A fantasy manager’s work is never done. Just as the football world is constantly revolving, so a PlayTheGame team can always be improved. This is an example of how a typical day may pan out in the quest for the title . . .

7.30am Wake to the sound of newspapers through the door brimming with transfer gossip that may affect the status of available fantasy players. Papers are read over breakfast but children take a back seat, literally so as neglected packed lunches mean there is no longer time for them to walk to school and they have to be driven. Dog goes hungry.

9.00 Arrive at the office and click on the Internet Explorer shortcut, an invaluable research tool for the modern workplace.

9.01 Head straight to the PlayTheGame site.

9.03 The first glimpse of an updated table is a special moment in the day and it often changes dramatically after a set of Barclays Premier League games. It is no longer a question of how many digits your overall fantasy league position contains but how many places you moved up.

9.06 Check second PlayTheGame league for other team. In this the conniving rivals have to be kept at arm’s length, or corridor’s length in the case of Geoff from accounts. The first league was for friends but there is nothing friendly about playing with work colleagues.

9.08 Check third PlayTheGame league. In this the foes are unseen, unknown but no less deadly for the cover of anonymity. 10.30 A period of reflection over coffee. Should the transfer offer that arrived overnight from an Australian in the third league be accepted? Is it nothing more than an attempt to recruit another Socceroo in the shape of Tim Cahill or has the Antipodean enemy heard a new update about the Everton midfield player’s knee injury?

10.36 Surreptitiously open PlayTheGame window in corner of PC screen to accept trade.

10.36 and 20 seconds Surreptitiously close freshly opened window as manager walks behind chair.

1.00pm Lunch and time to catch up on the player updates available on Times Online. Discover Cahill is due to return sooner than initially expected. Somewhere, an Australian laughs.

2.00 Fear fantasy football obsession may have reached an unhealthy level when a glimpse of the Microsoft Windows logo serves only as a reminder to check the transfer window developments.

7.45 To appease the wife, feign interest in EastEnders and the plot line involving the Mitchell brother who didn’t leave while thinking about the Neville brother that did. Does Phil, excelling as a Manchester United cast-off, have any PlayTheGame worth in his role as Everton enforcer and potential addition as an out-of-contract player?

9.00 Neglect to take dog for a walk as late developments in evening games take priority. Points are accumulated, assists gained and blocks made, which beats a walk around the block with a plastic bag and a spittle-covered ball.

11.00 Relaxed in the knowledge that no transfer window deals are in the offing, the dedicated PlayTheGame competitor sleeps, but only after counting Cesc Fàbregas’s successful passes against Derby County. Eighty-one, 82, 83 . . .

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