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ally_1986 posted:So didn't England win the 2014 World Cup in your game? How un-realistic. I actually prefer to play with made up characters, which is weird because when I play baseball simulation games I require real players. Part of why I prefer fictional players is because real players don't do things (ingame) like be seen out late drunk the night before a game by the paparazzi. Part of that is because I play Lower League Manager and by the time I'm in a top league they're all retiring. Torrannor posted:Huh, getting fucker over by Howard Webb. He is still a referee in your game? He will be 51 in 2022! Yeah, the Referees didn't get their names changed for some reason. And they never retire. Howard Webb will be loving you over into the next century if you play long enough. McGavin posted:Hunter Fisher: A True Outdoorsman Given the number of regens the game makes every year, there's some truly great names out there. Hunter Fisher is right up there with Scott Scott the Scottish Striker, but still a step behind the game renaming Luis Suarez as Angel Suarez. Viscardus posted:Habeasdorkus, if you weren't letting the thread decide your contracts, what kind of contract do you think you'd have by now? It depends, but when my contract was last voted on after our first EPL season think the initial offer was around 30-40k/wk. You voted me 50k/wk, with an escalator to 60k for Europa League and 85k for Champions League, with a 20% raise per year. So I'm now making 120k/wk, the most in the world as far as I can figure. Or I was, because the board requested me to renegotiate my contract over the summer and offered 100k/wk with no salary raise and wouldn't budge from their position. I need to ask that that board vote, actually.
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Chapter the Third: Reversion to the mean. September 9, 2022-October 2, 2022 Well, that was no fun. We don't have any National Team games slated until October, but in that time we're bearing down on three EPL, two CL, and the League Cup fixtures. We play Spurs at home, then jet off to Madrid to play the Galacticos, and finish the week with a match in Manchester against Man City. I hope our team is deep enough to see us through this thicket.  I'll take those odds. vs. Tottenham Hotspur, September 10, 2022 Premier League  Our back four average 19.5 years old. I'm sure that won't be a problem. At least, it will be less of a problem than starting that bunch of kids against Man City or Real Madrid would be. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: Kovacevic, Reed, Laux, Hammatt, Loseille, Morvan, Mair, Argenti, Petts, Mujkic (c), Bastable. Subs: El Sayed, Feruga, O'Hanlon, Dixon, Bailey, Julio, Aarts. Our youth shows when Reed plays a Tottenham winger onside, creating a 1v1 in the early minutes. He's spared his blushes when Kovacevic stonewalls the attempt. It continues to show as we build a solid lead in number of shots, but Spurs are getting into very dangerous positions on the regular. Our offense continues to sputter, the Bastard misses a sitter and hears the boo-birds for the first time in his career with us. I don't know what is wrong with him. We create more chances, and suffer more misses, after the half. But hard working 19 year old Piero Argenti finally puts us ahead after the hour mark has passed, and then doesn't let up on the overwhelmed Spurs left back. His persistence pays off in a second goal, and while he's denied his hat trick he's clearly the man of the hour. Man of the Match: Piero Argenti   Wrexham 2-0 Tottenham  I'm not sure how Real Madrid could be considered underdogs for this match. At Real Madrid, September 13, 2022 Champions League, Group B  What a way to start off the group stage. At least every game after this will be easier. My main goal is to not get buried, another six-nil loss would make qualifying for the next round somewhat more difficult and I'd like to avoid the morale hit that would cause. Bastable is getting dropped from this game, he's been in the worst funk of his career and is offering us nothing. El Juez will take his place. Starting Formation: 4-4-1-1 Counter Starting 11: Kovacevic, Cirjak, Laux, Todd, Suslov, Bailey, Petts, Collett, Shirra, Mujkic (c), Cardozo. Subs: El Sayed, Reed, Feruga, Morvan, Julio, Argenti, Aarts. Real batter us around first half, but can't make anything of their advantage in possession. They're still able to break down our defense, though, and if we don't get more disciplined a goal is going to come for them. Meanwhile our counter attack has done nothing through the first 45 minutes. When the goal finally comes in the 55th minute it's no surprise to anyone, but it's the only one they get. I'll take a 1-0 loss at the Bernabeu.   Real Madrid 1-0 Wrexham  C'mon guys, he wasn't even supposed to be the primary starter.  We're going in the wrong direction! The loss and draw we suffered is only part of the decline in our FIFA rank. They're calculated by results in matches over a period of time, and some good results happened far enough back that they no longer count towards our ranking.  I've gone from having no animosity towards Pattinson to hating him in short order. He only started paying attention to us when we became a threat.   Wait your turn, kid. You're only 20. Yes, I realize that makes you near the average for our back line. At Manchester City, September 17, 2022 Premier League  It's been a long while since we've had to play counter-attacking football in two straight games. City have beaten us the last two times we've played, I'd like to change up the script on them but I'm not confident of doing so. It doesn't help that Manchester City have already racked up a +15 goal differential in just four matches. They haven't just been winning, they've been scoring over four goals per match! Starting Formation: 4-4-1-1 Counter Starting 11: Kovacevic, Cirjak, Laux, Todd, Suslov, Collett, Morvan, Mair, Mujkic (c), Shirra, Aarts. Subs: El Sayed, Reed, Feruga, Dixon, Bailey, Argenti, Cardozo. It looks bleak from the start, as the first time the ball leaves play is when City put it in the back of our net in the first minute. A golden ray pierces the gloom in short order when Shirra scores on a counter. Our entire attack beat City's defenders down the field, creating a 4 v 1 situation. We score again from an indirect free kick, but Laux timed his run poorly and was offside. The momentum reverses and City are ahead again as we near the break, but Shirra scores a spectacular goal five minutes later to knot it up again. The Golden Boy has kept it level for us, but our defense has been a shambles against a potent City attack all game. Then, disaster. For Manchester City. We take the lead when a shanked clearance finds the back of the net for an own goal in the 62nd minute, and we're in line for three points for the first time all day. The second half sees our defense play much better, dropping deeper and not getting caught out by the City players. The Citizens are able to muster one last rally before the whistle blows to give us a late scare, but we take the victory home with us to Wales. Man of the Match: Scott Shirra   Man City 2-3 Wrexham  I don't think he realizes that I indoctrinate our young players to believe that teenagers can best evil empires by making them watch Red Dawn over and over again. Wolverines! At Leeds United, September 20, 2022 Capital One Cup, Third Round  Let's try to feed Bastable some gimmes in this match and get his confidence back. We're playing a lot of backups, but virtually all of our players would be stars on this recently promoted Leeds team, even guys like Dixon who are at the end of our bench. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: El Sayed, Cirjak, Hammatt, Feruga, Reed, Dixon, Bailey (c), Argenti, Petts, Cardozo, Bastable. Subs: Kovacevic, Suslov, O'Hanlon, Morvan, Julio, Collett, Aarts. Argenti is proving that he has a nose for the goal, plonking a ranged effort off the crossbar in the first five minutes and then burying his next chance a few minutes later. Bastable finally breaks his slump in the 21st minute, the Leeds keeper is inattentive and boots a goal kick directly into the lurking Australian not 5 yards away. Rock recovers quickly and dribbles around the astonished keeper to the completely empty net. It's a walk from there, with Argenti bagging yet another brace to make it three-nil just before the half. Leeds almost snatch one back when the game restarts but their striker bottles the effort, and Argenti races upfield and fires. The shot is deflected, but a late arriving Petts is there to finish the job. Leeds cower with ten men behind the ball the rest of the game, keeping us from embarrassing them further but not giving any chance at scoring. Man of the Match: Piero Argenti   Leeds 0-4 Wrexham  We're actually earning a lot fewer cautions and fouling much less this year than in the past. In part that's because I'm ordering us to press the opposition less, in part it's because we're getting older and improving our decisionmaking.  Not too bad, we'll play another lower tier EPL side. They'll be tougher than Leeds, but our road to the quarterfinals is a mild one. vs. Everton, September 24, 2022 Premier League  We have the makings of a good run of form right now. A win could move us to the top of the table. It would definitely put us in the top four. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: Kovacevic, Cirjak, Laux, Todd, Suslov, Morvan, Petts, Collett, Shirra, Mujkic (c), Bastable. Subs: El Sayed, Reed, Feruga, Mair, Bailey, Argenti, Cardozo. The Bastard's back, rising to put a header inside the near post less than four minutes in. But Everton catch us out to even things up not long after, then take the lead on another counter attack when our defenders are too slow to catch them. There's a lot of good things to say about Matthias Laux, but the dude is slow for this level of play. With Suslov and Cirjak playing as wingbacks and using every opportunity to get forward, that leaves Todd as the only one who has the speed to keep up with most wingers and strikers on the break. I'm going to have to do something about that. At the half Everton leads with two goals on just three shots. After a firecracker speech during the half, we look much better. Petts knots it up at two with a howitzer from the corner of the area 58m, he was as far as you can get from the goal and still be in the penalty box. I pull an ineffective Collett for Piero Argenti, seeking the winning goal. We keep creating chances, even moreso once a knackered Bastard makes way for El Juez, but time is running out. In the 90th minute Everton clear another desperate set piece, but only out to Suslov. He finds Laux on the right wing, who passes ahead to Argenti. Argenti finds himself in space nearly 20 meters from the net but lashes it across the net anyways and inside the far post for the go ahead goal. The lead stands up through stoppage time, and we vault back into a Champions League place. Man of the Match: Richard Petts   Wrexham 3-2 Everton  We're still slowly rounding into form with our match training, meaning that I'm not yet comfortable using that portion of training time to work on match specific tactics. It's starting to become annoying, so I bump up the amount of tactical work we're doing between matches. vs. Club Brugge, September 28, 2022 Champions League, Group B  Club Brugge, of “loving” Bruges, were the top dog this past season in Belgium's Jupiler League. That gives them roughly the talent level of a mid-level EPL club. This will likely be the easiest match we have in our group, and one that we need all three points from. Bram Aarts is getting the start, while Shirra gets a rest and Argenti takes up his natural position as our number 10. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: El Sayed, Reed, Hammatt, Feruga, Suslov, Bailey (c), Mair, Collett, Argenti, Cardozo, Aarts. Subs: Kovacevic, Cirjak, O'Hanlon, Dixon, Morvan, Julio, Bastable. Bram Aarts is turning into a dangerous player, thanks to tutelage from the Bastard. He scores at 74 seconds, coming back for a Suslov pass and launching it in from the edge of the area. Twice more he has goals snatched from him by good goalkeeping. Bailey scores from a free kick 25 yards out to start the second half. When Collett picks up a ding in the second half I move a thus far unimpressive Argenti back to the right wing to replace him. It seems that despite being more versed in the central attacking mid role, Argenti is more of a goalscoring threat from the wing, as he makes it three-nil within moments of moving back out wide, fed by a low cross through the six yard box from a rampant Oleg Suslov. It's the final goal of the match, and I'm always happy after a match where everything went according to plan. Man of the Match: Oleg Suslov   Wrexham 3-0 Club Brugge  He was rapidly losing his spot in the squad to Argenti already. We have an international break coming up very soon, so he'll only miss one game, but I'm certainly not going to put him back in the starting eleven until Argenti cools off. If Argenti cools off.  The club's balance sheet reads £9.6m in the black, we're going to finish the year with something like £30m in the bank once our television merit pay and Champions League winnings are fully accounted for.   Boo. Both Morvan and Petts have been in good form for the club, and are certainly getting plenty of playing time. There's no reason for this other than sheer cussedness on the part of their National Squad's coaches.  Melendez is the big name to watch here. He's 18 and a potential solid wing player on the international scene. He'll get a cameo appearance, right now the game says that he's surprised and nervous about the call-up to the big squad.  Naturally, I yank Bastable and Mujkic from the Australian squad. Which reminds me, Pau Hogan is going to need to make a return in six weeks to keep our Australians from being forced into the two month waste of time that is the ASEAN Cup.  Petts places second for his rocket from range that tied the match with Everton.  While I pick up the first of hopefully several Manager of the Month awards. vs. Southampton, September, 2022 Premier League  I think you should get around to firing your manager, Sky Shadowing. He's sunk your team into 20th place through the first six games, when you should really be looking to finish somewhere in the top half given your payroll. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: Kovacevic, Cirjak, Laux, Todd, Reed, Morvan, Petts, Argenti, Shirra, Mujkic (c), Bastable. Subs: El Sayed, Feruga, Hammatt, Mair, Bailey, Julio, Cardozo. Bastable looks to have scored in the 10th minute, but the flag is up and replays show it's the correct call. No matter, he merely opens scoring later in the first half. Mujkic scores his first of the season minutes later and we're up two after half an hour. We put the ball into the back of the net twice more in rapid succession but twice more the flag is up. Thus it takes an hour for us to make it three-nil, with Argenti scoring on a through ball from Petts. Even our subs get in on the action, with Julio scoring right off the bench in the 73rd minute. A cloud is cast on the day when Tonci Cirjak has to come off injured late in the match, losing him would force 20 year old Steve Reed into the starting job. It's joined by several friends when with five minutes to play Mujkic also has to come off, and even another Bastable goal doesn't lift them. Nor does temporarily moving into first place on the table. Man of the Match: The Bastard   Wrexham 5-0 Southampton  Dukes. He's going to a specialist, I'm not going to risk losing him for two or three extra months.  Double dukes. Taborda is also out due to an injury incurred while playing for Argentina, and he's due back very soon. Both El Juez and Argenti can play that position, but it's going to be January before Meteor's back.  That was a much, much better month than August. Argenti is proving himself a stud, and we're exactly where we should be after our first two group matches. We've recovered from our early season wobble, and we took all three points from Manchester City in their house for the first time ever. That's good enough to put us in first place on the table, though we're likely to fall into second after Manchester United's October 3rd match against Derby. We're also on course to reach the knockout rounds in the Champions League, as expected. Our biggest concern at the moment are the mounting casualties we're suffering. Cirjak has been reliably excellent for us, and while Reed has been fantastic in limited appearances he's only 20 years old. Likewise El Juez deserves more playing time, but he's no Meteor. There's also the matter of whether Matty Collett can start performing as expected, of our summer imports he's perhaps even more disappointing than the shelved Shahed Parr because at least I know why Parr isn't producing for us.    BOARD VOTE(Imperiously) My contract is up in a year. For the stability of the club, and to prove to our players that I plan on being here well into the future, it is time to renegotiate my contract. My prior contract was for three years, with a base salary of £50,000/wk, and a 20% annual raise. There were escalators to £65,000/wk and £80,000/wk if we reached the Europa or Champions Leagues. As I triggered the Champions League escalator in the first year of my contract, my current salary stands at £115,000/wk. This makes me the highest paid manager in the world, as far as I'm aware. The manager of Real Madrid earns £97,000/wk and Ryan McLeod of Manchester United earns £94,000/wk. I am not seeking an annual raise in my new contract. However, I would like to see my base salary increased to £120,000/wk (£6,240,000 per year) with the following incentive clauses added: Winning the FA Cup: +£5,000/wk to base pay. (£260,000 raise) Winning the Premier League: +£10,000/wk to base pay. (£520,000 raise) Winning the Champions League: £+20,000/wk to base pay. (£1,040,000 raise) Failing to qualify for the Champions League: -£50,000/wk to base pay. (£2,600,000 pay cut) I leave it to the board to determine how long this contract shall run. I am very happy here at Wrexham and deeply appreciate the latitude that the fans have given me to build the club. And as stated in my initial interview, I have grand plans for this club, and merely winning the FA Cup and reaching the Champions League quarterfinals is not nearly enough. QUESTION ONE: Base Salary (Patiently) So, how about that base salary level? A) (Skeptically) We don't see why you should earn 20% more than the highest paid managers in the world when you haven't won more than the FA Cup. That you're the highest paid manager in the game now is due to past board members underestimating how quickly you'd reach the Champions League. We are happy to see your success, and to retain your title as highest paid manager, but we believe that £100,000/wk is more suitable. (Base Salary set to £100,000/wk) (note: this contract is what the game offered me) B) (Fanboyishly) You're, like, x10 times better than any other manager in the history of ever and ever and ever. You're a bargain at twice that price! (Base Salary set to £120,000/wk) QUESTION TWO: Incentive Clauses (Mildly) And the package of incentive clauses? A) (Presciently) Wait, so if we give you these pay escalators and you go and do the triple twice in a row your salary would be £195,000/wk?! And what if we sign you to a very long contract and you really are the second coming of Sir Alex? After five years we might be paying you more than the highest paid players! I'm sorry, I cannot in good conscience agree to these terms, even with the possibility of significantly reducing your salary if we finish outside of the top four. (No incentive clauses) B) (Ponderingly) I do like the idea of rewarding you for success, but this could get out of hand. These are the incentives that we're willing to offer: Winning the FA Cup: £2,000/wk increase in base salary. (£104,000 raise) Winning the Premier League: £5,000/wk increase in base salary. (£260,000 raise) Winning the Champions League: £7,000/wk increase in base salary. (£364,000 raise) Failing to qualify for the Champions League: £35,000/wk decrease in base salary (£1,820,000 pay cut) C) (Passively) Rubber stamp for the God King present and accounted for, sir! (Incentive clauses accepted as proposed) QUESTION THREE: Contract Length (Open-endedly) The current season will end in 2023. After which season should the contract be set to expire? (e.g. 2025 would be a three year contract comprising of this year, next year, and the 2024-2025 season) Voting will be open until noon EST on July 9.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:02
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1B 2C 3 2030 (Assertively) I'm not paying you for second place. You can have what you ask, provided you start fulfilling my promises. All of them.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:25
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AJ_Impy posted:1B 2C 3 2030 So you're going to make him "earn" his contract, yet give him one that's so loving long he couldn't care less? A, A, 2025. Let's really see something out of you before we go back to making you the highest paid manager in the world.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:31
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A B 2026 Need I remind you that your current Wrexham pay and your USMNT pay make you the highest paid manager? EDIT: I have no idea what the other WC predictions for the contest are, but I as long as Brazil and Argentina win I think I have a decent shot at winning again. Dreamsicle fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Jul 7, 2014 |
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Jul 7, 2014 19:41
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A, C, 2026 seems fair I guess.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:58
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A, B (with an additional £50K weekly decrease in event of demotion and £50K weekly increase in event of re-promotion clauses), 2030
JT Jag fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Jul 7, 2014 |
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Jul 7, 2014 19:58
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Dreamsicle posted:EDIT: I have no idea what the other WC predictions for the contest are, but I as long as Brazil and Argentina win I think I have a decent shot at winning again. I'm probably only still in the running by virtue of the Netherlands still being in it. I wouldn't want to have to tally all that poo poo.
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Jul 7, 2014 20:00
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1: A 2: C 3: 2025 You're still the highest paid manager in the world, but you haven't won anything for us at this level. An incentive based contract seems more appropriate at this stage, and there is the potential to revisit it soon.
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Jul 7, 2014 20:03
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A B 2025 Things are going very well but we shouldn't let them get out of hand. Modest incentives are still incentives after all.
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Jul 7, 2014 20:09
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TheMcD posted:I'm probably only still in the running by virtue of the Netherlands still being in it. I wouldn't want to have to tally all that poo poo. Why do you think I haven't yet. Hehe.
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Jul 7, 2014 20:12
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A, A, 2026
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Jul 7, 2014 20:13
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Chapter the Fourth: Oh-fer-two. October 2, 2022-October 31, 2022 Derby stonewalled Man U, so we get to stay atop the table for as long as we keep winning. It's been seven years since a non-Mancunian team has won the league, I'd like to change that up. Now that the club is back to it's rightful place atop the table, lets see if I can't start winning some games with the USMNT. We've got two coming up, one against North Korea that we should win handily and one against Colombia to provide us a real challenge.  It's been a while since we had more than half of the team of the week.   The kids love my attitude. The rest of the squad are taking a wait and see approach. vs. Democratic People's Republic of Korea, October 7, 2022 International Friendly  Let's show them how Murica does it, boys. And if any of them come to you asking about asylum, refer them to our State Department attache by the touchline. Of course, of our five best players, three happen to have injured themselves. Two stubbed their toe while a third has food poisoning. Malingerers. North Korea wouldn't let their players get away with that. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Attack Starting 11: Toninho, Melendez, Royle, Stevens, Erlic (c), Padilla, Woods, Ramos, Carroll, Munk, Lenz. Subs: Salazar, Gomez, Bartlett, Cruz, Spence, de la Rosa, Mancini, Fisher, Williams. We squander a trio of good chances at the very start, but our captain Mario Erlic shows everyone how it's done with a goal in the 34th minute. They don't follow his lead, and we continue to be exceptionally wasteful. It's reminding me of our Championship era Wrexham squad, no one on this team can finish worth a drat. Even so we're cruising along nicely and look set for an easy win until North Korea strikes for a shock equalizer on their third and final shot of the day. Their luck and our profligacy means I'm still winless as manager of the US National team. Man of the Match: Mario Erlic.   USMNT 1-1 North Korea  With a little better finishing we'd have won that game 5-1. There's still plenty of reason to be optimistic.   There seem to be a lot more short term injuries as an international manager. We've had five players out of 23 miss time on this international break alone, and that's not counting the two who were hurt in the 48 hours between announcing the squad and meeting for training camp. It really doesn't help that all of the injuries seem confined to our defenders, I brought 8 to camp and only three have been fit to play for either match. Poor Jesus Melendez earned his first cap while playing out of position at right back. vs. Colombia, October 11, 2022 International Friendly  Colombia are not their real life juggernaut self, having fallen all the way to 80th in the world FIFA rankings. It's a huge fall over the course of the last decade for a club that made the World Cup quarterfinal in real life. Hopefully this means we can beat them about. Starting Formation: 4-5-1 Counter Starting 11: Toninho, Latham, Cruz, Stevens, Melendez, Padilla, Woods (c), Ramos, Burman, Munk, Carroll. Subs: Salazar, Gomez, Bartlett, de la Rosa, Spence, Fisher, Lenz, Williams, Mancini, Anderson. Mario Carroll, the Vancouver Whitecaps striker, puts us ahead in the seventh minute, and then adds another in the ninth. In under ten minutes we've scored twice, a tally we had yet to accomplish in our first three matches. After those quick strikes the game settles into a period of both squads taking low quality shots and not being rewarded for them. The early lead holds up, and even with having to play poor, nervous 18 year old Jesus Melendez out of position we win our first match of my tenure with the club. Man of the Match: Mario Carroll   USMNT 2-0 Colombia  A win, two draws, and a loss isn't the start I'd hoped for, but the players are in high spirits after our last two matches. We won't have another match until next March, when we take on players like Scott Shirra and Stuart Mair in a friendly with Scotland, and then have another three month gap between international fixtures until we play Australia in June 2023. I'm not sure why I can't schedule friendlies for the November international period, or more than one in March and June of next year, but that's the way it is. If I had to guess, it's due to the MLS playoffs and championship being sometime in the late fall, the season starting in spring, and being in full swing during June.  Good, now I can finally start setting up specific tactical instrucions for each individual match.  I guess the romance of driving all the way into Wolverhampton for matches has worn off on the Wrexham public. vs. Leeds, October 15, 2022 Premier League  We've already beaten them once, now it's time to do it again. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: Kovacevic, Reed, Laux, Feruga, Suslov (c), Morvan, Petts, Collett, Argenti, Cardozo, Bastable. Subs: El Sayed, Loseille, Hammatt, Bailey, Julio, Shirra, Aarts. Richard Petts is showing England why he should be on the national team, he's on a serious scoring streak for a guy who usually acts as a deep lying playmaker. This one goes in off the post from range in the 14th minute. El Juez picks up his first of the season in the fortieth minute, while Bastable continues his return to form just after the half with his fifth goal of the season. Leeds show some fight, finally, around the hour mark, but make nothing of their chances. Julio continues to be a threat off the bench, scoring once again when I bring him on late. Leeds is able to muster a late goal to prevent the shutout, but we never looked like losing. Man of the Match: Richard Petts   Wrexham 4-1 Leeds vs. PSV Eindhoven, October 19, 2022 Champions League, Group B  PSV are the team that could prevent us from moving on to the knockout stage. We need to make sure we impose our will from the start and come away with all three points. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: Kovacevic, Reed, Hammatt, Todd, Suslov, Bailey (c), Mair, Argenti, Shirra, Cardozo, Bastable. Subs: El Sayed, Loseille, O'Hanlon, Dixon, Julio, Collett, Aarts. We strike first, a second after the tenth minute has elapsed. It's the Golden Boy who gets the final touch, the attempt set up courtesy an impressive dribble by his countryman Mair after he swoops in to take possession of the ball following a mistake by the opposition. It's the only goal of the first half, and worryingly PSV has actually had the better chances. Things get worse when Hammatt picks up a yellow in the 56th minute, and just as I'm making the order to sub him off for O'Hanlon six minutes later he picks up a second and reduces us to 10 men. Neither foul was deserving of a card, but I'm still irate at him for being less careful. We fall back into a defensive formation, and are able to hang onto the win. We're lucky to have done so. Man of the Match: Scott Shirra   Wrexham 1-0 PSV    He didn't deserve his yellows, but it's still better to make him watch his step. I've learned my lesson from not adequately punishing Suslov and Cirjak. At Stoke City, October 22, 2022 Premier League  Stoke are having themselves another good season, currently in fifth place on the table. That said, they're not one of the four clubs I fear, and so I plan on forcing them to play our game. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: El Sayed, Reed, Laux, Todd, Suslov, Bailey (c), Petts, Argenti, Julio, Cardozo, Bastable. Subs: Kovacevic, Loseille, Feruga, Morvan, Mair, Collett, Aarts. Suslov gets carded in the first minute when a diving Stoke player tricks the ref. I'm left praying that he makes it to halftime without getting sent off. He does, and able to pull him for Loseille. Stoke's pressure stymies us all game long, not allowing us to keep possession and breaking up our attacking moves. Julio finally knocks in a goal after nearly an hour of play, and when Stoke appear to equalize within minutes it's called back for being offside. We hang on to win a much tougher match than I anticipated. Further, Bastable was injured and had to come out in the 81st minute, losing him for a long period of time would hurt now that he's found his scoring touch. Man of the Match: Matthias Laux   Stoke 0-1 Wrexham  Whew. Losing any more key players for a long period of time would really start to make me wonder if we can manage to achieve everything I'm hoping for. At Watford, October 25, 2022 Capital One Cup, Fourth Round  Cirjak can't get back soon enough. Suslov and Reed are looking downright exhausted, and I don't yet trust Loseille to play a full match. They'll get additional rest during the November international period, hopefully, and Cirjak should be back by the middle of December. I'm also happy that Rodrigo Taborda has finally come back to full health. He was out for a month due to an injury sustained with the Argentinian national team, came back just in time for the most recent international matches and was injured immediately when the Argentinian coach tried to make him play a full match despite not being fully fit. Hopefully he can stay healthy, we'll need him to come up big while Mujkic is out. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: Kovacevic, Reed, O'Hanlon, Feruga, Suslov, Morvan, Mair, Collett, Shirra, Taborda, Aarts. Subs: El Sayed, Loseille, Hammatt, Dixon, Bailey, Argenti, Cardozo. I can't believe we're losing this game. Collett has botched two simple finishes, while Aarts launched an easy chance into the stratosphere. Meanwhile, Watford has had a single shot on goal and put it in the back of the net through sheer luck. ThenWatford are given a penalty in the 58th minute and convert. I have no choice but to pull Taborda and Collett, both of whom have been dire, and go for broke. My subs don't make a difference, we don't create a single additional chance, and we're bounced from the League Cup by stinking Watford in our second match. We're now 0 for 2 in competitions.   Watford 2-0 Wrexham  We're going to have to start using U18 players at this rate. Except a whole bunch of them are also injured.   I don't care if I'm wrong, I want to start getting some awful calls going my way for once.  He refused to accept that I knew what was best for him, so I drop his rear end into the reserves. He can whine all he wants from there. At Newcastle United, October 29, 2022 Premier League  The Geordies are happy, their team is overachieving and in the top half of the league after finishing fifteenth last year and seem to be firmly ensconced in the top level once more. We'll try to dim their mood some. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: Kovacevic, Reed, Laux, Todd, Loseille, Morvan, Petts, Argenti, Bailey, Taborda, Cardozo. Subs: El Sayed, Suslov, Feruga, Mair, Julio, Collett, Aarts. We play well in the first hour, but don't have anything to show for it. I take off a still not fully fit Taborda and move El Juez to his spot, bringing on Aarts as our number 9. The young Dutchman scores within two minutes of taking the pitch. It looks like that will be enough to earn the three points, but then Newcastle ruins our day by scoring a stoppage time equalizer to pull out the draw. Newcastle's overachieving ways continue.   Newcastle 1-1 Wrexham  Oh, look, Liverpool fired their manager again. I dearly hope they get relegated. The idea that John Henry would be this bad at running a sports team is completely ludicrous given his results in Boston and Liverpool over the last decade, and I want this games version punished for it's infidelity to reality. Meanwhile Daniel Tosh, Southampton's manager, still has his job despite being in the relegation zone. Again. He must have blackmail on Sky Shadowing. Wrexham  USMNT   I shouldn't be upset with our performances, but I'm getting really tired of not winning a bucketload of trophies each year. That loss to Watford takes all the joy that our recent good run has created and sets it ablaze. We're now fully into the phase of the game where I start getting irate at every loss and draw. Our injury problems remain troubling, but barring further catastrophe we should have enough depth to see us through.   Don't forget to vote habeasdorkus fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Jul 7, 2014 |
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Jul 7, 2014 20:18
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habeasdorkus posted:Daniel Tosh, Southampton's manager, still has his job despite being in the relegation zone. Again. He must have blackmail on Sky Shadowing. He probably has a YouTube video of Sky Shadowing doing something embarassing. 
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Jul 7, 2014 20:40
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Bad refereeing decisions just make it all the sweeter when you get one who favours your side
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Jul 7, 2014 20:41
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McGavin posted:1: A (Thoughtfully) Agreed a short term contract to prove yourself and then once you do the board will open up the money vault.
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Jul 7, 2014 20:47
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Awyr Shadowing here, Sky Shadowing is rather... indisposed at the moment, he can't be understood over the depressed shrieks and tears. It's rather amusing. The Shadowing Family has formally requested the termination of the Southampton Manager. (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do this, this is just in case.)
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Jul 7, 2014 21:02
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Just a quick formatting note, but I don't think Team USA plays in the Premier League.
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Jul 7, 2014 21:07
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The continuing tales of the Shadowing family in the Premier League are some of the narrative highlights of this LP 
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Jul 7, 2014 21:15
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Sky Shadowing posted:Awyr Shadowing here, Sky Shadowing is rather... indisposed at the moment, he can't be understood over the depressed shrieks and tears. It's rather amusing.  Bobbin Threadbare posted:Just a quick formatting note, but I don't think Team USA plays in the Premier League. Thanks. I appreciate people catching my typos/mistakes. I try to catch them, but they sometimes slip past me.
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Jul 7, 2014 21:37
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A B 2026 Rewards are good, but yeah you're already making over $10 million/ £6.25 million a year. Any more success than what's going on now and it could actually hurt the club.
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Jul 7, 2014 21:38
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(Whining) But Mourinho earns £13.5m a year! I'm not even better paid than real life Arsene Wegner. I've won just as many FA Cups recently as he has, and finished better on the table.
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Jul 7, 2014 21:43
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habeasdorkus posted:(Whining) But Mourinho earns £13.5m a year! I'm not even better paid than real life Arsene Wegner. I've won just as many FA Cups recently as he has, and finished better on the table. But Wrexham is no megabastard yet, so it's unreasonable to demand comparable wages. A B 2026
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Jul 7, 2014 21:48
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Sky Shadowing posted:The Shadowing Family has formally requested the termination of the Southampton Manager.  You've made a powerful c-list celebrity enemy today, Sky Shadowing.
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Jul 7, 2014 21:50
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Chapter the Fifth: A rookie mistake. October 31, 2022-December 5, 2022 There are some benefits to crashing out of the League Cup early, and it's reflected in having a full week off between matches late in November. Moreover, the United States doesn't participate in the November international period, so I don't have any additional games to manage. This makes it seem like it would be a pretty quiet month, but I'm going to spend a bunch of it pulling strings to make sure Bastable isn't dragged off to Southeast Asia and made to play in front of tiny crowds in a tournament that is almost certainly rigged by gambling syndicates.  Laux picks up his second Young Player of the Month award, he's coming along quite nicely. He's still slow, but so long as he's matched with Todd or Feruga I can have him play deeper in a covering role.  Even Newcastle's last gasp equalizer can't keep me from a second consecutive Manager of the Month award. At PSV Eindhoven, November 1, 2022 Champions League, Group B  We win this match and we advance to the knockout round, it's as simple as that. But our back line is looking makeshift, and this is definitely not our best starting 11. The toll of injuries and fatigue are showing. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: Kovacevic, Reed, O'Hanlon, Feruga (c), Suslov, Mair, Petts, Argenti, Julio, Cardozo, Bastable. Subs: El Sayed, Loseille, Todd, Morvan, Bailey, Collett, Aarts. Our effort to control possession isn't happening, so we start playing more men behind the ball and seeking to win via counter-attack. We take the lead on a set piece where a PSV player makes a terrible header into his own net, but they come right back at us. Kovasevic makes multiple great saves in a row, but they finally get one that even he can't stop. Suslov is injured in the 57th minute, and if it's serious we'll be reduced to two healthy fullbacks. We have late chances to win the match, with Argenti smashing the crossbar at 80 minutes and Collett blowing a chance in stoppage time. A draw leaves us in good shape to advance, we just need to beat club Brugge and we'll have sealed second place.   PSV 1-1 Wrexham  I'm thankful for not being allowed to set up friendlies during this international period, I could use a couple weeks where I don't have multiple games to play.  With 15 Anticipation and 14 Off the Ball movement, he should be able to do some good work with this preferred move. His 11 Concentration might hinder that, though. vs. Sheffield United, November 5, 2022 Premier League  I bet Sheffield Wednesday supporters are so jealous of Sheffield United this year. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: Kovacevic, Reed, Laux, Todd, Suslov, Morvan, Bailey (c), Argenti, Collet, Taborda, Bastable. Subs: El Sayed, Loseille, Feruga, Hammatt, Petts, Julio, Cardozo. Matty Collett scores 38 seconds into the match, it's his first goal for the team in his 12th match. Bastable adds a second with his 100th league goal for Wrexham on a nice move that gets him free in front of the net thanks to a Bailey assist in the 9th minute, then two minutes later scores his 101st after a serious miscue by the Sheffield United centerback allows him to get the ball with no one between him and goal. We threaten plenty more times after the early deluge, but don't add to our total. It doesn't matter, Sheffield United couldn't have come back had we played an entire additional game after the final whistle blew. Man of the Match: Rock the Bastard.   Wrexham 3-0 Sheffield United The Racecourse Grounds November 8, 2022 (The COACH is addressing the entire staff and both the senior and youth teams)  : To sum up. Bastable can't be kidnapped if Paul Elliots agents don't know what he looks like. So we're going to have a team sleepover/makeover! : I dunno about this...: It'll work, mate! : Boss, don't ever try to do an Ozzie accent again. Also, why do I have to change my hair style? I'm not getting called up for this. : Why all of us, too? I'm a youth team player!: Mateo, Kais, it's a team building exercise. We grow closer through the things that we do together, and that closeness helps us know each other when we're on the pitch.(COACH pulls out a wide brimmed hat, and speaks again in a terrible Australian accent)  : Now, I've got to go see some galah about a drop bear down by the billabong this arvo.(Those sitting near them can hear whimpers of pain from BASTABLE and MUJKIC as the COACH strolls off the stage)   : No! Now they'll refer to me as the Ayatollah-of-getting-screwed-over! Easy as pie. The Racecourse Grounds November 10, 2022 (COACH is addressing the PLAYERS at the daily Team Meeting)  : OK everyone, good work. We've got a meeting with a stylist academy scheduled for tomorrow to return everything to normal. Looking forward to that, Bailey? : I dunno, I think I like my new style. What do you think, Rock? : Me too. But Argenti's hair is definitely the best. Especially considering he used to be bald!(ARGENTI stops brushing his luxurious locks and looks up dazed by its sheen)  : Did someone mention my name?(The door flies open and CARDOZO stumbles in, weeping)  : ¡Injusticia! ¡Mira! My hair! Only four first team players are healthy and at the club currently. At least Julio, Bastable, Bailey, and Petts have enough people to play Settlers of Catan. They stopped inviting me to play when I demanded resources to in exchange for not dropping them from the starting 11.  Damnit, damnit, damnit. Nash was eligible to represent the United States, but the prior managers never tried to butter him up. By the time I got to him Germany had invited him to their U20 team. I was holding out hope that they wouldn't cap him for a long while and we'd still be able to lure him away, but now he's part of Die Mannschaft until the end.  At least we're back to moving up the rankings, though it'll be slow going seeing as we only have two international matches in the next 8 months.  One player comes back from the trainers room.  And another one enters. I should put in a revolving door to save energy.  AJ_Impy is eligible for one more term. I'll hold the election in January if he loses this election.  This is very bad. With Kovacevic out and El Sayed still on international duty we're going to need to start a youth keeper against Aston Villa in two days. At Aston Villa, November 19, 2022 Premier League  It's actually worse than starting a youth keeper. I didn't realize that El Sayed would be away until the day of this match, and by that point our youth squad had already played and were unavailable to be selected in the match day squad. We're literally starting kids picked out of our section of the stands. Ibra Hinton and Fabien Clarke, come on down for your 15 minutes of fame. Try not to be too overwhelmed. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: Hinton, Reed, Laux, Todd, Suslov, Bailey (c), Morvan, Argenti, Shirra, Taborda, Bastable. Subs: Clarke, Loseille, Hammatt, Mair, Julio, Collett, Cardozo. Aston Villa take advantage of my huge mistake, and score twice before half an hour has elapsed. We're peppering the Villa goal, but their keeper is an actual professional and is standing on his head. That pattern continues through the second half, and we concede yet again in the 65th minute. It's a mind blowing loss, and I'll rightly take the heat for the keeper kerfuffle. But we should have been able to score at least three ourselves, our offense needed to pick us up today and completely failed to do so. This is three dropped points that could loom large come the end of the season.   Villa 3-0 Wrexham  And now we have no right backs. Loseille is slightly more comfortable there, so it's going to be him, age 17, playing against Real Madrid and Manchester United.  How are none of our young players in contention for this? I'm guessing it's a reputation thing, but it's still surprising. vs. Real Madrid, November 23, 2022 Champions League, Group B  A win here guarantees our passage through the group, a draw will make it very likely that we go through as PSV will have to play Real Madrid in their final group match while we go to Belgium. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: El Sayed, Loseille, Laux, Todd, Suslov, Morvan, Bailey (c), Collett, Shirra, Cardozo, Bastable. Subs: Kovacevic, Feruga, Hammatt, Mair, Argenti, Taborda, Aarts. Bastable sends the crowd into raptures in the 15th minute with a headed goal. He does it again five minutes later. When halftime comes I push the team to stay focused and keep fighting regardless of the scoreline, and the team comes motivated, setting up a Collett goal that gives us a three-nil advantage almost immediately. Bastable twice more puts the ball in the back of the net in the second half, but in his eagerness finds himself offside both times. He doesn't get his hat trick, but we win handily against one of the best teams in the world. Man of the Match: Rocky Bastable   Wrexham 3-0 Real Madrid  We could actually win the group if we beat Club Brugge and Real Madrid draw or lose against PSV.  I guess the traveling Madrid fans could find their way to Wolverhampton more easily than Wrexham.   Good lad. Plus, you've been getting time on the pitch; you've already played as many matches as you did last year.  Not a true lower league challenge, but a Championship opponent plus home field advantage will allow us to advance easily. At Manchester United, November 30, 2022 Premier League  United are having a down year, for them, currently only in fifth and six points off the league lead. They're still dangerous, but I think we can take at least four points from our visits to the Manchesters. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: Kovacevic, Loseille, Laux, Todd, Suslov, Bailey (c), Morvan, Argenti, Shirra, Taborda, Bastable. Subs: El Sayed, Feruga, Hammatt, Mair, Julio, Collett, Cardozo. Man United give us the runaround in the first half, and I have to abandon my strategy of whacking them about for one that's more cautious. They can't score, and we're not giving them good chances. Unfortunately they get what they deserve in the 49th minute, and we're in trouble. The day is saved when Rodrigo Taborda finally announces the end of his slump with a 30 yard free kick golazo late in the match. We don't deserve a point from this game, but we still get one. Man of the Match: El Compadrito   Man Utd 1-1 Wrexham  I have a vote! None of our guys are shortlisted, which is just crazy. Thus I'm forced to vote for players on other teams. My first place vote goes to Dutch and Manchester City forward Mark Bloem (AU Memphis Depay), who's a simply incredible goal creator. He scored 24 goals in 47 matches, third most out of any shortlisted player, but the real reason he goes first is that he also had an insane 31 assists. That's just out of this world. I'm still irritated about the lack of respect we're getting, Real Madrid had seven players shortlisted and even players from Brazilian clubs Corinthians and Flamengo were shortlisted.  You're under contract until 2026, and you're an excellent goalkeeper. I'm not going to sell you. vs. Liverpool, December 3, 2022 Premier League  As I've noted, they're terrible again. They're currently in 19th place, and I want to see them relegated. Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1 Control Starting 11: El Sayed, Loseille, Hammatt, O'Hanlon, Feruga, Bailey (c), Mair, Collett, Julio, Taborda, Cardozo. Subs: Kovacevic, Suslov, Laux, Morvan, Shirra, Argenti, Aarts. We get one goal right at the start when Alex O'Hanlon scores from a corner, and then pile pressure onto Liverpool for the rest of the half. I tell the players to not get complacent. They don't, and we score in the 49th minute on a cheeky Taborda chip over the keeper who had come off his line. Things go from bad to worse for the Reds when they have a man sent off in the 80th minute, allowing substitute Bram Aarts to bag a brace in the final ten minutes, and despite giving up a short handed goal we never looked like losing. Man of the Match: Bram Aarts   Wrexham 4-1 Liverpool   We're back to having four natural fullbacks! James Loseille delivered leal service in the absence of Cirjak and Reed, holding his own against players from two megabastards.  Arsenal blew their game against Leeds, which puts them behind us on the table with an equal number of matches played. That leaves us behind Man City on goal differential with a game in hand. We've breezed through the Champions League group stage, and have a chance to win the group should we beat Brugge and Real Madrid don't overcome PSV. Our squad is getting healthier, and we have a number of players who can step in when our top players are in a poor run of form. All that, and new hairdos! I still feel embarrassed that we lost to Aston Villa because I forgot to have a decent keeper available, though. That could loom large when the end of the season rolls around.   Remember to vote! habeasdorkus fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Jul 21, 2014 |
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Jul 7, 2014 21:50
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You lost to a team like Watford in such a spectacular manner, and you want to be payed more? That money would be put to better use bribing the FA. 1)A 2)B 3)2025
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Jul 7, 2014 21:53
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Ok, finally all caught up. I played a bunch last Thursday and Friday, but was in another wedding this weekend and didn't have time to put the finishing touches on three updates worth of stuff. We're in good shape!
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Jul 7, 2014 21:56
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I like how the North Korean coach is named Marx.
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Jul 7, 2014 21:57
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Awesome to see a flood of new updates! If I'd voted before the Watford incident, I would've been throwing around money as usual. Instead, I'm forced to cut back to A, B, 2025.
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Jul 7, 2014 22:22
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A bunch of updates AND I get to vote? I don't mind at all! A, B, and 2028
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Jul 7, 2014 22:30
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A, B, and 2028
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Jul 7, 2014 22:32
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I've had a similar goalkeeper mishap happen before. Playing in Sheff Wed in the EPL, I had an above average Australian GK and a Wonderkid Belgian GK who had already signed a pre-contract with Inter after refusing to negotiate with me for a year. Near the end of the season, I'm doing well in the chase for a Champion's League spot and have a huge game at 6th placed Southampton right before the March international break. As usual the game scheduled me against 4 megabastards in a row to end the season, so this match was absolutely critical. I had just transferred my short term backup GK for a pittance, thinking that I might as well just put the wonderkid as the backup since he won't do me any good in the U21 squad and he was already almost as good as my starter. I go into the pre match confident before realizing that my starter had left for international duty the day before, and the wonderkid had left for an international U21 match that very day. I'm stuck using a 15 year old who had just graduated from my academy. Admittedly, he wasn't all that bad and had he not been there I would have been starting absolute dreck, but he still would have struggles as a starter at League 1 level. Needless to say, things went badly and I lost 5-3 and came in 7th at the end of the season. A win would have had me at 4th.
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Jul 7, 2014 22:53
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Great LP, I got the game because of it and am really liking it. Started a lower league manager game as Boreham Wood F.C. and did pretty well my first season (one point off the promotion playoffs due to an epic end of season collapse), but now I have some questions as I head toward my second season. First, is it common for players to accept promises of success and then refuse to negotiate a new contract anyway? My keeper asked to move on to a bigger club, I said he could reach his goals here, and promised promotion by the end of next season, which he accepted. He was in good spirits at the end of the season, but flat refused to talk new contract, instead just sitting while his contract ran out. Also, how do you deal with signing new players in June when the game is still counting a bunch of salaries against your wage budget that are set to expire at the end of the month? Accounting for players I didn't plan on resigning, I would have had half my wage budget unused (about $4,500/wk), but instead had about $500 free because of players in the last month of their contracts. I managed to sort it by agreeing to mutual termination with a bunch of players, but that doesn't seem like a good option when your players start making real money. Finally, the vote. (JustCaughtUpOnTheThreadingly) The highest paid managers in the world aren't paid for being at the top level, they're paid for being kings of the top. You should get $100,000 now, and when you win, you can be paid like the God King that you claim to be. A, C, 2028 Not My Leg fucked around with this message at 23:29 on Jul 7, 2014 |
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Jul 7, 2014 23:21
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BAI-LEEEY! BAI-LEEEY! I'm voting B and B, with a contract of 2033 in honour of Glukhovsky. But I also think you should be getting a small bonus raise for each Manager of the Month, a sizable bonus for getting the USA into the top 10 international teams, and a decent salary penalty for any competition you don't hit the quarter-finals in. We expect great things...
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Jul 7, 2014 23:23
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That goalie thing reminded me of how Marty Biron got his first NHL starts at 18, when all the goalies ahead of him in depth chart (from NHL and AHL) all got injured at the same time.
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Jul 7, 2014 23:36
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A, B, 2031, and stop losing critical matches to lovely teams. 
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Jul 7, 2014 23:44
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A, B, 2030
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Jul 7, 2014 23:52
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A, B, 2024 if you're averaging years, 2026 if you are tallying.
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Jul 8, 2014 00:56
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Non Sequitur posted:I like how the North Korean coach is named Marx. I did not catch that. That is fantastic.
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Jul 8, 2014 01:44
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| # ? May 29, 2024 16:36 |
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B C 2050 As reward for installing the hair mod.
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Jul 8, 2014 02:46
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