He's gone apparently.
I wish the kid good luck, I think he's going to need it. If ever a kid was poorly advised this is it.

So it comes to pass that Hibs will play Hertz in a revised Scot Cup semi-final on 31 Oct or 1 Nov. We are now approaching a new footie season and IMO both semi-finals should've been voided and be done with it!! Clearly not a view shared by the SFA - in order to guarantee Celtic's quadruple "treble" record is achieved, these fixtures have now been confirmed by the SFA. I'm assuming a good number of Hibs players, and others, will be cup-tied because they have played for other footie clubs in this tourney. Many players have also moved on. We could well be into another "lockdown" by then as well!! Anyway, my ideal scenario would be Hibs giving this Gorgie footie club an absolute "pumping" for various reasons incl their consistent crass behaviour for the past couple of months!! I'd luv to destroy them and the aspirations of that big faction of their fans, incl Murray, Deans and Budge, who regard themselves as something more special than they actually are in reality. DO NOT LOSE THIS MATCH V THESE C#### HIBS!!

i`m not ashamed to admit i hadn`t changed my sock since the Derby game
until friday...took them off in disgust(my underwear is another story)

comes saturday and the reprieve we got i put them straight back on(unwashed and slightly crusty)
although i did turn them inside out

my rancid socks are going to get us promotion..i can feel it

as for the underwear?.......ever so slightly (you figure it out)

must love you guys to share that with you

COYB
don`t let my socks down

v



LAST TIME OUT

SWANSEA CITY 1 BRISTOL CITY 0



PRESTON NORTH END 2 BIRMINGHAM CITY 0



FORM GUIDE 5 MATCHES MAX RATING 25

BRISTOL CITY 9 PRESTON NORTH END 11

MACS MATCH TO REMEMBER AT ASHTON GATE

My first visit to Ashton Gate was on 31 August 1987 we lost 3-1 and Jim Branagan gave probably one of the worst performances I have ever seen in a North End shirt, he subsequently never played again. Since that date every time I have been to the home of the Robins I have won.
6 May 2000 like this last match of the season, we had won the league and it was a jolly day out for the 3000 or so who rocked up at Ashton Gate we won 2-0 Brett Angell and I the other was scored by Michael Appleton on what was a blisteringly hot day.

THE MATCH

An educated guess this will probably be one of the last matches that will be shown on Quest on Wednesday night as there is nothing but pride to play for. It will be an interesting match as to who does not start for us given the short ish turn around before nnext season.
Will be multi screening on Wednesday so whether I take a great deal of interest in it depends on how the game is progressing or not as it may be.

THE MATCH

WEDNESDAY 22ND JULY 7:30PM KICK OFF

v

LAST MATCH



It was an 8 goal thriller at the Cottage. We forgot to turn up in the first half and found ourselves 3 down with suspect goalkeeping and defending. Wildsmith should have done better for the first, we left Mitrovic unmarked for the 2nd then Iorfa made a silly challenger & gave away a penalty which  Mitrovic slotted down the middle. Onto the 2nd half & 3 changes were made. We were awarded a penalty when Fulham messed about and Nuhiu made it 3-1. Fulham made 4-1 when our defensive wall jumped and the ball was fired into the net. Murphy pulled another back with a deflected shot then Nuhiu made it 4-3 with a good header. Fulham quelled any nerves with a fifth a few minutes later. They did have a man sent off in injury time but the game was already won

THE MATCH



Our final game of this depressing season sees Boro make the trip to Hillsborough. I don't think Boro are mathematically safe yet, especially with the points deductions for Wigan & possibly ourselves, just to confuse things. Boro should be higher in the table but struggled under Woodgate who was sacked some time ago and was replaced by Neil Warnock. He appears to have kept them up like Warnock always seems to do. This could be his last match as a Manager and it would be typical of him to go out  with a win at Hillsborough  

CURRENT FORM

OWLS               -                                  

MIDD                -                                                                               

THE BASTARD IN THE BLACK

WHOEVER THEY PICK WILL BE A USELESS ****

THE TEAM

Wildsmith
Lees Iorfa Borner
Murphy Hunt Bannan Luongo Harris
Nuhiu Windass

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

2-1 Nuhiu

BML STANDINGS

SCO 20
Washington 19
Imre 17
Wereham 17
Pei 16
Owlkev 13
Stateside 11
Southey 8

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Brentford v Barnsley
Cardiff v Hull
Luton v Blackburn
WBA V QPR
Wigan v Fulham

HHHHA

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC





One for Washington



The thread awaits the Meggo of Statesides choice.[/b]

Player Pts CS CR GB BB SB
Beefy 26 3 3 10 6 0
Derby 17 2 5 -3 6 0
Bomber 11 2 3 NP -3 0
Sanjay 11 1 4 -3 3 1
A.A.A. 11 1 5 NP -3 0
B.B.B. 10 0 6 -3 3 0
Themaclad 8 1 5 -3 -3 0
Zinman 8 0 5 -3 3 0
St Charles 2 0 4 -3 -3 0

Well, well, well, could it actually happen?? Beefy leads the way this week on a personal season high 26 points!! Being the only Baggie on here that predicts WBA losses, he finally got his reward this week with a spot on Gamball!! He backed that up with a spot on Bonus and one other CS!! His lead this week over the rest of the pack is a huge 9 points, it might not change his position but it firmly puts him within reach of safety if he can reproduce this in the final week!! Second place goes to Derby on 17 points. He scored on 7 games including a CS on the Bonus. This performance should end his relegation fears!!

Third place was shared by 3 players - Bomber, Sanjay and AAA - all on 11 points. Bomber either got away with one or played a blinder this week depending on your point of view. For some reason Bomber lost his focus/internet/courage (delete as appropriate!) this week and neglected to post his predictions prior to the two Friday games, meaning he didn't score any points on games where only Beefy managed positive points!! Sanjay and AAA missed a ball each, but scored consistently on other games with Sanjay being the only player to get the extra point on the Scoreball. 6th place goes to BBB on 10 points, probably not a good enough haul to keep up his challenge for the title.

Joint 7th on 8 points this week are Themaclad and Zinman. Themaclad scored points on 6 games but crucially missed on all his balls!! Zinman was close to a good score but wasn't able to convert any of his 5 CRs into CSs. Last place this week goes to St Charles on just 2 points!! Relegation threatened already, he now has to watch out he doesn't get overtaken by Beefy!!!! who will go into the final week with a very unlikely chance of escaping the relegation he so richly deserves!!!!


All to play for in the final week!!!

Cheers
SCO


   

The penultimate fixtures of the extended 2019/20 season have left us with our own "Wicked Wednesday" upcoming as the the winners and losers will be revealed over the space of 2 hours of football that will decide the final placings.

The Premiership sees every single player having something to play for, whether that be winning the title, avoiding the automatic dreaded drop or playing to stay out of the relegation play off spot with another round of fixtures to decide their fate.

The top 3 have the title race between them as Bomber takes a slender 7 point lead into the final round having topped the table for the previous 7 weeks from themaclad who continues to chip away knowing that one more good week can pinch the title, having spent 10 weeks at the summit during the season. Lest we forget, our top 2 only gained promotion at the end of last season from the Championship. Waiting for any sign of slip ups from the top 2 is BBB, another leader of the league for 5 weeks earlier in the year, he's a longshot now but still with an outside chance should he heavily outscore the top 2. The 3 have battled it out for the last 13 weeks where they've swapped positions regularly without ever dropping out of the top 3.

Wednesday will now see a 6 horse race to avoid the drop, where theoretically anyone can still go down. Derby gave himself a great opportunity to maintain his place in the top league having hovered around the bottom 4 for 30 weeks to now sit in 4th spot going into the last round. He overhauls both Sanjay & AAA who, over the last few weeks have been sucked into a last day dog fight having looked to be sitting comfortably mid table for so long. Another bad week for either could see them potentially heading for the drop.

Our bottom 3 going into the final day still have everything to play for knowing that one last effort can see them escape what's looked like a formality for much of the season. Zin may need to risk an under used Gamball to overturn a 9 point deficit out of the play off spot but also needs to be looking over his shoolder as SCO will look to rediscover the form of a couple of weeks ago that saw him climb the table only for a poor week this, to undo some of the good work.

This last paragraph is something I don't think I ever envisaged having to, or wanting to write, but our resident tail ender for all but 4 weeks of the season and bottom since week 5 could somehow avoid the drop altogether. Step forward Beefy who on current form could find himself in a "Europa league" spot come 10pm on Wednesday. Adrift by 25 points just last week, his haul of 80 points over the last 6 weeks now see him bottom by just a single point and only a further 7 points away to extending his hope and his season with a last chance in a play off next weekend.

One big score or bad score in the week by any predictor could turn their entire season upside down, for the better or the worse  

Bomber





Snooty      17pts 1CS 5CR 5GB 6BB 0SB
Amelia      14pts 3CS 4CR -3GB 6BB 1SB
Twerton    14pts 2CS 5CR -3GB 6BB 1SB
Lady Jane  11pts 1CS 6CR -3GB 0BB 0SB
Joker          9pts 2CS 5CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
Stairs         9pts 2CS 5CR -3GB -3BB 1SB
BaggieOne  6pts 1CS 5CR -3GB -3BB 0SB


So we enter the final week of the season and while the Championship winner is known, the fight for promotion and the play-offs remains wide open with several potential winners of the coveted 2nd automatic promotion place. I seem to recall a similar situation back in the real world.

A second consecutive strong showing from Snooty this week. He was the only player to score on his gamball and also picked up a maximum from his bonus to head the table with 17 points. In this league is truly mirroring the real world then I assume he'll be sacking his manager before the final set of games. Unlike certain football clubs, Amelia reacted well to the pressure caused by the chasing pack and shares 2nd place with champion elect Twerton. Both scored 14 points, Amelia with a week's high of 3 correct scores and both getting maximums from their bonus balls.

Lady Jane had problems with her balls this week, failing to play a bonus ball and putting 2 scoreballs on the midweek fixtures (I have messaged and you have time to edit Wednesday's predictions!) LJ scored on 6 matches but her lack of bonus kept her score down to 11 points (or did it make her score up to 11 points?) Joker emerged from last week's hibernation to at least take part this week but negatives on his gamball and bonus won't have helped his chances of automatic promotion. He was joined on 9 points by Stairs.

Propping up this week's table is BaggieOne. He didn't do too badly with the predictions, actually equalling Snooty's number of correct scores and results. Unfortunately his balls let him down and may have damaged his promotion push.

As someone* used to say "anything can happen in the next half hour" (Ok, it's more like 64 hours by the time this drivel gets posted).

Have fun on Wednesday everyone!

* Was it Colonel White from Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Scott Tracy form Thunderbirds or Troy Tempest from Stingray....ah they were the days!

(And SCO, please note my edit of Wednesday's predictions!)

Zin

   


Over in the Championship most things are considerably more clear cut, but an intriguing battle for the play off spot should go right to the very last kick, add a nervy midweek for runner up and there's still plenty to play for.

One position that isn't up for grabs is top spot as Twerton continues to steamroller his way to the Premier league 60 odd points clear week after week decent scores. The fact it was only week 3 when he hasn't been top, means it's a richly deserved title winners medal that will adorn his mantelpiece.

Amelia's sitting pretty in 2nd and the other automatic promotion spot and takes a healthy 16 point lead into the final round of games, it will take a major slump for her to lose position so late in the season, though the next 3 positions may be striving for a massive haul of points this week to see each other off in the battle for the play off spot. Just 6 points split 3rd, 4th & 5th with Joker currently holding BaggieOne at bay by a single point with another 6 back to Snooty who having spent the majority of the season down in the basement, now heads into the final round of fixtures as very much the "man in form" amassing 72 points over the last 4 weeks to give himself a real shout.

Lady Jane has had a steady first season without ever threatening the top of the table but does comfortably avoid the wooden spoon by some way ahead of Stairs who sat around the lower reaches for much of the season and only climbed off the bottom, courtesy of Mightybrom not making it back
when the season restarted. Hope all is good with him & we see him back next season.


A shout out to Twerton & Lady Jane, if you're reading this before Wednesday - you've messed up your balls on the midweek fixtures  

Depending on the results on Wednesday, there will either be a delay or a very long delay. Failure to secure promotion will result in a delay while I drown my sorrows - this could well be significant. However, should we gain promotion then I shall continue to drink in celebration for a lot longer than it takes to drown my sorrows. Either way expect the final tables when you see them. The winner of the cup will also be decided with the midweek fixture scores. (Separate thread)

Just for the record if you haven't predicted the potential play off games for next weekend, I will post the names who are involved. at the moment it's any 2 from : Derby, Sanjay, AAA, Zinman, SCO, Beefy, Amelia, Joker, BaggieOne and Snooty. So if you haven't predicted yet, you have been warned, not predicting is a no show & you would lose the play off by default

Bomber

only got the non sponsorship top left
my previous g/f has the rest

wondering whether to wear it

what do i do?
watch it naked?

Quote:Huddersfield Town has today relieved Danny Cowley of his duties as Manager.

Assistant Manager Nicky Cowley will also depart the Club immediately.

Huddersfield Town Chairman Phil Hodgkinson commented: “I would like to place my thanks on record to Danny and Nicky for their hard work and dedication towards securing the Club’s place in the Sky Bet Championship for next season. That was the clear priority when they were appointed in September and we are very grateful that has been achieved.

“We all wish Danny and Nicky all the best for the future and they leave with my best wishes in their future endeavours.

“However, we have made this decision in the belief that, in the long term, it is in the best interests of the Club as we move forward. We have a different vision for the way we operate the Club, and how our ambitions can be achieved.”

The Club are not seeking applications for the vacant position.

The old Den

They joined the Football League in 1920/21 with the newly formed regional Third Division and one of their biggest results in those early years was beating the thrice champions, Huddersfield Town, 3-1 in the 1926/27 FA Cup. And in 1937 they reached the FA Cup semi finals, losing 2-1 to Sunderland at Huddersfield Town's Leeds Road Stadium. Town legend Dave Mangnall leading the line in that famous cup run, the first 3rd division team to reach the semis. Here's some old footage of the cup run. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any footage anywhere on t' internet of the game at Leeds Road.

They were on the brink of the First Division, when the Second World War broke out. The Den took a pounding from the Luftwaffe and when the war was over, so was Millwall's chance of reaching for the sky. By the end of the 1950s they had plummeted down the league and when the third divisions went national, they were in the 4th division. They won promotion in 1964/65 though and have never been back to the 4th tier.
A steady climb upwards led to the eventual promotion to the top flight of English football in 1988/89 under the management of John Docherty and with the goals of Tony Cascarino and Teddy Sheringham. They stayed there for a couple of seasons, finishing 10th in the first one, before finishing bottom in the second.
In 1993 they moved ground, to Bermondsey and the New Den. After initial success at the new all seater stadium, a slump saw them relegated in 1996, but as a third division club, they reached Wembley for the first time, losing the 1999 Auto Windscreens Trophy Final 1-0 to Wigan, a team who would become their nemesis by beating them again in the following season's Play Offs. They went up as champions in the season after this though, with a club record 93 points.
In 2004 they reached the FA Cup Final, losing to Man Utd 3-0, but as United had already qualified for Europe, this meant that Millwall would play in the following season's UEFA Cup. They lost in the first round to Ferencváros.
Relegated again in 2006, they won promotion back again in 2009/10, via the Play Offs, beating Swindon in the final at Wembley. They did, of course, beat us 2-0 on aggregate on their way there.
In 2013, Millwall once again reached the FA Cup semi finals, losing again to their old nemesis Wigan by two goals to nil.



Head to Head



Town lead the head to head with 21 wins to Millwall's 18 with 7 draws.

Earlier this season we drew 1-1 at the John Smith's Stadium with Frazier Campbell scoring his first goal for us, before Matt Smith equalised for them. Late in the game Shane Ferguson was sent off for a foul on our dangerous, speedy winger Adama Diakhaby.

We did win on our last visit to the Den, in the 2014/15 season, under the leadership of Chris Powell. It was Sean Scannell who opened the scoring with a fine volley before Millwall equalised to make it level at half time. Town then went down to ten men when Nahki Wells was shown a second yellow card, but unlikely as it sounds, the Terriers went on to win, with goals from Jacob Butterfield and a James Vaughan penalty giving us victory. Question is, was this the last time we won when having had a man sent off?

In 1980/81 as we were looking to achieve back to back promotions, it was Millwall who messed it up for us. In those pre Play Off days, the top 3 went up automatically and we had been in the top 3 since beating Barnsley 1-0 at home in February. However, a 0-1 defeat at home to the Lions saw us drop to 4th and stay there til the end of the season. There was a mini riot on the Leeds Road pitch after mainly teenage boys ran on to the pitch from the Cowshed end, trying to get at the Millwall fans. Embarrassingly, most of them ran back again when the Millwall fans ran back at them.





So what's happening down Cold Blow Lane? Managed nowadays by Gary Rowett, the former Burton Albion player and manager. He started out with Cambridge Utd during their glory years, in a team that reached the 2nd division (Championship) Play Offs that were beaten by Leicester City, and also made it as far as the quarter finals of the League Cup. That was under the notorious managership of John Beck.

This earned him a move to the Premier League as a promising 20 year old defender, but unfortunately only made 4 appearances and was loaned out to Blackpool. He was then transferred to Derby, spent three seasons there then went to Birmingham City. He helped the Brummies reach the Play Offs and then left for Leicester. He played for them in the Premier League, as well as Charlton Athletic where a persistent knee injury finished his career off.

Well not totally. He made a come back in the Conference with Burton Albion in 2005. Eventually, he became assistant manager there to Paul Peschisolido. By now the Brewers had made it into the Football League and Rowett was made permanent manager in 2012 and he led them twice to the League Two Play Offs, being beaten by Bradford City and then Fleetwood Town. His stock was rising though and he was then poached by one of his former clubs, Championship strugglers Birmingham City.

He took the Bluenoses from a relegation placing up to tenth in that first season and in the next, they were up to 7th when the club was taken over by new owners and he was unceremoniously dumped in favour of Gianfranco Zola, who took them back into the relegation battle.

Rowett wasn't out of work for long though as he went to manage another of the clubs he played for, Derby County. He was only there for one season, took them as high as second but eventually just qualified for the Play Offs in 6th. They were beaten in the semis by Fulham and he left them to go to recently relegated Stoke, making Tom Ince one of his first signings from us. He flopped though in this one and they were mostly involved in a relegation battle and he was relieved of his duties in January, spending the rest of the season as a tv pundit.

In October 2019, he became manager of Millwall, leading them to a comfortable mid table position when they started out the season as many pundits' favourites for the drop.

Wee Murray Wallace

Millwall Dock

The only sports club in the area nowadays is the Docklands Sailing and Watersports Centre



Millwall FC of course now play in Bermondsey, south-east London, and that was featured in a song in the 1965 British musical comedy film, Three Hats for Lisa, starring Sid James, Joe Brown, Sophie Hardy and Una Stubbs. Here's old Sid and the gang singing it.  

Goodbye and good luck, boys.  

Looks like the hedgehog is getting potted so no trips to Thailand for Nigel and the boys