What went wrong after finishing 2nd in 76?

[irememberlesley]

For those who were were, what happened? I know we had a great Euro campaign, but league-wise it all went a bit wrong - why? What was the atmosphere like at games for a great team underperfoming in the league?

[old school qpr]

sexton going to manu played its part

[Goddard]

They were mentally crushed by getting pipped to the title, and never recovered. The next season was a hangover.

Then the bigger clubs moved in and we lost Masson, Thomas, Sexton etc..


Relegated 3 years later, and were only saved by Venables turning up in 1980/81.

[Stedders]

Having spoken to Ernie about this (sorry for lack of interview but it has been mental over Xmas) the gist of it is that the atmosphere in the dressing room was awful, some players had left, key players wanted to leave and weren't allowed by Jim Gregory (rightly or wrongly) and if you imagine working under those circumstances where in any industry, it won't go well... Hope that answer helps a bit.

[superhoop67]

Also our pitch though never great , turned into a bog that season

[Nodge70]

76/77 wasn't bad. We were undone by a horrific pitch, disasterous weather, an ageing squad and a fixture pile up that would have Rafa Benitez crying all the way back to the Valencia restaurants waiting tables.

QF's of the UEFA Cup (only losing on pens) and semi final of the League Cup where we lost over 3 games to Villa. Remember all this was achieved with two centre backs who, in 1977, had the comined age of 75, a knackered Gerry Francis playing on with a dodgy back and Stan's on and off injuries. 77/78 was where it really went wrong, Sexton leaving, McLintock and Webb gone - Thomas being sold to Everton, Givens to Birmingham, Gerry out of the best part of the season, Stan breaking his leg, his bust ups with Masson and those players being replaced with substandard quality (Eastoe, Howe, Shanks, a patched up Martyn Busby etc.....) even when we signed a quality player (Dave Needham) - he was flogged within 3 months to Forest!

The plus point was we had a superb youth system to replace some of these players but just weren't quite ready to come in

[stanley75]

Some players that had added the experience to the squad just got plain too old (think Mclintock and Webb). It was a very small squad that had produced these results, even by standards those days. There was no one added to keep the momentum up. They got off to a very bad start. Francis was injured for a good chunck, and scored very few goals. We were competing in Europe and had a good run in the League Cup (semi-final) to distract and add to injuries. In summary, the moment was lost.

[PedalR]

Some players that had added the experience to the squad just got plain too old (think Mclintock and Webb). It was a very small squad that had produced these results, even by standards those days. There was no one added to keep the momentum up. They got off to a very bad start. Francis was injured for a good chunck, and scored very few goals. We were competing in Europe and had a good run in the League Cup (semi-final) to distract and add to injuries. In summary, the moment was lost.

Spot on! My view is that Sexton put together a team that was only good for one season. There was no element of building for the future - just a "win or bust" one-season blast. Obviously it nearly paid off but it left us a bit exposed in subsequent seasons. I wouldn't say it was blatant by Sexton but he really should have had some sort of sucession planning in place for likes of McClintock and Webb. Maybe he knew he was offski and wasn't too bothered?

[shania]

Thank you very much for this thread.

I have heard that Jim Gregory at times was quite stubborn. Is this true?

[Factamondo]

and two late scouse goals at wolves didnt help either!

[Nodge70]

Spot on! My view is that Sexton put together a team that was only good for one season. There was no element of building for the future - just a "win or bust" one-season blast. Obviously it nearly paid off but it left us a bit exposed in subsequent seasons. I wouldn't say it was blatant by Sexton but he really should have had some sort of sucession planning in place for likes of McClintock and Webb. Maybe he knew he was offski and wasn't too bothered?

Don't agree with that at all. Remember only McLintock and Webb were old stagers. Even Hollins had only just turned 30. Rest of the team were mid 20's and easily good enough for another 3/4 seasons. Also the majority of that side had been very successful for 3 years previously with Jago.

[PedalR]

Well who did Sexton bring in? I think you're dead right in that he inherited Jago's foundations but he just did not build on them enough (or build on them with any eye on the longer term future). At that rarified level at the pinnacle I think there's normally an ongoing cycle of building/continuous improvement. Obviously it was all virgin territory for us but I'd still have expected someone of Sexton's pedigree to have had far more attention on the longevity of the squad and seasons beyond.

[Scarlet pimple]

Lack of money killed us, and the fact that Sibley took over from sexton, downhill after that.

[stanistheman]

I think losing the title took too much out to them to begin with.

After that it was partly down to Francis being injured, the bog of a pitch and the fixture pile up.

The cup runs were a big distraction. When you add in the fact that QPR had a very samll squad, it was never going to be easy. But it wasn't all down hill. With a bit of luck QPR could have got to the LC final. Away goals didn't count in those days, but of they had, QPR would have gone through. And QPR were undone in the UEFA Cup QF on penalties.

Had QPR won one or both those cups, the season would have been remebered very differently.

[Nodge70]

Sexton brought in Hollins to replace Venables IIRC.

He also overhauled the youth set up that brought through Goddard, Allen and Waddock and then Neill, Dawes, Fereday, Hucker and Macca and the lesser likes of Wallace, Muir and Neal who the Doc blooded