DangerousSausage

Thanks for the updates. I'm having a nice, relaxing afternoon not really caring who wins (although I'd prefer Solihull). What a contrast to last season!

We were owned by Albert Scardino after Derek Pavis, he was a prize-winning journalist who'd been based in London. You might remember his henchman Peter Storrie. The funding he was relying on (from GM I think) eventuality fell through and we ended up in administration, so he was only chairman for a matter of months. I remember him talking about the English league system, and the ability to go from the bottom right to the very top, in glowing terms. Many of the current breed in the PL have a different attitude, they'd scrap relegation in a heartbeat if they could get away with it.

I haven't seen this bloke play, but I disagree with your point. We've signed loads of good players from relegated teams in the past, Jeff Hughes springs to mind. Dan Crowley was also relegated with Morecambe. Scott Robertson had been frozen out at Fleetwood, who have since been relegated, was he a poor signing? JOB was relegated out of the Football League with us, I don't think anyone questions his mentality. Going back further, pretty much the whole of Sam Allardyce's championship-winning team had been relegated with us the season before. If he's good enough, he deserves a chance!

I don't really understand the idea behind having mayors in some regions but not others. The cynic in me thinks it's a way to get certain parties elected in regions they wouldn't normally get a chance in by turning local elections into a contest between personalities rather than policies. I would like to see us move towards a federal system that takes power away from Westminster, with devolved regional assemblies presiding over county and district councils. The UK is far too centralised.

Thank you for the kind words. It's been a pleasure and it'd be great to see you all again in August! I'll post a thread nearer the time. I've got to disappoint you @Megan_Elizax, I've decided I'm going to win next season, and I count the points. But maybe second place is up for grabs if you throw @ARLukomski's laptop in a river or something? I've got something for the stattos / sad anoraks among you. I counted the points separately for the second half of the season and this was the result. Apart from our two new entrants, @william1984 was the only player to get more points in the second half of the season than in the first. @Harry Buckley only actually played 18 rounds - over 23 rounds he'd have got about 95 points, putting him in the top four.

In goal is the position where I wouldn't mind us having a player in his thirties. I think we need a cool, experienced head who can organise us at the back. The trouble with having a defender in that category is that they've often lost that bit of pace, and then you've got another Ben Turner who's getting turned around by pacey forwards. So why not the goalkeeper? Bartosz Bialkowski is out of contract at Millwall next month and could fit the bill, provided he's still fit enough to be number one for a full season (he played 14 games this season). Don't know what his stats are like recently, but we know he's a quality keeper.

I think he probably will. He very likely has a minimum fee release clause in his contract, so if a really big bid comes in it would trigger it. And it's a short career. However, it's summer and the market is full of strikers who are proven at a higher level and available on a free transfer. If you look at it that way, why should a Championship club pay a seven-figure fee for a player who's never played higher than League Two? He definitely deserves a stab at playing in a higher division. I just hope it's with us.

I think we need a new forum to accommodate all the "Ricardo Moniz has got a new job" posts. He's the football equivalent of a supply teacher Good luck to the bloke though!

I think that's infuriating as well. Over 700 clubs take part in this competition, yet only a few elite clubs get a say - clubs that see it as a burden. I see FIFA has softened its position against leagues holding matches abroad, and La Liga already intends having a round of matches played abroad at the first opportunity. Since the Premier League clubs are so keen to avoid additional matches, I take it they won't be interested in doing this? Or going on pre-season tours of Saudi Arabia or wherever? Or future Champions League expansions? Or do they suddenly change their minds about their busy calendars the moment they see a gravy train? At the risk of sounding like an old man yelling at a cloud, it is just pure greed.

The mismanagement must be pretty epic to be threatened with administration despite all the money PL clubs get. If they really are delaying going into administration to avoid a points penalty, isn't that a bit problematic? Delaying insolvency proceedings is a criminal offence in some countries. All the same, if they do go into admin, they'll certainly get bought by someone. They're a huge club with a brand new stadium ready to move into. Perfect for a glorious new era.

On what planet is 28 league goals underperforming? He's in a very elite group of strikers to have scored that many for us in a season, and he's done it twice. It's absolutely normal for any player to go through good and bad runs, and nobody will score every chance they get.

The only appropriate reaction to that is uiuiuiuiuiu!

The final scores are in! Blackburn Rovers 0-0 Coventry City Cardiff City 1-4 Middlesbrough Huddersfield Town 1-1 Birmingham City Millwall 1-0 Plymouth Argyle AFC Wimbledon 5-1 Walsall Gillingham 2-2 Doncaster Rovers Swindon Town 3-3 Morecambe Wrexham 2-1 Stockport County --- This round's winner is @gtownjohnno - congrats! @gtownjohnno - 7 @cheeky~k8 - 6 @ARLukomski, @DangerousSausage, @magpiejue - 4 @Harry Buckley, @nottsnutter, @william1984 - 3 @Dan, @Megan_Elizax, @super_ram - 2 @4everapie, @Fan of Big Tone, @Robbie - 1 --- What does it all mean? It means this... ARLukomski - 219 gtownjohnno - 217 william1984 - 209 cheeky~k8 - 197 super_ram - 196 DangerousSausage - 195 4everapie - 192 Fan of Big Tone - 190 magpiejue - 188 Dan - 182 Megan_Elizax - 168 nottsnutter - 150 DonnyNotts - 142 liampie - 133 Chris - 123 Joshua - 90 Robbie - 90 upthepies - 90 Harry Buckley - 75 allardyces tash - 70 TheSkipper - 67 KingWilliams - 66 CliftonMagpie - 55 thommo - 49 OoooooTommy - 45 NottsCountyKev - 41 JIMBO - 40 jimbob - 38 Nocturnal-Magpie - 38 AmericanPie - 36 KB1862 - 22 George L - 6 Canadian - 4 Congratulations to @ARLukomski, who retains his title this season! Well played once again! Well done also to @gtownjohnno, who was just one correct joker away from snatching the title away in the final round, and @william1984, who came from nowhere to challenge the top two in the final weeks. And of course, thank you all for taking part and making the prediction league fun. Like hook a duck, everyone wins a prize - pride, honour and a feather from Lenny, the Official Budge of the PON Prediction League (please send a stamped addressed envelope to the Sausage Residence). See you all next season!

The L2 line-up for next season is almost complete, with two exceptions: One of Doncaster, Crewe, Crawley and the franchise will be departing to League One. If we're competing for promotion next season, I'd rather have the franchise out of the way; however, I'd much prefer them to be exiting the league in the other direction. Doncaster are the form team, but is also a good away day for us. From the Bananarama Conference, either Solihull or Bromley will be joining the Football League for the first time. Both have ex-Notts players on board (Myles Weston at Bromley, Joss Labadie at Solihull). Personally I'd prefer Solihull as we can bring the song back, and because Bromley are always horrible to play against. Who do you want to join us and why?

It's sad to see more of the promotion winners leaving. Jimbo was a player we could all identify with; he's already an academy coach at Sheffield United and I expect him to continue that. Baldwin and Bostock are two big reasons why we were promoted. Bostock surprises me most there - he's been poor this season since his injury, but he's got the quality for this level and beyond. He's the one I think we're most likely to see again in L2 next season. While it's sad to say goodbye, the promotion season is over and, unlike this time last season, there's no question that we need to make changes if we're going to compete. With six players leaving (or potentially nine if the transfer-listed players go), there's scope to give the squad a proper and much-needed facelift. It'll be fascinating to see who comes in.