After a mixed bag of an international window that saw the Bluebirds have 23 players representing Wales across the various age groups, we now return to our ‘bread and butter’ football, or in the case of the mighty Bluebirds, champagne and lobster football (well, we do shellfishly keep the ball for very long periods of time eh? – I know, don’t worry, the rain mac is going on as I type). This weekend sees our all-conquering side head north to the outer reaches of Manchester for a visit to Edgley Park, the home of Stockport County. Sitting proudly at the top of the table, despite not even playing last weekend, we make the trek up-country having seen our gaffer win the coveted, but curse inducing manager of the month award, our goalkeeper Nathan Trott nominated and harshly overlooked for player of the month, and Dylan Lawlor pick up young player of the month. Quite some feat and one I’m not sure I’ve ever seen us achieve before. So, with our excuses in for any kind of slip up, all eyes will be in how our young guns can come back together following the enforced break to take on tough opponents on their own patch once more. Will the break have disrupted our momentum? Will the international appearances have drained our youngsters mentally as well as physically?? Hopefully BBM will continue to wave his magic, break the curse and keep our Bluebirds flying high! Who Are You? Stockport County Football Club were originally formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, but renamed Stockport County in 1890 after the County Borough of Stockport. The team have played in blue and white kits since 1914 following a switch from their original colours of red and white. Nicknamed "The Hatters" after the town's former hat-making industry (as previously pointed out by one of our eagle eyes posters), Stockport have played at Edgeley Park since 1902. County’s best ever league placing is an 8th place finish in the 2nd tier (Championship). The Hatters must have started this season full of optimism after reaching the League 1 play-offs last season only to be cruelly beaten on penalties by Leyton Orient after the two-legged semi-final. County are managed by Dave Challinor (he of the record long throws for Tranmere during the 90’s – surpassing our very own Andy Legg with a distance of 152ft (or 46.34 metres for us metric fans)), with the former Stockport player being in charge since November 2021, guiding the club from the National league up to League 1 in that time, giving him an impressive win % of almost 55%. Their squad has one or two familiar names in it, with Northern Irishman Oli Norwood pulling the strings in midfield, forward/wideman Nathan Lowe (on loan from Stoke) and Ben Osborne (on loan from the Snow Queens) also playing in the middle of the park. Current top scorer is former Notts County forward Kyle Wootten with 3 goals so far this term. The forward was 2nd top scorer last season for the Hatters. Just 4 behind the tenacious Louie Barry who is now with Sheffield Utd. It’s probably also worth keeping an eye on Jamaican International forward Malik Mothersille and midfielder Jack Diamond (formerly of Sunderland). First And Last Our first ever game v Stockport County was way back in August 1920 when an away game at Edgeley Park saw the Bluebirds triumph with a 5-2 scoreline in front of a crowd of 13,000. The goals for City that day came from John Evans, Jimmy Gill (2), Billy Grimshaw & Fred Keenor. The end of the 1920-21 season saw the Bluebirds promoted to the top tier in 2d spot behind Birmingham – missing out on the title on goal average (City’s 1.844 being a fraction short of Brum’s 2.079). City would also go on to reach the A Cup Semi-Final that season, narrowly missing out on a place in the final after taking Wolverhampton Wanderers to a replay having drawn 0-0 with the midlands side at Anfield but succumbing 3-1 in the replay at Old Trafford, the 3 goals conceded being the only ones in the entire cup run. Jimmy Gill - Not to be confused with Jimmy Hill. Very different chins!! Last time out saw the Bluebirds play out a 1-1 draw at Edgley Park in a game which pitted the promotion chasing City against relegation threatened County. The game wasn’t really going to plan for the Bluebirds with Stockport edging matters at Edgley Park, taking a deserved lead and looking good for all 3 points until the man with the magic hat popped up against the Hatters for a City equaliser in the 81st minute. Form Well, what can I say, the enforced break means that we go into this one still undefeated, having dropped just 2 points so far, still only having conceded a single league goal (with that being from the penalty spot after a dubious award) and are now the only unbeaten side in the division. Our hosts come into this one off the back of a chastening 4-2 defeat away at Plymouth, a side we confidently put to the sword just prior to the international break. It should be noted though that Stockport have suffered just the one defeat at home from three games in the league this season and actually have the 2nd most potent attack as things stand with 12 goals scored in 7 games. Conversely though they also have the 5th worst defensive record, conceding 11, giving our free flowing, attack minded side some hope of scoring a few I should imagine. On The Pitch This weekend could see debuts for both Gabriel Osho and Omari Kellyman, however, if either do start then it will be interesting to see who drops out. Osho is the more likely of the pair to stake a starting berth with Kellyman still being handled carefully having not played any real competitive football for some time. Rubin Colwill is also a slight doubt having picked up a knock against Plymouth which also ruled him out of a place in the Welsh camp, a spot that rather fittingly was filled by his younger brother Joel as a result (talk about keeping it in the family!!) but one suspects Rubin will be passed fit, at least to start. We could also see the return of Dave Turnbull but Alex Robertson is deemed to still be a little further behind in his race for full fitness. Predicted Starting 11 Trott Bagan Osho Lawlor Ng Wintle Ashford Colwill (R) Turnbull Willock Salech The Odds Slight favourites again this week it seems. Personally I think a draw may well be on the cards (not that I’ll be predicting that in the prediction league ) but I suspect there could well be goals galore in this one! C’mon The City!!!! Just for good measure and because I couldn't find any footage of our last game v Stockport, I thought I;d just add the highlights from our last game instead... most enjoyable
Another good read, Briz. Not going to be any banter with supporters from their board though. Their last post was over a year ago. Edgeley Park is just 23 miles from my house. Don't know anyone who supports them which is when I usually go to games.
Really not sure the break came at a good time for us? It was interesting to hear BBM talking about getting very specific training schedules in place to Do strength work in order to help players avoid injuries etc. Fingers crossed we don't see some of the hammy's etc that we seemed to be plagued with in years gone by.
The guys who played for Wales seemed to have come through unscathed. As for hammies, always a risk which seems to affect players at many clubs. I don't remember it occurring so often on muddy or sandy pitches but then the players are trained to a much higher fitness level now. Strange if a root cause is playing on lush grass surfaces. Another super write up BB although I can't see Fish being happy on the subs bench when he has not put a foot wrong. Also for a potentially tough away game I can see Joel starting due to his more physical game and the amount of ground he covers. Tough but good decisions for BBM to have.
BBM does seem to put a different slant on things. I don't think much fazes him. He's got a plan and gets on with it. I think that rubs off on the players. Still a long way to go, but he's always talking about the next game being the most important. The management team have a process. Rinse and repeat.
Crikey is it that long since our last trip there? I went but sat in the home stand with my mate also a City fan but living in nearby Poynton. The thing I recall most was Steve Jenkins swallowing his tongue but fortunately the medics sorted it out. ps Noticed ex bluebird Rickie Lambert playing for Stockport then pps Excellent btw Brizzle
The team have played in blue and white kits since 1914 following a switch from their original colours of red and white. I wonder if the Stockport fans of 1914 protested about the colour change? Somehow I suspect there were more important things for them to worry about over the next four years.
Poor Masky has been down all week with a dose of the TROTTS, which affected my WILLOCK and my huge WINTLE. it all BAGAN with me taking a blow to the COLWILLS. I took medication swilling it down with a glass of ROBINSONS but it made me SALECH unfortunately, and suffered some BBM …. Hoping I’ve TURNBULLED the CORNER now with no more PENALTIES!
Nice one again Brizzo. Been a bit busy this week and not posted much, but here goes on this one. This apparent obsession with "keeping a clean sheet" could cost us points today - maybe not all three, but possibly two of the three available. Just happened to watch them a couple of times last season when we didn't have a game. Stockport were a decent side in this division and unlucky not to go up after finishing in 3rd. Second top scorers behind Brum and they didn't concede many at home. Though it's early, they're not consistent so far this season and it'll depend on whether they turn up for a win or just try to contain us. The ideal scenario for us would be to get an early goal make them come out and go for it and hope to catch them again on the break. If we do get on the scoreboard before them, we'll go on and win this. I'll go for a 0-2 scoreline. EDIT - oops, better put that on the prediction thread.
Strange decisions? Kellyman not on the bench. Osho not starting. Maybe it’s a horses for courses team selection.
Excellent management - Lawlor and Kpakio will have their heads in the clouds after the Wales call ups.
Why are we playing with a changed winning team,from what i have seen so far weve gone back 12 months,it is at the moment pathetic they cant even keep the ball.not one shot on goal.42 minutes gone.
