League 2 Season 2012/13

[Big Boy]

I know this can be a lonely thread, and I'm normally talking to myself, but this is where I'll be voicing my opinions about the Green Army as they start yet another season battling to get out of the bottom tier of English football.

This could be an interesting season following the close season Rangers saga, and the precarious situation Portsmouth currently find themselves in - I'm sure others will be joining them as the season moves on. Will there be any relegation from League 2 this season if teams fold? If a team such as Portsmouth fold, could there be additional promotion slots?

I take no pleasure in seeing the mess foreign sharks have left the likes of Portsmouth in, and am only grateful that the Green Army has a level headed Englishman in charge. Oh how lucky we were to survive last season

I would like to think the Green Army will be challenging for promotion this season, although pre-season friendly results against league opposition have been less than re-assuring.

It all starts to today with a home game against Aldershot. A win today will hopefully set the scene for the rest of the season, although we're already beset by injury problems. Anything less than a win will see a deep depression setting in very early.

[Big Boy]

Oh well, looks like another sad season, although the match stats were strange. Aldershot had 71% of the possession, yet managed only 2 shots. The Green Army had a multitude of shots, many on target.

Aldershot must have been playing a very good passing game - in their own half.

[Big Boy]

A question for you guys residing in the UK please. I've just sat down to watch BBC1's Sunday Morning Football League Show on my Thai Expat TV, and can't find it in the listings. Has it been scrapped on a Sunday for this season? I note that it's still on Saturday nights starting at 11:40, but that's a little past my bedtime.

How else am I going to follow the Green Army's trials and tribulations this season?

[Big Boy]

Another dire performance by the Green Army at Dagenham last night. By all accounts it was a very one side match

It sums it up when the highlight of the local paper's match report was, "Argyle's travelling fans in east London included top British rower Greg Searle, who won a bronze medal in the men's eight at the London Olympics." Obviously more interesting than the football.

[Braveheart]

Still a point away from home not too bad,good luck for the season.

[Big Boy]

Thanks, judging by last Saturday's performance, and yesterday's match report, I think we'll need a lot of good fortune again this season. The main thing is that the club has a new owner (who actually cares, and is running the club as a sound business), and we're not going to have financial troubles for a while. Just need to get the team playing well now.

[GLCQuantum]

With all those extra season tickets sold as you said - surely they could have delved into the market to strengthen their squad. Or were the tickets going at half price?

In all seriousness though BB I am half rooting for you guys to do alright.

[Big Boy]

There are rules in the lower echelon of the Football League, which are designed to prevent clubs getting into the sort of mess the Green Army have just emerged from, and the likes of Portsmouth are still in. The wage bill must not exceed 60% (I think that's the figure) of the clubs income. Therefore, even if there is a rich sugar daddy in charge, you can't exceed your allotted figure in wages.

This is where previously successful clubs (Championship level is successful for a club like the Green Army) fall foul of the rules these days. The Green Army were reasonably successful in the championship when the Japs took over. Their philosophy was throw high wages at players, and the club will be successful. This attracted a lot of deadwood, earning high wages, playing crap football. Result - relegation to League 1.

We now found ourselves in League 1, with a team of crap players holding lucrative contracts. Funding from the Japs immediately dried up for a League 1 side. We were able to pay off the better of the worse players, and let them go to other clubs. This still left a nucleus of crap players earning high wages. Because they were earning such high wages, hands were tied in regard to what could be paid for replacements. In fact, the Green Army exceeded their limits to pay for what was still a crap team.

To cut a very long story shorter than it would have been, we've only just got rid of the last crap player on Premiership wages. However, the managers hands are still tied in regard to how much he can spend on players. The new owner is playing it by the book to make sure that we don't go down that same crazy rabbit hole on his shift.

Putting together a good team (even in the Fourth Division) is not easy when you have to work under such constraints. We can't go out and spend X million on new players. Not because we can't afford it nowadays, but because the rules will not permit it.

When you see what happened to the like of Rangers in Scotland, it's about time similar constraints were introduced and enforced in all divisions. I would guess that Arsene Wenger is one of the few premiership managers who could hack it in the real world i.e. having to work with a proper budget.

[GLCQuantum]

Thanks for that BB...

I didn't really know all the ins and outs of how the mess came about. Must have been shite seeing a club you love get into so much financial trouble -ultimately nearly ending the club itself . I also wasn't aware of the restrictions put in place (quite rightly really) to stop this crap happening to clubs in the lower leagues.

Here's to a better season for you mate.

[GLCQuantum]

Incidentally BB, (though not in the same league I don't think now), I have been to more Brentford (home and away) games than I have Spurs games by tenfold. Reason being that I lived with a family for a few years that were all season ticket holders so I would join them. I think the last game was a lengthy trip up to Oldham if I remember correctly.

Those guys were absolute die hard fans! An upper middle class family (doesn't matter about that really) that wouldn't miss a game be it sleet, hail or snow. Through the crappy times and the good... they were there every week and I thoroughly enjoyed joining them behind the goal.

As you said in another thread it's a little different to some of the 'supporters' of the premier league clubs.

[Big Boy]

Incidentally BB, (though not in the same league I don't think now), I have been to more Brentford (home and away) games than I have Spurs games by tenfold. Reason being that I lived with a family for a few years that were all season ticket holders so I would join them.

So have I I've been to Brentford a few times to watch the Green Army, but White Hart Lane is one of the few football league grounds that I've never been to.

I think the last game was a lengthy trip up to Oldham if I remember correctly.

Oldham was always a good trip when they had their plastic pitch. There was always a light supporters vs supporters match during the morning. It was then into their social club, which IMHO sold the worst beer in the football league to get ready for the afternoon's spectacle. Many fond memories of Oldham.

[Zidane]

My local team is Macclesfield who,sadly,were relegated from League 2 last season.....
They were lying 8th in the league at the end of November,just 1 point off the play offs, but sold three of their best players without replacing them and suffered a chronic injury list which resulted in a winless run of 23 games from Boxing Day.
Money was tight,despite the sale of the three players,and the manager was sacked with 10 games to go.......harsh,as he had nothing to work with.
They appointed Brian Horton as the manager for the last 10 games,a surprising decision as his previous tenure at the club ended with the sack after just 4 points from the first 12 games !
Mr.Horton didnt disappoint this time around,either,as Macc picked up just 2 points from those last 10 games.
But now they are in the Blue Square Premier with a new manager,they are certainly flashing the cash....nice to see but maybe they should have given some in January to the then manager,Gary Simpson and they might just have stayed up.

[Big Boy]

I was watching the demise of Macclesfield for many months to the end of the season, and could see that they were likely candidates to replace the Green Army in the relegation zone. Fortunately for us, I was right. However, if memory serves me right, we were one of the clubs you managed to take a point off near the end.

I must admit, I wasn't aware of the circumstances. Its an awful league to compete in, with failure being unthinkable - unfortunately 2 teams have to drop out each year.

[BaaBaa.]

My local is Macclesfield too, I'll go and watch if they get a good cup tie.

Didn't they get 2 promotions in a row and got to the Championship?

What a fall from grace that was.

Do good pies though.

[Zidane]

No,they never made the Championship......
Under Sammy McIlroy they got promoted from the Vauxhall Conference to League 2 in 1997,then League 2 to League 1 the following season.
They only lasted one season in League 1 but that year played against the likes of Manchester City,Stoke City and Fulham.

Not to be confused with near neighbours Stockport County who had several seasons in The Championship,finishing 7th one season under Gary Megson.
Their fall from grace was spectacular,suffering 3 relegations before ending up in the Blue Square Premier last season.

Incidentally,I remember watching Macc play Plymouth the year Plymouth won the League 2 title and started their ascent to the Championship.....those were the days,BB !