12/03/24
August 30, 2006
Spofi EPL FFL: Updates through the first three weeks.
Week 2
posted by gspm at 08:39 AM on August 30, 2006
Week 3
posted by gspm at 08:51 AM on August 30, 2006
from here on out, please don't change your team or manager name. making the updates involves, for me, anyway, slapping the latest scores into a spreadsheet and executing some fancy macros that reorganize the latest results based upon manager or team name yadda yadda. so if you change your manager or team name now it will muck up everything. if i was really awesome i'd do all sorting based upon the ID number in the URL of your team page. i am not that awesome. now I know folks are in multiple pools and changing team names can be fun but don't make me cry. thanks.
posted by gspm at 09:20 AM on August 30, 2006
Broke into the top half million. Hooray! What do the colors mean? They seem to be big movers, but I'm not entirely clear on what's what. Thanks for doing this.
posted by yerfatma at 10:19 AM on August 30, 2006
gspm, you are that awesome, just in a different way. The colors indicate gameweek high scores (1st, 2nd, 3rd and last).
posted by garfield at 11:41 AM on August 30, 2006
gspm is awesome indeed. Thanks for the clarification on name-changing and consequences for you (awesome blink usage, btw). I was about to change my team name after the awful first week, but wondered about the extra work for you to track it (speaking as a former EPL fantasy league updater, I feel your pain). So I decided against it. Zizou Headbutters lives on (at least for this season). Now, I gotta fix our performance.
posted by worldcup2002 at 12:30 PM on August 30, 2006
Thanks gspm. Your updates are always excellent work. Did any of you SpoFites have the nous to use the international break this weekend to maximise your funds by using your wildcard transfer week? I missed the opportunity myself.
posted by squealy at 02:50 PM on August 30, 2006
I was saving the wildcard for later in the year. I figured I'd need it at some point, when two or three guys go down or start sucking all at once, you know. You mean there was a better way to use that? Oh.
posted by chicobangs at 03:05 PM on August 30, 2006
man, I feel like everyone is speaking a different language. I need to look under the hood of this thing. Widlcards? no clue.
posted by scully at 03:23 PM on August 30, 2006
Not necessarily better chico but I know some people who're trying it out. Basically the concept is that the start of the season is when player prices are most volatile (before a lot of players become disinterested). Therefore the extended two week week break at the start of the season gives the most chance for player prices to rise and fall as a result of fevered transfer activity. The wildcard allows you to make as many transfers in and out in the gameweek as you wish (without cost in points). Therefore some people are just dispensing with a fair proportion of their squad for those who are "hot" at the moment, in the hope that the price of each will rise by at least 0.2m during the gameweek. Then at the end of the gameweek they can get rid of the ones they don't think will do well long term and replace them with other players (or indeed the players they originally owned at the start of the week) - earning 0.1m per player sold at the same time. Last season I played the transfers for the first 15 weeks of the season - making two every week - in a bid to increase my funds at the cost of 4 points a week. It certainly worked in terms of building a powerful squad at the end, what with 10m extra in the kitty, but at the expense of 60 points which I was never quite able to claw back.
posted by squealy at 03:28 PM on August 30, 2006
terrapin, You can play 1 transfer wild card a season. All transfers made in the Gameweek your wild card is played will be without points deduction. You play your wild card when confirming transfers. Any transfers you make will become active at the next deadline. You can look under the hood of the game in the Help section here.
posted by squealy at 03:33 PM on August 30, 2006
I used mine last week when I discovered I had a team full of lay-abouts.
posted by yerfatma at 04:00 PM on August 30, 2006
Which team is yours yerfatma?
posted by squealy at 04:07 PM on August 30, 2006
hmm, dunno how to integrate it into the table without creating two manager columns but I do have (including a few guesses) the usernames of all the managers. i suppose I could use those instead, for posterity since, in many cases, people have signed up for the epl league and had to come up with a different username, against their wishes, than the one they use here. might give the usernames rather than manager names whirl next go around. that being said, might as well check the link on your manager name to see if it goes to the right page. according to my link yerfatma would be A. Guy and now I see he has a hilarious prediction tracker on his website. I'll predict a top 5 finish in this pool this year. I've been knocking on the door...
posted by gspm at 05:03 PM on August 30, 2006
Yeah, I'm A. Guy. I didn't realize that was going to show as my username. I would fix it, but we've been instructed otherwise (and I'd nevder be able to figure out how to do it). Range Park Queens.
posted by yerfatma at 05:57 PM on August 30, 2006
I desperately needed the wild card and completely missed it as an option. I picked some low-cost but solid defenders from last season that were giving me nothing but zeroes these first 3 weeks. Locker Room info comes through again. Thanks, squealy.
posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 07:31 PM on August 30, 2006
I am still learning how to manage - this is my first time in the league. So thanks for the strategy tips, guys. I'm the Middle Pocket Mares, BTW (it's easy - find the bottom of the table and move up slowly). Unfortunately I picked my team early, then went on a work trip. By the time I got back some of my selections had been transferred to Spain, the Championship or gone out on loan. I had to use my 'free' transfer option just to get some regular players back in. Now, to work! (Metaphorically rolls up sleeves, pumps up balls, puts out traffic cones).
posted by owlhouse at 08:20 PM on August 30, 2006
Watch out, if I am not mistaken, owlhouse is always good for a top 8 finish in our Champions League pools. Though last year was the biggest yet with 9 participants. (ba-dum tsch!)
posted by gspm at 09:05 PM on August 30, 2006
There's one thing I can never be accused of, and that's success.
posted by owlhouse at 06:56 AM on August 31, 2006
I finally figured out how to make a transfer and have it stick this week. Maybe I can score a few more points now. Thank god we don't have relegation.
posted by YukonGold at 07:45 AM on August 31, 2006
thanks squealy
posted by scully at 06:14 PM on August 31, 2006
Just so the link is here, & now that the window's closed, here's a list of all the recent transfers if you want to have a look at new pickups or any of your own guys who may have moved.
posted by chicobangs at 07:11 PM on August 31, 2006
It'll be interesting to see how Beasley fares in England. I can only hope he stands up and plays and loses the diving he learned in Holland.
posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 10:59 PM on August 31, 2006
n00b question, yet again... How do you "loan" a player to a team in your own league. Is it really what it sounds like?
posted by YukonGold at 06:54 AM on September 01, 2006
(A rule changed for 2003/04) A Premiership club can take players on loan from other Premiership clubs, but only a maximum of two at a time, a maximum of four per season and only during the transfer window (previously Premiership clubs were not allowed to take players on loan from another Premiership club).
posted by squealy at 09:07 AM on September 01, 2006
Hmmm, the price increase mechanism relating to number of transfers in and out seems to have stalled or have been stalled. Given that this seems to minimise the possibility of making financial gains from playing the transfer market I'd wait until the international games have been played before making transfers. There's no telling which players may pick up injuries.
posted by squealy at 09:40 AM on September 01, 2006
Hey, Yukon, if you're asking about loans in the real EPL, squealy's got your answer right there. A loan means the team that borrows the player has to pay the player's salary. Usu., no money changes hands between the teams. It's usu. used to blood young players, get high-priced non-playing players off the wage list, or as a trial period before a player is sold. There can sometimes be a clause for players to be sold after the loan period to the borrowing club. I'm speaking as an interested observer, not as any sort of sports business, finance or contracts expert. If you're asking about loans in the fantasy league, there's no such thing.
posted by worldcup2002 at 11:32 AM on September 01, 2006
squealy, I think the price mechanism only works when there's an active gameweek (i.e., the system does not reconcile all the trades and player values until it needs to).
posted by worldcup2002 at 11:36 AM on September 01, 2006
That can't be true wc2002 because some players have already gone up in price this gameweek. Anyway, this is an active gameweek - gw4, it's just twice as long as usual.
posted by squealy at 11:46 AM on September 01, 2006
I was speaking from a reality standpoint. It's a strange concept from an American professional sport POV. Thanks. If we were allowed to loan players in fantasy EPL, I'd dupe yerfatma into taking all my overpriced shitbags...on a "trial" basis.
posted by YukonGold at 12:52 PM on September 01, 2006
If you're asking about loans in the fantasy league, there's no such thing. Though the impact could still be felt, I wager, if it tipped you beyond the max of three players from any one team.
posted by gspm at 04:02 PM on September 01, 2006
I noticed Tevez is valued at 9 points, which seems a little steep given the history of crap performances from attacking South American players not named Crespo in the EPL.
posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 10:26 AM on September 03, 2006
Week 1