Christmas is nearly upon us and that can only mean one thing - get ready for a festive football feast!

Traditionally, December is a manic month for the sport with bundles of crammed fixtures. In turn, this provides fantasy managers with the opportunity to either excel or flop.

There are an unprecedented 61 Premier League fixtures in the next 31 days, and it all kicks off tomorrow. Here’s the latest news and previews for the weekend games… (more…)

For those of you devastated by Blackburn’s implosion last night, and the resultant impact on your YTM points, here’s a spot of midweek trivia to take your mind off things until the weekend. (more…)

There was much discussion and controversy over Cesc Fabregas‘ yellow card against Reading. Many believe that it was a purposeful move on his part so that the game he would miss would be of minor threat to Arsenal - a visit from a struggling Wigan.

Currently suspended for this weekend’s games are Bolton’s Nicky Hunt and Kevin Nolan - both serving suspension after receiving five yellow cards. I think it is fair to say that these were not intentional as Bolton could use all the help they can get when they face up to Liverpool this weekend. Michael Brown from Wigan is also serving a one match ban for five yellow cards and will miss the encounter against Manchester City. Villa’s Nigel Reo-Coker will be able to play in the clash against Blackburn tonight, but will have to serve his suspension on the weekend. Chelsea’s Michael Essien is suspended for the next three games after his red card against Derby.

There are a number of players who are treading on thin ice with four yellow cards to their name. It is wise to take these into account when making crucial transfers. You do not want to miss out on the opportunity on guaranteed points through a suspension and it may be worth holding onto your transfers for another couple of games. Here is the list of players on the brink of suspension… (more…)

With the ‘Manager Merry-Go-Round’ in full flow, I thought now would be a good time to look at the prospects for the rest of 2007 for three clubs who are looking for a fresh start.
As you will all be looking for a few bargain players to add to your well-known stars in an attempt to win the £10,000 December Manager of the Month prize, I will have a look at Birmingham, Derby and Wigan’s December fixtures, and try to point out where points can be won at little cost… (more…)

Tags (click to view more!): Manager of the Month, Birmingham, Derby, Wigan

Arsenal 2 Wigan 0

No Fabregas (suspended) or Flamini for The Gunners. Diarra, Denilson and Walcott all started. RVP was not quite fit enough to make the squad - he should be back in action soon. A second goal in three games for William Gallas. Arsenal are looking comfortable and with a game in hand are likely to go six points clear.

Wigan have lost all 20 of their Premier League clashes with the so-called “Big Four”. Heskey made a welcome return as a 68th minute substitute. It’s a big job facing Steve Bruce although with Middlesbrough and Sunderland in freefall I think they’ll survive.
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Tags (click to view more!): Arsenal, Premier League

It is my turn to have a go at the fixtures this week, and attempt to point out where you guys should rest your hopes, and who to avoid like the plague!
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As YTM 07/08 enters the crucial middle third of the season, your teams should now be settling down into a nice groove. You will have used three or four transfers shipping out those early-season mistakes (Matt Taylor anyone?) and snapping up this season’s must have bargains.

But with only fifteen transfers to cover the whole season, you’ve got to be sure that your men have what it takes to last the distance… (more…)

Without even knowing it was going to be list week I had started devising this list in my head since last week. My previous few blog posts have all been about getting more involved in the game of football from an outsiders perspective. My colleagues think I am mad. The readers think I am crazy. Even I think I am a little strange. But before you judge anymore, the below list could be very helpful to your cause. Especially with the YTM Cup just around the corner where points are a huge necessity… (more…)

After my colleague Tom took it upon himself to declare it ‘List Week’ here at YTM HQ, I thought I’d contribute a few of my own.

Hopefully these will be useful in guiding your team selection, but to spice things up I have thrown some more trivial lists into the catalogue of data.

First up is the top 10 players who have been kicked out of the most teams… (more…)

I’ve always been a big fan of lists and well remember whiling away the hours reading books such as “The Ultimate Book of Lists”, which has the following synopsis: “If you’ve ever wanted or needed to know the length of every major river, the name of every Pope, the full satanic hierarchy, all the animal collective nouns, the world’s currently active volcanoes, the names of all the muscles in the human body, every major British football team and a hundred and one other things, then this is indeed the book for you.”

Is it just me or does anyone else find these types of book strangely compelling?

So whilst You The Manager and the Premier League play second fiddle to Euro 2008 quailfying I propose a whole week of lists on the YTM blog!

I’ll kick things off with the top 10 value for money players by position (season to date) and I’m sure my colleagues will follow up with some equally intriguing and useful “series of names, words, or other items written, printed, or imagined one after the other”.
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Tags (click to view more!): Euro 2008