I think it's important to note that MOT will benefit about the second most in the league from this rule interpretation. MOT will be able to get a 5/40 winger out of it, as we can afford the captain change cost and are fairly likely to get a bunch of captain's bonuses due to our high squad level. I am not raising these concerns out of jealousy or regret, as I will benefit more than most anyone.

And this is coming up now and not months ago because now is the first time anyone specified that this +10 boost would not count towards PU.

I am raising my concerns because it's easily abusable. If this is the method, I will keep GKs at max PU until age 5, and then build towards a 5/41 or 5/42 GK in the second half of the season. The best people without an age 5 GK will have is around a 3/34. That's a pretty huge top end boost that will warp cups and leagues, in my opinion. And that boost will only be available to the already successful teams that can get 10 captains bonuses quickly. 

It's a huge "the rich get richer" where the benefit goes only to already successful teams. If we think division 1 consistency is hard to break into now, wait until the d1 top teams all have 5/40+ super captains

+10 with no PU seems to break the precedent of the PotS getting +1/+2/+3 but those counting against PU. I believe part of the reason those PU restrictions were put into place was to prevent pushing towards super players. With this change it should be pretty reasonable to turn an auction purchase into a 5/41 by the end of season, which seems rather silly.

Why would we want players getting +20 in one season?

A bit confused by what has happened with the following:

D) Senior Citizen: add 10 SL to a single age5+ player up to usual maximum PU of 10.

Seems to make it clear that the players getting +10 would also move up to 10 PU and not stay on 0 PU

I wonder if it's slightly scaled improperly. For the OTF fanatics, who start every season with OTF of 7, it is too big of a chunk, as 700k for 3 OTF makes much less financial sense. For OTF skeptics, who are at OTF of 1, they may view the benefit of 5 OTF for that price as still not worth it.

I wonder if making it 3 OTF for 400/350/300 or similar might get more bites. I'd consider playing half a season at 7 OTF and then topping up to 10 at midseason if it meant having more CP for players and getting those 3 OTF for a couple hundred cheaper than usual. Though, this would be only on seasons where I don't get any OTF bonus from prediction league.

Just food for thought. But, I expect that the senior citizen may also need to cost increase for next season if we want more managers chosing the other offerings.

I used to aggregate those stats for a few seasons, previously. Think this is likely the most even split of groups that I've seen. Thanks for pulling those, Paul

You can face one of your group members before the final, but only in the semifinal:

http://www.vanillaconsulting.biz/seslwiki/index.php?title=SESL_Rules#Knockout_Stages_2

1st in a group can face 3rd in their group in the semifinals. 2nd in the group can face 4th in the group in the semifinals. Otherwise, you would only face the other teams in your group in the final.

Certainly being drawn together is the best way to avoid someone in the knockouts!

If only I knew the right tactics to beat DEE, though

I'll be honest, John, I'd rather have DEE in my cup group! Means I can lose to them and not be knocked out, while ensuring I don't have to face them in the knockouts for as long as possible!

Thanks for handling so efficiently and transparently, David!

Everton 2 - 1 Fulham

Crystal Palace 3 - 1 Brighton

Chelsea 3 - 0 Wolves

Man. City 3 - 1 Liverpool

Brentford 1 - 1 Newcastle

Aston Villa 0 - 2 Bournemouth

West Ham 2 - 0 Burnley

Tottenham 0 - 0 Man. United

Sunderland 0 - 2 Arsenal

Nottingham Forest 1 - 2 Leeds United