Welcome to the GW26 review. One word to describe it. BRUTAL. But it was. Unless you owned the HarriKane it was one to forget. We will look at what is happening in the FFUK league shortly but first lets discover exactly what went down over the weekend.
Lets get the less interesting stuff out of the way first. Watford and West Ham were involved in our least favourite scoreline. 1-1. Same score between Hull and Burnley. Nothing to see here. Clean sheets for Palace (amazingly), Everton and Spurs. That’s it. All those juicy fixtures and just 3 clean sheets. We should be getting used to this by now. Chelsea’s march continues with Pedro (12) and Fabregas (13) starring, but on a weekend where City, Arsenal and Man Utd didn’t play it was up to Spurs and Liverpool to take advantage.
Sunday’s game saw Spurs host Stoke and they certainly did their bit, demolishing the Potters 4-0. Could have been more if they had not taken their foot off the gas before half time. As mentioned there was one man to own, super Harry Kane (20). By a distance the best scoring player of the gameweek with a hat-trick, assist and max bonus. Well done all those who owned the Spurs main man and even further congratulations to those that gave him the armband. What a weekend it must have been for you guys! It wasn’t just Harry, the usual suppliers Alli (8) and Eriksen (11) were also in good form and rewarded their owners. Many FFUKers are currently doubling and even trebling up on Spurs attacking assets. I only owned Alli. Whilst I was thankful for the points it was brutal to watch.
Then to the final game of the weekend on Monday Night. Gary and Jamie talked us through much of the weekend action before sitting down to watch the reigning champions remember exactly what they were, as opposed to the de-motivated lot in recent months. Jamie Vardy (13) is once again having a party. It must be the removal from the shackles of his tyrant boss, Ranieri. He must be a really nasty guy to work for, look how much better they played without his restraint. Modern football. We have seen this before with Chelsea. Players have all the power. Managers come and go. Cant see this changing any time soon. Brutal. Leicester battered Liverpool 3-1. Klopp looks tactically inept. Yes he is still the media darling but that display last night was naive at best. Mind you with that goalkeeper/defence combo they will always concede whoever they play but he has to take responsibility for this too. I’m sure Gary enjoyed the game more than Jamie did.
Ok that is enough about the Premier League, we need to focus on the FFUK top 50. It’s all happening right now. Lets discover who the movers and the shakers are right now…
We have a new leader. Congratulations Sean Colohan (1st) who with 72 points scored is now the man to beat. After his fantastic performance last week we could be forgiven for thinking he might take his finger off the pulse. No fear. Even with Mane (4) captain and a Barnes (-1) red card his march continues. Can anything stop Coolers right now? Kane (20), Eriksen (11), Coleman (12) and McAuley (10) was a devastating response to that question. Siggy (5) and Costa (6) also chipped in. No transfer made either so a nice 2 FTS for you this week which could be well needed. Well played Coolers!
The man he replaces, Nick Johns (2nd) didn’t do too bad either, also accruing 72 points but by virtue of the fact that he took a -4 hit he loses top spot. Captain Lukaku (12) worked out ok, but fortunately he could rely on Kane (20), Costa (6), Alli (8) & Eriksen (11) to add to his score. What was the hit for? Well Nick took out Sanchez, Zlatan and Friend bringing in Mane, Costa and Funes Mori. Worked out ok this week. But I am guessing Nick might want to bring in 2 of those back in. You wouldn’t want to be without George Friend for too long 😉
There were a few who managed to beat the scores of the top 2. But not too many. But the top score this time goes to Stu Allen (36th) with a whopping 92 points* Incredible performance Mr Allen. In fact there were a couple of others who managed this massive score – Tom Aitchison (51st) and Kieran Webb (78th) but as they are not in the top 50 it’s only fair we will concentrate on the upper echelons for the purposes of this review. So how did Stu do it? Surprisingly with Captain Lukaku (12) but I dont need to tell you that he also had Kane (20), Pedro (12), Alli (8), McAuley (10) Funes Mori (7) even a cheeky clean sheet from Hennessey (9). What’s more Stu also didnt need to make a transfer so he also has 2 FT this week. I think he might need to change his team name from “Meh” now. What a position to be in. Bravo!
*This is the top score in the top 50 although Mark Turnbull (77th) has since informed me that he managed 93 points but I struggle to look down that far ;-).
Ok now it gets painful. We have to look at the worst scorers in the top 50. It wasnt pretty. Not a Harry Kane in sight for any of us. I say us as I was in fact the 3rd worse scorer in the top 50. Brutal. To make myself feel slightly better lets investigate the 2 who were worse than yours truly.
Sorry Allan Tomkins (27th) but you have that unwanted honour this time. You and me are both sinking fast. You slightly faster than me but this is a race neither of wants to be in. Allan is a former FFUK league winner and this sort of thing must really rankle. Where did it all go wrong? Well captaining Mane (4) was central. Only Coleman (12), Alli (8) and Costa (6) provided any resistance. I share your pain right now. We will rise again (hopefully)!
The only other manager to perform worse than myself was Andy Letham (49th) with 43 points. Clinging on to the top 50 by his fingernails and left with only 9 players. This doesn’t look too good right now, although with a couple of City assets on his bench he could well respond in the best possible way next time round. Go on Andy son!
Congratulations also to Louise Wilcockson (74th) who wins the Manager of the Month award for February. In fact Louise smashed it winning by 22 points over Andrew Fogaty (64th) which certainly shows that the chasing pack are closing in. We will be updating the tab on the wesbite soon to confirm the MOTM standings. This certainly shows the competitiveness of our league and the top 50 is getting more and more clustered, I should know I am firmly in the middle of it now.
It’s all going on right now in the FFUK league. But there is also plenty of Cup action for the lucky ones. Pete is currently compiling the latest Cupdate as we are now at the quarter final stages of both the FFUK and the Challenge Cup. Congratulations to all those of you who have made it through. We have a very special video draw for the quarters coming to you on Friday evening. Whilst you are watching this space, this seems to be a good time to remind you about a couple of vital nuggets of FFUK information…
- Have you heard about the END OF SEASON DO / AWARDS – check out the post with further details and let us know ASAP if you plan to attend, we need to know numbers!
- We are doing another MEET THE FFUKERs Video this Friday evening. As well as myself and Peter, we will be chatting to the current league leader Sean Colohan (1st) as well as Mr Side Games himself, Tim McEwan (102nd). We currently have 1 more spot up for grabs if you want to join us. Perhaps Sean can give Tim some tips, actually he can give us all some tips! Keep an eye on the website/facebook/whatsapp for more info.
That’s it. I’m looking forward to a slightly less brutal gameweek next time round but that will all depend a certain Huddersfield Town result!
FFUK 