(Actually on this picture)

LAST TIME OUT



FORM GUIDE

PNE 10 STOKE 12

MANAGER

Hamilton Academical
After manager Billy Reid vacated his managerial position at Hamilton in April 2013, Neil (who had already been involved in coaching the club's youth teams)[24][25] was appointed player-manager on an interim basis. He was made manager on a permanent basis on 24 May 2013, at the age of 31.[26] Assisted by Frankie McAvoy, Neil led the club to promotion back to the top flight in his first full season, winning through the play-off system in May 2014.[27] Hamilton then enjoyed a good start to the 2014–15 Scottish Premiership, defeating Celtic away for the first time in 76 years.[27][25]

Norwich City

Neil at the 2015 Championship play-off final
In January 2015, Neil obtained permission from Hamilton to speak to Norwich City about their managerial vacancy.[27] On 9 January, he was confirmed as their new manager at 33 years old, the second youngest in the Football League after Mansfield's Adam Murray.[28] The following day in his first game, he managed his team to a 2–1 victory at Championship leaders AFC Bournemouth.[29] Norwich gained 17 wins from 25 games played under Neil in the 2014–15 season.[30][31] They finished third in the Championship and entered the play-offs, where in the semi-finals they beat East Anglia derby rivals Ipswich Town 4–2 on aggregate over two legs.[32] On 25 May, Neil led Norwich to a 2–0 victory over Middlesbrough in the 2015 Football League Championship play-off Final, as goalscorers Cameron Jerome and Nathan Redmond secured promotion to the 2015–16 Premier League.[30] During the 2015 close season, Neil signed a new contract with Norwich City.[33]

Norwich were relegated after a single season in the Premier League. Neil had his contract terminated in March 2017, with the Canaries 8th in the Championship table.[34] They had won seven of their last 24 games in The Championship and were nine points outside the top six play-off places.[35] Neil admitted to regret over summer recruitment, which led to his sacking in March.[36]

Preston North End
On 4 July 2017, Neil was appointed as manager of Championship club Preston North End, replacing Simon Grayson, who left the club to take over as manager of Sunderland.[37]

On 21 March 2021, Neil left Preston North End by mutual consent with the club 16th in the Championship table.[38]

Sunderland
On 11 February 2022, Neil was appointed as the new manager of Sunderland, on a 12-month rolling contract.[39] On 21 May 2022, Neil guided Sunderland to promotion back to the Championship after a four-year absence after they beat Wycombe Wanderers 2–0 in front of almost 50,000 Sunderland fans at Wembley in the 2022 EFL League One play-off Final.[40]

Stoke City
On 28 August 2022, Neil was appointed as the new manager of Stoke City, after the dismissal of Michael O'Neill. [41]

Hope we give him a decent reception, fate conspired against him, playing the latter stages of his managership at Deepdale without crowds didn't help him, however by then watching is team play was pretty dull so much so I gave up watching

https://www.stokecityfc.com/

Transfers

http://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/showthread...#pid237344

In The Dressing Room


Ryan Lowe will be able to call upon central defender Jordan Storey once again, after he served his one-game suspension midweek following his accumulation of five yellow cards.

Speaking to the press after that game against Bristol City, the manager confirmed Álvaro Fernández and Liam Lindsay both picked up knocks, and that they would need to be assessed ahead of the weekend.

Troy Parrott will miss out again, with the Tottenham Hotspur forward not expected to return to action until December.

A Look At Our Visitors


There will be a familiar face in the dugout at Deepdale on Saturday, with former PNE boss Alex Neil now in charge of Stoke City.

The Scot, who managed North End between 2017 and 2021, left Sunderland for the Potters in August of this year after enjoying promotion with the Black Cats, and he has since overseen a mixed run of results.

Their most recent outing will give them plenty of confidence, though, having beaten league leaders Sheffield United 3-1 last weekend, in a game which saw Manchester City loanee Liam Delap open his Championship account.

Going Head To Head


Games played: 109
PNE wins: 49
Draws: 24
Stoke City wins: 36
Last meeting: Stoke City 1-2 PNE, 3rd January 2022

One To Watch

Bringing Lewis Baker to the club in January has proven to be one of the shrewdest pieces of business in the division this calendar year.

Baker – formerly of Chelsea – has been colossal in central midfield for the Potters, boasting an impressive record of 12 goals in his 35 Stoke City appearances.

The former England youth international also holds the extra responsibility of wearing the armband, having been appointed club captain in the summer, and he will no doubt have a big part to play this weekend.

Match Officials

Matthew Donohue will take charge of his first PNE game of the season this weekend.

Donohue has refereed North End five times in his career so far, with the most recent game being the 2-1 victory over AFC Bournemouth at Deepdale last season.

So far this term, Donohue has refereed nine matches, showing 30 yellow cards, and he will be assisted on Saturday by Daniel Leach and Richard Wild, while Adam Herczeg is the fourth official.


MACS VIEW

The frenetic fixture list continues with Stoke at home followed by two away games next week to Huddersfield and Blackpool, suspect we have some tired legs given the mileage we have racked up in the last seven days, expect changes though who apart from Riis is going to score is a mystery
The return of Alex will give this a more competitive edge against a Stoke side who have flattered to deceive since relegation a few seasons ago.

Good supporters who seem to want nothing more than a proper club, but:-

Southend United have again been issued with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

The Shrimpers have faced a series of winding-up petitions going back more than a decade, with their last one from the tax authorities issued and dismissed in 2020.

The latest petition is due to be heard at the the High Court on 9 November.

Southend previously addressed the issue, saying they intended to "discharge the HMRC debt in full".

The National League club's chairman Ron Martin addressed fans in a statement in early October saying the club missed a payment under its time to pay arrangement (TTP) - a agreement that allows debt to be paid back in monthly instalments - with HMRC.

The agreement was then cancelled as a result.

"Given the current economic climate I believe [that] to be premature, particularly given the agreement was due to finish in December 2022," the club said on 1 October.

"Bridging finance has been agreed, but has not yet been completed. Once it has (weeks not months) we will discharge the HMRC debt in full."

Even Chairman Ron Martin really wants the club NOT to be like this. But here we go again.

Anstey Nomads 0-4 Chesterfield
Blyth Spartans 2-1 Wrexham
Alvechurch 1-2 Worksop Town
Bury AFC 1-3 York
Buxton 2-1 Hyde United
Farnborough 0-2 Biggleswade Town
Hendon 2-0 Chippenham Town
King's Lynn 2-0 Ashington A.F.C.
Peterborough Sports 2-0 Curzon Ashton
South Shields 2-1 Scunthorpe
St Ives Town 1-0 Halifax
Yeovil 0-1 Taunton Town

League Table After Matchday 13
Devon - 281
Lord Snoots - 268
Amelia - 249
SaltergateBorn - 230
Dancing - 223
St Charles Owl - 188
Spireitematt - 187

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/63186550

One could see this coming from a long way off and The Rangers "skelping" finally materialises after the "reds" gave them a one goal lead. Thousands of Huns seen leaving Ibronx in droves midway through the second half after their ill-conceived aspirations "blown away" by a Mo Salah "hat trick" in 6 mins 20s - the fastest "hat trick" in UEFA CL history and a record Euro trouncing for the Govan footie club - utter humiliation and priceless viewing btw!! Add to that Goldson likely sidelined for months and Ryan Jack also out for quite a while. Not a great night for The Rangers, and as for some of the Hun optimists on Sky, bbc and BT Sport - all subdued again and "eating humble pie" in huge quantities after "talking a good game" re Rangers chances tonight - GIRUY!!!

Three defeats, two of which I certainly expected, and there's a kind of hush, all over the world tonight.

When Cookie came back neither Dancing nor I thought it was the right thing, so why the surprise when we prove we are far from unbeatable?

We're missing Dobra for sure.

Our attack isn't working because we've no actual plan of attack. We go forward in hope.

Our defence isn't working because the whole team isn't working to defend.

I reckon we get the formation wrong anyway. I'd go three at the back, two wing backs flanking two proper midfielders, three up front, swapping with each other flexibly and helping back into midfield when necessary.

Every part of the field is every player's responsibility. No not-my-jobbing.

And a proper goalie helps.

To be frank if I were a Wrexham fan 7-5 at home would remind me of last season against Dover and I'd be worried nothing had really changed, and if I were a Notts County supporter I'd be waiting for the run to end and the goals to dry up (because they will). I keep looking to see if anyone else is improving their team and trying to come through at a rattle - Boreham Wood maybe? The big three aren't convincing me, one's a flat-track bully and the other is waiting to snatch defeat from victory, and then supposedly there's us.

What do you think?

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 15TH OCTOBER KO 3:00PM

v

LAST MATCH



Back to winning ways as we comfortably saw off Cheltenham. We got off to the perfect start when Windass fired in a 30 yard free kick, there keeper at fault though. We had more chances with Gregory hitting the post, the closest we came to getting a second before HT while they had a few chances. Onto the second half and we huffed and puffed until the last 10 mins when Bazza fired one into the top corner from 25 yards then sub FBD fired in from the edge of the box after having his first attempt saved. We had a few more chances but didn't add to our tally.

THE MATCH



Next up and a trip to Cambridge. Imre has these down as a bogey club, but that seems to be in cup competitions where they have beaten us 3 times, while we have only lost once in league games and that was the first ever meeting between the clubs 45 years ago. They currently lie in 14th place and will probably finish in the bottom half but should stay clear of the relegation fight. They have joint top scorers in Sam Smith Joe Ironside with 4 apiece. They are currently managed by Mark Bonner who has been in charge since 2020.

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 10
CAMB 4
DRAWS 4

CURRENT FORM

OWLS              -                                                            

CAMB               -                              

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

CARL BOYESON
James Vallance and Joseph Stokes
Fourth Official : Michael George

THE TEAM

Stockdale
Palmer Ihikwe McGuiness Johnson
Bannan Byers FDB
Windass
Gregory Smith

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-2 Smith

ATTENDANCE

N/A

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

BML LEAGUE

Stateside 7
Wash 6
Imre 5
Pieowl 4
Maddix 3
SCO 2
Owlskev 2

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Wolves v Notts Forest
Burnley v Swansea
Bolton v Barnsley
Leyton Orient v Northampton
Bury AFC V York City

HHDHA

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE

WEREHAM




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Premier League

SCO            21pts 1CS 7CR 5GB 3BB 1SB
Sanjay        18pts 1CS 4CR 10GB 3BB 1SB
Zinman        15pts 0CS 5CR 5GB 3BB 1SB
Derby          13pts 0CS 4CR 5GB 3BB 1SB
Snooty        11pts 0CS 6CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
Minizin          9pts 1CS 5CR 0GB -3BB 0SB
Blue              7pts 0CS 4CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
Stairs            6pts 0CS 4CR 0GB -3BB 1SB

For the first time this season, the Premiership total score reached 3 figures (memo to self: select harder games in future). a good week for balls with 4 players scoring from them all, only 2 missed bonuses and just a solitary player missing out on the scoreball (though as he played it on a nil nil draw, he should have points deducted).

SCO recovered from his poor recent run to storm to the top of the table with his season's best score of 21 points with 7 correct results and a full set of balls. Sanjay secured 2nd spot with the week's only gamball maximum, again achieving his best score of the season (though that wasn't difficult given his prior form!) 3rd place goes to Zinman with yet another full set of balls.

Derby and Snooty both reached double figures while Minizin was the only player to fail to use any of his balls properly, though he did make a good choice not to play the gamball. Blue and Stairs had a less successful week but at least never threatened a negative.

Snooty 72
Minizin 71
Derby 65
Ziman 61
Stairs 55
SCO 53
Sanjay 43
Blue 40

After an early breakaway, the overall league table has tightened up in the last couple of weeks. Snooty retakes top spot, climbing a single point above Minizin. Derby remains 3rd while Zinman rises one place to 4th, demoting Stairs to 5th. SCO and Sanjay's good week also sees them climb one place with Blue dropping to the foot of the table.
In terms of ball play, Derby is again proving adept at the use of the gamball with a positive score of 18 points from it. Some contrast to Blue who has so far managed a complete set of negative gamballs - minus 24 points in the 8 weeks played. Bonuses are also a key differentiator - 4 players, Derby, Sanjay, SCO and Stairs currently have negative scores from the bonus ball.

Zin


Championship

Dingle 19pts 2CS 5CR 5GB -3BB 1SB
Themaclad 18pts 1CS 2CR 10GB 3BB 1SB
Amelia 11pts 2CS 2CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
BaggieOne 8pts 2CS 1CR NPGB -3BB 1SB
AAA 8pts 1CS 2CR -3GB 6BB 1SB
BBB 7pts 1CS 4CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
Twerton 7pts 0CS 4CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
Lady Jane 5pts 1CS 3CR -3GB -3BB 1SB

Another new high score for the Championship, thats two weeks in a row.  Dingle also is in top spot for the second week in a row, this week scoring a personal season high of 19 points, again scoring on 7 games including a CR on the Gamball.  Themaclad is 2nd spot with his best week in a while on 18 points, he was the only one to get full points on the Gamball.  Amelia keeps her good form going in 3rd with 11 points.

League leader going into this week BaggieOne had a mediocre week with 8 points, a score he shared with AAA who scored a maximum on the Bonus.  BBB and Twerton both ended with 7 points and both missed on the Gamball and Bonus.  Lady Jane is bottom with 5 points, a fairly rare poor week for her.

97 Dingle
88 BaggieOne
75 Themaclad
70 Lady Jane
64 BBB
56 AAA
39 Amelia
33 Twerton

Dingle's two table topping weeks sees him take over top spot in the league, overtaking and them accelerating past BaggieOne now in 2nd.  Themaclad moves up to third overtaking Lady Jane and leaving BBB in his wake.  Bottom three remains the same but Amelia again has closed the gap a bit ore to AAA.

To add to what Zin said for the PL, in the Championship Themaclad has gained 23 points from his balls whereas Twerton has -31 from his, a delta of 54 points!!  Overall the Gamball has only totalled 6 points and the Bonus is sat at -24 overall!!

Cheers
SCO

I see Carlos Corberan is now being reported as being set for talks with the club about the position. Maybe a halfway house between new(ish) blood and old school experience. What do others think on the suggestion? Having Pep Guardiola as a previous reference has to be positive. Though I do wonder when he cited lack of ambition as the reason he 'resigned' from Huddersfield as to what he could possibly see here.

James Rowberry
James Rowberry waves to the Rodney Parade crowd before Saturday's loss to Rochdale
Newport County have sacked manager James Rowberry following their disappointing start to the season.

The Exiles are 18th in the League Two table after 13 games, just three points above the relegation zone.

Newport lost at home to bottom side Rochdale last Saturday, an eighth defeat of the campaign.

With assistant manager Carl Serrant also leaving, sporting director Darren Kelly will take charge of Saturday's match at Crawley Town.

Former Cardiff City assistant coach Rowberry was appointed Newport boss in October 2021, with the Exiles finishing his first season in 11th place.

They had been in promotion contention for much of the campaign but fell away at the end and did not even make the play-offs.

That form has carried on into this season, with Rowberry overseeing only three wins from 13 League Two fixtures.

In a statement, Newport said: "The board of directors has reluctantly taken the decision to relieve James and Carl of their duties.

"The board wishes to place on record its sincere thanks to James for his work, passion, and commitment since joining the club last October, and to Carl for his efforts since his appointment in February of this year.

"We wish them every success in their future careers, and they will always be welcome at Rodney Parade.

"The club will now begin the process of recruiting a new first team manager."