Over the last decade, Darren Wiles has quietly amassed one of the best ever Fantasy Premier League careers.
Since he started in 2009/10, he has finished in the top thousand places three times. In fact, only once has he finished a campaign poorly, in 2015/16, when Leicester City won the Premier League title.
With such a track record, he deservedly sits in seventh spot in Fantasy Football Scout’s Live Hall of Fame (at the point of the last update).
It’s an achievement he is modest about, rarely speaking in public about his FPL management, so we were fortunate that he made an exception for us.
This was his first ever Fantasy Premier League video and podcast appearance and his Twitter following is under 200. That may change after today, however.
During his chat with Joe, as part of the Meet the Manager series, Darren reveals the secrets to his success.
His search for value emerges as a key reason for a strong finish, with money spread out across a playing XI to ensure the whole team contributes to a good score. This means keeping the number of heavy hitters in attack to a minimum and seeking out high-impact, premium defenders to bring in points at both ends of the pitch.
Fixtures is another major driving force in his campaigns. This is most apparent when Darren talks about his current Gameweek 26 squad and its focus on players from teams with great upcoming fixture runs. This was achieved without using his second Wildcard and instead through careful studying of the fixtures over time.
Patience is often a virtue for Darren but his one bad season showed him that stubbornness can be a curse in FPL management. His reluctance to tap into Leicester’s stars early on cost him dearly that year.
But as with many Meet the Manager interviewees before, it is the lessons learned from poor campaigns that can make them even better managers.
The chat with Darren is available to view on Youtube in the embedded video below.
Previous Meet the Manager video interviews can be found here.
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The series is also available as a podcast and on Soundcloud. These are available in the second and third players below.
4 years, 2 months agoChances of soton game going ahead?
I can survive without the pool game but both would be a killer