The EPL - Football's Answer to the IPL mk.II

Hello and welcome to my second sign up, the EPL - Football's Answer to the IPL and I would also like to add a thank you to Walcott's Wonderkids, Icelander83 and tomsmith1989.

The sign up has had a number of problems during its existence but it had finally faced one that I could not fix. I do not want the sign up to die so the only thing I could do was to start the sign up again. Lets hope it is even more successful, and enjoyable for myself and all of you.

The FA, wanting to make even more money, has decided to make the Premiership more “even” as the same teams are challenging for the title each year so has disbanded all twenty teams in the Premiership and split England up into twenty regions which will all be put into the Premiership as they have seen the example set by the Indians in cricket. Whereas in reality, they have sold off the twenty Premiership teams to rich businessmen to make them extremely rich. The regions have been divided up into counties and the FA has decided counties are to be given catchy names to improve interest in this closer league. The twenty teams will take part in an auction for players as all twenty teams will inherit a squad with no players in it. Basically it is “Football’s answer to the Indian Premier League in cricket.” The FA has even changed the name of the league from the Premiership to the “English Premier League.”

The new teams will have equal publicity and the FA has sold them off for the same price each of £500 million. This in football manager terms means that the teams will all be equal with things such as reputation, wage budget, stadium size. The FA has put a ban on transfers in the first transfer window also as they have introduced an auction for players which has been completed and the owners of the clubs have bought their squads.

Each club owner signed a twenty two player sized squad consisting of three goalkeepers, seven defenders, seven midfielders and five attackers within their budget of £150 million in the auction which took place in late June 2008 just in time for the start of the inaugural English Premier League season. All of the best players in the world want a piece of the EPL action and star players such as David Villa, Lionel Messi and Ronaldinho are gracing the English pitches in this new competition.

Also, to keep the owners from getting bored of just watching their team’s results coming in. The FA has devised a plan which will allow them to, over a certain period in the off season or maybe even in the January transfer window, to negotiate with other owners to swap three of their players for other owners players. But no transfer fees are permitted so you couldn’t, for example, swap Fernando Torres for Nicklas Bendtner and £20 million. This period with consist of either one week or two weeks and I shall alert the owners before it is about to start. The owners can say who they are looking to get rid of and add them to the “transfer list” so to speak, but then it is up to the owners to go off and privately negotiate their transfers and then both of them need to announce it in public. These trades can also only take place between teams that are taking part in the EPL.

Also here is the link for you to download the database if you wish. However please do NOT post results in here of your games as people may not want to know who may or may not do well until I reveal it in the actual sign up

How to install the Database

- Download the database using the link provided.

- Extract the downloaded file to:

'C:\Documents and Settings\(your users name)\My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009\db'

-Copy the file inside the folder and paste it into the above place.

Now, let's meet the teams...

Cheshire Cobras – A decent team in my opinion. They have a solid goalkeeper in Hugo Lloris and a solid defence also. The midfield is very good with their star player Lionel Messi and players to back him up like Michael Carrick and Thiago Neves. However their attack will let them down as their owner had to get very low quality strikers to come in under budget so they will be relying heavily on their midfield to come up with the goods.

Key Player: Lionel Messi

Player to Watch: Hugo Lloris

My Prediction: 13th

Squad

Cornwall Cannons – Their owner has spent very wisely I think. He has bought a solid, yet unspectacular set of goalkeepers and defenders and then allowed him to spend lots of money on the business end of the team, the midfield and attack. The Cannons have a dream attack consisting of Cristiano Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Amauri which will strike fear into opposition defences and Paul Scholes and Nigel de Jong will supply the chances.

Key Player: Cristiano Ronaldo

Player to Watch: Christopher Samba

My Prediction: 8th

Squad

Derbyshire Dazzle – They have a good, young goalkeeper in Manuel Nueur and a decent defence. The have a creative and solid midfield with Deco, Alessandro Rosina and Javi Martinez in there and then Mario Gomez leading the line up front. Their owner hasn’t done too badly for himself.

Key Player: Mario Gomez

Player to Watch: Alessandro Rosina

My Prediction: 6th

Squad

Devon Devils – Their owner has bought a couple of cheap British keepers in Ben Foster and Craig Gordon who will be very good in the future who will be behind a good defence but the right side of it could be better. Their midfield isn’t great but they have some good players like Torsten Frings and Simon Vukcevic. However up front is where they excel, with Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba leading the line.

Key Player: Wayne Rooney

Player to Watch: Craig Gordon

My Prediction: 11th

Squad

Durham Destroyers – They have a good goalkeeper in Andres Palop but he is 35 and they have no backup. They have a very good defence with Carles Puyol and Vincent Kompany among them. They have some good young central midfielders with Jérémy Toulalan, Jean II Makoun and Yaya Touré with Jérémy Ménez being the creative player on the wing. The teams goalscorer is an ageing Ruud Van Nistlerooy but with Bojan backing him up.

Key Player: Carles Puyol

Player to Watch: Bojan

My Prediction: 15th

Squad

Essex Eagles – They have one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Gianluigi Buffon but their defence isn’t the best, they have no real strength in depth with only Johnathan Woodgate standing out as a good defender. They have a very attacking midfield with only Lucas as the slightly defensive player which will hurt them so their strikers will have to be firing. They should have no problem with this however with Miroslav Klose, Pato, Robin Van Persie and erm, Robbie Keane leading the line. This team will be a very interesting team to see how they do.

Key Player: Gianluigi Buffon

Player to Watch: Pato

My Prediction: 18th

Squad

Gloucestershire Goons – They have good goalkeepers in Jose Manuel Reina and Doni which will provide a solid base for the team. They also have a good defence with Vedran Corluka, Patrice Evra and Bakary Sagna being particularly good. Their midfield has a good balance to it with players such as Patrick Vieira able to sit back while Guti, Michael Ballack and Mikel Arteta create chances. They have a good strikeforce with Obafemi Martins, David Trezeguet and Adrian Mutu as they will all score goals. This team is definitely a contender.

Key Player: Vedran Corluka

Player to Watch: Michael Ballack

My Prediction: 5th

Squad

Greater Manchester Mongooses – The owner has spent very wisely on this team. He has signed two solid keepers in Gregory Coupet and Julio Cesar who will back their defence up which is already solid but ageing slightly with most of the players in their late 20’s early 30’s. They have Orlando Engelaar and Lucho Gonzalez to sit deep in midfield while players like Arjen Robben and Bastian Schweinsteiger can run rings round most defences. They have arguably the best strike force in the competition with Emanuel Adebayor and Sergio Aguero just behind him, with a not too shabby Giampaolo Pazzini backing them up. They are definitely one of the favourites in my view.

Key Player: Emanuel Adebayor

Player to Watch: Riccardo Montolivo

My Prediction: 1st

Squad

Hampshire Harriers – They have okay keepers in Artur Boruc and David James but nothing spectacular. However they have the best defence in the league in my opinion, with Daniel Alves, Rio Ferdinand, Andrea Barzagli and Nicky Shorey all in there. Their midfield is respectable with Lassana Diarra, Manuel Fernandes and Sebastien Giovinco all in it. They also have a couple of decent strikers in Antonio Di Natale and Rafael Sobis, they could well be in Europe next year.

Key Player: Rio Ferdinand

Player to Watch: Lassana Diarra

My Prediction: 9th

Squad

Herefordshire Hotshots – The owner went for experienced goalkeepers rather than young ones as he signed two 37 year olds in Edwin Van Der Sar and Brad Friedel and then also signed Victor Valdes who isn’t that good. Their defence isn’t great however they have a English side to it with Glen Johnson, Richard Dunne and Joe Mattock which is always nice to see. They have a decent, if not very defensive, midfield with Gareth Barry and then lots of attacking players such as Mancini and Ryan Babel. They will most probably struggle up front though as all they have is Antonio Cassano and Johan Elmander who, in all fairness, aren’t very good.

Key Player: Diego

Player to Watch: Ryan Babel

My Prediction: 20th

Squad

Isle of Man Metros – They signed a decent keeper in Robert Enke and then a good youngster in Sergio Asenjo. They have a good spine of the team but other than that not much else. In defence they have 3 top class centre backs in John Terry, Raul Albiol and Gerard Pique but only decent full backs, if that. In midfield they have a couple of good central midfielders in Frank Lampard, Joao Moutinho and Alex but they don’t have a natural left winger which could prove costly. Up front they have Falcao and Frederic Kanoute with youngsters Daniel Sturridge and Ched Evans coming through which could be a good partnership in the future.

Key Player: Frank Lampard

Player to Watch: Falcao

My Prediction: 17th

Squad

Kent Killers – The owner bought a very good goalkeeper in Steven Mandanda and they have several good backups with Tim Wiese and Carlos Kameni. Their defence is the best in the league I think with Maicon, Gael Clichy, Nemanja Vidic and Gabriel Milito just as players who would start in the strongest eleven. They had to scrape the bottom of the barrel, however, for midfielders yet signed a couple of decent players in Gelson Fernandes, Michael Johnson and Clarence Seedorf meaning that they aren’t totally useless in the midfield aswell as Darijo Srna slotting in there sometimes from defence. They seem to have gone for some South American flair up front with 4 Brazilians and and an Argentine leading the line, with the starters more than likely being Luis Fabiano and Diego Milito.

Key Player: Nemanja Vidic

Player to Watch: Darijo Srna

My Prediction: 3rd

Squad

Lancashire Lions – They signed an okay goalkeeper in Gomes but he is prone to error and could make a lot of mistakes leaving the Lions in a bad position. They went with experienced premiership players in defence but nothing really spectacular although they did manage to sign Alan Hutton. They signed reasonably good central midfielders with Raul Garcia and Juan Roman Riquelme creating chances for the forwards. They do, however, have very good wingers in Ricardo Quaresma and David Bentley. Also they have top quality strikers, especially with David Villa and then Roque Santa Cruz and Yakabu backing him up.

Key Player: David Villa

Player to Watch: Yakubu

My Prediction: 7th

Squad *

Merseyside Magicians – I believe that their owner has signed a very good goalkeeper in Sebastian Frey who will play the majority of the games with Renan backing him up. They have a decent defence with Gonzalo Rodriguez, Tomas Ujfalusi and Juan but maybe lacking in defensive ability on the left with Marcelo and Adriano. I think they spent way over the top on midfielders in the auction and got one too many top quality players and will have to go with 5 in midfield to fulfil their teams potential. Then up front they were not left with much money to spend on players but they got Bafetimbi Gomis and Guiza which I think are good signings.

Key Player: David Silva

Player to Watch: Bafetimbi Gomis

My Prediction: 10th

Squad

Nottinghamshire Knights – Their owner signed a very good, young goalkeeper in Francisco Guilherme Ochoa which will provide a very solid base for the team. The defence is also very good with Cristian Zapata, Pepe and Gianluca Zambrotta all in it. They have an attacking line up in midfield with just Gokhan Inler as a defensive player, yet Giovanni Dos Santos, Francesco Totti and Nihat will all create chances. Then up front they have a proven, yet injury prone goal scorer in Michael Owen and Lukas Podolski and Tommasso Rocchi who are both decent strikers.

Key Player: Cristian Zapata

Player to Watch: Tommasso Rocchi

My Prediction: 12th

Squad

Somerset Sunbathers – Their owner has bought a lot of South Americans to match his own background it seems. They bought some good goalkeepers in René Adler and Felipe but Adler will play in most of the matches and is a good goalkeeper. They have a good, yet Chelsea-like, defence with Bosingwa, Ashley Cole, Ricardo Carvalho and Naldo the best defenders. Their midfield isn’t great but they do have a couple of decent players such as Anatoliy Tymoschuk, Anderson and Maxi Rodriguez. Then up front they have great strikers with Carlos Tevez, Rodrigo Palacio and Luca Toni.

Key Player: Anatoliy Tymoschuk

Player to Watch: Rodrigo Palacio

My Prediction: 16th

Squad

Surrey Savagers – The owner has spent very well in my opinion on this team. They have okay goalkeepers in Maarten Stekelenberg, Remy Riou and Timo Hildebrand without them being spectacularly good. However they will not need to be called into action much with a defence that includes Federico Fazio, Giorgio Chiellini and Alessandro Gamberini. Then in midfield they have Miguel Veloso and Arturo Vidal in the centre and then Juan Manuel Mata, Miralem Pjanic and Steven Defour attacking. They also have one of the best strike forces in the league with Fernando Torres and Karim Benzema leading the line. They will be a force to be reckoned with this season.

Key Player: Fernando Torres

Player to Watch: Giorgio Chiellini

My Prediction: 2nd

Squad

Sussex Wanderers – They signed two good goalkeepers in Oscar Ustari and Igor Akinfeev who will protect the team well. Their defence is not great with Daniel Agger the only real stand out defender so their goalkeepers will have to be on the top of their game if the Wanderers are going to get anywhere this season. Their midfield is slightly better, however, after signing Maroune Felleini, Andrés Iniesta and Zdravko Kuzmanovic. Then up front they have a decent strike force of Nicolas Anelka, Nikola Zigic and Edison Cavani. Unfortunately I don’t see them doing much this season, it is up to them to prove me wrong.

Key Player: Andrés Iniesta

Player to Watch: Zravko Zukmanovic

My Prediction: 19th

Squad

Worcestershire Wonders – Their owner did not do very well in the goalkeeper department but signed cheap ones preferring being about to spend on other areas of the squad. Such as defence where they have Rafinha, Sergio Ramos and Sebastian Squillaci. They also have a good midfield with defensive players Javier Mascherano and Owen Hargreaves and flair players such as Rafael Van Der Vaart, Elano and Simao. Then up front they have a good striking line up with Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Eduardo and Alberto Gilardino.

Key Player: Sergio Ramos

Player to Watch: Simao

My Prediction: 4th

Squad

Yorkshire Yorkers – Their owner signed a good goalkeeper in Mickael Landreau which will provide the team with a solid player to fall back on. The defence also has some good players with Micah Richards, Phillipe Mexes, Per Mertesacker and Gareth Bale. Gennaro Gattuso will act as a defensive midfielder with Joe Cole, Andrey Arshavin and Ashley Young being the flair players in the midfield. Up front they have an ageing team with all of their strikers in their late 20’s or early 30’s but for the first few seasons at least Thierry Henry and Roman Pavlyuchenko will pose a threat.

Key Player: Thierry Henry

Player to Watch: Joe Cole

My Prediction: 14th

Squad

*Lastuvka and Di Michele have now been removed from Lancashire Lions with FMRTE.

post reserved for EPL hall of fame.

Great to see this up and running Robert, hopefully Durham will destroy everyone and there will be no problems this time around

Yeah, good to see this back up and running, hopefully with a bit more success this time.

Great to see this back Robert, good luck with it. Hopefully, no problems. And hopefully, no Yorkers relegation either!

It's back! \o/

We were awful first season last time around and only picked up with the summer trades. Hoping for more this time around.

Good to see it back Robert

Looking forward to this seeing as I missed out on the first one, COME ON YOU LIONS!!

Good to see this back robert

Last time we lost the title on the last day of the season on goal difference iirc, so we are ready to win it this time

It's back

Thank you for bringing it back Rob

Also, Derbyshire ftw

Worcestershire wonders > *

Oh and thanks for the return.

August

English Premier League

Saturday 16th of August

Sunday 17th of August

Saturday 23rd of August

Sunday 24th of August

Saturday 30th of August

Sunday 31st of August

EPL Table

EPL Team Stats

EPL Player Stats

Cornwall Cannons have taken an early lead in the inaugral season in the EPL, although you can not read too much into that. Gloucestershire Goons and Merseyside Magicians, suprisingly, are 2nd and 3rd with 7 points after drawing one game each. Suprisingly, three of the better teams last time around are in the drop zone with only one point from their three games, Isle of Man Metros, Devon Demons and Greater Manchester Mongooses.

Manager of the Month

Player of the Month

Young Player of the Month

League Cup

Second Round

There was only one big shock in the league cup second round with Derbyshire Dazzle losing on penalties to League 1 Huddlesfield after drawing 0-0 at home. However, all the other EPL teams comfortably got through, although Barnsley took Durham Destroyers to extra time. Lancashire Lions' 5-0 victory over Peterbrough was, undoubtably, the pick of the round.

Community Shield

Nottinghamshire Knights v Isle of Man Metros

Nottinghamshire Knights earned a deserved win against a lacklustre Isle of Man Metros side with goals from Aimar and Nihat.

Champions League

Third Qualifying Round First Leg

Third Qualifying Round Second Leg

Both Herefordshire Hotshots and Kent Killers both comfortably get through to the group stages although the Killers managed to draw with Hearts at home.

Uefa Cup

Second Qualifying Round First Leg

Second Qualifying Round Second Leg

Hampshire Harriers comfortably beat Young Boys 4-0, winning both of their legs by a good margin of 2-0. That gives them their path into the first round in which they will join the other few EPL teams.

European Super Cup

Isle of Man Metros v Zenit

The Metros got an early lead and never looked like they were going to lose it. They dominated possession and Zenit only managed mainly off target shots. Isle of Man Metros have brought home the EPL's first piece of European silverware.

Great updates, nice to see the Goons doing well so far. Hopefully we are able to keep that up. Trezeguet topping the charts, here's to him keeping it up all season.

KUTGW

Brilliant opening month from the Cannon's!!

As we showed at stages last time, we certainly have the quality to match it with the very best, It's just a matter of consistency. And with Cristiano Ronaldo not firing as yet, we could be a real surprise if we maintain the good start and Cristiano weaves his magic.

KUTGW Robert!!

Better season =P

Destroyers still unbeaten. But 3 draws, no win so far :S And taken to ET by Barnsley

Let's push on up the table

KUTGW Robert

Not the best start to the league season, but we have only played twice because of the Super Cup which we won

****, already out of the league cup We won this competition last time around iirc.

kutgw rob

FFS what a shambles, I don't even know where to begin. Nothing to say, it's dire. Only the top 6 have scored more than us however so hopefully we can scramble together some clean sheets and work our way up the league.

Good update though Robert, looking for more from my team next time though!

We won the Community Shield!

Although, our league performance has been a bit rubbish so far. Winless in the first three games. Something needs to change.

6th in the league and through to the next stage of Champions League Qualifying. Cant complain! KUTGW mate!

going on holiday to France tomorrow morning, back next Friday. Will hopefully have some updates ready to post when I'm back.

Have a good time in France mate

Have a good holiday mate

i'll try an design some badges if people like

come on HAMPSHIRE!!!! I was born there and my Mum's side have lived there for years

i got villa's badge 4 hampshire lol

Thanks, but I don't want Villa's badge.

(I have a fan. None of you have fans. I am awesome. My Dad is bigger than yours. Woo)

no i meany without the badges

sorry but we don't really need badges, thanks.

ok no worries

is this a network game for the lucky twenty?

Thanks, but I don't want Villa's badge.

(I have a fan. None of you have fans. I am awesome. My Dad is bigger than yours. Woo)

My Dad is gay. My Dad would shag your dad.

is this a network game for the lucky twenty?

No, it isn't. Robert runs the signup in his computer.

Robert, I reckon you've mentioned this before, but I keep forgetting. Is there a stage during the season where we can make a change to our tactics? Or can we only do that come trade time???

I don't think you can change tactics. We didn't do it last time although I'll look into it. Got updates ready for when I get back to Liverpool later.

Alrighty mate, If it's too much trouble, don't worry about it, It was just a thought!!!

I'm sure it isn't difficult, just I don't know what to do. Did we decide that the first January transfer window was too early for trades?

Yeah we did, it was only going to be allowed at the end of the season.

September

English Premier League

Saturday 13th of September

Sunday 14th of September

Saturday 20th of September

Sunday 21st of September

Saturday 27th of September

Sunday 28th of September

EPL Table

EPL Team Stats

EPL Player Stats

At the end of September the table is starting to take shape. Gloucestershire Goons, Cornwall Cannons, Sussex Wanderers and Somerset Sunbathers are the leaders after six matches. With the next 5 teams all on 10 points. Suprisingly Surrey Savagers and Isle of Man Metros are down at the bottom of the table although the Metros have a game in hand against bottom placed Cheshire Cobras.

Manager of the Month

Player of the Month

Young Player of the Month

League Cup

Third Round

There were no big shocks in the third round with EPL teams only getting knocked out against other EPL teams. However, it was not expective that Cheshire Cobras would beat Worcestershire Wonders so convicingly. Surrey Savagers got the biggest win of the round with a huge 7-2 win against Scunthorpe.

Champions League

Tuesday 16th of September

Wednesday 17th of September

Wednesday 30th of September

Groups A-D

Groups E-H

Not a lot can be read from just one or two games in the group stages, but Isle of Man Metros and Herefordshire Hotshots have won their games, with Kent Killers getting four points and Devon Demons getting a draw in their only game.

Uefa Cup

First Round First Leg

All three EPL teams got wins in their first leg of their cup tie. As well as getting clean sheets, they should all progress.

Bottom again \o/ Still in the CC :shock:

fantastic update Robert, Essex doing alright, hopefully they'll be top soon

10th, cant complain! Through to the next round of the League Cup, doing well in the CL too. KUTGW mate!

Why am I so bad this time . Good to see this back

Durham in 13th, not bad but not setting the world alight either. Hopefully we can push on up the table soon

Kutgw Robert, Great Update

Good update Robert, Lancashire out of the League Cup though

Great updates Robert. Quick question: did Yorkshire enter the League Cup? Or are my jetlagged eyes deceiving me? I can't see them in Round 2 or Round 3 ...

Great updates Robert. Quick question: did Yorkshire enter the League Cup? Or are my jetlagged eyes deceiving me? I can't see them in Round 2 or Round 3 ...

Didn't notice but for some reason they were in the first round :confused: Only EPL team in it. They managed to some how lose to Watford 2-1 away anyway