While we pointed you towards the Fantasy Premier League Apology earlier, having had time to digest its contents, I thought I’d bring you my view on the actions laid out in today’s release.
We’ve all been immensely frustrated by the events of the weekend – before tonight, it was almost as if the Premier League players themselves had empathy for our situation – arguably, we had very little to cheer.
Personally, I just want to move on now – to look forward to Gameweek Two – I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling that. Before we do however, let’s chew over that FPL statement a little.
Receive unlimited transfers No points will be deducted for any transfers you make up to the Gameweek 2 deadline (11:30 BST on Saturday 20th August 2011). If you have already made transfers and had points deducted, these will be restored to your overall total by midnight on Tuesday 16th August 2011. If you have already opted to play your wildcard, this too will be restored at the same time.
This first point, not surprisingly, is by far the most significant. Effectively we now go again with our squad selection. There’s already plenty who feel somewhat aggrieved by this, who feel that they are being punished for their planning and foresight both in terms of getting their team organised and for spotting talent without the assistance of Gameweek One’s fixtures.
While I see the validity of this argument, my main concern as a player is that I want to be playing this game on a level playing field. If I win my mini-league, I want to win it knowing that I’ve done so with no more advantage than my rivals.
Right now, there are members of my mini-leagues who can claim that they were attempting to make changes to their team or captain on the morning of Saturday’s games. You can say they should have planned ahead but, hand on heart, I consider at least changing my captain and substitute order on Saturday morning about 90% of the time over the season. I can understand the frustration of those who were unable to do so last weekend and I don’t want to spend the season risking that being cited when they look at the teams above them.
Personally, I don’t want to play in a league where a proportion of my rivals can claim any disadvantage now, or as the Gameweeks roll on. By taking this step the FPL have at least leveled matters, even if proportion of FPL Managers feel almost punished, nobody can be seen to have a true advantage going forward.
There is the argument that, those teams who started well in Gameweek One (not too many before tonight) have lost their advantage since those with lesser team selections can now reset their squads for free. That’s true of course, but then, by playing a wildcard, everyone had this possibility regardless, the only difference is that now, everyone can keep that wildcard intact – again, everyone stays on a level.
It’s a very difficult situation to weigh up – personally, I feel slightly numb after Gameweek One – in many ways I want a new start where nobody can claim an advantage or disadvantage. I think today’s solution from the FPL gives us that, even though there will be those who feel they’ve lost out. Given the problems suffered on Friday/Saturday – it seemed inevitable that we’d be left with a group of FPL players who felt that way. At least now we have a level playing field for the remainder of the season – that seems a fair situation.
One final note here – regarding the price freeze prior to Gameweek Two – I’ve enquired on this and we’re waiting confirmation. I’ll communicate this once we have news.
Opt to start mini-league scoring at Gameweek 2 The option is available to all mini-league administrators to start the scoring from Gameweek 2. Go to ‘Leagues’ > ‘League name’ > ‘Administer’ > Select ‘Gameweek 2’ in ‘Scoring Starts’ drop-down menu and click ‘Update league details’.
Okay, so now the decision whether to scrap Gameweek One as a scoring Gameweek is down to league administrators. Passing the buck a little but a smart move. Personally, for the reason’s I’ve outlined above, I think it’s valid to start scoring from Gameweek Two to ensure that nobody feels at a disadvantage.
Having said that, perhaps we should give managers a choice. While we’re resetting our Head to Head Leagues, there’s the possibility of running a Gameweek Two Classic League for Members and Non Members and offering the option. To be honest, I need to clear my head and sleep on it before I consider that any further.
