BABY NEW YEAR, COULD YOU PROMISE A DAY WITHOUT FEAR
Well, after a couple of false starts, here’s the first newsletter of 2005! You may have gathered that the delay has been caused by the old WSFFL co-ord central PC finally giving up the ghost, despite the best efforts of our resident techie Mr. Moore (thanks again for your efforts Ryan, however futile!). However Rach and I are now sorted out with a brand new PC and, thanks to Dave and Ceri, also loaded up with Word, so we should be fine from now on.
May I also take this opportunity to wish all WSFFL managers a happy and successful New Year – except when they’re playing Boston Rock FC that is!
So, lots to catch up on, so here goes…
PEOPLE SHOULD GET BEAT UP FOR STATING THEIR BELIEFS
First point of order for 2005 is that that the Recat Appeals Process, as agreed at this season’s AGM, is now in operation. Anyone who believes any of their players are playing in the wrong position can now appeal their current categorisation. Myself, Peej our resident recat guru, plus any members of the Exec Committee I can rope in, will then review any appeals and make positional changes as appropriate. The timescales for this will be;
· Managers to let me have any appeals by NO LATER THAN Saturday 15 January (that means YOU, so get y’r skates on!)
· Appeal Review Board to sit on Monday 17 January. Managers will be notified immediately of any positional changes.
· Positional changes to take effect from Week 19, on 22 January.
So all managers will know the positions of all of their players by the transfer window auction in early February (for more details on that, read on…), so you know which areas of your squad to strengthen!
I have also reviewed the pool list, and the following pool players will be reviewed at the Appeal Review Board;
Nils-Eric Johansson, Blackburn Rovers, currently M, should be D?
Pete Whittingham, Aston Villa, currently M, should be D?
Stephen Warnock, Liverpool, currently M, should be D?
These players are NOT available from the pool until after the Appeal Review Board. If they are subsequently recategorised to a more advantageous position, they will then be subject to the pool “cooling down” period. Watch this space!
HEY MR. DJ, I THOUGHT YOU SAID WE HAD A DEAL
I’ve had a couple of e-mails asking for clarification on the availability of the new signings into the Premiership in January, and whether managers can make 48 hour bids for them. The answer to that last question is No.
We’ll have another January transfer window auction/ social evening, as this has worked well over the last 2 years, so as far as I’m concerned is now a part of the WSFFL calendar. All players signed into the Premiership in January will be auctioned off at this event, which will take place in early February (date TBC, but Sunday 6th February round our place is looking favourite right now - anyone who definitely can’t make this please tell me!). So there is no need to do 48 hour bids.
THE BOYS PLAY ROCK AND ROLL
The first trophy of the season went to You Know Your Boston Rock FC, who retained the Paul Cartmell Memorial Trophy, beating San Dimas High School 3-0 in the final. A full report is in this newsletter. Enjoy – I did!
I WANT A LITTLE GREEN GUY ABOUT THREE FEET HIGH
Well, I didn’t get an Alien for Christmas but I did get maximum points! The Christmas fixtures saw both Boston Rock FC and Aardvark Abacus consolidate their positions at the top of the table with 2 wins out of 2. However it was an iffy Chrimbo for 3rd placed Fred, who lost one (against Aardvark) and won one, and a worse Yuletide for current Champions Claymore Athletic FC, who lost both their games! They remain in 4th but lose ground on the top 3.
Back up into 5th go Trusted By Millions, with 2 wins over Christmas over Kylie and Prettier Than You respectively. Trusted, my tip for top honours at the start of the season, are finally showing some form but it may be too late for this season, as they are a massive 22 points off top slot! York’s Returning Glory also won twice, and the perennial strugglers now find themselves in the rarefied heights of upper mid-table. Well done Julian!
At the bottom, 2 defeats by Boston Rock and Trusted respectively leave Prettier Than You adrift by 4 points at the bottom. Also slipping, down to 15th, are Thommo’s Titans, who also lost twice over Christmas. Going in the right direction, however, are Nil Satis and Mega Buck Bandits. Both teams won on Boxing Day – Mega Bucks’ victory over San Dimas particularly noteworthy – then they shared the points against each other on New Year’s Day.
The Yuletide POTW awards both go to the teams who defeated Claymore Athletic FC during the respective weeks (a coincidence, honestly, Clive-lad!) – The Dead Parrots for week 16, and York’s Returning Glory during week 17. Congrats to Deano and Julian (again), your bank balances are both now £100,000 bigger!
THE KILLING MOON WILL COME TOO SOON
The first round of the FA Cup produced one giant-killing… well, of sorts anyway, as basement-botherers Thommo’s Titans turfed the Dead Parrots out on their ears, winning 4-1 with a double from recalled midfielder Bryan Hughes. This naturally won the Titans the POTW £100,000, so well done Pete!
In the tie of the round, “father” overcame “son” as 2 goals from Robert Earnshaw secured victory for a weakened Claymore Athletic FC side, who could afford to rest their normal strikeforce and still beat Fred West 4-3. Leaders Boston Rock eased past Real Muppets 4-0, with a debut goal for new signing Jamie Redknapp. Elsewhere, there were wins for Final Fantasy XI, Mega Buck Bandits (for whom Heskey scored AGAIN!) and San Dimas.
Aardvark Abacus were held to a 2-2 draw with Trusted, and a late Shola Ameobi goal secured a 3-3 draw for Prettier Than You against the 22 Legged Groove Machine (although Craig Bellamy was called a few choice names by PTY boss Rachel as he missed a last-minute absolute sitter!). These 2 games will replay this forthcoming weekend, 15 January, doubled up with their league fixtures.
The Quarter Final draw was made earlier this evening by the 2 lady managers. Ceri drew the home teams and Rachel the away, and they came out of the bag in the following order;
You Know Your Boston Rock FC v Prettier Than You/ 22 Legged Groove
Machine
Claymore Athletic FC v Final Fantasy XI
San Dimas High School v Thommo’s Titans
Aardvark Abacus/ Trusted By Millions v Mega Buck Bandits
These games will be played on the weekend of 29 January 2005, and will be the only WSFFL Fixtures that weekend.
TRANSFER NEWS
Waste of money though he may have seemed, but Mega Buck’s new acquisition Emile Heskey has scored 3 in 3 for the Bandits…
Player From To Fee
Youri Djorkaeff (M) Prettier Than You Released Free
Calum Davenport (D) Pool Prettier Than You £500K
TRANSFER NEWS (continued)
Player From To Fee
Paul Rachubka (G) York’s Returning Glory Huddersfield £500K
(undisclosed therefore refund)
Chris Powell (D) Mega Buck Bandits West Ham United Free
Emile Heskey (A) Final Fantasy XI Mega Buck Bandits £3m
Jesper Gronkjaer (M) Fred West LG XI Pool £1.825m
(since transferred to Atletico Madrid, hence not available under pool cooling down rule)
Sebastian Larsson (M) Pool Final Fantasy XI £500K
Les Ferdinand (A) Kylie Bumcheeks Released Free
Ronnie Johnsen (D) Prettier Than You Pool £250K
Jamal Campbell-Ryce (M) YKY Boston Rock FC Pool £250K
Jamie Redknapp (M) Pool YKY Boston Rock FC £250K
Don’t forget that the players highlighted are now subject to the pool “cooling off” period, Any managers interested in buying them can bid until close of play Saturday 15 January 2005, after which time they go into the pool proper and are readily available. All bids to me please.
THE FF£100,000 QUESTION
So, the tattoo on Craig Bellamy’s arm. What’s that about?
That’s not just, “what does it say”, but also “why”?
Answers to me by close of play Saturday 15 January 2005. First correct answer out of the metaphorical hat wins the dosh.
The Christmas funnies were as follows;
a) The Rock was former Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly,
b) The Wall was former Sheffield Wednesday, Chelsea, Sunderland and Bolton stopper Emerson Thome,
c) Cookie is former Blackburn defender and current Fulham boss Chris Coleman,
d) The Wardrobe is Fulham’s man-mountain midfielder Papa Bouba Diop.
A few bosses hazarded guesses of some of the above, up the pub on Chrimbo Eve, but I only received one complete and correct answer, which was from The Big Man. So, increasingly frequent guesser Rich wins 2 in a row and the 22 Legged Groove Machine are another £100,000 richer.
SHORTS
· December 2004 Manager of the Month was a shared affair between the only 2 managers with 100% win records in the month – and they’re the top 2 teams in the table as well! So, congrats go to myself (again – sorry!), David Rose of You Know Your Boston Rock FC, and also to Ady Bevan of Aardvark Abacus. Boston Rock maintained their 8 point lead at the top, and also won the first pot of the season in the PCMT Final, and the Abacus opened up a gap from the other title aspirants (is it too early to call this year’s title fight a 2-horse race? Oops, I just did…) whilst keeping pressure on the leaders. Well done to both managers, who boost their bank balance by £250,000.
WSFFL RESULTS;
Week 16, Boxing Day 26 December 2004
Claymore Athletic FC 1-2 The Dead Parrots
Henry (3) Duff
Fowler 41,950
Final Fantasy XI 0-3 York’s Returning Glory
(2) Todd
El Karkouri
Morrison 29,082
Fred West Landscape Gardening XI 1-4 Aardvark Abacus
Giggs (3) Michael Brown
Scholes
Heinze
Gallas 67,867
Mega Buck Bandits 2-0 San Dimas High School
Heskey (2)
Naybet 29,271
Thommo’s Titans 0-2 Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
O’Shea
Dyer 27,533
Trusted By Millions 3-0 Kylie Bumcheeks
Primus 2 (2)
Gerrard 38,047
22 Legged Groove Machine 3-1 Real Muppets
Cunningham (1) Robert
Atouba
Kishishev 31,195
You Know Your Boston Rock FC 4-0 Prettier Than You
Ferreira (1)
Rio Ferdinand
King
Pires 40,530
Performance of the Week: The Dead Parrots
The PAUL CARTMELL MEMORIAL TROPHY 2003/04 FINAL
Tuesday 28 December 2004
You Know Your Boston Rock FC 3
Sinama-Pongolle 44, Defoe 54, Rio Ferdinand 90
Vs (2)
San Dimas High School 0
At the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Attendance 78,000
You Know Your Boston Rock FC Team:
Robinson
Rio Ferdinand, Ferreira, King, Glen Johnson
Pires, Lampard, Kewell, Hendrie
Defoe, Chopra
Subs:Fulop, Knight, Bentley (on 1 for Kewell), Sinama-Pongolle (on 1 for Chopra)
San Dimas High School Team:
Sorensen
Terry, Distin, Queudrue, Tebily
Holland, Sibierski, Johansson, Miller
Kanoute, Yakubu
Subs: Harper, Goma, Ricardo Gardner (on 1 for Johansson), McKenzie (on 83 for Kanoute)
The Paul Cartmell Memorial Trophy was retained by You Know Your Boston Rock FC, who beat a gallant San Dimas High School 3-0 in the final. The “Sky Heroes” therefore matched the feat of Kylie Bumcheeks by winning the PCMT 2 years in succession, and also become the first team to win both cups 2 years on the trot, having won the FA Cup on 1999/00 and 2000/01.
The build-up was marked by some friendly banter between the 2 wily old managers, old adversaries in their playing days. There was also drama before kick-off, intended Boston Rock starter Alan Smith being forced to pull out with Bevandodge-itis, his replacement Michael Chopra falling victim to the same ailment shortly after kickoff. So, after an evenly contested first half, it was the “Sky Heroes” sub forward, Florent Sinama-Pongolle, who struck first with a fine finish, just before the interval.
The “Sky Heroes” then took control after the break, Frank Lampard firing close before setting up Jermain Defoe for a second, a coolly taken shot from the angle. Lampard again set up Robert Pires, but he squandered his opportunity, characteristic of an out-of-sorts performance. For San Dimas, Yakubu was lively but was well marshalled by an imperious performance from Boston Rock captain Rio Ferdinand. And it was Ferdinand who capped a Man of the Match performance with a towering header on the stroke of full time to seal victory for “the Sky Heroes”.
WSFFL RESULTS;
Week 17, New Year’s Day 1 January 2005
Aardvark Abacus 5-0 22 Legged Groove Machine
Cech
Gallas
Heinze.
Solano
Robbie Keane 52,222
The Dead Parrots 0-1 Final Fantasy XI
Andrew Johnson 34,265
Kylie Bumcheeks 0-4 You Know Your Boston Rock FC
Rio Ferdinand
Glen Johnson
Ferreira
Ridgewell 34,199
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum 1-1 Mega Buck Bandits
McFadden Heskey 25,205
Prettier Than You 1-3 Trusted By Millions
Ziegler Andrew Cole 2
Barry 26,711
Real Muppets 1-5 Fred West Landscape Gardening XI
Joe Cole Silvestre
Giggs
Diouf
Ljungberg 2 42,895
San Dimas High School 4-2 Thommo’s Titans
Sorensen Wright-Phillips
Samuel Van Persie
Yakubu
Terry 36,102
York’s Returning Glory 2-1 Claymore Athletic FC
El Karkouri (1) Bowyer
Gera 43,806
Performance of the Week: York’s Returning Glory
WSFFL RESULTS;
FA Cup First Round, W/E 8 January 2005
Final Fantasy XI 3-2 Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
Howard McFadden
Andrew Johnson Reyes
Jonathan Fortune 25,159
Fred West Landscape Gardening XI 3-4 Claymore Athletic FC
Babayaro Osman
Wes Brown Bowyer
Hoult Earnshaw 2 67,551
Kylie Bumcheeks 0-4 Mega Buck Bandits
(1) Clement
Heskey
Henrik Pedersen 2 20,112
Real Muppets 0-4 You Know Your Boston Rock FC
Ferreira
Steven Taylor
Redknapp
King 36,094
San Dimas High School 3-0 York’s Returning Glory
Stefanovic
Kezman
Yakubu 36,579
Thommo’s Titans 4-1 The Dead Parrots
Bryan Hughes 2 (1) Murphy
Purse
Van Persie 20,080
Trusted By Millions 2-2 Aardvark Abacus
Barry (1) Gudjohnsen
Phillips Robbie Keane 40,019
22 Legged Groove Machine 3-3 Prettier Than You
Job (1) Carter 2
Melchiot Ameobi
Cunningham 23,389
Performance of the Week: Thommo’s Titans
WSFFL LEAGUE TABLE
| ||||||||||
Season 2004/05
| ||||||||||
As at 2 January 2005
| ||||||||||
Team
|
P
|
W
|
D
|
L
|
F
|
A
|
Diff
|
Pts
| ||
1
|
You Know Your Boston Rock FC
|
17
|
16
|
0
|
1
|
59
|
13
|
46
|
48
| |
2
|
Aardvark Abacus
|
17
|
13
|
1
|
3
|
58
|
21
|
37
|
40
| |
3
|
Fred West Landscape Gardening XI
|
17
|
11
|
1
|
5
|
39
|
24
|
15
|
34
| |
4
|
Claymore Athletic FC
|
17
|
9
|
3
|
5
|
51
|
33
|
18
|
30
| |
5
|
Trusted By Millions
|
17
|
8
|
2
|
7
|
38
|
29
|
9
|
26
| |
6
|
San Dimas High School
|
17
|
8
|
2
|
7
|
32
|
30
|
2
|
26
| |
7
|
York's Returning Glory
|
17
|
8
|
0
|
9
|
26
|
30
|
-4
|
24
| |
8
|
Final Fantasy XI
|
17
|
7
|
2
|
8
|
26
|
31
|
-5
|
23
| |
9
|
22 Legged Groove Machine
|
17
|
7
|
2
|
8
|
30
|
40
|
-10
|
23
| |
10
|
The Dead Parrots
|
17
|
7
|
1
|
9
|
26
|
28
|
-2
|
22
| |
11
|
Real Muppets
|
17
|
6
|
3
|
8
|
18
|
34
|
-16
|
21
| |
12
|
Mega Buck Bandits
|
17
|
4
|
5
|
8
|
14
|
23
|
-9
|
17
| |
13
|
Nil Satis Nisi Optimum
|
17
|
4
|
4
|
9
|
17
|
30
|
-13
|
16
| |
14
|
Kylie Bumcheeks
|
17
|
4
|
3
|
10
|
19
|
39
|
-20
|
15
| |
15
|
Thommo's Titans
|
17
|
4
|
3
|
10
|
22
|
47
|
-25
|
15
| |
16
|
Prettier Than You
|
17
|
3
|
2
|
12
|
17
|
40
|
-23
|
11
| |
272
|
119
|
34
|
119
|
492
|
492
|
0
|
391
|
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