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Fantasy Football Manager 2011-12
This is a closed game, so if you haven’t already been contacted by me you won’t be able to take part initially, although I will consider opening up the game to the rest of the forum if it is successful so feel free to PM me to get your name on the list. I will always favour people who have played my previous games over those who haven’t, but that does not mean others won’t be able to play. 
As for the people already involved, here is a guide to the game and the rules. Please bear in mind that the game is complex by design, so don’t panic if you don’t get it right away. It is one of those things that you will pick up as we go along.
The Concept
Each week you will pick an 11 player and 7 subs from your unique squad. These players will then score points like any other fantasy football game. Points will be split into attack points (goals, assists and bonus points) and your defensive rating (goals conceded). Your attack points are then multiplied by your opponent’s defensive rating meaning your performance doesn’t just depend on yourself, but who you are playing. These points then have to meet targets in order for your team to score goals, which means instead of a points total you end up with a score line. Points equal goals.
There are 10 teams in the game and you will play each team 4 times in a league format and then the top 4 will go into a playoff and the bottom 6 will play two more game to decide positions.
Formations
You have a choice of 3 formations: 4-4-2, 4-5-1 and 4-3-3. The point’s targets to score goals in the game depend on the formation you play, so that you have to score more points if you play more strikers. The point’s targets for each formation are as follows:
Strategy
As well as different formations in the game, you can choose to be aggressive/normal/defensive in strategy. Points are awarded depending on your strategy as follows:
If you choose to be aggressive it will push your team towards being higher scoring, but also higher conceding. The advantage of this is you will draw less games, the disadvantage of this is if a team plays defensive against you they will gain a slight win % advantage. I will explain strategy more when we get closer to the start of the season.
Player Draft
The player draft is how you decide your initial team. You will pick players from 20 pots, split into their positions and clubs. You can only pick one player from every club.
The goalkeeper pot will be kept separately and if you wish to select your goalkeeper you must waiver one of your picks on that day. Goalkeepers can be from the same club as outfield players.
Transfers
Once you have drafted your squad, the transfer window shall open. Players are free to negotiate transfer deals between them in the thread or if they wish across the Digital Spy private messaging system. If a deal is done privately using the private messaging system I must be informed by the two parties for the deal to go through.
You may also bid for unattached players, with bids starting at their list price which will be given in a large player database I will provide you with through excel. If you are bidding for an unattached player you must declare an interest by midnight on a Wednesday and the winning bid shall be the highest one on Thursday at midnight.
Each player will start with 40m to spend. The transfer window will open each week after the last game has finished and will close on a Thursday night at midnight.
When buying players you are allowed to go into debt but you have to clear the debt in 7 days. If you do not, you will be forced to release players to clear it. You are allowed up to 3 players from one team.
The Holding Midfielder rule
One problem with fantasy football games is some players playing in midfield play vital roles for a team but don’t score or assist many goals. In fantasy football these players are usually useless. To stop this happening I have introduced a rule that means midfielders can be played as “holding midfielders” and they will score based on bonus points. Bonus points are awarded during a game based on a player’s performance. 3 bonus points are given to the player with MOTM, 2 points for 2nd best player and 1 for third best player on the pitch. A player’s bonus points must be attached to a goal scored. Holding midfielders can still score goals but they will be valued at a different rate. The points scored by a holding midfielder depend on strategy as shown below.
Last season, in an average game, it was best to play 1.4 Holding Midfielders in a 4-4-2. The best players to play as HM’s were:
The best player to play as HM's may not always be Holding Midfielders. For example, due to his high bonus rating compared to goals and assists, Fabregas could've been played as a Holding Midfielder.
2 Goal Penalty rule
During a game, you must have 1 goalkeeper and 4 defenders playing at all times. If you fail to meet these requirements, due to injury or players not playing, you will automatically have a fictional player - who has conceded 2 goals - substituted in for the required minutes.
The Game Interface in Excel
I will provide every one with an excel sheet to follow the game. If you have any problems with this please let me know.
As for the people already involved, here is a guide to the game and the rules. Please bear in mind that the game is complex by design, so don’t panic if you don’t get it right away. It is one of those things that you will pick up as we go along.
The Concept
Each week you will pick an 11 player and 7 subs from your unique squad. These players will then score points like any other fantasy football game. Points will be split into attack points (goals, assists and bonus points) and your defensive rating (goals conceded). Your attack points are then multiplied by your opponent’s defensive rating meaning your performance doesn’t just depend on yourself, but who you are playing. These points then have to meet targets in order for your team to score goals, which means instead of a points total you end up with a score line. Points equal goals.
There are 10 teams in the game and you will play each team 4 times in a league format and then the top 4 will go into a playoff and the bottom 6 will play two more game to decide positions.
Formations
You have a choice of 3 formations: 4-4-2, 4-5-1 and 4-3-3. The point’s targets to score goals in the game depend on the formation you play, so that you have to score more points if you play more strikers. The point’s targets for each formation are as follows:
[B][I]Goals 4-5-1 4-4-2 4-3-3[/I][/B] 1 13 14 15 2 30 33 34 3 52 56 58 4 76 84 86 5 100 115 120 6 140 150 160 7 200 210 220 8 250 260 270 9 300 310 320
Strategy
As well as different formations in the game, you can choose to be aggressive/normal/defensive in strategy. Points are awarded depending on your strategy as follows:
[B][I]Points Scoring Def Nor Att[/I][/B] Goals +5 +6 +7 Assists +3 +3 +3 DF Conceded 0.2 0.25 0.3 GK Conceded 0.5 0.5 0.5 Bonus* +1.5 +2 +2.5 *HM only (See Holding Midfielder rule)
If you choose to be aggressive it will push your team towards being higher scoring, but also higher conceding. The advantage of this is you will draw less games, the disadvantage of this is if a team plays defensive against you they will gain a slight win % advantage. I will explain strategy more when we get closer to the start of the season.
Player Draft
The player draft is how you decide your initial team. You will pick players from 20 pots, split into their positions and clubs. You can only pick one player from every club.
The goalkeeper pot will be kept separately and if you wish to select your goalkeeper you must waiver one of your picks on that day. Goalkeepers can be from the same club as outfield players.
Transfers
Once you have drafted your squad, the transfer window shall open. Players are free to negotiate transfer deals between them in the thread or if they wish across the Digital Spy private messaging system. If a deal is done privately using the private messaging system I must be informed by the two parties for the deal to go through.
You may also bid for unattached players, with bids starting at their list price which will be given in a large player database I will provide you with through excel. If you are bidding for an unattached player you must declare an interest by midnight on a Wednesday and the winning bid shall be the highest one on Thursday at midnight.
Each player will start with 40m to spend. The transfer window will open each week after the last game has finished and will close on a Thursday night at midnight.
When buying players you are allowed to go into debt but you have to clear the debt in 7 days. If you do not, you will be forced to release players to clear it. You are allowed up to 3 players from one team.
The Holding Midfielder rule
One problem with fantasy football games is some players playing in midfield play vital roles for a team but don’t score or assist many goals. In fantasy football these players are usually useless. To stop this happening I have introduced a rule that means midfielders can be played as “holding midfielders” and they will score based on bonus points. Bonus points are awarded during a game based on a player’s performance. 3 bonus points are given to the player with MOTM, 2 points for 2nd best player and 1 for third best player on the pitch. A player’s bonus points must be attached to a goal scored. Holding midfielders can still score goals but they will be valued at a different rate. The points scored by a holding midfielder depend on strategy as shown below.
[B][I]Points Scoring Def Nor Att[/I][/B] Goals +1.5 +2 +2.5 Assists +0.75 +1 +1.25 Bonus* +1.5 +2 +2.5
Last season, in an average game, it was best to play 1.4 Holding Midfielders in a 4-4-2. The best players to play as HM’s were:
[B][I]Name Team Average Extra Points (Season)[/I][/B] Modric TH 92.375 Ferguson BI 77.595 Adam BL 51.73 Vaughan BL 55.425 Parker WH 44.34
The best player to play as HM's may not always be Holding Midfielders. For example, due to his high bonus rating compared to goals and assists, Fabregas could've been played as a Holding Midfielder.
2 Goal Penalty rule
During a game, you must have 1 goalkeeper and 4 defenders playing at all times. If you fail to meet these requirements, due to injury or players not playing, you will automatically have a fictional player - who has conceded 2 goals - substituted in for the required minutes.
The Game Interface in Excel
I will provide every one with an excel sheet to follow the game. If you have any problems with this please let me know.
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Comments
Here are the team names and kits. Now you've seen everyone's please feel to change if you wish. We have a lot of Black kits and White/Blue kits, but i don't mind if everyone is happy with what they have.
One quick one that i have already thought of is substitutions. Any player who doesn't play will automatically be replaced. If a player plays a certain period of time, then you have one automatic sub in each position. I will explain more on subs at a later date.
Also, regarding strategy: i will give a brief guide on the statistics behind strategy before the season starts so everyone is clued up.
I need to have a proper look tomorrow but on first glance I think it might be abit of a risk to play 38 games a season (36 regular and 2 playoffs). If one week you get half of the games being rearranged due to frozen pitches, like we've had recently, it could be a nightmare to organise on here.
Yeah i had thought of that, but i think if it happens it is just one of those things that i won't be able to stop. Those matches will just be cancelled. I think i will set a quota of 6 matches needed in a gameweek to have it count.
Yeah i have been trying to prepare people for how complicated the game will look at first; i hope it doesn't put anyone off. All the calculations will be done automatically in the spreadsheet. I might try to get that out earlier than planned to show people how the game is going to work.
I'm not sure we need 7 weeks, considering only 1 week last year had under 9 games. I will look at it when i get home, but i'm thinking some form of double-elimination tournament to run alongside it. That is just my early thinking.
Im almost certain we won't need them, just thought it might be nice to have a winter break
Any chance you could explain how this works abit more before we pick our teams? It's mainly the money part I didn't get. Also is there a max/min squad size?
Ha. That is a very good point. Maybe the crazy christmas week we will have a mid season break. I'll have a look at all of this when i get in - currently locked out of my house. :P
Yeah i definitely can explain more. One of my problems is explaining my ideas, not the ideas themselves. What part about the money were you talking about? Is it the debt part?
I'm planning to give an example of how a match will work later tonight so look out for that it should give people a better idea hopefully.
Nice. Yep, thought it might be abit safer to play it by ear when it comes to the christmas period rather than having no option but to play every game week. The rules can always be adapted for next season
Umm all of it really but the debt bit especially. How do you earn money? is it through winning games? Also the selling players bit. If you release a player do you get any money for that? If so and you get a player in the draft then how do you work out how much he releases for when he doesn't have a price? There is a good reason for the questions btw, need to work out my strategy for this
Sounds good,
Ahh i see what you are asking. You don't earn money in the game. Every one is given 40m after the draft to make transfers with. The only way to make money is to sell.
You can buy and sell players between teams and the two parties agree on a price.
If you want to release a player he will go at the "list price". This will be provided in a player database i shall release pre-draft. These amounts are nominal amounts based on values set in another fantasy football game. If you wish to buy a unattached player, bids also start at list price.
You can have negative money (e.g. you can buy a player worth 45m when you only have 40m in the bank), but you must clear this debt within 7 days or i will repossess players. The idea behind this is to make buying players easier so you don't have to sell players only to fail to buy the player you wanted. Instead, you can buy the player and then balance it out by selling afterwards.
Also, it's a good point about not earmarking weeks to have off because poor weather is unpredictable.
Hope this all makes sense. Keep getting me to explain things that haven't been explained very well. As i said, i often come up with these ideas without thinking about the fact i have to explain them to others.
I should be around on Monday night.
Fantastic.
Who chooses which players you repossess, us or you?
Be careful what you wish for, i'll be asking questions all night
Same, might be going to the cricket doing the day but I'll be online later depending on what time you're thinking.
8pm at the moment, but i will set it to whatever will get the most of us online.
As for the repossession idea, i think it will be better to say all debts have to be cleared by the close of the transfer window on a Thursday night. That way it gives people room for movement but doesn't allow people to take advantage. In the case where debts aren't cleared i will repossess the player who took them into debt. I want to avoid subjectivity on my part because i am involved in the game. Will just get messy otherwise.
Ha. I don't mind you asking questions all night. At the moment i'm spending most my nights fiddling around setting it all up and i'm excited to put my idea into practice. I just don't want to put anyone off by confusing them.
Here is a basic template of what the game will look like. Have a look at the notes explaining each section and you should be able to change some of the players stats so have a fiddle to show what a goal etc. does.
There is a lot of information on there to help you follow the game on a matchday, so it will probably take a while to get your bearings. Please come back with any tips on how to make the spreadsheet easier to follow.
I like it, looks good.
Very pleased to here it mate. Really looking forward to it all starting. There will be a couple of things going up before monday that we will be using for the draft.
Also did you forget to include the -2 goals in that spreadsheet for Ferdinand and Carragher not playing as based on how it currently is your defenders not playing is an advantage?
edit- You said we can only get one player from each club during the draft but do we have to stick to this throughout the game? Basically do you always have to have at least one player from each club or could I sell my Norwich player (just as an example) straightaway?
Yep, any midfielder can play as a holding midfielder.
Yeah you definitely seem to have the idea of the 2 goal penalty rule. The template was a simplified version, normally they'd be subs as well, and i intended for those players to have not had their games yet, so the match wasn't over - but had they not played at all and not has a sub they'd have 2 goals conceded.
It is funny that you said that about the Norwich player because that is exactly what i plan to do, being a town fan. You don't have to have 1 player from each team and once the draft is over you can have up to 3 players from one team. Also, i'm not sure if i answered this for you the other day, but there is no squad size limit.
Here are the provisional draft pots. If a player leaves their team before monday they will be removed from the draft. The pots are just the best 11 players from each team, organised into positions and then the best player in a particular position from a team is in pot 1, 2nd best in 2, etc.
The picking order will be decided by random generator, taking into account a players first choice pots. Can't make any guarantees you will get first pick in the pot that you chose, especially for strikers because that was most popular.