Scott McFly

Reason #4 as to why I never play any games online. I've never played FIFA online (never played much online, but hey), but don't you lose 3-0 by forfeit if you quit in the middle of a game? If not then I'm surprised anyone plays random people online.

Going back to the pre-order thing, there's a few different offers on from different retailers: Play.com - personalised cover sleeve. GAME - football journal to record match results, attendances, notes etc. HMV - free thermos mug Steam - free copy of Outrun 2006: Coast 2 Coast I'm gonna wait and play the demo first to see if there's enough new stuff to be worth dropping £30 on, but if I were to pre-order I'd be leaning towards the mug myself. EDIT: Nice to hear they're including the transfer ban. Wonder if you'll get little officials behind the goals in the Europa League matches too.

So after a horrendous week in Europe last week and even over the weekend, I stick a few quid on the Johnstone's Paint Trophy games of all things. 4-fold with Carlisle, Leeds, Charlton and Bury, made £12 profit. Gets me back on the right track.

Oh that's right. Very good, carry on.

Clapped by Villa fans throughout? What game were you watching? There was a small banner of support for him shown before the game and he got a mixed reaction (at best) when the teams came out. Then he was booed mercilessly every single time the ball went near him and every misplaced pass was cheered sarcastically by the vast majority of Villa fans.

Liverpool came in for him, but Villa rejected the bids. He had one year to go on his deal and Man City came in and with their signings and squad, I think it's generally accepted they have the better chance at getting into the CL. AFAIK, no clubs in the CL came in for him, so it was either he stayed at Villa for another season and then left for nothing (I'm sure that would've gone down great with the fans) or went to Man City for the better chance to get to the CL, not to mention a change of scenery, a new challenge and to be a part of potentially something absolutely massive in English football. Wouldn't you move? I'm not suggesting the Villa fans give the guy a hero's welcome or build a bronze statue of him, just a bit of respect would be fine and not portraying him as some sort of hate figure just because he went to a new club.

Cheers West Ham. Well HHTK, you deserve to catch up a bit for that ballsy Portsmouth bet. And not to shoot myself in the foot further still, but he should've got a +10 bonus for 2 correct bets, Baddar.

He might not have always had the skill and been the player he is today, but I've always seen him as someone who works hard and gives it all when playing. I'm sure you've had players that have come and gone in Barry's tenure at Villa, just because he's been there for longer he's a traitor?

I don't get all the Barry hate, the guy absolutely busted his ass for Villa for 10 years and had reached the peak of anything he could achieve there, let's be honest. Man City come in and are putting together a team to rip up the rule book and ring in the biggest changes in the upper end of the Premier League since Chelsea threw money around 5+ years ago, even bigger than that potentially, and they say "we want you to be right in the heart of the team". Can you blame him for wanting to go there? Villa got £12m out of it too, it's not like he left for nothing. I could understand it if he stuck two fingers up and went to Birmingham, but he didn't.

Play intensity - 50 Zone tendency - 20 Offensive mindedness - 50 Runs frequency - 20 Shot frequency - 20 Pass frequency - 80 Dribble frequency - 80 I think when I put those in I was thinking I would dribble forwards and pass a bit, but why I've got zone as 20 I'm not sure as that basically contradicts that... Anyway, just tell me what to set them to, whether you want me adventurous or just defending is up to you. I've got a playmaker rating of 44 though and passing is +3 on equipment just now, but if the other teams are beasts like you say then we may need all the defensive help we can get.

I've done that sometimes too, but often I find its better to get the 2 points for a guaranteed starter and possible clean sheet bonuses for playing the 60+ mins if they're a defender or having more time to set up an assist/goal if they are an attacker. Still, it's a tactical decision that may backfire or be beneficial. I do sometimes do it with Kalou though since my only starting AM is Stephen Hunt! I ended up doing it for Stanislas this week (I knew he wasn't gonna start) purely because I didn't expect Bent to score against Man U and hoped he might get a goal against Fulham instead, or even Hunt against Wigan. Still, I doubt Noel Whelan was gonna play. Now let's hope for some goals tonight and for Wayne Bridge to stay at left back and not get involved in any of them. >_>

Seriously, what does Darren Bent have to do to get a look in? Surely you could bump Carlton Cole for him. I assume Defoe's not there so as not to risk his broken hand/fingers and would be there if he was fit.

So I've got about 650 points to spend, am I gonna be a right back? What stats you want improved for that?

I was more wondering why metalman picked Cech in goal when he's suspended and Owen up front when he's injured. But yeah, picking Noel Whelan out of nowhere is random. Maybe I'll put Jeff Kenna in next week.

Shooting Stars is brilliant. It's just so insanely different from anything else. You know you can just sit down and watch it, and for half an hour just enjoy it for what it is - a weird showbiz bubble of craziness. Name a condiment? *buzz* Pepper? No, the answer is Europe. Speaking of which, I think I missed the one on Thursday there. Better get on the old iPlayer...

Had a few accas on, Spurs drawing cost me a double with Burnley as the closest one, lost about £6-£7 in all.

I edited my team slightly just before the deadline just so you're aware, Nibbler. There has to be a cutoff at some point for people filling their squads, otherwise some of those fringe players might get a chance in their first teams and those of us with full squads can't bid for them since we've already bid for lesser players in order to actually fill our squads.

Annoyingly I need one more game to go to level 14 and get the lovely equipment there. Tackling +4 here I come!

As a general rule I just stay the hell away from Scottish clubs in Europe. In fact after my performance this week I might just stay away from Europe altogether!

Congrats man, that looks pretty sweet! Hard to see that third concept as you say, but the others look great! Concept one would be my pick, something a bit different. (Y)

Just realised some of these were early kickoffs. I actually had to Google to find where the Everton game was being shown as Five have the Fulham game in a bit and ITV4 has the Werder Bremen game. I literally searched all the Sky Sports channels (even though I was pretty sure they don't have the rights), all the ITV channels (2, 3, 4, ITV England), all the Five channels (which I didn't have a clue to the channel number of in the first place, so had to fanny about for a bit there.) and only after a Google search told me did I think to check on the ESPN channels >_< Anyway, 1-0 down half time. WTF are they playing at?

Referring to my earlier point, Sunderland are away to Man United this weekend. I don't think he'll be scoring many there.

The way things are going right now, the other half of Milan will be fucking me over tonight.

Bet 2 - 15 on West Ham Bet 4 - 5 on that Doubler: Chelsea 1-1 Liverpool

Nice, get in! Seems those last minute improvements I did made a difference - top scoring defender, most tackles. So we go up to the Pro league in France next season then?