DangerousSausage

Tamworth's glory days of the National League and Gary Mills are over, they play at the same level a Hornchurch now.

Theoretically we should have too much for them, but we've been knocked out of our stride lately and will be nervous. Whoever we field will need to keep a cool head and let their quality show, otherwise it could be a long afternoon.

As for the team, I expect some different names to be given some match practice, Vincent being a prime candidate.

Bananas and oranges. Apples are too r*d, where are your principles?

Grapes I can tolerate as you can get alcohol out of them.

Pineapple doesn't belong on pizza. I tolerate people who eat this concoction, but only on the condition that I don't have to share it.

Grapefruit is just vile in all its forms.

The results:

Ipswich Town 2-1 Shrewsbury Town
Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 Bolton Wanderers
Barrow 1-1 Leyton Orient
Hartlepool United 2-1 Northampton Town
Mansfield Town 0-0 Oldham Athletic
Boreham Wood 2-0 Dagenham & Redbridge
Dover Athletic 1-2 Barnet
Wealdstone 1-2 Eastleigh

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After a couple of lean weeks, we've got some higher scores! Our winner this week is @Dripsey3 on 13, closely followed by yours truly with a spectacular 12!

@Dripsey3 - 13
@DangerousSausage - 12
@Dan - 10
@nottsnutter, @ARLukomski, @allardyces tash - 9
@4everapie - 7
@jimbob, @barnet11uk - 6
@GrannyPie, @Chris, @liampie, @Joshua, @CliftonMagpie - 4
@gtownjohnno, @Megan_Elizax - 3
@super_ram, @magpiejue, @TheSkipper - 2

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So we have a change at the top, with @Dripsey3 sneaking past @Dan once again. And plenty of movement elsewhere too:

Dripsey3 - 84
Dan - 82
gtownjohnno - 70
nottsnutter - 69
super_ram - 68
jimbob - 65
4everapie - 64
magpiejue - 60
barnet11uk - 57
DangerousSausage - 56
Megan_Elizax - 53
ARLukomski - 52
GrannyPie - 47
KB1862 - 43
Chris - 41
Feral Fox - 29
liampie - 23
allardyces tash - 17
Joshua - 13
TheSkipper - 7
Alex - 7
CliftonMagpie - 4
Canadian - 4

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And that's us for another week. The next round is on Saturday, so the fixtures will be online from Wednesday. Have a good week!

Not 100% sure @upthepies , it seems to be a combination of things. An absentee chairman who has overseen a promotion or two, but who has now presided over two straight relegations so it's all gone sour. I'm guessing that he's financed the club by "loaning" money to it, so the 20m figure is what he's put in. I think the Trews did something similar. It doesn't mean he will ever see it back. Call me selfish, but I'd prefer them to struggle on for another season or two. We don't need yet another promotion rival with money to burn!

A 4-0 home spanking against Chesterfield later, they've now sacked their manager too. But worry not, Stan Collymore has ridden in like a knight in shining armour to save the day:

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/58862741

I didn't get round to posting, but I thought a gritty, ugly 1-0 win would have done us a world of good, so I'm delighted with the result. It was just important to get back to winning ways and just get the basic things right again. Looking forward to seeing the highlights of this one!

@4everapie, you've forgotten the matches at Dover and Wealdstone.

Ipswich Town 1-1 Shrewsbury Town

Sheffield Wednesday 1-2 Bolton Wanderers

Barrow 1-1 Leyton Orient

Hartlepool United 2-0 Northampton Town

Mansfield Town 1-1 Oldham Athletic

Boreham Wood 2-0 Dagenham & Redbridge (joker)

Dover Athletic 0-3 Barnet

Wealdstone 2-1 Eastleigh

The rules are the same, 3pm Saturday is kick-off time. Good luck - and remember those jokers!

Ipswich Town v Shrewsbury Town

Sheffield Wednesday v Bolton Wanderers

Barrow v Leyton Orient

Hartlepool United v Northampton Town

Mansfield Town v Oldham Athletic

Boreham Wood v Dagenham & Redbridge

Dover Athletic v Barnet

Wealdstone v Eastleigh

The capitulation coming three days after the Woking game just makes it all the more shocking. If it were a one-off we could just write it off as one of those things that happens in football. But in the last 20 minutes of the last two games we've shipped seven goals and taken zero points when we should have gone away with four at the very least.

I can't help but wonder if the team has a mentality problem. Have some of the players got the idea lodged in the back of their minds that they are too good for this league? They train in good conditions, play in a nice big ground in front of crowds of more than 5,000 and in many cases played a good chunk of their careers in the Proper Leagues and/or had offers from League Two clubs in the summer. Obviously the club signed them because the recruitment team think they are too good for this league (and can therefore take us out of it). But if they were, we wouldn't be tenth. Halifax and Woking's players, with all due respect, know they aren't too good for this league and have to fight for every single point. Perhaps that hasn't quite dawned on our players yet, at least in their subconscious. We have to accept the fight in order to win it. It doesn't matter how talented our squad is if it goes missing when the chips are down.

Yeovil next. If you're reading, you have something to prove.

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!