2019/20 Prediction League; Game 15 v Peterborough United (away)

[Div3North]

Peterborough United

v

Accrington Stanley

2019/20 Prediction League; Game 15 v Poshaburra Utd (away)

Well, that were a bit (Yogi) berra, weren’t it? Good value an all, Kaden wrapped up like a Pret a Manger sarnie, Bright Boy comes on for his debut, plays well, gets a yeller that coulda been a red, then clouts Ross round the back of the ‘ead (nigh on needed a stepladder to reach ‘im, mind) gets a red, but Ross only counts to 8, so he goes too (for retaliation, like I saw it ………………) ………………. All in a day’s work! COYR!

So; this week’s starter for ten; since we took Ipswich’s footballing virginity, as it were, there are now four teams with only a single loss across the EFL, and three teams with but a single win (not counting poor Bolton, still win-less); one of the “one defeat” sides is obviously Ipswich; two of the others are the Baggies and The Chairboys (if you merged those two, you could have Baggy Chairs – bit like the rumour a few years back that Marks and Spencer were going to merge with Pound Stretchers, trading as Stretch Marks) ………….. The “Only One Win” sides include Southend and Stevenage …………… that leaves unidentified one side with only a single loss, and one with only a single victory ………………… So who are they?

Season 1959/60 saw Burnley win the First Division title by a point from Wolves and two from Spurs; they had to win at Maine Road on Monday 2nd May 1960 to win the League, and they’d never been in the pole position all season; but win they did, with a crowd of 65,981 on the match, which included one unaccompanied 11 year old boy (and this was in the middle of Moss Side, remember); Burnley hadn’t won the title for 40 years, and their squad – and they only used 18 players, of whom only two had been ‘bought in’ - included Jimmy Adamson, Jimmy McIlroy (signed for £5k), Ray Pointer, John Connelly, Brian Miller, Alex Elder, Adam Blacklaw, Jim Fumbly Furnell and John Angus ……………. 2-1, goals by Pilkington (later, an Estate Agent in Leyland I believe) and Trevor Meredith ………………. And I’ve never forgotten it! Nor watching Man City 4 Wolves 6 on my 12th birthday, nor Accrington 7 Gillingham 4 ………………………

That season Villa won Division 2, Southampton won Div 3 (we were GreasyPoled with 27 points from 46 games) and Walsall won Div 4 ……………. And, since this was still in the days of “seeking re-election” (aka Jobs for the Boys), Gateshead, although they finished 22nd with 33 points – above Oldham and Hartlepools – failed the re-election test, and were replaced for season 1960/61 by ………… Poshaburra United! (think Terry Bly – he who scored 52 goals in the Posh’s first-ever League season ………. But in those days you could!) …………..and in 1959/60 – now 60 years ago – Division 4 included Stockport, Bradford (Personal Assistant), Aldershot, Darlington, Workington, Barrow, Chester, Southport, and Goatshead ……………… Happy Days!

They’ve been up into the Championnat three times – 2008/09 as runners-up, and 1991/92 and 2010/11 as Playoff winners (doing Stockport 2-1 and Huddersfield 3-0 respectively); in 2010/11 their regular season goals conceded column showed 75 (only one team let in more, and that was Brizzle and they were relegated), but they (The Posh) scored a staggering 106, which was 20 more than anybody else; this is their 7th consecutive season in League One …………….. last season they finished 7th, missing the cut by one point, having been in the top two for fourteen games; they came to ours on 29th December and Did Us (4-0), although we had gone to theirs earlier on and done a bit of plundering (1-0, goal by Sean ”KeepBothFeetOnTheFloor” McConville).

Ivan Toney - once of Newcastle, if I recall- got 16 in the League (23 in all) for them last season, and Matt Godden managed 14 (18 in all); a little surprising, then, when Godden left for Coventry in the summer, alongside eight others (none of whom actually went with him to Coventry) ………… of those eight you might know LB Lewis Freestone (whose Dad makes tyres for racing cars), who’s now a Seagull – well. it’s ‘appen better than being a Canary! All together now, “Auntie Mary had a canary up the leg of her …….”; Iranian/ Englishman CB Ryan Sirous Taffazolli (Persian: رایان سیروس تفضلی) went to Hull (but not back – shades of “Only Fools ….”), LW Luke Strachan joined Dundee, French-born Cameroonian CB Sebastian Bassong signed for Volos (all Greek to me, this), and striker Matty Stevens joined Vegan Greenpeace ……….. In came eleven, most notably Mo Eisa (reckoned to have cost £1.5 million from Bristol City), RMF Serhat Tasmidir – an Azerbaijani from Blackburn - from AFC Fylde, CBs Mark Beevers from Bolton and Frankie Blake-Tracy (Dick’s cousin) from Colchester (who generously lost to Morecambe on Saturday to help them off the bottom of the League Two table), and GK Christy Pym (who sounds like a dodgy book-shop owner in an Agatha Christie novel) who rocketed up from Exeter ………..Oh, and winger George Boyd, who played over 250 games for them between 2008 and 2013 rejoined after spells at Hull, Burnley and the Owls

Their home record this season is P6 W4 D1 L1 (Fleetwood on the opening Saturday of the season) GF17 GA7; away, it’s W3 D2 L2 GF13 GA9; overall, P13 W7 D3 L3 GF30 GA16 for 24 points and 3rd place (9 weeks ago they were 21st!) …………. Leading scorers are Mo Eisa and Ivan Toney, each with 10 (we could have done with Ross for this one!); they’ve beaten Lincoln 2-0, Sunderland 3-0, MK Dons 4-0 away, and Rochdale 6-0; 5 clean sheets, failed to score twice, out of the EFL Cup 1-0 at the DreamySpires, but through to Round Two of the Troffy with a game to spare, having seen off The Cobblers 2-0 and Arsenal u12s 1-0) ………….. And I haven’t forgotten that they did us over 8-2 in January 2008 (Paul Mullin and Shaun Whalley for us)

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 7.45pm on Wednesday 23rd October (Wednesday? Sunday? I can’t cope! Football should be played on a Saturday at 3.00pm – Seemples!) …………… Good luck to eighth-tier Chichester City on drawing the Bye and £36,000; see you in Round Two guys ……………….The Managerial Merry-Go-Round continues – Wally Downes bought off by the Wombles after his suspension for gambling - safe bet that would happen! (Gerrit?), and Gary Rowett into the Lions’ Den …………… and Posh’s last ten League results have seen them win 7, draw 2 and lose 1 (2-0 at Donnie) – bit like Ipswich, really ………..Oxford are the current form side with 13 points from their last 5, and the PhoneyWombles are the Duffers (not to be confused with the Duffers-Up), with 1 point from a possible 15 ………. But we’ve got Momentum; and we got Belief; and we got Heart; and, as the song from “Damn Yankees” says, “You Gotta Have Heart” …………… and so, returning to the subject of the Poshaburras, and in the immortal words of Hill Street Blues’ Sgt Stan Jablonski, “Let’s do it to them before they do it to us”

And, for completeness of information, the other team with but one League defeat is League Two (3rd placed) Newport County, and the final One-Win Wonders are Championship’s very own Lamb Chops!

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

[Stevie R]

2 each please

[DaveinGermany]

2-1 to the Stanley please D3N.

[DAV007]

posh 5 - 1 stanley

[AccyMad]

1 _ 1 draw for me please

[monkey hanger]

posh 3 stanley 2.

[MikeA]

1-0 to Stanley, please.

Who's going to tell Dany that you missed out Jimmy Robson from the Burnley team?

[Div3North]

Originally Posted by MikeA

1-0 to Stanley, please.

Who's going to tell Dany that you missed out Jimmy Robson from the Burnley team?

Missed out quite a few - I always try to pick names that I and others of my generation (not avid fans of whichever team it is) will instantly recognise - hence McIlroy, Pointer, Connelly No disrespect intended. Authors' licence

[cashman]

1-0 to posh will be delighted to be well wrong.

[accybeme]

4-2 posh

[Taypot]

Posh 3 Stanley 0

[LongLostSon]

head says 3 - 1 P'boro win

[andyd]

Peterborough 1-2 Stanley

[choirboy]

Posh 1-2 Stanley for me please.

[Kiwi John]

1-1 please.