Time to get out the runes and make your calculations

by werdermouth, posted in Uncategorized

Many of you will be familiar with the Exmil Challenge but for those who are not it has become somewhat of a tradition for fellow posters as the season reaches the sharp end. It’s a welcome chance to channel nervous energy by chewing over the possible outcomes of the upcoming games that involve Boro and our rivals.

The previous challenges involved Boro’s Championship campaigns and our rivals for promotion – but this year it’s all about staying in the Premier League and avoiding the dreaded relegation. Who will start to fade as the pressure mounts and which teams will become emboldened as they stack up the precious points.

The Challenge this year is in three parts, with the first part taking us up to the international break/borefest and a chance to reflect on how the situation is looking. By then it’s quite possible some of the teams currently involved will be waving at the relegation crowd from a safe distance, whist others will start to experience the mental strain and feel their energy being sapped by the all too real grip of relegation.

Last week I looked at the managers involved in the relegation struggle (A Brief History of Time in football management) which attempted to give an insight into how their team may fare by looking their previous experiences. Now it’s time to assess the possibilities of each team’s fixtures – for some of the teams playing below their potential a couple wins will lift the pressure and suddenly the game becomes easier. Swansea are an example of what winning games can do to a team and it would apply to most of the others too – particularly Leicester who not only can’t win but haven’t even scored in their last six games.

The difference with the predictions this time round (as opposed to promotion seasons) is that the relegation pack rarely win games. If you take a rejuvenated Swansea out of the equation (who have won four of their last six) the other six teams have only chalked up four wins between them from their combined 36 games – three of which were against fellow strugglers – twice Bournemouth and once against Palace. Basically, in the last four games, the  non-Welsh relegation teams are only averaging just over half of a point per game. So when making predictions do you play the percentages or do you take a punt on a few teams to try and gain an advantage.

Here are some words from Exmil

I thought that there would be no need for a challenge this year as I knew we would not be challenging for Europe but I was hoping we would not be involved in the relegation dogfight, I should have known that BORO do not do things the easy way. The challenge is the same as the past years, this year being in 3 parts, the first part taking us to the International break. Due to the success of Boro in the FA cup and other teams having fixtures being postponed due to their opposition being as successful as Boro, Part 1 and possibly Part 2 fixtures will be disproportionate until we know when the rearranged matches will be played, so in part 1 some teams will have 4 fixtures while others will have 3.

The format is the same as previous years, in that each entry will have to predict what each listed team will have at the end of each Part. If you predict the correct amount of points for a particular team, you will score 10 points but for every point + or -, you will lose a point. As an example if you predict Team A will have 28 points but they actually achieve 26 points you will score 8 points for that team, the same as if Team A actually achieves 30 points. Totaling the points you score for all teams will determine your position in the Exmil Challenge 2017 league and the points you score in Part 1 will carry forward into Part 2 then your total will carry forward into Part 3, at the end of which we will have our final placings and overall winner.

Werdermouth has devised an entry form to make predictions easier to submit (Is there no end to this mans talents) the form will show each teams fixtures and all you have to do is follow his simple instructions and press a button for win, draw or lose for each teams fixture and it will automatically increase that teams points total, depending whether you pressed win or draw. When you have completed the form and pressed submit, it will send an email of your entry to me.

Because the new interactive form allows us to easily record individual match predictions, these will act as a kind of ‘goal difference’ – so the tally of correct match predictions will be used to separate people on equal points. In the event of joint winners at the end of Part 3, the winner will be determined by the amount of correct match predictions throughout the challenge.

It is quite possible that other team (s) will enter the dogfight during Part 2 or 3, an example is Burnley who’s next four fixtures are away from home and since they have gained very few points (1, I think) away it is possible that they may plummet. If a team enters the fight they will be included in the next Part of the challenge. I wish everyone the best of luck in this years challenge but most of all, the best of luck to the mighty BORO.

Time to get Predicting

Thanks to Exmil for explaining the challenge and rules so now it’s time to get started. Because WordPress don’t allow programming code (such as Javascript) on their site I’ve had to place the interactive form at a different location – thankfully other hosting sites do allow code and I’ve used Neocities as it’s also ad free. Note: once all the predictions are in they will be collected into a table and placed on an Exmil Challenge Diasboro page.

You can go the form with this link: Exmil Challenge Entry Form

79 thoughts on “Time to get out the runes and make your calculations”

  1. Excellent work chaps. I’ve wasted no time in getting mine in and can confirm it’s incredibly straightforward. Great stuff.
    I have us finishing Phase 1 out of the relegation zone on goal-difference only (presumably). Gulp. It’s very tight though.

  4. Went in to the form and there are no win, lose or draw buttons.
    Probably me
    🔴 The interactive form uses Javascript to manage your selections – therefore it’s likely that you have your browser set to disable Javascript. If you know how to you can easily add an exception for the Exmil Challenge page – if you don’t know tell me which browser you use and I’ll explain what to do – Werdermouth

    1. Java is enabled and updates automatically. Don’t worry about it, not a big issue, it is Aitor’s fault, if we had kept Jordan Rhodes it would have worked.
      🔴 Just to avoid confusion (or not) I should note that Java and Javascript are two separate things – Javascript only runs through your Browser and can be disabled and enabled through a browser setting – Werdermouth

  6. Thanks to Werdermouth and Exmil for putting this together.
    Have input my selections and submitted but not sure if it has been received as once i pressed the submit button another page on my browser opened with DIASBORO on it. Can you confirm all ok Exmil please?
    🔴 When the page is redirected back to Diasboro it means the submit button has sent your entry – maybe I should redirect to a page with a message telling you your predictions have been submitted instead to clarify – btw I also get sent a copy of the mail for backup and any technical queries – so can confirm Exmil will have received your entry (though you pressed submit twice I think) – Werdermouth

    1. Sorry – tried on iPad and as it did not seem to connect I then did it on the lap top, sorry for any inconvenience. Your suggestion of sending to a confirmation page seems a good idea.
      🔴 No problem – I’ve just added a simple confirmation page to avoid any doubts – Werdermouth

  7. The scripting was already enabled, it was actually a warning prompt causing the issue, allowing all content to be displayed allowed me access to the buttons.
    Several years ago, having had a virus gain access under a ‘windows’ security alert makes you Karankautious.

  8. Exmil/Werder, brilliant stuff, thanks for your very much appreciated efforts and entry posted. You know what, this new place just keeps on giving, what’s not to like.

  9. Absolutely spiffin, Werder & Exmil! Outstandin even.
    I’ve eaten me pies, shaken me runes & wobbled off the bench and onto the field of Exmil Challenge play- Urrahhh!
    By the magic of the Pythia I ave Boro on 29pts (just couldnt say any different). The teams in the bottom three being Blunderland, Palace & shock horror screams, Leicester City.
    Jolly hockey sticks!
    UTB

  10. EXMIL CHALLENGE 2017 (Part1) (closes 1400, 25 Feb)
    Just for confirmation and that everyone can see each other’s entry (for transparency), every so often I will post the entries I have received until the cut off point of Saturday 25 Feb at 1400 hrs.
    Poster: Spartakboro
    Bournemouth: 28 (LLDD)
    Swansea City: 29 (LWDD)
    Middlesbrough: 29 (WDW)
    Leicester City: 23 (LDD)
    Hull City: 26 (WDDD)
    Crystal Palace: 20 (LLD)
    Sunderland: 20 (LLD)
    Poster: Powmill-Naemore
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLDW)
    Swansea City: 26 (LDDL)
    Middlesbrough: 23 (LDL)
    Leicester City: 24 (LWL)
    Hull City: 22 (DLDL)
    Crystal Palace: 23 (WLD)
    Sunderland: 22 (LLW)
    Poster: Peasepudinperth
    Bournemouth: 28 (LLDD)
    Swansea City: 29 (LWDD)
    Middlesbrough: 25 (DDD)
    Leicester City: 22 (LDL)
    Hull City: 25 (WDDL)
    Crystal Palace: 21 (DLD)
    Sunderland: 20 (LLD)
    Poster: Ian Gill
    Bournemouth: 28 (LLDD)
    Swansea City: 29 (LWDD)
    Middlesbrough: 24 (DDL)
    Leicester City: 24 (LWL)
    Hull City: 22 (DLDL)
    Crystal Palace: 23 (DLW)
    Sunderland: 22 (LLW)
    Poster: KP in Spain
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLWD)
    Swansea City: 26 (LDLD)
    Middlesbrough: 23 (DLL)
    Leicester City: 25 (DWL)
    Hull City: 24 (DLWL)
    Crystal Palace: 24 (DDW)
    Sunderland: 22 (LLW)
    Poster: exmil2017
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLDW)
    Swansea City: 28 (LWDL)
    Middlesbrough: 24 (DDL)
    Leicester City: 22 (LDL)
    Hull City: 25 (WDDL)
    Crystal Palace: 21 (DLD)
    Sunderland: 22 (LLW)
    Poster: Simon Fallaha
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLWD)
    Swansea City: 29 (LWDD)
    Middlesbrough: 29 (WDW)
    Leicester City: 23 (DDL)
    Hull City: 25 (WDDL)
    Crystal Palace: 23 (LDW)
    Sunderland: 23 (LWD)
    Poster: Borobrie
    Bournemouth: 31 (DLWD)
    Swansea City: 27 (LDDD)
    Middlesbrough: 27 (WDD)
    Leicester City: 23 (LDD)
    Hull City: 25 (WDDL)
    Crystal Palace: 21 (LDD)
    Sunderland: 20 (LLD)
    Poster: Selwynoz
    Bournemouth: 28 (DLDL)
    Swansea City: 31 (LWDW)
    Middlesbrough: 27 (WDD)
    Leicester City: 22 (LDL)
    Hull City: 25 (WDDL)
    Crystal Palace: 20 (LLD)
    Sunderland: 20 (LLD)
    Poster: Andy R
    Bournemouth: 26 (LLLL)
    Swansea City: 31 (LWDW)
    Middlesbrough: 25 (WLL)
    Leicester City: 22 (LDL)
    Hull City: 25 (WDDL)
    Crystal Palace: 20 (LLD)
    Sunderland: 20 (LLD)
    If you think something is wrong with your entry or it is not here, let me know on the blog and I will check my inbox again. As at this post we have 10 entries, including a name I have not seen before Borobrie, so welcome to you. I will copy future entries as I have a new batch.
    Come on BORO.

  11. Thanks exmil/werdermouth. Excellent system you’ve set up. I have been my usual chirpy optimistic self predicting complete doom and gloom for the boro over the next three games! Sorry.
    I suppose as a complete pessimist then even the slightest positives are really positive!! That’s me trying to look on the bright side!!

  12. Thanks to Exmil for managing the latest challenge and to Werdermouth for producing the de-luxe edition. Fantastic teamwork …. none of the lone striker up front in this place.
    Predictions duly posted and having done so, the reality of our perilous position hits home.
    I think I should imbibe something of what Spartak has been taking …. I admire the optimism and I truly hope that he is right and I am wrong !!!

  14. I’m struggling – the form doesn’t seem to recognise my name.
    🔴 You should just be able to type in ‘Martin Bellamy’ (without the quotes obviously) in the Your Blog Name box – it doesn’t check your name against anything as it’s just a text box – Werdermouth

  16. Brilliant piece of coding there chaps, many thanks to Exmil and everyone else involved.
    I’ve completed the form and received a ‘Message flagged as spam.’ response, so maybe it’s a stuck in a folder somewhere. Well that, or the computer recognises the quality of my predictions…
    🔴 Nothing from you came through Chris – was it a message in your browser after you pressed submit? You can mail diasboro@outlook.com with any additional info or queries and I can look into it – Werdermouth

    1. Hi Werder
      I tried posting again on my phone and was successful – I think. I recieved a message saying it was posted to Exmil.
      Thanks again to all who set the challenge up. May the best person win!
      🔴 Yes just checked it’s come through this time – Good Luck! – Werdermouth

  17. I think that I can already announce the winners of this season’s ex-mil challenge.
    However the numbers stack up it will be a brilliant joint triumph for Werdermouth and exmil. Fantastic stuff, gentlemen, and many thanks.

  20. and thanks all – excellent organisation. you can’t resist playing when it’s that easy!
    One interesting tweet yesterday:
    https://twitter.com/ManCity/status/834432592535449600
    Which means City will have a midweek game before our FAC QF (if they get through) and a European game in the midweek afterwards. Which means there will be some element of rotation involved – will our game be the least important to them? With it being settled on the day, it could be a massive opportunity for us to get to Wembley.

  23. Hi folks, I’m new on here and have not posted before. I would just like to say what a great blog this is and has become an essential read daily for me. Thanks to Werdermouth especially for taking the time and effort to set this up. I have looked at other Boro blogs and have to say that this is by far the best around – genuine, reasoned arguments and comments without reducing to juvenile bickering and name calling. Some blogs really do astonish me with the moronic ‘debate’ and I no longer even visit any of them.
    I have followed AVs blog for many years and, although I have never posted, I have enjoyed the discussion and banter – it is a shame that he now seems to have been shackled by management at his organisation and is now seemingly under orders to tow the party line and not overtly criticise anything to do with the Boro. Are journalists at the Gazette really not allowed opinion – based on fact, or at least common perception?
    It really does despair me what the Gazette ‘sporting’ journalism has become. Last week, my wife had a day off so we decided to have a quiet afternoon with the dog in the Linny. On the way I thought I’d buy a Gazette mainly to do the crosswords. I didn’t check the price but upon getting seated, I realised it cost 70p – SEVENTY PENCE – for what? Two day old inane and banal ‘sports’ reporting, with drip-feed ‘storylines’. I almost cried into my beer! Never again.
    Incidentally, I have noticed a few posters have commented on the ads and pop-ups when visiting the Gazette site. When I do ever want to see what is being ‘reported’ on their site I simply do the following (apologies as many will already know this):
    In the ‘Tools’ button (Explorer users) – top right – click ‘Internet Options’
    Then click the ‘Security’ tab – then move the slider up to ‘High’
    Then click the ‘Privacy’ tab and click the ‘Advanced’ button
    Then click ‘Block’ for first party and third party cookies.
    Press ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’
    Then visit the site – or follow the link on Diasboro and you don’t get any ads or pop-ups. You don’t get many pictures and no clips but it is much better. It really isn’t difficult to do and when you want to, just reverse the actions above.
    Once again thanks to all the posters on here for a great blog and a great read. I may not post again as I can’t get to game, and wouldn’t want to offer opinion based on tv coverage. That said, I stream the games online (you can get almost all of them) and have, on several occasions, switched to another game after watching the infuriating slow motions ‘you-to-me’ sideways and backward passing.
    Thanks all again

    1. Dalla welcome.
      Many of us on here do not get to the games but I do not believe any of the fair minded individuals who contribute to this blog would not allow you to voice your opinion just because you have only seen the game on tv.
      I listen to every match via Boro+ and watch via Sky and motd. I appreciate that you do not get the same perspective when not at the live game but nevertheless can still formulate an informed view.
      I very much appreciate the views of those bloggers that do attend, particularly those of Redcar Red and OFB as they often highlight aspects that the media do not convey. Thanks guys.
      So now you have broken your duck why not keep sharing your views?

      1. Dalla should certainly not refrain from posting just because he was not at the match. That would be silly. The match day experience is great, but the crowd limit is thirty four thousand approx. The number who are interested in the fortunes of the club are numbered in the hundreds of thousands (maybe more)
        Just as a point of interest, when you enjoy the spills and thrills of a live game, you sacrifice the power to see in close up all the little touches and knocks, plus the dives in close up, plus the clearcut penalties which the ref waves aside with gay abandon(Clattenburg)
        So not being at the match is no bar to holding forth(pretty much like the rest of us)

    2. Welcome Dalla, why not have a go at the Exmil challenge, it does not cost 70p, in fact it is free and can be very entertaining, just click on the link at the bottom of the above article and enter your posting name.
      Come on BORO.

  24. I can really appreciate the time & effort everyone has put in to this challenge of speculation / predictions for the rest of the season.
    At the end of the day, short of replacing AK which I called for months ago, the team need immediate motivation / kick up the backside, which ever way you dress it up, to produce results now. Otherwise IMHO as someone said, ‘We’re doomed Mr Mainwairing.’
    I’m sure that it’s not just me on this blog that have seen the writing on the wall for over a month now.
    I say wake up AK & SG because the $hit is now starting to hit the fan big time.
    But hey, what do I know, I’m only woofing like 🐕🐾🐾

    1. So in the cries of dad’s army a representative I’m happy to be on this blog
      WAKE UP WALMINGTON
      as told by Captain Mainwaring
      You stupid boy (not u mr p)
      Don’t tell him Pike

  25. The amazing thing about the blog is it has a life of it’s own now thanks to the brilliant work of Werder, Redcar, Simon and everyone who has contributed such as OFB, the list goes one.
    In the words of young Mr Grace, you’ve all done very well.

    1. Ian
      Thanks for the mention
      Aww shucks it don’t mean me I was just a foot soldier
      Just going back to fullbacks for Saturday I think we have some strategic injuries being reported
      Barragan we know about
      George I think he’ll play
      And Calum I think will play
      Methinks it’s mind games by Senor Karanka to mystify the opposition as to what defence we are going to put out.
      We will wait and see

  26. EXMIL CHALLENGE 2017 (Part1) (closes 1400, 25 Feb)
    Another 10 entries and welcome to all the new posters.
    Poster: Dalla
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLWD)
    Swansea City: 29 (LDWD)
    Middlesbrough: 24 (DDL)
    Leicester City: 22 (LDL)
    Hull City: 22 (DDLL)
    Crystal Palace: 21 (DLD)
    Sunderland: 20 (LLD)
    Poster: Rich
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLDW)
    Swansea City: 26 (LDDL)
    Middlesbrough: 25 (DDD)
    Leicester City: 22 (LDL)
    Hull City: 23 (DDDL)
    Crystal Palace: 23 (DLW)
    Sunderland: 20 (LLD)
    Poster: theYouthfulUpstart
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLWD)
    Swansea City: 29 (LWDD)
    Middlesbrough: 23 (DLL)
    Leicester City: 24 (LWL)
    Hull City: 24 (WLDL)
    Crystal Palace: 23 (DLW)
    Sunderland: 22 (LLW)
    Poster: BoroPhil
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLDW)
    Swansea City: 28 (LWDL)
    Middlesbrough: 25 (DDD)
    Leicester City: 24 (LWL)
    Hull City: 24 (WLDL)
    Crystal Palace: 24 (DDW)
    Sunderland: 22 (LLW)
    Poster: Steve Terry (the artist formerly known as Nikeboro)
    Bournemouth: 28 (LLDD)
    Swansea City: 29 (LWDD)
    Middlesbrough: 23 (DLL)
    Leicester City: 25 (DWL)
    Hull City: 24 (WLDL)
    Crystal Palace: 21 (DLD)
    Sunderland: 22 (LLW)
    Poster: lenmasterman
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLDW)
    Swansea City: 27 (LWLL)
    Middlesbrough: 25 (DDD)
    Leicester City: 22 (LDL)
    Hull City: 28 (WDWD)
    Crystal Palace: 23 (DLW)
    Sunderland: 20 (LLD)
    Poster: Paul
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLDW)
    Swansea City: 28 (LWDL)
    Middlesbrough: 22 (LLL)
    Leicester City: 24 (LWL)
    Hull City: 24 (WLDL)
    Crystal Palace: 25 (WLW)
    Sunderland: 22 (LLW)
    Poster: Allan in Bahrain
    Bournemouth:
    Swansea City:
    Middlesbrough:
    Leicester City:
    Hull City:
    Crystal Palace:
    Sunderland:
    Allen in Bahrain, I think in your excitement you forgot to click the win, draw or lose button for each teams fixtures lol.
    Come on BORO.
    🔴 Just to note, because the form disables the submit button (using Javascript) until all parts have been completed then either Allen’s Browser had disabled Javascript or there was a data transmission error – Werdermouth

  27. A big thank you to both Exmill and Weder for making this prediction lark so easy! They have IT skills way beyond what I can cope with.
    I managed to get all the boxes filled in, just not necessarily in the right order!
    I have us safe but some tough tests to come and as was also said in Walmington, Don’t Panic!……………just yet.
    Palace will be a tough game and we do not want a repeat of last seasons South London trip. Typical Boro will see us to win at a canter with big Sam imploding, well we can hope I guess.
    Team selection to follow when I have booted up the AKRTS again’
    UTB

    1. Boro Beckys Dad, No it is Werdermouth with the IT skills otherwise I would be doing the challenge, the same as last couple of years with pen and paper lol.
      Come on BORO.

  28. Thank you gentlemen for all of your hard work on the Exmil challenge. It must seem that I only pop up when the Exmil challenge comes up but I can assure you that this is the first site I go to of an evening and avidly read the excellent debate. This blog certainly seems to be going from strength to strength and I just wish that I had something erudite to add to the sparkling comments. So thank you to everybody for their contribution to this great community.

  29. EXMIL CHALLENGE 2017 (Part1) (closes 1400, 25 Feb)
    Allen in Bahrain could you please re submit your entry, thank you.
    It is interesting to note that the majority of posters have predicted that Burnley in Part 1 will only get 0 – 3 points in their 3 fixtures against the bottom group. Their other fixture before the break is Liverpool away, therefore at the end of Part 1 Burnley could have joined the group or at best be 3 points in front, with Spurs at home their first match of the next set !
    Come on BORO.

  31. Yes, Burnley seem to play a big part in the relegation battle over the next few game with trips to Swansea, Hull and Sunderland. With their awful away form it is tempting to hand points to our rivals but there is no reason to suggest they can’t get points against them.
    Their home/away difference is extraordinary really – they have 29 points from 14 home games and 1 point from 11 away games. The discrepancy in number of games being caused by the Liverpool home game at the start of the season which was moved because of work happening at Anfield. If they did lose those three games, they might get dragged into it, but you’d think they’ll be able to scrape together the necessary points to survive.

  32. An interesting evening.
    As emil posted Ranieri lost his job, we are told told Citeh are paying for private education for Academy prospects, Spurs are in trouble at Wemberlee after Ali clears out a Ghent player just below the knee.

  33. Roberto Mancini is favourite for the job according to SSN but it can’t be right because didn’t someone infer that he was about to take over at BORO.
    Come on BORO.

  34. The sacking of Ranieri says a lot about the overriding domination of money in football today to the exclusion of everything else. Personally I think it stinks.

    1. Sacking Ranieri? Madness.
      What we would give to win the Premier League? To even get near it? And Boro, a traditional yo-yo club with many years in the top flight haven’t won it EVER.
      All my friends agree we’d accept survival this year, the title next year and relegation the year after that. In fact we dream of it. And everyone involved would be a legend, and clearly would never have to buy a drink or meal anywhere near Teesside for the rest of their lives.
      The prize for winning the title can never be taken away, but teams will go down, then up again, and down once more ad infinitum.
      How many years have Leicester, Boro and others competed without winning the title?
      Football really is a mad enterprise. Maybe we should cash in our chips?

  35. The whole Ramirez period at Leicester must rank as one of the strangest in
    PL history. Let’s hope that they don’t have the automatic new manager bounce.
    With possible fullback problems, I wouldn’t be surprised to see AK opt for a back five against Palace with Ayala, Bernardo and Gibson in the middle and Fabio and maybe even Downing as the two wingbacks. Adding in Clayton or Leadbitter and DeRoon in the middle creates a very solid shape with Ramirez, Traore and Negredo to give some attacking potential.
    UTB

  37. Firstly, welcome to the blog Dalla – glad that you’ve taken the virtual plunge and made your first post. The football discussion is going to get intense over the coming weeks and hopefully we’ll retain our sense of decorum on Diasboro – it’s play the ball not the man remember!
    Also, thanks to everyone for their generous comments on setting up Challenge entry form – it was certainly a different kind of challenge posed – even for someone who finds programming therapeutic and relaxing (I’m more proga than yoga) – plus there were a few restrictive obstacles to overcome.
    Anyway, if anyone is interested in the process… WARNING the rest of this comment contains graphic technical content and may upset those who prefer to believe it was done with witchcraft…
    Basically, after designing and programming the template for an interactive internet form, the required HTML for the teams and fixtures was generated from info held in an Excel spreadsheet by programming export routines in Visual Basic. It means Parts 2 and 3 just need organising in Excel so they won’t take too much time.
    The main problem is our Diasboro WordPress site doesn’t permit the use of code to make a form interactive – so a suitable ad-free third-party alternative site to locate the entry form needed sourcing that allowed the use of Javascript – I found a few free ones but unfortunately these sites tend not to allow the other types of code needed to handle the data from internet forms.
    Thankfully after a bit of research (yes more research) I discovered there exist a few free specialist dedicated sites that process and receive data from your forms and hold it in a database – plus they automatically mail it to an address of your choice.
    So for all those still shouting ‘burn him’ – it wasn’t witchcraft but simply the magic of programming – so more deep breaths, relax and code…

  38. Excellent work everyone just posted my predictions.
    Werder
    Better start praying Arsenal go through in their champions league game otherwise our home game against them will be moved to Easter Monday evening for BT

    1. Bugger! So I’m relying on Arsenal coming back from 5-1 down against Bayern Munich in order to be able to attend my only Premier League game at the Riverside this season (and possibly next season if it goes pear-shaped?).
      I guess I’ll have to lobby the PL as unfortunately the ferry back home is on Monday evening and P&O’s terms and conditions are pretty draconian in terms of the financial hit for adjusting bookings – sounds like it may a be a bumpy crossing…

    2. Apparently the Leicester players want big Nige back as a manger. I would hve thought a lot of them haven’t worked under him.
      Also Pardew mentioned. It just seems to me that agents are pushing their own clients.
      But hey I’m not bothered about Leicester only that they are one of our rivals. Even more important is that they are in turmoil.
      Interesting to hear AK comments and reading between the lines he thinks Swansea have got themselves a good manager and I would agree with that.
      I’m just pleased that things have settled down with our management for the time being but would still expect some changes this summer no matter what happens on the football field.
      Let’s all just enjoy the ride as we’ve waited so long to be back in the Premiership

  39. i meant Ranieri when I wrote Ramirez above but the sudden pursuit of Ramirez was also pretty odd and may have done Boro more damage than we realise. Lets hope not.

  40. Just looked at the league table, I didn’t realise that Palace had such an abysmal home record, 2 wins, 1 draw and 9 losses, the worst in the league by some distance. This weekend could be a turning point in the campaign, win and other results go our way and we open a gap, lose and Hull win and we are right in the sticky stuff. I know it’s not our style but we must get on the front foot straight from the off, an early goal will surely see them implode as they did with Sunderland, with their record at home this season this is as good an opportunity as any of our outstanding fixtures to get 3 points.

  41. Werder
    Thank you for explanation of the creation of the latest Exmil form.
    To me it reads like something from Sir Humphrey, that is not your fault but mine, so as far as I am concerned it is still witchcraft.
    But you can continue to be our Gandalf.
    Talking of which, what is the difference between an orc and Joey Barton? One is an evil being with no sense of morality, the other is a fictional character created by Tolkien.

  42. It’s frustrating to learn that Gaston wasn’t started against Oxford because he’s on 8 yellow cards. Not just because he really needed the game time, but because so many of the yellows come in self-distracting spats with opponents and referees.
    Gaston might be reflecting at the moment that a move to Leicester could have seen him playing Championship football next season. It will be interesting to see if a new manager can give them a surge in form – it has worked for Swansea, but not for Palace so far.

  43. An amazing stat on radio last night.
    The last five premiership title winners changed their managers shortly afterwards.
    2011/12 Citeh – Mancini
    2012/13 ManU – Fergie
    2013/14 Citeh – Pellegrini
    2014/15 Chelsea – Jose
    2015/16 Leicester – Ranieri
    We know Fergie retired but that is incredible.

  44. I hope OFB is right about the ‘strategic injuries’ AK is reporting. Calf injuries like George’s sound trivial compared with knee or ankle, but I know they can rumble on frustratingly. Callum seems like a fast healer, so fingers crossed.
    If they are both out, using selwynoz’s wing backs sounds like a good call, or how about Dani taking the right back slot? He’s pretty quick on the turn, and no mug, but I know he might not offer too much accuracy going forward (except headers at the back post?).
    This blog is tremendous, with OFB giving us his behind the scenes insights, the superb quality of the headline articles, and the wide range of opinions from committed fans, some of whom have supported the Boro for more years than they care to remember. Maybe we should be charging AV and the other Gazette guys a fee – say for the sake of argument £3.99 a month – to access this Diasboro Premium Service?

  45. Ranieri’s big mistake was allowing Mark Schwarzer to leave:
    The Schwarzer Effect
    Year after leaving Middlesbrough they were relegated
    Year after leaving Fulham they were relegated
    Year after leaving Chelsea they finished 10th
    Year after leaving Leicester they are currently 17th
    *courtesy of Fulham FC twitter

  47. Boronurh
    That thought crossed my mind, after I mentioned us going under the relegation radar on Sky’s Sunday Supplement lo and behold it was the basis of a tripe supper podcast a day or so later I did wonder.
    Being honest, I am sure most football journalists watch it.

  48. Pellegrini lasted two more years before he departed, so he didn’t do too badly.
    You might argue a near 60% win percentage warranted better, but when The Best Manager In The World (TM) becomes available, what do you expect the owners to do?
    Similarly, Pellegrini’s 75% win percentage at Real didn’t save him once Mourinho became available. Pellegrini later said:
    “I didn’t have a voice or a vote at Madrid. They sign the best players, but not the best players needed in a certain position. It’s no good having an orchestra with the 10 best guitarists if I don’t have a pianist. Real Madrid have the best guitarists, but if I ask them to play the piano they won’t be able to do it so well.”

  49. Simon
    Pellegrini lasted one full season and by Christmas the next season he was dead meat.
    You are right that he did well, just shows how amazing the Wenger is still in place and Fergie lasted so long though SrAlex kept winning titles.

  50. SrAlex did have that dry spell of one title in five seasons.
    My argument is he sold Stam and Beckham too soon – it took three more years before Ronaldo was really ready and Stam was properly replaced, with Vidic.
    Admittedly Solksjaer was ready to replace Beckham on the right until Ronaldo was ready – and Solksjaer got injured. But still.
    You can counter that argument by saying that Stam’s book gave SrAlex no choice, and that Beckham had well and truly been taken over by Beckham (TM), but it was still damaging.
    It was a transitional period. But – as I’m learning from reading fans’ comments, day by day – fans don’t want to wait until next year, even if the managerial ethos will ultimately pay off.
    Hence why SrAlex got the dreaded “vote of confidence” in 2004 – and why AK is under pressure now.

  51. Hmm, interesting . . it looks like should Man City beat H’field they will play us in the FA Cup just four days before their crucial second-leg Champions League game in Monaco, and when we play Man Utd in the league it will be their third game in six days after Chelsea away in the FA Cup and Rostov at home in Europe.

  52. EXMIL CHALLENGE 2017 (Part1) (closes 1400, 25 Feb)
    Another 12 entries and welcome to all the new posters.
    Poster: Jarsue
    Bournemouth: 31 (DLDW)
    Swansea City: 26 (LDDL)
    Middlesbrough: 27 (WDD)
    Leicester City: 24 (LWL)
    Hull City: 24 (WLDL)
    Crystal Palace: 20 (LDL)
    Sunderland: 20 (LLD)
    Poster: Martin Bellamy
    Bournemouth: 31 (DLDW)
    Swansea City: 28 (LDWL)
    Middlesbrough: 26 (WDL)
    Leicester City: 23 (LDD)
    Hull City: 24 (WDLL)
    Crystal Palace: 22 (LLW)
    Sunderland: 22 (LLW)
    Poster: Paulista Park
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLDW)
    Swansea City: 28 (LWDL)
    Middlesbrough: 22 (LLL)
    Leicester City: 25 (LWD)
    Hull City: 24 (WLDL)
    Crystal Palace: 25 (WLW)
    Sunderland: 22 (LLW)
    Poster: BrisbanePhil
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLWD)
    Swansea City: 29 (LWDD)
    Middlesbrough: 26 (WDL)
    Leicester City: 22 (LDL)
    Hull City: 25 (WDDL)
    Crystal Palace: 20 (LLD)
    Sunderland: 22 (LLW)
    Poster: Chris Hunneysett
    Bournemouth: 29 (LLWL)
    Swansea City: 31 (LWDW)
    Middlesbrough: 24 (DDL)
    Leicester City: 21 (LLL)
    Hull City: 27 (WWDL)
    Crystal Palace: 20 (DLL)
    Sunderland: 19 (LLL)
    Poster: Pedro de Espana
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLWD)
    Swansea City: 31 (LWWD)
    Middlesbrough: 22 (LLL)
    Leicester City: 26 (DWD)
    Hull City: 24 (WLLD)
    Crystal Palace: 25 (WLW)
    Sunderland: 23 (LDW)
    Poster: Boroexile
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLDW)
    Swansea City: 26 (LDDL)
    Middlesbrough: 24 (DDL)
    Leicester City: 25 (DWL)
    Hull City: 22 (DLDL)
    Crystal Palace: 21 (DLD)
    Sunderland: 20 (LLD)
    Poster: Ladyboro
    Bournemouth: 29 (DLDD)
    Swansea City: 29 (LWDD)
    Middlesbrough: 24 (DDL)
    Leicester City: 24 (LWL)
    Hull City: 22 (DLDL)
    Crystal Palace: 24 (DDW)
    Sunderland: 20 (LLD)
    Poster: original fat bob
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLWD)
    Swansea City: 31 (LWWD)
    Middlesbrough: 25 (DDD)
    Leicester City: 24 (LWL)
    Hull City: 23 (WLLL)
    Crystal Palace: 23 (DLW)
    Sunderland: 20 (LLD)
    Poster: Suffolk’n’Boro
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLDW)
    Swansea City: 28 (DWLL)
    Middlesbrough: 26 (WDL)
    Leicester City: 25 (LWD)
    Hull City: 23 (LLWL)
    Crystal Palace: 20 (LLD)
    Sunderland: 20 (LLD)
    Poster: Boro Beckys Dad
    Bournemouth: 31 (DLWD)
    Swansea City: 26 (LLDD)
    Middlesbrough: 25 (DDD)
    Leicester City: 25 (WDL)
    Hull City: 23 (DDDL)
    Crystal Palace: 21 (DLD)
    Sunderland: 19 (LLL)
    Poster: Vanteis
    Bournemouth: 28 (DLLD)
    Swansea City: 31 (LWWD)
    Middlesbrough: 26 (WDL)
    Leicester City: 22 (LDL)
    Hull City: 24 (WDLL)
    Crystal Palace: 21 (LDD)
    Sunderland: 23 (WLD)
    Never Give Up on Boro, your entry arrived without any predictions, so could you please try again.
    Come on BORO.

    1. Ian
      I’m answer to your query I am not using the Gazette service.
      Instead I am using the Diasboro premium Gold non subscription service with which I am more than happy with.

  54. I’ve noticed two Exmil entries (Allan in Bahrain and NeverGiveUpOnBoro) only came through with their ‘poster name’ and the ‘points’ and ‘results’ were blank for each team.
    Can I check a few things:
    – Which device did you use (e.g. Laptop, iPad) and which Browser (e.g. Chrome, Explorer)?
    – Do you see the Win, Draw, Lose buttons and do they work?
    – Before pressing Submit do you see in the Prediction Summary at the bottom of the page your points and results for each team (see below)?
    Bournemouth: 30 (LLDW)
    Swansea City: 27 (LWLL)
    Middlesbrough: 25 (DDD)
    Leicester City: 22 (LDL)
    Hull City: 28 (WDWD)
    Crystal Palace: 23 (DLW)
    Sunderland: 20 (LLD)
    If you do see everything correct in the Prediction Summary you could copy and paste it into an email and mail your entry to diasboro@outlook.com
    It’s possible that your browser has refreshed the page before submitting your entry and has therefore cleared the data – the Poster name entered usually remains as it is normally an autofill field name.

  56. Allan in Bahrain , your second attempt has again came through with no predictions, if yourself, Never Give Up on Boro and Plato cannot resolve the problem with the help of Werdermouth today then post your predictions on this blog and I will submit them for you.
    Come on BORO.

  57. Have we had any subscriptions from the Gazette journos to the Premium Diasboro service yet? Perhaps they are trying to negotiate a group discount with Werder?
    To be fair I’m sure this new venture by the Gazette has everything to do with their management and nothing to do with AV and the guys. It sounds like a doomed venture to me, as the only person who I am certain will subscribe to it is Spartak.
    I suppose the Gazette bosses will argue that they have to extract some income from the four of them (plus ‘Adam Steel’, which sounds like the screen name of someone auditioning for a role in a superhero movie), and that the Gazette is performing a public service by keeping four otherwise unemployable individuals off the dole queue.
    But it does create an obvious problem, because if they are to give value to the premium content, it has to be by holding back some of their insights and analysis from the ordinary Gazette reader. Which may make some of us less inclined to buy the paper, listen to the podcasts, or subject ourselves to the endless Winalot / Now TV / Halford Autocentre ads.
    Mark W, satirically – probably…

  58. On the subject of the blue kit maybe clashing at Palace, I’d like to have seen the plain white strip brought back for the game, and also for the Burnley and West Ham away fixtures. It’s a classy and elegant kit rather than the dog’s dinner we are used to lately.

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