In The Great and the Good, Fantasy Football Scout community writer Greyhead analyses 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’s Pras and Zophar, the defending Great and Good champion Huss E, FPL ‘celebrities’ 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.
“You are a Traitor”
Three weeks. THREE WHOLE WEEKS. The longest international break known to mankind has finally limped to an end, leaving FPL managers to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives. Unless, of course, you’ve been watching Celebrity Traitors, in which case you’ve been perfectly entertained by famous people lying to each other rather than relying on dodgy team leaks and content creators. Frankly, there’s not much difference.
Some managers have reached for the Wildcard, including three of The Great and The Good, giving them the luxury of waiting until the last possible moment before making their decisions – one of them still left out Joao Pedro (£7.8m).
Captaincy, meanwhile, was about as settled as a banishment argument over the round table. Erling Haaland (£15.6m), Bruno Fernandes (£11.9m), Cole Palmer (£9.7m) and Bukayo Saka (£9.6m) were all making persuasive cases. Heads up: Bruno and Saka were the Traitors.
And then there was Fulham. The fixture swing has sent certain corners of the FPL community into a state of ecstasy, with Josh King (£5.6m) apparently being hailed as the answer to all our prayers. He’s the chosen one! The bringer of points! Whether he can actually deliver remains to be seen.
OVERALL PERFORMANCE
Yet another swing week with a gap of 40 points between Joe Lepper, our leading light, and the unfortunate Thomas Bronsby.
Joe, who is a Brighton and Hove Albion fan, has been flown to the top by his trio of Seagulls: Bart Verbruggen (£4.6m), Pascal Gross (£6.0m) and Maxim De Cuyper (£5.1m). He was also helped along by Rayan Cherki (£7.9m), another shrewd pick by the FPL Veteran (that’s a polite way of saying he’s played this game a few times).
Zophar was not far behind on 80, and he also had the club he supports to thank, as his triple-up on Palmer, Morgan Rogers (£7.9m) and Joao Pedro paid off.
It’s worth noting that only three of them now sit in the top 100,000, as the waves of fortune and misfortune continue to impact The Great and The Good.
WILDCARD
Mark Sutherns, FPL Harry and Drew McKinnon all activated their Wildcards – that’s over half of The Great and The Good who have now pulled the trigger. Still a few waiting on late surges, then.
All three opted for triple Arsenal, with David Raya (£6.1m) and Saka making the cut in every squad. Drew went slightly cheaper by selecting Ezri Konsa (£4.6m) over Riccardo Calafiori (£5.9m), allowing him to keep the rather expensive Bruno Fernandes.
Haaland was, of course, inevitable. Joining him in the fashionable section of FPL were Brighton’s new hipsters, De Cuyper and Gross. Both have become increasingly popular, while Gonzalo Garcia (£6.1m) also made the cut thanks to some attractive fixtures. The ticker looked lovely, the underlying optimism was palpable, and the points… well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Drew, however, decided to sprinkle a little individuality into proceedings. He showed loyalty to Bruno Fernandes and Dominik Szoboszlai (£6.9m), while also bringing in Thierno Barry (£5.7m) and the new defensive contribution (DefCon) darling, David Affengruber (£4.5m). He even decided to go without Joao Pedro – I suspect the air was blue when he turned up.
Mark Sutherns went big on Newcastle United, with Harvey Barnes (£6.1m) his chosen magic bean. Interestingly, both Mark and Harry swerved Palmer in favour of Rogers. Mark also has a bench that was bulging at the seams with Kevin Schade (£6.2m) and Josko Gvardiol (£5.8m) sitting on the pine. I guess that’s why he’s so obsessed with team value.
Despite his Nottingham Forest connections, Mark surprisingly ignored Morgan Gibbs-White (£8.0m), although Harry snapped him up. Harry’s substitutes are a little less glamorous, with Jan Paul van Hecke (£4.9m) and Tarik Muharemovic (£5.0m) providing the backup.
TRANSFERS
Garcia was the most popular transfer among The Great and The Good this week. He had the fixture appeal and the growing sense that everyone else knew something you didn’t. What he didn’t have was the points.
Huss E went particularly hard this week, taking a four-point hit to bring in Garcia and Saka. The return? Neither delivered.
Fabio meanwhile was the transfer winner, bringing in Rogers and De Cuyper for Elliot Anderson (£6.3m) and Virgil van Dijk (£6.5m). Both newcomers delivered, making Fabio look like a transfer mastermind.
TEMPLATE
There have been a few changes to the template this week, although we’re hardly talking about a revolution. Think more minor constitutional amendment.
The ongoing battle for the fifth defender spot continues, with Bobby Thomas (£4.0m) returning to the fold and replacing Harry Maguire (£4.8m).
Up front, the previously dependable front three has also changed, with Barry in for Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£6.0m).
The biggest template story, however, remains Brighton’s growing influence. Gross has climbed to a whopping 83.3% ownership, while De Cuyper has reached 67.7%.
WHO SHOULD BE WINNING?
The Scout’s Rate My Team (RMT) algorithm has crunched the numbers, consulted its spreadsheets and presumably plotted humankind’s eventual downfall to the FPL gods.
Joe Lepper deserves a special mention, posting the biggest overperformance of the lot with 86 points. His projected 373 points have turned into an actual 459. In the battle between man and machine, he is the man.
At the other end of the scale, Fabio is having a rather less enjoyable conversation with the algorithm. His projected 353 points have become 369, leaving him just 16 points ahead of expectations. It’s technically an overperformance, so we’ll be kind and call it a victory. A small one, admittedly, but a victory nonetheless.
CONCLUSION
This season is stretching the nerves of many an FPL manager with plenty of ups and downs. I suspect that is not quite at an end, so for those who are disappointed in their rank, take hope. And for those sat high on green arrows, best not to rest on your laurels. Let the games continue!
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.
