First game horror stories

[Schards#2]

The Schadenfreude fan in me always looks for who has had an absolute debacle on the first day, there's always one or two.

QPR 0-5 Swansea, Norwich 1-7 Colchester, Millwall 0-6 Rotherham. It's only one game but a really terrible start can be hard to recover from and often sets a tone for the season.

Worst efforts yesterday: Carlisle 1-5 Orient, Barnsley 0-4 Wigan, Portsmouth 1-4 Oxford ( ) but the worst IMHO is Millwall 0-1 Yeovil. That must have hurt.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

but the worst IMHO is Millwall 0-1 Yeovil. That must have hurt.

...why?

It's a poor result, but unless you've developed a "small club = shit" mentality so prevalent in the premier league obsessed media, a lower-half team losing to one expected to struggle is hardly humiliation.

[Cobi]

Shouldn't this be in the weekend football thread - viewtopic.php?f=3&t=119818

[Schards#2]

but the worst IMHO is Millwall 0-1 Yeovil. That must have hurt.

...why?

It's a poor result, but unless you've developed a "small club = shit" mentality so prevalent in the premier league obsessed media, a lower-half team losing to one expected to struggle is hardly humiliation.

It's a home defeat to the side that is ranked as favourites to finish bottom, as bad as it gets and one your manager's first game

[No Fixed Abode]

Schards talking shite again.

Yeovil have a winning mentality from last year, Millwall don't. Quite often teams who get promoted in the football league do fairly well in the first season as they carry the form through.

[Stranded]

That Norwich result was probably the best thing to happen to the club in their recent history.

[stealthpapes]

That Norwich result was probably the best thing to happen to the club in their recent history.

Did the guy get his season ticket back?

[just some bloke]

Barnsley 0-4 Wigan

Wigan 0-4 Blackpool from a few seasons back was also a good one, as was West Brom losing their opening game at Chelsea on the same weekend 6-0. If it weren't for that, Blackpool would have been top of the league.

[bobbybottler]

The Schadenfreude fan in me always looks for who has had an absolute debacle on the first day, there's always one or two.

QPR 0-5 Swansea, Norwich 1-7 Colchester, Millwall 0-6 Rotherham. It's only one game but a really terrible start can be hard to recover from and often sets a tone for the season.

1992/3 Arsenal 2 Norwich 4

Norwich finished 3rd that season, Arsenal won both cups but finished 10th.

[AthleticoSpizz]

Sure that my first game was Reading v Aldershot at EP on a cold winter afternoon/evening

There was lots of arrests and the drunkards were thumping the insides of a police lorry (parked right by the old Southbank turnstiles) that they were incarcerated in

Cannot remember the score, but the whole atmosphere was pretty horrific to a young kid on his virginal terrace trip.

Back in the day when Aldershot were viable opposition obviously.

[TBM]

but the worst IMHO is Millwall 0-1 Yeovil. That must have hurt.

...why?

It's a poor result, but unless you've developed a "small club = shit" mentality so prevalent in the premier league obsessed media, a lower-half team losing to one expected to struggle is hardly humiliation.

It's a home defeat to the side that is ranked as favourites to finish bottom, as bad as it gets and one your manager's first game

So like Reading 1-2 Plymouth then?!

[Green]

Not buying into this, I always say you can't look at the league table until three games in.

[Alexander Litvinenko]

A late one-goal defeat to a team that finished 8 places below you last season is hardly that great a disaster.

[Rev Algenon Stickleback H]

but the worst IMHO is Millwall 0-1 Yeovil. That must have hurt.

...why?

It's a poor result, but unless you've developed a "small club = shit" mentality so prevalent in the premier league obsessed media, a lower-half team losing to one expected to struggle is hardly humiliation.

It's a home defeat to the side that is ranked as favourites to finish bottom, as bad as it gets and one your manager's first game

It's poor, but to say it's worse than a four-goal home thrashing is crazy...unless you buy into the idea that Yeovil must be utterly shit because they are small. It's like some people still think they are a non-league team.

[Green]

[paultheroyal]

Schards having a mare here!

Norwich game for example was the catalyst for promotion albeit via a new manager

[dean horrix legend]

Schards having a mare here!

Norwich game for example was the catalyst for promotion albeit via a new manager

Without that heavy defeat, they may not have changed managers when they did,their season going in a totally different direction.

[paultheroyal]

Schards having a mare here!

Norwich game for example was the catalyst for promotion albeit via a new manager

Without that heavy defeat, they may not have changed managers when they did,their season going in a totally different direction.

But they did recover....

[Schards#2]

Schards having a mare here!

Norwich game for example was the catalyst for promotion albeit via a new manager

Without that heavy defeat, they may not have changed managers when they did,their season going in a totally different direction.

But they did recover....

But it was a first game horror story, which this thread is about.

I think it was our first championship season when Leicester were 4-0 at h/t to Bolton at home on the first day, lost 5-0 and never recovered. Norwich took the brave step of sacking their two games in, a wise move.

As for Millwall V Yeovil, we're all entitled to our opinion. Mine is that to lose what is, on paper, the easiest fixture is the season in not only your first game of the season but your new manager's first game (having been in place for a couple of months), is pretty disasterous and more disasterous than losing by 4 to a team that was better than you last season.

Yeovil are the weakest of the of the promoted sides, haven't strengthened much and have little money to spend. The are not the rank outsiders because they used to non league but because, on paper at least, they are the worst team in the division.

[reading_fan]

But the winning mentality carries through from last season, and the surprise package element to both them and Bournemouth. Plus Millwall weren't exactly great last season.

Quite pleased to have correctly picked Bournemouth and Yeovil for opening day wins in the prediction league!