Sliding door moments

[Sortmeout]

I couldn’t really think of a snazzier title for the thread.

I mentioned the Ayr thread earlier that if Andy Geggan hadn’t scored the goal against Kilmarnock below in 2017 that Scotland might not be making the trip to the Euros for the second time in a row in 2024.

In the summer of 2017 Lee McCulloch had just taken the Kilmarnock job full time following a relatively (compared to how shite we were) successful period in temporary charge.

He makes some half decent signings but there are rumours he never really wanted the job. The league cup is drawn and we go to Somerset live on TV in the first game of the season.

The team never really turned up that night and thanks to Geggans goal we lost 1-0. The writing was really on the wall for McCulloch even at that early stage and it was no surprise that he left the club after a bad start to the season.

In steps Steve Clarke to take possibly the only Scottish job he would’ve taken at that stage and everyone knows what has happened in the 6 years since then.

If we had avoided defeat at Somerset on that first night there is a fair chance McCulloch might’ve lasted a bit longer and that might’ve just meant SSC not coming to Scotland and in turn not getting the Scotland job within 2 years.

I’m sure other clubs have got some similar “sliding doors” moments involving wins, losses, goals, sacking etc at just the right (or wrong) time.

 

[Derry Alli]

[Lyle Lanley]

11 minutes ago, Sortmeout said:

I couldn’t really think of a snazzier title for the thread.

I mentioned the Ayr thread earlier that if Andy Geggan hadn’t scored the goal against Kilmarnock below in 2017 that Scotland might not be making the trip to the Euros for the second time in a row in 2024.

In the summer of 2017 Lee McCulloch had just taken the Kilmarnock job full time following a relatively (compared to how shite we were) successful period in temporary charge.

He makes some half decent signings but there are rumours he never really wanted the job. The league cup is drawn and we go to Somerset live on TV in the first game of the season.

The team never really turned up that night and thanks to Geggans goal we lost 1-0. The writing was really on the wall for McCulloch even at that early stage and it was no surprise that he left the club after a bad start to the season.

In steps Steve Clarke to take possibly the only Scottish job he would’ve taken at that stage and everyone knows what has happened in the 6 years since then.

If we had avoided defeat at Somerset on that first night there is a fair chance McCulloch might’ve lasted a bit longer and that might’ve just meant SSC not coming to Scotland and in turn not getting the Scotland job within 2 years.

I’m sure other clubs have got some similar “sliding doors” moments involving wins, losses, goals, sacking etc at just the right (or wrong) time.

 

If we lost to Aberdeen earlier this year instead of winning 6-0. Johnson would have been sacked then instead of us waiting until August to do it. 

[eindhovendee]

12 minutes ago, Sortmeout said:

I couldn’t really think of a snazzier title for the thread.

I mentioned the Ayr thread earlier that if Andy Geggan hadn’t scored the goal against Kilmarnock below in 2017 that Scotland might not be making the trip to the Euros for the second time in a row in 2024.

In the summer of 2017 Lee McCulloch had just taken the Kilmarnock job full time following a relatively (compared to how shite we were) successful period in temporary charge.

He makes some half decent signings but there are rumours he never really wanted the job. The league cup is drawn and we go to Somerset live on TV in the first game of the season.

The team never really turned up that night and thanks to Geggans goal we lost 1-0. The writing was really on the wall for McCulloch even at that early stage and it was no surprise that he left the club after a bad start to the season.

In steps Steve Clarke to take possibly the only Scottish job he would’ve taken at that stage and everyone knows what has happened in the 6 years since then.

If we had avoided defeat at Somerset on that first night there is a fair chance McCulloch might’ve lasted a bit longer and that might’ve just meant SSC not coming to Scotland and in turn not getting the Scotland job within 2 years.

I’m sure other clubs have got some similar “sliding doors” moments involving wins, losses, goals, sacking etc at just the right (or wrong) time.

 

So what you are saying is if SSC's Dad hadn't shagged SSC's Mum we might not be going to the Euros for the second time in a row?

[Venti]

27 minutes ago, Sortmeout said:

I couldn’t really think of a snazzier title for the thread.

I mentioned the Ayr thread earlier that if Andy Geggan hadn’t scored the goal against Kilmarnock below in 2017 that Scotland might not be making the trip to the Euros for the second time in a row in 2024.

In the summer of 2017 Lee McCulloch had just taken the Kilmarnock job full time following a relatively (compared to how shite we were) successful period in temporary charge.

He makes some half decent signings but there are rumours he never really wanted the job. The league cup is drawn and we go to Somerset live on TV in the first game of the season.

The team never really turned up that night and thanks to Geggans goal we lost 1-0. The writing was really on the wall for McCulloch even at that early stage and it was no surprise that he left the club after a bad start to the season.

In steps Steve Clarke to take possibly the only Scottish job he would’ve taken at that stage and everyone knows what has happened in the 6 years since then.

If we had avoided defeat at Somerset on that first night there is a fair chance McCulloch might’ve lasted a bit longer and that might’ve just meant SSC not coming to Scotland and in turn not getting the Scotland job within 2 years.

I’m sure other clubs have got some similar “sliding doors” moments involving wins, losses, goals, sacking etc at just the right (or wrong) time.

 

That's a Butterfly Effect, not Sliding Doors.

[betting competition]

18 minutes ago, Lyle Lanley said:

If we lost to Aberdeen earlier this year instead of winning 6-0. Johnson would have been sacked then instead of us waiting until August to do it. 

Sacking Goodwin helped us to 3rd! 

Edited October 17, 2023 by betting competition

[Sortmeout]

1 hour ago, eindhovendee said:

So what you are saying is if SSC's Dad hadn't shagged SSC's Mum we might not be going to the Euros for the second time in a row?

You could do that far back I suppose but I was trying to make it more of a football topic.

[Lyle Lanley]

1 hour ago, betting competition said:

Sacking Goodwin helped us to 3rd! 

Wish he was still in charge of Aberdeen to be fair. 

[coprolite]

Super swally taking out Snelders was a sliding hoor moment that subtly altered our upward trajectory onto the path towards a downward spiral.

On the plus side, it helped encourage the dark side to unsustainably spend their way to their eventual demise, overseen by said cheating c**t. It was no consolation really, but it was funny. 

[ATLIS]

Bit of a weird one but playoff semi-final against Stranraer to stay in the Championship. We lose the first leg, away, 5-2 in an utter collapse.  Miraculously goals in the 89th and then 94th minute see us take the tie to extra time with a 4-1 home win (6-6 agg). We then collapse again conceding twice in extra time to lose 6-8 on aggregate.

We go into the next season as a League 1 side, debating about staying full time or going part time, debating whether or not to keep Hopkin on (not that finances allow us to get anyone else in) and with new names coming into the club at board level. This becomes the beginning of a long standing court case with Ged Nixon also which hangs over the club. 

We decide to knuckle down, stay full time, keep Hopkin on with Martindale as assistant and go on to romp the league. We use that momentum and togetherness to finish 2nd in the Championship the season after and go up. Back to back promotions. It launches probably the most prosperous time in the club's history, our longest top flight stay, multiple top 6 finishes, a cup final, wiping of the club's debts and eventually new owners that have now stepped in and are willing to support the club financially. 

I seriously don't think any of that happens if we don't collapse, twice, against Stranraer. At the time I was raging about how badly we could throw it away twice. Without that we're probably a middling Championship club and at worst a Falkirk level seaside league team. 

[Torfason]

Some jobber for Aston Villa got sent off or injured in a pre-season friendly against Saints,  Alan McInally gets a chance and instead of signing for Saints as planned*, he goes on to have a great season for Villa and signs for Bayern in München................ and hasn't shut the f**k up about it since.

*so the story goes. 

[pozbaird]

If we hadn’t appointed Alan Stubbs, Ian Murray, Alex Rae, Danny Lennon, Gary Teale, Tommy Craig, Oran Kearney, Jack Ross and Jim Goodwin, we’d have had sliding doors, rather than revolving ones.

Have I got this game right?

[Salvo Montalbano]

I think one for Pars fans would be "What if Stuart Dougal had seen Bobo Balde's handball in the 2004 Scottish Cup final?" We were 1-0 up at the time - with Crawford, Brewster, Nicholson, Thompson all full of confidence I'd have expected whoever had taken it to score. We go 2-0 up, win the Cup, don't have to play a qualification round in the UEFA Cup against Halfajaffacake from Iceland, we might have been able to convince The Two Jimmies (Calderwood and Nichol) to stay, we might have sold an extra few thousand season tickets...

Instead it wasn't spotted, the ball was hoofed upfield, Aaron Labonte slipped and Henrik Larsson equalised - tails up, Celtic went on to win 3-1; the management team left and we appointed Davie Hay, we had the embarrassing collapse in Perth against the Icelandic fishermen and it was the beginning of the end for the days of challenging at the right end of the SPL table and the start of the decline that ended up in administration and League One. 

[Guest DannyBlue]

If Paco Luna scored that late header to get a hat trick v AEK Athens, we'd have been up on aggregate with no time left at all minutes left and likely would have closed it out.

AEK Athens then got two winnable ties before losing to Inter Milan. That Hibs team was good enough to beat AEK but the sluggish first leg got us if we got that exact same draw we then I think we would have got past Osijek and Litex Lovech, been in Europe past Christmas and there is a good chance I would have seen guys like Ronaldo, Seedorf and Javier Zanetti play at Easter Road. Would have created some special memories.

Edit - even if the draw was seeded (can't remember) and we got pumped by Inter in round 2 it would have still been an incredible experience.

Edited October 17, 2023 by DannyBlue

[Mark Connolly]

If we had signed a competent goalkeeper in the summer of 2022, we'd still be in the Premiership

[Derry Alli]

26 minutes ago, Salvo Montalbano said:

Iwin the Cup, don't have to play a qualification round in the UEFA Cup against Halfajaffacake from Iceland, 

[Lyle Lanley]

59 minutes ago, DannyBlue said:

If Paco Luna scored that late header to get a hat trick v AEK Athens, we'd have been up on aggregate with no time left at all minutes left and likely would have closed it out.

AEK Athens then got two winnable ties before losing to Inter Milan. That Hibs team was good enough to beat AEK but the sluggish first leg got us if we got that exact same draw we then I think we would have got past Osijek and Litex Lovech, been in Europe past Christmas and there is a good chance I would have seen guys like Ronaldo, Seedorf and Javier Zanetti play at Easter Road. Would have created some special memories.

Edit - even if the draw was seeded (can't remember) and we got pumped by Inter in round 2 it would have still been an incredible experience.

Still gutted Luna didn’t score in the last minute. If we did play Inter. I wonder if McLeish wouldn’t have left us to manage Rangers. 
 

I wonder if we would have won the Scottish Cup if we didn’t get relegated to Hamilton in the play off final. 

[GreenGray]

If Mark Oxley hadn't lost his contact lens against Inverness Hibs wouldn't have won the Scottish Cup.

[Arch Stanton]

The tale of two David McDonalds who started at Paisley Grammar School on the same day.

One went on to become a famous actor.

Don't know what became of the other.

[scottsdad]

Article about Brian Cox in today's Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/oct/18/brian-cox-succession-game-of-thrones-bach

1. He was offered the role of Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones and turned it down. 

2. Turned down the part of the Governor in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Quote

None of these near misses, however, is quite as significant as the one he had in October 1965, as a 19-year-old actor in Scotland desperate to prove his chops on the London stage. He had been summoned for a meeting with Laurence Olivier at the National Theatre, and had booked a night flight for after his evening show at the Edinburgh Lyceum. But when he arrived earlier that day at the Lyceum with his overnight bag, the stage doorman handed him a note cancelling the meeting because Olivier was indisposed. Cox awoke the next morning to learn that the plane had crashed at Heathrow, killing everyone on board.