Neil Kelly’s The Wet Bandits continue to set the pace in the Champion J-League after a weekend which was strangely dominated by Bolton players.
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Thanks to Stoke’s complete inability to combine dual Europa League and Premier League commitments within days of each other, this week’s dream team features the rare sight of three Bolton players after their 5-0 drubbing of the Potters at the Reebok.
Top scorer for the week was Ivan ‘the usually terrible’ Klasnic with two goals, two assists and three bonus points for a 19 point total, while Chris Eagles (15) and David Wheater (10) also got in the act after a much needed win for the Trotters.
The lesson to take from this is not to suddenly pack your team with Bolton players, but to keep an eye out for Stoke’s opponents the weekend following a Europa League game as Tony Pulis’ men have lost their last three games after their continental exploits on an aggregate score of 12-1.
Away from the Reebok, it was one of the highest scoring weekends for some time with Wolves’ Jamie O’Hara and Aston Villa’s Gabriel Agbonlahor matching Eagles’ 15 point haul, while Arsenal fans will have been heartened by Thomas Vermaelen’s expertly taken goal which helped him to 14 points.
His good mate and our captain’s tip for the week Robin van Persie was on fire once again with 12, a score matched by Edin Dzeko and Aaron Lennon.
Gareth Bale is enjoying his annual temporary goalscoring burst which will no doubt have commentators creaming their pants across the pond; his dubious goal and assist returned 13 points, while honourable mentions must go to Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic (11) and Swansea’s irrepressible ‘keeper Michel Vorm, who produced six saves and a clean sheet at Anfield for ten points.
Champion J-League
The Champion J-League continues to raise the bar high with only one manager in the top five failing to hit 70 points this weekend. Neil Kelly’s The Wet Bandits edged ahead of Alan O’Brien’s The Smurfs at the top with 73 points, while the rest of the top five has a familiar look with Conell Cashell’s Cashmachines, Conor Sheehy’s A Great Bunch’a Lads and Joe Culloty’s Stopfeedingtheyak all within touching distance of the top.
Strangely enough, high scores were also the order of the day in JOE’s in-house league, but as Emmet Purcell will readily testify, this column is no house of praise but a forum where the underperformers get mercilessly crucified.
This week’s target? None other than Sean Nolan, who only last week was baiting the rest of the office about his supposed superiority, only to fall flat on his face this week with a miserable 29 points. The usual punishment of being taken off ‘Woman of the Day’ duty for the next two weeks applies.
Champion J-League Top 5:
1. The Wet Bandits – Neil Kelly: 688 points
2. The Smurfs – Alan O’Brien: 684 points
3. Cashmachines – Conell Cashell: 681 points
4. A Great Bunch’a Lads – Conor Sheehy: 680 points
5. Stopfeedingtheyak – Joe Culloty: 674 points
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