Next Game

So we approach FA Cup weekend after a pretty excrement week, about this time last year we went on that horrendous run so lets hope history doesnt repeat itself.

Effectively this is a free hit against top of league 1 Plymouth, we’ve nothing to lose and i hope we go for it. We’ve been starved of attacking threat at home in particular,  so i just hope we go for it. Expect it to be a lower crowd than what we’re used to at home, maybe 4K which in the economic times, is still brilliant. Just dont set up for a draw😂

Id go

    Crocombe
Efete Waterfall Smith Glennon

          Green Morris
Kiernan Holohan Khan
            Taylor

Harry looked exhausted yesterday, id have Orsi and Wearne on the bench if both are fit. Think its 9 subs in the cup anyway

Crocombe
Efete Smith Waterfall Glennon
Green
Kiernan Holohan Khan
Richardson Orsi

Try something different. One off game. And rest a couple for the league.

If Taylor is fit he’ll 100% start this game.

I’d rest H, play 3 at the back and a mid field 5 of Cropper, Glennon, Gav, Hunt & Green. Up front with Taylor I’d put Khan.

However that team above is why I have nothing to do with football other than watching it.

Can we go with

Beasant
McDermott Bennett Futcher Gallimore
Widdrington Cockerill Bonetti Gilbert
Mendonca Hearn

Quoted from WayneBurnettsJockstrap

Can we go with

Beasant
McDermott Bennett Futcher Gallimore
Widdrington Cockerill Bonetti Gilbert
Mendonca Hearn

Widdrington over Groves?!!

And on the right wing?

Gallimore over Lee Ridley?

No Michael Reddy!!!

Quoted from Garth

No Michael Reddy!!!

No hes injured

Quoted from Garth

No Michael Reddy!!!

I thought about him but he was no 3 in that position for me

Crocombe
Efete, Waterfall, Smith, Glennon (if he's recovered from his illness)
Holohan, Clifton, Morris
Richardson, Pepple (if Taylor isn't fit), Orsi

Lets try a game with lots of pace up front for a change whilst still having some bite in midfield

Quoted from Knut Anders Fosters Voles

Widdrington over Groves?!!

Midfield was the most difficult for me. As good as Groves was, I did really like Widds.

There are plenty of other players who could easily replace ANY of the players I included, so accept anyones other suggestions. We all have our favourites.

And no Birtles!

Quoted from WayneBurnettsJockstrap

Midfield was the most difficult for me. As good as Groves was, I did really like Widds.

There are plenty of other players who could easily replace ANY of the players I included, so accept anyones other suggestions. We all have our favourites.

And no Birtles!

or Trevor Wymark

Widdrington wasn't fit to lace the boots of Groves who was an absolute colossus for us. I was always singularly unimpressed with Widdrington who I had high hopes for after he joined due to a proper old-fashioned footballer name. Sounded like he could have played alongside Stanley Matthews and Johnny Haynes.

The fact he played most of his football in the lower divisions after his time with us shows the difference in quality between him and Groves.

Quoted from Maringer

Widdrington wasn't fit to lace the boots of Groves who was an absolute colossus for us. I was always singularly unimpressed with Widdrington who I had high hopes for after he joined due to a proper old-fashioned footballer name. Sounded like he could have played alongside Stanley Matthews and Johnny Haynes.

The fact he played most of his football in the lower divisions after his time with us shows the difference in quality between him and Groves.

Joint second most expensive signing in our history, wasn’t he?

In consecutive summers we signed Widdrington, Donovan and Ashcroft; Widdrington and Donovan for £300k and Ashcroft for a record £500k that stands almost 25 years on.

Quoted from Poojah

Joint second most expensive signing in our history, wasn’t he?

In consecutive summers we signed Widdrington, Donovan and Ashcroft; Widdrington and Donovan for £300k and Ashcroft for a record £500k that stands almost 25 years on.

I think he played quite a few games in the Premier League before joining us, but was totally unimpressive to me.

Crazy to think how much money we spent back then, that was quite a lot at the time, although we'd had some big players sales before that and can't really say we spent it well looking at those numbers.

  Crocombe  Cropper  Waterfall  Smith  Glennon  Kiernan  Holohan  Clifton  Khan  Richardson  Orsi                                                              

Quoted from Poojah

Joint second most expensive signing in our history, wasn’t he?

In consecutive summers we signed Widdrington, Donovan and Ashcroft; Widdrington and Donovan for £300k and Ashcroft for a record £500k that stands almost 25 years on.

Which is remarkable at the time.  But it also came at a time when we made a pretty penny from outgoing transfers too.  

Summer of 1996 we sold Groves for £600k and Paul Crichton for £250k, both to West Brom.  Widdrington, Darren Wrack (£100k) and Kingsley Black (£25k) coming in.  A profit £425k

The next summer, with Buckley returning, saw our most lavish period of all time. Groves came back at a bargain £250k, Donovan for £300k and Lee Nogan for £170k.  Total outlay of £720,000 on three players.  An amount I can't even begin to image we would spend 25 years on.  The BoE inflation calculator works that out at £1.25million if we'd done that business this summer.  But it was hugely offset by the £700k sale of Super Clive to Chartlon and John Oster's sale to Everton (varying prices banded for this with the £1.7mill plus add-ons - that never came to fruition the largely accepted one).  Even in a summer of such spending it was a windfall profit of just under £1.7million.  Of course that would have gone someway to offsetting the costs of relegation.

The summer of 1998 was the only summer were our spending was higher than our income from transfers.  No income that summer but Ashcroft for that club record fee of £500k joined by Stacy Coldicott for £125k.  £625k in total.  

Despite that last summer, it was still a period of operating in profit transfer wise.  To the tune of around £1.5million.  If you like it another way, we more or less brought in what we spent and then had a bit of 'football fortune' in the shape of John Oster.  

After that period it was only really the sales of Jack Lester for £300k and Ashcroft for about half of what we paid that contributed to the coffers for a long, long time.  Alan Pouton came in for £100k.  Under Lennie Lawrence we definitely spent the cash a fair bit but never came close to recovering anything the outlay.  

We really were exceptionally well run at that time.

One of my friends told me a tale of being out necking shots with Widdrington (and perhaps his wife?) in the early hours of Saturday before a game. In O'Neill's I think it was. Widdrington wasn't expecting to be in the squad, apparently, but then somebody dropped out due to illness or injury and he found himself selected despite the late night! Long enough ago now that I don't remember if he was on the bench or playing, but it wasn't exactly the most professional approach.

My main memory of him was his habit of pointing into the spaces as he was attempting to close players down, I'd imagine to tell his teammates where they needed to cover, but it certainly helped his opponents know where they could play the ball!

I thought Widdrington was decent, it's just he wasn't Paul Groves.

Groves was a one-off in many ways.  I never thought we would replace Shaun Cunnington and then it turned out the guy who replaced him was even better.  Widdrington wasn't in the same league as Groves, but that doesn't make him a bad player.  

I think he had a bit of stigma as Laws' boy too, which didn't help at the time.  We went from having a really good midfield to a quite average one very quickly.  Widdrington was the mainstay in the 96/97 season but his midfield partner was rarely a consistent one.  A past it Craig Shakespeare, an even more past it Neil Webb, a lightweight Kingsley Black, an out of position Nicky Southall, a poor Paul Trollope.....I think only Michael Appleton coming in gave him a consistent partner for a period.  The next season he was in the team when we started to really get motoring, but lost his place when Wayne Burnett came in on loan in January.    Burnett was different class and with the side that had found its feet, we could afford to go for a more creative player at the expense of Widdrington's style, especially once the defence had really settled.  But he was far from the worst player I've seen in a Town shirt.

Quoted from diehardmariner

I thought Widdrington was decent, it's just he wasn't Paul Groves.

Groves was a one-off in many ways.  I never thought we would replace Shaun Cunnington and then it turned out the guy who replaced him was even better.  Widdrington wasn't in the same league as Groves, but that doesn't make him a bad player.  

I think he had a bit of stigma as Laws' boy too, which didn't help at the time.  We went from having a really good midfield to a quite average one very quickly.  Widdrington was the mainstay in the 96/97 season but his midfield partner was rarely a consistent one.  A past it Craig Shakespeare, an even more past it Neil Webb, a lightweight Kingsley Black, an out of position Nicky Southall, a poor Paul Trollope.....I think only Michael Appleton coming in gave him a consistent partner for a period.  The next season he was in the team when we started to really get motoring, but lost his place when Wayne Burnett came in on loan in January.    Burnett was different class and with the side that had found its feet, we could afford to go for a more creative player at the expense of Widdrington's style, especially once the defence had really settled.  But he was far from the worst player I've seen in a Town shirt.

Yep, I agree with that. Widdrington arrived from the Premier League on a relatively large salary and expectations were probably a little high. He was decent but wasn’t Paul Groves.

Heresy (not by you) to suggest he should be in a team ahead of Groves though.

I’m 40 and Paul Groves was the best non-loan player Town have had in my lifetime. Groves was a colossus in both boxes, a steadying presence in between, rarely giving the ball away and hardly ever missed a match.

Quoted from Knut Anders Fosters Voles

Groves was a colossus in both boxes, a steadying presence in between, rarely giving the ball away and hardly ever missed a match.

I think I'm correct in saying that Groves never once missed a match through injury in all the years he was with us. A consummate professional with bones and ligaments of steel!

Right, let's swap it around a bit after a few suggestions

Beasant (sticking with him?)

McDermott Bennett Futcher Gallimore

Donovan Cockerill Groves Bonetti

Mendonca Reddy

On the bench

Batch
Birtles Lever
Whymark Burnett Cunnington
Hearn

Any suggestions for swaps welcome

Quoted from diehardmariner

Summer of 1996 we sold Groves for £600k and Paul Crichton for £250k, both to West Brom.  Widdrington, Darren Wrack (£100k) and Kingsley Black (£25k) coming in.  A profit £425k

We'd sold Gary Croft during the season before that for over a mill too.

Yep, Gally coming in for about a quarter of what we got from Blackburn.

Going back a bit further.  Cunnington went to Sunderland for £650k, Groves was his replacement at £150k.  God knows how much Buckley convinced West Brom's board to part with to take half of his Town team to the Midlands.  Just realised I forgot the mid-season transfers of Dave Smith and Burnett from the 97/98 season.  Both extremely good bits of business.  I think Smith was by far the more expensive too.

GTFC were doing net transfer profit before it was a thing.

Thankfully the £50k spent on Tony Daws only made a small indent on the balance sheet...

Yeah Burnett for 100k was an absolute steal.

Quoted from WayneBurnettsJockstrap

Right, let's swap it around a bit after a few suggestions

Beasant (sticking with him?)

McDermott Bennett Futcher Gallimore

Donovan Cockerill Groves Bonetti

Mendonca Reddy

On the bench

Batch
Birtles Lever
Whymark Burnett Cunnington
Hearn

Any suggestions for swaps welcome

Kevin Moore and Kevin Drinkell

As the famous football quote goes, “Widdrington was not fit to lace Groves boots” in my humble opinion.