Peterborough United have appointed former Swansea City boss Luke Williams as manager on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

He replaces Darren Ferguson, whose fourth spell in charge came to an end when he was sacked following Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Blackpool.

Posh are bottom of League One, having won only three of their 13 games so far, and are five points adrift of safety.

Williams will take charge for Saturday's home FA Cup first-round tie against Cardiff City, with his first league game as boss against AFC Wimbledon, also at the Weston Homes Stadium, a week later.

Chairman Darragh MacAnthony said the appointment was the "start of a new era" for the club.

"This appointment isn't about what league we are in or recent poor results but about creating an identity for our club for years to come," MacAnthony added.

"Our club has an incredible academy, talented young players in our first team squad and the goal is always the same; play exciting attacking football, develop our young talent, recruit and develop the gems others miss, compete with the 'big boys', win promotions, trophies and become financially sustainable and a well-run football club that our fans feel constant pride in supporting."

Williams began his managerial career at Swindon Town in 2015 but was sacked following relegation to League Two at the end of the 2016-17 season.

He took over at then National League club Notts County in the summer of 2022 and they achieved a club-record 107 points in his first full season, winning promotion back to the English Football League via a penalty shootout win over Chesterfield at Wembley.

Williams stepped up two divisions when he was appointed by Swansea in January 2024 but lasted only 13 months in south Wales and left following a run of seven Championship defeats in nine games.

He will be assisted at Peterborough by Ryan Harley, who worked with Williams at Notts County and Swansea.

"I spoke to the chairman and to (director of football) Barry (Fry) as well - it really feels a good fit for us all," Williams said.

"I had really good conversations with Darragh, it made me feel enthused and (that it was) an opportunity I couldn't afford to miss."

He will aim to 'break the mould' but has 'job on his hands' - analysis
Peter Swan, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire sports editor

Luke Williams is Posh owner Darragh MacAnthony's 13th managerial appointment since buying the club back in 2006.

Of those 13 managers, four have been Darren Ferguson and of the rest only Grant McCann has achieved more than a year in charge.

Williams will be aiming to break the mould.

His preferred style of football should appeal to Posh fans, but there's no doubt he's got a job on his hands - Posh have won only 16 of their 59 league matches since the start of last season.

Group A

Stairs 21
Twerton 13
BaggieVicar 11
Minizin 10
Zimnan 8
A.A.A. 7
BaggieOne 4
B.B.B. 4

Not a bad week in Group A with 78 points being scored, thats the 3rd highest this season. Stairs is back on top with 21 points, his second 1st place in 3 weeks!! He was the only player to manage 2 CSs this week, and one of those was the Gamball (he was the only player to score positive points on the Gamabll as well)!! He also got a CR on the Bonus but missed on his scoreball a point he might rue not getting but more on that later. Quite a bit behind Stairs we find Twerton with 13 points in 2nd spot, his highest score since week 1. He scored on as many games as Stairs but that 9 point swing on the Gamball made all the difference. BaggieVicar is 3rd with 11 points, like the two above him he scored on 6 games, but he missed out on the Gamball and Bonus to keep his score below theirs.

Minizin is 4th with 10 points closely followed by Senior Zin with 8 points and AAA with 7 points. All of them scored a CR on the Bonus but the Zins managed one CS each to boost their scores. The bottom two - BaggieOne and BBB both finished on just 4 points, both of them missed on all their balls and we know what a pain it is when you balls are not working for you!! BaggieOne does seem to get at least one CS each week, whereas BBB struggles to get any of them most weeks.

120 BaggieOne
120 Stairs
115 Minizin
93 Twerton
85 A.A.A.
81 BaggieVicar
75 B.B.B.
53 Zinman

So with BaggieOne's poor run continuing his big lead of 22 points a few weeks ago has completely evaporated and now we have joint leaders with Stairs joining him at the top. I mentioned earlier about Stairs missing on his Scoreball, well the failure to get that point prevented him from taking the overall lead in the end. Minzin also is closer that he has been since week 2 and now sits just 5 points behind the leaders.

Big 22 point gap down to Twerton in 4th place on 93 points, but with that score being higher than the excellent leader of Group B, it does keep him in with a shout of the playoffs at the end of the season. AAA, BaggieVicar and BBB keep swapping place but all sit close to each others scores and not too far behind Twerton. They too are in with a shout of the Playoffs with Group B doing so much worse than Group A so far.

Zinman is still trying to find that damn anchor that is holding him to the bottom!!

A couple of Group A stats:

The Bonus ball is once again proving to be so difficult for nearly everyone. BaggieOne and Stairs are the only players with positive scores and the group as a whole is on -21 points from the Bonus. BBB and BagieVicar are sitting on -12 for the Bonus so far this season!!
The Gamball has produced 114 points so far but this is dominated by Minzin (37 points) and Stairs (33 points) whereas 5 other players have just single digit gains from it with BBB the lowest with just 4 points in total.
Overall the points from the balls pretty much mirror the league table - Minizin and Stairs are top with 42 points from their ball play, with BaggieOne a bit behind on 24. The bottom 3 are BaggieVicar with just 3 points in total, Zinman with just 2 and astoundingly BBB with -5!! Both Zinman and I have said it for a few seasons - get your ball play right and you will hit the peaks more often!!

Cheers
SCO


Group B

Snooty 16
4eva 15
Salop 14
Amelia 12
SCO 8
Derby 6
Lady Jane 0
Themaclad -1

After last week's record scoring, it was back to normal this week. Four players made double figures and none of the ba;lls or individual matches produced a negative score though nobody got anything from the Blackburn Southampton game. No show from Themaclad - I'm guessing he was nursing a hangover after Preston's comeback win on Friday night.

Snooty's on top this week helped by a full set of balls with his 5 correct predictions. This week also saw him finally break the duck on his gamball! Close behind is 4eva, 6 correct predictions but he missed out on the gamball. Salop is a further point back - he was the only player to get 2 correct scores but missed out on both the gamball and scoreball. Amelia is the 4th player in double figures - she only scored on 4 games, no correct scores, but like Snooty, scored on all her balls, including her first correct bonus of the season.

A bit of a gap to SCO with 8 points. 4 correct predictions including the gamball, but he was one of just 2 players to miss out on the bonus (a rare display of optimism about Wednesday!) and he also failed to land a correct score. Derby scored on just 3 games, one of them his bonus but like SCO failed to score a maximum.

Lady Jane was clearly basking in the glory of her full house last week so decided to take this week off - just 1 correct prediction that was fortunately spot on to nullify the missed balls. Themaclad's absence keeps her off the foot of the table.

91 SCO
88 4eva
84 Snooty
77 Lady Jane
67 Derby
66 Amelia
65 Themaclad
59 Salop

The big change in the overall table is a reversal of last week as Lady Jane drops from 2nd to 4th with 4eva and Snooty stepping up. SCO's lead is now down to just 3 points. Themaclad's no show sees him drop from 5th to 7th in a very crowded bottom of the table. SCO's lead is down to his prowess with the gamball - he now has a 60% success rate with it with Amelia just behind on 57% (4 out o 7 as she missed the first 3 weeks). On the bonus ball, Snooty is the only player with a positive return - 21 points with SCO 2nd on zero!

Zin

Let's take a quick look at the PO seeding situation with 10 weeks gone:

1: BaggieOne/Stairs - 120 points
2: St Charles - 91

3: BaggieOne/Stairs - 120
4: Minizin - 115
5: Twerton - 93
6: 4eve - 88

7: A.A.A. - 3 points behind Playoff places
8: Snooty - 4
9: BaggieVicar - 7
10: Lady Jane - 11
11: B.B.B. - 13
12: Derby - 21
13: Amelia - 22
14: Themaclad - 23
15: Salop - 29
16: Zinman - 35

So most players are still within shooting distance of the playoffs but with 20+ weeks to go there is still room for others to make a run at them.

League One club Reading have sacked manager Noel Hunt.

The Royals are 19th in the table, with just three wins from 14 games this season, and are just two points above the relegation zone following Saturday's home draw with Doncaster Rovers.

The 42-year-old was appointed in December 2024 after Ruben Selles left for Hull.

Hunt signed a two-and-a-half-year contract and had previously had a stint as caretaker boss at the club following the sacking of Paul Ince in April 2023.

Hunt made 162 appearances during a five-year spell at Reading as a player, scoring 39 goals, and was a popular figure among fans.

Chairman Rob Couhig said in a statement on the club website, external that it had been a "difficult" decision to part with Hunt but "results have not reached the level required".

The statement added: "Noel Hunt is far more than just a former manager of this football club – he is part of the fabric of Reading FC.

"As a player, he fought for this badge. As a coach in our academy, he helped shape the next generation of Royals.

"As first-team manager, he stepped up in very challenging circumstances and gave everything for the club.

"Noel has conducted himself with integrity, hard work and total commitment. He cares deeply about Reading Football Club and he leaves with his head held high."

Bloomfield or Ainsworth next? - analysis
Tim Dellor, BBC Berkshire

Seeing good people sacked is never nice, particularly those who are as loyal, hard-working and likeable as Noel Hunt.

During 2024 he stepped up when the club was on its knees, not just in taking over as manager when Ruben Selles walked out, but before that getting a string of young academy players ready to step into first-team football. Those players were thrown in at a time the club was banned from bringing new players in via the transfer market, and all of them stayed afloat.

Often the arrival of a new owner marks the beginning of the end for a manager at any club. Rob Couhig made all the right noises in support of Hunt, but after just 14 games he pulled the trigger.

Some fans will point to 19th place, and only 15 points from 14 games, as justification for the sacking. Others will highlight the fact Reading have only lost two games in 11, a stretch running back to mid-August, and a squad depleted of four of their best players (Harvey Knibbs, Sam Smith, Amadou Mbengue and Tyler Bindon). The injury-ravaged squad couldn't really be expected to deliver much more.

Most of the new players who arrived in the summer have either disappointed with their performances or been out injured. The recruitment has been questionable, and some fans are disappointed there has not been more serious activity in the transfer market.

Every Reading fan will be wishing the new manager well. With the owner, the chief executive, captain, and several staff all ex-Wycombe Wanderers people, perhaps it's no surprise Gareth Ainsworth and Matt Bloomfield are the bookies' favourites to take over.

If either of them end up in charge, it might be best just to rebrand the club Reading Wanderers and move the whole shooting match back to Adams Park.

A football fan cycled more than 900 miles from Cornwall to Tyne and Wear to see his football team play in the National League says he had a "quite incredible" response to his trip.

Chris Willian travelled 914 miles (1,471km) on two manually-powered wheels from the county to see his team Truro City FC face Gateshead on Saturday.

The team drew with a 2-2 result, which 185 fans travelled to watch in what was the longest journey in English league football history.

Mr Willian said his journey "really was the work of a madman" when he was cycling late into the night with the darkness, wind and rain working against him.

He said: "I knew it would be a challenge, I knew it would be touch and go with the weather, and I thought: 'The opportunity's there, why not give it a go?'"

"First and foremost, I just wanted to be at the game, so I made sure I actually had booked the Friday off work so I could get there whatever."

Chris Willian talks about why he went on a less motorised journey

The Truro team had an eight-hour trip to the game

Mr Willian said that, when he arrived, he received a warm welcome from people who had been following his journey on social media.

He said: "I was just amazed at the reaction I got.

"By the time I got to the pub which is close to the ground I was completely blown away by the people who came up to give me a hug, handshake, congratulate me.

"I lost count the amount of people who came up and spoke to me, quite incredible actually."

Mr Willian added that it was "one of the best atmospheres I've seen in a game".

'The better team'
Fan Tim Ratcliffe, who made the journey from Mevgaissey, said the team "played very well" in the first half of the match.

He said: "Truro were by far the better team, they scored two great goals.

"It looked like we were finally going to get that illusive first win but it wasn't to be."

Mr Ratcliffe said the positive was that he did not have to make the trip again.

"Would I do it again? Probably not. But would I have missed it? Absolutely not."

Looking at results over the last few weeks and the league table with about a third of the season gone. Is L2 unpredictable? As no one seems to be running away with the league. From 1st to 13th only 5pts separate the teams. Also ourselves and Bromley have lost the least amount of games which is 3 and everyone else has lost 4 or more games.

Last season Walsall seemed to run away with it early on but towards the end they fell into the playoffs to then lose the final. This season though looks like any team who builds up a run of form could catapult themselves into the playoffs or automatic places.

Gamball:
Norwich - Hull

Others:
Palace - Brentford
Forest - Man Utd
Spurs - Chelsea
Charlton - Swansea
Oxford - Millwall
QPR - Ipswich
Sheff U - Derby
Watford - Middlesbrough
Bolton - Huddersfield

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 Matchday 13:

1. Baggiebob(BBB) = 225 pts
   
2. jjamez = 225 pts
   
3. neonfoxinthebox = 192 pts
   
4. Lord Snooty = 174 pts
   
5. ritchiebaby = 161 pts
   
6. SHEP_HTAFC = 137 pts
   

Saturday 1st November:
FA Cup 1st round:
Bolton v Town
Town scorers:
Bolton scorers:

Cheltenham Town v Bradford City
Crewe Alexandra v Doncaster Rovers
Halifax Town v Exeter City
Oldham Athletic v Northampton Town
Peterborough United v Cardiff City
Rotherham United v Swindon Town
Tranmere Rovers v Stockport County
Wycombe Wanderers v Plymouth Argyle

Scottish Premiership:
Livingston v Hibernian

Sunday 2nd November:
Scottish League Cup semi finals:
Celtic v Rangers (14:00)

Monday 3rd November:
Premier League:
Sunderland v Everton (20:00)

Tuesday 4th November:
EFL Trophy Northern Group F:
Town v Mansfield
Town scorers:
Mansfield scorers:

Championship:
Charlton Athletic v West Bromwich Albion

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

1. themaclad = 218 pts
   
2. theo_luddite = 218 pts
   
3. Devongone = 189 pts
   
4. Amelia Chaffinch = 170 pts
   
5. St Charles Owl = 165 pts
   
6. WakeyTerrier = 165 pts
   

Saturday 1st November:
FA Cup 1st round:
Bolton v Town
Town scorers:
Bolton scorers:

Barnsley v York City
Blackpool v Scunthorpe United
Reading v Carlisle United
Salford City v Lincoln City
Stevenage v Chesterfield
Brackley Town v Notts County (17:30)

Premier League:
Brighton & Hove Albion v Leeds United
Burnley v Arsenal

Championship:
West Bromwich Albion v Sheffield Wednesday (12:30)
Southampton v Preston North End

Monday 3rd November:
FA Cup 1st round:
Tamworth v Leyton Orient (19:30)

Tuesday 4th November:
EFL Trophy Northern Group F:
Town v Mansfield
Town scorers:
Mansfield scorers:

League One:
Rotherham United v Burton Albion

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

Peterborough United have sacked manager Darren Ferguson with the team bottom of League One.

Saturday's 2-1 defeat by Blackpool proved to be the 53-year-old's final game in the Posh dugout in his fourth spell in charge of the club.

The Scot, son of legendary Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, has guided Peterborough to promotion on four occasions - and they also won the EFL Trophy in the last two seasons.

But they have only won three out of 13 games so far this season as they slumped to the bottom of the table.

Ferguson leaves with Posh five points adrift of Burton Albion, who are just outside the relegation zone, in 20th.

"I have made the decision to terminate Darren Ferguson's contract after today's game," chairman Darragh MacAnthony said in a statement., external

"The decision wasn't taken lightly but it's a decision I feel is the correct one for the football club.

"The gaffer is for me the greatest manager in the club's history who I will always consider to be part of my family and the club's family.

"There are too many wonderful moments to mention here but those many historical celebrated moments I will cherish and remember forever.

"From Monday onwards we start healing and moving forward.

"Goodbye legend and thank you!"

Ferguson returned to the club in January 2023 and took charge of 161 games, winning 73 and losing 56.

Posh finished 18th last season, having been in the play-offs in the two previous campaigns.

Six defeats in their opening seven league games set the tone for this campaign which Ferguson ultimately could not improve.

"We have had down moments, and it hasn't always gone to plan but he has managed this football club like it's his own," MacAnthony said.

"I am devastated he is no longer our manager and will miss the everyday chats we have regarding life and football.

"I wish him and his phenomenally supportive family nothing but love and respect and the best for the future.

"This season has been challenging on all fronts for our great football club. It's time to go again, freshen up and enter a new period of growth in all aspects on and off the pitch."


Although Ferguson's fourth spell in charge brought two Wembley wins, promotion to the Championship proved frustratingly elusive.

In 2022-23, Posh looked set to reach the play-off final after thumping Sheffield Wednesday 4-0 in the first leg of their semi-final.

However, the Owls pulled off the greatest comeback in play-off history to win through on a penalty shootout after winning the second leg 5-1.

They recovered from that setback to once again finish in the top six in 2023-24 but were again beaten by the team who eventually won the final as they lost 2-1 on aggregate to an Oxford side, who had finished seven points below them in the regular season.

A mixed start to last season followed but a 6-1 demolition of local rivals Cambridge United moved them to within three points of the play-off places.

That was as good as it got and they were at one stage in serious danger of dropping back down to the fourth tier for the first time since Ferguson took them up out of that division in 2007-08.

In the end, they finished five points clear of the drop zone but lost key players over the summer including Kwame Poku, Ricky-Jade Jones, Hector Kypriano and Mallik Mothersille.

Six defeats in their opening seven league games set the tone for this campaign which Ferguson ultimately could not improve.

National League side Aldershot Town have appointed John Coleman as their new manager.

The 63-year-old has almost 30 years of managerial experience and has coached the likes of of Accrington Stanley, Rochdale and Gillingham.

Coleman succeeds Tommy Widdrington who resigned earlier this month with the club in 19th place after three wins in 14 league games.

Coleman led Accrington from non-league football back into the EFL in 2006 and won the League Two title 12 years later during his second spell with the club.

He was most recently managing League of Ireland side Waterford, leaving them last month.

"We are really excited to welcome John to the EBB Stadium," chairman Shahid Azeem said.

"His experience at non-league and above and what he has given to the game is nothing short of remarkable."

Interim manager Alan Dowson will lead the club in Saturday's trip to Scunthorpe United with Coleman's first game in charge coming next week in the FA Cup first round trip to Weston-super-Mare.