DangerousSausage

A couple of women came to my door yesterday, they said they wanted to talk about bread. White, brown, granary, they just wouldn't shut up. They were the Hovis witnesses!

Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Norwich City Cardiff City 1-1 Stoke City Barnsley 1-2 Derby County Blackpool 1-1 Bolton Wanderers Accrington Stanley 2-0 Crawley Town (joker) Barrow 1-2 Bradford City Dagenham & Redbridge 3-1 Halifax Town Southend United 1-1 Aldershot

It's that time again ... get your predictions in by 3pm on Saturday, and remember your jokers! Blackburn Rovers v Norwich City Cardiff City v Stoke City Barnsley v Derby County Blackpool v Bolton Wanderers Accrington Stanley v Crawley Town Barrow v Bradford City Dagenham & Redbridge v Halifax Town Southend United v Aldershot

If it robbed Franchise of points, I won't complain too much Seriously though - I'm not the biggest VAR fan, but goal line technology is a no-brainer as long as it's financially doable. It removes uncertainty and you get an instant (and correct) decision.

I was excited about a new signing for just a moment there @Fan of Big Tone! The snowdrops have appeared and the birds are tweeting. But isn't it a bit early still?

Andy Holt might be on his high horse again, but he's not wrong here. 4 million pounds is a staggering amount of money to lose for a club their size when you consider the TV money and solidarity payments that League clubs get. That's well in excess of an annual wage budget at League Two level. Where on earth did it go?

The results: Bristol City 0-1 Queens Park Rangers Huddersfield Town 1-2 Hull City Lincoln City 1-0 Exeter City Peterborough United 1-2 Blackpool Crewe Alexandra 0-0 Harrogate Town Grimsby Town 1-5 Doncaster Rovers Hartlepool United 3-1 Boreham Wood Kidderminster Harriers 0-0 Dorking Wanderers --- Congratulations to @Harry Buckley, who got maximum points on his joker and wins his first prediction league round! @Harry Buckley - 9 @nottsnutter - 8 @Megan_Elizax - 7 @magpiejue, @Robbie, @william1984 - 6 @DonnyNotts, @super_ram - 5 @cheeky~k8 - 4 @DangerousSausage - 3 @Dan, @Fan of Big Tone, @gtownjohnno - 2 @4everapie, @ARLukomski - 1 --- There's little change at the very top, but the "play-off race" is looking close. But @Robbie s this week's biggest mover. ARLukomski - 176 gtownjohnno - 171 cheeky~k8 - 152 william1984 - 151 4everapie - 147 super_ram - 147 Fan of Big Tone - 144 magpiejue - 144 DangerousSausage - 143 Dan - 136 nottsnutter - 123 Megan_Elizax - 120 DonnyNotts - 111 Chris - 109 liampie - 101 upthepies - 90 Joshua - 82 allardyces tash - 67 KingWilliams - 66 TheSkipper - 62 CliftonMagpie - 55 thommo - 49 OoooooTommy - 45 Robbie - 43 NottsCountyKev - 41 JIMBO - 40 jimbob - 38 Nocturnal-Magpie - 38 AmericanPie - 36 Harry Buckley - 30 KB1862 - 22 George L - 6 Canadian - 4 --- The story continues on Wednesday, when I will post Saturday's fixtures from my castle on the hill. Take care everyone!

As iFollow decided not to work for me or many other fans (and their "support" staff failed to fix it or even respond), I relied on the radio. Apart from a second-half wobble it sounded like we played well, but in tighter games like this we always seem to come up a little bit short. Wrexham play percentage football that isn't great to watch, but it's effective and that's what we lack sometimes. As for the handball, it was one of those situations where even VAR wouldn't give you a definitive answer. I think McGoldrick dramatically raising his arm out of the way led to the loud shout of "handball", which in turn influenced the ref.

That's one rumour put to bed. How did he get on?

Glad to hear things are getting better @Fan of Big Tone! I'm back at work now, still got a lingering cough though. Maybe tomorrow will be just the tonic?

This might have slipped under the radar, so here's some reminders. Kick of is Saturday at 3! @ARLukomski, @cheeky~k8, @nottsnutter, @Chris, @DonnyNotts, @liampie, @upthepies, @Joshua, @allardyces tash, @KingMaynard, @TheSkipper, @CliftonMagpie, @thommo, @OoooooTommy, @NottsCountyKev, @JIMBO, @jimbob, @Nocturnal-Magpie, @AmericanPie, @KB1862, @George L, @Canadian

We're off to Cheshire's second biggest club tomorrow then. We owe them one. It'll be difficult as they're a physical side that'll put us under pressure and try to force mistakes, but if we pick up where we left off at Newport we've got every chance of bringing points back with us. Looking forward to it!

Bristol City 2-0 Queens Park Rangers (joker) Huddersfield Town 0-2 Hull City Lincoln City 2-1 Exeter City Peterborough United 2-0 Blackpool Crewe Alexandra 3-1 Harrogate Town Grimsby Town 1-1 Doncaster Rovers Hartlepool United 2-1 Boreham Wood Kidderminster Harriers 2-1 Dorking Wanderers

As I'm sure you all know, 17 February is Ed Sheeran's birthday. But anyway, these intros are a bad habit that'll probably give you the shivers. Enter your predictions by 3pm on Saturday - not forgetting your joker - and see if you can multiply your score and make the A team! Bristol City v Queens Park Rangers Huddersfield Town v Hull City Lincoln City v Exeter City Peterborough United v Blackpool Crewe Alexandra v Harrogate Town Grimsby Town v Doncaster Rovers Hartlepool United v Boreham Wood Kidderminster Harriers v Dorking Wanderers

The results: Birmingham City 1-0 Blackburn Rovers Norwich City 4-2 Watford Charlton Athletic 1-1 Lincoln City Leyton Orient 4-3 Northampton Town Accrington Stanley 2-0 AFC Wimbledon Colchester United P-P Grimsby Town Halifax Town 2-1 Maidenhead United York City 0-1 Dorking Wanderers --- This round's winner is @Dan, who scored one fewer than his team did last night! @Dan - 8 @DonnyNotts, @magpiejue, @Robbie - 7 @ARLukomski - 6 @4everapie, @Fan of Big Tone, @gtownjohnno, @Harry Buckley - 4 @cheeky~k8, @Chris, @DangerousSausage, @Megan_Elizax, @super_ram, @william1984 - 3 @nottsnutter - 2 --- @ARLukomski stretches the gap by another two points, while in the battle of the senior citizens @Fan of Big Tone overtakes @super_ram on alphabetical order! ARLukomski - 175 gtownjohnno - 169 cheeky~k8 - 148 4everapie - 146 william1984 - 145 Fan of Big Tone - 142 super_ram - 142 DangerousSausage - 140 magpiejue - 138 Dan - 134 nottsnutter - 115 Megan_Elizax - 113 Chris - 109 DonnyNotts - 106 liampie - 101 upthepies - 90 Joshua - 82 allardyces tash - 67 KingWilliams - 66 TheSkipper - 62 CliftonMagpie - 55 thommo - 49 OoooooTommy - 45 NottsCountyKev - 41 JIMBO - 40 jimbob - 38 Nocturnal-Magpie - 38 Robbie - 37 AmericanPie - 36 KB1862 - 22 Harry Buckley - 21 George L - 6 Canadian - 4 --- We're having another round on Saturday, the fixtures for that will appear here a little later today. Thanks for playing and see you then!

It's also quite something that they scored nine against a team in a play-off spot! That's good news for us, we're not going to catch Mansfield and it absolutely murders Harrogate's goal difference. Elsewhere, FGR got a surprise win at Barrow to put them six points behind safety. Stockport lost at home too.

Oh yuck, hope you're feeling better soon packed holiday flights are awful for picking up illnesses. I've had flu myself since last week, but last night's game really picked me up!

When the teamsheet came out for tonight, no one knew quite how we would be lining up. Apparently only Baldwin, Warner and Cameron were practicing headers during the warm-up in an attempt to make Newport think we'd be playing a back three. SM obviously likes to keep the opposition guessing, and I'm really chuffed that his bravery and hard work paid off last night. We looked a different proposition off the ball last night, and that made a huge difference. Robertson looks a superb signing. Ashby Hammond looked decent enough with the ball at his feet, but if you're hoping to see a keeper who'll come off his line and claim crosses, you'll be disappointed. Almost saved the penalty though. And of course Jones is in unreal form right now.

We never adapted to the National League either @Wheelbarrow repair man, and the teams there sussed us out too. It didn't matter because we were too good at what we did. The thrust of the article is that we aren't just shipping goals because of the step up - we are not defending or pressing as effectively and are easier to play against this season because if it. I agree with the second part of your post, we seem to have lost our decision making skills - when do we hold the ball, when do we go long? Part of that comes with confidence. I see the new keeper is playing tonight, maybe he can spot when a break is on.

Very interesting article (click here to access it directly). While a lot of the fire has been directed at the back three and Stone for individual errors, we seem to have lost the balance we had last season. When we lost the ball in advanced positions last season, the opposition immediately had Austin and Rodders snapping at their heels to win it back. McGoldrick and Crowley offer less in this respect. We also have two wing backs who aren't really suitable for that role as they offer little defensively. It's too easy to play through us. To be fair, the new manager has realised that our defensive behaviour as a team leaves something to be desired, but he now has to work with the squad to find answers. He needs to find the team that works best as a unit - and it might not include the best individual players. Attempting to throw the baby out with the bathwater and turn this team with these players into a long-ball team would be a disaster. We need to play to our strengths and that means playing with the ball on the ground. That isn't an aesthetic thing, it's what we're best at.

Pancakes have to be thin and about the size of your plate. They're dead easy to make yourself, but of course I forget again this year. Fun fact: pancake day was also a thing in Robin Hood's day. (Trigger warning: contains footage of Worksop.)

Birmingham City 0-2 Blackburn Rovers Norwich City 2-0 Watford Charlton Athletic 1-3 Lincoln City Leyton Orient 2-1 Northampton Town Accrington Stanley 1-1 AFC Wimbledon Colchester United 1-1 Grimsby Town Halifax Town 1-0 Maidenhead United York City 2-0 Dorking Wanderers (joker)

Here's something that's been an issue in the past: prediction league reminders. This week nottsnutter mentioned that he'd stopped getting reminders for posts in the prediction league forum, and unfollowing it and following it again didn't seem to help. Has anyone else been having this issue?

The results: Blackburn Rovers 3-1 Stoke City Middlesbrough 1-2 Bristol City Blackpool 1-1 Oxford United Reading 2-0 Charlton Athletic Swindon Town 1-1 Salford City Walsall 0-3 Newport County Altrincham 3-0 Rochdale Boreham Wood 1-0 Maidenhead United --- This week's winner is @ARLukomski, closely followed by @gtownjohnno and @Fan of Big Tone! @ARLukomski - 8 @Fan of Big Tone, @gtownjohnno - 7 @Dan, @DangerousSausage - 6 @cheeky~k8, @Harry Buckley, @super_ram - 5 @DonnyNotts, @william1984 - 4 @magpiejue - 3 @4everapie, @Robbie, @TheSkipper - 2 --- There's little change in this week's table, with the top two streaking ahead and @cheeky~k8 moving back into the top three: ARLukomski - 169 gtownjohnno - 165 cheeky~k8 - 145 4everapie - 142 william1984 - 142 super_ram - 139 Fan of Big Tone - 138 DangerousSausage - 137 magpiejue - 131 Dan - 126 nottsnutter - 113 Megan_Elizax - 110 Chris - 106 liampie - 101 DonnyNotts - 99 upthepies - 90 Joshua - 82 allardyces tash - 67 KingWilliams - 66 TheSkipper - 62 CliftonMagpie - 55 thommo - 49 OoooooTommy - 45 NottsCountyKev - 41 JIMBO - 40 jimbob - 38 Nocturnal-Magpie - 38 AmericanPie - 36 Robbie - 30 KB1862 - 22 Harry Buckley - 17 George L - 6 Canadian - 4 --- As there's a full set of fixtures on Tuesday night, there will also be a prediction league round. The fixtures are online now - good luck!

Last season we were usually a class better than our opponents, now we're not. We were always going to have closer games against teams at our own level, and those games are often decided by fine margins. The match at Gillingham was one example, we won it at the death that day but more often we're not giving ourselves a chance due to our defending. We took the lead yesterday, and if we could have held it for longer, Gillingham would have had to start taking risks and the game could easily have unfolded in our favour. In those games you can't just blast the opposition away, you've got to be able to hold a single goal lead or even a draw.