Thick or Old?

Well, goodbye Logistics People, we hardly knew ya!  Hot on the heels of the owner of this year's main sponsor supposed, almost-take-over of the club comes the news that their logo is to be replaced on our hefty chests by a company called Coinweb for next season.  No. me neither.

I knew what previous sponsors BM Pallets did for a living.  The clue was there for all to see.  Logistics People was also pretty self-explanatory.

But Coinweb?  Gotta say, nothing obvious springs to mind.  Fortunately, our website has come to the rescue -

"About Coinweb:

 Coinweb.io is a layer-2 cross-chain computation platform that began its journey in mid-2017. With an impressive line-up of team members, Coinweb provides solutions to some of the most critical problems that exist within Distributed Ledger Technology today through its infrastructure, development tools, and consulting services to help companies leverage the power of blockchain technology."

Mmm. or maybe not?  Definitely not pallets.  Thankfully, Coinweb's own website have cleared up any confusion -

• Blockchain 1

  Interoperability
  Multi-chains

 

• Blockchain 2

  Cross ecosystem queries
  Blockchain data index

 

• Blockchain 3

  High performance
  Scalable

 

• Blockchain 4

  Crypto ecosystem
  Smart contract

 

• Blockchain 5

  High performance
  Interoperability
  Programmable
  Multi-chains

Riiiiight.......So, not a Recruitment firm either?

More clean sheets than Sketchleys!

While new loanee keeper Will Lakin became our latest shutter-outer, last week's last-liner, Owen Mason, was registering another "nil" for the Irish Under 19 team against Estonia U19, who were probably less of a threat than Darlo to be honest.....

While the Poppies-supporting part of me is inclined to drone on about the novelty of a player representing their nation while playing for us, the nerdier, Sci-Fi fan in me can't help looking at the team line-up and want to ask the Irish number 3, "Nice shooting son, what's your name?"

Another boring week in Poppyland

No Poppies fan will need reminding of the importance of this week. Three home games against against two teams challenging for the play-offs, as well as angry, little Peterborough Sports, stuffed to the gunnels with equally angry little former Poppies players weighed down by their pay-packets.

Three wins and we're pretty certain to stay up.

Two wins and we throw down a challenge to the other relegation fighters

One win and we suddenly, desperately need to win our home games against Leamington and Chester and hope to chisel out something away from home.

No wins and....well, let's not go there.

Obviously we would all like us to be further up the table.  Most of us think we would take boring, safe mid-table at this stage.  But would we?  Really?  If nothing else, the run-in is going to be exciting.  It's going to be nervy for sure, and we should all remember to pack spare underpants when heading to Latimer Park.  But wouldn't we rather be playing for SOMETHING rather than nothing?  Feel the blood thumping in our veins.  Know that every goal scored or chance spurned really means something.

Any younger Poppies fan who believes supporting the Poppies from the 70's onwards has been all Wembley appearances, 2000+ attendances and glory (!) has heard only half of the story.  For every hundred stories you'll hear about Bristol Rovers, Charlton and Blackburn you'll be lucky to hear even one story about finishing one place outside the relegation zone for most of the first half of the 1980's.  Or where only heroic second half of the season efforts during the 90's and 00's turned around one way tickets to oblivion.

Even when we finally succumbed to relegation from the Conference in 2001 we so nearly hung on thanks to a late rally under Carl Shutt.  The season ended in disappointment ultimately, but no-one can say we didn't go through the emotional-wringer and FEEL it right until the end of the season.

Not that I'm saying I live for relegation scraps.  I don't.  Particularly as I leave my mid-50's behind and am taking tablets for my ticker!  But the beauty and horror of football is that games MEAN SOMETHING.  It's not rugby, after all.  You have a great season and you could be promoted.  A bad season finds you smooching with relegation.  We all start every season knowing this to be the case.  It's what we all sign-up for.  But it's interesting how many of us know this in theory but don't believe the possibility of relegation actually applies to THEIR club, and can't wrap their heads around the concept.

Well folks, it can happen.  And no-one is immune.  It wasn't that long ago when oil-cash rich behemoths Manchester City were in the Third tier of English football and their local derby was with Macclesfield Town rather than Manchester United.  When we were winning National North by burning through Imraan's money in 2009, Bournemouth finished the same season two places ahead of joining us in the National League.  Brighton spent a fair chunk of the 90's challenging not for Europe, but to avoid playing Frickley Athleic.  Oldham Athletic helped kick off the Premier League.  Next season they would consider themselves lucky to kick off against Fylde.  I've seen Luton Town beat Arsenal in the League Cup final on the TV, and not that much later, seen the Poppies beat them in a league fixture.

Let's "enjoy" the remainder of this season.  Let's give it our best.  Let's get behind our team.  No-one knows what's down the line, so let's spin the wheel and see what happens.  Success or failure.  Promotion or relegation.  That's the allure of football.  If you can't accept this you should take up a safer, more sedentary activity - like rock climbing, becoming a stuntman or a mercenary perhaps.

Peterborough Sports are on
their way to Latimer Park...

Will they or won't they....?

 

#Lineker
#BBC
#KTFCvChorley
#stop saying "must be a goal" every time the opposition get in our box
#muddypitch
#1930'sGermany
#brassmonkeys

Race to the Bottom

With the players looking to revert to their earlier season away form of getting spanked to nil everywhere they go, reliance on our home form is going to be thoroughly tested if we are to remain in this division.  Such is our dip in away form that even our usual guaranteed points away to Southport can't be relied upon.  God knows what happened at Banbury....

After Southport our last three away games are at Kings Lynn, Spennymoor and Kidderminster.  I'm not exactly holding out many hopes for these games.  Even with Kings Lynn sudden found generosity towards away teams I can see nothing but wall-to-wall thumpings from these games.

That leaves 6 home games to save ourselves and we really need to be looking to win 4 of them.   Given that 4 of our home games are against teams firmly inside the play-off places and the other 2 are against teams fighting relegation, it's fair to say the shit's just got real....

Other than Telford, every other team in the relegation shake-up has had the odd good run of results.  Leamington looked dead and buried until suddenly pulling in 7 from 9 in the last 3 games.  Farsley are pulling out some great results.  Boston are still chucking in the odd unexpected win.

Bradford's successful spurt was far too early in the season.  Since then they have tumbled from almost mid-table obscurity to looking like favourites to be heading through the trapdoor with Telford.  And other than easily beating us, Blyth are also trying their damnedest to finish lower than us, which is appreciated.

So, it's looking like 4 from 7 for the plunge.  We've got a handful of points in the bag more than the others.  Some of them have a game in hand over us.  It's going to be a tight finish.  Certainly too close to call.  But if we had to stick our neck out and choose the bottom four come the end of the season we'd probably look at Telford (well, d'uh), Bradford, Blyth and Farsley.  I still get the nagging feeling Boston will be just about OK.  And Leamington have experience of this surviving against the odds at this level.  And us?  We can but hope and trust the Burton bobbles keep falling our way.

Lewthwaite's Long Wait

Chatting with a Hereford fan before last Saturday’s match, he asked who’s your top scorer.  Once we had finished laughing, we realised that none of us had a clue!

In a season where goals have been hard earned and infrequent, could it really still be Andrew Oluwabori, whose early form saw him net four yes FOUR before Peterborough decided this kind of rampant goal machinery demanded his recall.

(spoiler alert: it’s not, but having crunched the numbers, it’s pretty close)

Sheriff threatened to overtake the early pacesetter with his Barwell treble but since then has only managed two in the league. Is he better coming off the bench or starting?  The argument continues to rage.  The stats still suck.  

Measured on league goals alone, Sam Bennett leads the way with a mighty five, meaning that Phil Brown’s dubious record of finishing league top scorer on 6 is under serious challenge.  More bizarrely, Phil achieved that mark in the season we finished runners up to Kiddy, which goes to show that far better teams than this one have not optimised the art of hitting a cow’s arse with a banjo.

But among the various contenders for the Poppies golden boot this campaign, perhaps none has a bigger monkey on his back than Tyrone Lewthwaite. He won’t thank us for this, but after notching two in his first five starts, not a bad record at all, the goals have simply dried up. Well, almost. There was a certain, scrappy strike that despatched Gloucester in the Trophy, only for someone to realise that he was cup tied.  Sadly not Tyrone himself, when the team sheet was being pinned up.

The goal may have technically stood, but the footballing gods have not been kind to Tyrone since. On and on he has struggled, a few starts, a few sub appearances, a few more starts, a few more subs. Of goals not a sniff.  This must be tough when your job is, basically, to score goals, and the last one you actually managed was a bit of a disaster. 

So we’re not here to mock Tyrone (beyond his cup tie appearance memory loss). In all his troubles, he hasn’t yet ‘done a Banya’ and he still could rescue his season (and ours) with a few late strikes to end a hero.  So we say keep plugging away old son, it doesn’t matter how they go in.  Scuff one and you’ll be flying.  That golden boot is still up for grabs.

Yes, motivational appeals that the player in question will almost certainly not read.  We really are getting that desperate!   

I know that was then, but it could be again

We Want John Fowler, And We Want Him NOW!

The Legends game on Sunday 23rd April is certainly shaping up.  At the last count we have 27 players of various ages, abilities and hairlines agreeing to nervously inch around Latimer Park for our nostalgic viewing pleasure.  Between them these 27 players have racked up a mind boggling number of appearances for the Poppies - a smidgen under 4000!  Enough games, at 42 games per season to account for almost a two thirds of the 150 years we will be celebrating.

Obviously there are still a few players the punters are hankering for.  An appearance by JP would make the day of most supporters - even, hell, especially if he came on for the last five minutes and juggled the ball by the corner flag to see the game out.

No news yet either of a couple of other Patgod heroes of yesteryear being announced.  Namely John Fowler and Mickey Nuttall.  John probably can't recall playing football for us or, frankly, at all, while Mickey, God Bless him, probably wants too much money.

Presumably we will also have a smattering of other, older players in attendance to celebrate their part in our long, uneventful history, and hopefully get all happily flustered when badgered for autographs.  If only by me!

I suspect the experience for those playing will depend on when they pulled on the famous red shirts.  Those who turned out for us at Rockingham Road won't believe they are actually stood on a football pitch, while those who have only known Latimer Park probably won't believe the improvement!

Good to see that John's post Poppies
career has taken an upturn!