Steve Cooper has been fired by Nottingham Forest. Nunes favorite to take over.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/67757915

Not sure this is a good move for them, Cooper has been harshly treated by the club and to me this is a short-sighted decision.

League Two's bottom side Sutton United have sacked manager Matt Gray.

Sutton were beaten 8-0 at leaders Stockport County on Saturday to leave them without a league win in five and six points from safety.

Gray, 42, became manager in 2019 and led them to the Football League for the first time in their history in 2021.

"Matt will forever have a large place in Sutton's history as the manager who took us to the Football League," a statement from the club said.

Sutton started the season with a 5-1 thumping of Notts County but then lost their next seven league games and failed to win again in League Two until October.

They have only won one more time in the league since, although they have made the third round of the FA Cup where they will visit Plymouth.

After Gray took Sutton into the EFL, they narrowly missed out on the play-offs by one point as they finished eighth in their first season in League Two and finished 14th last season.

The south London club also reached the final of the EFL Trophy in 2021-22 but were beaten by Rotherham on penalties and said the decision to sack Gray was "extremely difficult".

"This season's results have been disappointing and our league position, as we approach the half way mark of the season, led us to decide with great reluctance that a change is necessary," the statement continued.

"We would like to express our massive gratitude to Matt for the success he has given us during his four and a half years in charge, and for his endless dedication, commitment and hard work in that time, all done with an attitude, passion and energy that made him hugely popular in every area of the club.

"He will always be welcome at Sutton, and we offer him every good wish for his future career.

"An update on the managerial position in the immediate future will be given later

Premier League

Zinman 23
Blue B 23
B.B.B. 16
Minizin 12
Derby 9
Stairs 9
Dingle 7
Lady J 2

It seems that this week being a scorer in the game maybe gives you the ability to predict better!!   Joint leaders this week in the PL, and two players who are both in form currently with both Zinman and Blue Baggie scoring an impressive 23 points each.  For Zinman this represents a season high score and for Blue its his second best haul.  Both scored a max on the Gamball and then added to this by scoring on 6 other games including one more CS each.  Blue's score could have been even better but his Bonus was wiped out due to the abandoned game at Bournemouth - although he would likely have lost 3 points with his record on the Bonus!!

Third place goes to BBB with 16 points, he scored on 6 games and had 2 CSs including a rare success on the Bonus for him.  Minizin rounds out the double figure score with 12 points, he missed the Gamball, had a postponed Bonus but did score on 5 other games.  Derby and Stairs ended with 9 points each, like the others they had no Bonus this week, so like others maybe their score this week is slightly inflated!!  God help them next week when they have to use 2 Bonus Balls!!

Dingle is 7th with 7 points, he managed to get a CR on the Gamball but missed on his bonus and managed no CSs, whcih we know boost the score nicely.  Lady Jane is bottom for their 3rd week in a row with just 2 points.  Her form is awful at the moment and if she wants to have any chance of avoiding relegation she will need to improve during the January transfer window!!

205 Zinman
183 Blue Baggie
172 Minizin
171 Derby
165 BBB
156 Stairs
133 Dingle
124 Lady Jane

Zinman stretches his lead a little to 22 points and is the first player to go over 200 points , but now its Blue who is in 2nd spot and is now 11 points ahead of Minzin who rises to 3rd, with Derby dropping two spots to 4th. BBB is now breathing down their necks and is only 6 points off Derby.  Stairs has stabilised his sinking ship and can't be ruled out just yet.

Dingle and LJ are still fighting it out for the bottom 2 spots and are falling further adrift as each week goes by.

Cheers
SCO


Championship

SCO          18
Twerton    17
AAA          15
Sanjay      12
BaggieOne  12
Snooty        6
Themaclad  0

One of the Championship's better weeks with 5 players reaching double figures though the 2 that didn't fell a long way short! Only 1 correct gamball prediction, with 2 players choosing, wisely, to avoid it, and for the 2nd week in a row, the bonus ball actually added points to the total (a rarity in the Championship this season).

SCO and Twerton both scored on 7 games with SCO edging ahead due to his one extra correct score though both missed out on the gamball. AAA matched SCO's 2 correct scores, including his bonus, among his 4 correct predictions. As he has done for the last few weeks, he avoided the gamball saving himself 1 point not that it would have altered his final position.

A rarity for Sanjay - a double figure score. His first since week 3 and 12 points represents his second highest return so far - could this be a start of a resurgence? Sanjay was matched by BaggieOne who only scored on 3 games but was boosted by scoring with every ball.

Not such a good week for Snooty and Themaclad. Snooty scored on 5 games, behind only SCO and Twerton, but he missed out on all his balls to leave him some way off the pack with just 6 points. Themaclad had a 'mare - zero points with just 2 correct predictions and a balnk on his balls.

174 Twerton
168 SCO
168 Snooty
150 AAA
133 BaggieOne
125 Themaclad
  85 Sanjay

Changes at the top this week as Snooty's brief spell at the top is ended by his poor score. Twerton seems to have recovered his early season form as his 3rd consecutive double figure score sends him back top with SCO's good week seeing him take a share of 2nd place - the race for promotion is hotting up with these 3 beginning to open up a bit of a gap to AAA in 4th. Sanjay still has some way to go to catch Themaclad at the foot of the table but a few more weeks like this one may see that happen.

Zin


For reference the Bournemouth-Luton predictions were null and void this week due to the game being abandoned. This means that next week Derby, Stairs, Minizin and Blue Baggie will all have to play 2 Bonus balls and Zinman can play 2 score balls.

Morecambe and the club's owner Jason Whittingham have been charged by the EFL for failing to adhere to an agreed decision imposed in August after the club failed to pay players on time.

The club had been given a suspended three-point deduction over the matter.

Whittingham had been told to deposit an amount equal to 125% of their monthly wage bill to cover any future delays.

The EFL stated that the following month the deposited funds had been used without being re-deposited, however.

"Mr Whittingham's failure to re-deposit the funds has led to personal charges, while the club has also been charged for failing to meet deposit account requirements," the EFL said.

"The charges will now be considered by an independent disciplinary commission with the outcome to be communicated by the EFL once a decision is reached."

In response, a club statement said that Bond Group, which owns the Lancashire club, had instructed "specialist sport lawyers to defend the club's and owner's position" at the commission hearing.

"The board remains focused on the priority of ensuring that Morecambe Football Club meets all its obligations, which means working with Bond Group to prevent cashflow issues and doing everything within its powers to expedite the process of finding new ownership as quickly as possible," the statement added.

The charge comes after the club's board of directors said earlier in December that the club could be at "serious risk" with the Shrimps having been up for sale for 15 months.

The board added they have "no confidence" in the club's owners in overseeing a sale of the League Two side.

Championship club Sunderland have appointed former Rangers boss Michael Beale as their new head coach.

The 43-year-old has signed a two-and-a-half-year deal at the Stadium of Light.

Beale had a brief spell in the Championship with QPR last season before leaving in November 2022 to join the Scottish Premiership giants.

He won 31 of his 43 games in charge of Rangers but was sacked on 1 October after three defeats in their first seven league matches of the campaign.

Beale, who has replaced Tony Mowbray as boss, takes over at Sunderland with the club seventh in the Championship, three points outside the play-off spots, following a 1-0 defeat away at Bristol City.

That loss came after successive wins under caretaker Mike Dodds, who will stay on as assistant head coach.

"We have monitored Michael's career for some time and we are delighted to have reached an agreement for him to become our new head coach," sporting director Kristjaan Speakman told the club website.

"He has an excellent and well-founded reputation for developing players and he is an outstanding progressive coach, who is aligned with our playing identity and naturally fits within our structure alongside Mike Dodds and the wider team."

Mowbray led Sunderland to a sixth-placed finish last season but was sacked in early December after a run of two wins in nine league matches saw them slip down to ninth in the table.

He had spent 15 months in charge of the Black Cats after replacing Alex Neil following the former Norwich and Preston manager's move to Stoke in August 2022.

Beale back in Championship after rollercoaster year with Rangers
Beale coached in the youth academies of both Chelsea and Liverpool before being appointed as first-team coach at Rangers under Steven Gerrard, with whom he had previously worked alongside at Liverpool.

He helped Rangers win the Scottish league title in 2020-21 and then followed Gerrard to Aston Villa in October 2021.

QPR gave him his first senior managerial role in June 2022 and he guided the club to the top of the Championship in the opening months of last season.

Then Premier League strugglers Wolves approached him to replace Bruno Lage in October 2022 but he turned them down, saying: "I have been all in here and I have asked others to be all in so I can't be the first person to run away from the ship."

However, the offer to take over at Ibrox from the sacked Giovanni van Bronckhorst the following month proved too good to turn down.

He made a bright start to life in Glasgow, winning the manager of the month award for December and 13 of his first 14 matches in charge, but was unable to help them rein in Ange Postecoglou's Celtic and they lost to their fierce rivals in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup and final of the League Cup.

Despite recruiting heavily in the summer, Beale's Rangers were knocked out of the Champions League in the play-off round by PSV Eindhoven and a 3-1 home defeat by Aberdeen on 30 September was his final game in charge.

His first match as Sunderland boss will be Saturday's home game against Coventry.

Woking have appointed former Coventry City and Sheffield United midfielder Michael Doyle as their new manager.

The 42-year-old was previously assistant head coach at Notts County and Forest Green Rovers.

And he has left a job with Portsmouth's academy to replace Darrell Sarll, who was sacked on 13 November.

"We had the option to be safe or to be bold, and we took the decision to be bold with this appointment," said chief executive John Katz.

"Michael is a young, ambitious, and dynamic manager, and our decision to be bold represents what this club needs to regain - ambition and dynamism.

"We believe in his track record of success in the Football League, how he wants his Woking team to play, and his plan to move the club forward."

Dublin-born Doyle made 866 senior appearances during his playing career, which also included spells at Celtic and Notts County.

He spent a season on loan at Leeds United in 2009-10 and helped them win promotion from League One.

Doyle has agreed a contract to the end of the 2024-25 season and interim boss Ian Dyer will remain at Woking as his number two, along with goalkeeping coach Marlon Beresford.

Woking are 17th in National League following Saturday's 2-1 victory at Dorking Wanderers, a game Doyle watched from the stands.

"It was an important result first and foremost after the loss in midweek. There's plenty to build on now going into next week and through the remainder of the season," said Doyle.

"Woking is a great club with a rich history. I'm looking forward to working with Ian, the backroom staff, players and the people behind the scenes."

Potter being lined up to take over Man Utd
Ashworth also moving to Man Utd
Howe to be sacked at Newcastle.
Morhinio taking over Newcastle
WBA struggling to extend players contracts.

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 Random Badger gives you 2 points

The random badger is used for any random prediction used once in each matchday sequence. For instance, a scorer at a particular match, the number of red cards in the matches or yellow cards or own goals or owt you want really within reason, I do need to be able to check whether it's correct or not. Please don't put stuff like....."Commentator says...."  
The joker   is played for one match in each sequence and if correct you get double points. So if you've predicted 1-0 and it finishes 2-0, you get 4 pts, but if you've predicted 2-0, that's 8 pts. But if you get it wrong, it's minus 2.
Jokers and badgers are optional. You don't have to play one if you don't want.

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. Similarly with the badger, if your random prediction is affected by this, it'll be half the points.

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.  

End of season Play Offs: The one who finishes top of the league will still be champion, but after the season finishes there will be Play Offs between the top 4, with 1st v 4th and 2nd v 3rd. This will take in stuff like the EFL Play Offs, FA Cup Final, final day of Prima Donna League, European Finals etc. It will be one matchday for the semis and one for the Final. It will be the individual scores for each matchday against the allotted opponent, with some kind of tie breaker for a drawn match.

The prize for winning will be enormous. Another rep point.

1. St Charles Owl = 404 pts
   
2. Baggiebob(BBB) = 389 pts
   
3. jjamez = 350 pts
   
4. theo_luddite = 331 pts
   
5. themaclad = 326 pts
   
6. neonfoxinthebox = 321 pts
   

Friday 22nd December:
Bristol City v Hull City
Swansea City v Preston North End

Saturday 23rd December:
Norwich v Town
Town scorers:
Norwich scorers:

Leeds United v Ipswich Town (12:30)
Blackburn Rovers v Watford
Leicester City v Rotherham United
Middlesbrough v West Bromwich Albion
Plymouth Argyle v Birmingham City
Queens Park Rangers v Southampton
Sheffield Wednesday v Cardiff City
Stoke City v Millwall
Sunderland v Coventry City

Tuesday 26th December:
Town v Blackburn
Town scorers:
Rovers scorers:

Preston North End v Leeds United (12:30)
Millwall v Queens Park Rangers (13:00)
Cardiff City v Plymouth Argyle
Coventry City v Sheffield Wednesday
Hull City v Sunderland
Rotherham United v Middlesbrough
Southampton v Swansea City
Watford v Bristol City
West Bromwich Albion v Norwich City
Birmingham City v Stoke City (17:15)
Ipswich Town v Leicester City (19:45)

Bonus matches (all Saturday):
Premier League:
Fulham v Burnley
Nottingham Forest v AFC Bournemouth
Liverpool v Arsenal (17:30)


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

1. Lord Snooty = 359 pts
   
2. ritchiebaby = 329 pts
   
3. WakeyTerrier = 324 pts
   
4. Devongone = 319 pts
   
5. Amelia Chaffinch = 290 pts
   
6. SHEP_HTAFC = 282 pts
   

Friday 22nd December:
Bristol City v Hull City
Swansea City v Preston North End

Saturday 23rd December:
Norwich v Town
Town scorers:
Norwich scorers:

Leeds United v Ipswich Town (12:30)
Blackburn Rovers v Watford
Leicester City v Rotherham United
Middlesbrough v West Bromwich Albion
Plymouth Argyle v Birmingham City
Queens Park Rangers v Southampton
Sheffield Wednesday v Cardiff City
Stoke City v Millwall
Sunderland v Coventry City


Tuesday 26th December:
Town v Blackburn
Town scorers:
Rovers scorers:

Preston North End v Leeds United (12:30)
Millwall v Queens Park Rangers (13:00)
Cardiff City v Plymouth Argyle
Coventry City v Sheffield Wednesday
Hull City v Sunderland
Rotherham United v Middlesbrough
Southampton v Swansea City
Watford v Bristol City
West Bromwich Albion v Norwich City
Birmingham City v Stoke City (17:15)
Ipswich Town v Leicester City (19:45)


Bonus matches (all Saturday):
Premier League:
West Ham United v Manchester United (12:30)

Scottish Premiership:
Ross County v Hibernian

National League:
Chesterfield v Aldershot Town


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