Finished fourth this season, so no qualifier. Looks like a another fourth place finish this season, too, since I'm unlikely to have my older keeper ready for sale until next year.

bought an Outstanding defender with Magical SP skill and will have three or four HEAD types in the lineup this season. I had a 16 SP last season, but replaced him with an OUTSTANDING Forward, so I needed the magic. Got a quite a few goals from SPs last season, so I look forward to more.

I'm going to make a player into a coach for the first time. He'll be a Solid trainer and Passable coach. My current coach is Solid but down to level2 coach after a full calendar year. Cost is about 750k, but should be worth it.

My last three purchases (other than GK trainee) have all been USA born. So I think I'll stay that way for the future. My coach will be USA, too, so that makes me happy.

On expensive players, going USA usually pays off. As for the solid/pass coach- I'd start training for solid/solid with your next one now as it costs the same (you just need better leadership) but solid/pass should do you a lot better than solid/poor or whatever you have now.

SI

He will be the best coach I will ever have had, and tied for the top spot with two others as the best coach in my Series. Perhaps not coincidentally, the teams slotted as 3,4 (me) and 5 have the three Solid/Passable coaches.

I looked for Solid leadership, but the cost was always too high given I had spots to fill in my lineup. Now I'll look for the Solid leadership player since I have several Passable leadership types whose experience is getting up there.

What I aim for is a passable experience, solid leadership coach. They can be had for a couple hundred K and if you drop down to inad/solid, the price is mostly negligible (may be your best bet). Just keep playing him for 4 seasons and he should be able to bump

SI

So I am in a youth league at the moment, but no matches have been generated for the next season. That is a bit frustrating. Only 13/16 slots are filled. Does this league have to fill back up before the league will kick off again? I have a defender who has a chance of making it to excellent by the time he turns 17, but I need to get him matches.

Yes, you have to wait. Your best bet is to just pick a new series that needs just 1 team. I find this to be the most aggravating aspect of Hattrick (esp. since you can't even play friendlies).

I managed to join a youth league just in time. I can get in nine matches before the potential excellent defender can be promoted. Hopefully that will enough for to move from a solid.0 to an excellent. I need to check hattrick youth club.

How is everyone doing in the cup? I drew a team from III from my next round. But he looks beatable. I should have the midfield advantage, but he should be stronger in defense and attack. We will see.

Won my second round game 1-0 on a set piece goal. Next week is another DV team. He plays 3-4-3 with a much weaker MF than I have put up. It is a home game for me, so I'm encouraged except for having my top 2 Forwards out for the game. So I'll likely pack the MF and let my Utopian set piece taker work his magic.

CUPSET! My team managed to knock off Team Lazy, the current first place team in III.14. Our reward is a match against Spocker, the first place team in II.3 and winners of the Season 44 cup. In fact Spocker will do a FOFC double, with the cup match against me and a league fixture against SI.

If he plays his A team, I have no chance. But he trotted out a weakened squad last week in the cup. It is hard to say what he trains, if anything. Maybe set-pieces.

I'm not sure but his team is sick. It's getting a little older but it's still crazy. I don't know how I'm going to steal enough points to stay in 6th.

Congrats on the cupset :D

SI

Yes, his team is sick and very hard to scout against. He trots out several different formations. It looks like he uses multi-skilled players with an emphasis on tactical flexibility.

I have about $3M cash to sink into the team to try to make a run at beating at him, but I am not going to alter my long term plans. I might buy a fullback or a central midfielder, which I am in the market for anyway.

Congrats on the Cupset!

I made it into the fourth round, too. I'll face A D IV team. I have to decide if I want to try to win this game or start to focus on my series. So far this season the results have been largely the opposite of the prediction tool at the bottom of the match results, a trend that started for me about mid-way through last season. Makes it hard for me to figure out what to do.

I'll get my injured forwards back this week, so I'll be improved in attack, I hope.

We went up 3-2 on Spocker, but he rallied to get a goal back in regulation. He scored the game winner at the death and we lost 4-3. I lost my SN striker and Mag defender to injuries in the first half. It was a good run.

Now it is time to rebuild the team.

I was watching that game and really pulling for ya.

Myself, I'm onto round 5 and don't have too bad of a draw. But I'm going to have to actually try a bit going forward. That's two straight 1-0 wins and I won't be able to keep trotting out a complete non-starter lineup next week. That said, I had 3 starters ready to jump onto the field should I have been down or tied after halftime so I think I was covered.

SI

Congrats, SI.

The Skipjacks made it into the fifth round by a comfortable 3-0. We scored two minutes in; they had a player sent off at the 8 minute mark, so we cruised.

Next week is a DIII team that has been playing the second team in Cup matches and only putting up mid 170's in those games. I have a lousy league opponent so I can get ready for an all-out game if I want. Injuries are down to a couple bruised, so I'm back to a full squad for the next two games.

Much to ponder.

Hattrick dipped under the 700k user mark today when I checked training.

Well, change doesn't move too quickly in the game, I suppose.

SI

We survive to live another season in II, finishing 4th

SI

Things should be more interesting around here, because I am promoting to V.171. That is the series the Skipjacks are in. So two of the remaining three FOFC teams will be in the same division. How rare is that?

I'm still kicking around, training my u20's up and soon to be NT hopefuls. IV.6 this season after promoting with 17yo middies most of the season.

My V was that bad.

Tell

Good. I am glad to see there are more FOFC teams hanging around.

Some bad luck dropped me from auto-promoting to division 3, to now playing a qualifier for promotion against a 5th place team. I have maxed team spirit, but the odds probably favor another season in IV.

CC FC is still kicking around after blowing up my team 5.5 seasons ago whilst in III. CCFC is currently in v.130 training defenders with about a year left or so until my americans get trained up and then switching training to something...

TP6 is back up in II, this time landing in II.3 where I just finished my 1st season :)

SI

As Supporter has gotten more expensive and the dollar has declined relative to the Euro, I've considered not renewing. Last season, ~$45 was just low enough to get me to re-up. I'm certain that ~$61 is way over my personal threshold.

Oof. That's ugly. I think they'll get one more year out of me, until I get through my flag chasing, but I think that's it.

SI

I agree - $60 is way too much and I have been supporting since 2002.

I just started a new team after being gone for a long while. It looks like a few things have changed since I quit. I'm in VI.145 called the LaserSharks. I agree that Supporter is looking expensive now.

Yup, I couldn't resist and signed up about a month ago.
I'm in division VIII.1144 in Nederland.

I'm happy when I joined and even now that the US only has about 5000 teams. I can't imagine being in a country like that where it's a struggle just to get up a couple of levels

SI

We'll see how long I'll last. At this level half the teams are bot teams and every week you'll see two or three games in each group end up in a 7-0 or so win for the human players. It's crucial to peak against the other human's. From there on, well, I have no idea where the sky is. The top levels appears to be loaded with 25-year old teams, in HT years.

What's wrong with that?? ;)

Next year will be my 30th(!) HT season but I'm also in II. And since season 28 (this season is 47), I've either been in II or III- never to MLS, tho

SI

My season started out rough, but it has started to recover a bit. We lost in the 2nd round of the cup and then I forgot to set the orders against the weakest team in my league. So that resulted in no points when I should have easily got the full three. But we have won a couple of matches. If I can win my next two or three, it should be smooth sailing to safety.

I am having a hard time finding players to buy. I am looking for some part-time winger/passing trainees to bolster the squad. I am only buying American players and the pickings are pretty slim at the moment. Or at least at the prices that I can afford.

My trainees are all pretty young, so I don't see any sales in the near future. I might sell a 21 year old who will have WC scoring/solid winger/exc passing, but he was a youth pull so I need to determine how much that will affect my lineup next season.

Overall, I am still enjoying the game. I think the new changes will add a different element to the game and make it more strategic.

The market seems to have tightened up. Trainees still are high but sale prices continue sink. It's harder to make that long term training profit.

SI

Airborne Penguins, that name rings a bell

Cup round 9:

11

12-29-2011 01.00

SJ Wildcats - Airborne Penguins

0 - 0

It should. He's in my series, too. Five points if you remember who it is without looking ;)

SI

TP, right?

I'm pretty sure it is :)

It's really impressive that he quit, restarted, and is already back in II

SI

Wow, it is. He took over that team in Season 32. So he has got them to II in 14 seasons, pretty impressive. He has also never been relegated.

I took over my team is Season 40 and have already been demoted twice.

I took over my team in season 18 and have never made it to MLS and only 5 seasons in II :)

SI

Thinking about taking a team again.

Krondor Lancers are back.... VI.771

Now I need to remember how to play the damn game...

Yep, that's my "new" team. Though it's weird to think I've had this team longer than I did my first one.

Would have liked to have made a better showing in my first season back in DII, but II.3 is brutal. Can't complain about getting to the final 16 in the cup though. I also figure I'm giving SI a hand by sewing up a relegation spot. ;)

Well,

I have managed to remember how to play the game, I will be purchasing supporter again later this week. But damn, $50 a year for this game is getting steep.

Right now I am 6-0 in my first match back and it's against a bot team and I was able to bring in some young talent to farm at Scoring up front and some ok MF's and Defenders. This will probably help me in VI and V but I will need to get stronger.

I'll take any help I can get. It's absolutely brutal even with a walkover.

Oh, and for anyone who doesn't watch the USA front page (I know I often don't)- one of our seriesmates is doing a set of interviews with everyone in II.3. Mine is up now and I think TP's is next.

SI

Hippopotami vs Penguins this weekend, I see!

Last weekend I had me first "d'oh!" moment, seeing my team choke a 1-0 lead against the second placed team in my series. A win would have been huge in the race for 2nd place, a draw makes 3rd place more likely.

That and I'm starting to get a little bit attached to some of these guys with just 'solid' bars.

I know, I was warned about this, but I figured I wouldn't get too immersed with my team. :D

Yeah, how effed up is it that he's 7th in our series and the only one below him is the walkover team? II.3 is just nuts.

SI

So, of the 8 teams left in the cup, I've been in series with 3 (Spocker, T Hills FC, and Cabana Mulberries) and lost to another this year (Full Contact Runnerd)

SI

My team has finally started putting things together. We have won three of the last four and are a good bet to stay up in V at this point. I have turned my team into a good, balanced offensive squad that can also put up solid defensive ratings. My midfield can only get about an inadequate or so. As a result, we have been doing a lot of counter-attacking and having some success with that. I also have the squad now to be flexible with either a 4-3-3 or a 3-4-3.

But I am reaching a boring part of my franchise. I am done buying for the time being. The money that I save now will probably be invested in a stadium upgrade. I don't know if I quite have a team yet to compete for first place in my series next year, but we should steadily improve.