2015/16 Prediction League; Game 31 v Crawley Town (home)

Div3North · 11-02-2016, 20:59

Accrington Stanley

V

Crawley Town

2015/16 Prediction League; Game 31 v Crawley (home)

Well there we are then; Ronnie “Betcha” Moore has wandered off into the night from his former job as manager of Hartlepool with his red spotted hankie on a stick over his shoulder, replaced by Craig Hignett, once of Crewe, Middlesbrough, Barnsley and Blackburn ..at least he got 14 months or so in the job ………. Neil Redfearn got four months at Rotherham (and is now officially their shortest-ever serving manager – longevity, not height), leaving with a record of 5 wins, 2 draws and 14 defeats (so you can kind of see why he went in the general direction of the Job Centre); one of the three shortlisted candidates to replace him appears to be Neil “Ref!” Warnock – once a player there, now 67, and hoping to complete a full set by managing every League Club in England (he’s well on the way!) …… Paul Clement was good enough for Real Madrid but not for Derby County – well, not for a full season; he’s gone after 8 months, seemingly sacked for his “short term view”, which didn’t sit comfortably with the owner’s long term plans; Clement wanted to get promotion to the Premiership (and they’re only 5 points off the top, despite a poor recent run), whereas the owner seems to have been more engaged by creating a dynasty and playing a particular brand of football ……….. finally, under the heading of “You should never go back”, think of Mido, who played for Spurs and Middlesbrough, retired in 2013, was appointed manager of Egyptian side Zamalek in January 14, sacked in July 14, and went back as manager for the second time on 4th January 2016; he won 4 and drew one of 6, then lost 2-0 to arch-rivals Al Ahly on Tuesday, and was shown the door out of the Sphinx quicker than you could say “Nefertiti” …………. 37 days, 57% win record

Crawley Town are currently managed by Mark Yates, but despite that they’re still in the Football League; they came back down to League Two at the end of last season, 22nd with 50 points from 46 games; they lost their last two games, both from winning positions (3-2 up at Posh, losing 4-3, and 1-0 up at home to Coventry, losing 2-1) ……..Previous manager Dean Saunders went (as he has from a few places), and the new season began ….we went to their place on 26th September, and did them 3-0; stats for the game are interesting, since we had 65% of the possession, 15 shots to their 3, and nine on target to their one ……. Josh Rangers with a penalty, Crooks in first-half stoppage, and Billy Whizz on 89 giving us a first League win in three attempts against Sussex's only League Club, we having drawn 1-1 away and lost 1-0 at home in their first (promotion) season of 2011-12

They don’t do loads in the transfer markets; they’ve loaned in Pompey GK (and former player between 2012 and 2014) Paul Jones (Manfred Mann mustn’t be touring at the moment

) who’s 29, Crewe MF Chris Atkinson (23) and Barnsley LB George Smith (19) ……….. Who noticed that Lee Johnson left Barnsley this last week to replace Steve Cotterill as the manager of the Bristols? Who remembered that his dad Gary Johnson was there Sept 2005 to March 2010 (Nepotism Rules OK!) as manager? (the list also includes Roy Hodgson, Joe Jordan (twice), Tony Pulis and Clarrie Bourton (who was a player and club captain, promoted to player-manager just pre-war when the incumbent manager Bob Hewison, who was there from April 1932 to March 1949, was suspended; just thought you might like to know!

) ………Back in the transfer market, they released MF Conor Henderson (24), who had been on loan at Grimsby for 6 weeks without actually playing for Grimsby and who – on release – promptly signed for ……Grimsby! Finally, GK Darryl Flahavan (37), ex Southend and Bournemouth, who joined in October, left after the club withdrew the offer of a new contract (should have signed it quicker, Darryl …….)

Currently they lie 15th; P30 W11 D4 L15 GF35 GA48 Pts 37; mind you, Wycombe won 2-1 at Dagenham on Tuesday and moved up from 11th to 6th, so close is it up there ………… Of their last six they’ve won two (1-0 v Cambridge and 1-0 at Stevenage) and lost the other four (3-0 at Pompey, 2-1 at Yeovil, and 1-0 at home against both Notts Co and Mansfield, meaning they’ve failed to score three times, and only scored four in those 6 ……… broadening that out a bit, their last 10 have seen 4 wins and 6 defeats; their away record is W4 D2 L9; they’ve lost 5 of their last 6 away; they went out of the Carling 2-0 at Peterborough, the PaintyThingy 3-0 at home to Southend, and the FA Cup 2-1 at home to Luton, all in Round One ……Thus, in 33 games they’ve scored 36 goals, and in 11 of those 33 they’ve not troubled the scorers ………….. Leading goal-gatherers are Welsh u21 winger Gwion Dafydd Rhys Edwards (22 isn't he look you Eisteddfod) and Matthew James Harrold (31, ex Yeovil, Southend, Wycombe, Shrewsbury and BrizzleRov), each with 6, and MF Roarie Deacon, who came last summer from Stevenage, with 5.

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 13th February. We’ve lost two of our last three (which is disgraceful, so I understand from a notorious West-Country fan) and are now 9th with 45 points from 26; I won’t bore you with how many games in hand we have over everyone, but if we win just one of those, we’d go back to 5th, and two would take us 4th ……….So, lads; 65%, 15 shots and 9 on target are a minimum requirement ……….. and congratulations to Shay McCartan on this week’s award!

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