Window Watch – Benni McCarthy to West Ham
Five years after a planned move to the West Ham fell through, Benedict Saul “Benni” McCarthy has finally agreed an 18-month deal with the Hammers, ending his 4 year stint with relegation rivals Blackburn Rovers. Rather depressingly the South African’s arrival at the Boleyn Ground for an undisclosed fee is probably the most interesting transfer of this window from a Fantasy Football perspective. But is he going to be a hindrance or a benni-fit to our teams? (wow, I amaze myself sometimes)
The South African has scored four goals in 16 appearances for Blackburn this season but has spent most of the campaign on the bench. This is in stark contrast to his first season playing for the blue and whites where he bagged an impressive 24 goals in 50 appearances and earned links to teams as good as Chelsea. Regrettably for him those moves never materialized (probably because they were nothing more than excitable tabloid horse excrement) and he remained at Blackburn where his goal output gradually diminished and attitude began to stink worse than halitosis Dave’s breath after eating an onion.
History tells us that if he can regain his form under the expert guidance of Gianfranco Zola, and form an effective partnership with Carlton Cole, the former Champions League winner has the goods to score the goals that could fire West Ham up the Premier League table. Unfortunately, the Irons striking options resemble something of a fantasy football minefield with 32-year-old McCarthy joining a club already containing 6 recognised strikers. It gets worse though because alongside McCarthy, the Hammers picked up two other deadline day transfers, Mido and Ilan, who signed on loan from Middlesbrough and 80’s band influencing French team St Etienne respectively. So thats McCarthy, Mido, Ilan, Cole, Diamanti, Franco (not the Spanish dictator), Nouble, Hines and Sears for Zola to choose from. One thing’s for sure, it’s going to take some time splitting the yummy wheat from the rubbish chaff.
The former Champions League winner is priced at £6.5m on the FPL game which, comparatively speaking, appears high when you can pick up a fit again Cole for £6.4mil. But if you are looking for a differential (sorry, let me just be a little bit sick) or you’re mental, he might be worth a cheeky look. My advice for now however would be to hold back and see what happens. You never know, you might find some benni-fit elsewhere (ok, so I did that joke twice, deal with it)
Thinking of getting in a Fulham and Bolton mid in over the next 2 weeks.
Cant decide which player to get in though. N’Zogbia/McCarthy? Lee/Wilshere/Cohen/Weiss? Also can decide on which to get in first.
Thinking Bowyer out Lee in
Next week Ballack out N’Zogbia in
Thoughts? Thanks!
Floundering in the cup this round. Went out & got Chelsea & Fulham players for the double using my WC & it’s gonna bite me on the arshavin! Trailing 32 – 55 atm, with Baird, Duff, Zamora, Ivanovic & Drogba ( if he starts against Hull?! ) still to play, while he has Gera left. Need a reassuring arm over the shoulder telling me i’ll make it through! Thinking this ship has sunk?! Anyone else agree, or is it just my dominant negative side coming out on top again?
You could do it, but would need quite a bit of luck, Fulham CS with Zamora goal. Chelsea CS with Drogba goal. All possible though.
Its a tall order but do-able. Will be close i think. AT the moment advantage the other guy
Yep, was thinking the same thing. Rooney’s points & Fabs lack of put a bit of distance between us. Really hoping Drogba starts as a couple of goals from him & one from Zamora or Duff could make it interesting. Fulham & Chelsea CS’s are a must! Gera missing out altogether would be another bonus, but you’re right, down to the wire i reckon?!
I think you’ve got a chance but you need at least one or two or your players to put in a big score. Points on the board are better than players still to play!
I already have Rooney, Tevez, Lamps, and Fabs. However, im lookin to get Drogba too. Obviously you would play these 5 every week.
It would leave me with some cheaper players. The likes of eagles, birmingham defender, lee of bolton, etc.
Do you think it’s a gamble?
if you forget about lamps then obviously you could have a stronger team with more options and still have the 4 captains
very true, i just have a feelin about him tho
If you feel strongly that he’s worth it then why not forget drogba and get rodalegga or someone else cheap. No need for drogs and lamps imo.
Shawcross 9 points so sweeeeeeeeeet.
I’m not sure what to do with Valencia too Xabi. Not sure if he will start against Pompey, thing is he has been playing well and was just rotated for Nani. Nani has taken his chance so far, just not sure whether SAF will keep them both fresh with Villa 4 days after Pompey and then Milan by continuing to rotate, or whether he will stick with Nani due to his form??
The alternatives I am looking at are Petrov (DGW/rotation risk), Cahill (Form/playing upfront/tough fixtures), Nani (form/rotation)
What are you thinking of doing?
He went down last night so could also hold in the hope he goes CRAZY against Pompey??
The consensus with Valencia seems to be leave him in against pompey and if he doesnt play ship him out for a DGW player. Use your transfer to bring in Rooney if you dont already have him.
im almost certain based on the fact hes finally gettin the best outta nani, he wont drop him again. hes almost certain to play..theres an article on tribalfootball where he sounds like hes def goin to play nani but finishes but sayin he has a big dilemma between the 2 now..
damn you taggart,, tell us today who your going to play!!!!
My main problem at the moment is that I don’t see a decent alternative (Milner bad fixtures, Lennon injured & Arteta not back yet) as well as the ones you’ve mentioned above.
I think he may well play against Pompey and if he does you’d expect him to get some decent points too. So I think i’m going to leave him for this week but get rid the week after regardless of what he does against Pompey.
For what its worth I think Valencia will play vs Pompey.
But I got rid of him as I needed the money to do Anelka to Rooney.
Is Anelka -> Drogs worth a 4 pt hit ,given if I dont do it before Drogs price goes up wont be able to afford it?
Drogba wont go up for a while, i think he is still protected at the moment, and as soon as he isnt he will then need loads of transfers in to get him up.
Any confirmation on cashley?
Expected at conference this am
A couple of people mentioned Cahill so thought I’d give my opinion as I’ve watched every game recently. I wouldnt say he is on form exactly, but Fellaini moving back to holding midfielder has created a lot more space and a bit of creativity at the back which has allowed all the Everton boys especially Cahill and Pienaar to play better. I dont know the stats but Cahill must get 70-80% of his goals from set pieces; for a little lad he still seems to be able to outjump defenders a foot taller than him and he is always dangerous at corners and free kicks. Everton are a set piece team, got no bones about that, as it means that against the better teams we can still score 1 or 2 a game even when we get completely battered. Cahills ouput shouldnt drop then, but youve got to put it in context that for a midfielder he doesnt take corners or free kicks and rarely gets assists. The goals he ha scored recently are definitely not signs that he is a consistent scorer – he is very much in the all or nothing category like Defoe. He can change a game in one moment, meaning 3 BPs and a double figure tally are likely when he scores, but the majority of times he will get you 2 points.
Who is likely to do better in week 25? N’Zgobia or Lee? I will probably be getting one in this week and one next week, dont know which way round.
No idea, little bit of a dilemma for me too. Both teams have had some new arrivals and it remains to be seen if any current 1st team players will fall victim to those new arrivals. Ignoring unknown variables i would probably have said N’zogbia at home to Fulham as they haven’t been defending well lately. (although they themselves have signed Shorey and i would expect them to tighten up from now on)
Does anyone else get the feeling that things are bit up in the air at the moment, fantasy wise? Not much action from the usual suspects recently, return of ACON players (like Adebayor, sadly it does seem likely that his return will affect Tevez’s output slightly) and also the transfer deadline yesterday among other things (admitedly not much business done, but still enough to potentially disrupt some lineups).
All that with the double gameweeks still to come (in some cases uncertain dbls?) and some teams playing slightly better (Liverpool and Everton stick in my mind here), makes it very hard to know what moves to make.
Personally i will be sitting tight through the next couple of weeks and only make free transfers (injuries etc allowing). Will be particularly paying attention to Drogba tonight, not so much in his points output as to how he’s looking (sharp or not) and what formation Chelsea play in. Its possible he may not be the direct shoe in for Tevez/Rooney that lots of people are hoping for (though that is unlikely).
I know. good aint it? I love how varied this year has been – really allows people like us that invest time into the game to make headway over everyone else.
i have a team of
sorensen hart
gcahill, ivanovic, nelsen, bikey, zayatte
lampard fab milner zogbia duff
zamora rooney anelka
any advice on my team?
thinking of doing ivanovic to ridgewell, zamora to tevez.
don’t see chelsea getting many CS and i need tevez to be in. any thoughts?
Any confirmation on cashley for tonights match?
I asked this question yesterday and got no reply:
With Westham bringing in 3 strikers, will Diamanti be moved to the Left wing to play as a midfielder? I have him as a striker and im hoping he’ll get more points now that westham have brought in better strikers. and westham has got some tasty fixtures coming up.
Diamanti has “always” played on the wings for West Ham, he may be classified a striker in this game but that’s not how Zola has played him – the closest he has ever been has behind the man as an SS, but he’s pretty much a midfielder, and that’s how Zola has always referred to him as.
Cole & McCarthy/Mido/Ilan/Franco will play up front and then you’ll have pot luck choosing two wing/wide men from another abundance of midfield players West Ham have.
Andy looking at your team probably answers my question…but would you have Milner of D.Bent for the rest of the season?
Thanks Andy …. i’ll be keeping him for now then
any1 can help me with my team? have 3 chelsea players facing a tough arsenal side. need some thoughts on some transfers i should make
hart sorenson
dunne ivan cahill scharner dawson
milner kuyt lamp sanli eagles
anelka roda tevez
2.5 in the bank
was thinking of anelka>rooney. yes or no?
Anelka to Rooney seems like a sound move especially if ManU-WH game is confirmed for GMW26
ANyone know is there a chelsea press conference today?
Rovers hopeful David Dunn will be fit in time for the weekend’s trip to Stoke.
Groundhog Day on FFS
http://www.football365.com/sto.....83,00.html
Who will be my captain next year?
That’s a rubbish newspaper piece and you know it!
Ramsey
I’m getting really into the FPL cup this year, to the point that its affecting my captain/transfer decisions more than the worrying about my overall position or mini league does. Been really lucky so far, close every round and looks like i may scrape through again this week barring a Zamora/Lampard goalfest.
Any idea when the next Scout cup will be starting?
Anelka & Gallas out
Drogba & Toure in
Depending on how Drogba looks tonight. Good Moves?
Yes!
Hi all, sorry if these questions have already been asked/ are stupid questions.
a) If Didier Drogba’s ‘progress’ on fantasytools is 403%, then by how much will he go up next time he is allowed? Does it mean he’ll go up by £0.4?
b) When will Drogba no longer be ‘protected’? Ie when will he go up? Or is it in the lap of the fantasy gods?
c) When he can go up in price, will it all by in one night, or will it be £0.1m every night?
Cheers
A) No once his protection is off the % will be taken down to 0% and it will reset until he gets back up to 100%
B) Till about tomorrow/Thursday i think
C) Only will go up by 0.1 when his NTI reaches 100% after the protection is taken off
Hope this clears it up
Thanks alot mate
Just ignore the 400% or whatever, basically. Drogba is in some duration of protection and will go up by £0.1m when he has a fresh 20K NTI after that protection lark is removed (sometime this week)…
Ooo, look a tweet stating that Dunn will hopefully be fit for this weekend. Anyone else getting a slight Deja vu?
The tweet is probably set-up to post automatically every week.
hey guys, team not really performing, need some help.. team etm is:
howard, sorenson
ivanovic, carvalho, insua, song, samba,
arsh, nzog, modric, duff, huddlestone,
anelka, bellamy, zamora
have 1.7 to spend, and really dont wanna take out arsh as hes has plenty chances every game and only a matter of time before he sticks them all away, especially in 5/7 of his upcoming fixtures. any advice will be appreciated!