DangerousSausage

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.

First-day ST sales probably weren't that great last time around because we were still all traumatised from our crazy play-off campaign Seriously, I'm pleasantly surprised by those prices, there's been some rounding up and down but that's about it. The biggest change is the 6.50 extra for the kids' ticket, but can you even get a Happy Meal for that nowadays? Meanwhile, in Germany you pay adult prices from 14... They missed a trick by not offering ST holders a free drink at the Nest though.

Watching that again gave me goosebumps. He hasn't had a great return to League Two, but if it weren't for him we might never have made it there in the first place. Thanks for the effort and the memories!

Seems to have been something of a bit-part player wherever he's gone - his 28 appearances this season were the most he's managed to date, and half of them were off the bench. However, he's also a veteran of Port Vale's successful play-off campaign the other year and has played in League One. We'll see what happens (or doesn't).

Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Coventry City Cardiff City 2-1 Middlesbrough Huddersfield Town 1-1 Birmingham City Millwall 1-2 Plymouth Argyle AFC Wimbledon 2-0 Walsall Gillingham 0-2 Doncaster Rovers (joker) Swindon Town 2-0 Morecambe Wrexham 2-2 Stockport County

And now, the end is near. And so we face the final curtain. My friends, I'll say it clear, I'll state my case, of which I'm certain: this is the FINAL prediction league round for this season. The games all kick off at 3pm on Saturday, and you get a joker each. Now predict them your way Blackburn Rovers v Coventry City Cardiff City v Middlesbrough Huddersfield Town v Birmingham City Millwall v Plymouth Argyle AFC Wimbledon v Walsall Gillingham v Doncaster Rovers Swindon Town v Morecambe Wrexham v Stockport County

It's paper talk. The stuff on that website is pure speculation, in the hope that people click on their articles - they earn money from advertising with each click. That's not to say I couldn't see it happening, Wrexham are one of the clubs that could afford a hefty transfer fee, they can offer a step up and must be a genuinely exciting club to play for right now. But there's no point worrying about speculation like that, he's under contract and Notts don't have to sell.

It's bonkers. I know they had injuries, but they looked such a poor side during both games I thought they might struggle to stay up. It just goes to show you can't really judge a team based on two games. I can see them going up too, based on the form of the teams around them...

My heart goes out to Coventry, what an amazing comeback and an incredible moment taken away because of a situation in which no unfair advantage was gained. It's sickening. I wouldn't blame the official in the TV room, an offside is a binary decision after all. But this fundamentalist interpretation of the offside rule needs a rethink - the point isn't penalising players whose big toes are 1 mm behind an imaginary line, but to prevent forwards gaining an unfair advantage.

Florist were hard done to, but that statement is a total embarrassment and completely unprofessional. Claiming that the official is corrupt is also surely libellous. If the VAR wanted to benefit Luton, surely he'd have given a penalty to engineer a draw? Florist's owner is an accident waiting to happen. Another Portsmouth in the making.

For some added context, Barnsley have looked dead certs for the playoffs at least, but after a string of defeats they need to win their final game to be sure of a spot on the top six. All the same, this is a panic move aimed at saving their season. The idea that the players were deliberately throwing away their chances of promotion in protest against the head coach is absurd.

Scandalous. Gateshead adhere to the rules, but couldn't provide proof until after the 1 March cut-off date. It has no relevance to next season at all. And a special gold star goes to the National League, which announced that Solihull had a bye before, after consulting THEIR OWN RULES, realising that Alty should actually have the bye and Solihull have to play. And all this 48 hours before the playoffs begin. What a shambles!

I remember watching him on his debut, pointing, organising and looking like the only one who cared. He didn't deserve relegation. As the only member of that team who stuck with us throughout the National League years and helped restore our League status, he has a special place in the hearts of Notts fans. I'd love him to stay, but he's an academy coach at Sheffield United so he has an iron in the fire there too.

The results: Stoke City 3-0 Plymouth Argyle Sunderland 0-1 Millwall Blackpool 3-2 Barnsley Charlton Athletic 1-1 Shrewsbury Town Cheltenham Town1-2 Lincoln City Doncaster Rovers 4-2 Barrow Grimsby Town 2-0 Swindon Town Sutton United 2-2 Crawley Town --- Congrats to this round's winner, @william1984! Apologies for the avant-garde mobile screenshot style this week... --- So with one round remaining, @ARLukomski is five points ahead of @gtownjohnno and nine points ahead of @william1984. Don't ask why the second table is larger, see it as a consolation for being in the bottom half! But the final word has not yet been spoken - the last fixtures will magically appear on Wednesday and will be played on Saturday. Thanks for playing and see you all then!

You'll be devastated if Crawley win 29-1 now @super_ram.

Nice to see Notts making a statement too. The FA have responded with a tone-deaf statement and have doubled down. Apparently it was mentioned in some meetings and more games will be televised (involving extra inconvenience for fans), so it's all OK. The sooner these amateurs are replaced by an independent regulator the better. https://www.thefa.com/news/2024/apr/19/statement-emirates-fa-cup-format-update-20241904

Stoke City 1-2 Plymouth Argyle Sunderland 2-0 Millwall Blackpool 3-1 Barnsley Charlton Athletic 1-1 Shrewsbury Town Cheltenham Town 2-2 Lincoln City Doncaster Rovers 2-1 Barrow (joker) Grimsby Town 1-0 Swindon Town Sutton United 1-3 Crawley Town

I had just come here to share that Tranmere statement but was beaten to it! I agree with every word. As usual, the FA can be relied on to doff their caps to the rich and powerful, even if it means degrading their own competition (again). The PL clubs that wanted this seem to have no problem with playing an ever growing number of Champions League games or going on extended tours of whatever despotic Middle Eastern state is throwing money at them (one of the changes is starting the PL season later so players can be "completely rested" - yeah right!). A dozen clubs have no right to overrule the rest of English football, no matter how rich they are. Replays are one of the things that make the FA Cup special - if winning outright doesn't seem realistic, you could always drag your bigger opponent back to your ground, or have a day out at a top stadium. Alas, the bean counters have decided that pre-season tours and European games are more lucrative to half a dozen clubs so the rest of us have to go without. This announcement is three years to the day after the European Super League was formed, and that example shows that we don't have to let the wealthy ride roughshod over the rest of us. Something needs to be done. How about clubs from outside the PL withdrawing from next season's FA Cup?

It was interesting to get an insight into the thought processes of the people running the club, but there were no major bombshells. The sudden appearance of party balloons on Paul Mace's screen was probably the best bit! ???? One of my main takeaways is that the head coach and his assistant seem to be more involved in player recruitment than I originally thought. The bit about season ticket prices was very brief and a little awkward. Someone really needed to mention the cost of living crisis. I know it's JP's job to maximise revenue and put the club on a firm financial footing, but raising prices just because other clubs are doing it isn't a socially compatible thing to do. Go too high and we risk freezing out a section of our supporters, some of whom have only recently started going regularly. Football should be affordable.

Well done AJ! Did he win a cake?