2 points for each correct scorer
Correct joker doubles your score      
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.

Friday 20th January:
Sheffield United v Hull City
Burnley v West Bromwich Albion

Saturday 20th January:
Blackpool v Town
Town scorers:
Blackpool scorers:

Coventry City v Norwich City (12:30)
Birmingham City v Preston North End
Bristol City v Blackburn Rovers
Cardiff City v Millwall
Queens Park Rangers v Swansea City
Stoke City v Reading
Watford v Rotherham United
Wigan Athletic v Luton Town

Sunday 22nd January:
Sunderland v Middlesbrough (12:00)

Bonus matches:
Scottish Cup 4th round:
Sunday:
Hibernian v Heart of Midlothian (14:00)

FA Cup 3rd round replay:
Tuesday:
Accrington Stanley v Boreham Wood

EFL Cup semi finals 1st leg:
Tuesday:
Southampton v Newcastle United

Wednesday:
Nottingham Forest v Manchester United

Table after Matchday 22:

1. jjamez = 522 pts
   
2. neonfoxinthebox = 466 pts
   
3. themaclad = 458 pts
   
4. theo_luddite = 455 pts
   
5. Baggiebob(BBB) = 437 pts
   
6. Lord Snooty = 425 pts
   
7. SHEP_HTAFC = 418 pts
   
8. St Charles Owl = 412 pts
   
9. Amelia Chaffinch = 410 pts
   
10. ritchiebaby = 408 pts
    
11. Devongone = 368 pts
    
12. WakeyTerrier = 171 pts

FA Cup

Accrington 2-1 Boreham Wood
Forest Green 0-1 Birmingham
Swansea 2-1 Bristol City
Wigan 0-2 Luton
Wolves 1-0 Liverpool
West Brom 1-2 Chesterfield

National League

Altrincham 1-2 Maidenhead United
Barnet 2-1 Yeovil
Dag & Red 0-2 Eastleigh
Solihull Moors 0-0 Aldershot
Wealdstone 2-3 Oldham



League Table After Matchday 32
Devon - 659
Lord Snoots - 582
St Charles Owl - 556
SaltergateBorn - 552
Spireitematt - 543
Amelia - 528
Dancing - 492

Struggling Cardiff City have sacked manager Mark Hudson after four months in charge of the Championship club.

The former Bluebirds captain was relieved of his duties within hours of their 1-1 home draw against bottom-club Wigan Athletic.

Dean Whitehead takes interim charge of Cardiff, who are one place and three points above the relegation zone.

"The club's search for a new permanent manager will begin immediately," Cardiff said in a statement.

Tom Ramasut stays on as assistant manager of the Bluebirds with goalkeeping coach Graham Stack also remaining among the backroom staff.

Cardiff added: "The board of directors would like to place on record its thanks to Mark for all of his work as a player, coach and manager whilst with the Bluebirds.

"We wish Mark all the very best of luck for the future."

Cardiff are winless in nine games and the draw against Wigan underlined their struggles, having led through a Callum O'Dowda goal until Will Keane's dramatic late equaliser.

Hudson is the second manager the Bluebirds have sacked this season after they dismissed Steve Morison in September.

THIS SITE GETS MORE BIZARRE AND ANNOYING ALL THE TIME. I WAS TYPING IN A LITTLE POST CALLED INS AND OUTS AND IT WAS WIPED OUT AND I WAS TAKEN TO EMAIL. THANKS.

Cooper mutualled, permanent sick notes. Cook to the heat of the kitchen at the heart of Dorking's oven-sweaty defence. Whelan loaned to Solihull to get them to the play offs so they can beat us ..... again.

Colclough in from Alty. Either the Technique is being re-shaped to accommodate more than the usual number of wings or somebody is on the way out. What do you think? Can't say he was on my wish list.

Keeping Dobra till the end of the season was definitely on my wish list.

Huddersfield Town have been fined £6,000 and Preston North End a total of £5,750 by the Football Association following a first-half scuffle in their Championship game last month.

Both teams were deemed to have breached FA rule E20.1, after a flare-up following a challenge by Town's David Kasumu on Preston's Ryan Ledson.

Kasumu was booked for his role in the incident, before a melee began.

The clubs admitted failure of their players to conduct themselves properly.

Huddersfield won the match on 26 December after a late comeback

Northampton Town manager Jon Brady has agreed a new rolling contract with the League Two club.

Brady took over as interim boss when Keith Curle was sacked in February 2021 and confirmed in the role three months later at the end of that season.

He guided the Cobblers to the League Two play-offs last term, but defeat by Mansfield ended their promotion hopes.

Assistant boss Colin Calderwood and coaches Marc Richards and James Alger have also agreed similar rolling deals.

Northampton are currently third in the table ahead of Saturday's game at Stockport County, seven points clear of Carlisle United in fourth.

"We firmly believe the club is progressing both on and off the pitch and the management team are obviously a huge part of that," chairman Kelvin Thomas told the club website.

"Over the last two years we have seen a tremendous improvement in results, performances, style and recruitment, not just in terms of the quality of player but the potential of the squad too."

Brady managed non-league Brackley Town until 2015 before joining Northampton as a youth coach.

"This is an extremely well run club, a proud community club and we are delighted to be given the opportunity to try and continue to take the club forward," the 47-year-old Australian said.

"We have the core of a very good squad under contract and that excites us."

Scunthorpe have been served a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs over an alleged unpaid tax bill.

Owner Peter Swann is trying to sell the National League club but a takeover, which seemed close to completion last month, is yet to go through.

Swann has acknowledged the online publication of the winding-up petition but has added no further comment.

The Iron were relegated out of the Football League after 72 years last season and are bottom of the division.

Begbies Traynor, the company dealing with offers for the club, told BBC Radio Humberside that the winding-up petition "shows the urgency required by any potential purchaser".

Manager



David Wagner

Borussia Dortmund II
Following his playing career, Wagner became a manager, working mostly with his former 1. Mainz 05 teammate Jürgen Klopp. Wagner was appointed as Borussia Dortmund II manager with effect from 1 July 2011.[11] He left the role on 31 October 2015, amid rumours that he was going to join Klopp's backroom staff at Liverpool.[12][13]

Huddersfield Town

On 5 November 2015, Wagner was appointed manager of English club Huddersfield Town following the departure of Chris Powell.[14] He brought Christoph Bühler, who had left Borussia Dortmund on 1 November 2015, with him as his assistant.[12][15]

In the summer of 2016, Wagner brought in 13 players from across the continent, including Danny Ward, Chris Löwe, and Aaron Mooy. He took his players on a bonding tour of Sweden, where they had to survive with only basic equipment for a few days.[16] The team's success in the early 2016–17 season was largely accredited to the squad's tight bond, something that Wagner claimed was a direct result of this Sweden trip. A few weeks later, they visited Austria and kept two clean sheets in matches against Bundesliga teams Werder Bremen and Ingolstadt 04.[17] After an unbeaten start to the 2016–17 season, Huddersfield were top of the table at the start of September,[18] including a win at St James' Park against Newcastle United.[18][19] Wagner was the EFL Championship Manager of the Month for August 2016 and February 2017.[20][21]

On 29 May 2017, Huddersfield secured promotion to the Premier League for the 2017–18 season, following a victory on penalties in the play-off final against Reading.[22][23] On 30 June 2017, Wagner signed an improved two-year contract.[24] He was praised for his achievements in keeping Huddersfield in the Premier League at the end of the 2017–18 season, a feat regarded by bookmakers as improbable and described by The Guardian as "the Premier League's greatest survival story", with Wagner in particular noted as "a leader of rare charisma and intelligence."[25]

On 14 January 2019, Wagner and Huddersfield Town agreed to terminate his contract by mutual consent, with the team in last place and eight points from safety.[26]

Schalke 04
On 9 May 2019, Wagner was appointed as manager of Bundesliga club Schalke 04 on a three-year contract until 30 June 2022.[27] In the second half of the 2019–20 season, Schalke set a new club record of 16 league games without a win between 25 January and 27 June 2020.[28] The winless streak continued with an 0–8 defeat against Bayern Munich in the first match of the 2020–21 season.[29] After a 3–1 defeat against Werder Bremen, the 18th winless league match in a row, Wagner was sacked on 27 September 2020.[30]

Young Boys
In the summer of 2021, Wagner was heavily linked with the vacant manager's position at recently relegated Championship club West Bromwich Albion, however talks broke down.[31] On 10 June 2021, he was appointed manager of Swiss Super League reigning champions Young Boys.[32]

On his debut on 24 July, Wagner's team won 4–3 at FC Luzern.[33] Having won three qualifying rounds, the team took part in the UEFA Champions League group stage where they came last with one victory, a 2–1 home win over Manchester United in the opening fixture on 14 September.[34]

Wagner was unable to lead the Bern-based club to a fourth consecutive league title and was dismissed in March 2022. The team were in second place, 15 points behind FC Zürich.[35]

Norwich City
On 6 January 2023, Wagner returned to England when he was appointed head coach of Championship club Norwich City on a twelve-month rolling contract.

LAST TIME OUT



FORM GUIDE

PNE 10 CANARIES 6

In The Dressing Room

New signings Liam Delap and Tom Cannon will be available for selection and could make their PNE debuts in this fixture.

Manager Ryan Lowe confirmed in his pre-match press conference that Emil Riis is set to have an operation next week, with the Danish forward having suffered an ACL injury which will keep him out for the remainder of the season.

Fellow forward Troy Parrott may not be too far off, while Sean Maguire is also back on the grass with the squad, but both will be monitored and managed.

Brad Potts should be available despite an issue with his foot, while late decisions will be made on Ben Whiteman and Ched Evans who both have minor injuries.

A Look At Our Visitors


Newly-appointed Norwich City boss David Wagner will be hoping he can add another promotion out of the Championship to his CV during his time with the Canaries.

Replacing Dean Smith as head coach last week, Wagner has inherited a side who were tipped to bounce straight back to the Premier League after relegation last season, but it hasn’t quite panned out that way yet as they currently sit 11th in the table.

They are still within touching distance of the Play-Offs, though, and the new Norwich boss has good memories of them, having steered Huddersfield Town to the top flight via the end-of-season lottery back in 2017.

Going Head To Head


Games played: 57
PNE wins: 18
Draws: 18
Norwich City wins: 21
Last victory: Norwich City 2-3 PNE, 8th October 2022

One To Watch


Given what he’s done in previous seasons, everybody is well aware of the threat Teemu Pukki poses, but 22-year-old Josh Sargent is someone people perhaps don’t know as much about.

The United States international, who played three times at the Qatar World Cup, is the Canaries’ top scorer so far this season, with nine goals to his name in Championship action.

Formerly of Werder Bremen, Sargent has played much of his football from a wide position under Dean Smith this season, but new boss Wagner has indicated that the American is more likely to be used as a centre forward from now on.

Match Officials


Stephen Martin is the man in the middle for this fixture, for what will be his first PNE match of the season.

The experienced official last took charge of a North End match in March 2022 when the Lilywhites were beaten at the home of Luton Town.

So far this season, Martin has been the main official in 13 matches, showing 48 yellow cards and two reds in those games.


https://www.canaries.co.uk/

https://www.not606.com/forums/norwich-city.48/

MACS VIEW

Two forwards signed only taken 6 months add to the returning Parrott positive riches up front although the big Dane's ACL is a blow.
New manager syndrome again although Wagner has a cup loss against the Plastics last week, he's not exactly been a raving success since he left Huddersfield but City may just be the right club for him.
Decent side sadly misfiring under Dean Smith and in our goal shy season we actually got three against them. Usually decent games against them so I'll go 0-0

This will be a tricky fixture v a team fighting for survival at the bottom end of the Scot Prem. Hibs returning to a home fixture after registering a very welcome 2-3 victory v the Steelmen and 3 pts that give them a little bit of "breathing space" to push on into the fight for a top four place. No time for complacency all the same and our mindset really should be positive - onwards and upwards!! It wasn't that long ago Hibs had a solid stranglehold on this particular fixture with United hardly registering any positive result. This position has changed slightly in recent times and IMO one of the main reasons for this change is the loss of Martin Boyle who always played well in this fixture. More recently, we were previously done by some absolutely outrageous refereeing decisions!! I'm hoping the return of Aiden McGeady compensates for the loss of Boyle: his presence, together with Kevin Nisbet's impressive scoring prowess, could give us the edge to win this game. Our defence still concerns me to the point I've previously suggested that we bring in new decent defenders who can strengthen what we've got. Porto isn't perfect, but he is our best CB at the club and it is noticeable that Hibs play well when he is motivated to drive Hibs forward from a CB or midfield position. However, he needs help. At the mo, Hibs not moving to do anything on the transfer front. I know who I'd bring in to improve this team in certain positions and I'd be very, very confident of positive results after such action. Hibs coaching/management staff must have a good inkling re the areas of concern as well. C'mon Hibs! Winning another 3 pts will be huge in pushing on now!!

GGTTH