FFS Head-to-Head Leagues: Gameweek 8 Round-up

James Alexander Gordon read out the football results on BBC Radio for forty years, which is also roughly how long it would take to read out the scores of the 9,511 FPL Managers participating in the FFS Head-to-Head Leagues every week. The Managers in the top Division have the prestige of seeing their status prominently featured on the FFS home page, not to mention regular mentions in dispatches by RedLightning in his weekly round-up of the Community competitions; but what about the rest of us? MIR asked me to help put this right and he’s very persuasive, so here goes.

I’m going to start by ignoring the Managers in Division 1; any more publicity and they’ll need to start hiring agents; and by reminding everyone of the perilous challenge us ordinary Managers face. Finish in the Top 5 and it’s high-fives all round, and elevation to the next level; but for the Bottom 10 it’s the trapdoor and the ignominy of relegation, so there’ll be no early excursions to the beach in these leagues. It’s also democratic; you join at the bottom and work your way up, no matter how good you are. The No.1 in the Hall of Fame is embarking on this journey right now. More of this later.

With the leagues allocated and fixtures set in advance, all we Managers need to do is pick our teams as usual and check out the results after each Gameweek, so what could go wrong? Well, quite a lot as it turns out. And when that confusion was sorted, one of our Gameweeks went missing, which should have meant draws for everyone, but somehow didn’t. More of this later too.

We did manage to get the ball out in GW8, and as we pause for breath over the international break, this is where we stand:

League Two

In Division 1 Richard Clarke (22 pts) remains perfect in terms of matches actually played; and is joined in the promotion slots by Ville Tuominen (19); Ahmed Shahin and Simon Rothwell (both 16); and Mark Craig (14). Tommi Koskinen (1) will be grateful for the freebie point in GW7. In Division 2 Michael Giovani and Harry Vernon (19) are leading the line; with Owen Walker, Al Black, and Qian Hao Ong following on 16 pts. 

League Three 

Andrew Blackwell is leading the way in Division 1 with 22 pts, with Kevin Lamb (19); and Joe Connelly (17) already struggling to keep up. Martin Cutter (1) is probably already thinking about next year. Division 2 is tighter, with Richard Gibbs and Alan Deluce both on 18 pts; followed by Christopher Green and James Wong-You on 16 pts. Simon MacNair (19) leads Daniel Hooper (18) in Division 3, where the gap in the bottom half of the table is just three points. Daniel Murray (19) has the edge in Division 4; followed by Carl Price (17); Mark Mews and Bob Woby (both 16). 

League Four

Dave Spooner (22) is lapping it up in Division 1; followed by Mathias Ammon (19) and Garry McKay (18); while at the other end Alex Chennell demonstrated that it is still possible to be on zero points. Marcel Scheiweller (19) is top dog in Division 2, ahead of Anoop K and Jack Clark (both 17); but the real dogfight is at the other end where 20^th place is just three points from mid-table obscurity. Michael Casterns (19) is also three points clear of the pack in Division 3; as is Ivan Leshtarov (19) in Division 4; and Ashley Spratt (19) in Division 5. Daniel Loebjer (19) is two points clear of Jack Kennedy and Mat Gilbert in Division 6; Michael Dabrowsksi (19) has the same edge over Anthony Crocker in Division 7; and Steve Sumpton (17) leads a congested field in Division 8.

League Five

Timo N (21) and Moray West (19) have already opened up a gap in Division 1; as have Yordan Dimitrov and Louise Chennel (both 19) in Division 2. Dylan McCulloough (20) leads Ryan Paddock (17) and a congested pack in Division 3; which is even more so in Division 4 where Toby Lansdell and Conor Slattery lead on 16 pts, followed by nine Managers tied on 13 pts. Darren Wright (22), has daylight over Reece Newell (19) and the rest of the field in Division 5; as have Michael Atherton and Ian McMahon (both 19) in Division 6. Juho Kalliokuusi (19) also has a good edge over Nick Fincher and Nigel Bolton (both 16) in Division 7; and Dejan Nikolic (19) has a two-point edge over Robert Dovenberg in Division 8. John Brooks (17) leads a congested field in Division 9; but Will Evans (19) has daylight in Division 10, with Paul Whittenham and Michael Green (both 16) leading the chase. Andy May-Heggie (22) has a three-point margin over Andrew Gibson, who has the same margin over the rest of Division 11. It’s much tighter in Division 12, where Andrew Slocombe (17) leads the line, but not so much for Jonathan Fletcher (1) who seems to be out of green arrows. Steve North and Robert Turner (both 19) are top dogs in Division 13, with the rest of the pack south by three points. Daragh Shirazi and Swee Yang Yeow (19) have the same edge over the field in Division 14; while Rashul Mohnani and Constantine Zeiger’s 18 pts in Division 15 is only good for a two-point edge; with the same applying for Stephen Puddicombe (19) in Division 16.

League Six

With 32 Divisions to contend with it’s harder to stand out from the crowd, but quite a few managed it, particularly Aleksi Harri (Division 2), Krasimir Yambolov (Division 7), Daniel Owen (Division 9), Sirakhun Kawatkul (Division 12), Timothy Kahwai (Division 13), Dan Lambe (Division 16), Mark Duncan (Division 18), Dan Ispir (Division 19), Anders Söder Wintergren (Division 22), Lâm Ðào (Division 25), and Kristian Kruse (Division 27); all of whom have yet to drop any points in matches played.

The following Managers have opened up an outright lead in their respective Divisions: Matthew Howe (Div 1), Paul Dryland  (Div 3), James Kennedy (Div 4), Alex Jones (Div 5), Paul Stead (Div 6), John Kyne (Div 8), abc pqr (Div 10), Philly Blackett (Div 11), Adam Ryan (Div 15), Augustin Habra (Div 17), Andy Haig (Div 20), Mike Aitken (Div 21), Riku Juurikko (Div 23), Augustus Jakubynas (Div 24), Reuben Cox (Div 28), and Alexander Sørvik (Div 32).

Finally, the following are leading their respective Divisions on the basis of FPL rank tiebreak: Bill Drewitt (Div 14), Ethan Dryland (Div 26), Jamie Macdonald (Div 29), Danny Schifflers (Div 30), and Vikas Mohandoss (Div 31).

League Seven 

Out of the 1,280 Managers competing in League 7, only five have yet to drop any points in actual play. The in-form Managers are: Aße (Div 8), Munan Chheda (Div 29), Liam Giblin (Div 37), JJ McErlean (Div 54), and Rinin Rajan (Div 63). 

League Eight

With 2,560 Managers in the field, there are several that have yet to be checked in battle, and two Managers: Habtu in Division 1, and John Rees-Williams in Division 116, are sitting proudly on 24 pts having encountered opponents who took a hit in GW7. Also perfect, but without that kind of luck are: Richard Anderson (Div 14), FPL Dragao (Div 47), FPL Rockstar (Div 59), Danny Patrick (Div 65), Arpan Palit (Div 68), Umer Shahkar and Chan Ip Fong (Div 85), Richard Hartle (Div 87), William Fairs (Div 90), Geoff Graham (Div 91), Ollie Kitson (Div 94), Al Cossavella (Div 102), Tipsy Pee (Div 104), Tom Ellam (Div 111), Ergert Piip (Div 115), and Daniel Beaver (Div 121).

League Nine 

I don’t have enough lifespan to analyse what’s going on in the 221 Divisions that comprise League 9, but don’t be fooled into thinking that this is where to play if you want an easy life. It’s still chock full of elite FPL Managers, and competition for promotion is just as tough as the higher leagues. If you don’t believe me, check out Division 172 where FPL’s top-ranked Manager, Fabio Borges, is finding the opposition just as tough as in Greyhead’s The Great and The Good League. After a bright start, Fabio has encountered a couple of setbacks, and currently stands on 13 pts, which puts him in 7^th place behind Darren Little (19); Jordan Yen, Gareth Yeo, and Richard Joseph (all 16), MR Costa (15); and Paul McParland (14). Still plenty of time, of course, but there’s work to do to get back into the promotion slots. We’ll be following Fabio’s progress as the season unfolds.

That’s all for now. My apologies if your exploits were left unrecognised or, indeed, if you found this to be a poor substitute for reading the shipping forecast. But who knows, maybe I’ll still be doing this in 2062.

Stay safe.