StarkMallard

I agree @Dripsey3, on the basis of the second half I think Gillingham are underachieving significantly. They're one of the division's biggest spenders. It's all been said really, a gritty performance, albeit we ran out of steam a little at the end and struggled to hold onto the ball and take the sting out of it. That said, we were absolutely in command in the first half and should have been further ahead - Ndlovu really fluffed his lines in about the 85th minute when presented with a superb chance. Belshaw was incredible, every time I see a replay of that double save at the end I think it's going in. Moments like that can be season-defining. All five of our wins have been by the odd goal. That is a very good habit and a big difference to the last two seasons when the tight games got away from us all too often.

Our former loanee George Abbott has gone to Mansfield on loan for the rest of the season. I would have loved to see him back, but to be honest he'd be wasted in League Two. Got to admit I'm envious. Mansfield agree Roberts deal and Abbott loan - https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cn0kjj38rp9o

Good day everyone and get well soon @Michael D Pie.! As we have a high share of pensioners here I felt moved to post this. I know you have more hours to fill and probably miss the routine of working life. Volunteer for a charity. Post stuff here on PON. But do not, I repeat do not, establish a counterfeit drugs empire like this man. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jan/29/wigan-lottery-winner-counterfeit-drugs-empire-court

The results: Portsmouth 3-0 West Bromwich Albion Watford 0-2 Swansea City Peterborough United 2-3 Huddersfield Town Stockport County 2-1 Plymouth Argyle Chesterfield 2-2 Walsall Crewe Alexandra 1-0 Colchester United Braintree Town 2-1 Eastleigh Sutton United 1-1 Brackley Town This week, @Garry Lee, @super_ram and @william1984 all share the glory of first place. Not a high-scoring round this time (many of you wasted your jokers on Watford), but no one went away empty-handed. We have change at the top! @super_ram moves past @magpiejue and @Dan to seize top spot. But we all know I'm going to win in the end. And there it is, the first round ever to be calculated on my new laptop using the miracle that is Microsoft Excel 2024. But time marches on relentlessly; as such, our next round is on Saturday and will be posted on Wednesday. Have a good week everyone and take care.

A good, hard-earned win against an average side. Really pleased with how we're shaping up, and our options on the bench give us genuine depth. MP will have a bit of a headache once some of our new signings are ready to play. Ndlovu had a genuine impact and showed he's a real team player by squaring to Dennis for the winner when he could have scored himself. It took me an embarrassingly long time to work out that the commentator wasn't saying "Liam Love" though! And another assist for that new number 10 who reminds me of Jodi Jones in his prime! PS: we are staying up!

Sounds like you had a scare @Piethagoram, hope you're doing OK now.

Portsmouth 2-1 West Bromwich Albion Watford 2-0 Swansea City Peterborough United 0-2 Huddersfield Town Stockport County 2-0 Plymouth Argyle (joker) Chesterfield 1-0 Walsall Crewe Alexandra 0-1 Colchester United Braintree Town 1-1 Eastleigh Sutton United 1-2 Brackley Town

Eight more fixtures, all at our traditional kick-off time of 3pm. And as Batman probably once said, "remember the Joker". Good luck! Portsmouth v West Bromwich Albion Watford v Swansea City Peterborough United v Huddersfield Town Stockport County v Plymouth Argyle Chesterfield v Walsall Crewe Alexandra v Colchester United Braintree Town v Eastleigh Sutton United v Brackley Town

The results: Huddersfield Town 1-0 Luton Town Lincoln City 3-0 Bradford City Plymouth Argyle 1-1 Mansfield Town Rotherham United 2-1 Northampton Town Barnet 1-0 Tranmere Rovers Cheltenham Town P-P Gillingham Colchester United 0-1 Grimsby Town Walsall 0-0 Crawley Town @Megan_Elizax smashed in again in round 29, but Walsall let a few of you down with your jokers... @Dan is now sharing the top spot with @magpiejue, with @super_ram just a point behind. It's anyone's - even I fancy my chances. The next round is this Saturday, so the fixtures will be online in just a jiffy. Thanks for playing!

Terrific performance. How we only scored two will flummox the greatest scientific minds for decades to come, but we did it when it counted. The PiesPlayer camera spent most of the match watching Ian Holloway's back, enabling me to admire his sheepskin jacket / blue beret combo and watch him become more and more frustrated as the match went on. Glorious.

It all sounds very promising. I've looked at his career stats on Transfermarkt, he plays regularly, which tends to be a good sign. He's also only played for two clubs permanently, so he's not one of those players who get a new team every season either. Hopefully he can adapt quickly and help us. According to Transfermarkt he's played in central midfield more often than as an attacking midfielder. In the 38 games he's played as an attacking midfielder, he picked up 11 goals and assists, which is pretty decent. Like @Mapperley Pie says, the Norwegian season ends in November. Harry Tangen hasn't played since September, so he'll be rusty and I wouldn't expect him to be in the first 11 too soon.

Huddersfield Town 2-1 Luton Town Lincoln City 2-1 Bradford City Plymouth Argyle 1-1 Mansfield Town Rotherham United 0-1 Northampton Town Barnet 2-0 Tranmere Rovers Cheltenham Town 0-2 Gillingham (joker) Colchester Unitd 2-1 Grimsby Town Walsall 2-0 Crawley Town

It was a snowy night here in Germ land, with about 7 cm of snow falling so I had to get the shovel out this morning. We've since reached the heady heights of 2 degrees. Yesterday we bade Lenny a final farewell on an Anglo-Saxon-style funeral pyre in the garden. It worked very well. I like to think that he's now wandering the kitchen floors of Valhalla, but he'll probably just live on in my lungs. We also have a successor, six-week-old Eddie (when a budgie dies, you replace them quickly to stop the others from pining for them). Mrs Sausage continued her habit of selecting the most gormless budgie possible, so no doubt we'll have lots of fun with him.

Rodders would be the perfect replacement for Rodders, but I can't quite see it. He'll end up at a mid-table team in the Portuguese top flight.

Time for a midweek round with a very League One/Two flavour, which are the only proper divisions anyway. Send in your predictions by 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday and don't forget your joker! Huddersfield Town v Luton Town Lincoln City v Bradford City Plymouth Argyle v Mansfield Town Rotherham United v Northampton Town Barnet v Tranmere Rovers Cheltenham Town v Gillingham Colchester Unitd v Grimsby Town Walsall v Crawley Town

The results: Birmingham City 1-1 Stoke City QPR 2-3 Wrexham Doncaster Rovers 3-3 Wigan Athletic Stevenage 1-1 Mansfield Town Barrow 0-1 Crawley Town Bromley 2-1 Swindon Town Eastleigh 2-3 Halifax Town Woking P-P Yeovil Town @ARLukomski and @Megan_Elizax win this round, congrats to you both! At the end of round 28, @Dan has overtaken @magpiejue to take the lead for the first time. It's looking like a close title race! And that's us for another round. But don't put your crystal balls (or ferrets) away yet - we have another round coming up on Tuesday, so the fixtures are going online now! Thanks for playing and see you on the next thread!

I only saw half the game, but I was very pleasantly surprised by Norburn (although he did flirt with a second red on a couple of occasions). He looked much more like the player I hoped we'd be getting in the summer. More of this please!

Interesting signing, I also remember him from his Boreham Wood days but he's only scored three in League Two so far (although admittedly some of those appearances were as a substitute). According to Transfermarkt he's averaged 400 minutes per goal, but a goal or two will send that average tumbling down. We needed another striker anyway as going into the run-in with just Jatta and Dennis would have been inviting trouble, and someone with a physical presence who can hold the ball up and play a bit sounds right up our street. Just hope he can up his scoring game while he's with us! I doubt he's here to replace AJ, although that goal celebration was unusually subdued yesterday...

Very good performance, we were completely on top in the second half I saw, embarrassingly so from a Crewe perspective. But we missed so many good chances (hello Dennis in the 90th minute) that you couldn't help but feel there would be a sting in the tail. Luckily there wasn't and we can save our clinical finishing for another day!

Birmingham City 2-1 Stoke City QPR 1-1 Wrexham Doncaster Rovers 0-1 Wigan Athletic Stevenage 0-2 Mansfield Town Barrow 2-1 Crawley Town Bromley 2-0 Swindon Town Eastleigh 1-1 Halifax Town Woking 2-0 Yeovil Town (joker)

The following games kick off at 3. Don't forget To use your joker! Birmingham City v Stoke City QPR v Wrexham Doncaster Rovers v Wigan Athletic Stevenage v Mansfield Town Barrow v Crawley Town Bromley v Swindon Town Eastleigh v Halifax Town Woking v Yeovil Town

The results: Charlton Athletic 1-0 Sheffield United Stoke City 0-0 QPR Northampton Town 1-2 Wycombe Wanderers Peterborough United 0-1 Plymouth Argyle Oldham Athletic 2-1 Cheltenham Town Shrewsbury Town 1-0 Harrogate Town Brackley Town 2-1 Yeovil Town Wealdstone 1-0 Woking @Garry Lee and @super_ram are top of the pops this round! Overall, @magpiejue still leads the way with @4everapie hot on her trail. This Saturday's fixtures will be posted in the next few minutes. Thanks for playing, see you all over there!

Brilliant, thanks for sharing @Mapperley Pie! It's always fascinating to see what the outside world makes of us. And he was pretty thrilled with the setup and atmosphere. Not sure that a Turkish meal and a Budweiser are typical English though ;) I just hit play to watch it, he's talking fast German except for the couple of interviews but the subtitles are OK if you can handle written German. But if you hit the YouTube button in the bottom right it'll take you to the YouTube site with an English AI voiceover.

Great poem @Michael D Pie.! And you're right, he didn't care about his lack of brain cells. He didn't care about much at all except grass seed. A lesson for us all. My health issues with the swollen mouth still haven't gone away. The doctors think it's an autoimmune reaction and I can't do much apart from wait. Got another hospital appointment on Friday. Since I've seen just about every other kind of doctor by now, I've started seeing a witchdoctor (ayurveda) who has done acupuncture on me and given me herbal pills that look suspiciously like rabbit droppings. It's an interesting experience and who knows, it might even help. If nothing else it gives me an excuse to see one of the nicer corners of Germany.

Hope your antibiotics do the trick and you're fighting fit soon @Michael D Pie.. Concur with @Robbie, we're living in scary times and I hope the person/people responsible can climb down again before it starts costing people their jobs or worse. It's a bit melancholy here at Sausage Towers, one of our budgies Lenny - the Official Budgie of the PON Prediction League - died at the weekend. Lenny was intellectually challenged even for a budgie but had an excellent spirit of exploration, wandering into every room in our flat at some stage - always on the floor, on foot, like a little yellow human. I'm going to put a picture of him up in the kitchen, his favourite room.