DangerousSausage

I used to be addicted to panto, but it's behind me now.

Neither of them looked great @Chris, I could see the second coming a mile off. However, in our general play we looked less like an accident waiting to happen than in recent weeks, and that was due in part to the much improved assistance and movement in midfield. Against Harrogate they were constantly passing it back to the keeper because there was nowhere else to go, and it always looked a matter of time until a pass went astray. Yesterday was a world apart from that.

The results: Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Watford Plymouth Argyle 3-3 Birmingham City Carlisle United 0-1 Cheltenham Town Wycombe Wanderers 1-1 Port Vale Accrington Stanley 2-1 Walsall Grimsby Town 1-2 Harrogate Town Halifax Town 2-2 Rochdale Oldham Athletic 1-2 Gateshead --- After nobody got into double figures since round 17, two of you did this round and a couple more were very close. Well done to @cheeky~k8 and @KingWilliams! @cheeky~k8 - 13 @KingWilliams - 11 @ARLukomski, @Chris - 9 @Dan, @william1984 - 8 @magpiejue, @Megan_Elizax, @upthepies - 6 @4everapie, @allardyces tash, @DonnyNotts, @Joshua, @super_ram - 4 @DangerousSausage, @gtownjohnno - 3 @liampie - 1 @Fan of Big Tone, @nottsnutter - bah, humbug - zero. --- This is the table at the halfway stage. @ARLukomski has a healthy lead and is on target for a record score, but @gtownjohnno is also on course to top last season's title-winning score. @cheeky~k8 returns to the top three, but I'm holding the real prize, which as we all know is sixth place. ARLukomski - 137 gtownjohnno - 122 cheeky~k8 - 117 4everapie - 110 nottsnutter - 108 DangerousSausage - 106 william1984 - 103 magpiejue - 99 Fan of Big Tone - 98 super_ram - 98 Chris - 96 Dan - 92 liampie - 91 Megan_Elizax - 91 upthepies - 90 Joshua - 80 DonnyNotts - 79 allardyces tash - 67 KingWilliams - 66 TheSkipper - 58 CliftonMagpie - 49 thommo - 49 OoooooTommy - 45 NottsCountyKev - 41 JIMBO - 40 jimbob - 38 Nocturnal-Magpie - 38 AmericanPie - 36 KB1862 - 22 George L - 6 Canadian - 4 --- That's our lot for this round. But fear not - there is a round on Boxing Day, and you can already post your predictions! While we're here, I'd like to thank you all for playing this year and wish you a very happy Christmas! Here's a jolly song to help you celebrate.

It's the final round of the year! Send in your predictions by 3pm on Boxing Day, and remember those jokers! Hull City v Sunderland Watford v Bristol City Exeter City v Wycombe Wanderers Fleetwood Town v Carlisle United Barrow v Stockport County Bradford City v Morecambe Altrincham v Halifax Town Southend United v Barnet

There are some cracking comments here and I don't have much more to add. The overall performance was such a big improvement on the Harrogate game it was like watching a different team. We didn't create tonnes of chances, but we were away to the team that's top of the league, and because we conceded first Stockport had the option of staying deep and not taking too many risks. It's a shame we lost again, but not many teams will get a result there. Now we need to carry this on against Doncaster and I'm confident we can get a much-needed win.

I doubt the club would be liable for this - the accountants in question sold their stake again and probably got "their" money back, either from Ray Trew or whoever bought the stake off them. If they no longer have a stake in the club, I don't see how it could be claimed back from the club.

I've seen LW interviewed after the last two games and Macauley Langstaff did a pre-match interview. I like to hear from the manager but apart from that I'm really not that fussed by it all. They should do their talking on the pitch. It might not be such a great idea to interview frustrated players after a defeat in case they say something stupid in the heat of the moment. My team in Germany is really struggling, and after yet another defeat the captain said that they weren't creating chances because most of the players aren't good enough. He won praise for a very honest and passionate interview, but I'm not convinced it went down that well in the dressing room. So perhaps players are kept away from the media to keep everything harmonious behind the scenes.

Hurray for EU competition law. Having a pretend market comes above all else once again. It's obviously a terrible idea, but it'll only happen if clubs agree to take part in it and they're mindful of a PR disaster. It's immaterial right now, anyway, as UEFA are turning the Champions League into an ESL anyway. What happened to Europe's premier knock-out competition? Of course, the burning question on everyone's mind is whether Yeovil Town would take part. Well now you can rest easy!

Blackburn Rovers 1-2 Watford Plymouth Argyle 3-1 Birmingham City Carlisle United 0-0 Cheltenham Town Wycombe Wanderers 0-2 Port Vale Accrington Stanley 1-1 Walsall Grimsby Town 1-1 Harrogate Town (joker) Halifax Town 2-1 Rochdale Oldham Athletic 2-2 Gateshead

If any of you want me, I'll be hiding behind the sofa.

Christmas is coming, geese are getting fat, the elves are busy packing presents for all the children on Santa's good list and, more importantly, the prediction league is about to reach the halfway stage! If you fancy a go, predict the following fixtures by 3pm on Saturday and remember your joker! Blackburn Rovers v Watford Plymouth Argyle v Birmingham City Carlisle United v Cheltenham Town Wycombe Wanderers v Port Vale Accrington Stanley v Walsall Grimsby Town v Harrogate Town Halifax Town v Rochdale Oldham Athletic v Gateshead

The results: Hull City 3-0 Cardiff City Swansea City 1-2 Middlesbrough Barnsley 1-1 Charlton Athletic Port Vale 3-2 Wigan Athletic Doncaster Rovers 0-5 Morecambe Newport County 1-1 Grimsby Town Dagenham & Redbridge 0-2 Wealdstone Dorking Wanderers 1-2 Woking --- A lot of games that looked predictable weren't at all. Our best scorers this round were @KingWilliams and @nottsnutter! @KingWilliams, @nottsnutter - 7 @allardyces tash, @DonnyNotts, @gtownjohnno - 6 @Dan - 5 @4everapie, @DangerousSausage, @magpiejue, @thommo - 4 @liampie - 3 @ARLukomski, @Chris, @CliftonMagpie, @william1984 - 2 @cheeky~k8, @Fan of Big Tone, @Joshua, @Megan_Elizax, @super_ram - 1 @TheSkipper - nul points --- This is our table. @ARLukomski still leads ahead of @gtownjohnno, but the lead has been reduced to nine points. Meanwhile, @nottsnutter joins the top three! ARLukomski - 128 gtownjohnno - 119 nottsnutter - 108 4everapie - 106 cheeky~k8 - 104 DangerousSausage - 103 Fan of Big Tone - 98 william1984 - 95 super_ram - 94 magpiejue - 93 liampie - 90 Chris - 87 Megan_Elizax - 85 Dan - 84 upthepies - 84 Joshua - 76 DonnyNotts - 75 allardyces tash - 63 TheSkipper - 58 KingWilliams - 55 CliftonMagpie - 49 thommo - 49 OoooooTommy - 45 NottsCountyKev - 41 JIMBO - 40 jimbob - 38 Nocturnal-Magpie - 38 AmericanPie - 36 KB1862 - 22 George L - 6 Canadian - 4 --- The next round is this coming Saturday, the 23rd of December, so the fixtures will be posted on Wednesday. See you all then for the last pre-Christmas round!

You should have gone to a tea room instead @liampie!

We are 21 points clear. We could conceivably lose all our remaining games (which we won't) and still stay up. As for being sussed out, we were sussed out years ago. Every team we play knows that the best way to play is is to press us high and stop the back three play it out. It's not rocket science, but it didn't use to matter because we were too good. What we saw yesterday was nowhere near as good as last season, let alone as good as we need for L2. The game got away from us due to two straightforward goals, but we didn't threaten at all either. Time and again our defenders had the ball and were forced to play it back because there was no movement in front of them, no one was making himself available for the ball. We miss Palmer badly, and LW moving Austin into the middle instead of bringing on Gosling speaks volumes as to the latter's chances of staying. The January window will determine whether we can push for the top seven, or whether we'll end up in the bottom half. I was expecting us to lose a few this season, but not as lethargically as that. I expect to see a bit of fight when things aren't going well, not a limp surrender. It was a deserved and easy win for Harrogate.

As always, the challenge is getting past the opposition's press. If we do that, we can beat anyone in this league. COYP, bring the points home!

I can't stand the things, but it was always a matter of time. IMO there should be a total ban on animated ads at the very least. They're literally designed to distract from the game. The good news is that they'll presumably make the club money, which can go into the team. They also won't be that noticeable from the Kop or the Family Stand as you only really get the glare when looking at them head on.

At some stage points penalties just become arbitrary. Why can't they just relegate them, give them another suspended penalty in case of further breaches and ban the responsible individuals from running a football club?

No. Happy belated birthday though

Oh. Maybe he just didn't want to move. He was probably rubbish anyway. We'll have more irons in the fire I'm sure.

I've had a busy few days - out for a meal with other humans on Wednesday, Christmas market with other humans (who are also work colleagues) on Thursday. So I might just shut myself in and play computer games to recover from all the socialising. I may emerge from my cave to visit my local Christmas market though

Hull City 2-1 Cardiff City Swansea City 2-0 Middlesbrough Barnsley 1-1 Charlton Athletic Port Vale 0-2 Wigan Athletic Doncaster Rovers 3-1 Morecambe Newport County 0-2 Grimsby Town Dagenham & Redbridge 2-2 Wealdstone Dorking Wanderers 2-0 Woking (joker)

This is a good signing, wasn't sure that Stoke were looking to get rid but it's our gain. One issue with having young players in on loan is that we're developing another team's players. They learn with us - inevitably making some mistakes as they go along - and their parent club then gets the benefit of that. I can see Macari improving a lot over the next couple of years, and it'll be our gain.

Got your crystal balls ready? Then let's go. These matches all kick off at 3pm on Saturday - remember your jokers and good luck! Hull City v Cardiff City Swansea City v Middlesbrough Barnsley v Charlton Athletic Port Vale v Wigan Athletic Doncaster Rovers v Morecambe Newport County v Grimsby Town Dagenham & Redbridge v Wealdstone Dorking Wanderers v Woking

Jodi Jones? I know Malta play him up front sometimes.

It was a club where the members played among themselves @CliftonMagpie, inter-club games were still years away. They'd arrange games between themselves such as married v single men. And it was all strictly amateur, Notts included. Only in the early 1880s did clubs such as Bolton and Blackburn start paying some players, sparking an outcry that money was ruining the game. Some of this was elitism - in the middle of the 19th century, ordinary working folk didn't have the time or energy to dedicate to a football club, so members tended to be very well-to-do. When the first players started getting paid, this opened the game up to working class people as they no longer had to earn a living outside of football. It was no longer a posh man's game. The FA finally allowed clubs to turn professional in 1885. It's fascinating to look back but it's really a world away from the game we know today, with clubs springing up all over the place and many disappearing again. The English Game on Netflix covers this era, it's really interesting stuff!