Monday Morning Manager



International week, so who knows if anything from this week past will carry over through the break.  But just in case, here are some impressions of the - disappointing, for most - week that was, after the jump.

  • I haven't seen Liverpool/Birmingham City so I can't comment on N'Gog's supposed dive.  But I can say that DBent was unlucky not to draw a penalty early in the Spurs/Sunderland match, but certainly conned the ref into giving one later.  He was in the air and falling long before Gomes got close to him.  It turns out that he would have done better staying on his feet and slotting into the open net than taking the kick which he placed well, but without any power, allowing Gomes to make the save.  (Phew! Way to start the post with a lengthy run-on sentence.  My apologies to any editors reading this.)
  • Drogba's yellow card was ridiculous.  Sure he flopped around like a fish out of water, but he had just been kicked in the chest... you can hardly blame him!  Somehow he received a yellow card and Evans stayed on the pitch to attack again.  Was it just last week that I was marvelling that "His worst return of the season was 10.5 points.  That's the floor."  Well, now we have a new low of 0.5.   Chelsea now play Wolves, @Arsenal, @ManCiteh before a nicer run against Everton, Portsmouth, @WHU, @BRM, Fulham.  Surely it's worth sticking with Drogs through that stretch. 
  • How crazy was the Villa/Bolton match?  Sometimes it's a shame that we don't bet on (or against) Bolton, but this was ridiculous.  Anyone unable to change their team after Villa's double week ended up a very happy manager.  Milner showed up after - for fantasy purposes - having gone AWOL for the previous month.  He missed a penalty, but the save came right to Sidwell who banged it off the post... and right back to Milner who was still on the spot to score.  Never again in a million years!  And Gabby's goal going through the legs of both Cahill and Jussi!?!?  Bolton keeping the ball in play on his own end line for Carew to feed... was that the assist for Gabby's goal?  Carew being allowed to turn in the box (and the man has the turning radius of a tanker) to score.  Just inexcusable defending all around.  And so hard for fantasy managers to swallow as WE JUST HAD THESE PLAYERS IN OUR TEAM LAST WEEK!!!!  Bitter pill, indeed.
  • Clint "Duece" Dempsey taking penalty and free kicks in Murphy's absence.  Didn't see that coming, but it allowed him to notch his third goal, and third 15+ point fantasy performance, in as many matches.  He's going to be a very popular pick for Fulham's double week next game week.  As should Damien Duff, who along with his former running mate David Dunn, is turning back the years and becoming a fantasy stud again.  It's nice to have them back.
  • Speaking of popular 2 gamers, Saha put down his marker scoring a sweet drive against West Ham.  Not that scoring against West Ham is difficult these days.  Everton are @ManU and @Hull next game week and Saha looks a good pick because, well @Hull.  But also because of the ex-team thing he isn't a terrible bet against Manchester United.  Sure the ex-team thing didn't quite work out for Sunderland (though FCampbell owners might disagree after his, as Neal called it, "the quietest nine points ever") but if Olofinjana can score against his old club, surely Saha is worth a punt.
  • I'm worried about Stoke.  All season I've been loath to bet on or against them.   They were the ultimate "tough out" to mix my sports metaphors.  Solid at the back.  Just enough going forward.  But certainly not enough to thrill fantasy managers.  Even at a buck.  The ultimate expression of that was their 1-0 win at Spurs when the just hung on and hung on until stealing three points late.  Since then they've been rocked in the Carling Cup (albeit with a reserve side), gave up two set piece goals to Wolves at home and now they've lost late to Hull City.  They still have a reasonably favorable schedule but I just don't know if I trust them to keep it tight, even at home any longer.
  • On the other hand, I didn't think Etherington could do the business again this week after his goal against Wolves.  He's a player we've always liked, but two goals in two games?  Kudos to anyone who went in on Eth and reaped the benefits.
  • Given... ugh!  Lost 25points to him last week and six this week by him.  Not that it was his fault this week.  One ridiculous PK as Lescott should never have raised his hands against that cross, and two counter-attacking goals where Burnley had players unmarked in the box which is inexcusable.  Hello, Zabaleta... you have to track back!  Citeh's schedule gets tough now - @Liv, Hull (ok, that's not tough), Che, @Bol, @Spurs - so we'll see what they're really made of.  And on evidence so far, it's a mixed bag.
  • Dindane was a red herring.  O'Hara's goal was a nice shot, but Samba couldn't have moved any slower in closing him down without going in reverse.  
What about you...  Mauled by Wolves' late consolation?  Did you get in on Villa's glut of goals?  Burnley burn you? 

47 comments:

  1. Chris O1:07 PM

    Humiliatingly bad week. 31.5, my worst score ever! (I think.) Yikes. Rodallega, Lampard, and Fab were all fine, but the other 8 player actually combined for a negative score. At least it seems that most others didn't do a whole lot better.

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  2. 43 points.
    Gibbs and M. Brown gave me zero. Verm gave me 3, Heit gave me 1. Etherington and O'Hara gave a huge boost but Fletcher was piss poor. Managed 13 points with Beattie, Drogs and RvP.

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  3. Do yall really think this Gibbs fella is going to be worth it? He played this weekend got ziltch, right? I picked up Wes Brown for about 6.2.

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  4. 70.5 not a terrible week for me.
    my midfield did well for once (lamps,fabs,hunt, o'hara)
    glad i picked up F.Camp, not so with ZHines.

    I think a lot of people are going to be distracted with the doubles and ignore ManU home to Everton and Chelsea home to Wolves. And even Spurs home to Wigan and Stoke home to Pompey..

    Any chance Faye's red sees Wilk back into the lineup?

    I'm tempted by Bobby Z at 7.93 for the double, but I'm too scared to really pick him, especially if you look at week 2 - 6 and last week.

    I knew that Wolves goal was coming....

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  5. @lucidswirl - i think Gibbs is worth it at that price, he should be getting more points and is guaranteed a starting spot for a while. i think he was unlucky to end up with zero.. although Gunners don't exactly have an easy schedule coming up..

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  6. @Bean - Yeah, I am ready to throw him in my squad but their schedule sure is going to be a tough one. With RvP and Verm already, not sure if I want more Gunners at the moment.

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  7. Benj :D2:02 PM

    Wow it makes me feel a whole lot better reading this! I was off doing hedonism all weekend so missed all the footy, I nearly choked on my rennies when i saw the 29 point total for the week :(

    20 of those points came from BNFAY (Benj's New Favourite), lucky I had him in or it could have easily been a single figure week :-0

    So many of my players are getting dropped as punishment!

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  8. @ Benj.haha about choking on your Rennies! Well, kind of a strange week really, I'm actually not too bothered by my toal of 47pts seeming as everyone has done pretty crapily. Trouble is, I have to now look at total 47 pts for 2 more weeks due to the sodding international break..grrrrr, I hate international breaks!

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  9. LBarroso5:08 PM

    finished the week with 69.5 pts. Not bad, but not good either. I think it was a bad week overall for most managers as I actually moved up in the rankings in the Fans of other group.

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  10. - 27.5 freakin points. didn't think it was possible to score THAT low.
    Bd'd Dunn/Saha. Going to prolly go with Gibbs from Givet AFTER the double week. or depending on how Givet does.
    - Should have Bd'd Deuce also.
    - break means plenty chances for injuries!

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  11. Anonymous8:18 PM

    Okay guys - Would there be any reason why I shouldn't pick L. Baines from Everton for the double gamer...injury or suspension perhaps? I'm really stoked about him, but I'll have to make a couple of sacrifices to get him in my team. thanks alot,
    (Honduran-Saul)

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  12. About those horribly-defended goals against ManCity: it was Wayne Bridge that was caught out of position TWICE to allow Burnley to break into City territory. Always quite average as a left back, Bridge was rotten in that game; he's always been overratd IMO just because he is english and left-footed.

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  13. I scored the lowest ever. 16.5 points... 15 of those from O'Hara. Van Persie's points almost cancelled by Given's, Vermaelen's points almost cancelled by KPB. Drogs a mere 0.5. While others returned a BF0 (Big Fat 0).

    Good thing is, it can't possibly get any lower than this, could it?

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  14. Anonymous1:00 AM

    I know it's a bit early to start creating my team for the next games but want some opinions...
    Saha/Duff/Giovanni/Samba or...
    Baines/Nasri/Bullard/Zamora?

    Difficult decision to make. I really want Baines and bullard in my team, but in order to do that I have to shuffle my team around alot. Haven't done it yet and don't want to do it cause I like Duff and Saha as well. Opinions happily taken...

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  15. I would go for the first one. Saha/Duff/Geovanni/Samba.

    Baines won't gurantee phantom pts like he used to. Nasri isn't a sure starter. Zamora isn't the worth 2-gamer for this week, but Saha is better.

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  16. Anonymous4:45 AM

    any comment??should i pick all??

    dunn/duff/bullard/ohara/zamora/saha

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  17. I'm looking at Geovanni as a nicely priced option. I'm just afraid that his pts (if not his starting spot) all go to Jummy.

    What do you think?

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  18. Anonymous12:15 PM

    @Jeremy - I have the same dilemma. At the moment I have...
    Schwarzer
    Verm/Heitinga/Samba
    Duff/Dunn/Dempsey/Geovanni
    Drogs/Saha/J.Roberts
    As you may see in my previous post, I would have to make a few changes to put in Jummy. What do you think of Baines, is he worth it? Does he take kicks?
    (Honduran-Saul)

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  19. Anonymous12:19 PM

    Whom do you prefer - Heitinga or Nelsen?
    Heintinga is a bit out of YFF form and with many injured players back I'm not so sure about his points, while Nelsen doesn't tend to bring many points along with him.
    Also - do you think Aaron Hughes is a good bet?

    SF

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  20. Anonymous3:25 PM

    can't understand why ron & jeremy didn't have any villa presence in a home game..against a bolton def which has'nt kept a clean sheet all season... esp when you consider carew and agbon were so cheap. the chance of an away clean sheet vs a top 10 side was even less likely. i also picked up bfay for 13.56..signif below his usual price of say 15 or 16.

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  21. Anonymous4:11 PM

    I'll tell you why ron and Jeremy didn't shoose villa players, (1) The previous double week was a bust and, (2) you never bet on or against Bolton.

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  22. Anonymous4:56 PM

    well bfay scored 20 pt's in that double week, and carew also scored a goal & agbon got 21...pt's despite those were 2 q tricky away games ..so i think a lot of ppl who got it wrong went with their heart and not head as the logic was clearly there to pick villa players.

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  23. @anonymous, you're clearly a genius. are you in 1st place right now?

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  24. Anonymous5:59 PM

    don't get all uppity with me.. i'm just stating to get better at this game, you learn from your mistakes...not start playing the violins and sob stories. i'm not stating hindsight logic..just making the case..both pro-villa and anti-bolton that the was a fair bit of logic to get at least villa 1 player from that game. i had bad luck in the DG me'self with diamanti & milner...aaaggh.

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  25. Anonymous6:09 PM

    & i might add that bolton got smashed 4-2 at villa park last season & 4-0 the season before that. so not as "crazy " a result than it is being made out to be.

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  26. Anonymous9:51 AM

    its a crazy result if you consider this thing called 'form'. Last year Villa were unstoppable, this year very stoppable.

    Jt

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  27. Anonymous12:05 PM

    c'mon then "form expert".. tell us about zat knight's form lately ? he's making titus shambles look like baresi.

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  28. Benj :D1:29 PM

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8357262.stm Career ender for Cudicini?? :-(

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  29. Anonymous8:14 PM

    Hey Jerremy, can we get at small preview of TWA for the double gamers and some bargain shopping on those teams? I know you're busy guys but maybe if you get a chance?

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  30. I got 83.5. Picked up Young barn door last week, as well as alexander who combined for 33. Bellamy, and fabs were good, and CDemp was great, who I have had for a few weeks now and couldnt be happier about having 4.3 bonus on him going into a double week.

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  31. Anonymous7:09 AM

    cant wait 2 c Arsenal kids trash Chelsea...hahaha

    -arsene bersin-

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  32. Anonymous1:39 AM

    jeremy, pls provide a in-depth analysis of "ditch drogba o not?", he is out for three weeks, should we keep the 6.33 discount for next two weeks for 0 point, or get someone elsewhere?

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  33. Anonymous4:04 AM

    arsenal kids my a**

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  34. Anonymous10:12 AM

    RvP injured!!

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  35. Anonymous11:11 AM

    eduardo top pick then

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  36. With Drogs out, Anelka the target man for Chelsea?

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  37. Anonymous12:00 PM

    damn..RvP injured..time to move on to Eds..
    hope rosicky,nasri fit enough to play all games after this..

    -sir alex ferguson-

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  38. Anonymous12:02 PM

    if i want to buy anelka from points i get after dropped drogba, hmm..cant afford..

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  39. Always forget who Eds is and can't find the blog post with all the abbreviations. What a nOOb.

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  40. That's what I was thinking. Don't know If i want to go with Drogs/Saha/Eds or get Milner as a mid.

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  41. Big injury post coming soon. Hang tight.

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  42. Yeah Jeremy. Doing what I can do barndoor asap.

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  43. Anonymous9:53 PM

    dempsey or duff? which better?

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  44. Anonymous11:32 PM

    duff...see his stats

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  45. Anonymous4:24 AM

    demps is overpriced given his recent form, so duff is better value

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  46. Anonymous2:20 PM

    I doubt Duff can start both games after coming back from int break. Back to back double games, no way.
    - Brian

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