1978-79 | The self-implosion of Manchester City

[Bluesince1979]

Some very posts here … I can just smell boiled hot dogs and onions .

And greenalls induced farts

 

[J.G.Blue.]

Who loved Peter Swales? I started watching City in 65/66 season, I couldn't stand the posing twat when he became chairman with his wig, cuban heels, big cigars and his delusions of grandeur. He was also notorious for not keeping promises, in his interview after appointing Ron Saunders he said he was so confident about Saunders succeeding that "if he fails, I'll resign". Needless to say he didn't.

I wanted Allison to succeed when he returned but I knew he hadn't made a decent fist of management the first time around in 1972/73 so I had my doubts, rightly so as it turned out.

"if he fails, Ill resign" that quote took me right back, I can remember my dad quoting that for years when we were struggling, Swales was a absolute disaster for city.

 

[Bluesince1979]

I always enjoy these sorts of threads as being bornin ‘74 that period doesnt register with me. My first game in ‘79 but my memories start in 81 onwards.

i was always led to believe that the tony book side was in a slow decline but far from needing ripped to bits, a freshen up was all that was needed. A tweek. With some great youngsters coming through and some seasoned pros already there then it needed tinkering with a decent coach rather than decimating.

my initial years supporting city through the 80s and 90s were nothing short of a disaster but i fuckin loved every second of it. The hope that ‘this season we MIGHT win the league cup…’ , amazing and exciting.
that feeling will never ever return now as expectation has replaced it. Obviously wouldnt change it for a second as ive seen MY team get 100 points and win the league. But i absolutely fuckin adored being a blue during those yoyo years

 

[J.G.Blue.]

It really was a game changer of a season. Disaster show from Allison although at the time it was exciting to a young teenage boy.
We shouldn't forget the pretext to that season in that we lost my favourite player in Tueart and had not replaced King Colin at all. These were big mistakes given we had a shitload of cash. Basically Book/Swales decided Barnes could replace Tueart but, fabulous as Barnsey was, he couldn't replace Tueart s goals or ability to roam around the pitch. Of course watching the 2 of them together was great and has given many memories. Again, for some reason nothing was worked out to replace Colin Bell, despite one or 2 transfer misses. Book/Swales should have known that after he missed the 76_77 season he wasn't coming back anywhere near what he was (despite that golden Boxing Day comeback and the couple of months after) - the goals were gone and for me despite everything else, the number of goals he scored (without pens or free kicks) was incredible. Approx 150 in 450 games. In our current great squad, who could match that? Phil perhaps. We also had lost Mike Doyle and his leadership.
So, by 78-79, the team was already in decline although not a dramatic one. Instead of a top 2-3 team, I think we were a top 6-8 team - still an awful lot of quality players but the new players (Futchers) didn't make a huge impact. I remember Bolton away (2-2), missed WBA at home (2-2) and Owens 2 pens v Coventry and felt we were doing okay, playing nicely. For me it was that sequence of losing 2-1 at home in 3 consecutive games to Soton, Derby and Ipswich that just sapped form, confidence and goals. It was a mixture of bad luck (Clements broke his leg) and just playing crap.
There's no doubt Swales panicked and part through his own ego, part through his stupidity, he brought Allison back. Basically, he panicked because of a poor 6 weeks but he didn't take into account the players we had lost and not replaced (as I said in the pretext). He could have waited and either used the market better and/or found a top manager. Instead he brought back Malcom who was intent on feeding his own ego and creating his own history with another great team a decade after his first. In hindsight it was a purge that was appalling in that we sold seasoned, quality players for relatively low fees and bought a load of players crazily overpriced. Did we really buy Bobby Shinton with what we received for Watson and Kidd?
The disaster was not just the selling and buying it the fact that we had some good players under Alison who would have hugely benefitted from who we already had. For example, what about Caton playing with Watson or Dave Bennett/ Roger Palmer learning from Kiddo etc

Fantastic post, I agree with all of it appart from the "in hindsight" bit, I think we all knew at the time what was going on was madness but just hoped & prayed things would work out.

 

[J.G.Blue.]

Its strange whenever I read these posts about our recent past & the disaster Swales certainly was to our club it reminds me in a strange way of one of the proudest days I can remember being a blue, I cant think which game it was but it was the next home game after Swales had died & the club had a minutes silence, I think there was around 30 to 35,000 at the game and the minutes silence was amazingly well respected considering who it was for,
I think it showed our class as a fan base & amazing respect under the circumstances.

 

[Bluesince1979]

Its strange whenever I read these posts about our recent past & the disaster Swales certainly was to our club it reminds me in a strange way of one of the proudest days I can remember being a blue, I cant think which game it was but it was the next home game after Swales had died & the club had a minutes silence, I think there was around 30 to 35,000 at the game and the minutes silence was amazingly well respected considering who it was for,
I think it showed our class as a fan base & amazing respect under the circumstances.

I knew of a lot that stayed in the concourse for that. Respect in itself i guess but not willing to give him there personal respect.

the man was a lunatic

 

[J.G.Blue.]

I knew of a lot that stayed in the concourse for that. Respect in itself i guess but not willing to give him there personal respect.

the man was a lunatic

Strange, I just looked it up & it seems it was the same game v liverpool when we got relegated by drawing 2-2 I had no idea it was such a important game? getting older certainly plays tricks with the memory.

 

[DontLookBackInAnger]

Personally, I'm old enough to remember Allison the second time but not the first and I remember first game of the season(79-80) .... might have been at home to Crystal Palace and ended up a 0-0 and everyone around me seemed to be seeing another game, it was like a collective delusion, I thought we where fucked to be honest, the only other time I have felt like that was when Ball took over. However, lets be honest you can't paper over the cracks the club was going in the wrong direction for some time(from the point they started going down the road to appointing Swales)and no one would have stopped that.
While people can claim City are "lucky" to have ended up with the ownership group we have now... We had a run of really bad luck, poor timing and issues that weren't really connected with the club at all, such as the ground being built on land that was now considered contaminated, the Bradford fire and Taylor reports, the formation of the Premier League.
Yes it came to a head in 78/79 but it was bound to happen. The whole episode with Allison reinforces the whole adage "never go back". Its funny how being a football supporter effects your life, but after experiencing this as a kid, I won't even visit former places I have worked, when I leave I leave and I'm not one of those people that comes back after 6 months to chat about the old times ask how the business is doing.
If Allison had done that he would be a straight up legend without a uncomfortable footnote and from what I have heard he hated that people thought he was a great coach but poor manager and the second spell at City locked that view in for many people, although in the 2nd spell at City the team wasn't very well coached either....

 

[A57 the snake]

And greenalls induced farts

Made me laugh that… nice one .

 

[Bluesince1979]

Strange, I just looked it up & it seems it was the same game v liverpool when we got relegated by drawing 2-2 I had no idea it was such a important game? getting older certainly plays tricks with the memory.

I wouldnt have had a clue. That hame though …. Wow. Probably all the years of being a total shit show culminated in us playing for a draw when we needed a win.

it was awkward as fuck liverpool trying not to score whilst we totally fucked it up ourselves