It’s been a strange period for the Premier League: City can’t stop losing; Arsenal can’t stop conceding; Trent continues to find ways to disappoint; and David Coote falls foul of a whistleblower. Thank goodness we have none of this in Fantasy Football Scout Head-to-Head Leagues; FPL’s largest meritocracy, and guaranteed to be wholly at the mercy of the FPL Gods. I’m back to provide another update on the emerging front-runners, and those who might be facing a difficult conversation with the Board.
As always, this update complements Red Lightning’s excellent weekly reports on a wide range of FFS Community Tournaments. He does breadth; I’m more of a depth person.
League One
There’s a new face at the top with Liam McAllister (24 pts) opening up a three-point lead over Sameer Sohail, Simon MacNair and Dave Dolman. 2022/23 winner, Ignazio La Rosa (6), is stuck in the cellar but it’s still early days.
League Two
Michał Dąbrowski (27) leads Greg Wilcox by three-points in Division 1, with Ville Touminen, Michael Scott, Milan Mihajlovic and Mark Reynolds (all 21) filling the minor places. The inaugural winner of the Head-to-Head Leagues Craig Johnson (27) has opened up a five-point margin over Al Black in Division 2, with Aviinesh Kumar and Aarush Mittal a further two points adrift.
League Three
Chaballer, Simon Vazquez and Big Daddy (all 21) are joint-leaders in Division 1, with Socrates Olympios (19) leading the chasing pack. Kevin Lamb (24) has a three-point margin over David Walker, Michael Cahill, Alex Chennel and Neal Rigg in Division 2; while Carlene M has risen to the top ahead of Steven North (24) and John Choy (22) in Division 3. Timo Laukkanen and Tim Ward (both 27) are joint-leaders in Division 4, with Taymur Reza Hossain and Dom Richards (both 24) their nearest challengers.
League Four
It’s now a three-way tie between Rima Gudka, Ben Lovell and Sam Bonfield (all 24) in Division 1; but Stuart Blakely (30) is out on his own in Division 2, with Doncho Georgiev (27) his nearest challenger. Gavin Sousa (25) is the Head Boy in Division 3, with a one-point edge over Andrew Garland and Filip Suchta. Eugene Heng (25) also has a one-point margin over Andrew Ray in Division 4; while in Division 5, Per Øyvind Bonkerud (27) has a two-point advantage over Benjamin Arslangic and Ben Ashworth. Alan Robertson, William Elliot and Richard Harte (all 24) are tied at the top in Division 6; and it’s a two-way tie between Graham Langley and Hans Friedl in Division 7. Bill Koullis (30) and Alex Lau (27) continue to set the pace in Division 8, with the rest of the field at least six points adrift.
League Five
Ade Spencer (27) has consolidated his lead in Division 1, and has a five-point margin over Chris Moren. Nick Palmer and Shales Moor (both 24) are joint leaders in Division 2; while Jomar Røkke (25) has a one-point edge over Djordje Zivkovic, Steven Schelk and Rahul Chadaga (all 24) in Division 3. It’s a four-way tie between Phil Ampleford, Rod Harris, Reece Goudge and Josef Rusiecki (all 24) in Division 4; and Marin Vuletic (24) has a three-point advantage over David Sneddon, David Woods and Mark Shelley in Division 5. Jamie Fitzgerald (24) has broken through in Division 6, and has a two-point margin over Karl Morten Kringen and Punithan Shanmugam; but there is nothing to separate Danny Sciffelers, Abeselom Habtemariam and Cian McKenna (all 24) in Division 7. Paddy Smith (27) is maintaining daylight over Chris Wain, Budhi Nugraha and Lee Donaldson in Division 8; and Jason Choi (27) has the same advantage over Thomas Morris in Division 9. Robin Dam (25) is currently ranked 627 in FPL, but that’s only good for a one-point edge over Louise Chennell in Division 10. It’s even closer in Division 11, where Manickam P, Magnar Igland, Keith Walker and Allen Houston (all 24) are joint-leaders; and it’s a three-way tie between Adam Ryan, Marcus Baptiste and Michael Dodd (all 22) in Division 12. Rich Gomer (25) has risen to the top in Division 13, but still has Zheng Huan Hoe and Atang Bingana (both 22) for company. Pavle Ziman (27) has a two-point margin over Bruno Vojvodić and Glynn Sherwood in Division 14; and Magnum Clarsen’s advantage over David Lavignotte and Sebin Jose (both 21) in Division 15 is three points. Craig Ekedahl (25) continues to lead in Division 16, but has the slimmest of margins over Ayan Saha (24).
League Six
There are no longer any perfect records in League 6, but five managers have recorded ten wins and just a single defeat, namely: John Lloyd (Division 5), André Mærli (Division 8), Andy Whitely (Division 16), Turtle Bear (Division 19) and Hiroyuki Mori (Division 32). Wojciech Kołakowski (28) has conceded just a draw and a defeat in Division 4; and Reuben Cox (Division 22) has only dropped seven points to date.
There are 13 managers who are leading the respective Divisions on 27 points: Marcus Bexell (Division 2), @elevenify (Division 6), Dwarak Mukund (Division 11), Garry Murray (Division 12), Eero Tagapere (Division 13), Dan Burge (Division 14), Y SP (Division 20), Henril Palm Strand (Division 21), Sean McGing (Division 24), Richard Williams and Lâm Ðào (Division 26), Darren Teague (Division 27) and Nigel Hadley (Division 30). Richard Phillips and Kartik Pattani (both 25) are joint-leaders in Division 10.
A further 18 managers on 24 points are league-leaders, either jointly or on their own, namely: Debarchan Maiti and BB (Division 1), Colin Whiteside (Division 3), Andre Martins and Ivan Gore (Division 7), Patrick Zrebiec (Division 9), Janusz Idczak (Division 15), Dax Cottam and Ankur Tando (Division 17), Richard Ha and K D (Division 18), Barry Whenman and Michael Peeters (Division 23), Simon Brouckaert (Division 25), Rodney McCain (Division 28), Ski House (Nitish) (Division 29), and Ryan John MacKenzie and Martin Kaplan (Division 31).
League Seven
The top dog in League 7 is Zlatko Omanović (Division 21) who has dropped just two points in the first 11 fixtures A further six managers on 30 points also deserve a mention in dispatches: Sunny H (Division 4), Chris Bridglan (Division 6), William Yip (Division 33), Mats Sturesson (Division 42), Chris Lord (Division 47) and Ras Wangelin (Division 49). Samid A (Division 44), Jonny Wilson (Division 55) and Shane Sheldrake (Division 60) are leading their respective Divisions on 28 points.
A further 25 managers are leading their respective Divisions on 27 Points. Let’s namecheck them: Philip Hammarström (Division 7), Derek Hull (Division 9), Andrew Lambert (Division 11), Mohamad Abou Salem (Division 19), Jonathan Thompson (Division 23), Alex Galbraith (Division 24), Jose De La Roca (Division 25), Ciaran Collins (Division 27), Stephen Flett (Division 29), Daniel Sailer and Nathan Campbell (Division 30), Len Håvar Thomassen (Division 32), Alex Playle and Will Arnold (Division 35), Aris Kovalenko (Division 37), Karlon Graham (Division 40), Yehya Asker (Division 46), Adam Baldwin (Division 48), Furry Kettle and Roberto Laso (Divison 54), Rumi Achije (Division 57), Marko Altandjiev (Division 58), Ged Ashton (Division 61), Chris Sparrow (Division 63) and Naji Abdelmajid (Division 64).
League Eight
Still no perfect scores but Ian Turner has conceded just a single draw in Division 48, and may be feeling aggrieved that his lead over Nairit Sur is just one point. Marko Škarica (Division 95) is the only other manager in League 8 to match his start; however, he has a nine-point advantage over the competition in Division 95.
A further 20 managers on 20 points are leading their respective Divisions, namely: Samuel Stradling (Division 2), Nizzamudin Ahmed (Division 3), Agung Ramadhan (Division 11), Eanna Mannion (Division 12), Dominic Flood (Division 15), Chi Tsang and Vyacheslav Morozenko (Division 21), John Foreman (Division 34), Graham Walsh (Division 37), peter Willis (Division 41), Aaron Leggott (Division 51), Gareth Williams (Division 62), Jonne Welling (Division 70), Soham Daga (Division 74), Chris Webster (Division 86), Dann Babatunde (Division 87), Jamie Record (Division 90), Scotty Boy (Division 97), Elvar Sigurdsson (Division 104) and Romeu Fernandes Junior (Division 120).
Leagues Nine and 10
There are five managers in Leagues 9 and 10 with perfect scores, so take a bow Fergz Boss (Division 14), Virinder Gupta (Division 28), Amr Ali (Division 57), Adamos Annivas (Division 229) and Mandar Karandikar (League 10, Division 2). Almost as good are Eemeli Juva (Division 94) and Harun Setiawan (Division 206) who have conceded just a single draw. Well done all.
A further 30 managers have amassed 30 points to date, namely: Albert Bastias (Division 4), Ivan Mihajlov (Division 16), Conor Byrne (Division 27), Mahmoud Mounir (Division 34), Karim Kapo (Division 35), Adam Harriot (Division 38), Vincent LoBasso (Division 40), Chrixax Osas (Division 61), Tor Martin Aronsen (Division 70, Omar El Toukhy (Division 72), Tshepo Mawasha (Division 76), Ruslan Ulitin (Division 79), Mohamed Iotfy (Division 82), Lucas Mudie (Division 87), Nasik Kambin Raghad (Division 93), Aditya Gupta and Maciej Malinowski (Division 108), Katja Applesssqabble and Fergus Walsh (Division 113), Tomek Wierzbicki (Division 117), Lisa O (Division 125), Martin Symonds (Division 145), Uzuvira Mujahere (Division 181), Dennis Ngeno (Division 194), Killian Leegan (Division 195), Sunil Tripathi (Division 208), Mervyn Kirkness (Division 210), Andy Alford (Division 222), Vukadin Veljković (Division 223) and Josh Marcus (Division 251).
Top 100 Hall of Fame
It’s been a tough period for many of the Top 100 Hall of Fame managers whose progress I have been monitoring as they seek to ascend the higher echelons of the H2H league. The one exception is @elevenify (27 pts), who has won four games in a row to open up a six-point gap in League 6, Division 6. Dan Furneaux (18) was keeping pace with him but three successive defeats have seen him drop out of the promotion slots. With two wins and two defeats since the last update, James Harrison (18) has slipped out of the Top Five in League 6, Division 26; and a similar run means that Tod Modisette (16) is stalled in mid-table in League 7, Division 34.Timo Riekko (League 6, Division 5) and Colin Innes (League 6, Division 24) have both lost ground after a run of one win in four; and a barren run has left Ómar Olgeirsson languishing at the bottom of League 7, Division 47. Still a long way to go.
Beat The Scouts
I am also tracking the progress of Scout content creators and contributors in the H2H League, both to learn from their wisdom and experience, and maybe to pick up a password or secret handshake for access to the Cartel. Rumours of their prowess may have been over-estimated based on performance since Gameweek 7.
Torres Magic has moved clear of the relegation berths in League 2, Division 2 with three wins out of the last four; and two wins and a draw leaves Grey Head stuck in mid-table in League 3, Division 1. Three victories for Neale Rigg has elevated him to joint-second in League 2, Division 2; but two defeats means that Sam Bonfield has been caught by the pack in League 4, Division 1. With two wins out of four, Red Lightning is struggling to make progress in League 6, Division 8; and the same performance sees Rainy ~ treading water in League 7, Division 2; while three victories for G Whizz (18) puts him on the rise in League 8, Division 44. Finally, when we last checked, Hibbo was riding high in League 9, Division 225, but following a run of one point out of the last 12, he has now dropped out of the promotion berths. No doubt his Scoutcast colleagues won’t have much to say about his Gameweek 11 score (28).
I’ll be back with another round-up after Gameweek 16, but In the meantime, you can keep track of your performance, and stalk your opposition, via MIR’s Head-to-Head Leagues page.
I’m off to audition for Match of the Day. Stay safe.