Accrington Web - 2016/17 Prediction League; Game 8 v Portsmouth (home)

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Portsmouth FC

2016/17 Prediction League; Game 8 v Pompey (home)

There are times, aren’t there, when you wish you’d kept your big mouth shut? Step forward, then, Danny Hylton of Luton, who claimed there was “no reason” why Luton shouldn’t win the League, which led directly to a 2-1 home defeat by Grimsby today, and a tumble to third ..........and it’s sad but true that a run of four or five wins has a massive difference on your League place; just ask Morecambe, whose Annual Christmas Demise has started, even by their standards, blooming early – lost their first, then won (or is that “fluked”) four in a row and were crowing at the top (can Shrimps crow?), only to follow last week’s 2-1 home defeat by the Orient with today’s stinging humiliation – a 5-1 home loss to Doncaster (yes, that’s the same Doncaster we’ve already beaten); then again, after Plymouth lost their first two without scoring I was moved to comment on the fact they were propping up the table after being so close last season, only for them to win five on the bounce (Notts Co 2-1 and Blackpool 1-0, both away, and home wins over Mansfield 2-0, Cheltenham 1-0 and Cambridge 2-1 – no-one in the top nine, note) and to sit, less than four weeks later, atop the pile – followed by Pompey! And Lincoln City beat Tranmere and now head the Conference ............ and AFC Fylde (or Kirkham and Wesham, to the cognoscenti) jumped above Salford City to top Conference North .........and Coley’s subbing of Boco for O’Sullivan is officially “inspired”, according to the BBC ............and we appear to have had two shots (from which we scored) at Meadow Lane today, and the MeadowLaners had one from which they didn’t; 3 shots in the whole game – what’s that about? ................and Trevor Kettle didn’t send anyone off at Stevenage today (although he did book 5 in the last 26 minutes) .................and there’s no such thing as a free lunch!

But, of course, some things don’t change; Cambridge are still the only team without a League win in League Two, and Carlisle – 5 draws, 2 wins – are the only side without a defeat .............but at least we’re back to being the side with the least bad negative GD (back to -1!) And Pompey are back near the top (2nd – see above) with a record which reads P7 W4 D2 L1 GF11 GA5 Pts14; only loss was at Morecambe (2-0), with draws against Carlisle (half-Desmond) and goalless at Crewe, and wins over Exeter (1-0), Colchester (2-0), Crawley (3-0) and Wycombe (4-2), all but Exeter being at home; and it should be said that currently they’re hitting the net with some regularity – 4 against Wycombe, 3 against Crawley, and 3 at Yeovil in the EFL Cup in the last fortnight (although sadly for them, Yeovil got 4)...........Gary Roberts and Tom Davies started for them today, and Kal Naismith and Armine Linganzi were on the bench and Rhino wasn’t (they’ve got more of our ex’s than Morecambe – 6, if you count loanee hat-trick scorer Michael Smith in Leam Richardson’s tenure!).

Over the summer, briefly-beleaguered manager Paul Cook (make that 7 of our ex’s) parted company with a staggering 13 players, receiving £750,000 in transfer fees (well, he didn’t receive them, but you know what I mean), with five more going back to their parent Clubs; five went “Free Agent”(= unemployed), Matt Tubbs – mega-money striker with Crawley, Pompey, Bournemouth and Royal Bank of Scotland on his cv – signed for Forest Green (presumably replacing Kurtis, who’s doing well at Colchester), and MF Adam Barton went to FC Patrick’s Thistle ("no, I'll no sit down") ........... other “names” to move on include forward Adam McGurk (to Cambridge Mingoia Halliday United – still on 3 points from 21 possible), MF Danny Hollands to Crewe, and MF Ben Davies (now 35, with over 500 games) left for the Elysian Fields of Grimsby (which is a contradiction in terms, I'd have thought)......

In came 3 from their Youth system (including one Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain, younger brother of Alex); there were 14 more - among them Michael Smith, Tom Davies and Adam Rhino-Buxton, Linganzi (from Frejus), Chesterfield defender Drew Talbot – currently out with a hamstring injury - striker Curtis Main (sounds like a South Yorkshire Colliery Pit!) from Donnie, MF Danny Rose from the Cobblers out of Oxford and Newport, and “seasoned pro” (= ancient) Irish international striker Noel Hunt, variously with Dunfermline, Dundee, Leeds, Reading, Ipswich and Southend ............. their squad looks like 28 (is ours still 30?)

We last met on a Tuesday night in March, when they came and did a job on us (3-1) at our place, costing us promotion; we were three down before halftime, and Shay McCartan’s 83rd minute consolation goal wasn’t any ........ consolation, that is; in fact, since they came down to our level we’ve shared the points three times, lost 1-0 twice (one of them in the FA Cup) and 3-1 once (see above), and taken the three points just the once with a 3-2 win at their place (Chimer’s Garden) last December.

Their “Player of the Season” list makes for reminiscences galore; Ray Pointer (ex Burnley and England striker); Man U’s Neil Webb; Sicknote (Darren Anderton); Kit Symons (former Fulham Manager); Ron Saunders; Jimmy Scoular; Calamity James; Micky Quinn, 228 goals in 515 games; Peter Crouch; Steve Claridge ..... the list’s endless (it even includes Andy Awful, once the Manager); they’ve won the (old) First Division twice and the FA Cup twice; their record win is 9-1 against Notts County in 1927; their record defeat (10-0) was eighteen months later against Leicester City; Jimmy Dickinson made 834 appearances for them in a career lasting 19 years; they paid Liverpool £11million for Peter Crouch in July 2008, having previously bought him for £1.5million in 2001 (he went and came back) and I’ve got to say - you were done, lads! If he’s worth £11 million, what price Cashy at his prime (break-dancing skills apart!)?

At least we won again (hurrah!); 8 points gained, and now we’re only 4 points off the playoffs .............. and a “deserved” victory, never mind an “inspired” substitution (if you believe the BBC!) Bring it on, I say! Time for us to Do It Unto Pompey! Up Pompeii!

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 17th September ................ time to climb, methinks; playoff spots, here we come ..........and I’ve never been so near the top of the Prediction League table since we started doing it! God’s in his Heaven and all’s right with the World!

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

:alright::alright::alright: