L4 | S1 | W5: Accrington stun Luton as Aberdeen’s title hopes begin to unravel

📰 Week 5 in Review – Season 1

Week 5 brought the first serious shake-up of the season across all four groups, with leaders dropping points, underdogs pouncing, and the divisional cut-off lines tightening in ways that are going to matter come Week 30. The story at the top is still Port Vale’s remarkable defensive run, but the real drama this week belonged lower down the tables – where clubs are already starting to discover which side of the Division 2 and Division 3 boundaries they actually belong on.

Manchester City and Cork City – joint top of Group 1 last week – both came through, but the gap to Aberdeen has opened up enough that Alex Ferguson’s side are starting to look less like challengers and more like a club chasing its own tail. In Group 2, Swansea bounced back from their first defeat with a 3-0 hammering of Southampton. In Group 4, a surprise loss for Luton Town has brought St Mirren level, and Accrington Stanley are quietly making everyone look foolish.

🏆 Group 1 – Aberdeen’s alarm bells

Manchester City and Cork City both won in Week 5, staying joint top on 13 points. Man City ground out a 2-1 win at Walsall – Suárez and Agger the goalscorers – while Wayne Mullins’ Cork side edged Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0, Larsson getting the only goal in the 75th minute. Cork’s Larsson now has four league goals for the season – a genuine threat to anyone in Group 1. Celtic moved up to third on nine points after beating Southend United 2-0, Lennon and Larsson both on target early. Plymouth Argyle are fourth, also on nine, after a 2-0 win at Leeds – Evans and Marshall getting the goals in the second half.

⚠️ Aberdeen were expected to be challenging the top four but sit fifth on seven points after a 2-1 defeat to Manchester United – Jess and Booth getting the Aberdeen goals, but it wasn’t enough. Alex Ferguson’s side has lost three of five. They need a run of results, and quickly – the gap to the top two is already six points.

The result that nobody saw coming was Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Aberdeen. Akinbiyi opened the scoring for United in the first minute, and although Aberdeen fought back through Jess in the second minute and Booth on 59′, United held on. Aberdeen now sit in a Division 3 position after five weeks – not where anyone thought they’d be. Barnet moved up to sixth after beating Fulham 1-0, Kane with the only goal, while Norwich City – still unmanaged – beat Doncaster Rovers 1-0 through Kouamé on 42′. Leeds United had a difficult afternoon, losing 2-0 at home to Plymouth after a goalless first half.

💙 Group 2 – West Brom and Derby on the move

Swansea City responded emphatically to last week’s loss, putting Southampton to the sword 3-0 – all three goals in the first half from Mari, Giménez, and Grimaldi. It’s a reminder of just how dangerous Gavin Williams’ side can be when they’re clicking. They lead Group 2 on 12 points, two clear of Lincoln City, who beat Brighton 1-0 through Elyounoussi on 42′. Will Hayward’s Lincoln are quietly becoming one of the more complete sides in the group – good experience rating, tidy goals-to-games ratio, and now second.

🔍 West Bromwich Albion and Derby County are the big movers this week. West Brom hammered Burnley 3-0 – Acevedo and Berisha (twice) the scorers – to jump six places to ninth. Derby beat Liverpool 2-1, with Ebbers and Cole doing the damage. Both sides were in the bottom half last week and are now within touching distance of the Division 2 spots. The group is far more open than it looks at first glance.

Liverpool’s loss to Derby is the slip that cost them second place – Mac Allister got one back on nine minutes but it wasn’t enough as Derby won 2-1. St. Johnstone, managed by the recently arrived Neel Bhandari, beat Livingston 1-0 through Bertolacci on 35′ to move into fourth. It is a decent early return from a manager who only took charge last week. Gillingham – Paul Gilbert’s side – drew 1-1 with Grimsby Town, Tevez equalising in the 91st minute after going behind to Pukki in the 33rd. A point salvaged, but Paul will know his side need more than that from home games if they’re going to push for a Division 1 spot in Season 2.

❤️ Group 3 – Port Vale hold, Heart of Midlothian climb

Port Vale drew 1-1 with Sunderland in Week 5 – Okafor scoring on eight minutes, Bierhoff equalising in the 15th – but the real story remains the defensive record. Andres Iglesias’s side have now conceded just one goal in five games. They lead Group 3 on 11 points, matched by Heart of Midlothian who beat Bristol Rovers 2-0, Herrera opening on five minutes and Gravenberch adding a second in the 86th. Liam1’s Hearts side are the form team in Group 3 – four results from their last five reading W, W, D, W.

The biggest upset of the week in Group 3 came at Adams Park, where Bristol City won 2-0 at Wycombe Wanderers – Savage inside the first five minutes and González on 22′ wrapping it up early. Ashley Fillingham’s Bristol City side are up to third on ten points, and they’ve won three of their last four. They’re a club that could yet push Port Vale for the group lead. Stockport County beat Coventry City 1-0 – Mitrović with the goal on 24′ – to move into sixth, while Motherwell continued their good form with a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, Gaich scoring in the opening minute.

⚠️ Crystal Palace are bottom of Group 3 with zero points, zero goals scored, and five conceded after five games. They remain unmanaged and without a result or a goal to show for the entire opening month of the season. Until a manager takes the dugout at Selhurst Park, that record is not going to change.

💛 Group 4 – Accrington Stanley’s finest hour

The headline result of the week in Group 4 – and arguably of the whole round – was Accrington Stanley’s 1-0 win over Luton Town. Vieri scored in the second minute at Crown Ground to end Luton’s unbeaten run, dropping David Pleat’s side from first to first-equal on ten points, now level with St Mirren. Rob Earle’s Accrington are sixth on eight points after that win and have been one of the quiet stories of the early season – picking up results when nobody was watching and now making proper noise.

💡 Everton – with the highest-rated squad in the league at 401 – drew 1-1 with Arsenal. García scored on 59′ after Bergkamp had put Arsenal ahead in the 16th. Three draws in five games for king kenny’s side. The squad quality is there; the results are not yet reflecting it. Three points at home to Luton in Week 6 would change that conversation quickly.

Newcastle United won 2-1 at Aston Villa – Miley scoring on 21′ and Lira on 73′ either side of Agbonlahor’s 66th-minute reply – to push into fourth on eight points. Hibernian, who remain unmanaged, somehow find themselves fifth on eight points after Vassell and Mwaruwari gave them a 2-1 win at Exeter City. Preston North End – also without a manager – beat St Mirren 2-0 through Nogan (twice, 28′ and 51′), which is two unmanaged clubs doing more damage than most would expect. Burton Albion, meanwhile, remain rooted to the bottom with zero points. Five games, zero goals, zero points – it’s as bleak as it gets, and Andrew Burton’s transfer market activity is yet to show any sign of turning the ship around.

🗞️ Around the league

The score draw pool had ten correct results this week. Four managers guessed correctly and collected £200,000 each – Gareth Murphy of Burnley, Phil McCracken of Wimbledon, James Webb of Ipswich Town, and Andrew Burton of Burton Albion. Phil McCracken and Andrew Burton continue to demonstrate uncanny ability in the prediction game even as their league campaigns have been going in rather different directions.

A new manager has joined the league – John Forster takes charge at Sheffield United in Group 3. The dugout at Bramall Lane has been empty since the start of the season and the club sit ninth, so there is work to do, but there is also something to work with. Welcome to the league, John.

The televised games this week were Barnet vs Fulham (Group 1), Gillingham vs Grimsby Town (Group 2), Stockport County vs Coventry City (Group 3), and Exeter City vs Hibernian (Group 4) – the Group 4 match providing the biggest surprise of the four, with unmanaged Hibernian taking all three points on the road.

On the player side, Hint Sheet 6 – covering Fitness and Injury – is now live on the Manager’s Playbook. If you haven’t already looked at it, it’s worth your time, especially in the early weeks of the season when INJ ratings can creep up without much warning.

Off the pitch, it’s worth noting something that came up this week. Paul Gilbert – your Gillingham manager in Group 2 – had the misfortune of a fire affecting his home. A number of managers from across the game heard about it and clubbed together to buy him a block of turn credits. It was a genuinely decent gesture and deserves to be acknowledged. Thank you to everyone who was involved.

🔍 The unmanaged club situation is worth keeping an eye on. Group 4 has five clubs in various states of vacancy – Hibernian (5th), Preston North End (7th), and St Mirren (2nd, who lost this week to Preston while their own management situation is in flux). Crystal Palace in Group 3 are bottom and unmanaged. These clubs will continue to be unpredictable until human managers arrive.