The month of August brought the arrival of Fantasy Premier League and its less interesting cousin, the English Premier League. The former brought with it a lot of excitement and joy in the form of a 100 million pound budget which all of us were happy to invest. The first four gameweeks of the season had many managers reaping dividends on their investments while others have had their money pour down the drain.
Trolls – ‘”Here We Go Again” Edition
So here we are. Here we go again. The first month of Season 2019/20 had many memorable moments and many opportunities for our PFLEF members to express their creativity. The banter and the trolling immediately hit top level from day one. Here is our collection of the best of the best. So let’s have DMX serenade us into this edition. Enjoy !!
Fantasy Football Update – PLeXit Edition
May has been the month of disMay for many. It has also been a month in which some threw their rivals into disArray. Some fought for a throne which became non-existent, their efforts ending in demotion. Some got promoted without doing too much work, Bran Stark style. And some fought the good fight but bowed out after intense pressure, Theresa May style. The Long Summer is here, the Long Night is over. Wildcards or tamed ones, game-saving or game-ruining chips, captain choices, budget dilemmas… all laid to rest for the 2018/19 season. Take a bow everyone, take a bow.
Trolls – The Musical Chairs Edition
The 2018/19 season is reaching breaking point. And the music is reaching a crescendo. The top two teams keep swapping between first and second place (A record 29 times as at the time this article was written) . The other ”Top 6” members beneath them also keep swapping positions. As aptly termed by our FootieFantasy’s EeJay, it all seems like a game of musical chairs. Spurs are the only spoilsports who haven’t participated fully in this joyous party activity. We still have a lot of troll and banter material regardless. Let the music play.
FPL Update – The Home Stretch
We have raced from the moment the starting gun went “bang!” on the 10th of August, 2018. Many Fantasy Football managers were full of enthusiasm and energy in the first 50 meters but lost focus soon after and by December 2018, they had even forgotten they were ever in a race.
Some other managers gave in to their thirst too early in the race and quenched their chips long before the mid-way point. We also saw managers who raced into an early lead until fatigue quickly set in. However, despite the exhausting nature of this FPL race, most of us are still in the running for various milestones as we hit the home stretch.
Before proceeding further, let us applaud those who ran the best times in January and February.
Fun Fact x Trivia – Park(er)s and Recreation Edition
Scott Parker getting the Fulham job after Claudio Ranieri was a fairly unremarkable story when the appointment was announced. He is the club’s third manager this season and their relegation from the Premier League is almost guaranteed. His inability to halt Fulham’s slide into the lower league should not take away from the fact that Scott Parker is someone with a quietly remarkable career featuring a couple of unique records.
[Read more…] about Fun Fact x Trivia – Park(er)s and Recreation Edition
Trolls – The Non-Brexit Edition
Brexit. A word which didn’t even exist until the year 2012. However, it is now also a word we have probably heard uttered in the news 7 million times in the subsequent 7 years. While the political shambles of the Brexit process has been an ongoing situation, English football’s ”Big Six” clubs are refusing to Brexit the European club competitions. Liverpool, Manchester City, Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United, and Chelsea are all still in Europe.
Their success and progress at that level have not absolved them of being trolled at various times. Here is our round-up of the hard-hitting, the humorous and the hurtful (including some bonus material featuring non-English sides).
If you think reading this may stress you out as badly as Theresa May, may we advise that you activate Article 50 and exit this article at this point? Thank you.
Fun Fact x Trivia – Gloves Edition
Gordon Banks, England’s world cup winning goalkeeper in 1966 and a legendary name in the English game, passed away last week. He was a very good goalkeeper who pulled off many great saves including a famous one from a Pele header at the 1970 world cup.
Banks managed to divert a goalbound header over the crossbar, using incredible reflexes and suitably aided by his gloved hands.
Four years earlier, Banks had been in goal as England won their first and only world cup till date. His gloves were more like gardening gloves and had better grip than many which his contemporaries wore. Actually, during that period, goalkeeping greats such as Alex Stepney and Pat Jennings did not even wear gloves at all.
Trolls – State of Emergency Edition
My fellow citizens of BanterinLand, I am here today to let you know that the FootieFantasy Government is declaring a State of Emergency. We did not take this decision lightly. There has been an unprecedented influx of trolls and memes and we can not cope with the accumulation of such content any longer. We could have declared the State of Emergency earlier but felt that it would be unfair on our loyal readers. So please make do with this collection of material gathered as evidence in the past few weeks. There will be no customary commentary attached to them due to the nature of this emergency. Bear with us.
Fantasy Premier League Update
Click on transfers. Click on the underperforming player(s) aka the ”Snakes”. Check prices. Is there enough money in the bank to make the transfer(s)? Should you take negative hit(s) or save up a free transfer by waiting until the following gameweek? Financial musings; risk and reward. The Economics of Fantasy Football decisions.
Whom to captain; The unlocked Pogba or the rising Son? Hazard, (caution) or a rash punt on Rashford? The celebrated Salah or a handy Andy Robertson? Arsenal’s peer-less Pierre or a solid Kepa for keeps? Mane, Sane or an insane gamble on Kante? Crucial thoughts behind the choice of captain. The Psychology of Fantasy Football decisions.
On your bench is a midfielder who scored 15 points and is first pick to come in. One of the players in your starting 11 has not been included in his club’s starting line-up. It looks as if you are about to receive 15 points off the bench. Then the player in your starting 11 is brought on as a sub, 2 minutes before the end of their match. You receive 1 point. The agony of Fantasy Football decisions.
The player you have captained has surprisingly not been picked to play. You are raging and feeling unhappy. Then on the next day, the player that was auto-selected as your vice-captain bangs in a hat-trick for 20 pts, doubled up to 40 when the gameweek is completed. The joys of Fantasy Football decisions.
Welcome to 2019. It has been a rollercoaster of a season so far. Our PFLEF classic and head-to-head leagues remain as competitive as ever. Before proceeding further, let’s acknowledge those FPL managers who have excelled in the past 3 months.
October Manager of the Month – Chris McIvor chomped up 217 pts with his ‘Bite of Suarez’ team in League 1.
November Manager of the Month – Dot Tinkerman channeled his inner Ranieri on the way to 286 pts in League 2A.
December Manager of the Month – Pascal Charles copped 421 pts with his Ankop FC in League 2B.
And now a reminder of how the various leagues have been set up for this season.
*Top 4 in League 1 qualify for the Addicts Champions League organised by Billy Lea
*Bottom 20 in League 1 get relegated.
*Top 10 from League 2A and Top 10 from League 2B get promoted to League 1.
*Top 8 in the PFLEF Head to Head League qualify for the knockout rounds.
17 gameweeks to go, there is still a lot to play for. The screenshots capturing the state of play in the leagues are found below.
Top 10 in League 1 (Contenders for Top 4)
Contenders for the knock-out rounds.
PFLEF Draft Classic League
PFLEF Draft Head to Head League
FootieFantasy Money League
League 2A Promotion Candidates
League 2B Promotion Candidates.
See you all next time. Have a Fantasytic 2019.
Oladimeji Sapoloso