Premier League Fantasy Football 2024-25

[Neil Graham]

Week 18

"Teams are going to face the same issues so there is no advantage" Forest's Nuno Espirito Santo comments on fixture congestion.

Rather like having an update here every three or four days. Everyone will be pleased to know that there will be no update until after the New Year. The yardstick I normally use for determining challengers to our leading team is the 50 point rule. However there were some 20 managers close to leader Blair Connell a few weeks ago - now there are just a handful. Sam Herring and Grant Bucher feature for the first time. Alvin Kissoon is our top manager of the week whilst Rhys Cumming discovers that 0 doubled for his captain Haaland is still 0 - so just 17 points for Rhys as our low scorer.

1 Second Calling Again Blair Connell 70 1231
2 The Doku hype train Noah Poot 61 1199
3 Borussia Hair Grant Bucher 75 1191
4= Slumdog Mignolet Sam Herring 64 1180
4= Boost ‘n’ Noodle Adam Lippiett 62 1180

Up for the Cup I'll be looking at this next time - having just gone out in Week 18. Three of our top five teams still in.

[NickFaulks]

Am I allowed to interrupt this programme by saying that I am thoroughly bored by Liverpool winning all the time?

[Neil Graham]

Am I allowed to interrupt this programme by saying that I am thoroughly bored by Liverpool winning all the time?

In Fantasy football you can only pick three players maximum from any club so despite being well clear you can't select all their team. In 2019/20 the Merseyside club had established a 25 point lead by the end of February - although they won the League that year, the real victor was COVID.

[Neil Graham]

Week 19

A short summary

1 Second Calling Again Blair Connell 60 1291

2. Borussia Hair Grant Bucher 83 1274

3. The Doku hype train Noah Poot 71 1270

4. Chessticles Jonathan Blackburn 95 1267

5. Slumdog Mignolet Sam Herring 86 1266

Top Scorer is Andrew Harley 111 points.

[Neil Graham]

Quarter Two - Weeks 11-19

In the first quarter 18 managers featured - however this quarter just nine managers succeeded in reaching a top five position and everyone of these was present for at least two weeks. Ben Cullen who was the outstanding individual scorer in the first quarter disappeared completely whilst Blair Connell appeared for all nine weeks in Quarter Two and as Number 1 for seven weeks. His closest challengers were Adam Lippiett & Noah Poot. However just as he appeared to be coasting, a couple of mediocre weeks meant that Blair's lead was diminished and the pack now lead by Grant Bucher and Sam Herring closed the gap.

Usual methodology - nine weeks - total available points 45; five pts for 1st down to 1 pt for 5th - number of weeks in brackets.

1st Blair Connell 42 pts (9)
2nd Adam Lippiett 27 pts (8)
3rd Noah Poot 21 pts (8)
4th Jonathan Blackburn 17 pts (6)
5th Peter Hunt 9 pts (4)
6th Grant Bucher 7 pts (2)
7th Ace Mihajlovski 6 pts (3)
8th Joel Newman 4 pts (3)
9th Sam Herring 3 pts (2)

[Neil Graham]

Week 20

"Sean Dyche has been relieved of his duties as senior men's first team manager with immediate effect" Everton FC statement.

As well as Dyche leaving Everton, Julen Lopetegui was shown the door at West Ham. We've been predicting the latter for weeks.Their replacements are David Moyes and Graham Potter. To date six of the 20 original managers have gone - Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou is firm favourite to be the next one to be given his P45 whilst the new managers at Leicester & Southampton are under early pressure. Meanwhile very little change in our Premier Chess leaderboard as we enter the second half of the season. However there are some 13 managers in the 50 point "challenge zone" so we may see some surprises in the third quarter. Greg Eagleton soared into treble figures and he was top scorer of the week.

1 Second Calling Again Blair Connell 57 1348
2 Borussia Hair Grant Bucher 62 1336
3 Slumdog Mignolet Sam Herring 62 1328
4 The Doku hype train Noah Poot 57 1327
5 whu tang clan Joel Newman 67 1323

Up for the Cup I'll be compiling a report shortly. How many of our teams are left in?

[Neil Graham]

Week 21

And, with Isak up front, they've got a chance." Alan Shearer. Newcastle score their 9th successive win.

Liverpool must be looking over their shoulders as Howe's men climb up the table. In contrast with six losses in a row, Leicester are now in the bottom three. There is little to report in Premier Chess, the top four managers maintain their positions whilst Tim Lunn makes his first appearance of the season in 5th place. Matthew Parry's Lumos made light work of the week and was the only manager to reach triple figures with his score of 100 pts.

1 Second Calling Again Blair Connell 72 1420
2 Borussia Hair Grant Bucher 68 1404
3 Slumdog Mignolet Sam Herring 69 1397
4 The Doku hype train Noah Poot 69 1396
5 TicklyTim's Team Tim Lunn 73 1389

Up for the Cup I'm wading through these and checked our top 50 teams. Only 4 have made it into the Week 22 draw.

[Neil Graham]

Week 22

"I will not go to Liverpool. For everybody listening, I will not go to Liverpool." Milos Kerkez (Bournemouth AFC)

So much for Alan Shearer's prophecy last week - as it was Bournemouth and not Newcastle who maintained their unbeaten run. Star player Kerkez is being fought over by the big names in the Premiership and his intentions at present are clearly to stay put. As we approach the end of the transfer window will any big names be moving? Meanwhile in Premier Chess there was just another shuffle of the top places with Blair Connell still out in front; all the top five scoring about the same number of points. George Wright has made no transfers and has probably not looked at his team since entering; nevertheless from 170th position he achieved the high score of the week.

1 Second Calling Again Blair Connell 49 1469
2 Borussia Hair Grant Bucher 54 1458
3 The Doku hype train Noah Poot 46 1442
4 TicklyTim's Team Tim Lunn 51 1440
5 ФК КОЦКА Ace Mihajlovski 52 1439

Up for the Cup How many of our managers are still in the Week 23 draw? At the moment I can find just three - Grant Bucher, Lawrence Cooper and Elliott Barnett. Doesn't look good!

[Neil Graham]

Week 23

“24 years, 16 managers, 1 trophy. Time for Change.” Banner unfurled at Spurs match v Leicester.

Spurs lost the above match and are now slip-sliding towards the relegation zone. Bournemouth meanwhile trounced Forest whilst Liverpool march on. After 8 successive weeks in first position in Premier Chess, Blair Connell surrenders top spot to Grant Bucher as two new players enter the leader board in Michael Roberts and Onos Kofi-Ofuafor. Adam Cranston and Adrian Matthews are joint top scorers for the week - strangely I find that I've met them both in the 4NCL.

1 Borussia Hair Grant Bucher 78 1536
2 Second Calling Again Blair Connell 57 1526
3 The Doku hype train Noah Poot 64 1506
4 Slot Machine Michael Roberts 65 1499
5 FPL Point Dodger Onos Kofi-Ofuafor 69 1498

Up for the Cup We've lost Lawrence from last week so Grant and Elliott continue into Week 24

[Neil Graham]

Week 24

Mo Salah Do we need to say any more?

Yes Week 24 was Mo Salah week as the postponed Everton v Liverpool was shoehorned into the this Game Week. All the top 50 teams scored over 100 points; in fact if you examine the scores - 97 of the top 100 managers succeeded in reaching triple figures. Eventually the top scorer of the week was located - Adam Taylor with 156 points. Even this was insignificant when compared with the 201 points which was scored by overall top scorer Grant Sakar's team FC Boon. Finally spare a thought for our two lowly back markers in 183rd & 184th places who managed just 25 points apiece. No real changes at the top to report.

1 Borussia Hair Grant Bucher 116 1652
2 Second Calling Again Blair Connell 121 1643
3 Boost ‘n’ Noodle Adam Lippiett 147 1637
4 The Doku hype train Noah Poot 127 1633
5 Slot Machine Michael Roberts 132 1631

Up for the Cup Despite leading Premier Chess, Grant Bucher was knocked out of the Overall Cup leaving Elliott Barnett as our sole representative in the Week 25 draw.

[Neil Graham]

Week 25

Marvellous Mbappe - City out of the Champions League so can they spoil Liverpool's season? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/vi ... 845v5nzd7o

Liverpool dropped further points this week as they drew with Villa. In a week where they played two matches (in preparation for the blank Carabao Cup Final) everyone was still on the Mo Salah bandwagon as he duly scored and assisted again. We find our top scorer this week on Page Four - so well done to Barry Redburn with 122 points. Ever presents Blair Connell, Noah Poot and Grant Bucher are still contesting the top spot in Premier Chess with Noah leading for the first time. The undercard is changing every week but any one of the next five teams is close enough to mount a challenge.

1 The Doku hype train Noah Poot 113 1746
2 Borussia Hair Grant Bucher 92 1744
3 Second Calling Again Blair Connell 99 1742
4 Slot Machine Michael Roberts 107 1738
5 FPL Point Dodger Onos Kofi-Ofuafor 106 1736

Up for the Cup Finally our last manager Elliott Barnett was knocked out in Week 25 99-81 by opponents Bonkaz FC.

[Neil Graham]

Week 26

"Over my dead body. If not I will go home." Mikel Arteta (Arsenal) suggests the title race isn't over.

The Premier League have mid week matches starting tonight so another report - but much of the same. Firstly in Week 25 we posed the question "Can City spoil Liverpool's season?" The answer was "No" and one feels that Arteta may well be on the way home - there is an 11 point gap though Arsenal have a game in hand. Turning to Premier Chess - no change but the gap between the top three managers is in single figures although the chasers are diminishing - only nine teams now in the 50 point zone. Only three broke the 100 point barrier this week; the best of these being Nigel Donovan.

1 The Doku hype train Noah Poot 88 1834
2 Borussia Hair Grant Bucher 87 1831
3 Second Calling Again Blair Connell 85 1827
4 FPL Point Dodger Onos Kofi-Ofuafor 81 1817
5 ФК КОЦКА Ace Mihajlovski 88 1816

Overall Week 26 and 2,000 points reached by the three leading teams. Could 3,000 points be reached this season?

[Neil Graham]

Week 27

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/ar ... 92lzj02x0o Jean-Philippe Mateta has serious head injury after Cup clash.

There was a break last weekend for the F.A.Cup. Seven out of eight of the quarter-finalists are from the Premier Division which is bound to affect later Game Weeks. Mateta of Crystal Palace suffered an injury after a reckless challenge by Millwall 'keeper Liam Roberts. In the midweek clashes Liverpool moved even further ahead after 2nd placed Arsenal drew goalless with 3rd placed Forest. In Premier Chess, Onos Kofi-Ofuafor broke into the top three for the first time with just five points covering places 1 to 4. In a week where most scores were at the same level, our top performer was Steven Smith.

1= The Doku hype train Noah Poot 53 1887
1= Second Calling Again Blair Connell 60 1887
3 FPL Point Dodger Onos Kofi-Ofuafor 66 1883
4 Borussia Hair Grant Bucher 51 1882
5 Boost ‘n’ Noodle Adam Lippiett 76 1869

Up for the Cup Qualification for Premier Chess Cup starts in Week 30. Who will be our champion?

[Neil Graham]

Week 28

"Paris St-Germain showed their capacity against Liverpool." Unai Emery. Villa face PSG in Champions League quarter-final.

Whilst Liverpool are out of the Champions League, they have already ordered their open-top bus for their Premier League celebrations. Week 29 will see the Carabao Cup Final with Newcastle facing off against Liverpool and this may mean some awkward selection problems in the forthcoming week. Meanwhile there is no change in Premier Chess with the same five teams maintaining their top five positions. No triple figure scorers with Charlie Nettleton on 90 points our Top Gun of the week.

1 Second Calling Again Blair Connell 68 1955
2 The Doku hype train Noah Poot 58 1941
3 FPL Point Dodger Onos Kofi-Ofuafor 54 1937
4 Borussia Hair Grant Bucher 53 1935
5 Boost ‘n’ Noodle Adam Lippiett 62 1931

Overall Another Charlie (Charlie Shepherd) is overall leader with 2,117 points. He has been in the top four since Week 17.

[Neil Graham]

Week 29

"I am really happy here". Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola after rumours link him to Spurs job.

Well after the Carabao Cup Final, it was Newcastle who ordered the open top bus as 300,000 celebrated on Tyneside. So with a truncated Week 29 plus an International break and F.A.Cup Quarter=Finals we actually return to Premier League action in mid week on April 1st. In Premier Chess we lose Noah Poot after 16 successive weeks in the Top Five whilst Blair Connell is first manager over the 2000 point mark. Steve Dilleigh and Simon Myles were joint top scorers of the week.

1 Second Calling Again Blair Connell 54 2009
2 FPL Point Dodger Onos Kofi-Ofuafor 59 1996
3 ФК КОЦКА Ace Mihajlovski 64 1991
4 TicklyTim's Team Tim Lunn 61 1990
5 Borussia Hair Grant Bucher 51 1986

A proper Charlie - overall leader Charlie Shepherd (see Week 28) took a giant tumble to 8th - his lowest position since Week 16.