Small Rocks 2011-2012 Draft Analysis (and preseason transfers)

As of now, the transfer window will be opening at 12:00 noon eastern time on Tuesday (August 9). If anyone has a conflict with that, please speak up.

We had some great written summaries of the Small Rocks draft last year. Don't know if anyone will be taking on that privilege this season, but please feel free to post them or links to them here.

Even if you don't want to do a full analysis, it's always fun to get a glimpse into personal draft reactions. Anyone have any uh-oh moments, where they regretted a pick as soon as they made it? Anyone identified any draft altering moments that took you in a totally different direction than you had expected (and are you now pleased about that or not)? Anyone tried to float a player through the turn and surprised the player didn't come out on the other side?

I'm not sure how this will look as Excel columns are converted, but to kick things off, here is a breakdown of the players taken separated out by Premier League teams:

Code:

 								
								
LSG Cambridge 	 - Gibbs 	 - 	D 	 - 	ARS 	 - 	5.5
FC Springfield 	 - Ramsey 	 - 	M 	 - 	ARS 	 - 	6.5
LSG Cambridge 	 - Nasri 	 - 	M 	 - 	ARS 	 - 	9.5
blechs_dawgs 	 - Walcott 	 - 	M 	 - 	ARS 	 - 	9.0
FC Springfield 	 - Arshavin 	 - 	M 	 - 	ARS 	 - 	9.0
Vegas Virgins 	 - Van Persie 	 - 	F 	 - 	ARS 	 - 	12.0
Sasha Juniors 	 - Gervinho 	 - 	F 	 - 	ARS 	 - 	9.0
								
Sasha Juniors 	 - Given 	 - 	G 	 - 	AVL 	 - 	5.0
blechs_dawgs 	 - N'Zogbia 	 - 	M 	 - 	AVL 	 - 	7.5
Vegas Virgins 	 - Albrighton 	 - 	M 	 - 	AVL 	 - 	6.5
Rockville Gunners - Bent 	 - 	F 	 - 	AVL 	 - 	10.0
								
Rockville Gunners - Robinson 	 - 	G 	 - 	BLA 	 - 	5.0
blechs_dawgs 	 - Samba 	 - 	D 	 - 	BLA 	 - 	5.5
Glorydaze fC 	 - Gamst-Ped..	 - 	M 	 - 	BLA 	 - 	6.5
LSG Cambridge 	 - Hoilett 	 - 	F 	 - 	BLA 	 - 	6.0
								
Sasha Juniors 	 - Davies K 	 - 	F 	 - 	BOL 	 - 	6.5
								
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - Cech 	 - 	G 	 - 	CHE 	 - 	7.0
FC Springfield 	 - Luiz 	 - 	D 	 - 	CHE 	 - 	6.5
LSG Cambridge 	 - Cole A 	 - 	D 	 - 	CHE 	 - 	7.5
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - Ivanovic 	 - 	D 	 - 	CHE 	 - 	7.0
Sasha Juniors 	 - Terry 	 - 	D 	 - 	CHE 	 - 	7.5
Rockville Gunners - Bosingwa 	 - 	D 	 - 	CHE 	 - 	5.5
Sasha Juniors 	 - Lampard 	 - 	M 	 - 	CHE 	 - 	12.0
Sasha Juniors 	 - Malouda 	 - 	M 	 - 	CHE 	 - 	10.5
FC Springfield 	 - Torres 	 - 	F 	 - 	CHE 	 - 	11.0
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - Drogba 	 - 	F 	 - 	CHE 	 - 	10.5
								
FC Springfield 	 - Howard 	 - 	G 	 - 	EVE 	 - 	5.5
Sasha Juniors 	 - Baines 	 - 	D 	 - 	EVE 	 - 	8.0
blechs_dawgs 	 - Jagielka 	 - 	D 	 - 	EVE 	 - 	5.5
FC Springfield 	 - Rodwell 	 - 	M 	 - 	EVE 	 - 	5.5
								
LSG Cambridge 	 - Schwarzer 	 - 	G 	 - 	FUL 	 - 	5.0
Rockville Gunners - Hughes 	 - 	D 	 - 	FUL 	 - 	5.0
Sasha Juniors 	 - Riise 	 - 	D 	 - 	FUL 	 - 	6.0
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - Baird 	 - 	D 	 - 	FUL 	 - 	5.0
FC Springfield 	 - Hangeland 	 - 	D 	 - 	FUL 	 - 	6.5
Rockville Gunners - Dempsey 	 - 	M 	 - 	FUL 	 - 	8.5
LSG Cambridge 	 - Murphy 	 - 	M 	 - 	FUL 	 - 	6.0
Vegas Virgins 	 - Duff 	 - 	M 	 - 	FUL 	 - 	6.5
LSG Cambridge 	 - Zamora 	 - 	F 	 - 	FUL 	 - 	7.0
Sasha Juniors 	 - Johnson A 	 - 	F 	 - 	FUL 	 - 	5.5
								
Glorydaze fC 	 - Reina 	 - 	G 	 - 	LIV 	 - 	6.5
Rockville Gunners - Agger 	 - 	D 	 - 	LIV 	 - 	6.0
LSG Cambridge 	 - Johnson 	 - 	D 	 - 	LIV 	 - 	7.0
Vegas Virgins 	 - Downing 	 - 	M 	 - 	LIV 	 - 	8.5
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - Kuyt 	 - 	M 	 - 	LIV 	 - 	10.0
LSG Cambridge 	 - Suarez 	 - 	F 	 - 	LIV 	 - 	9.5
Glorydaze fC 	 - Carroll 	 - 	F 	 - 	LIV 	 - 	10.0
								
Vegas Virgins 	 - Hart 	 - 	G 	 - 	MCI 	 - 	7.0
blechs_dawgs 	 - Kompany 	 - 	D 	 - 	MCI 	 - 	6.0
LSG Cambridge 	 - Clichy 	 - 	D 	 - 	MCI 	 - 	6.0
Glorydaze fC 	 - Lescott 	 - 	D 	 - 	MCI 	 - 	6.5
FC Springfield 	 - Yaya Toure 	 - 	M 	 - 	MCI 	 - 	8.0
Rockville Gunners - Silva 	 - 	M 	 - 	MCI 	 - 	9.5
blechs_dawgs 	 - Wright-Phillips - 	M 	 - 	MCI 	 - 	6.5
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - Aguero 	 - 	F 	 - 	MCI 	 - 	11.0
								
blechs_dawgs 	 - de Gea 	 - 	G 	 - 	MUN 	 - 	6.5
Glorydaze fC 	 - Vidic 	 - 	D 	 - 	MUN 	 - 	8.0
FC Springfield 	 - Rafael 	 - 	D 	 - 	MUN 	 - 	5.5
Rockville Gunners - Evra 	 - 	D 	 - 	MUN 	 - 	7.0
Vegas Virgins 	 - Smalling 	 - 	D 	 - 	MUN 	 - 	5.5
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - Ferdinand 	 - 	D 	 - 	MUN 	 - 	6.5
LSG Cambridge 	 - Young 	 - 	M 	 - 	MUN 	 - 	10.0
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - Nani 	 - 	M 	 - 	MUN 	 - 	10.0
Rockville Gunners - Valencia 	 - 	M 	 - 	MUN 	 - 	8.0
FC Springfield 	 - Rooney 	 - 	F 	 - 	MUN 	 - 	12.0
Glorydaze fC 	 - Hernandez 	 - 	F 	 - 	MUN 	 - 	10.0
Vegas Virgins 	 - Berbatov 	 - 	F 	 - 	MUN 	 - 	9.5
								
blechs_dawgs 	 - Jose Enrique - 	D 	 - 	NEW 	 - 	5.0
Vegas Virgins 	 - Simpson 	 - 	D 	 - 	NEW 	 - 	4.0
FC Springfield 	 - Ben Arfa 	 - 	M 	 - 	NEW 	 - 	5.5
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - Ferguson 	 - 	M 	 - 	NEW 	 - 	4.0
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - Barton 	 - 	M 	 - 	NEW 	 - 	6.0
FC Springfield 	 - Ba 	...   - 	F 	 - 	NEW 	 - 	6.5
								
FC Springfield 	 - Ruddy 	 - 	G 	 - 	NOR 	 - 	4.0
FC Springfield 	 - De Laet 	 - 	D 	 - 	NOR 	 - 	4.0
Sasha Juniors 	 - Hoolahan 	 - 	M 	 - 	NOR 	 - 	5.5
Sasha Juniors 	 - Surman 	 - 	M 	 - 	NOR 	 - 	4.5
Vegas Virgins 	 - Holt 	 - 	F 	 - 	NOR 	 - 	5.5
								
Glorydaze fC 	 - Kenny 	 - 	G 	 - 	QPR 	 - 	4.5
FC Springfield 	 - Orr ..... 	 - 	D 	 - 	QPR 	 - 	4.0
Rockville Gunners - Gabbidon 	 - 	D 	 - 	QPR 	 - 	4.0
LSG Cambridge 	 - Connolly 	 - 	D 	 - 	QPR 	 - 	4.0
Sasha Juniors 	 - Taarabt 	 - 	M 	 - 	QPR 	 - 	6.5
blechs_dawgs 	 - Bothroyd 	 - 	F 	 - 	QPR 	 - 	6.0
								
Rockville Gunners - Begovic 	 - 	G 	 - 	STO 	 - 	5.0
Vegas Virgins 	 - Huth 	 - 	D 	 - 	STO 	 - 	6.0
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - Wilkinson 	 - 	D 	 - 	STO 	 - 	4.0
Sasha Juniors 	 - Woodgate 	 - 	D 	 - 	STO 	 - 	4.5
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - Shotton 	 - 	D 	 - 	STO 	 - 	4.0
blechs_dawgs 	 - Shawcross 	 - 	D 	 - 	STO 	 - 	5.0
LSG Cambridge 	 - Etherington 	 - 	M 	 - 	STO 	 - 	6.5
Glorydaze fC 	 - Pennant 	 - 	M 	 - 	STO 	 - 	6.0
Rockville Gunners - Jones 	 - 	F 	 - 	STO 	 - 	6.5
								
Sasha Juniors 	 - Mignolet 	 - 	G 	 - 	SUN 	 - 	4.5
Vegas Virgins 	 - Bardsley 	 - 	D 	 - 	SUN 	 - 	5.0
Glorydaze fC 	 - O'Shea 	 - 	D 	 - 	SUN 	 - 	5.0
Sasha Juniors 	 - Brown 	 - 	D 	 - 	SUN 	 - 	4.5
Glorydaze fC 	 - Sessegnon 	 - 	M 	 - 	SUN 	 - 	6.5
Rockville Gunners - Larsson 	 - 	M 	 - 	SUN 	 - 	6.5
blechs_dawgs 	 - Gyan 	 - 	F 	 - 	SUN 	 - 	8.0
								
Vegas Virgins 	 - Moreira 	 - 	G 	 - 	SWA 	 - 	4.0
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - Sinclair 	 - 	M 	 - 	SWA 	 - 	6.0
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - Graham 	 - 	F 	 - 	SWA 	 - 	5.0
								
Glorydaze fC 	 - Dawson 	 - 	D 	 - 	TOT 	 - 	5.5
blechs_dawgs 	 - Van der Vaart - 	M 	 - 	TOT 	 - 	10.0
Glorydaze fC 	 - Bale 	 - 	M 	 - 	TOT 	 - 	8.0
blechs_dawgs 	 - Modric 	 - 	M 	 - 	TOT 	 - 	8.0
								
blechs_dawgs 	 - Foster 	 - 	G 	 - 	WBA 	 - 	5.0
Glorydaze fC 	 - Olsson 	 - 	D 	 - 	WBA 	 - 	4.5
Glorydaze fC 	 - Brunt 	 - 	M 	 - 	WBA 	 - 	6.0
Rockville Gunners - Odemwingie 	 - 	F 	 - 	WBA 	 - 	7.5
								
LSG Cambridge 	 - Al-Habsi 	 - 	G 	 - 	WIG 	 - 	4.5
Vegas Virgins 	 - Alcaraz 	 - 	D 	 - 	WIG 	 - 	4.5
Vegas Virgins 	 - Moses 	 - 	M 	 - 	WIG 	 - 	5.0
LSG Cambridge 	 - McCarthy 	 - 	M 	 - 	WIG 	 - 	5.5
blechs_dawgs 	 - Rodallega 	 - 	F 	 - 	WIG 	 - 	6.5
								
ColdDogSoup FC 	 - De Vries 	 - 	G 	 - 	WOL 	 - 	4.0
Vegas Virgins 	 - O'Hara 	 - 	M 	 - 	WOL 	 - 	6.0
Rockville Gunners - Jarvis 	 - 	M 	 - 	WOL 	 - 	6.0
Glorydaze fC 	 - Doyle 	 - 	F 	 - 	WOL 	 - 	6.0
							
								

There was at least one player taken from each team. Per team (and based on their teams as of when the player list locked), I count:
12 - MUN
10 - FUL, CHE
9 - STO
8 - MCI
7 - ARS, LIV, SUN
6 - NEW, QPR
5 - NOR, WIG
4 - AVL, BLA, EVE, TOT, WBA, WOL
3 - SWA
1 - BOL

Given preseason projections and expectations and what-not, there were a couple of surprises in those tallies to me - with some teams having fewer than I would have expected and some having more.

Here's the mathematical breakdown on how each team spent its money (GK+D+M+F):


FC Springfield -------- 9.5 + 26.5 + 34.5 + 29.5 == 100.0
Vegas Virgins ------- 11.0 + 25.0 + 32.5 + 27.0 == 95.5
Rockville Gunners -- 10.0 + 27.5 + 38.5 + 24.0 == 100.0
LSG Cambridge ----- 9.5 + 30.0 + 37.5 + 22.5 == 99.5
Sasha Juniors ------- 9.5 + 30.5 + 39.0 + 21.0 == 100.0
ColdDogSoup FC --- 11.0 + 26.5 + 36.0 + 26.5 == 100.0
blechs_dawgs ------ 11.5 + 27.0 + 41.0 + 20.5 == 100.0
Glorydaze fC -------- 11.0 + 29.5 + 33.0 + 26.0 = 99.5


- Vegas's numbers are skewed downward by virtue of the money being held in the bank. A lot of griping every year about rule changes, but given the focus on profits and the profit tax, I'm sure the virgins would love to see some kind of interest paid!

- Sasha Jrs, LSG, and G-Daze were the big spenders on defenders, topping out in the 29.5 to 30.5 range. This came to an average of 6.10 per defender for Sasha Juniors.

- My dawgs, Sasha Jrs, and Rockville were the big spenders in the midfield, in the 38.5 to 41 range. This came to an average of 8.20 per midfielder for my dawgs.

- FCS laid the cash out on the forwards at 29.5, with Vegas, CDS, and G-Daze next in line by well behind the leader. This came to an average of 9.83 per forward for FCS.

- On the opposite end, Vegas spent the least on defenders (25.0), Vegas spent the least on midfielders (32.5), and my dawgs laid out all of 20.5 on forwards.

Anyone feeling the need to redistribute their cash......

Re: Small Rocks 2011-2012 G-Doc

Quasi-related note as I used some of this to begin looking at the draft, but if you haven't been to the G-Doc since the draft ended, I began to set up some sheets for the season.

I sorted the player list by owner ("Sorted FPL Player List"), so you can get a quick glance at the players on each Small Rocks team on a position by position basis. The player list that we marked during the draft is also there as a separate sheet. We have NOT attempted to continue to update this sheet after the draft as it is based on the player list from last Wednesday and there is no easy way to keep track of when players are added or deleted from the FPL system.

Like last year, I've "protected" the rosters as of right now so that we can always come back to this moment for posterity. We'll use the sheet labeled "Updated Rosters" to keep rosters current during the season and I've moved it to the left so that it will be one of the first sheets.

For the new owners in Small Rocks, there is a separate sheet that we have used to track trades. When it gets to about 200, we'll start a new one, so each sheet will cover 8-10 gameweeks depending on the activity. It's a convenient way to get a summary of the recent transfer activity. As during the draft, it is fairly easy by using "copy" and "paste value" to post on this page and the Updated Rosters page with nominal typing.

There is a sheet for tracking the weekly scores and standings. Vegas and I may be the only one that look at this. It serves no purpose other than keeping a record of how we've climbed or fallen during the season.

Last, and I don't know if anyone else has used this or finds it helpful, but there is a sheet called "Players Owned". That is the sheet I just used a short while ago to create the list of players owned on each Premier League team. This sheet is tied to the Updated Rosters, so it is dependent on the Updated Rosters being accurate. I've "protected" this sheet, so that no changes can be made on it, but you can at any time block and copy this entire sheet and then paste it in an Excel spreadsheet of your own. I'll then usually sort it, either by position or by Premier League team, and have found that to be a decent way to track down available players.

If anyone has other ideas for anything we might add, let me know.

Once again much thanks to Paul B for all the setup work on Google docs. Really makes the whole thing possible.

THANK YOU PAUL

seconded, thanks.

The "Trade ...." tabs are my first read. Provides a quick summary of current and historical activity. Easier than trying to figure out who moved on the Updated Roster tab. Mirrors the FPL Forum pages.

Live and die with the "Players Owned" tab. I download the entire file, all tabs, to excel and do my sorting there. I add my "watch list" to Players Owned so I can keep track of potential future additions.

The "League Table" may be required for all Leagues. As soon as a "bad trade"occurs, and they will happen in all Leagues, the points on FPL become incorrect. This can impact the standings. I suggest that at the end of last year there is no official record of the League Standing for all divisions of Rocks. Might be worth asking someone in each League to keep a standing, as adjusted, and post it each week after the official points have been determined.

My thoughts.

Always a good plan to allow for riots when scouting spurs players.

WOW, hope there are no games postponed.

Did I read that Malouda went undrafted in VSR? Well I guess my draft plan came to a crash in round three. Then the lid was sealed (tapa con rasa) with Terry.

No Malouda, Arshavin, Defoe, Berbatov drafted in VSR...! Yet somehow Agger got drafted 2nd round.

Glad to see I am not the only Hoilett fan though.

Nobody taking a chance on Malouda in VSR isn't the only odd thing happening in that league.

On Agger, hey that hits too close to home although at least I got him in the tenth round.

Berbs was snapped-up as the last selection of our draft!

Haha, what are the other odd things happening?

A quick glance at the rosters shows most of the teams are also likely fielding a 3-4-3 this year...

Hal has a team in SR League. I don't mind, and I enough Hal's company, but it is a bit confusing.

Oh that silly draft illegal pick nonsense. Yah, in my opinion folks take this a tadbit too seriously....we aren't playing for money.

That being said, I kind of understand - the dude had access to the frozen draft. Whatever. Seems to be blown over.

I suspect Hal just wanted to take a look at the post draft transfers....

Speaking of wihch, LSG opens with a flurry.

I think LSG has overspent.

Could someone else check. I am afraid to mess with Gdocs just in case.

Agree on people taking things way to seriously. Are relegated team owners getting executed this season? Do league winners get 72 virgins?

I generally like the first transfer. I think Campbell is a great pickup and expected to see multiple posts for him with some of the more untested low price forwards owned in SR. Adam will be a decent mid as long as he plays but how often will that be with 13 mids (not to mention some def and forwards who can play as mids) to keep happy. Richards was actually a guy I looked at and might have moved for on a short term basis. However it is an illegal transfer since it adds up to 100.5

So no legal transfers yet.

Adam may just well prove to be 'King Kenny kind of guy' though.....I think he'll be a mainstay and although a different type of player probably keeps Lucas out of the side.

My question mark is Henderson. He left Sunderland at least one year too early. He will get playing time but may also get lost in the shuffle at LFC. I loved him in FPL last year despite a lot of ''2's''. If Healthy I predict the CM will be Adam, Meireles, Gerrard....but who sits deep and who attacks...who knows.

Sent an email to LSG.

LSG transfers

out:
Johnson, G D LIV 7.0
Gibbs D ARS 5.5
Clichy D MCI 6.0
McCarthy M WIG 5.5
Murphy M FUL 6.0
Hoilett F BLA 6.0

in:
Johnson R D WOL 5.0
Walker D TOT 5.5
Richards D MCI 6.0
Marveaux M NEW 5.0
Adam M LIV 9.0
Campbell F QPR 5.5

Think I missed a couple of transfers - so much squad rotation made me dizzy! But I think I've got it straight now.

I got massacred with injuries right after the draft, but I think they spared me a few poor moves in the draft. 7 million on the frail Johnson, for example. Actually I feel pretty good about Marveaux too.

Ultimately I think Adam is way overpriced at 9, but I'm pretty sure he'll start at least as long as Gerrard's out - and that always leaves him the opportunity to produce.

Just to be sure it's all above board (Flavio Briatore has not joined the LSG board), here's the new squad in full (I note with some surprise that it's almost entirely British players):

GK Schwarzer FUL 5.0
GK Al Habsi WIG 4.5

D Cole CHE 7.5
D Richards MCI 6.0
D Walker TOT 5.5
D Johnson WOL 5.0
D Connelly QPR 4.0

M Young MUN 10.0
M Adam LIV 9.0
M Etherington STO 6.5
M Nasri ARS 9.5
M Marveaux NEW 5.0

F Suarez LIV 9.5
F Zamora FUL 7.0
F Campbell QPR

I agree with ya re: Adam (and Gerrard's absence). But I suspect he'll get the starts in a MF with Gerrard anyway.

Started a Small Rocks H to H League will send codes; if you don't get it open me

Good idea but how exactly should we "open" you...sounds a bit intimate to me.

yes a bit too intimate; gotta look at what I accept as spell check sometimes

"pm" me