THE MATCH

SATURDAY 10TH JANUARY KO 3PM

v

LAST MATCH



We went down to another defeat at QPR. QPR dominated from the start and after blazing over from close range, Burrell latched on to Madsen's through ball before beating Charles at his near post. QPR had a few other chances but couldn't add to there lead while we couldn't muster a single attempt. Onto the 2nd half and we improved a bit and had a couple of chances through Amass & McNeill before QPR had a couple of chances. Kolli put the game to bed with 2 goals in the last 10 minutes, his first lashed in from the edge of the box and then firing home from close range to make it 3-0, both times we lost the ball, a very familiar tail this season.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Next up and we get a break from the league as we entertain Brentford at Hillsborough in the FA Cup. Brentford are having a decent season in the Premier League and currently lie in 7th place, after picking up 11 points out of 15 in there last 5 league games. If they can challenge fore the European places, we will have to wait and see but with likes of Man Utd, Newcastle and Brighton it might be a bit of a struggle. Clubs like Brentford should be looking for a good cup run but with the riches of the Premier League, I think you know what they will be concentrating on. They are managed by Keith Andrews who was given the job after Thomas Frank left for Tottenham in the summer. There leading scorer is Igor Thiago who has an impressive 14 goals so far this season, only Haaland is above him in the scoring stats.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 16
BRENT 16
DRAW 13

CURRENT FORM

OWLS     L L D D L L                                                            

BRENT W D W W D L

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

Referee: Josh Smith
Assistant Referees: Sam Lewis & George Byrne
Fourth Official: David Webb

THE TEAM

Charles
Palmer McGhee Iorfa Otegbayo Amass
Thornton Ingelsson Bannan
McNeill Cadamarteri

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-4 Peart-Harris

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

56

ATTENDANCE

10212

BML LEAGUE

Owlkev 16
Imre 15
SCO 10
Washington 9
Maddix 8

BMPL

Stateside 10
Pei 0
Wereham -11
Southey -12

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

RESULT OF THE TIE INCLUDING EXTRA TIME & PENALTIES

Fulham v Middleboro
Newcastle v Bournemouth
Tottenham v Aston Villa
West Ham v QPR
Man Utd v Brighton

HHAAH

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE

Group A

Stairs 16
Minizin 12
BaggieVicar 9
BaggieOne 8
A.A.A. 6
B.B.B. 5
Zimnan 5
Twerton -4

Average week in Group A but as it was only involving 9 games maybe its a bit better in reality. Stairs rises back to the top of the list with 16 points, that his 3rd top spot in the last 7 weeks, a return to decent form for sure. He was one of 2 who scored positive points on the Gamball and he added 5 other points scoring games to that. Minizin is 2nd with 12 points, 10 of which were scored on a max on the Bonus and a CS game. BaggieVicar is 3rd with 9 points, he has been in the top 4 weekly scores for 8 of the past 10 weeks despite his woes on the Gamball!!

BaggieOne is 4th with 8 points, he missed on all his balls which kept his score down. AAA, BBB and Zinman are the next 3 players. AAA got a max on his Bonus but little else, BBB managed a CR on the Gamball but of course missed on his Bonus and Zinman got a CR on the Bonus but was unable to back that up with much else.

Twerton had a complete mare!! He managed to get every prediction wrong and matched Stairs lowest score of the season so far with -4 points. I still class Stairs bad week as worse though because it was over 10 games whereas Twertons was just 9!! Not sure that brings him much solace but its all I have for him this week!!!

217 Minizin
204 Stairs
180 A.A.A.
179 BaggieOne
171 BaggieVicar
154 Twerton
153 B.B.B.
150 Zinman

No positional changes this week but some definite separation of groups occurring. The Top 2 - Minizin and Stairs - are now pulling further away but are closer together than they have been in a while. The next three, AAA, BaggieOne and BaggieVicar are separated by only 9 points and the bottom three, Twerton, BBB and Zinman, are now just 4 points apart!! At this stage all positions are still up for grabs!!

Cheers
SCO

Group B

Lady Jane 17
SCO 14
Themaclad 11
Amelia 10
Snooty 7
Derby 5
Salop 4
4eva -1

OK, I'm doing this a few hours after watching us concede yet another last gasp goal so my usual wit, repartee and good humour may be missing from this write up.

Just 9 matches this week with the postponement of the Portsmouth game so the points total was slightly down though this does mask some big differences in the individual scores. The Coventry defeat did some damage, nobody made that prediction and it accounted for 3 blown bonuses. 2 correct gamballs and they were both correct scores so not surprisingly the 9 point (well, 8 actually) difference on this ball made sure of the top 2 places.

For the second consecutive week, Lady Jane sits on top of the table scoring one less point than last week. Obviously the maximum gamball helped, but she also equalled the highest number of correct results (4) and scores (2). SCO is 3 points back with just 1 correct scores (the gamball) though his Bonus Ball wasn't in play. Third place is Themaclad, in his case it was a spot-on bonus that helped. He was also the other player to nail 2 correct scores.

Amelia scrambled to double figures, matching SCO's results/scores numbers and getting the extra bonusball point. Snooty was the third player with 1 correct score from 4 correct results but he missed out on the main balls to score just 7 points. Derby chose not to play the gamball this week (or he forgot!) and by doing so he saved himself a point. That omission was enough to keep him ahead of Salop.

He's human! Having dominated the group so far this season, 4eva decided to take a holiday break. Just one correct prediction for him, plus the scoreball, which wasn't enough to keep him away from a negative score, his first of the season.

193 4eva
164 SCO
162 Lady Jane
141 Snooty
140 Themaclad
132 Amelia
128 Derby
112 Salop

4eva's lead is down to just (!) 29 points so he can probably take a couple of more weeks off. Lady Jane's good last 2 weeks sees her creep ever closer to SCO but the only positional change sees Amelia and Derby swop places.

A slightly shortened write up this week as I'm going to cheer myself up by listening to the Test Match commentary.........

Zin

Port Vale have appointed former Northampton Town boss Jon Brady as their new manager on an 18-month contract.

The 50-year-old Australian replaces Darren Moore, who was sacked on 28 December after a run of seven defeats in nine games left the League One side bottom of the table, 10 points adrift of safety.

Brady, who resigned as Cobblers manager just over a year ago, has the task of trying to keep Vale, with just four wins from 23 games this season, in the third tier.

"We're delighted to welcome Jon to Vale Park as the club's new manager," Vale chief executive Matt Hancock said in a club statement., external

"Jon was the standout candidate at the end of a thorough recruitment process, with his experience and passion for returning to management here at Port Vale really shining through."


Brady spent three and a half years with the Cobblers, spanning 200 matches, delivering promotion to League One after finishing third in League Two 2022-23.

He arrives in Burslem in similar circumstances to when he took interim charge at the Sixfields Stadium in February 2021 when Northampton sat in the League One relegation zone.

Although he could not keep them up that season, his track record of getting the club back there - and keeping them there - appealed to the Vale hierarchy, given the Valiants' perilous position at the moment.

Hancock added that Brady "is someone who we believe can make a real difference here in both the short and long term" and said the new boss has "our full support as we focus on achieving our objectives this season".

Brady inherits a Vale side that ended a 12-game winless league run in spectacular style by thrashing relegation rivals Blackpool 5-1 on New Year's Day.

That was their first league victory since 27 September, having started the season solidly following promotion last term as League Two runners-up, only for their results to dip badly.

Brady will be in charge for the first time in Friday's FA Cup third round tie against Fleetwood Town [19:30 GMT].

Unsurprisingly, Ryan Mason has gone

Due the postponement of the Portsmouth - Ipswich game (I assume because of the discovery of some strange white powder at the ground) - there are extra balls for some players this week.

So 2 bonus balls to be played in week 20 by:
Lady Jane
Stairs
SCO
The Vicar.

2 scoreballs for:
Themaclad
Derby.

This week with the added randomness of FA Cup team selections! Usual cup rules as I've no idea whether we have replays/extra time/paper, rock, scissors etc etc.

Gamball:
Man Utd - Brighton

Others:
Everton - Sunderland
Doncaster - Southampton
Stoke - Coventry
Bristol City - Watford
Cambridge - Birmingham City
Spurs - Villa
Derby - Leeds
Swansea - WBA
West Ham - QPR

Due the postponement of the Portsmouth - Ipswich game (I assume because of the discovery of some strange white poeder at the ground) - there are extra balls for some players this week.

So 2 bonus balls to be played in week 20 by:
Lady Jane
Stairs
SCO
The Vicar.

2 scoreballs for:
Themaclad
Derby.

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 21:

1. Baggiebob(BBB) = 0 pts
   
2. jjamez = 0 pts
   
3. neonfoxinthebox = 0 pts
   
4. ritchiebaby = 0 pts
   
5. Lord Snooty = 0 pts
   
6. theo_luddite = 0 pts
   

Friday 9th January:
FA Cup 3rd round:
Wrexham v Nottingham Forest (19:30)

Saturday January 10th:
Scottish Premiership:
Hibernian v Motherwell

League One:
Stockport v Town (12:30)
Town scorers:
Stockport scorers:

Luton Town v Stevenage (12:30)
Peterborough United v Bolton Wanderers

FA Cup 3rd round:
Everton v Sunderland (12:15)
Newcastle United v AFC Bournemouth
Stoke City v Coventry City
Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa (17:45)

Sunday 11th January:
Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion (14:30)
West Ham United v Queens Park Rangers (14:30)

Tuesday 13th January:
EFL Trophy 3rd round:
Town v Rotherham (19:00)
Town scorers:
Rotherham scorers:

EFL Cup semi finals 1st leg:
Newcastle United v Manchester City (20:00)

Wednesday 14th January:
Chelsea v Arsenal (20:00)

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

1. SHEP_HTAFC = 0 pts
   
2. themaclad = 0 pts
   
3. Devongone = 0 pts
   
4. St Charles Owl = 0 pts
   
5. WakeyTerrier = 0 pts
   
6. Amelia Chaffinch = 0 pts
   

Friday 9th January:
FA Cup 3rd round:
Preston North End v Wigan Athletic (19:30)

Saturday January 10th:
League One:
Stockport v Town (12:30)
Town scorers:
Stockport scorers:

Bradford City v Rotherham United
Leyton Orient v Cardiff City

League Two:
Chesterfield v Colchester United

FA Cup 3rd round:
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Shrewsbury Town (12:15)
Sheffield Wednesday v Brentford
Cambridge United v Birmingham City (17:45)

Sunday 11th January:
Derby County v Leeds United (12:00)
Portsmouth v Arsenal (14:00)

Monday 12th January:
Liverpool v Barnsley

Tuesday 13th January:
EFL Trophy 3rd round:
Town v Rotherham (19:00)
Town scorers:
Rotherham scorers:

EFL Cup semi finals 1st leg:
Newcastle United v Manchester City (20:00)

Wednesday 14th January:
Chelsea v Arsenal (20:00)

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

A total of 33 teams travel to Dumfries, Scotland for the World Mixed Doubles Qualification Event from Monday 5 to Saturday 10 January, when the top 4 teams will play in the the main event to take place in Geneva, Switzerland in April.

The teams will be split into five groups in which they will play a round robin. At the end of the round robin, the merged group ranking will be established and the 12 top teams from that ranking will advance to the playoffs. The top 4 teams in that ranking get a bye to the second qualification round while teams ranked 5–12 will play in the first qualification round. The winners of these games will advance to the second qualification round while the losers are eliminated. The second qualification round will decide which four teams qualify their Member Associations for the April Championships. Already qualified for April are Italy, Scotland, Australia, Estonia, United States, Canada, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, Finland, Switzerland, Korea, Japan, Germany, Denmark and Czechia.

Qualification Round-Robin Games Draw
Group A: India, Ireland, Kenya, Luxembourg, Lithuania, Netherlands and Slovakia
Group B: Belgium, China, England, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland and Puerto Rico
Group C: Austria, Chinese Taipei, Croatia, Hong Kong China, Jamaica, Thailand and Türkiye
Group D: Spain, France, Guyana, Nigeria, Philippines and Ukraine
Group E: Brazil, Hungary, Latvia, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia

Ireland's Double is Ailsa Barron and Kyle Paradis who play Kenya at 9am on Monday, with England represented by Rachael Hotchkiss and Fraser Clark who play Pakistan at 9am on Monday and then China later the same day at 7.30pm.