DangerousSausage

The results:

Cardiff City 0-1 Reading
Derby County 0-0 Swansea City
Fleetwood Town 1-2 Charlton Athletic
Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Oxford United
Bristol Rovers 1-3 Swindon Town
Colchester United 0-2 Salford City
Maidenhead United 2-3 King's Lynn
Torquay United 5-0 Wealdstone

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That was a tricky one. As with Notts, points were at a premium this weekend, but five of you did manage to get five points each:

@Dripsey3, @gtownjohnno, @barnet11uk, @Chris, @TheSkipper (welcome back!) - 5
@Dan, @super_ram - 4
@ARLukomski, @KB1862, @liampie - 3
@magpiejue, @4everapie - 2
@nottsnutter, @Megan_Elizax, @GrannyPie - 1
@DangerousSausage (what's wrong with me this season?) - nul points

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Aaaand here are the standings. @Dan is top by a single point and @gtownjohnno joins the top three:

Dan - 72
Dripsey3 - 71
gtownjohnno - 67
super_ram - 66
nottsnutter - 60
jimbob - 59
magpiejue - 58
4everapie - 57
barnet11uk - 51
Megan_Elizax - 50
DangerousSausage - 44
ARLukomski - 43
KB1862 - 43
GrannyPie - 43
Chris - 37
Feral Fox - 29
liampie - 19
Joshua - 9
allardyces tash - 8
Alex - 7
TheSkipper - 5
Canadian - 4

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As on Tuesday the teams in the Proper Leagues are playing in something called the EFL Trophy (a competition we've opted out of for the time being), the next prediction league round is this coming Saturday. So keep an eye out for the fixtures here from Wednesday evening onwards. Thanks for playing and have a good week!

Cardiff City 1-0 Reading

Derby County 1-3 Swansea City (j) 

Fleetwood Town 2-0 Charlton Athletic

Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 Oxford United

Bristol Rovers 1-0 Swindon Town

Colchester United 1-1 Salford City

Maidenhead United 2-0 King's Lynn

Torquay United 1-1 Wealdstone

Time to gaze into our crystal balls again on Saturday. Kick-off is at 3pm, and remember your jokers

Cardiff City v Reading

Derby County v Swansea City

Fleetwood Town v Charlton Athletic

Sheffield Wednesday v Oxford United

Bristol Rovers v Swindon Town

Colchester United v Salford City

Maidenhead United v King's Lynn

Torquay United v Wealdstone

All the best to you and @GrannyPie, @super_ram.

Wayne Rooney's reign has been "interesting", but for all his faults he does really seem to have thrown himself into his first management job. Others would have been looking for the door.

Possibly, it all depends on how we react to our last result. It's certainly handy as it keeps them within shooting distance. The only thing is that Woking are our next opponents, and they'll arrive full of confidence after beating Furlough FC - quite the banana skin.

The results:

Blackburn Rovers 5-1 Cardiff City
Nottingham Florist 1-1 Millwall
Morecambe 3-3 Accrington Stanley
Oxford United 1-1 Gillingham
Hartlepool United 1-1 Exeter City
Sutton United 4-0 Carlisle United
Dagenham & Redbridge 5-1 Solihull Moors
Stockport County 2-1 Wrexham

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Congrats to @super_ram, who got this week's highest score!

@super_ram - 11
@gtownjohnno - 8
@jimbob - 7
@4everapie, @Megan_Elizax, @GrannyPie, @ARLukomski - 6
@Dan, @Chris - 5
@nottsnutter, @barnet11uk, @KB1862 - 4
@Dripsey3, @magpiejue, @DangerousSausage - 2
@Joshua - 1

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Overall, @Dan nudges past @Dripsey3 to re-take first place, but the top end of the table is looking a lot tighter...

Dan - 68
Dripsey3 - 66
super_ram - 62
gtownjohnno - 62
jimbob - 59
nottsnutter - 59
magpiejue - 56
4everapie - 55
Megan_Elizax - 49
barnet11uk - 46
DangerousSausage - 44
GrannyPie - 42
ARLukomski - 40
KB1862 - 40
Chris - 32
Feral Fox - 29
liampie - 16
Joshua - 9
allardyces tash - 8
Alex - 7
Canadian - 4

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And that's yer lot until next Saturday. Fixtures will be online from Wednesday evening onwards. Ta for playing!

Reminder - kick-off is Saturday 3pm.

@jimbob, @super_ram, @barnet11uk, @KB1862, @GrannyPie, @Feral Fox, @liampie, @allardyces tash, @Alex, @Canadian

@gtownjohnno - your prediction of a 9-9 draw between Stockport and Wrexham looks a tad ambitious. Did you mean 0-0? If so, say the word and I'll change it. But don't blame me if they do actually draw 9-9

I was a bit sceptical about us signing such a young keeper again. But many Sunderland fans really do seem to rate him - he started this season as first choice before they brought in another keeper from Bayern II. Let's hope he lives up to his promise and keeps some clean sheets for us.

Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Cardiff City

Nottingham Florist 1-2 Millwall

Morecambe 1-2 Accrington Stanley

Oxford United 1-0 Gillingham

Hartlepool United 2-0 Exeter City

Sutton United 1-0 Carlisle United

Dagenham & Redbridge 1-1 Solihull Moors (joker)

Stockport County 1-1 Wrexham

1 hour ago, Pie since 89 said:

I notice he’s also calling for B teams to join the EFL again if they can’t fill their ground for the first team who’s going to watch the B team?

That just shows a lack of understanding of English football and the idea of the 92 teams.

We have B teams playing up to the third division in Germany and it's a disaster. Two were newly promoted this season, Dortmund II and Freiburg II, replacing Bayern II, who were relegated. Both had OK (but still below average) crowds in the few weeks before the Bundesliga started, and are now heading for three figures. SV Waldhof used to play Freiburg II in the fourth tier and didn't even bother opening their away end, as no away fans came. Plus, it's fundamentally unfair to play opponents who can field players bought by their parent club for millions. It's handy for big clubs with huge squads and literally no one else. 

What did you all do for your holidays this year? Did you take the opportunity to flay to a green list country, or did you stay in the UK?

Here in Germany, nearly everyone I know stayed in the country. One friend nipped across the border to Austria, while my neighbour went to Mallorca, but that's it. We went to Lake Titisee in the Black Forest, which is almost 1000 metres above sea level. Sounds nice until you realise it has its own microclimate and is several degrees colder than most other places! It's certainly picturesque, but I do wish I'd moved closer to a beach...

What were your holiday haunts this year? And did any of you manage to combine it with a Notts away match?

As Sepp Herberger once said, after the prediction league is before the prediction league. So here's the next round. Kick-off is 3pm on Saturday, and remember your jokers!

Blackburn Rovers v Cardiff City

Nottingham Florist v Millwall

Morecambe v Accrington Stanley

Oxford United v Gillingham

Hartlepool United v Exeter City

Sutton United v Carlisle United

Dagenham & Redbridge v Solihull Moors

Stockport County v Wrexham

Apologies for the delay in posting the scores, I committed the scandalous crime of going on holiday during the prediction league season. But now I'm back, with bright red legs thanks to the one sunny day we had (and a lack of sun cream). Anyway, the scores:

Middlesbrough 1-2 Blackpool
QPR 1-2 Bristol City
AFC Wimbledon 0-1 Plymouth Argyle
Portsmouth 1-2 Cambridge United
Bradford City 1-1 Barrow
Tranmere Rovers 2-0 Salford City
Bromley 2-0 Barnet
Torquay United 1-0 Southend United

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@KB1862 got his joker right and scooped this week's highest score:

@KB1862 - 7
@4everapie - 6
@nottsnutter, @Megan_Elizax, @barnet11uk - 5
@magpiejue, @jimbob - 4
@gtownjohnno, @Chris - 3
@ARLukomski - 2
@Dripsey3, @Dan, @DangerousSausage - 1

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@Dripsey3 and @Dan still lead the way, with the competition making limited inroads this week.

Dripsey3 - 64
Dan - 63
nottsnutter - 55
magpiejue - 54
gtownjohnno - 54
jimbob - 52
super_ram - 51
4everapie - 49
Megan_Elizax - 43
barnet11uk - 42
DangerousSausage - 42
KB1862 - 36
GrannyPie - 36
ARLukomski - 34
Feral Fox - 29
Chris - 27
liampie - 16
allardyces tash - 8
Joshua - 8
Alex - 7
Canadian - 4

The next round is on Saturday, so the fixtures are up now. See you there!

On 16/09/2021 at 21:25, Chris said:

I think Premier League teams need to start being realistic and have affordable tickets, I am not suprised that some teams are having issues what with COVID. Money isn't something any supporter should throw at a club, especially one as big as Manchester City.

Defending a financially doped petro-club makes me feel a bit dirty, but some of City's season ticket prices are in the same ballpark as Notts - starting at 325 pounds in the last season before the lurgy. That includes fewer games, but the quality of the football is probably slightly better than at the Lane. They certainly aren't expensive for the league they're in, so I don't think prices are the root of their problems.

Like others have said, when they were knocking around in the second division City had a loyal and passionate fanbase of 25-30,000, so slightly more than teams like Wolves and Sheffield Wednesday and definitely nothing to be ashamed of. But now they boast a team that is among the best in Europe, and they are expected to draw the crowds to match. But doubling your fanbase is easier said than done, especially when you share a city with the best supported club in the whole country. It's also likely that a fair number of long-serving fans have drifted away recently, and they're struggling to find the new fans to replace them. I don't think Guardiola really appreciates this.

Another issue is that the Leipzig game was one of the seemingly never-ending group phase games in the Champions League, a competition that is so bloated that even some of the continent's best-supported clubs struggle to fill their grounds for it.

Kewell's a celebrity manager living off his name and a good half-season at Crawley. All the same, 7 games is extremely early, especially with all the new signings they had.

I'm definitely in favour of more research on the link between heading and brain injuries. It's a difficult one and I don't pretend to know the answers.

It seems intuitively obvious that the link will be strongest in those who played in the 50s and 60s, when the ball was heavier than today. But what about the frequent clashes of heads - an inevitable result of challenging for headers in any era? There's at least one nasty clash in every match, and probably more in training too.

I hope the powers can be can work something out to protect the safety of the players without altering the fabric of the game in the way that @Fozzy described. Trouble is, it'll be decades before we know if it works...

Welcome to the pleasuredome, @Eloise Ward! Feel free to get involved, the more the merrier!

Not long to go - get your predictions in!

Middlesbrough 2-1 Blackpool

QPR 2-1 Bristol City

AFC Wimbledon 2-1 Plymouth Argyle

Portsmouth 2-0 Cambridge United

Bradford City 2-0 Barrow

Tranmere Rovers 1-1 Salford City

Bromley 3-1 Barnet

Torquay United 1-1 Southend United (joker) 

Saturday is prediction league time again - please post your predictions by 3pm on Saturday, and remember those jokers!

Middlesbrough v Blackpool

QPR v Bristol City

AFC Wimbledon v Plymouth Argyle

Portsmouth v Cambridge United

Bradford City v Barrow

Tranmere Rovers v Salford City

Bromley v Barnet

Torquay United v Southend United

We're making it exciting aren't we? A win is great, we're still unbeaten too, but four goals conceded in two home games isn't great. There's so little room for error if you want to finish top, you need to stamp out bad habits like this.

The scores:

Blackburn Rovers 2-2 Luton Town
Bristol City 0-0 Preston North End
Oxford United 0-0 Wycombe Wanderers
Shrewsbury Town 1-1 Crewe Alexandra
Forest Green Rovers 1-0 Northampton Town
Walsall 3-1 Mansfield Town
Halifax Town 3-1 Southend United
Stockport County 0-3 Yeovil Town

This week's winner is @jimbob with 8 points - congrats!

@jimbob - 8
@Dan - 7
@Megan_Elizax - 6
@Dripsey3, @barnet11uk, @ARLukomski - 5
@gtownjohnno, @nottsnutter, @DangerousSausage - 3
@4everapie - 2
@KB1862, @liampie - 1

Which all means that @Dripsey3 and @Dan continue their reign of terror, but the field is tight behind them. Can a challenger emerge from the pack?

Dripsey3 - 63
Dan - 62
gtownjohnno - 51
super_ram - 51
nottsnutter - 50
magpiejue - 50
jimbob - 48
4everapie - 43
DangerousSausage - 41
Megan_Elizax - 38
barnet11uk - 37
GrannyPie - 36
ARLukomski - 32
KB1862 - 29
Feral Fox - 29
Chris - 24
liampie - 16
allardyces tash - 8
Joshua - 8
Alex - 7
Canadian - 4

The next round is on Saturday, so I'll be posting the fixtures in the next couple of days (I'm on the road on Wednesday, so I'll try to make it sooner). Have a good week!

Forget to send in your predictions for Saturday do not! 3pm as usual kick off is. Good luck! Yes, hrrrm.

@super_ram, @magpiejue (you replied to the wrong thread), @4everapie, @jimbob, @GrannyPie, @barnet11uk, @Feral Fox, @KB1862, @Chris, @allardyces tash, @Joshua, @Alex, @Canadian

Wrexham's owners have obviously made the club well known internationally, and that opens doors. EA are obviously of the opinion that the interest in them justifies adding them to the game.

I'm not all that fussed. My last football game was PES, and I was quite happy to rename a team and change the kit until I'd made my own Notts! FIFA went downhill when they started following the microtransactions trend. It's high time FIFA and PES had a decent challenger IMO, they've dominated the genre for far too long.

Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Luton Town

Bristol City 1-1 Preston North End

Oxford United 0-1 Wycombe Wanderers

Shrewsbury Town 2-2 Crewe Alexandra

Forest Green Rovers 2-0 Northampton Town

Walsall 0-2 Mansfield Town (joker)

Halifax Town 1-3 Southend United

Stockport County 2-1 Yeovil Town

A trip to the seaside early in the season is never bad. Hope we take a good following.

I can't say I'm too familiar with Weymouth, but they're not cannon fodder and clearly know where the net is. The players need to take fixtures against less glamorous opposition just as seriously as the Wrexhams - then I'm sure we'll bring the points home with us.