Biggest achievement at City

[ronk]

I suppose to think getting out of a pub league with a squad that was mainly made up of prem quality players,and thinking its not that big an achievement is probably a good way to get the abuse I've been getting.To me it was a somewhat forgetable and embarrasing experience but as it seems to be the measure the real fans are using to show the rest of the world their loyalty so I suppose the ridicule is understandable.

Some decent points, well made and then completely undone (& then some) with that bitter and infantile 2nd half of the last sentence.

[Ted Hughes]

I suppose to think getting out of a pub league with a squad that was mainly made up of prem quality players,and thinking its not that big an achievement is probably a good way to get the abuse I've been getting.To me it was a somewhat forgetable and embarrasing experience but as it seems to be the measure the real fans are using to show the rest of the world their loyalty so I suppose the ridicule is understandable.

Some decent points, well made and then completely undone (& then some) with that bitter and infantile 2nd half of the last sentence.

The 'squad made up of Prem quality players' line should carry its own laugh track.

Look at his list (from the season after) which is better than the actual squad we had in the 2nd div season and look how many players are actually below Championship standard. He doesn't know, because he never saw most of them play, but we do.

No. Position Player
1 GK Nicky Weaver
2 DF Lee Crooks
3 DF Richard Edghill
4 DF Gerard Wiekens
5 DF Andy Morrison
6 MF Kevin Horlock
7 DF Spencer Prior
8 MF Ian Bishop
9 FW Paul Dickov
10 FW Shaun Goater
11 MF Terry Cooke
12 FW Danny Allsopp
13 GK Tommy Wright
14 FW Gareth Taylor
15 FW Craig Russell
16 MF Jamie Pollock
17 MF Jim Whitley
18 MF Jeff Whitley
19 MF Danny Tiatto
20 MF Gary Mason
23 DF Nick Fenton
24 FW Lee Peacock
25 DF Richard Jobson
26 GK Richard McKinney
27 DF Shaun Holmes
28 MF Tony Grant
29 MF Shaun Wright-Phillips
30 GK Steven Hodgson
31 MF David Laycock
32 MF Leon Mike
33 FW Chris Killen
34 DF Mark Kennedy
35 FW Lee Mills (on loan from Bradford City)
36 DF Danny Granville
37 FW Robert Taylor

The only thing that stands out for me, when I see that lot is what a fucking miracle Joe Royle performed to get them into the Prem.

How many were kept on when Keegan took over ?

[Moses]

Clubs in England & Wales that have entered administration

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Club Entered
administration Exited
administration League(s) Deduction(s)
Charlton Athletic February 1984[30][31] March 1984
[nb 1] Second Division None
Middlesbrough 21 May 1986 July 1986[32]
Liquidated[nb 2] Third Division None
Tranmere Rovers 1987[citation needed] − − None
Newport County 1989[citation needed] − − None
Walsall 1990[citation needed] − − None
Northampton Town 1992[citation needed] − − None
Kettering Town 1992[citation needed] − − None
Aldershot 1992[citation needed] − − None
Maidstone 1992[citation needed] − − None
Hartlepool United 1994[citation needed] − − None
Barnet 1994[citation needed] − − None
Exeter United 1994[citation needed] − − None
Gillingham 1995[citation needed] − − None
Doncaster Rovers 1997[citation needed] − − None
Millwall 21 January 1997 June 1997 Second Division None
Bournemouth 1997[citation needed] − − None
Darlington 1997[citation needed] − − None
Crystal Palace 1998[citation needed] July 2000 Second Division None
Chester City October 1998[33] July 1999[34] Third Division None
Hull City 7 February 2001[35] 12 March 2001[36][nb 3] Third Division None
Queens Park Rangers 2 April 2001[38] 17 November 2002[39] First Division None
Halifax Town 9 April 2002[40] March 2003[41] Third Division
Football Conference None
Bradford City 16 May 2002[42] 1 August 2002[43] First Division None
Barnsley 3 October 2002[44] 25 October 2003[45] Second Division None
Leicester City 21 October 2002[46] 16 November 2004[47] First Division None
Port Vale 16 December 2002[48] 2003 Second Division None
York City 18 December 2002[49] 26 March 2003[50] Third Division None
Derby County 20 October 2003[51] 20 October 2003[51] Championship None[nb 4]
Ipswich Town[nb 5] 10 February 2003[55] 30 May 2003[56] First Division None
Wimbledon 5 June 2003[57] 21 June 2004[58] (As MK Dons) First Division None
Darlington 23 December 2003[59] 26 May 2004[60] Third Division None
Bradford City 27 February 2004[61] 10 December 2004[62] First Division
League One None
Wrexham 3 December 2004[14] 3 August 2006[63] League One
League Two −10 pts
Cambridge United 29 April 2005[64] 22 July 2005[65] League Two −10 pts
Rotherham United 13 May 2006[66] ??? League One −10 pts
Crawley Town 5 June 2006[67] 10 August 2007[68] Conference National −6 pts[nb 6]
Boston United 25 April 2007[70] 20 May 2008[71] League Two −10 pts[nb 7]
Leeds United 4 May 2007[73] 11 July 2007[74] Championship
League One −10 pts
−15 pts[nb 8]
Luton Town 22 November 2007[76] 28 July 2008[77] League One
League Two −10 pts
−20 pts[nb 9]
Bournemouth 8 February 2008[79] 18 July 2008[80] League One
League Two −10 pts
−17 pts[nb 10]
Rotherham United 18 March 2008[81] 2008[1] League Two −10 pts
−17 pts[nb 11]
Halifax Town 26 March 2008[82] 13 June 2008[83] Conference National −10 pts
Darlington 25 February 2009[84] 7 August 2009[85] League Two −10 pts
Southampton 2 April 2009[86][87] 8 July 2009[88] Championship
League One N/A
−10 pts[nb 12]
Stockport County 30 April 2009[89] 18 June 2010[90] League One −10 pts
Chester City 17 May 2009[33] 10 March 2010[nb 13]
Liquidated Conference National −25 pts[nb 14]
Northwich Victoria 15 May 2009[96] 16 May 2010[97][nb 15] Conference National −10 pts[nb 16]
Farsley Celtic 30 June 2009[101] 10 March 2010
Liquidated[102] Conference North −10 pts[103]
Salisbury City 3 September 2009[104] 26 February 2010[105][106] Conference National −10 pts[nb 17]
Weymouth 28 October 2009[108] 27 November 2009[109] Conference South None
Crystal Palace 27 January 2010[110] 20 August 2010[111] Championship −10 pts
Portsmouth 26 February 2010[22] 24 October 2010[112] Premier League −9 pts
Plymouth Argyle 4 March 2011[113] 31 October 2011[114] League One −10 pts
Rushden and Diamonds 7 July 2011[115] 8 July 2011
Liquidated[116] Conference National None
Darlington 3 January 2012[117] Present Conference National −10 pts
Portsmouth 17 February 2012[118] Present Championship −10 pts
Port Vale 9 March 2012[119] Present League Two −10 pts

All them clubs have been in administration.
They are all still in exisitence.
All this bollox about us being close to extinction except for the actions of a few hardcore turning up at York is that bollox.Anybody with half a brain can get round the financial difficulties we were in.
I've listened to every match on GMR so bollox to knowing fuckall thats being going on with my club.Your winding me up so were even

You are not a real City fan unless you have heard them on the radio with Piccadilly 261.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

Some decent points, well made and then completely undone (& then some) with that bitter and infantile 2nd half of the last sentence.

True he makes a good point in a snide way.

It's all opinions but I'm with him on this one.

[twosips]

This list of players is amazing.

We actually had a few decent players to be fair. Weaver was a great prospect at the time. Wiekens never even looked out of place in the premiership. Horlock was reliable. Prior had experience. Goater clinical, Dickov energetic. Kennedy actually had quality. Tiatto was good too. Granville a good solid left back.

We basically had lots of average players who had the seasons of their lives. Twas great.

[Ted Hughes]

This list of players is amazing.

We actually had a few decent players to be fair. Weaver was a great prospect at the time. Wiekens never even looked out of place in the premiership. Horlock was reliable. Prior had experience. Goater clinical, Dickov energetic. Kennedy actually had quality. Tiatto was good too. Granville a good solid left back.

We basically had lots of average players who had the seasons of their lives. Twas great.

Weaver was a top prospect but unfortunately let it go very quickly. Morrison/Jobson lacked fitness. Goater & Dickov both performed in the Prem, as did Tiatto & Wiekens, but Kennedy & Granville were nowhere near it.

You are talking 5 or 6 decent players out of 20 odd & the majority of the rest are way way below the level of a typical Championship team. Sir Joe deserves a statue imo.

[eddiecityfan]

I always felt sorry for Joe Royle. I think in hinds sight getting back to back promotions was his undoing. We had players bought to get us out of, whats now, league one who were great at that level ( for the second half of the season at least) , then trying to keep us in the premier league a year and a bit later. They just weren't up to that standard..Andy Morrison for one springs to mind. Royle didn't have a hope really. An extra year rebuilding the championship,as it is now, and who knows. Still Keegan's season in the championship with ali and berkovic was a joy and i think thatnwas the start of what we're enjoying now.

[Chinners]

Morrison was long gone/injured by the time we got back to the Prem, in fact I don't recall him even playing in the prem at all

[eddiecityfan]

I think morrison played a handful of games for us in that premiershipseason. I can remember watching him play liverpool, it might have been in the cup, and thinking it was a complete mis- match.

[Blue Since 76]

I agree it's unlikely we'd have gone out of existence if we hadn't been promoted. In fact, I doubt we'd have even gone into administration, as debts were relatively low and decent attendances should have covered costs whilst playing staff were adjusted.

However, that last point is crucial. Once you're sliding down the league, it's difficult to stop. Attendances drop, hence money drops, so wages have to be cut so players are replaced with worse players meaning attendances drop further... If we hadn't been promoted that season, we could have easily been there for another two or three. We could then have done what Norwich or Southampton have done and come straight up, or we could have become a Sheffield Wednesday and just stayed there.

There's no way to know what would have happened if we hadn't been promoted. If we hadn't won the league last year, we'd have been challenging this year and next year. For that reason, the Gillingham game was the most important for me.

[john68]

I always felt sorry for Joe Royle. I think in hinds sight getting back to back promotions was his undoing. We had players bought to get us out of, whats now, league one who were great at that level ( for the second half of the season at least) , then trying to keep us in the premier league a year and a bit later. They just weren't up to that standard..Andy Morrison for one springs to mind. Royle didn't have a hope really. An extra year rebuilding the championship,as it is now, and who knows. Still Keegan's season in the championship with ali and berkovic was a joy and i think thatnwas the start of what we're enjoying now.

I don't think that relegation under Royle was the sole reason for his demise. Much was made at the time of Bernstein's visits to other clubs, particularly a visit to Arsenal to see how they operated. Lots of new ideas were coming into football at gthat time and Royle was considered "old school" and unable to embrace what Bernstein believed was needed to bring City up to date and lead us into the future.

[Tokyo Blue]

What Royle did was a major achievement and thoroughly enjoyable. Nothing can take it away. I'd buy him a pint if I met him.

What Mancini has done was a major achievement and thoroughly enjoyable. Nothing can take it away. I'd buy him a pint if I met him.

This whole idea is not comparing like with like so there is no meaning to it. They are two very different achievements in two very different eras of football at what are essentially two very different clubs. I am just going to enjoy them both for what they were.

[Chinners]

Amen to that Tokyo