Something we tried last year that went fairly well despite having a low number of players was the Salary Cap game for the English Premiership put on by Yahoo UK. I hope that the success of the World Cup will entice more people to play this year.

It works a bit differently than pick'em games - in the salary cap game, you're given £100 million to spend on players, and you must pick a full starting eleven. Then, each week, you get points based on their performance in that week's games.

This does of course make it a bit harder for people who don't really follow the game, but since this is the English Premier League, the most popular international league in the world (sorry, Dragon Fire!), a great number of the players you saw at the World Cup will be present here. You can take, for instance, Didier Drogba of the Ivory Coast, James Milner, Emile Heskey, Glen Johnson, or Wayne Rooney of England, Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey of the US, Javier (Chicarito) Hernandez of Mexico, and the list goes on and on with names that one should recognize even as a casual fan.

Plus, you can ask people who follow the EPL big time, like me or Sweetdude, advice as you go.



Games start in just over two weeks, so you have plenty of time to sign up and pick your first squad (which you can change every week, as long as you have a full 11 players and you stay under the salary cap).

To sign up:

http://uk.premiership.fantasysports.yahoo.com/football
Group ID#: 1184
Password: flanprincess

This post has been edited by Rangers51 on 29th July 2010 19:57

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In, and ideally, I'll be active this season.

I'm the mastermind behind Super-Aids FC.

And for the record, I still maintain that Serie A blows the Premiere league out of the water, but all the same, I'll take my soccer fix anyway, from anywhere I can get it.

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OK, I know that footbigmike is in as "Oh Mickey You So Fine." So that makes three. I think we need to get at least eight or ten to justify giving forum awards for it.

Make sure you post your team name in here as you make it.

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Well, I'm in as Jockshire United!

That... That was all I got.

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I'm in as "I Suck at this so let's Play!"

Who are "The Ducks?"

Anyone else want in? Season starts this weekend!

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Ducks might be one of my little errors there sharing that link too soon

Aaaanyway, season has started and it's looking quite good apart from Chelsea winning. I presume points get processed after tomorrows games, but wow, today's results. 6-0 Chelsea, DO NOT WANT, but 4-0 Blackpool? WOO. Nice to see a freshly promoted side get a nice debut

Still, the interesting games tomorrow to give us a hint as to how this season will go down I guess, as the rest of the Big Four play. Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal all have their games tomorrow. Liverpool-Arsenal is probably the game that could be the most interesting out of the whole kick-off weekend.

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I just realized that I scheduled an appointment for the exact time that Pool/Arsenal are on. I hope the new-look Reds don't disappoint me while I'm out - I'll be around for the second half, though, for sure.

Go Blackpool, for what it's worth. Still would have rather seen the Bluebirds get promoted a few months back, but great result for the other minnows.

Points should be tallied after tomorrow's games, I think. They seemed to update at random times last year. I will know when my starting striker, Didier Drogba, has his points show up.

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I've got my team in, Mock o Cocks.

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OK, so you should be collecting points starting today given your signup period. Kane apparently did not buy his team, so he has zero points still.

Naturally, the one of the guys from Del's other site (who never signed up here to post, I'll note) seems to be in my way at the moment.

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Fashionably late as always. The league so far has been madness. I hate to say it R51 but Liverpool are going to need some of the old magic Liverpool fairytale story to get anything this year, especially a Champions League place, based on their first few games. Hodgson is as good a manager as you could hope for with Rafa leaving, but don't you kind of wish O'Neill had left at the end of the season for the job? Ach, anyway I'm interested to see how far Man City go. It's an experiment that has worked wonders for Chelsea.

I've got together a team that I like aside for the strikers. Still amazed that Spurs were beaten by Wigan at home. What were they doing?

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Well, in the CoN league, it seems like Del's buddies from the old Warhammer site might be running away with it. Figures, buncha forrin jerks.

In the real world, I am SO excited by the potential buyout of Liverpool FC by NESV. For one, I still go to Boston several times a year and I suspect that a Liverpool friendly in Boston will be a lock if the deal goes through. I might be able to time an office visit next summer for it if I play my cards right. Additionally, I think it might make the players wake up a bit, and get them out of the lazy play that they've shown all season, and it might make just a little bit of cash available for the winter transfer window to bolster the front and back lines.

It's a long uphill climb now, but it does look up at the very least, and that's more than I can say about the last few months.

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I'm doing better than I expected. Not stellar, but I seem to be doing okay. Shame I can;t say the same about St. Mirren but hey.

I've probably said it in Chat but I hope the Reds get a buyer who at least understands what the club means not just to the supporters, but to Football as a whole. I'm never happy to see any Football club in financial troubles, especially when they drift onto the pitch. A great club like Liverpool deserve owners who don't just think of profit, but remember the history and the fact that something like that is worth more that just the pound signs.

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I've been taking a huge beating recently and I think it's time to make some changes. I'm dropping everyone Chelsea related from the team, because until Torres, who should really learn to shut his mouth about Liverpool, starts producing, there's no reason to think that Malouda or Drogba will be allowed to take center stage.

Doing that freed up a lot of cash for me, so I added Berbs, Nasri, and Miereles, who I wish I'd added on January 1. That Portagee is playing out of his mind.

So, that said, what does everyone think about the real league after the winter break? Obviously I'm pleased as punch, despite a lackluster draw on Saturday, and while I can't believe Liverpool spent so much on Andy Carroll, I'm really looking forward to seeing him pair up with Suarez - the unluckiest man in England - as soon as possible. I'd love to see Liverpool at least cling to a Europa spot this season, because that would be an amazing result given the first half of the year.

As for the league as a whole? Whatever, it's over. United being caught seems just utterly impossible these days, particularly when Rooney hits miracle shots out of nowhere.

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I need to add Nasri back to my team; I took him out when he got injured, knowing he'd be out for a few weeks. In the game I'm playing though (I wasn't around when this one started), this gameweek doesn't end until the 23rd and Arsenal don't play in the next one so I can afford to wait for now. Plus, Arsenal have a champions league match tomorrow and you can guarantee someone will get injured.



It's certainly narrowed down the title challenge. It's a two horse race now, I don't see how either Chelsea or Man City can come back now; Chelsea being 12 points behind and City being 8 behind having played a game more.

I agree with you about the money spent on Carroll, but then English players have been overpriced for years now. I remember when Arsenal sold Thierry Henry to Barcelona when he was still one of the best strikers in the world. They got about £16 million for him and I remember Defoe (I think it was him) moving for the same amount.

Liverpool could have seriously strengthened their team (because, let's face it, they need to), by buying half a team with the £50 million they got from the Torres sale yet they spent two thirds of it on a decent striker in only his first proper premiership season.



I wouldn't count Arsenal out so quickly. United have some tough weeks ahead of them that will decide the title. The first week of March, they have both Chelsea and Liverpool away and if they title isn't decided by the end of April, they have Arsenal away and then Chelsea at home.

Arsenal, on the other hand, are likely to be out of the Champions League very soon (and that's coming from an Arsenal fan) and won't have the League Cup to worry about after sunday week. After that, it's just the FA Cup (assuming they beat Leyton Orient) and the league to concentrate on while United will probably still be in Europe.

Arsenal have played most of their big games, only really having home games against United and Liverpool and an away game at Spurs. I think that United game will be a very big one.

Charlie Adam and Joey Barton have been unbelievable this season. I love the way that each season produces different stars. Drogba, Rooney and Bent have not been as great as they were. They've made way for Adam, Barton, Nasri, Carroll, Van Der Vaart and Van Persie. It's very difficult to predict, and I doubt any of these players will be as amazing next season either.

How do you rate your chances of winning the title this season Cefca? I don't see anyone other than Man United winning it. It's not impossible for Arsenal, however. I suppose you'll be happy that Wolves stopped MU beating Arsenal's Invincibles run in 2004/05 2003/04? Also I put £20 on Arsenal to beat Barca at home, return of £84. I know it's very unlikely, but with the run they're on I think Wenger will throw the sink at them tomorrow. Also, no Almunia, what a great idea. Also also, that Newcastle v Arsenal game (4-4, 0-4 at HT) was incredible, I'm really annoyed I didn't watch it.

As for Liverpool you're totally right, Andy Carroll is worth about £14m at a push. Overall spending on the team might be stunted because any player of quality is worth a ridiculous amount of money in these days of super-rich Chelsea and Man City. Maybe the summer will be different. I think Suarez was a good buy. I wonder if Gyan will be galvanised next time Sunderland play Liverpool. I agree R51, if Liverpool get Europa League they'll be justifiably happy. However just two years ago that kind of talk would be embarrassing. Maybe now that Liverpool have settled in their position in the EPL hierarchy, the fans know what to expect, they'll be better psychologically equipped for the next season. Having a few more quality players can't hurt either.

This post has been edited by sweetdude on 16th February 2011 00:09

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I don't see any real reason to think that this will be where Liverpool have settled on a semi-permanent basis. I think it's only a matter of weeks until Dalglish is offered the permanent managerial role, and assuming there are no more high-profile players abandoning (thinking mainly of Gerrard and Reina, here), there's no real reason that the team can't challenge for a Champion's League spot again next year. The talent's there, and as the last seven games have shown it's willing to play together with quality. The Wigan draw was quite simply awful luck, as it should have been 3-1 except for Suarez having an attraction to the post. If 'Pool can start the next league season taking seventeen out of a possible twenty-one points the way they have the second half of this season, people will certainly expect a CL spot.

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Maybe not then.

Edit: some changes to my bad maths.

I don't think Liverpool will be able to get back to winning ways with the team they've got. Sure they've had a good run of results, but you're still around 9 6 points from 5th with Chelsea having a chance to get another 3 points ahead, and that's taking Chelsea's recent awful run into account. Top four next season is going to be tough. Also I think it's important to remember that Liverpool's bad run wasn't disastrous after the beginning, the league is closer than it seems. There's 3 points between 15th and 10th, and Liverpool are only 3 points above 8th. It's breaking the top five that's the difficult part, Chelsea being 6 points ahead with a game in hand, and Spurs 7 points ahead with a game in hand. I don't see anything changing next season aside from Chelsea rejuvenating their team in the summer transfer market with their absurd spending power.

Liverpool need to boost their overall team quality, and even this season I can't see them finishing sixth, unless they can succeed in their next round of games against the likes of Man U, City, Arsenal, Newcastle, Sunderland and Spurs. It's going to get a lot harder, and will be a good pointer for how well they'll do next season. Sure if they win half of them I'll eat my words and agree there is a chance that Liverpool have a near-future prospect in the CL. I don't, however, believe they'll get a lot from the coming games.

And that's why Liverpool should settle there and be happy with a Europa spot for now.

This post has been edited by sweetdude on 15th February 2011 23:05

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I may be delusional, but I'll never walk the road of delusion alone.

Europa is fine for next year and even that is going to take a push, you're not wrong. But I'd like to think that eventually Fair Play will catch up to those who have decided they need to buy and buy and camp out in the top four with their billions. Not looking at anyone in particular, surely, of course.

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Haha. Yeah the Fair Play will make things very interesting. I don't know how Liverpool will be affected, but I know for sure that Spurs are going to be the biggest winners. Also, I think the smaller clubs will make a small fortune from players such as Adam when big clubs try to buy as many good players in before the new rules are introduced. Overall it'll be great for the league as far as I can see.

I've been meaning to ask, who do you think will be relegated and who do you want to be relegated? I'd like Birmingham and Fulham to stay up, so my ideal bottom three is Wigan (boring), West Ham (the owners and the executives are horrible, good riddance) and West Brom (Di Matteo was great). The Championship clubs I'd like to see are QPR (a given), Cardiff (probably a given), and Swansea (more Welsh). I don't particularly like Leeds and I think Norwich should take an extra year in the Championship before coming up, if they ever do again. Bit of trivia, Norwich are the only English team to beat Bayern Munich in Germany. They're a good team but if they go up this season they'll probably be worse for it.

I like how Rooney and Lescott replayed the Man U v Man City on Fifa 11 after the game. Rooney won.

This post has been edited by sweetdude on 16th February 2011 00:05

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Obviously the title is United's to lose but, like I said, they have some tough matches coming up (Chelsea twice, Liverpool, Arsenal, etc). It's definately Arsenal's biggest shot at the title since 2007-08.

I think the first week of March, when United have Chelsea and Liverpool could pretty much decide it. If United win both matches, I don't see them throwing it away. But if they only come away from the games with a point from each (obviously less would be even better), then Arsenal will certainly be in there, especially since the only really big matches they have left are United, Liverpool and Spurs.

If the title isn't decided by that Arsenal - United match (30th of April), it'll be a huge match that will definately decide the championship.

I was very happy inside when Wolves beat United. I didn't think they'd manage to go the whole season unbeaten it was nice to be sure of it.

As for the Newcastle game, don't even get me started on that. The referee was atrocious (as Phil Dowd always seems to be in Arsenal matches, which he seems to officiate an awful lot) but that was no excuse to throw away a 4-0 lead. We should have put the game away long before the comeback began.

The thing I worry about with the Arsenal - Barca game (as I do with any Arsenal game) is our defence. We just don't have a good one, especially when our best centre back has been out for months. That's not a good thing when you're facing Messi. Barcelona don't have a great defence either, but it's whether Arsenal can take advantage of it this time around or not.

What were Spurs doing last night? From the radio, news and Sky Sports commentary, and my own opinion, Spurs were going to be happy with one away goal to take back home, and probably settle conceding two or three goals. Instead they only went and won the game. This is without their stars injured or not at their best: Bale (injured), Van Der Vaart (just back from injury), Modric (just back from injury and not on the first XI). Also Sandro, Pienaar, Woodgate and others played immensely well considering they've either not been playing any major football recently. They just stroked the ball around in the first half and defended up the rear in the second. I can't believe this is their first time in the CL. Anyone else amazed? Cefca even ye gunners have to be impressed?

Also I like how Guttso said he was talking to Joe Jordan in his native 'Scottish' then head-butted him. That Rangers training pays off.

This post has been edited by sweetdude on 16th February 2011 16:30

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It was an impressive win, but I think Milan will turn it around in the second leg. I have a feeling it'll be 2-1 Milan, them going through on away goals. After all the heroics against Inter, I didn't think they'd be able to do it again but they proved me wrong. It's all just a gut feeling anyway.

Gattuso should be out for a long time, Drogba got a 3 game ban (with another game suspended) after that Chelsea - Barcelona ref debacle, so Gattuso should get that at the very least.

I missed the entire second half yesterday due to an appointment, and I walked back into my office right as Gattuso threw down that headbutt. I would love to see Spurs go far this year simply because I'm sick of the traditional "power teams," my own notwithstanding - and since they're not even there and as sweetdude says, probably won't be for a while, it's moot.

Am I particularly surprised? Yeah, I guess I am a little bit, though from the first half I did get to see, that tempered the surprise a bit. Milan just didn't have any sort of cohesion happening at all in any part of the pitch. Not only that, it doesn't seem to me that Italian soccer is on form this year at all, and while all three Italian sides might well make it to the round of eight, I'm not sure they'll go much further.

With the return leg to White Hart Lane, I don't see Milan going through. Surely Spurs will have Bale back by 9 March, and that additional presence will keep Milan from being able to pack players into the attacking third. At best for them I see Milan forcing extra time, and I don't like their chances at that point.

Since we're on the topic, up the Gunners today. I quite like the Spanish national side, but I can't stand all the adoration Barca and Real get, and I'd love to see Arsenal just pound Barca at the Emirates. If Valencia could be the only Spanish side moving on, I'd be fine with that.

I'd also be fine with Chelsea and United losing out this round, especially Chelsea. Don't see that happening, though, not by a long shot.

... I should change the topic of this thread, shouldn't I.

This post has been edited by Rangers51 on 16th February 2011 17:14

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I love it when Arsenal prove me wrong. I was absolutely shatting myself those last couple of minutes though!

Complete opposite of the way we played last year, we actually took it to them. Even when we were 1-0 down, I was thinking it was a much better performance than last time around but this is just the icing on the cake.

This post has been edited by Cefca on 16th February 2011 21:38

Unbelievable. Like Spurs, even if the second leg is not as successful you've got yourselves a brilliant win nonetheless. Amazing game, and I've made a cheeky £80 in the process. Great evening all round hehe. None of my friends are Arsenal fans but everyone there was on their side right up until the end. Barca could've put the game to bed early but I think it's unfair to take anything away from Arsenal, who also had chances to score and could've racked up another goal. Well done the gunners.

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I love watching Chelsea exit a cup. I don't care what cup it is. And, hey, maybe playing that extra half hour and having to travel will give FC Copenhagen a fighting chance on Tuesday.

Now it's up to Crawley to make this a perfect Saturday... totally going to happen, right, guys?

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Honestly, I can't remember the last time Arsenal didn't follow up an amazing result with a horrible one and they're at it again drawing 1-1 at Leyton Orient.

It was pretty much a B team we had out but it was still more than enough to beat them. It was a poor performance, couldn't hit a cow's arse with a banjo.

We had to get a big team at some point and if we go through we've got Man United, definately gonna be a tough one.


Cup draw (and my predictions):

Stoke v West Ham or Burnley
Man City or Aston Villa v Everton or Reading
Birmingham v Bolton
Manchester United v Leyton Orient or Arsenal


Gotta beat United eventually.

This post has been edited by Cefca on 20th February 2011 21:30

Your predictions are the same as mine except I think Birmingham will beat Bolton. I can see Arsenal beating Man U here but not in the league. The one I'm not sure about is Burnley. They had a great cup record under Owen Coyle so I wouldn't be surprised if they beat West Ham and Stoke. I'd still go with Stoke to take it however.

About Crawley Town, they must have been ecstatic about playing Man U, and they did themselves proud on the day. If anything they put their name on the footballing year, which makes it a pretty great season for them all-round.

I didn't see the damn old firm today and Celtic completely whipped Rangers. This is probably the biggest footballing miss I've had this year, and that includes missing an open goal in a charity football cup at my uni.

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Can anyone tell me how the hell Rooney managed to escape a ban for that elbow? Other than the fact that he's a Man U player that is.

For anyone that missed it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG7eM3qPE1w&feature=related

This post has been edited by Cefca on 28th February 2011 16:53