The fixture list is out and the first league game is on Saturday 2nd August, not much more than a month away. Before I start rolling the files over, who's up for it? I'd propose the same rules as last time, except for the Super Match, which seemed like a good idea at the time but made a bit of a mockery of the Joker. As published, there appear to be a higher ratio of Saturday games. That may be because Sky have more EPL games and have therefore lost some interest in the other leagues, plus we've dropped down one of course. It may also be that which specific games will be televised hasn't been decided upon by the broadcasters yet and the coach and horses may still be driven through the whole thing. Unless anyone else wants to do it.....
I'm very happy to let you do it again..... very professionally done....if that is what you want to do....go for it. I'll try it again......so put me down.
So notDistant ...including you .....it seems that there are three of us at present keen to make fools of ourselves again. It will be interesting to see where Argyle will finish this year....I find it hard to put us in the top six.....unless we get a proven goalscorer before the season starts. In fact we do look a little weak down the length of the teams spine. I assume that there are not anymore leaving....although there was talk of Hazard moving on....but maybe his lack of fitness has scotched any chance of that at present. It does surprise me how many players who helped to get us relegated....have jumped ship like rats leaving a sinking vessel....it's as if they're saying " it woz not my doing gov "....maybe they needed clearing out anyway. With no fit keeper at present and no designated No 9....and unproven mid-fielders as well.....a mid-table finish might be the best we can do......but let us see who comes in....especially those later loanees that we might get. Luton seem to have a chance of being top dog in this division....I expect parachute payments are helping them still......although financially we're not too badly off.....but can we use it wisely...?
I don’t think it was the players’ fault Plym. It was the cumulative effect of two poor managers. Our form under Muslic would, over a whole season, have been enough to have us safely tucked up in mid-table. A playing life is short and each individual only gets one of them. I expect 100% from them while they’re here and by and large we got that, but I can’t blame them for trying to move their careers on if the club lets them down. The one that hurts the most is Adam Randell though…….
Musty and SMH aren’t Argyle fans so they (wisely) don’t tune to listen to us droning on during the closed season. Lyndhurst will be busy with the comings and goings and will no doubt try to fit in a well deserved holiday. Sensible only comments if you and I say anything informative, interesting or important. So we haven’t seen much of him lately. They’ll be back I expect.
It's a wonder this website still exists with so few users and some of those think we close down for the summer.....or so it seems.
Ah well I’m not likely to have a miracle score on the last day this year, without which I’d have been bottom last time.
Week one upon us next week.....predicting our end of year and end of season positions will be difficult....not knowing if we have a striker arriving soon.....or a dominant central defender....I assume we will be settling with the keepers we have at the moment.....but with loan players still to come in (hopefully) it will be hard to judge how well we will do this coming season.
I think all of the poor souls that support Argyle are in: hopefully Musty and SMH will join us too. Firstly then, the rules. As discussed, I have deleted the Super Match feature. There will be 15 points for getting the position in the League right at halfway. If nobody gets it right, then 10 points for nearest. That will come into effect after the last Championship games in 2025. Presently that's scheduled to be a full card on 29th December. There will be another 40 points for the position at the end of the season and 20 points for the nearest if nobody gets it right. The remainder will be as for previous seasons. 3 points for a correct score and 1 point for a correct result. There will be 5 points for the correct time of the first goal in the Argyle match and if nobody gets it right then 3 points for the nearest. There will be one joker allowed which will double the points gained for the match selected. Occasionally multiple jokers will be allowed and occasionally I may decide to increase the power of a joker. Occasionally there will be a double (or more) points. Even more occasionally there may be 5 points for the total number of goals scored in the predicted league matches. That gives even the most hopeless forecasters a chance to win something by pure luck (i.e., me) As this is predominantly about Argyle, there will also be predictions for matches Argyle are in the FA Cup and the League Cup. There will be a selection of "other" matches included on those occasions, so it isn't a single prediction. Predictions must be submitted prior to kick off time. The earlier you can get your forecasts in, the sooner I’ll be able to put you out of your misery and reveal the scores. Please put your matches in the order shown on the BBC fixture page or things are likely to go horribly wrong. That will be the source I use to enter the fixtures. Here is the text for the first round of fixtures, which kick off on Friday 1st August at 8:00 pm. Luton Town - AFC Wimbledon Cardiff City - Peterborough United Blackpool - Stevenage Bradford City - Wycombe Wanderers Burton Albion - Mansfield Town Doncaster Rovers - Exeter City Huddersfield Town - Leyton Orient Lincoln City - Reading Plymouth Argyle - Barnsley Rotherham United - Port Vale Wigan Athletic - Northampton Town Stockport County - Bolton Wanderers Goodness knows how you forecast these early rounds with no track record to go on, but good luck anyway! Could you pin this please Sensible?
SMH is the only outstanding predictor from last season.....but any casual visitor is welcome to give it a go ....
End of year 10th. End of season 13th Luton 1-1 Wimbledon Cardiff 2-1 Peterborough Blackpoll 1-1 Stevenage Bradford 2-1 Wycombe Burton 2-2 Mansfield Doncaster 1-2 Exeter Huddersfield 2-1 Leyton O Lincoln 1-0 Reading Plymouth 2-1 Barnsley 10min (Joker) Rotherham 3-1 Port Vale Wigan 2-1 Northampton Stockport 1-2 Bolton