2023-24 Prediction League; Game 28 v Walsall (away)

Div3North · 19-01-2024, 08:31

Walsall FC

V

Accrington Stanley

2023/24 Prediction League Game 28 v Walshale (away)

As Queen would have had it, “Another One Bites the Dust”, with Monday’s departure of Michael Flynn from Swindon after eight months and seven days; he won 10, drew seven and lost 14 of his 31 games in charge, a win-ratio of 32% - not bad, but not enough to save him from becoming toast ……….. which starts me thinking; every time a manager loses his job, out come the stats about how successful (or not) his tenure was ………. 27% wins: 36%, whatever % ……….. and so – Starter for Ten; Troyes in France totalled their manager Patrick Kisnorbo recently, with a “success” rate of P40 W4 D14 L23 (10%, but in French) ……… ignoring short term/interim appointments, which manager of a top four tier English side of recent times had the worst W/D/L record when he got the axe from his post?

Walsall has an arboretum ………..Discuss …

It’s a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands; historically part of Staffordshire, it’s 9 miles north-west of Birmingham, 7 miles east of Wolverhampton and 9 miles from Lichfield, and unless they’ve moved it, it’s where the RAC Control Centre is (just off the M6/M5); it was transferred from Staffordshire to the newly created West Midlands County in 1974. At the 2011 census, the town's built-up area had a population of 67,594, with the wider borough having a population of 269,323.

The name Walsall is derived from "Walh halh", meaning "valley of the Welsh", referring to the British who first lived in the area. However, it’s believed that a manor was held here by William FitzAnsculf, who held numerous manors in the Midlands. By the first part of the 13th century, Walsall was a small market town, with the weekly market being introduced in 1220 and held on Tuesdays (Did they actually have Tuesdays in 1220?). The mayor of Walsall was created as a political position in the 14th century. The Manor of Walsall was held by the Crown and given as a reward to royal proteges. In 1525, it was given to the King's illegitimate son, Henry Duke of Richmond, and in 1541 to the courtier Sir John Dudley, later Duke of Northumberland. It was seized by Queen Mary in 1553 (not personally, you understand), after Northumberland had been found guilty of treason

The Industrial Revolution changed Walsall from a village of 2,000 people in the 16th century to a town of over 86,000 in approximately 200 years. The town manufactured a wide range of products including saddles, chains, buckles and plated ware. Nearby, limestone quarrying provided the town with much prosperity

Famous Walsallians include Jeffrey Holland (Hi-De-Hi), Sue Nicholls (Corrie), Richard Wattis, Frank Windsor (Z-Cars), Noddy Holder (Slade), John Stonehouse (one-time MP), Colin Charvis (Rugby), Nick Gillingham (swimmist), and Jerome K Jerome

For the history of the formation of Walsall, I refer you to the previous game between us earlier this season; Walsall play at the Bescot Stadium, but - second Starter for Ten - for the 94 years between 1896 and 1990 they played elsewhere …….. what was the name of their previous ground?

The Saddler’s Head Coach, conveniently, is Mathew John Sadler, who was appointed on an interim basis on 19th April 2023 following the departure of Michael Flynn (see above); that appointment was made permanent - well, you know what I mean - on 18th May of that year

They finished last season in 16th place in League Two, on a record of P46 W12 D19 L15 GF46 GA49 Pts 55 …………… They added to their squad on 1st January by signing Irish LB Evan Weir from Drogheda Utd, and added three loan signings, being CB Emmanuel Adegboyega (no, he’s Irish!) from Norwich, and two CFs, namely Josh Gordon (Burton) and Gambian striker Modou Faal from the Baggies ……….. Rather disappointingly they released CMF Marvellous Onabirekhanlen, who joined FC Sporting Khalsa, a team founded by the local Sikh community (they’re the first British Asian club to own their own ground, apparently), and they play in the Northern Premier League Division One Midlands

Currently Walsall lie 13th, two points behind us with a game in hand, with a 10-6-10 record and 36 points; they’ve won five of their last six in the League (GF14 GA3), and their only loss among those games was on 23rd December, when we did them 2-1 chez nous (our goals by Leigh and Pritchard) ………. they reached the 3rd Round of the FA Cup, where Southampton thumped them 4-0, went out of the EFL Cup 4-3 at Blackburn in Round One, and finished bottom of their Trophy Group ……. and speaking of the FA Cup, what was remarkable about the tie between Stoke City and Bury in the 3rd Round of said Cup in January 1955?

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 20th January ……. chance here (maybe) for a second double (after Salford MoneyBags) … and One Big Thank You to loanee GK Joe Walsh, who’s returned to QPR today ……….. and statistically, the worst-performing manager in the top four English Divisions when he got the Big Shove out of the Hotel Window was Wolves manager Terry Connor, who took charge over 13 games in 2011/12, and managed not to win any of them (0%) ……. Close behind him is Alan Pardew (West Brom, 2017/18) who won once in 18 (5.6%) and Southampton’s Steve Wigley in 2004/05, who achieved 7.1% by dint of winning once in 14 ……. Connor was philosophical if nothing else, saying:

“The lads gave everything over the course of the season. It’s obvious we haven’t been good enough” ………. Hard to argue with that, Terry ……………

And Walsall previously played at Fellows Park ……….. and the Stoke v Bury 1955 3rd Round FA Cup tie took five games to resolve it - all played between 8th and 24th January; drawn game, drawn replay (after ET), neutral venues for the third, fourth and fifth games (Goodison, Anfield and Old Trafford) all of which went into ET as well, the first replay being abandoned after 112 minutes due to a snow storm, and the match taking nine hours 22 minutes to conclude, with a total of 19 goals scored in all ……….. and the current crop of players moan if they have to play twice in a week!

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