The dust has barely settled on the season and already the community is looking ahead to the next campaign. Potential Fantasy Premier League (FPL) rule changes, Spurs’ temporary home and Manchester United’s transfer activity are among the forward-thinking topics under discussion.
However, there are still some outstanding issues following the final set of fixtures of 2016/17 to consider. Our community articles find out how Fantasy Premier League’s best managers fared this season, while our Members tables take stock of the season’s best forwards and attacking defenders.
We finish off with a look at those who scooped top honours across our community competitions.
The Community Articles
There were mixed fortunes for last season’s top five in the Career Hall of Fame, according to Top Marx’s round-up of their Gameweek 38 transfers and scores. This detailed series has become an excellent regular addition to our community articles over the season.
Don’t forget, if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.
The Hottest Topics
Among issues for next season under consideration are potential changes to FPL with PKW calling for an ambitious overhaul of the bonus system, prizes and transfer market.
For FPL Virgin he wants to see a more modest revamp, involving greater rewards for clean sheets and, bizarrely, extra points for those players who miss out due to a team-mate’s hairline.
Another consideration for the season ahead is how Spurs will perform when their home games take place at Wembley, while they await construction of their new stadium. As Top Marx points out this is a venue that has not brought Mauricio Pochettino’s side positive results in recent cup competitions.
A price hike for Spurs talisman Harry Kane looks inevitable following a second successive Golden Boot, so we asked whether he will justify the extra outlay, especially as his team has to settle into a temporary home?
While Manchester United excelled in cup competitions, despite the best efforts of a psychic cow, their Premier League campaign was disappointing. With the Red Devils finishing in sixth, 24 points behind champions Chelsea, reinforcements will be needed next season. Among potential new recruits is Athletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann, with Andy85wsm launching a discussion on the Frenchman earlier in the week.
While there is uncertainty over Manchester United’s line-up next season, at least one key aspect of the 2017/18 campaign is written in stone, according to Parm – FPL will definitely launch during the week of July 10th.
That leaves plenty of time to take stock of 2016/17’s high lows and crucially, lessons learned.
Somethodox delivered his key 20 lessons he has taken from the season, while our Gameweek 38 rough with the smooth round-up gave the community a final chance before next season to brag about a stellar weekly score, or plead for sympathy after it all went array.
Those who sealed a top 1,000 finish should really have very few gripes. This week AA33 has started compiling a roll call of the very many community regulars who were part of this elite group at the season’s close.
The summer break also gives us an opportunity to look back on some of the best players of the season. With our polling starting this week on 2016/17’s best Fantasy assets we asked who were your favourite keepers and defenders.
There was further rearguard discussion via Samwise the brave, who issued a plea for tips on developing a high scoring defence. Investing in Chelsea’s backline could be key, according to Vibudh’s hot topic on the champion’s best players.
Finally, We’re All Obsessed has been surveying how many points the community has won or lost through FPL’s chips. Based on a sample size of almost 50 managers, this revealed that Bench Boost is by some distance the most lucrative source of extra points.
To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page. We are also still keen to hear from you about how this can be further developed.
The Members Tables
Our Members Tables offer a wealth of information for those looking to assess the best players of 2016/17 as they prepare for next season. The most recent and most popular tables can be found via the Members home page, and we urge you to also create your own.
As an example of the range of information available my One Stat To Rule Them table offers an insight into the season’s sharpest shooters, while my Attacking Defenders table gives an indication of the players capable of earning points at both ends of the pitch.
If you’re a member and are yet to get to grips with the custom statistics tables, you can view this movie for an explanation of how they work. Also, remember to tag them so that people can find the tables with ease.
The Community Tournaments
Boris Bodega has won our 2016/17 Scout Picks Champion contest, where each week a community member aims to beat our selection by the biggest margin. His 33-point victory over the Scouts in Gameweek 15 proved impossible to beat, and he scoops a £100 Amazon voucher as well as a place in our Contributors and Moderators League next season.
The final Scout Picks champion of the season, Rossendale Rover, beat the Scouts 82-67.
Kings of Lyon has won Gnu’s Wigan to me H2H contest, beating second placed Royscalleranne, who missed out again in HVT’s Irish Contingent league. After leading this for a number of Gameweeks he was overtaken by Godot by just two points. Both finished in the top 1,000, and Potatoace came third.
In Red Lightning’s January to May league Mike Gallagher finished top with a Gameweek 38 score of 104, closely followed by Niklas Zanden. Long time leader RuthNZ dipped down to fifth with a score of 77 in the season finale.
Jon Vetle Vamraak retained his lead to be crowned champion of Red Lightning’s Top 10K Any Season league.
Mark scooped top spot at the end of the FFScout Moderators and Contributors league campaign, with a 13-point lead over second placed TorresMagic.
In my Millionaires Club, for those with a rank the wrong side of one million at the Gameweek 12 mark, long time leader Gilles Wanlin finished on top with a commanding 38 point lead over Tim Baildam.
If you are running a community tournament over the summer or heading into next season and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-ups, please email me a brief summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head to head competition, at jonty@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk
