Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead analyses the transfers and strategies of some well-known Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
This season’s names are the BlackBox pair of Mark Sutherns and Az, Scouts Joe Lepper and Tom Freeman, Scoutcasters Seb Wassell and Andy North, Pro Pundits FPL General, Pras, Zophar and FPL Harry, FPL ‘celebrities’ LTFPL Andy and Ben Crellin, FPL champion FPL Gunz, Hall of Famers Fabio Borges, Finn Sollie, Jan Kepski and Jon Ballantyne, and last year’s mini-league winner Marko Miseric.
“Looks like we made it”
We’ve made it. And what a season of FPL adventure we’ve had, battling through Haaland Family WhatsApps, Free Hit swings, team leaks and, of course, owning Darwin Nunez (£7.5m).
As always, the final Gameweek brought goals galore and plenty of excitement, with Bukayo Saka’s (£8.8m) absence causing either joy or consternation depending on your autosub. The dilemma of which Palace midfielder to go for ended up being an Eze decision whilst there was unbridled joy for those who gambled on Jean-Phillippe Mateta (£5.1m)
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
So, who won the ultimate prize in FPL entertainment? It was ‘Fixture King’ Ben Crellin finishing on top of the pile with his first-ever top 1k finish, securing the title of the Greatest of ‘The Great and The Good’.
Ben finished ahead of FPL Harry, as last year’s winner had a disappointing weekend with 34 points left on his bench. Alexander Isak (£8.4m) and Pedro Porro (£5.9m) looked fine on the pine.
There is a degree of irony that this bench score was higher than the 22 he secured on his Bench Boost in Gameweek 37. Harry won’t be too unhappy though – that’s his fourth top 10k finish in a row.
The week’s top scorer was Pras, sprinting to the finish line with 86 points because of Eberechi Eze (£6.0m) and a wise decision to start Isak. He received a 14k green arrow.
Meanwhile, FPL Gunz did well with 84 points, as his captaincy punt on Martin Odegaard (£8.6m) paid off. The FPL GOAT Fabio Borges ended with a flourish too, having bought Mateta.
In other news, Seb Wassell’s meticulous chip planning came to a head as his Bench Boost brought 21 points from the sidelines despite Saka’s absence.
Talking of benches, spare a thought for LTFPL Andy who left Chris Wood (£4.7m) and Diogo Dalot (£5.2m) out of his eleven. Plus Callum Wilson (£7.8m) is finding ways to continually annoy Andy North, this time with a nine-minute autosub appearance.
THE GREAT AND THE GOOD TRANSFERS
Transfer time now, seeing who was 2023/24’s wheeler-dealer supreme amongst this lot.
FPL Gunz comes top, as he made 50 trades that resulted in immediate gains of 323 points. Naturally, he did also take the most hits over the full season – 16 of them.
Perhaps this indicates there’s some truth behind the old adage that a transfer is for the season, not just for one week.
In Gameweek 38, it was Pras’ Eze move that brought the biggest gain but there were plenty of regretful Isak sellers and Saka buyers among the managers.
The full moves are listed below for your visual pleasure:
- Andy LTFPL – Isak > Wood, Gordon > Salah
- Andy North – Gordon > Saka
- Az – Gordon > Havertz
- Ben Crellin – Fernandes > Saka
- Fábio Borges – Isak > Mateta, Dalot > Robertson
- Finn Sollie – Ederson > Raya
- FPL General – Gordon > Havertz
- FPL Gunz – Gordon > Havertz
- FPL Harry – Gordon > Havertz
- Jan Kępski – Gordon > Saka
- Joe Lepper – Isak > Muniz, Fernandes > Salah
- Jon Ballantyne – Maddison > Saka, Ederson > Ortega
- Mark Sutherns – Gordon > Olise
- Marko Miseric – Isak > Wood, Son > Salah
- Pras – Gordon > Eze
- Seb Wassell – Isak > Gakpo, Burn > Robertson
- Tom Freeman – Isak > Archer, Gordon > Salah
- Zophar – Gordon > Olise
THE GREAT AND THE GOOD TEMPLATE
The pretty picture is back, although there’s not much to comment on here apart from that not many would’ve bet on Cole Palmer (£6.3m) being 100% owned and this season’s highest price riser.
CAPTAINCY CALLS
Moving onto the other awards, Jan Kepski gets the nod as Captaincy King thanks to 624 accumulated points. He’s just ahead of Fabio Borges but let’s not dwell on who sits at the bottom of the table.
Unsurprisingly, Erling Haaland (£14.3m) was the most popular captain pick and FPL General is certainly his biggest fan.
CHIP CHAMPION
Using the data of Mini League Mate, we can see who they’ve awarded the Chip Champion award to. It should be noted that they calculate Wildcard success based on the points gained above the FPL average for the immediate five Gameweeks following its activation.
FPL General comes top thanks to gains made from both Wildcards, plus he was one of the Gameweek 34 Free Hitters.
Marko Miseric actually ranks best for Free Hit usage and Jon Ballantyne won the Bench Boost prize, although a steward’s enquiry might be needed for those suspicious players he sidelined.
RICHIE RICH
In a season where you didn’t actually need to worry too much about the cash, Ben Crellin ends up top with a team value of £108.2m. He’s joined in the VIP £108m Club by FPL Harry.
BENCH POINTS
Finally, a new award this year that recognises the managers who focused on squad depth. In a tight contest here, both Pras and Seb left 335 points amongst their substitutes.
Pras wins the tie-breaker because he left 11 double-digit hauls out of his XI. Well done… I think?
GREAT AND THE GOOD: THE NEXT GENERATION
Before we finish, let’s take a look ahead and see who’ll be in next year’s ‘The Great and The Good’ class.
I can confirm that the first two names will be Geraint Owen – who won the open-to-all ‘The Next Great and The Good’ league, finishing 21st overall – and FPL Fran, who claimed the Ville Ronka Valedictorian Invitational title with a top 500 rank. Well done to both, I’m sure you’ll make great additions.
THANK YOU TIME
After doing some maths the other day, I worked out that this is the 228th edition of ‘The Great and The Good’. I really should find another hobby.
However, I have enjoyed writing to everyone and would like to first start by thanking all of you who have read along the way. I hope they provided smiles as we navigate our way through these choppy FPL waters.
A few people behind the scenes turn my scribblings into something readable and they are Neale, Tom and Marc. I promise I will work on my spelling over the summer break!
Huge amounts of gratitude go to Top Marx and Mini League Mate who have provided so much of the data. He really is a splendid chap, although the fact he’s a Spurs fan should make that statement obvious.
Of course, I should also thank Az and Mark for continuing to highlight the league on FPL BlackBox even during this challenging season.
Well, that’s it – what are you still doing here? Go and enjoy the break. Well, at least until it’s time to start researching Albanian full-backs for the Euro 2024 Fantasy game that’s already kicked off.
Anyway, that’s all from me for now, and remember: don’t have FPL nightmares.
For those affected by any of the topics raised above, you can find me here on Twitter.
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24 days, 2 hours agoAlways my favourite article of the week. Cheers!