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Chip Usage by Leading Managers 2019/20

How did leading managers use their chips this season? To answer this question, we examined six groups of managers who have been successful in all or part of the 2019/20 season and /or had previous FPL success or made good use of their FFS Membership. One manager appears in two of thee groups – can you spot which one?

Overall Top Eleven

The most successful managers from this season. Link to league.

  1. Aleksandar Antonov: WC2, WC23, TC24, BB30+, FH31+
  2. Joshua Bull:              WC18, TC24, BB30+, FH37+, WC38+
  3. Chris McGowan:       WC4, FH30+, WC33+, BB34+, TC38+ (Queens of the South Age)
  4. Will Turner:               WC4, WC24, BB30+, TC33+, FH38+
  5. Michael Murphy:       WC4, TC24, BB30+, FH31+, WC33+
  6. Ademir Ovcina:         WC9, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+
  7. Bill Wilkins:               WC4, TC24, WC31+, BB32+, FH38+
  8. Mark May:                 WC10, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH35+ (frankiem)
  9. Sivert Gjertsos:         FH4, WC5, TC19, WC24, BB30+
  10. Joey Daher:              WC2, TC5, BB17, WC22, FH35+
  11. Magnus Carlsen:       WC13, TC24, BB30+, FH32+, WC33+
Fantasy Football Scout Members

All of whom are FFS Members. Link to league.

  1. Nathan Woolaston: WC9, TC24, BB30+, FH31+, WC32+
  2. Pranil Sheth:           WC3, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+ (Lateriser12)
  3. Tom Russell:           WC5, TC24, FH30+, BB31+, WC36+
  4. Jason Botha:           WC9, TC24, WC27, FH36+, BB38+
  5. Stephen Diamond:  WC3, TC24, WC28, BB29, FH30+
  6. Liam Bondin:           WC9, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+ (FPL Meatpie)
  7. Alex Nielsen:           WC16, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+
  8. Damjan Rupnik:       WC4, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+ (rdamjan)
  9. Reid Trippe:             WC4, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+
  10. Andy Woodyatt:       WC12, TC24, BB30+, FH31+, WC33+
FFS Live Hall of Fame

Link to standings

  1. Stephen Harrap:  WC20, TC24, BB30+, FH31+, WC32+
  2. Darren Wiles:       WC9, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH36+
  3. Fabio Borges:      WC12, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+
  4. Ian Herbert:          WC5, TC24, BB29, WC31+, FH38+
  5. Sean Tobin:          WC7, TC24, FH30+, BB34+, WC38+
  6. Hassan Yousri:     WC20, TC24, WC29, BB30+, FH31+
  7. Marlen Rattiner:   WC3, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH37+
  8. Alistair Hughes:    WC10, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+
  9. Emil Gustafsson: WC20, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH36+
  10. Tom Freeman:     WC20, TC24, FH30+, WC33+, BB34+ (avfc82)
Top 10k Any Season

All of whom have had at least one previous finish in the top 10,000. Link to league

  1. Rok Krasna:                WC3, TC24, FH30+, BB31+, WC34+
  2. Mark Boyle:                 WC20, WC27, TC34+, BB37+, FH38+
  3. Svein Roald L Usken: WC20, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+ (Firminoooo)
  4. Shom B:                      WC4, TC24, BB30+,WC31+, FH38+
  5. Adam Warner:            WC7, TC24, WC29, BB30+, FH36+ (Bury94)
  6. David Trovell:             WC9, TC24, BB30+, FH31+, WC32+
  7. Declan Griffin:            WC20, TC24, FH30+, WC33+, BB37+
  8. Dave Lindop:              WC4, BB16, TC24, FH32+, WC34+
  9. Gavin Mager:             WC4, BB30+, WC31+, FH36+, TC38+
  10. David Nataf:               WC9, TC24, WC25, FH30+, BB37+
January to July League

Started scoring in GW21. Link to league.

  1. Will Timbers:           WC3, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+ (TopMarx)
  2. Dave Dolman:         WC4, TC24, WC27, BB30+, FH38+ (Derby Dreamers)
  3. Danny Mallon:         WC6, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH36+ (Pep Pig)
  4. Shirin Nizar:             WC20, TC24, BB30+, WC38+, FH not played (Chelsea Guy)
  5. Jamie FPL:              WC5, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+, TC not played
  6. Al Sayed Ali Jaafar: WC4, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+
  7. David Arblastar:       WC5, TC29, BB30+, WC31+, FH36+
  8. Paul Shiel:                WC20, TC24, FH30+, WC33+, BB35+
  9. Bary Pyszkowski:     WC4, TC18, FH24, WC25, BB30+
  10. Brian Cuffe:              WC9, TC29, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+
The FFScout Charity Shield

Started scoring in GW30+. Link to league.

  1. Ismail Hossain Rasel: WC16, BB30+, WC31+, TC33+, FH35+
  2. Ged Ashton:                WC20, BB30+, WC31+, FH36+, TC38+
  3. Matthew Brigham:       WC7, TC24, WC25, BB30+, FH31+
  4. Mohammed Ali:           WC4, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH33+
  5. Karl Berthen:               WC9, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH36+
  6. Mikhel Lepik:               WC4, BB30+, WC31+, FH36+, TC38+
  7. Yazuv Yaman:             TC3, WC20, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+
  8. Will Timbers:               WC3, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+ (TopMarx)
  9. Grzegorz Kotlarski:     WC3, TC24, BB30+, WC31+, FH38+
  10. Baz McCormack:        WC18, FH31+, WC32+, BB33+, TC35+

The chip that was played in the greatest number of different game-weeks was the first wildcard.

The most popular times to play it were GW4 (14), GW20 (10), GW9 (9), GW3 (6), GW5 (5), and GW7 (3). None of the Hall of Fame leaders played it in GW4, but 4 of them did in GW20.

DGW24 was by far the most popular time to play the Triple Captain chip (44 times out of 60, including all of the leaders of the FFS Members and Hall of Fame) and the next most popular time was GW38+ (4 times).

Most of these managers had been saving the rest of their chips for the expected end-season double and blank game-weeks and still had them available after the GW30+ restart.

GW30+ was by far the most popular time to play the Bench Boost, with 46 taking advantage of the unlimited free transfers following the restart to play it then. The next most popular times to play this chip were GW37+ (3), GW29 (2) and GW31+ (2).

The second wildcard was mostly played shortly after this, the most popular game-weeks being GW31+ (31), GW33+ (7), GW32+ (4), GW25 (3), GW27 (3) and GW38+ (3). Very few of these managers played it earlier.

The Free Hit chip was also mostly played at or after the GW30+ restart. The most popular times to play it were GW38+ (20), GW36+ (10), GW30+ (9) and GW31+ (9).

RedLightning

RedLightning <p>The Opening Day League is now closed ... Top 10k Any Season (x8qf0d) is only for teams that have finished the season in the top 10,000 at least once ... Multiple Top 10k Finishes (4y0ws3)&nbsp;is only for teams with two or more top 10,000 finishes ... The January to May League (5v12bh) started scoring in GW21 … The Last Ten (xddjak) started scoring in GW29.</p>

27 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Rotation's Alter Ego
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • Has Moderation Rights
    • 12 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Cheers RL, put a lot of work into collecting this.

    Does make me wish that playing chips in the first half of the season was more viable.... Would make it far more exciting!

  2. The Polymath
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    The chips did fine for me, it's the captain choices which kept letting me down.

    1. diesel001
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Same.

    2. Debauchy
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Same , had a long barren spell with an endless string of Cpt failures

      1. Debauchy
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Even got lucky with BB Mcarthy home to City , so chips went ok with a dose of luck

    3. Chemical76
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Same.

      On 12th of July I sent the following Whatsapp to my mate,

      "I'm up to 1993 overall on FPL with Bruno, Vardy, Greenwood, Saka and Reina still to play. Looking back I've only managed to captain my highest weekly scorer 6 times out of 34.
      168 points off leader. That's less 5 points a week, so if chosen better captains (nothing wrong with my actual player choices) then I'd easily be top 100 I think. Can't wait for next season."

  3. Andy_Social
    • 11 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Thanks for all the graft RL. Covid19 interfered big time this season and I'm wondering more precisely how it skewed the picture. Nearly all the names, esp the higher up the lists you go, still had the bulk of their chips when lockdown hit.
    What I'd like to know is were those winners lucky that the lockdown occurred when it did, or not. To get something of an answer, it would be useful to compare their chip strategy this season with their previous seasons, or if not them, the winners of previous seasons.
    Key question: is it ALWAYS advisable to save the bulk of your chips for late season, even if DGWs are less likely?

    1. RedLightning
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      I don't believe these managers were lucky to have played their Triple Captain in DGW24 and to have saved their other chips for the expected late-season doubles and blanks. It was the logical thing to do. Those who played their wildcard in GW29 were unlucky though.

      It is generally regarded as advisable to save three or four chips for the late-season double and blank game-weeks, although there can still be a number of different strategies as to exactly how to use these in the late game-weeks.

      This is probably the first season since the chips were introduced that there has only been one late mini double game-week and no late blank game-weeks (apart from the ones in which there were no matches at all), and we really had no advance warning that this was likely to be the case.

      The Triple Captain chip is sometimes better played in a later double game-week rather than in the earlier one - it really depends how attractive the earlier double game-week is for the most obvious captain choices, and how attractive the later double game-weeks are likely to be.

      Some managers have had success in the past by playing their Second Wildcard early in the New Year instead of saving it for the later doubles and blanks, especially if their squad was in a bad state at the time.

      And some have had success in playing their Bench Boost in an early single game-week in order to get it out of the way and avoid disrupting the balance of their squad later.

      Playing the Free Hit early is risky and can easily backfire, but a few managers have got lucky by doing so.

      1. RedLightning
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • Has Moderation Rights
        • 13 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        * Those who played their Wildcard or Triple Captain in GW29 (the double game-week that wasn't) were unlucky though.

      2. Andy_Social
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Right, thanks. I'm trying to screen out this season as it was such a wild anomaly (hoping that COVID doesn't strike this coming season too). I played my chips too early, leaving just BB for GW30+. After that I faded badly. So the take-away is that in general, you should be patient with the chips, and other than the first WC, try to save them for as long as possible. I'll try to be more disciplined this season.

        1. Chemical76
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 7 months ago

          I think that most will agree that unlimited transfers pre Restart has a significant impact on the final standings.

  4. Easy Cheesy
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 7 months ago

    Anyone regret using their wildcard early on in the season? I didn’t use until very late and didn’t really get any value from it - probably lost out as I missed TAA vs. Leicester and KDB vs. Arsenal as I was too playing to avoid those fixtures. If you WC early what’s the biggeat risk?

    1. Easy Cheesy
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 4 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Biggest

    2. Andy_Social
      • 11 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      If I'd anticipated the COVID lockdown, I would have saved it until after GW30+. When I used it my squad wasn't that bad.

    3. Rasping Drive
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      I guess it depends what you
      mean by early. Risks playing it in the first 3 GWs is you could jump on bandwagons that burn out quickly, potentially leaving you with duds tou then have to ship out.

      I played mine in GW6, no regrets at all since i was 3.7m OR ar that point. By GW12 I had climbed over 3m places.

      1. Easy Cheesy
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Amazing. Get any bandwagons wrong on the WC?

        1. Rasping Drive
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • 14 Years
          3 years, 7 months ago

          Not that many, thankfully. Pukki was a dud for me, and Aurier, too. Triple Chelsea worked well for a while, and switching to Vardy and Jimenez around GW12 went great.

    4. Christina.
      • 14 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      Played it in wk 2. Jumped to OR 73 in wk 8. My season Fizzled out after lockdown and I ended 4 pts outside 10k OR on 11579.

      Lateriser played it in wk 3 and we all know where he ended! Helps if you hit those massive (c) hauls like he did with Kun, Sterling and Martial.

      1. Easy Cheesy
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Thanks. Can see the benefit. Guess you just need to not end up with a team of c wilson, tomori and barnes who all then dissapointed

    5. RedLightning
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 7 months ago

      The world number 1 and world number 10 both played it in GW2, but most preferred to wait till GW4, which coincided with the first international break.
      You have more information which players are starting and in the best form by GW4, but playing it earlier has worked well for some.
      Personally, I usually intend to wait till the second international break, kneejerk some time earlier and then regret having played it too early - I never seem to get it right.

      Some teams may start next season late, since they are likely to be allowed 30 days rest between their last European match and their first Premier League one, which means that Man City, Man United and Wolves could miss the first 2 or 3 game-weeks if they reach the Champions League and Europa League finals. If that happens then it may be a good idea to start the season without their players and then bring them in on an early wildcard.

      1. Andy_Social
        • 11 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        I think there's an international break immediately prior to the PL start, but when is the next one?

        1. RedLightning
          • Fantasy Football Scout Member
          • Has Moderation Rights
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 7 months ago

          The next two after that are 8-14 October and 15-18 November, but we don't yet know the dates of the game-weeks after GW1.

          1. Andy_Social
            • 11 Years
            3 years, 7 months ago

            Cheers. 8-14 Oct does look like an opportunity to WC at the moment.

            1. Easy Cheesy
              • Fantasy Football Scout Member
              • 4 Years
              3 years, 7 months ago

              Interesting. I’m going to try the first break to catch the bandwagons/ value. By leaving it too late I just ended up making pointless changes

            2. FPL Theorist
              • 4 Years
              3 years, 7 months ago

              If Crellin's google doc turns out to be correct, then there will still be 4 GW's before the first international break and 4 more before the second international break. So not too unusual, except that a team reaching the CL/EL final is expected to miss GW1 and if they win, will also miss GW2. Several teams could have a DGW3, but a DGW4 is not possible due to the international break.

              1. Andy_Social
                • 11 Years
                3 years, 7 months ago

                Cheers, good to know.

      2. Christina.
        • 14 Years
        3 years, 7 months ago

        Interesting, I wasn't aware of that.