On 16 March 1977, Saints were playing Anderlecht in the European Cup-winners' Cup when Jim made a mistake in defence allowing Van der Elst to get past him to score the winning goal. This error, coupled with the sending-off, led to a falling-out with manager Lawrie McMenemy, who was intent on a wholesale re-building of the team in order to gain promotion back to Division 1, and Jim made his final appearance for Saints away to Nottingham Forest on 22 March 1977.