So after a very poor performance 230 miles away on foreign soil, Town have very little time to rest and regroup as they make the 4 hour journey home in order to face Queens Park Rangers at the John Smiths Stadium on Saturday, they too will be making a roughly 4 hour trip up the m1 to have that pleasure, roll out the red carpet boys.

Hopefully that will be the only welcome they get this weekend, as we look to right the wrongs from Tuesday night, which if you go on the season so far, it seems that there might be a chance of us doing so, as is the inconsistency of our performances this season, not that there is any side in the league that is truly consistent. Town are 8 points off the playoffs and 10 points off top spot, if any team strings together a good set of results and finds that consistency, they may find themselves pulling away from the pack, likewise, too many bad games in a row and you can be finding yourself drifting away, but as it is at the moment, anyone can beat anyone, unless you are Derby County  

Our visitors on Saturday are as inconsistent as we are, sitting one place below us in table in 17th with their current record standing at 4 wins, 5 draws, 6 defeats, town meanwhile are 5 wins, 3 draws, 7 defeats.

Still managed by the baker Mark Warburton he'd loaf to earn his dough and have his side put on a performance after being sliced apart in the second half on Tuesday night against Bristol City, scoring early on through Rob Dickie, but saw old boy and former town striker Nahki Wells score before Adam Nagy condemned rangers to defeat as they could rise to the challenge of being behind. Despite their standing in the table I wouldn't say that Warburton is kneading a win just yet and his relationship with the board hasn't turned sourdough just yet...



They began the season in similar fashion to us, going out of the league cup to lower league opposition, losing 3-2 away at Towns fa cup opponents Plymouth. They began the league season with a home win against Nottingham forest, Dykes and Chair scoring in the second half. They followed that up with another 3-2 defeat away at newly promoted Coventry city, Dykes on the scoresheet once again along with Yohan Barbet in a game that ebbed and flowed, before finishing September off with a 1-1 draw at home to Middlesbrough, Osei-Samuel cancelling out Chubba Akpom's opener. October was another inconsistent month, yielding 3 draws, 2 defeats and 1 win. The draws came away at Sheffield Wednesday, Bournemouth and at home to Birmingham, Macauley Bonne scoring a 96th minute equaliser against Wednesday, the other two games finished 0-0. The defeats came at home to away day specialists Preston, who won 2-0 and 3-0 away at Barnsley, QPR seeing Dickie sent off in the first half with the game at 0-0. The sole win coming at the end of the month at home to Cardiff, another injury time winner sealing the points after chair and Todd Kane had given them a 2-0 lead only for Joe Ralls to bag a second half brace. November followed a similar pattern with the R's winning  3-2 again at home to Rotherham, Chair, Osei-Samuel and Dykes scoring in the first half, Smith and Ladapo scoring for Rotherham. A late Bonne goal sealed a 1-0 win away at Derby, Chair cancelled out Ben Wilmott's early goal at home to Watford. They lost away to Blackburn, Dykes getting the solitary QPR goal in consolation to a Ben Brereton goal and Adam Armstrong double, they also lost 2-1 away at Brentford, Dykes once again on the scoresheet in response to Ivan Toney and Vitaly Janelt, they also saw Kane dismissed for two yellows before starting December off with the defeat at home to Bristol City.

Their for and against stats are very similar to ours, with the r's having conceded just the one goal more than town, leading their scoring charts at the moment with 5 goals and 1 assist in 13 games is Australian Scotsman Lyndon Dykes, with Ilias Chair in second on 4 goals and 1 assist from 16 games. In terms of assists, highly rated Bright Osei-Samuel leads the way with 2 from 14, chipping in with 2 goals of his own, which incidentally puts him 3rd in their scoring charts. Town meanwhile see Josh Koroma leading the way on 4 goals and 1 assist, with Eiting and Campbell joint second with 3 goals, the Dutchman having set up one goal, the local lad having no direct assists. Leading the way with the assists for town is obviously Harry Toffolo on 5, with Bacuna second on 3 and Mbenza third on 2.



So what's happened over the summer in the hoops?

Coming into the club was former Tottingham midfielder Tom Carroll, who joined on a free after leaving Swansea City, another Spurs kid Luke Amos also switched London grounds and former Arsenal trainee and Town loanee Chris Willock joined for an undisclosed fee from Portuguese side Benfica. Also joining the club was the aforementioned Outback Highlander Dykes who joined from Livingstone for just under 2 million ENGLISH pounds along with fellow striker Charlie Kelman who joined from struggling league two side Southend. Another striker switched London grounds as Maccauly Bonne left Charlton to step back up to the championship, also joining the club was forest winger Albert Adomah who joined his boyhood club, George Thomas left Leicester to join on a free, whilst Rob Dickie left Oxford for 2.5 million.



In terms of leaving the club, Joe Lumley left on emergency loan to Gillingham and Doncaster, but is now back at the club, fellow goalkeeper Dillon Barnes moved up to Hibernian on a free transfer. Aramide Oteh left for Stevenage on a free, whilst Olamide Shodipo moved to Oxford, probably as part of the Dickie deal, with Paul Smyth moving to Charlton, possibly as part of the Bonne move. Defenders Grant Hall and Tobi Leistner left on free transfers to Middlesbrough and Hamburger SV respectively, with full back Ryan Manning leaving for Swansea, whilst the main move saw Ebe Eze depart for Premier League side Crystal Palace for a fee reported to be around 16 million.



Ones to Watch

Bright Osei-Samuel- Tipped by manager to be destined for the premier league amidst interest from Scottish side Rangers. Capable of playing on either flank, the winger possesses a lot of pace and looks to get his side higher up the pitch as fast as possible whilst earning free kicks.

Lyndon Dykes- The Scottish striker joined in the summer and has put his height and bit of pace to good use, leading the scoring charts for the hoops. The striker recently made his debut for the Scottish national side and they look a completely different side when they have him leading the line over Oli Mcburnie, with the Aussie being a bully to most defences.

Ilias Chair- The Moroccan midfielder acts as the link between the midfield and Dykes, operating much how we hoped Pritchard would. Has started every championship game so far this season. He has already matched his goals tally from last year, but so has Campbell so its not saying much...

Rob Dickie- The centre half was highly coveted by Championship sides in the summer with town being one to have been linked with the centre half. The defender is still getting used to the championship and has been struggling with a groin strain but came back alongside Yohan Barbet last time out against Brentford. The former England u19 is now 24, but QPR will be hoping they can make him a mainstay of their defence for time to come.



Team news

Town will be without Richard Stearman and Tommy Elphick, but will be hoping to be able to call upon Pipa, Pritchard and Bacuna, whilst Critchlow could also return from a slight groin issue that has plagued him recently. Schindler and Toffolo both got subbed against Cardiff but it is probably for rest with the game already as good as over, so it could be the best squad we've had available for a fairly long while.

QPR will be hoping to welcome veteran Geoff Cameron to the fold, the American midfielder has missed the last two games through injury, whilst Todd Kane will be back from suspension, otherwise it is expected to be the same squad to pick from, with the obvious amount of rotation


What the managers have said...when they manage to talk.

CC
“We haven’t lost any players from the Cardiff game, and it is possible Pipa and Pritchard will add to the squad if training goes well today. Bacuna is back in training today, so we will assess if he is ready for the game or he needs a little longer.”

“if we depend on certain players too much, it means we are not doing our job well. Every player has to be ready to face the level of the Championship"

“QPR are an aggressive team in the offensive half, and defend high on the pitch. They are one of the teams that play good football; something I saw in two games last season. We have the same identity in attack. I think they deserve more than they have.”

“consistency is not easy, and is a big challenge this year. You play different opponents and have different teammates. Difficult moments always appear in games, and you get consistency by being ready to face every situation.”

“we’ve talked about keeping our level of concentration for 90 minutes. Mistakes are part of football, but we want to ensure that our mistakes don’t lead to conceding a goal.
That’s a big part of being competitive in football.”

“the demands of playing matches every two or three days are very high. This is not an excuse. We need to be ready to face games in terms of fatigue, and also not being affected by what happened in the last game.”

“unfortunately, it looks like we will miss Richard Stearman for a couple of months. He has been an important player for us. Thankfully, we have recovered Rarmani Edmonds-Green from his pre-season injury and we are focused on how we can develop him.”

“the mentality of our squad is the right one. They don’t look for excuses after any mistake; the players want to take responsibility and improve.”



QPR- The Bread Man

club links

1) easy- a Bermudian striker, signed for town from Bradford, left to join Burnley before moving down south.
2) another easy one, sold for some strange reason from town to QPR, we played against him this week
3) the original Rolls Royce defender, sold to make way for Schindler, currently unemployed
4) Winger who played in the championship for town last season
5) Full back who made a loan move to town, settled at QPR for a few seasons before moving for another couple of years in the midlands, now plays at a premier league side
6) Another goalkeeper who made 0 appearances here, but managed to make over 100 for the hoops, amongst other London clubs
7) Midfielder who signed an emergency deal with QPR for a season but made no appearances, signed for us with great expectations, but failed to deliver much upon it. Was injured a lot
8) defender who spent a year at QPR after leaving Newcastle, but left after they were promoted, spent a season at town. well nearly a season
9) Striker who had a season at town and scored 10 goals before being moved on. Signed from QPR and wound up back there via a brief detour after leaving town. Spent over a decade at QPR in total
10) had one successful spell as manager at town, and had 2 spells as manager at QPR, one as a temporary manager.
11) Striker who had a successful year at town on loan, wasn't allowed to stay and eventually made his home on the south coast. his troubled private life ruined his career as he journeyed from club to club
12) Defender who had 6 years at QPR before leaving for Tranmere, had a year in Sheffield, before joining town. Retired at town through injury, but came out of retirement to play for a further 4 clubs.

Head to head

Town haven't lost to QPR since August 2015 when a late Tjaronn Chery goal consigned town to a 1-0 defeat. Since then town have won 3 and drawn 2, the most recent game being at our place last season where goals from Kachunga and a Mounie penalty gave Danny Cowleys side a 2-0 win. In the promotion season town managed to do the double over the R's, Izzy Brown and Nahki Wells scored two first half goals, with Luke Freeman scoring midway through the second half to make things nervier. Earlier in the season town won by the same result, Kachunga and Kasey Palmer bagging for the terriers, with Idrissa Sylla scoring for Rangers. In the dreadful Mick Wadsworth relegation season, QPR registered two 3-0 wins, with big Danny Shittu scoring in both, I had barely started following football at that time, so I imagine they were both set piece goals, but I suppose we were truly awful at that time anyway so it makes no difference.



Overall, in the league, Town have won 9, drawn 7 and lost 12 against QPR, but if you add in cup games that becomes 13 wins, 9 draws and 13 defeats. So in general we seem to be fairly even against the hoops.

Now everyone's favourite anagrams, this time they are all something QPR related, could be anything though

1) I Did Not Nap If A Nun Ask I Mutter Coy
2) Ones Trendy Fan
3) Sky Win Lair
4) Red Rag Go Dodge
5) Refined Lands
6) A Hour Aid Factors
7) A Lily Bible
8) Clock Seat
9) My Code Rot Myth
10) I Scram Past Her Hob

One glaring stat is from the Hoops' Euro campaign this season - 17 goals lost!!!!!!
Four goals lost tonight and one must scrutinise this latest defensive lapse and what Lennon must do to rectify it.
1. Elhamed was a defensive liability tonight (not the first time in some of Celtic's Euro matches!) and this game result should've been closer than the score line suggests! 2. Celtic need a new goalkeeper asap and this match finally confirms that first choice goalie, Barkas, is a dud and does nothing to impress in big matches - no presence in his pen box, I can't recall a save of any great quality in a long time, the guy is an average goalie in a team that needs a top quality goalie. I suggest Lennon "pulls out all the stops" to sign Southampton's Fraser Forster in January - absolutely imperative!
Looking at the content of the match, Celtic really should've been ahead by at least four goals after the first 15 mins as Milan's defence was "run ragged" and literally "all over the place" before their players finally settled. Indeed, 0-2 was an insult to the positive attacking moves of the Hoops esp when they were in total control of this match! And then certain players really "let the side down" AGAIN in allowing this Serie A side to "gain a foothold" in the game. Christie???? Why on earth make a risky tackle just outside the Celtic pen box at 0-2???? Poor discipline personified!! And then the Celtic goalie does his usual lame duck pose in f###### up and looking like a numpty AGAIN - no "bail out" from this goalie who looks like he doesn't wanna be there anyway!!! This ultimately caused an element of panic to a defence which must still be mentally fragile and a second goal lost within 5 mins - awful!!
One must note this was a "dead rubber" for Celtic but the team really needed to start looking like a balanced side again as well as being defensively sound v very good Euro opponents. IMO most of the team actually played reasonably well but it has become very clear that certain players really "let the side down", probs that Lennon must redress pronto. I reckon the manager must somehow progress through this December period with a string of wins, starting with Saint Johnstone on Sunday. Hold out until January and press for transfer funds to deal with the problem areas in this team. The game on Sunday becomes massive for Celtic v stuffy opponents who Celtic would normally beat fairly comfortably. Not so this time with no crowd and confidence fairly low due to a record two wins in the past ten consecutives fixtures. They need to win matches again and start to charge up the Scot Prem, no excuses any more although, as previously stated, there are certain players who shouldn't be there!

v



LAST TIME OUT

BOURNEMOUTH 2 PRESTON NORTH END 3



WYCOMBE WANDERERS 0 STOKE CITY 1



TRANSFERS IN FOR WANDERERS

They have not paid a fee for anyone in the last window, Stockdale, McCarthy, McCleary as well as Horgan arrived at Adams Park

HEAD TO HEAD

First meeting 27/11/1993 Wanderers won 3-2, their only other victory was at Wembley in the same season. Last meeting at Deepdale corresponded with the arrival of medal winner we won 3-2.

FORM GUIDE

PRESTON NORTH END 8 WYCOMBE WANDERERS 4

MACS VIEW

After Tuesday's out of the blue win at Bournemouth, this is an altogether different test against a side who will give 100% not give up and make it difficult for us on our own turf basically like every other side has at Deepdale this season.
A welcome return to both gaffer Gareth Ainsworth and winger Daryl Horgan who didn't quite fit the the role which Neil wanted him to play.
Will big man Bayo get on still searching for his first goal in the Championship.
Need to be wary of Jacobson's inswinging corners.
They will provide a stern test this is no gimme.
For us no Bauer which is a blow, interesting to note on Tuesday Bayliss got on the pitch before Potts and Harrop maybe a change in guard is coming. Need to build on Tuesday night, won't be easy.

It seemed as though there was really no money at all when John Pemberton was finally named as manager. The club shut down through lockdown. New ownership finally crossed the line, but they did it after such a protracted struggle that no one really expected any extra expenditure. But, after seeming relegation-bound with an unrefreshed squad, we have got rid of those in charge of the team who had given every appearance of having their financial hands tied, and replaced them with an exciting young manager. He brought with him his leading scorer at a cost, yet another expense we didn't realise we could cover.

Now we have found enough for a short-team deal for free agent Jak McCourt and a small (?) fee for Tom Whelan, who has apparently been doing well at Weymouth, but who didn't make the grade at Yeovil. James Rowe is making it clear he is looking to the future and that means every player is playing for his own future as well as that of the club. That's something every fan will applaud, but it does leave me, and perhaps you, wondering what is available for the development we intend, having appointed Lemon and Turnbull (who sound like shirt manufacturers).

You will doubtless be bored out of your minds reading lists of non-league players I've thought we could get for next to nothing over the last few years. Some come good like Ben Garrity of Warrington, who Blackpool finally offered a contract, but he was then loaned out and is now doing well at Oldham. Others, well it is a struggle, Alex Brown from first Sheffield FC then Buxton is now at Kings Lynn. He's in the team, but the defence is the worst in our section. On the other hand Sam Barratt and Matt Kosylo have almost single-handedly hauled their teams into the promotion race. There's an element of gamble involved. You can find a Levi Amantchi who looks like the future and ends up working his way down the pyramid. Our aim has to be to spend small and sell big. But sometimes the small spend will be all loss.

I've no idea what our true resources are, but we would hardly have made appointments if their budget was zero. As football prepares to find ways for its lower leagues to find ways back onto the pitch, my suggestion would be for us to nip in and bag a seriously good young player I've mentioned before - Kane Drummond from Rylands Warrington. It is no accident that they are challenging at the top of their league. He works hard, he scores goals, he's a wide man, who also makes goals. He's 18/19 and is the only player Rylands have ever contracted. In his last game he was brought down and still got up to score. He might not be ready for our first team, but surely we could afford a deal that involved loaning him back to continue developing in Warrington for this season. What could be better with two strikers than a clever, quick and brave young winger?

Personally I wouldn't have signed Jak back on ....... but he did have one or two good games in his last spell. Whelan interests me. How long since we had a public schoolboy in the team? He learnt to play at Millfield. What do you think? And do you think we have any money to develop a team - a proper team?

Aldershot Town 1-2 Dagenham & Redbridge
Altrincham 2-0 King's Lynn Town
Barnet 0-3 Wealdstone
Bromley 1-3 Stockport County
Eastleigh 1-1 Maidenhead United
Hartlepool United 1-1 Boreham Wood
Notts County 2-0 Woking
Sutton United 0-1 Solihull Moors
Torquay United 1-1 Wrexham
Weymouth 0-2 FC Halifax Town

League Table After Matchday 13
Lord Snoots = 120
Spireitematt = 108
Amelia = 98
Dancing = 96
Devon = 92
St Charles = 62

I must confess that I feared the worst anyway but the arrangements put out by Cheltenham Town means that I'm highly unlikely to be able to attend matches in the near future.
Probably allowed no more than 1500 fans anyway trying to arrange a system for attendance must be a massive undertaking.

The thought that I would probably not be allocated my own seat and maybe extra walking involved was bad enough, plus the requirement to wear face masks at all times (how is the referee going to hear you swearing at him?)
However the announcement that no food will be served ( only go for the cheeseburgers)    Joke not true.

The final nail in the coffin is the fact that the car parks close to the ground will not be opening. Hence, even more of a walk to my seat wherever that might be. At my present pace and pain endured I'm afraid that the Jonny Rocks stadium has probably seen the last of me for the foreseeable future

I'm hoping that the Club can negotiate my continued use of the EFL's ifollow stream. I did after all agree that the Club could keep my season ticket monies even though we can't attend games at present.

SMILIES/BALLS

 Bonus Ball
 Score Ball, Free to use Ball , play it on a game that you think both teams will score in !
 Gamball,

New Scoring System

Incorrect Result =  0 point
Incorrect Result (Bonus Ball) = -3
Incorrect Result (Gamball) = -3
[/color]
Score Ball = 1 added Point if both teams score.  !

Correct Result = +2 points
Correct Result (Bonus Ball) = +3
Correct Result (Gamball) = +5  
Correct Score = + 4 points
Correct Score (Bonus Ball) = +6  
Correct Score (Gamball) = +10  

Just a reminder you DO NOT have to play the Gamball if you dont want too, the score will then be marked normal.  


Again the third from bottom of the premiership will play off against the third in the table from the Championship to keep even more excitement going, they will have to predict through all the Playoffs and the winner obviously takes their place in the Premier League the following season  

Beefy, Bomber, Zinman & SCO  


If you do not predict,...........
If in your league everyone scores above zero you will receive Zero points,
However if in your league the person with the lowest score is below Zero (eg -4) you will score -5 and receive your first strike, Remember 3 strikes and you're out.

All scores must be in before MIDDAY SATURDAY,(For The Early Kick Off If Applicable) If the early kick off is missed the rest of your predictions must reach us by 2.45pm or none will be counted.



* NEW & UPDATED 2020/21 PARTICIPANTS,

Premiership
                           
1/ AAA
2/ Amelia
3/ BBB
4/ Bomber
5/ Derby
6/ MacLad
7/ Sanjay
8/ SCO
9/ Snoots
10/ Twerton                
                         
Championship

1/ BaggieOne
2/ Beefy
3/ DD
4/ LadyJane
5/ Joker
6/ MiniZin
7/ OneTrueBaggie
8/ Silver
9/ Somerset
10/ Stairs
11/ Zinman


                       
                         

Sat 5th December

1/ West Ham v Man United
2/ Chelsea v Leeds
3/ Reading v Notts Forest
4/ Brentford v Blackburn
5/ Huddersfield v QPR
6/ Norwich v Sheff Wed
7 ** Stoke v Middlesbrough  


Sunday 6th December

8/ WBA v Crystal Palace
9/ Spurs v Arsenal
10/ Liverpool v Wolves

Wrap yourself up in cardboard lined with foil to fool the X-ray machines - stick an Amazon address label on the outside and book a ride with these guys.

https://www.mromagazine.com/2020/11/30/c...4795601E3R

Probably cheaper than BA or Air Canada - the food and drink, and let's not forget the toilets might be dodgy or a bit DIY, the seating uncomfortable and the temperature in the cabin a tad cold, but what's new about that?

IMO this is a tricky match for Hibs v physically strong opponents and I think the guys will really have to "up their game" in order to attain a positive result. Gogic must return after being given a deserved rest v Dundee. Also I'd still like to see Boyly dropped and finally given a rest and Jamie Gullan allowed to play in the starting line up. Keep Darren Magregor and Porteous together in our central defence. Stevie Mallan's mid position again an issue to ponder whether he should be in a Hibs team playing this type of opposition? One or two "up top"? I'm not sure but based on Hibs recent form covering the past 2-3 weeks I would be cautious re playing at Fir Park. Their recent form has not been inspiring anyway but Hibs need to "show up" IMO. A strong, durable defensive unit is definitely uppermost in my mind and something Hibs defenders wanna apply and heed.

GGTTH