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I have to say, you certainly have talent for making me care about a sports game, especially a sport I have had zero interest before now. I feel a lot of tension when I'm reading the match write-ups. Keep up the good work, man.
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Jan 26, 2014 06:34
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habeasdorkus posted:He's great! Except for the whole reduction in season ticket income despite higher sales. I looked into it, and we're missing over £50,000 in season ticket revenue when you multiply the number of season tickets sold by their average price. I don't know if it's the game making a mistake or I missed something, but it's irritating.  Win promotion Skip. Also it's the Pac-12, though Utah and Colorado have brought nothing to the table. And if you can figure out a way to run Oregon's supersonic-tempo offense, go for it.
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Jan 26, 2014 07:11
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C. Everett Koop posted:Also it's the Pac-12, though Utah and Colorado have brought nothing to the table. And if you can figure out a way to run Oregon's supersonic-tempo offense, go for it. I can never keep track of which conferences have changed their names to deal with the fact that they're now much bigger. I kind of appreciate my alma mater's division just remaining the Big Ten, even when we end up having 20 teams in a few years. And don't get me started on college basketball conference shifting, I'm lost when it comes to figuring out which 12 teams are in the A10 with my undergrad school. I'm still pissed we don't get to play Temple and Xavier anymore, we don't get to play most of our rivals because they've moved to different conferences. Also, it's so weird having Nebraska in the Big 10. Nebraska is such a different state from everywhere in the Big 10 except Iowa, although Iowa is basically a hipper version of Nebraska. At least pro soccer divisions are relatively orderly these days, it's not like the Premier League is going to kick two teams out to add Rangers and Celtic. Meanwhile you have the Big East, originally made up of northeastern US colleges, with teams in friggin California and Utah as members. Sheer madness. It's as if La Liga added Shakhtar Donetsk.
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Jan 26, 2014 08:05
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Hey, we're doing decent! And we signed a really good footballer from Australia of all places, which might be unheard of throughout the whole history of football! Good for us. You mentioned that what you call 4-5-1 is usually called a 4-3-3. Well, they're pretty similar formations, if we're talking about the standard 4-5-1; it's more of a change in mentality. The 4-5-1 is basically the defensive cousin to 4-3-3's stupidly offensive system - your fullbacks don't go forward as much, you have a very defensive midfielder on the back and your wingers actually play defense a bit, while you get this lone striker up-front waiting for a cross or a breakaway on a counter. Here, have something that explains it a bit better than I can: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1424815-breaking-down-the-4-5-1-formation-when-to-use-it-and-why Then you have the 4-5-1 variations, which include the 4-2-3-1 played by everyone and their mother, including us. That plays a very possession-focused style of football and allows the fullbacks to go upfront by sticking two traditional DMs on the back. It went...poorly for us, but I think that's because we had bad DMs. The thing about football is that you have very fluid formations, and you can easily make a 4-5-1 into a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 by just telling your players to do poo poo a certain way, as long as they're good enough to adapt. That last part is key, otherwise you end up running a 4-4-2 with three strikers and three DMs and it makes no sense and gently caress MY TEAM
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Jan 26, 2014 09:09
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At least they probably have subs. Last time I played soccer we played the entire season without ANY subs. 3 games we had to play man down, 1 game became 2 men down after 15 minutes from injury. We still went over .500 and finished 5th of 20 . Guarantee we were the most well conditioned team of any of them by far. We played an attacking 4-5-1 (or is it 1-5-4, I can't remember the order now, everyone up front with 1 defender). I was the "1", because I was the fastest and had the strongest leg. But no accuracy, so my job was pretty much get the ball, kick the piss out of it and hope it lands near our guys. Even if it didn't, I could boot it just about from arc to arc on most fields. Caught a few keepers sleeping who thought they could ease up when the ball was solidly in the other end of the field, got 7 goals in the three years I played 
Slickdrac fucked around with this message at 11:17 on Jan 26, 2014 |
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Jan 26, 2014 11:15
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1 defender would be 1-5-4. Also, that sounds completely insane. Even 2-5-3 would make more sense.
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Jan 26, 2014 13:25
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This is an odd request, but can you nickname Mark McGrath "Glenn"? It pops into my head every time I see his name.
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Jan 26, 2014 13:36
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habeasdorkus posted:Tranmere were relegated last season, but are touted to return to League one. I've looked at their team and I'm unimpressed. They've been gutted this offseason, and they look more likely to drop out of the Football League than earn promotion. lad, are ye fuckin startin summat!? nah, I'm just kidding. Tranmere fan here, haha. Finally caught up in the thread after a long-rear end read. I was hooked in like a fish, so great job on that, pal. Proper entertaining read, that. A league promotion would be great, particularly for LP purposes, but how about a cup run as well? Let's get the Paint's, boys! That's our best chance, anyway. If we somehow won the FA cup, then all the better, right?
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Jan 26, 2014 15:07
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Galaga Galaxian posted:Hey man, there is nothing wrong with fighting against Breast Cancer, or cancer in general. The Pink does tend to look out of place on a uniform especially when the teams colors don't remotely go well with pink. habeasdorkus posted:I can never keep track of which conferences have changed their names to deal with the fact that they're now much bigger. I kind of appreciate my alma mater's division just remaining the Big Ten, even when we end up having 20 teams in a few years. And don't get me started on college basketball conference shifting, I'm lost when it comes to figuring out which 12 teams are in the A10 with my undergrad school. I'm still pissed we don't get to play Temple and Xavier anymore, we don't get to play most of our rivals because they've moved to different conferences. College Conferences have always been confusing. I'm ticked the Big East is breaking up now, cause it's football teams suck. Hey Notre Dame gonna join a conference now? No? You're just going to play a bunch of ACC teams instead? College Football tend to gently caress up alot of poo poo. kitwew posted:If we somehow won the FA cup, then all the better, right? I believe the ultimate goal is to win it all so yea.
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Jan 26, 2014 21:48
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Guitar_Hero posted:This is an odd request, but can you nickname Mark McGrath "Glenn"? It pops into my head every time I see his name. Really? All I can picture is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_McGrath
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Jan 27, 2014 04:01
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McGavin posted:Really? All I can picture is this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_McGrath I'd actually forgot that Sugar Ray existed, and although I didn't know it, before you posted that link, my life was a happier place 
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Jan 27, 2014 05:27
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I'm probably wrong but our new wünderkid's last name should be pronounced mudj-ic, as in, he's going to be our mudjic man this season or something equally dross.
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Jan 27, 2014 17:37
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Chapter the Third: One step forward, two steps back. September 1, 2016-October 10, 2016 Let's keep our positive start going, nothing on our schedule looks too daunting, and we'll get another crack at the Johnstone's Paint Trophy in October.  I didn't see anything that struck my fancy, so no reason to add players we might not need.  Salaries are down across the board this year in League Two, we're spending less than we were last season and are still the third highest payroll team.  Only two teams were net buyers during the window, combined with the decreases in salary the whole league seems like it should be worse than it was last season.  Tackleford were big sellers, but nowhere near twice relegated Sunderland. Man. The Black Cats got blowed up.  Tackleford is still spending a lot of money on salary, though. Their payroll is a solid million above the next highest. They'd have a medium sized payroll in the Championship. You can see the difference between League One and League Two, however. We're the third highest payroll team in League Two, and we'd be at the bottom of the list if we were a level higher.  Muahahahaha. Someone as fast as Harrison with the skill of busting the offside trap? Yeah, he's going to be a menace to opposing defenses.  At this rate the US won't even qualify for the hex. Yikes.  Preston will be a challenge, but not an impossible one. vs. Bradford City, September 3, 2016 League Two  Bradford are pegged for the midtable again, which means we'll have to watch our step. This match is taking place while several of our players are away, it's a good chance to rotate in others and give them a chance to start. I, err, forgot that there was an U18 game today, though, and a good number of our youth team is also away on international duty, so I'm very much hoping that Adrian Read is the only youth player we have to use today. The other two on the bench are not good at all. Also, somehow all three goalkeepers on the youth team were picked today by the U18 head coach, so we'll be running without a backup keeper. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Reid, Poole, Ashton, Kadhim, Simpson (c), Bailey, Franks, Read, Spilsbury. Subs: Smissen, Thomas, Lewis, Jenkins, Price, Nash, Nash.   Spilsbury gets his first goal for Wrexham a sixth of the way into the game. It's a header, which is kind of funny as he's not at all an aerial threat. We hold serve until Bradford strike lucky in the 65th minute on a long range shot, and we can't find another goal. It's a tie, and we looked competent but uninspired in earning it. Wrexham 1-1 Bradford  Oh for- the US isn't even going to make the second round of CONCACAF qualifiers. Come on, this is as unrealistic as England winning the World Cup. What is this, 1976?  Reid has been decidedly mediocre since the start of the season. He needs to pick himself back up, but I'm starting to think he's just prone to long streaks of good and bad form. Hughes is a coach these days, and actually a pretty decent one. vs. Cheltenham, September 10, 2016 League Two (I forgot to take the screenshot) Cheltenham is not good. They're in last place and have a single point. We should win this handily. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Tench, Reid, Poole, Smisson, Kadhim, Simpson (c), Bailey, X, Mujcik, Harrison. Subs: Higgs, Ashton, Todd, Jenkins, Cobb, Price, Spilsbury. Cheltenham parks the bus, and it's late in the game when we finally unlock their defense via a goal from a corner. We continue to control the match, but a lapse of concentration while defending a corner allows Cheltenham to draw even in the 87th minute. It's a draw, an outrageous one. I am most displeased. Man of the Match: Justin Bailey   Wrexham 1-1 Cheltenham  100 games at Wrexham. When they write my hagiography, I want it noted that I demurred when it came to having a celebration for this match. At Exeter, September 17, 2016 League Two  Exeter's had a rough start to the season, but can jump up as high as 11th on the table if they win this match. We've had a poor stretch recently, only two points in our last three games, so I would like to see us get back on track. Also, Exeter's backup goalkeeper is named T'nique Bowles. That's one heck of a name. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Tench, Todd, Poole, Smisson, Simpson (c), Cobb, Bailey, Coulson, Mujcik, Harrison. Subs: Higgs, Thomas, Lewis, Kadhim, Jenkins, Netala, Spilsbury. Exeter has the best of the first, but we should have the lead after Harrison put in a miserable effort on a clear cut chance. Al-Beloushi has been quite good, but we're going to need more than just a strong performance from him if we want to take the three points today. But Exeter scores twice when play resumes, and we need a miracle just to avoid defeat. There's no miracle to be had, Exeter's striker celebrates his hat trick after another corner kick leads to a goal. Harrison scores on a breakaway to give us a modicum of hope in the 76th minute, but Exeter's striker slams the door shut with his third goal off a corner. We've got a serious problem. Last year we gave up a slightly above average number of goals off corner kicks. This season a full third of our goals allowed have come from set pieces, and that is a significant undercount as it only includes goals directly from free kicks and corners. We're not clearing the ball quickly enough, and it's biting us in the rear end. If anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears.   Exeter 4-1 Wrexham vs. Gillingham, September 24 League Two  Come home with your shields or on them, damnit. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Tench, Reid, Smisson, Kadhim, Simpson (c), Cobb, Coulson, Netala, Harrison. Subs: Higgs, Ashton, Poole, Jenkins, Bailey, Mujkic, Franks. Richard Cobb blasts a free kick on the very edge of the penalty area over Gillingham's wall to open the scoring in the 12th minute. Fifteen minutes later Tench blows his marking assignment and allows Gillingham to equalize, and near the end of the half they score on a mirror image of Cobb's goal. It's the final goal of the game, despite equal possession and just as many chances we're now winless in our last six games. Man of the Match: Richard Cobb   Wrexham 1-2 Gillingham  Bad runs of form make this game hell to play. You spend the time in between games glaring at the tactics screen and find yourself second guessing your lineup selections, and the time during games expecting to lose even when you're ahead.   Morale is in the pits, as you'd expect, but I'm able to lift spirits some. We're a long way from OK though, and we're wasting great opportunities to put the club in position to earn promotion.  We're underachieving? Ya think?  Oh ye of little faith.   We'd have played three games in a week, so a postponement serves our purposes. At Southend, October 1, 2016 League Two  Southend is middle of the table, but we've been atrocious recently. We really, really need to pick things up. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Tench, Reid, Poole, Smisson, Simpson (c), Cobb, Bailey, Coulson, Mujkic, Harrison. Subs: Higgs, Ashton, Todd, Jenkins, Kadhim, Netala, Spilsbury. Southend controls the first half, but we're scoreless after the first half as they miss a point blank chance. I'm frustrated, we're playing scared and nothing I've done has been able to drag the players out of their slump. Southend scores after we fail to clear the ball from the area in the 70th minute, and we're facing another loss. The result is sealed in the 87th minute when Al-Beloushi fails to make a simple save off of a free kick from thirty yards out.   Southend 2-0 Wrexham  Sky Shadowing is not a very patient president.   Dispatching mfcrocker to do your dirty work for you? Shame on you. It's not even like the schedule is going to get easier, we're up against the first and fourth placed teams on the table.  : Hey broseph, you should hold a team meeting! : I just held one.: Yeah, but do it again, I'm sure the players will respond well. Oh gently caress you, Simpson. I'm not the one who's been playing like poo poo. I need to never, ever listen to Sugar Ray when it comes to man management. Thanks for reminding me of McGrath's namesake, guys, now I can't get Sugar Ray out of my head. Ugh.  He's been in a slump. He seems prone to them. He's also prone to runs of scoring, so I need to figure out how to recognize when he's going cold.  That's not the response I wanted to hear. I don't have time for him to find his rhythm. If he doesn't score in the next two games, someone else is getting his spot.  Ingrates. I'll show you. I'll show all of you!  I thought you were opposed to more meetings?  It'd help if you started playing better. At Preston North End, October 5, 2016 Johnstone's Paint Trophy, Second Round  We somehow got a bye into the second round of the tournament, I'm not sure how. It's not going to matter, given how terrible we've been I wouldn't favor us to win against a Skrill North side right now. This isn't counted in our ultimatum to earn ten points from the next five games, so at least I have that much going for me. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Defense Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Tench, Reid, Poole, Smisson, Simpson (c), Cobb, Bailey, Coulson, Mujkic, Harrison. Subs: Higgs, Ashton, Todd, Jenkins, Kadhim, Netala, Spilsbury. I fire up the boys with as rip roaring speech as I can manage before the game, and they go play their hearts out. We concede slightly more chances in the first half, but our defense remains impregnable. Harrison gives us the lead when he latches onto a goal kick from Al-Beloushi and fires an accurate shot past the Preston keeper in the 44th minute. I tell the players that they're making me proud during the half-time pep talk, and they continue to do so in the second half, neutering Preston so completely that we actually end up having more possession. We keep our lead, and break our winless streak against a League One side. Man of the Match: Gary Tench   Preston 0-1 Wrexham   If we can beat Preston on their home turf, we can beat any team. I want to start adding some trophies.  Players who pick up five yellow cards before January first will earn a one game suspension. I had always thought they counted cards earned in each competition separately, but apparently cup game yellows count towards a league game suspension.  Al-Beloushi is usually fantastic for his national team, I'm wondering why he's only been decent for us. I should look into whether he'd be better off playing fewer long balls. Or it could just be that most Asian nations have horrible, horrible teams with players that make League Two clubs look laden with superstars.  Oldham will be a challenge, but if we can beat teams like Wigan and Preston we can beat Oldham.  It seems like half the team is at my door asking about what I'm going to do to get us back on track. Step one was topping Preston. Step two is beating the snot out of our upcoming competition.  Our fast start means that we haven't been buried yet, but while I think the board is way too hasty in giving me an ultimatum, we do need to turn the ship around. I want to get promoted, and we can't afford another run like we just had. The win against Preston was well deserved, and I'm hoping it represents the light at the end of the tunnel. I have no desire to get fired again, that would be an ignominious end to this LP. It's time to gird my loins with my Superman underoos, and motivate the poo poo out of this underachieving bunch of kids. 
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Jan 27, 2014 23:04
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Another update coming tonight, I didn't want to leave you hanging in suspense.
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Jan 27, 2014 23:04
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(Assertively) You've been losing winnable games and it looks like you're losing the dressing room, too. Count yourself bloody lucky they've thrown you a five match lifeline.
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Jan 27, 2014 23:20
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Chapter the Fourth: Put up or shut up. October 10, 2016-November 2, 2016 Lincoln. Dagenham and Redbridge. AFC Wimbledon. Accrington Stanley. Plymouth. Five games to prove that I have what it takes to guide this team to the promised land. Let's do this thing.  Holy cow. The US needed not only to beat Panama at home, but for Canada to draw or lose against Honduras. They somehow made it to the hex round of qualification, making them the Mexico of the 2018 World Cup qualifiers. If they make the World Cup it'll be nothing short of a miracle after drawing and then losing to Canada in their first round of qualification.  I am unafraid! (I am a little afraid.) At Lincoln, October 15, 2016 League Two  William Harrison is struggling with his fitness, as a young player he's gotten worn out from all the playing time he's been getting with both our first team and on his national U21 squad. I move Coulson up top and Franks to the right wing, and we should be fine. It would be really nice if Mujcik started showing something, he's not had a truly dire performance so far but hasn't had a single game where he's really shown his quality.  The annoying thing is that we should be handling a team like Lincoln with no difficulty, our backups are better than their starters. Toni Murphy would be the only one of their players to get time on our team. Yet we're the ones who are massively underachieving while they're bobbing right along in the lower mid-table. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Thomas, Todd, Reid, Smissen, Simpson (c), Cobb, Bailey, Franks, Mujkic, Coulson. Subs: Higgs, Ashton, Poole, Jenkins, Kadhim, Netala, Spilsbury. I sent the team out to attack from the very start, and they do just that. Within twenty minutes we're up two-nil, thanks to a lovely little goal by Justin Bailey and a well played set-piece goal by Luke Reid. Lincoln throws themselves into the attack, and I order the players to drop back and absorb the pressure. It doesn't work, we allow goals off of corners just before and just after the half-time whistle, and are clinched at two-all. I wearily order the boys back on the attack, replacing an ineffective Coulson with Spilsbury at the hour mark. Spilsbury proves the hero, scoring 89 minutes and 22 seconds into the game, and we've got the first three of the ten points I need to save my hide. Man of the Match: Justin Bailey   Lincoln 2-3 Wrexham  One victory doesn't remove me from the sack race.  Mujkic has been unimpressive considering his talents, though his last match did earn a 7.2 rating. I'm going to see if he'll take the break he seems to need.  Kid's headstrong, but I'm sticking to my guns this time. Two weeks rest are what the physio ordered. Same goes for Harrison.  Beer is still full price, of course.  You too?!  The players need to spend less time whining and more time working.  Our FA Cup draw isn't too bad. Tranmere is a shadow of their former selves, we should be able to beat them again. This does mean that we're having a slight run of fixture congestion, between October 15th and November 1st we're playing six games. vs Dagenham & Redbridge, October 18, 2016 League Two  Fixture congestion means team rotation, so Higgs and Price are getting starts. Dag & Red are having a surprisingly good season, and currently lie in fourth place, but we're still favored as we're on home turf. We'll start out with a marauding gameplan, and switch to something less aggressive if we can nab an early goal. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack Starting 11: Higgs, Tench, Reid, Poole, Ashton, Simpson (c), Cobb, Bailey, Price, Netala, Spilsbury. Subs: Al-Beloushi, Smissen, Lewis, Kadhim, Jenkins, Franks, Coulson. The match is tightly fought, but after 45 minutes nothing of real interest has occurred. That continues into the second half, with Dag & Red missing two good opportunities to put up points. I pull Spilsbury and Price after yet another attack breaks down, replacing them with Coulson and Franks. Franks nearly makes me look like a genius, getting himself into perfect position to score, but smashes the ball off the crossbar from mere yards away. It's Coulson who finally wins us the game on a well timed run and well executed finish in the late minutes of the game, and we've gone from being unable to find a win anywhere to pulling games out at the last second. Six points down, four to go, three games remaining. Man of the Match: Gary Tench.   Wrexham 1-0 Dag & Red  With the fixtures coming every day or two, there isn't much time for other things to happen between them. Looks like we've gotten 1500 more people than usual at the stadium. vs AFC Wimbledon, October 22, 2016 League Two  AFC Wimbledon is in first place. They haven't lost all season. Moreover, unlike Dag & Red they're not really playing above their talent level. We're going to be much more cautious in this match than we were in the prior one. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Defense Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Tench, Todd, Reid, Smisson, Kadhim, Simpson (c), Bailey, Coulson, Netala, Spilsbury. Subs: Higgs, Thomas, Lewis, Jenkins, Cobb, Franks, Price. Despite playing defensively the game is massively in our favor. We get off 29 shots. Only five of them are on target, however, while a whopping 14 of them see a Wimbledon player interpose their body between ball and goal. We can't score, letting the many chances we have slip through our fingers. The other side of this is that Wimbledon manage a total of six shots, and while nearly all of them are on target Al-Beloushi manfully stops them all. We walk away with a draw, a point, and many positives to take from the match despite not getting the sorely needed win. With two games left on my probation we need just one win to keep the sword of Damocles from lopping off my oh so pretty head.   Wrexham 0-0 Wimbledon  I really wish we could have given them a win, but this should still improve future draws. Wrexham has a population of just 42,000 and just 130,000 live in the county as a whole, making this a pretty popular event for the locals.  We've won three of our last four games! What more do you want?  My players are just like you goons following this LP. A few bad results and everyone gets cranky. At Accrington Stanley, October 25, 2016 League Two  Accrington are in 18th place, and aren't in very good form. They won their last game against Lincoln by a big 4-0 margin, but prior to that they'd lost three and drawn once. We're away, so I'm not going to ask the players to attack straight out of the gate, but I might move us to a more offensive footing if the counter isn't getting it done. Harrison and Mujkic are back from their week's rest, and no longer look knackered. This is good, seeing as much of the team is still worn out from our last game. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Thomas, Reid, Lewis, Smisson, Kadhim, Jenkins, Cobb, Franks, Mujkic, Harrison (c). Subs: Higgs, Ashton, Poole, Simpson, Bailey, Coulson, Spilsbury. We look dangerous in the first thirty minutes, but let Accrington stay in the game through a lack of finishing. Harrison is the culprit behind two missed chances, and looks disgusted with himself after one where he could have taken an extra moment to settle the ball and take his shot. The start of the second is more of the same, so I yank Harrison for Spilsbury and bring on Simpson for Jenkins. But Accrington has finally found their footing, and the run of play weighs heavily in their favor. We keep them from scoring, but I now need to win our next league game to avoid getting tossed out on my rear end. Man of the Match: Luke Reid   Accrington 0-0 Wrexham  Poor Stewart Lewis, he gets buried on the depth chart early in the season and when I finally give him a start he gets hurt. I'm regretting the sale of Stuart Martin at this point, Poole has been inconsistent and Todd is not making good on his promise yet.  Do you even lift, Coulson? With Natala, Mujkic, Franks, and Price all needing playing time I'm going to let Coulson heal up rather than risk further injury.  Lincoln has been in takeover turmoil since the middle of last season. Takeovers suck, they result in transfer embargos where you're not allowed to bring in new players and can result in radical changes to your owner's personality and team's funding. Lincoln was already a mediocre team last season, being hamstrung during the window has lead to them starting teenagers who shouldn't be getting near a professional pitch.  Our biggest single television payday so far. It's still a piddling sum compared to what we'll see in a few years. At Tranmere, October 29, 2016 FA Cup, First Round  Bring it on, Tranmere. You haven't improved since the first time we handed you your head at the start of the season. They're in 20th place, have sacked their manager, and might sack the new one before the season is through. We're not going to let ourselves get knocked out of the FA Cup by them. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Tench, Reid, Poole, Smisson, Simpson (c), Cobb, Bailey, Franks, Mujkic, Harrison. Subs: Higgs, Thomas, Todd, Kadhim, Jenkins, Price, Spilsbury. Here's the thing. First Football Manager crashed right after our match against Plymouth. We won both that match and this one. Then, when I was editing the update, my word processor crashed and I lost everything before the original Tranmere match. So I'm just going to leave the original version of the Tranmere writeup. We actually only won 3-1, and it was Luke Reid who was the man of the match, but just imagine the following: quote:We look dangerous early, with Harrison acting as the tip of our spear. It pays off in the 18th minute when Harrison breaks the offside trap and gets to Tench's through ball with no one but the keeper between him and the goal. He slams the orb into the upper far corner, and we're off to a most puissant start. Ten minutes later Luke Reid pads our lead after wrestling with a Tranmere defender on a corner, and I'm pumping my fist on Here's the stats from the game that officially happened. Man of the Match: Luke Reid   Tranmere 1-3 Wrexham  I made a gif! I tend to draw the teams one at a time so I can build up the tension for myself by looking at who's left in the draw. We're either going to go up against minnows Cammel Laird or recently relegated Bury. I feel good about our chances of reaching the third round for the third straight year.. at Plymouth, November 1, 2016 League Two  As I said above, we won this match before FM crashed and I had to revert back to where I had saved. It's a good thing we won. I'd have been fired even if we'd earned a draw, as I learned while replaying it. So this match won't have much tension, as I already know that we win it and the only question is how that win comes about. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack Starting 11: Al-Beloushi, Tench, Reid, Poole, Smissen, Simpson (c), Cobb, Bailey, Franks, Netala, Harrison. Subs: Higgs, Thomas, Todd, Kadhim, Jenkins, Price, Spilsbury. We do much better than we did the first time I played this match, but Harrison gets hurt just before halftime and has to come off. We get lucky and he won't miss any time beyond the remainder of the game, without Harrison we'd be thin at striker with Coulson still nursing his own wounds. I guess, given that I was robbed of the 5-0 win over Tranmere by balky coding, I won't cast too much side eye at our 4-0 victory here rather than the 1-0 nailbiter we originally had. Still, I was hoping to recreate the lost games as closely as possible, and that didn't happen here. Regardless, we win, we've earned 11 points from our last five games, and I don't get fired. The very first thing I'm doing after exiting the match screen is saving the game so I don't have to do this over again. Man of the Match: Luke Reid   Plymouth 0-4 Wrexham  Well this explains partly why the board was so quick to threaten my termination. They don't think we're doing well enough on set pieces. That's ridiculous, we've scored eight of our twenty-one total goals from dead ball situations in just the league alone- we've scored another two goals from corners in our four cup games. Ten goals from set pieces is a lot for 17 games, certainly enough to earn me more than 0% confidence. I'm guessing there's a bug in the programming here, and it makes me even more irritated that I was being threatened with sacking because of it.  The team picked up at just the right time. We're not all the way back on track for promotion, but we're only two points back of the promotion playoffs. We've also made it to the second round of the Johnstones Paint Trophy and the FA Cup, we'll have those matches coming up in November. We're also in the midst of a stretch where we're playing five games in a row, and eight out of ten, away from home. That we've turned it around in this stretch is even more comforting to our ambitions, and I'm going to treat the six game skid as an aberration brought on by bad luck.  Also, as a bonus, Tackleford is struggling in League One. They're mid-table. I expect that we'll be facing off against them next season if all goes according to plan. 
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Jan 27, 2014 23:50
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We told you not to do the goals from set pieces goal. But nooo.
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Jan 28, 2014 00:03
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JT Jag posted:We told you not to do the goals from set pieces goal. But nooo. I thought it would keep my job from being put at risk!
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Jan 28, 2014 00:15
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If its bugging out, can your use your editor or whatever to remove that Set Piece expectation?
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Jan 28, 2014 01:23
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Galaga Galaxian posted:If its bugging out, can your use your editor or whatever to remove that Set Piece expectation? Unfortunately, no. I'll just have to be careful.
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Jan 28, 2014 01:29
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Man, my local's getting wrecked in this LP. It's like a possible glimpse into the future (but things have been looking up for our Ronnie lately so maybe not!). I'm glad you got your points, pal, get us some silverware!
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Jan 28, 2014 01:40
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That looks like a really silly reason to almost get fired, yeah. Are you missing a lot of chances from set pieces or something and having that count against it? Not that it'd make that seem reasonable. Obviously one of the board members is a Tackleford plant, and you've just foiled his dastardly scheme to have you fired. Maybe it's the president!? Speaking of that, how much worse is the current president than the one that got fired? I remember you mentioning the last one was about the best you could get, so seeing this makes me wonder about the difference.
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Jan 28, 2014 01:42
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Being a credible threat from Set Pieces is a good thing, but it should never be your focus. Hopefully in the future this bug gets fixed or those of us on the board will let you change our philosophy away from it.
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Jan 28, 2014 01:55
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Stopwatch Crash posted:That looks like a really silly reason to almost get fired, yeah. Are you missing a lot of chances from set pieces or something and having that count against it? Not that it'd make that seem reasonable. Obviously one of the board members is a Tackleford plant, and you've just foiled his dastardly scheme to have you fired. Maybe it's the president!? You watch your mouth calling me a Tackleford supporter.  Yeah, this is a little  , certainly not the worst year.
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Jan 28, 2014 02:02
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habeasdorkus posted:Beer is still full price, of course. I was going to be all smug and  , informing the yank (who, admittedly, is quite good at this association football lark) that alcohol is banned at football matches, but after research it turns out that that's sort of, but not exactly, untrue, except in Scotland because we have problems
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Jan 28, 2014 02:02
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Niric posted:I was going to be all smug and Aww man, if American pro sports can sell beer despite fans being killed once in a while in fights between local supporters and out of town supporters you guys should definitely get to have beer. This is all because of the bad old days of hooliganism, huh? I mean, geez, the only major sporting events here that don't sell beer are college football stadiums, and the whole point of those is to get loaded with your college friends in the parking lot before the game.
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Jan 28, 2014 02:30
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habeasdorkus posted:Aww man, if American pro sports can sell beer despite fans being killed once in a while in fights between local supporters and out of town supporters you guys should definitely get to have beer. This is all because of the bad old days of hooliganism, huh? American Football fangs kill eachother once in a while sure, but Football Football fans trash entire towns occasionally. Sometimes, even when they win!
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Jan 28, 2014 02:33
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Slickdrac posted:QUESTION ONE: Season goal.
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Jan 28, 2014 03:29
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It probably is a bug, but it's an easy one to defend immersion from - just imagine some douchebag armchair coach on the board who thinks he's gods gift to dead balls who thinks any corner or free kick that doesn't result in a goal is your fault directly. "If I was coaching them every dead ball would be a goal, and we'd win every game, rabble rabble rabble." And he in turn poisons the rest of the board against you  You seem cursed to have great-on-paper players giving fairly mediocre performances. Is this just because you're focusing more on potential than on current ability, or is it just hidden stats or bad luck?
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Jan 28, 2014 03:44
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Tehan posted:It probably is a bug, but it's an easy one to defend immersion from - just imagine some douchebag armchair coach on the board who thinks he's gods gift to dead balls who thinks any corner or free kick that doesn't result in a goal is your fault directly. "If I was coaching them every dead ball would be a goal, and we'd win every game, rabble rabble rabble." And he in turn poisons the rest of the board against you Still waiting on that first set-piece goal you promised us Skip. And let's see if you can't get us a healthy four points the next time out or else, no?
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Jan 28, 2014 04:58
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Tehan posted:You seem cursed to have great-on-paper players giving fairly mediocre performances. Is this just because you're focusing more on potential than on current ability, or is it just hidden stats or bad luck? Players need time to gell, depends on their stats, some do it faster than others. This is true for new players joining a team, and for the team itself if there are a bunch of new players coming in. Hidden stats also come into play, especially ones that dictate consistency and such. Still, look at Luke Reid, terrible for first half of last season, and became great for the latter. Not doing too badly so far this season as a whole, I think.
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Jan 28, 2014 07:40
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So mediocre players would be giving terrible performances in the same circumstances?
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Jan 28, 2014 07:55
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Tehan posted:So mediocre players would be giving terrible performances in the same circumstances? Very possibly. A low consistency also means that they can perform really good at times. I cannot be sure, but I think on average they will have lower ratings compared to more consistent players. Still, if you run into situations where all things considered are similar, yet an apparently superior player (on paper) has been performing worse on average compared to another, it is likely the hidden stats causing said issues. There are hidden stats like Consistency, Important matches and Pressure that can affect match performances. Of course, if the non-hidden stats between the two players are too wide in gap, even good hidden stats will likely not make up for it.
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Jan 28, 2014 09:00
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Don't accuse me of being a Tackleford plant, I just does whats they tells me 
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Jan 28, 2014 14:09
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Tehan posted:So mediocre players would be giving terrible performances in the same circumstances? As Weissritter said, it's entirely possible that mediocre players would be doing worse in the same situation. One thing to note about Mujkic is that he came over tired and in need of a rest, which will mean that he's likely to underperform his stats until he can get the rest he needs. It's why I gave him a week off during the second update. Harrison also had that same debuff, which (along with what's probably a low consistency score) is one reason he was playing like crap for several games.
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Jan 28, 2014 14:27
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Mujkic just won't sit down and catch his breath, I like his moxie 
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Jan 28, 2014 14:40
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Weissritter posted:
Over the last 20 team games (which goes back to the Torquay match at the start of the season) Reid's had two main stretches of play. The first eight games he played he averaged a 6.46 and his best game was a 6.8. The next six games saw him dip below a 7 rating once, averaging a 7.85. Now he's back to being poor, his last two games are a 6.5 and a 6.4. It gives him a 6.99 for the year, which is good, but his average rating doesn't tell the whole story. Compare that with Stuart Simpson, who hasn't gone below a 6.4 in any game this year but who seldom earns above a seven. He's at a 6.82 average rating for the season, and is the model of consistency. Also, re: Mujkic's slow start, it's possible he has a low adaptability score. That'll mean it will take him longer to settle in as he has to adapt to life in Wales instead of Australia. Guys with high adaptability will be able to adjust to new circumstances quicker, and play at their full ability more frequently despite the change of scenery. eta: Also also, when I say that Al-Beloushi's been a different player for Kuwait, I ain't joking. Over 15 recent games with his national team he's got an average rating of 7.35, which is very high for any player and ludicrously high for a goalie, he's making on average two spectacular saves a game with that average. He hasn't had a game where his rating was below 7 in literally a year. He's been decent for us, but nowhere near the stud level he's played for Kuwait. And it's not like he's only playing scrub teams, he earned an 8.9(!) against Chile last year. For us he's been perfectly average, a 6.68 rating with only two games above a 7. I'm thinking I should shift his play style so he's not trying as many long balls, that might be one of the key differences. habeasdorkus fucked around with this message at 19:00 on Jan 28, 2014 |
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Jan 28, 2014 18:50
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Can you explain how the rating system works? Since scoring is so low I figure it can't be a traditional +/- system, but it seems like it works off a 6.5-7.0 range as the mean.
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Jan 28, 2014 20:02
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6.5 is what you have at the start of the game and then it goes up or down depending on the players performance the problem being it's a little biased toward the attacking players For goalkeepers it's actually a bit paradoxical because you want them to have average scores. The reason being goalkeepers get a good score when they do lots of good saves... but generally that means the freaking defenders are doing really bad.
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Jan 28, 2014 20:17
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habeasdorkus posted:eta: Also also, when I say that Al-Beloushi's been a different player for Kuwait, I ain't joking. Over 15 recent games with his national team he's got an average rating of 7.35, which is very high for any player and ludicrously high for a goalie, he's making on average two spectacular saves a game with that average. He hasn't had a game where his rating was below 7 in literally a year. He's been decent for us, but nowhere near the stud level he's played for Kuwait. And it's not like he's only playing scrub teams, he earned an 8.9(!) against Chile last year. For us he's been perfectly average, a 6.68 rating with only two games above a 7. I'm thinking I should shift his play style so he's not trying as many long balls, that might be one of the key differences.
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Jan 28, 2014 21:24
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