League 2 relegation thread 14/15

[Murphy]

Currently 3-1 up at Morecambe.

And breathe....

 

[hellogregory]

Daggers well on their way to safety. I still think Hartlepool will put a run together and get themselves right in the mix for survival. Tranmere will pull away I think.

In my opinion it's 1 of Mansfield, Cheltenham, York and Hartlepool to join us in the conference next season.

 

[womble76]

Everyone thinks there side is going down. As someone looking in from a relatively safe side at the moment. It's still hartlepool plus one. Likely Cheltenham. Everyone is showing some form except them.

 

[daviejones]

Cheltenham's season rests on which manager they go for. If they don't get it perfect then i'd say they're toast, alongside Hartlepool who need to win over 1 in 2 games - really can't see them managing that.

 

[Merger most horrid]

Phew

 

[StagsForLife]

Daggers well on their way to safety. I still think Hartlepool will put a run together and get themselves right in the mix for survival. Tranmere will pull away I think.

In my opinion it's 1 of Mansfield, Cheltenham, York and Hartlepool to join us in the conference next season.

I think you lot are fine. It's us, Tranmere, York or Cheltenham for that second spot.

 

[Dickie Davies eyes]

I think Tranmere Rovers squad of players is good enough to get the results to keep them in this league, I bet Bristol Rovers fans were thinking the same last season though.
Down at the bottom end of the table I've seen Tranmere recently play Hartlepool, Carlisle and York and worryingly we've been 2nd best in those games. Still though I'd rather be in Tranmere's shoes than Hartlepools or Cheltenhams.

 

[daviejones]

The Cheltenham stand-in manager looked remarkably happy after the match yesterday considering they lost..

 

[UTS]

The Cheltenham stand-in manager looked remarkably happy after the match yesterday considering they lost..

Probably because we only beat them 2-1. If we beat them 5-0 as we were well on course to doing before we gifted them a goal, I'm sure he wouldn't have been as positive.

 

[Leewilson]

Finally, we've learned how to defend properly and score goals at the same time rather than doing one and not the other.

This run of form is based on our back four. We've gone from:

O'Brien

Batt-----Saah----Doe----Connors

O'Brien is shit. Batt has been very poor since signing. Saah's injuries have left him half the player he once was. Doe couldn't carry the defence by himself earlier in the season and Connors was targeted by every opposition manager as he struggles when someone runs at him.

to

Cousins

Ogogo----Obileye---Doe----Widdowson

An absolute world apart. Cousins is very solid and a good goalkeeper at this level. Ogogo is the best right back in the league in my opinion (annoying that he thinks he's a midfielder as despite being good there he's a better rb). Obileye has a big future in the game. Thank you Charlton for letting us have him. An absolute rock and a unit to boot. Doe is in top form now he has a good partner alongside him. Widdowson is the type of solid league 2 full back you want.

Something like 5 goals conceded in 9 games now? (before today it was 3 in 8).

 

[Richard Cranium]

I think Hartlepool are down and it's between Mansfield, Tranmere, York and Cheltenham. If Cheltenahm appoint Paul Cocks you just know that they will finish above us!

 

[Murphy]

Won't quote Lee's post as it's too long, but it's just frustrating that three quarters of that back-four will very likely not be with us next season. Abu and Doey haven't signed new contracts as yet, and I doubt they'd stay if offered somewhere with a chance of promotion and a wage rise, which they totally deserve. I'd be devastated to lose them, but wouldn't blame them in the slightest. Ayo will go back to Charlton obviously, and even if he's loaned out again next year it'll be to an L1 side you'd imagine. Potentially leaves us with another rebuilding job after for the first time in 3 years we have a solid back-line.

Look at me worrying about next season's relegation problems

 

[hellogregory]

If you could do something to guarantee your safety this season, What kind of things would you be willing to do/sacrifice?

E.g. I'd happily flush £1000 of my own money down the pot if it guaranteed I wouldn't be watching conference football next season.

I'd crawl 10 miles through broken glass to ensure I don't see my team playing in tinpot paradise next season.

 

[White Army]

I'd do absolutely nothing. £1000? You mad?

 

[Reginald Fodstain]

Same. Don't think you'd be in much of a state to watch your team after 10 miles crawling through broken glass either, not worth the effort

 

[Richard Cranium]

I'd do absolutely nothing. £1000? You mad?

Go down and come back up then you will do anything to avoid it!

 

[hellogregory]

I'd do absolutely nothing. £1000? You mad?

you don't know what it's like. When you're down there League two feels like the premier league.

Thank god we were only down there for 1 season. It must have been hell for the likes of Cambridge, Mansfield, Luton etc

 

[Richard Cranium]

And York!

Sadly if we go out we won't come back up. Fans have lost interest as it is, I'm not talking the crowds of 5/6000 we were getting 10 years ago whilst we had a really good side but we always averaged over 3000 home fans and we can't get that now. We only came up last time because Radford came in and chucked quite abit of money at it, not on the scale of Crawley/Fleetwood but we had 6/7 players on £1500+ a week.

Sadly though, and I'm sure it's the same for alot of clubs in this league half the people of Mansfield wouldn't give a toss if it lost it's football league status again. But they'd all be sure to get on Facebook slagging everything to do with it off.

 

[Laker]

Yeah non league nearly finished us off a couple of times. 9 years down there was hell.

 

[StagsForLife]

And York!

Sadly if we go out we won't come back up. Fans have lost interest as it is, I'm not talking the crowds of 5/6000 we were getting 10 years ago whilst we had a really good side but we always averaged over 3000 home fans and we can't get that now. We only came up last time because Radford came in and chucked quite abit of money at it, not on the scale of Crawley/Fleetwood but we had 6/7 players on £1500+ a week.

Sadly though, and I'm sure it's the same for alot of clubs in this league half the people of Mansfield wouldn't give a toss if it lost it's football league status again. But they'd all be sure to get on Facebook slagging everything to do with it off.

So true. Absolutely pisses me off when someone says Mansfield are rubbish then go fake support their sky sports club.

 

[shoddycollins]

Go down and come back up then you will do anything to avoid it!

We were discussing this on our forum, we've been down there already, seems a long time ago now... 10 years ago. Back then it at least had novelty going for it and crowds went up, and it had seemed inevitable for six/seven years and the Conference was full of tinpot clubs with no money so you always thought you could bounce straight back, we had a new owner and were already heading in the right direction before the end of the season came and our relegation was confirmed.

This time should we go it will be different... going in the wrong direction, and into a division that is full of tinpot clubs with money to throw at getting league status, with a squad full of players on League One salaries and no new ideas or investment behind the scenes... we could be done for.

 

[Richard Cranium]

So true. Absolutely pisses me off when someone says Mansfield are rubbish then go fake support their sky sports club.

Not sure if you go out around town before home games mate but you only have to go into the Byron to witness it. It's like JJB sports in there, full of Forest, Man Utd, Liverpool and then you've got Newcastle and even a Wolves fan who does nothing but shout Yam Yam's around town all day everyday.

 

[Murphy]

I sometimes think people in smaller towns who have FL clubs but don't actually care about them, don't realise what having an FL club does for the town. Not only does it actually put it on the map, I mean if Mansfield didn't have a FL team for so long, and currently, I reckon a lot of people, football fans or not, wouldn't know where Mansfield is. Same goes for a lot of places, not just singling out Mansfield before someone jumps at me.

Not only that, but it's what we contribute to the local community, and on some senses to the local economy. Without the Saturday trade that some pubs get from football regulars, and particularly high away support which obviously isn't as prevalent the lower down you go, I'd wager a fair few would go out of business. Getting relegated out of this league isn't just big for us as football fans, but also for the community as a whole, whether they realise or not. It makes you question why some clubs in some towns are treated with the utter disdain they are, like they're some sort of burden on the community - Barnet in particular come to mind after being forced out of Underhill. A lot of places with clubs in this league don't really have much to boast, or are looked down upon by the the rest of the UK, so you'd think having a Football League member club would give them something to strive towards retaining and helping, but sadly it seems with some it isn't the case, both council wise and general local population wise. And I find that really bloody sad.

 

[Laker]

Talking about teams throwing money they didn't have at the Conference while we were down there, off the top of my head I can think of Crawley, Fleetwood, Mansfield, Forest Green, Alfreton, Histon and Grays. There's probably more but to summarise, we were down there 9 years and there's normally one a year to contend with.

Then there's always a Wrexham, Grimsby, Bristol Rovers, Luton, Oxford type who are far too big for the league so will invariably compete at the top. It's a nightmare to get out of.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Talking about teams throwing money they didn't have at the Conference while we were down there, off the top of my head I can think of Crawley, Fleetwood, Mansfield, Forest Green, Alfreton, Histon and Grays. There's probably more but to summarise, we were down there 9 years and there's normally one a year to contend with.

Then there's always a Wrexham, Grimsby, Bristol Rovers, Luton, Oxford type who are far too big for the league so will invariably compete at the top. It's a nightmare to get out of.

We'd have still been there now without the injection of cash. We didn't really spend anything on Transfer Fee's but we were right up there with the wages we were offering out. We signed players from our rivals and just didn't play them all season.

 

[womble76]

Well run clubs generally only stay a season or two max. We tried it out for a year then moved up the next.

 

[AdamStag]

Well run clubs generally only stay a season or two max. We tried it out for a year then moved up the next.

Well run clubs only stay down there a season or two?

Not really had any dealings with you as a poster but that is so far from the truth its unreal.

 

[womble76]

Worked for us!!!

 

[Luke Imp]

You were going up, though.

Totally different to being relegated and trying to get out.

 

[Clapham Womble]

You were going up, though.

Totally different to being relegated and trying to get out.

Spot on. If we hadn't gone up on the crest of our wave in our second season we could have been stuck down there for a while.

Even as a club on the up and a well run club we got stuck in the Ryman Premier for three seasons, and were just starting to stagnate in there. We only escaped in the third season through the play offs, and even then were only 8 minutes from being stuck in there for another season.