I can't believe this latest cock-up up by what looked like an experimental starting line up - why do it now OGS??? Such an important final group match v a Bundesligue side that United "hammered" 5-0 in the 1st leg!!!!!!!! And yet he didn't field his strongest team?? As for the result? What does he expect when the team only plays for 20 mins of the match!!! Didn't deserve a positive result TBF and both United's goals fortuitous!! Lastly, I must critically comment AGAIN re United's goalie, De Gea - what an embarrassment of a goalie in losing that crucial RBL 3rd goal - HE DIDN'T WANNA GET HURT, SHOULD'VE BLOCKED THE SHOT BUT OPTED FOR PROTECTING HIS GOOD HEALTH - a shocker at a crucial stage of the match when, OK, Maguire misread the "run of the ball" in allowing the ball to pass him but De Gea could've "bailed him out" but chose not to. Paul Scholes thankfully "not taking any prisoners" on BT Sport and calling it as it is - "He didn't wanna get hurt, he 'bottled' it"!!! Absolutely right Paul. I'd additionally comment, "Ohhh if we could only 'put the clock back' to the time when United had the opportunity to sign Casper Schmeichel, a Man United fan as well!!. It wouldn't be perfect but United would've been be in a better place now with such a reliable and accountable goalie"!!! What a failure in judgement! We must get rid of De Gea asap as said in a previous thread questioning this guy's ability to perform and millions lost again due to another needless non-quali performance. IMO OGS should've risked playing the young lad, Dean Henderson, in goal but clearly not brave enough to "do a SAF" and play him.
United defensively weak, the manager consistently making mistakes and the Pogba situ also needs to be resolved - a joke with a joke agent!!

v



LAST TIME OUT

PRESTON NORTH END 2 WYCOMBE WANDERERS 2



STOKE CITY 1 MIDDLESBROUGH 0



LAST SEASON

PRESTON NORTH END 0 MIDDLESBROUGH 2

No surprise at the result we rarely beat Boro

FORM GUIDE

PNE 9 BORO 9

BORO TRANSFERS
Akprom, Hall, Morsy, Bettinelli, Roberts and Watmore

Manager Colin



You could say that North End are due a home win against Middlesbrough! It has been almost 50 years (1972) since our last one!

Admittedly, that has only been seven league games, plus a couple of league cup ties and an FA Cup fixture, but let’s put it this way, the last time we won, the win was only worth two points and not three!

Last season’s two clashes with Boro were both against Jonathan Woodgate-selected sides, so this is our first game against Neil Warnock’s side, who have been in fine form so far this season, challenging at the top end of the table.

Neither side have had too many changes in their ranks since that last meeting, at new year, but with injuries, managerial changes and Covid, there is plenty that has changed and it will be an interesting game where both sides will believe they can come out on top.

Team News
Manager Alex Neil is without Ben Pearson (ankle), Patrick Bauer (Achilles), Andrew Hughes, Paul Gallagher and Jos Earl (all hamstring), Billy Bodin and Louis Moult (both knee) for Wednesday’s visit of Boro, whilst Daniel Johnson is suspended after picking up his fifth booking of the season against Wycombe at the weekend.

Darnell Fisher is available again after sitting out the last three games through suspension and his involvement could allow Alan Browne to move back into midfield, with Pearson’s absence through the injury he picked up half an hour into the clash with Gareth Ainsworth’s men.

Neil Warnock could recall Duncan Watmore, whose last midweek brace against Swansea City was not enough to earn him another start at Stoke City at the weekend, with George Saville returning to a three-man Boro midfield.

Having switched to a back three against the Swans, Warnock reverted to a back four at the bet365 Stadium, Marcus Tavernier and Marvin Johnson providing the visitors width, supporting Chuba Akpom who retained his place ahead of Britt Assombalonga up front.

With the exception of Saville for Watmore, the Boro bench remained the same, with U23 stars Isaiah Jones and Sam Folarin both included in the 20-man squad.

Match Officials
It’s 18 months since we last saw him, but Wednesday night’s match official is a familiar face; it is now Premier League referee Andy Madley.

Before his promotion to the Select Group One list in the summer of 2019, Madley was a regular officiating the Lilywhites five time in his last season regularly refereeing at this level.

Those games included the 4-1 win over local rivals Blackburn Rovers in November, our 4-1 win at Queens Park Rangers and the victory over Bolton Wanderers at the University of Bolton Stadium in February.

He has been in charge of some of the Lilywhites’ best moments over the years, most notably the League One Play-Off Final in the 2014/15 season, where a Jermaine Beckford hat-trick led to a convincing 4-0 over Swindon Town at Wembley.

He was also the referee for our Capital One Cup victory over rivals Blackpool in the 2013/14 season. Tom Clarke netted the winner three minutes from time to secure a famous 1-0 win over our rivals.

So far this season, Andy – who is now on both the UEFA and FIFA lists, having officiated Europa League and Nations League games this campaign - has refereed 11 games in all competitions, issuing 27 yellow cards and just one red card.

He will be assisted by Edward Smart and Adrian Holmes, with another Ollie Yates as the fourth

MACS VIEW

So according to the records it's 50 years since we beat Boro at Deepdale probably did go to it although in those days you spent the entire match trying not to be murdered by the travelling Boro hordes.
Another chance to rectify our shocking home record this year apparently we have only won 4 home games in nearly 12 months, personal view cannot see us winning tomorrow either, always find with Boro they are well organised and hard to beat and now with Colin in charge they will be doubly hard to beat.
As for Warnock have plenty of time for the guy calls it how it is.
No Johnson suspended both Pearson and Bauer now long term injuries, fans getting slightly naffed off with home performances doesn't appear to be a Plan B when at home some would say no Plan A either.
We will come through this but may have to be patient.

The full draw recently concluded in Zurich and I don't think Scottish fans can be too disappointed with this draw even though it will be tough in Group F:-

Denmark, Austria, Israel, Faeroe Islands and Moldova

The biggest "jaw dropper" has to be being drawn v Israel AGAIN????? Spooky!!!

Otherwise lotsa these fixtures are winnable for the guys and Steve Clarke may have a good number of better players to add to his squad by the time the fixtures begin.
BRING IT ON!

Another quick turn around, as is the norm in December, with town moving from facing the blue and white hoops of QPR to the blue and white stripes of Sheffield Wednesday.

Town come in off the back of what could be considered to be our most complete performance of the season, a comfortable 2-0 win, although it could be said that they were there for the taking and we could easily have turned the screw and gone for 3/4/5, QPR seemed to be a team that had a lot of individuals and most out playing for themselves with only a few playing for the manager. We've seen that before, not so long ago with the ill fated Jan Siewert tenure, but with QPR now only 6 points from the drop zone and having finished comfortably midtable, the aim would have been to move on up the table, one would question how long Mark Warburton has left in his roll in this era of sackings for fun.

Town took the lead through a pearler of strike from Josh Koroma, taking his tally to 5 for the season so far. He received the ball from Carel Eiting just before the half way line and took the ball to the edge of the QPR area, the QPR defence retreating back to London, before curling his effort into the top corner from 20 yards out. Town nearly doubled the advantage on a number of occasions with Harry Toffolo coming close to his first goal at home, linking up well around the QPR area and getting a shot off on goal, only to see Seny Dieng pull off a good stop to prevent him. Campbell was next to have a chance following a sweeping counter attack which saw Lewis O'Brien pick out Koroma, who held on to the ball too long before laying off to Campbell who could only shoot at the keeper, had the pass been a touch sooner, Mbenza would have been stood unmarked. Town did manage to double the lead and Toffolo did manage to get his first home goal, once again linking up well with Koroma in another sweeping move which saw Ben Hamer find Toffolo, who nodded inside to O'Brien, who in turn set Koroma free to run at the QPR defence again, the Rangers defence never tracked the run of Toffolo and a nicely weighted through ball allowed him to stroke home with aplomb.

The second half saw Town have a couple more chances, O'Brien forcing Dieng into a good save, whilst Dieng produced an unorthodox save to prevent a driven effort from Pipa, there was not many chances to note in the second half other than a deflected Barbet shot from a corner. The main talking point from the second half was a serious looking injury to Chris Schindler which looks like keeping him out for a fair while, maybe the rest of the season.

short highlights

longer ones

Our guests on Tuesday meanwhile suffered a defeat at the hands of Norwich City. Wednesday took the lead on the hour mark through former Town trainee Josh Windass, son of Dean. The forward headed home Adam Reach's cross to set the Owls on their way to an unlikely win, however, two late goals put ends to that. Sub Josh Martin grabbed his first senior goal and highly rated Canaries defender Max Aarons scored his first goal in 2 years to move Norwich back to the top of the Championship.

Its been a difficult period for the Owls, starting the season with a 12 point deduction for breaching financial rules, although that has since been halved allowing them to break into positive points, something that Garry Monk took credit for upon his sacking, as if he had overseen them winning their way out of the deficit. He has since been relieved of his duties as manager and been replaced by someone who can actually call themselves a manager in the shape of Tony Pulis, does he still stand for his press conferences? The result on Saturday means that they come into the game on Tuesday back at the foot of the table, two points behind Derby following their victory at Millwall.

They began the season with a penalty victory away at Walsall, before moving on to beat Towns conquerors Rochdale 2-0, eventually going out in the third round 2-0 to Fulham. The league campaign started with a 2-0 away at Cardiff, former Town boys Windass and Jordan Rhodes scoring past Alex Smithies in the first half. The first game back on home soil ended in a 0-0 draw against recently relegated Watford, but it took them to -8 points as they continued to erode the deficit. That's how it would finish for September as they lost the final game of the month 2-0 away at Bristol city, former Town loanee Jamie Patterson scoring in injury time. October began with a 1-1 at home to QPR, Barbet scoring an own goal, with Bonne scoring in the 96th minute to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat. It was back on the road and back to winning ways at Birmingham when a Barry Bannan penalty just after the half time interval saw them past Aitor Karanka's men. However a defeat back on home soil followed Ivan Toney netting on either side of Callum Paterson goal to give Brentford a 2-1 win. It was another home defeat for Monks men the next time out, Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu scoring after Wednesday had seen Joost Van Aken given his marching orders. The poor month continued with a 3-0 defeat to fellow South Yorkshiremen Rotherham and a 1-0 defeat at fellow relegation battlers Wycombe, giving the Chairboys their first win of the season. David Wheeler sealed the win for Wycombe, whilst Jamie Lindsey bagged a brace with Daniel Barlaser scoring a penalty for Rotherham, Wednesday also saw defender Tom Lees sent off for a last man foul in the build up to the penalty. The poor month meant that Wednesday were still stuck at the bottom, 8 points adrift of Wycombe.

It was a surprise result that started November for the Owls, a 1-0 win over Bournemouth thanks to a Barry Bannan penalty. Bournemouth saw Steve Cook sent off for conceding the spot kick and the Owls too had a man see red with Kadeem Harris was sent off in injury time. In the build up to their next game, Wednesday saw their deduction halved and moved into the positive and off the bottom of the table for the first time in the season only on goal difference. The next game was at home to Millwall and finished 0-0, Monk was given his marching orders and was swiftly replaced by Tony Pulis in time for a trip to Preston North End. Wednesday saw Windass sent off for a high challenge in the 17th minute and Tom Barkhuizen capitalised on a mistake from Kieran Westwood on his return from the abyss. Pulis picked up his first point in charge of Wednesday away at promotion chasing Swansea, Adam Reach gave the Owls the lead midway through the first half, but the highest paid player in the championship on circa 80k a week in Andre Ayew levelled in the 60th minute. It was another draw that rounded off November, this time at home against the club Pulis is most famous for managing, Stoke. It again finished 0-0 and Wednesday finished the month in 23rd on 8 points. They began December with, you guessed it, a draw, 1-1 against Reading. Paterson gave the Owls the lead early in the first half, but they were reduced to 10 men when Liam Shaw saw red for a dangerous tackle, former Wednesday man Lucas Joao equalised for Reading, but they were unable to go on and claim victory. The defeat against Norwich saw them move back to the foot of the table, but having played a number of promotion candidates recently they now move onto a run of fixtures where they will feel like they could pick up a few points, games against Town, Barnsley, Forest and Coventry are all on the horizon before a boxing day trip to Blackburn.

In terms of goals, Josh Windass leads the way with 3 in all competitions, notching the one assist to boot, Barry Bannan and Callum Paterson both sit on 2 goals, with a few players having bagged the solitary goal. In terms of assists, Adam Reach leads the way there with 3 in all comps, with 2nd being those with one assist. After Saturdays game, Koroma has moved further clear with 5 goals, with Eiting and Campbell still second on 3 and Toffolo joining Mbenza with 2 goals. Toffolo still leads the way in the assists chart with 5, whilst Koroma and Eiting both moved onto 2 with their roles in the two goals.



So what's new at Hillsborough?

Well Wednesday got themselves a few new beach t'owls this summer, spending just shy of 1 million pound for the pleasure. A few former Town players were amongst the bunch with former Town loan star Izzy Brown joining on loan from Chelsea, his spell at the club has been impacted by injuries, which seems standard for him now and the Wednesday fans aren't overly enamoured by him and his performances, he had a good spell last year at Luton, but it could be injuries, the tactical systems or as some have said, attitude that is causing the problems for him. Also joining was Josh Windass, son of Dean and former Town academy player, he was released by Town and after a spell at Harrogate Railway, found himself back in the football league at Accrington Stanley. A move north of the boarder beckoned as he joined Rangers, before coming down to Wigan, Wigan's cash flow troubles saw him move to Wednesday on loan before turning it permanent in the summer for 500k. The final former Town player to join Wednesday this summer was Elias Kachunga, 4 years at Town saw him become a firm favourite, more due to effort than ability. He had a fine first season at Town, scoring 12 in the promotion campaign, but injury and the step up in level saw his performance output diminish and he could only manage the one premier league goal away at Watford. He played 36 times for Town last season, but was one of the players scarred by the dreadful premier league campaign and could never quite get going again for all his hard work, he scored three times for Town last season and was released at the end of his contract. He has appeared 11 times for Wednesday this time, but has yet to score a league goal for the club.



Also joining the Owls this summer, Derby striker Jack Marriott made the loan move to South Yorkshire, which seemed a strange move on the face of it with Derby not having a plethora of strikers, maybe less than the 5 we allegedly have, and because he had been appearing for the Rams before his move, but Cocu saw fit to allow the Beverley born man leave. He's also yet to score for Wednesday in his 7 appearances, with his solitary league goal coming for Derby against Luton. Wednesday also completed the free transfer of Manchester City youth player Fisayo Dele-Bashiru, the young midfielder has been in the squad for every game and has appeared 5 times, starting in 2 of those. Big defender Aden Flint made the loan move back up north from Cardiff, he has had a history of causing Town problems from when he was down at Swindon. He has only played 4 games for Wednesday this season, having picked up a hamstring injury against Rotherham, he has been back training, but hasn't been involved in the last 2 squads, but is very much a Pulis type of defender. Another former Wigan player to join the club was Chey Dunkley. The 28 year old made his name at Oxford before moving to Wigan, but with the cash flow issues he left and joined Wednesday on a free transfer but is yet to play due to a fractured leg. The final player to join Wednesday for just under 500k was Callum Paterson, in what was another strange transfer. The Scotsman signed for Cardiff as a fullback for free in 2017 and played 106 times for them scoring 21 goals, winning promotion to the Premier league with the Bluebirds. Highly versatile, he's a player I've long wanted at Town due to his ability to play multiple roles and positions, he's played 13 times for the Owls this term and scored twice.



There was quite a few being disposed by Wednesday like wet paper towels, amongst them was experienced and long serving midfielder Kieran Lee, he had had multiple injuries whilst in Sheffield but amassed 217 appearances in his 8 years at Hillsborough, he's yet to find himself a new club. Experienced goalkeeper Paul Jones was also allowed to leave having never made an appearance in his year at the club. The club also released academy players Jack Stobbs, Fraser Preston and Connor Kirby, they joined Grantham, Boston and Harrogate respectively. Amongst the bigger names to depart the club, Sam Winnall left for Oxford, Steven Fletcher and Morgan Fox both made the move to Stoke, whilst Sam Hutchinson and Atdhe Nuhiu both made their way to Cyprus to play for Pafos and APOEL Nicosia. Huddersfield fan favourite Fernando Foresteri also left the club to return to Udinese, the side he left originally to come to England and Watford, where he endeared himself to Town fans...

In case its not been mentioned or you've missed it, the club also dispensed with the services of Garry Monk and his coaching set up and appointed former Stoke manager Tony Pulis as manager, with former Birmingham stalwart Craig Gardner coming in as one of his coaches.

Caption it

Ones to watch

Adam Reach- Began his career up at Middlesbrough, before making the move to Sheffield in 2016. Plays primarily on either flank and has been a mainstay over the last few seasons. Was one player I would have been looking at when we first got promoted due to the potential he had. Is now 27 and has played 181 games for Wednesday and scored 19 times, making 33 assists. Has an eye for a special goal.

Callum Paterson- Versatile player that can be instrumental in the general build up play of Wednesday due to his strength and hold up play, Can be a threat in either box and has been known to possess a long throw, not quite to Delap standards, but Pulis does know how to utilise set pieces.



Barry Bannan- Talking of set pieces, now 31, the little Scotsman plays a huge part in how Sheffield Wednesday play in midfield, with the game generally going through him. He's now captain of the side and will be the man taking most of the set pieces on Tuesday, his two goals this season have come from the penalty spot.

Our head to head record with Wednesday over the last few years has been woeful with Town not managing to register a home league goal since Anthony Pilkington scored way back in 2011, it was a good goal, but not that good that we don't need to score again for 9 years. Since then Town have drawn 6, won 3 and lost 7, this is including the play offs and counting the penalty win as a win. Overall, Towns record against Wednesday isn't that bad, with Town having won 25, lost 21 and drawn 14.

Last season Town played out a dull 0-0 at Hillsborough, but it was a key point upon the resumption of the season and helped secure survival. Earlier in the season at the John Smiths, the two sides had just appointed Danny Cowley and Garry Monk as managers and it was boths first game in charge, both have been sacked since then, did you know Monk had been fired? Fletcher and Winnall scored either side of half time to get Cowleys reign off to a losing start.

Wednesday did the double over Town in the normal season during the promotion campaign, Wallace and Forestieri scoring at Hillsborough, Town seeing Jack Payne sent off, whilst Forestieri scored a penalty in the reverse fixture. The last time Town actually won a league game against Wednesday was back in November 2013, goals from Adam Clayton and Martin Paterson secured Mark Robins' side the 3 points, in the same week that the two players had been banned for fighting at the training ground (on a side note I was down at the training ground and was told to wait before coming and I saw Clayton leaving in his car crying) the two linked up for the first goal and marked the occasion with a special celebration.



One of the most memorable games between the two sides came in the December of 2011, when the two met at Hillsborough. The game finished 4-4 with Jordan Rhodes scoring all 4 of Towns goals. Town took a 2-0 lead but some very shoddy defending allowed defenders Rob Jones and Rede Johnson to level the game up. In the second half Ben Marshall got the better of Jack Hunt and slotted into the bottom corner, before Chris O'Grady scored a looping header running with his back to goal to make it 4-2. Rhodes bagged his hattrick minutes later and then in injury time a long ball somehow found itself in the path of Rhodes who duly slotted in his 4th in the 90th minute to make it 4 all.

  Ignore the commentary and don't cause yourself harm by watching the defending.

One of the most famous games though in modern Huddersfield Town history came in the promotion season with the second leg of the play off semi finals. With the sides level after a 0-0 draw at the John Smiths Stadium it was still all to play for. Town welcomed Danny Ward back between the sticks for this game. In what was tight cagey affair, the hosts took the lead through a thumping Steven Fletcher header, and with all the phone lights from the crowd blaring out, Colin Quaner replaced Kachunga and it was his run and cross that lead to defender Tom Lees turning the ball into his own goal and take the sides into extra time. Extra time came and went and the game went to penalties. Town went first and scored through Chris Lowe, whilst Sam Hutchinson saw his spot kick saved. Hefele scored Towns second kick, with Bannan netting his, Wells took and scored Towns third and Kieran Lee scored his. Aaron Mooy and Jack Hunt both scored their kicks, Jack Payne had the chance to put Town through to Wembley but saw his kick saved by Kieran Westwood, the pressure was then on Forestieri, and the little guy had his attempt saved by Ward to cue pandemonium amongst the Town faithful.

Need and excuse to watch it all again? here you go.



team news and manager speak.

Town will be without Schindler, Elphick and Stearman, the three experienced central defenders are all long term absentees, with the club still waiting to find out the results of Schindlers injury. Edmonds-Green looks most likely to come in and partner Naby Sarr in defence, but Crichlow has started training again, whilst town will have Vallejo back from a minor knock too, both of whom are central defence options, a left field choice would be to move Hogg back into the back line and have O'Brien take over his role. It otherwise looks like it will be the same squad as last time out barring any last minute injuries.

"We are still waiting to see the result of Christopher Schindler's scan. Hopefully we will have him with us as soon as possible, but we need to wait for his results. I am never happy when I lose one of my players and my Captain."

"We will continue with the same number of players we had available against QPR. We can add Alex Vallejo to the squad too after he recovered from his injury."

"Before this injury to Christopher Schindler appeared, we were thinking that Edmonds-Green has the conditions to help the team in certain types of games."

"Sheffield Wednesday have changed with the new Manager. They have changed their style a little bit; they are very strong and solid in defence. The team is now very dangerous with the counter-attack. They have some very good players."

"We watched their game against Norwich and Norwich scored their last two goals in the last 10 minutes. We know it'll be a high challenge for the team. We want to make the fans feel proud. We need to prepare the game like we always do; try to know the opponent and be focus on how to perform."

"Romoney Crichlow will work with the team today. He has missed quite a long period of time, so after training today we will evaluate how he is and then make a decision."

"Tommy Elphick continues in the same process. He will continue working with the medical staff."

"When they try to attack more then Barry Bannan is one of the key players. But at the same time, they have a lot of players that can do that well."



As for Wednesday

Windass picked up a dead leg in the defeat against Norwich but should be fit to play on Tuesday. Dominic Iorfa stepped up his recovery by playing 53 minutes against Norwich and will be hoping to go a bit further on Tuesday. Massimo Luongo is back from suspension and will be available for selection, whilst Liam Shaw will still be out after his red card against Reading. Kieran Westwood missed the Norwich game through injury and is likely to miss the game on Tuesday.


So the answers to the last quiz

Club Links.

1) Wahki Nells
2) Alex Smivvies
3) Joe L Lynch
4) Chris Willock
5) Jack Robinson
6) Robert Green
7) Ozzy Gobern
8) Danny Simpson
9) Kevin Gallen
10) Neil Warnock
11) Leon Knight
12) Steve Yates

Anagrams

1) Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium- the current name for Loftus Road
2) Tony Fernandes- Current owner or one of them
3) Ray Wilkins- Oldest player to represent QPR
4) George Goddard- Record scorer
5) Les Ferdinand- held pretty much every position at the club, currently Director of Football
6) South Africa Road- where the stadium is located
7) Bill Bailey- a famous hoops fan
8) Alec Stock- Longest serving manager- 9 years exactly
9) Tommy Docherty- Shortest serving full time manager, his second spell in charge lasted 29 days, Paul hart had 29 days also but managed one game more
10) Christopher Samba- the clubs record signing at 12.5 million from Anzhi Makhachkala of Russia. They once had Samuel Eto'o and Roberto Carlos play for them, they are now in the third level of Russian football after financial and licensing issues.



And now for round 2

Club Links, its a big one, so everyone can have a go

1) Striker who had two spells at Town either side of his time at Hillsborough. Still at Town
2) Spent a year as a permanent fixture in our midfield, but his career has spiralled ever since he left. Had a loan spell at Wednesday as well as playing for the likes of Barnsley and Bradford
3) Spent 4 years in total at Town making 104 appearances for the club, made 85 in total for Wednesday before moving to pastures new. Had an ill fated premier league spell that yielded no appearances and multiple loans out
4) Had a brief loan spell at Wednesday towards the end of his top level career, played for Town when he was in his prime scoring a few landmark goals in the process, left Town and managed to achieve an unlikely promotion to the premier league
5) A talented youth player that looked destined for big things, wasn't really prolific for Town, but knew how to hold his own. Injuries played a role in hampering his development and Wednesday didn't see the best of him. Was involved in one of the weirdest transfer deals of modern English football. Currently playing on the continent
6) Joined Town for the one season to offer a bit of experience to the midfield from Sheffield Wednesday. Could play the holding role or the more advanced role and chip in with a few goals. Never really 'did it' at Town and his legs were a bit gone and it showed. Had 2 decent years at Wednesday though, scoring 10 in 54.
7) Part of a professional footballing trilogy. Signed for Town from the non league after a successful trial spell at the club, only played 7 games for the club, failing to score, before moving on to the likes of Port Vale. A move to Wednesday beckoned and he scored 9 in his time there before moving down to the capital and then to Scotland and abroad, before coming back to play in league one and below.
8) Had a short loan spell at Town from a premier league club and played 16 games before going back to his parent club. He joined Wednesday on a short term contract a year later but failed to make a real impact being released at the end of the season. Began his career at a prestigious academy and has also been in trouble with her majesties law enforcement.
9) A striker who didn't do well at Wednesday and ended up being loaned out to us, where he scored 9 in 16, just failing to help the side to promotion, the loan never got made permanent and he moved on loan to Bradford where he didn't have as much an impact. A journey down the leagues followed featuring for Torquay, Lincoln and Gillingham amongst others.
10) A defender who had a 2 year playing spell at Town, making 56 appearances for the club before moving closer to home in the north east for a few years before a long stay at Nottingham Forest. Never played for Wednesday, but managed them in a 3 year stint. Can sometimes been seen wandering around Meadowhall.
11) Had a loan spell at Wednesday from Birmingham early in his career making just the 6 appearances for them. A 4 year spell at Ipswich followed where he made his own name before a short unsuccessful move to Leeds, which saw him come to Town on loan. He then moved to Hull and found himself playing in the top flight. After leaving Hull his career finally wound down to his retirement.
12) Started his career in Sheffield before moving to Town for a 6 year stay that saw him play 121 times, scoring 9 goals. Bounced around a bit after leaving Town but made his home at the likes of Southampton, Stockport and Birmingham. Finished his career at Wednesday where he played 15 times before injury forced him to retire.
13) Started his career at Forest, where he is at now. Joined Town and played 107 times over a 3 year stay. Left Town to join Wednesday, but his 3 year stay there was marred by injury and he could only manage 35 appearances before leaving. Had a new club nearly every year after that until retirement featuring for the likes of Cheltenham and Forest Green
14) Still at Town, made 100 appearances for Wednesday in a 6 year stay before moving across the city to United, where he would make another 100+ appearances. A brief adventure down south saw him move back on loan to United, before resigning permanently. His second full time stay didn't last long as he was moved on to Leeds United where a severe knee injury forced him into retirement
15) A striker who had a brief loan spell at Town, didn't score much, but did the job that we really needed. Had a year early on in his career at Wednesday but only managed the 3 goals for them. Made his name more at Norwich where he made 154 appearances, scoring 68 times. Also had a rather fruitful spell at Forest a couple of years before.
16) Began playing at Manchester United and scored one vital, history changing goal. By time he got to Wednesday he had played in multiple countries and was winding down his career ahead of a move into management. Walked out on Town after a year and has since earned promotion back to this division.
17) Played for both Town and Wednesday in the same year, amassing 10 appearances and scoring no goals. Was a full Scotland international and had a fairly long stay in the premier league featuring for Coventry and Blackburn, but two serious injuries at Blackburn caused him to lose his effectiveness.
18) A welsh international who began his career at Wrexham before moving to the south coast to play for Portsmouth and Southampton. Had a long spell at Everton before joining Town from Birmingham. Loved for his hard tackles, he played 64 times for town before moving on for a short stay at Wednesday. Finished his career at Walsall and Kidderminster.
19) A defender/midfielder who came through the Town system and captained the side before being moved over the Pennines to Oldham. After making 231 appearances for Town, he finally settled at Guiseley making a further 151 appearances there, won promotion to the national league before being released and retiring. Is now a development coach at Wednesday.
20) A once highly rated striker who had 2 spells at Town but spent a lot of those times injured and never really found the net much in his 70 games for Town, only managing the 8 goals. Had spells at Bradford, Leeds and Sheffield United early in his career before ending it up at Carlisle. He moved into coaching and earned his coaching badges whilst working for Sheffield Wednesday.

And a few anagrams for you

1) Hid On Jasper Chin
2) One Lb Awry
3) Tarry Thy Ore
4) Go Live Over
5) Shrunk Triad Coin

THE MATCH

TUESDAY 8TH DECEMBER 7:45PM

v

LAST MATCH



A decent performance but we were undone in the last 10 minutes. It was a goalless first half with a few chances for each team but either good, goalkeeping/defending or bad finishing kept the score scoreless @ halftime. Onto the 2nd half and we struck first when Reach crossed from deep and Windass headed home. We then had two penalty appeals which were both turned, the first looked more a penalty than the second imo. Into the last 10 mins and we lost the game. A simple through ball and Wildsmith slow off his line and they equalised, then a few minutes later and more poor defending/goalkeeping and a finish from a narrow angle and game over. Paterson had a late chance but put it wide.

THE MATCH



Next up and a short trip to West Yorkshire and Huddersfield. They are sitting in the middle of the table and wouldn't be surprised if they finish around about there. They are managed by one of Bielsa's assistants, Carlos Corberan, not quite sure if they play the same kind of style as Leeds do though. Not too many recogniseable players, Ben Hamer in goal you might have heard and maybe a couple from the playoff game a few seasons agi.

CURRENT FORM

OWLS               -                      

VILLAGE           -                                     

THE BASTARD IN THE BLACK

KEITH STROUD
Sam Lewis and Mark Dwyer
Fourth Official : Michael Salisbury

THE TEAM

Luongo is back.

Wildsmith
Palmer Lees Iorfa Borner
Bannan Luongo
Harris Paterson Reach
Windass

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

0-1 Windass

BML STANDINGS

Owlkev 5
Washington 3
Maddix 2
Stateside 2
Wereham 1
SCO 1

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Coventry City v Luton Town
Millwall v Queens Park Rangers
Stoke City v Cardiff City
Swansea City v AFC Bournemouth
Watford v Rotherham United

DHDAH

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC





One for Washington

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.

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.  

Saturday 12th December:
Bournemouth v Town
Town scorers:
Bornmuff scorers:

Cardiff City v Swansea City (12:30)
Birmingham City v Watford
Blackburn Rovers v Norwich City
Derby County v Stoke City
Luton Town v Preston North End
Middlesbrough v Millwall
Nottingham Forest v Brentford
Queens Park Rangers v Reading
Rotherham United v Bristol City
Sheffield Wednesday v Barnsley
Wycombe Wanderers v Coventry City

Tuesday 15th December:
Queens Park Rangers v Stoke City (17:30)
Barnsley v Preston North End
AFC Bournemouth v Wycombe Wanderers
Bristol City v Millwall
Nottingham Forest v Sheffield Wednesday
Watford v Brentford

Wednesday 16th December:
Coventry v Town (20:00)
Town scorers:
Coventry scorers:

Derby County v Swansea City (17:30)
Middlesbrough v Luton Town (19:00)
Blackburn Rovers v Rotherham United
Cardiff City v Birmingham City
Reading v Norwich City

Bonus match:
Saturday:
Premier League:
Manchester United v Manchester City (17:30)

Table after Matchday 14:

1. jjamez = 354 pts
   
2. themaclad = 349 pts
   
3. theo_luddite = 336 pts
   
4. Baggiebob(BBB) = 316 pts
   
5. neonfoxinthebox = 308 pts
   
6. Lord Snooty = 307 pts
   
7. Beefy 1965 = 294 pts
   
8. ritchiebaby = 286 pts
   
9. St Charles Owl = 278 pts
   
10. Amelia Chaffinch = 276 pts
    
11. SHEP_HTAFC = 271 pts

Clearly a consistent problem for Celtic and definitely looks like some players "taking the piss" - too regular an event, Edouard again scorns opps to score "comfort goals", Griffiths arrives late in the match again to try to change a "flat" team performance. The whole scenario "sucks" from the point of view of many critical Celtic fans and ultimately Lennon can be "sent on his way" as it becomes clear that their "crash out" in the past couple of months has rendered any hope of 10-in-a-row to be well nigh impossible. Any match after a Euro footie commitment is clearly too demanding for certain Celtic players while other players are just not good enough to either score goals or even create scoring opps - a shambles! I think this match finally exposed a few "home truths" - this league match was clearly important, far more important than Thursday's Euro match in Milan and maybe Lennon should've acknowledged that priority by fielding a highly defensive but deliberate weak side in order to focus on positive league results. He didn't do that and seems to be oblivious to this regular failing and how to tackle it properly! If one scrutinises the loss of points over the past couple of months, note they would be closer to Rangers lofty position by gaining lost points from these post Europa League Scot Prem fixtures alone. He has learnt nothing and he still has one more Europa League fixture to complete - if he is still kept in place as the Celtic manager btw!!

Barnet 0-4 Stockport County
Eastleigh 0-2 Wrexham
Hartlepool United 2-2 King's Lynn Town
Sutton United 0-1 Chesterfield
Aldershot Town 0-2 FC Halifax Town
Altrincham 2-0 Woking
Bromley 3-1 Yeovil Town
Notts County 3-0 Boreham Wood
Torquay United 2-1 Maidenhead United
Weymouth 1-1 Dagenham & Redbridge

League Table After Matchday 14
Lord Snoots = 140
Spireitematt = 114
Amelia = 102
Dancing = 98
Devon = 92
St Charles = 72

Cheltenham Town v Exeter City

Welcome back to fan attended football and the entertainment it can provide.
Both sides have made a good start to the season and both appear to be challenging for promotion.

Recent history suggested the usual win for Exeter and so it seemed with Collins scoring with a deflected shot after only 4 minutes.
However this Cheltenham side have more than a little determination about them and showed it with Sercombe levelling after just 7 minutes. Then after just 12 minutes the rejuvenated Alfie May scored a third.
The Robins were now totally on top and had two further chances to increase their lead; the nearest a looping header that landed on top of the crossbar. But the first half scoring was not over yet for George Lloyd was up ended in the box and in the 47th minute Sercombe added his second from the penalty spot.
Wow what a first half. Cheltenham could easily have had six goals in that time but, as we know all too well the Robins are rarely able to put two good halves together and, so it proved.

Exeter started the second half much brighter and 10 minutes into the half pulled a goal back through Jay. At 3-2 you could sense the tension building in the ground.
The first 20 minutes of the second half was all Exeter as they pushed forward to try to find a leveller. However gradually the Robins got a firmer grip on proceedings and at the 76min mark they got their reward. Hussey took a corner from the right which found a Robins player at the far post. Headed back across goal and Andy Williams on for Alfie May, scored a simple header from just 6 yards out.
The game now at 4- 2 was surely over now.

Oh no it wasn't, with just 2 minutes of normal time left a terrible mistake by the usually reliable Will Boyle let in Law who scored to make it 4-3.
Due to a head injury early in the second half to Robin's defender Charley Raglan the referee added another 7 minutes of extra time.

And just one minute into that time Will Boyle made up for his earlier mistake by scoring from close range and the game finally ended 5-3.

What a feast of football for the lucky 1,000 or so fans finally allowed back into the Stadium.  

A message to those fans suffering from heart problems; bring your tablets with you next time.

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 5TH DECEMBER 3:00PM

v

LAST MATCH



Well that's 3 unbeaten, but all of them draws. We started ok and took the lead when Paterson headed in Reach cross. Paterson went close when another header went wide. Reading hit the post from a free kick, then the game changed when Shaw lunged in and was shown a red card. Reading took charge and no surprise when Joao levelled things up. It was back to the walls for the entire second half but we held out despite 4 penalty appeals, 1 should have been given tbh, and another point towards survival

THE MATCH



Next up probably our toughest test so far, Norwich. The Canaries sit top of the table and will be looing for a speedy return to the Premier League. They still have Pukki who scored nearly 30 goals when they got promoted, and a few other players from when playing in the PL. Daniel Farke is still in charge. We drew 2-2 last time, some blokes called Fletcher & Forestieri scored, whatever happened to them???

CURRENT FORM

OWLS               -                      

NORW               -                                        

THE BASTARD IN THE BLACK

JARRED GILLETT
Paul Hodskinson and Philip Dermott
Fourth Official : Alan Dale

THE TEAM

Luongo & Shaw both suspended, Windass is back from suspension, will Rhodes start ever again?

Wildsmith
Palmer Lees Iorfa Borner
Bannan Pelupessy
Harris Paterson Reach
Windass

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

2-1 Windass

BML STANDINGS

Owlkev 5
Washington 2
Maddix 2
Stateside 2
Wereham 1
SCO 1

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Brentford v Blackburn Rovers
Bristol City v Birmingham City
Coventry City v Rotherham United
Huddersfield Town v Queens Park Rangers
Millwall v Derby County

HHDHH

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC





One for Washington