Big Man Bakar Shares His Six Biggest Takeaways from 2024/25 FPL season

The 2024/25 Fantasy Premier League season is done and dusted, with Lovro Budisin topping the FPL leaderboard, and Aleksi Koskelo winning the FPL Cup.

SportsCasting’s resident FPL expert, Big Man Bakar, could not crack the top 10 of the leaderboard, but he saw a massive improvement in his rankings. Continue reading to learn the secrets behind Big Man Bakar’s ascension.

Big Man Bakar: Lessons Learnt Over the 2024/25 FPL Season

Stick to the Script — Even When You’re Behind

, there’s a reason the FPL template is so popular – it’s built on data and consistency. Over the long haul, the best managers rise by trusting the fundamentals and sprinkling in smart, calculated differentials.

I started this season horribly – ranked 3.4M after GW9 – but stuck to my process and playstyle. I didn’t panic or overhaul my strategy, and it paid off with a 33k finish.

Secure Minutes, Secure Points

One of the biggest mistakes FPL managers can make at the start of the season is overloading on rotation-prone players.

While they can seem like clever picks with potential upside, the reality is that uncertainty around their minutes often leads to early frustration. With the new rule allowing up to five saved transfers, it’s more important than ever to begin with a stable and reliable squad.

14 greens to end the season.

Rank: 33k

Feel free to have my babies, Antoine Serlom
Semenyo. pic.twitter.com/rbqYh0mziK

— AbuBakar Siddiq (@BigManBakar) May 25, 2025

I made the mistake of starting with both Nkunku and Quansah — and it backfired badly. I couldn’t bank transfers, suffered price drops, and lost the flexibility I needed early in the campaign.

The 5-Transfer Bank Is a Gamechanger

FPL’s decision to increase the transfer bank limit to five has been one of the best changes in recent memory.

This rule, though subtle on paper, turned out to be a huge strategic asset. Personally, I didn’t take a single -4 all season, and that discipline with my transfers played a massive role in my overall success.

Save Your Chips for When It Counts

Many FPL managers fall into the trap of using their chips far too early in search of a fast start.

But that short-term gain often comes at the cost of long-term planning. My advice? Pretend your Bench Boost, Free Hit, and Triple Captain don’t even exist until at least Christmas.

The best time to use them is often during the chaos of blanks and doubles later in the season. I stuck to that approach this year — used only my first Wildcard before Gameweek 24 — and ended the season with 14 consecutive green arrows.

The top two captains delivered in the final Gameweek 💪

Did you end your season in style with captaincy points? 👀#FPL pic.twitter.com/wcQVxdXz66

— Fantasy Premier League (@OfficialFPL) May 28, 2025

Separate Poor Results from Poor Decisions

Bruno and Eze were textbook examples of early-season bad luck. They had the chances, the involvement, the positioning – just not the FPL points.

Instead of reacting emotionally, I stuck with them. And when the points finally came, they came big.

One Chip to Rule Them All? Too Much.

I understand the idea behind the Assistant Manager chip, but in practice, it’s far too powerful.

In tight mini-leagues where every point counts, it can cause massive variance — potentially swinging a Gameweek by 20–30 points. Casual or inactive managers can get lucky and score huge – especially as a result of the table bonus rule, while engaged players who made better decisions can suffer. It feels more like luck than logic, and I’d rather see this chip removed.