2021/22 Prediction League; Game 18 v Burton Albion (away)

Div3North · 22-11-2021, 18:21

Burton Albion

v

Accrington Stanley

2021/22 Prediction League Game 18; v The Baroque Composer's XI

You may remember - indeed, you may prefer to remember - that after six League games of this season we were on a record of P6 W4 L2 GF6 GA5 for 12 points, and that we stood 2nd in the table ....... that was tea-time on 4th September, after we'd beaten the Long Nosed Pointy Things 1-0 ............ Between the 11th September and the 20th November (including the first round of the FA Cup) we've played 12 games ......... we've won two (Ipswich 2-1 at home and Charlton 3-2 away - and both sides are now above us in the League table) - drawn three and lost seven .......... and in that run of games - over ten weeks / seventy days - we've conceded three goals (twice), four (twice) and five (twice) .......and, more worrying still, we've conceded twelve goals in three consecutive matches on two occasions; four to Wigan, three at Morecambe and five at Oxford, and now four to Plywood, five at Portly Value and three to Sheff Wednesday ........... I made the point after the Oxford game that 12 conceded in three games was our worst for many years - and now we've done it again .........

Not counting the cup, we've let in fifteen at home and seventeen away, and have the worst goals conceded record in the division; add in Port Vale, and it's a bit of a nightmare - no, it's a lot of a nightmare .......... there are a limited number of times that crap refereeing, desperate bad luck, and "we wuz robbed" are acceptable excuses, and 32 conceded in our last 12 games is relegation form in anybody's money ... And I do accept that we've had some terrible luck with injuries, but I venture that we're not alone in that

Innit ......

So sort it ...........before we GreasyPole away the best seasons of our football lives!

Have you ever wondered, changing the subject, how many players have been capped for England since International football began back on 30th November 1872, when we managed a goalless Desmond against The Auld Enemy? It isn't that easy to find out, because records are kept in different ways by different people, but it's something like the equivalent to three Cohorts of Roman soldiers (a Cohort was usually 480 men) - so, 1200 - 1400 or thereabouts ........ And, you may ask yourself, how many of those players gained 100 England caps or more? And instantly you'll reply that there have been nine (to date): Peter Shilton (125 caps), WayneandWaynettaRooney (120), David Beckham (115), Stephen Gerrard (114), Bobby Moore (108), Ashley@Cheryl Cole.com (107), Bobby Charlton (106), Frank Lampard (106) and Billy Wright (105) ......... and so - with your knowledge of footie over the years, answer me this, as your Starter for Ten ........... how many of those nine players went on to manage an English professional (FL) club?

And we often mis-remember stats about players - so let me try you out ....... (a) who picked up more International yellow cards - David Beckham or Stuart "Psycho" Pearce? (b) Defender John Stones scored twice (8 mins and 40 mins) in a World Cup Finals game against Panama on 24th June 2018, and thereby doubled the total number of World Cup Finals goals achieved by one of England's talisman strikers, who only ever managed one ..... but which striker was it?

And in contrast to the Cohorts of Many Appearances, Martin Kelly - Liverpool (33 games over 6 seasons) and Palace - holds a special place in the annals of England International careers; Second Starter for Ten; what record does he hold (that he'd probably like not to hold)?

The Managerial Merry-go-Round whirls on a-pace; Alex Revell got the Bums' Rush Out the Door at Stevenage last Monday, and Ole Gunnar (who was a Scandinavian wrestler when he was a lad, and whose Father was, I think, a Flamenco Dancer in his youth ("Ole!") has parted company with Man U .... meanwhile Hartlepool are manager less (well done Dave Challinor for Stockpot 5 Bolton 3 - and the Trotters were rubbish, especially from 3-1 up .......), and Barnsley, who specialise in managers with unpronounceable names, have appointed Iranian-born Poya Asbaghi - formerly manager of Dalkurd FF, Gefle IF, IFK Goteborg and Sweden u21s - with effect from Monday 22nd November

Burton on Trent hasn't changed a great deal since we last played them, and I refer the reader to last season's thread for details about the place itself ..... as for the footie team, Burton were formed in 1950 and played variously over the years in the Birmingham & District League, the Southern League (Division One and Premier Division), the Northern Premier League, before reverting to the Southern League Premier Division again, then the Northern Premier League again before being promoted to the Conference (aka The Bananarama) as Northern Premier League champions in 2001–02. Nigel Clough spent seven seasons as the club's player-manager in the Conference and then sort of led them into the Football League as champions of the Conference in 2008–09. They lost the 2013/14 League Two play-off final 1-0 to Fleetwood, after seeing off Southend in the semis, but went on to win the League Two title in the year after by five points from Shrewsbury and Bury, and they were then promoted from League One in 2015/16, behind Wigan and ahead of Barnsley: the Albion spent two seasons in the Championship, but were GreasyPoled in 2018

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink returned as manager in January 2021; they do say "never go back", which may be sound, because his win percentage this time is 45.65%, against 61.11% from November 2014 to December 2015; his brother Carlos and uncle Nigel were both professionals - Carlos as a striker for several Dutch clubs, including AZ Alkmaar, Telstar, VVV-Venlo, FC Utrecht and HFC Haarlem, before retiring in 2005: Uncle Nige played for Dutch sides, then for Hamilton Academicals, St HelenMirren and St Johnstone, ending up with Israeli sides Ironi Kiryat Shmona, Hapoel Be'er Sheva, and Bnei Sakhnin (which may be more about the Israeli Premier League than you wanted to know ...........

They finished last season in 16th place off the back of a record reading P46 W15 D12 L19 GF61 GA73 for 57 points ..... after 22 games (2nd January) they'd won twice (and one of those was against us!), drawn 7 and lost 13 .... that run ended with three consecutive defeats, 5-1 at Lincoln, 4-3 at home to Wigan, and 5-1 again at home to Oxford, but over the rest of the season they won 13 of 24 to end comfortably enough, and coincided with the Return of JFH ..........

They parted company with 14, including John-Joe O'Toole and Stephen Quinn to the Stags, LB Colin Daniel to Exeter (and did you see that they've to replay their FA Cup game against Bratfud because they used six of their permitted five substitutes? If that had been us, I bet we'd have been expunged ....... or exfoliated ........or expelled), and one Luke Varney, who went to play for Quorn .......... most people play for money, I thought, but then ......... Quorn AFC was founded in 1924, play in the United Counties League Premier Division North, and are known as The Fox Hunters ...........

Eleven came in, including striker Louis Moult (who played four games for us in 2011 (and didn't impress - well, he didn't impress me), Abdul-Yussuf Adedeji Adeniyi "Deji" Oshilaja, a CB from Charlton, much-travelled CF Aaron Amadi-Holloway from East Bengal, DMF Bryn Morris from Pompey, LB Cameron Borthwick-Jackson from Oldham, and Irish MF Conor Shaughnessey from Rochdale ............ after 6 wins, 4 draws and 8 defeats they're in 15th place with 22 points (we've got 21): they did Fleetwood in the FA Cup Round One and now play Portly Vale; they're out of the EFL Cup to Oxford 4-2 on pens after a half-Tutu (which would be a one-one); and they only won one of three in their Troffy Group, so they're out of that too ......... Leading scorer is Tom O'Connor with four (no, not that Tom O'Connor) and Lucas Akins with three ...... Lucas Akins is their all-time leading scorer (Billy the Whizz is still second) .... Head to head is 8 wins to them, 6 to us and 5 draws, although we've only beaten them once in 7 attempts in League One ......

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 7.45 pip emma on Tuesday 23rd November (never understood why we always seem to play them on a Tuesday ............ Appointed Ref is Marc Edwards; I await to be told if he's a useless blind numpty who doesn't know the rules .......... Cashie?

And of the nine Centenarians who played for Team England over the years, seven went on to manage....... Peter Shilton (Plymouth in the early 1990s), Rooney (Derby), Stevie Gee (Villa), Bobby Moore (Southend, 1984/86) - and did you know his full name was Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore?), Sir Bobby Charlton (PNE1983/85 and (briefly) Wigan as Caretaker Manager in 1983)), Frank Lampard (Derby and Chelsea) and Billy Wright (Arsenal, 1962/68) ........... leaving David Beckham and Ashley Cole as the only two not to sit in the Manager's chair .......

And FYI, Beckham collected 15 bookings playing for England (still the most ever, I believe), against Psycho's five; and John Stones' two goals v Panama doubled the World Cup Finals contribution of one Wayne Rooney in one match!

And Martin Ronald Kelly was picked by Roy Hodgson for a friendly v Norway in 2012, and was added to the England squad for the UEFA Euros that year when Gary Cahill broke his jaw in a group game ......... Kelly was an 87th-minute substitute v Norway, and didn't get a game in the Euros (seemingly because he caught a virus during the tournament), so his total International playing career (as in "on the pitch") lasted 2 mins 39 seconds plus Fergie Time (6 mins 53 in all) - one second shorter than Nathaniel Chalobah, who came on v Spain in a 2018 Nations League match in time added on, giving him an official playing time of zero (doesn't count if it's Time Added On, apparently) and an actual total time of 6 mins 54 ............

This one we need to win ................Yes? YES!

And the Baroque Composer of the title, by the way, was one Tomaso Albinoni, born in Venice in the Republic of Venice in 1671 and who died of diabetes mellitus in 1751 ........ which was the closest to "Albion" I could find!

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

COYR!