The Gas (H) April 25th
In what is the biggest week of home fixtures for the club in many years, immediately following the biggest pair of away fixtures for the club in many years yielding a superb six points from six, Schuey once again rotated his squad to great effect.
The return of soon to be crowned League One Young Player of the Season, Bali Mumba, plus the inclusion of Dutch Nigel for his first involvement for a while helped solve the problems of losing Butcher and the resting of Wilson. Callum Wright got the start his late, late winner at Shrewsbury deserved and once again the âfinishersâ bench looked strong.
Cambridge arrived on decent form and with the chance to potentially escape the bottom four, no mean achievement for Mark Bonnar and his men, who looked like they had a âDo Not Resuscitateâ notice pinned up at the Abbey Stadium a few weeks ago.
Another capacity crowd were there, hoping for a vintage performance and dreading a Lincoln or Vale one. Initial signs were good, with a fast start seeming to be too much for the Uâs, and a neat interchange between Gillesphey, Hardie and Wright left the hairbanded one free in the box where he calmly slotted past Mitov.
The expected deluge, however, failed to appear, and with Sam Smith making it clear âIâm not here to make friendsâ he duly netted his sixth goal in six games. âThe Writings on the Wallâ thought many as the game reached half time all square.
But come the âRestartâ Smith and Co were soon back on âLife Supportâ when first Joe 90, showing splendid persistence netted his second goal in two, after Wrights mazy dribble was crowded out. Then Mumba and sub Ennis combined exquisitely to set up Niall for his tenth league goal of the season. A generous Bonnar after the match conceded his side were beaten by the better team, and the display was the most fluent home performance for a few games, which bodes well as the relentless pace at the top of the division continues.
Frustratingly Ipswich continued their impressive form with a three-nil victory at Posh, due in no small measure to two fine saves by Walton to keep them ahead before they cruised away in the second half. The defeat meant Posh slipped out of the play-off berths as Derby scraped a one nil home win via a McGoldrick penalty against next Saturdayâs opponents Burton Albion.
Bolton beat Tuesdayâs stubborn opponents Shrewsbury at the Toughsheet, and we will be hoping for such bloody mindedness again when they take on the Wendies at the weekend.
Barnsley kept their fingernails dug into the tail of the automatic places with a comfortable win over hapless Oxford, themselves now in serious danger of sliding into the bottom four after Derek Adams finally got a tune out of Cole Stockton for an unlikely away win at Charlton.
That left the Wendies, still clinging to rumours of a Windass resurrection, needing to keep winning to maintain the pressure on the sides above them. That they trailed to a severely weakened Exeter meant that briefly there was the potential for the Tuesday night game against the Gas to be a promotion party. Sadly, the struggling Owls limped home two one, leaving City with no wins for five games and a trip to Ipswich awaiting them next weekend.
Before those Tuesday night fixtures take place there was just time for the end of season EFL awards to be held. No arguments from most clubs over the fact that Schuey was a shoe-in for Manager of the Year, with a budget defying sensational campaign so far, and a trip to Wembley, which whilst erased from most Green memories as rapidly as possible, will at least have contributed to the coffers of the club and help the next building blocks to be put in place. Also, the inclusion in the team of the season of Cooper and Mumba was generally accepted as being the right choices, even though Cooper has missed a large chunk of the season. It also is testament to the form of his understudy Callum Burton, that the loss of such an integral player is now barely remarked upon.
Tuesday night therefore becomes pivotal. A win over the Gas would leave Wednesday unable to contemplate the dropping of a single point to be able to catch Argyle.
It is fair to say though that the controversially delayed Barnsley v Ipswich game will be the focus of most of the attention that evening. A win for Barnsley will close the gap to Ipswich to three points but more importantly for Town will mean that Wednesday can take advantage of any further slip they make in their final games against the Grecians and then a tricky last day trip to Fleetwood.
Town currently have the best form in the division, just a point ahead of Argyle in the last six games, but Barnsley (and Wednesday) are also snapping at their heels form wise. Barnsley have won nine home games in a row (including wins over us and Wednesday) and in Devante Cole have a scorer so in form it has been sufficient for Barnsley fans to cancel the Go Fund Me page for a paternity test from Andrew Cole.
A Town win effectively pushes Barnsley into the play-offs, and by dint of the postponement from the international week they will go into the game at full strength. If Barnsley do win then they have games at MK Dons and then a home game against play-off chasing Posh to round off their season.
Whatever the outcome in Yorkshire, all that matters from a Green perspective is that Argyle focus on maintaining the home form that has been so consistent for the season and which by itself would have seen them in 14th place and having saved a fortune on hotels, air tickets and petrol, as well as being the best team in Devon. Again.
Which brings us to the arrival of the Gas, looking to burst our promotion bubbles, and of all the opponents we have faced, none have been more frequent visitors than Rovers.
They also have a reasonably good recent record against us as well and having established themselves back in League One after a somewhat unlikely route back last season when they managed a seven-nil victory on the final day of the season against a very weak, even for them, Scunthorpe, will be motivated by their, letâs call him controversial, manager.
One thing that may work in our favour is the assertion on the Rovers website that League One player of the season Aaron Collins will be looking forward to pitting his wits against Michael Cooper. I assume therefore we will sit him somewhere well wide of the goals for the duration.
Barton is known for his somewhat chequered disciplinary history, plus his renowned ability to hold a grudge. To that end he still seems a bit put out that Neil Dewsnip was at Everton when he was released as a youngster. Mind you, consistency was never his strong suit, as Ched Evans found when he was frozen out at Fleetwood. His crime was to use the spin the wheel punishment slot on Friday afternoon one season to highlight pictures of Barton and his coaching team at various points in their playing careers wearing gloves, having accused those from Fleetwoodâs squad of wanting to do so as being, shall we say less than manly. Yes, Barton makes Ched Evans look like the injured party. No mean achievement.
I donât propose to go into Bartonâs many run-ins with the authorities. He is in a good place right now, in that all the various assault charges against him have been found to be either innocent (Daniel Stendahl perhaps launched himself into that metal post at Barnsley to try and get him into trouble) or were dismissed as the non-testimony of his alleged victim (his wife) meant the judge felt he could not get a fair trial. Apart from anything else kick off is tomorrow evening.
Having fallen out with Andy Pilley at Fleetwood, Barton re-emerged as boss at Rovers where his Qatari owner is seeking to build a club to compete at the highest level. They are still seeking a solution to the restricted capacity at the Memorial Ground, and recently a possible development at the old Fruit market in Bristol has become a favoured option. Perhaps in part for the potential of the sponsorship opportunity. Cadburys Fruit and Nut-case Stadium anyone?
Barton declared after last Saturdays limp defeat to Port Vale that it was audition season for his squad. This may explain the appearance of Jed Ward in goal, although not the Irish halfwits that single-handedly destroyed any credibility X Factor had as a serious show about music. If Rovers do dip into the European market, then expect Conchita Wurst as a deep lying midfielder as they try to âRise Like a Phoenixâ.
Rovers do try and play possession-based football, something that Barton has used as a stick to beat so-called bigger clubs like Wednesday and Derby, who he felt played long ball football despite having much bigger budgets. In some ways it is a shame the purported behind the scenes documentary at Fleetwood by DAZN never saw the light of day due to Bartonâs potential court appearances over his wife claiming assault.
If show business was the way Joey wanted to go, then he could have aimed for the movies, perhaps as Pal Joey, a neâer do well con artist, or maybe Barton Fink, the hapless writer who gets involved in a murder plot simply whilst trying to do his job.
Myself, I prefer to think of him in terms of the classic days of Radio adventure serials. The Devils Galop playing in the background for me, Joey will always be synonymous with Dick Barton.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7bsL00aCGg
Come to think of it, that music feels like the headlong dash to promotion we are undertaking as we speak.
Two more wins!
COYG!!!!!
In what is the biggest week of home fixtures for the club in many years, immediately following the biggest pair of away fixtures for the club in many years yielding a superb six points from six, Schuey once again rotated his squad to great effect.
The return of soon to be crowned League One Young Player of the Season, Bali Mumba, plus the inclusion of Dutch Nigel for his first involvement for a while helped solve the problems of losing Butcher and the resting of Wilson. Callum Wright got the start his late, late winner at Shrewsbury deserved and once again the âfinishersâ bench looked strong.
Cambridge arrived on decent form and with the chance to potentially escape the bottom four, no mean achievement for Mark Bonnar and his men, who looked like they had a âDo Not Resuscitateâ notice pinned up at the Abbey Stadium a few weeks ago.
Another capacity crowd were there, hoping for a vintage performance and dreading a Lincoln or Vale one. Initial signs were good, with a fast start seeming to be too much for the Uâs, and a neat interchange between Gillesphey, Hardie and Wright left the hairbanded one free in the box where he calmly slotted past Mitov.
The expected deluge, however, failed to appear, and with Sam Smith making it clear âIâm not here to make friendsâ he duly netted his sixth goal in six games. âThe Writings on the Wallâ thought many as the game reached half time all square.
But come the âRestartâ Smith and Co were soon back on âLife Supportâ when first Joe 90, showing splendid persistence netted his second goal in two, after Wrights mazy dribble was crowded out. Then Mumba and sub Ennis combined exquisitely to set up Niall for his tenth league goal of the season. A generous Bonnar after the match conceded his side were beaten by the better team, and the display was the most fluent home performance for a few games, which bodes well as the relentless pace at the top of the division continues.
Frustratingly Ipswich continued their impressive form with a three-nil victory at Posh, due in no small measure to two fine saves by Walton to keep them ahead before they cruised away in the second half. The defeat meant Posh slipped out of the play-off berths as Derby scraped a one nil home win via a McGoldrick penalty against next Saturdayâs opponents Burton Albion.
Bolton beat Tuesdayâs stubborn opponents Shrewsbury at the Toughsheet, and we will be hoping for such bloody mindedness again when they take on the Wendies at the weekend.
Barnsley kept their fingernails dug into the tail of the automatic places with a comfortable win over hapless Oxford, themselves now in serious danger of sliding into the bottom four after Derek Adams finally got a tune out of Cole Stockton for an unlikely away win at Charlton.
That left the Wendies, still clinging to rumours of a Windass resurrection, needing to keep winning to maintain the pressure on the sides above them. That they trailed to a severely weakened Exeter meant that briefly there was the potential for the Tuesday night game against the Gas to be a promotion party. Sadly, the struggling Owls limped home two one, leaving City with no wins for five games and a trip to Ipswich awaiting them next weekend.
Before those Tuesday night fixtures take place there was just time for the end of season EFL awards to be held. No arguments from most clubs over the fact that Schuey was a shoe-in for Manager of the Year, with a budget defying sensational campaign so far, and a trip to Wembley, which whilst erased from most Green memories as rapidly as possible, will at least have contributed to the coffers of the club and help the next building blocks to be put in place. Also, the inclusion in the team of the season of Cooper and Mumba was generally accepted as being the right choices, even though Cooper has missed a large chunk of the season. It also is testament to the form of his understudy Callum Burton, that the loss of such an integral player is now barely remarked upon.
Tuesday night therefore becomes pivotal. A win over the Gas would leave Wednesday unable to contemplate the dropping of a single point to be able to catch Argyle.
It is fair to say though that the controversially delayed Barnsley v Ipswich game will be the focus of most of the attention that evening. A win for Barnsley will close the gap to Ipswich to three points but more importantly for Town will mean that Wednesday can take advantage of any further slip they make in their final games against the Grecians and then a tricky last day trip to Fleetwood.
Town currently have the best form in the division, just a point ahead of Argyle in the last six games, but Barnsley (and Wednesday) are also snapping at their heels form wise. Barnsley have won nine home games in a row (including wins over us and Wednesday) and in Devante Cole have a scorer so in form it has been sufficient for Barnsley fans to cancel the Go Fund Me page for a paternity test from Andrew Cole.
A Town win effectively pushes Barnsley into the play-offs, and by dint of the postponement from the international week they will go into the game at full strength. If Barnsley do win then they have games at MK Dons and then a home game against play-off chasing Posh to round off their season.
Whatever the outcome in Yorkshire, all that matters from a Green perspective is that Argyle focus on maintaining the home form that has been so consistent for the season and which by itself would have seen them in 14th place and having saved a fortune on hotels, air tickets and petrol, as well as being the best team in Devon. Again.
Which brings us to the arrival of the Gas, looking to burst our promotion bubbles, and of all the opponents we have faced, none have been more frequent visitors than Rovers.
They also have a reasonably good recent record against us as well and having established themselves back in League One after a somewhat unlikely route back last season when they managed a seven-nil victory on the final day of the season against a very weak, even for them, Scunthorpe, will be motivated by their, letâs call him controversial, manager.
One thing that may work in our favour is the assertion on the Rovers website that League One player of the season Aaron Collins will be looking forward to pitting his wits against Michael Cooper. I assume therefore we will sit him somewhere well wide of the goals for the duration.
Barton is known for his somewhat chequered disciplinary history, plus his renowned ability to hold a grudge. To that end he still seems a bit put out that Neil Dewsnip was at Everton when he was released as a youngster. Mind you, consistency was never his strong suit, as Ched Evans found when he was frozen out at Fleetwood. His crime was to use the spin the wheel punishment slot on Friday afternoon one season to highlight pictures of Barton and his coaching team at various points in their playing careers wearing gloves, having accused those from Fleetwoodâs squad of wanting to do so as being, shall we say less than manly. Yes, Barton makes Ched Evans look like the injured party. No mean achievement.
I donât propose to go into Bartonâs many run-ins with the authorities. He is in a good place right now, in that all the various assault charges against him have been found to be either innocent (Daniel Stendahl perhaps launched himself into that metal post at Barnsley to try and get him into trouble) or were dismissed as the non-testimony of his alleged victim (his wife) meant the judge felt he could not get a fair trial. Apart from anything else kick off is tomorrow evening.
Having fallen out with Andy Pilley at Fleetwood, Barton re-emerged as boss at Rovers where his Qatari owner is seeking to build a club to compete at the highest level. They are still seeking a solution to the restricted capacity at the Memorial Ground, and recently a possible development at the old Fruit market in Bristol has become a favoured option. Perhaps in part for the potential of the sponsorship opportunity. Cadburys Fruit and Nut-case Stadium anyone?
Barton declared after last Saturdays limp defeat to Port Vale that it was audition season for his squad. This may explain the appearance of Jed Ward in goal, although not the Irish halfwits that single-handedly destroyed any credibility X Factor had as a serious show about music. If Rovers do dip into the European market, then expect Conchita Wurst as a deep lying midfielder as they try to âRise Like a Phoenixâ.
Rovers do try and play possession-based football, something that Barton has used as a stick to beat so-called bigger clubs like Wednesday and Derby, who he felt played long ball football despite having much bigger budgets. In some ways it is a shame the purported behind the scenes documentary at Fleetwood by DAZN never saw the light of day due to Bartonâs potential court appearances over his wife claiming assault.
If show business was the way Joey wanted to go, then he could have aimed for the movies, perhaps as Pal Joey, a neâer do well con artist, or maybe Barton Fink, the hapless writer who gets involved in a murder plot simply whilst trying to do his job.
Myself, I prefer to think of him in terms of the classic days of Radio adventure serials. The Devils Galop playing in the background for me, Joey will always be synonymous with Dick Barton.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7bsL00aCGg
Come to think of it, that music feels like the headlong dash to promotion we are undertaking as we speak.
Two more wins!
COYG!!!!!
