What is your Twitter handle?
@Migtavius
Who do you support?
Crystal Palace
Why do you support them?
They’re my local club. Simple as. My family (at least the ones who liked football) were Palace fans. Grew up in the shadow of the Crystal Palace Transmitter (Google it) in Crystal Palace Park, and the stadium was just a 10-minute walk from my house.
How often do you get to attend matches?
Unfortunately, it’s really dried up in recent years. As I no longer live in London, and have been known to work on weekends, I struggle to get back to see the games. I try to go when back in London, like on Boxing Day, but with being in the Prem, it’s normally sold out. My last game was the last home game against Hull City, when we won 4-0 and relegated them, unfortunately I didn’t get to any last season.
Who is your favourite ever player?
There’s a few I could say; Ian Wright, Andy Johnson, Julian Speroni, Geoff Thomas. But one I always think of when asked is Simon Rodger, a midfielder we bought from Bognor Regis Town in 1990 for £1,000. He went on to play 276 games for us over 12 years, and ok he only got 11 goals in that time, but it was his work rate and leadership that I always admired. I always appreciate an unsung hero.
What win in your lifetime means the most to you?
Can I cheat and say a draw? Thanks. It was on the 2nd May 2010, Palace went to Hillsborough needing just a point to stay in the Championship. At the time Palace were in administration for the second time, and it came to the stage financially, that if we were relegated then the club could end up closing the door and there would no longer be a Crystal Palace. Thankfully, we managed to hold Sheffield Wednesday to a 2-2 draw which actually relegated them, and we went on to be saved in the dying moment by Steve Parish and his mates who currently run the club.
Which goal meant the most?
To be different from the previous answer, as the Darren Ambrose goal to make it 2-1 was vitally important for us, I’ll go for the winner in the 1997 Division 1 Play-Off final. In the last minutes of a game with Sheffield United that was ebbing away to a 0-0 draw, a corner was headed out to David Hopkin on the edge of the United box, who curled a superb effort into the top right corner and give Palace the win. Is it weird that my answers both involved teams from Sheffield? It’s a goal that still gives me goosebumps whenever I hear the commentator exclaim: “HOPKIN. LOOKING TO CURL ONE!!”
Which team would you most like to beat this season?
Well it’s always nice to win the M23 derby with Brighton, but every season I want to beat Manchester United. I have a life-long dislike of United for various reasons. Plus, we haven’t beaten them in the league since 1991, and the only win over them since then, was in the League Cup when Darren Ambrose scored from 35 yards and Glenn Murray bundled the winner over the line in the 98th minute.
Are you happy with your manager?
Very much so. I’ll admit, when I first heard that Roy was getting the job I thought it was a bit uninspired and boring, but I don’t mind being proved wrong as it worked out pretty well. The safe hands of the 70-year old guided us from having a bunch of zeros in our goals and points column, to being within touching distance of the top ten. Plus, he’s a local lad too.
Are you happy with your Board/Chairman?
Reasonably happy. Will forever be gratefully to them for saving the club, although they sometimes drive my patience with making moves during the summer. They tend to go on holiday and then get down to business, which is fine (for them) but means we tend to miss out on primary targets and have to play catch up to our rivals.
Where do you realistically think your club will finish this season?
I think top ten is a definite target. We only missed out on it this season on goal difference from Newcastle, and that’s with pretty much starting the season seven games in. So, with 38 games, why not aim for top half? Maybe we could be this season’s Burnley.
What opposition player do you secretly admire?
If we stick with Brighton, then it would have to be Pascal Groß. He was certainly the Seagulls standout player from last season. His passing range and ability was second to none, and his seven goals showed him to be an able goal scorer too. I think he could have even got more goals for Benteke if he played for us, and there is no higher praise I could give.
Is there a youngster at the club who could become a regular in the side this season?
There certainly is, in fact he pretty much became a first team regular last season. Aaron Wan-Bissaka. He came in at right-back when Joel Ward was injured, and had stellar games against the likes of Spurs, Man United, Chelsea (his first 3 games), and Liverpool. With Ward’s contract up and leaving the club, Aaron has jumped to the head of the line to fill that full-back slot.
Who do you think will be your club’s top FPL points scorer this season?
Well last season it was Milivojević, but in 2018/19 it can only be one man really, Wilfred Zaha. Palace are a completely different animal when he’s playing, and in the mood to embarrass some defenders. He contributes with goals and assists, even if his attacking style, like Salah, is not contusive to bonus points. This past season five other Palace players got more bonus points than Wilf, and he only got 3 more than Benteke, which demonstrates the faults with the BPS.
Can you tell us about your FPL history?
No…only joking. I used to play with my brother and grandad through the newspapers, sitting there choosing from the list of players then posting it off. I never really understood it that much but sometimes I got to pick Palace players which was nice. I can’t remember the exact year in which I started playing on the FPL site but my records on previous email go back to 2012/13, but I have a feeling it is before that. I used to play it by myself (sad I know), not focusing on OR or anything, just loading first 11 then absolute rubbish on bench. Then discovered some of my mates play it so now do mini leagues with them, in which I’ve won on a couple of occasions.
What would be a successful FPL finish for you this season?
One that is followed by a run of green arrows hopefully. I don’t really focus on a number like Top 1% or Top 100k. As long as I finish on a green fuelled high, then I’m usually happy. Obviously, that will probably change after the first few weeks of the season.
What formation do you generally favour for FPL?
Like most it generally ends up as a 3-4-3, but I’ve tended to favour a more defensive style with 4 or even 5 defenders some weeks. With 2 ‘big money-ish’ forwards and most of the money going into the midfield.
What is the biggest lesson you have learned playing FPL?
That I have the capacity to overthink and obsess about something that I really have no control over. And that Harry Maguire is a troll.
When did you use your chips last season and was it successful?
GW12 – Wildcard – 61 points
GW27 – Wildcard – 65 points
GW34 – Triple Captain – 79 points (Vardy – 24 points)
GW37 – Bench Boost – 113 points
GW38 – Free Hit – 63 points
I probably went too late with the first wildcard and too early with second one, but both came at times when I felt I needed to give the team a refresh. Especially the second one, as my interest in the team was waning at the time. I didn’t own Salah at all last season so didn’t triple captain him in that blank gameweek, but I was pleased to see that when I dropped it on Vardy, he actually did something. The Bench Boost was most productive for me and was a good feeling grabbing a 100+ score before the season was over [even if I did captain Eriksen (5) instead of Aubameyang (23)]. The Free Hit was a community thing I done at the end. Put polls up on Twitter for people to vote who got into the team, was reasonably happy with the results.
Anything else we should know about you?
Ummmmm I’m a big history buff. I co-host the FPL Pop In Pod (@FPLJournalBlog) with Nymfria (cheap plug) …… Oh and I like white chocolate and beans on toast. Just not together. That would be wrong.