Accrington Web - 2016/17 Prediction League; Game 33 v Wycombe Wanderers (home)

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2016/17 Prediction League; Game 33 v Wycombe Wanderers (home)

Accrington Stanley

Wycombe Wanderers

2016/17 Prediction League; Game 33 v Wycombe Wanderers (home)

Just for a change I thought it might be interesting to look at the top of the table, to see who’s wobbling, who’s tumbling, and who’re suddenly having purple patches ................ If we start at the very top – Donnie; 4 points from the last 15 (four draws, one defeat) – and by the way, Carlisle, Luton and the Stanley are the only teams to have taken four points off them, with Plymouth and Blackpool still to play the reverse fixtures; then, Plymouth – two draws and a defeat in their last three; Carlisle? Three wins, three draws and four losses in 10 (12 points); Pompey – three wins and a draw, but off the back of consecutive losses; Luton are on 4 wins, 4 draws and two defeats; Exeter’s six game winning run was halted by a loss and then three draws (three points out of 12); and Colchester, currently 7th, have managed 3 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats in 8, but are still climbing

The real improvers are outside and around the playoffs, snapping at the heels of the incumbents ................. Mansfield, with 7 wins and 2 draws in 10; Stevenage, with 5 wins and a draw in their last 6; Morecambe, with one defeat in 10 ............. and at the Pointysharp End of the table, Leyton Orient with four points from 10 games (and 14 defeats at home); Hartlepool, with one win and three draws in 10 (so six losses); Newport, one win and six draws in 10 ............and Wycombe ........................ on 22nd January they were 5th, with 43 points from 26 games; now – having lost 6 of their last 7, including the last 5 straight – they’re on 46 points from 33 games, and have tumbled to 11th. The trouble is, of course, that the wounded animal is the most dangerous animal, and with You Fat Bastard (who scored all three of their goals in those five defeats) in the team, you make no assumptions – except that he’ll cause us trouble! We all know it ain’t over until the Fat Lady sings ...............and I suspect it ain’t over either until the Fat Bastard misses ................................. The good news, though, is that the Chairboys’ away record in the League is 4 wins, 4 draws and 9 defeats ............ so there’s hope, even though they are the highest placed team with a negative GD ..................... P33 W13 D7 L13 GF40 GA42 Pts 46 for 11th place

Changing the subject, did you see that Mad Dog is out of work again? For those who don’t know, “Mad Dog” is Martin Allen – four times manager of Barnet, plus Brentford, MK Dons, Leicester, Cheltenham, Notts County, Gillingham and – most recently – Eastleigh (having jumped ship from Barnet); Eastleigh is the club that signs every "name" striker over 35 years of age (Constable Cureton et al), but his tenure as the Spitfires’ Manager – their third of this season – ended when they sacked him after a magnificent 14 games in charge, of which he won an un-magnificent two! It makes more sense than sacking Ranieri though, to be fair, and if that sacking is player-power, then that’s a Disgrace of Somersetian Proportions, and very worrying indeed .........and Tony Mowbray at Blackburn? What’s that about?

They didn’t do a lot of business in the Transfer Window; they ProperSigned (1) DMF Dominic Gape from Southampton, where he played one game in four seasons, (2) AM Sam Saunders (as in “attacking midfielder” Sam Saunders, not as in Will.I.Am/Sam.I.Am – which sounds like one of Dr Seuss’s books) from Brentford (he was also at the Daggers, although not at the same time), and (3) ex-Millwall winger Paris Cowan-Hall came back home, having been at Adams Park for two seasons (2013/15), and at Plymouth before that ................ Scottish CM Stephen McGinn left for St Mirren .............. in addition, they LoanSigned Watford striker Alex Jakubiak (20) for the rest of the season

Manager Gareth Ainsworth (still, apparently, registered as a player, although I for one thought he’d retired) has been in the hot seat since September 2012, making him the fourth longest-serving EFL manager (Neal Ardley is 5th, Eddie Howe 6th, and Sean Dyche 7th).......... he was also, it seems, known as “Wild Thing” during his playing days, based on his appearance and his rock star ambitions (hands up who remembers The Troggs?), and was once a member of a band called “Dog Chewed The Handle” ...................isn’t that interesting? No, you’re right, it isn’t .......

We went to theirs for Game 3 of this season; Mr Akinfenwa scored against us after 5 minutes (his first goal for Wycombe), and GoldenBoots equalised on 48 ............. We also did them 1-0 at their place during the run-in at the end of last season, you may recall (Mark Hughes) ..........Head to head is 5-4 to us, with eight draws (!), and neither side, in any of those 17 games, has ever scored more than 2 goals .......there’s been one Desmond, and only five other times when either side has scored two ..............a GoalFest is therefore considered unlikely ...................

Their leading scorers are Scott Kashket (once of Leyton Orient, and once of Maccabi GB’s futsal team) with 15 (9 in the League), Mr YFB (who’s played for nigh-on every team in the League except us) with 14 (8 in the League), and 33-year old striker Paul Hayes, who’s also been at Scunthorpe (three times), Barnsley, PNE, Charlton and Brentford, with 7 (3)

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 7.45pm on Tuesday 28th February 2017 ................. if they don’t start getting some points soon, given six defeats in their last seven, their aspirations of promotion are over; mind you, if we don’t start (regularly) getting some points soon, we stand to lose a lot more than they do .........so we need to win more than they need to win .........Gettit? Easy-peasy, Lads ...............! Just as long, natch, as we can keep Adebayo quiet for 90 minutes (or however much he plays)..........Right? Right!

Good luck to everyone – not least the poor mutt who has to mark YFB! ............ Keep the Faith! ................. And thanks for playing!

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