The MeFi Fantasy Football Challenge 2010/2011

August 1, 2010 9:50 PM

It's August, which means it's getting time for Metafilter Fantasy Football (soccer) 2010/2011!

This year's season of Barclay's Premier League is getting underway in just two weeks' time. There was some talk in an earlier MeFi football thread about setting up a fantasy football league, which I took the privilege of doing.

If you want to indulge in a friendly game of fantasy football with fellow MeFites, you can join the game here. The league code is 78394-158797.

posted by Bukvoed to MetaFilter-Related at 9:50 PM (67 comments total)

I'm in. I don't remember, who took home the prize last time around?
posted by juv3nal at 12:59 AM on August 2, 2010

If you want to indulge in a friendly game of fantasy football

I do.
posted by doublehappy at 2:32 AM on August 2, 2010

i'm in.
posted by modernnomad at 6:01 AM on August 2, 2010

In
posted by josher71 at 6:24 AM on August 2, 2010

I'm in too. My team is Prestwich Rovers.
posted by idiomatika at 7:00 AM on August 2, 2010

I'm in. SY Athletic is prepared to languish on the lower rungs this season once again.
posted by R.Stornoway at 7:38 AM on August 2, 2010

I'm back again too - Hogtown Hotspur.
posted by jamesonandwater at 8:25 AM on August 2, 2010

Don't expect me to actively manage my team. I'm not one of these new-fangled managers, with their squad rotations and transfer day shenanigans. Injury? Get some icy water on it, son. If it looks bad, you can have an orange quarter at half time, that'll perk you up.

What do you mean, metatarsal? What's that when it's at home? Now get out there, get stuck in.

*Puts on sheepskin coat*
posted by djgh at 8:29 AM on August 2, 2010

For a moment I got really excited, because I thought this thread was about Blood Bowl. I hope you guys have fun, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed to learn the actual subject matter.
posted by Parasite Unseen at 9:14 AM on August 2, 2010

I should get back into this again. I'll be Centre County AFC and my team will be disproportionately made up of Celtic players who moved south.
posted by jackflaps at 10:52 AM on August 2, 2010

i'm in: riise's own goal
posted by beukeboom at 10:58 AM on August 2, 2010

Joined!
posted by contessa at 6:26 PM on August 2, 2010

I also play in an EPL league on Yahoo, is there a MeFi group there any chance?
posted by cgk at 6:59 PM on August 2, 2010

Huzzah!
posted by Dr. Zira at 9:18 PM on August 2, 2010

I'm FC Gallifrey. My entire team is composed of Daleks. They are very difficult to manage, but they're dirt cheap on the transfer market and they don't have WAGs to distract them.
posted by Dr. Zira at 9:25 PM on August 2, 2010

I've opted for the controversial dual manager system in Mr Don & Mr George (Technically it's a Manager/Technical-Director split). THAT ALWAYS WORKS.
posted by oh pollo! at 6:08 AM on August 3, 2010

In: Phoenix Rising
posted by Infinite Jest at 6:30 AM on August 3, 2010

Dover Divers
posted by yerfatma at 6:38 AM on August 3, 2010

Serious question: would you-all mind a complete US-noob who just started watching BPL last season (COYS) and is quite likely to make a hash of it? I think I'd like to give this a try, but I'd hate to ruin the fun for anyone else.
posted by qldaddy at 6:42 AM on August 3, 2010

Everyone's definitely welcome to join! There's not a lot of interaction except for the internal league rankings, so the worst that could happen is that you'll end up in last place.
posted by Bukvoed at 7:57 AM on August 3, 2010

I'm in as Salmacis FC.
posted by salmacis at 8:03 AM on August 3, 2010

@Parasite Unseen

What? The title of this post is "Fantasy Football" and the subject is fantasy football.
posted by salmacis at 8:04 AM on August 3, 2010

Freshly Deathly FC has joined and will casually follow the goings on.
posted by haqspan at 11:17 AM on August 3, 2010

Alright then, QL United is in the game.
posted by qldaddy at 11:37 AM on August 3, 2010

There's not a lot of interaction except for the internal league rankings

That and trash talking. There was entirely not enough trash talking last time around. I don't remember who won, but I do remember that much.
posted by juv3nal at 12:15 PM on August 3, 2010

Oh also, frasermoo had some tips for newbies in the last thread, but IIRC, he didn't do so hot himself so I don't know how much you want to take his advice to heart.

You do want to check in pretty regularly to make sure everyone you field is playing and not injured/suspended. The auto substitution thing, er, exists, but I wouldn't rely on it. It seemed pretty wonky from my experience.
posted by juv3nal at 12:21 PM on August 3, 2010

The Frasermoo tips are good.

Now, to the trash talking: My team is best. Yours is shit.

Regards,

The Josher71's.
posted by josher71 at 1:53 PM on August 3, 2010

Now, to the trash talking: My team is best. Yours is shit.

Oh it's on.

The site tells me I bettered you by 82 points last time. To put that in perspective, I could have spotted you an extra Niklas Bendtner or Robbie Keane and still beat you.
posted by juv3nal at 2:10 PM on August 3, 2010

Oh, it's SO on.
posted by deadmessenger at 7:51 AM on August 4, 2010

I could have spotted you an extra Niklas Bendtner or Robbie Keane

No thanks.
posted by yerfatma at 8:05 AM on August 4, 2010

No thanks.

Heh.
Well for a real team, maybe not, but for a fantasy pool, an extra 80 points is an extra 80 points.
posted by juv3nal at 11:36 AM on August 4, 2010

Juv3nal,

Let's not rest on last year's laurels.

Your friend in premiershipping,

Josher71
posted by josher71 at 6:58 AM on August 5, 2010

Yeah, well, if I do poorly this year, at least I have an excuse: all my dudes are tuckered out from their Europa League (at least, if not CL) matches ;P
posted by juv3nal at 11:55 AM on August 5, 2010

Oh, I'm so in. Team name will be some reference to Xabi Alonso, and the fact that the stupid fat git with the mid life crisis beard sold him to Real Madrid.
posted by Nick Verstayne at 5:40 PM on August 5, 2010

Joined

Team = Catanaccio

trash talk you say? good luck everyone. you'll need it against my awesome squad!! hahahaha it will be like hull city away for you lot!!11!
posted by marienbad at 1:13 PM on August 8, 2010

Joined, team = Ruckus Rangers.
posted by Errant at 10:53 AM on August 10, 2010

Joined! Z-Town Monkeys...

Holy crap I'm so excited for Saturday. Also, quite excited that there is MeFi league--who knew?!
posted by Zoyashka at 6:55 PM on August 10, 2010

I'm in! Owls Be Damned, cos we are.
posted by kendrak at 9:55 AM on August 11, 2010

The newborn tried to distract me, but Hull Caliban knows no pity.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 8:48 AM on August 12, 2010

Less than an hour till we start people.

You have no chance to survive, make your time.
posted by Infinite Jest at 3:50 AM on August 14, 2010

Well done, everyone who picked Didier Drogba...
posted by idiomatika at 1:16 PM on August 14, 2010

Doing horribly, 2 of my men were on the injured list.
posted by contessa at 7:01 PM on August 14, 2010

If you don't use your allotted weekly free transfer, does it carry over to the next week?
posted by Dr. Zira at 7:08 PM on August 14, 2010

Dr. Zira: yes. (I checked that in the FAQ when I was doing my transfers)
posted by contessa at 7:11 PM on August 14, 2010

Ditto doing horribly, but I've still got dogs in the Arsenal v. Liverpool and ManU v. Newcastle still to play. Wigan really let me down. I mean I know they're not great or anything but I was hoping NZogbia would at least get the token points for showing up but apparently sucks to be me for not doing my research.
posted by juv3nal at 9:06 PM on August 14, 2010

Yeah, I have a lot of eggs in the Sunday and Monday games. Let's hope that my occupation of second from the bottom is temporary!

What's this about a free transfer?
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:03 AM on August 15, 2010

robocop: You can make 1 transfer between each gameweek deadline without charge. Each additional transfer made in the same gameweek will deduct 4 points from your total at the next deadline.

Also, if you don't use your free transfer then you'll be able to make an additional free transfer the following gameweek. If you don't use the saved transfer in the next gameweek then it will be carried over until you do. You can never have more than one saved transfer, the wildcard is the only way to make more than two free transfers in a gameweek.

AND GODDAMIT ARE CESC AND ROB STILL ON VACATION? AAAARGH!
posted by Dr. Zira at 9:37 AM on August 15, 2010

AND GODDAMIT ARE CESC AND ROB STILL ON VACATION? AAAARGH!

Yeah I got dinged by Cesc as well. Rumour has it as some kind of chest infection.
posted by juv3nal at 12:30 PM on August 15, 2010

I'm a bit confused as to how transfers work. So if I send off a guy worth 6.5 mil, I can only get someone worth 6.5 or less (assuming I spend my full 100 mil at the start)? Do you ever end up with a team worth more than 100?
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:36 AM on August 16, 2010

So i can make one transfer between the 14th August and 21st August? is this right?

also: bloody drogba and malouda. damn you!!
posted by marienbad at 6:52 AM on August 16, 2010

robocop is bleeding: At the moment, that's correct. However, players rise and drop in price as the season goes on. This depends on the amount of people who transfer that player in or out of their team (the FPL people have some sort of secret algorithm to determine the threshold at which to change the price). So if a lot of people buy a player (as is happening with Harewood at the moment - there's a bandwagon that's unlikely to pay off), eventually their price will go up. If your players do well, you should be able to raise the value of your team by 5-10M through the season.

marienbad: You can make however many transfers you want, but only one if you want to avoid taking a point hit.
posted by Bukvoed at 9:33 AM on August 16, 2010

I think you get one wild card transfer to use whenever, plus another one during the January transfer window, in addition to your one regular transfer each week.
posted by Zoyashka at 11:40 AM on August 16, 2010

Sorry about the dumb questions, but it's one player per transfer, right?
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:10 PM on August 16, 2010

Sorry about the dumb questions, but it's one player per transfer, right?
Yes, unless you use a wildcard in which case I think you can go nuts and shuffle your whole team if like.
posted by juv3nal at 7:06 PM on August 16, 2010

Transfers during the season:

- Each week, you can transfer one player out and one in without losing any points to do so. You cannot exceed the value of your team as it stands, so if you try to transfer out a cheap player for an expensive player, you won't be able to do so without a second transfer to balance the books.

- You can do this the other way around - transfer out one expensive player for a cheap one in week X, and then transfer in an expensive one for a cheap one in week Y.

- If you make more than one transfer in a week, the second third etc. will cost you 4 points each. So if you can't wait that extra week in order to be able to transfer players and balance the books for free, then it will cost you.

- If your entire team is crap (*ahem*) you can make as many changes as you want without taking a points hit by using the wildcard. You get one wildcard for the entire season though, so using it early isn't recommended.

You'll find that the values of the players will be the biggest pain in the ass, and will require a fair amount of ju-jitsu. That's why it can be good to save your wildcard for later on, when you need a clean slate to re-jig your team.

Observations:
- My draft team had a midfield of Fabregas, Malouda, Milner, Valencia and Ferguson. I binned Malouda and Milner for Essien and Yaya Toure so that I could have a Rooney/Tevez front two. Result: not good.
- Fabregas. Get off the physio table and start earning me points!
- Drogba. You magnificent bastard. A large proportion of my friends thought you'd be injured, and yet you grab a hattrick with a pretty much still-broken arm. Transferring you in for next week, for
- Rooney. You git. Berbatov scored. Bloody Berbatov. He couldn't hit a barn door with a banjo last season, and he's outscoring you two games into the season (counting the Charity Shield, obviously).
posted by djgh at 12:08 PM on August 19, 2010 [2 favorites]

Has anyone heard whether or not Fabregas is coming back in this weekend?
posted by Dr. Zira at 2:38 PM on August 19, 2010

My magic eight ball says Reply hazy, try again
posted by juv3nal at 5:43 PM on August 19, 2010

As a follow-up to djgh's post...this year it seems they've added a second wildcard:

You can play 2 transfer wildcards a season. One wildcard can be played at anytime, the other can only be used between Gameweeks 23 and 27. This extra wildcard will be available after the start of Gameweek 22 (4 Jan 19:30) up to the Gameweek 27 deadline (12 Feb 11:30).

w00t! w00t!
posted by Zoyashka at 1:41 PM on August 20, 2010

WHAT.
THE.
FUCK.
VILLA?
posted by juv3nal at 10:22 AM on August 22, 2010

Seriously. I missed out on the Drogba Gravy Train and am now hoping that Rooney shows up to games, let alone actually does something.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:03 AM on August 24, 2010 [1 favorite]

I just pulled the trigger on a wildcard reshuffle. Cesc was gold for me last time around but it's just too painful to drag his non-playing 12 points around when I could have Drogba instead.
posted by juv3nal at 12:26 PM on August 24, 2010

Argh. Made four changes, cost of 12 points. Axing Rooney was a necessity for it to go through. And then Chelsea meekly beat Stoke, and Spurs lose? If Rooney grabs a hat-trick I am going to go ballistic.
posted by djgh at 9:52 AM on August 28, 2010

Not to count my eggs before they're hatched with Sunday results still to come, but that wildcard reshuffle seems to have panned out pretty well. From languishing way at the bottom of the league table to being able to see my team without scrolling down!
posted by juv3nal at 4:37 PM on August 28, 2010

Got on the Drogba gravy train last week, so of course, Drogs does not score as well this week.
posted by Dr. Zira at 1:21 AM on August 29, 2010

Woo, #16 With-A-Slowing-Down-Bullet-Who-Finally-Scored-His-First-Goal-Since-March!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:14 AM on August 30, 2010

Just wait 'til I pull the trigger on my wildcard then you all won't have Dr. Zira to race to the bottom anymore.
posted by Dr. Zira at 4:54 PM on August 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Don't think about it as being at the bottom, Doc. Think of it like forming a solid foundation for the rest of the league.

Y'know, like breakfast. ;)
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:13 AM on August 31, 2010