The first Championship fixtures of the new season are on Friday 9th August, which is 3 weeks away. Who is interested in taking part, bearing in mind that the new TV contract is likely to mean fixtures being even more all over the place? For example, that first "weekend" runs from Friday to Monday and the next "weekend" is Friday to Sunday, which looks like the "normal" pattern. However, the last "weekend" in September runs from Friday to Sunday, there are then 12 matches spread over Tuesday and Wednesday and the next "weekend" starts on Friday. That sort of pattern with 12 weekend games followed almost immediately by 12 midweek games then becomes the norm through to Christmas. There will be little breathing space, so could we could address that matter before thinking about the actual forecasts and who administers them? In other words, who's in and who's out?
With all the leaks there are I think that might be a bit premature to call notdistant. I would only go to the end of July personally.
I think I saw someone ask what we were going to do about this. I want to be crystal clear, I’m not complaining about anyone and I’m not criticising anyone, all are welcome. The fact is though that the four who have posted here (Away, Plym, Sensible and me) are as I put it, Gentlemen of Leisure. The others (Joe, Lyndhurst, Musty and SMH) are not or less so anyway. Understandably then all of the second group missed some forecasts, and it was only my 100% attendance record that saved me from a miserable last place! It’s going to be even harder next year because the new TV schedules have matches on nearly every day of nearly every week. There will be just two days minus 90 minutes between the last kick of one round and kickoff in the next as a mater of routine. You’ll probably have to submit your next forecast before I’ve finished the scoring of the previous one. I don’t know what data you use for forecasting but the stats for the last round may not be available to do the next. What I don’t want to do for technical reasons is take individuals out of the model mid-season. The four Gentlemen of Leisure have replied to my original question when it was in fact the others I wanted to have a think about the practicalities of the coming season. That probably means I was right to ask the question. As far as rules are concerned, I wasn’t intending to change anything. The mid and full season league position forecasts did had quite an impact on the end result again but that can be altered or dispensed with without changing the basic methodology. Further thoughts?
Ill give it a go for another season (participating , not organising!) I guess I have less excuse than most for not knowing when the fixtures are!!
We're second favourites after Oxford for relegation....so that doesn't look very promising. I'll go for 18th at the new year......and 17th in May.
There seems to a majority in favour of doing this again so here are The Rules copied shamelessly from last year. 1. 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 2024. Presently that's scheduled to be a full card on 29th December. 2. 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. 3. The remainder will be as for previous seasons. 3 points for a correct score and 1 point for a correct result. 4. 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. 5. There will be one joker allowed which will double the points gained for the match selected. Occasionally multiple jokers will be allowed. 6. There will be a new Star Game feature. I will nominate one match whenever there is a full card of 12 games. This will be a match of particular interest and all scores on that game will get double points. 7. Occasionally there will be a double (or more) points. 8. 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) 9. 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. 10. Predictions must be made 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. League games I can do quickly: cup games will take longer. I will do my best to turn results around quickly but I do occasionally get other duties allocated to me by She Who Must Be Obeyed. 11. Put your matches in the order shown on the BBC fixture page or things are likely to go horribly wrong. Please take care as there will be more matches televised from this league and schedules will therefore change more frequently. 12. There will be no penalty for non-Argyle fans putting PAFC down for less than a handsome win on every occasion, but I will bear a grudge against any Argyle fans who do so. This will be taken into account in any borderline decisions I have to make.
First of all thanks for Non Distance Green for doing the prediction again.. How about 18th end of year..and 19th end of season.. Thanks again.
Aug 9th. Blackburn 1-1 Derby PNE 2-1 Sheffield United Sat. 10th. Cardiff 2-1 Sunderland Hull 3-1 Bristol Leeds 2-2 Portsmouth Middlesbrough 0-1 Swansea Millwall 1-0 Watford Oxford 0-2 Norwich (Joker) QPR 1-1 WBA Stoke 2-1 Coventry Sunday 11th. Sheffield W 2-2 Plymouth 10min Please ignore this prediction..Tks.
