PARTICPANTS FOR SEASON 3 OF FFS UEFA ANNOUNCED

FFS UEFA is pleased to announce that the following managers have all been accepted for participation in Season 3.

The process of taking only the top 120 participants, leads to loads of good applicants naturally missing out. We just hope that you can continue being regular at FFS, giving us no choice, but to take you in before the onset of 4th Season, should you decide to apply again.  (Registrations during month of December). We’re truly sorry that you missed out this time around.

For those of you who made it this season, we hope you are looking forward to the team allocations which will be announced later in the week (by the 13th if all goes according to plan).

Welcome to Season 3

Return of the Leagues!

The FFS Council is proud to announce that we will be bringing back the leagues for their third installment. If you want to skip the article, and go the registration form, click here -:  League Registration Form or else read on.

Fixtures Available

The fixtures are now available so you can all have alook and see who your first opponent of the new season is!

The EPL fixtures are set to mirror those of the actual EPL, bar double gameweeks and blanks which have been adjusted accordingly, and bar the final gw (38) which has the same matchups as gw 20 so we have adjusted that accordingly (switched to gw 19 fixtures) so that every manager plays each other once in the course of the 19 gw season. All other leagues fixtures have been based off of these fixtures by a simple replacement method as it would have been far too difficult to match other leagues fixtures up too.

Welcome to the 18 new managers! We tried our best to give you your top choice team but that wasn’t always possible and we couldn’t reach some of you in time. Check the league tables or fixtures list to see which team you’ve been given.

Please join me in thanking Pratik for his tireless effort to get all the fixtures done and everything coded in such a short amount of time!!! He stayed up half the night finishing the code and is due the utmost praise and respect for everything he’s done to ensure the leagues run smoothly and successfully.

He has asked that if you see any mistakes that you let you us know, either by commenting here, emailing us at ffsuefa@gmail.com, or letting one of us know on ffs if you see us around so that he can fix the errors.

He wants me to let you guys know not to freak out about the tables, he says once the gameweek starts they will be fine but since they are set to automatically update that is why they are showing everyone with a 0-0 draw and thus 1 point a piece. He also says that the refresh button for gameweek scores will not work until the gameweek starts.

Best of luck to everyone in this new season!

-TW

Final Results

Sincere apologies to all managers regarding the confusion between the tiebreaker rules.  We have ultimately decided that the tables you’ve seen throughout the year are indeed the final tables, which are based on GD.

Congratulations to the six managers that won their respective leagues! The League Winners are:

Bundesliga – SpVgg Greuther Furth – Valar Morghulis

EPL – Aston Villa – Epic Fail

Ligue 1 – Stade Rennes – Sarnab Wazza

La Liga – Deportivo La Coruna – Boom Shakalaka

Serie-A – Lazio – Forca Inter

ROE – PSV – FunkyAV

The return of UCL and Europa League in late Jan (gw24) promises to bring back the Google Docs which we know you’ve been secretly missing. Check the schedule here -: https://uefacouncil.wordpress.com/schedule-uefa-cl-and-europa-league/

Hearty congratulations to those who have already qualified for CL and Europa, their names are listed below.

Managers that automatically qualified for the Champions League:

a) Bundesliga – SpVgg Greuther Furth (Valar Morghulis) , Hamburg SV (4Vets), TSG Hoffenheim (Eoin), Hannover 96 (Canadian Football)

b) EPL – Aston Villa (Epic Fail) , Southampton (1966 – ERIC WAS BORN) , Swansea City (Evs) , Liverpool (Optimus)

As last year’s winner of the inaugural Champion’s League competition,  Chelsea (ENR) directly qualifies too.

c) La-Liga- Deportivo La Coruna (Boom Shakalaka) , Real Betis (Billy Gilmore), Valencia (Old School), Mallorca (Emperikal)

d) Ligue1 – Stade Rennes (Sarnab Wazza), Brest (Shipstonstrev), Evian (King Eric), Sochaux (Chazza)

e) ROE – PSV (FunkyAV), Rubin Kazan (Le Gooner), Twente (Jinswick), Benfica (Aatish)

f) Serie-A – Lazio (Forca Inter), Bologna (Frazek), Atalanta (MJ6987), AS Roma (Udit)

Managers that automatically qualified for for the Europa League:

a) Bundesliga – Borussia Dortmund (TommyTour) , Hertha BSC (Billy Ketsu) , VfB Stuttgart (Brian – Not the Messiah) , FC Koln (Fray Bentos) , Fortuna Dusseldorf (Porkie)

b) EPL – Stoke City (Wild Rover), Manchester United (Impressive Tackle), Everton (Beric), Fulham (Back to Back Ballacks), Wigan Athletic (The Giggs Boson)

c) La-Liga- Sevilla (Chirs_White) , Real Madrid (Demi), Malaga (Ajay) , Barcelona (TW), Athletic Bilbao (The Parmtree)

d) Ligue1 – Lyon (FC Borecelona), Toulouse (Heco87), Paris Saint-German (Super Zlatan), Bordeaux (Ryan), AS Nancy Lorraine (Coldplay)

e) ROE – Celtic (Count of Monte Hristo), Spartak Moscow (Arsie Sir Giggsy), Standard Leige (Duffman 91 – Last Season’s Winner but directly qualified), Feyenoord (Cabaye4), Shakhtar Donetsk (Dynamic)

f) Serie-A – US Pescara (Goonerdhanesh), Chievo Verona (Reina Man), Fiorentina (RoysCallerAnne), Sampdoria (Megatron x), Genoa (EX)

We made a special exception to the tie-breaker rule when it came to relegation. Both Roscola and I decided to sit out for the next phase for various reasons, giving Declan McCarthy and Grounderz who would have won via H2H another chance to compete in these leagues.

Of course, the trade-off was that we get to participate in the CL/Europa League 😎

Sadly it’s now time to say goodbye to those managers who won’t be joining us next season. These relegated managers are:

a) Bundesliga – Schalke 04(Bal4Tom), VfL Wolsburg(Nitin), Werder Bremen(Rick)

b) EPL – West Ham(Doosra), Man City (Happy Ankit), West Bromwich Albion (Man of Kent)

c) La-Liga- Valladolid(Roscola), Atletico Madrid(Jkisthe1), Levante(Maximerized)

d) Ligue1 – AC Ajaccio(Ms. Red19),Bastia( Beavis), Montpellier (Gervinho’s Forehead)

e) ROE – Fenerbache(Bedknobs and Boomsticks), Zenit (Gigging Order), Galatasaray S.K.(CatMac)

f) Serie-A – Juventus(Pratik), AC Milan (Milanista), Catnia (Djerbil)

For exceptional work and giving life to this competition, both Jkisthe1 and Milanista are also granted a spot in CL/Europa, despite being relegated.

This leaves a total of 21 spots left for the CL and Europa League still unoccupied. Relegated Managers will also be considered for these spots.

The main criteria for these spots is your contribution to the Uefa Council Leagues, and FFS. We will be looking for managers that will contribute to repeating the great atmosphere of last year’s CL and Europa through banter and pressers!

Accepted managers for season 2, feel free to contact us (ffsuefa@gmail.com, or via comments) if you have a particular team preference from the relegated teams in the league that you have been assigned. The new ROE managers can propose alternative team names if they wish to change to another European team not currently in any of the 6 leagues.

Serie A GW18 Review

GW18 Review

Roma (Udit) defeats Milan (Milanista) 59-42

Roma’s victory leaves Udit in the chase for a UCL spot and me relegated. Damn you Udit.

This tie was decided after the Saturday as both had RVP(c) and Michu in action on Sunday, with Udit also having Mata to add insult to injury. Strong defensive returns were the key here, with Udit benefitting from Enrique and Cuellar, as well as getting Cameron in off the bench for Demel to ease the pain of his Foster/Begovic decision backfiring. Milan managed to get 3 subs with a grand total of 5 points off the bench while the unused sub was Begovic. Dempsey, Rafael and Kolarov (he would have played over Rekik dammit) all missing out through injury summed up Milan’s season as they were condemned to a 19^th placed finish.

Udinese (Menly) defeats Atalanta (MJ) 52-40

League leaders for much of the season, Atalanta continued their poor form with another defeat. It was a case of points in defence again, with Begovic, Cole, Mertesacker and Enrique providing 31 points for Menly to compensate for Sessegnon being the only attacking player to score over 4 points and a disappointing Tevez(c). Atalanta also handed the armband to Tevez but only had Cuellar to be thankful for at the back, with double Stoke defence stuck on the bench.

Menly is stuck in mid table mediocrity after the win while MJ look unlikely to grab the title with four teams to overhaul. A win against league leaders Chievo will guarantee a Champions League place for Atalanta.

Parma (Little Wizard) defeats Bologna (Frazek) 65-51

A brave Zabaleta(c) was not enough for Frazek as Little Wizard picked up decent points all over the pitch to get the best score in Serie A this week. Parma are now free from relegation worries while Bologna are level on points with Lazio and Chievo at the top of the table.

Cagliari (Grounderz) defeats Juventus (Pratik) 60-58

With both teams starting and ending the week in 17^th and 18^th this was a key game in the relegation battle. As expected, it was a very tight game. Both teams scored well despite their lowly league positions and Pratik will be rueing his decision to bench Begovic which cost him the match.

Having both been beaten by Torino (the only team they can catch on points), one of these teams is guaranteed to be relegated and they start GW19 level on 21 points with Cagliari holding the H2H advantage. A win against title chasing Lazio will guarantee survival for Cagliari. Anything less and council member Pratik can escape if Juventus can overcome Sampdoria.

Inter (Isacki) defeats Genoa (Doctor X) 57-50

Captaining Suarez over RVP(vc) helped Inter to a win over Genoa, who did the opposite. Both teams suffered from benching Begovic and Genoa’s superior midfield was not enough to overcome Inter, who benefitted from defensive returns with Sagna and Johnson.

Isacki can climb from the lower end of mid table mediocrity to a more respectable position with a win in their final game, Doctor X is one of many managers fighting for a European spot.

Fiorentina (RCA) defeats Palermo (Mark) 57-50

The two top scoring teams of last week came head to head and Mark’s bold decision to sell Suarez for Dzeko for a hit cost Palermo the victory. RCA captained the racist and was no doubt ecstatic when Enrique assisted Suraez for a nice goal, assist and baps haul.

After a poor start, Fiorentina are 1 point behind the 3 league leaders  and 1-2 points ahead of a host of teams chasing that fourth Champions League spot. Victory against Pescara on the final day could clinch the title for Fiorentina, defeat will send them out of the Champions League places. A win for Palermo should be enough to get Mark a Europa spot, assuming that at least one of the five teams on 30-31 points slips up.

Lazio (Forca Inter) defeats Sampdoria (Megatron x) 49-47

With Pienaar on the bench and an unsuccessful 8 point hit that included Tevez(c) this was not the best of weeks for Sampdoria. Serie A’s resident Croatian captained his favourite player to put Lazio joint top heading into the final week. Depending on results elsewhere, a win could get Megatron a Europa spot.

Siena (Running Riot) defeats Napoli (Daniel) 64-59

Both teams performed above average this week, Daniel is another frustrated by the decision to bench Begovic over Jussi. Running Riot had the easier decision between Begovic and Federici. Siena are the only team in the league to own Hazard and his 13 points spelt bad luck for Napoli as they succumbed to defeat. Siena’s current 9^th placed ranking puts them in the last Europa spot and probably needing points to secure it. However, seeing as they are up against Milan, Siena have basically no chance of getting that place in Europe. Napoli are stuck in mid table.

Torino (Bowstring) defeats Chievo (Reina Man) 48-43

It was a disappointing week for both teams though Bowstring will be relieved to go into GW19 without any relegation worries. Joint first in the league, Reina Man will be looking at Pienaar and Cameron on the bench and thinking about the opportunity that’s gotten away. There were no standout performers for either team and Chievo’s hit to sell Enrique and Giroud to Johnson and Defoe proved decisive.

Pescara (Goonerdhanesh) defeats Catania (Djerbil) 64-57

Catania just can’t catch a break. Relegated prior to this GW, they can’t even get a win when they do score above average. Snodgrass and Cuellar don’t look too good stuck on Pescara’s bench but Begovic, Nastasic, Enrique, Mata, Walcott and Silva(c)  combined to give the joint second highest score of the week in Serie A. Catania were the only team to get points from Pienaar, bravely playing him over Berbatov. The double Stoke defence on Catania’s bench doesn’t look so pretty, particularly with Hangeland’s nil pointer stinking up the team. Michu, Walcott, Cuellar and Enrique also contributed towards a decent score despite a disappointing Ba(c).

With just 9 points from 18 games Catania have nothing but pride to play for. Pescara are in the packed race for a Champions League spot.

Apocalypse 2012 – A GW19 preview

If you are reading this then you are most likely cooped up in a crowded underground bomb shelter, food supplies long since depleted with little or no water remaining. Will you survive to see what your efforts for the last 18 weeks have culminated into? Will there be a world left to return to? Welcome to … The Afterworld. We just hope that your teams (and your gw 18 scores for that matter) aren’t as shattered as everything else.

Accepted Managers for Season 2

After deliberation and careful ranking by the council, the moment of truth awaits the 38 applicants vying for spots in season 2 of the leagues. Unfortunately we only have 18 spots to fill so we are sorry if you missed out but remember you can apply again for the next season which will be again next fall.

And now, for what you’ve all been waiting for! Organized by league are the 18 new managers that will be competing the second season starting gw 20. Congratulations to those that made the cut!

EPL:

Granville

Anuragkhetancfc (AK – Ain’t got a Kalou)

Snake Juice

La Liga:

Pepin

In Tommy We Trust

Santiagounreal

Serie A:

Rukawa

The second coming of Moussa Dembele

Mak_Gold

Bundesliga:

thetinkerman

bdwhite91

The Shadow

Ligue 1:

facer

Aditya

Spike

ROE:

Jafooli

da beeeez

seantbn

SERIE A Review by Doctor X – GW 17

My first contribution to the FFS UEFA community in terms of an article, this is. So here I am delving into the form of managers going into Matchday 17 and assessing the end product of their tactics and team selection. I’ve put quite a bit of research into this, so the feedback would be appreciated a lot! Any errors can be made aware of through the comment system. Enjoy lads!

1.            UG Pescara (GoonerDhanesh) 52 beat  AC Milan (Milanista) 42

UG Pescara come into this game in despeciable form (L-L-L-L) facing the Italian giants AC Milan (L-W-W-L) who have surprisingly dropped into the relegation zone after poor performances all around this season. City vs Newcastle proved to be the key game in this fantasy match up, as RvP (C) was matched by both teams with Pescara benefitting from a Silva assist and Demba goal to set himself up for the win, which saw Milan lose out on a City CS. Milan drops to 19th in the table and will be looking to rediscover his form to stay with the big dogs.

2.            Sampdoria (Megatron X) 70 beat Catania (Djerbil) 52

Catanias poor form continues with a loss this weekend to Sampdoria, which means that they are now on a run of 5 losses. Sampdoria have picked up off late coming through a run of consecutive victories to snatch this one comfortably. Overall team performances were poor on both sides, but SantiCazorladelievered heavily for Sampdoria while OOP Walcott was not so effective for Catania. Catania have hit rock bottom in the league now with just 9 points, while Sampdoria are nicely poised midtable with a couple of games more to go for a Europa League spot.

3.            Chievo Verona (ReinaMan) 47 beat AS Roma (Udit) 40

Arguably one of the most low scoring match ups in the league this weekend, high ranked Verona continued their good form (W-L-W-W) capitalize over a poorer performance by Roma, who had to trade non playing Gaston and Lambert for – 4 points which might have contributed to their narrow loss. A cheeky punt on Aaron Lennon who came through with 4 a CS point and a Bonus point pushed Verona through. Capitalizing on this Verona have climbed to the top as league leaders on Points Difference with Bologna, a Champions League spot looking assured.

4.            Fiorentina (RoysCallerAnne) 70  beat Siena (Running Riot) 66

The highest scoring match up of the weekend saw Fiorentina narrowly snatch victory from Siena beating them by 4 points. Both teams came into the Gameweek on reasonable form with Fiorentina having a knack for snatching draws and narrow victories off late. Van Persie (C) and SantiCazorla produced the goods for both sides, which Fiorentina won thanks to a Wayne Rooney goal. Siena slip into the bottom half of the table, as the winners move into the upper half carrying a rich vein of form into the next round.

 

5.            Genoa (Doctor X) 57 beat Torino (BowString 92) 43

I came into this Gameweek on a decent run of form (W-L-W-W) similar to Torino (L-L-W-W). These were two teams packed with a similar frontline of RVP, Suarez, Defoe, Michu, Fellaini and Sterling. But the deciding factor proved to be the little man himself. SantiCazorla’s 23 point haul along with RVP (C) propelled Genoa to victory over Torino who gave the armband to Luis Suarez, who disappointed massively. A crucial match up for both teams saw Bowstring drop into the lower echelons of the league sitting just above the drop zone, while Genoa continues their good form sitting three points from the top of the table.

6.            Juventus (Pratik)66  beat Atalanta (MJ6987) 61

Juve riding the back of poor form off late with 3 losses in their last 4 came head to with Atalanta at home who have been in equally terrible form with D-L-L-L in their last 4 games. However form went out of the window and the game was extremely tight. Atalanta’s 2 free transfers were unfruitful as Rafael withdrew injured and Defoe drew another blank. Finally a West Ham clean sheet from Guy Demel and 3 points from Clint Dempsey were enough to give Juventus their second win as they try and rediscover their form of previous champions. The win pulled Juve out of the drop zone, sitting just a couple of points behind it, while Atalanta gave up top spot in the league and now sink to 3rd place. A very critical match up this.

7.            Lazio (Forca Inter) 54 beat Internazionale (Isacki) 42

Lazio, who have had mixed fortunes of late in the league (W-W-L-L) came face to face with Italian giants Inter as they continue to make a late surge in search for a Europa league spot. Lazio drafted in Mark Bun and Luiz Suarez (C) both of whom disappointed but his gameweek and match up was safe thanks to none other than Santa Clauzorla who bought Lazio an early Christmas gift with a whopper 23 points. Meanwhile Inter took a massive 8 point hit to bring in Glen Johnson, Giroud and Olsson, all of whom couldn’t bridge the gap and pulled Inter further into the abyss of the bottom half of the league.

8.            Napoli (Daniel) 45 beat Bologna (Frazek) 43

The lowest scoring combined match up of the weekend saw Napoli who’ve been in great form (L-W-W-L) – with the last game a 1 point loss to Inter last weekend – come face to face with high ranked Bologna who have been in incredible form with 4 wins out of their last 4. Napoli drafter in Glen Johnson who produced an assist, while Frazek took a 4 point hit to bring in Zabaleta, Defoe and Tevez (for Aguero). Had Bologna held onto Aguero, they would’ve comfortable snatched the win, in an otherwise disappointed all round performance barring Robin Reliant. Bologna are still holding up strong at 2nd place in the league on goal difference, while Napoli consolidate a midtable position.

9.            Cagliari (Grounderz)65  beat Parma (LittleWizard123) 49

Stuck in the relegation dogfight, this was a much needed win for both sides, with Cagliari coming out on top with none other than Cazorla dropping a 23 point bomb on Parma. Cagliari, in contrast to their recent results (W-W-L-L) have infact been in terrific form with both the losses, a 2 and 1 point game, so has been Parma, with 3 wins in their last 3. Both sides went in with the Dutchman as captain and the tie was settled by the Spaniard at the end. Cagliari are third from the bottom and must look to maintain their decent run. Parma move down nearer to the dropzone and must be cautious next week.

10.          Palermo (Mark) 72 beat Udinese (Menly) 39

FFS Founder Mark and his team were pitched against Udinese this weekend. Palermo with 3 wins in their last three have been enjoying a surge up the table and the rankings off late, while Udinese come into this game with mixed fortunes (W-L-W-L). Udinese were pounded by the wildcard wielded by Palermo, who had Van Persie (C), Rooney and SantiCazorla raking in the points. Udinese seemed to have an unchanged squad from last week with Sessegnon as (C) who chipped in with an assist, and a no show from Enrique and Rafael only made matters worse. Palermo move within touching distance of a Europa League spot, while Udinese drop down into the lower half of the table.

This Much We Know

As gw 18 (the second to last gw of this season for the leagues) and the end of the world approach, let us take a brief look at what is already assured across the leagues. We’ll take a look at stuff that isn’t necessarily assured after this gw is over as we break down the fights for 1st place, CL spots, and escape from relegation across all 6 leagues.

Best of luck to those fighting to avoid relegation and to those still in contention for their league title or automatic CL berth. And now for the results that are already confirmed

La Liga:

Deportivo La Coruña and their manager, Boom Shakalaka, have automatically qualified for the Champions League. With a 6 point gap over closest rivals Real Betis (Berbilly Gilmore), they need just a single point from their remaining two fixtures to be crowned kings of Spain. However, if they fail to do so while Betis win both their remaining fixtures, Betis will be the champions because of their prior h2h result.

Down at the other end of the table, with just two fixtures remaining, Levante are anchored to the bottom and are incapable of escaping the clutches of the relegation zone. They will be spending the next season licking their wounds, and Maximerized will be on the lookout for another manager vacancy to rescue his fledgling career.

If Declan McCarthy’s Getafe lose either of their remaining matches, they will be relegated. If Atletico Madrid (JK) picks up just 1 point from their remaining two matches, Getafe will be relegated regardless as a result of having lost to Atletico previously.

EPL:

With a victory over Liverpool (Optimus) this past gameweek, EpicFail’s Aston Villa have opened an unconquerable 12 point gap over the Reds, clinching them the EPL title in the process.

With just 13 points to date, Happy Ankit’s Manchester City are without hope. They will be relegated regardless of their final two results.

West Brom (Man of Kent) will need to win both of their remaining fixtures to have even the slightest chance of avoiding relegation.

Serie A:

Catania (Djerbil) is assured relegation. Milan (Milanista) cannot drop any points if they are to have a shot at avoiding the drop. GW 18’s clash between Cagliari(Grounderz) and Juventus(Pratik) could potentially seal the 3rd spot for relegation.

At the top, Reina Man is on top with 33 points with Frazek snapping at his heels.  But only 3 points separate the first from the the fifth spot, thus making this the most open title challenge in comparison to other leagues.

Bundesliga:

Both SC Freiberg and FC Augsburg will finish their seasons without having to worry about results. They can neither be relegated nor earn automatic CL qualification.

SpVgg Greuther Furth (Valar Morghulis) is assured the bundesliga title this time around.

ROE:

With 38 points so far, PSV (FunkyAV) is assured a spot in this season’s CL. He just needs a draw to seal the championship this season as his point difference is the biggest in the league virtually assuring him the title in case of a draw.

This is another extremely tight league when it comes to relegation. The last 8 managers are separated by a mere 4 points. Any of these 8 managers who manage to win both their remaining fixtures, should avoid relegation.

Almost everyone in this league has something to fight for – avoid relegation, get a Europa league, or a CL spot. Exciting times for sure.

Ligue 1:

Nothing has been decided yet and everything is still up for grabs! This is seeming to be the most exciting league down the stretch and these final two gameweeks will be crucial for all mangers! It looks like up to 6 managers have a shot at the title (though some have better chances than others) and up to 8 managers could be competing for CL spots. Meanwhile, up to seven managers could be in the relegation fight (though some are much more likely to escape than others).

Montepellier is in the most dire situation. Sitting at the bottom of the league with 13 points, they will need to win both their remaining games and hope that all three of Nice (Lateriser), Bastia (Beavis), and Marseille (Fratboy), who are on 19 points, fail to collect a single point from their remaining games. Otherwise, Gervinho’s Forehead and his team will be relegated.

Registration is Open!!!

We’re happy to announce that registration for season 2 of the leagues (which start gw 20) is now open! All current managers will maintain their spots besides the 18 relegated managers (3 relegated teams x 6 leagues). Therefore there will be 18 available spots that applicants will be competing for.

As a reminder, league rules including tie-breakers can be found here.

Criteria for Team Selection:  

1) Contribution to past UEFA events and positive participation in past UEFA events

2) popularity/reputation of managers on the forum

3) highest fpl rank of manager (within last 5 seasons)

Each of these criteria will be judged objectively by the council and the ultimate decision rests with them. *Please note that criteria 1 and 2 have more weight than criteria 3 which will serve mainly as a tiebreaker of sorts.

Timeline:
December 10: Applications Open
December 19: Applications Close
December 26 (or sooner): accepted managers and their leagues are announced
December 29: Round 1 of matches begins

The application can be found here.