Hiatus!

Hello all...just a note to say that I am still here but just been on a hiatus at Glastonbury over the last week and am off to Morocco for a week starting tomorrow to relax after one of the greatest weeks of my life in Somerset! There should be a full report some time soon as we all pass the time and eagerly wait for August 7th...I won't mention any other football today!

One quick note was that during Biffy Clyro's set I heard "Fields of Green" being sung behind me and two members of the crowd had spotted my Cobblers shirt in the thousands! If you're reading this fellas, thanks for making that gig even better and more surreal than it already was!

See you next week...and could we please have some signings?!

Season in Review 2009/10...April/May

The curtain would fall on the 2009/10 season with the Cobblers narrowly missing out on the playoff dream. After battling back from the lower reaches of the league table at Christmas, Sammo couldn’t quite complete the turn around but it had still been a terrific effort.

Easter weekend saw us travel to Grimsby on Good Friday and host Torquay on Bank Holiday Monday and after a big win in Cleethorpes thanks to Liam Davis and Bayo Akinfenwa, Torquay held us to a goalless draw at Sixfields. The Cobblers were briefly in the playoffs after the Friday win but dropped out once again on the Monday with a clutch of massive games ahead,

The first of those was Notts County at home and we’d made a hugely positive start against the promotion favourites. Steve Guinan’s miss, though, when through one on one with County keeper Kasper Schmeichal was the turning point and the visitors won it with the first attack of the second half as Ben Davies scored the decisive goal.

We also came away from Rotherham empty handed on the following Tuesday and in a dramatic game Ryan Gilligan had the chance to put us in front but missed a penalty ten minutes before half time. It all turned around once more at the break as Craig Hinton was sent off for bringing down Adam Le Fondre and the Rotherham striker converted the spot kick.

Rochdale away wasn’t the ideal fixture after that double header and the downward turn continued with a third successive 1-0 loss. Chris O’Grady’s goal also meant that ‘Dale were promoted and began scenes of wild celebration at Spotland.

We needed something and a home win against Shrewsbury was just the ticket. Billy McKay struck on 52 minutes and Kevin Thornton sealed the victory late in the game with a rocket of a shot. That gave us slim hope back and despite being in tenth place were just a point off the playoffs.

All the play for then with a trip to Bradford and an emotional anniversary of the tragic fire at Valley Parade. The home side won through though with a double strike from Gareth Evans and there was far too much to do on the final day.

Bury were the final opposition of the season and also missed out on a playoff place due to other results. The Shakers took the lead to give their fans a moment of hope when Ryan Lowe scored in first half stoppage time but the season would end with a draw when Akinfenwa scored with what turned out to be the final touch of his Cobblers career, a deflected shot that couldn’t quite bury the disappointment of missing out on the top seven.

So another up and down season was over and we once again got one good half and one bad half of the campaign. But the silver lining was that the team were finally playing for each other again and compared to twelve months previous there was plenty to be happy with despite the fact that we will once again line up in League Two next season.

Season In Review 2009/10...March...

It was down to the nitty gritty in March as the Cobblers closed in on a playoff place but knew that there were games in hand for other sides around them that could still halt a dramatic playoff charge.

The first game of the month saw a terrific performance at Port Vale end with a 3-1 victory. Bayo stuck us in front after just a couple of minutes but that effort was cancelled out by Vale's Doug Loft on five. But in a remarkable end to the first half, Abdul Osman and Billy McKay scored within a minute of each other and despite a second half onslaught we took home another precious win.

A home game with Darlington was always going to be a must win and the Cobblers duly delivered the following weekend. John Johnson volleyed us into the lead and Abdul Osman doubled the advantage just before half time to see us cruise to victory against the league's bottom side.

The same scoreline a week later was more impressive against fellow playoff hopefuls Morecambe. But an early goal from Liam Davis had Town up and running once more with Ryan Gilligan finishing off a fine move involving Peter Gilbert and Akinfenwa to propel us into thinking that even a top three finish wasn't beyond us!

The winning streak was halted at Lincoln in the final game of March but at least we picked up a point at Sincil Bank, never a happy home for the Cobblers. Matthew Saunders looked like he'd won it for Chris Sutton's men but John Johnson scored a dramatic late equaliser to earn a point.

All the games in hand were caught up on by the end of the month and the Cobblers were in eighth place but just a point below the playoffs with a make or break April looming.

Curtis seals US move

Former Cobblers defender John Curtis has made a surprising move to America after his release from Sixfields. Curtis was one of the players not offered a new deal at the end of the season and will now be featuring for Gold Coast United in the A-League across the pond.

The defender was taken on by United manager Miron Bleiberg last month and impressed in a trial enough to earn a one year deal.

First and last games both away!

The fixtures are out and we can reveal that the Cobblers will begin the 2010/11 season with a trip to Torquay United on Saturday, August 7th.

Following the Carling Cup game at Sixfields against Brighton and Hove Albion on the first midweek of the season we are in home league action for the first time when Accrington Stanley visit on August 14th.

The first month continues at pace with games at Bury and at home to league new boys Wycombe Wanderers.

Boxing Day sees Town host Burton Albion whilst the first game of 2011 will be at Gresty Road as the Cobblers travel to Crewe.

The league season will end with potentially important games at home to Stevenage Borough and with a trip to Morecambe on the final day.

For a full fixture list, please visit www.ntfc.co.uk

Let the planning begin!!

Season in Review 2009/10...February...

As we await the announcement of the new seasons' fixtures this morning it's time to move on to February in our season review, another decent month in the recovery of the 2009/10 season.

John Johnson kicked things off in February by scoring a brilliantly taken solo goal at Dagenham and Redbridge to keep our fine run of away form going - that was the fourth victory on the road in succession.

Victories at Sixfields had been a little more difficult to find in 2010 but when Accrington paid a visit there was nothing holding the Cobblers back. Adebayo Akinfenwa opened the scoring before a second half double from Billy McKay made the game safe. Luke Guttridge got on the end of Dean Beckwith's free kick to put the icing on the cake of a terrific 4-0 win.

Then came the first major six pointer of the season at home to Aldershot. Kevin Thornton had just signed a deal until the end of the season and was keen to get into the action. He did just that but certainly not how we'd hoped - Thornton was sent off after ten minutes and Aldershot's Marvin Morgan scored from the resulting free kick! Kirk Hudson struck a second for the Shots with twenty minutes to go and Morgan put some gloss on the score with his second five minutes later to condemn the Cobblers to a first defeat of 2010.

It looked like we'd bounced straight back a week later at Crewe when Akinfenwa replied to Ashley Westwood's early goal for the hosts by turning the back back in our favour at 2-1. But in one of the key ten minute periods of the season, the Alex proceeded to lift themselves and turn the game again in their favour. Westwood equalised and Simon Walton volleyed the winner. Courtney Herbert thought he'd rescued a point late on with a cross shot that the Town players thought had crossed the line but nothing was given and it was another frustrating result.

A Tuesday night at Hereford wasn't too appealing after two straight defeats but the Cobblers recorded and important 2-0 win at Edgar Street, matching the result from the previous season's fixture. McKay and Akinfenwa were the scorers on this occasion and we were back on track.

The month ended with a home game against struggling Cheltenham Town and after Marley Watkins equalised Akinfenwa's goal with a little over ten minutes to go it looked like the points would be shared. But Seb Harris came off the bench to head home his first senior goal and celebrate wildly as we marched on once more.

With two and a bit months to go, the Cobblers had remarkably entered into the playoff race and were eighth at the end of February. Plenty of games in hand were still to be played but the race was well and truly on!

Home draw for Cobblers in Carling Cup

The Cobblers will face Brighton and Hove Albion in the first round of this seasons' Carling Cup. The draw was once again split into a northern and southern section and Town were drawn at home against the seeded Albion side.

Ties will take place on the first midweek of the season, week beginning August 9th.

Carling Cup First Round Draw in full:

Hartlepool United v Sheffield United
Leicester City v Macclesfield Town
Walsall v Tranmere Rovers
Carlisle United v Huddersfield Town
Stockport County v Preston North End
Barnsley v Rochdale
Morecambe v Coventry City
Doncaster Rovers v Accrington Stanley
Chesterfield v Middlesbrough
Peterborough United v Rotherham United
Bradford City v Nottingham Forest
Leeds United v Lincoln City
Sheffield Wednesday v Bury
Scunthorpe United v Oldham Athletic
Crewe Alexandra v Derby County
Exeter City v Ipswich Town
Southend United v Bristol City
Southampton v AFC Bournemouth
Brentford v Cheltenham Town
Queens Park Rangers v Port Vale
Torquay United v Reading
Norwich City v Gillingham
Stevenage v Portsmouth
Shrewsbury Town v Charlton Athletic
Cardiff City v Burton Albion
Northampton Town v Brighton & Hove Albion
Swansea City v Barnet
Plymouth Argyle v Notts County
Wycombe Wanderers v Millwall
Oxford United v Bristol Rovers
Milton Keynes Dons v Dagenham & Redbridge
Hereford United v Colchester United
Yeovil Town v Crystal Palace
Aldershot Town v Watford
Swindon Town v Leyton Orient

Signing Number One!

Huzzah! Finally a new signing for the Cobblers as Nathanial Wedderburn joined the club this afternoon. Wedderburn was on the books of Stoke City up until the end of last season but was released by the Potters after failing to break into their first team.

The midfielder has spent time on loan at Notts County and Hereford United over the past two seasons and was called up to the England Under 19s squad in October of last year.

Described as "big and strong" by Sammo, our new aquisition was a key factor in Hereford's 3-1 win at Sixfields during the last campaign and could be one to watch. So we're off and running on the new boys front so let's hope the positive news continues this week.

Season In Review 2009/10...January...

January would become the real turning point of the season in many ways. Suddenly, everything started to come together, we began to pick up points, moved up the table at a steady pace and as a result, Sammo earned his very first Manager of the Month award.

The first test of the new decade saw the Cobblers travel to Bournemouth and a high flying Cherries side who were fighting for a top three place. But we would stun the hosts by recording a more than impressive victory at Dean Court. Luke Guttridge scored our first goal of the decade, finishing off a fine move before Ryan Gilligan had us 2-0 up within the opening fifteen minutes. Bournemouth rallied a little in the second half but not enough and we had a superb start to 2010.

Another away game followed on the Wednesday night with a similar outcome at Macclesfield Town. Guttridge continued his fine form by giving us the lead and Adebayo Akinfenwa’s header from Guttridge’s cross sealed back to back wins.

A goalless draw at home with playoff chasing Chesterfield wasn’t the end of the world after those two results and the away wins kept on coming as the Cobblers came from behind at doomed Darlington to win 2-1 and to keep the momentum going. Tadhg Purcell gave Darlo a twentieth minute lead but Billy McKay and Ryan Gilligan scored to add more misery to the league’s bottom club.

Burton Albion were the visitors to Sixfields in the final game of the month Shaun Harrad seemed to be sending the Brewers to all three points until Andy Holt got on the end of a flick from Cobblers new boy Stephen O’Flynn to drive the ball home and earn another point and to round off an unbeaten January.

At the end of the month, the Cobblers were climbing back up the table and were in thirteenth place, just five points away from the top seven and a playoff place. Many teams had games in hand though with the January weather halting plenty of League Two games so it was beginning to look like a nervy wait throughout the final months of the season.

At last, though, we had something to fight for.

Holty makes a u-turn!

Andy Holt has gone back on his previous thoughts and signed for the Cobblers on a new two year deal. We all thought that we'd seen the end of the big man but he's made a U-turn and returned to Sixfields to sign on the dotted line this afternoon.

So no new signings still but at least a small success in a signing that we thought wasn't going to happen initially. Holty's clearly seen sense!

Fixtures Day looming large!

It's one of the most exciting days of the summer next Thursday with the release of the 2010/11 fixtures list. The Cobblers will discover the provisional list on that morning and we can then start planning ahead for the coming season as the World Cup continues to distract us!

A day before, Wednesday 16th June, will be the day in which we find out our Carling Cup First Round opponents so it's a big week next week. Stay logged on here for all the big dates.

Season in Review 2009/10...December...

December would be another month of transition for the Cobblers and we would end up being very happy to see the back of 2009. Things didn’t start nicely with Hereford taking all three points from Sixfields. Ryan Gilligan gave us a first minute lead but Darren Jones levelled on fifteen minutes. Second half goals from Mathieu Manset and Craig King killed the game and a dismal performance was matched by a scoreline that had many doubting where the season would go from there.

A topsy turvey game at Cheltenham followed with Barry Hayles and Bayo Akinfenwa both scoring twice in a 2-2 draw that did little to enhance a disappointing first half of the season for both teams.

Two penalties was the story a week later with Cobblers old boy Marc Richards netting on the stroke of half-time. But a red card for John McCombe gave the Cobblers a way back and Bayo scored from the resulting spot kick to give us another draw.

Boxing Day finally saw some relief as Billy McKay’s debated goal was adjudged to have crossed the line with just seconds to play as the Cobblers beat Dagenham and Redbridge to give our fans some Christmas cheer.

The re was a typical end to a bad year though at Barnet when we couldn’t get past ten men after Dean Sinclaire’s red card and the game ended goalless.

The turn of the year was certainly welcome and it would take a momentus effort in the first half of 2010 if we were to get anything back from a disjointed 2009.

Season In Review 2009/10...November...

Time to look back on November now and coming off the back of Sammo’s appointment the previous month all things were steadying up at Sixfields. The first game of the month, though, saw us struggle past non league Fleetwood Town in the first round of the F.A. Cup.

Sean Clancy was beginning to think that he would be the cup hero for the minnows when he equalised Luke Guttridge’s opener but the Cobblers midfielder struck again in the second half to see us scrape through to Round Two.

There was more cup action in midweek with the trip to MK Dons in the JPT. But this particular cup adventure would come to an end with a comfortable enough 3-1 win for the hosts. Dons were three goals to the good by half time and Steve Guinan’s consolation in the second half wasn’t enough.

A drab 0-0 draw with Grimsby at Sixfields was followed a week later by a much more exciting encounter. Crewe were the visitors and were two goals up by the break with John Johnson helping them out with an own goal. But the Cobblers rallied and Bayo Akinfenwa scored twice in ten second half minutes to earn a point in a game that either side could well have won.

A mid-week trip to Aldershot saw the Cobblers come home empty handed though as the Shots recovered from Guttridge’s early goal to win 2-1 thanks to an eightieth minute Scott Donnelly penalty and a stoppage time Marvin Morgan goal.

The month would end with more cup action back at home and for the second time this season Southampton knocked the Cobblers out of a major tournament. Papa Waigo and Adam Lallana had the Saints in control at half time before Dean Hammond struck a third. Hammonds’ own goal at the other end, though, gave us some hope before Ryan Gilligan’s spot kick nearly gave us some late drama but it was just not enough.

Cobblers in for Jeffers?!

The rumour doing the rounds at the moment is that Sammo is interested in bringing in former England International Francis Jeffers on a free transfer! The "fox in the box" was released by Sheffield Wednesday at the end of the season and is available, prompting the Town boss to show some interest in gaining his signature.

The striker was one of the top earners at Wednesday but is reportedly prepared to take a pay cut next season.

Interesting one developing there and we'll keep tabs on that as the next few weeks progress!