The Round Ball Game - II

[Lancashire Lass]

Sorry Rob, and it had to be Palmer didn't it (dreadul transfer all round then!) but it's still all up to you and hopefully Challinor and his team can calm any nerves and get the players to refocus and take the next two games one at a time.

Thanks also for your good wishes to Wycombe, yes there was general rejoicing at Plough Lane last Saturday when the Frannies won 5 - 0 and still lost out on automatic promotion!

[johncorrigan]

Yep, poor poor show after such a promising opening 20 mins or so, assuming Wrexham win their last game we need 4 points from our last 2 games to crawl over the line.
Great result for the Buddies yesterday btw John,

Wrexham 3 Stockport County 0

Sounded like you should have been out of sight in the first twenty mins, Rob.
Great result for us yesterday - up to ninth ahead of Big Jim's Dons ... Dundee down...kid-on Saints in the play-off place to play either Inverness or Arbroath for the last remaining place in the Premier.

[teamsaint]

Yep, poor poor show after such a promising opening 20 mins or so, assuming Wrexham win their last game we need 4 points from our last 2 games to crawl over the line.
Great result for the Buddies yesterday btw John,

Wrexham 3 Stockport County 0

Very disappointing, but still all to play for.
I was at a wedding yesterday afternoon so was spared the details of our latest shocker. A disastrous end to the season, and we are still looking for other results to save us on the assumption that Liverpool and Leicester won’t be nice to us.
Good news from Paisley this weekend, so at least one lot of Saints have something to smile about.

[cloughie]

Yes Rob, all the best for tomorrow, remember AFC Wimbledon have fulfilled our part of the bargain so now it's County's turn and that pint at Edgeley Park or Plough Lane is yours!

For anyone interested (or not) our last game in League One was one of the best I've seen all season. Though I did only arrive at half-time, so missed Accrington Stanley's three goals. But then two of our youngsters scored in quick succession and the team picked up confidence. Ended with another goal apiece, so we lost but it was incredibly dramatic and the standard of our play much better than recently. Great atmosphere in the fanzone afterwards for the awards, someone said it was the happiest relegation ever and to be honest, we're back home and that's more important, although obviously we want to get back up as soon as possible.

The mistakes this season that sent us down were pretty obvious -- wrong choice of manager (had managed youth teams successfully but never a senior team!), sale of star striker to Wrexham (sorry Rob!), and player transfers decided by committee using data analytics which have supposedly been successful for Brentford. The promoter of this last idea was allegedly our relatively new CEO (funnily enough, ex-CEO now) one Joe Palmer. Cloughie, if you're still on (or when you're back), you're a Wednesday fan, he came from there didn't he, I'd be interested to know your thoughts ...

Anyway Rob, fingers crossed for tomorrow.

LL, I can’t really give you an answer - he may be the person credited with the policy which led to the initial surge of success leading to two playoffs and then a massive dip in fortunes and some very bad player acquisitions and bad finances and fairplay rule infringements. Also we managed to have strange decisions on letting players’ contracts running down. Certainly I think that our current manager has very much more say in player recruitment which has miraculously brought in a creditable squad despite an embargo which meant only frees and loans are allowed. However the woes we have suffered may or may not be Palmer’s legacy but what has happened to Wimbledon may have similarities. I’m sure that you will be pleased with the Owls league double over MKD, even if we took 4 points from your team!

[Edgy 2]

Sorry Rob, and it had to be Palmer didn't it (dreadul transfer all round then!) but it's still all up to you and hopefully Challinor and his team can calm any nerves and get the players to refocus and take the next two games one at a time.

Thanks also for your good wishes to Wycombe, yes there was general rejoicing at Plough Lane last Saturday when the Frannies won 5 - 0 and still lost out on automatic promotion!

[Lancashire Lass]

Well at least something's gone right today! More general rejoicing on the chatsite, someone has pointed out that the draw we earned at Plough Lane (having lost to them at MK) deprived them of the two points they needed for automatic promotion -- which makes it all the sweeter.

I still wish that County had won Rob but fingers crossed for your last two games.

[Mario]

As Nat King Cole sang,

“Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You'll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through for you”

Following our total disaster of a season, I did like the report from M.E.N. (the Manchester Evening News), who asked Denis Law whether the team he played in could beat the current Manchester United team, to which he replied, “Yeah, 1-0 easily”, and back came the question, “Why so close? Why only 1-0?”

He replied…

“Well, you know, most of us are in our eighties now…”

Mario

[cloughie]

As Nat King Cole sang,

“Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though it's breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You'll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll see the sun come shining through for you”

Following our total disaster of a season, I did like the report from M.E.N. (the Manchester Evening News), who asked Denis Law whether the team he played in could beat the current Manchester United team, to which he replied, “Yeah, 1-0 easily”, and back came the question, “Why so close? Why only 1-0?”

He replied…

“Well, you know, most of us are in our eighties now…”

Mario

Or as Einstein said ‘Always look on the bright side of life, you could be an Oldham or Scunthorpe supporter!’

[gurnemanz]

In Manchester United's "total disaster of a season" they are still 6th in the Premier League. High level success for my team, Crystal Palace, can be briefly summarised. It includes being only 12 points below Man U in the League at the moment and losing (narrowly - grrr!) two Cup Finals to them. Not to forget the triumph of winning the short-lived Zenith Data Systems Cup in 1991.

[Mario]

Yeah, but you did it all with OUR Zaha!

Seriously, gurnemanz, yours is a brilliant achievement considering your lack of funds compared to the hundreds of millions wasted on our wastrels and primadonnas. And, given Vieira’s talents, I’ll happily swop him with our German! But I don't think he'd want to go there somehow...

Palace are quite popular, and rightly so.

Best wishes,

Mario

[cloughie]

In Manchester United's "total disaster of a season" they are still 6th in the Premier League. High level success for my team, Crystal Palace, can be briefly summarised. It includes being only 12 points below Man U in the League at the moment and losing (narrowly - grrr!) two Cup Finals to them. Not to forget the triumph of winning the short-lived Zenith Data Systems Cup in 1991.

1991 was a good year for the Owls too, gurn - we beat ManU in the Rumbelows Cup and were promoted back to the top flight, Trevor Francis became our manager and gave us our last really good period in the top flight - who knows we may rise again!

[eighthobstruction]

1991 was a good year for the Owls too, gurn - we beat ManU in the Rumbelows Cup and were promoted back to the top flight, Trevor Francis became our manager and gave us our last really good period in the top flight - who knows we may rise again!

....rise....rise....rise....TONIGHT....

[eighthobstruction]

....Man U stars [cough ahem] have been on holiday for months....it is a poisoned place....COME ON BURNLEY....

[johncorrigan]

....rise....rise....rise....TONIGHT....

...and so say all of us!

[antongould]

....rise....rise....rise....TONIGHT....

Indeed 8o

Man City 5 Toon 0

Class will out as Pogba will find at the Hangers