X11 season 45 - de rigueur Mortis

[Sits]

So, Imgur you say...

I reckon tinypic tries various tactics to annoy its non-paying users intermittently. I have three different browsers loaded on the iPad just to see which one Tinypic might work on that day. Obviously once I got Adblock on Safari it completely failed to function there.

[Various Artist]

Ah, that's interesting. I have uBlock on Firefox on this desktop Mac, and didn't have any problems that I recall.

Until, obviously, it stopped letting me see anything I'd uploaded. That was a bit of a tipping point.

[Etienne]

The Suffragette City academy has softened the blow of our title failure with a 16/4 shot midfielder.

[SouthdownRebel]

Right, let's have a go at the CR for Hammerpot.

Catarina Dahlberg	29/13	30/14	+
Dorothy Moon	17/3	18/3
Vesna Vuletic	34/12	35/12
Noémie Lamboley	30/10	31/10
Elida Rothman	29/12	30/12
Heather McLanaghan	25/10	26/11	+
Sophie Wheatman	19/5	20/6	+
Laura Rangel	33/13	34/13	(retiring)
Jéssica Melo	32/10	33/10
Lina Tagliafico	31/11	32/11
Lara Barnard	27/11	28/11
Rhona Roper	27/10	28/11	+
Dora Hemmings	19/7	20/9	++
Kara Malous	23/10	24/11	+
Jennifer Hayward	19/6	20/7	+

So, not many increases there. The retirement of Rangel will be a blow, but it's offset by the increase for Dahlberg and the double for Dora Hemmings. This latter frees me up to sell Jéssica Melo with Hemmings stepping up into the starting XI. The YA has given us 17/4 vanilla midfielder Pauline Warner.

Hopefully we'll also be able to add one in defence, probably replacing Lamboley, to keep the average age there the right side of 30. I also have a bid in on a new young keeper to replace Moon, who was cruelly neglected in the fervour of the title chase.

[Sean of the Shed]

Nice youth Etienne. Similar good fortune for Æthelflæd, giving us Alexandra Miles, an 18/6 keeper. Unfortunately she is a Diva set on the number 1 shirt, and our other main keeper Trinity Newton is of the same persuasion, so one of them has to go.
The Dandy Town academy has also been busy, giving us a 17/4 Jester, FK and Diva striker just days after we sold a 16/4 vanilla for just over 4m econ. I'm going to keep this one to develop into a first choice free kick specialist. It was going to be midfielder Ollie Brann, but the fact that he also has a lightbulb amongst his qualities means that in time he will be a man marking magnet and will spend too much time picking up annoying injuries, so I might just sell him after this season.

[Etienne]

Dowlatabi 22/10 +

Shafiq 31/12 =
Yedic 27/12 +
Rambusch 25/12 +
Pankhurst 20/6 +
Bjarnason 18/5 +
---
Besant 35/12 =
Fawcett 31/12 =
Campoamor 27/12 +
Syvain 23/9 +
Aguirre 23/9 =
Theodoropolou 19/6 +
Addams 19/6 +
---
Viana 32/11 =
Davison 23/10 +
Spence 19/6 +

Pretty good really, only Aguirre not jumping of those who I could have expected to do so. No doubles, but that was never likely with the DV. Bonus that Besant isn't retiring.

[Etienne]

Sean, can't you just alternate the number when you play the junior keeper?

[Sean of the Shed]

I've just sacked five managers in the Heineken League, and the manager details make for interesting reading. As well as all having last logged in late evening on 22nd May, they all have (or had) just two teams, one in the Heineken (until five minutes ago), and one in Kiftheodalakis's (he of the Neutralino WIMPs franchise) Narcos Championship. Kif hasn't logged in since the 24th May, so I wil be sending him on his way in the next day or two, and I'm fairly certain that he is the one behind all these accounts. Even if he has done it to cheat though, most of these teams are pretty average, so he's not very good at it anyway.

[Sean of the Shed]

Sean, can't you just alternate the number when you play the junior keeper?

That is a feasible option, as keepers can only be subbed for injuries, what I can't decide is whether I want to develop two keepers, and even if I do it can only be for a couple of seasons as they will want more game time as they get older. I suppose I could run both of them for a season or two to see if a double jump happens, but my DVs in the Human League thus far would indicate that this is not very likely.

[SouthdownRebel]

Yes, it's a quandary. I like to have a 2nd keeper to cover in case of injuries, but then I like to develop players so it often ends up being an 18/4 sat on the bench all season - and it being the keeper they only play if it's against absolute no-hopers. It's easier in leagues with a cup because then you can at least choose to use that competition to aid DV.

[Sits]

38 days since Les Sangliers received a junior. Sure enough, today a 19/4.

[Etienne]

Your profile pic looks like it captured your response to the news.

[wiblflibl]

Three of my teams have had an unforeseen economic event giving the clubs over one million econs each. East of Ealing on Thursday and Brentford Triangle / Devil Fish Girls today. Eals also had a +9,500 on Wednesday. Monetary madness.

[jdsx]

38 days since Les Sangliers received a junior. Sure enough, today a 19/4.

How much do you 'invest' Sits? I've put in 200,000 econ a week for quite a while, and got a 18/3 vanilla defender the other day... I'm giving it a few more weeks to see what turns up, then I'm scaling it down....(think I said the same thing last year)

[SouthdownRebel]

One more win from the last two games will be enough to see Tobermory into the top flight. Not a given though - next is away to the league leaders, the final game is against Arran Artisans.

[Etienne]

Sans Culottes appear to have gone too early into development mode, so it looks like Tobermory will be the only top flight representatives if they do make it.

[Sits]

http://xperteleven.com/player.aspx?p...615667127&dh=2

How much do you 'invest' Sits? I've put in 200,000 econ a week for quite a while, and got a 18/3 vanilla defender the other day... I'm giving it a few more weeks to see what turns up, then I'm scaling it down....(think I said the same thing last year)

250k a week whenever I can afford it. To be fair I think it works out in the long run, but that debate will never end.

So I bought a player instead, into this "Ladies League" and he's male.

[wiblflibl]

Today Educated Apes had a one million plus econ bonus. Four of seven teams in four days.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Golden League update, I'm in a division with 6 zombies so I should be able to ean some decent development values. In round two of the cup I've got a chance as I'm up against a Tottenham youth project with one veteran player in each position and the rest are youths, that is of the manager plays the veteran midfielder who'll be man marked.

[Antepli Ejderha]

You'd think that if you score your first goals of the season and beat the league leaders when you are bottom of the league that would be enough for you to get manager of the round but obviously not.

[Janik]

The beginning of the end? Well, sort of. Or at least Matchday 8 of the X11 Ladies League.

Division 3d

Viking South Utsira 	2 - 1	Unique Ladies
Fudida 76', (pen) 92'		Cobb 58'


Division 4h

Coxy Ladies Wulpen	2 - 2	Sunhilla Ladies FC
Wostijn 56'			Runvik 7', 90'
Madjarevic 88'

Tartan Tawties FC	0 - 1	Drakaina
				Atum 56'


Division 4j

Dinner Ladies		0 - 0	Kanjeng Ratu Kidul WFC

Witches of Chiswick	2 - 0	Supreme Ladies
Ingram (pen) 33'
Kurisawa 53'


Division 5:17

Warriors FC		0 - 2	LNWR Locomotive
				Ryman 19'
				Zakarian 67'


Division 5:22

Solent Sirens 		0 - 2	Belle Ends
				Bäckström 20'
				Barklund 63'


Division 5:29

... because I am a Girl	0 - 0	Dublin City Womens FC


Division 6:40

Invisible Ladies 	1 - 2	Aveley Ladies F.C
Paul 64'			Paixão 15', 71'

Division 6:55

Menywod Maeshafn 	6 - 0	Keillers Ladies
Palmgren 1'
van Hijde 7', 15'
Lydell 43'
Westerberg 57'
Rocha 77'
 

Division 6:62

Csiki Girls	 	3 - 0	Atalanta Calcio
McInns 46'
Morientes 60'
Smet 88'

Viking South Utsira vs Unique Ladies was top against bottom, an unbeaten side against a winless one, and a reprise of a fixture that The Blood Eagles had won 3-1 away in the previous round of matches. So a straightforward home win in the offing, then? Well...
The first half saw Viking with more of the ball, and making a few chances but also showing a somewhat weak underbelly in their defence. The match got to the interval goalless, but with Unique Ladies showing a growing confidence.
That new found belief surged just before the hour mark as the visitors went ahead. Now a real shock was on the cards. Would Velvet Android’s team be able to do anything about it? They certainly threw bodies forward, and on 76 minutes managed to reduce the damage when Manuças Fudida fired home following an uncleared corner.
The match ticked into stoppage time with the sides still level, leaving VSU facing two dropped points and Unique within seconds of a morale-boosting draw. And then, on 92 minutes, the unromantic soul of Football surfaced as referee Warren Peace awarded The Blood Eagles a penalty. Fudida took responsibility, and to weary sighs of ‘yeah, never in doubt’, slotted it home.
The last gasp win meant that Viking matched the second- and third-placed sides in Division 3d, so they all hold station with Utsira three points clear at the top and eight ahead of third.

A meeting of two bottom-three sides pitched Coxy Ladies Wulpen against Sunhilla Ladies FC, with the survival hopes of both really needing a win.
The opening minutes were bad for The Waders as Sunhilla netted a direct free-kick, followed by Solvej Tjørring going down with an- 11-day injury. However Janik’s side kept plugging away and drew level on 56 minutes when Aurelie Wostijn finished a breakaway.
Having survived a scare with a disallowed Sunhilla effort, Wulpen then moved 2-1 ahead through Ursula Madjarevic’s 88th minute strike. With little time left, this would be enough, wouldn’t it? Well, just as long as Coxy Ladies can survive this 90th minute free-kick... oh. Damn!
A more positive travelled with Drakaina as they made their way to Glasgow to take on Tartan Tawties FC.
The Dragons were in good form, keeping their hosts mostly off the ball and in defence. 17 minutes into the first half it looked briefly that Grace Winter had rewarded this dominance with a goal, but then Al Ready chalked it off. However this was just a blip for Etienne’s side, who finally got their just desserts through Silvia Atum on 56 minutes.
The second successive 1-0 Drakaina win has seen them and Tartan Tawties fortunes diverge; the side were just a point apart but are now separated by half of Division 4h, something which Drakaina now top the pile of. Meanwhile Coxy Ladies Wulpen remained seventh, and face a must win match against the bottom side tomorrow.

The first meeting of Kanjeng Ratu Kidul WFC and Dinner Ladies produced just three chances, though two of them were taken resulting in a 1-1 draw. Would the reverse fixture at The Works Canteen be any better?
Erm, no. In fact it was very similar, with three chances, only one of them for the Sea Spirits. However this time, none of them were taken.
Revenge was definitely in the air as Witches of Chiswick prepared to face [/b]Supreme Ladies[/b] following a 5-0 defeat for The Bewitched the previous week.
Chiswick’s first half performance showed how fired up they were, as they shaded the chances against a strong side. There attacking was rewarded in the 33 minute when referee Al Beback pointed to the spot which gave ‘keeper Ellie Ingram the chance to exact personal revenge on her tormentors.
1-0 at the break became two, and an insurmountable lead, after 53 minutes. The scorer was Mari Kurisawa, her first for Wiblflibl’s side and indeed of her career.
The win saw The Bewitched climb off the foot of Division 4j... at the expense of Kanjeng. SeanoftheShed’s side are now four points clear of saety, with Chiswick three points adrift.

A double was on offer for LNWR Locomotive over Warriors FC after The Steamers win at Mollington Street last week.
Locomotive were not to be denied in seeking in. They struck the first blow of the afternoon on 19 minutes, the increasingly influential Lisa Ryman slamming home her fifth of the campaign. Gayane Zakarian made it two for Viktor Boskovic’s side midway through the second-half. Indeed The Steamers were so comfortable they could afford to shrug off Narcisa Mocãnitã’s disallowed effort.
Victory put some clear water between LNWR and their beaten foes, who are now the side at the top of the Division 5:17 drop zone. The Steamers, meanwhile, sit fourth.

Solent Sirens were looking to avoid being turned over twice in a row when they travelled to Belle Ends (yeah, still not funny).
However it never looked good for Andrew7610’s girls; they were on the back foot from the start, one down after 20 minutes and the game was put beyond their reach by a second for the visitors just past the hour mark.
It was a defeat that saw The Sirens lose a spot in the Division 5:22 table, to now sit seventh. They are only a point from safety and indeed only four behind the play-offs in a league with one side isolated at the top, another way adrift at the bottom, and a middle six covered by barely anything.

This signs weren’t promising for Dublin City Womens FC ahead of their trip to ... because I am a Girl following a 3-0 home defeat against the same opposition last time out.
However Dublin are showing small signs of turning the corner. Here or there. They are occasionally obdurate, and this was one of those days. I am a Girl found it hard to make chances, and impossible to score. They were at no risk of defeat as Mortal Joe’s side didn’t threaten either, but Dublin will be by far the happier with a point.
The one blot on the day for Dublin was an 8-day injury to young defender Bambi Landucci. That, and they do remain well adrift of the pack in Division 5:29, which they still prop-up.

Invisible Ladies picked up a good win last week against a handy Aveley Ladies F.C side. Would they be able to repeat the dose at the San Seethrough?
Not if Aveley had anything to do with it, they wouldn’t. The visitors started brightly, and took the lead on the quarter-hour. With no further goals in the opening half, See-Throughs manager Pebblethefish was able to sit his charges down with a decent amount of belief that turning things around was possible.
It seemed to be heading that way when Chelsea Paul shot her side level on 64 minutes. However Aveley stepped it up a gear after that, and frankly deserved their 71st minute winner.
Defeat was Invisible slip from first to third in Division 6:40. They are only a point behind the two sides who leapfrogged them, though.

A goalfest was expected of Menywod Maeshafn against managerless Keillers Ladies, and that is exactly what we got.
It took less than 60 seconds for Hannah Palmgren to nod the first. This was followed in short order by two for Elodie van Hijde, which ended any possibility of dropped points by Maeshafn. Ellinor Lydell made it four by the break, Ada Westerberg headed a fifth before Herta Rocha completed the scoring for IsThatcherDeadYet’s side with a long ranger on 77 minutes.
The Welsh remain third in Division 6:55, but are now within two points of the play-offs after the side in possession of that spot suffered a shock defeat.

Csiki Girls dropped unexpected points at Atalanta Calcio last time out, so were on their toes for the return game in Romania.
The first half performance by Ad Hoc’s side was decent, but lacking one key element: goals. That wouldn’t last long into the second period however, as within seconds of the restart whistle it was 1-0 thanks to Saoirse McInns. Maria Morientes raced clear to make it two on the hour, with Floriane Smet netting in the 88th minute to make the final score more reflectively of the other game stats (60-40% possession for Csiki Girls and 10-3 in attempts on goal). It wasn’t all positives for the Csiki’s however as defender Liraz Israca suffered a horrible injury, of the 24-day kind, during the opening half.
Israca’s injury aside, this was a good day for Csiki Girls, who finished it still top of Division 6:62, still unbeaten and boasting a four point lead over second place and a six point gap on third.

[Janik]

It’s the X11 Ladies Cup R6, and VSU are involved.

GIRAS do CADE 		2 - 1	Viking South Utsira
Falcão 53'			Fudida 31'
Gera 81'

Taking on the previous season’s runners-up was always likely to provide Viking South Utsira with a difficult task, particularly as GIRAS do CADE are also one level higher than The Blood Eagles up the X11 Ladies pyramid.
The signs in the first half were distinctly promising for Velvet Android and his team, though. Viking shaded the possession stats, were equally at one-a-piece on chances and most importantly made their way back into the Arena dressing room 13f one to the good after Utsiran Footballing legends Manuças Fudida and Lurdes Quental combined for Fudida to head the Norwegians ahead.
The hope at the interval would have been for more of the same in the second period, but unfortunately GIRAS do CADE had other ideas. They stepped their play up, quickly equalised and finally broke Viking hearts with a decisive strike on 81.

[Various Artist]

Well put Janik – I really thought we might just nick it for a while there, but alas they just had too much for us in the end. Disappointing but not really a surprise, and at least we went out after a moderate run and with a battling performance. The most frustrating thing is that our reward for coming so close to upsetting the 2nd seeds was a massive form collapse, so I've swallowed what would normally be my reluctance to take on any midseason friendlies and have accepted one just now from the side run by Típico, with whom I've struck up friendly relations over our last couple of seasons in the J4GL. Small point of interest is that his Xpert Ladies side are in the same division as Angmering Park now find themselves.

[SouthdownRebel]

Top flight for Tobermory! Delighted with that - the senior players in the team are basically the same ones that I inherited when I took over with one or two additions, and the rest have been either developed from the YA or as younger additions.

In further good news, SKT T1 will only go up if they better the result of Nantes in second place, and the fixtures are not in their favour for the final round.

[spoiler]Sad though that it looks like we'll be the only OTF representative in the top flight next season after Sans Culottes defeat today.[/spoiler]

[Antepli Ejderha]

With only one game on a Tuesday I've bitten the bullet and applied to rejoin the Xpert Zone, this time I'll keep my mouth shut. Probably.