When I saw the team selected for our second leg of the play-off I immediately switched back to watching Aston Villa. I thought our chances of winning were minimal, but it took only a few seconds of reflection to realise that heading for my 73rd birthday in June I couldn't just desert the club I'd supported all my life. As it turned out the second leg, even in defeat, made me wonder what the hell was going on a few days earlier. We made some changes it is true, but in truth we looked like a wholly different side last night. We passed the ball with apparent purpose. We appeared to have located the opposition's goal. And we seemed to have discovered the determination and spirit that had been previously entirely Walsall's. We lost. Walsall deserved to win. The wonderful Albert Adomah cast aside his zimmer and demonstrated that talent is ageless. And Levi Amantchi notched the winner which was just as things should be. The pitch invasion suggested Walsall should refrain from setting up a branch of Mensa any time soon. The solution to it merely emphasised that the fans were not the only ones who needn't worry about Mensa membership. So the season ends, not with a whimper, but a colourful smoke bomb.

My man of the match, indeed the whole tie went to Simkin the young Walsall keeper, whose goalkeeping was excellent, and whose behaviour was such that at his age he should be sent to the headmaster's study to explain his behaviour. He has it within him to play the game at any level. He was the best player on the pitch twice. He does not need to imitate a "mardy" child, sitting down whimpering and holding his poorly leg, when the obvious motive is simply to waste time. He is too good for that and needs to stop listening to any voices encouraging such behaviour. Imagine Gordon Banks doing that! He played for Stoke City too! Try to emulate him will you, not disgrace his memory!

Player Performances:-

Boot - 7 - did well in both legs, enhanced his reputation
Gordon - 6 - stopped passing back and pushed forward. Looked a player.
McFadzean - 6 - hewn not born. Too old to become creative, he stood as a barrier throughout, nail a sign on him.
Palmer - 5 - the less time he's given the better. Give him a last-ditch tackle, no decision time involved.
Mandeville - 7 - not a full back, but did a job and provided options going forward.
Fleck - 6.5 - didn't do what I expect of a defensive midfielder in front of his centre backs, but provided a couple of class touches and attempted to bring Dobra into the game to the extent of often slotting in behind him.
Naylor - 7 - a warrior, committed to the cause, he worked his socks off and ignored the blood.
Metcalfe - 6.5 - works, tries to create, can see a pass, can miss with one too, but he did more than okay.
Dobra - 7.5 - showed why we are a better team with him than without. Displayed skill and cheek in equal measure. Tried things, took players on, caused trouble and is brave enough to get things wrong sometimes too! Scored.
Banks - 6.5 - quite what his role was meant to be, baffled me, but it also troubled Walsall. Showed skill, caused problems, I'd like to have seen him take a couple of surprise pops at goal to test out the young keeper.
Pepple - 6 - seems permanently on the verge of falling. Turned defenders superbly but having made space always stumbled. Fought his aerial duels bravely, but would have been better served by a traditional wide man.

Sparkes - 6 - came on a sub' and lit up the place with dangerous crosses until Albert Adomah decided to show him some proper football.
Jacobs - 5 - came on too late to show he has genuine class.
Colclough - 5 - showed pace and tried a shot, looked the part, but it was only a bit part.
Grigg - 5 - not much of an opportunity to shine, but did show Pepple how to remain calm and decisive in the box.
Duffy - 4.5 - he's a winger and he tried but he isn't the man to win a cross in defence.

Cook - 6 - Manager. Never achieved full beetroot, his odd selection looked for a while as though it might work. Personally I'd have brought Grimes on with 20 minutes to go. He's a hero time guy who would have died to get on the end of a dead ball and score.

We lost. We tried. We will still be an EFL team next season.

Hull City have parted company with head coach Ruben Selles after six months in charge.

The Spaniard, 41, left League One Reading to replace Tim Walter on a two-and-a-half-year deal in December.

After an inconsistent season they eventually avoided relegation to League One on the final day of the campaign having secured a draw against Portsmouth.

However, chairman Acun Ilicali has chosen to make another managerial change, exactly one year after he sacked Liam Rosenior after they finished seventh in the Championship.

"Following a thorough review of football operations after a challenging campaign, the club feels a change in leadership is necessary to move the team forward in line with our ambitions," a club statement said.

Assistant head coach James Oliver-Pearce and first-team coach Tobias Loveland have also left the club.

Selles had guided Reading to sixth in League One despite their off-field concerns when he left for East Yorkshire on 6 December.

Predecessor Walter had been relieved of his duties the previous week after a run of nine matches without a win.

Selles claimed his first win as Tigers boss with a 2-1 home victory over Swansea on 21 December to end a winless run of 13 matches.

Although they claimed notable results away from home under Selles, including wins at promotion-chasing Sheffield United and Sunderland, they found home wins incredibly hard to come by and ended the season with the worst home record in the division.

Defeats at the MKM Stadium by fellow strugglers Luton and Derby meant they went into the final game of the season in the Championship relegation zone.

Other fixtures meant a win would guarantee their survival and, although they were pegged back at Fratton Park after Matt Crooks had given them the lead, a point proved to be enough to keep them up on goal difference.

After the match Selles told BBC Radio Humberside: "Everyone in the club managed difficult moments and it has been a tough season for everyone and we deserved to stay in the division.

"We had a team that was rock bottom and to achieve the target this season with all the injuries and everything else is just massive.

"Now it's over and we crossed the line, we can rest a little bit and I told the players that we will remember this day for years to come."

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

The prize for winning the league is one rep point.

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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


So we now have a two legged Play Off between St Charles Owl and SHEP_HTAFC. The usual rules apply, but in the case of the match ending in a tie, we will have a tie breaker. That will be to predict the total number of corners in the Wolves v Brentford game. The closest wins. If it's still a tie, the winner will be the one who scored most points over the season, which in that case would be Shep.


Final Division One table for 2025:

1. Baggiebob(BBB) = 302 pts
   
2. neonfoxinthebox = 301 pts
   
3. Lord Snooty = 295 pts
   
4. jjamez = 283 pts
   
5. St Charles Owl = 278 pts
   
6. themaclad = 254 pts
   

1. ritchiebaby = 307 pts
   
2. SHEP_HTAFC = 300 pts
   
3. theo_luddite = 294 pts
   
4. Devongone = 268 pts
   
5. WakeyTerrier = 206 pts
   
6. Amelia Chaffinch = 193 pts
   

Saturday 24th May:
Championship Play Off Final:
Sheffield United v Sunderland (15:00)

Sunday 25th May:
League One Play Off Final:
Leyton Orient v Charlton Athletic (13:00)

Premier League (all 16:00):
AFC Bournemouth v Leicester City
Fulham v Manchester City
Ipswich Town v West Ham United
Liverpool v Crystal Palace
Manchester United v Aston Villa
Newcastle United v Everton
Nottingham Forest v Chelsea
Southampton v Arsenal
Tottenham Hotspur v Brighton & Hove Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Brentford

Tie breaker:
Total number of corners in the Wolves v Brentford game = ??

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

Tranmere Rovers have named Andy Crosby as their new permanent manager.

Crosby has been handed the job after successfully keeping Rovers in League Two while having the role on an interim basis.

He led the team to six wins and five draws from his 13 games in charge as Tranmere eventually finished 20th, nine points clear of relegation.

Watford have appointed Paulo Pezzolano as their new head coach.

The Uruguayan replaces Tom Cleverley, who was sacked on 6 May after the Hornets failed to reach the Championship play-offs, finishing in 14th place.

Pezzolano is Watford's 12th head coach since Javi Gracia departed in September 2019 and the ninth since the end of the 2020-21 season.

The 42-year-old has achieved promotion as a head coach in Spain, Brazil and his home country.

"Paulo has a hugely impressive track record working with young players, which is essential when you look at the age profile of our squad," sporting director Gianluca Nani told the Hornets website, external.

"He has had success at virtually every club, including league titles and promotions, but it is his work on the training ground that impressed the most when we undertook our research."

Who is Paulo Pezzolano?
Paulo Pezzolano
Image source,Getty Images
Image caption,
Pezzolano has secured promotion in Uruguay, Brazil and Spain during his managerial career

Pezzolano's 15-year playing career as an attacking midfielder took him across Uruguay, Brazil, Spain and China.

He began his managerial career in his home country with Montevideo City Torque where he won the Segunda Division title in 2017.

In Brazil, he won promotion to Serie A with Cruzeiro before achieving the same feat in Spain, taking Real Valladolid to La Liga.

However, Pezzolano was sacked in November with Valladolid bottom of the table, and the club have subsequently been relegated.

"He has innovative ideas and processes which he transmits passionately to the players," Nani added.

"We believe Paulo is the leader we need as we refocus ahead of the new season. He is fully aware of our ambitions and determination to push for promotion and embraces that challenge.

"The club achieved great success when making similar appointments in Slavisa Jokanovic, Javi Gracia and Xisco Munoz, and we hope our fans welcome Paulo and wish him every success as we try to achieve the owner's clear aim of challenging for a return to the Premier League."

AFC Wimbledon defender Sam Hutchinson has undergone heart surgery after being taken ill following a game earlier this month.

The 35-year-old former Chelsea and Sheffield Wednesday player suffered what the club describes as "heart complications" after the 1-0 win at Grimsby Town on 3 May - where he scored the only goal.

In a statement the Dons say he "had a successful procedure at the end of last week in London and he now has a clear return to play plan in place."

Hutchinson joined the club in December after leaving Reading and made 18 appearances as Wimbledon finished fifth and reached the League Two play-offs.

They won the first leg of their play-off semi-final 1-0 at Notts County and host the return leg this Saturday, 17 May.

"Everyone at Wimbledon extends their best wishes to Sam who is now recovering at home with his family," the statement added.

"Whilst he is recovering, Sam continues to have an impact on the squad and we are hopeful we can end the season positively for Sam.

"The club would like to place on record their sincere thanks for the support and care provided at Queens Medical Centre and City Hospital in Nottingham, as well as Cleveland Hospital in London."

For the 4 of you lucky (in one case very lucky) participants, here are the final fixtures spread over the next 2 weekends.

Gamball:
Nottingham Forest - Chelsea

Others:
West Ham - Nottingham Forest
Brentford - Fulham
Leicester Ipswich
Arsenal - Newcastle
Ipswich - West Ham
Man Utd - Aston Villa
Spurs - Brighton
Wolves - Brentford
Sheff Utd - Sunderland

Our tactic of passing the ball as often as possible without making significant progress proved to be very much to Walsall’s taste. They remained happy throughout judiciously to exert sufficient pressure, to keep us moving the ball to little or no effect, until we either exceeded the limits of our own ability, or they spotted an opportunity to intercept. They were bigger than us, younger than us, mostly faster than us and certainly better organised than us on the day. Our reward never looked likely to be more than nil, whereas their’s would be a function of how much they could disrupt us. Even our enthusiastic support, from a crowd heavy in over-rounded old blokes, unsuitably squeezed into imaginatively or historically sized football blue shirts, couldn’t raise a valid complaint. Individually and collectively the best team won.

Sometimes at football, even at a low level, you go on pitch with the best intentions and you can tell from the first minute that nothing is going to go right.

Performances:-

Boot – 6 – has been exonerated of all blame by a court in The Hague.

Gordon – 4- proved he could successfully locate his goalkeeper with a back pass from anywhere on the pitch, or up Kinder Scout. Succeeded in slowing several cautious attempts we made at forward motion.

McFadzean – 5 - solid to the point of wooden, displayed all the verve of a cigar-store Indian.

Palmer – 5 - offered a master class in the pointless Ray-Wilkins sideways pass as the game itself seemed largely to pass him by (sideways).

Mandeville – 5 – had more than a hand in both goals and his dead-ball radar was inclined to be on the blink. Nevertheless, he was one of the few attempting to prompt something creative.

Fleck – 1 – produced Shape – the blancmange beloved of the British Raj. Occupied space, used it to no effect, an entirely zero-carbon performance.

Metcalfe – 5 – worked, tried to use the ball and push forward, but produced several alarmingly wild passes. Attempted to prompt the team to attack, but once, when pursued by Okagbue, resembled David Attenborough attempting to outrun a cheetah.

Naylor – 6 – appeared to have located the opposition goal but unfortunately failed to pass on the co-ordinates to his colleagues. Tried, but on occasion looked overwhelmed by how badly things were going.

Colclough – 6 – illuminated the game like wonky fairy lights, flickering brightly, but more often off than on. Threatens danger, but also electrocution.

Grigg – 4- lacking service, he looked like a man expecting silver service, unhappily seated in a Transport Café.

Olakigbe – 2 – appeared beset by nerves, twice let the ball roll out of play under his foot, his control and involvement were almost non-existent. Check his dressing-room peg for a Fentanyl leak. Something was very wrong.

Dobra – 6- gave the crowd glimpses of what they wanted to see when sent on as sub’ but produced one awful pass that suggested he was still trying to regain his touch for Friday.

Sparkes – 3 – lacked any, didn’t ignite in his few minutes on pitch.

Duffy – 5 – a good cross and obvious enthusiasm may have won him a start on Friday.

Pepple – 5 – welcome attempt to counter Walsall physically. We desperately need that.

Jacobs – 4 – wore football shorts, didn’t get time for much else.

Cook – 4 – manager – achieved full beetroot early doors and maintained it throughout. Was clearly at a loss to effect any change, regularly turning to his support staff to confirm we hadn’t slid into a parallel universe.

Former Crawley Town assistant manger and interim head coach Louis Storey has been charged by the Football Association with abusing a supporter while making a reference to disability.

The alleged incident happened during the first half of Crawley's 3-1 League One defeat at Blackpool on Saturday, 22 February.

It is being treated as an "aggravated breach" of FA rules, a charge that does not come with a pre-determined sanction if proven.

The case, and any possible punishment, will be dealt with by an independent regulatory commission.

Storey was assistant manager at Crawley under Rob Elliot, who was appointed in October 2024. Both left National League club Gateshead to join the Red Devils.

The 31-year-old then had a brief spell as the club's interim head coach following Elliot's departure in March.

He left the Sussex club when Scott Lindsey, who was unable to prevent Crawley's relegation to League Two, returned to replace Elliot.

Storey has until Tuesday, 13 May to respond to the charge.

A statement from the FA said: "It's alleged the former Crawley Town assistant manager breached FA Rule E3.1 by using abusive and/or insulting words towards a supporter during the first half.

"It's further alleged that this constitutes an "aggravated breach", which is defined in FA Rule E3.2, as it included a reference - whether express or implied - to disability."

Championship

Can't see beyond the Blunts other finalist will be Coventry as Sunderland have zero form at the moment

League 1

Tough to call this one, fancy Charlton impressed when we played them in the cup, Stockport other finalist

League 2

Chesterfield v Notts County a repeat of the epic Conference Final a couple of seasons ago winner Chesterfield basically on the point of having crept unnoticed into the play off spots on the last day of the season