The Hotel End

Getting a good vibe about this one. They're on a bad run and we only have 2 losses in 9.

Mo looked decent against Cambridge and hopefully Crooksy's back.

Prediction 0-2 Pierre and KVV

eieieio

Bound to concede. So can we score 2?

A rested and fresh Sam Hoskins double in a 1-2 win.

When all is said and done , Crawley away is a game we should be winning .
The likes of JJOT , Taylor , Facey and Hoskins need to step up here and start performing.

Here are my preview and predictions ahead of the weekend:

http://d3d4football.com/league-two-preview-and-predictions-8th-december/ (http://d3d4football.com/league-two-preview-and-predictions-8th-december/)

thought you were all for Bro love 💗 not stirring them up😳

I can see the excitement and anticipation surrounding this game is at fever pitch ....
Can it stretch to two pages by match day ?

Our record v them:
16 Nov 1991   Crawley Town v Northampton Town   L   4-2   FA Cup
08 Oct 2011   Northampton Town v Crawley Town   L   0-1   League Two
17 Apr 2012   Crawley Town v Northampton Town   L   3-1   League Two
24 Nov 2015   Crawley Town v Northampton Town   W   1-2   League Two
19 Apr 2016   Northampton Town v Crawley Town   W   2-1   League Two

Anyone travelling down from London Bridge tomorrow 🙂

… 3 coming up from Horsham  :)

Yes, though rather stupid, given it's 42mins direct to Crawley from Victoria!
Going from LB means longer and then changing at Three Bridges...so a pretty dumb move really!

Nevertheless, a small brigade will be going from there. Only mitigation for such a ridiculous route is that LB is significantly better for pubs than Victoria!
White Hart on Crawley's High St is good with Harveys Sussex Ales!  ;)

Not sure, what do you think?

Some of them need rousing. How are you getting on? Are you back in training or still on the treatment table?

Keith's view on the game..

https://youtu.be/mY0bkvlDIo0

Not true, direct Thameslink trains from LB to Crawley these days.

It's a bit boring having to sleep on yr back all the time and sleep is severely reduced. Walking and going up/down stairs again.Hope to be driving by 19th Dec; first match Boxing Day!

They won last home game 3 Nil against Crewe.Although Mk Dons beat them 4 Nil previous to that.

Absolutely pi☆☆ing down at Crawley's ground at the moment.

Turnbull back. Bowditch in?

Bowditch must be as good as Hoskins in training.

That dosent say a lot now does it lets be honest!

Very strange team selection. Is he just trying players and line ups out? Where is JJOT?

Bowditch ..... god help us .
Will this be the day he actually does something that you remember in a game ?

I think at the moment Curle is trying to give as many players as possible some game time so he can see them in action before the window.

On the plus side the bench looks pretty strong today with Crooks, Williams and Morias among those options to be brought on.

Anyone know if JJOT is injured or being rested? He needed a rest IMO.

I didn't say it was anything any good.It must be the same thing all our managers must see in Hoskins to play him every week,perhaps they both make a good cup of tea.

He's being rested, apparently.

Team sheet is an odd one. Could be a master stroke though. Here's hoping anyway. Come on boys.

Once Crooks and Morias join the fray to replace Bowditch and Taylor, I'm sure they will be able to take the game to Crawley and who knows maybe get a late equaliser to force a 2-2 draw ?

Its a pity he doesn't start with his strongest team though.

"I think what's he's trying to utilise is movement with the front three he's selected. The pace of Hoskins, the cleverness of Van Veen, and on the right he's got Bowditch".

Unintentional I think, but made me laugh.

According to online sources, Bowditch has played 26 times for us and has a grand total of 1 assist and 0 goals.

Text from a mate at the game has suggested that it has been awful so far.

We have had plenty of possession, but not created much. Wind is playing a major part, sweeping across the pitch. Hopefully we will be better attacking towards us in the second half

Why is Morias not playing in this game ?
Williams is also on form.
Bowditch should be nowhere near first team selection.
Apparently he creates space .... yes a space on my seat when I see that’s what we are resorting to in team selection ...

Buchanan could easily get a red here.

Pen. GOAL

Get in there!!!

Crawley now down to 10  :D Come on boys.

Crooks.

That'll do donkey, that'll do  ;D

Good result.

Curle's reign as the new Boothroyd continues. It ain't pretty but it's certainly pragmatic and effective.

Pragmatic and effective pooey

I preferred it under dean Austin when we were regularly tonked by three or four without putting up a battle.

Sounded like a Cobblers result of old. Special mention that our 3 centre backs played well - local hero Taylor coming in for praise . Interesting to read reports from those there.

The difference being Boothroyd couldn't win away.

Not a good comparison. Boothroyd very near led me to turn my back on the beautiful game. I loathe what he did to our team, especially at Wembley.

Great to hear. Short term pain, long term gain. I hope your car is easy to get in and out of  ;)



.....................

Well done Curley. Picked the right team to take the three points. Another clean sheet for Cornell  ;D

Big Kev notches another so 10 down 10 to go.

Taylor was the weaker of the CB three.
Nice to see Turnbull and Pierre bringing the ball out of defence rather than Taylor hoofing it.
Wind played a major part in the first half but still thought we had the better of it without either team creating much.
Second half was better from us but again very few clear chances created.
Nobody had a stinker, thought that Foley and Bowditch were steady, vV and Hoskins put themselves about and Cornell was almost redundant but Turnbull just about earned himself my MotM.
Good to win though in difficult conditions.

Well said re the non forgiving attitude towards Boothroyd after that dire performance against the Bantams at Wembley followed by the dirge we had to put up with before he got the push

Not going to be too critical as the playing conditions were awful.
However, in the final third I thought we were really poor.

Sorry to jump on the bandwagon but Hoskins was awful. Everyone else did ok, even Taylor.

Sounds like you have... IMO a very narrow view.

Can you please tell me what he did right today? First time I've seen him since last season and can't believe how backwards he's gone.

I did hear the commentators suggest Hoskins played ok ; not the rubbish you proclaim. Be interesting to hear other opinions. Mind you may well be right!

Hoskins today was industrious, I can think of a few runs down the flanks and won a good few headers.

The only player who didn't cut it today was Bowditch, no idea what he offers and can only assume he played to be put in the shop window.

Well it is after all just my opinion! He was a total non-threat going foward. A willing runner yes but it's not enough. But apparently that's me being too narrow minded  ::)

Until we see further accounts on Mr Marmite today I support your account along with Deepcuts comments. Its just that the commentators saw it slightly different.  We shall see.

Why would you put a lump of lard 'in the shop window'? Makes no sense.

To be honest i thought it was an ok performance, nothing really good, yet nothing really bad. Everybody did ok, my ratings would be,
Cornell 6. Had little to do really all game.
Facey  7. A better game than of late, woeful shot second half when he should have scored.
Buchs 7. Did ok and good goal bound shot first half.
Pierre  8. Good all round game.
Taylor 7. Ok performance, great tackle at the end mind you when their player was clean through on goal, i feared the worst.
Turnbull 8. My MOM, with some great sliding tackles.
Mcwilliams 7. A better game.
Foley 7. The usual, Mr Dependable, surprised he was subbed.
Bowditch 6. Just ok really.
Hoskins 6 . Good energy as mentioned, but made the wrong decisions too many times again today, never a striker.
Van Veen 8. Good game and some good tackles.Kept his cool again with the penalty.
Subs.
Morias 6 . Did ok.
Crooks 7. Made some good runs and passes.
Powell 7. Some good runs and a shot, although Morias was screaming to be set up.
Although these are decent ratings, it was a strange game, we had loads of possession, yet didn't really do anything with it and our decision making and shooting was woeful at times.Having said that it was a pleasing 3 points and another ground ticked off for me, so a good day out.

KC cetainly picked up on the decision making as did one or two of the supporter reports so far. Good stuff SO.

Couldn't believe how strong they became once they went down ten men.
Turnbull Pierre and VV my men of the match with Turnbull edging it.
Don't see Taylor as adding to our defence overall, and he nearly let them in at the end when all he had to do was clear the ball out when close to the  halfway line.
Hoskins was his usual industrious self but that alone isn't good enough. One decent ball into VV second half (ever so slightly under hit to be ultra critical) and excellent at bringing the ball under control 9/10, but it invariably goes wrong from there on. Plenty of missed passes, bad passes, bad positions. I'd give him a chance at wingback in place of Facey but someone will need to teach him how to tackle.
Good result under poor conditions though.
First visit to Crawley, just how non league are they?!

I did not say that you were narrow minded, stop getting so precious, it's you opinion against mine...

Apart from a 10 min spell around the hour mark, that was utter gash. Forth Division all day long.

Hiding in the corners for the last 20 mins against 10 very average players who still managed 60% possession. Tells it all.

I hope the beer and pies made it worth going.

His industrious every week, just has zero quality.

Agreed - we all understand the need to grind out a result but that was painful and I really hope when KC gets the squad he wants and a few more points on the board we don’t see that again.

Whilst we got the rub of the green on some decisions the penalty and red card were both pretty easy for the ref and Crawley’s histrionics probably stem from their Steve Evans days.

Conditions were not very good and it was a day to try and keep the ball on the ground. However, that is not something that, presently, we excel at. This helps to explain how Crawley had 60% possession. Midfield is an area we need to address.

In truth we made hard work of it, although we defended well for the most part. Pierre and Turnbull, in particular, were outstanding.  I thought that midfield looked to have holes in the middle after Foley was taken off and with 11 Crawley might have taken more advantage (they nearly did with 10). Bowditch was largely anonymous, but when he was involved I thought he did actually keep possession quite well.

It was a stonewall penalty, no doubt in my mind about that and van Veen is a very confident penalty taker. I did not see the sending off incident, but when I saw the reaction of Buchanan I thought a red card was a possibility. 

Powell made a bit of an impact as a sub, but could have laid one on a plate for Morias and wrapped the game up , but chose to shoot himself. It nearly cost us.

From a distance I though Taylor got away with that challenge very late on, another ref (Mr Brakespear??) might have taken a different view!

I see the usual Hoskins moaners are at it again. They seem to have a magnifying glass on anything that goes wrong and ignore everything else (including good chasing back, a couple of timely interventions, a couple of powerful runs ending in fouls and a nice cross in to van Veen which nearly resulted in a goal). Still, if and when he is gone, they can spend the next five years moaning about why did we let him go!

Anyway, having got that off my chest, yesterday was again a small step forward. Curle is at least finding about about the players at his disposal and they are all being given a chance to impress (or not).

did did you see super SAMs shot in the first half, went for another throw in, seems to be his speciality.
Quite how he starts ahead of Moaris I don't know.

To be fair, Morias has only been available for selection for a couple of league matches since Curle took over!

Thks Robas eñjoyed yr report! Have added you to the Pantheon of Cobblers Reporters (PCR).

You want to get to a game and enjoy the camaraderie of 499 supporters on a wet windy afternoon . Loser!

Following yesterday our points record so far under Curle puts us 6th in the form table:

MK            - 28pts in 11 games
Colchester - 22pts in 11 games
Mansfield  - 21pts in 11 games
Bury         - 20pts in 11 games
Tranmere  - 20pts in 11 games
Cobblers   - 19pts in 11 games
FGR         - 17pts in 11 games
Lincoln     - 16pts in 10 games

Worth noting that 7 of these 11 matches have been against teams currently in the top half, so it hasn't been an easy run of matches either.

We have conceded 11 in the 11 games, scoring 18.

We are 6th in the defensive table for the 11 games under Curle:

MK - 3
Mansfield - 7
Colchester - 9
Bury - 9
Lincoln - 10
Cobblers - 11
Oldham - 12
FGR - 13
Exeter - 13
Swindon - 15
Tranmere - 16
Carlisle - 16
Stevenage - 17
Newport - 19

Worth noting that 4 of the top 7 defensive teams for the last 11 matches are the sides relegated from last season, which IMO indicates our current form is more on par for us than a 'blip'.

Cobblers are currently 5th in the scoring form table:

Bury - 24
MK - 22
Tranmere - 20
Newport - 19
Cobblers - 18
FGR - 16
Lincoln - 15 (in 10)
Mansfield - 15
Carlisle - 15
Stevenage - 14
Colchester - 13
Crawley - 13 (in 10)
Oldham - 13
Exeter - 10
Swindon - 9

Worth noting that similar to the defensive form, 3 of the top 5 form sides are last seasons relegated sides, IMO again indicating that our current form is more on par for us than being a blip.

Also worth noting that we have missed Crooks for many games and Morias has more or less missed the entirety of Curles' reign so far. If these two had been fit and available our scoring record would have been considerably better IMO.

Is it also worth noting that {(19÷11)×25)}+26=69pts, or not?

Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot that this forum is full of low-IQ, lack-of-attention-span, rude, window-lickers. Thanks for the reminder. Hope this is much more in keeping with the usual drivel posted on here.

I asked you a question Clarence. No need for that.

Good post (ignore the cretins).

Curle's pragmatism is a breath of fresh air.

It will be interesting to see what formation we eventually settle into. 5-3-2 seems to fit our personnel. This is what I'd like to see:

                                                                         Cornell

            Taylor (or + additional CB)  Pierre   Turnbull

Facey (+new RWB to challenge)                                                                  New LWB (Buchs as reserve)

                                                   McWilliams/O'Toole            Foley

                                                                             Crooks

                                                                      Morais           Van Veen

By this reckoning we need three new first team players: two new wing backs and a centre back to replace Barnett and provide much-needed competition for Taylor. It would also be good if the wing backs were versatile enough to be able to play in a 4-4-2 as traditional wingers if we need to change it up. 

Of course, this is assuming we don't lose anybody....

               

Don't care if we played crap or not..

eieieio...

Bring on Stevenage...

Was it?
Regurgitating readily available data with no interpretation is not what I'd call a good post.
I'd call it facile, something a five year old is capable of.

Shall I point out what colour the sky is in Barby at midday tomorrow Bungle, might you find that equally interesting?

I'm pleased you've come to some kind of conclusion in your equally 'sensible' post.
Not one I'd agree with in its entirety though.
Putting Taylor on either side of a three is, in my opinion, asking for trouble, as he would be hopelessly exposed. I'm also fairly certain that Pierres preferred position is on the left of a defensive three, whilst Turnbull is better at operating on either side (or indeed in the middle).
Or have you been a little 'freeform' about your line up, and those three positions just came out the way you typed them?

Will We be facing the Revsmeister Doc? He used to be the greatest you know..

Nice work, I was wondering where we would be in the table had the season started 11 games ago.

The last couple of games ive watched have been rubbish, Grimsby, Cambridge and Crawley, change for changes sake, the continued use of Hoskins when morais and Powell look far more threatening. Playing Bowditch in an attacking midfield role was stupid when you have otoole who is most effective there, bowditch added absolutely nothing. Playing this awful type of football, is putting me off, good job it was only £16 to get in yesterday. The standard of this league has dropped from last time we were here and we are a below average league 2 side, without Van Veen we would be boll0xed

You sound very disgruntled. As pointed out Morais has only just become available, Hoskins is Hoskins and at the moment there is nobody any better except perhaps Morais. In fact by Jan 1st Hoskins future with NTFC may well be in doubt. To criticize the Manager for being stupid in selecting certain players is a bit rich especially when he has got us upto 14th when that seemed unlikely a few weeks ago. I dont how long you have been a Cobbs supporter but the Victory on Sat was very much in the traditions of a NTFC performance ; backs against a wall, raging opposition and equally enraged support. We are not a free flowing outfit not even CW side really achieved that. That kind of performance was very reminiscent of past years when we did well. Only grit and determination will get us out of this Division and beyond.  I do agree that vV is an essential member of the team and hope he stays with us for this season; even if it means upping hs salary to ward off would be suitors.

Early on under Austin we were loosing games in which we looked the best team in. Now under Curle we are winning games we look second best in.

All we need to do now is loan out O'Tool to Southend for a bit then recall him to help us secure a playoff place.

Upping his salary !!!
Are you for sure ...
He’s on over £5k a week .....

Is He?
He is under contract until Jun 2020.
If someone came in for him and he wanted to leave there would need to be payment involved.
Increasing his wages would only continue his stay for the wrong reasons.

Exactly
Plus it would have to be a fee in excess of the money we paid for him .
I don’t want him to leave and also want Crooks and Turnbull to stay who are also high earners .
I’m not sure about the other high earner , Taylor .
KT clearly wants to balance the books though .

Back to the thread, on the Crawley board that think that Saturdays ref was the worst they've ever had, obviously Mr Breakspear hasn't been to Crawley !

They don't think it was a pen, or a sending off but they should have had a pen / free kick for when Ash Taylor either "pushed with 2 hands in the back" or "clearly pulled him back" near the end. To me it was an obvious pen, it was right in front of where I stood, their guy didn't touch the ball but totally took out Pierre. I can't comment on the other 2 incidents as I was too far away but for the sending off, it was right in front of the lino and the ref.

Agreed, I was in line with the penalty, it was definitely a pen and I believe given by the AR over the comms because the Ref wasn't in a good position to be 100%. I also couldn't see the other two incidents, the TV replay suggests that the sending off was harsh although it was directly in front of the other AR who immediately signalled and with enough vigour to suggest that it was a serious offence (violent conduct). 
The last one; from our end it looked like Taylor had taken their man out and to be fair at the time I was surprised that the Referee waved it away.  It would have been a straight red if he had given it.  It was outside the area so, even though also down to 10 men, it was only a FK which they may or may not have scored from.  They ballooned one over the bar just after from a similar position.

I wasnt at the game but agree with above from watching the replay. Definitely a pen, a bit of 'gamesmanship' by standing his ground and not really moving but cant go through a player like that. Red did look harsh but more i see it the more i think it was. Plus the club tweeted a still of his arm going into Pierre. Taylor for me was a foul, free kick and a red card so we got away with one. But they all balance over the season  >:D

Was it just me or did anyone else see that a few seconds before the penalty challenge, one of their players flicked an elbow after jumping?

I said even if!................If (?) he is on £5k/wk then that might discourage a few L1 and some Championship Sides. Perhaps a modest increase on his salary might deter a few more. That may leave just those clubs( a few) who can afford such a salary and £300k fee.

It’s only a guess , but I wouldn’t think increasing the salary of KVV is on KT’s agenda ...

 ;D ;D


Great win though. I was just staggering off of a crazy fairground ride whilst in Copenhagen and my son came running over shouting 'Daddy, Daddy Van Veen has scored'!

I've read the thread in its entirety. I  think its fair to say that these Boothroyd-esque performances/results are (each and everyone) a bonus at the moment. Im hoping that Crookes return (and Morais) plus the fact we are now 10 points clear of the drop zone will mean that the displays start to improve a tad now. But W5, D4, L2 is a bloody decent return from KC's first 11 games. Very decent.

Didn't play free flowing football under Wilder - what a ridiculous comment.

:) :) :)He must not of been at the away games at Luton,Leyton orient or Carlisle just to name a few.

https://www.crawleyobserver.co.uk/sport/football/crawley-town/crawley-town-verdict-crawley-town-fans-left-angry-by-referee-s-decisions-1-8734154

Not sure if he should give up his day job just yet.

Before kickoff a large section of fans took one shoe off and held it above their head,what was the chant?And is the first time that this has been done. Found it amusing.

Nice to see an unbiased report on the game  ;D

Luton was hardly FF until RH came on! You conveniently forgot about Yeovil, Exeter and Mansfield  - even Dagenham ::)

Spinney Cobbler your latest response re the performance of Wilders team sums up for me the negativity about the Cobblers that always emerges from its fan base. Lets get it right apart from Carr's promotion winning side the football played during Wilders promotion team was the best I have seen since I started flowing the Cobblers in the mid eighties.

I must have had too many beers that day then. Because from memory, the first 45 minutes at Luton was the best I've ever seen us play away from home, 3-1 up at half time and it could easily have been 5 or 6. Capped off by the best free kick routine I've ever seen. Your a hard man to please Evers!  ;D

So you have to make a point about the moaners ::)

I was upset about the 3 goals conceded  ;)

orient at home that season was awful - smith stopped us getting a right tonking

Majority  of Stevenage away was not entirely; 0-2 down as well. Thks to Holmes we made it. The games against BR and Oxford at home were hardly free flowing toò! If I remember Smith had quite a few blinders opening half of season.

If the football under Wilder was not very good, I'm really looking forward to a few "not very good" seasons !!!

Strange comment - during most seasons there is a few poor games as well some ok ones plus no doubt some free flowing wins. Who has said the football under CW was no good bearing in mind we went over 22 games undefeated?
Personally I enjoyed very much the win last Saturday as I did the Cambridge game, but clearly they were both not classics. So the point is providing we are winning all is rosy. Not all CW's games were free flowing wins as from memory there were at least 10 games particularly during the first 20 odd games.  Even so we recorded victories all the same.

So what's the difference between "not very good" and "not free flowing" ? I would say they both mean "Could do better". So it was you who bought up Chris Wilders team saying they were not free flowing, all I said was I was looking forward to any Cobblers team getting anywhere near the CW teams standard in the near future.

Nice response  ;D

Some fans seem to forget they are watching League two football.86/87 What a season mind you probably not free flowing enough for everbrite.

You appear to be misled as I did not say that 'CW side were not free flowing . It was a slightly more circumspect comment/opinion. Go back and have a look.

.

Your judgement is suspect as the 86/87 side was a genuine FF side with Hill,Morley and Benjamin etc  The RH side was very hard to beat but the 86/87 side had more accomplished players. Do you agree?

CWs team was a joy to watch. Great team ethic and some wonderful games.
Carr’s team destroyed many teams, blowing them away with goals and strength throughout the team.

Choice over what team to watch again given a time machine. 86/87 every time.

Probably correct choice but for me it is CW's side especially the victorìes against Stevenage, Luton, Plymouth etc but above all the win against Oxforlona. Simply loved it.

Not forgetting the one and only Eddie Mcgoldrick and to think a lot of the squad were singed from non league football.

Don't be so condescending , I have a differing opinion to you you are not the cobblers oracle. I said Morias and Powell I believe Powell is a better option as goals and assist show, he looks more threatening. He has got us up to 14th maybe , are you happy watching that ? 1 shot on target against Crawley, Crawley FFS. Ive only been watching the cobblers for 48 years, id have packed in watching years ago if that was'in the traditions of an NTFC performance'

Some supporter, picked going round in circles sat on a plastic giraffe over iFollow? Fair play to your lad for setting an example you’d do well to follow.

Nobody is challenging yr right to a reply.I am not an Oracle far from it. 48 yrs supporter - you almost certainly witnessed similar backs to the wall performances particularly away? This takes you back to the desperate 70's and early 80's. Are you sure you never witnessed  similar games? My opinion gained from the Sat game was that game suggested that KC has found his ideal defense.
I can remember games v Orient and Millwall both away which reminded me of the Crawley game. Perhaps my optimism is a false one. Have to wait and see!

Win against who???

Back to the thread...who threw a bottle at Crawley on Saturday?  :o ;D

FA charge heading in Crawley's direction. It's reported that the bottle hit an assistant referee. Brings back memory's of the pie incident at Peterborough a couple of seasons ago.

There's been a number of 'pie incidents' over the years...night games at Colchester and Bury spring to mind!  ;D

Not a pie but an Ancell hotel end special burger,
I think it was a night game v Rotherham in the fa cup, we went 2 down and from the back of the Hotel came a fully intact burger that hit me a glancing blow on the side of the head and exploded its contents onto the neck of the poor chap standing in front of me and those that stood within a few feet, extra onions and tomato sauce the lot.

Ah well. Ancel's burgers were not to everyone's taste.

So, the motive for the relentless corporate box campaign becomes clear. Truth will out?

As a follow up :
https://www.crawleyobserver.co.uk/sport/football/crawley-town-bottle-thrower-comes-forward-and-issues-statement-after-northampton-incident-1-8746208