Here's the predictions league   

Championship

1. Champions  1st place   

2. Automatic 2nd place   


3. 3rd position playoffs     
4. 4th position playoffs     
5. 5th position playoffs     
6. 6th position playoffs       


7. playoff winner     
8. playoff runner up     


9. Wednesdays final position     

10. 3rd from bottom relegation     
11. 2nd from bottom relegation     
12  bottom of the league relegation       




13. Premiership winners 
14. Premiership relegation   

15. Facup winners     
16.Facup quarter finalists no premiership teams allowed

17. League cup winners 
18. League cup quarter finalists no premiership teams allowed

19. Pub league winners     
New 20. Pub league Automatic promotion
21. Pub league relegation     

22. Pub league 2 winners     
New 23. Pub league automatic promotion :
24. Pub league 2 relegation     

25. National league winners     
26 National relegation       


All incorrect positions merit note that relegations are classed as without significance of position apart from our league the championship and winners of the leagues need correct positions to merit



closing date August 1st all results will be carried over to the BML and BMPL remember last season this made a big difference to the final table the last 2 seasons so choose with care.

Anyone who doesn't predict on time will automatically have 12pts deducted from the match thread table and predictions. void on this thread.

Use numbers only for the predictions it makes life easier thanks and no comments as charlie will have extra work cleaning it up you f@cking retards

Plymouth Argyle have appointed former Watford boss Tom Cleverley as their head coach.

The 35-year-old has signed a three-year contract and succeeds Miron Muslic, who left the club last month to take over at German side Schalke.

Cleverley joins an Argyle side returning to League One this season following relegation after two years in the Championship.

The former Manchester United and Everton midfielder spent the bulk of his playing career at Watford before succeeding Valerien Ismael as head coach in March 2024.

Cleverley was sacked by the Hornets in May, having missed out on the play-offs after a poor second half of the season as Watford faded badly to finish 14th.

His 14 months at the helm was the longest tenure of any boss at Vicarage Road since Javi Gracia's reign from January 2018 to September 2019.

In total, Cleverley was in charge for 60 games, winning 20, drawing 14 and losing 26.

"When we spoke to him he was completely aligned with the vision and ambitions of the club and it was clear throughout that Tom was the right fit for us.

"He is young, passionate and did a great job at Watford. We are thrilled to bring him to Argyle and look forward to seeing the impact he has on the talented squad at his disposal."

Talks are ongoing regarding who Cleverley will appoint to his backroom staff, with a number of coaches appointed by Muslic still listed on the Argyle website as being on the club's staff.

Cleverley could opt to link up again with Damon Lathrope, his assistant at Watford, who has also left the club and spent more than five years in two spells as a player at Plymouth's Devon neighbours Torquay United.



Argyle say they had a large number of applicants for the role, with the Pilgrims now on to their fifth permanent manager in less than two years.

Cleverley replaces Muslic, who was at the club for four months after succeeding Wayne Rooney in January.

The former England captain was only appointed in May last year following the short-lived tenure of Ian Foster, who had replaced Steven Schumacher in January 2024 when he left Home Park to take over at Stoke City.

"We were inundated with interest from prospective candidates, which shows how exciting this project is," chief executive Andrew Parkinson said.

"But throughout the process, it was clear Tom was the perfect person to take the club forward.

"He's been highly sought after, so we are really pleased we have been able to bring him to Argyle and look forward to seeing him build a squad and style of play that will see us challenging at the top end of League One this season."

Tom Cleverley joins a club intent on returning to the Championship at the first attempt after their relegation last season.

Having gambled on head coaches with little positive first-team experience in Ian Foster and Wayne Rooney, Argyle have gone for a man who was well-received during his time at Watford.

Despite being Argyle's fourth head coach since January 2024, he is arguably joining a more stable environment for a manager than at Watford - Steven Schumacher and Miron Muslic both left for other clubs while Foster and Rooney's poor records required their removal.

Cleverley's major concern will be recruitment and retention - Adam Randell and Ryan Hardie both have 12 months left on their deals, while the club has players such as Michael Baidoo and Rami Al Hajj who struggled to adapt to the English game last season.

He will have a decent budget for the level, with owner Simon Hallett saying it is bigger than the club had when they won League One in 2023.

But that means the pressure will be on to produce a promotion push - especially with there being no mammoth spenders like Birmingham City and Wrexham in the division this season.

Hartlepool United have appointed Simon Grayson as the National League club's new manager.

Grayson replaces Australian Anthony Limbrick, who was sacked on Thursday after four months in the role.

The 55-year-old's most recent job was with Lalitpur City in the Nepal Super League, where he won the title in April. He has managed seven clubs in England, including Leeds and Preston, as well as Bengaluru in the Indian Super League.

"The club has gone through some tough times recently but by working hard together as a staff and fanbase we can bring back the good times which this football club deserves," Grayson told the club's website, external.

Pools finished last season 11th, eight points outside the play-offs.

"I'm delighted that Simon has accepted the role," said club chairman Raj Singh.

"Simon is someone who has been on our radar for a while and he's been my preferred candidate in the past when we've looked for managers, but for one reason or the other it didn't come off."

After retiring from playing in 2006, Grayson has won promotion from League One to the Championship with Blackpool, Leeds, Huddersfield and Preston in his managerial career.

Hartlepool have sacked manager Anthony Limbrick after four months in charge.

Former The New Saints boss Limbrick took over from Lennie Lawrence in February and guided Pools to an 11th-placed finish in the National League.

Earlier this week it was reported that Pools had an approach for Boston boss Graham Coughlan turned down.

Hartlepool are up for sale after owner Raj Singh resigned as chairman in March.

"We'd like to thank Anthony for all his hard work and efforts during his time with the club and wish him all the very best for the future," Pools said in a statement., external

"All board members were consulted and it was decided a change was needed

As a part of our continual review of not only the playing squad but also the professional football management and coaching staff, the following structure and appointments are being put in place for the start of the 2025/26 season.

In addition to the existing coaching staff reporting to manager Paul Heckingbottom – Stuart McCall, Peter Murphy and Mike Pollitt – we are delighted to announce the appointment of Jason Euell as a First Team Coach. Jason joins us having played over 400 league games in his career, the majority of which came at the highest level of English football, as well as representing Jamaica and England U21s internationally.

Andy Liddell joins us as Fitness Coach to replace John Lucas who is taking up a similar role within the Australian A-League. John leaves us with our best wishes and thanks. Andy, who made more than 650 appearances as a player, has previously worked in fitness coaching roles with Ipswich Town, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Rapid Bucharest.

The club’s Head of Recruitment, James Wallace will appoint Tom Reeves to his staff from 23rd June 2025 as Chief Scout. Tom joins us having had extensive scouting experience most recently with Middlesbrough and Norwich City. Ben Smith, who was originally a Performance Analyst, completes James’ in-house team as a Recruitment Analyst. We will no longer be using MRKT Insights but thank their staff for their work over the last few years.

The performance analysis team under Charlie Ager welcomes Joe Walmsley, who arrives from Wigan Athletic. James McGown and Tom Hughes have left this team and depart with our best wishes for the future.

The physiotherapy and medical team remain unaltered under Matt Jackson and Dr Dominic Lakeland.

The 2025-26 Carabao Cup will include a preliminary round to accommodate the increased number of Premier League clubs with European commitments.

Nine top-flight sides are set to participate in European competitions next season, prompting the change to help reduce the number of clubs in the first two rounds.

The preliminary round will feature the two sides promoted from the National League and the two clubs who finished 21st and 22nd in League Two.

They will be separated regionally, as is customary with the competition's early rounds, meaning Accrington Stanley will face Oldham Athletic while Barnet take on Newport County.

The home sides for those ties will be drawn at the same time as the draw for round one, on 26 June at 16:30 BST.

All EFL clubs - other than the two eliminated in the preliminary round - will participate in round one of the competition.

The 11 Premier League sides not in Europe enter at the second-round stage while the nine sides to have qualified for Europe - Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City, Chelsea, Newcastle, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace - come in at round three.

Palace are waiting for their participation in the Europa League to be rubber-stamped by Uefa, as John Textor's Eagle Football group has a minority shareholding in Palace and a majority stake in French side Lyon, who have also qualified for next season's European competition.

Carabao Cup 2025-26 fixture dates
Preliminary round: week commencing 4 August 2025

Round one: week commencing 11 August 2025

Round two: week commencing 25 August 2025

Round three: split between week commencing 15 September and 22 September 2025 to accommodate clubs participating in Champions League and Europa League

Round four: week commencing 27 October 2025

Round five: week commencing 15 December 2025

Semi-final first leg: week commencing 12 January 2026

Semi-final second leg: week commencing 2 February 2026

Goalkeeper Nick Townsend has joined National League side Eastleigh following his departure from Newport County.

The Antigua and Barbuda international was offered a new deal by The Exiles, but decided to leave Rodney Parade after seven years and 209 appearances.

Townsend, who was voted Newport's Supporters Player of the Year for the last two seasons, was out of contract this summer.

The 30-year-old former Barnsley keeper joins an Eastleigh side that finished 13th in the National League last season.

"It's exciting for me and my family to have a fresh start down here," Townsend told the club's website.

Hull City have appointed Sergej Jakirovic as their new head coach on a two-year deal.

The 48-year-old Bosnian joins the Championship side after a short spell in charge of Turkish Super Lig outfit Kayserispor.

The Tigers sacked boss Ruben Selles last month after they narrowly avoided relegation to League One, staying up on goal difference.

Jakirovic has managed in Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia, and was only appointed head coach of Kayserispor in January but left the club by mutual consent, external on Sunday.

A Hull City statement confirmed they had "agreed a settlement" with the Turkish club for Jakirovic to join the Tigers.

The deal has the option of a further year, in the club's favour.

Former Bosnia defender Jakirovic led Dinamo Zagreb to the Croatian league and cup double in 2023-24.

However, he left Zagreb in September two days after overseeing their heaviest ever defeat, a 9-2 reverse at Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

He is the third appointment at MKM Stadium since Liam Rosenior was sacked in May 2024 after guiding the East Yorkshire side to a seventh-placed finish in the Championship.

German Tim Walter only lasted until November when he was sacked with the Tigers in the bottom three.

Spaniard Selles followed him out of the door six months later despite securing second-tier survival with a draw at Portsmouth on the final day.

Jakirovic now moves to Humberside after guiding Kayserispor to a 13th-placed finish, having arrived when the club was in the relegation zone.

He is the fifth managerial appointment under the watch of chairman Acun Ilicali, who took over in January 2022.

"After a thorough and extensive recruitment process, we are delighted to secure the services of Sergej," Turkish businessman Ilicali told the club's website, external.

"We believe in the football that he will bring to the MKM Stadium for us and importantly, he has proven himself to be a winner throughout his career.

"My dream for our club has never changed from the first day I took over, and I believe in Sergej as we look forward to the 2025-26 Championship campaign together as one family."

Jakirovic will bring coaches Marko Salatovic, Marin Ivancic and Andjelo Roguljic with him to Humberside to work alongside Andy Dawson and Erbil Bozkurt in the Tigers' backroom staff.

Never thought I'd ever cheer for The Taffs!!! But last night was a great effort - great match - great drama.

https://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=13808