Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead returns for 2026/27 with his series of The Great and the Good articles, analysing the transfers and strategies of some well-known Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers.
The Great and The Good this season are the FPL Godfather Mark Sutherns, the BlackBox pair of Az and Andy North, Scouts FPL General, Tom Freeman and Joe Lepper, the FPL Wire duo of Pras and Zophar, the defending Great and Good champion Huss E, FPL celebrites FPL Harry and LTFPL Andy, Hall of Famers Fabio Borges, Thomas Brønsby, Ben Crellin, Elevenify and Tom Dollimore, last year’s mini-league winner Andrew McKinnon and invitational champ Ben McCrum.
“Fifty Shades of Blue”
In Gameweek 4, there was only one question: how many Chelsea players can you physically fit into a squad?
Three, apparently.
The chips were out in force as the lure of Cole Palmer (£9.7m) proved too much. He got an assist, so at least that’s something. If nothing else, it allows those who went with Erling Haaland (£15.5m) last week something to feel smug about.
Others took the more nuclear option and Wildcarded, with Andy North and Tom Freeman leading the way. Like Hannibal in the A-Team, they loved it when a plan came together.
And, remarkably, a brave few did absolutely nothing. Some even stuck with a Haaland captaincy. Hello, Fabio!
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
There were four centuries amongst The Great and The Good, with three of them hitting the Triple Captain. Andy North was the one who didn’t, and topped the bill with the Wildcard of all Wildcards. He scored 104 and went into the top 100,000 with a rank gain of over 460,000 places.
The common theme amongst all the big scores was Pascal Gross (£5.7m) and Maxim De Cuyper (£4.8m).
Captaincy saw the majority go with Palmer, with seven of them putting the Triple Captain chip on him. Well done to Mark Sutherns and Thomas Bronsby, who went a different shade of blue in Joao Pedro (£7.8m). Fabio Borges went his own way, sticking with Haaland.
WILDCARDS
Andy North
I find myself in an odd position: I like Andy’s Wildcard a lot. It’s nothing a cold shower won’t solve but disconcerting nonetheless.
He has gone route one in many ways with a triple Arsenal defence and a triple Chelsea attack. Haaland is there for obvious reasons, as is Dominik Szoboszlai (£7.0m), then a couple of points-busting Brighton players and a strong bench to protect from rotation.
A lack of Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) may come back to bite him in the next few weeks but that is the sacrifice that many are looking to make
Tom Freeman
Tom’s is very similar, as you would expect, but he has spread his funds a little more with a Bench Boost in his mind for next week.
He has a couple of £4.5m goalkeepers in Bart Verbruggen and Antonin Kinksy, plus a duo of 5.0m defenders in Neco Williams and Tarik Muharemovic. In fact, he seems to prefer Leeds, with Anton Stach (£6.0m) also on board, probably with next week’s Crystal Palace fixture in mind.
CHIPS IN HAND
The Great and The Good have been busy. In fact, you could be forgiven for thinking there was a prize for getting rid of your chips before anyone else.
A staggering 44% have already played three chips, while another 39% have burned through two. That means the vast majority are already halfway through their chip allocation while the season has barely popped its cherry.
Leading the charge towards Chipageddon are Elevenify, LTFPL Andy, Pras and Zophar, who have all opted for the popular Bench Boost in Gameweek 1, Wildcard in Gameweek 3 and Triple Captain in Gameweek 4 strategy.
Elsewhere, Tom Dollimore, FPL General and Ben Crellin have also hit three chips but kept their powder dry on their Wildcards, going with a Bench Boost in Gameweek 1, a Free Hit in Gameweek 3 and a Triple Captain in Gameweek 4.
The cautious cats, though, are Fabio Borges, Huss E and Ben McCrum, who have played just one chip. Three men bravely resisting the urge to smash the big red button every time a fixture ticker changes colour.
Will it be the tortoise or the hare who wins the race?
TRANSFERS
The transfer market has once again demonstrated that FPL managers are an incredibly fickle bunch.
Palmer and Morgan Rogers (£7.7m) have flooded into teams, while Bruno and Rayan Cherki (£7.8m) have been shown the door.
Cherki’s exit is curious. Only a week ago, he was the answer. Now he’s apparently about as useful as a chocolate xMins fireguard.
But the transfer that really interests me is FPL Harry bringing in Morgan Gibbs-White (£8.0m). His 9,000 clone herd will soon follow.
THE TEMPLATE
The template has taken a fairly brutal turn.
Bruno is out. The City midfielders are out. Palmer and Rogers are in.
There’s also the irresistible lure of the cheap Arsenal defender, with Ezri Konsa (£4.5m) entering the template. Up front, Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m) returns after a brief fling with Yoane Wissa (£6.2m).
And then we have Tom Dollimore and Ben Crellin, the brave souls going without Haaland.
MONEY MATTERS
And finally, the subject guaranteed to make every FPL manager simultaneously excited and deeply anxious: team value.
The early Wildcarders have been busy collecting pennies, with LTFPL Andy at £102.0m and Pras at £101.9m.
Meanwhile, Fabio Borges and Thomas Brønsby are down at £99.9m. That’s a £2.1m difference. Will it matter later in the season? Who knows.
CONCLUSION
A swingy week with those with red arrows probably crossing Brighton off as their holiday destination for a while. Just remember, there is a bloody long way to go. By Gameweek 38, we will have all forgotten about the Triple Captain fail!
Anyway, that’s all from me for now, and remember: don’t have nightmares.
For those affected by any of the topics raised in the above article, you can find me on Twitter/X here.
