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X11 season 45 - de rigueur Mortis

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    Just having the funds in MLX is the hardest part. That league is a bottomless money pit because three games a week and the amount of strong opponents is an absolute form killer. Every time I get to a good place with my squad I find myself having to sell a strong player to build the funds back up.

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      Originally posted by Granthamian View Post
      he's majored on players with the Penalty Taker attribute. Perfect for the MLX of course with its high incidence of penalty shootouts in the knockout matches.
      What a good idea. Surprised no one thought of that before.

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        My feeling is that majoring on hard trainers like Roberto and Rmy is a lot of work. But getting a non hidden skill like PKs is easy once you have a decent conveyor belt. If you are just buying 16 or 17 year old players then compatibility isn't that big an issue and narrowing down to just players with your SQ makes choosing easier.

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          Hah, yes your ZZ side stuffed with Cool players from end to end was a thing to behold Etienne. Was it worth the effort of accumulating them, do you think? At least it's not an SQ that commands a particular premium, unlike Hard Trainers to name an obvious counter-example.

          It certainly doesn't feel like the standard of competition in MLX is getting any easier, that's for sure. Even Underground are struggling to keep up with the Joneses these days, though even in this current 'transitional' period we've still got a squad that would probably trounce any of my other teams.

          My weakness, arguably, as ever is that almost all my squad is homegrown, so I rarely have anything approaching a systematic approach to team-building beyond 'let's wait and see what the academy throws up'.

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            I've just looked back through ZZ's history and we're 13-5 on penalty shootouts (including 2 wins vs the Vipers, which may have prompted Roberto to look out for ice cool players himself) which would suggest it's worth it, given that it's been our strategy throughout - we have 10 cool players in our current squad. It's actually been less successful recently. I think we won our first 8, so we have only won four of our last nine, which I think is often due to the opposition keeper being substantially stronger. We haven't had an elite keeper for a long time.

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              Ah that's more than I thought you had currently, I remember thinking the last time I looked at your squad that it was surprisingly light on Cool players – though perhaps 10 players did just look like relatively few! I wonder what UU's penalties record is, it would be interesting to add up all our shootouts though I suppose not all of them will still be available in our Matches archive as some opponents will have disappeared. Is that how you just worked out ZZ's, or did you have some independent list of your own records?

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                No, I just went through my archived matches, so it won't be exhaustive.

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                  What's the penalty taker icon? Cool out something different?

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                    I think it’s the Cool ice cube. An attribute I like when scouting but it’d never occurred to me to be systematic. I think overall I tend to focus on skill level too much, and SQs not enough.

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                      Yes, I took it that was what Granthamian was referring to too.

                      Originally posted by Sits View Post
                      I think overall I tend to focus on skill level too much, and SQs not enough.
                      This is quite an interesting statement, Sits, because I think plenty of others would say they had the exact reverse problem!

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                        Again like Granthamian I find it hard to scout specific SQs when I don’t want to compromise skill level. Without checking I’d guess half my teams have no decent FK.

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                          OTF Season 65 Day 1 Round-Up

                          OTF

                          Reigning champions Berkshire Swine were held to a goalless draw at home by newly promoted Steaua Bridge, who had an early goal disallowed but otherwise concentrated on keeping the Swine out. No goals either at The Hollows, with visitors Eriskay Expression having the best of the stalemate with Vita Mortis. There was opening-day disappointment for the other promoted teams. Locomotiv Noj were 1-0 down inside the first ten minutes of their first ever top-flight game and went on to lose 2-0 to Four Candles, Matteo De Angelo heading home both goals; and Zeugmaspor, back amongst the elite after a four-season absence, were beaten 2-0 at home by AFC Csiki Monkeys. There was an away win for Croesoswallt Dragons, for whom Elliott Dove netted the only goal at Great Ouse Town.

                          Division 1

                          It was a worrying start for D1 new boys Wednesday de la Zouch, who were smacked 6-0 at Whoft Fluffopolis, for whom strike pair Dexter Sprockett and Chesney Nothing each scored twice. The other newly promoted sides met, with Portsmouth FC coming out on top against Hampshire Deers thanks to Frenk Grim's header. Relegated duo Rejects Redux and Dandy Town renewed acquaintance at the Mack Mean Megadrome and, after the sides picked up a red-cross injury each, the Dandies eased to a comfortable win with two second-half goals. Also back down from the top tier are Waveney Valley Swifts and they kicked off with a 3-0 success at home to Banik Roystonov. A last-minute strike from Bernt Rav gave Kernow Kensa a 2-1 win and a deserved three points from their opener away at Turd Division.

                          Division 2

                          Wharfedale Generals were two divisions below Somers Town Sugar Imps last season, but put in a confident performance to beat the Imps 1-0 on their own patch. Two goals from Jon Nazib helped Cods of War to a 3-1 win over Andromache FC in the clash between the other two promoted teams. Die Ambosse top the table following a 3-0 away win at Wensleydale Blues. Ray Bloody Purchase gave Saltney Drawers the perfect start to the season, firing them ahead in the first minute to put them on the way to a 2-0 win over Azure Dragons. Heffron Hendecagon and Littlewoods Legends, the mid-tablers in this division last season, are swiftly back into position after they battled out a 1-1 draw at Heffron Park.

                          Division 3

                          There was a lively opening-day encounter at The Green, where visitors Athletico Deva recovered from 2-0 down to pull level against Brian Munchingflapjack only to lose 3-2 as the Flapjack's Nero Bertarelli completed his hat-trick. Tree Hill High's Takashi Morioka was also taking the match ball home after his treble helped his team to a 4-1 success at Indigo Plateau, whose youthful team look set for another tricky campaign. New Dresden midfielder Claes-Erik Heden collected a straight red after half an hour of his side's home game with Veni Vici Vigata, and things looked bleak for Dresden when VVV took the lead minutes later. But three second-half goals, two of them from Winston Manfield, gave the ten men an impressive win. Great Northern Railway began with a 2-1 home victory over Eintracht Midwest, while OWC Albion and Pinewood Passers drew 0-0.

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                            Sorry to immediately spoil the 'run' of roundups after only one (HO's marvellous effort directly above), but my computer has crashed and thus the report for Monday I was going to knock out today has gone unwritten.

                            All rebooting attempts have so far failed.
                            Haven't done much in the way of backups lately either, but fortunately I've got the majority of my pictures and work saved on an external hard disk and various USB sticks. My main loss as things stand would be the recent X11 kits I've designed, which obviously is a primary worry.

                            Have set today's Mortis tactics on my phone, at least - mercifully Thursdays are a quiet Xpert day, with the OTF the only one of my leagues in action. Even that was a bit of a bugger, though: not least because for some reason the site's backgrounds are coming up black as if I've got the browser stuck in Dark mode, no matter what I do with the settings, which doesn't make deciphering numbers of skill bars for instance any easier at all...
                            Last edited by Various Artist; 30-09-2021, 20:37.

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                              Good luck with that VA. If it's any consolation, one of my old laptops did that to me and never rebooted, but I was able to extract the hard drive, buy a cage for it and then use it as an external hard drive to recover the files. So there is still hope for your new kits!

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                                What a nightmare, VA, Hope you can sort it.

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                                  Cheers guys, and thanks very much for the tip about the hard drive lambers, I may have to look into that in due course!

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                                    Originally posted by Various Artist View Post
                                    Cheers guys, and thanks very much for the tip about the hard drive lambers, I may have to look into that in due course!
                                    Best of luck VA, hope you find those kits and don’t worry about the roundup.

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                                      #HateHeineken #LoveTheHeinekenLeague

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                                        Congratulations Etienne, never in doubt.

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                                          Yep seconded, congrats to Etienne on securing the HL Premiership so early. Guzman!

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                                            An absolute romp Etienne congratulations.

                                            While about half the division risk the drop with three to play.

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                                              Congratulations to Etienne, guzman to you.

                                              I've consistently had injuries, mostly in my midfield, plus I've got 19 year old keepers, so to have a chance of survival is something. I cannot see it happening though.

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                                                Best of luck sorting your computer problems, VA. Fingers crossed for you.

                                                And many congratulations on a second Heineken title to Etienne. A thoroughly impressive and dominant season.

                                                South Hams are one of those teams in the relegation scrap and we actually find ourselves bottom after Sark's late winner yesterday. We haven't been able to find any consistency this season, and conceding points to late goals has been an immensely frustrating recurring theme. We've lost eight points to goals conceded after the 80th minute (and won none).

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                                                  Meanwhile, it's the OTF Season 65 Day 3 Round-Up

                                                  OTF
                                                  Croesoswallt Dragons and Four Candles were inseparable at the top of the table after two games, but both gave up their 100% records on day three. The Dragons bossed their game at AFC Csiki Monkeys, but needed a second-half equaliser from Par-Ola Vanberg to come away with a 1-1 draw. A frustrated Vanberg was dismissed in stoppage time as the Dragons failed to find a winner and fall to 3rd. The Monkeys lie 6th after a 1-1-1 start. The Candles were blown away (out?) by Berkshire Swine, slumping to a 3-0 home defeat, with two late goals for the Swine allowing the scoreline to accurately reflect the balance of play and taking the defending champions to the top of the table. Vita Mortis are back in the all-too-familiar surroundings of 2nd place thanks to Mike Addison's late winner against Great Ouse Town, who slip into the bottom three and still await their first goal of the season. Also without a goal thus far are Steaua Bridge, but a second goalless draw from a tough start of three away games lifts them up to 7th, and the point takes their opponents, Zeugmaspor, off the mark and off the bottom. They are replaced by Locomotiv Noj, whose first ever top-flight goal, scored by Vangelis Kalitzakis, was not quite enough to save them from defeat against visitors Eriskay Expression, who have made an unbeaten start and climb to 5th.

                                                  Division 1

                                                  After beginning the season with two thumping victories, Whoft Fluffoplois found goals harder to come by against Rejects Redux, but Chesney Nothing made the breakthrough in the 81st minute to keep the Fluffers on top with maximum points and nudge the Rejects into the bottom three. Dandy Town were unable to maintain their perfect start and indeed only grabbed a point at Turd Division in the final few minutes when there were just ten Turds on the pitch after goalkeeper Mikey Clark was forced off with all substitutions already made. Whether there was anyone between the sticks to attempt to stop Sakal Boman's equaliser will have to remain a mystery. The Turds leave the bottom after collecting their first point of the campaign. Banik Roystonov are the new table-proppers following a 2-0 defeat at Kernow Kensa, who move up to 4th, kept out of the top three on goal difference by Waveney Valley Swifts, for whom Mateo Forlan netted twice as they came from behind to win at Portsmouth FC. Wednesday de la Zouch have recovered impressively from their opening-day shellacking by the Fluffers and move up to 5th with a first win of the season, a lively 4-2 home success over Hampshire Deers in which they coped well after losing captain Jean-Christophe Bellier to a first-half injury. The Deers were unable to build on their thumping victory over the Swifts on Monday and sit alongside Portsmouth just above the drop zone.

                                                  Division 2

                                                  An early goal from Frank Hulme looked to have Wharfedale Generals on their way to a third win from three, but Alcino Alencar soon levelled for Littlewoods Legends and they claimed a well-deserved point from a game blighted by a serious injury for each team. The Legends remain unbeaten but slip to 5th, while the Generals stay 2nd. Two other sides had started with two wins, Saltney Drawers and die Ambosse, and they met at the Wales England Border. There was more injury woe here, with Ambosse skipper Bernd Frehn hobbling off after just three minutes, and the Drawers took the lead through Alistair Whittle's goal just after the break. Whittle himself limped off later, but the Drawers held on to take the three points and stay top of the pile. Die Ambosse hang on to a place in the top three but only on goal difference from Cods of War, who emerged victorious after a dramatic conclusion to their game at Heffron Hendecagon. They saw Sherlock Holmes wipe out their lead with a 75th-minute equaliser, had a goal from Jon Nazib chalked off minutes later and then were reduced to ten men when Jamie McCalliog was sent packing, a second red card of the 21-year-old's 15-game career. No matter - the final expletive had barely left McCalliog's lips before Oli Nouwi smacked in the Cods' winner. Heffron drop to 9th, kept off the foot of the table by Wensleydale Blues, who remain pointless and goalless following a 2-0 defeat at Somers Town Sugar Imps. The Imps, on the other hand, have their first points on the board and climb to 6th. Also moving off zero are Andromache FC, two goals from Tom Hignet helping them to a rather flattering 3-0 victory at Azure Dragons. The teams sit either side of the relegation line, the Dragons on the wrong side.

                                                  Division 3

                                                  Brian Munchingflapjack's 100% record fell by the wayside, though they were a little unfortunate to go down to a 1-0 home defeat by OWC Albion, Buck Aneering-Hedda's free kick clinching the points and taking Albion up to 6th. The Flapjacks fall to 3rd, their place at the summit taken by New Dresden, who had five different goal-scorers in their 5-0 win at Indigo Plateau, who drop to the bottom on goal difference. Moving into 2nd place, level on points with Dresden, are Great Northern Railway following their 2-0 home win over Pinewood Passers, who slip to 7th. A narrow 2-1 win at Eintracht Midwest takes Veni Vici Vigata up to 4th and actually sees still-pointless Midwest climb off the foot of the table thanks to Indigo's heavier defeat. A place above them are Athletico Deva, who registered their first point of the season from a goalless draw at home to Tree Hill High, whose unbeaten start remains intact and who are 5th.

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                                                    Bravo for keeping this going single-handed for now HO! I'm ashamed to admit that I'm not going to be able to produce a roundup this week either, I'm still without a computer. A replacement is on order but alas hasn't turned up yet.

                                                    Getting by with my phone on X11, but damn me it's tough to make out the form bars etc. above 15 because they're so dark green they virtually vanish into the dark background that my Firefox browser seems unable to shift.

                                                    If only I could use that as an excuse for Royal Atlantis' poor couple of recent results (including against AE's lot) in the Heineken, but alas I fear that's just subpar management to blame. This season the Premiership is finally looking like we long suspected it might, i.e. with a record five OTFers in there, but it looks like at least two of us are set for the drop and potentially three of us filling the entire relegation zone. Thank goodness for Etienne almost singlehandedly holding up the OTF's end, so to speak, with such a dominant title win. Could've done without him losing to Sixfields Saints on Monday, mind...

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