Fantrax and Football

Episodi

• 
  Draft Review & Plant Your Flag 2026/27 18.08.2026 1h 17min

  The season is days away and the drafts are done, so the lads sit down to review how their own boards played out and plant their flags for the year ahead. Gary's back in the UK and can't join live, but he's sent voice notes with his draft, his plant-a-flag pick and his fade, which the crew react to in real time.First, a quick word on last-minute moves, including the deadline-day injury that sparked the great Doku bail (and the community's ruthless verdict on it). Then the draft reviews: three leagues, three very different boards, and a running theme that ADP was close to useless this year once the middle rounds hit. The lads work through their own hauls, the picks they'd defend to the death, the ones they already regret, and the wildest decisions their league mates made, up to and including a manager who drafted four goalkeepers.It closes with the return of the Plant Your Flag segment: each host names a player going outside the top fifty they're backing to smash their ADP, and, new for this year, waves a white flag on a top-fifty name they think is badly overpriced. Whoever's fade finishes highest come May has to answer for it. Draft still to come, or want the in-season tools? Everything runs through draftacademical.com and the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Mailbag: Reaches, Avoids and Your Draft-Day Questions 13.08.2026 1h 9min

  The first mailbag of the season lands fresh off the back of twenty club episodes and the best part of twenty hours in the recording chair. Fifteen listener questions, answered raw with no prep, as the lads and the community count down to draft weekend.They dig into the questions that matter before you draft. How to play the turn and whether you sweat positional balance early, the Nico O'Reilly versus Ait-Nouri debate and a genuinely useful tangent on how multipositional eligibility can swing a player's value by ninety points. Then the fun ones: each host's biggest reaches versus ADP and their absolute avoids, the "is Palmer over Saka at three actually insane" question, and everyone's single most underrated, under-drafted name. There's the zero-defenders-early philosophy put under proper scrutiny, the case for taking a forward early to avoid the positional run, and a closing question on how your whole strategy shifts in smaller leagues.Plenty of names get a round attached and a few get a warning, all filtered through the hard-won lesson that draft day is still, in the end, a bit of a vibe. Recorded the week before the season, so good luck to everyone drafting this weekend.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Tottenham Hotspur 13.08.2026 38min

  The Club x Club series takes on the summer's second-biggest spenders, Tottenham, and it's a minefield: a raft of new signings, a pile of injuries and returning players, and a stack of transfer rumours the lads have no answers to yet. Lots of question marks, and a De Zerbi side that could go either way.They work the board. The one defender all three would break their rules for and take in the second round, the returning winger the group is buying on vibes and one-game-a-week appeal despite the ghost-point worries, and the most polarizing name of the episode, a former star with no recent data whose entire value rides on getting fit and staying fit. There's a proper breakdown of the crowded, unsettled centre-back picture and who actually starts, the run on Spurs players the hosts predict and pinpoint to a specific round, and the striker question, a rental-priced option versus an injured higher pick. Plus the left-wing sleeper the lads love if no winger arrives, and a couple of late fliers.It closes honestly: more questions than answers, one elite asset, one high-upside gamble, and one potential steal if the stars align. Recorded on August 12th, so expect the rumours to resolve fast.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Nottingham Forest 13.08.2026 26min

  The Club x Club series turns to Nottingham Forest, and Karl, who volunteered for this one, thinks their assets are about to be badly undervalued. Glasner ball at Forest, with better players than he had at Palace, sets up a wing-back-and-defender goldmine that the lads reckon most drafters will sleep on.They map it out. Where the first-round midfielder lands and the live debate over whether a deeper role dents his value, the wing-back the group would happily reach for and rates as the best of the rest at the back, and a run of centre-backs going almost undrafted that could all return value under a sit-deep, whip-it-in system. There's the Palace blueprint applied throughout, you want the defenders and the number tens, not the strikers, plus the eternal "who starts up front" question that all three would rather just avoid. Deep sleepers get their moment too: the World Cup breakout with numbers that don't back the hype, the returning loanees, and a couple of last-round fliers worth a watch-list slot.The takeaway: any Forest defender is value this year, and the smart money is buried late in the draft. Timestamped to August 12th.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Fulham 13.08.2026 23min

  The Club x Club series gets to Fulham, and Tim doesn't hide the sarcasm: this is a squad he fancies for the drop, now run by a rookie manager fresh off a rough Real Madrid stint, having lost their set-piece taker, their striker and more. Not a lot to work with, but the lads go hunting for value anyway.They run the handful of names actually being drafted. The unproven Real Madrid striker who could be a Michu-level bargain or a total bust, and exactly when you'd gamble on him. The former Mr Reliable creator whose position under the new boss is a genuine mystery, the two "first-name" wingers going late that split the room, and the returning full-back the group rates highly on his best form but can't trust to hold down a starting spot. Plus the late-round dart throws worth a punt only if the price is basically free, and a running theme of Tim's about why the real value at these rounds sits with defenders, not Fulham's forwards.It closes on a blunt hot take: the new manager is gone by Christmas and Fulham join two of the promoted sides on the way down. Everything's timestamped to August 10th.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Sunderland 13.08.2026 31min

  The Club x Club series reaches Sunderland, and with three Newcastle fans on the mic, Sean draws the short straw of researching the enemy. Last season's surprise package are back in the top flight and into Europe, and the big question hanging over the whole episode is whether a squad that punched miles above its weight can do it again with two games a week.The lads work through the assets that matter. The number ten the group would happily take if he keeps that role, weighed against the Europe risk and the same cluster of names that comes up every episode. Then the defenders that won people cup ties last season: Tim's beloved ghost-point machine, the more consistent alternative going a round or two later, and the deep-cut third option that carries the least risk of all. There's a genuine disagreement over the goal-dependent striker everyone will want to draft, a would-you-rather run on an aging set-piece midfielder, and the returning full-back the hosts can't quite decide on.It closes, as these Newcastle-heavy episodes tend to, with a full-blown rant about why you should never draft a big-club goalkeeper, plus the first proper plug for the newly launched Draft Academical portal and the save-percentage data behind the argument. Everything's timestamped to August 10th.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Newcastle United 12.08.2026 35min

  With Gary safely absent, the podcast becomes a fully biased Newcastle fans' cast, and resident Geordie Karl leads the way through a summer of upheaval and, somehow, renewed optimism. Eddie Howe gone, a young high-press manager in, Tonali, Gordon, Trippier and Bruno all out the door, and a raft of young signings in. Fast, direct, heavy-metal football that the lads think could reshape a lot of Fantrax values.They dig into the assets that matter. The back four the group rates as the strongest part of the squad, headlined by a centre-back the hosts are convinced is one of the outright steals of the draft given where he finished last year versus where you can get him now, and a full three-way comparison of the players around him. There's the returning striker Tim stakes a bold twenty-goal prediction on, the pacey wide men who could feast in a get-in-behind system, and the rental-for-five-weeks winger who might lose his spot after the first international break. Plus a genuinely under-the-radar multipositional sleeper Karl didn't even want to name on air, and the usual reminder about not drafting a goalkeeper.It closes where every Newcastle episode should: wildly optimistic, faintly deluded, and already counting down to game week one. As always, everything's timestamped to August 3rd.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Manchester United 12.08.2026 35min

  The Club x Club series takes on Manchester United, with Sean leading a squad he calls the most confusing to line up of any team he's researched. A first full season under Carrick, a settled roster on paper, and yet almost no certainty about who plays where once you get past the top three names.The lads work through it. Where the world's-best-when-he's-on midfielder goes at the very top of the board, the two ghost-heavy wingers whose entire value hinges on whether they actually start, and a proper "would you rather" that lands one of them as one of the most undervalued players in the draft. There's a clever handcuff idea borrowed from the City episode, pairing a risky starter with his positional understudy so you're covered every week, and a real disagreement over an old-favourite centre-back the group can't decide is a bargain or a hard pass. Plus the late-round defender Sean thinks might be the single best value on the whole team, and a run of do-not-drafts built around a hard rule: proceed with extreme caution on strikers carrying an injury into the season.The honest through-line: the upside here is enormous, but take one risky pick, not all of them. As always, everything's timestamped to August 3rd.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Bournemouth 12.08.2026 32min

  The Club x Club series answers a flood of Discord requests and gets to Bournemouth, a side with another Iraola-style presser in Marco Rose picking up where the old boss left off. A quiet squad rebuild, a key injury in midfield, and European football all factor into how the lads value a team that keeps producing Fantrax bargains.The central debate is price versus value on the shiny new attacker everyone fell for last season, and whether his ghost numbers justify a second-round pick or whether the uncertainty makes him a stay-away. From there it's Tim's all-time favourite Fantrax player and set-piece merchant the group calls a steal a round or two below his ADP, the goal-dependent number ten whose starts and ceiling both worry them, and the serviceable-but-uninspiring late-round striker options. The real gold, as ever, is at the back: two near-identical budget defenders going almost back-to-back, one of whom the hosts think belongs in the elite tier and would break their punt-defenders-late rule to grab. Plus the deep sleepers and last-round fliers worth a punt before your league mates spot them.Everything's timestamped to August 10th.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Leeds United 11.08.2026 29min

  The Club x Club series turns to Leeds, and the framing question is simple: is Harry Wilson a must-draft or not? Tim says yes, Sean says no, and that split runs through the whole episode. A quiet window, a settled Farke setup, and a set-piece picture that could make or break a couple of valuations give the lads plenty to chew on.They dig into the disagreements. Whether the free-transfer creator is worth his rising ADP or riding a run that won't repeat, the set-piece merchant the group thinks is badly overpriced at his current cost, and the managed-minutes striker who might be a real discount in single-position leagues. Then the part Tim gets most animated about: a cluster of late-round Leeds defenders with ghost numbers that mirror players going a hundred picks earlier, the kind of waiver-wire gold that won people cup ties last season. Plus the in-and-out winger who's a nightmare to hold but worth having when he starts, and the annual reminder about not drafting a goalkeeper.The takeaway: be cautious up top, because the real Leeds value is buried deep in the draft. Everything's timestamped to August 6th.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Liverpool 11.08.2026 32min

  The Club x Club series heads to Anfield, with Karl on research duty for a Liverpool side he genuinely thinks could be special under Iraola. A first season without Salah, Robertson and a raft of old leaders, a busy-but-unfinished window, and the intensity of Iraola-ball across two games a week set up a squad the lads are excited about but wary of.They map the board. The three back-end-first-round names and the debate over which carries the least risk, a set-piece-enabled midfielder with a hidden multipositional edge, and a striker the group would take over some very big names purely on guaranteed minutes. There's a proper "would you rather" on two of the most consistent defenders in Fantrax history in different shirts, and a real disagreement over a returning-manager reclamation project the hosts can't agree is back to his best or a trap. Plus the pacey full-back sleeper coming at a steep discount, the perennially-owned midfielder Karl thinks should go undrafted, and the injured striker worth stashing on your IR if you fancy playing the long game.It closes on the eternal question every Liverpool episode must ask: is this finally the year for a certain winger's breakout? As always, everything's timestamped to August 3rd.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Manchester City 11.08.2026 41min

  The Club x Club series takes on the puzzle of Manchester City under Maresca, with resident Doku expert Sean leading the way. A new manager who may rotate less than Pep, a huge set-piece vacancy left by Bernardo Silva's exit, and a formation nobody can quite pin down make this a squad full of upside and question marks in equal measure.The lads work through it. Where the first-round names land and why one high-ceiling winger's minutes risk is the whole story, the Cherki-versus-Foden battle for the ten and the handcuff stack that solves it, and a genuinely useful thread on chasing available minutes over raw talent after a season that went sideways. There's a full airing of the Elliot Anderson question, is he a third-round buy or someone else's problem, and Tim's belief-based case for taking him anyway. Plus the defenders they'd happily pass on at their price, the loanee-shaped Grealish and Savinho uncertainty hanging over the whole thing, and the striker nobody wants to hold on their bench all season.It closes where City always does this year: lots of risk, lots of reward, and almost nothing you can be sure of until the first few game weeks. As always, everything's timestamped to August 3rd.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Hull 10.08.2026 21min

  The Club x Club series reaches Hull City, and the hosts don't sugarcoat it: this is a promoted side most people have tipped for the drop, and researching them, in Karl's words, was a genuinely depressing exercise. Lots of Premier League names on paper, a defence-first setup under a manager who'll sit deep and try to make every game a boring one, but very little that translates to Fantrax points.The lads land on the honest short list. There's a right winger the group rates as the one genuinely draftable attacking asset, backed by some eye-catching underlying percentiles, and a returning striker whose ADP looks wildly inflated by single-position leagues. That striker sparks a proper "would you rather" run through the names going around him, and a debate over whether he's a reach, a panic pick, or simply undraftable in a multipositional format. Plus the veteran full-backs and centre-backs with Premier League history who don't need a draft pick at all, just a spot on your watch list.The takeaway is blunt and the hosts have fun with it: outside of two names, spend no draft capital here, keep an eye on the waiver wire, and enjoy a nostalgic wander down Hull's memory lane of legends past. As always, everything's timestamped to August 3rd.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Everton 10.08.2026 31min

  The Club x Club series takes on Everton, with Sean, a self-described reformed James Garner hater, leading the research. A quiet window dominated by outgoings, one huge unresolved question over a marquee loanee's future, and a midfield picture that shifts with every rumour make this a trickier squad to read than it looks.The lads start with the one name they all agree on: the model of consistency the group thinks is still underrated even at his rising ADP, and the season-long stack Tim expects to become the most popular in the draft. From there it's the harder calls. A third-round talent with very real exit links that push him onto no-draft lists, the set-piece merchant Sean finally admits he got wrong, and a head-to-head between two near-identical midfielders, one settled, one at a new club, that the whole panel lands the same way. Plus a Championship arrival with tasty ghost numbers if he wins a starting berth, the take-your-pick striker question nobody's excited about, and the injury-prone young defender the hosts would happily pair with their consistency pick as trade bait.It's a full airing of Tim's punt-defenders-late gospel, and it closes on a heartfelt public service announcement about a certain goalkeeper. As always, everything's timestamped to August 3rd.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Ipswich 07.08.2026 20min

  The Club x Club series reaches Ipswich, the third promoted side, with Sean on research duty. A summer of heavy business at Portman Road, but only a handful of names matter for Fantrax, and the honest verdict is that nothing here screams "draft me, I'll win you a title."The lads land on two clear draftables and where they actually sit. There's a returning left-back the group thinks is badly undervalued at his current ADP, stuck in what Tim calls "Keeperland" on the board, plus a full breakdown of who you'd take him over on a defender run and how early you can afford to reach. Then a relegated-team winger whose ghost-point numbers might just travel, weighed against the risky-pick tier around him: injured ghosts, minutes gambles, and the striker Tim is convinced no longer exists.From there it's the deeper sleepers worth a watch-list slot: a centre-back with big Championship ghost numbers if he wins a starting berth, a left-sided attacker in a real fight for minutes, and the once-hyped winger whose write-up was built for a manager who's no longer at the club. As always, everything's timestamped to August 3rd.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Crystal Palace 07.08.2026 26min

  The Club x Club series turns to Crystal Palace, a recent Fantrax favourite now going through real upheaval. Glasner's gone, replaced by Pierre Sage off the back of one overachieving season at Lens, and Karl (who did the research) walks a squad that has the whole group nervous. New manager, new pressing style, Europa League football, and key names linked with the exit door.The lads dig into what the uncertainty does to draft value. Whether the number-one defender off the board is badly overvalued given his age, the transfer rumours, and where he actually finished last season. There's Tim's punt-defenders-late thesis in full flow, with a late-round sleeper the group thinks gets you nearly the same production as names going ten rounds earlier. Plus the crowded, unsettled forward line and how pressing might reshape who starts up top, a Discord-favourite midfielder who keeps promising a breakout that never comes, and a wide man whose Watford ghost-point glory days may be behind him.The honest through-line: outside of two or three names, there's very little Palace value this year, and even the hosts aren't sure how the new man sets them up. As always, everything's timestamped to August 3rd.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Coventry 06.08.2026 25min

  The Club x Club series heads to Coventry City, a promoted side with Frankie Lampard back in the Premier League and a brutal opening run. Tim leads the deep dive, and the honest verdict up front sets the tone: there's no must-draft on this team. Everything here is a late-round flier or a waiver-wire watch, judged through one lens: Coventry will do a lot of defending this year.The lads work the angles that a struggling promoted side actually offers. Which of their defenders is the best value once you accept they'll be camped in their own half, and the classic centre-back-who-ghosts-well versus flashy-attacking-full-back debate that follows. There's the annual "hot promoted goalkeeper" conversation and Tim's full philosophy on why you never predict clean sheets or draft a keeper at all. And a genuinely useful segment on set-piece merchants as trade bait: spotting the next surprise waiver breakout before your league mates, and flipping him at peak hype.Plus the risky striker going higher than his record justifies, a couple of creative midfielders worth a watch-list slot, and the case for punting defenders late while everyone else spends big. As always, everything's timestamped to August 3rd.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Aston Villa 06.08.2026 20min

  The Club x Club series rolls on to Aston Villa, with Karl leading the deep dive. Last year's famous slow starters who ended up top five again, Villa head into the season handcuffed by PSR: Rogers and Tielemans sold, Emiliano Buendía's future uncertain, and one of their best defenders being circled by half the big six.Karl runs his top five Villa assets. Where Watkins really lands in single-position versus multipositional, and whether you take him or pivot to a set defender at that point in the draft. Then the new arrivals: a World Cup breakout everyone's excited about who might not be the player his tournament suggested, a Wolves signing tipped as a solid late-round starter, and a wide man the group can't agree on. There's a proper back-and-forth over whether that winger is a steal at his rock-bottom ADP or a bench risk in Emery's system, and it produces a bold-prediction clip Sean immediately calls for the cold open.Plus the case for punting defenders late and walking out with a nailed-on attacking full-back, the least sexy but most dependable ninth-round midfielder in the league, and a tenth-round flier worth a first-few-weeks punt. As always, everything's timestamped to August 3rd.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Brentford 05.08.2026 20min

  The Club x Club series lands on Brentford, with Sean leading the deep dive. A settled second year under Keith Andrews, no European football to worry about, and one big question hanging over the whole squad: how far do you trust Igor Thiago after last season?Sean walks the board. Which of Brentford's attacking assets he'd actually reach for versus the ones he'd let come to him, why one former breakout darling now splits the room, and the set-piece situation that could send a midfielder soaring if a rumoured sale goes through. On defence, there's a genuinely useful thread on picking the safe, nailed-on starter over the higher-ceiling name whose minutes aren't guaranteed, plus a wider "who would you rather" on the run of defenders all going in the same round.Then the deeper cuts: a new midfielder arriving on big money with strong numbers from the French league that may not translate, a former sleeper pick who might not start, and a couple of clear do-not-drafts. Thiago's valuation caused real disagreement between the three, and rather than rehash it here, they point you to the rounds 1-5 episode where it played out. As always, everything's timestamped to August 3rd.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA
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  Club x Club: Chelsea 05.08.2026 27min

  The Club x Club series takes on the biggest puzzle of the preseason: Chelsea. Karl leads the deep dive into a squad that seems to sign a new player every four days, with Sean along to help untangle who actually starts, what formation Xabi Alonso lands on, and which of the endless options are worth your draft capital.The lads work through the whole thing. Where the big three go now that one of them has officially cracked the first round, why one high-profile midfielder is a hard fade at his likely price regardless of his talent, and how a back three reshapes the value of Chelsea's defenders. There's a genuinely useful thread on a centre-back who lost his sleeper discount overnight after a transfer, and where he fits if he's your first defender off the board. Then the sleepers and the traps: a high, wide full-back tipped as a popular pick, the loanees returning into the squad, a locked-in-but-limited late-round starter, and two attackers the group agrees are undraftable at their current cost but a steal a few rounds later.It closes on the question everyone's circling: at pick four, with the big three gone, are you taking Cole Palmer? As always, everything's timestamped to August 3rd.Join the community and the listener leagues through the Discord: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA