Interview is published at:
http://www.fiso.co.uk/viewarticle.php?id=274

Link to previous thread re the questions to ask him:
http://www.fiso.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32127

I reckon it looks like next season YTM will have a lot of new customers if the Sun's interview is anything to go by?
Can't believe he has tried to justify the credibility of their ratings - which have always been & always will be a joke.

Absolute bollocks lies and bullshit.
Sorry Chris but why couldnt you of put him more on the spot with at least Distin and Berbatov 4 goals against Carlton Cole no goals and oh eff what alot of lies.

i thought you were going to be more Jeremy Paxman on the interview chris
you know, we know, we all know that most of the answers he has given you here are crap.
sorry mate has to be said. We all know the respective reporters do not award the marks in the Sun.

Why didn't you chin him at the end of the interview too, or at least throw him out of the window preferably 15 floors up.
Its not on Chris sorry mate.

150 players only have more than 50 teams
BOLLOCKS
i have 60 and i bet 100 people on Fiso have 50

Deauville we all know is full of shit, but i still beleive he enterd 8 million teams and not jsut 548 or what ever number it was he stated.

Lets ask quigley and co how many teams they entered i bet its more than 500

Just get another interview and shoot the bustard.

Interesting read. The thing that really stood out for me was the emphasis on understanding their core user base. They are appealing to the wishes of a mass-market who, they feel, do not want a stats-only based game and their player numbers make it hard to disagree with them.

The biggest surprise was that Mick Robins actually plays the game himself. Don't most T&Cs prohibit the participation of the game organisers?

One thing reply that didn't add up, for me, was the suggestion that taking MoMs from the polls on Club Web Sites was open to abuse. Of course that is possible - but I would have thought that relying on the opinion of one single reporter was a greater risk and I think that some of the awards clearly illustrate that point.

The big disappointment was the indication that, despite the substantial increase in the number of teams this season, they won't be increasing their prize pool next season. Unfortunately, I can't see their competitors doing anything to force a re-think on that one.

It looks like nothing much is going to change next season - In a way I find that re-assuring, although I hope that he takes on board the need to organise monthly stats for mini leagues.

I don't know why his stats should be doubted Dot - you seem to have an obsession with Deauville

The funniest reply was the straight bat reiteration of the criteria of marking by journalists at the match. Jeez - applying all those to one player and coming up with a mark would be tough enough - but all 22

Good job Chris - some interesting insights into the politics of fantasy football.

no crumbs there to suggest the game won't just continue to deteriorate.

interesting to know a small amount about micks background but once you start telling lies about all matches being scored over 90 minutes you can't believe anything else that is said.

chris did ask some useful questions but they were never answered fully.

i certainly won't be playing and paying any more to what i consider are the most disingenuous crowd running fantasy games that have made several catastrophic errors.

basically i agree with dot

andy

Not exactly John Humphries, was it. He got off likely in my humble and the answers too often were evasive and not credible.
Last years technical problems cost me a prize in the rugby game but this was not pursued at all...anything to do with chris's performance?
Its not small beer when transfers cant be made..its not all a mccrap chicken marketing wrap. Poor interview, poor answers, poor players, rich organizers. What a shock. Mcfiso is going to the dogs.

hi randall,

sorry to hear that.

the transfer system scr*w*d up and told me my transfers were made in the darts game and didn't give me a chance to pay for them i contacted the guy who chris suggested and he never bothered getting back to me. pretty certain it didn't cost a penny though - just irritation.

the king of the punters superleague was also scr*w*d up last year as you couldn't enter it from memory.

i did know about the rugby blunder - they should really have cancelled the game and refunded entries - but of course the entry fees are actually the only thing they care about.

i seem to remember problems (very vaguely so i could be wrong) with either the cricket game and or the rugby game where you were allowed to enter teams that didn't conform to the rules.

if i ever got into contention with no basis for the ratings and such ridiculous scoring i believe that after the stick that i have given them the dream team marks would not go my way in the last few weeks.

i think they have lost £250 to £500 annual revenue from me (likely the lower end).

the games have certainly deteriorated since mick took over and some employees of the times (worst ever run fantasy games) got involved.

it's goodbye from me and is it goodbye from dot, mephisto .............

andy

I think your in a world of 'ONE' who believes any of those answers.

Deaville had 4000 teams alone, as i said i reckon 100 people on Fiso have more than 50 teams

Mick Bobbins or whatever his name is
like all the journalists (comic writers sorry) at the Sun has a good line in SCHPILL.

im more than up YTM next season if they continue as the are.

just hope andi_jones creates a nice mini league spread sheet for it like he has the sun, otehrwise id be screwed.

as for the interview, intersting as said to hear that they play the game themselves. i wonder what his team is?

His team has Distin, Carlton Cole, Marcus Bent BDF to name but a few.

these terms and conditions......please understand that i never seek a refund, I dont want compensation, I want discretion and an ability to react to changing circumstances. It is this stonewall procedural bureacracy that causes such frustration. Fantasy games are hard enough to win without facing such crass contempt; for me it vandalises the very soul of the exchange, ie you give us a fiver x by however many and we give you a chance to win a decent lump o readies. Its like stealing sweets from babies.
The telegraph too this year has suffered from the same log in problems which cost me early access to santa claws and 15 points. Like cattle, we bellow in the darkness and sing songs till the slaughterhouse. MOOOO

it really wouldnt surpirse me at all.

If you say there are 390,000 single entrants ('just over half') then the remaining 60,000 multi-entrants own 375,000 teams (just over 6 each).

If you say 400,000 then 50,000 multi-teamers own 365,000 teams or about 7 each.

I'm sure Dot can adjust the maths by taking Deauville and his teams out of the equation

I'm not sure how easy that is to manage with 15 transfers to be used at anytime.

Most people play The Sun, because they like the Transfer Window idea. Enter a team and only have to make changes twice a season.

Unsatisfactory carefully worded replies were put forward, but I thought Chriss put some good Questions to Mick, but a few answers given don't really add up. A polite suggest from me would be for Chriss to keep a line of communication open by email, to offer a professional players point of view on there business model, as if as expected there is a loss of clients because the bigest percentage of players who have 20 teams or less go to you the manager then the loss of users might make them change the rules the year after next. thats the only way I think these guys are going to sit up and listen.

Some of us Fiso members have actually met reporters in the past, and the Reporter said they used to do it, but then distanced themselves from the marking side of the game, and told us somebody else does it. This could be a whitle lie on the reproters behalf to be honest, as the last thing they want to here constantly is disgruntled fantassy players asking them why they only give a 6, two months ago to some bod. whoever does give the ratings its just not good enough, as like one of the fiso members posted earlier, they dont seem to be able to do it properly. Incidently, does anyone know if you the manager have a rating system where just the reporter does the marks for all 22 players and the subs?
would be ineterested to see if a few of us sun players who have followed this interview went to " You The Manager" for Euro 2008, then during the game there was a right ratings error or two, and this guy called tom come on the Fiso message board and got into a communication with us, and a comprimise was agreed too.
I have decided I will experiment with You The Manager during EURO 2008 .does anybody know if there website is upto much?

hi nick,

the website is much better than the suns and the game is aswell.

tom will also deal with queries and suggestions in a quick efficient, sensible manner. much better than the hot air of marketing spin

strange thinking back to how poor it was comparatively before tom became involved.

andy

Thanks Andy, I will try it at Euro 2008, and The premier season too.

ive just read the article as it certainly wasnt an interview

i thought this bloke was gonna be grilled,obviously not

its no good having questions without following up with specific facts and gripes

it was like reading gordon brown getting interviewed by the bunty,complete rubbish, but im sure the backslapping lunch was enjoyed

why doesnt this bloke post on fiso like ytm does,is it because he knows that we will ask him proper questions

sorry chris,this was a waste of time and now i understand why it took so long to happen,it must have took all this time to think up the questions and spin answers

the sun are cheating the public and obviously has fiso in its back pocket as well,to say im disappointed is an understatement

eff me Dot!

I agree with you completely!!!!

I may not have phrased it quite like that but what a total cop out!

very good

Don't play the game but read the article and agree with Binky and others.

Was looking forward to reading a proper interview as even though I don't play I have seen the farce they are.

It's like seeing your player having a penalty saved by your closest opponents keeper

yeah, its spin. I have been looking on the ytm forum on fiso and the ytm reps are answering feedback on there new cup, and being real helpful and trying to be fair with there rules and regs and requests. That is what we deserve, and its what I would offer, if I wanted to call myself the best fantassy football game in britain, which the sun do.
he sounds all well meaning but he doesent really see the ratings as a big problem, and call the reporters professionals. The problem with that is professionals make many mistakes in all works of life, so systems are changed to solve the problem.
This answer here is just psychobable to try and confuse the problem, and blatantly sideswipes the issue which isnt a good sign:

mick answers: "The News of the World use the same criteria and apply their own judgement based on how their match reporter saw the match. The News of the World also have to apply additional decisions in order to make the Dream Team of the Day conform to the selection rules i.e. positional classifications, 4-3-3 formation and 2 per club. This can therefore result in differences between any rating for a player in each newspaper."

whats that got to do with the fact there reports on there own back pages say stuff like Berbatov was on fire, but then give him just a 2.
what if the reporter who watched the match thought he was an 8, but then he was overided but some sports managing editor, then said, " no, give the 8 to carlton cole". The notw part of the game needs to be fixed or got rid of.
did anyone get an email back off the news of the world about there complaints?

I don't agree totally with Dot. I agreed with everything but he should have thrown him out of the window from at least 20 floors up

Can 4-4-2 formation not be used in Dream Team? When there are 2 games on a Saturday, how can 2 players per club be in the team (unless they are picked from non Dream Team players)?

My other thoughts are that it was a professionally conducted interview which it had to be to keep up FISO's respect. While not pleasing everyone or going into fine detail on "Berbsgate" it would've compromised Chris' and FISO's credibility in some ways to have done so. Therefore as far as was possible, the interview was well carried out.

And guys you can't just take an answer from him and then say "Well that's a lie!" as that would be the end of the interview! Give Chris a break and thank him for his efforts.

No but you can keep asking the same question until you get a decent answer

Not a critisism of Chris, he's not Jeremy Paxman, but the interview tells us absolutely nothing at all except for one thing, as far as the Sun are concerned nothing will be changing as there's nothing wrong with anything!

I suggest Mick robins is emailed by chriss and told that the mirror group are offering customer service feedback on the you the manager game on this website, and the sun dream team players are asking why cant we have this? Natalie and Sophie are not included in key decisions and so cannot answer the questions of sharp eyed veteran fantassy football players. we need better customer service, so when errors are made, they come on and say we have noticed this, and will endevour to fix the problem. I will email the sun dream team too, and ask for the same but ask natalie to pass the email onto Mick or a manager who makes decisions.

Give Chris a break and praise his efforts. As for Bobbins, did anyone really expect anything other than spin. He's skirted round answers, told a few porkies and said nothing about the game itself, of any substance at least. Not got a scooby and not the game for me going forward.