Blackburn Rovers (Sally Moon) 1-2 Tricky Trees (Alex Iskandar Liew)

In the end, it all came down to the width of a post.

The drama raged long before kick-off when both finalists nominated a 2-1 win for Portsmouth and, remarkably, they chose almost identical times for the time of the first goal – Suffolk-based Sally went for 22 minutes and Kuala Lumpur dweller Alex took a chance on 23 minutes.

Sally had one-and-a-half hands on the sparkling trophy when, in the 22nd minute of the final, Nwankwo Kanu wrong-footed a statuesque Cardiff City defender, rounded shot-stopper Peter Enckelman and hit the post with a tame effort. In the blink of an eye, Blackburn’s unbelievably precise grasp on the trophy disintegrated, and with Kanu’s 37th-minute winner, Tricky Trees claimed the prize as the Forest fan more accurately matched the time of the first goal.

As the Blackburn players sank to their weary knees at the final whistle, jubilant Tricky Trees manager Alex said: “It’s incredible what a difference one minute makes in the nutty game of football. One moment of sheer brilliance and we’re walking up the steps of Wembley.”

“A well-fought final and a worthy winner,” added a sporting Sally. “I can’t pretend I wasn’t prematurely punching the air when the rogue Nigerian hoofed it goal-wards in the 22nd minute – but that’s over-confidence for you!”

Congratulations Alex! Enjoy your year as holder of The Predictorship Cup.

The Predictorship Cup Roll of Honour

2005-06 - Millwall (John Collins)
2006-07 - Sheffield Wednesday (Janet Jones)
2007-08 - Tricky Trees (Alex Iskandar Liew)

Cup Final Fact …

In the 2007-08 season, Portsmouth won all 22 games in which they scored first.

On the very same weekend the legendary Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons stormed into the UK Top 40 with a greatest hits collection entitled Jersey’s Best, a man fitting that very description was busy wrapping up his second Predictorship title. Congratulations to Jersey United’s Mike Dufficy, who wears the 2007-08 Predictorship crown with 293 points.

Mike, an ever-present in the top five this season, has led the field since week 13 (the weekend of 27th & 28th October 2007) and also had one week at the top in week 5. In other words, he has been in pole position for 30 of this season’s 41 weeks, including the last 29 weeks consecutively. Such has been Mike’s dominance that only three other predictors have topped the table during the course of the season: John Collins (week 1), Maziar Sattari (weeks 2-3) and runner-up Dave Taylor (week 4 and weeks 6-12).

Even more remarkable is the fact that Mike has won the title without posting a weekly score of 11 or more. Rob Dimery (week 14) and Nick Watson (week 20), incidentally both founding members of GWR band The Infamous Grouse, recorded the best weekly scores of the season with 13. There were eight scores of 12, including an impressive double from Dave Taylor, and 24 people registered 11s, a score achieved twice by Dave McAleer, Wendy Nathan and Maziar Sattari.

“I’ve been asked that question for the last six months,” said Mike when harangued for a comment on his second league title in three seasons, quoting one of the “legends of English football” (his words not mine), Terry Venables. “It’s not fair to expect me to make such a fast decision on something that has been put upon me like that.” OK Mike, not to worry.

Furthermore, if you’re longing for a useful tip from a seasoned Predictorship maestro on how to find some inspiration for those weekly predictions, you’d do well to heed Mike’s sound advice (which again is a Venablesism): “It may have been going wide, but nevertheless it was a great shot on target.” In other words, we should all predict 10 0-0s from now on.

Mike, who finishes nine points clear of Dave Taylor and 12 points ahead of Matthew White (whose only crumb of comfort is the season’s finest collection of correct results, 240), also has three joint ‘Prediction of the Week’ accolades to his name: Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United in week 2, West Ham 3-1 Sunderland in week 11 and Middlesbrough 1-2 West Ham in week 20.

Mike joins Steven Dunlop, who guided Sporting Charleroi to the title in 2002-03 and 2004-05 before switching allegiance to Benfica, as the only two-time winner of The Predictorship. Mike, as you might recall, won his first league title (2005-06) after throwing in the towel at Everton and taking the top job at Jersey United, a move that now seems as smart as Steve Bruce’s defection from Birmingham to Wigan.

The Predictorship Roll of Honour

1999-2000 - Stewart Newport (Queens Park Rangers)
2000-01 - Gabe Bevilacqua (Philadelphia Eagles)
2001-02 - David Roberts (Watford)
2002-03 - Steven Dunlop (Sporting Charleroi)
2003-04 - Janet Jones (Sheffield Wednesday)
2004-05 - Steven Dunlop (Sporting Charleroi)
2005-06 - Mike Dufficy (Jersey United)
2006-07 - Christine Butters (Manchester City)
2007-08 - Mike Dufficy (Jersey United)

The antiquated and overtly sexist ‘Top Female’ accolade went right down to the wire. Christine Butters – who relinquishes her title-holding status this week – and Cathryn Harker both finish on 275 points but Christine claims the prize courtesy of four more correct scores and out-scoring the Clapton F.C.’er by six points to five in week 41. Jill Taylor (7th), Sally Moon (9th) and Wendy Nathan (10th) ensure that half of the top 10 predictors are female. Who said football was a male-dominated sport? Forget the ‘Yorkie – Not for Girls’ slogan and mark these shocking words: ‘The Predictorship – Not for Boys’. Or it soon will be.

Congratulations also go to another lady, Anuradha Shenoy, who is the highest-placed rookie in 12th, ahead of Mark Lawrenson in 15th. Fellow newcomers Ben Wallis (26th), Iain Starr (34th) and the Wallers, Marion (36th) and Gary (39th), didn’t fare quite so well, but hopefully they’ll be back for another stab at Predictorship glory next season.

For more stats than you can shake an extremely large stick at, delve into The Nottingham Florist’s painstakingly-compiled and appropriately-titled Predictorship Stats 2007-08 spreadsheet, distributed free of charge with this week’s table. In the meantime, cast your eyes over this little lot …

Most Weeks at Top: 30 - Mike Dufficy; 8 - Dave Taylor
Most Weeks at Bottom: 27 - Norma No Mates; 6 - Neil Hayes
Highest Weekly Score: 13 - Rob Dimery and Nick Watson
Lowest Weekly Score: 0 - Norma No Mates (x3) and Gary Waller
Most Weeks in Top 5: 41 - Mike Dufficy; 38 - Dave Taylor
Most Weeks in Bottom 5: 37 - Norma No Mates; 35 - James Bradley
Most Consecutive Weeks Without Submitting Scores: 18 - Neil Hayes; 16 - Stewart Newport
Most Yellow Cards: 20 - Neil Hayes and Stewart Newport
Most Red Cards: 9 - Neil Hayes; 8 - Stewart Newport
Most ‘Predictions of the Week’: 10 - Marion Waller; 7 - Rob Molloy; 6 - Wendy Nathan, Ted Warland and Michael Whitty; 5 - Sally Moon and Ben Wallis

The Predictorship Cup …

The Predictorship Cup final takes place this weekend, 17th May, along with the not-half-as-interesting FA Cup final between Cardiff City and Portsmouth. Sally Moon’s Blackburn Rovers take on Alex Iskandar Liew’s Tricky Trees in the sold out showpiece. Sally finished ninth in the league campaign, eight points and four places better off than Alex, but you might as well rip the form book to shreds because Alex is the form predictor going into the final after scoring eight points last weekend. However, league form counts for absolutely nothing in the Cup, so find another form book and rip that one to shreds too (if you still have any strength left). Basically, it’s as open as the Derby County defence, but one thing is for sure: one of them will join John Collins’ Millwall and Janet Jones’ Sheffield Wednesday on the honours board come Saturday evening.

Sally, Alex, listen up! What we need from you is a full-time score for Cardiff v Portsmouth (be that after 90 minutes or extra time) and your estimation of the time of the first goal. As per usual Predictorship rules, you get one point for a correct result and another point for a correct score. In the event of a draw, the winner will be the person who most accurately predicts the time of the first goal (0-120 minutes). Note: the Cup will NOT be decided on who has the nearest prediction to the actual result should you both predict the same winner but a different scoreline (i.e. if the result is 5-0 to Portsmouth, 3-0 is not superior to 2-0). If you both predict the same result and there are no goals in the final (which is one of your options), then Predictorship HQ will panic, phone a friend (probably Sir Trev) and decide what the heck to do next.

Please send your score and first goal predictions to both David Roberts and mattwhite03@hotmail.com by 1pm on Saturday. Good luck to you both and may the best woman/man win.

Premier League Results (Week 41): Birmingham 4-1 Blackburn (0); Chelsea 1-1 Bolton (1); Derby 0-4 Reading (0); Everton 3-1 Newcastle (1); Middlesbrough 8-1 Manchester City (0); Portsmouth 0-1 Fulham (3); Sunderland 0-1 Arsenal (8); Tottenham 0-2 Liverpool (0); West Ham 2-2 Aston Villa (3); Wigan 0-2 Manchester United (9).

* Figures in brackets show the number of correct predictions for each game.

Highest Score (Week 41): 8 – Hope Arnold, Alex Iskandar Liew, Steve McHugh, Nick Watson and Michael Whitty.
Average Score (Week 41): 5.32.
Prediction of the Week (Week 41): Late ‘Prediction of the Season’ contenders from Rob Molloy (Chelsea 1-1 Bolton) and Mark Young (Everton 3-1 Newcastle).

Top of the Table (Week 41):

1. Jersey United (Mike Dufficy) – 293 pts
2. Chelsea (Dave Taylor) – 284 pts
3. Nottingham Forest (Matthew White) – 281 pts
4. Liverpool Reserves (Saleel Sathe) – 280 pts
5. Manchester City (Christine Butters) – 275 pts
6. Clapton F.C. (Cathryn Harker) – 275 pts
7. Dartmoor Rovers (Jill Taylor) – 270 pts
8. Charlton Athletic (Nigel Birrell) – 269 pts
9. Blackburn Rovers (Sally Moon) – 267 pts
10. West Ham United (Wendy Nathan) – 267 pts

Wanted! A last desperate plea for end-of-season Predictorship tables from before the 2004-05 season to help The Nottingham Florist compile an all-encompassing table of tables, charting the hot shots and the flops since 1999-2000. Where will you be in the all-time league?

‘Prediction of the Season’ … Don’t forget to register your selection for ‘Prediction of the Season’ (see last week’s column for details). The result will be announced after this weekend’s Predictorship Cup final …

Iain Starr carved out a large chunk of Predictorship history this week by predicting a combined goal tally of 2,169 for the 10 games, including a preposterous and quite frankly laughable 1-1 draw at the Riverside between Middlesbrough and Manchester City. Here are Iain’s 10 predictions, which come with a liberal sprinkling of gold stars for sheer entertainment value and three points for his faltering league campaign:

Birmingham 17-35 Blackburn; Chelsea 6-6 Bolton; Derby 34-0 Reading; Everton 0-99 Newcastle; Middlesbrough 1-1 Manchester City, Portsmouth 33-33 Fulham; Sunderland 0-1,893 Arsenal; Tottenham 0-0 Liverpool; West Ham 2-4 Aston Villa; Wigan 2-3 Manchester United.

Quote of the Week …

“Iain Starr has just gone plain mad!” – David Roberts

So there you have it. Just like Zoom Bakayogo, released by Millwall, and Edrissa Sonko, shunned by Walsall, it’s time to get out of here and find a new club. The Nottingham Florist sincerely hopes that he’s entertained and, at selected times, amused you during the course of the last two seasons, and maybe even awoken your inner statistical beast. Thanks for the memories.

The irrepressible Mike Dufficy stands on the brink of Predictorship immortality.

In the 40th and penultimate week of the season, Mike has a 10-point lead over Dave Taylor. As any mathematician worth his salt will tell you, it means the Channel Islander needs 11 points to secure his second league title in three seasons, and that’s on the ridiculous assumption that Dave bags a record-shattering 20-point maximum next week (which he won’t). If the title does go to London, I’ll eat my hat, grab a Chelsea flag and streak naked through the streets of Bury St. Edmunds during the rush hour.

Dave’s spirited but ultimately futile attempt to make a contest of a title race that was effectively decided light years ago brings him a second 12 of the season (his first was in week 9), a score made possible by 1-0 wins for Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham. Christine Butters, whose previous best this season was 11 points in week 20, matches Dave’s dozen with maximum points for 2-0 wins for Chelsea, Fulham and Middlesbrough. Both Christine and Dave rack up NINE correct results (the only game that eluded them, and everyone else bar predicting wizardess Marion Waller, was Wigan’s shocking victory at Aston Villa).

Jill Taylor, otherwise known as Dave’s other half, and Mark Lawrenson, Alan Hansen’s other half on ‘Match of the Day’, both record 11s. Jill, the only upwardly mobile predictor in the top 13, makes a triumphant return to the top 10 in 8th, her highest placing of the season. Fourth-placed Saleel Sathe, Nick Watson and Joe Zalewski each find the back of the net 10 times. Nick and Trevor Morris are the second and third predictors this week to reach a new seasonal high – 16th and 28th respectively.

In stark contrast, Norma No Mates, the Derby County of The Predictorship, fires a blank as all 10 fixtures are decided one way or the other. You’ll easily spot the other players who failed to turn up for duty this week. They include Stewart Newport, AWOL for a 15th consecutive week and perilously close to expulsion after his 19th yellow card of the season. (You get your marching orders after 20 yellow cards, a rule that will be more stringent next season.) Stewart will, however, be spared the ultimate humiliation as the end of the season is nigh.

Prediction of the Season …

Once again we need your help to determine the destination of the prestigious ‘Prediction of the Season’ award. Simply make your selection from the 20 beauties below (all of them unique correct score predictions for the given week), either by leaving a reply to this post or by e-mailing mattwhite03@hotmail.com. You CAN vote for your own prediction if you wish. The result will be announced after the Predictorship Cup final on 17th May, so please get voting!

1. Week 2: Dave McAleer (Portsmouth 3-1 Bolton)
* A four-goal gem in an otherwise abysmal week of predicting (average 4.43)
2. Week 6: Gary Waller (Derby 1-0 Newcastle)
* A solitary win for the Rams this season. Here it is
3. Week 9: Ted Warland (Liverpool 2-2 Tottenham)
* Fortress Anfield breached twice by Robbie Keane
4. Week 9: Simon Gold (Newcastle 3-2 Everton)
* When are Everton ever involved in five-goal thrillers, home or away?
5. Week 10: Christine Butters (Scotland 3-1 Ukraine)
* McCulloch, McFadden, Miller: Scotland run riot at Hampden Park!
6. Week 10: Matthew White (Faroe Islands 0-6 France)
* Six for Les Bleurrrgh, but just one for the man Henry
7. Week 10: Simon Gold (Denmark 1-3 Spain)
* The third international barnstormer of the week
8. Week 12: Wendy Nathan (Manchester United 4-1 Middlesbrough)
* A subtle variation on the week 11 result Aston Villa 1-4 Manchester United
9. Week 16: Gary Waller (Bolton 1-0 Manchester United)
* Gary bravely opts out of a Man. Utd. win against vastly inferior opposition
10. Week 17: Rob Molloy (Liverpool 4-0 Bolton)
* Is that the same Bolton who beat Manchester United in week 16?
11. Week 23: Sally Moon (Huddersfield 2-1 Birmingham)
* League 1 downs Premier League basement boys in the FA Cup
12. Week 27: Marion Waller (Manchester City 1-3 Arsenal)
* Predicting queen strikes gold. No more cries of 1-0 to the Arsenal
13. Week 28: Gary Waller (Manchester United 1-2 Manchester City)
* City beat United at Old Trafford in the Manchester derby. Well I never!
14. Week 30: John Collins (Birmingham 2-2 Arsenal)
* Premier League no-hopers stick it to title contenders – almost
15. Week 30: Janet Jones (Liverpool 3-2 Middlesbrough)
* Reds down an impotent Middlesbrough at Anfield – but only just
16. Week 31: Rob Molloy (Bolton 1-3 Liverpool)
* Purple patch for Molloy as he monopolises ‘Prediction of the Week’
17. Week 32: Rob Molloy (Middlesbrough 0-2 Cardiff)
* Championship side cruise to Cup victory against a woeful ‘Boro
18. Week 32: Joe Zalewski (Barnsley 1-0 Chelsea)
* You needed balls of steel to back the Yorkshiremen in this one
19. Week 35: Marion Waller (Bolton 2-3 Arsenal)
* One of the best games of the season. Of course it had to be Marion Waller!
20. Week 35: Mark Lawrenson (Derby 2-2 Fulham)
* Hands up those who thought it would be a boring 0-0 draw

Premier League Results (Week 40): Aston Villa 0-2 Wigan (0); Blackburn 3-1 Derby (3); Bolton 2-0 Sunderland (2); Fulham 2-0 Birmingham (3); Manchester United 4-1 West Ham (0); Middlesbrough 2-0 Portsmouth (3); Reading 0-1 Tottenham (3); Arsenal 1-0 Everton (6); Liverpool 1-0 Manchester City (8); Newcastle 0-2 Chelsea (8).

* Figures in brackets show the number of correct predictions for each game.

Highest Score (Week 40): 12 – Christine Butters and Dave Taylor.
Average Score (Week 40): 7.26.
Prediction of the Week (Week 40): Hope Arnold, Simon Gold and Wendy Nathan (Blackburn 3-1 Derby); Marion Waller (Aston Villa 1-2 Wigan).

Top of the Table (Week 40):

1. Jersey United (Mike Dufficy) – 288 pts
2. Chelsea (Dave Taylor) – 278 pts
3. Nottingham Forest (Matthew White) – 275 pts
4. Liverpool Reserves (Saleel Sathe) – 273 pts
5. Clapton F.C. (Cathryn Harker) – 270 pts
6. Manchester City (Christine Butters) – 269 pts
7. Charlton Athletic (Nigel Birrell) – 265 pts
8. Dartmoor Rovers (Jill Taylor) – 263 pts
9. Blackburn Rovers (Sally Moon) – 262 pts
10. West Ham United (Wendy Nathan) – 261 pts