Scout Notes

The Stock Check – Tuesday

Calamitous defending hands Swansea three points as Wigan slip to a defeat that seems likely to finally cost them their Premier League status. The five goals at the DW Stadium dwarf the efforts of City and West Brom at the Etihad, as the two managers shuffle their packs, much to the frustration of us Fantasy managers. Here’s the Stock Check from Tuesday’s pair of matches…

On the Up

Carlos Tevez
The Argentine had started the last seven prior to Saturday’s trip to Swansea, scoring three goals in that run. Dropped to the bench as Roberto Mancini went with Sergio Aguero in a 4-5-1, Tevez was recalled against West Brom tonight and fetched a smart fourteenth assist of the season for Edin Dzeko’s well taken first-half goal. While that was some reward for his frustrated owners over the double Gameweek, Tevez’s starting role against Reading and Norwich perhaps remains uncertain, although his prospects may well be improved should he be benched for the FA Cup final this weekend.

Angel Rangel
Selected on the Scout Picks bench, the Spaniard added to his clean sheet against City with a beautifully taken goal at the DW Stadium tonight – he is currently the top scoring defender in the Gameweek pre-bonus. Rangel has largely been a mainstay in the Swansea back four and, while his return of just one assist is hugely disappointing, he will remain a consideration for our squads next term should Michael Laudrup’s side be handed a kind opening schedule.

Pablo Hernandez
A brace of assists tonight took the Spanish playmaker to eight for the season and helped fill the void left by Michu’s absence with a hamstring injury. Like Rangel, Hernandez’s returns have perhaps dipped below expectations but he will be another worth monitoring: having settled in his first season in the Premier League, there is surely good things to come next term under Laudrup.

Going Down

Roberto Mancini
The City boss won few fans amongst the Fantasy fraternity after fielding a much-changed side that included eight tweaks with a completely different back four to the one that took on Swansea. With the FA Cup final beckoning at the weekend, we perhaps shouldn’t be too surprised to see changes although, having made significant investment in City over the double Gameweek, many will find it hard to swallow. City’s remaining two fixtures at least promise returns, presuming that Mancini recalls his big guns following the Wembley date.

Steve Clarke
Identified as a minor villain in our recent “This Much We Know” article, Clarke lived up to his billing to rival Mancini but juggling his assets for the trip to the Etihad. While we expected changes up front with Shane Long dropping to the bench, the absence of Ben Foster and Gareth McAuley were not anticipated.

Michel Vorm
Stretchered off on 85 minutes, the Dutch stopper looked in a bad way following a clash of heads with team-mate, Ben Davies. The latest reports stated that he was “up and about” post-match: it remains to be seen if Vorm sustained a degree of concussion which would make him a potential doubt for the weekend trip to Old Trafford.

Mark Mark created the beast. He's now looking to tame it.

2,257 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Berbalove
    • 14 Years
    10 years, 10 months ago

    The Guardian's shortlist of possible candidates for the United job:

    "Other contenders for the job include David Moyes, Jürgen Klopp, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville, Mark Hughes, Steve Bruce, Roy Keane, Paul Ince, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole (as a pair), William Prunier, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Malcolm Glazer, Eamonn Holmes, James Nesbitt and Phil Brown".

    I'm not so sure about some of them...

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  2. Your Mum's Athletic
    • 12 Years
    10 years, 10 months ago

    I just did Rooney > RVP for a hit KNEEJERK!

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  3. Count of Monte Hristo
    • 10 Years
    10 years, 10 months ago

    If Moyes took over at least we would still get the "one or two knocks and a couple of niggling injuries" chat in the press conferences.

    Same Xl every week aswell 😎

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  4. Messimerized- Join My FPL L…
    • 11 Years
    10 years, 10 months ago

    Gareth Bale has applied to Trademark his heart-shaped hands Goal Celebration.
    WTF? 😯 😆

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    1. Gaz Downright
      • Has Moderation Rights
      • 13 Years
      10 years, 10 months ago

      It's a perfectly normal thing to do when you are planning to make merchandise with a certain logo on it. David Beckham's tradmarked his logos. So has Bjørn Borg. And more traditional brands like Nike, Adidas, etc.

      Whether he succeeds in his application, like with all other trademark applications, time will show.

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  5. dr. Phil
    • 11 Years
    10 years, 10 months ago

    86 (-4), which seems thorougly average based on a few score checks I've seen here, with only Bale(c) and Defoe to play tonight. But Its still in the top 13k for this GW. Seems strange. We must all be grouped in a spread of only a few points then.

    I need a goal from Bale and 2 playing points from both to reach 100. Best chance I'll get anyway.

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  6. Perthite
    • 13 Years
    10 years, 10 months ago

    % chance of Hazard playing?

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  7. Count of Monte Hristo
    • 10 Years
    10 years, 10 months ago

    Frankie and Phil. Never go full ret@rd.

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    1. Corkyote FFS CWC Champion 2…
      • 11 Years
      10 years, 10 months ago

      😆

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    2. Portuguese&Proud
      • 11 Years
      10 years, 10 months ago

      😆 nice one

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