God is our leader, Dragons move on up to III

[FrogMan]

Dragons steal a draw
Despite what the manager from Thoroughbreds told me by ht-mail, I still think that we stole a draw. SD's BOYS had us in about every ratings except midfield, yet we kept on staying ahead. First 2-0 at the half, the 3-2, only to see them tie it with 15 minutes to play.

Ironically, 3-3 was also the score of the first meeting between the two teams, in week 2.

The Dragons pulled their best ever defensive ratings, as well as a best in total stars, with 44.5, two whole stars more than their previous best of 42.5...

Patrik Kvarning was back in the lineup, having just turned to bandaid status the eve of the match. He didn't suffer any injuries, luckily.

Here's how the standings are shaping in III.15 with only one week of play to go in season 23:

III.15					STANDINGS
STANDINGS	W	L	D	PTS	GF	GA	DIFF	AVG HR	as FOFC	BEST HR
Nepean United	8	3	2	26	37	23	14	196.5	199.0	215
Thoroughbreds	8	5	0	24	31	21	10	192.2	194.8	211
max calcio	7	3	3	24	27	23	4	178.5	187.2	201
podiatrists	6	3	4	22	35	23	12	205.3	221.7	229
Cerio's Dragons FC	6	5	2	20	34	32	2	170.0	173.0	185
SD's BOYS	5	5	3	18	38	38	0	196.5	207.0	217
Sackers	4	9	0	12	19	30	-11	163.9	171.8	187
OFV Goose Bay	1	12	0	3	15	46	-31	144.2	134.7	155

podiatrists and SD's BOYS play each other in week 14, while the Dragons play Sackers at their stadium. It's no big secret that I will play it PIC, given that if podiatrists win over the BOYS, I will be playing a qualifier in two weeks, no matter if I win, lose, or draw.

One thing I like right now though is the fact that the teams spirit is at Walkin on Clouds, just dropped down from a nice Paradise On Earth status. Always nice to hit POE so late in the season. If we ever have to play a qualifier, this should be at home, with great team spirit. hmmm, can you spell MOTS?

FM

[FrogMan]

oh, and this draw has clinched one more non losing season. Since the team was founded, with only 4 weeks to play in season 18, the team has never had a losing season.

Season by season recap:
season 18, IV.38... 2 wins, 2 losses
season 19, V.211... 13 wins, 0 loss, 1 draw
season 20, IV.18... 7 wins, 6 losses, 1 draw
season 21, IV.18... 10 wins, 2 losses, 2 draws
season 22, IV.18... 14 wins, 0 loss (UNDEFEATED!!!!)
season 23, III.15... 6 wins, 5 losses, 2 draws (in 13 games)

FM

[FrogMan]

Dragons dodge a bullet, clinch 4th place

For most of the match against Sackers, the Dragons were behind, but in the end, they came out on top, thanks to two quick goals by Lars Andersson, and Patrik Kvarning, int he 76th and 77th minute. The 3-2 win, combined with SD's BOYS's win over podiatrists means the Dragons move from 5th place to 4th and will stay in III.15 for at least another season.

This is weird, but this win, and this 4th place, sort of leave me feeling empty. I mean, how nice is it to go into the offseason with Paradise on Earth team spirit? I'm not complaining, cause then I'd be crying with my belly full, but a season shouldn't end with a PIC. I would have really liked to see how much of a killer game my team could have pulled with a home MOTS with delirious team spirit... Oh well

In that last game, about every Dragon on the field played the game of his life. Result: 46 stars!!! Our previous best had been 44.5 stars the previous week, and 42.5 for a long time before that... The only high inadequate midfield meant a fairly pedestrian 173 ratings, which could have been as high as 197 with a high solid midfield, which we've achieved with a normal at home earlier this season. We have never achieved anything higher than 185, so a possible 197 makes me happy, even though it's only a hypothetical ratings

Fourth place will give me a nice schedule next season, with 4 home games in the latter part of the season, much better than the 7th place schedule I had this season, where I had 4 home games in the early part of the season, and only 3 in the latter part, where attendances tend to be a bit better...

Good news also came right as the game ended, as we received this message:

9/27/2004 One of your players became the top scorer of a series. Your club was rendered the equivalent of 10.000 euro.

Gilang the Wonder Boy finished the season with 13 goals, 3 more than the closest other player. GO GILANG!!!!

Among other news with the team, starting keeper Nick de Hooge popped to solid experience and is now on the market for 900k U$. Currently in solid form, he has pulled 4 stars performances in the last two weeks.

Why sell Hoogie now? Because I heart the frenzy preceding qual sunday Most of you must remember my boy Reimund Brigg, the multitalented playmaker, and if not, here he is:

Reimund Brigg (16971124) 23 years, passable form, healthy

A nasty fellow who is fiery and dishonest.
Has weak experience and inadequate leadership abilities.

Nationality:	Deutschland
Total Skill Index (TSI):	13 110
Wage:	5 024 C$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner:	Cerio's Dragons FC
Warnings:	0

Stamina:	excellent	Goaltending:	disastrous
Playmaking:	outstanding	Passing:	solid
Winger:	wretched	Defending:	solid
Scoring:	weak	Set Pieces:	disastrous

Reimund popped to outstanding playmaking two weeks ago, and him being 23 already, the plan was to unload him, at maybe an inflated price because of his double solid secondaries, and then go get a uber keeper. In only two weeks, Brigg had been on the market 5 times, the last time ending yesterday afternoon, with another no sale. Here are the prices I had set for him on each of his trips to the transfer list: 3M, 2.875M, 2.75M, 2.625M, and back to 2.75M. My plan was to keep on dropping the price until he would sell, but when I put him for 2.625M and was about to put him back on the market for 2.5M, Hoogie's form increased and I decided to be bold, stubborn, call it that if you want, and that's when I put him back for 5th time for 2.75M and where he still didn sell. His deadline for that trip on the transfer list was Sunday around 1pm eastern. So stubborn I was that I put him back on the market for only a hair less than 2.75M, at 2.725M U$. Well, teams are all scrambling to get ready for qualifiers and this morning I was greeted with the nice message that follow:

Athletico Support raised for Reimund Brigg

WOOHOO!!!!! in his 6th trip to the transfer list, he receives a bid for 5 450 010 C$, which combined with the 1.575 M C$ I have in the bank, will give me close to 7M C$ or about 3.5M U$ with the possible debt of 200k U$. That alone would be enough for a nice brilliant keeper, but by selling Hoogie, I could possibly afford a magnificent one, if I can find one before the prices start going up

This is about it for now, probably more later, especially on who will be coming up to III.15 via promotion, and the qualifiers to come...

FM

[kingfc22]

I got some nice info from that last post. The week before qualifiers is a good time to sell top players. I shall remember this for next season.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by kingfc22

I got some nice info from that last post. The week before qualifiers is a good time to sell top players. I shall remember this for next season.

Yeah, it may not be the best week of the season, but it's probably the beginning of the upswing on the market. I always saw the market going down from week 10 to 14, then a tiny burst before qualifier, then another burst when prizes are paid.

Now, I just gotta hope that Hoogie will sell...

Nick de Hooge (4685652) 25 years, solid form, healthy

I speak Nederlands!

A popular guy who is balanced and honest.
Has solid experience and weak leadership abilities.

Nationality:	Nederland
Total Skill Index (TSI):	6 000
Wage:	11 375 C$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner:	Cerio's Dragons FC
Warnings:	0

Stamina:	excellent	Goaltending:	excellent
Playmaking:	wretched	Passing:	wretched
Winger:	disastrous	Defending:	disastrous
Scoring:	disastrous	Set Pieces:	wretched

Maybe somebody will be desperate enough to shell out some bucks for him

FM

[FrogMan]

Crossposted from this thread, which has a bit of my thinking on getting a new keeper...
=============================
huh, in the "oops, I was only testing the limits" category, I just put a bid for 7.334M C$, or 3.667M U$, on a magnificent keeper. I doubt it's gonna stick, but if it does, I'll be close to 400k U$ in the hole, before the possible sale of my keeper... Don't trust the system to stop you from harming yourself on the market

I'd still be quite happy to get a magnificent keeper with poor experience, pulling regularly 6 stars, for 3.667M, but as I said, I doubt it will stick. Deadline is coming soon, at 12:40 eastern, we'll see

FM

[FrogMan]

well, it was good for about 20 minutes, now really out of my range, oh well

FM

[FrogMan]

ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

I feel better now that this is out of my chest... I just missed out on a fairly high magnificent keeper, one at about 12.6 according to Hottrick, so almost 2/3 of a level to being a world class keeper. His deadline was at 7:35 eastern this morning and I knew yesterday night that I would probably not be online at that time, as I would be in the middle of my commute to work, so I went and put in my highest possible bid of 3.7M U$. Well, he was upped only once and ended selling for only 3.774M U$...

Oh well, let's keep on shopping...

FM

[FrogMan]

missed out on another one just now. Would have been the bargain for a few seasons though, as he was 26yo already, brilliant keeper with passable experience. I put in a bid for 3M U$ and decided to go to lunch and not wait him out. He sold for 3.15M... Someday I'll get one... It would sure help if Hoogie would get one tiny bid though...

FM

[FrogMan]

Just as Brigg's deadline was approaching, I missed out on yet another. A fairly high brilliant, 11.69 according to Hottrick, 23yo keeper, with passable experience. I put in the max bid I possibly could, at 3.65M, and was outbid once.. He sold for 3.723M, so close...

In the meantime, Reimun Brigg's deadline on the transfer has come and gone. By Rei, we'll miss you. He sold for the one time bid he received, of 5 045 010 C$, leaving the team with a tad under 5M C$ after agent fees. The exiting times of overbiding my limit are now gone though, as I must now abide by the -200k U$ limit, which was not really the case when Brigg's money was only in the "expected" category... This means I can now only bid on keepers 3.25M U$, which limits my possibilities a lot, at least until Hoogie gets a bid, which I'm not sure he will... *sigh*

FM

[FrogMan]

well, Hoogie didn't sell at 900k, and this is sad. Sad because I had bookmarked the perfect keeper to replace him and he didn't sell at 4.2M, and had Hoogie sold, I would have been able to put in the one bid that would have secured this magnificent keeper with weak experience, capable of pulling 6.5 stars... He didn't sell, so there's still hope. I sent an HT-mail to his owner, telling him I'd be interested in buying him if he put him up again...

I've changed strategies with Hoogie. He's back on the market for a relatively tiny 500k, hoping to build some interest and when people see the solid experience, which isn't seen when you only do a search, that they will love him and bid him up. I will keep a close eye on him, and if he stays at 500k, I may buy him back, we'll see...

FM

[FrogMan]

The party has officially started!!!


Vituperio F.C. raises for Nick de Hooge

Real Madrid C.F. raises for Nick de Hooge

FluFFen United raises for Nick de Hooge


hehehehe, three different teams have potentially bookmarked Hoogie, or at at least taken notice about his high experience...

That third bid is still only 1.1M C$, but it probably means that they will come back later to fight about him, be my guest guys!

FM

[kingfc22]

Good news FM. Good luck in your hunt for a keeper.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

well, Hoogie didn't sell at 900k, and this is sad. Sad because I had bookmarked the perfect keeper to replace him and he didn't sell at 4.2M, and had Hoogie sold, I would have been able to put in the one bid that would have secured this magnificent keeper with weak experience, capable of pulling 6.5 stars... He didn't sell, so there's still hope. I sent an HT-mail to his owner, telling him I'd be interested in buying him if he put him up again...

update...

The good news about this here is that the owner of that team replied to my HT-mail, telling me that he had put the keeper back on the market for the same price, 4.2M... I still need the Hoogie hunt to gain some steam though, as he will have to sell for at least 1.3M C$ for me to have the one bid for 4.2M. I'm fairly confident he should sell for that much, but I'm nervous the magnificent one may get some bidding, since his deadline will be in the morning of Sunday, on the midst of qualifier day...

to be continued...

FM

[FrogMan]

Well, the strategy of putting Hoogie on the market at a somewhat low price worked. It stayed pretty quiet after the first three bids reported in here, but it started picking up last night, about 12 hours before the deadline, when I got two bids to push the price to 1.146M C$ or about. When I logged in this morning, there had been 4 new bids, one of them being a big increase, pushing the price to 1.6M with about an hour and a half to go. Some sort of a bidfight happen with 10 minutes to go and he ended selling for 1 844 000 C$, or 922k U$. WOOHOO!!!

With that sale in the bank, the team has 8.487M C$, not counting possible debt, so about 8.887M C$ or 4.44M U$ available to hunt for a new keeper. When that big plan all started, I was thinking I'd be lucky to get myself a brilliant keeper, but now, I'm definitely looking for a magnificent one. I had one, with weak experience, the one I mentionned before. He was back on the market for a second go around, with his deadline only 1 hour after Hoogie's deadline. He had not sold the first time, with a starting price of 4.2M and was back for the same price. Everything was looking good until about 12 minutes before his deadline, when he got one bid, then a second one. I put in the third bid with three minutes to do before the deadline, the highest bid I'd be allowed to make, only to see another team put in what ended being the winning bid about 1 minute after me... *sigh* He would have been perfect on my team... The hunt goes on...

... to be continued...

FM

[FrogMan]

Dragons welcome new keeper, look forward to new season


Well, the deal is done, the Dragons have a new starting keeper in Jarno Soininen, please give him a good round of applause!!!

Jarno Soininen (27331392) 19 years, passable form, injured (6 weeks)

A popular guy who is temperamental and dishonest.
Has wretched experience and passable leadership abilities.

Nationality:	Suomi
Total Skill Index (TSI):	9 620
Wage:	16 007 C$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner:	Cerio's Dragons FC
Warnings:	0

Stamina:	poor	Goaltending:	magnificent
Playmaking:	disastrous	Passing:	disastrous
Winger:	disastrous	Defending:	disastrous
Scoring:	disastrous	Set Pieces:	disastrous

I can already hear you scream: "WHAT!!! A MAGNIFICENT WITH A VALUE OF ONLY 962K, THAT'S BARELY A FORMIDABLE KEEPER!!! YOU CRAZY?!?!"

Well, I left out one tiny detail out from his player card, that's the little that is right next to his name, followed by a big 6 next to it... Don't worry though, Jarno is very young and with my 10 doctors, he should be back in about 3 weeks, so, some very good chance of seeing him in action in week 2 of league play.

So, what went in my head to make me buy this somewhat low experience keeper, who's injured. Well, I had seen and taken note of his TSI previous to his injury, and it showed 29 690, which if his form is only average passable, puts him at a very high magnificent keeper level, almost World Class. In fact, Hottrick rates him as a 12.91 if his form is average passable, and as a 12.75 at the worst, if his form is at the highest passable level without being solid. This was a great selling point to me. That, and the fact that I put in only one bid to get him this morning, for a tiny 3.57M U$. When's the last time you were able to buy a near world class keeper for 3.57M, huh?

As Donald Trump would say: "I feel good about this decision, a no brainer"
To which Carolyn would reply: "Definitely, a no brainer"

With that bargain bin sale, I am left with about 870k U$ to shop around for a possible formidable defender with weak or better wing, that would become starting wingback on the strong side, and would get 50% winger training when the team does winger... I'm feeling good about the team right now

For those of you worried about the beginning of the season, don't be. Backup keeper Sébastien Turbis is a solid keeper with poor experience, currently pulling 3.5 stars in solid form. He should be able to fill in until Jarno is back to 100%...

FM

[FrogMan]

Dragons welcome new defender, close their offseason shopping

Sometimes, you take a bargain when you see it. The Dragons closed their offseason wheeling and dealing spree by acquiring 20 year old defender Rafal Trzymala this afternoon, please welcome the newest Dragon:

Rafał Trzymała (21197122) 20 years, solid form, healthy

A sympathetic guy who is temperamental and honest.
Has disastrous experience and weak leadership abilities.


Speciality: Quick

Nationality:	Sverige
Total Skill Index (TSI):	2 160
Wage:	1 756 C$/week including 20% Bonus
Owner:	Cerio's Dragons FC
Warnings:	0

Stamina:	weak	Goaltending:	disastrous
Playmaking:	poor	Passing:	wretched
Winger:	weak	Defending:	formidable
Scoring:	weak	Set Pieces:	poor

Two negative points in my eyes, he's got only disastrous experience, but from seeing his top ten games, I'd say he's either high formidable defending, or very close to wretched experience., since he's pulled three or four performances of 4 stars, as an extra defender. Second negative is the quick specialty. My bad, I sincerely didn't know that quick defenders lose defending in both rainy and sunny games, oh well... The very good thing is he only cost the team 722k. He will be trained in winger as a wingback and will be sold back in about two seasons, or whenevr he'll hit passable winger...

When I first devised my "evil plan" to improve the defensive side of the team. I had planned to have enough money to possibly buy a brilliant keeper, and an outstanding defender. I bought the outstanding defender in Mario Bayer early in the season. Funny fact, when I bought him, he was also injured but also in bad form, so I only paid 1.65M for him. Then me getting the bargain on a near world class keeper, almost two level better than what I first thought I'd buy, allowed me to get an extra formidable defender. I don't think I could have managaed any better with the money I have.

Seriously, I can't wait to see all these new players on the field at the same time GO DRAGONS!!!

FM

[sterlingice]

Looks like you've done some really nice stuff on that side of the ball. And it sounds like you need it judging from last season.

SI

[FrogMan]

yeah, my team was the one with the worst defensive ratings of the series. Not that it stopped me from having another winning season, but it probably would have helped to be able to stop a goal here or there.

I'll post season average ratings for the 8 teams of season 23 if I find some time tonight, you'll see what I mean...

FM

[mrkilla22]

Nice job FM! It looks like you had a great offseason on the transfer market. I can't wait to see how all these players perform with your current team.

[FrogMan]

I can't wait either

Jarno gained 890 TSI points in his first health update with the Dragons, but he remained at +6. Assuming he could go to +5 at today's update, I'm forecasting him to be at bandaid status on October 23, or about one update before the week 2 league match. If that holds true, he will have missed week 1, and the first 2 rounds of the Cup, since I always give double duty to my starting keeper while the team is still in the Cup. I will definitely be ready for the 3rd round of the Cup, assuming the team doesn't get upset in round 2 or earlier...

FM