The Play Offs

[Laker]

I’m fine with that list on the whole too. Cambridgeshire would be higher if it didn’t have Peterborough and Wisbech in it. Norfolk is a pretty good county, if a little bit boring away from the coast and Norwich. Suffolk likewise with the exception of Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket, though it has got Ipswich which holds it back. Essex is pretty crap too.

My dad’s family are from West Sussex and I’d probably be inclined to have that a bit higher but I wouldn’t argue hard about it.

 

[Bobbin']

There’s no way Cornwall should be so far down though.

 

[Muzzle]

Well, we were piss poor over the two matches, well done Barnsley although they weren't great either. Barnsley can't play that high press against Wednesday, if they do, Wednesday will walk the final

 

[EricSabin]

North Essex is pretty nice. South Essex is close to London.
There's a lot worse.
Lancs has the Forest of Bowland, Morecambe Bay, vibrant cities, etc.
Not sure why Northants is so high, but its all about opinions I guess lol

Beautiful countryside down here in Northamptonshire thank you very much

 

[BRFC_Gas]

I’m fine with that list on the whole too. Cambridgeshire would be higher if it didn’t have Peterborough and Wisbech in it. Norfolk is a pretty good county, if a little bit boring away from the coast and Norwich. Suffolk likewise with the exception of Bury St Edmunds and Newmarket, though it has got Ipswich which holds it back. Essex is pretty crap too.

My dad’s family are from West Sussex and I’d probably be inclined to have that a bit higher but I wouldn’t argue hard about it.

Wisbech were a bit backwards when we played them in 1997. Their fans racially abusing Barry Hayles at the game. Hopefully they have evolved over the past 25 years although im sure banana sales have dropped if they have....

StackPath

 

[SF_]

North Essex is pretty nice. South Essex is close to London.
There's a lot worse.
Lancs has the Forest of Bowland, Morecambe Bay, vibrant cities, etc.
Not sure why Northants is so high, but its all about opinions I guess lol

Keep shut about Bowland, we don't want none of them outsiders pottering about. Carry on up to Windermere.

Silverdale & Arnside is also very underrated

 

[Laker]

Wisbech were a bit backwards when we played them in 1997. Their fans racially abusing Barry Hayles at the game. Hopefully they have evolved over the past 25 years although im sure banana sales have dropped if they have....

StackPath

Wisbech is about 50 years behind the rest of the country, class with Jaywick, Blackpool etc.

Edit: I’m not surprised by Hayles’s experience sadly.

 

[YEO YEO YEO]

Wisbech were a bit backwards when we played them in 1997. Their fans racially abusing Barry Hayles at the game. Hopefully they have evolved over the past 25 years although im sure banana sales have dropped if they have....

StackPath

I haven't been in a couple of years, but they're certainly a strange bunch, doubt they have evolved.

 

[YEO YEO YEO]

Keep shut about Bowland, we don't want none of them outsiders pottering about. Carry on up to Windermere.

Silverdale & Arnside is also very underrated

I really like Arndale. We're always up in the Lakes, but this is beautiful and quiet, simlar to Lune Valley. Discovered this area last year.

We were walking near Scorten a few weeks ago on edge of FOB, beautiful area but some absolutely bizarre people around. However nothing tops the people of Morecambe on the walk from the seafront to the ground, never felt so out of place!

 

[SF_]

I really like Arndale. We're always up in the Lakes, but this is beautiful and quiet, simlar to Lune Valley. Discovered this area last year.

We were walking near Scorten a few weeks ago on edge of FOB, beautiful area but some absolutely bizarre people around. However nothing tops the people of Morecambe on the walk from the seafront to the ground, never felt so out of place!

Yeah, Scorton is the closest village to Nicky Nook and a couple of other fells. Gets busy on a Sunday.

Rural Lancastrians can be a very odd breed, the people in and around Chorley are the biggest oddballs. I don't think they've ever left the county. That said, the locals in the Peak District are mental too.

I'm off tomorrow, so think I'm going to head up to head up to Arnside. Silverdale Cove, up to the Pepper Pot, Arnside Tower, and then Arnside Knott is a really good walk when the weather is decent.

 

[Arbury]

Wisbech were a bit backwards when we played them in 1997. Their fans racially abusing Barry Hayles at the game. Hopefully they have evolved over the past 25 years although im sure banana sales have dropped if they have....

StackPath

When I was at secondary school we had the unfortunate experience of playing at Wisbech town and our keeper got racially abused, a year or 2 before your cup game, I’d never heard anything like it, baring in mind we was just kids at the time!

The place just needs flattening and twinned with Damascus!

KTF.

 

[Pompeyblueboy]

O! Thats my manor!

How come u support the Tractor boys then?

 

[coronakopite]

Essex is a bottom 5 county all day long. For avoidance of any doubt the official and correct list is as follows:

Devon
Cumbria
Gloucestershire
Kent
Norfolk
Derbyshire
Isle Of Wight
West Yorkshire
Warwickshire
North Yorkshire
Cambridgeshire
Co. Durham
East Sussex
Cheshire
Shropshire
Suffolk
Oxfordshire
Hampshire
Dorset
Berkshire
Somerset
West Sussex
Herefordshire
Cornwall
Leicestershire
Worcestershire
Northamptonshire
Buckinghamshire
Hertfordshire
South Yorkshire
Northumberland
Nottinghamshire
Staffordshire
East Riding Of Yorkshire
Surrey
Rutland
Essex
Wiltshire
Bedfordshire
Lancashire
Lincolnshire

Cumbria doesn't exist anymore.

Cumbria, I shall Iift mine eyes up onto the hills. 1974 - 2023 R.I.P.

Carlisle is back in Cumberland and Barrow is in Furness (and Westmorland) with Lancashire FA and Cricket leanings.

 

[Pompeyblueboy]

With all your £20m+ players, I have to say I thought your lot were utterly shite the other day. A far cry from the side who gave us a game at our place back in August.

I thought you were utter shite at our place.

 

[Pompeyblueboy]

Both Barnsley and Bolton were piss-poor, as expected. It was always impossible to live up to the other PO semi-final, but this was shocking and proved just how large the gap is between them and the top three.

Wednesday will beat Barnsley comfortably for me.

you never know.

 

[White horse]

Next season we could have Sheffield Wednesday, Derby and Bolton in l1 with about 220 seasons between them spent in the top flight and Luton, Bournemouth Brentford Brighton, Crystal Palace and Fulham with about 40 top flight seasons between them. Apart from the real big clubs all the investment seems to go south, just as in real life. TBF not sure how Luton have got where they are, like them, Sky sports secretly hate Kenilworth Road as a representative ground of their product. Hope they go up.

 

[Grumpy Grecian]

How come u support the Tractor boys then?

 

[Grumpy Grecian]

Sarfend got rellygated.
That's how.

 

[Super_horns]

How come u support the Tractor boys then?

Ipswich isn't very far form Essex at all tbh.

Be like supporting Spurs/Arsenal and living in Hertfordshire.

 

[E10rifle]

Ipswich isn't very far form Essex at all tbh.

Be like supporting Spurs/Arsenal and living in Hertfordshire.

Or being from Bolton and supporting Man City, like masi.

 

[UppaTowen_ITFC]

How come u support the Tractor boys then?

Ironically, I used to like tractors on tv when I was a toddler and my uncle bought me an Ipswich shirt for my third birthday (presumably as a bit of a joke i‘m guessing). The old orange away top. To which I started supporting the actual team.

Fast forward 21 years and I’ve been a season ticket holder for 9 years and go to 15+ away matches every year. Have met some great people through Towen and if it means having to travel an hour and 20 minutes by train for every home match, then I absolutely will. Whether that be in League 1, the Championship, the Premier League or the National League South. They‘re my team and I guess once you have your team, there’s just no way I could ever switch to a more local team.

 

[UppaTowen_ITFC]

Ipswich isn't very far form Essex at all tbh.

Be like supporting Spurs/Arsenal and living in Hertforshire

Yeah it’s really not too difficult at all. Train from Ipswich after the game is about 5:10 and I’m usually getting off the train in Romford at around 6:30. It’s not like I’m travelling from Southampton to London every game.

 

[Jamo]

Both Barnsley and Bolton were piss-poor, as expected. It was always impossible to live up to the other PO semi-final, but this was shocking and proved just how large the gap is between them and the top three.

Wednesday will beat Barnsley comfortably for me.

You're aware that we've already beaten Wednesday comfortably twice this season? We also comfortably beat Plymouth at Oakwell. I accept that Ipswich were some way ahead of us when we eventually played each other at Oakwell but by that point you were basically up and we were all but out of contention for top 2.

It's certainly possible that Wednesday will wipe the floor with us, but you make it sound like a guarantee.

 

[TractorBoys]

Utilise that high press like you did against Bolton and they will put several past you.

 

[91SPP]

I fancy Wednesday to get the job done, personally, but Barnsley are the best shithouse team in the league, for me, without question.

They're a team that's comfortable without the ball, very well organised and opportunistic. The manager deserves a lot of credit for getting them to the final. Wednesday, of course, could implode - it's not like they haven't shown they're capable of doing just that in the last couple of months.

If you look at the semi games, both teams had a lower pass accuracy than their opponent and had less possession. Every time they had more shots than their opponent though. No doubt it's going to be a scrappy game, not one for the purists, but perhaps more so for the traditionalist who like a bit of chaos within their games!

 

[91SPP]

Something I just looked into that I found to be quite interesting: in Barnsley's last four losses they've had more of the ball than the opposition. In their last four wins, they had less ball than the opposition on all but one occasion. They had 53% possession against Ipswich and lost 3-0.

 

[Jamo]

Utilise that high press like you did against Bolton and they will put several past you.

I agree, almost as if we employed the tactics best suited to overcoming that particular opposition. I'll get on the blower to Duff and recommend using the ones we used to beat Wednesday 6-2 on aggregate over the 2 league games, just in case he's thinking about doing it differently.

 

[valefan16]

Be a good final, Barnsley looked very good v Wednesday on Sky a couple of months back and will fancy it but Wednesday must be buzzing after that comeback.

League Form goes out the window though, our 89 points was one of the highest totals without promotion (Wednesday obviously well beat this). in 1992/93 and we had done the double over WBA before getting beat in the final by them.

Too close to call this one.

 

[SF_]

I don't see Barnsley's backline being bullied like Peterborough's, and Sheff Wed's backline look vulnerable to a high press, especially if they play that absolute donkey, Aden Flint from the start.

 

[BarrieOwl]

Thanks for your stunning insight SF..... you still loving LoweBall?