

May 4, 2012 -- 10:02PM, Solano1 wrote:
Aye, it had the makings of a good side that one ten.What went wrong? (Serious question).
Lots of things really, but mainly a lack of investment and Reid dismantling the side.
Bob Murray wouldn't sanction the wages for the couple of players we needed to kick on. At the same time, Reid fell out with decent, if not key members of the squad and replaced them with dross, had no idea how to replace Quinn, who I actually think was more under rated than Phillips, and the team spirit gradually evaporated.
In each of the 7th seasons we were flying at Christmas, went on a bad run afterwards and never really recovered from the latter. You could see things weren't right at the time but they were neglected.
As for Phillips, he was a brilliant finisher, but he had so much more than that. The variety of goals he scored was unbelievable, he was capable of 6 yard poaches, 25 yard drives, delicate chips, and scored a lot of good headers for someone of his size. I don't think he'll ever get the credit he deserves because he never really did it for England, which is harsh as he had Shearer and Owen blocking his path at his peak, then changed his game and played much deeper afterwards and never really got the chance he deserved. Iirc he was man of the match in one game but missed a sitter, Darius Vassell came on and scored on his debut and was always picked ahead of him after that.
