Isle of Wight Football Association: 2013

Tuesday, 31 December 2013

Ben Cameron - "Schweinsteiger is out!"

BREAKING NEWS - Bastian Schweinsteiger has been sold by Benedict Cameron

Ben Cameron, manager of Bayern Munchen for two seasons, has sold one of his star midfielders, Bastian Schweinsteiger, for £55,000,000. This is believed to be a tactical sale to help him buy a new star striker for his side.

When we interviewed Ben Cameron, he said this:

Mr Cameron, selling a star midfielder like Bastian must put loads of money into your Striker fund. Who will you be looking to buy?

I have a couple of strikers in mind, but I'm currently focusing on Luis Suarez and Falcao. It all depends who other teams buy.

Will you be looking to sign more than one player?

Most definitely, even once I've got a star striker, I'll definitely be looking to get a few new faces in.

And do you think you might have to sell another?

Unfortunately that's most likely the case. To buy world class players, you have to sell world class players. So one or two players will have to leave.

And what's your reaction to William Cameron's world record purchase of Lionel Messi?

Personally I think it's a total waste of money. He was a star at Barca, I don't see him being a star at his old rival.

BREAKING NEWS - Messi to Real Madrid

HUGE NEWS - A huge big name signing of Lionel Messi to rival club, Real Madrid, has happened!

William Cameron, manager of FC Barcelona last IOWFA season, decided that his favorite player from last season was Messi. Because of this, he had his heart set on signing him when he eventually moved to Real. This was a huge surprise as Messi has been in Barcelona his entire career and those two clubs have arguably the biggest rivalry in huge football club.

A transfer fee of £825,000,000 has been paid to FC Barcelona and Messi has been given a contract of £1,000,000 a week to convince him to sign. Rumor has it that Wigz will be planning on selling some players to pay for this massive transfer.

Only time will tell if Messi will be a good player for Real Madrid or if his success was purely down to Barcelona's skill.

The Winter Friendlies - A review

Here are the results for the Winter Friendlies on the 27th-28th December.

Ben 0 - 2 Rick
Rick 0 - 0 Peter
Peter 3 - 1 Ben
Will 3 - 2 Fred
Fred 0 - 6 Ben
Rick 1 - 0 Will
Will 0 - 5 Ben

Overachiever: Will
Underachiever: Ben

Analysis:
Almost all goals scored by Peter Hardman were from headers. This is interesting and shows that teams should look to close down the wingers with dangerous crossing ability. Ben really underperformed during these friendlies, losing two of his most important games, although it wasn't all bad. He beat both Fred and Will by huge margins, even managing to score with Manuel Neuer, his keeper, against Fred. Will's 'bit o skill' technique is still going strong although it's clear he needs to practice it on FIFA 14 to be fully ready for next year's tournament. Fred's lack of a strong Goalkeeper definitely was a disadvantage during these friendlies but he's expected to look for a new one during the upcoming transfer window. Rick had a good solid set of friendlies, beating Ben and drawing with Pete. He's expected to get a new midfielder and/or defender during the upcoming transfer window.

Thursday, 26 December 2013

The Winter Friendlies are upon us

On the 27th of December, 2013, the IOWFA Winter Friendlies are happening.

All five managers from last years tournaments will gather in neutral country, Wales, to play some matches. This will be a chance to see Wigz in action with his new Real Madrid side. He is definitely one to watch because his new star signing, Gareth Bale, is from Wales!

We are yet to discover who will be playing who but we know that every manager will play at least once. Let's get to it.

Good luck!

Thursday, 22 August 2013

Exclusive Interview with Peter Hardman - Manager of Chelsea and Vice Chairman of the IOWFA

Let's begin: Today I'm here with Vice-Chairman of the IOWFA and manager of Chelsea FC, Peter Hardman, welcome Peter

y'alright?

Let's cut straight to it. You've announced that you're sticking with Chelsea for the upcoming 2013/2014 season even though you had some offers from some much more prestigious clubs. Were there any clubs which you were particularly tempted by?

I was certainly tempted by Juventus as they have some top class players that could have reclaimed the cup for me.

And what was it that made you stick with Chelsea?

I had to stick with Chelsea for a third season as I feel like the players and i have really gelled and the player-manager relationship is very essential in football and a key to a clubs success.

Is there any player who you feel is the best player in the club and is there any player who you feel that you get along with particularly well on a personal level?

I cannot choose a best player as favoritism is strictly prohibited at Chelsea but although I get along with Frank Lampard, I'm not very sure that he is really part of my  future plans at Chelsea.

Now there's a rumor flying about that Christopher Trimble may be joining the IOWFA, and you've been very complimentary of him. Is there any reason for the massive confidence you have in him?

I am so confident in him as i think the he will be like a surprise package and many teams will be chasing him to  be their manager so he will have the cream of the crop to choose from. Especially since the massively overrated team of Manchester United is unavailable to him, he will have no choice but to choose a good team like FC Barcelona or might even be the first manager to choose an Italian team.

Now, give us an insight into your tactics. You plan to steal first place next season, what formation will you be utilizing to try and claim the title?

Well, I am not going to tell the formation in case of spies from other teams looking at this interview (like Bayern Munchen) but I can confirm that I am planning to make the most of the wingers that we have signed (no names mentioned) and I am going to really improve the defense we so lacked last season.

So this year is the first year of the St Cecilias cup... You have to face Man Utd in the first round. What's your predicted score?

4-2 to Chelsea, an easy win for me and the lads. This year is going to be non stop training for us.

Now who do you think the best player in the tournament is who does not play for Chelsea?

I think that Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben are in a league of their own with the help of a great manager, but  other players like Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona are great players but i dont think that they're skill is helped at all by the manager of Barca.

When asked who he thought was his main competition in the upcoming season, Ben Cameron responded "Peter Hardman with Chelsea." How does this make you feel? Does it make you more relaxed or does it pile on the pressure?

i feel this doesn't really change my feeling as I'm expecting myself to be compared to the greats like Benedict Cameron but at the same time I feel honored

And how do you get on with Mr. Cameron on a personal level?

oh well we're great as workmates, we are also great friends as cousins but we seem to disagree on most things, especially rankings.

Alright, it's about time to wrap up so I'll ask you one more thing. What one sentence do you have to say to your competition before the upcoming tournament?

good luck, you'll need it!

Alright Peter thanks for this and best of luck in the upcoming tournament!

Cheers

Sunday, 18 August 2013

The Ryde Cup becomes the St Cecilia's Cup!

After much debate among the IOWFA board, they have come to a decision. The brand new Ryde Cup is to be renamed the St Cecilia's cup! This is because they felt they needed to honor the true reason they originally came to the Isle of Wight - taking the tournament back to its roots.

The St Cecilia's Cup it is!

Saturday, 17 August 2013

All time world rankings - 2013 update

The All-Time World Rankings are out! These do not affect fixtures, bonuses, predictions or anything! They are just a record of previous wins and losses!

The point scoring system:
IOWFA League victory - 7 Points
League 2nd place - 5 points
League 3rd place - 3 points
League 4th place - 2 points
League 5th place - 1 point
Anything lower - 0 points
St Cecilia's cup victory - 5 points
St Cecilia's cup runner-up - 3 points

The All-Time Standings:
1) Benedict Cameron - 12 points
2) Peter Hardman - 10 points
3) Richard Trimble - 8 points
4) Frederick Hardman - 2 points
5) William Cameron - 1 point

RUMOUR - Christopher Trimble to join the IOWFA?

It is important to recognise that this is just a rumor. It has not been confirmed.

Christopher Trimble, brother of IOWFA Veteran Rick Trimble, is rumored to be joining the IOWFA and participating in future tournaments. If this happens then he will be the first and only married manager in the tournament; would this extra moral support help him or just pile on the pressure?

There is a lot of excitement regarding this man's potential arrival and everybody thinks that he'd go far. Peter Hardman in particular thought that Chris could even snatch 2nd place, beating not only his brother but also last season's undefeated champion, Ben Cameron.

The IOWFA Board have sent him an official invitation to join the league but he has not yet responded.

Sunday, 11 August 2013

Breaking News - Hardman to stick with Chelsea

Peter Hardman has announced that he will be staying with Chelsea FC in the coming 2013/2014 IOWFA Season. He has revealed that new talent such as Andre Schurrle is the main reason for him staying at Chelsea.

Saturday, 3 August 2013

Player Analysis - Lionel Messi

FIFA 13 Stats:

96	Ball Control
85	Crossing
87	Curve
97	Dribbling
95	Finishing
82	Free Kicks
73	Heading
75	Long Passing
88	Long Shots
13	Marking
76	Penalties
89	Short Passing
80	Shot Power
20	Sliding Tackle
21	Standing Tackle
89	Volleys


95	Acceleration
94	Agility
95	Balance
73	Jumping
95	Reactions
92	Sprint Speed
80	Stamina
67	Strength

48	Aggression
92	Positioning
22	Interceptions
90	Vision

2012/2013 Season Stats:

Goals - 4
Assists - 0
Average match rating - 7.2
Team league position - 5th
Awards won - None

Monday, 22 July 2013

Player Analysis - Robin Van Persie

FIFA 13 Stats:

88	Ball Control
83	Crossing
86	Curve
84	Dribbling
91	Finishing
80	Free Kicks
71	Heading
74	Long Passing
87	Long Shots
23	Marking
92	Penalties
85	Short Passing
90	Shot Power
21	Sliding Tackle
32	Standing Tackle
91	Volleys

79	Acceleration
81	Agility
59	Balance
59	Jumping
87	Reactions
78	Sprint Speed
72	Stamina
72	Strength

55	Aggression
89	Positioning
34	Interceptions
82	Vision

2012/2013 Season Stats:

Goals - 12
Assists - 1
Average match rating - 8.7
Team league position - 2nd
Awards won - Top Goalscorer

Player Analysis - Daniel Sturridge

FIFA 13 Stats:
Ball Control - 81
Crossing - 62
Curve - 62
Dribbling - 85
Finishing - 83
Free Kicks - 68
Heading - 74
Long Passing - 63
Long Shots - 72
Marking - 15
Penalties - 67
Short Passing - 75
Shot Power - 79
Standing Tackle - 24
Slide Tackle - 12
Volleys - 76
Acceleration - 89
Agility - 80
Balance - 57
Jumping - 74
Reactions - 78
Sprint Speed - 90
Stamina - 71
Strength - 72
Aggression - 60
Positioning - 81
Interceptions - 22
Vision - 73
Overall - 78

2012/2013 Season Stats
Goals - 10
Assists - 3
Average match rating - 9.0
Team league position - 3rd
Awards won - Attacker of the Season.

The Ryde Cup

The Isle of Wight Football Association has forged a new tournament. It is a knockout tournament where the top 4 players of last season's league battle for the Ryde Cup! The semi-finals will be last season's 1st place vs 4th place and 2nd place vs 3rd place. There will be 2 legs to these semi-finals, one home and one away and there will then be a 3rd place playoff between the losers of the semi finals. After that, the Grand final shall take place and the winner will be declared the Ryde Champion!

Match Schedule
Match 1 - Bayern Munchen vs Manchester City
Match 2 - Manchester Utd vs Chelsea
Match 3 - Manchester City vs Bayern Munchen
Match 4 - Chelsea vs Manchester Utd
3rd place playoff
Grand Final

Player Analysis - Franck Ribery

FIFA 13 Stats:
Ball Control - 92
Crossing - 86
Curve - 88
Dribbling - 94
Finishing - 78
Free Kicks - 85
Heading - 51
Long Passing - 73
Long Shots - 75
Marking - 13
Penalties - 80
Short Passing - 88
Shot Power - 76
Standing Tackle - 25
Slide Tackle - 26
Volleys - 82
Acceleration - 94
Agility - 93
Balance - 92
Jumping - 53
Reactions - 88
Sprint Speed - 92
Stamina - 72
Strength - 65
Aggression - 62
Positioning - 84
Interceptions - 36
Vision - 86
Overall - 90

2012/2013 Season Analysis
Goals - 11
Assists - 5
Average match rating - 9.3
Team league position - 1st
Awards won - Player of the Season, Midfielder of the Season.

Sunday, 21 July 2013

2012/2013 Season Analysis

The 2012/2013 IOWFA League was an exciting one. William Cameron made his managerial debut with none other than the mighty FC Barcelona and actually managed to claim a win against Fred Hardman's Manchester City. It was action packed and in this blog post we plan to analyse this season in depth.

The Managers

Ben Cameron - Ben Cameron managed to take the mighty Bayern Munchen and not only win the league, but not lose a single game. With 6 wins and 2 draws he managed to avoid the 2nd place spot in an action packed 1-0 victory against Peter Hardman's Chelsea in the final game of the league. When given the opportunity to change his team next season, he turned it down and has decided to remain loyal to his Bayern Munchen side which brought him IOWFA league victory.

Attacking Ability - 9/10 Defending Ability - 7/10

Last league position - 1st IOWFA Ranking - 1st

Richard Trimble - More commonly known as 'Rick' by his adoring fans, this manager managed to not only beat the predictions by not coming 4th last season, but managed to beat favorite to win, Peter Hardman and steal 2nd. He was also the only player to never lose to Ben Cameron's mighty Bayern Munchen side, getting 2 draws in 2 games. He has been loyal to Manchester United for as long as anyone can remember and it won't be a surprise to anyone that he's sticking with them next season.

Attacking Ability - 7/10 Defending Ability - 8/10

Last league position - 2nd IOWFA Ranking - 3rd

Peter Hardman - Pedro has changed his team every season so far and it's looking likely that next season won't be any different. Is this necessarily a bad strategy? Who knows? He may not get the advantage of getting to know all his players but a new set of talent cannot be a bad thing. He's currently undecided on next season's team but is getting a lot of interest from French side, AS Monaco. There are rumors of him possibly joining an Italian side but these are not confirmed. Pedro almost won last season's league and could've done with a win in the final match against Ben Cameron's Bayern Munchen but was very disappointed when he lost 1-0. Even so, he's definitely going to be up there next season and is tipped by many to win.

Attacking Ability - 8/10 Defending Ability - 7/10

Last league position - 3rd IOWFA Ranking - 2nd

Fred Hardman - Some say Fred was afraid of the IOWFA league for many years. They say he feared the wrath of his mighty younger brother, Peter. But he's proven the doubters wrong by joining the IOWFA league last year and not only avoiding the last place spot, but by actually stealing a draw against supposedly unstoppable Peter. Some say this was a lucky win, others say it was all skill, only time will tell. Like his brother, he is currently undecided on which club he'll be going to next season but it's rumored there's a lot of interest from Spanish titans Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

Attacking Ability - 5/10 Defending Ability - 9/10

Last league position - 4th IOWFA Ranking - 4th

William Cameron - Will did not have the most magnificent start to his IOWFA career last season. Playing 8 games and losing 7 was not the most impressive first impression, especially as he managed to do it with the statistically best team in the league, FC Barcelona. However, we can take some positives from last years performance. He managed to steal not only a draw, but a win against Fred Hardman's Manchester City side last season which surprised everyone so much he actually won the surprise of the season award. Like Fred Hardman, he's getting a lot of interest from Real Madrid and is even having discussions to stay with Barcelona, but nothing is decided finally yet. We look forward to seeing Will's performance in the coming season.

Attacking Ability - 7/10 Defending Ability - 4/10

Last league position - 5th IOWFA Ranking - 5th

The Players

Robin Van Persie - Manchester United - Striker - Rick Trimble really did manage to get the best out of Van Persie. Not only was he the 5th highest rated player in the league but the was the top goalscorer as well! Big things are expected from the Dutchman next season and we're sure manager Rick Trimble is hoping for even more!

Goals last season - 12 Assists last season - 1 Average match rating - 8.7

Nemanja Vidic - Manchester United - Centre Back - Vidic was the most expensive defender in the fantasy football last season and many would say this was a mistake. There is no doubt that Vidic is a great player, one of the best in the league, but last season his performance was not up to scratch. With an average match rating of 6.5, he barely managed to stay in the first team. Manager Rick Trimble will be disappointed and will be expecting much better things from this player in the coming season.

Goals last season - 0 Assists last season - 0 Average match rating - 6.5

Daniel Sturridge - Chelsea - Striker - I think we all agree that Sturridge was the bargain of the fantasy football. Costing a mere 1.8, he not only was the 3rd highest rated player in the league but scored a whopping 10 goals. He was the highest rated attacker in the league and we can all see why. However, with Peter Hardman leaving Chelsea, it's looking likely that this boy needs to say goodbye to IOWFA league football. We hope to see him again.

Goals last season - 10 Assists last season - 3 Average match rating - 9.0

Cesar Azpillecueta - Chelsea - Centre Back - "We call him Bob, we call him Bob, his name is Azpillecueta, but we call him Bob!" The Chelsea fans blasted this out with all their lungs as this defender managed to score in the 77th minute of Chelsea's 4-2 victory over Manchester United. He truly was a delight to watch this year and although he won't be playing next season, we hope to see him back in the IOWFA league once more at some point in the future.

Goals last season - 1

Assists last season - 2 Average match rating - 7.9

Franck Ribery - Bayern Munchen - Left Midfielder - When asked at the beginning of the season who he thought the player of the season would be, Ben Cameron, manager of Bayern Munchen, answered "Franck Ribery." He was absolutely right. Franck Ribery was painfully close to claiming the top goalscorer award, if it wasn't for Robin Van Persie's amazing performance. The Frenchman was head and shoulders about the other players last season and won the Player of the Season award to prove it. However, due to the large price tag, nobody put him on their fantasy football team! Although we all suspect that'll change next season now that everyone's seen this lad perform.

Goals last season - 11

Assists last season - 5 Average match rating - 9.3

Arjen Robben - Bayern Munchen - Right Midfielder - Arjen Robben is often overlooked by Bayern Munchen supporters because he's outshone by his left wing counterpart, Ribery. However, this season, he proved all the doubters wrong by putting in a string of outstanding performances. He was in a number of people's fantasy football teams this season despite the reasonably large price tag and the people who grabbed him were not disappointed. He was magnificent. He claimed the award for most assists and scored the winning goal in the final match of the league against Chelsea. From now on he is definitely not to be overlooked.

Goals last season - 5 Assists last season - 10 Average match rating - 9.1

Vincent Kompany - Manchester City - Centre Back - Vincent Kompany surprised critics by not only preventing some game changing goals but also being the highest rated defender in the league, despite playing for the 4th place club! This Belgian did not disappoint, putting in a string of outstanding performances, stopping amazing players like Franck Ribery, Eden Hazard and Robin Van Persie adding even more goals to their score sheet. Only time will tell if we'll see him in the IOWFA league in the future, but until then we can always remember this fantastic performance.

Goals last season - 0 Assists last season - 2 Average match rating - 8.4

Joe Hart - Manchester City - Goalkeeper - Being one of the only Englishmen in the league made Joe Hart a first choice Goalkeeper for many of the players of the Fantasy Football. However, the people who got him ended up disappointed. Frankly, he let in an unacceptable amount of goals, even though he had some world class defenders like Vincent Kompany. Perhaps it was just bad luck, but Joe Hart won't look back on last season's performance with joy.

Average match rating - 5.9

Andres Iniesta - FC Barcelona - Left Midfielder - Andres Iniesta is often seen as one of the world's best wingers. However, this season he did not put in the performance the fans have come to expect. He was one of the most expensive players in the Fantasy Football and was not worth a penny of it. He performed disgustingly, not getting a single goal or assist throughout the entire tournament. As a winger, that is pretty shameful. We can only hope that Iniesta will have a more promising performance next season.

Goals last season - 0 Assists last season - 0 Average match rating - 3.4

Lionel Messi - FC Barcelona - Striker - As a team, FC Barcelona put in a frankly terrible performance last season. However, Messi himself surprised. As soon as Will Cameron implemented his genius "Bit o' skill" technique, Messi truly shone. He was the most expensive player in the fantasy football and definately wasn't worth that price but compared to the performances of the rest of his team, he was pretty good. For a cheaper price he would've been a decent Fantasy football player. We hope that if he plays again next season he will only improve upon last seasons painfully average performance.

Goals last season - 4 Assists last season - 0 Average match rating - 7.2

Top 10 Players last season!

Rank - Name - Team - Average Match Rating

Franck Ribery - Bayern Munchen - 9.3
Arjen Robben - Bayern Munchen - 9.1
Daniel Sturridge - Chelsea - 9.0
Bastian Schweinsteiger - Bayern Munchen - 8.9
Robin Van Persie - Manchester United - 8.7
Eden Hazard - Chelsea - 8.6
Vincent Kompany - Manchester City - 8.4
Carrick - Manchester United - 8.3
Lampard - Chelsea - 8.2
Juan Mata - Chelsea - 8.0