No Saints 5-2 The Eagles

Revenge was gained last night as No Saints eased past The Eagles to make a mockery of the score line last time out.

Abib and Will were working well in tandem early on and our first three efforts on goal produced goals for them both. A barren spell of missed chances followed with the score kept down because of near misses and shoddy finishing. Phil got a fourth after The Eagles has hit back and Will grabbed the fifth and final of our goals, toasting Scott’s new born baby with the “baby cradle” celebration.

A late goal from The Eagles gave them some pride and kept our goal difference down but all in all it was a positive third win in a row and job done before next weeks’ showdown with second placed Unwelcome Inn. We currently sit in third place but still six points behind the top two with three games to go.

The Midweek Review...25/06/08...

As games are switched, transfers are talked of and players return to training, there’s a lot to ponder this week as we move to within six weeks of the new season.

The changing of games from a Saturday to a Friday night is an inevitable feature of the early fixture changes and one that seems unavoidable. We’re more than likely to get more switches once the Saints have their way but for now it’s just the three changes to the schedule.

Most annoying reason for change was the problem that England play on a Saturday at the same time as we were due to kick off against Hartlepool United at Sixfields. Fair enough in a circumstance where something lies on the England game but when it’s a home game against Borat’s countrymen Kazakhstan you start to wonder what the big deal is.

Yes, a lot of Cobblers fans are big followers of England but I fail to see that they would prefer to watch England steamroller the minnows of Kazakhstan on a Saturday afternoon then see Town play a home game. Personally, I certainly wouldn’t have minded missing this international game if our game stayed put, particularly now I will more than likely miss the Cobblers game because it’s on a Friday night and I know there’s plenty that would feel the same that come from a distance to home games.

The Hartlepool away game, along with Bristol Rovers away have also been changed to Fridays, though the trip to Bristol is now on Good Friday at 3pm.

As transfer talk hots up we look to be biding our time in the transfer window and not trying to rush things. Managers and players getting back holiday in the next week or so should see an increase in activity as we continue the search for someone to work up top with Bayo.

One player who could make a surprise return to Sixfields is Mark Little after Wolves announced that they would not be having a reserve team next season. Little was outstanding at the end of last season and seemed to be happy enough at the club so Stuart Gray may take loan action again with the new set up at Molineux. You wouldn’t want to call the race for starting places in central defence though if that came off with Little, Chris Doig, Mark Hughes and Gabor Gyepes vying for three spots.

Stuart Gray has hinted that the loan market is something he may well use again later on in pre-season and he’s right to wait for that with managers still undecided on their first team squads.

The players return to training this week and begin the intensive six week period before the season begins. Adebayo Akinfenwa, Gabor Gyepes and Giles Coke will all benefit from the pre-season programme and hopefully come August 9th we will have a squad that is ready to go and hungry for success.

Up The Cobblers!

Danny

NO SAINTS 3-1 KASHIMA ANTLERS

Two goals from Will and one from Abib saw off a plucky Antlers side in a closely fought contest as we made it two wins in a row for the first time in a very long time!

Kashima began the game with just four men and No Saints took advantage with Will scoring the opener early on.

Antlers went up to five men plus a sub as two latecomers joined the fray but Abib made it 2-0 before half-time.

Antlers hit back to halve the deficit but Will’s second of the night made it 3-1 and we held on for another good win.

The Midweek Review...18/06/08...

So the fixtures have been announced, the cup draw has been made and the new kit is revealed to contain a strip of gold down both sides. It’s all go at Sixfields and the excitement is building already.

The Carling Cup draw paired us with Millwall once again, only this time we will travel to the New Den. Last seasons’ Sixfields win over The Lions in the first round was followed by a dismal league outing in London and few will fancy the trip after last season’s late coach, early injuries and an awful performance in a 2-0 defeat.

But the game again gives us the chance to join some bigger clubs in Round Two and the efforts of the likes of Cardiff and Barnsley in cup competitions last season gives hope to anyone who fancies a shot at Premier League opposition. No-one will be happy with the draw but we have to get on with it and see what we can do.

Monday was a bigger day as the league fixtures were announced. I remember school days when we got access to PC’s in some classes and hoping that the I.T. lesson would fall at 10am on fixtures day so we could be among the first to know who we would be playing. The, the two or three Cobblers fans in the school would gather at lunch time to discuss how we could possibly go to Hull and Lincoln in one Easter weekend or overcome Macclesfield Town away on the opening day!

Those days are long gone though and the likes of Leeds United and Leicester City fill up our League One list, most intriguingly the trip to Elland Road falling on the final day of the season. If there’s anything at all riding on it there will be a manic rush for tickets and we would surely ask for more than last season’s allocation.

On top of that there’s the derbies and the return of Peterborough to the same division gives us something to really look forward to. It seems an age since Scotty’s single goal at London Road sent 3,500 terraced Cobblers into delirium en route to promotion from League Two in 2006 and we again visit them late in the season.

The first away game gives us another derby, and a new one at that, as we make the short trip to Milton Keynes. There will be fans that refuse to go on principle of giving money to the franchise but it will still be some atmosphere of over 3,000 away fans in the new Stadium: MK.

Throw in a double header against Leicester, a trip to Colchester without the shoddiness of Layer Road and the old friends of Hereford and Scunny into the mix and it should be a memorable season.

As for new blood, Abdul Osman looks like brining some more energy to a midfield that is already looking dangerous and we’re now just a couple of forwards and maybe a back up midfielder and defender away from being complete for 2008/09.

Jamie Ward is still being looked at and if Gray can capture the much sought after forward it will again show great intentions.

All eyes on the start of the season now though and once June is through and that Euro 2008 thing is over we can start to count down the days until Cheltenham at home. It’s a winnable first game but they will probably be thinking the same so there’ll be no room for complacency.

August 9th will come around soon enough and by then we will be hungry for football again, enough to make the Dons sit up and take notice of who the premier team in Northants still is.

Up The Cobblers!

Danny

Cobblers face final day trip to Leeds but start at Sixfields!

The Cobblers will open their 2008/09 season with a home game against Cheltenham Town as we begin the season at Sixfields once again while the first away game takes us to the MK Dons!

The Robins escaped relegation with a good end to the season and will be looking to pick up where they left off as the 2008/09 season gets under way. The first away game sees us take on MK Dons for the first time in history in what should be a packed out Stadium MK.

The games against Peterborough United take place on September 13th (home) and March 14th while we go to Southend United on Boxing Day. The first game of 2009 takes us to Brighton and the season will come to an end on May 2nd with a trip to Leeds United at Elland Road!

The full fixture list for 2008/09 can now be found on www.ntfc.co.uk

Fixtures set for release...

Every football league and Premier League fan will be on the edge of their seats in half an hour as the fixtures are released for the 2008/09 season…

The Cobblers will be looking to improve on a very good ninth place finish last time out and the further excitement comes in the form of local derbies against Leicester City, Peterborough United and MK Dons. We haven’t met The Posh since Scott McGleish’s single goal gave us a 1-0 win en route to promotion from League Two in 2006 while we will play against Milton Keynes for the first time.

Leicester were relegated from The Championship on the final day of the season and will be looking to bounce straight back up while Leeds United will start on zero points this time out and will be odds on favourites for the league title.

Fixtures are released at 10am BST this morning.

Millwall again!

The Cobblers will face Millwall once again in the First Round of the Carling Cup after the draw was made this morning.

Stuart Gray’s side beat the Londoners 2-0 in the opening round of last season’s competition and will come up against them once more this time around. But home advantage will be with Millwall this time around as the game takes place at the New Den, where the Cobblers were beaten 2-0 last season in the league.

Championship sides were included in the draw and relegated Derby County face League Two side Lincoln City. Meanwhile, league new boys Exeter City will face a home game with Southampton and Hereford United go to Crystal Palace.

Ties will be played week commencing August 11th.

Cobblers’ fans will find out who will be our Carling Cup First Round opponents when the draw is made this morning.

The draw will take place at 10am this morning and you can hear the full details here when the news is broken. We will once again see the draw split into Northern and Southern sections whilst we may also be handed the title as one of the seeds following a good league finish last season.

Stuart Gray will be hoping for a good tie with the Premier League sides that are not involved in European competition will join in Round Two along with all the Championship teams.

Gray seals Osman signing

Stuart Gray has snapped up former Gretna midfielder Abdul Osman on a free transfer after the players’ proposed move to Kilmarnock fell through.

The likes of Ipswich Town and Leeds United have been reported to be interested in Osman but Gray acted quickly after Kilmarnock failed to capture the signature of the London born midfielder.

The 21-Year-Old began his career at Maidenhead United before moving north to Gretna at the start of their first ever SPL season last summer. He made sixteen appearances in Scotland’s top division, scoring one goal and looks like another in Gray’s mould of signing young, hungry players.

Osman signed on a two year deal with The Cobblers following a brief spell on trial at the end of last season.

No Saints 4-3 Posh

No Saints got revenge on Posh last night in an epic performance that saw a fight to death result in a 4-3 success.

Posh were the ones who cost us the League Two championship a few seasons ago but in our first meeting since then we edged them out in a typically close manner. New boy Lee joined the squad following Dave’s injury at the weekend as he broke his wrist in a tournament but Abib and Jamie were missing.

No Saints got off to a flyer with a fine goal from Phil before the game went back and fourth for us to lead 2-1 and 3-2. A seventh of the season for Will helped us to a 4-2 lead but then Lee was handed a blue card, meaning that he had to sit out in the sin bin for five minutes. Five long, long minutes later and the four men had conceded a goal as Posh took advantage to make it 4-3.

But a gutsy last five minutes from No Saints gave us only our second win of the season and lifts us closer to Posh who are in third place. Next up is Kashima Antlers who got their first win of the season last night as we look to push on even further.

The Midweek Review...11/06/08...

As we await a big week, the shape of next season is set to be revealed. Friday sees the draw for the first round of the Carling Cup while Monday is the big day as the fixtures are announced…

Liam Davis signed on a free transfer this week after being released by Coventry City. In the same mould as Daniel Jones, Davis is said to have good potential and working with Gray can only make him stronger. We’ve seen the likes of Jones, Bradley Johnson, Ryan Gilligan and the recently released Brett Johnson all grow under Gray’s stewardship and Davis has a real chance.

On the flip side of that move inwards, there’s still been no more moves for our big players as the likes of Mark Bunn and Jason Crowe again get involved in all the transfer window rumours.

Jamie Ward is a target for Gray to bring in but this business all seems a bit of a saga at the moment with agents and managers going to war. We also must compete with the money bags Dons and recently promoted Swansea City to capture the front man and he could end up a little too far out of reach.

We’re reportedly looking at bringing in another four or five players before the big kick off on August 9th with the next signing likely to be an experienced midfielder. Alex Russell, who spent time with us on loan last season, could be one to go for following his release by Bristol City.

The Carling Cup draw takes place this Friday morning (10am) and will surely favour us with a place as one of the “seeds.” Last season we just missed out on the seedings but the ninth place finish should work in our favour this time around, meaning that we are drawn against a “lower” League One side or a League Two outfit.

Monday is the day when trips are planned, diaries are filled up and excitement builds as the Football League fixtures are released (10am). With local derbies against Boro, Dons and Leicester to come next season we can begin to plan what should be a memorable calendar. Of course, there’s also the trip to Leeds to look forward to again along with the visit to Colchester United’s new stadium so a lot to look forward to once the fixtures are released.

Hope everyone is enjoying Euro 2008 but on Monday we can all start to plan for the return of real football!

Up The Cobblers!

Danny

Gray targets Spireies' Ward

The Cobblers have targeted promising Chesterfield striker Jamie Ward as a potential summer signing but the 22-year-old is being targeted by more of Town’s League One rivals.

Ward hit twelve goals for The Spireites last season as they finished in ninth place in League Two and has attracted the attention of Stuart Gray as he looks for players that can work in a number of positions. Ward can play up front or wide on the right hand side and is known as a player that likes to get in behind defences and could be a perfect foil for Adebayo Akinfenwa who signed a new deal with the Cobblers last week.

But Gray will be in competition with some of his League One rivals for next season as MK Dons, Scunthorpe United and Colchester United are all reported to be interested in Ward.

Ward’s current manager Lee Richardson has hit out at his agent, Gino Culbertson, for trying to make stories up to leak to the media but Culbertson has hit back at those claims. He said,

“Jamie has made no secret that he wants to play at the highest level. Lee Richardson should know better than to make the comments he did because we’ve never been anything other than professional.”

“I’m furious he’s come out with this stuff. The manager himself has told the player about clubs being interested in him. If I was to make up stories about clubs being after Jamie I would have said Manchester United or Chelsea were after him. Any leaks have come from the club, not from us.”

Swansea City and Stockport County are also believed to be interested in signing Ward.

Season In Review 2008/09...May...

The Cobblers rounded off a successful campaign with one final home game as Tranmere came to Town.

We knew that a win would take us into the top ten in the final league standings as Tranmere were placed in ninth going into the game with Stuart Gray’s men down in eleventh.

The game got off to a flying start as Adebayo Akinfenwa fired us in front within just three minutes. Chris Greenacre squared things up just before the break to send the sides in level. But Poul Hubertz, in his final Cobblers appearance, came off the bench for a fairytale ending to his brief career in a claret shirt with the winning goal mid way through the second half.

And so the season was over and our final position of ninth would have been grabbed at with both hands by any Cobblers fan at the start of the season. To be in with a shout of the playoffs right up until late in the season shows what a great job Stuart Gray has done in his first full season as manager.

The record of Played 46, Won 17, Drew 15 and Lost 14 shows a big improvement on last seasons’ fourteenth place finish. Danny Jackman claimed a deserved Player Of The Season award whilst Mark Bunn and Jason Crowe were also as consistent as ever and will surely bring back the bidders during the summer.

A bright summer ahead then as Stuart Gray begins to shape his squad for 2008/09 and if the right players are brought in to supplement what is already a powerful squad we could be looking at sneaking up even higher come this time next year. Local derbies with Peterborough, Leicester and MK Dons also loom large and next week’s fixture announcement can’t come soon enough!

No Saints 1-5 Saints and Sinners

No Saints were beaten for the third game in a row last night but the new tactics are beginning to show an improvement. After a dismal show in an 8-3 defeat to The Eagles, we narrowly missed out last week by the odd goal in seven with a 4-3 defeat to league leaders The Unwelcome Inn.

Saints and Sinners went into last night off the back of a 21-1 win over The Eagles last week but we kept them down to two goals by the break. We couldn’t get much going at the other end though and despite some heroics from new keeper Scott and Phil’s solitary goal, we went down 5-1.

This Sunday sees No Saints enter a tournament for the first time so it will be good for fitness and for the team spirit if anything. We will play three group games and move on in the competition if we finish in the top two places.

Euro 2008 Sweepstakes...

As Euro 2008 begins on Saturday offices around the country have began their sweepstake competitions to make it more interesting with England not involved. Having just picked my team, I am not too optimistic. I will be rooting for Turkey after drawing them at random today.

I hold no hopes out that my £2 stake will return the desired £30 winnings but you never know…no-one expected Greece to take home the glory last time!

Come on you Turks!

We'll be doing our own sweepstake, hosted by Jamie later on this week so hopefully I will get a better deal in that!

The Midweek Review...04/06/08...

I was away on holiday last week so the Midweek Review was missing but it returns this week as optimism at Sixfields continues to grow and grow. Is it wrong how it feels like something has to go wrong sometime soon…?

Bayo signs!

The signing of Adebayo Akinfenwa is yet another step on the ever continuing ladder of good news coming from Sixfields in the past few weeks. Bayo had hinted that he may return to London to join a confident Martin Ling but Stuart Gray got his man in the end. Loyalty was surely high on the list of reasons for Bayo to stay after Gray plucked him out of the wilderness in January.

A fully fit Bayo will go a long way to making sure we fire on all cylinders from the word go in August. Seven goals in fifteen for a less than 100% striker is impressive and if he can gain fitness by the start of the campaign we could be looking at a very good investment, especially with it being a free transfer.

A new front man is expected to check in some time before the end of the week as Gray returns from his holidays and the thoughts are that it will be a pacy striker that can play off Akinfenwa. Luke Rodgers was talked about but his upcoming hernia operation could put Gray off, particularly with Bayo himself having to have work done in the summer.

The Contenders

Colin Larkin threw his hat into the ring last week after spending most of last season on the sub’s bench or on the wing. His preferred role as a striker means he is an option but we could do with at least a couple more out and out forwards to keep others on their toes. Ian Henderson had a stop-start season of scoring plenty in the reserves but never showing that touch in the first team but he could also stake a claim.

Money, Money, Money

In other news, the financial situation looks a lot better after David Cardoza revealed that we had reduced the debts by £500,000. The council seem a lot more willing to talk these days and with a football club that is improving all the time we must be sending all the right messages for that stadium expansion.

Against The Odds

So everything is still going very well indeed and no Cobblers fan can wait until August 9th when it all kicks off again. We will find out on Monday week who we will play first and the fixture list will certainly be a lot more exciting this time around when it appears on ntfc.co.uk on the 16th of this month.

The League One odds put both Peterborough and MK Dons ahead of us in the market to win the league outright next season. Spending power could prove to be a massive help to both of them but we’re more then happy to not make as much noise nationally and just get the job done. How enticing could a double header against The Posh be in the playoffs?!

Our odds stand at 25/1, even as far back as 33/1 with some bookies so we may well surprise a few people when we report back in August. And maybe even by this time next week Bayo will have a new striking partner in place!

Up The Cobblers!

Danny

Season In Review 2007/08...April...

April saw The Cobblers begin an unbeaten run that would last until the end of the season but two wins and two draws were not good enough to climb into the playoff places.

April kicked off with a local derby against Luton Town and The Cobblers put another nail in The Hatters' relegation coffin with a 2-1 victory. Poul Hubertz opened the scoring with a penalty before youngster Alex Dyer hit a second just before half time. Luton got a late consolation through former Cobblers forward Sam Parkin but it was too late to salvage anything.

Before the game at Southend we learned that Leeds had picked up a victory at Carlisle that all but ended any realistic hopes we had of reaching the top six but a creditable point at Roots Hall followed. Colin Larkin headed home from a corner to give us a half time lead but Southend hit back in the second half through Lee Barnard.

As we looked to cement a place in the top ten, Oldham came to town and fell to a 2-0 defeat thanks to a second half double from Giles Coke and Ryan Gilligan.

The final game of the month saw us visit already relegated Port Vale. After taking a 2-0 lead through Gilligan and Andy Holt, Vale hit back. First, Marc Richards slammed home to make it 2-1 and then Danny Glover rescued a point as Vale ended their home campiagn with something to cheer.

Bayo signs new Cobblers deal

Adebayo Akinfenwa has handed Stuart Gray a major boost by signing a new one year deal with the club.

Akinfenwa, who hit seven goals in thirteen games after joining the club in January, puts pen to paper on a deal that would see the contract increased should certain targets be met.

The big front man joins Ryan Gilligan and Andy Holt to sign new deals with the club in recent weeks and now Stuart Gray will know exactly what he has to work with during the summer with all contracts now sorted out in good time.

The former Swansea forward was a popular figure at the end of last season and the signing will certainly pump more optimism into Cobblers fans ahead of the 2008/09 campaign.

Season In Review 2007/08...March...

March would prove to be the month that looked to make or break our ever increasing playoff hopes. But after a disappointing Easter weekend it was all but over as the ten men of Forest and then the eleven of Carlisle put us to the sword.

The month began with a home game against Crewe and the League One strugglers came to Sixfields to frustrate us, going away with a 0-0 draw and ending hopes of our third straight league win.

The following weekend we travelled to another side in the playoff hunt, Walsall. The Saddlers had already beaten us in league and cup during the season but this time Adebayo Akinfenwa hit a double to give us an impressive 2-0 win over a side that were, at the time, in fifth place.
A point from Bristol Rovers in midweek was salvaged by a Poul Hubertz striker in the second half and that would set up an astonishing home game with league leaders Swansea City at Sixfields.

The Swans travelled in good numbers but in an incredible period in the first half we scored three goals in nine minutes through Hubertz, an own goal and Hubertz again from the spot. Jason Scotland hit back for the visitors but Danny Jackman curled home a fourth just after the break for the Cobblers. Scotland added a late consolation but Town fans began to dream as the result of the season set up an Easter double header with Nottingham Forest and Carlisle United.

Forest were first up and this was the game that really could be seen as the turning point. Brett Ormerod had Colin Calderwood's side in front but the visitors were down to ten men on 21 minutes when James Perch was shown the red card. Hubertz brought us level by the break with an overhead kick but Forest used the wind advantage in the second half to lead again through a highly controversial Nathan Tyson penalty. Try as we might to get back into it we couldn't buy a goal and it was disappointment as Calderwood's men began their charge towards the top two.

Next up was an away day at high flying Carlisle United and we were again well beaten away from home at one of the better sides in the league. Second half strikes from Danny Livesey and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson won the game for the Cumbrians.

March ended with a 1-1 draw at Cheltenham Town as Steven Gillespie's opener was cancelled out by a Giles Coke volley but results elsewhere were beginning to make the playoff dreams fade away as April began.