And now, the end is near, and so we face the final curtain,
My friend, I’ll say it clear…
3 gameweeks left, 14 points in it and I have triple captain left. I’m coming for you.
Yep, this week Chris Galloway (16th) mysteriously had ‘something come up’ and he asked if I might be able to help with the GW review. I suspect what this means is that means he’s going to be spending these final few hours before GW36 lurking on Saints fan forums and trying to decide whether or not to start Valery.
I can’t blame him, this is the first time he’s been above me in the league for a long time and trust me, I will be taking action (I’m Pete Cronin, 23rd, by the way). Hold on, maybe Chris asked me to do the gameweek review to distract me from my own team?
Good try Chris, already done my trannies mate!
So yes. Chris got 110 points in GW35 to my 92. That meant an extra 18 points for Chris at a crucial time therefore giving him the aforementioned 14 point lead. This is potentially devastating, and while Chris may proclaim it is insignificant that really is not the case. If ever either of us won the FFUK League (don’t worry this is very unlikely these days) it would still be about one thing, beating each other. Actually it’d be about two things beating each other and taking the title. Hmm, maybe 3 things if we include the massive cash prize but you get the general idea – most of the time beating each other is all we have.
Many of you will by now be on the beach and you can’t be blamed. While I implore you to maintain effort right until the last, to put in everything, to do your best, some of you are and will always be the world’s West Brom, and I imagine that’s very defeating. Why bother if you’re always going to be West Brom?
But some FFUKers among you do that special thing. You are Jean Claude Van Damme in Universal Soldier. You are Arnie in Terminator 2. When you are down, face in the mud, with Dolph Lundgren basically laughing at you, you muster something from the deep, you rise up, wipe the shit from your face and start doing jumping spinning kicks IN YOUR FACE LUNDGREN!
Beautiful. One man of that calibre is our kid Jamie Stewart (6th) who made some crucial choices this week, and on his wildcard the week before too. Bringing Lucas Moura in had already earned JDS hattie points in GW34 and his Spurs midfield trio did ok in DGW35 too. Andre Gray has scored about 3 goals all season and for me it was a big ask for Watford points with their FA Cup date looming. Jamie brought Gray in for a hit for injured Deeney, a bold move that paid off.
Ederson + Laporte at the back was clearly the City strategy to go for, looking back, and this combo served Jamie well with 4 clean sheets and 7 bonus between them. Lacazette and Jota both chipped in but those 20 points from Dunk and Ryan look especially juicy considering they earned nothing last gameweek. Well done Jamie. 123 points total and currently MOTM for April going into the final gameweek.
Jamie Stewart, now 6th is here with a quick Official Dream Team review
“Thanks Pete, Man City managed four representatives in this week’s Dream Team despite having two tough games against Spurs and Man U. And Wolves have a commendable three players in there – although they did benefit from a couple of home games against, dare I say it, weakish opposition. However the unexpected inclusions are the Everton pair of Digne (14) and Sigurdsson (14), and Newcastle’s Perez (17), who defied the odds and made the dream team despite only having a single game. However, both Everton and Newcastle are frustratingly inconsistent and both have a mixed bag of fixtures left so I doubt many of us will be transferring Digne, Siggy or Perez in for the run in. Back to you Pete…”
If my counting is correct there were over 20 century makers this week so well done to all of you guys. It might be a bit excessive to list you all so I’ll just pick a couple.
If there’s a time to go big, if you’re at the TOTL Mr Jordan Davison (1st) then now is that time. Yes, an impressive 107 earned for Jordan with some noice points from Doherty (13), Jota (11) and a host of other decent scorers. Jordan was among the most of us that got next to nothing from our captaincy this week with Son, Jiminez, Sterling KDB all blanking. A couple of people did ok with Eriksen and Deulofeu, while a couple wiped there face with Aguero or Aubameyang but ultimately, on a Double Gameweek we want our captains to go big. Maybe next season.
Now here’s Damien O’Neill with the Conts update.
Conts Review – Stick or twist.
That was the call. With just 1 GW left for the 4 remaining conts to steer their teams into the money, transfers were always going to play a major role in the success or relative failure of a DGW. John Harper( (4th) was no doubt torn between wining the FFUK outright and maintaining his position as Top Cont. His two transfers of Yoshida (3) and Jiménez (4) for Vardy (9) and Schlupp (0) returned a net score of -6. Next in line,, Mark Leatham (8th) also made 2 transfers for a -4. Also nestled nicely in the top 10 of FFUk he couldn’t go too mad on the hits. Redmond (4) & Aguero (7) looked good on paper for Tielemans (5) & Vardy (9) however this resulted in a net -7 score. Damien O’Neill (28th)with no chance of a top 10 finish was feeling slightly more bullish and went for 3 transfers for a -8. His choice to bring in Lloris(6), Jiminez (4) & Laporte (15) for Vardy(9), Ryan(12) & Dunk (8) (still angry with Brighton’s pathetic showing in DGW34) for a net return of -4 would prove to be fatal. Finally, Robert Browne (50th) also went -8 with 3 transfers, bringing in Foster(5), Laccazette (7) & Cathcart (3) for Hennessy (0), Zaha (9) & Lejeune (0) for an overall -2 net score but importantly in the conts where hits do not count it gave him a + 6 return. The decider was to be determined in the final game of the round – The hotly anticipated Manchester Derby to decide who was to be evicted. Damien O’Neill even met up with FFUK royalty Chris Galloway (16th) for moral support in a local battle cruiser in Teddington. Alas it was Bernardo who popped up with a goal to send Chris chirping with delight. Meanwhile, O’Neill’s captain choice Sterling’s assist wasn’t enough, a goal instead would have seen him through but like so many this season was thwarted by DDG. With final scores of Mark Leatham on 105, Robert Browne on 95 , John Harper on 94 – it was Damien O’Neill on 91 who gets royally booted out. 1 GW from the money. Lesson for the GW – think twice before fondling hits unnecessarily.
Last gameweek for the cup semis this week, prizes for all finalists and current scores are as follows:
FFUK CUP SEMI FINALS
- Matt Frost (165 points) vs Vince Siracusa (225 points)
- Allan Tomkins (228 points) vs Neill Goodwin (201 points)
MILK PLATE SEMI FINALS
- Nick Johns (211 points) vs Loz Kelly (188 points)
- Lorna Edwards (177 points) vs Tom Newman (184 points)
Looks like Vinnie’s through there.
Right that’s it from me guys, I’m eyeing up my Brighton players wondering if they might go all out v Newcastle this weekend. Duffy hat-trick?
Remember to let us know about the EOS Do, five a side footie and then Beers in Shoreditch.
Lovely jubbly.
Pete
FFUK 