This week we welcome back John Chapman for our GW25 report. Take it away Daddio…
I’m not one to complain but I always seem to get the mid-week games – a shorter turnaround and the money’s not so good.
But hey, let’s get down and dirty to Fray Bentos. After GW25, the personnel in the Top Five remain the same but the positions have seen dramatic changes.
Gary Chapman’s GFC (C) – an interesting pedigree – have hit the top, just ahead of Trevor Garrett’s Penfolds Patriots. Both teams sailed past Tom Ashman’s Bench Warmers FC, who dropped to third place after a disastrous set of matches saw him claim the lowest score (31) of the week.
Tom protests his teams lowest score
Tom wasn’t helped by his captain, Harry Kane, who just got attendance points, and by Phil Jones’ (once tagged, for older readers, as the next Duncan Edwards) own goal. Knowing Tom, he will be back.
Hat tip to Mr Donkin’s Wellesley Wanderers who moved into fourth spot thanks to a sparkling 75 points, with Andy Dawkins’ 5th by Pancake Day, sorry 2nd by Christmas, just a solitary point behind.
In the week, the Wellesley Wanderers were only beaten by Stephen Mortimer’s Farke n’Hell (76) and the misnamed Underachievers who took this week’s honours by some distance. James Griffith’s boys managed 96 points, thanks primarily to making Theo Walcott captain. Not many people did that.
Walcott, obviously
Walcott, the ex-Arsenal and now Everton winger, who allegedly had to pick up his belongings from the Emirates late at night in bin-bags, raked in 30 points for the Underachievers. If only he’d not left Nathan Aké on the bench, James would have sailed past the 100 mark in style.
Happily, GW25 coincided with both the end of the month and the closure of the transfer window. January saw GFC (C) and Penfolds Patriots take the top two spots with 285 and 277 points respectively. Third place went to Adam Gent’s Falseflag Blues, with Adam currently fielding three of his beloved Manchester City boys.
As for the transfer window, it ended with Arsenal buying Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for 63 million euros. Peanuts! In the 2017-18 season, the Premier League clubs have spent over 2 billion euros – a sum that some people would call obscene while others would simply say that’s football.
The amount that the Premier League clubs disbursed in January (+/- 420 million euros) was roughly equal to the amount paid out by the Spanish, Italian, German and French leagues combined. Where will this all end? Answers on a postcard please.
‘The games gone’ muttered Roy…
Ending on an even lower note. Joint top scorer in GW25 was the unknown (to me) Sam Clucas. The Swansea City midfielder scored 15 points and hit the headlines for his goal-scoring celebration which apparently involved promoting a site specialising in porn videos.
It’s a funny old game.
Fray Bentos 