2015/16 Prediction League; Game 13 v Plymouth Argyle (away)

Div3North · 15-10-2015, 22:37

Plymouth Argyle

V

Accrington Stanley

2015/16 Prediction League; Game 13 v Plymouth (away)

Good goal scorers, so they say, hunt in packs, like submarines (I very nearly typed “sardines” then

; it’s an age thing!

) …..Think SAS (Shearer and Sutton)

, Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke,

Charlie and Lola

………. Plymouth’s “Charlie and Lola” are, of course, Reuben Reid and Jake Jervis (hereafter known as RR&JJ), who have 11 of their team’s current 21 goals between them – 6 for Jervis, 5 for Reid ………..Our version is Windass

and Crookes

, of course, with 6 and 5 respectively as well (how nice to have two players, at this point in the season, with more than two goals to their name!

), so we can claim to match the Green Army there

……….and we lead them as “form team”

, since their last six have resulted in 4 wins and two draws (13 points), while we’ve got 5 wins in six (15 points)

…….Indeed, we lead EVERYONE as the current “form team”, so Yah Sucks Boo to the lot of you!

Out, in the summer, went 10, including some “names”; Paul Wotton,

who played for Plymouth from 1994 to 2008, Southampton from 2008 to 2011, Yeovil for one season, and Plymouth for the last three of an illustrious career (skipper, well over 500 games in all, and two League titles) retired, and came back as first-team coach

; winger Lewis Alessandra (ex Shrimps) went to Rochdale; MF Jason Banton joined Wycombe; 8’ 11” (ok, 6’ 7”)

striker Marvin Morgan moved on to Havant and Waterlooville; CB Anthony O’Connor signed for the Brewers (Burton) – did anybody else think that Lord Sunbeds was having a torrid time at RB against Walsall, judged from the highlights on Channel Five?

) MF Dominic Blizzard (30), Matt Lecointe (who hasn’t played for the last two seasons owing to ruptured knee ligaments) and ex Brizzle R MF Oliver Norburn (who may or may not have gone back there) were released, as was River Allen (not related to River Phoenix or the River Thames

), who appears to have meandered to Gateshead ….

In came the aforementioned JJ (from Ross County, having been at Birmingham, loads of places on loan including PNE, Carlisle and Tranmere, and at Elazigspor (Turkish Div Two – who says this drivel isn’t educational?

), plus LW Gregg Wylde from St Mirren, LB Gary Sawyer from Leyton Orient, AM Graham Carey, who came from Ross County as well, presumably to share the petrol costs with Jake

, and CMF Josh Simpson from Crawley

The immediate result of that wheeler-dealing was an impressive (!

) 4-2 win away at Elburton Villa (who play in the South West Peninsula League Premier Division and who are, apparently, the third-highest ranked club in Plymouth, bested only by Argyle and Plymouth Parkway – which I thought was a railway station ……..

) ….after a successful pre-season (unless you count the 1-1 draw at Truro City and the 3-3 draw at Bath) they set about League Two with a vengeance ; currently they’re top

, with a record of P12 W8 D2 L2 GF20 GA9 and 26 points ……. The two defeats were Portsmouth at home (2-1) and Stevenage away (also 2-1), and the two draws were Bristol Rovers (home) 1-1 (conceding the lead to a 90th minute penalty!) and Mansfield (in the following game) 0-0 …….they have identical home and away record (W4 D1 L1), and don’t score bucket-loads (20 in twelve, plus one in a 2-1 home defeat by Gillingham in the Carling ……13 in 21, four goals once (home to Carlisle (4-1)), and apart from that, one or two a game; they’ve only failed to score once (Mansfield), and kept five clean sheets, but those included the Wombles and Newport as well as the Cobblers, the Stags and Notts County

Head-to-head, since they came crashing through the floor of League One, is mainly draws; in 2011/12 we drew 2-2 away and lost 4-0 at home (how well I remember that one!

); 12/13 was 1-1 at home and 0-0 away, and 13/14 was identical; last season we actually beat them for the first time in 56 years

(1-0 at home), but lost the return by the same score ……we haven’t scored at Home Park in the last three attempts

(but they’ve only scored once in that time), and have a total of 5 goals in 8 matches – which, setting aside the Mauling at Fortress Crown – is actually what they’ve scored as well ….

Previous managers include Tony Waiters, Malcolm Allison, Bobby Moncur, Peter Shilton, Neil Warnock, Tony Pulis, Ian Holloway, Paul Sturrock (twice) and Peter Reid; Assistant Manager – an undervalued position (what the hell WAS Leam doing last week at Cambridge?

) – is Craig Brewster, whose 25-year career took him to Forfar, Raith, Dundee Utd (twice), Hibs, Dunfermline, Inverness Caleys (twice), Aberdeen and Ross County, plus a five year stint at Ionikos FC (based in Piraeus, and during his time they played in the Greek Super League (and the Uefa Cup), at one time managed by ex Dynamo Kyev star Oleg Blokhin

); their record win is 8-1 against Millwall in 1932 and Hartlepool in 1994, but their record loss was 0-9

against Stoke in 1960; pie and a brew will cost you a fiver (£3 + £2), matched by a few and beaten by Brizzle R (£5.50), Luton (£5.30) and Northampton (£5.20 – but facing a winding-up petition, they happen need the money!

); Kit Man? not a clue!

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 17th October. This game is clearly one of our toughest so far, but there’s actually no reason why we can’t Do It Unto Them

; we surely aren’t in 5th place – one point off second place – by chance or error

– we’re there because we deserve to be

............ so let’s believe!

Good luck to everyone ................. Keep the Faith ............Make sure, lads, that you shackle Reid and Jervis! ................ And thanks for playing!