Subject to a medical exam, the "big man" returns for a season-long loan spell from Southampton. I must say this move does not surprise me and the goalie position is one that I reckon Lenny wanted additional competition brought in from somewhere and Foster suits his needs.

THE MATCH

SATURDAY 24TH AUGUST 3:00PM KICK OFF

v

[b]LAST MATCH



We got back to winning ways as we narrowly beat Luton 1-0. Fox came in for the injured Palmer and Bannan & Obudajo both started. The first half was pretty poor as we made it far too comfortable for Luton. We managed a couple of saves from there keeper while Westwood made a couple of saves too. We started quicker in the 2nd half as we pounced on a keeper throw out, Murphy intercepted got to the byline crossed to the far post where Fletch headed back and Harris thighed it in. We controlled the rest of the game without being great and had a few more chances while Luton didn't really threaten us too much.

THE MATCH



Back on the road as we travel to Preston. We have won only once in our last 11 visits to Deepdale, although we have only lost 3 and drawn 7. Preston have won 2 and lost 2 so far, so not too bad a start for them. Alex Neil is there current manager though there have been a few rumours that he is wanted elsewhere. They have a few decent players but always seem to finish around mid table obscurity. Be good to get another win at there place but going on previous results a draw would seem to be the favourite.

CURRENT FORM

OWLS               -                      

PREST              -                   

THE BASTARD IN THE BLACK

ROBERT JONES
Assistants: Daniel Leach and Andrew Fox
Fourth Official: Aaron Jackson

THE TEAM

If Palmer is fit, Fox will be dropped to the bench. Or we could use Iorfa & Obudajo as the full-backs. Lee could be back in midfield. Think Reach should be replaced by Luongo as he hasn't done much so far this season. Give Hutch a spot on the subs bench before he breaks in two.

My starting eleven (433)
Westwood
Iorfa Lees Borner Obudajo
Lee Luongo Bannan
Murphy Fletcher Harris

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

1-1 Lee

POSSESSION X FOULS

644

BML STANDINGS

Stateside 2
Southey 2
Owlkev 2
Washington 2

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Barnsley v Luton
Blackburn v Cardiff
Fulham v Notts Forest
Hull v Bristol City
Stoke v Leeds

HDHAA

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE



KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC





One for Washington



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

   

Decent scoring week in the PL with some consistency for probably the first week.

Taking top spot this week is newly promoted Bomber with 18 points. He actually got zero correct scores but managed to get a correct result on 7 of the ten games, including both the Gamball and BB!!! Close behind him in 2nd spot is SCO on 17 points, his first points from the Gamball certainly helped, backed up with a correct result BB as well!

Third place goes to another newly promoted player Themaclad on 15 points, correct results on the key balls will help erase that PL debut a couple of weeks ago!! BBB remains consistent scoring 14 points on 5 games but he did “lose” 3 points by not playing the Gamball!!

Bit of a drop to joint 5th place where we find our current top 2 in the PL, Sanjay and Zinman, on 9 points. Both saw their correct result BB cancelled out by an incorrect Gamball, yes Zinman did indeed play the Gamball. Could see both of them dropping down a couple of places in the table. In 7th place is AAA, like Zinman he scored a weeks high 2 correct scores but as one of them was on the Gamball, which he didn’t play, he ended up losing vital points.

8th place on 5 points is our notoriously slow starter Beefy!! No correct scores, a busted Gamball and only 3 correct results sees him in his usual position at this point of the season and a relegation battle looms for him!!! Bringing up the rear this week is the usually consistent Derby on just 3 points, his Gamball and BB offset each other and he didn’t have much else after we were done with them, one to forget for him!!

I suspect we will see some players changing places in the table at this early stage, the promoted guys are settling in, our defending Champion has also started ok and of course Beefy will likely be bottom of the table!! All shaping up for a good season!!

Cheers
SCO

   

Places changing left, right and centre this week with 8 positions out of 9 changing. The only constant was at the top where Sanjay posted another steady week to sit 2 points clear of 2nd as BBB moved up a spotthis week.

Zinman made way for him by dropping to 3rd, though didn't lose any ground on top spot with the 4 point gap remaining the same, he was joined this week by SCO as a decent week moved him 2 places up the table into a share of that 3rd place.

Bomber in 5th and Themaclad in 6th were also upwardly mobile this week with with a climb of 2 and 3 places respectively as they both showed signs of getting to grips with the Premiership after last seasons promotion.

Derby slipped 3 into 7th with a bad week, while AAA was also on the slide by a couple this week to drop into the relegation zone where Beefy keeps him off the bottom as he paces himself in the early stages of the "marathon"

Bomber


   


Apologies for the Championship layout this week, normal service will be resumed   when back off my hols

"Formerly known as Chesterfield Ladies FC, the club will now be known as Chesterfield FC Women in a development which also sees the club officially affiliated to Chesterfield FC.

As part of the agreement, Chesterfield FC Women will wear the same kit as the men’s team following a sponsorship deal agreed with Spireites shirt sponsor Technique Learning. There will also be a Chesterfield FC Women page on the club website and in the matchday programme.

Keith Jackson, chairman of Chesterfield FC Women, said: “We are delighted to be part of the club. It’s a huge development which really does change the direction of our club going forward.

“We started our journey with the football club through the Community Trust, who have supported us over the last few years. Ashley Carson was keen for us to link-up with the football club itself, which will take us up to the next level, so I’d like to thank him for his valued support.

“To help us progress, we are actively seeking sponsorship, so any help local companies can provide would be greatly appreciated.”

Chesterfield FC Women manager Mike Noon added: “It’s very exciting. We had a very successful season last season so to now be officially recognised as Chesterfield FC Women is a massive step in the right direction. It’s going to help us in all sorts of ways including attracting players.”

Spireites company secretary Ashley Carson commented: “We felt we needed to recognise the importance of the women’s game, so it made sense to have an official link-up with the premier women’s club in the town.

“The finance and administration relating to Chesterfield FC Women will be separate to the football club and hopefully this official partnership will open up new doors for them and encourage other people to get involved with them.”

Formed 27 years ago, the club has teams from Under-10s to a first team, providing opportunities for females of all ages to play football. The first team will compete in the East Midlands Women’s Regional Football League this season."

https://www.chesterfield-fc.co.uk/news/2...-fc-women/

I mentioned earlier that Cheltenham Town had in pre season signed former Baggie Tahvon Campbell. He had previously played for our local rivals FGR.

The only comment I got when I asked how good he was, someone replied "I think he once cleaned Izzy Brown's car"

Unfortunately that just about sums him up. In a pre season game against Shrewsbury he scored two excellent goals admittedly one from the penalty spot.

Otherwise the lad seems just too light weight and seems to get discouraged too easily. He gets knocked over a couple of times and from then on the lad just 'goes missing'.

In last night's match against Carlisle he was finally left on the bench and only used quite late on by which time we were already two goals up. I'm hoping that the lad hasn't got a contract beyond the end of this season.

Our other ex Baggie import, also from FGR, is Rueben Reed who managed to get himself injured in pre season training and hasn't kicked a ball since.

Can we borrow Sturridge's hydropool from you?

Daniel Sturridge has joined Trabzonspor.

I hope Turkey let alone Trabzonspor has enough of the bubble wrap they’re going to need to keep him injury free.

Another Euro challenge for The Hoops, this time in a Europa League play-off 1st leg tie, and I don't think this will be an easy match at this stage of the quali process v testy Swedish opponents!! However, I do believe that Lenny has a team line up that will have a good chance of qualifying for the group stages. The question is, "Will he choose wisely" unlike that last failure v Cluj???? I think Gordon must be given a slot "between the sticks". Ajer, prob Celts' best defender, was injured v Dunfermline Athletic. So that presents a difficulty re tightening up a defence that really needs to be strengthened and secure. This could be another "rollercoaster" of a Euro tie and we'll see if Celtic manage to succeed this time.

v




LAST SEASON
PRESTON NORTH END 2 STOKE CITY 2

LAST TIME OUT
SWANSEA CITY 3 PRESTON NORTH END 2

STOKE CITY 2 DERBY COUNTY 2


City have been busy during the transfer window bringing in ten players, paying fees for Tommy Smith and Liam Lindsay getting Nick Powell on a free from the Pies, Lee Gregory from Millwall free and borrowing Scott Horgan from the Villa.
Last season their fans assured us they would walk this tinpot league and here they are rocking up at Deepdale again. As with last season Sky have decided to screen it as the main game who lucky we are to have a broadcaster who will show two of our games live each season whilst Leeds..............

Interesting clash especially Pearson against McLean which culd be worth the admission money alone, Pearo wound up the non poppy wearer at the endof the game at the Bet 365 last season could be epic.
Expect a few changes for us as Moult likely will not play again this season.

Match Officials: Stoke City Home





This Wednesday we have a referee taking charge of just his second game at Deepdale and also his second PNE match overall.
The match official for the clash with Nathan Jones’ Potters is John Brooks, now in his second season on the Select Group Two list of referees.

The Leicestershire ref was in charge of North End’s 3-2 home win over Millwall in December last year, whilst he was also the referee of one Potters game, their 3-0 home defeat to Wigan Athletic, early on in the season, when Ashley Williams saw red.
Overall in his first season on the Championship list, he took charge of 40 games, issuing 156 cautions and five red cards, including the aforementioned one of City’s on loan defender.
This season he has only officiated over two games thus far, Swansea’s opening day 2-1 win over Hull City and then Grimsby Town’s 1-0 shock EFL Cup win over Doncaster Rovers.

He will be assisted by Akil Howson and Richard Wild, whilst the fourth official will be Peter Wright.

SMILIES/BALLS

 Bonus Ball
 Score Ball, Free to use Ball , play it on a game that you think both teams will score in !
 Gamball,

New Scoring System

Incorrect Result =  0 point
Incorrect Result (Bonus Ball) = -3 * Changed from -2
Incorrect Result (Gamball) = -3
[/color]
Score Ball = 1 added Point if both teams score.  !

Correct Result = +2 points
Correct Result (Bonus Ball) = +3
Correct Result (Gamball) = +5  * Changed from +4
Correct Score = + 4 points
Correct Score (Bonus Ball) = +6  
Correct Score (Gamball) = +10   * Changed from +8

As you can see the incorrect scoring has not really changed apart from a wrong Bonus this will be now scored at -3 instead of -2 the reason for this are the gains on the new Gamball scoring you will make (see below) in the hope this encourages you to use it most if not all of the time.

So to the Gamball, the use of the Gamball was tactically not used in some cases last season as the gains we not considered to great compared to the losses, it's for this reason we have decided to change the scoring, The loss will stay the same at -3 but the reward will be a correct result will go up by one from 4 to 5 points and the correct score will go up by 2 from 8 to 10 points !!!
Just a reminder you DO NOT have to play the Gamball if you dont want too, the score will then be marked normal.  


Again the third from bottom of the premiership will play off against the third in the table from the Championship to keep even more excitement going, they will have to predict through all the Playoffs and the winner obviously takes their place in the Premier League the following season  

Beefy, Bomber, Zinman & SCO  


If you do not predict,...........
If in your league everyone scores above zero you will receive Zero points,
However if in your league the person with the lowest score is below Zero (eg -4) you will score -5 and receive your first strike, Remember 3 strikes and you're out.

All scores must be in before MIDDAY SATURDAY,(For The Early Kick Off If Applicable) If the early kick off is missed the rest of your predictions must reach us by 2.45pm or none will be counted.



* NEW & UPDATED 2018/19 PARTICIPANTS,

Premiership
                             
1/ Zinman
2/ ST Charles Owl
3/ Derby                            
4/ Bomber
5/ Sanjay
6/ Beefy                                                      
7/ AAA
8/ BBB 
9/ MattWBA
10/ MacLad                  
                           
Championship

1/ Joker
2/ Stairs
3/ MightyBrom
4/ Baggieone
5/ 4eva
6/ Amelia                          
7/ Twerton
8/ Snoots
9/ Lady Jane

                        
                             
I'm almost 100% sure Myself & the Scorers get the scores added up correctly, From time to time over the season we may get now and again get this wrong, SO IN THE EVENT OF ANY POINTS DISCREPANCIES can i ask all you guys to check your predictions and if you feel they are incorrect in anyway contact me Via PM within a week of the TABLES & SCORES being presented and they will be corrected the following week.
Anything later unless it is a Major error will NOT be corrected. It is as much your responsibility to check your scores as much as it is ours to try and score them correctly.
Beefy  

Saturday 24th August

1/ Norwich V Chelsea
2/ Brighton V Southampton
3/ Sheff Utd V Leicester
4/** Derby V WBA
5/ Huddersfield V Reading
6/ Preston V Sheff Wed
7/ Stoke V Leeds
8/ Plymouth V Walsall

Sunday 25th August

9/ Swansea V Birmingham
10/ Wolves V Burnley

Boreham Wood chairman Danny Hunter says he may reduce his investment in the club after a "laughable" crowd of 407 saw their defeat by Sutton on Saturday.

The National League side have averaged 655 fans over three home games so far.

Taking away season-ticket holders and travelling fans, Hunter said there were only 46 paying adult Boreham Wood supporters at Saturday's match.

"I've got to reassess what more I can do, as the town clearly doesn't want to consciously support its club," he said.

"Saturday's abysmal crowd just makes me feel sad, as so much hard work goes into making this club over achieve every year and we just want a bit more support for those efforts."

'Laughable' attendance

Boreham Wood reached the 2017-18 National League play-off final, but fall well below the average divisional attendance of around 2,300 so far this season.

The Hertfordshire club - promoted four times since 2005-06 - introduced a £99 adult season ticket this summer in a bid to increase crowds, but Hunter said it had not improved matters.

"I suppose if you want an excuse, the lower than normal crowd could be put down to 300 adult and OAP £99 season ticket holders, who took up our offer but never bothered to turn up and support us," Hunter told the club website.

"I'm probably just feeling a bit sorry for myself, but 407 as a gate attendance at our level is laughable."

Hunter says he has put £500,000 into the club since February, with a total spend of £1.2m over the summer to build a new stand and upgrade facilities.

"It might simply be the right time to re-evaluate my own ambitions and consider downsizing my year on year investment here and get rid of a few of the white elephants in the room," he added.

Boreham Wood, who sit 16th in the National League after five games, are away to Bromley on Saturday, 24 August, with their next home game - against Ebbsfleet - on Monday, 26 August.