Preview: Stockport County vs Bromley

The Hatters entered this season on the back of two consecutive third-place finishes in League One, which culminated in a play-off semi-final and final appearance.

Third time lucky? That is certainly the aim.

To achieve that, they made a managerial move in the summer. Successful manager Dave Challinor left by mutual agreement and was replaced by successful Rochdale manager Jim McNulty. 

So far, it seems to be going swimmingly.

The Hatters find themselves third in the nascent League One table and are turning heads with the style of football they play. Fluid going forward, McNulty has got his new side playing in a similar mode to Rochdale, and it has shown in the volume of goals they have scored.

Twenty goals in eight games make them a very dangerous proposition, and Bromley will have to go some to shut them out or restrict them to just one goal.

Kyle Wootton leads the league in goals+assists (8), while Ben Osborn and Oliver Norwood are 1st and 2nd respectively in big chances created. 

There is an argument to say that County’s combination of Harry Wood, Kyle Wootton, and Jack Diamond represents the most lethal front three in the league. They have 14 goals between them, and they face a Bromley team that has conceded 20.

In truth, their threats come from both the front line and midfield, and there is definitely a sense that if one player doesn’t get you then another certainly will.

All of this points to Bromley needing to find a balance between being ultra defensive and retaining enough attacking threat in transition to give them a small chance in the game. 

It is worth noting that Stockport rank very highly in several other key stats in the league:

Possession (2nd)

Shots on target per match (6th)

Big chances (4th)

Accurate crosses per match (1st)

Touches in opposition box (2nd)

Corners (1st)

Possession won in final third (2nd)

It really ain't easy. However, if you cast your mind back to Bromley’s first season in League Two, this fixture shares some commonalities with the visit to Doncaster. When the Ravens travelled to the Eco-Power Stadium that day, they had been struggling to adapt to their new level and were odds-on to lose to one of the league’s in-form sides, yet they stole a 1-0 win and smuggled three points back to BR2.

Dare to dream?

To get a deeper sense of all things Stockport, I spoke with Josh Cooper from ‘The Scarf Bergara Wore’, a Stockport County fan podcast.

As disappointing as Wembley was (again), and as much as certain sections of the County faithful have become accustomed to improved finishes year-on-year, before the season I'd have said ‘no’. A new manager, unproven at this level, and big teams joining the league in Wednesday and Leicester had me looking at the play-offs. That said, we've now played both of those teams and discovered that we have nothing to fear. If we sort out our defence, we have every chance of going straight up.

Chally is a bona fide club legend in my (and most supporters') eyes, but the feeling was we'd maybe plateaued a bit, and there were rumours of the camp not necessarily being the happiest. He left amicably enough, but there wasn't much uproar at the decision. The unknown was McNulty. I admit it felt like a step down to me at the time, but he's done nothing but impress me since. We have a good track record with ex-players returning for a managerial stint. 

The three stand-out signings for me have been O'Connell in defence, Harry Wood, and Ryan Glover. But the real magic trick McNulty has performed has been getting existing players to start performing at a level far above what we'd seen before. The partnership between Glover (who only leaves his touchline if dragged by an ocean liner) and Jack Diamond down the right has been a joy to behold. However, the jury is still out in one area: The zonal marking system that has seen us concede some very, very soft goals from set pieces. 

If it wasn't for dodgy, not-necessarily-deserved results against Leicester and especially Blackpool, we could be top. But as a celebrated ex-manager of ours used to point out: you don't get what you deserve; you get what you get. Some of our attacking play through the lines has been sublime. Some of our defending has been atrocious, but we've proved we can score heavily (only County and Reading have more than 20 goals), and that kind of thing will not have gone unnoticed around the league. I suspect teams will come up with ways to stop us, whether that be low blocks or whatever else. The challenge for us is keeping up the free-scoring momentum, while cutting out the gifts at the back. 

I jumped on Josh’s podcast earlier this week, and you can watch that episode here:

How Bromley choose to line up against Stockport will form part of the wider intrigue. 

The nominal shape has largely been 4-2-3-1 this season, but playing away from home against a side that will be on the front foot poses certain questions. 

George Saville and Kamil Conteh will have to cover an awful lot of ground against a technically competent side that will flood forward. 

Kyle Wootton is one of the best big men at the level, and he will undoubtedly occupy and pin down both Omar Sowunmi and Kamarl Grant. Will that leave holes and gaps for the other attacking midfielder/strikers to exploit?

If so, might Andy Woodman opt for a back 3 or 5, flooding the middle of the park with hardworking midfielders?

Sometimes, when faced with a potent attacking side, the obvious tactic is to respond with a shape that shuts up shop. 

However, could Bromley fight fire with fire and play their two most lethal attacking threats on the wing? They won’t see the ball much over the piece in attacking thirds, so what they do get, they will need to make the most of.

What is the best approach?

Would you rather have a player who drives with the ball, à la Mikel Miller, or a player who can hit a sixpence with a cross, à la Jodi Jones?

That kind of call is why I don’t get paid the big bucks and Andy Woodman does. 

Bucks aside, on FBWL’s new YouTube feature, The Eleven, I took a stab at how Bromley might line up. Watch it here:

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Mason

Sowunmi Jackson Grant 

Ifill Saville Conteh Pinnock

Hondermarck McKiernan

Cheek