CM4 - Lincoln City, 2004-05

[Karim]

When you said Fedorov was slow, I figured a pace of 6 or 8. His technical skills must be really high for you to consider him.

In my CM4 careers thus far, every outfield player regardless of position has to have a rating of 10 in each of the following categories:

Strength, Stamina, Pace, Bravery, Determination, Team Work, Work Rate

I might make an exception for a youngster at 16 or 17 if he's a 9 in Stamina or Strength, because that can improve with training.

It's great how there are literally infinite strategies to achieve success...

[QuikSand]

I haven't had the opportuniity to be very selective with my player acquisitions. I think I made some poor choices when setting up my game universe, and now am stuck with them. (Running only England, and running a "small" database - I think these setting carried over from my initial play with the demo *sigh*) So, if I restrained myself to players of the quality you decribe - well, I doubt I'd have any players.

I guess I'm back to my usual self - playing with somme tough house rules, eh?

Anyway - your battery of skills as a standard is useful for me, as I have not done much reading at all about what things to value in this game or its predecessors. I'm starting to think that Pace in particular might be more important than ever.

[QuikSand]

March 2005

The board remain delighted with my performance, which is good.


We get bad news – Aleksandar Nikolov’s initial work permit application was denied. That could crush our potentially one big landing of the offseason. Looks bad – we appeal.


Alan Lynch, however, agrees to our terms – and he will join us in June. I’m not certain that he’ll be a great fit (with his low pace rating) but we’ll give him a shot – probably to join Jason Wilson in the defensive midfielder position.


We are gearing up for a big trial – we are home to Millwall, the mighty defenders. I have put back in some guys who were tired (Wilson, Park) – this is too big a match to have players sitting out. We also will send out Matthew Jackson for the first time in over two months.

We look pretty good early on, and then Park drives down the edge, shakes free for a centering pass, and Jackson heads it in for the lead. We drop back to play defensively, but then give up a goal at 52 and it’s all even. They get ahead at 68, and it looks like we’re cooked after all. The momentum completely shifts to them, as they dominate the later match. Millwall 4, Lincoln 1.


Craig Austin, an 18 y/o keeper, is our newest signing, following a youth scouting search. He’ll go to our reserves, but will put even more pressure onto Alan Ryan, who remains on the club but not in our plans.


We have another pretty big match – home to Sheffield Wednesday. They are just ahead of us in 5th place. We are in 6th, but six points behind. A win here would certainly help us get back into the fight for a strong position. We hold it scoreless through halftime, but fall back at 50, as Sheff Wed gets through on a counter attack play. We cannot get even, and let this one get away. Sheff Wed 1, Lincoln 0. Andy Allen was hurt mid-match, and will miss a few weeks.


It’s March 15, and Millwall have officially earned promotion to First Division. Wow.


Aleksandar Nikolov’s work permit application is officially denied – so his transfer to Lincoln has been cancelled. Awful news.


We extend a new offer to scout Darren Smith, and he is locked up through 2008.


We now sit in 7th place, needing to get back into the good form that got us up here in the first place. At Chesterfield, I am again resting some top players, but hope to stay with them. After 75 minutes scoreless, Chesterfield get a big breakaway, and nail the go-ahead score. Once again, our attack is nonexistent, and that’s all it takes too beat us. Chesterfield 1, Lincoln 0. This loss slides all the way to 10th position – we are in trouble of falling completely out of range to make the playoffs at this rate.


We’ve got new acquisition Craig Austin in goal for our match at Wimbledon, who stand in 2nd place on the league table. Our form is awful, and we’re hoping for any kind of spark. Halfway through, we’re scoreless, but the Dons are getting lots of pressure and dominating play so far. In the closing minutes, they get several chances – but our defense and keeper Austin hold up, and preserve the score draw. Lincoln 0, Wimbledon 0. Pretty big effort, considering our lack of attack right now.


Millwall have officially locked up the Second Division, on March 26.


We wrap up March by extending our deal with young defenseman Martin Hill. He got off to a superb start with two MOM honors, and now looks to be a promising young defender for us, at a very affordable price.


As we hit April, we stand in 10th place on the table – last among those clubs with any mathematical hope of getting into the playoffs. We’re now 9 points out of 6th place, as Rushden and Brentford are in 5th and 6th with 75 points each. With only five matches yet to play, we’d need a miracle to end up in that tier, I fear. Looks like a decent mid-table finish is in the works for us, as we predicted a few months ago.

[Fonzie]

Originally posted by QuikSand
I'm starting to think that Pace in particular might be more important than ever.

That's been my impression as well, especially in the lower divisions where skill variability is much greater. I'm playing in the Conference (Southport) and I've seen a very prominent positive correlation between pace and player ratings, which seems to be doubly true for forwards. I suspect the other skills play a greater role when you get to the higher leagues, where everyone is pretty pacey.

Just out of curiosity, what is Jackson's pace rating?

Also out of curiosity, have you set any specific player instructions or toyed with the tactics screen much? I suspect pace's importance may also depend on how players are used. I haven't played around with individual instructions a lot, but it seems possible to utilize a slow guy as a "hang around the goal and wait for crosses" type of player. So, in my case at least, it might be that pace is particularly important for the "default" type of instruction setup that I've been using. I'd be curious as to what others think about this.

[QuikSand]

Interestingly, Matthew Jackson's pace is a 12 - the lowest of my main attackers (but Jackson's role is usually that of pure striker - hang near the goal and finish off the play). But Park (my loaned in midfielder) has a 19 and it makes a visible difference as I routinely see him blow past defenders to make his own play. My standout defenseman Martin Gibbons has a 15 pace rating, which I suspect is important.

[QuikSand]

April 2005

Defensive midfielder Graham Shaw has agreed terms to a Bosman deal, to come aboard in June. He’s 19 y/o, and has seen limited action wit Gillingham, in the first division. Now, we’ll get him some time playing in our midfield – probably in the rotation on the right and center spots. He’s very quick – but will need some more refinements to his overall game.


We are home to Colchester, as our matches start to have less and less importance. A crazy late rally would give us an outside chance at a playoff spot, but that chance will probably disappear in the next week or so. Matthew Jackson scores, and it’s announced as his 50th goal for Lincoln – which I suspect is the team record. That’s the only score in a dreary match effort. Lincoln 1, Colchester 0.


Midfielder Adam Newman is out of contract, and I decide to let him go. I will need that space in our wage budget, and he is hardly seeing any time as it is.


I’m playing a bit of a gambit with Richard Lewis, incidentally – he’s demanding a new contract much better than his existing deal, and I am balking. My goal is to let him slide to month-to-month, and then see if his demands drop for a long term deal. But I don’t feel he merits becoming the highest-paid player in the team’s history, so I’m rolling the dice that he won’t get picked up by someone else. So far, so good – his current contract ends in June.


We are at Northampton, and our first two chances yield very near misses from Jackson and Williamson, and no goals. We eventually fall behind 1-0, and our dispirited team lets that be it. Northampton 1, Lincoln 0. Punchless.


Simon Williams, one of our little-used reserve midfielders, has transferred to Halesowen Town on a free. He was also very little-used, and we’re fine with his leaving.


We pick up another young player, 21 y/o defender Adrian Francis, who will come in to back up Michael Kelly on our right side. Kelly has been okay, but Francis is a fairly young and talented player who’s willing to play for a reserve-level contract. He will arrive in June.

We are still seeking that impact player – and from the looks of our offense, he’d better be on the attacking side.


We are home to Port Vale, as our remaining matches have no real consequence. I’m still looking for signs of life from some of our team. Matthew Jackson tops off some mice first half pressure with our first goal, and I’m hoping we can keep the pressure on. At 68, Park tosses one in and sets up Jackson again, and we seem to be in control, at least. A good effort for our men – probably the last for most of the first team this season. Lincoln 3, Port Vale 0.


We field a B team at Rotherham, sitting in 8th place but basically slotted just outside the playoffs (almost certainly 8th or 9th). I’ve got too many reserves out of shape, and we get throttled pretty badly here. Rotherham 2, Lincoln 0.


As we end April, the season is all but set. We have one more transfer out – we offered Mark Oakes on a free, and Barnsley has picked him up.

[QuikSand]

May 2005

We have on final match on our schedule, and then can wrap up the 04-05 season. We host Notts County, again with our B team on the pitch, mostly. We get a sensational effort by young keeper Craig Austin, and a late goal from Alan Jones puts us ahead, 1-0. With this group, that’s all the offense we can hope for, but Matthew Jackson dots another one in, and gets MOM in the final match. Lincoln 2, Notts Co 0.


So, our season is over: here are the top finishers in the Second Division:

                W  D  L   GF  GA   Pts

Millwall       38  4  4  132  22   118
Wimbledon      32  4 10  107  43   100
- - - (auto promotion line) - - -
Sheff Wed      27  9 10   80  40    90
Chesterfield   27  9 10   74  35    90
Brentford      26  6 14   97  48    84
Rushden        25  7 14   88  65    82
- - - (promotion playoff line) - - -
Cheltenham     25  5 16  106  72    80
Hull           23  8 15   71  51    77
Lincoln        24  3 19   68  46    75
Cambridge      20 11 15   71  54    71

There were 11 points between Cambridge in 10th and Stockport in 11th, so this really represents the contenders for the season. Among the relegated are Wigan – we hate Wigan.

While a 9th place finish is better than most thought we could do, it is somewhat disappointing after finding ourselves up around 2nd-4th place for a good period mid-season. Perhaps next season we’ll be more healthy, and ready to put forth an even stronger effort. We might need to bring in a player or two to do so, but we’ll certainly be trying.

Keepers            Age  Wage  Value   Top Skills                          App   Con  AvgR

Darren Baines       28  £300   £24K   Rushing Out,Eccentricity             22    22  7.00
Steve Howarth       19  £325   £24K   Determ,Stamina,Bravery,Agility       21(1) 24  7.18
Craig Austin        18  £200   £24K   OneonOnes,Command,Anticipation        5     2  7.59
Alan Ryan           24  £550   £24K   Kicking,Comm,OneonOnes                3     4  6.66

Defenders          Age  Wage  Value   Top Skills                          App     G  A  MoM AvgR

Martin Gibbons      24  £900  £130K   Decisions,Determ,Stamina             44     2  0   5  7.52
Michael Kelly       21  £1.0K  £24K   Stamina,Finishing,Aggression         45     1  2   0  6.84
David Francis       22  £1.1K  £24K   WorkRate,Determ,Aggression           31     0  1   0  7.00
Andy Davies         22  £375   £24K   Heading,Bravery,Marking,Jumping      23(4)  0  1   3  7.44
Andrew Cross        24  £160   £24K   Heading,Jumping,Strength             14(7)  0  1   2  7.14
Ryan Hughes         17  £ 75          Heading,Creativity,Positioning       19     0  1   0  7.00
Ian Cook            19  £ 80   £24K   Workrate,Determ,LongThrows,Strength   6(3)  0  2   0  6.66
Martin Hill         17  £ 80   £24K   Strength,Pace,Jumping,Acceleration    9     0  0   2  7.22
Andy Hughes         21  £300   £24K   Determ,Teamwork,WorkRate              2     0  0   0  7.50
Chris Richards      21  £375   £24K   Stamina,Teamwork,Flair,Strength       0(1)  0  0   0   ---

Midfielders        Age  Wage  Value   Top Skills                          App     G  A  MoM AvgR

Richard Lewis       22  £1.1K  £30K   Dribbling,Acceleration,Pace          39(2) 12  3   0  7.31
Jason Wilson        21  £950   £40K   WorkRate,Determ,Aggression,Infl      34     0  3   1  7.50
Kyung-Tae Park      23  Loaned In     Aggression,Acceleration,WorkRate     33     7 11   2  7.24
Gary Webb           25  £1.0K  £24K   Passing,Technique,Stamina,Flair      25(5)  0  5   0  6.76
Volodymyr Fedorov   20  £1.7K £130K   Bravery,Crossing,WorkRate,Creativity 23(2)  2  1   0  6.63
Andy Allen          19  £ 90   £24K   Anticipation,Stamina,WorkRate         6(3)  2  1   0  6.88
Craig Russell       17  £ 90          Dribbing,Heading,Crossing,Teamwork    4(3)  0  0   0  6.14
Lee Harris          17  £ 85          WorkRate,Marking,Stamina,Balance      3     0  1   0  6.66
Paul Warner         17  £ 80   £24K   Passing,Heading,Technique,Aggression  8(5)  0  2   0  7.30

Forwards           Age  Wage  Value   Top Skills                          App     G  A  MoM AvgR

Lee Williamson      24  £475  £140K   WashingUp,Jumping,Bravery,SetPieces  39     8 14   9  7.69
Alan Jones          19  £750   £55K   Creativity,Agility,Balance,Infl      30    10  7   2  7.23
Matthew Jackson     16  £350          Stamina,Aggression,Bravery,Finishing 23    22  2   4  7.78
Chris Morgan        29  £500   £24K   Determ,OffTheBall,Agility,WorkRate   17(1)  5  4   0  6.88
John Garner         17  £110   £24K   Strength,Stamina,Bravery,Flair        3(8)  2  1   1  6.81
Jamie Barnes        22  £600   MtM    Pace,Crossing,Positioning,Finishing   2(1)  0  0   0  5.66

Lee Wiliamson played most of his matches as a forward, but shifted his game to be more of a playmaker than finisher. Park was clearly a force from the wing, but his overall play didn’t make him a standout for this club. Matthew Jackson suffered a two month injury – and that helpd him back from perhaps a 30+ goal season? He was 7th in the division as is – imagine with 10 more starts.

Defensively, Martin Gibbons remains our anchor player, for certain, with Andy Davies doing well beside him. Our wingbacks were okay – but both Kelly and Francis dropped in their ratings after the promotion to face tougher foes. Our defense remained strong, but not without concerns.

In goal, Craig Austin made his case for playing time, and we’ll have a real mess back there in the season ahead, I suspect. Alan Ryan is on his way out, one way or another.

As Kyung-Tae Park prepares to depart following his loan, we’ll be looking for a replacement for our left wing. I really don’t have anyone to play there except Lee Williamson – so our backup plan might be to add a quality striker and drop Williamson back.

And Volodymyr Fedorov, of course, has turned out to be much less of an impact player than we had hoped. In fact, it’s now open debate whether he’s a liability to the first team. Trouble is that Gary Webb has failed to replicate his good season from last year – so we’re currently without an obvious solution at either wing position, really.



I decide to cut loose malcontented forward Jamie Barnes. I don’t rule out re-acquiring him, but he’s demanding a £1,600/wk wage, and that’s well beyond what we are willing to do. If he sits for a while, he might accept something for a backup contract, which might be about right.


I next pick up another young player, Lee Burns. The 20 y/o can play the left side either defense of midfield, and will probably end up in a role similar to that of Andy Allen for us. My scout has partially viewed him, and likes what he sees – I know he’s got some physical skills (ha came up with Arsenal) but we’ll see how he performs on the pitch. He’s also wise enough to say he’s particularly excited to be playing for QuikSand.


My coach Alan Atkinson has been offered the manager’s job at Torquay, and he has agreed terms with them. Lincoln will be due £50,000 in compensation for the loss – that isn’t so bad. Of course, Atkinson was probably the best guy on my staff – but we’ll take the cash.


Lincoln have been given £325,000 for their final position in the Second Division.

This season, it appears we will turn a pretty significant profit – over £1M on the year. So, with about £2.4M in the bank, I feel free to start making transfer pursuits – if we can land a player for £100K or so, that would be very reasonable, I suspect.


That wraps up the 2004-05 season – we will continue in a new thread with our offseason travails, and preparations for the next season.

[Godzilla Blitz]

Quik: Tough finish but overall a job well done!

I was wondering, are you playing with attributes masked?

[RPI-Fan]

Also - you left out Jackson's value from the above chart? Mind sharing what it is?

[SirFozzie]

Players under the age of 17 are on "youth contracts", therefore they don't have an official transfer value, as they can't be sold.

(The player however, can sign with other teams after an initial period for a signing fee to be determined by a triburnal)(

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by RPI-Fan
Also - you left out Jackson's value from the above chart? Mind sharing what it is?

Actually, now that Jackson has a new contract (not reflected above either, but 1800/wk), he does have a listed value of 110,000.