Well this will be a historical moment in the history of Scottish footie if the expected minimum 75% backing of all SPFL clubs is confirmed today. It is reckoned that VAR will cost Scot footie about £1M per season. So that would be contentious to many people even before a vote count is taken. VAR is not a perfect ref assistance system, but it is still evolving through time and I'd say there is more to gain than lose, particularly in a Scot footie league that I've been critical of for years when it comes to shit Scot ref performances that have either ruined a footie match or affected the match result. The number of highly debatable ref decisions, some of them infamous, that have influenced or changed a match result is massive and the gaffes/bias continue right up to the present day. Also the effectiveness of such scrutiny of certain ref decisions is very much dependent on who is sitting at a VAR console and providing an expected competent and impartial opinion re certain debatable incidents on a football pitch. That is a potential prob that concerns me slightly. However, that prob can be quickly "nipped in the bud" by a proper performance appraisal process deployed by the SFA - accountability is paramount in ensuring this system is robust in improving the game up here for the better. Note recently in the EPL there have been a couple of highly contentious pk decisions that were called by VAR and were clearly wrong. A formal apology quickly followed from Mike Reilly, the FA ref administrator, and I'm assuming further action took place to try to ensure such an embarrassment doesn't happen again. I also like the FA's long standing requirement that any appointed referee in English footie must declare an interest in any FA affiliated footie club for info and for vetting purposes when issuing match ref assignments. Common sense prevails unlike the "dinosaur" that runs Scottish footie!!

Just seen that Maloney was sacked by Hibs board this morning.

Personally think this is a poor decision at this time. Should have got the Summer transfer window to bring in his own players, get some of the injuries back and see how he does in the first 10 games next season. Hibs have put SDG in charge for the remainder of the season.

Problem at Hibs, Ron, is further up the management chain and the Board. Any money left from the Boyle transfer will go on compensation to Maloney and his team .........only just finished paying off Jack Ross. This is money that should have been going into the most important part of any football club........the players on the pitch.

It's the American way, ruthless in business and Kensell better watch his back!

Hibernian FC are certainly in a mess.

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.


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.  

NEW FOR THIS SEASON: 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.
So last season's matches would've been Baggiebob(BBB) v theo_luddite and jjamez v St Charles Owl and would've given a bit more to play for towards the back end of the season.
The prize for winning will be enormous. Another rep point.

We now have an Appeals Committee set up, consisting of me, myself and I. All appeals must be made before the next Matchday kicks off.

Friday April 22:
Town v Barnsley
Town scorers:
Barnsley scorers:

Saturday April 23:
Luton Town v Blackpool (12:30)
Birmingham City v Millwall
AFC Bournemouth v Fulham
Derby County v Bristol City
Hull City v Reading
Peterborough United v Nottingham Forest
Sheffield United v Cardiff City
Stoke City v Queens Park Rangers
Swansea City v Middlesbrough
West Bromwich Albion v Coventry City

Monday April 25:
Preston North End v Blackburn Rovers

Tuesday April 26:
Barnsley v Blackpool
Fulham v Nottingham Forest
Swansea City v AFC Bournemouth

Wednesday April 27:
Middlesbrough v Cardiff City

Table after Matchday 38:

1. Baggiebob(BBB) = 917 pts
   
2. jjamez = 868 pts
   
3. theo_luddite = 854 pts
   
4. St Charles Owl = 845 pts
   
5. themaclad = 822 pts
   
6. Lord Snooty = 810 pts
   
7. neonfoxinthebox = 803 pts
   
8. SHEP_HTAFC = 765 pts
   
9. ritchiebaby = 735 pts
   
10. Amelia Chaffinch = 662 pts
    
11. WakeyTerrier = 617 pts

FORM GUIDE

Fulham 10 PNE 7





We have history of ruining a big day for Fulham, putting the Division 3 championship trophy on the programme in 1971 was probably a mistake as we beat Fulham and then a couple of days later in front on nearly 30,000 at Deepdale beat Rotherham 3-0

PNE Team News

Emil Riis, who missed the draw against Millwall, has been out on the grass running and will be assessed ahead of Tuesday’s game.

There’s also a decision to be made over Alan Browne, with the skipper having been forced off with a glute injury on Good Friday.

Izzy Brown, Ryan Ledson and Tom Barkhuizen remain sidelined.

The Opposition


After missing the chance to secure automatic promotion on Good Friday – having lost to Derby County – the Cottagers will get another shot on Tuesday night against North End.

In fact, the job could even be sealed before Ryan Lowe takes his side to the capital, if results elsewhere go their way on Easter Monday.

With Marco Silva in his first campaign in charge of Fulham, it’s been a remarkable season, and at this stage it appears a matter of when not if they will secure promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

Key Stats

Fulham are comfortably the division’s top scorers, having netted an incredible 95 goals so far this season, 33 more than the second-highest tally in the Championship.

38 of those have come from Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic – to set a new all-time Championship high – and he has scored seven goals in seven games against PNE in his career.

PNE are one of two sides in the division yet to score in the opening 15 minutes of an away fixture this season.

Our Last Meeting


North End earned a point against high-flying Fulham back in November, with striker Ched Evans coming off the bench to score a 72nd-minute equaliser to cancel out Tim Ream’s opener.

Man In The Middle

Taking charge of just his second ever PNE game this weekend will be Leigh Doughty.

Doughty, who became an EFL referee in 2019, first refereed a North End fixture last November in the home defeat against Cardiff City.

So far this season, he has taken charge of 29 matches, showing 108 yellow cards and four reds.

MACS VIEW

Free hit is this one, they are going to ger promtion sooner rather than later, would be nice to put a spike in their guns tomorrow. Thought about going however Fulham away is a good day out by train and paying £30 as a senior is taking the urine to say the least.
So copy and paste match report, not sure why it was changed to Ttuesday nightas it is not on the goggle box but such is life.

THE MATCH

TUESDAY 19TH APRIL KO 7:45 PM

v

LAST MATCH



In typical Wednesday fashion we go to a team who hadn't lost in 15 games and win. We got off to the perfect when Berahino swept in from a corner, though there keeper should have done better. It was 0-2 when Gregory steered a Bannan corner into the corner.. Then the goal of the season when Bannan picked up a clearance and sent a dipping shot from 40 yards past a startled keeper. Dean then got injured and shortly afterwards Parrott latched onto a through ball and finished well. 1-3 HT. Onto the second and MK had a lot of the ball but we defended well. MK did make it 2-3 with a nice free kick in injury time to set up a few nervous minutes but we held out for a valuable 3 points.

THE MATCH



Next up in our playoff push we host Crewe at Hillsborough. Crewe have already been relegated so have nowt to play for apart from spoiler. Chris Long is there leading scorer with 9 goals. They sacked there manage David Artell not long ago after losing 15 out of 16 games and Alex Morris is there interim boss as of now, which seems to have done the trick as they beat Wimbledon 3-1 in his first game in charge. Any other  team and this would be a straightforward game, but this is Sheffield Wednesday so expect a 90 minutes of huffing and puffing  

CURRENT FORM

OWLS                -                                               

CREWE              -                                               

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

CHARLES BREAKSPEAR
Johnathon Bickerdike and Christopher Kidd
Fourth Official : Richard Wigglesworth

THE TEAM

Peacock-Farrell
Storey Dunkley Palmer
NML Byers Bannan FDB Johnson
Berahino Gregory

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

3-1 Berahino

ATTENDANCE

22112

BML STANDINGS

Pei 16
SCO 14
Kev 12
Wereham 11
Maddix 9
Imre 9
Wash 7
SS 5

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Fulham v Preston North End
Burton Albion v Rotherham United
Cambridge United v Charlton Athletic
Ipswich Town v Wigan Athletic
Oxford United v Milton Keynes Dons

HAHAH

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Middlesbrough v Huddersfield Town
The Sky Bet Championship
Monday April 18th - 12:30 ko
at the Riverside Stadium

Huddersfield Town travel to Middlesbrough to the Riverside Stadium on Monday dinnertime for a crucial game for both sides. Crucial for Town to keep up with our outside chance of making it to automatic promotion. And crucial for the home side to keep up their hopes of making it into the Play Offs.

Both teams drew on Good Friday and out of the top 8, only Luton Town won, which has brought Coventry and even Millwall back into having a chance at snatching that last place in the top 6. This is surely the most open race for promotion in Championship history. Usually, most of the places are sorted by now, with just two or three playing for one place. But now, although we hold the advantage of being in third, it's still possible for us to cock up and miss out.

And going to a stadium where we have never won, is not filling me with optimism. Lose this and the chasing pack could make it really tough for us going into Friday night and a game against Barnsley who could be already relegated by then. A win at the Riverside though and we're just about there as far as the Play Offs go. And with Bournemouth's tough run in, who knows where this strange, incredible, fascinating season will take us?

If we do win, early in the day, that puts pressure on the rest. Come on Town! And come on you Baggies!

Other games of interest today.....

Blackburn Rovers v Stoke City
Cardiff City v Luton Town
Coventry City v AFC Bournemouth
Millwall v Hull City
Bristol City v Sheffield United (17:30)
Nottingham Forest v West Bromwich Albion (20:00)

As for team news, well Danny Ward was injured and had to go off at half time on Friday. Head coach, Carlos Corberán hinted after the match that he was feeling a bit of a niggle and so hopefully his withdrawal was just preventative, so he could well be back to lead the line. Harry Toffolo took a hefty whack from constantly cheating thug, Charlie Austin, but he said in a post match interview that he was perfectly fine.

As for Boro, their manager, Chris Wilder made a big call on Friday by changing his goalkeeper. Odd thing to do at this stage of the season, but Luke Daniels replaced Joe Lumley for what was his first appearance since early December and it paid off with him keeping a clean sheet. Isiah Jones and Sol Bamba also returned to the side.

It seems that former Town junior, Matt Crooks, who is Boro's leading scorer this season, may be missing for this match. Apparently he got his 15th yellow card of the season at Bournemouth, meaning he now starts a three match ban.

Head to Head



Middlesbrough lead the head to head with 44 wins to Town's 33, with 20 draws.

We have met five times since being relegated back to the Championship and have only won one of them. That was the 3-2 win at the JSS in November 2020, played behind closed doors. Marvin Johnson gave Boro, who were managed by Neil Warnock, an early lead. Carel Eiting equalised and then Fraizer Campbell made it 2-1. It was all going well until Naby Sarr upended Jonny Howson in the box for Britt Assombalonga to equalise from the spot. That looked to be a couple of points thrown away, but no. Up popped Josh Koroma in the 85th minute to score a beauty from the edge of the area.

Last season, Isaac Mbenza scored from a direct free kick to give us an early lead at the Riverside. This was only the second goal we have ever scored in the league at this particularly tough bogey ground. The only other league goal we have came in  2013 when James Vaughan scored in a 1-1 draw. Despite Mbenza's goal and the fact that they had Paddy McNair sent off, we still lost through a goal by Duncan Whatmore and an Ashley Fletcher penalty. So that's 7 league games there, with just that one point gained. Time for that to change.

Good Friday's line up down at Bournemouth:

28 Luke Daniels
2 Anfernee Dijksteel
22 Sol Bamba
17 Paddy McNair
35 Isiah Jones
25 Matt Crooks
16 Jonny Howson
7 Marcus Tavernier
27 Marc Bola
26 Aaron Connolly
18 Duncan Watmore

Subs:
1 Joe Lumley
4 Grant Hall
11 Andraž Šporar
14 Lee Peltier
37 Josh Coburn
47 Folarin Balogun
48 Riley McGree





Middlesbrough in popular culture:

We watched Steph's Packed Lunch at dinnertime during the lockdown, presented by Boro lass Steph McGovern. It was quite entertaining at times. One of the regular guests on the show was former Crapford manager and lounge room crooner, Chris Kamara. He was born in Middlesbrough and grew up in the Park End estate. He would tell Steph on the show, about the racist abuse he suffered as a child and later in life when he was starting out in football.

Another thing Steph used to bang on about was the local delicacy that all Boro residents loved, the Parmo. According to Wikipedia it is a dish originating in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, and a popular item of take-away food in the Teesside area. It consists of a breaded cutlet of chicken or pork topped with a white béchamel sauce and cheese, usually cheddar cheese. The name of the dish is a reference to the dish chicken parmigiana, which is made with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.

If you're feeling peckish after this lunchtime game, maybe that's something you could try before taking the long journey back to West Yorkshire. Sounds delish!

1. Rosemary Peak
   
2. Motor Stack
   
3. Neuroplasm
   
4. Car Hires
   
5. Bigot Sevens
   
6. Trimmer Boob
   
7. Bing Astroblastoma
   
8. Johnny Swoon
   
9. Marcia Shark
   
10. Uni John
    

Weymouth 2-1 Yeovil
Aldershot 0-3 Dag & Red
Barnet 1-2 Southend
Bromley 0-1 Maidenhead United
Dover 1-0 Woking
King's Lynn 0-2 Grimsby
Stockport 1-1 Solihull Moors
Torquay 0-0 Eastleigh
Wealdstone 2-0 Boreham Wood
Wrexham 3-1 Altrincham
Halifax 0-1 Chesterfield

League Table After Matchday 53

Lord Snoots = 570
Amelia = 548
St Charles = 540
Devon = 536
Dancing = 518
Spireitematt = 490

Premier League

BaggieOne  11pts 1CS 5CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
Snooty        10pts 1CS 4CR -3GB 6BB 1SB
SCO            10pts 0CS 3CR 5GB 3BB 0SB
Derby          10pts 0CS 3CR 5GB 3BB 0SB
Sanjay          9pts 1CS 4CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
Silver            8pts 1CS 4CR 0GB -3BB 1SB
Minizin          6pts 0CS 4CR 0GB -3BB 1SB
BBB              3pts 0CS 2CR -3GB 3BB 1SB

A moderate scoring week but some very unusual sights. First we have BaggieOne sitting at the top of the table - not the first time this has happened but it's about as rare as Albion stringing 4 forward passes together. Added to this is the fact that he's top despite losing points on the gamball. However given the bunched together scores this week I wouldn't expect to see much change in the overall table - spoiler alert: there is no change in the overall table.

So BaggieOne is top thanks to getting the week's high of 5 correct results. His gamball losses were compensated by a correct bonus result and he heads the next 3 players by a massive 1 point. Snooty, SCO and Derby all came in with 10 points. Snooty scored a maximum on his bonus ball while SCO and Derby both managed just 3 correct results with no correct scores. However it helps when your correct results include the gamball and bonus.
Another single point gap to Sanjay and again to Silver both of whom managed to get a correct score in a week when such beasts were rare.  Minizin was helped by not playing his gamball and continuing his dreadful run is BBB, once again propping up the table. At least he can console himself that his 3 points was slightly above his average over the last 4 weeks!


Derby 311
Sanjay 292
Minizin 275
Silver 272
SCO 269
Snooty 264
BBB 250
BaggieOne 224
AAA 79 ®

The week when nothing happened (though BBB will be getting more and more nervous!)

Zin


Championship

Themaclad 14pts 2CS 3CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
Twerton 8pts 0CS 4CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
Amelia 8pts 0CS 3CR NPGB 3BB 1SB
Zinman 6pts 0CS 3CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
Stairs 4pts 0CS 3CR NPGB -3BB 1SB
Dingle 3pts 0CS 4CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
Blue Baggie 1pts 0CS 3CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
Salop 0pts 0CS 1CR NPGB -3BB 1SB
Lady Jane 0pts 0CS 1CR -3GB 3BB 0SB

Poor week on the whole and one that sees the tables turn a little.  Top of the pile is Themaclad who finally finds a bit of form with 14 points.  He was the only player to get a CS this week, in fact he got two and backed that up with a CR on the Gamball.  Joint second with 8 points are two more near the bottom of the table in Twerton and Amelia.  Twerton picked up a CR on the Gamball but missed on his bonus, Amelia wisely stayed away from the Gamball and scored points on her Bonus.

Fourth place goes to Zinman with 6 points, like the top two he got a CR on the Gamball but not much else!!  Close behind him with 4 points is Stairs, who only scored on three games followed by Dingle with 3 points who actually scored on more games than Stairs but missed on the key balls.

The bottom three get a mention but hardly deserve it!!  Blue had a rare poor week with just a single point, missed his balls but managed to score on 3 games.  Salop and Lady Jane finished joint last with zero points.  They both scored on just one game, luckily for LJ it was her bonus or she would have been negative!!

310 - Blue Baggie
286 - Stairs
251 - Salop
250 - Zinman
241 - Dingle
234 - Themaclad
225 - Twerton
213 - Lady Jane
213 - Amelia

Virtually no change in the table this wek.  Blue's lead was cut a bit but not by much, Zinman in now just a point behind third placed Salop and Amelia has caught up to LJ for the bottom spot.  The rest stayed essentially the same.

Cheers
SCO

Joe Root steps down as England Test captain following West Indies defeat

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/60895801

Quote:Joe Root has stepped down as England Test captain following his side's series defeat against West Indies.

The 31-year-old was appointed Sir Alastair Cook's successor in 2017, and holds the record for the highest number of matches and wins as captain.

England slumped to a 10-wicket defeat in the third Test in Grenada as their winless run stretched to nine matches.

In the aftermath, Root said he wanted to stay on but now says "the timing is right" to step down.

"It has been the most challenging decision I have had to make in my career but having discussed this with my family and those closest to me; I know the timing is right," said Root, who has not stepped down as an England player.

"I am immensely proud to have captained my country and will look back on the past five years with enormous pride.

"It has been an honour to have done the job and to have been a custodian of what is the pinnacle of English cricket.

"I have loved leading my country, but recently it's hit home how much of a toll it has taken on me and the impact it has had on me away from the game."

Root's tally of 5,295 runs as captain is the most by any England captain, and he scored 14 centuries while holding the position.

England's second highest Test run scorer of all time, he led his country in a record 64 Tests and has overseen the most wins (27) but also the most defeats (26).

His notable series losses include two 4-0 Ashes defeats in Australia, in 2017-18 and 2021-22.

"I am excited to continue representing the Three Lions and producing performances that will enable the team to succeed," Root added.

"I look forward to helping the next captain, my team-mates and coaches in whatever way I can."

'He has led by example'
Last month's series defeat in the Caribbean followed England's 4-0 Ashes defeat at the hands of Australia and is their fourth series loss in a row - fifth if including the unfinished series against India, in which England trail 2-1.

England have won one of their past 17 Tests, their worst run since the 1980s.

They are in the process of appointing a new managing director and men's head coach, following the departures of Ashley Giles and Chris Silverwood after the Ashes.

It had been expected a decision on Root's future would be made once those positions had been filled.

"Joe has been an exceptional role model during his tenure, balancing the demands of Test captaincy whilst continuing to shine brilliantly through his own personal performances," said England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Tom Harrison.

"He has led by example, and that has resulted in more Test wins than any other England captain, alongside a number of famous series home and away victories.

"Joe's leadership qualities were exemplified by how he led the team through some of the most difficult and uncertain times we have known, playing during the pandemic all over the world, which speaks volumes for him as a leader and as a person.

"I know that every single person who has played or worked under Joe's captaincy will speak of his integrity and humility as a person, as much as his determination and example as a leader.

"Off the field, Joe has been no different. It has been a privilege and a huge pleasure to have worked with him in his capacity as our Test captain, and I know he'll continue to drive English cricket forward as a senior player, offering his wealth of experience and advice to support his successor."