2018/19 Prediction League; Game 24 v Shrewsbury Town (home)

Div3North · 24-12-2018, 01:37

Accrington Stanley

V

Shrewsbury Town FC

2018/19 Prediction League; Game 24 v Shrewsbury Town (home)

Shrewsbury, for the curious, is the County Town of Shropshire. Situated 9 miles from the Welsh Border (isn’t it. Look you), it’s England’s largest landlocked County with an area of 1346 square miles (if it’s landlocked, presumably the people who live there are landlubbers?), and its alternative name is Slop .............. sorry, Salop! The County motto is “Floreat Salopia” (“May Shropshire Flourish”), and Shrewsbury Castle and Shrewsbury Abbey were founded in 1074 and 1083 respectively; the local Council expect a final decision on the Planning Applications sometime next week ....... Oh, and the Lord Lieutenant and the High Sheriff are called Algernon Eustace and Rhoderick ............... In Olde English the town was originally called Scrobbesburh, and its Welsh name is Amwythig .................. And this week’s starter for ten is; What’s the connection between Shrewsbury and the Theory of Evolution?

We went to theirs’ on 6th October; at that point our season’s record was W5 D5 L1, and we were fifth; their record was W1 D6 L4, and they were 20th (their best position all season has been 15th, although they haven’t been in the Greasy Pole places since game 7....) All five of our wins up till then had been by one goal, and the two immediately before we played the Shrews were both by 1-0 (Walsall and Donnie) ............. there was, therefore, a certain (if not absolute) inevitability about the fact that they beat us 1-0, which was the Start of Our Slump, during which we won 2, drew 2 and lost 6 ............. Whether it would have been A Slump if Connor Ripley had stayed on his feet against the Slops on 16 mins and not been red-carded we’ll never know; however, that Slump is now Officially Over (just in time for the start of Winter) ...........

Having broken our non-winning streak, we’re now no longer bottom of the Numpty League; that honour, if such it be, belongs to the Iron, who’ve lost their last five; Coventry have one point from 15, Burton, Brizzle and the Stanley have 3 each ........... Luton and the Louts are up at the CleverClogs end of that table with 15/15 points ......... and of last year’s four promoted sides, The Louts are 2nd (47/23), Wycombe are 9th (32/23), we’re 10th (31/22, but we have an SDA (a Somerset Disgraceful Abandonment) in hand), and Coventry are 14th (29/23) ...... we’re also the highest placed team with a negative GD (-2), which may be part and parcel of the fact that only five teams in League One have scored fewer goals than us this season (so 17 have scored more, and Blackpool the same as us, which is 25) ....... and the five, academically, are Walsall and Bratfud (24), Coventry (23), Brizzle (20) and the Wombles (17)

Manager John Askey (see the Game 12 thread opener, which dealt with Managers who win something and then jump into the fire) didn’t last long at the New Meadow, as I’d predicted ........... Taking over at the beginning of the season, he lasted 5 months and 17 League games, of which he won four ............. he did outlast Paul Hurst, whom he left Macclesfield to replace when Hurst in turn went to Ipsoswich .............. Askey’s replacement at the Gay New Meadow is Sam Ricketts (ex Wrexham Manager, where he was only first appointed in May 2018 – getting your team into fourth in the Bananarama during a four-month stay being apparently good enough to get you a League Club job these days) .......... Askey appears to have fancied a straight swap with Ricketts after he was sacked and Ricketts moved into his office, but that didn’t happen (flying pigs it was going to happen) ................. The Owls are the most recent of the six clubs to have dispensed with the services of their incumbent during December (“Happy Christmas – you’re sacked”) - and I bet no-one knew that the Manager at Hillsborough was Dutchman Jos Luhukay (ex Borussia Monchengladbach, Hertha Berlin and Stuttgart boss); Jose Mourinho for Sheffield Wednesday, anyone? And my favourite German team name has to be Kickers Offenbach, although the only German team I’ve ever seen live was Alemannia Aachen back in the 60s – well, strictly I saw two sides, but I can’t remember who they played, or the score ............. DiG – have you got a German Team? Time to ‘fess up!

No transfer action since August; unclear what they’ll do in the Window (which is an interesting thought to conjure with .........) ..... The Shrews have loaned out a couple of players to Bananarama Clubs, and we’ve got three or four out as well ................ let’s see who has any money come January, shall we? Anyone think any of our loanees will go back home? Officially, it looks as though Barlaser, Hall, Ihiekwe and Anderton’s loans were to January, but it’s not clear whose – if any – have been extended ......... all four of some importance, might I suggest?

They went out of the EFL Cup in Round One, did the Shrews, 2-1 at home to Burton-on-the-Water .............oh no, that’s Bourton, isn’t it; silly me! .......... they topped their group in the Troffy, though – unbeaten, including Doing Tranmere 6-0, then they did Walsall 2-1 in Round Two, and they’re at Portly Vale on January 9th in Round Three; they’re also in Round 3 of the FA Cup (seeing off SalfordMoneyBags 3-1 away after a half-Desmond, and then sticking it up Scunthorpe 1-0 in the Second Round (I have it on Good Authority that They Don’t Like It Up ‘Em), and that gives them Stoke at home on January 5th.

And remember back in the summer, when JoeyBadBoy Barton said during an interview that “some top players have made “absolute fools of themselves” by continuing their careers for too long”? Well, on Saturday last some – not me, of course – may have thought that he’d joined them, albeit from a different starting point ............. from the BBC website

“It’s fair to say Joey Barton's playing career delivered some crazy moments, but few could match Saturday's dramatic finale at the Memorial Stadium. Manager Barton was sent to the stands in the final moments of Fleetwood Town's 2-1 loss at manager-less Bristol Rovers - but that was not the only drama to occur in stoppage time. Rovers hit the woodwork twice, before James Clarke's 94th-minute goal won the game, while three yellow cards and Barton's red were dished out in added time, after Fleetwood striker Ched Evans' earlier dismissal and six other bookings.

"Today's officiating team were as bad as any I have come across in all my time in the game, including junior football," fumed Barton.

So no ho-ho-ho for Joey.”

What a memory!

They took four points off us in 2006/7, 6 the year after, 3 in 08/09 and 09/10, four in 10/11, four in 11/12, 6 in 2014/15 and three in October; of 15 meetings, we’ve won 2, drawn 3 and lost 10 ............. At this point their overall record is P23 W7 D7 L9 GF27 GA 29; at home it’s W6 D4 L2 F17 A11; away, it’s W1 D3 L7 F10 A18 – the win coming at last-place Wimbledon (2-1), and the draws at Donnie (0-0), Pompey (1-1) and Walsall (also 0-0), and all three of those were before we played them; since then they’ve won one and lost four; their last five show two wins (Coventry 1-0 and Plymouth 2-0), one draw (a Desmond at home to the Posh), and defeats at Wycombe 3-2 and Burton 2-1 .............. 6 points out of a possible 33 on the road I like the sound of!

27 goals in 23 League games, plus 17 more in 9 cup games – 44 in total; their leading scorers are Fejiri Shaun Chima Okenabirhie (who they picked up from The Dagenham Girl Pipers with Redbridge) with 7 in the League (ten in all), MF Greg Docherty (on loan from Rangers) with 6, and Ollie Norburn, who includes Brizzle, Plymouth, Macclesfield and Tranmere on his CV, with 5 ............... Shaun Whalley has 2, Newcastle’s Alex Gillead has one (against us), and other scorers include an Angel (well, Angol) and a Waterfall – very seasonal!

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Boxing Day (26th December) ...........Thank you to Santa for Saturday’s three points (I can’t believe I’m still in fourth place in the PL – I’m getting nose-bleeds) ............. Santa, of course, is based on the Fourth Century Christian (Greek) Saint, Saint Nicholas of Myra (not to be confused with St Myra of Nickerless) ......... St Nick was/is apparently the Patron Saint of sailors, merchants, archers, children, brewers, students in various cities and countries around Europe, pawnbrokers and repentant thieves – and the last two of that list are a right load of old (foot)balls!

So for the final time in 2018, it’s a Ho Ho Ho from Him, and a Bah Humbug! From Me .................. And the link between Slop and the Theory of Evolution is Charles Darwin, who was born and grew up in Shrewsbury!

Happy Christmas to all our friends everywhere!

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