Brand New Hattricker Q

[JAG]

Hey all,

I put in for a new team yesterday. I've been reading a lot, the rules, the FAQ here, a strategy site or two. There's lot of information to digest and I noticed that the FAQ here mainly has advice from over a year ago. After reading a lot and getting a general idea of what to do, here's my Q:

If you had to start from scratch knowing what you know now, what would you do to get off to the fastest start towards respectability?

Thanks.

[Alf]

1/ Do not go into debt early => you won't recover

2/ Upgrade stadium to 12.000 or 13.000 seats => money is key in hattrick

3/ Choose a training program

4/ Post your players here so people can help you (they really do)

[Carligula]

This might be a bit risky. But I just started a month and a half ago, and right now I wish I had deviated from the usual strategy in these ways:

- Don't invest in the youth squad at all, for now.
- Instead of spending $79,600 on a passable coach with poor leadership, spend $268,700 on a solid coach with poor leadership.
- If, after selling off your Solid players and buying Passables to replace them, there's enough left over to expand the stadium without going into debt, do it. If not, don't bother.

My theory behind this is that you have to sink a lot of money into the YS before it starts paying off, which it will start to do after about two seasons. However, you don't have a lot of money now, while you'll be swimming in it in two seasons after you start selling trainees. This approach would put most of your startup money into the one sure-fire way to make more money. If you train playmaking for two seasons (28 weeks), a Solid coach would get you about 4 pops per player versus about 3 1/2 with a Passable coach. That's huge - half of your trainees can be expected to go for several hundred thousand more each.

It may not be for everybody, but that's what I wish I had done...

[saintjo]

3/ Choose a training program


3. Choose to train scoring. We need more scoring trainers so the supply of descent strikers is higher and will bring down the prices for the rest of us ;)

[Mr. Wednesday]

This might be a bit risky. But I just started a month and a half ago, and right now I wish I had deviated from the usual strategy in these ways:

- Instead of spending $79,600 on a passable coach with poor leadership, spend $268,700 on a solid coach with poor leadership.
- If, after selling off your Solid players and buying Passables to replace them, there's enough left over to expand the stadium without going into debt, do it. If not, don't bother.The problem with this approach (from my point of view) is that it sacrifices competitiveness off the bat by selling your best players to get capitalization. That may be appropriate in some circumstances, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it as a universal strategy.

I'm quite happy with the arc my team has followed: I bought a passable coach, used the remaining money to fill some holes and expand my stadium. I was relatively successful quickly, so I had a steady income stream from crowd revenue that I directed into ongoing improvements.

The only thing I would change if I had it to do over again is the kick-off of my training program. I didn't start with good enough trainees, and as a result I'm a couple million behind a series rival who started at about the same time as me. It's shere good fortune that sees me in first place in my series right now.

[Airhog]

Training, Training, Training.

Also, remember these famous words.

Hattrick is not a sprint, its a marathon. Think of all of your actions having long term effects.

[OldGiants]

I agree with Mr. Wednesday. I'm only wrapping up my second season, but I've won my Series twice and will autopromote to DV after this season.

I got a very bunch of players to start out with. I bought 2 Inadequate keeper trainees, 17 years old, for a total of 40k. They are both Excellent now, and I will train them to Outstanding--likely sell for 2.5 to 3 million each--early next season.

I filled in with cheap Solids to get to the point where I've never lost a league game. Having morons and abandoned teams for opponents has helped greatly.

If I had one thing to do differently, it would have been to buy Passable, not Inadequate trainees, but I don't know if I could have afforded them at the time.

I've invested the 20k every week and finally hit a bonanza last week with a 412k sale, but that's luck, not skill. OTOH, one young player in my series keeps pulling Solid keepers and selling them for nice profits (and then he complains that he can't afford decent forward trainees! Keep the keepers, boy!)

Lastly, there's a long thread that ended around December/early January where I asked a ton of questions and got lots of good advice. I'll pull it up if I can find it now.

[JAG]

The problem with this approach (from my point of view) is that it sacrifices competitiveness off the bat by selling your best players to get capitalization. That may be appropriate in some circumstances, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it as a universal strategy.

I'm quite happy with the arc my team has followed: I bought a passable coach, used the remaining money to fill some holes and expand my stadium. I was relatively successful quickly, so I had a steady income stream from crowd revenue that I directed into ongoing improvements.

The only thing I would change if I had it to do over again is the kick-off of my training program. I didn't start with good enough trainees, and as a result I'm a couple million behind a series rival who started at about the same time as me. It's shere good fortune that sees me in first place in my series right now.

When you say you didn't start with good enough trainees, what level are you saying you would've been better off starting with? Are you sure you could've afforded them at the time?

Another Q for people: what do you recommend a newbie start training? I've seen some places that recommend stamina right off the bat, others saying just to jump in with whatever training group is preferred. I also saw training stamina reduces form. How often is it a good idea to train stamina for someone just starting out?

Thanks for the advice everyone, please keep it coming if there's more to give (I know experience will be the best teacher, but I'd still like to start out strong). You've given out a lot of useful specific advice in this thread I didn't see elsewhere.

[saintjo]

with training stanima first, it really depends on what stanima the midfielders you were given are currently at. if you post your players skills, it would help.

[finkenst]

When you say you didn't start with good enough trainees, what level are you saying you would've been better off starting with? Are you sure you could've afforded them at the time?

Another Q for people: what do you recommend a newbie start training? I've seen some places that recommend stamina right off the bat, others saying just to jump in with whatever training group is preferred. I also saw training stamina reduces form. How often is it a good idea to train stamina for someone just starting out?

Thanks for the advice everyone, please keep it coming if there's more to give (I know experience will be the best teacher, but I'd still like to start out strong). You've given out a lot of useful specific advice in this thread I didn't see elsewhere.Jag,

Under NO circumstances would I train stamina at this point in the season. I would get a passable/poor coach; buy some cheap trainees (most likely 17yo inad/passable in the primary skill); START YOUR TRAINING PROGRAM; and consider upgrading your stadium to 12-15k (i used 14031 for some reason)...

For stamina training, i would wait the two weeks until the season break since you will probably be clinched into your position when you get your team.

For initial training, there is something to be said for training keepers to start with. Only two players to keep track of, for example. Old Giants, Mr. HumpDay, YoSoySean, and TerpKristin can give you pointers here...

I'm a week shy of two full HT seasons and have an outside chance at promoting to IV :eek: this season.

As for money in the YS, i've put the 20k into it nearly every week and it is now excellent. it is important to have a budget for your team to avoid going bankrupt. There is nothing wrong with being in debt as long as you aren't sliding down the slope to -500K US$. I was in debt my entire first season until I hit a solid scorer 17yo YP and sold him for 408K after he scored a hattrick for me in his one appearance.

As they've said above, it's a marathon, not a sprint.

[YoSoySean]

Pointers, eh?

fink is right about training keeper. It's easiest to keep track of and trains the fastest. It is good for beginners, as the initial cost is much less than other positions. It's not that great for higher levels, as I ended up learning through experience ;)

What I would do is first buy a good coach (passable or solid) and two keeper trainees (18 or younger, passable or inad. solids may cost too much). Don't worry about your arena or anything. I also wouldn't train stamina until you get some midfielders that you think you'll be keeping for a while. Don't worry about losing early, it'll happen... unless you're in a series with a bunch of bots.

The key to training is patience... something I also learned by experience. Train your keepers to formid or outstanding, sell one, buy a new young trainee, then sell the other when the new trainee hits formid or outstanding... you should make a good bit of money this way. You can refine this plan however you want. I ended up keeping a high level keeper when I changed training programs.

[YoSoySean]

I would like to add that you shouldn't follow anyone's strategy completely. Take bits and pieces from a bunch of people and develop your own strategy. Don't be afraid to make mistakes because that's how you learn. I've definately made my share of mistakes (not as bad as some stories I've heard, but enough) and I have a pretty successful IV team that will hopefully be in III soon.

[JAG]

I would like to add that you shouldn't follow anyone's strategy completely. Take bits and pieces from a bunch of people and develop your own strategy. Don't be afraid to make mistakes because that's how you learn. I've definately made my share of mistakes (not as bad as some stories I've heard, but enough) and I have a pretty successful IV team that will hopefully be in III soon.

Thanks for that info. I've seen enough conflicting advice already to make my head spin. :) I have yet to get my starting team (hopefully tomorrow or so), so I may pick and choose among the good ideas listed here based partially on the players and cash I start with. I'll probably post my team when I get it to see what people think about it as well.

[Mr. Wednesday]

When you say you didn't start with good enough trainees, what level are you saying you would've been better off starting with? Are you sure you could've afforded them at the time?I paid $50k for a 17-yo inadequate -- would have been better to buy a passable, maybe a year older and maybe for a bit more money and train up to brilliant.
I trained a high weak YP up to solid -- would have been better to spend short money on an inadequate and train up to excellent.

I think either would have been within my means. Certainly, I'm not talking about more than an extra ~$30k in expenditure, off the bat.

Edit: Although I started out as a keeper trainer and agree with the advantages previously mentioned here, I'm not going to tell you what to train. It may be that training forward has a certain attraction for you, or it may be that you're blessed by starting out with a couple of good trainees.

[Mr. Wednesday]

Dola, you need to expand your stadium sooner rather than later, but you don't necessarily want to do it immediately (although this late in the season, there's probably nothing to be gained by waiting).

[finkenst]

Dola, you need to expand your stadium sooner rather than later, but you don't necessarily want to do it immediately (although this late in the season, there's probably nothing to be gained by waiting).
on this topic: If you upgrade your stadium now, you won't run out of money by buying coach, trainees, etc. :)