Accrington Web - 2018/19 Prediction League; Game 23 v Plymouth Argyle (away)

Plymouth Argyle

Accrington Stanley

2018/19 Prediction League; Game 23 v Plymouth Argyle (away)

The BBC – known by its sous-nom of “The British Bullsh1t Corporation” – headlined our game at Southend last Saturday with this;

“Southend won the battle of League One's most out-of-form teams, beating Accrington 3-0 at Roots Hall”

Regular readers of this page will well know that I celebrate mediocrity each week by advising you who features large in the Numpty League; we’ve been there for a week or five now, but how Southend featured as Joint Baddest with us escapes me completely, when they had 3 points from a win over the Iron two weeks earlier (to go with their four defeats), whereas we had two points from two draws in our last five games, as did Coventry ............. so Coventry were the other “most out of form team” alongside us .......... Stick with me, good people, and ignore Those Who Don’t Know Nuffin’

By the way, losing 3-0 at Southend helped us to move off the bottom of the Numpty League – a position now held by Brizzle, with 5 straight losses; we’re second-baddest, but not the worsest! And Plymouth went to Rochdale last week, had 42% of the play, 8 shots (against 17), 2 on target (against 6) and 3 corners (against 7); they won 2-1, one of their two “shots on target” I assume being the gentle back-pass to Josh Lillis (I believe in naming and shaming!) which he swung at, clipped with the corner of his lace, and chipped gently up into the air, and thence into his own net, with a style not seen since Gary Sprake threw the ball into the corner of his own goal, or Villa’s Peter Enckleman’s “brush” of the throw-in on the sole of his boot against Brum as it rolled slowly post him into the net ................. and speaking of the Midlands, who saw the highlights of the Walsall game, and particularly their shirt and shorts, which were grey and lime green respectively ......................... Walsall have been reported to FIFA for Crimes Against Football Kits

The Pilgrims were formed in 1886 as “Argyle Football Club”; there’s a lot of speculation surrounding the origin of the name Argyle. One explanation is that the club was named after the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, an army regiment with a strong football side of its own; another theory suggests the name comes either from a nearby Pub, The Argyle Tavern, where the founder members may have met, or from a local street Argyle Terrace. They lasted eight years before being disbanded, and were resurrected in 1897; they joined the Southern League and turned pro in 1903, at which time they became Plymouth Argyle, and in 1920/21 they became – as most of the Southern League became – founder members of the Football League Third Division; after an 11th-place first-season finish they moved into Div 3 South where – just one team being promoted each year – they finished in second place for six years in a row! Eventually they went up to Division Two, back down, back up in 1951/2, and they achieved their highest-ever finish by coming fourth in Division 2 in season 1952/53, behind Sheffield United, Huddersfield and Luton. They yo-yo’d for years, and went back up to Tier 3 in 2016/17 with a second-placed finish (which included a 13-game unbeaten run). And this week’s starter for ten is; what was the score after 17 minutes when Plymouth hosted Chesterfield on 3rd January 2004 (the day we played Colchester in the FA Cup Round 3) and what record did Argyle establish that day?

They ended last season in 7th place, three points off the playoffs, with a record of 19 wins, 11 draws and 16 losses; they scored 58 and conceded 59, making them the highest-placed team with a negative GD. Over the summer they shed 15 from their squad; striker Simon Church and GK Robbert te Loeke retired; CF Nathan Blissett moved to Macclesfield, CB Sonny Bradley to Luton, GK Luke McCormick to Swindon, LB Aaron Taylor-Sinclair joined Tom Aldred at Motherwell, and RB Oscar Threlkeld (who directed many of the famous cinema-noir movies of the 30s) turned down a new contract to join Belgian First Division A side Waasland-Beveren ............ there were others, but you’ll never have heard of them, so I won’t trouble you ......

They brought in nine; six of them were back-four players (Niall Canavan from Rochdale, Peter Grant from Falkirk, Tafari Lalibela Moore from the Gunners, Joe Riley from the Shrews, Man City’s Ashley Smith-Brown and Scott Wootton from the MK Dons); also joining the Mayflower (which is still a bit more Mayday than Mayflower) were striker Calum Dyson and CMF Conor Grant from Everton and ex Southend striker Freddie Ladapo .... loans in consisted of two GKs (Matt Macey from Arsenal and Harry Burgoyne from Wolves) plus MF Stuart O’Keefe from Cardiff ..... Isn’t it. Look you. Eisteddfod

Famous managers include Bob Jack (1910 – 1938), Malcolm Allison (twice), Billy Bingham, Tony Waiters, Peter Shilton, Warnock, Sturrock, Pulis, Holloway and the rest of the Boys in the Band, and former Plymouth and Ipswich striker Paul Mariner (who was born in Chorley); their record League defeat was 9-0 at Stoke on 17th December 1960; record FA Cup defeat is 7-1 at Spurs in a replay in 1910; most goals in a season were 33, by Jack Cock in 1926/27; Wilf Carter scored five in a game against Charlton in December 1960; they reached the FA Cup Semi Final in 1983/84, losing 1-0 to Watford; and their Team of the Century includes ex Liverpool, Rotherham and Arsenal GK Jim “Fumbly” Furnell, Tommy Tynan (who scored 259 goals in his 646 game career) and the afore-mentioned Paul Mariner .................

After 11 games the Pilgrims had 4 points, gained by draws at Barnsley and Brizzle, and at home to Southend and Wycombe ........... in their second eleven they’ve won 5 (1-0 v the Wombles, 3-1 v Gillingham, 2-1 against Fleetwood, 4-1 at Scunthorpe and 2-1 at Rochdale (see “Rochdale” above), drawn one and lost five ........... home record is W3 D3 L5 GF16 GA21, away is W2 D2 L7 GF10 GA20, for a combined P22 W5 D5 L12 GF26 GA41 and 20 points, putting them 21st ......... they haven’t actually been out of the bottom four since game 3 (20th), and the highest position they’ve occupied all season is 16th ................... They were dumped out of the FA Cup by Oxford 2-1, after beating Stevenage 1-0 in Round 1; they fared no better in the EFL Cup, beating Bristol City 1-0 away and losing 3-2 to Millwall in Round 2; and they failed to get a point or score a goal in the Group Stage of the EFLTroffy, thereby not getting out of the Group! Altogether, 31 goals in 29 games (including the Cups); leading scorers are striker Freddie Ladapo with 12 (11 in the League), Portuguese MF Ruben Lameiras with 4 (3 League), and Jamaican MF Joel Grant with 4 (all League) ................ and speaking of Jamaican footballers, did you see RofI’s Andy Keogh’s comment on Usain Bolt’s (unsuccessful) trial with Central Coast Mariners, where he described Bolt as having “a first touch like a trampoline”? Brilliant!

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on Saturday 22nd December ...............So; well then .................... after 14 games we stood fourth on W7 D5 L2; of our last 7 in the League we’ve drawn 2 and lost 5, so we’re now a palendromic 7-7-7, but Sliding towards the Crevasse; there are all sorts of Words of Optimism – we’re playing well, creating chances, unlucky not to have Got Something Out Of The Game, The Ref was Blind, The Ball Had Been Tampered With ................ but 2 points from 21, and 14th place from 4th, tell a worrying tale. Plymouth and Bratfud winning last week has brought the strugglers back to the peleton .............. we need to create some distance again, do we not? And beating Plymouth – who, as I once mentioned, my Dad used to refer to as the “Argyle and Bolton Wanderers” - would be a good place to start .......... and a nice present ............. What d’you say, Santa?

And when Plymouth played TwistySpires Utd on 3rd January 2004, the score after 17 minutes was 5-0 to Argyle ......... which is the English record for the fastest-ever five goals scored in a game (they won 7-0) ........... And did you see that Mike Newell, the former non-PC manager of Luton and Grimsby, is back in the game as Graham Barrow’s Assistant at Wrexham? Happy Days!

AND; it’s Happy Christmas from Me, and a Brilliant New Year from Him, and may you all get what you want this Christmas ...........personally, I’ll settle for three points on Saturday!

Good luck to everyone! ..................... Keep the Faith! ............. Don’t be a Lidl, be a Waitrose! ................. And thanks for playing!

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