Fantasy Football 2012-3-30

Game week 31

barcaRONAN’s last game week Score – 53

Average Score on site – 37

Highest Haul: 12 – Evans and Rooney (However Rooney’s 12 was 6 doubled cos he was captain)

Lowest Haul: Reina, Williams & Enrique – 1 point

Average Score Per Player 4.9

Accrued Score – 1328

Place in my own fecking league – 72, no change

Points Off the top – 364, raised 3 points closer to the top.

State Of Play

Well here I am, sat in a pub in Dublin (The Bernard Shaw on South Richmond Street if yer looking for specifics), it’s Thursday as I’m trying to be rushing it tomorrow. I had a good week against the average scores. But am just threading water when it comes to actual Back Of The Net Boy league, I’ve been hanging around the 70^th to 80^th mark for last few months.

Vindication

The goal machine Johnny Evans scored a magnificent 12 points for me, as did Rooney but as I said earlier he was my captain. That wonder goal from Crouch and Cahill’s clean sheet all helped.

D’oh

The other 7 of my team got 3 points or less. Puke Football.

Did I get the Keeper right?

Not really Reina got 1 to Krul’s 2.

Subs in general?

None of them got more than 2 anyway.

Screenshot of my team from last game week.

Questions / Hunch  / Trends / Dramatic Narrative this game week before Sky have spotted it.

I have nothing of real note to say this week to be honest, and not cos I’m rushing; I post this blog in 24 hours like! Maybe more will come to mind tonight.

While SAF and Roberto Manchini are reaching squeaky bum time, this is more like jaded avenue for most of the people playing fantasy football; not the people who read this blog of course cos we all give a DAMN. Hence the average score dropping lower and lower (that’s based on what I remember from last few weeks, not a guaranteed statistic).

Well first thing to stand out for me will kick in 2 and 3 game weeks time, double gameweeks which are explained way better here - http://www.fantasyfootballscout.co.uk/2012/03/29/double-gameweeks-announced/

Well this Chelsea revitalization seems solid enough, but Cech is only person selected every game so far, but I assume you can expect John Terry to play them all too, Cahill’s performances should put him ahead of Luiz.

Wigan seem doomed, Chelsea, Arsenal and Man Utd in GW 32, 33 & 34, so abandon ship there I’d say if you have of their players, and I think same for Everton as their eyes on the prize of the FA cup at this stage. (even though Jelavic is looking like yet another incredibly astute buy by David Moyes).

Newcastle seem to be playing a game of Jenga, by losing more and more players (9 by most count – Coloccini the captain recently moving to the sidelines, so attack must be the best form of defence for them this week at home to Liverpool.

Man Utd are gunning for a title now and possibly have a bone to pick with Blackburn after their unexpected defeat in Old Trafford last year. Once again Ferguson will have goals on the agenda, as ever he will tweak his team but I anticipate Valencia, Evans & Rooney all playing.

Will this collapse of Robin Van Persie’s form continue? No goals in 2 games… Time to lose him?? :)

                                                                                                 

Transfers

I’m doing possibly a flavour of the month thing, swapping Cisse for his club mate Ba, saves me .6million, mainly so I have a bit of ker-ching to play with next week so I can maybe make 2 transfers.

Theory/Selection

Argh, a lot of my players are away this week. And have the clash of Cisse versus Enrique, I’ll go for the home striker (especially since it’d be pointless to make a transfer and then not use him). The fact the Spaniard is returning to his old club mightn’t be too pivotal, but I do want to point out that I spot it.

My selection this week is based on what players to drop really, the two defenders I want to play the least is Williams at White Hart Lane (Spurs really need to get their shit together to try and get third) and Enrique as I’ve already said.

The last midfield spot is between Walters at Stoke who has really lost form and is possibly losing his spot with barcaRONAN next week, and new boy Sigurdsson, who may well score a schnakey goal at Spurs while they are trying to plough forward and win the match… I’ll let you decide who wins that little debate.

My Captain, My Captain.

It’s gotta be Rooney, with the Cisse to be the Riker to his Picard.

My Team this week

Keeping An Eye On

No one in particular, Everton in case players start picking up, and also Swansea and Sunderland who both have nice bursts of fixtures after this point, but are also in the group of clubs who aren’t fighting for anything, neither safety or Europa League spots, I guess every place being worth half a million pounds will give the Chairmen some impetus which would feed to manager and then in turn the players.

Captain's Corner

[NB Back Of The Net Boy is not responsible for Captain’s Corner spelling, grammar and basic text layout]

Lots of captain friendly fixtures this week, let's have a look.

Arsenal@QPR - Arsenal showed us they don't have to rely on RVP last weekend (much to the annoyance of those who captained him), with three goals from "non-RVP" players in a comprehensive win. Walcott, Gibbs and Arteta all getting on the score sheet. RVP remains a strong candidate this week, but Walcott and the likes of in form Vermaelen are also great candidates.

Man U@Blackburn - A tricky fixture for United recently, the reverse home fixture ending 3-2 to Blackburn to spoil Fergie's 70th birthday. And who can forget the nervy 1-1 at the end of last season? I fancy Rooney here though, but i also fancy the Yak to get on the score sheet. Both are good choices.

Fulham@home to Norwich - Fulham defied pundits who were calling a 3 to 5 nil win for the home side last weekend with a decent enough performance against United, and only lost due to a wrongly called penalty. Dempsey and Pogrebnyak are your picks here.

Man City@home to Sunderland - Kompany is back, Aguero is out. City are in poor enough form though, i would stay away from this one. Tevez could be starting though, could be a great differential.

Newcastle@home to Liverpool - Liverpool are amazingly bookie favourites in this fixture for reasons that are beyond me. Ryan Taylor and Collcini are out, Cisse and Tiote should be back for it. Liverpool look awful in the league recently, i can see the likes of Ben Arfa and Cisse getting some points on the board here. Cue a Liverpool demolition job.

Gamble picks - Sigurdsson against Spurs, he plays better away from home it seems and Spurs are still in a slump.

Fantasy Football 2012-3-23

Game week 30

barcaRONAN’s last game week Score – 42

Average Score on site – 39

Highest Haul: 13 – Evans

Lowest Haul: Enrique – 1 point

Average Score Per Player 3.8

Accrued Score – 1279

Place in my own fecking league – 72, up 1 place

Points Off the top – 367, dropped 17 points further from the top.

State Of Play

Yo Yo Yo BOTNBers, last weekend’s games went off the radar for me and for many others with the thankfully-not-tragic event during the Bolton/Spurs game. Once again this is a rushed blog of no real note, I’m sorry.

Vindication

I got nothing to feel remotely proud about this year, Evans and Krul did okay, (13 & 7 respectively) but, I’ll put it this way, that pair got me 49% of my points.

D’oh

8 of my team got two points or less, awful.

Did I get the Keeper right?

Yes! Krul got 7 versus Reina’s 1.

Subs in general?

Not at all, Cahill got 7 points without breaking a sweat at the Ro Camp.

Screenshot of my team from last game week.

Questions / Hunch  / Trends / Dramatic Narrative this game week before Sky have spotted it.

I got nothing of note this week. I’m intrigued to what’s gonna happen to Stoke at moment, they seem to be at the stage where they don’t want the Europa League against next year, I’d never suggest a team managed by Pulis would happily capitulate but do they have a fire in their belly.

Also fair fucks to Blackburn, they’ve really done well in a subtle way.

Transfers

One is an easy reactionary one, O’Hara is out for a month and I simply brought in transfer-de-jour Gylfi Sigurdsson, and also gained me .2 million! And I’ve just called in two other big hitters, Rooney (Suarez out) and Valencia (Bale out). Man Utd have both momentum and favourable fixtures, the former will surely play every game, and the latter the majority of them.

Theory/Selection

Playing my 3 strikers, and the four defenders playing at home, same process of selection between Reina and Krul and midfielders too.

My Captain, My Captain.

It’s gotta be Rooney, with the Valencia to be the Riker to his Picard.

My Team this week

Keeping An Eye On

In the same way that I’ve reinvented the wheel with bringing in Rooney and Valencia, I’m mainly looking at Hoilett to maybe come in next week, all depends on Stoke’s form as I referred to earlier.

Captain's Corner

[NB Back Of The Net Boy is not responsible for Captain’s Corner spelling, grammar and basic text layout]

The masses will be captaining two men this weekend - Rooney and of course RVP. But there are some other more unorthodox choices, which we'll take a look at as well.

Rooney@home to Fulham. Rooney will have frustrated many last weekend in the "gimme fixture" at Wolves, returning a single assist despite the 5-0 score line. This week they're at home against Fulham who have been pretty awful away from home and have been showing a dip in form in general. Valencia returned to cause more annoyance to those holding Young, he should be starting again and if so is a great pick, but you just never know with Ferguson.

RVP@home to Villa. RVP at home is safe choice against any opposition. Villa have been keeping it pretty tight recently though, with 2 clean sheets in the last four games and only 2 goals conceded, so I wouldn't be expecting a goal fest. But Arsenal should get at least 1 here, and it's very probable that it'll be RVP. Paddy Power have him at 4/9 anytime, slightly longer than Rooney, who's 2/5.

Suarez@home to Wigan - Suarez just isn't scoring well this season for reasons we won't get into here, but this is nonetheless a tasty home fixture. People will be slightly worried by the challenge faced by big teams against relegation battlers like Wigan, but I reckon these teams fighting for survival will be concentrating on getting one more goal than the opposition rather than shutting up shop at the back (like the remarkable comeback from QPR last weekend).

Blackburn@home to Bolton - Potential for a goal fest here as two teams fight to stay safe. Yakubu is a great shout here. Difficult to pick someone from Bolton, N'Gog seems to be the preferred striker option, with Klasnic a really potent impact sub. away to Villa.

Fantasy Football 2012-3-10

Game week 28

barcaRONAN’s last game week Score – 66

Average Score on site – 47

Highest Haul: 24 – Suarez (He was my captain, so that was 12 points doubled)

Lowest Haul: Huth – 2 points – (deep breath) Ba, O’Hara, Bale, Walters & Dempsey

Average Score Per Player 6

Accrued Score – 1237

Place in my own fecking league – 73, up 3 places

Points Off the top – 351, pulled 18 points closer to the top.

Admission

- Okay last week was hectic as I wrote a monster blog but only was able to post it on Monday evening. I away for weekend in Newcastle, so I wrote my novel on the train up from London and was ready to upload it, pure happy like…. Who doesn’t know their own wi-fi code, in ainm on dia!

This week has been a tad crazy and unexpectedly I have to pick up the heir to my throne a few hours earlier than I had planned, so I’ve just had to rush my end. Between last week and this week, it averages out as my normal workload!

State Of Play

Second weekend in a row that I did nearly 20 points than the average, but more importantly only 3 in the top 10 of the back of the net boy league did better than my team so it feels like a bit of balm on the wound that comes with having a terrible season.

Vindication

Picked a good captain, that’s about it, and to be fair Suarez was picked by about 20% of the teams this week and I’ll assume a hefty chunk of those managers had be as the skipper.

D’oh

6 of my team got three points or less, awful.

Did I get the Keeper right?

Yes, Reina got 8, but once again played twice. Krul got 4 for playing one game.

Subs in general?

Well there’s a juicy 9 point Williams sitting on this week’s screenshot, but realistically I’d have put him on the bench every time when facing the threat that was a head of them.

Screenshot of my team from last game week.

Questions / Hunch  / Trends / Dramatic Narrative this game week before Sky have spotted it.

Will Chelsea continue this momentum? I bet a wiley Scot is hoping they do, but they must be tired after their exertions on Wednesday.

Will Crouch return to White Hart Lane against the out of form Spurs and put another dent in their chances of 3rd place? I’m hoping yes, as he’s in my squad!

What’s this? A new bit of blog?

Player Per Club, a tip, a hunch, trying to not always pick the obvious contendahs

After debuting this section last week, it is now on a temporary hiatus for a week, sorry

Transfers

Going to save my transfer and do two next week.

Theory/Selection

This week is rushed, O’Hara is in orange (well he is in all the home games badumtish), and all my defenders are annoying me, going to put Cahill and Richards as sub number 1 and 2, as I don’t anticipate a clean sheet by either team. And O’Hara as 3rd choice, the fans were horrible to him last week, Wolves are awful and they are playing against a Man Utd side, who far from being the machine they used to be they still know how to operate in this, the much vaunted “Business End of The Season”

My Captain, My Captain.

It’s possibly too simplified but will have Ba as captain as he is at home against a team who aren’t in the top 6. This season has been brilliant in many ways, and Norwich’s performances would be on that highlight list but I gotta have a Captain somewhere, sorry Canaries. Vice will be Dempsey at Swansea, even though I have an opposing defender in my back three.

My Team this week

Keeping An Eye On

Nowt this week. Move on.

Captain's Corner

[NB Back Of The Net Boy is not responsible for Captain’s Corner spelling, grammar and basic text layout]

The most popular picks last week RVP, Rooney and Suarez all rewarded captaincy armbands and all three look like decent bets again this weekend.

Man United@Wolves - Rooney is back to his free scoring form and will be heavily picked this weekend against a Wolves side in disarray. Young is showing some form too and will have cemented a starting spot leaving Valencia and Nani, both injury doubts, to fight it out for the right side spot.

Arsenal@Everton - RVP as usual is a great pick and given the majority will be captaining Rooney, is a kind of differential with the armband. Keep a close eye on Walcott and Rosicky, these could be great picks for the end of season to help you make up some ground in your leagues.

Spurs@home to Stoke - Perfect match to bounce back and Bale seems like he's ready to start scoring again.

Fulham@home to Swansea - Despite Swansea’s impressive clean sheets in the last few games Fulham's home form is irresistible; Dempsey and Pog are solid picks.

Gamble picks - How about Tevez to jump in in the second half against Chelsea to get the winner in a 0-0 game and grab the three points? Gerrard and Suarez against QPR too. Pogrebnyak away to Villa.

Fantasy Football 2012-3-10

Game week 28

barcaRONAN’s last game week Score – 62

Average Score on site – 43

Highest Haul: 30 – Dempsey (He was my captain, so that was 15 points doubled)

Lowest Haul: Huth – (-2) point – Sessegnon

 

Average Score Per Player 5.6

Accrued Score – 1171

Place in my own fecking league – 76, up 3 places

Points Off the top – 366, pulled 19 points closer to the top.

State Of Play

Wahey!!! The boy did well, I did nearly 20 points over the average!

Vindication

A wise man, not far from this parish said this last week, “Dempsey must be on a high after scoring the winning goal for USA’s first every victory over Italy, so I’m playing him. (as captain)”… and he came in, while not the highest scorer of the game week, that honour went to Ashley Young, the boy, as they say, did well.

D’oh

Two players getting minus points is disappointing. The fact I accepted getting rid of Onuoha last week, and him still getting 2 points is a smack in the face, and the fact that once again none of my substitutes played.

Did I get the Keeper right? Subs in general?

I sure did, Ben Foster kept Chelsea at pay and got 7 points for me. As I stated earlier plnone of my substitutes played.

Screenshot of my team from last game week.

Questions / Hunch  / Trends / Dramatic Narrative this game week before Sky have spotted it.

So AVB is gone, and RDM has a home game against Stoke to look forward to before a game week off next week, so a good win at the Bridge before he draws the wagons round seems possible. While this is the kind of game Terry would be very handy for the blues (he’s in contention), Chelsea should (SHOULD) have the fortitude to handle the pressure the Potters will put them under. Not using any Chelsea players, so I don’t know why I’m going on about it. I think it’s cos I want to use the new acronym before I see it anywhere else.

Most eyes are turned towards the double game weeks for Everton and Liverpool, but no Everton player stands out to me as an obvious candidate to be brought to the Ro-Camp, as they play Spurs, Liverpool and Arsenal in next three games, so while you might be sure of points for appearances, it’s not really bringing them in just for that. There are no obvious clean sheets there, and they’ve no obvious goal scorers themselves. However there might be a point to be made for getting Howard in, as there will be plenty of saves, and he has a relatively good looking following set of fixtures.

Liverpool, creators and squanderers of so many chances with a good defence, Enrique looks like a solid bet, as his price attests.

What’s this? A new bit of blog?

Player Per Club, a tip, a hunch, trying to not always pick the obvious contendahs

Arsenal

Sagna has been in great form last 3 games. Bullet header against spurs, FANTASTIC cross at Anfield for RVP’s equaliser (really surprised more wasn’t made of it) and everyone involved with Milan game must feel a bittersweet renergising of the spirits.

Aston Villa

Jeez, hard to say, Insomnia scored last gameweek (note to self, check if he scored last week), so is that a sign that he’ll step up to plate in the absence of Darren Bent who is out for the season. I’m sure there’s some chalkboard somewhere that’ll back up my point he can infield more now or something, but I’ve just got a hunch, they need to baton down the hatches though, gameweek 30 to 32 are trips to Emirates, hosting Chelsea and going to Anfield.

Blackburn

Things just aren’t coming good for Rovers are they; Captains Corner regularly refers to Yakubu, as the only shining light of the team and while Hoillet should get some plaudits too. You can be sure Robinson will make a LOT of saves over next few games, I forecast an average of 4ish points per game over next 5 (as long as you rotate him out for Man United game).

Bolton

Going by the fantasy football scout’s website the next 5 fixtures of theirs are all favourable, but looking through their squad, every single player is under performing and then some. Perhaps a cheeky punt on one of the strikers, but I wouldn’t bother.

Chelsea

I don’t wanna be just rehashing the fantasy football scout’s podcast either, but Mata does look like a good pick for Chelsea. Terry is coming back, maybe not this week, but I think Cahill might be worth looking at as a result.

Everton

Drenthe had a purple patch a few weeks ago, and apparently Moyes has been praising the improvements he’s made in the last few weeks, so maybe you might wanna look at him as an 5th midfielder option.

Fulham

I’m typing this on a train to Newcastle (might explain the extended content) so I’m offline and working from memory and a screenshot of upcoming fixtures, Fulham have a good enough next 5 games, other than a trip to Old Trafford, the Russian fella Pogbrleninstalinklastnostodvasexyblondewomen has made quite a splash and Dempsey has been performing well all season, but other than that noone sticks out, I’m trying to remember if the dutch signing they made is sparking off any mental notes in my head but I keep thinking of Bryan Roy who played at Nottingham Forest instead. I loved him, the little scamp.

Liverpool

With Liverpool at moment, there’s known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns; and everyone can tick the relevant parties off. So let’s move on. As you’ll see in my selection later I am bringing in 3 Liverpool players this week.

Man City

Okay, it’s half two in morning, I’m in Newcastle, I’ve seen many beautiful women tonight and rather than lying in various states of undress with them, I am on my buddies couch uploading this blog. I realise now I never prepared a Man City bit, and to be honest FU*K YOU MAN CITY.

Man Utd

Is this were the defenders of Utd shore up, Scholes and Giggs play the game like legends, Nani and Young step up, everyone gives it to Rooney and they steam to the title? A strong possibility, I wouldn’t be surprised with 4 or 5 clean sheets from next 6. I’m gonna nominate Evans,

Newcastle

Does scoring a last minute equaliser when playing at home in a derby after coming on as a sub mean you should start the next game?

Is it time for a huge burst of form to maybe sneak into England squad for the Euros?

If Ba really is leaving at end of season is it time to finally cement the number 9 jersey for yourself?

If the answer is Yes, the answer is also Shola Ameobi. [I know it’s quite a fetch for the Euros, and I use the number 9 jersey figuratively, as opposed to actual shirt number]

Norwich

As they said in this week’s FFS podcast, Norwich have no stand out players other than Holt, both in terms of FF points and squad selection in general. So can’t really say much here.

QPR

I explain elsewhere why I got rid of him myself, but Zamora seems the only option in this fading team, the Yakubu of the South if you will! But with Cisse returning from suspension this week, maybe this partnership will prove Sparky’s mettle (see what I did there? Smiley face emoticon)

Stoke

I don’t want to say ‘looks like he’s back in form’ whenever a player scores a goal, but Etherington has had a timid enough season compared with previous 2 or 3 he’s had.

Sunderland

In sessegnon’s absence what will happen, I’m drawn to Frazier Campbell, Mr Motivator O’Neill will do his best to get the best from him for rest of season to make get the 4th strikers spot in England squad?

Swansea

I think it’s telling that I couldn’t point out a member of the Swansea squad in a police line out, which reflects on why I’m not doing too well this season and also is a good reason that I shouldn’t start new features without doing enough research and saying when I’ll do it for EVERY club, I really mean MOST. Sorry Swansea fans.

Tottenham Hotspur

Have the wheels come off the season? I’m not sure yet but the last few games have raised a lot of questions. Saha has settled quite well in fairness but Defor is really gunning the get back into the England contention. I find it kinda funny that Defoe is trying to win back his first team place with his club in order to get into national first 11, and the manager who doesn’t seem too inclined to pick him now seems destined to be the manager of England anyway. GO figure. There’s no dark horses with Spurs in terms of fantasy football this season, go Bale/VDV/adebayor or go home.

West Bromich Albion

Nothing really stands out at WBA, which is the way Roy Hodgson seems to like it, a good tight ship all over the park, professional and well drilled. Ben Foster has impressed, but I really don’t wanna just point out the best scoring player every club has.

Wigan

If they are gonna play themselves out of the dropzone this is when they have to do it, they didn’t start their three best players last week (widely reported, due to various amounts of travel from midweek friendlies), were awful and publicly berated by their owner. Will they step up?

Wolves

Another where to look, Wolves look defanged and mangy (ie really shit looking Wolves). As ever my green-hearted instinct is to go Irish, so Doyle is an option. But can you feel how unenthused I am? And O’Hara, according to FFS podcast in new manager’s system O’Hara’s been pushed up behind the one man up front, a home game against Blackburn this week looks good.

Transfers

I’ve decided to play my wildcard, so 6 or 7 big changes again; it has a direct result with another member of the Back Of The Net Boy league, Anthony Doocey, as his regular post when I put the blog on facebook is ‘play your wild card!’.

As I said Onohua has disappointed (hey this season, I’ve made decisions, I’ve won some and lost most) and also I do not like Huth’s next 3 fixtures (Chelsea & Spurs away, then Man City at home), so I reckon they are both out, but I don’t get much with that in the kitty.  So I need to find funds elsewhere, I’m thinking Zamora needs to go too, while he scored last week and while he might (MIGHT) score at Bolton this weekend, QPR play Liverpool, Arsenal, Sunderland and Man Utd in following 4 and while I can see him scoring one or two perhaps, I’m sure there’s better options out there AND it gives me the cash to play with. Also with Sessngon suspended for next 3 games, I might as well lose him and bring in some new blood, rather than dead wood on the bench; needing to stir up some cash, I’m gonna sell Silva, 2 away fixtures and no game in next 3 doesn’t look good in terms of return, and Ben Foster will be leaving even though he did so well last week, so I can bring in Reina, who is one of 3 Liverpool players I’m bringing in this week, along with Enrique and Suarez.

OUT

Ben Foster

Huth / Onouha / Simpson

Sessegnon / Silva

Zamora

IN

Reina

Evans Enrique Cahill

Drenthe / O’Hara

Suarez

Theory/Selection

Let’s not kid ourselves, I’m not sober but the decisions I made earlier were done soberly and scribbled on paper. 7 changes made and I guess I’ve contradicted myself.

My Captain, My Captain.

The new boy Suarez will be my captain, 2 games this week means a dead cert for 8 points and throw in a goal or an assist etc etc. Vice will be

My Team this week

Keeping An Eye On

Nowt this week. Move on.

Captain's Corner

[NB Back Of The Net Boy is not responsible for Captain’s Corner spelling, grammar and basic text layout]

So the vice captain came into play last week for Aguero and Silva owners, those with RVP as vice will have been very pleased indeed. So who are the likely lads this weekend?

Doublers - Liverpool play Everton@home and Sunderland away, pretty decent, lots will have brought in Suarez for this, great idea but i wouldn't be rushing to captain him given his goal scoring form this season. Much better options below. No one stands out for Everton's doublers at home to Spurs and away to Liverpool, maybe a cheeky gamble on Drenthe?

Man U@home to West Brom - Rooney continued his storming form last night, grabbing two in an otherwise poor performance by United against Bilbao. Also looking good is Young who looks like he may be returning to his early season form although we only have two good matches to base that on. Bit of debate around Nani versus Young in the world of FPL, my thoughts are alway go with the form player, and that's Young. Rotation is always an issue though.

Arsenal@home to Newcastle - Hard to know how the game against Milan might effect RVP and co. Arsenal were superb in the first half but looked a bit flat in the second, they may be a bit fatigued for this game, but with a fairly leaky Newcastle, RVP should get a goal at least. Rosicky has got some form out of nowhere recently, great gamble pick for the next few matches.

Man City @Swansea - Kompany is out, so City will start with Savic or Kolo at CB. Aguero and Silva sitting out the last game should worry a few people, and lots will be getting rid of Aguero this week, making him a bit of a differential. I don't see a huge amount of goals in this one. 

Gamble pick - The storming Pogrebnyak away to Villa.

Fantasy Football 2012-3-2

Game week 27

barcaRONAN’s last game week Score – 43

Average Score on site – 43

Highest Haul: 12 – Silva (He was my captain, so that was 6 points doubled)

Lowest Haul: Huth – 1 point – Krul & Williams (Swansea)

 

Average Score Per Player 3.9

Accrued Score – 1070

Place in my own fecking league – 79, down 2 places

Points Off the top – 385, another 6 points off the top.

State Of Play

Call me mister average, call me mister median, and call me mister middle of the road. I scored the exact average score (I could say I scored 47, and then lost 4 points for my extra transfer, but call me old fashioned but yer final score is yer final score eh?)

Vindication

I guess it’s got to be Crouch, not a huge haul but I did bring him in, cost me 4 points but he got 9, ergo a nice 5 swing, and since my other two strikers got 2 points so comparatively he did very well.

D’oh

Not much, other than 7 players getting 3 points or less, which is disappointing.

Did I get the Keeper right? Subs in general?

No, Ben Foster got 6 points more than Kenny; and it’s a mot point for the rest since none of them played, so the 11 I chose to represent barcaRONAN in this gameweek were the only options to score points anyway.

Screenshot of my team from last game week.

Questions / Hunch  / Dramatic Narrative this game week before Sky have spotted it.

Is this the most injury prone season in recent years? I know they both have large squads, but as it stands right now both Arsenal and Man Utd have a full 11 out right now, and with a few players carrying injuries after the midweek internationals (I find this website a good place to dig through, www.physioroom.com.

There was a good point made on Football weekly extra that if people consider Liverpool to be in the race for the 4^th Champions league place then you should factor Newcastle in too, so that makes their run-in quite interesting, and this week they play a Sunderland who have just dipped in form. Could be an interesting match. Under Steve Bruce, they would have lost this match, so has he improved the team. Throw in the fact it’s a derby and could be a lot of goals, having said that I am dropping one of the players playing in it.

Also if Chelsea do finally get their shit together, will it be again WBA? I suppose every week it could happen, I’m anticipating they’ll make a lot of chances but not too well, so bringing Foster into be my Number 1 this week.

What are the odds?

I’ve a wedding to get too, so I haven’t even looked. Soz balls, gonna put a fiver on an accumulator on both the Newcastle/sunderland match and Man Utd Spurs matches to be 3.5 goals or more. Just for the craic, like.

Transfers

Okay, to continue my mea culpa from last gameweek, my QPR hunch hasn’t worked, I thought Sparky would make hay while the sunshine with a favourable fixture run and now they are going to a stretch of tough games. I reckon Bobby Zamora will go soon, and preparing for the double game week for a lot of clubs coming up in two weeks time.

But since I have a nice set of fixtures this week, I’m going to make no transfer, not really to make sure I save 4 points, but it really is easier to make double changes cos you get to play with yer budget differentials.

Theory/Selection

Bale is orange (he must be looking forward to July 12^th, in the absence of the Euros – Boom Boom (double points for my Lambeg Drum reference!).

In the goalkeeper section, as I’ve explained about Newcastle’s potential goalfest and Chelsea possibly not doing too well, it’ll be Foster in and Krul out.

I know it’s a very simple and not the most scientific method, but just playing all my players at home. Richards was rested last week (and Zabeleta did have a great game) but I assume he will play this week, and since I worried Silva would be rested last week and he wasn’t, so there’s a good chance that he won’t play this week.

My Captain, My Captain.

As a result I’ll play Silva, but not captain him. Dempsey must be on a high after scoring the winning goal for USA’s first every victory over Italy, so I’m playing him. Crouch as vice, but Dempsey must be a nailed on starter. ­­­

My Team this week

Keeping An Eye On

- Enrique for Liverpool, double game week coming up, and probably Cleverly or Welbeck next week.

Captain's Corner

[NB Back Of The Net Boy is not responsible for Captain’s Corner spelling, grammar and basic text layout]

Some difficult choices in the coming weeks, gameweek 29 will see some fixtures rescheduled due to FA Cup matches. FPL Managers should be mindful of this, keep up to date with the news and keep a transfer or two for this gameweek to try and field a full 11. More injury headaches this week due to internationals - Gerrard and Bale both with hamstring problems. Smalling out too. Good news is that Vorm and Rooney both seem to have recovered from their respective illnesses and should start this weekend. So let's look at the fixtures - 

Man City@home to Bolton - City should get a few goals here. Silva is the old reliable, he should get at least an assist; Aguero is still the biggest potential high scorer, although his owners would like to see him getting consistent double figure scores against the weaker teams. Problem is that the likes of Balotelli, Dzeko and even perhaps Tevez in the next few weeks will be "stealing" points from him. How about captaining a defender? A nice 12 points you don't have to worry about too much. Be wary of the full backs though, Mancini likes to rotate.

Newcastle @home to Sunderland - Sunderland will be without Bardsley and have been very vulnerable lately. Cisse looks to be out for Newcastle - good news for Ba owners and a great choice for your armband this week, Paddy power has him as one of the most likely anytime scorers this weekend. (In work so can't check exact odds)

Fulham@home to Wolves - A great spirited comeback from Wolves last week to finish 2-2 under Terry O' Connor, but Dempsey remains a solid pick here.

The "Biggies" - Liverpool @home to Arsenal, Man United @home to Tottenham. Two great matches (hopefully). Arsenal's amazing comeback last weekend will have them in buoyant mood and the free scoring RVP is a solid pick. I fancy United to beat Spurs, Rooney is a nice pick. Nani could be a great differential here, with Valencia still out.

Gamble pick - Yakubu @home to Villa. Feed the Yak. He will score.

Fantasy Football 2012-2-24

Game week 26

barcaRONAN’s last game week Score – 32

Average Score on site – 41

Highest Haul: 6 – Bale (He was my captain, so that was 3 points doubled)

Lowest Haul: Huth – -1 point - Onouoha

 

Average Score Per Player 2.9

Accrued Score – 1070

Place in my own fecking league – 77, down 1 place

Points Off the top – 379

State Of Play

Well I scored 32 points this week, which is the age I turned this week. So based on these projections in the year 2122 I’ll be on fire in fantasy football again.

Vindication

Like Edwin Starr sung of War and what it is good for, absolutely nothing

D’oh

I think my main d’oh is the gamble I took on a QPR revival; Kenny and Onuoha have let me down. Both their days seem numbered.

Did I get the Keeper right? Subs in general?

No, Ben Foster got 2 points more than Kenny; and yes. I’m surprised to be honest that bridge hasn’t been playing, I assumed he’d be in from the off as he was fit.

Screenshot of my team from last game week.

Questions / Hunch / Dramatic Narrative this game week before Sky have spotted it.

So I suppose the big thing is Mister Adebayor returning to the Emirates, this time in a Spurs Jersey, as we all remember his sprint when he played for Man City towards the Arsenal fans after scoring, he has an eye for drama already.

Also the shambles of Wolves look like it’s going down the swanee fast. So the best option is deemed to be the assistant to the manager who you weren’t happy with it. Saying it was too expensive to pay 2million pounds for Poyet could seem chicken feed to the losses of going down.

What are the odds?

No interesting odds stand out (Man City and Chelsea both being very odds on to win at home, funny considering just how bad Chelsea were at home to Birmingham). Also I’ve heard and read a few places that this is the first time in nearly 20 years that Spurs have gone to play Arsenal and be the favourites as visitors, if they are favourites it is by the tiniest of points. So this is new section I added last game week is pretty pointless this week.

Transfers

2 free transfers to make this week, but making 3. Basically I had to wave bye bye to Kenny and unfortunately cos he was so cheap I had to shake a few quid elsewhere. I also wanted to get rid of Bridge since he hasn’t been performing either. I decided that since Huth is suspended, I didn’t wanna keep Suarez (Since he’s not playing anyway), otherwise I’d have 1 player on my bench. I needed to get rid of one of my big money people, so Suarez just drew the short straw, to replace him I brought in Crouch (3 million cheaper), who is fresh from not playing in Europe, and has two home games in a row coming up. That opened up the funds to bring in Richards in defence (two home games in a row, and a good looking run of fixtures) and then to complete the circle, I brought in Krul at Newcastle to become my new goalie. He makes his debut this week, at home to the toothless Wolves.

Theory/Selection

Right, so my three defenders who are playing at home are in [ideally I’d like to play 2-5-3!, but the rules are de rules], by de facto wanting to use all three strikers, all playing against opposition I could see them scoring 1 or 2 against; so the only real decision to make is which 4 of my 5 midfielders. Because of the strength of Blackburn, I can see Silva being rested or put on the bench, but I’d be a fool to not play him, but if he comes on for just 8 mins at the end….

Ok as much as I wanna play Walters, right now I can’t justify dropping Dempsey or Sessegnon, as it stands I’m going to leave it as I post here.

My Captain, My Captain.

As I touched on, Silva is almost too good an option! If I captain him and he only plays a few mins I’ll go spare, but what with it being a Saturday game Manchini might go for the jugular, so Man United are under pressure on the Sunday. With that in mind, Silva will be my captain. Ba will be my viceman. But don’t think I don’t see you hopping up and down with your hand up Gareth Bale.

My Team this week

Keeping An Eye On

-     Stockdale has been very impressive for Fulham (there were whispers of him being brought in as England keeper, sometimes you just need to be English to be linked with that squad!), and while Schwarzer returned for last two matches after his injury spell; I can easily see Jol easing the latter out. They have some very favourable fixtures coming up so it could be a factor.

-       Cleverly at Man Utd, has been looking very fresh and I think he’ll end up shadowing Scholes for rest of season (I imagine a chain of events where Scholes is like Danny Glover, and young Tom is Mel Gibson)

Captain's Corner with Phergal

[NB Back Of The Net Boy is not responsible for Captain’s Corner spelling, grammar and basic text layout]

Injuries starting to rear their ugly head again, the highly owned Valencia, Rooney, Assou-Ekotto all doubts this weekend, causing most of us major headaches. Some very captain friendly fixtures this weekend, let's have a look.

Newcastle @home to Wolves - Sad to see Big Mick get the sack and all the best to him. This leaves Wolves managerless but with the well respected Terry Connor being promoted to caretaker manager after 13 years as assistant manager at the club. I hope he does well and gets made permanent. But anyway, Wolves still look dodgy and Ba will be picked by a lot of teams this weekend, supported by the return of the excellent midfield pairing of Cabaye and Tiote. 

City @home to Blackburn - City have big players returning too with the Toure brothers looking for starts. Ya Ya will give a lot of stability in the centre, leaving Silva and Aguero to get forward much more comfortably. Aguero should do well, although he "should" have done well in plenty of recent games too, it's last chance saloon for him here for a lot of us, I actually got rid of him for Rooney last week, no doubt this will backfire badly. :(

Man U @Norwich - Not a very convincing display from United last night against a poor Ajax side, but despite Ferguson saying otherwise, it can't be a big priority for them. Rooney is a doubt with a throat infection, must be that cigarette he had on holiday last year. Valencia's only gone and done his hammy too, and with Nani not really producing the pickings are slim. Young?

Arsenal @Home to Tottenham - The great Sky North London Derby is always unpredictable, i reckon it will have goals though. Spurs are possibly missing a few key players though, I'd back RVP for at least a goal here.

Gamble pick? - Mata @home to Bolton. He'll be looking to impress Rafa Benitez/Guus Hiddink/Abramovich/Sky.

Fantasy Football 2012-2-10

Game week 25­

barcaRONAN’s last game week Score – 30

Average Score on site –56

Highest Haul: 9 – Ba

Lowest Haul: Huth – -2 points

 

Average Score Per Player 2.8

Accrued Score – 1038

Place in my own fecking league – 76, down 7 places

Points Off the top – 367

State Of Play

Feck it, the team I didn’t do much with scored quite well. That says it all eh

Vindication

Two of my strikers scored, whoop de do

D’oh

I got a lot, A LOT of feedback last week when I explained why I got rid of RVP, and I know stand completely unvindicated, I could have been a contenda. But having just seen the new Muppets movie, the moral of any story is to try. If you try, you can’t fail. I tried to do something and it backfired, so be it, I’d rather blaze my own path than follow a well-beaten path (I really wish I was doing better though!)

Did I get the Keeper right? Subs in general?

Yes, Kenny got 2 points and Foster got 1, boo ya! Sessegnon I had on my bench and he did better than every other midfielder I had playing, same with Williams in relation to his defending peers.

Screenshot of my team from last game week.

Questions / Hunch / Dramatic Narrative this game week before Sky have spotted it.

Well drama is making up early tomorrow to be at Old Trafford, that irascible Luis Suarez and that scamp Patrice Evra will be probably facing up to, I meant lining up against each other. This can’t be anything but a fiery match, Liverpool have a strong defence and Utd have been relatively potent in recent weeks, I have Suarez in my team, so I’m hoping he doesn’t get sent off. While Kenny clearly backs his man, there is a lot to be said for him not starting the game.

The Dembe squared partnership looks potent, I suppose they don’t’ need to bed in as such, due to their international background

Will it snow, will it snow, will it snow? A lot of football league matches called off already, but all the EPL matches were played last weekend, so I doubt anyway will be called off. So in many ways this is a needless sentence or two. But possibly Sunderland could get caught in the grim north, which leads us to…

McClean – What does he have to do? Trappatoni could surely have brought him into squad, like does Duff need to play a friendly game at this stage? Martin O’Neill being such a motivator will surely rile up him up after this

Harry Redknapp – So he got off, or isn’t guilty is fairer and doesn’t imply he got away with anything. Will this ‘spur’ Spurs on? He seems to have ruled out job sharing the England job with his Spurs role

What are the odds?

So 3 big games this weekend, 6 of the top 8 as the fantasy football site itself points out; bookies are always good suggestion, for instance Spurs, Chelsea and Man City all to win is 7/1, so Paddy Power must fancy Newcastle, Villa and Everton to all provide a solid game.

Just want to show you something.

This site, http://www.11kicks.com/Competitions/Premier_League/Stats,  is a bit simple to be honest, but the interesting fact that Chelsea get the most cards per game in entire league stood out to me, but also look at the assists figure. For some reason the team that has scored the most team goals has also got the most team assists too. Go figure! -

Transfers

No transfers this week, so to have two to play with next week, and a possible third and only lose 4 points.

Theory/Selection

With my ruckus of last week nothing came from it at all, keeping all those players cos I can’t be getting rid of them now! Huth is suspended so I only have 2 players to play with, since I hope Bale to have a good game, I am dropping my Newcastle defender, Simpson, and that leaves one. I’ll be honest and say I’m wary of having 3 QPR players at Blackburn, what with Hughes returning to his old club AND Blackburn coming back from that trouncing AND Yakubu returning from suspension after that great burst of goals, I would so much play Walters if I could drop Onohua, but I can’t so I won’t. Right now I fancy Kenny to make more saves at Ewood Park than Foster will at Wolves, even if both don’t’ keep clean sheets.

My Captain, My Captain.

Bale at home seems obvious enough, but Dempsey could be a good bet due to Huth being suspended, so in that order they are my captain and vice captain respectively.

My Team this week

Keeping An Eye On

-     Gibson and Jelavic, let’s see how they do against dirty dirty Chelsea! They have next gameweek off anyway, so it’s not pressing for this week.

-       Cleverly at Man Utd, every week in recent times has had him as coming back that weekend on this generally accurate site http://www.physioroom.com/news/english_premier_league/epl_injury_table.php

-       McClean at Sunderland, very good chance it’ll bring him and Cleverly in next week.

Captain's Corner with Phergal

[NB Back Of The Net Boy is not responsible for Captain’s Corner spelling, grammar and basic text layout]

afraid it didn’t arrive today, we both were out of synce with our normal working weeks this week.