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!