Ah, that magical thirty minutes against Leamington.....

 A quick look at the past decade's results against Leamington makes for uncomfortable, almost Direones-like reading.  Over the eight games that makes up our modern history against the Brakes they have shaded the encounters by seven victories to zero, with a single draw.

But why?  What makes Leamington special?  Other than having us as their whippy boys?  I mean, the club isn't one of the old Football League dinosaurs who think they should be promoted simply because of who they used to be.  Or one of the bank-rolled, big-money nothing clubs who rocket through the divisions before exploding when the money is pulled.

No, they are simply a small, plodding, Midlands club quietly going about their business.  Just like us.  So why do they own our arse as though it is their personal property?  Bought and paid for.

Who knows.

Oh, sorry, were you expecting an actual answer?  Have you never read Patgod before?

This weekend Leamington stand between us and FA Cup glory and the chance to reel in Tottenham's goal scoring advantage over us ahead of them getting half a dozen plum home ties against lower league fodder in the later rounds.

Despite the abundance of evidence to the contrary we shouldn't fear Leamington.  They are just another team.  We've beaten bigger and better than them.  And if our players are nervous ahead of the match they'd do well to recall the thirty minutes between 7.59PM and 8.29PM on Tuesday 12 April 2016 when WE ACTUALLY HELD A LEAD AGAINST LEAMINGTON!!!

Poppies shaggy f*ckwit and future Leamington shaggy f*ckwit Liam Canavan had given us a shock lead against them in a Southern League Premier match.  And for fully 30 blissful, fun-filled, never-to-be-forgotten, glorious minutes we held a single goal lead over our newest Nemesis.

And then ex Poppy Courtney Baker-Richardson took a probably dodgy tumble in our box, the penalty was scored and our golden age against Leamington drew to a close.  It had been fun while it lasted.  We held on to the draw to put a massive dent in their otherwise perfect record against us, which must really grind their gears.....

Anyway.  I think we've proved they aren't entirely unbeatable....Good luck lads.

Liam's successful audition for his impending
move to Leamington.

Hand it over, hand it over

 

I've got 4 of the 5 numbers right on
today's Klondike draw and I reckon after
my well publisised bad luck and multiple
run ins with smug K*n S*muels this is
close enough.

Now, is Mick Coe still waiting by the exit
with my winnings?

Meanwhile, in the deep South West....

Village in darkest West Cornwall or the
newest addition to the Poppies starting XI?

You can decide!

 

Cox 'ready' for Sainsbury's test

Paul Cox says he is “fully prepared” for his weekend trip to Sainsburys. Cox’s pantry has run low on a number of essentials, but whilst “taking nothing for granted” the Poppies boss is confident of a successful visit. 

“We’ve prepared thoroughly and put in some really good work on the shopping list”, admitted Cox. “Do I expect some things to be out of stock? Yes, but we are learning how to manage those kind of situations and are improving all the time”.

“That’s what you want as a football manager”.

Cox’s last outing to the supermarket saw him successfully hunting for savings in the reduced items aisle, and he insists that his approach won’t change.

“I know I’ve got a budget and I’m happy to work within that. Other football clubs in this league can spend more, but to me it’s about getting the best out of the resources I have”. 

“I’ve learned that as a football manager”.

With a Nectar card and money back vouchers at his disposal for the first time this season, Cox admits he has some “big decisions” to make and may choose to keep the coupons for a future trip.  “It’s a selection headache – but it’s a nice problem to have” he revealed.  

And turning his attention to the checkout, Cox said he was monitoring the strength of his shopping bags. “We have one or two that are showing signs of wear, so if we need to bring in fresh bags we will change it up a bit”.

After some encouraging recent shops, Cox was keen to play down talk of stocking up for Christmas.  “We’ll continue to take it one week at a time. Some decisions will have to be made as we move forward as a football club, and I’ll talk to the chairman and the owner about that when the time comes”.

“I’m just focused on doing my job as a football manager of a football team at this football club”.

Better and better

Well this is weird. Only six games in and we’ve run the gamut from “it’s going to be a long season” to, um, whatever the opposite is.

To be fair, if you saw that opening day it was easy to be pessimistic. Decent first half, ugly second with the ball somehow staying out of our net and the counterpunch seemingly limited to Perry wheeled on to act like an immobile siege engine, flopping on defenders and protesting to the ref. Although we emerged with the 3 points it felt anything but hopeful.

Then came Gateshead, three down in 20 minutes and apocalyptic postings on KTFC chat. But we won the last 70 mins, technically. A small feat which now seems a bit more significant.

Home to Farsley. Already the mood was apprehensive, though the draw was encouraging and felt more hopeful than the previous win. Still we didn’t expect to get anything from the trip to Gloucester, with their full time squad and nice new stadium made out of haulage containers and rubber grass. Up against such talent, what option did our young team average age 17 have except to mercilessly bully them with brutal physicality and general dirtiness. Scandalously we emerged with a victory despite several Chinese burns going unpunished.

Would Fylde burst this developing bubble?  Would they 'eck, as we emerged with great credit from ending their 100% start, then another win at Guiseley which must be especially sweet to Cox, given their history, and tendency to trash him in public.

So here we are, only six games in but far from the easiest in this league, and enough already to feel very good about the way this group of players has coalesced into a team we would hate to face: all hard running, relentless pressing and led by an attacking livewire. And a beanpole who could be the next Peter Crouch, unless you prefer Jake Newman.

If you’re not excited, why not? On our resources this is already impressive, and if PC can keep this group together including the quality loanees Dyche and Neal, who knows. Happily for him, Dyche Jr looks nothing like his dad, though a future Poppies TV interview may reveal if he also sounds like he's gargling through gravel. 

Meanwhile poor Gloucester have lost again and are appealing to the European Court of Human Rights.