Prediction League Season 2023-24

If everyone is happy, I'll do the scoring again this year. I don't intend to change much but I am going to reduce the points for the league position forecast a little more. I'm reducing the mid-season league position points a little more and focussing on the end-of-year outcome, which is, after all, what counts.

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 2023. 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. For the first week I'm nominating Leicester v Coventry. This is vaguely a local derby but mainly because Leicester were relegated from the EPL while Coventry failed to get promoted to the EPL in the play-offs. Will it be a close game or will parachute payments work their foul magic?

7. Occasionally there will be a double (or more) points Saturday.

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.

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.

If anyone has any suggestions or objections let me know.

Please also confirm you’ll be taking part. I hope you will or otherwise I’ll have to change my spreadsheet. There’s a whole universe of social media out there and we’re a dwindling band on this ancient technology, but I really want to keep it going until I win, so keep your calendars free for the foreseeable future and beyond.

 

OK....i'll start things off.

I'm obviously IN.

Mid-season...we will be 16th.

End of season we will finish 17th.

Fri...4th Aug.
Sheffield W...1-2...Southampton.

Sat...5th Aug.
Blackburn...1-0...WBA.
Bristol C...1-2...PNE.
Middlesbrough...2-1...Millwall.
Norwich...1-2...Hull.
Plymouth A...2-2...Huddersfield...(46mins)........Oh dear I'm already in notDistant's bad books.
Stoke...1-1...Rotherham.
Swansea...1-0...Birmingham.
Watford...2-0...QPR.

Sun...6th Aug.
Leicester...2-0...Coventry.
Leeds...2-0...Cardiff.....(joker)
Sunderland...1-1...Ipswich.

 

I Am in too

Mid-season...we will be 13th.

End of season we will finish 16th.


Fri...4th Aug.
Sheffield W...2-1...Southampton.

Sat...5th Aug.
Blackburn...2-1..WBA.
Bristol C...2-1...PNE.
Middlesbrough...0-1...Millwall.
Norwich...1-0...Hull.
Plymouth A...2-1...Huddersfield...(13mins)
Stoke...2-1...Rotherham.
Swansea...2-0...Birmingham.
Watford...1-2...QPR.

Sun...6th Aug.
Leicester...3-1...Coventry..(joker)
Leeds..1-1Cardiff....
Sunderland...2-0...Ipswich.

 

Ok Chaps here we go.

Mid season...17th
End of season..20th.

Aug 4th
Sheffield W 1-1 Southampton

Aug 5th
Blackburn 2-1 WBA
Bristol C 2-2 PNE.
Middlesbrough 1-0 Millwall
Norwich 3-2 Hull
Plymouth 2-2 Huddersfield 9min. (Joker)
Stoke 2-1 Rotherham
Swansea 2-1 Birmingham
Watford 1-2 QPR

August 6th
Leicester 2-1 Coventry
Leeds 2-1 Cardiff
Sunderland 1-1 Ipswich.

 

Just saying.....Blackpool got relegated last season.......

 

Off we go then........ Mid season = 12th End of Season = 11th

Sheff Wed 1 - 3 Southampton

Blackburn 1 - 1 WBA
Bristol City 2 - 1 Preston
Middlesborough 1 - 0 Millwall
Norwich 2 - 0 Hull (joker)
Plymouth 2 - 1 Huddersfield (27 mins)
Stoke 2 - 0 Rotherham
Swansea 2 - 2 Birmingham
Watford 1 - 1 QPR

Leicester 3 - 1 Coventry
Leeds 2 - 0 Cardiff
Sunderland 2 - 0 Ipswich

 

Well done not Distant , i thought i may have had to come out of retirement . now im a man who has almost retired from work ..

Im going to go for ..

mid season 14th season end 6 .. have some faith ..

Sheff Wed 0 - 2 Southampton

Blackburn 1 -2 WBA
Bristol City 2 - 1 Preston
Middlesborough 2 - 0 Millwall
Norwich 2 - 2 Hull
Plymouth 2 - 0 Huddersfield 43 mins JOKER
Stoke 2 - 0 Rotherham
Swansea 2 - 0 Birmingham
Watford 3 - 1 QPR

Leicester 3 - 0 Coventry
Leeds 2 - 1 Cardiff
Sunderland 0 - 0 Ipswich

 

Mid season = 23rd End of Season = 21st

Sheff Wed 0 - 2 Southampton

Blackburn 0 - 1 WBA
Bristol City 1 - 1 Preston
Middlesbrough 2 - 0 Millwall
Norwich 2 - 0 Hull (joker)
Plymouth 1 - 1 Huddersfield (44 mins)
Stoke 3 - 0 Rotherham
Swansea 2 - 1 Birmingham
Watford 3 - 1 QPR

Leicester 2 - 0 Coventry
Leeds 2 - 0 Cardiff

 

Wow that's harsh.........

 

SMH - you have missed off the Sunderland - Ipswich game.

Musty - are you there? Are you participating?

 

I hate forecasting the first few weeks of the season. The three best teams of last season have gone up and the three worst have gone down. You are left with the 18 in the middle who are all much of a muchness. The three who came down were relegated having had to play the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Manchester United. The three that came up did so in competition with FGR, Accrington and Morecambe. All of the teams will have made significant changes in their squads, for better or worse, and some will have changed their managers, for better or worse.

If you look at the form table, which is my usual method, the top three are Argyle, Ipswich and Sheffield Wednesday and the bottom three are Southampton, Leeds United and an exception, Preston North End. They must have been truly awful.

Nevertheless:



Goal Time: 20 minutes

 

Don't tell him anything Pike. Given the finishing/mid term forecast he doesn't deserve any help........

 

Sheff Wed 1 - 2 Southampton

Blackburn 1 -1 WBA
Bristol City 2 - 1 Preston
Middlesborough 2 - 1 Millwall
Norwich 1 - 0 Hull
Plymouth 1 - 1 Huddersfield 29 mins
Stoke 1 - 0 Rotherham
Swansea 2 - 0 Birmingham
Watford 2 - 1 QPR

Leicester 3 - 0 Coventry
Leeds 3 - 0 Cardiff
Sunderland 2 - 1 Ipswich (J)


mid - 16th
end - 12th

 

Ah, welcome back Musty.

Here we go then, Week 1 of a new season in a new league. The weather forecast is bad: Storm Antonio will bring the potential of injuries, danger to life, damage to buildings and transport disruption to the south west and south east from 8am to 8pm on Saturday. There could yet be a huge anti-climax in the form of postponements.







SMH has submitted a forecast, so we're all in, but he's left out Sunderland v Ipswich. That's a 5pm kick-off on Sunday, so he has plenty of time to add a score for that one. The late kick-off means it's unlikely I'll go the results until Monday.

Sheffield Wednesday v Southampton is on Sky Sports at 7pm tonight if anyone is interested. All three Sunday games are also on Sky. The first Premier League game will be televised on Friday 11th August (Burnley v Man City) after which there'll be a bit less interest in the Championship!

 

SMH - last call for your Sunderland v Ipswich prediction.

 

So, plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. I came last.



A great start by Lyndhurst with two spot-on scores and a joker on the Super Match. Away though managed a correct score on the Super Match game, giving him 6 points on that game alone. Some might say he could have deployed his joker there rather than predicting Argyle would manage only a draw!

SMH scored a creditable 10 despite having omitted the Sunderland v Ipswich game.

Away also got the goal time: 9 minutes predicted against 6 actual.



Unless anyone objects violently, I'm not doing the Carabao Cup although we will do the FA Cup when it comes along. Therefore, the next round is a full league schedule of 12 games on Saturday, starting with Coventry v Middlesborough at 12.30.

Super Match will be Watford v Argyle. I did say I wouldn't focus on Argyle in this but for those not of the Green persuasion, this is in sad remembrance of the 1984 FA Cup Semi-Final at Villa Park, in which then top-tier Watford beat then third-tier Argyle 1-0. I was there........ If only Gordon Nesbitt had seen John Barnes lurking, waiting for that pass from keeper Geoff Crudgington.......

 

Just being awkward notDistant.

Looking at your Current Round list......Joe and myself are joint 5th...when in fact there are five predictors in front of us......should we not be joint 6th.

Also yourself are down as 6th when in fact you are last of eight....and should be 8th.

For instance we could have a situation with seven predictors being joint first (same amount of points) and the other person being second of a total of eight predictors when in fact they're last of eight ?

As I said I'm just being awkward.

 

cos we are sharing

 

That table causes more trouble than all the rest together firstly because it's vertical when the rest of the data is lateral and because last weeks' results have to be re-sorted in this week's order. It's the only bit I do manually.

It's the too teams sharing the same points share the same position conundrum. So last season finished with you and Away joint top both on 639 points, making you both 1st but SMH 3rd, not second. The Computer says "NO" to that "logic" so I fudged it to make the important season-end table "right". I forgot to un-fudge it.

So week by week we'll go back to two people having equal points NOT sharing first position as I accept they should but instead are listed as 1 and 2 plus a second key of alphabetical order of name. That's the way The Computer likes it, Dave. As we get more games under out belts the incidence of equal scores should reduce.

Hope that's clear. I've changed the table but I'm still last.

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Actually, when you stop thinking about a thing, the answer comes: I think I've solved it.