October in the Premier League was a bit special. The first round of matches brought us the best two derbies outside of Manchester: Merseyside and North London (debatable). The former wasn’t the spectacle it has been in years gone by – Liverpool taking a comfortable 2-0 win at Goodison; in the latter, Arsenal, heading to Spurs as underdogs for the first time ever, duly lost – thanks entirely to a Dutchman’s arm. In the same Gameweek, Chelsea went away and scored 5 and Man City went away and scored 4. Fulham, though, scored most – 6, against a clueless QPR.

There was yet another international break on the weekend that followed, where England managed to surrender a two-goal lead to Montenegro but still qualify for Euro 2012.  Pointless, really, because we know what will happen.

Gameweek 8 wasn’t great and was lucky to have followed an International break. Man City won easily again, Chelsea beat Everton and at Anfield, Liverpool and Man Utd played out a bore-draw.

In Gamweek 9 there was a phenomenon. There was another shock at Loftus Road, where QPR scraped a win against Chelsea, who had two men sent off, and one man who represents everything that is wrong with English football.

In Gameweek 10, Arsenal fans were happy – this was why. An early call, but it’ll most likely take game of the season. The Gameweek finished with Newcastle winning at Stoke, thus extending their unbeaten opening to this campaign, and leapfrogging Chelsea into third in the process. Well done, but it’s potently clear they’ll come crashing down soon.

So another entertaining month in real life – but did it transpire in Fantasy world?

The answer is ‘maybe’ – my records of the league standings in Gameweek 7 and 8 were somehow lost (or stolen). Apologies to anyone who took big steps in these weeks. One thing we can assume without a reference-point, though, is that bottom place was filled by its rightful owner*.

Luckily Gameweeks 9 and 10 were the more entertaining of the month. In Gameweek 9 Chris Branford was Terminal Decline by name but not by nature – rising all the way to top spot after joint-top scoring with Julie Forey’s Dodgy Knees (not literal). Towards the bottom, Kantar Media’s Euan Mackay, Charlie Gordon and Graeme Griffiths all gained ground – but all still remained at least 100 points off top spot.

Gameweek 10 saw Stephen Callow’s wevewonitfivetimes reclaim pole position – thanks largely to the excellent Robin Van Persie. Gentel FC, who finished September on top spot, are now down to 8^th, seemingly suffering the effects of a quiet Wayne Rooney. Danny Kay caused a stir after moving into third place – the first time that Kantar Media have held a position in the top 3 since Trevor Vagg dropped from first in September. Keep an eye on Channel 4’s Nick Blake, too, whose Blake Panthers have moved up 10 places in the space of a month, and are now within 9 points of the top.

In September James Burke took the crown for the month’s highest scorer. Different story this time round – Sky’s Ian McDougall, who guided his Jimmy Buzzard XI to 222 points across October. That has earned him a place in the top 10 – a huge improvement from 33^rd at the end of September.

So, October did enough to cause havoc across the Kantar Media Premiership – even if the usual high-flyers are still… well, flying high. There are just three Gameweeks in November so it’s unlikely we’ll see the same level of movement but I’m sure something will change. And in fact, my parting tip for November is to consider Fernando Torres in Gameweek 12 – his former Liverpool side visit Stamford Bridge that week, so what better way to end his scoring drought than against them.

Good Luck.

*Wilshee Win? subsequently escaped bottom spot in Gameweek 10 at the expense of Jennie Beck’s (even grumpier) Grumpy Global

Did you know: September begins on the same day of the week as December, every single year (don’t bother checking 2011 because I’ve already done it – Thursday). Interesting, I’m sure you’ll agree…

Just as interesting was September in the Premier League. The international break at the start of the month meant we had to wait a while to see some games, but when we did, it was business as usual – for Man Utd and Man City, at least, who both picked up from where they left off with big wins.

Not quite business as usual at the Emirates though, where Arsenal actually managed (to scrape) a first league win of the season – an improvement, definitely, but fans knew better than to get ahead of themselves after the Old Trafford nightmare a fortnight earlier.

And how right they were to stay reserved . That same weekend saw Man Utd prove that there is a definite gulf between them and Chelsea – helped just a smidgen by that Torres miss. And on the same day, Man City drew away at Fulham, thereby losing the “who’ll-slip-up-first?” battle of Manchester, and giving Utd a leg-up to the top of the league.

Luckily, though, the Premier League is good at making things complicated – cue Crouch and co, who held Utd 1-1 at the Britannia a week later. Naturally, Man City (before their Bayern Munich Teveztation) won their match, and it was all square again. There were convincing wins too for Chelsea and Arsenal (what the hell?).

So, September ended with Manchester ruling – and sharing – the roost. But September threw up a couple of other interestingtons: Newcastle and Bolton. Basically, one was good and one was bad; but the reason this is interesting is because you’d imagine that the good one would be the one you thought would be good, and the one who was bad would be the other one – but it turned out that it was the other one that was good, meaning they were actually the bad one. Too many ones? Here’s a two.

So an interesting (and confusing, apparently) month in the Premier League. And things weren’t entirely straightforward in Fantasyland either. As expected, there was plenty of transfer activity after the (real) window had shut: people seemed keen on Parker after he’d (foolishly) gone to Spurs, and Crouch once he’d (reluctantly) headed to Stoke. Barton going to QPR was popular too. Not so much buzz around Arsenal’s acquisitions though (except maybe Arteta).

But I bet what you really want to know is who the movers and shakers were? Well, after ending August on top spot, NMA’s Henry Vernon was down to 3rd in Gameweek 4, as Gareth Barr of BBC Trust continued his impressive August form to take pole position – helped a lot by a shrewd vice-captain choice in the hat-trick scoring Wayne Rooney (Dzeko didn’t feature that week). This first round of September matches were also kind to Alfredo Raydha, whose Gentel FC shot up to 2nd after posting a score of 83 – beaten only by Andrew Moffat of the NMA.

Gameweek 5 was capitalised on by Shortlist’s Mark Jefford, whose 69 points propelled him from 15th to 5th; Simon Johnson, of RSMB, top-scored with 70 to move from 9th to 2nd. As a comparison, Kantar Media’s Rachel Willshee scored a massive 9. Willshee win? No.

After that surprising Gameweek 6 (remember – when Arsenal were convincing and Man Utd drew), the league now looks in familiar shape. Slowly but surely, that familiar shape is becoming defined by Kantar Media’s managers* showing exactly what is meant by a “mid-table” team.

But there’s a bit of hope inside these walls: filter the league on only September’s results, and who do you find at the top? Our very own James Burke. If that isn’t enough to spur you on for the rest of October, I don’t know what will.

Good luck…

* Fantasy League managers, not actual managers (just in case…)

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!

Kantar Media’s futurePROOF study in 2010 comprised a qualitative element that included some filmed depth interviews.

Here’s a montage of some of the key themes…

Here we demonstrate some feelings around one of the buzz issues – Video on Demand

Here we demonstrate some feelings around the year’s must have gadget – the iPad

For further information on this study or the 2011 project please contact Jason Vir or Trevor Vagg

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