X11 season 45 - de rigueur Mortis

[SouthdownRebel]

No retirements for AA-S (unsurprisingly given we're a young squad still) but also no double jumps which was slightly disappointing. We'll need to strengthen if we're to stay up, so a bid is in for a 30/15 midfielder with the Cone of Smugness and a lick of pace. We've been pumping cash into the academy, so I'll be having words if the next cab off the rank is not shiny and sparkling. I'll probably aim to move two of the younger players on.

In general league news, the division allocations for next season throw up some interesting prospects. Here's a quick summary of the OTF participants - we have at least one player in every division and only two (including yours truly) as the sole representatives in their division. MLX B should be fun...

Division	Team	Manager	Last season
MLX A	Alemannia Altstadt-Süd	SdR	1st in GLX D (promoted)
MLX B	Gaffney Globular	Foxy	1st in GLX B (promoted)
MLX B	Kakanui KuneKune	Sits	3rd in MLX B (Last 16)
MLX B	Teulu Goleudy	ITDY	2nd in GLX C (promoted)
MLX B	United Underground	VA	1st in MLX C (Quarter Final)
MLX B	Zalec Zmaj	Etienne	5th in MLX A
MLX C	Pulau Pinang	Sean	4th in MLX D (Last 16)
MLX C	Zeugma Zürafalar	Antep	5th in MLX C
MLX D	Corsaires Malouins	HO	1st in GLX A (promoted)
MLX D	Csiki Chappies	Adhoc	2nd in GLX D (promoted)
GLX A	Quisquiliae XI	Jdsx	4th in GLX B
GLX A	Stone Cod	Pebble	6th in GLX B
GLX B	Demolition Dogs	Wibl	8th in MLX A (relegated)
GLX B	Gartside Green	Andrew7610	7th in GLX B
GLX C	Crumlin Chasers	MortalJoe	8th in MLX B (relegated)
GLX C	Sporting CP Legends	StephenToal	6th in MLX D (relegated)
GLX D	Burnells Ironworks	Viktor	8th in MLX C (relegated)

[Antepli Ejderha]

The Golden League has also been restructured, division 7 is no more. I'm in division 5 and ranked bottom of just about every start. There are two new managers in the division so if they become zombies we might not finish bottom.

The MLX change report was ok, I've got three seasons left with this squad but my concern is going to be with the defence. I see I've also been drawn with the Randoms again, not looking forward to those two defeats.

[Sits]

KuneKune's CR wasn't great, but there was a DJ for midfielder Kai Chun Lu who is now a 21/9. And fortunately no changes are needed to the squad as I couldn't even afford Training Day so there will be lots spent to try and get them ship shape. If I get lots. As for MLX B it looks even tougher than the last MLX B.

[SouthdownRebel]

So...would people prefer to start the new MLX season at the earliest opportunity (i.e. Friday 27th) or wait another week and begin on May 4th? First fixtures would be the Cup as always.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Earliest please

[Hot Orange]

I'd prefer to wait a week. Partly because our form is terrible, as mentioned earlier, but also because to start this coming Friday wouldn't give those who reached the latter stages of the play-offs much of a break.

[ad hoc]

I'd rather wait too

[nmrfox]

Decent CR for Gaffney Globular in the MLX -

GK Ted Le Great 26/13 +
GK Stanton Braveheart 23/3 -
D Jeremie Hobbit 33/12
D Nigel Smarmer-Stiff 32/13
D Ballance Gowerwaft 29/14
D Hoink van Dreivervann 23/12 +
D Bo Bobsbastidsson 21/9 +
MF Langley Freshman 31/15 +
MF Latency Baddbond 26/13
MF Grenville Greatbatch 26/13 +
MF Damien Eggs 24/10 +
MF Garstang Knightly 22/9 +
MF Sammileigh Bhingo-Whings 18/6 ++
F Pharrell Inbruges 28/12 +
F Taufel Finger 26/14 +
F Glenn Tottenhamawe 25/12 ++

Pretty happy with that and the academy has churned out 18/5 Ike Charlery with freekick, powerful shot and an eye for goal. Toss up between him and Sammileigh as to who goes on this list, but decided to put Ike on and hopeful to get near to his 4m valuation figure.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

That MLX B division looks awesome. Can't see us staying up, mind.

[Sits]

OK but not spectacular CR for Sulawesi Babirusas* although 32/13 defender Saktiawan Anggala jumping to 33/14 was a nice surprise. Best of all, no purchases required and nobody new is retiring.

*Brythonnic league

[Sits]

Meanwhile a typically dull Sits Season leaves Gloucester Old Spots, with three games left, seeing the faint glimmer of the title almost snuffed out in the Heineken.

So this evening's home game against New Vegas sees the shackles off and caution to the wind. It's literally years since I've gone Very Offensive in any game. Expect a defeat but it won't be 0-0 for a change.

[Etienne]

Positives - Amwythig's unbeaten run goes on for another game. Negatives - we actually had to pay out our win bonus.

[nmrfox]

Positives - Whoft score their first goals of the season. Negatives - previously pointless Pinewood Passers score one more than us.

[SouthdownRebel]

A positive for my teams today was Hambledon Legacy, who celebrate promotion back to the Heineken's 2nd tier and can look forward to games against Methley Perseverance next season. We needed a point away to South Manchester to ensure a top-three finish but ended up winning 2-1 and taking all three. Even better, title rivals Kernow Vikings lost their 2nd match in succession (their only defeats all season) to hand us top spot. If we beat them at home in our next match, we'll be confirmed champions.

I suspect their manager* has his eye on next season already though - he sold a 33/13 midfielder a couple of weeks ago, leaving them a bit light in midfield. A further injury to one of their remaining starters probably explains the downturn in form - prior to that they had looked pretty unstoppable.

* Scultura of Cornish Crew / Kernewek Ladies fame...ah, I see he's also a member of the OTF league at Kernow Kensa - does he frequent this parish?

[Etienne]

No, I don't think so. We just recruited him when we were a bit short on OTFers.

[Sits]

Running all my squads at 5-7-2 tailored to play 4-5-1, with farmed young strikers continues to be mostly OK and I'm comfortable with it. Sometimes though there are downsides:

1. Silly Season is quite predictable
2. The football is pretty dull
3. I sometimes miss a bit of squad building, that "new team" feeling

(1) I can live with; the idea eventually is only ever to buy (or promote) teens which in theory should mean the coffers gradually get a bit fuller. (2) is OK if enough results still come which they don't always (Swine last season, Spots this). I've got a slight tweak in progress across the teams which I hope will very slightly improve "offensiveness" over time.

And of course (3) would be the case whatever method I was using, once conveyor belts are up and running.

All of which really boils down to: I need a new challenge but don't want another new team. The answer must be a rebuild and to try a different tack. Considering teams which are struggling a bit anyway, and looking at where the seasons all are, I'm going to have a little re-jig at Kakanui KuneKune and try 3-5-2, starting now. Results will be terrible for a while but those pigs haven't been uprooting trees for a long time anyway.

I realise changing a team from 4-5-1 to 3-5-2 is not radical by most people's standards, but this is me where talking about. There's a reason I became an accountant.

[Me Old Flower]

I'm going to have an issue somewhere down the line where many of Wensleydale's former juniors will retire around the same time. Most are around the ages of 23-26 (so have a good few years left in them) but my academy isn't being particularly useful at the moment. I haven't introduced many young players recently because (a) the academy hasn't made them available or (b) those that have come through haven't been considered good enough to keep.

The team has some way to go before it peaks, but I'd like to be able to avoid any serious future decline whilst remaining true to my academy-only policy.

[Kevin S]

Sits, in my latter days of X11 I changed the squads to 5-6-3. Again, it's a small change but it gives you a very good choice of formations from match to match.

[nmrfox]

About time you gave us underlings a practical demonstration of your methods on X11.......

[ad hoc]

The trouble with having 3 FWs is that it takes forever to get DVs up on forwards, even young ones (I presume this is a feature of the game) If you mostly play with 1 up front, you're never going to develop all 3 (or even possibly 2) to any useful degree, even if you drop into playing 442 or 352 once in a while

[Sits]

it gives you a very good choice of formations from match to match.

Sorry? Choice of formations? Errr no, you got me there.

About time you gave us underlings a practical demonstration of your methods on X11.......

This.

[Sits]

The trouble with having 3 FWs is that it takes forever to get DVs up on forwards, even young ones (I presume this is a feature of the game) If you mostly play with 1 up front, you're never going to develop all 3 (or even possibly 2) to any useful degree, even if you drop into playing 442 or 352 once in a while

One of the things I like about using two young forwards for a 4-5-1 is that they do tend to get enough DV.

And Me Old Flower, it's certainly not going to be a problem for quite a while. And the chances of the "paired" players retiring at once aren't that high anyway. Of course you could always cash in on one of the weaker (current) 26yos when a good junior comes along, any time until they're about 30 they should be worth something.

But I buy more juniors than I promote, so maybe mine isn't the best perspective. VA's pretty much an Academy only guy and I'm sure others are too.

[jdsx]

One of my teams has 3 forwards in it, the youngest of which has all-round, which is quite useful in terms of getting them all some playing time even if you're playing one up front (i.e. you can sub the youngest into mid or def without impacting the team too much). And I sometimes have all three of them playing in a 4-5-1, subbing at 45 minutes and 70 minutes, although it can be a problem with average age when the youngest one is on for the last 20 minutes of course.... Anyway she got up to 17DV as a 20yo last season....

[Various Artist]

I am indeed pretty much an academy-only guy Sits, which means I recognise and empathise with your description of how it can feel frustrating sometimes when there's no 'new team challenge' around and I'm just ticking over at all my teams, constantly waiting for the next good academy youth to keep the conveyor rolling slowly along.

I'd say to MOF, don't sweat the 'problem' of having a bunch of players all around that 23-26 age, unless it's the whole squad – and not necessarily even then. The academy will be unpredictable yes, but at some point as long as you keep funding high there'll be some great youths coming through. In the meantime, it doesn't matter if the average age of your squad creeps up a bit: if a load of them peak together that's no bad thing, as long as you can start to interpolate the next generation before they get too old.

There's a good long while yet before you'll have to think about retirements, anyway, and in that time you'll probably find there's a natural attrition. The notion that a broadly same-aged clump of players will just chug along the conveyor belt as an indivisible unit until they all fall off the end at once is, in practice, not actually all that likely. Chances are, some will go relatively early, some in the median range and some might hang on until they're 37 or 38, or possibly even longer. And in terms of a footballing career 23 is a good way behind 26 anyway so I wouldn't worry about them appearing to all be sitting in the 'same' age bracket. If you consider a potential range of scenarios wherein you might get a current 26-year-old quitting at 32 but on the other hand a current 23yo might last until 38, those eventual retirements would spread across a span of 9 seasons.

Meanwhile, you might change the balance of your squad, so find you have more or less room appearing in certain areas. You might have current veterans who simply remain indispensable and so hang on and on, which affects the average age – so perhaps you'll find you have to sell one or more 'middling' members of 23-26 group in that area(s) of the team, to allow room for kids to play too to keep the age balanced. As Sits notes, at any time a terrific academy youth can tempt you to cash in on some of the current players straight away if you immediately see them being superseded. Certainly a youth who gets a lot of game-time may develop very rapidly and make themselves a core member of your XI long before the expected retirements start happening. There's a whole range of factors at play here, which put together mean I don't think you should lose sleep over the current makeup of your squad.

[Various Artist]

I hope everyone in The Brythonnic Premiership has seen I drew the new season up yesterday. We'll be kicking off again on the Friday of next week, so there's time for two more rounds of friendlies first.

Unfortunately the quirks of finishing positions last term mean our 10 OTFers (11 including adopted member Scultura, see SdR and Etienne's posts above) have been spread extremely widely across the divisions so we won't be seeing many derbies this season, unlike the last where there were quite a few. The only ones appear to be in the Premier Division and Third Division West, although Auntie Beryl does at least have a virtual honorary OTFer in Granthamian – valued member of The Human League and MLX with Braceby Ladies and Tuvalu Turtles – in his division. (The latter is confusingly not the manager of Grantham Town, who are also in the same division – but he does run a team of that name in the Heineken!)

Premier Division: Rædfearne Island FC (me), Sulawesi Babirusas (Sits)

Second Division East: Clash City Rockers (AuntieBeryl), Braceby United (Granthamian)
Second Division West: Racing Club Roquefort (Sean)

Third Division North: Zeugma Gençlik (AE)
Third Division South: Chester St Oswalds (Cota/Viktor_Boskovic)
Third Division East: Kilmore Quay United (MortalJoe)
Third Division West: Nyth Wobbegong (Foxy), Tremadog Twitchers (SdR)

Fourth Division North: Huy Ardinna [formerly AC Rolandina] (Delicatemoth)
Fourth Division South: Valerlads (Scultura)