v



LAST TIME OUT

BIRMINGHAM CITY 0 PRESTON NORTH END 1



READING 3 COVENTRY CITY 0



HEAD TO HEAD

First ever meeting was a cup tie in January 1894 were we just about scraped through 18-0, first league game was in November 1926 we won that as well 3-1 things have improved since then for our Berkshire visitors they did the double on us last season.
In recent seasons we have been second best to Reading our last win at Deepdale August 2017 1-0

Reading Newbies
Ejaria from the Dippers in the summer being the most expensive also brought in a new man on the touchline
Veljko Paunovic

FORM RATING

PNE 13 READING 13

The Lilywhites return to Deepdale after over three weeks on the road, as they welcome fifth-placed Reading to PR1 in the latest round of Championship fixtures.

The two sides met back at the beginning of November, when PNE picked up a 3-0 victory at the Madejski Stadium, but the game was far tighter than the scoreline suggests, with Declan Rudd making a fine save to keep things level before goals from Scott Sinclair, Emil Riis’ first for the club and Brad Potts wrapped up the points.

The Royals have had an excellent start to 2021 in the league, winning three and drawing one of their last four games, with a 3-0 victory over Coventry City to bring into Sunday’s game.


It is live on Sky Sports, with a 12.30pm kick-off, as the team play their third game in a week, ahead of a run of Saturday-to-Saturday games, allowing some extra work on the training pitches at Euxton.

Team News
Alex Neil will give a late check on Sean Maguire, who missed the midweek win at St Andrews. Billy Bodin is also back in training, but some weeks off being fully fit.

Long-term casualties Patrick Bauer (Achilles), Declan Rudd (knee) and Louis Moult (ACL) are the only other absentees.

Royals boss Veljko Paunovic looks set to be without Michael Olise. He picked up a shoulder injury against Coventry City on Tuesday and must gets scans and see a specialist to assess the seriousness of the knock.

Full back Andy Yiadom fully recovered and in the final stages of his return to match fitness, but needs an U23 game to get fully fit; Yakou Meite is also getting back close to fitness.

Liam Moore is out until next month; Felipe Araruna is a couple of weeks away, whilst Romanian striker George Puscas had a hernia operation last week and will be out for a couple of weeks.

Match Officials
For our second Sky game in a row, the match official will be Geoff Eltringham, who refereed our 1-0 home win over Bristol City back in December.

His last PNE game before that was the game where Scott Sinclair scored his first goal for the club, versus the winger’s former employers Swansea City on 1st February.

Experienced County Durham referee Geoff, as well as the Swans draw, last season officiated the 3-1 win over Huddersfield Town back in November 2019, as well as our draw with Nottingham Forest at the end of August.

The last time we saw the north east official here in Preston before that, was for the superb home win over Norwich City back in February 2019, before which he also refereed our final game of 2018, when we took a point from a fine performance against Aston Villa.

Prior to that he was referee when the Lilywhites travelled to Ashton Gate and defeated Lee Johnson’s Bristol City in October 2018 and also North End’s trip to Elland Road back in September – making it four games in the 2018/19 campaign, having also officiated five games for Alex Neil’s side in the 2017/18 season!

In that season, having taken charge our early season game at Derby County, Geoff also took charge of the Boxing Day trip to Barnsley, our January win at Nottingham Forest and March’s victory over Bristol City at Deepdale and finally our goalless draw with Norwich City in mid-April.

He also refereed one North End game in 2016/17, the home clash with our Barnsley, having also done one the previous season, the 1-0 home win over Reading.

The year prior to that he took charge of three PNE games, including the 2-0 home win over Peterborough United in March. Back in the 2013/14 campaign he also took charge of North End twice, both of those at Deepdale - the 1-1 draw with Tranmere Rovers back in November 2013 and then the goalless draw with Sheffield United in March.

The County Durham official is an experienced referee who had taken charge of North End a number of other times in the past including the very first game after the departure of Graham Westley, when John Dreyer took the team against an in-form Bournemouth side and ran out 2-0 winners.

He also looked after a thriller back in 2010, when North End overcame Crystal Palace 4-3 at Deepdale.

Geoff has so far taken charge of 15 games this season, with 48 cautions and four red cards issued, and this will also be his second Royals game of the season, having taken charge of their 2-1 home defeat to Norwich just a couple of days before his last trip to PR1.

For the game, the referee will be assisted by Matthew McGrath and Richard Wild, whilst experienced Championship official Darren Bond will act as the fourth official – as he did when Geoff was the referee for the Bristol game five weeks ago.

MACS VIEW

Our achilles heel this season has been our home form, teas sit deep our crab like build up and away side breaks away and score winner. This will be no exception as the Royals are well organised at the back and have more than enough pace to cause sides difficulties on the break.
Always rated Swift surprised he hs not gone on to play at a higher level, Joao has bagged a shed load so far this season, improved as a player since he cried at Rotherham having accidentally had a tooth knocked out whilst playing for the Owls
The introduction of Molumby and Whiteman made speed up our approach play at home and still no place for want away Pearson, hint of more incomings as well, the make up of this side is changing

Biden already signing off lotsa executive orders and not wasting any time in trying to redress lotsa probs that I'd say no other previous President has experienced since the 1930s or just after the end of the second world war. Also all temporary barriers and shutters being removed from the Capital area in Washigton DC - back to normal service after unprecedented events that will be marked up in US history books in years to come! Lots to do for this US President and tackling the pandemic effectively and the needs of US citizens across the country must be his top priority. I notice his new Financial Sec, Yellen, already saying no free trade agreements gonna be brokered any time soon as many higher economic challenges ahead and focused on the internal US market only. What a shame for the Brit govt, Johnson et al, who preached often enough about their post Brexit aspirations (a sales pitch to their captivated English voters!!) re this new trade alignment "across the pond" - one nest of corrupt populist "vipers" joining with similarly minded ones. What a pity eh!!!

Gavin Gunning formerly of Gloucester City signs. 18 months! Surely till the end of the season with an option to renew would have been more sensible?

And Adam Pryzbek or something. 20 year old keeper from Ipswich whose first choice keeper isn't that hot. That must mean James Rowe thinks Letheren is a first choice. He'll learn when a few decent crosses swing in.

And we won another penalty shoot out. What's going on. And Hutchinson was on the bench, where's he been this season?

Certainly the amount of players we are signing sound as though Rowe might have eyes on some kind of development team next season, if there are ever any more seasons.

Young Josh Griffiths on loan from West Brom has recently made a catalogue of silly mistakes.

I still shudder at the error he made in the FA Cup against Mansfield when a soft shot from outside the area and all along the ground went straight through him. Fortunately his team mates recovered the situation and they went on to win in extra time.

Tonight in a tense match against Newport County he went AWOL once again.

Admittedly, the Robins found themselves playing against a very strong wind in the first half but even so what happened in the 12th minute beggars belief. A goal kick for Newport was taken by Tom King and he blasted the ball deep into the Robins half. Josh who was standing more or less on his own 6 yard line misjudged the bounce of the ball and over his head it went to put the Robins well and truly behind.
I must confess I have seen keepers sometimes score from a ball dropped from hand but, never from a goal kick. Given that 19 y.o.Josh is reported to stand 6' 7" that's no mean feat.

Fortunately Cheltenham managed to equalise in time added on in the first half when Alfie May running at a Newport defender slipped the ball to his right finding Matty Blair on the edge of the area. Blair's first time cross shot eluded King in the Exiles goal.

There were periods during the second half when both teams were in the ascendancy but, neither side could score that all important second goal.
As the commentators reminded us Cheltenham have now gone seven matches without a win and Newport six games.

It  doesn't bode well for Saturday's visit of Citeh!!

Even more disheartening was that the Robins left back Chris Hussey again left the field injured; this time as early as the 32nd minute.

Cheltenham  1  Newport County  1

TOOK A PUNT THAT SOUTHAMPTON GET THROUGH TO PLAY ARSENAL - TOUGH WEEK TO FIND 10 COMPETETIVE FIXTURES

Saturday 23rd
Villa v Newcastle
Southampton v Arsenal
Millwall v Bristol City
Portsmouth v Hull
Ipswich v Peterborough
Wigan v Fleetwood
Port Vale v Walsall

Sunday 24th
Brentford v Leicester
Fulham v Burnley
Man Utd v Liverpool

Another quick turnaround for town as they try to put Saturdays defeat down at Watford behind them as they welcome Miwaw up from the capital on Wednesday night. The depleted Town side put up a valiant but eventually lacklustre performance in against Watford, with Town rarely threatening to do any real damage to the Hornets nest. Although there was still a few positives that could be taken from the game at the weekend into the midweek game, mainly how our two novice central defenders managed to keep a tight grip over Troy Deeney and Andre Gray, whilst they struggled a little bit more with the trickery of Joao Pedro, he was still rather quiet and having to drift out into the half spaces, its still a commendable effort with experienced premier league and international defenders having struggled in the past. Other positives were the cameo from Scott High, who in a 30 minute appearance showed much more about himself than what Pritchard has done in almost 3 years and looks to be a very useful prospect for the rest of the season, as well as a solid performance from Alex Vallejo. On a lesser note, but still a positive was Danny Ward showing a little bit more about himself than he has done before this season, which will be useful for when we need to give Campbell a rest. There was also a fairly bright performance from Rolando Aarons, but it never quite worked for him, probably due to rustiness, but again, he showed in 60 minutes more than direkhaby since we signed him.

On the other hand, Ryan Schofield provided Town with another error at the back to go in the catalogue from this season, he seemed to either be away with the fairies or focusing on where he wanted to put it that he became oblivious to the fact that Tom Cleverly was fast approaching. It was always going to happen and even premier league goalkeepers make mistakes, its a thankless task in goal as an error of judgement like that usually results in a goal, had it been at the other end and Campbell being caught out, there would be 10 men to help out, Ryan has kept us in a lot of games this season and pulled off some fine saves, so I'll let him off as long as it doesn't become a regular occurrence.  It was also another frustrating day for Bacuna, who at times tries to be too fancy or do too much on his own, almost like he is intent on making a good youtube highlights reel for himself. Its also becoming something that can be labelled at Pipa too, who seems to often ignore the winger in favour of going forward on his own.

I went through the bench from Saturday and decided that I felt there was 4 players that probably shouldn't be on there yet, not on a permanent basis, I feel with 9 subs on the bench, sub 9 should be the best training youngster, but obviously needs must at the present moment. I felt that Jones, Duhaney, Austerfield and Olagunju  were the ones that should be replaced at the moment on the bench, now with Mbenza hopefully returning quickly, that would see Jones drop out with Aaron Rowe taking the spot on the bench, if Duane Holmes does sign (at time of writing he hasn't) then that would take Austerfields spot on the bench, now Elphick has been back training and Stearman isn't far away either, that makes me question the rumoured signing of Richard Keogh (again not signed at the time of writing, edit he has now) granted Elphick hasn't trained much at all and has been out for over a year, but a spot on the bench as a needs must until Stearman is back, I don't see why that isn't a better option than spending money on a 34 year old, that would take Olagunju's spot leaving just Duhaney in the 9th sub role, fighting it out with those who have lost their spot, that is until the longer term absentees and maybe Danny Grant and Sorba Thomas have had some proper training time.



So, onto Wednesday and Town welcome an out of form Millwall side to the John Smiths Stadium. The Lions currently sit 16th in the league on 26 points, 5 points behind Town, they come into the game on the back of a 3-1 defeat away at Nottingham Forest. Millwalls current form is nothing short of dire really, registering just the one win in the last 15 games, that coming back in December away at Bristol City thanks to goals from Tom Bradshaw and Mason Bennett. For those of you interested, 15 league games ago, Millwall lost 3-0 at home, whilst Town were 3-0 winners, yes thats right, they faced each other in the last game of October, Towns goals came from Josh Koroma in the first half and two late goals from sub Pipa and Lewis O'brien. Going into that game Millwall were on the cusp of a playoff place and have since plummeted, Town meanwhile were midtable dreaming of a possible play off charge with the right signings in January, they still sit midtable, dreaming of a playoff charge with the right signings in January...



So what have Millwall done since we last met them? obviously they've only won once in the league and that was in December, so November saw them winless, but it also saw them undefeated, with all 5 games drawn. 0-0's against Birmingham, Sheffield Wednesday and Norwich, all away, with the two home games being 1-1 against Cardiff and Reading, Matt Smith and Jed Wallace scoring the only goals for the lions that month and by the end of it they had moved from just outside the playoffs down to 11th. From Towns point of view, November also yielded 5 points, a 1-1 draw at home to Luton thanks to a Carel Eiting goal and a drab 0-0 away at Wycombe, with the win coming at the end of the month at home to Neil Warnock's Middlesbrough, goals from Eiting again and Frazier Campbell, put Town ahead after Marvin Johnson gave the visitors the lead, a dubious penalty was converted by Britt Assombalonga in the 83rd minute to make it 2-2, before Josh Koroma bagged the winner just minutes later. The defeats came 2-1 at home to Bristol City and away 4-3 in a horror goal fest at Stoke. At the end of the month Town had hardly moved and were just behind Millwall in 13th.



A hectic December ensued for both sides with Millwall picking up just the 5 points from a possible 18. 3 of those came via the aforementioned win away at Bristol, the other 2 points came via 1-1 draws against QPR and Nottingham Forest respectively. The game against QPR came after a section of the Millwall support had booed the taking of the knee in a 1-0 defeat against Derby the time out before. The only Millwall goal against QPR came through Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, whilst Bradshaw bagged against Forest. The other games that month were a 1-0 defeat against Derby, a 3-0 defeat away at Middlesbrough and a 2-1 defeat away at Blackburn, former Town 'player' Scott Malone scoring for the Lions, by the end of the month, Millwall had sunk down to 16th 9 points above the relegation places and 8 off the playoffs.

Town on the other hand picked up 13 points in December, thanks in large to some good home form. The month started off poorly with a 3-0 defeat away at Cardiff, where a changed Town side put in an inept performance and struggled with the power Kieffer Moore up top. The side managed to bounce back the following weekend thanks to a stellar first half performance against QPR, Josh Koroma got Town off to a flier before Harry Toffolo bagged his first home goal for Town, Town could have had more in the first half and eventually took their foot off the gas in the second half. The game was marred by a serious injury picked up by Am Chaffs eye candy Chris Schindler. Town were to pick up another injury next time out against Sheffield Wednesday as Josh Koroma also suffered a knee injury in the second half. He had opened the scoring for Town, before Mbenza doubled the lead, Bacuna had the chance to make it 3-0 before Koroma had got injured but squandered the only penalty Town have had this season. What could have been eh? The less said about the game after the better. Town lost 5-0 away at Bournemouth the end. A dour 0-0 away at Coventry followed before we were back on home ground against Watford and a 2-0 win followed thanks in large to errors from the Watford team, first Goalkeeper Ben Foster was charged down by Mbenza, with the ball being turned in by Campbell before Capoue turned in a Mbenza corner, Schofield pulled off a number of point blank saves to keep a clean sheet against the former premier league side. In the boxing day fixture, Town travelled to Barnsley and took the lead through Edmonds-Green's first professional goal in town colours, before Polish defend Helik struck from a corner and in the last minute from a foul throw to give the Dingles the 3 points. Town finished the year off at home to Blackburn and our own defender bagged a brace, Naby Sarr guided a header from a Mbenza corner, before Sam Gallagher equalised in the 86th minute, but Sarr was to pop up in the 90th minute to coolly find the top corner. Town finished the month on 31 points 5 points off the playoffs.

January has so far yielded just the solitary point for the Lions thanks to a 1-1 draw at home to Bournemouth, Matt Smith scoring with his first touch of the game. A 10 man Millwall lost 2-1 at home to Coventry, Jed Wallace scored for the Lions before former town defender Murray Wallace saw a second yellow in the 93rd minute. The other league game was the already mentioned 3-1 defeat last time out against Forest. The other game in January was against Boreham Wood in the FA Cup, where the Lions came through 2-0 and will face Bristol City this coming Saturday.



Town have yet to win this calendar year after losing 2-1 at home to Reading thanks to a Lucas Joao brace after a Campbell had given Town an early lead, before losing last time out against Watford. In the cup a young Town side lost 3-2 at home to Plymouth with Crichlow and Rowe bagging their first senior goals for Town.

Overall, Millwall record this season stands at played 23, won 5 drawn 11 lost 7 and a goal difference of -4. In comparison, Town have played 24, won 9, drawn 4 lost 11 and have a goal difference of -6.

As for their leading performers so far this season, it comes at no surprise that Jed Wallace leads the scoring charts and is joint top in the creative charts, having scored 6 goals and assisted 3. Matt Smith has 4 goals for the Lions so far, whilst fellow striker Tom Bradshaw has 3 goals. In terms of assists, Ryan Leonard is the player level with Wallace on 3, with Scott Malone having created 2 goals. As a comparison, Josh Koroma is still Towns top scorer on 6, with Campbell now on 5. Isaac Mbenza and Harry Toffolo both have 5 assists so far this season with Carel Eiting looking unlikely to be adding to his 3 goals and 3 assists.



In the head to heads, the first 4 meetings between the two sides were in the 20's in the FA Cup, with Town coming out on top overall, losing just the one tie, drawing one but winning the replay and it wouldn't be until the 60's when the two sides would meet again in competitive action in league division two. It wasn't until the late 60's that the Lions registered their first win over Town, a league double in the 68/69 season including a 5-1 defeat away. That double would set in motion a period of time where Town would struggle to get a result over the Lions and it wasn't until the 00's and 2010's that Town would rediscover a bit of dominance over our guests.  Altogether, Town have won 22 times against Millwall, with them winning 19 in return with just the 7 draws between the two sides. The most notable of which were the two play off games in Lee Clark's first season in charge, the home leg finished 0-0 and Town were bullied and intimidated in the away leg and lost 2-0, Clark then lost his guts and changed his style of play. Oh what could have been, as that was one of the best seasons of football I have seen Town play with Pilks and Roberts on the wings attacking all the time. Instead he went more defensive and direct and has since plummeted his way down to Newcastle Blue Star as a director of football...  

Last season it was Millwall who had the upper hand over Town, with the game at the John Smiths Stadium being one of those 7 draws a 1-1 in late September, Fraizer Campbell scoring his first goal for Town before former Leeds striker and Doctor Who, Matt Smith equalised before half time. The Lions were reduced to 10 men as Shane Ferguson received two yellow cards. In the return fixture, it was Danny Schofield who led a young Town side in the final game of the season, with Town sacking Danny Cowley having secured survival in the Championship. It was a slow start for Town as Connor Mahoney scored past Joel Coleman in the 4th minute, before Karlan Grant scored what would be his last goal for Town in the 36th. Jake Cooper scored just after the break before Jiri Skalak and Bodvarsson bagged to leave Town ending the season with a 4-1 defeat.

Millwall have been quiet in this transfer window so far, having not signed anyone as of yet, with only two players leaving, Kenneth Zahore has returned to West Brom at the end of his loan, whilst James Brown has felt good and got on up to St Johnstone on loan. Whereas Town have been rather busy compared to other sides, having signed another Grant in the form of Danny from Bohemians, Sorba Thomas has joined from Boreham Wood and Rolando Aarons from Newcastle, now being joined by Richard Keogh signed on a 6 month deal from MK Dons. Leaving the club so far have been Ben Hamer to Swansea and Ben Jackson has gone out on loan to League two giants Bolton Wanderers.

Team news

Town are expected to be able to welcome back Isaac Mbenza and Naby Sarr to the squad, whilst Alex Pritchard could also be in contention. Richard Keogh is also expected to be available for the Wednesdays game. Adama Diakhaby and Jonathon Hogg are still out with Rarmani Edmonds-Green now joining them on the side lines, how long for is not clear, but with there being a week until our next game, it would seem like he may be back for the trip to Brizzle.

As for Millwall it seems like they have a fully fit squad to pick from for this fixture.



manager talks

Carlos Corberán:

"We had a need to bring in a centre-back. For me it was really, really necessary. We know that Crichlow and Edmonds-Green are both young players. The experience has been great for them. In Keogh we have a player with a lot of experience."

"Without any doubt we could come straight into the side. He has the minutes in the legs and is ready to play. He's a centre-back that can play out from the back. He can add to the team. What we demand is things he's been doing."

"Naby Sarr is in a better condition and we expect him to be back. We have Sarr, Keogh and Crichlow as our three available centre-backs for tomorrow's game. Edmonds-Green has some problems. Jonathan Hogg could miss the next two or three games."

"Carel Eiting is making the recovery at Ajax because he has the surgery there. We know his surgery was good, but now Ajax need to control his rehabilitation and control this situation. We know it won't be a short-term injury."

"Isaac Mbenza trained with the group yesterday, but today he will train again. He could be in the squad tomorrow. The case of Pritchard is the same. He is in mind to be in the squad."

"Millwall's position in the table only makes them more dangerous. They have all the possibilities to get better results."

"Adama Diakhaby is in the same type of rehabilitation. He's not going to be available. Stearman will be about three weeks to come back to the group."

Ones to Watch

Jed Wallace- Surprised he is still there with all due respect, could easily have been picked up by a low end Premier League side after his recent showings. The former Wolves player is an integral part of the Millwall system and they are heavily reliant on him to perform.



Jake Cooper- A giant of a defender that stands at roughly 6 foot 6 and is vital for Millwall at both ends of the pitch, as good as he is in the air, he is also a key defensive cog for the Lions when the ball is anywhere in the final third



Ryan Woods- Signed on a season long loan from Stoke, having failed to make his mark there after joining from Brentford. The fiery haired midfield was a key player for Brentford for a number of years due to his ability to go box to box for 90 minutes. Has featured heavily for the Lions this term and whilst having not scored yet, is key to breaking down attacks much like our general Hogg.



Played for both

Millwall have 2 former Town players amidst their ranks in the forms of Scottish defender Murray Wallace and a fellow defender in Scott Malone who is probably more famous in his Town days for kicking the ball into his own face. But can you guess these former players with a foot in both camps?

1) Over a decade involved with Huddersfield in one shape or another, he spent 2 years at Millwall before moving up north to be closer to home and joined Rotherham. Finished his playing career at the illustrious Mickleover Sports.

2) Left sided full back who spent a year at The Den after leaving Norwich but failed to make an appearance for the side. He was released at the end of that season and signed for a club just up the coast from Norwich. Was able to make his mark there and earned himself a move to the greatest team the world has ever seen.

3) Was originally a roofer working for his uncle when he was spotted and started playing semi-professional. He had a good 2 year spell at Town in the 00's before a 6 year spell in orange saw him be part of a side promoted to the Premier league and scored their first ever Premier league goal. His time at Millwall was a brief loan spell where he linked up with a former manager of his before his career started to gradually wind down.

4) Had a loan spell at Town in the early 00's but really wasn't that good. Had a 2 year spell at Millwall a decade later and wasn't much better there either. His prime years came between 04-10 where he scored 93 goals in 196 games in Scottish football before moving down to Middlesbrough where he would score a further 37 goals in 116 games. After his poor spell at Millwall he rediscovered his scoring touch back in Scotland before heading darn unda where he still plys his trade.

5) Had a brief emergency loan at Millwall where he scored 5 in 7 games for the Lions, before then being loaned out to Blackpool. Spent 5 years going from the Premier League to the Championship at Crystal Palace before leaving to join Town, in what could only be described as an utter woeful spell at Town. Has also had trouble off the field in the past and is now playing out on the continent.

6) Striker who had two spells at both clubs, one loan, one permanent. His permanent spell at Town marked the beginning of a new era at the club. Scored 16 goals in 45 appearances for Town in that spell and had a few howlers in there too. He joined Millwall on loan from Town scoring 2 in 7 before that deal was turned permanent. His permanent stay was brief as he only managed 4 appearances for the side before being shipped to the midlands. 4 years after leaving Town he came back on loan and showed that nothing had changed. Has spent the last 4 years bouncing around the bottom 2 leagues of English football.

7) Signed for Town from Bournemouth and would win player of the season at Town Made 59 appearances for Town as a defender before moving back down south to Portsmouth. Had a year at Millwall in the mid 00's and played 15 times before moving on to Yeovil who loaned him back to Millwall and released him to Swindon with him never featuring in the green hoops.

And now for a few Annie Grams

1) Embryos Den

2) Wry Gate Rot

3) I Shoot A Chuckle

4) Waylaid Linseed

5) Ban Her Trickery

THE MATCH

SUNDAY 24TH JANUARY 8PM

v

LAST MATCH



We did a professional job on the League Two outfit with a goal in each half. Exeter started brightly and had a couple of early chances. But it was us that took the lead when Bannan found Reach in the box on the left side and finished well. We saw out the first half with Wildsmith having one comfortable save. Onto the 2nd and we were having the chances with Hunt, Reach and Bannan having efforts. Law had a chance for them late on before Shaw ran down the left, cut in, then squared for Paterson to wrap up the tie and a meeting with Everton at Goodison in round 4.

THE MATCH



Our first game since Covid-19 cancelled our last 2 league games and a nice trip to Goodison. The Toffeeman are having a good season and are currently 6th in Premier League. They have a top coach in Ancelotti in charge and have a chance to get into the champions league though a europa league spot wouldn't be bad either. They have quality players like Calvert-Lewin, James Rodriguez, Richarlisson, Doucoure to name but a few. They beat us last year in the league cup 0-2 at Hillsborough, with Calvert-Lewin getting both. Hopefully they will rest a few when they play us.

CURRENT FORM

OWLS               -                      

EVER                -                            

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  



THE TEAM

Cup game so probably a few changes and who has recovered/available from the Covid outbreak.

Wildsmith
Palmer Lees Brennan Penney
Harris Bannan Paterson Shaw Reach
Windass

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

3-1 Windass

BML STANDINGS

Owlkev 9
Washington 8
Stateside 7
Imre 6
Pei 6
SCO 5
Maddix 2
Wereham 1

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Brentford v Leicester City
Fulham v Burnley
Manchester United v Liverpool
Preston North End v Reading
Middlesbrough v Blackburn Rovers

AHHAH

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC





One for Washington

I WONDERED HOW THE TABLE WOULD LOOK INVOLVING EVERYONE AS WE ALL PLAY THE SAME GAMES EACH WEEK.

-        WEEK     9  -10       -11        -12       -13        -14         -15

1.   BBB         109-129(1)  -155(1) -158(1) -163(1)-173(1)       186(1)  =
2.   SANJAY      74- 88(7)  -110(5) -138(2) -154(2)- 156(3)      172(2)  +1
3    S/C            93-108(2)  -121(2) -129(3) -148(3)-158(2)       170(3)  -1
4.   MINIZIN     94- 97(3)  -119(4) -124(5) -129(5)- 141(5)      164(4)  +1
5.   ZINMAN     88- 92(4)   -121(3) -127(4)-141(4) -150(4)       158(5)   -1
6.  STAIRS       87- 86(10)-100(8) -111(7)-123(=7)-139(6)       154(6)   =
7.  SILVER        63- 67(15)-97(10)-110(12)-119(9)  122(=10)   147(7)    +3
8.   DD             42- 51(20)-74(17)- 85(17)-110(=11)126(8)      141(8)   =
9.  SOMERSET  82- 80(11)- 98 (9) -107(8)-123(=7) 129(7)       138(9)    -2
10. AAA            74- 80(12)- 97(10)-104(10)-115(10) -117(12)  137(10)  +2
11. BOMBER     73- 87(9) -97(10) - 99(13)-110(=11)-122(=10) 130(11)   -1
12. BAGGIE 1    55- 67(16)-92(14)-  94(15) - 96(16) -102(15)   125(12)  +3
13.  AMELIA      76- 91(5)  -107(6) -117(6) -127(6)   123(9)      123(13)  -4
14. JOKER         86- 90 (6)- 94(13)-103(11)-105(14) -113(13)   113(14)  -1
15. DERBY        54- 69(14)-84(16)-  92(16) - 94(17) -101(16)   111(15)  +1
16.  BEEFY        79- 87(9) -105(7) -105(9)  -108(13) -108(14)   107(16)  -2
17. L/SNOOTY   60- 69(13)-87(15)- 98(14) -100(15) -  96(17)    98(17)   =
18. LADY JANE  58- 66(17)-69(18)-  72(20) - 83(=18)  85(19)    96(18)   +1
19. THEM         53- 60(18)-67(20)-  75(18) - 83(=18)  92(18)    94(19)   -1
20. TWERTON   49- 51(19)-69(18)-  73(19) - 79(20)    84(20)    89(20)   =

Not much change in the top 8 except for St Charles changing with Sanjay AND  Minizin swapping places with Zinman. Silver from 10th to 7th. Baggie1 is continuing his rise up the table from 16th to 12th. Biggest loser again was Amelia down 4, with AAA up 2 places and Somerset down 2 places. The bottom 3 are continuing their own private battle with L/Snooty wanting to join them with Lady Jane up a place.

That's all folks

Premier League

Player Pts CS CR GB BB SB
A.A.A. 20 2 5 NP 3 1
Sanjay 16 2 5 -3 3 0
B.B.B. 13 2 3 -3 6 0
St Charles 12 1 5 -3 3 0
Derby 10 1 4 -3 3 0
Bomber 8 1 3 -3 3 0
Twerton 5 1 3 -3 -3 1
Snooty 2 0 4 -3 -3 0
Themaclad 2 1 2 -3 -3 0
Amelia 0 0 3 -3 -3 0

Not a great scoring week in the PL this week for most but when everyone who played the Gamball got it wrong then it should come as no surprise!!  The one player who typically doesn't play the Gamball finished top this week, AAA scored a good 20 points on the back of 2 CSs and 5 CRs, one of which was his bonus, he was also one of only 2 players to get the scoreball as well.  For those interested, had he played the Gamball he would have lost 3 of those points, so a definite win for him this week.  With an almost identical record as AAA, Sanjay is in 2nd spot on 16 points with the Gamball and scoreball being the only difference between their points haul.  Our current PL leader BBB is 3rd with 13 points, like the top 2 he also got 2 CSs, one of which was his Bonus so he picked up the maximum there.

St Charles with 12 points is in 4th spot, he scored on 6 games but only had one CS to keep his score down.  Derby is again in 5th spot with 10 points on the back of scoring on half the games.  Behind him is Bomber with 8 points, and is the last player this week to score any positive points on the Bonus.

The bottom 4 all had serious issues with their balls with incorrect results on all the Gamballs and all the Bonus balls!!  Twerton is in 7th spot with 5 points, he did manage a CS and actually was only the second player to get the scoreball. Lord Snooty and Themaclad ended up joint 8th with just 2 points but they got there in slightly different ways with M'Lord getting only CRs and Themaclad actually getting one CS!!  Bottom of the pile for the second week in a row is Amelia who managed a big fat zero, still that is 4 points better than her performance last week so there is always a silver lining somewhere!!!

These results did cause some movement in the table.  BBB still out on his own at the top although his lead was cut by a point, Sanjay retook second spot and is now 2 points ahead of St Charles in 3rd and there is now a 33 point gap between them and fourth place.  AAA jumps 2 places to 4th with his top spot this week, overtaking Bomber and Amelia in the process.  Bomber also moved ahead of Amelia as her back to back poor weeks see her drop 2 spots to 6th place and now 14 points behind AAA!!  Derby rounds out the players over 100 points and sits a bit in no man's land in between the top and bottom.  

At the bottom Lord Snooty and Themaclad did nothing to help their cause and Twerton is inching closer to them each week, the gap between all three is now down to just 9 points.

BBB - 186 =
Sanjay - 172 +1
St Charles - 170 -1
AAA - 137 +2
Bomber - 130 =
Amelia - 123 -2
Derby - 111 =
Lord Snooty - 98 =
Themaclad - 94 =
Twerton - 89 =


Cheers
SCO


Championship

Silver 23pts 4CS 6CR 10GB -3BB 0SB
BaggieOne 23pts 2CS 6CR 10GB 3BB 0SB
Minizin 23pts 2CS 6CR 10GB 3BB 0SB
DD 15pts 2CS 6CR -3GB 3BB 1SB
Stairs 15pts 1CS 6CR 0GB 3BB 0SB
Lady Jane 11pts 1CS 5CR -3GB 6BB 0SB
Somerset 9pts 1CS 5CR 0GB -3BB 0SB
Zinman 8pts 1CS 6CR -3GB -3BB 0SB
Joker 0pts 0CS 3CR -3GB -3BB 0SB
Beefy -1pt No predictions.

Only 9 games, only 9 predictors but this week produced the 2nd highest points total of the season so far. It was also a good week for the gamballers (well, some of them) with 3 maximums. Not so good for the scoreball with only one player gaining the extra point. Just one match produced a negative total - you've guessed it, Albion's much needed win - and I suspect we collected the highest ever amount of correct scores with only 1 player failing to get at least 1. 8 of the 9 predictors got over half of their results right, rare consistency!

A 3 way tie at the top this week with Silver, BaggieOne and Minizin all securing 23 points. Silver actually claims top place thanks to his impressive 4 correct scores - he was only let down by his bonus, being one of 4 of us to bet on an Albion defeat (well worth minus 3 points in my opinion.) BaggieOne and Minizin had identical records, backing up their maximum gamballs with correct bonuses.

Dingle Dingle and Stairs both had good weeks but are still 8 points off the leaders. Like BaggieOne and Minizin, DD had 2 correct scores and 6 results but lost points on his gamball, though he was the only player to pick up the scoreball point. Stairs got one less correct score but wisely chose not to play the gamball saving himself 3 points. Lady Jane had one of her better weeks scoring 11 points - only the 5th time this season she's reached double figures - helped by a maximum from her bonus.

Somerset was another to benefit from not playing the gamball, while Zinman, still smarting from last week's failed insurrection, had a complete blank from his balls and may well lose the overall top spot.

Joker was the stand out performance of the week - for all the wrong reasons. He was the only player not to pick up a correct score, only got 3 correct results compared to every other players with 5 or 6, and missed out on all his balls to achieve the grand total of zero.
No predictions again from Beefy, as others have said, we all hope he's OK.

Minizin 164 +1
Zinman 158 -1
Stairs 154 =
Silver 145 +2
DD 141 =
Somerset 138 -2
BaggieOne 125 +2
Joker 113 -1
Beefy 107 -1
Lady Jane 96 =

Zinman's 4 week spell at the top comes to an end as Minizin retakes first place in the overall table with Stairs remaining in 3rd. Silver is a big mover up 2 places to 4th, his highest position so far with Somerset the big loser dropping 2 to 6th.
At the bottom, Joker appears determined to keep Beefy company allowing Lady Jane to creep ever closer.

Zin

v



LAST TIME OUT

MIDDLESBOUGH 0 BIRMINGHAM CITY 1



BRISTOL CITY 2 PRESTON NORTH END 0


City's first goal from a corner note lack of defender on back post

HEAD TO HEAD

First played Small Heath September 1894 ended 4-4, our first victory at St Andrews was February 1913 1-0 won there last season 1-0, the season before Declan's howler led us to colapsing 3-0, no Mr Blue Sky empty ground first of two visits given we still have to play Coventry at the same venue.

CITY NEWBIES

Hogan, Ethridge and Leko all costs fees, Aitor got a couple of freebies from Middlesbrouh as well as going overseas for Sanchez and Prieto plus a fwe loan players as well

FORM

CITY 7 PNE 11

FAMOUS BIRMINGHAM FOLK

Anthony John Hancock (12 May 1924 – 25 June 1968) was an English comedian and actor.[1]

High-profile during the 1950s and early 1960s, he had a major success with his BBC series Hancock's Half Hour, first broadcast on radio from 1954, then on television from 1956, in which he soon formed a strong professional and personal bond with comic actor Sid James. Although Hancock's decision to cease working with James, when it became known in early 1960,[2] disappointed many at the time, his last BBC series in 1961 contains some of his best remembered work (including "The Blood Donor" and "The Radio Ham"). After breaking with his scriptwriters Ray Galton and Alan Simpson later that year, his career declined.

MACS VIEW

This does not set itself up to be a classic, Karanka's side tend to be tight at the back and our ability to score at the moment seems to be limited as is our ability to actually have a shot.
City had a good win at the Riverside on Saturday but have a less than brilliant record at home bit like us really
Looks as though Pearson has played his last game for us, shame really he has been an exceptional player over the last five years however maybe it's time to move on
Would like to see both Whiteman and Molumby in central midfield on Wednesday still need 18 points to get to the safeguard of 50 points first priority as those thinking of watching on I Follow save your money bound to be something better on the tube[b][/b]