Posted by Rick Fitzgerald

Ya, I'm back...I won't say what happened but I will say that a hammer is a terrible tool to fix your computer with..

Aaaannnywaaaay.... Now that we are in the 2-3 week period for the nPower, I wanted to do a quick assessment of who is doing what and who isn't doing anything in what I like to call, "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."

First, The GOOD:

Correct me if I am wrong, but was Southampton NOT in League One last year?  I think someone forgot to tell them.  I know its only been three matches but wow, 3-0 with a GD of +5 is pretty impressive.  How about the solid 3-1 win over Leeds?  With tricky matches v Millwall and Leicester coming up, it'll be interesting to see if snipers Lallana and Connelly can keep up the scoring.

Yes, that is a short list of "good" but we are only three weeks in...And now...

The BAD:

Yikes Forest!  Where did you go?  The belief that with Stevie stepping in, the team would be even stronger than last year and finally bounce that playoff-loss monkey off their backs.  Now, hmmm...I dunno.  Keeping in mind it's early, two draws (counting Carling), a loss and a win are not exactly the way to start the campaign.  The draws will come back to haunt them and they do not want to get stuck in that rut like they did for part of the season last year.

Ok, close your eyes Birmingham and Coventry fans...Can I just say that that match might have been the slowest I have ever seen?  I'm not sure what happened but I think someone put sand in all the players' boots to keep them from making fast runs and getting some quality on net.  Maybe it was great tactician-ing from the managers or maybe these teams are just too evenly matched, but any first time ball watcher tuning into this would have most likley flipped the channel after a few minutes too see something more exciting...like the 2011 Snail-lympics...

The UGLY:

Where are you Hull?  No, really, where did you go?  Three matches, two losses and one win over another team that will appear here shorlty in "The UGLY."  As I have said before, I have a soft spot for this team and watching them get beat down by Leeds and Macclesfield (in spite of Hull's 20 shots near the net!) is kinda hard.  In these wee opening hours of the nPower, Hull find themselves closer to the bottom of the table than the top.  Upcoming, hi-flyers Crystal Palace and mid-tablers Reading are on the menu.  These will be some tough matches as Pearson tries to rally his troops and gain some confidence.  With their only win coming against Ipswich, it would be hard to believe that Hull own much confidence at the moment.  And as we all know, losing is infectious.



And speaking of Ipswich...Are they on track to become the nPower's new whipping boys?  I dunno, they surely did when Southampton came to town.  I know they are not on the bottom of the table (I'm looking at you Doncaster!) but this is another side that has dropped two and are starting to build some stats that are not very impressive.

Finally, jumping down to League Two...Did anyone tell Hereford that it is ok to score?  Holy hell!  Three matches down and a -8 GD are not the way you get promoted.  To say that they are firmly planted at the bottom of the table right now is an understatement.  Lucky for them, fifth place AFC Wimbledon is on deck.  Well, I guess that isn't so lucky.  Maybe they can arrange a desperation friendly with Ipswich to build some confidence?

That's all for this week.  Next blog I would like to throw in a small section I like to call, "Getting to Know Your nPower."  There are a lot of teams and one can easily get lost trying to figure out who is who.  I would like to feature a team a week to familiarize you with some of these clubs.  That way, maybe when you get your FIFA 12 on and start looking for lower league teams to play, you won't be picking as blindly as most.

Take care

Be safe


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