Kantar Media Premier League Kicks Off

The Kantar Media Premiership has chosen a good time to make its Fantasy Premier League debut with the most dramatic start to a season ever.

The fully refurbished site was always going to make managers a little wary. By the evening of Friday 12th, faced with a login page that just wouldn’t budge, the doubters were proved right – but I’m betting the reactions went a little further than ‘I told you so’.

As it was, selections in Gameweek 1 weren’t necessarily the conscious pick of managers, and, insane computer killing or not, everyone agreed it just wasn’t good enough. FPL knew this and gave us their heartfelt apology – and what a truly sincere one it was. Of course, as glory-hunting FPL managers we’re trained not to appreciate this kind of sentiment. Nope, we’re just after the compensation. And we got it: unlimited free transfers for Gameweek 2.

But not everyone could take advantage. The average points scored across every FPL user for Gameweek 2 actually dropped from Gameweek 1 – a trend that most of the Kantar Media Premiership suffered too. Let’s just blame that on silly results like the QPR away win – or the even sillier Arsenal defeat to Liverpool.

That lovely FPL apology also offered leagues a fresh start, the chance to scrap the scoring of Gameweek 1 and start afresh from Gameweek 2. We toyed with doing this but guessed that were more folk who had constructed their team prior to the site crashing (and probably even more who hadn’t even noticed!) than those who were left incredibly frustrated.

The drama continued into Gameweek 3, which will be remembered for that result. You’d 8-2 be a Gunner at a time like this; but this is all about the KMP, and this match (plus others) added a bit of a twist to the league. BBC Trust’s Gareth Barr profited most, posting the league’s first 3 digit score – a perfectly crisp 100 points – and overtaking Simon Johnson of RSMB in the process. If you’re wondering how Gareth did that, here are the maths he used: Rooney (c) + Dzeko. God help the rest of us if he’d chosen Ashley Young ahead of Nani.
Gareth’s superweek was impressive but it couldn’t knock the NMA’s Henry Vernon off of the summit. Henry will be glad he side-stepped the turmoil of Gameweek 1 when he scored 80 points, because since then his score has gradually dropped – a dangerous slip in form when you’ve got The Guardian’s Dan Botten and Peter Gradidge of Associated waiting in the wings.

Kantar Media’s Trevor Vagg is going through a similarly tough time after occupying top spot for a short while in Gameweek 1. He dropped places like most of the Kantar Media clan did this week; something in the water, I imagine. Either that or we just don’t know football like we thought we did – #shouldsticktomedia.

If the drama has left you dazed, don’t rest up now, because there’s plenty more on the way for September. True, we start with an International break, but this just means managers get plenty of time to think about what Transfer Deadline Day signings they think are worth adding, and how best to get rid of those who have ended up being shipped off abroad. Be ready to see this turn into a flurry of Wildcards being played. If you’re thinking of playing a Wildcard, though, remember one thing: it’s a marathon – not a sprint.

Good luck!