Guest Posted May 12, 2002 Report Share Posted May 12, 2002 As the fantasy football season draws to a close with just one weekend to go, can I be the first to say a heartfelt thanks to Long Gun for organising it and giving most of us a little extra to think about and enjoy as the premiership season unfolded. Also a big thanks to Racha for donating the prize, even though from an early stage there was only ever going to be one winner. I don't wish this to sound like sour grapes Froggy - your performance throughout the season was sublime - but there will be a few of us who will argue that you worked things out a lot quicker than the rest of us. I know it took me at least 4 rounds of games before I worked out a decent strategy. You picked a winning team from the word go and left us all at the starting line. Well done sir. Too many of us felt an allegiance towards our own particular teams. I picked too many Man U players early on and Barthez couldn't stop leaking goals, and Le Blanc was running around like a chicken with his head cut off. Scholes couldn't even get a game. Long Gun packed his team with his red and white heroes, but even though he claimed Philips was worth a place - I was never convinced. Arsenal players have been the ones to have. Pires and Henry amassed loads of points between them and Long Gun's meteoric rise up the table has been care of Freddy Lundberg as captain. My captains usually start on the substitutes bench for some unknown reason. I'm chuffed with my hopefully final position of 4th, considering I was lying 50th at one stage, but in the final run-in I was even overshadowed by Long Gun, who was up until the small hours studying form. Special mention should also go to non-England boys like Racha, who before the season started probably didn't know their Hasselbanks from their Solksjaers but by the end, they'd become as obsessed with it as the rest of us. Is it better to play a cheap goalkeeper and concentrate on the outfield players? Is Owen due for a bad run? Is it better to have 2 strikers or 3? these were dilemmas that all needed to be solved. It was easy to see why some people do get hooked. I almost was. Congratulations once again to Froggy, but a final plea to Long Gun to make sure that he does it again next year...and this time, just maybe, we can give Froggy a better run for his money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Gun Posted May 12, 2002 Report Share Posted May 12, 2002 My captains usually start on the substitutes bench for some unknown reason. Well, it's half-time and I see you've done it again! Vierra is on the bench (you have 3 other non-starters!) with my captain, Freddie, who I foolishly reinstated instead of Riise who has scored twice in the first half (bless 'im, as they were against Ipswich!). It has been a laugh though, I think the season may still hold a few late surprises and I haven't given up hope of catching Soi Angel in the next 45 minutes! LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Long Gun Posted May 13, 2002 Report Share Posted May 13, 2002 Well, who would have thought it? What a turn up!! After leading the field from the off, with the finishing post in sight, Frogpatrol did an incanny impression of Devon Loch and ended up sprawling flat out all over the home straight. Angel Bangkok was brought down during this bizarre incident which left plucky outsider Long Gun (aka GTG - strange coincidence!!) to romp home followed a furlong behind (well, 22 points) by Bangkok Phil. A great season and a great victory for me! Thanks for the cash and see you on Racha Island!! LG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phiketpete Posted May 13, 2002 Report Share Posted May 13, 2002 i smell foul play. who was it that organised the league? who was it that was able to add and delete participants at will? I think that a recount is in order. Plucky ousider indeed more like the ultimate insider Hey in any event it moved me up a couple of places. Aster languishing in position 25-30 for most of the season the last 5 weeks or so have seen me move up to a position of 13th (or was it 15th LG?) well away from the relegation zone yet still not high enugh to be affected by LG's machiavellian ways. Obviously my teams performance proves that the premiership is a mere sprint and that Sukhumvit Strikers were built for the long haul or did I get it horribly wrong from the beginning? Time to start preparing for next season. No vacations for my squad they have all been ordered to the training ground. The new season starts today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayjann Posted May 13, 2002 Report Share Posted May 13, 2002 i hope if next season i will be allowed to take part in the fantasy football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phiketpete Posted May 13, 2002 Report Share Posted May 13, 2002 Why would you not be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogpatrol Posted May 13, 2002 Report Share Posted May 13, 2002 p, some people were left out b/c they came in after the 50 team maximum per league had been reached. f Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogpatrol Posted May 13, 2002 Report Share Posted May 13, 2002 As usual, Phil has eloquently described how many of us feel - thanks, Long Gun, for getting this league on it feet. I found myself glued to the tele for games that I would normally never have watched (Deby - Sunderland) (just joking), and hanging in there until the final minute for many others just so that I could be certain that my defence/keeper kept a clean sheet. Also thanks to Racha for his very kind gift, and to all the active players who kept life interesting throughout. It made it much more enjoyable knowing that folks were actively playing. Also, congrats to Angel, Long Gun, and Phil for qualifying for next year's Champion's League. Didn't you know they had one? In particular, both LG and Phil rose from deep in the bowels of the league to near the top by year-end. Well done. As to the Frogs campaign, it began with a flourish, as Phil noted, and ended with a dud, as LG comically stated. Why? Well, somewhere in the final third of the campain I became transfer-crazed, and though this kept the game enjoyable to me, it was clearly not the thing to do. Quite simply, I had fun, but lost my way in the process. Arsene would have been displeased, as I lacked the commitment to stay with the team that brought me the early league lead. Still, I did have fun If I have any system for next year, at its core will be to NOT transfer on a weekly basis like I was doing for a while. IMHO, the only time to undertake sweeping transfers is during the weeks where clubs play twice. And even then, my sense is that the team value should first be built up. I knew I was in trouble when after leading the country of Thailand for about 28 weeks, then suddenly several clubs with values of 85 and above were matched up against my Frogs who still were worth about 78. So, not surprisingly, down I went. Live and learn. Still, I really cannot complain with where I finished - if, at the season onset, someone told me after 34 weeks I would be in the top 500 out of more than 136,000, I would have told them they were looney. So, though I narrowly missed the top 500 world wide, I feel I did just fine, just as we all did. Most importantly, it was good fun. And next year, something tells me that noone will have a 100-300 point cushion throughout as was the case with me this year. Too many of us understand the game too well now, and names like Racha and Pete, and many others from this year, as well as newcomers (Sayjaan?) will make things very competitive. As for some ideas things to ponder: (1) Phil's point about high vs low priced keepers. I spent part of the year with Martyn, who did well for me, and another part with a variety of low priced keepers. My sense is that if you can build up team value in other places, it is best to stay with a steady keeper, even at a high cost. Agree? Or not? (2) Low priced midfield players from clubs that don't tend to let in many goals seem like a bargain to me. Did anyone else find this? Parker of Charlton did well for a while, as did some of the Fulham (Legwinski, Malbranque) players. (3) Avoid big name strikers whose value may be inflated, but whose production is poor. York of Man U is an early-season example of this. Phil may know this all too well. Did he even see the pitch for 5 games this year? (4) Some of the big clubs have grossly overpriced players who often miss several games due to their being rested for Europe, while some of the lower profile clubs such as West Ham had some fine buys. Anyone have examples of low-cost players who did well for you? Kelly of Leeds was one for me. So, an Arsenal-nanplaza frog treble. Glory days, to be sure, in this part of Bangkok. Onto the world cup and then 2002-3. Looking forward to them both. Cheers, froggo p.s. LG, was it you or cyki that removed the nana league so quickly from the site? I think many folks haven't yet had a chance to check where they stood at year end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogpatrol Posted May 13, 2002 Report Share Posted May 13, 2002 fyi, the top 50 fantsy footy players, and then this season's dream team. froggo 1 JF Hasselbaink 181 2 T Henry 177 3 A Shearer 176 4 R V Nistelrooy 168 5 I Harte 165 6 S Malbranque 163 7 N Solano 162 8 R Pires 156 9 L Robert 154 10 JA Riise 152 11 D Murphy 149 12 N Martyn 148 13 F Ljungberg (and missed 3 months!) 147 14 S Hyypia 147 15 J Dudek 145 16 M Pahars 143 17 OG Solskjaer 142 18 M Owen 141 19 P Scholes 141 20 R Fowler 138 21 R Giggs 137 22 G Poyet 135 23 E Gudjohnsen 134 24 D Beckham 134 25 S Henchoz 133 26 T Sinclair 133 27 F Lampard 133 28 M Viduka 131 29 E Van der Sar 129 30 K Phillips 129 31 H Kewell 127 32 D Duff 127 33 K Nolan 126 34 D Bergkamp 125 35 S Wiltord 123 36 M Melchiot 123 37 M Jansen 121 38 A Svensson 121 39 D Vassell 119 40 J Euell 118 41 D Kiely 117 42 C Ziege 117 43 D Anderton 116 44 M Holland 116 45 E Heskey 115 46 S Finnan 115 47 A Cole 114 48 JP Angel 112 49 R Brevett 112 50 J Carragher 112 Now, for the dream team. N Martyn (148) I Harte (165) S Hyypia (147) S Malbranque (163) N Solano (162) R Pires (156) JA Riise (152) D Murphy (149) JF Hasselbaink (181) T Henry (177) A Shearer (176) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phiketpete Posted May 13, 2002 Report Share Posted May 13, 2002 Frogpatrol, that could well be howevr i thought that there was a 'second division' of sorts. Ron Manager 'won' mid season promotion i seem, to recall. Certainly the idea next year would be to keep the league private, handing out the id only to board members. Quite a number of the 50 had no link to this board. Congratulations on a well earned victory by the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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