X11 season 45 - de rigueur Mortis

[Antepli Ejderha]

https://www.xperteleven.com/viewGlob...125&forumid=34

That's a really good post Wouter D

[Various Artist]

Bloody hell. Updates!?! I feel no shame in confessing I couldn't even remember how to find the Changelog, but having eventually navigated my way there I see it's a bit over 5 years since the last entry there.

delicatemoth – the DV thing is just a cosmetic change. It means that instead of the scale running 0-20, with 10 being 'break even', it'll instead run from -10 to +10 with 0 being break even. Which makes more sense, especially to a newcomer, as seeing a negative DV (rather than say, an 8) is more intuitively a 'bad thing' that leads to a player losing skill.

I take Wouter's point about it not syncing up with Average Form – I seem to recall making the suggestion in Saarde's thread a while back that if they were to change the DV scale then it would be make sense to change the form scale at the same time, since they obviously work on the exact same principle of 0-20, 10=break-even, so it is a bit of a shame that he's managed to change one thing and not the other*.
Although, given that we're all so used to thinking of DV on the 0-20 scale I imagine we'll all keep converting a '+7' to a '17' in our heads for a good long time to come – even if having the old scale isn't an option that can be toggled on and off like the old tactics screen.


*Not to mention, a -10 to +10 scale for form-bars, with the negative half in red say and only the positive half in green, would be a lot easier to read at a glance than trying to count whether there's 15 or 16 tiny little green bars in a row for instance.

[jdsx]

Bloody hell. Updates!?! I feel no shame in confessing I couldn't even remember how to find the Changelog.

What is this Changelog of which you speak??

[Various Artist]

What is this Changelog of which you speak??

Hah! I can't even remember how I used to get there back in days of yore, seeing as I don't recall ever seeing the link I just found and used – but if you scroll right down to the bottom of your Lobby screen, you can get to it from a link at the very foot of the page.

[Various Artist]

Cor, going to look at Royal Atlantis before the new season has kicked off and seeing the entire squad between -5 and -9 DV is quite sobering. Two or three of those players will likely never see a positive DV again.

[Sits]

Wouter D yur forum thread is brilliant.

[Wouter D]

Thanks AE and Sits! I'm looking forward to referring to it on new "Ideas and Suggestions" threads where people rehash the same ideas to make the game easier.

[Sits]

One thing I would disagree with dm on is the injuries change. I completely concur that they’re a necessary random event everyone has to work with, but tailoring their duration by season length is fairer.

[Janik]

Xpert XI official Ladies League Season 61, matchday 1 report. And where do we find our teams this time around?

Division 1a

Drakaina                   4 - 2   Pellacho2.0
Featherstone 12', 18'              Jo? 21'
Heggarty 72'                       Sipkar (pen) 49'
Sipkar (O.G.) 81'


Division 2c

Alternadeiras F.C.         2 - 1   Mauchline Belles
Ekroth 4'                          McRenton 60'
Nordborg 45'


Division 3e

Careerwoman Blues          4 - 1   Coxy Ladies Wulpen
Myhren 36', 87                     Beyen 49'
Waterloe (O.G.) 46'
Braaf 66'

Viking South Utsira        6 - 1   White Swans
Breen (O.G.) 7'                    Castelhano 3'
N.Austrheim 10', 29'
T.Kvalvik 25', 51'
L.Hovland 36'


Division 3f

Kanjeng Ratu Kidul WFC     1 - 0   As Mondeguinas
Gr?nn?sen 42'


Division 5:13

Real Rolz                  0 - 1   Cinghiali
                                   Kajtazi 92'


Division 5:16

San Francisco 9ers         1 - 0   LNWR Locomotive
Montol?o 80'


Division 5:19

Priory Panthers            1 - 0   Ullapool Northern Star
Hjerpe 54'


Division 5:21

Invisible Ladies           3 - 0   ASU Politehnica
Forsyth (pen) 4'
Clark 9'
Shuttlewood 52'


Division 5:26

Zeugma Dostluk Spor        1 - 1   As Besugas dos A?ores
Manookian 2'                       Holm 72'


Division 5:28

Fossa Delle Leonesse       2 - 0   Dublin City Womens FC
Norris 28'
Ventura 54'

Secunda FC                 0 - 4   Menywod Maeshafn
                                   Narberth 3', 52'
                                   McRichter 23'
                                   Beck 58'


Division 5:31

Csiki Girls                1 - 1   FC KLAWS F
O?Callaghan 38'                    Szentgy?rgyi 62'


Division 6:37

Rising Stars               5 - 0   FC Tibble Ladies
Mon??o 10'
Elgeuse 18', 46'
Servidei 36'
Ver?ssimo 67'


Division 6:40

Hazeldean Inchmistress     7 - 0   Instinci?n CFF
Christersson 6', 37'
Bringevik 9'
Bunton 17'
Tattershall 45'
Barnes 58'
Pedersen 64'


Division 6:43

Bombay Green Rockets       3 - 0   The Anarchists
Baumann 20'
Panzer 46'
Alberdi 50'


Division 6:53

Cassiopeia                 2 - 0   Just wait
Bloch 31'
Bisaku 41'

Division 1a again for Drakaina, who opened the new campaign at Delphi against Pellacho2.0.
The match started well for The Dragons, Madeleine Featherstone firing them into a 12th minute lead directly from a free-kick. Featherstone added a second, both for herself and her team in the 18th minute, but in between her two strikes Etienne’s side had suffered a serious blow when superstar ‘keeper Anastasia Shkolnikova was carried off with a *gulp* 26-day injury. OK, Shkolnikova is in the twilight of her career at age 36, but at the kick-off of this game there was no young back-up/long-term replacement at the club (one has since been signed!) and indeed no back-up at all. Which meant forward Juan Hentovic going between the sticks.
Hentovic was soon picking the ball out of her goal as Pellacho halved the deficit, and then was beaten again in the 49th minute from the penalty spot. Which felt a mite unfair. The Greeks had now been pegged back, but that merely prompted a flurry of further attacking. That resulted in Gael Heggarty heading them back in front on 72 minutes. But that wasn’t comfortable (though Hentovic did see off a few attempts on her goal), so a fourth was needed. Elvisa Sipkar provided it on 81 minutes… despite Sipkar being a Pellacho player! She had scored the equaliser in fact. That meant she scored the final goal of the day for both sides as the match finished 4-2.

New surroundings for Mauchline Belles but sideways rather than up or down as Jdsx’s side began settling into Division 2c with a game at Alternadeiras F.C..
Comfort was lacking early on for The Belles as their hosts scored after just 4 minutes. Alternadeiras continued to have the better of things through the rest of the first half, and added a second on in the final minute before the break. Mauchline improved in the second-half, creating some chances and pulling a goal back on the hour through Lisa McRenton’s header. But that was as close as they would come as life in the new home received a familiar start.

Also familiar were the opponents for Coxy Ladies Wulpen as they visited Careerwoman Blues, albeit in Division 3e this time around rather than 3d.
It would prove to be a difficult afternoon for The Waders, who found themselves 1-0 down at the break following a goal in the 39th minute. A Coxy Lady scored in the first minute of the second half… but Victoria de Waterloe’s contribution was at the wrong end of the pitch and only put her side two down!
Charlotte Beyen netted at the right end just three minutes after de Waterloe’s inadvertent contribution but that wasn’t the spark for a comeback by Janik’s side. Instead they were caught on the break twice as they chased the equaliser, to fall to a 4-1 defeat.
Alongside Wulpen in 3e this term will be Viking South Utsira, who are at this level after promotion. Their first match back in the fourth tier was at home against White Swans.
The party initially looked like being a damp squib when the Swans took the lead after only 3 minutes. Four minutes further on and the ball was in the goal again via a visiting player, but this one favoured The Blood Eagles as Gertrude Breen poked past her own ‘keeper. Breen had actually set up the opener as well.
After that opening, it was hard to know what was going to come next. A flurry of goals may not have been the general call, but that is what happened. And all for Viking. Nina Austrheim powered home from range on 10 minutes, and then finished a breakaway on 29. In between (25) Tove Kvalvik had headed in a corner. And then on 36 Lina Hovland scored a direct free-kick.
5-1 up at the break Velvet Android’s side would have been within their rights to rest on their laurels. Instead Tove Kvalvik decided to give the crowd one more show as she scored her second and her side’s sixth of the day on 51 minutes.

Last season Kanjeng Ratu Kidul WFC were in Division 3e. So we have a trifecta of OTF sides in that sector this season? Sadly not, as The Sea Spirits have been moved across to Division 3f for season 61. Their first match was at home, with As Mondeguinas the visitors.
Whilst the game was reasonably competitive, SeanoftheShed’s side shaded things throughout with 55-60% possession and three chances created for every one given up. Goals were relatively hard to come by for the Sea Goddesses, though the one they did nab, Mariell Gr?nn?sen firing home after 42 minutes, proved to be enough for the win.

No I in team or in Cinghiali anymore. OK, yes, lower case ones, three of those, but not a capital I. The Boars have also moved to a new and more salubrious piece of woodland, this one called Division 5:13, though their first game need them to roam beyond their home territory to visit Real Rolz.
The Boars produced an impressive tactical display, deliberately letting the hosts have possession in no threatening areas, and pouncing occasionally to launch counter-attacks. This resulted in no shots at all going at Sandra Balela’s net, whilst the Cinghiali forwards had a steady trickle of opportunities. However it looked like that SitsWithRemote’s fine planning wouldn’t be fully rewarded as the match entered second-half injury-time still scoreless. But a corner was won, Aleksandra Chornovil swung it over, the ball pinballed around crazily until breaking to Izabela Kajtazi, who gleefully lashed it home.
As that goal came on 92 minutes, there was barely time to restart, let alone enough for Rolz to mount any sort of fight back.

LNWR Locomotive pulled off an unusual move for a railway engine as they stepped sideways to Division 5:16. But not particularly new opponents as The Steamers started their new campaign at San Francisco 9ers .
Locomotive never really got steam up in this game as Viktor Boskovic’s charges held only 41% possession in each half, and failed to work the Frisco goalkeeper at any point in the match. Maral Parseghian was busier without being unduly overworked. She did have one too many shots to face as it turned out though, an effort from range on 80 minutes sneaking into the corner of her net to send LNWR to an opening day defeat.

Another club doing the physically impossible are Ullapool Northern Star, who are riding higher in the sky this season after promotion to Division 5:19 (Polaris itself doesn’t move of course – north is north is north (a more in-depth explanation available on request)). Their first match at the new elevation came at Priory Panthers.
This was a challenging opening as Priory had only missed out on a place in Division 4 for this term in last season’s play-offs. But Delicatemoth’s side looked well adapted to the higher level as they had more of the ball and made move chances in the opening half. Sadly, Polaris failed to score during their time on top, which was not a mistake the Panthers made when they shaded the second period, netting the only goal of the match on 55 minutes.

[Janik]

Last season Invisible Ladies and ASU Politehnica were together in Division 6:43. Both got promoted, and they found themselves together again in Division 5:21 this term. And indeed facing each other on the opening day of the new campaign.
The game took place at The San Seethrough with Pebblethefish’s hosts looking to demonstrator exactly why they were the champions and Politehnica the runners-up in the preceding season. The See Throughs certainly started like a side on a mission, winning a 4th minute penalty that Darlene Forsyth converted and then doubling that advantage when Phoebe Clark fired home with 9 on the watch.
That was it for the first half, but the start of the second was nearly as bad for The Scholars as they conceded a third on 52 minutes, Aileen Shuttlewood heading home. That was it for the scoring, but there were some medium term impactions for both sides in the last 10 minutes as both picked up serious injuries. First goalscorer Clark went down with a 22-day knock (oof), then it was Politehnica’s turn to lose a player when Maja Munksg?rd took a 9-day knock. Scholar’s boss Granthamian had already made all his subs so his side finished with just 10, though given they were three down already and Munksg?rd was hurt in the 88th minute, it was way too late anyway.

Zeugma Dostluk Spor are back where they belong (at a minimum) in the sixth tier. Specifically Division 5:26 this season. Their first match on their return to a proper level was at the Insan Haklari Stadyumu against As Besugas dos A?ores.
The hosts got off to the perfect start when Aghavni Manookian fired home a corner in just the 2nd minute. That started a dominant half for Antepli Ejderha girls, who made a slew of chances but, crucially, failed to put away a second goal. That sort of failure to capitalise has bit Football teams on the backside often enough through the history of the sport, and this game was just such a story – the second half was far more even, and roughly midway through it Besugas scored on one of their few chances of the game to leave ZDS very frustrated to have only drawn a game they should have had won by half-time.

Dublin City Womens FC reward for climbing out of the bottom tier was a spot in Division 5:28, where they will be joined by another OTF side (see below). But the derby didn’t kick things off here, with Jdsx’s charges instead heading to Fossa Delle Leonesse for their opening game.
The match was something of a rude awakening for Dublin, though I’m not sure (given only one sub selected) that boss Mortal Joe was actually present for the game. If he wasn’t, that may explain why his side saw so little of the ball (just 35% possession across the piece) and were out-chanced 6-1. Given those stats, Leonesse scoring once in each half for a 2-0 win would count as pretty standard.
The other OTF side in this section is Menywod Maeshafn of course, as IsThatcherDeadYet’s side remained unmoved from last season. The Welsh outfit were away in their first game, visiting Secunda FC.
Last season was one of unexpected struggle against relegation for Maeshafn, with the tone set very early. Well, hopefully the same will be true this campaign – the tone being set early that is, not the relegation battle. Because this game was a welcome hot showing, Edith Narberth firing her side ahead from a 3rd minute corner, Leigh McRichter following her debut goal for the club in the Cup in the first competitive match of the campaign with her first league goal when she doubled the advantage on 23 minutes, Narberth scoring again on 52 and Morgan Beck making it four on 58.
That rounded off the scoring, the last half-hour being played out at half-pace as Maeshafn got off to a flier this time.

Csiki Girls have jumped between Division 5:31 and 5:32 a number of times, and did so again in the pre-season just gone to be back in 5:31 for this term. The first fixture on their return paired them with FC KLAWS F.
Ad hoc’s side hogged the ball in the first half, holding well over 60% possession. From that they fashioned just one chance, but it was a good one as young forward Monica O?Callaghan turned in a worked free-kick move after 38 minutes. O?Callaghan was only on the field due to a minor injury, one of two players Csiki Girls lost to knocks in the opening 45 minutes, with a 15-day one to defender Bethany Austin falling into the category of serious injury.
After the break Csiki Girls had very fractionally less of the ball, though still over 60%, but this time turned it into plenty of chances. Unfortunately that was both chances made, and chances allowed at the other end. And the only other one converted was one of these, KLAWS levelling for a draw with a 62nd minute strike.

A four step sideways shift puts Rising Stars in Division 6:37 for this season, and on their first time out in that they face zombiefied FC Tibble Ladies.
A straightforward win for Blamb’s side was expected… and delivered. Edite Mon??o got things going with a long range strike on 10 minutes, Bette Elgeuse adding a second from closer range on 18. Patrizia Servidei headed in a corner to make it three at the interval, but it didn’t stay like that for long after the restart as seconds into the second period Elgeuse fired in her second of the day. ?rica Ver?ssimo headed in a corner for the fifth midway through the second half, which was how things remained until the end.

Hazeldean Inchmistress made a shorter move, Division 6:40 their new home rather than 6:41, but also encountered a zombie on their arrival in the form of Instinci?n CFF.
As with Rising Stars, The Imperials produced the expected cake walk. In fact they never even had to break sweat after G?ta Christersson (6 minutes) and Jennie Bringevik (9) had them two up. Even at half-pace the goals still came regularly, Karen Bunton netting the third on 17, Christersson getting her second of the day after 37 and Mollie Tattershall making it five on the stroke of half-time.
Two regular scorer names for Inchmistress were missing at this point, but both Kelli Barnes (58) and Line Pedersen (64) got there eventually. Though in Pedersen’s case ‘eventually’ is harsh as she was held in reserve by Foxy265 until the hour mark and got her goal within four minutes of entering the fray.

Bombay Green Rockets’ wildly veering flight path has placed them in Division 6:43 for this campaign, though HKS3’s side will be aiming to another 180 degree turn there. The first step in achieving that was beating The Anarchists on their visit to The Common.
The Green Rockets were well on top in the first half, but found the killer ball a bit lacking and so only had Barbara Baumann’s 20th minute goal to show for it at the break. However, Bombay doubled their advantage immediately after the restart, Agnes Panzer heading home, and then made the game safe four minutes later when Josefa Alberdi found the target from long range.
After that Bombay throttled the game, ending it with a highly efficient 3-0 win from only 4-1 attempts on goal.

Our last visit in these reports this season will be to Cassiopeia, whose return to the bottom tier 6 after relegation finds them in Division 6:53. The Vainglories opened their attempt to bounce straight back with a home game against Just wait.
Cassiopeia were good in the first half, with greater than 60% of the ball, and were rewarded for it as the half went on with two goals. Louise Bloch opened the scoring by heading in a corner on 31 minutes, followed by Anita Bisaku also scoring after a flag kick, but doing so with her feet, on with 41 on the watch.
That appeared to satisfy Stormstopper’s side, who had just as much of the ball after the break but didn’t both making any chances with it. Nor did they give up any sights of their own goal though, making the choice to close things down the correct one.

[Sits]

Grand effort Janik.

[Antepli Ejderha]

How was everyone's OTF change report?

Mine was so so but the big downside was Yunus G?rkan announcing his retirement. The son of legend Zekai G?rkan is 35 but I was hoping he'd last another season at least.

Arda G?rkanoğlu will also end his career at the end of the season, he's made the most appearances ever in a Zeugmaspor shirt and made a handful of appearances last season as we fought off relegation.

[Sean of the Shed]

Fairly decent change report for Dandy Town, though no doubles. One retirement here, last season's top scorer Ollie Brann has decided that this season will be his last at the age of 36, which I can't begrudge him as I expected him to do so last season, and 35 year old defender Runar Hedin will play on for at least a couple of seasons yet.

[Various Artist]

Ooh yes, I forgot it was the OTF CR last night. They've been coming thick and fast lately, it feels. Forgot to screengrab Hank Hulme's player page before he retired, which is a bit of a shame.

[Wouter D]

How was everyone's OTF change report?

Mine was so so but the big downside was Yunus G?rkan announcing his retirement. The son of legend Zekai G?rkan is 35 but I was hoping he'd last another season at least.

Arda G?rkanoğlu will also end his career at the end of the season, he's made the most appearances ever in a Zeugmaspor shirt and made a handful of appearances last season as we fought off relegation.

Kneebiters had a bunch of double jumps, but most of those were for youngish players who missed a jump last year, so it's hard to get really excited about it.

This is my last team with which I tried the all equally young youngsters approach, where you accept several years of tanking completely in the hope to eventually win a title or two. I've decided that this approach is not for me. It gave Eintracht Eindhoven a title now, but the many season of basically just waiting around bore me to death. I'll pull through the experiment with this generation of Kneebiters, and then reconvert to a conveyor belt.

The upside is that we had no unexpected retirements, which would frankly be a bit of a weird move for a 23-year-old.

[lambers]

The Deers' CR was also so so. No double jumps but no reductions either. Every defender singe jumped (not including the 30 yo keeper who was injured for a couple of games last season), but just under half the midfielders/attackers single jumped.

No retirements announced, the oldest player is 32 year old Wesley Greaves so none were expected. If Wesley had retired then it would have been a massive blow as next in line Dwight Allmark (now 25/10) managed to not score a single goal in 17 appearances last season, despite goal instincts and never performing below a 10 rating. I'm hoping that Dwight will remember how to score when we're back in Division Two.

[nmrfox]

Pretty reasonable for Whoft. No double jumpers but all of younger members of the squad went up a bar. 35yo keeper Norbert Pelican didn't lose a bar which with our debut season in OTF to look forward to, was a relief.

MF Bruce Bettong-Quoll has played his last game in our promotion season and has retired back to his home down under (in Billberry Buryborry). No players will be leaving after our inevitable relegation this season however.

[delicatemoth]

Ugh, I thought only the oldest players were liable to retire, turns out this isn't the case.

[nmrfox]

Ugh, I thought only the oldest players were liable to retire, turns out this isn't the case.

Nope. At Whoft BBQ was only 33 when he hung up his didgeridoo. Pelican is 35 and will continue between the sticks until he's at least 37.

[Antepli Ejderha]

The MLX is up to speed now after VA sacked the non VIP manager, he'd not been looking after his team this year but had logged on to other teams since. I don't get it when managers do that.

I've looked at my cup draw, it's really tough. I'm again playing for development values with the aim of not going down and sneaking into the play offs again.

[Hot Orange]

A bit of a disappointing CR for Hideous. We have three teenagers who played a whole bunch of games last season, but their DVs failed to respond as hoped and all three single-jumped only. There was one DJ, from midfielder Reine Rose, who is now a 22/10.

In MLX, star midfielder Aubrey Sorlin is calling it a day at age 34, which is a bit of a pisser. And we don't really have a goalkeeper.

[Sits]

Swine’s relegation CR was a young player’s game. Here they are, the way they look on my notes, with a defensive unit and an “offensive” unit in age order.

Plus sign - Jump
Minus sign - Drop
Dot - No change
No symbol - New signing (Jens de Kuiper)
RET - I probably don’t need to explain

257 game veteran Jesus Carreto declaring at 34 is a blow, talking of retirements.

D de Kuiper 17/4
G Rolloos 21/10++
D Tolsma 25/13+
D Scheenaard 28/14.
D Madonna 32/16.
D Ott 36/13. RET

M Moelendyck 18/6++
F Seiffert 20/8++
M Zijlstra 22/10+
F Ruban 24/11+
M Gullbekk 26/13+
M Dijoux 28/13.
M Edilson 31/15.
F Alkuaz 33/16.
M Carreto 34/15. RET

[Etienne]

Steady enough for the Dragons, but I don't see us challenging for the title without Saude. Anrell and Rindal both announce their retirements, but can't complain about either of them. The best news was Baumann ekeing out a jump despite getting sod all game time as we threw all eggs into the Lewis Harold basket. So we can sell him (Baumann)

GK Asken 30/16 +

D Rindal 39/12 -- RET
D Trocki 33/15
D Mujanovic 28/14 +
D Badr 22/10 +
D Anwyl 20/8 +
D Gartzen 18/5 +

M Anrell 37/14 - RET
M Heggie 27/14
M Anthony 26/14 +
M Kingston 24/11 +
M Dove 22/10 +
M Holten 18/5 +

F Gulko 31/15 +
F Baumann 24/10 +
F Harold 18/8 +

[nmrfox]

GK Asken 30/16 +

D Rindal 39/12 -- RET
D Trocki 33/15
D Mujanovic 28/14 +
D Badr 22/10 +
D Anwyl 20/8 +
D Gartzen 18/5 +

M Anrell 37/14 - RET
M Heggie 27/14
M Anthony 26/14 +
M Kingston 24/11 +
M Dove 22/10 +
M Holten 18/5 +

F Gulko 31/15 +
F Baumann 24/10 +
F Harold 18/8 +

Shit. Are we so getting hammered in OTF next season. Those stats are eye watering. Fuck and then more.

[pebblethefish]

After six years of playing this game I finally won my first Team of the Month award. Despite the fact that Monday morning is meant to be spent compiling reports for work, I have instead been making acceptance speeches to my empty flat ("Frankly, Brian, while it's an honour to be recognised, this is really an award for the whole team")