Hattrick: Newbie help with the new Toledo Drunkards.

[Rich1033]

Welcome to the new members of the Toledo Drunkards!


________________________________________________
Ludwik Suchy (10793023)
18 years, passable form, healthy

A sympathetic guy who is balanced and upright.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.

Speciality: Head

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 52 000 US$
Wage: 912 US$/week including 20% Bonus


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

Cost= $16,000

*Notes- Should be a decent 2 star player right now, and should be valuable when Im able to bump up his scoring to passable.
________________________________________________

Don Oleary (10799156)
20 years, passable form, healthy

A popular guy who is tranquil and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and poor leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 213 000 US$
Wage: 1 700 US$/week


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

Cost= $80,000

*Notes- A very good value that I ended up with after I kept getting outbid for Keepers. I was getting nervous until I was able to find him.
________________________________________________

Patrik Larsson (10790586)
17 years, passable form, healthy

A sympathetic guy who is temperamental and righteous.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.

Nationality: Sverige
Assessed value: 41 000 US$
Wage: 816 US$/week including 20% Bonus


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

Cost= $9,000

*Notes- Another good scoring trainie.
________________________________________________

Shannon Hawkesford (10787974)
17 years, passable form, healthy

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

Nationality: Oceania
Assessed value: 8 000 US$
Wage: 624 US$/week including 20% Bonus


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

Cost= $1,000

*Notes- A decent scoring trainie who cost almost nothing.
________________________________________________

Terrance Quinones (10791252)
19 years, passable form, healthy

A sympathetic guy who is temperamental and dishonest.
Has disastrous experience and wretched leadership abilities.

Speciality: Quick

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 26 000 US$
Wage: 640 US$/week


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

Cost= $20,000

*Notes- I may have over payed a bit, but he will be a decent player right now and should eventually make it up to being a solid scorer.
________________________________________________


Nicolae Bojin (10471772)
30 years, passable form, healthy

A controversial person who is temperamental and upright.
Has poor experience and weak leadership abilities.

Nationality: România
Assessed value: 43 000 US$
Wage: 1 044 US$/week including 20% Bonus


Stamina: [b]solid[b] Goaltending: disastrous
Playmaking: passable Passing: poor
Winger: wretched Defending: poor
Scoring: passable Set Pieces: passable

Cost= $20,000

*Notes- Old, but he should be a good player this year and he wasnt very expensive considering his passable playmaking.
________________________________________________

Vlad Popescu (10635309)
19 years, passable form, healthy

A nasty fellow who is balanced and upright.
Has disastrous experience and inadequate leadership abilities.

Nationality: România
Assessed value: 46 000 US$
Wage: 888 US$/week including 20% Bonus


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

Cost= $7,000

*Notes- Young and should be a good central defender once I train stamina
________________________________________________

Zacary Ball (10570010)
29 years, inadequate form, healthy

A pleasant guy who is fiery and honest.
Has inadequate experience and weak leadership abilities.

Nationality: Oceania
Assessed value: 40 000 US$
Wage: 936 US$/week including 20% Bonus


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

Cost= $27,000

*Notes- Yep, I overpayed. However I really needed a defender and he should be able to step right in and play.
________________________________________________

Josue Schell (8726812)
24 years, inadequate form, healthy

A sympathetic guy who is balanced and honest.
Has wretched experience and inadequate leadership abilities.

Nationality: USA
Assessed value: 47 000 US$
Wage: 850 US$/week


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

Cost= $2,000

*Notes- I neede some help on the wing and he should be a stop gap at a very cheap price
________________________________________________

Kieran Moghaddam (6930570)
28 years, passable form, healthy

A pleasant guy who is balanced and dishonest.
Has weak experience and poor leadership abilities.

Nationality: Oceania
Assessed value: 38 000 US$
Wage: 948 US$/week including 20% Bonus


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

Cost= $2,500

*Notes- He is a cheap solution at winger that has gotten 2 stars in his last couple matches.
________________________________________________



All in all I am very happy. I added tons of depth and some needed youth. Most importantly I replaced a 28 yeap old passable keeper with a 20 yeap old who is worth $50K-60K more and is in better form. All that was added by the sales of 3 players who now wont even be missed.

After all that dealing I think I might be ready for the stock market.

[Rich1033]

My goal for this season is to put myself in the position to upgrade my stadium. How will I do that when Im back at about 200K in the red? Well I intend on winning and adding supporters. I figure I need about 600 or more to make any expansion worthwhile, so I have put together the best team possible and hired my second spokesperson. Hopefully by the time I have enough supporters I will have trained a few players up in scoring and will be able to sell them to get close to being out of debt. If that wont do it I will just sell whoever I have to so I break even.

Expanding my stadium seems to be the most constistent way to keep the flow of money coming in, so with that in mind I will do everything I can to be able to make that happen by the end of the season.

Next update will be my cup match report, followed by the report of my next league match. Keep reading because it seems that this franchise is on the rise!

[Rich1033]

DK- lol, well I really need a goal for myself. I have seemed to just be transfering players aimlessly up until now. Hopefully once I write something down I will make myself follow it.

[Havok]

If your 200k in the hole i seriously doubt that you'll have any money to upgrade your arena anytime soon. Now if you get lucky and get a GREAT youth pool or you win your divison and get the 150k for that you might be able to. But your gonna consistanly lose money for awhile. On Home game weeks you'll probally break even. But on away game weeks your gonna lose 20-30k probally.

Its kinda like what happen to Afoci and Qwikshot's(first team).
Spend a TON of money... go deep in debt. Then each week go more and more into debt with no relief insight.

Hattrick's tough in the begining. Thats why they give ya 300k. If you get addicted to the transfer wire your screwed. Not to brag or anything but i've built a solid team for 150k (dropped 100k on trying to get a good coach like an idoit ). I only spent over 30k for 1 player but i turned around and sold him a week later. And everyone on my team gets 2 stars a game(with the exception of 1 player, but he will once his form goes up). I also have 3 guys who get 2 1/2 and 1 who gets 2 1/2 sometimes.

Will i win my divsion this year??? probally not i'd say i have about a 25% chance. But there's about a 90% chance ill get second. I got lucky when i got my team cause Afoci, qwikshot and a few other guys all pounded into my head not to go into debt. Thats the best advice for a new HT player. Second best advice is buy older guys at postions your not gonna train in. No point in buying a 30k 17 year old passable scorer if your not gonna train scoring. Go buy a 26-30 year old passable scorer for 1-5k . Buy the time he starts declining your team will be rolling in the dough

This rant really wasnt for you Rich. Its more for new guys reading these Dynasty threads. I dont wanna come off like im slamming anyone. I just want the new guys to do well. We gotta make FOFC the strongest Federation in Hattrick!!!!!!!

[Havok]

P.S. we really need to put together a manual for beginers in HT. If i knew now what i knew a month ago my team would be even better and i'd have probally have 100k in the bank instead of 50k (soon to be 30k).

[DataKing]

Rich1033: Having seasonal goals is important, and I always set them for myself as well. I just have a bad knee-jerk reaction to the term "mission statement."

Havok: I think sterlingice was talking about putting together a Hattrick FAQ some time back. I have no idea if he's planning on going through with that, however.

Keep up the good work with the Drunkards, Rich1033. I'll be reading.

[sterlingice]

Originally posted by DataKing
Havok: I think sterlingice was talking about putting together a Hattrick FAQ some time back. I have no idea if he's planning on going through with that, however.

I was hoping on still going through with that but it's been moved back a couple of weeks because of my computer problems which are now mostly resolved. My target is to have all of my stuff updated by late next week since I have a massive project and massive test both on next Monday which is really cutting into my current free time.

SI

[Rich1033]

Well I do know I dont have a chance being this far in debt. I just looked at my choices from where I was standing. I had almost gotten out of debt and I needed a way to make money. I seem to be in a pretty strong league and I just didnt see myself as a contender just yet. So I needed to do something. A stadium upgrade would have been the best option but I dont have enough supporters at the moment to fill it up. I asked myself how I could get more supporters and it seemed the best way was to just win. Seems easy, I just need the players. So I went out amd bought the best I could find.

Well one thing is done so far, next up is to get more supporters. For that I hired my second spokesperson. Not sure how much that will help, but I will see shortly.

Anyway I know I will keep falling deeper and deeper into debt as the season progresses but I should be able to win and gain a lot of support for my club. After I have that support I will sell whoever I have to to get back out of debt. It would be nice to get some help from training or youth pulls along the way but Im not expecting it. This might not be the smartest plan but it does offer a nice extra challenge and I should have fun with it. We will see how it goes...

A big thanks to everyone who responded and is following along with my team. I appreciate all the comments and advice.

*By the way, we won our 2nd round cup match today 1-0 against a pretty good looking team(Shoe Horns). The drunkards consisted of almost all newly bought players and was what I consider my B team right now. The match report will be up later.

[Rich1033]

Cup match report

Toledo Drunkards - Shoe Horns

Arena: Toledo Drunkards Arena
Crowd: 6709


At Toledo Drunkards Arena, 6709 punters turned up, and despite threatening clouds at the horizon, no rain came. Drunkards tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Oleary - Ball, Popescu, Everett - Andreasson, Dyrhult, Pérez Raposo, Bojin, Moghaddam - Larsson, Quinones.

Horns had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. The following players had been chosen: Cannon - Svensson, Martinón, Ferris, Olenner - Anderson, Frostengård, Jain, Blevins, Waite - Peñate.

In the game's 13th minute Drunkards´s Nicolae Bojin limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Many thought Terrance Quinones ought to have been awarded a penalty shot in the 21st minute, as he went down trying to circle the visitors keeper Tommy Lee Cannon. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Horns´s Beade Martinón got himself booked. 34 minutes into the game Manuel Pérez Raposo had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Nick Godbom. 0 - 0 was the half-time score. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Drunkards, with an impressive 62 percent possession of the ball.

Drunkards had a good opportunity to take the lead as Stefan Dyrhult came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into thearms of Tommy Lee Cannon. Ulf T. Svensson of Horns received a yellow card in the 72nd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 76 minutes into the game Nicolae Bojin had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Per Henriksson. Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 83rd minute goal by Terrance Quinones for Drunkards, putting them ahead 1 - 0. Drunkards, bringing the final ball possession rate to 64 percent, dominated the battle.

Most important Drunkards player was Don Oleary. Per Henriksson was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Horns player was without a doubt Steven Ferris. However, Dhamaidhi Jain made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 0.


Everyone recieved 2 stars except Per Hendriksson(1*), who was subbed in and played out of position, and the new drunks Don "Im irish so I obviously had to come and play for the Drunkards" O'Leary and Vlad "I will impale you so you better not f*ck with me" Popescu(hey, the crawfish cant have all the fun). They each recieved 2 1/2*. Im very happy with the first match for my new keeper O'Leary, he looks like as good as advertised.

**Looking ahead I think I have won my last game in the. Up next are the 'Nasty Boyz' from DIII. Looking at their last game they had 2 or 3 players with 4*s and just about everyone esle had 3 1/2*s. Ouch... Making it worse is their player values. Tons of 6 figure players and a 7! figure player. I will play 5-4-1 for a change and hope my defense will keep it respectable.

[Rich1033]

Injury Notes from the last game

Manuel Perez Raposo is out 2 weeks
-This really doesnt hurt me at all since he probably would not have played anyways.

Nicolae Bojin is out 1 week
-This really hurts. I have a big game over the weekend against the second place team in my league. He was slotted to play Forward and losing someone with passable playmaking and scoring ratins as well as solid stamina is hard to replace. Right now the hero from the last cup game, Terrance Quinones, will probably take his place along side Keenan Pendleton.


Looking ahead my league game coming up I am going to have to be on my game for a chance at a win. The 'Rebels!' have a solid coach and several players worth 6 figures. I will try to change around my orders to see if I can come up with a good strategy.

It looks as though he played his B team in his last cup match so is there anyway I could see his lineup from the first league game? It would be helpful to see where his strengths are.

[Havok]

go to his team and look at his current matches. then look at his first league game. And then click his team ratings.

[Rich1033]

Havok- Thanks, I guess I just didnt see that before, all I saw was his last game played.


Other news of note...

Economy

Cash funds: -197 896 US$ (-169 455) US$
Sponsors: satisfied
Supporter Club: 539 members
Supporters: satisfied

-Im not too concerned about my debt at the moment, but that could change anytime depending on how bad it gets. I should be able to deal with it for another month or 2. I payed over $9K in interest this week and will hire an economist to help me out for the time being. It also seems my extra spokeperson is helping out.


The Club

4/10/2003- 10 new supporters signed up and paid 300 US$ in fees.
4/10/2003 - 10 new supporters signed up and paid 300 US$ in fees.
4/10/2003- Sold a player and received 33 300 US$
4/10/2003- The team played a match. Spectator income amounted to 20 585 US$.

-The player sold was Darren Vail who was decent but just couldnt get rid of his poor form. Happy trails Mr. Darren Vail.

Youth Squad: inadequate
Investment in the Youth squad: 20 000 US$ / week

-My youth squad should bump to passable soon. After that I will reduce the investment to save money


Training

Training Level: 98%
Training Type: Scoring
Coach: Barry Nunn
Team Spirit: composed
Confidence: decent

Formation experience
4-3-3: passable
4-5-1: poor
3-5-2: excellent
5-3-2: poor
3-4-3: poor
5-4-1: wretched

[Rich1033]

The Rebels! are coming off a 2nd place finish last season and a 6-2 victory in the league last week. They have a good keeper who usually puts up between 2 and 3 stars as well as several other players who can put up 2 1/2 stars. The Drunkards will host them this week when they hope to avenge a 6-0 lose they suffered to the Rebels! last season. Here is the match writeup from a reporter on the scene...


7000 spectators had come to Toledo Drunkards Arena this cloudy day. Drunkards tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Oleary - Matson, Henriksson, Ball - Heiramo, Dyrhult, Godbom, Suchy, Moghaddam - López, Quinones.

Rebels! had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Voicu - Gillis, Takó, Taylor - Morris, Nesskär, Joi, Frostenfeldt, Hartley - Westerland, Lombardo.

Starting off, underestimation of the opposition made Rebels! players perform way below their normal capacity. A well placed corner kick from Per Henriksson was followed by David Israel López´s hard but accurate header. The nice combination meant 1-0 for Drunkards. A speedy charge from the left side of the field put Drunkards lead up with 2 - 0. Per Henriksson finished that one off competently, firing from an acute angle. By now Drunkards were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. Drunkardss Zacary Ball got himself booked after a foul. David Israel López was ever so close to scoring after an excellent corner which then was extended by Reg Matson, but the ball went into the frame. 42 minutes into the game Szaniszló Takó had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Björn Holér. Rebels! showed some good morale and were, in the 42nd minute, able to reduce the score to 2 - 1 as Hui Joi got past the home sides full backs straight in front of the goal. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 1. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Drunkards, with an impressive 54 percent possession of the ball.

A couple of well chosen half-time words made Rebels! get a hold of themselves, and they seemed more concentrated during the second half. Rebels! got a chance to level the score as Joseph Taylor suddenly found himself free with the goaltender but the finishing shot hit the bar. In 59:th minute of game time Drunkards´s Zacary Ball received his second yellow card and was sent off. Drunkards were given a penalty in the 77:th, neatly put away by Per Henriksson. 3 - 1 for the home side. A bit later Rebels!´s Hui Joi easily reduced to 3 - 2 after a misunderstanding in the home sides central defense line. Per Henriksson made several blunders at the end of the game, causing a good deal of unrest in the defensive line. 83 minutes into the game Rebels!´s Joey Lombardo found a gap in the home sides central defense scoring with a long shot, making it 3 - 3. With clinical precision the cross pass from winger Kieran Moghaddam found it's way to David Israel López's head, and a screaming header gave Drunkards 4 - 3. Reg Matson increased Drunkardss lead to 5 - 3 by putting a header away on a hooked ball from the right. Rebels! held the ball, with a clear 57 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Drunkards player was without a doubt Reg Matson. However, Kieran Moghaddam made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Rebels! player was without a doubt Lawrence Morris. Björn Holér was a disappointment, however.

The match ends 5 - 3, Drunkards.
________________________________________________

Team Ratings

Toledo Drunkards

Midfield: weak
Right Side Defence: formidable
Central Defence: excellent
Left Side Defence: inadequate
Right Side Attack: inadequate
Central Attack: inadequate
Left Side Attack: inadequate

Rebels!

Midfield: weak
Right Side Defence: solid
Central Defence: passable
Left Side Defence: weak
Right Side Attack: solid
Central Attack: inadequate
Left Side Attack: solid
_______________________________________________

*Drunkards notes- Reg Matson was once again my best player. He proved he is a fantastic wingback with another 3* preformance. My only other player above 2 stars was Keeper Don O'leary with another 2 1/2* match. Kieran Moghaddam is my lowest rated play with only 1 1/2*s and causes concern for the future. If in his next match he doesnt get up to the 2 star preformance I hoped for, then he will we sold and I will find a replacement.

Another positive was the first sellout of the Drunkards arena. Hopefully a couple players scoring will pop in the next week or two and I will be able to get out of debt and expand my stadium.

Coming up next is a look ahead at my cup match and the status of my team.

[Rich1033]

I actually had a decent youth pull this week as it bumped up to passable for the first time. My new backup Keeper is 20 year old Joel Richards, his rating is inadaequate and is valued at $121,000. Spending has been reduced to $5,000 for the time being.


Looking at my next match, Im outclassed going up against a DIII team, so I will just play my B team and go for some experience. I will also PIC because I have never done that before . My lineup will be a 3-4-3 or a 4-3-3 so as many of my scoring trainies will get to play as possible. Three players to watch are Carl Rovelt, Keenan Pendleton and Joel Richards. Carl had his form drop to weak last week and Im praying he can recover. He is an important part of my lineup that I was counting on. Keenan should have his scoring bump to solid in a couple weeks but his form also dropped down to inadequate. That pushed him out of his starter spot in place of David Isreal Lopez who has Solid form. I really need him back up to passable so I can use his offense. As for Joel Richards, well I just want to see how the new guy preforms in the net.

[Rich1033]

Training

Training Level: 98% (Changing to 100%)*
Training Type: Scoring
Coach: Barry Nunn
Team Spirit: composed
Confidence: strong (improved)

Formation experience
4-3-3: inadequate
4-5-1: poor
3-5-2: excellent
5-3-2: poor
3-4-3: poor
5-4-1: poor

*- Training was changed to 100 to try to improve form. I also added another Physio for a total of 5.
_____________________________________________

Cash funds: -125 895 US$ (-133 204) US$
Sponsors: satisfied
Supporter Club: 539 members
Supporters: high on life (highest ever!)

*Notes- Not bad, aye? Cash funds improved because I made $32,000 in the league match and sold Vlad Popescu. Now I didnt want to sell Vlad but I listed him at $35,000 right after I bought him for $7,000. He put up 2 1/2 stars in his first game and I was praying no one would bid on him. I thought I might get by and keep him but he was bid on at the last minute and sold for the minimum $35,000. It wasnt meant to be and I have to accept the profit and move on. Funds will continue to improve with the cup match being played at my place on the 17th.

[Havok]

nice win Rich.... it looks like the Drunkards are coming around

[Rich1033]

Havok- Thanks, hopefully that game is a sign of things to come.

Ok, here is my cup game. I went up against a DIII team so I choose to play the B team and "play it cool". I was hoping for at least one good preformance out of a player, but that didnt happen. Here is the recap with some bad news at the end.
_______________________________________________

Date: 4/17/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 6898085
Arena: Toledo Drunkards Arena
Crowd: 7000


7000 spectators arrived at Toledo Drunkards Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Drunkards had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. The following players had been chosen: Richards - Andreasson, Cadalso, Rovelt - Grigsby, Boyd, Thorstensson, Schell - Pendleton, Hawkesford, Larsson.

Nasty had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Hare - Nilsson, Traner, Garrido - Kelley, Lindhblom, Patterson, Baez, Thyer - Gibbs, Han.

Nasty took the lead after 11 minutes with 0 - 1. Peter Nilsson placed the ball out of reach for the home sides keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. César Garrido was ever so close to scoring after an excellent corner which then was extended byLeonard Patterson, but the ball went into the frame. After 21 minutes Keenan Pendleton made a dash down the middle past the away teams defenders scoring 1 - 1. After 26 minutes Nastys Per Lindhblom made his way through the middle, putting the visitors up 1 - 2. The referee showed Drunkardss Stuart Grigsby the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Halftime score was 1 - 2. Nasty held the ball, with a clear 77 percent possession rate.

Drunkards tried to reply with long plays towards the centrally placed strikers, but the visitor´s defence got the best of it. Peter Nilsson of Nasty received a yellow card in the 63rd minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Dudley Gibbs increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 1 - 3. In the games 75:th minute Drunkards´s Shannon Hawkesford fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Shannon Hawkesford for taking a dive. The away team´s Arthur Han took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 75:th minute increasing Nasty´s lead to 1 - 4. The structure of the game started to change as Nasty decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. The referee showed Drunkardss Keenan Pendleton the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Dudley Gibbs increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 1 - 5. Drunkards will have to do without Keenan Pendleton for a time due to a bad foot injury. He was substituted by Arnold Joskowiak. The game had been on for 82 minutes when Dudley Gibbs broke through to the right, upping the score to the home crowd´s dismay. Nasty´s were up 1 - 6. By then Dudley Gibbs was a three time scorer - a hat trick! Nasty, bringing the final ball possession rate to 79 percent, dominated the battle.

The most dominating Drunkards player was without a doubt Patrik Larsson. Josue Schell on the other hand, had a terrible day. Nasty´s best player was Richard Traner. Bob Baez on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 6.
_____________________________________________

Team Ratings

Toledo Drunkards

Midfield: wretched
Right Side Defence: passable
Central Defence: inadequate
Left Side Defence: inadequate
Right Side Attack: passable
Central Attack: passable
Left Side Attack: weak


Nasty Boyz

Midfield: inadequate
Right Side Defence: solid
Central Defence: excellent
Left Side Defence: excellent
Right Side Attack: formidable
Central Attack: formidable
Left Side Attack: formidable
_____________________________________________

*Notes- Only four players had 2* preformances. Everyone else was below 2.

- Keenan Pendleton, my top trainee, was injured for 4 weeks. He still managed to score a goal in the game just like he has in about every game he plays in. He is a 18 year old passable scorer who would have been popping to solid any week now. Keenan is a great player, but its a major blow because I need him to get to solid ASAP so I can sell him off. Those 4 weeks without training are making my bank bleed more than I had planned. Ouch!

_______________________________________________


Coming up will be the recap of my next league game and an overview of my league.

[DataKing]

You might want to consider hiring a doctor or two, to help nurse Keenan back to health. The sooner you're able to get him back, then the sooner he will improve to solid scoring and you can sell him. I'm not sure if that's worth an extra $1500 or $3000 on the payroll, but something to consider.

[dacman]

With 2 doctors at 18, he'd probably heal in about 10-12 days and if you're lucky, only miss 1 week of training -- might be a little late now, though.

[Rich1033]

Well I have one doctor and Keenan is down to 3 weeks at the moment. I was going to ask about the effect of hiring a second in my last post. Thanks DK and dacman, a second doctor will probably be on his way very soon.

[Rich1033]

According to Hatstats my league, V.21, is the 10th toughest in all of DV. In the overall rankings we are even above some DIV leagues so I going to use this as an excuse for why I have spent so much money.

Anyway, here is an overview of each team listed from the first seed to the last.

#1. Boston FC- Finished in second place last season, Boston is a strong team who currently sit atop the league standings. Currently has 9 wins in a row and still in the cup. In their last lineup (3-5-2) they put out four 2 1/2* players and two 3* players. They have 9 points and have a goal differential of 13-3.

#2. Wildcats- Finished forth in the league last season but have improved. Their last lineup (3-4-3) had three 2 1/2* star players and everyone else at 2*. However that is at the low end of their preformance and they can do better. They are sitting at 6 points with a goal differential of 13-7.

#3. Toledo Drunkards- Yep, thats me. I have 6 points and a differential of 12-9. Those numbers are skewed because of a 1-6 lose in week one where I sold a few of my better players and had not yet bought replacements. Im slowly moving up...

#4. Real Andorra C.F.- One of 2 teams hot on my tail. They finished seventh last season but have shown great improvement. The last lineup (3-5-2) shows two 2 1/2* players and two 3* players. They have 4 points and a differential of 9-6. This team scares me and it wll be tough to hold them off.

#5. DragonsFC- Finished as #6 in in IV.56 last season and probably isnt very thrilled to join this group. His last lineup (4-4-2) shows four 2 1/2* players and evryone else at 2*. He has played a tough schedule and sits at 4 points and a differential of 5-5.

#6. Rebels!- Finished as the third seed last season and has player a very tough schedule so far this season. Last lineup (3-5-2) featured three 2 1/2* players and one 3* player. They have 3 points and a Differential of 11-14.

#7. omnibirrias- The first of the 2 walkovers in the league. They finished fifth last season and are only semi-active. This season they have 3 points and a goal differential of 4-12. Their last lineup featured one 2 1/2* player. I like playing this team .

#8. Boston Burninators- The seond walkover. They were awarded the team on 3/18/03 and might be a player in the future. However right now, in this league, they will have it tough. Boston just bought a keeper who gets 2 1/2* and everyone else gets 2 or below. They have 0 points and a goal differential of 0-11.


Thats it for my league right now. Next I will have an update of my league matchup with the omnibirrias.

[Rich1033]

Well I started my easy 2 week run in my league. First up was the omnibirrias, and coming up next will be the Boston Burninators. Here is the recap from my last matchup...
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omnibirrias - Toledo Drunkards

Date: 4/21/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 5542096
Arena: estadio vacas locas &delfines acalambrados
Crowd: 11538


Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and estadio vacas locas &delfines acalambrados saw a crowd turnout of 11538. Birrias had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. They fielded: Lam - Haines, Knight, Sommers, Kereki - Ogden, Isom, Engle, Montes - Keller, Wilson.

Drunkards had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Oleary - Clarke, Henriksson, Matson - Grigsby, Dyrhult, Boyd, Suchy, Moghaddam - Heiramo, Godbom.

Timothy Sommers received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly, probably out of lack of experience, in the 7:th minute and almost caused an opponent to score. After 12 minutes Drunkards put themselves up by 0 - 1 as Nick Godbom finished off a strike from the left with a real cannon placed at the far post. A header from Kieran Moghaddam connected with a corner kick after 22 minutes, and the ball ended up with Stuart Grigsby of Drunkards who shot the 0-2 goal. Nick Godbom was, after 26 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors lead with a well placed diving header but home side keeper Mick Lam saved. In the 29:th minute Drunkards put themselves up 0 - 3 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. Scorer was Nick Godbom. By now Drunkards were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. 0 - 3 was the half-time score. Drunkards, bringing the final ball possession rate to 77 percent, dominated the battle.

Drunkards's Ludwik Suchy scored 0 - 4 by shooting accurately and hard from a long distance, leaving the opponent goalie no other option than to pick up the ball from the net. Drunkards´s Carl Boyd received a play slashing through the home side´s defense in the 71st minute, chipping it past the keeper scoring 0 - 5. The home crowd was not pleased with that one. In the games 76:th minute Drunkards´s Stefan Dyrhult fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Stefan Dyrhult for taking a dive. The visitors Nick Godbom took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 79:th minute. 0 - 6 for Drunkards. This third goal made a hat trick for Nick Godbom. After 80 minutes of game time Stefan Dyrhult received an excellent opportunity to add to the visitors lead, clipping a volley hooked in from the right, but Mick Lam was in the right place, tipping the ball to a corner. Kieran Moghaddam of Drunkards received a yellow card in the 80:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Drunkards, with an impressive 84 percent possession of the ball.

Most important Birrias player was Craig Montes. Andy Isom was a disappointment, however. Most important Drunkards player was Reg Matson. Stuart Grigsby was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 6.
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Team Ratings

omnibirrias

Midfield: disastrous
Right Side Defence: passable
Central Defence: passable
Left Side Defence: inadequate
Right Side Attack: inadequate
Central Attack: inadequate
Left Side Attack: passable


Toledo Drunkards

Midfield: poor
Right Side Defence: inadequate
Central Defence: solid
Left Side Defence: excellent
Right Side Attack: weak
Central Attack: passable
Left Side Attack: inadequate
_______________________________________________

*Notes- Nice Hattrick by Nick Godbom. Thats his first ever. Im happy with the score but disappointed in the ratings. Those are my lowest in a while.


Coming up next is some info on whats happening with my club.

[Rich1033]

Here is an info dump so you can see how Im progressing...

Training

Training Level: 100%
Training Type: Scoring
Coach: Barry Nunn
Team Spirit: composed
Confidence: wonderful

Formation experience
4-3-3: inadequate
4-5-1: wretched
3-5-2: solid
5-3-2: wretched
3-4-3: inadequate
5-4-1: poor
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The Club

Youth Squad: passable
Investment in the Youth squad: 10 000 US$ / week

Goaltending Coaches: 2
Assistant Coaches: 8
Sport Psychologists: 1
Spokepersons: 2
Economists: 1
Physiotherapists: 9
Doctors: 2
________________________________________________

Economy

Cash funds: -152 434 US$ (-194 206) US$
Sponsors: delirious
Supporter Club: 574 members
Supporters: delirious
_________________________________________________

*Notes~ 17 year old Stuart Grigsby, who if you look at a previous post was bought for 7K, was sold for over 50K when 2 teams got into a bidding war over him. Thomas Seal, the winger with the horrible form that doesnt go up, sold for 15K, and another young trainee was sold for 5K. I also will be putting up a few more players as I try to trim down my roster size. They will be advertised on the FOFC transfer wire when I get time to post them, so feel free to check in and bid!

~ Im also very happy with the progress of my supporters. Its the first time I have ever been at delirious.

~ I hired another doctor. Hopefully I can get Keenan Pendleton back soon. The sooner I bring him back, the sooner I can sell him and get closer to that magical $0 debt that I dream of.

~ I also went up to 2/8 trainers. Hopefully that will bring some of my players form up. Their form is dropping faster then my pants in the back room of a strip club.

~ I should have an easy win in my next game against the boston Burninators. If Nicolae Bojin heals in time for the game then I might even PIC .


Thats it for now, I will have more info on the trainees being put up for transfer and my friendly in a day or 2. Thanks for reading.

[Rich1033]

Ok, my string of easy opponents are over. Next up are the Wildcats, then dragonsFC, followed up by Boston FC. It will be a tough next month. Hopefully I can win 2 of those 3. Here is the match report from my friendly against fellow FOFC'er DVH and his Michigan Moon Shine.
_______________________________________________

Michigan Moon Shine - Toledo Drunkards


Date: 4/24/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 6934469
Arena: Michigan Moon Shine Arena
Crowd: 300


Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Michigan Moon Shine Arena saw a crowd turnout of 300. Michigan had chosen a strategic 4-3-3 formation. The following players had been chosen: Schafer - Justice, Humphries, Kraus, Saint-Onge - Cho, Álvarez Sánchez, Moon - Langley, Simarro, Bateman.

Drunkards started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. They fielded: Richards - Cadalso, Ball, Everett - Schell, Boyd, Suchy, Rovelt - Godbom, López, Larsson.

The 21st minute saw the home team take a 1 - 0 lead after a leak in the visitors right side defense. Scorer for Michigan was Thomas Cho. After an industrious effort down the middle Bryan Bateman could have closed the game off in the 24:th minute, but his finishing shot hit the post. In the 38:th minute Gerald Langley surprised the opponents with a 40 metre pass to Bryan Bateman who quite easily could settle the score to 2 - 0. Drunkards seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 0. Michigan held the ball, with a clear 56 percent possession rate.

The Drunkards players spent the half-time break getting a rerun of the teams tactical organization. Carl Rovelt was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Josue Schell managed to kick one of them into 2 - 1 in the 59:th minute. 64 minutes into the game Drunkards´s Ludwik Suchy found a gap in the home sides central defense scoring with a long shot, making it 2 - 2. The referee showed Drunkardss Pau Cadalso the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. In the 73rd minute the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending and Ludwik Suchy put the ball away for 2 - 3. Drunkards seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. After 82 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Zacary Ball who increased Drunkards´s lead to 2 - 4. The home side attempted to get through in the middle and had a good chance of pulling one back as Rick Kraus tried lifting the ball over goalie Joel Richards. Typically, the ball went just over the bar. Drunkards held the ball, with a clear 53 percent possession rate.

Most important Michigan player was Bryan Bateman. Joaquím Simarro on the other hand, had a terrible day. Drunkards´s best player was Patrik Larsson. However, Josue Schell made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 4.
_______________________________________________

Notes

*A nice showing by my coach who was able to regroup at halftime. It was good seeing my team come back from 0-2 to win 4-2.

*18 year old Ludwick Suchy had a good game scoring 2 goals. His ratings are inads at Scoring playmaking and passing. He has been filling in at Middie because of his solid stamina but I need to get him some scoring training soon.

* Patrik Larsson put up 2 1/2* for the first time. I think he was at passable form going into the match and now he is up to solid form. He is 17 with passable scoring and is valued at 56K. With absoluely no secondary skills that high of a value Im hoping that he is close to solid.

Coming up is my leage matchup with the Boston Burninators...

[Rich1033]

Injuries, Injuries, why oh why do I get so many injuries? Another player went down this week. This time its a blow to my already weak midfield. He is out for 2 weeks and causes me a few lineup problems for next weeks tough match. Anyway, here is the report for my latest league matchup. My ratings were a little low and I hope that is because I 'Played it Cool'.
________________________________________________

Toledo Drunkards - Boston Burninators


5696 spectators had come to Toledo Drunkards Arena this cloudy day. Drunkards started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Oleary - Clarke, Henriksson, Matson - Schell, Dyrhult, Boyd, Suchy, Moghaddam - Heiramo, Godbom.

Burninators had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Upton - Meier, Swärdbrant, Petty, Antona - Gottgård, Davison, García Sole, Eldridge - Taylor, Francis.

Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 11th minute goal by Carl Boyd for Drunkards, putting them ahead 1 - 0. Gunnar Swärdbrant of Burninators received a yellow card in the 21st minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. After 22 minutes Burninatorss José Antonio García Sole had to be carried off on a stretcher in agony. Mats Zetterdahl came in instead of him. 22 minutes into the game Carl Boyd had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came Björn Marcusson. A couple of quick and successful challenges, followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area after 28 minutes might have resulted in another goal for Drunkards. However, Robert Upton made a spectacular save. In the 33rd minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Ludwik Suchy dashed through, knocking home 2 - 0 for Drunkards. 2 - 0 was the half-time score. Drunkards, bringing the final ball possession rate to 67 percent, dominated the battle.

In the 49:th minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Sami Heiramo dashed through, knocking home 3 - 0 for Drunkards. Josue Schell was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the enemy box - Sami Heiramo managed to kick one of them into 4 - 0 in the 69:th minute. The structure of the game started to change as Drunkards decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. Drunkards´s Josue Schell had an excellent opportunity in the 79:th minute, shooting on a through ball, but he missed the goal by miles! Josue Schell of Drunkards received a yellow card in the 80:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Björn Marcusson was suffering from cramps and had big difficulties keeping up as the opponentes pushed forward. Hugh Davison had no problems getting through and hit home the 4 - 1 goal. In the 83rd minute of the match the visitors central line of defence had to look on as Nick Godbom dashed through, knocking home 5 - 1 for Drunkards. In the games 88:th minute Burninators´s Mats Zetterdahl fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Mats Zetterdahl for taking a dive. Drunkards held the ball, with a clear 78 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Drunkards player was without a doubt Sami Heiramo. Björn Marcusson on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Burninators player was without a doubt Gabriel Petty. Mats Zetterdahl on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 1.
_______________________________________________


Toledo Drunkards

Midfield: poor
Right Side Defence: passable
Central Defence: solid
Left Side Defence: excellent
Right Side Attack: weak
Central Attack: passable
Left Side Attack: inadequate


Boston Burninators

Midfield: wretched
Right Side Defence: passable
Central Defence: passable
Left Side Defence: inadequate
Right Side Attack: weak
Central Attack: passable
Left Side Attack: inadequate
________________________________________________


Notes

* Carl Boyd, who was at weak form, is lost for 2 weeks. He was only putting up 1 1/2 or 2* every game, but he has solid leadership and good experience. It will be a tough loss for the team.

* Seeing that he injured one of my players Im happy to see that José Antonio García Sole, who was caried our on a stretcher, is out for 6 weeks.

* Boyd's backup, Bjorn Marcusson, is a young guy that I picked up on the transfer market cheap. He has all the skills to be a 2 or 2 1/2* Middie except for wretched stamina. I was planning on just keeping him on my B team until I train stamina in a couple weeks. He is not the answer to fill in right now and Im not even sure who is.

* Before the game I had some good form improvements. my starting forwards, Per Henriksson and Dave Clarke, both moved to Solid form. My forwards, Sami Heiramo and Nick Godbom, both moved up to excellent form. Also my Keeper Don Oleary moved up to Solid form.

* From my A team Reg Matson went down to passable. A player who should be on my A team, Carl Rovelt, Contiues to degrade. He is now down to Poor form. Im hoping he has hit bottom. I dont want to give up on him. There is a real need at winger on my team. The players filling in only get 1 1/2 or maybe 2* so that is by far the weakest link in the chain.

* Players who get special mention for preformances are Don Oleary, Stefan Dyrhult, Reg Matson, and Sami Heiramo. They all recieved 2 1/2*. Sami lead the team with 2 goals in the match.


Coming up is a look ahead at my next matchup against the #2 seeded Wildcats and some more info about how my team is doing.

[Rich1033]

The Drunkards would like to thank Vince and the Vista Island Vandals for accepting a friendly. I will be traveling to the Kererator for the matchup. A strange cast of players will be traveling to the match because of my rash of injuries. I have backup Defenders and Forwards, but I only have one backup middie and he has bad stamina. As a result I just plugged random players who dont start into the middle to avoid further injuries. It sucks but I guess thats what you have to do when you are in debt.

Anyway here is the match report for the friendly.
_______________________________________________



Isla Vista Vandals - Toledo Drunkards



At The Kegerator, 399 punters turned up, and despite threatening clouds at the horizon, no rain came. Vandals tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Anderson - Palmbratt, Poe, Hewitt, Moore - Kusçu, Ninkovic, Gallas, Yuan-Sen - Hyatt, Moore.

Drunkards had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. Lineup: Richards - Cadalso, Ball, Everett - Rovelt, Hawkesford, Marcusson, Cassidy - López, Larsson, Suchy.

Some beautiful plays on the left side of the field resulted in a 19:th minute goal by Vaughn Moore for Vandals, putting them ahead 1 - 0. The referee showed Vandalss Milorad Ninkovic the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Due to a severely mistimed tackle,Joel Richards spent some on the grass writhing in agony before he could get up and continue the game. Drunkards had obvious problems in finding their positions. Vandals put themselves up 2 - 0 when Raymond Hyatt broke through on the right, leaving the entire defensive box behind him. The structure of the game started to change as Vandals decided to pull back and meet their opponents in the defensive zone. In the games 39:th minute Vandals´s Tomas Palmbratt fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked Tomas Palmbratt for taking a dive. Drunkards seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion about the organization of the team. In the 42nd minute Vandals put themselves up 3 - 0. The visitors defenders lost the ball to Raymond Hyatt coming up from the left, who proceeded to cooly round the goaltender and knock the ball home. Drunkardss Zacary Ball got himself booked after a foul. Seemingly due to lack of experience, Tomas Palmbratt needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. Corrado Gallas of Vandals received a yellow card in the 45:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The teams went for a half-time break at 3 - 0. Vandals held the ball, with a clear 74 percent possession rate.

The Drunkards players spent the half-time break getting a rerun of the teams tactical organization. In the 61st minute the excellent ball from the wing byTuncer Kusçu reached Raymond Hyatt's head, and he is not one to miss such an opportunity - 4 - 0. This third goal made a hat trick for Raymond Hyatt. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Vandals´s Vaughn Moore got himself booked. Vandals held the ball, with a clear 92 percent possession rate.

The most dominating Vandals player was without a doubt Alfred Poe. Corrado Gallas was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Drunkards player was without a doubt Patrik Larsson. Shannon Hawkesford was a disappointment, however. The match ends 4 - 0.
_____________________________________________

Team Ratings


Isla Vista Vandals

Midfield: wretched
Right Side Defence: solid
Central Defence: excellent
Left Side Defence: passable
Right Side Attack: inadequate
Central Attack: weak
Left Side Attack: weak


Toledo Drunkards

Midfield: disastrous
Right Side Defence: inadequate
Central Defence: solid
Left Side Defence: passable
Right Side Attack: inadequate
Central Attack: passable
Left Side Attack: inadequate
_______________________________________________


Notes

* Vince's team put up a good effort and dominated me today. Nice job Vince.

* As you can see by the lack of Bold my team really did nothing at all. You can probably chalk that up to my horrible midfield. Hopefully they will heal up so I dont go through that again.

* Patrick Larsson had his second straight 2 1/2* preformance. That was the only bright spot for me and it does make the lineup for my next match tougher to pick. His skills are not the best, but he always plays well.
_________________________________________________


I go up against the number 2 team in my league on sunday. I will post a preview of that match later.