Burton Albion v Torquay United - 12/1/12
Posted: 07 Jan 2013, 21:25
After a 10 day break, the Gulls fly up to Staffordshire looking to bounce back from another poor result when they take on Burton Albion at the Pirelli Stadium. Torquay have already twice put in poor performances and failed to win over the festive period when seemingly having the advantage of an extended break over their respective opponents due to postponed matches and they are hoping it will be third time lucky. The trend of struggling against sides near the bottom continued with a draw at Plymouth and a loss at home to AFC Wimbledon, both last minute hammer blows to the men in yellow but they also hope to continue the trend that sees them continue to get decent results against teams at the top of league 2.
Going to Burton with a full strength squad would have been tough enough given their current home form but considering our injury problems i will be happy with a point so long as it isn't generated in the usual predictable manner. We need wins now not draws and if we get a draw going for the win i'll be more than happy, if we lose going for the win then it's not the end of the world, we can move on to the next game for the 3 points. Either way, points win prizes and Dale Winton himself says that we now need wins and the next month or so is critical if we are to keep tabs on the last play off spot.
We have the luxury of a returning Brian Saah who has completed his 3 match ban for his red card at Bradford City but not the luxury of the prospect of an easy afternoon against old BSP foes spearheaded by Torquay old boy Billy Kee. The Brewers have been able to push for a play off spot this season thanks to the goals of Kee plus the pace and power and MORE goals from Congolese strike partners Jacques Maghoma and Calvin Zola. In short they have purpose in their attack whilst we may as well have a purpoise in attack. Kee has 8 goals in all comps whilst Maghoma has 8 too and top scorer is Zola with 11. Fish jewel has 4 also ( Zander Diamond ) and they have a host on 3, 2 and 1 goals respectively with a total of 15 different scorers. We have 11 different scorers and fewer goals from them.
Their home form is better than ours by virtue of two more wins and having lost only twice and in those games they have a goals ratio of 28 scored and 14 conceded so all in all this game is going to be another toughie. I have good memories of the Pirelli Stadium having been each season since we were promoted and we have won twice (2-0 first time, Rendell and Benners if memory serves) and 4-1 last season. In between was a cracking 3-3 draw. Given the recent history for goals in our games there, the fact that they have won 8 at home scoring 28, have lots of attacking options, our inability to keep a clean sheet, the fact that they have only twice failed to score at home and scoring 3 times on five occasions AND because they have gone 15 since a 0-0 draw then i have no option but to predict a resounding Brewers victory with a brace from Kee. I think we will nick a goal early and try to hang on but get totally outplayed for 80% of the match ultimately shipping at least 3. I'll go for a 3-1 home win but i fear an away mullering in this one for some strange reason in my water, well, in my bladder if we want to get all technically biological about it.
Burton Albion sit just outside the play offs, a point off in 10th place and on 39 points from 26 games. Their squad is a decent one with a few unknowns in there like former Villa trainee Jack Dyer who has potential, some real experienced old heads like defencers John McGrath, Nathan Stanton, Zander Diamond and Aaron Webster who offer the Brewers a solid base. Indeed boss Gary Rowett wasn't too concerned with the 3-0 defeat at York in their last league game as Diamond was ill and so a new defensive partnership had to be formed. He excused the shipping of three goals because of this primarily. Makes you compare him with Ling and it it becomes apparent how astute Ling has been in managing our forced rotating of the defence this season.
In midfield they have former Crewe man Lee Bell who played with Bodin during their time there and former Greeks loanee Cleveland Taylor and up front they have the trio i mentioned plus Adi Yussuf, a Tanzanian striker formerly of Leicester and Tamworth as well as former Shrimper Matt Paterson and on loan Leicester striker Jacob Blyth who sounds like he should be a shoe polisher on the dirty streets of victorian England. They have also signed 19 year old Man City winger Adam Drury on a month loan and he made his debut in their 2-0 FA Cup defeat to Leicester City last saturday. Both Justin Richards and Lewis Montrose have been farmed out on loan to Oxford United also and veteran defender Andrew Corbett, brother of Jesus H ( for fans of Bottom ) has gone on loan to Hereford United.
I am putting the squad last time out in the LEAGUE v York and not the one that played in the FA Cup at Leicester as i believe the squad below will be more similar to the one that will face us. Zander Diamond may well return to the starting 11 after illness.
1. Dean Lyness (gk)
2. Aaron Webster
3. Anthony O'Connor ( on loan from Blackburn Rovers )
4. Marcus Holness
5. Robbie Weir
6. Damien McCrory
7. Jacques Maghoma
8. Jack Dyer
9. Lee Bell
10. Calvin Zola
11. Billy Kee
SUBS: Ross Atkins (gk) ( on loan from Derby County ) UNUSED, John McGrath ( on for Weir on 85 mins ), Cleveland Taylor ( on for O'Connor on 52 minutes ), Chris Palmer UNUSED, Jimmy Phillips ( on for Maghoma on 85 mins ), Matt Paterson UNUSED.
The Pirelli Stadium was opened in 2005 at a cost of £6.5 million after the midlands club left their old Eton Park ground which was literally just across the road. It is all you would expect from a new-build except it has three sides devoted to terracing, including the away end which is standard but one of the better terrace views in the division. It has a capacity just a few shy of 7000 and the away fans are housed in the 1400 capacity COORS EAST STAND TERRACE. Away seating is also available on the end of the main stand. The pies are ok if memory serves but the fries and other sundries were appalling. You can also get beer inside i believe and there is a tv where you can watch sky sports.
The stadium is easy to find and to the north of the town on the A5121 Derby Road and there is a fairly decent sized car park at the ground itself which i believe is a couple of quid but there is plenty of parking on nearby streets or on the trading estate nearby. The only pub i know of is The Beech which is heading up Derby Road for about half a mile on the left and just a bit further up is a McDonalds on the same side. There is also a co-op supermarket across the road from the ground but anything else and you might wish to venture into the town itself. The railway station is a mile and a half from the ground unless you're hammered and then it's double that.
Most of you may have already been to Burton, especially as we were regular opponents in the BSP but for those who haven't here is a quick town of the day!
Burton upon Trent is a small town just on the Staffordshire / Derbyshire border and many people are mistaken for thinking it is in Derbyshire. It isn't, it is in Staffordshire. A county well reputed for fine ceramics as well as dogs owned largely by morons wearing tracky bottoms and burberry hats.
Anyway, Burton has a Roman history with the Roman road RYKNILD STREET running through the town on it's way to the camp at LETOCETUM near Lichfield ( worth visiting if you have the time ) and Burton Abbey was mentioned in the Domesday Book but apart from the breweries at Bass and Marstons, the National Brewery Centre and the commemorative statue of THE BURTON COOPER inside the shopping centre, there isn't a lot to recommend it. For our American members, the town is twinned with ELKHART in INDIANA. Bet you'll sleep tonight knowing that! I'm not going to slag the town off as it's pretty dull and unassuming but not a bad place compared to some.
I don't know how many Gulls fans will be there, our northern away games have been really poor in terms of away fans which i can understand but i would hope for a few more of us singers in attendance other than the 6 or 7 at Bradford.
I'm going to this one, as always and just to be extra annoying, the ground is just 34 miles from my house and will take me less than an hour to get there and to get home again! WHOOPPPEEEE!! I reckon it will be a really tough game, but a good one and we will lose 3-1 having took the lead through Howe.
Apologies for this matchday thread being normal, there should be an 'abnormal' one along very soon but hope it is ok for you guys. I shall put up the details of the match officials when they become available.
Cheers all!
Going to Burton with a full strength squad would have been tough enough given their current home form but considering our injury problems i will be happy with a point so long as it isn't generated in the usual predictable manner. We need wins now not draws and if we get a draw going for the win i'll be more than happy, if we lose going for the win then it's not the end of the world, we can move on to the next game for the 3 points. Either way, points win prizes and Dale Winton himself says that we now need wins and the next month or so is critical if we are to keep tabs on the last play off spot.
We have the luxury of a returning Brian Saah who has completed his 3 match ban for his red card at Bradford City but not the luxury of the prospect of an easy afternoon against old BSP foes spearheaded by Torquay old boy Billy Kee. The Brewers have been able to push for a play off spot this season thanks to the goals of Kee plus the pace and power and MORE goals from Congolese strike partners Jacques Maghoma and Calvin Zola. In short they have purpose in their attack whilst we may as well have a purpoise in attack. Kee has 8 goals in all comps whilst Maghoma has 8 too and top scorer is Zola with 11. Fish jewel has 4 also ( Zander Diamond ) and they have a host on 3, 2 and 1 goals respectively with a total of 15 different scorers. We have 11 different scorers and fewer goals from them.
Their home form is better than ours by virtue of two more wins and having lost only twice and in those games they have a goals ratio of 28 scored and 14 conceded so all in all this game is going to be another toughie. I have good memories of the Pirelli Stadium having been each season since we were promoted and we have won twice (2-0 first time, Rendell and Benners if memory serves) and 4-1 last season. In between was a cracking 3-3 draw. Given the recent history for goals in our games there, the fact that they have won 8 at home scoring 28, have lots of attacking options, our inability to keep a clean sheet, the fact that they have only twice failed to score at home and scoring 3 times on five occasions AND because they have gone 15 since a 0-0 draw then i have no option but to predict a resounding Brewers victory with a brace from Kee. I think we will nick a goal early and try to hang on but get totally outplayed for 80% of the match ultimately shipping at least 3. I'll go for a 3-1 home win but i fear an away mullering in this one for some strange reason in my water, well, in my bladder if we want to get all technically biological about it.
Burton Albion sit just outside the play offs, a point off in 10th place and on 39 points from 26 games. Their squad is a decent one with a few unknowns in there like former Villa trainee Jack Dyer who has potential, some real experienced old heads like defencers John McGrath, Nathan Stanton, Zander Diamond and Aaron Webster who offer the Brewers a solid base. Indeed boss Gary Rowett wasn't too concerned with the 3-0 defeat at York in their last league game as Diamond was ill and so a new defensive partnership had to be formed. He excused the shipping of three goals because of this primarily. Makes you compare him with Ling and it it becomes apparent how astute Ling has been in managing our forced rotating of the defence this season.
In midfield they have former Crewe man Lee Bell who played with Bodin during their time there and former Greeks loanee Cleveland Taylor and up front they have the trio i mentioned plus Adi Yussuf, a Tanzanian striker formerly of Leicester and Tamworth as well as former Shrimper Matt Paterson and on loan Leicester striker Jacob Blyth who sounds like he should be a shoe polisher on the dirty streets of victorian England. They have also signed 19 year old Man City winger Adam Drury on a month loan and he made his debut in their 2-0 FA Cup defeat to Leicester City last saturday. Both Justin Richards and Lewis Montrose have been farmed out on loan to Oxford United also and veteran defender Andrew Corbett, brother of Jesus H ( for fans of Bottom ) has gone on loan to Hereford United.
I am putting the squad last time out in the LEAGUE v York and not the one that played in the FA Cup at Leicester as i believe the squad below will be more similar to the one that will face us. Zander Diamond may well return to the starting 11 after illness.
1. Dean Lyness (gk)
2. Aaron Webster
3. Anthony O'Connor ( on loan from Blackburn Rovers )
4. Marcus Holness
5. Robbie Weir
6. Damien McCrory
7. Jacques Maghoma
8. Jack Dyer
9. Lee Bell
10. Calvin Zola
11. Billy Kee
SUBS: Ross Atkins (gk) ( on loan from Derby County ) UNUSED, John McGrath ( on for Weir on 85 mins ), Cleveland Taylor ( on for O'Connor on 52 minutes ), Chris Palmer UNUSED, Jimmy Phillips ( on for Maghoma on 85 mins ), Matt Paterson UNUSED.
The Pirelli Stadium was opened in 2005 at a cost of £6.5 million after the midlands club left their old Eton Park ground which was literally just across the road. It is all you would expect from a new-build except it has three sides devoted to terracing, including the away end which is standard but one of the better terrace views in the division. It has a capacity just a few shy of 7000 and the away fans are housed in the 1400 capacity COORS EAST STAND TERRACE. Away seating is also available on the end of the main stand. The pies are ok if memory serves but the fries and other sundries were appalling. You can also get beer inside i believe and there is a tv where you can watch sky sports.
The stadium is easy to find and to the north of the town on the A5121 Derby Road and there is a fairly decent sized car park at the ground itself which i believe is a couple of quid but there is plenty of parking on nearby streets or on the trading estate nearby. The only pub i know of is The Beech which is heading up Derby Road for about half a mile on the left and just a bit further up is a McDonalds on the same side. There is also a co-op supermarket across the road from the ground but anything else and you might wish to venture into the town itself. The railway station is a mile and a half from the ground unless you're hammered and then it's double that.
Most of you may have already been to Burton, especially as we were regular opponents in the BSP but for those who haven't here is a quick town of the day!
Burton upon Trent is a small town just on the Staffordshire / Derbyshire border and many people are mistaken for thinking it is in Derbyshire. It isn't, it is in Staffordshire. A county well reputed for fine ceramics as well as dogs owned largely by morons wearing tracky bottoms and burberry hats.
Anyway, Burton has a Roman history with the Roman road RYKNILD STREET running through the town on it's way to the camp at LETOCETUM near Lichfield ( worth visiting if you have the time ) and Burton Abbey was mentioned in the Domesday Book but apart from the breweries at Bass and Marstons, the National Brewery Centre and the commemorative statue of THE BURTON COOPER inside the shopping centre, there isn't a lot to recommend it. For our American members, the town is twinned with ELKHART in INDIANA. Bet you'll sleep tonight knowing that! I'm not going to slag the town off as it's pretty dull and unassuming but not a bad place compared to some.
I don't know how many Gulls fans will be there, our northern away games have been really poor in terms of away fans which i can understand but i would hope for a few more of us singers in attendance other than the 6 or 7 at Bradford.
I'm going to this one, as always and just to be extra annoying, the ground is just 34 miles from my house and will take me less than an hour to get there and to get home again! WHOOPPPEEEE!! I reckon it will be a really tough game, but a good one and we will lose 3-1 having took the lead through Howe.
Apologies for this matchday thread being normal, there should be an 'abnormal' one along very soon but hope it is ok for you guys. I shall put up the details of the match officials when they become available.
Cheers all!