Smith) before TC equalised with a lovely curler over Gordon Banks. We thought TC had put us back into the lead but the linesman put his flag up to indicate that the ball went out of play before TC placed the ball bast Banks from a tight angle. Blades fans and players were angry with the linesman for his decision (to be honest I thought it was a debatable decision that needed TV replays. Terry Conroy got Stoke's winner when he looked well offside.

c) The Dell has always been a tough place to visit as we lost narrowly by 3-2

d) losing 2-1 at Man City wasnt a disgrace, when you looked at the fixture list before the start of the season and you had to pick matches where your team is highly likely to lose then Man City away would be voted highly (they could have won the league that season- some blamed the signing of Rodney Marsh who was too much of an individualist)

We did well in the next 5 league matches as we won 3 times and drawing once

Then we lost 5-1 at Palace where ex-Celtic player John "Yogi" Hughes ran riot in front of the MOTD cameras

Then we were unbeaten in the next 5 league games including 2 wins (the 2-1 Boxing Day win at Newcastle was memorable)

We lost 1-0 to an Allan Clarke header at Elland Road (L**ds were probably the best team in England in that era)

Then Hope had a mare in the 5-0 home defeat at home to Arsenal

Hockey broke his leg in the 3-3 draw at home to Man City and it was a big blow to us. We didnt have many decent reserves players

In the next 10 games we lost 3 times and they were at Anfield, White hart Lane and Stamford bridge which are tough places to visit.

Hope then had another mare, this time at home to Derby (lost 4-0)

we were unlucky to lose 3-2 in a re-arranged game at Coventry (we were winning 2-0 in the original fixture with half hour left before the ref abandoned the match due to heavy snow) and TC's supposedly late equaliser (which would have clinched him the hat trick) was controversally disallowed by the ref.

I would say that it was a mixture of bad luck with injuries (Powell who I rated highly was never able to return to the first team after his knee injury and Hockey's broken leg) and lack of decent reserves that caused our slide from the top to 10th place

 

[metalblade]

I think that in the first half of the 1970s, there was not the huge disparity in ability between the top sides and the rest. All the sides in the division were a lot closer than they are now. Hence, in a way all matches were more difficult because of that.

Most sides could beat anyone in the division, and Derby were the only side to win the league title twice from 1969-70 until 1974-5. Five different sides won it in 6 seasons.

I felt that we always stood a good chance of winning, no matter who we were playing. Our problem seemed to be consistency, and although our first choice lineup was good I don't think we had much strength in depth.

Spot on, I think we were maybe a couple of players short of being very serious challengers to win the League in those days as usual we missed the chance to make something happen by not investing that little bit extra in the team. Instead we made do with what we had then a few years later invested heavily in the south stand just as key players we starting to decline the rest is history which sort of keeps repeating itself.

 

[Darren]

I think that in the first half of the 1970s, there was not the huge disparity in ability between the top sides and the rest. All the sides in the division were a lot closer than they are now. Hence, in a way all matches were more difficult because of that.

Most sides could beat anyone in the division, and Derby were the only side to win the league title twice from 1969-70 until 1974-5. Five different sides won it in 6 seasons.

I felt that we always stood a good chance of winning, no matter who we were playing. Our problem seemed to be consistency, and although our first choice lineup was good I don't think we had much strength in depth.

That's a fair point. If you take the period 66-67 t0 72-73, you had 7 different teams winning the league in successive seasons (Man Utd, Man City, Leeds, Everton, Arsenal, Derby and Liverpool), which must be some kind of record.

 

[oldblade]

That's a fair point. If you take the period 66-67 t0 72-73, you had 7 different teams winning the league in successive seasons (Man Utd, Man City, Leeds, Everton, Arsenal, Derby and Liverpool), which must be some kind of record.

In the ten seasons from 1959-60 until 1968-69 eight different sides won the league, and two of them were Burnley and Ipswich. It is pretty unimaginable for that to happen now.

I think in the 1960s and 1970s the first division was much more competitive than it is now.

We had a good side in the early 1970s. The problem was, so did a lot of other clubs!