Hattrick's North County Raiders?
 

Not sure how to bring back my old posts yet, hopefully I will have some time soon to figure that out.

To make my long story short, the Raiders won today 6-2, and improved to 5-2 overall.

Dave Sumner scored a pair of goals. Also scoring were William Vang, George Flores, Bob Wiles, and Enric Peris. At least, that's what I think happened.

16,000 fans showed up to our newly modified arena; a sellout.

We welcome Samifan as our newest official supporter. Samifan, I hope you find the VIP box suitable. Also included was the Jerome Bettis bobble head.

Well, I'm off for now, because I'm sure my net access is about to go.

I'm surprised I'm still on, I'm sure the net access will go any minute. While I have the chance, I'll mention a few other things about the team.

Our latest youth pull was a joke. 18 year old Josue Simms is an inadequate winger. Sorry Josue, but we find you lacking.

There was some kind of mistake I suppose, because Sam Albrecht was placed on the bench before today's game. He'll start in our friendly against Mr. Bug.

This is a warning, Mr. Bug to my knowledge hasn't accepted my friendly. He's got till Tuesday night to do so, because I'll have to find something after that.

William Vang improved to passable at scoring. He's now a starter at the wing position. However, his youth and ability will keep him playing on the B team so he can focus on his skills.

I haven't decided who will play in our friendly...I don't even know if I'll have one at this rate, but I do know the forwards will be Vang, Vien-Van, and Brown. Sam Albrecht will play as well because of the miscommunication that left him on the bench and Dan Fernandez on the field.

What worked for me was simply copying and pasting each post. Of course this depends on the thread length.

The only changes I had to make after pasting the posts was to change specific text back to bold and to re add links again. Also I added the "by vexroid:"(or whoever it was) to my reposts.

Thanks, although I'm not sure I will bother any time soon, if at all. I will continue the historic Raider dynasty, however. There are trophies to be won!

Good to see you around, Ardent. :)

Since my youth team has moved up to Solid, I've only had one non-pathetic youth pull (passable wing/poor else) in four tries. Feh!

Yeah, not sure what's up. Usually there's a bit of haterade for the night crew, but tonight I can creep on the net! I wonder if someone has made a mistake?

The Raiders just finished cleaning out their closets and have told three players their services were no longer needed. Mats Fjelholt, the passable midfielder from Sweden is on the wire and is being offered for less than I purchased (I HATE BUYING PLAYERS WHO DON'T HELP MY TEAM!!! GRRR), and Josue Simms and Michael Crouse were both fired.

Crouse, one of the few remaining original Raiders, had a tearful goodbye with B team comrade, Stan Hartley. It's rumored that Hartley, also an original Raider, will be the next to go should the axe continue to grind.

However, after trimming the team down to 21 players (20 after Fjelholt is gone), it is doubtful that anyone else will be leaving relatively soon.

We still don't have a friendly booked with the Tommyhawks, and the Raiders are beginning to wonder if they should look elsewhere. Early this morning the Raiders had 6 offers for friendlies from other teams.

I take it that it never got booked?

That is correct. It was never booked. I gave it until midnight tonight. After that, I lost all chances at an international friendly, so I booked a game with a Cali guy who happened to be online at the same time I was. We'll be hosting the Cucamonga Trailers, who should really enjoy the extra cash the Raider fans provide.

Sorry Mr. Bug, I'm not sure where you went. Perhaps we'll play next week.

The North County Raiders won their friendly 2-1, in a bizarre defensive struggle.

The Raiders played three forwards, but defensively across the boards.

I'm having trouble with either HAM or my hrf file. I may try to download a new hrf file.

One thing I forgot to mention is that Jerome Bettis improved his experience after the last league match to poor. Which sadly ranks him among the best on my team.

I haven't been able to get updates with HAM either. :(

HAM problem here as well. Did you download a new version recently? I've got the newest non-beta version, but it's an effort just to get my .hrf file and rankings are a no go.

fyi, looking at the HAM page, it looks like Hattrick has disabled the match list that HAM uses to get results & match ratings. There's no timeline when that will be back.

I downloaded the beta version & it works fine. There's an option in v3 to download match results manually (e.g. give it the match id). Version 3 is shareware & is free until March 1.

Someone needs to hack that and make it into some nice freeware:)

Bah! I can't use all the features where I am at anyway (blasted proxy). I'll use my outdated freeware version as long as I can!

My youth squad continues to provide. At least this time I was given a starter!

Burton Cagle
164 000 US$,
17 years,
passable form
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities [Unpredictable]


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

A very fine addition that allows Muniz to go to the bench finally!

Mybestteam sent Vang to the bench in favor of Dailey as well. Dailey improved his form last training cycle, so he regained the starting spot.

No increases in scoring this week. I can't wait for the day Sumner pulls a outstanding in scoring!

Wow! Burton is a stud! And only 17 years old to boot!

Very nice pull Ardent. There are some teams out there that would pay a very pretty penny for this guy.

Has your youth squad reached excellent yet, or is it still solid?

Don't take this the wrong way, for I mean it in the nicest way possible . . . I hate you.

Having spent my team into oblivion with medium then top spending (once we were in passable), we are now at solid. So far THE BEST player my system has provided has been a 18YO inadequate passing/playmaking. NOTHING else.

Ditto. But I don't mean it in the nicest way possible :p

J/k. Anyways, my youth squad is only up to "weak" so I'm not expecting much. My recent pull wasn't awful so at least it's improving: stamina, playmaking, scoring, passing, and leadership all at weak. Hopefully before too long I'll get players I can actually keep or sell for good scratch.

SI

Laughing
 

I hate to upset you all.

This is actually my fourth player I've pulled that was solid somewhere.

Stan Dorsey was a solid scorer and solid winger.

Enric Peris is a solid winger and passer.

Ben Foster is a solid midfielder.

Cagle is a solid defender and passable scorer.

Sumner is a solid scorer, who got there just two weeks after training.

All from the youth squad.

Others:
Dhandapani Jagannathan...a passable midfielder (sold).
Bobby Kennedy, passable scorer (sold).
Lim Vien-Van, a passable scorer.
Gilberto Cifuentes Muniz, a passable defender.

DK, my youth squad hit excellent a few weeks back.



We won our match, 4-1, with no help from me and my inability to set tactics. We played a 2 freakin 6 freakin 2 because I made a slip up and didn't move Flores to wingback.

We won anyway, and solidified our third place position. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the tactics the Raiders were using. I thought we had lost when I saw it.

Jerome Bettis scored a goal, but Dave Sumner scored two. Old man George Flores does play anything but the backfield usually, so when he plays near the net, he likes to shoot. He got a goal as well.

My hrf files aren't up to snuff yet...HAM isn't accepting them. Guess I'll wait till tomorrow for that.

We play first place Ghetto Superstars next. I plan on using the run and shoot this time instead of the chuck and duck. Since the last game, I've added a solid midfielder and solid defender. Dave Sumner was ineligible last time due to a red card. He's good to go this week.

*stabs ardent and takes his youth squad*

SI

Another reason for hate and discontent
 

I just thought I'd let you all know I now have 1278 supporters. DK probably has me beat, but the rest of you should be happy to hear the news. :)

Re: Another reason for hate and discontent
 

Actually you're still about 100 up on me, but you started a little bit earlier than I did. I'm at 1177 after yesterday's win. Ravenhawk is probably the only one who might have you beat.

Nah, not really about the supporter thing. I can make my own *standing over the make-you-own-supporter-from-parts kit*. See? It's not so difficult. Igor, stop gnawing on that leg.

Seriouly, tho, I've added about 25 supporters a week since I took over so that's not as if that will be difficult to do if I can keep winning. Getting good youth pulls, however, is due to good fortune on your part.

SI

Crapt
 

Dang it. Jerome is red carded.

I am really starting to hate ardent's youth team.;) <-----wink

Yeah, my best youth pull had a value of 6K.

I'm at 1K:(

I had 5K

SI

Umm, mine was Burton Cagle at 164k. Dang it. One day I'll bust 200k.

Keep shelling out the twenty large every week if you want youth pulls like ardent's and mine. The squad goes to solid after about a season, and that's when you can really start to roll. A season after that, and it goes excellent (the maximum).

My best was Hyman Morey, the midfielder/defender I traded away earlier this season. Valued at $213k :D

I still miss Tom Sanders who sold for the what was it? Oh yeah, $600,000 plus. ;) Too bad all the other pulls were shit.:(

Yes, but one pull like that pays for 30 weeks of $20,000 investments! By then, your squad is excellent and producing decent youth pulls on a regular basis.

North County Forced To Sit Bettis
 

Jerome Bettis likes to play hard. So hard, he's now sitting out his second game as a Raider for having a red card.

This red card couldn't have come at a worse time. Playing the first place Ghetto Superstars means the Raiders would probably be in for another loss.

The last time the Raiders faced the Superstars, the Raiders were forced to play defensively without forward Dave Sumner, who was also sitting out from a red card.

"We can't seem to get these two on the same page. It's ok to play hard, but you have to play smart at the same time. It's rather frustrating," said coach Matt Wing.

The Raiders expect either backup forward Lim Vien-Van or part time wing starter William Vang to fill in for Bettis for the game. It all depends on how training goes this week and if anyone of substance comes up from the youth club.

Vien-Van is due for a skill increase. He's been with the team for about four weeks without improving his scoring ability. An increase would make him a solid scorer.

It's doubtful that any addition from the youth squad would break the starting lineup, but I can always hope. Perhaps my weakest link now is Michael Dailey at wing. Between Dailey, Vang, and Castle, I have a soap opera as to who is really going to play this week. Shoot, by the time training happens, Vang will probably be at the wing...leaving Vien-Van to start at forward by default.

I could use a solid winger there to shore that up. Another solid defender would be nice. I like my midfield, though.

The team lost it's friendly to a Canadien team, the Belmac United, 4-1.

Vien-Van scored the only goal.

We had a crowd of 3771 show. We netted about 9k afterward...pulling a profit on a road game week. Not bad.

Wow, tough break there with Bettis regarding the time frame.

Uhhh, I have a Solid-rated youth squad and I still haven't broken that "magical" 25K player value yet.

I have an inadequate squad and still haven't broken the "magical" 1K player value yet, so stop complainin:)

So you guys are saying I should consider myself lucky and not complain about the 115K inadequate goalie that I just pulled from my inadequae youth squad?

Vexroid, yes the timing for both red cards definitely sucked. In the last game I tried to be defensive without Sumner, but it didn't work. Overall, since that game two weeks ago, my team has greatly improved. I have two solid playmakers roaming the midfield that I didn't have before. I have a solid defender who wasn't there before. I'll keep my fingers crossed about possibly getting another solid player I didn't have before.

With the run and shoot, though. It would be really nice to have two solid scorers against our first place team. :(

As for youth squads, well, most of my solid pulls have been of the recent time frame. Dorsey, Peris, Cagle, and Foster just started coming to the team near the end of December. Since I joined in early July, that was over a 5 month wait, and I plugged the 20k in every week. I'm just now feeling like I'm getting what I deserve.

Sumner for Sale?
 

I received an inquiry today on how much I would want for Sumner. Confusing, since he couldn't possibly know he's a solid scorer and set pieces guy. I suppose you could assume that with all the goals he has scored.

It will be interesting to see what kind of suggestion he has to offer.

Dave Sumner
74 000 US$, 18 years, passable form
Has wretched experience and passable leadership abilities

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

The guy wanting Sumner has offered 200k, possibly more. I'm not going to do it, because I wasn't looking to sell him. I'd have to have a very nice offer in order to do so.

Thanks to my mistake, my team didn't receive training. I did get form changes, but nothing major.

In other news, I got my surface warfare pin! WOO! Today's my wife's birthday and next Friday is our anniversary, and somehow...I'm able to go home tomorrow and see her. I'll be home till the 17th...I really can't believe I'm getting to do it.

Woohoo! Congratsies! :)

By the way, I've had to download the new shareware version of HAM to be able to download new information. :(

Superstars Favored by 2.5 Goals
 

As the betting windows are about to close, the Superstars have jumped out to 2.5 goal favorites. The Raiders were unable to add to their lineup yesterday with a youth pull. The player in question was a 9k weak scorer and defender. He was immediately sent to Ardent's House of Fun to run the ticket window.

With Jerome Bettis sitting the bench, our lineup looks like this:

Keeper: McIntosh
Wingbacks: Muniz, Hutton
Defender: Cagle
Wings: Peris, Flores
Mids: Wiles, Foster, Albrecht
Forwards: Vang, Sumner

A few surprises. Flores moves from wingback to wing. Muniz, bumped from defender, moves to wingback. I really didn't expect that. I expected Vang to take over at forward.

We lost the last time we faced the Superstars and we were defensive. Today we'll be offensive. I'm not playing it cool, and it's not the match of the season. I do expect to surprise these guys and pull a victory. My team has made a lot of improvements over the past couple of weeks.

Well, the Raiders were unable to pull off the upset, but we were able to beat the spread, so Horned will come away from this game a little upset.

We opened our game with numerous chances, but just wasn't able to seal the deal. Sumner scored our first goal, but the Superstars tied it at the half.

We opened up the second half and went down, 2-1, but tied it with a William Vang goal. I'd be extremely happy with a tie, but in the last ten minutes or so of the match, but it was not meant to be. While my guys were busy sucking wind, the Superstars scored two quick goals and Otto Hutton went down for two weeks.

I can only wonder what might have been. Had Jerome been in the game...Vang plays wing, Flores at wingback, Muniz on the bench...

Man.

Well, with the injury and barring a great youth pull, we'll be forced to play Muniz some more. Muniz will probably take Hutton's spot, Flores back to wingback, Vang to the wing, and Bettis back in at forward.


The match was a sellout; 16000 screaming Raider fans in the rain. I decided afterward, just a few hours ago, really, to increase the stands 5000 strong. Still no new VIP seats for the Raiders FOFC supporters, however.

We'll be extremely happy if we can sell out our 2100 seat stadium in two weeks. That would be quite nice.

Speaking of Supporters, we picked up sterlingice and steenandy as supporters! Welcome to the club, and I hope you found your VIP boxes and Jerome Bettis bobblehead doll to your liking.

Jerome went around signing autographs for the VIPs this past week as he sat out his suspension.

Get with it Jerome!

Horned, 3-5-2? Same sentence??? Everything that I thought was once true in this world has ceased to exist!

Yeah I know. I am just not getting any scoring push and its either that or 3-4-3. I havent trained any other formation in months besides 4-5-1, I shouldnt lose any experience in 4-5-1 for the next 20 weeks. :D

When I got this team they were excellent in 3-4-3 but I had garbage players except for defense so I trashed it and trained 4-5-1. I still think 3-5-2 is overbalanced.

Dont get me wrong, 4-5-1 is my preferred system but these tiebreakers take into account goal-differential of which I have very little, I think I have scored 16 goals in 9 games this season giving up 7, and I am 2nd with 21 points behind the leader with 24 (incidentally I beat him 1-0) Yet I watch teams who have what I consider comparable talent piling up 40-60 goals a season. I am not saying I'm using it every week or anything but its something to pick my spots with.

Weakness! I have found weakness in the Toad!!

Just kidding.

Anyway, I'm already considering modifications to the run and shoot. These changes have been floating in my mind since the two losses by the Raiders to the Superstars.

The Superstars run a 352 as well. They play a defender in the mid. However, a few things intrigue me. They play their wings offensive. They play their wingbacks defensive. The defender is normal, and so are their midfielders.

I love offense. Anyone who remotely knows me and football knows I'm all about going for the jugular...about trying to just blow away the competition with a great offense. I love playing run and shoot football in soccer.

"Run and shoot" for me in Hattrick is playing everyone possible in an offensive stance. It's been very successful for me except against the top teams...I'm 0-5 against top quality teams...and I really haven't been close in any game. I'm blowing away any other team.

However, I'm really considering using the Superstar offense. I may even coin it with that phrase. I think it would still provide me with a decent offense as well as providing a decent wall of defense. Obviously, this is working for him.

With the loss of Hutton, their were rumors the Raiders would be shopping for another member to possibly step in and start for the Raiders. However, I'm not considering this at all. I'm happy with the position of the club.

Unfortunately, from what I've seen, hattrick so overemphasizes the midfield that most other formations are impossible to use with a large degree of success. If it were possible, ardent, I'd definately be running alongside your team just to be different but it appears there is no way to do this without losing extra games.

SI

Not exactly clear what you meant, but I think I have an inkling.

I'm using a 352 with the run and shoot...establishing a midfield presence is important for me as well. The Superstars, as well, use a 352, but play their mids normal instead of offensive.

I've beaten the weak teams using the run and shoot, and lose to the top teams. Perhaps it's time to change a few things up.