Peter Taylor fails again

[Janik]

Which could also be called the Conference play-offs thread.

But Taylor. Well.

Palace were 19th when he left, with a record of 2-4-4 (10 points from 10 games). Under Neil Warnock, Palace have a record of 15-12-6 (57 from 33). Without Taylor Palace are near automatic promotion.

Stevenage were near the top (can't remember what position) when Mark Stimson left, record 10-2-4 (32 from 16). Since Taylor has arrived, and incidentally been given an extemely large budget for this league having permanently signed ~10 pkayers and loaned another ~5, Stevenage have gone 13-4-11 (43 from 28).
Even worse than the overall record is the recent one. When it's matter most, Stevenage have lost 6 of their last 8 games. Finishing last night by losing at home to Northwich, a desperate result that has guarenteed Stevenage miss the play-offs.

Which leaves the play-offs as this;
Torquay vs. Burton or Exeter (2nd leg at Plainmoor)
Cambridge vs. Exeter or Burton (2nd leg venue tbc)

With only 6 points covering them, there is nothing to chose between the sides. Only issue might be that Torquay have a very poor record against the other play-off sides, having won only once (Exeter (H)) and lost the five other confrontations. But I don't think it matters much. It's a complete lottery who goes up.

I'm already nervous.

[Jorge Porbillas]

Peter Taylor fails again

And me - obviously I don't want to lose Torquay as an away weekend next year, Exeter could also mean a trip to Torquay too. Burton is (relatively) close so I'm going for Cambridge to win.

[Janik]

Peter Taylor fails again

Thanks for that vote of amoral support, Jorge.

[hissing fauna]

Peter Taylor fails again

I think I'd like Burton for the play-offs, Torquay for the final, and a comforting season of mid table mellowness back in the football league next year.

[dotmund]

Peter Taylor fails again

Peter Taylor is a fascinating figure in the last 15 years of English football. He's 65% the way there to being a great manager. The trouble is that the other 35% is capable of such self-destruction one begins to suspect he might actually be a double-agent.

[ad hoc]

Peter Taylor fails again

A Cambridge vs Burton final would be the best option - I'd like Cambridge to go back up ideally, but if Burton won, it wouldn't be terrible, since they're noj's local team.

[Gangster Octopus]

Peter Taylor fails again

Largely what he said, but with Burton as the faves...

[boris]

Peter Taylor fails again

I don't really like any of them enough to care. Burton are probably the most inoffensive of the lot, but they always let Oxford win at their place and there's a decent pub right near the ground, so it would be nice if they stayed down.

Exeter are supported by my best mate, and I still haven't forgiven him for last season's play-offs, so there's no way that I could support their promotion.

Torquay - well, any side that has Lee Mansell or Chris Hargreaves playing for them doesn't deserve promotion and they'd only embarrass themselves.

Cambridge - probably the best option in that we always seem to be scheduled to play them midweek (usually on 'police advice' for some reason) which means I can rarely get there anyway, and they do have a nasty habit of beating us at their place (last season's 3-0 win was an exception to the rule). Plus I expect they're more likely to challenge again next season if they don't make it this time around (although Exeter might also fall into that bracket). I've also heard a rumour (maybe Janik can confirm?) that their finances are desperate and that they could well be in big trouble should they fail to go up, and we wouldn't want that.

So there you go.

By the way, Cambridge can still pip Torquay for second place, which would be nice.

[Gangster Octopus]

Peter Taylor fails again

boris wrote:

Burton ... there's a decent pub right near the ground, so it would be nice if they stayed down.

Which is why we want to go next season.

Cambridge - I've ... heard a rumour (maybe Janik can confirm?) that their finances are desperate

Isn't that City? I really should be Dinging you for serial Cambridge abuse...

[Max Payne]

Peter Taylor fails again

Exeter's finances are nowhere near desperate. Apparently a few loose ends that were known quantities to the board all along. No idea about Cambridge but I think Torquay will be in trouble if they don't go up. I would have thought Cambridge have invested a lot too though with Quinn there - he's not the thriftiest.

[Janik]

Peter Taylor fails again

As far as I'm aware, the finances are sound. As far as I am aware...
Quinn has clearly been operating on a bigger budget than was available in the previous two Conference seasons. Whether this is an indicator things are more stable, or more speculative, is hard to judge from outside.

The Lee Power thing was more a personality clash than a money issue, I thought. Anyroad, I don't trust the man. Can't give a good reason for that, just a feeling. He has the whif of corporate marketting bluster about him. He'll fit in like a hand in a glove at Rushden.

As to 2nd place, yep, I know we can nick it. Would need Torquay to lose at home to Crawley, though, which I doubt will happen.
They looked useful on Tuesday evening, big, fast and organised, before Cambridge hit them with two sucker punches which they couldn't be arsed to do much about (understandably, given the lack of anything riding on the match). That said, Cambridge were a bag of nevres, which probably helped Torquay dominate the opening half-hour.
3rd would do, for a home 2nd leg. Beat Northwich and it's ours.

[mirko bolesan]

Peter Taylor fails again

Burton Albion are playing Cambridge United and Torquay United are playing Exeter City in the Conference playoffs.

Lewes from the South and Kettering from the North promoted to the Conferance

Conference South Playoffs
Braintree Town vs Eastbourne Borough
Fisher Athletic vs Hampton & Richmond

Conference North Playoffs
AFC Telford vs Barrow
Stalybridge Celtic vs Southport

[mirko bolesan]

Peter Taylor fails again

Peter Taylor leaves Stevenage:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/stevenage/7371937.stm

[David Agnew]

Peter Taylor fails again

Janik wrote:

The Lee Power thing was more a personality clash than a money issue, I thought. Anyroad, I don't trust the man. Can't give a good reason for that, just a feeling. He has the whif of corporate marketting bluster about him. He'll fit in like a hand in a glove at Rushden.

Wasn't he the public face of the Luton consortium that sacked Joe Kinnear and set up a phone vote for his replacement? That's a good reason to not trust him.

[Janik]

Peter Taylor fails again

I don't see a more recent Conference play-offs thread, so I'll resurect this.

Thank fuck for the referee in the Burton-Cambridge game. If he and his assistant hadn't gone temporarily insane, then the 2nd leg would have been more or less a dead rubber. If I was a Burton fan I would be livid right now. Kicking walls kind of fury.

[Janik]

Peter Taylor fails again

Match report

Burton Albion 2 – 2 Cambridge United

Before the game, the main selection dilemma for Cambridge had been who to play up front. Lee Boylan is currently out injured, and Lee McEvilly is only just making a comeback after two months out with a foot fracture. Leo Fortune-West is back at the club having completed his loan spell at York, and was available, but hasn’t trained with the team for months. That left Mark Beesley, and Magno Vieira (who was available after his loan from Crawley had been extended). Both were fit, and had showed recent form with Beesley getting both goals against Torquay last Tuesday and Vieira both against Northwich on Saturday. Perhaps just are importantly, Burton like to play a high defensive line to compress play, and both Beesley and Vieira are fast meaning we could look to exploit Burton’s defensive set-up. So a no-brainer, Beesley and Vieira it was.
Not sure what the selection question were for Burton, but the my main focus of attention for them was at either end of the pitch. Up front was Daryl Clare. I’m sure the lower league fans know his name, he has scored lots of goals for a number of seasons. Especially in the Conference where he was top scorer for both Boston and Chester in the seasons where they won the league. He is also top scorer for Burton this campaign. A real threat. In goal was another interesting individual. Kevin Poole. He must be 45 by now!

Cambridge started the match well on top, holding on to the ball for long periods. As early as the 2nd minute we had our first good chance, Vieira’s pass into the right channel picking out Beesley clean through. Unfortunately Beesley’s first couple of touches weren’t perfect, slowing him up somewhat and allowing a defender to get close enough to narrow the shooting angle. With only the near post to go at, Beesley’s shot was easily blocked by Poole.
Soon after Cambridge had a shout for a penalty. Vieira, who caused loads of problems in the first half with his pace and strength, picked up the ball on the right side of the area, heading for the byline. Burton centre-back Darren Stride made a poor challenge, sliding in off his feet and missing the ball. Unfortunately, Vieira chose instead of trying to play on (in which case Stride would have caught him for a clear penalty), to push his leg into Stride’s slide and fall theatrically. Over-egging the pudding and resulting in a (correct) decision of play-on.
Cambridge kept coming, mostly through Vieira. A long ball caught out Burton centre-back Darren Stride, with Vieira in behind him. Vieira took it into the area, but instead of shooting earlier, tried to go back inside Stride, allowing the Burton right-back John Brayford to make a challenge. All three players went to ground (with no-one shouting for a foul). If Vieira could have flicked out a leg for the loose ball he would have knocked it to the supporting Beesley for a tap in, but instead it was Stride who got himself within reach to toe-poke it away.
Cambridge kept the pressure up, and again tested Burton with the best move of the match. Patient possession football saw the ball moved around the Burton half for at least 10, possibly as many as 20 passes. Eventually Rob Wolleaston picked up Dan Gleeson overlapping from right wing-back. Gleeson cut inside and delivered a good inswinging cross to the penalty spot. Vieira won the header, but his marker Stride’s challenge was enough to impair the direction, the ball going narrowly over. Next Vieira out muscled the Burton defence to get on a ball near the left corner flag. His cross looked dangerous, with Wolleaston running in fast at the near post, but a Burton defender did well to get a little flick on the ball taking it past Wolleaston to safety.
Next came Burton’s first chance of the day. Gleeson was harshly adjudged to have foul Tony James just by the corner of the penalty area, wide left. Clare took the free-kick and put in a very good shot that was dipping just under the bar, only for Danny Potter to tip it over. Minutes later came the first booking of the game, for an issue that would be more important later in the match. Paul Carden of Cambridge (who, incidentally, spent much of last season on loan at Burton) put a clearance in from the right-back area. Burton’s midfielder Keith Gilroy slide across the front of Carden in an attempt to block the ball. Note, across the front, not at the player. Carden’s foot, on the follow through, caught Gilroy, sending Carden spinning to the ground. The contact was a pure accident, no intent on the part of Gilroy had tried to play only the ball, going nowhere near the man. Yet, strangely, the ref saw fit to book Gilroy, possibly influenced by the fusses in the press about late challenges.
More good play from Vieira created another good situation. He got on a ball in the left channel, making his way to the byline. However, with only Beesley to aim for at the near post, his cross went to the far/was wildly overhit, and the chance was gone. In fact, this is precisely why Vieira is playing in the Conference. He has the strength and pace, he has no composure.
The final good chance of the half went Burton’s way. Shaun Harrad went found down the left edge of the area and put a fast low cross into a good area. The Burton forwards missed it, but Cambridge midfielder Danny Brown couldn’t get out of the way, the ball deflecting off his standing leg but luckily for Cambridge going straight at Potter.
The half ended therefore on a more even note than it had begun, with Burton finally get to some sort of grips with Cambridge. The pessimist in me was thinking we should have been at least one ahead from the opening period. He wasn’t helped by a half-time interview with the watching Brian Little, who opinioned that in watching Burton recently, they often play better in the 2nd half than the 1st.

And so it proved, as Burton totally dominated the start of the 2nd period. Cambridge couldn’t keep the ball for any length of time and so were struggling to get out of their own half. This was partly due to a tactical change from Nigel Clough, asking his centre-backs to play deeper, not allowing Vieira and Beesley space to run into. Asked to play with their backs to goal and hold the ball up instead, both Cambridge forwards showed their limitations as they were not able to.
Another serious problem for Cambridge was becoming defending corners. Burton were winning most of the aerial balls, especially when Brayford came forward. This route nearly gave Burton the lead. A ball out to the right flank had been cut out by Courtney Pitt, a half-time sub for Stephen Reed (Pitt was to be involved in most of the important incidents). Pitt brought it down with his chest, which the ref looked like allowing, only for the linesman to wrongly flag that he had used his arm. The ref gave the free-kick, but I wonder whether he might have been fairly convinced his assistant had thrown him a wrong ‘un. For whatever reason, as the ball was crossed, he blew for a foul to Cambridge. Which was rather lucky, as Brayford got above Mark Albrighton to head the ball home. TV replays could pick up little that Brayford had done to foul Albrighton, hence my suspicion that the ref was rectifying an earlier error.
Burton kept the press up, and another cross from the right found Brayford again out jumping the taller Albrighton to head at goal from six yards, luckily for Cambridge directing it straight at Potter. Eventually, the pressure had to tell and the goal came via a mistake from Pitt. He looked to have a long cross from Harrad deep on the left to the right edge of the penalty area under control. However, it hit his hip, and then he stumbled, allowing Andy Corbett to nick in ahead of him. Pitt tried to nick the ball back off Corbett, missed it and caught the Burton players ankle instead, for a correctly giving penalty. In fact, Pitt may consider himself lucky to only have been booked for the foul, as arguably Corbett would have been shooting unopposed at goal without the foul. Clare took the penalty and never looked like missing, Potter going the wrong way.
Three minutes later, a ball deep to the left wing was challenged for by Clare and Michael Morrison. Morrison fouled Clare in the air. A free-kick alone wasn’t good enough for Clare, who reacted angrily on the ground pushing out and kicking out at Morrison. Apropos of nothing, Clare has been sent-off once this season, in he corresponding league game. The ref chose yellow for him this time, and also for Albrighton who had ran across to get unnecessarily involved. After the fuss, it remained a free-kick to Burton. Gilroy took it, and as the Cambridge defence concentrated on the know threats of Clare and Brayford, they left Stride unmarked on the far post; he headed powerfully home via the underside of the bar.
At this point, it looked like Burton could win the tie in the next five minutes, such was their dominance and Cambridge’s confusion. Jimmy Quinn tried to spark some life into his team with a double sub, Beesley and Gleeson being replaced by McEvilly and Ben Farrell, Burton also making a change soon after, brining on the more defensive Aaron Webster for the creative Gilroy in their midfield. A ‘hold-what-we-have’ change. Despite this sub, Burton were instantly very, very close to killing the tie off. An inswinging corner was missed by the Cambridge defenders, dropping inside the six yard box. Clare stabbed it goalwards, only for Potter’s trailing leg on the goalline to block the ball. In the ensuing scramble, Albrighton threw himself to block a shot by Brayford, before Cambridge smuggled the ball away.
As often happens, given the let-off, Cambridge then went on the attack. A high ball into the area found Vieira, who had been quiet for a period, with his back to goal. Vieira for once dealt with such a situation well, spinning and shooting, the ball deflecting off Stride, wrongfooting Poole, but going narrowly wide. From Pitt’s resulting corner and some head tennis, the ball broke to Vieira by the far post. His shot on the turn hit Burton defender Paul Hurst on the hand, but did so from point-blank range. The ref again gave nothing, only for his assistant to flag for a penalty. Frankly, a wrong decision, there was nothing Hurst could have done to get out of the way. McEvilly took the penalty down the middle, Poole diving conveniently out of the way.
Having been gifted a foothold by the officials, Cambridge were then found it was all their Christmases rolled into one. Pitt was on the ball by the left touchline, cut inside to the top of the area, and shot weakly at goal, falling over in the process. As Pitt was shooting, Corbett was diving across the front of him to try and block (see Gilroy, yellow card, first half). He made absolutely no contact with Pitt, but the referee [Mr S. Hooper (Wilts) for future reference of all lower league supporters] obviously has some kind of problem with seeing these incidents as he felt that Corbett had taken Pitt out. McEvilly stepped up to take the gift of a free-kick and whipped a great strike into the top left corner of the net.
With little time left, both sides had one more chance to win the match. A good ball into space on the right found Wolleaston, seemingly clean through. However Burton’s mudbath of the pitch held the ball up on bouncing meaning that instead of dropping ahead of Wolleaston he had to stop to collect it, allowing the defence to get back goalside of him and the chance had gone. At the other end, Burton won a free-kick and put the ball high into the Cambridge box. The ball was dropping for Potter, who was challenged by Harrad. Potter missed the ball, Clare poked it home, but the ref had spotted Harrad pulling Potter’s arms away from the ball in the challenge, a clear foul rightly given. To leave the final score at 2-2, which was an amazing and ill-deserved result for Cambridge.

[hissing fauna]

Peter Taylor fails again

agree with most of that, we were very lucky that the ref seemed to lose his memory of the rules of association fotball. We dominated the first half, then seemed to take most of the second half to get going again. Happened a lot this season, I don't what Jummy & Willy say at halftime, it's obviously sending the players to sleep.
Thought Clare should have been sent of for attacking Morrison, but then maybe Courtney should have been sent off for their penalty.

Anyway, quietly confident for Tuesday back at The Abbey

[Janik]

Peter Taylor fails again

I really thought he was going to send Clare off. It was hugely over aggresive. But on the replay, despite the flailing, he didn't actually connect all that much with Morrison, which might be what saved him. That and the inherrent randomness of last nights ref.

And if our penalty was a penalty (which it wasn't), then arguably Hurst had to go as well. I mean, handball on the goalline?
I'm glad they didn't send him off, though. The officiating was bad enough as it was, if they had followed through with the logic of their irrationality, that would have been really disorientating.

[Janik]

Peter Taylor fails again

Torquay choke. 3-1 up on aggregate with 20 minutes left, and they concede 4 to leave Exter going to Wembley for the important game. Ebbsfleet will now surely win the Trophy Final this saturday, simply being at Wembley ought to hurt Torquay too much.

Over the two legs, Exeter probably deserved it. They certainly were the better side in the first game, despite the 1-2 scoreline. In this one, it was much more even (i.e. niether side played well!). Torquay got what they deserved in one sense, Chris Zebroski took the ball to the corner flag to time waste as early as the 69th minute. Though if the linesman, who was only a yard away, had spotted Gill of Exeter quite deliberatly standing on Zebroski's ankle in the aftermath of him taking it to the corner flag, then a red card for violent conduct would have been justly given.

[Tony C]

Peter Taylor fails again

Was this game on Setanta, Janik, or did you go?

Any mention, either way, of Torquay striker Jody Banim? They paid Droylsden quite a substantial amount for him (relatively speaking) earlier in the sesaon but he has hardly figured in their plans. He wasn't even on the bench again today and apparently he's not injured.

[ian.64]

Peter Taylor fails again

Life in the old dog yet (from BBC Gossip Column):

Former Stevenage manager Peter Taylor is been lined up to take over as boss of Wycombe Wanderers. (Daily Mirror)

Is he? Is been?