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Post by autistichatter on Jul 26, 2023 10:20:28 GMT
Well it's that time again, not quite the start of the season but near enough to take stock of the other teams in League 2 and, like last year, I'll start with the teams that came down from League 1.
First up: The MK Dons who copped for the drop by 1 point (Cambridge Utd having an inferior GD of -27 vs MK Dons -22, but had the all-important extra point). The overall record was P 46 W 11 D 12 L 23 F 44 A 66 - so clearly defence was a problem, although they could get a goal or two. They lead playoff-bound Barnsley 4-1 in their final home game before surrendering the lead and drawing 4-4 A year earlier they were on the brink of promotion to the Championship. Overall their A record was better than H: A is was W 7 D 5 L 11 F 24 A 33, vs H W 4 D 7 L 12 F 20 A 33.
Top scorer was Mohammed Eisa on 11 in the League (14 total), with fellow striker Will Grigg and midfielder Bradley Johnson both netting 5 times, and then Johnathon Leko on 4 and Daniel Harvie on 3. After that it was all 1 or 2 for 13 other players - which suggests a fair bit of squad turnover either through injuries, suspensions or transfers.
New coach Graham Alexander, ex Motherwell so he should be a nurturing type coach) has said he is grateful for a "fantastic opportunity" at a club with "great potential"). He has, as assistant, a chap called Chris Lucketti who has worked with Alexander in all his managerial roles, and whose name may ring a bell or two at EP.
Alexander has wasted little time in signing players such as former MF Alex Gilbey who helped MKD and Stevenage to promotion from L2 before signing for Charlton Athletic (remember them?) and going on loan to Stevenage. The Dons have also signed former Newport County (player of the year 2022.2023) and Walsall D Cameron Norman, GKs Nathan Harness (ex Charlton, remember them?) and Craig McGillivray (238 apps for Harrogate, Portsmouth and Charlton) and Ex-Bolton MF M J Williams (215 apps for Notts County, Swindon, Rochdale, Blackpool and Bolton).
Going out have been MF Josh McEachren (43 apps in 2022/2023) and Striker Will Grigg (to Chesterfield) and a further 9 players plus 4 loanees who returned to their parent clubs. So all in all they seem to have strengthened a bit in MF, GK and at the back but it's hard to see them setting L2 alight. If they can get a good start maybe they could be a dark horse for the playoffs.... Hmmmm
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Post by autistichatter on Jul 26, 2023 11:04:33 GMT
Next up: Morecambe - Fun Fact: I once saw the fairly mighty Leek Town beat Morecambe 7-0, with Adie Mike (remember him?) scoring a hat trick.
Morecambe copped the drop by 2 points but had a woeful GD of -31 from a record of P 46 W 10 D 14 L 22 F 47 A 78. Their H record was fairly decent at W 8 D 8 L 7 F 30 A 31, but their A record was W 2 D 6 L 15 F 17 A 47. So clearly their defence was porous at best.
Top scorer was 6ft 1 striker Cole Stockton (now with Burton) with 11 closely followed by 6ft 1 MF Jensen Weir (on loan from Brighton). After them came Kieran Phillips (on loan from Huddersfield) with 5, Adam Major on 3, 5 players each with 2 goals and 6 more each with 1 goal. So scoring goals was a bit of a problem and most of their goals have left the building.
The Shrimps have struggled financially, paying players late, and released a total of 14 players at the end of their contracts, and just 6 players under contract at that time. For some time the club had been in negotiations with potential buyer Sarbjot Jphal however in June he emerged as a potential buyer for Wigan Athletic.... watch this space....
The Shrimps have managed to sign a few players though: veteran D Chris Stokes recently of Kilmarnock, ex Cheltenham F Charlie Brown (5 goals in 28 games in 2022/2023), MF Yang Songo'o (Ross County, Plymout and Bratfut), F Cammy Smith (ex St Mirren and Partick Thistle), FB Joel Senior (ex Carlisle), Ex-Watford MF J J McKeirnan, "well travelled" F Jordan Slew and, finally, 19 year-old Michael Mellon on season long loan from Bu**ley. Late news: 19-year-old 6ft 5 striker Tom Bloxham signed on a season long loan from Shrewsbury for whom he has already played 80 games (albeit with only 2 goals...) oh and MF Jacob Davenport formerly of this parish) also signed late on....)
That still seems to leave a paper thin playing squad of around 14 players plus any trainees and any other signings, and a club that has been up for sale since September 2022 but with seemingly no buyers. Sounds a bit like a certain football club we all know well...Even with the support of Tyson Fury it's hard to see Morecambe as anything but a lower mid-table side that's hard to break down.
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Post by autistichatter on Jul 26, 2023 11:39:29 GMT
Next up: Accrington Stanley, yes, ok , 'ooo are day?
Well for a start they also copped the drop by 2 points, but with an even worse GD than Morecambe - an even more woeful -37. Their overall record was W 11 D 11 L 24 F 40 A 77. Their H form was modest W 6 D 5 L 12 F 27 A 39 and their A form was no better W 6 D 5 L 12 F 13 A 38.
Top scorer was MF Tommy Leigh with just 7. Next came Aaron Pressley, who has been linked recently with County, he got 6. F Sean McConville got 5, CB Harvey Rodgers (recently signed for Grimsby) got 4. A couple of players got 3 each and then it's all 1s and 2s.
Stanley released 6 players, including D Mitch Clare who faces an FA charge for placing 312 bets on games between 8th Feb 2022 and 10th March 2023 (he has since signed for Port Vale). Stanley also triggered contract extensions for 7 players and were in talks with a further 4. Which suggests some stability, at least compared to the Shrimps.
Stanley have also signed a few players: 19 year-old (what is it with all these 19 year-olds?) D Brad Hills signed on season-long loan from Norwich). Also on season-long loans are 6ft 3 forward Josh Andrews from Birmingham (previous loans at Harrogate, Rochdale and Donny, 24 games and 3 goals) and D Lewis Shipley, also from Norwich. Stanley have also signed experienced MF 6ft 2 Kelvin Mellor from Crewe on a one year deal.
Hmmm, having copped the drop by 2 points and a dreadful GD you'd have to think they should be capable of survival in L2 and maybe a playoff spot if they can tighten up at the back and get a few more goals. Maybe a classic lower league side - organised, committed and hard to beat. I definitely fancy them to do better than Morecambe. I don't think they'll be up in the automatic spots though.
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Post by autistichatter on Jul 26, 2023 12:16:00 GMT
Aaaand finally, for the L1 droppers: Forest Green Rovers: the Football League's most sustainable club I heard, well they didn't survive the L1 relegation scrap did they? (Yes, OK, sustainability is about more than having green credentials.). They also are the first FL club to appoint a female caretaker gaffer - Hannah Dingley, so almost a Dingle you might say, but that would be unkind. She replaced Duuncan Ferguson so, umm, quite a contrast there, having previously run their Academy. Since then she has been replaced as gaffer by David Horseman from Southampton on 17th July. Talk about revolving door.
Their record in L1 last season was poor though: W 6 D 9 L 31 F 31 A 89 - ouch, yes, 89, very nearly a century there. The H record was poor - W 5 D 2 L 16 F 16 A 42. Their A form was even worse, W 1 D 7 L 15 F 16 A 47. Pick the bones out of that.
Top scorers were striker Connor Wickham (now at Cardiff) on 6, winger Jordan Garrick on 5, MF Myles Peart-Harris (on loan from Brentford) on also on 5. After them came Josh March (now of Stevenage) on 4 and MF Reece Brown on 3.
A total of 10 players were released, including 3 who played in the L2 title wining squad for 2012-2022 - GK Luke McGee (100 games), D Bailey Cargill (95 games) and Regan Hendry. You might well wonder about how a team can win L2 in 2012/22 and then get relegated in dead last place in 2022/2023. Three head coaches, a new director of football and a new chief executive may be a factor.
Coming in have been ex-Charlton (remember them) CB Ryan Innes (72 apps and 4 goals), ex-Brighton MF Teddy Jenks, MF Callum Jones on season-long loan from Hull, all of them signed under Ferguson. Since Dingley took charge there were more singings: veteran GK Luke Daniels (ex Middlesborough and 8 other clubs) and returning striker Matty Taylor (leaving Oxford - 29 apps and 6 goals). Subsequently under Horseman, 22-year old Kiwi GK Jamie Searle has also signed from Barnsley
With the best will in the world it's hard to see the Rovers much higher than lower middle and likely they are facing a long relegation battle. Good luck to them: they might need it. Then again, who knows?
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Post by autistichatter on Nov 22, 2023 17:48:35 GMT
I've been meaning to update this thread for some of the clubs that also played in L2 last season and the one that comes to mind most is Mansfield. Why them you ask? Well everybody is talking about what a great run they are on, so many games unbeaten etc but hold on a sec, they draw a lot of games, so maybe they are not quite so good?
So it's time to ask who are Mansfield and who have they beaten. Well as of today they sit second in L2 with a record of P 17 W 9 D 8 L 0 F 31 A 13. That 13 is the stingiest D in the division, only Barrow (15) and County (18) and AFC Wombles (19) come close. Their goal total of 31 is also pretty good. Only County (39), Notts (37), Swindon (37), Crewe (36) and Wrexham (34) have scored more. So why have they drawn (almost) as many as they've won? Let's have a look.
Their Ws are Morecambe (h) 3-0, County (h) 3-2, Accy Stanley (a) 0-3, Barrow (h) 1-0, Notts County (a) 1-4, Harrogate (a) 1-4, Walsall (h) 2-1, Salford (a) 1-2 and Newport (h) 2-0. Their Ds are Crewe (a) on opening day 2-2, Disappointing Donny (a) 2-2, Grimsby (a) 1-1, Bratfut (h) 0-0, Cole U (a) 1-1, Gillingham (a) 1-1, Wrexham (h) 0-0 and AFC Wombles (h) 0-0.
Looking at that I'm struck that they do seem to have W against some pretty good sides but against that they've also drawn against some weaker sides. Their H record is pretty good W 5 D 3 F 11 A 3(!), but their A record is also pretty good W 4 D 5 F 20 (so they scored 2X as many goals A as they have at H!) A 10, bettered only by County. Recent form is good 6 Ws on the bounce in Oct and Nov although the last 4 were all against bottom half teams.
Their top scorer is Davis Keilor Dunn (once of Oldham - 25 goals in 87 apps - and Burton Albion - 5 goals in 19 apps)) on 11, then comes Lucas Atkins on 5 (formerly of Tranmere, Stevenage and Burton Albion - 65 goals in 307 apps). Next is George Maris on 4 (formerly of several clubs but mainly Cambridge U - 20 goals in 132 apps). Three players have scored a pair and 5 have each scored 1. So that looks like an efficient and effective team to me but not anything special, not anything world beating. Organised you might say.
They signed a lot of players in the summer - mostly at the back. F Will Swan scored 10 times in 34 apps last season and signed a full contract to join them in August, he was followed by LB Calum McDonald from Bristol Rovers (he played 10 times for County amongst other clubs), D Baily Cargill signed from FGR (he won promotion from L2 with both FGR and MKD), GK Christy Pim played 45 games for the Stags on loan from Peterborough last term and signed up for them this summer, FB Adam Lewis signed after being released by Newport (102 games). Also joining at the back were George Williams (ex Cambridge and Barnsley) and ex St*ke D Aden Flint. Leicester's CB Lewis Brunt joined on season long loan, as far as I can make out he's the only loanee at the club.
So that's a lot of Ds and most of them are pretty experienced which fits with the stingy D, but still I'm not seeing anything remarkable there. Hmmmm, watch this space.
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