Altrincham result and performance, similarly Horsham - but whilst there weren’t divisions between the sides one of the worst cup performances I recall was home to Blackpool early 2000’s - lost 4-1 and it was absolutely terrible
We'll never know what would have happened with that bunch of Anderson had stayed another season. But Danny certainly got them ticking in a way that Viv never did. Machin did an incredible job in his first couple of seasons, but seemed to run out of steam towards the end. In hindsight the squad was in transition at that point.
Machin were good till he lost the plot with the Tiler/Aggie money and and went for quantity over quality plus he parted with decent money for John fc*king Pearson when we were crying out for goalscorer........sithi.
Not one of his finer moves I agree. I actually thought Pearson was a free transfer, though even that would have been a rip-off!
125 grand as I recall, Howard Wilkinson must have soiled himself laughing after we agreed to pay that .........sithi.
Barnsley V Horsham - a new Low Barnsley V Bromsgrove- Previously the worst I’ve ever seen Barnsley V Altrincham - typical little Lee performance
Think it was really unfortunate that Mel’s wife got really Ill. I guess us fans don’t always see the fuller picture. His signings generally were good and he made us very hard to beat, especially at Oakwell, but I suspect he’d admit to taking his eye off the ball for personal reasons.
I think Mel himself sort of admitted his mistakes, in that '91 pre season. Not only did he sign 6 players of varying levels of quality, he put them all into the first team at the same time. This totally ruined all the hard work and momentum we'd built up, in his first 18 months.
Interesting you've ranked Horsham as the worst. For me been watching us since 96 Altrincham is the worst, but to concede 3 at home to a side ranked as low as Horsham runs it close. I didn't even know where it was before we played them.
Birmingham at home 5-0 defeat Northampton away 2-0 defeat Carnarvon away 0-0 As well as some of the others mentioned.
my ex missis is from there. I lived nearby for a bit and even went to see them a few times so know their level and I guess that hits it a bit harder for me. Altrincham was poor though and Chester was probably number 4 for me.
I think they’re the only three I’ve seen when we’ve played non league sides but that on Friday night would rank number one. Altrincham was really poor but seemed ten times worse cos of the weather and the form we were on. In terms of the actual performance, I thought Friday was worse. I would go as far and say that was the worse defensive performance I’ve ever seen and as we all know, we’ve seen some absolute howlers.
Although I was at the Marine game I was only 7 and have little or no memory of it other than the old man swearing a lot so it would have to be Altrincham, followed by Horsham, with the game at Caernarfon taking the bronze. Altrincham for all the reasons others have mentioned but it was also a Johnson masterpiece of typical lunacy giving George Maris a debut and leaving out Hourihane, having one of the most-talented right-backs around in James Bree but benching him for Reece Wabara and having the best centre-back in the division in Alfie Mawson and playing him in midfield. I remember a mixture of complacency (Winnall, Pearson) and complete bafflement with Johnson's tactics (the rest) with only really Scowen playing ought like until disaster struck and Josh had to go off with what was a serious injury. Hourihane, Isgrove and the wretched Conor Wilkinson came on, Maris and Roberts going off with Josh. The final hallmark of the average Johnson dirge of a performance was the 65% possession, 0 shots on target stat. And our 'commitment' was such that I recall that on our way to getting humiliated by a non-league team we only summoned enough spirit to commit just half a dozen fouls all game. Awful day, awful pitch and awful performance. Don't let Altrincham's status as a then 5th tier team at that point fool you either - they were much worse than that. I recall them being in midst of a poor run themselves and not only did they get relegated to the 6th tier that season, they then went straight through the National League North the following season winning only 4 games and were themselves then in the 7th tier. Johnson should have gone that night and he knows it - Patrick saying that he wouldn't fire any more managers or something of that ilk was the only thing that saved the Powerpoint Pillock. All that said, Horsham was still very bad, but to me, even accounting for our rank defensive inability and ineptitude, Horsham still had to be half-decent themselves whereas it was like taking candy from a confused and disinterested baby for Altrincham - and we don't have half the talent at our disposal now as we had then.
Never knew about Mel's wife's illness so I can completely understand him not being fully focused on the job in hand as I've unfortunately been in that situation myself ..........sithi.
Yeah as a fan we all get a narrow focus and it’s only when you add in that human element that you get a better picture. Not on the same level but Collins uprooted his family to go to the US and then again to come back to manage us. We can probably appreciate that would have a big impact on his family life and on a personal level may take a while to adjust. I guess you see those things better as an adult because we have been through similar ourselves.