Another day, another feed full of tribal, negative tweets. Here’s what I think:

1. The introduction of the Matching Engine is fundamentally good for FI as a product. It removes a lot of the risk to the company (which is good for us all) and moves prices closer to reality

2. The timing of the introduction of the ME is good for FI but arguably not so good for traders as it didn’t give people time to get out of more dubious holds with IS being switched off first. Not sure what the alternative is though, it is what it is.

3. Being able to build the ME from start to finish in 8 weeks was impressive. The next step is far more complicated and I suspect they’ll jump straight to stage 3 with a full order book powered by Nasdaq at the start of next season. This will help with the liquidity issues.

4. Yes, it’s shite for some traders at the moment. Market selling is borderline impossible. I’m afraid we have to acknowledge that FI is a fundamentally different product and take some losses. The sell price is the player’s value now, not the buy price.

5. A different product means different strategies and different ways to ‘win’. We may find the old ways don’t work anymore. That will piss people off but it is what it is. If it’s not for you anymore, leave. But please don’t trash the product on your way out.

6. Until the full OB is implemented, we’re in a weird transitional phase, don’t expect it to be easy. If you believe in FI, you’ll stick around. Personally I think it’s incredibly tough out there for smaller traders at the moment and I totally get the frustration I’m hearing.

7. It’s also the end of the season, COVID is still around and no one quite knows what’s about the happen next. These things present other challenges (and opportunities) that FI can’t control. This could explain some of the liquidity issues too, it’s not just about the ME.

8. And actually I think the market is pretty liquid at the moment but we’re not seeing it because it’s all going into bids. Watch the IS spread of a player to see where the money is going. We can ignore the buy price and ticker mostly, they tell us very little now.

9. You like Footstock, SportStack? Great, me too! Remember they are totally different products and both are very new. Much more risk attached to these but that brings opportunities too. FI has outgrown the start up phase and is more stable. More boring? That’s up to you.

10. Finally, I don’t think FI will shift their plans much because of what we say on Twitter. They’ve removed most of their liabilities now remember, things are different. Perhaps we should use our energies to discuss new trading strategies and different ways to win?