Local Sport
| NEWS | | |  | | | SPORT | | | | | INTERVIEWS | | | | | | | | MIDWEEK TV | | | COMPETITIONS | | | | | | |
|
|
|
Our play off record stinks but we can change that
WANDERERS' stars will have to break their amazing play-off jinx if they are to win promotion.
Thirteen members of their squad have appeared in the play-offs before and only Leon Knight has finished with a winners' medal.
He scored the winner for Brighton and Hove Albion in the 2004 final against a Bristol City side featuring his current Wycombe team-mates Tommy Doherty and Craig Woodman.
And even Knight is hardly a lucky charm with three play-off agonies out-weighing his sole successes.
He said: "I hate the play-offs, they are not good for my heart."
He was a loser in last year's play-offs for MK Dons against Shrewsbury and again a year earlier when Barnsley beat his Swansea City side to reach the Championship while in 2002 he was suspended as his Huddersfield team, featuring current Wycombe striker Delroy Facey, went out in the semi-finals.
Blues' leading scorer Scott McGleish also knows all about the anguish of failure.
Three times he has appeared in the play-offs and on each occasion he has suffered heartbreak, losing in the 2005 final for Northampton against Southend and twice alongside Sam Stockley in the semi-finals for Barnet against Peterborough and Colchester.
He said: "I don't have a good play-off record and there are a few boys in our squad who have also not enjoyed them but I think we can change that this time."
Wanderers are hoping that their collection of painful memories will spur them on to ensure there is no repeat this time and for former Scotland international Gary Holt the hurt is still red raw.
He was involved in one of the most amazing turnarounds in play-off history just 12 months ago when Nottingham Forest - 2-0 up from the away leg at Yeovil, went out after losing the home leg 5-2.
Five years earlier, Holt also missed out on the Premiership when his Norwich City side lost on penalties to Birmingham City.
Holt's partner in the Wycombe midfield, Doherty, is another double loser.
As well as losing to Knight's Brighton, he was also part of the Bristol City side beaten by Cardiff a year earlier.
But boss Paul Lambert is not bothered by his players' disappointing track record in the play-offs with their former clubs.
He said: "I wasn't part of it and they weren't a team together. No-one can point the finger at what they've achieved since they've been together here.
"Football isn't an individual game. You are only as good as the people next to you.
"You need a team and we have got a very good team here.
"My players might have lost in a few play-offs before but their luck has got to change sometime."
1:42pm Friday 9th May 2008
Print 
Email this 
CommentPosted by: wanne, high wycombe on 5:23pm Fri 9 May 08
'Records' are there to be broken! Cmon the Blues!!!!!
'Records' are there to be broken! Cmon the Blues!!!!!
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
