By theimps.tk
July 14 2009

The first of our pre-season predictions sees us look at the team that we think will finish bottom. Carl Rice once famously asked who they were on a milk advert and Lincoln regularly get hefty poins against them, but just who have I predicted to make a trip to the Conference?

Now I usually hate predicting 24^th place. It's the most depressing moment of the pre-season in terms of doing the site. It says to fans everywhere that I believe that this team are a bit rubbish, and given that I have always successfully predicted one of the two sides going down, sides who I predict to finish 24^th should beware.

So I'll give you a few clues about the team that I have predicted to finish bottom of the pile. Carl Rice didn't know who they were, they came close a few times last season to getting crowds less than 1,000 and they have yet to beat the Imps since the club was created in umpteen years ago, that's right, it's Accrington Stanley.

Accrington are a strange club, they are consistently one of the worst sides in the division and yet never really seem to be in any danger of relegation. Infact, you'd have to go back to 1998-99 to find the last season where they finished lower than the season before. Since then they finished 1^st in the Northern Premier Division One, 9^th, 6^th and then 1^st in the Northern Premier League, followed by two consecutive tenth placed finishes in the Conference before winning it the next year. Since entering the League they have finished 20^th, 17^th and 16^th.

Since coming into the League, Stanley have been realistically been punching way above their weight and a return to the non-League seems to be coming sooner rather than later. In the words of many fans who have visited the ground, it's a non-League ground, no-one League club, non-league players and no-one League fans.

They may have survived because of a half-decent run towards the end of the season when, after losing to Macclesfield, they went onto defeat Macclesfield, Port Vale, Exeter and Darlington, as well as draws at Notts County and Rotherham before Lincoln City came and destroyed it all for the Stanley. However, if there was one team you'd fancy scoring against last season then it was Accrington. Wolverhampton, Darlington, Rochdale (twice), Bradford, Lincoln, Rotherham, Aldershot and Brentford all stuck three or more goals in the Accrington net.

Crowds are consistently getting lower and lower at the Fraser Eagle Stadium with crowds of just 1,033, 1,100 and 1,144, amongst other extremely low attendances, watched them last year. It seemed just a small amount of time before they would really start struggling and that came about last year as they were forced to loan out Paul Mullin (right), a Stanley legend, to Bradford City. He became the first Accrington Stanley player to pass the 400 appearances mark for the club, not bad for someone they they signed for £15,000 from Radcliffe Borough. If you're getting rid of your best player on loan to a club in the same division then you know something's not right. The Chairman also announced he would be stepping down on March 26^th of this year.

So are there any reasons to actually be optimistic for Accrington Stanley's future? Well they were the best side I saw at Sincil Bank last season, ironic considering we beat them 5-1. They were 1-0 up already, had two goals cleared off of the line and another goal disallowed, then again, it does say it all about Accrington's general tactics that they then conceded five goals in twenty-two minutes, one of the fastest ever scoring runs by a single team in England.

Let's not also forget that I predicted Accrington to finish 23^rd last season, but they did have quite a lot of teams having points deductions, as well as crap teams such as Chester City finally going down.

Does Carl Rice see relegation coming

Discussion started by theimps.tk (IP Logged), 14/07/2009 01:27

theimps.tk
14/07/2009 01:27

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oldimpsfan
14/07/2009 01:49

This is my 54th season of supporting Lincoln. I have no idea who is going to do what but as long as we avoid relegation I will be happy.

Other than that not terribly interested until the fixtures kick off.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:07:14:01:50:56 by oldimpsfan.

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I Blame Paul Mayo
14/07/2009 08:28

i still think they will escape it somehow, but then again would not be suprised at all if they went down.

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