I'm glad to see I'm facing another heavyweight this GW. I like to get these out of the way early doors.

best of british, sir - although I'm hoping history repeats itself.

And to you too, at this stage it really is about getting points on the board. I really don't want to be waiting on the final day of the group stage hoping things go my way.

Things are already starting to take shape after two rounds of games.

In City, sir_john_grimes secured top spot on FPL points with a 79-25 pounding of Ironfist (the top and bottom scorers of the GW in the Apprentice). The defeat leaves the Israeli already facing an uphill struggle to make a second appearance in the play-offs. SP4 dropped down to 2nd despite defeating grob, while Richt springs upto 3rd on the back of the win over Calvin1979.

Over in Austerity, a 60-26 victory against Jeffersdn leaves Colbert on top and ahead of Abhishekrocked, whose win over coryphaeus means she remains winless thus far. blah's thankless task against Taff Murray resulted in predicatable (sorry!) defeat and he, like Ironfist, even at this early stage can only focus on a top 8 finish.

Alas my WC played one GW too late to achieve such shameful results in all competitions...

Round 3 this midweek has some cracking head-ons in the offing:

In City, early leader Sir_john_grimes must defeat Brightwater to maintain his 100% record, whilst it's 2nd versus 3rd as SP4 faces Richt in the hope of finishing this midweek on top should SJG stumble.

In Austerity, Colbert takes on Coryphaeus in hope of consolidating his place at the summit, and there is a '6-pointer' at the bottom with golden bear and Crooker hoping they can pick up their first win whilst condemning the other to a third straight defeat.

Three weeks, and already we are starting to see some surprising contenders emerge.

In City, Richt is the only remaining manager will a 100% record in the group, following a 60-51 victory over Spencer4. Richt leapfrogs into 1st as a result of the 71 all draw between Sir_john_grimes and Brightwater. stuboy goes third with a high scoring win over The Real Slim Shady.

In Austerity, Colbert went down to a 67-60 defeat against Coryphaeus, and drops down to 5th in the process. New leader, AMc, saw off Abumies and is now only one of a two in the division to retain a perfect record - Abhishekrocked keeping up the pace with an easy 54-33 victory over Surprised. blahblah is marooned at the bottom on the back of a third straight whipping, this time at the hands of Hogmeister. Crooker won the early basement battle with golden bear to go up to 11th.

GW24 preview to follow late tonight...

This game sucks.

I agree. I drew last week and have lost the other two weeks by a single point. Stupid game. ( )

... and on to Round 4.

City preview - Richt will feel confident of extending his 100% record against a pointless Isalla. Sir_john_grimes faces a tough assessment of his powers of recovery versus a scorned SP4, whilst stuboy needs to continue his good form against baganboy if he is to take advantage of any hiccups. The Real Slim Shady has a chance to put points on the board as he plays fellow struggler Fingerpass.

Whilst in Austerity, new leader AMc plays Jeffersdn knowing closest rival Abhishekrocked will be expected to take all three points away to blahblah. If Hogmeister is to climb above either or both of them, he must first win his encounter with pre-season favourite, Taff Murray. It might be early doors, but the Surprised-Discogod and Abumies-golden bear matches are basement battles which may ultimately determine who can mount a credible challenge for a place in the play-offs.

Someone gets a last gasp winner against me and suddenly I've dropped to fifth

Those responsible will be made to pay.

just had a look and I've got the mighty Ironfist this week.

ahm... I'm ranked 326,505 atm in what is my worst season so far.
You are ranked 11,158 atm which is not even your best this season or ever.
Thus, I assume that when you say "the mighty Ironfist" you mean real life rather than FISO's Spring 16

"Pointless" is just because I wanted to give everyone a head start, to make things more interesting

Round 4 has been and gone, and the two divisions are starting to take shape.

In City, Richt is three points clear at the top, continuing his 100% record with a 90-81 win over rock-bottom Isalla. In the Match of the Day, SP4 defeated Sir_john_grimes by a single point to jump up to 4th and level on 9pts with 2nd place Grob and 3rd place baganboy, who walloped stuboy 101-68. Fingerpass is still without a win after falling to defeat against The Real Slim Shady, his first victory of the campaign.

In Austerity, AMc and Abhishekrocked remain in the top two and with perfect records following textbook wins over Jeffersdn and blahblah. Whilst that defeat means blahblah remains bottom, he isn't alone on zero, as golden bear was cruelly denied even a solitary point as he lost 78-77 to Abumies, who is now in 8th. Surprised won that other basement battle with Discogod to go 10th in the division.

Grr I hate H2H leagues - I have the same total points as the league leader yet I've lost 3/4 of my games...

Ah well there's even more people have scored higher and aren't in the lead either I guess...

This is just taking the piss now......

mighty enough.

The fifth round of games marks one-third of the 'regular' season:

In City, undoutbedly the Match of the Day is grob v baganboy in a 2nd v 3rd encounter, whilst yorkshire dragon will be the next to try and spoil Richt's perfect start to the season. Should the above games end favourably, Spencer4 could go top if he defeats Calvin1979. The pick of the other matches is the defending champion Moist von Lipwig's clash with tough customer Brightwater.

In Austerity, the duel between AMc and Abhishekrocked continues, as they play coryphaeus and Viva respectively. The bottom two, blahblah and golden bear, provide the opposition for leadership chasers Colbert and Taff Murray, whilst 3rd place tenpinterry faces an apparently tougher test against Jeffersdn.

baganboy's in luck,as I've injury worries this week,but we'll turn up and give our best nonetheless.Good luck,bb.

And now for a quick review of the fifth round of matches (play this for added atmos):

In City, grob 30-48 baganboy was the big news last weekend, and with Richt falling to his defeat at the hands of yorkshiredragon, this means baganboy is now on top. Spencer4 is also on 12 points after beating Calvin1979, whilst champion Moist von Lipwig compounded an already bad week for Brightwater by taking a 40-34 win over the pre-season favourite. Also, Ironfist made it three wins on the bounce with victory against rock bottom Isalla.

Whilst in Austerity, there were some incredible scorelines across the eight fixtures, with all of the top five losing! AMc remains on top despite losing 53-48 to coryphaeus, a result which leaves the league's lady in 4th, whilst Abhishekrocked stays 2nd after being put to the sword by Viva. These were not the most shocking results, however. Derided on this page as no-hopers for these games, blahblah and golden bear hit back in imperious style to record their first wins respectively - golden bear's was a tight 46-43 encounter versus Taff Murray, but blahblah utterly destroyed Colbert 66-37 to leave the Panda in disarray. Jeffersdn's pounding of tenpinterry (going into this game in 3rd) was equally resounding; 70-41 the final score. That means Jeffersdn is now in the top 8. Hogmeister snuck under the radar and into 3rd on the back of narrow win against Surprised.

There is no one in either league with a 100% record, and Isalla is the only manager yet to secure a point, whilst he, Fingerpass and Discogod haven't tasted their first victory of the campaign up to this point.

The sixth round of matches in Spring 16 kicks-off tomorrow:

In City, newly installed frontrunner baganboy faces 12th place man, The Real Slim Shady. Spencer4 takes on defending champion Moist von Lipwig in a potential cracker, whilst Richt will hope to return to the summit with a win over Brightwater, still a tough test despite last week's events. Meanwhile, Ironfist is targetting entry into the top 8 and revenge for his quarter final exit last season in the game with Tacalabala. Bottom place Isalla must surely see his game against 14th place Calvin1979 as a very reasonable chance to get himself off the mark, whilst Fingerpass also needs to grab the opportunity against fellow struggler crispybits (13th).

Austerity sees what is undoubtedly the Match of the Day as 2nd plays 3rd - the result of Abhishekrocked v Hogmeister will determine who leads the league should AMc fall to defeat against Crooker. That being said, Coryphaeus might yet go top if she can see off golden bear and the aforementioned games end in a draw. Given their obvious quality, as shown by FPL points, it is a surprise that the clash of Taff Murray and Colbert is not the must-see game this weekend.

Round-up of round 6:

In City, every game meant something! The leader going into the round, baganboy, suffered a slender loss to The Real Slim Shady and slips to 3rd. This allowed either Spencer4 or Richt to go top with a win. In fact, neither managed it, with Richt going down 58-45 to Brightwater, whilst SP4 could only draw with Moist von Lipwig, but does go top by just one point. Five, yes five, are a single point behind SP4, with yorkshiredragon now the highest placed of those chasing following his win over Sir_john_grimes. grob is also in the pack after his win over stuboy, and Ironfist sneaks in with his fourth win on-the-bounce as he took revenge against Tacalabala for last season's quarter final defeat, final result a tight 53-52. Meanwhile, Isalla is now the only manager without a win after his sixth defeat to Calvin1979, whilst Fingerpass finally picked up his first victory against crispybits and leapfrogs him into 14th. 10 of the 16 in the division are within 3pts of the summit!

Whilst in Austerity, the battle ground appears to be forming amongst those fighting to just qualify for the top 8 and those all important play-offs. AMc's 49-all draw with Crooker left the door open for the winner of the big game - Abhishekrocked v Hogmeister - to go top. Result? Victory for Abhishekrocked, 56 points to 46. Coryphaeus stays in touching distance, though, of the new leader with a narrow 50-49 win over golden bear. That was a very tough loss for GB to take as, due to Discogod's maiden win over Jeffersdn, he now finds himself rock bottom. Emotions would have been similarly polarised after the result between blahblah and Viva, as blahblah's success in that head-to-head means that the pair are level, although blah has a markedly inferior FPL points tally. And what of the Taff Murray-Colbert encounter? 3pts for 'The Nation', which sees the leader on FPL points go into 4th. Ominous indeed for the rest...

Hard to take? HARD TO BLOODY TAKE?

I've now lost 5 games, this latest one being the THIRD I've lost by ONE point...............I'm not bitter or anything though.

Ominous

Round 7 in liiiiiiive(!):

In City, if the unbelievable comes to pass, and pointless and rock bottom Isalla beats leader Spencer4, any one of 9 managers could find themselves as leader if they can get a big enough haul of FPL points. Front runner of the chasing pack and 2nd is yorkshiredragon, who faces Calvin1979, currently struggling to convert his good showing in the Apprentice into wins here. baganboy should be in with a shout if he can overcome a tricky tie with Sir_john_grimes. While he would need a lot to go his way for him to finish GW27 on top, stuboy does head into his clash with Richt as FPL points leader in the division.

In Austerity, like SP4, Abhishekrocked also faces a top v bottom game against the very angry golden bear. The peloton is somewhat smaller in this division: 2nd place AMc needs to beat blahblah to take advantage of any slip up to go top, although a big victory for Coryphaeus in her game with Discogod might see her reach the summit come end of play. Should all three falter, Colbert could leapfrog all of them, but Hogmeister must be defeated first. If The Dude Abides is to finish in top 8, something which he failed to do last season, a sensational win over Taff Murray would be recommended.

I believe this is the GW my ascending starts. Too bad it'll have to be the current leader that walks away with defeat...

Round 7 flashback:

In City, the fairly predictable happened as Spencer4 beat bottom place Isalla by 75 to 55 to make it 5 wins in the 7 matches played so far and stay top. Richt got the second narrowest margin of victory and joint lowest winning score against stuboy, 41-39 the final score, but a win is a win and ensures he stays in within a point of SP4. yorkshiredragon slips from 2nd to 5th after defeat to Calvin1979, whilst Sir_john_grimes proved too much of a challenge for baganboy, and the regal one goes up to 3rd. Brightwater, with a tight 65-63 win over Ironfist, sees the pre-season favourite into 4th.

In Austerity, as expected, the top 3 did beat the bottom 3. Abhishekrocked won a low scoring tie against basement occupant golden bear to stay top, whilst AMc and Coryphaeus secured the 3pts against blahblah and Discogod respectively. While there was nothing he could do to improve his placing, Colbert did come out victorious over Hogmeister to stay 4th and drop the Hog to 6th, allowing Abumies to slide into 5th with win a over Jeffersdn. Arguably the big story of the entire round is Taff Murray's hammering at the hands of The Dude Abides, turning over the Sociopath over 77-35 to go up to 7th.

Well this has worked out beautifully. Through my constant effort to build good karma, I have now earned the opportunity to knock one-time Panda Abhishekrocked off top spot and replace him at the summit this week

Tacky, for some reason I decided to Google your username (don't ask) and was pleasantly surprised to stumble into some stuff about Helenion Herrera (who I had never heard of ). Very interesting stuff.

GW 28 marks the half way point and Round 8 of the Spring 16:

In City, leader Spencer4 takes on Ironfist in a match pairing last season's regular season 2nd and 3rd place finishers. 2nd place Richt faces Fingerpass, who is looking for a third win in a row. Sir_john_grimes has no easy task in taking on stuboy, whilst Brightwater needs the other games to go his way to get on top spot, but a good win over Calvin1979 is a must first. Of the other ties, the pick is probably the head-to-head between Grob and The Real Shady Shady, as the pair share an identical record in joint 7th... how spooky is that?!

In Austery, the Match of the Day across the entire Spring 16 is undoubtedly leader Abhishekrocked's clash with heavyweight contender Colbert. Should 'The Nation' take down the pacesetter, Colbert can go top but needs AMc and Coryphaeus to slip up as well. Although Taff Murray has experienced a turrid time of late, AMc would be foolish to not take him seriously. Coryphaeus is in for a real fight as well, as she faces The Dude Abides; scores of 77 and 51 in recent weeks show some class from the laid back one. Bottom place golden bear has a great opportunity to throw off his rotten luck as he faces 14th place blahblah.