Lampard Gets FA Reprieve
Frank Lampard’s red card for his kick and shove combo on West Ham’s Boa Morte has been rescinded by the FA [source]. After viewing video evidence earlier today, the “Football Association regulatory commission” deemed that the Chelsea midfielder did not deserve the dismissal and subsequently, Lampard will not serve a 3-match ban and will be available for the FA Cup tie with Barnsley and the Premiership games with Derby and Sunderland.
That will come as bad news for early investors in Ballack who will now struggle to work his way into Grant’s lineup for Chelsea’s forthcoming double gameweek against Sunderland and Spurs. Lampard meanwhile, looks a good bet for a decent haul of points over the next few games and has replaced Ballack in the players rankings as a result.
That screws my Ballack buying plan!
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What about Joe Cole - do you think he’ll he play in the Dble gameweek?
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Reply by Mark on March 4, 2008 11:31 pm:
He should theMoz but Grant has so many options it’s hard to see how any of his midfield will play three games in seven days. He’ll surely play two of the games between 12-19 and given his form, that could be enough to warrant the outlay.
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maybe ballack will stay play tho? he did start alongside lampshade at west ham. what do you think mark?
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still play rather
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IA - totally agree; why, having worked so well at West Ham, are people doubting that Grant will look to play them both over the upcoming matches (with Essien in centre also)
Mikel looks to be the casualty here, and we know Grant’s policy concerning Makelele (resing for CL games as much as possible). This leaves a J.Cole/Malouda/SWP/Kalou rotation problem for the 2 wide positions.
As for Sidwell, well he may get 20 mins at Barnsley!
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I think it ruins my ballack plan as well.
Think i’m going for Anelka and Carvalho for the derby match and double game week, i’ll have 3 man utd players anyway so don’t want to get greedy and lose points trying to shoe-horn a third Chelsea player in there, Terry is too expensive and the full back spots are never certain.
Who normally plays in the Chelsea midfield anyway, otherthan Lampard?
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I had Lampard but replaced him with Ballack! I should have waited, but was worried about values changing. Think I’ll keep Ballack for the Derby game, then just bring back Lampard for the double. Don’t think it’s worth a 4-point hit to do it this week
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Chelsea are always a gamble
Think I will get Lampard in, get rid of the joke Fabregas, and I could do with one more from Ballack, J.Cole, or Anelka?
Where would you guys splash the cash?
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Agree with IA, Ballack looks like he’ll still be involved to be honest, and a sure fire way of making some cash in the FPL game if you’re short for the future. He played alongside Lamps on the weekend and I think he’ll get the nod in a fair few of the upcoming games, perhaps 1 if not both of the double weeks - I wouldnt say all is lost.. Though you might all disagree with me?! opinions welcome! and thoughts. Nick
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I meant “one or both of the games in the double week” sorry!
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Reply by Arul on March 5, 2008 8:33 am:
Not to worry, Nick; a home game against Derby is as good as a double!
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What do you reckon the chances of j terry playing in both double gameweek fixtures and this weekends derby game?
he is expensive but maybe almost worth it if he does play all 3?
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While we on the subject of Lampard has anyone thought about selling Ronaldo?? Well I have and I am very tempted. Why? you all ask. Well, I think rest/rotation is going to come into fergie’s head and rightly so. Last Saturday proved it. Is it just me thinking this or I am mad to even think about it or am I thinking to deeply or not thinking enough. Your thoughts please.
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Reply by TheNecromancer on March 4, 2008 6:57 pm:
I believe you are thinking about thinking about thinking too much.
Other than that, I think it depends on whether you are the hound or the hare. If you are happy with your position in the table, keep him. If you are chasing, it’s getting to that time of the season when chances must be taken.
Salute,
TheNecromancer
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Reply by yer dad on March 4, 2008 7:15 pm:
I thought so.
I like your hairy hound way of thinking. I am well ahead in my leagues but trying to get into top 10 who joined in gameweek 2 in FPL. Will prob make decision at 11.29am on sat. What time is it in california??
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Reply by TheNecromancer on March 5, 2008 2:33 am:
Currently, 1833 and I am finally leaving work.
All is good however as I leave tomorrow for 5 days of skiing in Colorado.
House there has wifi, so I am sure I will be up late into the PM Friday local time finding ways to drop even more points to the table leader (I am in second, well adrift).
Hold down the fort whilst I am “en piste”
Cheers,
TheN
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JT should be one of the few players who will play almost every game. Therefore I would say he is likely to be involved in all three games.
Not sure about the Ronaldo opinion tho, apart from early form Fabregas, Ronaldo has been the only must have player this season, in my league the top 10 teams all have him.
Yes there are players such as Lescott, Adebayor and possibly D.James, but none are returning anything like Ronaldo.
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I agree, Ronaldo’s form is just too good to risk transferring him out, had he played against Fulham and scored another brace or a goal and an assist would anybody be thinking of transferring him out? You can still field a great team even with Ronaldo in your line up anyway by taking advantage of the pricing of the likes of Pienaar and Jagielka whilst benching two very low cost subs and one capable cheap sub such as Larsson. Ive never needed more than the one sub so far this season so its a worthy gamble to me, though the next game week will be the first due to utd not playing.
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i wouldnt worry too much. ballack is in such form, and chelsea cannot afford to drop any more points, so im sure he will start against derby and in AT LEAST one of the games in the double week, prob both. grant is structuring the team around ballack so why would he be rested??
my only worry is that selling fabregas may prove costly. did u see the goal against milan? what a cracker…
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I always had faith in the little fellow Fabregas.Can’t believe you had a poll on ‘is it time to get rid’ Quick everyone buy him back before he gets 16 points against Wigan.
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Reply by Mark on March 4, 2008 10:12 pm:
Me too yerDad but the question - “is it time to get rid of Fabregas?” was one that was key prior to Gerrard’s double gameweek, hence the poll. The poll’s don’t reflect my opinion, they canvas opinion on the issues I think are key at a given time. I’ll replace this poll in a while, be interesting to see the “No’s” catch up in the meantime. Fabregas was superb tonight - he might find the JJB pitch more challenging than the Milan midfield though.
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Reply by yer dad on March 4, 2008 10:43 pm:
I would never question the validity of your great polls leader. I voted 5 times to give him the boot but still have him in my team for the simple fact is that I know he will come good again. It may be the last game of the season but it will come
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Reply by Mark on March 4, 2008 11:26 pm:
No worries YerDad. I’m such a big fan of Fabregas myself, I’d hate folk to think I’d turned against him. It was brilliant to see him running the show tonight but I’m finding the poll a real problem for me now, my GF just saw it and said “how the hell can you ask that after tonight?”. You both have a very good point
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Anyone else think this is double standards from the FA? Lamps gets off after kicking out a-la-David Beckham and then shoving a player to the floor: Poor old Alidiere gets his ban extended after an understandable appeal for tit-4-tat handbags with Mascherano. Mascherano gets nothing for his part in this - (And im a pool fan!)
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Reply by yer dad on March 4, 2008 10:19 pm:
Too right Rob. I guess if Alidiere was in the England team he would be have been recinded. The FA have alternate 3 man teams to look at appeals and I guess they must be all blind or drunk or maybe blind drunk or f*c*i*** w**k**s. Don’t know why I am bothered, i haven’t even got any of them.
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Reply by Roberto on March 4, 2008 11:14 pm:
Exactly what i was just about to type.
Sickening, how can such elitism exist in football? It’s not that he plays for England. Money makes the rules in football (& everything else in this world), as much as managers like Wenger & Moyes try to make an more ‘honest’ way. FA are a bunch of arse lickers.
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Fabregas plays a starring role in Milarn and Lampards weekend red is rescinded. All of a sudden I’m wishing I hadn’t been so hasty with my Ballack for Fabregas switch this week. C’est la vie!
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I’ve had Ballack in my side for a while now and I bought him for 8.3 (Budweiser Fantasy Football) I can only sell him for 8.2, whereas if i press the “i” button he’s valued at 8.5, is anyone else having this problem?
I’m thinking of bring in Drogba, i haven’t heard him mentioned am i being stupid?
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Drogba started on the bench against West ham with Anelka starting I think, not sure what’s going on there, maybe he had a knock. I bought into the Anelka hype when he joined Chelsea and sure enough his value went up and made me some money but he’s been a dissapointment since joining for me. Perhaps thats partly due to Grant playing him out wide where he’s nothing more than a link up man.
Now I’m probably a bit biased but justice was done with Lampards ruling on the red card. The referee was a complete joke throughout that game. Or perhaps it was the pair of linesman, one of them ruling out a perfectly good goal, the other failing to see the provocation from Boateng which led to Lampards reaction, when being consulted by the referee. At least it showed Chelsea’s resilience to win 4-0 when it should have been at 5 with 11 men on the pitch
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Reply by Martin on March 5, 2008 7:40 am:
Can’t really blame the linesman for the provocation from Boateng, none of us would have spotted that.
He must have telepathically wound him up from the Riverside!
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Wow how Ironic… Lamps is back so I don’t buy Ballack (for Fabregas)and on evidence of tonight?… Fabregas has a heck of allot more to offer in FPL
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who reckons ballack wont start against derby? hopefully grant benches him in champions league 2moro night and they lose as a result. similar to what happened against spurs in carling cup final. not playing ballack was such a poor decision, im sure he realises this and will play him in future…
this is me trying to justify selling cesc for ballack only to see him score a cracker and then find out lamps red has been rescinded!!!
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Please hold on for those who want to sell Fabregas for Lampard…. Fabregas had just scored a vital goal in CL…His scoring form may come back again.
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fuck
2 days ago sold fabregas for ballack. and now im worried ballack wont start vs derby or in either of the double header matches! someone help!!
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does anyone know where to find out the starting lineup for a match on the day of the match? if i knew for certain ballack would start id put him captain… is ther any way of knowing for sure?
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Reply by puffinboy on March 5, 2008 12:26 pm:
And does anyone know where to find out who will score the most points in a match before it starts?
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Reply by Yer dad on March 5, 2008 12:38 pm:
I am playing the lottery tonight and I want the 6 winning numbers. Does anyone have a system of finding them out before Quienivere spits them out. Any help will do.
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Reply by Dr Sanchez on March 5, 2008 1:10 pm:
Tonight’s numbers will be 1,8,14,15, and the number 7 twice.
Due to a bizarre series of traffic jams and scheduling mistakes, next week’s dream teasm will consist entirely of Derby players as they are the only team who will turn up for any of the kick-offs.
Mystic meg has spoken.
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Personally I still think Ballack will play a decent number of the upcoming games for Chelsea, alongside Lampard.. with Essien/Makelele the holding midfielder.. what do people think?
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Reply by mike on March 5, 2008 8:48 am:
i dont c why not. he is in good form and chelsea cant afford to drop anymore points if they are to stay in the title race. the question is, what is ” a decent number of games”? there is little point in having him if he only plays every second game!
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Reply by Martin on March 5, 2008 9:31 am:
Ballack and Lampard will play every game as I see it. My only doubt would have been directly before a Champions League game; but they both started at the weekend. Avram Grant will want to field both of them.
Considering selling Ronaldo and Bullard and bringing in Lampard and Ballack this week.
Will Ronaldo play away to Derby next week, possibly and if Portsmouth manage to somehow get a draw at Man U in the cup, then Man U won’t have a double gameweek in GW30 as the Bolton game will get cancelled again to accommodate the replay.
Perhaps there could be 3 games in the space of two gameweeks to make up some ground by selling Ronaldo and having Lampard and Ballack with three good fixtures.
Flip-side is Man U get through and Fergie doesn’t rest him - could then get punished.
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Reply by mike on March 5, 2008 9:49 am:
glad someone thinks ballack will play every game! i certainly hope so. wouldnt sell ronaldo, he is in such good form and you probably wont be able to buy him back if you change your mind. united will probably go through in fa cup and the bolton match wont be postponed till later date, so ronnie might play twice in gameweek 30…
i am praying ballack plays in at least one game i the double header, against sunderland…
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Reply by Martin on March 5, 2008 10:16 am:
You’re probably right - I bought Ronaldo at 11.9 so I only get 12.7 for him, so suddenly 13.5 after a change of mind will be difficult to find especially as the funds may have been spent elsewhere.
Perhaps I’ll just refrain from making him captain and get half the return. I just think there are big points for Chelsea in GW29 & 30 and I’ll find a way of bringing in Lampard - he takes the penalties and is a slightly better choice than Ballack but is 2.7m more.
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Reply by waggy on March 5, 2008 1:09 pm:
You could just straight swap out Gerrard for Lamps for game week 30. Gerrard does have reading at home on game week 30 but from 31 onwards hes up against man utd, Everton, arsenal and Blackburn. Chelsea’s fixtures look pretty good for the most part over those game weeks.
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Reply by NMc on March 5, 2008 5:01 pm:
Agreed mate. I hope Avram Grant holds Ballack for the Premierleague games or my transfers this week have just gone ^^ up…
Im still hoping Ballack will play…but I dont think Mark agrees from his likely line-ups (which he usually gets right!) d’oh 
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Reply by mike on March 5, 2008 5:43 pm:
i reckon ballack will play with lams and mikel/essien in midfield. no way SWP starts ahead of very in form kaiser!!
well i hope. fabregas for ballack might prove VERY costly otherwise…
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i have ballack already but may sell gerrard for lampard for gw30… all depends on whether ballack starts against derby. if not, he will be replaced with lamps…
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Iv got Ballack in for Fab. And am glad its done now! Ballack is in form at 5 in fpl and Fab is at 3. Ballack is currently getting an average of 6.4 points per game which puts him in the top four midfielders. Grant cant dismiss this and for that reason he will play along side Lampard. Im getting shot of Stevie g for Lamps in gw30 and with the money iv made from Fab i can also get Carvalho. Why not have all?! Which means your covering every angle.
Also dont forget (as Mark as already pointed out) Fab is on 8 yellows, if he reaches 10 by April 13th he will miss 2 games! Between now and then he has to play Cheski, Pool and Man u. Yes he’s a big game player, as he proved last night but, im getting out whilst theres chances of getting ahead of my opponents in the fpl. Join me……
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Reply by mike on March 5, 2008 11:33 am:
my thoughts exactly. hopefully grant does the sensible thing and plays ballack. carvalho guaranteed a place? i am selling gerrard for lamps and possibly buying petr cech. capitalise on chelseas relatively easy run…
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Mark,just dicovered this site.Awesome.
Need some ammo please! Still got my wild card up my sleave! Need help. Team value 103.2 at the mo. Just bought Ballack b4 I new what was happening with Lampard.
Present team:
Howard
Campbell/Ferdinard/Dunne/Laursen/Neville/Noble/Ronaldo/Ballack/Bentley/Smertin
Yakabu/Adebayo/Anelka.
Want to use wild card week 30
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Reply by Mark on March 5, 2008 1:48 pm:
Hi Pitbull - welcome to the site. As a starting point, you might want to take a look at the player rankings in the right-hand menu (click the headings or the plus sign to expand the tables). These give you an idea of the players I fancy over the next five games according to their fixtures and form etc. You’ve caught me on my day off work though so…
Looking at your side - it’s pretty strong as is but Dunne and the City defence look a little dodgy over the next five - a Chelsea defender looks a must with the double GW but you’d probably need Carv or Terry to protect from rotation. Campbell could be downgraded to Hreidarsson to save some cash, although you’d need to prepare to swap him out when Pamarot returns. Both would be a saving though.
Pienaar is a great budget option in midfield if you can somehow work that in your budget. Ballack obviously has some doubt over him with the Lampard verdict but he has the double to compenstate. Personally, I’d sacrifice him to get you a Chelsea defender though to play percentages on the double fixture.
Up front Anelka also has the risk of rest/rotaton over him but then so does your best alternative - Berbatov. Tough one that. You’ve a strong trio there. Changes would depend on your formation and who you want to play.
Hope that helps for starters. I’m sure others will have a view.
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Reply by Alex on March 5, 2008 2:30 pm:
Mark,
RE. the Chelsea rotation situation (hmmm…that sounds like a bad 80s hit)…
I’ve got Belletti right now. Want to bring in lapmard for either Fabs or Gerrard, but also thinking of bringing in Carvalho for Brown.
I don’t want to take a 4 point hit to bring Carvalho in for Belletti if it turns out he’s playing v. Derby, but I don’t want to miss out on Chelsea’s likely clean sheet either.
The next week I want to use my wildcard and will keep Carvalho and swap Belletti.
Do you think this is a good plan or would you do it differently?
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Reply by Mark on March 5, 2008 2:41 pm:
You would have to see how Grant plays it tonight. I imagine Belletti will come back in which could put you on shaky ground with him for the Derby game. It will come down to whether you want to spend 4 points just to get the possibility of 2 extra points for Carvalho. There’s actually no guarantee that Carvalho will play at the weekend either given the opposition.
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Reply by S on March 5, 2008 2:56 pm:
Also depends on you’re reserve defenders;
If you have a reserve defender who comes in for Belletti, and scores 2 points minimum for an appearance then there is no point
Taking a four point hit to Bring Carvalho in means you are likey to score 6 points for a clean sheet (-4 points for transfer) = 2 points
Either way, you are only likely to end up with 2 points
But of course you have Carvalho in your team for future matches
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Reply by Alex on March 5, 2008 3:05 pm:
The problem is I also have Brown who doesn’t have a game this week and Anderson who’s on loan at Plymouth, meaning my defence this week would be Laursen, Belletti and A. Ferdinand.
Given that Belletti might not even play, but Chelsea are likely to get a clean sheet, I thought I’d be safer bringing in Carvalho.
I desperately need to gain ground and want to save my wildcard for next week, when we know more about double gameweeks and possible Cup injuries.
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Reply by waggy on March 5, 2008 5:28 pm:
Nobody seems to be mentioning Alex (not you, the other Alex). Is he way way behind the pecking order? Further down than Bridge and Cole?
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Reply by mike on March 5, 2008 5:34 pm:
doubt alex would replace either carvalho or terry. maybe occasionally (like before champions league matches) but def not permanently. ashley cole is a safer (though still not safe!) bet…
ballack goal in 6 minutes. how can he be benched in such form?? he will play aginst derby and porb both matches in the double header. yay!
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Will Anelka play? He must be due some goals? Since his move from Bolton he’s been pretty unlucky! Pump him up front with Drogba,2 main center fowards,let the crosses ping in from left or right,or just play the ball into the fowards with movement off the ball.Lampard & Ballack pick up the pieces from the Knock downs?Must be the way foward? Whats the verdict?
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