The Community Round-Up

Strikers took centre stage among our Hot Topic posters this week as the community keeps its fingers crossed that January’s transfer dealings improve the pool of forward options.

Price changes, patience in the transfer market and a spot of Scoutcast magic are also covered in our discussions, while our community scribes focus on the Premier League’s manager merry-go-round and the best players over the last 15 years.

We finish off with a look at the latest from our Members’ table constructors and our community competitions.

The Community Articles

With 15 years worth of Fantasy Premier League dream team data at hand, Wesmantooth has been delving through the archives to pinpoint key strategies for success and look at those players vying for an elite end of season listing this time around.

Meanwhile, FPL Virgin has been looking at how a new boss can help or hinder a Premier League team’s chances of success, given seven clubs have already decided to part company with their manager this season.

Among those to make a change at the top is Stoke City, who look set for a rough evening on Monday when they travel to Old Trafford according to Hutch_James’ latest canvassing of ‘the crowd’.

Top Marx has been named community writer of December following this week’s vote. A £20 Amazon voucher is on his way to him.

Don’t forget, if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.

The Hottest Topics

The community’s attacking line-ups are in flux, according to our Hot Topic on strikers, as Fantasy managers eagerly await third-forward prospects to emerge in the January transfer window.

Another factor driving the desire to make changes up top is that Sergio Aguero now looks largely rotation-free due to the injury to team-mate Gabriel Jesus.

The Sky Blues striker certainly looks in fine form, says Wet Dream in his discussion on the Argentinian. But Doosra’s latest fixture analysis, as delivered by G-Whizz, advises waiting on transferring him in until after his tricky away match at Liverpool this weekend.

There was evidence that being cautious in the transfer market can reap rewards in our latest Live Hall of Fame update, as one of FPL’s most patient ever managers makes a return to the top three.

However, Mei you shagua warns against being too reticent when making transfers after losing points by sticking with Dele Alli and Leroy Sane over their barren run of games.

Patience may also prove a virtue for those that clung onto Reds winger Mohamed Salah during his recent injury lay-off.

Our discussion on FPL’s transfer market details how the Egyptian, who is set to return to action at Anfield this Sunday, confounded price change predictions by retaining his full 10.1 value over his short break, much to the annoyance of the 649,000 FPL managers who have shipped him out over the last two weeks.

Last season’s FPL winner Ben Crabtree is another not overly pleased by Salah, with his Liverpool player ban proving far less successful this time around thanks to the African Player of the Year’s relentless scoring form. Following Ben’s latest musings on his season,  FPL Virgin sparked a discussion on whether this former champion should rethink his heart over head policy regarding Liverpool assets.

With the second FPL Wildcard now available, we canvassed the community’s views on which players deserve a place in a revamped side.

Stoke players are unlikely to grace many Wildcard drafts due to a dire run of form that ultimately cost their boss Mark Hughes his job. But with an impending change of management and a strong run of fixtures, we pondered whether Potters assets may just be worth looking at.

Chelsea and Arsenal also have strong schedules, but with patchy form for some of their key players the community is also reluctant to invest heavily according to our Hot Topic on their players.

Finally, eagle-eyed Scoutcast viewers spotted a moment of magic in this week’s show involving a glass of water travelling 150 miles across four English counties within a second.

To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page.

The Members’ Tables

There’s some surprising names to cherry pick in my latest goals imminent table this week, while those in search of a striker are advised to check out Doosra’s latest Deadly Assassins standings.

If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how they work. Also, remember to tag them so that people can find the tables with ease.

The Community Tournaments

My Pretty Pony is on the look-out for at least six other community regulars to take part in the inaugural FFScout charity football event. Some 16 Fantasy managers have already signed up for the event, which takes place on February 24.

Elsewhere, Speedyboyz dropped by with the latest from the Community Watch tournament, which in Matchweek 15 features a number of key battles at the top and bottom of the table.

If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-Ups, please email us a summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head-to-head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk.