The 2010/11 football season is nearly over, and as Everton drift into a nondescript 7th place finish, my only remaining footballing point of interest lies in the fate of the Cobblers, my local team, and the team I have followed as a real as opposed to sofa fan.
In February 1970 my dad took me to my first football match, the famous 8-2 thrashing at the County Ground by Man Utd in the 5th round of the FA Cup, where I witnessed a certain George Best (the best player of all time imo) score six goals, and to my 10 year old mind thought we were on a comeback when we pulled two goals back! Since then I went through a spell from the late 70s to the late 80s where I watched hundreds of Cobblers games, home and away, and in all my years on this planet the Cobblers have always had full league football status. They have survived re-election three times back in the days when there was no promotion from or relegation to what is now the Conference, and escaped relegation on the last day of the 1992/93 season by winning 3-2 away at Shrewsbury having been 2-0 down and relegated at the break. The Cobblers actually managed to finish bottom the following season, but avoided relegation due to Conference champs Kidderminster Harriers' ground not being up to scratch. Phew!
Has the Cobblers' luck run out this season? Well, with 5 games to play they are a mere two points above the drop zone, and the run-in looks ghastly. Current bottom club Stockport County appear doomed, being too far behind, and using the good 'ol BBC Predictor, this is how I have the remaining fixtures going, comparing the Cobblers with Burton Albion & Barnet, one of whom will join Stockport in the Conference next season. The actual scores are largely irrelevant, it's the results that matter:
Sat 16/4 - Wycome 2-0 Cobblers, Burton 1-1 Cheltenham, Bury 2-0 Barnet, Tues 19/4 - Bradford 1-1 Burton, Fri 22/4 - Cobblers 1-1 Rotherham, Sat 23/4 - Aldershot 1-0 Burton, Gillingham 2-0 Barnet, Mon 25/4 - Barnet 1-1 Oxford, Burton 0-1 Torquay, Stockport 1-1 Cobblers, Sat 30/4 - Accrington 2-0 Barnet, Cobblers 0-2 Stevenage, Southend 1-0 Burton, Sat 7/5 - Barnet 0-1 Port Vale, Burton 1-1 Accrington, Morecombe 1-1 Cobblers.
If, and it's a big if, as it relies on the Cobblers rediscovering their once endless ability to draw matches, it pans out as above the final table will be:
21 Cobblers 46
22 Burton 44
.........................
23 Barnet 42
24 Stockport 37
That'll do nicely, fingers crossed!
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Congrats are due to Spurs and 'Arry Redknapp, who although they went out of the Champions League with a bit of a whimper the other night, have provided all us neutrals with some fine entertainment this season. 'Arry should be a shoo-in for Manager Of The Season, assuming he's not being detained in "The Big House" by the time the gongs are handed out! While we're on awards, another shoo-in for Comedy Keeper Of The Season had to be Manuel Almunia, but Hilarious Gomez sure runs him close with a howler in each leg of Spurs' tie against Real Madrid. If Spurs manage to get 4th spot from Citeh, and jeez have they got a hard run in, then 'Arry will have to buy a keeper who can actually hold on to the ball as well as a classy striker if Spurs are to stay on the upward trajectory. I predict a clear out of about 23 of their under-used squad players this summer in order to splash out on those two positions.
My Predictor thingy for the rest of the Premiership season has the top 8 finishing in the exact order they are in now, with Spurs still 3 points off Citeh. Mind you with the fixtures Spurs have got left, in particular their game away at Citeh on 10th May which I have down as 1-1, you never know what might happen.
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