Premier League

Zinman          8pts 1CS 4CR -3GB 3BB 0SB
Derby            7pts 1CS 3CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
SCO              7pts 1CS 3CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
Sanjay          7pts 0CS 3CR 0GB 0BB 1SB
Snooty          6pts 2CS 4CR -3GB -3BB 0SB
Blue Baggie    5pts 1CS 4CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
Minizin          2pts 1CS 3CR -3GB -3BB 0SB
Stairs            -1pt 0CS 2CR -3GB -3BB 1SB

After a couple of good weeks it was back to normal for the Premiership as the total points scored was at its lowest for some time. I suppose with 1 game being called off we have a slight excuse! Just one correct gamball result.....yes, you've guessed, that player chose not to play it, so the main differentiator
this week is the bonus ball, but given that just 9 points separate top from bottom, I suspect we won't see much movement in the overall table.

Zinman comes out on top this week with a mighty 8 points and for once in his life he actually got a correct bonus result. He sits just a point ahead of Derby, SCO and Sanjay - Derby and SCO had an identical score breakdown though Sanjay could have done better if he'd been braver with the gamball. He also played the bonus on the abandoned match so has that to carry forward to the next round in a couple of weeks.

Just another point back to Snooty who actually got the most correct scores and shared the highest total of correct results - just shows that you really have to be careful with those balls! Another point back to Blue followed by a bit of a gap to Minizin who may be beginning to feel the pressure at the top of the table as we approach the final run in. Stairs had a bit of a 'mare - he bravely chose to gamble for just the third time this season but lost points on that and his bonus, only scoring from 2 games to find himself at the foot of the table with a negative score.

Minizin 282
Zinman 270
Derby 261
Stairs 234
Blue 229
Sanjay 207
SCO 203
Snooty 201

No positional changes but Zinman is creeping ever closer to Minizin at the top of the table. Such a shame that Mini will be visiting during the next set of fixtures and will be mysteriously unable to post his predictions due to the sudden lack of internet access at Zin Towers (access form work will be unaffected). Stairs brief challenge to the top 3 appears to be fading after 3 distinctly average weeks while the battle to avoid the automatic drop remains tight, just 6 points separating the bottom 3.

Zin


Championship

BBB 13pts 2CS 2CR 5GB -3BB 1SB
BaggieOne 11pts 1CS 4CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
AAA 11pts 1CS 3CR NPGB 3BB 0SB
Lady Jane 2pts 1CS 2CR -3GB -3BB 0SB
Themaclad 2pts 0CS 1CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
Dingle 1pts 1CS 1CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
Amelia 0pts 0CS 3CR -3GB -3BB 0SB
Twerton -3pts 0CS 1CR -3GB -3BB 1SB

Poor scoring week in the Championship this week, although the loss of one game didn't help that!!  Only three players made double figures with BBB leading the way with 13 points, managed a weeks high 2 CSs and backed this up with a CR on the Gamball.  BaggieOne and AAA both finished second on 11 points, got there in similar ways with AAA saving points by not playing the Gamball and B1 scoring on one more game.  Both of them were the only players to score positive points on the Bonus this week.

Big drop off to 4th place where we find Lady Jane and Themaclad on 2 points each.  Themaclad was one of only two players along with BBB to score points on the gamball but that was his only correct result.  Lady Jane scored one CS but like everyone else below her and Themaclad, she failed on both the main balls.  Dingle is 6th with a single point courtesy of the Scoreball after wiping out his positives with his negatives!!

The bottom two in this weeks table are the bottom two in the table, so I suppose they are playing to form.  Ameilia scored a big fat zero and Twerton thought he would outdo her by scoring a -3!!  Just 4 scoring games and one Scoreball between them!!

287 Dingle
261 BaggieOne
259 Lady Jane
254 AAA
252 BBB
186 Themaclad
166 Twerton
145 Amelia

For the first time in a few weeks we see a positional change in the table!!  BaggieOne has finally caught LJ and reclaimed second place, a position he has held for quite a bit of the season before, can he now make it his own?? The decent form of AAA and BBB has seen them move a little closer to the promotion spots and now 2nd through 5th places are separated by just 9 points, so all to play for in the run in to the season.  The bottom three are as you were, no surprise there when they only scored a combined -1 this week!!

Cheers
SCO

Anybody remember him. He was a tall young centre back who was almost permanently fifth sub' for us when we went into the National League. I don't know if he ever got on the field for us.

Now he's playing for Stamford who are top of the Midlands Division of the Northern Premier. On Sunday there was a picture of him in the Non-league Paper, having scored to ensure victory. He has put on some weight. He's a big lad.

If we got him in the gym pre-season maybe he'd scare a few people. Looking at him, if he says its Thursday then I for one won't be arguing.

Almost bat and ball time this thread for four day stuff only

League Two side Tranmere Rovers have sacked manager Micky Mellon.

The 51-year-old Scot had seen his side slip to 14th in League Two after just six wins since mid-October.

It was Mellon's second spell in charge, having returned in June 2021 after leading Rovers to back-to-back promotions to League One in his previous four-year spell.

"From both a personal and a club perspective this hasn't been an easy decision," said chairman Mark Palios.

"Since he returned to the club in 2021 after a year in Scotland, we haven't managed to achieve the success we both wanted and I reluctantly came to the conclusion that a change was needed as we start recruitment preparations for next season."

Ian Dawes will work as caretaker manager, assisted by Andy Parkinson, while Tranmere consider a permanent replacement "in preparation for the new season".

Mellon previously left the Merseyside club in July 2020 - after they were relegated to League Two on a points-per-game basis - to join Scottish Premiership side Dundee United, but came back less than a year later.

Tranmere's next game is at Colchester in League Two on Saturday.

THE MATCH

TUESDAY 21ST MARCH KO 8:00PM

v

LAST MATCH



We kept our unbeaten run going but had to settle for a draw. We started off quick with Gregory forcing a save but he found the net a short while later turning in a Flint header. We continued on the front foot and had a few chances but couldn't find a second goal. Bolton equalized just before HT Adeboyejo shot deflecting past Dawson. Onto the second half where both teams struggled to create much and the game petered out into a draw

THE MATCH



Next up and a short trip to Oakwell. The Dingles are having a good season and currently lie in 4th place but will be looking to gate-crash the top 2 places starting with us. Devante Cole is there leading scorer with 11 goals, with Phillips & Norwood 9 and 8 goals apiece. They are good form, unbeaten in 10 and will want to end our 23 game unbeaten streak. They are managed by Michael Huff who took over in the summer of 2022 and has a 59% win record.

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 37
DING 24
DRAWS 17

CURRENT FORM

OWLS              -                                                                           

DINGLES         -                                              

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

ROSS JOYCE
Daniel Woodward and Robert Atkin
Fourth Official : Ollie Yates

THE TEAM

Dawson
Palmer Famewo Flint
Hunt Bannan Adeniran Vaulks Johnson
Gregory Smith

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-1 Smith

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

BML LEAGUE

Owlskev 25
Stateside 23
Imre 20
Wash 19
SCO 17
Maddix 16
Peiowl 14

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Accrington v Plymouth
Bradford City v Carlisle United
Crawley Town v Doncaster Rovers
Gillingham v Crewe Alexandra
Dundee v Ayr

AHAHA

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE

WEREHAM




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

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.

European Championship Qualifying:
Thursday 23rd March:
Italy v England
England scorers:

San Marino v Northern Ireland

Saturday 25th March:
Scotland v Cyprus (14:00)
Croatia v Wales (19:45)

Sunday 26th March:
England v Ukraine (17:00)
England scorers:

Northern Ireland v Finland (19:45)

Tuesday 28th March:
Scotland v Spain
Wales v Latvia

Bonus matches:
Saturday:
National League:
Chesterfield v FC Halifax Town

Sunday:
League One:
Forest Green Rovers v Sheffield Wednesday (13:00)

Table after Matchday 31:

1. jjamez = 758 pts
   
2. themaclad = 718 pts
   
3. Baggiebob(BBB) = 701 pts
   
4. theo_luddite = 698 pts
   
5. neonfoxinthebox = 680 pts
   
6. St Charles Owl = 678 pts
   
7. Lord Snooty = 647 pts
   
8. ritchiebaby = 633 pts
   
9. SHEP_HTAFC = 598 pts
   
10. Amelia Chaffinch = 592 pts
    
11. Devongone = 564 pts
    
12. WakeyTerrier = 171 pts

Reports on newsnow that Sheffield Utd and West Brom are interested in signing England international.

Upon reading the article, Crystal Palace maybe willing to sell Sam Johnstone for £5million, he has barely played this season.

Sam thought he might be playing premier league football, instead Palace played a blinder, sign him on for free, sell him a year on for a sizeable fee.

He has harmed his international career by not playing, damaged our promotion hopes by leaving and the grass was not any greener. No1 at Albion playing every week in clear sight of Southgate or getting splinters at Palace, out of sight out of mind.

He made a poor choice but I would take him back.

Anyone else agree?

Darren Sarll very honestly admitted Woking were beaten by the better side. We might have scored 5. It was the unlikeliest of 0-1 games!

Players who played very well for us

This would usually an empty category, but I'd praise Colclough, Dallas, King and Maguire.

Colclough and Dallas should have scored at least two each, but they were far too hot for Woking to handle throughout.
King was far more cerebral than usual, not launching himself into attack until he thought our dodgy defence had settled.
And Maguire lacks pace, but he can defend and pass and his height was a great advantage when Woking tried to switch to the back post. The bravery he used to show when captain of our Juniors heading in from dead balls was in evidence over our penalty. He stuck his head, took an accidental kick from Kellerman and won us the game.

Decent performers

Mandeville did well in helping our advanced midfield three produce a genuine potent goal threat.
Banks, despite looking ponderous at times, largely did his job and slotted home his penalty with assistance from their over-eager keeper.
Palmer looked laboured when sprinting, but is brave, committed and has positional sense.
Jones does his job, once even made it into a scoring position and was ignored, but is essentially insurance against some shaky defending.


Question marks

Quigley did his job, worked, tried and set some problems, but as ever, wherever he is, you just don't expect him to score and he's a striker.
Grimes, the National League Paper awarded him 7, for me 5 was stretch. He's brave and committed AND clearly a leader, but his reading of the game is poor. In the opening minutes he didn't seem to trust Maguire. First he covered across when Maguire was in position to do the job and when Grimes lost out we were in trouble, and minutes later he appeared to be going to do the same again, Maguire backed off to try and cover, then Grimes himself retreated too, allowing a dangerous cross to be swung in mid height to which our keeper's ejector-seat dive for cover suggested a lone-wolf Lee-Harvey Oswald might be firing from the crowd.
Which leads me to FITZSIMMONS - the window closes in 4 days - going into a play-off final with him between the sticks would be a white flag. Whether he is shaky because he can't read Grimes' random defensive efforts, or whether he is always that flaky I don't know. He does everything in a rush and exudes panic. He grabs at the ball as though it's a chicken's neck in needing of wringing. He looks a wreck. And he came up with a clean sheet ........ there must be a divine presence. Between us, Notts County, Wrexham, Chesterfield and Woking we haven't a reliable keeper. Whatever you do, don't monitor your heart rate when the ball is near our box.

My opinion was that we were very good, especially when going forward. Cookie's formation can work well with these players, especially if McCallum comes in at centre forward. I'd have to exchange Mandeville for Dobra despite the idiot boy rolling around on the floor again pretending to be hurt and having to be told by the ref' to get up, upon which he jumped up and RAN away - roll away the effing stone.

Unfortunately our defence entirely lacks pace, and is not astute enough to cover it in front of a flapping keeper.

But we looked a team and were way better than the team in third place in our league.

National League club Southend United have been put up for sale.

The search for new owners for the Essex side comes two weeks after the club had a winding-up petition against them dismissed after the club paid £1.4m owed to HM Revenue & Customs.

Financial issues Southend, which has been owned by chairman Ron Martin for 25 years, has prompted fans to look at establishing a phoenix club.

"I feel the time is right," said Martin of his decision to search for a buyer.

Martin said the dissatisfaction of the club's supporters did not prompt the move, adding that the "first thought emerged" during the Covid pandemic when football was brought to a halt and financial strains across the game were exacerbated.

A statement from the club said the "introduction of a new custodian or investment partners would not be fast-tracked".

American-based agency General Sports Worldwide LLC had been appointed as advisors to the club.

Martin still maintains the solution to the current financial problems is to relocate from their Roots Hall home, redevelop the site for housing and move to a new stadium at Fossetts Farm.

While those works are yet to begin, Martin said the £2m development of a new training facility was nearing completion and would be available for next season.

"Completion of the club's new training ground represents the first phase of infrastructure, enabling the stadium and residential phases to commence," he said in a statement.

"Tenders for those works, both stadium and residential, have now been received with works programmed to commence later this year."

News of plans to try to sell the club was broken at a press conference with Martin saying players had not been told in advance.

"I don't think they will be affected by it," he said.

"I think players as a whole look to their manager, I don't think they look to the chairman. This increases the club's stability rather than instability, so they should be pleased."

He added that no potential new investors had been spoken to in advance of the announcement.

'Not many saw this coming'
Analysis - BBC Essex sports editor Glenn Speller

Wow! I don't think many Southend United supporters saw this coming.

Having just escaped yet another winding-up petition from HMRC earlier this month, fans were gearing-up for another protest march ahead of tomorrow's National League match at home to Aldershot.

Ron Martin has been a controversial character during his 25 year tenure at the club. He oversaw a rise up to the Championship which has since been followed by a catastrophic drop into the National League.

Players have gone unpaid over the years while office staff have suffered a lack of wages over Christmas and New Year and a season ticket sometimes would not have gone amiss at the High Court with enough winding-up petitions to paper a reasonably sized front room.

But there has always been the promised land of a new stadium in the offing. That is now more important than ever as Roots Hall rots away, offering nothing in the way of comfort on matchdays and standing as a symbol of the club's descent.

While Ron Martin continues with the Fossetts Farm Stadium development, a new owner will be charged with restoring the club's EFL status. Most Blues fans will hope there might be another couple of Hollywood actors who might be interested…

This year's Championship begins on Saturday 18 March and ends on Sunday 26 March, in Sandviken, Sweden in the Göransson Arena - a 10,000-seater facility which opened in 2009. The round robin games will determine the top six ranked teams. The teams ranked first and second will proceed directly to the Semi-finals. For teams ranked third to sixth, qualification games will take place on Saturday 25 March at 10:00 (3v6 and 4v5). The Semi-finals will also take place on 25 March at 16:00, with the Medal games being played on Sunday 26 March.

The competing teams are Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Norway, New Zealand, Scotland, Switzerland, Sweden, Türkiye and United States

Scotland are represented by their European Bronze Medallists - Rebecca Morrison (Skip),  Gina Aitken (Vice-Skip), Sophie Sinclair (2nd), Sophie Jackson (Lead) with Jennifer Dodds (Alternate). For me they might not quite get there this time, but, as they have already proved, they are good enough. The main dangers are definitely Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and United States, leaving the Scots to fight with Canada and Denmark for the remaining 2 places. Let's hope there is no Covid to hinder us this year!

Scotland's first game is on Saturday against Germany at 7pm, followed on Sunday by Denmark at 9am and Japan at 7pm.