…never wide of the mark…
Just the predictions this week as it’s taken me time to set up the forms and remember how to do this! Looks like a bad start for the week for ME thought (provisional leader) as he once again confidently picks the Potato Chickens for the win … only to see them not win again.
Lots of people with an early 1-1 exact on the Spuds and United game though.
So the Premier League is restarting and it turns out I’m already behind!
Two make up games this week and those have been factored in and week 28 is in the books. Started in February and ended in June!
Seems this week I forgot to plug in SuperComputer 2 and SuperComputer 1 stole all the horsepower from SuperComputer 3 as they went first and last (and always if you like the Sisters of Mercy)
Week 29 was already completed but I didn’t do the picks or the summary. I’m not going to do that this week either – I’m just going to present the table. How the Hornets beat Liverpool 3-0 and then lose to the Palace, I’ll never know.
A good week for many but this week I apparently gave all the horsepower back to SuperComputers 2 and 3 as SuperComputer 1 faltered terribly.
Just the picks – my laptop has no power because an unknown creature that I will call “Cliff” took a liking to my power adapter cable.
Looks like I forgot to put up picks, results, tables, analysis and any information regarding the fixtures from the 22nd of February… perhaps this is an indication that it’s getting harder and harder to care when one team is 20 points clear and the team you support barely has more than that in total.
And looks like a tie between LJ and JE with poor old AA languishing at the bottom looking like a forlorn Canary, Deer, or Hammer.
Weekly Comments
JE: “Lots of 2-1s ok my and from memory I have quite a lot of those… what is the most common scoreline? Is it 2-1?”
It’s not but looks like this week the tactic worked well!
AA: ” I never noticed how lovely Mikel Arteta’s eyes are. He’s not Gazzaniga, to be fair, but still “
That is important!
So the winter break that is really just one week spread over two weeks is finally over. What have we learned?
Liverpool can win the Premier League title with their eyes closed and don’t see to have any competition left yet lose in Europe to Atletico…. the Everton to Real Madrid’s Liverpool
Mourinho can take any team and force them into a defensive oriented mind and come away without scoring as Spuds lose to Leipzig.
Man City can get banned for 2 years but will appeal the decision on the grounds that it seems every team near the top has run afoul of the Fair Play regulations and that those regulations aren’t actually Fair Play. If it was fair, why would the biggest clubs be the biggest supporters of it? It’s like asking the Mexican cartels if they would approve of decriminalization of drugs (any quantities).
The new “power” team that apparently has no financial irregularities, Paris St Germain, could lose to lesser teams like Borussia.
Watford can now lead against everyone and still lose. Good grief – dropping 8 points in the last 3 games is not how things should continue. Nigel Pearson suggested that the team needed to fight for each point.
JCE is on a roll with back to back first places and this after a last place finish. I feel like Nigel Pearson just kicked me in the rear and put me into gear…. I expect one more top finish before a run of mediocrity.
Mixed bag from the Super Computers this week with SC2 and SC3 maintaining their consistent run towards the top and SC1 showing some weakness in the strategy that has in recent weeks paid off.
The overall lead is diminishing as ME failed to capitalize on an easy week.
Looks like SC2 has taken over the top spot! Why don’t I just copy those picks?
So the schedule has been messed up by the so-called “mid-season player break” but I’m trying to keep up with things. I know that Watford don’t need this because they have a “mid-game player break” every week.
Here are the picks:
Weekly Comments
AA: ” In under the wire for Watford (who have become my sentimental favourite this season btw.) “
Please don’t do this. Life is already hard enough without adding that to it!
That’s it!
Why Picks Are Hard Part 2
Picks are hard because it’s almost impossible to predict the mental state of 22 players at any given time. No one knows when a player will launch into a red-card lunge… when a player will holds their hand in an unnatural position in a box for an opposing team to kick the ball into. No one knows when a player will fall asleep and let a striker in…
The key is to focus on exceptions like:
Current Standings After 3 Games
Some variety in there!
This year has been somewhat of a challenge in terms of picks and this week is yet another week where we had a last-to-first transition.
Last week I scored a massively useless 3 points (a total which should have been 11 points as explained in my post) that sunk me to the bottom of the table and this week a not too shabby 13 points led me to the heights of success.
The biggest indicator of the volatility of results is how positions have shifted with a top half of green arrows and a bottom half of red arrows.
ME continues to lead but LJ is nipping at his heals. The Super Computers are still performing well with all three sitting in the top half of the table.
Weekly Comments
JE: “I’m rubbish at predicting scores really crap!”
AA: “Guessy McGuessersen of guesstown!”
ME: “Because of time restraints I have had to guess the rest…”
There seems to be a common theme across comments this year. There is definitely a level of honesty and self-realization on the part of some but I tend to think that there is a level of humble-brag on the part of a few!
ME: “But Spuds will just pip Man Pretty as they have a very settled squad, no injuries and the best manager….not, not and not. “
But you picked Spuds to win like you do every single week. I think this does provide evidence that you do guess! You’re just luckier than all of us!
Just the picks for now – BB is today’s Mark Lawrenson award winner
First things first. Here were the predictions. AB didn’t pick this week so he got the honor of being Mark Lawrenson for the day.
I calculated the scores earlier in the week but as you can see I was less than happy to have to post them. I’m not sure but a 14 point differential between first and last may be the biggest ever.
To fall 12 places in a week is very disappointing but I do feel a little bit better seeing that JE only claimed 1 spot above me. It’s been a bad couple of weeks for the Trafford fan.
Weekly Comments
Thank you for your comments. I’ll try and incorporate them again in the coming weeks.
This Weeks Retrospective Analysis
I thought I’d write my analysis for the week so that I could learn from my mistakes and improve in the future. Feel free to use this tactic.
Aston Villa vs Watford 1-1
Villa will win 2-1 but it will upset Harry Hornet if I pick against my team!
Bournemouth vs Brighton 1-1
The cherries should win handily but I there have been draws recently
Everton vs Newcastle 2-1
I suspect that Everton’s run will come to an end but I’m not picking that
Leicester vs West Ham 2-0
Finally a gimme result. Not sure what the score will be so I’ll guess.
Sheffield Utd vs Man City 0-2
Could be anything! Pretty sure the Citeh will win though
Wolves vs Liverpool 2-2
An obvious 1-2 pick but I really want Liverpool to not win.
Man Utd vs Burnley 2-0
OGS has this team turned around – they’re back to the Glory Glory Man United days! They’re unstoppable with Lingard up front.
Chelsea vs Arsenal 2-1
Fat Frank will guide them to a victory.
Spurs vs Norwich 2-0
This result is dependent on Ericsen showing up. If he doesn’t it will probably be 2-1.
Next Weeks Analysis
Copy whatever the Supercomputers are doing. You would think I might know what the method is but I need to do some algorithm study. All I know is that SC2 is doing really well and SC1 has had a few first places recently…. I should really just copy SC1 at this point.
Leaving me in the dust…. the robots they are alive…
Why Picks are Hard Reason 1
I thought I’d start a new feature!
This week it’s understanding where players are – both physically and in their head. It’s hard enough to keep track of who is playing for who sometimes. Even harder is to know when someone is truly playing.
This year’s example is Eriksen. He has been “playing” for Spuds all year but has he been trying? Who knows! Well… he’s off to Italy where that effort will be appreciated.
Not much analysis again this week but the results are posted at least.
I hope the Birthday boy had a better day than his picks!
I admire his courage in picking Trafford United over Liverpool but that was always destined to be a bad pick!
