Off the Mark Fantasy Football2

UTCIAD have every right to feel aggrieved after some surprise exclusions cost valuable them points.Both Antonio Valencia and Stephen Ireland failed to feature in their matches. So preventing a good round becoming an excellent one.

The Chelsea duo of Florent Malouda and Didier Drgoba were the teams highest scorers with 76 and 71 points respectively. Drogba was named as team captain and as such his contribution was doubled to a very significant 140points.

A last minute change of heart saw the manager included both Brad Friedel and Darren Bent in the starting line-up. This proved to be a master stroke (or a terrific piece of luck) as Fridel recovered from conceding six at Newcastle to play an absolute blinder in Aston Villa’s 1-0 victory over Everton, and Bent was the only man to score past Manchester City’s Joe Hart – so fa this season.

Had Ameobi and Hart been selected, as was expected prior to the weekends fixtures, it would have resulted in a meagre 18points return. As things stand the Bent, Friedel combination scored 114points.

Andrey Arshavin’s winner against Blackburn won UTCIAD 60points. Patrice Evra’s topped this with 67points, achieved as Manchester United dominated West Ham in a 3-0 victory.

Going forward UTCIAD stand on 1124points and should be hopeful of overtaking their nearer rivals – just 80points more from this week would have moved them up to 79th. It was always going to be an up hill struggle to achieve a respectable finish this season. Consistent weeks such as this will ensure steady progress but it will take scores approaching 700points in order to sustain a more determined challenge.

Goalkeeper: Friedel 54pt. Defence: Evra 67pt, Cahill 39pt, Bale 54pt, A. Cole 56pt. Midfield: Malouda 76pt, Arshavin 60pt, Ireland 0pt, Valencia 0pt. Strikers: Drogba* 71pt, D. Bent 60pt. Week2 Score: 608

Overall Season Top Three: Carroll 261pt, Drogba 253pt, Bale 252pt. Week’s Highest Score: Luke Young 98pt.

Goalkeeper: Friedel -26pt. Defence: Evra 42pt, Distin 37pt, Faye 24pt, A. Cole 61pt. Midfield: Malouda 56pt, Arshavin 75pt, Ireland 47pt, Valencia 49pt. Strikers: Drogba 56pt, D. Bent 39pt.

Less Educated Fantasy Football

Having finally concluded their entry into the league, UTCIAD can begin their assault on the championship in earnest; albeit 800points behind the leaders.

Last week proved solid rather than spectacular, though this was in-spite of, rather than due to the manager. Having sat out a high scoring weekend Joe Hart and Gareth Bale both look certain to come into the starting line-up.

One good weekend does not guarantee another however and a set of tricky fixtures have provided a range of selection headaches for the week ahead.

Sylvain Distin, Darren Bent and Abdoulaye Faye  are in line to be dropped with Faye likely to be sold.

Faye did not have a particularly poor game against Tottenham Hotspurs but with Stoke City’s next match away to Chelsea and the potential to free up £4.9million for a replacement it seems unlikely he will feature going forward. Where this leaves UTCIAD is unclear.

Speculation regarding Faye’s replacement centres on Bolton’s Gary Cahill, though Manchester City’s Micah Richards is also reported to be a target.

The result of two Sunday fixtures look set to define the coming weekend as Sunderland take on Hart’s Manchester City and Stephen Ireland’s Aston Villa tackle Distin’s Everton.

Though there is little history of clean sheets in the fixture, Hart’s excellent early season form – when compared with the slow start of Sunderland – would point towards a favourable outcome for Manchester City. This is in sharp contrast to the form of UTCIAD’s other goalkeeper, Brad Friedel, who conceded six last week – resulting in the team being deducted points.

The inclusion of Hart would mean the dropping of Bent in favour of Shola Ameobi. Newcastle put six past a lack lustre Aston Villa last Saturday and though it was Andy Carroll, not Ameobi, who was the star of the show, the result suggests another good Newcastle performance in Wolverhampton.

As things stand one Villa player must feature, with Marc Albrighton currently the only possible replacement for Ireland in midfield. The past three meetings between Everton and Aston Villa resulted in score draws so it would appear unwise to expect a high number of defensive points to be scored. As a result Distin is likely to be benched with Ireland holding onto his place in the starting line-up.

Squad list (predicted) Goalkeeper: J. Hart Defence: P. Evra, G. Bale, G. Cahill, A. Cole. Midfield: F. Malouda, A. Arshavin, S. Ireland, A. Valencia Strikers: D. Drogba, S. Ameobi

Off the Mark Fantasy Football

It has been a difficult start to the fantasy football season for UTCIAD. Late submission of the team and administrative problems conspired to result in no points being scored in Week 1. After this weekend’s results however the team now has 516points.

Newcastle’s Andy Carroll was the highest overall point scorer after bagging a hat-trick against Aston Villa. Carroll’s 157points was in stark contrast to that of Brad Friedel’s -26points. Hardly surprising after the Villa keeper conceded six at the hands of the newly promoted Toon.

Another top points winner this weekend was Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale after scoring two vastly contrasting, but equally points worthy, goals at Stoke City. Unfortunately despite having 128point Bale on their book’s, UTCIAD’s manager saw fit to leave Bale on the bench in favour of Stoke’s Abdoulaye Faye.

This decision, made on the basis of Stoke’s traditional form at home and a shaky midweek European performance from Spurs, was one of two costly mistakes made by the manager; the other being the inclusion Friedel.

Joe Hart, winner of 52points in Manchester City’s three nil win over Liverpool, was benched, along with Bale, in favour of the Villa stopper. These decisions combined to cost UTCIAD 182points.

Good results for Arsenal and Chelsea, though, saved the weekend for UTCIAD. Andrey Arshavin’s converted penalty earned him the place of the team’s top scorer for the week, whilst the team’s Chelsea trio all had scores over 50points.

Goalkeeper: Friedel -26pt. Defence: Evra 42pt, Distin 37pt, Faye 24pt, A. Cole 61pt. Midfield: Malouda 56pt, Arshavin 75pt, Ireland 47pt, Valencia 49pt. Strikers: Drogba 56pt, D. Bent 39pt.

Overall Season Top Three: Carroll 209pt, Bale 198pt, Drogba 182pt.

Prolific

Blogging for the sake of blogging feels like talking to yourself as you walk down the street. You would love for someone to engage you but you know no one will (because you are acting like a crazy person) however at the same time you do not want a conversation (otherwise you would find someone to talk to).

So what is the point of blogging? Clearly this depends on the type of blog but for what must be the vast majority of blogs the motive is what I would describe as ‘passive aggressive attention seeking’.

I would not, for example, wish for many people to read this post – I think you could do far better things with the 10minutes. I am never the less still writing it. Clearly I am doing this for my own benefit;  there is no demographic that I am targeting. At the same time I would love for someone to take the ideas that I have put-to-post and run with them.

So by making my half-arsed musings public I am exercising my brain, writing for the sake of writing, without any real subject, but doing it in public so it does not feel so futile.

There is an old fellow who regularly comes into the place that I work, corners members of staff (and occasionally other customers) and talks to them, quite passionately, about whatever happens to be on his mind for as long as he can. He is both articulate and knowledgeable. This gentleman is a bit of a pain however he is, in essence, the perfect blogger; an aggressive attention seeker.

In this way I can be quite content at never being a prolific blogger; I have no desire to share every every thought that pops into my head. Though on occasion I am glad for the opportunity to exercise my imagination and have a little ramble, all from the safety of home behind a curtain of anonymity.

Lies, Damn Lies and CCTV

David Beckham and Steven Gerrard. Two players lauded for their honesty and commitment on the field; for both club and country. These are not the players who come to mind when thinking about the conniving, dishonest side of football – usually associated with the ‘Jonny Foreigner’ likes of Cristiano Ronaldo or Didier Drogba. Those who saw Gerrard’s penalty win against Athletico Madrid, in last season’s Champions League, along with LA Galaxy fans, may wish to differ but the general perception remains one of integrity. Yet like so many who take the apparent high road both have shown themselves to ‘believe the myth’ and thus proved they are as fallible as any cheating diver.

Beckham has claimed that he wanted to “shake one of the guy’s hands” after calling an LA Galaxy fan out of the crowd. When the supporter, who was saying things that “wasn’t very nice”, accepted Beckham’s invitation and jumped from the stand, Beckham began to scale an advertising hoarding. Now exactly what Beckham would have done had he reached the fan we will never know since security stepped in well before the pair clashed, however it is fairly safe to assume, given the body language, neither man had hand shakes on his mind. If that was Beckham’s true intention why did he attempt the jump the advertising hoarding?

I have no problem with Beckham confronting, and taking issue, with someone who has been shouting obsenities at him – it is the bare faced lying to the general public afterwards which galls me. Just as the fan should have the stomach to stand by his statements, so Beckham should stand by his actions. At the very least he should not insult the intelligence of fans by fabricating such a ridiculous story about his intentions when calling the man down from the stand.

Now we get to the murkier issue of Steven Gerrard. He has been cleared of affray at Liverpool Crown Court today, even though there is clear CCTV footage of the Liverpool captain confronting then punching another man in a Southport bar. In court Gerrard stated that he was acting in self defence as he punched Marcus McGee three times without receiving a single blow himself.  Gerrard’s co-defendant, who initially began the assault, elbowing Mr. McGee in the head, pleaded guilty to affray and is awaiting sentencing. In total six of Gerrard’s companions, including two Accrington Stanley players, are awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to either affray or threatening behavior.

The disparity in the treatment between the superstar and his friends is striking. There is clear video evidence showing Steven Gerrard punching Marcus McGee yet he has been completely exonerated of any wrong doing! This is a legal issue more than anything else yet the point still stand that a superstar footballer can make as unbelievable a statement as he likes and yet he will be taken seriously.

Just as it is highly unlikely Beckham wanted to shake the hand of an abusive fan, it is equally as unlikely that after the first or second punch – or whilst being held back by friends – Gerrard believed he was defending himself. Yet both told the public these stories, and both, to some extent, were taken seriously.

That is not to say that these are generally violent or uncharitable men. On the contrary they are two of the most admirable footballers when it comes to helping others from their very privileged positions. Yet just because they have been charitable in other areas it should not grant them a ‘get out of jail free card’ when they slip up. There is a  lack of humility, of honesty, in these players.  Even with cameras documenting their actions both men are arrogant enough they feel they can re-write history with the most bizarre interpretations of the footage.

Fans should not expect players to be saints. They should however expect them to be able to admit a mistake, or at the very least not lie about it. To use the Football Association’s buzz word of last season, respect is what is lacking in the mindset of some professional sportsmen – to officials, referees and, in the worst cases to the fans who pay their wages.