Rotodatabase's official fantasy football league (of a different sort) is back, the RDB Fantasy Premier League. Registration is open and once again, the game will be hosted on the Premier League's official site.

• Sign up your team for the 2009-10 RDB Fantasy Premier League here
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Please tell me the world has tilted off its axis. As ridiculous as it would be to mob Darius Vassell at the airport with open arms, I'd say I'd rather rally around Vassell than witnessing Michael Owen head to Old Trafford. He's not only the exact footballing equivalent of Mark Prior, but United fans will remember him first and foremost as no filthier a Scouser as Robbie Fowler and the metrosexual poster child of Real Madrid's campaign to have the prettiest benchwarmers across from Playboy's powderpuff lingerie team.

OK, the title is a bit misleading because surely if someone gifted me 80 million pounds, I would save the 70 million quid and spend wild on the remaining 10 million. Oddly enough, that's what Manchester United are doing, but not exactly by their own volition. Flash back nearly a month ago and here's what I said about just how hard it is to recoup 80 or even 100 million pounds in quality from the Ronaldo sale:

Hope you guys across the pond have ESPN as all Premier League games that would have otherwise gone to Setanta, will be shown on ESPN, as soon as the upcoming 2009-10 season. I believe this only pertains to you guys abroad and not here in the US, as from my understanding, Setanta will continue to air Premier League games in the States.

So, I've just come home to the Laker rally down at the Coliseum and it was phenomenal, which makes me a bit late to the party in saying the new schedule is out today. Season starts a little under two months from now, August 15. I'm still stuck in offseason mode, but I'm sure past the Fourth of July, I'll be in preseason mode. At any rate, if you didn't know...

While some of you are highly awaiting the Transformers sequel, there's a Summer blockbuster that makes yours truly, to quote another box office success, throw up in his mouth a bit. Of course, we're talking about an extravagant sale of Kaka from Milan to Real Madrid for a "tepid" 59 million pounds (that's $97 million US) and then today (in fact, late Wednesday evening here in the States), a year's worth of transfer drama culminated in rather anticlimactic fashion with Manchester United finally sending away Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for a whopping 80 million pounds, which

All Northeast relegation combatants can rest assured Manchester United fielded a team that indeed had the strength of beating Hull with nothing more than a mixture of kids and reserves. What will keep Newcastle and Middlesbrough supporters up at night is a dreadful campaign, resulting in all four relegation contenders losing on the season's final day in rather drab fashion. Oh wait, there's more!

Ah, the final Sunday, the finishing line of a 38-game marathon, and in the North East and in Hull, fingernails will be bitten off as two of either Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbrough, or Hull could face the drop to the kiddies' table, sponsored by Coca-Cola. Luckily for you and me, finishing last in the cellar of our fantasy leagues doesn't entail relegation or a handsome sum of money being tossed out of our banking accounts, but if you're hardcore, read the rest of this and join the motley crew of Geordies, Smoggies, Mackems, and erm, Kingston-upon-Hull folks sweating out their Sundays

Well, did you expect a more creative title for this recap than that? For this Manchester United fan, celebrating the club's 18th league title overshadowed a weekend that put an interesting wrinkle on the relegation race. I reflect on the significance of United's 18th league title, what it means to tie Liverpool for their league record, and of course, a final salvo on facts as well as a few chuckles over Rafa Benitez's latest comments.

Almost at the summit, folks. After this weekend's matches, we've only the final weekend to look forward to and the title looks all but secured at Old Trafford on Saturday as Manchester United look for the threepeat and league title #18 to go on equal footing with Liverpool's record with at least a point against Arsenal. Elsewhere, the relegation race is starting to shape up somewhat and Europa League qualification is still up for grabs. It's just about graduation time, kiddies, and take a couple of long punts to salvage anything in your fantasy seasons this year.

The aftermath of this week's Champions League semifinals weigh heavy on my mind and get some detailed thoughts on how I've made sense of a couple of red cards, a couple of missed penalties, and a few cracking goals. It's not everyday where a Manchester Derby or Arsenal/Chelsea match takes a backseat to anything, but there's a ton of past talking points and on a day when Manny Ramirez gets suspended for 50 games because of a sexual enhancing drug (talk about zero tolerance), Didier Drogba is likely banned for the only reason of being, well, a diving disgrace.

El Clasico in Madrid dwarfed the weekend's Premier League action (at least in this humble fan's perspective) but nonetheless the impact remains rather significant. Manchester United keep holding on to a three point lead at the top over Liverpool and in so doing, both teams put two Northeast sides closer to the brink of relegation. We'll shortly talk about Chelsea and Arsenal tuning up for their respective Champions League semis while I get carried away talking about next season's football shirts.

There are few games that can match the pageantry and intensity of El Clasico, especially when La Liga is still at stake, but still the Premier League's last four weekends should be pretty intriguing in its own right, more or less for the relegation race than Manchester United controlling their own destiny. Meanwhile, those fantasy leagues are also winding down and now is the time to be making some make-or-break decisions while all of the weekend's matchups seem to be more fantasy-friendly than usual.

There isn't much that needs to be said other than Manchester United flirting with near-disaster but come up with the best second-half of the season against Spurs, one that rates five stars, most certainly. (There's a BBC Match of the Day clip of United/Spurs embedded in this write-up.) Despite Saturday's topsy-turvy drama, it's as-you-were at the top of the table, but would it be the same at the tail end of the table?

Is there a sense of false security in the Premiership title race?

This weekend's games will take a backseat to the FA Cup semifinals on Saturday and Sunday, featuring Chelsea v Arsenal and Manchester United v Everton on respective days. If you have players on your fantasy squad from either of these four teams, don't fret as the gameweek extends to Tuesday and Wednesday's make-up games. A couple of the teams involved in the semis could prioritize and thus, leave you in the dust with a few players who haven't grossed as many points as hope, due to a rest or a substitution.

Anybody see the Chelsea-Liverpool match yesterday?

Yes, that kid did it again and like a posting your little kid's A+ arithmetic test to your refrigerator for all the world to see, well, it's that kid's picture that adorns this column again. Yes, folks, Macheda-mania is still running wild like little Hulkamaniacs in the late 80's taking their vitamins and saying their prayers.

Down the home stretch we go, as things might be a bit settled in your fantasy leagues but the title race and the relegation battle are still far from over. Otherwise, if you still have something to play for in your fantasy leagues, you might be careful with which stud players you select from the Big Four teams, as at least two of the four are likely to prioritize the second legs of their Champions League quarterfinals and rest a few of those studs for the crucial mid-week battles in Europe.

It's not everyday I post a BBC Match of the Day Recap, but with a special day for Kiko Macheda, why not. The best thing about Myspace Video is they're slower to take down copyrighted videos than Youtube are, now that Youtube has better filters that will remove copyrighted video within hours. But enjoy it while you can. Some interesting things I'll point out: