DangerousSausage

The matches at Burton and Harrogate have been called off, but none of you chose them for your jokers anyway. Hope not too many others are postponed.

Here are mine:

Blackpool 2-1 Middlesbrough

Coventry City 0-2 Millwall

Burton Albion P-P Bolton Wanderers

Ipswich Town 0-2 Wycombe Wanderers

Morecambe 0-0 Crewe Alexandra

Barrow 2-0 Oldham Athletic (joker)

Crawley Town 3-1 Bristol Rovers

Harrogate Town P-P Mansfield Town

The results:

Huddersfield Town 3-2 Blackpool
Middlesbrough 2-0 Nottingham Florest
Cheltenham Town 0-2 Plymouth Argyle
Fleetwood Town 0-3 Shrewsbury Town
Mansfield Town 3-2 Hartlepool United
Oldham Athletic 1-3 Scunthorpe United
Aldershot 1-1 Woking
Wrexham P-P Solihull Moors

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This was probably the most comprehensive prediction league round ever, as it comprised two thirds (6 out of 9) of all Football League fixtures that actually went ahead! In terms of points it was all rather Scrooge-like, but this round's winner is @GrannyPie with five!

@GrannyPie - 5
@Dan, @Dripsey3, @magpiejue, @ARLukomski, @Megan_Elizax - 4
@gtownjohnno, @super_ram, @DangerousSausage, @jimbob - 3
@4everapie - 1

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As we hit the half-way stage, we're comfortably on track to surpass last season's winning total of 233 points. @Dan holds a slender lead, and @super_ram and @ARLukomski both gain a position.

Dan - 145
Dripsey3 - 142
gtownjohnno - 124
super_ram - 115
4everapie - 114
magpiejue - 109
DangerousSausage - 107
jimbob - 104
nottsnutter - 99
ARLukomski - 97
Chris - 95
GrannyPie - 93
Megan_Elizax - 90
barnet11uk - 73
KB1862 - 52
liampie - 45
Joshua - 34
Feral Fox - 29
allardyces tash - 21
TheSkipper - 16
CliftonMagpie - 10
Alex - 7
Canadian - 4

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The next prediction league fixtures kick off on Wednesday at 7.45pm, and are already online. Get yourselves down there!

To kick off the second half of the season, we march on with the Christmas schedule, with the Proper Leagues playing on Wednesday. Like last time, all of these games are going ahead as of now, but to be on the safe side it's best to check for postponements before predicting. Kick off is 7.45pm on Wednesday, so get your predictions in by then!

The results of the last round will be posted some time tomorrow 

Blackpool v Middlesbrough

Coventry City v Millwall

Burton Albion P-P Bolton Wanderers

Ipswich Town v Wycombe Wanderers

Morecambe v Crewe Alexandra

Barrow v Oldham Athletic

Crawley Town P-P Bristol Rovers

Harrogate Town P-P Mansfield Town

Tempting as it is to criticise the "interesting" way King's Lynn seem to go about their business, why on earth was a pitch inspection scheduled for an hour before kick-off? It makes no sense and is really ignorant of the fans.

And so do I. But the Rubin Kazan and former Russia coach sings it so much better than me. 

Huddersfield Town 1-1 Blackpool

Middlesbrough 1-2 Nottingham Florest

Cheltenham Town 0-1 Plymouth Argyle

Fleetwood Town 2-0 Shrewsbury Town

Mansfield Town 2-1 Hartlepool United (joker) 

Oldham Athletic 1-0 Scunthorpe United

Aldershot 2-1 Woking

Wrexham P-P Solihull Moors

Once all the presents have been opened and the disappointing TV specials watched, Boxing Day is all about turkey and stuffing sandwiches and football. Or is it? As I write this on Thursday night, more than half the games have already been postponed due to The Situation, so I feel like a hostage to fortune. But I'll try to squeeze a round out regardless - all of the fixtures below are going ahead at the time of writing, but it'd be a good idea to double-check them to see if the matches are actually going ahead before making your predictions. If your joker match is postponed, you're welcome to change it provided it's before kick-off time. The deadline for predictions (and changes) is 3pm on Boxing Day, and don't forget those jokers!

Huddersfield Town v Blackpool

Middlesbrough v Nottingham Florest

Cheltenham Town v Plymouth Argyle

Fleetwood Town v Shrewsbury Town

Mansfield Town v Hartlepool United

Oldham Athletic v Scunthorpe United

Aldershot v Woking

Wrexham P-P Solihull Moors

Thanks for sharing @Piethagoram. It's worth clicking on the link as there's more, and it's quite informative.

The owners are basically financing the club through loans, as the Trews did. This seems to be the done thing now. And this season they simply lent an extra 2 million to cover the losses. Their dad is apparently seriously minted, and that's probably where it's coming from.

Irrespective of Covid, this league is awful for the finances. We're competing for a single automatic promotion spot with several big-spending clubs, yet at the same time the loss of the Sky money has ripped a big hole in our budget. 

That's huge. Over a normal season we'd probably have gate receipts of around 1.5 million, which would have covered that in part. On the other hand, the club has made money from streaming and has received financial help from the league, although this hasn't plugged the gap.

We're clearly not financially sustainable right now and should be grateful that the brothers are there to bail out the losses and keep the club running in the way we're accustomed to. 

The results:

Bristol City 2-3 Huddersfield Town
Coventry City P-P Stoke City
Morecambe 0-0 Fleetwood Town
Oxford United 2-3 Wigan Athletic
Plymouth Argyle 1-0 Charlton Athletic
Port Vale P-P Exeter City
Sutton United 1-0 Harrogate Town
Tranmere Rovers 1-0 Leyton Orient

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This week's winner is @super_ram - congrats!

@super_ram - 6
@4everapie, @DangerousSausage, @GrannyPie - 5
@Dripsey3 - 4
@Dan, @jimbob - 3
@gtownjohnno, @magpiejue, @Chris - 2
@ARLukomski, @Megan_Elizax - 1

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And so these are the standings after 22 rounds. Just one or two changes:

Dan - 141
Dripsey3 - 138
gtownjohnno - 121
4everapie - 113
super_ram - 112
magpiejue - 105
DangerousSausage - 104
jimbob - 101
nottsnutter - 99
Chris - 95
ARLukomski - 93
GrannyPie - 88
Megan_Elizax - 86
barnet11uk - 73
KB1862 - 52
liampie - 45
Joshua - 34
Feral Fox - 29
allardyces tash - 21
TheSkipper - 16
CliftonMagpie - 10
Alex - 7
Canadian - 4

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And that's how it stands this Christmas. The next round of fixtures is on Boxing Day (Sunday), so keep an eye out for the next prediction league fixtures here from Thursday onwards. Just in case I don't get a chance to say it again, have a great Christmas!

In another thread, @Chris mentioned that he'd like our next Wembley appearance to be in the play-off final, and it sent a shiver down my spine. The play-offs are our most likely route back to League Two, but I hate them. I joined the party too late for Neil Warnock's triumphs, but in time to see us get our bellies tickled by Bradford in 1996. On top of that, I follow a team in Germany with a pretty catastrophic play-off record themselves.

1995-96 - Bradford 2-0 Notts, League One play-off final. There were three times as many Bradford fans there, and they knew they were going to win. We were pants.

2015-16 - SV Waldhof Mannheim win the Regionalliga Südwest (fourth level), but miss out on promotion to the third division after losing the home leg 0-2 against a superior Sportfreunde Lotte side. I was there. The joy.

2016-17 - Waldhof had a promotion play-off again, this time against SV Meppen. After two 0-0 draws, Meppen won on penalties.

2017-18 - A double header! Notts were well beaten by Coventry (with a bit of help from the ref) and Waldhof made it a hat-trick of play-off defeats by losing at home to Uerdingen (the match was abandoned 10 minutes from the end with the score 3-1 to Uerdingen after home fans starting firing fireworks onto the pitch).

2019-20 - Notts reached a first Wembley final since 1996 and I couldn't go because of The Situation. We lost.

2020-21 - Torquay v Notts. We lost.

It could be eighth time lucky, I know. And it's by no means certain that we'll make the play-offs at all. But if we're in the top seven, please let us be first!

Since Tuesday's match is off, I can definitely see the logic behind naming a stronger team to keep them in the flow. I wouldn't mind us naming a weaker team for the next round though - this could bring the added benefit of allowing some from the second string to push for a place in the first team.

I don't mind the FA Trophy at all - it's certainly a more serious competition than whatever the Checkatrade Trophy is called nowadays. But the novelty has worn off for me. That's partly due to the fact that we're still in the running for the automatic promotion spot, whereas that ship had already sailed in both of the last two seasons.

The matches at both Coventry and Port Vale have been postponed, the others are going ahead as of now. @Dan and @jimbob, you can change your jokers, @magpiejue you've forgotten yours. You can make changes until 3pm on Saturday

And here's your reminder, @nottsnutter, @Chris, @barnet11uk, @KB1862, @liampie, @Joshua, @Feral Fox, @allardyces tash, @TheSkipper, @CliftonMagpie, @Alex and @Canadian!

Bristol City 1-1 Huddersfield Town

Coventry City P-P Stoke City

Morecambe 1-2 Fleetwood Town

Oxford United 1-2 Wigan Athletic

Plymouth Argyle 0-2 Charlton Athletic (joker)

Port Vale P-P Exeter City

Sutton United 1-0 Harrogate Town

Tranmere Rovers 3-1 Leyton Orient

Port Vale versus Exeter has just been postponed. @Dan, you can change your joker.

It looks like there could be more postponements before the weekend, so it's best to check the fixtures before you make your predictions just in case. If you pick a joker for a match that gets postponed, you can change it before 3pm on Saturday. 

You know what do do by now - get your predictions in by 3pm on Saturday, and bask in the glory of all the points you win! And remember to include your joker, of course.

Bristol City v Huddersfield Town

Coventry City P-P Stoke City

Morecambe v Fleetwood Town

Oxford United v Wigan Athletic

Plymouth Argyle v Charlton Athletic

Port Vale P-P Exeter City

Sutton United v Harrogate Town

Tranmere Rovers v Leyton Orient

The results:

AFC Bournemouth 0-2 Blackburn Rovers
Hull City 2-2 Bristol City
Fleetwood Town 2-1 Gillingham
Sunderland 2-1 Plymouth Argyle
Bristol Rovers 4-2 Rochdale
Stevenage 0-2 Carlisle United
Grimsby Town 0-1 Chesterfield
Yeovil Town 1-0 Barnet

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Congrats to this round's winner, @magpiejue! @jimbob and @Dan also reached double figures, and I have a feeling our resident Stag will be happier with Chesterfield's result than the rest of us were

@magpiejue - 11
@Dan, @jimbob - 10
@Megan_Elizax - 8
@Dripsey3 - 7
@Chris, @ARLukomski - 6
@gtownjohnno, @4everapie, @super_ram, @DangerousSausage - 5
@GrannyPie - 2

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So here's the table. The top two are in a commanding position, but the "play-off race" (just humour me) is really hotting up...

Dan - 138
Dripsey3 - 134
gtownjohnno - 119
4everapie - 108
super_ram - 106
magpiejue - 103
DangerousSausage - 99
nottsnutter - 99
jimbob - 98
Chris - 93
ARLukomski - 92
Megan_Elizax - 85
GrannyPie - 83
barnet11uk - 73
KB1862 - 52
liampie - 45
Joshua - 34
Feral Fox - 29
allardyces tash - 21
TheSkipper - 16
CliftonMagpie - 10
Alex - 7
Canadian - 4

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So that's yer lot for another week. The next round - the last one before Christmas - is on Saturday, so I'll be posting the fixtures on Wednesday night. Until then, take care of yourselves!

Thanks for the ratings, I followed it on the radio but that always gives you a much more limited impression of individual performances.

I was initially really frustrated that Rodders will be missing for Chesterfield, but going by this, being forced to give him a rest and play Roberts further forward could prove to be a blessing in disguise.

Nice, but shame about the red eyesore in the middle of the shot!

Kick-off is Saturday at 3!

@super_ram, @nottsnutter, @jimbob, @GrannyPie, @barnet11uk, @KB1862, @liampie, @Joshua, @Feral Fox, @allardyces tash, @TheSkipper, @CliftonMagpie, @Alex, @Canadian

AFC Bournemouth 2-1 Blackburn Rovers

Hull City 2-0 Bristol City

Fleetwood Town 1-0 Gillingham

Sunderland 2-0 Plymouth Argyle (joker)

Bristol Rovers 1-1 Rochdale

Stevenage 2-1 Carlisle United

Grimsby Town 0-2 Chesterfield

Yeovil Town 3-1 Barnet

@Chris 

On 02/12/2021 at 13:43, Fozzy said:

Europe returning to Totalitarianism...….

Certain occupations should be mandatory, but to remove freedom of choice across the board would be unbelievable.

The German Thatcher doesn't really have any say over this. In Germany, the powers that be want to do it - get vaccinated or get fined. Not sure what would happen if people didn't pay their fines - there won't be any forced vaccinations, so how many people can you drag through court at the same time? Apart from the logistics of it I'm not overly keen on the idea, but during a pandemic the choices you make are not just your own - they affect a LOT of other people. 

It would be easiest if people just got jabbed, as unvaccinated people make up the thumping majority of ICU patients right now. Unfortunately, here in Germany there is a pronounced tendency for people to think they know better than the experts. 

I got boostered at the weekend. Felt slightly hungover the next day but it was worth it. 

Another Saturday, another prediction league round, another chance for unparalleled glory (or at least some points). You know what to do - send in your predictions by 3pm on Saturday, and remember your jokers!

AFC Bournemouth v Blackburn Rovers

Hull City v Bristol City

Fleetwood Town v Gillingham

Sunderland v Plymouth Argyle

Bristol Rovers v Rochdale

Stevenage v Carlisle United

Grimsby Town v Chesterfield

Yeovil Town v Barnet

The results:

Accrington Stanley 0-2 AFC Wimbedon
Charlton Athletic 2-0 Ipswich Town
Cheltenham Town 0-5 Cambridge United
Portsmouth 0-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Exeter City 1-2 Northampton Town
Leyton Orient 4-1 Swindon Town
Newport County 3-2 Sutton United
Southend United 1-1 Maidenhead United

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Some strange results there, but a handful of you had a very good round - best of all @gtownjohnno and @GrannyPie! Some of the rest of us were held back by Southend's lamentable failure to beat even Maidenhead at home and Cheltenham's decision to roll over and have their bellies tickled by Cambridge. A plague on both of their houses.

@gtownjohnno, @GrannyPie - 8
@4everapie, @Chris - 7
@magpiejue - 5
@Dan, @ARLukomski - 3
@Dripsey3, @Megan_Elizax - 2
@super_ram, @DangerousSausage - 1

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We've got some movement this week! @Dan edges ahead, @4everapie moves into the top four and is there any stopping the @Chris juggernaut?

Dan - 128
Dripsey3 - 127
gtownjohnno - 114
4everapie - 103
super_ram - 101
nottsnutter - 99
DangerousSausage - 94
magpiejue - 92
jimbob - 88
Chris - 87
ARLukomski - 86
GrannyPie - 81
Megan_Elizax - 77
barnet11uk - 73
KB1862 - 52
liampie - 45
Joshua - 34
Feral Fox - 29
allardyces tash - 21
TheSkipper - 16
CliftonMagpie - 10
Alex - 7
Canadian - 4

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The next round is on Saturday - so the fixtures are online now! See you over there...