Fantasy Premier League

Keano Buying In Bulk?

Tue Jul 22 10:53PM

Before getting to the topic I mentioned in the title, here are a few housecleaning notes...

For those joining the "Beat the Bloggers" groups, my team name is (originally enough) Fantasy Blogger FC (right now I'm only in Group 2, even I didn't make it into the first group).  Jeremy's team name is Taking Riberies and he is in all four of the groups that he listed in the previous post that includes group numbers and passwords.  If we run out of spaces, let us know and I'll create some under my account.  Still not sure why we can't see the names of the other people in the private group but we can't for now.

Apparently there was also a debate going on about the term +10.  This is derived from the adidas ad campaign leading up to World Cup 2006.  What we latched onto was the notion that a player, in this case one new to the Premier League (and hence cheap at the start of the season or sometime during the January transfer window) would be good enough to make him a staple of your fantasy team.  Last year Torres was +10 and Bale was on his way to +10 status (and may be again if he's healthy).  This year, guys like Modric and Bosingwa are candidates for this designation as you might very well, injuries permitting, put them in your line-up at the beginning of the year for a low price and leave them there most or all of the season.

Back to Keano...
What an odd thing to do, sign up to purchase four spare parts from a team that under-achieved vs. expectations (and compared to money spent).  Now granted, Sunderland would do well to build a greater depth of players who are deemed "Premiership Quality" but given the way Spurs throw money around, I have to think that between transfer fees and wages, this is a pretty expensive way to do so. 

Assuming the deal goes through as reported here's the quick review of each...

Steed Malbranque - I've always liked him and I think he'll do better at Sunderland than he did at Spurs because his role will be better defined and he'll play more regularly.

Teemu Tainio - I have to say, I've never really understood why he continues to be a Premier League player.  I can't think of one match where he has really stood out nor can I think of anything he does particularly well.  If he was a throw in, purely for the purposes of gaining depth and he only plays occasionally, then OK but in anything more than a limited role, I just don't get it.

Younes Kaboul - For someone who had a miserable first season in the Prem, he's certainly getting a lot of attention (Pompey and Sunderland are the most vocal).  Could well be that he's one of those players who takes a year to get adjusted to a new level of competition.  Certainly worth a risk given how highly he was though of coming into the season and how few quality centre backs are available. Certainly not a sure thing though.

Pascal Chimbonda - Very good player, questionable attitude.  Either he and Keano will be a great match or this will go up in smoke before the end of August.  Probably a 50% chance of each.  If it works, then Sunderland will have filled a big hole.  If not, they'll have purchased an asset that devalues quickly.

Overall, I'd think this group would be worth around £10M to £12M in total based on what they accomplished last season.  I could see going as high as £15M given Sunderland's desperation to improve the squad and the seeming inability of Keano to be even remotely creative when it comes to finding talent (I guess Sunderland supporters should be happy that he's branching out beyond ex-ManYoo, Celtic, or Ireland players).  At £20M (the reported price), I'd think he could do better, especially given that good players will probably command a premium to play in one of the league's less glamorous outposts.

As far as fantasy impact, Chimbonda and Malbranque (assuming this goes through) are worth a look based on match-ups.  Kaboul is a "wait-and-see" decision and Tainio's status as a player to ignore when you are filling out your team sheet won't change.

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