GAME 1 PNE V FIORENTINA

 PNE 2 Lindsay Keane Fiorentina 1 Mandragora

New hope, new ways of annoying me, roadworks Garstang Road, tradition, new ticketing system, first ticket, didn't work, replacement ticket did though however the gate shut atbrapid knots so couldn't get in, was then descanned out before finally managing to get in, next misery no John Smith's just the fizzy more expensive forign carp. Glass of wine then.
Pitch looked in good nick and we have new LED floodlights

By the time the game kicked off the sun was shining down a rarity this year. The visitors sporting the finest shirt in footbvall history won the toss and had the temerity to have us playing towards the Town End in the first half.

The first half was entertaining at times we played some decent stuff but they were rapid on the break. Of the two new players Greenwood shone plenty of work rate on and off the ball. Nearly conceded in the first 30 seconds wayward pass by Mads FJ shot from the edge of the box tipped round by Woodman, plenty of end stuff the number 99 looked a lively forward ran at pace against our ever so speedy defence, did well to survive some early forays before taking the lead from a corner, keeper thought he had been fould but he seemed to kick the ball against Lindsay and in it went, didn't lead for long, fast break men in hand strategic foul by Lindsay edge of the box, Mandragora the Italian skipper blasted home as the edge of the defensive wall collapsed.

Re took the lead good play down the left by Brady, Mads FJ and Thor led to Keane scoring at the second attempt, should have been all square at the break good move down our right hand side but 65 blasted over the bar from close range.

In fairness they dominated the second period and employed a shoot to miss policy, Woodman great save to deny one Italian effort, we then had our best period of play but when the move broke down away scampered Firoentina neat interchange of passing no 99 about to pull the trigger great tackle by Brady or so I thought, Mr Langford gives a penalty.The Number 99 sends it to Woodman's left tips it onto the post to safety. They hit the bar and Moise Kean missed two chances one he intercepted a shocking backpass by Greenwood took the ball passed Woodman and from a tight angle and rolls thye ball narrowly passed the far post, near the end when through tried to lob Woodman sent his effort just too high.
Useful workout but other teams will punish us if we let them create so many chances.

DODO No 2

PNE line-up: Woodman; Whatmough (Storey, 72), Lindsay, Hughes; Potts, Whiteman, Thórdarson (Ledson, 72), Brady (Best, 84); Greenwood (T.Mawene, 90+1), Frøkjær (Holmes, 64); Keane (Riis, 63). Unused subs: Cornell, Pradic, N.Mawene, Pasiek.

Attendance: 5,516 (70 Fiorentina fans).



Stood next to a Fiorentina fan whilst changing my ticket finest Glasweigian accent ever no doubt sells ice cream

Fantastic view

Ryan Lowe felt his side were impressive with and without the ball in the 2-1 victory over Fiorentina.

North End came out on top against the Serie A outfit thanks to first-half goals from Liam Lindsay and Will Keane.

As a side who have made it to back-to-back UEFA Conference League finals, the Italian visitors were always going to be a stern test, but the gaffer was pleased with his team’s performance.

Ryan said: “It was a great exercise. Like I’ve said all along in pre-season – yeah, it’s nice when you win, especially at home – but pre-season’s all about getting minutes in the legs as we know. Getting the volume in and working on some patterns of play.

“The lads were excellent and did that, the starters and the finishers. We’re really pleased, scored two good goals. The goals came from stuff that we’ve been working on.

“I’ve just said to the lads you’ve got your goals from that, so if you continue to do that good stuff then that’s where you’ll get some success, so fair play.”

Fiorentina did have their chances on the day, with Freddie Woodman coming to North End’s rescue on a few occasions – notably in the second half when he saved Christian Kouame’s penalty.

Coming up against a side who were expected to see more of the ball was something the manager wanted, so he could see his side work on out-of-possession tactics, however PNE worked the ball well themselves at Deepdale.


Ryan said: “They’re a team that have finished in the final of a European competition the past two years on the bounce. They’ve got some good players, I know it’s probably a mixture a little bit.

“We had to see the game out towards the back end and we spoke to the lads then about what that will look like next time. If we can get pressure on the ball, do we have a low block and work on stuff like that. We can always get better.

“We had large parts of the ball as well and when we had it we looked a threat with it so we’ll keep working on it for the next ten days and hopefully bring it to fruition on the Friday night [against Sheffield United].”

Another positive to take was that everyone involved seemed to get through unscathed, although Ali McCann and Milutin Osmajić were again absent from the start.

Ryan explained: “Milly will hopefully be involved on Tuesday. Ali’s had a little bit of a calf strain so we’ll wrap him up in cotton wool a little bit.

“He’ll hopefully be on the grass next week. If he’s around for the first game, we don’t know yet. We’ll have to keep monitoring him, but he’s getting better day by day.

“He’s doing a lot of stuff off the grass. Milly will train fully Monday, he had a nerve in his back but we’ll hopefully get him some minutes on Tuesday.”

Italian Job

 FIORENTINA

DEEPDALE 15.00 20/7/2024

https://www.acffiorentina.com/en

MANAGER

Raffaele Palladino (Italian pronunciation: [raffaˈɛːle pallaˈdiːno]; born 17 April 1984) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is head coach of Serie A club Fiorentina.

Monza
Having coached Monza's youth sector since 2019,[16] Palladino was appointed head coach of their Primavera (under-19) team on 9 July 2021.[17] After having reached the semi-finals of the 2021–22 Campionato Primavera 2 (under-19) promotion play-offs, Monza renewed Palladino's contract for a further year in July 2022.[18]

On 13 September 2022, Palladino was promoted head coach of Monza's first team following the dismissal of Giovanni Stroppa,[16] with club CEO Adriano Galliani stating his appointment to be on a permanent basis.[19] On his debut, Palladino guided Monza to their first ever top flight win, defeating Serie A powerhouse Juventus 1–0.[20] He was nominated Serie A Coach of the Month for April 2023.[21] After having led Monza to avoid relegation six matchdays in advance, on 2 June 2023, he renewed with Monza for a further season.[22]

Fiorentina
On 4 June 2024, Palladino was appointed head coach of Serie A side Fiorentina on a two-year contract.[23]





CLASS FOOTBALL SHIRT



MACS VIEW

Today we haave just lost a behind closed doors friendly to Tranmere, which should put us in good stead for a clash with Italian giants Firoentina who will be playing three games on their tour as well as us they play Bolton on Friday night and finish up at Hull
Looking forward to this and the first chorus of Lowe Out this season.
Apparently another two signings are in the pipeline, let's hope it's not sealed off before the start of the season, my season begins with this Match 1

Goals and a win

 A defeat to a Conference North club in Southport not expected although we did score, but all is well after a 3-0 win against Bamber Bridge who are a league below Southport.

Plenty of calls for the sacking of Lowe after Tuesday nights result still doesn't inspire confirence however some of the younger players are perhaps starting to make their mark

Meanwhile the summer of sport continues the Open has started at Royal Troon, 15 years since I last picked up a club rarely if ever watch it these days.

England going down the DEI route to picking their new manager seriously ditch the woke shite

Coming home

 It never was, we had some talented players but they were managed by someone who had on his CV a sacking from Middlesbrough.

Fair play to them getting to the final more by luck than being outstanding but let's face it Spain were far superior winning all seven games they played.

Next tournament is in that hot bed of football the United States with Mexico co hosts, only a matter of time until North Korea hosts it, wonder if Pak Do Ik who scored the winner against the Italians in 1966 is still alive.

We shall never know

Double dose of non league

 SOUTHPORT

Haig Avenue 16/7/2024 19.45 hrs

Bamber Bridge
17/7/2024 19.00 hrs

SOUTHPORT


BAMBER BRIDGE

SOUTHPORT

https://southportfc.net/

Southport Football Club is an association football club based in Southport, Merseyside.[1] The club compete in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. They play their home matches at Haig Avenue, which has a capacity of 6,008. They are known by their nickname "the Sandgrounders".

Founded in 1888 as Southport Central, the club were members of regional leagues such as the Lancashire League, the Lancashire Combination and The Central League for many years until 1921 when they were invited to become a founding member of the newly formed Football League Third Division North. Southport held membership of The Football League from 1921 to 1978. The club's main honour whilst in the Football League was winning the 1972–73 Football League Fourth Division championship. They failed to gain re-election in 1978 and since then have been members of the Northern Premier League (1978 to 1993), the Football Conference (1993 to 2003) and then the Northern Premier League Premier Division (2003–04). Southport were transferred to the new National League North in 2004 and, since then, have played in either that division (tier 6) or the tier 5 National League. In 2017, Southport were relegated to their current division, the National League North.

Southport's best performance in the FA Cup came in the 1930–31 tournament when they reached the quarter-finals (last eight) but were then beaten 9–1 by Everton at Goodison Park. Southport had another good FA Cup run in 1965–66 when they reached the fifth round (last sixteen) and were beaten 2–0 by Hull City at Boothferry Park. Southport took part in the Football League Cup from 1960 to 1978 but never progressed beyond the first two rounds. The team reached the final of the FA Trophy in 1997–98, played at the old Wembley Stadium, but lost 1–0 to Cheltenham Town.

MANAGER

JIM BENTLEY



BAMBER BRIDGE

https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/bamberbridge/

Bamber Bridge Football Club is a football club based in Bamber Bridge, near Preston, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the Northern Premier League Premier Division and play at the Sir Tom Finney Stadium. The club is fully owned by a community organisation that represents supporters of the club.[3]

JAIME MILLIGAN



MACS VIEW

Double non league days all squad who are fit will get a run out, last played Southport when Westley was manager usually play Brig every season
Great for fitness and hopefully finding the back of the net

NO GOALS

PNE 0 LINCOLN 1 

Zero goals as per usual, used 23 players and it sounds as it's the same crap as last year

Another newbie

Just a couple of wing backs required mind you we needed them last season as well

 Preston North End are delighted to announce Stefán Teitur Thórdarson has joined the club on a three-year deal, subject to international clearance.

The Iceland international has made the move from Danish top flight side Silkeborg IF for an undisclosed fee, and the club hold the option to extend the deal by a further year.

Standing at 6ft 2in, the versatile midfielder has earned 20 caps for his country, with one of those being an appearance at Wembley against England in June earlier this year.

Stefán said: “I feel delighted. I feel very proud for myself and my family to be joining such a big club. It’s really a dream for me.

“The Championship is one of the leagues I’ve had my eye on. To play for a club of Preston’s stature is really a privilege.

“I’m excited to join up with the team out in Spain and meet the group, meet the staff and start to get settled in.”

Stefán, 25, started his career in his homeland before making the move to Denmark in 2020.

He’s since gone on to make more than 100 appearances for Silkeborg, and during the 2023/24 season he netted 11 goals and lifted the Danish Cup.

Stefán also has experience playing on the European stage, having featured in qualifiers for the UEFA Europa League and Conference League.

Manager Ryan Lowe said: “Stefán came to our attention through our scouting department and we’ve watched him closely ever since.

“I spoke to him and made a presentation to him, showing where he can fit into our system and he was very excited about it.

“We knew there were a couple of other Championship clubs in for him too so it’s brilliant that he’s chosen us, and a lot of credit has to go to the club for that.

“I think we’ve gone above and beyond really. Peter Ridsdale has worked ever so hard to get a deal done and obviously a big thanks must go to Craig Hemmings for allowing us to spend that money.

“As people have already seen from clips on social media, Stefán’s powerful, strong and physical, and he’ll bring a different dimension to our team.”

They are in Spain

 Another new signing imminent whilst his new team mates are in Spain

LINCOLN CITY
12/7/2024 10.00am
PINATAR ARENA

WHO ARE THEY

https://www.weareimps.com/

@LincolnCity_FC



Manager

Michael Skubala (born 31 October 1982) is an English football coach who is the head coach for EFL League One club Lincoln City.

Leeds United
In July 2022, he was appointed head coach of Leeds United U21's.[5]

In February 2023, Skubala was appointed interim head coach of English Premier League side Leeds United, alongside coaches Paco Gallardo and Chris Armas, after the sacking of head coach Jesse Marsch.[6][7][8] After Leeds drew their first game away under Skubala 2–2 at Manchester United, it was announced that he would remain in charge for a second match four days later: the home tie against Manchester United.[9] The club also announced that Skubala would remain in the role while the search for a permanent manager continued,[10] and Skubala said he did not see the temporary role as an 'opportunity' for him.[11] After the appointment of Javi Gracia as head coach, Skubala was promoted to first-team coach at Leeds[12]

Lincoln City
On 13 November 2023, he was appointed the head coach of League One club Lincoln City.[13] His first game ended in a 1–0 defeat to Stevenage.[14] His first Lincoln City win came the next game, beating Leyton Orient 1–0.[15] He was nominated for the February 2024 Manager of the Month, picking up 16 points from 6 unbeaten games.[16] His unbeaten run would continue into March, taking 13 points from the next 5 games, including a 5–1, 6–0 and 5–0 win, getting him another manager of the month nomination.[17] Lincoln City missed out on a play-off place following a 2–0 defeat to League One champions Portsmouth on the final day of the season.[18]

SQUAD



Bayliss was oonce of this parish, criminally underuesed by the then management also got a nasty injury which put him out for months

VENUE



PREVIOUS



Remember the 5-0 we were excellent that night

THE VIEW OF MAC

But for a missed penalty on the last day City would probably have ended up in the play offs also they were flying before the last International break scoring goals a plenty they never quite recovered but suspect they will go well this season

ZERO GOALS

SIGNING ALERT

 We have signed SAM GREENWOOD from Dirty Leeds on loan with a view to sign pemanently hopefully we will get the best out of him although with Fantastic as manager ythat might be difficult.

In other sporting news on the Time trial in the Tour De France, rider going through his own village being celebrated by his family and friends stops bike kisses his wife rides on afterwards. The UCI fine him 200 euro bunch of killjoys

Election Day

 Foregone conclusion who will win and how bad the Tory defeat will be.

Walked the 250 yards or so to the Polling Station, never had any doubt before when voting, this time unsure, then you think how badly the political elite are out of touch with the voters. Since 2016 referendum they have dismissed the voter as irrelevance.

Wavered then thought stuck to my guns voted Reform

Zero goals

 Blackburn game from 21/9/24 to 22/9/2024

TV money talks 

Zero Goals contd

 Another player departs Lewis Leigh to Bromley at least we get some money for him with a sign on clause, we have been linked with 35 year old Jack Cork who played less than 20 minutes football last season, so sounds about right.

Good news not a single word from Fantastic yet

Zero Goals Part 2

 Off goes the skipper Alan Browne free transfer  as out of contract, end of an era, sad day pity it's not the manager that is leaving

Ticket for Fiorentina booked via phone after 30 minute battle with ticket master site

In other news early North West Counties fixtures out