Ups and Downs

[Son of Cod]

Got to say it's refreshing to see you so down about the great Scunny, Don. Can't decide whether to be the bigger man and offer commiserations when you come down or laugh in your face like you did to us when we lost the 14/15 playoff final pens.

 

[Bottega Don]

Got to say it's refreshing to see you so down about the great Scunny, Don. Can't decide whether to be the bigger man and offer commiserations when you come down or laugh in your face like you did to us when we lost the 14/15 playoff final pens.

Can't believe you're still hung up on that.

I enjoyed our biggest rivals losing an important match, I must be the only football fan ever to do that.

 

[Son of Cod]

Can't believe you're still hung up on that.

I enjoyed our biggest rivals losing an important match, I must be the only football fan ever to do that.

Also still hung up on Tranmere laughing at us going down to L2 and that was over a decade before your rather scornful behaviour.

 

[Wooderson]

Bit of a blow for Orient last night - their penultimate game of the season at Solihull could be huge.

 

[shoddycollins]

If the Conny were to finish as things currently stand then I take it we'll all be supporting Wrexham in the playoffs.

 

[Son of Cod]

If the Conny were to finish as things currently stand then I take it we'll all be supporting Wrexham in the playoffs.

Yeah Wrexham for me, not necessarily because I'm anti-smaller clubs being here, but because they've been down there for ages. Having said that, I'd sacrifice Wrexham coming up for a 100% guarantee that Salford wouldn't come up.

 

[Deepcut Cobbler]

Probably do nothing for ages and then randomly score from 30 yards. He does that a lot.

My question was because he went back to you because he though that League Two was beneath him...

 

[Luke Imp]

Bit of a blow for Orient last night - their penultimate game of the season at Solihull could be huge.

They have a tricky run in, too.

Salford's, on paper, is pretty straight forward. Or should be...

 

[Master D]

Orient will still do it, just.

I don’t see The Evil coming up through playoffs at all, Alexander is a crap manager. They should have already won the league with the budget he’s had.

Solihull Motors or Rowe FC if I had to put money on it. It all depends on the final positions and route to the final. If Motors are at home then that is going to be very difficult for anyone to go there and win, that pitch width is a scandal.

Anyway, the National League refs will decide things from here on in.

 

[Son of Cod]

Orient will still do it, just.

I don’t see The Evil coming up through playoffs at all, Alexander is a crap manager. They should have already won the league with the budget he’s had.

Solihull Motors or Rowe FC if I had to put money on it. It all depends on the final positions and route to the final. If Motors are at home then that is going to be very difficult for anyone to go there and win, that pitch width is a scandal.

Anyway, the National League refs will decide things from here on in.

Have Wrexham been reff'd out of it this season at all? Also how are Pearson and Summerfield getting on?

 

[shoddycollins]

Yeah Wrexham for me, not necessarily because I'm anti-smaller clubs being here, but because they've been down there for ages. Having said that, I'd sacrifice Wrexham coming up for a 100% guarantee that Salford wouldn't come up.

I'm anti-smaller clubs if they're clearly manufactured clubs with no real fan-base. The likes of Salford, Fylde and Eastleigh who claim their purpose (besides being a plaything for millionaires) is to give premier league fans a cheaper alternative; so the fans are just daytrippers getting their kicks from standing on a terrace while still following the team they really support on their phones. The likes of FGR and Morecambe don't perhaps get as much credit as they deserve for how long they spent plugging away in the division below the football league while Salford were still just a twinkle in Gary Neville's eye.

If you're a ManU fan and you think Old Trafford is too expensive then go support Bury or Oldham or Stockport... or Wycombe, and I guarantee after a season or two ManU will just be a club you remain fond of and whose results you look out for while your real passion will be the one you support week in week out.

When those clubs get promoted in place of a club who actually have fans who care then it deprives football fans of league football and the football league of passionate fans, and those clubs often have an advantage being bankrolled with no rickety old stadium to maintain or fans with their own ideas and expectations that the millionaire will eventually get fed up of.

If taken to the extreme, if the lower leagues ended up filled with these sort of clubs, watched primarily by the fans of Premier League football then B teams and closed doors would become very easy to implement.

 

[Son of Cod]

I'm anti-smaller clubs if they're clearly manufactured clubs with no real fan-base. The likes of Salford, Fylde and Eastleigh who claim their purpose (besides being a plaything for millionaires) is to give premier league fans a cheaper alternative; so the fans are just daytrippers getting their kicks from standing on a terrace while still following the team they really support on their phones. The likes of FGR and Morecambe don't perhaps get as much credit as they deserve for how long they spent plugging away in the division below the football league while Salford were still just a twinkle in Gary Neville's eye.

If you're a ManU fan and you think Old Trafford is too expensive then go support Bury or Oldham or Stockport... or Wycombe, and I guarantee after a season or two ManU will just be a club you remain fond of and whose results you look out for while your real passion will be the one you support week in week out.

When those clubs get promoted in place of a club who actually have fans who care then it deprives football fans of league football and the football league of passionate fans, and those clubs often have an advantage being bankrolled with no rickety old stadium to maintain or fans with their own ideas and expectations that the millionaire will eventually get fed up of.

If taken to the extreme, if the lower leagues ended up filled with these sort of clubs, watched primarily by the fans of Premier League football then B teams and closed doors would become very easy to implement.

Don't necessarily disagree with all that, but I actually quite like Eastleigh as a club. Or at least I did when we were down there and Stewart Donald was chairman. I could be wrong, but I think Eastleigh were also a solid tier 6/7 side and were only bankrolled up to the Conference from the Conference South. Thought their fans sounded decent at BP when they came up, especially when we beat them in the playoff semis.

 

[Master D]

Have Wrexham been reff'd out of it this season at all? Also how are Pearson and Summerfield getting on?

We’ve not been reffed out of too much that I can remember but this is the point where the National League refs come into their own. It’s all in their hands from now on in.

Pearson not as good as last season but he still runs the team and is crucial to everything, will probably still win player of the season again. Summerfield has been injured for months but was good before that. Injuries in midfield have killed us off basically.

 

[Si Robin]

If the Conny were to finish as things currently stand then I take it we'll all be supporting Wrexham in the playoffs.

Wrexham or Solihull for me. Wrexham because I feel they've done their time. Solihull because of Wrighty and Stoz.

 

[AnotherStagsFan]

Anyone but Salford please!

 

[GodsGift]

Solihull coming up would be pretty funny. It would show those muppets who think we're nothing more than hoofball merchants what long-ball football is really like. They're very good at it as well, mind you.

 

[Imp in Branston]

Not Salford, Flyde or Ebbsfleet please even though we hopefully won't be here to face them.

 

[Master D]

Solihull coming up would be pretty funny. It would show those muppets who think we're nothing more than hoofball merchants what long-ball football is really like. They're very good at it as well, mind you.

They are animals to be honest, but yeah it’s pretty unstoppable. When they lose a game they lose the plot and generally end up with 9 men.

 

[Son of Cod]

Danny Wright and Jamey Osborne in the same team has the potential to send Blundell Park into meltdown. So they're fairly low down my list of sides I want up.

 

[Si Robin]

Imagine if they signed Harry Pell on promotion

 

[Wooderson]

Orient doing their best to blow it!

 

[Tranmerewhite]

The rule of two will decide who goes up. One tinpot team and one proper team every season is the rule.

Barnet / Bristol rovers
Cheltenham / Grimsby
FGR / Lincoln
Macclesfield / Tranmere

So either Orient or Wrexham plus one of Salford/Fylde/Solihull

 

[Boz]

Wrecsam have been down there so long, I’m prepared to treat them as honorary tinpot, if it gets them back up with the Os.

 

[AdamStag]

Wrecsam have been down there so long, I’m prepared to treat them as honorary tinpot, if it gets them back up with the Os.

They went down with us! Poor buggers.

Thought we’d suffered with 5 years!

 

[Luke Imp]

After a Solihull wobble, Orient are now following suit, which has allowed Salford to hit top spot, albeit having played a game more.

Eastleigh's drop off over the last couple of games has allowed Sutton to close the gap.

Oxford continue their good form and should be fine now but look at all the red in the bottom half! No-one in the top half won at the weekend, which keeps is very tight heading into the final handful of games.

Walsall will be hoping for a 'bounce' having sacked Keates on Saturday evening.

 

[shoddycollins]

After a Solihull wobble, Orient are now following suit, which has allowed Salford to hit top spot, albeit having played a game more.

Eastleigh's drop off over the last couple of games has allowed Sutton to close the gap.

View attachment 10699

Oxford continue their good form and should be fine now but look at all the red in the bottom half! No-one in the top half won at the weekend, which keeps is very tight heading into the final handful of games.

Walsall will be hoping for a 'bounce' having sacked Keates on Saturday evening.

View attachment 10700

So many teams there who have had bounces and then fallen back in. Anyone up to 13th could plausibly go down. Doesn't seem that long ago that Bradford looked like they were going to pull themselves clear. Doesn't seem that long ago that Stanley looked comfortably mid-table and Shrewsbury looked gone.

 

[Wooderson]

So many teams there who have had bounces and then fallen back in. Anyone up to 13th could plausibly go down. Doesn't seem that long ago that Bradford looked like they were going to pull themselves clear. Doesn't seem that long ago that Stanley looked comfortably mid-table and Shrewsbury looked gone.

Would be a real blow for Wycombe or Accy to come back down after one season. Would they get another chance any time soon? As Shoddy says, Accy were comfortably mid-table at one point and even troubling the playoffs, and I remember looking months ago and thinking Wycombe almost had enough points already to secure their L1 status for another year - they must have had a real slump.

 

[Chris FGR]

That division is a big step up. Will be tough for anyone that goes up this season. Especially if it's a team straight out of non league like Tranmere.

 

[shoddycollins]

That division is a big step up. Will be tough for anyone that goes up this season. Especially if it's a team straight out of non league like Tranmere.

True, I think any team that comes up from the Conference should be ineligible for promotion to League 1 for a couple of seasons. Just to ensure they find their footing and don't overextend themselves.

 

[GEORGE]

True, I think any team that comes up from the Conference should be ineligible for promotion to League 1 for a couple of seasons. Just to ensure they find their footing and don't overextend themselves.

Well i'm going to disagree with that statement for obvious reasons.