Inter-Forum PREMIER Positions Game 2015-16

Inter-Forum PREMIER Positions Game 2015-16



The game is already well established, several seasons running now. And it’s back!

The Sunderland ‘Black Cat Chat’ forum (and Hakuna Matata to be precise) does the real hard mathematical donkey work all during the season, whilst I am the representative from the Reading’s Royals Rendezvous forum and do more the ‘public relations’ type stuff as many already know. We are going to be your points of reference for all this coming season.


Some 750 of you have already participated in previous seasons. But for newcomers, what is this game? It’s dead easy! You simply guess ONCE (now!) what you think will be the final league positions for the Premier League 2015-16 (that means placing all teams, in order from 1st to 20th), leave them on this thread, and then sit back and enjoy! Nothing more!!


BUT … THIS SEASON THE GAME WILL BE SPECIFICALLY A FORUM EVENT, NOT AN INDIVIDUAL PLAYER EVENT, OK?! That means don’t give rash selections like some did before in the hope for personal glory; now it’s a team average event, so putting the relegated three as the two Manchesters plus Chelsea is hardly going to get a healthy prospect for your forum…

But this is an ideal way to keep fans from many different clubs all together… so where forums have an entry of a minimum of five people we will make a ‘board average’, thus you’ll be able to see how your forum copes against many of the others across the land. It is set against an single initial average entry taken from your forum guesses, and this average will be the forum entry. Before we have the first update each forum entry will be made clear on every participating forum. Five different member entries as a minimum is the requirement (no maximum!), this so as to avoid ‘fluke’ results which might distort the good guess-work averaged out by forums with large numbers.



This game will initially take you a couple of minutes, and then enjoy without having to make updates at all, all season. Right, below are the current 20 Premier teams in alphabetical order – BEST IDEA is simply copy these onto your PC and re-arrange them in your finishing order come the end of the 2015-16 season. The Sunderland computer handles them in an alphabetical order initially so please help us with accurate spelling, as laid out below:



Arsenal

Aston Villa (please don’t write only ‘Villa’!!)

Bournemouth

Chelsea

Crystal Palace (please don’t write only ‘Palace’!!)

Everton

Leicester City

Liverpool

Manchester City

Manchester United

Newcastle United

Norwich City

Southampton

Stoke City

Sunderland

Swansea City

Tottenham Hotspur (please don’t write only ‘Spurs’!!)

Watford

West Bromwich Albion

West Ham United


Try not to give any nicknames – putting the ‘Hammers’ or ‘Gunners’ or ‘Tigers’ or ‘Toffees’ or more disrespectful rival names might understandably be a good laugh – but it is simply a headache for us at our end so … Please!!






According to your choices your forum will score points, and better still, very few, points. And how do you sparingly score those points?


Scoring is as follows:


For each team your forum scores one point for each place away from its predicted position. Example - if you predict Sunderland to finish 9th and they finish 9th, you score 0 points (that’s really excellent predicting). If they finish 13th you score 4 points or if they finish 7th you score 2 points. Therefore, the nearer you get to the exact position and have less points mounting up the better. I will endeavour to make updates at least at the beginning of every month during the season out of interest, and usually fortnightly, scoring points from the ‘real’ live premier table at each moment, but all leaderboards during the season are given for interest. So IMPORTANT! - The big winners are the forums at the end of the season who have LEAST points after the final game has been played.



The table positions won’t change position so much in the later stages of the season so … how can we maintain interest to the end you might be thinking?! Well, we have MONTHLY rewards for those in the top positions! That’s points rewards for the highest positions at the end of every month (calculating from the REAL table on the 30th/31st - except when part-way through a weekend programme in which case we will wait to a maximum of Monday night for completed weekend programme to calculate progress reports).


Here's the idea:


1st spot - take off 3 bonus points from score, so score dips even lower /


2nd - take off 2 bonus points /


3rd - take off 1 bonus point


Bonus Points are for the most successful - Positions 1 to 3 – and includes tied points so there may well be far more than 3 teams involved. Their position for the deduction will be based on their (true) teams' score, not taking any previous deductions into account which you do keep all season of course on lowering your overall total.




* LAST SEASON


How did the best forums do 2014-15? Here goes!

FORUM Honorary Gold Medal – Shared
• DCFC Fans Derby County
• Toffee Talk Everton

FORUM Honorary Silver Medal –
• United Lounge Manchester United

FORUM Honorary Bronze Medal – shared
• Foxes Talk Leicester City
• Black Cat Chat Sunderland

FORUM Honorary Diploma of Honour I
• Baggies Zone West Bromwich Albion

FORUM Honorary Diploma of Honour II – shared
• Not 606 Hull Board Hull City
• Toon Forum Newcastle United





During the past two seasons these forums have participated in one way or another:


Barnsley – Talk of the Tarn
Blackburn – Rovers Talk
Blackpool – Back Henry Street
Bournemouth - CourtOffside
Brighton – North Stand Chat
Burnley – The Longside
Cardiff – Cardiff City Forum
Crystal Palace – The Holmesdale
Derby – DCFC Fans
Doncaster – Viking Chat
Everton – Toffee Talk
Fulham – Friends of Fulham
Hemel Hempstead – Tudor Talk
Hull – Not 606 Hull Board
Leeds – LUFC Talk
Leeds – Dirty Leeds
Leicester – Foxes Talk
Man City – MCFC Forum
Man Utd – United Lounge
Newcastle – Toon Forum
Norwich – Not 606 Norwich Board
Nottm Forest – The A Block
Peterborough – Posh Forum
QPR – Not 606 QPR Board
Reading – Royals Rendezvous
Sunderland – Black Cat Chat
Swansea – Planet Swans
Tottenham – Tottenham Hotspur Unofficial Fans Forum
Watford – WFC Forums
West Brom – Baggies Zone
West Ham – Cockney Boys
Wigan – This Northern Soul

(please excuse me if I have missed anyone out!)


But we’ll also have some new ones this season !


Note -

To avoid wums/trolls (or ‘jealous’ away fans) then what you see as any disruptive entry (e.g. an impossible order which would negatively help the forum) will not be included in the average entry at the request of any moderator/admin (by PM or on the thread itself), so if you see something strange please advise your mod team!


IMPORTANT –


ENTRIES IN BY 7TH AUGUST 2015 – late entries are not accepted, for we would not be able to add them to an average forum entry once the first Saturday matches have kicked off …!


Have fun …


daib0

 

Entries like this, MINE as an example, with your own order of teams of course!


1 Chelsea
2 Man Utd
3 Man City
4 Tottenham
5 Everton
6 Arsenal
7 Liverpool
8 West Ham
9 Crystal Palace
10 Swansea
11 Newcastle
12 Norwich City
13 Leicester City
14 West Brom
15 Sunderland
16 Southampton
17 Watford
18 Bournemouth
19 Stoke
20 Aston Villa



An important reminder - we need a minimum of FIVE entries each forum to constitute a forum average entry!!

Many forums ‘sticky’ or ‘pin’ this because we have proven we don’t quirk once the season has started, and this gets updated all-season long. If possible, and not trying to be cheeky, this would help us no end, but if against internal policy then no worries …


daib0

 

Arsenal

Chelsea

Manchester City

Manchester United

Tottenham Hotspur

Liverpool

Southampton

Newcastle United

Swansea City

West Ham United

Everton

Stoke City

Aston Villa

Norwich City

Crystal Palace

Sunderland

Leicester City

West Bromwich Albion

Bournemouth

Watford

 

Chelsea
Manchester City
Manchester United
Arsenal
Liverpool
Tottenham Hotspur
Southampton
Crystal Palace
Swansea City
Stoke City
West Ham United
Everton
Newcastle United
Norwich City
West Bromwich Albion
Leicester City
Aston Villa
Sunderland
Watford
Bournemouth

 

I'm going to wait and see on further transfers before casting my predictions

 

No problem, but in any case anyone can update until the day before Premier League kick-off (if you could say "Amended" or whatever on the original post, better for me - saves time when going through every entry at the end!) ...
currently 21 forums have got answers back ...

 

Oh okay cool. Cheers!

 

1 Man Utd
2 Chelsea
3 Man City
4 Arsenal
5 Liverpool
6 Tottenham
7 Southampton
8 Everton
9 Stoke
10 Swansea
11 West Ham
12 Crystal Palace
13 Aston Villa
14 West Brom
15 Norwich City
16 Newcastle
17 Bournemouth
18 Sunderland
19 Leicester City
20 Watford

 

some 27 forums participating so far, 12 forums now with a minimum 5 necessary, and ages to kick-off yet!


SEE LATER EDIT

 

1 Man Utd
2 Chelsea
3 Man City
4 Arsenal
5 Liverpool
6 Tottenham
7 Everton
8 Southampton
9 Swansea
10 West Ham
11 Stoke
12 Crystal Palace
13 West Brom
14 Aston Villa
15 Norwich City
16 Newcastle
17 Sunderland
18 Bournemouth
19 Leicester City
20 Watford

 

Well guys, I am about to go on holidays, high up in the Spanish Pyrenees, won’t have too much access in a fortnight, but I’ll be back strongly plugging this in the last week before the season kicks off. In the meanwhile, keep entries coming in and tell your pals!


Latest Stats


Board Entry Counts at the moment – 147 entries received as of 8.30 pm today British Time. Everything safely noted down ….


SEE LATER EDIT ...

 

1 Man City
2 Chelsea
3 Man United
4 Arsenal
5 Liverpool
6 Tottenham
7 Everton
8 Newcastle
9 Southampton
10 West Ham United
11 Norwich
12 Stoke
13 Crystal Palace
14 Aston Villa
15 Swansea
16 West Bromwich Albion
17 Sunderland
18 Bournemouth
19 Leicester City
20 Watford

 

Latest Stats


Board Entry Counts at the moment – 225 entries received in all as of today. Everything safely noted down ….


SEE LATER EDIT ...

 

Latest Info


Just one week left, and I’ll next be back on Wed and/or Thursday – you have till FRIDAY night, please don’t forget!!


Board Entry Counts at the moment – nearly 250 entries received in all as of today. Everything safely noted down ….


Some 48 forums in all contacted


Board Entry Counts per forum at the moment, bold type – that’s 27 team forums already - have the minimum to take part!

WFC Forums - Watford

The Holmesdale - Crystal Palace

Wolves Forum - Wolverhampton Wanderers

Foxes Talk - Leicester City

Toon Forum - Newcastle United

Back Henry Street - Blackpool

Talk of the Tarn - Barnsley

Baggies Zone - West Bromwich Albion

Royals Rendezvous - Reading

Not 606 QPR Board - Queens Park Rangers

North Stand Chat - Brighton

Claret and Banter - Bradford City

Cardiff City Fans Forum - Cardiff

Toffee Talk - Everton

Cardiff City On-Line - Cardiff

DCFC Fans - Derby County

CourtOffside - AFC Bournemouth

MCFC Fans - Manchester City

Extreme Football Forum - all teams

LUFC Talk - Leeds United

Not 606 Norwich Board - Norwich City

Rovers Talk - Blackburn Rovers

Joys and Sorrows - Birmingham City

The Longside - Burnley

Viking Chat - Doncaster

Tudor Talk - Hemel Hempstead

The Posh Forum - Peterborough United




Next ones … entries back, not yet to five though

Friends of Fulham – Fulham

Not 606 Hull Board - Hull City

Tottenham Hotspur Unofficial Supporters Site - Spurs

Sports 262 Luton Board – Luton

KopWorld – Liverpool

This Northern Soul - Wigan Athletic

Arsenal Fan Forum - Arsenal

Not 606 Southampton Board - Southampton

JA 606 Chelsea Board – Chelsea



And I’ve still got to get responses from a further dozen forums, in part because some have been contacted just this morning

 

Chelsea
Manchester City
Manchester United
Arsenal
Liverpool
Tottenham Hotspur
Southampton
Crystal Palace
Swansea City
Stoke City
West Ham United
Watford
Everton
Newcastle United
Norwich City
Sunderland
West Bromwich Albion
Leicester City
Aston Villa
Bournemouth

 

Last reminder!


Entries close TOMORROW, Friday, at 11.59pm …


there are more forums this year taking part than ever, a massive 36 already have the 5 minimum, hopeful of one more (at least) getting there.


Remember it's an average forum entry this season, not an individual player competition - where there has been massive entries that means a real representative forum selection. We’ll get this forum average to you next week … and kick-off the game!


Good luck everyone, promised impartiality from my side !



daib0/David

 

No more entries please, we are now logging everyone onto the big Sunderland automated computer programme. So what happens now? We’ve been asked a few times … so for regulars to recap once again, and for new readers to know what’s going on.


OK, we’ve waited till Saturday morning; in a couple of days (hopefully not much more) we go through all entries, bear in mind patience, it's literally hundreds of them (there always are mistakes such as having 2 Norwichs but no Stoke, having only 19 by forgetting a team etc so we have to get back to individual posters).


Then we make the forum average - every team placed by every contributor has a number position and we take the exact average. If, say, Swansea comes out average of 8.5 place and next West Ham 8.61 then we know we place the Hammers one position lower. We can't predict points gaps of course - if you think there will be a 15 gap between 6th and 7th we can't account for that! But all twenty teams come out in order ... and I will faithfully transfer your average list on this thread as soon as I can. Forums by entry coming up soon too so everyone knows how many on each forum have participated.


All forums will vary, that's the beauty - so we calculate the 'real' table with your vision of a your forum table and we calculate how far every team is out and thus give the points, probably from the second league match onwards or possibly the 3rd game if it takes us that long. A lot of astute guessing this year I can see. But the league positions will of course change all season so our forum table changes all season, and as stated in the initial post we award extra bonus points at the end of every month - and that really helps to sort out the top firing forums!


But it's all just a bit of fun, don't take it TOO seriously! Also we've had cases where a forum has been, well, almost dire one season but the next gone on to medal positions (e.g. Man Utd and Sunderland) !!



A reminder LAST SEASON – the top ten and their final points


Position – Total Points – ‘helping’ bonus points – name of forum + team
NATIONAL FORUM Honorary Gold Medal – Shared!!
• 1 37 11 DCFC Fans Derby County
• 1 37 9 Toffee Talk Everton

NATIONAL FORUM Honorary Silver Medal –
• 3 46 12 United Lounge Manchester United

NATIONAL FORUM Honorary Bronze Medal – shared!
• 4 48 2 Foxes Talk Leicester City
• 4 48 6 BlackCatChat Sunderland

NATIONAL FORUM Honorary Diploma of Honour I
• 6 51 3 BaggiesZone West Bromwich Albion

NATIONAL FORUM Honorary Diploma of Honour II – shared!
• 7 52 4 Not 606 Hull Board Hull City
• 7 52 2 ToonForum Newcastle United

Then …
• 9 53 1 WFC Forums Watford FC
• 10 58 0 Tottenham Hotspur Unofficial Supporters Site Tottenham Hotspur

Etc. etc.



Enjoy the first day of the league season!!!



daib0/David

 

Oh damn I forgot about this

 

An IBM Supercomputer and the Sunderland Black Cat Chat forum admin man and myself have spent quite a few days cogitating on the entries made into the Competition. A couple of entries could not finally be accepted, or did not get back to clarify doubts, but we finally have had a massive 431 entries from 39 Forums from the 40-something invited. Unfortunately 2 of the forums didn't hit the minimum number of entrants and lost out in Round one and a handful didn’t even get one prediction back. But the big, big majority got into double figures and some even passed twenty which makes for a fantastic representation. So the number shown at the side of your forum name is the number of entrants for the forum to get this all important average – if you want to know exact selections for any others (local rivals, soft spots etc) just tell me and I’ll happily post them on here, or even all of them ...





7 Not 606 Norwich Board
Norwich City

• 1 Chelsea
• 2 Man City
• 3 Man Utd
• 4 Arsenal
• 5 Liverpool
• 6 Tottenham
• 7 Southampton
• 8 Everton
• 9 Swansea
• 10 Stoke
• 11 Crystal Palace
• 12 West Ham
• 13 Newcastle
• 14 Norwich City
• 15 Aston Villa
• 16 West Brom
• 17 Sunderland
• 18 Leicester City
• 19 Watford
• 20 Bournemouth

What would happen if ALL entrants were put TOGETHER? – well, here is the combined wisdom of those 431 people. According to all of us, this is how the League table will look after the last game has been played. Apologies if your team is not where you’d like to see it!



441 Combined say:

• 1 Chelsea
• 2 Arsenal
• 3 Man Utd
• 4 Man City
• 5 Liverpool
• 6 Tottenham
• 7 Southampton
• 8 Everton
• 9 Swansea
• 10 Stoke
• 11 Crystal Palace
• 12 West Ham
• 13 Newcastle
• 14 West Brom
• 15 Aston Villa
• 16 Sunderland
• 17 Leicester City
• 18 Norwich City
• 19 Bournemouth
• 20 Watford

And …. here we are after the 1st Week's results! Hardly means anything yet of course …

Last Update: Aug 12th


Key: Position – Total Points – Bonus Points (monthly) – Forum + Team

Remember, like golf, the fewer the points the better, that means you are less far out!!

• 1 104 0 The Posh Forum Peterborough United
• 2 108 0 LUFC Talk Leeds United
• 3 110 0 Tudor Talk Hemel Hempstead
• 3 110 0 Extreme Football Forum All Teams
• 3 110 0 KopWorld Liverpool
• 6 112 0 CourtOffside Bournemouth
• 6 112 0 Cardiff City Fans Forum Cardiff City
• 6 112 0 Toffee Talk Everton
• 6 112 0 MCFC Fans Manchester City
• 6 112 0 WFC Forums Watford
• 11 116 0 Royals Rendezvous Reading
• 11 116 0 Rovers Talk Blackburn Rovers
• 11 116 0 North Stand Chat Brighton
• 11 116 0 DCFC Fans Derby County
• 11 116 0 Arsenal Fan Forum Arsenal
• 11 116 0 Joys and Sorrows Birmingham City
• 11 116 0 Cardiff City On-Line Cardiff City
• 11 116 0 United Lounge Manchester United
• 11 116 0 Not 606 Norwich Board Norwich City
• 11 116 0 Not 606 QPR Board Queens Park Rangers
• 11 116 0 Wolves Forum Wolverhampton Wanderers
• 11 116 0 This Northern Soul Wigan Athletic
• 23 118 0 BlackCatChat Sunderland
• 23 118 0 Talk of the Tarn Barnsley
• 23 118 0 Back Henry Street Blackpool
• 23 118 0 Viking Chat Doncaster Rovers
• 23 118 0 Claret and Banter Bradford City
• 23 118 0 Sports262 - Luton Town FC Luton Town
• 23 118 0 Not 606 – Southampton Board Southampton
• 23 118 0 Not 606 Hull Board Hull City
• 31 120 0 Friends of Fulham Fulham
• 31 120 0 Foxes Talk Leicester City
• 31 120 0 Toon Forum Newcastle United
• 31 120 0 Tottenham Hotspur Unofficial Supporters Site Spurs
• 31 120 0 West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion
• 36 122 0 The Longside Burnley
• 36 122 0 The Holmesdale Crystal Palace