The Football Butterfly Effect

A pre-1996-IRA-bombed Manchester, that was still suffering from its post-war/post-Empire decline as a city, meant Sydney won the 2000 Olympics bid over Manchester. One comment at the time was ‘no-one in their right mind would spend three weeks in Manchester rather than Sydney‘.

Instead, Manchester got the 2002 Commonwelath Games, and the CoMS was redesigned from being an 80k super stadium for the Olympics to a 41k unfinished stadium for the CGs. This meant that City moved into the CoMS istead of United, who were meant to have moved into the 80k stadium which isn’t far off being on the site of their original home, Bank Street.

If we’d stayed at Maine Road, it’s likely that we’d still be a bottom half PL team with the odd relegation+promotion down and back up every decade or so, never having been taken over by ADUG and never having won what we’ve won in the last 14 years.
 
.db. said:
A pre-1996-IRA-bombed Manchester, that was still suffering from its post-war/post-Empire decline as a city, meant Sydney won the 2000 Olympics bid over Manchester. One comment at the time was ‘no-one in their right mind would spend three weeks in Manchester rather than Sydney‘.

Instead, Manchester got the 2002 Commonwelath Games, and the CoMS was redesigned from being an 80k super stadium for the Olympics to a 41k unfinished stadium for the CGs. This meant that City moved into the CoMS istead of United, who were meant to have moved into the 80k stadium which isn’t far off being on the site of their original home, Bank Street.

If we’d stayed at Maine Road, it’s likely that we’d still be a bottom half PL team with the odd relegation+promotion down and back up every decade or so, never having been taken over by ADUG and never having won what we’ve won in the last 14 years.
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That’s a great one.
 
The Butterfly Effect of an injury free career for Paul Lake makes Manchester City win the 1991/92 English Football League Division One Title, him not being available for the entirety of the 1991/92 season and improvement before it actually cost us that title.
With Paul Lake's obvious subsequent improvement in the season after his initial ACL injury, him leading us would've instead propelled us towards winning the English top flight that season finishing above Leeds.

Paul Lake's leadership qualities the mentality he possessed along with his all round ability he had, it prevents two very bad patches of form from occuring, or at least stops them from being as severe he's the driving force of our success.
Just remember this is after another year of him massively improving into a top class player, while also firmly establishing himself as a starter for England too, he's driven to the core in order to bring his boyhood blues success.

In our current universe what actually happened was Lake's cruel injury and an 11 game period from February 5th until April 11th, where without Lake we won only 3 games losing 6 and drawing 2 dropping a total of 22 points.

Early that season minus Lake we also lost 5 in 7 from August 31st until September 28th during another patch of bad form, those 5 losses are another 15 points which is 37 points lost in total during 2 bad periods of form.

In this Butterfly Effect parallel universe I'm not claiming we would've won all those games, with just Paul Lake added though I'm suggesting another 4 wins and 1 draw is achievable... or is that unrealistic and beyond the realms of possibility?

11 of our 12 losses happened in just those two bad stretches and I believe the butterfly effect of Paul Lake being available, during those games it helps us pick up enough extra points to win the title ahead of Leeds.
Something to remember is we also actually lost a game to Leeds that season while hammering them 4-0 in the other, if the other game isn't lost because Lake is available then that's even less points needed to win us the league.

This doesn't mean we don't end up having bad times eventually later in the 90s as we were terribly ran, however in the rags misery following our title win they have a total knee jerk reaction firing Fergie.
Resulting in them not being successful or certainly not having long-term success, while they're still overspending desperate for success with the pressure of a recent City title win, they carry throwing more and more money at it after firing gpc but just fail to the point of financial ruin.
 
Kompany hearing and obeying the ‘don’t shoot, don’t shoot’ from Bernardo, ageuro and not breaking the deadlock against a determined Leicester City, during the tumultuous back and forth of the PL with Liverpool in the nerve shredding 18/19 season.

The result put us above Liverpool, ensuring we had winning the PL in our own hands on the next and final match. Which we duly accomplished, with much gnashing of turkey teeth across Merseyside.
This also meant that the unique and for the 1st time in English football, a domestic treble (and quad) was possible, rather than just a cup double, like Liverpool (who can forget the hastily painted out - but visible on a zoom in - trophies on their ‘winners’ bus).

 
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Gareth Bale. Signed for Spurs as a left-back, struggles, the team never wins whenever he starts, leading to what people call the "Gareth Bale curse". He looks set to join Nottingham Forest on loan in January 2010, but injuries mean that he has to stay, and also results in him moving from left-back to left winger, playing higher up the pitch as a much more attacking player. The rest, as they say, is history.
 
JASR said:
Kompany hearing and obeying the ‘don’t shoot, don’t shoot’ from Bernardo, and not breaking the deadlock against a determined Leicester City, during the tumultuous back and forth of the PL with Liverpool in the nerve shredding 18/19 season.

The result put us above Liverpool, ensuring we had winning the PL in our own hands on the next and final match. Which we duly accomplished, with much gnashing of turkey teeth across Merseyside.
This also meant that the unique and for the 1st time in English football, a domestic treble (and quad) was possible, rather than just a cup double, like Liverpool (who can forget the hastily painted out - but visible on a zoom in - trophies on their ‘winners’ bus).

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I'm sure that it was Sergio Aguero who shouted at Vinnie not to shoot .
 
Peter fucking Swales doesn’t become City chairman. Malcolm Allison has a change of heart and decides that he is happy to continue as joe Mercer’s assistant and head coach.

Sir joe talks Big Mal out of buying Rodney Marsh in the spring of 1972, and City go on to win the title comfortably.

Marsh arrives in the 72/73 close season, and City retain the title and win the European Cup to start a golden era for the Maine Road club, which goes on to dominate English and European football for the next two decades.
 
September 26th 1998 Sheffield Wednesday 1 Vs 0 Arsenal

Just before half time Patrick Vieira fouls Vim Jonk throwing him to the ground.

A melee ensues and Martin Keown and Paolo Di Canio have a confrontation grabbing each other by the throat, which leads to referee Paul Alcock brandishes a red card to both players. Di Canio then infamously pushes the referee over.

Wednesday would go on to win the game 1-0 with a delightful late chip from Lee Briscoe in the 89th minute (that is forgotten in the days events)

Di Canio recieves an 11 game ban, Man Utd would have backed their player to the hilt ie Cantona Wednesday didn't.

He never played for the club again and was sold to West Ham for around a £1m.

The club then started to unravel, relegated the following season and 25 years later have very rarely bar 2 seasons threatened to return to the Premier League, but have spent 3 spells (will be 4 from next season) in the 3rd Tier.

They say clubs get promoted at the right time, we got relegated at the wrong time as parachute payments didn't exist so when we went down it was like re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.
 
A couple of Clough-related examples

Clough doesn't break his leg v Bury on Boxing Day 1962, his playing career continues through the 60s and he scores loads more goals for club and country. His subsequent management career, if he pursued one,would be different and maybe not involving Derby and then Forest.

May 1977- Bolton playing Wolves at home to try to clinch promotion. A probably offside Hibbitt goal stands, whilst a Bolton equaliser is mysteriously disallowed for offside. Bolton fail and Forest are promoted instead, their momentum taking them to the League title and then European Cup in quick succession. Another season in Division 2 for Clough would have changed things considerably.
 
The Russian linesman does his job properly,the goal isn't awarded, West Germany go on to win and the whole of Wales, Scotland and NI don't have to listen to the English Media banging on about 1966 for the rest of time............(and as an added bonus, that 3 Lions song wouldn't exist either!)
 
The real butterfly effect.
A manager through fair means and foul wins the league for the umpteenth time.
He then buys some horse spunk.
This allows yanks to buy his club. He then decides he can't compete with the re-emergence of a sleeping giant.
He sits there, week after week watching their decline whilst suffering the humiliation as the now fully awake giant does 100 points, a treble, a four-peat and a rebuild.

That's the real butterfly effect.
Please kindly close the thread. :-)
 
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