2011 Prediction League; Game 16 - Crawley Town (away)

Div3North · 25-10-2011, 21:51

Crawley Town

V

Accrington Stanley

2011 Prediction League – Game 16; v Crawley (away)

Two years ago they claimed not to have a pot to pee in

; in debt somewhere between £600,000 and £1m, and selling players they would have preferred to keep (Jon-Paul Pittman, Danny Bulman and Jamie Cook among them – all of whom re-signed later): twelve months on they were “debt free”, and spending money like it was going out of fashion

- £70k (reputedly) for Salisbury striker Matt Tubbs (25), who left with a scoring record of 140 goals in 290 games (including getting their goal when we beat them 2-1 in the FA Cup in November 2009

), and (supposedly) £100k for Posh’s winger Sergio Torres. Whatever the truth, it worked – they won the BSP at a canter last season, winning 31 and losing just 3 of 46 games for a whopping 105 points – 15 more than second place AFC Wombles - and scoring 93 while conceding just 30

. No great surprise that they were the pre-season favourites to win League 2 this year

, despite seeming to have issues with everyone around them ………………

They released, among others, forward Jamie Cook (again), who signed for Bath at the age of 30; they signed Wes Thomas, and immediately accepted an offer for him from the Cherries they couldn’t refuse (see the Cheltenham match thread); and – strangest of all, perhaps – they sent striker Richard Broudie on a season-long loan to Fleetwood, despite having only signed him the previous summer from York; he got 34 for the Minstermen in 09/10, and 13 for Crawley in 10/11, so why would you let him go?

If he’s that proficient in front of goal, and if he’s available for next season, can we borrow him please, and please will you carry on paying his wages? Thanks very much ………

They signed some decent players; 32 year-old Jamaican international defender Claude Davis (ex PNE, Sheffield Utd and Derby) on release by Palace; Macclesfield striker Tyrone Barnett (25) who hit 13 in 45 last season; ex Reading midfielder Scott Davies (23); teenage Everton midfielder Hope Akpan; Rushden winger Jamie Day (25); and John Akinde, a 21 year old striker released by Bristol City. Anyone else who joined MyFC and “part-owned” Ebbsfleet

3 years ago might remember him – we had an “owner’s vote” on whether to agree to sell him

(we agreed

- we needed the money); he never really settled, and has had loan spells at Wycombe, Brentford, Bristol Rovers and the Daggers.

In on loan have come Peterborough defender Scott Griffiths (25), who played 33 times last season on loan at Chesterfield; the afore-mentioned striker Jon-Paul Pittman (24) – signed with a flourish by Oxford from Wycombe, and shipped out within a few weeks (who got his first Crawley goal tonight against the Daggers); Welsh u19 international midfielder Michael Doughty (18), whose dad owns Notts Forest so who, of course, plays for QPR

(no nepotism there then!), and ex Ipswich defender Tom Eastman (19) from Colchester (although he’s just been recalled (see Wes Fletcher) by his parent club).

They had the unique distinction of winning the first ever Carling Cup preliminary round game (against AFC Wombles by 3-2), but then went out in the First Round proper at Crystal Palace 2-0; the JPT did them no better – losing 1-0 at Roots Hall in the First Round. In the League, though, they’re flying; P15 W11 D1 L3 F32 A21 for 34 points and top of the table, two points clear of Southend and seven in front of third-placed Shrewsbury; at home it’s a phenomenal P8 W7 D0 L1 F19 A7

. Their only home League defeat was by 3-0 to Swindon; away they’ve lost 3-1 at Cheltenham and 6-0 at Morecambe

, which sort of skews the goal difference a bit …… Even more worrying – if you need more worrying – is the fact that they’ve won their last 7 League games in a row

; 1-0 at both Aldershot and Northants, and 5-2 at Wimbledon; 3-1 against Bradford and Dagenham & Redbridge, 2-0 against Plymouth, and 2-1 against Shrewsbury. That said, they lost 5 of the 6 immediately before that in League and Cup, so who knows …….?

We haven’t played them in the League, of course, and only met four times in the Conference; in 2004/5 we won 4-0 at home (2 from Paul Mullin , one from Ian Craney , and a penalty from Lutel James) but lost 2-0 away; in our promotion season we won 4-2 at Fortress Crown (Craney, Jagielka, Roberts and Mangan) and 1-0 away (Gary Roberts again). P4 W3 D0 L1 F9 A4; sweet!

Their 17 games have produced 35 in the “goals for” column, and 26 conceded; five goals once (last Saturday at the Wombles); four also once (home to Bristol Rovers); three goals five times, two goals four times, one goal three times and four blanks; strikers Matt Tubbs and Tyrone Barnett have 10 and 6 respectively (4 of Tubbs’ goals coming from the penalty spot); Sergio Torres has 3; former Wycombe midfielder Dannie Bulman (32), and defender Dean Howell, have 2 each, while 11 others have a singleton, one og making up the total. Tubbs and Barnett both feature in the list of the top 5 League 2 scorers (Barnett is credited with 7, but obviously Crawley know better ……………)

The deadline for entries is, as ever, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 29th October. We hold the bragging rights

, and Morecambe stuffed them

; is this the day that Wynonie’s dreams (and prediction) come true?

Another draw (which is mostly what we do away)? 0-0? 6-0? (Leylandii agrees with me that someone’s going to get a tonking in the near future

). It’s now 384 minutes since we scored (6 hours 24 minutes in old money!), so we’re bound to break that cycle soon ………aren't we .......

The PL title is still there to be won, Ladies and Gentlemen, but not unless you enter the competition ………..

Good luck to everyone ………… and thanks for playing!