So you think you've got what it takes to walk alongside the Mourinhos, Wengers and Fergusons in the new season? Don't be just another Rafa Benitez this season, read this guide and win the league - it's as simple as that. Follow this 10-step guide to winning your Fantasy Football League and separate yourself from all of the other 'nearly-was' managers of the past.

1. Buy Cristiano Ronaldo.
This doesn't literally mean buy Cristiano Ronaldo and you will win the league (although this was true in the 07/08 season). There will be a Ronaldo for all seasons, you just need to work out who it will be when you buy your players. Every season in Fantasy Football a player will be bought by almost every, if not all, participating teams. This may seem the boring way of gaining points but it is also a great way of not losing ground on your opponents. You may think it's brave to ignore the trend but it generally ends in sadness and floods of tears - you have been warned.

2. Read the rules.
Every Fantasy Football League is different and each has its own set of rules. Points are scored in a variety of ways across many different leagues and so make yourself aware of the rules you are playing by. If there are transfers, formations, substitutes or captains - you must use this to your best ability or risk losing out to your bitter rivals.

3. Avoid high-profile substitutes.
Don't break the bank bringing in the latest big signing from one of the 'Big Four' if he is going to warm the bench for half the season. Often expensive players at the bigger clubs will score dramatically less than a first-team regular at one of the mid-table teams or even a relegation-battler. An example of this could be the signing of Chelsea's Florent Malouda when Simon Davies at Fulham contributed a much greater points total.

4. Midfield goalscorers.
In my opinion these are even more valuable than the prolific centre forward scoring 20 goals a season. In many fantasy leagues, midfielders will receive more points for scoring than a forward so don't miss out on these valuable assets. Take a gamble on penalty-takers and corner-takers that play in midfield and relax on your sun lounger as the points just keep on rolling in.

5. Take advantage of positional errors.
Players can often be categorised in the wrong position so don't ignore these precious finds. An example would likely be a forward registered as a midfielder or midfielder named as a defender. As they play in a more advanced position than their category suggests, there will sometimes be the chance of more goals/assists being attributed to your player. This is not going to change the world, but the extra points that you can gain could mean the difference between 1st and 2nd, and no-one remembers the Fantasy Football runners-up.

6. Don't let your heart rule your head.
If you are playing Fantasy Football it is likely that you will have some sort of allegiance or favouritism towards a certain team (this may also extend to a hatred of another team). In my championship winning success of 07/08, a close rival continuously refused to purchase Cristiano Ronaldo as he felt it betrayed his beloved Arsenal. Sadly, he relented somewhat belatedly and fell short in the title run-in. On the other side of the coin is the 'loyal supporter' that perseveres with signing players from their own team despite them festering at the bottom of the league. It doesn't mean you don't love them as much if you don't want to buy a goalie that concedes four of five goals a game. It's a serious business.

7. Don't panic buy.
If there is a transfer or team selection deadline try not to jump in and make rash decisions losing you valuable points. Beware of mid-week fixtures such as European games or Internationals that could cause injuries to your key performers. Avoid making changes before the weekend if your players will be occupied with FA Cup games - check the fixtures for the 'gameweek' and adjust your team accordingly.

8. Pla

Syria A is back up and running.

The code is 569326-113747

Sorry for the delay in sending the number on to everyone, I'm on holidays and it's hard to get near a computer with a decent internet connection.

Enjoy.

AOL's acquisition of social-networking site Bebo, announced Thursday, is the latest example of hazy math when it comes to valuing Web companies with little or no revenues.

But mergers and acquisitions experts say valuing a hot company such as Bebo goes beyond crunching numbers.

"It's less about the [financial] value ratio than the strategic rationale," says Ross Levinsohn, the former News Corp. (nyse: NWS - news - people ) executive who led the company's $580 million MySpace acquisition. "They're buying on the basis of what does this mean for our overall business."

How Bebo will fit into AOL's overall business strategy is more important than knowing, for example, the social network's current earnings or revenue ratio per user. This is the approach Levinsohn took during the MySpace acquisition, and it worked. "We couldn't pencil the numbers out," says Levinsohn, now a partner at venture firm Velocity Interactive Group. "Everyone thought we were insane. Now it looks like a steal."

In addition to business strategy, a fair amount of gamesmanship can be involved in determining a company's sale price. Bebo's investment bank Allen & Co. likely called a number of potential suitors, possibly even playing one off another to reach the $850 million price tag.

"Vs. [buying] Facebook, they got a great deal; vs. MySpace, it's not such a great deal," Levinsohn offers on AOL's final buying price. Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ), Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ), Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ) and others are reported to have considered buying Bebo.

Still, to get the deal done, AOL needed to present its board with lots of hard numbers. "Whenever a company spends $850 million, there's some real analysis behind it--that's going to the board," says David Weiden, general partner at Khosla Ventures.

He notes, however, that the financial analysis for Web companies is often based on lots of ''what-ifs'' and long-term projections. "All the rigor and analysis is based on a lot of assumptions that are somewhat hard to predict," Weiden says. "There are a lot of judgments and qualitative opinions on how the future and user behavior will unfold."

Weiden says buying Bebo is a smart move for AOL, which has been struggling ever since Time Warner (nyse: TWX - news - people ) acquired it. "The Web is a fast-changing medium," he says. "Companies like Bebo, Facebook and MySpace are important parts of the Web, and AOL had not developed something internally that was as good as Bebo."

Now that AOL has committed to buying Bebo, a possible deal with Yahoo! seems more unlikely. Parent company Time Warner and Yahoo! reportedly discussed the possibility of Yahoo! taking over the media giant's AOL unit. In turn, Time Warner could take a stake in Yahoo!, allowing it to remain independent and out of Microsoft's clutches.

Microsoft made an unsolicited bid for Yahoo! last month, but Yahoo! rejected the offer. After weeks of silence between the two companies, they are now reportedly having informal merger discussions.