Today at Bornoffside.net, the latest Lower League Week is up.
Carlisle’s results this weeks have been less bad than previously; Bradford’s Nahki Wells has broken a club scoring record; There’s been lots of goals for Coventry and Peterborough but few for Hartlepool; Wycombe have had a double financial boost; Mark Cooper has started well at Swindon but still has a few problems ahead.
Peterborough are bingeing on goals – any chance one or two could be spared for Hartlepool?
Plus, there’s been a few upsets in the second round of the League Cup.
The second last Lower League Week went up late in the week last week, so appropriately enough, the link to it is going up late as well.
This edition covers John Hughes’ sacking by Hartlepool, James Beattie’s appointment as Accrington manager, and former Gillingham manager Andy Hessenthaler announcing his intent to return to management… and his belief that he would also have taken them up this year.
After two years of spending heavily, Swindon have announced their intention to make massive cuts for next year. Portsmouth will probably not be able to pay a transfer fee for a few years, as a result of being required to pay ‘football debts’ in full, and there’s the potential for a Coventry buyout by Preston Haskell IV, and investment as a result.
An Oxford supporters’ group, OxVox, have helped force the club’s ground to be designated as a ‘community asset’, protecting it against owners who want to sell it for a quick profit.
Aldershot and Wycombe have had financial problems, while a Yeovil fan has been denied the chance to take a flag into the playoff final… unless he paid £1500 for eight people to help him.
Yeovil manager Gary Johnson, immediately after having his flagpole yoinked from his fist. Possibly.
I’ve been intending to link from here to everything I write elsewhere, but occasionally I have a massive memory lapse. So, seven days later, here is a short post linking to last week’s Lower League Week.
League Two’s bottom teams were fighting fiercely to break away from the relegation zone, while League One’s top sides seem intent on falling away from the top.
Mark Robins walked away from Coventry, Graham Westley was sacked by Preston, and Notts County spent about two minutes in court as a result of HMRC proceedings.
Hartlepool’s draw with Portsmouth made it seem that relegation had became a formality for both, and Torquay have been without manager Martin Ling because of a ‘mystery illness’.
Having not found the time to write a Lower League Week last midweek, a Lower League Fortnight went up at Born Offside yesterday morning.
There seems to have been a lot of managerial sackings, resignations and appointments over the last fortnight, so they dominate the column.
Get it?
Plus there’s been racial abuse at a football stadium, so for people who can’t get enough of that kind of thing (there seems to be a lot working in Fleet Street) you can read about Hartlepool fans yelling at Marvin Morgan.
Wednesday afternoon the latest edition of the Lower League Week went up… shortly before the announcement of Terry Brown’s departure from Wimbledon, and Mark Robins’ appointment at Coventry. If a week is a long time in politics, an afternoon is apparently a long time in lower division football.
I write about Steve Evans’ latest ban (the Rotherham manager probably has a worse disciplinary record than most midfield enforcers); Tranmere and Andy Robinson’s great start to the season, Coventry’s stadium negotiations, some of the impact of Financial Fair Play, and a transfer from League On to the Conference being delayed because it’s classed as an international transfer.
Wales is the bit that’s in red. Because it’s the colour of dragons. They’ve set everything on fire.
It’s been a week since I last posted, but I’m intending to write more in the coming weeks.
First of all, there’s been one BornOffside link I’ve not posted. Last week’s Lower League Week was a double edition, focusing on the conclusion to the Football League season, and the Conference playoffs.
Meanwhile, I’ve been intending to do more in terms of analysis, thoughts on various programmes/films, and general silliness, which hopefully should arrive in some form in the next couple of weeks.
I’ve been working on a script for a deadline next Monday, so after that, I should be able to find the time to write something worthwhile for the blog!
My latest Lower League Week is now up at Born Offside, and for a change I’m linking to it on the day, rather than a fortnight after. It’s a radical approach, but I feel it may help keep the blog more timely and relevant.
My reference to Hartlepool's Town End 'rocking like Vanilla Ice' was timely when it was written, but not when it was linked.
My latest column features news on the weekend’s Sheffield derby, Bournemouth’s half time team talk (more interesting than that sounds), Keith Curle’s start at Notts County and Port Vale’s financial troubles.
SciFiFootball 