Stupid idea, and quite irritating when it pops up during the game. It makes Phil Clarke even more of a joke.

I think you have to give it time to see what it can do. I can see what he's trying to do and over the course of a season it might work. I've no idea if it will but they're trying to innovate so let's see what happens. I'd hate for some of you to have been around when we invented fire...

Fire is something usefull,can you tell me what use this meter is?It had Widnes winning one moment then,oh hang on Wakey are in front,lets predict a Wakey win.

Hardly the same.

For me, even if the margin meter became a perfect science over the course of a season, it's ultimate purpose seems to be to spoil the game as a spectacle; given that the TV audience is contingent on the game being exciting, competitive and unpredictable, then that doesn't seem very sensible.

They could do some interesting things with stat's and modelling - this however, is what my son would call an 'epic fail.'

Give your son a pat on the head - he's absolutely spot on.

What is being being said is that there is an algorithm to predict the result of a game ?

What complete and utter tosh if so Betfred should be sweating ( other bookies are available )

Onto what Bren2k says "They could do some interesting things with stat's and modelling", the NFL is a good example of this and has some very good data on all players ie
Metres gained per drive on average
Total metres gained by player this game / this season
Tackles made on ave per game etc etc etc

this would bring more to the game than the cheap gadget they have chosen

It's ludicrous, no machine can predict an intercept, bounce of a rugby ball, knock ons etc. An interesting idea, but due to the nature of sport it will never work.

Agreed, but it appears to be another reason to have Clarke waffling on.

There is. All bookies use them. The MM would be interesting if it was pre game only, possibly at half time too. A useful example of this the Sky Sports Predictor for their Greyhound racing which has sometimes tipped every single winner of the card. Obviously this is mostly based on times, but there are numerous other factors that are taken into consideration.

The problem is that the game ebbs and flows so it will always be playing catch up and so wont become at least marginally accurate until the last quarter.

It would be interesting to see what it predicts at the end of a match compared to the actual score. As that (providing the formula/criteria is accurate) should give an idea of whether the better side won.

He has slipped up actually,the meter is not in Wigan colours.