FFS Head-to-Head Leagues: Gameweek 16 round-up

It’s been another rollercoaster ride in the Premier League this week. The premium assets took the weekend off but there were plenty of sideshows, not least at Molyneux where Wolves’ conversion to UFC is proceeding at pace, and St James’ Park where Van Nistelrooy got a rude awakening. A sophorific Manchester derby was enlivened by a mad five minutes at the end; and the Sackers were out in force, and not just in Lapland.

Of course, the other big news is the reveal of the Assistant Manager’s Chip, which is fast supplanting Wood as our innuendo of choice and should keep the Analytics geeks occupied over Christmas. I’m looking forward to the price reveal for Pep – presumably it will be in the Russell Martin ballpark.

Battle-hardened managers vying for glory in the FFS Head-to-Head Leagues will take any edge they can get, and I’m back to spill the beans on who’s been good, and who might have some explaining to do with Santa. As always, this update provides some extra depth to Red Lightning’s weekly reports on this and a range of FFS Community tournaments.

League One  

Simon MacNair and Liam McAllister (33 pts) are tied at the top, with Sameer Sohail, Darren Curtis and Ahmed Shahin (all 30) leading the chasing pack. Two former winners are struggling in the bottom half, including Ignazio La Rosa (10), who is in danger of being cut adrift.

League Two

Our very own H2H Leagues Maestro, Mark Reynolds (34), has emerged from the shadows in Division 1, and leads Michał Dąbrowski by three points, with Michael Scott and former winner, Ville Touminen, trailing by a further point. Neil Methold and Aviinesh Kumar (both 33) are the joint-leaders in Division 2 but have Paul Norris and the inaugural winner, Craig Johnson, (both 31) in close proximity.

League Three

Socrates Olympios (31) has scaled the heights in Division 1, but Chaballer and Terje Balteskard are just a point adrift, and Simon Vazquez and Peter Tind (both 27) complete the Top Five. Kevin Lamb (33) has been caught by David Walker in Division 2, and they now have to worry about Sam Trafford (31), Neal Rigg (30) and Andrew Blackwell (28). Carlene M (39) has opened up a six-point margin over Magnar Nordtun, Steven North and Tim Oldfield  in Division 3; and Timo Laukkanen’s 39 points is good for a three-point lead over Taymur Reza Hossain in Division 4.

League Four

In Division 1, Richard Slaven has the edge over Ben Lovell and Sam Bonfield (all 33) thanks to his Top 10K ranking; in contrast, Stuart Blakely (39) has a healthy margin over Alex Jones (34) in Division 2.  Filip Suchta’s winning streak has opened up a three-point gap over Andrew Garland (36) in Division 3; and James Bambridge (35) has also moved through the field to lead by five points in Division 4. Benjamin Arslangic (37) has exchanged places with Per Øyvind Bonkerud (36) at the top of Division 5; and it’s a three-way tie between Alan Robertson, Francisco Lamarque and William Elliot (all 33) at the top of Division 6. Conor Slattery (34) and Michael Du Toit are the new leaders in Division 7; and Alex Lau (36) has now moved clear of Ben Capron and Bill Koullis (both 33) in Division 8.

League Five

Ade Spencer (33) has now been caught by Neil Allison at the top of Division 1; and a Top 5K ranking gives Shales Moor (36) the edge over Nick Palmer in Division 2; but new leader David Parker (34) has a whole point over the field in Division 3. Reece Goudge (33) has a three-point margin over a sextet of chasers in Division 4; and Paolo Turrini (34) has displaced Marin Vuletic (33) at the summit of Division 5; as has Bukola Atanda (34) over Jamie Fitzgerald (33) in Division 6. Five successive wins has taken Cian McKenna (39) clear of the field in Division 7; while  Paddy Smith (37) continues to ward off challengers in Division 8; as does Jason Choi (36) in Division 9. It’s now a three-way tie between Mike Steel, Bilal Shaikh and Ankit Agarwal (all 30) in Division 10; but Manickam P (39) now has a five-point advantage over Keith Walker in Division 11. Darragh Copley (33) is the new leader in Division 12; and James Pennington (32) has assumed that honour in Division 13. Pavle Ziman (33) has maintained a two-point margin at the top of Division 14; while new leader Ken Davies has flown through the field to open up a five-point advantage in Division 15. Finally, Andy Wong and Darren Duffey (both 37) are the new joint-leaders in Division 16.

League Six

Andy Whitely (Division 16) has emerged as the shining light in League 6, with just a single defeat in 16 matches, so it’s hardly a surprise that he’s ranked 103 in the world. Back among the mortals, John Lloyd (Division 5) has also impressed with a 42-point haul; as have the following managers, who lead their respective Divisions on 39 points: André Mærli (Division 8); Garry Murray (Division 12); Lâm Ðào (Division 26);  Darren Teague (Division 27);  Nigel Hadley (Division 30) and Hiroyuki Mori (Division 32). A further four Division leaders have amassed 37 points: Richard Phillips (Division 10);  Kasper Keller (Division 13);  Oliver Lanneberg (Division 18) and Lennox Desborough (Division 19);

There are 11 managers who are leading their respective Divisions on 36 points: Simon Pyke (Division 4);  @elevenify (Division 6); Peter Leahy and Sharavanan Shanmuga Sundaram (Division 11); Henrik Hammen (Division 15); Joel Newman (Division 17); Y SP and Chris Hayes (Division 20); Henrik Palm Strand and James Pitcher (Division 21) and Ryan John MacKenzie (Division 31). James Williams and Noam Jacobi (both 35) are joint-leaders in Division 22; while Pedro Segurado (Division 3); Whitney Baxter (Division 9) and Tavish Bhagat (Division 23) lead their respective Divisions on 34 points.

A further eight managers on 33 points are league-leaders, either jointly or on their own:  Debarchan Maiti and Rohit Kumar (Division 1); Dan Burge (Division 14); John Samoryk (Division 24); Tyrone Jacobs and Józef Filiński (Division 25);  Rodney McCain (Division 28) and Ski House (Nitish) (Division 29). Brandon Walsh leads Division 7 on 32 points; while 31 points is sufficient to take Darren Naughton and El Timbo to the summit of Division 2.

League Seven

With a name that seems destined for greatness, it is no surprise that Chris Lord (45) is getting all the praise in League 7, and he has a 12-point lead over his Division 47 competition to tide him over the busy Christmas period. The other bright sparks are Sunny H (Division 4) and Len Håvar Thomassen (Division 32) with an impressive 42 points from their 16 outings; and the three wise men on 40 points are: Ben Gould (Division 15), Tony Cassidy (Division 25) and Mats Sturesson (Division 42).

39 points is also a pretty good score, just ask Pranjal Das (Division 11); Daniel Sailer (Division 30); Will Arnold (Division 35); Aris Kovalenko (Division 37) and Karlon Graham (Division 40), who are all leading their respective Divisions. There are a further seven league-leading managers on 37 points: Will Lobley (Division 16); Zlatko Omanović (Division 21); Bjorn Olsthoorn (Division 29); Tony Fitzpatrick (Division 33); Nikolay Nichev (Division 41); Max Norton (Division 58) and Chris Sparrow (Division 63).

League Eight 

The early front runners in League have been brought back into the pack, but it’s still a fast pace with the following managers all on 42 points out of a possible 48: Nizzamudin Ahmed (Division 3); Vyacheslav Morozenko (Division 21); Peter Willis (Division 41); Edward Rooney (Division 44); Jonne Welling (Division 70); Vinait Thorat (Division 74); Jamie Record (Division 90); WF Smith (Division 102); Elvar Sigurdsson (Division 104) and Luka Bošnjak (Division 125). Max Xhauflair leads in Division 28 with 41 points; as do Ahmad Fayyadh (Division 49) and Joel Brand (Division 66) on 40 points

There are 11 league-leaders on 39 points: Cameron Craigie (Division 1); Shahen Withana (Division 16); Cameron Craigie (Division 1); Eoin Scanlon (Division 50); Aaron Leggott (Division 51); Shervin Vencatachellum (Division 54); Akshay Gadgil (Division 78); Dann Babatunde (Division 87); Greg O’Neill (Division 89); Romeu Fernandes Junior (Division 120) and A Kwok (Division 128). Kamil Pometio (38) also has a healthy lead in Division 124.

Leagues Nine and 10

The lower echelons continue to be the place to go for high scores, and this time the honours are shared by Mahmoud Mounir (Division 34); Karim Kapo (Division 35); Adam Harriot (Division 38) and Mervyn Kirkness (Division 210), who have all amassed 45 points out of a possible 48. Mandar Karandikar (League 10, Division 2) is also in the fast lane with 43 points.

Nine managers in League 9 are leading their respective Divisions on 42 points:  Gideon Kanyara (Division 8); Malte Z (Division 10); Virinder Gupta(Division 28); Roger Clutton (Division 58); Ruslan Ulitin (Division 79); Janek Polska (Division 108); Matt Morrison (Division 167); Killian Leegan and Paul Duff (Division 195). And just off that pace, there are a further five league-leaders on 40 points: Budiono Siregar (Division 21); Waelon Rheynicke (Division 54); Juyma Fernandez Sanchez (Division 150); Vukadin Veljković (Division 223) and David Scullion (Division 256).

Top 100 Hall of Fame 

It’s been a mixed bag for our Top 100 Hall of Fame Managers. Three wins was sufficient for @elevenify (36) to maintain his advantage at the top of League 6, Division 6, but Dan Furneaux (27) has been unable to close the gap, and still sits on the periphery of the promotion berths. Four wins in five has elevated James Harrison (30) into the Top Five in League 6, Division 26; but three defeats leaves Tod Modisette (22) treading water in mid-table in League 7, Division 34. One win in five has Timo Riekko (22) moving in the wrong direction in League 6, Division 5; but Colin Innes (27) is still contending for promotion in League 6, Division 24. It’s also better news for Ómar Olgeirsson (17), who has climbed out of the cellar in League 7, Division 47.

Beat The Scouts

The Scouts have also been bouncing around like a James Maddison assist since my last update. Torres Magic (24) has slipped to 10th on the back of two wins and three defeats in League 2, Division 2; but Greyhead (25) is up to 8th following three successive victories in League 3, Division 1; and a similar run in League 3, Division 2 sees Neale Rigg (30) consolidate his position in the Top Five. The Top Three in League 4, Division 1 are separated only by FPL rank, and Sam Bonfield (33) is continuing to hang in there; while in League 6, Division 8, Red Lightning (27) has embarked on a run that has raised him into the top half. It’s just two wins out of five for Rainy ~ (27) which is putting a damper on his promotion aspirations in League 7, Division 2; and four points out of the last 20 has stalled G Whizz’s progress  in League 8, Division 44. The top dog among the Scouts is Marc Jobling (36), who has opened up a three point gap over the opposition in League 9, Division 189. Hibbo (28) has also rediscovered his mojo, and a run of four successive victories has taken him back into the League 9, Division 225 promotion berths.

I’ll be back with another round-up after Gameweek 20, but In the meantime, you can keep track of your performance, and stalk your opposition, via MIR’s Head-to-Head Leagues page.

I’m off to find a buyer for my Wolves assets. Stay safe.