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Nobody predicted Gladbach would win versus Stuttgart and Frankfurt would win at Leipzig. Matchday 17 1) Michael 11 points 2) Tommy 10 points 3) 6666 9 points 4) Bluewolf 8 points 5) Stan 7 points 6) Viva la FCB 5 points 7) CaaC(John) 3 points 7) Coma 3 points 7) nawoo 3 points 10) Rucksackfranzose 2 points Tommy extended his lead. On a sidenote: How comparatively easy this league is to predict- 7 of 10 players got more than 100 points after half the saison, while only 2 of 9 players managed to get over 100 points in the 2.Liga prediction league, the best of which has 109 points, after the same amount of matches. Table after 17 matches 1) @Tommy 138 points 2) @Stan 131 points 3) @Viva la FCB 125 points 4) @Michael 118 points 5) @Coma 113 points 6) @6666 107 points 7) @Bluewolf 105 points 8- @CaaC (John) 96 points 9) Rucksackfranzose 94 points 10) @nawoo 92 points

There's a sensible middle ground though isn't there. It doesn't need to be one or the other. None of us like Newcastle. None of us like the way that they, Chelsea and Man City have improved their standing in the game. I'm not going to defend them anymore than I partially have above. My problem with FFP is that there are 14 clubs in the league who have to earn the right to spend money, and 3 more (Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool) who have a significant advantage over the rest but can't take the piss to the same extent that the last three clubs apparently can. All I want to see is a Premier League where it's actually possible to disrupt the established order by running your club well. Your club are a great example of one that's taken advantage of the actual meritocracy that exists in the rest of the English football pyramid. Multiple promotions and now established in the top flight. But why does it have to stop there? Brentford will never be able to establish themselves anywhere near Man Utd, for instance. I think a Brentford should be able to overtake a Man Utd within a time frame of say 5 years if Brentford continue to manage their affairs well and Man Utd continue to almost sabotage themselves, because it's a sport and it should be a meritocracy. Currently, Man Utd can continue to just spend and spend because of their brand and because of their financial advantages born out of them being well run a couple of decades ago. I'll also hold my hands up and say that if Everton didn't enjoy the same advantages (to an extent) over Luton, Brentford, Bournemouth, etc because of our long term position in the game, that the "big six" enjoy over the "other 14", then we probably wouldn't have avoided relegation over the past two seasons, and we couldn't have had any complaints because the club has been run like an absolute shambles, to prove I'm trying to be impartial here and not just attacking the "big six" because I'm bitter and jealous. I'm not going to sit here and pretend to be an expert but what I'd like to see is a set of financial rules where your permitted level of spending is based less on your overall income and wealth and more on the money you make from your footballing operation (player trading and prize money). That way, if Man Utd and Chelsea spend loads of money on poor players who decrease in value, they actually have to pay the price by not being able to spend even more improving their squad. Meanwhile, a team like Brighton who have made an unbelievable profit on player trading because of good scouting and coaching over several years, can be the ones who eventually start spending £60-80m on players who can allow them to compete for Champions League spots and eventually even titles if they keep doing well. And the current top teams get to stay where they are so long as they manage their affairs at least as well as the clubs below them. In an ideal world we'd just have a flat budget cap across the Premier League and then we'd really see who the best run clubs are and who "deserves" success.

A few more winners this time round, and they all came in Game 90. Game 89's goal was in first half stoppage time but no players close enough. Game 90 had a 30th-minute first goal. Winning picks: 3 points! 2 points 2 points Table after Game 90: @CaaC (John) 2nd exact score of the season means he now joins several others on 11 points, while @6666 extends his lead to 4 points at the top. @Devil-Dick Willie grabs more points and is now joint 2nd on 17 points.

The Blues mention the 'big 6' clubs so they can make it about Liverpool. That's all. Are any of the other 14 backing Everton over their charge? I'd be surprised.

This is nonsense. Don’t you dare include us in this. We get ridiculed but we’ve done everything well in terms of growing the club organically. We built a new stadium at a huge cost to increase revenue and thus increase our spending power. Our growth financially has been over two decades and we are an example for any of the clubs mentioned previously of how to do things properly. Arsenal are the same. We’ve been massively fucked over because of Chelsea initially and then City coming in with their unlimited funds and struggling to compete with our sensible financial and growth model. The state run model should not exist and FFP is doing its job properly not allowing them to instantly buy their way to the top because they have unlimited resources, and from a very dodgy source at that.