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SHRIMPERS
Blues boss Paul Sturrock told the Echo that 'he has rattled cages and changes will be made for Burton', and quite right too after the surrender at Crawley in 14 mad minutes of the second half, but what will he do?
Actually, probably not a lot. A Luggy bollocking should suffice, and anyway until the fluke that was the Crawley first goal a draw was definitely on the cards.
Morris will stay in goal, though errors are returning to his game, and, if Mark Phillips fails his fitness test, highly likely, I'm going to stick my neck out and place Bilel Mohsni in the team.
There are alternatives, Prosser centre-half, Gilbert in at left-back, but I would give the tempermental French Tunisian a chance to redeem himself, it's either that ot don't have him anywhere near Roots Hall until the feast of Ramadan is over.
Only Ryan Hall wide for me with Liam Dickinson, who is starting to get match fitter and I believe goals in open play will come, continuing to work with Neil Harris who has to come good soon, especially with Barry Corr out for God knows how many more weeks.
Jamel Johnson, a concern, far too early to say we have another Louie Soares on our hands, the former Aldershot winger having joined Hayes along with Mark Bentley no less, but still a headache for the canny Scot, expected a bit more spark even if a touch lacking in game time as well.
Let him spend some time on the bench where he could be joined by the returning son of Luggy Blair himself, a goal in the reserves in his first game back from injury on Wednesday, and Lee Sawyer, who should have made a case to start but I don't think Luggy is won over by the ex-Chelsea youth, still, must be pushing for a start soon enough, so might be wrong here but Luggy does like throwing a curve ball to the media.
Shrimpers to win 2-1.
Subs: Bentley, Gilbert, Sawyer, Johnson, Sturrock.
COME ON YOU BLUES!!!!
So where will the Shrimpers finish this season? VOTE HERE: www.southendunited-mad.co.uk
OPPOSITION
Burton Albion will have several players out with injury.
The central defensive pair of Tom Parkes (fractured ankle) and Nathan Stanton (knee) will be missed, both out until the new year at least, while strikers Greg Pearson (toe) and Adi Yussuf (hamstring) will not be travelling with the team.
Our original player-to-watch winger Cleveland Taylor is expected to start training next week so no game for him Saturday due to an ankle problem which can only be good news for the home side.
A tral test of the strength of Brewers boss Paul Peschisolido's squad.
http://aloadofcobblers2012.wordpress.com/ summed them up; '
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A bizarre season for the Brewers, with a spate of postponements seeing them play only 4 games from November to February leaving them constantly behind in the games played column and effectively ruining their season. For a long time it seemed they’d be potential relegation candidates as they struggled to keep up with two games a week but a late run steered them clear. Paul Peschisolido will be desperate to avoid another relegation battle and will be hoping for none of the shocking weather that hit their mid season fixtures last November and December. I can see some improvement coming but not enough to mount a serious challenge. |
Last Time Out
Burton Albion 1 Port Vale 1 (played on Tuesday, August 16th): Report; www.burtonalbionfc.co.uk; Beeb highlights; http://news.bbc.co.uk
Player to watch
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| Calvin Zola |
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Former Crewe striker Calvin Zola has caused us some damage in the past, and has 4 goals in 20 league games since joining the Brewers last January.
(Full player info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Zola)
| 15 | Macclesfield Town | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | +1 |
| 16 | Swindon Town | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | +1 |
| 17 | Burton Albion | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 18 | Aldershot Town | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | -1 |
| 19 | Cheltenham Town | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | -1 |
| At Southend Utd. (1) | At Burton Albion (1) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Results | Total | % | Results | Total | % | |
| Southend Utd. | 0 | 0.00 | Burton Albion | 1 | 100.00 | |
| Burton Albion | 0 | 0.00 | Southend Utd. | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Draws | 1 | 100.00 | Draws | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Goals | Total | Av.pg | Goals | Total | Av.pg | |
| Southend Utd. | 1 | 1.00 | Burton Albion | 3 | 3.00 | |
| Burton Albion | 1 | 1.00 | Southend Utd. | 1 | 1.00 | |
| On Neutral Ground (0) | Overall (2 matches) | |||||
| Results | Total | % | Results | Total | % | |
| Southend Utd. | 0 | 0.00 | Southend Utd. | 0 | 0.00 | |
| Burton Albion | 0 | 0.00 | Burton Albion | 1 | 50.00 | |
| Draws | 0 | 0.00 | Draws | 1 | 50.00 | |
| Goals | Total | Av.pg | Goals | Total | Av.pg | |
| Southend Utd. | 0 | 0.00 | Southend Utd. | 2 | 1.00 | |
| Burton Albion | 0 | 0.00 | Burton Albion | 4 | 2.00 | |
| Records | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highest Aggregate | 4 | Burton Albion | 3 - 1 | Southend Utd. | 2010/2011 |
| Highest Southend Utd. score: | 1 | Southend Utd. | 1 - 1 | Burton Albion | 2010/2011 |
| Highest Burton Albion score: | 3 | Burton Albion | 3 - 1 | Southend Utd. | 2010/2011 |
| Season | Date | Home | Score | Away | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010/2011 | Sat 30 Apr | Southend Utd. | 1 - 1 | Burton Albion | League Two |
| Sat 11 Dec | Burton Albion | 3 - 1 | Southend Utd. | League Two |
REF
The man in the middle is Paul Tierney from Wigan.
And he gives an interview here: http://refworld.com/referee/190/1
His assistants are Stephen Rubery and Oleksandr Saliy.
The fourth official is Ian Crouch.
BET
Southend (to win) - 10/11, Draw - 13/5, Burton (to win) - 17/5.
For all the footy odds go here: www.oddschecker.com/football/english/league-two/
FIXTURES
League Two
Saturday, August 20th: (all kick-offs 15.00); AFC Wimbledon v Hereford, Bradford v Dag & Red, Gillingham v Plymouth, Macclesfield v Bristol Rovers, Morecambe v Aldershot, Northampton v Cheltenham, Port Vale v Accrington Stanley, Rotherham v Barnet, Shrewsbury v Crewe, Southend v Burton Albion, Torquay v Crawley Town.
HISTORY
The town of Burton has had a chequered history of football clubs, partly due to the area's main sport traditionally in the past being rugby union. Many former Burton teams have struggled financially. Albion can claim lineage from Burton Swifts, Burton Town, Burton United, and Burton Wanderers, who were all defunct football clubs in the town.
Burton Albion (nicknamed "the Brewers", given that brewing is one of Burton's principal industries) were formed in 1950, and joined the Birmingham & District League.
Albion began life at the Lloyds Foundry ground on Wellington Street, but high attendances meant that the club quickly searched for a more suitable home. Eton Park was built off Derby Road and officially opened on 20 September 1958, coinciding with their promotion to the Southern League. From then until its demolition in 2005, the Brewers played all of their home games at Eton Park.
They have also had spells in the Northern Premier League (NPL), due to their location in the central Midlands. They entered the Conference in 2002 upon winning the NPL title.
Eton Park was dismantled to make way for housing, as the club had just completed a new stadium, at a cost of £7.2 million. It is situated directly opposite Eton Park and was named the Pirelli Stadium, situated as it was a short distance from Pirelli's factory in Burton. The stadium has an increased capacity, firstly set at 6,200, but then later raised to 6,912. The first match played there was a friendly between Burton Albion and Chester City on Saturday 16 July 2005.
One notable result at the ground was a 0-0 draw in the FA Cup third round against Manchester United on 8 January 2006. The result of the Third Round replay, lucratively played at Old Trafford, was a 5-0 win for Manchester United in front of over 11,000 Brewers fans. This constituted a record number of away fans seen at Old Trafford. After that FA Cup success, Burton competed in the upper reaches of the Conference.
The Brewers attained their highest ever league position to date in 2007-08, finishing in the end of season play-off places for the first time in their history, before losing in their play-off to Cambridge United. As of April 2009, they were top of the Conference National, setting a league record for the most consecutive wins in a row. This is despite losing the services of manager, Nigel Clough, to Derby County with Roy McFarland installed as caretaker manager until the end of the season.
When the team was 19 points clear at the top of the table, Conference sponsors Blue Square declared Burton the winners of the 2008/09 title in a PR stunt in which they paid out all bets. After that announcement in February, however, the club saw their lead reduced week by week, though they still secured promotion to the Football League, despite losing 2-1 away at Torquay United in the final game of the season when Cambridge United could only manage a goalless draw to Altrincham.
At the end of the season, it was decided that Roy McFarland would not stay on as the Burton manager in a permanent position. After a lengthy search, the club announced that Paul Peschisolido would become the club's new manager with Gary Rowett his assistant. Burton's first win in the Football League was a 5-2 win over Morecambe at the Pirelli Stadium.
The Brewers finished a respectable 13th in their first campaign in the Football League.
While last season after flirting with the bottom two a decent home record kept them four points clear in 19th.
(For a more comprehensive history of the club, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burton_Albion_F.C.)