A full 3GWs in 11 days! As you do, while the roller coaster slowly climbs towards the crest, you prepare mentally & physically for what is about to come, and as you descend into the thrill you roll with the motions and emotions of the ride.

The beauty of the Discord community is being immersed in the melting pot of managerial thought & preparation. I receive much joy from the insights of the differing approaches taken by my fellow managers in relation to how they manage their teams, not to mention the banter, outspokeness or reservedness of the individual members of the discord “herd”. It’s also a constant test of one’s own ability to not align with the “hive mind”. If you’re like me, you’re attuned to the intricacies of subterfuge and/or genuine suggestions thrown around. This is mostly because my discord interactions are at least 95% voice as opposed to type/text. There’s much more to be deciphered from vocal communication above typed text. It’s akin to seeing all the participants on the roller coaster ride at once, as opposed to just those ahead! Who’s exhilarated, who’s silently nervous or just stoic. Who’s projecting their tension via redirection, who’s deliberatly on the wind-up 😉, or those who are just calm and taking it all in their stride.

Turn 12 sees us all moving along at a medium pace and height, but there’s a twist ahead, Grealish, KDB & Bruno, all blank! The stage is set. A banked turn to the left and my horizon is flipped 90°, I expected a plunge into a helix spiral, but to my surprise, the sharp turn flipped back the 90° and levelled out, Son & Kane didn’t punish me, Emi and Justin put in double-figures and although I lost Jota, Captain Salah came through! I feel my adrenalin build with excitement!

The anticipation is quelled by a brake run. Around me, many other managers are a little shell-shocked, but no major drama. Except for one guy at the back who’s looking a tad apprehensive. Suddenly, momentum increases, seemingly exponential, and we’re launch-tracked into Section 13🎢. During the accelerated climb, BGW & DGW information dropped, as did my KDB captain blank – with bonus?! WTF! 😄 The climb crescendos and I catch a glimpse of the Blanks & Doubles section in the distance! The brief horizontal becomes a straight down vertical of frantic acceleration! 5-2 #LEENEW both my strikers in the match on opposing teams returning, as does DCL in #LEIEVE! 1st time all 3 of my front men have returned simultaneously! What a thrill! Liverpool restrict Kane, but Son is undeniable! KDB blank?! PAH! The vertical drop starts to level, but it’s brief, a short rise into a corkscrew, it was a tad white-knuckle but… Bruno blanked!!! I get spat out the end of the 360° roll, laughing my head off!

All around me are a mixture of emotions, a few more faces are micro-expressing that which they would conceal, while many more have smiles at least as broad as mine!

Feature Fourteen, a cobra roll! The news was true! 😳 Yet, the real exhilarating twist of the skywards inverse climb was that The 🇪🇬Egyptian 👑King not only made a 2nd half appearance, he got an 👟 & 2 ⚽️⚽️s to boot! (Again, can we put the Salah doubters out to pasture! 😁) DCL & Wilson, doing the business again, plus a KDB assist 😏! I thoroughly enjoy the flip-back as we start to traverse the joining corkscrew! 😁🙌🏿🎢 xJoy is maximised as we’re flung out of the spiral and seemingly straight off the edge as the track plunges out of view! Bruno Captain!! A G-oal Force intensifying 34pts at the crest, into a VC 10 pointer from Grealish as we all dive down the cobra at breakneck speed! As with all gameweeks, the end of this section of the ride is subdued just to set you up for the twists and turns of the gameweek to come! Thus, the loss of Taylor’s clean-sheet, combined with the injury to Chilwell, plus the lack of attacking return from Zouma is a fitting end. The potential of almost joining the 100 club (98 -4) brings the emotions back down to earth, but, the track has another rise just ahead!

Again, excited anticipation builds… 😁🙌🏿🎢