English League One 29th Oct

[Swooperman]

from Gamebookers

Barnsley v Walsall 2.00 3.25 3.40
Brentford v Bournemouth 1.75 3.30 4.40
Bristol C v Southend 2.25 3.25 2.85
Colchester v Yeovil 2.30 3.25 2.75
Doncaster v Tranmere 1.85 3.25 3.90
Gillingham v Blackpool 2.05 3.20 3.30
Huddersfield v Swindon 1.43 3.85 7.00
Milton Keynes Dons v Rotherham 2.30 3.20 2.80
Nottingham Forest v Bradford City 1.90 3.30 3.65
Port Vale v Hartlepool 1.85 3.30 3.85
Scunthorpe v Oldham 2.10 3.30 3.10
Swansea v Chesterfield 1.80 3.35 4.00

all Saturday all 3 o'clock

[Swooperman]

Top of head time, & first impressions say that Donny look worth a punt @ home to Tranmere & Little must be struggling....has he had a vote of confidence yet ??
Walsall apparently played quite well saturday bar leaving it quite late so I might have a scout there but Barnsleys home records decent.
Blackpool away at Gillingham who have had loads of injuries but I'll wait & see what RC thinks first I think....struggling to convince though really with Blackpool.
Yeovil @ Colchester seems possibly worth a look, as does MK Dons @ home to Rotherham, but possibly better just laying Rotherham due To the Dons draws habit.
Hartlepool are a decent away side but I'd take some convincing @ Port Vale, but Vale do seem a little unsure of themselves behind the scenes.
Wouldnt rule Chesterfield out but doubt many would agree with me.

Enough to be working on I think.......

[A.M.P]

City have up to 9 players out for tonights game. Anything near 3.0 for Southend could well be top value come 9.15 tonight....

[kompressaur]

Barnsley	Southend 1 Barnsley 1
Blackpool	Pool Panel - "Why do the FA hate us"
Bournemouth	Your club - your vote - use it
Bradford City	City Gent News Update 24/10/05
Brentford	Bees Away To Rochdale In FA Cup Round One
Bristol City	No Defence For This Defensive Shocker
Chesterfield	Super Spireites Cruise Past City
Colchester Utd	Saturday A Student 'Free' Zone!
Doncaster	Birthday Boy wants EIGHT.
Gillingham	Doncaster Rovers 2 Gillingham 0 - Match Report
Hartlepool Utd	Poolies ready to hit the charts
Huddersfield	Boo-boys in minority
N Forest	Hoult to stay?
Oldham Athletic	Blues Grab Points in Seven Goal Thriller
Port Vale	Mulligan Extends Stay
Rotherham Utd	Points lost
Scunthorpe Utd	LDV, It's Halifax Away
Southend United	Review: Below-par Blues return to the summit
Swansea City	Win Ultimate Swans Bible In Guess The Crowd
Swindon Town	Fallon sees red but Town hit back to snatch point
Tranmere Rovers	FA Cup and LDV Trophy dates set
Walsall	Merse's hopes dashed as Wright ruled out
Wimbledon	Bromley 2 Dons 0
Yeovil Town	Boss delighted with win

For moi?

Barnsley v Walsall looks a cracker. I havent read Swooperman's post but i could almost gaurantee goals in this one surely? Derby game is it not?

Brentford i think have an ok record v Bournemouth. I aint a fan of Brentford at home even though there is no real reason for it. Brentford have a pub at each corner of their ground uninterestingly enough.

Mk Dons v Rotherham has a TrickRick bet written all over it I can just see him going mental about it on saturday. 2-1 the MK Dons.

Port Vale have been going ok. Nah i dont know anything about this division. I cant see anything

[Swooperman]

Not much time to post much footie tonight but I'm definetly keen on laying Rotherham.

Reason I came on though was on local news that Chris Kirkland is facing 2 weeks off with a bruised kidney after Albions game @ Fulham last night, which Means Bryan Robson has immediately recalled Russell Hoult from Forest. Now Forest watchers would know better than me but I seem to think that him arriving there on loan was the same time Forest became hard to beat....so I think Bradford might be worth a look here as theyre a decent away side as I'm sure Chris will be telling us at some point in the next 36 hours

[Bigkegman]

Interesting Swoops - nice info

[thehandicapman]

Times are pretty bad down at Ashton Gate at the mo, Gary Johnson has said publicly that he can't wait until the January transfer window to get some new players in, also struggling with injuries with our best striker - Steve Brooker looking as if he will miss out again.

Only word of warning is that we have only lost at home once all season but that said can't see any reason to put anyone off backing southend

'Barnsley v Walsall looks a cracker. I havent read Swooperman's post but i could almost gaurantee goals in this one surely? Derby game is it not?'

Like the sound of that Komp, last three games at Oakwell between the sides has produced 15 goals - over 2.5 is currently 1.99 with betfair.

Quite like the look of Doncaster too Swoops, they have some good recent form at home and our oldboy Heffernan is scoring goals, gonna have a bit of the 2.02 avaiable for the home win on betfair methinks

thehandicapman

[rcgills]

Some interesting goings on at Gillingham today. Paul Smith, who left us in the summer to go to Walsall, has been brought back on loan until December. And having spent the past few weeks saying that if the players we have aren't up to the job, they'll have to make way for players that are up to it, Cooper has started taking action. Richard Rose, Alan Pouton, Danny Spiller and Steve Hislop have all been transfer-listed, with a view to making some room for new signings when the transfer window opens.

Return of Smith has divided Gills fans on the Rivals board today. He was player of the year last year, and many people didn't want to see him leave in the summer. However, he's not exactly taken Walsall by storm this season, and he's not the creative spark we're missing in midfield. General view is that he'll now play more of a holding role in midfield, allowing maybe Flynn alongside him to get back to the more attacking influence he had last season (he's been disappointing so far this season). What's the Walsall view on Smith leaving, Swoops?

As for the transfer-listed players, the view is that Rose isn't League One standard and Cooper has now realised that, Pouton has had so many injuries that we've never had a real chance to see what he can do, and it may be best if he leaves. Hislop was a bit of a surprise, in that Cooper spent quite a while chasing after him during the summer, and to list him so soon is probably a reaction to all his off-field antics, as I've mentioned in previous weeks on the League One thread, and also from what I've heard his attitude on the pitch of late has been pretty poor as well. Spiller is probably the biggest surprise of the lot, as when on form he's arguably our best midfielder. However, he's not really been on form for the past year or so, and is also apparently rather more keen on the social side of things than life on the pitch lately. General concensus with him (and possibly Hislop) is that this may just be a kick up the arse, giving them a final warning to sort themselves out or bugger off.

Anyway, all that has just emerged in the past couple of hours, so going to wait and see how things settle down, try and give some likely team news tonight or tomorrow.

[Swooperman]

Havent seen the walsall end of that RC, but I'll have a scout after work later.

Did a bit of work on Walsall last night & I fancy them, i've just got to do the same on Barnsley later to convince me to against them, but Walsall were impressive last week.

The Walsall fans are also saying they were impressed with Donny last week & thought they were the best seen at Bescot so far this season......so I'm definetly lookinbg @ Donny....more later

[christianu]

Nice info again Gills and more good work by Swoops

Nottm Forest vs Bradford

You damn right swoops im on these away again! At any point you see Bradford away from home in thie division then theres a bet on. Ill put this one in simpleton terms.

Bradford are a better side than Forest, they have a better team with some great individuals. They have only lost once this season away from home and they are notorious for being good on the road, I say it every week!

Interestingly Forest have arguably there best player Kris Commons out who I would presume is Forests main creative asset. Gareth Taylor, Scott Dobie and Curtis are also missing.

11/4 on the away looks to good to miss out on.

Nottm Forest vs Bradford 2pts@11/4

[Swooperman]

Barnsley v Walsall

.....from soccernet:

New loan signing Steven Watt is expected to go straight into Barnsley's starting line-up against Walsall.

The 20-year-old defender, who completed his switch from Chelsea this week, will spend the next month at Oakwell.

Dale Tonge will make way for the young Scot - all the paperwork is expected to be completed in time - with Bobby Hassell moving to right-back and Watt partnering Antony Kay in central defence.

Paul Reid (hamstring) and Matt Carbon (groin) remain sidelined, as does Nicky Wroe, who had surgery to repair cartilage damage last week.

Teenage winger Jay Sztybel is poised to make his senior debut as a result of Walsall's crippling injury crisis.

The 18-year-old has previously only appeared at youth and reserve-team level but now looks set to be promoted to the first-team squad.

Player-manager Paul Merson is himself ruled out of the clash by a groin injury, while Mark Wright has sustained medial knee ligament damage which is likely to keep him out for a month.

Forward Dario Larosa (groin) is another set to miss out, veteran defender Steve Staunton is well short of match fitness after struggling to overcome a calf problem, and fellow centre-back Chris Westwood has been sidelined by a hamstring problem.

Simon Gillett's Achilles tendon niggle means he too is expected to be absent and on-loan Sunderland goalkeeper Joe Murphy will again deputise for hand-injury victim Andy Oakes, although the Saddlers are hopeful Daniel Fox and Craig Pead will feature despite calf strains.

.......right, I've been on the boards & had a scout around. In answer to your question RC, up to about 3 weeks ago I dont think the fans gave a flying about whether Smith stayed or went, but theyre not exactly impressed tonight...more to do with the timing than anything as theyve got a lot of midfielders out.
When he signed he actually said he didnt want out of Gillingham but walsall were offering 70% more, but also he never moved house & commuted twice a week. He turned up unfit & therefore missed the first 2 games. He then played in the next 4, none of which walsall won, but he then suffered a back injury & was out again. He returned & in the last 2 games was decent & was arguably MoM v Huddersfield. The fans basically think the Gills have got a player just coming into form.
One theory is that Walsall havent got the money to keep paying Joe Murphys wages ion loan from Sunderland , & without him theres a keeper crisis so perhaps Smith has been released to free that money up.
All in all from Walsalls point of view he didnt exactly sound committed

Right, Larosa & Wright missing is a blow, particularly the latter, as Merson seems to have made a decision to play 2 wide players lately, & certainly against Donny it paid dividends. Merse is so desperate to keep this idea that he is playing the kid Sztybel on the left (I think) whilst on the right is....wait for it......Ishmael Demontagnac :loon predictably known as 'The Demon'.
Now I have it on good authority that this kid is like hot snot & after just the last 4 games hes been named in the England U-18's & there are high hopes round the Black Country to say the least.
Leitao is likely to play in place of Larossa after scoring the winner off the bench last week. Simon Osbourne went off @ half time last week with a hamstring injury but its not mentioned anywhere so presumably hes fine.
Walsall have looked a lot more solid since Roper...he of the mars bars.....reappeared & with westwood out it will be a choice between Gerrard & Bennet to partner him. Pead was skipper last week & he WILL make it tomorrow.
Walsall have won 4 from 18 @ Barnsley, losing 9 including the last 3, twice 3-2 & the middle one 4-1. Goals in these games stand @ 32-23 in Barnsleys favour.

I definetly think that Walsall have a decent shout here & will travel with new-found conidence. Barnsleys home record is ok @ 4-2-1-12-5 but I feel Walsall can do this. A safer bet may be the over 2.5 but i'll decide overnight I think

[rcgills]

Gills will have 9 players out injured/suspended tomorrow - Brown, Johnson, Jackman, Sancho, Pouton, Spiller, Shields, Hislop and Byfield. Of those, I'd say Johnson, Pouton and Hislop probably wouldn't be first-team regulars if everyone was fit, but the other 6 probably would. Byfield was hoping to be back for this weekend, but apparently the game's come a bit too soon. Desperately need him back, we're toothless up front without him.

Another thing maybe worth noting, although who knows what effect it'll have - a group of supporters are planning on making an early appearance at the ground tomorrow, and waiting for the players as they arrive for the game. Plan apparently is to make sure they realise what it means to wear the Gillingham shirt. No plans for it to be critical/agressive in nature, just a show of support for the players in an attempt to actually get some kind of reaction from them. They're hoping to get a turnout of around 100 (this is at around 1pm, by the way, so a fair few will be in the pub rather than outside the ground ).

I'm getting good feelings about tomorrow. I get them every week, they inevitably end at around 5.45 pm on Saturday (I'm an hour ahead of England). To be honest, no idea what to expect from tomorrow's game, but I do genuinely believe we're in a false position at the moment. The squad we have should be capable of making mid-table.

[Swooperman]

9 ?? Fcuk, I'm off to look at Blackpool then as I mentioned I half fancied them earlier in the week

[rcgills]

Originally Posted by Swooperman

All in all from Walsalls point of view he didnt exactly sound committed

Can't blame him - he's come back home . He was with us for 8 years, and by the sounds of it never really wanted to leave, but got a better offer.

This was posted on the Gills Rivals board this afternoon:

"Smudge has had nothing but grief from Walsall since he signed for them. From empty promises to messing him around, including not letting him return south on transfer deadline day and then saying the next day he could go on a free in January"

No idea how true that is, but the bloke who wrote it does have contacts at the club.

[rcgills]

Originally Posted by Swooperman

9 ?? Fcuk, I'm off to look at Blackpool then as I mentioned I half fancied them earlier in the week

With the exception of Hislop (who appears to be on his way out anyway, as mentioned previously) and Jackman, though, they've all been injured for quite a while. Oh, and Spiller as well, actually, but he was just recovering from an injury and got injured again (bit of a recurring theme around Gillingham ). In spite of those injuries, our defence is still OK - Cox and Hope are both fit (well, unless they drop the ketchup bottle on their foot tonight or something, you can never rule these things out - we're very likely the only club ever to have a player out injured having poked himself in the eye running into a tree, at the same time as another was out having shot himself in the foot ), we'll have Williams at left-back, and probably a youngster at right-back, most likely Wallis, who's put in a couple of impressive performances in recent weeks anyway. Midfield if anything has been strengthened in comparison to recent weeks by signing Smith. That just leaves the attack, where we threaten very little.

Maybe unders could be worth a look. Can't really see us scoring or conceding more than 1.