Shaolin Landfills HT Dynasty

[BillyNYC]

At GoldenEagle's recommendation, I guess I'll add to the wealth of dynasties here. No clue how much I'll keep up with it, but figure I'll give it a go. Some of my team's issues are going to be quite different from most, so might be a good read (or be totally irrelevant and boring). I leave that to you.

Never done anything like this, so bare with me (any advice/feedback welcome....)

The basics
Shaolin Landfills (8076)
Country: USA
Region: New York City
Arena: The Swamp (60,250)
Series: Major League
Supporter club size: 2899


Current standings
Team Played Goals Points
1. Red Star Belgrade 5 14 - 3 11
2. Drunk&Disorderly 5 13 - 4 11
3. Slashers FC 5 14 - 12 9
4. Kansas City Wizards 5 11 - 8 8
5. Indy Racing Athleti 5 12 - 10 6
6. Shaolin Landfills 5 7 - 9 5
7. Minute Men 5 4 - 15 4
8. AYSA Express 5 2 - 16 1

[BillyNYC]

The Players
Keepers
Steffen Riedel
1 405 000 US$, 21 years, solid form
Has inadequate experience and inadequate leadership abilities

Keeper: outstanding

Ola Vintermar
469 000 US$, 25 years, excellent form
Has weak experience and inadequate leadership abilities

Keeper: solid

Defenders/Wingbacks
Krita Mae Noi
2 038 000 US$, 28 years, solid form
Has outstanding experience and inadequate leadership abilities

Stamina: excellent Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: solid Passing: wretched
Winger: solid Defending: brilliant
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: weak

Stefan Wennling
4 665 000 US$, 23 years, inadequate form
Has weak experience and poor leadership abilities [Quick]

Stamina: solid Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: wretched Passing: wretched
Winger: poor Defending: titanic
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: weak

Kenneth Flodgren
168 000 US$, 24 years, excellent form
Has weak experience and poor leadership abilities

Stamina: excellent Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: weak
Winger: wretched Defending: excellent
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: weak

Wings
Bo Hägersjö
1 344 000 US$, 20 years, solid form
Has poor experience and poor leadership abilities

Stamina: excellent Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: formidable Passing: passable
Winger: outstanding Defending: wretched
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: disastrous

Mats Fermblad
14 000 US$, 36 years, passable form
Has formidable experience and solid leadership abilities

Stamina: solid Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: passable
Winger: passable Defending: wretched
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: disastrous

Inner midfielders (and trainees)
Lave Kyhlen
4 531 000 US$, 23 years, wretched form
Has passable experience and inadequate leadership abilities [Unpredictable]

Stamina: excellent Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: extra-terrestrial Passing: weak
Winger: poor Defending: wretched
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: poor

Anders Lundgren
3 657 000 US$, 22 years, excellent form
Has poor experience and wretched leadership abilities

Stamina: excellent Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: world class Passing: wretched
Winger: poor Defending: poor
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: wretched

John Larsson
3 050 000 US$, 20 years, excellent form
Has poor experience and wretched leadership abilities [Technical]

Stamina: excellent Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: world class Passing: poor
Winger: inadequate Defending: weak
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: poor

Olaf Methi
725 000 US$, 19 years, inadequate form
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities [Unpredictable]

Stamina: solid Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: outstanding Passing: poor
Winger: poor Defending: weak
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: poor

Milton Taylor
1 707 000 US$, 20 years, passable form
Has weak experience and poor leadership abilities [Technical]

Stamina: passable Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: brilliant Passing: inadequate
Winger: inadequate Defending: wretched
Scoring: passable Set Pieces: poor

Strikers
Mats Thorbrant
2 607 000 US$, 22 years, weak form
Has weak experience and passable leadership abilities [Technical]

Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: weak
Winger: inadequate Defending: weak
Scoring: supernatural Set Pieces: poor

Lars Törnen
1 259 000 US$, 24 years, poor form
Has poor experience and passable leadership abilities [Head]

Stamina: excellent Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: weak
Winger: poor Defending: inadequate
Scoring: magnificent Set Pieces: poor

Olli Gooch
335 000 US$, 25 years, passable form
Has poor experience and poor leadership abilities

Stamina: solid Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: passable
Winger: weak Defending: weak
Scoring: formidable Set Pieces: passable

[BillyNYC]

Last Cup Match
0-3 win at !Vengeance Is Mine!. VIM put up an outstanding midfield in their previous cup match, while my trainees PIC'ing only got solid. Therefore, I needed to improve my midfield for the match.

Playing it normal was NOT an option. I needed to PIC to keep up with my ML opponents spiritwise. Furthermore, altering training was not preferable either. But I had some leeway here. In the last 2 weeks, my 3 inners were my 2 trainees along with my TOP midfielder Lave Kyhlen(extra-terrestrial, but in wretched form. Bad enough that he doesn't start for me on Sundays). However, I didn't HAVE to play Kyhlen in midfield.

So what I opted to do was to play Kyhlen as a WINGER towards center (since I needed to play him SOMEWHERE, so his form *might* improve) and used my current #1 midfielder Lundgren in his place. This improved my midfield by 2-2.5* alone, which I figured was sufficient to get my midfield close to outstanding.

And so it was. My midfield, while still PIC'ing hit brilliant. My opponent matched that, but my D and strikers were MUCH better, so was a comfortable win.
!Vengeance is Mine!
Player rating and Team formation
Midfield: brilliant
Right Side Defence: solid
Central Defence: solid
Left Side Defence: inadequate
Right Side Attack: excellent
Central Attack: excellent
Left Side Attack: solid

Shaolin Landfills
Player rating and Team formation
Midfield: brilliant
Right Side Defence: outstanding
Central Defence: brilliant
Left Side Defence: magnificent
Right Side Attack: inadequate
Central Attack: formidable
Left Side Attack: outstanding

NEXT Cup match
Next week, we face a IV team named Darkhorse. They have a MUCH worse midfield than VIM, but a better attack. Today, their ratings:
Darkhorse
Player rating and Team formation
Midfield: excellent
Right Side Defence: passable
Central Defence: passable
Left Side Defence: inadequate
Right Side Attack: formidable
Central Attack: solid
Left Side Attack: excellent

If I play the same lineup as today, I should be able to PIC and advance, barring some really bad luck. Hoping some Major League opponents start to lose, so they can't PIC anymore, so my spirit would be higher, which helps me in future matches.

[BillyNYC]

Short term concerns
1. Lave Kyhven: my superstar midfielder, who went up to extra-terrestrial in playmaking 2 weeks back. His form has plunged to wretched, meaning he's not even good enough to start for me. He gets about 3-3.5* in current form, as compared to probably around 7* in passable/solid form.

I want to sell him. I can't really train him much past where he's at without his wages KILLING me (they're already close to $50,000/week) and I have good enough midfielders to not need him. This can be shown by last week where he hasn't even played in the starting lineup, and my team's put up a utopian (one level below divine) midfield.

He's listed for $9M, which is comparable to the few Swedes of similar ratings, but his form will likely scare off any buyers. So he's an albatross around my neck until his form goes up. I can't sell him (unless I want to for considerably less than he SHOULD go for). I can't start him. I can't do anything with him. He'll likely play as a wing towards middle in Cup matches until his form goes up enough for him to start on Sundays.

2. Other form. My top 3 strikers have weak/poor/passable form, respectively. My attack sucks (compared to ML standards...) as a result. I will NOT train general, and hope it'll improve.

3. Survival: Am in 6th, 1 pt up on 7th. This is VERY uncomfortable, especially with my next 4 matches being against RSB and KC. If I beat Minute Men last week, would've been a very safe 7 pts up on 7th. But due to being upset (despite winning midfield by 6 levels), my very survival in ML is at stake.

Medium and longer term concerns
1. Training: my trainees are getting older, and I'll need to replace them with younger guys soon. Do I buy 17/solids (who will take longer to train to a startable level) or spend possibly more to buy 19/outstandings or similar? I don't know

2. Looking out for #3: I consider KC and Slashers to still be the top 2 teams in the US. My medium term goal is to be #3. D&D's success is not a concern, because it APPEARS he's training general to get amazing form. The same appears to be true of RSB. Neither has any good under-20 players, and both have high form, which leads to my assumption. As such, I don't consider either to be a long-term competitor.

Possible competitors longer term (behind KC and Slashers) are: Minute Men (and their American midfield, which is impressive), KOTA (and their defense...), Cyclones (and his attack...), and Indy Racing (also training attack I think). I continue to follow the progress of these 4 teams, as I view them as my main competitors in the future.

3. Rule changes: experience will matter more and so will passing perhaps. I sold off 2 of my national team players in the offseason, so my team is very young (which is good), but inexperienced (potentially bad). My wingback Krita Mae Noi has outstanding experience, and is the Thai national team's best defender. So that will improve. But he's 28, and needs to be replaced in a season or two. No other starters have about passable experience. My next batch of midfield trainees might likely be from smaller countries, so they get experience on U-20 teams...

[DukeRulesMAB]

This is really cool; thanks!

Pretty much all of the dynasties on here right now are of the same type: Div IV/V teams that have been picked up in the last 3 seasons. In fact, most of them are Div V teams that are still trying to get their feet under them (like me ).

This is a completely different and unique perspective. Seeing the Cup as being necessary solely for the ability to PIC (as opposed to most of us who desperately need the cash), players of high talent, etc. Though the outlook is not unlike what many of us face: praying our form gets better.

Anyway, this is cool. Thanks!

[PilotMan]

I have to add that no matter how often you update it, it will be very interesting as we have no idea how an upper level team is run. Also, it is a great tie in, and makes the ML closer, and more interesting. Keep it up.

[Havok]

I agree, this will help alot of people, Me espically

Its good for us newbie's to see what its like in higher Divisons. Now if only we can get TP and Apoc to do Dynasty reports

[GoldenEagle]

Great read so far Billy. Thanks for putting this together for us.

[Blade6119]

just look at those stats on his players.....his back-ups would be a dream for me..one day...one day!!

oh...and if you want to post about the cup match you faced me and how i put up such a great showing...please feel free to embelish it a little!!

[BillyNYC]

Thanks for the positive responses...

It looks like there's much interest in the "ML mindset" versus a IV/V team. So figured I'd go into some detail about how I treat certain aspects of HT, as far as my team.

The Cup
I do not remember for sure, but I think my team has played 1 HOME cup match in my team's 6+ year history. Nowadays as an ML team, the earliest it's even POSSIBLE to have a home cup match is the quarterfinals (since ML teams are seeded 1-8. So if all advance, we'd play each other in QFs), and it's more likely that a home match wouldn't be until semifinals. So, looking for a home sellout in the Cup isn't an issue.

Bluntly, neither's the money. I have a guy on the transfer list for 9M, and most anyone I'm buying or selling will cost $2M or more. While road cup teams still get 1/3 of the pot, it's minor. For example, yesterday's sell-out at VIM had an impressive 55,000 fans. It gave me about $100,000. I thought "that's not bad. That'll help a little" and nothing more.

So what's the Cup good for? Training, for one thing. My trainees get added experience in the Cup.

Team spirit for another. I, like almost all ML and II teams, PIC every Cup match for the first however many rounds. My spirit is currently as "Paradise on Earth", which is the max. But it's likely that everyone in ML has spirit around there, since we ALL PIC Cup matches. This is what leads to upsets. But it's a risk we have to take.

Also, if I think I can WIN the Cup, I'd go hard for it. In the last 2 seasons, have been upset early enough that this was never an issue. If I was to advance to the "Round of 16" or so, I'd take the Cup seriously. The Cup itself as secondary to the league.

Speaking of upsets, the other motivation is to avoid being upset by a much lower division team. Let me explain. If you're a fan of a top 10 college football or basketball team, and they get upset on the road and the opponents' fans dance on the court or tear down the goalposts, you'd find it annoying. You'd probably think "hrmph. Enjoy it while it lasts. I won't forget this.". And that's how it is for ML and II teams. When we get upset in the Cup, there's much rejoicing by lower level teams, many of whom say "wow, you beat an ML team! See, they're really not that good! Go you!" This gets annoying in a very similar way to being a Florida fan and watching Ole Miss tear down the goalposts. While Florida might say (and be right...) "it was a down year and a bad game", I might think (and be right...) "I used my trainees and PIC'ed. Can't you see my midfield in my league match was like 8-10 levels higher? Do you REALLY think you're as good as me?

(Sorry if that sounds arrogant. That's just my mindset...)

Money
Similarly, a higher level team's view of money will be much different. Getting 10k from mother club money is a drop in the bucket. So's selling a youth pull for 30k or something like that. As mentioned above, Cup money is similar. Other than my 3rd D, my whole lineup is outstanding and above (as far as primary rating. Like defense for a defender; scoring for a forward, etc). So to buy a brilliant+ guy, it'll cost several million. And while it's possible to sell an outstanding for 2.5M and buy a brilliant for 3M (thus meaning I'd spend "only" 750k), in most cases I try to improve by more than this, so cost to buy a guy are 2M+ usually.

But home league matches ARE important, as the main constant revenue stream. And I get annoyed when it rains and attendance is down compared to "what it should be". This could cost me 100k, which hurts a little. Also, trying to get the most for a player increases in importance, as prices are so high.

Training
Training is the ONE thing that many newer teams don't do "properly", and the MOST important thing to being successful in HT. When I ask someone what they're training, and I find out "I'm training defense. I have 3 of them. And my 28 year old doesn't seem to improve and it's been 10 weeks!", I shake my head.

While I KNOW money is more an issue for smaller teams, I see NO reason for a team to not train around the maximum amount possible (ie. if you're training playmaking, you can play 3 inner mids on Sunday and 3 on Weds, so 6 guys get max training. Same with strikers. Etc.). If you have hardly any money, you can still scoop up a 17 year old inadequate for quite cheap. If you're training only 3 midfielders, you can add 3 more for fairly cheap, and train them up and earn a sizable profit.

This leads into another point.

Friendlies/friendly cups
I don't take part in friendly Cups anymore. My 2nd season, I played in the American Cup, and got to the semifinals. In the last 2 rounds, I used many of my starters because I became competitive and wanted to win. This cost a few of my players some valuable training as a result. And winning a friendly cup is good for bragging rights, but useless to the team otherwise.

Other reasons for not taking part in a friendly cup is the "tear down the goalpost" aspect described above. I play my B team, get beat, and people celebrate. It's annoying . Also, the OPPOSITE reason. I don't like being the bully. I know my trainees/backups are better than many team's starters. Since a friendly cup isn't important to me, and I KNOW it IS important to some people, I don't want to take part and ruin the fun for anyone.

As such, you'll never see me in the FOFC Cup. Friendlies are purely for training (and using scrubs in other positions, so my starters don't risk injury), and I don't want to have the possibility of "wanting to win" a friendly cup as a result.

[vex]

Very interesting so far, keep it up!

[DataKing]

An interesting read. Most of it makes perfect sense when you think about it, but I hadn't considered the "tearing down the goalposts" aspect that you mentioned.

Don't mind the green. It's just envy.

[Eilim]

Nice, thanks for the "ML Perspective", Billy. I fully understand your "Friendly Cup" attitude. While I don't deal with the "tear down the goalpost" syndrome.. I pretty much go through the same thing as far as dealing with my own competiveness and keeping it in check for the long term good of my team. I even go as far as to only schedule international friendlies for the exp boost (a strat that may even pay off given the possible upcoming changes. ) as I've forced myself into the mindset of "Build a long term competitive team".

Oh well, you've been added to my bookmark list and can consider yourself having one more devout fan following your club.. That is till I join you up in the ML in 10 or 12 seasons.

-Eilim

[NAIWF]

While I don't tend to enjoy following the crowd, I will say this has been an excellent read thus far and hope to see it continue. Thanks, good luck in the ML this year, and keep up the good work.

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by BillyNYC
Short term concerns
1. Lave Kyhven: my superstar midfielder, who went up to extra-terrestrial in playmaking 2 weeks back. His form has plunged to wretched, meaning he's not even good enough to start for me. He gets about 3-3.5* in current form, as compared to probably around 7* in passable/solid form.

I want to sell him. I can't really train him much past where he's at without his wages KILLING me (they're already close to $50,000/week) and I have good enough midfielders to not need him. This can be shown by last week where he hasn't even played in the starting lineup, and my team's put up a utopian (one level below divine) midfield.

Oh to have problems like this
"My world class middie has low form"

SI

[AKnightofNi]

My inadequate middie is in poor form, too. I feel your pain.

[robbgmaier]

(shakes head sadly)

I'm afraid you can expect a lot more of this, uh, lack of sympathy, for your troubles Billy, but hey, the smack talk can flow both ways

[BillyNYC]

robb: yes, I expect that, and am fine with it The whole point of this dynasty thing is to show my team's situation/issues/evolution, and I KNOW reading "my extra-terrestrial mid is in bad form" leads to many rolling eyes. That said, it IS a big problem right now. To revisit my Florida example, they lose 4-5 games and go to a 2nd tier bowl and to THEM that's a lousy lousy season. But how many teams nationwide would LOVE to have a season like that?

Point is, standards and expectations increase I suppose. And when I will whine (at some point) about "I only got a titanic midfield this week", it's not being facetious, but rather a real concern.

That being said...

Training update; May 8
Well, Kyhven, the ET (16) midfielder did NOT improve in form. He actually went DOWN some, since his value dropped. Still wretched, but a low wretched. Grrrr.

And he has company. My 2nd striker, Lars Tornen (magnificent; (12)) dropped to wretched also. He won't play Sunday.

But not everything's bad in Shaolinland. My 20 year old trainee mid Milton Taylor moved up a level to magnificent (12). His form also moved to solid.

Other notable form increases: my top keeper Riedel to excellent(!), my 4th mid Methi to solid, my star defender Wennling to passable.

Other notable form decreases: my 3rd D Flodgren to solid

Next match
At first place Red Star Belgrade (RSB). Last season, my Landfills swept RSB...but both matches could've gone either way. RSB has to be favored here, but I think the match will be tight. My midfield should be even, or slightly better (even on road). This is helped out by his usual 3rd mid being suspended.

In scouting out RSB, in recent weeks they've played both wings towards center. This means their attack has been focused in the center. I USUALLY play a "balanced back 3", with one wingback defensive and one offensive (so, on the lineup screen, it looks like: defensive-extra inner midfielder-normal-offensive). However, I might change this around. Not certain yet.

My attack's still lousy due to bad form. The most important guy to my attack is my star wing, who's in solid form. My attack on his side will be stronger than the other 2 spots. Need to decide what to do otherwise.

It should be a very tight match...hopefully an injury-free one.

[sterlingice]

robbgmaier: And, of course, he knows we're all just madly jealous of his team anyways. That kind of solace goes a long way

BillyNYC: That said- it's really handy to have vets like you, TP6, and apoc along with our share of vets here to learn from. It gives lots of different perspectives and places for us relative newbies to learn from.

SI

[AKnightofNi]

Hey, BillyNYC, as a less- than-2-week noob, I was wondering if the time to improve to, for example, magnificent by training is the same as to go from inad-passable. IOW, do you expect players to pop after the same amount of weeks of training as I would?

[BillyNYC]

AKnightofNi: training's dependent on age (general rule of thumb is takes 1 week longer per level for every year older), your coach (ie. "a solid coach" trains players faster than "a passable coach", etc), and number of assistants (more assistants helps training; it's arguable about how long).

I'm thinking your question is "does a 20 year old magnif. mid train at the same speed as a 20 year old passable mid?" If everything else is equal (coach, assts), the answer is yes.

[Coffee Warlord]

Technically speaking, the answer to that is yes. The split between levels is identical.

Realistically, no, because your players age over the seasons, and those older players take longer to train. (We're talking about long term, multiple season training here.)

[AKnightofNi]

I understand. Thanks Billy and Coffee.

[BillyNYC]

Woke up from a nice mid-afternoon nap to find under "My team"

YOUR TEAM
FK Sturm raises for Lave Kyhlen

I know what this meant. Clicking the message, I made sure:
FK Sturm offered 90 000 000 kr for Lave Kyhlen and thereby took the lead in the bidding.

Deadline is 2003-05-12 kl. 19.11

That's $9 Million, which is what I was asking for Lave for the last 2 weeks or so. There's no exactly comparable guys on Swedish list, but 9M looks about right. The most similar guy on the list is 25 years (mine's 23) and has no bids at 8M.

So, I get the albatross off my back, and will get at least 8.1M for him (taking out the 10% agent fee stuff).

This will put me at about $10M, which I plan on using to buy an extra-terrestrial+ forward perhaps. In meantime, I *might* buy a magnif. or so striker for tomorrow's match (and sell him shortly thereafter). Not sure yet. Am waiting until after the weekly updates to look around, so that I don't have only 5 logins for the week (ie. if I bought a guy before the update, I'd be way over -500k in debt, so would have 5 logins for the week despite having 8.1M coming in)

Other possibility is to sell off my outstanding keeper and use the proceeds to buy a titanic+ uberkeeper (probably would be the best keeper in ML; possibly in all of US). But my defense is already very good, while my attack is not. So buying a striker will be more useful.

I'm really happy that I didn't cave, which I could've done. I could've just said "enough" and listed him for 7M (or for 0, and he's get bid up to 6-7M or so). But no, I was patient and relisted him 3-4 times, and finally got a 9M bid, even still in wretched form.

By the same token, I won't rush into a buy. I want someone for tomorrow if I can, but if not, it's no rush. I play KC the next 2 weeks, which I consider likely losses. I won't overbid on a guy in desperation. HT is a marathon, not a sprint. Despite my bad league position, I think I'll be fine.

And this is why I don't fear teams that train general. I bought this guy for like 250k and 6 seasons later, sold for 9M. They buy a guy for 3M and 6 seasons later sell him for...maybe 3M. Longterm any team that trains in an area will be better off than one which trains general.

I'll sprint when I need to; but it's still a marathon right now.

[RPI-Fan]

What's that stuff about 5 logins?

[sterlingice]

Decisions, decisions... "hmm... the titanic-uber striker or my outstanding keeper, extra terrestrial striker"

As for the 5 logins rule:
"There´s nothing to keep you from spending money even if your balance is zero. You have a cheque account credit for 500 000 US$ at the bank, but you´re going to have to pay some heavy interest on this borrowed money. If you run up debts amounting to 500 000 US$ you´ll be declared bankrupt and may be forced to leave the Hattrick series system! However, long before you reach the limit your interest costs will have become insurmountable, so stay clear of that limit!"

Basically, once you go $500K in debt, you have only 5 logins before you lose your team.

SI

[NevStar]

Thought you weren't allowed to bid any higher than what would put you at ($200k)?

[BillyNYC]

If you have certain money coming in, you can bid more (ie. If I have 100k, and am selling a guy for 500k and already have a bid, I'd be allowed to bid until 750k I believe. So if I bought the guy before the sale, I'd have -650k for a little while.

Also, I *think* you're allowed to go under -200k as far as hiring new coaches.

[BillyNYC]

So, now it's official:

Date Type Players To/From Price Value then
5/12/2003 Sold Lave Kyhlen to FK Sturm 9 000 000 US$ (4 424 000 US$)

9M, which is what I wanted. This sets up 2 new things for me. Looking at my transfer history:
Total Purchases 69 085 762 US$
Total Sales 76 170 362 US$
Difference 7 084 600 US$

I found that kinda cool. Almost daytraderesque (and admittedly, I did semi-daytrade during season 2; but that would account for maybe 100-200k max...)

Also on the economy page:
Economy
Cash funds: 1 631 352 US$ (9 651 917) US$

Don't think I've ever had that much. Kinda wanted to be up to 10, but oh well

Lave was on my team since the end of my season 1 (I bought him same day as the 1st season ended). This is my 7th now, so he's been here for around 2 years (real-time). Maybe it's the lack of "personality" of players, but I didn't feel terribly bad about it. It's not AT ALL like experiences with Championship Manager where you interact and go through things with your player and feel like you actually impact them.

Maybe that's what i find to be the biggest weakness/flaw to HT. It's just not very immersive. You can browse the lists all you want, but there's not alot to truly do at any time. And when you look for guys, you're just looking at a few bits of numbers (age, rating in the main area, price. That's about it for the most part). It begins to feel "routine", which CM never did to me (and no, I haven't bought the newish CM yet). I guess that's why I enjoy CM more than HT. Other than the community atmosphere (which is quite a plus, admittedly), HT's quite simplistic and gets tedious at times. Wish there was more strategy to it.

Back on topic, that being said, I have about 10M to spend. Will scour for a striker. And a trainee midfielder to replace him in the rotation.

[Havok]

do me a Favor and buy my passable/passable 19 year old Forward for like 250k. I coulds sure use the money, bidding ends tommarrow at 22:57

[Airhog]

I would like to thank you for this dynasty. It provides new insight into how you should try to play. I will admit that at times I dont see the big picture around me. But I think now that I understand that you will not move from division 5 to the ML in a few years unless you get unbelieveably lucky.

[BillyNYC]

Youth pull sold for 97k. Not bad at all. He was 19, passable D, passable PM, passable scoring. Too bad such a combination is essentially useless in HT (or at least one of the skills won't be used I mean).

Last week's league match
RSB 1-1 Shaolin

A tie at the first place Major League team (and thus the current top US team I guess) should be a great result. But it was frustrating anyway. My midfield was *6* levels better (AGAIN! Same levels too. Me utopian; opponent world class), defense slightly worse, attack about even. A match I could've won, but nearly lost.

Let's analyze it a bit. Already talked about midfield. But let's do defense vs. attack:

RSB attack:
Right Side Attack: excellent
Central Attack: brilliant
Left Side Attack: excellent

My defense:
Right Side Defence: brilliant
Central Defence: titanic
Left Side Defence: magnificent

As expected, RSB was stronger in the middle. Thus my 2 central D strategy worked...and yet it didn't. Their one goal was in the middle. So I made the right choice and it didn't work anyway. Oh well.

My attack:
Right Side Attack: inadequate
Central Attack: formidable
Left Side Attack: magnificent

RSB defense:
Right Side Defence: magical
Central Defence: utopian
Left Side Defence: mythical

Due to a suspension of their usual 3rd mid, they played 4-4-2 instead of 3-5-2. This was a bit of a surprise and their D ratings are a result of this. My attack is lousy, other than my one star winger. I consider myself lucky to score at all. However RSB was also lucky to score. A 0-0 result would've made more sense, or 1-1 with event goals. But oh well.

My top midfielder Larsson got stretched off. Out 4 weeks. Eek. Good timing though, since next 2 league matches are versus KC...and matches I consider probable losses. Hopefully Larsson will be back for RSB in 3 weeks (likely; his injury's already dropped to 3 weeks). The loss of training's annoying. He was on pace to turn titanic late next season.

This week's league match
Home to KC. My top midfielder hurt. All-time record against KC is 0-8. I expect that to move to 0-9. My midfield dominance in recent weeks won't happen against KC, especially with my top mid hurt. My D's ok. My attack blows.

Still looking to buy a striker. Hopefully will this week, since I move to Chicago next week. Thus, won't be online for a few days at least.

Tonight's Cup match shouldn't be difficult...but you never know. Still, I'm using mostly starters, other than midfield trainees. And yes, I am still PIC'ing in the Cup. I don't think I will be able to next week...if I get by today

[BillyNYC]

The one area I don't REALLY need help in is D, with my great match ratings there. However, my 3rd D is "only" excellent (which is considerably lower than everything else), so if I saw a good deal, I didn't mind upgrading there. Furthermore I had NO backup D's (my 4th D is inadequate...), so wouldn't have minded making the excellent guy a backup.

Also, with my nearly 10M, I haven't seen anything thrilling on the titanic+ striker front, so a bit less hesitant to pull the trigger.

Trigger pulled.
My new defender, which cost me $3,249,000:

Magnus Nyhling (693243)
25 years, excellent form, healthy

A nasty fellow who is balanced and honest.
Has weak experience and wretched leadership abilities.

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 2 511 000 US$
Wage: 15 936 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Shaolin Landfills
Warnings: 1

Stamina: excellent Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: solid
Winger: passable Defending: magnificent
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: inadequate

Yes he's nasty, but surprisingly, I didn't get any spirit hit from buying him. Wonder if my coach's solid leadership is part of why.

Yes he's 25, which is older than I'd like, but he's obviously young enough for this not to be a big issue right now.

Other side considerations are that with the passable wing, he can play wingback or central D. Also, his solid passing was an attraction, based on the vague HT reference to passing becoming more important for D's. Am hopeful that this will make him even more useful.

Furthermore, this gives me the option of playing a 4-4-2 against KC, if I want to go D-heavy and try to survive.

I think I got a bargain. The guy's Swedish, but was on a Norwegian team. I think this might've made him less "visible", since it's rarer that one can find brilliant+ guys outside Sweden. From the looks of it, 20-22 year old magnif D's with NO side skills are going for around 3.5M+. I paid less, for a guy a little older (but by no means OLD), but with wing and passing abilities. Also, the exc. stamina means no "get tired" event goals.

The current excellent form's a nice bonus. In his last match 2 weeks back, he got 5.5* in central D. My exc. guy was pulling about 3*. So this is a SIZABLE upgrade.

Current main player ratings by position (ie. if a defender, then it's defense rating; if striker, then scoring rating) with the new guy plugged in

Keeper: outstanding-solid
Defender: titanic-MAGNIFICENT-brilliant-excellent
Winger: outstanding-passable (no real 2nd wing...)
Midfield: world class-world class-magnificent-outstanding (with one of the world class's hurt for 3 weeks)
Striker: supernatural-magnificent-formidable

So other than 2nd wing, assuming decent form, my whole lineup is outstanding+. Of course, my strikers have crap form, and I might use some (all?) of my remaining $6.5M or so to buy another striker.

[sterlingice]

Why not get a second winger to plug that hole?

Now, I don't really know about guys up at the level you're looking at, but for most of us who shop in the ** to *** per game, range, wingers are about the cheapest position to fill. I got my solid winger/passable pm/solid stamina one for well under $100K. You can find ones with good secondary skills for less than $200K if you want an offensive or defensive winger. That's a lot of bang for your buck.

SI

[Airhog]

I would imagine that a great winger is really expensive, remember they have 4 different skills that they draw from. so that is going to drive the price up alot.

[BillyNYC]

Even at the ML level, a 2nd wing is more a luxury than a necessity. Some teams operate with only 1 wing (with the 2nd spot being a midfielder placed at wing towards middle); some have 0 even. See Red Star Belgrade's recent matches....he's top of ML with no wings really. As long as the center attack is great, a wing attack isn't NEEDED (although it's a nice plus). Plus wing towards middle helps the all-important midfield rating

In my own case, I have one SUPER wing, who I train in playmaking (he plays inner midfield on in Cup/friendlies):

Bo Hägersjö
1 320 000 US$, 20 years, passable form
Has poor experience and poor leadership abilities

Stamina: excellent Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: formidable Passing: passable
Winger: outstanding Defending: wretched
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: disastrous

I've been wanting to get a super "pure wing" (ie. world class+ in wing; doesn't need playmaking), so I can have a super side attack. But they're not readily available. So few people train wings (since there's no real NEED as explained above).

Another consideration with a super "pure wing" is that I might "stack" that wing. Imagine if I had a world class wing on the side, and ALSO had Hagersjo as an inner midfield TOWARDS WING. Add to that, I have a wingback with solid wing, who I play offensive. My attack rating on that side would be insane....which is what I'd want (also, since so few teams have great wings, it's a strategy that would be very unique...). Also, could put my other wing towards middle to help make up for lost possession. I have no clue how well this works, but the idea of overloading a wing is something I find very interesting.

That's a medium-term possibility. If I see a great wing out there, I'd be interested. But really, there aren't any right now that strike my fancy.

[Blade6119]

Originally posted by BillyNYC
My attack:
Right Side Attack: inadequate
Central Attack: formidable
Left Side Attack: magnificent

Wow...i beat a ML team in something...god bless my passable right side attack!!

[DukeRulesMAB]

That totally makes sense...nearly no one trains wingers, so better than excellent on the wing must about the rarest thing in the entire game. Better at that point to just get a great inner with some wing rating and play him toward the middle.

Interesting how that works, as "good" wingers on the level most of us are at are a dime a dozen.

[Alf]

Originally posted by sterlingice
I got my solid winger/passable pm/solid stamina one for well under $100K.
SI

That SI is called a steal. I have been looking the market this last couple of days for an offensive winger (solid winger/passable passing) and there aren't any in yhe $100K price range...

[RonnieDobbs]

I agree with Alf. I've been looking for that winger SI got for that same price for at least 3 weeks with no luck. It always gets expensive once you get to solid winger or solid PM.

Billy- this dynasty is awesome, and gives me a much needed perspective on my own actions down in V.47.

[sterlingice]

You know, this almost makes me want to train wings. I would if both wings and wingbacks trained normally but, geez: it's wingers (wingbacks) so you just can't justify only fully training 4 guys a week.

SI

[BillyNYC]

My strategy with the transfer list is like that of an NFL GM: I have needs and want to fill them, but if I can't, then I'll take the best available player and work around it.

So it is that somehow I have bought my 2nd defender in the last few days, even though D was already fairly strong. No cheap strikers, no wings that interested me.

In this case, being "around the international HT community" paid off. While on #hattrickint (on undernet IRC), found out there was a scandal in Romania, where the top team was locked, then unlocked and fined a large amount. This made the owner cranky and he quit and listed most of his team (it also angered the Romanian HT community, as they felt he was treated very unfairly, but that's not important here...).

So I knew that he listed his players, and since he was the top team in Romania, close to 50* or whatever, I checked. At the time the players expired, I was awake (7 AM eastern US time; I sleep weird hours. I was NOT up just to buy a player...although I did that once or twice in earlier seasons).

With 20 mins to go, the player had a bid of $5M, by an AMERICAN daytrader (a team I wasn't aware of; but he's a massive daytrader, and obviously most IV teams in US don't have 5M to splash around). Shortly thereafter, the bid went to 5.1, by Inter Stihm (owned by DrDDD, the Swedish national team coach!). I upped it to 5.2 and went to sleep (10 mins before he expired). No bidding wars for me. Inter would up my bid and I wouldn't get him. If I SOMEHOW did, would be a deal.

Woke up and my bid survived. The following is now mine:

Mikael Pettersson
3 988 000 US$, 23 years, inadequate form
Has inadequate experience and weak leadership abilities

Stamina: solid Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: weak
Winger: passable Defending: supernatural
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: weak

For 5.2, that's a good price. Supernatural D's are going for close to 6 nowadays. In fact, the SAME PLAYER was sold TO the romanian team for 5.6 six weeks ago. Prices haven't deflated particularly, so to get a guy for 400k LESS than was paid six weeks back makes me happy.

So now, my D is:
titanic, SUPERNATURAL, magnificent, brilliant, excellent.

I might play 4-4-2 for the next bit, until I decide which one I'd want to sell. In mean time, this guy will help my D even more. I won't beat KC tomorrow probably, but he's going to have a hard time scoring more than 1-2 on me.

[robbgmaier]

anymore info on the "scandal"?

[BillyNYC]

Not really. His press announcement is in Romanian and English. The English says:
"Last access for manager Dobrin from this amazing game! It is an alarm semnal against those GM with unlimited power. Thank you."

I take that to mean he quit based on what he viewed as excessive actions by GMs against him. I don't know all the facts (presumably only the GMs do; and they have a policy of not discussing matters), and I can't read the Romanian conf., since I don't speak Romanian.

Am unaware of the details, as I've said, but GMs make mistakes too. They're human.

[BillyNYC]

FYI, haven't abandoned this or anything. Moved to Chicago 2 weeks back and have been getting everything settled. Should have DSL by the weekend and then can fully explain ummm...way too many losses. Ugh...

[BillyNYC]

Will make a few more posts to catch up and explain my strategy in past matches (in the 3 weeks since I moved and have been away), but will comment on today first.

This was a match that in no way, shape, or form should I have won. Was 4 pts out of 6th place, with a US Cup quarterfinal at apoc coming up. I decided that I was going to PIC. The reason was 2 pronged:
1. Gets spirit high for apoc
2. Gets spirit high for a banged up Slashers team next week; I figure Minute Men would beat me today and my only chance would've been to catch IndyRacing (which I thought was possible, since I play him the last match of the season; and was only 4 pts behind).

So I PIC'ed AND rested 2 of my stars who had 2 yellow cards (wanted a full team for Weds. with no suspensions). So Wennling (the titanic D in exc. form, who churned out 7.5* as a D wingback last week) and Hagersjo (the outstanding wing) rested.

Played a strange 3-5-2, with one wing towards center and the other DEFENSIVE (the D wing is my usual wingback; brilliant D rating). Nonsymmetic defense, with 2 center D's and 1 D wingback (on the other side from the D wing). Hoped for a lucky draw...expected to lose by 3-4 goals.

Won 0-1. To my absolute shock. Yet, the strategy as I drew it up didn't work perfect, as my 2nd midfielder got a red card, so will miss Cup match. Eek. But now I'm 1 pt behind BOTH Minute Men and IndyRacing. I have a pulse.

Allow me to post something bizarre about my 2 matches with MM. My home match (which I lost 1-2), I thought I was absolutely ROBBED...won midfield by 6 levels, and better elsewhere and lost. Today was the exact opposite...lost midfield by 6 levels, won 0-1.

Here's a look at how my match report ratings compared to MM's in the first match:
Midfield: +6 (ie. my midfield rating was 6 higher than his)
Right D: +4
Center D: +2
Left D: +1
Right attack: +3
Center attack: -5
Left attack: -7
Possession for me: 60% and 58%
Score: Shaolin 1, Minute Men 2

And now today:
Midfield: -6
Right D: even
Center D: -4
Left D: +1
Right attack: -2
Center attack: -5
Left attack: -7
Possession for MM: 58% and 69%
Score: Minute Men 0, Shaolin 1

There's no explanation for either match really...which is a bit disturbing in a way.

[BillyNYC]

Team Played Goals Points
1. Kansas City Wizards 10 24 - 13 21
2. Drunk&Disorderly 10 28 - 12 19
3. Slashers FC 10 34 - 19 19
4. Red Star Belgrade 10 23 - 11 19

5. Indy Racing Athleti 10 21 - 23 10
6. Minute Men 10 11 - 25 10

7. Shaolin Landfills 10 10 - 17 9
8. AYSA Express 10 8 - 39 4

Remaining matches:
SHAOLIN: Slashers, @D&D, AYSA, @Indy
Indy: D&D, @AYSA, @KC, Shaolin
MM: @Red Star Belgrade, @KC, Slashers, @D&D

I like my situation, due to MM's schedule. His final 4 matches against the top 4 teams, 3 of them on the road. Frankly, he might not get another point this season.

Meanwhile, I get AYSA at home, which should be winnable. I also get a banged up Slashers team next week (2 guys hurt; one of his starting wings suspended), with really high team spirit for me. Could potentially steal a game there. (Also notable, Slashers should be healthy for his match with MM...)

Another consideration is that Indy has a winnable match vs. AYSA (and possibly at home to D&D too). If Indy goes up more than 3 pts on 7th place, he'd certainly PIC me the final week, to prepare for the qualification match. So I *could* get a break that way, if it came down to the final week (which it very well might...).

I'm in 7th. But the season doesn't end today. And I like my chances of survival...of course, I'd also have to get through a qual. match, which could be very difficult. Will see.

I don't give myself much chance in the Cup Weds. Apoc's strong...but after the insanity of today, who knows?

[Havok]

will you be playing mostly back-ups vs Apoc??

[BillyNYC]

Since apoc's an FOFC member, I won't reveal my whole strategy here

But, no, can say for sure that I won't do that. Will definitely be starters...as far as what I'll do strategy and match orderwise, I honestly don't know.

It's the quarterfinals of the US Cup; too high stakes to just toss in the towel...

[Havok]

1 more question.... how much prize money do you win for winning the USA cup??