Official Small Rocks 2007-08 League Post-Draft Analysis and Pre-Season Transfer Thread

[Hal]

I may be jumping the gun posting this before Michel makes his last pick. With the various speed bumps we encountered in this year's draft, there was some preliminary draft analysis and smash mouth talking in the draft thread.

24 hours after Michel posts his pick, the Post-Draft, Pre-Season transfer window opens.

Transfers need to be posted in the Small Rocks League Fantasy.Premierleague.com forum to be official. Afterwards, it's a courtesy to post the dropped and added players in this thread.

Congratulations on completing yet another unique draft. Let the games begin!

[vegas2u]

Hal, go to bed man!

What, did you take an afternoon nap after getting up early each morning to send the process off once Michel had picked? That move was critical as it put the East Coaster in motion.

Thanks. Again.

[1800-WorldCup]

I came here to read if there was any hint at the goalkeeper I need.

Haven't read the drafting thread yet, so will go over there to catch up, then post in here to officially close the draft and give you all the 24-hour starting gun for team tweaking.

[vegas2u]

Some general stats.

There was at least two players from each of the 20 teams.

Teams with the most picks were MU and CH, no surprise there. Each had 12.

Most players picked for one position on a team? Three way tie. MU Midfielders-5, CH Defenders-5 and EV Defenders-5.

Most prayer answered. Two. Eduardo get his work permit and Tevez goes to MU. Only the entire first part of the season resting on that 6th and 7th round draft move.

[djangone]

Birmingham had seven people taken, more than Villa, Bolton, Fulham, Man City, Borough, Newcastle, Wigan and West Ham, and of course more than Derby or Sunderland.

And this crop of promotees looks awfully weak to me. Maybe BC is the exception--Steve Bruce just kicked Hassan Ghaly back to Spurs for dogging it in practice, so BC must be flush.

[1800-WorldCup]

The 'Pre-Season Transfers' thread has been created on the Premier League site.

Team Tweaking can officially start 24 hours from the time stamp in there.

One of the advantages of going last in the draft.

:D

See you all at the buzzer, if I don't oversleep.

[1800-WorldCup]

I sense the highly-competitive Powell brothers will be there.

Any odds on who will make the first trades, after the bell, and who will not make any before Gameweek 1?

[1800-WorldCup]

To make analysis easier, here are the drafted teams with their players sorted by position.

1800-UK.com (http://fantasy.premierleague.com/M/eventhist.mc?id=45300) - Svengali Eriksdaughter. (Money remaining: 3.5)

Jaaskelainen, Bolton; Lehmann, Arsenal.

Bale, Tottenham; Eboue, Arsenal; Ferreira, Chelsea; Neill, West Ham; Neville, Everton.

Bentley, Blackburn; Carrick, Man. Utd; Muntari, Portsmouth; Petrov, Man. City; Speed, Bolton.

Bendtner, Arsenal; Bent D, Tottenham; Bianchi, Man. City.


Aviators (http://fantasy.premierleague.com/M/eventhist.mc?id=33142) - Sir Grandpa Hal.

Green, West Ham; James, Portsmouth.

Ben Haim, Chelsea; Finnan, Liverpool; Ingimarsson, Reading; Lescott, Everton; Primus, Portsmouth.

Alonso, Liverpool; Arteta, Everton; Cole J., Chelsea; Giggs, Man. Utd; McSheffrey, Birm'ham.

Berbatov, Tottenham; Forssell, Birm'ham; Lita, Reading.


In off the post (http://fantasy.premierleague.com/M/eventhist.mc?id=26062) - Clan Blue.

Cech, Chelsea; Kirkland, Wigan.

Chimbonda, Tottenham; Gallas, Arsenal; Jaidi, Birm'ham; Richards, Man. City; Terry, Chelsea.

Gilberto, Arsenal; Hargreaves, Man Utd; Koumas, Wigan; Ljungberg, West Ham; Mendes, Portsmouth.

Drogba, Chelsea; Johnson, EvertonM; Young, Aston Villa.


Pork Soda (http://fantasy.premierleague.com/M/eventhist.mc?id=43779) - Richard Powell.

Friedel, Blackburn; Taylor, Aston Villa.

Agger, Liverpool; Evra, Man. Utd; Jagielka, Everton; Shorey, Reading; Wheater, Mid'brough.

De Ridder, Birm'ham; Malouda, Chelsea; Richardson, Sunderland; Ronaldo, Man. Utd; Seol, Reading.

Agbonlahor, Aston Villa; Martins, Newcastle; Shevchenko, Chelsea.


Rockville Gunners (http://fantasy.premierleague.com/M/eventhist.mc?id=124837) - Chuck Cannon.

Hahnemann, Reading; Van der Sar, Man. Utd.

Carragher, Liverpool; Dunne, Man. City; Meite, Bolton; Neville, Man. Utd; Yobo, Everton.

Barry, Aston Villa; G-Pedersen, Blackburn; Hunt, Reading; Kapo, Birmingham; Osman, Everton.

Anelka, Bolton; Doyle, Reading; Rooney, Man. Utd.


VegasVirgins (http://fantasy.premierleague.com/M/eventhist.mc?id=75967) - Norm Powell.

Niemi, Fulham; Robinson, Tottenham.

Baines, Wigan; Carvalho, Chelsea; Dawson, Tottenham; Distin, Portsmouth; Vidic, Man. Utd.

Lampard, Chelsea; Muamba, Birm'ham; Noble, West Ham; Oakley, Derby; Routledge, Tottenham.

Eduardo, Arsenal; Nugent, Portsmouth; Tevez, West Ham.


Windsor Wanderers (http://fantasy.premierleague.com/M/eventhist.mc?id=80620) - Andrew Giffen.

Howard, Everton; Sorensen, Aston Villa.

Bouma, Aston Villa; Cole A., Chelsea; Ferdinand, Man. Utd; Nelsen, Blackburn; Toure, Arsenal.

Dempsey, Fulham; Essien, Chelsea; Gerrard, Liverpool; Jenas, Tottenham; Rosicky, Arsenal.

Carew, Aston Villa; Walcott, Arsenal; Zamora, West Ham.


Yellowcake Phantoms (http://fantasy.premierleague.com/M/eventhist.mc?id=43964) - Jay Jones.

Reina, Liverpool; Ward, Sunderland.

Bocanegra, Fulham; Campbell, Portsmouth; Edworthy, Derby; Geremi, Newcastle; Stubbs, Everton.

Downing, Mid'brough; Fabregas, Arsenal; Scholes, Man. Utd; Taylor, Portsmouth; Yorke, Sunderland.

McCarthy, Blackburn; Torres, Liverpool; Van Persie, Arsenal.


DISCLAIMER:
I have the teams online but they're for personal purposes when I'm on the road, more than anything, so I can't guarantee that the latest updated version will always be there.

http://1800-worldcup.com/fantasy/smallrocks.htm

[Clan]

...and we're finished.

A good draft folks, we got it done in a week, more or less.

All eyes will be still on the transfer market, but one of the advantages of starting two weeks before the season begins (best time to do so imho) is that most of the major transfers are done and dusted.

Of course, we had to start a tad earlier this season because of the Euro and the season kick off pushed up to allow time off at seasons end.

Now then, who'll be following the Alves to Chelsea rumour with interest :D

Not me anyway, as I'm maxed out on Chelsea players and wouldn't trade any of the three I snagged.

Who will be this seasons Gallas/Cole, with a midnight transfer on August 31st...watch this space column writers say Shevchenko/McCarthy would be the names to slip a bet to vegas to hit the wager lines with.

[Hal]

More General Stats.

Ave.
Bonus Team Name (# of New EPL Players without 06/07 Bonus Points)
Points
Per
Returning
EPL
Player

10.0 Pork Soda (3)
8.9 Vegas Virgins (4)
10.1 In Off The Post (3)
13.0 Rockville Gunners (1)
17.7 Yellowcake Phantoms (4)
9.1 Windsor Wanderers (0)
12.1 Aviators (1)
9.3 1800-UK.com (5)

Ave % Team Name
Player
Selected

8.5 Pork Soda
9.8 Vegas Virgins
8.8 In Off The Post
9.1 Rockville Gunners
8.0 Yellowcake Phantoms
6.6 Windsor Wanderers
11.6 Aviators
4.4 1800-UK.com

Looks like Aviators has the most popular team by a substantial delta! :)
This makes Aviators closest in sync with the collective wisdom of 650000+ Fantasy Premier League managers.

Michel is certainly going against the grain. But, doesnt' he always surprise us and still beat us. Maybe a way to look at this stat is his team is the most likely to increase in value as he got the sleeper players before the collective wisdom caught on and raises their values?

This stat might be somewhat reflective of draft position and the advantages and disadvantages of the serpetine draft?

Bank Team Name

0.5 Pork Soda
7.5 Vegas Virgins
0.0 In Off The Post
0.0 Rockville Gunners
0.5 Yellowcake Phantoms
1.5 Windsor Wanderers
2.0 Aviators
3.5 1800-UK.com

Look at the above stats in light of how much money a manager has in the bank to be able to swoop for that high priced last-minute EPL addition! Vegas Virgins has a whopping reserve left!! What is he planning to do with that money??? Enquiring minds want to know!

Only 2 VSR managers have a reserve, one with 1.0 and one with 2.5.

Only 2 Sand managers DO NOT have a reserve. Most have .5 to 1.5 with one having 5.0 in reserve.

[Hal]

Ave Team Name
Team
Points
For
Returning
EPL
Players

109.0 Pork Soda
107.7 Vegas Virgins
108.8 In Off The Post
137.2 Rockville Gunners
125.7 Yellowcake Phantoms
96.5 Windsor Wanderers
124.8 Aviators
116.4 1800-UK.com

I know, like in the stock market, past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Still, this is an interesting statistic.

[djangone]

Okay, I'll see you and raise you by another column in Excel. ;)
This is Points per 90 minutes for returning players. It's no more predictive, but it does capture the guys who're returning from injury like Doyle and Van Persie or who came in at mid-season like Evra or Dempsey.


Pts/90__Team____________Team Leaders
4.58____Rockville_______Rooney, Terry, Doyle
4.55____Pork____________Ronaldo, Agger, Evra
4.52____Yellowcake______Van Persie, Matt Taylor, Fabregas
4.49____Windsor_________Dempsey, Gerrard, Walcott
4.22____Aviators________Berbatov, Arteta, Giggs
4.10____In off__________Drogba, Cech, Carra
3.84____Vegas___________Lampard, Carvalho, Tevez
3.75____1800____________Bent, Bentley, Speed

[1800-WorldCup]

No-one was in at the bell, although I was looking closely.

I'll need to see what the real Premier League managers think of their starting elevens before I make any trades.

[subbuteo]

Windsor Wanderers will start:
OUT
Sorensen, AV, GK, 4.5

IN
Given, NUFC, GK, 5.0

[vegas2u]

Does not take much to make my midfield, save Lamps, but you do have to start. With Ghaly coming back and the general problems that "Jowl" has with picking a team, this is my current best guess on a TH starter. I really think that Muamba will be a starter, and at 4.0 that makes him quite valuable, but let's see if we can get an assist from Petrov.

Therefore:

Out: Routledge M TH 5.5
Muamba M BC 4.0


In: Malbranque M TH 6.5
Petrov M AV 7.0

I doubt this is my last middie move, and the next will probably involve the two I just brought in. Sigh!

[djangone]

So who drafted with the ANC in mind? It just hit me yesterday how many players are lost for a month. Something like 23 guys by my count, and I'm short I'm sure. Maybe that explains Benni McCarthy lasting on the board so long.

[vegas2u]

Speaking of one of my least favorite EPL Managers, Mr. Jol (Jowls to his non-friends), it seems he may have taken a liking to the Berbatov/Keane duo. Oh what joy that will bring around the Small Rocks Continental contingent.

[DoctorJones24]

In: Malbranque M TH 6.5


Always a fan favorite for former squad the Phantoms. Good to see him off the board, even if he never quite proved his worth last year.

Terry out 4 weeks--tough blow to Clan, who I thought had the strongest draft in our division.

Scholes apparently has a knock as well, and Van Persie took a crunching tackle against Ajax.

Lovely pre-season injuries!

[ibreak4coffee]

So who drafted with the ANC in mind? It just hit me yesterday how many players are lost for a month. Something like 23 guys by my count, and I'm short I'm sure. Maybe that explains Benni McCarthy lasting on the board so long.

I definitely drafted with this in mind. I would have taken Essien otherwise.

Malouda scores a great goal, already repaying my faith in his skills, and he looks to have a knock :mad:

[blech]

So who drafted with the ANC in mind? It just hit me yesterday how many players are lost for a month. Something like 23 guys by my count, and I'm short I'm sure. Maybe that explains Benni McCarthy lasting on the board so long.

I paid more attention to that than to the week 2 byes (which is now up to 6 teams with the addition of blackburn and villa). by my thinking, while i'd rather not have a bye, i should get a double game back at some point later, so i don't "really" lose anything -- but these guys missing 3-4 games don't get to make those up and are losing out on 10% of their season. the interesting question will be whether teams will be strong enough to carry them on the bench, or if they'll be available early february....

of course, i'm now beginning to wonder if it was worth giving it any thought, as it seems most likely that my entire squad will be sacked by the time we get to january....