2018/19 Prediction League; Game 18 v Barnsley (home)

Div3North · 16-11-2018, 02:26

Accrington Stanley

V

Barnsley FC

2018/19 Prediction League; Game 18 v Barnsley(home)

“Hello ............... is that William Hills the Bookies? ............ Oh good! ........Can I put £1000 on Fulham to win the Premiership in 2019/20? ........ Whatd’you mean, “Why?”? .................. Because The TinkerMan’s Back!”

Slavisa Jokanovic finally fell, like Julius Caesar, under the knives; he lasted 1053 days (nearly a world record in these Times of Instant Gratification – no, not that sort of gratification!) And he wasn’t alone in falling off the Manager’s High Chair; so far in November five have gone – Swindon’s Phil Brown (244 days): The Wombles’ Neil Ardley after 2244 days, which put him 3rd on the Longevity List ('ardley seems fair, really): Shrewsbury’s John Askey (144): and Harry Kewell, who left Crawley for the Fleshpots Of Nottingham, and lasted 73 days and 14 games (of which he won 3 – well, he didn’t win them, but you know what I mean) ...................... Swindon now have Richie Wellens, and Bookies’ Favourite for the Wombles job (4-5 apparently, ahead of Tim Sherwood @ 8-1, recently sacked Paul Hurst @ 10-1 – even Laurie Holloway’s on the list!) is the slightly tarnished Lee Clark, who’s had more clubs than I’ve had lottery wins ................ It’s like the Magic Roundabout, but without Dougal!

Barnsley FC (“The Tykes” – which means (1) “a mischievous small child”, or (2) “an unpleasant or coarse man”, or (3) “a mongrel dog”, or (4) “a person from Yorkshire” ...................... No comment!) appears to have been established in 1887 by a clergyman called, believe it or not, Tiverton Preedy (I’m sure I drove through there on holiday last year); after some years in local leagues they joined the Football League in 1898, and in 1910 reached the FA Cup Final (I assume there were only two entries that season), losing to Newcassel ............ they managed to reach the Final again in 1912, and that time they won 1-0 in a replay ............. Starter for 10; who did they beat?

They’ve played at Oakwell since 1888; with typical Yorkshire sparkle, wit, ingenuity and flair, they named the ground “Oakwell” because there had originally been a well and an oak tree on the site ............. couldn’t make it up, could you?

“Yarkshire born and Yarkshire bred, Strong i’th’ arm and weak in’t’head”

When the First Division was extended from 20 teams to 22 in 1919/20, Spurs went down, Chelsea stayed up, Derby and PNE were promoted, and as the 3rd in Div 2, Barnsley expected to go up too, but they reckoned without Henry Norris, Chairman of Woolwich Arsenal, who apparently managed to buy enough votes from other teams in the ballot (why they had a ballot isn’t clear, unless he bought that too) to “jump” them and to go up to the First Division instead, consigning Barnslay to the second tier of English football for another eight decades ..........

If you’re of a certain age (like me), some of the names of former players at OakWell will resonate ............... Danny Blanchflower, who they bought from Glentoran and sold on two years later to Aston Villa, who was later to captain Spurs to the Double in 196; and Busby Babe Tommy Taylor – later to perish at Munich - who was bought by Man U for £29,999.00, apparently because Sir Matt didn’t want him saddled as the “First £30,000 Footballer” .............. sounds like a bargain price when you look at the crap that you have to pay obscene millions to sign now ............

They eventually made the Premier League in 1996/97; they only lasted one season, going down in 19th place with 35 points from 38 games; they were accompanied by Bolton (40 points, but a worse GD than Everton) and Crystal Palace, who managed 33 points and only won twice at home all season ......... if there was any doubt about the difference in class between the Premiership and Division One (as it then was), you may care to reflect on the fact that Palace, Barnsley and Bolton were the three teams promoted to the Premier League the season before ............. mind you, they did put Man U out of the Cup in the 5th Round, and Palace did qualify for the InterToto Cup, but that was because they were the only team that applied! Oh, and manager Danny Wilson left at the end of the season, and took over at the Owls .............. in case you wanted to know

At the end of 2013/14 The Super Reds (which, as a nickname, isn’t any better than the Tykes, really) were relegated to League One; in 2015/16 they won the Football League Trophy (now The Milk Cup, or some such rubbish), beating Oxford, and hauled themselves up the Mainbrace to the Championship, winning the Playoff Final 3-1 against Millwall ........ in 2017/18 season they GreasyPoled back to League One, above Burton and Sunderland but below everybody else ............ Life’s a bitch, n’est-ce pas? Twelve players – The Apostles of the Oakwell – departed for foreign shores (if you come from Barnsley everywhere’s a foreign shore) ....... notably, Matty Pearson went to Luton for £noneofyourbusiness; RB Andy Yiadom joined Reading; CF Shaun Tuton went to Chester; Doctor Foster went to Gloucester (I believe it was raining); RB Jason McCarthy joined Wycombe; CF Tom Bradshaw went to Millwall; and AMF Christoph Knasmullner went Rapidly to Wien (Vienna to you – like Rigsby’s cat) ................ Nine arrived, of whom you might have heard of two or three (if you read lots of sports pages); CF Cauley Woodrow strolled up the Avenue (ok, the M1) from @FulhamFC, MF Callum Styles went East from Black Puddingsville, and RB Jordan Williams moved from ‘Uddersfield (where they talk funny) to Barnsley (where they talk funny)

They’ve started ok, but then, so did Doncaster (who were 3rd on 21 points from 10 games - W6 D3 L1 - and have since won one, drawn one and lost five) and Walsall (who started W5 D3 L1, and are now W7 D4 L6) ......... second starter for ten; Donnies’ and Walsall’s serious dip in form started in each case following a 1-0 defeat by the same team, which was ...............?

Currently Bransley are 4th in league One with a record that shows P16 W9 D4 L3 GF 29 GA14 for 31 points; at home, W5 D3; away, W4 D1 L3 ...... losses are at Coventry (1-0), Charlton (2-0) and Shrewsbury (3-1) – 8th, 6th and 19th respectively; worryingly they’ve already won 4-0 three times this season – home to Oxford, away to Rochdale and away to Peterborough ........ GD of +15 is only bettered by Blunderland (+19) ............ Form team, though, is the self same BlackMoggies (15/15), with Coventry (13/15), Pompey 11/15, and Luton and Charlton both on 10/15 ........... Numpty League Leaders are Bradford and the Wombles, with perfect 0 from 5 records, Scunnie (1 point from 15), Walsall with 3/15 and Donnie with 4/15 ......... Brantub’s last five are 3 wins and two defeats, our last five are two wins, two draws and one defeat ................. over the years we’ve lost to them by 4-0, 5-0 (twice), 6-0 and 9-0; we’ve won 4 out of 12 against them, but the most recent was in 1959/60 ............. and we’ve never drawn a League game against them ................. Omen?

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 17th November (exactly eight months after St Patrick’s Day, so it is) ........... They lost in the EFL Cup 3-1 at Blackpool; they’ve qualified top of their EFLTroffy group with 8 points for 3, and now play Somebody in the knock out stages; and in the FA Cup they beat (now managerless – see “Harry Kewell sacked after 73 days” above) Notts County 4-0, which is a habit I wish they’d break. Their most capped player was NI’s Gerry Taggart; in 1997 they paid a club record £1.5 million to Partizan Belgrade for Georgi Hristov; their youngest-ever player was 15 years and 45 days old Reuben Noble-Lazarus, who once apparently rose again to head the ball into the net from a corner; they’ve had four managers this year (Paul Heckingbottom, Paul Harsley (caretaker), Jose Morose – sorry, Morais, and Daniel Stendal) and twenty-one managers since 2000; and they beat the Baggies to win the FA Cup, and the team who started The Rot for Donnie and for Walsall was – the Stanley! And congratulations to Billy LeagueTwoPlayerOfTheSeason Whizz - richly deserved!

Good luck to everyone! .............. Keep the Faith! ............ Don’t be a Lidl, be a Waitrose! ......... And thanks for playing!