Was missing out on promotion as bad as getting relegated?

Anything yellow and blue

Was missing out on promotion as bad as getting relegated?

Yes- losing to exeter was as bad as losing to Orient
8
44%
No- losing to exeter was not as bad as losing to Orient
4
22%
Equally as bad as eachother
6
33%
 
Total votes: 18

recordmeister
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Was missing out on promotion as bad as getting relegated?

Post by recordmeister »

Was missing out on promotion as bad as getting relegated last season?

to me, the two are the same as it means a whole season in the conference.
neilw
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Post by neilw »

It's hurting more. After the Orient game I was gutted, but eventually I came round and was positive about the future and the new / fresh start.

I'm trying to put Tuesday in to perspective but am struggling to do so. I realise there are more important things in life etc, etc, but I'm genuinely upset about missing out on a trip to Wembley and concerned for our chances next season. The summer break will not feel as I'd hoped.

Next season we have a salary cap of £900k. Given that nearly a quarter of that is taken up by Duffy, Robinson, Hutchinson and Gilly, all of which you'd hope not to be first choice, it leaves little scope for real improvement. Add in Burgess and Eddie, whom are inconsistant, and that's a third gone before we start. Our players with contracts for next season do not form the nucleus of a good / league winning team.

We've got to get back to 4-4-2. It was the formation (lack of) that undone us this season. To do that we need two new full backs and wingers, as well a mobile goal scorer. They are not going to be easy to find, especially young ones, with potential, who don't want big money.
boris
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Post by boris »

It's still too soon after the event for me to give a meaningful answer. Yes, it's still hurting like hell, but I'm not sure yet what the long-term connotations are of Tuesday night. Actually, I wasn't feeling quite so bad until I just read Neil's post, now I want to slit my wrists (actually I'd rather slit Rob Duffy's wrists, but that's probably more inaccessible).

Seriously, though, I'll wait and reserve judgement. One thing I will say, though, is that for me Tuesday was never about Wembley. I'm more interested in getting promotion than at whichever particular venue the final was being played at. The other thing is that, after Orient, Jason was crying and I was choking, but after Tuesday we were both just shattered, depressed, and in a huge sulk, and will be for a while. Not sure that proves anything other than kneejerk reactions, but it's indicative of which we felt was more important at the time. Possibly.
Baboo
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Re:

Post by Baboo »

&quotneilw&quot wrote: Next season we have a salary cap of £900k. Given that nearly a quarter of that is taken up by Duffy, Robinson, Hutchinson and Gilly, all of which you'd hope not to be first choice, it leaves little scope for real improvement.
Sadly you are right but also sadly this proves that Jim no longer has the midas touch - much wasted money here. However we should bear in mind that other clubs will also have players they'd rather get rid of on contracts (albiet not so generous as those we have given) and that their total budget will be less than ours for 07/08. So all is not doom and gloom. It is not just about money - what was D&ampG's budget.?It is about getting the right sort of younger hungrier player (on less) for this level of football and producing a team that can keep grinding away from start to finish - not one that needs a three month rest period in the middle. Perhaps Jim has now learnt the lesson.
Boogie
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Post by Boogie »

Missing out on promotion is worse. It has to do with the anticipation of something better, not just staying the same and we had got used to relegations anyway.

I can't see how I vote for that, however, as options 1 and 3 say the same thing?!
Resurrection Ox
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Re: Was missing out on promotion as bad as getting relegated

Post by Resurrection Ox »

&quotrecordmeister&quot wrote:Was missing out on promotion as bad as getting relegated last season?

to me, the two are the same as it means a whole season in the conference.
No contest. Orient game was FAR worse. Who the hell did you see in tears on Tuesday night? There were hundreds crying their eyes out in May 2006.

I'm not buying this no progress argument from some. We finished runners up. We made mistakes but it was an exciting season and I look forward to 07/08. It will be nice to have a break from OUFC related angst for three months though.

I was upset and angry on Tuesday . But NOWHERE near like as bad as last year.



.
Boogie
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Post by Boogie »

But the question relates to promotion / relegation not our emotions at the final whistle?

Yes I was more upset at the final whistle against Orient but that probably has more to do with it being decided at the death of the final game. Tuesday was only a SEMI-final!

If we had lost on penalties at Wembley I would have wept as we left the ground. I just didn't want to talk to anyone on Tuesday night!

Overall, two nights on, not getting back up feels worse than going down last year, especially after the start to the season we had. This has something to do with the novelty of the Conference having worn off.
Old Abingdonian
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Post by Old Abingdonian »

For me, the Orient game was worse, since it came at the end of an awful season. Relegation loomed first as a possibility, then as a real possibility, and then..... There were at least good times this season.

I would add that we did not deserve to win on Tuesday, and so I have to say we (the club) brought it on ourselves.
boris
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Re: Was missing out on promotion as bad as getting relegated

Post by boris »

&quotResurrection Ox&quot wrote: No contest. Orient game was FAR worse. Who the hell did you see in tears on Tuesday night? There were hundreds crying their eyes out in May 2006.
I saw loads of people in tears on Tuesday night after the game, as it happens.
Ancient Colin
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Post by Ancient Colin »

For me, Tuesday hurt much more than the Orient game. I knew we were going to lose to Orient, that results weren't going to go our way - as a glass pretty damn nearly completely empty person, I was expecting it. While I was as gloomy as normal on Tuesday, I still thought we had a better than even chance ... particularly after Friday night down in Exeter. And they gave us all that false hope, one up against the run of play, 2-0 and 3-1 in the penalties. I just felt ... no I feel crushed by it. The more so in that it was all so unnecessary, the stupid substitutions and formation, the obvious way that that played into their hands made it all the worse.
Shoobedoo
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Post by Shoobedoo »

I think the emotions are slightly different. For Orient, I was kind of resigned to it before the game (I suspected the game was up after selling Hackett and Bradbury, and the subsequent 0-3 Rushden fiasco). We'd had a few other chances to save ourselves and had failed. I think we all knew in our heart of hearts that we weren't good enough.

But Orient also felt like a beginning Merry and Jim may not have saved us but you could already see the work they were doing to start the turn around. So the despair of the final day rapidly dissolved into optimism for the future.

This time, that feeling isn't there. Jim has proved as fallible as any other manager. I'm worried about the finances and the loss of revenue that missing out on both Wembley and the Football League will cause. I worry about the lack of scope to rebuild the squad because of the likes of Robinson and Gilchrist still having a year left on their contracts..

And I'm also angry about the manner in which we've chucked away every opportunity to get ourselves out of this poxy league. 8 points clear in the league. 2-0 up in the play-off semi. 2-0 and 3-1 up in the penalty shoot out.

It's definitely taking more time to get over this year.
Last edited by Shoobedoo on Fri May 11, 2007 11:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
Baboo
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Re:

Post by Baboo »

&quotShoobedoo&quot wrote:I
This time, that feeling isn't there. Jim has proved as fallible as any other manager. I'm worried about the finances and the loss of revenue that missing out on both Wembley and the Football League will cause. I worry about the lack of scope to rebuild the squad because of the likes of Robinson and Gilchrist still having a year left on their contracts..

And I'm also angry about the manner in which we've chucked away every opportunity to get ourselves out of this poxy league. 8 points clear in the league. 2-0 up in the play-off semi. 2-0 and 3-1 up in the penalty shoot out.

It's definitely taking more time to get over this year.
Wish I hadn't read that just before heading for my bed - depressing stuff, but unfortunately oh so true.
Why did we give someone so crap as Marv any contract let alone one two years long and same goes for Gilly who clearly is nowhere as near as fit as he used to be and needs to be to provide value for money at this level. We have not only chucked points away but good money after bad.
Big Dave
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Post by Big Dave »

Let's see if we can put a positve spin on all of this.We finished second this year, appart from the Daggers and Morecambes final run in, there was no real threat from other teams, they were all beatable! We ballsed it up with below par performmences, even playing badly we managed to sometimes scrape a result.I'm not sure whether whole sale changes are the answer (but new striker essential) .It would be worth seeing how the first quarter of the season went.Or if really brave leave it until after Christmas,anyone remmember the run in in 1996?Seriously though lets see how it pans out in the first few games.
GodalmingYellow
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Post by GodalmingYellow »

Each was equally bad. The end result is the same, Conference football next season.
John Byrne's Underpants
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Post by John Byrne's Underpants »

It's a toughie, but I think I have to say this time it hurts more because of the manner of how it happened. With the Orient game there was a sense of inevitability about it - quite simply we weren't good enough, even under the new regime. 7 years of rot had seen to that.

However, at the start of the season, there was a real sense of optimism around the club and I have to admit I got caught up in it. After going unbeaten for so long I was really starting to believe. Unfortunately the that little tinpot club down the M40 put pay to that.

To be honest, going into the tie, I wasn't very optimistic anyway. Our record against Exeter isn't good and the team finishing top of the playoff group rarely go on to actually win the playoffs. So what happens? They go and bloody win at Exeter and get me believing again. You'd think after so many years of supporting this club I'd know better! Even though I was expecting it, when that last penalty went in I was devastated. Completely numb to be honest.

Just when I think I'm getting over it, someone brings it up again in a conversation or I see an article in the paper or on the internet and the anger/pain/frustration resurfaces. Who was it who said football is just a game?

The saddest thing is, I'll be back to do it all again next season! What a fool I am.
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