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cobblers

Schoolboy
Joined
Feb 15, 2013
Messages
81
Good Afternoon Shrimpers!

Im a humble cobblers fan who wanted to give you some insight into what you will expecting from our team on Saturday and give a few tips about parking/drinking etc. I enjoyed chatting on here with some of you a few seasons ago when we were both in league 2.

For those that are attending the game unfortunately the egg chasers down the road will be playing at 3pm also (disaster strikes!). For some reason they seem to employ some sort of local traffic procedures when doing this which makes things much worse. There was also a fare at the top of the hill on Wednesday and if that is still there parking will be restricted. I would recommend the housing estate behind BP as there is plenty of street parking, its just a case of driving for a minutes. Only a 5 minute walk and it means you will have a stress free exit.

The hungry horse did burn down last year (during the game actually, was more interesting than the match). If you want to stay close to the stadium I would head to the Walter Tull pub at the top of the hill. Its fairly generic but its decent food and it’s a decent size. If your arriving early I would head to the Malt Shovel which is a 5/10 minute drive but has a great selection of drinks.

As for our team it has been a summer of change, losing our manager and letting go of several players. Last season was the best I am ever likely to experience as a Cobblers fan, strolling to the league title playing great football. It was made all the sweeter due to the fact we nearly went bust due to or crook of an owner previously (there are still police and internal investigations into how £10m loan from the council was stolen). Fortunately now we have a great owner and things have been progressing on and off the field. Losing Wilder has been a big blow no doubt, just as it has been losing star man Ricky Holmes who was unbelievable last season.

Rob Page has come in and made a few tweaks to suit league 1. We are more defensively solid than last year but we now miss the attacking flair which was so evident last season. Matty Taylor, Alex Revell and Gabriel Zakuani are all experienced pros who have added to the group, Revell in particular has been fantastic scoring 4 or 5 already this season.

We will likely play a 4-2-3-1 formation with Revell being a serious danger aerially.


All signs point to mid table for us this year which I would be very content with.

I was curious what has happened with your lot. Are many in the Brown out camp now, I only checked your form for this game and It seems to have been bad for a little while, any particular reasons?

As for a prediction for the game Im going with a 2-0 home win.

Any other information needed regarding the stadium etc let me know!

Safe journey for those travelling.

Cobblers.
 
I was curious what has happened with your lot. Are many in the Brown out camp now, I only checked your form for this game and It seems to have been bad for a little while, any particular reasons?

The tactics have been awful this season and we lost a few good players this Summer which didn't seem to have been replaced with any quality (although after the Millwall game it looks like if they play to their potential they are good enough, whereas previous appearances made them look non league standard). There have also been rumours that Phil Brown lost the dressing room after he looked set to leave us for Bolton (which didn't end up materialising). Whether that is true or not I don't know but apparently the air was cleared before the Millwall game and post match interviews seemed to emphasize the team spirit being great so hopefully that's now been sorted. We played the best we have in a very long time against Millwall with a 5-4-1 so that's probably what we'll use against you, if we can recapture the energy of that game we could cause you a few more problems than the form book would suggest.
 
Hi Mr Cobblers,

What's it like getting out of the club car park, with the rugby on as well.
 
Hi Mr Cobblers,

What's it like getting out of the club car park, with the rugby on as well.

AWFUL! Especially because the rugby folk finish slightly before we do so they get out quicker. Your best bet is to either hang around for at least an hour after for a drink, or park slightly further away to avoid getting stuck. As i say your best bet is the housing estate behind the BP opposite the ground as that leads to an easy get away.
 
The tactics have been awful this season and we lost a few good players this Summer which didn't seem to have been replaced with any quality (although after the Millwall game it looks like if they play to their potential they are good enough, whereas previous appearances made them look non league standard). There have also been rumours that Phil Brown lost the dressing room after he looked set to leave us for Bolton (which didn't end up materialising). Whether that is true or not I don't know but apparently the air was cleared before the Millwall game and post match interviews seemed to emphasize the team spirit being great so hopefully that's now been sorted. We played the best we have in a very long time against Millwall with a 5-4-1 so that's probably what we'll use against you, if we can recapture the energy of that game we could cause you a few more problems than the form book would suggest.

Thanks that very interesting! Do you think it could be the case that things have just got a bit stale as Brown has been here a while? Im sure I read something about one of your players punching a physio as well or something like that!
 
The frustration with Brown really has stemmed from his apparent keenness on other jobs. It may well be the media working things up, but of course he falls for it every time. He was showering praise on Bolton when their job was vacant, and he expressed an interest in working with Big Sam at England. Nothing wrong with ambition, but it tends to grate if it is too overt.

Our form in 2016 is seriously bad and I think a lot of people realised when we started so badly that the problems from last year did not magically disappear when the season ended in May. Hence a lot of negativity early in the season. A lot were prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt in May, but when that dreadful run continued (a club record league defeats) then coupled with the constant speculation, it made a lot of people's minds up.

It does not help that ever since the start of his tenure we have been awful to watch. Lots of passing for the sake of passing, but with no tempo or flair and then when it doesn't get anywhere an aimless hoof to a beleagured striker.

On the plus side we had a good win last week when the spirit and work rate, two of the things that have been missing, appeared to return. If some home truths have been told and some attitudes have changed, there's no reason we can't improve. As much as I think his time is up here (although many disagree), Brown is not a terrible manager, he does get his teams organised and when the morale and confidence in the camp is good, he encourages togetherness and improves it. The problems come when it is not good.
 
Sounds a lot like the issues we had with Aidy Hoofroyd, he was known to people because of his spell in the prem. The style of football was awful but it was effective and we were winning so people looked passed it. Then one summer he thought he was going to get the Wolves job and ended up not getting it. Because of that he missed out on a lot of his targets as he didnt think he would be here and we ended up far worse the following season.

Hopefully it gets turned around anyway!
 
Thanks that very interesting! Do you think it could be the case that things have just got a bit stale as Brown has been here a while? Im sure I read something about one of your players punching a physio as well or something like that!

The mods will panic now........ what's the name of that huge clock in London with four faces....
 
coming by train any decent pubs and places to eat near the station hows best to gtet to the ground from there with the rugby on??
 
No your fine! Its a massive estate so might take a while but to everyones surprise its still not got any permit requirements.
Excellent, idea idea of the names of the roads on that estate (easy then just to stick in the sat nav) ��
 
coming by train any decent pubs and places to eat near the station hows best to gtet to the ground from there with the rugby on??

Depends what time you are arriving. If you have time would head to the Malt Shovel which is probably 5/10 mins from there. Alternatively you could go the Thomas Becket Pub which is only a few mins from the station. Best bet is to get a taxi to the ground, at my slow pace its probably a 20/25 minute walk to the stadium. There is a back road of sorts which should only take a few minutes in a Taxi as long as you get it at a sensible time.

Simply because of the traffic I would recommend getting to the ground ASAP via taxi and then just head to the Walter Tull at the top of the hill or Carrs Bar (the stadium bar) to avoid traffic issues.
 
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