Blast from the past: Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle United (1996)

Blast from the past: Liverpool 4-3 Newcastle United (1996) - Spice Boys v Entertainers

In anticipation of Liverpool v Newcastle United's fixture for this gameweek, I am reminded of a famous match that took place between them over 15 years ago (see above).  It is often cited as the best ever match in Premier League history and inevitable decided the 1995/1996 title race.  For those that don't know Liverpool were known as the "Spice Boys" due to the player culture at the club, where as Newcastle United were known as the "Entertainers" due to their thrilling blend of attacking football that catapulted them to challenge for the title.  Unfortunately I was unable to watch the match live, but vividly remember following it on Ceefax.  The pattern of the scoring was such that it added to the legendary status of the match as follows:

Liverpool lead 1-0 (Robbie Fowler '2)
Newcastle equalised 1-1 (Les Ferdinand '10)
Newcastle lead 1-2 (David Ginola '14)
Liverpool equalised 2-2 (Robbie Fowler '55)
Newcastle lead 2-3 (Fastino Asprilla '57)
Liverpool equalised 3-3 (Stan Collymore '68)
Liverpool lead 4-3 (Stan Collymore '90 + 2)

As can be seen from the video above, Collymore scored the famous injury time winner, followed by Kevin Keegan being literally sunk in disbelief as he realised that Newcastle's title hopes had hit the rocks - after throwing away an amazingly huge 12 point lead from a few months earlier.

They don't make football like that anymore! 

Let's hope that Friday's match is at least half as entertaining.

Recommended Player for Gameweek 19

Recommended Player for Gameweek 19 - Leighton Baines (Everton)

After going 8 weeks without endorsing a Premier League defender, my recommended player for Gameweek 19 is Everton’s Leighton Baines. With the spectacular demise of Tim Cahill during this calendar year (he has scored no Premier League goals in 2011!), Baines has become the Toffees sole-star player. To put it simply, if Everton did not have Leighton Baines they would be bogged down in the relegation zone – that’s how important he is for them. During last season he bagged an impressive 5 goals and 11 assists from defence in the Premier League. Baines has scored 3 so far, but only managed 1 assist, in part due to Everton’s lack of goals. In fact, during their five Premier League matches in December they have only scored a paltry 3 goals. But this should not put you off from buying Baines as he is Everton’s joint Premier League top scorer (tied with Osman and Vellios). Moreover, his team’s upcoming January 2012 fixtures ensure that they may score more or keep more clean sheets as follows:

West Brom (A)

Bolton (H)*

Tottenham Hotspurs (A)*

Aston Villa (A)

Blackburn (H)

*Everton and Tottenham play two matches during GW 20 – also known as “Double Gameweek”

Another point of note is that Everton have agreed to re-sign Landon Donovan on loan for approximately two months from the start of January. This clever loan deal will inevitably bolster Everton’s attack and most likely increase their number of goals scored per match. This could see Baines benefiting in the form of getting more registered assists or being involved in more attacking set pieces. At 7.7 Baines is hardly a steal, but a worthy purchase due to the aforementioned reasons.

My captain for GW 19 is Robin Van Persie and vice-captain is Nani.

Transfers**: Evans and Richards (OUT) / Smalling and Baines (IN)

**Due to having a spare transfer, I may also sell Joe Allen in place of Leon Osman/Landon Donovan for a -4 points hit, but this is yet to be confirmed.

I should have my team posted up on the My GW Team tab (above) in the next 24-48 hours.

Gameweek 18 Summary

The gameweek was full of surprises with the freakishly high prevalence of draws (7 out of 10) as many big teams failed to win against lesser teams.  For instance, Chelsea could only manage a draw against Fulham as Liverpool succumbed to a poor score draw to Blackburn Rovers at Anfield.  Man City failed to score in a Premier League match for the first time this season as their match against the Baggies ended goalless.  Arsenal failed to exploit the draws of the teams above them as they were held to a 1-1 versus Wolves.  Manchester United were true to their recent form as they won 5-0 against relegation strugglers Wigan.  Spurs capitalised on the drawfest of others as they continued to hang on to the title race with a 0-2 away win against Norwich.  On the mid-table front, unsurprisingly, Everton v Sunderland and Swansea v QPR ended up as 1-1 draws.  Finally, Newcastle ended their winless streak by attaining victory against Bolton - as Stoke v Aston Villa ended 0-0.

Well, well, well - a mixed gameweek for me - I have to say folks that I missed out on two fronts for this gameweek.  Firstly my captain Van Persie failed to assist or score against Wolves at The Emirates.  Secondly my third substitute Ryan Taylor got a clean sheet and assist, but unfortunately he will not be featuring as an auto-sub - thus lost points there.  On a brighter note, I am confident that my overall GW score will be higher than the average as many oddball results meant that a majority of FPL gamers will have lost out more so than myself - At least I was able to manage a major "BALE OUT" - as Bale (2 goals), Walker (clean sheet), Adebayor (assist), Ben Arfa (goal) and Ba (goal) put me in good stead.  On a side note, the valuable points picked up from my Spurs' players also allowed me to win against my opponent in the first FPL cup match.  As for future changes to my team I am inclined to bring in Smalling to replace the injured Evans (who replaced the injured Jones only last GW!).  Moreover, I may prepare myself for Spurs and Everton's double gameweek (GW 20) by bringing in the likes of Baines and Osman.  All will be revealed soon.  Until then, stay tuned!

Great Britain and NI's Football Team at the 2012 Olympics

I recently managed England while playing FM 2012 with mixed results.  During this stint I was also eligible to manage Great Britain and Northern Ireland's football team for the London 2012 Olympics, which I did so whole heartedly.  In doing so I was able to select players from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.  Unlike the current national set up I decided to field a strong team.  As a result I benefited in having a strong depth of players to choose from that would not have been otherwise available.  It's unlikely that some of the players selected by me will play in real life.  But it goes to show what could happen if Stuart Pearce (England U21 manager / Team GB & NI manager) was to pick a strong team.  The following shows screen shots of my success at managing  them when playing FM 2012:

The selected players for the first group match

Cricket score victory over Australia in the group stages

Rout of Ivory Coast, also in the group stages

Thrilling victory over Uruguay in the Semi Finals

My First XI - Team GB - for the Final

Final Score v Mexico as Team GB win Gold!

A brief report outlining the success of Team GB

;-)

Recommended Player for Gameweek 18

Recommended Player for Gameweek 18 - Michel Vorm (Swansea City)

Michel Vorm a.k.a "Penalty Killer"

My recommended player for gameweek 18 is finally a goalkeeping pick.  He’s done surprisingly well thus far in the Premier League.  It’s Swansea City’s Michel Vorm.  The Dutchman has won many fans for his match saving and winning displays.  He has defied the odds by keeping 8 clean sheets out of 17 matches – a remarkable feat for a newly promoted team and player that have never played in the Premier League.  Such has been his impact that his FPL value has increased by 1.1 from August.  At 5.1 he is still a steal of a purchase, cheaper than many top goalkeepers.  He also has two penalty saves to his name – giving credence to his surprisingly apt nickname – “The Penalty Killer”.  Vorm has acquired 22 points from him last three games.  His points tally can be furthered even more with Swansea’s next match at home to QPR.  Of course shortly after that he will face Tottenham and Arsenal – but you could always bench him for those matches, provided you have a half decent sub (I don’t!).  Vorm has also been capped by his national team and it may be difficult for Swansea to keep hold of him if a big club comes knocking in June. All this begs a question, will Vorm’s second half of the season be as good as his first?

   
My captain for GW 18 is Robin Van Persie and vice-captain is Nani.

Transfers*:  Jones (OUT) / Evans (IN)

My gameweek 18 team will be updated here within the next 48 hours.

*I still have one free transfer at hand as I didn't make any transfers in GW 17.

Gameweek 17 Summary

Manchester City have ended up as the team on top of the Premier League before the boxing day sales with a 0-3 victory against Stoke City, as Blackburn were consigned to 20th after suffering defeat to relegation comrades Bolton.  Newcastle suffered a disappointing 2-3 loss at home to West Brom - Interestingly they haven't won a single home match after St James' Park was renamed the Sports Direct Arena!  Manchester United won 0-5 at Craven Cottage as Arsenal fumbled to victory at Villa Park.  Liverpool could only obtain a draw against Wigan, as Tottenham and Chelsea could only manage an even scoreline against each other.  Everton won at home and kept a long awaited clean sheet, as Sunderland gained three crucial away points at Loftus Road.  Finally, Wolves and Norwich couldn't outscore one another as they drew 2-2.

The gameweek also saw two records of note achieved as Aston Villa's Marc Albrighton scored the 20,000th Premier League goal.  In addition, the legend that is Ryan Giggs continued his sensational run of scoring in every edition of the Premier League.  On the face of it I have had a fairly good gameweek as my midfielders and strikers shared a respectable 5 goals / 4 assists between them.  However, apart from Enrique (who kept a clean sheet), my defence let me down as Richards was subbed off on the 59th minute (robbing me of his clean sheet points!) and Jones hobbled off injured (again lost clean sheet points).  As a result of Jones' injury I have decided to sell him with a cheaper United defender to release funds and avoid the risk of losing a player long-term on the sidelines.  I am toying with the idea of also signing a Mata or Silva type midfielder but may not do so yet.  I will keep faith with Hatem Ben Arfa for the Bolton match in the hope that he will build on his assist and also start the match.

Aside from the above stay tuned for my recommended player for gameweek 18 article which I will post shortly.  Ciao!

Blast from the past: The Hurricanes

Blast from the past: The Hurricanes (cartoon)

I came across the following recently and thought it may bring about some nostalgic memories among a section of my readership.  For those of a certain age you may remember The Hurricanes cartoon from the mid-1990s (see above).  It was about a football club (or "soccer club" as they would call it) and for some surreal reason was voiced by American voice actors.  To be honest with you, I vaguely remember watching the cartoon on a few occasions (I think they also launched a computer game).  However the cartoon was so obscure that I can't name any of the main characters.  The cartoon's launch coincided with the rise of the English Premier League and also overlapped with USA 94.  Was it a clever ploy to capitalise on the rising popularity of football/soccer in the 1990s? or a random coincidence?  You decide.  Either way the cartoon was phased out very quickly and nothing of the football-cartoon-sort has really come about since.

When will a player's price increase or decrease in FPL?

The answer is: We don't know for sure when.  FPL have their own hidden formula, most likely based (among other things) on the actual demand for a player.  This may then be further calculated via net transfers with set quotas to be met from FPL gamers' transfers to ultimately determine if a player's price will rise or fall.  For instance, if a Premier League footballer has had a really good gameweek his price is likely to rise due to subsequent demand via purchases.  Where as a popularly selected Premier League player suffering from bad form (or a long-term injury) will eventually be transferred out, have decreased demand and almost certainly see his price fall in the immediate short-term.  According to some, price increases/decreases are capped at 0.3 per gameweek.  Courtesy of my friends at FPL Dugout, I was referred to the following website (FISO Crack the Code) which can provide estimated projections* of player price increases and decreases.

http://www.fiso.co.uk/crackthecode.php
*Disclaimer: They are not 100% correct and their projections should only be used as a guideline.

The benefit of knowing of price changes is crucial as it will ultimately affect your team value and your spending power.  Thus you will benefit if a player from your FPL team increases in value.  But you may also be short changed if a player from your FPL team decreases in value.  This isn't to say that a player with a declining price will not bounce back or a player rising in price will not go through a bad patch in the future.  As with all FPL decisions it's all about calculated probability, some luck, a bit of skill on your part and some hunches, etc.  Do bare the above in mind when making FPL transfers in the future.