The Short Fuse: FanPosts

Arsene Wenger's Early Success

2012-02-03T15:30:37Z

There are two main ways of succeeding in any business (without cheating). One is to come up with an idea that no one has thought of before--a product or a way of doing things that breaks the existing molds. That's the Steve Jobs method of success. He invented things that people didn't know they needed. The other, more prosaic way, is to identify and exploit undervalued assets. That's the Michael Milken method. He discovered that if you buy enough junk bonds--which most people didn't want at the time--the return from the ones that don't go bad dwarfs the losses from the ones that do go bad.

Economists tend not to be inventors. They specialize in finding undervalued assets. Arsene Wenger is an economist. My belief is that much of his early success was due to his ability to find undervalued assets, and that his more recent difficulties reflect the fact that it has become much more difficult to find undervalued assets in football.

When Wenger arrived in England, he brought a style of play that was novel by English standards. But it wasn't truly innovative. It was the style played by many European sides. And it probably would not have worked amid the lax officiating and bad weather of the EPL unless Wenger could find better players than his competitors had. He was able to do that by finding undervalued assets, specifically top-quality French players. French players--particularly French players of immigrant descent--were scorned in England. Wenger snapped the best ones up, and before long a team built around Vieira, Henry, and Pires, plus other fantastic Europeans like Bergkamp and Overmars, was dominating the English game.

via cdn.bleacherreport.net

But undervalued assets do not remain undervalued once someone has exploited them. Before long other English managers began to ignore the provincialism of their supporters to sign the waves of European, African, and Latin players who have transformed English football in the last decade. There is no more top-flight talent languishing in other leagues waiting to be discovered by the EPL.

Yet Wenger continues to seek success in undervalued assets. That's why his transfer strategy seems to be built around signing 19-year olds. If you hit it right, you can get tremendous value for your money. Just look at Robin van Persie. And once in a while, he does find the hidden older gem. Laurent Koscielny, plucked from French footballing obscurity, is developing into a first-rate central defender. But it won't work as a strategy for keeping pace with the very top teams. Too many of the young players will crap out and too many of the obscure buys from French teams will turn into Park Ju Young.

This is not to say that Wenger is the wrong man for this job. As long as the club is owned by people who don't like to lose money, the best bet is probably to hunt for those undervalued assets. But it will get harder and harder to succeed consistently using that strategy. Probably the best we can hope for is periodic success, when the stars align and enough of the gambles pay off in a single year to break through.

IKTS Week 18.5 Fixtures

2012-01-31T21:31:40Z

Here are the fixtures for this weekend's matches...

(Home teams on the left)

English Premier League Fixtures for Saturday, February 4th, 2012:

Arsenal vs. Blackburn Rovers

Norwich City vs. Bolton Wanderers

Queens Park Rangers vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers

Stoke City vs. Sunderland

West Bromwich Albion vs. Swansea City

Wigan Athletic vs. Everton

Manchester City vs. Fulham

English Premier League Fixtures for Sunday, February 5th, 2012:

Newcastle United vs. Aston Villa

Chelsea vs. Manchester United

English Premier League Fixtures for Monday, February 6th, 2012:

Liverpool vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Transfer deadline day mayhem thread

2012-01-31T08:47:43Z

I know I know we have no signings lined up or whatever but one could hope.

Feel free to discuss and react to any signings made throughout the Premier League.

For one loan deals look the most likely to happen today as far as players going out.

I saw a possibility of a defender from Watford Adrian Mariappa coming in for around 2 million pounds. This could help our depth issues and provide a little bit of cover if any more injuries pop up.

IKTS Week 17 Report/ Week 18 Fixtures

2012-01-24T23:43:32Z

Pretty low scoring week all around, especially with the eggs that Chelsea and Liverpool dropped, and our natural bias going with Arsenal. Also after the defeat to Swansea last week, I don't think anybody expected Sunderland to win 2-0 on them either. In the end, I won the week with a final score of 10(2), which is quite rubbish really... bearcatcardfan took second on the week with a score of 9(1), and Flashpacker extended his season lead by finishing third with a score of 8(1). Overall, Flashpacker is first with a season score of 152(28), Loose Seal is second with a season score of 140(18), and then I took over third on a tiebreaker by correct predictions. I have a score of 137(22), and silverace99 is fourth with a score of 137(18). The clever picks of the week goes to a combination of three people (me, Adnan Ilyas, and bearcatcardfan), for correctly guessing a 1-1 draw between Everton and Blackburn, because honestly, there really wasn't much to pick from, I almost just went with Adnan and bearcatcardfan for correctly guessing the margin on the Villa win over Wolves. This weekend we don't have any fixtures, but we do have a round next Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a normal Saturday-Monday weekend, so it's more like Week 18 and Week 18.5 next week, I'll just end up with one single report for all five match days. We're going football crazy again!

UPDATE! I forgot the bonus match against Villa this weekend, so if you put down a score regardless, then your fine. If you haven't, we're going for it now! Sorry for the inconsistencies...

I Know The Score - Week 17 Results:

(Tiebreaker based on correct predictions)

1.) bmasson11 - 10(2)

2.) bearcatcardfan - 9(1)

3.) Flashpacker - 8(1)

4.) silverace99 - 7(1)

T-5.) Adnan Ilyas - 5(1)

T-5.) Loose Seal - 5(1)

7.) Steak Baller - 3(1)

8.) Learn2Leaf - 3(0)

T-9.) gunner921 - 2(0)

T-9.) Match Day 5 - 2(0)

T-9.) Scrupio - 2(0)

I Know The Score - Season Standings:

(Tiebreaker based on correct predictions)

1.) Flashpacker - 152(28)

2.) Loose Seal - 140(18)

3.) bmasson11 - 137(22)

4.) silverace99 - 137(18)

5.) bearcatcardfan - 131(18)

6.) Learn2Leaf - 122(15)

7.) Match Day 5 - 115(10)

8.) gunner921 - 107(13)

9.) DarrenV - 94(13)

10.) Scrupio - 90(11)

11.) Steak Baller - 64(9)

12.) ClemsonGirl - 56(8)

13.) Adnan Ilyas - 36(4)

14.) VolsnCards5 - 27(6)

15.) T.M.V. - 17(1)

16.) theRamster - 11(2)

I Know The Score - Week 18 Fixtures:

(Home teams on the left)

English Premier League Fixtures for Tuesday, January 31st, 2012:

Swansea City vs. Chelsea

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Wigan Athletic

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Liverpool

Everton vs. Manchester City

Manchester United vs. Stoke City

English Premier League Fixtures for Wednesday, February 1st, 2012:

Aston Villa vs. Queens Park Rangers

Blackburn Rovers vs. Newcastle United

Bolton Wanderers vs. Arsenal

Fulham vs. West Bromwich Albion

Sunderland vs. Norwich City

Mind Games

2012-01-23T01:40:40Z

During todays game against Manchester United, something quite awful happened. Well, in addition to the loss. No, I'm not talking about Arshavin. I am talking about Theo Walcott's injury. He got knocked out and didn't get subbed. That is wrong. That is wrong and now I am absolutely enraged.

First, let me define what a concussion is. I would copy and paste the definition of it from Wikipedia, but they stress how complex concussions are that they don't give a clear and short answer. So, I shall be going on the definition from my Anatomy and Biology classes (I know what I'm talking about, I'm a premed student and my dad's a psychiatrist). A concussion refers to an injury to the brain. That often equates to bleeding in the brain. A concussion usually refers to an injury that comes from a blunt impact, as opposed to a bullet wound. The brain itself is not in a fixed position. It's not glued to the skull or something. It's floating in some liquid called cerebrospinal fluid. When something makes the head stop moving in a very short amount of time (the ground in Walcott's case), the brain smashes against the skull. This damages the brain. So the bundle of squishy goo that controls your entire body just got smashed into hard, unrelenting bone. Does that sound painful? Well, actually, it wouldn't be. There are no pain sensors in the brain. That's why it's difficult to diagnose a concussion. There's nothing that's clearly broken. There's nothing bleeding out. You can't look in and see if something is wrong. You don't even feel any pain. But there is so much that is sinister with this little injury.

A Concussion usually comes from the front of the brain. So, naturally, it is the front of the brain that gets injured. This is called the frontal lobe. This part of the brain controls things like decision making and personality. That's why concussions can be diagnosed by looking for a change in how someone acts. However, this is not always so very apparent. You could suffer damage and not have a personality change. Of course, they look for other things. These include if the player's eyes can follow something, or if they can answer a few questions. But none of these tests are very accurate. One requires a lot more then a few simple questions to diagnose a concussion. No, it doesn't necessarily require a brain scan (which would definitely do the trick) but a few more elaborate tests. But these tests are time consuming. A player like Walcott wouldn't be able to go back into the game if he goes under these tests, and certainly wouldn't if he showed anything like a positive result. Which leads me to the scary bit of concussions.

If you are concussed, you won't be making the right decisions. It doesn't matter if you have been drilled into believing that you should leave the field at the slightest head injury because your decision making skills have been impaired. So you will refuse to believe that you have a concussion. You believe that your safety and your health isn't as important as the game. So you go back in. You're still prone to making bad decisions. Compound that with a slower thinking process and reactions. This is a perfect recipe for another concussion. Might I add that each concussion increases the likelihood and severity of the next one? It's a cycle. Each concussion causes the next one to happen, and to be worse, which makes the next one more likely and worse and etc.

Now, what does a concussion actually do? Well, there's the personality affects that it could have. Repeated concussions can equal pain and discomfort for life. Loss of coordination. Loss of memory. You know what, if you get concussed enough, you die much earlier than normal. Also, there's no way to heal the damage. Neurons don't grow back, and you can't stick them in there. The only thing you can do is let time allow your brain to get back to something like normalcy. Oh, now you say that this just happens to American Football players. Yeah? Go talk to Taylor Twellman.

This instance with Walcott especially infuriates me because of how blatant it was. I don't get angry all that easily. I'm always the guy who says "hey, everyone chill, it's alright, think rationally". But I can't stand this. Think about what happened to Walcott. His head hit the ground and he blacked out. His head smacked into the hard ground, causing his skull to suddenly stop. His brain didn't, and smashed into the bone. In response to this trauma, his body shuts down in an attempt to prevent further injury. When someone gets knocked out after a blow to the head, you can guarantee that their brain is hurting. And then you let him go back in! He can't make decisions for himself at the moment. He shouldn't be making complex predictions following analysis of an opposing players movement. He now has an inclination to be reckless and get himself another concussion. And he's young. A concussion now means he has a higher chance of getting one later. And each one will become worse. And he'll slowly lose some of that sparkle. And so shall a star in our world slowly dim.

A few comments so far have talked about the seriousness of the bonk on his head, or if he was knocked out or not. Well, from thousands of miles away, I can tell that he hit his head very hard. And I can tell that he then didn't get up immediately. And that's all that it takes. I don't need his limp body lying there to tell me that he shouldn't be playing when (thank god it was a when) he got up (though it did help). You don't need to be bleeding or unconscious or suddenly incompetent to suffer a concussion. That lack of distinct immediate symptoms makes them all the more scary. But we don't take it all that seriously. When we see the word "concussion" next to a players name, we think, Ugh, he's injured. It's just another injury to us. News Flash. It's not just another injury. This is your brain we are talking about. It's not your arm or your leg. It's the single most vital organ in the human body. You can have your heart stop momentarily and still survive. Have you ever had a conversation with someone who's brain completely stopped working, even for an instance? Well, unless you chat with ghosts in your local cemetery, that's a resounding no.

Concussions are poorly understood conditions. But that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous. Just because this isn't the American version of football doesn't mean there won't be head injuries. Just because he looks OK doesn't mean he is. It was dangerous to risk his health like that. And I am seriously disappointed. Don't trust me on how bad concussions are? Talk to Scott Kessler of the Philadelphia Union blog, The Brotherly Game.

Foolishness and faith

2012-01-22T22:01:17Z

I began following Arsenal just before Arsene Wenger took over in the brief period that followed George Graham's departure.

I witnessed a brilliant mind take over and transform a team into an international powerhouse. I followed as the old guard champions aged out of the game, as guys like Tony Adams, Ian Wright, Lee Dixon, David Seaman, Nigel Winterburn and Martin Keown gave way to a new Arsenal. An international Arsenal.

In came Viera, Henry, Pires, Ljungberg, Overmars, Petit, Anelka. Trophies followed. Historic moments were created. And the goals...my god the goals. It was as it was supposed to be. And with the success, Wenger began to invest in young, unproven players...and he did it well. The list is too long to go through, and that's not what this is really about at its core. It's about how Wenger has responded when it didn't work out perfectly.

Far too many better writers than I have bemoaned the lack of experience in the team in the last few years, the adherence to a transfer policy that ignored the failings of the last few years in the silverware acquisition department. And to be fair, there's something to be said about faith, faith in oneself, faith in your players and teammates, and faith in your system.

But the line between faith and stubbornness is thin. And today did it for me. A single substitution was too much for me to swallow.

Today, we learned something we all already knew (yay, oxymorons!) - Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is one talented kid. That he has only been used in 8 games in all competitions this season was already grating. Then today, after a performance that surely cemented his place in the starting eleven with more frequency, he came off to the cacophony of as many upset fans as the Emirates can hold for the worst Gunner of the season, the Meerkat.

Yes, Arsene said that Ox came off due to cramping. And that's fair. Whether or not you believe him, nobody has any proof otherwise and that kind of speculation is better left for the Piers Morgans of the world. But that moment, the moment when Wenger made the kind of decision that rarely happens in sport when a coach does something that every other human on Earth is baffled by has summed up his lack of genius in recent years.

Ironically, it was the earlier crushing defeat to United that forced Arsene to bolster the squad with (all in the course of 24 hours) Mikel Arteta, Per Mertesacker, Andre Santos and Yossi Benayoun. The inability (or unwillingness) to make similar moves over the course of the transfer window instead of being pushed off a cliff to improve the squad is mind-boggling. And should be unnacceptable.

For many coaches, they would have been fired before earning the chance to make those panic purchases. And yes, I'm biased, but I believe Arsene earned the chance to do so. We all know he's not the average manager. But it's not just transfers.

His continued reliance on his own self-importance to justify his mistakes is no longer "Arsene being Arsene." It's no longer enjoyable. The answers he gave in the post-match press conference are insulting.

Arshavin is captain of the Russia national team.

Wow! A captain of a national team! That makes sense. Hey, why don't we sign Rashad Sadygov? He's captain of the Azerbaijan national team.

You have an 18-year-old kid making his first Premier League start and a player who's captain of his country and they are querying the substitution? Let's be serious.

Okay, let's be serious. That 18-year-old kid started over the captain of his country, and for obvious reason. He's better at playing soccer. That has to be the most nonsensical thing Wenger's ever said.

I've been a manager for 30 years and have made 50,000 substitutions. I do not have to justify every decision I make to [the press].

No, you don't. But you have to justify every decision to the board. And you should be able to justify every decision to the fans, let alone the press. The most worrisome reaction? When your team captain who is also the best player on your team (which has to be noted - call it the Gallas effect) wonders WTF you're doing.

I'm not saying Wenger should be fired. I'm saying that I'm tired of him being forced to respond properly. I'm tired of the "I don't have to"s and the "well you see"s. I'm tired of the "getting players back from injury is like a signing" theory. And good god, I'm tired of Arshavin. I'm tired of having to justify decisions and inaction that would get any other manager in the EPL (save for SAF) fired. I'm tired of waiting for Arsene Wenger to find vindication on the pitch.

And I'm tired of waiting until next year, hoping for that vindication to come.

At this point, I can't feel that bad about questioning if it ever will when Arsene's faith in himself looks more foolish than anything.

African Cup of Nations Open Thread

2012-01-19T16:39:15Z

International Football time! Better yet, it's a full on Tournament, (no stupid qualifiers whose sole purpose of existence is to make life harder on clubs). The African Cup of Nations is starting up this weekend, and Arsenal has 2 players in it (thank god that neither of them are named Song). Chamakh and Gervinho are playing for Morocco and Ivory Coast, respectively. Both are (comparatively) strong African teams, though Ivory Coast more so. Anyway, Feel free to discuss any currently unknown stars, Chamakh's (hopefully) improved form, and Gervinho's inevitable miss.

Poll

Best thing about Continental Tournaments

Players gain confidence with National Team

1 votes

More good Football

5 votes

Penalties!

0 votes

Exposure to non-Big Names

3 votes

Upsets

0 votes

Colorful Jerseys

4 votes

Playing time for Players who don't often get minutes

0 votes

There is nothing good about this tournament. It's absolutely pointless as it will also be contested next year. It merely takes away our players and risks them to fatigue and injury.

6 votes

19 votes | Poll has closed

Late Night IKTS Report, and Next Week's Fixtures

2012-01-18T04:58:13Z

I would have had this up earlier, but I've been busy protesting around campus about the potentially disasterious effects of SOPA/PIPA if it passes (If you don't know what this is, look it up, read up, and speak up, your potential viewing of Arsenal could depend on it, and your wallet).

Regardless, let's get into last week and the upcoming week. Basically, Learn2Leaf hauled ass on everyone with one of the best performances of the year, dropping a weekly score of 16(4). gunner921 finished 2nd with a score of 11(2), and Loose Seal was 3rd with a score of 9(1). Overall, even though he had a bad week, Flashpacker still retains the IKTS season lead with a total score of 144(27), but Loose Seal put a nice dent into his lead, and is 2nd with a total score of 135(17), and silverace99 is 3rd with a total score of 130(17).

The Clever Pick of the Week goes to both gunner921 and Learn2Leaf, being the only ones to make correct predictions on the Villa/Everton and Tottenham/Wolves draws, respectively. This leads me to our poll for the week. Even though it's completely based on my opinion (unless the majority speaks up about the decision), should the Clever Pick of the Week result in a bonus point? Speak up about it, mention it in the comments, everyone has an "unrestricted" voice here (Unless your Rupert Murdoch, then your just a pirate...). All of the above, below the jump...

I Know The Score - Week 16 Results:

1.) Learn2Leaf - 16(4)

2.) gunner921 - 11(2)

3.) Loose Seal - 9(1)

4.) bmasson11 - 8(2)

5.) Adnan Ilyas - 7(1)

6.) bearcatcardfan - 7(0)

7.) Steak Baller - 6(1)

8.) silverace99 - 6(0)

9.) Flashpacker - 5(1)

10.) Match Day 5 - 3(0)

I Know The Score - Season Standings:

1.) Flashpacker - 144(27)

2.) Loose Seal - 135(17)

3.) silverace99 - 130(17)

4.) bmasson11 - 127(20)

5.) bearcatcardfan - 122(17)

6.) Learn2Leaf - 119(15)

7.) Match Day 5 - 113(17)

8.) gunner921 - 105(13)

9.) DarrenV - 94(13)

10.) Scrupio - 88(11)

11.) Steak Baller - 61(8)

12.) Clemson Girl - 56(8)

13.) Adnan Ilyas - 31(3)

14.) VolsnCards5 - 27(6)

15.) Timothy Winning Voyles - 17(1)

16.) theRamster - 11(2)

I Know The Score - Week 17 Fixtures:

(Home Teams on the Left)

English Premier League Fixtures for Saturday, January 21st, 2012:

Norwich City vs. Chelsea

Everton vs. Blackburn Rovers

Fulham vs. Newcastle United

Queens Park Rangers vs. Wigan Athletic

Stoke City vs. West Bromwich Albion

Sunderland vs. Swansea City

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Aston Villa

Bolton Wanderers vs. Liverpool

English Premier League Fixtures for Sunday, January 22nd, 2012:

Manchester City vs. Tottenham Hotspur

Arsenal vs. Manchester United

Poll

Should we award a bonus point for winning the Clever Pick of the Week?

Yay

2 votes

Nay

5 votes

7 votes | Poll has closed

Wenger's MLS Mistake

2012-01-16T14:04:07Z

Arsene Wenger blundered this winter, not because he signed too many MLS players, but because he signed too few. Arsenal are missing six of their first choice 11 at the moment because of injury (Vermaelen, Sagna, Santos, Wilshire, and now Arteta) or absence (Gervinho). While no one can replace the stout Vermaelen, Arsenal desperately need help in the wing back positions. Arsenal at their best this season have looked like a potent but counterintuitive blend of Catalan and English football. In the offensive half, they look pretty English. Ramsey and Arteta play balls out wide, and often long, for the wingers to cross in. At the back, though they can play much like Barca, with one or both fullbacks pushing forward while a center half slides out and either Song or Arteta slides back into the middle (see Sergio Busquets). With Vermaelen and Koscielny in the lineup, they are perfectly positioned to do that, as Koz can go right and TV5 can go left. The fullbacks overlap the wingers creating chances (all too often untaken) for Walcott and Gervinho. The Spinal Tap-esque cascade of fullback injuries, coupled with Vermaelen's recent whatever-tweak, have crippled that attack. None of this is new information--I'm just repeating what Aidan Gibson said the other day.

Wenger saw the Gervinho problem looming, and found an immediate fix in Thierry Henry. Thierry Henry is already bronzed outside the stadium, so he's in a different class from any other player on earth. But the idea of reaching out for an MLS player is a good one, for a lot of reasons that I'll discuss after the jump.

First, the timing is perfect. You get them for two months to sub for an injured player. Injured player comes back, MLS dude goes home.

Second, they're cheap. I don't know what Everton's deal with Donovan looks like, but I'm guessing they basically just pay his salary for that period and pony up some insurance. No transfer fees, no wage commitments.

And it's the perfect time to get them. They've just been off for two months or longer. They are fresh and ready to start on a new campaign. That kind of energy can really spark a team depleted by England's holiday football grind. Umm, like Arsenal, for example.

Now I know next to nothing about MLS. But I know that Landon Donovan is very good but not dominant in MLS. I know from seeing them play on the national team that Donovan is at least close to Clint Dempsey's class. I know that Clint Dempsey is a very, very good EPL footballer. So can it really be the case that there isn't a single left back in MLS who could give Arsenal some temporary bite at that crucial position?

The problem with loan players, as the Arseblogger and Phillippe Auclaire discussed last Friday, is that they a) haven't yet proven themselves; or b) have been consciously snubbed by their current teams, either for poor play or attitude problems or both. But that isn't case for MLS players. MLS is a weak league by international standards. I get that. But it isn't crazy to think that the very best left fullback in the entire league could do 2 months of good work for Arsenal.

IKTS Week 16 Fixtures

2012-01-11T01:20:14Z

Apologies on my part for missing the bonus match and posting these like four days late, I'm at home for winter break between semesters and I'm just working my ass off 24/7 so I occasionally forget about these things, but come next week when I get back on my daily schedule of class and work, there shouldn't be any more issues. We've got a simple weekend going, Saturday through Monday, and the report should be done by Monday evening then...

I Know The Score - Week 16 Fixtures:

(Home teams on the left)

English Premier League Fixtures for Saturday, January 14th, 2012:

Aston Villa vs. Everton

Blackburn Rovers vs. Fulham

Chelsea vs. Sunderland

Liverpool vs. Stoke City

Manchester United vs. Bolton Wanderers

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers

West Bromwich Albion vs. Norwich City

English Premier League Fixtures for Sunday, January 15th, 2012:

Newcastle United vs. Queens Park Rangers

Swansea City vs. Arsenal

English Premier League Fixtures for Monday, January 16th, 2012:

Wigan Athletic vs. Manchester City

IKTS Week 15 Report

2012-01-06T01:24:00Z

Well, that was a hectic week. Not surprisingly, we didn't really have very high scores considering how many games were played within six days. Pretty much everyone of the top six teams took an upset, it almost felt like March Madness... Anyways, from the longest stressful week we'll ever have, Flashpacker walked away the winner (damnit...) with a score of 17(4). Loose Seal was second with a 16(2), and gunner921 was third with a 15(3). Overall, Flashpacker extended his(her? uhh...) lead to a 139(26), easily creating a cushion over second place Loose Seal, who has a 126(16). silverace99 isn't far behind though with a 124(17). The standings are after the jump, next week we have a bonus match, our first FA Cup matchup against Leeds next Monday, so I probably won't put up the next round of fixtures until tomorrow or Saturday.

I Know The Score - Week 15 Results:

(Tiebreaker based on correct predictions)

1.) Flashpacker - 17(4)

2.) Loose Seal - 16(2)

3.) gunner921 - 15(3)

4.) Match Day 5 - 15(2)

5.) theRamster - 11(2)

6.) Scrupio - 11(1)

7.) Learn2Leaf - 10(1)

T-8.) bearcatcardfan - 9(2)

T-8.) silverace99 - 9(2)

10.) Adnan Ilyas - 9(0)

11.) bmasson11 - 7(0)

12.) Steak Baller - 4(1)

I Know The Score - Overall Standings:

(Tiebreaker based on correct predictions)

1.) Flashpacker - 139(26)

2.) Loose Seal - 126(16)

3.) silverace99 - 124(17)

4.) bmasson11 - 119(18)

5.) bearcatcardfan - 115(17)

6.) Match Day 5 - 110(10)

7.) Learn2Leaf - 103(11)

T-8.) gunner921 - 94(11)

T-8.) Darren V - 94(11)

10.) ClemsonGirl - 56(8)

11.) Steak Baller - 55(7)

12.) VolsnCards5 - 27(6)

13.) Adnan Ilyas - 24(2)

14.) Timothy Winning Voyles - 17(1)

15.) theRamster - 11(2)

IKTS Week 15 Fixtures

2011-12-27T20:26:04Z

Here's the fixtures for Week 15 (Friday, Dec. 30th all the way through Wednesday, Jan. 4th). It's going to be quite a hectic week, and depending on how many people insert predictions, I may possibly cut off Friday's match (Liverpool vs. Newcastle United) because it's a lone match and I don't know why it's there, so if your a day late on any of the fixtures, no worries, just insert predictions for games that haven't been played yet through the 4th. Have a good holiday weekend! And good luck!

I Know The Score - Week 15 Fixtures:

(Home Teams are on the left)

English Premier League Fixtures for Friday, December 30th, 2011:

Liverpool vs. Newcastle United

English Premier League Fixtures for Saturday, December 31st, 2011:

Manchester United vs. Blackburn Rovers

Arsenal vs. Queens Park Rangers

Bolton Wanderers vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers

Chelsea vs. Aston Villa

Norwich City vs. Fulham

Stoke City vs. Wigan Athletic

Swansea City vs. Tottenham Hotspur

English Premier League Fixtures for Sunday, January 1st, 2012:

West Bromwich Albion vs. Everton

Sunderland vs. Manchester City

English Premier League Fixtures for Monday, January 2nd, 2012:

Aston Villa vs. Swansea City

Blackburn Rovers vs. Stoke City

Queens Park Rangers vs. Norwich City

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Chelsea

Fulham vs. Arsenal

English Premier League Fixtures for Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012:

Tottenham Hotspur vs. West Bromwich Albion

Wigan Athletic vs. Sunderland

Manchester City vs. Liverpool

English Premier League Fixtures for Wednesday, January 4th, 2012:

Everton vs. Bolton Wanderers

Newcastle United vs. Manchester United

IKTS Week 13/14 Report

2011-12-27T20:13:26Z

This will be seperate from the Week 15 fixtures because it would be way too long. Sorry for the delay, holidays...

I Know The Score - Week 13 Results:

(Tiebreaker based on correct predictions)

1.) bearcatcardfan - 14(3)

2.) Flashpacker - 12(2)

3.) bmasson11 - 9(1) (I think I ruined all integrity of this game by finishing third on drunk predictions...)

4.) Match Day 5 - 9(0)

T-5.) gunner921 - 7(1)

T-5.) Scrupio - 7(1)

T-5.) DarrenV - 7(1)

8.) Adnan Ilyas - 6(1)

9.) silverace99 - 6(0)

10.) Learn2Leaf - 5(1)

11.) Loose Seal - 5(0)

12.) Steak Baller - 4(0)

I Know The Score - Week 14 Results:

(Tiebreaker based on correct predictions)

1.) silverace99 - 13(3)

T-2.) gunner921 - 11(2)

T-2.) Flashpacker - 11(2)

4.) Loose Seal - 9(2)

5.) Adnan Ilyas - 9(1)

6.) Learn2Leaf - 8(1)

T-7.) bearcatcardfan - 7(1)

T-7.) bmasson11 - 7(1)

T-7.) Scrupio - 7(1)

T-10.) Steak Baller - 7(0)

T-10.) Match Day 5 - 7(0)

12.) Darren V - 5(0)

I Know The Score - Season Standings:

1.) Flashpacker - 122(22)

2.) silverace99 - 115(15)

3.) bmasson11 - 112(18)

4.) Loose Seal - 110(14)

5.) bearcatcardfan - 106(15)

6.) Match Day 5 - 95(8)

7.) Darren V - 94(13)

8.) Learn2Leaf - 93(10)

9.) gunner921 - 79(8)

10.) Scrupio - 77(10)

11.) ClemsonGirl - 56(8)

12.) Steak Baller - 51(6)

13.) VolsnCards5 - 27(6)

14. Timothy Winning Voyles - 17(1)

15.) Adnan Ilyas - 15(2)

Tottenham v Chelsea Open Thread, Anyone?

2011-12-22T19:54:47Z

Well, I understand that this isn't an Arsenal game, but I'd rather not turn a random post into a thread a la Man City v Chelsea. Besides, this game is crucial to how well Arsenal do in the foreseeable future, table-wise. Any way, I took the liberty of retrieving the line up

Spurs: Brad Friedel; Kyle Walker, William Gallas, Ledley King, Benoit Assou-Ekotto; Rafael Van Der Vaart, Scott Parker, Sandro, Gareth Bale; Luka Modric, Emmanuel Adebayor.

Chelsea: Petr Cech; Jose Bosingwa, Branislav Ivanovic, John Terry,Ashley Cole; Ramires, John Obi Mikel, Meireles; Daniel Sturridge, Didier Drogba, Juan Mata

I'm too lazy to copy and past the benches, so sorry

Now, I'm not sure who I'd prefer to see lose more. Spurs or Chelsea? Maybe a draw would be welcome instead, though.

Poll

Which Result would you prefer

Chelsea Victory

1 votes

Tottenham Victory

0 votes

Draw and dropped points for both

12 votes

13 votes | Poll has closed

Premiership Week14 Open Thread

2011-12-20T20:06:01Z

It's been suggested, and I'd like to get started, an open thread on the week's EPL games. This will be a place to talk about all the various matches going on besides Arsenal games.

This will be of particular interest to our I Know The Score participants, but anybody is welcome to jump in and discuss.

This week's EPL games (copypasted from IKTS14):

English Premier League Fixtures for Tuesday, December 20th, 2011:

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Norwich City

Blackburn Rovers vs. Bolton Wanderers

English Premier League Fixtures for Wednesday, December 21st, 2011:

Aston Villa vs. Arsenal

Manchester City vs. Stoke City

Newcastle United vs. West Bromwich Albion

Everton vs. Swansea City

Fulham vs. Manchester United

Queens Park Rangers vs. Sunderland

Wigan Athletic vs. Liverpool

English Premier League Fixtures for Thursday, December 22nd, 2011:

Tottenham Hotspur vs. Chelsea

Discuss!