There's a TV film just started ("Bless 'em All"), and it took me back nearly 60 years!

We used to sing it (in the Brummie Road) when Everton came to play. To the tune of "Bless 'em All, The Long and the Short and the Tall":-

F*** 'em all
F*** 'em all
Especially Alan Ball
We'll never be mastered
By that little B*****d
So sing up you lads
F*** 'em all!!!



No doubt we copied it off Liverpool........ Any other comical football songs from the past to chuckle to???

Gillingham have sacked manager Mark Bonner after eight months in charge of the League Two club and replaced him with former Accrington Stanley boss John Coleman.

Coleman and his assistant Jimmy Bell will take charge until the end of the season.

The Gills have lost their past three league matches, including a 3-0 home defeat by Bromley on Thursday.

Bonner was appointed as the team's third permanent manager in the space of seven months in May 2024 and took charge of 28 matches, winning nine and losing 15.

"Mark is a top guy, a top professional and has given absolutely everything he could have given to help the club succeed," Gillingham's managing director Joe Comper told the club website., external

"We liked him from the moment we met him, and we still do, which makes this decision even tougher."

On appointing Coleman, Comper added: "I am delighted that John and Jimmy have agreed to join us.

"[Coleman] knows the league well, he is familiar with our group of players and has even managed a couple of them while with his previous club."

Gillingham were top of the table at the end of September, but 10 defeats from their past 15 games have left them 14th and 10 points short of the play-off places.

Gillingham's game at Chesterfield on Sunday was postponed and their next fixture is at home to Fleetwood Town on 11 January.

Group A

Themaclad 24
Minizin 20
Twerton 16
Zinman 16
A.A.A. 16
Amelia 13

Excellent week for Group A with a season's high 105 points being scored and every player getting into double figures!! Always helps when only one player gets the Gamball wrong, everyone got the Scoreball and a second best record was set for the number of Correct Scores in a single week with 13 in total!! Unfortunately for those hoping to catch Themaclad he ended up top of the table again!! In fact this weeks table mirrored the season league table, so essentially no one made up any ground on anyone!!

Themaclad ended on a personal high and season high equalling 24 points, he scored on 8 of the games, a new seasons high in Group A and got 4 CSs including the Gamball. He missed on the Bonus which had Wednesday been able to defend would have seen him top 30 points!! Minizin is second with 20 points (first time 2 players have reached 20 points this season), this equals his best score so far, he scored on all his balls and added 2 CSs to boost his score.

There is a 3 way tie for 3rd place with Twerton, Zinman and AAA all finishing with 16 points. They all scored on the Gamball with Twerton getting a max, AAA was the only one to score points on the Bonus and between them they got 6 CSs.

Amelia brings up the rear this week with 13 points. She was the only player to pin her hopes on Blackburn on the Gamball but she did score on the Bonus and 6 games in total.

194 Themaclad
166 Minzin
156 Twerton
153 Zinman
143 A.A.A.
128 Amelia

So as I said above, the weekly table mirrored the league table so no positional changes this week. Themaclad extends his lead to a healthy 28 points, so having already won the Huddersfield First Half Prediction League he is now chasing a double!! Minizin is 10 points ahead of Twerton with Zinman 3 more back. AAA keep threatening to close the gap on these two but still finds himself 10 points back. Amelia has been dropped a bit more this week but is still only 15 points behind the rest, a couple of good weeks will see that gap close!!

Group B

SCO 18
Derby 12
BBB 12
Lady Jane 7
BaggieOne 5
Stairs 5
Snooty 1

For the first time this season, everyone scored on the score ball! Unfortunately, for the 3rd time this season everyone scored minus 3 on the bonus!

2 players scored a maximum on the gamball but unusually they don't head the table this week. Instead that honor (note the spelling, I became American this week - well, half American - so I have to learn to spell incorrectly) (SCO edit - for reference I am still a full Brit after being in the States for 24 years but I too have learnt to spell incorrectly!!) falls to SCO who leads the table in both correct scores (3) and correct results (6) to give him a healthy 18 points. Derby and BBB share 2nd place, both of them maxing on the gamball, Derby having one other maximum while BBB got 3 more correct results.

A bit of a gap ro the rest - Lady Jane matched BBB's correct predictions but failed on the gamball, BaggieOne and Stairs both had one correct score from their 3 correct results while Snooty had something of a 'mare, redeemed only on the final match of the weekend from which he secured 5 points (correct score and scoreball) to at least drag him above zero.

188 Lady Jane
161 Derby
151 SCO
151 Stairs
132 Snooty
127 BBB
106 BaggieOne

Not much change this week thoufh SCO has drawn level with Stairs. These 2 are in hot pursuit of the 2nd play-off place - they are the in form players scoring the most points over the last 6 weeks - leaving Snooty, BBB and BaggieOne adrift. I had intended to report on who was on a hot ball streak, but given this week's bonus balls up the answer is nobody!

As we move into the New Year lets have a look at how the end of season Playoffs are looking.

League Leaders (bye in first week of Play Offs)
1. Themaclad (194 points)
2. Lady Jane (188)

Play Offs
3. Minizin (166)
4. Derby (161)
5. Twerton (156)
6. Zinman (153)

Chasing Pack
7. SCO (-2 points behind POs)
8. Stairs (-2)

Some Work to Do!!
9. AAA (-10)
10. Snooty (-21)
11. Amelia (-25)
12. BBB (-26)
13. BaggieOne (-47)

So all still to play for with half a season to go. Themaclad and Lady Jane are worthy leaders with the consistency but the chasing pack is all bunched up with just 15 points separating the next 6 players chasing the 4 Playoff places!!


Zin & SCO

I would start off by putting the rules in, but I'm making it up as I go along, all I can say is that there will be different categories, Huddersfield Town, football, Sport, Music, TV & Film and a General one. All will be relevant to the year we have just had, probably google-able but I am trusting you unruly bunch to try and answer from your own nogging before turning to the dark side.

Have fun!

You thought I listed them in order of how I was going to go? maybe you're right. The first category is Huddersfield Town, lets see how well you have been paying attention this year, it has been rather hectic and very much the sort of year where you can quickly switch off.

Question number one, nice and easy, goes like this,

1) Which player scored Towns first goal of 2024?

2) Who was the first player to see red this year, and who against?

3) Which Town player scored the most league goals for this calendar year, including players that have already departed?

4) Which player has seen the most bookings this calendar year? Same as above, league games only, the answer actually surprised me.

5) Northern Irishmen Brodie Spencer and Callum Marshall were joined by Connor Falls in representing the Terriers this season, but who was the last Northern Irish international to represent the club before those two?

6) Town have had three full time managers in 2024, Moore, Breitenreiter and Duff, but who have the first two gone on to be appointed by?

7) Lee Nicholls began this season as number one, but who was the first player to score past him?

8) Who comes next in this sequence? Rudoni, Simpson, Jackson, Austerfield...?

9) Who comes next in this sequence? Pearson, Helik, Nicholls, Bojan...?

10) The following is an anagram of whom? A Dam Rave Cliche





Lets broaden it a touch, here is Football

1) which player scored the first goal of the 2024/2025 Premier league season?

2) which two players became the youngest and oldest scorers in euros history this summer?

3) which English side were the first to change manager this season?

4) what record was broken in the turkey v Czechia game at this summer's euros?

5) which player won the PFA players player of the year?

6) and who won young player of the year?

7) who finished as top scorer in the wsl for the season 2023-2024?

8) sticking with the wsl, who became the most expensive player when she moved clubs at the end of summer, breaking the world record at the time.

9) back to the men's game, which manager was the first to lose his job in 2024 overall?

10) who did Burnley sign for an EFL record fee this summer. Only for him to not make an appearance so far?





We are a society that sits in front of a screen and watches something, so how much have you been paying attention? Now for Film and TV

1) Which movie won the best picture award at the Oscars?

2) Deadpool and Wolverine was one of the most highly anticipated film of the year, but what was the name of the dog that played Dogpool?

3) Sticking with the MCU, Robert Downey Jnr announced his comeback, but who is he playing?

4) Dame Maggie Smith passed away in September, how many Academy Awards was she nominated for during her career?

5) Which 1996 classic disaster film received a sequel in 2024?

6) In which movie does Samuel L Jackson play Chris Pratt's characters dad?

7) Which Bafta winning female actress played a campaigning office operator and a gangland matriarch in TV dramas in 2024?

8) Which series, aired in January was credited with helping bring about justice in the wake of a national scandal?

9) A Health Committee is an anagram of which blockbuster staring actor?

10) Who plays Russell Crowe's son Lucius in Gladiator II?





Enough of the screen, lets get back to moving with Sport

1) Who won Sports Personality of the year for 2024?

2) Where was the ICC T20 World cup held?

3) What was the stage name of the Australian that went viral for scoring nil points breakdancing?

4) Which two tennis players won the Australian open?

5) Where was the Superbowl held and who won?

6) Jimmy Anderson took his 700th wicket, but who was his victim?

7) Vaibhav Suryavanshi became the youngest player to get an IPL deal, how old is he?

8) How many new world records were set at the Paris Olympics?

9) All televised darts competitions were won by players from two countries, England and one other, what country was it and which players represented them?

10) A scrap of what was incorporated into the medals at the Paris Olympics?





If you're like me you'll listen to quite a bit, but also if you're like me, its not entirely modern, but here is 2024's Music section

1) Who beat Taylor Swift to the Song of the Year award?

2) Sabrina Carpenter spent 20 weeks at the top of the UK charts, but which song lasted the longest there?

3) Producer Quincy Jones passed away, which Michael Jackson album did he produce that won a Grammy for album of the year?

4) Which group eventually opened Manchester's new Co-op arena?

5) Which singer saw a return to the spotlight after their song featured in the film Saltburn?

6) Who performed in Glastonbury's Sunday Legends slot?

7) According to the Sunday Times Rich List, who became the first billionaire British musician?

8) James Blunt re-released which album to mark its 20th anniversary?

9) Which singer allegedly said "this is going to ruin the tour" after being arrested in June?

10) Which band released the albums Papercuts and From Zero in 2024?




And now for those that don't fall into any of the other categories, General

1) Which Country saw their monarch abdicate the throne?

2) Which video game was finally completed by a 13 year old from America?

3) The Francis Scott Key bridge was badly damaged by a ship named after which painter?

4) A Pygmy Hippopotamus called Moo Deng was born in captivity, but what does her name mean in English?

5) Archaeologists found a huge Mayan city by accident using laser surveying equipment. The city named Valeriana is in which country?

6) The Conservatives needed yet another party leader after Rishi Sunak stepped down, who were the final two candidates in the leadership contest?

7) Scientists uncovered dinosaur footprints in an Oxfordshire quarry, what two dino's had been making their mark some 166 million years ago?

8) Sweden became the 32nd country to do what?

9) What fruit taped to a wall sold for £4.9million in New York (apparently it is considered art)

10) Geoffrey Hinton won a Noble prize, but what is he known as the Godfather of?

2 points for correct result
4 points for correct score
2 points for each correct scorer
Correct joker doubles your score   (correct score on a joker would give you 8 points)
Wrong joker result gives you minus 2
Correct Badger gives you 2 points

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. However, if you do predict a draw and it's a match that won't be going to a replay, you can get a possible extra point by stating which of the two teams you think will eventually win.

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.  


At the end of the season, the winner of group 2 and the bottom of group 1 will swap places in what is commonly known as "promotion" and "relegation". It's something that most football fans will be familiar with, unless you're a fan of Liverpool or Arsenal or one of those other fashionable clubs.

The second placed player in group 2 will then have a play off with the player who finishes second from the bottom in group 1 to decide whether they will be going up, down or staying where they are.

We're going to have two seasons in one though, just to try and make it a bit more interesting and not so long drawn out. The first season will end on the Boxing Day fixtures, with the play offs being on the dates of the Twixtmas fixtures and the NYD fixtures.

The second season will start the following week, which is usually the FA Cup 3rd round, finishing on the last game of the League One season. Then another period of relegation/promotion play off games, taking in such fixtures as the EFL play offs, FA Cup Final, UEFA finals and such like.

Each group will have it's own set of fixtures. Both groups will have the Town games, with scorers to predict as before. Then it will be a split of League One fixtures and bonus matches, hopefully around ten, eleven or twelve games per Matchday.

The random badger is restricted to three goal scorers in any of the fixtures in your group.

Here's how that will appear at the end of the fixture list. All you have to do is fill in the blanks.......


*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

Any of those will score two points if correct. No minus points for getting it wrong.

Postponed matches will only count if the match is re-played before the next Matchday is under way. Abandoned matches will be awarded half the points for the score at the time of abandonment, so 1 point if you have the correct result, 2 points if you have the correct score.

Substitute or scorer in one of the Town games:- These will be only be allowed if you change them before the match involved has kicked off.

Prediction League Archive: https://www.sportsbabble.co.uk/showthread.php?tid=12830



Division One starters for 2025:

1. themaclad = 0 pts
   
2. St Charles Owl = 0 pts
   
3. jjamez = 0 pts
   
4. Baggiebob(BBB) = 0 pts
   
5. Lord Snooty = 0 pts
   
6. neonfoxinthebox = 0 pts
   

Saturday 11th January:
Shrewsbury OFF Town
Town scorers:
Shrews scorers:

Northampton Town OFF Barnsley
Stevenage OFF Burton Albion

FA Cup 3rd round:
Birmingham City v Lincoln City (12:00)
Middlesbrough v Blackburn Rovers (12:00)
AFC Bournemouth v West Bromwich Albion
Preston North End OFF Charlton Athletic (NOW ON TUESDAY)
Coventry City v Sheffield Wednesday (18:00)
Mansfield Town OFF Wigan Athletic (18:00) (NOW ON TUESDAY)

Sunday 12th January:
Hull City v Doncaster Rovers (12:00)
Arsenal v Manchester United (15:00)


*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

1. SHEP_HTAFC = 0 pts
   
2. theo_luddite = 0 pts
   
3. Devongone = 0 pts
   
4. ritchiebaby = 0 pts
   
5. Amelia Chaffinch = 0 pts
   
6. WakeyTerrier = 0 pts
   

Saturday 11th January:
Shrewsbury OFF Town
Town scorers:
Shrews scorers:

Rotherham United v Bolton Wanderers (12:30)
Blackpool OFF Cambridge United

FA Cup 3rd round:
Exeter City v Oxford United
Reading v Burnley
Leyton Orient OFF Derby County (18:00) (NOW ON TUESDAY)

Sunday 12th January:
Tamworth v Tottenham Hotspur (12:30)
Arsenal v Manchester United (15:00)
Crystal Palace v Stockport County (15:00)
Ipswich Town v Bristol Rovers (15:00)

Bonus match:
Saturday:
Scottish Premiership:
Hibernian v Motherwell

*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***
*** scores for ***

FA Cup weekend so the added complication of deciding who will play their kids! I've no idea what the situation is re extra-time and replays, so our normal cup rules will apply with the final score after extra-time before penalties counting.

Gamball:
Coventry - Sheff Wed.

Others:
Bristol City - Wolves
Middlesbrough - Blackburn
Exeter - Oxford
Norwich - Brighton
Preston - Charlton
Reading - Burnley
Orient - Derby
Mansfield - Wigan
Southampton - Swansea

Hibs welcome Glasgow's finest moaners to Easter Road on Sunday at noon. As said on the previous thread, Hibs have gone off the boil a bit in the last couple of games, but still came out with points in the bag. I feel we'll need to step up a gear on Sunday to overcome a rejuvenated Rangers' side, jubilant after their victory over Celtic on Thursday.

Rangers are a good attacking side and only their defensive frailities let them down. This game is a free hit for Hibs and Rangers are famous for being shaky under sustained pressure, so the ideal scenario is for Hibs to put the pressure on early and make the Gers squirm.

Will it happen? I hope so, but I'll not be too worried if it doesn't. There are bigger games to come before the end of the month.

This will be my last new thread for the next few weeks as I depart this hemisphere for another - a lovely warm (even hot) summer awaits me.