As much as I am pleased with the way the season is shaping, I cannot help feeling sad that as fans we have missed out on some very memorable occasions this season, I can only imagine the scenes in the away ends of Sunderland, Charlton, Hull City and of course AFCW as we celebrated our wins, it would have been shall we say chaotic. There is also the possibility that the home attendances would have risen, plus of course the travelling MK Army would have swelled in numbers as more and more joined the party.
All I can say is that once we get back into the stadium, we have to make the most of it, celebrate like we have never celebrated before, sing louder, sing prouder, and of course get to some of those away grounds.
I did think this team was being lined up with next season in mind, but if this carries on, and there is nothing currently to suggest it won’t, can we really rule out us throwing our hat in the ring as the most unlikely playoff contenders in the final hours. Well there is a long way to go yet, but looking closer to home, if we don’t win on Saturday, the win at Hull will have all been in vain, we must put the Cobblers to the sword, they are fighting for their League 1 existence, it won’t be a forgone conclusion.
Looking into the future, I think we can safely say there are going to be a lot of teams sniffing round our players in the summer. All this work by Russ to construct a team playing the style of football the way they do could be gone in the flash of a pen, and we will be denied one great opportunity and have to start the whole process again. Those that make the decisions will no doubt come under a lot of scrutiny, personally I just hope they are brave enough to resist any bids for players, keep this lot together for another season and really have a crack at it.
THE SEASON SO FAR – The Cobblers currently sit in 21st spot with a record of PLAYED 27, WON 6, DRAWN 6, LOST 15, GF 20 & GA 43 with 25 POINTS.
Ipswich 0 Northampton 0
Accrington 0 Northampton 0
Blackpool 2 Northampton 0
Fleetwood 0 Northampton 0
Lincoln 2 Northampton 1
Oxford 4 Northampton 0
Crewe 2 Northampton 1
Rochdale 1 Northampton 1
Burton Albion 1 Northampton 3
Wigan 2 Northampton 3
Portsmouth 4 Northampton 0
Plymouth 2 Northampton 1
Bristol Rovers 2 Northampton 0
Shrewsbury 1 Northampton 2 That’s a record of PLAYED 13, WON 3, DRAWN 3, LOST 7, GF 12 & GA 23
FORM AT A GLANCE – WDLDLDLLD
HOME GROUND – Sixfields (7,798 Capacity)
CLUB NICKNAME – The Cobblers
THE MANAGER – I really should know better, being my usual smart arse I updated all of Keith Curle’s data and stats prior to this game last week, then those above decided it was time to go for Curle along with his trusted assistant Colin West. In charge currently is Jon Brady the Under 18’s coach, formerly the manager of Brackley Town where he won 7 trophies, a role he stepped down from in 2015 to join the Cobblers Youth set up. So he is not a novice to a managerial role overseeing just over 300 games at Brackley over 6 years that gave him a WIN RATIO of just over 43%. The Australian born winger has had plenty of league experience as well but mainly at a lower level playing for teams such as Brentford, Swansea City, Wycombe Wanderers, Mjolner (Norway), Hayes United, Rushden & Diamonds, Woking, Chester City, Stevenage, Hereford United, Cambridge United, Kidderminster Harriers, Kettering Town and Brackley Town.
THE MASCOT
Clarence the Dragon.
FORMER MANAGERS
Syd Puddefoot, Dave Bowen, Bill Dodgin Jnr, Pat Crerand, Clive Walker, Tony Barton, Graham Carr, John Barnwell, Kevin Wilson, Kevin Broadhurst, Colin Calderwood, Gary Johnson, John Gorman, Aidy Boothroyd, Chris Wilder, and the former incumbent Keith Curle who was the 44th Cobblers manager, although on research there are a few gaps, so it could possibly be more.
PLAYED FOR BOTH
Plenty to choose from, Ryan Amoo, George Baldock, Mathias Kouo-Doumbe, Nathan Abbey, Ben Harding, Lee Harper, Jonny Hayes, Richard Johnson, Carl Magnay, Nick McCoy, Alex Revell, Danny Swailes, Allan Smart, Adam Watts, Andy Fisher, Lee Nicholls, Ryan Watson, Clive Platt, Mark Randall, our former gaffer Paul Tisdale also used to play for them, also Don’s fans favourite Daniel “Marmite” Powell who played 271 games for us scoring 46 goals, and “MK’s Goal Machine” Dean Bowditch played 227 games scoring 48 goals.
SHOOTERS BOOTS
Sam Hoskins, Harry Smith, Danny Rose with 4 goals each.
CURRENT MATCH ODDS
MK Don 2/5 Draw 4/1 Northampton 6/1
FAMOUS FANS
Shaq O’Neil (NBA Star) and possibly Alan Carr (Chatty Man) son of former manager Graham Carr.
LAST TIME ROUND -Tuesday 12th January 2021
Northampton 0 MK Dons 2 (Football League Trophy)
Team – Nicholls, Lewington, Keogh, Poole, Fraser (Johnson), Walker, Surman (Gladwin), Sorenson, Mason (Jerome), Harvie (Davies), Sorinola.
Unused Subs – Fisher, Jallow, Smith.
Goals – Walker 27’, 83’ (Pen).
Ref – Chris Pollard
Attendance – Behind Closed Doors.
HEAD 2 HEAD
2020/21 – Northampton 0 MK Dons 2 (FLT) – Walker 2
2020/21 – Northampton 0 MK Dons 0 (LG1)
2020/21 – MK Dons 3 Northampton 1 (FLT) – Poole, Nombe, Sorinola.
2018/19 – Northampton 2 MK Dons 2 (LG2) – Gilbey, Aneke.
2018/19 – MK Dons 1 Northampton 0 (LG2) – Agard
2017/18 – Northampton 2 MK Dons 1 (LG1) – Gilbey
2017/18 – MK Dons 0 Northampton 0 (LG1)
2016/17 – MK Dons 5 Northampton 3 (LG1) – Agard, Aneke 2, Barnes, OG.
2016/17 – Northampton 3 MK Dons 2 (LG1) – Bowditch & Carruthers
2015/16 – MK Dons 3 Northampton 0 (FAC Rep) – Reeves, Murphy, Church.
2015/16 – Northampton 2 MK Dons 2 (FAC) – OG & Maynard
2013/14 – MK Dons 2 Northampton 0 (JPT) – Bamford & Alli
2013/14 – Northampton 1 MK Dons 2 (L Cup) – Reeves & Banton
2012/13 – Northampton 1 MK Dons 0 (JPT)
2009/10 – MK Dons 3 Northampton 1 (JPT) – Wilbraham & Reeves 2
2008/09 – Northampton 0 MK Dons 1 (LG1) – Wilbraham
2008/09 – MK Dons 1 Northampton 0 (LG1) – Wilbraham
