ABE seem to have had same manager since day 1.

CBA checking others, sorry 😊

Team history suggests Ricky has been manager at STE since the very start.

(There is a line saying season 1 in brackets but with no manager name)

Shows what stability can do at a club!  Maybe Spurs and others in real life could learn from that!

Great to see so much left to play for across the Divisions. Same is the case in a lot of the end of season awards too - should see some good lineups in the next weeks final league games. 

Round 9 attracted a low-than-usual entry of 22 managers.  Nobody predicted Queen of the South’s win at Annan, and only two managers got the draw between Alloa and Forfar (4-4!).  The other results weren’t too tricky to predict, despite which two managers scored only one point, and poor old Elgin registered a duck.

At the other end, six managers scored seven points, which means 17k each for Dan at Annan, Pauls at Ayr and East Fife, Willy at Forfar, Raymond at Partick Thistle and Roy at Stirling.

An unexpected miss from Eduard means that Dundee lose their lead – but it’s very tight at the top, and with new leaders East Fife having a 5 to drop, any of the top seven could still win it.

The final round is next Saturday, 17th January, and features the match 50 games from Division 3.  The entry form is on the Notebook.

Top team in each of the 3 divisions still not decided going in to last league match session a week today.

Only 2 teams confirmed relegated, with another couple needing 2 wins and good goal difference swing to survive automatic drop.

Have things ever been as tight as this so late in the season?

The following teams receive an MVP bonus after match 48:
Motherwell - MVP #10: 25k (Dww)
Raith Rovers - MVP #1: 1 TP + 25k (WwD)
Hibernian - MVP #4: 1 CP (WwW)
Brechin City - MVP #3: 1 TP (wWw)
Montrose - MVP #3: 1 TP (DwW)

The following teams receive an MVP bonus after match 47:
Arbroath - MVP #6: 25k (WwW)
Saint Mirren - MVP #4: 1 CP (wWd)
Inverness - MVP #5: 25k (wWW)
Airdrieonians FC - MVP #7: 25k (WdW)
East Stirlingshire - MVP #2: 1 TP + 25k (dWw)

Costs double than previous cup rounds.

But double the potential pay out.  Obviously.

Nearly forgot!

The following teams receive Betting cup match winning through match 46:
AI(100) ALB(150) COV(150) DEV(150) DFA(100) ELG(150) GM(150) HEA(100) HIB(50) PT(100) RAN(150) STJ(150) SM(150)

I confess I actually went and quickly checked ALB account at reading his blog below!

d'oh

My thoughts entirely- no wait - I didn't win the prediction thingie - I'll rely on Mark's good will - that's me stuffed.😂

I believe mine is wrong I should have 4000 in the Albion bank vault

Great catch to whomever caught this bug, that's a tricky one to spot.

My best guess is that the payouts occurred while the matches were running. The runtime for all of the matches to finish populating is on the order of 10s of seconds usually, in my experience. The matches get populated from first to last, so you can often open up a match report for one of the games at the top a minute or two past the hour and see the top few matches with results and the bottom ones all showing 0-0 until you refresh a minute later.

So, if you also assume that those match gate payouts aren't processed until that is run, then you would have a window of time where the div 1 matches have paid out receipts and div 2 and 3 have not. If you processed the PL payouts during that window, I could see it having the same starting balance for the PL payouts and then also the matches that are halfway through running.

Just a best guess here. Good catch and glad it was corrected.

Some teams never had match 45 gate receipts added as olmec calculation seems to have happened at same time prediction league 83k payouts were made.

 So clicking on a team page and then selecting "Account" for team ANN for example - 
the bank account figure of 1844k was also used as the old balance when prediction league 83k was added, so software game engine overlooked the 70k gate receipts.

Oddly Div 1 MOT bank account looks ok,
but the other teams who received the 83k also then missed out on team Account added gate receipts.
Anyone else spot a blip like this, then inbox me, or post on blog so I can resolve.

The following teams receive Adjustment through match 45 gate receipts not showing correctly in team Account:
ANN(70) COW(91) DUU(60) ELG(78) STI(79)

The following teams receive Betting on cup match through match 46:
AI(-50) ALB(-50) ANN(-50) ARB(-50) COV(-50) COW(-50) DEV(-50) DFA(-50) EF(-50) ELG(-50) FAL(-50) FRA(-50) GM(-50) HEA(-50) HIB(-50) KIL(-50) LIV(-50) MOT(-50) PT(-50) RAN(-50) STJ(-50) SM(-50) STE(-50) SRA(-50)

White dots on image below may be copyright markings, rather than snow!

Will there be a pitch inspection early tomorrow befoe the Semis? Our prima donnas won't want to get too cold?

Same at casino roulette - folk see red number has came up 5 or 6 times in a row so assume it is more likely to be a black number next.  But it's 50/50 each time.  Or slightly less if casino has a zero on the wheel to ensure the house always wins, eventually.

Independent Random Variables....Even if a coin toss comes up heads 5 times in a row, the odds of heads next time are still 50%

The history/form of betting last 3 weeks suggests the highest Skill Level player has not scored.

Does that mean the probability of highest SL player scorer this Wednesday is very much MORE likely.  As what are the odds for 4th time in a row the highest SL player does NOT score again.  That scenario seems far more unlikely statistically.

Have DEE finally sacked this guy?

As a hint, DEE will most likely be operating under new management.
If you have already bet on DEE, you could try to get your bet voided.

The following teams receive Participation Bonus through Participation Thru Dec 28th:
ALB(10) ALO(30) DUM(10) EF(50) EDI(50) FAL(25) FOR(10) FRA(25) HEA(10) HIB(50) LIV(10) MOT(20) PT(10) ROS(30) STJ(20) STE(45)

The following teams receive Participation Bonus through Participation Thru Dec 21st:
ALO(35) ARB(15) DEE(35) EF(50) EDI(30) FAL(10) FRA(25) HIB(50) INV(10) LIV(10) MOT(50) PT(20) RR(10) RAN(10) ROS(10) STJ(20) STE(50) SRA(30)

Thanks for doing that research, Alan.  So the written rules match the practice - but not some people's memories, it seems....

I believe this was always the rule and was always implemented. 

It's a rare occasion a perfect score, and ever rarer that we have multiple perfect scores.

In the 6 seasons I ran the Prediction League we had (at a quick glance)

Season 52 - 2 perfect scores, Celtic on both occasions. They were wildly good at predicting that season. To the extent it started to look suspicious!

Season 53 - 2 perfect scores - Stranraer got one and then in round 7 we seen Hearts, Annan & Motherwell and get perfect scores.

Season 54 - None

Season 55 - In Round 9 Hamilton, Hearts & East Stirling claim 100k each. Then we had another Round 8 mad one. 9 Teams got a perfect score.

Season 56 - None

Season 57 - St. Mirren in Round 4 and Elgin in Round 5.

To the best of my memory, when we had multiple winners, we paid out the full 100k, happening 3 times in 6 seasons

No.  No Van Veen can't/didn't.

Can Dutch Van Veen spring a surprise in final tonight?

Not sure about last few seasons tbh, but it used to be 100k in total to be devided among the winners. 
 

Agreed Steve on the end of season awards. Its a little aligned with what Im talking about now. 

Remember Im a big fan, I ran it for five seasons and usually actively participate. The PL is a guessing game that adds 1200k to the game over teh course of a season. Because of this one week its added an additional 500k (42% of the yearly payout). I dont believe thats in the spirit of the PL, thats the one point Im making. The other was Im certain that previously when it was fullhouse it wasnt paid, but the archives dont go far enough for me to confirm. 

Now all of these posts and the research have taken over an hour of my time and will earn me less than PL in participation. 

Steve T is almost always on the button with his take on issues being fully valid.

But the end of PL payouts needed as an incentive to the average Joe to keep participating right to the end. 
About two-thirds of the managers joining in prediction league at some point is a positive statement there is not much wrong with current set up.

Must be a fair bit of admin work.  So well done Paul at EF.

I'm not fussed either way. It seems fair to award full prize for 100%.

What is don't like is where there are multiple awards at the end of these things. If there are 5 awards for 1st to 5th and a joint winner, both should get 1st prize but next should get 3rd prize not 2nd.

I have reviewed as far back as the archives go. There has not been a shared perfect round in that time. So no precedent. 

Im not a fan, but it is what it is 

Personally think the way its been applied while you and I were running it is precedent. Think the wiki rules should rather be updated. It doesnt sit right with me. 

Again If I am wrong, humbly apologise, not looking for a fight 

Tyron, you may well be right.  I wasn't aware of the rule and so since I took over the PL from Alan I've probably never applied it.  However, it is documented in the Wiki so should have been applied.  

I dont believe that rule has been applied in recent seasons. I may be wrong, but pretty sure it hasnt

The following teams receive Participation Bonus through round 8 correction corrected:
DEE(83) DUU(-83)

The following teams receive an MVP bonus after match 45:
Dundee FC - MVP #11: 25k (wWw)
Elgin City - MVP #8: 25k (WdW)
Edinburgh City - MVP #6: 25k (WwW)

The following teams receive Prediction League through round 8 correction for perfect people:
ANN(83) COW(83) DUU(83) ELG(83) MOT(83) STI(83)

Just read the Wiki rules, you are correct, Andrew.

Andrew, I don't remmeber that, perhaps others can confirm what you're saying?

Do perfect scores no longer receive the full, unsplit payout each as before?

The following teams receive Prediction League through round 8, 3rd January 2026:
ANN(17) COW(17) DEE(17) ELG(17) MOT(17) STI(17)

I can’t remember a round like this one.  There was a high entry, 30 managers, and a very high average score, 7.5.  All the results were correctly predicted by at least half the entrants, and five were predicted by 90% of managers.

Nobody scored less than five.  Ten managers scored eight, and no less than six managers scored a maximum nine points, surely a record.

The perfect entries score a somewhat insulting 17k each.  Congratulations to Daniel at Annan, Alan at Cowdenbeath, Eduard at Dundee, Jason at Elgin, Andrew at Motherwell and Roy at Stirling.

With two rounds left, Dundee have a handy two point lead over four chasing teams, but with a score of three to drop next week, Dundee must be favourites to win the contest.

We move on next Saturday to the Division 2, match 47 games.  The entry form is on the Notebook.

One team barely turned up if fair play is being discussed on blog?

I really wonder why Andrew hasn't played MOT vs STE as PL banker.
I am quite impressed by the amount of fair play shown, though.

The following teams receive an MVP bonus after match 44:
Rangers - MVP #3: 1 TP (WwD)
Stenhousemuir - MVP #10: 25k (wWw)
Brechin City - MVP #2: 1 TP + 25k (wWw)

Don't Forget....

Today is the day you break your New Year's Resolution!

Unless...

Your resolution is never to forget to do the Prediction League...

ALO sends 106k to STE for 1 CP

Good health to all.

   All the best to all of Sesl

Slams shut tomorrow. 

1 final CP available if anyone wants it. 

Happy New Year Everyone!

Not if you win more than you lose.

The following teams receive Betting cup match winning through match 43:
AI(100) ANN(150) COW(100) DEE(100) EDI(100) ELG(100) FRA(100) HIB(50) KIL(100) LIV(100) STJ(100) SM(100) SRA(100)

Just what I normally do - even this week's match where I took HEA but named Shakest as a scorer. :-)

It IS a mug's game - bookies are never bankrupted - but it IS the team's cash, not mine. 

Betting is a mugs game!

Best bet is pick a scorer from team to score but lose match maybe.

And after 2 rounds where we drew a complete blank, I'm glad to say we were one of the 3 who got a goalscorer. 💰👍

3rd cup bet round in a row now the goalscorers evaded all but two of the 20 folk betting .

The following teams receive an MVP bonus after match 43:
Motherwell - MVP #9: 25k (WdW)

The following teams receive Betting on cup match through match 43:
AI(-50) ALB(-50) ANN(-50) ARB(-50) COW(-50) DEV(-50) DEE(-50) EF(-50) EDI(-50) ELG(-50) FAL(-50) FRA(-50) GM(-50) HIB(-50) KIL(-50) LIV(-50) MOT(-50) STJ(-50) SM(-50) SRA(-50)

Good luck to the 8 managers fighting out festive football in sesl cup today.

Paul Cockyne               11.0

William Bushby               9.0

Andy Shaw                     8.0

Alon Atie                          7.0

David Blair                       6.5

No predictions this week asd Im on holiday at the coast and the gameweeks are just happening too quickly.

Thank you for the reminder!

I did not know that we were so close.

As I mentioned before, I enjoy this game very much and, while I may not write a lot, I do read and follow what goes on here.

Forfar is having a good season so far.  I just can't let go of the cups, so we tend to get in trouble in the league while trying to compete in the cups. (Hoping Colin gets too distracted with Caribean beauty to put in lineups for tomorrow...!).

Thanks for reminder to watch his Netflix show released today.

His vodka Dutch Barn was delivered by Santa and surprisingly good.

Cheers for the sponsorship reminder! These seasons are just flying by lately and specially this late in the year, where every day feels like a Saturday, it's a miracle I haven't NMR'd yet. 

Anyone allowed themselves to sit down and watch the latest Ricky Gervais on Netflix yet?  

SRA sends 240k to STE for 2 CP

RAN sends 2 TP to CB for 182k

It would be good to have an option to have 5 subs come on if this were possible. It would help me, but i would need to get a few more players to make the most of this. 
The positives are you could rotate your squad more to have your players available more. But the negatives are that those powerhouses with a good squad of 20 available players would be strong virtually all the time making them harded to get results from. 

Being in Div 3 that will not be an issue for myself. But it could lead to the same teams being powerful for longer than normal. 

Maybe have an option for 5 subs in Division 3, 4 in Division 2 and the minimum of 3 in Division. Cup games all at 3 subs only. The lower league teams could then be more competitive in the Cups as they could rotate and have more of a go in the Cups. 

Not sure if that is possible to even change the code. 

Free 100k waiting for 10 teams in subject line who haven't hit their participation bonus amount of minimum 100k for the default team sponsorship for all teams not winning a team sponsor lot near start of season.

DEV 0K (need blog & journal to earn 100K)
HAM 25k (so need 75k more participation money)
PET 30K (so need 70k more participation money) etc

CLY 55k
FOR 95k
NAI  15k
QOS  70k

AYR 0k
DFA 60k
GM 90k

Copied from front page, so as accurate upto last AFG party bonus payout:-