2018/19 Prediction League; Game 30 v Blackpool (home)

Div3North · 01-02-2019, 01:50

Accrington Stanley

V

Blackpool FC

2018/19 Prediction League; Game 30 v Blackpool (home)

Orange being, so I’m reliably informed, the new black, this Saturday we welcome to the Wham that well known north-west footballing side, doyens of the old First Division in Days of Yore - Orangepool FC; I think Sir Stanley’d be spinning! (I nearly missed the letter L off their name typing that, which would have made them Orangepoo FC ... how embarrassing!)

It won’t have escaped your notice, either, that we went to Gillingham on Tuesday Night and We Piggin’ Well Did It Again ...................or, more correctly, we DIDN’T do it again (“it” being to score a goal) .............. our last 10 games in all competitions (excluding the CarandCow Milk Cup or whatever it’s called this season) have resulted in three wins (Slipstitch Town in the FA Cup 1-0, Plymouth 3-0 away, and Shrewsbury 2-1 at home), two draws (both by a Goalless Desmond) at Gillingham and at home to Brizzle, and five defeats (1-0 to Frank Stamp-hard’s Derby in the ProperCup, 3-0 at Southend and at home to Bratfud, 1-0 at Charlton (we wuzz still robbed) and 4-0 at home to the Posh .................. but, more than that, we Failed To Score – and that’s 7 times in the last 10 played; GF in those 10 total 6; GA total 13........... that results in us being high in the Drop The Dead Donkey League, with 2 points from 15; also on that number are the Wombles, with The Shrews on 3, and the Deadest Donkey being Rochdale on 1/15, who are now in the Drop Zone and Fading Fast ............. no-one has won their last two except the Louts; The Iron are the Form Team (13 points from 15), with Plymouth on 12 and Luton, Barnsley and Charlton on 11 .............. The BlackMoggies have won one and drawn four of their last five (they’ve drawn 11 of 27 in the League) and are the only team to have lost just two in the League all season (2-1 at Burton and 3-1 at Pompey)

Orangepool fans, as you’ll remember, Don’t Love Their Oyston Owners, and the Oystons Don’t Seem to Love Them Back ............ that results in Fan Boycotts (best crowd of the season is 4,000-odd against Pompey, and most of them probable came Oop North from the South Coast) ............ the BlackAndOrangePool’s dealings in the Transfer Markets have looked like they were trying to buy a crowd, never mind some new players; defender Donervon Daniels from Wigan; MFs Yusifu Ceesay from Alvechurch, Callum Guy from Derby (after a loan spell) and Matty Virtue from Liverpool, plus winger Liam Feeney (Orangeburn) and strikers Steve Davies from Rochdale(who's obviously given up on his snooker career) and Chris Long from Fleetwood arrived, with LoanSignings Nya Kirby (AM from Palace) and Anthony Evans (AM from Everton), and Newcastle’s Danish striker Elias Sorensen, while CF Scott Quigley went on loan to Port Vale and then Halifax Town, beaten only by Yusifu Ceesay (see above), who’s had loan spells at Boston, Alvechurch, Telford and Nuneaton Borough (and it’s only February!); three said their final farewells – Angolan CF Dolly Menga, Steve Davies (see above), who left after three months and four days for Hamilton Academicians, and RB Ryan McLaughlin, who went to Rochdale just in time to watch their Slide Down the Greasy Pole

Their season itself began well, with only one defeat in their first 13 (2-1 by Pompey – who they promptly beat 1-0 away in the reverse fixture), but of their last 11 they’ve won just 3, drawn 3 and lost 5 ................ home record is W6 D5 L4 GF19 GA15, and away it’s W5 D5 L4 GF12 GA12, for an overall P29 W11 D10 L8 GF31 GA27 and 43 points, enough to give them 8th place, although that’s 6 points outside the playoff spots; leading scorers in the League are Armand Gnaduillet with 9, Nathan Delfouneso with 6 and Joseph Dodoo, Harry Pritchard and Jay Spearing with 4

We went to theirs’ for Game 5, and an 93rd minute Mark Hughes goal got us a point (by that time we were 8th, and they were 12th); in 2016/17 we won 2-1 at ours and drew 0-0 at theirs’, so we’ve a solid record against them in the League) - an advantage we need to press home by SCORING MORE THAN THEM ................. which will get us 3 points, and put a smile on Coley’s face again, while he saves up in case he’s fined for RefAbuse

Two thirds of the season, then, and we’re now nearer the bottom than the top; four teams on 31 points, and we’re on 36, but only two of them have worse GDs than us (Bratfud and Rochdale) and we haven’t won (or scored) in our last five in the League; worrying times, Ladies and Gentlemen, worrying times ....................

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 2nd February ................ we know we’re a better side than our current League position shows, but we’re going to start running out of games to prove it soon. We need a win, Coley ............... How about it?

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