Struggling Wealdstone have appointed Neil Gibson as their new manager on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

The 45-year-old comes in following the exit of manager Matt Taylor four days ago, who left the club to take the top job at National League rivals Solihull Moors.

Gibson has most recently been manager of Welsh side Connah's Quay Nomads, winning the Welsh Cup and guiding them to Europa Conference League qualification last season.

Former Wrexham forward Lee Jones, who was twice capped by Wales, joins the club as Gibson's assistant manager.

"I've had a fantastic open dialogue with Rory [Fitzgerald, club chairman] and feel the club and I are a perfect fit," Gibson said.

Wealdstone are in the bottom four of the fifth tier, one point from safety and with only five wins in their 26 league games.

The 2-0 loss at Fylde on Saturday leaves them without a win in their past four games.

His first match on Saturday will pit him against former manager Taylor, who faces an instant return to Grosvenor Vale with new side Solihull.

"Neil is someone we have monitored for some time and brings a wealth of experience, a track record of success and a clear vision for the future," Fitzgerald said.

Gibson's appointment means former assistant manager Paul Hughes, who took interim charge of the team last Saturday, has left the club along with coach Peter Stanford.

Welshman Gibson's playing career began at Tranmere, while he also had spells at Rhyl, Southport and Prestatyn Town.

He moved into management at Prestatyn in 2007, where he won the Cymru Alliance three times, and led them to the Welsh Cup and NWCFA Challenge Cup double in 2013, before serving as director of football.

He returned as manager at the club in 2018 and then spent 18 months as boss of Flint United.

Bolton Wanderers have appointed former Plymouth Argyle and Stoke City manager Steven Schumacher as their head coach on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

The 40-year-old takes over after the club parted company with former boss Ian Evatt earlier in January.

Schumacher won promotion from League One with Argyle with 101 points before moving on to Stoke, where he was sacked earlier this season.

"So many things have attracted me to this great club," he told BBC Radio Manchester.

"The history, fanbase, the ownership, the quality of the squad. There are so many different things that have made me excited this week.

"I'm the type of manager that is ultra positive, tries to play football in a way the fans enjoy, but ultimately I'm a young manager that's desperate to win.

"Over the years since I've been a coach we've found a way to adapt our teams to try to get points on the board and success - and that's what I want to bring to Bolton Wanderers."

Schumacher was previously assistant to Ryan Lowe and the pair won promotion from League Two with Bury before the club's demise in 2019.

He joined Lowe at Plymouth but stayed with the club after Lowe left for Preston in December 2021 and eventually led the Pilgrims to promotion from the third tier in style with a three-figure points haul.

He then went on to replace former Potters boss Alex Neil on a three-and-a-half-year deal in December 2023 but his time at the club lasted just nine months.

Stoke's sporting director Jon Walters said the decision to sack Schumacher was made to "serve the long-term interests" of the club.

However, Schumacher later remarked that he did not understand the reasons behind his departure.

His arrival at Bolton comes after Evatt left amid a poor 2024-25 campaign relative to last term when Wanderers challenged for automatic promotion before eventually losing to Oxford United at Wembley in the League One play-off final.

Interim boss Julian Darby recorded back-to-back wins in the two games he has taken charge of so far, lifting Bolton up to seventh in the table and level on points with sixth-placed Leyton Orient with 18 games of the season still remaining.

Steven Schumacher arrives at Bolton looking to revitalise his coaching career after a difficult short spell at Stoke City.

Having kept the Potters in the Championship last year, he was dismissed just five games into the new season.

The former Bury and Crewe midfielder had already proven his credentials with a successful managerial spell at Plymouth, first as assistant to Ryan Lowe as they won promotion from League Two, and then succeeding his former team-mate at Argyle.

As manager he led the Pilgrims to the EFL Trophy final at Wembley where they were beaten by Bolton, but he had the last laugh as Plymouth won promotion as League One champions with 101 points.

Schumacher's success as Plymouth boss saw him named League One Manager of the Year in 2023, and leave the club with a 53% win percentage – Bolton will be hoping he can repeat that kind of success and take them to the Championship.

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 1ST JANUARY KO 3PM

v

LAST MATCH



We ended the 3 game week with a deserved win at QPR. QPR did start the better but didn't create too much while Wndass had a shot saved, Ihiekwe fired in a low hard shot which was saved by there keeper. 0-0 at the break. Onto the 2nd half and we were the better team although they did force Beadle into a save and they hit the post we created more chances and finally took one when Bannan crossed for Smith to flick in off the post. Pato nearly made it 2 when flicking just past the post but then did put the game to bed when firing in from the edge of the box after cutting in from the right.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Back to Hillsborough next as the Hatter journey north. Freshly relegated from the Premier League, it has been a terrible season for the Hatters, currently in 23rd position and in danger of back to back relegations. Rob Edwards, who got Luton promoted to the Premier League, lost his job in early January and has been replaced by Matt Bloomfield who had been doing a good job at Wycombe this season, 2nd in League One. I would say they are too good to go down, but that is usually the kiss of death for a team. If he can get if going, they should avoid the dreaded drop. There leading scorer is Morris with 7 goals and an assist.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 23
LUTON 20
DRAW 21

CURRENT FORM

OWLS  W D L L D W                                                                      

LUTON L L D L L L                        

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

BEN TONER
Greg Read and Matthew McGrath
Fourth Official: Josh Smith

THE TEAM

Beadle
Palmer Bernard Iorfa Johnson
Bannan Ingelsson
Musaba Windass Gasama
Smith

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

2-1 Gassama

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

ATTENDANCE

24575

BML LEAGUE

Imre 20
SCO 19
Washington 19
Maddix 17
Wereham 11

BMPL

Stateside 15
Owlkev 13
Southey 12
Pei 8

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Ipswich v Southampton
Derby v Sheff Utd
Reading v Bolton
Walsall v Salford
Braintree v Hartlepool

HAAHA

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

Rain keeping me in again this dismal Devon morning, so I've "helped out" with Saturday's fixtures for those with a life.


February 1st is National Dark Chocolate Day which reminds us to indulge a little. Many tout dark chocolate as the healthier chocolate. Sadly this is an America only day.

Cheltenham Town v Chesterfield. Kick-off at 12:30pm
Gillingham v Notts County. Kick-off at 12:30pm

AFC Wimbledon v Bradford City. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Bromley v Grimsby Town. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Carlisle United v Swindon Town. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Doncaster Rovers v Milton Keynes Dons. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Harrogate Town v Crewe Alexandra. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Morecambe v Fleetwood Town. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Newport County AFC v Barrow. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Port Vale v Accrington Stanley. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Tranmere Rovers v Colchester United. Kick-off at 3:00pm
Walsall v Salford City. Kick-off at 3.00pm

Two goals in the first 17 minutes sealed the game for Fleetwood against a decidedly average Walsall side, in doing so the Cod did the double over the Saddlers, having won 6-2 at the Bescot earlier on in the season.
Having been unbeaten for months, this was a second defeat on the trot and the nine point gap they have may not be enough if they continue to play like this.
Early stages were slightly tetchy, Rooney the Fleetwood wing back, he was less than inpressed, but got his revenge in the 12th minute, Hunt free kick midfield left hand side, Rooney guided his header into the net. Four minutes later, Hunt corner from the left found it's way to Bolton who had the easy task of scoring.
Rattled the entire Walsall team had a team meeting before kicking off for the third time, it didn't really help them they didn't create anything of note apart for a Jellis effort which was scuffed wide from the left side of the penalty area.
Second half could be classed as forgetable, neither keeper was troubled, we had the traditional keeper injury which kills play and let's both teams go for a team talk with the managers, the raft of substitutions which also disrupt play.
A decent 400 or so from the Midlands probably realised early on, it was not going to be their night.

Group A

Zinman 17
Minizin 15
Themaclad 12
Twerton 11
Amelia 6
A.A.A. 3

A decent week in Group A this week but a recurring theme seems to be taking shape where the top 4 in the League table share the top 4 weekly spots with a change of order occasionally but the bottom 2 cannot seem to match them at the moment!! This week sees Zinman rise to the top -of the weekly chart with a very good 17 points. He scored a CR on both the Gamball and Bonus and added 2 CSs on the other games. Minizin is 2nd with 15 points, he managed 3 CSs, including the Bonus but his failure on the Gamball kept him behind Senior Zin!!

Themaclad is 3rd with 12 points, with Twerton one point behind. They both scored a CR on the Gamball, Twerton missed on the Bonus but added one extra CS to keep them close.

Amelia only scored on 2 games, one the Gamball and one CS. AAA also scored on two games but missed the Gamball and played his scoreball on a dreaded 0-0 draw to lose a point there as well.

224 Themaclad
200 Minzin
188 Zinman
187 Twerton
162 A.A.A.
151 Amelia

Only one change this week. Themaclad still has a healthy lead and Minizin passed the double century but Zinman moved above Twerton into 3rd spot by a single point. AAA and Amelia are getting left behind unfortunately.

Cheers
SCO


Group B

SCO 14
Stairs 10
Snooty 9
Derby 6
BaggieOne 4
Lady Jane 1
BBB 0

A fairly average week for Group B with the scores once again brought down by some poor bonus ball choices. SCO returned to form after last week's blip to head the table for the 3rd time in the last 4 weeks. He secured the most correct scores (2) and correct results (5 - including the gamball) to give him a healthy lead over Stairs in 2nd place. Snooty was the only player to score on the bonus ball but just 3 correct results and a failure on the gamball meant he could only reach 9 points and 3rd place.

Derby failed to get a correct score though he was the 3rd player to score on the gamball which was enough to see him in the mid-table spot. BaggieOne was one of 2 players to miss out on all his balls though he did get a correct score. Lady Jane scored on just 1 game but managed to get a maximum on it with her scoreball point lifting her into positive territory. BBB was denied evn that small comfort as just 2 correct results and a blow out on his balls left him with zero points this week.

[b]202 Lady Jane
181 Derby
177 SCO
174 Stairs
161 Snooty
144 BBB
126 BaggieOne[b]

Just one change in positions this week and once again it's SCO and Stairs swopping positions. Lady Jane stays weel ahead but she is in her worst run of the season - she hasn't reached double figures for 5 weeks and is now on the league's worst gamball run with 4 losses in a row. Derby's place in the final play-offs is looking more vulnerable with SCO and Stairs closing in.

Zin

Our u18’s beat Norwich 4-2 away in the FA youth cup to qualify for the last 8

Great result … well done guys

Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder has extended his contract until the end of the 2027-28 season.

The 57-year-old is in his second spell in charge of his boyhood club.

He led them from League One to the Premier League in his first stint at Bramall Lane between 2016 and 2021 before returning in December 2023.

Wilder's previous deal had been set to finish at the end of this season but the Blades' new owners, American-based consortium COH Sports, have moved to tie him down long-term.

"Sheffield United is my club, and there is no place I'd rather be, so I am thrilled to be signing a new deal," he told the club website., external

"The football club is in a really good place, there's a real feel-good factor around the training ground and I'm excited about what we can achieve together.

"The new owners have been incredibly helpful to me since they arrived, and I'd personally like to thank them for their faith and support in what we are trying to work towards."

Wilder returned to the South Yorkshire club just over a year ago after the sacking of Paul Heckingbottom and, although he was unable to stop them finishing bottom of the Premier League, he has helped to spearhead a promotion push this season.

The Blades are two points behind Championship leaders Leeds United with 17 games to play.

Chris Wilder has, not for the first time, completely changed the fortunes of Sheffield United.

Last season was one to forget, with relegation to the Premier League inevitable by the turn of the year. Despite losing players over the summer — and having to rely heavily on astute signings and the club's academy — he has United right in the promotion mix to return to the top flight.

The club's new owners have hit the ground running, with impressive January window signings and now a new deal for the manager and his two key lieutenants Alan Knill and Matt Prestridge. Nobody understands the Bramall Lane club better than Wilder and he will undoubtedly be a source of great help to the ownership moving forward.

It also needs to be remembered that last time the Blades were promoted, Wilder had them pushing for Europe and they secured a top-half finish. There's nobody better to try and get United back in the big time and keep them there.

With two promotions at the club already secured and a potential third in his future, this deal until 2028 could secure Wilder's legacy as Sheffield United's greatest modern-era boss.