League 1, League 2, National League and beyond 2021/22

[filecore]

That’s a great crowd, and a fantastic result.
 

Cambridge 1 - Lincoln 5

Now that’s what I call an away day. We blew them away. Great goals. That’s more like it. Players returning from injury, newcomers settling etc. Great.

[Fatsam]

Over 8,200 at Wrexham against Woking yesterday which was fantastic to see. Great positive atmosphere too.

 

They looked a solid stronger side than previous seasons and it pleased me how we battled away to secure a 1-0 victory, particularly after going down to 10 men with 15 minutes left. Both sets of fans booing the referee off at the end for shitness including a clear penalty not being given for Woking. Wanting anything more out of a game of football  is just being greedy.

 

One or two surprising results with Chesterfield failing to beat doomed Dover and Stockport losing 3-0 at home to Yeovil.

 

Oh yeah, we're a Rest of the World side in FIFA 22 which gets a big shrug of the shoulders from me. Surely Wrexham advisor Peter Moore could have put  his weight and connections to better use, like getting Paul Mullin into Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania. We're apparently entering into a "multi year innovation partnership" with EA. I'm assuming all the innovation will have to come from our side.

[Angles Morts]

Morecambe 3-4 AFC Wimbledon, another ridiculously high scoring match with us coming from behind. We don't know when we're beaten, but also don't know when we're winning! Goals are coming from all over the squad, and we actually look better without our top scorer last season (Pigott).

[neoELITE]

I'm happy with winning but @Coltrane Portsmouth cost me £173 by not beating Cambridge. A £2 accumulator ruined by Pompey. 

 

See you on Tuesday.

[neoELITE]

I haven't looked at the league table for League 1 in a while. If we beat Portsmouth tonight, we go top. How did that happen? 

[Fatsam]

Nice, are Plymouth playing like an automatic promotion team?

Sunderland have started pretty well I notice, could this be the season that they get their shit together?

 

To perfectly illustrate how competitive our league is, Grimsby played really well at their place to beat us 3-1 on Tuesday. Always thought they were nailed on for a playoff finish under Hurst, but are showing they could be in there for the title too. But then we completely dominated the first half against top of the table Dagenham and Redbridge on Saturday looking really strong, before they put on a decent attacking show in the second half that we survived through a combination of luck,great last ditch defending, and poor finishing. Disney dollars the difference with a Paul Mullin super strike. 

 

Rusk already seems to be under pressure at Stockport, who were expected to start the season better than they have. They have the shittest goals scored per game stats in the league currently, making it either the best time for Wrexham to play them away on Saturday or the very very worst.

[neoELITE]

League 1 is tight. We've not conceded in three games. Our defence was completely changed from last season where we let in 80+ goals. We've only lost one and that was the opener away at Rotherham. 

I don't think we're automatic promotion contenders but we're playing well. I think we'll fizzle out as our squad isn't deep but who knows. It seems most League 1 clubs have thin squads apart from Ipswich, Sunderland and Bolton who all spent fairly big in the Summer.

Looking forward to tonight's iFollow stream.

[neoELITE]

Almost, almost got 3 points. That's the 3rd game in a row against Portsmouth that has ended 2-2. 

I was surprised how direct Portsmouth are and in the first half they tried very hard to kick our midfielder Camara off the pitch and get our players booked. Some of it was farcical.

A great game but gutted to concede in the 95th minute. That last 5 minutes was an onslaught by Portsmouth but we didn't help by making silly substitutions. 

Both our goals were excellent. Two one on ones from Ryan Hardie. 

Either side could've won that. We have two home games coming up. We're looking good. We were top for 15 minutes.

[Angles Morts]

I'm hoping we dust ourselves off after the defeat to the temporary League 1 leaders (😉) and put up a good fight against the almost-as-scary Arsenal tonight. We've not played them for a while! A few of our players who were last-minute withdrawals on Saturday seem to have miraculously recovered.

 

There's a nice article about us in the Grauniad.

[neoELITE]

13 minutes ago, artz said:

I'm hoping we dust ourselves off after the defeat to the temporary League 1 leaders (😉) and put up a good fight against the almost-as-scary Arsenal tonight. We've not played them for a while! A few of our players who were last-minute withdrawals on Saturday seem to have miraculously recovered.

 

There's a nice article about us in the Grauniad.

 

That's a great draw but it's the EFL Cup. 80% of the players fielded by Premier League clubs won't play another game this season. Man City had a number 96 playing yesterday.

I think you'll win. 

[Angles Morts]

Well it's one up from the the EFL trophy! 45% of the ticket sales means it should be a decent chunk off the stadium debt. 30/1 seems good value if it is an Arsenal U23 side, their substitutes finishers should get them out of trouble though.

 

Lol, thanks transfermarkt.com

 

[neoELITE]

The thing is @artz a lot of under 23 players go out on loan to League 1 and 2. We've had loads of them and they're generally poor against proper, regular pro players. I can think of maybe one or two who've been successful here at Plymouth. 

[Plissken]

To be honest, based on Saturday, their first team are no great shakes either.

 

Spoiler

Yes, I am still bitter.  If we had played anything like we have so far this season, we would have battered them.  So frustrating.

 

[Angles Morts]

We’ve had some decent ones recently @neoELITE, Marcus Forss banged in 4 for Brentford last night, and of course Aaron Ramsdale who I’’d guess we’re facing tonight, but I get your point that they’re the exception.

 

Anyway, on the train and surrounded by Chelsea fans.

[neoELITE]

18 minutes ago, Plissken said:

To be honest, based on Saturday, their first team are no great shakes either.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Yes, I am still bitter.  If we had played anything like we have so far this season, we would have battered them.  So frustrating.

 

 

Get back to your elitist thread. 

[neoELITE]

That Arsenal side weren't a bunch of kids @artz 

Oof. 

 

Concentrate on the League. 

[filecore]

Travelled to a home match from my London home base on Saturday 18th to see a pretty average Ipswich beat a less than average Lincoln 1-0. Our (Lincolns) recruitment has been poor(unlucky?) and I'll be happy with mid table this season. To be fair we over achieved last season which has raised expectations. And when you have the 2nd youngest squad in the league they aren't used to playing in front of a crowd.  Playing behind closed doors did us a favour last season.

 

My next home game is Plymouth, a week on Sat. Are you coming neoElite? Be good to have a pint with you. 

 

 

[Gigawatt]

We were there too. After scraping a draw against Rotherham it was quite a disappointing game. Second half was more enjoyable. Despite having a goal disallowed for a dubious offside Lincoln never really looked like scoring in my opinion (which sounds ridiculous). Ipswich fans were loud I thought, they’ve obviously got good travelling support. 
 

it’s our first time as season ticket holders and we’re enjoying it immensely. Could definitely do with seeing a win against Plymouth, however unlikely that might be. 

[neoELITE]

@filecore it's my eldest daughter's wedding that day so I think if I miss that to go and watch a football match, I might be in some sort of domestic trouble 

 

Thanks for the offer though! I'd rather go and watch the football to be honest. 

 

For the non-big clubs in League 1 and 2, I just think that getting loanees in who fit and who flourish can be the difference between mid table and a promotion push. Lincoln had the best keeper in the League last season. We had him the previous season and came up from League 2. Alex Palmer is a fantastic keeper. You also picked up some great signings that clicked. 

 

[Angles Morts]

15 hours ago, neoELITE said:

That Arsenal side weren't a bunch of kids @artz 

Oof. 

 

Concentrate on the League. 

They put out a really decent squad and the first 15 minutes we were frighteningly outclassed. Shame we gave away the unnecessary penalty because we recovered a bit after that.

Ramsdale didn't play. Saka looked absolutely unreal when he came on. He got a nice round of applause from us when he did as well.

[RareBirds]

20 hours ago, Gigawatt said:

We were there too. After scraping a draw against Rotherham it was quite a disappointing game. Second half was more enjoyable. Despite having a goal disallowed for a dubious offside Lincoln never really looked like scoring in my opinion (which sounds ridiculous). Ipswich fans were loud I thought, they’ve obviously got good travelling support. 
 

it’s our first time as season ticket holders and we’re enjoying it immensely. Could definitely do with seeing a win against Plymouth, however unlikely that might be. 

 

It was very scrappy (watched on I Follow) but we (Ipswich) were desperate for a win so I'll take it. 

 

One of the great footballing regrets of my life was going to the FA Cup game against Lincoln in 2017 - there were lots of Lincoln there (from memory we gave you one of the main stands as it was peak McCarthy so hardly any Ipswich fans were going to games, especially Cup games). They were selling half and half Ipswich and Lincoln scarfs outside.

 

A half and half Ipswich and Lincoln scarf! I can't believe I just walked past.   

[Angles Morts]

I'm feeling a bit more nervous about our trip to Shrews after hearing big Ollie Palmer is out. It turns out he wasn't fit to play Arsenal after all and injured his calf. Our replacement target man Aaron Pressley (on load from Brentford) is ok but hasn't quite got the same presence yet.

[Cosmic_Guru]

Gratifyingly easy 4-0 win for Sutton today versus Carlisle  although I guess the very early goal helped a great deal. Two goals from new boy Alastair Smith, and Ajiboye a real handful once again.  The ground hopper next to me proved a good luck mascot for the match.

[wev]

We lose one game and we fall behind Its Always Pissing It Down In Wrexham... 

[merman]

Ipswich’s equaliser was incredible, Bonne lingering behind the Wednesday keeper and then nabbing the ball when the keeper dropped it to the ground - two passes and in the net.

[RareBirds]

On 26/09/2021 at 14:12, merman said:

Ipswich’s equaliser was incredible, Bonne lingering behind the Wednesday keeper and then nabbing the ball when the keeper dropped it to the ground - two passes and in the net.

 

It was hilarious, I'm in Sir Bobby Robson lower so it was just in front of me - just seemed so obvious and stupid, amazing it worked. 

 

Game itself was frustrating - did enough to win, the finish for Wednesday's goal was very, very good but the build up was us having the ball, being half arsed, giving a free-kick away, dealing with the free kick, switching off, concede. We then had multiple very good opportunities, spurned them and then looked completely out of ideas and very much like Lambert's team last season (side to side passing, no penetration) until Bonne decided to hide behind the keeper. 

 

Tomorrow night should hopefully see Morsy start - the season kind of rests on him it seems. I went to the game against the West Ham U21s (used up my free ticket from having a season ticket last year) - he looked good in that game and will hopefully give a bit of structure to the centre of the pitch. Talk of Edwards coming back as well - surely a team with Morsy, Edwards, Celina, Bonne etc. can win a home game!?!?!

[RareBirds]

On 27/09/2021 at 21:49, RareBirds said:

surely a team with Morsy, Edwards, Celina, Bonne etc. can win a home game!?!?!

 

Mission achieved!

[neoELITE]

Some high scoring games in League 1 yesterday. 

We drew 1-1 with Crewe. They scored a worldwide/fluke after 3 minutes. I still don't know how it went in after watching it a number of times. We then had 26 shots, absolutely battering them but only scored one  in actual fact, our keeper pulled off at least three top class saves - all of their chances came from break aways. I was surprised just how often in the first half Crewe gave us back the ball, their back three/five were useless and all the talent in that starting eleven is in the front three. 

Crewe weren't bad though. They passed the ball around well in midfield when the defence actually gave them the ball and had pace up front. I'd be surprised if they stay in the bottom 4. Compared to Gillingham and Cambridge, they're a much better footballing side.

 

We've had 5 games in 15 days. We're unbeaten in 9 games now and we look solid everywhere. I think we'll be hard to beat this season and a lot of the games we would have lost last season are games we're getting points from. 

[Fatsam]

On 25/09/2021 at 20:54, wev said:

We lose one game and we fall behind Its Always Pissing It Down In Wrexham... 

 

Don't feel too bad, Grimsby and Chesterfield went and lost their first games last night too.

 

Annoying that Wrexham lost after going ahead after an early lead on Saturday away at Stockport, but at least that's a tough one out of the way. I can't go to our home game against Chesterfield next Tuesday and the one after that isn't until the 30th October. A crazy National League fixture calculator and our first game of the season being switched, means that out of our first 12 games, 8 will have been away from home. I'll have only watched 3 of those 12 games. Hoping to make up for that a bit with an away trip to Halifax in November and fingers crossed for an FA Cup preliminary round game I can go to in a couple of weeks.

[filecore]

(Lincoln - 2nil loss at Morecambe on Tuesday night)

Goodness me, one step forward two steps back. Worst performance of the season. We are toothless in attack. Summer recruitment not good enough. Griffiths (keeper on loan from West Brom) has really come into his own in last few games after people saying he wasn't as good as Palmer.

Will be happy to stay in the league this season. We should do that, but then two weeks ago I said we were comfortably top 10. Now I don't think we are near that. But hey, just need a January window!

 

Plymouth at home on Saturday. Not hopeful, but stranger things have happened! At least I'll get to meet a real lifer mukker in person for the first time @Gigawatt where we can regale tales of woe!