Accrington Web - 2019/20 Prediction League; Game 25 v Rochdale AFC (home)

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Rochdale

2019/20 Prediction League; Game 25 v The Richdoodles (home)

Under the heading “No One Said it Would be Easy”, we have ………….. Wycombe – including You Fat Bastard, who scored on 16 minutes – getting a right shellacking from Coventry, and losing for the third game in a row, this time 4-1 at home (Coventry's first away win of the season, I think) ………….. Ipswich, after today’s 5-3 reverse at Lincoln, have now drawn four and lost three of their last seven in the League (four points out of 21 – slightly worse than Southend) …… Pompeii have been sneakening up the table, but lost 3-1 at the PhoneyWombles, who climbed out of the bottom three at the expense of Tranmere ……… The Goal Machine that is the Posh lost 4-0 at the Millers, scoring two of Rotherham’s goals for them ……………… Rotherham and Oxford are now in the automatic spots …………. And the League One form sides are the Stanley and Gillingham ………………. Well, who’d a’thowt it? And in the Championnat bottom three lie both a tumbling Luton Louts (one draw and four defeats in five) and an Improving Barnsley LambChops (2 wins and 3 draws in five), each on 21 points from 25 games, a point above Wigan (for whom Josh McWindass missed a penalty today), below Stoke on GD, and otherwise 6 points from safety……………….

Lincoln, Bury, Tranmere and the MKDonuts came up last year, you’ll remember; mid-way report cards would read “could do better” in respect of Tranmere (20th, 21 points from 22, above the drop zone on goals scored); MKDonalds (21st, 21 points from 23, in the drop zone on goals not scored) ……………. “patchy” (Lincoln, who started like the Royal Scot and are now more like Thomas the Tank Engine in 17th with 27 from 22) …………… and “work little, interest less, ability nil – See Me” – my old Form Master’s favourite report – for BuryRIPFC

And David Moyes is back at the Hammers ………….. his CV comprises PNE, Man U, Real Sociedad, Sunderland (2016/17) and 7 months at the Hammers from November 17 to May 18; his win percentages at PNE, Everton and Man U ranged from 42% to 53% (Man U), but Slumberland was 18.6% and WHU 29.03, so he’s not Miles Away The Best In England ……………. Perhaps he knows where the bodies are buried? And Manuel (“Que?”) Pellegrini is the only manager sacked in almost a fortnight! Bonzer, n’est-ce pas!

Rochdale appears in the Domesday Book as Recedham;. Around 1212 Henry II granted the manor to Roger de Lacy whose family retained it as part of the Honour of Clitheroe until it passed to the Dukes of Hazard - sorry, Lancaster - by marriage, and then by 1399 to the Crown. John Byron bought the manor in 1638 and it was eventually bequeathed to the poet, Lord Byron, who sold it in 1823; so stick your hand up if you knew that Lord Byron once owned Rochdale? And stick them both up if you give a tuppenny damn anyway?

The manufacture of woollen cloth was important from the reign of Henry VIII. Towards the end of the 18th century water-powered mills were built; water power was replaced by steam power in the 19th century. By the mid-1800s the wool trade was declining, with the cotton trade – as a result of technological developments in spinning and weaving - growing in importance. Rochdale became one of the world's most productive cotton spinning towns. It was, apparently, a "boom town of the Industrial Revolution" (I didn’t know the Industrial Revolution had any “boom towns”, but there) …… By the end of the 19th century there were woollen mills, silk manufacturers, bleachers and dyers, but cotton spinning and weaving were the dominant Rochdalian industries. However, during the 20th century Rochdale's spinning capacity declined towards an eventual halt…….. It’s also the Birthplace of the Co-operative Movement, (which I thought was written by Grieg) ………….

They finished last season in 16th place – two below us – with a record of P46 W15 D9 L22 GF54 GA87 (the most conceded by any team) and 54 points ………….. over the summer they saw the backs of five; LW Jordan Williams was released, and signed for AFC Fylde, who are still flirting with GreasyPoling (and he’d better stand to his laurels, because my granddaughter’s boyfriend (who’s in their Academy) is a left-winger!); CMF Brad Inman was also released and joined Brisbane Raw (good thing there’s no comma after “Brisbane” in that sentence!); LB Kgosi Ntlhe mutuallyconsented to The Iron, AMF Daniel Adshead went for £MYOB to the Canaries (Norwich, not Tenerife), and Irish striker – well, he’s got an Irish flag against his details, although his place of birth was the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire - Monimon De Louis Florian Yonsian (that’s an Irish name?) was sold to SalfordMoneybags, who quickly loaned him out to Stafford Rangers ………………

They signed four, all on frees; three of those (including Jimmy Ryan) were on board before we met in October, so are covered on that thread, but they brought in ex-Reading CB Paul McShane (who used to be, you’ll remember, in “Hi-De-Hi”) in mid October …………….. They played 6 League games in August, winning two (away at Tranmere and Southend), drawing three and losing one; over the season so far they’ve played 23; at home, their record is W2 D3 L6 GF10 GA17; away, it’s W4 D1 L7 GF15 GA23 for an overall W6 D4 L13 GF25 GA40 for 22 points and 19th place – and they’re one point to the good of Tranmere and the Dons, but with a worse GD than both (only Bolton (42) and Southend (64) have conceded more) ………

They went out of the EFL Cup in Round 3 (having seen off Bolton 5-2 and Carlisle 2-1), drawing 1-1 at the Theatre of Dreams but losing 5-3 on pens; in the Troffy they didn’t get out of the Group stage; and in the FA Cup they beat Wrexham 1-0 at home and Boston 2-1 away, each time following a goalless Desmond, and as a result they’re at home to Newcastle on Saturday (which might be on their minds when they come to ours!) Jimmy Ryan’s played 13 in the League (8 of them from the bench) and hasn’t scored ………….. and they did us twice last season, 1-0 each time, and they also did us 2-1 in October (our goal by Joe Pritchard), so we owe them Big Style! ……………….. Striker Joe “Mr Piano” Henderson leads the League scoring list at Spotland with 9 (10 in all) and CMFs Callum Camps and Aaron Morley have 5 (7 in all) and 3 (4 in all) respectfully ……..

They’ve never been out of the Third or Fourth Tiers; they’ve been relegated three times (1959, 1974 and 2012, and promoted three times (1969, 2010 and 2014); in 1973/74 their record over the season was a less-than-impressive W2 (yes, TWO) D17 L27 GF38 GA94; in that same season Man U were relegated by a Denis Law goal and Sir Alf Ramsay was sacked as England manager ………………. Their record League win was 8-1 against TwistySpires United (who are currently 22nd in the Bananarama, three points and a few goals from safety) back in 1926 ………. Famous ex Managers include Harry Catterick, Jimmy Greenhoff, Bob Stokoe (twice), Mike Ferguson, Walter Joyce and John Coleman ………………… Famous former players include Reg Jenkins (their all-time leading scorer), Albert Whitehurst (who scored 44 in season 1926/27), Joe Ashworth, who’s also Brenda Blethyn’s sidekick in “Vera”, Tony Ford (“He’s Big, He’s Bad, He’s Older than me Dad, Tony Ford, Tony Ford”), who is one of only three outfield players to achieve more than 1,000 professional competitive games, Chris Dagnall and one Lee McEvilly ……………. And this week’s Starter for Ten; aside from Tony Ford, who are the other two outfield players to have hit 1000 games? Please note that Peter Shilton (1005 games) doesn’t count as an outfield player, despite the fact that he often went walkies …....

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 3.00pm on New Year’s Day 2020 ………. In the League, we’ve won four and drawn two of our last 6; The Doodles have lost eight of their last nine (the only exception being the 1-0 win at Rotherham), and have drawn a goal-blank eight times in their 23 League games; so who are the Bright Sparks and who are the Damp Squibs? 18 shots, 7 on target for us plays 10 shots (6) for them …….. and three more point on Wednesday COULD have us up to 11th (we’re 7 points and nine goals off the playoffs!) ………….. COME ON YOU REDS!

And the other two 1,000-game achievers were Scott McGleish (fast approaching 46, and (?) still playing for Hendon) and Graham Alexander (Manager of SalfordMoneyBags, who at one point today had four shots, all on target, and led 4-0 at Oldham) …………..

And it's time for A Happy New Year from Me and A Happy New Year from Him also as well

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

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