A Marathon Not A Sprint Fantasy Football League

Here is the draft for the 2012/2013

Division 1

Alan                            8

Andy W                      6

Chris S                        11

Damon                        7

Erik                             15

Ernst                           3

Jim and John           4

Jon & Paul                14

Kamiel                        5

Mike                            12

Pat & Steve                 13

Paul S                           2

Per                                10

Rens                             16

Robert C                       9

Thomas                        1

Division 2

Christian                    1

Darren                         11

Fred                             14

Guido M                      13

Ian B                           10

Jon                              2

Julian                          3

Mark and Ivo             4

Mark M                       16

Morten                         12

Neil & Anthony          6

Paul C                           9

Pete R                           7

Peter J                          5

Rob B                          15

Wayne                        8

Division 3

Andrew Watson:       8

Bo                                  6

Chris G                        1

Daniel                         15

Darren                        9

Guido Bouw               12

Heino                          16

Henrik                         2

James                          4

Jason                           14

Jens                             13

Lee & Mike                 7

Nigel                           10

Palle                            11

Sean                            5

Steve L                        3

Hi all

Just a quick update – I’ve added a facebook group page as updates to the site can be notified there as well as the somewhat barren twitter feed (@AMNASFFL) – discussion will always be as it were through mail and the like but it is just another notification method

Thanks

Wayne

Hi all,

As we enter the last four weeks of the season, I thought I’d send a whistle-stop overview of the state of the ongoing competitions ahead of the start of the Worthy Cup this weekend.

Division One

At the top of the table proper, it now looks as if the title is Knickson Meatballs’ to lose, with the leaders holding a 44 point lead over the second-placed Disco Bay Rowdies. Those teams will definitely finish in the top two spots but the scrap for third place looks as if it’s going all the way to the last kick of the season, with just 29 points separating The Dark Knights, in third, and Biggy Smalls, in ninth. One good or, indeed, bad week for someone during the run-in could prove decisive.

There’s a rare old ding-dong going on down in the relegation zone, as well, with bottom side Arsene About Face only 18 points from safety and the tenth-placed Stoertebeker Hawks just 23 points ahead of the third-bottom Sleeping Giants. Nobody in the bottom seven will be resting easy just yet and it very much looks as if a record points haul will be needed to avoid the drop: the equivalent of needing 48 points to stay in the Premier League.

The FA Cup reflects a remarkable change in fortune with Eline’s Favorites, second from bottom in the TP, now a virtually-unassailable 12 points clear of the rest of the field. The cluster of teams battling for second place is also largely from the wrong half of the table proper and all of them, from Bananagem in second down to A Load of Bull in sixth, have a fair shout of claiming the runners’-up medal after the Wembley final.

Division Two

RoofTop Ballweavers consolidated their position at the top during March and are now favourites for the title, holding a 32 point lead over Fancy L’Estartit Warriors. The remaining podium finishes are still up from grabs, with Dynamo Doetinchem just four points behind the Tits and Vemb Sh!tkickers still just about in touching distance.

At the bottom, it’s fair to say Dinkum Dubstars have already disappeared in a puff of incompetency but a recent upturn in the fortunes of Go Behind Seagulls means the second-bottom side now have at least a prayer of survival. A similar surge from Jim’s No-Nonsense XI has carried them out of the drop zone at the expense of ClassactsUsingNorthernTactics. The current form of Skull & Crossbones is no doubt causing anguish in Berlin as the side currently in twelfth have seen the teams below regularly outscoring them in recent weeks. Forest Forever in eleventh aren’t yet safe, either, but current form suggests they’ll have enough in the tank to get them over the line.

It’s wide open in the FA Cup as the Gobbies move a point ahead of Djarnis United, with the Nonces just another two points further back and Grandsons of God FC three points behind them. The eventual winner is likely to come from that group but On My Own Turf in fifth and the Tits, again, in sixth may still be able to pick up silver.

Division Three

Willing But Unable FC are on course to steam out of the basement with a surely-uncatchable 49 point lead over long-time front-runners The Impressarios of Spank. The Monkeys, in fact, are in danger of completely missing out on what was a seemingly-inevitable promotion just a month ago, as Saedding Guldager Allstars and FC Old-House Divided continue to make gains on them. Only 15 points now separate them from the fourth-placed Divs and the gaffer’s bum will be squeaking like a rusty hinge in a hurricane.

The name of Buffalo Soldiers is already being whittled into the 2011/2012 Wooden Spoon and even the best efforts of the plummeting Mountain View Muppets are unlikely to lead to the sandpaper being called for.

A double is very much on in AMNAS’s much-maligned underworld: The Willies moved to the top of the FA Cup pile during last weekend’s semi-finals, with the defensive consequences of Tottenham’s Wembley twatting piling on the misery for the Monkeys, who now find themselves under heavy pressure from the Allstars for a podium finish in a second competition.

Intertoto

It’s a busy time for the men from Esbjerg, as they also prepare to take on the might of The Dark Knights in the first of the weekend’s Intertoto semi-finals. With the Willies drawn against the Rowdies, the pundits are expecting two extremely close-fought games which could well result in a Boogie Knights/Baby Knights local derby for the final.

The Professional Cup

As surprising as it may seem due to the size of our leagues, AMNAS still has two representatives gamely battling on in the Professional Cup, now down to the final thirty-two teams. The seemingly-ubiquitous Boogie Knights have been drawn against a strong-looking Jamie’s Dodgers side able to field seventeen players over the weekend. Remarkably, the other AMNAS side still in it is the mid-table Aveebeck’s Wester Park Rangers, who have ridden their luck to earn a meeting with an in-form but not invincible-looking Bigo1.

Worthy Cup

As mentioned in the introduction, the 2011/2012 Worthy Cup kicks off tomorrow, running for the last four match days of this season. The full fixture list is available on www.amnas.com and weekly updates will follow.

Cheers,

The Chairman.

Happy New Year, lads.
This was the state of play after Round 19 (189 games completed) on 1/1/12

Divisional summary / comparison
While Div. 1 are continuing their tradition of extracting most points from the player pool, Div. 2 are closer than ever before. They’re even slightly ahead in CSs, but at the expense of 40 goals more conceded.

All divisions are scoring more points than last season. Most of the gain is coming from higher defender appearances. Whether this is due to some of us A) playing extra defenders or B) avoiding safe/unproductive benchwarmers, I haven’t calculated, but with 14 Prem teams having a positive defensive record (vs. 10 at this time last season), I suspect it’s B).

Div. 1 are again the employers of the most STs (and Div. 2 the least). Div. 1 are also the biggest spenders – no change there either.

On the title trail
A perusal of the 2011-12 Runners and Riders reveals that 30 current AMNAS managers are in their 10th season at least. Among these veterans are a few who are approaching their 10th honour – that’s league, cup and H2H wins, i.e. not including 2nd/3rd place promotions or European qualifications. Cup wins are all well and good, but if we consider the more demanding measure of winning a division title, we find that half of them haven’t managed it yet.

Though they’re among the relative newcomers, current Div. 1 leaders the Meatballs (in their 5th season) already have four titles including Div. 2 and 3 wins: if they can hang on, they’ll become the third team (after Eline’s and Speedo) to pick up the full set. The team most likely to deny them are the ST-heavy Rowdies, who have been champions twice and runners-up three times.

In Div. 2, the Ballweavers supremo is bidding to change divisions for the fifth successive season, but this time he’s on course to do it by becoming a champion at the eighth attempt. His closest challenger has tasted success once before when ascending from the basement nigh on a decade ago: can Vemb live up to their name and join the select seven who have more than one title?

Back to those veterans. Of the nine who have slogged through 12 or more campaigns, only two have yet to experience that champion feeling. They share the distinction of being our draft-day HQ hosts these last 10 years. After years of underachievement, one of them is currently leading Div. 3, and also began the New Year as the top-ranked team in AMNAS. Will it be lucky 13 for our venerable webmaster? I’m not alone in hoping so, but he faces the combined challenge of Willing and the Allstars who are hot on his heels, also intent on joining the Champs Club.

Prem trends?
Here are the goals and team clean sheets of the last three and a half seasons, split first half-second half. Feel free to draw any conclusions you wish….

 Draft influence?

The New Year top threes in each division included four who were also draft nos. 1-3. The Law Of Averages says there shouldn’t be more than two.

Among the cellar dwellers, six of the nine had draft picks between 5-8. L.O. A. suggests 2.33. Doing their best to upset the statistical applecart were Div. 3′s 15th-placed draft #1 B&L Exiles, but if they hadn’t left some of their better players on the bench for months they’d be midtable.

And finally:
What we wish we’d known on draft day: Demba Ba, Yakubu, Klasnic, Morison. Dzeko instead of Balotelli, Ngog instead of Carroll, the Swansea defence instead of Chelsea’s. Sturridge instead of his four compadres, Lindegaard instead of De Gea, Walker instead of Corluka, almost anyone instead of Downing.

Good luck for the rest of the season, all!

Prof. Statto

The divisional comparison.
You’ve heard it before: all the divisions have the same player pool to choose from, but the D1ers always manage to fish the most out of it due to a combination of knowledge and making the effort.

Key to extra columns: Apps = appearances. Ben = pts gained/lost by players on bench
Tfrs = transfers Sqd = number of drafted players retained. £ = budget unused.

(Special thanks for assistance with this table to Per, whose 21st century spreadsheet method arrives at correct totals first time, whereas my 19th c. quill-and-pen approach doesn’t)

All three divisions maintained their transfer profile of the two previous seasons: D1 managers were the most ready to throw their draftees overboard and most frequent visitors to the Thursday sales, while D3′s were the opposite. D2′s managers sat in the middle, though for the first time, they were the biggest spenders. The lack of defenders worth buying led to a halving of the number of transfers and an inflation in player values. Compare 2009-10′s total 1342 transfers (avge player value £446,000) with 2010-11′s 663 at £1,002,000.

Apart from more points and getting more players onto the pitch, D1 overall were different in that they were keener on employing defenders, even in a season when Clean Sheets were rarer than ever before. Dipping deeper into the defs. pool didn’t generate them many extra CSs, but the rearguard flexibility it allowed saw the D1ers save themselves many a tonking via strategic subbing. They pocketed a cumulative +78 def. pts, while the other divisions leaked respectively -3 and -14. D1 were sharper upfront too: only 98 attacking points left on the bench, vs. 170 and 203. This made D1′s Bench performance the best by any division since I began tracking this aspect of the game four years ago.

With D2/D3 having created space for a couple of hundred extra MF/ST appearances, they had the opportunity to offset their defensive losses, but a few of their managers didn’t bother with subs/transfers, sometimes for weeks on end, which cost them cumulatively a heap of attacking points and the chance to match D1.

With defensive points harder to come by, average points per team and division were lower than in recent seasons. In 2009-10, 20 teams managed better than a point per appearance: this time, that figure dropped to eight.

Where were you in the 48?
The United Colours of AMNAS table is usually overlooked. Have you ever clicked Linked League above your division table? It takes you to one big division which combines all our 48 teams. The season-end Top 10 was dominated by D3′s 4 entries. D3 also led the list of all-AMNAS MotMs, with 6 of the 10. Among the All-AMNAS Turnips, after D3ers passed the ‘award’ around among themselves September to December, D1ers took possession in January and held off all comers thereafter.

Trading Places: the Dark Knights, #7 at New Year, finished #32, during which time Jim’s No Nonsense XI rocketed from #19 to #2. Their improvement was exceeded only by the Great Danes rise from #29 to #3. Consider too the curious case of Willing But Unable. After 16 pts in the season’s first week, they collected a mere 14 pts in the following 11 weeks by which time they were #48 and trailing every other team by a distance, so recovering to finish #39 represents something of a success.

The season-end standings also revealed that #41 the Dubstars evaded relegation from D2 with 222 points, whereas D1′s #34 the Skullies, with 253 points, didn’t. Tough place, D1.

The Chairman’s Tips.
Always keenly anticipated, and often a source of inspiration (“Hard to see where the points will come from? I’ll show the bugger….”) the 2010-11 tips saw the Chairman keeping up his average of a hit in each category, with particular success in identifying top teams: he nailed the D1 and D3 top pairs. At The Other End, five of his Duds-in-waiting escaped the bottom three by a whisker. Overall, I make that his best showing for many a year.

Lest this success tempt him to abandon his characteristic modesty, I’ll remind him of a segment of his D1 prediction: “When looking for dark horses, AFC Ginger Nuts stand out as potential rivals to the three favourites. There should be goals in this side and the defence, whilst a little threadbare, isn’t all that shabby. Grandsons of God FC, too, look likely to spend most of the season there or thereabouts. A fine midfield and decent defence is spearheaded by a perhaps risky selection of strikers but, should those front-men start firing, the Goggies may even make it to the very top”. Page down if you don’t remember their fate.

Here are the tips and their final placings, with the hits in bold:

Div 1.
Contenders: Great Danes 2nd, Disco Bay Rowdies 9th, Stortebeker Hawks 1st.
For The Drop: Arsene About Face 13th, Dark Knights 12th, Skull & Crossbones 14th.

Div 2.
Contenders: Fancy L’ Estartit Warriors 9th, Djarnis United 11th, Biggy Smalls 4th.
For The Drop: Dinkum Dubstars 13th, Vemb Shitkickers 12th, Bos & Lommer Exiles 16th.

Div 3.
Contenders: Jim’s No Nonsense XI 1st, United on a Boat 7th, Marching On Together 2nd.
Wooden Spoon contenders: Impresarios of Spank 13th, Old-House Divided 5th, Yeung Boys Brum 8th.

Formations
There are no Rights and Wrongs: it all depends who your players are. A quick look at the formations of the nine podium finishers reveals that they employed everything between four extra defenders and none; their midfields ranged from three to six while upfront, they had everything between two and five STs. As final proof, no two of the nine had the same FB-CB-MF-ST formation, at least from deadline day to the season’s end.

For 2010-11, FFL quietly added 4-3-3 to the available formations, and by mid-season, most managers were aware and giving it a try. Half our 48 teams ended up with four STs; of the nine who preferred five, only Grinding Inevitability reached a podium. No surprise that they were the ST appearance leaders with 112.

I mentioned above that D2 and D3 overall weren’t as keen on defenders. Five teams in each operated with the minimum (at least, from deadline day) while only a pair from the top flight took that option. Those 12 apart, 27 teams finished the season with one defensive sub, seven with two, Eline’s Favorites with three and Rensenbrink op de Paal with four.

Across AMNAS, midfields varied from three to seven, and strikers from two to six. If the performance of the two teams who gorged on six STs is anything to go by, it’s not a winning move: they finished respectively 9th and 16th. (Divisions/team names withheld to prevent embarrassment. To Mike and Mark B.).

Meanwhile, in the real world….
Can we can glean a few FFL pointers from the 2010-11 final Prem table? When I did my mid-season notes, I pointed to the diminishing number of Clean Sheets. This trend persisted, leading to a final (team) total of 191. The previous lowest was 2007-08′s 218. Conversely, goals increased, reaching 1063, the highest total since the Prem moved to a 38-game season. Here are the last three seasons:

So goals go up, and CSs come down: that’s logical, but sadly for us statisticians, not in a symmetrical progression or pattern that we can plot. And look at the Home/Away splits! Home goals decreased, but illogically, Away CSs plunged! Away goals increased, but contrarily Home CSs crept up! Reason? There were a lot less 0-0s, 0-1s and 0-2s than in the two previous seasons: total 52 vs 74 and 88. Blame the Villa, West Brom and Bolton especially: not a single away CS between ‘em. MU and Che, only nine combined.

Note that significant Away goals increase – up to 445 from 407. While the Awayers didn’t do us FFLers any defensive favours, their willingness to attack as exemplified by Blackpool, (trademark a breath of fresh air) brought them more points:

The Premier League of 2010-11 was strange for another reason. The end-of-season gap between top and bottom teams over the previous 10 seasons had varied between 55 and 76 pts. with an average of 62.6. This time, it was only 47. There was change at both ends, with the three relegated teams having more cumulative points than any of previous years, and at the top, the lowest points total by a champion since 1998. There had been no clues to suggest we’d see this turnaround. In 2009-10, the gap was 58 pts (I’m giving Portsmouth back their 9 pts deduction here) and the same in 2008-09. If the Prem is going to remain more competitive, it has big implications for FFLers, especially on Draft Day.

I was at a loss to explain this, so I consulted the top bloke for this sort of stuff – the UK’s leading statistician, Professor Speigelhalter of Cambridge University. (Great name for a boffin: you can almost hear the rustle of his lab coat and sense the contorted eyebrows that accompany Einsteinian thought processes at work). Though he has an interest in Prem statistics, he wasn’t even aware of the shift, but he told me it must be due to an increase in the Unpredictability Statistic – which as I’m sure you all know has been around 21% in the Prem for years – so it must now be “more like the lower divisions, which means matches are far less predictable”. Thanks Prof, but the AMNAS Brains Trust at the Winter AGM had already said something along the same lines, with rather more effin’ and blindin’, on the day Arsenal led Newcastle 0-4 and failed to win, and unbeaten Man. Utd went to rock-bottom Wolves and got nowt.

Though goals went up, strikers were getting less of them: 42% of the total scored, vs 49% two years ago. Less playing time too: only six clubs kept up 2 FFL-type ST appearances per game over the season, and the two with most (WHU & Blackpool) were relegated. Refer to my mid-season notes re the rise of 4-5-1.

The top 20 points scorers of the 2011-12 season.
There are 6 surprise names on the list. If I had a couple of spare minutes, I’d jot them down for you, but I’ve just been called away on an urgent errand. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in January and this will be the No. 1 item on the agenda.

Good luck for the season, all.

Prof. Statto.

DIVISIONAL NOTES

1
Stoertebeker Hawks
Drafted well, bolstered the squad with some canny transfers, and by Christmas they were so far ahead (38 pts) the title race was all but over until a late wobble. Sounds very much like Man. Utd’s season, though the gaffer may not welcome the comparison. Wisely signed players who didn’t get injured, thus are the all-AMNAS pts & appearance kings, with the Intertoto and H2H for good measure.
2
The Great Danes
When we entered 2011, the Danes were becalmed in 11th spot, having failed to get their part-timers and crocks onto the pitch enough. In the following 5 months their record was 4 MotMs (including May) + 2nd in March. Happy New Year indeed! All-AMNAS goal kings, inc. 55 from a stellar MF lineup. Their cringeworthy 37 ST apps total was half the D1 avge, but AMNAS-leading 1.36 pts per player app. demonstrates their quality. Only 1 sub app. lost all season. D1′s lowest GA, Worthy Cup RU and the all-AMNAS highest points score in a month – 74 in Apr.
3
Rensenbrink op de Paal
Home of AMNAS’s only 9-man rearguard (2 GK, 4FB, 3CB). Dr. Rens’s Defence Research Lab featured 25 specimens, some barely sentient, who racked up a combined 42 bench apps, gaining a league-best 22 pts while losing 7 CS along the way. Some of these life-forms made Birmingham reserve STs look like attractive propositions. The benefit of having only 3 MFs and 3 STs is that you don’t lose any benched points up front.
4
RedCross Refugees
D1′s nearly men. Never in danger, but never in the title hunt. Short of a top ST and a second FB. Highest placed D1 team to finish penniless. Sorry, nowt more to say.
5
Sleeping Giants
Their season was notable for the Maxi Rodriguez Affair: dumped him on deadline day when he hadn’t picked up a pt in 3 months, and had to watch him bag 7 goals in the next 3 games. FA Cup RU was some consolation. More def apps than even the Brinks, but 253 goals conceded says there were some turkeys among them.
6
Chumming For Willy
I could be wrong, but I have the impression that Alan made only a fleeting visit to his team every couple of weeks as areas in need of attention often stayed that way – most unD1-like. Q: when you have the league’s best pair of FBs, why waste space on Steinsson? 32 benched MF/ST apps and attacking 24 pts spilled tell their own tale. If prizes were given for results compared to economy of effort, our man from Cov would be at the top of the heap.
7
Knickson Meatballs
Home of AMNAS’s only 2-2-3-5-3 formation, at least from Deadline Day onwards. Following a near-disastrous start (15th at end Oct.) climbed steadily thereafter. That they made the top half of the table with a 5-goal top scorer is a testament to the best defence (164 pts) in all of AMNAS. Ran away with the FA Cup en route.
8
Bananagem
Middle of D1 is a position that 30-odd other mgrs would be happy with. The Nanas took care of the essentials: got a team out every week, played a balanced squad and set their subs. Some dodgy defensive investments scuppered their chance of a podium finish, but this performance says Kamiel has mastered top-flight survival techniques.
9
Disco Bay Rowdies
Drafted well and thereafter ‘If in doubt, add another ST’ seemed to be DBR’s motto. Rotating 6 of them was problematic and cost 12 pts in sub errors. When you have the minimum 3-man midfield, it must be a pain to see a lame duck (Gerrard) clogging up one of the slots as happened on the run-in.
10
A Load Of Bull
FFL imitates real life Pt 1: Gold & Black escape The Drop with a late season rally. The defending champs drafted like chumps (Adebayor, Jovanovic, J. Cole, various crocks) and spent 9 months wheeling & dealing to stay afloat. Two closing rounds of monster points secured mid-table safety and somehow the Worthy Cup too.
11
Hairdressers, Not Shamen
Terrific STs but despite 22 changes couldn’t assemble a defence or midfield worthy of the name. Bizarrely dumped their best defender in March only to re-sign him at a cost of 700k 3 weeks later. Later signings proved a let down: Zat Knight more likely to be greeted with abuse than a pint if he walked into the Supremo’s local. The loss of Nat from the 2011-12 season means we’ll be denied a mystifying team name to ponder.
12
The Dark Knights
Their second half of the season resembled a sky-dive with a hankie for parachute. Third at the half-way mark, they came within 5 pts of The Unthinkable. Highlights: only team in all 48 to go through a month without scoring or getting a CS (May) when they achieved -4, the all-AMNAS season low. Adding to that their Jan. Turnip, they were denied a hat-trick of bottom-placed finishes in the monthly all-AMNAS table by a 47th place in Mar. (total 2 pts) when they also failed to score. FFL imitates real life Pt 2: their May was every bit as good as Bolton’s.
13
Arsene About Face
Just as last season, some judicious benching was the difference between survival and doom. O’course, there’d have been no dicing with death had the Arsemeister steered clear of defensive liabilities like Craddock, Eardley & Foster (combined -17). Sepp Blatter Platter though….
14
Skull & Crossbones
FFL imitates real life Pt. 3: the favourite team of all non-conformists in Germany, and many further afield, the Skullies of St. Pauli entered March in a position from which no team has ever been relegated before. Just like their Bundesliga heroes, Jens’ men occupied an elevated status: 5th at mid-season before things went horribly wrong. The defensive quartet of Bridge, Bardsley, Clark & Williamson posted a combined -27 from Feb. That made the difference between 10th and 14th. St. Pauli? They too were relegated, after taking 1 pt from the last 36 as their defence conceded 33 goals.
15
Grandsons of God
In heaving overboard the majority of the squad that was expected (by him, at least) to dominate D1, the Boss demonstrated his innovative streak by signing left-field players all over the pitch: Krul, Halliche, Boyata, Tonge etc. When reconstruction was complete, there weren’t enough every-game regulars. Experienced the risk of having 2 STs from the same team, and lost benched points as a result.
16
AFC Ginger Nuts
Broke FFL’s Rule #1: get your players onto the pitch. Effectively, they played – no, make that ineffectively – with 6.5 men per week. D1′s lowest defs, MFs & total apps. As for squad selection, many of the manager’s choices proved worthy of the shirt, i.e. they were bona fide Nuts.

1
Dynamo Speedo
After a steady start (4th at mid-season) Speedo blitzed the oppo with 3 successive spring MotMs. Their domination of D2 was remarkably similar to what they did in winning D3 the year before: an outstanding draft, minimal transfers, and enough pts in hand to allow them to leave a heap on the bench. One innovation this time round – Gaffer JW experimented in the unexplored area of defenders, and a very handy crew he assembled too, even before icing-on-the-cake CB Luiz arrived in Jan. Worthy Cup winner and FA Cup RU too.
2
Eline’s Favorites
After 3 seasons of underachievement, the Faves made it back to the Big Time with a team led by a pair of STs who blasted 5 goals….between them. Rest of the squad was pretty damn good though. H2H winners and Intertoto RU too. Historical note: when winning the first of their 3 successive divisional titles  in 2003-04, before a subbing rules change inflated points totals, the Faves racked up 478 effin’ pts and won D3 by 113 pts. This made them the #2 ranked team in the whole of the FFL world – but only because the ranking system was screwed, as ackowledged by FFL at the time. But for that, they were #1. Respect.
3
Grinding Inevitability
Another team returning to the top flight, but at the first time of asking. Adroitly rebuilt a shallow squad in the post-draft weeks and by Nov’s MotM they were flying. Though strong upfront, they never found the right combination at the back, as evidenced by a total of 18 defenders discarded, 9 of them in minus figures. 200 goals conceded wasn’t a handicap on account of 150+ def. apps in D2′s top apps. count. GI’s strong MC-Stoke axis saw them romp away with the FA Cup.
4
Biggy Smalls
Folks say he bought the farm in ’97, checked out, got stiffed, took the stairway to heaven, but no, he’s here in Division Two, though he ain’t stayin’ long, he’s moving on through. On the very last day, he caused a commotion, crapped on the Seagulls, acheived promotion, with Walcott on the wing, Gyan in attack, pity ’bout the dud CBs at the back. Rappers like their bling, but Biggy ain’t got any – check the Money List, he didn’t win a penny. Knowha’msayin’y'all?
5
Go Behind Seagulls
Gaffer Clive has probably spent the summer wishing he’d kept drafted ‘keeper Given. His three replacements caused nightmares with a godawful -19 pts from 10 apps. Still got that ol’ transfer affection – signed 9 players who never played, inc. L. King (Tottenham Infirmary Outpatients. I ran faster than he does). Speaking of Led, the ‘Gulls were unlucky in having a succession of key squad members get regularly crocked.
6
Forest Forever
No sign of a resurgence from the one-time AMNAS Champs as they trod water among the also-rans. The season began brightly (3rd at end Oct) but faded in Spring with underperforming draftees (Cole, Heskey) retained when they were overdue for the chop. VdVaart a great signing, but at 14m, there wasn’t much left to fund the rest of the season.
7
Calypso United
Having put an end to a decade of mockery with their D3 championship in 2009-10, the team formerly known as Collapso consolidated on the sunny side of mid-table and gingerly removed their oxygen masks to discover that D2 ain’t such a fearsome place. But for a list of big-name let-downs (Rio, Torres, 15.5m man Dzeko), they’d have been in Biggy’s place and ordering more oxygen for a D1 campaign. Maybe a second year of acclimatising in D2 ain’t such a bad idea….
8
On My Own Turf
The season began too early for the men from the Moor: it took head honcho Pete half a season of shuffling the pack before he found a competitive squad. December ended with a Turnip and 11th place, followed by a reversal of fortune and Jan’s MotM. The dangers of their all-out attack policy (5 MFs/5 STs) were demonstrated as their SUN and WH GK/FB combo accumulated -9 on the run-in, and with it, any chance of catching the contenders. Promotion, one season at the top level and now mid-table second-tier doldrums. That makes them, yes, the Burnley of AMNAS.
9
Fancy L’Estartit Warriors
The most notable statistic for the FLEW is that they were (along with a D3er) our Mr. Average, dead centre of the AMNAS world at #25 in the 48. Early indications were that the squad had a solid foundation and with some prompt attention was capable of challenging, but Coach Ernst’s liking for denim, 12-bars and the Status Quo meant he kept dead wood (Kusczsczsczak, Cuellar and Ireland, selected 105 times, total 0pts) when early pruning could have brought success.
10
The Fascist Regime
Gifted a D2 place by a retirement, the iron heel of the jackboot failed to stomp any authority on its new surroundings, mainly due to the lack of anything resembling a blitzkrieg from their ST, ahem, force. Bench-wise, the Generalissimo went from 2009-10′s all-AMNAS King to a less-regal -19. Got his fingers burned with CB Dann (5 pts from 14 games when selected, but 10 lost from 6 when not). Ouch.
11
Djarnis United
After escaping the D3 quicksands at the 6th attempt, the DJs did enough to suggest they have learned enough to survive at a higher level. Strong parallels with the FoFos season, but read 15m-Balotelli for 14m-VdVaart. Great STs, but couldn’t play them all the time: lost 23 pts (= 4 places in the table) when the wrong bench options were selected.
12
Vemb Sh!tkickers
The Dimi & Dirk Show would have fitted them equally well. Like GI, they started poorly before ditching most of their draftees, but went further and ditched 11.8m-worth of their replacements. The difficulty of accommodating a 7-man midfield cost them 12 Dean Sturridge points when they declined to use a 3rd ST.
13
Dinkum Dubstars
Lucky 13th for the men from Melbourne. Retained their D2 status due to B&L’s hand of friendship from Sydney, via their eccentric subs policy (see below). A player short in every position and 2 in some. Lowest ranked AMNAS team (#6280) to win any money, for the Worthy Cup RU).
14
Aveebeck’s Wester Park Rangers
The ‘Beck club badge ought to be a revolving door. From their drafted squad, only (an all-AMNAS low of) 3 were retained. Among their 20 defenders, 8 combined for -27 pts from 45 games. Final day selection errors ultimately doomed them: had either Hoilett or Diaby been played, they’d have survived.
15
Grandstand FC
In the days before the Supremo began to spread himself far and wide in the worlds of ScoreFive and Aussie Rules, the Grandees were 2006-07′s D1 champs. That he has taken his eye off the FFL ball is self-evident. Among the 14 drafted players he retained were G Cahill (1 pt) and the ornamental Jovanovic (0 pts). The only player recruited, 15m-Moussa (12 pts) Dembele couldn’t halt the slide towards D3. The only player dumped, Aaron (26 pts) Hughes, would have.
16
B&L Exiles
6 STs??? When you’ve got 3 belters, you hardly need #4 Jason Roberts, never mind #5 Ormerod and #6 Kitson. Keeping the Drog, Zamora and CB Clark benched from Feb onwards was plain daft. In this manner, the Blommers denied themselves 50 pts that would have seen them safe in 12th place. Why they bothered again in the final 2 rounds when the game was up is unfathomable. Winners of the Capt. Oates Award for Self Sacrifice.

1
Jim’s No Nonsense XI
After one season of getting acquainted with how this FFL lark works, in their second – bang! A series of killer transfers were the difference between a promising draft-day squad and the steamroller it became. DJ Campbell, C Gardner, J Thomas, Y Zhirkov = 88 pts added for a modest 5.8m. No nonsense indeed. Their rise from 6th at half way climaxed with a scorching 54 pts in May as they leapfrogged the fading Mots. Also pocketed the H2H and were Worthy Cup RU. Worthy indeed.
2
Marching On Together
In was Sprinting rather than Marching as the Mots nailed two early MotMs and raced into a 40-pt lead by the time we all (well, not Morrissey and the nut-cutlet brigade, obviously) were tucking into our turkeys. Top-class drafting (from 14th spot) was reinforced by the signing of vdVaart. Most of the squad went on holiday at the end of April, but by then, promo was assured. D3′s best defence, 161 pts.
3
Dynamo Doetinchem
Protracted search for the right defence saw 7 FBs and 7 CBs come and go; it paid off in the final week as they surged to the podium. In a division where such things are frowned on, the DyDos were the only team with a positive Bench record, even if most of it derived from having a regularly unemployed Blackburn defender on board. FA Cup RU and Worthy Cup winners.
4
ClassactsUsing NorthernTacticS
After a season lying low, the team known to a few as the Classics (and to everyone else as something altogether less complimentary) survived and prospered despite a series of crocks, 4 high-profile MC/Liv disappointments and a retirement. Due to a different and more welcome retirement, 2011-12 will see them back at the Scene Of The Crime in D2 where witnesses testified to seeing them in 16th position at the end of 2009-10. Check that Physioroom list carefully on July 29, Darren.
5
Old-House Divided
Made the signing of the season: Odemwingie for 100k. Shame they benched him so often. His 19 lost and 17 other benched points would have ensured promo. As for forgetting their subs, the club badge may have the explanation. Defence the weak point: a pair of AV FBs? Dangerous. They had money in the bank too. Highest-placed D3 team to win nuppence.
6
Athletico TFC
After a slow start (12th at the mid-point) the Teds went on a late-season roll after manager Chris expertly replaced a bunch of underperformers. As the new acquisitions (Pennant, Osman, Albrighton, Walters) added 80 pts to the cause, the lack of a pair of decent FBs proved the undoing of their promo hopes. Their 2-2-6-4 all-out attacking formation led to some selection conflicts: 12 benched points lost.
7
United On A Boat
Oakland’s U-boat men were united with D2′s Warriors in sharing 279 pts and the Mr. Average title at #24-25 in the AMNAS Combined League. In their second season, that’s respectable progress. If they can overcome their preoccupation with STs, who knows what they might achieve?
8
Yeung Boys Brum
Drafted well, and made a couple of excellent pick-ups. Promo wasn’t impossible, but as keen members of the D3 Residents Association, they contrived to avoid it by retaining the ghost of F. Macheda (Sampdoria) upfront and an unspent 10m kitty, and leaving David (17 pts) Luiz on the bench from the day he was signed, while -10 Roger Johnson played on and stunk the place up. Top bench-wasters, -42 pts.
9
Quattro Stagioni
Despite his inexperience, the Stags supremo made some excellent signings. For the same reason, he let most of them go. This ex-Stags 15 would have got 336 pts, i.e. 79 more than QS finished with: Schwarzer; Zabaleta, Bardsley; Shawcross, Dann, Distin; Gutierrez, S. Davies, Richardson, Henderson, Ad. Johnson, Meireles; G T-F, Obinna, Zamora. The 2010-11 All-AMNAS shopaholics (36 transfers) including 11 defenders with minus points, hence their other accolade of Goals Against kings.
10
Saedding Guldager Allstars
A preference for Liverpool defensive MFs and Villa/Toon defenders reduced SDA’s chances of contending. Bad luck with ST injuries reduced their already-slim appearances portfolio. Draft suggestion: every-week players. Just an idea, mind.
11
Sons of God FC
Gave up all that subs stuff in January, leaving 12m unspent and a Michael Turner-shaped points drain at the heart of the defence. A fine example of Sod’s Law of the Bench; having paid 1.9m for Shola Ameobi, in the 9 games they played him, he got 3pts. In the 9 they didn’t, 10pts.
12
Villaikast
The Zen-Trappist approach: I have selected my squad, they will speak for me, even as 34 pts are pissed away when I abstain from subs after mid-Dec. I have no use for the worldly trappings of a transfer budget. Ommmm….. With a minimum of effort, they’d have been contenders: the only team outside of top-fivers who scored more than a point per appearance. Bench featured the mummified remains of Aquilani A, who departed Prem life in August without kicking a ball.
13
The Impresarios of Spank
FFL imitates real life Pt. 4. A season of woe for the men in claret and blue. Couldn’t find a reliable 2nd ST and the millions spent on Obinna didn’t produce the expected goals. Hitzlsperger’s injury, a procession of under-performers and some shockin’ defendin’ (copyright A. Hansen) on the run-in left them below even Blackpool and Birm….. No, hang on, that’s someone else. For the Spankers, all the foregoing applies, except the Blackpool/Birm bit. Slogged away, but found themselves among insalubrious company at the death. Still, 13th was one place higher than last season. Looking forward to 2022-23 then.
14
Willing But Unable
Endured a torrid opening 3 months, during which they replaced 11 of their draftees, which can’t have been easy after 15m had been spunked on Balotelli. Still, a few handy pickups combined with their core of talent to secure the FA Cup, making them the lowest-ranked AMNAS team (#5654) to win a trophy, despite 3 Turnips.
15
San Marco United
Were unlucky to draft a high proportion of what turned out to be underacheivers (Bridge, Dunne, Collins, Defoe) and tolerated some too long when plonkerectomy surgery was required. Draft idea 2011-12: bag a couple of good STs early on. Still, 6 transfers was a step forward from 2009-10′s none. Kudos for competing to the bitter end.
16
Mountain View Muppets
With a rigidity that made Stalin look like Your Flexible Friend, the Mups stuck with their drafted 15, including a defence with 4FBs in which Fenerbahce’s Joe Yobo (0 apps, 0 pts) was the 4th best performer. Stopped bothering with subs in Feb but still finished second to Villaikast in the final of the little-known Low Apps Cup.

Don’t forget, the draft for this coming season is set for July 30th. The address details and links to your auction room can all be found on the Draft Details page.

If you’ve forgotten your draft number (revised from Wayne’s update below, of course), don’t worry, as all teams are listed in draft order within the auction rooms.

See you on the 30th.

Gentlemen of AMNAS

From a beautifully sunny and lovely Cadiz, we present the 2011/2012 draw

As the league does not finish until next week you should all understand that all these picks are purely provisional and based on current league standings – if for example you are in 14th position you appear in the league below’s listing- if the following week another team should drop in that position they will assume your number in the draft

The definitive list will appear when the season comes to a close-meanwhile here is the tentative draft for next season:

Division 1
1. Mike
2. Per
3. Thomas
4. Nathan
5. Alan
6. Mark & Ivo
7. Jim & John
8. Paul C. (sorry Dad)
9. Pat & Steve
10. Kamiel
11. Jens
12. Jon
13. Jon & Paul
14. Rens
15. Robert C.
16. Damon

Division 2.
1. Pete R.
2. Ernst
3. Darren
4. Christian
5. Mark M.
6. Chris S.
7. Clive
8. Rob B.
9. Morten
10. Julian
11. Peter J.
12. Andy W.
13. Paul S.
14. Andrew
15. Ian
16. Guido M.

Division 3.
1. Mark B
2. Guido B.
3. Wayne
4. Steve L.
5. Sean
6. Neil & Anthony
7. Palle
8. Paul H.
9. James
10. Henrik
11. Ian
12. Erik
13. Nigel
14. Steve Y.
15. Chris G.
16. Fred

And that concludes your numbers for next year everyone – the best of luck for another season!

Dear AMNAS brethren

Just a short note to apologize for the outage of the AMNAS website the last couple of days – it seems our hosts of the last 9 years, web-mania.com, decided to take our money and not actually provide the service they charge us for- the long and the short of this was that they did not pay the people who register our domain name (www.amnas.com) and it went offline – I have managed however to contact the NIC registration and get back what is rightly ours. I have also purchased a new web hosting and am in the process of moving the data over which is proving an arduous task. This will mean a far more reliable site and I hope no more instances of what has happened.

I ask that you bear with me whilst I finish getting the issues resolved – there will be small hitches but I am working on them to get the website back up and online as soon as we can.

Thanks for your patience

Wayne Charlton

AMNAS.com

Hi All

Just to let you know the latest version of the Worthy Cup sheet has been updated to the files page

Happy New Year, lads!

The December postponements meant that after Round 20 (Dec 28-29), 190 games had been played, which is precisely 50% of the season and conveniently at the year-end too, so I did some browsing….

Divisional summary / comparison

All use the same player pool, but Div. 1 are continuing their tradition of getting most out of it.

See below the details of full season 2009-10 (left side) and first half of 2010-11 (right side)

If you double up the 2010-11 half-time numbers as an approximation of how they’ll look in May, you might conclude that more goals are being scored this season. Not so, they’re 3.3% lower. Last season, 1053 were scored: our best Div bagged only 792 (= 75.2%) of them. This season, Div. 1′s 426 represents 83.7% of the 509 scored at the half-way point. Yay, we must be getting smarter! No. Our squads overall have more MFs and STs than last season, so we’re hoovering up almost everything bar OGs and anything scored by free-listers, inc. relegation-threatened defenders. (Eardley, Evatt, Stam anyone?)

Why have we loaded up on attackers? ‘Cos Clean Sheets are down, so we’ve ditched almost all except the mandatory defenders. Now that, I agree, is smart. Unless you haven’t.

There’s a contradiction there: how can Clean Sheets and goals be down at the same time? Well, there have been less big scores (above 4) and less Nils but more 1s and 2s. Last season, there were 22 scores of 5 and up. This season we’ve had 7. Double it, we’re heading for 14. Clean sheets were 221 vs the current 97, thus heading for 194. With the transfer window now open again, all the gossip is about incoming strikers, so it’s not a good prognosis for extra CSs.

Why 4-3-3?

Most managers were unaware of FFL’s pre-season addition of this one to the formations list, but at the Draft, those in the know, like Div. 1′s crafty Swede, added an extra ST to the routine 4 in the hope of riches to follow. Has this turned out to be a smart move?

The FFL has gradually become more liberal over the years. From ‘only 11 named players per week’ when AMNAS started, we moved on to subs, supersubs and finally, three seasons back, multiple STs, when it became possible, if you had 4 STs who were involved in overlapping games (e.g. midweek 19.45 and 20.00 KOs) to have them all on the pitch at the same time. With 4-3-3 that’s now a possible 6 in action together! When I first read about FFL’s adoption of this formation, I thought it was another step along the same path towards creating ever-bigger points totals, but now I’m pretty sure it wasn’t. I think it’s a reaction to real-world 4-5-1.

A drift away from 4-4-2 to the more defensive 4-5-1 was apparent at the 2006 World Cup Eh? 2006?? Bear with me, I’m getting there…. The goals-per-game in Germany dropped to an all-time-low. Coincidence? Maybe, but 4-5-1 continued to gain ground and by WC2010, even more of the qualifiers chose it. The GPG went down again, but if the Prem managers noticed, it didn’t seem to bother them, as more of them tried to imitate Spain. Here’s the ST comparison of today versus 2 seasons back:

2008-09 ST appearances: 1416 = 70.8 per club = 1.86 per game (full 380 games)

2010-11 ST apps: 672 = 33.60 “ = 1.68 per game (after 200 games…time’s moving on)

(‘Appearances’ here are the FFL ’45 mins +’ kind. A quick check of the current ST List reveals that 75 have appearances, and there are a further dozen or so – the Velas, Klasnices etc – who appear from time to time but haven’t yet managed a full 45 mins).

As ST appearances have declined, so have their goals. (’08-’09, 462 vs 212 at halfway in ’10-’11).

In the real world this season, all bar 3 teams have used at least 4, and a couple have used 6. The number of STs employed by Prem teams hasn’t reduced, just their playing time. ‘Fresh legs in the closing stages’ seems to be the standard now. Only 5 teams are keeping up a full 2 (FFL) ST appearances per game.

So, if teams are giving less playing time overall to their STs, the only way we can keep those under-used big names in our squads is to allow us to have three at once, ‘cos the alternative is to force us to have more WBA MFs or Newcastle FBs, which would, I’m sure, take some of the gloss off FFL. Which would you prefer, Scharner, Perch or Robbie Keane? I rest my case, m’luds.

Does draft position matter?

I’ve demonstrated in the past that the answer is “Not much”, but the way AMNAS is shaping up this season means I may have to re-assess and add “but maybe it helps to be 16^th”

After round 22, the positions of our 16th-pickers were as follows:

Div. 1 Stoertebeker Hawks 1^st

Div. 2 Eline’s Favorites 1^st

Div. 3 Dynamo Doetinchem 3^rd

The 3 first-pickers meanwhile, were respectively 2^nd, 10^th and 11^th.

Welcome To My Nightmare

It was during the post-draft beers at Amsterdam HQ that one of our most popular and experienced managers proudly surveyed his squad list and announced “This is my year!” I was reminded of it last week when pencilling in his team’s name on my Heading For The Drop list.

Most of us overestimate the quality and prospects of the players we draft. I suspect that somewhere in the wide world of FFL, a conversation like this occurred early in September:

“The draft? Yeah, it went pretty well. I did the usual, went for a couple of top STs first. Though I was pick #10, I was able to get Defoe in the first round and Adebayor in the second. That’s a cert 100 points in the bag. The top defenders go early, so I snapped up Carvalho, Glen Johnson and Friedel next. Not bad eh?

Mustn’t forget midfield. I always like to have a United MF: it was a toss-up, Nani or Valencia? I went for Valencia because he doesn’t fall out with Fergie. Rounds 7 and 8, it was time to fill in the missing defenders: I bagged Dan Agger and Cuellar….two each from Liverpool and Villa eh? They were the 3^rd and 4^th best defences last season you know! Yeah, I was chuffed! After that I picked up Fellaini and Duff, both solid points-getters. Round 11, I decided to take a risk on Elmander. Yeah, I know Bolton usually play with one up front, but if Kevin Davies gets injured, who knows?

The full-backs are cast iron; no need for a sub there, but it’s handy to have an extra CB for 5-3-2, so I bagged Kompany….well, he should get some games even with all the players City are buying. For my 4^th MF, I decided on that bloke from Blackpool, Adam. Apparently he’s their only worthwhile player. I’ve heard he could be worth 30 points. With that new 4-3-3 thing I decided to go for an extra ST, so I nabbed Diamante as my fourth, then in the final round I took a punt on Daniel Sturridge. Well, Chelsea are paying him 70k, so he’s bound to get games, eh?

It was plain bad luck that Carvalho and Diamante were transferred out, still, I got very two handy replacements – Gallas and Fortune, though they did cost me 6 mil. When Stoke signed Gudjonsson, it was too good an opportunity to miss, so I had to dump Elmander. Just as the window closed last week, I blew the rest of my wad on Hatem Ben Arfa and Squillaci. That meant Adam and Kompany had to go, but overall, I reckon I’ve added an extra 30 pts.

Yeah, I’ve started slowly, only 10 pts from the first 3 rounds, but things will pick up from here. I still reckon I’m a good bet for the title. Hey, there’s a bloke in our league with 2 Sunderland defenders and 2 Blackpool strikers! And he paid over a million for Elmander when I dumped him. What an idiot, eh?”

Best of luck for the rest of the season, all,

Prof. Statto.