Midseason Updates

[Masked]

In the spirit of the "This week in hattrick" threads, I thought a midseason update thread would be a good chance for everyone to see how others are doing. How have your purchases and trainees paid off, etc.

[Masked]

South Bay Saints midseason report

After winning V.249 last season, the Complex Spikes were renamed the South Bay Saints and promoted to IV.31. The Saints have been more competitive this season than I expected. We are finally financially stable and make a few thousand in profits over a two week period. Our training program has begun producing some cash, and we are very overdue for a good youth pull. For a team that is just over 1.5 seasons old, I am pleased with our situation.

<b>Series</b>
<pre><font face="courier" size=1>
Team Goals Points

1. Terps 25 - 5 21

2. Tikkun 28 - 5 18
3. Thunderchickens 16 - 23 10
4. South Bay Saints 15 - 14 8

5. Fraser Fire 8 - 12 8
6. Clowns 10 - 15 6

7. ToDaMax 8 - 23 6
8. Maples 10 - 23 4

</pre></font face="courier" size=1>

When I first took a look a the series in the offseason, I broke the teams down into three groups. Terps and Tikkun were clearly the elite. Thunderchickens and Fraser Fire looked to be the second group and figured to fight for the other two money spots. Clowns, ToDaMax, Maples, and I figured to be fighting for relegation. At the midpoint, Terps and Tikkun are well out in front, but everyone else is bunched together. Thunderchickens is an old team that has a lot of talent, but doesn't seem to play very well. What I really like are the goal differentials. Holding on to fourth place may be difficult, but I should be able to avoid relegation. The owners of Fraser Fire and ToDaMax appear to have dissappeared. ToDaMax has been slowly slipping in ratings all season, but Fraser still has a strong team.

<b>Fixtures</b>

7/28/2003 (League): Maples - South Bay Saints 2 - 5
8/4/2003 (League): South Bay Saints - Tikkun 0 - 4
8/11/2003 (League): South Bay Saints - ToDaMax 4 - 0
8/18/2003 (League): Clowns - South Bay Saints 3 - 2
8/25/2003 (League): South Bay Saints - Fraser Fire 0 - 0
9/1/2003 (League): Thunderchickens - South Bay Saints 3 - 3
9/8/2003 (League): South Bay Saints - Terps 1 - 2

After a fast start, the Saints have run up against some tougher competition. The upset loss to the Clowns was followed by the game of missed opportunities. The Saints produced 7 good scoring chances but failed on all of them, while Frasier Fire never came close to the goal. Statistically, it was the Saints' best game ever (NSI 69), but the supporters were not pleased. The team rebounded nicely, to earn a draw on the road against Thunderchickens who had, by far, their best game ever (NSI 80).

<b>Cup</b>

7/24/2003 (Cup): Florida Huns - South Bay Saints 1 - 8
7/31/2003 (Cup): Basic City FC - South Bay Saints 0 - 4
8/7/2003 (Cup): lakings - South Bay Saints 1 - 6
8/14/2003 (Cup): South Bay Saints - Rockaway Beach 3 - 2
8/21/2003 (Cup): South Bay Saints - FC Vallejo 2 - 3

The team performed well in the cup advancing one round further this season than last. Vallejo was a much stronger team, but an inspired performance kept it close.



<b>Comings and Goings</b>
9/8/2003 Sold William Isaacs to Panteras Balompie 317 000 US$ (161 000 US$)

William Isaacs was purchased as a 19 year old, inad PM, pass Passing midway through last season and immediately entered the starting lineup. I overpaid for him at the time, but upon reach solid PM last week, he sold for a huge profit. Because he had the lowest playmaking skill of any of my starting inner mids, he was often pushed into the repositioned slot, where we could not make full use of his passing skill. With the development of Toader Popa and the acquisition of two new trainees, it was time for Isaacs to move on.

9/7/2003 Bought Teuvo Kaurismäki from Ristikurko 19 000 US$ (25 000 US$)

Teuvo Kaurismäki (5927095)
32 years, passable form, bruised, but playing
A popular guy who is tranquil and dishonest.
Has passable experience and passable leadership abilities.

Nationality: Suomi
Assessed value: 28 000 US$

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

At first glance, Teuvo may not seem like a significant purchase. Obviously, he will not see much playing time this season outside of friendlies where he will be played at wingback. However, in about one season, Teuvo will be the new head coach of the Saints. One experience pop is all he needs and then for about 650K, I will have a coach that would cost $1,758,500 via an external hire. He will see action in the early rounds of the cup next season to ensure he gets enough experience.

8/27/2003 Bought Carlton Blakely from Fezzifubars 40 000 US$ (73 000 US$)
8/27/2003 Bought Ryszard Laguna from MKS Narew Ostroleka 69 000 US$ (62 000 US$)

Carlton Blakely
81 000 US$, 17 years, solid form
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities

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


Ryszard Laguna
69 000 US$, 17 years, passable form
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities

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

Once prices for 17 year olds dropped to reasonable levels, I went looking for two new trainees. One to replace disappointing 18 yo Mickey Pham and the other to take the spot held by Isaacs (and be a injury replacement). The original plan was to buy only one trainne at the time, but after buying Laguna, I could not pass on Blakely with the good secondaries, high value, and an American. Already having passable stamina, Blakely got his first start in week 7 when his form improved to solid (and Toader's dropped). I expect them to pop to passable very soon given their high values.


8/14/2003 Bought Alain Abeillé from Arkonia Szczecin 137 500 US$ (44 000 US$)

Alain Abeillé
75 000 US$, 29 years, inadequate form
Has weak experience and weak leadership abilities

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

Early in the season, it became clear to management the Saints' offense was not strong enough to compete in division 4. In particular, the second starting forward, Jerry Bartram was strugging against the tougher defenses in IV.31. Due to his nasty disposition, Alain had been become firmly entrenched in Arkonia's coach's doghouse and had seen limited playing time. He started boozing and smoking and saw his form drop to wretched. At that point Arkonia gave up on him, and we snagged him for a relatively low price. Alain was a risk, but his form is slowly rebounding. He has not quite reached the teams expectations but the offense has improved since his arrival.

<b>Outlook for the second half</b>
We open with Terps on the road and are prepared for a second team spirit raising loss. In week 9, we face the third place Thunderchickens at home. With a victory, we can shoot for a third place finish. If we loose, the match the following week on the road vs Fraser Fire is critical. Fortunately, I play both Clowns and Maples at home.

Financially, our situtation is good. We have well over $400K in the bank, and are making a profit over a two week period. Unfortunately, acquring a player who will significantly improve our team will cost nearly $1M - money we don't figure to have for a long time. I am always keeping an eye out for an excellent defender to replace an original Saint, Joseph Downs. I am not sure the 300K upgrade cost is worth it though (cost of exc def - sale of Downs). Downs has solid defending, passable passing. He is 26, near weak experience, but has trouble with form. He has only had passable form for about 3-4 weeks since I got my team. I might be better off swapping him out for a younger solid defender and holding onto my cash. Alain Abeille is also a candidate to be swapped for a younger guy.

The training program is currently in midcycle. My top two midfielders are both 20 years old. Eber Bosoa Rivas is a couple of weeks past excellent, and Dani Mario Araujo is a week or two short. Both will probably hang around until they hit outstanding towards the end of next season. Toader Popa moved into the starting lineup after Isaacs popped and was sold. 18yo Popa has inadequate passing, and is nearly to solid PM. Fellow 18yo, Joonas Vahtramäe should be close to excellent (inad def) but saw his form plummet to wretched after an injury and only has inad stamina. Joonas may replace Araujo if I decide to sell Araujo after excellent or formidable in order to improve my team somewhere else. I have two possession wingers who are at least mid passable in winger, and mid-high passable in playmaking. They also will benefit from the offseason stamina training (both passable).

Complex Spikes Arena (too damn cheap to change the name) holds only 22000 fans and is full if there is no rain. In the offseason, I chose to go with a small expansion, since I figured to struggle more in division 4. With only 3 home games the second half, and still expecting some tough losses (see this Sunday at Terps), I will probably wait until the offseason to expand again.

Feedback always appreciated.

After a million edits, the formatting is finally okay.

[Hobbes-]

Well, I though I'd give this a try even though I'm not sure I can match you bro...

I'm a member of IV.19 (the 2nd best rated division in IV)

The current standings look as follows:

1. zyzzerz 7 29 - 7 21
2. The Mad Huligans 7 23 - 13 14
3. EVillIVE 7 15 - 9 12
4. Fockers 7 14 - 14 10
5. Kix 7 13 - 16 10
6. Gargoyles 7 12 - 18 6
7. SouthPark Cows 7 10 - 19 5
8. Aviators 7 6 - 26 0

Now in order to understand this division at all you need to look at the weekly ratings for the division. Every team gets 70-85 NSI on a consistant basis. Most of us actually get 70-75 every game. I must say that I've been VERY lucky so far this season (knock on wood) and that SPC (lytic) and Aviators (DamnMikeBrown) have been VERY unlucky.

This is a summary of my league matches so far:

1(20) L AWAY SouthPark Cows 33.0* 66 2-2 D
2(20) L HOME 25000 zyzzerz 30.5* 62 0-3 L
3(20) L HOME 18473 The Mad Huligans 33.0* 69 3-3 D
4(20) L AWAY Aviators 33.5* 71 3-2 W
5(20) L HOME 14211 EVillIVE 32.5* 75 1-1 D
6(20) L AWAY Kix 34.0* 70 1-1 D
7(20) L HOME 24421 Gargoyles 32.0* 71 4-2 W

Week one I was pretty much outmatched by the SPC's but somehow managed to tie him. No clue.. everyone hates me I know this.

Week two I PIC'd and actually got lucky because I didn't lose by many goals at all. If you looked at the other matches, I should got torn apart the most, but ended up getting it the least. Go figure.

Week three I pulled one outta my ass and tied again with Normal. I was once again beating in ratings but once again the Fockers came through and got a second tie.

Week four I played the struggling Aves and our stats were pretty similar. I played normal and won.. I think I had the upper hand a little in the stats, but not by much.

Week five I played Evil with normal again. I had been PIC'ing all my Cup matches and stayed in there till round 5 or so .. so my TS was up there. Once again I managed a tie, but this time I actually had a rating 10 higher than Evil. Ah well.. I didn't mind too much I suppose.

Week six was Kix. Once again I played Normal. It was a scoreless game forever. I really didn't wanna lose vs this dude. He scored on me first, but I came back and tied once again. 1-1 final score.

Week seven was a bit of luck.. if you don't call any of the other stuff luck. So I decide to PIC because I didn't really see a chance in beating Gargs at all. The game is tied at 2-2 and my winger gets a 2nd card and is outta the game. I'm like shit.. hoping for another tie, but things turned in my favor and I scored 2 goals and win 4-2. I got my ass kicked in possession, stars, and rating. I guess the only thing going for me was my home field. Maybe it's like the old Vet at Philly?

So here I stand.. Midseason at 2-1-4. With a handful of formidable playmakers and a fairly decent team, but definately not in the top 4 ratings each week. One week I did manage to get the best midfield in the division. That was pretty tight.

I don't see myself winning the Gargs match at all next week. Kix the following week I would like to win. And maybe another tie to the Huligans? But I don't count on that either. I suppose I expect another win vs the Aves, but there's really nothing I can be so sure of. If I beat Kix and Aves that leaves me with 16 points going into the last game vs lytic. I really don't want that last game to be the decider.

Of course I have some trainees I could sell to quickly upgrade my team, but I'm trying to not do that if I don't hafta. At the end of the season, it'd be nice to try and get a 17y playmaker for the U-20 team. I think the Gargs, Lytic, and I are gunning to beat the Kix and get him demoted instead (Since he did sell his whole training program in order to step it up in the division). I hope MikeBrown has that on his mind as well. It definately sucks though. I don't want any of the teams in the series to get demoted truthfully. The teams here are so great. It's nice having 8 active teams in the division.

Regardless of what happens, I do know that I will have enjoyed this season quite a bit. Lets hope the luck can stay on my side and the other teams in my division that read this can get some as well.

Over and out.. Maybe I'll add a little more late after I see what I forgot..

-Hobbes

[lytic]

I hate you.

[vex]

I'm in a strange situation. 2-3 weeks ago I was in 1-2 place, now I'm looking at a qualification match as I'm in 6th place. However, only 3 points seperate the 3rd-6th place teams and every team gets an NSI of 67-72.

[Havok]

click the link below :)

[robbgmaier]

I have a pretty good division V squad. Unfortunatly, I'm a really good division IV league. I'm currently on cruise control, hoping to have back to back undefeated season in V :)

[condors]

after being demoted to div V we are in first place halfway through i been pic for my league matches and tied once(my last game) i plan on taking it to them as they are the 2nd place team this week and get to a passable midfield rating for the first time by the end of the season

[Mr. Wednesday]

Brays Bayou FC Midseason Report:

Current standing: #3 in V.84

Table:
Team Goals Pts
1. Flashotcite 14 - 4 19

2. Go Mart FC 21 - 3 15
3. Brays Bayou FC 14 - 7 14
4. vick tyme's 12 - 5 13

5. Decatur Bengals 9 - 9 10
6. Stingers 8 - 14 7

7. Pullman Cougars 6 - 17 3
8. Couch Potato FC 4 - 29 0

My approximation of team quality:
Go Mart, Flashotcite, (vick tyme's, Decatur, Brays), Pullman, Couch Potato

Match summary (away team listed first for score, stars, and rating):
1) Brays Bayou 1 - 0 Decatur Bengals 22*-24.5* 43-52
2) Stingers 1 - 1 Brays Bayou 28*-23* 46-55
3) Brays Bayou 1 - 1 Flashotcite 24*-26* 46-59
4) Brays Bayou 2 - 1 Go Mart 24.5*-25.5* 46-51 (PIC)
5) Couch Potato 2 - 5 Brays Bayou 22*-23* 43-45 (PIC)
6) Brays Bayou 0 - 1 vick tyme's 25*-23* 48-52
7) Pullman Cougars 1 - 4 Brays Bayou 26.5*-22* 40-50 (PIC)

I stayed afloat in the games against Decatur, Stingers, and Flashotcite by owning the midfield and catching the breaks on attack vs. defense. Then I caught a huge break in week 4 when Go Mart failed to select a full lineup. Playing PIC in a game I figured I had no business winning, I eeked out a 2 - 1 win against a nine-man side. This was offset by the disappointing result on the road at vick tyme's, where Brays had a modest edge in midfield and chances but couldn't finish.

The goaltender training program is paying off, as our ratings have been climbing slowly but surely. An added benefit is that the strengthened defense gives us the chance to experiment with defenders. One of my solid defenders is also a solid scorer, and with the defense ratings solidified I've explored playing him at forward, where he outrates all the pure forwards on my roster.

Cup report:
1) Brays Bayou 4 - 0 Texas FC 19.5*-13* 38-27 (PIC) (bot)
2) Brays Bayou 4 - 0 San Francisco Huns 18.5*-13* 40-28 (PIC) (bot)
3) Sharkie's Team 0 - 4 Brays Bayou 27*-23* 49-46
4) Barbarian Horde 8 - 1 Brays Bayou 35*-19* 69-35 (PIC)

We ran over two bots (what a shocker), got very lucky with a weak demotee from IV without a strong midfield (with his average ratings, he'd be middle-of-the-pack in my series), then got run over by a III squad that was playing it seriously. The big payday from two home matches was a huge help in restoring the club's fiscal health after an offseason coaching change put us in the red.

Comings and Goings:
Brays Bayou has been spending judiciously throughout the season with an eye toward upgrading weak points in the club. Two key sales in the middle of August put the club in the black and provided a critical cash infusion that was used to fill holes at the weakest position in the club, forward.

Youth pulls: Nothing to write home about. Early in the season, Brays Bayou promoted current secondary keeper trainee Alexander Holton from the youth squad. Alexander is a little older than we'd like, and we're looking to sell him early next season, hopefully at a solid rating. Midway through, we promoted Gerald Foreman, a passable defender. Since the club is not training defenders, Foreman was put up for sale. He didn't draw any offers at $40k, but a $30k minimum attracted several interested clubs at a final selling price of $41k.

Sales: The development of trainees Jonas Fabian Brüggemann and Alexander Holton made our incumbent veteran keeper John Oneill expendable. Oneill popped from inadequate to passable while we were doing general training last year, and we put him on the market at $30k. Surprisingly, a bidding war ensued and he sold for $66k (and a later sale brought in some welcome mother club money).

Purchases: Our two forwards were a passable without good set pieces and an inadequate with solid set pieces. They struggled to put up 2* consistently, and we felt improvement was necessary. After an early blunder where an injured player slipped by us below market value, we were able to find value in foreign markets. Jeesus Alkula was purchased in Finland for $11 002 and Thierry Japhet in Switzerland for $22 500. Both players were in bad form at the time, but our scouts felt that they would be passable forwards if given the opportunity to play.

The club made one more purchase after this; as I was browsing the USA transfer market, I saw a passable winger near expiration at $2000. Winger was our remaining weak spot and the price was right (regardless of whether he works out or not), so Liviu Popescu of Romania was acquired for $3000.

Outlook:
We're at or maybe a week past halfway in the current training cycle, with both trainees scheduled to pop at the same time. It looks like they'll end the season a week or two from popping again, Brüggemann to excellent and Holton to solid.

Finances are well in order; the club already is pulling a biweekly profit, although slightly understaffed, and anticipates accelerating our hiring and club development with the newly renogatiated sponsorship deals starting this week.

Brays Bayou was fortunate to play four of the top five clubs in the series on the road in the first half. We're looking forward to a packed house and home field advantage when they make their return visits. Flashotcite has improved a lot since we played them the first time, and we might not be able to beat them without playing MOTS; since that game is still three weeks from the end of the season, that's not an option. Go Mart has recovered from some early season hiccups to put up the best rating in the history of their team at 70. Wins against these teams may prove to be a long shot, but if we pull a rabbit out of that hat, we have a chance to steal the league title. Third place is probably a realistic finish; the club appears to be safe from relegation.

Come the offseason, the club will be looking to sell Holton and upgrade the stadium to 20 000 seats.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Dola...

Couch Potato has gone walkover, as they sold off all but six of their players. That's an uncertain situation, as they may have been replaced by the time we play them again.

[FrogMan]

Here's how it's shaping up for the Pittbulls at the halfway point in their first season in IV.18...


WEEK BY WEEK NSI
STANDINGS W L D PTS GF GA DIFF AVG as FOFC BEST 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
AS St. Urbain 6 1 0 18 20 7 13 70.1 69.8 73 71 71 66 73 71 69 70
Vitasoy 5 1 1 16 22 10 12 67.1 68.2 71 68 67 70 59 69 71 66
The Beatdown Collect4 2 1 13 20 6 14 67.4 70.3 76 66 56 71 64 76 71 68
Nanaimo Wave 4 2 1 13 22 10 12 57.3 54.8 63 63 59 55 57 59 54 54
Pintendre Pittbulls 3 3 1 10 19 16 3 59.1 61.0 63 52 52 63 63 63 60 61
Suicide Kings 3 4 0 9 15 18 -3 60.0 63.2 66 54 57 57 63 61 66 62
Surrey Tribe 0 6 1 1 6 30 -24 45.7 40.2 52 44 52 52 51 40 42 39
CR Vasco 0 6 1 1 7 34 -27 42.7 43.5 45 42 45 38 45 42 42 45


AVG is the average NSI of the team
as FOFC is the three week average, the same kind used for the rankings
BEST is the team's best NSI of the season

Well, 3 wins, 3 losses and a draw is quite nice for a first season in IV. Even though IV is not as tough in Canada as it is in USA, my league is still one of the tough ones in Canada. Been rated between 5th and 10th toughest in IV in Canada since the beginning of the season.

Simply by looking at NSIs, I'd say my team can easily compete for the 4th place, while hte top 3 is a bit over my capabilities. I have won over St.Urbain, tied Beatdown Collective and lost a very close shootout against Vitasoy. My other losses came against Suicide Kings, while I was still in the Cup and I misplanned my midfielders and dropped my midfield rating to weak, and against Nanaimo Wave in week 7, a game which I should have won, owning him 61-54 in NSI... I also won against the bottom two teams, Vasco and Surrey Tribe. CR Vasco replaced a bot team just before the first week of the season and has logged in only twice since then. Should be replaced very soon. Surrey Tribe replaced Mariognarly just after week 4 and while they have logged in fairly regularly, they play that crazy 5-3-2 with 2 wingers and only one inner midfielder. They get disastrous midfield after disastrous midfield...

Here's our remaining schedule, in order:
Nanaimo Wave
AT Surrey Tribe
Vitasoy
AT The Beatdown Collective
AT AS St. Urbain
Suicide Kings
AT CR Vasco

If we go and get another 10 points in the second half, this could mean we'd have to play a qualification match. The presence of a match against CR Vasco (or a new team replacing them) is a good team in week 14, as it would provide a possibility for a PIC before a MOTS in the qualifier...

FM

[DukeRulesMAB]

1. dbob 7 36 - 4 21

2. Frankfort United 7 28 - 11 16
3. Ya Yas 7 28 - 12 15
4. Team Jooky 7 23 - 17 12

5. Dog Bowl Chaos 7 16 - 13 8
6. Elk Thunders 7 8 - 27 7

7. HellsGaurdians 7 5 - 38 3
8. Clube Tururu 7 3 - 25 0


Frankfort United is an unexpected second place, though 2nd through 4th are quite the jumble at this point. We play at Team Jooky this week in a must win, because we play dbob the next week, and they'll destroy us. We also have a home game against Ya Yas that I'm worried about; they have an impressive group of forward trainees that get better every single week.

My goal is simply to hang onto 2nd place; if we can do that, we'll have exceeded expectations (the goal coming in was 3rd place).


As for training, we are doing well as the keeper training wings down. We should have a 19 (soon to be 20) YO low outstanding to keep and a 18 (soon to be 19) YO low formidible to sell at the end of the season.