Nikos9

Yeah, random away!

There are precious few but here are some of them :p ...

Woohoo, a great season just got better! Thanks!

It's all about Intergalactico Stars 12, Eights United 10! :wink: ...am I the only one to hold a winning head to head record against you?

Haha, sorry @Haden but that is actually quite funny, mainly cos it should never have happened, lol! But hey, you'll trounce the Middle League and get another trophy to your collection no doubt, possibly even pushing for the Elite League title when you do come up! :p Plus pretty much the best teams are in the Elites now so some of those will get relegated next season and you'll come up with a few of the, dare I say 'weaker' Middle League teams and stand more of a chance if relegation should that prove to be an issue (which it won't)! :wink:

Nice, I'll take 12,13,14 and 16, thanks! ...Oh yeah and I just realised, I can't let this thread carry over to next season without having had my celebratory post as the new Champeeen! Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

I recruited Liverpool! In case anyone was wondering, the Champions League winner gets 1 million econ in prize money but no extra trophy by the looks of it. I got one for winning the Mushroom League but that seems to have been replaced by the trophy for winning the champions league - season 30, instead of adding to it.

Sorry @Haden only just seen your Qs, will get the answers to you ASAP.

It's gonna be an epic encounter no doubt! Sounds good to me. Haha, no I've not seen him since we left the guetto! You don't know this Tom, I met him through my gf's friend, he's a big footy fan and into management games!

As the Champions League hots up and kicks on to the business end of the tournament, we are now at the stage of the competition which separates the boys from the men. There are only strong teams left in the competition and the serious competitors and strongest contenders have proven their worth and shown their desire to win. Everyone wants to win this, some expect it, some crave it from afar, others have but a glimmer of hope. Danlikestrees of Winston Garden Lions is my final guest on this seasons Inter View today, it's a pleasure to have you here:- Question 1) Your trophy cabinet is has been rapidly filling up with silverware of late, what with a second Middle League winners trophy in Season 29, Manager of the Month in March 2014, adding to April 2013s and a few individual player Merits with Elroy Goodison getting a bronze medal for goals scored in the Special League of the Champions League group stage, Guang Hu Liu with a silver Merit for assists and Bradley Thomas with bronze also in that category. Having proven yourselves good enough to reach the quarter finals, can Winston Garden Lions add one more trophy as Champions League winners or have you reached the end of the line with DuDs standing between you and your route to the semi final? The first point Winston ever registered in lower league was against DuDs, so for our fans this fixture has a lot of history behind it. The only player remaining from that lineup was club legend Archie Rosebotham, who that day set up one and scored one. For he and Del Grosso this cup will be the last realistic chance to lead the team to something special so we will at least be wanting to make the semis. My only issue is my midfield crisis - Coren’s injury reduces my tactical options for the remained for the cup. People might think of DuDs as favourites here because they’ve been a league above us recently but we’ve grown up together - Winston were formed only a season after DuD - and like for like, our players are almost identically set up, whilst our average form is both 15, so it could go either way. I have always said that anything can happen over one leg and let me tell you that the changing room is brimming with confidence after our strong showings against Eights and Haden in the group, so if we can make it through to the semis I’m positive we have a shot at winning the cup. Question 2) Thinking beyond the competition, what are your plans for the future in terms of your squad and where as a club you want to be and how long you'd forecast it taking? My aim for the next two seasons is to place in the top three of the elite league. Given the quality of teams coming through right now it will be a big ask. I always look to Eights for a model on which to base my future team and some of my players are capable of fitting that model. Akera has the potential to be one of the top players in the league and with Kroers and Manuel coming through we have a bright future. If all goes well in the change report I will have at least four 12-skill players to field next season. Lately I have been slack with youth academy talents so I will need to blood some eighteen year olds to compliment the players coming through in their early twenties. Question 3) Being in a position where you seem to have overcome the adversity of relegation a few times, it looks as though your yo-yo days may be coming to end and one would think you have what it takes to stick around in the Elite League from now on...what words of advice would you give to up & coming teams like Coloccini & the Russians who harbour dreams of one day being in a position to break through like yourselves? I think that for a long time - and probably because of Battlestar Odwinica and Eights only using youth players - noone was buying players older players. Yellow Sub came along and changed that to huge success and this has been emulated by AC Elites and also Winston, both of which boast a number of players bought as early-mid twenties who have grown into quality first teamers. There is no substitute for authentic youth but I think that by combining youth with clever acquisitions you not only cut down on the slog of developing a team from 18 year old to peak - an 8 year+ cycle - but also it benefits youth development, who tend toward higher dvs because of player alongside better players. This has been a good shortcut for me to breach the bridge between middle and upper league. I would also like to sing the praises of Middle league, which myself and Haden’s teams have hugely benefited from playing in. There is in my opinion a little too much of a rush to rush to make Elite league - After a couple seasons in mid league I feel far more prepared to face the top teams week in week out. Any final words... It seems like now is the time when so many clubs years in the making are starting to hit their peak. I want to say to the fans: the future elite league competition is sure to be more fiercely contested then ever before but the Lions will be ready to make an impact. Some very interesting food for thought there and great info & advice for rival or up & coming managers to ponder over as the pre-season period approaches. Well folks, as always it has been a pleasure and this wraps up my time on this side of the Inter View mic on the Season 30, Champions League Special. However, in an act of role reversal I now pass the reigns over to Haden who will be assuming the role of interviewer to give you all a View of Inter on what can only be known as Haden's Heyday! Until next time... The Inter View list:- Peeps Yellow Subs Aquila Haden Coloccini Winston Make that four...one of my friends (Tom) has just registered on Xpert so he's applied to join our league and is waiting for acceptance! I'll let him know he'll need to wait until the season's over to get his new team!

Haha, had this message through in my official league team inbox today... After having his sports drink spiked with a psychadelic substance by a rival league player during the annual player awards, Thierry Henry has become convinced that he is a ballet dancer, and is struggling to kick a ball without pirhouetting. As a result Thierry Henry loses some form. ...still, is dancing your way around defences such a bad thing? :p

Questions sent! Peeps, I'm easy with the season start time, whatever you decide I'll make sure I'm ready.

Haha... "Mister Tee has dreamed of going on a helicopter ride since he was a young boy. He attends a charity fundraiser and is excited to see a raffle offering a helicopter ride as a prize, and buys 10 tickets. Hundreds of tickets are sold, so when his ticket is chosen as the winner, he can't believe his good fortune! The ride is the thrill of his life and he is the envy of all his teammates. As a result, his form improves." Isn't it ironic...don'tcha think? :p

Cheers dawg, it's been fun conducting them! Yeah defo, that'll be awesome I've exhausted all my options unfortunately, having brought 7 or 8 people to the league already. Could try Mikal again but he's never liked the idea in the past when I've tried to sell it to him.

*Questions conducted three gameweeks ago before group positions were certain. Today on the Inter View we have the manager of another growing force in the N-Europe leagues - Malagi of Coloccini FC. Welcome to the show! Thanks for having me here; it’s nice to be back. Question 1) Currently ranked as the 16th strongest team in N-E, you're in the bracket of many other improving & developing teams in the middle tier of the N-Euro hierarchy with bags of potential and youth coming through. However, with so many other teams in a similar position, how do you go about pushing onward and upwards and keeping a step ahead of the pack in your quest for breaking into the Top 10? Breaking into the Top 10 is certainly on the agenda, but we’re still quite some distance away from it. Right from the off we decided against ‘buying success’ and went for a long-term strategy, so being in 16th is a decent achievement for us. We believe that our current methods are slowly starting to pay dividends, and will continue to do so. Criticism has come our way with our youth policy, but with perseverance and patience, we’re starting to win over our doubters. I genuinely believe we have one of the strongest youth setups in N-E at the moment and this, in my opinion, is what gives us a slight advantage over the teams around us. Our average age is 23, which is the lowest in N-E. We just need to make sure our form remains high and that our DVs are high enough to further improve our squad. Question 2) I see you're managing three other teams on Xpert, does this act as a distraction and lead to mistakes with missed training and forgetting tactics or would you say it helps your understanding of the game, giving you a chance to experiment in many different scenarios, helping you to hone your managerial skills? If anything, I’d say it helps massively; especially in terms of understanding the game. My two other private league teams follow a similar mould to my N-E team in terms of building a team that revolves around the development of youth. I have experimented more in the other leagues though, but I’ve been more cautious in N-E as I consider my Coloccini team to be my main project. My Official team has a blend of high skilled players and youth. It’s a good challenge to juggle them around to ensure I have the right balance of youth and experience. It’s also nice to play the game from that perspective. With that said, it was a struggle at first to remember doing the form training for each team and setting tactics and such, but more so the fact I couldn’t remember which players I had in which teams etc!! It no longer feels like a chore to set tactics for each of the teams now though… and of course it helps that they are mostly played on different days and that the seasons start and finish at different times too. That keeps everything fresh and I certainly haven’t lost any interest in Xpert. If anything I’m pretty hooked on it! Damn you @The Peeps!!! Question 3) The 4th place qualification spot in the group stage of the Champions League seems most probable for your team now in the Flower League. Looking at other potential 4th place finishers in Russians/Madpool, Familia, Kippen/Leeds and presuming the draw is random and not strongest vs weakest, who would you like to face in the next round and how far do you see yourself going? Are you enjoying the Champions League format this season and would you like to see it again? Our target before the Champions League started was to qualify for the knock-out stages and looking at our group we’re very happy to achieve it. We knew it would be tough, but we secured it with 2 games to spare. Looking ahead, it would be nice if we could get through our next game and into the Quarter-Finals but it all goes down to the luck of the draw. We’ll be viewed as one of the weakest teams left in this competition so we’re under no pressure and ultimately have nothing to lose. Who would we like to face? We don’t really have a preference. I’d like to think that we’re a good cup side and if memory serves, we’ve previously reached the semis and also the final of the N-E Cup, so we know what it takes. It’s a whole different ball game though, but we’re ready to give it our best shot! Any final words... Don’t underestimate me as giant killings have been known to happen… I'll bear that in mind...as fate would have it, our two sides have now been drawn against each other in the first knock-out round! Good luck...there will be no mercy! :p The Inter View list:- Peeps Yellow Subs Aquila Haden Coloccini Winston

Cool, hopefully you'll be pretty much there by now then.

How are the Inter View answers coming along @MilaGi? Have you been getting my messages @Haden???

Now we move onto a man and a team who need no introduction, our former admin and two-time winner of the Lower League with his current team Hadens Legends, it is Haden himself, welcome, tis good to have you back on the Inter View! Question 1) First of all, it's no secret that you have a great up & coming team. With an average age 23 though, do you not find the youth lack mentoring from older veterans which leads to a degree of underperofming? Your youth development seems to be exceptional when you consider the low average age and the fact that your squad sits as the second most valuable behind only Eights Utd's. What is the key to a successful youth policy in your opinion, is it having a 5* academy or bringing in exactly what you want from the transfer window? It is interesting for a long time we had Lucas Astle in our midfield as the key veteran player who helped build our team into a middle league side. Under his guidance a lot of my current crop of midfielders raised their game. However I also think on the flip side now that he has left you have a lot of these guys, Conden, Burlett, Mulholland, Cahill etc who want to step up and be the next legend in midfield. So in some ways it has helped us having no veteran in midfield. In defence and attack we have needed a leader and Palmer and Mallett have stepped up and are now key veteran players for us in these roles. I think the key to a good youth policy is hard work and being flexible. By hard work I mean when you get your youths you have to train, train and train they have to be hitting the highest dev you can afford and you have to be planning what games they will be playing in so you can still get results but start playing your youths. As for being flexible I think you may look and want a player whose strong in the air for your defence. But if you get an awesome hard trainier 17 4 who is quick then you take him and adapt! Something I have started to value with youths is all rounders who can slot in to different positions. Not only does this allow you to have a tactical wild card, playing Conden in defence is fave tactic of mine. But it also allows you to develop youths in different positions which can actually be very helpful. Question 2) Looking at the stats, you have the 7th strongest midfield of anyone which is clearly one of your team's strong points. However, goals have seemed to be slightly harder to come by so far this campaign with only 9 in 6 games, is that a worry? How do you see the rest of your group games panning out and if you were to predict an order, what would that be? This is down to a couple of things and has always been a problem for my teams in general. I am quite a cautious manager am not a Roger Federer attacking manager I prefer to control a game and win it 1-0 rather than watch a 5-4 victory. I usually don't ship to many goals even against the best sides. However this has the down side of meaning we sometimes find it hard to score, I have found it hard to develop forwards and made a big mistake a few seasons ago letting veteran Blanchflower go before my youths were truly ready. We now have a couple of good youngsters who are hitting their prime and Mallett who is a proven goal scorer. The only worry is when he is injured I am not sure if the other two are quite ready to step up to the plate yet. I want to try and get a large haul of points from my next three games because I can frankly see myself getting nothing from away games to Eights and Winston so it is important for us to be a bit more clinical, the away game to Dedede will be huge and I will need a massive performance from the team to win this one. If I had to predict an order I think Eights at the top, Winston, myself and then I can see Dedede vs the Familia going to the last game with Dedede edging it. Question 3) What are the stand out moments so far in the Champions league for you and is it living up to all the hype and excitement in your opinion? Would you like to see this as the new generic format or rather an occasional feature, every five or ten seasons say? Finally, when I had Yellow Subs on the show, they said they'd be out for blood against you, here's your chance for any counter comments - take it away! The Champions League has been great imo it has been something different and what I love is all the sub plots in the groups that have been gathering pace. Every group has something different to offer with yours perhaps being the most interesting! I would like to see it as a feature every 4-5 seasons as I think it is great but having it every so often would keep it special and also I think it is very hard on new teams and I think we could lose a lot of good managers who give up after one season in this format. As for Yellow Submarine the fact that this legendary team is after my blood shows how far we have come. The cup "victory" wasn't how I would have wanted it I wanted a proper win but it was still a great moment for our club and unthinkable even a couple of seasons ago. As was shown by our 3-0 home loss to Eights we basically have to get our tactics spot on because we are not as strong as these top tier sides but we want to get to the knockouts and have a go and if we meet Yellow Submarine again on the way he will have him a chance to make himself famous by knocking out the cup champions. Any final words... Just want to say how fun this season has been! Thanks to Peeps for organising it and for you and dan for your Interviews and reports keeps it feeling good. Oh and Nikos, DTA I've learnt that through you the hard way many a time already! :p Next up in the hot seat - Coloccini FC! The Inter View list:- Peeps Yellow Subs Aquila Haden Coloccini Winston

Wowza, 11m he finally went for!!! Seems to be a trend here, my 1st decent youth to come through my 2* academy this morning since May 2012 - a 17-4 striker with cone & cool and it's too late in the season to take him on! Plus I already bought a 17-4 striker at the start of the season...typical!

Ah yes, I forgot to do last week's spotlight. I'll say 2-1 with 3 freekicks for this one!

(To avoid confusion, these questions were conducted before gameweek 6, the answers of which were provided after) On the eve of battle I somewhat controversially invite my next opponent in the Champions League group stage onto the show, Aqui1a. Peeps has issued a strictly no violence policy whereby if either of us lay a finger on each other before the match, we will both have to watch the game from the stands...so without further ado, let the Inter View begin. *Commence exchanges of pizza throwing, football boot kicks to the face and steel chair shots!* Right, well, now we've got that out of our systems and banished each other to the stands for our game... Question 1) Being fellow members of the Mushroom League, level on points and two points behind top of the league Kippen, I think it's safe to say our division is probably one of the most surprise packages and unpredictable of the lot. Having achieved a win in this same fixture between the two of us last season and a draw away at the Galactico Battleground, are you confident of doing the same this time around and what do you think will be the final order of the top 4? It’s always difficult playing Inter. It’s true we did manage a win against them last season, but out of our nine previous encounters, it remains the only one. They have a very strong team of mostly twenty-somethings along with a fairly decent manager to coordinate things. So yeah, I’m hoping to get my tactics spot on and my players to finish the job. It’s made more important by the fact that the league is so close! I know a good few people have branded the Mushroom League as being the easy one, where certain teams are guaranteed a spot in the knockout stages, but I think they need to take another look… With three points separating 1st and 5th place, it’ll be really interesting to see how it all pans out. Can’t wait! As for how it’ll end up, it’s obviously still difficult to say. Despite underestimating the importance of tactics and failing to acknowledge the difference between playmaker and strongest player, I think AC Elites will finish top, with Inter close behind. And I reckon I’ll just about get third spot with Kippen getting fourth. But saying that, Leeds are doing very well this season so it’s not out of the question that they’ll progress. Question 2) Having had a quick recheck of the league stats I see that you have jumped up to being the third most valuable team in all of N-Europe, rising above my own Galactico's team value, previously occupying that position. That speaks volumes for how far your youth development is coming along as well as what the future may hold. All the talk in the forums, and rightly so, has been focused on either the dominance of Eights, the rapid rise of Yellow Subs, the downfall of Madpool or the potential breakthrough moment for Haden. Are you happy to remain in the shadows ready to step into the light when everyone least expects it and do you think that time will soon be upon us? Of course. I’ve been content with hovering about the bottom half of the Elite league for a few seasons because my focus is entirely on youth development at the moment. I realise how easy it would be to save up a load econ and buy in some fairly high-skilled players to bring success, but this is too short-term for my liking. I think to have a proper good team on Xpert, you need to start from the ground up. Fortunately I’ve received a few really great youths from the academy and bought two or three in from the market to help with building my team. Hopefully it won’t be too long before it all pays off and I win my first Elite League title (or any other league title for that matter D:). Question 3) Why the name Aqui1a? Where does it come from and what does it mean or stand for? It’s my gaming alias that I’ve been using since about 2003/2004. There is some meaning behind it… It’s a star constellation (see club crest) that represents an eagle that in Greek mythology carried Zeus’ thunderbolts around for him! Not that I knew this as the time. I was just like, “Oh that sounds alright! I’ll use that.” Any final words... Thanks for that Mr. Aqui1a...I'm liking the Greek connection there! Before we wrap the Inter View up I'd just like to take this opportunity to say congratulations on your win against my Galacticos last week, you deserved it but don't think I'll be going easy on you in the return leg! :p Next up...the Legends of Haden! The Inter View list:- Peeps Yellow Subs Aquila Haden Coloccini Winston

@Aqui1a - when do you reckon you'll have your Inter View answers ready, just so I can start planning the next?

Ahhh, DAyaMN! :p

I'm picturing Vinny Mac with the APA!

Spotlight: Russians to win 2-1 with 4 chances each.