Cheltenham 1-1 Walsall
Notts 0-1 Swindon
Bradford 2-1 Grimsby
Barrow 2-0 Harrogate
Colchester 3-1 The Stanley
Doncaster 1-1 Port Vale
MK 1-2 Salford
Tranmere 2-1 Carlisle

Chesterfield 2-1 Gillingham
Crewe 2-2 Bromley
Fleetwood 0-1 Wimbledon
Newport 3-1 Moorecoombe

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 4TH JANUARY KO 3PM

v

LAST MATCH



We started the new year with a bang, as we saw off Derby in a six goal thriller. We started well and took an early lead when Bazza side footed in from 6 yards. Derby then had several chances, mainly from corners but we kept the ball out of the net. Onto the 2nd half and we put the game to bed as first Windass got his goal of the season contender, scoring from 60 yards then Gasama galloped half of the pitch before slotting past the keeper. Derby pulled one back only for Musaba to make it 4 at the 2nd attempt. Derby got another in injury time but by then the game was won.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Next up and we entertain Millwall at Hillsborough. The Lions are having an OK season, but there form hasn't been the best of late, which resulted in Neil Harris losing his job in the last few weeks. I could see the Lions probably finishing somewhere near mid table, another team good enough to stay away from a relegation fight but not good enough to contend for a playoff spot. Alex Neill is the new boss, taking over in the last week. Watmore is there leading scorer with 5 goals and 1 assist.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 20
MILL 18
DRAW 16

CURRENT FORM

OWLS  W L D W W L                                                                      

MILL L D L W L L                           

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

ROBERT JONES
Ian Hussin and Neil Davies
Fourth Official: Leigh Doughty

THE TEAM

Beadle
Palmer Bernard Iorfa Johnson
Bannan Charles
Ugbo Ingelsson Lowe
Smith

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

2-1 Smith

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

ATTENDANCE

24567

BML LEAGUE

Imre 18
SCO 17
Washington 16
Maddix 14
Wereham 10

BMPL

Stateside 14
Owlkev 12
Southey 10
Pei 7

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Brighton v Arsenal
Bristol City v Derby
Wigan v Birmingham
MK Dons v Salford
Halifax v Fylde

AHDAH

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Stoke City have appointed former Coventry City boss Mark Robins as their new manager on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

Robins, 55, was sacked by the Sky Blues in October after seven years in charge.

He succeeds Narcis Pelach, who the Potters parted company with on Friday just three months after he was appointed.

Robins' first game will be against managerless strugglers Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.

Caretaker boss Ryan Shawcross, who oversaw Sunday's late win over Sunderland, will again take charge for the New Year's Day home game against Burnley.

Paul Nevin, who had been serving as interim England Under-20s head coach, and former Newport County manager James Rowberry, the Wales men's number two behind Craig Bellamy, will join Robins at the bet365 Stadium, as assistant managers.

After using the job title of head coach for the last three men in charge - Alex Neil, Steven Schumacher and Pelach - the vastly experienced Robins' job title will be manager.

After starting his managerial career with Rotherham United in March 2007, Robins has taken charge of a total of 780 games with Barnsley, Coventry, Scunthorpe United and Huddersfield Town.

'He was always going to be in great demand'
"At Coventry, Mark built something successful with a real identity and longevity," said Stoke sporting director Jon Walters.

"He left the club in a significantly better place than he found it. That's exactly what we want to achieve at Stoke City, and he has all the pedigree and experience to help us do that."

Robins had also been linked with the current vacancy at Stoke's Midlands Championship rivals West Bromwich Albion.

"With a record like that behind him, Mark was always going to be in great demand," said Walters. "So we're delighted that he sees an exciting opportunity to build something special in the Potteries.

"The immediate mission is to climb as high as we can up the Championship table during the second half of this season, whilst also laying foundations for a long-term successful future for our club."

Stoke are 18th in the table, ahead of the Burnley trip, four points clear of trouble.

The Football Association of Wales have confirmed that Rowberry will remain in his role as Bellamy's assistant with the national team.

"Welcoming two assistant managers of such calibre and with such innovative and progressive mindsets in Paul and James is another important part of how we will seek to progress and grow," added Walters.

Mark Robins' managerial record
In his second spell with the Sky Blues, Robins twice led them to promotion, from League Two and League One before reaching the Championship play-off final in 2023, when they lost to Luton Town on penalties.

They then took Manchester United, where Robins started his playing career, to a penalty shootout in last season's FA Cup semi-final before falling away in the league late on as they failed to match the previous season's top-six finish.

Stoke started the season under Schumacher, beating Robins' Coventry on the opening day, but surprisingly sacked him in mid-September to appoint former Huddersfield and Norwich coach Pelach.

However, they won just three times in the 36-year-old Catalan's 19 games in charge and he was sacked after a 2-0 home reverse by Leeds stretched their winless run to nine matches.

Robins is now the club's seventh managerial appointment since their 10-year spell in the Premier League came to an end in May 2018. Since being relegated, they have always finished in the bottom half of the Championship - 16th, 15th, 14th, 14th, 16th and 17th.

"With the proven track record Mark brings to the role, I believe this is a genuinely exciting moment for Stoke City," said Stoke chair John Coates.

"The win over Sunderland, with the way the team competed on the field and connected with the fans, gave everyone a huge boost and provided a glimpse of what can be created at our club."

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


So we now have a two legged Play Off between Lord Snooty and theo_luddite. The usual rules apply, but in the case of the match ending in a tie, we will have a tie breaker. That will be to predict the total number of corners in the two Huddersfield Town matches during the two legs. The closest wins. If it's still a tie, the winner will be the one who scored most points over the season, which in that case would be theo.



Final Division One table for 2024/25:

1. themaclad = 398 pts
   
2. St Charles Owl = 390 pts
   
3. jjamez = 375 pts
   
4. Baggiebob(BBB) = 367 pts
   
5. Lord Snooty = 344 pts
   
6. SHEP_HTAFC = 324 pts
   

1. neonfoxinthebox = 402 pts
   
2. theo_luddite = 392 pts
   
3. Devongone = 350 pts
   
4. ritchiebaby = 327 pts
   
5. Amelia Chaffinch = 326 pts
   
6. WakeyTerrier = 278 pts
   

Saturday 4th January:
Town v Rotherham
Town scorers:
Rotherham scorers:

Burton Albion v Northampton Town (12:30)
Cambridge United v Bristol Rovers (12:30)
Barnsley v Crawley Town
Charlton Athletic v Reading
Exeter City v Bolton Wanderers
Leyton Orient v Shrewsbury Town
Lincoln City v Stevenage
Stockport County v Mansfield Town
Wigan Athletic v Birmingham City
Wrexham v Peterborough United
Wycombe Wanderers v Blackpool


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

The Stanley 1-1 Grimsby
Barrow 2-1 Bradford
Crewe 1-2 Carlisle
Chesterfield 1-0 MK Dons
Doncaster 2-1 Fleetwood
Harrogate 1-2 Salford
Morecombe 1-2 Tranmere
Notts C 2-2 Walsall
Port Vale 3-1 Cheltenham
Swindon 0-1 Colchester

The only team in the football league with a song named after them
https://youtu.be/bHZnIMjoH1I?si=mQd7lIV8zEc6XvAt

Hibs travel to the Fair City of Perth to play bottom-of-the-table St Johnstone on Thursday night. We've come a long way in the last month and have to keep producing the goods in our games against the lower-placed clubs. There's absolutely no reason why we can't come back with the 3 points to try to get into the Top 6. No complacency and hard work will be the key to getting our attacking players firing on all cylinders.

Saints, on the other hand, are in a bad position and on a poor run of form and could find themselves cast adrift at the bottom by the middle of January. No doubt they will be determined to compete at a higher level, but that should be the only way they will be dangerous.

Let's get 2025 off to a great start. GGTTH

I would also like to say to say thank you to all the partiipants for allowing me to be on your site, and a special thanks to Me Lord for his brilliant contribution of running this game so brilliantly and with humour... Well done, it's been a pleasure to participate.