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FrogMan · 01-28-2005, 01:38 PM

Youth Squad News
I pretty much never report about the youth on my team, other than for the one Kevin Joyce of this world. Main reason is that there was nothing to report about: they were all crap! As announced earlier, the training facilities at Kenilworth Road have now been upgraded to the status of top facilities *plus* youth academy. This means we now will have some sort of reason to keep a good U18 squad in place. I had read at a few places that to get some good youth promoted, you needed to have room for them. Most of my U18 players were either on unprotected contracts, or even on month to month contract, so I released all, read this, ALL of them on free transfer at the beginning of June. I kept checking the U18 squad screen every couple of days or so, but no new player had shown up, until today, June 20, 2007. Ten new players have shown up in the U18 squad, with ages ranging from 15 to 18. And I'm impressed by some of them. Here's the class of 2007 for the Hatters U18 squad...

Graeme Bailey, D L, 18yo, value: $120k
Graeme already has great tackling skills for his age (tackling=15) and is very aggressive and determined (aggression=12, determination=13). He's also a good worker (work rate=10) and has some pretty nice physical skills. He'll need to work on his marking skills (marking=6) but he'll have plenty of time to do so, and since he'll mostly play on the periphery, I figure that tackling, pace, and stamina may end up being more important (pace=14, stamina=13). I'm very impressed with a starting value of $120k, I must say...
Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile.

Paul Black, M LC, 16yo, value: $80k
For a 16yo, Paul has many skills that are already in the high average range. I can count 5 skills at 7, and many other around 6, while none at 1. He's a very aggressive (aggression=18), determined kid (determination=11) with great work ethics (work rate=16). He's already showing up as a well rounded middie for the future. If he can only improve a few skills, he could have a future for us in a 2-3 seasons... His $80k initial value is nice to see...
Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile.

Chris Chapman, M LC, 15yo, value: $32k
Chris is already an impressive player, even only at 15 years of age. He's already very accomplished at kicking set pieces (corners=18, free kicks=10, penalty=12) while his dribbling and tackling are his best technical skills (dribbling=14, tackling=10). He is also quite brave, with great composure and good positioning. Other than his pace and stamina, which could bring him down a little, his physical skills are nice too.
Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile.

Gareth Lynch, S C, 17yo, value: $36k
Gareth intrigues me a lot. I'll be curious to see how a striker can ever become useful by starting with so low finishing, heading, and long shots skills (finishing=heading=long shots=1!!!

) Thing is, he is very determing and knows where to go when he doesn't have the ball (determination=15, off the ball=16). His physical skills are also very nice, other than the strength. We'll keep an eye on him.
Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile.

Steven Mitchell, M C, 18yo, value: $48k
Steven is another interesting prospect. While he has some well developped skills, mainly kicking corners (11), or free kicks (13), or passing the ball (15), he lacks in many other aspect, not the least in positioning *and* off the ball skills (both 1). He's also aggressive (13) and very determined (14). In fact, determination seems to be a skill that runs through many of my new youth squad members. I like that.
Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile.

Ryan Morris, GK, 15yo, value: $6k
Ryan is the only keeper of this new crop, meaning he'll start about every game for the U18 squad. He already has nice handling skills for a 15yo (handling=9) and great physical skills for a keeper (agility=16, balance=13, jumping=18). He is a GREAT worker (work rate=20) which could help him develop his other skills. For a keeper, he is not very eccentric though (eccentricity=1) and most of his other keeper skills are low, but workable (around 4).
Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile.

Jimmy White, S C, 17yo, value: $6k
Jimmy has no skills that very low (no 1) but also no outstanding skills, other maybe his determination (13), his ability to work with his teammates (teamwork=10), and his good work ethic (work rate=12). An amazing jumper (jumping=20), he will have to work on his heading skill in order to take advantage of that (heading=4). He's "already" 17, so that may explain the many little things that make him show better skills overall...
Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile.

Neil Wright, S C, 16yo, value: $6k
Very similar to Jimmy White, Neil has no really bad skills, while not having many very good ones either. He's a good worker (work rate=13) and also a good jumper (jumping=16) with a tiny bit more heading skills than Jimmy (heading=6). He's a year younger than Jimmy, will be nice to see if he surpasses him when he gets to his 17th birthday.
Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile.

Danny Dixon, D/DM RL, 17yo, value: $28k
Danny is the kid with the most 1's in the whole bunch. He's very brave (15) and has great concentration (15), but the number of 1's is frightening me. The physical side of things is certainly not where he'll need to work, and hopefully his great work ethics (work rate=18) will compensate for his lack of inital skills. We'll see...
Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile.

Mike Hodges, M L, 15yo, value: $6k
Mike is quite a few seasons from seeing any big playing time outside of the U18 squad. Similar to Danny Dixon, he boasts many 1's in many spots, but he's got some good passing skills (11) which hopefully he can only improve on. He's got good physical skills, apart from possibly a fear of height and jumping (jumping=1). For now, he's roster filler...
Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile.

I've saved the screenshots of the profile of all 10 new Hatters as of June 20, 2007, and will see how they evolve over time. Should be fun to follow first over the course of this season, then after a season or two, or three

I remember asking about what happens when a 19yo is on your U18 squad. Well I sort of got my answer yesterday. A 19yo (or older I'd assume) on the U18 squad is simply considered "ineligibe". I had one 19yo kid, an original from before I took over management at Kenilworth Road, the only one on month by month contract that I had not released. He was still on the U18 squad. I hit the filter button and unticked the "show unavailable" and the player disappeared from the screen. From that, I deducted that the player appears in the U18 screen but is simply unavailable (or ineligible) to play with the U18, simply playing with the reserves. Hope this helps anyone...

FM

01-28-2005, 01:38 PM	#296
FrogMan Hattrick Moderator Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Pintendre, Qc, Canada	Youth Squad News I pretty much never report about the youth on my team, other than for the one Kevin Joyce of this world. Main reason is that there was nothing to report about: they were all crap! As announced earlier, the training facilities at Kenilworth Road have now been upgraded to the status of top facilities *plus* youth academy. This means we now will have some sort of reason to keep a good U18 squad in place. I had read at a few places that to get some good youth promoted, you needed to have room for them. Most of my U18 players were either on unprotected contracts, or even on month to month contract, so I released all, read this, ALL of them on free transfer at the beginning of June. I kept checking the U18 squad screen every couple of days or so, but no new player had shown up, until today, June 20, 2007. Ten new players have shown up in the U18 squad, with ages ranging from 15 to 18. And I'm impressed by some of them. Here's the class of 2007 for the Hatters U18 squad... Graeme Bailey, D L, 18yo, value: $120k Graeme already has great tackling skills for his age (tackling=15) and is very aggressive and determined (aggression=12, determination=13). He's also a good worker (work rate=10) and has some pretty nice physical skills. He'll need to work on his marking skills (marking=6) but he'll have plenty of time to do so, and since he'll mostly play on the periphery, I figure that tackling, pace, and stamina may end up being more important (pace=14, stamina=13). I'm very impressed with a starting value of $120k, I must say... Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile. Paul Black, M LC, 16yo, value: $80k For a 16yo, Paul has many skills that are already in the high average range. I can count 5 skills at 7, and many other around 6, while none at 1. He's a very aggressive (aggression=18), determined kid (determination=11) with great work ethics (work rate=16). He's already showing up as a well rounded middie for the future. If he can only improve a few skills, he could have a future for us in a 2-3 seasons... His $80k initial value is nice to see... Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile. Chris Chapman, M LC, 15yo, value: $32k Chris is already an impressive player, even only at 15 years of age. He's already very accomplished at kicking set pieces (corners=18, free kicks=10, penalty=12) while his dribbling and tackling are his best technical skills (dribbling=14, tackling=10). He is also quite brave, with great composure and good positioning. Other than his pace and stamina, which could bring him down a little, his physical skills are nice too. Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile. Gareth Lynch, S C, 17yo, value: $36k Gareth intrigues me a lot. I'll be curious to see how a striker can ever become useful by starting with so low finishing, heading, and long shots skills (finishing=heading=long shots=1!!! ) Thing is, he is very determing and knows where to go when he doesn't have the ball (determination=15, off the ball=16). His physical skills are also very nice, other than the strength. We'll keep an eye on him. Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile. Steven Mitchell, M C, 18yo, value: $48k Steven is another interesting prospect. While he has some well developped skills, mainly kicking corners (11), or free kicks (13), or passing the ball (15), he lacks in many other aspect, not the least in positioning and off the ball skills (both 1). He's also aggressive (13) and very determined (14). In fact, determination seems to be a skill that runs through many of my new youth squad members. I like that. Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile. Ryan Morris, GK, 15yo, value: $6k Ryan is the only keeper of this new crop, meaning he'll start about every game for the U18 squad. He already has nice handling skills for a 15yo (handling=9) and great physical skills for a keeper (agility=16, balance=13, jumping=18). He is a GREAT worker (work rate=20) which could help him develop his other skills. For a keeper, he is not very eccentric though (eccentricity=1) and most of his other keeper skills are low, but workable (around 4). Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile. Jimmy White, S C, 17yo, value: $6k Jimmy has no skills that very low (no 1) but also no outstanding skills, other maybe his determination (13), his ability to work with his teammates (teamwork=10), and his good work ethic (work rate=12). An amazing jumper (jumping=20), he will have to work on his heading skill in order to take advantage of that (heading=4). He's "already" 17, so that may explain the many little things that make him show better skills overall... Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile. Neil Wright, S C, 16yo, value: $6k Very similar to Jimmy White, Neil has no really bad skills, while not having many very good ones either. He's a good worker (work rate=13) and also a good jumper (jumping=16) with a tiny bit more heading skills than Jimmy (heading=6). He's a year younger than Jimmy, will be nice to see if he surpasses him when he gets to his 17th birthday. Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile. Danny Dixon, D/DM RL, 17yo, value: $28k Danny is the kid with the most 1's in the whole bunch. He's very brave (15) and has great concentration (15), but the number of 1's is frightening me. The physical side of things is certainly not where he'll need to work, and hopefully his great work ethics (work rate=18) will compensate for his lack of inital skills. We'll see... Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile. Mike Hodges, M L, 15yo, value: $6k Mike is quite a few seasons from seeing any big playing time outside of the U18 squad. Similar to Danny Dixon, he boasts many 1's in many spots, but he's got some good passing skills (11) which hopefully he can only improve on. He's got good physical skills, apart from possibly a fear of height and jumping (jumping=1). For now, he's roster filler... Click on the following thumbnail to see his profile. I've saved the screenshots of the profile of all 10 new Hatters as of June 20, 2007, and will see how they evolve over time. Should be fun to follow first over the course of this season, then after a season or two, or three I remember asking about what happens when a 19yo is on your U18 squad. Well I sort of got my answer yesterday. A 19yo (or older I'd assume) on the U18 squad is simply considered "ineligibe". I had one 19yo kid, an original from before I took over management at Kenilworth Road, the only one on month by month contract that I had not released. He was still on the U18 squad. I hit the filter button and unticked the "show unavailable" and the player disappeared from the screen. From that, I deducted that the player appears in the U18 screen but is simply unavailable (or ineligible) to play with the U18, simply playing with the reserves. Hope this helps anyone... FM __________________ A Black Belt is a White Belt who refused to give up... follow my story: The real life story of a running frog...