2021/22 Prediction League Game 37; v Portsmouth FC (away)

Div3North · 04-03-2022, 07:57

Portsmouth FC

v

Accrington Stanley

2021/22 Prediction League Game 37; v Chimer's Butcher's Invitation Beefcake XI

Statistics in football, as we all know, prove nothing ........ so last week Fleetwood went to Fraternising Park, had 27% of the play, and after 41 minutes were 3-0 up .... by the end of the game they'd had 5 shots, four on target, and scored three times: Pompous had 73% of the play, 23 shots (6 on target), and snatched an equaliser on 90+5 ....... Morecambe (Derek Adams and all) entertained Ipswich - well, we hope they did - and had 28% of the play, four shots (one on target) and took a 59th minute lead .... Ipswich had 72%, 22 shots (8 on target), and equalised 4 minutes from time ........ which may prove (or may not) that everything comes to he who waits, or your luck isn't guaranteed to stay till the end of the game ...... or it may demonstrate the We Wuzz Robbed Theory ................. And I can conclusively reveal that the reason that we beat WhyComb last Saturday is because, on Saturday morning, I appeased the Voodoo Gods of Football by purchasing two black plastic buckets manufactured by the Wham Company which I sacrificed at lunchtime!

And an Early Starter for Ten; which GK recently extended his contract with his current team - with whom he started his career in November 1995 (before going on to Greater Things, rejoining them last summer after winning a host of Top-Tier and other trophies in the in-between years) - by signing until 2024, by which time he will be 46?

And who remembers the story I told you a couple of weeks back about Franco Foda? Well, I can tell you a little more .............

Foda was a three-time German Cup Winner with Kaiserslauten, Leverkusen and Stuttgart between 1990 and 1997, and then Head Coach of SK Sturm Graz in Austria: despite his on-field success he only played twice for Germany, making his debut away against Brazil in 1987 .......... usually, of course, that would be a huge honour, but not so much in his case: he came on as an 82nd-minute sub to howls of laughter from the stands as his name was displayed on the scoreboard ........ I mentioned that "Foda" is the Portuguese word for "f*ck"; well, "Franco Foda" actually translates as "f*cking for free", apparently ....... It may have been that as well as the crowd, the Brazilian players were a little distracted too, because Stefan Reuter snatched Germany a 90th-minute equaliser ......... Keep your concentration and play to the whistle!

They're having a fairly strange season, are Pompeii ........ between 21st August and the end of October they played 11 games, winning only one (Sunderland at home 4-0 - which was followed by defeats by 4-1 at Rotherham and 4-0 at home to Ipswich), drawing four (including a Desmond chez nous, salvaging a point on 86 mins) .... they then won 6 of 9, drawing the other3, followed by one draw and four defeats in five (the losses being to MK Dons 2-1, Sunderland 1-0, Charlton (2-1) and Oxford (3-2 - Oxford winning with a 96th-minute goal) .......and after that, they've won four of five and drawn one ................. Overall record is P33 W14 D9 L10 GF46 GA37 for 51 points and 10th place ....... and they're not invincible at home (W9 D4 L4 GF30 GA20)

They got rid of striker Ellis Harrison to Fleetwood in the Transfer Window, plus John Marquis to Lincoln and LB Lee Brown to the Wombles (how nice - a Brown Womble!) They raided Sunderland for LB Denver Hume and LW Aiden O'Brien (thought he was a racehorse trainer?), and picked up NI GK Oliver Webber from Palace ........

Last season we played them twice in our last three games; the home game was interesting - Marquis put them ahead 3-2 on 90+1, Ben Barclay was booked on 90+3, Seamus followed on 90+4, and Marquis stuck the ball in his own net on 90+5; away on the final day of the season we did for them big style with a 1-0 win (Phillips)

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00 pm on Saturday 5th March .......... Pompey will be without Irish playmaker Ronan Curtis, who was booked for diving against Fleetwood (his opinion of the ref appeared to be that he was a gobsh1te - not that he said so, of course) - but we'll take whatever luck we can get ......... And the Very Old Goalkeeper whose contract just keeps rolling along is Gianluigi Buffon ("Buffon" or "Buffone" means "Fool"), who returned to Parma (Seria B) last year after a long career with The Old Lady (Juventus) and gli Azzurri (The Blues) ..... he's played 657 games just in Seria A, although after 26 games this season Parma - "The Old Hams" - sit 13th out of 20 teams, so they must be leaking goals somewhere at the back! Let's hope that Pompey follow their example!

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

COYR!