I've been lazy again, slacking off. So the gameweeks I need to relay are several. We begin way back in GW29, when I hit the bench boost (that didn't quite work out).
GW29: 74 points (-8), (avg. 80)
GW30: 60 points (avg. 54)
GW31: 63 points (avg. 55)
GW32: 55 points (avg. 42)
GW33: 61 points (avg. 55)
GW34: 84 points (avg. 82)
GW35: 58 points (avg. 39)
GW36: 80 points (avg. 65)
I played the wildcard in GW36, so that was my MAY changes. Martinelli is already out, which instantly illustrates the pitfalls of playing monthly instead of weekly. It's possible I could end up with less than eleven players in GW38 :(
On the plus side though, since GW30 I've finished with above average points each week. Things haven't been spectacular, but it hasn't been so bad. My current rank is 2,275,345. Not what I was hoping for at the start of the season, but playing this way has been very difficult - the lack of flexibility in regard blanks and doubles has been especially hindersome. So it isn't altogether terrible.
We now have two gameweeks left. I'm hoping they go well and I get a little extra boost, but either way I think we can already start analysing this "monthly" experiment. The long and short of it is that it's been fun and laidback, but far too difficult. There weren't many plusses in regard getting points. I was thinking that maybe I'd see some benefits from having a settled side and not chopping and changing, but I don't think I've had a single month where I would've outperformed a more active manager. It's mainly been a case of keeping my head above water and nothing more.
The biggest benefits have been personal. Less stress, much more free time. Next season I'll go back to playing the standard way, however, I think I'll continue to have a more laid back attitude, and be less pro-active. Obviously if you want to do well you have to put the time and effort in, so it'll be interesting to see how engaged I am. Will I care enough about rank to go back to putting a lot of time in? Or will I just be a casual who makes changes every week or so without a great deal of thought and research?
I suspect the latter.
I'll post again at the end of the season to give a brief review of the last two gameweeks.
(Actually, thinking on further as I get to the end of this post, I think next season I might plan as if I'm playing monthly - i.e. pick one week a month where I put a lot of effort in, as I've done this season - but then make little changes in the other weeks (removing injured players, changing captain/bench if it's glaringly obvious to do that, and so forth). So a kind of happy half way model of playing.
Maybe I could even just do it by gameweek number instead of month. A 1/4 intense, 3/4 casual approach. Meaning GW1 I put a lot of effort in, then play casual until GW5 - when I plan and research, then casual again until GW9, and the same onwards.
I really don't want to spend every single week overly worrying about injuries and team news. It's such a hassle. Also you have to work your life around it - if the deadline is 6:30 pm on a Friday, then your afternoon is instantly hijacked, regardless of what you're in the mood to do. (That's if you're not working that day and robbed of the opportunity to take advantage of late news anyway.)
So having weeks where you can just do things half-heartedly, whilst still having a wider overall strategy is very appealing to me.)
