1st of January 2009 arrives and Wiggleville have continued their early form but still in the managements eyes are not consistently firing on all cylinders. However as the league form will show, despite still being unbeaten, this needs to be rectified quickly to maintain the pace we have set.
Overall Form
P 34 W 31 D 3 L 0 F 112 A 9
League Form
P 23 W 20 D 3 L 0 F 69 A 7 Pts 63
Cup Form (FA and League Cup and JP Trophy Combined)
P 11 W 11 D 0 L 0 F 43 A 2
A few bad draws costing us our 100% record, the first coming 11 games into the campain against then second from bottom MK Dons, despite a dominating performance from the Wigglers, the previously free scoring attacking line up failed to finish their 8 chances on goal, however we did manage to lock the Dons out of the game limiting them to only 39% of possession and 0 shots, on or off target.
However it seemed to be just a blip as we then went on to score 30 goals in our next 8 league games conceding only 2, but once again we faltered away from home against play-off hopefuls Southend. They took the lead 16 minutes into the game, only for Luck to equalise 6 minutes later. Half time came and went the score 1-1, 15 minutes in however and Southend took the lead for a second time, and as the game wore on looked as though they would do what no one had managed in 29 games. Our Luck-y charm salvaged a point in the 90th minute to ensure we went home with our record in tact and a point.
Again on the road 2 league games later and we come up against mid-table Tranmere, the game started brightly for the Wigglers who went ahead through Ambrosini on 24 minutes, but we were pegged back 4 minutes later, the game then petered out, there were the odd Wiggleville chances but once again our potent strike force were unable to finish. The game ended 1-1.
Hopefully now as we battle through the 2nd half of the season we can make every game count and finish as brightly as we started.
On to the Cups, as can be seen above we are unbeaten in all cup competitions so far and have a 100% record to boot, in the League Cup we have reached the Semi finals and play the first leg at home Man Utd the visitors, normally a clash like this would instill some sheds of doubt however after seeing the players dispatch Chelsea 3-0 in the Quarter final anything is possible.
After facing Grimsby in the 1st round of the JPT we have powered through what many regard as a mickey mouse competition, seeing off Morecombe, Scunthorpe and Oldham, to line up a North Section Final against Leeds United, the first leg of which is to be played at Elland Road, Leeds may be looking for revenge after being well beaten 3-0 in the League.
And of course the FA Cup is underway, the 1st Round threw up a tricky away tie at Rushden & Diamonds, however we managed not to crumple under the pressure and ran out 5-0 winners. Lincoln were the hosts for the 2nd round but were knocked out of the competition 4-1, however they can take pride in the fact that they are one of only 8 clubs to have scored against us.
Just a quick round up of the Cup results then.
FA Cup
Rushden 0-5 Wiggleville (Martin, Beckett, Luck, Bishop, Onos)
Lincoln 1-4 Wiggleville (Onos x 2, Taylor x 2)
League Cup
Wiggleville 3-0 Fulham (Lee, Martin, Levy)
Hull 0-4 Wigglevile (Robinson x 2, Martin, Broughton)
Wiggleville 3-0 Chelsea (Onos x 3)
Johnstone’s Paint Trophy
Morecambe 0-4 Wiggleville (Onos, Luck, McDowall, Taylor)
Wiggleville 2-0 Scunthorpe (Martin x 2)
Oldham 1-7 Wiggleville (Martin x 2, Onos x 4, Lee)
And finally, a roundup of transfer activity, following the closure of the summer transfer window all has been quiet involving Wiggleville players, and leading into the January window Pele has allowed me to continue to reject any official approaches.
In terms of players in October was rather busy, with 3 further players joining us on loan, Mignano, a Central Defender who could possibly have the potential to work well in league 1 but nothing more was sent to us from parent club Juventus. However I was busy looking at a few other options and succeeded in bringing Arsenals young Attacking Midfielder Mark Randall to the club along with Manchester Uniteds Central Midfielder Rodrigo Possebon.
Leading into January a few players have been told they are to be sent on loan to hopefully gain some first team experience. This is in not the management trying to pave the way out of the club for these players, it is about getting them experience.
These players are:
- Young Winger Matt Booth
- Cultured Forward Edwin
- Enthusiastic Full-Back Andy Fen
- Tireless Midfielder Paul Horrox
- Cultured Defensive Midfielder Alistair Paterson
I will update again at the end of the window!
