FPL News – After Round 17

From this week onwards those who do not enter predictions and click the submit button will receive predictions compliments of the randomiser. You can still go with John’s selections, but you need to submit them. In the past those who did not enter any predictions automatically got John’s but that is not the case anymore.

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FPL News – Grunstein Still on Top

After a frantic week on the FPL one thing that hasn’t changed is the leader. Paul Grunstein’s lead now stands at 66 points and some would say he is running away with it. He played the double bonus points game well amassing 80 points which was well above the weeks average. Even Super John Salako from his poolside location on the Med only managed 70 bonus points. Many fared much worse though in what was a very interesting week.

Never one to blow my own trumpet, I do have to day my 100 bonus points was matched only by Cardinal Hyde and I finally feel I am in touching distance of the lead. The Cardinal has made a huge leap up the table over the past few weeks, he was languishing close to the bottom of the Full FPL Table until he decided it was time to make a charge. He is now up to 40th and climbing.

Keeping it in the family, Leon, my ten year old is also on the up, he entered the top 50 four weeks ago and under the expert guidance of his father is now up to 20th.

On the down side, one time leader Paul Burton has lost the plot and slipped down to 16th and early FPL leader and Manager of the Month for September, Steve Burnett has dropped off the pace and is down to 8th.

I spotted John at the local Thomas Cook office this weekend trying to blag another holiday so another week where we will all have to stand on our own two feet could be upon us sooner rather than later..

www.fpl.org.uk/full_league.php

This Weeks Fixtures

Chelsea are still without a number of key players but are in a great position in the league, just on the shoulders of the leaders. Avram (Shrek) Grant will have an easy job making his team talks, it’s just a shame that hardly any of them will be able to understand a word that he is saying. Nethertheless I expect them to keep up the pressure on the big two and take all three points from this one.

Even though we are only just past the half way mark, Blackburn have had a good season. They will continue to pick up points and will finish in the top half. Middlesbrough are hot and cold. Better at home than away, they fall into the bracket where other teams feel they can beat them. I feel Rovers will beat them, it won’t be a great game, a couple of goals, home win.

Fulham are on a magnificent run having thrown away more points from winning positions than any team in the history of the world. We are now comfortably nestled in the relegation zone and escape may have been easier from Alcatraz than it will be from the position we are in. Still we have a new manager and hopefully the only way is up. We thrashed the mighty Arsenal 2-1 in the corresponding fixture last season and I see no reason why we can’t repeat the dose this time around..

Tottenham lost to a last minute goal up at The Stadium of Light at the beginning of the season. They are improving under their new manager and I don’t see Sunderland troubling them. Home win.

Reading versus Manchester United is a tough one. I would have gone for the away win without question other than that John reckons it will be a draw. I have thought long and hard about it but still only see one winner. Away win.

Portsmouth can’t score at home and have lost a good few players to the African Nations Cup. Luckily for them Derby are the visitors. I don’t see this being an easy win like John does who has gone for 3-0, rather I think it will be tighter but still a home win.

Bolton will go to Newcastle looking for an upset. Sometimes you have to “kick a man when he’s down” and Newcastle are certainly that. I really like Newcastle, I think most football fans have a soft spot for them, but they really need to get back on track. I’m not sure Bolton have enough to win this but they could certainly get a draw.

Wigan are improving. John even thinks this will be a draw. I think Everton will be too good for them and will win the game easily. Bob from the pub reckons Wigan will win so basically it’s a lottery. I like Everton, they are hard to beat and can score goals. I scored 100 bonus points last week, I am the daddy, but you make your own minds up.

I was at Upton Park on Saturday and wasn’t blown away by the Hammers. I think they could become one of those teams that perform better on the road than they do at home. Man City have that home record so it could be a close one. John thinks MC will win by the odd goal and this time I would have to agree with him.

Liverpool versus Villa could be the game of the weekend. Before I get hundreds of email pointing out that it is not in fact a weekend game and is in fact being played on Monday, find something better to do! Everything including John points towards a home win but I just have an feeling Villa may not go home empty handed.

Salako’s Selections

After a week away sunning himself the main man is back in town and keen to repair his reputation as a top predictor. You will need to log into your members area either go with John’s predictions or add your own scores for this round of matches otherwise you will be in the hands on the dreaded randomiser. Here are this weeks fixtures: Birmingham City v Chelsea Blackburn Rovers v Middlesbrough Fulham v Arsenal Tottenham Hotspur v Sunderland Reading v Manchester United Portsmouth v Derby County Newcastle United v Bolton Wanderers Wigan Athletic v Everton Manchester City v West Ham United Liverpool v Aston Villa

Make Your Changes / Main Game

To make a change, login to the members area where you will see your table unlocked on the left and the current Premier League table on the right. Click on the first team you want to change (call it team A) and select the team you want it to swap places with (team B) and team A will appear where team B was. Do that twice more then click update and that’s your changes made for this week.

www.fpl.org.uk/members.php

*** Once you click the update button there is no going back. If you make a change you can undo it by clicking the Revert Teams button, so long as it’s before you have done the final update.

** You do not have to make all of your changes at once.

The window will close again just before the next round of matches, so make sure you have made your changes by then. Changes are of course optional, you can make one, two, three or no changes if you choose.

Bonus Game

Once you have updated your table it’s time to predict the scores of the next round of matches. All the fields will be empty when you first login and there is a button to the right of the page which, if clicked, will populate the fields with John Salako’s predictions. If you don’t want to see his predictions then you don’t need to click this button.

Either way once you have entered your predictions for the matches click the submit button and you are done. Once you have clicked the submit button you cannot make any changes to your predictions.

If you leave the fields empty / have not clicked the submit button before the window closes, your bonus points for the week will be awarded based on Salako’s Selection.

And Finally..

That is it for this week’s FPL News. Remember it is a short window this week which will re open next Monday morning. This newsletter is also available online at the FPL blog: http://thefootballpredictionleague.wordpress.com

A British Soldier, whilst on patrol in Bosnia, happens upon a young lad kicking around a spent shell case with not inconsiderable skill. The two end up chatting and the soldier says, “Would you like to play football in England? A great friend of mine knows Alex Ferguson, the man in charge of the top England team. He could help you.” The boy appears very keen and so, when the soldier returns home, he asks his friend.

Well, it turns out that Alex Ferguson is interested and so the young lad is brought over. He starts off in the junior team, but is so good, he gets steadily promoted until he’s on the substitute bench for the first team at the FA Cup final. The game reaches half-time and the score is 2-2. “Alright”, says Ferguson, “let’s see what you can do.” On to the pitch he goes. The lad scores three fantastic goals and the team have a glorious victory.

Afterwards, the lad goes to a ‘phone to call his Dad. “Dad”, he says, “we won the FA Cup final and I scored three goals!” His Dad is non-plussed and replies, “Don’t you give me that! Back here, we’re going through Hell! Your Mother went out for bread this morning and hasn’t been seen since. Your Sister was raped last night, and your brother was beaten up in the street on his way back from school!”

“But Dad,” complains the youth, “you can’t blame me for that!” “I can,” said his father, “it was you that made us move to Manchester!”

Good luck all
Nick

Nick Abear
The Predictor
FPL Admin
nick@fpl.org.uk