That was one from left field, reputable sources reporting CC is off to Valencia, with them offering in excess of CC's release clause, its hard to see how this will not happen, a chance in the Spanish leagues for him, money in the pot for the club and another long period of uncertainty for us at the worst time.

I have to say good luck to him if he does decide to go, which in all honesty I expect and apparently in is in his hands, as reportedly the two clubs have agreed.

For me if he turns this one down it could only be for the club and the fans, so advance warning if he does expect a mouthful if you diss him

Merry Christmas one and all, hope you enjoy spending it with your nearest and dearest and that Santa has you on the nice list. Has anyone asked for anything major this year or are we all at that age where its socks and a box of chocolates? And where does everyone stand on Christmas lunch? do Yorkshire puds belong on there? are you one who likes all the trimmings and sauces? me personally, I don't like Turkey, don't like stuffing, don't like sprouts and a lot of the other veg that comes with it and I don't do cranberry sauce, bah humbug! For me it is going to be a soup and warm bread to begin, roast beef with roast potatoes, peas and carrots and pigs in blankets, I keep asking for yorkshire puddings but keep getting rejected. We do have desserts in, but never really get around to having them. I'm more interested in the party food that comes later in the evening and on boxing day.



Obviously boxing day features a main event, Town hosting Stockport County for the first time since 2010. The Hatters spent over a decade in the non league and have come back up, whilst Town made it to the Premier League and all the way back down. The Hatters have been in existence for 141 years, having been founded 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers by a group of students of the Stockport Sunday School and played at various grounds around the area before finally settling at Green Lane. By 1890, they had changed their name to Stockport County and continued to play in the Lancashire League until 1900 when they were accepted into the second division of the Football League. After two seasons in the Football League they left Green Lane and moved to Edgeley Park in a ground share with Stockport RFC. County finished in the bottom three for their first four seasons and failed to be re-elected for the Football League in 1904, although they only spent one season in the Lancashire Combination League before being readmitted. The team remained in the Second Division until the 1912–13 season, when they again had to seek re-election. Stockport gained 22 votes and retained their Football League status.

David Ashworth was appointed as the team's first manager in 1914. After the outbreak of the First World War, competitive football was suspended. Stockport did, however, compete in the Lancashire section of the Wartime Football League, which was played from 1915–16 to 1918–19. Ashworth managed County throughout the war until the end of 1919, when he joined Liverpool. The 1920–21 campaign saw Stockport finish bottom of the Second Division; however, instead of facing re-election, they were placed in the new Third Division North. The team won their first Football League title in 1921–22, when they defeated Darlington in front of 18,500 fans at Edgeley Park. Stockport remained in the Third Division North during the 1920s, with two consecutive second-place finishes but failed to gain promotion.

In 1935, Edgeley Park's wooden main stand burned down, which destroyed the club's records until 1935. A new main stand was built in 1936. In 1936–37, the team won the Third Division North title and promotion to the Second Division following a last-day title decider against Lincoln City which was attended by more than 27,000 fans. They finished in bottom place the following season and were relegated back to the Third Division North, remaining there until the divisions were reorganised in 1958. During the 1939–40 season, Stockport played only two matches before the Second World War started; the Football League was suspended and did not resume until 1946. Regional league competitions were set up; the FA Cup was also suspended and was replaced with the Football League War Cup. In March 1946, Stockport hosted Doncaster Rovers in a League Three North Cup match which lasted 203 minutes, and is considered the longest professional football game.



County were a founder member of the new Third Division, but were relegated after one season, County returned to the Third Division by winning the Fourth Division in 1966–67. The club was relegated back to the Fourth Division at the end of the 1969–70 campaign, and remained in the fourth tier until 1991. Following the introduction of automatic promotion and relegation between the Football League and the Football Conference at the start of the 1986–87 season, Stockport faced the prospect of non-League football, with just six points from 13 games. However, Colin Murphy was brought in for his second spell as manager, and Stockport gained 45 points from their final 31 games to remain in the division, although Murphy left shortly after the season. Danny Bergara was appointed manager in March 1989, and gained automatic promotion to the Third Division in 1990–91. In the 1992 Associate Members' Cup Final, Bergara became the first South American to lead an English team at Wembley; Stoke City defeated County 1–0. He led Stockport to Wembley on three further occasions, once more in the 1993 Football League Trophy Final and twice in the play-offs, but lost all. In 1995, Bergara was sacked after an altercation with then chairman Brendan Elwood, and was succeeded by future Sheffield Wednesday manager, Dave Jones. The 1996–97 season proved to be the most successful in the club's history: Stockport finished second in the Second Division and reached the semi-finals of the League Cup, in which they eliminated three Premiership teams before losing 2–1 against Middlesbrough over two legs. Dave Jones left for Southampton in 1997 and another future Owls manager Gary Megson took over as manager. County finished eighth in the First Division in his first season, only two places off the play-offs—the club's best ever league placing. He left in 1999 to join Stoke and was replaced by Andy Kilner, who only lasted until 2001, with issues between him, the owner and fans being prevalent, he cited that the owner kept selling the best players and replacing them on the cheap, whilst he also alleged that his wife and children suffered verbal and physical abuse from the Stockport fans prior to his sacking, he has since worked with Mick McCarthy when he was at Sunderland, but has most recently been managing up in Sweden at Vanersborgs. His replacement was Former England international Carlton Palmer but he failed to save the club from relegation to the third tier that season. Palmer was unable to build a team capable of returning and the summer of 2003 saw an ownership change, a poor start to the season saw Palmer relieved of his duties. Elwood sold the club to Sale Sharks owner Brian Kennedy in a move that would see Sale play their home games at Edgeley Park. A new company, Cheshire Sport, was established, which combined ownership of Stockport County, Sale Sharks and the Edgeley Park stadium. In 2005, after reportedly losing £4 million in operating costs, Kennedy handed ownership of the club to the Stockport County Supporters' Co-operative. Former County player Jim Gannon was appointed manager, initially as caretaker manager and he led the club to safety in 2005–06, and sustained a promotion challenge the next season but eventually missed out on the League Two play-offs on goal difference. The team continued their success during the 2007–08 season and reached the play-offs in which they faced Rochdale in the Final at Wembley. Stockport came from behind to win the game and earn promotion to League One.

In April 2009, Stockport County was placed into administration due to a loan to a creditor of around £300,000, and a tax debt of £250,000 to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. In July, administrators agreed to a company voluntary arrangement with the previous shareholders and creditors. A new consortium, the 2015 Group, was given exclusivity to work towards a takeover of the club an the purchase of Stockport County by the 2015 Group was approved by the Football League in May 2010, with the takeover announced in June, by this time County had finished rock bottom in League One and had been relegated to League Two. Before the start of the 2010–11 season and appointed Paul Simpson as manager. He was sacked after only six months in charge, and Ray Mathias was brought in as interim manager. Despite an upturn in results, County were relegated to the Football Conference for the first time in their history.

After relegation, Dietmar Hamann, who had no prior managerial experience, was named manager in July 2011. He won only three of nineteen matches before resigning, after his position had been undermined by a fans' meeting in November. The fans called for Gannon to be re-appointed as manager. He was reinstated, steered Stockport away from the relegation zone and finished 16th. The club regained sole tenancy of their Edgeley Park stadium after Sale Sharks relocated to Salford City Reds' new ground. Gannon was subsequently dismissed for a second time in 2013. Stockport employed two further managers in three months, and were relegated to the Conference North on the final day of the 2012–13 season. The club announced it was to lose its full-time status, and proceeded with a part-time model. Neil Young was named as Stockport's new manager in 2015, after he had previous successes in the division with Chester, but departed in January 2016 and County once again turned to Gannon, who returned for a third stint. He stabilised the club on the pitch and finished around the play-offs places for the next two seasons. In 2018–19, Stockport reached the semi-finals of the FA Trophy and won the Conference North, their first league title in 52 years and Local businessman Mark Stott purchased County for an undisclosed fee in January 2020, clearing its debts. Gannon left again in 2021 and was replaced by Dave Challinor. Under his guidance, County topped the National League in 2021–22, securing promotion back to the EFL after an 11-year absence. In their first season back in the Football League, the Hatters finished 4th, losing to Carlisle in the Play Off Final on penalties. Last season they earned promotion back to League One, finishing the season as Champions.



Still managed by Challinor, he himself a former player for Stockport back in the early 2000's, playing 100 games for the Hatters during a two year stay. He played most of his career in the North West, playing 140 games for Tranmere and 173 games for Bury, before heading to Colwyn Bay. His managerial career began with the bay in 2010 but after little over a year he left for Fylde, getting them to the National League and winning the FA Trophy before being sacked the season after with the club just outside the relegation places. He soon joined Hartlepool, also in the National League. In his first full season in charge, the pools finished 4th and made a return to the football league after winning the play offs, in September 2021 he signed a new 3 year deal with the club, but handed in his resignation on the 1st of November the same year, joining Stockport a day later, dropping down a division in the process, the lure of his old club proving too much for him. He managed the side to promotion back to the football league before getting promoted once again last season. Stockport began this campaign with a 2-0 win over Cambridge at Edgeley Park, former Notts County man Kyle Wootton was on the scoresheet along with the talented Louie Barry. They were dumped out of the League Cup 6-1 by fellow Lancastrian side Blackburn Rovers but bounced back with a superb second half showing away at Blackpool, with Barry once again scoring along with Jayden Fevrier and Isaac Olaofe. The good start to the league season continued with a 2-0 win at home to Bristol Rovers, with Wootton and Barry both scoring once again, Wootton would score again in a 1-1 draw with Mansfield to round August out.

Moving into September and Barry scored the only Stockport goal in a 1-1 draw away at Crawley. Following the international breaks, Stockport suffered a chastising defeat at home to Leyton Orient as the O's went back to London with a 4-1 victory in their back pocket. County trailed 2-0 at the break and not long after Jack Diamond pulled one back, but could only see Orient pull further ahead, they then needed an injury time penalty from Barry to rescue a point away at Barnsley before beginning October with a much needed 2-0 win over struggling Shrewsbury Town, Wootton once again found himself on the scoresheet, whilst Ethan Pye scored his first league goal of the season. Three draws in a row followed for the Hatters, a 0-0 draw with Wigan, before holding Charlton to a 1-1 at the Valley despite seeing former Town defender Fraser Horsfall sent off, Barry would once again see himself finding the back of the net and he would once again next time out in the 1-1 draw with Northampton, both times from the spot. They lost 2-1 to our recent opponents Lincoln City, Olaofe scoring their only goal of the game before they hosted Reading. Stockport showed their teeth in this one as they ran out 4-1 winners, Barry bagged a brace, with Wootton once again finding the net along with Will Collar. Horsfall and Wootton both scored in their FA Cup victory over Forest Green Rovers before whimpering at home to Wycombe who put 5 past them without reply, they were 3 down inside 20 minutes so it could have been a lot worse. Obviously stung by that result, Bolton took the brunt of the retribution as Stockport recovered their damaged goal difference with a 5-0 win, with 5 different scorers. Naturally, Wootton and Barry found the net, along with Collar, Horsfall and former Salford player Odin Bailey.



It was a tighter affair when Wrexham came to Edgeley Park, with Barry scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win, Burton didn't put up much of a fight in the next game as they succumbed 3-0 to the Hatters, Barry scoring a brace with the other goal coming from influential midfielder Lewis Bate. They made it through to the third round of the FA Cup with a 3-1 win over non league Brackley Town, Wootton, Olaofe and Collar scoring for the Hatters. At the start of December, Birmingham hosted them and left with nothing as long time summer target Alfie May scored twice, they bounced back a few days later with a 2-0 win over Exeter, Barry scored from the spot and Tristan Crama put into his own goal for the other. They suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Stevenage the other week Callum Camps scored for Stockport but goals from Jamie Reid and Dan Kemp saw them lose 2-1. Last time out they faced Peterborough on Friday and sent the Posh home with nothing thanks to goals from Odin Bailey and Olaofe. I think Town may have to careful about conceding penalties against Stockport as they seem to have had a few and Barry doesn't seem to miss many of them.

In terms of who to watch, the main one is Louie Barry, who will be playing one of his final games for Stockport after Aston Villa announced they would be recalling him with a view to loaning him out elsewhere, presumably to a club in the Championship. Barry began in the West Brom academy and was there for ten years before having the choice of joining PSG or Barcelona, he left the Baggies for La Masia, following in the footsteps of footballing luminaries such as Lionel Messi, Cesc Fabregas, Xavi and even Pep Guardiola himself as the esteemed footballing school. His time there was curtailed by COVID and after one season and a handful of appearances he left and returned home joining Aston Villa for just shy of £1million, plus add ons. He has yet to make a league appearance for Villa, but did feature in the League Cup and FA Cup for the side, scoring against Liverpool in the FA Cup, with Jurgen Klopp calling him a little Jamie Vardy. He has had numerous loans out so far, with spells at Ipswich, MK Dons, Swindon and Salford, although none of them have shown him to be truly prolific. That was until the second half of last season when he scored 9 in 21 for Stockport, leading the Hatters to take him on loan once again, where this season he leads the scoring charts with 14 in 21 appearances.



Captain Lewis Bate usually pulls the strings in the middle of the park, coming through the Chelsea system at the same time as former Town loanees Levi Colwill and Tino Anjorin. He turned down a deal with the London having made it into the first team squad but not getting a game, electing to go and pursue football elsewhere. He would come up to West Yorkshire, signing for Leeds in a reported £1.5million deal, he only managed 3 appearances for them, spending most of his time out on loan with the likes of MK Dons and Oxford United. He was released this summer and moved to Stockport where he was handed the armband. Known to like to dictate play, whilst not being afraid to get stuck in, sounds like a poor mans Herbie Kane.

Striker Kyle Wootton has been one of the main focal points for the Hatters, usually being used in rotation with Isaac Olaofe. Wootton began his playing career with Scunthorpe and eventually made 66 appearances for the side, scoring 11, whilst also having loans out at various clubs such as Lincoln, Halifax and Notts County to name a few. He struggled for goals in most of his loan spells, but scored 9 whilst at Notts County, encouraging them to sign him permanently. He would spend 3 seasons at Meadow Lane, scoring 47 goals in total before electing to leave and join Stockport in 2022. He has scored 28 goals for the side since joining, scoring 14 in his first season with the club, last season he struggled to have as much impact with Olaofe scoring 20, whilst Wootton is more of a unit, Olaofe is a more pacy option.



Usually, Stockport have gone into games with a back 3 and 3 forwards, with Barry and Will Collar most recently being played either side of Wootton, although the last time out against Peterborough they switched to a 4-2-3-1 with Odin Bailey coming into the side, but I can see them reverting to the tried and tested method against us. Former Town academy player Fraser Horsfall is usually deployed in the middle of the back three, whilst former Town midfielder Oliver Norwood is having to settle for a bench position and it is unlikely to change going into Thursdays game.

As for Town there doesn't seem to be a proper press conference for the game, with Duff instead speaking about it after the Cambridge match.

Effectively saying it will be the same group of players with none of the injured contingent coming back for this one, so the long list remains. David Kasumu came off due to being booked and having played a lot of minutes recently, the only returning player will be Nigel Lonwijk who has had his one game suspension. The only question will be on slight rotation, but having had five days between fixtures it won't be anything major, so one would reckon it will be Nigel in for Turton with Spencer moving to the right in the only change with one of Headley or Connor Falls dropping off the bench.

The Hatters were busy this summer with 14 new additions to the squad with a further announced to join at the start of January. Three goalkeepers joined in the form of Corey Addai from Crawley, Max Metcalfe from Middlesbrough and Andrew Wogan from Drogheda, the latter two joining as part of the younger sides. They raided Colchester for midfielders Jay Mingi and Jayden Fevrier, whilst Tayo Adaramola and Tyler Onyango followed Louie Barry in joining on loan from Crystal Palace and Everton respectively. Sundays opponents Burton lost key defender Sam Hughes on a free transfer to the Hatters and Jack Diamond moved from Sunderland to Stockport on a free transfer after a couple of good spells at Harrogate as well as Lincoln and Carlisle. Midfielders Ollie Norwood, Callum Connelly and Lewis Bate made the free moves from Sheffield United, Blackpool and Leeds, with the big money going on Lewis Forini as he departed Man City to join the Hatters. Icelandic forward Benony Breki Andresson is joining in January from KR Reykjavik.


They had a number of departures, with former Town keeper Jordan Smith moving to Hibernian, experienced forwards Paddy Madden and Antoni Sarcevic dropped a division to join Chesterfield and Bradford. Also dropping a division was Ryan Croasdale, Myles Hippolyte and Connor Lemmonheigh-Evans who joined Port Vale, Wimbledon and MK Dons. Whilst a bunch of youngsters went out on loan to non league clubs to get game time.

There has been a few that have played for both sides, as previously mentioned, Norwood and Horsfall in the current Stockport squad have previously been members of the Town fraternity, whilst keeper Jordan Smith had spells at both clubs. One of our more talented players of recent Anthony Pilkington signed for Town from Stockport in 2009 and went on to bigger and better things with the likes of Norwich and Cardiff in the Premier League, scoring against boyhood club Manchester United as well as going on to play international football for the Republic of Ireland. He had time out in India and over at Fleetwood before retiring in 2022. Winger Aaron Rowe had a short spell on loan at Stockport, he seemed like he would go on to something after making his debut whilst in the Premier League and featuring in and out whilst in the Championship, he has since left to join Gillingham in League Two. Current Town co-commentator Matt Glennon is from Stockport, he came through the system at rivals Bolton but left for the likes of Hull and Carlisle, he joined Town after a spell in Scotland at Falkirk and St Johnstone, he spent 4 years at Town before leaving for Bradford, he did spend two seasons at Stockport in 2010 as they dropped out of the football league, he's since retired after a spell at Halifax, opting to chop hair over chopping strikers. Speaking of strikers and one that both clubs would rather forget, Keigan Parker played one game for Stockport during his tumble from English Championship down to Scottish Lower Leagues. He joined Town with high hopes after good spells at St Johnstone and Blackpool, he fell flat at Town, managing just the two goals before leaving on loan to Hartlepool and eventually Oldham, he failed at both of those and kept dropping down the ladder. Rotund defender Robbie Williams played for both, he joined Town from Barnsley in 2007 after 5 years at the Reds, he spent 3 years at Town, despite joining with a broken leg, he scored 4 goals for the club before being released after the play off defeat to Millwall. After being released by Town he moved to Stockport and only lasted a season there before heading to Rochdale, after a spell down south at Plymouth, he moved over to Ireland, now as a centre half to play for Limerick, Galway and Cork, moving into coaching during a second spell at Limerick.



Journeyman striker Liam Dickinson had two spells at Stockport, his first coming back in 2005 when he joined the side from a local non league side, he had 3 seasons at the side scoring 33 goals before leaving for Derby. He never made an appearance for the Rams, spending only a season there, but having loan spells at Town, Blackpool and Leeds, he failed to score for Leeds but notched a combined 10 goals for the Terriers and Tangerines in 20 games, earning a move to Brighton. From there it was almost a new club a season as he had trouble with rules, often going out drinking and partying on a night, eventually he wounded up back in Manchester playing for local sides in the area. Looking even further back and Luke Beckett and Jim Goodwin both represented the two clubs, Beckett had two years at Stockport, scoring 45 goals for the club before moving to Sheffield United. He came to Town on a short loan, scoring 6 in 7 before going to Oldham on loan, he returned to Town in 2006 for a further two years, after seeing out his contract with Town he dropped to the non league, becoming a physio on the side. Goodwin had three years at Stockport after leaving Celtic at the start of his career. He made over 100 appearances for the Hatters before leaving for Scunthorpe who had made it to the Championship. He left Scunthorpe to join Town, but it never really worked out here for him, he finished his playing career back up in Scotland, before moving into management, he currently manages Dundee United. Former Town manager Simon Grayson had a short loan spell at Stockport, as did former goalkeeping coach Nick Colgan. Also representing both clubs were keeper Ian Grey, defender Martin McIntosh, midfielder Chris Marsden, forward Alun Armstrong and current Liverpool under 18's coach Neil Edwards (although he never made an appearance for Town)


This is of Luke at Chester, far cry from the bald guy who played for us, did anyone on here have a dodgy hairstyle or two that they wish to divulge?

The two sides have met numerous times over the decades, 49 in total, with Town winning 22 of those, 14 draws and 13 defeats. The first meeting came back in 1910 when in Division Two, with the Hatters winning 1-0, but Town won the return fixture 4-1. For the best part of the 1910's, Stockport came out on top, but Town started the 20's with a league double over the Lancashire side in what would be the final meeting between the sides for some 55 years. The next meeting would come in 1975 and for the majority of the 70's Town would come out on top with Stockport only registering the one win coming in 1978. By 1980 the two sides would be meeting in the basement division with Town winning 5-0, that would mark the final meeting for another decade. The early 90's began with the Hatters coming out on top, beating Town down Leeds Road 1-0 in the 91-92 season, the following season Stockport would get retribution on Town by thrashing them 5-0, but Town would go on to only lose 2 games against the Hatters in the rest of the decade, including beating them 1-0 on the route to the Autoglass Trophy Final which Town lost to Swansea. Come the 2000's and the early part of the decade was fairly dour with a couple of 0-0's to start the new millennia before trading 2-1 wins. The 04-05 season saw the sides meet 3 times, with Town being knocked out of the FA Cup by the Hatters 3-1, but in the league Town would register the double, winning 3-2 at Edgeley Park thanks to two late goals from Pawel Abbott and Andy Booth, the game down at the Galpharm finished 5-3 to Town, this time three late goals helped them to three points, despite Warren Feeney scoring a hat trick for the visitors. Stockport got relegated that season and came back a few seasons later, with the two sides drawing both games 1-1. The last season that the two sides met the sides played 3 games, Town beat Stockport 3-1 in the League Cup with goals from Theo Robinson and two from Jordan Rhodes, the home game finished 0-0 whilst the game Edgeley Park finished 6-0 to Town, with 6 different scorers, Pilkington opened the scoring after just 2 minutes, Robinson made it two before the break, Rhodes scored midway through the second half, with late goals from Danny Drinkwater, Gary Roberts and Lee Novak made it 6, oh for a repeat of that score on Thursday!



No quiz this time, busy making the 2024 quiz, which will either be up before new year or very early 2025, I mean there's still time for something interesting to happen this year!

Northampton Town have appointed Kevin Nolan as their new manager on a two-and-a-half-year contract.

He replaces Jon Brady, who resigned on 5 December after three and a half years in charge, during which he guided the club to promotion from League Two in 2023.

Nolan previously managed Leyton Orient and Notts County, but more recently was first-team coach at West Ham United under David Moyes before the pair left in May.

Northampton are 20th in League One following Saturday's 5-0 home defeat by Rotherham United, and Nolan's first match in charge will be a Boxing Day trip to Reading.

"This is the next step in my journey to getting to the top... I was really young when I took the two jobs previously and I managed to be quite successful in that period," the 42-year-old told BBC Radio Northampton.

"This is a great place for me to be at at this stage of my managerial career and as a club, and a team, we can all grow together.

"I've done a lot of due diligence with people in and around me who I know and trust and they were very complimentary, not only of the owners and CEO, but also the staff already working here."

He added: "It's Christmas, you know you've got plenty of games and we've got to get it right, get the right amount of work into the lads. We'll be working hard to make sure we go to Reading to be the best version of ourselves, being a lot more diligent and harder to beat and trying to create more chances than we have in previous games."


Nolan made more than 600 appearances and scored 111 goals during a playing career which began at Bolton Wanderers and took him to Newcastle United and West Ham – winning promotion to the Premier League with all three clubs.

He joined Leyton Orient as player-manager in January 2016 but only lasted three months in the dual role before being replaced as boss by Andy Hessenthaler despite the team being just outside the play-off places.

Nolan left the London club that summer and was appointed by Notts County in January 2017, leading them to the League Two play-offs in the following season before losing to Coventry City, only to be sacked in August 2018 following a six-game winless run.

Northampton chairman Kelvin Thomas said Nolan, who worked with England Under-20s as assistant head coach after leaving West Ham, had shown "a real desire" for the job at Sixfields.

Thomas continued: "Our immediate target is to try and move up the table and while we understand we have challenges to overcome, we believe Kevin is well placed to lead us forward on that.

"Kevin will be ably supported by the current staff who will remain in their roles while we expect to be able to confirm an additional experienced appointment in the near future to complete a very strong football staff."

Northampton have been as high as 12th during the course of the season so far, but are now only two points clear of the relegation places following defeats in four of their past five matches.

Their only victory in the past eight came against Peterborough United in the Nene derby on 9 December under interim boss Ian Sampson.

Following the game against Reading, they are away to Shrewsbury Town on 29 December before Nolan's first home fixture in charge against Stevenage on New Year's Day.

Nolan is certainly a gamble on the Cobblers part.

Critics will point to the fact that he hasn't managed a side since 2018. However, Nolan has been working in top-level football with West Ham until last summer and brings with him a wealth of footballing experience.

He will need to get a reaction quickly with a hugely important run of fixtures coming over the festive period.

Gamball:
Blackburn - Burnley

Others:
Bournemouth - Everton
Spurs - Newcastle
Palace - Chelsea
Brighton - Arsenal
Swansea - WBA
Norwich - Coventry
Preston - Oxford
Sheff W - Millwall
Watford - Sheff Utd

Group A

A.A.A. 19
Themaclad 15
Twerton 11
Minizin 9
Zinman 9
Amelia 3

Last week before Xmas sees a decent score in total. AAA dominates with his best season score of 19 points, that his season best for the second week in a row!! He got 2 CSs including the Bonus and backed that up with a CR on the Gamball. Themaclad continues with his consistency ending on 15 points, he recorded his 4th maximum on the Gamball and added a CR on the Bonus, didn't do much else but when you get those two balls right you don't need to!! Twerton was the only other player in double figures with 11 points. He missed on the Gamball but did pick up points o the Bonus.

Minizin and Zinman were tied on 9 points. Minizin missed the Gamball but did get a CR on the Bonus, Zinman got a CR on the Gamball and one CS but missed on his Bonus. Amelia had a bit of a mare, missed on her main balls but at least benefitted from QPR's late winner for a CS.

170 Themaclad
146 Minzin
140 Twerton
137 Zinman
127 A.A.A.
115 Amelia

Only one change this week with AAA moving off the bottom and dumping Amelia ack down there. Themaclad extends his lead at the top to 24 points over Minizin who is now just 6 points ahead of Twerton with Zinman a further 3 behind. AAA's good form sees him close on the pack above, he will need to keep that form if he wants to catch them. Amelia is now 12 points adrift at the bottom.

A few stats:

Total Points from Balls
1. Themaclad - 60
2. Minizin - 42
3. AAA - 29
4. Amelia - 11
5. Zinman - 9
6. Twerton - 8

Correct Scores
1. Themaclad - 20
2. Zinman - 18
3. Twerton - 17
4. Minizin - 14
5. AAA - 13
6. Amelia -12

I have highlighted these two groups of stats as these are the areas where big points can be scored - Ball play and Correct Scores - and if you lead both categories like Themaclad does then you can see why he leads the table as well. For those chasing, if you want to catch him then get your numbers up here!!!

Group B

Lady Jane 19
Derby 12
Stairs 9
SCO 8
BaggieOne 7
BBB 6
Snooty 5

After a quiet few weeks, the week 16 table has a familiar look to it as Lady Jane returns to form to produce yet another table topping performance, and by some distance. She was the only player to score on the gamball and she also maxed out on the bonus. The bonus was one of her 2 correct scores - the only player to get more than 1 this week so she will head into the Christmas break on a high and with a formidable overall lead. Derby had seen his grip on 2nd place loosen over the last few weeks but he put in the only other double figure performance to sit comfotably in 2nd place, matching Lady Jane's 5 correct predictions but with only 1 correct score and also missing out on the scoreball.

Average scores for the rest. BBB and Snooty were the only players to miss out on the bonus and that was the main difference between the bottom 5. BBB missed out on all his balls which has been something of an issue for him as we'll see below.

181 Lady Jane
149 Derby
146 Stairs
133 SCO
131 Snooty
115 BBB
101 BaggieOne

Lady Jane extends her lead to 32 points while Derby takes back 2nd place on his own. SCO and Snooty swap places and at the foot of the table BaggieOne reaches the 3 figure mark.

I'll copy SCO's choice of stats this week.
Ball points:
Lady Jane 63
Derby 39
Stairs 32
Snooty 27
SCO 21
BaggieOne 5
BBB 0.

As I said above, BBB is really having problems with his balls!

Correct Scores:
Lady Jane 20
Stairs 19
Derby 17
Snooty 17
SCO 15
BBB 13
BaggieOne 12

It's little wonder Lady Jane's on top!

Merry Christmas everybody.

As I watch the Darts I find myself becoming increasingly confused. It is a simple game. I've even played in a league for two or three years but as I watched the game on TV, brilliant as these modern players are with their slimline darts and nine-dart finishes, I can't help noticing that whilst the game tries to tune in on the "modern world" it simultaneously anchors itself in a downmarket version of the early 1970s. Any minute I'm expecting Charlie Williams to appear me old flower, kick an opponent, and laugh uproariously.

So first in homage to today the evening has to be introduced on TV by a woman or women, but naturally, as it is working-class old darts she has to have smoky touch of the production line to both her voice and cut of the jib. Then after some unenlightening exposition of the relative abilities of the players (which is mostly about to be proved wide of the mark) the players themselves are to be introduced to the crowd. There are lots of shots of the crowd, who for some reason all have to appear in some embarrassing forms of fancy dress - definitely sexist, they largely manage to avoid racism unless some alien race is taking offence at the green face paint - and who are never far from a drink and are permanently prepared to join tunelessly in any raucous sing-song.

The players "choose" to wear poorly designed loose-fitting shirts to enable the throwing arm to flow free. The loose-fit also conveniently serves to hide the general state of physical unfitness of the predominantly male players who are guided through the cheering crowd of admiring fans to their favourite music by a couple of tattooed bouncers. Occasionally a player will stop to sign an autograph or deliver a kiss. On stage under-or-over-dressed go-go girls recruited from Life on Mars jive, pop and pompom to whatever music the player has favoured. (I can't help wishing some enterprising player wiould appear all in black, to the Funeral March.) Though the girly girls have to dance frenetically, scantily dressed, the middle-aged male announcer John McDonald is nicely attired in sober suit and expensive shirt. He appears to have forgotten the far-more appropriate budgie smugglers and spray-on tan. (A strictly-ballroom quiff might be a good idea ....) He delivers the same intro, every tournament, changing only the venue, which is always a wonderful city.

Anyway John and the go-go-goers finally get off, him marching in a manly fashion, them bouncing and pompoming as if about to cross the ocean to American football .... and the game begins. In general whether the players have danced onto the stage like nitwits or sombrely marched on to shake hands their play is excellent, their worst moments being at least equal to my own best-ever efforts on the oche. Unfortunately this year the commentary sadly lacks the only interesting and amusing pundit Wayne Mardle (following his wife's recent death), and his double-act with wise straight man John Part, which leaves a gaping hole. It is filled by self-obsessed men over-concerned with their own reputation quoting statistics to prove their encyclopaedic knowledge rather than their access to a computer, reminiscing about past great moments in games their viewers have long-forgotten and which seem designed to devalue the opinions of any female commentators who have been recruited to inspire the women's game.

Somewhat bizarrely into this very manly atmosphere of a loud and inebriated male audience overdosing on testosterone, sprinkled only with the odd bingo-winged gran and slightly tipsy mum smiling beatifically, an assault on equality is bravely being made. Darts is one of the few sports in which men and women can compete on "equal" terms. To this end one woman and a trans-gender person appeared in the first round. Though both were competitive they did both lose. But hey if equality is the aim, what are the gog-go girls about? And if Darts is a sport as Luke Littler appearing in SPOTY suggests, why is about half the crowd not even watching the game, why is it dressed for a Stag-do in Hull, why is everyone shouting singing and yelling throughpout the game as players attempt almost miraculous accuracy under pressure? Why are sponsors bunging a huge wad of cash to a random member of the audience if any player hits a nine-darter, is this sport fancy-dress bingo? And at what point does it become unacceptable to boo a disliked player to put him off when going for a double?

Or is the truth that Wimbledon needs to take a cue from Darts and progress from a few tennis balls glued to a sunhat and the odd amusing shout of Come on Tim, and perhaps Test Cricket too might take that next dangerous step beyond Bazball and a gang of giggling old Harrovians all dressing-up as Nawabs of Pataudi?

THE MATCH

THURSDAY 26TH DECEMBER KO 3PM

v

LAST MATCH



We made it back to back wins as we saw off Stoke despite playing over half the game with 10 men. In windy conditions it wasn't the best football game although we managed a couple of chances, but the main action came when Bernard was sent off for two yellow cards in the space of 10 mins just before halftime. Onto the 2nd half and we struck early as Bannan fed Valery who crossed for Windass to force home from close range. Beadle saved from Cannon and Bannan was fortunate not to give a penalty for handball. We then went 2 up when Charles got to the by-line and crossed for Pato to score from close range. Stoke were then awarded a penalty but Beadle made a fine save and wew saw out the rest of the game.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

THE MATCH



Our Boxing Day fixture sees us on the road again, I think it is seven years since our last home Boxing Day fixture, as we travel to Middlesborough. Boro are having a good season and currently lie in 6th place, though there current form is a bit mixed, 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 defeats in there last 6. They should be there or thereabouts when it comes to the playoffs. They are managed by Michael Carrick who took over just over 2 years ago and took them to the playoffs only to lose to Coventry. There leading scorer is Latte Lath, who has 9 goals and Conway who is just behind with 8.

DEJPHON CHANSIRI, GET OUT OF OUR CLUB    

ALL TIME H2H

OWLS 49
BORO 49
DRAWS 19

CURRENT FORM

OWLS  W W L D W W                                                                     

BORO  D W L D W L                           

EFL STOOGES

DOES IT MATTER THERE ALL CORRUPT  

ANTHONY BACKHOUSE
Jonathan Hunt and Matthew McGrath
Fourth Official: Aaron Bannister

THE TEAM

Beadle
Palmer Bernard Iorfa Johnson
Bannan Charles
Ugbo Ingelsson Lowe
Smith

SCORE & SCORER (HOME TEAM SCORE FIRST)

2-1 Smith

WEDNESDAYS FIRT GOAL TIME

26

ATTENDANCE

N/A

BML LEAGUE

Washington 12
Maddix 11
SCO 10
Imre 10
Wereham 7

BMPL

Stateside 11
Southey 10
Owlkev 9
Pei 4

OTHER GAMES OF MILD INTEREST

Newcastle v Aston Villa
Sheffield Utd v Burnley
Bolton v Barnsley
Walsall v Doncaster
Oldham v York City

DHHHD

THE MUPPETT LEAGUE




KATE BECKINSALE TRIBUTE PIC

We have never beaten a side managed by Gary

Oxford United have appointed Gary Rowett as their new head coach.

The former Millwall and Birmingham City boss takes over the struggling Championship side following the departure of Des Buckingham at the weekend.

Oxford chairman Grant Ferguson said: "Following a thorough and diligent recruitment process, I am delighted that Gary Rowett has agreed to join us as head coach.

"It was immediately clear from the discussions we had with him that Gary perfectly matched the vision and long-term objectives that we have for the club.

"Every decision taken is with the best interests of Oxford United in mind and we are confident that Gary will be instrumental in fulfilling our ambitions this season and beyond.

"We look forward to working alongside and supporting Gary to help us achieve our goals."

The U's sit a point and two places above the relegation zone and are without a win in their past six matches.

Buckingham led Oxford to the second tier via the League One play-offs last spring, however they find themselves in a fight for league survival approaching Christmas, with just four points picked up across their past eight matches.

Oxford travel to Leeds on Saturday (15:00 GMT) where Rowett will watch from the stands, in the first of their four games over the festive period.

Rowett has managed a range of sides across the Championship and League One, with his most recent job a return for the second time to Birmingham City on an interim basis in March following Tony Mowbray's illness.

However, his seven-week stint in charge ended with the Blues relegated to League One this summer, despite winning three and drawing two of their eight games.

The 50-year-old began his managerial career at Burton Albion in 2012 before moving to St Andrew's for the first time.

He oversaw more than 100 games at the Blues before being sacked just over two years later and then took over at Derby County, guiding the club to the Championship play-offs in 2018.

An eight-month stint at Stoke City followed, before Rowett became Millwall manager, where he stayed in the dugout for four years until October last year.

In Rowett's 19-year playing career as a right-back he made 444 appearances across the English Football League (EFL) before he retired in 2007.

He started at Cambridge and went on to play for Everton, Blackpool, Derby, Birmingham, Leicester, Charlton Athletic and Burton.


He has hundreds of games behind him in the second tier and he joins a club that has, in the last quarter of a century, been in just 20 matches at that level.

If the owners, executives, and most of the players don't have Championship know-how, he does.

Over all his games as a boss his teams have a points-per-game record of at least 1.3. Replicate his worst performance at any Championship club and he'll get Oxford to safety - and that is what he has been recruited for.

What Gary Rowett isn't, is Des Buckingham. And that is not his fault.

United have faced a backlash more brutal than they anticipated when they fired Buckingham, the local lad made good, the man who delivered promotion and a fairytale story.

At least with this appointment they haven't had their head turned by a star name or someone with no more experience of the level than Buckingham had.

I am not sure they would have been forgiven for that.

Many will see this as Oxford recruiting a firefighter. They think it is for the long-term - which in the Championship isn't usually that long.

Either way, rightly or wrongly, the fairytale is over, this now is about hard reality.

Five months of grinding out the results to ensure what Buckingham achieved in the warmth of last May isn't wasted when we get to the spring of 2025.