Season 13 - Week 8

It's all about the Dickov league this season, with the two leaders of the overall league coming from the 5th tier of predicting.  Last week Grant Elder went top thanks in part to a safe pick from Ricky Jones.  This week it is Jones who has been bold and Elder who has gone safe, leading to a reversal of positions at the top.  Delahunt and Storey have chosen a great time to hit form, with big winners propelling them into 3rd and 4th in the overall league respectively.

Lisa Bradbury has now picked 8 losers on the trot, and there are some that think she may just be looking for attention, regardless of it being good or bad, but a review of her picks indicate she has just been either hugely unlucky or a jinx on every team she has picked.   She picked Ipswich to win early on (when everyone thought they might be good) and has since betted against them (when everyone realised they are bad - although she picked a week they drew).  Home picks of Hereford, Lincoln, Scunthorpe and Yeovil should have yielded at least one winner, and her away picks of West Ham (at Wigan) and Charlton (at Norwich) are also far from daft.  I have some sympathy for Lisa, as most of us have had that sort of season where everything we pick turns to nappy filler, I recall such a season for me, when I had picked Villa to win and they were cruising 1-0 and Juan Pablo Angel then proceeded to miss a penalty and score an own-goal to deny me a win..... so yes I have sympathy, but not enough to stop me laughing, 8 losses on the trot mwa ha ha.

As we approach the back-end of the season I am going to dive into some league-by-league analysis.

Pele League

The lowest ever winning score for the top flight was David Rosser's £4.22 two seasons ago, that "record" looks set to be broken as no-one seems to particularly want to win this year!  Tim Lines leads the way as he looks for his first ever silverware, and surprisingly he is chased by Booth and Gibbons Sr (who has escaped the relegation zone and put himself within shooting distance of the title with 3 successive winners).  I say surprisingly, as the league is chocker with ex-Pele winners and you would expect one of them to be in the mix.  Lines, Smith and Rosser are in no mans land right now, needing biggish winners to land the title, but also needing to find any winner to steer clear of a brutal four player relegation zone.  Kelly and Gould will feel they are close enough to escape relegation with some ease, but Shakespeare's love affair with the top flight has turned into a tragic comedy and he is beginning to look doomed.  Cornwall is relegated barring a miracle akin to feeding the 5000 with a McDonald's happy meal.

Maradona League

Jones and Dunk have been leading the way for some time now, and still sit in the promotion zone, but a poor run of form for Dunk has given hope to Ingham and a resurgent Britcliffe.  Ono and Fields are cut adrift at the bottom, leaving Gurd, Lloyd and Wickett to battle it out for the one remaining safe spot in the bottom 5.

Lineker League

Southworth and Callan hold a slender advantage over Roberts, Gibbons Jr and Virdi, with Southworth more at threat, following his recent loss.  Callan's big winner in week 8 has given him the chance to go safe for the last couple of weeks to put the pressure on the chasing pack to find big winners.  With Noyce doomed to end last, the remaining three relegation spots are far from settled, and with only £2.01 separating relegation from promotion there may well be a twist in the tail yet.

Shearer League

As we now move to the third tier of the pyramid, it is two up and two down, leaving a more defined gap between the promotion chasers and the relegation avoiders.  Lowe and Heseltine both lost but retain their promotion spots, albeit with only a slender margin from Malone.  4th through to 8th are tightly packed, and week 9 will surely decide whether they go into the final week with hopes or fears.  Hughes has work to do, and no room for error in 9th, as he is £1.54 from safety.  Crunkhorn might as well prepare for life in the lower leagues.

Dickov League

Jones and Elder are a shoe-in for promotion, with only back-to-back losses and big winners from Baker or Owen denying them promotion.  With only £1.43 separating Wickham, Ross Jones, Omoriyekemwen and Hastie, it looks like a perm 2 from 4 situation at the bottom.

Lee League

In what is a truly rubbish league Simms, Sht Box and Lewis are the only pickers in positive figures and they will battle it out for promotion.  Messrs Beech, Blackley, Moss, Jones and Ingham are lucky indeed that they are in a rubbish league, as their scores would be leaving them in dire straits in other leagues.  Fortunately for them Wilkinson and Alan Blackley are even worse and look doomed.  Although Andrew Jones has shown them the way to escape the relegation zone with a big 2.40 winner this week.

Ali Dia League

Delahunt and Storey have all but sewn up promotion with big winners this week, Rasboa is still just about within range though and Cornwell has also shown a propensity to big winners, that if repeated could still threaten the top two.  Pilkington and Ball will be shooting for Ben Drury in a bid to escape relegation (and a truly humilating relegation it would be for previous Pele winner Pilkington).  Babo Syaba probably needs one more winner to ensure his safety.

Boogers League

The final tier of the pyramid benefits from a four up and probably no down scenario (depending on how many new players we get).  Hatchard and Pete Cornwell are probably safe in the promotion zone now, with Ellie D just one winner from securing promotion.  Chrissy Blackers is the mint sauce between Craig the Ram and Craig the Sheepdip in a 25p mini-league for the final promotion spot.

Devine League

The bottom league is the tightest of the lot, with even the leader (Barry Hodgkin) far from guaranteed promotion, despite four going up, certainly Joe Welsh in 5th will be ruing his loss and all those around him picked winners.  Edge, Buckland and Gill are the current promotion incumbents, but even Kingsley in 9th will hold hope for a late promotion charge.

 

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