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>>>>In february the season record of HSV read like that
>>>>(wins-draws-defeats):
>>>>Cup: 1 - 0 - 1
>>>>CL(Q): 1 - 2 - 5
>>>>League: 1 - 12 - 7
>>>>Total: 3 - 14 - 13
>>>>Unsurprisingly we were dead last in the table, with a record that before
>>>>this season always led to relegation.
>>>>And not only did we have a bad record, we were also to face the then
>>>>leading 2 teams away from home in our next 3 games.
>>>>We beat them. :)
>>>>Our record of the last 14 games:
>>>> 9 - 3 - 2
>>>>Total: 10 - 15 - 9
>>>>We are not dead last anymore. Instead we now play international
>>>>football. :))
>>>>Question: Are there any other occurrences when a team hopelessly
>>>>lingering on relegation spots in the second half of the season managed a
>>>>turnaround and qualified for Europe? Which comparable turnarounds are
>>>>there?
>>>Too lazy to dig up the numbers right now, but in the 84/85 season
>>>Liverpool were third from the bottom in November (IIRC),
>>Beginning of November, I think.
>>By the halfway point they were 10th and only 9 points behind Spurs and
>>Everton. They finished 2nd, 13 points behind Everton.
> Which reminds me, Liverpool had won the League and EC just the year
> prior, but had then lost Souness to Sampdoria in the offseason, which
> consequently had totally devastated their midfield.
I am not sure that is completely accurate. They had an improving Nicol
and had signed John Wark (who scored a lot of goals that year). Their
slump at the beginning of 1984-85 is probably at least as much due to a
two month injury to Ian Rush and a dip in Dalgish's form as the loss of
Souness. Never understood why they didn't put Lawrenson in midfield though.
They were lost for
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> a while and it wasn't until the emergence of the Great Dane Jan Molby,
> and to some degree Steve McMahon, that they got their steel in
> midfield and overall balance back.
They won the double in 1985-86, but had M?lby by then.
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> What are some other striking examples of the effect the loss of one
> player can have on a team?