StarkMallard

Saturday is FA Cup third round day, but luckily there's also a league programme for teams that don't go in for all that cup nonsense (mentioning no names). As usual, get your predictions in by 3pm on Saturday and remember your joker! Leyton Orient v Cardiff City Peterborough United v Bolton Wanderers Accrington Stanley v Barnet - POSTPONED Chesterfield v Colchester United - POSTPONED Tranmere Rovers v Bromley Aldershot v Solihull Moors Sutton United v York City Woking v Hartlepool United

Hope he does well with us! The defence is the area where I see the least need to improve (we've got five really solid options for the back three, and hopefully six now), but this is hopefully a player we can develop and who can maybe step in and play a bigger role next season.

I've seen the article about this, it's just a column recapping transfer rumours, nothing to get excited about. Belshaw is an obvious rumour as he's a Notts fan, would improve the team and would probably be affordable too. But we don't tend to go for obvious signings. I have a horrible feeling we'll end up with a young Premier League loanee in goal, which can be very hit and miss. As for Hall, he can be fantastic on his day but is very inconsistent. He hasn't delivered a stand-out performance in a while now. It would be a shame to lose a potentially very good player but not devastating. But as @menzinho says, what would they want with him in the PL anyway?

Get well soon @super_ram and wrap up warm the rest of you! I ventured out to work under a blue sky and a fresh temperature of -7 this morning. It felt strange to be wearing proper trousers again, but on the plus side I got to see the sunrise. Then when I was in the office I found out that a bomb from WW2 had been discovered at or near the railway station where I'd been before just an hour previously. I made it home again without being blown up! On a very different and much sadder note, a friend of mine died this week. She'd had cervical cancer and it finished her off in just a few months. She was in her early forties. If anyone reading is delaying getting checked up, don't.

The results: Blackburn Rovers 2-2 Charlton Athletic Hull City P-P Watford Plymouth Argyle 3-0 Burton Albion Reading 1-0 Stockport County Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 AFC Wimbledon Barnet P-P Crewe Alexandra Barrow P-P Bristol Rovers Walsall P-P Fleetwood Town And this round's winner is... me! Come on people, put some effort in. But everyone did manage to score despite only four of our matches actually going ahead this time. @magpiejue consolidates her position at the top somewhat, but a big-scoring round from one of the chasing pack could still change everything. Elsewhere, @cheeky~k8 and @Megan_Elizax join @Garry Lee in notching up a hundred points. And that's how things look now the festive fixtures are complete and the Christmas chocolates are finished! I'll post Saturday's fixtures on Wednesday and hopefully there will be more points, thrills and spills. Thanks for playing everyone!

Losing four players of that quality would be a major blow to any team at this level. That we're in the mix again is a great achievement and shows that we're getting more out of what we have at our disposal. I think the quality of football we're playing has been worse, and that's largely due to our best centre midfield pairing being unavailable pretty much all season and our inability to sign a new number 10 who can make the ball stick. The result is too many hopeful balls forward instead of dominating the opposition. What we're better at is "hanging in there" and getting our rewards in games that are 50:50, and we were sorely lacking in that department last season. However, our limitations are there for all to see and a couple of prudent additions could make all the difference.

The results for 1 January: Southampton 0-0 Millwall Swansea City 1-0 West Bromwich Albion Leyton Orient 1-3 AFC Wimbledon Reading 2-0 Burton Albion Wigan Athletic 1-1 Barnsley Fleetwood Town 0-1 Grimsby Town Shrewsbury Town 0-3 Bristol Rovers Swindon Town 2-0 Gillingham This round's winners are the mighty, triumphant @DangerousSausage and @william1984. Overall, @magpiejue holds on to top spot while @Dan is right back in the mix. As the (joint) best player of the year so far, I have surged from tenth to ninth; my ultimate triumph is surely just a matter of time and this defnitely hasn't gone to my head. There's a round up and running for today's fixtures; you've still got two hurs to predict so head on over there if you haven't already. After that, we're back to our usual Saturday round, with round 26 to be posted on Wednesday. Thanks for playing!

Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Charlton Athletic Hull City 0-2 Watford Plymouth Argyle 2-1 Burton Albion (joker) Reading 1-0 Stockport County Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 AFC Wimbledon Barnet 1-0 Crewe Alexandra Barrow 0-2 Bristol Rovers Walsall 1-1 Fleetwood Town

Yeah, that was pants. We looked bang average, very little urgency or creativity. The only positive is that the powers that be can't be complacent in the January window, it's clear to everyone that we need reinforcements in key areas if we're to compete at the top end.

More prediction league? You'd better believe it. Send in your entries by 3pm on Sunday, remember your joker and may the best (wo)man win! Blackburn Rovers v Charlton Athletic Hull City v Watford Plymouth Argyle v Burton Albion Reading v Stockport County Wycombe Wanderers v AFC Wimbledon Barnet v Crewe Alexandra Barrow v Bristol Rovers Walsall v Fleetwood Town

Wish all fellow PON stars a very happy new year! There weren't as many private fireworks on our street as usual (to our disappointment, we always enjoy the neighbours' fireworks without spending any money ourselves). But the city centres were manic as usual. There's talk about banning private fireworks as it's been totally out of hand for years, but it would be nice if councils put on an official display rather than doing absolutely nothing. Usually I'd take a new year's walk, but I've got a busy day of football, darts and Stranger Things coming up!

I'm doing the same, but I'm staying even further off the pace. It's all a brilliant tactical plan.

Southampton 0-2 Millwall Swansea City 2-1 West Bromwich Albion Leyton Orient 1-1 AFC Wimbledon Reading 2-0 Burton Albion (joker) Wigan Athletic 3-1 Barnsley Fleetwood Town 2-0 Grimsby Town Shrewsbury Town 1-1 Bristol Rovers Swindon Town 2-0 Gillingham

The results: Leicester City 2-1 Derby County Oxford United 0-1 Swansea City Blackpool 4-0 Rotherham United Peterborough United 1-1 Reading Plymouth Argyle 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers Chesterfield 0-1 Cambridge United Gillingham 1-1 Colchester United Grimsby Town 1-0 Shrewsbury Town @magpiejue wins this round, congrats! That means @magpiejue extends her lead at the top, with @Robbie and @4everapie leading the chasing pack. That wraps things up for 2025 and the first half of the season. But there's plenty of prediction league over the coming days - there's a round up and running for 1 January, so go and send in your predictions if you haven't already! Thanks for playing!

A very well deserved point on the road and a good response after Chesterfield. The advantage of the games coming thick and fast is that the next opportunity to make amends is only a few days away. The Iorpenda twins were excellent and seemed to be all over the pitch. I noticed we had the wing backs relatively deep, which blunted our attacking threat a little. All the same, the way we gradually wrested control of the game was impressive and the franchise looked beaten until Dennis decided he was Maradona. On that: he did well to get past the first two home players, but instead of passing it he decided to run with the ball. It was a split second decision he got very wrong, resulting in the goal and turning the momentum of the game for a while. All the same, I'd prefer it if the manager didn't blame him (in not so many words) for us dropping the points in his post-match interview. That's how you lose dressing rooms. Watching on PiesPlayer, it seemed the franchise customers were having a fancy dress day, with a good number of the alleged home crowd of 7000 coming dressed as black seats.

What better way to see in a glorious new year than to play the prediction league? Kick-off is 3pm and don't forget your joker! Southampton v Millwall Swansea City v West Bromwich Albion Leyton Orient v AFC Wimbledon Reading v Burton Albion Wigan Athletic v Barnsley Fleetwood Town v Grimsby Town Shrewsbury Town v Bristol Rovers Swindon Town v Gillingham

@gtownjohnno no worries, I'll only count your third attempt. You might regret it if Swansea win 19-2 though! There's no need to do anything this round, but in future you can take @4everapie's sage advice and edit your post up to kick-off time if you like. @Michael D Pie. as football ferrets aren't explicitly mentioned in The Rules, I'll permit it through gritted teeth. However, octopuses (octopi?) are not allowed under any circumstances. Here's my go: Leicester City 1-1 Derby County Oxford United 2-1 Swansea City Blackpool 2-0 Rotherham United (joker) Peterborough United 2-1 Reading Plymouth Argyle 2-0 Wycombe Wanderers Chesterfield 2-0 Cambridge United Gillingham 1-1 Colchester United Grimsby Town 2-1 Shrewsbury Town

It's time to wrap up 2025. No doubt you'll look back on the year with mixed feelings, recalling the highs, the lows and - most importantly of all - the number of prediction league points you had. We can help with the last one. All of these matches kick off at 7:45 p.m. on Monday - don't forget your joker! Leicester City v Derby County Oxford United v Swansea City Blackpool v Rotherham United Peterborough United v Reading Plymouth Argyle v Wycombe Wanderers Chesterfield v Cambridge United Gillingham v Colchester United Grimsby Town v Shrewsbury Town

Today's game was a chore, So I'll present to you the scores: Stoke City 0-0 Preston North End West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Bristol City Burton Albion 5-1 Northampton Town Luton Town 4-0 Wycombe Wanderers Accrington Stanley 2-1 Barrow Gillingham 1-1 Cambridge United Eastleigh 1-1 Woking Solihull Moors 7-1 Tamworth This round the honours are shared by @Garry Lee, @Robbie and @super_ram, who all hit double figures! @magpiejue holds on to the lead overall, while this was also a good round for @super_ram, who goes second. We've got a full round of league fixtures on Monday (the 29th), so I'll post the fixtures for that in the next few minutes. Thanks for playing and see you over there!

What a poor display that was. We had no control over the game at all, and if you can't string more than three passes together you're not going to have many opportunities in the final third. And we wasted the few opportunities we had. We had no midfield - whenever our players were struggling to hold onto possession by the sidelines, there was no support forthcoming from the centre of the field - their options were to go back or to have a hopeful punt forward. With Palmer or Robertson (ideally both) on the pitch, it would have been a different game. Bennetts is quick and gets into good positions, but is often wasteful with his end product. I think he'll be rested for Monday. I still don't see the point of Norburn. Jones could do with more minutes to build his confidence, he's getting cameos off the bench and is overthinking everything. Roos needs to learn to catch. HOWEVER, a bad day at the office doesn't mean we need to offload half the team. Some fans are too quick to write players off. I was a bit surprised the manager didn't freshen things up a bit. He'll definitely need to for the next match now. In the absence of Palmer and Robertson, I'd give Hinchey a go in the middle in the hope of having an actual midfield again, select Jones from the start and tell him this is his chance to reclaim his first 11 spot again. Jatta/Dennis have served us very well, give them better service and the goals will come again. Having said that, they would benefit from some help/competition arriving in the January window.

Stoke City 1-2 Preston North End West Bromwich Albion 0-2 Bristol City Burton Albion 1-1 Northampton Town Luton Town 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers Accrington Stanley 2-0 Barrow (joker) Gillingham 0-0 Cambridge United Eastleigh 1-2 Woking Solihull Moors 2-0 Tamworth

Have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

Did you know, Boxing Day Is a day on which they football play; I don't know, if we'll win But I'll give the prediction league a spin. Now that regrettable outburst of poetry is over, here are the fixtures for round 22 of the prediction league. As always, all of our matches kick off at 3:00 p.m. and you get one joker each. Good luck! Stoke City v Preston North End West Bromwich Albion v Bristol City Burton Albion v Northampton Town Luton Town v Wycombe Wanderers Accrington Stanley v Barrow Gillingham v Cambridge United Eastleigh v Woking Solihull Moors v Tamworth

The results: QPR 4-1 Leicester City Sheffield United 3-0 Birmingham City Doncaster Rovers 1-5 Plymouth Argyle Lincoln City 2-1 Cardiff City Rotherham United 1-3 Huddersfield Town Barnet 1-3 Salford City Fleetwood Town 2-1 Gillingham Oldham Athletic 3-1 Tranmere Rovers This round's winners are @Dan, @gtownjohnno, @magpiejue and ME! ME! ME! with seven points. @Michael D Pie. wins the prize for best poetry, but unfortunately there are no points for that. @magpiejue has swapped places with @4everapie and will spend Christmas in first place. It should come as a surprise that there is football on Boxing Day (apart from that Premier League nonsense, but who cares about that?). I'll post the fixtures in the next few minutes. Thanks for playing and have a wonderful Christmas everyone!

I haven't heard the interview yet but have read some of the summaries. It's long been the club's mantra that every player has his price. It's the reality of football and it's good that the club is honest with us. If someone is sold, it's crucial that we sign a good replacement or otherwise tweak the squad such that we don't miss him - selling a player for 500k but then missing out on promotion is a false economy. I'd normally agree with @Robbie that we don't need a like-for-like replacement, the NL years taught us we can be just as potent with one striker if we have a good number 10 behind him. But we're currently extremely stretched in the strikers department with only two viable options (sorry, I don't rate Traore at all), and we've been able to gloss over it so far as both Dennis and Jatta have been scoring and have remained injury-free. But if we go into the second half of the season with Dennis and Traore as our only options up front, we're not serious about promotion. I think we need another option up top, but can't really expect a "marquee signing" if Jatta and Dennis both remain. Also think we need a new keeper. As good as Roos is as a shotstopper, his habit of staying glued to his line as crosses come in or punching balls that could easily be caught makes me nervous. Also, Griffiths evidently isn't seen as a candidate for the number one shirt, so he could do with some match practice on loan elsewhere.