This weekend sees the mighty Town take a trip to Stevenage. Down to London, no, up a bit, no that's Luton - you've gone too far, down a bit. Yes, that's it. Not a particularly nice place, although I've seen worse. And they are alright at that football malarkey; two consecutive promotions were followed by a near miss last season and a cup run that saw them take Tottenham to a replay in the FA Cup suggest they've got something about them. However, they are not a side that SHOULD be good. Limited budget, tiny stadium and yet they've gone from conference nobodies into one of the most annoying League One sides around. Chiefly thanks to the hoofball, thuggery and cheating they employed under Graham Westley. Thankfully, he's now left them but I have no idea if his "physical" legacy lingers on like an unpleasant aftertaste. They've also started this season in pretty solid fashion. They beat Oldham and Orient away from home by the margin of a goal to nil, and drew 1-1 at home to Carlisle. A real feast of goals so far, definitely suggesting Westley's style has completely gone. However, they scored three times in one game in the League Cup first round win over Wimbledon, so maybe there is hope. Especially with our side having matched them for league goals in matches so far; 4 goals in the three games we've been involved in. Obviously this will be far from an easy game; it'll be a significant test and one which will require our defence to remain as impressive as in the last two games, with a little more coming from our forwards if we want to score. I have confidence though, Turner may even bring in a new signing before the week's up. Did you know... Jack Wilshere was born in Stevenage. Lenny's Grandison fact: Archaeologists unearthed an old english dictionary dating back to the year 1236. It defined victim as "one who has encountered Grandison." What the bookies think: Stevenage - 11/10; Draw - 12/5; Shrewsbury - 2/1 Lenny's Prediction: Stevenage 8-7 Shrewsbury (Gornell x4, Morgan, Wright, Weale); Attendance 961 Finally, just a quick note to let people know that the next round of the betting league is ready - anyone who hasn't yet joined in but would like to may still do so; you have £150 with which to place your bets for this week.
another good one lenny, stevo face soton at home tomorrow night at home in the cup. i go for a 3-1 win for shrews, our marv, el tel, and wright att 3031.
I go for a tight 1-1 draw with Gornell opening his account for the season (attendance 3300). There has been the odd rumour from Swindon that PDC has fallen out with Benson - if we could make a move for Benson that would be a great signing as he is a proven goalscorer.
Excellent player. I remember being gutted when we missed out on him a couple of years back while he was still with Dagenham. Comfortably better than Collins (at the moment).
Stevenage 1 Srewsbury town 1 Thalassitis Morgan 3654 this will be a right tight game so a draw would do me
stevenage lost 1-4 at home to soton in the cup. i am sticking with my prediction of 3-1 to shrews, see above. soton have merely softened up! floreat salopia!
it sounds as though 2 more points were tossed away by shrews, because gt insists on playing 2 lemons up front. and one momentary lack of concentration at the back, cost town 2 points. if graham turner continues to play 2 failures up front, our campaign will falter. 2 new strikers please or drop el tel and our marv, and play bradders and doble. and yes i am criticising gt. er floreat salopia
Just back (always wanted to be first to say that). Two panicky defences today apart from Jones who was oustanding. Summerfield had probably his best game so far. It's all very well to blame the strikers but it was Parry and Wright who had the best chances. Gornell and Morgan ran the Stevenage defence ragged at times and probably should have scored one between them. It is all very well to say give Bradshaw more time but he was feeble when he came on today. I think he is beginning to believe that he is better than he actually is. An interesting statistic in the programme today. Shrewsbury have more shots off target than any team in League One so far and that was added to by quite a few today.
thanks for the info KDS but still a very good result for us today, did you think that we deserved to win it or was the draw a fair result?
We certainly had the better chances including one that hit the post when Parry should have got something on it. Very similar to the Wright chance at Bramhall Lane. Stevenage also hit the post in the first half but with no one near to convert it enabling Richards to clear off the line.Craig Charles!!! should have been closed down quicker for the Stevenage goal
Atcham, You are far too hard on Morgan and Gornell who are two decent hard-working players and much better than Bradshaw or Doble on what I have seen. Yes, it is unfortunate we have not yet replaced Collins but I am sure GT is working on it and you will not solve the current problem by putting in two weaker players.
Is it a combination thing? Are they a good pairing? Or is it just a matter of time for them to gel? ...or should we try 3-4-3 against a weaker team? Ain't that the fun of footy; all questions and no answers!!!
Gornell had his best game of the season so far, today and appeared to be reading MMM's flick ons better. I felt really sorry for him when he was hauled off to be replaced by the "over-rated" Bradshaw.
