2018/19 Prediction League; Game 36 v Barnsley (away)

Div3North · 08-03-2019, 00:26

Barnsley FC

V

Accrington Stanley

2018/19 Prediction League; Game 36 v Barnsley (away)

One of Barnsley’s claims to fame, apparently, is that both The Arctic Monkeys and The Darkness studied music at Barnsley College (which obviously has a lot to answer for); another is that it was first mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) under the name of Berneslai (which the local Council claims derives from Saxon words “Berne”, for a barn or storehouse, and Lay, for field); a third is that Man City’s John Stones was born there. It had a long tradition of glass-making, but it’s actually most famous for its coal mines, which may explain one of the club’s nicknames being “The Colliers” (Norman, I assume ..........). In 1960, there were 70 collieries within a 15-mile radius of the town centre, but the last of these (Goldthorpe Colliery) closed in 1994; the National Union of Mineworkers still has its HQ in Barnsley. Arthur Scargill eat your heart out!

Mostly they’ve played at second tier level; in 1912 they won the FA Cup, which is something that we haven’t yet quite managed. Currently they’re second in League One; of their last 15 League games they’ve won 10 and drawn 5; overall they’ve kept sixteen – yes, sixteen – clean sheets ......... they’ve lost five times out of 35 played, drawing 10 and winning 20, and all five defeats have come away from home (Coventry and Wycombe by 1-0, Charlton by 2-0, Shrewsbury by 3-1 and The Blackmoggies 4-2) .......... they’ve scored 62 in the League (bettered only by the Louts with 69) and conceded just 28, which makes them leaders of the DucksArse League as well ................ Home record is W11 D6 L0 GF28 GA10, overall is P35 W20 D10 L5 GF62 GA28 for 70 points; Slumberland are two points behind them with a game in hand, so Automatic Promotion isn’t yet a (Shay) Given ..... and they’ve scored four goals seven times so far this season, five of those being in the League

They concluded their interest in the FA Cup in the 3rd Round, 1-0 at Burnley; they only lasted one Round of the EFL Cup (3-1 at Resurgent Blackpool); and in the Troffy they made it to the 2nd Round, where they lost 5-3 on pens to Man City’s Reception Class after a one-and-a-half Desmond (3-3 if you can’t be bothered to work it out) ................ 18 more scored in the Cups, and 9 conceded – so they’ve hit the net 80 times in 43 games ...... Leading scorers are Kieffer Roberto Francisco Moore (who must be taking a sabbatical from his film career) with 18, Cauley Woodrow (who they signed from Fulham in early January, he having been there on loan since late August) with 14, and Senegalese striker Mamadou Thiam (once of Dijon, where the mustard grows) and Brad Potts (now with PNE) with 7 each

Lots going on in the transfer window; as well as McCauley Woodrow-Builders (see “signed from Fulham” above) they ProperSigned Yeovil winger Jordan Green, Uruguayan forward Mateo Aramburu from Le Touquet, some guy with a Portuguese-sounding name from FC United, and Middlesborough’s CF George Miller, who they promptly loaned out to Bratfud, who – correct me if I’m wrong – are in the same League as the LambChops are .......??? Out – permanently – went strikers Tom Bradshaw (to Millwall for a Cool Million) and Gerry McDonagh (to Aldershot for Zip), Brad Potts to Preston for £MYOB, and CMF George Moncur – son of Spurs’ Icon John Moncur - to the Louts; one loan in – some Malteser, from Maltese side St Andrews – and various temporary departures, including George Miller (above)

Their Head Coach is Daniel Stendel, who played as a striker for Hannover 96, Hamburger Sport-Verein and St Pauli; he managed Hannover 96 from 3rd April 2016 until he was sacked on 20th March 2017 (despite having a record of 17 wins, nine draws and eight defeats – and I thought some of our club owners were trigger-happy!) ........... Barnsley appointed him on 6th June 2018, and you’d have to say it looks at the moment like a smart piece of business! ................... and Crawley Manager – Anyone? – Gabriele Cioffi has been touchline-banned for four yellow cards since September ............. and well done to Podge, who’s been called up to the provisional R of I squad by Mick McCarthy for the Euro 2020 Qualifiers against Gibraltar and Georgia ....... that’s what you get for 21 goals, including one in every round of the FA Cup – you get to meet Georgia ................ Lovely girl, Georgia ..........

St John of Coley has thrown down the gauntlet, declaring that people should “Write us off at your peril” .............. He feels there are similarities in the build up to Stanley’s trip to Sunderland last month, and says, “We’re going there to try and win the game; a lot of people will have written us off, saying Barnsley are second in the league and flying. Write us off at your peril”.

Second they are ............... flying they certainly are; this is a bit of a scary “Tester of Faith” game ................ they did us, you’ll all recall, 2-0 at Ours’ in mid-November, with goals from Woodrow and Moore ............... and they haven’t lost in the League since 8th December (3 months) at Wycombe ........................ If you’re not of the Stanley Faithful you might well write us off .................. but you might well be wrong .............. In Coley We Trust!

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00 pm this coming Saturday, 9th March .................. It’s a 140 mile round trip – peanuts against trips to Plymouth and so on, and we might well not be playing there next season, because you can’t see them NOT going up, I suspect .................... but can we win there? Absolutely, as long as we adapt our game plan, time our substitutes better, have a plan B, and Barnsley play Dickie Bird in goal .......................... Makes next week’s games against Wycombe and the RochdaleDoodles look like Crunch Time, n’est-ce pas?

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