Kawan League - Messing Up Your EPL Pleasure

2008/2009 Team Reviews

cantona7 — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:12:35 +0000

A hotly contested auction threw up a few surprises last Friday with managers pitting themselves against each other to recruit the best from the EPL. Some went for strength in defence, spending silly money on proven goalkeepers with a tight defence in front of them. Some threw caution to the wind and opted for an attacking formation, splurging millions on goal-scoring midfielders and strikers. Others just didn’t have a clue. Here’s a roundup of the teams this season.

AMRITSAR FC – Vishaal and Bhanu

Having won the League 3 times, Amritsar FC is usually the team to beat. Despite leading the League for long periods of time last season, a dodgy Manchester City defence all but shot down their title hopes. So this season will be a chance to regain lost glory or so we thought…

*Petr Cech*	CHE	45
*Wilfred Bouma*	AST	2.1
*Richard Dunne*	MC	2.1
*Wes Brown*	MU	2.1
*Dossena*	LIV	2

*Steven Gerrard*	LIV	30
*Laswana Diarra*	POR	2
*Jermaine Jenas*	TOT	2.6

*Andriy Shevchencko*	CHE	5
*Marlon King*	WIG	2
*Carlton Cole*	WH	2

Amritsar has splurged on a solid defence, with Petr Cech and the Chelsea backline sure to tighten things up in defence. But in terms of firepower, they are surely lacking. Stevie G will definitely be there to pop a goal or 10 but Jermaine Jenas and Diarra are hardly goal-scorers in the Stevie G mould. Shevchencko is hardly lighting up the EPL and his recent penalty miss for Chelsea and Scolari’s comments that the Ukrainian will not be in his starting lineup surely mean that Amritsar will be lacking a proven scorer. Marlon King was hardly a threat last season and Carlton Cole struggled to score with West Ham. Amritsar will have a tough time challenging for the title but should frustrate lesser teams by conceding nothing at the back.

PLAYER TO WATCH:

STEVEN GERRARD – 21 goals last season mean that he will be the main attack for Amritsar in this campaign. A rest from Euro 2008 will mean that he will be ready to torment defences this season and that can only be good news for Amritsar FC.

Animal Farm – Alvin Chang

Alvin must be the most knowledgeable managers in the business but somehow has failed to shine in the League all these seasons. A-Team barely escaped finishing in the bottom 3 and lacked strength in depth as they depended on Wayne Rooney and Tuncay for their goals last season. But this season, Alvin has taken his team to another level with a power-packed strike force that is going to leave many managers hanging their heads in despair. Robbie Keane, Carlos Tevez and Andy Johnson lead a formidable strike force that is bound to bang goals all season. But the gamble taken is the purchase of former Blackburn custodian Brad Friedel who has joined Villa. Villa may have reached the UEFA Cup but leaked goals went it counted. Friedel is great shot stopper but will need to build up an understanding with his defence, who lost Mellberg recently. Animal Farm will be hoping to outscore opponents tremendously in pursuit of their first title.

Brad Freidel	AST	9.3
Ashley Cole	CHE	2
Glen Johnson	POR	2
Phil Bardsley	SUN	2
Edman	WIG	2

JS Park	MU	3
Matt Taylor	BOL	2.6
James Milner	NEW	2

Robbie Keane	LIV	22
Carlos Tevez	MU	32
Andy Johnson	EVE	16

PLAYER TO WATCH:

ROBBIE KEANE: A consistent goalscorer wherever he goes, Keane should benefit from Liverpool’s attacking flair and midfield service to rack up the goals for Animal Farm.

SEASON 2008/2009 Starts Here

cantona7 — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 13:37:33 +0000

Last season saw the emergence of Nair’s Rams as title challengers after 5 seasons or so of mediocrity. Their late season flourish saw them finally capture the Holy Grail winning the league in style. They beat off challenges for perennial hot-shots Merseysiders and Amritsar FC by 8 clear points. The team was a balance of strength in defence and offence, with Pepe Reina keeping the goals down while Arsenal’s Spanish maestro Fabregrasc and Blackburn’s Santa Cruz added to the goal tallies. It helped that Reading’s Kitson also found form at the tail end of the season. With that, Prakash Nair also managed to secure the Manager of the Month for May 2008. Congratulations Mr Nair for your unexpected but wholly deserved win. Mr Nair was totally overwhelmed by the club’s achievements and was seen celebrating deliriously and kinkily with the 2 lone members of the Ram’s Supporters Club

FIXTURE 38
POS	Team Name	PLD	W	D	L	SF	SA	SD	PTS
1	NAIR’S RAMS	38	24	2	12	89	56	33	74
2	MERSEYSIDERS	38	20	8	10	82	50	32	68
3	AMRITSAR	38	22	1	15	96	83	13	67
4	BUDAK KAMPUNG	38	20	6	12	80	66	14	66
5	CELTIC WARRIORS	38	19	7	12	85	77	8	64
6	BENITEZ BABES	38	18	6	14	95	68	27	60
7	DUMAS’ DEVILS	38	16	12	10	76	62	14	60
8	NWF	38	17	8	13	58	64	-6	59
9	WARRIORS	38	15	11	12	81	72	9	56
10	TRW	38	14	9	15	69	72	-3	51
11	ROCKERS-X	38	14	8	15	78	71	7	50
12	THE SPHERE	38	13	8	17	88	94	-6	47
13	A-TEAM	38	14	5	19	64	76	-12	47
14	NEWTON HEATH	38	14	5	19	53	74	-21	47
15	TUTUP LOBANG	38	13	7	18	56	62	-6	46
16	ANIMAL FARM	38	13	6	19	68	85	-17	45
17	OLYMPIQUE RON	38	11	10	17	66	76	-10	43
18	BLADE PAKRI MAKKAL	38	13	4	21	62	80	-18	43
19	FAGGOTS	38	11	7	20	48	61	-13	40
20	THANJARVUR TONJOLS	38	11	6	21	60	87	-27	39