Watford have sacked head coach Paulo Pezzolano after just 10 games in charge of the Championship club and replaced him with former boss Javi Gracia.

Pezzolano, 42, was appointed in May following Watford's decision to sack Tom Cleverley, making him the club's 12th boss since Gracia's first spell ended in 2019.

The Hornets overhauled the squad by bringing in 13 players over the summer after last season's 14th-place finish under Cleverley.

After a poor start to the campaign they had shown signs of improvement, taking seven points from their past three games, including Saturday's 2-1 win over Oxford United, to climb to 11th in the table.

Pezzolano's spell in charge was even shorter than the 11 matches Rob Edwards - now head coach of second-placed Middlesbrough - was given in 2022.

How many managers have Watford had in the Pozzo era?
Published
3 hours ago
Pezzolano appointed Watford head coach
Published
13 May
"In appointing Javi, the club are confident he will bring the qualities we believe are vital for this young squad: consistency in team selection, harmony within the dressing room and a strong connection with our supporters," Watford's statement said., external

The club added they "thank sincerely" Pezzolano and his staff "for their efforts and commitment during their time in charge".

The Uruguayan won three, drew three and lost four of his 10 games in charge but has been displaced by the return of Spaniard Gracia, 55.

"We are very pleased to welcome back Javi," Watford chairman and chief executive Scott Duxbury said.

"His passion, leadership and clear strategy will help us build stability, unity and momentum.

"We are sure there are many supporters who wished Javi had never departed in 2019. With this young and exciting squad we are convinced his experience and qualities are exactly what we need now."

Gracia's return to Vicarage Road comes more than two years after he was sacked by Leeds United in May 2023, having been in charge for only 12 games, to make way for Sam Allardyce.

His first spell at Watford lasted from January 2018 to September 2019, that 20-month tenure being the longest enjoyed by any Hornets boss in the past 14 years.

During his time in charge, Watford achieved a best-ever Premier League finish of 11th place and also reached the FA Cup final before losing 6-0 to Manchester City.

They were, however, bottom of the top flight when Watford decided to part company with him and bring back Quique Sanchez Flores for a second spell in charge, a decision which backfired as he only lasted three months.

Gracia will immediately begin working with the Hornets squad before his first game back in charge against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on Saturday, 18 October.



This decision is going to delight the vast majority of Watford fans.

Gracia was an extremely popular figure when he was in charge seven years ago. His 2018-19 Hornets team was packed with wonderfully gifted players which led to an 11th-placed finish in the Premier League and FA Cup semi-final success against Wolves before the final defeat to Manchester City.

His personality was infectious and the supporters warmed to him. The break-up of that team and his dismissal has led to Watford being in relative decline since.

The sacking of Pezzolano has been coming. The Uruguayan had to get off to a quick start after the owner's ambition to fight for promotion.

He didn't - although results were improving - but some questionable team selections and decision-making may have influenced the board's decision.

He was hoping for time to stamp his authority on the players, the team and the club but that was never likely to happen.

Group A

Twerton 12
Stairs 12
A.A.A. 10
Minizin 10
B.B.B. 9
BaggieVicar 5
BaggieOne 3
Zimnan -1

Scoring was very middle of the road this week but of course we all know what causes that generally - Bonus Balls and Correct Scores!! The Bonus was a complete washout this week, everyone got it wrong despite the m being played across 5 different games but at least everyone picked up the point on the Scoreball. Thankfully the Gamball had a season high 28 points scored on it, but as we know with that one, those who get it right end with a decent score but those who don't see their scores tumble!!

Twerton and Stairs share top spot with 12 points. This is Twerton's 3rd top score position and second in a row, whereas its the first of the season for Stairs. They both picked up a maximum on the Gamball, added one CS each to this and then did little else!! Sharing 3rd spot with 10 points is AAA and Minizin, this represents AAA's highest finish so far this season. Like the top 2 they both got a maximum on the Gamball but the difference was they both failed to back that up with any CSs.

Now we drop to those who missed on the Gamball. BBB is 5th with 9 points, he scored the most CSs with 2 but missing the Gamball and the Bonus hurt him. It didn't quite hurt as much for him as it did the next two players - Vicar in 6th with 5 points and our league leader B1 with just 3 points in 7th, thats an improvement for Vicar over last week but BaggieOne has now only scored 6 points over the past 2 weeks after his storming start!!

And so here I am again having to have a final paragraph solely about our fixture picker and Group B scorer Zinman. Just when you think he has found some form with his best score of the season last week, he goes and sets the opposite record of his lowest score of the season this week. His -1 is his first negative week of the season and only the second one in the group overall, the only saving grace for him this week is that he is exploring the great city of Chicago and BBB still holds the record for the lowest score for the season!!

99 BaggieOne
85 Minizin
84 Stairs
73 Twerton
57 BaggieVicar
56 A.A.A.
53 B.B.B.
29 Zinman

No positional changes this week but we did see some gaps closing and some widening. BaggieOne still leads the way, that late Everton goal prevented him from reaching the century so he will need to wait one more week to claim that. Minizin and Stairs have closed some of the gap to him, its now down to 14 points from 22 points 2 weeks ago!! Twerton is hanging onto the shirt tails of the top 3 in 4th but still has some work to do. Big gap now down to 5th spot where we find BaggieVicar, closely followed by the alphabet boys. Then we hit the Victoria Fall type drop down to Zinman in last place.

Still lost of time left, so keep plugging away!!

Cheers
SCO


Group B

4eva 14
Amelia 14
SCO 10
Derby 7
Snooty 5
Salop 3
Lady Jane 1
Themaclad 0

A bad week for the bonus ball with everyone getting theirs wrong and it was also a poor week for correct result predictions - the second lowest total this season. The total scores were saved by a high scoring gamball and also the highest proportion of correct scores - more than half of the correct results were turned into maximums.

2 clear leaders in 4eva and Amelia, both with 14 points. 4eva only scored on 3 games but got all of them spot on, including his gamball. Amelia scored the week's high of 4 correct results but only (only!?) got 2 correct scores, though again, one of them was the gamball. SCO makes up the top 3, again scoring a max on the gamball. He started like a train, getting the first 2 results spot on, but then missed out on the remaining 8 matches though history was made when he finally scored a positive point on the scoreball.

Derby was the only player to score 4 points on the gamball, one of his 3 correct predictions, the same number as Snooty who missed out on both the main balls. Salop managed just 3 points, one correct score and one other correct result while Lady Jane was the only player not to get a maximum. Themaclad had a poor week - just 1 correct result (a maximum) and a grand total of zero points.


72 SCO
67 4eva
63 Themaclad
54 Snooty
49 Lady Jane
48 Derby
39 Amelia
35 Salop

Changes at both ends of the table with Themaclad dropping from first to third after his zero points week. SCO and 4eva take over the top 2 spots. At the bottom, Amelia has dumped Salop to the foot of the table, already making up the gap caused by her late entrance.

Short write up this week as I'm grabbing a few minutes of free internet on my journey from "war ravaged" Chicago* to Milwaukee and hoping my battery lasts!

*SCO lives in Chicago and after a great couple of days, I'm jealous. I suspect I probably wouldn't be saying that if I'd visited in January!

Week off for the international break - I'll post the next fixtures next week, probably Tuesday.

Zin


Note - Zin, glad you enjoyed your visit to the Windy City, it really is a great place to visit!! I always say a visit to Chicago in January is worth the effort just so you can experience what it's like to be well below zero every day for a month!! Although I suspect the 27C temperatures you got this weekend would certainly feel better though!!! Glad to see you made it out alive though , the Orange Man has certainly got his finger on the pulse for which cities in the US are dangerous!!!

Luton Town have sacked manager Matt Bloomfield with the club 11th in League One following Saturday's loss at Stevenage.

Bloomfield left Wycombe Wanderers in a League One promotion place to become Luton boss in January, following the departure of Rob Edwards.

But he was unable to save them from a second successive relegation as they finished 22nd in the Championship and went down on goal difference, losing 5-3 to West Bromwich Albion on the final day of the season.

They began the new campaign with three wins in their first four games but a downturn followed with four losses from seven since then.

"Performances and results from the opening 11 matches of the current campaign in League One have fallen below the levels expected," said a club statement., external

Bloomfield's assistant Richard Thomas, first-team coach Lee Harrison and analyst Ben Cirne have also left Kenilworth Road, with academy coach Alex Lawless - a former Luton player - put in interim charge ahead of Tuesday's EFL Trophy game at Cambridge United.

"With two training weeks ahead of the next league match, the process of appointing a new manager is now under way, which will be led by a committee involving members from the executive team, recruitment, football staff and the board," the statement added.

'A poisoned chalice' - Luton fans react to the sacking of boss Matt Bloomfield
Published
2 hours ago
Reaction to Bloomfield sacking (BBC Three Counties Radio)
Attribution
Sounds
Matt Bloomfield's final post-match interview as Luton boss
Attribution
Sounds
Bloomfield's departure comes just 10 days after he was given the public backing of chief executive Gary Sweet following a disappointing 3-1 defeat at Lincoln City.

Sweet said the 41-year-old was "incredibly capable, resilient and determined" and had created a "fantastic environment" since taking charge.

But he warned that the club would have "no qualms" about making a change if results did not improve.

His comments were followed by a 1-0 win over Doncaster Rovers - but a draw at Blackpool, and then a defeat at Stevenage have prompted the board to make a change.

Bloomfield first became a manager at Colchester United in 2022 following a playing career which saw him make more than 500 appearances in 19 years at Wycombe.

He left Colchester after only five months to take charge of his former club in the wake of Gareth Ainsworth's exit for Queens Park Rangers and had Wycombe in the top two for much of least season.

The Chairboys fell away to fifth following Bloomfield's switch to Luton on a three-and-a-half-year contract, and were then beaten in the play-offs.

His first game in charge of the Hatters ended in a 0-0 draw with Preston North End and it was not until his 10th that he achieved a victory, 1-0 against Portsmouth.

A run of three successive wins from mid to late April gave Luton hope of staying in the Championship, but the loss to West Brom cost them their second-tier status.


Former Luton midfielder Jonathan Smith told BBC Three Counties Radio that they were seen as a "big fish" in the division by other teams, who were raising their game against them, but that also meant attracting good candidates for the manager's job should not be a problem.

"Sometimes a fresh face coming in, just a different set of eyes on it, and a little bit of a different approach can just give everyone that boost.

"There's not going to be a shortage of people wanting to manage Luton Town. It's an amazing club and what an opportunity it is for someone now.

"There'll be a lot of managers who are out of work, even managers that are in work, thinking 'I fancy that'."

Smith was a member of the Hatters team that won the Conference title in 2014, when they returned to the English Football League after five seasons on the outside.

On Bloomfield's departure, he added: "He's not been able to find that settled line-up, he was a little bit unsure of what system, what personnel and I think that just heightened the pressure in terms of fans thinking 'does he know what he's doing?'.

"I played against Matt Bloomfield a number of times and he's a naturally hard-working guy - and I know he will have been working all hours to try and turn this around."



This doesn't come as much of a surprise. Luton were booed off again in the defeat to local rivals Stevenage at the weekend with chants of, 'we want our Luton back' and others much worse.

The fans have lost patience with Bloomfield, the team and the club and the relationship has turned quite toxic. Luton cannot have a team of players who the fans are not backing.

Bloomfield has paid the price for picking up five wins from 11 league matches this season, having failed to keep the Hatters up in the Championship when he arrived in January.

He was dealt a raw hand, not knowing whether players would be leaving or staying in the summer. Recruitment has been sketchy again and the players have let him down.

It is always the manager who pays the price when it reaches this stage.

I see he's just been sacked by Blackpool.
Not being vindictive but why would ANY club employ him? Another classic example of a good player not being up to coaching at all but owners just star struck by the name.
A la Wayne Rooney, n'est pas?

2 points for correct result
4 points for correct score
2 points for each correct scorer
Correct joker doubles your score   (correct score on a joker would give you 8 points)
Wrong joker result gives you minus 2
Correct Badger gives you 2 points

The prize for winning the league is one rep point.

Cup games: In the event of a draw, it's half the points if you've predicted a draw when it gets to 90 mins and the full points if it's still a draw after extra time. Half the points will be awarded for correctly predicting the winner of the match if it goes to penalties. However, if you do predict a draw and it's a match that won't be going to a replay, you can get a possible extra point by stating which of the two teams you think will eventually win.

Random score generator: I will be using the random score generator again for those who miss predicting, so we shouldn't get some people too far behind that after missing a couple of weeks they lose all interest, because I know it's not easy getting on here every week.
To be fair to everybody, this is going to be like, say if three people in one week miss their predictions, the first one in the table will be given all 0-0, the second one down the line will get 1-0 and the third will get 0-1 and so on, like if there's four missing the 4th will get 1-1, then 5th 2-1, 6th 1-2. and if there are so many missing, might as well pack in.
And if you miss two weeks on the trot, I'll stop until you come back on again. Not doing it for half a season like I did t'other year.  


At the end of the season, the winner of group 2 and the bottom of group 1 will swap places in what is commonly known as "promotion" and "relegation". It's something that most football fans will be familiar with, unless you're a fan of Liverpool or Arsenal or one of those other fashionable clubs.

The second placed player in group 2 will then have a play off with the player who finishes second from the bottom in group 1 to decide whether they will be going up, down or staying where they are.

We're going to have two seasons in one though, just to try and make it a bit more interesting and not so long drawn out. The first season will end on the Boxing Day fixtures, with the play offs being on the dates of the Twixtmas fixtures and the NYD fixtures.

The second season will start the following week, which is usually the FA Cup 3rd round, finishing on the last game of the League One season. Then another period of relegation/promotion play off games, taking in such fixtures as the EFL play offs, FA Cup Final, UEFA finals and such like.

Each group will have it's own set of fixtures. Both groups will have the Town games, with scorers to predict as before. Then it will be a split of League One fixtures and bonus matches, hopefully around ten, eleven or twelve games per Matchday.

The random badger is restricted to three goal scorers in any of the fixtures in your group.

Here's how that will appear at the end of the fixture list. All you have to do is fill in the blanks.......


*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

Any of those will score two points if correct. No minus points for getting it wrong.

Postponed matches will only count if the match is re-played before the next Matchday is under way. Abandoned matches will be awarded half the points for the score at the time of abandonment, so 1 point if you have the correct result, 2 points if you have the correct score.

Substitute or scorer in one of the Town games:- These will be only be allowed if you change them before the match involved has kicked off.

Prediction League Archive: https://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=12830

Division One table after Matchday 10:

1. Baggiebob(BBB) = 163 pts
   
2. jjamez = 153 pts
   
3. neonfoxinthebox = 142 pts
   
4. SHEP_HTAFC = 137 pts
   
5. Lord Snooty = 136 pts
   
6. ritchiebaby = 135 pts
   

Thursday 9th October:
International friendly:
England v Wales

World Cup qualifiers:
Scotland v Greece

Friday 10th October:
Northern Ireland v Slovakia

Saturday 11th October:
League One:
Northampton Town v Rotherham United (14:00)
AFC Wimbledon v Port Vale
Burton Albion v Bolton Wanderers
Exeter City v Reading
Leyton Orient v Doncaster Rovers

Sunday 12th October:
World Cup qualifiers:
Scotland v Belarus (17:00)

Monday 13th October:
Northern Ireland v Germany
Wales v Belgium

Tuesday 14th October:
Latvia v England

*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

1. themaclad = 170 pts
   
2. theo_luddite = 152 pts
   
3. Devongone = 149 pts
   
4. St Charles Owl = 123 pts
   
5. WakeyTerrier = 121 pts
   
6. Amelia Chaffinch = 118 pts
   

Thursday 9th October:
International friendly:
England v Wales

World Cup qualifiers:
Scotland v Greece

Friday 10th October:
Northern Ireland v Slovakia

Saturday 11th October:
League One:
Northampton Town v Rotherham United (14:00)
Leyton Orient v Doncaster Rovers
Stockport County v Blackpool
Wigan Athletic v Wycombe Wanderers

League Two:
Chesterfield v Salford City

Sunday 12th October:
World Cup qualifiers:
Scotland v Belarus (17:00)

Monday 13th October:
Northern Ireland v Germany
Wales v Belgium

Tuesday 14th October:
Latvia v England

*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

Blackpool have sacked veteran boss Steve Bruce after one year in charge following a poor start to the League One season.

The 64-year-old, who has managed over 1,000 games, replaced Neil Critchley at Bloomfield Road in September 2024.

He guided them to a ninth-placed finish last season and hopes were high for a promotion push this time around.

However, Saturday's home defeat by AFC Wimbledon was a seventh defeat in 11 league games and left them second from bottom.

Assistant head coach Steve Agnew and first-team coach Stephen Clemence have also left the club with coaches Stephen Dobbie and Steve Banks put in interim charge until a replacement is appointed.

Bruce said his side "were nowhere near what's required" as they were booed off following the 2-0 home defeat by AFC Wimbledon.

"I can try and make as many excuses as I want but it's not in my nature to do it," he told Bruce to BBC Radio Lancashire.

"Today we were nowhere near what's required of what we need to be and for that I need to take responsibility."

After being sacked as West Brom boss in October 2022, the former Manchester United defender had been out of the game for almost two years before taking over at the Seasiders.

His managerial career started with Sheffield United in 1998 and he won four promotions to the Premier League, as well as managing Sunderland, Wigan and Newcastle in the top flight.

Upon taking on the role at Blackpool, for his first spell in the third tier since his first stint with the Latics in 2001, he told BBC Radio Lancashire: "There was a time when I thought I'd done my stint but the enjoyment and the love of football has brought me back to work.

"You get to a certain age and you think, 'Am I on the scrap-heap?' But I hope I've got a lot to offer and I've got an abundance of experience."

Bruce enjoyed a strong start at Bloomfield Road, with four wins and a draw from his first five games.

He took a two-week leave of absence at the end of last October after his four-month-old grandson Madison died and released a statement thanking "the footballing world" for the support he received during that time.

Blackpool lost just five of their final 25 League One matches but 10 draws in that time put paid to any hopes of breaking into the top six places.

They recruited widely in the summer with experienced defenders Fraser Horsfall and Michael Ihiekwe and former Sunderland captain George Honeyman among the new arrivals.

The season began with a home defeat by Stevenage before a 4-1 reverse at Exeter City.

They then held on to beat much-fancied Huddersfield 3-2 for their first win in all competitions but subsequently lost three of their next four games.

Jordan Brown's last minute goal gave them a 1-0 win over Barnsley but one point from the next three games has brought the curtain down on Bruce's 13th managerial appointment.

Unlucky Hibs, unfortunately beaten by a quality cross into the box and a sublime finish by Craig Halkett

Sutton United have announced Worthing boss Chris Agutter as their head coach taking over as permanent successor to Steve Morison.

Morison left by mutual consent on 17 September with the club 22nd in the National League table and Jon Meeney taking interim charge.

Agutter has departed National League South side Worthing to move into the dugout at Gander Green Lane with the U's still in the relegation zone.

Sutton said the deal took longer to get over the line because of the Rebels' "profound determination to retain him".

"I'm thoroughly looking forward to the challenge ahead, and I will be working incredibly hard to help put a team on the pitch that the football club and its supporters can be proud of," Agutter told Sutton's website, external.

"I have no doubt we are going to have plenty of fun on the ride ahead."

Agutter led the Rebels to fourth place in National League South last season, missing out on the title by a solitary point to Truro City.

The U's are next in action at Braintree Town on Saturday, with their opposition one place and four points above them.

For the first time in over 20 years, Huddersfield Town will play in a stadium that is rightly theirs after almost a decade of various negotiations, Town will no longer be glorified tenants but now can shape it in their own image. Now for me, rightly or wrongly, whatever happens in the rest of Kevin Nagle's reign, his legacy will be as the man who brought the stadium back to its rightful owners. Yes there has been countless mistakes and a relegation, but the ground and the lands surrounding have long been what the club has wanted and needed. People forget that even Dean Hoyle made numerous mistakes, Chris Powell (nice man, not a Town manager), Mark Robins (good manager, wrong time) and Jan Siewert (wrong man, wrong time) were all duds, his legacy though is through that of Wagner, an unexpected rise to the top of the pyramid.

Now that we own the ground and the land nearby (yeah its a 300 year lease where we own the land rights but technically not the land itself, but we can develop it as we see fit is my understanding) the hard work with it effectively starts now, how are the club and the owner going to develop it, what are they going to do with it, there is some problem areas like the old driving range, how do they sort it? outdoor skii slope like HD1 and Hoyle planned? reopened as a driving range once again? or something completely different? I'm not going to say the world is our oyster, because it is far from it in this case, we are a proper northern town, with one of the lowest average incomes in the country along with the likes of Burnley, that in itself dictates the options available. Now it will be interesting to see if this deal includes the Rope Walk and whether Nagle is interested in taking places like the Zone on St Andrews, maybe the current training ground is next on the radar. That is the long game however, and we have the short game still at hand, football itself.



Stockport come to town hoping to ruin this 'homecoming', last season the Hatters just fell short of following Wrexham to back to back promotions, unlike Town who faceplanted it. They currently sit eighth in the table, the position they finished last season before losing on penalties to beaten finalists Leyton Orient. This time around they don't have the goals of Louie Barry to rely on, although they only had him for half a season last year anyway, he's since had loans in the Championship where he has struggled. They became reliant on goals from Kyle Wootton, Isaac Olaofe and Will Collar, it makes you wonder what would have happened had they been able to keep Barry, one would think that promotion would have been achieved.

They are still managed by Dave Challinor, the man who was appointed in 2021 and has guided them to where they are now, the Chester native is no stranger to Stockport having made 100 appearances for the club during his playing days, a career that saw him turn out mainly for local clubs like Bury and Tranmere, he finished his playing career at Colwyn Bay in 2011, moving into management there. He guided the Seagulls to runners-up in the Northern Premier League Premier Division and a place in the play-offs, where they beat North Ferriby and FC United of Manchester to secure a place in the Conference North, they also won the North Wales Coast Cup beating Flint Town in the final. In 2011 he dropped down a few divisions to join Fylde and guided them instantly to the Northern Premier Division, in their first season in that league he once again reached the playoff final, but lost out to Hednesford, Fylde did qualify for the FA Cup first round proper, eventually being defeated by Accrington Stanley and also were victorious in the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy at The Reebok Stadium (which I think I may have been at, against Matt Jansen's Chorley, on further research, I was). The 2013-14 season saw Challinor once again guide Fylde to the playoffs, this time successfully as they beat Ashton United to reach the Conference North. By the end of the 16-17 season Challinor had reached the National League, marking a fifth promotion of his short career, they went up as Champions and in their first season in the National League they lost in the playoffs to Boreham Wood. The 2018–19 season saw Fylde reach both the play-off final and FA Trophy final. Having been defeated 3–0 by Salford City in the play-off final, Fylde returned to Wembley Stadium the following week to beat Leyton Orient 1–0 and lift the FA Trophy for the first time in the club's history, the next season Fylde would sack Challinor after 8 years, with the side in the relegation places. He spent less than a month unemployed before being snapped up by Hartlepool and in his first full season he guided the club to a 4th place finish and guided them through ties against Bromley, Stockport and eventually past Torquay to guide the Pools back into the football league after a 5 year absence, he signed a new deal, but only months after announced his intention to step down, dropping back out of the football league in order to take over at Stockport. He took over with the Hatters in 9th position, 10 points from top, by the end of the season he had lost one of his 23 games in charge as Stockport sealed the title. The next season in League Two, Stockport finished 4th and missed out on promotion to League One via the playoffs, losing to Carlisle in the final at Wembley. Challinor was rumoured to have interviewed for the Charlton job, but elected to stay closer to home, guiding Stockport to the league title and promotion to League One where they just missed out on back to back promotions.



This season they have won 4, drawn 4 and lost 2, the defeats coming at the hands of Bradford and Plymouth. The Chickens pulling off an upset winning at Edgely Park 2-1, whilst Plymouth turned the corner slightly winning in style 4-2. Stockport begun the season with a derby win at home over Bolton 2-0 before following it up with a 2-1 win away at last seasons surprise package Wycombe. They put on a second half show to get past Crewe 3-1 in the League Cup, they then headed to the capital to face Leyton Orient as the sides played out a 2-2 draw, then came the upset defeat to Bradford, which they rectified by beating Burton 2-1, despite being reduced to 10 men in the first half. Another local side in Wigan would dump them out of the League Cup, not that it really matters, before playing each other the same weekend at the same venue, only this time they played out a 1-1 draw. Come September and the Tinpot Trophy begun and they started with a 5-3 win over Wolves' cub side, back in the league they would lose to Plymouth before conceding a late equaliser against early pace setters Cardiff. They would venture to South Yorkshire to beat Rotherham 1-0 and rounded the month off with a 1-1 draw at home to Reading. Kyle Wootton currently leads the goalscoring charts for the Hatters with 5, whilst former Terrier Ollie Norwood has notched 3. Rumoured Town target Nathan Lowe has one league goal for the club so far.

In terms of transfers the Hatters were another busy side, signing 11 new players. They snagged Lowe on loan and paid good money for Malik Mothersille from Peterborough and Brad Hills from Norwich. They signed 3 left sided defenders in Owen Dodgson on loan from Burnley, Tayo Edun from Peterborough and experienced defender Danny Andrew from Cambridge. They strengthened the centre of defence with the signings of Arttu Hoskonen from Cracovia and Joe Olowu from Doncaster, whilst right back Corey O'Keefe signed on loan from Barnsley. They strengthened their midfield with the loan signings of Tyler Onyango from Everton and experienced head Ben Osborne from Derby County. Leaving the club was Olaofe who joined Charlton, Will Collar dropped down to MK Dons, former Town academy played Fraser Horsfall joined Blackpool, whilst Bradford poached Ibou Toure and Nick Powell on free transfers.



With regards of who to watch, it probably comes as no surprise that Ollie Norwood, now ancient is one of those, still a keen set piece taker and adept at long searching passes still he will be able to make the pitch as wide as possible if given time and space. Wootton is another to be watched, also no spring chicken, he is a workhorse that will put his body on the line and try and get his head to any crosses that come into the box, something I wish Bojan would take note of. Captain Lewis Bate is another to watch, he came through the Chelsea academy and left to join Leeds, so is no stranger to West Yorkshire, he scored the own goal for us at our spot last season and at 22, is probably one of the younger captains in the football league. With regards to team news, I haven't seen anything about Stockport, it seems like they have a smallish squad that is relatively fit and healthy.



In terms of team news, town now have a fair number of absentees, Zeppy Redmond is out for a number of months with a knee injury picked up against Manchester city and has returned to Aston villa for treatment, Will Alves has returned to his parent club after having surgery on a foot injury picked up against burton, he too will be out for months. Herbie Kane is another who is out long term after picking up a groin injury against Bradford. Marcus mcGuane is AWOL at present going by recent press conferences, jack whatmough is close to a return, whilst Mikel Miller isn't far away either, Lyndon Gooch is returning and got minutes against Harrogate. Jacob Chapman is another who appears to have vanished as has our strikers goalscoring instinct. Any other injuries that I have missed?

Due to the rather close proximity of the two clubs, there has been quite a few head to heads, with the first meeting coming way back in 1910 on October 3rd when Town lost 1-0 away, they would meet a few months later down Leeds Road and Town would register a 4-1 victory. There would be some good back and forths between the two until the 1920 season where Town registered their first double over the Hatters, this would be the last meeting between the two clubs for some 55 years. From 1975 to 1980 Town would lose just the once before another rather long hiatus, 11 years this time rather than 55, now in 1991 Stockport would come to Yorkshire and win 1-0 and draw 0-0 back in Lancashire, the following season would see the Hatters put 5 past Town at Edgeley Park and the sides would maintain a back and forth, with Town winning 1-0 in the 1994 Autoglass Trophy Northern Semi Final, the rest of the 90's would see Town being the dominant side until the turn of the millenium when Town would struggle to score. Stockport would knock Peter Jackson's Terriers out of the FA Cup, but Town would gain revenge with a 5-3 victory towards the back end of the season, there would be a few scrappy games before Town thrashed Stockport away 6-0, with 6 different scorers, I'm not going to name them all, it would be another 14 years until the two sides met again last season with Town winning on boxing day 1-0 through Bates' own goal, whilst Jon Worthington's side lost 2-1 away, although it could easily have been worse.



With regards to played for both, I'll give you some, but I'll miss some people out and give you them as a little quiz. I've already mentioned Ollie Norwood, the Burnley native had two seasons at Town after joining from Manchester United making 80 appearances for the club before leaving for Reading, mentioning something about the set up not being professional enough. He would go on to play for the likes of Brighton, Fulham and had 5 seasons at Sheffield United before moving to Stockport. Fraser Horsfall has also been mentioned, he came through the set up here, but never made an actual appearance for the side, instead it would be a few years in the lower leagues, before a break out period at Northampton, he would drop down a division to join Stockport when they were promoted to League Two, causing a bit of animosity amongst his former team mates. A brief mention for Jordan Smith, he made a combined 0 appearances for both clubs, legendary. Aaron Rowe had a brief loan spell at Stockport where he made 3 appearances, he made his Town debut in the Premier league under Jan Siewert and had a brief run as a Championship player, scoring his one and only goal against Nottingham Forest, he is currently at Gillingham. One striker who could rival our current strike force output is Keigan Parker, he made one appearance for Stockport before moving to AFC Blackpool, he made 20 appearances for Town, scoring twice, the most memorable coming against Leicester. Speaking of stikers, you can add the nomadic Liam Dickinson to the list, he had a decent spell at the Hatters at the start of his career scoring 33 goals in 3 seasons before moving to Derby, it would be from the Rams that he would join Town on loan where he scored 6 times in 13 games before moving to Blackpool and Leeds on loan in the same season. He would then start his nomadic campaign turning out for the likes of Barnsley, Brighton, Peterborough and Plymouth, even making it back around to Stockport for a season in 2013 but failed to replicate his previous form. One of the notable transfers between the two sides is Anthony Pilkington, the winger was one of Lee Clark's first signings as he made the journey over the Pennines, he made 80 appearances for the Hatters over 3 seasons and his 2 seasons at Town caught the eye of Premier League Norwich, he ended with 92 appearances for Town scoring 19 goals, including a wonder strike against Sheffield Wednesday. Former Town goalkeeping coach Nick Colgan had a spell between the sticks for Stockport, he made 15 apperances whilst on loan, he had a short spell as third keeper at Town but transitioned quickly into coaching, he is currently goalkeeping coach at Stockport. The folically challenged defender Danny Adams joined Town from Stockport, he had one season over in Lancashire but was prised away to Yorkshire by Peter Jackson where he had 2 seasons before moving to Morecambe. Speaking of defenders, Damien Delaney had two short loan spells at both clubs during the same season, he would make his name at Hull City and laterly Crystal Palace before retiring in 2019. Current assistant manager Marc Bridge-Wilkinson had a spell as a player at Stockport in 2004 before moving to Bradford City. The clown Cartwright had three seasons doing nowt at Stockport as a player, something he pretty much replicated here. Strikers Alun Armstrong and Mike Cecere played for both clubs during their playing days. Midfielder Ian Craney finished his playing career at Stockport, he had a season at Town but found his face didn't fit once Lee Clark arrived, since he retired he hads been kitman at Wigan whilst studying for his coaching badges and followed then manager Paul Cook around, being first team coach for him at Ipswich. Goalkeeper Ian Gray was forced into retirement whilst at Town due to a hand injury, he had three seasons at Stockport before moving to Rotherham before joining Town.



1) Sheffield born striker, who began his formative years in Barnsley's academy, made his name at Chester but had a goal laden spell at Stockport. Signed for Town on two occasions scoring nearly 30 goals for the club

2) Had two spells at Stockport once as a youngster on loan and once further on in his career. Joined Town from north of the border and spent 4 years at the club. Embarked on a mini tour de Yorkshire, with one club getting 6 years and 160 odd appearances out of him.

3) Rotund defender who saw his early career hampered by serious injuries, originally a left sided defender he made 77 appearances for Town over 3 years, before leaving for a season at Stockport, he found a home at Home Park with Plymouth but found his happy place in Limerick where he can still be found.

4) Another defender, Town signed him after over a century of appearances for Mansfield, he would nearly double that in an 8 year stay at Huddersfield, which included a loan spell to Stockport, he still managed 130 appearances after leaving Town during a 4 year stay at Carlisle.

5) Some would say one of the best goalkeepers to play for Town, but it is a small sample size, he only played 24 times whilst on loan, the same year before joining Town he had a brief loan at Stockport, he is probably unfortunate for not having more Premier League appearances due to who was in the squad with him, but still managed 150 appearances for his boyhood club, for whom he is currently a coach.

6) Begun his career over in Lancashire where he had a season with Stockport, he made his name at Halifax and Bury before becoming a mainstay at Town for two seasons before being sold back over to Lancashire. His new Lancastrian side saw the best out of him with nearly 200 appearances over a 5 year spell. When he returned to Town he was a shadow of his former self and age had caught up with him. He is now a loyal assistant who follows a certain Scotsman around

7) Another Sheffieldite who played some of his best football at Town where he made 120 appearances in 6 years, he left for a midlands club but couldn't really get going and wound up back north at Stockport. He had one and a bit seasons there before going back to the midlands for a couple of seasons, but a spell on the south coast saw him become a Premier League midfielder, before heading abroad to Korea to effectively end his career.

8)Scottish defender who begun his career in London before heading back home. he made 99 appearances for Stockport in 3 years, before going back to Scotland for a short spell. Moved to south Yorkshire for a few seasons before heading to Town. This was at the back end of his career and appearances dried up as it ended and his coaching career started, although it is based in the proper non league etchelons

9) Probably one of the greatest footballers to play for Town should be enough to sort this for you. He had 6 years at Town before embarking on a career as adventurous as his lifestyle, his clubs include Leicester, Stockport, Bolton, Weymouth, plus trips to South Africa and Sweden.

10) Often ridiculed whilst at Town, a midfielder by trade that begun at Celtic and made his name at Stockport, Town signed him from over Lincolnshire way and he played usually out of position at right back. His best times came back north of the border where he is currently managing his 4th team, his clubs generally match his own demeanor.