Fixtures 25th March 2023

[Boz]

• Barrow v AFC Wimbledon
• Colchester United v Tranmere Rovers
• Crawley Town v Rochdale
• Doncaster Rovers v Northampton Town
• Gillingham v Carlisle United
• Grimsby Town v Walsall
• Hartlepool United v Leyton Orient
• Mansfield Town v Sutton United
• Stevenage v Salford City
• Swindon Town v Stockport County

Rovers at Colchester, who seem to have gone off the boil since their manager upped sticks for Wycombe, although a decent point last weekend. We've been very generous to teams needing points for survival in the last couple of games, will that continue or will there be a caretaker manager bounce after Mellon's sacking? Dawes will probably stick with his favoured 4 diamond 2 formation. Still injury depleted but Kane Hemmings may be available up front again.

 

[FiRTHYY]

No game for us this weekend because Crewe Alexandra are a set of fannies.

Pass it on.

 

[GTFCfish]

No game for Bradford this weekend because Crewe Alexandra are a set of fannies.


Pass it on.

 

[PuB]

If Carlisle could keep up their season long relegation form that would be fantastic, ta.

(In the real world it’s going to be a very tough match for us)

 

[ForzaCounty]

No game for the Bradford crew this weekend because they're fannies

Pass it on

 

[Indian Dan]

We’re going to rip Stockport a new one.*


*I’ll be back 5pm tomorrow with my humble pie.

 

[Chief Rocka]

Sounds like there'll be 500+ Orient to Pools on Saturday, we're playing well but I feel like we're really gonna have to be on it to get anything out of this, Dan Kemp 25 yard free kick to win it

 

[Soup Ladle]

Sounds like there'll be 500+ Orient to Pools on Saturday, we're playing well but I feel like we're really gonna have to be on it to get anything out of this, Dan Kemp 25 yard free kick to win it

My first game since coming back to the NE, ballache travelling from the nether parts of Gateshead but buzzing to get back on it.

Massive one this, draw wouldn't be the end of the world but we simply have to go for it. The XI Askey has settled on is competitive but yeah we'll need the likes of Kemp and Umerah to step up to get owt from it and hope Orient think we're shite and put in a half arsed shift.

Going for a richly deserved first win for Askey, 2-1 and a draw or Rochdale win in the other one.

 

[LS Bantam]

We’ve put in a complaint over the Crewe game being off (they played on Tuesday but that was fine for them), if there’s one thing Mark Hughes loves it’s a strongly worded written letter.

 

[DearneValleyRover]

We are going to get beat by Northampton, we will spend the entire game in our own half and the majority of it inside the 18 yard box, our delusional manager will state at the end of the match that we did the basics well

 

[Conker]

Played Sutton three times lost comfortably in all of them, I’ll take another undeserved point.

 

[Richard Cranium]

We’ve put in a complaint over the Crewe game being off (they played on Tuesday but that was fine for them), if there’s one thing Mark Hughes loves it’s a strongly worded written letter.

Didn't Crewe lad post the other day saying they couldn't postpone the game on Tuesday as it was already a rearranged game?

 

[BarraMatt]

The absolute dead-est of rubbers against Wimbledon for us tomorrow.

 

[Sestonpoolie]

My first game since coming back to the NE, ballache travelling from the nether parts of Gateshead but buzzing to get back on it.

Massive one this, draw wouldn't be the end of the world but we simply have to go for it. The XI Askey has settled on is competitive but yeah we'll need the likes of Kemp and Umerah to step up to get owt from it and hope Orient think we're shite and put in a half arsed shift.

Going for a richly deserved first win for Askey, 2-1 and a draw or Rochdale win in the other one.

I'm going for a 2-1 win also.
Scoring plenty of goals now & playing some lovely football,hopefully we can tighten up at the back.
I'm quite happy that I'm actually looking forward to games again.

 

[Casey]

Big game at the bottom. No disrespect and Rochdale will be saying the same.

If you can't beat the teams at the bottom you dont deserve to stay up.

Lynch will probably be missing as a concussion protocol thing and I'm not sure if any of our other centre backs are fit. Grant will probably be on the bench and look to get minutes later on, Gladwin just back from injury and rumours Mutch has a bad injury (that's a decent midfield three on paper, getting them on the pitch is the issue).

Hoping for a win and Pool and Colchester to lose but I'm not confident.

Casey

 

[The Terminator]

We’ve been a bit pants in our last 3 games considering we’re still unbeaten in 8. Last week was the first proper boot in the balls we’ve had at home for about 7 months.

We’ve set high standards this season and they’ve dropped in the last 3 games, we’re due a loss again at some point, Hartlepool isn’t a ground we do well at and we’ve been a bit below average ourselves away from home. Only 1 win this year away.

A coupon buster is likely here, but if we score first we’ll likely get a draw at least. Usually when we score first we get something from the game.

Predicting a loss.

 

[Chief Rocka]

We’ve been a bit pants in our last 3 games considering we’re still unbeaten in 8. Last week was the first proper boot in the balls we’ve had at home for about 7 months.

We’ve set high standards this season and they’ve dropped in the last 3 games, we’re due a loss again at some point, Hartlepool isn’t a ground we do well at and we’ve been a bit below average ourselves away from home. Only 1 win this year away.

A coupon buster is likely here, but if we score first we’ll likely get a draw at least. Usually when we score first we get something from the game.

Predicting a loss.

Pulling a hellogregory I see, I'm onto you...

 

[Crewelad87]

We’ve put in a complaint over the Crewe game being off (they played on Tuesday but that was fine for them), if there’s one thing Mark Hughes loves it’s a strongly worded written letter.

I think ideally we would have postponed the Gillingham game considering we basically only had 1 sub, the rest being under 18s. Rules meant we couldn't postpone that game as it had already been re arranged into an international week. Rules also meant we could postpone the Bradford game. So stop hating the player, hate the game my friend.

 

[The Terminator]

Pulling a hellogregory I see, I'm onto you...

Nah, I’m saving that for next week when we play Carlisle

 

[LordJord]

We are going to get beat by Northampton, we will spend the entire game in our own half and the majority of it inside the 18 yard box, our delusional manager will state at the end of the match that we did the basics well

I will take happily take that. We have been improving in recent weeks but still cannot seem to score more than 1 goal, so if you are unlikely to score that would be ideal.

Have things got worse since Mcsheffery left? You beat us at Sixfields (where we have not been great this season) and I remember thinking you looked like a decent side.

Another 3 points will help keep the momentum going, all that matters at the moment.

1-0 Cobblers. Hoskins Penalty

 

[RiftHouseLad]

Big game at the bottom. No disrespect and Rochdale will be saying the same.

If you can't beat the teams at the bottom you dont deserve to stay up.

Lynch will probably be missing as a concussion protocol thing and I'm not sure if any of our other centre backs are fit. Grant will probably be on the bench and look to get minutes later on, Gladwin just back from injury and rumours Mutch has a bad injury (that's a decent midfield three on paper, getting them on the pitch is the issue).

Hoping for a win and Pool and Colchester to lose but I'm not confident.

Casey

Well we beat Rochdale H&A, yous at your place.

Think you should be hoping Rochdale lose.
Don,t expect an easy game, They are not Doncaster.

 

[Moonie]

Another long journey for us as we look to make it 7 unbeaten. Gillingham will be a tough game, and I'm sure HG will be along to tell us how we have zero chance of winning it - but we need 3 points from this one to keep the pressure on at the top.

Should we win, those nice chaps at Hartlepool could do us a big favour with a surprise victory over Orient - that would leave us just 4 points behind the leaders heading into our trip to Brisbane Road next week. 400 or so blues expected at the Priestfield tomorrow, and 500 tickets for Orient already shifted.

 

[dedwardp]

Rovers at Colchester, who seem to have gone off the boil since their manager upped sticks for Wycombe

I think it has more to do with the run of fixtures (Northampton, Bradford, Stockport and Orient) than Bloomfield going in fairness. Need to start getting some results again now though.

 

[joethegill]

We've been quite easy to predict in recent times - get points against mid-table and below, lose to the top few. We managed a 0-0 at Stockport by basically declaring pre-match and playing a 5-3-2 with 3 holding midfielders, and while I hope Harris doesn't resort to quite that level of defensive wonder, I wouldn't be displeased with a point.

At home we win all the time now (apart from the Bradford game) so I'm hoping we go for it. Not a great deal to lose with us being 10 points clear of the drop, and with not a lot expected from the game the pressure should all be on Carlisle. I'd also like Max Ehmer to stick one on Joe Garner as early as possible.

 

[hellogregory]

I'd kind of had this trip to Gillingham in my head as 3 points, particularly with it being sandwiched between our games with Stevenage, Bradford and our game at Orient next week.

Then I looked at Gills' form and i hadn't quite realised how much of a pick up in form they've had. I knew they'd pulled away a bit, but their home form had really escaped my attention.

This is another really tough game, much tougher than I was anticipating, but still if we are to have any chance of finishing in the top 3, we simply have to win this type of game. And for us to win we need to have better quality at the top of the pitch. We've been so poor over the last 2 games. If we fail to win we might as well forget about top 3. To be honest I think we need to be winning this for our top 7 chances given all the points we will be dropping over the coming weeks, but yeah for our top 3 hopes it's crucial. Big game.

 

[Boz]

I think it has more to do with the run of fixtures (Northampton, Bradford, Stockport and Orient) than Bloomfield going in fairness. Need to start getting some results again now though.

You won’t have a better chance than on Saturday!

 

[DearneValleyRover]

I will take happily take that. We have been improving in recent weeks but still cannot seem to score more than 1 goal, so if you are unlikely to score that would be ideal.

Have things got worse since Mcsheffery left? You beat us at Sixfields (where we have not been great this season) and I remember thinking you looked like a decent side.

Another 3 points will help keep the momentum going, all that matters at the moment.

1-0 Cobblers. Hoskins Penalty

We had an upturn to our performances but it’s completely fell off a cliff, both Miller and Biggins are out for the season, no idea when Maxwell will be back so our bench has basically kids on it

 

[ForzaCounty]

We’re going to rip Stockport a new one.*


*I’ll be back 5pm tomorrow with my humble pie.

You've got one player who scored more in ninety minutes than our entire squad has in eight hours

 

[THE LAST WALTZ]

I'd kind of had this trip to Gillingham in my head as 3 points, particularly with it being sandwiched between our games with Stevenage, Bradford and our game at Orient next week.

Then I looked at Gills' form and i hadn't quite realised how much of a pick up in form they've had. I knew they'd pulled away a bit, but their home form had really escaped my attention.

This is another really tough game, much tougher than I was anticipating, but still if we are to have any chance of finishing in the top 3, we simply have to win this type of game. And for us to win we need to have better quality at the top of the pitch. We've been so poor over the last 2 games. If we fail to win we might as well forget about top 3. To be honest I think we need to be winning this for our top 7 chances given all the points we will be dropping over the coming weeks, but yeah for our top 3 hopes it's crucial. Big game.

We have won 6 of our last 7 at home

 

[Indian Dan]

You've got one player who scored more in ninety minutes than our entire squad has in eight hours

We’ve also shipped a shedload of goals from corners in the last 4-5 games. We do have 3 injured players back and Khan available after serving his ban. Should be our strongest line-up for a while, so no excuses from me if we get pussy-whipped.