League 2 Relegation Thread 2018/2019

Si Robin

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Is it too early for this?

Either way, looks like we'll be setting up camp here for the rest of the season. With Macc looking like joining us, will this be the least exciting relegation battle in League 2 history?
 

valefan16

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Macclesfield Town just don't look like they have the quality at this level to survive unfortunately which is a shame as they did well to get back in the league, they just are not getting the wins and would need a massive turn around to stand a chance and don't see them getting 40 plus points in the next 2/3rds of a season.

Cheltenham look like they may struggle, that said for a period last season it looked like 2 from Vale, FGR and Chesterfield before Barnet slumped big time, Carlisle maybe this season's Barnet as they seem to dropping like a stone?

Notts County need to turn things around sooner rather than later, not getting the wins and the breaks and decisions don't seem to be dropping for them, but surely would splash the cash in January if needed?

Hoping not to spent any time in this thread ourselves... 7 points better off than this stage last season and most of the bottom teams still to play before Christmas.

Cambridge, Crewe and Northampton seem to have got things together now to be heading out of worry as do Grimsby to a degree. Morecambe seem to shithouse safety most years too.

At the moment would say:

Macclesfield and Cheltenham to go, with Morecambe and Carlisle just scrapping safety.
 

FishyMackem

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Hoping we won't need to see this thread too much either but it's Grimsby Town and we love the relegation flirting.
 

Luke Imp

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FGR were struggling this time last year (whether to the extent of Macc I can't recall), but a few ins and outs in January saw them edge away from danger and keep their head above water.

Macc need a manager first, mind!

Can't be long until Morecambe face the inevitable, surely?
 

valefan16

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FGR were struggling this time last year (whether to the extent of Macc I can't recall), but a few ins and outs in January saw them edge away from danger and keep their head above water.

Macc need a manager first, mind!

Can't be long until Morecambe face the inevitable, surely?

FGR spent a fair bit of money though, the likes of Gunning, Reid for example, would Macc be likely to invest as much in Jan?
 

LongEatonPie

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Glad someone else started this off, been mulling whether to for past week.
Couldn't bring myself to do it!
 

AdamStag

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Was going to say exactly the same as Luke, FGR invested in January (quite a lot also from what I remember) but they had a similar trajectory to Chesterfield until that time, and both clubs took very different paths from then on in. If you can keep in touch and do have the money to spend in Jan then you've a chance - if you haven't then well...

Accrington (doing well up in league 1) are no bigger than Macc attendance wise so whereas they may be an exception to the rule, they prove that being "small" can be counteracted through good management and shrewd purchases.
 

Crewelad87

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Macclesfield, Cheltenham and Morecambe seem to be the weakest teams, but someone usually falls from midtable and gets sucked in.
 

Habbinalan

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What's occuring off the pitch has as much to do with relegations as squad and performances up to Christmas. You can look back to our time and before but in recent seasons we've certainly seen the majority that have dropped with an unsettled ownership and frequent manager turnover.

Morecambe are only still here because of Jim Bentley.

I don't see anyone this season that are currently in the mess that the likes of Chesterfield, Orient, Hartlepool, York and Tranmere were but the Latics seem to have the greatest potential to crash and burn - giving Morecambe (if Jimbo stays) and Cheltenham (if they splash some of their cash in January) something to hope for.

It looks too big a job for Macc at the moment but you only have to look at Newport in recent seasons to see what the right manager and a bit of strengthening in key areas can deliver.

I hope and believe that we'll be out of the woods by early next year but a bad result for either side on saturday plus a few injuries could easily drag ourselves or our opponents, Grimsby, back into the mix.
 

Gladders

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I hope and believe that we'll be out of the woods by early next year but a bad result for either side on saturday plus a few injuries could easily drag ourselves or our opponents, Grimsby, back into the mix.

Not being funny but no matter what the result is on Saturday we are both in the mix now and will still be after the game, going to be a while yet before we can confidently say we are not in a relegation battle.
 

Habbinalan

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Not being funny but no matter what the result is on Saturday we are both in the mix now and will still be after the game, going to be a while yet before we can confidently say we are not in a relegation battle.
I agree. Bad wording by me.

Before the last 3 matches, I was struggling to see us picking up more than the odd point in the run up to January - so depending on others losing to stay in touch with those outside the bottom 4.

Now we've both moved on from the shit storm that was September. A win (or even a draw) on saturday would maintain (in your case regain) momentum for either of us and for the moment I'm looking up (How soon can we catch Carlisle and/or Oldham?) rather than down.

I'm actually looking forward to saturday, whereas I was dreading it 2 weeks ago, especially because we're having a bit of a reunion and bringing along some former work mates from Luton and Northampton - and they'll be insufferable if we mess up.
 

FGR Stroud

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Now that this thread has been started I took time to check my forecasts at season start:

http://www.onefootballforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/2018-19-league-table-predictions.20016/page-2

From the teams I forecast for promotion & relegation I'm not doing well at all.
One team, MK Dons, for promotion and one team, Cheltenham, for relegation.
Early days yet I admit.
UTS [Bury supporter] did not agree with me that Cheltenham would be in the mix but I did a bit of research beforehand and knew they would struggle after selling Eisa.
 

King Kev

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Just checked and FGR had 15 points and 16 goals to their name at this stage last season. That included four wins, one away at Coventry and a draw away at Notts County. They also recorded their first league victory as early as the third game.

Macc in comparison did not win until game 14, and aside from Newport away have struggled to score goals it seems. I assumed that their victory over Carlisle might be a spring board but they have followed it up with a hammering at home and then a defeat to a fellow struggler.
Alot of Bury fans fear the worst for Saturday as it is destined to be a 'typical' Bury defeat. Regardless, after Saturday I really hope Macc pull it together, always had a soft spot for them since they were denied promotion in 1995, I have also had some cracking away days in Macc, but lastly I think it is terrible seeing a side follow up an excellent promotion with such struggles.
 

Vanni

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My biggest concern is the fact that we're still lacking a decent striker. Granted, we've all seen quite a few big name teams playing w/o a proper forward but when sides do that they're forfeiting any advantage they might get when hitting their opponents on the counter, ie. when the RW/LW goes on a run down the wing, but can't get a cross in as there's no striker in the box.

The way footy is played here, esp. the lower leagues, means that the striker has got to be a big strong brute able to stand his own against 6 foot 2 CHs. Jevani Brown can play as a false no9 if you will but he's too lightweight.
 

Vanni

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Onto the other sides, while there's still plenty of time for sides to pull themselves together, at both ends of the table, I do think that Macc need a miracle if they're to stay up. Some sides will think they need to sort out their back line, while others reckon they need to add some quality up top, but Macc although a very hard working side, are lacking quality across the board. I don't know what Macc's board made of their squad back in the summer but if they thought they stood a chance then they're either naive or living in lala land.

As for the other side to go down, it's hard to say at this point. Cheltenham look poor but they still beat us at The Abbey. Morecambe will probably do what they always do and stay up, and it looks like they've sorted out the problem they had with not scoring enough goals. Grimsby and Carlisle do look to me to be in the same boat as us - missing a striker or two. I haven't watched Oldham and Crewe yet but I expect them both to be in with an outside chance of finishing the season in the bottom six, though both should have enough to stay up I think.
 

UTS

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Now that this thread has been started I took time to check my forecasts at season start:

http://www.onefootballforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/2018-19-league-table-predictions.20016/page-2

From the teams I forecast for promotion & relegation I'm not doing well at all.
One team, MK Dons, for promotion and one team, Cheltenham, for relegation.
Early days yet I admit.
UTS [Bury supporter] did not agree with me that Cheltenham would be in the mix but I did a bit of research beforehand and knew they would struggle after selling Eisa.
Admittedly my rationale behind Cheltenham doing well was that they would re-invest their Eisa money into some good squad additions. Has this happened? Doesn’t look like it judging by the table.
 

The_Boss

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Can this thread be renamed please. Something along the lines of "The League 2 Relegation spot not being taken by Macclesfield Town Thread 2018/19" should suffice.

We're doomed. The current squad is so low in quality that we'll be too far adrift come January that even if we did invest well on transfers it'd take championship winning form to survive.

Our only hope is if Durrell, Lloyds, Whitaker and Evans all visit a miracle healer this week and we can have something that resembles a proper midfield on the pitch together.

Ah shit, but we'd still have Grimes, Kelleher, Blissett and Smith at each end of the pitch neither scoring or defending goals. We're bollocksed.
 

Si Robin

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I honestly don't know what more we can do at the moment.

Our only key injuries are Sean Long (who's returning tonight apparently) who Lincoln fans haven't exactly filled me with confidence about, and Kevin Dawson who many Town fans would have been happy to see the back of in the summer.

Our defence is fine, probably the one place we look strong. Up front it's hard to say because the true weakness is in the middle of the park, who simply aren't creating anything at all for Barnett and Varney. We have no attacking wide players at all, and absolutely no-one in the centre of the park who can play a decent pass. We let Harry Pell go, and whilst I felt his time was up he simply hasn't been replaced. Neither has Carl Winchester (who we were never going to keep anyway due to him taking the money...sorry, being sold the dream at FGR). Simply put, we have no playmaker. The only probable one is Jacob Maddox, who has been wasted time and again on the left wing.

We might be looking at going to a 3-5-2 formation and this may actually work because it will put three in the middle and allow Maddox to actually work some of the magic he provided at Northampton (our only truly decent performance this season).

I started this thread because yesterday I genuinely didn't see where our next win is coming from - I still don't, but I keep trying to convince myself that it will only take one win to turn things around.
 

dedwardp

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Harry Pell has been absolutely class for us, best midfield signing in years. Can't believe Cheltenham were often playing him out of position.
 

Son of Cod

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I'm actually looking forward to saturday, whereas I was dreading it 2 weeks ago, especially because we're having a bit of a reunion and bringing along some former work mates from Luton and Northampton - and they'll be insufferable if we mess up.
Yep exactly the same with the newly found optimism for this one. Last year we went into this one with a bit of optimism too as it was our first match after sacking Slade...but we were utter garbage and you could feel that optimism dissipate with the groans that followed every hopeless punt up field and every stray pass. However that was misplaced optimism, hoping the same set of players would magically transform after being released of the Slade shackles. We go into this one, admittedly off the back of a defeat, feeling like a more solid unit. Jolley's record so far is pretty much a string of defeats, then a string of much needed victories, followed by another string of defeats and another string of wins which ended at Crewe last weekend. He's proven that he can get this squad playing effectively. Next test is to prove that he can get them to bounce back after a defeat.

The quality last season from both sides was piss poor, quite how that match produced 4 goals is a testament to how bad we were. I'm expecting less goals this time but a more enjoyable match with a higher level of football.
 

Clarkey_GTFC

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We had major warning signs starting in pre-season last year that we could be in trouble. Our signings were largely shit and some of our performances were disgraceful from a work rate and desire point of view. We had some goalscorers who helped keep us mid-table and admittedly I thought we were a couple of signings away from flirting with the play-offs but our January window was an absolute disaster. We let our best players go and signed no one in return. We were (almost) doomed from there.

I feel completely different this season in that I think we have much more quality around the squad and our performances have, for the most part, been full of effort and occasionally great quality. Our squad is a little lopsided and we do need a few more key signings so January will be very important for us. This time we shouldn't lose any of our best players so I'm confident we'll only improve this year, a stark contrast from last.

Of course anything could happen though and some key injuries could easily see us slide. Our losing streak I'd say was largely down to injuries at the back leaving us with virtually no fullbacks, if the same was to happen again we'll be in trouble. We have to grind out a run of results to see us steady in time for us to recruit in January. If we do that I think we'll be fine.
 

Luke Imp

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Grimsby'll be fine. They seem to get a couple of results every now and then.

My biggest concern is the fact that we're still lacking a decent striker. Granted, we've all seen quite a few big name teams playing w/o a proper forward but when sides do that they're forfeiting any advantage they might get when hitting their opponents on the counter, ie. when the RW/LW goes on a run down the wing, but can't get a cross in as there's no striker in the box.

The way footy is played here, esp. the lower leagues, means that the striker has got to be a big strong brute able to stand his own against 6 foot 2 CHs. Jevani Brown can play as a false no9 if you will but he's too lightweight.
I'd agree (having only seen you once). You didn't look like you needed a goalscorer per se, although they're always handy, but a presence up there, which you presumably get with Corr or Ibehre when they're not in the treatment room.
 

hellogregory

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We made a decent start to the season which should hopefully put us in good stead for surviving. 20 points is a good total for this stage of the season.

What is worrying however, is our recent form has been very much relegation form. We’ve been getting soundly beaten by teams who people expect to be in the relegation battle as well (Macclesfield, Morecambe etc). These teams have simply looked much better than us in the games which is not a good sign for our survival hopes.

At the start of the season, looking at the obvious lack of quality (particularly in forward areas) in our squad, I had us certs for relegation. The good start that we made has now given a glimmer of hope. But we have to find a way of getting back to grinding out results again like we were in August / September, otherwise we will go down if we carry on playing like we are.
 

Semi-skimmed Silk

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FGR had money to spend to improve, while we're stuck with what we got in the summer. Returns from injuries for our entire midfield (plus Jordan Ponticelli who is rumoured to actually be able to score but only lasted 20 mins with us before breaking his metatarsal) will feel like new signings though. Still bollocksed.
 

Dan_Macclad

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We won't be in a battle.

Will be down before we can battle anyone.
 

ShrimpsMeltdown

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We still need to score more but we're miles better than we were last season so I'm more confident. We're giving everyone a game now instead of rolling over as soon as it kicks off. All because Jim has finally realised that we had to change from playing 1 upfront every week. Once we get through this injury crisis that we have at the minute (8 or 9 first teamers out) I think we'll have enough in us to stay up.
 

shoddycollins

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What is worrying however, is our recent form has been very much relegation form. We’ve been getting soundly beaten by teams who people expect to be in the relegation battle as well (Macclesfield, Morecambe etc). These teams have simply looked much better than us in the games which is not a good sign for our survival hopes.

No idea how Macclesfield looked, but I wouldn't say that too many of the teams I have seen, the likes of Morecambe, Grimsby and Yeovil have looked much better than us. Most of those games have been poor efforts from both sides, just with the opponents having that one striker who can put a chance away.
 

hellogregory

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No idea how Macclesfield looked, but I wouldn't say that too many of the teams I have seen, the likes of Morecambe, Grimsby and Yeovil have looked much better than us. Most of those games have been poor efforts from both sides, just with the opponents having that one striker who can put a chance away.
Grimsby outplayed us and had they been 5-0 up by half time it wouldn’t have been harsh. Morecambe were the better team as well. Macclesfield were shite but still better than us. I’ll give you Yeovil, they were equally as bad as us, 0-0 would have been fair.
 

Habbinalan

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We still need to score more but we're miles better than we were last season so I'm more confident. We're giving everyone a game now instead of rolling over as soon as it kicks off. All because Jim has finally realised that we had to change from playing 1 upfront every week. Once we get through this injury crisis that we have at the minute (8 or 9 first teamers out) I think we'll have enough in us to stay up.

Christ we really are in trouble!!

If we had 4 or 5 first teamers out we'd be stuffed, 8 or 9 and we'd be playing 17 year olds and/or Kev Pilkington.
 

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