Team of the Season – Charlie Austin

After scoring 43 goals in two seasons before gaining promotion with Queens Park Rangers, Charlie Austin wasted no time in settling into life in the Premier League. The former bricklayer set the foundations for a successful campaign early on and sustained a decent momentum throughout, keeping the R’s survival bid alive for a number of months with his cool-headed finishing.

The Statistics

Despite netting in two of his first six starts, the 6.0-priced Austin shed over 25,000 owners in the opening eight Gameweeks, with the R’s falling to defeats in all but two of those match-ups. A run of four goals in three fixtures from Gameweek Nine – including unforgiving encounters against Chelsea and Manchester City – elevated his standing in the Fantasy sphere and encouraged 400,000 managers to snap up the former Burnley frontman in the following Gameweeks.

Austin then went on to bag six goals in as many outings from Gameweek 13 onwards. A hat-trick at home to West Brom in Gameweek 17 marked the pinnacle of his campaign and triggered an upsurge in investment, with over 550,000 managers drafting him in over the next three weeks. This upturn in form saw Austin’s value recover from its initial depreciation and rise to a season high of 6.5 by Gameweek 22. From that point on, Austin delivered sporadic attacking returns, notching five goals in his remaining 17 starts. Consequently, the Reading youth product lost owners in all subsequent Gameweeks bar those surrounding QPR’s doubles.

All said and done, Austin charted eighth in the overall total score rankings with 176 points, with Robert Green the nearest contender for QPR on 114 points. By virtue of his 18 goals and eight assists, Austin was directly involved in 62% of the London club’s 42 league strikes. Furthermore, his goal tally positioned him fourth in the scoring charts, behind Sergio Aguero (26), Harry Kane (21) and Diego Costa (20), while only Jamie Vardy (12) and Aguero (10) mustered more assists amongst forwards.

Austin posted the tenth-highest points per game (ppg) average (5.0) of any player in the league and sat second only to Harry Kane amongst outfield players in terms of value.

Notwithstanding the calibre of QPR’s supporting cast, Austin still managed to fashion 130 attempts at goal throughout the season – which was second only to Aguero’s 148. Furthermore, he tallied the second-most attempts on target (52) and third-most shots inside the box (76), illustrating his potency in the final third in a superb debut season in the top-flight.

The Prospects

Austin is almost certain to be granted a move to a Premier League club in the wake of QPR’s relegation. Having ended the season as the fourth-top scorer, the Berkshire-born striker is inevitably attracting a bevy of suitors from opposing ends of the table.

After being called up to the England squad on the back of his recent showing, Austin took time out to discuss his future and hinted that he’s desperate for a return to the top-flight:

“I feel like I’ve worked hard enough this season for QPR to try to be a Premier League player, but at the moment I’ve still got a year left, so what the future holds, that’s up to the club and my agent to sort out. “I just want to be fully focussed on these next two weeks with England, but then I’ll speak to Chris and Les to tell them my thoughts and they’ll tell me theirs. It was my first Premier League season. On a personal level, if you had said to me I would end up with 18 goals, I would have said I would have been delighted with that. Unfortunately, as a team, we underachieved and my goals couldn’t help QPR stay in the league.”

With just a year left on his contract, then, it may well be that the R’s choose to cash in on Austin as they look to strengthen their squad after relegation. The forward’s displays have certainly kept him in demand, with the likes of Newcastle, Southampton, Aston Villa and Spurs all linked with a move for his services.

Although a switch to White Hart Lane would be less appealing for Fantasy managers, given Harry Kane’s security of starts as the lone striker, Austin would surely be nailed-on at Newcastle, where Papiss Cisse’s injury troubles remain a real issue. The future of Christian Benteke could also play a part in the summer transfer merry-go-round – if the big Belgian departs Villa, Tim Sherwood could move to make Austin his number one target up top. Ronald Koeman could also consider Austin for a move to St Mary’s, having watched Graziano Pelle net just 9.8% of his chances (Austin converted 13.8%) and embark on a 14-match goalless spree in the middle of last season.

Austin’s potential price next term is, to a certain extent, dependant on where he ultimately ends up. A cost of 7.5 to 8.5 looks the likeliest scenario in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game for a player that has proven more than capable of picking up the points, regardless of his club’s toils.