PlayTheGame

As an update to last weeks post allowing users to advertise private leagues to find like minded individuals and committed managers, please find a list below of all the leagues that have been posted, although some may be full now.

If you want to advertise a league you have set up, all you need to do is let us know who you’d like to join your League, post its name, password, league size and scheduled allocation date and enjoy a season playing with like-minded managers.

See below for a list of the leagues sent through to us:

Matt
1 last place 17/18 all active last year.
ACTIVE MANAGERS league
Password ACTIVE

Graham:
League Name: Allsorts
Password: squirrel

Will:
hiya,.. looking for managers 4 my league `Half time smoke`, the password England2018 ~ looking forward to a new season. PTG BEST ff format around

Jyri:
I'm looking active players for a 15-team league.
League Name: Spion Kop
Password: spionkop

Richard Harbour:
Looking for people in the locality (or not) to join a 20 team league.
League name: South Wales FantasyLeague
Password: cymru

Miles:
Welcome back all! Looking for returning active players and past champs for a new 16-team league. Allocation date is Sunday, August 9th.
League Name: Karma Police
Password: replay

Jules:
League for commited managers, 20 teams, allocation 9/8/09 - league name Play til May - the name says it all. Don't join if you wont last the distance. Password Top4

zumba:
holding a live auction in canary wharf, london area on evening of Friday 7th August. $50 to play - it all comes back out in prizes. have 8 folks signed up but looking to find 2 replacements for a couple who have had to drop out at the last moment.
PTG - If you want to join this league please reply to this post with your email address stating 'I want to join Barry's league' and we'll forward your email onto him.

If you need a little bit of guidance on what's required to get yourself set up to take part in PlayTheGame 2009, click on the image above or take a look at the article below for Charlie Websters short guide on How to PlayTheGame.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article6732491.ece

The fun really starts tomorrow when the first allocations happen in the early hours of the 6th August (UK Time).

If you are a manager in a league with an allocation set for Thursday then you need to make sure that you put the finishing touches to your player list today, i.e. make sure you get Alonso out of your list!

Of course you don't have to add any players to your wish list, but if you don't and other managers in your league do, then you will probably end up with a weaker squad than you would have liked

For league chairmen who have created a league with an offline allocation, the functionality for you to create the teams for each of your league members will also be avaialble from August 6th.

Some points to remember when building your wish list:

Two new players were added to the PlayTheGame player list last night

Frederic Piquionne: French Striker has signed to Portsmouth from Lyons
Fabian Delph: England Under 21 has signed to Aston Villa from Leeds

Three players were added to the PlayTheGame player list last night, all of which have moved on season long loans to their respective clubs.

Scott Sinclair: Midfielder who has moved to Wigan on a season long loan from Chelsea

Jozy Altidore: American striker who has moved to Hull on a season long loan from Villareal

Fernando Guerrero: Ecuadorian Midfielder who has moved to Burnley on a season long loan from Independiente del Valle

If your league player allocation has already taken place then these players will be subject to the usual 48 hour notice period.

For anyone who missed last weeks eight page PlayTheGame supplement, there is a second supplement available in Saturdays Times newspaper with info on How to PlayTheGame, Some extra players to keep your eye on, a summary on how last years Times leagues ended up and an interview with Charlie Webster who is fronting our PTG video content - unmissable content for PTG fanatics.

Goalkeeper is a key position for any Premier League manager and making sure you have good cover should your first choice keeper get injured or have to serve a suspension is critical to keeping the momentum going if you have to change the man between the sticks. As a result we've made sure that we have good coverage of the first and second choice keepers for each of the Premier League clubs in the PTG player list. As of last night, the following keepers have been added to the list:

For anyone still looking to join a privately owned league competing against managers from outside your circle of friends, take a look at the two posts below for details of people who have been looking for managers to join their leagues, although some may now be filled.

http://blog.stats.com/playthegame/2009/08/public_invites_to_private_leag.html

http://blog.stats.com/playthegame/2009/07/invites_to_private_leagues.html

We have added two new videos to the website to help new PTG managers with some extra information on how to PlayTheGame. Take a look at the videos explaining the automated player allocation and how to rank your players and what's required for an offline allocation.

Two new players were added to the PlayTheGame player list on Monday evening

Habib Beye: Joined Aston Villa from relegated Newcastle
Alberto Aquilani: Italian midfielder who has joined Liverpool from AS Roma.

If the player allocation has already taken place in your league, then these two players will be subject to the 48 hour notice period, otherwise the new additions will be found at the bottom of the player list.

Three new players wered added to the PlayTheGame player list on Thursday night. Players will be subject to the 48 hour notice period.

Andy Marshall: Goalkeeper signed to Aston Villa from Coventry
Kamel Ghilas: Algerian forward who has signed for Hull from Celta Vigo
Stephen Hunt: Returns to the Premier League after signing for Hull from Reading

If you were a PlayTheGame manager last season, you'll be glad to hear that the scoring system remains the same so should now be relatively familiar to you. If however you are a new manager or haven't quite got your head round the scoring yet, take a look at Charlie's video on how the scoring works in PTG and also take a look at the short guide below with the answers to some Frequently Asked Questions.

Three new players were added to the PlayTheGame player lists on Friday night. For those in a league yet to be allocated these players can be found at the bottom of the player list. For everyone else, the players are subject to the usual 48 hour notice period.

Two new videos have been published to help managers to understand the PlayTheGame scoring system and some tips on how to set your team. Follow the links below to take a look at each of the videos.

VIDEO: How the PTG scoring works

VIDEO: How to set your PTG team

If you missed the football highlights over the weekend, we have coverage from five of the best Premier League matches from the weekend. These highlights are available until next Sunday. Previews of Tuesday and Wednesays matches will also appear on the link below later.

VIDEO: Premier League goals and highlights

Everton 1-6 Arsenal
Man Utd 1-0 Birmingham
Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool
Blackburn 0-1 Man City
Stoke 2-0 Burnley

Charlie Webster gives you a quick intro to PlayTheGame now that the season has started and the first points are on the board.

Twelve players have been added to the PlayTheGame player list on Monday night after making appearances in the weekend matches. All will be subject to the usual 48 hour notice period

Sam Vokes: Wolves forward
Jody Craddock: Wolves centre back
Marc Wilson: Portsmouth midfielder
Jordan Henderson: Sunderland midfielder
Daniel Ward: Bolton midfielder
Chung-Yong Lee: Bolton midfielder who made his debut coming on as a sub against Sunderland on August 15th
David Hoilett: Blackburn midfielder
Paul Gallagher: Blackburn forward
Marc Albrighton: Midfielder who made his Premier League debut for Aston Villa against Wigan on August 15th
Daniel Sanchez Ayala: Liverpool centre back who made his debut on August 16th
James O'Shea: Signed to Birmingham from Galway United, made his debut against Manchester United on August 16th
Keith Fahey: Birmingham Midfielder

PTG Blog feed - Subscriber to a feed of the PTG blog at the following URL and get the latest posts straight to your browser or feed reader. http://blog.stats.com/playthegame/index.xml

The brains behind The Times daily transfer bulletin is back to take your questions today at 1pm live on Times Online. You can take part by clicking here

Gary Jacob, who is an expert in the workings of the transfer window, will answer your queries from who is moving where to how much for and why there might be a hitch.

With the window closing at the end of August, activity among players, managers and agents is frantic. Late deals will be struck - and Gary will be the first to bring you the news.

The previous three transfer webchats have each received over 20,000 hits, with Gary typing feverishly for an hour trying to get in as many responses as he can. He promises to do the same again so if you want to know who your club is looking at or how it might affect your PlayTheGame team, then log on at 1pm and ask him a question.

PTG Blog feed - Subscriber to a feed of the PTG blog at the following URL and get the latest posts straight to your browser or feed reader. http://blog.stats.com/playthegame/index.xml

Five new players were added to the PTG player list on Wednesday morning, including confirmation of the protracted signing of Nikola Kalinic to Blackburn. All five players were added at around 05:50 BST on 19th August and will be subject to the usual 48 hour notice period.

Nikola Kalinic: Croatian forward who has joined Blackburn from Hadjuk Split
Antonio Carazo Amaya: Spanish centre back who has joined Wigan from Rayo Vallecano
Nemanja Matic: Serbian Midfielder who has joined Chelsea from MFK Košice
Andre Bikey: Has joined Burnley from Reading
Damien Duff: Has joined Fulham from relegated Newcastle

PTG Blog feed - Subscribe to a feed of the PTG blog at the following URL and get the latest posts straight to your browser or feed reader. http://blog.stats.com/playthegame/index.xml

If you are still looking to join a competitive league that is set up as a private league but is publicised on the blog for anyone to join, then let us know if you are looking or if you have a league set up and want others to join.

Nigel is the latest person to contact us looking for a competitive league that lasts until May or he is willing to set one up if others are interested.

If you want to advertise a league you have set up, all you need to do is let us know who you’d like to join your League, post its name, password, league size and scheduled allocation date and enjoy a season playing with like-minded managers.

Two defenders have been added to the PlayTheGame player lists this afternoon and were added at around 15.40 BST on Thursday 20th August. Both players are subject to the usual 48 hour notice period.

Michael Salgado: Real Madrid defender signed for Blackburn
Darren Ward: Wolves defender

PTG Blog feed - Subscribe to a feed of the PTG blog at the following URL and get the latest posts straight to your browser or feed reader. http://blog.stats.com/playthegame/index.xml

Take a look at our Premier League preview videos for all nine matches this weekend and the Monday night match between Liverpool and Villa. Match preview videos are available from early evening every Thursday and in the run up to mid week matches.

VIDEO: Premier League Match previews for August 22/23/24 2009

Saturday August 22, 2009
Arsenal v Portsmouth, 3:00 pm
Birmingham City v Stoke City, 3:00 pm
Hull City v Bolton Wanderers, 3:00 pm
Manchester City v Wolverhampton Wanderers, 3:00 pm
Sunderland v Blackburn Rovers, 3:00 pm
Wigan Athletic FC v Manchester United, 3:00 pm

Sunday August 23, 2009
West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur, 1:30 pm
Burnley v Everton, 3:00 pm
Fulham v Chelsea, 4:00 pm

Monday August 24, 2009
Liverpool v Aston Villa, 8:00 pm

1 player has been added to the PlayTheGame player list on 22 August 2009. The player was added at 04:30am BST and is subject to the usual 48 hour notice period.

Mohamed Diame, Wigan Athletic FC, Central Midfielder

5 players have been added to the PlayTheGame player list on 24 August 2009. The players were added at 9:00pm BST and are subject to the usual 48 hour notice period.

Fran Merida, Arsenal, Central Midfielder
Asmir Begovic, Portsmouth, Goalkeeper
George Elokobi, Wolverhampton, Left Back
Sam Hutchinson, Chelsea, Right Back
Zavon Hines, West Ham United, Forward

Four players have been added to the PlayTheGame player list on the 25th and 26th August 2009. Each days players are listed below and are subject to the usual 48 hour notice period.

Player added on 25/08/2009 at 6:04am BST
Sotirios Kyrgiakos - Liverpool

Players added om 26/08/2009 at 3:53am BST
Sylvio Sylvinho - Manchester City
Jonathan Greening - Fulham
Diniyar Bilyaletdinov - Everton

Did you know that you are able to give your team a bit of personalisation by uploading an image to have as your team badge.

Simply go to the 'My Account' tab and choose 'Team Settings' where you can browse your computer for an image to upload as your team badge.

On this page you can even change the name of your team if you feel you current title isn't truly reflecting your current performance or the make up of your squad.

Under the 'My Account' tab you can also update your registration details, email preferences and game password.

Tommy Smith, the former Watford forward/midfielder has signed to Portsmouth on Thursday and has therefore been added to the PlayTheGame player lists. The player was added at 4:10am BST on the 28th August and will be subject to the usual 48 hour notice period.

Take a look at our Premier League preview videos for all ten matches this weekend. We also have a special weekend preview from Charlie...

VIDEO: Premier League Match previews for August 29/30 2009
VIDEO: Charlie Webster previews the weekends matches

Saturday August 29, 2009
Chelsea v Burnley, 12:45 pm
Blackburn Rovers v West Ham United, 3:00 pm
Bolton Wanderers v Liverpool, 3:00 pm
Tottenham Hotspur v Birmingham City, 3:00 pm
Wolves v Hull City, 3:00 pm
Stoke City v Sunderland, 3:00 pm
Manchester United v Arsenal, 5:15 pm

Sunday August 30, 2009
Portsmouth v Manchester City, 1:30 pm
Everton v Wigan Athletic FC, 3:00 pm
Aston Villa v Fulham, 4:00 pm

Three players have been added to the PlayTheGame player list on 29th August 2009. The players were added at 05:20 BST and are subject to the usual 48 hour notice period.

Alessandro Diamanti - West Ham
Tuncay Sanli - Stoke City
Robert Huth - Stoke City