2015/16 Prediction League; Game 42 v Morecambe FC (home)

Div3North · 13-04-2016, 23:48

Accrington Stanley

V

Morecambe FC

2015/16 Prediction League; Game 42 v Morecambe (home)

First April managerial change was a strange one; Leyton Orient’s Kevin Nolan – linked to a coaching or managerial post at Bolton, apparently – has been “removed from managerial duties” so that he can concentrate on playing (my guess is he’ll concentrate on leaving, but we’ll see) ......he won 7 of 15, playing in 14 of them and starting in 12, but they’ve only taken 1 point in 12, he thinks they’ve “playing scared”, and the Chief Executive (whose name I can’t spell, never mind pronounce) said,

• “We believe Kevin will be able to make a bigger impact without the distraction of managerial duties”

..... except that the managerial duties were why you signed him, and I wouldn’t like to have to sort out the legal mess created by “removing” someone from half their job .....Half the grossed up salary? Who knows ...........and it being Orient, who cares anyway .............. If you count him as “sacked”, and add in the French Bloke from Villa, that’s 49 this season .......... mind you, Serie A side Palermo have just changed manager for the ninth time this season (more than all the other 19 Serie A teams put together), which makes Villa (and Cardiff, Notts Forest and Leeds) look positively conservative ............... The Hess (Andy of Gillingham fame) has come in until the end of the season .........five games to save his job, then .............

Morecambe make a neat contrast to that, to be fair ........three managers in 22 years (Jim Harvey 94-05, Sammy McIlroy 05-11, and Jim Bentley (4th in the current “longest serving managers” list) from 11 to date) ...........And Bentley it was who masterminded The End of The Run on 15th August (I was told we didn’t turn up, more accurately) ...........a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Accrington Stanley Old Boys (Aaron Wildig with the goal) bringing 9 years of success to a sad end ...............They’ve got four of ours (Molyneux, Devitt, Wilson and Murph); we’ve got none of theirs, which might be why we’re third and they’re 19th, but that doesn’t explain how they’ve scored 64 (6th highest, behind Northampton (75), Oxford (74), Pompey (67), Plymouth (66) and us (66)) but conceded 76, joint worst with the hapless York ............ The basement trapdoor is now only open to 6 sides, since York (-31 GD) can only possibly get 45 points and the Daggers –( -35 and dead in the water, surely) – 43; Stevenage are currently on 39 points, 9 above York and 11 above D&R; Newport are on 41 already, so need 5 points from 5 to be safe; Yeovil and Morecambe are on 43, so need 3 apiece, meaning York and Dagenham do not have their fate in their own hands, especially since their GDs are significantly the worst of the six, which is like another point in the bag

Little movement in and out since the season started; they loaned Man U GK Kieran O’Hara (20 on 22nd April) for a month, then he had a month at Stockport (still in the Conference North), then he came back .......and it’s as well he did, since Barry Roche was sent off on 19th March against the Orient, and then again last Saturday against Hartlepool (so he won’t play another blinder against us, then!) ............. sad to tell, O’Hara wasn’t on the bench last Saturday (he had an ankle injury), so GK duties fell to MF Alex Kenyon (23), who, in true Roy of the Rovers tradition, had sat for an hour or so on the bench nursing the Keeper’s Gloves he’d bought himself (it was either those, or a John Bull Printing Set, apparently), was the first to stick his hand up when Teacher asked for a volunteer to play between the sticks and to be milk-monitor, and whose self-admitted contribution to the game consisted of picking the ball out of the net. Twice. In a 5-2 thrashing .........

Their record, for the record, is P41 W12 D7 L22 (third-worst in the Division) GF64 GA76 for 43 points ....... They’ve taken one point from the last 21 on the road, although in September they won 4-2 at Yeovil and 2-1 at Newport, in October they won 3-2 at Carlisle and 5-2 at Wimbledon, and on 2nd January they won 2-0 at Wycombe .......They’ve scored 5 at the Wombles, 4 at Yeovil, and 4 at home to Notts Co and Yeovil; they’ve conceded 5 at home to Hartlepool, and 4 at home to Northants, BrizzleR, Daggers (FA Cup replay), Cambridge and Oxford ....... quite often they’ve got two, so scrappy goalless draws and 1-0 shut-outs are few and far between ............it’s perhaps no great surprise that Jimbo said after the 5-2 hammering inflicted by Hartlepool,

• “The players deserve criticism because they're the ones out there but I've got to take it on the chin as it's me that picked the team, it's my team. I'll be asking serious questions of myself as I think this is the lowest I've been.”

................. and you might not be the only one, Big Man ......Warren Feeney at Newport expects to “cull his squad once the campaign is finished” (you’re not actually allowed to cull footballers, Wazzer ........... Badgers yes, footballers no); Jimbo might feel the same .........

Two recent loans (MF Connor Oliver (22) from Blackpool and MF Darren McKnight (20) from the Shrews (released in January, signed until the end of the season) .........pretty much it, really

Their best-ever League finish is 4th in League Two in 2009/10, losing in the PlayOff semis; they made the 3rd Round of the Football League Cup in 2007/8, and the 3rd Round of the FA Cup three times – all before they got into the League in 2007 (2000/01 (0-3 to Ipswich), 2002/03 (0-4 at Ipswich), and 1961/62 (losing 1-0 at home to Mighty Weymouth) .....Leading goal scorers are strikers Shaun Miller (15), Tom Barkhuizen (11) and Paul Mullin (10), Whingy Ellison with 8, and Jamie Devitt with 6 ......... Moly has 3, Murph has one (and hasn’t featured in the squad for a few weeks, so may be injured again (?)), and Laurie Wilson has none ........ and he’s lucky to have that many!

Looks like Cheltenham are coming back up, by the way; 92 points from 43, with only 5 defeats all season, with Forest Green (86 from 43, but five draws in their last five), Dover (7 wins and one draw in their last 10) on 78, Grimsby (four points from their last 15) on 76 and Tranmere on 72 fighting out the second spot .............

I’ve just looked back at “Top 3 Next 4 Last 2” from last July .......impressive how many identified as likely promotion teams Pompey, Plymouth, Oxford, Brizzle and us ............the only one to predict York or the Daggers to go down was Your Humble Correspondent ...........and Felicitations to Wynonie, whose Top Seven were Stanley, Pompey, Northampton, Oxford, BrizzleR, Plymouth and Wycombe ...........Wycombe are eighth at this moment, but level on points with the Wombles in seventh, so you could smash it, Wyn!

Who said “Five Cup Finals”? You’re not wrong, Seamus ................ be a shame to let it get away after you’ve come so far, though, lads ....... Stick it to them, cos, as we all know, They Don’t Like It Up ‘em!

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