October

[LS Bantam]

Think the Bradford game will come down to who copes with their injuries better.

Baudry isn’t definitely out - he was 50/50 last weekend - and I don’t think Bradford use battering ram forwards. Get Doughty in the starting XI.

Anyhow, I reckon we’ve played our best football with 1 up front. Whether Yates before Doyle signed, or Doyle while Yates was suspended.

At least it should actually be a game of football - don’t think Bradford go in for shithousery.

Assuming Doyle can’t play with the parent club rule? Ben Richards Everton out suspended also, our POTY so far so sounds as if this could be a good BTTS bet. I would say playing McCartan as a number 10/false 9 rather than Donaldson and Oteh (loan striker) in a 442 would make us better balanced. Probs should start a thread for this one.

 

[GTFCfish]

My birthday isn’t in October and I’ve never attempted it either.

Both my kids Birthdays are in October and they’ve never touched a drop.

 

[Si Robin]

Lightweights

 

[shoddycollins]

We did better in August that I thought we would, was a tough start to the season with playing fancied sides, Mansfield, Swindon and Salford as well as surprise-package Cheltenham and we picked up 7 points where I thought we would only pick up 5.

We need to improve in September or we'll be dragged into trouble. There are currently teams below us who I don't expect to stay below us and our performances have worse than our results. In particular we need to tighten up at the back.

Somehow though our September fixtures don't look much easier, there's another three fancied sides in there so maybe there were just too many teams fancied to do well and when you add in the teams who've actually started well then it seems like more than half the teams in the division I'm classifying as 'promotion challengers who we'll struggle against'.

Exeter (H) - Lose 2-0
It'll be amazing if we get anything out of this. They're very good defensively and while they don't score loads of goals they score enough and against our defence I can't see them scoring fewer than 2.

Stevenage (A) - Draw 1-1
Stevenage have struggled at the start of the season and only scored their first goals this weekend. They do have a good record against us though, and with our current form I can see us having another stinker. I'll have their form balance that out though and go for a draw

FGR (H) - Win 2-1
They've started better than performances would suggest, as it seems they're nicking results in scrappy games. If they can beat Bradford then they can definitely beat us but their luck may be running out. I'll tentatively put this down as a game where things start to turn for us.

Bradford (A) - Lose 2-0
Bradford haven't settled into life in League Two yet it seems but this match will see Devitt line up against us. They have obvious quality and I can't see us presenting too much of an obstacle to them.

Oldham (H) - Win 2-0
Oldham only managed to score three goals in January, and this is our one game in September I see as where we really do need to put them to the sword. Hopefully their poor attack, like Scunthorpe's will struggle to take advantage of our defence (and hopefully our defence has improved by then).

This would see us pick up 7 points in September, same as August. 14 in total after 11 games, which last season would have us in 16th place. It's only two points less than we had at the same stage last season and would probably set us up for an unremarkable mid-table season.

Got the points right, just the win and draw from Stevenage and FGR I got the wrong way around. I'm doing quite well at this predictions lark.

Onwards to October

Newport (A) - Lose 2-0
Can't really think of a more dead cert game for us to lose than this. Not only do we never win at Dave Parade, but Newport are actually quite good at the moment and just to add a final bit of certainty, we're a passing team trying to play tika-taka with lightweight players and Newport roll those sorts of team over for fun.

Crewe (H) - Draw 1-1
Crewe are decent, but we've not been awful the last few games and have even stopped conceding goals for fun, and while I can't see us getting anything against Newport I can see us getting something at home to Crewe.

Plymouth (A) - Lose 2-1
They've not had the best of starts Plymouth but it's a long way to go, and they'll probably welcome a team as easy to beat as we are to Home Park.

Northampton (H) - Draw 2-2
Curly Curle back at Brunton Park under the floodlights. Think this could be a decent game and well fought. Not doing too bad are Northampton but we haven't changed an awful lot since Curle left and will probably see two similar teams cancel each other out a bit.

Leyton Orient (A) - Win 1-0
At this point we'll be desperate for points so chances are we'll get them on an away trip to another struggling side. Orient will probably have a new manager by this point and may well be over their new manager bounce, it's hard to tell but they're not going to suddenly become world-beaters are they?

Only 5 points from October. That would leave us on 19 points after 16 games.

Last season we'd have been 18th with that total, indeed at that stage last season under Sheridan we only had 20 points, life under Sheridan wasn't all just promotion challenges and six-game winning streaks, which people seem to forget.

 

[hellogregory]

my god it doesn’t get any easier for us after a tough opening 2 months. Thankfully November and December starts to look a little bit more pleasant on paper.

October fixtures...

Newport County (A) - Lose 4-0

Crewe Alexandra (H) - Lose 2-1

Plymouth Argyle (A) - Draw 3-3

Northampton Town (H) - Draw 1-1

Leyton Orient (A) - Lose 1-0


2 points from a possible 15.

 

[Agombar stool]

Really tough October for us. Here is how I see it panning out.

Bradford A - This is a bad time to have injuries and both our centre backs are out as well as Keshi Anderson who has started the season in fine form. I can only see one winner here. 3-1 Loss.

Plymouth H - My first game of the season. I think a draw. 1-1

Crewe A - My second game of the season. This should be a cracker between 2 sides who like to play good, fast attacking football. There should be goals. 3-2 Loss

Stevenage H - Surely we can beat these? Win 2-0

Crawley A - I'll try and go to this game as well. Another big test against a side who have done much better than I anticipated they would this season.
Draw 1-1.

Only 5 points in October for us will probably see us around mid-table. A tough month on paper.

Well I got the Bradford, Plymouth and Crewe prediction correct! Hoping tomorrow night's game/prediction goes the same way.

 

[Indian Dan]

With our recent form being terrible - 2 out of 18 - it’s a marvel we’re still in the play offs.

There must be some proper shite out there.

 

[Agombar stool]

With our recent form being terrible - 2 out of 18 - it’s a marvel we’re still in the play offs.

There must be some proper shite out there.

If we were to lose the next 2 or 3 we could be down as low as 18th

 

[Indian Dan]

If we were to lose the next 2 or 3 we could be down as low as 18th

There’s a happy thought, Bob!

 

[Agombar stool]

There’s a happy thought, Bob!

Wouldn't say I was happy about it Aud, I think given our current run, there is a danger that it could happen! Not that I want to come over all Reg Smeeton!

 

[Indian Dan]

Wouldn't say I was happy about it Aud, I think given our current run, there is a danger that it could happen! Not that I want to come over all Reg Smeeton!

Fuck me, Bob. I’d edit that last sentence quick if I were you!

 

[E10rifle]

Fuck me, Bob. I’d edit that last sentence quick if I were you!

He’s probably not the only one who could consider an edit.

 

[GTFCfish]

There must be some proper shite out there.

 

[GTFCfish]

So far so good for us:

Mansfield (h) L 0-1
Stevenage (a) L 1-2
Orient (h) L 0-4

#consistency

 

[hellogregory]

my god it doesn’t get any easier for us after a tough opening 2 months. Thankfully November and December starts to look a little bit more pleasant on paper.

October fixtures...

Newport County (A) - Lose 4-0

Crewe Alexandra (H) - Lose 2-1

Plymouth Argyle (A) - Draw 3-3

Northampton Town (H) - Draw 1-1

Leyton Orient (A) - Lose 1-0


2 points from a possible 15.

I predicted 2 points. At the moment we have 0. We go to Orient on Saturday so unless we win there then we’ll finish October below my forecasted total.

People have always said I’m way too optimistic and glass half full when it comes to Carlisle United. I’m starting to see what they mean.

 

[Dan Phillips]

don’t think Bradford go in for shithousery.

Oh they do.

 

[valefan16]

Oh they do.

Don’t think we’ve faced Bowyer before but he literally is Danny Cowley Mk2! Constantly berating officials, out his area, arguing with Askey and our staff and claiming for everything as they went down. Leon Legge suggested they should be in the west end for their theatrics.

Was surprised by it to be honest as they have the quality not to do it.

 

[LS Bantam]

Don’t think we’ve faced Bowyer before but he literally is Danny Cowley Mk2! Constantly berating officials, out his area, arguing with Askey and our staff and claiming for everything as they went down. Leon Legge suggested they should be in the west end for their theatrics.

Was surprised by it to be honest as they have the quality not to do it.

I’d like to see some examples other than a soft penalty? Christ, don’t pretend it’s a one way street, wasn’t Askey booked?! Don’t know how or why after Tuesday there seems to be this idea we’re a new Mark Cooper side? Also assuming Saint Leon’s imprint is still on James Vaughan’s arse the amount of times he went through the back of him the other night.

 

[valefan16]

I’d like to see some examples other than a soft penalty? Christ, don’t pretend it’s a one way street, wasn’t Askey booked?! Don’t know how or why after Tuesday there seems to be this idea we’re a new Mark Cooper side? Also assuming Saint Leon’s imprint is still on James Vaughan’s arse the amount of times he went through the back of him the other night.

He was doing it all game, the camera on ifollow was the opposite side, and Askey got booked reacting to something said by Bowyer! Askey is usually as soft as shit - too much of a Mr Nice Guy and even he lost his patience with it in the end.

Vaughan went down like a sack of potatoes at every touch (your fans even moaned about this before the game) so every time any of our defenders got close he'd go down. It works, Lincoln did it to a treat at this level, go down easily, manager kicks off for 90 minutes and the crowd get on the referee. Very effective.

 

[Indian Dan]

There are some sides who shithouse as an essential element of their overall tactics, but most sides do it during a game to some extent.

We have Anthony Grant who is a grandmaster of obtaining free kicks to ease a bit of pressure. It’s blatant timewasting that boils my piss.

Stevenage’s No. 15 must have been shot half a dozen times Tuesday - the last time he was down for 4 minutes with ‘cramp’ on the far side of the pitch and the ref still let him amble off across the pitch instead of exiting the 2 yards he was away from the touch line.

That’s what makes a 90th min goal so sweet!

 

[Agombar stool]

There are some sides who shithouse as an essential element of their overall tactics, but most sides do it during a game to some extent.

We have Anthony Grant who is a grandmaster of obtaining free kicks to ease a bit of pressure. It’s blatant timewasting that boils my piss.

Stevenage’s No. 15 must have been shot half a dozen times Tuesday - the last time he was down for 4 minutes with ‘cramp’ on the far side of the pitch and the ref still let him amble off across the pitch instead of exiting the 2 yards he was away from the touch line.

That’s what makes a 90th min goal so sweet!

Both of their subs were made when they were closer to the edge of the pitch furthest away from the benches weren't they?

 

[Indian Dan]

Both of their subs were made when they were closer to the edge of the pitch furthest away from the benches weren't they?

Yeah. Obvious ones, but tbf it’s up to the refs to stamp out these things. If they’re not, I suppose it’s fair game. They were very good at that aspect of the game and will frustrate a lot of teams, but who wants to watch that shite.

 

[LS Bantam]

He was doing it all game, the camera on ifollow was the opposite side, and Askey got booked reacting to something said by Bowyer! Askey is usually as soft as shit - too much of a Mr Nice Guy and even he lost his patience with it in the end.

Vaughan went down like a sack of potatoes at every touch (your fans even moaned about this before the game) so every time any of our defenders got close he'd go down. It works, Lincoln did it to a treat at this level, go down easily, manager kicks off for 90 minutes and the crowd get on the referee. Very effective.

I’m the first to get on Vaughan’s back for doing it but not Tuesday when the fouls were so frequent, I felt the Legge one in the second half myself.

 

[valefan16]

I’m the first to get on Vaughan’s back for doing it but not Tuesday when the fouls were so frequent, I felt the Legge one in the second half myself.

Happens to Popey all game every time he plays that! Sure the same used to happen to Hanson with you guys.

 

[valefan16]

Both of their subs were made when they were closer to the edge of the pitch furthest away from the benches weren't they?

They wernt as bad as usual last week, last season was beyond a joke as our players even heard them discussing who would go down to time waste next and admitted to Pope they hated doing it but the manager demanded it...

That manager brings his Oldham side to VP on Saturday... so expecting the same!

 

[James Frost]

Optimistic at the moment with Flynn staying & Inniss due to return soon after serving his suspension. I’m hoping we can continue our good home form through the month.

Carlisle home win
Exeter EFL cup home lose
Cheltenham away draw
Scunthorpe home win
Crawley home win
Colchester away lose

Called 4 out of 5 results right, with the 6th game against Cheltenham getting cancelled. Getting better at this prediction malarkey.

7 points from 12 in the league not bad, shame about the draw with Crawley.

 

[E10rifle]

10 points from the five games. Should have been 12, but mustn’t grumble.

 

[valefan16]

Solid 8 point haul but feels a missed opportunity after beating Bradford to have two flat draws at home to Stevenage and Oldham and a shocker at Macclesfield.

Progressing well enough though and improved so can’t complain, will take another couple of windows to fully repair the damage done in recent seasons.

 

[Si Robin]

Oldham (A) - Hard to say, we were good against Salford but fortunate against Plymouth. The pessimist in me says draw - 1-1

Newport (H) - We always, always struggle against Newport. I see them getting a last minute winner - 1-2

Walsall (A) - Two defeats in a row - 0-2

Macclesfield (H) - Back to winning ways and at a canter as well - 3-0

Grimsby (A) - Would absolutely rip your hand off for a draw and I'll think we'll get it - 1-1

So 5 points out of 15 and we move down to mid-table mediocrity.

7 points in 3 games, better than I predicted.

 

[LeonTheGreen]

3/5, would of been 4/5 had our defenders not switched off in the 93rd minute against Scunthorpe