The Suspension Tightrope – Gameweek 12

Two significant Fantasy Premier League assets fell from grace, and the Suspension Tightrope, in Gameweek 12.

Stoke’s 17.7%-owned midfielder Joe Allen (5.4) succumbed to his fifth booking of the season in the home defeat to Bournemouth and will now sit out the Sunday lunchtime match at Watford.

Key injuries had already forced a reduction in Allen’s attacking threat, with Bojan (5.6) fielded in a more advanced position against the Cherries as the Welshman dropped into the double-pivot. The former Barca starlet now looks likely to continue in that role despite missing a penalty on Saturday.

Allen, meanwhile, has already been transferred out of more than 75,000 FPL squads, making him the most discarded player of the Gameweek to date. And with trips to Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea still to come in 2016, his budget midfielder attraction is starting to pale.

Danny Rose (5.9) picked up a third caution in four matches to topple off the Tightrope.

The 5.8%-owned Spurs full back’s indiscretion does create certain complications. His like-for-like replacement, Ben Davies (4.8), still has an ankle issue and is expected to miss Saturday evening’s trip to Chelsea.

So while Rose will be able to patrol the Tottenham flank in tonight’s Champions League match in Monaco, Jan Vertonghen (5.7) looks like having to fill the role against the league leaders, with the painfully underused Kevin Wimmer (4.6) – one match, an own goal, a booking and -1 points this season – deputising at centre-half.

Rose owners might actually view his absence from the Chelsea clash as a blessing in disguise. Spurs’ fixtures certainly take a turn for the better after that, including home matches with Swansea, Hull and Burnley before Christmas.

Two other players will join Allen and Rose in the doghouse after discovering that red is the new double yellow at the weekend – West Ham’s Winston Reid (5.0) and Sunderland’s Papy Djilobodji (4.3).

There were four new additions to the Tightrope.

Michail Antonio’s (6.8) stock has been plummeting since a Gameweek 6 high of some 740,000+ FPL owners, but the 9.3% who have stuck by him were handed a generous portion of mixed emotions in the Hammers’ hurtful 3-2 loss at Spurs.

The midfielder/Michail-of-all-trades hit his first goal in seven matches, only to receive a fourth yellow card of the season as well. That, coupled with a wretched run of fixtures – Man United and Liverpool away, Arsenal at home – over the next three Gameweeks, should see a further decline in ownership.

Wayne Rooney (8.6) capped an interesting week with a 28-minute cameo against Arsenal that garnered his fourth caution of the campaign – one more and Wazza will be able to spend a week off going to as many weddings as he can find.

The two others eyeing the naughty step are Sunderland’s Billy Jones (4.4) and Watford defender Miguel Britos (4.4).

All four join a Tightrope weighed down by any number of near-miscreants, with Diego Costa (10.5) in danger of becoming institutionalised after completing his seventh consecutive match without a caution – just one Gameweek short of his longest clean spell in England.

Also still teetering are: Paul Pogba (8.2); Aleksandar Kolarov (5.8); Yohan Cabaye (5.6); Sam Clucas (4.7); Danny Simpson (4.9); Valon Behrami (4.5); Craig Dawson (4.8); Marouane Fellaini (5.8); Robert Huth (5.0); Jan Vertonghen (5.7); Lynden Gooch (4.4) and Ryan Shawcross (4.9).

Popular picks back from a week of thinking long and hard about what they’ve done are the 25.0%-owned Zlatan Ibrahimovic (11.1), Bournemouth’s Adam Smith (4.8 and 11.2%) and Watford’s 8.0%-owned Jose Holebas (4.8).

Gareth Barry (4.6), Mark Noble (6.2) and Steven Pienaar (4.9) also return to the fray, as does Hull City striker Adama Diomande (4.6), who has finally been released back into society after completing his three-stretch for striking an opponent in the EFL Cup.

Monday night’s match between West Brom and Burnley produced no cards whatsoever, just a shed load of goals for Tony Pulis’ swashbuckling side – one of the more unlikely sentences of the season so far.

The Men In Black

Five penalties were awarded over the Gameweek, with Neil Swarbrick augmenting a fairly uninspiring record of two in seven (0.29 penalties per game) and Martin Atkinson likewise now on three in 10 (0.30).

But given that all three of Atkinson’s spot-pointing moments have come in his last four matches, he’s becoming one to watch.

Roger East had another shocker to add to his growing list this season. He waved away the protests as Ryan Shawcross took out Callum Wilson, only to blow long and hard when Simon Francis stood on Bojan’s foot.

That made it four penalties in five matches for East, with his 0.80 average temporarily putting Mike Dean in the shade.

Dean was having none of it and came roaring back with two penalty awards in the Saturday evening match, which takes his record to an impressive/unbelievable nine in 10 (0.90).

There have been seven occasions when two spot kicks have been awarded in a match this season and Dean has been responsible for three of them. No other ref has doubled up more than once.

The penalty rate is still soaring above any previous year, with the current 3.50 per week average outstripping the season high of 2.95 from ’06/07.