For the Fantasy Football enamored amongst us the New Year brings a late Christmas present…

THE JANUARY WILDCARD!!

To help you decide how to best approach the January Wildcard FantasyYIRMA.com will be running a series of articles looking at different perspectives. You can follow us on twitter for #FPL chat at @FantasyYIRMA

WILDCARD SPECIAL

Play it your way Part 1: LINK

Play it your way Part 2: LINK

Play it your way Part 3: LINK

Next  up we are delighted to feature a guest post from the 2012/13 FPL Runner Up @K3LVIN

Kelvin’s team “Why Always Me?” finished second overall (!!!) in #FPL last season beating out 2.6 million (!!!) players which was an unbelievable performance. Not only that but Kelvin was the winner of the FantasyYIRMA mini-league !

Kelvin had an unbelievable season and is a genuine fan of FPL. Having led the overall game for large parts of the year the league was decided on bonus points following the final gameweek of the season.

Take nothing away from this man – what he displayed last season in terms of judgement and consistency was extremely impressive!

You can find out more about Kelvin’s fantastic 2012/13 season here: Great Read!  Link

Big thanks to Kelvin for his time and contribution to the site with this excellent post.

Make sure and follow Kelvin on twitter if you are not already on @K3lvin

Here are his thoughts on the January WC…

A January wildcard strategy is crucial to maximising its worth, the problem is the way different people should play it will vary. From those leading in their mini-leagues to those chasing and hoping to catch up. How, and more crucially when it should be played will depend on each managers individual circumstances. Here are a few things I’ll be considering when I play mine.

1. Patience

Most managers will play their wildcards early. If your squad is decimated by injury and players who aren’t getting the minutes this is a perfectly good way to use your wildcard. However, if you’re patient, can hold on and see what your competitors are doing, and can wait to see what players come and go in the Premier League, you’ll stand a much better chance of coming out of it with a well balanced team that can make up points or extend a lead in a mini-league.

2. Anticipation

We all know who the keys players are now, and who most people will be transferring in – Hazard, Cabaye, Lallana, Walcott, Suarez. Try and get these players in advance and get onboard the price rises without the use of a wildcard. Don’t forget though, this can work both ways. Players with high ownership who haven’t performed recently or are injured will plummet in price – Mignolet, Terry, Ivanovic, Ramsey, Ozil. Move these players on now, and if you want them back get them in when you play your wildcard.

3. Timing

Play your wildcard as late as possible. Don’t get overly worried by other player’s squads or team values. Identify the key players you want, ‘cover’ essential players where necessary (Suarez for example), and try and spot a few bargains who others will overlook.

Remember at the start of the season when Van Persie was a “must have”? Well whilst everybody is else is loading up on Aguero, Suarez, Rooney, Lukaku and Remy, who’s to say that come the end of January Van Persie isn’t going to be back and firing again… if you wait you’ll find out. Or maybe rumours of Chelsea signing a striker who can score finally come through.

Patience, anticipation and timing are key – the longer you hold your wildcard the stronger it becomes.

A few players returning from injury you may want to monitor who’ll offer a different approach to your wildcard:

Enrique £5.6m, Liverpool

Nastasic £5.1m, Man City

Michu £8.5m, Swansea

Gerrard £8.7m, Liverpool

Van Persie £13.6m, Man Utd