Is the transfer window finally closed?  I hope it finally is as we get ready for Gameweek 25 of your SoB Fantasy Fix.  The “Special One” was hoping to get a loan deal to the sunny coast of Italy (& maybe turn it into a permanent transfer like someone we know) but why would I would to leave the snow and the ice of the Delaware Valley?

As usual; our “Fantasy Zolo” league code is 694916-134116 to join our private league.  Select “Leagues” under your Fantasy Menu and then enter the code and you are good to go.

In the Premier League Fantasy Cup, to paraphrase that great leader of men Ritchie Kotite, “We’re out of the Cup! We’re out of the Cup, that’s all!”.  Unfortunately, Pecan Sandies (Mike), and the team of your sometimes humble writer, SoBphillyHarchester* both got knocked out of the cup in the 6^th round.  The SoB’s hung on until the last 32,768 teams in the competition.  Not a bad showing for our leagues at all.  I guess our run had to come to an end sometime but don’t get me started on the poor performances of Gerrard & Lampard.

Thoughts on last week 

How many Nil-Nil draws can we endure?  Unless you were Bolton or Fulham, it was another poor scoring week across the league.  Who the hell is Bernard Mendy anyway and why is he causing me to get knocked out of the Cup competition …steady, steady…I think I have to finally let that one go (haha).

Results aside, Robbie Keane & Andrei Arshavin have finally found new homes after a month of uncertainty & thrashing about.  Keane’s price jumps to 8.2£m now that he is at Tottenham while Arshavin is listed initially at a surprising 9.5£m.  Even more shocking he is listed as a striker, rather than an “attacking” midfielder and his price is only a bit less than the 9.8£m of Arsenal’s leading goal scorer & their leading scorer in the game.  I really can’t figure out what the game makers are thinking with Arshavin but I‘d advise staying clear of him for the next few weeks.

This week (Gameweek 25)

A double week for some clubs is the main headline for this week.  It will be a long week in terms of days as the Portsmouth vs. ManCity on Saturday 2.14.09 and ManU’s rescheduled fixture against Fulham on Tuesday 2.17.09 are included in Gameweek 25.  This make s things quite complicated for the next calendar week as Fulham & ManU have FA Cup matches also next weekend.  This is a good week for you if you are willing to gamble on both teams’ regulars getting full minutes in their Premiership matches.

Before moving on, welcome to Kevin Kelly and his Kev’s Army team as he is the newest SoB to join the league.  He brings a boat-load of points with him and should raise the level of our competition.  Good Luck.

Players to watch:

Let’s focus on those double match players this week

• Nemanja Vidic: If you have him, you are happy.  If you don’t, you are probably trying to get him.  Right now with Van der Sar in goal, it seems like ManU may never let another goal past their defense. 
• Rio Ferdinand: He returned healthy to ManU’s back line and he is a cheaper option than teammate Vidic while giving you the same potential for a clean sheet.
• Jermaine Pennant: Portsmouth wants to make the most of their investment in him and I expect him to play in both matches and truly be motivated in the match against former club Liverpool.
• Hayden Mullins: For the same reasons as new teammate Pennant & he is a much cheaper choice.
• Craig Bellamy: He is feisty, fit & boy his price is really rising!  Also he is the cheaper alternative to Robinho in the ManCity attack. 
• No No Ronaldo: I am just tired of writing about this guy!  When will his price stop rising—he is way too expensive to acquire now if you don’t have him.

Players to drop/sit:

·        Steven Gerrard: Watch out for those FA cup matches.  As I warned earlier, FA Cup can lead to some surprise injuries that will hurt your Premiership selections  Gerrard could be out 2-3 weeks.

·        Jose Bosingwa: His situation has changed since earlier in the season.  This may be the last time you can sell him and still make a profit on your original purchase.  Over 24,000 have sold him off so far this week.

·        Denilson: The Arsenal midfielder will see his playing time drop in the next few weeks.  Why?  Because Arshavin will be played as a “midfielder” and therefore take away some of his playing time in the Arsenal rotation. 

·        Jermain Defoe: Serious injury & I warned you about this before.  Enough said.

My Moves:

My team is SoBphillyHarchester*. You can search for my team and take a look at it, I don’t mind, and see if you can find some ideas that may help your club.

• It was a truly dreadful week for scoring in the game in general and for my midfield in particular.  For now I am holding on to Gerrard and just giving him a seat on the bench.  I have sold off Bosingwa and the redcarded DeLap in a double move.  Coming in for me is the much heralded Vidic and the incredibly cheap Hayden Mullins on the strength of their upcoming double week matches.  With that in mind, Schwarzer of Fulham replaces Cech in goal.  I hope he gets to make a ton of saves in his match against ManU.
• As requested, my starting XI is Schwarzer, Vidic Jagielka Clichy Konchesky, Mullins Arteta Lampard(C), Mido Agbonnlahor Cole

Next week:

We will still be wrapping up the back half of this Gameweek and contending with the FA Cup matches.  Maybe a feature on a team of the week?  Who knows?  Stay tuned.  Thanks for reading…Be good.