HORN wrote:


Comparatively 'excellent'. He scored 6 in 14 games for us and played on his own up front a fair bit.

I'll be there for the season opener against Kidderminster. As my last game was the 5-0 win over Darlington, I should probably quit while I'm ahead for 2012. But I love opening day with all its stupid hope.

We start the season with a trip to Dartford. Our Christmas double header sees us renew an old rivalry with Nuneaton, which should be fun.
Here are all the Conference fixtures, should anyone want to peruse them.

psychiatra granica wrote:


"Game 39?" They're playing in Thailand or Qatar?

Really wish Gainsborough had got promoted so our festive season double-header of humiliation could be inflicted by someone other than Grimsby.

Looking forward to Dartford, and Newport's new ground.

This is Lincoln City's new ultra group. This sickening madness has to stop.

The years have not been kind to the Lincoln Transit Elite.

Apparently we are the latest stop on Lee Hendrie's downward spiral into obscurity. There's some history between him and the club going back to when his dad was sacked as manager a few years back.

HORN wrote:


Jefferson Louis is not excellent. He transcends straightforward classification. He's capable of astonishing bits of skill that have absolutely no place at this level of football yet seems completely content to be mediocre - the flashes of genius are almost grudging concessions to get the crowd off his case so that he can get back to the serious business of being lethargic and uninterested for the rest of the game.

He's not the talented-but-lazy archetype looking for the easy-life with minimal effort because he moves clubs every three weeks. It's almost like he's motivated by a postmodern contempt for football. He's something of a hero of mine.

The guy is a serious footballing vagabond.

Wikipedia shows him playing for 25 different teams.

imp wrote:


Yep - I know what you mean.

Is the £50 thing still going? Let us know who wins.

Bizarre Löw Triangle wrote:


Great first post sir.

All I said was that Louis was excellent for us last season. He did the job, he scored 6 in 14 for us which was fairly impressive based on the shite we had playing up front before he joined (hi there, Kyle Perry).

Anyway, the new kit looks quite good.

It does, but the "sneak peek" on the OS fails to reveal what colour the shorts are. If they're not black, I'm not happy.

Cal Alamein wrote:


And, again according to Wikipedia, he's made over 30 appearances for only two of them. Impressive (and welcome, BLT).

So most of our good players and now our highly-respected CEO have left. I predict a long, difficult season after a couple of years of relative competence.

I guess provided Chester don't storm their way to another promotion it will be rendered bearable.

RobW wrote:


Kyle Perry was bad. Duffy isn't much better.

Imps have signed two more players. US born, Portuguese midfielder Geoffrey Gouveia and Daniel Gray, who was released by Chesterfield last season.

The mention of various atrocious centre-forwards has dovetailed nicely here. Perry's big break came courtesy of Port Vale for whom he strained every sinew but simply couldn't score. It was like watching a Great Dane puppy lolloping about - you couldn't help but love him for his earnest endeavour, despite the utter futility of his toils.

Duffy at Newport seemed to be the total opposite in terms of efforts, with marginally better skill.

Louis played a blinder at Newport last night, apparently.

Tom Miller has signed for us next season. Excellent news. Was impressed with his performances at centre back when he joined at the tail end of the season. Hopefully he'll be first choice and the other young lad we got from Trinity can impress.

Less than two weeks to go then, and I thought I might regale you with my predictions for the forthcoming Blue Square Premier season. I'm making these predictions on the assumption that there are no financial meltdowns this season, though it wouldn't be the Conference without at least one blow-up or fire sale. At the moment things look pretty stable, but there are some clubs in the league with one major investor who could lose their fortune or even throw their toys out of the pram and withdraw their funding. Likewise some clubs are still labouring under a burden of debt following relegation from the league.

Anyway, in the spirit of the recent Tour de France and the Olympic road racing currently taking place, here is my assessment of the field:

Yellow jersey:

1st: Luton Town
Paul Buckle turned out to be an inspired choice of manager last season. He turned them from no-hopers to play-off finalists in the last two months of the season and was only undone by the tactical nous of Gary Mills in the play-off final. In the absence of a money-no-object club like Crawley or Fleetwood, and with a full season ahead and previous experience of promotion at this level with Torquay, Buckle could finally be the man to take Luton back up to the Football League. He's pared down the squad, and added some quality with players such as Jon Shaw, Ronnie Henry and Garry Richards.