| Bald Eagle RIP on 02:30 - Dec 11 with 1612 views | SydneyRs |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 19:48 - Dec 10 by queensparker |
I loved that 5-3-2 team that topped the league for a while (before Liverpool dicked us 4-0 at Anfield and that was pretty much that)
Mark Dennis and Wayne Fereday at full backs - awesome |
That period was great and England got agonisingly close to the world cup final in 1990 after adopting a similar system.
The Liverpool result wasn't as bad as it sounds. I was there and we played pretty well. The obligatory dodgy penalty awarded by the Kop and John Barnes being on fire (should have made him wear an England shirt to nullify him) that day did for us.
He was lured away to the poisoned chalice of the Newcastle manager's job as I recall. |  | |  |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 02:37 - Dec 11 with 1607 views | SydneyRs |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 01:36 - Dec 11 by CLAREMAN1995 |
I was there also Loftgirl it was my first trip to England to watch QPR play and went with my 2 brothers.The build up was amazing and it was a perfect day until the game started and we never showed up to fight .I remember walking back disappointed but still buzzing from my Wembley trip.
We had a bizzare incident before the game as a man behind us was smoking and he actually lit my jacket on fire (smouldering )with his ash.The stewards were on it in a flash and trampled it to death to put it out .It was the year after the horrible Bradford fire and they were hyper vigilant .
The day before I waited for the team bus at Loftus Road and Jim Smith was first off ,asked me where I was from and told a couple of players to sign my Rosette .I think Terry Fenwick and John Byrne and Steve Wicks obliged .I lost it years ago of course .
RIP Jim |
Me too. We had massive support at Wembley and everyone was convinced we would win after our run to the final and the unforgettable semi final win over two legs v the scousers.
We were inexplicably bad that day but even at 2-0 down I felt we might come back and win it if we just got our act together. It never happened.
The atmosphere in the QPR end turned very unpleasant towards the end. Loads of flags, hats scarves etc thrown away in disgust. I had two non QPR mates with me who didn't show a lot of sympathy either just to make it worse. | | | |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 05:43 - Dec 11 with 1566 views | stowmarketrange |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 01:36 - Dec 11 by CLAREMAN1995 |
I was there also Loftgirl it was my first trip to England to watch QPR play and went with my 2 brothers.The build up was amazing and it was a perfect day until the game started and we never showed up to fight .I remember walking back disappointed but still buzzing from my Wembley trip.
We had a bizzare incident before the game as a man behind us was smoking and he actually lit my jacket on fire (smouldering )with his ash.The stewards were on it in a flash and trampled it to death to put it out .It was the year after the horrible Bradford fire and they were hyper vigilant .
The day before I waited for the team bus at Loftus Road and Jim Smith was first off ,asked me where I was from and told a couple of players to sign my Rosette .I think Terry Fenwick and John Byrne and Steve Wicks obliged .I lost it years ago of course .
RIP Jim |
I used to smoke quite heavily then and I remember my fag burning a hole in my friends jacket,but it wasn’t the incident you mentioned.I lasted all the way from London to Liverpool without smoking for the semi final.
I packed up smoking a couple of months after that final and waste the smoking money on watching qpr instead.
RIP Jim. |  | | |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 05:59 - Dec 11 with 1562 views | loftboy |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 00:00 - Dec 11 by BrianMcCarthy |
I thought that his first two seasons were utter dross, a team full of fat lads propped up only by the plastic pitch at home. I was young, and maybe too demanding. But we seemed moribund.
But Jim Smith got us to Wembley in the middle of those two years, and - despite the gloom produced by the shocking non-event of the final - we had deserved to get there.
Then in his third season, we completely refreshed the team and backed up by Gregory's investment and Peter Shreeve's nous we moved to 352 and had a fine season despite having a thin squad. We were missing our starting wing-backs in Anfield when we got thumped by that (to be fair) fine team, and then in December we lost Fenwick, captain and inspirational sweeper to Spurs, and we still finished fifth in the league and reached the fifth round of the Cup.
We qualified for Europe.
A fine achievement.
He was gone that December. I don't think us fans ever forgave him for Oxford. And we had to put up with a year of Trevor Francis' nonsense before Don Howe's excellent stewardship set us up for five great years under him and his successor, Gerry Francis.
You were all right, Jim. You did well.
RIP, agus ar dheis Dé. |
We didn’t qualify for Europe as English teams were banned, our last European campaign was 84/85 |  |
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| Bald Eagle RIP on 06:23 - Dec 11 with 1557 views | BrianMcCarthy |
Well, we did....
But thanks to Liverpool...
Qualified under Venabkes as well, didn’t we? |  |
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| Bald Eagle RIP on 06:50 - Dec 11 with 1535 views | HantsR |
I'd been working overseas and had spent the 1985/6 season in Glasgow and had been feeling starved of football. What joy when my Dad went and queued on my behalf for my Wembley ticket and I drove the family down to London for what I thought would be a great day out. I nearly left before the end. Pity that non event should colour our memories. Anyway, RIP Jim [Post edited 11 Dec 2019 8:44]
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| Bald Eagle RIP on 07:51 - Dec 11 with 1499 views | smegma |
I remember saying before the game 'stop Aldridge, we win the game'.
We did but we didn't. | | | |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 10:03 - Dec 11 with 1419 views | daveB |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 00:54 - Dec 11 by BrianMcCarthy |
Dave,
What I meant was that it was in the middle of his first two years. |
Was hardly dross though, we got to the final beating Chelsea, Forest and Liverpool and went on a good run in the league beating Man Utd and hammered Leicester a week or so before the final but fell away at the end.
Next season was a tough one due to the merger and the off field issues but he then rebuilt a really good side. He brought Maddix, Parker, Seaman and Ferdinand to the club along others.
As I say he is massively underrated as a QPR manager, Gerry Francis is rightly lauded for also finishing 5th yet Smith has for too long been dismissed |  | | |
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| Bald Eagle RIP on 10:06 - Dec 11 with 1415 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 10:03 - Dec 11 by daveB |
Was hardly dross though, we got to the final beating Chelsea, Forest and Liverpool and went on a good run in the league beating Man Utd and hammered Leicester a week or so before the final but fell away at the end.
Next season was a tough one due to the merger and the off field issues but he then rebuilt a really good side. He brought Maddix, Parker, Seaman and Ferdinand to the club along others.
As I say he is massively underrated as a QPR manager, Gerry Francis is rightly lauded for also finishing 5th yet Smith has for too long been dismissed |
Looking back, I agree, Dave. But as I said, I was young and maybe too demanding.
Edit - Just listening to the podcast and Finney makes a good point when he says that those few managers who followed Venables' success faced unrealistic expectations from the fans. It was certainly true in my case. It was my first season back in England, I was fifteen, and I thought we should be doing better. But between '85 and '87 we finished mid-table twice, got to Wembley, hammered Chelsea 6-0 and played some decent stuff.
There were some dross games, and I really had a set on the podgy midfielders we seemed to collect, but all told it was alright as you say.
Then came 87-88 - what a season that was!
[Post edited 11 Dec 2019 10:24]
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| Bald Eagle RIP on 11:09 - Dec 11 with 1365 views | Juzzie |
I also think the pressure got to us. We were the favourites and have never been favourites in a final before or since inc. both play-off finals.
In the run up to the final the media focus was all on us (and, of course, the Smith/Oxford connection) and I believe it has been said it disrupted preparations. Oxford meanwhile quietly got on with things without such distractions.
Oxford were a good team, you don't get to a final by being bad. They had the likes of Aldridge, Hebbard, Houghton, Brock, and Charles which is a formidable midfield & attacking line up. Our line up was very good too but not sure what their defence was like but the back four could probably have sat down and played cards together for the 90 mins such was our inability to get through. |  | | |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 11:37 - Dec 11 with 1343 views | CiderwithRsie |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 10:03 - Dec 11 by daveB |
Was hardly dross though, we got to the final beating Chelsea, Forest and Liverpool and went on a good run in the league beating Man Utd and hammered Leicester a week or so before the final but fell away at the end.
Next season was a tough one due to the merger and the off field issues but he then rebuilt a really good side. He brought Maddix, Parker, Seaman and Ferdinand to the club along others.
As I say he is massively underrated as a QPR manager, Gerry Francis is rightly lauded for also finishing 5th yet Smith has for too long been dismissed |
Like Brian I was young and maybe expected too much. I'd been a kid during the Bowles era and then a teenager in the Clive Allen/Goddard/Roeder/Stainrod/Tommy Doc and Terry Venables years. I was used to great players just a few years older than me rolling off the production line and innovative football.
I didn't like Smith dropping Hucker (one of my FA Cup heroes) and the players he liked seemed to be ancient (i.e. over 25!) overweight and to have had their best days at other clubs - Robbie James and Sammy Lee spring to mind. Even when I liked them, like Falco, they never felt "ours". And his style in those first two years was pragmatic, not revolutionary like Venables.
In hindsight that was sensible after the Mullery fiasco and with the merger and ownership sh*tstorm coming on his watch too; and Smith was genuinely revolutionary in his last years - still don't know how much of that was him and how much Peter Shreeves, but he brought Shreeves in and must have "signed off" on the tactics anyway so fair play. And by then I was older and he proved me wrong on old players with Trevor Francis, Super Ray and Peter Reid. (I changed my mind on Robbie James come to that. RIP Robbie)
He'll never be a favourite of mine but a decent man who did a good job for us. 3 and a half seasons in the top flight and we never really looked like going down, plus a well-deserved run to a cup final, and left the squad and club stronger than he found it. Can't knock that.
EDIT: Ray and Reid were Don Howe signings, weren't they? But the principle's the same. [Post edited 11 Dec 2019 11:39]
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| Bald Eagle RIP on 11:54 - Dec 11 with 1326 views | Phildo |
I did the walk to Wembley in a new ill fitting pair of shoes and my feet were bleeding quite badly by the time I got home. It seemed fitting and perhaps unfairly I could never quite get over it with him afterwards.
He showed over his career he was a very decent manager though.RIP |  | | |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 11:57 - Dec 11 with 1324 views | Hayesender |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 11:09 - Dec 11 by Juzzie |
I also think the pressure got to us. We were the favourites and have never been favourites in a final before or since inc. both play-off finals.
In the run up to the final the media focus was all on us (and, of course, the Smith/Oxford connection) and I believe it has been said it disrupted preparations. Oxford meanwhile quietly got on with things without such distractions.
Oxford were a good team, you don't get to a final by being bad. They had the likes of Aldridge, Hebbard, Houghton, Brock, and Charles which is a formidable midfield & attacking line up. Our line up was very good too but not sure what their defence was like but the back four could probably have sat down and played cards together for the 90 mins such was our inability to get through. |
Our only shot on goal, in what is a very vague memory now, was a shot from about 30 yards out from Ian Dawes.
We were bloody awful that day |  |
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| Bald Eagle RIP on 13:27 - Dec 11 with 1264 views | stowmarketrange |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 11:09 - Dec 11 by Juzzie |
I also think the pressure got to us. We were the favourites and have never been favourites in a final before or since inc. both play-off finals.
In the run up to the final the media focus was all on us (and, of course, the Smith/Oxford connection) and I believe it has been said it disrupted preparations. Oxford meanwhile quietly got on with things without such distractions.
Oxford were a good team, you don't get to a final by being bad. They had the likes of Aldridge, Hebbard, Houghton, Brock, and Charles which is a formidable midfield & attacking line up. Our line up was very good too but not sure what their defence was like but the back four could probably have sat down and played cards together for the 90 mins such was our inability to get through. |
I had a £5 bet at odds of 25/1 before the Watford game that we’d win the cup.As the draws got harder it looked like more of a wasted bet,especially drawing Liverpool in the semi final.
I stood to win £125 if we’d won that final,and that was pretty much a weeks wages then.
I did go into the bookies afterwards and tell them that we beat Liverpool in a 2 legged final but the w@nkers wouldn’t pay out. | | | |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 13:33 - Dec 11 with 1252 views | paulparker |
| Bald Eagle RIP on 11:37 - Dec 11 by CiderwithRsie |
Like Brian I was young and maybe expected too much. I'd been a kid during the Bowles era and then a teenager in the Clive Allen/Goddard/Roeder/Stainrod/Tommy Doc and Terry Venables years. I was used to great players just a few years older than me rolling off the production line and innovative football.
I didn't like Smith dropping Hucker (one of my FA Cup heroes) and the players he liked seemed to be ancient (i.e. over 25!) overweight and to have had their best days at other clubs - Robbie James and Sammy Lee spring to mind. Even when I liked them, like Falco, they never felt "ours". And his style in those first two years was pragmatic, not revolutionary like Venables.
In hindsight that was sensible after the Mullery fiasco and with the merger and ownership sh*tstorm coming on his watch too; and Smith was genuinely revolutionary in his last years - still don't know how much of that was him and how much Peter Shreeves, but he brought Shreeves in and must have "signed off" on the tactics anyway so fair play. And by then I was older and he proved me wrong on old players with Trevor Francis, Super Ray and Peter Reid. (I changed my mind on Robbie James come to that. RIP Robbie)
He'll never be a favourite of mine but a decent man who did a good job for us. 3 and a half seasons in the top flight and we never really looked like going down, plus a well-deserved run to a cup final, and left the squad and club stronger than he found it. Can't knock that.
EDIT: Ray and Reid were Don Howe signings, weren't they? But the principle's the same. [Post edited 11 Dec 2019 11:39]
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Trevor Francis signed Peter Reid and was instrumental in Wilkins coming as he had fell out with Spackman and was lining up a swap deal |  |
| And Bowles is onside, Swinburne has come rushing out of his goal , what can Bowles do here , onto the left foot no, on to the right foot
That’s there that’s two, and that’s Bowles
Brian Moore
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| Bald Eagle RIP on 16:20 - Dec 11 with 1169 views | themodfather |
RIP, we had some good football then, but for many that league cup final sticks in our minds, throats and sums up his tenure. reading many of the comments, that one game aside, there was some good footy, good players and we had "hope". smith always seemed a decent bloke and was a good manager. | | | |
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