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 the abandoned Matchday 7:

1. Baggiebob(BBB) = 127 pts
   
2. neonfoxinthebox = 114 pts
   
3. jjamez = 113 pts
   
4. SHEP_HTAFC = 101 pts
   
5. Lord Snooty = 90 pts
   
6. ritchiebaby = 89 pts
   

Friday 19th September:
Championship:
Middlesbrough v West Bromwich Albion (20:00)

Saturday 20th September:
League One:
Town v Burton Albion
Town scorers:
Burton scorers:

Lincoln City v Luton Town (12:30)
Cardiff City v Bradford City
Doncaster Rovers v AFC Wimbledon
Plymouth Argyle v Peterborough United
Port Vale v Mansfield Town
Rotherham United v Stockport County

Scottish League Cup quarter finals:
Rangers v Hibernian (17:45)

Sunday 21st September:
Premier League:
Sunderland v Aston Villa (14:00)

Tuesday 23rd September:
EFL Cup 3rd round:
Barnsley v Brighton & Hove Albion
Wrexham v Reading
Wigan Athletic v Wycombe Wanderers

Wednesday 24th September:
Town v Man City
Town scorers:
City scorers:

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

1. themaclad = 132 pts
   
2. Devongone = 103 pts
   
3. Amelia Chaffinch = 98 pts
   
4. theo_luddite = 98 pts
   
5. St Charles Owl = 77 pts
   
6. WakeyTerrier = 77 pts
   

Saturday 20th September:
Premier League:
Liverpool v Everton (12:30)

Championship:
Derby County v Preston North End
Portsmouth v Sheffield Wednesday

League One:
Town v Burton Albion
Town scorers:
Burton scorers:

Blackpool v Barnsley (12:30)
Bolton Wanderers v Wigan Athletic (12:30)
Reading v Leyton Orient
Stevenage v Exeter City
Wycombe Wanderers v Northampton Town

League Two:
Bromley v Chesterfield

Tuesday 23rd September:
EFL Cup 3rd round:
Lincoln City v Chelsea

Wednesday 24th September:
Town v Man City
Town scorers:
City scorers:

Newcastle United v Bradford City
Port Vale v Arsenal

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

Just a quick note that the site took a dump last night and posts from the past few days have been lost. The recovery back up that was used took us back a few days, to last Friday I think, so some threads will be missing posts made over the weekend. Nothing sinister on this and its site wide.

OwlKev, did you record the full predictions and results from the Brizzle game, as some of them are gone?

Chris Wilder is back at Sheffield United for a third time as manager, three months after he was sacked to make way for Ruben Selles.

Wilder replaces Selles who was dismissed on Sunday following the Blades' 5-0 thrashing at Ipswich, which left them bottom of the Championship with no points.

Wilder, who turns 58 next week, was sacked by United's American owners, COH Sports, after they lost to Sunderland in the Championship play-off at Wembley.

COH Sports have reappointed Wilder on a contract until 2027 after Selles' calamitous spell as the former Southampton, Reading and Hull boss lost all six of his matches in charge.

"Chris Wilder returns with proven leadership and an unparalleled understanding of Sheffield United," a statement read on the club's website.

"We are confident he is the right person to restore momentum, unite the squad and supporters, and deliver the results necessary to achieve our objectives this season."

After supporting the Blades as a child, Wilder's professional relationship with the club began almost 40 years ago as a player in 1986.

The former defender spent six years at Bramall Lane before leaving to join Rotherham and then returned for a brief spell in 1998.

After winning promotion as a manager at Oxford and Northampton, Wilder began his first spell as United boss in 2016 and steered them to the League One title in his first season.

The Blades finished runners-up in the Championship in 2019, sealing a return to the Premier League for the first time since 2007 under Neil Warnock.

They excelled in their first season back in the top tier, beating Everton, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea on the way to finishing ninth, their best placing since 1975.

United nosedived the following season and Wilder left with the club bottom of the top flight in March 2021.

Wilder had spells at Middlesbrough and Watford before returning to Bramall Lane in December 2023 to succeed Paul Heckingbottom with the club again bottom of the Premier League.

He could not save the side from relegation, but he amassed 90 points to finish third last season before enduring the heartbreak of a play-off defeat to a Sunderland side whose winner came in stoppage time.


It's a sensational return for Wilder, having only left the club in June. His initial departure came after recording 92 points last season - two of those were deducted before the start of the season - and reaching the Championship play-off final.

It was a controversial decision to part ways and the new plan simply hasn't worked. Any complaints anyone might've had about last year were quickly put into perspective when United started this season with six straight defeats.

Key players who flourished under Wilder - Harrison Burrows, Michael Cooper, Sydie Pieck - have all looked a shadow of their former selves.

Gus Hamer, last year's top player in the Championship, was reduced to sitting on the bench as Ipswich hit United for five on Friday. So was Tyrese Campbell. They are another pair who were instrumental to the club's success last season.

The owners appear to be admitting defeat, holding their hands up and making amends. It's rare you see that level of humility in football.

Wilder loves Sheffield United and will be jumping at the chance to get back in and get things going again. He knows the club better than anyone, will be able to walk back in and crack on quickly.

It's an incredible set of events that will be all the more remarkable if he turns United's season around. There's still plenty of time left to get them up the table.

You might notice that loads of posts have gone missing this morning. By my reckoning is everything since Friday afternoon.

I've messaged Stairs and he's messaged Mark and this is the reply.

Sadly you are right.

Mark was forced last night to perform a recovery and as a result data has been lost and can’t be recovered.

Please spread the word and ask people to re enter posts accordingly.

I am very sorry. Nothing can be done to get material back and I know some very high quality contributions will have vanished.

You might notice that loads of posts have gone missing this morning. By my reckoning is everything since Friday afternoon.

I've messaged Stairs and he's messaged Mark and this is the reply.

Sadly you are right.

Mark was forced last night to perform a recovery and as a result data has been lost and can’t be recovered.

Please spread the word and ask people to re enter posts accordingly.

I am very sorry. Nothing can be done to get material back and I know some very high quality contributions will have vanished.

You might notice that loads of posts have gone missing this morning. By my reckoning is everything since Friday afternoon.

I've messaged Stairs and he's messaged Mark and this is the reply.

Sadly you are right.

Mark was forced last night to perform a recovery and as a result data has been lost and can’t be recovered.

Please spread the word and ask people to re enter posts accordingly.

I am very sorry. Nothing can be done to get material back and I know some very high quality contributions will have vanished.

Danny Webb is set to join Yeovil Town as their new manager. He played for Yeovil and his father managed and also owned the club.

Just read that an idea has been put forward that would/could affect future promotion prospects.

The idea suggested is to increase the end of season playoffs to six teams.
How would it work I hear you say.
Well, the team finishing fifth would play an eliminator tie against the team finishing eighth, sixth would play seventh. The two winners would enter the normal playoffs for a chance at promotion via Wembley.

To me, it’s a stupid suggestion. You could be third all season miss out on automatic by a point or even on goal difference, a team twenty or more points below you have a little run and scrape into eighth, a whole third of the way down the league, have a bit of luck and make it to Wembley and then the premier league. Teams finishing first, second and third struggle in the premier league upon promotion what chance someone scraping eighth place.

I’m not a big fan of the playoffs although we have benefited from them in the past. Really the best three teams, top 3, have earned the right over 46 games and should go up. But I guess the playoffs generate more money …. Why not do away with the league and go straight to a 24 team playoff style tournament. Not necessary the best team winning but the team with the best draw and easiest route. Let’s just draw straws.

Stop messing with the people’s game. They’ve tampered with the premier league making it easier for the rich clubs to succeed but want to make the EFL easier for smaller clubs to win a lottery. Heaven forbid.

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER KO 3PM

v

LAST MATCH



We made it back to back home league defeats as we went down to Swansea. It was a quiet first half, with the Swans edging it but neither team really looked like scoring and we went in at the break 0-0. Onto the 2nd half and within 5 minutes we were behind when Vipotnik fired past Horvath at his near post. Swansea had a few more opportunities but we kept the score at 0-1. We then had probably our best chance but Valery fired narrowly over the bar. Swansea made the game safe when Ronald found space in the box and fired past Horvath and they saw the game out to take the points.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Next up and another home as Bristol make the journey north. Bristol have made a good start to the season winning 2 and drawing 2 of there first four league games, there only defeat coming away to Fulham in the League cup. Bristol did make the playoffs last year but then got blown away by the Blunts, 6-0 on aggregate. I think they have a chance to make it back to the playoffs as the league doesn't seem particularly good this season. They are managed by Gerhard Struber, who once managed the Dingles 6 years ago. There leading scorer this season is Scoot Twine who has 3 goals and an assist so far this season.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 31
BRIS 19
DRAW 18

CURRENT FORM

OWLS    L D L L                                                            

BRIS W D D W

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

TOM NIELD
Andrew Dallison and Andrew Fox
Fourth Official: Robert Massey-Ellis

THE TEAM

Horvath
Valery Iorfa Otegbayo Amass
Fusire Ingelsson Bannan
J Lowe Cadamarteri Ugbo

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-3 Cadamarteri

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

56

ATTENDANCE

19871

BML LEAGUE

SCO 3
Maddix 1
Owlkev 1
Imre
Washington

BMPL

Stateside 4
Pei -11
Wereham -12
Southey -12

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Fulham v Leeds
Stoke v Birmingham
Wigan v Doncaster
Chesterfield v MK Dons
Forest Green v Scunthorpe

HDAHD

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Former Barrow caretaker manager Rob Kelly has returned to the club to become assistant head coach to Andy Whing.

Kelly, 60, will share the role with Craig Pead, who has been Whing's long-time assistant.

He had two spells as caretaker of the Cumbria club in the 2020-21 season, after the departures of David Dunn and then Michael Jolley.

But Kelly, who has been Leicester City manager and held coaching positions at various clubs, returns to help a Barrow side who are 19th in League Two after seven matches with just six points.

"I'm absolutely delighted to be able to bring in someone of Rob's experience," Whing told the club's website.

"We have a very young staff group, so to have someone like Rob coming in will be great for everyone."

Kelly first moved to the SO Legal Stadium to work under Dunn, just after Barrow had returned to the EFL.

He had a caretaker spell in between Dunn and Jolley and then when the latter left after a short period in charge, Kelly was caretaker for over two months, eventually securing the Bluebirds' League Two survival with two matches to go.

He did not want the job on a permanent basis and subsequently left to become assistant manager at League One Wigan Athletic.