In the wake of guiding Chelsea past Manchester United and into the FA Cup semi-finals, Rafael Benítez was asked whether he’d like a little recognition for his efforts. “I don’t need credit,” came the deadpan reply. “The players and staff were happy and the fans were pleased. I’m quite happy with that.” Benítez has his […]
Battle for the Top 4 – Arsenal, Chelsea or Spurs?
The race for the Champions League places is definitely heating up. Yesterday, Arsenal comfortably dispatched Reading 4-1 at home, while Gareth Bale inspired Spurs to an impressive away win at Swansea. With Chelsea slipping up against the Saints, only 4 points separates the three London clubs for the crucial Champions League spots. Our friends […]
Fantasy Football – Gameweek 31
Our Fantasy Football guest post by Fantasy Yirma. Gameweek 31 preview: Has Robin van Persie rediscovered Dutch courage? How long was that international break? About three years? It certainly seemed that way anyway, but as Fantasy Premier League finally returns those internationals might well have helped one of its star men to rediscover his form. A run […]
Why do you fire the manager?
Sacking a manager is, on average, more harmful to a team’s performance in the short term than doing nothing. This season 31 managers have been sacked, or agreed ‘by mutual consent’ – that bizarre footballing spontaneous combustion – to disappear in a puff of smoke with a huge payoff. The latest, Reading’s Brian McDermott, left […]
Fantasy Football – Gameweek 30
This week we bring you two features for Fantasy Football Gameweek 30. Both Fantasy Yirma and Ultra Fantasy Football give their picks below: Fantasy Yirma: Gameweek 30 preview: The case for the defence – Volume III For the third time this season we’re ignoring those Fantasy Premier League attention-seekers and instead looking at those who often miss […]
England risk falling to third in Uefa coefficient rankings
England began the current campaign on top of the Uefa coefficient rankings with 84.41 points, narrowly ahead of Spain who had 84.186 and Germany with 75.186. The latest official standings after last week’s European matches had Spain ranked first with 85.882 points, England second with 79.820 and Germany third with 76.757. An association’s ranking is based on […]
Crisis? What crisis?
“Until now, English football was only going through an identity crisis,” I said, shamelessly stealing a line from Michael Cox. “Now it also has a results crisis.” I looked up, probably wearing a smug expression, happy that after close to two hours of incoherent ramblings and a good deal of clueless stammering I’d finally delivered what […]
Suarez is a filthy cheat but Bale should be protected?
The moment the supremely accomplished British footballer Gareth Bale falls over an imaginary leg during a match, it sparks outbreaks of copycat behaviour right across the land. Not on our football pitches, but in the nation’s television studios and press boxes as pundits trip over themselves, too, in a desperate hunt to find excuses for […]
Fantasy Football – GW 29
This week for Fantasy Football we decided to put together a voting system based on our seven favourite resources of fantasy football. If a website recommends a pick he gets a vote so the maximum a player can get is 7 votes; we have only listed the most popular players in each position. First up […]
Fantasy Yirma – GW 29
Fantasy Yirma provides their tips and views for Game Week 29: It’s a real six pointer…. Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick, Gareth Bale impressed again and a Manchester United player ended up as the top points scorer. Gameweek 28 was a pretty standard one in truth. Now though, with the forthcoming FA Cup quarter-finals creating […]






