2016/17 Prediction League; Game 42 v Blackpool (away)

Div3North · 12-04-2017, 22:03

Blackpool FC

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Accrington Stanley

2016/17 Prediction League; Game 42 v Blackpool (away)

Well; now it’s got interesting down at the rump-end of League Two, don’t you think? Orient – lost 9 in their last 10 – are dead and buried, even if not technically; Newport’s current run is W4 D1 L2 of 7 – 13 points, giving them 39 points in total and a -19 GD; Hartlepool (22nd) have W2 D1 L4 of 7 – 7 points, and overall 42 points and -18 GD; Cheltenham (21st) have W1 D2 L4 – 5 points, for 43 and a GD of -14 ................... if Newport beat Yeovil and Hartlepool lose to Carlisle (which is possible), both will have 42 points but Newport’s GD will then be better ............ what would you have bet on that happening at the beginning of March, when Newport were rock bottom and 11 points off safety? What a good thing they got rid of that nice Mr Westley; just in time, mayhap ................... Newport still have to play Plymouth and Carlisle away, and us and Notts County at home; no easy games there; Hartlepool play Barnet and Donnie at home (that’s not a last game to relish if you need any points!) and Orient and Cheltenham away; Cheltenham are at Crawley on Friday, then have Grimsby and Hartlepool at home and Blackpool and Pompey away ...........Place Your Bets, Ladies and Gentlemen, Place Your Bets ...........One From Three to tumble through the trapdoor with the Orient!

Well done to Donnie and the Blades on going up; good luck to AFC Fylde, six points clear of Kidderminster with four to play, both of them having lost at Stalybridge in the last week; Come On You Imps, who beat Chester 1-0 while Tranmere were losing at home to FGR 0-1, which leaves Lincoln (five to play) three points clear with a game in hand and a better GD ..............My aspiration to see AFC Fylde v Leyton Orient in the fixtures for next season becomes a real possibility!

Not well done to Grimsby, who sacked Marcus Bignot on Monday after 22 weeks in charge – seemingly for having taken them from 8th when he came to 14th, and despite a good win 3-1 at Blackpool last time out (Blackpool’s second defeat in a row), making him the 46th managerial casualty of the season, and the 13th in League Two; to compound the felony they’ve replaced him with Fatty Arbuckle aka Russell Slade, who’s managed more clubs than my pet alligator has teeth, including five different jobs in the past 30 months (Orient, Cardiff, Charlton, Coventry and Grimsby) ........... Did I mention I had a pet alligator? (“Go and buy me an alligator, and make it snappy!”)

Three players have been ProperSigned since we played them in October; striker Raul joined on Transfer Deadline Day (no, not THAT Raul - this was Raul Correia from Radcliffe Borough), and CF Nathan Delfouneso and DMF Ian Black joined from Swindon and Shrewsbury respectively. Alongside them, there have been three loans; Neil Danns (CM) arrived from Bury, and LW Oluwasanmi Babafemi Oluwaseu Odelusi (you’d need a hell of a shirt to get all that on the back!) and MF Jordan Flores both signed from Wigan ..................... Out (permanently) went The Oystons (no they didn’t, I made that up!) LW Mark Yeates to Notts County and LB Danny Pugh to Port Vale ..........

Currently Blackpool’s record is P41 W15 D15 L11 GF62 (only four sides scored more) GA 44 (only 3 conceded fewer) for 60 points and 8th place; they’ve lost their last two (see “second defeats in a row” above) 1-3 v Grimsby and 0-1 at Luton ..........and when we met them in October at the Wham we went 1-0 down on 81, the goal scored by Cain (just to show that he was Able, probably), but goals from Rommy B on 89 and 94 gave us the points in what was our only previous League meeting ...........100% success rate, eh? Keep it up, Lads! Their home record is W9 D8 L3 (Grimsby 1-3, Mansfield 0-1 and Luton 0-2); leading scorers are striker Kyle Vassell (ex Peterborough, and one-time Russian spy if I remember correctly) with 13, MF Brad Potts (once of Carlisle) with 12, and striker Mark Cullen and defender Kelvin Mellor (Nantwich, Crewe and Plymouth), each with 7 ..............

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 15.00 hours on Good Friday – one of the two days in the year when our Courts are legally not permitted to sit for business (they can sit on Sundays – bet you didn’t know that!) ............ if we do the double over the Tangerines we’ll leapfrog them (where we finish on Friday night will depend on Wycombe, Cambridge and Colchester) ............and this week’s starter for ten is; which is the only club in the top half of the League Two table to have a negative GD?

Good luck to everyone! ............. Keep the Faith! ............... Have a really Good Easter! .............. And thanks for playing!

And I DID NOT SNEAK!

And it's Carlisle (-1)