StevieDay1983

The Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League is really starting to intensify as we enter these final few weeks. @Gazza's United's Palmers All Stars remain out in front but the gap is just 22 points after his side were one of the few in the top half of the table to fail to notch up a 100+ points total. The chasing pack including @Wanderlust's To Haaland Back, Jon Bramall's FC Bucket Hat, and @Dannywadge's Danny's 11 are all in hot pursuit with many more just slightly further behind. 
Manager of the Week was a very competitive one this week with a lot of teams breaking the 100-point total. In fact, quite a few teams managed to go beyond the 130-point tally. In the end, it was 134 points by Jorge Mancebo's Antimasys FC that took the accolade. The decision to triple captain Erling Haaland was well played.
The Name of Shame ridicule this week goes to a disappointing display by Pavel Smith's Jakos to Bedzie who could only muster 26 points in a double game week. The decision to include the likes of Joao Cancelo, Reece James, Mason Mount, and Aleksandar Mitrovic suggests that he might have given up the ghost this season! Hopefully, there is enthusiasm to give it another go next season!
The deadline for this weekend's matches is 1:30pm BST on Saturday 6th May, 2023! Good luck all!

Thank you @StevieDay1983 and @footballeye

I believe it's because they weren't approved for an Austrian Bundesliga licence. We have a similar set-up here in Wales where teams must apply for a licence for the division above at the start of a season. A licence is only awarded if the club fulfils a number of set criteria. These can be financial, structural, or geographical etc. I'm not sure on the specifics but it could've been that they couldn't afford the licence or their facilities weren't up to the standard of the top tier. Llantwit Major had a similar issue here in Wales. Stormed to the Cymru South title but their ground was too small and they weren't keen to ground share so they were kept down and Pontypridd Town, who finished runners up, were promoted instead.

There's a potential similar situation in the Premier League next season. If Luton get promoted then they'll need to spend millions of pounds renovating their current stadium to meet the minimum licensing requirements to play in the top flight even though they are set to build a new stadium that will cost them much more but won't be ready for a number of years.

Right, not all clubs can fulfill the requirements for the 1st Bundesliga license. Also, FC Liefering is not eligible for promotion because they are a Salzburg farm team. A couple of seasons back, I was assessing the motivation of the second bundesliga teams and was surprised that a bunch of midtable teams were aspiring for promotion despite being adrift of the leaders by many points. Here's an article that I found back then which was explaining the situation:
 https://www.skysportaustria.at/lafnitz-klubchef-loidl-bestaetigt-wir-suchen-um-keine-lizenz-fuer-die-oberste-bundesliga-an/

Yeah, I thought we were poor against Rotherham and we still made them look very average when we beat them 2-1 earlier in the week. By the way, we've got EFL expert Gab Sutton writing previews of games every week on our site now so feel free to check out his thoughts. He's previewed the Blackburn vs Luton match that's taking place tonight. You can see it here...
https://www.punterslounge.com/football-news/blackburn-vs-luton-01-05-23/
Personally, I'm just glad Cardiff are safe because we were poor again yesterday. Sabri Lamouchi is apparently meeting with the club hierarchy in the next few days to see if they can come to a deal to extend his stay. I think it'll be madness if we severe ties with him. We've not been great under him but he's achieved what was needed by staying up and he's done it after taking over a demoralised team that was on an awful winless run, and he's done it with just the free transfer of Connor Wickham being his only signing. I'd be interested to see what he does over the summer with a little bit of investment because we have the crux of a solid squad. If we can get Callum Robinson and Jamilu Collins back fit for the new season then we only really need 4-5 new signings and we'll be looking very promising. I hope we can turn the loan signings of Cedric Kipre and Sory Kaba into permanent deals as well or extend their loans.
On the flip side, if we don't keep Lamouchi and we don't improve this squad then we're definitely relegation fodder next season! 

Surprised Bora aren't odds on against Rotherham. Guess the thinking is that they are resting players for the playoffs while Rotherham still need a win to keep clear of relegation...but Boro are just way better whichever team they put out. They also won't want to go into the play offs not winning games.
I've got to back them at 11/10 and will probably risk a little on the  -1 handicap at 3.25/1.

The Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League moves one week closer to the finale and it's still very close at the top of the table. @Gazza's United's Palmers All Stars retain their place at the summit and have even managed to open up a bit of a stronger lead at the top end of the table.
Congratulations go to Nick Bellingham's Real Sosobad team who snatched the Manager of the Week award with a 98 points total. They managed to squeak it past a 96 points haul of Stephen T's Wildgarden. Bellingham's side benefited hugely from the double boom of Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne with the pair earning him nearly 50% of his final total.
Shame and abuse must be directed at Patricia Atilano and her Lucas FC team who could only muster 13 points to leave them floundering at the wrong end of the table. Injuries and suspensions are plaguing Atilano's squad right now with Hugo Lloris, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Reece James, Goncalo Guedes, and Khalidou Koulibaly all unavailable. Tough times.
The deadline for transfers for the next round of games is 11am BST on Saturday 30th April, 2023. Don't forget, it's a double game week for a number of big teams so get those changes in! 

The next batch of Championship matches are listed above along with their odds for this weekend. Games are spread over the whole bank holiday weekend so lots of action to look forward to. I am personally buzzing with Cardiff's 2-1 win over Rotherham last night. Feels like a bit of poetic justice to grab a late winner in the pouring rain after the controversial circumstances that led to this game being replayed. That win now means we are all but safe due to a superior goal difference. There is still plenty to play for with the play-off race and relegation battle still wide open. Easy to forget that both Wigan and Blackpool still haven't officially been relegated yet. Can either pull off the great escape?! Give us your predictions below! 

The odds for the Premier League matches scheduled to be played over this weekend are here to check out. It was an intriguing set of midweek results. I'm just delighted @yossa6133 managed to get a win from his Nottingham Forest! I know I'm never brave enough to touch Cardiff with a bargepole!  Take a look at the prices and tell us what bets you're all placing. It's set to be a fascinating finale to the league season. Manchester City may well be all set to go on and win the title but what about the Champions League qualification battle, the race for the Europa League spots, and the fight to avoid relegation? 

Very rare for me to make any money on Forest 🤣 but that was very nice. Relegation fight is looking very tight now.

Hi all,
It looks like this issue has been sorted by our tech guru genius Zsolt. He mentioned that it looks like now those boxes are working properly again. Maybe you need to log out and log in again and also your browser cache might influence how soon you can see the updated version of the header. So try that if it's not working initially.
Cheers!
Steve

To be fair, I backed your boys to get something at home against Manchester United the other week and they let me down... but it was a big risk from me... and, on another day, Harry Maguire would've either been sent off, given away a pen, or both!

Well, things are starting to hot up as we enter the final weeks of the Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League. @Gazza's United's Palmers All Stars still lead the way but their lead has been reduced to just 18 points now with @BARNSLEYCHOP's Scratattack closing them down. A number of other teams in the chasing pack also hit 70 plus points to claw their way back into having an outside chance of gatecrashing the title race. It's all very exciting! 
The Manager of the Week accolade goes to Kush Karita's Kush who managed to tally up 86 points this week. It's an impressive sum given the fact four Premier League clubs weren't in action this weekend due to the FA Cup Semi-Finals. Strong performances from the Arsenal and Liverpool contingent of their team contributed to that total score. They could even afford to have 14 points unused on the bench!
Our weekly name of shame tribute goes to an ironically named Clear Winners managed by Karl Cross. Unfortunately, the pitiful 6 point haul this week has hit levels of embarrassingly poor that bring disgrace to the Cross family name. It's a score that looks even more pathetic given that Alex Iwobi... ALEX IWOBI (!?!?!) scored half of those 6 points. Ivan Perisic clearly downed tools with a -1 effort. Come on, Karl... you're better than that!
It's a quick turnaround this week due to the midweek fixtures with the deadline for transfers at 6pm BST on Tuesday evening 25th April, 2023!

You'd be poor if you'd backed Forest too often this season, but I've got to take some 11/2 at home against Brighton. A game we simply have to win if we're going to stay up, Brighton played extra time on Sunday and suffered a demoralising defeat on penalties.  Forest should have gained some confidence from the Liverpool game and the atmosphere the City Ground will be rocking under the floodlights.

The 2022 World Cup kicks off on Monday 20th November and we are going to be covering all the betting action from the biggest international tournament in football. Betting previews, odds, tips, and chat for all the games is going to be posted on this forum. Just head on over to our dedicated World Cup section to get involved!
@Fader is also running the hugely popular tipster competition that makes a return. You can sign up and be in with the chance of winning a share of the £200 prize pool right here...
2022 World Cup Tipster Competition
Bring it on! 

The Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League is building to a dramatic conclusion as we enter the final weeks of the season. @Gazza's United's Palmers Allstars are still holding onto the top spot but they are still closely followed by the likes of @BARNSLEYCHOP's Scratattack and @Dannywadge's Danny's 11. It's set to be an exciting finale to the season.
Manager of the Week once again goes to Jon Bramall. A 91 point haul isn't hitting the heights of the 161 points he accumulated a couple of weeks back but it's still an impressive total. It's also moved him up into 6th place and gives him an outside chance of a late surge for the league title in these final few weeks.
Our name of shame goes to @Zidane123's Manchester United 77. A meagre 19 points tally this week ensured his troublesome season continued and the team are now just three places off the bottom. The fans are protesting outside the ground and a change of ownership is being demanded with the club standing on the brink of vanishing into obscurity.
The deadline for this coming week's transfers is 6:30pm BST on Friday 21st April, 2023! 

My 15/1 weekend accy - https://www.punterslounge.com/football-news/accumulator-tips-15-04-23/ 
My 11/1 weekend BTTS accy - https://www.punterslounge.com/football-news/btts-tips-15-04-23/
2.5pts Newcastle to beat Villa 23/20
Villa in good form but the teams they've beat are all bottom half of the Prem table teams. Newcastle flying. I've also gone with BTTS and Newcastle to win.
2.5pts Everton to beat Fulham 11/10
Everton very solid at home since Dyche has entered the building. Fulham still without Mitrovic looked clueless in-front of goal against West Ham
2pts Brighton to beat Chelsea 7/4
Brighton are flying at the moment and create so many chances. I can't see how Chelsea start scoring goals and so if they're providing anything to Brighton then I can see them losing this one, too. Could potentially be a Champs League hangover, too. 

Easy win ?

4 home wins for me,odds of 2/1

Apologies for not getting the latest tables up from last weeks everyone! It was a bit of a hectic week with the Aintree Grand National and lots of football on. I'll update with the latest tables after this round of matches are completed on Tuesday. 

The Punters Lounge Fantasy Football League still has @Gazza's United leading the way but the chasing pack on the prowl. It was an obscenely high-scoring week with a lot of teams playing double games. Unsurprisingly, this saw a lot of managers resort to using their triple captain or bench boost. The highest team score for the week in the entire world was Mohamed Beddai whose cR7 side notched up a dizzy 173 points in total.
Teams in our league weren't too far off that height though with Jon Bramall's FC Bucket Hat winning the Manager of the Week award by picking up a mesmerising 161 points thanks to his use of the bench boost. As a good friend of mine, I'm delighted for Jon but there I was thinking my 99 points haul was decent. Silly me!
In a high-scoring week, there's still the name of shame that needs to be addressed. We've had some stinking scores lately and I'm pleased to say that we're not sinking to the depths we have of previous weeks. In fact, the lowest score of the week goes to Ivan Milosevic's FK Metalac GM who could only tally up 30 points this week. An injured Philippe Coutinho and reliance on Liverpool players in the defensive positions didn't help his cause!
The deadline for the next round of the competition is 11am BST on Saturday 8th April, 2023.

1.45 Stage Star
2.20 Zenta
2.55 A Plus Tard
3.30 Constitution Hill
4.05 Dorking Cock
4.40 Grey Diamond
5.15 Jolie Coeur Allen

1.45
2.20
2.55
3.30
4.05
4.40
5.15
Please use this format for posting selections. Leave a space after the time and then post the name of the horse.  
Please do not use formats for time such as 1:45, 1-45, 145, 1,45, 1.45-, 1345, 1.45., 145.

Yes. Apologies for the delay. There's some data issues we are having. Hoping to have it fixed as soon as possible. We'll have to get creative with our predictions for the time being so keen to hear what you all have in mind for the matches coming up this week across the leagues.