2023-24 Prediction League; Game 15 v AFC Wimbledon (away)

[Div3North]

AFC Wimbledon

V

Accrington Stanley

2023/24 Prediction League Game 15 v Uncle Bulgaria’s All Star Common Invitation XI

The word “Legend” is much over-used; but on Saturday we lost, and we mourn, a player who truly merited that description …………. Bobby Charlton was a giant amongst players, the epitome of graciousness, and an ambassador par excellence for the game and his country. He played for The Red Devils between 1956 and 1973, amassing 606 appearances and 199 goals, played 106 times for England, retiring aged 32 after West Germany put us out of the 1970 World Cup in the QFs, and played for and managed PNE in 1974/75; after that he played for Waterford in the League of Ireland (3 games), and then three sides - all briefly - in Australia between 1978 and 1980

I had the privilege of standing on the Old Trafford terraces in the 1964/65 season - Law, Charlton and Best, plus supporting cast - and that’s a season I won’t forget …….. if not the best, then certainly one of the best players England has ever had ………… Thank you, Sir Bobby, for the joy and the memories: you won’t ever be forgotten ……… and may you Rest in Peace

Tell you what - this winning is getting to be a habit! Just very worried now about the owner/managers “spat” ……….. And just one TenFromLen this week - Tom D (for the second time in consecutive weeks); four players got 5 (our win and their blank score) - Mike A recording consecutive 5s, and Chimer backing up last week’s maximum with a five too; eight got four for the win, five got one (two of whom thought we’d lose but score), and a solitary zero - for the second game running - for His Lordship (actually, for the third game running, but you can’t upset the Nobility!)

Starter for Ten, then; only one team remains unbeaten in the top four divisions - but who is it?

Eight wins in a row (I wish ….) sees Stockport top of the League Two pile, from Notts Co and Crewe …. we’re seventh on 23 points, behind Swindon and Mansfield on GD; we’ve scored 20 (ten sides have more) and conceded 18 (seven sides have let in fewer) …… the ProperWombles are a place behind us on 22 points, having scored 20 as well, but conceded only 11 (second best in the list) ……….. Harry Pell seems to be on the Bench, mostly ……….. and did you know that someone has re-run the 66 World Cup Final using AI and VAR? The result is apparently a 3-2 win, still with Geoff Hurst getting a hat trick (including, on 12 mins, a shot that came down off he underside of the bar and crossed the line!) We scored two pens, the Germans scored one (Haller) plus another, and they had a late equaliser ruled out by VAR for offside ……..

“Two World Wars and One World Cup,
Doo-dah, doo dah ….”

For the history of AFC ProperWombles, see last weeks starter thread, and then look up their twenty-odd consecutive promotions etc etc since then ……….

Second Starter for Ten; in the Women’s World Cup, Jamaica got out of their group with a single goal scored ……….. you might think that’s a record, but who - in the 2011 u20s World Cup - got out of their Group with three Goalless Desmonds, and what then happened to them in their QF?

The Wombles greasypoled out of League One in season 2021/22, second-bottom with 6 wins out of 46 played, and 37 points ………….. their 6th win came at the Wham on 7th December (2-0), after which they failed to win any of their remaining 27 games (13 draws, 14 defeats) … last season they finished 21st, five points and 14 goals from the Drop to the Bananarama (Rochdale and Hartlepool went instead) ………. 15 of the squad left in the summer, none of whom I recall having heard of before, and only four of whom stayed in the EFL (although DMF George Marsh moved to AEL Limassol) …… nine joined, including wingers Ryan McLean from Hereford and James Tilley from Crawley, Sutton Utd striker Omar Bugiel, Stockport CB Ryan Johnson, and CMFs Armani Little from Vegan Greenpeace and James Ball from Rochdale

Record so far is P14 W5 D7 L2 GF20 GA11 for 22 points …. the good news is that the two defeats have both been at home (2-1 by Stockport and 1-0 by Bratfud), and that they haven’t scored in their last three ……….. and after us, they have to travel to Morecambe, who did Sutton - now bottom of the League - with a 91st minute steal ………….. out of the EFL Cup, they host Cheltenham on FA Cup First Round Day; the Chelts managed a win on Saturday (their first) with a goal scored (their second) and now have five points for one win, two draws and ten defeats: two goals scored in all, you’d think they’d be tailed off, but they’re actually only one point behind Reading and three behind Fleetwood and Wigan (who have already made up their points deduction)

And the Cull of Managers and Head Coaches continues; Colchester’s HC Ben Garner (7 months in charge since Matt Bloomfield left to take over Wycombe) Walked the Plank after their 9th loss in 13 left them on 10 points, in the Doo Doo with Sutton, and with a GD which is one goal worse than VGU and Tranmere ……… that said, their team’s average age is 22, and their three wins this season include a 3-0 triumph at Gillingham (then top of the League) and a 5-4 home demolition of Notts County (then top of the League) ……….. their new boss (or interim HC, or whatever - Neil Harris is said to be favourite by the Bookies) starts with a 392 mile round trip to Grimsby on Tuesday night, followed by a 541 mile round trip to us on Saturday next (and the clocks go back as well)

Third Starter for Ten; apart from Colchester, which if any other League Two sides have changed their managers this season so far?

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 7.45 pm on Tuesday 24th October ………. Us v Wombles head to head is 10 wins, 4 draws and 4 defeats (excluding the League Two Play-offs); their leading goalscorer is James Tilley with seven (ours is seemingly Josh Andrews with six in all competitions) … at home, they’re W1 D3 L2 GF9 GA8, which gives us some hope, as does “unbeaten in four, won our last three” ……… just hope the players can forget the spat, if it isn’t resolved by then …………… and the only unbeaten side in the top four divisions is Mansfield (W5 D8) …………. and the three goalless Desmonds in the u20 World Cup a few years back were gained by England, despite having a forward line consisting of Saido Berahino, Matt Phillips and Callum McManaman, and in the QF they met Nigeria and lost 1-0 ……. no goals in four - worthy of Cheltenham ………. and Ben Garner was the fifth League Two manager to get the bullet this season, the others being Graham Alexander at the MK Donuts, Neil Harris at Gillingham, Mark Hughes at Bratfud and Ian Dawes at Tranmere

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

[Watchdog]

Accrington Stanley to win 2-1 please

[AccyMad]

1 - 1 for me please

[teach]

and a 1-1 for me please.

[Greger]

Wimbledon 2 Stanley 1

[Tommy McQueen]

Wombles 1 Stanley 2 please

[Tom D]

1-0 win for stanley please

[Kiwi Johnny]

2-3 stanley.

[choirboy]

Wimbledon 1-2 Stanley for me please!��

[MikeA]

1-0 Stanley, please

[Lord Stiffupperlip]

2 - 1 Stanley please

[Taypot]

Wimbledon 3 Stanley o

[cashman]

0-0 fer me

[Div3North]

They’ve won five and drawn seven BUT the wins include Sutton (24th), Colchester (23rd) and Tranmere (21st), and the draws include Newport (19th), Grimsby (20th) and Vegan Greenpeace (22nd)

I think we might nick this: Stanley 2 Wombles 1

[nige b]

1-1 for me and 2-1 Stanley for The Angemeister..cheers!