2016/17 Co-Ord Round-up Part Eight (and last) - 1st-4th

1st: Fred West Landscape Gardening XI (up three places on last season)
What a season! Championship (by a record margin), PCMT and FA Cup. The Gardeners were dominant. Jermain Defoe was firing at the start of the season, when he went off the defence stepped up, when they weren't on it Eden Hazard and Dele Alli were. Worryingly for the rest of the league Fred didn't splash out in the transfer market.
What happened to last year's Star Player? 12 goals for Jermain Defoe wasn't a bad return

Star Players: Eden Hazard and Dele Alli (18 goals)

2nd: The Fabulous Artisans (up one place)
Like last season the Artisans did their best work in the second half of the campaign. Ben's team were eighth with nine games to go but powered through to the runners-up spot when others were faltering. This team has lots of players who can contribute and perhaps isn't far away from a real charge at the top spot.
What happened to last year's Star Player? Injuries restricted Matteo Darmian's efforts this term

Star Players: Christian Benteke (12 goals) and Patrick van Aanholt (four goals, eight cleans)

3rd: Real Muppets (up eight places)
A huge jump back to the happy end of the table for the Muppets this season. Ryan's team spent 25 weeks in the top three but I'm not sure even the manager knows how he did it! A fit Sadio Mane might have got them closer but only he Raheem Sterling and Kevin de Bruyne looked a goal threat. The defence seems fine, the attack needs work if this wasn't a one-off.
What happened to last year's Star Player? Hector Bellerin wasn't so effective.

Star Player: Toby Aldeweireld (one goal, 14 cleans)

4th: The Cow-Faced Juniors (up one place)
Chris, Luc and Noah will be scratching their heads as to how they didn't finish higher. 90 in the goals column is the most for a non-title winner. Perhaps we need to look in the goals against column for the answer. Shkodran Mustafi and Virgil van Dijk both missed chunks of the season and could have made a difference. A bigger issue is the futures of Sanchez and Ozil.
What happened to last year's Star Player? The aforementioned Virgil van Dijk spent time in the treatment room.

Star Player: Alexis Sanchez (21 goals)

2016/17 Co-Ord Round-up Part Seven - 5th-8th

5th: Trusted By Millions (up five places on last season)
A recovery of sorts from Beef after last season's bottom half finish. Trusted buzzed around the top three through the middle part of the season but eight without a win finished any hope of getting on the honours board. Still not enough goals in the squad.
What happened to last year's Star Player? Kasper Schmeichel was sold to Claymore for £20m

Star Player: Gary Cahill (four goals, 16 cleans)

6th: Claymore Athletic FC (down five places)
No three titles in a row for Clive but it could have been a lot worse. A shocking run of ten straight defeats dropped him to 15th at one point. Just one defeat in the second half of the campaign hauled Claymore back up but it's a trophyless season for a change.
What happened to last year's Star Player? Sergio Aguero made it three in a row

Star Player: Sergio Aguero (20 goals)

7th: Wheel Madrid (up eight places)
The new boss didn't inherit the best squad but he did get the boost of player sales and spent well for the main part. Luiz, Lallana and Klavan give Paul a base to build from. He'll need to work on the strikers next term as Negredo and Nolito didn't fire.
What happened to last year's Star Player? Gareth McAuley had another solid season.

Star Player: David Luiz (one goal, 12 cleans)

8th: San Dimas High School (down one place)
Possibly a bit unlucky! San Dimas had the Player of the Season in Romelu Lukaku and a decent back line boosting the counter total. Lukaku needs back up if this campaign is going to be built on. Are Walcott and Welbeck the men to do that?
hat happened to last year's Star Player? Sold to Wheels after a dry spell. Too hasty? We'll see.

Star Player: Romelu Lukaku (24 goals)

2016/17 Co-Ord Round-up Part Six - 9th-12th

9th: Athletico Phoenix (down seven places on last season)
A big drop for last year's runners-up. Brian led the league in week seven and were still fourth with nine games to go. Long-term injuries to Cazorla and Mertersacker plus disappointing returns from the likes of Mahrez and Martial led to the fall.
What happened to last year's Star Player? Riyad Mahrez struggled to impose himself.

Star Player: Diego Costa (17 goals)

10th: Aardvark Abacus (down four places)
The first time outside of the top half for Ady. A dreadful autumn/winter run of three wins in 17 league games did the damage before a late recovery. The main problem was that the Aardvarks' attackers may have contravened the Trade Descriptions Act.
What happened to last year's Star Player? Nacho Monreal wasn't quite so convincing.

Star Players: Danny Rose (three goals and eight cleans) and Son Heung-Min (11 goals)

11th: Mega Buck Bandits (up two places)
Up two places for the second season running, are the Bucks on the up? It's their best position and points total since 2007/8. The counters were spread around too so a couple more astute signings and the top half is not out of the question.
What happened to last year's Star Player? Wes Morgan didn't carry on last season's form

Star Players: Antonio Valencia (one goal, nine cleans), Phillippe Coutinho and Josh King (10 goals)

12th: Cheese Makers (down six places)
Matthew's team spent most of the season in the top six but a close mid-table battle and two wins in the last 12 saw the Cheesers slip down the table. Manuel Lanzini looks a star in the making but the strikers need to chip in more.
What happened to last year's Star Player? Robert Huth didn't perform to the same level.

Star Player: Nathaniel Clyne (10 cleans)

2016/17 Co-Ord Round-up Part Five - 13th-16th

My annual assessment of the WSFFL teams starts with the bottom four.

13th: FCK2 (down four places on last season)
Issues away from the fantasy football arena meant Kevin couldn't turn his attention to the team and they struggled as a result. Harry Kane kept the team from the bottom spot but there weren't enough contributions from the rest of the squad.
What happened to last year's Star Player? He was this year's Star Player too.

Star Player: Harry Kane (22 goals)

14th Nil Satis Nisi Optimum (same place)
Paul has his first WSFFL trophy! The Charity Shield was secured to cap off an improved first half of the season for Nil Satis but the celebrations went on so long that the team collapsed after that winning just one of their last 16 games.
What happened to last year's Star Player? Eric Dier was re-catted to midfield and went quiet.

Star Player: Marcos Alonso (six goals, 11 cleans)

15th: The Wateringhole Society (down three places)
Is the glass half full or half empty? A slew of draws meant Kiran's team lost only one more game than the CFJs who finished fourth. Thirteen draws ate into the points total though but sound signings give hope for next term.
What happened to last year's Star Player? Joe Hart was loaned out which badly hurt the counters total.

Star Player: Michael Keane (two goals, ten cleans)

16th: YTFIB (same place)
It went to the last week but Julian bagged bottom spot again. He'd worked hard in the market too signing the excellent Zlatan and the unfortunate Gundogan. Injuries and suspensions removed the hope of a higher finish.
What happened to last year's Star Player? Christian Fuchs did not make the same impression.

Star Player: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (17 goals)

2016/17 Co-Ord Round-up Part Four - the Value for Money (counters per £m) table

While the spreadsheet's still open let's see about who got the most counters for their money...


-->

	Team	P	Counters	Ave Counters		Wage Bill (£m)	Cts per £m
1	Mega Buck Bandits	30	79	2.63		2.385	33.12
2	FCK2	30	51	1.70		2.2005	23.18
3	The Fabulous Artisans	30	88	2.93		3.9795	22.11
4	YTFIB	30	60	2.00		2.89725	20.71
5	San Dimas High School	30	99	3.30		4.9095	20.16
6	The Wateringhole Society	30	58	1.93		2.97525	19.49
7	Aardvark Abacus	30	82	2.73		4.494	18.25
8	Wheel Madrid	30	82	2.73		5.40675	15.17
9	Athletico Phoenix	30	81	2.70		5.35275	15.13
10	Cheese Makers	30	75	2.50		4.95675	15.13
11	Real Muppets	30	76	2.53		5.21175	14.58
12	Trusted By Millions	30	88	2.93		6.27375	14.03
13	The Cow-Faced Juniors	30	116	3.87		8.376	13.85
14	Fred West Landscape Gardening XI	30	109	3.63		8.2545	13.20
15	Claymore Athletic FC	30	96	3.20		7.46625	12.86
16	Nil Satis Nisi Optimum	30	65	2.17		7.248	8.97

Mega Bucks well clear in this one with FCK2 and the Artisans are also in the top three.

The Artisans are the only top three team to remain from last year's table.

It doesn't prove anything but somebody might find it mildly interesting.

2016/17 Co-Ord Round-up Part Three - the Value for Money (pts per £m) table

Who got most for their wage money last season?*


-->

	Team	P	Pts		Wage Bill (£m)	Pts per £m
1	Mega Buck Bandits	30	40		2.385	16.77
2	The Fabulous Artisans	30	53		3.9795	13.32
3	FCK2	30	28		2.2005	12.72
4	Real Muppets	30	52		5.21175	9.98
5	Aardvark Abacus	30	42		4.494	9.35
6	San Dimas High School	30	45		4.9095	9.17
7	Wheel Madrid	30	47		5.40675	8.69
8	The Wateringhole Society	30	25		2.97525	8.40
9	YTFIB	30	24		2.89725	8.28
10	Athletico Phoenix	30	43		5.35275	8.03
11	Fred West Landscape Gardening XI	30	66		8.2545	8.00
12	Cheese Makers	30	39		4.95675	7.87
13	Trusted By Millions	30	48		6.27375	7.65
14	Claymore Athletic FC	30	48		7.46625	6.43
15	The Cow-Faced Juniors	30	50		8.376	5.97
16	Nil Satis Nisi Optimum	30	26		7.248	3.59

Mega Bucks were fourth in this table last year but an improved performance, and a reduced wage bill, from Dave's team see them well clear.

The Artisans were second in the real table and second here too highlighting Ben's success. FCK2 barely spent a bean all season so no surprise to see them so high. 

Nil Satis spent a fortune but have the Charity Shield to show for it.

*if my sums are right

2016/17 Co-Ord Roundup part two - The 'Counters' Table

Here's the table if that was all that mattered in the game was 'counters'. Don't worry it won't be. (Well, not on my watch!)

1. The Cow-Faced Juniors -116 (three places higher than real table, 23 more counters than last season)
2. Fred West LG XI - 109 (one place lower, 16 more)
3. San Dimas High School - 99 (five places higher, 13 more)
4. Claymore Athletic - 96 (two places higher, 25 fewer)
=5. The Fabulous Artisans - 88 (three lower, four fewer)
=5. Trusted By Millions - 88 (same place, 27 more)
=7. Wheel Madrid - 82 (same place, 25 more)
=7. Aardvark Abacus - 82 (three places higher, 13 fewer)
9. Athletico Phoenix - 81 (same place, six fewer)
10. Mega Buck Bandits - 79 (one place higher, 29 more)
11. Real Muppets - 76 (eight places lower, one fewer)
12. Cheese Makers - 75 (same place, three fewer)
13. Nil Satis Nisi Optimum - 65 (one place higher, six more)
14. YTFIB - 60 (one place higher, 11 more)
15. The Wateringhole Society - 58 (same place, eight fewer)
16. FCK2 - 51 (three places lower, 23 fewer)

The CFJs total could well be the highest recorded by a non-champion. Counters were up more than eighty on last year so no surprise to see some big gains, not least by Mega Bucks and Wheel Madrid in their new guise form last year.

Some losses too though. Claymore and FCK2 both well down on last year.

2016/17 Awards - £500k Team of the Season

(More of the same but with players from the bargain basement.)

GK: Lukas Fabianski (The Fabulous Artisans)

DEF: Gary Cahill (Trusted By Millions), Patrick van Aanholt (Artisans), Gareth McAuley (Wheel Madrid), Alfie Mawson (Fred West LG XI)

MID: Gylfi Sigurdsson (The Cow-Faced Juniors), Manuel Lanzini (Cheese Makers), James Milner (YTFIB), Nathan Redmond (Athletico Phoenix)

ATT: Harry Kane (FCK2), Christian Benteke (Artisans)

Subs: Victor Valdes (The Wateringhole Society); Danny Rose (Aardvarks); Joe Allen (YTFIB) and Riyad Mahrez (Athletico); Josh King (Mega Bucks)

Only Sigurdsson, Lanzini and Kane survive from last year's first team.  Mahrez drops to the bench and Redmond steps up.

Josh King didn't make the team but is clearly one to pick out for the future from this list.