Fence uncomfortable much Kev?

We've had worst Poppies supporting days than Monday 14th October 2024 I suppose.  We started the day by signing, arguably one of the best strikers in the league and ended it by drawing the Cobblers in the FA Cup.  Not too shabby.  Certainly known worse days.  Quite a few in fact.

The signing of Jonny Edwards is the most obvious example that, despite the protestations of our new owners and Lavs that a play-off spot is their aim this season, we are tilting for the title.  It's going to be tough.  One look at the League table shows how incredibly tight the top 10 is.  A run of wins you are on top of the pile.  A run of defeats and you are looking over your shoulder at the relegation scrap.  Few that have seen us at our best this season would doubt that we have as good a chance as anyone else to win the league.  

Edwards is the real deal, as anyone who saw his debut at Bromsgrove will attest.  He came on at half time, scored a penalty and were it not for numerous goal-line blocks and a keeper equal parts lucky and inspired, he would have finished with the match ball under his arm.  I thought it was amusing, though, that in the official club website write-up of Jonny's signing they mentioned his 3 goals in 2 games against us last season.  If anything, this diminishes his quality.  So abject were we against St Ives last season that only scoring 3 goals suggests he wasn't very good or trying very hard.  Such was the ease with which the Poppies were carved up at "The Quattro-Tech Westwood Stadium" last season that at one point even I scored a goal which was subsequently flagged offside.

The FA Cup draw was, obviously, the main news of the week.  The next morning on radio Northampton Kev Shoemake and Luke Graham were dragged onto the airwaves to talk about the County clash.  Disappointingly, BOTH of them remained stubbornly neutral about the match  Considering that between them they have something in the region of 250 appearances for us and (checks notes) ZERO appearances for the Cobblers, would it have been so hard to back your former team?  You do know that hoping your former team can spring a shock against the mighty Northampton Town ISN'T a hate crime?  Even on Radio Northampton.  We are as much in Northamptonshire as they are.  Do you think any former Cobbler players asked the same question wouldn't automatically back their former employers?  Of course they would.  And rightly so.  C'mon guys - we know you'd both love us to turn the Cobblers over.  Would it kill you to admit it?  

It's probably this lack of commitment-to-the-cause why Kev never quite, despite repeated efforts, managed to snag that elusive Poppies Testimonial game.  But hey, there's still time.....!  😉

Expect some more from Patgod about the upcoming FA Cup clash and perhaps a dig into the archives about our last encounter from back in more analogue days, where if both Neil Horwood and Shoey could handle a ball properly, the outcome might have been different.

Still got it!
Brett and Craig are equally amused that Shoey's
beer-gut repels another attack in the recent Legends game.

(c) Shorty

Hooked On A Feeling

As a very occasional poster on this blog, I think I need to check in about now or my access is revoked. So here goes… Where were we?  About the last time I troubled the scorers, we were just pulling clear of another demotion thanks to a couple of wins, the club was up for sale but no one seemed to be interested, turning up to games was done out of a sense of duty or masochism, and the pitch was still a spilled pint away from being unplayable.      

Pretty remarkable what’s happened since.

Plenty of people have said the same but I echo that this feels like one of those once in a generation resets. A combination of new management, new ownership, new players and new-found belief. All interlinked and self seeding. Without the management would the players have come? Without the ownership would the belief be there? Without the belief would the ownership be there? Without the players would the fans be there? Without the, er, well, whatever! It’s happening!

George speaks very well about his vision for the club and at present seems to have about a 110% approval rating. The last owner who breezed in with such an impact was only held back by a few minor flaws, like appointing his fanboy hero as manager despite obvious disqualifications, pandering for publicity and moving the club miles out of town on a very dubious business case. George so far shows no sign of doing any of these things. As would any normal, rational human being. Plus you can’t help but trust someone called George. But not Zippy.

Lavs has assembled a squad not just to compete but to entertain, a conscious policy whereas plenty of others would’ve gone for the solid, grind out results option. We saw something similar many years ago with Gary Johnson, but the difference is that this bunch can also defend. Expansive, attacking football has put >300 on our home crowds, which in turn is starting to fund ambitious signings like Edwards. And Nile until his rehabilitation gets him noticed again.   

Lastly there’s the home game experience. Latimer Park doesn’t have a whole lot going for it but it does have a large clubhouse and adjacent space (unlike Rockingham Road, even I must admit), so smart move to make the most of it.  Good food and live music – it’s crazy but it might just work. And if that still holds water on a January midweek, we will truly know that this club is now blessed. 

Ready to buzz on Saturday!

Unluckiest Poppies Shirt Ever?

Unluckiest Poppies Shirt Ever?  Boy, that's category with a lot of runners and riders.  And an awful lot of front runners.  A lot of dodgy seasons swathed in a lot of dodgy kits.  But there's one shirt that always struck me as THE unluckiest Poppies shirt ever.  This one.

Why?  Well, to ruin your day, let's all look back at our last season in National North under the inspiring leadership of Lee Glover.  Lots of draws and defeats.  Just enough wins to keep us interested.  Great days (!)  A season where if we'd shown just 1% more gumption over nine months we'd still be in National North, enjoying regular Northern gumpings and 4 hour coach journeys.

That season, the away goalkeeper shirt, manfully modelled by the freakishly long-limbed Cameron Gregory struck me as a thing of exquisite beauty.  Grey and black with a two-tone Poppies badge.  Absolutely gorgeous.  Unfortunately, the half-mad, and three quarters blind officialdom of the National League decreed that the shirt was too close in colour to the referee and linesmen.  Obviously our betters believe not only that black and grey are the same colour but also that refs, linesmen and goalkeepers are stood alongside each other so much over the course of the average game that confusion might well reign.....

So, this fabulous shirt was hidden away from decent society for most of the season.  And then, IT happened.  We had an away game at fellow strugglers Bradford Park Avenue.  The day started well.  We parked no more than 20 feet from the entrance to the ground.  We then enjoyed a spectacularly fine pre-match meal in the their social club.  Gangly Gregory took to the pitch in THAT shirt and it looked fantastic.  And then we went into an early, deserved lead.  All was looking good for 3-points on the road and a moderate stride towards league survival.

And then.....

Gregory got caught up in some unfortunate shenanigans and received a red card.  Exactly why he was sent off I can't say.  I was at the other end of the ground on a dull afternoon and all I can recall is lots of chest-bumping and finger-pointing, followed by an early bath for our net-minder.  The still-gorgeous shirt was handed to George Forsyth who was equally moderately OK in goal as he ever was in midfield.

But, the damage was done.  Down to 10-men, BPA pummelled us.  It was well after the 90 minutes was up that Bradford finally snatched an equaliser.  In hindsight a devastating equaliser.  We can't blame the grey shirt directly, but....

• In it's first appearance, the goalie was sent off.
• In it's first appearance we dropped 2-points, which, in the final analysis, would have been enough to keep us up.
• In it's first appearance we saw the last appearance of Cameron Gregory who was more than happy to sit out his ban whilst nursing a new, improved contract at Boston United rather than continue fighting with us.

That's a lot to dump on a single shirt that was, to my knowledge, worn in just this one game.  That said, I have attempted a one man campaign to redeem this shirt's reputation.  A campaign that reached it's zenith last season when it and I finally managed a Klondike win at just the millionth attempt.

F*ck the North!

It is in the nature of being "The Hero" that the hero has a flaw to raise the confrontational stakes and encourage their enemies.  Their Achilles heel.  Superman has his Kyptonite.  James T Kirk could never resist a bit of Intergalactic-soft-focus-totty.  Captain Ahab wouldn't let go of his Dick.  Moby, that is.  The ancient Greek warrior Achilles had his, well, Achilles heel I suppose.  

And, after facing our third opponent from t'north this season it has become pretty obvious where the otherwise free flowing Poppies of 2024 come unstuck.  Namely against any team that plies their trade north of the Trent.

Our victory over Stafford Rangers in the FA Cup should have been an early warning.  Sure, we won.  And played them off the park for 75% of the game.  But we were forced to hold on at the end for a 2-1 win rather more than the initial 45 minutes would have suggested.

And then Cleethorpes came to Latimer Park and missed chance after chance before we squeaked home with a last gasp penalty.  And now, Gainsborough have come along and well and truly made us pay for our earlier good fortune and avenged Cleethorpes by calmly putting us away with very little fuss.  

The way both Cleethorpes and Gainsborough out-played us was very similar and very telling.  Their football was simple but incredibly effective.  Every time we had the ball one or two of their players nipped around our ankles until we either passed back or were dispossessed.  When they got the ball from us they passed it forwards fast into channels or to feet and were having a shot on goal moments later.  Nothing very clever.  

But against Nu-Poppies, who are always looking to spread play or tip-tap prettily in the middle of the park, the tactics were overwhelmingly successful.  This is how Northern teams play.  A bit of steel.  A lot of hassling.  No fussing about when in front of goal.  We've got to toughen up in these sort of games and perhaps have a Plan "B" when pretty, pretty isn't working all the time.

Suddenly, next week's FA Cup tie up at Farsley is looking a whole lot tougher than it did last week.

He's Northern
He drinks beer
He smokes tabs
He has Poppies for breakfast

A Tale of Two Debuts

Who can forget the complete humbling the Poppies suffered at St Ives on Boxing Day last year?  A performance so abject that the 6-0 defeat actually flattered US.  Jim's honeymoon period coming to a crashing end. Rhys Sharpe having the worst single game I've ever seen a player give in a Poppies shirt, and I've seen Nathan Koo-Boothe play while not entirely fit, and hadn't received his wages.  This was the day when the possibility of back-to-back relegations suddenly didn't look the least bit remote.

Among the many watching-through-fingers moments of that hideous afternoon in Cambridgshire the completely anonymous, walking speed debut of Bruno Andrade went under the radar.  I seem to recall seeing him flitting around on the fringes of the game without contributing much (not alone by any stretch of the imagination) and assumed we were literally just playing anyone who answered the manager's call.  By season's end, when Lavery had bullied our lazy collection of Leese signings, sprinkled with a few successful loanees into a half-decent team that dragged itself out of the relegation scrap, Bruno had turned in a few decent appearances and vital goals.

Such was the upturn in form and performances that Bruno featured as one of the very few players we wouldn't have minded seeing returning for this season.  I seem to recall the entire list was, Marzano, possibly Bruno and Dan Jarvis (who obviously wouldn't be back as he's just become "Player of the Season.")  To most people's surprise Bruno popped up pre-season as one of Maidstone's "glamour signings".  We shrugged our shoulders and awaited the results of Lavery's labours.

Fast forward a few months and we're back at St Ives, and blow me down, Bruno is lining up to make his second debut for us at the scene of his inglorious first debut.  The club and team, though, is barely recognisable from the scared shambles they were just a few short months earlier.  Yesterday, backed by 10 quality teammates Bruno took the chance to twist, turn and shine for the Poppies and capped it off with a fine goal.  Despite missing several good players to injury the Poppies are looking the real deal.  Had we not played within ourselves during the second half yesterday we might well have entirely erased last season's humbling at St Ives's hands.  At the moment we are looking so sharp, we could probably even afford to carry a few Andy Leese signings and still win games.  Yes, we are looking THAT good.

Poppies celebrate yet another goal against St Ives.
It will NEVER be a chore typing that!

Waterworld 2: The World Has Turned Upside-down

 

The pitch being readied at Latimer Park TODAY, when huge swathes of the Midlands are under so much water that there is a distinct chance of spontaneous de-evolution happening and many people reverting to breathing through gills.....

....compared to relatively recent times like this, when someone spilling the frothy head off of their pint in the Social Club caused a month's worth of postponements!

Ah yes, I remember it well.....

Last night there was another excellent evening arranged and hosted by Paula Conde-Sharpe in the 1872 lounge at Latimer Park.  In front of a well fed-and-watered audience, Colin Vowden and Craig Norman reminisced about times and players they encountered during their times at the Poppies.  Until it was mentioned on the night it hadn't occurred to me that we were listening to the only two, possibly ever, Kettering Town FC players to score for us at Wembley Stadium.  Wow.  

It is always great to hear former players talk in such warm, humorous tones about their time with OUR club.  Whether it's players slightly before your time discussing mad days and madder players you've heard of but didn't personally recall, or people like Shoey and Barry Fry who can basically talk forever and riff off each other until the cows come home, these evenings are invariably enormous fun.  And it is never, EVER unwelcome to hear someone tell you that their time with us was the best of their career.  Whether it's true or not (!)

Last night we had a couple of players that everyone over 40 will remember well, talking about times, players and events WE all recall (on good days....)  I heard the names of so many players and officials that I hadn't thought of in years.  Suddenly it was 1999 all over again and I was a snotty know-nothing 30-something listening to guys who made my life just a little bit better, and getting a chance to thank them for that.

It did set me thinking though.  Perhaps these evenings can only work with sportspeople?  Just imagine if we too were asked to go into a room of people we didn't particularly know, but they knew all about us, and breezily chat about our jobs and fellow employees from 20, 30 or even 40 years ago!  Can you imagine?  How sh*t would that be?  

Who would want to hear about the time someone wildly overordered stationery?  Or be regaled with tales of IT issues you manfully managed to overcome (spoiler - turned it off and on again). Or the time Marie in the finishing department said you'd look good with a mullet, only to find out when you were well on the way to committing that folliclular faux pas that she was already going out with one of the spotty-herbert no-marks from Plant 2.  Or even try to desperately remember the names of people who were fully part of your life for a year or two, so long ago?  And then try to make these patchy recollections in any way amusing.....Nope, these evenings aren't for us regular folk!