2005/2006 season

straight up one of best & most intense games i've ever been to - wasnt it the first time we got into the playoffs? Remember walking away from the ground at the end fit to burst but having to keep a lid on it till we got back to the car and it sinking in we were going to final - was in Cardiff werent it. Amazing game. Nardiello, Hayes pen and Paul Reid scoring the goals. The infamous relegation class with flicker in charge also up there with bonkers games.

 

That’s probably the closest comparison to this seasons end but still a long way off. We just drew a lot of games at the back end of that season, us and a few others.

 

I don't think a parallel can be drawn between 2016 and this season. The circumstances are basically the complete opposite.

 

Hindsight is mint.

We finished 6th on goal difference.

Yes, we blasted an already-promoted and on-the-beach Wigan away on the final day. But prior to that, we drew 2-2 with Colchester at home ("we've thrown it away" was said on here all that night), drew 0-0 at Sheff Utd, robbed 10-man Peterborough in the final minute at Oakwell (Conor's legendary sh**housing) and had drawn 0-0 at Burton.

We weren't flying. We'd recently lost at Oakwell against Danny Wilson's Chesterfield too. End of December to early March we were flying, for sure. After being bottom of the league. And don't get me wrong, it was one hell of a season (my last as a fan) that had pretty much everything.

It was sort of the opposite of this season I guess. Relegation form to promotion form, rather than promotion form to relegation form.

But hindsight is a great thing. Things from years ago always seem much better than they were.

Don't massively disagree with your assessment of both squads. That 2015/16 squad ought to have won the division with hindsight. This squad was tipped, by the majority of fans on this forum last summer to 'at best' finish top six, with plenty predicting much worse.

I just hope that the incessant negativity subsides for a week and that the players produce a pair of performances that we all know they're capable of and have shown already against the likes of Bolton, Oxford and Peterborough this term.

If not, it's the same result as last season. Reached the play-offs but not gone up.

 

Line up at Huddersfield was

Colgan
Hassell
Reid
Kay
Heckingbottom
Devaney
Howard
Mcphail
Hayes
Nardiello
Richards

 

Not to be pedantic or to take away the achievements of the team that season, but they were never bottom on New Years Day - they were 19th after beating Blackpool 4-2 on the 28th December, then 17th after beating Millwall on the 2nd Jan. In fact, I don’t think they ever sat at the bottom of the table that season. I’m pretty sure when they lost at home to Port Vale (1-2) that was an 8th successive loss in the league and that had them down in 23rd, but that was mid-November. They’d already started to turn things around by Christmas.

 

Weren’t Wigan already promoted rather than relegated mate?
Let’s hope they pull a couple of mega performances out the bag but sadly they have been very few and far between this season.

First half Bolton? Yes
Second half no - we sat back culminating in an equaliser

I'm keeping everything crossed but it seems completely bonkers to sack the manager and not have a replacement in immediately.

ps if we don’t get to the play off final then it isn’t the same result as last season!

 

First time in playoffs? No that was 2000 under Bassett, unless I've missed one! SF already over after the away leg at Birmingham. Lost to Ipswich at the old Wembley

 

2005/6 I'd seen us play all the other play off teams at home in the league that season and felt we were definitely the weakest of the four.
Say what you like about that team though but in those play offs and the following season in the Championship they showed real spirit and refusal to know when they were beaten. I'm not confident our current team have that.

 

I think they were bottom for a short period of time mid December, prior to the win at Colchester.

 

Oops.

 

Cracking 'keeper, Steve.

 

Ah yes, my bad. They went bottom for one game after drawing with Sheff Utd at the end of November and didn’t play another game until 12 December.

 

2000. Lost to Ipswich in final.

2006 was first L1 playoffs for us.

 

A-ha. smell my cheese.

 

I was convinced we'd blown it with that Colchester result; in fact I still am, even though we got promotion.

 

100% one of my favourite half a dozen games I've ever attended watching the Reds.