FPL launch 2015/16 – New Rules and Player Pricelist
Finally, after weeks of waiting excitedly like a child on Christmas Eve, FPL has been launched for the 2015/16 season. With GW1 still the best part of a month away, there will be countless hours of tinkering ahead as managers try and ensure they get off to the best possible start in their pursuit of global domination. The price list will be carefully scrutinised to find this season’s Harry Kane, while many a club’s pre-season tours and friendlies will be monitored to see who is showing impressive form and which of the new transfers appears to be settling in the best. All of this is of course normal July and August behaviour for us frustrated FPL managers, especially those who didn’t get involved in Fantasy MLS and the U21’s Euro Championships and certainly for those that despise the cricket!
FPL have however given us some other innovative changes to get our heads around as we contemplate the season ahead – and it’s these changes which we will concentrate on first before we then take a quick glance at the first reaction to the price list.
Rumours were rife days before launch date that FPL were tinkering with the game and they haven’t disappointed. There are four new elements to the game, all of which we need to understand fully to maximise our FPL performance this season.
CHANGES
[clear]Wildcards
Managers will have two Wildcards to use during the season – however, Wildcard 1 can only be used in the first half of the season (before 28 December 14.00hrs). The second Wildcard can only be used in the second half of the season. If you fail to use your Wildcard in the first half of the season, you will lose it. The January Wildcard has been scrapped and does not exist anymore.
Chips
A new feature of the game is the “Chips” that FPL has introduced. There are three different kind of chips:
All Out Attack
Bench Boost
Triple Captain
All Out Attack
Allows you to play a 2-5-3 formation in the next gameweek.
Bench Boost
Points scored by your bench players in the nominated gameweek are included in your total score.
Triple Captain
Your nominated captain’s points are trebled. In the event of your captain not playing, your vice captain’s points will be trebled. If neither your captain or vice-captain feature then you will not benefit from playing your “Triple Captain” chip that week and it will not be reallocated to your team.
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The All Out Attack, Bench Boost and Triple Captain chips can each be used once a season and are played when saving your team on the “My Team” page. They can be cancelled at any time before the gameweek deadline.
However, please note that only one chip (including your wildcard) can be played in a single gameweek. For example – it would NOT be possible to play your wildcard in a big DGW and also utilise the Triple Captain chip.
What effect will these “chips” have on our selection?
Initially not a lot, unless you are planning to play one of the chips early on. However, we would advise caution and patience – as we know, early season can be very unpredicatable where it is not uncommon for promoted teams to gain surprise results, new transfers are still settling in and players who have represented their countries in summer tournaments will often be eased back into action slowly.
The Triple Captain feature seems the simplest chip to plan for – and the likelihood is that one will use it when one of your star names (Aguero, Hazard, Costa, Alexis etc) are either playing at home to a supposed weakened side or there is a DGW, which will likely only happen in the second half of the season.
Bench Boost will obviously require us to have a fully playing squad – the initial thoughts of this are that managers may avoid choosing two keepers from the same team (Foster, Myhill – West Brom etc) and will want to make sure that their fifth midfielder is likely to have a chance of contributing something more than a 2pt return (Gareth Barry fans be warned!).
The Gareth Barry example from above also applies to All Out Attack – managers will want five attacking midfielders and therefore it is recommended not to rush to use this feature to ensure that your fifth midfielder for that week (who is likely to be a cheapie), is not only a guaranteed starter, but that his attacking stats are good, as indeed are his fixture that week.
So those are the new features and at first glance they seem exciting innovations to keep us on our toes and will require us to concentrate our planning further.
Gone are the days of a simple RMT. It will now be, “Please RMT and I’ve activated my All Out Attack”!!
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Players Price List – initial reaction
Unsurprisingly, last season’s budget FPL gold, Harry Kane has shed his “cheap as chips” price tag and opens the season with a price of 9.5mln. So who is this season’s bargain basement striker? If you fancy a punt on newly promoted Watford or Bournemouth, then Troy Deeney and Callum Wilson start the bidding at 5.5mln. Among those priced at 6mln are Leicester’s Loenardo Ulloa & Jamie Vardy as is Liverpool’s new striker Divock Origi. If they don’t excite you then among the crowd at 6.5mln are Saido Berahino (WBA) and Daifra Sakho under the tutorship of Bilic at West Ham, who started the Europa League campaign with a brace. Bafetimbi Gomis of Swansea is priced at 7mln as is the fit again Jay Rodriguez at Southampton. If you’re still not enthused and if you can stretch to 7.5mln you have such names as Danny Ings at Liverpool and Falcao at Chelsea (what a bargain if Jose gets him firing).
New player prices – some of the new players to the Premiership or those who have changed teams that may interest you:
Petr Cech (Arsenal) – 5.5mln
Micah Richards (Villa) – 4.5mln
Gerard Deulofeu (Everton) – 6.5mln
Nathaniel Clyne (Liverpool) – 5.5mln
Firmino (Liverpool) – 8.5mln
James Milner (Liverpool) – 7.0mln
Memphis Depay (Man Utd) – 8.5mln
Maarten Stekelenburg (Southampton) – 5.0mln
Andre Ayew (Swansea) – 7.0mln
Dimitri Payet (West Ham) – 7.5mln
And some selected old favourites:
Sergio Aguero – 13mln
Diego Costa – 11mln
Olivier Giroud – 9mln
Eden Hazard – 11.5mln
Cesc Fabregas – 9mln
Alexis Sanchez – 11mln
Theo Walcott – 9mln
David Silva – 10mln
Yaya Toure – 8.5mln
Angel Di Maria – 8.5mln
Wayne Rooney – 10.5mln
You will all have your own views and may spot the glaring bargain that I have missed. So please share your thoughts below on both the new changes to the game (the chips) and also your thoughts on the prices and maybe you’ve even begun to draft your initial squad.
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Hi everyone.
So happy to have my only hobby back ha.
I’ve missed it as much as I’m sure most of u have.
No arse kissing but thanks again to the regulars for wetting the appetite and starting the articles early.
Is anyone else finding it really difficult to find a preliminary team they’re happy with after the team they finished last season with?
Going to try and contribute more to the site this season. And as usual I’ll happily take ur advice which usually helps me win my mini league. THANKS
Also just for other ppls point of view on this site. Do u know much of Wijnaldum and what are ur thoughts with NUFC signing him?
Welcome back Milburn. All I know on Wijnaldum is that he’s a name I recognise and that’s probably from some international tournament and the fee suggests he’s got good potential. Wiki saying 286 appearances, 81 goals and 34 assists for his career stats which all looks promising for an attacking midfielder.
Hopefully he can adjust to the prem quickly and improve on the embarrassment of last season.
You got high expectations this year? What’s your thoughts on the new “triple captain points” and “bench boost”?
Hi all,
Thanks for the early articles and especially for the heads-up on the rule changes!
Below is my first (ok, thirteenth…) draft. I’m rather happy with it, which may not be a good sign…
Note: Wiiliams, Huth and Ramsey are mostly placeholders for their price-bracket, the rest are more ‘serious’ choices.
Cheers and fire at will
Los Machos
Think your strikers have left your midfield a bit light in my opinion. I’d also drop Janmaat, did you see Newcastle At the end of last season? I think having a United defender is also risky (I’m a United supporter) as the back 4 is so uncertain! My back 4 would be Darmien/Rojo/Jones/Shaw.
I think that’s a solid 1st draft. Yes uv compromised another top mid but uv got probably the best 2 strikers next season. Janmaat got keen assists ladt season. Id keep him as long as nufc sign a decent CB
I’m not sure on the Cabaye pick yet for Palace coverage, he’ll play deeper in the CM role ala Ledley and Mcarthur who only combined for 4 goals and two assists last season, I think the main beneficiaries from his signing will be Punch/Bolasie/Zaha, two of which are both cheaper than Cabaye.
Jim, Milburn, Andy,
Thanks for the feedback!
My thoughts:
– Agree that Newcastle definitely need another CB, otherwise Janmaat will be fighting the odds to get any CS. But I’m quite excited about McLaren and Wiijnalda (sp?)
– Cris Smalling seems well regarded by LVG, so I’d hope for him to start plenty of games. However, if DDG stays and Otamendi/Ramos join, U might opt for Cech>DDG and Smalling>Kosc
– Finally, I think Cabaye will be gold at Palace… all those huge guys to aim at at set pieces, I’drooling already!
The return of The Eastbound Travelling Hippo is upon us, return from studies and work in midland Ireland to the frustration and joy of FPL!
Some great articles up already and the rotation analysis was there to be used before my first draft, fantastic really!
Any pointers for me so far?
Speroni, Butland
Colocinni, Mertes, Azpi, O Shea and Cresswell
Cazorla, Ritchie, Redmond, Eriksen and Hazard
Aguero, Deeney and Sakho
Distinct lack of Walters :hippo: Welcome back TETH
Walters killed me, my sneering and doubt around him just came back to bite haha
Thank you init! Hope to be a little bit more active on FF247 this year, Leaving Certificate(equivalent of GCSEs I think) out of the way so now I only have that college malarkey to deal with!
That was a proper #facepalm moment and one of the highlights of last season for me but certainly not at your expense it was just one of those quirks you couldn’t have scripted. I was chuckling to myself when he scored the first. I was in hysterics / shock when the whole thing unfolded and he got a bloody hatty!
Good to see you back and yes hopefully see you around more if time allows.
One of my highlights as well being honest haha, or the hype I gave Abel Hernandez, he gets one in his first game for Hull then slowly descends into the Championship haha!
Hopefully, then I can remove my title of the most inactive member… although it rolls off the tongue quite nicely!
where u from Teth?
Mountmellick, County Laois, yourself?
I’m sure we’ll have a detailed article on it but early tinkering wise I would like to point out that United has CL playoff after GW2 and GW3, and they can’t be rated as easy games cause they will be against one of the below mentioned teams. I’d expect Louis to play their best XI on this playoff rather than on GW 2 and 3 which suggest caution when getting utd players early stages. Any thoughts?
The same could go for Saints and WestHam (who will likely play 2nd leg of EL qualification on the 6th August, two days before BPL kickoff!) though I’m not sure they will prioritize EL over BPL.
Possible United opposition for CL playoff:
Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)
SS Lazio (ITA)
FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
AFC Ajax (NED)
PFC CSKA Moskva (RUS)
Club Brugge KV (BEL)
AS Monaco FC (FRA)
BSC Young Boys (SUI)
AC Sparta Praha (CZE)
Fenerbahçe SK (TUR)
Panathinaikos FC (GRE)
SK Rapid Wien (AUT)
The English are finally waking up to the Euro 2 games a week threat so Man Utd will play on the Friday of GW 2 giving them 4 or 5 days till their CL fixture, they’d probably like to avoid Shaktar and Sporting from that list but even if the worst should happen you’d still fancy them.
As for the Saints and West Ham I guess it depends on the strength of the opposition, the Hammers didn’t use any first team regulars in the first qualifying round I think.
Definitely favourites I’d say Andy but being mid-to-strong opposition on an early stage of the season where nobody is yet firing in all cylinders I won’t be surprised if for example Depay, Mata, Rooney don’t play all 4 games in 15 days. If anything maybe they are early subs or come off the bench? Assuming they would be first XI material of course…
Wasn’t aware of that Friday anticipation which obviously eases it up!
Yeah early season form can be hit and miss, I’m not clued in to Man U’s pre season schedule yet but if they’re travelling half way round the world again I’m sure it makes it that little bit harder to find the fitness needed to jump straight back in to two games a week, especially given that leagues like the Swiss and Austria start their league campaigns even earlier now which I think gives them a slight edge for the early qualifying games, I’m sure that young boys bern ran Spurs mighty close a couple of seasons back.
Precisely Andy
But I need to correct my initial post. United can’t play against Shaktar or Ajax. If these two make it to the playoffs they will then be in the 5 seeded teams pot (where Utd is of course). If they don’t make it, than that means Utd can’t play Sporting or Lazio which would then be seeded.
Andy
United should thank West Midlands Police for the pre-Champions League break.
The game is Friday at their insistence due to police staffing issues. If there weren’t, it would still be on the Saturday.
Oh is that why it’s on a Friday, I thought that maybe they were using it as a trial run for next year, testing viewer figures and such.
Andy
Its a goer from next season but this match is unrelated to that.
Cracking start to that weekend’s football though
Thanks DMC, rest assured it’s been noted and will be touched upon in ‘Fixtures’ if deemed relevant (as in if they feature, not got that far yet!). First impressions are that Man Utd need to qualify and will take those seriously but not sure that’ll effect any PL line-ups as that’s just as important to LVG. No way can they afford to drop early points. I’d expect full teams for both games regardless. The Europa guys won’t be as fussed and their oppo will be inferior for sure so they will be able to afford a scratch team and still qualify easily enough.
Cheers init, yeah I figured it had been noted! You guys don’t let anything pass!
I guess the trick here is actually guessing LVG favourite first XI.
I was thinking that maybe wait for GW1 to monitor the likes of Depay, Maria, where Rooney plays, the defence, etc., but then maybe not get anyone right away for GW2 or 3 because of the risk the CL playoff may represent for the assessment coming from GW1.
I do think LVG can’t afford not qualifying for CL so I reckon there will be important players missing at least the GW3 saturday early kick off at home to Newcastle fixture.
This of course also depending on the CL opposition, if they play at home or away and the result from the 1st leg.
No mate, I meant it had been noted from what you just said, first time I’d heard of this, so thanks! I really should but I don’t pay much attention to anything in pre-season in all honesty! Still in holiday mode and just waking up now. Slowly. Very, very, very slowly!
Ah I see Well glad to help.
Right i am starting a new classic league this season for regular posters on the site, there will also be a cup competition aswell. So, can you e-mail me please giving your regular site name, your real name and the name of your fantasy football team, so when people ask me who someone is i can tell them, cheers.
E-mail address is :- Elleffcee@fantasyfootball247.co.uk
For those who have already e-mailed me, the code has been sent back to you. Cheers.
This is becoming like watching ITV with a regular ad break 😉
On more than the DFS sofa ads 😉
Evening
That’s me caught up on today’s news. Each day there seems to be at least two or three new signings to the premier league. Very exciting transfer window this one.
Can’t see Schweinsteiger making my final cut though. Think Depay has much more appeal so he’ll do me.
I personally think Memphis is so incredibly over hyped, hes the Raheem Sterling of the Eredvisie, a prospect but not a world beater.
Mr C. Eriksen or Sir Santi are more reliable than he is in my opinion.
Hi Hippo, hope you’re well.
Depay is off the back of a good season in Netherlands and looked good to me in the world cup and in some of the recent qualifiers for the Euro when I’ve seen him.
Maybe not the finished article but I think plenty will take the chance.
Been a supporter and owner of both Eriksen and Santi in the past.
Same to you pal, long time no chat or debate as it often ends up haha!
I just think its quite modest of FPL is to place an 8.5 price tag to some distinguished 160 pointers and give the same to Memphis, can see more value in others and to be honest I dont regard any of the United players worth their price tag, except maybe Herrera I suppose!
Hippo
Its healthy to hear differing opinions otherwise why bother being here?
I see where you are coming from though that there are proven points scorers at that price. I think we all have to take chances with new players though from time to time.
Not to mention 160 pts Downing at 6.0!
Youre right there GP! I just think 8.5 is too much to risk from the off, for a player who realistically hasnt proven anything on the world stage.
My own risks lie in 3 promoted players, Deeney, Ritchie and Redmond, on the odds that at least one of them has to hit form, not to mention the Watford Bournemouth rotation!
Ive been thinking that Mané for 8m is a better deal then Depay for 8.5…
DMC;
Im going for Sakho and Cresswell myself, cant believe Sakho is still 6.5! I suppose the injuries didnt do him any harm afterwards haha! Downing would be a slight overkill for me
I see you TETH Shako could be a bargain. On that 6.5 bracket i also fancy Berahino, Diouf and Cisse! In fact two of those with Aguero makes a good front line i’d say.
DMC- I went for Deeney for a million less, the difference between Eriksen and Chadli I thought! I reckon two of the three promoted club will have some decent scorers, a deja vu effect mirroring that of Ings and Austin last season hopefully! So far I reckon Ritchie and Deeney, I have Redmond aswell but hes only a filler
Evening GP, take it you made it to Burton in one piece and that everyone is now soundly asleep! Again. Lovely afternoon meeting your delightful clan. Enjoy the rest of your holiday. I got to the bottom of that ‘secret whisper’ by the way. It was slightly racist in its most innocent form!…..
Yeah mate I’m on my phone as Emmie is still going. Fortunately in bed now though with the iPad so just waiting for get to drop off. Other two have been soundo since nine!
Likewise, great to meet your team too.
I can imagine it was along the lines of “why is that man speaking to me in a very fast broken English ?” 😉
Pretty much mate!
“Daddy, I can’t answer him because I can’t understand him” ! To be fair he’s never come across a Scottish dialect before. Very sweet.
:smiling:
Very clever boy and very cute that he brought his trophy along. Should be proud of them both.
Thanks for a great afternoon. We loved it.
I didn’t understand a word of that sorry, can you say it in English? :hippo:
:winktongue: