Its hard to think back now to just how bad we'd become at the end of Clarke's 2nd time here, and he was obviously taking us down. Mel did brilliantly in keeping us up for a start and were any fans on his back then when we were winning games and hitting 5 goals in certain matches ?. His downfall started though when he made an absolute mess of the £2+ million kitty from the Tiler & Agnew sales, and his resignation when it happened in '93 was for the best.
Surely half the team is injured or somert... Our german coaches can't think that's any kind of team to put out.
It’s a training match to improve fitness in high temperature. Next you’ll be complaining about the compilation of the teams in the 5 aside matches, or worrying about the results of the attack vs defence headers and volleys tournament.
Our german coaches only play with 5 players?! Disgusting. A british coach would never do this. Brexit means brexit!
He didn’t resign, he was sacked. I was in the old tea room with my old man when he walked in and pointed a finger gun at his head and then took the coaching staff in to tell them he’d been sacked.
Yes, recall the defeat as he was booed and put his fingers in his ears. The right call, but a sad end for a very decent man. Then Gareth really I'm a bit of a wing back Williams went and got a hat trick in the final game
I could have sworn Mel resigned (after the dismal loss at Brentford in the penultimate game), or 'jumped before he was pushed' or whatever we want to call it. Then in the final game we beat Glenn Hoddle's soon to be promoted Sweden Town lol.
It all went downhill when he appointed Mick Wadsworth as first team coach. Wadsworth was an advocate of the Charles Hughes theory that meant hoofing the ball into the opposition box at every opportunity because most goals are scored inside the box. Cultured players like Archdeacon were told to welly it upfield for John Pearson. The fans turned on Machin and he was sacked.
Although on Wiki it says resigned he definitely wasn’t. I remember the day and moment very well, like it was yesterday. I know I’m asking you to believe a random person on the internet that you’ve never met before but I was actually there the moment it happened. It’s one of my most vivid memories of being at Oakwell as a kid. I was 16 at the time and used to go down to the ground most days and sit with Rimmo and wait for my dad to give me a lift home after college. We were all sat in the tea room together. Although I thought Mel was under pressure and the team was underperforming it was a really sad moment to see how upset he was at that point and to see how personal it is to be told you aren’t wanted.
It sounds like you know more than the rest of us Terry on this subject. Im just trying to go on memory and like I say I really thought the club had told us all as well, that it was a resignation. Either way, those initial comments of Mel's about winning promotion within 3 years came back to haunt him didn't they. The reason I brought this up (and I have done before on here) is when I see fans keep having a go at Mel's time here, as though it was the worst time under the worst manager ever etc. That simply isn't true is it.