Looking back at the 2008 run in

[1960maaan]

I and others , have made the comparison between this Ipswich run and ours of 2007 - 2008 . Promotion followed by a good start, confidence peaking and doing much better than expected. 
Because of that I went back and had a look at the run in, man it's even worse than I remembered . TBH I wasn't going as much around then , picking and choosing games , it's a long story , but I kept an eye on it all .
After getting in a great position in Feb / March , we tanked big time .

Through Feb , after a 3-0 loss at QPR , we went unbeaten until March 11th. 3 draws doesn't seem too bad after a decent run , 16 points from 24 or 2PPG. 

Table looking good , and then the wheels fell off.

Hard to look at that table and realise we didn't finish top 2 . 7 points from the last 8 games is n amazing run for a team top of the table. 
Over the season 15 out of 20 games we won, was by the odd goal , which explains poor GD and shows we were just getting over the line a lot of the time . 

 

3rd and a point behind 2nd after the draw with Wolves , all be it WBA had a game in hand , still in touch with the autos travelling to Stoke .
I watched the Stoke game in the Rising Sun , McCombe stands out in the memory for their 2nd. 

When you look at it , Wembley wasn't the missed opportunity it was that run in. 

Over a period of about 7 weeks WBA went from being 5 points behind , to 7 points ahead . 
Not sure we will ever be in that position again , what could have been. 

[TDarwall]

The only thing is, we massively overperformed for 2/3rds of that season. Some games defied gravity the way we clung on to a lead or grabbed a late winner.  Some will say we choked, but I just think thr season caught up with us, whisper it, but we missed LJ when injured & we'd used all our good fortune pre Xmas really.

I think Byfield was top scorer with 8, which says a lot.

 

[Silvio Dante]

4 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

I and others , have made the comparison between this Ipswich run and ours of 2007 - 2008 . Promotion followed by a good start, confidence peaking and doing much better than expected. 
Because of that I went back and had a look at the run in, man it's even worse than I remembered . TBH I wasn't going as much around then , picking and choosing games , it's a long story , but I kept an eye on it all .
After getting in a great position in Feb / March , we tanked big time .

Through Feb , after a 3-0 loss at QPR , we went unbeaten until March 11th. 3 draws doesn't seem too bad after a decent run , 16 points from 24 or 2PPG. 

Table looking good , and then the wheels fell off.

Hard to look at that table and realise we didn't finish top 2 . 7 points from the last 8 games is n amazing run for a team top of the table. 
Over the season 15 out of 20 games we won, was by the odd goal , which explains poor GD and shows we were just getting over the line a lot of the time . 

 

3rd and a point behind 2nd after the draw with Wolves , all be it WBA had a game in hand , still in touch with the autos travelling to Stoke .
I watched the Stoke game in the Rising Sun , McCombe stands out in the memory for their 2nd. 

When you look at it , Wembley wasn't the missed opportunity it was that run in. 

Over a period of about 7 weeks WBA went from being 5 points behind , to 7 points ahead . 
Not sure we will ever be in that position again , what could have been. 

(ducks for cover)

Lee Johnson got injured on the last game of your upper section, the 0-0 vs Watford. I will die on the hill that if he had stayed fit we go up automatically- not because he was a great player, but because that team was greater than the sum of its parts and he was an integral piece. Those results highlight that point starkly.

[TDarwall]

@Silvio Dante Snap!

[Mr Popodopolous]

Ipswich have already got more points than we did in the entirety of 2007-08. In one sense the bar is higher.

That aside yes but note the 2 games in hand for WBA. Hull also camw up on the rails majorly, were midtable in November/December. Maybe later.

However if we are looking at some comparisons.

Mix of the top 4 this year being insanely strong and a relatively low bar for the top top places that year.

Edited March 6 by Mr Popodopolous

[Red Exile]

4 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

(ducks for cover)

Lee Johnson got injured on the last game of your upper section, the 0-0 vs Watford. I will die on the hill that if he had stayed fit we go up automatically- not because he was a great player, but because that team was greater than the sum of its parts and he was an integral piece. Those results highlight that point starkly.

No need to duck for cover. I was amongst his bigger critics as a manager but as a player I liked him, thought he helped our midfield keep ticking along. Was a great blow when he was injured.

I was at all those run in matches, we blew it spectacularly...sadly.

[GrahamC]

8 minutes ago, TDarwall said:

The only thing is, we massively overperformed for 2/3rds of that season. Some games defied gravity the way we clung on to a lead or grabbed a late winner.  Some will say we choked, but I just think thr season caught up with us, whisper it, but we missed LJ when injured & we'd used all our good fortune pre Xmas really.

I think Byfield was top scorer with 8, which says a lot.

 

People tend to forget we brought in Adebola in January & he got 6 in half a season (he’d scored 5 for Coventry in the league as well), so did manage double figures.

I actually thought Nick Carle arriving disrupted us a bit & couldn’t see the fuss (he did nothing at Palace after we moved him on).

There were a couple of poor displays late on, we were dreadful at Stoke but my recollection is a brilliant season running out of steam, despite the efforts of a good group.

GJ is massively underrated on here for me, what he achieved that season was remarkable & he also correctly identified what we lacked by bringing in Maynard that summer.

If we’d had his equivalent the year earlier rather than Trundle who was out of his depth in The Championship we might well have done it.

[22A]

28 minutes ago, 1960maaan said:

 

 

Looking back what followed was typical City. Hull went up, came back after 2 seasons only to go up again. That same year 2013, Palace & Watford met in the Play off Final whilst City were relegated.

[Lordofthebling]

I thought it was too soon after promotion, consolidate and go again next year... Still waiting  

[TV Tom]

I remember that 0-0 Leicester away game, they absolutely battered us, I think they ended up getting relegated with a crazy 52 or 53 points

[Angmering Red]

Watford 0-0, the noise after Basso and the penalty save…never forget, the Dolman seemed to shake

 

Agree about LJ and Nick Carle, one a big loss through injury,  the other a big let down…..

[eardun]

9 hours ago, Silvio Dante said:

(ducks for cover)

Lee Johnson got injured on the last game of your upper section, the 0-0 vs Watford. I will die on the hill that if he had stayed fit we go up automatically- not because he was a great player, but because that team was greater than the sum of its parts and he was an integral piece. Those results highlight that point starkly.

Exactly. This was my view at the time and why I’ve never really understood the OTT anti-LJ sentiment from those who think GJ only picked him because he was his son. 

[The turtle]

What a two seasons it was though, an incredible ride. Falling one game short.

The first side is like your first love.... It devastates you because players leave. My was Leaning, newman, taylor , bent..... 

Well 2006-2008 was basically the equivalent of a football wife. They took me on emotions i hadn't yet discovered. It was one hell of a connection with that side.

 

Edited March 6 by The turtle

[New Dazzler]

10 hours ago, 1960maaan said:

I and others , have made the comparison between this Ipswich run and ours of 2007 - 2008 . Promotion followed by a good start, confidence peaking and doing much better than expected. 
Because of that I went back and had a look at the run in, man it's even worse than I remembered . TBH I wasn't going as much around then , picking and choosing games , it's a long story , but I kept an eye on it all .
After getting in a great position in Feb / March , we tanked big time .

Through Feb , after a 3-0 loss at QPR , we went unbeaten until March 11th. 3 draws doesn't seem too bad after a decent run , 16 points from 24 or 2PPG. 

Table looking good , and then the wheels fell off.

Hard to look at that table and realise we didn't finish top 2 . 7 points from the last 8 games is n amazing run for a team top of the table. 
Over the season 15 out of 20 games we won, was by the odd goal , which explains poor GD and shows we were just getting over the line a lot of the time . 

 

3rd and a point behind 2nd after the draw with Wolves , all be it WBA had a game in hand , still in touch with the autos travelling to Stoke .
I watched the Stoke game in the Rising Sun , McCombe stands out in the memory for their 2nd. 

When you look at it , Wembley wasn't the missed opportunity it was that run in. 

Over a period of about 7 weeks WBA went from being 5 points behind , to 7 points ahead . 
Not sure we will ever be in that position again , what could have been. 

 It's also worth noting that, if we had beaten Stoke away, we would have finished 2nd, assuming that every other  result had remained the same.  The problem with that assumption is would we have breezed  past Preston on the final day if a  place in the Premier  League was up for grabs?

[The Original OTIB]

More importantly I can't believe it is that long ago. 

[Bristol Oil Services]

I think we were still top after 42 games (?) but party because those below us had a game or two in hand. I still have a newspaper cutting of the table with us P42 and top, four games to go.

Steve Lansdown has come nowhere near since, it was a freak season, more accident than design. We fell away in a similar fashion under the younger Johnson missing out on 6th in 18/19.

[W-S-M Seagull]

The mistake was not investing in January. 

Bizarrely SL then proceeded to throw money after bad in the years after to try and replicate that season. 

Even now he's not learned from that lesson. 

[1960maaan]

17 minutes ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

I think we were still top after 42 games (?) but party because those below us had a game or two in hand. I still have a newspaper cutting of the table with us P42 and top, four games to go.

Steve Lansdown has come nowhere near since, it was a freak season, more accident than design. We fell away in a similar fashion under the younger Johnson missing out on 6th in 18/19.

After we had played 42, bit of a false position with everyone having games to play and were winning. 

[2015]

Ipswich have more points now than we achieved in 2007/08. There achievement far outweighs ours, they're likely going to hit 95+ points.

[2015]

22 hours ago, TDarwall said:

The only thing is, we massively overperformed for 2/3rds of that season. Some games defied gravity the way we clung on to a lead or grabbed a late winner.  Some will say we choked, but I just think thr season caught up with us, whisper it, but we missed LJ when injured & we'd used all our good fortune pre Xmas really.

I think Byfield was top scorer with 8, which says a lot.

 

0 GD after 42 games says a lot.

[AG City]

I always see similarities in 2008 with 2018.

In 2008 Stoke brought in reinforcements in that transfer window which got them over the line, while we brought in Adebola and Carle which really disrupted our rhythm.

In 2018 we brought in Diony and Kent - enough said.

[robinforlife2]

I always thought Adebola was good for us.

[2015]

2 minutes ago, robinforlife2 said:

I always thought Adebola was good for us.

He was good, but he disrupted our playing style in 2007/08. It worked best when we didn't have a big man up front to lump it to, before he came in we were playing some very tidy football at times. Afterwards, we started lumping it.

[GrahamC]

19 minutes ago, robinforlife2 said:

I always thought Adebola was good for us.

He was, it is absolute nonsense that his arrival was a factor.

We played Enoch as a lone striker at times earlier that season, so how come we weren’t disrupted then? We ran out of steam & Carle was largely ineffective, Dele strengthened us, not made us weaker.

[Mr Popodopolous]

54 minutes ago, AG City said:

I always see similarities in 2008 with 2018.

In 2008 Stoke brought in reinforcements in that transfer window which got them over the line, while we brought in Adebola and Carle which really disrupted our rhythm.

In 2018 we brought in Diony and Kent - enough said.

We were up against FFP that January 2018, and there was a great deal of uncertainty about the rules.

We really couldn't have spent much more than we did.

Now 2008, yes totally. We could have gone bigger and faster then. Should have been brave.

Edited March 7 by Mr Popodopolous

[Mr Popodopolous]

3 hours ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

I think we were still top after 42 games (?) but party because those below us had a game or two in hand. I still have a newspaper cutting of the table with us P42 and top, four games to go.

Steve Lansdown has come nowhere near since, it was a freak season, more accident than design. We fell away in a similar fashion under the younger Johnson missing out on 6th in 18/19.

2017-18 was the bigger collapse for me vs 2018-19 where we charged from midtable then stumbled.

To not make top 2 is one thing, to not even make the playoffs from where we were on Boxing Day..

Edited March 7 by Mr Popodopolous

[2015]

20 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

He was, it is absolute nonsense that his arrival was a factor.

We played Enoch as a lone striker at times earlier that season, so how come we weren’t disrupted then? We ran out of steam & Carle was largely ineffective, Dele strengthened us, not made us weaker.

Enoch was better with his feet and would drop deeper. Also we stopped playing David Noble as much unfortunately.

We definitely did stop playing the good football we were playing at the beginning of the campaign from January onwards.

[GrahamC]

3 hours ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

I think we were still top after 42 games (?) but party because those below us had a game or two in hand. I still have a newspaper cutting of the table with us P42 and top, four games to go.

Steve Lansdown has come nowhere near since, it was a freak season, more accident than design. We fell away in a similar fashion under the younger Johnson missing out on 6th in 18/19.

I don’t think it was more by “accident than design” but we definitely haven’t come anywhere near to replicating it, even though in the 2 seasons that followed (10th place finishes twice) we had a stronger attack with a proven goalscorer in Maynard.

We won large numbers of points that season by outrunning sides, not giving up & being defensively brilliant.

We also had the advantage of being unknown, people forget now but in finishing second to Scunthorpe (!) the year before we were hardly considered likely contenders to go up again.

Our history suggests we more often leave the division by the other route.