The first club I'm going to review are Accrington Stanley, now I do not know too much about the club but this is exactly what this blog is about enlightening myself and others about various football clubs. A little research will do no harm. Firstly, this season so far could not have been worse for Stanley fans as they find themselves at the foot of the table with relegation out of the Football league beckoning.
As you can see from the graph above (Source: BBC Sport) Stanley's performance at the start of the season was not that shabby with them in fourth place in both September and October. However, a sharp decline in form in October threw them down the table into the bottom half and then their league position spiralled downwards ever since. Since the departure of beloved former manager Paul Cook to Chesterfield, Stanley seem to have never recovered. Leam Richardson taking the ship to the very bottom of the league two ocean.
Transfer Market
Accrington Stanley have been very active in the transfer market this season with an influx of arrivals and many departures from the Crown Ground.
Notable Incomings
- Francis Jeffers Unattached
- Paul Rachubka Leeds United
- James Beattie Unattached
- Danny Schofield Rotherham United
- Lee Molyneux Unattached
- Aiden Chippendale Huddersfield Town
- Aimen Lingazi Unattached
Notable Outgoings
- Ian Craney Rochdale
- Kevin Mcintyre Rochdale
- Danny Coid Unknown
- Sean Hessey Barrow AFC
James Beattie appears to be a fairy good catch notching up six goals since his arrival and a good outlet to have up front. Who knows Francis Jeffers may become a bargain, often regarded as 'the forgotten man' in football, Jeffers may want to reignite his earlier talents on the League Two stage. Lee Molyneux formerly of my club Southampton seems to have performed well since joining Stanley on a free, he was fairly decent in League One for us and I can understand him doing well in League 2. Lingazi is another fairly recent arrival at the Crown Ground and I'd like to hear from Stanley fans how the boy from Blackburn is doing at Accrington.
The Key outgoing for Stanley this season was Ian Craney. Craney had three spells at Accrington and notched up a fair few goals from midfield over the years, so it must have been hard for Stanley fans to see him go to Rochdale. However, the move to Rochdale did not work out for Craney who only made six appearances before moving to AFC Telford.
Stanley Fact-file
Ground: The Crown Ground
Capacity: 5,057 (2,000 seated)
Chairman: Peter Marsden
Manager: Leam Richardson
Nickname: Stanley
Honours: Conference Winners 05-06
Outlook
The outlook for Accrington Stanley does look bleak. Only recently news emerged that they could not pay their players on time due to a cash flow problem http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21776938
As a result of low attendances it will always be a struggle for Stanley to remain in the Football league but there is hope for them, if you look at clubs like Wigan and Blackpool, they have proved the doubters wrong in recent years reaching the top-flite. Also, Stanley are only two points from safety, this can easily be overturned, starting at home to Barnet today which I think they will win. I am so confident I have put a small bet on this outcome! All the best to Accrington Stanley and their supporters, I hope you avoid relegation!
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