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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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!

AEFA Update: FLANDERS STILL LEAD WAY

The AEFA Premiership

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.


This is in no small part to Alessandro Rosina (above) who is really showing what a class player he is this season.

Granite City Highlanders are sitting 2nd, 3 points behind, but have made a great run count lately, with Ji-Sung Park being the creative force on the pitch and 16 goals from Scott McDonald playing a important role.

Uppsala Gunners and Juicy Danglers are also doing well and prop up the top 5. DR Dazzlers
are cementing their mid table position and look safe but with still too many draws to make any impact on the league

F.C. Utd are also safe, but have a few injuries mounting up which may ruin their end of season with most notably world famous Victor Faizulin out for a couple of vital days.

Poor old Frecheville Blades sit rock bottom with only 3 wins from 29 and just 17 points. They look doomed after a miserable season!

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 Amazing 11 sit 18th on 23 points.

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.

Dazzlers on Fire !!!

Having had the Third Season of the AEFA in St Johns end with a most unexpected playoff win and promotion to the AEFA Premiership the DR Dazzlers had a long closed season ahead of them where they had to build for the challenges in the season to come.

A season of obscurity had passed in the Game World with manager Craig Legend left wondering what was required to make his team gel and move from the mid 200’s in the GW rankings and bring back those 6000 fans that deserted the DR Dazzlers in the past season.

It was decided that the team need a spark (well 3 or 4 to be honest), someone who could change the game in an instant. A Cantona figure for the Fans to idolize and team to rally around when times were hard. Marcus Aurelio had done a great job up front in the season past but could not be expected to carry the attacking burden alone heading into the abyss that was the AEFA Premiership and it formidable dominators Flanders Angels and Ass Kickers FC.

To this end Craig Legend managed to pull off the coup of the closed season in many peoples eyes bringing former Fans hero and all round GW superstar Danny back to the Dazzle Dome for a deal totaling only 344k. Both defensive misfit Alexis and midfield dynamo John Spicer left in exchange.

Danny was joined at the Dr Dazzlers by attacking midfield veteran Sergiy Nazarenko, attacking winger/striker Ross McCormack and relative unknown Mexican striker Jose luis Mendoza.

Along with the new players came a new tactical line up, a new team approach and a whole new mass of fans. The Dazzlers have gone form strength to strength in Closed Season which culminated with the team winning the AEFA Closed Season league by a single point in the final game.

With the premiership just getting under way expect another report next Friday, but the message is clear to the rest of the AEFA and St Johns GW - Be Ready, because the DR Dazzlers are coming!

DR Dazzlers' Interview on Playoff Win in Season 3

So Craig congratulations on your promotion and win in the play offs

Q:How did it improve after such a poor start to end up winning promotion is a real achievement?

A: Hi Jim, Its always a pleasure to spend some time talking to the national press about a positive issue rather than so many of the negatives of the past season.

A poor start was an understatement. Played 7 lost 7. Not what I, the players, the club or the fans were looking for. And then the speculation surrounding my position and the dreaded "vote of confidence" from the board made life a little tricky for a while there.
Its difficult to say how we managed to improve, i kept faith with the players and the game we were trying to play and eventually things began to click. I think special praise needs to go to Marcus Aurelio and David Wheater the Dazzlers joint payers of the season. Without them we would not be where we are today.


Q: What areas you looking to or have improved for the new campaign?

A: Well this is an interesting point. I really felt the system needed to change and we needed a few extra "quality stars".

This year we have moved from a 442 to a 451 variation, so we have beefed up the midfiled creativity with the arrivals of both Danny and Nazarenko. Also we were very exposed when Marcus was injured or away representing Brazil so we are delighted to have brought in Mexican super star Joes Luis Mendoza to provide him with some much needed competition up front.

It may not be the end of our summer spending yet with a top class CB on the radar, however I have to say that young Adam Pinter has matured very well in closed season and is forming an excellent partnership with Wheater.

Watch this space I would say to the clubs fans!


Q: The next season will be a much tougher challenge; do you think you and your players are ready??

A: I think you can never be anything other than 100% ready in football. Anything less and you will fail. Since we won the playoff finals I have gotten all of my top scouts compiling comprehensive reports of our new rivals so who knows. You may see another Flander Angels situation in the season to come, though I doubt it. Survival will be key for the club and the fans already know that.


Q: What's your hopes for next season?

A: Well I kind of answered that above. But I will add that The Dazzlers have become renowned within the GW St John as a team that play open attacking football and we wont be changing that in the season to come. If the big boys expect us to go away to them and defend then they have anther thing coming. It sure should make for some exciting encounters in the days to come.

Thanks for your time, Craig!

AEFA is under way

The AEFA season 4 is well under way now with games and goals all over the place

i have visited 2 games so far:

CHAMPIONSHIP

BLACKLEY RANGERS 2-1 DETONATORS

MOSS BANK PARK,MANCHESTER

19.247

A big ,noisy crowd watched this entertaining fixture with a cracking goal from pablo ledesma for Blackley levelled the game after a 2nd minute goal from Marouane Chamakh for Detonators

A missed penalty didnt put off Carlos Villaneva who got the rebound into the net


DIV1A

HOLLBORN 3-0 CRATALLICA

ANDY IVES STADIUM ,ABINGDON

A cracking start for Hollborn with 3 goals,2 from Bettiol and a own goal certainly justified after they created 15 shots with 9 on target.Cratallica had more of the possesion just did not create enough with it