Fantasy Football Preview Week 18

Woah we’re halfway there. Gameweek 18 of a 36 game campaign

47 points when the average was 38, not bad but I won’t be getting a parade on Patrick Street cos of it.

I’m still 101 points of the top of our league

Vindication

Picking Nani as captain over Nasri was the only thing really, that could count as managerial insight

D’oh

I swear I saved my changes but somehow Coleman was my 14^th man at the weekend, his 7 points was a better haul than 8 of his team mates

Hunch / Drama / Dramatic Narrative before Sky Have Spotted it

Chelsea – United is where all the drama will be if you believe only things Sky tells you. All I see is a low scoring game with players scoring points which will take potential points off other members of your team (I still need to work out a better phrase for that!)

Stoke playing Arsenal, is the first time they’ve met since ‘that tackle”, let’s see what happens in the Emirates.

Also will the great freeze take any games off us? Blackpool are due to be at home to Spurs, but they have no undersoil heating. I only have one Spurs player, and no Blackpool ones. But I will be checking early in the morning

Transfers

Got 2.1 million in the bank, not gonna make a transfer this week so I have two next week. Interestingly I head today that the guy who is leading this game overall has only made 12 transfers all week, goes to show that making good decisions once beats weekly tinkering.

That is based on the assumption that no games have been postponed

Theory/Selection

Two simple ones, I don’t fancy Everton doing well at Man City (Everton can barely score a goal, Man City don’t seem to concede much), so I’ve put both Distin and Coleman on the bench, and also I don’t think Bolton will do well at Sunderland, but I have to play one of my two trotters so went with Elamander in my 11 over Lee.

My Team this week

 

Keeping An Eye On

Foster and Gordon are fighting for my second GK spot like X-Factor finalists, both averaging 4points a game

Captains Corner with Phergal

On way to me, will post in comments section

Fantasy Football Preview Week 17

How are you? I had a great weekend! on a social level. Fantasy Football wise it was a bollix, going to once again to prove a good real life affects your internet life, I won’t be making that mistake again!

I left for a festival on Fri morning, so couldn’t change my captain from Nani after the Man Utd/Blackpool game got cancelled. And as a result my team was 6 points below the average score this week (average score was 43 points). And speaking of captaincy, I had the setting wrong so it went to Ashley Cole as a back up captain rather than Nasri, which cost me 28 points!!!! Fawking hell.

I am now back in 49^th place, and a whacking 101 points off the top of the table. What a disaster. I need a Christmas miracle

I only had 8 players play at all. What a kick in the love sack,

Vindication

NOTHING

D’oh

The cancelled game and me being not near a computer.

Hunch / Drama / Dramatic Narrative before Sky Have Spotted it

This weekend’s marquee fixtures are Chelsea v Spurs and Man Utd v Arsenal, which is the start of a raft of big games in next few game weeks. This is also the start of counter productive team selections for instance having Vidic and Chanukah, means if one does their job well (i.e. keep a clean sheet or score a goal respectively), While one will get 6 points the other will only get 2 points, and therefore only average 4 points which is not a good haul, and then multiply that through your team. This is where making actual calls comes into it, as opposed to just banking on the leaders. This is where I will hopefully catch up on the leaders in this league.

History has shown us that Arsenal usually fold against Man Utd & Chelsea, such as the champions league game a few seasons back at the Emirates. But to be objective the Arsenal team is not really that young compared/inexperienced to the Man Utd. This wont’ be a whitewash either way I’d say.

Similarly the Chelsea V Spurs match won’t be good for defenders so front-load those teams. I think Defoe is going to have a blast this weekend, but am reluctant to sign him.

Newcastle Meltdown? Is this on the cards? As an Irishman I want them to fail now just to show them.

But judging by Andy Carroll’s Twitter today, they’ve already moved on to liking the new manager.

 

England Goalkeeper Face Off – Remember that mistake against the USA by the English goalkeeper, Rob Green? And now his long term replacement Joe Hart? Who’ll have more to prove at the Man City v West Ham match?

Transfers

Got two transfers this week, had intended to get rid of Cole and Alex from Chelsea, but got talked into keeping Cole by Mike, one of the leaders of our league.

I want Baines but am wary of having 3 Everton defenders. Joe.ie is suggesting Liverpool are gonan come into some good form from Torres and Skyrtel. I will go with the former, and sell Alex who is out till Feb anyway, and drop Varney (Blackpool have 4 tricky fixtures coming up) and bring in Bent, Sunderland have 4 winnable matches in next 6 games as well as a game with Man Utd (who he has history of scoring against). Bent is undroppable at Sunderland so that’s a good thing to be sure of.

I will keep Van der Vaart, even though he’s injured.

I wanted to get rid of Nolan too this week as he has a knock but I’ll stick with him.

So in short

Alex out – Skyrtel In

Varney out – Bent in

Left in Bank 2.1 Million

Theory/Selection

Everton at home to struggling Wigan, so will play both those defenders. So I’ll drop Ashley Cole since he’s away at Spurs and that must have goals at both ends. And even though I just bought him I’ll not play Skyrtel, so I can play Bent at Fuham (maybe that match will be a nil all draw, but I can see Newcastle scoring as a better chance). But since Nolan is maybe not gonna play, Skyrtel is my first sub.

Will go with Hart over Jasskegglan, simply cos I just can’t trust Bolton anymore and Man City’s tight defence should be okay against the toofless attack of West Ham.

Re: Captaincy it’s Nani v Nasri, and I’ll go with the former simply cos he’s at home. No real academic insight there.

My Team this week

 

Keeping An Eye On

Goalkeepers, time to move Jagjhgjfasyibn at Bolton on soon. It’ll be between Foster and Gordon I reckon.

Captains Corner with Phergal

man city away to west ham probably looks like the best fixture on paper, but alas the volatile tevez is suspended this weekend. perhaps balotelli then for those who have him. still no midfielders are standing out from a FF perspective.

Everton look good at home to wigan, cahill is the man here, on wicked form, doesn't seem to get outlandish scores but a goal or assist against weak opposition is likely.

two big match ups this week, spurs at home to chelsea first and with chelsea continuing their dire form midweek in europe and with VDV out for spurs it feels like a 1-0 or 1-1 result, so avoid for captain choices.

the always entertaining arsenal united could produce a few goals, both vying for top spot. Nani and berbie as usual. Fab is likely out for this one, but nasri seems to stepping up to fill his boots recently so is a decent pick also.

although my head this week says cahill, i'm going with elmander myself, at home to blackburn and "due a goal" as they say.

gamble picks? bale or foster.

Fantasy Football Preview Week 16

Short one this week, as I am sitting in a cold room in London at 1am and I need to get up at 7am to get to a laundrette and then Bristol. Long story.

Anway, I got scored 11 points more than the average last week, YEAH!!!! The average was only 44 points, BOOOO! Five players got 6 points or more, YEAAAH!!!! Six got two points or less, BOOO!

I’m getting really pissed off with how my considered decisions keep backfiring, but hopefully toward ends of the season, I’ll get bursts of luck in my favour. Which I need cos I’m 86 points off the top of the leader board.

Vindication

Nani as captain got me 24 points, but that’s hardly like I invented mercury is it? Nothing else really paid off, other than not playing Nolan I suppose.

D’oh

Where do I start, Rafael Van Der Vaart limping off and being injured for a month? Everton conceding 4 goals?

Hunch / Drama / Dramatic Narrative before Sky Have Spotted it

There’s nothing huge on the horizon this week I feel. As I type it’s Thursday night/Friday morning, perhaps there’ll be a burst of match cancelled, but you’d like to hope all the premier league grounds have correct pitch heating now. I’ll be away from my computer from tomorrow morning on, so I’ll have to make decisions on this not happening.

Maybe Everton will have a lot to proof at Chelsea, but the pensioners will too? It’s not gonna be nil all, that’s all I’ll guess.

Somewhere else in London, Fulham host Arsenal. Mark Hughes and Wenger have previous, with the latter criticising the formers tactics. Let’s see what happens. Also don’t forget that Fulham’s keeper Schwartzer who Arsenal were apparently ready to sign at during the summer just signed a new contract with Fulham. Is he going to show what they missed out on?

To be honest I’m expecting a hotchpotch of a weekend

Transfers

Won’t make any transfers and will rollover to next weekend.

Theory/Selection

Have a lot of players against other players in my team, have two Everton defenders and two Chelsea defenders, so contrary to my previous statement, I will pray for a nil all draw. Those 24 points would be pure handy. Actually I’ll drop Coleman for fear of Everton having another trouncing.

I don’t see it happening, but perhaps Bolton will score a freekick or something via Lee onto Elamander, I doubt they’ll keep a clean sheet, so I’ll go with Hart in goal.

My Team this week

 

Keeping An Eye On

Noone this week, let’s see if someone comes to light when I’m hungoveredly scouring the newspapers on Monday as I return from ATP in Minehead. Whoop Whoop.

Captains Corner with Phergal

very tricky one this weekend, dire weather threatens a whole lot of matches this weekend so pay careful attention to news reports and your emergency captain options. blackpool have said they are confident the match against united will go ahead and this is the strongest match for a captaincy this week. nani is the top pick as usual and berbie, but gamblers might want to give rooney the nod, surely (don't call me shirley, RIP leslie) he can score here.

city and bolton looks a good game for goals, tevez is my own pick here and elmander is a decent pick also.

not a huge amount of other decnt fixtures, perhaps arsenal at home to fulham, nasri and perhaps cham. i like blackburn at home to wolves, Gamst pederson or maybe samba are nice options.

Fantasy Football Preview Week 15

Once again my team managed to do better than the average by a meager 3 points. This is not the form of a league winner and that folks is my aim. Taking part is for schmucks I want to win. 88 points off the top now. But Ireland beat England when we won the European Championships in 88, so that’s a good sign. We’re reaching that stage of the year where people start giving up cos their team isn’t doing that well, but you won’t see that happen here at Ronan HQ.

All the media attention seems to be on the lack of Scottish referees and El Classico on Monday (which I can’t wait for), but let’s not slip up by ignoring the fantasy football.

Vindication

Very little, I used a transfer to swap Nani for Malouda and the Portuguese man scored a whopping ONE POINT more than the Frenchie. So that counts as the minimum vindication possible. I was right to drop Alex too, good hunch following there

D’oh

Main one is putting Varney on the bench as my first sub. He got 9 points, which was better than EIGHT of my players who did play. Once again I had a sickening amount of players do get 2 points or less (6 of the buggers).

Hunch / Drama / Dramatic Narrative before Sky Have Spotted it

Everyone seems to be piling on the Rooney bandwagon. An expensive bandwagon, which I am saving up/trading around for so as not waste transfer points. I hope that he’ll huff and puff around Blackburn and show signs of form but not actually score many goals (or if he does hopefully off Nani crosses).

Okay everyone is going on about Bolton recently, so you might be inclined to be tired of those players already. But they do have 4 very winnable fixtures in the next 6 weeks. But even more so Man City have a great run of fixtures (They do play Everton mind, but they are impossible to put a finer on at moment). If Richards shakes his injury I reckon I’ll be signing him very soon

Also Chelsea, if you just believe the headlines, are about to get relegated. Which I feel is a bit much being made out just 3 losses, but after this gameweek they play Everton, Spurs, Man Utd & Arsenal in a row. Interestingly the match they have after that run is Bolton, who conceivably could be ahead of Chelsea at the time!

Pires, against Arsenal on his second game back in premiership. Will he give one of those performances that only experienced players can (the kind of performance that Arsenal team is so dearly missing?)

Transfers

I’m sick of Walcott so gonna get rid of him and bring in Lee from Bolton (it gives me a few more quid in the kitty). It gives the chance to swoop in for Rooney next week if needs be. Or start to overhaul my defence, which is what I am more likely to do.

Theory/Selection

I seem to have 8 players playing home games this week, might have an impact. I’ve dropped both by Chelsea players, mainly cos they are away to a confident Newcastle, but also I need to start making bigger decisions for my team to succeed since I have Nolan and Carroll on my team, if they perform they’d only take points off Cole and Alex anyway.

Going to keep Jbsiak;la4p0oarn in goal cos Bolton are at home to Blackpool, whereas Man City are away to Stoke.

I will start Van Der Varrt, even though he is 50/50 to play, so my 1^st choice sub will be Varney once again, so if he scores it rules out a clean sheet for Jesigbkjkj anyway.

With Fabregas out, Nasri will rule the midfield for Arsenal so hopefully he has a blinder.

For my captain I am caught between Nolan and Nani. As it stands I am going with Nani, but I will probably borrow an iphone and change it in the pub later tonight.

My Team this week

 

Keeping An Eye On

Dunn is looking better and better, I will wait to see him  get through this Man Utd fixture they have and after that the club has 5 matches that they’ll fancy.

Pires came on a sub and did okay, only 5 million too? Let’s see if he starts this week. No point having a sub on your bench who is normally a sub anyway.

Captains Corner with Phergal

So it looks like elmander is the new top boy and at such a good price, it's criminal not to have him. amazing that him and carroll are in the top three strikers and both under 6.5 mill. anyway, he's my pick this week against blackpool, although i've an awful feeling he won't score for no particular reason other then everyone is captaining him this week and murphy's law will come into play. i may well switch to tevez at the last minute away to stoke.

lot of interest in nani for captain this week aswell @home to blackburn but i'm not so sure of a points haul here. tottenham liverpool could be a decent game, VDV and Bale are good picks (anyone have both in their team?). newcastle chelsea is an interesting one. turmoil in the chelsea camp recently and some poor results and scoring have people selling malouda and drog en masse. i agree with this, no point having 13 mill getting you 2 points every week. if they start scoring again i'll get them back in somehow, but i've been getting much better results without them. however, malouda could be a good pick for captain here, he got a goal against zilina on tuesday and hasn't played badly the last few premier games. i also wouldn't rule out gambling on nolan or carroll in this game. they will be well up for this one, believing they can grab a win at home with chelsea in disarray.

gamblers choice for me though is n'zogbia versus west ham.

Fantasy Football Preview Week 14

Fantasy Football Preview Week 14

For gods sake, another poor poor week, I used to be genuinely great at this game. I score 48 points, with an average of 46 points scored. I dropped 4 places. Once again 7 players got 3 points or less FFS.

Vindication

My prediction about Ghan, that I did not follow myself.

Putting Van Der Vaart as captain, he got 10 points so doubling that up etc etc. It’s always good to manage to pick your highest scoring player as yer captain.

D’oh

My prediction about Ghan, that I did not follow myself.

Getting rid of Bale, particularly after my bold statement about him in last week’s blog.

The fact Everton, Man Utd and Chelsea all failed to keep a clean sheet, what’s that about?

Hunch / Drama / Dramatic Narrative before Sky Have Spotted it

Mark Hughes v Man City. Mark Hughes has not set the season alight with Fulham yet, but this team will be beyond motivated (not in the way Danny Murphy moaned about a few months ago though), and I’m sure Hughes will know the weaknesess of the players he had under his tenure. I’d say he’s disappointed Richards isn’t playing!

Gallas returns to Arsenal. Ok, he won’t be the biggest Judas story but he loves to stand out in the story of any game. What will happen???

I have a feeling about Zigic with Chelsea this week. Terry out + An injured Alex lining out + Zigic scoring midweek = a potential goal or two. If that happens Cole will lose my clean sheet bonus. I don’t’ know if I should even play Alex on my team this week, I can see him limping off early and certainly picking up a yellow or more while struggling with the Zigic show.

Transfers

Even though tweaking should be a good idea, I’m gonna hold tough so I can have two transfers next week. What with a very though weekend to spot any real ‘obvious’ results and the fact there’s champions league matches midweek, there’s a chance any of my 7 players involved in those match might need be to replaced due to injury.

Theory/Selection

The Spurs/Arsenal match won’t be nil all, and who knows where the goals will come from so I’ll play all three of my midfielder from that town. I reckon Bent will play some part and he’ll be eager to show Ghan who the king of the goal is, this might bite me in the ass and he’ll only play 20 mins or something.

Oddly enough, other than the anamoly that will be the North London Derby, I only have 4 players playing at home, so I’l go with Jaashkjkjljky in goal, and the Fulham team will be more motivated the Man City so Hart could be in trouble (indeed if he plays, everyone in Ireland surely wants him to be still interested so Ireland’s most capped player gets to play).

I’m tempted to put Vidic as captain to be confident of doubling up on the clean sheet they should keep, but the drama queen in me is gonna go with Nolan and his return to the ground where he made his name, and to be fair an assist from him would be as valuable as a clean sheet for the Serbian.

My Team this week

 

Keeping An Eye On

Looking at Dunn for Blackburn’s form, he is a class player and I can see Big Sam using him like Nolan did for him in Bolton when he is fully fit. The caveat being will Dunn ever be fully fit!

Pires joining Aston Villa, could be very interesting. Impact sub at best for the next few weeks but you can see him playing behind the striker and young going back to his best position on the left flying up and down the wing.

Gordon at sunderland, 4.5 million and 11 points from his first 2 games back?

Captains Corner with Phergal

quick gloat first. brought elmander in last week and captained him. yay me aren't i special. bolton are on fire and have a decent run of fixtures; newcastle@h, blackpool@h, city, blackburn@h, sunderland and west brom@h so i would be getting in some attacking bolton players. not sure about their defence tho, not many clean sheets.

anyways, hard to look past man@home to wigan this weekend, nani is the obvious choice. maybe vidic too. berba seems to have lost his form so i'd stay away from him. rooney is rumoured to make a comeback after a week in the us nike super fitness brothel but don't bet on him getting 90 minutes. i would stay away from rooney until he starts banging in goals, which he will i have no doubt.

liverpool @ home to west ham looks good, but who knows how pool will play on the day. i'm gonna take a gamble this week and captain torres. he has hit form again and his ankle injury seems okay now as he played 45 minutes for spain (who were served 4-0 by portugal btw!) although last weeks performance doesn't instill me with huge amounts of confidence.

two other fixtures of note this weekend, the first is arsenal spurs, i expect a great attacking game with lots of goals, these teams don't do careful. VDV and fab are decent captain choices. bale too seems to finally be scoring points in the premiership.

the other unlikely fixture is blackpool@ home to wolves. i expect a lot of goals here. jarvis for wolves for the few that have him is a decent pick and adam for blackpool although he's an injury doubt.

Fantasy Football Preview Week 13

 

Damn another very low week, I only had 9 players make any sort of appearance, and four of them got 2 points or less. I really could have planned better for that midweek. I got 37 points, while the average was 43. so I’m behind the curve. *9 points from the top at the moment, which is a bollix.

Vindication

Sticking with Hart due to expecting a dour derby, but who would have thought it could be that bad. I can’t claim ‘vindication’ for picking the top keeper, the top 2 defenders and the second best midfielder and striker can I? Cos I will if I can.

I was right about Blackburn winning too. I had no money on it though, D’oh…. Oh what a link….

D’oh

As I said, I didn’t even manage to play a full team, I didn’t think both my arsenal players would get dropped. Just a general poor showing.

Hunch / Drama / Dramatic Narrative before Sky Have Spotted it

Ghan The Man!!!! since Bent’s injury he’s really stepped into the limelight effortlessly. Does this mean Bruce can’t but play them as a duo when Bent returns? Is this the time to buy him at 7.1?

Newcastle, the more trouble the players get into, the better they do? Is Hughton gonna start giving them a bottle of tequila at training on Mondays? Other than Chelsea in 3 games time, their next 4 are all ones they’d fancy their chances in (Fulham, Bolton, West Brom)

Once again, the Van Der Vart question. I’ve bought him finally, okay the mighty mighty spurs have a games with Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool within their next 6 games, but you can be sure he’ll start those games. Bale is a lot cheaper, but 25% of his points this season came from one match, so I waved him goodbye.

Does the Wolves comeback start here, after a devastating run of results, they genuinely could pull 10/12 points from their next 18. Is time for Hunt & Doyle to get our Irish eyes smiling? Time for Foley to knock in a few crosses?

Transfers

Distin and Nolan in, Samba and Reo Coker out. As I said, I fancy a Newcastle run of form (on top of the one they are already on, how insightful eh?) and I really can't work out why I got rid of Nolan in the first place. And Distin is performing better than Samba this season. You do the math! (not really needed in this sense, but I’ve always wanted to use it as a phrase)

Theory/Selection

We might remember Arsenal’s last visit to Goodison Park, when they destroyed Everton, mainly due to the whole club being unsettled cos of the Lescott ‘affair’. I reckon payback is on the cards, but Arsenal really need to keep up the momentum of beating Wolves. I kinda have the feeling the ancelotti will rest Malouda, Alex or Cole this weekend, so my bench means my Arsenal pair and Everton pair will both play, so the usual problem of if my defenders do their job, my arsenal players won’t score more than 2 points and vice versa. But as it stands I will demote Coleman to 1^st choice sub, but I expect him to play. On an actual players level I do relish seeing Coleman versus Walcott as a match up.

Will go with VDV as captain, cos they are at home etc and it'd be a great debut for him with Len Rovers. I may change that to Nolan at any point tonight.

My Team this week

 

Keeping An Eye On

I brought in two midfielders. For next few weeks, Walcott and Malouda are gonna be looking over their shoulders, I reckon Nani has to be in my team soon. Still expect Hunt to start bubbling up soon,

Captains Corner with Phergal

Captains corner was last spotted struggling to catch a flight to berlin for the weekend.

Fantasy Football Preview Week 12

Fantasy Football Preview Week 12

What a pathetic week but everyone seems to be saying that, I got 38 points which was a whopping FOUR POINTS up on the average score. High-Lariously my son’s novelty team did equally as well as my team that I pain myself managing. There was a change at the top of the table anyway with Dynamo Douglas taking top spot by a meager point. But sure it all counts

Vindication

Sticking with Coleman who picked up a goal, and sticking with Hart over Jashkjglklain in goal are the only highlights of my team. That is pushing the concept of vindication to it’s limited.

D’oh

Only four of my players got 4 points or more. And my gamble to captain Samba was a balls, to be fair the other people I considered on my team to be the captain did equally poorly.

Hunch / Drama / Dramatic Narrative before Sky Have Spotted it

Okay it’s all about the Manchester Derby, but let’s see where there might be drama elsewhere in the fixtures.

Wolves v Arsenal, considering all the plaudits Wolves have received in last few weeks you’d almost forget they’ve lost every game. Now they have a stumbling Arsenal come to their turf, is this the time for a Scrappy Doo style punch against the gunners. Maybe Doyle to finally score a goal or two (remember he was kind of linked to the Emirates during the summer), and maybe time for Stephen Hunt to nick a goal and become a hero there. I’ve got Nasri and Walcott in my team and purty sure and least one of them will start on the bench.

Blackburn at Newcastle, Alldardyce the manager who was essentially hounded out of St James Park returns, Samba versus Andy Carroll will be quite the match up. (and sure don’t I have both players, so if one excels the other costs me points)

Darren Bent returns to Spurs (I thought he was injured but site says he’s available at moment)

Transfers

I’m going to make none so that I have two to play with for weekend.

Theory/Selection

Can’t imagine Manchester Derby being a goal fest, so I went with Hart as keeper cos I imagine he’ll have a lot of saves to make. I’ll captain Malouda cos of the whole Chelsea-wil-be-like-a-wounded-animal-factor. Even though Andy Carroll looks tasty on current form. But if any manager has his teams drilled to not be phased bu two big men up front, it’d be Big Sam

My Team this week

 

Keeping An Eye On

Midfield overhaul on cards next week. Hunt, Kuyt & Nani are looking worthwhile

Captains Corner with Phergal

average week for me again. hard to make any ground up on people.

anyways:

finally things are getting interesting, injuries and fixtures piling up and the threat of rotation is high. it's a great time to make up some ground on your opponents. due to rotation there is a distinct possibility your captain might not play if it's an easy fixture or come on for 20 minutes. the latter is the worst possible scenario as you won't have emergency captain rules kicking in and will likely get 2 points. so be careful.

looking at the fixtures then, my own pick is fabregas against wolves although there is rumours about his hammy acting up but i'll gamble, i know i said he was due a points haul last week, but this week he is due a points haul. that's in italics so it has to happen.

The manchester derby could be a goalfest or a 0-0 draw, impossible to tell really. i would go for a attacking football goal fest tho, both trying to pick up 3 points to catch chelsea. tevez is a decent pick here and nani if he recovers (very doubtful).

i like a resurgent liverpool away to wigan, full of confidence after beating chelsea and torres looking dangerous again, torres is possibly the best pick this week if you have him.

chelsea at home to fullham is okayish, chelsea haven't been looking too impressive against the better teams, drogba should start here tho, having come on later in the match against liverpool (something ancelotti surely was regretting), and could be a good pick but i'd be inclined to stay away from this one, much better options out there.

other picks: cahill @home to bolton, nolan/caroll @home to blackburn.

Fantasy Football Preview Week 11

Tiny steps again, 52 points scored against an average of 47, so a 5 point upswing! woo woo, bring out the confetti. But now a whopping 100 points of the top, which is being led by Mike Daly (who plays in a band called the Devil Tree. Devil? Devil? Devil? Is there some sort of Robert Johnson thing going on here? And yes, my son’s novelty team are still doing better than me.

Don’t forget there are 3 gameweeks in the next 9 days, so while there’s no double games for players, there is certainly gonna be rotation issues  (there will be a blog on Tuesday too)

Vindication

None of my bench scored more than the players on the pitch. There that is my main vindication this week. WHICH IS PATHETHETHIC. Why did I sell Nolan? I genuinely can’t remember my reasoning for that? Why did I keep Cleverly over him?

D’oh

This week only 4 players got a pair of points or less. Looking at my latest point scores screen is like watching ballet, cos all I see is two-two’s. If I’d captained Vidic eh?, An extra 14 points for Len Rovers.

Hunch / Drama / Dramatic Narrative before Sky Have Spotted it

Joe Cole playing against Chelsea was gonna be one, but It’s not happening. Hernadez cementing his position so that Rooney is considered his understudy, is that narrative forming? Less headline, is the Fulham revolution really coming together with Dembele really stepping up with Dempsey to become a very good midfield/attacker (total cost 11.3 million) combo? They should topple villa, then they have Chelsea midweek, but if they ride that storm they have Newcastle and then the big Mark Hughes versus Man City (I won’t say Manchini cos he could be gone by then). [also Everton are capable of winning their next 5 matches folks]

Transfers

I got rid of Tevez, cos if his injury but also he’s injured; and cleverly cos he’s just not making the impact at Wigan I hoped he would, I brought in Walcott (cos he should play at least 2 of the next 3 matches, and he is on sweet sweet form) and Varney of Blackpool. The latter just cos he’s well cheap and in form. I intend to move back to 5-4-1 and 5-3-2 predominately now, and 3^rd choice striker will be my least important of the 16

Theory/Selection

With the midweek fixtures in mind, I have tried to put together a squad that will need no transfers on wed, so I can have two to pay with this time next week. So I think my first 11 will play, Malouda might get rested due to his ankle knock in Champions League, but I can imagine Ancelloti wanting to beat Liverpool with his best team and Malouda against a shaky Glen Johnson sounds good to me.

Am gonna go with JadhkeBVAlin in goal cos (1) he’s at home and (2) spurs must be jaded after champions league. Just thinking about that now that means I don’t want Bale to score if he plays. I better go with Hart, otherwise it’s a counterproductive pick.

Samba as my captain, cos I cant’ reply on any of my midfielders to play, and he’s at home to Wigan. I expect a clean sheet and wouldn’t be surprised by a goal from a set piece. *(this is subject to change at any point between now and 11am, depending on hunch. If so I’ll post it in the comments section)

My Team this week

Keeping An Eye On

As ever Micah Richards is on my radar… I reckon Fulham and Everton players will be where I will be signing for next few weeks, Baines, Arteta, Dempsey and Dembele in main part. Also Stephen Hunt and Dirky Kuyty when he comes back from injury, he’d 2 goals in 5 games as a midfielder, and let’s be honest Liverpool will put him back in first team ASAP.

Captains Corner with Phergal

nani was the obvious choice this week at home to wolves until an injury concern seems to have ruled him out although in he has stated he hopes to be fit for it. possibly worth a gamble then and pay careful attention to your emergency captain setting. staying with united, berbatov and hernandez are decent picks. ancelotti has ruled out a start for malouda so drogba again is a decent enough pick at anfield although who knows how liverpool will play on the day. arsenal against newcastle at home is another tasty fixture, fabregas here is my own pick, he's due a points haul, chamakh is good also. tevez out also and with no real obvious captain pick and west brom playing well i'd avoid this one. gamble pick: jones of blackburn at home to wigan.

Have a good weekend everybody from Ronan, hey pherg why don't you get a return button installed on yer keyboard!

Fantasy Football Preview Week 10

From tiny steps come big change, my team scored 57, the average was 44. so I climbed up the leader board . But still 91 points off the top! In 31^st spot in our league, my target is to hit top 20 this weekend.

Vindication

Not much to make me be able to preen and say I-told-you-so, Ashley Cole kept a clean sheet big surprise, and Nasri scored a goal. (I did predict that a Man Utd reserve would step out of Rooney’s limelight and while I was right, I didn’t even mention Hernadenz as a potential name to be that guy). I did predict Carroll to use his recent troubles as a fuel and he did pick up a goal, so there you go. I’m no Paul the octopus but still.

D’oh

Once again 5 players getting 2 points or less, which is a bollocks. Picking half a team of good point scorers is shit form. Tevez limping off helped pretty much every team end up a captain scoring 2 whole points. If only I’d captained Nasri eh?

Hunch / Drama

Even though I haven’t signed him this week, my gut is telling me Reo-Croker for Villa. He’s back in form the shadows, he’s been made captain, it’s the Birmingham derby. Scene is set for him to shine.

Transfers

Going to go with no transfers because I want to have the ability to make two changes in next game week without wasting more points (I’ve wasted 20 points doing extra transfers already).  But I means I have only 11 players outfield. Actually I will transfer Albrighton out and get Reo Croker in, just so I’ve a 12^th man to play if one of my first 11 can’t make it. It also means I’ve a million in the kitty now.

Theory/Selection

Having the main strikers of the two teams in the Tyneside Derby is maybe a mad idea, but sure let’s see, I really need to shake things up and not do safe stuff. Due to Chelsea visiting Blackburn, I’ll drop Samba, even though it’s not impossible that Chelsea will drop points there. Will go for Hart over Jasssssssskeljgsdkallin for Bolton, as I reckon Liverpool are gonna spring on someone soon. Alex is a doubt, and I’ll be Samba on the bench.

Nasri will captain the team as a home game against West Ham might add up to a goal fest for the gunners

My Team this week

Keeping An Eye On

As ever Micah Richards is on my radar,

Captains Corner with Phergal

 Phergal is not providing a column this week, as I reminded him too late!

Have a good weekend everybody

Fantasy Football Preview Week 9

Slowly slowly making progress, the average score last week was 46 points, I got ten more than that, ergo I’m finally getting on top of the curve. I jumped 20+ places in the Back Of The League, but still a mighty 90 off the top spot. AAARRGGGHHH.

Vindication

Nowt to shout about, having Tevez as captain seems to be a default setting for everyone at moment, so by taking away the 24 points he got for me, my other players got me 32 points between them which is just not good enough. (How does my vindication section seem to involve me giving out)

D’oh

5 players getting 2 points or less (including Samba getting –1)

Hunch

Nani & Berbatov to show him, after this gameweek Everton to win next 5 games

Drama

Rooney doesn’t’ think his team mates are good enough for him, he’s out for next 3 weeks. Is this the time for Macheda to take his spot or Berbatov to build on his form thus far.

I’m no lawyer, but I’m pretty sure Andy Carroll is going to jail soon (being put on bail while waiting for another court case, also to do with assault doesn’t do many favours), so does he goes with a bang or with a whimper? Associated with this is the fact there are strong whispers (what does that mean) than Hughton is on zero time, next loss and he’s out I’ve heard. Even though he’s a decent bloke etc etc those Geordies need a name, and ideally a messiah.

Transfers

Damn it, due to 3 defenders (Evans, Alex and Samba) being unavailable, I have to bring in a defender otherwise it’s just a dead cert to have zero points from one of them. I wanna keep Alex so it’s a toss up between Samba or Evans, Blackburn should get at least 3 clean sheets out of their next 5 (after this week) and samba is first choice, so I’ll err with him even though you can expect good old Rio to get injured any…. minute…..now…  Now who do I replace him with? Coleman gets the nod, mostly cos he’s Irish and in form.

I really didn’t want to make any transfers so I could do a double swoop next week. Bollocks

 

Theory/Selection

Due to the 2 defenders missing, the only choice is which of my 12 outfielders to drop. I guess it’ll be Kevin Doyle away Chelsea I’ll drop, if I need to explain that I don’t know what you know! The keeper selection is tougher, I’m just gonan go with the home goalkeeper rule, so Hart it is. He should make a few saves at least, so pick up a few points even if they don’t keep a clean sheet. I have Cleverly (at Wigan) in midfield and he’s barely played so I’d say it’s time to move him on soon.

Errah fuck it, I’ll drop doyle now, just noticed their next 4 games are Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd and Arsenal. I’ll sell him and buy Bent and take the 4 point hit, to accommodate him I need to sell Nolan and bring in a cheaper player, Albrighton at Villa. He seems a rising star and will get plenty of bonus points cos he’s English. Now I’ve .8 million in the bank and losing another 8 points this week.

 

My Team this week

Keeping An Eye On

Micah Richards is on my radar, as is the entire Everton back 4

Captains Corner with Phergal

(a weekly feature now with friend of Back Of The Net Boy, a big fan of fantasy football)

bit of bragging first, transferred in tevez last week and captained him, made up what would have been a fairly crappy week. get in.

so once again it's hard to look past chelsea who will ride wolves like a crazy bitch, reports from camp stamford suggest drogba is over his man flu and will start against wolves so he's my captain this week. Malouda is also an obvious choice, although there's an increasing risk of him being rested every now and then so he's a risk in my opinion, but have him in you lineup anyway. Anelka is a decent pick too. heck any chelsea player against wolves will get you points.

i like tevez at home to arsenal although mancini is annoyingly hinting that tev will play in the euro game due to various injuries and be rested against arsenal which sounds crazy and may be some kind of mind game?

i'd have a good look at your emergency captain settings this week and decide who it will go to value or form. starting 11's are getting a bit unpredictable and you should know exactly where you captain's armband is going if your guy is out.

and that's it really, not many other extremely favourable fixtures. for a gamble choice, you could do worse than VDV or hat trick hero Bale against everton.

Fantasy Football Preview Week 8

I managed to get exactly the average score last week. This campaign has mediocrity written all over it so far. 40 points


Vindication
Nada, at least I captained Tevez (he was the second highest scorer of my team, with a whopping 5 points). Hart was my other option and he only got 2 points. Disasterous opening to this season. It s a bollix.

D’oh

I assumed there’d be a groundswell towards Alex, so I put him straight in after his premiership game a weekend ago, and then he went and got injured! But in terms of actual team selection, since only 11 of my outfield players played at all, I can only say d’oh about my keeper selection since Hart only got 2 points, whereas my sub, Jaaskelainen, got 4.


Hunch

My hunches seem to have no input to my team this week. I reckon due to Chelsea’s injury list one fo the Kakuta/Sturridge mob will score a few tasty points, but no point getting one of them in when there is no clear candiataes. It’s all much of a muchness there.


Transfers

Since I’ve already signed Alex, another transfer would cost be 4 points; I’ve no other clear transfer intentions anyway; Van der Vart is everyones go to guy at the moment, but 2 of the next 3 matches Spur play are Everton and Man Utd (I reckon Everton will be certainly up for a battle in the former, the same for United in the latter).

Theory/Selection

I think/fear I have only 11 outfielders gonna make an appearance, unless Evans get the nod ahead of Ferdinand (or he limps off injured) or Vidic, but I can’t see that. And Doyle mightn’t play either.

My Team this week

Keeping An Eye On

The form book (cliché etc) goes out the window with Mersey Derby, so a few Everton players I like the look of will have to wait another week.

Micah Richards is on my radar, and Van Der Vart (obviously) and Bent for sunderland



Captains Corner with Phergal
(a weekly feature now with friend of Back Of The Net Boy, a big fan of fantasy football)

no major standouts this weekend again, so careful captaincy choices are needed once again. United at home seem comfortable enough at home to west brom, nani and berbatov are nice picks, maybe even rooney if you still have him in your team and fancy a gamble. he has been playing a little bit better lately. i fancy two or three goals here, although west brom have shown fighting spirit so far, so it's far from an obvious choice.

I like city away to blackpool, i really think blackpool are riding a wave at the moment and i don't think they'll be able to stop tevez and co. banging a few past them. Tevez looks good here and is my own captain pick.

Chelsea remain good picks as always but away to villa is tricky. i wouldn't fancy too many goals here, and with chelseas defensive injuries maybe they'll play a less attacking game away from home.

I really like newcastle at home to leaky wigan, i reckon carroll will be starting again here and is a good pick, along with barton and nolan.

No Blog This Week

due to international break no need for a blog for fantasy football

but I will tell you this
Ireland to beat Russia 2-1
and MacGeady to score a goal in anytime

17/2

Fantasy Football Preview Week 7

Yet another low scoring week at Len Rovers HQ, getting only 43 points. A new low this season. The sliver lining is that the average score is 40, I did better than most, but essentially the same amount of points off our league leader than before. Things have to change here, but how? Maybe bring Peter Reid in as an assistent


Vindication

Nothing, absolutely nothing. I meant to put Nasri as my captain and all. I did and forgot to save changes.

D’oh

The whole kaboodle. Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool results were all aberrations, what were the odds on none of them winning? (3000-1, I was told after the fact. Like all great odds like that, I didn’t check it I’m jut repeating it)

Hunch

Medium Term
Is this the time for West Ham & Wigan to come good? Both have favourable runs of games, and as we all know the ‘lesser’ teams need to put a good run of wins to get breathing space from the relegation zones (I’ve always wondered what teams don’t’ need a good run of wins)

Man City have 1 hard game in next 5 too, so I’d go for them, but squad rotation makes it hard to guess. Micah Richards is doing well, and Manchini seems to keep same back 4 for league campaign so far.

But my hunch for this week is
Hart or Tevez as captain. I’ll go Tevez and hope he does a job. Since Carroll and Nolan are on my first 11 and I want them to score goal, no point me wanting Hart to keep a clean sheet.

Transfers

Trying to stop the silly extra transfers (have wasted 24 points doing so – even though you could argue, that the players made it back for me), which equals many league places. Could already mean I won’t win it). So it’s back to clever use of transers one week, an dleaving it off the following. I dropped Drogba for Tevez, purely to get 3.9 million in the kitty, cos I’d nowt to play with ‘going forward’. I’m pretty sure Van Der Vaart is coming in next week, as form continues especially since he got sent off in champions league means there’ll be no reason to rest him for this or next sat’s match.

Theory/Selection

I’m pretty sure Evans won’t play in Sunderland, unless Ferdinand or Vidic get rested; he just didn’t seize his chance when the big lanky injury prone forget fella was injured. I will start him in my team though, cos there’s a good chance Rio will limp off. And since Konsceky and Cleverly are injured, I’ll have only 12 outfield players to pick from.

And will this finally be the match Given gets a game. I’ll go with Hart anyway due to the pick-whichever-goalkeeper-is-playing-at home theory

My Team this week

1: Hart Newcastle (H)
2: Samba Stoke City (A)
3: Evans J Sunderland (A)
4: Vidic Sunderland (A)
5: Cole A Arsenal (A)
6: Nolan Man City (A)
7: Malouda Arsenal (A)
8: Nasri Chelsea (H)
9: Bale Aston Villa (H)
10: Carroll Blackpool (H)
11: Tevez (C) Blackpool (H)

12: Jaaskelainen West Brom (A)
13: Konchesky Blackpool (A)
14: Doyle Wigan (A)
15: Cleverly Wolves (H)

Keeping An Eye On

Van Der Vart (how fecking obvious), and Coleman at Everton (if everton’s bad form continues surely Moyes will change things round in defence, nice and cheap). Bent is also catching the eye and his ex teammate Jones who is nearly 2 million cheaper but defo full time starter.



Captains Corner with Phergal

(a new weekly feature now with friend of Back Of The Net Boy, a big fan of fantasy football, nut not basic grammer seemingly)

hard to pick anyone except drogba the last few weeks, he's almost guaranteed at least some points regardless of the opposition. last week with chelsea playing city people suddenly had to look elsewhere for captaincy choices, many piling their hopes on liverpool and arsenal. finally the game starting getting interesting, nothing like captaining against the masses on coming up trumps (i captained drogba :( ). so on to this week. liverpool remain a risky choice with their pretty awful form, however such is the class of torres you wouldn't bet against a brace at anfield at home to blackpool, especially with blackpool's nothing to lose attacking mentality. torres then and cole and gerrard remain decent captain picks although don't be surprised with another abysmal performace. city are a great bet this weekend at home to newcastle, hard to pick anyone there apart from tevez with city's midfield prone to rotation and not scoring especially high. The big match this weekend is arsenal chelsea in stamford bridge, these big matches tend to be either bore 1-0 affairs or very attacking games with lots of goals, drogba scored no less than 4 goals against arsenal last year who remain leaky at the back so he's a definite pick, although arsenal will have something to prove after the shock west brom result but remain plagued by injury, i'd go for a 3-1 result to chelsea. fancy a gamble? foster at home to everton.

Fantasy Football Preview Game Week 5

A terrible week at Len Rovers HQ, getting only 41 points was 10 worse than my previous worst. I need a flash out of the blue to get me out of this mid table mire. And still my son’s novelty team is doing better than me. Have I already started to have father/son projected goals issues.

Vindication
I’ve pretty much nothing to blow my trumpet about from the previous game week. Vidic scoring a goal was handy, not that I expected. But conceding 3 goals was mental. I had what I considered a terrible week, until I saw the other scores on Tuesday and very few people in the Back Of The Net Boy did much better. I got 41 points (worryingly I made 16 points worth of transfers and it didn’t seem to come off my score – if I win this league by 15 points, will I just be like Henry?

D’oh

My main regret this week was the fact was the Man Utd Everton result. Three of my back 4 (Howard, Vidic & Evans (suffered (bar the Vidic goal). Newcastle losing didn’t help; I’d Carroll as my captain. Maybe cos I was at a music festival for the weekend, my team were a lot more lax than they’d normally be when I’d be keeping a close eye on them in Cashman’s Pub on a Saturday.

Hunch

This is not too imaginative, but Drogba is gonna be my captain. He didn’t play yesterday in Chelsea’s goal rout, so he’ll be hungry to get some glory back on his shoulders (is that a phrase? Did I just make up a cliché?). He’ll be at home to Blackpool and I can imagine him like a bad guy in a James Bond film where the underdog hero (Blackpool) is brought to his lair (Stamford Bridge) and the bad guy (Drogba – you’re getting this metaphor yeah?) does the whole I’ve been expecting you shtick… Hang on the underdog always wins yeah. Oops. Ashley Cole was also rested in champions league. So he should play on sat, I’m wary of the Liverpool v Man Utd game, or more specifically Torres v Vidic. It’s been a torrid challenge for Vidic last few seasons, and considering all the flack Torres has got and the fact he didn’t play last night means he could just be primed to explode. That match also signals the return of Joe Cole after suspension (remember he scored the goal last season to essentially win the league for Chelsea)

I’m interested to see if Gareth Bale plays against Wolves at home. Spurs need to pull their socks up in Premier League of course, and Modric is injured so a left handed attacking role could be ripe for the young leek eater but has his kettle boiled over? (it this metaphor the kettle is his form)

Transfers

I’m not gonna use any transfers this week (unless an injury gets announced tomorrow). I’m fearful of less than 10 or 11 players in my team actually making appearances at weekend (Arshavin played last night for instance and the next game is a tough match in stadium light, so Wenger might play all his midfield bruisers instead… Hang on). But it’s a risk I gotta take, because my virtue of saving this transfer, so I carry it over to have 2 next week. After another hectic champions league week, we might have a few knocks etc.

But if I was gonna sign anyone, it’d be Fabregas because like the which ever woman the Kings of Leon wrote that song about, his Sex Is On Fire (but in this case his Sex is his match fitness and form)

Theory/Selection

I just realised, Liverpool and Man City play tonight, I might not be able to do a full blog tomorrow (I have meetings all day with people who put on arts and theatre festivals. Can you believe “they” have no interest in soccer, specifically notional games like this? Philistines. Anyway there might be more knocks or injuries after. I’m hoping Man City play well tonight and win handsomely, so they’ll be lax against Wigan, so Cleverly (4.5 folk, got an assist in the 14 mins he played on his debut) might make something happen.

Arrgh Carroll & Nolan away to Everton, they’ll be on a high after last week’s result; that’ll be another travesty of Len Rovers.

Drogba captain is a shoe in though

My Team this week

1: Howard Newcastle (H)
2: Samba Fulham (H)
3: Evans J Liverpool (H)
4: Vidic Liverpool (H)
5: Cole A Blackpool (H)
6: Nolan Everton (A)
7: Arshavin Sunderland (A)
8: Cleverly Man City (H)
9: Bale Wigan (H)
10: Malouda Blackpool (H)
11: Drogba (C) Blackpool (H)

12: Jaaskelainen Aston Villa (A)
13: Konchesky Man Utd (A)
14: Doyle Tottenham (A)
15: Carroll Everton (A)

Keeping An Eye On

Torres & Cole, if they start to sparkle might be time to move to them; next two matches after Man Utd game are two home matches in Sunderland and Blackpool

Guest Blogger For Fantasy Football

A good good friend of Back Of The Net Boy has written this week's blog. Even though he works for the company known as anti-beamish, he's a good guy and knows his stuff

Here you go, edit away if you like.

Fixtures

A key aspect of the game is playing according to fixtures and is essential if you want to top your private leagues. If you pay no attention to fixtures other than to pick your captain, you will fall behind. I tend to look for a run of 3/4 good fixtures for a team and load up on their players according to how good the fixtures are. I also keep an eye on all the future fixtures so i can have a vague plan for gradually bringing in these players in time for the good run without having to take precious points hits. Chelsea undoubtedly had the best starting run of fixtures and people that had drogba, malouda, etc. were duly rewarded. Arsenal's starting fixtures are also great and people with arshavin, walcott (now injured) will be pleased. At the moment i have loaded up on spurs players bale, crouch (now that defoe is injured) and dawson (also injured :( ) and am hoping for big returns from west brom, wolves and west ham. of course home advantage is also a huge factor, any look at stats will show you how better teams perform at home. A run of 3 home fixtures is always tempting, especially for defenders. A common tactic with keepers is to pick them according to fixtures that "match" i.e. when one plays away, the other home and you can play a home keeper every week. There's a thorough keeper combo analysis on this page: http://totalfpl.com/ under community articles, check it out.

It's quite painful trying to look at all the fixtures in one go, to spot good runs with the regular fixture tables, but luckily there's plenty of FF nerds that have done the hard work for you and made season tickers that plot the seasons fixtures and grade according to difficulty, check this before you make any changes to your team and plan early.

http://www.fiso.co.uk/forum/fpl-fixtures-and-results-grid-2010-11-t74462.html (updated weekly with new difficulty gradings based on current table standings)

Also essential to keep abreast of are the sacred double gameweeks where a team will play two matches in one gameweek. These tend to become more frequent after christmas when fixture schedules get complicated with FA cup, etc. and weather starts to cancel a few matches (remember the chaos last year?) if you spot a nice double gameweek coming up like two home matches against weaker opposition then of course try to get to that gameweek with 3 of those players. The earlier you know about it, the easier you can get these players in without points hits.

so final picks from me for good runs: Fulham up to GW11, spurs for the next few weeks, arsenal have westham (H), Newcastle (H) and wolves (A) starting in GW10 so load up on them and finally man city have decent fixtures for the next 7 weeks apart from arsenal and chelsea, but they are both at home so not that bad either.

Fantasy Football Preview Game Week 3

Overview
A terrible week at Len Rovers HQ, getting only 51 points was terrible. Have slipped to 42nd in our league, such a low spot is sated somewhat due to the Douglas Adams’s connotations. (For a sense of context; my novelty team I have put together for my 7-week-old son did better than me for second week in a row.)


Vindication
Captaining Arshavin was my only piece of work last week, in fact he got 40% of my score. But even saying that, more than 30 players scored more points than Arshavin last week. I am getting more disappointed as I type that last sentence.

I’ve nothing else to bring to the table on this front this week.

D’oh

My main regret this week was the fact that, my captain aside, my subs bench (4 players) accrued more points than the rest of the first team (10 players). I go on and on about making decisions based on numbers than fame, and those numbers don’t add up well for me at all.

1) The team delivered so little; my second highest scorer was 6 points. Last week’s theory “My back 6 (even allowing for my fear of Fulham nicking a goal or two against United) conceivably should pull 30-32 points. Handy foundation for a good game week score”, kicked me in the face. Fulham did indeed nick 2 goals, and my back 6 delivered a whopping 17 points.

2) My other theory “Doubt Bale will play due to his exertions on Tuesday, but actually maybe Redknapp can’t drop him due to his great play on Sat against Man City. Nah it’s Stoke away for him, they’re tight and will probably try and shackle him” also decided to bite me in the ass. He scored 2 points short of my entire defence. D’OHHH

Silver Lining
At least I didn't have a defender at the end of 1 6-0 drubbing or a player who missed a penalty though!

This Weeks Hunch

This week my hunches need to not be desperate lunges at making up lost points, so I’ve decided to go against my usual rule of NEVER EVER EVER making transfers to cost 4/8/12 points, but my gut told me, I had to bring in Drogba straight away, and plonk my captain’s armband on him, so…

Transfers

Arteta replaced by Nolan
Essien replaced by Huddlestone
Berbatov replaced by Drogba
These transfers will deduct the following points from your total: 4

By virtue of needing to bring Drogba in I had to drop Berbatov to have the kitty money and then Essien due to needing to balance the books for how many Chelsea players I have in the team, I brought in Nolan, who is classed as a midfielder, even though he plays behind Carroll upfront, and got 2 goals last week. Also since he is part of the trio who ‘lead’ the team with Alan Smith and Joey Barton, and all three are considered ‘undroppable’. I still need to make another .7 million, so I decided to drop sell Arteta to get in Huddlestone. (2 reasons. 1: Spurs have a great run of fixtures coming up, Everton have a wounded Villa and hungry Man Utd on their radar. 2: 2.5 million price difference)

Theory/Selection

Drogba captain is a shoe in. Am going with no Everton players in back 6, and once again it is not impossible all 6 of my defenders & keepers will score points. (Ivanovic is apparently carrying a knock, so hopefully Ferreira will play the full 90 minutes). I am hoping Wolves/Newcastle will be a high score draw, with both my interests being involved. Also am saying a novena that Wigan’s bad form continues, and that Huddlestone and Bale have a field day.

Not too keen on Blackburn/Arsenal match, but ‘these are the matches Arsenal will need to start to win if they want to win the league etc etc etc’, so Arshavin should have something to say about that.

My Team this week

1: Jaaskelainen Birmingham (H)
2: Ferreira Stoke City (H)
3: Evans J West Ham (H)
4: Vidic West Ham (H)
5: Cole A Stoke City (H)
6: Nolan Wolves (A)
7: Arshavin Blackburn (A)
8: Huddlestone Wigan (H)
9: Bale Wigan (H)
10: Drogba (C) Stoke City (H)
11: Doyle Newcastle (H)

12: Howard Aston Villa (A)
13: Petrov Birmingham (H)
14: Jagielka Aston Villa (A)
15: Campbell Man City (H)

Keeping An Eye On

Diouf, the (on loan from Man Utd) Blackburn striker who scored a hat trick in the Carling Cup, very cheap at moment, so let’s see how he does. But apparently Blackburn are very close to signing Muntari as well, which would limit Diouf’s first team chances. Looking at N’Gog too, looks like a first teamer now, very cheap.

Fantasy Football Preview Week 2

only 58 points last week, not terrible, but i reckon 65 to 70 points a week needs to be the average to win this year. we've a strong league this year.

Vindication
So while everyone who took a gamble on Drogba was happy with how it pay off handsomely: I'm still happy with my decision as captain, I thought that Berbatov was due to come to form worked too. Now I reckon he’ll stay in good run of form and certainly stay in first team (Rooney is unquestionably gone off the boil, and hasn’t had a true break since last August). I’ve the feeling while Fergie will blood the noobs, he’ll still go with an experienced leader of the line. But having said that I won’t make him my captain this week, due to the fact it’s an away match to Fulham (a fixture that’s been a boogey team in recent years for the Red Devils), and it’s just always better to captain a player at home. There you go that’s fate tempted

- Also happy that I didn’t go with Howard as keeper. Once again having a keeper playing at home is a good trend. I still don’t know why professional players consistently play better at home, but who am I to judge I can barely play well in kickabouts.

D’oh

1) Main regret has gotta be Arshavin not performing, even when Liverpool were down to ten men. I’m trying to think of the last great, sexy performance he had actually, but I’ll stick with him this week due to Nasri injury (out for a month) and Fabregas not being expected to play, so he should still be the fulcrum of the attack, and it’s at home to Blackpool (who are second in the league!).

2) Everton’s traditional slow start to the season, also meant Arteta only picked up 2 points, but hopefully he’ll turn that around this week. Baines was pick earner last season, helped massively by his set piece assists, but the 19th best Spanish midfielder in the world will be taking them when he plays.

3) Ferreira coming off after 59 minutes was a kick in the baby making parts, and getting booked means he got my zero points. Another minute on the pitch would have got me 5 points. I also fear he mightn’t play this week due to Ivanovic both replacing him and coming back to fitness. (Ancelotti tried to buy him when at Milan, so it shows he rates him)

Hunch

1) For reasons stated 10 lines ago, I’m going with Arshavin as captain. He should be very involved in game and once again the playing at home factor should help.

2) Going with 5 man back line, I have had to drop Petrov, cos maybe West Ham will pull it together while hosting Bolton. He is my 12th man, and perhaps with Sunderland signing Wellbeck, Mister Bruce might want to blood him straight away, ergo dropping Frazier Campbell, but the flipside to that is Frazier might decide to try and stamp his authority.

Theory/Selection

My back 6 (even allowing for my fear of Fulham nicking a goal or two against United) conceivably should pull 30-32 points. Handy foundation for a good game week score.

Doubt Bale will play due to his exertions on Tuesday, but actually maybe Redknapp can’t drop him due to his great play on Sat against Man City. Nah it’s Stoke away for him, they’re tight and will probably try and shackle him

Transfers

Doing none this week, so that I’ve 2 to play with next week. I’ve 1.5 million to play with and if Ireland comes good straight out of the trap(-atoninis!), I might bring him and Malouda in next week.

My Team this week
(Bearing in mind I catch a ferry to Wales in 4 hours, I’ve no chance to change this)

1: Howard
2: Ferreira
3: Jagielka
4: Evans J
5: Vidic
6: Cole A
7: Arteta
8: Arshavin (C)
9: Essien
10: Berbatov
11: Campbell

12: Jaaskelainen
13: Petrov
14: Bale
15: Doyle