S6M23 & 24: Big Week for the Blues

Apologies for the delay.

Nights again. Really screws with your life.

The stats get done, but I can't think straight about writing something, and I'd toyed with writing a blog before the FA Cup game as any chat is now old news. But I didn't. So all I have to say is that there is nothing better in football than a last-kick winner and, to honour the late Graham Taylor - do I not LOVE that?

Jon Snow, or whatever his name is got "pelters" - to channel my inner TalkSport -  unfairly from me but it's all better now.

And as Forrest said, "that's all I have to say about that"

Let's get statty:

Matchday 22:
24 people played
Most popular predicted results: Arsenal, Liverpool & WBA WINS (24/24)
Most disputed result: Man City vs Spurs (9-6-9 split)

Highest odds: Doron 810/1
Lowest odds: Josh Daniels 397/1
Average odds: 619/1

Best predictors: Me & Menachem (7/10)
Worst predictors: Loads of you (4/10)
Average score: 5.17/10

Best predicted results: Arsenal & WBA WINS (24/24)
Worst predicted result: Swansea WIN (0/24)

Everyone's scores:

Leaderboard (>2/3; 15/22)

Predos:

Matchday 23

Arsenal vs Watford - ARSENAL
Bournemouth vs Crystal Palace - BOURNEMOUTH
Burnley vs Leicester - BURNLEY
Middlesborough vs WBA - WBA
Sunderland vs Spurs - SPURS
Swansea vs Southampton - SWANSEA
Liverpool vs Chelsea - CHELSEA
West Ham vs Man City - MAN CITY
Man Utd vs Hull - MAN UTD
Stoke vs Everton - EVERTON

Matchday 24

Chelsea vs Arsenal - DRAW
Crystal Palace vs Sunderland - PALACE
Everton vs Bournemouth - EVERTON
Hull vs Liverpool - LIVERPOOL
Southampton vs West Ham - DRAW
Watford vs Burnley - WATFORD
WBA vs Stoke - WBA
Spurs vs Middlesborough - SPURS
Man City vs Swansea - MAN CITY
Leicester vs Man Utd - MAN UTD

Good luck guys

FA Cup 2017: Round 4 - Like a landmark birthday

The 3rd round of the FA Cup didn't seem to have as much build up this year - it might have just been me working all hours in & around Christmas/New Years...but I sort of blinked and it was FA Cup time again.

Bit of a shame that, I thought...the FA Cup is a trophy I love, with a lot of great memories (and some utter horrors) over my footballing life. So I was was a bit put out by missing the draw, and then working during the 3rd Round weekend and missing the 4th round draw too! At least I got to celebrate by walking down the corridor whistling "Hey Jude" over and over for 3 hours....

I don't think the draw was that conducive to excitement either - it's fair to say that there were no major shocks - and those that were "giant killings" came with caveats...the quality really starts bunching further down the tree. Liverpool were probably the closest to a true giant killing, but renowned goal machine Lucas ruined that outtake from the Brothers Grimm anthology.

Argyle. Where does that come from?* Why aren't more clubs given names like that?

Anywho, let's get statty:

This year - 11 people have entered the game so far. People are of course welcome to donate enter late although they will find it very difficult to win from hereon out.

Most popular predicted victors: Brentford, Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd & Ipswich (11/11)
Most disputed results: Sunderland vs Burnley, Cardiff vs Fulham, Bolton vs Palace & Norwich vs Southampton (all 6-5 or 5-6 splits)

Best predicted results: Brentford, Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd WINS (11/11)
Worst predicted result: Lincoln WIN (0/11)

Everyone's results:

An early lead for Team Feneley & Daniel Wigman - Aron Kleiman takes up a familiar position I'm afraid. Still....plenty to play for at this point.

Round 4 predos:

1 Tottenham Hotspur v Wycombe Wanderers - SPURS
2 Derby County v Leicester City - LEICESTER
3 Oxford United v Newcastle United - NEWCASTLE
4 Sutton United v Leeds United - LEEDS
5 Liverpool v Wolverhampton Wanderers - LIVERPOOL
6 Southampton v Arsenal - ARSENAL
7 Lincoln City v Brighton & Hove Albion - BRIGHTON
8 Chelsea v Brentford - CHELSEA
9 Manchester United v Wigan Athletic - MAN UTD
10 Millwall v Watford - WATFORD
11 Rochdale v Huddersfield Town - HUDDERSFIELD
12 Burnley v Bristol City - BURNLEY
13 Blackburn Rovers v Blackpool - BLACKBURN (THIS IS THE TLA DERBY)
14 Fulham v Hull City - HULL
15 Middlesbrough v Accrington Stanley - MIDDLESBOROUGH
16 Crystal Palace v Manchester City - MAN CITY

Yep - I've picked ALL the shocks. So to spite me, I'll get 1 wrong and we all know which one that will be...

Good luck guys, I'll contact you directly with bank details to pay for those of you who haven't

*Wikipedia'd it. No one seems to know either....

S6M22: As normal service as normal service gets

Well now.

Deleting a hastily posted placeholder uploaded on my way in to work and trying to think about something to say about last week's football. A tough task when you're eyes are open only with caffeine and matchsticks.

I think I'll go bullet points:

• Harry Kane's had a good week hasn't he?
• Burnley are really taking the "win your home games" mantra to heart
• Hull will have hope that things can improve under Silva - although that's always the thing that kills you apparently. Bournemouth seem to be less consistent than last season, which I'm pretty sure is a perception that wouldn't stand up to scrutiny.
• Sunderland really are awful
• Swansea are also awful. Arsenal maximally hit 3rd gear for about 15 minutes of the 2nd half. Clement has a huge job ahead of him.
• Watford & Boro are not the most exciting teams in the world
• Palace are also in trouble. West Ham seem to have recovered from their blip. Carroll's goal was excellent but come off it being better that the scorpion duo. My criteria is "could I have scored it?" and I'd be much more likely to score a scissor kick than a scorpion kick so there.
• Leicester really got all the luck in the world last year. They were not a good team, but had a great run. Reversion to the mean. Conte seems to have won his game of Chicken with Costa for now.
• Er...who saw Everton battering City?
• Fair play to Liverpool for nearly winning a game I thought they'd get battered in. Injuries, Utd form etc. Pogba had a #shocker, Emoticon that.

Cutting edge analysis I'm sure you'll agree...

Let's get statty:

This week, 26 people played

Most popular predicted result: Arsenal WIN (25/26)

Most disputed prediction: Sunderland vs Stoke (10-10-6 split)

Highest odds: Sam Ruback, 116,537/1

2nd highest odds: AFM 19,379/1

3rd highest odds which is now getting ridiculous: Josh Daniels 6923/1

Lowest odds: David Silverman 2246/1

Average odds (all included): 22,580/1

Best predictors: Menachem Grunewald & David Dinkin (7/10)

Worst predictors: Josh Daniels & Eli Daniels (2/10)

Average score: 4.38/10

Best predicted result: Arsenal WIN (25/26)

Worst predicted result: Everton WIN (2/26)

Everyone's scores:

To the leaderboard (>2/3; 15/21)

So to this week's predictions:

Liverpool vs Swansea - LIVERPOOL
Bournemouth vs Watford - DRAW
Crystal Palace vs Everton - EVERTON
Middlesbrough vs West Ham - WEST HAM
Stoke vs Man Utd - MAN UTD
WBA vs Sunderland  - WBA
Man City vs Spurs - SPURS
Southampton vs Leicester - SOUTHAMPTON
Arsenal vs Burnley - ARSENAL
Chelsea vs Hull - CHELSEA

Good luck guys

S6M21: Nelly the Prophet

Memory is a baffling thing. We don't really get it. We know which bits of the brain light up under scan...we sort of know the route mapped out to lay down memory but the how is still full of shrugs.

And that's without even touching on the other aspect - recovery. 'Cos unless you're me moving house, there's no point shoving stuff in a box which will never be opened again and anyway what if it comes in useful shut up I'm not a hoarder you're a hoarder.

So some memory is obvious and we access it daily. How to do tasks, remembering faces etc. A lot of this is subconscious but there's also the flipping through the mental roladex to get the information you want. Then there's the random incursion triggered by some unknown switch. Your mind might link a particular smell or a sound or song to a memory instantly bringing the past front & centre.

But we also get triggers from bizarre stuff. The "I don't know what you did there Brain, but I kinda liked it" surprises. Which is basically the whole reason for the last 300 words. I was looking for someway to talk about Chelsea losing to Spurs & therefore ending their winning streak. As a Gooner, it was a real Heart vs Head vs Heart that one...obviously Chelsea couldn't win as 1) they're Chelsea 2) they're way ahead in the league and 3) the whole Arsenal consecutive wins record thing but also Spurs are Spurs (thanks Prime Minister for allowing us to get away with meaningless definitions in every day contexts now. Top PMing).

In the end, I was happy enough with the result given that my prayers for the whole (Batman) Bale-stadium-earth-crack thing  (see previous blogs) never comes true, but every now and again, I try to at least pretend that I'm objective which meant recognising the brilliant run that Conte managed to put together and how transformative it's been for their season. So I came up with the phrase "all good things must come to an end" as a starting point at which point the inspiration for the waffle above popped into my head like one of those autoplay ads ruining the internet.

Nelly Bloody Furtado.

Who remembered she existed? Who's now humming the song to themselves? Apologies all round.

In other footballing news, Man City's redemption continues, Man Utd keep on rolling like Old Man River, Arsenal managed to win 3-3 after Bournemouth really should have put the game to bed at 70 odd minutes.  Hull & Swansea appointed new managers to try and turn their seasons around, Liverpool have righted themselves after their stutter and Everton are still inconsistent as heck. Palace's new manager has still to do anything of note other than drink a pint of wine as a grown man.

For those of you who were concerned about how abruptly I'd jettisoned the Furtado tangent, let me reassure you that she's doing fine and has a new album out in March apparently...

Think that's enough waffle for now. Let's get statty:

Matchday 19:

20 People played
Most popular predicted result: Chelsea, Man Utd & Arsenal WINS (20/20)
Most disputed prediction (split): Southampton vs WBA (6-7-7 split)

Highest odds: : Doron 1325/1
Lowest odds: Doron 1325/1
Average odds: er....1325 /1

Best predictors: Loads of you  7/10
Worst predictor: David Brickman 4/10
Average score 6.25/10

Best predicted results: Chelsea, Man Utd & Arsenal WINS (20/20)
Worst predicted result: Hull vs Everton DRAW (2/20)

Matchday 20:

20 People played
Most popular predicted result: Man City & Liverpool WIN (20/20)
Most disputed prediction (split): Middlesborough vs Leicester (5-5-9) - no bet from Nick Jones

Highest odds: AFM 3772/1
Lowest odds: AF 441/1
Average odds: 1560/1

Best predictor: Doron  7/10
Worst predictor: Josh Daniels  2/10
Average score 4.85/10

Best predicted result: Man City WIN (20/20)
Worst predicted result: Sunderland vs Liverpool DRAW (0/20)

Everyone's results:

*ECI is on me. FT is on them.

The leaderboard (>2/3; 15/21)

To this week's predos now:

Spurs vs WBA - SPURS

Burnley vs Southampton - SOUTHAMPTON

Hull vs Bournemouth - BOURNEMOUTH

Sunderland vs Stoke - SUNDERLAND

Swansea vs Arsenal - ARSENAL

Watford vs Middlesborough - WATFORD

West Ham vs Crystal Palace - WEST HAM

Leicester vs Chelsea - CHELSEA

Everton vs Man City - MAN CITY

Man Utd vs Liverpool - DRAW

Total odds: /1 (Paddypower)

Good luck guys & Happy New Year!

Why does this app always make a new blog post when I edit on my phone?

You must know the deal by now:

• £5 entry
• Chose the team to progress through the tie - no draws in this one
• Prediction in before kick off - 1st tie is on Friday night - if you post late, you score 0 for any ties that have already kicked off.
• 1 point per tie
• Cash prizes in May for top 3 predictors
• Prize value will depend on total prize pot - the more who play, the more there is in the pot to be distributed. Like the National Lottery but with much better odds.
• If you play, please pay promptly. Every year there's always one to chase...

The ties are:

1. Ipswich Town v Lincoln City - IPSWICH
2. Barrow v Rochdale - BARROW
3. Manchester United v Reading - MAN UTD
4. Hull City v Swansea City - SWANSEA
5. Sunderland v Burnley - SUNDERLAND
6. Queens Park Rangers v Blackburn Rovers - BLACKBURN
7. Millwall v AFC Bournemouth - BOURNEMOUTH
8. West Ham United v Manchester City - MAN CITY
9. Brighton & Hove Albion v MK Dons - BRIGHTON
10. Blackpool v Barnsley - BARNSLEY
11. Wigan Athletic v Nottingham Forest -  WIGAN

12. Birmingham City v Newcastle United - NEWCASTLE
13. Chelsea v Peterborough United - CHELSEA
14. Middlesbrough v Sheffield Wednesday - MBORO
15. West Bromwich Albion v Derby County - WBA
16. Everton v Leicester City - EVERTON 
17. Liverpool v Plymouth Argyle - LIVERPOOL 
18. Wycombe Wanderers v Stourbridge - WYCOMBE
19. Watford v Burton Albion - WATFORD
20. Preston North End v Arsenal - ARSENAL 
21. Cardiff City v Fulham - CARDIFF
22. Stoke City v Wolverhampton Wanderers - STOKE 
23. Cambridge United v Leeds United - LEEDS
24. Bristol City v Fleetwood Town - BRISTOL
25. Huddersfield Town v Port Vale - HUDDERSFIELD 
26. Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa - SPURS
27. Brentford v Eastleigh - BRENTFORD 
28. Bolton Wanderers v Crystal Palace - PALACE 
29. Norwich City v Southampton - SOTON
30. Sutton United v AFC Wimbledon - WIMBLEDON 
31. Accrington Stanley v Luton Town - ACCRINGTON 
32. Rotherham United v Oxford United - OXFORD

Good luck guys. Share it far & wide - the more who play, the more that someone wins.

FA CUP 5:3

You must know the deal by now:

• £5 entry
• Chose the team to progress through the tie - no draws in this one
• Prediction in before kick off - 1st tie is on Friday night - if you post late, you score 0 for any ties that have already kicked off.
• 1 point per tie
• Cash prizes in May for top 3 predictors
• Prize value will depend on total prize pot - the more who play, the more there is in the pot to be distributed. Like the National Lottery but with much better odds.
• If you play, please pay promptly. Every year there's always one to chase...

The ties are:

1. Ipswich Town v Lincoln City
2. Barrow v Rochdale
3. Manchester United v Reading
4. Hull City v Swansea City
5. Sunderland v Burnley
6. Queens Park Rangers v Blackburn Rovers
7. Millwall v AFC Bournemouth
8. West Ham United v Manchester City
9. Brighton & Hove Albion v MK Dons
10. Blackpool v Barnsley
11. Wigan Athletic v Nottingham Forest
12. Birmingham City v Newcastle United
13. Chelsea v Peterborough United
14. Middlesbrough v Sheffield Wednesday
15. West Bromwich Albion v Derby County
16. Everton v Leicester City
17. Liverpool v Plymouth Argyle
18. Wycombe Wanderers v Stourbridge
19. Watford v Burton Albion
20. Preston North End v Arsenal
21. Cardiff City v Fulham
22. Stoke City v Wolverhampton Wanderers
23. Cambridge United v Leeds United
24. Bristol City v Fleetwood Town
25. Huddersfield Town v Port Vale
26. Tottenham Hotspur v Aston Villa
27. Brentford v Eastleigh
28. Bolton Wanderers v Crystal Palace
29. Norwich City v Southampton
30. Sutton United v AFC Wimbledon
31. Accrington Stanley v Luton Town
32. Rotherham United v Oxford United

Good luck guys. Share it far & wide - the more who play, the more that someone wins.

S6M19 & M20: All downhill from here

The annual landmark that is Boxing Day football was slightly different this year, spread out over 3 days. Don't like that. It's a beautiful tradition - the simultaneous kick off all around the country after a heavy Christmas Day. I don't know if this is the first time they've ruined it - but you can be sure it won't be the last. It'll also spread to the other time this happens on the last day of the season soon enough - mark my words.

On the pitch, Big Sam marked his return to management with a point against Watford, Deeney scoring his 100th goal for Watford in that game.

Arsenal huffed & puffed and eventually blew the house down, which was a crying shame for a side who had done their utmost to waste every last second from kick off. Foster suddenly speeding up added a whole new level of enjoyment there.

Burnley won late to take 3 valuable points against 'Boro, whilst Chelsea swatted aside Bournemouth and Everton won away for the first time in ages to continue the worst title defence since last year.

Manchester United comfortably beat Sunderland, with the pick of the goals coming from Zlatan. Mkhitaryan scored a lovely flick too, but was unfortunately offside and so the highly capable officials were left with no choice but to rule it out, thus depriving the game of a gif to be played on loop forever. What's that you say?

West Ham thumped Swansea, who decided to get rid of useless Yank (TM Daily Mail) coach Bradley. 'Cos it's his fault that they bought a load of no-hopers in the summer...

Man City's wagon keeps rolling - Hull the latest team to show minimal resistance, and Liverpool decided that attack is the best form of defence, coming from behind with 4 unanswered goals to beat Stoke. The same scoreline was seen on the South coast with Poch's return to St Mary's...Delle Alli somehow beating Van Dyk to a header to score one of those goals.

Let's get statty:

This week, 24 people played

Most popular predicted results: Arsenal, Man Utd & Man City WINS (24/24)

Most disputed result: Swansea vs West Ham (5-8-11 split)

Highest odds: Doron 988/1

Lowest odds: AFM 421/1

Average odds: 687/1 (a new record)

Highest scorers: Josh Daniels & Nick Jones (9/10)

Lowest scorers: Matt Abbott, David Brickman & David Silverman (5/10)

Average score: 7/10

Best predicted results: Arsenal, Man Utd & Man City WINS (24/24)

Worst predicted result: Everton WIN (2/24)

Everyone's scores:

Ignore the FT 0, I'm trying to source their results

To the leaderboard (>2/3; 13/18)

Weekend predos:

Hull vs Everton - EVERTON
Burnley vs Sunderland - BURNLEY
Chelsea vs Stoke - CHELSEA
Leicester vs West Ham  - WEST HAM
Man Utd vs Middlesbrough  - MAN UTD
Southampton vs WBA - DRAW
Swansea vs Bournemouth  - BOURNEMOUTH
Liverpool vs Man City - DRAW
Watford vs Spurs - SPURS
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace - ARSENAL

Midweek predos:

Middlesborough vs Leicester - MIDDLESBOROUGH

Everton vs Southampton - EVERTON

Man City vs Burnley - MAN CITY

Sunderland vs Liverpool - LIVERPOOL

WBA vs Hull - WBA

West Ham vs Man Utd - MAN UTD

Bournemouth vs Arsenal - DRAW

Crystal Palace vs Swansea - CRYSTAL PALACE

Stoke vs Watford - STOKE

Spurs vs Chelsea - CHELSEA

This is also the last blog before the FA Cup game returns - so as ever, let me know if you want to join the cash game for £ prizes. £5 remains the entry fee.

Good luck guys