I made some more signings too. I picked up AMC Scott Thompson for some additional MC rotation but also I think I’ll eventually switch from 4-4-2 to 4-2-3-1 so I’ll need someone who can play Shadow Striker.
On 21 April I offer a bunch of young players trial contracts. I got 17 to accept but 27 rejected. Oh well. One of the rejectors is Chick Legg. And after all the work I put into writing poultry jokes!
Staff
Four of our coaches are given an opportunity to better themselves by working on coaching licenses; the club will cover the costs. Coaching courses are how the game determines if a staff member will narrow the gap between the Current Ability and Potential Ability.
I also added three scouts. I’ll have one chief scout who scouts Next Opponent and the other three will cycle through England, Wales, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Scotland. None of the scouts are particularly outstanding but what can you expect for a club with a Reputation of 1?
I added a Physio too as I somehow forgot to add one when building the database.
Finances
On 1 April I get an email saying that we have a new main kit sponsor. This company lucked out as it will only cost them a staggering amount of £4,700 per ANNUM. Another ramification of having a 1 Reputation. At this time I looked at some more financial matters and discovered that our average ticket price is only £2. I foresee financial follies ahead.
Pre-Pre-Season
I dump the trialists into the U23s and hold scrimmages on 24 and 27 April. The “Seniors” won the first match but lost the second.
One of the weird artefacts of starting the pre-season so early is that I had to have an End of Season Team Meeting on 28 April and decide when the real pre-season begins, which will be 26 June.
Before everyone headed out, I signed three of the trialists: DC Joe Clark, MR Robbie Jones, and ST Alex Rae. I’ll post their Player Cards at the start of the pre-season. After Rae signed, Macey came complaining to me that he was worried I was trying to replace him. Dude, I made you Captain. Is your ego really that fragile? Kids these days…
On 5 May I get an email noting that Joe Clark is now considered “home-grown.” That will matter at some point I guess. Oddly, while looking at his Player Card to see if he had a second nationality I notice that his “Place of Birth” is “Unknown.” What the deuce?!
Also comes news that we were granted a lower youth category, from 1 to 2. I set up the database to have our Youth Facilities at 20, Junior Coaching at 12, and Youth Recruitment at 12. I thought these values would put us straight into a lower youth category but I suppose the game uses just the Youth Facilities number. I’m quite glad because I don’t need to see our youngins smacked about the pitch by the likes of Liverpool and the Manchesters.