Hello lads and lassies,
Sir John offers part two of his EPL most over-rated Fantasy football players. In the first part, we looked at the starting XI. Today the “dishonorable” mentions. The statistics are for EPL matches only and give fantasy salary at the close of last season and the salary for the new 2011-2012 game.

Strikers:
Andy Carroll: (Liverpool) 7 million to close, 7 million to open, 102 points. Still low-priced with 13 goals, but only two goals came in his last 19 weeks. Carroll slowed the Liverpool attack.
Salomon Kalou: (Chelsea) 6.9 million to close, 5.6 to open, 92 points. Ball hog extraordinaire but an acceptable fantasy sub, especially with a big drop in salary.
Marouane Chamakh: (Arsenal) 7.8 million to close, 6.7 to open, 78 points. Complete flop in the second half, zero confidence.
Mario Balotelli: (Manchester City) 9.5 million to close, 7.2 to open, 46 points – Total flake and poison on City’s team. A 2.3 million drop in value. His brain is still worth thrupence.
Asamoah Gyan: (Sunderland) 6.9 million to close, 6 to open, 99 points. Promising and energetic start. A serious tail-off in the later part of the season.

Midfielders:
Joe Cole: (Liverpool) 7.8 million to close, 5.7 to open, 40 points. Joe Cole has gone from over-rated to over-stated and now is the master of anonymity on the pitch. The biggest admirer of Joe Cole is Joe Cole. In truth, he is nearly as bad as it gets with a salary that will be like throwing good money after bad.
Steven Gerrard: (Liverpool) 9.6 million to close, 7.8 to open - 77 points. Stevie was injured most of last season and Liverpool played better without him in the lineup. Stick a fork in him, he may be done. Even with a serious drop in value, not to be taken seriously for Fantasy points.
Aaron Lennon: (Spurs) 7.9 million to open, 6.2 to close, 88 points. The diminutive one is a bundle of energy but not particularly reliable as a potent fantasy midfielder.
Antonio Valencia: (Manchester United) 8.3 million to open, 7.2 to close, 31 points. Injuries were a factor in his poor season; however, even at nearly a million less than last year, that’s a lot of salary for a pitiful point total.
Gareth Barry: (Manchester City) 7 million to close, 5.5 to open, 85 points. There used to be goals in Gareth Barry’s boots and assists in his crosses. Ever since his transfer to Manchester City, Barry is as soft as they come and his Fantasy worth reflects a bad case of the “blahs”.
Andre Arshavin: (Arsenal) 10.2 million to close, 6.6 to open, 127 points. The height-challenged Rooskie is the top point-getter in this discussion and is blessed with great talent. However; he pouts, he is lazy and after a few shining moments when he first arrived at the Emirates, he has lived down to his reputation. A huge drop in value for the rosy-cheeked Russian shows the Fantasy salary managers got this one right.
Luka Modric: (Spurs) 7.8 million to close, 7 to open, 90 points. For all the talk about wooing him to Chelsea, you wonder if Modric will reward fantasy managers any more than he did with Spurs. His lower salary is enticing and with three points now for assists, he may be more productive in servicing his strikers. He is outstanding from the penalty spot but that usually goes to others. The lower salary caused Sir John to almost bump him off this list, but not quite.

Defenders:
Rafael: (Manchester United) 5 million to close, 6.7 to open, 39 points. Easily pushed around and possessing a three-alarm temper. He does not justify the big jump in salary.
Wes Brown: (Sunderland) 5.5 million to close, 5.3 to open, 2 points (Brown was with Manchester United and now is the fantasy of Steve Bruce). Brown’s two points at Man Yoo were two more than a dead man. Yikes!
Ledley King: (Spurs) 5.5 million to close, 4.8 to open, 16 points. Ledley King is king of the M*A*S*H unit.
Vedran Corluka: (Spurs but may be on the move) 5.5 million to close, 5.2 to open, 37 points. The Spurs defender operates at three speeds, slow, slower and slowest.
Younes Kkaboul: (Spurs) 5.5 million to close and open, 29 points. All swagger and little else.
William Gallas: (Spurs) 5.5 million to close, 5.9 to open, 27 points. Gallas is a journeyman at the end of his journey.

Goal Keeper:
Mark Schwartzer: 5 million to close, 6.3 to open, 90 points. The Aussie is no longer a bargain. The Cottagers may be in for a long season and will be short on points.

Good luck as you assemble your fantasy roster.
Until later, I remain,
Yours faithfully,
Sir John