Set the alarm clock or kick off at 21.25?

[andy]

Taken from Iain's Stalybridge match preview ...

"Worcester’s top scorer this season is Emeka Nwadike, who has scored five goals, though all his goals have come away from home. In keeping with our experiences against Worcester, their most dangerous period is in the last five minutes of a match, and they have scored a quarter of their twenty goals this season in that period. Their most vulnerable period is the opening half hour, with nearly half of their conceding done in this period. The average first goal time is 45 minutes, whilst their first concession is 33 minutes. They are scoring an average of 1.3 goals per game at home (1.4 overall), and conceding 1.3 goals per game (1.7 overall). City have kept two clean sheets at home, and drew a blank in three games."

[Deleted]

Imagine being stuck in a lift with him.

[alwaysnextyear]

No need for that - Andy's not too bad

[niels]

Sounds like Andy has found a soulmate.

[andy]

I'll confess, I do like a stat or two.

Iain has four pages of up-to-date Worcester City stats at

www.stalybridgeceltic.co.uk/stats.php?team=WORCC&mode=seq

Follow the little menu to go from 'sequences' to 'goal details' etc

[Deleted]

Stats are only of any use if they can be used to fairly accurately model future events. Other than that they mostly useless history for trainspotters and pub quiz teams. In this case the sample used is far too small to give any really useful information. A quarter of our goals have come in the last 5 minutes - that is 5 goals have come in the last 5 minutes. We don't score an average 1.3 goals either at home or away, as it is impossible to score 1.3 goals! So it hasto be rounded up or down to a useable value, either 1 or 2.
I think there was some heavy duty research about when goals were more likely to be scored in games, using something like 30 years worth of football league data, where the most liekly times for goals to be scored were in the last five minutes - so no earth shattering news there.

[tim]

All it means is that either City are a little fitter than some sides this season, and can last the 90 minutes, or that some of the team have a refusal to accept defeat when there is a chance to avoid it (i.e. not the last 5 at Hucknall) and will keep plugging away.

We've conceded three in the last 5 minutes of games, two of which were at Hucknall when it was already all over.

[Tim Munslow]

Hey Jem what's with "....useless history for trainspotters..". As an ex (and unreformed) trainspotter I can never understand why they get such a bad press. It used to keep me out of trouble and is far preferable to kicking in fences, bothering old ladies and congregating round the local shop doorway. Trainspotting also helped me to organise things (very useful in later life when constructing spreadsheets) and was solely responsible for me learning how to use logarithms, so that I could work out the tractive effort of a locomotive.

I am not ashamed to own up to being a trainspotter in my steam-train youth, though modern diesels hold little attraction.

[andy]

I hope it wasnt heavy duty research. Its as obvious as the nose on the end of my face, if you know what I mean.

Every other 5 minute 'block' within a game probably averages about 4.75 minutes, while the last five minutes probably averages about 9 minutes.

No-one ever used to record the goal time as 90+3, it would be shown as 90th minute. Therefore, all injury time goals would be added to those scored between the 86th and 90th minutes, and between the 41st and 45th minutes.

With a large population of data, there should be almost twice as many goals scored in the last five minutes of any half compared with any other spell of the game.

[Deleted]

Ah yes but it was done by consultants andy - probably Deloittes as they seem to do a lot of football research (and Gerry Boon is a really good friend of Andrew Guy ) and you know what consultants are like, if its easy, tell the client its twice as hard hence twice the price!!!
Yes it is obvious really isn't it?

[Deleted]

timmunslow said:

Hey Jem what's with "....useless history for trainspotters..". As an ex (and unreformed) trainspotter I can never understand why they get such a bad press. It used to keep me out of trouble and is far preferable to kicking in fences, bothering old ladies and congregating round the local shop doorway. Trainspotting also helped me to organise things (very useful in later life when constructing spreadsheets) and was solely responsible for me learning how to use logarithms, so that I could work out the tractive effort of a locomotive.

I am not ashamed to own up to being a trainspotter in my steam-train youth, though modern diesels hold little attraction.

Tim help me out here - what did you actually do when trainspotting? Can you explain what its all about? All I ever see is the strangest looking people hanging around the end of station platforms with notepads and thermos flasks!!

[Tim Munslow]

All you had to do was spot the engine number and underline it when you'd seen it in your Ian Allan ABC of British Railways. Simple really. But then there was always that elusive Hall or Castle that was shedded at Tondu or St Blazey that stopped you having collected all of a particular class of locomotive, and there was the occasional trip to foreign parts like Birmingham New Street or Tamworth to collect London Midland locos. Need I go on?

Fascinating to those of us of the steam train era (and harmless); the smell of hot oil and steam takes me right back to the 1950s whenever I get near a steam loco. Total boredom in the modern diesel/electric age.

As for a thermos flask that was only for upper class types; we poor lads had to make do with water from the tap or a swig of someone else's Tizer if we were lucky.

[Deleted]

Steam trains! Marvellous.

[Deleted]

timmunslow said:

All you had to do was spot the engine number and underline it when you'd seen it in your Ian Allan ABC of British Railways. Simple really. But then there was always that elusive Hall or Castle that was shedded at Tondu or St Blazey that stopped you having collected all of a particular class of locomotive, and there was the occasional trip to foreign parts like Birmingham New Street or Tamworth to collect London Midland locos. Need I go on?

Fascinating to those of us of the steam train era (and harmless); the smell of hot oil and steam takes me right back to the 1950s whenever I get near a steam loco. Total boredom in the modern diesel/electric age.

As for a thermos flask that was only for upper class types; we poor lads had to make do with water from the tap or a swig of someone else's Tizer if we were lucky.

If all you're doing is writing down a number, what does it matter if its powered by steam, diesel, nuclear or sheep urine?

[DazaB]

I can see the appeal of steam trains over modern ones, I love the Severn Valley, the smell, the noise, everything!

[tim]

The scenery, lovely part of the world is the Severn Valley. Pity you have to go to K word to get there!

[Deleted]

admin said:

I can see the appeal of steam trains over modern ones, I love the Severn Valley, the smell, the noise, everything!

Oh so can I, don't get me wrong, steam engines of all types are phenomenal. I visited the Leicester Space Centre some time ago, and next door is a little steam museum, with a huge beam engine - its just an incredible piece of engineering, and the best of the best of British too!!!
But I've never felt the compulsion to write down the number and check it in a book.
Years ago I used to go around Dines Green writing down the reg numbers of cars, then checking where they were from (UY was Worcester as was FK and NP, CJ and VJ were Hereford) but I bored of that by the age of 8. Then I got my I-spy book of cars, and looked out for makes of cars, that lasted till about 10.
I used to know a plane spotter - he'd write down all these numbers of planes, and tell me things like "that 737 has been flying the 12:04 to Munich for the last 6 months, before that it was flying from Bristol to Edinburgh!" It didn't seem to matter whether it was a 737, a DC3 or a De Haviland Comet, he and his friends seemed more interested in the flight history of the plane, which I found really odd.

[wh]

jcp said:

admin said:

I can see the appeal of steam trains over modern ones, I love the Severn Valley, the smell, the noise, everything!

Oh so can I, don't get me wrong, steam engines of all types are phenomenal. I visited the Leicester Space Centre some time ago, and next door is a little steam museum, with a huge beam engine - its just an incredible piece of engineering, and the best of the best of British too!!!
But I've never felt the compulsion to write down the number and check it in a book.
Years ago I used to go around Dines Green writing down the reg numbers of cars, then checking where they were from (UY was Worcester as was FK and NP, CJ and VJ were Hereford) but I bored of that by the age of 8. Then I got my I-spy book of cars, and looked out for makes of cars, that lasted till about 10.
I used to know a plane spotter - he'd write down all these numbers of planes, and tell me things like "that 737 has been flying the 12:04 to Munich for the last 6 months, before that it was flying from Bristol to Edinburgh!" It didn't seem to matter whether it was a 737, a DC3 or a De Haviland Comet, he and his friends seemed more interested in the flight history of the plane, which I found really odd.

All this talk of steam trains reminds me of an old joke,

A man who had asked to be assisted in his suicide attempt was said to have been "chuffed to bits" after being pushed in front of a steam train..
i'll get my coat

[B*ue dragonstander]

ealing said:

Steam trains! Marvellous.

Shouldn't that read

"Steam trains for goal posts! Marvellous"

(Ed)