2012 Prediction League; Game 26 v Chesterfield (home)

Div3North · 30-12-2012, 18:35

Accrington Stanley

V

Chesterfield

2012/13 Prediction League – Game 26; v Chesterfield (home)

Did I read, very recently on the forum, the dreaded words, “The first task is to get to 40 points to make sure we’re safe” - or words to that effect?

In your dreams, I’m afraid; 40 points would have got us relegated every season bar one: last season Hereford went down with 44, the year before Lincoln got 47 and still went, and before that the trapdoor opened for Grimsby (44), Mansfield (42) and Boston Utd (46). The only year that 40 was enough to stay up was 08/09, when Luton managed a wretched 26, and Chester a terrible 37 ……..

Ok, so we all know the story; on September 18th we went to the Proact Stadium in 5th place, with 11 points from 6 games

; Chesterfield had 7 points in 16th place; they’d been without a manager since parting company with John Sheridan at the end of August, Tommy Wright holding the caretaker reins; we came back from 2-0 down and again from 3-2 down, only to have Michael Liddle sent off, and to lose a couple of minutes later to a goal by Terrell Forbes on 84

. After the game, Wright said this;

· "I thought we had four or five players not at the races tonight and Accrington must be very disappointed they were excellent.” (I think there should have been a comma or a semi-colon between the words “disappointed” and “they”; we weren’t disappointed that we were excellent, I imagine ………. )

“I thought we were excellent when we got in their half and got crosses in the box. We looked like we were going to score. But I think we're a very fortunate team to get three points.”

Six weeks later, to many people’s intense disappointment, Chesterfield had our then manager (Kaa ) as well ………………..

and he started out like the proverbial new broom! Micah Evans’ three month loan was chopped off half way through

; MF Mark Allott (35) had his contract cancelled after a career involving 241 games for Oldham (two spells) and 338 for the Spireites (ditto)

; striker Craig Westcarr (27) was transfer-listed (currently on loan at Walsall), and 25 year-old defender Neal Trotman (who’s played at 8 different clubs, mostly on loan, and not made more than 21 starts in any one spell anywhere) was listed too, but seems still to be there ………….

The loan market’s been fair hammered; Liam Cooper (21), a defender from Hull; Sunderland keeper Ben Wilson; Chris Atkinson (20), a MF from Huddersfield (who recalled him early

); Liam Ridehalgh (21), a defender also from the Terriers, who was recalled early so that he could be loaned to Rotherham (apparently)

; James O’Shea (24), an Irish winger who arrived via Home Farm, Bray Wanderers, Galway Utd, various short loans, and MK Dons; and another Hull defender, this time Conor Townsend (20), a fullback who scored his first goal for Chesterfield yesterday, and for his next trick got sent off

(so we won’t have to worry about him, then). They also picked up Luis Boa-Morte Pereira (35) in mid October (Before Cook) – ex Arsenal, Southampton, Fulham, West Ham, Larissa (Greece, where he rejoined Chris Coleman, staying from August 11 to January 12) and Orlando Pirates (South Africa), signing for 18 months on 24th January 12 and leaving (after just two games

) in May 12.

They went out of the Cap One 2-1 at home to Tranmere; the Tinpot provided them a win 2-1 against Oldham before Doncaster dumped them 1-0, both at the Proact; the FA Cup gave them a 6-1 home win over an awful

Hartlepool side (who we’ll be playing next season, I can confidently predict

) followed by a 2-1 defeat in Round 2 – at Tranmere! In the League their home record is W5 D5 L3 F23 A16; away it’s W 4 D4 L4 F10 A12; overall, P25 W9 D9 L7 F33 A28 for 36 points and 9th place, 3 points off the Playoff spots ………Their wins on the road have come at Port Vale (2-0), Plymouth, Exeter and Aldershot (all by 1-0); that means if you score at home against Chesterfield you don’t lose the game!

); draws are 0-0 at Bradford and Northampton, 1-1 at Gillingham and 2-2 at York.

They don’t score hats-full (hatfuls?); 6 past Hartlepool, 4 against us

(4-3) and Cheltenham (4-1), 3 against York (3-0) and Wycombe (3-1); lots of single goal games, a scattering where they’ve got 2, and they’ve also kept 7 clean sheets. Their leading scorers are Jack “Red Card” Lester – 37 years old, and a veteran of Grimsby (132 games), Donnie (11 on loan), Forest (99), the Blades (44), Forest (again – 76) and Chesterfield (182+) – with 8 more goals this season to add to his career tally of 146; second highest is ex-loanee Chris Atkinson, who hit 5 in 16 but has mysteriously been taken off their list of goalscorers on their website

; striker Marc Richards (30), whose career started at Ewood (although he never played a League game for them) and featured Northampton, Barnsley and Port Vale, where he scored 67 in 181, has 4, as does Nottingham-born MF Tendayi David Darikwa (21); fifth on the list – and also no longer mentioned on the website

– is Craig Westcarr (now at the Saddlers, you’ll remember). Boa-Morte hasn’t scored this season, so I’m hoping he leads the line, rather than Lester ………

The deadline for entries is, as ever, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Tuesday 1st January 2013. Their record in their last eight matches in the League is 5 wins, 2 draws and one defeat (3-0 at Southend on Dec 21st); we’re ‘concerned’ about our recent form. That said, we’ve got one very good reason for really wanting this one more than the opposition (to do with a departing manager)

; it’s got all the makings, hasn’t it? Low score draw? High score draw? Record victory? Humiliating defeat? Certainly should be one of the above! And remember ………………….. Keep the Faith!

Good luck to everyone ……………..… A Happy New Year from Me

, and a Happy New Year from Him

………………. and thanks for playing!