I will keeping my eye on the individual personal battles we have this season, here they are as I see it.

Craig Frost v Simon Waller

Side bet with the loser to pay in the other (and me!) into a day at the Cheltenham Festival. Mr Waller with 2 wins out 3 has a 1pt lead over Mr Frost having won, drawn and lost one.

Matt Hall v Phil Hall v Steve Chaney

I sense a fair bit of rivalry here. Experienced Matt has a handy looking 4pts lead over Phil and a further pt over Steve. Are Phil and Steve fighting for silver already !!!!

Royce Franklin v Simon Barrett

Royce holds a 2pt lead over newcomer Simon

The Moodys (Allison v Wayne v Shaun)

Dad Wayne holds a 2pt lead over mum Allison and son Shaun has some work to do 5pts adrift

The Owens (Matt v Dan v Tim) v Owen Griffiths

A fierce rivalry here. Matt's mate Owen has added to that. So far Dan has been left well behind, old hand Tim has a 1pt lead over the other two.

The Rigbys (Colin v Lesley)

Absolutely neck and neck so far (not sure how much Lesley contributes or whether Colin works both)

The Committee (Paul Gerrard v Russ Farnham v Paul Keech v Tim Owen v Graham Highton)

Only 2pts separating 4 of the 5, guess who lags behind. Graham just leads the way.

Craig Frost v Paul Keech

As someone once said, I would love it, just love it if I could beat him. His wind up tactics make me lose concentration and he pushes me into unneccesary and unwise transfers. I now try to avoid his calls, in fact any contact at all on a Monday!! Guess what he is beating me again, grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

The Gerrards (Paul v Kids)

Paul usually comes off second best, so far the tide has turned (but it wont last).

The Hightons (Graham v Andrew)

Another father son challenge. Graham is 2pts ahead but Andrew has started well.

Any others you would like to let me know about!!!

Paul

 

 

 

14 new players added, one to come (Rafeal Van Der Vaart)

Gyan, Asamoah	Striker	Premier	Sunderland
Pitman, Brett	Striker	Championship	Bristol City
Diouf, Mame	Striker	Premier	Blackburn
Benjani	Striker	Premier	Blackburn
Dembele, Moussa	Striker	Premier	Fulham
Arfa, Hatam Ben	Striker	Premier	Newcastle
Gudjohnsen, Eidur	Striker	Premier	Stoke City
Fortune, Marc Antonie	Striker	Premier	West Brom
Derbyshire, Matty	Striker	Premier	Birmingham City
Beausejour, Jean	Midfielder	Premier	Birmingham City
Sam, Lloyd	Midfielder	Championship	Leeds united
Somma, David	Striker	Championship	Leeds united
Trotter, Liam	Midfielder	Championship	Millwall
Hleb, Alexander	Midfielder	Premier	Birmingham City

The full draw for 1st round of our MLW League Cup is now complete..............>here

Two ties are unresolved. My highlight is Craig Frost v Tim Owen, a game I want both to lose!!!

Thanks to Hannah and her friend Bailey Kelsall for completing the draw.

Paul

Please note I got the result wrong for Graham Highton and he now has a replay instead of being knocked out  (sorry Richard I tried my best for you!).

Paul

The first cup results of the season are now complete and the results can be found ..............> here

Just one game goes to a replay, Colin Rigby v Ish Beg and this will be played on week 4 (10th to 13th Sept).

My miserable start continues as Jeff Miller knocks me out. Champ Rob Bushell is surprisingly beaten by last seasons strugglers Alison Bates and John Weetman. Patrick Williams monthly gets better as he goes through but runner up for month Graham Highton is sent out by another struggler Ricard Smith. First timer Simon Barrett progresses but both younger Owens are out.

The first round draw will be completed tomorrow and will played we 17th to 20th Sept.

Paul

There are a number of new players to be added to the list, after the transfer deadline on Tuesday they will be priced and sent in good time for the next set of fixtures.

Paul

The results at the end of August and week 3 are now complete. Check out how you have done.

At last I have completed my Keech the Bookie, I have toiled and agonised but here it is ......> Prediction

I cant believe how much transfer activity is going, we dont close the transfer window in two weeks you know!!!

Check out the link on the right hand side of the home page.

Paul

Check out the player list.............> List

They will be indicated in the 2nd column as `new'

Paul

After the weekend you have all latched onto Malouda at Chelsea after his brace against the Baggies and he has quickly sold out. You lot don't mess about thats for sure.  

As I am usher at Lindsey's brother's wedding I am afraid the usual timely, high quality service will not be on offer this weekend. Sometime Sunday morning (when I come around) I will add in the scores. Sorry for the inconvenience!!!

Also to remind you the first pontoon commences tomorrow, remember the first to exactly 21 goals scored at the end of a particular week will win part of the £100 for season pot. Over 21 and you bust.

Paul

Richard is back, hurray!!!

 

The Prelim round for the League cup has just been made by Hannah Keech and her friend Casie Davis Rice. Everyone else goes straight through to round 1.

Richard Smith v Graham Highton

Rob Bushell v Alison Bates/John Weetman

Jeff Miller v Paul Keech (marvellous, they are sacked from future rounds!)

Matt Owen v Patrick Williams

Dan Owen v Jimmy Lyons

Chris/Peter Gerrard v Shaun Moody

Phil/Lynne Stokoe v Alan Keech

Ish Beg v Colin Rigby

Steve Chaney v Phil Hall (local derby 1)

Simon Barrett v Royce Franklin (local derby 2)

These games will be played in week 3 (the last weekend in August)

The League Cup page (which is currently showing last seasons results will be setup later).

Paul

Click here to see what you could win.............> Prizes

It appears not everyone can gain access to the news headlines. I await Richard to check it out

Any change now will be a transfer.

It looks like we have 6 newbies this season. So who are they?

Simon Barrett - another Latics fan (you can never have enough of em I say!). A friend of Royce Franklin who played our World Cup comp for the first time.

Owen Griffiths - a Newcastle fan, a mate of Matt Owen, will add even more competition down in the backwater that is Oswestry!

Andrew Highton - a regular in our summer comps, son of committe member Graham Highton.

Karl Jones - Coventry fan (great to have these fans of different clubs in) works with me at Probation. Very keen!

Matt Wakeman - again a mate from work, very passionate Aston Villa fan, clearly not happy with the manager situation. Needs to brush up on his championship knowledge. My joint team partner for this season.

Ben Watson - sort of Grimsby Town fan, enjoyed the World cup comp so despite his limited knowledge was keen to participate. Apparently he has a silent partner assisting him, interesting!!!

Hope they all enjoy their first experience of MLW. Welcome to you all.

Paul

 

With 40 teams in and 2 to come, champ Rob Bushell and Simon Waller it looks like we will miss last seasons target by 1. Unless of course you know differently.

Tomorrow at 12.40pm the deadline passes for free swops. Any changes after that will use transfers up. Remember you have 4 teams and 12 players over the season.

The deadline for your 7 picks will be 5 mins before the weekends first game, 12.40pm on Saturday.

Next week I will provide Keech the Bookies odds and predictions for the season, a list of prizes and the preliminary round draw for the first round of the cup. A very busy week so keep logging in for all the details.

Paul 

On the front page news you will see some changes, first it looks much better but now if you click on the latest news item and then click on the `Front Page News' at the top you can look at the last 30 news items without clicking on each individual link. Marvellous stuff!!

Paul

 

Season ID	Manager ID	Name 6	Team	Supports Team	Last Team Change	Transfer Count (Defence)	Transfer Count (Attack)
2010/11	27	Baldwin, Simon	Modus Victorious II	Leeds United	2010-07-26 12:58:18 Mon	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	70	Barrett, Simon	Are Rochdale Down Yet?	Oldham Athletic	2010-07-10 10:20:14 Sat	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	64	Bates/Weetman	Manchester Wanderers	Man U and Bolton	2010-08-05 10:27:30 Thu	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	57	Beg, Ishtiaq	Real Shat	Man U	2010-08-07 16:41:51 Sat	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	30	Bushell, Rob	Robbies Foulers	Liverpool	-	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	59	Chaney, Steve	Chaney	Southampton	2010-08-06 08:42:26 Fri	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	17	Cowburn, Ian	In the Doldrums	Manchester City	2010-08-07 17:51:39 Sat	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	3	Farnham, Russ	Watford Wire	Watford	2010-07-15 12:48:33 Thu	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	32	Franklin, Royce	Harrop Imps	Oldham Athletic	2010-07-29 20:25:21 Thu	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	28	Frost, Craig	Deservedly where I am	Oldham Athletic	2010-08-08 21:42:42 Sun	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	21	Gerrard, P/C	Scumbag College FC	Everton	2010-08-04 16:36:27 Wed	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	8	Gerrard, Paul	Street Countdown	Everton	2010-08-08 10:03:36 Sun	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	71	Griffiths, Owen	Hughton's Heroes	Newcastle United	2010-08-08 12:33:54 Sun	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	4	Hall, Matt	Odyssey	Everton	2010-08-09 12:26:32 Mon	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	72	Highton, Andrew	The Foreign Imports	Liverpool	2010-08-09 15:29:05 Mon	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	34	Highton, Graham	Fulchester United	Liverpool	2010-08-08 10:26:56 Sun	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	54	Howard, Andrea	Bowling for Soup	Manchester United	2010-08-09 19:52:33 Mon	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	63	Jeffries, Graham	Tottyboy	Bury	2010-08-09 23:35:45 Mon	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	73	Jones, Karl	Singher Athletic	Coventry City	-	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	26	Jones, Stuart *	20 Years and Counting	Man U	2010-08-09 22:32:11 Mon	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	12	Keech, Alan	Royton Roughyed	Oldham Athletic	2010-07-30 17:08:43 Fri	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	1	Keech, Paul	Ice Station Zebra	Oldham Athletic	2010-08-07 22:29:49 Sat	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	13	Kelly, John/Phil	Turfed Moor	Bury and Man U	2010-08-08 21:17:50 Sun	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	25	Leech, Paul	Men of Low Morale Fibre	Liverpool	2010-08-07 21:24:33 Sat	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	68	Lyons, Chris	Mary Hinge Athletic	Everton	2010-08-10 00:11:26 Tue	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	31	Lyons, Jimmy	Prodigal Returns 3	Liverpool	2010-08-07 09:45:01 Sat	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	23	Miller, Jeff	JazzyJ & the Fresh Prince	Leeds United	2010-07-11 14:04:53 Sun	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	2	Moody, Allison	Yellow Army	Watford	2010-08-08 10:40:42 Sun	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	29	Moody, Shaun	You Orns	Watford	2010-08-07 17:35:26 Sat	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	47	Moody, Wayne	Yellow Gardener	Watford	2010-08-09 13:05:50 Mon	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	16	Owen, Dan	Hoof Hearted	Man U	2010-08-08 14:05:03 Sun	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	66	Owen, Matthew	LUHG Stretford Ender	Man U	2010-08-07 12:21:53 Sat	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	6	Owen, Tim	Morda United	Man U	2010-08-08 17:18:10 Sun	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	9	Rigby, Colin	Ascot Albion	Man U	-	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	61	Rigby, Lesley	The Gardeners	Liverpool	2010-08-09 23:47:45 Mon	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	51	Smith, Richard	Uxello Geeks	Macc Town	2010-07-08 16:15:41 Thu	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	24	Stokoe, Lynne/Phil	Mid Table Mediocrity	Chester	2010-08-07 12:45:54 Sat	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	62	Wakeman, Matthew	Pine Villa	Aston Villa	2010-08-07 22:42:17 Sat	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	45	Waller, Simon	**NewTeamName**	Middlesbrough	-	0	0	edit | remove
2010/11	15	Williams, Patrick	PEAS FC	Man U	2010-08-08 10:49:20 Sun	0	0	edit | remove

Bostock, John	Midfielder	Championship	Hull City	1.5
Deeney, Troy	Striker	Championship	Watford	1.5
Adomah, Albert	Striker	Championship	Bristol C	0.8
Watt, Sanchez	Striker	Championship	Leeds	0.9

Its looking like around the same as last year, it would be great to beat the 43.

So far we have:

1	Baldwin, Simon
2	Barrett, Simon
3	Bates/Weetman
4	Beg, Ish
5	Bushell, Rob
6	Chaney, Steve
7	Cowburn, Ian
8	Farnham, Russ
9	Franklin, Royce
10	Frost, Craig
11	Gerrard, Paul
12	Gerrard, Chris/Peter
13	Griffiths, Owen
14	Highton, Andrew
15	Highton, Graham
16	Howard, Alison
17	Jeffries, Graham
18	Jones, Stu
19	Keech, Alan
20	Keech, Paul
21	Kelly, John/Phil
22	Leech, Paul
23	Lyons, Chris
24	Lyons, Jimmy
25	Miller, Jeff
26	Moody, Allison
27	Moody, Shaun
28	Moody, Wayne
29	Owen, Dan
30	Owen, Matt
31	Owen, Tim
32	Rigby, Colin
33	Rigby, Lesley
34	Smith, Richard
35	Stokoe, Phil/Lynne
36	Wakeman, Matt
37	Williams, Patrick

Still plenty of time to join. All you need to do is complete the Entry Form. I will create your account and add you to the season and then off you go.

Paul

Nobody anyone has heard of of course!!

 

 

You may want to consider some of these.

 

Player	Pos	League	Team	10/11 Price
Piquionne, Frederic	Striker	Premier	West Ham	2.4	New
Jackson, Simeon	Striker	Championship	Norwich City	2.1	New
Jovanovic, Milan	Striker	Premier	Liverpool	2.0	New
Jutkiewicz, Lucas	Striker	Championship	Coventry City	1.6	New
Barrera, Pablo	Midfielder	Premier	West Ham	1.2	New
Platt, Clive	Striker	Championship	Coventry City	1.1	New
Wickham, Connor	Striker	Championship	Ipswich Town	1.0	New
Bailey, Nicky	Midfielder	Championship	Middlesbrough	0.8	New
Thomson, Kevin	Midfielder	Championship	Middlesbrough	0.6	New
Ephraim, Hogan	Midfielder	Championship	QPR	0.6	New

After a very pleasant 12 days in Guernsey its time to turn our attention to the new season.

Expect emails shortly to remind you !!

Paul

After a well earned break in deepest, darkest Wales (lovely weather amazingly) I have now updated any appropriate transfer changes onto the player list. I will keep doing this on a daily basis. Any new ones will be added by the end of July so be aware when making your final selections. Any significant transfers in August will be added after the deadline once all teams are in.

You should have all received your welcome email by now. I will keep sending reminders out right up until the deadline.

You will see one brave soul has gone in v.early with his team. As the teams are received they will added onto the site for all to see (it makes it fair and above board) by logging in and going to the selections menu. I am sure doing this will mean more last minute entries than ever before as you will all want to keep the winning team to yourself as long as you possible can. Remember you can amend your team once before the deadline.

We will be doing some final system testing on Sat 4th Aug so the site may need to be brought down for a short period on that day.

Any problems email or use the contact us form on the website.

Paul

MLW

 

 

Player and Team prices are now available for 07/08.

The official welcome email will go out later today but if have been enterprising enough to logon to the website you have abit of a head start.

Please note one further update of transfers will be made (by the end of July).

The entry form is also now available. It would be appreciated if you would use this when entering your team.

Remember if you enter early (perhaps you are going away or are just keen) you are allowed to amend your initial team once before the 8th Aug deadline.

Thanks

MLW 

 

Progress over the last week has been rapid.

We have been testing the systems to make sure all the results and tables calculate correctly. We have been developing the `your selections' page (when you login). It will allow you to look at your team, transfers, loans etc. This will be extended to all other competitors teams.

The club/players lists are now done (again within selection). The committee (once Russ returns from Poland) will do an update of recent transfers at the end of this week and then create the new season which will bring the correct price lists onto the site. You will also see these lists will show how many times a player/team has been selected.

Richard will develop the entry and transfer form shortly.

You will also see tables on the front page. This will show the current overall top and bottom of the table as a snapshot.

I have also added a payments page (you must login) so you can see when any payments you have made have been received.

Finally we have also had a bit of interest from some old friends wanting to rejoin and also some possible new competitors.

Once we launch I expect the forum to start picking up again.

Apart from a couple of people you should have received your login details via email.

Russ and I met with Richard (our website wizard) on Monday.

Much of the discussion related to the backend results and tables so we can bring up the usual high standard results service.

There will be a selection section when you login. This will give you access to an entry form (when created), the player/team list, your team (and transfers used) and an option to look at everyone elses team. You will be able to make a transfer via the transfer form.

The league cup may be added (with the site creating the random draw).

The Manager of the Week questions have been added and you will be assigned a slot when you will complete the details.

The player/team prices are pretty much done and will be added shortly.

The aim is to launch by the 13th July so that you have everything you need to pick that winning team in time for the deadline of Wed 8th August..

Preparations are well under way for 07/08 season.

The rules are now set, check them out - rules

No real drastic changes but here are some detail:

1            The transfer window has been scrapped and we return to the previous rule.

2            Additional bonus point for 8 goals.

3            The player/team limit will vary depending on the no of entries.

4            Some minor changes to transfer procedures.

The player/team list is nearly complete and priced.

The next meeting with our website designer will happen on Mon night (25th) so there will be some major changes happening in the next couple of  weeks so keep an eye on the website. 

Firstly you will receive a logon (for the website) in the next few days. This will give you access to the Managers area.  

Just one final point to confirm we will run the same service next season if you do not have regular access to the web. Further details to follow.  

  

 

The committee is now confirmed for 07/08. Thanks to Craig Frost for all the hard work over the last few years. He has now stepped down as he will too busy with his new job over the summer to give the preparation its full committment. Ian Cowburn has now taken on the role, welcome Ian. Also a big thanks to Graham Highton for expressing an interest.  

One of the committee members has dropped out due to lack of time, therefore we now have a vacancy. Anyone fancy it ?

Let me know and I will provide job spec.

The end of season review has now been sent out. I will try and organise the report to be added to the website. Enjoy the read !

Prep will start for the new season next month and we will confirm the rules and player lists when available. Keep checking the website for developments, keep using forum and dont forget if you want to contribute to next seasons league any ideas for improvements will be considered.

Enjoy the summer, it will soon be Aug when it all starts again. 

 

An incredible final week turnaround saw yours truly (no its not a fix !) overhaul Shaun Moody's 4 pt lead with a stunning 5-0 two bonus point victory. This is my second title following on from my initial success in 1999. I know this wont please most of you but you know what I don't give a damn !   To everyone - thanks for competing - see you next season.  

 

Congratulations to Ian Cowburn (despite being in the bottom 2 nearly all season) who secured the final monthly award (£60). Graham Highton's 2-1 win gave him the runner-up spot (£20). Shaun Moody's 15 goal haul provided the £10 top scorer bonus.

All winnings will be despatched within 7-10 days of the season end. I will email to let you know what you have won and request a decision asap as to whether you want it sending or adding to the pot for next season. If I send it please let us know when you have received it. The end of season review will follow asap.  

 

With just 1 week to go it looks like newcomer and Watford fan Shaun Moody will gain some consolation for his teams relegation by winning the My Lost Weekend Fantasy League for this season. He would also get the bonus of the Trophy for 12 months. Lets see if he can hang on.

Amazingly after 4 years the much coveted trophy has turned up (see MLW - League section of the forum). Ken Trainer has located the prize possession (probably at the back of the wardrobe). He probably thought winning it for the 2nd time entitled him to keep it (does he not realise that you must win it 3 times, dont tell Tim though). I have requested Mr Bushell, who received the surprise news, to go through hell and high water to retrieve the trophy in time for the end of this season. We can clean it up (remove the fishy smell!) and get the additional plaques added.  

What with the new website and the offer of the trophy as an additional prize we are going to have to fight them off with a stick next season.

Only 6 weeks to go. With the busy Easter programme nearly upon us and only one monthly prize available time to get them final transfers/loans arranged before it is too late.

Shaun Moody in his first MLW season has collected the March monthly prize (and the top scorer prize) and finds his way into the Hall of Fame. Stu Jones amazingly landed 2nd spot from 12th place as all the challengers fell away in the last week. This is Stu's 3rd runner up prize in 4 months but the main monthly prize eludes him.

Congratulations to Graham Highton on his cup victory over Tim Owen last weekend. This is Graham's first success (apart from the original table prize last season). About time some might say!

This is where the important MLW news items will be displayed!

The forum is now open for business! If you are a member of MLW then you will receive an email shortly with your username and password details.

Update - all members of MLW should now have received an email - time to get posting !!!