Quite amusing when you consider there was opposition to Challinor as Charlton Manager (not necessarily on here), because of their poor start to the season.
Surprised by their poor start but doing well now - Challinor has done a good job at County.
This season, after 13 games, they have 26 points. Last season, after the same number of games, they had just 12 points but then picked up 67 points from their final 33 games and missed out on automatic promotion by just 4 points. They will almost certainly be promoted this season but might not win League 2 because of the form of Mansfield under Nigel Clough. Despite having some key players out injured and drawing too many matches, Mansfield are unbeaten, have the best defence and have played all bar one of the top nine in their 13 fixtures. Today they thrashed the then top side, Notts County, 4-1 away.
Mansfield seem to be the League Two equivalent of Portsmouth - Wont be surprised if they fall away again.
I agree that they did that last season. If there is one difference I would say it is the signing of Aden Flint. Middlesbro' paid £7m for him five years ago, Cardiff subsequently bought him for £4m and up until the first half of last season he was playing in the Championship. He went out on loan to Sheffield Wednesday and was a regular starter in the latter part of the season. It's no coincidence that Mansfield have the best defence in the division with just three goals conceded in the last eight games - their issue is converting their chances but with the possibility of one or two attacking players returning, it won't take much for them to turn draws into wins.
Feel sorry for Ben garner. A brilliant coach who chose the wrong club (Charlton). Colchester will always struggle with cowling as chairman. No money, half empty stadium. Probably sacked now, it happens with a young team, their heads drop and stay down. Maybe he will go assist in the championship or something, but he definitely chose the wrong club twice.
Mansfield seem to be the League Two equivalent of Portsmouth - Wont be surprised if they fall away again.
Clough, by modern standards, has been there ages. Over 3 years now.
In terms of their longevity, the managerial careers of father and son are remarkably similar, albeit that Brian consistently managed at a higher level winning more trophies too:
Brian Clough: 28 years 5 spells at clubs 1,422 games
Nigel Clough: 25 years 5 spells at clubs 1,329 games
8 wins in a row for Stockport. Winning bet for me every week at present.
Stockport and Notts County wont be coming up to league 1 to make up the numbers. Add Wrexham & Sheffield Wednesday and your starting to think next season looks a very strong league 1.
Ipswich are doing so well now that everyone’s forgotten that their first season under the new owners was a bit of a disaster based on how much money they’d spent.
Ipswich are doing so well now that everyone’s forgotten that their first season under the new owners was a bit of a disaster based on how much money they’d spent.
You can't rebuild a club in one summer though. They struggled at first and took a while to get going as they had so many new players and left themselves too much to do in the second half of the season.
But i think in the second half of that 21-22 season when McKenna came in and got them playing, they showed signs of starting to click and they only lost twice from January onwards. Carried that into last season and the rest is history.
They've only lost 7 of their last 76 league games going back to January 2022.
Ipswich are doing so well now that everyone’s forgotten that their first season under the new owners was a bit of a disaster based on how much money they’d spent.
You can't rebuild a club in one summer though. They struggled at first and took a while to get going as they had so many new players and left themselves too much to do in the second half of the season.
But i think in the second half of that 21-22 season when McKenna came in and got them playing, they showed signs of starting to click and they only lost twice from January onwards. Carried that into last season and the rest is history.
They've only lost 7 of their last 76 league games going back to January 2022.
Agree with you completely. Was more a response to the sarcastic “following their model” comment.
If we really want to follow their model, we’ll finish 11th this season and go up next year.
We’re not following their model hence the sarcasm . They’d spent a fair old whack and got in plenty of players . we’ve been picking off some of their reserves in the last couple of years . we’re nowhere near what they’ve done .
We’re not following their model hence the sarcasm . They’d spent a fair old whack and got in plenty of players . we’ve been picking off some of their reserves in the last couple of years . we’re nowhere near what they’ve done .
Ipswich mitigated their negligence in paying a substantial fee for Scot Fraser by getting practically all their money back from us - we reportedly paid them about £400,000. What fee, if any, would he command if we put him up for sale now ?
Yet another example of our poor recruitment, with Kirk and poor Chuks being other examples.
Compare and contrast yesterday’s opponents, Bolton, who picked up Dion Charles from Accie for £400K and Kyle Dempsey from Gillingham for £300K. I’m afraid that our ineptitude in the recruitment market is going to continue to dog us for some time.
Fraser is class when he has a bit of time to work with, and for that he needs other players to keep a shape and get the ball to him. Luxury yes, but the sort of player who will cause havoc if the rest of the team is firing
Kyle Dempsey and Connor Ogilvie were on our doorstep at Gills with them desperate for money. The crap we bought instead is crazy. Santos was only just down the road at Barnet. Those 3 in our squad now and we would likely be play offs.
Fleetwood scoring in the 90th min to draw 3-3 against Blackpool was good a result for any team chasing the play offs. Blackpool would have been joint 6th place with a win.
Stevenage still holding on to 6th place is still a surprise as though they would have been caught by now.
Comments
Brian Clough:
28 years
5 spells at clubs
1,422 games
Nigel Clough:
25 years
5 spells at clubs
1,329 games
They've scored 2 or more in 19 of those games.
Scored 3 or more in 14 of them.
Scored 4 or more in 8 of them.
Incredible run of form, especially considering they're a promoted side.
But i think in the second half of that 21-22 season when McKenna came in and got them playing, they showed signs of starting to click and they only lost twice from January onwards. Carried that into last season and the rest is history.
They've only lost 7 of their last 76 league games going back to January 2022.
If we really want to follow their model, we’ll finish 11th this season and go up next year.
They’d spent a fair old whack and got in plenty of players .
we’ve been picking off some of their reserves in the last couple of years .
we’re nowhere near what they’ve done .
Yet another example of our poor recruitment, with Kirk and poor Chuks being other examples.
Compare and contrast yesterday’s opponents, Bolton, who picked up Dion Charles from Accie for £400K and Kyle Dempsey from Gillingham for £300K. I’m afraid that our ineptitude in the recruitment market is going to continue to dog us for some time.
Still surprised he never appeared in relation to us. He'll be doing the same thing in 6 months when he wants more publicity
Stevenage still holding on to 6th place is still a surprise as though they would have been caught by now.