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.

World Cup Qualifying:
Friday 12th November:
England v Albania
England scorers:

Northern Ireland v Lithuania
Moldova v Scotland (17:00)

Saturday 13th November:
Wales v Belarus (19:45)

Monday 15th November:
San Marino v England
England scorers:

Northern Ireland v Italy
Scotland v Denmark

Tuesday 16th November:
Wales v Belgium

Bonus matches:
Saturday:
League One:
Sheffield Wednesday v Gillingham

League Two:
Port Vale v Bradford City (12:00)

Table after Matchday 15:

1. Baggiebob(BBB) = 416 pts
   
2. theo_luddite = 360 pts
   
3. jjamez = 358 pts
   
4. Lord Snooty = 358 pts
   
5. St Charles Owl = 350 pts
   
6. neonfoxinthebox = 339 pts
   
7. themaclad = 336 pts
   
8. SHEP_HTAFC = 323 pts
   
9. WakeyTerrier = 319 pts
   
10. ritchiebaby = 288 pts
    
11. Amelia Chaffinch = 264 pts

Sorry, just had to do the headline.    

Seems a bit strange after winning their first game of the season

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/59194369

Quote:Norwich City head coach Daniel Farke has been sacked hours after their first win of the Premier League season.

The Canaries won 2-1 at Brentford, but remain bottom of the Premier League with five points from 11 games.

Farke had led Norwich to promotion from the Championship twice since 2017.

"We feel now is the right time for a change to give ourselves the best opportunity of retaining our Premier League status," said sporting director Stuart Webber.

In Farke's post-match interview with BBC Sport, he gave no indication he knew he was about to lose his job.

"We definitely have a chance [of survival]," he said. "It's a long marathon. The longer we work together the better we will be as a team. I can't guarantee we'll stay in the league but don't write us off."

The German was Norwich manager for 208 games, winning 87 of them.

But he has the fourth worst record of all Premier League managers to have taken charge of 20 games or more - winning just six of his 49 games.

He took over Norwich in 2017, leading them to the Championship title in his second season.

They were relegated after one campaign in the top flight but then bounced straight back last season.

The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898, and has 30,445 seats.

The stadium was a venue when England hosted Euro 96, and is only three hundred yards (270 m) away from Meadow Lane, home of Forest's neighbouring club Notts County; the two grounds are the closest professional football stadiums in England and the second-closest in the United Kingdom after the grounds of Dundee and Dundee United. They are located on opposite sides of the River Trent.
Nottingham Forest moved to their new ground on 3 September 1898 – 33 years after their formation and six years after election to the Football League.

To raise the £3,000 required to finance the move the club asked members, supporters and businessmen to subscribe to "New Ground Scheme" bearer bonds which cost £5 each. Over £2,000 was raised this way.

The new ground was called the City Ground. It was only a few hundred yards from the old Town Ground at the opposite end of Trent Bridge, which had been named after the Town Arms pub. Nottingham was granted its Charter as a City in 1897 and it was called the City Ground to commemorate this as the land on which it stands was at that time within the City boundary. In 1952 boundary changes resulted in the ground coming under the local council of West Bridgford (Rushcliffe Borough Council) rather than the City. Opposite the City Ground, still within the City boundaries, lies Meadow Lane, home of Notts County. The City Ground was wide open on three sides with no protection from the weather but the pitch was one of the finest in the country. This was due to the presence on the committee of J. W. Bardill, a nurseryman whose family firm still exists in Stapleford near Nottingham and whose company was given the task of preparing the pitch.

In 1935, the club had the opportunity to buy the ground from Nottingham Corporation for £7,000 but they declined.

On 12 October 1957, a new East Stand opened at the City Ground, costing £40,000 and having benches to seat up to 2,500 fans. The visitors for the opening were Manchester United’s "Busby Babes", just four months before eight of them died in the Munich air disaster. On 11 September 1961, the floodlights at the ground were officially turned on for the first time as Forest faced Gillingham in the League Cup.[7] A new record attendance of 49,946 was set in October 1967 when Forest beat Manchester Utd 3-1 in a First Division fixture, five months after Forest had finished second to United in the league. In December 1967 the City Ground was host to an England U23 match against Italy.[8]

The Main Stand was largely rebuilt in 1965 but, on 24 August 1968, fire broke out during a First Division game against Leeds United.[9] It started in the boiler room, just before half-time. The stand was damaged but, despite a crowd numbering 31,126, none of them were injured.[9] The only reported injuries were to a television crew on the TV gantry, who had to scramble down it because the access ladder was stored in the boiler room. The gantry was extended the length of the stand and now has access at both ends. As a result of the fire, Forest played six 'home' matches at nearby Meadow Lane and did not win one of them. Sadly many of the club's records, trophies and other memorabilia were lost in the fire. The stand was refurbished.

The Executive Stand was built in 1980 at a cost of £2 million — largely from proceeds of the highly successful era in which Forest brought the European Cup back to Nottingham in 1979 and 1980, having won the league title in 1978. Forest also won the Football League Cup twice during that era.

Under Clough's reign, Forest had taken the English domestic game and the European scene by storm and money raised from those successes was invested in a stand that had a capacity of 10,000. It was renamed The Brian Clough Stand after his retirement, and was re-opened after refurbishment by the man himself in the mid-1990s. The stand also incorporated 36 executive boxes and a large dining area, which was designed to be the focus of the club's corporate hospitality arrangements.


Aerial image showing the proximity of the City Ground (bottom) to Meadow Lane.
Nottingham Forest had been the opposing team in the fateful FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool at Hillsborough, Sheffield, on 15 April 1989, in which 96 Liverpool fans were fatally injured in a human crush on the stadium's terraces. The disaster resulted in the Taylor Report ordering that all clubs in the top two divisions of English football should have an all-seater stadium by August 1994. This resulted in the need for more redevelopment and refurbishment at the City Ground.

More major development took part in 1992–93 with the rebuilding of the Bridgford Stand. Work started in April 1992 and when completed the Stand had a capacity of 7,710, the lower tier of 5,131 being allocated to away supporters. The unusual shape of the roof was a planning requirement to allow sunlight to reach houses in nearby Colwick Road. The Stand includes accommodation for 70 wheelchair supporters.[10] It also houses a management suite, which includes the public address systems, computerised electronic scoreboard controls and the police matchday operation.

The Trent End was the most recent stand to be rebuilt between 1994 and 1996 — in time for Euro 96, the European Football Championships. The new stand, such a prominent landmark by the River Trent, held 7,338 to take the ground's capacity to 30,576 all-seated.

The ground would be able to expand to up to 46,000 if ever there was ever a return to the top flight. Forest were relegated from the FA Premier League three times between 1993 and 1999. Although they achieved promotion at the first attempt following the first two relegations, they have yet to return to the Premier League since their relegation in 1999 and even spent three seasons in League One - English football's third tier.

On 20 June 2007, the Forest board announced plans for a possible relocation to a new 50,000-seat stadium in the city, although such a move was not expected to take place before 2014. This was part of England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup, but in December 2010 England's World Cup bid was rejected in favour of Russia being selected as the host nation.

Several improvements to the stadium have been made since the Trent End rebuild such as two new LED Screens being installed between the Trent End and the Brian Clough Stand and in the far corner of the Bridgford Stand. A small number of seats were lost because of this. LED advertising boards were also installed around the perimeter of the pitch excluding the Main Stand. These improvements cost around £1 million.

The City Ground also hosted the FA Women's Cup Final for two successive years in 2007 and 2008. The 2007 final was contested by Arsenal L.F.C. and Charlton Athletic L.F.C. with the attendance of 24,529 smashing the previous record attendance for the competition of 13,824 for the final between Arsenal L.F.C. and Fulham L.F.C. at Selhurst Park in 2001. In 2008, the attendance record was broken once again when 24,582 spectators saw Arsenal L.F.C. beat Leeds United 4–1.

Aside from football, the stadium has also hosted two other large-scale events. On 28 April 2002 the stadium hosted a semi-final of rugby's Heineken Cup in which Leicester Tigers beat Llanelli Scarlets 13–12. Leicester Tigers once again played at City Ground when they were defeated 19-16 by Racing 92 on 24 April 2016 in the semi-final of the European Rugby Champions Cup. The stadium hosted its first music concert when R.E.M. performed there[11] in front of an audience of 20,000.

In October 2015, Forest renamed the Main Stand, "The Peter Taylor Stand" after former European Cup winning assistant-manager Peter Taylor, who died 25 years earlier.[12]

Following issues with the ground's safety certificate, the capacity of the stadium was reduced to 24,357 ahead of the 2016–17 season.[13]

MANAGER

Steve Cooper



Early coaching
While a player, Cooper studied for his coaching badges and began coaching at Wrexham's academy.[7] At the age of 27, Cooper obtained his UEFA Pro Licence, becoming one of the youngest coaches to achieve the qualification.[8][9]

After several years coaching at Wrexham's academy, Cooper became the club's head of youth development.[10] On 3 September 2008, Cooper was appointed as a youth coach at Liverpool, initially taking charge of the under-12s.[11] On 18 July 2011, he was named manager of Liverpool's academy.[12] Cooper coached the under-18s for the 2012–13 season, leading them to the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup, where they lost to Chelsea.[13] While at Liverpool, Cooper oversaw the development of such players as Raheem Sterling, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ben Woodburn.[14] In 2013, Cooper joined the FA as a youth coach educator and also taught on the FA Wales A Licence course.[14][15]

England youth
On 13 October 2014, Cooper was appointed as manager of the England national under-16 team.[9] The following year, he took charge of the under-17s, coaching players such as Jadon Sancho, Phil Foden and Callum Hudson-Odoi.[14] Cooper led his side to the final of the 2017 UEFA European U17 Championship, where they lost to Spain 4–1 on penalties following a 2–2 draw.[16] Cooper's U17s then won the 2017 FIFA U17 World Cup in October 2017, beating Brazil 3–1 in the semi-final and Spain 5–2 in the final.[17][18]

The following year, Cooper's side reached the semi-finals of the 2018 UEFA European U17 Championship, where they lost to Netherlands on penalties.[19] They did not qualify for the quarter-finals of the 2019 UEFA European U17 Championship, despite beating Sweden 3–1 in their final group game.[20] During his time at England, Cooper oversaw a specialised coaching model which included in-possession and out-of-possession coaches.[21] He was also responsible for the coaching programme and curriculum for the under-15s.[21] On training young players, Cooper said, "Sometimes I will talk and tell the players my thoughts, but most of the time I facilitate... that's how players learn, as a modern player. The days are gone, for me, where everything is the coach telling the player, that's finished."[21]

Swansea City
Cooper was appointed head coach of Championship club Swansea City on 13 June 2019 on a three-year contract.[22] His first match was a 2–1 win against Hull City at the Liberty Stadium, with goals from Borja Bastón and Mike van der Hoorn.[23] Cooper was named the EFL's Championship Manager of the Month for August after Swansea's unbeaten start to the season saw them move top of the league, with 16 points from 18.[24] This was Swansea's best start to a season in 41 years.[25]

During the January transfer window, Cooper signed Rhian Brewster, Marc Guéhi and Conor Gallagher (all of whom Cooper had coached in the England set-up) on loan from Liverpool and Chelsea respectively.[26] Following the outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent pandemic, the Championship season was suspended indefinitely, with Swansea in 11th place and three points from the play-offs.[27] The season restarted on 20 June.[28] On the final day of the season, Swansea beat Reading 4–1 to finish sixth, moving into the play-offs ahead of Nottingham Forest on goal difference.[29] They were defeated by Brentford 3–2 on aggregate in the semi-final.[30]

In his second season, Cooper again led Swansea to the play-offs, despite criticism of his style of play and Swansea's poor form towards the end of the season.[31][32] They drew 2–2 with Reading on 25 April 2021 to secure their play-off place, with two league games left in the season.[31] This was Cooper's 100th game in charge.[33] Swansea finished 4th in the league[34] but lost the play-off final to Brentford.[35] He left the club by mutual consent in July 2021.[36]

Nottingham Forest
Cooper was appointed head coach of Championship club Nottingham Forest on 21 September 2021 on a two-year contract.[37]

LAST TIME OUT



MACS FORM GUIDE

FOREST 11 PNE 12

PNE Team News

rudd_d_bournemouth_h_2122_16x9.jpg

Having jarred his knee in the warm up against AFC Bournemouth, and having to be replaced on the bench by Mathew Hudson, Declan Rudd will be assessed ahead of the trip to Nottingham.

Frankie McAvoy is not expecting to have anybody available who wasn’t for the Bournemouth victory, with Matthew Olosunde and Ched Evans not back until after the international break.

Josh Murphy, Izzy Brown and Connor Wickham also remain sidelined.

The Opposition

Following a worrying start to their campaign, a change of management seems to have turned Nottingham Forest’s fortunes.

Chris Hughton was the man in charge at the beginning of the season, but after taking a point from their opening seven games of the campaign, he was dismissed.

Now in charge at the City Ground is former Swansea City head coach Steve Cooper, and Forest enjoyed an immediate bounce after his arrival, winning four consecutive games after a draw in his first match.

Key Stats

Still a worry for Forest, though, may be their home form, given that they have picked up just five points from a possible 24 playing in front of their own supporters.

They have also not had the best of times playing in this particular fixture in recent history, with North End taking all three points from the City Ground in three of the last four meetings.

One of Forest’s dangermen – and their top scorer so far this season with six goals – is Lewis Grabban, who played under Frankie McAvoy while both were at Norwich City.

Our Last Meeting


PNE signed off their 2020/21 Championship campaign with a 2-1 victory at the City Ground.

The hosts went ahead 17 minutes in as Manchester United loanee James Garner found the net with a 30-yard effort, but the Lilywhites turned the game on its head in the second half.

Tom Bayliss scored his first goal for the club to draw the visitors level on the end of Scott Sinclair’s cross, before Liam Lindsay sealed the three points on Gentry Day.

Man In The Middle

There will be a man well-versed in the Premier League taking charge of Saturday’s fixture, with Simon Hooper our referee.

Hooper has refereed 35 games in the English top flight, the most recent of those being Leicester City’s victory away at Brentford in October.

It’s been a long time since he was the main official for a PNE game; that was back in March 2018 as Fulham won 2-1 at Deepdale.



MACS VIEW

What a difference a week makes pick up a point tomorrow it can be viewed as a more than decent week. Need to keep an eye of Johnson looks a really useful player although still learning the game does at time tend to take the ball too far, Grabban alwys a danger.
Usually a great trip out to what a consider one of the best grounds in teh Championship, about 5 to 6 hours on the coach tomorrow been a long tarmac sniffing adventure

Cardiff City v Huddersfield Town
The Sky Bet Championship
Saturday November 6th - 15:00 ko
at the Cardiff City Stadium

Head to Head



Town lead the head to head with 29 wins to Cardiff's 27, with 23 draws.

But we haven't won since 2003 when Andy Booth scored in a 1-0 win at the McAlpine. There have been 15 games since without us winning.

We first started playing each other in the 1920s and as you can see from the History section above, we had a bit of a rivalry. The first two matches were in December 1921 and we didn't even score. It was goalless at Ninian Park and then they came up to Leeds Road on Christmas Eve and left with the points and a 1-0 win. We played them in the next season in a November double header and it was us this time with the upper hand as we beat them both times 1-0. Charlie Wilson scoring at Leeds Road and then Jack Byers with the goal down there.

The next season, 1923/24 was the one where we won the title, beating Cardiff on Goal Average. The two games came late on in the season. We beat them 2-0 at home in March with a couple of George Brown goals, but it was another tense goal less affair in Cardiff in April. We were top of the table after that match as Sunderland's challenge began to fade. By the time the final round of matches came around, Cardiff had taken advantage of our defeat away at Aston Villa in the penultimate match and moved into top spot. All they had to do was win at Birmingham. A George Cook double and another from Brown gave us a 3-0 win at home to Nottingham Forest. The Town fans awaited the result from St Andrews. It was good news. I've already mentioned that Len Davies missed the penalty, but it was a save from the Birmingham keeper Dan Tremelling after wing half Percy Barton had given away the spot kick by punching the ball off the line, in the days before this was a sending off offence. And so Cardiff drew 0-0 and only took one point. We went above them by virtue of winning 3-0. A 2-0 win wouldn't have been enough.

Unlikely Town hero!

As we all know, we won the title again in the next two seasons. Cardiff were still around for both of them and in 24/25 we drew both games. We also drew the first meeting in the thrice champions season and then beat them 2-1 away. The next season saw another draw at Leeds Road and a 0-2 defeat down there. But then in 1927/28 we had a couple of crazy games. This was the season that we finished as runners up to Everton and Cardiff came up here in October. They left with a good old walloping as our brave lads scored 8 for the first time in a FL match. We won the match 8-2 with a Bob Kelly hat trick, two from Johnny Dent, one each from Alex Jackson and Billy Smith and a Roy Goodall penalty. Then in February, after big wins against West Ham (5-2), Spurs (4-2) and Everton (4-1), we went to Ninian Park and got stuffed 4-0! Funny old game!

We followed that by drawing the two games in the next season as Cardiff got relegated. And that was the rivalry done with for 24 years. Cardiff had made it back to the First Division as we went down for the first time and met up again in 1953 when we won promotion back into the top flight. And we beat them at home 2-0 in the third game of the season to go top of the league, with goals from Jimmy Watson and Vic Metcalfe. They beat us 2-1 a week later down at theirs. We had three more seasons together in the top flight and then we got relegated. And so when we met at Leeds Road in Feb '56, it would be the last meeting of the two clubs at the top level for 62 years. Cardiff won it 2-1.

They came down in the next and so we met at the 2nd level for the first time in September '57 and Cardiff beat us again down at theirs. We had a few seasons together in the 60s, missing a couple when they went back up. We were apart again at the start of the 70s as we had gone and got ourselves promoted. We did the double over the Bluebirds in our promotion season, winning both matches 1-0. Jimmy Nicholson scored at home and a Brian Harris own goal gave us the points at theirs.

We met again in the 2nd division after we got relegated in 1972, but that was it for the 70s. The next time we shared a division was in the 80s. Cardiff had just been relegated to the 3rd division and they came to Leeds Road in October 1982. They brought their ruddy hooligans with them as well and I remember a big old scrap outside the Waggon & Horses and one of the Cardiff fans getting trampled by one of the police horses. He just got up and laughed it off.   Happy days!

Anyway, we won the game 4-0. Mark Lillis scored all four of them. What a game that was, much to the delight of a local butcher who was sponsoring him with a T-Bone steak for every goal he scored. We should try that now instead of pledging breakfasts for poor kids, we should buy big juicy steaks for our brave, under paid footy stars.

We went down to Cardiff for the return match in March. We had a minibus trip for a midweek game. Some of the lads had their wives with them and so decided that they didn't want to be in with the mob, so we all sat in the main stand. We'll be alright there. Wrong! When David Cowling equalised to make it 1-1, they were all over us, some climbing the wall from the paddock in front of the seats to hit us. Oh happy days!  

We both got promoted that season. We finished 3rd and they finished 2nd behind champions Portsmouth. So we met up again in the 2nd division in 83/84. We started the season well and by the time we went to Cardiff and lost 1-3, we were in 5th place. It was more of a struggle for the second half of the season though, but when Cardiff came up here in April, we beat them 4-0 again. No goals for Lillis this time though, but we did have a hat trick and it was from a centre back. Paul Jones it was, two of the three were penalties though. Daryl Pugh got the other.

Jones got another pen at Leeds Road against them as we beat them 2-1 in the following season, with Dale Tempest getting the other. Cardiff beat us 3-0 at theirs towards the back end of the season, but it wasn't enough to save them from relegation.

So it was another four years before we played each other again in the third tier. Only a couple of seasons, they got relegated to the 4th div. Along the way, we contributed to their down fall. Despite losing 2-3 at home, we went down to Ninian Park at the back end of the 1989/90 season and hammered them 5-1. And another Town player scored four against them. This time it was Craig Maskell, with Kieran O'Regan with the other. When they came back up, we did them again 5-1 at home in our first season in the MacAlpine Stadium. Five different goal scorers though in this one, Andy Booth, Tom Cowan, Ronnie Jepson, Paul Reid and Gary Crosby. They went down and we went up, so didn't play each other again until we had a couple of seasons together in the early 2000s.

There has only been one Cup meeting and that was in the League Cup 2nd round in 2011. And a right cracker of a game it was an' all in our first visit to the new Cardiff City Stadium. Gábor Gyepes opened the scoring and Jon Parkin made it two, with his only Cardiff goal that season before he came on loan to us. Then came an unbelievable turnaround. Jordan Rhodes pulled one back in the second half, Danny Ward equalised and then in the 88th minute Rhodes put us 3-2 up. Could we hold out for the win against a team who were by now in a higher division than us? Nope! Don Cowie grabbed an equaliser in the third minute of injury time to send the match into extra time. Craig Conway gave them the lead before Cowie rounded the night off with his second to finish the match at 5-3.

We got promoted that season and started off the new season on a Friday night, live on Sky Sports down in Cardiff. They were one of the favourites for promotion, having made it to the Play Off Final in the previous season and we did really well. It was 0-0 when the 4th official put his board up showing five minutes. Unfortunately in the first of those, up popped future Town skipper and caretaker manager Mark Hudson to burst our bubble. He would lift the Championship trophy at the end of the season.

Ye baldy headed twat!

"Y'aright, Sugar Tits?"

1. Iran Napkin 
   
2. McEnroe Ran 
   
3. Ishmael Exits 
   
4. Vaselined 
   
5. Illuminant Dummies 
   
6. Ahmed Sayers Sibley 
   
7. Clammy Kayak 
   
8. Replace Brazil FM 
   
9. Nissan Romero 
   
10. Colin Wanker 
    

AFC Wimbledon 2-0 Guiseley
Carlisle United 2-1 Horsham
Chesterfield 1-0 Southend
FC Halifax Town 1-1 Maidenhead United
Fleetwood 0-4 Burton Albion
Gateshead 1-3 Altrincham
Harrogate Town 2-0 Wrexham
Morecambe 1-2 Newport County
Portsmouth 2-0 Harrow Borough
Sunderland 3-1 Mansfield Town
Wigan Athletic 6-0 Solihull Moors
York City 2-2 Buxton

League Table After Matchday 16

Amelia = 210
St Charles = 198
Lord Snoots = 186
Dancing = 174
Devon = 174
Spireitematt = 170

THE MATCH

SUNDAY 7TH NOVEMBER KO 12:15PM

v

LAST MATCH



Well none of us saw that coming as we decided to attack a team and end up with a 3-0 win. Corbeanu & Kamberi both got starts and it didn't take long before we took the lead as Corbeanu finished well with curving a shot into the corner. Corbeanu then got an assist when making space on the left and crossing for Kamberi who finished from 6 yards. Onto the 2nd half and it was 3 when Gregory diverted Paterson's cross/come shot. Sunderland did have a few chances, but couldn't find the back of the net

THE MATCH



FA Cup time and we host Plymouth. We have played these 3 times in the cup, 2 wins & a draw, the last of these games 53 years ago! I imagine both teams will make a bunch of changes as it is a game both will probably want to lose and "concentrate on the league, so we will probably win     .

CURRENT FORM

OWLS               -                                      

PLYM                -                         

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

Referee: Backhouse, Anthony
Assistant Referee: Isherwood, Chris
Assistant Referee: Newhouse, Paul
Fourth Official: Kitchen, Andrew

THE TEAM

Peacock-Farrell
Hunt Hutch Iorfa Palmer
Bannan Wing Adeniran
Paterson Gregory Brown

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

2-1 Berahino

ATTENDANCE

11235

BML STANDINGS

Kev 6
Pei 6
Wash 4
SCO 4
Wereham 3
Maddix 3
Imre 2
SS 1

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Oxford United v Bristol Rovers
Bolton Wanderers v Stockport County
Rochdale v Notts County
Stratford Town v Shrewsbury Town
St Albans City v Forest Green Rovers

HHHAA

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Premier League

BBB            27pts 3CS 8CR 5GB 3BB 1SB
Snooty.      19pts 1CS 6CR 5GB 3BB 1SB
Sanjay.      15pts 2CS 5CR 0GB 3BB 0SB
AAA.            9pts 0CS 4CR 0GB 3BB 0SB
Minizin.        9pts 0CS 4CR 0GB 3BB 0SB
Silver.          9pts 0CS 4CR 0GB 3BB 0SB
Derby.          6pts 1CS 2CR -3GB 6BB 1SB
SCO.            6pts 0CS 3CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
BaggieOne.  3pts 1CS 3CR -3GB -3BB 1SB

A week when playing system seemed to work. A high gamball avoidance ratio which cost most avoiders points - I apologize for picking the Albion game - I also apologize for the US spelling on this computer!

So to the points. BBB had a terrific week when his 1-0/0-1 strategy finally paid off. 3 of this week's matches finished 1-0/0-1 and he got all of them the right way round, adding a further 5 correct results and a full set of positive balls for a total of 27 points. Snooty chose a similar method - in his case 2-1/1-2 - and scored 19 points, his 4th consecutive double figure haul. Sanjay chose not to bet against Albion, costing him 3 additional points, but did enough to secure a comfortable 3rd place with 15.

Equally cautious were AAA, Minizin and Silver who had identical records to sit in mid-table with 9 points. At least AAA's decision to avoid the gamball paid off, saving him 3 points. Derby struggled with just 2 correct predictions and ended his run of gamball maximums. Fortunately his only correct score was his bonus so it wasn't a complete disaster. SCO was the third player to get points from the gamball but didn't do much else, joining Derby on just 6 points.

BaggieOne's woes continue - just 3 points this week not helped by negatives from both his gamball and bonus.

Derby 135
Silver 125
BBB 121
Snooty 121
Minizin 117
SCO 117
Sanjay 91
BaggieOne 68
AAA 35

Derby and Silver retain their places at the top of the overall table but the chase is definitely on with the pack closing in. BBB's great week lifts him from 6th to equal third with Snooty who also climbs 2 places. SCO and Minizin both drop down but are only 8 points off 2nd place. The bottom 3 remain the same though Sanjay is opening a bit of a gap above the automatic relegation places where BaggieOne can only be grateful for AAA's occasional absences.

Zin


Championship

Blue Baggie 18pts 2CS 5CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
Zinman        14pts 1CS 4CR NPGB 3BB 1SB
Lady Jane    13pts 0CS 4CR 5GB 3BB 1SB
Stairs          12pts 2CS 3CR NPGB -3BB 1SB
Salop            8pts 0CS 4CR 5GB -3BB 0SB
Amelia          8pts 1CS 3CR -3GB 3BB 0SB
Dingle          8pts 3CS 1CR -3GB -3BB 0SB
Twerton      6pts 0CS 4CR -3GB 3BB 0SB
Themaclad  5pts 0CS 2CR 5GB -3BB 1SB


This week we saw a first and consequently a last, both on the Gamball, but more of that to follow (got to keep you reading somehow!!).  Blue finished first this week with 18 points, he scored on 7 games in total and had he not missed on the Bonus he would have likely set a new high score for himself!  Zinman's fine form sees him take 2nd spot with 14 points, he rightly bottled the Gamball this week (the person who chooses the Gamball should be forced to play it!!) but did score on his other balls.  Lady Jane continues to push on up the table in 3rd with 13 points, her failure to convert any of her CRs in CSs kept her score down.

Stairs on 12 points and Salop on 8 are the next two and this is where the first and last comes in.  For the first time this season Salop played the Gamball and picked up a CR on it which means that Stairs is the last player in either division not to have played the Gamball all season!!  Amelia and Dingle matched Salop's 8 points, amazingly they got the same score but in very different ways, both missed on the Gamball but Dingle then missed on the Bonus as well so despite him getting more CSs than anyone else this week his balls cost him dearly!!

The bottom 2 this week, Twerton 6 points and Themaclad 5 points, have been in this position a few times already and if they have any hope of avoiding the drop to nowhere they will need to find some form quickly!!

After some stats from Zin last week, its my turn to blow you all away with some numbers.  So far this season collectively the Championship has scored 87 points on the Gamball with Blue leading the way with 28 points, closely followed by Zinman with 25, not bad considering two players have only played it one time between them.  46 points have been scored on the Scoreball with Stairs leading the way with 8 points.  The Bonus Ball has only seen 24 points in total and seems to be a real problem for most players every week, three players lead the way with 12 points - Blue, Lady Jane and Themaclad but poor old Twerton must hate this ball as he sits on -12 points, closely followed by Zinman on -6.

140 - Blue Baggie
119 - Stairs
103 - Zinman
101 - Lady Jane
95 - Salop
94 - Dingle
79 - Themaclad
76 - Amelia
71 - Twerton

Absolutely no changes in the table this week, everyone stays put.  Blue extends his lead over Stairs to 21 points, who in turn is 16 points ahead of Zinman in 3rd.  Zin and LJ hit the century mark this week.  Salop and DD are matching each other step for step and the bottom three are now only separated by just 8 points.

Cheers
SCO

Sponsors, including Yorkshire Tea, are pulling the plug on Yorkshire CCC after the Rafiq racism row.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/59148419

Quote:Several sponsors have ended their partnerships with Yorkshire County Cricket Club as the fallout from the Azeem Rafiq investigation continues.

Primary sponsor Emerald Publishing and Yorkshire Tea have severed ties with the club.

Rafiq will give evidence in person to MPs into a report about allegations of racism he made against Yorkshire.

The report found Rafiq had been a victim of "racial harassment and bullying" at the club.

However, Yorkshire has said no disciplinary action would be taken.

Senior Yorkshire officials have also been called to attend the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee hearing on 16 November.

Yorkshire chairman Roger Hutton will be questioned by MPs, along with chief executive Mark Arthur and director of cricket Martyn Moxon.

Witnesses who give evidence to select committees are protected by parliamentary privilege, which means they are immune from the threat of civil or criminal proceedings relating to what they say.

On Wednesday, Emerald Publishing said that while it was withdrawing its "brand association" with Yorkshire, it would continue a financial commitment to Headingley, where the home stadium of rugby league team Leeds Rhinos is also based.

Yorkshire Tea ended its affiliation with the club with "immediate effect", while leisure club operator David Lloyd said it has chosen not to reinstate its partnership.

Tetley's beer said it had informed Yorkshire that its sponsorship would not be extended beyond the end of the current contractual agreement.

Yorkshire board should resign over report into racism allegations, says DCMS chair
Julian Knight MP has called on the board of Yorkshire County Cricket Club to resign after a leaked report emerged apparently containing details of the investigation into the treatment of Rafiq.

A story published by ESPN says the report had concluded that a racially offensive term used towards Rafiq was regarded as "banter".

Knight, chair of the DCMS select committee, called it "one of the most repellent and disturbing episodes in modern cricket history".

In a tweet, he added: "Given the endemic racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club, I struggle to think of any reason why that the board should remain in post."

YCCC did not comment on any of the allegations when contacted by BBC Sport.

Knight's comments came after UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid had called for "heads to roll" at Yorkshire and said that if the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) did not take action, "it's not fit for purpose". He further stated in a Twitter post that the term allegedly used to describe Rafiq was "not banter".

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries called Rafiq's treatment "disgusting" and said "the investigation that followed only makes it even worse".

In a tweet, she added that any ECB investigation must be "swift and fully transparent. Racism must be confronted, and NEVER written off as just 'banter'".

Meanwhile, Yorkshire MPs have called on the ECB to launch an "immediate, comprehensive and independent inquiry into the racist abuse".

In the letter, they said referring to the use of a racially offensive term as "banter" was "truly abhorrent".

"Azeem Rafiq was not afforded the dignity and respect he deserved, it now falls to the ECB to ensure this degrading incident is not repeated," it read.

The ECB has begun its own investigation and a spokesperson said: "Last week, we received Yorkshire CCC's report into the racism and bullying allegations Azeem Rafiq made against the club.

''We are conscious about the length of time that Azeem has waited for resolution and the toll that must be taking on his wellbeing and that of his family. We are sorry that, as a sport, this has not yet been resolved.

''We will conduct a full regulatory process that is fair to all parties, but also ensure this happens as quickly as possible. To achieve this, we have secured the services of a QC, along with other external investigatory support to upweight resource around our process. The ECB board has also reaffirmed its commitment to further additional resource, should the investigation require it.

''We are aware that the [DCMS] Select Committee have called Yorkshire's chair, Roger Hutton, to give evidence. In the meantime, we will press ahead with our investigation.''

Last year, Rafiq claimed "institutional racism" at the club left him close to taking his own life.

Seven of the 43 allegations were upheld in a report by an independent panel.

Hutton apologised to Rafiq - who had two stints with Yorkshire, the second ending in 2018 - and said there was "no question" that during his first spell at the club he had been "the victim of racial harassment".

However, the club recently said it will not take disciplinary action against any player, employee or executive over the harassment.

Rafiq report timeline
2 September 2020: ESPN Cricinfo publishes an interview with Rafiq in which he claims "institutional racism" at Yorkshire County Cricket Club left him close to taking his own life.

3 September 2020: Yorkshire say they have launched a "formal investigation" into the claims made by Rafiq and chairman Roger Hutton says the club would be carrying out a "wider review" of their "policies and culture"

5 September 2020: Yorkshire ask an independent law firm to investigate racism allegations against the club by Rafiq.

13 November 2020: Rafiq says he hopes to bring about "meaningful change" after giving his first statement to the inquiry.

15 December 2020: Rafiq files a legal claim against Yorkshire "claiming direct discrimination and harassment on the grounds of race, as well as victimisation and detriment as a result of trying to address racism at the club".

2 February 2021: Yorkshire threaten a lifetime ban for anyone found to have made threats against Rafiq or his family and legal team after ESPN Cricinfo show them messages sent to Rafiq's legal firm.

17 June 2021: An employment tribunal case between Rafiq and his former club Yorkshire fails to find a resolution. The independent investigation into his racism allegations remains ongoing.

16 August 2021: Yorkshire receive the findings of an independent investigation into the racism allegations and, two days later, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) asks for a copy.

19 August 2021: Yorkshire, yet to release the findings of the report at this stage, admit Rafiq was "the victim of inappropriate behaviour" and offer him their "profound apologies".

Rafiq accuses Yorkshire of downplaying racism by calling him the victim of "inappropriate behaviour".

8 September 2021: MPs tell Yorkshire to publish the findings of the report "immediately".

10 September 2021: Yorkshire release the findings of the report, which says Rafiq was the "victim of racial harassment and bullying" and seven of the 43 allegations made by the player were upheld by an independent panel.

According to Hutton, the report said there was "insufficient evidence to conclude that Yorkshire County Cricket Club is institutionally racist".

Yorkshire released a summary of the panel's report and recommendations but said the full report could not be released for legal reasons "in relation to privacy law and defamation".

8 October 2021: Yorkshire miss a deadline to send the full report to Rafiq and his legal team after BBC Sport understands an employment judge ordered the club to release it in full by Friday, 8 October.

13 October 2021: Rafiq then receives a heavily redacted version, while the ECB says it is still awaiting the full report.

28 October 2021: Yorkshire says it carried out its own internal investigation after the findings in the report and concluded that "there is no conduct or action taken by any of its employees, players or executives that warrants disciplinary action".

2 November 2021: The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport select committee calls on Hutton to appear before it to answer questions about Yorkshire's handling of a report into Rafiq's allegations of racism.

Julian Knight MP, chair of the DCMS select committee, calls on the board of Yorkshire County Cricket Club to resign after a leaked report emerges apparently containing details of the investigation into the treatment of Rafiq.

A story published by ESPN says the report had concluded that a racially offensive term used towards Rafiq was regarded as "banter".

Knight makes his comments after UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid calls for "heads to roll" at Yorkshire and said that if the ECB did not take action "it's not fit for purpose". He further states in a Twitter post that the term allegedly used to describe Rafiq was "not banter".

3 November 2021: The date of the DCMS hearing is scheduled for 16 November and Rafiq is called to give evidence in person, along with senior Yorkshire officials.

Gamball Game:
Luton Stoke

Others:
Man Utd - Man City
Crystal Palace - Wolves
Birmingham - Reading
Blackburn - Sheff Utd
Cardiff - Huddersfield
Blackpool - QPR
Leeds - Leicester
West Ham - Liverpool
Sheff Wed - Plymouth