2016/17 Prediction League; Game 34 v Barnet FC (home)

Div3North · 02-03-2017, 22:52

Accrington Stanley

V

Barnet FC

2016/17 Prediction League; Game 34 v Barnet FC (home)

Martin “Mad Dog” Allen has, as I believe I’ve mentioned before, managed Barnet four times; he resigned on 1st December 2016 to go to the Fleshpots of Hampshire and manage the Spitfires (Eastleigh); he lasted 14 games and won 2; he no longer manages the Spitfires; 10 days before he left, Barnet sold Eastleigh CB Bondz N’Gala for £60k, and within a fortnight of him having gone, they also sold them RB Gavin Hoyte and CMF Sam Togwell – all names you might have heard before – for a further £20k ……… and you sort of wonder how those gentlemen are feeling about life after Mr Allen left Hampshire for the Fleshpots of I Know Not Where ……….frying pan, fire, frying pan ……….

The Bees had released 7 last summer, and in the period from November to January six more went, including the above-mentioned Three Musketeers; additional to them, LW Luke Gambin went to Luton for £tryandrecoupyourlosses, and Sierra Leone-born CB Alie Sesay went to Idrotsklubben Frej (note – Idrottsklubben, not Idiotsklubben), who are a Swedish 2nd-tier side who play in the Superettan, one division below the Extremely Super Ettan (presumably) …………. In January alone, Barnet signed 7 to replace the departing 6, four of whom came from the Conference (CF Simeon Akinola from Braintree for £40k, CM Dan Sweeney from Maidstone, Luke Coulson, a LM from – irony! – Eastleigh, and CB Charlie Clough from FGR); they added Posh’s CB Ricardo Almeida Santos (who apparently cost them £100k), Cardiff LB David Tutonda (who didn’t), and Spanish AM Ruben Bover from the New York Cosmos (Pele United), who didn’t either

They’ve had a season of two halves so far – well, four quarters really ………… They drew five of their first seven in the League, winning only one (see “beat us 2-0” below); after ten games their record was W2 D6 L2 ……….. between 22nd October and 10th December they went unbeaten in 8 – partly under Mad Dog, and partly under the joint caretakers ……… and in their last 9 they’ve won just once (1-0 at Morecambe), drawn 4 and lost 4; 1-3 to Donnie, 0-2 v Mansfield, 1-2 away at Colchester and 0-1 at home to Cambridge (who had 6 players – including Piero – booked, and who can probably get their cheque book out to pay the fine that’s on its way). Overall their record is P34 W11 D14 L10 GF43 GA46 for 13th place, a point below Grimsby (10th) and Wycombe (11th), and sandwiched between Cambridge and Morecambe on 46 points …….

We went a-calling in the second game of the season (13th August), and lost 2-0, the goal scorers being John Akinde (ex Ebbsfleet and Bristol City) and Jean-Louis Akpa-Akpro – his only goal in their colours since they signed him from Shrewsbury on 2nd August and loaned him to Yeovil on 31st January! …… Akinde is their leading scorer, with 20 in 34 games (5 being from the penalty spot), followed by Bira Dembele (28, defender, who they signed from Stevenage, he having previously played in France) and the now-departed (to Luton ….) Luke Gambin, each of whom has 4 ……….. there’s a clue there, I suspect – if you put five men on Akinde and don’t give away any penalties, they’re probably not going to score against you!

Speaking of not scoring, they departed from the FA Cup 0-3 at Shrewsbury, the EFL Cup 0-4 v Millwall, and the EFLTroffy (5-3 defeat on pens to MK Dons after a Desmond, 1-2 at home to the Posh, and 0-5 at home to Norwich City’s Academy team (!), all in the 1st Rounds. They also lost on pens (6-5) to Enfield Town in the Middlesex Senior Cup after a one-and-a-half Desmonds 90 minutes ………..

Mad Dog was eventually replaced, on 15th February, by ex Charlton coach Kevin Nugent, whose playing career as a striker included Orient (twice – did you see they’ve had a Winding-Up petition from HMRCS and are apparently £5.5 million in the red?), Plymouth, Bristol City and Cardiff ………..he started with a 1-1 against Pompey and a 0-1 against Cambridge (see above) and a Desmond at Blackpool (from 2-0 ahead) …..still waiting for his first win, then ……….

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 4th March; it won’t have escaped your notice that Cheltenham (three straight wins, and five wins in 10) and Notts County (3 wins and 2 draws in their last 5) are now above us and pulling away; Cheltenham are now on 38 from 34, Notts County on 37 from 34, and Crewe (lost 6 in 10) on 36 from 34 ……….happily, Hartlepool (won 2, drawn 2 and lost 6 of their last 10) are on 35 points (as are we) but -5 GD worse than us, and Orient (29/34) and Newport (26/33) are starting to get tailed off ........our last 10 have resulted in 3 wins, 5 draws and two defeats; we could do with making that 4 wins etc etc in 11 .............. Yes?

Good luck to everyone! ............... Keep the Faith! .......... And thanks for playing!