Hattrick's Galesburg Avengers - The Conquest

[Coffee Warlord]

Well, I let my HT thread die, mainly because we were sort of plummetting for awhile, and I thought we may go bankrupt. We sold one of our better players who was aging poorly, and we're back in the thick 'o things. So...new thread, for a new era.

First, let me introduce to you the man who will bring Galesburg a Series title next season. Ian Hogan.

Ian Hogan (8754342)
A solid coach who prefers a strong defensive game
A pleasant guy who is balanced and honest.
Has brilliant experience and solid leadership abilities.

Coach Hogan was pulled just this week, and let's just say I'm rather pleased with the result.

Galesburg runs the 3-5-2 run and shoot in league games. Pioneered by the North County Raiders, the Avengers have learned what they can and have applied it to get us into 4th place in the series. Not horrible for our first season. It will net us some badly needed money.

As we are still 250k in debt, but profitable, our team obviously isn't going to change much. We have playmaking trainees in place, who will net us some cash early next season. Until then, let me re-introduce you to your Galesburg Avengers.

#1 William Thomas (Starting Keeper)
Age: 21 Hometown: El Paso, TX
Stamina: excellent Keeper: inadequate
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: disastrous
Winger: disastrous Defending: wretched
Scoring: disastrous Set Pieces: disastrous
Goals: 0

#2 Daryl Mosley (Starting Right Forward, Team Captain)
Age: 28 Hometown: Darien, IL
Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: inadequate
Winger: wretched Defending: weak
Scoring: passable Set Pieces: passable
Goals: 14 (leads league)

#3 Sam Jones (Starting Left Forward)
Age: 27 Hometown: Buffalo, NY
Stamina: excellent Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: inadequate
Winger: poor Defending: weak
Scoring: passable Set Pieces: disastrous
Goals: 11

#4 Wiley Otero (Starting Right Wing)
Age: 24 Hometown: San Jose, CA
Stamina: weak Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: solid Passing: passable
Winger: passable Defending: weak
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: passable
Goals: 1

#5 Jesse Matson (Starting Right Midfielder)
Age: 28 Hometown: Galesburg, IL
Stamina: passable Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: solid
Winger: weak Defending: poor
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: solid
Goals: 7

#6 Inge Oskarsson (Starting Left Midfielder)
Age: 23 Hometown: Oslo, Norway
Stamina: solid Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: passable Passing: passable
Winger: weak Defending: passable
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: inadequate
Goals: 4

#7 Howie Cole (Platoon Left Wing)
Age: 24 Hometown: Wadsworth, OH
Stamina: passable Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: weak Passing: weak
Winger: passable Defending: wretched
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: disastrous
Goals: 1

#8 Leonardo Andres Alvaro (Starting Right Wing Back)
Age: 28 Hometown: Madrid, Spain
Stamina: passable Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: wretched Passing: disastrous
Winger: weak Defending: passable
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: passable
Goals: 2

#9 Samuel Harrell (Starting Center Midfielder)
Age: 26 Hometown: Herrin, IL
Stamina: inadequate Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: solid Passing: inadequate
Winger: weak Defending: poor
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: weak
Goals: 0

#10 Elliott Hammond (Starting Central Defender)
Age: 22 Hometown: Macomb, IL
Stamina: poor Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: solid Passing: poor
Winger: weak Defending: inadequate
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: poor
Goals: 1

#11 Rodney Valadez (Starting Left Wing Back)
Age: 20 Hometown: Las Vegas, NV
Stamina: passable Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: wretched Passing: weak
Winger: inadequate Defending: inadequate
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: disastrous
Goals: 0

#12 Zack Hurst (Team Leader, Emergency Keeper)
Age: 29 Hometown: Galesburg, IL
Stamina: poor Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: weak
Winger: passable Defending: wretched
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: solid
Goals: 0

#13 Alfred Hurd (Reserve Midfielder)
Age: 18 Hometown: Cameron, IL
Stamina: weak Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: poor
Winger: poor Defending: poor
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: weak
Goals: 0

#14 Johnny Pierre (Reserve Forward)
Age: 20 Hometown: Palm Desert, CA
Stamina: passable Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: weak
Winger: weak Defending: poor
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: wretched
Goals: 0

#15 Paul Street (Reserve Forward)
Age: 26 Hometown: Monmouth, IL
Stamina: inadequate Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: weak Passing: weak
Winger: inadequate Defending: weak
Scoring: passable Set Pieces: inadequate
Goals: 3

#16 Paofai Croom-Carter (Platoon Wing Back)
Age: 23 Hometown: Fiji Islands
Stamina: inadequate Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: wretched
Winger: inadequate Defending: weak
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: passable
Goals: 0

#17 Tommie Joe Poulin (Reserve Midfielder)
Age: 18 Hometown: Roswell, NM
Stamina: passable Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: passable Passing: weak
Winger: weak Defending: poor
Scoring: wretched Set Pieces: poor
Goals: 0


Desired upgrades for the future? The 1-2 punch of Paofai Croom Carter and Howie Cole will last just as long as it takes for me to find and afford a better winger. Cater will pop to passable playmaking soon, which may be his ticket out of Galesburg. Cole...he'll net a couple bucks when we kick him out.

Defense, defense, defense. Our biggest problem area. Once Hammond's stamina increases, he's a quality solution as an offensive defender. I *may* sell him early on, after I train stamina in the offseason, and replace him with a true defender. A 22 year old solid playmaker is worth some decent money.
Obviously on the wings, Valadez is an overachiever, and Leonardo, while quite good, is decrepid.

After that? Mosley and Jones, while combining for 25 of our 48 goals this season, are both up there in age, and successors will need to be found. Not a priority yet.

Our final match of the season is vs IronMen, and while we *should* anhiliate them, they upset the #1 team in the series this week, so we're cautious. They play a 4-3-3 though, so I just can't see them defeating my 3-5-2, especially since I'm MOTS'ing. This match will determine who takes 4th place prize money, and who takes nothing. As I expect to win, we'll see that money (37,500 I think), plus the 10,000 from the top series scorer, Daryl Mosley. With that in our pocket plus the match income, we will, yes, be under 200k in debt! WHOO! Transfer lists here we come!

Wait till next year, folks. My only true competition is (likely) promoting, and even if he doesn't, we can run with him. Series V.38 will be ours.

[Coffee Warlord]

Today's events.

Your team has received 60 US$ because Floyd Meek (5539563), who was formerly a member of your squad, was recently sold for 2 000 US$.

Owner Coffee Warlord immediatly took that money and bought dinner....for himself.

[Doug5984]

Originally posted by Coffee Warlord
Today's events.

Your team has received 60 US$ because Floyd Meek (5539563), who was formerly a member of your squad, was recently sold for 2 000 US$.

Owner Coffee Warlord immediatly took that money and bought dinner....for himself.

woo-hoo, i am now connected to someone's dynasty...today I sold Floyd Meek.....I am glad I could help get you some money to get a nice dinner...

[Coffee Warlord]

After some consideration, we decided to put out some bait. Elliot Hammond, our 22 year old solid playmaker, was put on the transfer list for the rather high price of 125,000. Basically, he's a guy who I would rather not sell, but if someone wants to overpay for him, then so be it. If he sells, it helps us anyway. We've got midfield trainees, and the 100k would get us under the 200k debt mark, allowing me to shore up our weak defensive unit. A pair of passable (MAYBE solid if I catch an uber bargain) defenders would do wonders for the club. Hammond is simply the odd man out.

[vex]

Nice to see your dynasty back up. Mine is taking a break until next season:)

[Coffee Warlord]

That was my original plan, I just decided we needed some lead in before next season. :)

[Coffee Warlord]

Well, we lost our irrelevant friendly, BUT!

Since our star, Wiley Otero, was red carded, he played this friendly. And picked up 3 full stars, the first Avenger player to ever do so!

[daedalus]

Ian Hogan (8754342)
A solid coach who prefers a strong defensive game
A pleasant guy who is balanced and honest.
Has brilliant experience and solid leadership abilities.

We don't like you anymore. :)

[Coffee Warlord]

Originally posted by daedalus
We don't like you anymore. :)

I have two words for you.

Neener. Neener. :)

And now that the training update is done...no playmaking bumps. No biggie, was kinda hoping Paofai Croom Carter would bump, but wasn't *really* expecting it.

Form changes...not bad. Starters listed.

Rodney Valadez up to excellent.
Elliot Hammond down to weak.
Howie Cole up to inadequate.
Sam Jones down to passable.

Tommie Joe Poulin, our trainee / reserve midfielder, will start in place of Samuel Harrel for the last game, as his form bumped to solid, and Harrel's is at poor. This puts our team in INCREDIBLE form for the final match, as shown below.

Form
------
Keeper: Solid
Wingbacks: Excellent, Solid
Central Defender: Weak
Midfielders: Solid, Solid, Passable
Wingers: Solid, Inadequate
Strikers: Solid, Passable

[Coffee Warlord]

The day of judgement: youth pull day.

Ken Shaffer 8849715
19 years, passable form, healthy
a sympathetic guy who is fiery and upright
has disatrous Experience and wretched Leadership abilities

Stamina: Passable
Playmaking: Wretched
Winger: Passable
Scoring: Poor
Keeper: Disastrous
Passing: Inadequate
Defending: Poor
Set Pieces: Poor

He's staying in Galesburg. While his playmaking sucks for a winger, passable winger / inad passing earns him a spot on the team. I'm training playmaking till mid next season, so hopefully he'll bump one or two for that, and as I'm going to spend a few weeks on passing, he'll greatly benefit.

[Coffee Warlord]

Well, we have good news, and rather bad news.

The good news.

In their first season of existance, the Galesburg Avengers have secured 4th place with their 3-2 win over IronMen. This nets us some badly needed cash.

In this latest game, we also acheived a weak midfield, our first venture into that rating. Good sign for next year, as noone else in our series has that high of midfield, and most are still wretched/disastrous.

Daryl Mosley secured the top scorer title for the series, earning us an extra 10,000 on top of our 4th place earnings.

The bad news.

Mosley got hurt. Bad. He's listed as out for 7 weeks, and at 28 years old, his playing days may be done. We've hired a couple doctors, and if he progresses to something more managable during the offseason, he stays. If not...we'll have to cut ties.
Truly a shame for him to go out like this.

With the money for the series, I *think* we'll get under 200k in debt, which...yeah, I'm going to go right out and get us back into serious debt. We need to shore up our team for next year, and desperately need a true wingback, and perhaps a good replacement for Mosley, if such can be found for a reasonable price. We may be on the lookout for a better winger as well, but likely not.

edit: Oh yes. We're going to take our chances, and spend only one of our 3 youth pulls on outfielders in the offseason. I'm going to try and pull a passable keeper for the team, so I can replace our inadequate keeper. Since I'd like any youth pulls we keep to get the offseason stamina training, next week will be an outfielder, then we hope the HT gods are kind.

[daedalus]

Woohoo! Congrats! On strong finish in serie and bonus! :)

Suckly about injuries, though. Was/were there any ratings changes?

And, uhh, [shameless plug]I'll also be putting a wingback up for sale in a week or two[/shameless plug]. :) :) :)

[Coffee Warlord]

Nah, his ratings are unchanged for now. Of course, this may change...soon.

[Coffee Warlord]

And now that the season is over for the Avengers, we hand out our team awards.

<b>Most Valuable Player: Wiley Otero</b>
A tough choice between Otero and Mosley for MVP, but Otero not only is our lone 3 star player, he's stood out for his passing and playmaking ability in almost every match report we've had. A top notch player for several more seasons.

<b>Top Offensive Player: Daryl Mosley</b>
No brainer. Took home the series scoring crown, scored in every league game he played in.

<b>Top Defensive Player: Leonardo Andres Alvaro</b>
A great pickup for us, he anchored the back line in an otherwise weak defensive unit.

<b>Rookie of the Year: Tommie Joe Poulin</b>
We define rookies as any youth pull on our team, purchased or pulled ourselves. This award goes to Poulin, who played incredible ball for a trainee down the stretch, when our starting midfield was battered and beaten.

[Coffee Warlord]

Team Update

Friendly went without a hitch, 5-4 victory vs a friend I made in HT, when we got into 2 seperate bidding wars with each other in the same day. We have since become official supporters of each other's team. No injuries, thank god.

Daryl Mosley is already starting to heal, a good sign. He's dropped to +6 weeks.

Our last youth pull, Ken Shaffer, pulled in 2 stars in his winger debut. I see definate potential here.

We've set up our friendly with our Mentat, the North County Raiders. The Avengers will be taking a short trek to Missouri for a match promised to have a lot of running and shooting. Mainly running, as we'll be moving to the offseason stamina training regimine.

[Coffee Warlord]

Training Update

Nothing major, and again, I was hoping for a pop from one of my wingers, but wasn't really expecing it.

Paofai Croom Carter goes up in form to passable.
Inge Oskarrsson goes down in form to passable.
Sam Jones goes down in form to inadequate.
Jesse Matson goes up in form to solid.
Zack Hurst goes up in form to weak.
Tommy Joe Poulin goes down in form to passable.
Johnny Pierre goes up in form to solid.

All I gotta say is. My two solid midfielders are sitting at weak and poor form, respectively. Grr.

We've now switched to stamina training, which will run 1 or 2 weeks, depending on who pops next week.

[Coffee Warlord]

We'll be pulling a keeper in 20 minutes or so.

Cross your fingers, sacrifice a few goats, and recite a few incantations for me, if ya don't mind. :)

[Coffee Warlord]

The youth pull. The good news is, our youth squad popped to solid. I had to underfund it for a couple weeks for fiscal reasons, but it's been back at 20k for a couple weeks now, and now we be solid!

The pull...

Nathaniel Holliday
115 000 US$, 19 years, passable form
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities

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

Cool name, transfer listed. I'm *hoping* I can pull a passable/solid keeper before the start of the new season, as there's no way I can afford to upgrade the position any other way. I got a better chance with pulling keepers than with praying for a big-sell outfielder.

[daedalus]

Oooooh. That should help the book just a tad, eh. Mucho congratsies!

[Coffee Warlord]

Eh. Inad keepers are a dime a dozen these days. He'll net a little cash, but not much, I wager. I'll be lucky if I see 10k offa him.

[daedalus]

Dang. Wish I had the money to snag one for my backup.

[Coffee Warlord]

In better news, and one I forgot to mention last post, we also transfer listed starting midfielder Samuel Harrel.

He's a solid playmaker, with rather good overall stats. But, he'll be 27 in a week, and he seems to suffer from the dreaded Shitty Form Curse. I've never seen him pull over 1.5 stars, and for a solid PM, that's pathetic. We've got younger, more promisiing middies waiting in the wings to take his job.

The good news on this? I listed him at 50k. First bid for him came at 80k, and he's still got 2+ days left to go.

(edit: This sale will put us well under the 200k debt mark, which means...yessir, I'm looking for a cheap wingback as we speak.)

[Doug5984]

Originally posted by Coffee Warlord

This sale will put us well under the 200k debt mark, which means...yessir, I'm looking for a cheap wingback as we speak.

Good luck, I spent about a week looking for a good young Passable Wing, Passable Defense to play wingback.....I found a few guys but most were selling for $95k, I was finally able to pick one up for $80K- A little more than I had hoped for but oh well.

[Coffee Warlord]

The treasure trove of cheap talent, Oceania, has a couple I'm looking at that go late today. One's at 40k, the other's at 10k.

I'm hoping I can get one of em.

Oh, and for all you FOFC'rs. Hands off Terence Hadlee and Adan Stanley. I'm gunnin' for em. :)

[Coffee Warlord]

Galesburg would like to introduce you to its solution for a painfully mediocre backfield.

Peter Guinot
21 000 US$, 26 years, passable form
Has wretched experience and inadequate leadership abilities [Quick]

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

He's older, he cost a whopping 10,000, he'll be receiving stamina training for the offseason, and he has pulled in 2 stars in his last several matches.

In short, he fits perfectly as an offensive wingback, which is just what we were looking for. Our coach is defensive minded, so I can play my wingbacks offensive and still generate decent defensive ratings.

Guinot (Denmark) and Inge Oskarsson (Norway) have begun planning their Viking attack rituals, in preparation for the upcoming season. We don't ask.

[Coffee Warlord]

<b>1st Half Match Analysis, Season 19</b>

<b>Galesburg vs LDA</b>
This is the one remaining team that continues to give us problems. Our last match vs them was a tie, however, and this gives us hope for the future. A split with them would be quite acceptable. Rough first match of the year, but we'll manage.

<b>Galesburg vs IronMen</b>
Somewhat rough second match of the year. This is not a bad team, so we must be careful not to underestimate them. All in all though, we should win.

<b>Galesburg vs FD United</b>
If it's at home, we PIC. If it's not, I'll go normal. We dominated them last season with a lot worse team than we have now. I don't PIC at away matches though, unless it's just a ridiculously crap team.

<b>Galesburg vs Barkhamsted Fightin' Roadkill</b>
The series IV demotee. Not a bad team, but nothing special. Ratings late last season were weak/weak/poor attack, and a weak midfield. They may have a slightly stronger midfield than us (BARELY), but they have such a sorry attack they don't scare me that much. Avalanche (the team from my series that beat them) demolished them, and me and the Avs match up quite well.

<b>Galesburg vs Ultra Pep</b>
Remember what I just said about a ridiculously crap team? Assuming they still exist, they are an auto PIC.

<b>Galesburg vs Naptown Punks</b>
I thought they were going to be a lot harder than they wound up being. We took them down without much issue in our one match last season, in their hometown. Definatly not an easy match, but since we have a PIC in the game before, our TS should be quite good. We may MOTS them if we feel the need.

<b>Galesburg vs jaques's yo-yo's</b>
Late addition into the series last season. Slightly better than Ultra Pep, which isn't saying...well, anything. They did pull off a couple upsets last season, so depending on how they perform, we'll see. Possibly another PIC.


<b>Summary</b>
Basically...the first 3 games are going to determine our fate. I'm confidant we can cruise after that, and thanks to the wonders of the round robin system, we'll be cruising until the final 3 weeks of the season. If we can win at least 2 of those 3 key games (I think we have a realistic shot at winning them all), I think we'll win the series.

[Coffee Warlord]

Good news. Multiple people have now worked the bid on Samuel Harrel. We could see a nice chunk of change, with 1.5 days left on the bidding.

[FrogMan]

Originally posted by Coffee Warlord
In better news, and one I forgot to mention last post, we also transfer listed starting midfielder Samuel Harrel.

He's a solid playmaker, with rather good overall stats. But, he'll be 27 in a week, and he seems to suffer from the dreaded Shitty Form Curse. I've never seen him pull over 1.5 stars, and for a solid PM, that's pathetic. We've got younger, more promisiing middies waiting in the wings to take his job.


Are you serious?!? 1.5 stars for a solid middie. This is the standard for my inadequate playmaker middies :) Not saying that to gloat, just amazed how a bad form can have a bad impact on a player's performance...

FrogMan

[Coffee Warlord]

I kid you not. inadequate stamina, solid playmaking, inadequate passing...and 1.5 stars per match in weak/poor form. (I've never seen him any higher.)

I've got inadequate playmakers in the midfield pulling more stars than him. I pity the poor sap who buys him. :)

[sterlingice]

The only passable/passable wingback I've seen for under $50K is the one I snagged a while back who was cheap because he was injured for 4 weeks when I bought him. Other than that, you're likely looking in the $70-$100K range.

SI

[Coffee Warlord]

If you note a couple posts up, I got a passable/inadequate (which is still a serious upgrade) for 10k. He works.

[Coffee Warlord]

Samuel Harrell 3/26/2003 at 05:26 99 000 US$

Present HT time: 3/25/2003 18:26

Several hours left, there's now 4 teams bidding on Mr Harrell.
Ahh, the sweet smell of cash.

[Coffee Warlord]

The Galesburg Avengers would like to announce their final transactions of the offseason.

Keepers William Thomas and Nathaniel Holliday, both rated at inadquate, have been sold for 11,000 each.

Midfielder Samuel Harrell is currently going for 110,000, and finishes in 3 hours.

And our final purchase of the offseason is perhaps our most important.

Arden Tirado (8720379)
19 years, passable form, healthy

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

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 193 000 US$
Wage: 1 580 US$/week
Owner: Levski-Spartak

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

Arden 'Gatlin' Tirado, hailing from Brooklyn, New York, has been purchased for the very reasonable sum of 67,000. He has been rated at 2.5 stars whilst in passable form, so he may pull 3 stars if his form increases.

At his press conference, he announced that he does not, in fact, have any connections to the Russian Mafia or the Yakuza. And he'll break the neck of anyone who says otherwise.

When asked how he got his nickname, 'Gatlin', he simply shrugged, and said 'some bum didn't pay his bills, yo.' The reporters quickly left after that, thus ending the press conference.


edit: As it turns out, both Thomas and Holliday fled the country, one heading for Argentina, and one heading for Germany. Whispers are already beginning about how they may have attempted a hit on Arden Gatlin.

[Coffee Warlord]

<b>Avengers of Lore - Where They Are Now</b>

Now that our offseason sales are over, I thought it might be fun to do a little recap, of where all our players we sold last season are now.

List is in order of sale, with the earliest sale first. Bought for / sold for prices are also listed (in that order). YP = Youth Pull, SWP = Started With Player

<b>Pim de Kok ($6,000 / $15,000)</b>
His very short stint with Galesburg lasted until we
found a buyer. He now plays for the Hair Raisers, in the USA.

<b>Finn Tungman ($6,000 / $6,000)</b>
His also short stint with Galesburg lasted until he got injured,
and we dumped him for cheap. He's been tossed around a bit, and is now playing for Monk's Coffee Shop, in the USA.

<b>Virgil Alicea (YP / $7,000 )</b>
Found a permanent home in the USA, playing for Rizzo's Neighbor.

<b>Christopher Dunbar (YP / $16,000)</b>
Our most successful youth pull, he plays in the US for the Dons of Juan. Interesting note, in his short time for that team, he scored 5 league goals, with 1 hattrick.

<b>Floyd Meek ($4,000 / $2,000)</b>
One of several mistakes we made. He's been transfered around a few times, and now sits on the bench for US's Aluminumers.

<b>Kurt Maddox (SWP / $50,000)</b>
Heh. I have a definate knack for dumping permashit form players off on other teams. This guy has been at disastrous form for at least 5 weeks now. Presently riding the bench for Team Carlsbergs in Finland.

<b>Vern Robb (YP / $1,000)</b>
Pseudo clown, he found a home for his clowing ways in Seattle, working for grevbos.

<b>Martin Schrader (SWP / $130,000)</b>
Parting with him was tough, but he was getting old, and I wanted to get his value. Now playing in Malaysia for Ball Hoggers FC.

<b>William Thomas ($37,000 / $11,000)</b>
Yeah, I overpayed for an inadequate keeper when I started playing. Well, I made up for that by underpaying for a passable keeper, and shipped Thomas to Argentina to play for La Jauria.

<b>Nathaniel Holliday (YP / $11,000)</b>
My first (and last) attempt to pull a replacement keeper, he also got transfered, and shipped to Germany, playing for Frankfurter Adler.

<b>Samuel Harrell (SWP / $110,000)</b>
You all know his story by now, if you've read this thread. Good riddance. He joins Holliday in Germany, playing for rival Brokenlande Kavellerie.

[Coffee Warlord]

Post friendly report. The Avengers lost 3-1 to their mentor and first ever supporter, the North County Raiders. No injuries, no problem.

The very good news is we got our first look at the 2 new faces, Arden Tirado and Peter Guinot. Guinot is as I expected. A 2 star player who will fill a glaring gap at wingback for a season or so.

Tirado...I am very, very impressed. 2.5 stars in passable form, and, 2 notes in the match log for 'big' saves. Helluva upgrade for the squad. For 67,000, he was a bargain.

Other news...we are officially at -189,000 bucks in debt, which is the best financial position we've been in for a lonnnnng time. Odds are we're going to sink back into uber debt for an arena expansion in the not-too-distant future (arena currently at 10,920, I'd like to see 20,000), but for now, things are looking up.

[Coffee Warlord]

<b>Training Update</b>

If only my other stats could go up as fast as stamina.
Anyway, here's everyone who popped in stamina, and what they popped to. Starters listed in the first batch, and I'm not including my keeper or clown since, well, who cares. :)

Wiley Otero - Inadequate
Inge Oskarrson - Excellent
Elliot Hammond - Weak
Jesse Matson - Solid
Paul Street - Passable
Ken Schaffer - Solid

Paofai Croom-Carter - Passable
Tommy Joe Poulin - Solid
Howie Cole - Solid
Johnny Pierre - Solid

Form Updates

Rodney Valadez - from excellent down to solid
Tommy Joe Poulin - from passable up to solid
Daryl Mosley - from solid down to passable
Johnny Pierre - from solid down to passable

I can sure as hell live with that. Debating on going another week or not. I'd really like to get Hammond up another rank of stamina (he IS a midfielder, after all, and actually my highest playmaking midfielder), but damn is my form gonna get hurt. Prolly gonna do it anyway, though.

[FrogMan]

Gee, you guys are lucky to get your training update before bedtime on Thursday. In Canada, training update only happens at noon HT time, that's 6 am eastern, so I'll have my update only tomorrow morning...

Okay enough whining, back to your team... Are the form updates the only ones you experienced this week? If so, that's very good, very good for a week in which you trained stamina. I always try to remember that those stamina levels my players earn are kind of there to stay, as form will fluctuate...

FrogMan

[Coffee Warlord]

My clown went up in form as well. :)

But yeah, last time I trained stamina in the middle of last season, I didn't have any serious form trouble either. I don't think it's that bad of drop as popular belief says. Although I'm kinda worried about doing it two weeks in a row.

[Coffee Warlord]

Starting lineups determined for the cup game.

Obviously we're PICing. Our opponent, a bot team, poses almost no threat to us.

I'm playing my starters, regardless of form, as not only do I want to see how they do with some modified tactics (this to come), I'm trying out Jesse Matson at forward. He has solid passing, solid set pieces, inad playmaking, inad scoring. He's been a starting middy his entire career here, and with our top scorer Mosley still down for a good while, let's see what we can come up with here.

Anyway.

Keeper: Arden Tirado (passable form)
Right Back: Peter Guinot (passable form, offensive)
Central Defender 1: Elliot Hammond (poor form, extra midfield)
Central Defender 2: Leonardo Andres-Alvaro (solid form, normal)
Left Back: Rodney Valadez (solid form, normal)
Right Wing: Wiley Otero (solid form, towards middle)
Midfield 1: Inge Oskarrsson (passable form, normal)
Midfield 2: Tommy Joe Poulin (solid form, offensive)
Left Wing: Ken Shaffer (passable form, offensive)
Forward 1: Sam Jones (inadequate form, normal)
Forward 2: Jesse Matson (solid form, normal)

I'm interested to see what happens with this lineup. I know for a fact my defense will get a serious bump from not playing Inge and both wingbacks offensive. Otero towards the middle I'm hoping will bump up my midfield to weak, *maybe* inadequate (which would flat out rock). It's my attack ratings I really wanna see. Prior to our defensive coach, we could get excellents/formidables in our attacks. I'd like to get that again.

We shall see!

[Coffee Warlord]

BOOYAH! Youth Pull lottery! Not 17, but you're damn right I'll take it!

Wallace Aviles (10596298)
18 years, passable form, healthy

A sympathetic guy who is fiery and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 146 000 US$
Wage: 1 240 US$/week
Owner: Galesburg Avengers
Warnings: 0

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

[Doug5984]

Originally posted by Coffee Warlord
BOOYAH! Youth Pull lottery! Not 17, but you're damn right I'll take it!

Wallace Aviles (10596298)
18 years, passable form, healthy

A sympathetic guy who is fiery and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 146 000 US$
Wage: 1 240 US$/week
Owner: Galesburg Avengers
Warnings: 0

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

i hate you ;) , my weak keeper was on my roster for a whole 20 seconds....are you planning on selling Aviles? or keeping him for yourself?

[Coffee Warlord]

Oh, he's for sale. I can't pass up the money he'll bring in. Bidding starts at 100,000, and we'll see what happens.

[vex]

You should get a couple million out of him.

[DataKing]

Originally posted by vexroid
You should get a couple million out of him.

I think that might be going a bit too far. If he was 17, then sure.

[Coffee Warlord]

With luck, we'll see a couple hundred thousand. His secondary skills flat out suck (unless someone trains him as a winger, with that passable winger skill), but my guess is he'll net me a couple hundred thousand.

He started at 100k. 200k puts me well out of debt. If he doesn't sell at all, I'll train him for half a season and sell off an excellent playmaker, which will net me a good chunk of change. Win win situation for me.

[vex]

Well, you've already got one bid.

[Coffee Warlord]

Wow, don't I feel kinda special.

A team in the Scottish Premier series bid on my youth pull. :)

[Coffee Warlord]

Minor update on our 18 year old solid PM youth pull.

Currently, the bidding is at 105,000. He has about 20 hours left to go. I'm hoping for some serious bidding down the stretch, although it wouldn't surprise me if it stays fairly stagnant. His secondary skills flat out SUCK.

In retrospect, I should have probably trained him to excellent, then sold him, but oh well. Money now is good.

[Coffee Warlord]

Whoo, go bidding war!

The bidding has been edging up all day, piece by piece. It was up to 130,000, and then someone apparently got sick of screwing around, and bumped it to 180,000.

Keep it coming, kids. I want more money!

edit: 199 now.

[daedalus]

Nice! Gotta appreciate those nice buyers who does a good bump.

[Coffee Warlord]

Final tally for our best youth pull ever? $265,000.

And guess what?

WE'RE OUT OF DEBT! YES! HOORAH!

[illinifan999]

Isn't it nice? Now don't go spending it all.

[FrogMan]

Originally posted by illinifan999
Isn't it nice? Now don't go spending it all.

There's gotta be an over/under on the number of days Warlord will stay debt free :D Anybody with connections? Anybody?

My guess would be something like 5 days :)

FrogMan

[Coffee Warlord]

Oh yeah, me and my 11,000 bucks I have in the black can carry me a long way. :)

[illinifan999]

You can get a cheap used car. ;) To drive your team around. ;)

[daedalus]

I'm with FrogMan. I'm going with the under, too. :)

[Alf]

I guess he'll do a stadium renovation with the money. That's what I am doing right now (expansion to 13200 seats)

[vex]

Coffee, now we both know that being $12,000 in the black means having $212,000 to spend:) At least that's how I always see it.

[Coffee Warlord]

Bah! That means I've got 512,000 to spend! :)

And yes, while I've managed to pry myself away from the transfer lists, (although a solid scorer would be nice), I will be upgrading the arena.....sometime soon. I imagine debt will returneth once that happens. Unless of course, we get another good yoot pull.

[daedalus]

Interestingly, my next game is against a computer controlled team (Kansas Pharaos) that knocked one of your serie-mate (Ultra Pep) out of the cup. According to their team history, that squad finished last season last in your serie before being taken over this past offseason by a new owner. The Hattrick Gods apparently were not feeling overly kind when they assigned his squad.

[Coffee Warlord]

Heh. Ultra Pep.

In the 4 or 5 games they played last season, they didn't score a single goal. At all. They...suck. Bad.

[Qwikshot]

Originally posted by Coffee Warlord
Bah! That means I've got 512,000 to spend! :)

And yes, while I've managed to pry myself away from the transfer lists, (although a solid scorer would be nice), I will be upgrading the arena.....sometime soon. I imagine debt will returneth once that happens. Unless of course, we get another good yoot pull.

Pardon me, did you just say the two yoots?

I'm sorry your honor the two "yooooouuthz".

[Coffee Warlord]

Cup match results. This was a PIC, and I played around a bit with my lineup, to see what would happen. Not overly impressed with the results.

4531 spectators had come to California Field this cloudy day. California had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Farr - Vogel, Thorne, Needham, Price - Aimar, Lamar, Villarreal, Pace - Delaney, Kowalski.

Galesburg had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Tirado - Guinot, Andres Alvaro, Valadez - Otero, Oskarsson, Hammond, Poulin, Shaffer - Jones, Matson.

After 6 minutes Galesburg put themselves up by 0 - 1 as Tommy Joe Poulin finished off a strike from the left with a real cannon placed at the far post. Jesse Matson of Galesburg received a yellow card in the 12th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The game had been on for 21 minutes when Sam Jones broke through to the right, upping the score to the home crowd´s dismay. Galesburg´s were up 0 - 2. The referee showed Californias John Lamar the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Galesburg will have to do without Peter Guinot for a time due to a bad foot injury. He was substituted by Paofai Croom-Carter. Sam Jones increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 3. The away team´s Sam Jones took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 40:th minute increasing Galesburg´s lead to 0 - 4. This third goal made a hat trick for Sam Jones. After this Galesburg lowered the tempo in order to concentrate on their defensive efforts. 0 - 4 was the half-time score. Galesburg, bringing the final ball possession rate to 79 percent, dominated the battle.

The visitors Ken Shaffer took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 53rd minute. 0 - 5 for Galesburg. After the ball got lifted in from the left Sam Jones was on his own in the home side´s penalty area 59 minutes into the game, and should have scored, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. In the 59:th minute Galesburgs Ken Shaffer received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Galesburg, bringing the final ball possession rate to 91 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating California player was without a doubt Christopher Pace. Cale Thorne was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Galesburg player was without a doubt Leonardo Andres Alvaro. Paofai Croom-Carter on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 5.

Galesburg Avengers
Player rating and Team formation
Midfield: poor
Right Side Defence: inadequate
Central Defence: solid
Left Side Defence: solid
Right Side Attack: inadequate
Central Attack: passable
Left Side Attack: passable

So, I'm basically not pleased with the results here. The freakin wingback we JUST bought went down for 5 damn weeks. But, the good news is, I instantly got a replacement for him, for a good price. He's actually better than Guinot anyway.

Midfield, why do you continue to torment me? Otero will not be playing towards middle again. He gets much better team/individual ratings when playing offensively. Elliot Hammond just lost his midfielding job to Tommy Joe Poulin. Hammond will, however, continue to start as an offensive central defender. The job of the second wingback will go to Leonardo Andres Alvaro, replacing Rodney Valadez. Depending on the team we face on any given week, Alvaro will either play as a central defender or a wingback.

Anyway, here's our new face, picked up for an easy 15,000. (still not in debt! ha!)

Rickie Quiroz (8926189)
26 years, passable form, healthy

A pleasant guy who is balanced and upright.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Assessed value: 68 000 US$
Wage: 980 US$/week
Owner: Galesburg Avengers
Warnings: 0

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

[Coffee Warlord]

I just...can't resist the transfer market.

Well, I can, but I realized I was short 1 playmaking trainee. And we're still not in debt!

Nicasio Pinto (10212986)
18 years, passable form, healthy

A pleasant guy who is fiery and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.

Nationality: España
Assessed value: 32 000 US$
Wage: 780 US$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner: Galesburg Avengers
Warnings: 0

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

A whopping $4,000 purchase, and if memory serves, he's about 2 weeks out from a bump to passable. He'll be trained to solid or excellent and sold.

Training update and league match overview on its way.