2014 Prediction League; Game 9 v Northampton Town (away)

Div3North · 19-09-2014, 00:42

Northampton Town

V

Accrington Stanley

2014/15 Prediction League – Game 9; v Northampton (away)

It wouldn’t be unfair to call them our bogey team (well, one of them); since they were relegated (2008/9) we’ve met 10 times ……………and it isn’t so much that we’ve lost 6, drawn 2 and won just 2 of those games that I mind; it’s the fact that we’ve actually only scored in three of the ten games ……….. Our wins were 2-1 (2011/12) and 3-1 the season before; we’ve had two goalless draws, and lost 1-0 twice (last season’s two meetings under James Beattie), 2-0 and 4-2 the year before (under Leam and/or Cook), and 3-0 and 4-0 in 2009/10 – the last time, according to some, when we had a decent manager. Well, if it were me, I’d rather have an aggregate score of 0-2 than 2-6; but I’d certainly prefer 2-6 to 0-7 …………So who’s the Daddy now?

And we’ve never even managed to score at their place!

2012/13 they lost out in the Playoffs; last season you’d have thought they were managed by Harry Houdini (actually, during the business end of the season, it was ex-Oxford manager Chris Wilder) ………..From “dead and buried”, he took 28 points from their last 18 games, won four of his last 6 (including beating us 1-0 at Fortress ScoreFirst), and kept them up by 3 points and a worse GD than anyone else …………I wonder if he fancies a new challenge?

At the moment they’re fifth – above Shrewsbury on goals scored, and above Southend and Cheltenham on goal difference. Their record is 4 wins (1-0 against Exeter and Mansfield at home, 2-0 at the Daggers, and a very healthy 5-1 thrashing of Hartlepool, who are going to have another long hard winter

(unlike us, if you believe some folk!

), two draws and two losses; they’ve 13 scored and eight conceded, and 14 points ………They are, though, sadly out of the League Cup, losing 0-3 at the Cherries, having seen off Wolves (away) 3-2 in Round One ………….16 goals in 10 games overall.

Players came and went; four left for non-League homes, including JJ Hooper (why can’t parents give kids actual names, instead of postcodes?

) who now plies his trade at Havant. Or Waterlooville. Or maybe both.

Defender Joe Widdowson joined Bury, Gary Deegan went to Southend, and striker Alex Nicholls went on loan to Exeter; “released” included much-travelled striker Alan Connell (who also fancied the joys of Conference (South), so plays for Waterlooville. Or Havant. Or whoever the hell ………, and Mathias Kouo-Doumbe, once of Plymouth, Hibs and MK Dons, and now of the Job Centre.

They ProperSigned four; Burton’s 29 year-old CB Zander Diamond arrived; so did Barnsley, Port Vale and Chesterfield striker Marc Richards (32), for a second spell at Sixfields; “professional journeyman footballer” John-Joe O’Toole" (25) – ex Watford and Colchester – exercised his “Get Out of Relegation Free” card, and left Brizzle Rovers after their spectacular cock-up of getting relegated on the last day of the season

; and MF Lawson D’Ath (19) – who played for Yeovil, Cheltenham, Exeter and Dagenham whilst on the books at Reading (for whom he didn’t play) – completed the full set.

They also did some business in the loan markets; Swansea defender Daniel Alfei; Evan Horwood from Tranmere; Port Vale winger Kaid Mohammed (23); Spurs’ 21 year-old GK Jordan Archer; MF Joel Byrom (28), who started in non-league, moved to Stevenage (which is nearly the same thing), then joined PNE (which is definitely the same thing)

; defender Ryan Cresswell (26, Fleetwood via Bury, Rotherham and Southend); and Leicester’s Ryan Watson.

Leading scorers are Marc Richards with 7; Lawson D’Ath has 4, Kaid Mohammed has 3, and strikers Ivan Toney (of whom I’ve never heard) and Emile Sinclair (who must be in his early 70s

) have one each.

And so we have a new Manager. Well, an old Manager back again. And he needs to make a pretty quick impression, otherwise someone I know will be calling for his head ………Get a shift on, Coley – after today, based on previous form, you’ve got nine games left before the Honeymoon’s over.

Deadline for guesses – sorry, predictions – is scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 20th September. Seriously, we need to re-open some daylight (although I think Carlisle, Exeter and Hartlepool have got troubles just around the corner), and to break so many hoodoos today would be A Good Thing. And we certainly owe them a thrashing of their own; the Bounders!

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