Prediction League - time to get the new season underway!

[bocadillo]

Just ten days to go before the season's first Championship game, so it's time to get moving.

At the end of last season I heard a lot of dissatisfaction about any suggestion of reducing the numbers of teams in the leagues - and not only from those who would have found themselves in a lower division because of it - so I'm forgetting that. It's going to be 24 per division with 23 head-to-head games a season.

What I do want to do something about however is the number of uncompetitive matches - those where the opponent just doesn't turn up. I've decided in those cases that the opponent will be deemed to have scored the average for that division (rounded down to the nearest whole number) - and that is the score that will have to be beaten to win the game.

So we'll be starting with 4-up, 4-down from last season: down from the Prem to the Fizzy will go foxybru, andy15, SwedeFox and NN Fox to be replaced by Nottingham Fox, Yorkshire Vixen, GazLCFC and Bilborough Fox: down from the Fizzy to the Chumps go Scarby, Lako42, Doggie_muz and jonahal32 and going the other way will be Profondo Rosso, stockholm fox, Nathan and cornishfox.

The main difference of course is that this year we will be predicting the results of Championship games. Remember those old days when we were concentrating on League One games? Hopefully they will never return!!

Look out for the first set of fixtures for the new season on Sunday - if you want to join in, send me a PM or let me know in this thread.

And to get us started, I'll post a few PreSeason Prediction Friendlies between now and the start of the season - and will see who can get the most points before the season actually begins.

 

[SJN-Fox]

Hmmm, not sure I agree with this average thingy, means you have to get an above average score to beat someone who can't be arsed to even turn up.

Count me in though anyway please Boc.

 

[bocadillo]

Hmmm, not sure I agree with this average thingy, means you have to get an above average score to beat someone who can't be arsed to even turn up.

Count me in though anyway please Boc.

You're already in - everybody from last season is already included - it's only newcomers who need to apply.

The average score target is just to give people something to go against, rather than them having nothing to beat for half-a-dozen matches or more. It really only affects the Chumps, so it's not going to be relevant to you - the Prem was virtually 100% last season.

Have you got another suggestion? Perhaps I should get Jessel to organise a poll.

 

[Siouxsie]

Hmmm, not sure I agree with this average thingy, means you have to get an above average score to beat someone who can't be arsed to even turn up.

Count me in though anyway please Boc.

I agree. Whilst I understand Boc's motives I'm sure I only stayed up last time because (I think) I sent in predictions for every game.

I already know I'm going to be away for a fair few games this season, including the first couple. I suspect I might do better by just leaving it and going for an average score.

 

[bocadillo]

I agree. Whilst I understand Boc's motives I'm sure I only stayed up last time because (I think) I sent in predictions for every game.

I already know I'm going to be away for a fair few games this season, including the first couple. I suspect I might do better by just leaving it and going for an average score.

Wouldn't work - the absentee wouldn't get any points at all - the average score is just to give the other person something to beat.

If you're going to be away, don't forget that you can predict in advance. Just send me your holiday/absent on business dates and I will send you the list of games for those dates. Then PM your predictions back to me and I will include them in the appropriate weeks thread.


Any other suggestions on how these 'dead' ties could be made more interesting?

 

[SJN-Fox]

Not sure what the answer is but I'm not sure that losing to someone who hasn't made any predictions is very fair either ... if AAA fails to predict and is given an average score of, say, 6 points, my predictions that I've lodged score me 2 points and so I lose against someone who's made no predictions. ok, so it might not affect the prem very much but it will affect someone.

 

[DesertFox]

Any other suggestions on how these 'dead' ties could be made more interesting?

Can we somehow introduce a mud wrestling component?

 

[GazLCFC]

We are going up, said we are going up

 

[Motown Fox]

So if say AAA team misses one week and the average is 6 then if my team scores 5 points then I get no league points BUT team AAA gets no league points either so neither team gets any points whereas if I also score 6 then I get a point but AAA still gets none?

 

[bocadillo]

So if say AAA team misses one week and the average is 6 then if my team scores 5 points then I get no league points BUT team AAA gets no league points either so neither team gets any points whereas if I also score 6 then I get a point but AAA still gets none?

Yes. And if you score 7, you get three points. That's my suggestion.

 

[SJN-Fox]

So if say AAA team misses one week and the average is 6 then if my team scores 5 points then I get no league points BUT team AAA gets no league points either so neither team gets any points whereas if I also score 6 then I get a point but AAA still gets none?

That's right, you get no points because you lost to someone who never turned up :icon_conf

Like I said, I'm not sure what the answer is but neither am I convinced that this is it.

 

[camberwell fox]

That's right, you get no points because you lost to someone who never turned up :icon_conf

Like I said, I'm not sure what the answer is but neither am I convinced that this is it.

Easy answer, just shoot the lazy ****ers who don't predict...

 

[Singth]

Those who fail to submit their predictions should be subject to a penalty. Maybe a points deduction if you fail three times during the season.

 

[Polar Bear]

Weren't there a handful of teams who hardly bothered at all last time? Are they still included?

 

[jb5000]

How many new players have you got for this round?

I'd suggest replacing the ones who want in with the no-showers in order of number of no shows last season. There were 10 players who had 10 or more no shows last season and they are now all in the third tier. The more of those you get rid of, the less of a problem this is.

In terms of people's concerns about the average, I agree, perhaps a compromise would be to say that the no shower is set a score of 50% of the average?

 

[bocadillo]

How many new players have you got for this round?

I'd suggest replacing the ones who want in with the no-showers in order of number of no shows last season. There were 10 players who had 10 or more no shows last season and they are now all in the third tier. The more of those you get rid of, the less of a problem this is.

In terms of people's concerns about the average, I agree, perhaps a compromise would be to say that the no shower is set a score of 50% of the average?

Four new teams have applied to join, so that is almost half the problem solved - although thinking about it, I do know of another person who no longer has an internet connection, so it is actually 11 replacements that we are looking for. I'm sure that there will still be other people to join in though - 4 in basically 24 hours, so I'm sure that there will be more to come.

Your idea about the '50% of average' is a good one and certainly something that I will consider.

 

[bocadillo]

Weren't there a handful of teams who hardly bothered at all last time? Are they still included?

Hopefully we will be able to replace them.

 

[bocadillo]

After due consideration, I've decided not to make any rule change regarding the award of points when a team doesn't turn up. Easier for me that way - and I hope that the 'bonus point for every 10 points scored' will continue to be sufficient incentive for teams to make a real effort even though they know that they can get 2 points for almost no effort at all.

Thanks to people for their input on this.

 

[Brown Nose]

If there is a space you can count me in this season boc.

 

[bocadillo]

If there is a space you can count me in this season boc.

You're in.