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The Complete Guide to our FPL Gameweek 26 tips and advice

The Gameweek 26 deadline approaches after the most tumultuous Gameweek in recent memory. For those who Triple Captained Manchester City’s Sergio Agüero it brought 57 points and unbridled joy, for others, despair – Leroy Sané’s solitary point was way below expectations. You thought triple captaining Andy Carroll was a disaster.

The bad news is that, for those who suffered, it could get worse.

This week’s Meet the Manager guest, former FPL winner Simon March, a recent graduate in behavioural economics, cautioned that managers who lost out in Gameweek 25 could fall victim to the “What the heck? Effect” – where we are more likely to take risks following a loss.

Simon’s advice is to try to be objective about risk and reward values. If you are wondering how to do that then fear not, help is at hand. The writers, contributors, and posters here at Fantasy Football Scout have been busily sorting the wheat from the chaff.

The first step is to clear your head, and what better place to start than last week’s cathartic episode of the Scoutcast. In an open and revealing discussion, J0E, Az and David talked about how a bad gameweek can affect your mental health. This lead to a hot topic on the subject in which FFS members including SuperMane Returns and Pep Pig shared stories about their personal struggles with addiction.

Having put things in perspective, let’s take a look at this week’s opportunities.

Neale (aka Skonto Rigga) has perused the upcoming fixtures to determine which teams are best placed to take advantage. According to Hutch_James, a number of teams are predicted to do well in Gameweek 26 as he revealed in his Wisdom of the Crowd article. Although for G-Whizz Liverpool are the standout option in the latest DS stats, fixtures and clean sheet odds.

David’s Captain Sensible article makes for fascinating reading as ever. After back-to-back blanks, are there serious contenders to take the armband away from Mohamed Salah?

A lot of the discussion this week has centered around what to do with our City players. The FPL General, a victim of Pep’s unpredictable whims, collected his thoughts ahead of Gameweek 26. While Geoff started a conversation about Sané replacements.

If you noticed, during this tempestuous week, the strange sight of a man being pursued by a bear, it was probably old Greyhead. Our community writer’s regular examination of The Great and The Good took on Shakespearean proportions. Mark and Niemi aside, the rest suffered “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”, for Ville it’s now nine red arrows in a row.

The irony is that this season, it is The Great and The Good who should be pursuing Greyhead. He’s doing superbly well and is currently ranked 549 overall. According to FPL Transfer Spy, the high-flying scribe has sold the Belgian Wizard Eden Hazard for the free-scoring South Korean Son Heung-min ahead of the transfer deadline.

The picture ahead of Blank Gameweek 31 became a little clearer with Brighton’s progress in the FA cup. For those planning ahead, Liverpool appear an attractive proposition as they don’t have any Blank Gameweeks this season. It wasn’t so long ago that many managers were considering a defensive double-up, however the Reds have struggled for clean sheets recently. Neale’s looked into what is behind their recent defensive woes.

One reason is perhaps the injuries they’ve had, but could Trent Alexander-Arnold be ready to return to the fold?

Find out in the team news rounded-up in full by Neale, together with a handy hot topic from Rotation’s Alter Ego.

Finally, for players of the Sky Sports game, Luke (aka disable) brought us a breakdown on player ownership for the top 1,000 managers.

To view all our discussions please visit our Hot Topics page, and if you’ve got some analysis, scout reports or features brewing, be sure to visit our community section to submit your article.

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.

COMMUNITY TOURNAMENTS

The finals of the two FFS cup competitions take place this gameweek.

In the semi-finals of the FFS Members Cup Jambo17 was the outstanding performer – a whopping 114 points was easily enough to see off his rival AKÉ MEYER DANN U. Jambo17 had the optimal City combination of Agüero, Sterling, and Laporte, and he used his Triple Captain chip on Sterling. He moves into the top 100 overall and must start as favourite in the final.

Does his opponent stand a chance?

Jay # scraped through his semi-final against Eedee by 62 points to 56 and is ranked 59,782 overall, so on the surface you would say probably not. However, he looks well positioned to have a good gameweek with Arsenal’s Aubameyang and Kolasinac already in place along with Jiménez up front. He’s also helped by the fact his opponent has already taken a hit. So an upset isn’t out of the question.

In the semi-finals of the FFS Cup Get It Inter Ya overcame Justmatt, and Man-Chest-Heir F.C. saw off the challenge of Tibbles.

Get It Inter Ya did very well to score 75 points despite captaining Sané, double digit returns from De Gea and Chelsea pair David Luiz and Eden Hazard bailed him out. He remains in the top 1,000 overall. Heading into the final, he owns Kolasinac although not his teammate Aubameyang. Instead he has a cheap front line, but with two free transfers available we could see funds shifted forward to buy the Gabonese international.

Man-Chest-Heir F.C had Laporte to thank for his semi-final victory as he was another to captain Sané. The lowest ranked of the finalists at 124,414 overall, he has one free transfer and £2.4m in the bank to bolster his squad. With a cheap front line, including Josh King away to Liverpool, and an injured David Brooks, he has an important decision to make on how to invest those funds.

In the final of the FFS Manager Melee Community Tournament American Dycho have triumphed over The Godfather: Pardew with a 7-2 victory. An official match report will follow shortly.

In TorresMagic’s Last Man Standing the safety score in Gameweek 25 was 49, this saw 70 managers eliminated. 616 managers are through to Gameweek 26, when the threshold for elimination increases to 12%. The final will take place in Gameweek 37.

It’s all change at the top of the featured mini-leagues after the divisive double gameweek.

There’s a new leader in our main FFS League with Omer Weisberg taking top spot as Miroslav Pujic drops to eighth after only managing 52 points. Omer ignored the clamour to captain a City player and plumped instead for Chelsea’s Eden Hazard. The diminutive Belgian, along with Laporte and Higuain, helped Omer to a gameweek score of 100. He is now sixth overall in only his second FPL season.

Tore Bjørheim has lost his 15 point lead at the head of the FFS Members League as Adam Levy surged past him. Adam triple captained Agüero for a gameweek score of 126 and moves up to 17th overall. This is his sixth season, his best finish of 10,847 came last year.

David’s reign atop the FFS Mods & Cons is at an end. Overthrown by his boss, Mark stormed past David with a stupendous 102 points to leave his employee floundering in his wake. Am I making this sound more dramatic than it actually is? Possibly. Mark had a decent gameweek with Sterling, Hazard, and Laporte contributing to his total. I’m sure David will bounce back.

Mark moves up to second in the FFS Live Hall of Fame behind Sean Tobin. Sean managed an impressive 93 points in Gameweek 25 and now finds himself in the top 10 overall. Yet to make a transfer this week, Sean could be doing the Auba to Agüero hokey-cokey. Sean featured recently in one of J0E’s Meet the Manager videos.

James Wells is the new leader in RedLightning’s Top 10k Any Season mini-league, as long-time leader Luke Aiello drops to third. James is a new entry to this mini-league and is perhaps lucky to be top after triple captaining Sané. He dropped from eighth to 39th overall. This is his 13th FPL season, he has two previous top 10,000 finishes, the highest one being 2,330 back in 2006/07.

JOZ V moves into first place in RedLightning’s January to May League as previous leader Lesego Maforah drops out of the top ten. JOZ V triple captained Agüero on his way to a mighty 125 points. This is his sixth FPL season, his best finish being 2,799 in 2014/15.

Finally, some managers may have noticed a new mini-league appear – RedLightning has reactivated and renamed his Doubles Blanks & Chips mini-league from last season to Last Ten GWs. The code for others who may like to join is 1637-1351886. The league will begin scoring in Gameweek 29.

The reason for the name change is that having just had a pivotal double gameweek, the January to May League is a perhaps a better way of seeing which chip strategies are proving to be the most effective in dealing with this season’s Double and Blank gameweeks.

If you are running a community tournament and would like the latest scores included in future Community Round-Ups, please email us a summary of the current leaders and a link to your league, spreadsheet or head-to-head competition at geoff@fantasyfootballscout.co.uk


TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

2,132 Comments Post a Comment
  1. _figu
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Lloris
    Robbo Doherty AWB TAA*
    Salah Hazard Pogba Son
    Rashford Jimenez

    4.5 Alonso Kante 4.4

    1 FT, 1.2 ITB

    Did Sane to Son, think I'll save the another. Thoughts?
    Alonso to Pereira is bookmarked for next GW.

    1. Homer21
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Save

  2. Kragbaek
    • 11 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Bench boost or wait for a DGW? (No WC left)

    Etheridge / Fab
    Robbo / Shaw / Kola / Bednarek / AWB
    Salah / Pogba / Felipe / Rich / Neves
    Aubameyang / Firmino / Rash

    If Aubameyang doesn’t start I would rather not use the BB. So, that’s the issue I guess

    1. _figu
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      No idea tbh. Solid 15. Think I'd still save and rather use TC in a single GW if that's the alternative. Using BB in double for mostly nailed players always gives x amount of base points. To match that you'd need some CS/scores.

    2. Homer21
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Wait, doubts about Auba starting

    3. Kragbaek
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Cheers both, appreciate it

      1. _figu
        • Fantasy Football Scout Member
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Oh, missed the no WC part from the equation. Honestly, that might sway me to use it here as you can't do WC34 BB35 optimally.

        Was that in your thinking? Sorry, just starting to wake up here.

        1. Kragbaek
          • 11 Years
          5 years, 1 month ago

          Was thinking something like that. Thanks for your insights. Really considering hitting it.

          I’m having trouble seeing how a DGW will fit perfectly as I will most likely also have blanks. Do you agree?

  3. GianniBanani
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Firmino to Auba for a hit. Yay or nay?

    1. Kragbaek
      • 11 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Nope

    2. fr3d
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      nay

    3. _figu
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      No way Jose. Auba isn't even a sure starter and Bobby has a great fixture.

    4. Homer21
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Nay

    5. GianniBanani
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Cheers guys

  4. Shark Team
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Play 2
    Awb Jonny Taa Stones

    1. Balls of Steel
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Johnny taa

    2. Homer21
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      In that order

  5. PEP_TALK
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Morning everyone. So just under 2 hrs til deadline and I'm having those last minute doubts, so do I make any changes before the GW kicks off?

    I'm thinking Aguero to Lacazette with FT and play Bednarek over Richarlison this morning - what do we think?

    Current Team for GW is
    Edersen,
    Doherty, Robertson, Kolasinac,
    Son, Salah, Pogba, Richarlison,
    Jimenez, Aguero, Rashford

    Bench: Hamer, Bednarek, Deulofeu, AWB

  6. Tmel
    • 13 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Bench one of each:

    1) Ederson (CHE)
    2) Guaita (WHU)

    a) Robertson (BOU)
    b) TAA (BOU)
    c) Doherty (NEW)
    d) Jonny (NEW)
    e) AWB (WHU)

    1. Siggy Azalea
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      1E

    2. Homer21
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      1d

  7. Siggy Azalea
    • 10 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Morning all!

    Should I play Townsend (WHU, H) over Lingard (FUL, a) or Richarlison (Watford, a)?

    I've got Auba so Townsend would be first Sub in case he doesn't play

    Thanks!!!

    1. Balls of Steel
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Play jesse

  8. Patch
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Morale of the story, drink red bull rather than monster...

    For every 20 ounce Monster you drink, it takes 6.3 gallons of water to flush it out of your kidneys. The average person drinks 6.3 gallons of water in 23 days.

    1. fr3d
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      I prefer green monster

      1. Patch
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Play Luiz or Peltier?

        1. fr3d
          • 6 Years
          5 years, 1 month ago

          Luiz for attacking threat

          1. Patch
            • 6 Years
            5 years, 1 month ago

            Thx

    2. Eat my goal!
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Stay away from both! That sh*t will kill you proper quick!

      1. Patch
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Used to drink 2 or 3 cans one after other...but infrequently

        Also drank like 4 cups of tea a day

        Gone completely cold turkey as new year's resolution

        Feels really fresh and good so far

    3. QUEN
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      I used to drink sugar free red bull daily for almost a decade with no side effects. Quit now though due to diet

      1. Patch
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        I tend to avoid those trying to claim zero free etc as not sure what other #hit they put in to balance things...

    4. Ask Yourself
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      I’m addicted to those smoothies you know them big bottles of innocent. Feel like they’re good for you but Jesus is it hard to get out of bed

      1. Patch
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Yeh they are amazing

        Just so expensive

        Even tho I am not slumming it, I am exceptionally tight when it comes to cash

        1. Ask Yourself
          • 7 Years
          5 years, 1 month ago

          There’s usually one on offer for £2 I become obsessed with whatever that is for 2 weeks then move on to the next deal

  9. No Professionals
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    On aubameyang not travelling with squad. If that was true, surely someone would have some evidence, press must be at either end of the journey. When other players haven't travelled, sky have stated it as fact.

    1. The Polymath
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 8 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      It means naff all. He could have travelled separately so as not to risk germs affecting other players in the confined area of the inside of a coach.

      1. No Professionals
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        If he's unwell at the time of the coach journey, he's unlikely to play

  10. Mikey44
    • 14 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Ryan
    Bennett Doherty Digne
    Salah Son Sterling Pogba Richarlison
    Rashford Jimenez

    Subs: Button Alonso Diop Quaner

    1 FT and 2.5 itb

    Alonso + Richarlison -> TAA + Mane (-4), sounds good or no?

    1. _figu
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      I'd save. Great XI and then you avoind Mane+TAA vs United + the 4 point hit. Can always do 3 next GW if needed and Pereira is a great alternative for Trent.

  11. LewanGOALski
    • 12 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Don’t own neither Salah nor Auba

    Who should I (C)?

    A) Son (LEI)
    B) Sterling (CHE)
    C) Pogba (ful)
    D) Rashford (ful)

    thx

    1. Siggy Azalea
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      d

    2. Ask Yourself
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      C

    3. The Darkest Knight
      • 13 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Pogba

    4. Rust Cohle
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      D

    5. Homer21
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Pogs

  12. Abusive_Sgt_Daelrhos
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    1) Salah or Son cap?
    2) Play WB,Bennett or Rich?

    1. Ask Yourself
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Sal Rich

    2. Homer21
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Salah, WB

  13. Ask Yourself
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Omg Phil Foden is 18 and already has a baby nice

    1. Peter Ouch
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      I am 30 and I am a baby

    2. Goat
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      9 months after winning the premiership

      1. George James
        • 9 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        What’s the premiership?

  14. walka
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    im on a wildcard do I still bring aub in?

    1. Peter Ouch
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Yes

    2. Ask Yourself
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Laca

      1. walka
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        really how come?

    3. OptimusBlack
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      No keep Kun if you have him
      And show me your WC, Dude

  15. Kingtekkerz
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Would you do Son to Hazard for free or hold?

    1. Ask Yourself
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Other way round ? Then yes

    2. La Roja
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Eh?

    3. Fitzy.
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 12 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Would do it the other way around.

    4. MAVER!CK
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      if you mean hazard to son, then yes. otherwise, a big NO!

    5. Kingtekkerz
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Sorry, meant the other way around! Thanks for your replies!

    6. rrcmc
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 14 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Given GW27 I’d hold

  16. rrcmc
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 14 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Feel like this is a silly question but so mad at Sane;
    Play Sane or AWB?
    Will Sane play or did he just need resting for Chelsea as Pep new Mendy was still out?
    Sane or AWB?

  17. Boss Hogg
    • 14 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Captain:

    a. Salah
    b. Lacazette

    ???

    1. Ask Yourself
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      A

    2. Peter Ouch
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Captain laca?

      There are more interesting ways to suicide

    3. Goat
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      B easy

    4. No Professionals
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      You should definitely go laca

    5. kalmoffit
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      a

  18. vityovics
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Bench one
    A) AWB
    B) Bennett
    C) Digne

  19. MartialMatas
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    With Aubameyang being a slight doubt, how does Kun and Richarlison to Lacazette and Son look for -4?

    Guaita
    Robertson VVD Bennett
    Salah Sterling Pogba Richarlison
    Kun Rashford Jimenez

    Fabianski Bednarek AWB Puncheon

    1ft £1.1m itb

    1. Homer21
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      I'd stick

  20. Tshelby
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    RP

    Haven't been online this week so don't really know what to do..

    Sane, Hazard and Ings -> Son, Auba and 6.0 mid (-4)

    Y/N?

    Thanks

    1. Ask Yourself
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Looks nice, maybe Redmond ?

  21. JJeyy
    • 8 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Position swap Sane to Laca for -4?

  22. It’s gonna Ben Mee
    • 10 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    If you have all your chips left: when is you plan to use TC?

    1. Baked baines
      • 9 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Tempted to keep for GW 38

      1. No Professionals
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Depending on rankings, particularly in mini leagues, this can be a nice move.

    2. Holmes
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      some DGW

      1. It’s gonna Ben Mee
        • 10 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        There will probably only be two more DGWs. Not interested in using FH or BB then?

    3. Peter Ouch
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      36 Salah

      1. It’s gonna Ben Mee
        • 10 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Yeah that’s a tempting one

  23. Football Heaven
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Gtg?
    Guaita
    TAA Robertson Doherty
    Sane son Salah (c) Pogba
    Rashford Auba jimenez

    Fab AWB Jonny hojbjerg

    Problem with those this is I want a wolves cs but that would mean 6 points on bench, likewise with palace (basically if Wolves or palace get a cs then I’m guaranteed points on bench and starting xi)

    1. Homer21
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      AWB instead of TAA, spread the risk

  24. OptimusBlack
    • 10 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Best GK to get CS and pts till end of season?

    1. The Knights Template
      • 10 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Ddg

  25. Baked baines
    • 9 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Start AWB or Bednerak!?

    1. Lukakuna
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      Bed

    2. Homer21
      • 7 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      AWB

  26. canucounttotenbilly
    • 5 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    1. Aguero to Auba

    2. Aguero to Auba, Rich to Son, Laporte to Bennett

    3. Leave Aguero in, Rich to Son, Laporte to Bennett

    4. Rich to Anderson.

    1. Lingard’s Shin Guards
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      3

  27. Fpl Richie
    • Fantasy Football Scout Member
    • 8 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Which of these should be last in line to play?
    A. AWB
    B. TAA
    C. Richarlison
    D. Digne

    Have a defender/gk from Liverpool and palace already by the way.

  28. Lukakuna
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Have Kamara, 6.9 in the bank and one free transfer, what would you do?
    A) Get Auba now, although he might not play and will drop in price
    B) Get Laca or Firmino, but sell them again next week
    C) Save, and play Wan-Bissaka this week

  29. Paddymcgrath00
    • 6 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Guita
    Taa trippier kola Shaw
    Haz sterling Salah (c)
    Rash Jiménez llorente
    Fab Jonny brooks camarasa
    1ft 2.7 in bank changes/who to start

    1. House Frey Wedding Planner
      • 5 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      GTG

      Maybe start Jonny ahead of Llorente but otherwise all is good and carry the FT over

      1. Paddymcgrath00
        • 6 Years
        5 years, 1 month ago

        Thanks man

  30. Dele
    • 7 Years
    5 years, 1 month ago

    Anything to do here 1FT 1.1ITB?

    Etheridge
    AWB, VVD, Doherty
    Mane, Salah, Pogba, Son
    Aguero, Rashford, Jimenez

    Button, Digne, Bennett, Puncheon

    1. _figu
      • Fantasy Football Scout Member
      • 6 Years
      5 years, 1 month ago

      No need, gl