Scout Reports
Scout Report – Jerome Boateng to Manchester City
Manchester City kicked off their summer spending spree in a somewhat low-key style by sealing the £10.5m capture of defender Jerome Boateng from SV Hamburg. The highly-regarded 21 year-old -who agreed terms to a five-year contract prior to the World Cup- is an adaptable player who offers cover at every position across the back four, though, at 6 foot 4, is primarily a centre-half. However, as shown by his displays for Germany at this year’s World Cup, Boateng has no problem filling in at full-back to excellent effect.
Read more...Scout Report – Martin Petrov to Bolton
Bolton Wanderers are rarely a source of reliable Fantasy talent and yet when Owen Coyle clinched the signing of Bulgarian winger Martin Petrov from affluent neighbours Man City, he handed us all an instant target for our mid-price midfield funds.
Petrov arrived at the Reebok having turned down an extension to his contract at Eastlands to sign a three-year deal with the Trotters. He departed City under a cloud; frustrated by a catalogue of injuries, chiefly to his troublesome knee and seemingly disgruntled by his treatment at the club.
“The only person I want to thank at Manchester City is the physio and not the other guys. I want to make that clear.”
He was right to thank the City medical team; they have been regular acquaintances during his three-year stay. Petrov’s injuries have blighted his career in England and his propensity to find himself in the company of the physio will be the one major caveat when considering him as a Fantasy option this term…
Read more...Scout Report- Jermaine Beckford
David Moyes has once again shown he is no stranger to the leading lights of the lower leagues by snapping up former Leeds striker Jermain Beckford on a free transfer. Beckford, whose contract was cancelled by the Elland Road club last weekend, has signed a four-year contract and joins the likes of Tim Cahill and Phil Jagielka in stepping up to the Premiership thanks to a show of faith by the Everton boss.
Read more...End of Season Report- Blackpool
The final club up for our End of Season analysis is Blackpool, taking their place in the Premier League courtesy of a dramatic play-off final win over Cardiff City. Despite finishing in sixth place, the Seasiders proved more than a match for their more illustrious play-off opponents, beating Nottingham Forest both home and away before the dramatic Wembley over Dave Jones’ side last weekend.
A thoroughly deserved step up into the top-flight for Ian Holloway’s men, then, but one that already has the bookies marking them as red-hot favourites for the drop next season. Here’s a look at how they got there:
Read more...Scout Report- Nikola Zigic
Football writers all over Britain were yesterday on the scramble for superlative adjectives to describe someone over 2m tall, as Birmingham City waste little time in adding to their squad for next season’s Premier League with the signing of 6 foot 8 Valencia centre-forward Nikola Zigic on a four year deal.
Although the transfer fee is “undisclosed”, reports have established the amount in the region of £6m, which, given that the cash-strapped Spanish club had previously paid £13.5m for the Serbian’s services, is something of a bargain.
Read more...The End of Season XI – The Midfielders
In previous Fantasy Premier League (FPL) seasons, the selection for high-end midfielders has been quite predictable; simply buy Cristiano Ronaldo and Frank Lampard and hand them the captain’s armband. This year, however, the performances of certain forwards means midfielders haven’t quite kept their monopoly on the captain position, with one face in particular noticeably absent from our list: Steven Gerrard.
Read more...Scout Report- Marouanne Chamakh
In a move that has, quite frankly, surprised no one, Arsenal have finally signed centre forward Marouanne Chamakh from Bordeaux. The transfer had initially been mooted for last summer, but the 26 year old striker ran his contract down and moves to The Emirates from July 1st on a long term deal.
Read more...Scout Report – Ben Foster
Birmingham confirmed the signing of Ben Foster from Man United earlier today for the first “undisclosed fee” of the post-season. The 27-year old stopper arrives at St Andrews on a three-year contract and will attempt to fill Joe Hart’s substantial boots between the sticks for Alex McLeish’s side.
His new boss was quick to shower praise on the new signing and has no doubt that Foster can provide the kind of displays dished out by Hart last term…
“The goalkeeper is a massive position and we’ve now signed another young hungry goalkeeper who wants to prove himself and live up to his potential…We believe he is of the same kind of standard as Joe Hart.”
An accomplished shot-stopper, Foster is perhaps best known for being beaten by England rival Paul Robinson’s bouncing free-kick at White Hart Lane whilst on loan at Watford in 2007. On a more positive note, he also grabbed attention for his Ipod inspired penalty saves in the 2009 League Cup Final – a performance that earned him man of the match.
That was a rare moment of glory at United and Foster arrives at Birmingham having suffered a frustrating spell under Alex Ferguson, playing second fiddle not only to Edwin Van der Sar but also more often than not, Tomasz Kuszczak…
Read more...End of Season Report- West Brom
The next team in our End of Season review is the Championship runners-up, West Brom. The Baggies bounced straight back to the Premier League with a fantastic season that was only overshadowed by the performances of runaway leaders, Newcastle. An indication of their displays is that their points haul, 91, would have won the division in any one of the previous three seasons.
Myself and a flu-ravaged Mark teamed up this week to put them under the microscope:
Read more...End Of Season Report – Newcastle United
The 2009-10 season may be done and dusted but here at FFS Towers, we never rest on our laurels. Thoughts and plans have already turned to next season and, amongst other things, the teams coming up from the Championship. As Mark has already mentioned, the next few weeks will see us Scouting the World Cup with South Africa 2010 providing plenty of fantasy football options in June and July, but for just now, here’s our End of Season report on Newcastle United…
Read more...As The Dust Settles
Evening all. While Granville and I travel back from London from our end of season meet, this is just a quick post to freshen things up and to congratulate all those who claimed their mini-leagues or won out in their personal Fantasy Football rivalries today. We will do a full round-up of all our league and cup winners very soon.
Close to home, after all the penalty taker debate earlier in the week, it turned out that the decision to allow Drogba to grab Chelsea’s second spot-kick was enough to see me pip Granville right at the death. As I mentioned in this morning’s Preamble, it’s those cruel twists of luck that can make the difference on the final day, in fact on any day in our Fantasy Football seasons.
Granville is wearing his brave face on the train home. He will be back at me next season. We will all be back next season. In fact I’ll be back tomorrow, once the dust has settled, to round things up on events from the final day.
Read more...The Pre-Match Preamble
This Sunday business isn’t working for me; I’m not sure I like my sleepy state interrupted by the pressures of a Fantasy transfer deadline. It’s not just any deadline either. Unbelievably the mini-league gap between Granville and myself is just three points. So, while top spot is regrettably out of reach, our “little” rivalry has gone right to the wire. A day or rest? No chance…
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