With six new contributors joining Mark and Granville, you now have a wide range of differing, and possibly conflicting views and opinions to take in. Distinguishing each voice may be proving difficult, given that so far the published articles have been non-related, and from the point of view of the author. Currently you may only be able to tell us apart by our writing styles and gravatars, particularly if you are new to the site. This new regular item will canvas the opinion of some, or even all, of the contributors on the site…

The choice of subject is very much open, so if you have a question or a discussion topic that you would like us to debate next time (pencilled in for a Tuesday slot once the season begins), then please feel free to do so by emailing me at akers@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk (if your question is used then I will credit you in the article).

To get us under way, Mark has proposed the subject of Gameweek 2. There has been a great deal of talk on the site regarding what strategy is best to adopt, and some people are just plain ignoring it. Here are our views to consider nicely collated on one page. (Please note that contributions were made privately and no one knew what anyone else had written.)

Akers: “Gameweek 2 will be truly devastating for my mini-leagues rivals, and for this reason, I see this more as a positive than a negative. I expect some of these ‘rivals’ to spend 4-8 points to get out of trouble, some will field eight, maybe nine players, and there may even be the odd wildcard activated.

My plan is detailed, and required a lot of foresight. I have picked a squad that will enable me to have two first XI’s in gameweeks 1 & 2 that I’m happy with. Then, using the new free-transfer rollover system, I’ll bring in two players to replace my short-term punts. I have a list of potential buys, as well as a list of potential sales. I haven’t restricted myself there and I don’t feel committed to make certain transfers. The use of my wildcard isn’t an option as far as I’m concerned, that’ll only be used when/if I look at my squad and see 5 or so players I want to get rid off.

By no means is this an ideal situation ideal, but it’s an early opportunity to separate the wheat from the chaff. Bring it on!”

Andy: “To me, Gameweek 2 is very much not the elephant in the room many people are making it out to be – I in fact embrace it. Besides flagships signings like Frank Lampard & Fernando Torres who I would sign whoever they may face, I like to build my squad around good fixtures.

Ignoring the fact eight teams will be missing from action that week, beyond Bolton I don’t see any of these teams with fixtures that appeal to my selection sensibilities. If anything, this scenario has enabled me to cater to my fantasy wants with greater ease, I can select players I think will profit from the first spell of fixtures, and they will essentially have an extra game to play on top of this – brilliant!

I’ll be putting my fantasy millions behind the favourable fixtures of Chelsea, Man United, Liverpool, Sunderland & Wolves – I might put some money behind one Bolton player, Matty Taylor does have a good record against Sunderland – but come GW2, I will still have a jam packed squad I’m happy with, while others may be fretting over if they can scrape together the required starting eleven.”

Granville: “GW2 is dangerous, you really don’t want to be filling your team with too many players you wouldn’t really have chosen from the start.
I’ll be avoiding Wolves players for now for that very reason, they’re an unknown quantity. I’m considering starting the season with players from Everton, Villa and Bolton even with the missing gameweek as I kind of like their GW1 fixtures.
I have a feeling that any forward plans that people have for saving transfers for a double transfer in GW3 will undo itself once GW1 starting lineups are revealed. It’s also uncanny how many players pick up injuries first game of the season. Actually I think it’s understandable, players coming back from weeks without competitve football, it’s bound to happen.”

greek fan: “My FPL strategy dictates that I plan and build my squad of 15 regular starters, with a 6-7 week horizon. Each week’s transfer is planned so that I can maintain a decent side every single week, keep its spine usually unaltered, and bring in players when they start a favourable run of fixtures. So when this season’s calendar was published, my first thoughts did not include too many players from clubs without a fixture in GW2. Lampard’s and Gerrard’s fixtures make Arshavin look less appealing. Fulham’s visit to Fratton Park is followed by a tricky run anyway. Everton are fine after GW3. Adding my last season’s experience (when I used my wildcard in GW3) to this, I never really thought about doing it again. I have read many strong arguments for it in this site, but I still believe that I will be able to go with my plan without many problems in this terrifying weekend. Not because I definitely want to stick on my precious wildcard, but rather because my long term plan is not derailed by GW2.”

I’m Not Marshal Foch: “What? There are players missing in Gameweek 2? Why did no one tell me about this? In all honesty it has been in my mind ever since the fixtures came out and has been firmly a part of my thinking. Every team I’ve put together throughout my tinkering has been completely geared towards getting the best possible team out for the first two weeks. If I’m honest I’m pretty happy with the players I’ve got to select from but would probably have included an Arsenal or Everton player if I’d have had the choice.  My plan is to not make a transfer before Gamesweek 2 and then use the new transfer rule to make a double in Gameweek 3. I’m not intending to use my wildcard after the 2^nd Gameweek but I said that last season (3^rd gw) and the season before that (4^th gw) so don’t listen to a word I say on the wildcard subject.”

Mark: “I’ll certainly be considering gameweek 2 when selecting my initial lineup and looking to get eleven on the pitch as a result. They’ll be no crazy talk of wildcards but I’ll consider ruling out certain shortlisted players until after gameweek 2 has been put to bed. That includes the likes of Arshavin, Matt Taylor, Sean Davis, Given and Jimenez who are all blinking away on my radar right now.

Dismissing Arsenal and Everton players in my initial lineup is a fairly easy step to take. The Gunners have a very tough first five games, while Everton have Arsenal at home prior to their missing fixture. As for City and Villa – I’m nervous about their lineups so I want to wait for them to settle down before considering their squads. Players from West Ham, Bolton and Fulham and Blackburn can be put on the back burner without too much concern – there are plenty of mid-price alternatives elsewhere who will help fill my gameweek 2 team sheet. I’ll do my best to look beyond those eight clubs for starters and then reconsidering the Arshavin and Everton situation from gameweek 3 onwards – unless of course Granville does the same. That would change matters.”

Sir Paulos: “The lack of fixtures for many teams in gameweek 2 is a definite factor in what squad I will initially line up with. My idea, however, would be to hold fire on playing any wildcard, and instead plough my budget into the bigger teams that are playing game weeks one through four. Then, come the end of August, I will look to the wildcard option as a way of distributing the cash more evenly throughout the squad, when bargains become a little more apparent.

As Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United all feature four times in August, and with the vast majority of these games being fairly straightforward, I will be looking to them for as many players as possible straight from the off, trusting solidity, and staying clear of gambles.

The new transfer rollover system means I’m looking to set my team up for the first 2 Weeks without transfers, then use a double for Week 3, when sides such as Man City, Everton, Spurs Blackburn and Sunderland have a decent couple of fixtures which, hopefully, will tide me over till the end of August.”

SUPERIOR BEING: “To the casual football fan, the lack of fixtures in Gameweek 2 will be a bit of a disappointment. To me however, I believe a great opportunity has presented itself.

Early season advantage in my mini league? Yes please!

Obviously I want the majority of my squad to be good for a number of weeks including Gameweek 2. However, I want to make sure I have at least 2 Everton players in my team for Gameweek 3 onwards. The problem is achieving this without incurring transfer points. Therefore, I think I am going to include one Everton player from the start, benching him in Gameweek 2. After then I will use my free transfer to buy myself another Toffee.

Now if I get injuries or suspensions I may have to use my transfer there. Hopefully though, I will have minimised the chance of this happening, by filling the rest of my squad with first choice players who not only play in Gameweek 2 but can also be rotated to have nice surrounding fixtures.

One thing is for sure, the seats on my bench won’t be staying warm for long!”

So there you have it, the personal strategies of all eight site contributors. To sum up, general agreement with subtle variations. You may think this was not the juiciest of topics to chew over, but considering the impact it could have, anyone not convinced before now should reflect on their selections. Agree? Disagree? Over to you…