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05-02-2005, 09:09 AM
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#1 | ||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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FM2005: a frog in Europe
To all my regular readers, welcome back to yet another installment of the "frog in football" series!
 To all of you first-time readers, welcome aboard, sit back, relax and starting living the frog's dream! This is the continuity of the one and only FM2005 career I have played since receiving the game on November 15, 2004, a couple of weeks after it was released. It started unpatched and has now been patched twice. The football universe in this game is sort of small, including only England, from the North/South Conferences and up, but with players from Canada/USA/England included, so I could become the national manager of Canada, even though I didn't even try the first time the Canada job came available. My career started in 2004-05 with Luton Town (see FM2005: a frog at Kenilworth Road), where I first learned the ropes of managing a club in England. After starting in League One, we had a one season stint in the Championship before going back down and suffering of unrealistic expectations and eventually getting sacked. I went on to get a second job, the time with the Queens Park Rangers (see FM2005: a frog at Loftus Road). Getting there midseason, I was unable to keep them from demoting that season. Getting down to League One for one season might have been the best thing that ever happened to us, as we went on to crush our competition in my first full season at Loftus Road, promoting to the Championship after only one season. We kept on winning at the start of the following season, so much so that we ended up finishing in 3rd, promoting to the Premiership through the playoffs system. This was last year, the first season in the Premiership for Q.P.R, and my first ever season as a manager in the Premiership (see FM2005: a frog in the Premiership). I was very nervous about it and had good reasons to be, as we started the season as heavy favourites for relegation. Surprisingly, we started winning games against middle of the road clubs, and drawing with bigger ones (Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal) early on in the season. We did so well that with 2 games left to the season, we were still in the fight to finish 6th in the Premiership. We ended up finishing 9th, not bad for a first season in the Big League! Sadly, 9th isn't good enough to compete in a European competition, so why are we here? Why is there "a frog in Europe"??? Because we went all the way in the FA Cup, winning the Final in penalty kicks over Manchester City, thus qualifying the club for the Euro Cup. The date is May 29, 2011, two weeks removed from the big FA Cup win, and this is where the story picks up. This will be my second season, ever, in the Premiership, my first time playing in European competitions. If you've read the previous installments, you know that new players have been signed up. If you've never read any of my stories before, I'll at least post their player profiles, just so you're not left in the dark. This is my 8th season as a manager and I've built my reputation up to a World Class level. Gotta say that as nervous as I was about my first season in the Premiership one year ago, I feel much better about the team this time around. I'd like to think I've built a nice readership over the years (well gametime years anyway). I like reading people's comments, so if you got something to say, post away! As I said, welcome aboard, I hope you'll enjoy the ride! FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-02-2005, 09:13 AM
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#2 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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May 29, 2011
The Manchester United Team Board consider Vicente Del Bosque's position. Seems like their fourth place finish is causing some unrest for their supporters and they want a better season this year... May 31, 2011 I get 19 emails regarding contracts of players/staff that are expiring within a month. I'm not gonna offer any new contract to anybody until I hear from the board about our new wage budget. It's not like any of the players with unprotected contracts are essential to the squad, and staff don't have unprotected contracts, so they're not going anywhere anyway... Following how the FA Cup Final played out, I decide to retrain Ben Watson in a new position. He's currently strictly a M C, I decide to try him as a AM R, hoping he'll retain his M C position. He'd make a good double position backup to have on my bench and he's got skills good enough to be a nice winger, as well as a good midfielder. He is described as a cultured midfielder. I also know that the biggest part of his training won't happen this season, since we're about to go into resting mode, but still, he'll get his headstart for next season... June 1st, 2011 The board is still delighted with my managerial performance. Always nice to hear Arsène Wenger is selected as Manage of the Month. I know it's for his team's performance in league play, but still feels good that I beat him three times last season, even though it took everything we had to win the FA Cup, but a win is a win, and I'll take them all... Useless trivia: I was the manager at Kenilworth Road for 1259 days. Today is day #1247 of my life at Loftus Road We get the numbers for average attendances in the Premiership in 2010/11. We came in 19th out of 20 teams, with an average of 18548 spectators per match. Here are the figures for every team in the league:  We are sort of limited by the size of our stadium currently, which is a 19148 all seater with under-soil heating. Looking at the team's finances, I see we have just about $29M in the bank account. Maybe it's time to ask the board to improve the stadium... Gonna think about it... Seeing the attendance figure, I'm reminded of the graph that shows the team's position over the course of the season. Here's how last season went from beginning to end. Hard to think we started the season in 20th place. It really was "nowhere to go but up"  FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-02-2005, 11:36 AM
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#3 |
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College Benchwarmer
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: usually sunny SoCal
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how do you get that graph?
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05-02-2005, 11:40 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
when watching the league table, click on the position number for your team. unintuitive, I know, don't tell anybody else though, it's our little secret  The list of teams will be on the right of the graph. You can click one other team and its position changes will appear in green on the graph... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-02-2005, 11:43 AM
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#5 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 2, 2011
Man City approach one of my coaches, Michael Hayes, to become their Arsène Wenger's assistant. We'll be due $4000 if the deal goes ahead... I go ahead and ask for a stadium expansion. Their answer is immediate: the board concur that Loftus Road needs to be improved if the club is to fulfil its full potential. They assure me that there are plans afoot to expand the stadiums. SWEEEEET!!! June 3, 2011 Michael Hayes signs with Manchester City, as assistant manager. We're paid $4,000 in compensation. Matt Cross and Andrew Johnson both played with the England U21 squad against Bosnia. Cross did the best of the two, notching a goal and and assist, playing the whole first half, while AJ had a so-so game, coming in in the 62nd minute. June 4, 2011 Okay, I've seen enough of everyone, go home and rest!!!! We'll see ya in July! (that was to the players, not you my readers )Today was a day of Euro 2012 qualifiers. Igor Biscan had an assist for Croatia. Keith Keane had an ordinary game as an inner midfielder for Ireland. Youssouf Hersi started for Holland and played the first half as their left winger but he didn't have a very good game, rating only at 6. June 7, 2011 Matt Cross and Andrew Johnson again both played for the England U21 squad. While Cross started as a right winger and had an okay match, before being substituted in the 62nd minute, it was AJ's turn to shine. He was selected as Man of the Match after getting a 10 for form. He scored a goal in that game, while also winning 10 of 15 headers, 4 of them key headers. He also completed 14 of 16 passes, 5 of them key passes. He's developing quite nicely and I don't regret offering him the new contract. Look at his player profile right now...  FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-02-2005, 11:44 AM
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#6 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 8, 2011
During a private meeting, midfielder Marc Bircham complains to me about his lack of first-team playing time. He even tells me he must be playing regular first-team football if he is to stay at Loftus Road. This saddens me very much because I like the Canadian, but I just can't promise a such thing as first-team playing time to Marc... Lennart Rhee's season long loan comes to an end and he goes back to PSV. While he didn't have a bad stay with us, I doubt he'd be worth a big spending in transfer money... Kidderminster want Justin Wall on loan for three months. I still don't understand why they' signa player for a three month loan starting in the middle of June, but they say they'd pay 100% of the player's wage. I accept the offer. Some Euro 2012 qualifiers are played again today. Igor Biscan had an ordinary 73 minutes of play for Croatia. Jeppe Lund Curth came off the bench, scored a goal but then fractured his arm. He will miss one month. Youssouf Hersi come on in the 78th minute as a left winger for Holland and again was largely disappointing. Keith Keane had an assist as an inner midfielder in 72 minutes of play for Ireland. June 10, 2011 Speaking of Keith Keane, Wolves offered him a contract today. June 12, 2011 Justin Wall accept to go to Kidderminster on loan. June 13, 2011 Keith Keane has agreed to terms with Wolves and will be joining them on July 1st. I would have really liked to keep him, but I know our wages will take a big jump when the new fellows will come to town on July 1st, and I don't want to put anymore stress than necessary before I really know what I'm getting from the Board in terms of wage budget. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-02-2005, 11:46 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 15, 2011
European club rankings are announced. To my knowledge, it's the first time I've seen these, meaning I don't think we were ranked in there last season. Liverpool tops the rankings and we come in 116th out of all European clubs ranked. There are 23 clubs in England in the rankings, here they are.
We come in 20th of all ranked England clubs. I'll see that we improve that ranking in the future June 19, 2011 We're coming to this time of the year, the time when your board unveils the new transfer budget, when they adjust the wage budget, but even more this time around, the Q.P.R. team board have unveiled their plans for expanding Loftus Road. They have announce plans to enlarge the stadium by 7002 seats, making it a 26150 all seater. It's expected that this expansion will take around 6 months to complet. However, the ground's capacity will be temporarily reduced as part of the north stand will be closed during the renovation. Looks like our capacity will be of 18000 seats during the renovation. As I said, the team board also announced the transfer budget for the season. They indicate that my transfer budget for this year will be in the region of $3.2M. I will be allowed to raise additional transfer funds by the sale of current squad players, retaining 100% of any sales I make. But HOLY SMOKES!!! They slashed my wage budget!!!  While I was allowed to have a team with a total in wages of up to $480k only a few days ago, I'm now only allowed to have a total wage bill of $380k. That's a serious blow, especially since we're at $422k right now, with quite a few big ticket players coming in on July 1st. I'm baffled by this decision. I can only hope it's temporary, possibly given the reduced size of the stadium for the next 6 months. If so, one would hope they'll give me room when the stadium improvements become effective...FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-02-2005, 11:48 AM
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#8 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 20, 2011
Youssouf Hersi is named Q.P.R.'s Player of the Year by the supporters, succeeding Marcus Kelly the player of the Year from last year, and Andrew Johnson, who was the player of the Year the season before that. His signing was really an early turning point in the season for us. A new batch of young hopefuls gets promoted to our U18 squad. Not much of interest in there though. There is one promising goalkeeper, and he's 17yo... We receive $24.5M in TV money for the upcoming season, boosting the bank account to $39.6M, despite signing a big $13.8M check for the stadium improvements... The ridiculous wage budget I'm offered makes even less sense... *sigh*... The Community Shield draw happens and we'll play Liverpool at Wembley on August 7, one week before the start of the season. Anybody can explain to me what is exactly the Community Shield? Is it something between the FA Cup winner (us) and the EPL winner (Liverpool), or is there really a draw of some sort? The Team Board tell me they are delighted with my performance as manager this season. They tell me that the team is expected to achieve a safe mid-table position within the Premier Division in the coming season. Oh, how far we've come from being known as relegation battlers!!! The 7.85 form average show by Marcus Kelly over his 41 competitive appearances is a new Q.P.R. record. Nice! FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-02-2005, 11:49 AM
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#9 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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June 23, 2011
Jon Short, a relatively unknown physio on our staff, retires at the age of 64. He says he had been considering retirement for some time and felt that the time was probably right to quit football altogether and spend more time pursuing other interests. Have a good retirement Jon! Danny Shittu plays well for Nigeria in their Confederations Cup match. He created a goal and was rated at 8 for form... I decide to offer Jeppe Lund Curth to the only two clubs recommended by Bruno Conti: Aston Villa and Everton. I'm asking $8M for the striker valued at $8.4M. Let's call this a fishing expedition. Neither of the teams shows even the slightest interest... June 25, 2011 Danny Shitu was in magnificent form for Nigeria, again in the Confederations Cup, impressing both pundits and managers for the entire match. He received a form rating of 8. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-02-2005, 12:04 PM
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#10 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Whitman, MA
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Community Shield is FA Cup Winner vs. EPL winner, yes. The only draw that could possibly be done with it is to decide which would be home and away, but I don't think there is a draw at all. Just something the game says.
Tell
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FOOL - Ann Arbor Winged Lingerines FOOLX - Portland Axemen Hattrick - Fizzle United (222968) |
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05-02-2005, 12:06 PM
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#11 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
Thanks. And since it's at Wembley, well who cares who's home and away So other than hopefully getting some good money for it, and maybe some pride, it's only like a glorified friendly then, right? FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-02-2005, 12:10 PM
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College Prospect
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Whitman, MA
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I don't know that you'll get any of the gate money, I've never bothered to look. It used to be called the Charity Shield, if that leads you to believe anything.
Tell Quote:
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FOOL - Ann Arbor Winged Lingerines FOOLX - Portland Axemen Hattrick - Fizzle United (222968) |
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05-02-2005, 12:11 PM
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#13 |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Here and There
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Your wage budget should increase sometime around the end of July/early August. I think the game is still a little buggy in how the board handles wage allowances.
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05-02-2005, 12:12 PM
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#14 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
Oh, I see, then for the Children (or whatever other charity it is) we'll play then Can't hurt the team's reputation to be seen on TV for a match like that FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-02-2005, 12:28 PM
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#15 | |
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n00b
Join Date: Mar 2005
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Quote:
In case the FA winner is also the winner of the EPL, then the second place team in the EPL plays. |
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05-02-2005, 02:26 PM
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#16 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 1st, 2011
THE big day, yeah the board is still delighted with my performance as manager of the club, but more important, today is Christmas day!!! The new kids are coming to town!!! First is César Augusto Fawcett, projected to be our new starting left fullback, a 26yo Colombian coming from Rangers in Scotland. Q.P.R.'s commercial is all excited to point out in his monthly financial update that the purchase of Fawcett is likely to cause a sharp increase in revenue from shirt sales. SWEEET! I've included player profiles of all new signees (when they were still with their former club but it's good enough) to help you all see who we're talking about. Simply click the thumbnails to see the profiles...  Then came striker Quincy Owusu Abeyie, coming straight from Arsenal, where he was not getting much playing time. The kid arrives to Loftus Road with much fanfare, declaring to the fans that he will teach them "real football", going as far as to adding that his ability with a football will leave them drooling. GREAT STUFF! Speaking to journalists after his arrival to the clubhouse, the 25-year-old striker declared that if the fans had been getting bored at Loftus Road over the recent months, he was about to show them how football should be played. Woah, talk about some self confidence from a kid I'm not even sure to have on my starting eleven comes opening day...  I was kind of worried he'd rub on the fans the wrong way, but they ate it all up, they actually wanted more. One newspaper even went as far as saying that I'm currently enjoying the adulation of the fans after securing the signature of the former Arsenal striker and that fans are delighted that Abeyie will soon be strutting his stuff at Loftus Road and cannot wait to see the 25-year-old in action. Then came a trio of players that didn't cause any big reactions among fans but about whom I'm really excited. First of these three is 24yo clinical striker Ross McCormack, who, just like César Augusto Fawcett, comes to us from Rangers. He looks like he could step in as starting striker from day one and has been a major goal scorer for Rangers in the last few seasons.  The other two are mostly for depth. They are 33yo DMC Li Tie, coming from Everton, and 27yo centreback James Collins, coming to us from Nottm Forest.   Finally, last but definitely not least, there's 23yo Anthony Vanden Borre, coming to us from Belgium club Anderlecht. The kid looks amazing on paper and should, just like Fawcett and McCormack, step in the starting lineup from day one, either as right fullback, or at centreback.  The kid's reputation has grown since we've signed him, or maybe because we've signed him, who knows. He now has a continental reputation and Q.P.R.'s Commercial Director is again quick to report in his monthly financial update that the purchase of Vanden Borre is likely to cause a sharp increase in revenu from shirt sales. SWEEEEET!!! Among other transfer news, Nigel Quashie leaves the club to go play for Hull and Keith Keane leaves to go play for Wolves. A bunch of othe player contracts expire and some of them decide to leave the club. Among them, Chris Day, John Oster, Steve Brooker, and Lee Mansell. Mathew Sadler's contract also expired, but he decided to remain at the club on a month-to-month full-time contract. When I go see how much he's asking to sign a firm contract, I see that the board is allowing me to offer him up to $67k per week, when it had dropped from $48k to $37k when the board had slashed my wage budget. Hrm... Could that mean? Is it possible? QUICK GO LOOK! AND YESSSSSSS!!!!! The wage budget has been increased!!! I'M NOW ALLOWED TOTAL WAGES UP TO $700K!!! WEEHEE!!!! The very good news is that even with all the new signees, I'm only up to $580k in total wages. This means that I'll be able to sign some of the kids that have been begging for new contracts, most importantly, a dude like Marcus Kelly, and possibly Tom Howell... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-02-2005, 02:31 PM
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#17 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 2, 2011
I'm a bit unsure as to when we'll enter the Euro Cup. The 2dn Qual Rnd Leg 1 is on August 11, but I doubt we'll enter in that round, since all the fixtures seem to have been posted for that one I guess we'll enter in the 1st rnd, which has Leag 1 on September 15, and Leg 2 on September 29. I was wondering about these because I have not booked any friendlies (or preseason games), other than the Community Shield and accepting the friendly that Sheffield Utd offered me to play on their pitch. I send the following friendly offers: Luton Town at Kenilworth Road on July 9 Fulham at Loftus Road on July 14 (would give them $44k of possible $260k) Ajax at Loftus Road on July 18 ($40k of $260k) Fulham rejected our offer while Luton and Ajax accepted it. Funny how a few signings can change the face of a team. Look at the most recent team report from my assistant Bruno Conti.  You can see he's adjusted his main recommendation. Even though he still believes we need to strengthen the squad, it's not to avoid relegation anymore, but to establish a safe mid-table position int eh English Premier Dvision. Also, look how many players with 5 stars we have in there now. On a walk down memory lane, click the following thumbnail of the team report that the same Bruno Conti was giving me a little less that a year ago, on July 9, 2010...  With some wage budget available, I talk a look around players on the roster. I see a few I will want to save money for. Tom Howell could now be very affordable and a good signing, in case anything happened to Fawcett. I also could afford to offer a contract to Jeppe Lund Curth now, but his little prima donna act has cooled me off a bit on him. That and how much better Igor Nadal Lázaro has played compared to him last season, all combined with the arrival of a guy like Ross McCormack, well, it all leads to me to believe what Bruno Conti is telling me now. He's telling me that, while Curth is a member of the first team, we could easily replace him. Easily could have been a very strong word, but this season, I hinestly believe we got plenty of strikers who could play in Curth's place. I decide to transfer list him, asking $8M for the striker valued at $8.4M. We'll see... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-02-2005, 02:33 PM
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#18 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
I was gonna say "shhhhh", but I knew I was gonna report on it soon enough Yeah, makes little sense not to increase the budget when the money comes in. I mean, what made them decide I could spend more on July 1st? The quality of my signings? I'd like to think so FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-02-2005, 02:54 PM
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#19 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 5, 2011
I make a few more friendly offers, all at Loftus Road: Chelsea on July 24 (48k of 400k) Liverpool on August 2 (70k of 440k) Anderlecht on July 13 (44k of 260k) Rangers on July 28 (40k of 240k) Chelsea and Liverpool both rejected my offer while Anderlecht and Rangers accepted. I like playing the teams in which some of my new signees were playing just a few weeks ago, just like I love making a trip back to Kenilworth Road every offseason... July 8, 2011 I offer to go play Chelsea on their pitch on July 24, and this time they accept. I wanted to have a chance to play against them before the start of the season... July 9, 2011 César Augusto Fawcett is called up to the Colombia squad fo the Copa América 2011. While it's a nice competition and all, it'll be going on from July 13, when group play begins, to possibly July 30, when the final is played. This is gonna a lot of time away for him to settle down with his new club. I offer a friendly to Aston Villa at Loftus Road on July 31, with a payment of $48k. They accept, making them the second EPL club we'll play in friendlies, not counting the Community Shield match against Liverpool, so three in all... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-02-2005, 02:57 PM
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#20 | |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Oct 2001
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Quote:
OK, put in your tough scrubs, pick out a couple of their better players, and triple team them with tough man marking. Please? |
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05-03-2005, 01:07 AM
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#21 | |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Here and There
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Quote:
It is weird. I would think irl, that clubs would already have their budgets set by then, since they'd want to be prepared for the opening of the transfer window. I'd like the wage allowance, and expectations, to adjust as soon as your final position in the league is known. I see you still ignore my excellent advice on getting a DMC with good heading. We need a tsk, tsk emote.  FWIW, here's a nice tool that allows you to see advanced statistics on each one of your players. It adds a panel display to the player's Personal Profile. I figured it might be up your alley. http://www.sortitoutsi.net/index.php...le&fileid=3560 Also FWIW, through that tool I discovered that my good heading DMC was averaging 5 headers a match, equal to my best defender, while good old Rochemback averaged <2. |
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05-03-2005, 07:00 AM
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#22 | |||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
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I'm not so much ignoring it, as I'm going with needs. You have to agree that I had bigger needs elsewhere on the field. I went with what I thought would help the team. Granted, I went overboard with strikers, but that's just me, I like offense Quote:
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... Last edited by FrogMan : 05-03-2005 at 07:01 AM. |
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05-03-2005, 09:05 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 9, 2011
Friendly Match #1: we play Luton Town at Kenilworth Road. They're now a very average League Two team, so far removed from the team I left many moons ago... And this game shows how far this team I used to call my own is from the team I now call my own. We crush them 6-0 on a goal from Ross McCormack (12'), and two goals from Igor Nadal Lázaro (35', 45') in the first half and two goals in the last 5 minutes of the game. These two goals were from Li Tie (85') and Andrew Johnson (88') who simply kicked it toward the goal from 35 yards out. The 6th goal was an own goal that one of their defenders scored while trying a wild clearance. We outshot them 14(9) to 3(0) on the game... Li Tie is named Man of the Match with a rating of 9. He completed 38 of 39 passes, 6 of them key passes. Not one player played more than 45 minutes. 6 other players had ratings of 8. Anthony Vanden Borre got to the team in very bad shape and only played 30 minutes. Still, he completed all of his 33 passes, not bad! July 12, 2011 Li Tie is called up to the Republic of China squad for the Asian Nations Cup. A bit like César Augusto Fawcett, he'll miss most of the preseason play since that cup runs from July 17 to a possible final on August 6. July 13, 2011 Jeppe Lund Curth resumes full training following his broken arm suffered during his last international appearance. I offer a contract to Tom Howell. He wants $31k per week with a signing fee of $650k, a minimum fee release clause at $15M and a yearly wage rise of 15%. Bruno Conti still believes he has a lot to learn and recommends a weekly wage of $23k. I offer him $24.5k and leave the rest unchanged. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-03-2005, 09:06 AM
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#24 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 13, 2011
We play Anderlecht at Loftus Road and it's another dandy. The halftime score is 1-0 after Ross McCormack scored another goal, this time coming out of nowhere to pick up a headed center from Clemens Fritz and converting it in the go ahead goal in the 16th minute. At the half, we're outshooting them 9(6) to 1(0) and completely crushin them in possession with 67% split 6-27-34. I don't know Anderlecht so much in terms of club strength compared to the rest of Europe, but they were ranked 91st in the latest rankings (to our 116th rank) so they should be at least decent, yet we're crushing them so far. And we had a bit more in the second half, as Andrew Johnson scores one from close range with no angle int the 46th minute, and Quincy Owusu Abeyie closes the game with our third goal on a nod from Ben Watson. Final Score is 3-0 with us outshooting them 14(9) to 4(1). Ben Watson is named Man of the Match with a rating of 8. Clemens Fritz also received a rating of 8. Andrew Johnson suffered some bruised ribs in the game and will miss three days. Following the game, I decide to send my scout Mel Johnson all over England to bring me names of players 20yo or younger. I will try to find a bargain youngster or two to sign with the transfer money we've been given, as $3.2M is probably not enough for me to make a real splash and bring in a guy that would make a difference. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-03-2005, 09:11 AM
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#25 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 15, 2011
I offer to loan Luca Maioli from Chelsea until the end of the season. We'd pay 20% of his $31k wage, or $6.2k per week. He is currently transfer listed and they're only asking $5.4M for the right winger valued at $12.5M. Granted, a lot of that high value is inflated by the fact that he plays for Chelsea, but still I liked what I saw from the kid during the time he spent with us and if I pull a sale or two, I might be tempted to bring him in to be the heir apparent to Clemens Fritz on the right wing... Tom Howell puts pen to paper on a lucrative 3 year deal worth $3.6M. I like Tom and feel he gives us a solid backup at both the left winger and left full back positions. July 17, 2011 Southend want goalkeeper Paul Davies on loan for three months. They'd pay 100% and he could be recalled. I accept their offer and if anything serious ever happens to Kasper Schmeichel, I'll recal Davies from his loan. Everton are the only one to offer $400k for Darren Evans after I had proposed that deal to a number of team... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-03-2005, 09:39 AM
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#26 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Inland Empire, PRC
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i picked up roche on a free transfer i believe...
it allowed me to sell jarosik for $7m. also, how many striker/forwards would you keep on your team? your main formation is the 4-1-2-1-2 (or 4-0-3-1-2 or rarer yet 4-0-4-0-2) depending on health/mood. after getting a 2 goal lead and in the 70th minute or later, i'll go to a 5-x-x-x-1 or 4-5-1ish type formation... my team primarily plays in a rotation-system to avoid severe fatigue related issues and to keep people fresh. |
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05-03-2005, 09:48 AM
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#27 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Inland Empire, PRC
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regarding the loaned-out players...
i started doing that in the july 2k5 (second season) to set them to be recalled... and a good thing as my left fullback got hurt for 4-6 months. i recalled the D/RLC back and he played exceedingly well for me... at 1/10th the value of bridge. |
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05-03-2005, 11:34 AM
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#28 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 18, 2011
Friendly Match #3: we play Ajax at Loftus Road. Right before the game, I decide to offer a contract to Mathew Sadler who is currently on a month-to-month contract with us. If I could get him to sign to an affordable contract, he'd make a reasonable backup to César Augusto Fawcett and Tom Howell at the left fullback position. He wants $20.5k per week with a $100k signing fee for a 3 year deal. I offer him what Bruno Conti recommends, which is $15.5k per week, but I make it only a one year deal with only $10k for signing fee. Some players are already showing up as match fit, so I don't even start my whole A team, but they'll play later on in the game. We only score once in the first half (Igor Nadal Lázaro, 3') but we're outshooting them 11(5) to 4(2). Even more impressive is how we're controlling the ball, keeping it for 64% of the first half, split 4-28-34... We add 3 more goals in the second half, without allowing one, it really showed that we had some A teamers on the field in the second half... Jeppe Lund Curth (60'), Andrew Johnson (67'), and Youssouf Hersi all scored in that half. The final score is 4-0 and we outshot them 20(13) to 5(3), wow! Youssouf Hersi is named Man of the Match with a rating of 8. Five other players also got rated at 8. July 19, 2011 Our loan bid for Luca Maioli is rejected. I try again, this time telling Chelsea we'll pay them a $20k fee to loan him. Doubt it'll make a difference, but worth a shot... July 20, 2011 I go "WTF?!?" when I hear Darren Evans' request to be transfer listed. Dang, Everton has put in a bid, I accepted it, sign a dang contract!!! That was until I saw that he had rejected their contract offer, saying he felt it was unacceptable... I'm through with you kid, you are a dumbass and will stay on my reserve squad forever... Oh and I grant you your request, may a team rescue you from me... Paul Davies accepts to go on loan at Southend. Mathew Sadler rejects our first offer. I offer him $16k and a signing fee of $20k, still for a one year deal. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-03-2005, 11:35 AM
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#29 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 21, 2011
Friendly Match #4: we play Sheffield Utd on their pitch. For the first time this offseason, I have Anthony Vanden Borre playing at centreback. I used to play him at right fullback. The first half is a boring 0-0 contest, with us barely outshooting them 3(1) to 1(0). It does pick up in the second half and Keigan Parker scores the only goal of the game on a penalty kick. We win it 1-0, outshooting them 12(4) to 5(1) on the game. It's not a win as impressive as the previous ones, but it's still a clean sheet nonetheless... Andrew Johnson is named Man of the Match, the only player with a form rating of 8. Mathew Sadler rejects our second offer and I break off talks. July 23, 2011 Squad numbers are due today. As always, I like this time of year, and I can't wait to start seeing players on the field with their real numbers, not a sequentially assigned number as they appear during friendly matches... Five of our matches in the first half of the season have been picked up for live television coverage: August 20, vs Tottenham @Loftus Road August 28, vs Fulham @Loftus Road September 26, at Bolton October 29, vs Arsenal @Loftus Road December 4, vs Portsmouth @Loftus Road Nice that four of the five are to be played at Loftus Road... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-03-2005, 11:54 AM
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#30 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 24, 2011
Friendly Match #5: We play Chelsea on their pitch. They show a 4-3-2-1 pyramid-like formation. They're sitting Wayne Rooney out of this one and Ronaldinho is on international duty. James Collins scores on a penalty in the 19th minute to give us a 1-0 lead. Don't know what Collins was doing there kicking a penalty, but hey what the heck. My set piece takers are not really set during preseason play... Quote:
They did score before the end of the half to tie it 1-1. Tied 1-1 at the half, we were holding on kind of well. Possession about even, and shots at 3(2) for us, 4(1) for them. Then it got bad, when I put in my bunch of B teamers and they didn't. See, this is a friendly, let's call it preparatory game. I have this thing that I don't leave anybody in there for more than 45 minutes in a friendly, except if the player really need match fitness and has missed the first few friendlies because of injury. So in came the scrubs... They took advantage of Joe Marshall, my second keeper now, on a shot from 30 yards out in the 47th minute, then they scored again in the 80th minute. After that goal, Marshall is rated at 5... We lose it 1-3 and get outshot 14(6) to 4(2). Compare these shots figures to the ones in the first half and you'll understand that it could have been a much different game with my starters in there for most of the second half. I'm satisfied with that result. César Augusto Fawcett played well for Colombia, creating a goal in their win in penalty kicks over Argentina in the Copa América quarter-final. They are through to the semi final, in which they'll play Brazil. I see that Lee Young-Pyo, a 34yo experienced left fullback that was just recently released by Manchester City, is getting offered a contract. Hrm, he could be wortha shot on a one year deal kind of thing... He wants $17.5k per week and $18k in signing fee for a one yeard deal. Conti recommends an offer of no more than $8.2k per week. I offer him $12.5k with what he wants for signing fee... July 27, 2011 Luca Maioli joins Coventry for a 3 months loan. I've got him on my radar screen and will keep an eye on his whereabouts. César Augusto Fawcett had an ordinary game for Colombia, but they beat Brazil, again in penalty kicks, in their semi final match of the Copa América. They're through to the Final! FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-03-2005, 12:03 PM
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#31 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
It's hard for me to relate to the kind of schedule you face with Chelsea. Maybe someday we'll be in all sort of long Euro competitions, but the schedule we had last season, other than the crazy bit in late December/early January, was kind of easy on the squad. I know I like my strikers to be in as good a condition as they can, and they're the ones who often get the most tired in the course of a game, with my wingers. If that helps you, I'd say I'm pretty happy with having 6 starter quality strikers this season. If we don't any injuries, that will probably lead to players being unhappy, but I'll deal with it. If we only get one injury, they should pretty much all have a peak at playing with the first team at some point... Also, if you got to a one striker formation late in games, then you may need one less on your squad, since it's probably better for you to keep either an extra defender or an extra midfielder... Funny, I never had the reflexe of going 5-4-1, maybe I'll try that when we're getting outgunned, but with the lead late in games... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-03-2005, 12:07 PM
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#32 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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I'm done reporting everything I had written down, this is where I'm at for real.
As I did in the other installments, I should have some sort of positional review of who is who on the squad, with some skill numbers. Don't know when those will be up, at some point before the start of the regular season I guess FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-03-2005, 12:12 PM
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#33 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ashburn, VA
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Geesh.
I'm gone for a day and look what I miss. Great work as usual, FM. Looking forward to reading more!!!/tk
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GO TERPS! https://www.flickr.com/photos/terpkristin https://twitter.com/terpkristin |
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05-03-2005, 12:27 PM
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#34 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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do not, I repeat DO NOT miss a day, unless you have a spare day to catch up afterwards...
I'm joking btw barely... FM
__________________
A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-03-2005, 02:22 PM
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#35 |
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College Prospect
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Inland Empire, PRC
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no kidding...
if i don't get a break aat work (looking around. nervously...) then i don't get a chance to see fofc on tuesday and wednesday and i usually spend about 4 hours on thursday getting caught up on everything with FM and ef27's dynasties and some general threads... Roommates, anyone? |
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05-03-2005, 04:40 PM
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#36 | |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Here and There
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Quote:
I had no choice, he was the only guy under the age of 35 who would sign with my team. The thing with headers on the DMC is that you don't notice how valuable it is until you see it in action. |
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05-03-2005, 06:39 PM
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#37 | ||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
Cool! Another question: did you find him on your own, or did you see him in here and went to sign him? Me, I find pretty much all of my players myself. As I said before I don't like going to FM forums place with all sorts of players, I think it's just not realistic. If you signed him after reading about him in here, I think I should be entitled to some sort of scouting fee. Same applies to Tim btw Quote:
I'll see it for myself one day, or I'll try paying attention when I put Biscan (a natural centreback) in the DMC spot... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-03-2005, 06:42 PM
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#38 | |
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Coordinator
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Here and There
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Quote:
I'd found him in a previous game. The universe of players that fit into my desired system is pretty small, so I tend to remember everyone. Despite there being however many tens of thousands of players in the game, I think there's probably 10-20 "ideals" at each position. |
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05-04-2005, 09:39 AM
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#39 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 28, 2011
Lee Young-Pyo agrees to terms on a one year deal to com play at Q.P.R. We'll have to wait for a decision on a work permit for him. A decision should be made on August 11. I receive a notice reminding of players with contracts expiring in the next 12 months. Quite a few big names for us in this list, with a comment as to what I expect to do...
FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-04-2005, 11:35 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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July 28, 2011
Friendly match #6: we play Rangers in our annual England vs Scotland Rangers match Prior to the game, I set everybody's training to their respective positional training. Rangers show a 4-3-3 formation for the start of this game. Marcus Kelly is pulled in the 16th minute after suffering a minor injury after a challenge from an opponent. Even though we're absolutely dominating play, it takes us 42 minutes to score one, when Ross McCormack scores a lovely goal, heading in a looooooong pass from Danny Shittu. The half ends with us ahead 1-0 and we're outshooting them 8(2) to nothing, NOTHING! We keep our on field dominance in the second half, scoring to more goal. First in the 77th minute, when Andrew Johnson scores off the rebound of a shot from Igor Nadal Lázaro, then in the 82nd minute, when David Marek Rozehnal jumps over a crowd to head in a corner kick from Ben Watson. The game ends in a 3-0 win for us, but it goes beyond the score. We outshot them 22(9) to nothing, NOTHING!!! We had 65% possession on the game, split 8-24-33, but even more impressive, we had 70% in the second half, with mostly our B teamers in there. The split in that second half was 5-26-39... wow. Clemens Fritz is named Man of the Match with a rating of 8. He had 10 runs past opponents in only 45 minutes of play. Ross McCormack, Ben Watson (who's playing pretty well this preseason) and Andrew Johnson all got ratings of 8. Turns out Marcus Kelly suffered a bruised shin. He will miss 5 days, so should miss our next friendly on the 31st, but should be ready for the Community Shield game against Liverpool. July 30, 2011 César Augusto Fawcett played a good but not great match for Colombia, eventually pulled out in the 62nd minute, but the most important is that Colombia won the Copa América final 1-0 over Paraguay. WOOT! I league having winners on my squad Li Tie played well (8) and scored a goal for China as they lost in penalty kicks to Iraq in the quarter final of the Asian Nations Cup. Hrm, kind of odd, but I never associated Iraq with Asia... I guess that's where they fit, it just never connected in my mind... FM PS: Next up today, position by position squad reports...
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-04-2005, 11:44 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Team Overview: Goalkeepers
Kasper Schmeichel had a good season for us last year. He's not a world class keeper, but he kept us in games more often than he let us down and he's still kind of young for a keeper. With the state of our transfer budget right now, we can't afford a world class, difference maker keeper. If a sale or two happens, or if our chairman calls for even more high-profile, I might start looking for a killer keeper... Paul Davies just left us for a three month loan leaving the backup spot to Joe Marshall who was one a promising keeper, but is now simply a keeper. Wayne Alexander is said to have a bright future, but it remains to be seen if he'll ever pan out... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-04-2005, 11:47 AM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Team Overview: Centrebacks
Danny Shittu remains the rock in the middle of our defense. He just turned 30 though and will probably have to be replaced at some point, but for now, he still has his starting spot as long as he's not injured. Coming back for a second season are the two old boys acquired a season ago, David Marek Rozehnal and Igor Biscan. They both played well last season but will probably lose some playing time to newly acquired James Collins. I like Collins and feel he was underperforming at Nottm Forest and hope he can step up his play with us, as he has about all the skills you want in a good centreback. Rounding up the group is another new acquisition in Anthony Vanden Borre, who slated more to be our starting right fullback, but could be moved to center if need be. Darren Evans and Matthew Bates, who both used to be regular members of our starting lineup only two seasons ago, will only be used in case of a severe rash of injuries... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-04-2005, 11:52 AM
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#43 | |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ashburn, VA
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Quote:
Actually with the number of 15's I see floating around his chart, I'd call him titanic at least (that's 2 full levels above world class). /ht reference /tk
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GO TERPS! https://www.flickr.com/photos/terpkristin https://twitter.com/terpkristin |
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05-04-2005, 12:00 PM
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Team Overview: Fullbacks
César Augusto Fawcett has yet to play one game with us, but he's already tagged as the starting left fullback, no messing with that. Tom Howell, who did pretty well in that spot all last season, will back him up. Anthony Vanden Borre, another newcomer, is slated to start in the right fullback spot, giving us to strong defenders on the sides. Keith Keane manned the right side for us last season, but he has left for Wolves when I failed to make him an offer in the last week of offseason. Looking at Craig Crane though, I'm questioning the move of even signing Keith Keane a season ago. I mean, the kid has about everything you'd ask for in a fullback. I'll make sure to give him more playing time this season. Three deep on the depth chart, you have Lee Young-Pyo (or Young-Pyo Lee) who's waiting to hear about his work permit and he'd backup Howell and Fawcett, and John Davies, who's impatient to play full time, but at 19 still has a lot to learn before being a regular first-teamer. Mathew Sadler is on a month-to-month contract and refused to sign any discounted contract. He'll be let go if Young-Pyo's work permit is granted. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-04-2005, 12:00 PM
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#45 | |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Quote:
LOL! FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-04-2005, 02:16 PM
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#46 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Team Overview: Inner Midfielders
Youssouf Hersi and Fábio Rochemback are back as the anchors of our 4-1-2-1-2 formation, playing both "1" spots. Ben Watson has been playing really well this preseason and is getting restless of not getting enough playing time. We'll see how the schedule shakes out, but I may alternate between him and Hersi at the AMC position when we'll have midweek games. Li Tie was signed with the implied designation of backup to Rochemback. Hopefully, he won't get pissed off at the lack of playing time if (hopefully) Rochemback stays healthy, since he was a starter with Everton most of last season. Next, I like Chris Chapman a lot, mostly because he seems to play just as well in the middle as in the left wing spot, making him a perfect backup for Marcus Kelly, our starting left winger. Signed a couple seasons ago from Luton for a mere $12k, he's developped very well and hopefully could keep on learning while ovvasionally playing some with the first team... Anthony Vanden Borre's name seems to appear just about anywhere on our side of the centerline, and he is indeed multitalented. I wouldn't hesitate to use him in the DMC spot if we needed him too, either as a starter or in game... I've use Igor Biscan in the DMC spot a few times in the past and he's down quite well, he's now kinda low on the depth chart though. Marc Bircham has really slipped down the depth chart, but I think I could trust him to take a spot on the field if we ever found ourselves in a bind. Finally, we have a few players who could play the AMC spot, or any midfield spot, in Matt Cross, Scott Donnelly, and Nathan Jameson. FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-04-2005, 02:18 PM
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#47 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Team Overview: Wingers
While the left wing was well covered by Marcus Kelly a year ago, we improved the right side immensely with the signing of Clemens Fritz in the second transfer window. Hopefully his 30yo legs will carry him a little longer, so we can get a couple more seasons out of him. Tom Howell is backing up Kelly on the left, while I'm not even sure that our usual right winger backup, Matt Cross, would instantly get the starting spot should something happen to Clemens Fritz. I'd be more tempted to play Anthony Vanden Borre in that spot, to be honest. Cross' development has kind of stopped, which is sad. He looked so promising early on in his career, but seems destined to be a good, but not great winger. At the level we're now up to, it's not gonna cut it anymore. I have listed Ben Watson in there since he's currently being retrained to add an "AM R" position to his possible positions. I'll let you know how this works out, but I think he's got some descent skills that could at least make him a good backup winger, as he demonstrated in the FA Cup Final, when he came to replace Clemens Fritz in the second half and was rated at 7. Chris Chapman, as mentioned in the inner midfielders report, is a choice backup to keep on the bench, because he can act as much as a middie, as a winger backup. We'll see how he fits with us this season. Peter Carter was the one graduate from our youth program of a year ago that I decided to keep. We'll see how he develops this season... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-04-2005, 02:20 PM
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#48 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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Team Overview: Strikers
Newcomer Ross McCormack steps right in as one of the two starting striker spot, taking the automatic starter spot away from Jeppe Lund Curth. Then it's unclear who will step up to play next to him. My guess is it will be a rotation of many things. We do have some pretty good depth at the striker position, at least I think so. I loved how Igor Nadal Lázaro played for us last season and hopefully, he's got some more growing up to do, which could make him an even better striker. Jeppe Lund Curth, who used to be my automatic #1, has turned his back on us. He still has one year left on his contract, but it's clear he wants to jump ship. Maybe I could try renegotiating him, but I feel like we don't really need to, as we got some very decent options to take over his spot and if there are any takers for him on the transfer market, I'll be more than happy to listen to them. Andrew "AJ" Johnson is slowly developping and is showing signs that he could eventually be an all star for us. I'm happy to let him learn a bit more, but he's looking to become a good all around striker. Quincy Owusu Abeyie was a nice signing this offseason. He's got what you want where you want it for a striker, other than the fact that my 15 months old can jump higher than him, but I'm okay with that. In fact, he reminds me a lot of Jeppe Lund Curth, but with a little less creativity and better heading skill. Keigan Parker is the old man in this relatively young group and he could be on his way out. He didn't show as good a spark last season as he did the year before that, in the Championship, when he kept scoring goals at will. He's also not up to the skill level of the other five. His contract is also ending and I may move him before Christmas comes to town. Matt Cross is our deep backup and we had to use him at the striker position last year. He usually does not so bad in that spot when asked to play striker. Justin Wall is an enigma. He started developing well when an injury hit him and he sort of stopped. Currently on loan, he even asked me to transfer list him, while he was injured. We'll have to see what happens with him... FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-04-2005, 02:20 PM
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#49 |
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Hattrick Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada
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That about does it with the team overview segments. As usual, if you have comments about the team, let them fly. I'm looking forward to this new season and don't see why we shouldn't have a season at least as good as our first season in the Premiership, even though it'll be hard to do better than to win the FA Cup... I mean, the squad has been improved in a quite a few spots, and we now should be out of the startstruck situation that hit us a few times last season when we played big games on tV more often than we've ever been used to before.
This season brings a new twist too, with a presence from the Rs in the Euro Cup, which will bring us to play outside of England a little. As I said, if you have comments, players you like, players you hate (for whatever reason ), spots you think could use some improvement, etc, feel free to post them. I like reading outside views about the team FM
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A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog... |
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05-04-2005, 02:33 PM
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#50 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Ashburn, VA
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Just to keep my mind straight, all this reporting (on positions) is as of early August, 2011, yes?
It's really neat to look back and see how the team has developed from when you took the reigns with the Rs. /tk
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