2018/19 Prediction League; Game 25 v Peterborough United (home)

Div3North · 28-12-2018, 00:24

Accrington Stanley

V

Peterborough United

2018/19 Prediction League; Game 25 v The Posh Brickies (home)

If that makes no sense – “The Posh Brickies” – can I refer you to the opening of PL Game 14’s thread (v Peterborough United (away)), where all is explained .......... well, nearly all ........ not counting the bits that are completely made-up rubbish ..........

It’s amazing what information you can find out if you go trawling ............ Who can tell me, for example, the name of the League Two side which has only lost once in the League this season? (Mansfield) ................. Where do Leyton Orient and TwistySpires United currently lie in the Bananarama? (Top on 53 points, and 22nd/24 – in the Greasy Pole of Oblivion places - on 23 points respectively). Chesterfield have just fired Mad Dog – what a surprise! After 13 games, Blackpool had a record of W5 D7 L1 (2-1 to Pompey at Bloomsbury Grange – and haven’t the Oystons gone quiet?) .......... what’s their record after 23 games? W9 D7 L7 – meaning 6 defeats in 10 (including 4 of their last 5 - and so have Coventry), which oddly has moved them up from 10th to 8th ...................

Scunthorpe have lost 11 of their last 13 (including the last six straight), conceded 51, and are on 21 points, one point better off than #BottomofthePile Plymouth .............. Burton, the Stanley and Brizzle have all lost 3 of their last 5 (although the Stanley and Brizzle have each won their last two), Walsall – once very much up there – have taken four points from the last 15 ............... And this week’s (irrelevant) starter for 10 is this; there’s only one team in League One managed by someone who’s not English, Scottish or Welsh ............. which club, which nationality, and name the Manager in question?

My Old Granny always used to say “Keep an eye on the outsider”; after 3 games of the season the Luton Louts were 22nd, having lost 1-0 at Pompey, 3-1 at Posh, and drawn 1-1 at home to the BlackMoggies .............. after Game 10 – a Desmond at home to BobbyCharlton Athletic – they were 12th, with a record of 3 wins, 4 draws and 3 defeats .................. of their last 14 games they’ve won 12, drawn one and lost one (3-2 at Barnsley) .......... they’ve won seven on the spin, and they’ve scored, in the last 11 of those 14, 28 goals and conceded – wait for it – FOUR! The only sides to score against them in those 11 were Us (although they got four), Plymouth (who they beat 5-1), Gillingham (3-1) and Coventry (2-1). Their current record is P24 W15 D5 L4 GF47 GA22 Pts 50 for second place.............. on present form they’d need an implosion of North Korean proportions not to go up come next May ....... and with a bit of luck that prophesy has completed ruined their chances of anything! Elliot Lee has 10 goals, James Collins has 9, Harry Conneff – sorry, Connick – has 7, Danny Hylton has 5, and so does Andrew Shinnie ...... Matty Pearson has 3 .....................

If you remember – Back Before the Slump (on 20th October) – we went to London Road in Poshland; the Posh at that stage had won 8, drawn three and lost two (at home to Pompey 2-1 and Barnsley 4-0) ............. they were 2nd on 27 points, we were 6th on 23 ...................... and Sean McPlayeroftheSeason got the only goal in the 11th minute, to give us the points ........... they were still 2nd, we moved up to 4th ............ their 10 league games since The Accrington Triumph in Cambridgeshire have brought them just 3 wins, 5 draws and two losses, and dropped them to 6th ......... their win percentage is better on the road (W7 D3 L2 GF26 GA15) than at home (W4 D5 L3 GF15 GA16); overall, P24 W11 D8 L5 GF41 GA31 for 41 points – one point behind Barnsley, two behind Charlton, three behind the BlackMoggies, and 9 and 10 off the automatic places occupied by The Louts and Pompey

They’re out of the EFL Cup 2-0 at QPR in Round One; they’re in Round 3 of the EFLTroffy, with a 9th January trip to play Chelsea u11s, and they did Bromley 3-1 in the FA Cup first round, and then Did It Unto Bratfud (3-2 on pens, after a Desmond in the first meeting and a Double Desmond in the second round – and as we all remember, A Double Desmond, so the advert went, Works Wonders ..............); they have Middlesbrough away in Round 3; Blackpool, slump and all, host Arsenal ............. 18 goals in their (so far) eight Cup games to add to their 41 in the League .............. Matt Godden – bought from Stevenage for £mindyourownbusiness in the summer - has 12 (League only), Ivan Toney (£650k fray Newcassel) has 11, Jason Cummings (ex Hibs, and on loan from Notts Forest) has 6, and so does Sirike Dembele (ex Grimsby) .......... signings since we last met are limited to Republic of Cameroon CB Sebastien Bassong (ProperSigned as a Secret Agent – no, hang on, a FREE Agent), and a loan signing (dated 1.1.19, surprisingly) of Cardiff’s Lee Tomlin ............ and they’ve only won once in their last seven in the League. .....................Mwahahahahaha

Deadline for entries is, of course, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 29th December ............you’d have to think that any three of stacks of sides could Climb the Golden Stairway of Promotional Successness when the season ends (maybe not Plymouth, Brizzle, Bratfud, Wombles or Scunny, all of whom are averaging less than an point a game), but Rochdale in 16th are only 11 points and some goals (actually, 21) off the playoff spots ...... All to play for, then ........ We’re back on track, it seems – two wins, five scored and one conceded (not from open play), and playing one of the sides we embarrassed on Home Turf back in the day ................... A win would put us four points behind the Brickies with a game in hand, and if Blackpool were to lose at the Wombles, we’d be in 8th spot – handily placed to strike for home, n’est-ce pas?

Frankie Bunn (appointed in June) left Oldham on the toe-end of the Chairman’s boot after 197 days and a 6-0 thrashing at Carlisle, having won 5 of 31 games played ..... bookies’ favourites to replace him are apparently Gary Bowyer, John Askey, Paul Hurst and Darren Ferguson .............. Personally I’d go for Ferguson, but Sir Alex, not the Hairy Apparent ............... Askey or Hurst? Oh please! That’s like choosing between a migraine or toothache ....... And I’d venture to bet that Stuart McCall’s thrutching big-time at the Iron; been there four months (27th August), won 5 of 24 in all competitions, with a League run (see “nightmare” above) of 11 defeats in 13, and no goals in the last five ......... They play Wycombe (home) on Saturday, then Posh (away), Coventry (home), Walsall (away) and Blunderland (home) ......... if he’s still in post after that it’ll be a big surprise to us, and a much bigger one to him and his Chairman .......

And if you still haven’t got it, the Club is Barnsley, the nationality is German, and the Manager is Daniel Stendel ......... Hope you all had a Fantastic Ticklemas! And well done Sol Campbell, whose Macclesfield side are off the bottom of League Two, being replaced there by Notts County (who they beat to move off the bottom!) And who knew Keith Curlew was at the Cobblers, cos I didn’t ....... And our Ref for Saturday is Thomas Bramall – known to his friends as Tom, except he hasn’t got any, being a Ref, so he'd be known as Billy No-Mates to his mates. If he had any.

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