The more things change . . .

Personally, I've just wrapped up one of the best and almost certainly most important years of my life, having got married, travelled to four continents, finally got a new job and bought a house. For this blog though, the results have been less promising. I considered charting the quality of content here with my life developments or perhaps dousing the fire of my own work but given that I'm still travelling I'll stick to simple words for now.

Long story short, I've had priorities which have trumped this blog which meant that (a) the weekly content has suffered (and stopped at the end of the last season) and (b) I totally ignored this year's pre season activities. My policy has always been to only post things which are worth reading so I didn't ever want to mail anything in with out of date data or banal narratives. I wasn't sure I could make a quality preseason guide so I didn't and I wasn't sure if I'd even be back for this year. Now it's started though, I got that familiar buzz on opening weekend - even if my team was assembled the night before - and so I've come to the conclusion I'm not yet ready to walk away.

There will be a couple of changes though. First, I'm hoping to move to a more 'graphic' based site which I'll hopefully host on a new site that allows for a bit more flexibility. Second, I won't aim to put out weekly lineup lessons or 'fanning the flames' pieces which take up masses of time and in all honestly become repetitive for you to read and me to write (no, you shouldn't buy the 19 year old right back who played once but scored with his only shot of his life). I will however continue to post written pieces where a particular player needs attention or where a new concept/trend arises.

There are a lot of good sites around which cover player fitness, team news and what I'll call 'standard' reporting and while I've never tried to offer great depth in those areas, I'm abandoning that area entirely now. I know less about the weekly ups and downs of football than most of you probably do as I'm simply not plugged into it 24/7 thanks to living in Canada. I no longer default to Sky Sports News as my background noise and I don't discuss Rooney's hamstring in the elevator at work anymore. The problem with this approach is that when data tables show Stevan Jovetic as the best forecasted player for a given week despite knowing that there's a 99% chance he won't play, many people get confused/annoyed and complain. You can't please everyone though and there likely won't be comments on the new site anyway (I'm always on Twitter though for any fairer comments or queries).

So the plan for the next couple of weeks is to get the new graphics completed and launch the new site. That should nicely coincide with the time when we have some somewhat useful data (~GW5). In the mean time, I'll start getting back into the swing of things by highlighting some promising new players and offering caution to those whose early success looks unsustainable (basically a prolonged fanning the flames piece).

I've just realised that given my absence there could be no one reading this but if you are, thanks for sticking with me and I hope and I can reward that loyalty with a couple of useful tips in the coming season.

Comments

Andy said…
Glad to have you back, I've always enjoyed your work and look forward to seeing what comes.

Would love to know any recommendations you have on "other sites" for the more standard reporting...not being an English (or, frankly, a Premier League) native makes it difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff and everyone seems to want to charge money.
Nibbsy said…
Good to see you back, I will definitely be reading with interest. I put my relatively poor performance last season partly down to your absence (not to say I'm blaming you, I just realised quite how much I relied on your analysis during the previous 2 seasons).

The 'fanning the flames' weekly piece was the one I found most helpful, analysing a player's performance in the light of his stats in that match and from a wider perspective, so I'm hoping you continue that at least to some extent (even if just in graphical form).

Even yesterday, I felt like I needed to read your level-headed analysis of the stats to stop me selling Mata on the back of one bad game. So the return of your blog is welcome and timely.
Candidate said…
Glad to have you back. Looking forward to your input!
Looking forward to seeing the new site, Chris. On congrats on all your non PL-fantasy endeavours ;)
stuckert said…
We're still here - looking forward to your commentary! I definitely feel it's worthwhile to take a more critical look at some of the new strategic trends to determine whether they're viable.

One thing I've noticed over the years is the ever-decreasing value put on keepers. A few of the big sites have done an analysis on this in the preseason, but I haven't yet been satisfied with their results.
Karl said…
Congrats on the marriage and new house! Love your writing - excited for this season.
Unknown said…
Great to have you back - always enjoy your work - have the site on my bookmark and kept checking through the summer in the hope you would be!
TheD said…
Thank god you are back.
My prayers are answered.

P.S. Please update your team link
Unknown said…
Happy to see you back, Chris. Life always comes before this flitting about we do with fantasy football.

I'll be tuning in when you come back with some new content for sure.
Pulma said…
Congrats, and bring it ;)
AB said…
Great to have you back on-line Chris. I've always enjoyed and appreciated the information and insights that you share.

Looking forward to tapping in to your knowledge and expertise again this season.
Unknown said…
Great to see you back! Looking forward to read.
Unknown said…
Chris thanks for all you do. Look forward to what is in store from you!
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Steven said…
Glad to have you back Chris. I'm getting married myself in < 1 month.. time is short to say the least!
thebingster said…
Congrats on all your real-life achievements Chris. Very glad the blog is back - been checking periodically since pre-season in the hope that it would return!

Like the poster above I too would welcome a continuation of the Fanning the Flames pieces, even in a simplified format. There's a gap in the blog world for this type of analysis as I find the likes of Fantasy Football Scout tend to create a lot of bandwagons.
Preface said…
Glad to see you back, missing your Grand Insights, Chris! Have been your silent reader for a couple of seasons now and getting married soon too :)

Anyways, congrats on the marriage, and keep on rocking with your world class analyses!
Knordo said…
Great to hear you will be returning!
Gummi said…
Welcome back Chris. We've missed you and your numbers. Look forward to your articles.
Lozatrc said…
Hi

I'm in the league El Cariso FC on Yahoo Sports Fantasy Soccer for this year's Premier League. Come on and join me! join the league manually? Inside the app, enter the league ID 32982 and password 78vug


Download the Yahoo soccer app on android or ios

Just started the league for week 3 so sign up and start your squad
Unknown said…
Glad to see you back Chris, been missing your insight,

Hope you've had a great year!
nooBKiat said…
Congrats Chris on the marriage and entering a phase of life!

I have always been a silent reader and supporter of your blog and have enjoyed your deep insights. I must admit I was afraid your blog would go the way of the nevercaptainnickybutt blog in the latter part of last season!

Anyway have a great season ahead...
Tony S said…
Great to have you back :)
Looking forward to some statistical analysis of the 'funny old game' ....

Good luck
Ayoob said…
Great to hear you're alive!
Tasior said…
All the best for u! I've also missed your blog, I hope u will find some time and passion to run it :)

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