Transfers and Captain changes in national place order.
1 and 2
2 and 2
2 and 1
0 and 2
1 and 4

Running low on gas too. Torres has messed my strategy up somewhat tonight so have had to improvise with a mix of Kuyt and Maxi. Disaster with injuries have resulted in me not using the Captaincy changes

Yeah im pretty similar to you in that i have burnt so many transfers just over the last 4 weeks. Good move with the Maxi sub tonight. Can't imagine that he is too popular a pick.

So I wonder what everyone's thoughts are now on the real lead with 5 days now passed since the new transfers came into affect? Mr Allen is sitting pretty for now but leads such as his have been lost before. Must keep the faith.

It's not so much the lead itself as having four teams in the top six. He can afford to cover so many alternatives it's going to be hard for anyone to catch him. Impressive stuff.

Good luck to the FISOers still involved

Hi Art,

What are you saying about Mr Allen having four teams in the top six giving him a variety of alternatives is indeed true. However, it is his top team that seems so far ahead that is giving me the most concern. If you eliminate his top team then I think the other three teams are very close to the chasing pack and very possible to catch. All credit must go to Mr Allen for getting 4 teams within the top six and he is certainly the big favourite to win. Saying that I do remember last year Andrew Dibbs was the run away leader by roughly the same margin and was clawed back, be it he only had the one team in the top ten. Also Bill Ashton had a number of teams up in the top 20 come the same point last year. This year we also saw Frankie Frog and the mega multi entrant "Prosser" start off well and have numerous teams within the top quarter of the leaderboard only to see these teams fade.

So while I would agree and say Mr Allen is clear favourite, I think there has been some historical evidence to suggest there is a glimmer of hope at least to the chasing pack. Maybe its me being over optimistic but its this faith that is the only thing keeping me going else I might as well throw in the towel now and thats pretty sad considering I have a team within the top fifty.

No, that's not over optimistic. If I was on the leaderboard I'd still feel I was in with a fair chance. 60 points isn't that much. I've just had a look at last years and the top team was 60 clear in March but over 60 off the lead two months later. It was similar the year before.

There does seem to be a lack of big scoring players around this season though which might make it harder to close a gap. The big scorers from last two years have all been injured and/or a bit useless - Rooney, Torres, Gerrard, Lampard, Van Persie, Fabregas, Ronaldo's gone, to a lesser extent the likes of Defoe, Young, Milner. Drogba's about the only one that's still half decent and even he's barely outscoring the likes of Andy Caroll.

So we've been left with a lot of similar upper middle range players all much of muchness - Nasri, Cahill, Nani etc. There isn't any outstanding, or even quite good, defence. It's made for a more interesting Premier League but it's screwed my fantasy teams right up

Yep indeed and that equates to a possible 120 point swing in 2 months. Am hoping beyond hope that something similar happens this year around. But have to honestly say, extremely well played to Mr Allen at this point.

So whats everyones transfer count at this point in time. I have 14 and 15 left in my two best performing teams. Am hoping the likes of Prosser are burning them away and that they finally drop from the leaderboard

Nearly let my heart rule my head and went Liverpool mad last night, glad I resisted!

Mr Wilbert,

Your team is flying at the moment. 25th overall on the leaderboard. Do you harbour aspirations of catching Mr Allen and his monopoly of teams at the top. I also noticed a Tony Stirland somewhere on the leaderboard. Any relation to you Art ?

Still trying not to make major mistakes and hanging on in the top 100 but my targets have altered to getting two teams into the top 100 and one of them in the top 50.

Much more experienced FISOer's are above me - I recognize jonesbones and Chuck Taylor in joint 16th and a 100 points behind first place. I would be very happy if the distance from my top team and theirs were maintained until the end of the season.

Chuck made a good point a while back about the winner only allowed to win one prize so people lower down the leaderboard may get into the money this year.

Any advice from fellow FISOers would be appreciated as always

Yeah, it's my dad. That's my actual dad, not actually me under a different name. I suspect all of his teams are above mine

The annoying thing is he pretty much copied my starting teams. I think that side on the leaderboard was only one player different from my Chelsea based side that's currently about 6,000th. Shows the difference a few good early transfers can make

Was just looking at the leaderboard and although Mr Allen still has 3 teams in the top three it does look like the chasing pack have made up some ground. Mr Allen if i recall a few weeks back had one team that was miles ahead but now has his top 3 teams literally on the same points. Will be interesting to see how the next couple of weeks pan out.