unsworth blue 477 Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 Yesterday was 31 years since that famous night when Latics fans appeared to be resigned to losing our popular manager Joe Royle. The Manchester Evening News reported that Joe was clearing out his desk at Boundary Park ready to take the Managers Job at Maine Road as Latics were embarking on their great cup exploits which led us to Wembley in the Littlewoods Cup Final and to the FA Cup Semi Final against Manchester United. Did anyone think that Joe would stay at little old Latics and turn down the job at our Manchester based rivals? Does anyone actually know whether the story about the Latics fan standing outside in the freezing cold to plead to Joe to stay was true? If so, any idea who the fan was? The fact that Joe chose to stay has gone down in Latics folklore as a wonderful vote of confidence in the club and the team & its supporters, and that City's then chairman Peter Swales was indeed dignified enough to report that he could understand why Joe had turned City down in preference to staying at Latics as "something special is happening there" warm the heart of any long standing Latics supporter Thanks for staying Joe Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wardie 675 Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 I wish he had stayed when Everton came knocking, as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Barry Bosnian 83 Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 I remember 'Please Joe, don't go' on the Scoreboard! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oafcmetty 1,670 Posted December 2, 2020 Share Posted December 2, 2020 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
unsworth blue 477 Posted December 2, 2020 Author Share Posted December 2, 2020 1 hour ago, oafcmetty said: Was looking for a picture of this Metty - thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Matt 1,529 Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave_Og 3,669 Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 15 hours ago, Wardie said: I wish he had stayed when Everton came knocking, as well. Don't recall much popular disappointment then; think the general feeling was that things had run their course. With the benefit of hindsight..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oafcmetty 1,670 Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 52 minutes ago, Dave_Og said: Don't recall much popular disappointment then; think the general feeling was that things had run their course. With the benefit of hindsight..... But general expectation was that Ritchie would get it? Instead we ended up with Sharp! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave_Og 3,669 Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 24 minutes ago, oafcmetty said: But general expectation was that Ritchie would get it? Instead we ended up with Sharp! Quite Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oafcmetty 1,670 Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 2 minutes ago, Dave_Og said: Quite Makes you wonder, doesn't it? IIRC the only player we lost from the final PL season/FA cup semi team was Milligan, and Richardson wasn't a bad replacement. Sharp started off ok with 5 wins from his first 8 - and only 2 defeats in his first 11 league games. Continue in that vein and we might have been up there towards the end - maybe Ritchie would have maintained (or bettered) it? Instead we lost 5 of the next 9 in the league, winning only 1, and had to settle for lower mid table. Disappointing really. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dave_Og 3,669 Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 53 minutes ago, oafcmetty said: Makes you wonder, doesn't it? IIRC the only player we lost from the final PL season/FA cup semi team was Milligan, and Richardson wasn't a bad replacement. Sharp started off ok with 5 wins from his first 8 - and only 2 defeats in his first 11 league games. Continue in that vein and we might have been up there towards the end - maybe Ritchie would have maintained (or bettered) it? Instead we lost 5 of the next 9 in the league, winning only 1, and had to settle for lower mid table. Disappointing really. Sharp went into a very defensive shell as soon as results turned a bit Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bobledgersheart 634 Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 43 minutes ago, oafcmetty said: Makes you wonder, doesn't it? IIRC the only player we lost from the final PL season/FA cup semi team was Milligan, and Richardson wasn't a bad replacement. Sharp started off ok with 5 wins from his first 8 - and only 2 defeats in his first 11 league games. Continue in that vein and we might have been up there towards the end - maybe Ritchie would have maintained (or bettered) it? Instead we lost 5 of the next 9 in the league, winning only 1, and had to settle for lower mid table. Disappointing really. Seem to remember when Stitch finally got the gig that he was very late changing things when the games were going against us, waiting till we went behind before making subs. He probably "learnt on the job" here and at Barnsley although was probably a bit too nice to be an outstanding success at the job. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
underdog 1,241 Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 wow...literally a blast from the past....cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Blue Alb 15 Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 Always left a bitter taste that Sharp was chosen over Stitch. I always thought that Joe would have had a hand in picking his successor and went for Sharp due to the Everton connection. Just my opinion. Furthermore, I think Latics fans would have been far more satisfied if Stitch had been given the job and we struggled in the First Division (Championship) as he was so much more in-tune with the club and its expectations / traditions than Sharp ever could be. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JoeP 1,389 Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 Sharp’s pretty much first act as manager was to get rid of Stitch. Like he saw him as a threat.. He was an awful appointment and an awful manager. As a player for us he scored a few, but there was plenty of games where he just went missing. Don’t think he ever really got what Latics were about, which made his appointment even more bizarre. Throw in the Wembley ‘94 sitter miss and I think he played a significant part in our decline.. (I can hear @lookersstandandy rolling his eyes from here..) 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
otid 58 Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 8 hours ago, JoeP said: Sharp’s pretty much first act as manager was to get rid of Stitch. Like he saw him as a threat.. He was an awful appointment and an awful manager. As a player for us he scored a few, but there was plenty of games where he just went missing. Don’t think he ever really got what Latics were about, which made his appointment even more bizarre. Throw in the Wembley ‘94 sitter miss and I think he played a significant part in our decline.. (I can hear @lookersstandandy rolling his eyes from here..) He gave us one of the best away day wins ever....those two goals in front of us at the Platt Lane end. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andyt84 15 Posted December 3, 2020 Share Posted December 3, 2020 Sharp getting rid of Ritchie cost us on the pitch as well because he was in fine form. I remember the feeling of dread when Sharp got the job. I never thought much of him. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
underdog 1,241 Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 On 12/3/2020 at 8:31 AM, Matt said: that scoreboard lasted longer than the current LED boards too. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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