It's now the last chance saloon for Team GB Women to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in February 2022. The team is Eve Muirhead (skip), Victoria Wright (vice-skip), Jennifer Dodds (second), Hailey Duff (lead) with Mili Smith (alternate). This is the same team that won European Gold two weeks ago, winning 10 of their 11 games. They are in form at the right time and look favourites to qualify as one of the top three teams.

The complete list of teams competing at Leeuwarden in The Netherlands is Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Scotland/GB and Turkey. Italy beat Scotland by 1 shot in the Europeans, so must be considered a favourite to qualify, along with Germany, who won the Bronze. There are still plenty of teams willing and able to cause an upset, so be on your guard, ladies, and make sure you get through.

The opening game for Scotland is on Saturday 11 December against Czech Republic, with the Scots playing their next game against Turkey on Sunday 12 December. The round-robin stage is completed on Thursday 16 December.

To make it more interesting/confusing, only the 1st placed team will automatically qualify. The 2nd and 3rd placed teams will play-off on Friday 17 December with the winner also qualifying. The loser will then play the 4th placed team on Saturday 18 December for the third qualifying position. An extremely unsatisfying guddle to complicate a simple matter. But that's only my opinion.

The current Champions of Europe vs the holders of the Anglo-Scottish cup. Thomas Tuchel vs James Rowe.

Chelsea play us in between Liverpool and Manchester City and if they beat Brentford in the League Cup then that means there will be another Cup game a few days prior to the FA Cup game with ourselves. Chelsea have a lot of players that they can rotate and have a lot of talent and depth so I very much doubt they will send out a U23 or a U21 squad but that will also depend on who Chelsea get in the Champions League Last 16 and how far they can go in all competitions.

If we have a fully fit squad there is no reason why we can't give it a good go and really take the game to them. It's a shame we aren't going to be televised but looking at the televised fixtures it didn't surprise me to see 2 all Premier League ties in West Ham vs Leeds and Manchester United vs Aston Villa. The funny thing is a week later West Ham are playing you guessed it Leeds United and its on Sky and Manchester United are away at Aston Villa and it's on Sky.

There are 4 non-league teams left and that includes ourselves and not one is televised so much for the magic of the cup eh.

174 - Derby (Prem)
161 - Blue Baggie (Championship)
149 - BaggieBob(BBB) (Prem)
148 - Silver (Prem)
140 - Stairs (Championship)
140 - Sir Charles (Prem)
138 - Lady Jane (Championship)
134 - Salop (Championship)
127 - Zinman (Championship)
125 - Minizin (Prem)
120 - Dingle Dingle (Championship)
116 - Sanjay (Prem)
111 - Themoclad (Championship)
110 - Lord Snooty (Prem)
103 - Amelia (Championship)
 97 - Baggie 1 (Prem)
 63 - Twerton (Championship)
 57 - AAA (Prem)

Although the Prem have 4 players in the top 5 places, the Championship are winning 77 to 83 in 1-18 places.

Anybody surprised although I think a number of Hibs players really have to "look in the mirror" after last night's awful result, esp the nature of it!! Looks like prompt action taken by Ron Gordon after last night's unacceptable result (one of many!!) in Livingston. So who comes in? It appears that Alex Neil is a favourite for some reason. Note he left Preston NE a while ago and currently "out of work". Apparently some kinda Hibs association, when he was at Norwich City, renders him as one of the main contenders. I personally think Jim Goodwin could be "in with a shout". Maybe too early for him? Then there is my "long shot" of Neil Lennon returning. There are other contenders (Yogi, Derek McInnes, Calum Davidson), but that looks like the main ones so far - a case of watch this space.

Another away fixture for Hibs in this busy and testy fixture schedule that one could never have imagined months ago. But the players and management will have to try and negotiate a recovery somehow. The pressure is gradually mounting on Jack Ross after tonight's "nightmare" result that many Hibs fans like myself suspected would come to pass. Lotsa Hibs fans "calling him out" towards the end of this game re the unacceptable nature of winning very few Scot Prem matches in months and, as usual, losing to another lower league/2nd bottom  team that never won a match in six outings. Ross Co anybody?? Hibs playing the Buddies this time without McGinn and Hanlon, both stupidly red-carded and suspended! Note Doidge is not match-fit either and it is time JR acknowledged that fact and stopped fielding him in any game until he is match-fit - so glaringly obvious when watching games! JR's record v Saint Mirren is vg. However, I think this upcoming match v them is gonna be more challenging even though their form has waned in the past month. He'd better get his formation/player choice right because I perceive that his time with Hibs is gradually "running out" and his player options are limited, particularly Magregor playing in a CB position although I believe Gogic has played in that position before. Should he opt for "three at the back" v a team that has a goal-scoring issue although they do create scoring opps? IMO we need a result, a case of "all hands on deck" and a high work ethic - a shocking position for a Hibs team that shouldn't be in this situation btw! Hence the pressure on Ross and no wonder! C'mon Hibs! Start playing properly!!!!!!! Plus Nisbet and Boyly - "GET THE FINGER OUT" FGS - NOT PERFORMING WELL ENOUGH!!  

GGTTH

Altrincham 2-0 Bromley
Eastleigh 1-2 Aldershot
Grimsby 1-2 Chesterfield
King's Lynn 2-0 Dover
Maidenhead United 0-3 Solihull Moors
Notts County 3-1 Southend
Torquay 1-4 Stockport
Wealdstone 0-3 Halifax
Woking 1-1 Boreham Wood
Yeovil 2-2 Barnet
Wrexham 3-1 Weymouth

League Table After Matchday 22

Amelia = 268
Devon = 268
St Charles = 256
Dancing = 254
Lord Snoots = 252
Spireitematt = 224

Premier League

Derby        25pts 3CS 7CR 5GB 3BB 1SB
Silver          19pts 3CS 5CR 0GB 6BB 1SB
SCO            14pts 2CS 3CR 10GB 0BB* 0SB
Sanjay        11pts 1CS 4CR 5GB -3BB 1SB
BaggieOne    9pts 2CS 5CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
BBB              7pts 0CS 3CR 5GB -3BB 1SB
AAA              6pts 1CS 3CR 0GB -3BB 1SB
Minizin          4pts 1CS 2CR 0GB -3BB 1SB
Snooty        -6pts 0CS 1CR -3GB -6BB* 1SB

*2 bonus balls played as catch up.

Could this be a decisive week in the chase for the prediction league title? Improved scoring (for most) but a big spread of total scores which could open some gaps in the table. Bonus balls once again were a problem, though those of you who showed failth in the Baggies were rewarded on the gamball.

A return to form for Derby and a big win this week, amassing 25 points from an impressive 7 correct predictions with 3 correct scores and a full set of positive balls. Silver recovered from a slow start (good decision to avoid the gamball though) to come in 2nd thanks to 3 of his 5 predictions being maximums, including his bonus. SCO faced the poisoned chalice of having to play 2 bonuses this week but managed to get one of them right to add to a maximum gamball to take 3rd.

Everyone else got their bonuses wrong. Sanjay crawled into double figures and a respectable 4th place thanks to the gamball. BaggieOne lost out on both of the risky balls but made a recovery due to a good Sunday . BBB also scored on the gamball but got little else right, just 2 other correct predictions and a scoreball to leave him some way off the top 2. He finished a point ahead of AAA who continues to struggle.

After a good start to the season, Minizin's recent woes continued (just 17 points from the last 5 weeks) though it would have been worse if he'd gambled. And then there is Snooty who chose to have a nightmare week when, like SCO, having 2 bonuses to play. Just 1 correct prediction and a scoreball was never going to make up for 9 lost points on the other balls!

Derby 174
BBB 149
Silver 148
SCO 140
Minizin 125
Sanjay 116
Snooty 110
BaggieOne 97
AAA 57

Only one positional change this week with Sanjay and Snooty swopping places. The biggest difference is the gap at the top with Derby increasing what last week was a 7 point lead into 25 points. silver closed the gapto BBB in 2nd place with SCO just hanging on to hope of winning the title.

For those of you (or us) choosing to avoid the gamball, it has so far amassed 148 points in the Premiership (Derby and SCO by far the most successful), compared to -33 points from the bonus where only Silver and Derby are above zero.

Zin


Championship

Themaclad  20pts 3CS 3CR 5GB -3BB 1SB
Salop           19pts 3CS 2CR NPGB 6BB 1SB
Amelia         14pts 2CS 1CR 10GB -3BB 1SB
Lady Jane     12pts 1CS 2CR 10GB -3BB 1SB
Zinman         12pts 1CS 3CR NPGB 3BB 1SB
Blue Baggie   3pts 2CS 0CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
Dingle           3pts 1CS 2CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
Twerton        -3pts 0CS 1CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
Stairs           -4pts NPCS NPCR NPGB NPBB NPSB

Much better week than last week thanks in large part to a WBA away win!!  The Gamball game this week gained the most points with 3 players getting it spot on.  The top 3 this week were the top 3 last week and all of them set new high scores for the season.  Themaclad again took top spot with 20 points including a CR on the Gamball backed up with 3 CSs.  Salop continues his fine form in second with 19 points, he got a spot on score on the Gamball but didn't play the ball so missed out on 6 extra points.  That means he has "lost" 24 points so far this season on the Gamball by not playing it, could be costly come the end of the season.  Amelia rounds out the top 3 with 14 points, she was one of two players to get a spot on score with the Gamball.

The other one with a spot on Gamball was Lady Jane in joint fourth spot with 12 points, she wasn't able to back it up with much but as you will see later her excellent run sees her gaining ground on the leaders.  Zinman joined her on 12 points, he wisely didn't play the Gamball but did manage a CR on the Bonus.  Big drop then down to Blue and Dingle, both finishing on 3 points. Blue's poor form continues as he missed on the Gamball and Bonus but did manage 2 CSs, has the coin flip bubble burst??  Dingle has been inconsistent for a while and like Blue missed on the big balls!!

Probably the most consistent player in the Championship is Twerton, unfortunately for him its not consistently good!!  He posts a negative score for the second week in a row, this time -3 and only scored points on one game plus his scoreball. If its any consolation he didn't finish bottom this week though, that honor goes to Stairs due to him sitting on a beach somewhere instead of paying attention to his prediction duties, as per the rules he ends with 1 point less than the last players score, so ends the week on -4, lets see what that does to the table.

Just a little stat paragraph, how are we doing with all the balls?  The Gamball has so far produced 127 points, with Blue leading the way on 29 points so far, Stairs hasn't played the Gamball at all but if he had he would be sat on 40 points from it, Salop though has played it a couple of times and has amassed 28 points from it so far but that would have been 52 points if he had played it each week!!  Collectively 62 points have been scored on the Scoreball with Zinman on top with 10 out of 14 so far.  The Bonus has been a disaster the whole season and now sits at -24 so far!!  Amelia leads the way here on 9 points but 5 players are at zero or below on it this season with Twerton sitting on -24 on that one ball!! And to think we get to pick the game we play that ball on!!

161 - Blue Baggie
140 - Stairs
138 - Lady Jane
134 - Salop
127 - Zinman
120 - Dingle
111 - Themaclad
103 - Amelia
63 - Twerton

Not a lot of change in positions in the table this week, but the scores are certainly tighter in places.  Blue's lead still sits at a healthy 21 points but due to Stairs going AWOL Lady Jane sits just 2 points behind him now.  Salop, Zinman and Dingle continue to swap places each week, this week Salop takes over 4th spot and Dingle drops 2 places.  Not so far behind them now though is Themaclad, can he keep his form going to catch them?  Same goes for Amelia, like Themaclad she cracked the century mark this week and if she continues to be in the Top 3 she will close that gap.  Twerton is now well adrift, in fact he is now a whopping 40 points behind Amelia and shows no sign of any form, playing for pride springs to mid at this point for him!!

Cheers
SCO

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 11TH DECEMBER KO 3:00 PM

v

LAST MATCH



In the end a decent point after Luongo was sent off in the second half. Pompey started brightly and had a few chances, BPF saving from Hirst. We grew into the game and FDB went close and we had a few attempts blocked. BPF made another fine save just before HT. Onto the 2nd and it was fairly even until Luongo lunged at Curtis and was sent off. Pompey upped the pressure but BPF made a couple of quality saves and we blocked a couple more efforts as we dug in and held on for a point.

THE MATCH



Next up and a trip to Crewe. Not played these much, the last being 15 years ago when we lost 2-0. They haven't had a good season and are currently 23rd in the table, but did win there last game 2-0 v Lincoln. I would expect them to struggle to stay up, so will probably beat us easily     They are managed by David Artell who has been in charge since 2017. There leading scorer is Mikael Mandron who has 5 goals. Only a win will be acceptable, so DM will probably play for a point 

CURRENT FORM

OWLS               -                                       

CREWE            -                             

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

LEE SWABEY
Ollie Williams and Thomas Harty
Fourth Official : Peter Gooch

THE TEAM

Peacock-Farrell
Brennan Dunkley Palmer
Hunt Dele Bannan WIng Corbeanu
Kamberi Gregory

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-2 Corbeanu

BML STANDINGS

Kev 7
Pei 6
SCO 5
Wash 4
Wereham 4
Imre 4
Maddix 3
SS 2

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Portsmouth v Morecambe
Rotherham United v Burton Albion
Sunderland v Plymouth Argyle
Wigan Athletic v Ipswich Town
Wycombe Wanderers v AFC Wimbledon

HHHHH

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC