2015/16 Prediction League; Game 11 v Oxford United (home)

Div3North · 01-10-2015, 22:24

Accrington Stanley

V

Oxford United

2015/16 Prediction League; Game 11 v Oxford (home)

I don’t know if you noticed, but the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh League Managers of this season were sacked this week

; we already had Dave Robertson at the Posh, Paul Dickov at Donnie and Darren Kelly at Oldham (after 9 games

); add to that Marcus Dijkhuizen at Brentford (also after 9 games

) – remember I asked a couple of weeks back if anyone could name the Brentford manager? – and then that nice Mr Evans has left New York

– that’s New York, Rotherham, of course

- after two good seasons (promoted back-to-back), one pretty crap season, and a very dodgy start to this one ……….A club statement on the Rotherham website said that chairman Tony Stewart and Evans "wished to head in a different direction." I assume that the Club wished to climb the League, and Mr Evans wished to visit the inside of the Job Centre, but I can’t confirm. What I do know is that Football League clubs cull more head coaches and managers than DEFRA does badgers …….

Most recently then (yesterday), Fleetwood’s Graham Alexander fell on his sword

– well, not so much his sword, but one held by A Pillock - the reward for promotion, a very respectable 10th place last season, a slashed budget and most of his senior players moving on, resulting in an iffy opening to the campaign, was a P45 and a trip to the Job Centre

; hope the hell he doesn’t meet that nice Mr Evans there

…………..and tonight, in League Two’s first blood-letting, Terrible Butcher

has “parted company” with hopeless, hapless Newport County, whose Supporters’ Trust has apparently raised enough to buy the Club. And presumably to sack the Manager

..............Indeed to goodness. Isn’t it. Eisteddfod!

Changing the subject, did anyone notice that Yeovil hosted Luton a few weeks back (and beat them 3-2, as I recall)? I mention it because of their nicknames, which amused me – the Glovers against the Hatters

………..I did wonder who the Scarf-ers might be playing

…… the Bootmakers?

But then I thought, well, no, that’s just Cobblers ……..

Meantime, back at the footie ……..if one of our former players (Gary Roberts), managed by one of our former players and managers, hadn’t scored a consolation goal in the 90th minute of their (Pompey’s) defeat on Tuesday at home to Exeter (first win there in 92 years!), we would, this morning, be standing proudly in the automatic play-off spots

……..As it is, we’re 4th on goals scored

, unarguably the form team, and facing the Hell of Possible Promotion!

We’re also above two of the powerhouse teams – Pompey themselves, and Leyton Orient - and behind only Plymouth and Wycombe ………No-one has lost fewer games than us (Wycombe, Portsmouth and Oxford have lost the same number – ONE!

) ………Only the two above us have won more games than us (Pompey, Leyton Orient and Exeter have all won 5, like us) …..Wycombe (5) and Mansfield (6) are the only teams to have conceded fewer than us …..and we’re 9th highest scorers in League Two ……and Josh is now joint second in the League Two top goal-scorers’ list on 6 (Ibehre) still leads with 8 out of Carlisle’s 19 scored – and 19 also conceded!); would it be wise to extend his contract?

And maybe one or two others as well?

And so we move on to Oxford; once our bogey team (or one of several, more accurately) …… scored one less than us, conceded one more than us, got two points fewer than us (off a record that reads W4 D5 L1), and lie two places below us in 6th ….. Bogey team? Well, yes they were ……..apart from nicking our League status in 62 (bastards!

) our record against them is complete rubbish; in the first 3 seasons after they came back into the League in 2010/11 we drew three and lost three, scoring in just one of those six games

, and conceding 11

….in fact, in 2012/13 we met in the Cup as well, losing 2-0 away after a 3-3 chez nous (is that a Desmond-and-a-half?

); given that we lost the two League games that season by 3-0 and 5-0, that meant that in four games they scored 13 times against us!

. Things did improve, to be fair, and in the last two seasons we’re actually ahead – two wins, one draw and one defeat (3-1 away last season, Marcus Carver scoring ours) …..the two wins were 2-1 away in 13/14 (Kayode Odejayi and James Gray), and 1-0 at home last season, Terry Gornell scoring in the 90th minute to end a five-match losing spell ………..those were the days! We don’t do losing spells any more!!!!!

Overall (League only) our record is P10 W2 D4 L4 GF5 GA15, and in 6 of those 10 we haven’t even troubled the scorers ……….

They obviously had too many strikers, because three departed in the summer; Frenchman Jeremy Balmy (no idea whether he is or not) went to Swindon, Will Hoskins went to Exeter, and John Campbell (who?) was released; also under new employment are CB Matt Bevans (at Wealdstone), LB Jonathon Meades (at the Wombles), GK Ryan Clarke, (now with the Cobblers), and Andy Whing, who retired ……..new incumbents to their shirts include former West Brom (although he never played for them) MF Kemar Roofe (The U’s leading scorer with 6 in 10, Danny Hylton having 5), who gave up a promising building career to play soccer

(joke!), CM Liam Sercombe from Exeter, ex-Iron ‘keeper Sam Slocombe (there will be no jokes about pussies, thank you!

), striker Ryan Taylor from Pompey, Everton CM John Lundstram (21, and Scouse-born, despite his name

), and 26 year old former Bournemouth GK Benjamin Buchel (well, you can never have too many GKs), who’s a Liechtenstein International …..but then, given the population of Liechtenstein, if you’ve got two legs and a pulse you’ve a got a pretty decent chance of making the squad

, I’d have thought - regardless of gender, probably …………! Loan signings in – just the two – MK Dons RB George Baldock, and Wolves’ RW Jordan Graham …………. Having signed a GK called Slocombe, by the way, they loaned out a goalkeeper called Crocombe to Barnet ……Crocombe, Slocombe and Sercombe? Behave!

Away form is patchy (= crap); they won 2-1 on Tuesday at York, and before that they drew their first two (a Desmond at Luton and a Half-Desmond at Mansfield), lost 1-0 at Northampton and won 1-0 at Brizzle ………..two wins (at the teams currently 14th and 19th), two draws at the teams lying 7th and 11th, and a defeat at the 10th placed Cobblers

In 1998 they paid out what is still the Club’s record fee, to Aberdeen, for a fairly famous striker ..............your started for ten this week is, “Who did they sign for the money”?

Speaking of records, the player who holds the Kassam record for most goals in a single season is actually John Aldridge, with 30 (and a career total of 90 in 141 games); their largest score line came in the FA Cup in 1995, when they vanquished Dorchester Town 9-1 in Round One; their head Physio is Andrew Proctor

; and since they turned professional in 1949 they’ve had 23 managers (plus caretakers, and the Bald Eagle (Jim Smith) three times); and their record signing was one Dean Windass!

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 3rd October .............We’re in uncharted territory here (I don’t think we got above 5th in 2011’s Run To The Playoffs) but isn’t it fun? Worth all the pills, eh Wynonie? And at least our manager’s safe in post .........probably for all eternity!

Good luck to everyone!

..............Keep the Faith!

..............Does anybody else around the Club suffer nose-bleeds at the dizzy heights of fourth?

..........And thanks for playing!