Fantasy Premier League

Matchday Open Thread

Sat Jan 19 02:55PM by Jeremy

Sophie Ross poses with her new shirt outside the ground before the FA Cup 3rd round replay football match between Newcastle United and Stoke City at St James' Park in Newcastle, northern England January 16, 2008.

The King is dead.  Long live the King. 

So King Kev is back on Tyneside.  The days of wine and roses are here again.  It's great that his appointment has brought such good feelings to the club and its supporters.  We'll see today if that emotion can be translated into points.  Beating Luton Town was important... no wait, that was important for Liverpool.  Beating Stoke was important but a result against Bolton would really help.

Bolton have brought in Matty Taylor and we expect him to be in an advanced midfield role.  But withouth Diouf and Anelka, Bolton could be toothless.  Especially on the road.

Certainly I'm hoping that's the case.  Like I'm sure a lot of you are, I'm betting on Given and hoping he at least gives me some positive points.  I'm not convinced that the cheap keeper du jour is a winning strategy this season, but until the new transfers enter the system and the ones that are there show their true nature - Robert, are you for real this time around? -what seem to me to be the better bets are the more expensive players.

So I'm sticking with EdS against Fulham who won't have their new defender in and are missing Konchesky - insert your own joke about how much they'll miss him here - and Tevez, whom I expect to hold all season, against a struggling Reading side.  Dropping from Cesc to MPet (home to WHU then @DER next weekend) gives me the money to move from AJ, who killed me last week with a late injury, to the Elk.  He's pricey at 15, but the ceiling is high.  He'll probably drift through the game without making an impact, but if he goes off and puts a goal or two past BRM I want to be on the bandwagon.

The same can be said for SWP whom I brought into the midfield for the other of last week's missing men, Harry Kewell.  I'm hoping SWP continues to play at the top of CHE's diamond and can dovetail well with the Elk, his old Citeh teamate.  

CRon and KRich complete the midfield.  The rest of the team is cobbled together from scraps - Sagna, Mok, Nelsen, and Given.  That's 4 players for 11 units with Sagna almost half the total.  Rovers play Boro who may be on a down after playing up against Liverpool last weekend but matchup, smatchup they're cheap!  And the Mok is the ultimage DNH (do no harm) defender at the moment.

Whom are you betting on this weekend?  Whether they live up to your wildest expectations or play down to your worst fears, consider this your matchday open thread to talk about it. 

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    Lets make it clear to start with that i'm not a huge fan of Newcastle and there supporters and this confirms it. When Keegan left they thought that he was the worst manager in the world and that it was his fault they were so poor. But as soon as he comes back then he's all of a sudden God, make your mind up Toon fans. By the way if you think your the best fans in the country then stop leaving after 70mins when your team starts to lose. I think your probably some of the worst fans in the country.

    Posted by: matthew.grottick@btinternet.com on Mon Jan 28 05:25PM | Report abuse