Fantrax and Football

GW5 is in the books and, before a three-week international break, Karl's back from his travels and long-time Discord member Ian joins for his first appearance. A get-to-know-you on the Brighton-supporting American opens things up before the lads dig into the weekend.They run the headlines. A 41-point masterclass in a City goal-fest, Doku back off the bench and the rotation questions his return reopens, and a proper look at whether the summer's big-money winger move to Liverpool is already a bust. Then a new segment for the season: Hold, Trade or Drop, a Fantrax spin on the old snog-marry-avoid, run through a stack of names the Discord has been agonising over, from a stalling Brentford man to a Chelsea defence nobody can trust and a winger or two worth cashing in on now.It closes with the GW6 waiver wire across every position (Gary's now writing the weekly article over at draftacademical.com), and a rundown of the packed international-break slate: early-season awards with Sean summoned to answer for his crimes, the usual Gazettes, and the first-ever Gazette for the podcast league.Join the community through the Discord and r/DraftPL: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA

GW4 is in the books, Gary's back for a second week while Karl's still off travelling, and a sniffling Tim soldiers on through the school-run cold. It's the last regular pod before the international break, with special episodes to come.The lads run the weekend's headlines. The City sending-off that reopened the whole rotation debate, a couple of low-owned defenders emerging as genuinely trustworthy holds, and the honest question of whether a red-hot Bournemouth midfielder is a genuine top-ten asset or a sell-high trap once the goals dry up. Then the mini-mailbag, aimed once again at the one host who'll happily disagree, and closing out with the usual waiver wire and start of the week picks.   Full waiver breakdown and data at draftacademical.com.Join the community through the Discord and r/DraftPL: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA

Gary's finally back on the show, and with Karl off on holiday, three win Ricky B steps in to review Game Week Three, just as his beloved Man United throw one away at Everton.The lads run the weekend's headlines. The rat finally shows up at Liverpool to haunt Ipswich, Tyrique George may have had his breakout game, and there's honest debate over whether a couple of hot starts are real or a mirage worth selling high on. Then the centrepiece: a not-so-mini mailbag aimed squarely at Gary, the one man on the show who'll happily disagree. When exactly do you hit the panic button on a good draft gone cold? What's a fair return in a two-player package deal? And with the City's Maresca Merry-go-round, is any of their attack outside Haaland worth holding? The Discord's questions get proper, occasionally combative answers.It closes with a twist on the usual waiver segment, a quickfire "drop or not" on the highly owned names driving everyone mad, before the pickups worth chasing for GW4 and each host's start of the week. Full waiver breakdown and data at draftacademical.com.Join the community through the Discord and r/DraftPL: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA

A first for the podcast: our debut cross-pod collaboration, with Keefe from Draft Offsides joining Tim and Karl.The lads open with the transfers that have landed since last week, including Barcola to Liverpool, and how much you should spend on him in FAAB leagues. From there it's a full review of GW2, before the three of them get into their over- and under-reactions from the opening fortnight, with an outside voice in the mix to keep everyone honest.It wraps with the GW3 waiver wire across every position and the start of the week picks. Full waiver breakdown and all the data at draftacademical.com.Join the community through the Discord and r/DraftPL: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA⚠️ Quick heads-up: some faint background audio (what sounds like a radio broadcast) bleeds into parts of this episode. It's audio interference from the virtual studio we use to record, not your device — not a rogue tab, and nothing you can fix by skipping ahead. We're chasing down the cause. Apologies, and thanks for bearing with us.

Football's back and Game Week One is in the books, so the lads sit down for the first proper in-season review, with Duncan back on the mic for the weekend wrap. The season format takes shape here: performance reactions, waiver targets, and a start of the week pick to round things off.They run the GW1 talking points. Brighton dismantling a dismal Villa, whether Everton are a right-back away from a top-ten side, Brentford making Spurs look ordinary and the Rolls-Royce debut of the summer's most slept-on signing, plus a sober look at Man United after an opening-weekend shock. Then the first Believe It or Not of the year, where they over- and under-react to week-one showings: a certain nineteen-point winger's debut (and a well-earned victory lap), the two Brighton names everyone's chasing, whether you buy into the promoted-team defenders, and which reactions to keep and which to bin. There's a genuinely useful waiver-wire deep dive across every position, complete with the Luke Shaw Index for deciding who's rosterable and who's wire fodder, and honest debate over the set-piece merchants worth a claim.It closes with each host's start of the week for GW2 and a reminder that it's about how you finish, not how you start. As always, the data comes from draftacademical.com, where the waiver-wire article now lands before the waiver deadline.Join the community through the Discord and the new r/DraftPL subreddit: 👉 https://discord.gg/FAuaGADgEA