Relegation Thread 2017/18

[George Reilly's Hairpiece]

With games in hand and position Morecambe were not the club I expected to be in this position, Grimsby, maybe even Yeovil at a push looking at their fixtures. What odds were Morecambe 2 weeks ago for example? Sure they were roughly the same as ours after we'd beat Lincoln and considered ourselves virtually safe.

Could have got 100/1 before their game with Crewe.

 

[rudebwoyben]

Commiserations to Morecambe regarding the takeover, it's not good feeling that the people who now control your club don't have its best interests at heart.

 

[GTFCfish]

With games in hand and position Morecambe were not the club I expected to be in this position, Grimsby, maybe even Yeovil at a push looking at their fixtures. What odds were Morecambe 2 weeks ago for example? Sure they were roughly the same as ours after we'd beat Lincoln and considered ourselves virtually safe.

I don't think anyone could really have seen coming both Grimsby and Barnet picking up 10 points from their last 4 games to drag Morecambe back into it to be honest.

 

[Hooped Wizard]

I don't think anyone could really have seen coming both Grimsby and Barnet picking up 10 points from their last 4 games to drag Morecambe back into it to be honest.

I could see Barnet doing it myself as soon as Martin Allen was appointed.

 

[BlackHaddock]

I don't think anyone could really have seen coming both Grimsby and Barnet picking up 10 points from their last 4 games to drag Morecambe back into it to be honest.

It's an amazing effort by both sets of players and the respective two managers, our 'risky' move for Jolley certainly paid off because we were going down without a doubt before he came along. Barnet at least were scoring goals (and picking up the occasional win) while we played out our twenty games without a win, but Allen has really made a huge difference down there since his arrival.

 

[LondonOrn]

Chesterfield beat top half Newport 1-0 tonight, played OK by all accounts.

Could that result have any bearing on how they perform at Barnet? They've picked up a bit since relegation was confirmed and paradoxically playing a side already relegated or one that has just secured safety could be harder than playing a midtable side with nothing to play for, because the players owe their fans and need to redeem themselves more after a shite season.

BTW while I am sure Barnet played their part, I'm shocked how poorly Morecambe played knowing a draw would have kept them up, it certainly wasn't a smash-and-grab raid by Barnet, who fully warranted their win and could/should have won by more. What went wrong? Did they play far too defensively, just inviting Barnet to score and hoping to hold out for a 0-0, did the nerves get to them while they were unsure how to approach the game for fear of either being caught on the counter-attack if they attempted to retain possession, or being put under too much pressure if they let Barnet have the ball?

 

[AdamStag]

Just had a scroll back through the Chesterfield v Grimsby opening day thread, some quality predictions in there......

https://www.onefootballforum.co.uk/...-mariners-let-the-hostility-recommence.15811/

Including these corkers from yours truly:

In fairness you in a roundabout way said you’d both have a sustained push to get out of the league and have done pretty well in pursuing that.

 

[BeesKnees]

I could see Barnet doing it myself as soon as Martin Allen was appointed.

Our fixtures and Allen coming meant I expected us to reach mid 40's. I didn't expect FGR, Port Vale, Grimsby and Yeovil to all be out of reach at this point, mainly because I assumed that Chesterfield would get something from the games they had against those teams.
If Chesterfield hadn't lost to FGR, Grimsby and Port Vale then we wouldn't be looking at only being able to catch Morecambe and I'd be a bit more optimistic. It's also ultimately these 6 pointers where Chesterfield lost their league status.

 

[George Reilly's Hairpiece]

And of course, the only game that Chesterfield did get something from was when they came back from two down to draw at Morecambe. Had that also followed the pattern of defeats, we'd be down already.

 

[valefan16]

Our fixtures and Allen coming meant I expected us to reach mid 40's. I didn't expect FGR, Port Vale, Grimsby and Yeovil to all be out of reach at this point, mainly because I assumed that Chesterfield would get something from the games they had against those teams.
If Chesterfield hadn't lost to FGR, Grimsby and Port Vale then we wouldn't be looking at only being able to catch Morecambe and I'd be a bit more optimistic. It's also ultimately these 6 pointers where Chesterfield lost their league status.

Chesterfield had little fight, considering they faced us on the back of beating Notts County with relative ease.

We battered them first half but only had the one goal to show for it and had Pugh sent off so was set up for them to beat us especially when they equalised. Couldn't believe how flat they were compared to watching them on TV days earlier.

From our point of view, taking out the dead rubber Saturday with an experimental squad we'd not been winning much (twice since December) but had been drawing a lot of games and keeping points ticking over which was crucial. We made it harder than it should of been after outplaying Grimsby for much of the game and missing a penalty only to let one in at the death and some suicidal defending at Crewe when we just had to sit back and see out the last seconds.

 

[Luke Imp]

Good luck to Barnet and Morecambe today.

 

[LondonOrn]

Crucial goal at Barnet.

Will Morecambe be able to bore draw their way to safety?

 

[Master D]

It's win-win for fans of the Natural Order.

 

[GTFCfish]

Morecambe and Coventry players may as well just sit on the pitch second half and play some cards or something as this is ending 0-0 without doubt.

 

[Vanni]

Tbf to Coventry, as it stands they'll meet Notts (the weakest side in the play offs IMO) so I don't exactly blame them for not going all out to get the win.

ps - if they score and Exeter don't win then they'll come up against Lincoln (who beat 'em 4-2 at the Ricoh only recently)

 

[LondonOrn]

If they beat Morecambe, they'll still face Notts as things stand - or have I missed something?

 

[Vanni]

It's win-win for fans of the Natural Order.

 

[Gassy]

Hold on Morecombe!

 

[Vanni]

If they beat Morecambe, they'll still face Notts as things stand - or have I missed something?

Oops, I thought Exeter were on 76 pts.

 

[kieran_vale]

2-0 Barnet so at least they are doing their bit. Am afraid at this point it looks like they will end up just falling short.

 

[BeesKnees]

Chesterfield have been poor.

Conference here we come

 

[Hooped Wizard]

Well that’s that then

Barnet will probably come straight back if they can keep Martin Allen

 

[Agombar stool]

Got 11/4 last night so whacked a tenner on it.

At the moment it’s 21/10

License to print money. Most obvious result of the day.

 

[LondonOrn]

I would have thought Barnet winning was more obvious - I thought it was likely with Morecambe's ability to grind out draws and Coventry only having 6th or 7th place to play for, but by no means a certainty given an away game at Coventry is a tougher game on paper than a home game against Barnet which they lost.

Anyway commiserations to Barnet after a great run which was just too late to save them, and although Morecambe limped over the line in the end, well done to them in ensuring their impressive record of never having been relegated continues.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Thank Christ we didn't have to see smug Martin Allen on every media outlet for a week reminding us how fantastic he is.

In all fairness, commiserations Barnet fans, be interesting to see what happens to Akinde now. I honestly thought if Barnet stayed up and kept Allen they'd have done a lot better next season, whereas I thoroughly expect Morecambe to be in the relegation mix once again next year.

Must've been a weird atmosphere at The Hive at full time though that's for sure with Chesterfield also going down.

 

[Urban]

Grim. This season has been a very unique one with us showing our potential only at the very start and very end. First half of the season ended with the worst injury list I've ever come across and the second half began with the worst manager I've ever come across (fuck you McGhee).

Did we deserve to go down? Absolutely. Were we, at anywhere near our potential, too good to go down? Yes.

Best of luck to everyone next season (even Coventry). We won't be back for a while, if at all.

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

Grim. This season has been a very unique one with us showing our potential only at the very start and very end. First half of the season ended with the worst injury list I've ever come across and the second half began with the worst manager I've ever come across (fuck you McGhee).

Did we deserve to go down? Absolutely. Were we, at anywhere near our potential, too good to go down? Yes.

Best of luck to everyone next season (even Coventry). We won't be back for a while, if at all.

Absolutely agree with that, one of the better sides to come to Gresty Road this season, even if you did lose to us whilst we didn't play great. Played some very nice stuff and failed to take your chances. I didn't think you'd end up in relegation trouble at all but it really is a funny old game at times.

 

[springerbfc]

If Allen stays, I expect us to be back soon enough, possibly even first time of asking if we invest in the squad.

Not many relegated sides go down off the back of promotion form, and we have lots of Conf experience in our squad already.

Shame the fixtures played out the way they did with Coventry and Morecambe both happy with a draw but when you have 4 different managers in a season, you can only blame yourselves.

 

[hellogregory]

License to print money. Most obvious result of the day.

Wish I’d put more on. Crazy odds to be honest.

 

[Agombar stool]

Wish I’d put more on. Crazy odds to be honest.

Me too. I stupidly got greedy and put it in an accumulator that was a Peterborough goal away from landing but in the end a silly decision by me.