eddielewis

Opta puts Carlisle pretty middle of the pack in terms of defending set pieces 13th in goals conceded, 8th shots faced so they seem pretty well organised on corners and free kicks. They are dead last however in open play goals conceded and 22nd in shots faced. They are surprisingly 5th best in set piece goals (16 goals) and have only 11 less set piece shots than us (169). Again they worst in scoring from open play. Just going by those stats Bradley will be needed at the weekend.

I find it hypocritical of the EFL to allow Coventry twice the 11th hour to find a home ground to play at both Northampton and Birmingham just for the upcoming season but they can't allow Gateshead if hypothetically they got promoted (big chance they would not) let's say until the end of July to find a solution to their ground.

It's funny how it's Forest who are setting a precedent with this tweet but I suspect a lot of other Prem teams are going to do similar statements in the near future with how desperate and sad they all are.

From what I've read of the situation National League teams have to apply for promotion to the Football League at the start of the league season which was accepted so the EFL and National League both knew of Gateshead's ground situation which I don't think has changed for years. To just boot them out at this stage is just cruel. Why should there need to be a 10 year security on a stadium when EFL clubs for example aren't required to show an equivalent financial security for that long of a period.

I really don't think we will even come close to relying on this match but really neither side will want to lose this game. I can see the second half of this match to be a pre-season game with key players of both sides being subbed off to rest legs and it just petering out to a 1-1 and tough handshakes at the end saying to each other 'see you at Wembley'.

Solid win once again under tough conditions. Nathan Jones last week was telling the truth when the surface was rustic at best alongside the wind which did effect some of the distance on clearances/goal kicks. The ball was also getting some serious bounce near the sidelines. I think Wildsmith was a getting a bit flustered with the wind and that effected his kicking a tad but he made a top save in the first half so can't be too critical. Everyone put a shift in. One more game!

I have thought this morning a pitch invasion will probably deny Warne from starting the bounce which he said he will only do once we're promoted

Celebratory punting on the Cam anyone? I'll bring the pimms!

It would not surprise me that the FA Chief Exec Mark Bullingham has taken money from the top 6 for this decision. It would not have been made if they had consulted the clubs first. This needs a strong response from clubs by boycotting the Cup. It's totally crazy how weak our football institutions are when it comes to dealing with the big clubs. At least in France and Germany they force the bigger team to play as the away team as they got rid of replays in the 70's. They even force the squad numbers in france to still be 1-11 and they cannot make too many changes from the previous league fixture.

Seems like the dry pitch has been a tactic of Garry Monk probably to eliminate any form passing into spaces and getting turned around on their fairly small pitch. I can imagine there will be a bit of a head scratch as to whether to play Bradley with the 3 at the back as according to opta Cambridge concede more set piece shots on goal (170) compared to Leyton orient (152) but Cambridge however have conceded 8 less set piece goals so will we have a threat on set pieces it seems hard to tell.

I think we've seen enough Championship football to know that largely the teams that linger near the bottom has some form of football or financial instability. Just take this season for example, the bottom 13 teams have had a change in manager during this season, some with multiple changes. This idea of sacking Warne as soon as he's promoted the club just screams Chansiri. The only goal should hopefully we get promoted will be to stay up and Warne more than deserves his shot and dare I say more than achievable when there's plenty of basketcase clubs in that league who will spend most of the summer in a manager recruitment rat race.

Can't forget the one piece Cameroon kit.

From a quick look of their weekend fixture vs Charlton the pitch didn't seem to be in a good condition. Nathan Jones described the pitch as 'rustic at best' and 'they haven't watered it in 8/10 years' and it didn't allow for free flowing football.

Same lineup and setup as Northampton besides Smith for Hourihane Wildsmith Nelson Bradley Cashin Wilson Sibley Adams Smith Thompson NML Collins

There should be confirmation for us I guess this week. Bespoke kits as well.