Fantasy Football 2011/12 - The npower Championship. Update!

With the football international break upon us, I thought I would take this opportunity to update you all on my progress in this seasons Texaco sponsored Championship Fantasy Football league.

Two months ago I selected eleven players from the second tier of English football that I felt would excel for their respective clubs this season, as I pitted my wits against friends and football fans around the country, in a 'foolish' attempt to convince myself that my knowledge of Championship football was equal to or maybe even superior to that of other football fans.

I must point out that I have stayed within the rules, which fundamentally consist of four main criteria - keeping within my set 'fictitious' financial budget, selecting a maximum of no more than three players from any one club, choosing one of two formations for my team, namely 5-3-2 or 4-4-2 and finally observing the rules regarding the transfer of players in/out my side, as set out at the start of the competition.

Now, who would have thought with nearly a quarter of the season gone, newly promoted Southampton would be top of the league, with Middlesbrough second and Derby, along with another newly promoted club Brighton in the top six.

More surprising is possibly the shocking form of managerless Nottingham Forest and South London's Millwall, and the rather average start to the season made by the likes of relegated Birmingham and last seasons play-off finalists Reading.
Money-bags Leicester started poorly but are making good progress, as are Leeds and Cardiff.

My own club Crystal Palace have surprised me with a solid start to the season after fighting off relegation for the previous two seasons, and they are also into the last 16 of the League Cup. Peterborough too have kicked on well after promotion from League One last season...........but it's still very early days!

So how has this reflected on the Championship fantasy football team I selected two months ago?

At the beginning of the 2011/12 campaign my team was as follows:

Goalkeeper: Kelvin Davies (Southampton).

Defenders: Ian Evatt (Blackpool), Jose Fonte (Southampton), Anthony Gerrard (Cardiff), Sean St Ledger (Leicester).

Midfield: Kevin Nolan (West Ham and Captain), George Boyd (Peterborough), Robert Snodgrass (Leeds), Lee Bowyer (Ipswich).

Strikers: Rickie Lambert (Southampton, pictured right), Rob Earnshaw (Cardiff).

Since then I have made five transfers: First to go was Sean St.Ledger, a player I really thought was going to score me a lot of points after his £1.2m move from Preston, but he has failed to deliver. Leicester started the season poorly and St.Ledger has rarely featured, so I think that was a good move. I replaced him with Palace's versatile Norwegian full-back/midfielder Jonathan Parr and he has one cleen sheet and two assists in five appearances. Steady if not spectacular.

I recently made another defensive transfer when I off-loaded former Palace favourite Jose Fonte from a Souhampton side that was scoring goals for fun but conceding too many for my liking. Derby's Jason Shackell has replaced Fonte, but although he was a cheaper option he has not really improved my defence significantly with one cleen sheet in three appearances, but if Derby continue their good form he may prove a valuable acquisition. Without doubt the purchase of a Middlesborough defender would have been a better option, as three of their defenders are the top defensive points scorers in the league!

In midfield I believed the experience of Lee Bowyer would have been a bright light in the Ipswich side, but both Ipswich and Bowyer started slowly, and although Ipswich's season has picked up, Bowyer has failed to impress in my opinion. I replaced Bowyer with another Derby player, the experienced Ben Davies and he has had a greater impact, with four assists in his six games since I brought him in.

Kevin Nolan was my most expensive purchase at the beginning of the season, but he has had a stop-start season so far, terrific one week and anonymous the next. Maybe he is taking time to settle in at West Ham. However I have been more impressed with the displays of his team-mate Matt Taylor, a summer signing from Bolton, so I swapped Taylor for Nolan.

In midfield I have also replaced Peterborough's highly rated George Boyd with Saints Adam Lallana who has so far had an outstanding season for his club. The England U'21 international is currently the top point scoring midfielder in the Championship. Lallana has four goals from midfield and a host of assists in a free-scoring Southampton side, who have bagged 25 goals in their opening 10 games!
Meanwhile Boyd has made a disappointing start to the season.

Up front Rickie Lambert is rattling in the goals with eight in just ten appearances, but Rob Earnshaw concerns me. He has only netted three times this season, and has recently lost his place in the Cardiff team. I am definitely looking for a new striker, perhaps Miller, Jermaine Beckford, Glenn Murray, Ross McCormack or Chris Wood would be more effective. I have the international break to decide who to partner Lambert with.

As it stands today my current team is as follows:

Goalkeeper: Kelvin Davies (Southampton).

Defenders: Ian Evatt (Blackpool), Jason Shackell (Derby), Anthony Gerrard (Cardiff), Jonathan Parr (Palace, pictured right).

Midfield: Matt Taylor (West Ham), Ben Davies (Derby), Robert Snodgrass (Leeds), Adam Lallana (Southampton).

Strikers: Rickie Lambert (Southampton and Captain), Rob Earnshaw (Cardiff).

Rickie Lambert, Blackpool defender Ian Evatt, and Leeds midfielder Robert Snodgrass have been my stand-out players so far this season. As far as my own season goes I am in the main competition along with tens of thousands of other players, and also in three private leagues.
My current points total is 125, after ten league games.

I am 2,386th overall in the whole competition, 3rd of 28 players in the 'Holmesdale Radio' private league, 26th of 752 in the 'Official Crystal Palace FC' private league and 3rd of 99 in the 'Where Eagles Dare' private league.

Until next time............good luck!

Transfer Deadline Day - No Rumours just Done Deals!

Updated regularly all-day today..............The August transfer window is now officially closed. Here are a list of the 'done deals.'





Paris St Germain have completed the signing of Uruguay captain Diego Lugano from Fenerbahce on a three-year contract.

Juventus have signed Dutch player Eljero Elia from Hamburg SV on a four-year deal, for a fee of €9 million.

Plymouth Argyle have snapped up 28 year-old defender Simon King on a month's loan from Gillingham.

Siena have signed Argentine striker Pablo Andres Gonzalez and Serbian defender Milan Milanovic from Palermo, both on loan.

Hannover have snapped up Austria international Daniel Royer from SV Ried for an undisclosed fee.

West Ham have signed Guy Demel from Hamburg. The full-back has signed a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

Birmingham have signed former Wrexham defender Jack Deaman on a one-year professional contract.

Peterborough Utd sign striker Emile Sinclair from Macclesfield on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

Udinese have signed Uruguay right-back Maximiliano Pereyra on a permanent transfer from River Plate, and goalkeeper Daniele Padelli on a season-long deal from Sampdoria.

AS Roma have completed the signing of centre-back Simon Kjaer on a season-long loan deal from Wolfsburg.

Lille, the French champions have signed Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole on loan for the rest of the season.

Chievo Verona have signed USA midfielder Michael Bradley from Borussia Monchengladbach.

Caglairi have signed 24 year-old Portuguese midfielder Rui Sampaio from Beira Mar.

Newcastle Utd have signed Davide Santon from Internazionale on a 5 year contract, for an undisclosed fee. Last season the the 20 year-old full-back was sent out on loan to Cesena.

Vitesse Arnham have signed Chelsea's 20 year-old midfielder Ulises Dávila for the rest of the season. Dávila only joined The Blues 4 days ago from Mexican side Guadalajara, on a five-year deal.

St Etienne have confirmed the signing of winger Max Gradel from Leeds United on a four-year contract, for a fee of around £2.5 million.

Crystal Palace have extended their loan deal with QPR defender Peter Ramage until January.

Wolfsburg have confirmed that Alexander Hleb has joined the Bundesliga side on loan from Barcelona.

Tottenham Hotspur have completed the signing of long-term target Scott Parker from West Ham United for a fee of £5 million.

QPR has joined goalkeeper Tommaso Trani on a two-year deal following his release by AC Milan

Évian TG, the French Ligue 1 club have confirmed the signing of Denmark midfielder Christian Poulsen from Liverpool.

Inter Milan have completed the transfer of Diego Forlan from Atletico Madrid for an undisclosed fee. Inter have also agreed a loan deal to take Mauro Zarate from Lazio.

Aston Villa boss Alex McLeish has confirmed that he has lined up a deal for Shamrock Rovers defender Enda Stevens. The 21-year-old is set to join Villa on a three-year deal in January.

Arsenal have signed Brazil defender Andre Santos on a long-term contract from Fenerbahce. The 28-year-old left-back moves to the Emirates for an undisclosed fee, thought to be in the region of £6 million.

Swindon have signed West Ham's Saudi Arabian-born striker Ahmed Abdullah, on a six-month loan deal.

Genoa have signed Andrea Caracciolo from Brescia on loan with the view to a permanent deal for €1.6 million.

PSV Eindhoven have signed Slovenian international striker Tim Matavz from Groningen on a 5 years deal.

Scunthorpe have had an undisclosed six-figure bid accepted by Bury for midfielder Damien Mozika.

Watford have completed the signing of Joe Garner from Nottingham Forest on a two-year deal, for an undisclosed fee.

Hamburg have announced the signing of Croatian international midfielder Ivo Ilicevic from Kaiserslautern on a four-year deal, for a fee in the region €4 million.

Parma have signed Lazio striker Sergio Floccari on loan with a view to a permanent move.

Liverpool have completed the signing of United States Under-18 striker Villyan Bijev from California Odyssey after the youngster impressed on trial.

Fulham have wrapped up the signing of Juventus' Czech Republic defender Zdenek Grygera on an initial one-year contract.

West Ham have confirmed that Tottenham winger David Bentley has joined the club on a season-long loan.

Millwall have captured the permanent signing of Dany N'Guessan from Leicester.

Rotherham have confirmed that Leyton Orient striker Alex Revell has joined The Millers on a two-year deal, for an undisclosed fee.

Port Vale have completed the loan signing of Rangers youngster Andrew Little on loan until January.

AS Roma have signed Bosnian playmaker Miralem Pjanic from Olympique Lyon for €11 million.

Arsenal have agreed terms with Werder Bremen to sign German international defender Per Mertesacker on a four-year deal for a reporteted £9 million.

Scunthorpe have made their second signing of the day, bringing in Everton defender Shane Duffy on loan for a month.

Blackpool have signed 19-year-old West Brom defender James Hurst on a season-long loan deal.

Brentford have captured Mike Grella on a permanent deal, and he will see out the season at Griffin Park after becoming a free agent.

Rennes have re-signed Morocco international Youssouf Hadji from fellow Ligue 1 outfit Nancy for €1.7million.

Cardiff City have confirmed the signing of defender Ben Turner from Coventry City for a fee of £750,000.

Charlton have confirmed that 19-year-old striker Michael Smith has joined them from Darlington on a three-year contract, for an undisclosed fee.

West Ham confirm the signing of Arsenal midfielder Henri Lansbury on an initial season-long loan.

Oldham have signed Norwich City midfielder Tom Adeyemi on loan until 3rd January.

Bury have signed Northampton Town striker Shaun Harrad for an undisclosed fee.

AS Roma have confirmed the loan signing of Argentina midfielder Fernando Gago from Real Madrid.

Aldershot Town have signed 19-year-old left-back Jordan Brown on a one-month loan from West Ham.

Wigan have confirmed the signing of Shaun Maloney from Celtic, for a fee of £1 million.

Ajax have signed Russia striker Dmitri Bulykin from Belgian side Anderlecht on a free transfer.

Atalanta, the Serie A newcomers have bolstered their midfield for the coming campaign with a double loan capture, signing Luca Cigarini and Matteo Brighi.

Preston have signed winger Keammar Daley from Jamaican club Tivoli Gardens on a two-year deal.

AC Milan have signed midfielder Antonio Nocerino from Palermo on a five-year deal.

Wigan have signed Chelsea's 21-year-old Dutch left-back Patrick van Aanholt on a season-long loan deal.

Manchester City have confirmed they have signed free-agent Owen Hargreaves on a one-year contract.

Blackpool have signed Sheffield United forward Daniel Bogdanovic on a one-year deal, for an undisclosed fee.

Rochdale have signed Manchester City midfielder Ahmed Benali on a season-long loan deal.

Celtic have signed Moroccan left-back Badr El Kaddouri on a six-month loan from Dynamo Kiev.

Bolton have completed the signing of Liverpool's French striker David Ngog, for a fee of £4 million.

Bradford have signed former Hull goalkeeper Matt Duke on a two-year deal.

MK Dons have signed Sheffield Wednesday defender Mark Beevers in a loan deal until 31st December.

Bolton have confirmed that they have signed Gael Kakuta from Chelsea on loan until 1st January.

Burnley have signed West Ham striker Junior Stanislas for an undisclosed fee. They have also agreed an undisclosed fee with the Hammers for frontman Zavon Hines, who moved to the Clarets 13 days ago.

Bury have made another signing today, with Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Giles Coke joining on a two-month loan deal.

Hearts have signed midfielder Callum Tapping from Tottenham for a nominal fee. The 18-year-old, has signed a two-year contract with an option of a further 12 months.

Rochdale have signed Peterborough frontman David Ball on a three-month loan deal.

Trabzonspor of Turkey have confirmed the signing of Marek Cech from West Brom for an undisclosed fee.

Leicester City have completed the signing of Everton striker Jermaine Beckford, for a fee which could rise to £4 million.

West Ham have signed Ivory Coast utility man Guy Demel from Hamburg.

Millwall have signed Bournemouth winger Liam Feeney for an undisclosed fee.

Oxford United have completed the signing of Middlesbrough forward Jonathan Franks on loan until 1st January.

Stoke City have announced the capture of midfielder Wilson Palacios from Tottenham, on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £8 million.

Lincoln have signed sign 22-year-old defender Mitchell Nelson on loan from Bournemouth until October.

Oldham have signed former Newcastle striker Shefki Kuqi until the end of the season.

Southend United have signed Swindon midfielder Michael Timlin on loan until January.

QPR complete the signing of Shaun Wright-Phillips from Manchester City.

Blackburn sign defender Scott Dann from Birmingham on a four-year deal, for a fee approaching £8 million.

Liverpool announce that Craig Bellamy has left Manchester City and re-signed for The Reds.

Arsenal sign Yossi Benayoun on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

MK Dons have signed Norwich City midfielder Anthony McNamee on a free transfer.

Birmingham complete the signing of midfielder Wayne Elliott from Burnley for a fee of £500,,000.

Southampton have taken Celtic centre-half Jos Hooiveld on loan.

Chelsea have signed Raul Meireles on a four-year deal, for a fee believed to be in the region of £12 million.

Arsenal have signed Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta, for a fee in the region of £10 million.

Sunderland have signed Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner on a season-long loan.

Blackburn sign Sheffield United striker Jordan Slew. The 18-year-old frontman will cost Rovers an initial £1m.

Millwall have signed Hull City striker Jay Simpson on loan until January.

Birmingham have signed West Brom defender Pablo Ibanez for a fee of £1.5 million.

Aston Villa have captured Spurs full-back Alan Hutton, on a permanent deal until 2015, for a fee in the region £4 million. His North London team-mate Jermaine Jenas has also joined Villa on a season-long loan.

Atletico Madrid have agreed to take Brazil playmaker Diego on loan from Wolfsburg.

Stoke have confirmed the signing of Birmingham striker Cameron Jerome on a four-year deal, for a fee of £4 million.

Everton have confirmed the signing of striker Denis Stracqualursi on a season-long loan from Argentinian side Tigre.

Fulham have completed the free signing of former Porto striker Orlando Sa on a three-year deal.

Hull City have signed Leicester striker Martyn Waghorn on loan until January.

Swansea have re-signed their former left-back Federico Bessone from Leeds on a two-year deal deal.

Blackburn have confirmed the signing of Everton striker Yakubu on a three-year deal, for a fee in the region of £2 million.

Everton have confirmed the signing of Real Madrid winger Royston Drenthe on a season-long loan.

West Ham have captured Spurs midfielder David Bentley on a season long loan.

QPR have completed the signing of Sunderland defender Anton Ferdinand, for a fee in the region of £4.5 million.

Fulham have signed FC Twente striker Bryan Ruiz for a fee of £10.5 million

Stoke have completed the £10 million signing of England and Spurs striker Peter Crouch.

Fantasy Football 2011/12 - The npower Championship

The opening game of 'The Championship' football season kicks-off in just 48 hours, when Hull City host Blackpool, and I have decided to take part in the forthcoming Texaco sponsored Championship Fantasy Football league for the 2011/12 season.

In doing so I shall be pitting my wits against friends and football fans around the country in an attempt to gain some bragging rights, and similarly dent a few egos of those fans who 'believe' they know everything about the second tier of English football.

I shall attempt to keep you updated throughout the season on my progress, good or bad as I suffer like any football manager does by trying to select an initial starting eleven of the best players available, without exceeding my 'fictitious' set budget.

Then as every week passes I will have to cope with injuries, suspensions, players moving clubs, along with 'jettisoning my flops' - those players that promised so much but failed to deliver! Then as the manager of my team I will be responsible for any wheeling and dealing in the transfer market, whilst keeping within my financial means.

Click on this link for the rules on how to pick your team, score points and make transfers.

The 'Team of the Season' for 2010/11 in terms of top points scorers in their respective positions was as follows:

Goalkeeper: Paddy Kenny (QPR).

Defenders - Angel Rangel (Swansea), Ian Harte (Reading, pictured right), Clint Hill (QPR), Ashley Williams (Swansea).

Midfielders - Lewis McGugan (Nottm Forest), Max Gradel (Leeds), Andy King (Leicester), Adel Taarabt (QPR).

Strikers - Danny Graham (Watford), Grant Holt (Norwich).



Here is my team to start the 2011/12 campaign:

Goalkeeper:

Kelvin Davies (Southampton).

Defenders:

Ian Evatt (Blackpool, pictured right), Jose Fonte (Southampton), Anthony Gerrard (Cardiff), Sean St Ledger (Leicester).

Midfield:

Kevin Nolan (West Ham and Captain), George Boyd (Peterborough), Robert Snodgrass (Leeds), Lee Bowyer (Ipswich).

Strikers:

Rickie Lambert (Southampton, pictured right), Rob Earnshaw (Cardiff).


If you fancy playing and you want to prove you know the most about the beautiful game then go head-to-head with your friends, work colleagues or family by logging onto Texaco Fantasy Football and sign up right away.

It's free to play and there's plenty up for grabs including: npower Championship Play-off Final tickets, VIP 'behind the scenes' experiences at your favourite npower Championship club, Texaco fuel vouchers, signed shirts, mini-footballs, and even the chance to meet your club's manager!

If you miss the opening match deadline (the new season gets underway at 19:45 on Friday 5th August), don't worry just join the league as soon as you can. Remember the competition is not won in the first week of the season, but in May of next year.

Good Luck!

Stoke out for revenge against West Ham - FA Cup Betting News with Betfred

versus

West Ham United have turned things around in recent weeks, and they will be looking to replicate their recent Premier League form when they meet Stoke City in an intriguing FA Cup quarter-final tie this Sunday, but the hosts could be out for revenge.

The Hammers steamrollered Stoke 3-0 at Upton Park last weekend, in a Premier League fixture thanks to goals from Demba Ba, Manuel da Costa and Thomas Hitzlsperger and anyone making football predictions may fancy The Hammers to do the business once more.

But it could be a lot different in the FA Cup as the Brittania Stadium is a notoriously difficult place to win at, and West Ham have been fragile on the road this term, with just two league wins all season.

The football odds compilers make Stoke 11/10 to win the cup tie, and it's worth noting The Potters have yet to lose in front of their home fans since the turn of the year. In 2011 they have won three and drawn one of four Premier League games at the Brittania Stadium, but their away form not unlike that of West Ham's has been pretty dire, and that could go some way to explaining the recent rout at Upton Park.

Tony Pulis has already confirmed that Thomas Sorensen will play in goal and he could make a number of other changes for the FA Cup clash, which could make 13/5 for a West Ham victory look somewhat more tempting.

Up until a few weeks ago, it was West Ham's cup successes that had helped to save Avram Grant from the 'revolving door.' However the London side are facing a huge relegation battle, and there is always the fear the FA Cup can be more of a distraction than a blessing.

West Ham's defence has looked suspect on several occasions this season. That coupled with the loud Staffordshire home support, a big powerful Stoke attack and those legendary Rory Delap long throws will test West Ham's resilience to the core.

Stoke star Glenn Whelan reckons the crowd could be the preverbial 12th man for City, and help give them an edge to exact some measure of revenge on the Hammers for the league result.

He told BBC Radio Stoke: "We're on our home patch, that's where we're solid and hopefully that's what we'll be on Sunday.
If we can get right at them in the first five or ten minutes, I'm sure the crowd will be right behind us."

The resurgence at West Ham means they are now a vastly superior team to the one they were only a few months ago when they recorded a 1-1 draw at the Brittania Stadium thanks to a goal from, who else, their captain and talisman Scott Parker.

This is the second successive weekend that these clubs are meeting, and the fourth time they will have locked horns this season. Stoke are yet to win!

But a wounded Stoke are going to be a dangerous animal, and one the travelling Hammers need to ensure they don't take lightly.

My Tip of the Week:

Stoke look like they are going to be too strong for West Ham, but it should be a tight game unlike the Upton Park clash. With this in mind, odds of 2/1 for under 1.5 goals in the game looks a good bet.
I also fancy Stoke's fit again Matthew Etherington to get on the scoresheet against his former club. He is 10/1 to be first goalscorer and 11/4 to score at anytime with Betfred.

Sunday 27th March: Stoke City v West Ham, kick-off 2pm, live on ITV1.

By Drew Swainston
(Guest writer from Betfred on behalf of Beer Footy and Birds!)