Dear Diary
Final
Spain put to rights the label of being the nearly men by putting a poor German side to the sword, to lift their first trophy for 44 years. Despite the 1-0 scoreline, Spain created numerous goal scoring chances against a German team who at times, defended shambolically.
Spain were most of our budding predictors favourites to lift the trophy with a staggering 1 in 4 of you opting for them as your champions.
Your other champion on the other hand goes quite impressively to Ian Lamb Builder who becomes the first predictor of this competition leading at the end of the first round matches to actually go on and win the tournament & like Spain, lifts his first trophy since 1964, when he won the Wollaton Gurning Tournament (a competition which has since ceased due to lack of competition) Remarkably, Lamby only dropped 6 points from a maximum of 47 points after round 1, to lift the title and hopefully this means he will not have to sell his raffle tickets at football practice this week.
All bow down to your new King Ian Lamb Builder.
Untill 2010 I bid you farewell.
Semi Finals
The Jammy Germans reached yet another final, ending Turkish delight, whilst failing to impress. With Turkey defending a little worse than the Germans, it spelt an end for the team who have lit up most games in the last minute being undone by a last minute goal themselves. Many people correctly predicting the German machine through to the final stage, most importantly of all our top 3 predictors who must surely now be out of reach of the chasing pack to make it a 3 horse race for the ultimate prize.
Looking at the predictor sheets, the end result could be decided with this evenings match so watch this space, we may have an uncatchable winner tonight!!!!!
Spain were devastating to reach their first final for 24 years knock out a Russian team that looked a pale shadow of the team that dazzled to knock out the Dutch side a few days ago.
With the way things went and only 5 points left on the table, this leaves us with only 2 predictors who can take the prize Lambo & Ashley Stephenson battle it out in the battle of Wollaton on Sunday in a winner takes all, for this weeks rollover jackpot of £200. With both entrants choosing different winners in the final, but both choosing one of the finalists for the outright champs, they cannot be caught by anyone else.
16 entrants correctly predicted both finalists and are marked with an asterisk on the table including that fabulous predictor Adamski, Alexander Johnson, Ian Lamb Mark Bloomfield, Ritchie Perry, Roger Hibbert, Simon Squires, Mel Gould 1, Derek Groves, Jack Bowles, Chris Energas, Lynn Hotham, Stretch, Jane Johnson, Simon Langton, Karen Thornton, John Phipps and did I mention that excellent predictor Adamski.
Quarter Finals
The quarter finals got under way and as seems to be a recurring theme, shocks in abundance. Most of the teams who looked red hot during qualifiers and having given their star players a rest for the final group stage match just couldn't seem to keep the momentum going. The first 3 quarter finals saw the group stage winners sent packing when the underdogs prevailed. Two excellent games and 2 games that were enough to make you want to eat your own head. Germany removed many peoples favourites, Portugal, unsurprisingly to show their faces in yet another semi final, Croatia looked to have sealed victory in the 118th minute only to be denied by the masters of the late goal Turkey before losing in a penalty shoot out, Holland were deservedly ejected by a sharp looking Russian team (my tip fot the championship, which no doubt means they will be out next match) being limited to long range shots by the Ruskies who themselves were defensively strong and outstandingly fast and tricky up front. Spain completed the semi final line up in a massively dull match knocking out the World Chumps Italy in the lottery of the shoot out.
Predictors of the day and my apopologies go to Ian Lamb (Builder), Ashley Stephenson & Neil White each predicting 3 of the 4 semi-finalists. Like Gary Glitter, Ian & Ashley share a cosy twosome as leaders of the pack.
Many of you are now officially dead in the water and your game is up, most dramatically of all and the latest pudding of the competition falling from grace is Beefy Blades, despite having predicted all quarter finalists, he shoots a blank for the semis and ends all hopes of glory going to Sheffield. Had he have won the competition, he said that he would have bought a new house in Sheffield with the winnings & still had change to visit Nottingham to see the sights.
Finally the world worst predictor having been sent off with only 22 points Snowy, take a bow.
Games 23 & 24
Spain booted Greece out of the competition pointless, which was exactly what most of their football was. The Ruskies beat the negative Sweden side 2-0 to qualify for the quarter final stage for the 1st time?
This concluded round one matches and the battle for the top predictor of round was was finally decided Despite notching a credible 28 points in round one Darren Darlow & Rich Orry could only fall at the feet of top predictor Ian Lamb who despite top scoring with 29 points looks to have no chance of victory with some none qualifiers in his quarter final line up.
Moving on to your line ups for the 1/4s, Haydn Kinsey has 3 points deducted for putting Spain down to qualify twice! (Berk) but Derren Browns of the qualifiers goes to Lillo A Pitrolino, Jamie Evans & Beefy Blades each predicting all 8 qualifiers for an amazing 24 point haul.
Despite not seeing any quality football in the Sheffield area, team LX swamp the leaderboard & topping it all at the peak of Everest sits alone and now outright favourite Beefy Blades with an uncatchable (for some of you) 51 points!
I am having trouble posting the table as despite being in the land of freedom & the supposed world superpower, the computers over here seem to have less poke than a ZX Spectrum!
Games 21 & 22
Despite the Dutch fielding a second string, the Romanians failed to capitalise & went down by 2 goals to nil to be ejected leaving the French & Italians to battle it out for the last place. The Frewnch were reduced to 10 men midway through the first half and the Italians went on, to many predictors delight to progress to the semis 2-0.
Too many people to mention with the top score of 4 points but Darren Darlow rises to the top of the leader board outright in a strong position with only 2 games left in round one.
8 people battle it out for twit of round 1 not yet achieving double figures - least of all Marco Van Whiting who looks to achieve his wooden spoon with pride.
Please note that updates will not be forthcoming over the next few days due to holiday comitments so enjoy the next few days!
Games 19 & 20
No shocks or late goals tonight, both results going according to most of your plans with the Germans evicting Austria from their own turf (sounds a familiar scenario) with a Ballack free kick & a second string Croatians beating the Poles by a single goal.
Just as we thought there was a breakaway pack forming, they've been dragged back into the bunch and overtaken. Mystic Megs for the day with 4 hitting the jackpot of 6 points were John Twells, Ashley Stephenson, Harrison & Ben Stapleton.
Leapfrogging the leaders at the tender age of 9, Ben Stapleton & Darren Darlow (a lot older than 9) take pole position from the Lambster with just 2 more match nights to conclude round ones games before we add the points for your qualifying teams which will really sort out the boys from the men.
The race for the wooden spoon for the last person to achieve double figures goes down to the last 14 with myself, unfairly, still included in the runts of the litter
Games 17 & 18
Table toppers Portugal fielded a second string team and cost 135 of you the points today going 2-0 down to co-hosts Switzerland. In the match of the day where winner took all, the Czechs looked like boucing the Turks out of the tournament leading 2-1 with minutes to go. A howler from Petr Cech let Turkey back into the game to head for an unprecidented penalty shoot out, but with only seconds to go the Turks fired in from long range to win the match. The excitement didn't finish there, the Turkish goalie saw red before the final whistle blew on a thrilling game.
Barely worth updating today in what must be the worst scoring day ever. More blanks fired today than at a eunochs orgy, but bucking the trend, 13 of you managed to get a solitary point and become predictors of the day. Of these we have Beefy Blades, John Twells Jack & Kate Moss, Dave McVay &John Taylor (the only one to get a point from the Portugal match.)
Muppet of the day goes to Snowy, who despite having 2 entries in the bottom 8, hasn't scored a point since match 7.
Games 15 & 16
Spain qualified in dramatic fashion with yet another last minute strike by the impressive Villa, who looks favourite to pick up the golden boot. Sweden looked for all intents and purposes to have achieved the draw they were looking for but go into the last game still needing a point to qualify. Greece had the skids put under their defence of the crown when they didn't impress against an improved Russian team The Greek goalkeeper to blame doing a Grobelaar and going walkabouts to gift the Russians their advantage which they held on to and should have futher extended.
Good scoring today with no less than 15 people hitting the boundry for a 4 including brothers in competition Harrison & Cameron (2 of the youngest entrants) and our old friend ILB. BUT Clearing the boundry and hitting a 6, we have 4 entrants Steven Fletcher, Lynn Massey, Adam Moss & Tommy Turnley.
The leaders start to pull away slightly from the pack & in the yellow jersey we have, quite unbelievably, Ian Lamb (Builder), who despite being a Notts County fan is being re-introduced into society under the governments care in the community scheme.
The next muppet of the competition goes to the last predictor into double figures and with 39 people to choose from, it won't be too long before we find out who will have to carry this burden through the rest of their lives. Included in the group myself with an unfortunate 7 points!
Games 13 & 14
Friday the 13th proved to be a nightmare for the French & Italians when the Romanians held the world champs to a 1-1 draw & could have evicted the Iti's with a late penalty that Bufoon manged to claw away to give a glimmer of hope whilst the Dutch ran the frogs legs down tearing apart the French old boys 4-1 in what has proved to be by far the best group in the competiton. The futures bright, the futures Orange. The Dutch qualify and can afford to field a weak team in their final game having won the group. This also leads to the opportunity for a team to qualify with only 2 points if the Dutch take maximum points & the French & Italians draw their last game - how bizarre, how bizarre.
Even more bizarre the fact that only 6 predictors notched up more than a solitary point on todays games. Dancing in the 2 point club is Kent, Nick & Penny Jones & Mitch but in the VIP area sipping champagne in the 3 point club, having a threesome and each with more than a smile on their lips are Monk da Wally de Honk, Stretch & ACDCFC (not to be confused with the tribute predictors AC/DC)
Simon Squires sits on the lap of Sally Darby on 18 points but both have 10 men chock right up behind them, within a prediction away, which I know is nothing new for Simon, not knowing Sally I couldn't possibly comment!
If you have scored more than 9.743, consider yourself of above average intelligence, anything less than this and back to predicting school for you!
Games 11 & 12
Croatia produced probably the biggest shock of the tournament so far beating the pre tournament favourite, Germany 2-1 to ensure a quarter final spot and by all accounts should have won by a bigger margin. Austria looked to be heading the same way as co-hosts Switzerland on the Euro scrap heap when trailing by 1 goal to nil with a minute to go. Good old British refereeing ensured that they were given a lifeline by awarding a penalty and creating history when the oldest player ever stepped up to knock in the equaliser and set up a make or break encounter with the Germans on Monday for the final qualifying spot in the group.
Last minute goals seem to be the flavour of the tournament so far but second flavourite predictors of the day with 4 points apiece were Ritchie Perry, Bryan Henesy, Andy Robinson & Alan (the Rottweiler) Lucas. Proving you don't need to know anything about football to predict the scores, Ian Lamb (Builder) scores an amazing 6 points and moves into joint 3rd spot and wins a free advert for his troubles. For all your building or Bulgarian Holiday home needs, contact Ian on 07808 767796 alternatively feel free to send him some abuse by text.
Simon Squires continues to feast at the top table and if you saw the size of him, he'll take some shifting, but hot on his heels is Sally Darby who sneaks quietly into 2nd spot to keep him on his tippy toes.
Games 9 & 10
Ronaldo showed he was the 'Real' deal, which of course he will be when the tournament finishes, scoring 1 past his Czech mate and involved in the other 2 to clinch a quarter final spot. In the other game, the teams donned their speedo's in a farcical first half of torrential rain with old scores to settle. The Swiss ended up the first team to be dumped out of the competition when the Turks grabbed a last minute winner to set up a qualifier showdown with the Czechs on Sunday for the last spot.
Lots of people denied good points by late goals in both games with Darren Darlow, Ian Rosser, John Lynott & Lynn Hotham scoring 4 points, they were only bettered by an outstanding 6 points from both Rich Norman & Richard Arthurs who not only share the fact they scored 6 points, they both have the same first name & they both have a christian name as a surname - both interesting and a little spooky.
The leaders got 'Tabletopper' syndrome and fell off to be replaced by new kids on the block Richard Arthurs & Simon Squires (AKA Sos) who do not share any names but share a bed in the penthouse with 15 points apiece. Easy tigers.
Numpty of the day was a close one today between a couple with Jammo struggling to get started after his late entry form but I eventually went for Steve Howdle who, whilst having achieved 5 points, has only done so from 3 of the 10 games played so far making him the worst statistical predictor thus far - take a bow Steve!
Games 7 and 8
Spain laid to rest any thoughts of being the nearly team this year and thoroughly kicked the Ruskies backsides 4-1. Martin O'Neill stated that he couldn't remember the last time he saw Villa score 3 goals in one match! The first hat trick in the Championship finals in 8 years. Sweden took a swathe of yellow to Innsbruck and caught most of you out actually winning a game and scoring more than one goal.... They made turnips of a poor Greek team with what could be an embarrasing defence of the crown, a great strike followed by a scramble / shamble of a goal enough to see them into 2nd spot.
Most people caught out by the scores today with nobody predicting the Spanish score correctly but the 5 best predictors of the day each notching up a credible 4 points were Neil White, Paul Cooper, Rob Parsons, Simon Squires & Martyn/Nathan Boyes to put their hats in the ring for the top prize. With the leaders faultering again, we have a new outright leader on 14 points, Neil White tops the table,but no daylight between him and the chasing pack yet!
Competition cretins today goes to 2 contestants, John Lynott & Evening Post Mystery Man who are both currently on a run of the worst form of the competition with 5 straight blanks each. The EP mystery mans handwriting however looks very similar to Sub editor Martin Cooper and if he is actually the mystery man, the only mystery to me is how he is still alive at his age.
Games 5 to 6
In a ground that would not ook out of place in league 2, the French found it surprisingly difficult to get behind their man and slip one in. The Romanians played 'Warnockesk' tactics pumping the ball upfield followed by shouts of 'have it'(in Romanian of course). Adrian Mutu was misheard asking for it down the line when he actually said 'he could down a line'. The French manager, former F1 boss Eddie Jordan, became more frustrated as the game wore on and finally introduced Terence Trent D'Arby into proceedings in the 70th minute to little avail. The match ended as a no bore draw.
In stark contrast, the Dutch barged their way to the top of the table with 3 goals past the World champs - the first was more off than a 6 month old piece of gorgonzola, but the next two goals were well crafted breaks to leave Italy & France possibly facing an elimination contest for the last game of the group!
Movers today included Monk da Wally de Honk and Chris Energas both claiming 3 points for the France game. Whilst most entrants fired a double blank, predictor of the day was Puss with 4 points (he looks like he sounds). Gaining ground on the top 2 were J Bowles & Tony Fat Cat Wood who both move to within touching distance of the 2 leaders, whose game has temporarily stalled.
Footing the table & muppet of the day goes to Scott Allen & Helen Spriggs who can feel the weight of 134 people on top of them!
Games 1 to 4
Let battle commence, no real surprises in the first 4 games with results going along with most of the budding predictors tips.
The opening salvo saw the Czechs make cuckoos of the Swiss, whilst Portugal got off to a good start convincingly stuffing the Turkey by 2 goals to nil. Last nights matches saw other co-hosts Austria suffer 1-0 defeat to Englands conquerers Croatia whilst the Germans relied on the Polish striker to give them their first Euro finals win since their 1996 final against the Czechs in London. Who knows, maybe England should look at signing up Ronaldo for their first team, I hear his great Aunt once visited a chocolate factory in Sheffield - surely proof enough that he has English blood running through his veins? Then again probably not because she'd have to be desperate to go with a Yorkie!
That aside a few mentions. Firstly lets get the embaressment out of the way for our 2 'last off the mark' contendors. Lillo Pitrilolino & Carl Charlesworth the only 2 not to score a point on day 1 of the competition & on a countback on game 3 Lillo, the Italian Stallion with the worse of the 2 scores becomes numpty no 1 of the tournament.
Amazingly though, 2 out of our 136 predictors did a clean sweep of not only day 1 but also day 2 to sit pretty on the top bunk bed of life with an amazing 12 points after 4 games. Take a bow Dean Gray and Ashley Stephenson but please ensure you don't wet the bed as you have 5 people sharing the bottom bunk directly below you.
Propping up the table at this early point in the proceedings is our old eyed Australian friend TTM (The Thin Man) who quite embarrassingly sits with only 2 points after 4 games but he's in good company with 6 other muppets also on 2 including John Taylor a Bury fan - enough said!