Fantasy Football: Dallas Scott Davey’s Darren Scott Q&A

Gameweek 24 of the Premier League kicks off tomorrow (January 31) with the month’s last fixtures, as three games kick off simultaneously at 15.00.

The first month of the year is always a bit of a reset in the Premier League, with the end of the season coming into sight. Such is the case in the Insurance Times Fantasy Football League too, where struggling managers maybe begin giving up or forgetting to update their teams week to week.

There is still the potential for much movement in both the Premier League table and the, perhaps more important, Insurance Times one.

One manager charging up the rankings is Darren Scott, director at broker Dallas Scott Davey. 

Scott is the highest scoring manager for January, having amassed a bumper 251 points across the month. 

So, before the weekend begins, we thought we’d speak to the high flying broker.

1. Congratulations on being manager of the month for January, how do you rate your chances of climbing the table further? 

I’m not sure really. The upside is that quite a few managers lose interest at this point in the season, so that might help.

I have been trying to track and follow the easier fixtures, but that wasn’t helping, so I changed my tactics in December and started to use my gut feeling, which has seemed to work.

I missed so many points early in the season, having transferred Van de Ven out just before his big haul, along with many others.

I also try to get balance across my squad, tracking whether defence or attack is gaining more points and adjusting my formation. Timing the use of the chips could also be crucial, especially around double game weeks.

2. What are the key decisions to make ahead of game week 24? 

Whether I have any injuries or non-playing team members and who’s in form at present.

I also try to factor in the next five to 10 fixtures and check whether I can transfer out some players with tough games for players with easier games.

More Chelsea players are definitely an option at the moment, as they have a great run of fixtures coming up.

Also, I need to think whether I’m going to continue captaining Haaland. Had I captained Gabriel instead of Haaland for the last five game weeks, I’d have got 52 more points.

3. Who would you call out as an under-rated player for everyone’s Fantasy squad?  

Currently low owned options that could do, or are doing, well are Kroupi of Bournmouth, who will now play more, and Barry of Everton, who scored four goals in the last five games while not being on many people’s radar.

Leeds’ Calvert Lewin is also silently amassing good points. Goalkeepers Roefs and Dubravka are also well worth considering as your sub goalkeeper.

4. Who or what would you like to call out in the insurance industry? 

As a group, Dallas Scott Davey annually donates a percentage of profits to charity, in particular local, meaningful charities.

In addition, I don’t think enough clients are taking cyber seriously.

Management liability or directors and officers are better these days, but cyber is a ticking time bomb,

Just look at Knights of Old and the impact its recent cyber attack had. Most businesses these days rely more on technology than on contents or bricks and mortar. They always insure the latter, but rarely the former.