Group A

Twerton 9
Zinman 8
Themaclad 7
Minizin 7
Amelia 7
A.A.A. 6

Well after last weeks levels of consistency, we have seen the same again this week but with a bit more mediocracy built in for good measure. Last week saw players separated by just 2 points but all in double figures, this week the difference is 3 points between first and last but this time no one reached double figures!! The Bonus was the culprit this week with every player getting it wrong!!

Twerton leads the way with 9 points, he missed on the Gamball and the Bonus but did manage to get 2 CSs to boost his score. Zinman is a point behind, he got a CR on the Gamball but not much else.

A further point behind sees 3 players with 7 points - Themaclad, Minizin and Amelia. Mac and Minizin managed a CS each but Amelia was the only one to score a CR on the Gamball to even out the scores. AAA ended bottom with 6 points, ironically he managed a week's high 2 correct scores but was only able to muster one CR while missing out on all his balls!!

212 Themaclad
185 Minzin
176 Twerton
171 Zinman
159 A.A.A.
145 Amelia

No changes in position and with it being so close for the past two weeks no real changes in the gaps between positions either. The post-season places are there for the taking for any player than can put some positive consistency together!!!

Cheers
SCO

Group B
BaggieOne 10
Snooty 10
Lady Jane 5
BBB 5
Stairs 2
Derby 2
SCO -2

Not a good week for Group B. Just 1 correct bonus and 3 correct scores leading to the second worst week of the season with the group scoring just 32 points. An unfamiliar name at the top of the pile as BaggieOne secured his first double figure score since week 9 and just his 4th of the season. He scored on 5 games including the gamball and the scoreball but failed to predict a correct score. He's joined at the top by Snooty, scoring his 10 points in exactly the same way as B1.

Not a great week for the rest. Lady Jane and BBB scored 5 points each, Lady Jane scoring on 3 games with 1 correct score and was also the 3rd player to secure the scoreball point. BBB only scored on just 2 games (1 correct score) but was helped by one of them being the gamball. Stairs was the other player to get a correct score but didn't do much else, blowing all his balls to secure just 2 points. Derby only scored on 1 game but this happened to be his bonus (this week;'s only positive bonus ball) so he was saved from the ignominy of a negative score.

And then we come to SCO who saw his recent good form come to a crashing halt. Just 1 correct result for him and a wipeout from his balls to leave him languishing in last place with minus 2 points (and yes, I did enjoy typing that!)

201 Lady Jane
175 Derby
164 Stairs
163 SCO
152 Snooty
144 BBB
122 BaggieOne

Congrats to Lady J for being the first Group B player to reach 200 points. She still enjoys a healthy lead over Derby in 2nd place. The one positional change this week sees Stairs edge above SCO into 3rd.

Zin


With Zinman's fighting talk towards his fellow scorer I thought it would be interesting to do a little comparison between the two of us!!

Points - SCO 163 v 171 Zin
Position - SCO 4th v 4th Zin
Correct Scores - SCO 22 v 20 Zin
Correct Results - SCO 46 v 51 Zin
Gamball Points - SCO 11 v 25 Zinman
Bonus Points - SCO -3 v -21 Zinman

So very little difference between us, just both mediocre really!!! The Gamball is Zin's biggest lead, but is offset by the lead I have on the Bonus Ball.

I'll just slot this draw info in here and briefly comment it's not a welcome home draw although it's a reasonable one compared with who we could've been paired with. A potentially tricky match all the same where Hibs need to show up and prove they are the better team with better players. Ultimately, just win it Hibs and get to the quarter-finals. Also Kieron Bowie should be fully fit when we play this game. So he'll be another decent striker to "enter the fray".

GGTTH

THE MATCH

WEDNESDAY 22ND JANUARY KO 7:45PM

v

LAST MATCH



We slumped to defeat at Leeds but held our own for the majority of the match, there extra quality and a couple of errors proving the difference. We got off to a bad start, Beadle spilling the ball and Solomon fired into the net. We responded ok with a few chances, while Beadle made a couple of saves as went in 1-0 down. Onto the second half and Leeds bossed the game a bit more but we were keeping them at arms length, while Gasama had a shot saved and had 1 or 2 near things. Leeds wrapped up the game late with 2 goals, first Ramazani firing in from the edge of box then Tanaka flicking one in from the edge of the 6 yard box, making the score-line a little flattering.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Back to Hillsborough and we entertain Bristol City. City are having a decent season and currently lie in 9th place in the Championship. They are just 4 points off the playoffs and imo have a better chance of making the playoffs than ourselves, as they aren't run by a lunatic like ourselves and will probably try to sign some players and give it a go. They are managed by Liam Manning , who took charge late in 2023, his record W21 D21 L22. There leading score is Mehmeti with 9 goals and 1 assist.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 31
BRIS 19
DRAW 17

CURRENT FORM

OWLS  L L D W L D                                                                      

BRIS  L W D W W L                        

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

JAMES LININGTON
Sam Lewis and Hugh Gilroy
Fourth official: Jeremy Simpson

THE TEAM

Beadle
Palmer Bernard Iorfa Johnson
Bannan Charles
Musaba Ingelsson Gasama
Smith

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

2-1 Smith

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

ATTENDANCE

23576

BML LEAGUE

Imre 20
SCO 18
Washington 17
Maddix 15
Wereham 11

BMPL

Stateside 15
Owlkev 13
Southey 12
Pei 7

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

PSG V Manchester City
Leeds v Norwich
Portsmouth v Stoke
Plymouth v Burnley
Wrexham v Birmingham

AHDAD

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

According to Football Insider James Berry is on his way to Wycombe Wanderers who outbid Blackpool. I suppose you can't fault the player for getting his career back on track, having started out with high hopes in Liverpool's Academy he ended up having to impress in non-league football to make his way to Chesterfield and gain promotion to the EFL.

Wycombe are ambitious, although lacking much of a crowd, it is doubtful that they will able to make a success of Championship football should they achieve it.

Best of luck to Berry. I liked him a lot and think we can ill-afford to lose him. Hope he makes Wycombe his next shop window.

Experienced left back signed on loan from Peterborough ......... Age 24. Peterborough well-known for being unable to defend. Darren Ferguson lets you go, that has to be a positive.

Apparently we are chasing promotion. Obviously we are using a whole new stealth approach.

Just a personal view but I wish they had loaned us young Nevett who they bought from Rochdale ...... with maybe an option to buy should they decide to discard (which is after all one of their major policies - they do gamble in the market in the young-player market and are not quite as patient as they might be.)

Richard Sneekes, manager of sixth-tier non-league club Rushall Olympic, has made a "sincere" apology for a comment made in a post-match interview.

The 56-year-old former Bolton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion, Stockport County and Hull City player at one point described Saturday's 7-0 National League North defeat at Spennymoor Town as "like a holocaust".

Having been 1-0 down at half-time, from the 50th minute onwards, Rushall then let in six goals in 27 minutes.

The team had not previously let in more than four goals in a game in the season and a half since they got promoted to sixth-tier level.

"I can only apologise for my choice of words. No offence or harm was intended whatsoever," Dutch-born Sneekes said in a club statement., external

"World War II is ingrained in the history of my country. My grandad was in a concentration camp and both of my parents were born at the height of the war, so I know what it means.

"It was a bad choice of phrase linking to a time in history which was beyond terror and I would like to reiterate my sincerest of apologies. I will consider my choice of words more carefully in the future."

Sneekes' club Rushall said his post-match interview had been "an otherwise very measured and honest assessment", adding: "As a club we received no direct complaints to the after-match comment.

"The only feedback we received, and not just from Rushall supporters, was how well and constructively the manager spoke so soon after a heavy defeat.

"Someone has deemed it necessary to raise this complaint to the local press and hence our statement on this matter.

"The club will be making no further comment."

After winning their three previous games before Saturday's defeat, their first victories since Sneekes took charge before Christmas, Rushall currently sit three points adrift of safety in 23rd place in National League North.

Chesterfield are believed to have made a bid for young Ilkeston Town striker Tom Cursons.
The 23-year-old has already scored 23 goals in all competitions for the fourth-placed Northern Premier League club this season, including netting a nine-minute hat-trick on New Year’s Day.

Cursons is out of contract this summer so the Robins risk losing him for free at the end of the season. His goalscoring record this campaign has reportedly attracted interest from Derby County, Bolton Wanderers, Barnsley and Peterborough United.

(from the Derbyshire Times)

Well I can't understand what has taken so long. Cursons is studying at Nottingham Trent. Haydn Hollis plays every week for Tamworth with a lecturer at which uni and on which course. Yes Nottingham Trent. Even we have to be all over this one. Let's hope he recognises we offer more chance of first team games than any of our rivals. The Posh for instance are always big on grabbing signatures, but as Rochdale's star young centre back has found - getting onto a pitch is carried out at a more leisurely pace.

Fleetwood 2-1 MKD
Harrogate 1-2 Colchester

2 points for correct result
4 points for correct score
2 points for each correct scorer
Correct joker doubles your score   (correct score on a joker would give you 8 points)
Wrong joker result gives you minus 2
Correct Badger gives you 2 points

The prize for winning the league is one rep point.

Cup games: In the event of a draw, it's half the points if you've predicted a draw when it gets to 90 mins and the full points if it's still a draw after extra time. Half the points will be awarded for correctly predicting the winner of the match if it goes to penalties. However, if you do predict a draw and it's a match that won't be going to a replay, you can get a possible extra point by stating which of the two teams you think will eventually win.

Random score generator: I will be using the random score generator again for those who miss predicting, so we shouldn't get some people too far behind that after missing a couple of weeks they lose all interest, because I know it's not easy getting on here every week.
To be fair to everybody, this is going to be like, say if three people in one week miss their predictions, the first one in the table will be given all 0-0, the second one down the line will get 1-0 and the third will get 0-1 and so on, like if there's four missing the 4th will get 1-1, then 5th 2-1, 6th 1-2. and if there are so many missing, might as well pack in.
And if you miss two weeks on the trot, I'll stop until you come back on again. Not doing it for half a season like I did t'other year.  


At the end of the season, the winner of group 2 and the bottom of group 1 will swap places in what is commonly known as "promotion" and "relegation". It's something that most football fans will be familiar with, unless you're a fan of Liverpool or Arsenal or one of those other fashionable clubs.

The second placed player in group 2 will then have a play off with the player who finishes second from the bottom in group 1 to decide whether they will be going up, down or staying where they are.

We're going to have two seasons in one though, just to try and make it a bit more interesting and not so long drawn out. The first season will end on the Boxing Day fixtures, with the play offs being on the dates of the Twixtmas fixtures and the NYD fixtures.

The second season will start the following week, which is usually the FA Cup 3rd round, finishing on the last game of the League One season. Then another period of relegation/promotion play off games, taking in such fixtures as the EFL play offs, FA Cup Final, UEFA finals and such like.

Each group will have it's own set of fixtures. Both groups will have the Town games, with scorers to predict as before. Then it will be a split of League One fixtures and bonus matches, hopefully around ten, eleven or twelve games per Matchday.

The random badger is restricted to three goal scorers in any of the fixtures in your group.

Here's how that will appear at the end of the fixture list. All you have to do is fill in the blanks.......


*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

Any of those will score two points if correct. No minus points for getting it wrong.

Postponed matches will only count if the match is re-played before the next Matchday is under way. Abandoned matches will be awarded half the points for the score at the time of abandonment, so 1 point if you have the correct result, 2 points if you have the correct score.

Substitute or scorer in one of the Town games:- These will be only be allowed if you change them before the match involved has kicked off.

Prediction League Archive: https://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=12830



Division One table after Matchday 1:

1. jjamez = 13 pts
   
2. Baggiebob(BBB) = 12 pts
   
3. Lord Snooty = 10 pts
   
4. neonfoxinthebox = 10 pts
   
5. St Charles Owl = 10 pts
   
6. themaclad = 9 pts
   

Thursday 23rd January:
Wrexham v Birmingham City (20:00)

Saturday 25th January:
Town v Bolton (12:30)
Town scorers:
Bolton scorers:

Cambridge United v Mansfield Town (12:30)
Barnsley v Stevenage
Burton Albion v Rotherham United
Charlton Athletic v Shrewsbury Town
Exeter City v Blackpool
Leyton Orient v Reading
Lincoln City v Peterborough United
Stockport County v Crawley Town
Wigan Athletic v Bristol Rovers
Wycombe Wanderers v Northampton Town

Tuesday 28th January:
Town v Birmingham (20:00)
Town scorers:
Brum scorers:

Bonus matches:
Saturday:
Championship:
Preston North End v Middlesbrough
Queens Park Rangers v Sheffield Wednesday
West Bromwich Albion v Portsmouth

*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

1. ritchiebaby = 19 pts
   
2. theo_luddite = 18 pts
   
3. SHEP_HTAFC = 15 pts
   
4. Devongone = 12 pts
   
5. Amelia Chaffinch = 10 pts
   
6. WakeyTerrier = 10 pts
   

Thursday 23rd January:
Wrexham v Birmingham City (20:00)

Saturday 25th January:
Town v Bolton (12:30)
Town scorers:
Bolton scorers:

Tuesday 28th January:
Town v Birmingham (20:00)
Town scorers:
Brum scorers:

Bolton Wanderers v Northampton Town
Burton Albion v Reading
Charlton Athletic v Bristol Rovers
Exeter City v Leyton Orient
Lincoln City v Blackpool
Mansfield Town v Crawley Town
Peterborough United v Wigan Athletic
Rotherham United v Cambridge United
Stockport County v Shrewsbury Town
Wrexham v Stevenage
Wycombe Wanderers v Barnsley

Bonus matches:
Saturday:
Scottish Premiership:
Ross County v Hibernian

League Two:
Chesterfield v Port Vale

*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***