Fleetwood 2-1 Wimbledon
Morecambe 1-1 Doncaster
Notts C 1-0 Colchester

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

The prize for winning the league is one rep point.

Cup games: In the event of a draw, it's half the points if you've predicted a draw when it gets to 90 mins and the full points if it's still a draw after extra time. Half the points will be awarded for correctly predicting the winner of the match if it goes to penalties. However, if you do predict a draw and it's a match that won't be going to a replay, you can get a possible extra point by stating which of the two teams you think will eventually win.

Random score generator: I will be using the random score generator again for those who miss predicting, so we shouldn't get some people too far behind that after missing a couple of weeks they lose all interest, because I know it's not easy getting on here every week.
To be fair to everybody, this is going to be like, say if three people in one week miss their predictions, the first one in the table will be given all 0-0, the second one down the line will get 1-0 and the third will get 0-1 and so on, like if there's four missing the 4th will get 1-1, then 5th 2-1, 6th 1-2. and if there are so many missing, might as well pack in.
And if you miss two weeks on the trot, I'll stop until you come back on again. Not doing it for half a season like I did t'other year.  


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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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



Division One table after Matchday 6:

1. neonfoxinthebox = 107 pts
   
2. jjamez = 94 pts
   
3. Baggiebob(BBB) = 75 pts
   
4. St Charles Owl = 67 pts
   
5. Lord Snooty = 65 pts
   
6. themaclad = 64 pts
   

Saturday February 22nd:
Town v Peterborough
Town scorers:
Posh scorers:

Reading v Birmingham City (12:30)
Blackpool v Crawley Town
Bolton Wanderers v Leyton Orient
Shrewsbury Town v Stevenage

Sunday February 23rd:
Mansfield Town v Wrexham (15:00)

Tuesday February 25th:
Wigan v Town
Town scorers:
Wigan scorers:

Northampton Town v Barnsley

Bonus matches:
Championship:
Friday:
Burnley v Sheffield Wednesday (20:00)

Saturday:
Coventry City v Preston North End
West Bromwich Albion v Oxford United

Sunday:
Premier League:
Newcastle United v Nottingham Forest (14:00)

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

1. ritchiebaby = 122 pts
   
2. Devongone = 107 pts
   
3. SHEP_HTAFC = 106 pts
   
4. theo_luddite = 96 pts
   
5. Amelia Chaffinch = 77 pts
   
6. WakeyTerrier = 69 pts
   

Saturday February 22nd:
Town v Peterborough
Town scorers:
Posh scorers:

Rotherham United v Barnsley (12:30)
Cambridge United v Stockport County
Charlton Athletic v Exeter City
Lincoln City v Burton Albion
Northampton Town v Bristol Rovers
Wycombe Wanderers v Wigan Athletic

Tuesday February 25th:
Wigan v Town
Town scorers:
Wigan scorers:

Birmingham City v Leyton Orient

Bonus matches:
Saturday:
Scottish Premiership:
Hibernian v Celtic (12:30)

League Two:
Swindon Town v Chesterfield

Sunday:
Premier League:
Manchester City v Liverpool (16:30)

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

Gamball:
Everton - Man Utd

Others:
Ipswich - Spurs
Fulham - Crystal Palace
Villa - Chelsea
Derby - Millwall
Plymouth - Cardiff
Portsmouth - QPR
Swansea - Blackburn
Newcastle - Forest
Man City - Liverpool

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 15TH JANUARY KO 3PM

v

LAST MATCH



Back to winning ways as we saw off the Sky Blues. There weren't many chances in first half but we had the majority of them but none of our chances tested there keeper and we went in 0-0 at the break. Onto the 2nd half and both teams tested the keepers but the score remained 0-0. We then put Smith on and 8 minutes later he got the winner after Windass intercepted a pass and fed Smith who finished well. We nearly made it 2 but were denied by the keeper and we thought we had thrown away 3 points but a last ditch goal was ruled out, correctly, for offside.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Next up we return to Hillsborough as we take on Coventry. The Sky Blues are having a decent season, with Frank Lampard now in charge after the sacking of Mark Robins earlier in the season. Lampard took over on the 28th November and has a 47% win rate. They are currently in 10th place and are just 3 points off the playoffs, if they can make the playoffs it would be a pretty good job by Lampard. There leading scorer is H Wright with 7 goals.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 30
COVE 36
DRAW 24

CURRENT FORM

OWLS  W L D W D L                                                                      

COVE W L W W W W               

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

JOSH SMITH
Sam Lewis and Blake Antrobus
Fourth Official: Scott Oldham

THE TEAM

Beadle
Palmer Bernard Iorfa Johnson
Bannan Ingelsson
Musaba Windass Gasama
Smith

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-1 Gassama

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

ATTENDANCE

27655

BML LEAGUE

SCO 21
Imre 20
Maddix 20
Washington 19
Wereham 12

BMPL

Stateside 15
Owlkev 13
Southey 12
Pei 8

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Fulham v Notts Forest
Millwall v WBA
Barnsley v Huddersfield
Walsall v Chesterfield
Halifax v Boston

AAAHH

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Head coach John Eustace has left Championship promotion chasers Blackburn Rovers to take over as boss of relegation-threatened Derby County on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

Eustace was absent from Blackburn's win at West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday, which lifted Rovers up to fifth in the table - 19 points and 16 places above Derby.

His first game in charge of the Pride Park side, with whom he had two spells as a player, will be Friday's trip to Queens Park Rangers.

It was late on Monday when Blackburn "reluctantly" gave Eustace permission to begin talks with their lowly Championship rivals, who sacked Paul Warne on Friday.

Despite meeting with Derby officials on Tuesday, Eustace was not spotted at Pride Park later that day as the Rams shared the points with Oxford United in an uneventful draw that lifted them out of the relegation places on goals scored.

Assistant head coach Matt Gardiner and first-team coach Keith Downing also leave Blackburn to join Eustace at Derby.

"Fans will remember him for his craft, commitment and intelligence, he was a real leader," Clowes told the club website., external

"I've followed his managerial career with interest, and it's clear he has the qualities we need to maintain our progress."

Eustace, who also previously managed Birmingham City in the second tier, leaves Ewood Park with Blackburn in the play-off spots with 14 matches remaining.

Despite the clubs being at opposite ends of the table, it is understood Eustace believes Derby are the better long-term project. And with his family living in the Midlands, location has been a major factor in the move.

Rovers said they were "disappointed by his decision to leave at this crucial stage of the season" but added they "understand" the family reason behind it and the pull of his former side.

"The club had hoped that John would see out the season and continue the fantastic work he has done, particularly after strengthening the squad in January and guiding us into a strong position in the league," a Rovers statement said., external

"Football is always evolving, and while we part ways with John Eustace, this also presents an exciting opportunity for the new head coach to build on our current positive position."

Eustace's exit from Blackburn means half of the teams in the Championship have changed manager since the start of the season.
.

Despite picking up just 11 points from a possible 36 since late December, Rovers have maintained their spot among the high-fliers.

His final game in the dugout for Rovers was Sunday's FA Cup exit against Premier League side Wolves.

It is the second time in as many seasons that Eustace has left a club while they are in the play-off places in the Championship table.

While this move is of his own volition, he had his time at Birmingham surprisingly ended in October 2023 by new owners who wanted Wayne Rooney in charge.

It was a decision that sparked Blues' slide down the table, which culminated in relegation to League One later that season.

Blackburn had been in relegation trouble themselves when Eustace took the job at Ewood Park and, after keeping them up, he has guided them among the promotion hopefuls this term.

Derby's 10-match winless run across all competitions - which included seven straight league defeats - has them fourth from bottom of the table and in danger of making an immediate return to League One.

Eustace had two spells at Derby as a player, with his first spent helping the Rams avoid relegation from the second tier in 2008-09 while on loan from Watford.

He moved to Pride Park on a permanent deal in 2013 and saw out the final two years of his playing career.

It was in that second spell he helped them get to within one win of the Premier League, with the Rams beaten in the Championship play-off final by QPR in 2014.

Group A
Zinman 24
Twerton 22
Minizin 14
Themaclad 13
A.A.A. 11
Amelia 8

Excellent week of scoring in Group A this week with a total of 92 points setting a new weekly high for the season!! 5 players got into double figures, half picked up positive points on the Gamball and 12 correct scores were posted. Leading the pack this week is Zinman with a season high score of 24 points!! He managed a CR on the Gamball and Bonus and then backed that up with 3 CSs and the scoreball for good measure!! Close behind him was Twerton with 22 points, a season high for him as well, he managed to get the only CS on the Gamball this week and scored positive points on 7 games but missed out on top spot because he got his Bonus wrong!!

Bit of a drop to Minizin in 3rd with 14 points and Themaclad in 4th with 13 points. Minizin got a CR on the Gamball but missed on his bonus, Themaclad did the opposite!! Minizin scored on more games but Themaclad had one extra CS. AAA is 5th with 11 points, he managed 2 CSs but his points were kept down mainly because he missed on the main balls.

Amelia was the only player to not hit double figures this week, scoring 8 points. She scored on 5 games but she missed out on all the balls to keep her score down.

235 Themaclad
229 Minzin
219 Zinman
210 Twerton
182 A.A.A.
160 Amelia

No positional changes this week but its now really getting close at the top. Themaclad had a 28 point lead just 4 weeks ago, that is now down to just 6 points over Minizin!! Add to that the good form Zinman has shown sees him just 10 points back with Twerton not that far behind him. Another week like this one would see the top 4 separated by just 15 points!! The top 4 have now all surpassed the 200 mark and AAA is not far off it as well.

One interesting stat for you, if you look at Correct Scores and Correct results it shows an interesting fact about the importance of these. So far there have been 1320 predictions made in Group A and nearly 40% (491 games) of those have resulted in a CS or CR. Of these 351 have been CRs and 140 have been CSs which attract the extra 2 points. The interesting stat is that the league leader Themaclad has actually scored the least Correct Results, with just 53 to his name. Contrast this to Minizin with 62 and Amelia and Zinman with 61 each, so how is Mac top? Well when you look at Correct Scores Themaclad is leading the way with 29, of which 5 were Gamballs, and this easily outweighs the points scored by others on their CRs!! Getting a spot on score really boosts your points.

Group B

Stairs 17
SCO 15
BaggieOne 14
Derby 11
Snooty 11
BBB 9
Lady Jane 3

A good week for Group B - 5 players in double figures, a rare positive return from the bonus ball and everyone getting at least 1 correct score led to the equal 2nd highest points haul of the season. A poor return form the gamball, with just one player predicting a Bournemouth win, prevented a possible 3 figure total score.

Stairs leads this week's table thanks largely to a full set of balls. As well as getting the gamball correct (that's now 3 in a row) he also nailed a maximum bonus. SCO takes 2nd place with 5 correct results, 2 of them spot-on, but like everyone else failed on his gamball. His extra scoreball point keeps him 1 point ahead of BaggieOne in 3rd place.

Derby and Snooty are tied on 11 points with an identical breakdown of 1 correct score, 4 correct results, a bonus and the scoreball. BBB sits 2 points further back, his only difference being a negative scoreball, even though that game went to extra time! A miserable week for long time leader Lady Jane - just 3 points after scoring on just 2 games and missing out on all her balls.

214 Lady Jane
197 SCO
195 Stairs
191 Derby
173 Snooty
161 BBB
140 BaggieOne

While she still sits on top, Lady Jane is beginning to come under pressure from the chasing pack. 7 weeks ago she held a 32 point advantage over 2nd place - that's now down to 17 and over the last 3 weeks, SCO in 2nd place has outscored her by 21. It's now very close in the fight for 2nd place with just 6 points separating the next 3 places. Derby had held 2nd place for many weeks but has now dropped to 4th having been overtaken by Stairs in the only positional change this week.

I mentioned Stairs run of 3 successive positive gamballs above and so I decided to look at such runs for my stats of the week. 3 successive gamballs is in fact the equal best run of the season, matched by BaggieOne and Lady Jane - can he set the record by getting another one right this week?

The longest positive bonus ball run is 5, a record shared by Stairs and Snooty, with 4 weeks being the longest positive scoreball run by SCO, BaggieOne, Snooty and Lady Jane. Snooty could make it 5 this week.

Zin & SCO