c4countdown

James Robinson wrote:

Rhys Benjamin wrote:I'm giving up Arsenal v Birmingham for Coleiii.

Ok, so I don't like those teams, but I got tickets off a friend....

I'm giving up Huddersfield Town v Southampton for CoLeiii.

Just about the biggest game this season.

Oh well, needs must.

Sorry, don't follow league 1... or 2...

Been following this for a couple of days now. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog ... icks-henry

oh, and this is funny: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjarlTHNBdA

Anyone notice that the head to head league prematurely calculates the results before all the points have come in? For example, I beat Matt this week but he's been given the win as he was ahead on Sunday. Boo! Or is there a reason for this i'm missing?

Andy Wilson wrote:Anyone notice that the head to head league prematurely calculates the results before all the points have come in? For example, I beat Matt this week but he's been given the win as he was ahead on Sunday. Boo! Or is there a reason for this i'm missing?

Did you take any points hits for transfers (which I presume count towards your H2H score)? Seems the most likely thing you could have overlooked.

Andy Wilson wrote:Anyone notice that the head to head league prematurely calculates the results before all the points have come in? For example, I beat Matt this week but he's been given the win as he was ahead on Sunday. Boo! Or is there a reason for this i'm missing?

It just does the tables in progress as far as I know.

Michael Wallace wrote:Did you take any points hits for transfers (which I presume count towards your H2H score)? Seems the most likely thing you could have overlooked.

Yes I did. That's where the 8 points went. Nice one. Dang! James D last week and Matt this week, I saw these as the two big derby games. Gutted!

FUCKSAKE. Don't you hate it when you set your alarm specifically to getting-up-to-do-your-fantasy-team-before-the-deadline-time, and then fuck about on the internet doing hyper duels and shit and forget? Fucking annoying!

Matt Morrison wrote:FUCKSAKE. Don't you hate it when you set your alarm specifically to getting-up-to-do-your-fantasy-team-before-the-deadline-time, and then fuck about on the internet doing hyper duels and shit and forget? Fucking annoying!

Thanks for that post, Matt. You've just reminded me of something. Gotta dash.

Aw tits, the dream Wimbledon Vs Dons tie is off. Ah well. Good luck against Ebbsfleet Oli. FCUM Vs United still a possibility.

Andy Wilson wrote:FCUM Vs United still a possibility.

Yeah, although I'd prefer the Terriers v United in Round 3.

Nice one! http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/footbal ... 191337.stm

After a shitty start to the whole thing, I'm finally making some headway. Slow progress in the main league, but the format of the head-to-head is proving right up my street, and I've finally pushed Ian off the top spot. Now let's see if I can stay there past this weekend, where I have to make the right choice between my Spurs and Liverpool players - will be tense in the Badcock-Morrison household.

Matt Morrison wrote:After a shitty start to the whole thing, I'm finally making some headway. Slow progress in the main league, but the format of the head-to-head is proving right up my street, and I've finally pushed Ian off the top spot. Now let's see if I can stay there past this weekend, where I have to make the right choice between my Spurs and Liverpool players - will be tense in the Badcock-Morrison household.

My silly choices of dropping Nasri and not making Yaya captain this week. Ah well, gives me someone to shoot down!

Whew... anyone got Berbatov?

Andy Wilson wrote:Whew... anyone got Berbatov?

No, have Nani, sold him last week and then Hart, Vidic and Evra concede.

Eoin Monaghan wrote:

Andy Wilson wrote:Whew... anyone got Berbatov?

No, have Nani, sold him last week and then Hart, Vidic and Evra concede.

Vidic got subbed off on about 65 minutes or something, so that's some consolation.

Did he. Nice. The site was too slow when I went to check it there so I'm still quite curious to see whether anyone had him. That's pretty savage though, 3 weeks ago United were 5 points behind and a whopping 16 goals behind in the goal difference stakes, a figure that I just assumed wouldn't be easily catchable for the remainder of the season. Now 21 days later, United sit pretty 3 points clear and level on goal difference with Chelsea facing what might be a tricky tie tomorrow with a weakened side. 'The crap invincibles' I believe they are currently being affectionately referred to by the fans. Not so crap today though by the look of the scoreline.

Huddersfield v DOVER Oh well, round 4, here we come.

Man Utd v Liverpool seemed to be fate.

Arsenal v Leeds, Stevenage v Newcastle and Scunthorpe v Everton seem crackers in the making too.

James Robinson wrote:Man Utd v Liverpool seemed to be fate.

Pfft, they'd've had a good chance of meeting later down the line anyway. MUFC vs. FCUM would have been much more fate-tastic. Maybe that'll be the final.

Also, something I've often wondered about. It's pretty common for a team to make a substitution in injury time (such as Spurs did today) as a means of timewasting, but why should this work? I know referees are supposed to nominally add another 30 seconds to the clock for every substitution, but why don't they just add more if you get the usual slow trudge off the field? Or is it simply that it breaks up the flow of the game (and so is less timewasting and more just an interruption)?

Timewasting. The ref never adds on enough time to compensate for a substitution. The whole time-added-on idea is pretty ridiculous and accommodates timewasting. The ball is only in play for about 60 of the 90 minutes in a football game, but you'd never see 30 minutes added on. A clock that stops when the ball goes out of play would definitely be fairer, but that would ruin the dénouement of Soccer Saturday which I think is reason enough to keep it as it is.

Jon O'Neill wrote:Timewasting. The ref never adds on enough time to compensate for a substitution. The whole time-added-on idea is pretty ridiculous and accommodates timewasting. The ball is only in play for about 60 of the 90 minutes in a football game, but you'd never see 30 minutes added on. A clock that stops when the ball goes out of play would definitely be fairer, but that would ruin the dénouement of Soccer Saturday which I think is reason enough to keep it as it is.

I just don't see why, with something like a substitution in injury time, the ref doesn't look at his watch when they start the substitution, and look at it again when it finishes. Just seems like such an easy thing to do and would remove something so tedious.

James Robinson wrote:Huddersfield v DOVER Oh well, round 4, here we come.

Quite a bold comment given that (I'm just guessing) you know very little about Dover...

RUSSIA AND QATAR FOR 2018 & 2022!!!

Is that a massive joke from FIFA

James Robinson wrote:Is that a massage joke from FIFA

Nice one.

Kai Laddiman wrote:

James Robinson wrote:Is that a massage joke from FIFA

Nice one.

How the heck did I put down "massage"

For fuck's shitting sake, forgot to do my fantasy team again, 2nd time in 3 weeks. I'm getting totally raped this time, got all the wrong players in.

Matt Morrison wrote:For fuck's shitting sake, forgot to do my fantasy team again, 2nd time in 3 weeks. I'm getting totally raped this time, got all the wrong players in.

I substituted all my United players and changed my captain to Nasri, who would have got 30, yeah I forgot to save it.

Eoin Monaghan wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote:For fuck's shitting sake, forgot to do my fantasy team again, 2nd time in 3 weeks. I'm getting totally raped this time, got all the wrong players in.

I substituted all my United players and changed my captain to Nasri, who would have got 30, yeah I forgot to save it.

I've got Nasri as a sub, hopefully Nolan won't play! Also, changed my captain away from Hart just to encourage him to get a clean sheet...

Ian Volante wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote:For fuck's shitting sake, forgot to do my fantasy team again, 2nd time in 3 weeks. I'm getting totally raped this time, got all the wrong players in.

I've got Nasri as a sub, hopefully Nolan won't play! Also, changed my captain away from Hart just to encourage him to get a clean sheet...

You div Ian. You've got Vidic and Hernandez in your team, right. Well, thanks to Blackpool-Man U being cancelled, you'll now have Nasri and Samba come in - for 23 fucking points, when you didn't even pick them! Ridiculous. I'm not pleased.

Not only that, but then having not done my team, I had Toure in as captain from last week, so I was thinking, well at least for some reprieve Man City can keep a clean sheet and he'll get some decent points. But no, he only plays for 31 minutes, so he doesn't get the clean fucking sheet bonus, and I get 1 point for him (2 as cap). Who was I changing my captain to today if I remembered? Nasri, of course.

Sigh. I'm not lucky.

Matt Morrison wrote:

Ian Volante wrote:

Matt Morrison wrote:For fuck's shitting sake, forgot to do my fantasy team again, 2nd time in 3 weeks. I'm getting totally raped this time, got all the wrong players in.

I've got Nasri as a sub, hopefully Nolan won't play! Also, changed my captain away from Hart just to encourage him to get a clean sheet...

You div Ian. You've got Vidic and Hernandez in your team, right. Well, thanks to Blackpool-Man U being cancelled, you'll now have Nasri and Samba come in - for 23 fucking points, when you didn't even pick them! Ridiculous. I'm not pleased.

Not only that, but then having not done my team, I had Toure in as captain from last week, so I was thinking, well at least for some reprieve Man City can keep a clean sheet and he'll get some decent points. But no, he only plays for 31 minutes, so he doesn't get the clean fucking sheet bonus, and I get 1 point for him (2 as cap). Who was I changing my captain to today if I remembered? Nasri, of course.

Sigh. I'm not lucky.

Would Nasri come in even though he's a midfielder? I suppose the formation could change. That is harsh! I did consider the Man United thing at least...

Good to see andy Johnson's getting fit...

sort of...

GOAL

Patrick 0 - 1 Ross County (Richard Brittain 19 PEN)

3 changes this week to try and halt my freefall. Nasri, Berba and Elmander for injured Tevez and Nolan (fell for the yellow symbol without checking this and has alreadyt backfired) and Hernandez (who was a silly choice a fortnight ago and hasn't played since). Bit late on all three but reckon they could be good long haulers. Sickening treatment of Hughton by Ashley but not surprising obviously. Hughton was Ireland's first black player, which reminds me of that old one... who was the first black Irishman to play at Wembley?

Rhys Benjamin wrote:GOAL

Patrick 0 - 1 Ross County (Richard Brittain 19 PEN)

Apparently he didn't have a pass to get into the stadium, but got around this by using someone else's.

I await a recording of the half time teamtalk to be splashed over his website.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 302348.stm

Goateed wonder failing to get the huge net spend he required to allow his club to tread water. Shame. Amazing photo though, to think Rafa is only the 2nd or even 3rd biggest twat in it.

Rhys Benjamin wrote:GOAL

Patrick 0 - 1 Ross County (Richard Brittain 19 PEN)

Or maybe even Partick

Only 4 left in the Fantasy Cup as far as I can see - me, Badcock, Garner and Doohan.

Adam Gillard wrote:Only 4 left in the Fantasy Cup as far as I can see - me, Badcock, Garner and Doohan.

I got hammered in the first round when I only had about two players in action

Ian Volante wrote:

Adam Gillard wrote:Only 4 left in the Fantasy Cup as far as I can see - me, Badcock, Garner and Doohan.

I got hammered in the first round when I only had about two players in action

Same. A real shame, site-wide, that that mad week of postponements has really messed up the whole cup thing, it began at the worst possible time.
Individually too, I've just got totally fucked over (mostly bad luck, partly my own fault) over the last 3 or 4 weeks and everything has gone tits up in an anger- and sadness-inducing way. Fucking fantasy.

I forgot about the cup to be honest. I've managed to halt my dodgy spell though with a couple of decent changes there before the Stephens' Day matches (brought in Van der Vaart and Aaron Hughes at the back who has netted me 14 points in two games). For the first time all season I'm pretty happy with my team and I'm gonna try minimise any changes from here on in.

Speaking of which - I wish you got the current value for a player you're selling. I could offload Nani for a week or two now while he's injured, but even though I have .3 mil sitting in the bank, I couldn't afford to buy him back afterwards! I reckon you should be rewarded for buying a player before his value increases rather than penalised.

Oh, and who is Nick Wainwright by the way?

I'd like to end this post by offering my deepest sympathies to Liverpool fans.

Andy Wilson wrote:Oh, and who is Nick Wainwright by the way?

He was Countdown series champion a few years back. Met him at CoLon and at my series finals - he's a nice guy.

The main thing you need to know about Nick for fantasy league purposes though, is that he used to make his living as a professional gambler. None of us stood a chance with him in the c4c league.

I'm giving up a tournament for Fulham v Peterborough (FA Cup)

Suppose it's fair. I've gave up a football match for a tournament so fairness calls.

In before Beevers...

LOLiverpool. Again.

&

Chucked Gerrard in with the double game week for pool and all and made him captain. Losing the 2 points for the penalty miss x 2 and counting the 5 points x 2 for the goal if he'd scored it, means that penalty miss cost me 14 points in theory! Still, ten points not the worst return for one game. What an awful run Chelsea are on though. I can't believe it. 9 points behind united with a game more played... after racing out of the blocks in August. I'd nearly stick a fiver on them to win the league tomorrow...

Just messing with the graphs. That one is obviously points progression... this one is how you fared overall among the two and a half million other players as the weeks have progressed. Pity you can't zoom in, but Ian, as mentioned by Adam on the forum on there that hardly any one uses, finished 114th in December.

Andy Wilson wrote:Just messing with the graphs. That one is obviously points progression... this one is how you fared overall among the two and a half million other players as the weeks have progressed. Pity you can't zoom in, but Ian, as mentioned by Adam on the forum on there that hardly any one uses, finished 114th in December.

Struggling at the moment though, things need quite an overhaul!

Well, you have your extra wildcard now for the next few weeks so now is the time.

So the World Cup in winter, eh?

I feel that Larsen needs a more experienced Director of Football figure to help him run his team.

Long live the King.

Man, I wish Damo was still on here.

Did anyone else see a tearful-looking Holloway getting all wound up because the Saints fans were singing "Premier League, you're having a laugh"? Managers really shouldn't get wound up so easily by fairly generic chants like that! Tool. *inserts that clever facepalm picture that Phil Reynolds once used which changes each time you look at it*

Jon Corby wrote:*inserts that clever facepalm picture that Phil Reynolds once used which changes each time you look at it*

Crazy, I would have put almost everything I own on it being you that introduced that, not Phil.

Michael Wallace wrote:So the World Cup in winter, eh?

It's a fair way off, but it'd certainly be interesting.

Jono wrote:Long live the King.

Unacceptable performance yesterday. He's got to go.

Andy Wilson wrote:

Jono wrote:Long live the King.

Unacceptable performance yesterday. He's got to go.

He's made me care again. Hopefully the players will react in the same way.

Aye, good on him. I'm actually delighted he's back.