League 2 once again produced another excellent month of
football, quality goals, exciting games and the 3rd sacking of the
season as Mark Yates paid the price for Macclesfield’s woeful start to the
season. Lincoln continue to lead the way with the MK Dons hot on their heels and
Exeter making up the top 3. However, Macclesfield continue to prop up the table
and are now joined in the bottom 2 by Cheltenham who are winless in the league under
new boss Michael Duff.
Lincoln continue
to lead the way despite their worst month in terms of results winning twice and
losing twice. Danny Cowley’s side are continuing to charge towards promotion
with battling performances and solid victories. However, their overall
disappointing month of results has allowed the MK Dons charge into 2nd place staying unbeaten
throughout October winning 5 of their 6 games with their most recent draw at
Mansfield stopping their winning streak. The Dons have stormed up the table
with Paul Tisdale finally getting the best out of his team including Chuks Aneke
who is firmly enjoying his season right now striking 7 goals, playing with confident
and some excellent individual performances. While Cardiff loanne Rhys Healy is
excelling up top notching 5 gaols. Paul Tisdale is finally getting a tune out
of the Dons after a slow start and momentum is building very nicely and a team
with confidence and momentum is difficult to stop. No doubt Tisdale will want
the feel-good factor to continue throughout November. Exeter make up the top 3 with managerial novice Matt Taylor making
things look easy. Exeter have 29 points from their 16 games this season and
Jayden Stockley continues to deliver up front. Exeter lost just once in October
that coming in their most recent game against Forest Green. Despite that
disappointing defeat, Exeter are looking strong and automatic promotion remains
high on their agenda. The play-off places are made up by Colchester, Tranmere, Newport
and Forest Green. John McGreal and Colchester
enjoyed an excellent October winning 4 of their 6 games including a win over
Lincoln. The goals of Sammie Szmodics, Frank Nouble and Luke Norris are leading
Colchester’s promotion charge while efficient defending means the cheap goals
in games last season are proving a thing of the past. Tranmere are enjoying their return to the football league flying
high in the top 7 and proving a difficult side to beat. Like Colchester, Tranmere
won 4 of their 6 games including a win over leaders Lincoln. James Norwood has been
in magnificent form and is the league’s top scorer notching 12 league goals.
Just one defeat for Tranmere in October and that was against promotion rivals
Forest Green. Micky Mellon continues to do an excellent job at Tranmere and they
certainly believe back to back promotions are within their grasp. Newport’s bubble may have burst slightly
with Micky Flynn’s side winning just once in October but interestingly lost just
1 of their 6 games. Too many draws have seen the Exiles drop off the pace and
Flynn will be determined to get Newport going again to keep their unlikely promotion
charge alive. Forest Green are firmly
enjoying their season and going into October were yet to taste defeat in the
league however, a trip to a rejuvenated Northampton saw their unbeaten run end with
a dramatic 95th minute winner for the Cobblers. Despite that, Forest
Green won 3 of their other 5 games and deservedly so sit in the top 7. Losing
Christian Doidge to Bolton doesn’t seem to have fazed them with goals being
spread across the whole team and that can only be a positive. The New Lawn
faithful believe they can potentially challenge for promotion and their early
season form suggests it is very much within their reach.
Other sides who enjoyed October included Northampton, Grimsby and Mansfield. The
Cobblers of Northampton are very
much rejuvenated under new manager Keith Curle. The Cobblers have won 3 of their
last 4 games and overall lost just 1 of their 6 games during October. Keith
Curle has firmly installed confidence, belief and more importantly goals into a
team which was severely dry in attacking areas. While 18 points from their 16
matches is disappointing overall, there is no denying Northampton have turned a
corner under Keith Curle and their season have firmly started now. Mansfield meanwhile are slowly coming
together themselves, but their issue is far too many draws. The Stags have
drawn 10 of their 16 league games and clearly finishing teams off is proving an
issue for them. Despite this, an unbeaten October and just 1 league defeat
overall means Mansfield are going very well and are on the cusp of the play-off
places. David Flitcroft will be pleased with his sides good league record but
knows they must start turning the screw and being more ruthless in front of goal.
Flitcroft will hope November will be their month to charge towards the top 3. Meanwhile
regular strugglers Grimsby enjoyed a
good October after starting the month in the bottom 2. However, 3 wins and a
draw from their 5 games has seen the Mariners climb out of the bottom 2 and
open a nice cushion from Cheltenham in 23rd. Michael Jolley’s men have
been determined, taken their chances and showed the necessary desire to see out
games without being spectacular. Summer signing Wes Thomas notched crucial
goals in their wins during October and Jolley will be hoping to see more of that
from him as the season progresses. While they ended October with defeat,
Grimsby will hope to carry that positive momentum built into November.
In contrast, times are proving extremely tough for Macclesfield with the basement side struggling
for goals and confidence. Mark Yates paid the price for the Silkmen’s woeful
start to the season and club legend Danny Whitaker has been put in caretaker charge
until at least the New Year if rumours are to be believed. Whitaker did oversee
their first league win of the season against Carlisle but thunderous defeats against
Northampton, Cambridge and Bury have followed. Moral, confidence and ability are
very low at the club and the pressure is on Whitaker to turn them around and
fast. They lie 6 points off safety and have lost 11 of their 16 league games
this season. The managerial situation needs addressing and fast. They need to
sort out their defence with set pieces proving an issue for them. While goals
are severely dry, and they must find a consistent goal scorer with caretaker
boss Danny Whitaker being joint top scorer with 2 goals. Macclesfield must find
a consistent winning run in November otherwise relegation will become
inevitable. Times are also proving tough for the other team in the relegation
zone Cheltenham. Michael Duff is yet
to win in his 8 league games and the pressure is beginning to mount on him. The fans are frustrated while players look low
on confidence and seem to be struggling to adapt to Duff’s ideas. A poultry 2
points were picked up in October and things must improve and fast. Their last
win came while Russell Milton was in caretaker charge. Duff will be hope that
first win arrives soon as it could be the catalyst to ignite their season and
pull away from the relegation zone.
Others who endured difficult Octobers included Morecambe, Notts County and Oldham. Jim
Bentley and Morecambe endured a difficult
month winning just 1 of their 6 matches while losing 3 of them. While the
Shrimpers remain comfortably clear of the relegation zone for now, Jim Bentley
will demand improvement and his future has been questioned more than once by
fans this season and if things don’t improve, a change could be made. The
longest serving manager in the English football league is feeling the pressure
and no doubt results must improve. It seems things aren’t working for Harry Kewell
and Notts County with the magpies
rooted to 22nd place and while October started brightly with back to
back wins, they have lost 3 on the spin and Kewell is struggling to get them going
again. Cheap goals are costing County with Kewell’s men struggling to keep a
clean sheet. Early promotion favourites saw expectations at the club sore. The
players have failed to live up to the hype and things must improve to have any
chance of mounting a charge towards the play-offs at best. Times are proving difficult
for Frankie Bunn and Oldham. Off
field issues including player strikes and late payments have transferred onto
the pitch with the Lactics winning just 1 of their 5 matches and losing 3 of
them. Oldham had a solid September and were sitting in the play-off places at
the end of the month, but a miserable run has seen them fall into the bottom
half of the table. Bunn will be feeling the pressure and things must improve in
November. Bunn will want the Lactics to capture their early season form which
saw them lose just 2 of their opening 10 matches. A positive for them is the
form of Ishmael Miller who is beginning to find goals after a slow start to the
season notching 3 goals as leading scorer Sam Surridge suffers a dip in form. Bunn will hope November is the month where
Oldham can charge towards the play-offs once again.
October was brilliant, and no doubt November will be the
same with some mouth-watering games to come including Lincoln vs Forest Green, Tranmere vs Exeter, Exeter vs Northampton,
Notts County vs Cheltenham, Lincoln vs Mansfield, Stevenage vs MK Dons,
Tranmere vs Oldham and Forest Green vs Colchester. These are just a handful of matches taking place during November as there are plenty more. October offered an
insight into the direction of clubs’ seasons and November will continue to add
to that as the football comes thick and fast with plenty of football to be
played. Could the managerial axe fall for a 4th time in League 2 with
November bring the prime sacking month of the football league? Only points and
form will give us an indication. League 2 is getting very interesting at both
ends of table and the unpredictability factor will no doubt going into November.
No comments:
Post a Comment