Nineteen weeks, 13 different leaders? Five different leaders over the past five weeks? Yes, we accept that it's stressful leading races from the front, but unless one of you makes a run for it soon you'll all end up bunched up together as we approach the finishing line (i.e., week 29), you'll all trip up over each other, allowing a Foinavon-type manager (John O'Neill? See left) to nip in and bag the £15,000 first prize.

Back when we were young, in week one, we asked John O'Donnell, our first leader, if he fancied his chances of hanging on to top spot for another 28 weeks. "No," he said, in a word. "I think it was a once off and they won't be seen again."

His pessimism was well-founded: Week One Hopefuls are Week 19 Also-rans, lagging behind a tad in 1,104th place.

Fergal Kent, our week three leader, plunged even further, down to 2,306th, but the man who went top in week five, Des Heather, is our most consistent manager to date, still holding a top 15 position 14 weeks later.

Does going top all but guarantee an end to your interest in the competition? The evidence to support our theory is mounting: the only good time to lead this thing is when the winning cheque is being handed out.