Some have described Football Manager Live as more addictive than Crack Cocaine- how did it get to You?
CB: Well I used to spend most of my time in run-down heroin shacks, pushing off with ferral city raccoons. My mates staged an intervention and introduced me to FML. Victorian Queue manger Ian Bush pulled me over to the "Champy" way of life. Things have never been better.
AW: I was involved in Beta testing at an early stage and to be honest I thought it was a little bit dull. A few years later and here I am secretly playing at every opportunity. Hiding the game behind 'work'. Popping into other rooms where my computer is just to see how the auction is progressing, or to fit another sneaky game in. My wife already calls it the other woman!!!
CB: My woman called FML the other woman too. Clare is no longer with the club... Guess I can't complain though- my 'work' is playing FML. Can you believe they pay me to do that?
AW: I am not sure that FML is the best form of rehab. Where do you go from FML.......the only place is the gutter!!!!
Many would regard you as one of the worlds more eccentric and flambouyant managers- how do you feel about that?
CB: I suppose I feel normal about it. Let's not try to fool anyone, I'm a F&*#ing madman.
AW: I take it as a compliment!!! I like to play attacking football.....I play an unusual formation that has served me well throughout the years of playing FM games. I would rather win 5-4 than 1-0. It's what the fans would want and I like to keep them happy. I also have another strange addiction. Strikers......I just cant help buying them!!!
CB: I'm totally with Ant on this one. I too am an attacking manager. Although Ant's goals are a bit shy. I prefer to win 9-0 than 5-4. Ask Gre's SK all about that...
AW:You do tend to get a little stressed playing the game Chris. You need to calm yourself down a bit....it's only a game......except when I beat you and is far more than a game!!!
The obvious question- everyone has ambitions in FML..what are yours and what would you say are your key strategies for fulfilling them? What in your own makeup do you think is most likely to prevent you from getting there?
CB: I entered this game society with no ambitions or high hopes what so ever to be honest. My starting lineup was...less than satisfactory. Guess i just didn't know how to pick 'em, hahaha. After my restart I managed to pick up Patrick Helmes and a few other tasties. I spent all of first season in the top 10 in the GW! Who'd have seen that coming? My goals have now
been clearly defined, after falling through the rankings I now find myself trying to claw back my star rating, my fans and my dignity. So, goals for the current season and coming season are to breach top 10 and win the XFA Championship....Then on to dismember everyone in the Premiership. The only thing standing in my way are my lazy defenders. My key strategy for completing my goals is simple: Buy a bunch of world class attackers and make them hurt people. Strategy 1: Make Asamoah round all 11 opposition players and kick the ball in. Strategy 2: Make Fabio Quagliarella longbomb 35 yard goals in (maybe the occasional bicycle kick) Strategy 3: Hard tackle the bejesus out of my opponents, leaving them crippled, demoralized and (more often than not) with soiled britches.
AW: One of my ambitions when I switched over to the XFA was to make the top100. I did....it lasted a day!!! I will settle for a top 10 finish in the Championship this season and then I will push for promotion. The non-prem cup is another ambition of mine. Key strategies involve playing attractive football, resisting the temptaion to buy yet another striker and trying to keep wages relitively low. My obsession with strikers does not really help with this aim!!!
CB: Great goal for the championship Ant. I would love to see you come top 10- just stop sapping my freaking points away to achieve your goal!
AW: I think you take this a little too seriously!!!
If you had one tip for 'noobs' in FML what would it be and why?
CB: I've been known to pour advice on anyone who wants (or sometimes doesn't want) advice. And each time I say the same thing: "new guy- don't let your squad inflate over 17 players. You can only field 11 at a time, and no one is gonna suffer 6 injuries all at the same time!" So again, keep the squad sizes down people!
AW:Get involved, join in, dont give up. Dont post in the market place more than every 10 mins!!! My team were awful in my second season in St John. Finished bottom of the EEFA Premiership with only 3 wins to my name. I sold all of my best players, stockpiled money, moved to the XFA and have not looked back!!!
CB: I find it hard to tell new teams not to give up after thrashing them 9-0...maybe it's just me?
AW :I cant say fairer than that!
Everyone makes mistakes- what would you say is the daftest thing you have done so far in FML?
CB: Mistakes? what the hell are those? No, but seriously I think the worst mistake I made was the deal involving Arjen Robben. I cleared my entire youth team and 15-20% of my senior squad to get him. Bankrupted myself in the process.
AW: Posting in the market place more often than every 10 mins!!!!
CB: Barring the Robben deal, I would say losing to Godswill 2 consecutive times in the Championship was pretty daft.
AW: That was pretty crazy. I think it is amazing how people will throw everything including the kitchen sink to get an awesome player. There is no point playing Ronaldo and 10 other spanners...it will get you nowhere!! One man doth not maketh a team!!!
Utter fanatics like Dan Malone have 'burned out' playing FML and given it up- could this ever happen to you ?
CB: Certain 'fanatics' should have their 'fanatic' status re-evaluated. I can't get enough Champy to save my life. If I could F$!* this game I would marry it.
AW:I would like to think not....however my wife may confiscate my laptop. Sometimes I think she would rather I had an affair!!!!
CB: Ant you should read my chat logs talking about the joys of sex from behind. Just set the laptop up on your mistress' back and you can "pull and play". If your wife would prefer the affair, this way you're both winners!
AW: How sweet! A match made in heaven. I have heard they go for things like that in Canada. Marriage to inanimate objects!!!
Jonno Pereira is well known as my 'pet' player- do you have a pet or favourite player? Ramble wildly about them for a bit....
CB: I am a very sentimental manager. But I am also a brutal manager. Obviously every striker to work his way through my ranks meets my top list. Helmes was a great player, but I simply wore him out...now I hear he is rotting away on Pingvinen's payroll. Omar Bravo was a big favourite of mine, I was sad to see him age and go (but I was happy to take the 1.25mil for him <:emoticon#67>) Asamoah has won my hearts, and the hearts of my fans with his ridiculously speedy antics (picture Bravo...but younger and a bit less Mexican). Fabio Q- although moody at times, has always been my golden boy. I've tracked his progress since 3 seasons ago when Victorian Queue signed his sexy ***. Now he is mine, in all of his old, red arrowed, glory. I've never had a favourite defender that comes to mind, so I won't worry about them. Midfield is where my true passion has always been. A few season ago I had a midfield so strong it put Patrick Helmes out of business! Players like Alex maranhao, Mateus and Carlos Esquivel (whom I resigned for a short spell last season) are my favourite. I prefer a midfield full of sexy playmaking, longshot beast monsters. Luis Jimenez anyone?
And lastly, a special note about my favourite wingers. Kanga Akale, Alberto Medina and Javier Angel Balboa. All 3 were fast, great crossing and had their moments.
AW:I thought he was your love child!!! I was obsessed with Tobias Grahn for a season or two, I loved the way that boy took a free kick!!! At the moment my keeper is my favourite. He can't do wrong for me. Even when he does!!!! He loves playing against the bigger teams and pulls out an absolute stormer!!!! Then he plays like a bag of ****e and scores and OG or something against dross!!!
CB: my players can't do wrong for me either. If they do I beat them and then sell them. It's a love/hate relationship.
AW: I think you and Kylar take this too far!!! Pet names for your favourite players!! Fabio Q, Johno!!! Next it will be 'snuggles' and 'fluffy bum'!!!
You are having dinner and a few bottles of wine with Ov Collyer- what do you say to him?
CB: Fancy a match Ov?
AW:I hope you are paying for this because my wife has left me because of my addiction to your stupid game!!!!
CB: So Ov, I met this recently seperated woman the other day...
Monday 25 May 2009
Tuesday 12 May 2009
Interview with Chris Gillman, manager of Beggarwood Athletic
Our roving reporter met up with Chris Gillman, the Beggarwood Athletic manager, at the end of his first season to ask him about the tactical side to his rise through the FML rankings.
Chris, your team is rising up the world rankings. How much do you think your unusual 4231 formation is helping to improve your team’s fortunes?
CG I'd like to think it has played a fairly significant part. We had seemed to hit a bit of a wall with what we were playing before so I decided to play to what I thought would best accommodate my best players.
How did you decide upon your current formation? Did you look at the players at your disposal and build a formation around that, or did you start with a formation and recruit a team around it?
CG It was a mixture of both to be honest. I could see that I just wasn't creating enough goals with my old formation, and it was clear to be that my wingers we my weak link. I was also inspired by Liverpool's current formation, but I knew that I had to narrow it as I knew that my players weren't quite of the caliber of Torres and Gerrard and so I wouldn't score enough goals with the level of width Liverpool play with. As a Benitez style tactic, it's been a far more successful attempt to recreate his work that anything I've managed in any of the offline versions of the game. And when I saw that El-Hadji Diouf was available, it swung my decision to change my tactics as I felt he was likely to be a perfect fit!
As a Liverpool fan you must have been pleased to bag a former Anfield player. As your record signing, how is El-Hadji Diouf, is he faring at the The Warren?
CG Diouf has been a great signing for me. He's averaged over 7 for me in all games and his 6 competitive matches have resulted in an average rating of 7.36. I've not had a lot of opportunity to play him where I've wanted to yet as he filled in at AMC while my first choice was injured for a week and since he's gone up front he's suffered from injury himself. He's due back later this evening though and I'm looking forward to trying him out with my other off-season signings.
With most of the top teams playing a form of 451, how do your tactics deal with that formation? And are you confident of breaking into the higher reaches of the gameworld rankings?
CG I haven't come across a lot of teams that play 451, it has to be said, although I suspect that this is because I'm not high enough in the rankings yet. At home, I have narrowed my pitch in an attempt to stifle teams that play with a lot of width and away there are a few tweaks to be made to help us to cope. I'd like to think that we are capable to reaching the upper regions of the ranking eventually. I'm confident that the tactics are fully capable of it, but I'm well aware that with my current squad of players we are still a long way off the pace.
Before you settled on your 4231, what previous formations did you try? How successful were these attempts?
CG I've only really played with one other formation. I only had one decent forward in my initial squad so I played a 4-5-1 with a DM, an ML a MR and two AMCs. It worked well, up to a point. We were solid defensively but just couldn't score enough goals to progress beyond a certain level. I was very proud to win the mover of the week award in my first week, gaining 533 places but we levelled off after this and the lack of goals really began to hit home in the league. We ended up finishing 5th but with the second best defensive record conceding just 29 goals in my 38 matches but I was frustrated by numerous 1-0 defeats in matches that I ought to be winning! Changing to my new tactic late in the season brought me 8 wins, a draw and a defeat to the champion's CarTOON United in my last 10 matches, which was very satisfying.
Having completed a successful first season in StJohn, had you played in other FML gameworlds before, or just Football Manager before that?
CG This was my first ever look at FML and I'm still getting to grips with some of its nuances. I lost my best defender in a wage auction yesterday as I hadn't fully appreciated quite how it worked, but I'm learning from my mistakes and I'm fully enjoying the experience. I've been with Football Manager since it's reincarnation and the first football management game I owned was CM97/98.
Having joined an older gameworld in its fourth season, what tips do you have to managers considering a move to StJohn?
CG The best tip I can give is to get involved. There is far more to get gained from the game if you're friendly, chatty and sociable. From what I've heard about v1.2 this is going to become a bigger part of the game anyway and I think it's a great decision by SI. I think the blog is a great idea to keep people up to date with GW information and I've enjoyed contributing to it both now and with the AFA articles last season. Another think I can advise is to be honest. There's no substitution for a good reputation and of course, if you get a bad rep it's nigh on impossible to shake, no matter how much you might insist you've reformed.
What can we expect from Beggarwood Athletic in season five?
CG I'm hoping for a rather boring top half finish in the league this season. There are still some changes that I want to make to my squad and I'm not sure how long it's going to take me to plug these gaps. Last season we showed ourselves to be a bit of a cup team and if I get a good draw I'd like to challenge for the Non-Premiership Cup and hopefully get a couple of wins in the AEFA cup too.
Chris, thanks for the interview and best luck in season five!
Chris, your team is rising up the world rankings. How much do you think your unusual 4231 formation is helping to improve your team’s fortunes?
CG I'd like to think it has played a fairly significant part. We had seemed to hit a bit of a wall with what we were playing before so I decided to play to what I thought would best accommodate my best players.
How did you decide upon your current formation? Did you look at the players at your disposal and build a formation around that, or did you start with a formation and recruit a team around it?
CG It was a mixture of both to be honest. I could see that I just wasn't creating enough goals with my old formation, and it was clear to be that my wingers we my weak link. I was also inspired by Liverpool's current formation, but I knew that I had to narrow it as I knew that my players weren't quite of the caliber of Torres and Gerrard and so I wouldn't score enough goals with the level of width Liverpool play with. As a Benitez style tactic, it's been a far more successful attempt to recreate his work that anything I've managed in any of the offline versions of the game. And when I saw that El-Hadji Diouf was available, it swung my decision to change my tactics as I felt he was likely to be a perfect fit!
As a Liverpool fan you must have been pleased to bag a former Anfield player. As your record signing, how is El-Hadji Diouf, is he faring at the The Warren?
CG Diouf has been a great signing for me. He's averaged over 7 for me in all games and his 6 competitive matches have resulted in an average rating of 7.36. I've not had a lot of opportunity to play him where I've wanted to yet as he filled in at AMC while my first choice was injured for a week and since he's gone up front he's suffered from injury himself. He's due back later this evening though and I'm looking forward to trying him out with my other off-season signings.
El-Hadji Diouf - stylish
Without wanting you to divulge your tactical secrets, playing two midfielders in a defensive position and three in an attacking position, how do you cope with a lack of wide players?
CG Most of the time, we cope okay. Having two defensive midfielders allows my fullbacks the freedom to get forward without leaving me too exposed at the back.
CG Most of the time, we cope okay. Having two defensive midfielders allows my fullbacks the freedom to get forward without leaving me too exposed at the back.
With most of the top teams playing a form of 451, how do your tactics deal with that formation? And are you confident of breaking into the higher reaches of the gameworld rankings?
CG I haven't come across a lot of teams that play 451, it has to be said, although I suspect that this is because I'm not high enough in the rankings yet. At home, I have narrowed my pitch in an attempt to stifle teams that play with a lot of width and away there are a few tweaks to be made to help us to cope. I'd like to think that we are capable to reaching the upper regions of the ranking eventually. I'm confident that the tactics are fully capable of it, but I'm well aware that with my current squad of players we are still a long way off the pace.
Before you settled on your 4231, what previous formations did you try? How successful were these attempts?
CG I've only really played with one other formation. I only had one decent forward in my initial squad so I played a 4-5-1 with a DM, an ML a MR and two AMCs. It worked well, up to a point. We were solid defensively but just couldn't score enough goals to progress beyond a certain level. I was very proud to win the mover of the week award in my first week, gaining 533 places but we levelled off after this and the lack of goals really began to hit home in the league. We ended up finishing 5th but with the second best defensive record conceding just 29 goals in my 38 matches but I was frustrated by numerous 1-0 defeats in matches that I ought to be winning! Changing to my new tactic late in the season brought me 8 wins, a draw and a defeat to the champion's CarTOON United in my last 10 matches, which was very satisfying.
Having completed a successful first season in StJohn, had you played in other FML gameworlds before, or just Football Manager before that?
CG This was my first ever look at FML and I'm still getting to grips with some of its nuances. I lost my best defender in a wage auction yesterday as I hadn't fully appreciated quite how it worked, but I'm learning from my mistakes and I'm fully enjoying the experience. I've been with Football Manager since it's reincarnation and the first football management game I owned was CM97/98.
Having joined an older gameworld in its fourth season, what tips do you have to managers considering a move to StJohn?
CG The best tip I can give is to get involved. There is far more to get gained from the game if you're friendly, chatty and sociable. From what I've heard about v1.2 this is going to become a bigger part of the game anyway and I think it's a great decision by SI. I think the blog is a great idea to keep people up to date with GW information and I've enjoyed contributing to it both now and with the AFA articles last season. Another think I can advise is to be honest. There's no substitution for a good reputation and of course, if you get a bad rep it's nigh on impossible to shake, no matter how much you might insist you've reformed.
What can we expect from Beggarwood Athletic in season five?
CG I'm hoping for a rather boring top half finish in the league this season. There are still some changes that I want to make to my squad and I'm not sure how long it's going to take me to plug these gaps. Last season we showed ourselves to be a bit of a cup team and if I get a good draw I'd like to challenge for the Non-Premiership Cup and hopefully get a couple of wins in the AEFA cup too.
Chris, thanks for the interview and best luck in season five!
Your Groundsman is Your Best Friend
We're a day away from the fifth season in StJohn and managers across the gameworld will be wondering whether they've bought the right players, picked the right formation and devised the right tactic for a successful season. But is their pitch the right size for their team?
Size does matter
If you look at real-life football, it's no surprise that teams like Manchester United have a long pitch, and teams like Bolton Wanderers have a narrow pitch and the same is true, possibly more so for FML. It's often said in football that the crowd is the 12th man; in FML, the groundsman is certainly the 13th, and he can be your best friend in your pursuit of success. Pitch size can be changed from the stadium screen - click the 'edit details' button to change the length and width.
What size fits me?
A look at your players and tactics gives a good idea of the size you'd want. As a general rule of thumb, attacking teams will prosper on larger, longer, wider pitches, while defensive teams will benefit from a smaller, shorter, narrower pitch.
Fast players like longer pitches as they gives attackers room to run, while speedy defenders will not be phased by the larger distances they need to cover at the back. Having a longer pitch, though, will cause problems for players with low stamina or playing with a high tempo, as the side may well run out of steam before the end of the match (start making mistakes, misplacing passes and shipping late goals). Wide pitches generally provide more attacking options and are great for teams looking to exploit the flanks and are ideal for any side with quality wingers. Again, defending becomes harder on a wide pitch, as fullbacks and also centrebacks find themselves dragged out of formation to cover an attack from wide.
While a small pitch is a perfect choice for a team looking to defend, it is also a great option for a team looking to close down the opposition and to counter-attack: with smaller distances to cover, a well-organised team can press, catch the opposition in possession and break with success. Some formations particularly benefit from a smaller surface, in particular, the 451. The shorter length makes runs from the midfielders more effective and the narrower width makes flooding the midfield even more successfully when space is at a premium.
What if my pitch size isn't working?
Unlike real-life football, you can change your pitch dimensions at any stage (other than during a match, obviously). If your current dimensions don't suit, if you're about to face an opponent's pesky 451, or if you're worried about facing wing wizards in your upcoming cup tie, why not change? Experiment, and if your changes are successful and your groundsman does become your best friend, we'd love to hear from you!
Monday 11 May 2009
AEFA Goes Global
There are some new exciting features starting in the StJohn AEFA as of today,
The brand new news ticker is now up and running in the AEFA chatroom keeping members bang up to date with all the latest news, rumours and players available.
The new AEFA TV channel will kick off on the first day of season 5, giving players the chance to jump straight into live matches and those all important games as they happen.
The AEFA daily newspaper has been extended to 4 pages, covering each division in more detail - meaning more press coverage for each team and its manager.
These are exciting new features all available first in AEFA - come join the best!
The brand new news ticker is now up and running in the AEFA chatroom keeping members bang up to date with all the latest news, rumours and players available.
The new AEFA TV channel will kick off on the first day of season 5, giving players the chance to jump straight into live matches and those all important games as they happen.
The AEFA daily newspaper has been extended to 4 pages, covering each division in more detail - meaning more press coverage for each team and its manager.
These are exciting new features all available first in AEFA - come join the best!
Thursday 7 May 2009
The Tactics Chalkboard - Part One: Winning Formations
Welcome to the Tactics Chalkboard, where we will be taking a close look at the tactical side to FML: what works, what doesn't and what's going on across the gameworlds.
Today, we're looking at the winning formations used by top teams. There has been much discussion of this on the Football Manager Live forums: some folk think that certain formations are overpowered 'ubertactics', others that some formations just aren't worth playing, and even a few that think that it's impossible to become a successful team unless you play a 4-5-1. We thought we would put these theories to the test, by looking at the formations used by StJohn's top 40 teams and were pretty surprised to see how throughly the 451 had thrashed all its rival formations.
Attack of the Clones
Of the top 40 managers, almost three quarters, use a variant of the 451 formation. Of the 29 managers in total using a 451, the majority fielded a side with an AML, an AMR and three central midfielders (the 'arrowhead' formation); the remainder a flat 451 or some similar variant. The arrowhead is the formation used by Cihangir Kirac's gameworld-topping Turkiye and six other managers in the top ten use a 451 style tactic.
I spoke to Ben Talbott, manager of 31st ranked Last Minute Wanderers, and asked him if he thought the flat 451 he used was what forum posters described as an ubertactic. "Ubertactic, my backside!" he replied, just as his team conceded a goal against play to The Unexpected Spanish Inquisition (whose chief weapon is surprise... surprise and fear... etc). "To be honest, though, I always played a variation of 451 in FM, so it would have been my default tactic here if it wasn't for the fact I wanted to be different," he added, "I lasted two seasons of being different and then I had to return to what I knew best!"
Only four teams in the top 40 play the traditional 442. "I love teams that play the 442," said Abe Roddney, the Daredevils FC manager. "It's the fairest tactic. You can score a lot of goals. You can also concede a lot of goals!" Nineteenth placed James Recury's Volusia County are the only team to play a 532, using a successful attacking variant of the formation. And only one team in the top 40 plays a 424, Manchelski United in 25th place.
The Phantom Menace
The second most popular formation amongst the top 40 is the 460 with five managers using the tactic. In its most common variant, the formation will have the usual four at the back, then a layer of ML, MC, MR and in front of that, a layer of AMC, AMC, AMC. The popularity and notoriety of the tactic is fairly recent, but the 460 is proving particularly successful for Flanders Angels in 2nd, T-Bag Town in 3rd and CFC FC in 4th. Roughly modelled on the Roma tactic with Totti, you can find out more about the 460 here, though it does seem a little more famous in FML than in real life - type football, 460 and formation into Google and a post on the SI forums is the top result! While there have been rumblings from certain quarters about the formation, words like 'hacktic' and 'exploit' muttered, it will not be long before more managers jump onto the bandwagon!
________________________
We'd like to hear from you! Are you powering up the gameworld rankings with a rare formation? Are you one of the few that plays three or five at the back, or, rarer still, someone that plays a traditional 433 with three out-and-out strikers?
In Part Two, as the vast majority of the top 40 managers are playing either a 451 or a 460, we'll look at some common ways to counter these formations!
Wednesday 6 May 2009
Interview with Frecheville Blades' manager, Nik Reeves-McLaren
The Fiery Baptist's roving reporter met up with Nik Reeves-McLaren at the close of season four, to talk about relegation woes, the future for StJohn and the lovely Liz Phair.
It’s not been a great season for the Frecheville Blades, with only five wins in the All Evening Premiership. How has your side reacted to the relegation?
NRM It’s been a tricky season. I’ve got a long-term plan which will hopefully pay off for me – I’ve been in FML a long time, and one mistake I’ve possibly made in the past has been to make small incremental changes (i.e. sign a slightly better left back for a lot of money, and sell my old one for a pittance) or to be too reactionary (at the first sign of a dodgy season, sell sell sell! and buy buy buy!). This season, things were clearly going awry, but I decided to stick to the plan – I didn’t over-react, I didn’t make wholesale changes... Relegation should give me the time and space to blood some youth and build for a stronger future.
NRM It’s been a tricky season. I’ve got a long-term plan which will hopefully pay off for me – I’ve been in FML a long time, and one mistake I’ve possibly made in the past has been to make small incremental changes (i.e. sign a slightly better left back for a lot of money, and sell my old one for a pittance) or to be too reactionary (at the first sign of a dodgy season, sell sell sell! and buy buy buy!). This season, things were clearly going awry, but I decided to stick to the plan – I didn’t over-react, I didn’t make wholesale changes... Relegation should give me the time and space to blood some youth and build for a stronger future.
Season four... a bit 'meh'!
As a real-life Sheffield United fan, you will know how important it is to try and bounce back into the top flight. Are you confident of promotion from the Championship in season five?
NRM As a Sheffield United fan, I’m never confident of anything – I know my team will ultimately only bring pain and disappointment! I’m hoping for a better season than this one just finishing, but a lot will depend on the wage auctions over the next week...
Season five... a bit more 'yeah'?
With a commercial focus and the lowest wage bill in your division, half that of last year’s winners, Flanders Angels, do you think this financial prudence cost you your place in the Premiership or do you reckon that living within your means is the longer-term key to success?
NRM It has definitely cost me – I lack one or two key players that could really make a difference in a game. My squad is a lot weaker than those around me, so I needed to rely on tactics and luck. Both let me down badly this season; I could probably name 10 games I should’ve won but didn’t. That said – I’ve tried the high risk, high wage strategy in the past, and it’s not the plan for the Blades in StJohn... I’m trying ‘slow and steady wins the race’ this time round – it’s all about seasons 6 and 7...
It looks like all-change at the Beautiful Downtown New Bramall Lane Stadium, with key players like Nikola Zigic, Gary Glen and David Jarolim out and striker Raffaele Palladino and defensive midfielder Sandro Silva in. What should we expect from the Blades’ line up for their fifth season?
NRM More changes are on the way, certainly. Zigic was getting on, and I got offered a decent deal. That took £24k off my wage bill: 20% of the total at the time! Glen has had four seasons to make an impact, and hasn’t. Jarolim was a legend in his time at the Lane, but was fading badly with age. With Palladino and Silva I’ve added genuine class to the team, and I think the future recruits will only be even better. I’m looking to add some real sparkle in midfield and attack.
While the seniors may have struggled this season, your youth side has reached the knockout stages of the StJohn U19 Cup and the semi-finals of the StJohn U17 Cup. With some exciting talent on the Blades’ books, will youth development play a large part in the future of the club?
NRM Youth development was never a huge part of my plan – but it makes sense for any financially prudent manager to have an easy source of cheap talent. The youths have been steadily ranked in the top 30 in the world, which bodes well for the future, and this season I’ve been very pleased with their progress. That said, I’ve just sold two of the brightest prospects for sizeable fees. Prudence works both ways!
As a veteran of several gameworlds, for how long have you been playing FML? And did you come cold to FML, or had you honed your skills playing Football Manager before that? And when did you become a gameworld moderator?
NRM I’ve been playing FML since, I believe, the 25th of June, 2007. It’ll be two years next month! I’ve been playing SI's football management game since the very beginning, much to the bemusement of my wife! I realised fairly early on that I wanted more from FML than I was getting, and so when the opportunity to become a moderator came up, in December 2007, I asked for more information. I was off work ill at the time, so I logged off for an hour to get some rest. When I logged back on, I was in a new gameworld and had a blue stripe... It was something of a surprise!
How do you see the role of a gameworld moderator? What virtues should a successful moderator possess and what vices should they avoid?
NRM I think FML needs all different sorts of moderators, and for mods to act as a team. I’m probably more the community builder, the diplomat; we also need disciplinarians, enforcers, scouts (people who have a knack for spotting cheats) etc... To be a moderator, you need to be ‘whiter than white’, putting the gameworld’s health and the standing of the mod team above the health of your own team. You need to be committed, willing to put a lot of hours in for free. You need to be professional, helpful and confident as well. Clearly you need to be able and willing to follow the rules of the game! Lastly – you need to be a team player; there’s nothing quite so terrifying as a mod gone rogue...
StJohn is currently in close-season, allowing new and experienced managers to join. Why do you think StJohn is a great gameworld, and what tips do you have for managers new to StJohn?
NRM I really do think StJohn is a top gameworld – I’ve been in six or seven now, and it’s definitely my favourite. We have a terrific community, with lots going on and plenty of friendly banter and chat. From a mod’s perspective, there has been a lot less trouble in StJohn that I’ve been used to elsewhere. Many of those managers who have left StJohn for new worlds have been starting to return. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Tips for new managers – sign up and get involved, make use of the chatrooms. Ask for advice in game – we’ve loads of helpful members who can give you far better tips than me!
You have spoken before about FAs evolving, developing distinctive character as the gameworld matures. With the fifth season in StJohn a week away, how do you see the gameworld progressing?
NRM I think a gameworld needs to evolve to stay fresh and to keep engaging its members – we need to constantly re-evaluate what we are doing right and what we’re getting wrong. We need to not be scared to make big changes if they are right for our community. I would personally like to see a move to having some bigger FAs with structures much more like the English FA. At the moment, FML fails those teams who are weaker or new by over-exposing them to too many big sides, too soon. Everyone likes a challenge; no-one likes getting a thumping every week. We need to keep working to find the balance there – as do all gameworlds.
With moderators doing much to encourage their gameworld’s community, do you have any tips for managers wanting to get involved in the community but not sure where to start?
NRM The best and easiest place for people to start is to add character to their team and FA – use your imagination and write something about your team, your division, your rivalries... anything! Mail it to people. Any quality work can easily be hosted on the GWs own blog too – it’s this sort of character that makes StJohn special.
As an active member in the wider FML community beyond StJohn, as well as writing for the Fiery Baptist, you also run your own blog and contribute to another. Could you tell us a little about these sites?
NRM My own blog, A Mod’s Life, was the first ever blog for FML, which I’m rather proud of. It’s still going too, with regular features on the progress of the Frecheville Blades. The new site I’m contributing to is called gameworldone.com, which intends to really become a one-stop shop for everything and anything to do with FML. They’ve got some terrific writers on board, and a strong StJohn contingent, so hopefully it will do well!
Lastly, Nik, if you were visited by the FML genie and he offered you three FML-related wishes, what would be your picks?
NRM One, in the words of the beautiful and talented singer Liz Phair, in one of her songs: “it has got to be shitloads of M-O-N-E-Y, money”. Two, Sergio Aguero – he led the line for me in GW2, and I’ve never recovered from selling him! And three, an active and fun-filled future for StJohn!
Nik, many thanks for the interview and best luck with the Blades in season five!
Monday 4 May 2009
XFA season round up
Premier League
As season 4 draws to a close we have seen Turkyie take top spot in the Premier League once again. St John's most famous team did not let their fans down, before the season had kicked off there was talk that Hajduk Spliff would give them a run for their money however this was soon dispelled once Cihangir's team got into their stride. Second place went to Shiny Toy Guns which have sadly moved onto pastures new. Coming in a respectable 3rd place was Geordies Utd, a very solid and well run club under the stewardship of Shaun Punton. With Raynes Park Rangers and Hajduk Spliff finishing 4th and 5th respectively the XFA will be able to boast a strong line up in the UFFA Gold Cup once again.
Championship
The Championship was won by Never Back Down FC but with a very annoying 100% AI. Second place was secured by Club Athlectico de Middleton and James Crumps' Crumstars coming in third. James will be wheeling and dealing in the pre season I would think since this will be his second promotion running, a rapid raise to the land of milk and honey can sometimes see team become the whipping boys but with Mr Crumps tactical nounce I think they will do ok.
Onslaught and Lazio United coming in 4th and 5th will be looking at the possible chance of playing in the Premier League as well with 6 places available this time around.
League 1A
Bishop Ultras have taken their first silverware with the 1A title which sparked scenes of amusement when Jon Williams was reportedly seen celebrating in the board room with a glass of Fanta. Amaranth J F C came second and some of the media have found this quite an achievment with rumours their manager, Chris Parkin, prefering the lobby chatroom to the training pitch. Ritchie Coles' Natural Born Losers managed to win a close battle with Horse's Head FC for the third spot. With only one point separating them in the final few games it really was an interesting battle.
League 1B
Chris Buchan's merry gang of thugs and opertunists won this league and in doing so got their hands on their first silverware for Boocan VFC after finishing second three times in the MLFA. Harcester United brought home the runners up spot and battle for third and fourth between Emperor Elite F.C and Peking University saw Godswill's troops triumph.
League 1C
League 1C title went to Million Town managed by Jamie Vinall. Atheletico Dalek and Tyne And Wear Boys came in second and third but a special mention to one of the more colourful managers around, "The Hoff" of Chelsea Football Club. Coming in last place in never nice, however to come last and still only have 8% AI games is impressive, a big round of applause from everyone please...
That just leaves the cups.
The XFA Cup went to Manchelski United .
And Never Back Down took the Non Premier League Cup.
Congratulations to everyone that won their league or cup, but dont forget, it all starts again next season.......
As season 4 draws to a close we have seen Turkyie take top spot in the Premier League once again. St John's most famous team did not let their fans down, before the season had kicked off there was talk that Hajduk Spliff would give them a run for their money however this was soon dispelled once Cihangir's team got into their stride. Second place went to Shiny Toy Guns which have sadly moved onto pastures new. Coming in a respectable 3rd place was Geordies Utd, a very solid and well run club under the stewardship of Shaun Punton. With Raynes Park Rangers and Hajduk Spliff finishing 4th and 5th respectively the XFA will be able to boast a strong line up in the UFFA Gold Cup once again.
Championship
The Championship was won by Never Back Down FC but with a very annoying 100% AI. Second place was secured by Club Athlectico de Middleton and James Crumps' Crumstars coming in third. James will be wheeling and dealing in the pre season I would think since this will be his second promotion running, a rapid raise to the land of milk and honey can sometimes see team become the whipping boys but with Mr Crumps tactical nounce I think they will do ok.
Onslaught and Lazio United coming in 4th and 5th will be looking at the possible chance of playing in the Premier League as well with 6 places available this time around.
League 1A
Bishop Ultras have taken their first silverware with the 1A title which sparked scenes of amusement when Jon Williams was reportedly seen celebrating in the board room with a glass of Fanta. Amaranth J F C came second and some of the media have found this quite an achievment with rumours their manager, Chris Parkin, prefering the lobby chatroom to the training pitch. Ritchie Coles' Natural Born Losers managed to win a close battle with Horse's Head FC for the third spot. With only one point separating them in the final few games it really was an interesting battle.
League 1B
Chris Buchan's merry gang of thugs and opertunists won this league and in doing so got their hands on their first silverware for Boocan VFC after finishing second three times in the MLFA. Harcester United brought home the runners up spot and battle for third and fourth between Emperor Elite F.C and Peking University saw Godswill's troops triumph.
League 1C
League 1C title went to Million Town managed by Jamie Vinall. Atheletico Dalek and Tyne And Wear Boys came in second and third but a special mention to one of the more colourful managers around, "The Hoff" of Chelsea Football Club. Coming in last place in never nice, however to come last and still only have 8% AI games is impressive, a big round of applause from everyone please...
That just leaves the cups.
The XFA Cup went to Manchelski United .
And Never Back Down took the Non Premier League Cup.
Congratulations to everyone that won their league or cup, but dont forget, it all starts again next season.......
EEFA more bemused than concerned by CAPS GATE
In the aftermath of the scathing all caps attack by Black Cats Manager David Richardson on the EEFA and its unsuitability as an association due to AI games the mood in the EEFA has been more investigatory than worried. “is he talking about us?” was the comment by one member of the chat room, and a fellow Premier league manager like David Richardson, bemused that Richardson would label the EEFA an inactive association despite its strong community sprit and in particular a strong nexus of premiership managers that frequent the EEFA’s official chat room. At time of writing the EEFA premiership race is still wide open after a dog eat dog season that until the bank holiday weekend had as many as 7 or 8 clubs considering the open top bus route to celebrate the league title. Whilst the wider AI inactivity that affects every game world and not just StJohn has seen only 6 clubs in a 20 man league with an unsatisfactory AI game percent tarnish what for many has been the best league campaign in terms of competitiveness and friendly banter.
Whilst this weekend many of the teams are falling away into the also ran category as Real Bierge and Tangerine Dream led by the powerful scoring records of Vagner Love and Emmanual Adebayor respectively assert there late season dominance over the rest of the league, to take the season down to the wire once again. Real Bierge who finished last seasons runners up thanks to a final game defeat look to take there first league title as they currently hold a 4 point gap over last years Champions and this years EEFA cup winners Tangerine Dream. However with the sides still to face each other there is no need to get a head start on the cup engraving just yet. Whilst further back the race for 4th place hots up with only 4 points separating 4 teams.
Going forward the mood in the EEFA is one of real optimism and hope for many clubs. The top half of the Prem has a few teams considering themselves just a couple of players away from a more competitive league push next season, whilst the Championship sees a number of dedicated managers on the march for top flight football and a chance to be part of one of the fiercest but most community driven top leagues of football across StJohn.
At time of writing Black Cats sit 19th in the EEFA Premiership
Saturday 2 May 2009
AEFA Update: FLANDERS STILL LEAD WAY
Flanders Angels remain 3 points clear at top of the top flight of AEFA football and, with games in hand, they look a dead cert to be crowned champions.
Poor old
Either way the season is far from over and plenty of football to be played in this league!
The AEFA Championship
Three teams are still battling it out to see who will take the AEFA Championship title. Socialrejects are sitting top at the moment, but it's really to close to call with Blackley Rangers and form team killerkeiths also right on their tails and with games in hand over the leaders.
The Noirs and Milliegram Rangers also proving very talented teams, having had good solid seasons so far.
Pity The Fool, mightymacs05 and Buyukada all sit mid table but have picked up some good results in the last few days to show they are far from pushovers.
Claydon Ducks are struggling in 17th and Am
This is a really tight league and nobody is sure who will go up to the promised land of Premiership football - one thing is for sure... it's anyone's for the taking!
AEFA Division 1A
ACS Alco sit top at moment in Division 1a but wont be getting promoted is the rumour as they have a fat 100% AI in the league. They sit 8 points clear of active league leader Falkirk Ultras who have played a game more than the leaders but have got some very good results and top performances from Jan Schlaudraff who has banged in the goals for them.
Petts Wood FC sit 3rd but the second top active team is Hollborn United who are showing real promise with such a small and young squad, especially Edu Bedia who at 23 is proving to be a good talent.
Cratallica and Fly Bhoys both have more wins than losses and lie just above mid table, while Devon fc are struggling but should be safe come end of the season.
Gramtham are bottom of active players but with 2 teams with 100% AI below them they may be OK yet!
AEFA Division 1B
hull city gooners have pretty much clinched the 1B crown as they sit a huge 17 points clear of 2nd place Tackeroo FC. However, since Tackeroo FC have 100% AI, it's up to 3rd place Real Salehgotha to keep the challenge up!
Joaquín Larrivey of hull city gooners has 18 goals in 26 games which has really helped the team get so far ahead, but Real Salehgotha have their own in form striker with Quirino nabbing 16 goals in 24 games, both very impressive tallies for the season.
FK Red Star Belgrade are having a good season in 4th and Fc Allstars sit 8 further points back in 6th place.
Millyard FC, Chillash FC and Kaiser Chiefs FC occupy mid table while Lapford Spurs AFC sit bottom of the active players but still occupy 14th.
Friday 1 May 2009
Friday's Transfer Update! 1st May 2009
Well, it's that time of the week again - and what a week of wheeling and dealing it has been!
There were no fewer than 38 seven-figure deals in StJohn this week, with several of those being very significant deals indeed - some of the biggest stars in the world were on the move this week!
As reported last week, and still the biggest move of the last 7 days, was Sergio 'Kun' Agüero's (above) £5.5M move last Saturday from Hajduk Spliff FC to CFC FC. With 59 goals and 37 assists in his first 51 appearances, it's safe to say that signing the Argentine genius was money well spent.
Ian Bush's Victorian Queue were making yet more headlines, splashing out a huge £4.7M fee for Spanish midfield maestro, Francesc Fàbregas. Boshka Start FC will surely miss him!
A long transfer auction eventually saw Lionel Messi leave quitters NK Jogurt to sign for Marc Thom's Beetlejuice, where he's made an excellent start, nabbing 5 goals in 4 games.
Finally, T-Bag Town boss Lee Jones will be happy at grabbing the Brazilian trickster Robinho in a deal rumoured to be worth around £3.7M. This stunning maneuver was funded largely through the sale of 19-year old Italian defensive sensation Davide Ricci to Tom Curtis' Tactically Inept.
This week's Steal Of The Week? Well, Kun's move may not seem a steal, but with returns like his... maybe it should count. Otherwise, Mark Horsham's Newtongrange Hibernian seem to have done a very nice bit of business in snapping up Italian winger Davide Marchini for £30,000 from FC Tornado. Marchini has an average rating of 7.19 from his opening 26 appearances for his new side.
There were no fewer than 38 seven-figure deals in StJohn this week, with several of those being very significant deals indeed - some of the biggest stars in the world were on the move this week!
As reported last week, and still the biggest move of the last 7 days, was Sergio 'Kun' Agüero's (above) £5.5M move last Saturday from Hajduk Spliff FC to CFC FC. With 59 goals and 37 assists in his first 51 appearances, it's safe to say that signing the Argentine genius was money well spent.
Ian Bush's Victorian Queue were making yet more headlines, splashing out a huge £4.7M fee for Spanish midfield maestro, Francesc Fàbregas. Boshka Start FC will surely miss him!
A long transfer auction eventually saw Lionel Messi leave quitters NK Jogurt to sign for Marc Thom's Beetlejuice, where he's made an excellent start, nabbing 5 goals in 4 games.
Finally, T-Bag Town boss Lee Jones will be happy at grabbing the Brazilian trickster Robinho in a deal rumoured to be worth around £3.7M. This stunning maneuver was funded largely through the sale of 19-year old Italian defensive sensation Davide Ricci to Tom Curtis' Tactically Inept.
This week's Steal Of The Week? Well, Kun's move may not seem a steal, but with returns like his... maybe it should count. Otherwise, Mark Horsham's Newtongrange Hibernian seem to have done a very nice bit of business in snapping up Italian winger Davide Marchini for £30,000 from FC Tornado. Marchini has an average rating of 7.19 from his opening 26 appearances for his new side.
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