Before todays game we are 8 points from a play off place with a game in hand with no difference in goal difference. 

If you are super optimistic we are 15 points from automatic promotion, with a game in hand, but also 16 goals behind in goal difference. 

For those pessimists we are 2 points above the relegation zone have a game in hand and are 11 goals ahead on goal difference. 

See where we are after this round of results!

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 17TH DECEMBER KO 3:00PM

v

LAST MATCH



It looked like a long journey would end in defeat until Paterson came up with a late late equalizer. There were chances at both ends,  Windass forcing Blackmon into a save while we had to clear off the line at the other. McGuiness and Bakinson went close but we went in 0-0. Onto the second and Exeter were the better and took the lead when a long range effort beat Stockdale, who should have done better. Stansfield should have made it 2 better a Stockdale error but the keeper redeemed himself. We then rescued a point when Paterson steered in an effort from 20+ yards deep into injury time

THE MATCH



Next up and Oxford make the journey north. They made a slow start to the season but recent form has picked up, no defeats in 7 in the league and they now lie 16th, 5 points above the relegation zone, if they can keep this current form up they should be able to mount a challenge for the playoffs. Brannagan is there main threat with 8 goals, with Bodin not far behind with 6. They are managed by Karl Robinson, who usually gets linked with us when we are searching for a manager.

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 9
OXFORD 12
DRAWS 11

CURRENT FORM

OWLS              -                                                                    

OXFORD          -                                 

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

SEBASTIAN STOCKBRIDGE
Darren Williams and Lewis Raper
Fourth Official : Thomas Kirk

THE TEAM

Stockdale
Palmer Ihikwe McGuiness Johnson
Bannan Byers FDB
Windass
Gregory Smith

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

2-1 Smith

ATTENDANCE

23112

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

BML LEAGUE

Stateside 10
Imre 8
Wash 8
Pieowl 6
Owlskev 6
Maddix 4
SCO 4

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Croatia v Morrocco
Burnley v Middleboro
Wycombe v Ipswich
Northampton v Carlisle
Walsall v Crewe

HHAHD

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE

WEREHAM




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Aldershot 2-0 Welling
Fylde 2-0 Kidderminster
Altrincham 3-1 Curzon Ashton
Barnet 2-0 Plymouth Parkway
Chelmsford City 1-3 Wealdstone
Chesterfield 4-0 Coalville Town
Dag & Red 5-0 Uxbridge
Farsley Celtic 1-0 Chester
Marske United 1-2 Marine
Slough Town 1-2 Taunton Town
Tamworth 2-0 Leamington
York 1-2 Blyth Spartans


League Table After Matchday 26
Devon - 567
Lord Snoots - 467
SaltergateBorn - 439
St Charles Owl - 436
Amelia - 425
Spireitematt - 408
Dancing - 391

Might be important

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2639912



LAST TIME OUT



Neil Critchley

Critchley retired as a player aged 24 and became a coach at Crewe, working under Gradi and Steve Holland,[4] and being appointed joint Academy director in 2007, before joining Liverpool as under-18s coach in 2013.[5]

Liverpool
Due to fixture congestion of Liverpool's first team during the 2019–20 season, Critchley served as their stand-in manager for their EFL Cup away match against Aston Villa on 17 December 2019.[6] The congestion was caused by Liverpool's participation in the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar, which overlapped with the EFL Cup quarter-finals.[7][8][9] Liverpool, fielding a team made up exclusively of under-23s, were beaten 5–0.[10][11] Critchley again served as Liverpool's stand-in manager for the FA Cup fourth round replay against Shrewsbury Town on 4 February 2020, as the first team were on a mid-season break.[12] The youthful Liverpool team won 1–0 via an own goal.[13]

Blackpool
On 2 March 2020, Critchley was appointed as head coach of Blackpool on a three-and-a-half-year contract.[14] After a curtailed regular season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Blackpool finished in 13th position after standings were amended to reflect a points-per-game ratio.[15]

In Critchley's first full season in charge, 2020–21, Blackpool finished third at the conclusion of the regular season, going on to win promotion via the EFL League One play-offs.[16]

On 19 November 2021, Critchley signed a four-year extension to his contract, keeping him at Bloomfield Road until 2026.[17] The following week, Critchley was named Manager of the Season at the annual North West Football Awards, beating Manchester City's Pep Guardiola, Blackpool's former captain and now Bolton Wanderers manager Ian Evatt, and former Morecambe manager Derek Adams.[18]

Aston Villa (assistant)
On 2 June 2022, Critchley departed Blackpool after accepting the role of assistant head coach to Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa.[19] He had told Blackpool's owner Simon Sadler that he was keen to work again with Gerrard and "pit himself against some of the best coaches in the world".[20]

On 21 October 2022, Critchley departed Aston Villa, following the sacking of Gerrard the day prior.[21]

Queens Park Rangers
On 11 December 2022, Critchley was appointed head coach of Championship club Queens Park Rangers on a three-and-a-half year deal.[22]


In The Dressing Room

With several players having missed last weekend’s victory over Blackburn Rovers through injury, Ryan Lowe is hopeful of at least one returning to the fold.

He confirmed in his pre-match press conference that one or two would be taking part in training on Thursday or Friday, and that their progress would be assessed ahead of the game.

Troy Parrott will definitely miss out, with the manager expecting to have the Irish forward back for the Huddersfield Town FA Cup game.

A Look At Our Visitors

It’s the start of a new era at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday afternoon, with head coach Neil Critchley set to take charge of the team for the first time since his appointment last weekend.

The former Blackpool and Liverpool U23 boss goes into Loftus Road following the departure of Michael Beale to Scottish side Rangers, and Critchley is tasked with getting the R’s back on track.

After an impressive start to the campaign, things haven’t gone as well in recent games, as they head into the weekend winless in six – with five of those matches ending in defeat.

Going Head To Head


Games played: 49
PNE wins: 19
Draws: 17
QPR wins: 13
Last meeting: PNE 2-1 QPR, 9th April 2022

One To Watch


Attacking midfielder Chris Willock is often a man QPR turn to for inspiration, and he regularly comes up with the goods.

Following an impressive 2021/22 campaign, which saw the Arsenal Academy graduate directly contribute to 18 goals, so far this season he’s been involved in seven.

With fellow attacking spark Ilias Chair still away with Morocco at the Qatar World Cup, skilful dribbler Willock could have a big part to play as he looks for his first goal since the start of October.

Match Officials


After officiating the last fixture at Deepdale – a defeat to Millwall – Oliver Langford is back in Lancashire this weekend.

It will be the third time this season which Langford has refereed a North End fixture, after taking charge of the Rotherham United and Millwall matches.

He has been the main official for 17 matches in total this season, showing 65 yellow cards and one red so far.


MACS VIEW

Like our last opponents the hapless plastics from Blackburn, Rangers play us fresh from a 3-0 to Burnley, so hopefully we will follow with another 4-1 victory
However they have the new manager syndrome which will probably give them a bit of lift after being demolished by the Dingles. Best keep an eye on the weather -7 tonight frost covers will be down so hopefully will get the go ahead for Saturday.
The last game before we start a run of playing Huddersfield at Deepdale.

Premier League

Minizin 15pts 1CS 3CR 10GB 3BB 0SB
Zinman 14pts 0CS 5CR 5GB 3BB 0SB
Blue Baggie 13pts 1CS 2CR 10GB 3BB 0SB
Derby 6pts 1CS 3CR -3GB 0BB 1SB
Snooty 6pts 0CS 3CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
Stairs 3pts 1CS 2CR 0GB -3BB 0SB
Sanjay 1pt 0CS 2CR 0GB -3BB 0SB
SCO 1pt 0CS 1CR -3GB 3BB 1SB

We may have had some time off but this didn't seem to change many people's form as this week's table has a very familiar look to it. With a couple of games postponed - is it a bit cold over there? - scores were unsurprisingly below average though, for once, the gamball generated a positive total score.

It was another good week for the Zins, Minizin coming out just on top of their personal battle largely - no, that should be totally - due to his lucky guess on the gamball to give him a maximum. Only 3 correct results for Minizin but as those included both balls, he heads this week's table with 15 points. Zinman is just a point further back and continues his pre-break form - that's now 4 weeks in a row that he's occupied one of the top 2 positions in the table. Zin scored on 5 of the 8 games, 2 more than anyone else, but failed to turn any of them into correct scores. Blue had one of his better weeks, in fact his best of the season so far and......for the first time this season he got the gamball right!

We then have a bit of a gap to the rest. Derby and Snooty each scored 6 points, though Derby played his bonus on a postponed game (whether this helped or hindered him we'll never know!) while Snooty was the 4th player to derive some compensation from England's defeat. Stairs benefited from not playing the gamball to stay off the foot of the table with 3 points while both Sanjay and SCO managed just a single point each. SCO only scored on 1 game (but luckily it happened to be his bonus) to sit bottom of the pile for the 3rd consecutive week.

Minizin 126
Derby 125
Zinman 121
Snooty 116
Stairs 95
Sanjay 92
SCO 86
Blue 68

Things looking interesting at the top of the table as Derby surrenders his lead to Minizin by just a single point with Zinman now just 5 points off the lead, climbing ahead of Snooty. I't's still early but there's a split developing between the top and bottom 4 with a gap of 21 points between 4th and 5th places. Blue remains stuck at the foot of the table but the others are not that far ahead!

Zin


Championship

Lady Jane 22pts 1CS 5CR 10GB 3BB 1SB
Amelia 9pts 1CS 3CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
Baggie One 7pts 1CS 1CR NPGB 3BB 0SB
BBB 7pts 1CS 2CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
AAA 7pts 0CS 3CR NPGB 3BB 0SB
Dingle 3pts 0CS 3CR -3GB PPBB 0SB
Twerton 2pts 0CS 2CR -3GB PPBB 1SB
Themaclad 0pts 1CS 1CR -3GB -3BB PPSB

Slightly depleted week with a couple of games postponed but that didn't stop Lady Jane from posting her best weekly score of the season!! She ended on 22 points with a spot on Gamball backed up with 5 CRs including the Bonus!! She was miles ahead of everyone else with Amelia in 2nd spot on 9 points, followed by Baggie One, BBB and AAA on 7 points each. Nothing much stands out with these scores except they all scored on their Bonus although Baggie One and AAA both would have scored a few more points if they had played the Gamball.

Bit of a gap down to Dingle in 6th place with 3 points and Twerton with 2 points. Both of them saw their Bonus game postponed so they will get two of these next week to hopefully add a few more points for them. Themaclad once again is bottom of the pile, this time with a big fat zero!!

165 Dingle
146 BaggieOne
139 Lady Jane
113 BBB
100 AAA
95 Themaclad
87 Amelia
72 Twerton

Only one change in the table this week. Dingle maintains a healthy lead over Baggie One but Lady Jane's excellent week now sees her clear in 3rd place and hot on the heels of the top 2. AAA becomes the 5th player to reach the century, something that Themaclad has been on the verge of doing for a few weeks only to see him either go backwards or stick in a zero!!

Cheers
SCO

https://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/article/jo...ngers-test

So we restart our footie season tomorrow night with a challenging match away to RFC and their new manager, Michael Beale. Lee Johnson professing Hibs have prepared well for this match by studying their players and Beale's previous tactics at QPR. Is it enough? I have my doubts after being concerned re Hibs recent woeful friendly display v Raith Rovers, a match they just won and the overall display from the players, who have had a good few weeks of rest and recuperation, not impressing at all. We'll see how this opening match at Ibronx ends up!! I'd luv to see a win of any kind although that is prob asking too much of this team. At least "give it a go" Hibs and play with commitment and resolve to try and turn round a footie season that has really been questionable so far with the ability of the manager being seriously debated.

GGTTH

I've never had much time to do any research on the B-Championships being played in Lohja, Finland, since Wednesday and it's maybe just as well. England Men had a hard time of it, playing 6 games and losing all 6.

The Men's competition finished earlier today with China winning Gold, Italy Silver and Turkiye Bronze. These 3 have qualified for the A-Competition at the end of February in Fuessen, Germany. The full men’s field in qualification order is Scotland, Germany, Canada, Norway, Switzerland, United States, Korea, China, Italy and Türkiye.

The Women start their competition on Thursday and the 25 teams are divided into four groups - 3 groups of six teams and 1 group of seven teams. The round robin games run until the morning of Sunday 18 December. The quarter-finals take place on the same day in the afternoon. The semi-finals and the medal games take place on Monday 19 December. The three medal winning women’s teams qualify for the World Junior Curling Championships 2023.

The teams are from Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Korea, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, Qatar, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Türkiye and Ukraine. England , 3 of whom have played together for the past 4 years, should have a better chance than the Men and Scotland should have an even better chance than that to qualify with their previous experience at this level.

England are represented by Mia Andell (Skip), Annabelle Martin (Vice-Skip), Anna Howey (2nd) and Phoenix Davies (Lead) and are in Group C.

Anna, Annabelle, Mia and Phoenix Image Credit: @team_andell IG

Scotland are drawn in Group D and are represented by Fay Henderson (Skip), Robyn Munro (Vice-Skip), Holly Wilkie-Milne (2nd), Laura Watt (Lead) and Amy Mitchell (Alternate).

Scrambling around for decent fixtures this week.

Gamball:
Hull - Sunderland

Others:
Bristol City - Stoke
Burnley - Middlesbrough
Cardiff - Blackpool
Coventry - Swansea
Huddersfield - Watford
Preston - QPR
Norwich - Blackburn
Wycombe - Ipswich
Luton - Millwall

A few matches were postponed this week so there may be some extra balls to play this week. Keep an eye out and I'll list them on this thread when I've had a chance to go through everyone's predictions.

OK, done that (work's not exactly busy today!)
Extra bonus balls for: Derby, Dingle-Dingle and Twerton
Extra Score balls for: Themacclad and Lord Snooty