Only one more flange left of the 2009/10 season.

Chelsea v Portsmouth Sat 3.00pm

Sadly it looks like MV will fall just short of winning the title after a long hard gruelling season. He does still have one last swing of the bat with his captain choice so all is not entirely lost. Whatever happens on Saturday many congrats to both MV and Reds for finishing on the podium - tremendous effort chaps

Back to the FA Cup Final - looks like a straight choice between Lamps and newly crowned golden-boot winner Drogba for the armband here. If anyone is still swinging and hopeful of a top 10 finish then other possible candidates might be Malouda, Anelka or Kalou but that would assume, unlike myself, that they must of had transfers to burn in the final run-in. With a reasonably strong Chelsea contingent in my squads I'm hoping for a strong finish and to hang on to my top 10 finish. Iguana, hopefully, will even be able to call upon the services of Kevin-Prince Boateng to help the cause

So sadly the Sunday update will mark the end of my two season reign as Champion . I suppose all good things have to come to an end - although after a storming October and November had propelled Iguana to the summit I started to believe that the treble (with odds of half a trillion to one if this was a game of chance) might actually become a reality. That dream didn't last long as MV and Mr Batchelor only allowed me a solitary day at the summit As can always happen in this game my fortunes sadly changed in the run up to Christmas and my attempt to stay in touch with the leaders ate considerable into my transfer reserves with my final transfer made on Feb 21st

Hopefully we will all be back in August where I will be looking to regain rather than retain my title. If you are crowned champion at the weekend - Graham Batchelor - we would all love to hear from you. We would even forgive you for a bit a lurking on condition that you tell us your story - it's a tradition on here after all.

Good luck to those who need it on Saturday. Hope all FISOers have a great relaxing Summer ........... watching the World Cup

Good luck everyone up there. There is still a hope for MV I reckon. Shame I couldn't join you all in contention this year

After dipping to a low of 1535th after 18 weeks and still outside the top 600 after 31 weeks, I have now hauled myself up to 174th and hope to get higher with 5 playing tomorrow. Going to star Drogba over Lampard.

ISO team hanging around in the 400s with just 3 to play (Drog* as no Lampard)

Good luck for the Final MV, and congrats to Reds as well.


Inspite of never giving it the full attention it deserves, the Telegraph do seem to have stuck by TFFO, so hopefully they'll continue to do so.

A TFFO World Cup would have been nice, but I guess we'll have to settle for TFF instead.

Cheers for the write up Odds.

I'm expecting a fairly tight game this weekend, but I'll be delighted for MV's sake if I'm wrong on this and he can somehow reclaim top spot. Strong finish from Reds to take third spot - another few weeks and we could have seen a 3-way scrap at the top.

As for my sides I'll be going for a final swing of the bat and will be starring at least 4 different players in a bid to pick up some of the minor prize money. Shame not to be in with a shout of a top 3 prize going into the last week this year, but glad of the consolation prizes on offer.

Good luck everyone, but especially MV.

Thanks for the final write up Oddsman
And thanks for all the good lucks for what will be my final swing of the bat

As for this season Oddsman… Yes… Long, hard and gruelling definitely sums up this season from my point of view!
That said though… I’m already looking forward to next seasons TFFO competition... Bring on those new player prices ASAP LOL

Nicely-worded seasonal sign-off, Oddsman.

Good luck to all those still in contention for prizes - particularly MV. Will be interested to read your story, regardless of today's outcome.

Great post Oddsman! Ditto the hope of hearing Mr Batchelor's story if he's out there. I'm sure we'll get to hear MV's tale either way, and I'm sure he's aware of plenty of Pigeon's story and may be able to fill bits of it in if we don't hear from its manager.


Good luck for the final day to both of you top two, fingers crossed you can swing the bat at the death as well as the Aussies did in today's cricket MV!

Whatever happens it's been a fantastic performance over the season from both of you, holding the top two places between you since December! It's a shame that one of you will miss out on 19k after such a close race, but hopefully you will get another go next season!

Personally I'm chuffed to be in 3rd, it's gonna be my best ever finish in any FF game and I've loved every flange of it*! I really hope it will be back again in July/August, can't wait to have another crack and see if I can go one or two better!

(*except maybe the two in April in which I had 3 missed penalties by star-men )

Anybody have that call and get it wrong? +7 v -3

Could be a 13pt swing with MOTM.

MV - how did it go? Doubt there was enough 'in' that game for you to do it.

I have Drogba+Lampard+Malouda in all 3 teams ( ), went for Drogba in two (due to his Wembley record), and Malouda in Generals for the sheer hell of it
Should've starred Cech, in hindsight!

I went for the wild swing of Boateng today LOL
And just before he missed his penalty I wondered if luck might be with me...

As it has turned out... none of my options could have made the difference today...
So regarding the battle for 1st... and if you read this Graham… Well played sir… and congrats on an awesome season!

Bad luck MV, I was thinking of your challenge when he missed the penalty, also figure you have Lamps? Still, an awesome season from you to take it so close if our predictions on todays scorings are correct.
Also, well done to the other Fiso'ers who are likely to get a podium finish.

I only had 3 players today in my top side but with Drogba on star, Cech & Ivanovic I can't complain with over 30 pts. Lets hope we can all have another go next season.

After Drogba's MOM confirmed on Match Facts, my trio have signed off with 22 (Generals), 30 (ISO) and 42.


Hard lines MV but it was always a massive uphill battle for you today. I'm sure anyone in your position would have done the same with Boateng, and the 'gamble' so nearly came off. Amazing that that single kick had a 35-point swing effect on the title race! At least it won't end up being decisive, but the fact Pigeon will end up with a 40-50+ point victory margin doesn't really do justice to the story of the season. Many congratulations though, of course, to Mr Batchelor!

Hard lines MV - but, all the same, congratulations on a magnificent campaign - ditto reds363.

Not sure why I switched star man from Drogba to Lampard in my Top 30 squad, yesterday (I did the reverse in ISO) - but at least I managed to hold on to 2nd place in YTM.

Thanks chaps
As there is some interest on these boards... I’ll post something with a little more detail a bit later...

In the mean time though, Congrats to Reds for his very strong finish in 3rd
And congrats to AK (with some mutual commiserations) for finishing an excellent 2nd in YTM

To answer Looney and Murfs questions from today... Yes, I had Lampard alongside Drogba and Boateng... and no there wasn’t enough in the game for me, even if I had gone down the Drogba captain route…
Today, Cold Pigeon trumped me with Cech, Ivanovic, Dindane, Lampard and Drogba… And as it happens, my 2 big ‘swings of the bat’… starring Rooney a week ago and starring Boateng today… made no difference to the final outcome...
All Credit to Mr Batchelor…

I too switched star man Drogba to Lampard and paid the penalty (no pun intended) - dropped to 10th, but still happy with that. My best fantasy season yet. Congratulations of course to MV, and also Mr Batchelor (who I think is a single entrant?) Looking forward to recommencing battle next season - fingers crossed - and hoping the Telegraph advertises it so entrant numbers rise rather than continuing the recent falling trend.

I am curious to know how many teams G Batchelor started with this year...
I've definitely seen a 2nd Pigeon named team of his in my golden boot searches during the year...
Fingers crossed he might find this site and give us his story

Hard luck MV - that was some final swing in the end I was expecting maybe Lamps instead of Drog ...

Strong finish in the end from the Animals with 4 in the top 25

Iguana's 7th place in TFFO matches Leopard's 7th place finish in TFF which is respectable

2 TFF Divisional Titles & Runner-up in TFF Fiso Winning SL leaves we with about £3.5k in prize money, which would have been nearer £5.5k had KP Boateng converted that penalty

I've already told 'the missus' Odds we're going to have to make cutbacks this year

P.S. I might be wrong but I believe Graham Batchelor had 4 teams.

Unlucky MV. Having been very open on how to really play this game, particularly your insightful comments on how to set up a squad in the ISO thread at the beginning of the season, once I was out of the running, I was hoping you'd win through in the end. Went for a couple of similar swings of the bat to you in the last two flanges, didn't get much worse than starring Rooney then a late switch from Drogba to Lampard in a Drogba/Lampard/Malouda team!

Another season when I didn't quite make it, but still a very enjoyable one. First look at the podium this year, but a long way from being there when it mattered in the end. A fantastic surge from Reds put paid to any thoughts of that – great work Reds!

Another season when my last trannies were used up bringing in Torres, who yet again failed to deliver - I for one will be very happy if he moves away from the premier league next season so I don't get tempted again!

Slight improvement in finishing 8th rather than 9th but 4 in the top 30 and half my teams in the top 100 was much the same story as last year. At least there are a few consolation prizes this time round.

Finally well done to Graham Batchelor for taking the spoils – be interesting to hear your story if you find yourself on FISO.

I think Boateng looked like a braver swing than it was considering the circumstances...
And in the end, Lampard offered me an unlikely possibility to overcome CPs 16 pt lead; his superior goals scored record and his 2 Chelsea defenders...

As for you Oddy... congrats on such a strong finish in TFFO and TFF, especially the divisional prizes in TFF
That's a nice little prize fund (well... little by your high standards I guess LOL)

Hopefully TFFO will still be around next year... in particular so that I can put to good use all that I have learnt this year (and learn from some of the silly errors I made during the year LOL) And maybe, just maybe… if i'm lucky (and not just a one year *near* wonder LOL) I’ll be able to battle against you and all the other regular Fiso contingent for the main prize again

Thanks Chocs And I totally agree with your thoughts on Torres LOL...

I started with him... and then dumped him...
Then I transferred him back in... and then I dumped him again...
And then one last time... I transferred him in and was then stuck with him... you'd think I would have learned LOL

Thanks Chocs (and everyone else for the congrats)

It was a great and hugely enjoyable TFFO season for me. It's my 4th year of playing, 3 teams every year, and since a 17th place for my ISO in my first year I've not had a single top 100 finish. I'm chuffed therefore that all three of my teams managed top-71 ( ) finishes, but of course even more chuffed at my first podium finish in any FF game!

My late surge with Generals was probably in no small part due to having above-average transfers left in the latter stages of the season (probably too many: I had 4 left on March 20th!! ). There were times when, due to these transfers in hand, I thought it may still be possible to catch the top two - but I had left it too late and my moves didn't quite come off. Malouda's contribution of just 1 goal and 1 assist in Chelsea's late 7-0 and 8-0 wins being one example of this, Carew's missed pen in the first of a trio of April standalones (thereby allowing Milner to take the pens in the next two) another. No complaints though, that's the way the cookie crumbles!


PS. On the Torres "issue", Generals managed to avoid him all season! While that was a great help in retaining my transfer reserves, maybe in hindsight (especially with my transfers left) there were times when a quick burst of points from him would really have helped.

I think I avoided Torres all season. That isn't as great as it sounds as I did so because I owned Gerrard who just ticked over in second gear all year, not getting enough points to justify his budget or being bad enough to have to get rid. The risk of 2 transfers to get an injury prone Torres never convinced me.

Cheers MV - first season I've really taken TFF seriously so pleased with the result overall - if a little gnarked that an extra £1.9k slipped through my fingers due to KPB penalty miss. Mustn't grumble too much as the last Pompey Cup final went my way


I'm sure a lot of people on here would like to here your story. You're also in the best position - as it appears Mr Batchelor is unlikely to post - to give us a flavour of his squad and roughly when you think he made his key moves.

Congrats MV and Reds and all those in the top 10 picking up a wee prize, also big congrats to Reds for ISO (what a great season you had!). MV and Pigeon have been right up there since September and set a relentless pace, but it took their Paula Radcliffe style front running to win it this year. Moral for next season, get up there early and stay there! Enjoy the summer and see you all next season.

Sorry, I know I'm a bit late responding on this but somebody at work made me aware of this site today and felt I had to reply following all the other comments, particularly the good wishes and congratulations - sent to an outsider.

I would especially like to say thank you to Chris Lay for a thrilling if traumatic battle but even more so for his congratulations and the the very sporting way he took the result - I only hope I would have been so gracious in the same circumstances.

As reds363 pointed out the final margin didn't do justice to the way the competition went and really it was like a very close horse race with whoever putting their head down on the line being the winner.

In terms of the story of the season that some of the posts have asked for I won't go into much detail - it seems a lot has been guessed anyway (is it possible to see other teams or is it just really excellent guesswork?) and it also seems a long time ago - though I still haven't got the money!

I did indeed have 4 teams although one was locked out as I picked a player from a championship side so that left three up and running. They all nearly fell at the first hurdle though as I went on holiday and forgot to set the teams up for the two weeks I was away - luckily I found access to a PC and managed to pick teams for all the games before my £1 worth of access ran out.

Other than that the main turning point was probably again down to luck as I was forced to drop Drogba due to the African Nations Cup and at the last minute decided to put Tevez in, just as he went on one of his purple patches. That helped send me from being an also ran to near the top very quickly - that and a three (or four?) goal blitz from Dindane of all people. Even my bravest/most inspired/most reckless/most stupid decision of dropping Rooney near the end of the season paid off only because Rooney promptly got injured - again.

I thought my luck had run out when I found out that Dindane had a ridiculous clause in his contract preventing him from playing unless Pompey paid a fortune nearly as big as their debt - especially galling as I'm a Saints fan. Worse seemed to follow when my players starting acting like England in a penalty shoot-out - three missing on the same day. Then, after carefully nurturing my transfers I was suddenly left with very few and a squad of Darren Andertons as well as the AWOL Dindane. Luckily it seems everybody else was in much the same boat.

In terms of what went well, probably a lot was down to the Chelsea contingent - especially Lampard all season and Drogba for nearly all of it. On the flip side keeping Rafael in my side until Christmas when he never played a game is something I cannot even begin to explain and delaying bringing Torres in was equally dumb.

All said and done though it was a rollercoaster ride where my confidence levels swung wildly - especially as I was only guessing at what MV had - and often badly (as to my horror when finding out the updates put me miles behind when I expected to be in front). It was a great experience but totally nerve-shredding - it felt like we were like two prizefighters slugging it out (not that I have any idea what that is like really).

So once again thanks to Chris and all the others that have posted their congratulations and thanks to Chris on what was an epic struggle. I'll try again next year but I have every expectation of being a one hit wonder! Cheers, thanks and good luck to everyone, Graham.

Hi Graham... with all the World Cup build up going on I have only just spotted your post

Thanks... And what a battle!
As you say… a season long slug fest… that included eleven changes of the leadership between our duelling teams
I'm totally with you that 'nerve-shredding' summed up the season! LOL

It's great to have heard a part of your story here...
You certainly managed Cold Pigeon very well and are a deserving winner.

I must admit to being incredibly curious about your starting 18 players...
If you've seen my Mindvampire6 post in this forum... you'll see that I, and others were pretty sure of your team at the end of the season but had less of an idea of your starters and early transfers... (In answer to your question... I deduced and calculated your team from analysing your points and goals scored shown on the leaderboard throughout the season)
I never worked out your starting squad though (as reverse engineering a starting 18 is incredibly hard)… It’s very interesting to find out that you had Rafael in your team until Christmas… and it makes me wonder what other unknown players you had in your squad during the season ... (If you have a few mins, it would be great if we could all see your starting squad?)

So... Congratulations on a sterling performance...
And i'm glad to hear that you'll be playing again next year... and dare I say, now that you've found FISO... your odds of defending your TFFO crown may have just gone up a fair bit

Many thanks for posting!
Chris

Have you both been paid by the Telegraph?

No... I'm sure we will be before the start of next season though

Tricky to name my starting 18 as I don't keep a record of my squad, the site is no longer available and I have a terrible memory. So this maybe a little off so apologies but it went something like:

Goalies: Reina, Cech (ever presents)

Dodgy Defence: Rafael, Vermaelen, Insua, Samba (I think), Bassong and Ivanovic (last two fairly early if not from the start)

Midfield: Lampard (my only FF rule is to always have Lampard in the team unless a leg has fallen off), Gerrard, Cahill (I think, and who I ditched for Fabregas mid-season), SWP (who I eventually ditched for anybody who was not SWP), Kranjcar and Gomez (yes, you read that right and who even a one-legged Lampard would have been better than).

Attack: Drogba, Bent, Rooney, Defoe. It was a big plus having a settled, high scoring front four from the start and they all stayed until Drogba went to the Africa Nations Cup and Tevez came in. Torres was the only other striker used I think.

I'm sure there were the usual comedy transfers along the way but thankfully I can't remember them either. One thing that helped, perversely, is that I tended to keep injured players in which kept some transfers back but the players also had a happy knack of doing well when they came back. Not sure I would have been so patient had I been doing as well from the start. Hopefully that's give you a flavour and sorry I can't be more sure or revealing (amateurish I know).

Thanks again for the congrats and look forward to next season. CP. (And no, I still don't have the money .)

Just received my movie cheque