FFL Week 1.....what goes around comes around

So let the games begin.........

My first year as reigning champion (that phrase may well become a regular feature of my weekly blatherings) and my first year as scorer on the blog so bear with me and feel free to correct any scoring inaccuracies..........my opinions however you're lumbered with!!

Firstly, self-congratulation all round on the smoothest auction yet, done and dusted in less than 4 hours.

Secondly and hence title of my blog. Couldnt help but enjoy the irony of McGeady;s sending off for a BLATANT dive and this sentence from Mowbray......... "If we hadn't had the week we've had in the media, I would suggest the referee would never have made it a sending off," said the Celtic manager.......whose fault is that then Tony!

So the early scores done post-auction yesterday which I will check at my first audit after Internationals:

1. James 63


2. Nick Ath 57


3. Stathi 49


4. Rico 46


5. Mike 39


6. Don 35


7. Nick Ach 32


8. Theo 22


9. Sid 22

Useless stat of the week..........costliest team:

1. Cech 8m


2. Evra 13.1m


3. Bosingwa 13.5m


4. Vidic 11.2m


5. Terry 11.3m


6. Arsahvin 16.5m


7. Lampard 16.7m


8. Gerrard 15.2m


9. Fabregas 15.5m


10. Rooney 18.1m


11. Torres 16.5m

Total cost is 155.6m and unsurpisingly all players from the traditional Big 4 (4 CFC / 3 Man Utd / 2 Liverpool / 2 AFC). What a team...swap big Fat Frank for Essien for a bit of bite and you're unbeatable!! Only me and Nick PC don't have any of the most expensive players. 2 each for Rico, Nick (both CB) Stathi and Mike.

Bargain bucket team....my take on worst of <0.5m>

1. Gomes


2. Ferrira


3. Rafael


4. Agger


5. Davies


6. Geovanni


7. Huddlestone


8. Modric


9. Reid


10. Yakubu


11. Tevez

Probably irrelevant but 3 of those each for Theo, Sid and Rico and 1 each for Mike & Nick.........

We shall see.............

J

Bitter, bitter man

Just let it go Arsene. You lost. Get over it. There are 35 games left.

Wenger: United approach is anti-football

This is why this man is so infuriating. Love his philosophy on football - he plays it the right way but he can NEVER be allowed to take the moral high ground on issues like this.

Ever since he sent out his team to NOT play against United in the 2005 Cup Final (120 minutes and NO shots on goal) his protestations about how the game should be played and his "anti-football" rants should be ignored.

Oh, and for the record................

Most fouls 08/09 Utd v Arse
Denilson 57
Van Persie 46
Song 44
Vidic 39
Berba 33
Fabregas 33
Diaby 31

And another thing, wasn't it the Son of a Baker who pointed out that a certain Gilberto Silva made nearly double the number of fouls before he was booked when compared to other players?

For you Mr Kaplan............

To prove your point sir.

Enjoy

LADY BOY DIVE

Has football gone MAD?

Remember the story that did the rounds regarding John Arne Riise's payslip which stated he earned something in the region of £140,000 for September (including bonuses)?






















That was a ridiculous amount of money then but check out today's story:

JOHNSON KOPS £13OK PER WEEK

Sorry I know football has gone to obscene levels of paying the top stars, but if this is true then that is quite possibly the WORST/BEST contract (depending if you are the player himself or the club) in terms of an ability/pay ratio of any player in the history of the game.

Simply grotesque amount of money. If I feel this way, how do Liverpool fans feel?

It is a shocking amount of money for any footballer to earn let alone an average to shit one!!!

I'm staggered...................

Ukraine's got talent...........

Wow!

Such loyal fans...............

So, it seems neither do those lovable rogues believe 'this is their year', or that they have 'turned the corner'

LIVERPOOL NOT SELLING OUT

But they do have form though.

What would Sky and the BBC say about the "best fans in the world, espceically on those amazing, special, European nights when the Kop is rocking and there is not a person who is not shouting themselves hoarse" if they did their research?????

FIRST HOME EUROPEAN CUP GAME AFTER WINNING IT FOR THE 3rd TIME A FEW MONTHS EARLIER
Liverpool 7 - 0 Oulu Palloseura
Game Date :: 30.09.1981
Competition :: European Cup 1st round 2nd leg Stadium :: Anfield
Spectators :: 20,789

FROM THEIR PLASTIC TREBLE SEASON
Liverpool 2 - 0 Olympiacos
Game Date :: 07.12.2000
Competition :: UEFA Cup 3rd round 2nd leg Stadium :: Anfield
Spectators :: 35,484


Liverpool 3 - 0 Fulham
Game Date :: 13.12.2000
Competition :: League Cup 5th round Stadium :: Anfield
Spectators :: 20,144


Liverpool 3 - 0 Rotherham United
Game Date :: 06.01.2001
Competition :: FA Cup 3rd round Stadium :: Anfield
Spectators :: 30,689


Liverpool 4 - 2 Manchester City
Game Date :: 18.02.2001
Competition :: FA Cup 5th round Stadium :: Anfield
Spectators :: 36,231


Liverpool 1 - 0 Dundalk
Game Date :: 28.09.1982
Competition :: European Cup 1st round 2nd leg Stadium :: Anfield
Spectators :: 12,021

TWELVE THOUSAND? Yes twelve thousand............................(and no, unemployment is NOT an excuse!)

Footballers and REAL jobs..........

With the news that forklift driver and former England interntional Neil Webb is going to auction off his 1990 FA Cup Winners medal as he is skint, it got me thinking.

1) Wouldn't it be amazing if the likes of this C**T


















had to make a living after football? Hopefully somewhere like NETTO or Costco?

2) If current footballers didn't make it as footballers, what would their 'profession' be?

Adebayor is a dead ringer for a Traffic Warden near where I live!
Vinny Jones and John Terry would be a hod carriers working for Roy Keane's bricklaying firm
Petr Cech would wash windows, assisted by Peter Crouch
Wayne Rooney would be on the dole along with Eboue.
Gerrard would be clearing pint glasses in his local boozer
Jermaine Pennant would be in jail.
Joey Barton would be in jail

any more?

Gracious Acceptance...........

I'd like to thank my friends, my family...............

Defn: Bravity

[Taken from the internet after a Google search]

Bravity - A mysterious and fundamental force of nature wherein physical consciousness is attracted to what lies beneath a bra. Attractive force under normal conditions. Repulsion is exhibited in the case of those monstrous giga-mamas. Effects can be predicted by analyzing the curvature of spacetime around the source in what is now called the general theory of strip-it-ivity.

And they say Liverpool fans are bad...

A Manchester United fan killed four people in Nigeria when he drove into Barcelona supporters after his team lost the Champions League final, police have said.

All Time Greats - Vote Now!

Simple question - you have inherited a North London all time greats squad and have to pick a starting eleven, lining up to play 4-4-2 from the following:

Seaman, Clemence

Dixon, Carr, Hughton, Sansom, O'Leary, Adams, Mabbutt, Gough

Brady, Gascoigne, Viera, Ardiles, Hoddle, Pires, Waddle, Overmars

Klinsman, Bergkamp, Henry, Lineker

To be honest of most interest is the chosen strikeforce but let's see what we get particularly from the non-North London fans....

FFL Week 36

You number one baby, thass raaaight!

It's all over folks. What a weekend - no Nasri, no Adebayor, no Alex and no Vidic, but James still manages 11 points. And Donald's reliance on Fulham's defence gets cruelly exposed on the most crucial weekend of the FFL season. So, with just the FA Cup final to go, James leads by 18 points. It looks like a new name on the Dwight Yorke Trophy this season after all. And who could begrudge him it? Hopefully, we won't hear about the Nevillegate affair of 1997 ever again.

I don't know about you folks, but it feels good to see the arse of that season waddling away. And I'm going to share with you all my plans for the summer auction: I'm going to buy Gerrard, Lampard and Ronaldo within the first 10 minutes, have a nap for a few hours, then come back to pick up my free transfers.

Oh, and the table:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	409
18	2nd	Don	391
36	3rd	Sid	373
40	4th	Theo	369
50	5th	Mike	359
68	6th	Stathi	341
74	7th	Nick PC	335
96	8th	Nick Ath	313

Fucking stupid game.

Your Chairman

FFL Week 35

Stunning. Simply stunning. With just one week to go (and an FA Cup Final), Donald pulls to within 7 points of James with a timely 17-pointer. As James so presciently noted a couple of weeks ago, it will all come down to Fulham's defence since both leaders share key defenders in other teams but Donald has two Fulham defenders.

And there would be just one point in it had Donald bought Louis Saha last week instead of this week. Nevertheless, we'll be virtually guaranteed some drama at Wembley in two weeks' time, with Donald fielding Terry, Lampard, Yobo and Saha, and James sending out Alex and Baines.

As for the rest of us...well, only a couple of months to go until a wholesale clearout. Ah, a brand new team.

The scores:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	398
7	2nd	Don	391
35	3rd	Sid	363
44	4th	Mike	354
46	5th	Theo	352
65	6th	Nick PC	333
65	7th	Stathi	333
90	8th	Nick Ath	308

Ooh, look, there's an interesting fight for 6th place!

Your Chairman

Just a quickie.............

George Michael was straight the last time Liverpool won the league.

And that, you FSW*, is a FACT!





*fat Spanish waiter

FFL Week 34

Sorry chaps, a very busy week. No time for chat, but here's the table:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	392
18	2nd	Don	374
45	3rd	Sid	347
47	4th	Mike	345
51	5th	Theo	341
62	6th	Stathi	330
65	7th	Nick PC	327
95	8th	Nick Ath	297

(Scores include points from Wigan v Man Utd in midweek.)

18 points may be insurmountable at this stage. Still no final transfer from Donald.

Your Chairman

It's taken you HOW long to realise this?????

Wenger says home fans are shite

Silliness aside, he makes several good points.

Getting to like him to be honest!

Premier League Challenge

Eight minutes to names all the teams that have played in the Premier League since its inception. The best so far (in my office) is 41/42 although I did get help towards the end. And no cheating by opening up the BBC sportspage league tables....


http://www.sporcle.com/games/premierleaguealltime.php

Bears shit in woods..................

and scousers steal.

It's nature.

That is all.

Pienaar Robbed

FFL Week 33

If, as is looking increasingly likely, James goes on to win his first FFL championship, he'll have this man to thank. Another 5 points this week takes his season's tally to 78 - that's 12 more than Ronaldo and 21 more than the next-highest-scoring centre-back, John Terry.

James will also have Aston Villa to thank: a clean sheet for Freidel and an assist from Ashley Young preserved his double-point lead over Donald, who looked like closing in again after another impressive week in which he scored 14.

At either end of the performance scale this week were Stathi (3) and Mike (15). Like it matters.

The table:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	380
12	2nd	Don	368
46	3rd	Mike	334
46	4th	Sid	334
54	5th	Nick PC	326
55	6th	Theo	325
56	7th	Stathi	324
89	8th	Nick Ath	291

No transfers this week.

Your Chairman

FFL Week 32

Sphincters will be tight as we navigate our FFL dreadnoughts through the narrow straights of the closing weeks. Well, two sphincters will be tight; the rest of us can sit back and contemplate another season of overpriced flops, bad transfers and untimely injuries.

And if this past week is anything to go by the drama will be nail-biting and unpredictable. Who foresaw four goals for Arsenal, let alone Arshavin, at Anfield? And what about Donald's new boy Mark Noble missing a penalty against Chelsea, essentially costing him six points (Alex picking up another clean sheet for Chelsea).

Had James not had an impressive week himself, with 19 points, Donald's 31 would have put him in the lead. And with just 13 points separating them, James will be hoping that Adebayor gets his act together for the last few games of the season. Donald's remaning transfer could come into play too.

The table:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	367
13	2nd	Don	354
46	3rd	Stathi	321
48	4th	Mike	319
49	5th	Nick PC	318
50	6th	Sid	317
53	7th	Theo	314
81	8th	Nick Ath	286

Donald used one of his two remaning transfers to replace the crocked Jagielka with Yobo.

Your How-The-Fuck-Did-I-End-Up-81-Points-Behind-This-Game-Sucks-Cocks Chairman

Great photo............

It wasn't Howard Webb's fault..........................

DIVINE INTERVENTION?????

Losing it...

I haven't figured out how to embed video clips on this thing yet but this is unbelievable for so many different reasons...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOeSAsELyAA

COYS

FFL Week 31

As the rest fade away, step forward Donald. Quite how he's managed to mount a challenge with Jo and Alves up front for most of the season is beyond the ken of your humbler than humble chairman. But 66 points from Frank Lampard - with 14 in the last three weeks alone - helps, as does a strong defence with Jagielka, Terry and Evra.

Donald's 12-point week seems him pull to within 25 points of James and, crucially, before the goal-orgy at Anfield on Tuesday. Oh what end-of-season drama awaits us this season my fellow managers.

Here are the scores:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	348
25	2nd	Don	323
37	3rd	Mike	311
38	4th	Stathi	310
39	5th	Nick PC	309
39	6th	Theo	309
42	7th	Sid	306
67	8th	Nick Ath	281

Finally reaslising that he's on the cusp on joining the hat-trick club, Donald makes two of his remaining four transfers, buying Noble and Schwartzer for Nani and Given. About time too. And Sid snaps up yet another full back, with Ivanovic replacing Curtis Davies. Just before John O'Shea and Gary Neville got injured in midweek. How I laughed.

Your Chairman

FFL Week 30

Apologies. I've been busy with shit.

Judging by the dearth of comments, no one really cares much for an update anyway. Let's face it - we all sense a creeping futility in the universe of FFL. With time running out, the lead seems to be getting stretched every week.

It's interesting to note, though, that James's lead of 31 points almost corresponds to the contribution made by his last 3 subs - Leighton Baines, Matt Taylor and Adebayor - who have scored 32 points since bought. They alone scored 14 points between them last weekend. And that's where this game is either won or lost.

The table:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	342
31	2nd	Nick PC	311
31	3rd	Don	311
38	4th	Theo	304
39	5th	Stathi	303
40	6th	Mike	302
42	7th	Sid	300
64	8th	Nick Ath	278

No transfers to report.

Your Chairman

FFL Week 29

Here's what I wrote last week:

In reality though, Vidic will be back and scoring heavily again within a fortnight. Carvalho will get injured again, letting Alex back in. Nasri will nip in with the odd assist and Villa will get back on track.

I'm sure Vidic will prove me right. Carvalho was indeed injured, with Alex coming back in, and Nasri nipped in with more than a mere assist. Okay, so Villa are nowhere near the railtracks yet, but with Leyton Baines, Luca Modric and Matt Taylor all nipping in with goals this week, Villa's derailment is a bearable one. And they will get back on track, you'll see.

No prizes for guessing whose team top scored this week: Neville xi-Neville, Sid now threatens to make a late charge with Gerrard's dead ball hat-trick and assist contributing more than half his total of 20. At the other end of the scoring spectrum Mike's topsy-turvy season once again turned turvy: he managed just 2 points.

Despite James' more-than-acceptable week, the fight is still very much on. Here's the table:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	317
18	2nd	Nick PC	299
21	3rd	Stathi	296
25	4th	Don	292
36	5th	Sid	281
38	6th	Theo	279
40	7th	Mike	277
57	8th	Nick Ath	260

There were no transfers this week because O'Shea got a game.

Internationals are on this weekend. Yawn.

Your Chairman

FFL Week 28

Vidic banned for two games, his confidence shot. Carvalho returns, signalling the end of Alex's participation in any Chelsea games this season. For ever, actually. Arshavin's explosive impact at Arsenal means the end for Nasri. Ashley Young's been found out, as have Aston Villa as a team.

I can already see that silver medal gleaming in James's silver medal cabinet. In reality though, Vidic will be back and scoring heavily again within a fortnight. Carvalho will get injured again, letting Alex back in. Nasri will nip in with the odd assist and Villa will get back on track. But this week has offered us all some hope.

None more so than your heretofore humble chairman. Finally, finally, a squad that's more or less playing and scoring. 19 points in fact, giving me the manager of the week award for the first time this year. And as you already suspected, James was bottom with 4. Shame his nearest challenger, Nick PC, only managed 5 himself.

The table looks like this:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	308
15	2nd	Stathi	293
16	3rd	Nick PC	292
26	4th	Don	282
33	5th	Mike	275
33	6th	Theo	275
47	7th	Sid	261
51	8th	Nick Ath	257

Sid's on-off love affair with Gary Neville continued this week. Now it's off again after Sid was caught in a motorway service station toilet with John O'Shea. He also drafted in Ryan Giggs for David Bentley. He's left with one transfer now - just enough to buy Neville again in April. And Donald kept up his habit of bidding for players he can't have: this time Fabregas was the target.

Watch me, here I come.

Maybe.

Your Chairman.

FFL Week 27

A big, big week for a big, big man launching his big, big challenge. Last week's calamity looks to have been an aberration, not a surrender. With 26 points, Stathi pulls to within twenty points of the lead - a mere one week's points, as he demonstrated this week. The points came from everywhere but no one outscored Rooney, with 2 goals and an assist for the week.

At the other end of the week's wheel of fortune were Sid and Theo, scoring 4 and 5 respectively. It's looking increasingly like a three-horse race.

Here are the scores:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	304
17	2nd	Nick PC	287
20	3rd	Stathi	284
35	4th	Theo	269
36	5th	Don	268
37	6th	Mike	267
48	7th	Sid	256
66	8th	Nick Ath	238

For some, the dice were thrown for the last time this week. Nick PC bought the in-form Aaron Lennon for the crocked Arteta, and Mike bought the hirsute Fellaini for Wilson Palacios.

And we're into the final furlong...

Your Chairman

FFL Week 26

Opportunity knocked this week, with our leader managing a meagre one point. Did anyone answer? Did they fuck. Top score went to Donald with 12 points, but he's one off the bottom so no one really cares. He and Sid were the only managers to get into double figures, but no one cares about Sid's team either, apart from Sid.

Stathi's mounting challenge that began last week ended in ignominy this week - he made -2.

True, there were only 8 fixtures, but I'm sure most of us expected more.

Here's the table:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	288
13	2nd	Nick PC	275
18	3rd	Theo	270
34	4th	Stathi	254
35	5th	Sid	253
40	6th	Mike	248
42	7th	Don	246
71	8th	Nick Ath	217

No more dithering on the transfer front this year for James. He makes his last two transfers, drafting in Leighton Baines and Emmanuel Adebayor for Glen Johnson and Daren't Bend. I don't know what why I just typed that; it felt right, but it makes no sense.

So long comrades,

Your Chairman

Rafa's cracking up part 1387538

What a genius!!!!

Rafa Benitez has become embroiled in a bizarre exchange with BBC football reporter Ian Dennis after refusing to reveal why he selected Javier Mascherano at right-back for the game with Sunderland on Tuesday.

Questioned over his team selection following the 2-0 win, Benitez was at his most elusive when interviewed by Dennis. While the interview has been cut from the BBC website, Radio Five Live has provided a full airing of the lengthy game of question and avoidance.

Benitez: "Mascherano had to play there so we needed to do it in this way."

Dennis: "Jamie [Carragher] has played there before so why didn't you use him?"

Benitez: "Mascherano had to play there."

Dennis: "But why?"

Benitez: "Because Mascherano had to play there."

Dennis: "Was it a tactical decision?"

Benitez: "No. He had to play there."

Dennis: "Ok. Any news on your contract?"

Benitez: "No news. We have to enjoy our victory tonight."

Dennis: "You're not helping me much, Rafa! Come on! No clues?"

Benitez: "As I said, the best thing to do is enjoy the victory. I think everyone will be happy tonight."

Dennis: "Enjoy your evening."

Benitez's reluctance to discuss his selection at right-back was mirrored before the game. The Liverpool website still carries the following exchange made between the Spaniard and an unidentified radio hack in the wake of Saturday's 2-0 defeat at the Riverside:

Journalist: "Your injury problems meant you had to put Martin Skrtel at right-back against Middlesbrough. Could you explain why you didn't use Jamie Carragher in that position, and did you feel Martin struggled?"

Benitez: "We had to do it for this game, so we did it."

Journalist: Do you think he maybe had a tough time in that position? Was it a bit unnatural for him?

Benitez: "I was really pleased with him because he wanted to play in this position. It was good for the team."

FFL Week 25

It may be a little premature to be writing off James's nearest challenger, but along with Arteta's knee seemingly went Nick's chances of catching our runaway leader. With him out of the picture, it's hard to see where the points will come from: Queresma was Scolari's man and didn't feature in Hiddink's first game; Laursen and Aurelio are injured; Babel is a bench-warmer; Zaki is hopelessly out of form. Fabregas may be back soon, but I would be suprised if we saw anything like the Fabregas of last season between now and May.

And what of our other challengers? Theo may yet pose a threat. Only 19 points behind, Anelka still in form, Milner back in the side (see below), and Ronaldo Ronadoing again. Still, too many players not on the pitch often enough, if at all - Hyypia, Osman, Malouda, Brown.

It may take a challenge from deeper. Stathi may be 31 points behind, but he's got something he hasn't had for a few weeks: two fit strikers. Carlton Cole joins the side to partner the fit-again Wayne Rooney. And Joe Hart aside, the defence looks solid. Don't write him off.

As for the rest of us, minor - and, in some cases, major - miracles are required. A few more weeks like this one might see Mike make a challenge. He top scored this week with 17. Three of us bottom scored with 9: Sid, Nick PC, and - quel surprise! - me. But I'm done with moaning about it. For this week. The scores:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	287
12	2nd	Nick PC	275
19	3rd	Theo	268
31	4th	Stathi	256
44	5th	Sid	243
45	6th	Mike	242
53	7th	Don	234
77	8th	Nick Ath	210

As I've already mentioned, Stathi bought Carlton Cole for Jermaine Defoe, and Theo couldn't resist buying James Milner for the 23rd time since he left Leeds, for Jimmy Bullard.

Don't forget there are FA Cup games too this week. The scores above include last night's Spurs match.

Your over-it Chairman

FFL Week 24

Whatever you think about incorporating the FA Cup into our FFL season, you can't argue that it doesn't add a few more twists and turns to what's become a twisty-turney season already. And, with a tasty dish of cup replays still to come, expect a few more twists and turns before February is out.

And it doesn't get more twisty and turney than a hatrick in the last 15 minutes of a game. Add a goal for Ronaldo and a clean sheet from Gallas, and you've got a weekend-long stiffy if you're a little bald QS from West Finchley - 13 points puts you back to within 20 points of a big not-quite-bald-yet doctor from Mill Hill.

Slipping away this week was Stathi - who's been called enough things on this blog, so I'll refrain just this once - who scored a big fat zero. That damn FA Cup, eh?

Here is the leaderboard once again:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	275
9	2nd	Nick PC	266
19	3rd	Theo	256
28	4th	Stathi	247
38	5th	Sid	237
41	6th	Mike	234
57	7th	Don	218
74	8th	Nick Ath	201

Nice to see all managers in the 200s. Some of us won't be getting beyond 300, so let's savour it for a week.

There were 2 transfers to report, both from the top. James rids himself of Rory Delap and avails himself of Matt Taylor. And Theo dumps Adebayor and takes a punt on Kenwyne Jones.

Transfers in hand: Chairman Nick - 0; James - 2; Mike - 0; Theo - 1; Don - 4; Sid - 3 (and he can't buy Rafael any more); Stathi - 1; Nick PC - 1.

Your Chairman

FFL Week 23

So, we come to the end of another tempestuous week ridden with scandals, changes in personnel and the odd tantrum. If you think I've lost it a little over the last couple of weeks, you ain't seen nothing yet.

James still leads, despite the agony of missing the transfer deadline because of work commitments. This FFL malarkey is an unforgiving business - complacency in the execution of transfers can cost a manager the title, as James is all too aware.

James's nemesis in that infamous season of neglected transfers, Donald, benefitted this week from his own neglect. Jo's 8 points on his Everton debut handed Donald the manager of the week accolade, with 20 points. Amazingly, he's not out of the running yet. A few more weeks like this one could see him challenge.

And so to your beleagred, punchdrunk, despairing, weary, and rapidly unhinging chairman. There were more comments on last week's blog post than points for my team throughout all of January. Over the last 7 weeks, I've scored 2, 3, 2, 8, 1, 11, and 2. And I've made all my transfers. And I have to keep the scores. And I got a gas bill for over £300 this morning. And I've got to walk the dog through the slush as soon as I've posted this entry.

Fuck, fuck and triple fuck. Here are the scores:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	269
10	2nd	Nick PC	259
22	3rd	Stathi	247
26	4th	Theo	243
36	5th	Sid	233
40	6th	Mike	229
56	7th	Don	213
76	8th	Nick Ath	193

There were more transfer shenanigans this week. Theo's offer of Malouda wasn't enough to snap up new boy Queresma, with Nick PC outbidding him with Joe Cole. The other new boy, Arshavin, goes to Donald who gets rid of Alves. And pretending that it will make any difference whatsoever, I bought Rafael for Traore.

A long way to go yet, but it still looks like it will go to the wire.

Farewell.

Your Chairman

FFL Week 23

Hey, I'm back again! Sorry about the delay - I had no internet for a while and I've been busy with other shit.

And what a week to miss. A double week in the Premier League has seen James create a cushion between himself and the chasing pack. He scored a massive 29, nudging him 17 points in front. Donald bottom scored with 4. I'm going to keep it brief, so here's the table, which has been audited:

	FFL 2008/09 LEAGUE TABLE
Diff			Total Points
	1st	James	259
17	2nd	Nick PC	242
21	3rd	Theo	238
21	4th	Stathi	238
36	5th	Sid	223
46	6th	Mike	213
66	7th	Don	193
68	8th	Nick Ath	191

Predictably, there was a transfer frenzy this week. If your transfer doesn't appear below, it's either because they player you wanted is already taken or you tried to buy a player before he was listed (Stathi).

Donald, yes Donald: Shorey OUT Konchesky IN
Mike: James OUT Howard IN, and Rosicky OUT Carrick IN.

Mike's also raised a query about his purchase of Ballack. When he bought Ballack, he already had Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ashley Cole. However, SWP was down as a Man City player at the time, even though Mike had bought him at auction as a Chelsea player. I think that's okay but if anyone objects, let your voice be heard now.

Bear in mind the scores above don't include midweek FA Cup points.

Over and out.

Your Chairman