In the spirit of ‘prediction season’, MFW has one final route to shame up its sleeve

Anyone who’s had a brief trawl through the transaction history of my online betting account would question why I keep promoting tipster competitions on MyFootballWriter.

I’m not exactly Mystic Meg.

And yet, hot on the heels of our World Cup competition, I recently asked for Championship predictions, with 37 of us answering the call.

1. Because it’s fun.
2. Because I don’t lose money.
3. Because it forces the team (and those who chose to join in) to stick our necks out.

Because many of the opinions expressed here on this site are offered up with the benefit of hindsight.

It’s something that allows us all to appear far more reasoned than perhaps would otherwise be the case.

I’m as guilty as anyone, having brought such ‘insight’ as;

We should never have signed Matt Jarvis / offered Alex Neil his contract extension / turned down big money for Oliveira / started James Husband at left-back.

Wise words – with hindsight.

The decisions taken by those who actually run the club, from team selection, substitutions, new signings, ticket pricing, through to strategic investment on overhauling the academy and training ground, all represent a calculated gamble.

Choices that are made to try and secure both immediate and long-term success, on and off the pitch.

Choices that are made in good faith and without the benefit of the hindsight that we enjoy.

As supporters, we pay our money and effectively buy the right to pass judgement on their decisions. But it’s all too easy for us to point the finger when (or if) it all goes pear-shaped; shake our heads and say ‘I knew it’.

I’ll never be in the position of selecting the Norwich City starting XI, beyond sharing my views to those unlucky enough to be sat nearby in the pub before kick-off (although, I’m pretty sure we’d be promoted by Christmas, if Daniel Farke could be bothered to pop down The Adam and Eve for a quick pint and a chat).

So, failing that, the best way to test my footballing ‘nous’ is to make predictions and that’s what we’re proposing to do.

Regular readers will be familiar with the preview interviews that we carry out on MFW with opposing fans, in which we ask them for their score predictions. This season, we’ve called on MFW’s finest (and me) to go up against them, stare at our balls (crystal, naturally) and forecast each upcoming City result.

Let me introduce you to the ‘dream team’;

First up, we have the eternal optimist: Stewart ‘is that some blue-sky peeking through the clouds’ Lewis. Expect more than the occasional ‘City to win’ forecast here.

Next up, is the yin to Stewart’s yang: Martin ‘no mate, it looks like rain’ Penney. The grit in MFW’s oyster without whom there would be no pearls.

Also, stepping up to the plate is Andy ‘The Headmaster’ Head. Noted for his City ‘school reports’ and analysis, the Bookies have immediately installed our Andy as short odds favourite.

No competition would be complete without the main man, Gary ‘The Guvnor’ Gowers. Can he translate his record of providing balanced match reviews into reasoned forecasts? (Not a chance – Ed).

And finally, we have Siri ‘I’m sorry I didn’t understand that’ the random score generator. I’ll be asking my phone to pluck numbers out of the air and test whether we can do better than chance alone.

Do you fancy pitting your wits against that line-up?

If you do, keep an eye out for each and every preview piece on MFW where we’ll be posting our predictions and inviting you to do the same.

The rules are simple; one point for a correct result; three points for the correct score. At the end of the season, most points win.

Bring it on!