It's a 1-0 final to BUR over CRY in the first game. Wood gets a goal, which has the added benefit of breaking up Van Aanholt's clean sheet, and he also looks set to get 2 bonus points based on what is currently showing. Assuming the bonus points arrive as expected, and taking into account adjustments for the Zaha-no-show, things will kick for the final game as follows: Real Newark -- 17 + Neto + Jiminez(C)*2 Kopite Jrs ------ 23 (*based on 2 BPs for Wood) + Adams + Kilman + Ait Nouri Bigger Boat ---- 24 + Boly + Adams + Bertrand With Zaha not playing, Real Newark's captaincy shifts to Jiminez, while Bigger Boat adds Bertrand via auto-sub. But more bad news for Real Newark, as Neto appears to be starting the game on the bench, while Kopite and Bigger Boat see their yellow-flagged players, Ait Nouri and Bertrand, make the starting lineups. Real Newark has the short end of it at the moment, but it could flip easily given the differences between the teams with Real Newark committed to the Wolves' attack while Kopite and Bigger Boat have investments in the Wolves' defense (plus coverage in the form of Adams as the most likely to be involve in SOU scoring should that occur). The ideal score for Real Newark would read 2-1, with Adams not involved! But even a single Jiminez goal will make this very interesting as a 9-point game (including the 3 bonus points), would take RN to 35 points even if Neto doesn't play. Kopite can easily get to 36 with the Wolves clean sheet, and it could well then come down to whether Adams can score in response. Slight edge perhaps to Kopite over Bigger Boat given the double on the Wolves defense and the presumption that Bertrand and SOU will have conceded IF Real Newark has made a comeback. Lots of permutations. Hopefully the three of you can enjoy the game.... Good luck
Adams assists the SOU goal to break up the WOL clean sheet hopes. Then, 75th minute and Neto scores, with Jiminez getting the assist for the shot off the post. 78th minute and a Jiminez header for a goal is correctly ruled offside. This is very tight and may well come down to bonus points, with Che Adams appearing to hold the edge at the moment. Good stuff!
Games are done. Processing vice-captain swaps and autosubs, I believe that it is currently: Kopite = 30 Real N = 33 B.Boat = 33 But, this does NOT include today's bonus points YET! If the bonus points track what is posted, Real Newark looks to have fallen just short as Neto and Jiminez do not look set to grab BPs, while Kopite will pick up 4 (2 each for Wood and Adams) and the Boat will pick up 2 (for Adams). Awaiting official results, and will then to do a final check and make sure that I didn't miss another team.
Eliminated Teams (the second quartile): 13. 14. 15. 16. Real Newark - [33 points; gw9] 17. Journeyman - [26 points; gw8] 18. FC St. Pauli - [39 points; gw7] Ep.09: "I concede....." Much of the summary and play-by-play for how the final day's games went down is provided in the posts above. With two games left as we turned to Monday, the spotlight was on 3 teams, and the twists and turns that followed kept it interesting. Zaha had to self-isolate. It was a late surprise for Real Newark, with Zaha sporting the captain's armband. Fortunately, Jiminez was vice-captain, but with no bench, a tough task quickly got tougher. Meanwhile, there was little sympathy from Kopite Jrs, who faced its own issues with Salah self-isolating and unavailable this week. And, Bigger Boat also had Zaha, but at least had players on the bench waiting to auto-sub. As it turned out, the auto-subs ended up being the difference, with Kopite and BB each getting 2 points off the bench to land in the clear by all of 1 and 2 points, while Real Newark ended up fielding only 8 players and needing only a point or two. Yep, Real Newark had 6 field players who didn't play this week, while the manager opted not to make a transfer and ride with the team that he had.... The weekly press conference went smoothly with Coach Bob congratulating his opponents with elbow bumps and best wishes: "This certainly isn't what was planned. The guys who played fought hard. We certainly made it interesting at the end with my guys on both ends of the Wolves' goal. And, yet, it comes down to bonus points (they got them and we didn't) and to auto-subs (they had them and we didn't). What more can I say. I concede." kopiteinkc was spotted doing a happy dance outside the stadium, wearing a face mask and maintaining safe distance from well-wishers: "That ... was ... too ... close ... for ... comfort. But, it sure feels good when you land on the right side." Dangerzone: Kopite Jrs (34), Bigger Boat (35), and blechs_dawgs (40). It is a second danger zone visit for Kopite Jrs, and the first for the Boat and the dawgs. Note that next weekend's games kickoff on Friday. 15 teams remain as we push onward to the midway point. Good luck.
That was the great escape - Salah is back next weekend! Biggest screw up was my choice of Ross Barkley as captain and he got injured after two minutes!
Eliminated Teams (the second quartile): 13. 14. 15. Hakuna Arteta - [15 points; gw10] 16. Real Newark - [33 points; gw9] 17. Journeyman - [26 points; gw8] 18. FC St. Pauli - [39 points; gw7] Ep.10: "Red, Orange, and Yellow....." are the colors of the triangles on many of the Hakuna Arteta squad. A pretty sad showing for Hakuna Arteta, with 15 points matching the low elimination score for the season. With SIX players sporting colored triangles, including three red triangles would were certain not to play and a dark orange and light orange who were unlikely to play and didn't. If you're counting, that was only five, and the five of them actually outscored the 6th (Maupay), who is now showing a yellow triangle and managed only 24 minutes while missing a PK to notch a (-1). In addition to the triangles, Tarkowski was a no-show and Tierney played, conceded, and picked up a yellow while scoring 0. If you are counting, even with three of the triangles on the bench, that meant that five of Hakuna Arteta's field players scored a total of (-1). The remaining 6 plus captain got all of 16. With no recent transfers and a squad in shambles, a search party is headed to look for the team owner..... Perhaps the biggest shock is that, as bad a week as this was, Hakuna Arteta had a possible was out when the day started, knowing that Maddison would autosub in and needing to make up what ended up a small gap to catch Bigger Boat, who had Vardy playing in the same game. It turned out being a six point spread, with Vardy getting an assist and Maddison coming up empty, but close enough that the Dr. Heckle had to be sweating it out again, landing in the danger zone for the second week in a row. Mixing metaphors as we watch Bigger Boat fall back into the VSR crowd, the wheels have fallen off the boat, and all eyes will be watching to see if and when Dr. H gets things turned around. Dangerzone: Bigger Boat (21), Morning Glory (24), and Cold Dog Soup FC (26). It is a second danger zone visit in a row for Bigger Boat, a second danger zone visit during the season for Morning Glory and CDS.
As we look to Monday's finale between Brighton and Southampton, it would appear to be a two-team duel for the bottom spot: Tangers - 23 + Ryan + Walker-Peters + Ward-Prowse ChrisSuttonsSlippers - 27 + Armstrong + Adams The next teams after that are Virgil Reality (36) and Keysersoze (37), and they also have players to play, and then we jump to the 40s. As always, good luck.
I'm not watching, but note that we are 1-1 at the half (actually 55 minutes in now), with Ward-Prowse getting an assist and all five of these players starting. Assuming they all get at least 60 minutes, that would put Tangers on 32 (23+2+2+5) and CSS on 31 (27+2+2). None of the 5 are in the bonus points as of now, although Ward-Prowse is closet. Tangers has two defensive players, so can lose a point if there is another goal. And, obviously, yellow cards could still factor. FYI, I believe that Tangers wins the tie-breaker, so CSS may need 2 points not just 1.
Eliminated Teams (the second quartile): 13. 14. ChrisSuttonsSlippers - [31 points;gw11] 15. Hakuna Arteta - [15 points; gw10] 16. Real Newark - [33 points; gw9] 17. Journeyman - [26 points; gw8] 18. FC St. Pauli - [39 points; gw7] Ep.11: "Staying Alive" As summarized above, the final game saw Tangers square off with ChrisSuttonsSlippers. CSS had a small lead when the game kicked off, but one fewer player. While Brighton felt done wrong by VAR, the "assist" points to KWP for the PK were gravy and only served to extend the very slim lead that Tangers had already opened up by that point. As it was, CSS might still have pulled it out with a late goal and saw Armstrong put in behind the defense on the right side during injury time--however, instead of shooting to try to put the 2-1 game on ice, he instead dribbled out of the area being chased by Brighton's keeper, and even then with the keeper drawn out, he didn't loft the ball in and opted to keep possession and run the clock. As might be imagined, @frasermc was not pleased with the decision. Indeed, word is that the team name is now ChrisSuttonsSlipper, without the final "s" as one of the pair was thrown at the television, but Frasermc missed and hit the missus in the backside as she was walking by, and she promptly scooped it up and threw it the trash.... While he has been hardly seen and hard to find this season, we did catch up with Frasermc via video conference to talk about the match, although by all accounts he may have had a sip (or more) of something, something during the match as he was unusually cheery and kept breaking out in song: Q1: So, we recall that you like your old school disco music. Before we get into this week's game, any surprises this season? Frasermc: You know how sometimes people say things and you don't always realize that they're serious? I was thinking back to that first big post in the Olympics thread and I sang "don't go chasing the points," and so I was telling the team about it at the training grounds the next day and I broke into song again, and Aubameyang immediately sings back: "I couldn't if I tried." Everything got a good laugh at the time. But, silly me. We used our 1st round pick on him and I thought he was just having a poke at me, but ... he may have been serious... I must say that he has a very nice voice. We don't get fantasy points for it, but he sings real nice. Almost as good as me. Q2: Haha. Although maybe not so funny right now. Let's jump forward to this week. We're aware that you were unexpectedly tied up for most of the season and we're thrilled to see you back and active on the rocks' boards. What was your thinking going into this past week's game? Frasermc: It was all positive. I saw the weather report and it looked like a perfect storm for us. When we were preparing for the first kickoff, I had only one thought: "It's raining points, hallelujah, it's raining points, amen." Q3: Well, that was quite optimistic of you. I assume you recognized after the first few games that there could be problems. What did you tell the squad? Frasermc: We needed points, and power has always been the force, so I just told them.... "Keep on, with the force don't stop, Don't stop 'til you get enough. Keep on, move the ball around, Don't stop 'til we've scored enough." Q4: I see. So what was your message on Sunday morning. Still positive? Frasermc: For sure. They hate when I'm talking about dancing and getting down tonight, but I told 'em: "Pass the ball around, get shots on goal, Get down tonight, Let's score tonight" Q5: So, you get to Monday morning and you know that you're down to the final game. What did you tell them at that point? Frasermc: I told them that this was their ... "last dance, last chance, let's scooooooore. Yes, it's the last dance, last chance, to scoooooooore." I just wanted them to dance the last dance tonight. Q6: I've got to tell you that this is some inspiring stuff. So, what happens next? Frasermc: "What happens next? I'm hobbling around the house with a cold right foot and we're out of the BE-Cup, but we are are alive in the DE-Cup, we've got the balance of the season to play, and we move forward like normal... "Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die? Oh, no, not I! I will survive. As long as I know how to shoot, I know I'll stay alive. I will survive, hey, hey." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ-SwJjkSyw Dangerzone: Tangers (34), Lokomotiv (40), and Keysersoze (45) were spotted at the pub in violation of quarantine rules singing "Staying Alive, Staying Alive, ....." It was the second time in the DZ for Tangers and Keysersoze and the first close call for Lokomotiv. We are one elimination away from the midway point! Good luck.
note: apparently BigSoccer has a limit of linking to 5 "media" items in a post, which is why the last one wasn't embedded....
If you are searching for those in danger as we head to the last two games, it was looking like it was my dawgs until Salah rolled the PK past the GK right before being subbed, so, now, all eyes should focus on: Tangers -- 26 + Lacazette Kicking & Screaming -- 27 + Taylor Storming Gunners -- 11+ Vardy(c)+Bellerin+Willian+Lacazette+8 from autosub This doesn't include any BPs from today, and it could include errors. Stormin Gunners has the odd situation of having 2 defenders not play and going to autosub, but having to jump over Klich's 8 points in first autosub position due to the rule about fielding at least 3 defenders. A 6 and a 2 from the 2nd and 3rd spot isn't bad, but tough to see Klich's points stuck on the bench. In any event, with so many players/points available in the last two games, SG should still be clear, but they remain in the mix until they at least get into the 30s. If you're looking for certainty for yourself, the dawgs look to have landed at 37, so anything above that is safe, although with Lacazette facing Taylor, it would seem unlikely that both Tangers and K&S make a big move.
Eliminated Teams (the second quarter): 13. Tangers FC - [27 points; gw12] 14. ChrisSuttonsSlippers - [31 points;gw11] 15. Hakuna Arteta - [15 points; gw10] 16. Real Newark - [33 points; gw9] 17. Journeyman - [26 points; gw8] 18. FC St. Pauli - [39 points; gw7] Eliminated Teams (the first quarter): 19. Glorydaze - [27 points; gw6] 20. Top Shelf - [31 points; gw5] 21. Soccer Steve - [25 points; gw4] 22. FC Epikoinis - [16 points; GW3] 23. Bunch of Muppets - [15 points; GW2] 24. Parraraiders - [30 points; GW1] Ep.12: "Time is Up" Time has run out on Tangers FC. As you may recall, Tangers started the season with the lowest score of the week in gw1 of 19 points, but was able to use immunity to avoid elimination. And then, there were two dangerzone visits in gw 4 and gw 11, where elimination was avoided by all of 2 and 3 points. While Tangers took the warnings from prior weeks seriously, you know it is trouble when you're only player with more than 3 points is a Southampton defender! Tangers, like the other Mane owners, are counting the weeks since their main man Mane has scored goal, dating all the way back to GW5. "Frustrating, I tell you. We were short on the bench, but we had 11 players start. We had our chances, and just didn't take them. I guess we were fortunate if you saw the non-PK against Liverpool, but if you'd told me that I just needed another 6 points with Allison, Robertson, and Mane(c) taking on Fulham, I'd have said that we take nothing for granted ... but I would have been smiling and giddy inside." Dangerzone: Kicking & Screaming (33), blechs_dawgs (39), and Virgil Reality (41). Second DZ visits for all, and scary times as 3 of the 12 eliminations have been of teams who were in the DZ the prior week. Also, not unusual, but we're seeing the DZ scores rising as the number of teams dwindle. And, with that, we've hit the midway point. 12 teams eliminated. 12 teams remain. The distribution between divisions is not even, sitting at 2 (Small), 4 (VSR), and 6 (Sand). Can Cold Dog or Sasha fly the banner for Small? Odds are against it. When asked, Tarv and Lobo responded in unison: "We don't need no stinking odds!" We now move on to the third quarter of the competition. Good luck to all.
Still plenty of points still to come with two games on the final day and teams holding a healthy combination of MUN, AVL, and BUR players (I did not see any SHU players in the mix). Scanning the points at the bottom of the final 12, I've found: Keysersoze ----- 15 + Wan-Bissaka + Fernandes(C) + Grealish Morning Glory -- 15 + Pope + Telles + Maguire + Greenwood (has 2 pts on bench if needed) ColdDogSoup -- 22 + Pope Bigger Boat ----- 22 + Martinez + Rashford (has 2 pts on the bench if needed) With CDS potentially capping the upper range around 30 barring a PK save, others with scores in the upper 20s are probably safe. With 24 points and three players to play, Virgil Reality should approach 30 even if things don't go well. Similarly, Aviators and Lokomotiv are not far ahead with 26 and 27, and both have two players left. And, Sasha Juniors also has 26, but still has half the team still to play. At this point, 2/3 of the teams have been mentioned as there aren't a lot of scores in the 30s or above. Notably, VSR is "dominating" this bottom of the table look in, represented by Keysersoze, Morning Glory, and Bigger Boat. For their benefit in the VSR DE-Cup race, Soccer Steve is done for the week with 27, so while they're going to want to keep an eye on each other, they can know they're safe if they get past that number. Lots of potential permutations. Obviously those at 15 are worse off than those at 22, but the 15s do have extra players to play, so it could get interesting quickly. With the armband on a big star, Keysersoze would quickly leave this bottom group if Bruno strikes. If they end up going head-to-head, Morning Glory and CDS present an interesting race -- with both having Pope, MG needs just 7 points from the MUN trio to leap to safety, and CDS will be able to do nothing other than watch. Meanwhile, if the 15s climb to safety, Bigger Boat has the current edge over CDS with the extra player still to play, but will need one of them to "hit" (clean sheet/goal/assist) should CDS get the Pope clean sheet.
With the first game completed, things have shuffled some. It looks like Aviators will land on 30 points. Don't know if it will matter, but Watkins picked up a late yellow card for entering the field without permission after leaving to get treatment for a bloody nose. Keysersoze ----- 18 + Wan-Bissaka + Fernandes(C) Morning Glory -- 26* + Telles + Maguire + Greenwood Aviators ---------- 30 It looks like Pope will get the 3 bonus points, so I've added those into Morning Glory's total already. And, all of these players are starting, so no need to look at autosubs. With Pope's big game, CDS is in the clear, and with Martinez's big game (and looking to get keeper bonus points as well), Bigger Boat is safe unless Rashford goes negative. Virgil Reality is also in the clear, as is Lokomotiv, who has 28, but will add 3 points from autosub. Hard to see Morning Glory's trio not getting 4 points. So, can Keysersoze get 12? A Fernandes goal would seem to be the easy way. And, even without that (and assuming no deductions for cards), a MUN clean sheet will get Wan-Bissaka 6 and Fernandes 3 (doubled), which will just get them to 30 points and be enough on the tiebreaker. Running through the math, Morning Glory can get to 12 with 2 points from Wan-Bissaka and 5 points (doubled) for Fernandes from an assist, but Morning Glory would lose that tie-breaker as Aviators has KDB on 4 points.
And, an early goal for SHU, so scratch the scenarios that involve a MUN clean sheet.... Keyser looking for Bruno to step up and save this... And, maybe no longer so clear that Morning Glory gets to 30 as those defenders lose a point with another SHU goal...
Eliminated Teams (the third quarter): 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Keysersoze Wanderers - [23 points; gw13] Ep.13: "Low Scores All 'Round" If you didn't notice, this was the lowest scoring FPL week so far, by Rocks team standards. Including the low score from this past GW, Rocks teams have seen an average score/team of 47.0 each week, and four out of the 13 weeks have seen the average score/team in the 50s, with the highest average score/team for a single GW topping out at 54.6 in 7. GW13 flirted with the 30s, ultimately landing at 40.8. This was a new low for the season. If heads aren't spinning from flashbacks to math classes and various levels of aversions to numbers, perhaps some comfort and perspective in there for those who were thinking more negatively about their scores. As it turns out, a 40 this week was a decent tally. As a small asterisk, these numbers are for all of the Rocks teams, not just those still in the BE cup. A consequence of the lower average was that we had a pile up going into the last day, with the spotlight on 4 teams and another 4 just a small step ahead, with a couple of those ending up in the mix. Needing only a goal from Bruno, Keysersoze had ways out until the very end as it would only have taken a PK, and with MUN goals coming, Bruno had a couple of good assist chances wasted and I believe had at least one assist of the assister with a pass in the chain but no FPL points. But, the Bruno goal didn't come. It was a gracious bow-out from @tjh71 : "We've had a rough go since the draft, but we keep fighting. It says a lot about these lads that we're sitting #20 in the table and we made it to the second half. Obviously, some of the blame falls on me, as Alli in the 3rd round and Azipilicueta in the 4th didn't pan out for various reasons, but we still had a good core with Bruno, Jiminez, Grealish, and Digne from 1, 2, 5, and 6. Well, at least until the injuries hit. Now we're scrambling. We're going to wait it out, look for our opportunities, and create our chances on another day. Best to you all. Happy holidays mates!" Dangerzone: Aviators (30), Morning Glory (30), and Lokomotiv Lewisham (31). It is the second visit for Aviators and Lokomotiv, while Morning Glory goes from Olympic gold in GW12 to dangerzone in gw13 and becomes the second team (after Virgil Reality) to have three dangerzone visits. Scanning the spreadsheet, and not intending to jinx him (or perhaps I am! ), but a special shoutout to @tarvinodos and his Sasha Juniors squad as the only team still alive who hasn't been in the dangerzone. 13 weeks and counting. GW14 kicks off in less than 24 hours!
With two games to play in GW14, the current bottom of the BE-Cup table reads: Morning Glory = 15 + Pope + Coady + Th.Silva + Mount + Abraham [1 in autosub if needed] ColdDogSoup = 26 + Pope + Mount + Abraham + Werner [Semedo in autosub if needed] Aviators ------- = 30 + Mendy + Soucek + Ziyech(OrangeFlag) [Antonio(Orange) & Semedo in autosub if needed] After these three, Stormin Gunners is next at 39, with three players still to go, and the players in the 40s have additional players as well, so it seems unlikely that any of them will be put at risk. There are some possible outs, but with overlapping players/defensive pairs likely providing some cover, it looks pretty grim for Morning Glory, who would ideally start with Burnley and Wolves playing to a 0-0 draw in the early game, and then be looking for Silva and Mount to score while Werner blanks........
With 30 minutes to play, this has gotten ridiculously tight and Morning Glory seems to have snuck ahead if current BPs come in. Lobo in trouble but Hal needs to keep the clean sheet.