NAIWF
06-23-2004, 11:48 PM
I deleted most of my old threads when I was pretty close to quitting Hat Trick as a whole, and my computer crashed midway through this last season, so there's not a whole lot of visible history to provide. I will however briefly go through my starters, trainees and predictions for my team.
Season 19 - 8 wins, 3 losses, 3 draws - 27 points, 32 GF/19GA - 3rd place
Season 20 - 10 wins, 3 losses, 1 draw - 31 points, 42 GF/17GA - 3rd place
Season 21 - 12 wins, 1 losses, 1 draw - 37 points, 54 GF/11GA - 2nd place
Season 22 - 12 wins, 2 losses, 0 draws - 36 points, 68 GF/19GA - 1st place
The first two seasons I trained defense, and as you can see my offense was atrocious. The last two seasons I switched to PM training, and improved dramatically. The season 22 goals allowed is a bit misleading as you'll see below.
MARAUDERS HALL OF FAME
FORWARD - Cristof Lentz
30/31 years, (weak to) passable experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Speciality: Powerful
Nationality: Deutschland
Stamina: solid Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: inadequate, fell to weak
Winger: weak Defending: poor
Scoring: solid Set Pieces: solid
Cristof only played two seasons for the Marauders but is far and away the all-time leading scorer with 73 goals in 53 games (47 in 35 competitive games), many of which came via free kicks and penalties. Lentz set the Marauders single season record with 38 total goals in season 22, won the series V.152 scoring crown with 21 goals in the last 10 games, after sitting out the first one and going scoreless in the next three. Lentz registered a team record 13 hat tricks and claimed another record with 2 four goal games. Cristof was also clutch, scoring the first and last goals in the promotion game that advanced Manhattan to series IV.34.
Lentz was purchased for just $90,800, and would have been my next coaching candidate if it hadn't taken him so long to move from inadequate to passable experience. With a better prospective coach acquired later on, and a need to upgrade as I move up to Division 4, Lentz was just sold for 125K on Tuesday, but he will not soon be forgotten.
MARAUDERS STARTING 11
Goalie: # 1 - Aimo Hasan
21 years, inadequate form, healthy
Has poor experience and passable leadership abilities
Nationality: Suomi
Assessed value: 733 000 US$
Key Stats: 29 games started (21 league, 6 Cup, 2 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 15 clean sheets, 0.90 GAA.
Best Performance: 4.5 stars on 5 different occasions with solid form
Aimo's form has been inadequate to solid for his entire 28 week run with the team, but he seems to be sliding downwards now, which isn't great. I might have overpaid by about 200K for him ($1.5M), but he's definitely been one of my best acquisitions, and is my clear cut # 1 goalie for at least another season or two.
DEFENSE:
# 3 - Anders Wiling
21 years, inadequate form, healthy
Has poor experience and passable leadership abilities
Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 234 000 US$
Key Stats: 64 games started (26 league, 6 Cup, 32 friendlies), 9 goals (+2 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 4 stars on 16 different occasions
# 6 - Ubaldo Matildo Collado
21 years, passable form, healthy
Has wretched experience and weak leadership abilities
Nationality: Argentina
Assessed value: 169 000 US$
Key Stats: 70 games started (39 league, 10 Cup, 20 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 8 goals (+1 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 4 stars on 24 different occasions
# 7 - Cory Eddy
20 years, passable form, healthy
Has poor experience and poor leadership abilities
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 150 000 US$
Key Stats: 66 games started (32 league, 10 Cup, 23 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 9 goals (+2 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 4 stars on 30 different occasions
---
Anders' form was in the tank all this season, but he's finally coming out of it and he seems to be one of those guys who is either on fire or ice cold. Fortunately for me, he seems to be heating up as I move up in divisions, which is great. There's a good chance he'll reach weak experience soon, so he should be a consistent starter in my 4 man rotation. Anders is one of the four relics of the lost days (when I trained defense), so I only paid 10 K for him way back on 4/25/03.
Collado is a menace and has picked up more cards than the next TWO Marauders combined in his wild career. With a total of 15 yellow cards and 5 more reds in just 50 competitive (69 total) games played, I can count on him getting suspended at least once annually! However, his form is generally high, slipping to inadequate just twice in 60 weeks, so he's rarely if ever replaced by choice. Collado was just a 3K investment back in April of '03 as well.
Cory Eddy is my most consistent defender which is surprising since he was always behind the other three guys until Long and Wiling hit form woes while he's been above inadequate for over 2 straight seasons. Amazingly, due to that run he surpassed everyone in experience, and is about midway to the next level already, so despite having less training he is my best defender. Eddy was picked up for 30K last June 8th.
I have been tinkering with the standard 3 defender lineup and playing a non defender offensively in that position to boost my midfield, but I don't think that'll be viable anymore since offense and defense were strengthed and I surrendered 16 goals in my last 8 games (including the qualifier) with this kind of strategy as opposed to just 6 goals in the prior 7 against the same teams essentially.
MIDFIELD
# 12 - Peter Håkansson
21 years, solid form, healthy
Has wretched experience and weak leadership abilities
Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 2 148 000 US$
Key Stats: 34 games started (23 league, 7 Cup, 3 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 9 goals (+1 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 5 stars on 3 different occasions
# 14 - Ulf Borgbrant
22 years, passable form, healthy
Has wretched experience and weak leadership abilities
Speciality: Quick
Nationality: Sverige
Key Stats: 34 games started (24 league, 4 Cup, 5 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 11 goals (+1 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 5 stars in week 12 of this past season
# 16 - Gregorio Gamarra
19 years, solid form, healthy
A controversial person who is calm and upright.
Has wretched experience and poor leadership abilities.
Nationality: Argentina
Assessed value: 847 000 US$
Key Stats: 17 games started (11 league, 3 Cup, 2 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 3 goals
Best Performance: 3.5 stars on 7 different occasions
---
I paid 679,400 for Peter when he was a soon to be 19 yo formidable player in poor form. He played the first half of his first season with the B team, but once he got to inadequate form he moved into the starting lineup and has played very well since. He was the team's first $ 2 million dollar player, and the first to reach 5 stars. With that in mind, he should be with us for at least this season and maybe part of the next. Peter should bring in a nice chunk of money when I finally sell him. Until then, I'll have to be content with him being the best player ever to wear the Marauders uniform.
Ulf Borgbrant became the first "Million Dollar Marauder" when he made the jump to brilliant PM. This will be his final year with the team, as I plan to sell him once he bumps again, some time around midseason. Ulf would have been a distant memory had someone bid on him when I placed him up for grabs for $ 3.5 million a little more than a month and a half ago. If he doesn't sell again, I might strongly consider just training PM for one more season and selling off my trainees which would allow me to keep my starters who would be at least Division 3 worthy. Ulf was brought in for just under 750 K as a weak form, formidable player for the final game of season 20 and has started almost every week he has been available since that time.
Gamarra is one of the few players I hope to build around longterm, although his lack of secondaries seems to be hurting his current production. With a rash of injuries to the Argentinian U-20 squad hopefuls, he might be able to make the team next season, but it's looking doubtful at the moment. If I ever get to the point where I get bored with HT, I may just stick with him until he reaches the National team level, which could happen if I put another 5 or 6 seasons into his training. According to HAM he's valued at just over $ 4 million, which makes him the most valuable player on the team for now. I paid $ 1.53 million for him on March 2nd of this year when he was just about to turn 18.
WINGERS
# 10 - Jamey Judd
29 years, solid form, healthy
Has passable experience and wretched leadership abilities
Speciality: Quick
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 320 000 US$
Key Stats: 73 games started (49 league, 10 Cup, 13 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 7 goals (+1 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 4.5 stars during each of his last 3 outings
Judd is the ONLY original Marauder left on the team, and basically carried my team through our first 3 seasons earning more caps than anyone who has worn the Marauders colors! This is likely his final season with the team as I plan to majorly upgrade the wing when I sell Borgbrant and he's getting a bit long in the tooth.
# 11 - Jonathan Iglesias
25 years, passable form, healthy
Has poor experience and solid leadership abilities.
Speciality: Unpredictable
Nationality: Argentina
Assessed value: 262 000 US$
Key Stats: 35 games started (19 league, 4 Cup, 11 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 6 goals (+2 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 3.5 stars on 12 different occasions
Iglesias is a true clown who just so happens to be a pretty good winger as well. While not as talented as Jamey Judd, his role on the team is secure because he will have a role until I can find another clown with a lesser wage. Iglesias joined the team last Halloween for just under 140 K. If new acquisition Kalle Yngvesson rounds into shape, he may get more playing time than Iglesias
FORWARDS
#20 - Stijn Jeanblanc
24 years, excellent form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is fiery and infamous.
Has wretched experience and weak leadership abilities.
Speciality: Powerful
Nationality: België
Assessed value: 587 000 US$
Key Stats: 10 games started (8 league, 1 friendly, 1 qualifier), 12 goals
Best Performance: 4 stars in each of his last 5 matches
Stijn is the Marauders most expensive transfer import with a bargain price tag of $1,734,000 which was picked up this April 17th. Jeanblanc ended a 2 week long process of near misses on the transfer market and Stijn has paid immediate dividends tallying 12 goals in his first 10 games as a Marauder, and finishing second in the series scoring race with just 8 games played in the league! Jeanblanc will be around for at least another 3-4 seasons as he is by far the most skilled striker on the team.
#21 - Cezar Lupescu
30 years, solid form, healthy
Has passable experience and passable leadership abilities
Nationality: România
Assessed value: 327 000 US$
Key Stats: 27 games started (12 league, 5 Cup, 9 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 16 goals (+8 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 3.5 stars on 14 different occasions
I seriously overpaid by blowing 890K on January 27th for Lupescu mainly because he will become a stud coach in the future. In the meantime, he was setting a torrid pace for goals before picking up two critical injuries this season, forcing him to miss 4 total weeks of action. In the long run he will be one hell of a coach, provided he plays enough to reach solid+ experience, which is roughly one full season worth of matches away. Once he reaches that level or so, it will be time to start looking for his on field replacement since he is the oldest member of the club.
MIDDIE TRAINEES:
# 13 René-Michel Letourneau
20 years, inadequate form, healthy
Has disastrous experience and passable leadership abilities
Speciality: Head
Nationality: Canada
Assessed value: 710 000 US$
Key Stats: 29 games started (6 league, 4 Cup, 19 friendlies), 5 goals (+10 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 4 stars on 2 different occasions
#17 - Eduard Radu
19 years, inadequate form, healthy
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities
Speciality: Quick
Nationality: Romania
Assessed value: 518 000 US$
Key Stats: 19 games started (5 league, 4 Cup, 10 friendlies), 2 goals (+6 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 3.5 stars on 5 different occasions
18 - Bob Smith
20 years, passable form, healthy
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 427 000 US$
Key Stats: 24 games started (2 league, 2 Cup, 20 friendlies), 1 goals (+6 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 3 stars on 4 different occasions
---
Letourneau was one of my first trainees purchased, and was mainly brought in because of his passing skills. Unfortunately, he's not able to get into the starting rotation due to horrible form. Once I get him up another level or two in PM, he'll be a helluva middie, or a nice addition to my bankroll. Letourneau's instability is one of the reasons I might just chuck my trainees and keep the starters before switching training programs. He cost me $374,400 last October 29th.
I bought Radu at the end of last season (2/27) for 700K as he was the best available option at the time. He's got good defense and set pieces in addition to his PM skill, so he's the most versatile back up I have. He still needs a couple of weeks of stamina training, but looks to be in good shape to be with the team for a while whether or not I discard the top guys or the other trainees. Since he can play defensive, normal or as the extra inner midfielder, Radu will be the one trainee who stays no matter what.
I pulled Smith on 11/30/03, but he didn't always play because of stamina issues, and I wasn't sure I was going to keep him for very long since I had another couple of players ahead of him. However, he popped to excellent before another trainee I had purchased, so I decided to keep him for a bit. If I'm lucky he'll pop twice this coming season, and I'll be able to sell him for a relatively hefty amount. Smith will probably set the original Marauder transfer record when he's sold, which isn't bad for a guy who had wretched stamina/solid PM at the time and was nearly fired :)
BACKUPS
GOALIE - Kerry Ivey
23 years, solid form, healthy
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 438 000 US$
Key Stats: 15 games started (2 league, 1 Cup, 12 friendlies), 4 clean sheets, 1.67 GAA.
Best Performance: 3.5 stars this past week
Ivey was pulled on 2/15/04, which was great timing since I had previously sold off my back up. Ivey will remain with the team until I upgrade at goalie, which is a few seasons away at least.
DEFENDER - Brian Long
21 years, passable form, healthy
Has wretched experience and weak leadership abilities
Nationality: England
Assessed value: 180 000 US$
Key Stats: 63 games started (24 league, 9 Cup, 30 friendlies), 9 goals (+7 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 3.5 stars on 9 different occasions
I paid 5,500 for Long back when I was training defense. He's my clear # 4, unless one of my main three is injured or has lower form. If I ever decide to upgrade defensively he'd be the first to be sold since he'd no longer be useful for me as a 5th member of a rotation that only needs 4 players.
WINGER - Kalle Yngvesson
19 years, weak form, healthy
Has wretched experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 66 000 US$
Key Stats: 0 games started
Kalle was just picked up this past Tuesday for $227,500. He's got my highest pure winger stat and will replace Cristof Lentz as my set piece taker when I can squeeze him into the line-up. He'll start the season on the 'B' team to try and get him as much experience from Cup play as possible. Yngvesson is a project that probably won't be a regular until next season when I can up his stamina, form and experience to a higher level.
WINGER - Salvador Wahl
21 years, solid form, healthy
Has wretched experience and poor leadership abilities.
Speciality: Powerful
Nationality: België
Assessed value: 198 000 US$
Key Stats: 24 games started (12 league, 3 Cup, 9 friendlies), 2 goals (+2 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 3 stars on 12 different occasions
Wahl was an impulse buy last November 5th, which was right when I switched to PM training. I ultimately brought in better trainees, but he's a decent possession winger as he has good stamina, PM and winger skills. He's not great by any means, but a worthy investment for just 51K.
FORWARD - Jerome Harden
21 years, solid form, healthy
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities
Speciality: Powerful
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 103 000 US$
Key Stats: 11 games started (2 league, 9 friendlies), 0 goals (+7 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 3 stars in each of his last 2 games
I also pulled Harden, a week after back up goalie Kelly Ivey to be exact. Jerome was a fortunate pull, since I almost wasted some money on a 3rd forward earlier that week. With Cristof Lentz' departure, he's currently in the # 3 forward spot, but that should change by the end of the year as I hope to acquire another striker by then.
Season 19 - 8 wins, 3 losses, 3 draws - 27 points, 32 GF/19GA - 3rd place
Season 20 - 10 wins, 3 losses, 1 draw - 31 points, 42 GF/17GA - 3rd place
Season 21 - 12 wins, 1 losses, 1 draw - 37 points, 54 GF/11GA - 2nd place
Season 22 - 12 wins, 2 losses, 0 draws - 36 points, 68 GF/19GA - 1st place
The first two seasons I trained defense, and as you can see my offense was atrocious. The last two seasons I switched to PM training, and improved dramatically. The season 22 goals allowed is a bit misleading as you'll see below.
MARAUDERS HALL OF FAME
FORWARD - Cristof Lentz
30/31 years, (weak to) passable experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Speciality: Powerful
Nationality: Deutschland
Stamina: solid Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: inadequate, fell to weak
Winger: weak Defending: poor
Scoring: solid Set Pieces: solid
Cristof only played two seasons for the Marauders but is far and away the all-time leading scorer with 73 goals in 53 games (47 in 35 competitive games), many of which came via free kicks and penalties. Lentz set the Marauders single season record with 38 total goals in season 22, won the series V.152 scoring crown with 21 goals in the last 10 games, after sitting out the first one and going scoreless in the next three. Lentz registered a team record 13 hat tricks and claimed another record with 2 four goal games. Cristof was also clutch, scoring the first and last goals in the promotion game that advanced Manhattan to series IV.34.
Lentz was purchased for just $90,800, and would have been my next coaching candidate if it hadn't taken him so long to move from inadequate to passable experience. With a better prospective coach acquired later on, and a need to upgrade as I move up to Division 4, Lentz was just sold for 125K on Tuesday, but he will not soon be forgotten.
MARAUDERS STARTING 11
Goalie: # 1 - Aimo Hasan
21 years, inadequate form, healthy
Has poor experience and passable leadership abilities
Nationality: Suomi
Assessed value: 733 000 US$
Key Stats: 29 games started (21 league, 6 Cup, 2 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 15 clean sheets, 0.90 GAA.
Best Performance: 4.5 stars on 5 different occasions with solid form
Aimo's form has been inadequate to solid for his entire 28 week run with the team, but he seems to be sliding downwards now, which isn't great. I might have overpaid by about 200K for him ($1.5M), but he's definitely been one of my best acquisitions, and is my clear cut # 1 goalie for at least another season or two.
DEFENSE:
# 3 - Anders Wiling
21 years, inadequate form, healthy
Has poor experience and passable leadership abilities
Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 234 000 US$
Key Stats: 64 games started (26 league, 6 Cup, 32 friendlies), 9 goals (+2 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 4 stars on 16 different occasions
# 6 - Ubaldo Matildo Collado
21 years, passable form, healthy
Has wretched experience and weak leadership abilities
Nationality: Argentina
Assessed value: 169 000 US$
Key Stats: 70 games started (39 league, 10 Cup, 20 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 8 goals (+1 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 4 stars on 24 different occasions
# 7 - Cory Eddy
20 years, passable form, healthy
Has poor experience and poor leadership abilities
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 150 000 US$
Key Stats: 66 games started (32 league, 10 Cup, 23 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 9 goals (+2 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 4 stars on 30 different occasions
---
Anders' form was in the tank all this season, but he's finally coming out of it and he seems to be one of those guys who is either on fire or ice cold. Fortunately for me, he seems to be heating up as I move up in divisions, which is great. There's a good chance he'll reach weak experience soon, so he should be a consistent starter in my 4 man rotation. Anders is one of the four relics of the lost days (when I trained defense), so I only paid 10 K for him way back on 4/25/03.
Collado is a menace and has picked up more cards than the next TWO Marauders combined in his wild career. With a total of 15 yellow cards and 5 more reds in just 50 competitive (69 total) games played, I can count on him getting suspended at least once annually! However, his form is generally high, slipping to inadequate just twice in 60 weeks, so he's rarely if ever replaced by choice. Collado was just a 3K investment back in April of '03 as well.
Cory Eddy is my most consistent defender which is surprising since he was always behind the other three guys until Long and Wiling hit form woes while he's been above inadequate for over 2 straight seasons. Amazingly, due to that run he surpassed everyone in experience, and is about midway to the next level already, so despite having less training he is my best defender. Eddy was picked up for 30K last June 8th.
I have been tinkering with the standard 3 defender lineup and playing a non defender offensively in that position to boost my midfield, but I don't think that'll be viable anymore since offense and defense were strengthed and I surrendered 16 goals in my last 8 games (including the qualifier) with this kind of strategy as opposed to just 6 goals in the prior 7 against the same teams essentially.
MIDFIELD
# 12 - Peter Håkansson
21 years, solid form, healthy
Has wretched experience and weak leadership abilities
Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 2 148 000 US$
Key Stats: 34 games started (23 league, 7 Cup, 3 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 9 goals (+1 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 5 stars on 3 different occasions
# 14 - Ulf Borgbrant
22 years, passable form, healthy
Has wretched experience and weak leadership abilities
Speciality: Quick
Nationality: Sverige
Key Stats: 34 games started (24 league, 4 Cup, 5 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 11 goals (+1 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 5 stars in week 12 of this past season
# 16 - Gregorio Gamarra
19 years, solid form, healthy
A controversial person who is calm and upright.
Has wretched experience and poor leadership abilities.
Nationality: Argentina
Assessed value: 847 000 US$
Key Stats: 17 games started (11 league, 3 Cup, 2 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 3 goals
Best Performance: 3.5 stars on 7 different occasions
---
I paid 679,400 for Peter when he was a soon to be 19 yo formidable player in poor form. He played the first half of his first season with the B team, but once he got to inadequate form he moved into the starting lineup and has played very well since. He was the team's first $ 2 million dollar player, and the first to reach 5 stars. With that in mind, he should be with us for at least this season and maybe part of the next. Peter should bring in a nice chunk of money when I finally sell him. Until then, I'll have to be content with him being the best player ever to wear the Marauders uniform.
Ulf Borgbrant became the first "Million Dollar Marauder" when he made the jump to brilliant PM. This will be his final year with the team, as I plan to sell him once he bumps again, some time around midseason. Ulf would have been a distant memory had someone bid on him when I placed him up for grabs for $ 3.5 million a little more than a month and a half ago. If he doesn't sell again, I might strongly consider just training PM for one more season and selling off my trainees which would allow me to keep my starters who would be at least Division 3 worthy. Ulf was brought in for just under 750 K as a weak form, formidable player for the final game of season 20 and has started almost every week he has been available since that time.
Gamarra is one of the few players I hope to build around longterm, although his lack of secondaries seems to be hurting his current production. With a rash of injuries to the Argentinian U-20 squad hopefuls, he might be able to make the team next season, but it's looking doubtful at the moment. If I ever get to the point where I get bored with HT, I may just stick with him until he reaches the National team level, which could happen if I put another 5 or 6 seasons into his training. According to HAM he's valued at just over $ 4 million, which makes him the most valuable player on the team for now. I paid $ 1.53 million for him on March 2nd of this year when he was just about to turn 18.
WINGERS
# 10 - Jamey Judd
29 years, solid form, healthy
Has passable experience and wretched leadership abilities
Speciality: Quick
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 320 000 US$
Key Stats: 73 games started (49 league, 10 Cup, 13 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 7 goals (+1 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 4.5 stars during each of his last 3 outings
Judd is the ONLY original Marauder left on the team, and basically carried my team through our first 3 seasons earning more caps than anyone who has worn the Marauders colors! This is likely his final season with the team as I plan to majorly upgrade the wing when I sell Borgbrant and he's getting a bit long in the tooth.
# 11 - Jonathan Iglesias
25 years, passable form, healthy
Has poor experience and solid leadership abilities.
Speciality: Unpredictable
Nationality: Argentina
Assessed value: 262 000 US$
Key Stats: 35 games started (19 league, 4 Cup, 11 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 6 goals (+2 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 3.5 stars on 12 different occasions
Iglesias is a true clown who just so happens to be a pretty good winger as well. While not as talented as Jamey Judd, his role on the team is secure because he will have a role until I can find another clown with a lesser wage. Iglesias joined the team last Halloween for just under 140 K. If new acquisition Kalle Yngvesson rounds into shape, he may get more playing time than Iglesias
FORWARDS
#20 - Stijn Jeanblanc
24 years, excellent form, healthy
A sympathetic guy who is fiery and infamous.
Has wretched experience and weak leadership abilities.
Speciality: Powerful
Nationality: België
Assessed value: 587 000 US$
Key Stats: 10 games started (8 league, 1 friendly, 1 qualifier), 12 goals
Best Performance: 4 stars in each of his last 5 matches
Stijn is the Marauders most expensive transfer import with a bargain price tag of $1,734,000 which was picked up this April 17th. Jeanblanc ended a 2 week long process of near misses on the transfer market and Stijn has paid immediate dividends tallying 12 goals in his first 10 games as a Marauder, and finishing second in the series scoring race with just 8 games played in the league! Jeanblanc will be around for at least another 3-4 seasons as he is by far the most skilled striker on the team.
#21 - Cezar Lupescu
30 years, solid form, healthy
Has passable experience and passable leadership abilities
Nationality: România
Assessed value: 327 000 US$
Key Stats: 27 games started (12 league, 5 Cup, 9 friendlies, 1 qualifier), 16 goals (+8 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 3.5 stars on 14 different occasions
I seriously overpaid by blowing 890K on January 27th for Lupescu mainly because he will become a stud coach in the future. In the meantime, he was setting a torrid pace for goals before picking up two critical injuries this season, forcing him to miss 4 total weeks of action. In the long run he will be one hell of a coach, provided he plays enough to reach solid+ experience, which is roughly one full season worth of matches away. Once he reaches that level or so, it will be time to start looking for his on field replacement since he is the oldest member of the club.
MIDDIE TRAINEES:
# 13 René-Michel Letourneau
20 years, inadequate form, healthy
Has disastrous experience and passable leadership abilities
Speciality: Head
Nationality: Canada
Assessed value: 710 000 US$
Key Stats: 29 games started (6 league, 4 Cup, 19 friendlies), 5 goals (+10 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 4 stars on 2 different occasions
#17 - Eduard Radu
19 years, inadequate form, healthy
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities
Speciality: Quick
Nationality: Romania
Assessed value: 518 000 US$
Key Stats: 19 games started (5 league, 4 Cup, 10 friendlies), 2 goals (+6 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 3.5 stars on 5 different occasions
18 - Bob Smith
20 years, passable form, healthy
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 427 000 US$
Key Stats: 24 games started (2 league, 2 Cup, 20 friendlies), 1 goals (+6 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 3 stars on 4 different occasions
---
Letourneau was one of my first trainees purchased, and was mainly brought in because of his passing skills. Unfortunately, he's not able to get into the starting rotation due to horrible form. Once I get him up another level or two in PM, he'll be a helluva middie, or a nice addition to my bankroll. Letourneau's instability is one of the reasons I might just chuck my trainees and keep the starters before switching training programs. He cost me $374,400 last October 29th.
I bought Radu at the end of last season (2/27) for 700K as he was the best available option at the time. He's got good defense and set pieces in addition to his PM skill, so he's the most versatile back up I have. He still needs a couple of weeks of stamina training, but looks to be in good shape to be with the team for a while whether or not I discard the top guys or the other trainees. Since he can play defensive, normal or as the extra inner midfielder, Radu will be the one trainee who stays no matter what.
I pulled Smith on 11/30/03, but he didn't always play because of stamina issues, and I wasn't sure I was going to keep him for very long since I had another couple of players ahead of him. However, he popped to excellent before another trainee I had purchased, so I decided to keep him for a bit. If I'm lucky he'll pop twice this coming season, and I'll be able to sell him for a relatively hefty amount. Smith will probably set the original Marauder transfer record when he's sold, which isn't bad for a guy who had wretched stamina/solid PM at the time and was nearly fired :)
BACKUPS
GOALIE - Kerry Ivey
23 years, solid form, healthy
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 438 000 US$
Key Stats: 15 games started (2 league, 1 Cup, 12 friendlies), 4 clean sheets, 1.67 GAA.
Best Performance: 3.5 stars this past week
Ivey was pulled on 2/15/04, which was great timing since I had previously sold off my back up. Ivey will remain with the team until I upgrade at goalie, which is a few seasons away at least.
DEFENDER - Brian Long
21 years, passable form, healthy
Has wretched experience and weak leadership abilities
Nationality: England
Assessed value: 180 000 US$
Key Stats: 63 games started (24 league, 9 Cup, 30 friendlies), 9 goals (+7 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 3.5 stars on 9 different occasions
I paid 5,500 for Long back when I was training defense. He's my clear # 4, unless one of my main three is injured or has lower form. If I ever decide to upgrade defensively he'd be the first to be sold since he'd no longer be useful for me as a 5th member of a rotation that only needs 4 players.
WINGER - Kalle Yngvesson
19 years, weak form, healthy
Has wretched experience and inadequate leadership abilities.
Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 66 000 US$
Key Stats: 0 games started
Kalle was just picked up this past Tuesday for $227,500. He's got my highest pure winger stat and will replace Cristof Lentz as my set piece taker when I can squeeze him into the line-up. He'll start the season on the 'B' team to try and get him as much experience from Cup play as possible. Yngvesson is a project that probably won't be a regular until next season when I can up his stamina, form and experience to a higher level.
WINGER - Salvador Wahl
21 years, solid form, healthy
Has wretched experience and poor leadership abilities.
Speciality: Powerful
Nationality: België
Assessed value: 198 000 US$
Key Stats: 24 games started (12 league, 3 Cup, 9 friendlies), 2 goals (+2 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 3 stars on 12 different occasions
Wahl was an impulse buy last November 5th, which was right when I switched to PM training. I ultimately brought in better trainees, but he's a decent possession winger as he has good stamina, PM and winger skills. He's not great by any means, but a worthy investment for just 51K.
FORWARD - Jerome Harden
21 years, solid form, healthy
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities
Speciality: Powerful
Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 103 000 US$
Key Stats: 11 games started (2 league, 9 friendlies), 0 goals (+7 in friendlies)
Best Performance: 3 stars in each of his last 2 games
I also pulled Harden, a week after back up goalie Kelly Ivey to be exact. Jerome was a fortunate pull, since I almost wasted some money on a 3rd forward earlier that week. With Cristof Lentz' departure, he's currently in the # 3 forward spot, but that should change by the end of the year as I hope to acquire another striker by then.