Player Watchlist 2015-2016

Mr.Prodston

A new season means a new Player Watchlist. Here are just a few players who may be new, slightly left-field or coming in under the radar. Over the coming weeks and months we’ll have plenty new additions and players who’ll become viable options. Last year's thread can be found here. For now here are a number of players I’ve found:

Goalkeepers:

Wayne Hennessey (4.0)/Boaz Myhill (4.5) - West Brom
There’s a potential switch to WBA for Hennessey and with Foster out injured there is a great opportunity to play Pulisball for a bargain price. We’ll have to wait and see for now though.

Jack Butland (4.5) – Stoke
Begovic seems to be off, probably to Chelsea. Whilst Shay Given is in talks with the Potters Butland represents good value especially for those who choose to operate a rotation policy.

John Ruddy (4.5) – Norwich
A hero of these boards is back, whilst he’s only 2nd in cult status of Norwich cleansheet grabbers he’s a good keeper who could be making many saves in heroic performances at Carrow Road

Hugo Lloris (5.0) – Spurs
Tottenham weren’t worth investment defensively last season but at 5 he becomes an option. Also with De Gea involved in a merry dance he could yet be heading to Man Utd.


Defenders:

Mickey Turner (4.0) – Norwich
The legend is back, and very well priced. However he wasn’t in manager Alex Neil’s plans last season with Bassong finding favour alongside Martin. A man can dream, and he will have his day.

Matt Targett (4.0) Southampton
The heir to Mickey’s throne. MT 2.0. With Bertrand currently injured he may see early game time and with the Europa League in play this season he could see gametime at other junctions too. Liam Moore could again be an option at Leicester depending on whoever comes in for 4.0 as is Steven Taylor. This all feels very familiar so far :pac:

Micah Richards (4.5)/ Leandro Bacuna (5.0) – Aston Villa
Richards is well known for injuries but he becomes an option for the first time in years. Bacuna has been reclassified as a defender and worth noting for that alone even at 0.5 more.

Simon Francis/ Tyrone Mings (4.5) – Bournemouth
Both fullbacks, both attack minded. Mings will get the consensus vote for his transfer pricetag but Francis could be the greater threat going forward down the right. Paredes of Watford could be an attacking RB for Watford too. This could be the season of the cheap fullback potentially, based on this analysis anyway…ahem.

Joel Ward (4.5) Crystal Palace
Over priced in an underperforming defence last year the utility man could see a lot more interest this year.

DeAndre Yedlin (4.5) - Spurs, for now
Only probably an option if he gets a loan to another club, the young American impressed in last year’s world cup. Lightning quick and could be a hero.

Adam Matthews (4.5) – Sunderland
Another fullback. 0.5 less than the captaincy option of PVA. Sunderland are always defensive options, successfully or not. If he nails down a spot ahead of Billy Jones he could be golden.

Christian Fuchs (5.0) – Leicester
Hahahaha he has a funny name. Your rival may not be laughing when this Austrian legend interchanges down the left with Schlupperman (5.0) or strikes a thunderbast@rd from 40 yards. Leicester are an unknown quantity until we see who replaces Pearson

Cedric Soares (5.0) – Southampton
Replacing Clyne is no simple task but Cedric could see a lot of love this season if they can pull a Southampton after losing a number of players. Europa League is a concern for the Saints.

Antonio Valencia (5.5) – Man Utd
Stop laughing. At time of writing Matteo Darmian seems set to become the new RB at Old Trafford. Valencia could still see game time further upfield with added clean sheet potential. Worth a mention and who doesn’t love an out of position player eh?

Midfielders:

Ikechi Anya (4.5) – Watford
A popular option amongst Scottish and probably Irish players as somebody we’ll associate with the Scottish national team. Pacy and an early contender for 4.5 mids of which seem slim on the ground at this early stage.

Andy King (4.5) – Leicester
I included him last year too. With such few options he could find his way into the Foxes midfield. The sooner a manager arrives the better. Jordon Mutch at Palace is 4.5 too but Cabaye could put an end to our hopes here, an open many other doors.

Josh King (5.0) – Bournemouth
Signed from Blackburn over the summer I’m sure Lemlin could tell us more about the Man Utd youth player but he’s more of a wide-forward and could be an OOP option.

Johnny Howson (5.0) – Norwich
Another Norwich player for ye now. Redmond and Johnson at 5.5 may be a little too much but Howson is good for a goal and at 5.0 may be the smarter option early doors with each 0.5 vital.

Emmanuel Giaccherini (5.5) – Sunderland
Paully D may Advocaat us on Sunderland. 2 goals against Darlington inspire his inclusion here and reminded me that he existed. Perhaps all he needed was some Dick to coax the best out of him.

Simon De Jong/Remy Cabella (6.5) – Newcastle
A new season, a new manager. De Jong will probably be injured before August but both these chaps deserve a mention. I wouldn’t dare to predict what Newcastle will do though

Yannick Bolasie (6.5) – Crystal Palace
He may have found a bit more consistency towards the end of the season. Potentially up front with assists from Punchy, Zaha and perhaps Cabaye if he signs. A big season for Palace.

Andre Ayew (7.0) – Swansea
Siggy for 0.5 more is the logical option but the Ghanaian has a bit of pizzazz. Eder and Gomis up front would be a worry. Although Gomis’ second season may be more fruitful.

Samir Nasri (7.0) – Man City
At that price he must be mentioned. Depends on what City do of course but a nice price

Memphis Depay/ Angel Di Maria (8.5) – Man Utd
Depay comes with set piece expertise and top scorer in the Dutch league, Afonso Alves says hello I’m sure you’ll say. 2 in last years world cup too. Many may prefer to see how he settles in though. ADM may not even be around but he can only improve and at 8.5 is much more reasonably priced than last season.

Forwards:

Odion Ighalo (5.0)/ Troy Deeney (5.5) – Watford
Deeney will get all the attention but Ighalo scored 20 goals last year too. Vydra is at 5.0 too. Another new manager may have his own ideas so we’ll see.

Callum Wilson (5.5) – Bournemouth
Another contender for promising Championship forward to hot up the Premier League. Perhaps more Ings to Deeney’s Austin but that would be a fantastic return in itself.

Bojan (5.5) – Stoke
Oh Bojangoals. The anticipation was immense last year but it took him a while to settle. As soon as he looked ready to take off he got injured. If Shaquiri arrives then himself and Bojan could turn Tuesday nights into a sunny evening in Barcelona.

Juanmi (6.0)/ Jay Rodriguez (7.0) – Southampton
J-Rod returns after a lengthy layoff and could be a popular pick, but it’ll be interesting to see what Koeman will do with him. Juanmi is a highly rated Spaniard but wiki tells me he only got 8 goals in 34 for Malaga. Pelle and Mane will be looking for goals too.

Diafra Sakho (6.5) – West Ham
A big season and a chance to see if his early goal scoring exploits were more than a hot spell. See Harry Kane for later half of the season who at 9.5 will put off many, for now.

Romelu Lukaku (8.0) – Everton
Another forward with a big season ahead. Everton should benefit without being in Europe but a testing early run will see little investment. Seemingly taken spot-kicks from Baines too though. Perhaps he can blow more hot that cold this time around. At 8.0 he could be worth the punt.

_______________________________________________________

Clearly far from exhaustive, but I’m certainly exhausted after all that. I declare this season’s Player Watchlist officially open

Go forth, find players and report back

Backstreet Moyes

Henderson 7.0
Scored 162 last season and this season should be on all penalties and frees.

Herrera 7.0
Scored 98 despite barely playing the first half of the season.

Nasri 7.0
If City don't get in some big signings he should be a regular starter.

Mirallas 7.0
Everton should be much better next season with no European football. Mirallas besides last season was a high scorer probably best watched for the first few weeks.

Benteke 8.5
It's very possible he could end up at Liverpool if not Villa play attacking football

King 5.0
I remember him at United he looked the real deal until an injury setback. He has bags of pace and is an inside forward.

Bolasie 6.5
If he continues last season's form he will be a bargain

Chadli 7.0
Scored 160 last season despite not being a regular. I am puzzled why he is not a starter he is very dangerous going forward. If he is starting he is worth bringing in.

Gamboa 4.0
I remember reading last season he was a highly rated attacking fullback looking at his score i don't know if he was injured or didn't play.

Downing 6.0
Had a great season last season and Bilic will play much more attacking than Alladrcyce

Sakho 6.5
Same reason as Downing

FHFC

Reece Burke, West Ham (4.0)
Highly rated 18 year old centre half who had a run of three first team PL games at the end of last season due to injury. Also played in the Europa games this season. According to the article below also played right back and may have a shot at getting into the team there. David Gold has said on Twitter that the emergence or Burke and Reece Oxford may mean they won't be in the market for another centre back. Certainly by no means the answer to the search for the elusive 4.0 playing defender but certainly one to keep and eye on over preseason. Probably one injury away from a run in the team.

http://theironscircle.com/2015/07/03/why-reece-burke-should-be-future-captain/

manual_man

Jerome(5.0 fwd) and Redmond (5.5 mid) both finished strongly for Norwich last season

Swiper the fox

Brilliant post again Mr P. Last year your corresponding post was my first port of call when I picked my first team.


I had a disastrous start last year:pac:;)

Mr.Prodston

manual_man wrote: »

Jerome(5.0 fwd) and Redmond (5.5 mid) both finished strongly for Norwich last season

Norwich seem to be on the lookout for a forward. Seemed all set to sign Juaquin Larrivey from Celta Vigo who got 11 goals last year but the deal went cold over the weekend. Not sure Jerome would have the appeal of a Wilson or Deeney but he did get a hatty yesterday in a 7-0 win over some non league team.

Redmond is 0.5 too much I think for a 5th mid and much better options for 4th mids or 3rd forwards unless he really hits form. Think we'll see more goals than under Hughton 2 years ago though.

Not sure if Mulumbu will anchor alongside Tettey or replace him or how Neil will set the midfield up. Vadis is back fit too so a bit of competition depending on what they do with Johnson and Howson. Johnson certainly is 0.5 too much though even with Georgie Boyd like returns that I'd expect.

Although I'm not quite so in love with Norwich as I was if Mickey doesn't get his chance

manual_man

Don't count out Turner just yet. And there's always John Ruddy -- minus a certain Uruguayan that loved scoring hattricks against him during his time with Liverpool :pac::pac: -- not currently looking down the cheap mid avenue myself, just because i'm not overly-inspired by the forward options and am lumping most of my budget into midfield big-hitters

CSF

FHFC wrote: »

Reece Burke, West Ham (4.0)
Highly rated 18 year old centre half who had a run of three first team PL games at the end of last season due to injury. Also played in the Europa games this season. According to the article below also played right back and may have a shot at getting into the team there. David Gold has said on Twitter that the emergence or Burke and Reece Oxford may mean they won't be in the market for another centre back. Certainly by no means the answer to the search for the elusive 4.0 playing defender but certainly one to keep and eye on over preseason. Probably one injury away from a run in the team.

http://theironscircle.com/2015/07/03/why-reece-burke-should-be-future-captain/

The Ogbonna signing probably hurts things.

FHFC

CSF wrote: »

The Ogbonna signing probably hurts things.

Ha, yes I just remembered they signed him shortly after Gold said they probably wouldn't sign anyone! Ah well, 2 injuries then.

Chesty08

Falcao - 7.5million

Goal machine. Mourinho loves proving doubters wrong (especially Man U). Can see him been given sufficient game time and with Chelsea's midfield he will get plenty of chances.

FHFC

Chesty08 wrote: »

Falcao - 7.5million

Goal machine. Mourinho loves proving doubters wrong (especially Man U). Can see him been given sufficient game time and with Chelsea's midfield he will get plenty of chances.

It's some price, I was amazed when I saw it and if he gets ðecent gametime he could be the bargain of the year. But. He'd have to show a big improvement in form over last season and the Copa. But as you say, if anyone can, Jose can.

AdpRo

I was looking at him as well and thinking he would get way more chances with Hazard / Fab creating rather than what he had at Utd last season. If he starts in pre-season and shows some form he could be a great option.

Shedite27

Chesty08 wrote: »

Falcao - 7.5million

Goal machine. Mourinho loves proving doubters wrong (especially Man U). Can see him been given sufficient game time and with Chelsea's midfield he will get plenty of chances.

Are you expecting him to start over Costa? Or one of the 3 AM's?

He'll be a European and Cups player IMO

GLaDOS

Outside of the occasional game when Costa is rested/suspended Falcao won't get much game time unless Diego picks up an injury.

Also, he looks to have lost all semblance of form, may not even be ahead of Remy.

manual_man

Chesty08 wrote: »

Falcao - 7.5million

Goal machine. Mourinho loves proving doubters wrong (especially Man U). Can see him been given sufficient game time and with Chelsea's midfield he will get plenty of chances.

Costa will be ahead of him. Costa will probably also be banned at some stage, at which time enter Falcao

T-b0n3

Mr.Prodston wrote: »

Defenders:


DeAndre Yedlin (4.5) - Spurs, for now
Only probably an option if he gets a loan to another club, the young American impressed in last year’s world cup. Lightning quick and could be a hero.

I wanted to add that Yedlin has been playing on the Right Wing for the US national team. He even got 2 assists in a recent 4 nil win over Guatemala: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2514367-timmy-chandler-deandre-yedlin-leave-usmnt-wanting-more-on-right-wing

This may or may not be something that Poch sees as an option. So not someone to have in your GW1 team, but something to keep an eye on for sure.

The Wild Bunch

Brad Johnson @ 5.5 is a steal

I'd expect him to get close to 10 goals from midfield next season

mectavba

Wijnaldum at 7.0m....if he can reproduce his form from Holland, could be a great addition.

Chesty08

The Wild Bunch wrote: »

Brad Johnson @ 5.5 is a steal

I'd expect him to get close to 10 goals from midfield next season

good shout. think he will be my Siggy (6mil midfielder) starting off this year

Swiper the fox

mectavba wrote: »

Wijnaldum at 7.0m....if he can reproduce his form from Holland, could be a great addition.

I like the look of him as well but has any player ever recreated their Dutch league form in England, it seems there's a few Dutch superstars every year who flatter to deceive.

Chesty08 wrote: »

good shout. think he will be my Siggy (6mil midfielder) starting off this year

Playing devils advocate here again as I did with Cabaye but Johnson is stepping up a major level here and his team won't score nearly as much goals as they did in the championship. I know very little about him but his stats and team suggest that 5.5m is about right.

mectavba

Van Ginkel at 5.5m at Stoke looks tempting too. But will he start?

Mr.Prodston

My issue with Johnson is whether or not he's your 4th mid or your 5th mid? At 5.5 it's an inbetween kind of price.

I think he'll have George Boyd like returns chipping in with goals every now and then but too expensive for the bench and probably better options from 6.0 upwards.

At 5.0 I'd have him in but he'll also pick up yellows. He could facilitate a better front 3 if you picked him as the 4th mid though for sure and with a kind start there's merit to the argument.

The Wild Bunch

Johnson is lethal in the air and has a bullet left peg

I've watched him develop from Northampton, through to his time at Leeds, loan spell at Brighton and 4 seasons at the Budgies and he's improved and scored more season upon season

I reckon he'll be over 6.0 by Xmas

FHFC

Mr.Prodston wrote: »

My issue with Johnson is whether or not he's your 4th mid or your 5th mid? At 5.5 it's an inbetween kind of price.

I think he'll have George Boyd like returns chipping in with goals every now and then but too expensive for the bench and probably better options from 6.0 upwards.

At 5.0 I'd have him in but he'll also pick up yellows. He could facilitate a better front 3 if you picked him as the 4th mid though for sure and with a kind start there's merit to the argument.

Exactly what I was thinking. To dear for 5th mid, too cheap for 4th mid. Unless you were looking at going with a very top heavy front three and rotating cheap 4th and 5th mid where he would be ideal. But with the number of decent looking 6.5-7.5 mids in much better teams than Norwich thats not how I think I'll be going anyhow.

Mr.Prodston

Elliot Bennett (4.5) Norwich gets his 2nd game at RB in successive games. He's listed as a mid so a negative OOP but another potential starter alongside Anya in such a role. Very early pre-season though. The much discussed Brad Johnson starts at LB so nothing too much to these early games. .

Jerome scores twice in 30 minutes to bring it to 5 in 72 minutes of pre-season so far, just to mention it with all 20 minutes in against Hitchin Town :pac:

Nom De Guerre

Bennetts a good shout

CSF

OOP though?

Paully D

mectavba wrote: »

Van Ginkel at 5.5m at Stoke looks tempting too. But will he start?

He'll play too deep to be an effective FPL option, IMO.

Mr.Prodston

Tony Andreu (4.5) Norwich has been added as a midfielder. Scored a hat-trick the other night and linked up well with Wessi Hoolahan.

Probably never to be mentioned again but at 4.5 and from Norwich I should through it out there at least :pac:

manual_man

Mr.Prodston wrote: »

Tony Andreu (4.5) Norwich has been added as a midfielder. Scored a hat-trick the other night and linked up well with Wessi Hoolahan.

Probably never to be mentioned again but at 4.5 and from Norwich I should through it out there at least :pac:

desperately seeking Norwich cult hero v3

P.S. i am too

manual_man

Joe Gomez playing at LB in Liverpool's friendly this morning (Clyne RB Skrtel+Sakho CB). Best defender on the pitch in the first half