Community Tournament Pundits Playoff heads for period 2

The transfer window for the Pundits Playoff Community Tournament is now complete and the teams are set for the second period of the competition. Before they are announced, we will kick off this article with an interview with the winner of the Best Manager title for Period 1 : Pirlo’s Pen of team Unbelievable Jeff FC.

Despite his team finishing third in the H2H league, the stats tell you the reason why Pirlo’s Pen was the undisputed winner of this coveted award. 20 bonus points won out of a possible 24 from the H2H battles, and a cumulative H2H battle score of 766 over the first four matchweeks proves his selection process for these battles was second to none. Currently sitting in first of the Classic league, Unbelievable Jeff FC’s highest cumulative team score is 110 points ahead of their nearest rival. I caught up with their leader to discuss his team’s achievements so far:

Boris Bodega: So how does it feel to be the Best Pundits Playoff Manager for period 1?

Pirlo’s Pen: If I am totally honest it feels slightly bitter sweet. Obviously I am delighted to be the best manager of the period, but what I really want is to be the top ranked team. We suffered two very narrow defeats which were very difficult to take. However, all the right signs are there for us to be in the fight till the end of the competition, which is great cause for optimism.

BB: You masterminded an astonishing feat to win 20 out of 24 H2H bonus points so far, which pushed your team, Unbelievable Jeff FC, up into third place just above “15” Musketeers, despite them winning one more game than you. Care to share your H2H selection process?

PP: The key is quite simple, we track all of our teams in a massive spreadsheet and I predict how I think they will do. It’s really that simple. When I’m not 100% sure and its a 50/50 call I will consult my team, a lot of them are very competent fantasy managers themselves with brilliant insight.

BB: Out of all the other teams in the Pundits Playoff, which one would you most like to beat, and why?

PP: Even though it shouldn’t be difficult, I’d quite like to beat ‘A Whole Lawro B*llocks’, they bigged themselves up massively before the tournament and have performed as I had expected… average.

BB: Let’s discuss your own FPL team, you wildcarded in GW3 and currently have an OR just outside the 60K mark. What do you feel you’ve gotten right and wrong so far this season? 

PP: Overall, I am pretty happy with how my FPL season is going, at 62k with all my chips left intact I should be in good stead for a top 10k finish. The early wildcard did me wonders, I was able to jump on key assets early on which has helped build my team value up to 105m. However, like most this season, I haven’t been hitting the captain successfully enough. Too much faith in Raheem Sterling has been particularly costly for me. I can’t see myself captaining him for at least the next 7 gameweeks, I am planning to show more faith towards the in-form Mane & Vardy. So my move with 2 free transfers will be to distribute that 12m to upgrade elsewhere in my team, the 3 players I’m looking to bring in are Robertson, Martial & Pulisic.

BB: Finally, this is your 4th season managing a team in a FFS community tournament. What is it about these tournaments you like so much, and do they help or hinder the success of your own FPL team?

PP: There is a lot I love about these tournaments, I love the analytical side of team selection, tracking live scores on match days and most importantly the bonds you create with your teammates! I have been with 4 of my teammates for 4 years now, managing them in every tournament so far, they are a massive help. However, the best part of managing a team is that when you do achieve success it can’t be attributed to an individual, it’s a real team effort and I take great satisfaction in that. In regards to how it affects my personal FPL team, I think it ultimately helps it, running my transfer decisions and ideas against top managers is never going to be a bad thing. I even managed to tempt 3 of my teammates to buy Janmaat for his 7 pointer!

Many thanks to Pirlo’s Pen for his insights, shots fired at Lawro and co ahead of their upcoming clash in MW5…I’ll have my popcorn ready to watch how that turns out.

Teams for Period 2

Without further ado, here are all the teams with their newly drafted recruits in place. You can also see these, along with the results and tables, on the Pundits Playoff googlesheet here.

“15” Musketeers
KIRAFPL (Manager), shotgunnufc, adastidar, rascalthebear, Ole Trafford, BrendanBone, Tigerjames, Ste-Rex, BillyBigSpuds, Roticanai, DaHodgeman, Badgevilla, ConteClub, Collie01 and Ask Yourself

A Whole Lawro B*llocks
Lawro (Manager), Greyhead, Keyser_Soze, Recoba, Delhidynamo, Sonny the Hitman, Milvus, Gillesdegoult, Werkself, Darth_Krid, Chaballer, TopMarx, TheFantasyFreak, Wongy fc and cylus11

Back to Square Owen
The_Socca_Philosopha (Manager), nivz 32, Kabayan, Grand Thibauto, danny2310, Schnuggi, Ckeulen, gro1994, geordienufc1, Rohirrims, Eddie, Veezeeboy, Firetog, mckanata and philman71

Blame it on Rio
Geevious (Manager), Lord., ODDJOBLEFF, The Overthinker, Riddermorten, Slasher, Steve, Spatburgunder, STEP ROVERS, CAPTAIN KAKAROTO, proudmoore, Waldo666, FP Elephant, Mir and Lateriser12

Brazil Nuts
Speedyboyz (Manager), Bend It Like Bennett, Green Dragon, Zygaenid, ItsAKnockaert, Karan14, Kryten, FCLACKLESS, Nikolasw81, BC1, DD, What’s The Mata, Doosra, AK and karan316

BSC Small Boys (in the park) FC
Tets Mcgee (Manager), Wally banter, Jubilanus, Jake Donahue, sk42ers, Az, Ameenkw, Jigger and Pony, Park The Bus, Suarezista, Rasping Drive, Krul Intentions, Colonel shoe, huatfpl (Mark-O-Pirlo) and VanDijksToWatchOutFor

Holly’s Hamsters
Toblerone52 (Manager), Boris Bodega, FPL JJ, A Manager Has No Name, Andy Wedlake, Holmes, Vobinho In Wengerland, Mr. Hindsight, Costa The Chosen One, Neenyg, Rjcv177, Swanmoretime, TorresLove, Who Ate All Depays? and BENETTI777

Nirvana Scott Talent
Jarvish (Manager), Pras United, Potatoace, Gloria Kanchelskis, Skull And Gnomes 9, AA33, CptCrunch, Zan Keroski, Gnu, Klopptomist, Professor Bear, Slouch87, Babyb, Yankee Toffee and Desertbug

Slaven’s Ball-itch
The Fantastic Mr Fox (Manager), Past Forward, Never Captain Harry Kane.!, samjadam, SidL, schmed, Hishamkmr, Doctor Strange, Torreira Thierry, jaravind, Pundit of Punts, Sanchit, Jacks Contradiction, kg7 and Bury94

The Keane Fifteen
Kadhai Paneer FC (Manager), Rihanovic, Tsparkes10, TotalJustice, vibhormbic91, Dog God It, AriseSirGiggsy, Urchin, rozzer, shri1211, sharath, Cheltnamshire LaLaLa, Trust John, Dream Killers 2.0 and sreethe1

Unbelievable Jeff FC
Pirlo’s Pen (Manager), COK3Y5MURF, annie, The Boot, Morph, Haggis, kelvinpang78, Hasselbaink Forever, Bragazeti, Wolverine, PKWrona, PHIL DAGGER, goktugerce, JK – Cønt and Dusan Citizen

WhenTheOWENgetsTough
Narcos (Manager), FPL_SMR, MJM, Rude Reviewer, Do the Van Gaal-lem Shake, Belalugozi78, Teddy, B0OGEYMAN, Lord Tachanka, GaGa_over_Gazzaniga, VinDaBlue, Devo-McDuff, LosBlancos, Rakshit and Look It’s A Ghost

Aaaaaaand so without further ado, here are the Matchweek 5 fixtures:

• WhenTheOWENgetsTough vs Holly’s Hamsters
• A Whole Lawro B*llocks vs Unbelievable Jeff FC
• Back to Square Owen vs Slaven’s Ball-itch
• BSC Small Boys (in the park) FC vs Blame it on Rio
• Nirvana Scott Talent vs Brazil Nuts
• The Keane Fifteen vs “15” Musketeers

Hopefully you all know the scoring system by now, if you need a reminder go to this article.

MW5 DEADLINE FOR TEAM NOMINATIONS IS 10:30 AM SATURDAY 23RD NOVEMBER.

Scoring on match days will be shown here.

Who will top the freshly formed tables of Period 2? Will A Whole Lawro B*llocks cause an upset and beat Unbelievable Jeff FC? Will Nirvana Scott Talent finally get that elusive win by beating Brazil Nuts? Good luck all….except of course WhenTheOWENgetsTough, the Hamster’s tallywhackers are engorged and ready to score some wonder goals!