by Galee » July 13, 2010, 12:14 pm
Please be aware of the following rule changes for this coming season.
An Extra Wildcard
Okay, strap yourself in; this is the big rule change. We’re going to be handed a second wildcard in gameweek 23 to coincide with the Premier League transfer window. This wildcard will be given to us straight after the start of gameweek 22 and must be used before the gameweek 27 deadline; fail to use it and you lose it. The existing wildcard can still be played at any point in the season.
The FPL described the thinking behind this to us and it seems that last season’s big chill is one of the main factors behind it. The fixture pile-up which resulted in so many double gameweeks was seen as a major disruption for Fantasy Managers and their plans, this coming season the FPL want to safeguard against that by giving us a method of coping with a backlog of fixtures. In addition this change is seen as a device to tempt back Fantasy Managers who may feel they have lost their way by the turn of the year. A problem for many Fantasy games out there of course.
Roll-over Transfers
So last season we saw the FPL grant us the ability to carry over one unused transfer to the following gameweek. That gave us the ability to have double transfers in a given gameweek but if we didn’t use them, we lost them. Well not now. Next season we can carry over a transfer and continue to roll it over gameweek after gameweek. We can never have more than two in a given gameweek but gone are the days when we feel forced to exploit two transfers when, in reality, we could have dealt with just the one.
Own Goal Points Deduction
Yep, we’re going to be losing two points for OG’s. A minor change that shouldn’t affect our thinking when it comes to player selection but one which will certainly hurt when we fall foul of Richard Dunne’s latest arse-cheek deflection. The FPL were quick to point out to us that own goals will be based on the stats they are provided with (which are fed live from the Press Association) and that these decisions would not be revisited as a result of dubious goal panel findings.