Content Postponed (Patreon)
Content
Hi all,
Following the sad death of Queen Elizabeth II and the Postponement of the weekend's football we have decided not to proceed with any content today.
Neither myself or Suj can see much merit in proceeding with the Differential Show when there isn't anything to preview and I have no will currently to be fielding questions on FPL. It does feel like a rare occasion where doing nothing seems like the sensible conclusion for us and I hope you will understand our decision.
FPL have currently removed the fixtures for this week but the Gameweek 7 deadline of 11am BST remains in place.
https://twitter.com/OfficialFPL/status/1568210457286086661?t=djAlQbSXYOiz15M-j6hjiw&s=19
Those on Wildcard should consider setting their team up for Gameweek 8 or Ganeweek 9. My personal view is that there is every chance the Gameweek 8 fixtures could be postponed too on security grounds with the Police likely to be stretched in preparation for The Queen's funeral. That's not to say it will be, that's just my current viewpoint until we have further information.
FPL managers with 2 free transfers should consider making a change before deadline in preparation for future weeks, even if it just means trying to protect or seek value from possible price changes.
For those with 1 Free Transfer like myself consider making a move for similar reasons or in many cases, particularly for those who have used their Wildcard, rolling the transfer would seem a sensible approach.
FPL managers should however keep an eye out for communication from FPL in case the situation changes with the Deadline.
As the whole gameweek (7) has been postponed it would make logical sense (the Premier League doesn't always do logical) for it to be rearranged to the same time period. If that proves to be the case there is no room in the calendar for it to be played prior to the World Cup and for those participating in European competition it is impossible.
For the record I think the earliest possible date for a full programme of fixtures to be put into the schedule would be Wednesday 28th/Thursday 29th of December which for those eagle eyed FPL managers could mean we'd all be be using unlimited transfers straight into a Double Gameweek 17 Bench Boost.
That period has been left blank intentionally this year to reduce Christmas period fixture congestion but I believe could be used in the case of a fixture emergency. Should Gameweek 8 be postponed something will have to give with the schedule.
It's just a theory, I'm not saying it will happen.
Other alternatives include removing FA Cup replays at the 3rd and/or 4th round stage which would free up 1 or 2 available midweeks in the schedule or also reducing the League Cup Semi Finals to 1 leg rather than 2 legs would also free up a midweek.
I note that the reverse fixtures for this weekend (GW7) are scheduled to be played in Gameweek 22 which is the weekend before the reserved midweek for FA Cup 4th round replays. It wouldn't be a great look to have everyone play an opponent twice in the same week.
In any case as we have Unlimited transfers during the World Cup no one needs to worry about rearrangement possibilities as yet from an FPL perspective.
As a fan, I'm disappointed the games have been called off and was very much looking forward to my trip to The Etihad to support Tottenham tomorrow but understand the difficult decision that the Premier League have made. I don't have to agree with it to understand it.
I know not all of you reading this will be in support of the monarchy or what it stands for but The Queen was loved by so many, please be respectful for those who are in mourning.
My DMs are open for anyone seeking comfort or if they just want to say hello. It's also absolutely okay to be unhappy that there's no football on. I for one will miss going to football for sure, but it'll be back soon.
I hope you all have a pleasant weekend and we'll be back on Monday.
James