@FPL_Fly is a seasoned FPL
manager. His highest finish to date in FPL is 676th overall. He also
happens to be a former writer for FPLHINTS and one of the most
interesting characters that I have met in real life. But none of that is
important now - he's surpassed it all by being crowned the Christmas Number
One!* I caught up with him on his achievement and FPL exploits.
*On Christmas
Island
Chief - First and foremost,
congratulations! How does it feel to be the 'Christmas Number One'?
Fly - This ranks right up there with some of the greatest achievements in my life to date. It is hard to grade them, so in no particular order they are:
• Appearing on Tiswas as a 5 year old and having Sally James wipe Chris Tarrant’s custard off my face...
• Finishing 9th in the Men’s 100m Final at the London 2012 Olympics. I didn’t actually enter, but as there were 8 finalists it could be argued that I did in fact finish only one place below them...
• Killing Ayrton Senna. This is true, and one day the truth will come out.
Fly - This ranks right up there with some of the greatest achievements in my life to date. It is hard to grade them, so in no particular order they are:
• Appearing on Tiswas as a 5 year old and having Sally James wipe Chris Tarrant’s custard off my face...
• Finishing 9th in the Men’s 100m Final at the London 2012 Olympics. I didn’t actually enter, but as there were 8 finalists it could be argued that I did in fact finish only one place below them...
• Killing Ayrton Senna. This is true, and one day the truth will come out.
Chief - What was it that convinced
you to switch your allegiance from England to Christmas Island during
pre-season?
Fly - Truth be told I didn’t
actually vote for Christmas Island in the competition you ran to decide who
we would “adopt”. One of the other finalists was a remote island I once lived
and worked on and for which I have a special affinity. That said, once the
decision was made, I was wholly behind the endeavour.
Also, I remembered how much Mrs Fly is petrified of crabs so I
figured if there *was* the chance of an all expenses paid trip to Christmas
Island for the winner (come on @CITourism, make it happen!) then I
knew she wouldn’t come with me which made it an altogether more enticing
competition!
Chief - What in particular have
you enjoyed about being associated with the Christmas Island league?
Fly - I’ve actually learned a
little about the place (other than it just all being about the crabs) and would
love to one day visit Flying Fish Cove, which is also
known as Kampong Settlement. Also, the shape of the island itself looks very
much like a Poodle... 🐩
Chief - I know that Mrs Fly is also an accomplished FPL manager in her
own right. Has she been praising your superlatives this season and taking
tips from you?
Fly - Seriously? It’s like trying
to get blood from a stone to even try and get the information about who she is
captaining for my regular pre-Gameweek tweet! She’s more secretive than MI6 when it comes to her FPL
team. I’m happy to report, however, that she’s doing RUBBISH this season and is
currently languishing around the 1.5m mark after keeping faith with Sanchez for
far too long. She never listens to advice from me, whether in FPL or in real
life...
Chief - I know you're having a
tremendous season to date. Let's not beat around the bush, you can
realistically win FPL! What's your secret and what are your expectations?
Fly - No secret. I got off to an
excellent start courtesy of 101pts in Gameweek 1 to make the Top 5k. Those
first 2 weeks of the season were a great platform thanks to Hegazi, Mkhitaryan,
Eriksen and Rooney. I did slip in Gameweek 3 and 4 to a season low of 173k but
I’ve consistently been in and around the Top 5k since Gameweek 7.
That, combined with
some decent captain picks has been the key which has allowed me to rack up a
63pt per Gameweek average. I’ve also kept faith with players with good
underlying stats while others around me have rage transferred them out. But in
all honesty, I’ve just been lucky.
Chief - I also must ask this - come May 2018, what would you do and how would you feel if you won FPL?
Fly - It’s incredibly unlikely for
various reasons. The main one is actually quite peculiar. Geographic location.
The 2014 Overall Champion (@tomfenley) and the 2016 Overall
Champion (@DimitriN23) live about 20 miles
apart. I live slap bang between the two. In a global game of 5.5m+ players, 3
Champions from within the same small area in the UK would be a miracle!
I also think I may have peaked too soon; I prefer a much slower and steadier climb to tell the truth. The pressure at the top is massive. I know this from experience in 2010 when I went into the final week of the season inside the Top 50 (with a very realistic chance of winning) only to finish 676th.
Chief - Finally, I know you've
had a challenging year to say the least. What one piece of advice would
you give to those that are having a difficult time in their FPL and non-FPL
lives?
Fly - Yeah, it’s not been a
great year outside of FPL. Having been diagnosed with Testicular Cancer in
March my life got flipped, turned upside down - unfortunately there was no
mansion in Bel Air at the end, just the removal of one of my precious spuds!
In all seriousness,
I got lucky. It was such a rare tumour I didn’t need chemotherapy (as it
wouldn’t respond to it) so I didn’t have to put my body through that.
What I would do is implore ALL readers, both male AND
female to regularly check themselves and go to the GP is they detect
anything unusual. There is absolutely NOTHING to be embarrassed/worried
about!!
On top of that I
then managed to secure a job that satisfied a long-held ambition, namely to
work in Antarctica, only to bust my ankle and leg up badly 12 days into the 6
month contract. This has left me with a permanent disability and coupled with
the cancer has left my head in a very bad place. With no real family support
and friends not really being of the “type” to want to discuss these kind of
things, I found solace in strangers on the internet.
The FPL community have done wonders
in ways I’ll never be able to truly communicate. They’ve allowed me a safe
place to whinge, bitch, vent, laugh and cry. But anyway, enough about Jurgen
Klopp’s (mis)management of Liverpool!
I guess what I’m
trying to say is whether you’re having a tough time in either real life or in
FPL, find someone or somewhere you can talk. Don’t bottle it up.
It’s not healthy.
I just want to end
this interview by name checking the three other Christmas Island managers who
could quite easily have been talking to you instead of me: @barCOLEYna,
who led for so long, @CareemSelim and @davidoff_7.
I’m sure the lead of this league will swap many times between now and the end of the season.
Chief - It's been a pleasure speaking to you, buddy. Here's to a healthier and happier 2018 for you, and everyone!
