Season 17 League and Cup General Discussion/Woe sharing!

eoferrall

corny wrote: »

Can't stop now!

turns out I won 41-7! what was I worrying about!

looked at remaining teams in the cup - 4 of them are in my league, so sure might as well stay in since we are all looking at the cup!

FewFew

eoferrall wrote: »

turns out I won 41-7! what was I worrying about!

looked at remaining teams in the cup - 4 of them are in my league, so sure might as well stay in since we are all looking at the cup!

Bring back the cup for the boardsies!

AG2R

Think i've my league sown up now.

amadangomor

AG2R wrote: »

Think i've my league sown up now.

Have you thought about cutting your squad down? Ialways thought it was better to have a max of 22-23 players when you are developing your team with mostly 17/18 year old quality players that will develop as you go.Having 34 players and 30 of them below 15k CSR seems like a waste of money and development potential to me.

eoferrall

Fewcifur wrote: »

Bring back the cup for the boardsies!

pretty sure some of the remaining teams are going for it too, and there are some serious squads out there unfortunately!!

AG2R

amadangomor wrote: »

Have you thought about cutting your squad down? Ialways thought it was better to have a max of 22-23 players when you are developing your team with mostly 17/18 year old quality players that will develop as you go.Having 34 players and 30 of them below 15k CSR seems like a waste of money and development potential to me.

Still getting used to the game tbh, I'm not even sure how to cut it down. Happy to give you my login if youre trusthworthy enough :pac:

amadangomor

AG2R wrote: »

Still getting used to the game tbh, I'm not even sure how to cut it down. Happy to give you my login if youre trusthworthy enough :pac:

Will let you do it:D.Hope i don't come across as being bossy,just noticed you as a newbie here and your squad size is obviously too big for your situation.

If you click on each players profile there is a box that gives you the option to sell or fire the players.Would save you probably 25,000+ per week if you trim your squad which could be used to buy better players and develop facilities:pac:

[Jackass]

This has been a very satisfying season so far. My squad is shaping up nicely, I'm getting a good framework to work with, starting to find some solutions in problem positions whilst still keeping a relatively young side to bring through in the future. Coaching and infrastructure is coming along nicely, getting to the point where maybe after another season I can start to look to focus more money on players and have the tools at my disposal to develop the ones I have. A couple of players I've been focusing on over the last couple of seasons to develop are starting to become very decent options. All in all, happy.

On top of that, on the field, it's not been the worst in the world. At the start of the season I targeted about 4 wins and perhaps just get the edge on staying up and I'm still on target for that. Just picked up my second win, first away from home, I've now beaten the two teams I've targeted, so the return legs now begin. I've got my next must win game at the weekend, and IF I can get another win, this time away from home to the guy I beat at home at the beginning of the season, I'm definitely in with a fighting chance! Staying up for me would be a massive achievement considering all my focus has been on off the field stuff and working with what I've got to try and be competetive, but made some decent signings to address some long standing problem positions to tide me over. A few short term and one or two solid long term players.

Starting off is definitely tough, but if you stick at it, it really starts to get more and more fun when your patience and investments start to pay off.

Wont be heart broken if I fail to stay up, one more season down in Div IV isn't the end of the world, I think after that I'd definitely be good enough to be a Div III standard team, but would be great to hold on and by next season be able to hover above the drop zone for the season.

Love this game, role on the make or break game this weekend, then I'll have a home game at the end of the season to try and secure my status!

seanand

goodluck mate and nice read you should mail that to steacym its a nice perspective from a newish player

seanand

just had a look at your team and league there and just realised thats the league my affiliate got relegated from last season, tough league man. youve two sleeping giants in blockheads and cards(who i reckon are sitting on a nice bit of cash) and a slighty older more advanced newbie of mococonnell. i think tbh you could do with bringing in a player or two oldies cheap high exp esp if you lose this weekend as i think you need to win away to mococonnell because cards could spend there money and then your shagged

crisco10

crisco10 in selling thread wrote: »

http://www.blackoutrugby.com/game/club.squad.php#player=6478386

Selling my last "original" player. :-( Good utility back for a mid table Div 3 team..

And with that he is gone, not even a sideways glance as Ethan runs away to New Zealand for the next chapter in his career. After almost exactly 10 seasons, MWSAG have none of the original squad left...End of an era!

Just wondering, of those with no original squad players left, how long did it take you to outgrow those guys?

Personally, I think 10 seasons was a bit long. Yer man was my star player in the early days (played anywhere in the backline) and despite not getting too much individual training he was worth his place until about 2 or 3 seasons ago. Think I held on to him after that because I liked the cut of his jib more than his skillset. This year in Div 2, I was forced to trim fat and he had become that. (also wanted to sell him before he hit the 30 y/o bracket)

Israel_Dagg

Opening a lv 2 training academy in 2 days. Woooo :pac:

corny

crisco10 wrote: »

And with that he is gone, not even a sideways glance as Ethan runs away to New Zealand for the next chapter in his career. After almost exactly 10 seasons, MWSAG have none of the original squad left...End of an era!

Just wondering, of those with no original squad players left, how long did it take you to outgrow those guys?

Personally, I think 10 seasons was a bit long. Yer man was my star player in the early days (played anywhere in the backline) and despite not getting too much individual training he was worth his place until about 2 or 3 seasons ago. Think I held on to him after that because I liked the cut of his jib more than his skillset. This year in Div 2, I was forced to trim fat and he had become that. (also wanted to sell him before he hit the 30 y/o bracket)

Recently sold my last 'original' after 11 seasons. Didn't really outgrow him, he was still one of my best players when he moved. Sold him because i had a younger version looking for experience.

johnnysmack

crisco10 wrote: »

Just wondering, of those with no original squad players left, how long did it take you to outgrow those guys?

You just replace that gap left by the originals leaving with guys you train up from the academy. Also players i bought when they were 17 and straight out of their origin clubs academy feel like they are your own too.

satory

crisco10 wrote: »

Just wondering, of those with no original squad players left, how long did it take you to outgrow those guys?

Wow, only just realized after looking at my squad, that I not longer have any original players left...

For me it wouldn't of taken too long to out grow my original crop, since I messed up with training for the first 5-7 seasons, so none of them ever got any good. My fly half was my last original, and while I easily replaced him with an academy graduate, he's not at the level I want for a kicking 10 yet(might need to invest in a kicking coach...)

seanand

havent had any originals since about 3 weeks into this br journey im on but my first few buys and trainees are the closest thing i have to originals and i found it tough selling a few of them

Depp

First season in...top of the league unbeaten with a +485 points difference ...unfortunately I've kinda managed to accrue over 100k worth of debt...really praying for a league win and promotion for the club haha

Israel_Dagg

Depp wrote: »

First season in...top of the league unbeaten with a +485 points difference ...unfortunately I've kinda managed to accrue over 100k worth of debt...really praying for a league win and promotion for the club haha

First season in, 593 points difference and 98k in the bank :P

Depp

touche...very nicely done...friendly?haha

seanand

100k not too bad unless you dont have a few home games coming up, make sure you cut your squad down to 24 or under and congrats on a nice first season better than mine anyway

Israel_Dagg

seanand wrote: »

100k not too bad unless you dont have a few home games coming up, make sure you cut your squad down to 24 or under and congrats on a nice first season better than mine anyway

Trying to sell off my older higher earners now

westman1

:Dwell done to polk high today winning away against the ruffians

Israel_Dagg

westman1 wrote: »

:Dwell done to polk high today winning away against the ruffians

What was up with that?

corny

Israel_Dagg wrote: »

What was up with that?

Ruffians have a cup final on Wednesday.

FewFew

westman1 wrote: »

:Dwell done to polk high today winning away against the ruffians

Nice!

Wow, been away from BR for the last three weeks or so, workin' on the aul MSc thesis (done and dusted.) and phew, still surviving (mostly thanks to Mar-Z for reminding me to set tactics on Friday night!) Good times.

Phonehead

I'm thinking it's looking like another second place finish this season, I have to start planning for the future shortly as I have 2 of my first team backs approaching the 30 mark. I have one trainee to replace Manning (current U20 player Cook) but now I have a bit of a dilemma, my current centre is 30 and over 150K CSR - I could sell him at the start of the season (won't get much but the best value would be at the start of the season) I would then right off the first 10 or 11 rounds of next season while playing a 60k CSR donkey in the centre (also screw up the lucrative cup run), BUT I could use whatever funds I have in rounds 11/12 to buy a serious player as the market will be cheaper by that stage. I reckon I'll have 2.5m+ to spend so I could pick up an NT centre if I play my cards right.

One left field solution is to sell current NT player Mustard at the start of next season - he'll be around 350k CSR and only 26 years of age! The money I get for him could put me in a position to bring in some pretty awesome players.

FewFew

Phonehead wrote: »

I'm thinking it's looking like another second place finish this season, I have to start planning for the future shortly as I have 2 of my first team backs approaching the 30 mark. I have one trainee to replace Manning (current U20 player Cook) but now I have a bit of a dilemma, my current centre is 30 and over 150K CSR - I could sell him at the start of the season (won't get much but the best value would be at the start of the season) I would then right off the first 10 or 11 rounds of next season while playing a 60k CSR donkey in the centre (also screw up the lucrative cup run), BUT I could use whatever funds I have in rounds 11/12 to buy a serious player as the market will be cheaper by that stage. I reckon I'll have 2.5m+ to spend so I could pick up an NT centre if I play my cards right.

One left field solution is to sell current NT player Mustard at the start of next season - he'll be around 350k CSR and only 26 years of age! The money I get for him could put me in a position to bring in some pretty awesome players.

Ah the dreaded 30 mark. I remember the good ol' days when I could afford to sell off all my players before their 30 birthday. Now I'm reduced to buying in hasbeens at 33 or 35 and praying they have enough gas to let me cling to survival.

Speaking of survival, I've just realised that my rating points suck. I'm about to fall out of the top 1000 in the world and if this was last season, I'd have no chance of challenging for some auto-promote action.
I'm, of course, assuming this'll mean the fans won't be too upset if the quite probable relegation happens. Fingers crossed.

crisco10

Yeah, used to pride myself on a young squad too. Gone are those days! I've even spent money on 30 somethings this year...(it's always scary that moment you realise that "youngster" is now 28)

That said I'm really starting to value their experience. In the tighter confines of Div 2, they have been vital. On that note, I targeted 6th place on my first season in Div 2. Things have gone better than expected, by my estimations/predictions, 1 win in the last 3 will ensure a 4th place finish. In a dream world, I could even sneak 3rd with 2 or 3 wins.
I have long term concerns about my finances though. I just feel like with L5s, and a Div 2 squad it will be hard to get my opex positive. Think I'll be using any winnings to expand the stadium.

mar-z

Have everyone under 30 again this season, but that's more because my older players (one 34 and two 32) were starting to decline or had up and coming replacements. Couple of players hitting the big 30 next year but no real plans to move them on any time soon.

You have to be very careful buying 30+ year olds though. In a desperate to stop getting my lineout shafted bid I panicked and bid a 32 year old lock only to see when I looked more closely that he had lost csr from his last transfer and was on the decrease. I ended up selling him at a loss less then a year later

mar-z

crisco10 wrote: »

I have long term concerns about my finances though. I just feel like with L5s, and a Div 2 squad it will be hard to get my opex positive. Think I'll be using any winnings to expand the stadium.

Made a mess of my financial planning by forgetting that I would no longer be gaining a new minor sponsor from this season. Will have to see how much of a wage increase I'm hit with next season before I decide if I have to sell someone to help balance the books better.