Gamball:
Man Utd - Arsenal

Others:
Brentford - Leeds
Nottingham Forest - Bournemouth
Wolves - Southampton
Preston - Birmingham
Swansea - QPR
Brighton - Leicester
Reading - Stoke
Huddersfield - Blackpool
Hull - Sheff Utd

Scunthorpe United have sacked manager Keith Hill with the club second from bottom of the National League.

The Iron were relegated from League Two last season after 72 years in the English Football League.

They won their first game of the season but have lost their subsequent five, with Hill's last game in charge being Monday's 2-0 home defeat by Halifax.

The club said a statement regarding an interim management team would be made "in due course".

In total the Iron won just three, and lost 27, of Hill's 39 matches in charge.

The former Rochdale and Barnsley boss replaced Neil Cox at Glanford Park in November 2021 but could do nothing to halt their slide out of the Football League.

They ended the campaign with a humbling 7-0 defeat by Bristol Rovers, after which Hill acknowledged that the "dynamics of the club have been terrible".

He told BBC Radio Humberside at the time: "The club need to show bravery. They can throw me under the bus if they want, like most clubs do - I got thrown under the bus [at Tranmere] last season and I got thrown under the bus at Bolton. You clean a club up and then you get thrown out.

"But it needs cleansing. It needs somebody like me to make sure there's a successful future."

Scunthorpe host sixth-placed Boreham Wood on Saturday.

Bristol City defender Nathan Baker has retired aged 31 on medical advice following a double concussion.

Baker has not played since being taken to hospital after a clash of heads in their 2-0 defeat at Sheffield United in November 2021.

The incident came one month after he suffered a concussion during a Championship game against West Brom.

Manager Nigel Pearson said in June that Baker was unlikely to play during the current season.

A statement on the Robins website said: "Having assessed his progression over a period of nine months, Nathan has been advised by medical professionals that to carry on playing at a professional level would represent a significant risk to his ongoing and future health.

"He is currently well, without any neurological or cognitive issues, but is likely to be monitored with further neuro-psychology testing in the future."

Baker began his career at Aston Villa, making more than 100 league appearances for the club, and had loan spells at Lincoln, Millwall and Ashton Gate before making a permanent move to Bristol in the summer of 2017 for an undisclosed fee.

"Football has been a massive part of my life from a very young age, so this has not been the easiest decision for me, however I must take the advice from the medical team and consultants," he said.

"It's sad to think I won't be playing football again, there are so many things I am going to miss, such as my team-mates, the friendships made, plus a good tackle! But I must put my health and family first, it's not worth the risk."

Pearson added: "It's a sad day for any player when they have to step away from the game, especially in Nathan's case when it's a lot earlier than he had planned.

"Nathan was a fabulous servant to our club and popular in dressing room as well in the stands with the supporters. We wish him all the best for the future as he starts his life away from the pitch with his young family."

Decent badge that

Ground



Feel sympathy for these lads well and truly shafted by sharing with the Ra Ra boys who are apparently skint

LAST TIME OUT



Coventry attractions

The Cathedral Church of Saint Michael, commonly known as Coventry Cathedral, is the seat of the Bishop of Coventry and the Diocese of Coventry within the Church of England. The cathedral is located in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The current bishop is Christopher Cocksworth and the current dean is John Witcombe.

The city has had three cathedrals. The first was St Mary's, a monastic building, of which only a few ruins remain. The second was St Michael's, a 14th-century Gothic church later designated as a cathedral, which remains a ruined shell after its bombing during the Second World War. The third is the new St Michael's Cathedral, built immediately adjacent after the destruction of the former.

The ruined cathedral is a symbol of war time destruction and barbarity, but also of peace and reconciliation.



Preston North End will play a third consecutive away game, while Coventry City feature at home for the first time this season when the two sides meet on Wednesday evening.

In The Dressing Room


First Team News

After three weeks out with an ankle injury, Álvaro Fernández is expected to be available for selection after a return to training.

Bambo Diaby and Sean Maguire have also been involved in training recently, however this game is likely to come too soon for the pair of them, but it is hoped they could be available for Saturday’s home game against Birmingham City.

Andrew Hughes’ shoulder injury will be assessed on Tuesday before the squad travel to Coventry.

A Look At Our Hosts


While Coventry City go into the game sat bottom of the table, that is certainly not a fair representation of where Mark Robins’ side are at.

Due to troubles with their pitch, they have had to postpone all of their home Championship fixtures so far this season, meaning they’ve only played three league games – all away from home – and taken just a single point from them.

Having finished in the top half last season, there was plenty of reported interest in their star players – the likes of Callum O’Hare, Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyökeres – but at the time of writing, they all remain at the club and will be looking to reach further heights this campaign.

Going Head To Head


Games played: 44
PNE wins: 19
Draws: 15
Coventry City wins: 10
Last PNE victory: PNE 2-1 Coventry, 20th October 2021

One To Watch


It’s hard to look past Viktor Gyökeres as Coventry City’s main man, with the Swedish striker having netted 18 goals in all competitions last season.

He’s reportedly attracted a lot of attention, with Premier League side Everton just one club supposedly interested in the 24-year-old, and Mark Robins is unsurprisingly desperate to keep hold of their biggest goal threat.

Gyökeres got off the mark for the season in the opening day draw at Sunderland and the former Brighton & Hove Albion man will be keen to extend his tally on Wednesday night.

Match Officials

John Busby will take charge of only his third Preston North End fixture on Wednesday evening.

Busby’s previous two PNE games both came last season at Deepdale, firstly in the 2-2 draw against Bristol City, before returning for the defeat to Reading in February.

Busby has refereed six games so far this campaign, showing 22 yellow cards in that period.


MACS VIEW

Looks like Riis will be going nowhere but finding the net tomorrow night, there really has to be some change, gret not conceding but need to take chances.
McCann and Fernandez play Brady further up field sorted. The joy of M6 road closures await, time to start taking our chances against a side who seem to be fighting off field issues all the time

https://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/article/we...ion-format

This Euro footie participation/play-off format will be something of interest for a good number of Hibs fans. Hibs youths impressively winning the Scot U18s Youth League last season and I didn't realise that being involved in the Euro Domestic Champions path is one of the benefits of attaining that league win and something we sadly don't see very often - IMO beneficial for our younger players to be competing v likely superior opponents even though I'm sure it will be tough. Two play-off rounds to negotiate. I hope they do well and surprise everyone.

Rochdale have appointed former Morecambe boss Jim Bentley as manager on a two-year deal.

The 46-year-old replaces Robbie Stockdale, who was sacked on 18 August after the League Two club lost their first four matches of the season.

Bentley has been without a club since he was dismissed by National League North side AFC Fylde in March.

His first game in charge will be Tuesday's Papa John's Trophy tie at Accrington Stanley.

"The Board and I felt it was really important that we not only recruited a manager that has had proven League Two playing and management experience, but also someone who will be a good cultural fit for our fan-owned and fan-led club, as we all seek to bring us success and get us back up the football league," said chairman Simon Gauge.

"It has been a speedy but very detailed recruitment process during which we met with several potential interested candidates, all of whom have managed at that level, but we instantly found with Jim that he is going to be a good fit with our club.

"He has managed over 400 games at this level and his values of honesty, transparency, work ethic and most importantly fighting spirit are the exact qualities all of us at Rochdale AFC have shown over the past year and want to show in every competitive fixture and in every team the club puts out."

Bentley was in charge of Morecambe from 2011 until he resigned in October 2019 to take the Fylde job - at the time he was the longest-serving manager in England's top four divisions.

Rochdale are bottom of League Two with just one point from six games, and Bentley's first league fixture in charge will be a trip to Carlisle on 3 September.

Any grounds that I decide to take great or bad pictures on(non league) will stick on here

Euxton Villa







the 0844 man is Paul Scholes

2 points for a correct result
4 points for a correct score
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 2nd September:
West Bromwich Albion v Burnley

Saturday 3rd September:
Blackburn Rovers v Bristol City
Luton Town v Wigan Athletic
Millwall v Cardiff City
Norwich City v Coventry City
Preston North End v Birmingham City
Rotherham United v Watford
Swansea City v Queens Park Rangers

Sunday 4th September:
Town v Blackpool (15:00)
Town scorers:
Blackpool scorers:

Reading v Stoke City (12:00)
Hull City v Sheffield United (15:00)

Monday 5th September:
Middlesbrough v Sunderland

Bonus matches:
Saturday:
Scottish Premiership:
Hibernian v Kilmarnock

League One:
Sheffield Wednesday v Barnsley

National League:
Oldham Athletic v Chesterfield

Table after Matchday 5:

1. jjamez = 121 pts
   
2. theo_luddite = 120 pts
   
3. themaclad = 115 pts
   
4. ritchiebaby = 108 pts
   
5. Lord Snooty = 103 pts
   
6. neonfoxinthebox = 97 pts
   
7. Devongone = 96 pts
   
8. Baggiebob(BBB) = 93 pts
   
9. Amelia Chaffinch = 85 pts
   
10. St Charles Owl = 85 pts
    
11. SHEP_HTAFC = 81 pts
    
12. WakeyTerrier = 69 pts

Stoke City have appointed Alex Neil as manager following his departure from Championship rivals Sunderland.

The 41-year-old Scot succeeds Michael O'Neill as the Potters' fourth boss on a permanent basis since being relegated from the Premier League in 2018.

Bellshill-born Neil, who began his managerial career with Hamilton Academical in 2013, only moved to Wearside in February.

But he led the Black Cats to promotion in the League One play-off final.

Stoke joint-chairman John Coates said Neil was the club's "number one choice" in the search for a new manager.

"I'm delighted we have secured his services so quickly," he said.

"His managerial pedigree is excellent with three promotions already on his CV and we are looking forward to working closely with him to help him realise the ambitions that he and the club share."

Earlier in his career, Neil, who has signed a three-year contract, spent just over two years at Norwich, leading the Canaries to promotion to the Premier League in 2015, just four months after arriving in January.

After suffering relegation in their one season in the top flight, he left in March 2017 when Norwich - second in October - won just seven of their next 24 Championship games to drop to eighth as they missed out on a swift return.

He was only out of work four months before being recruited in July 2017 by another Championship side, Preston, as successor to Simon Grayson.

Neil led North End to finishes of seventh, 14th and ninth before departing Deepdale in March 2021.

How it all unfolded
Neil's first game as Stoke boss will be at home to Swansea City on Wednesday.

It will be his second successive appearance at the bet365 Stadium - just 11 days after overseeing Sunderland's 1-0 win, the defeat that cost O'Neill his job and also proved to be Neil's last in charge of the Wearsiders.

Alex Neil was at Ewood Park, to watch Blackburn Rovers' home game with Stoke
Alex Neil was at Ewood Park to watch Blackburn Rovers' home game with Stoke
Neil had already been given permission to hold talks with the Potters - and he was not present for Saturday's home defeat by Norwich, when Sunderland assistant manager Martin Canning was in the dugout at the Stadium of Light, assisted by coaches Mike Dodds, Michael Proctor and goalkeeping coach Alessandro Barcherini.

Instead, Neil headed to Lancashire to watch Stoke win at Blackburn - as the Potters - in the hands of O'Neill's former number two Dean Holden, who parted company with the club after the match - picked up their first away points since April.

Neil overachieved at Sunderland
Analysis - Nick Barnes, BBC Newcastle's Sunderland commentator

What he achieved at Sunderland has been remarkable in a short space of time. Many would say he has overachieved.

A: To get them promoted. Even though they were third in the table there was a big question mark as to whether they would get over the line.

B: What they've achieved so far this season in the Championship, with such a young squad.

They've certainly embraced the Championship and probably over reached themselves in terms of everyone's expectations.

He's single minded. When he came in last season his only focus was the next game. Entirely pragmatic, he has managed to bond the team and created a phenomenal team spirit.

Mowbray considered for boss
Ian Dennis, BBC 5 Live's chief football reporter

Former Celtic, Blackburn, Middlesbrough and West Brom manager Tony Mowbray is one of several names being considered as the next manager of Sunderland.

Sunderland will be looking for a manager who develops young players and Mowbray, with his track record, will certainly appeal.

Blackburn, in the Championship under Mowbray last season, had the second-youngest side in the division and his experience is another factor which will stand him in good stead to succeed Neil.