Week 24 - Saturday & Sunday

Apologies for the lack of posts over the weekend - I've been really busy again so just didn't get a chance but hopefully things will return to normal this week.

It's been 48 hours of drama in the Premiership & we also had the Carling Cup final to enjoy - a thrilling game that United edged 2-1 with another Rooney header winning another trophy for Ferguson. Vidic maybe should've been sent off after just a few minutes but he escaped & United controlled the majority of the game after half time.

But lets be honest, as players of this fantasy football game it's really only the league we care about, so let's start at Stamford Bridge where City shocked Chelsea 4-2. The Blues where in complete command after Lampard opened the scoring until a comedy of errors just before half time led to a Tevez equaliser. The 2nd half was a complete turnaround as Chelsea lost control of their discipline, ended with 9 men and zero points. Another goal for Tevez, 2 for Bellamy & a consolation penalty for Lampard.

It was a nightmare start for me on many levels. Firstly, a City win was bad for Spurs in the race for 4th place, secondly because I spent £22m on Drogba only for him to come up with a limp performance & 10 points, and thirdly because I had Hilario in goal.

I know the guy is the reserve keeper, but how can he THAT bad? He trains with world class coaches all week, has been called up to the Portuguese national squad, yet he seemed clueless on how to position himself & looked totally out of his depth. A bad bad pick by me, so bad that I was actually relieved that it was only -9.5 when the points came in.

So a terrible start, but I still had 9 players who would start right? Nope, Eagles on the bench...so I was almost glad Burnley lost because of Laws' decision. I was happy I went with Fox over Cork as the Chelsea loanee was on the bench & Fox returned a very respectable 12 points without a clean sheet. O'Hara gave Jensen a penalty save while Paterson, Piquionne & Yebda came up with goals.

The keeper I'd had in my team all week until the Hilario switch last Thursday was Jussi, so it really hurt to see Bolton run out 1-0 winners vs Wolves, 14 points for him & 20 for goalscorer Zat Knight. Lee picked me up 7 points, but Stuart Holden may be a man to look out for in future...he was on set pieces ahead of Lee while Matt Taylor seems to have lost his starting spot completely.

Birmingham beat Wigan 1 nil & all those who went with James McFadden & Birmingham defenders were rewarded...pretty much nothing for Wigan players.

The final game on Saturday was Arsenal's 3-1 win over Stoke, which was overshadowed by Ramsey's awful injury from a Ryan Shawcross tackle - I'm sure you'll all join my in wishing the young lad a speedy recovery. Bendtner was on the scoresheet again (grabbing me 11 points), as were Fabregas & Vermaelen, after Pugh had opened the scoring.

3 games on Sunday included a vital win for Spurs vs an increasingly tough to beat Everton side. Some of the football we played in the first half was scintillating & 2-0 was a fair scoreline after goals from Pavlyuchenko & Modric. Evertone came back in to it in the 2nd half (Yakubu) & could've grabbed a point but in the end Spurs probably deserved it. Bale was outstanding again, 14.5 points without a clean sheet...I'll certainly be keeping him @2.5 through his blank week.

Liverpool were next, scrapping past Blackburn 2-1 in a bad tempered game. Gerrard came through with a goal for me & of course Torres was back on the goal trail, with Keith Andrews replying from the spot. Blackburn were maybe slightly unlucky to walk away with nothing, shown by Reina's points total; 15.5, with 7 saves, including one sensational stop in injury time.

Final game was one I had 3 players in, Sunderland vs Fulham. It ended as a drab 0-0 draw, with good points for Hutton but very little from Richardson & Bent.

I finished Week 24 on 80 points, which given the start I had with Hilario & Drogba was probably about the best I could hope for. Had I stuck with Jaaskalainen that would've been 103 points, but that's in the past now & I have to be pleased I only dropped 80 places over the weekend to 1076th.  

**I will calculate the Blog Cup results later today.**

For Week 25 we have 2 teams with a double week (Burnley & Bolton) and apparently no game for Spurs, Man City, Villa, Chelsea, Blackburn & Fulham because of FA Cup fixtures...although I'm wondering whether there's a chance of them squeezing some additional games in next midweek at the last minute? Probably not, but it's worth keeping an eye on.

So aside from the 2 teams with a double, Arsenal at home to Burnley stands out massively - if the Gunners get going early you could see a 5-0 victory. Man United at Wolves, Everton home to Hull & Liverpool at Wigan look tempting too. West Ham will fancy themselves at home to Bolton, as might Sunderland (despite their poor form). I don't really fancy loading up on either of the double teams given their fixtures, so with that in mind...

My Week 25 Barndoor Team: James, Bale, Hutton, Fox, Eagles, Lee CY, Gerrard, Fabregas, Bendtner, Torres, Fletcher (and I have £2m left in the bank)

I'm looking to bring Arteta in for Eagles as he's not guaranteed to start, Holden for Lee & possibly Rooney instead of Gerrard (downgrading Fletcher to a cheap middie).. I'll take the blank for Bale, Hutton & Fox will stay, as might James (got him at under £2m)...Torres, Bendtner & Fabregas all stay too.

That's it! As I mentioned I'll get the Blog Cup Results up later today once I have time to do the calculations. Please let me know how you did in Week 24 & who you grabbed on the barndoor.

Cheers,
AM

p.s. Message to Jon (Comments of my 'Week 24 - My Team' post - have you found your way back in to the Blog League yet mate? I need you in there before I can do any Cup calculations. I can't invite you back in, you just need to find the Group ID and password for the league you were in - can you remember which Blog League you were in (1-6)? Thanks