Nikos9

Spotlight: Score = 4-1, possession = 60-40

Score 3-1 with 4 players in the Xpert Eleven!

Welcome to The Inter View Peeps or The Peeps Show as we could aptly call it for this edition, thanks for participating. First of all congrats on doing a great job as admin since taking over from Haden and commiserations for last seasons relegation but that's all forgotten about now you're flying high in the Middle League, level on points with third and looking good for a promotion shout again which leads me to my first question... Question 1) Whilst you're doing well, as the strongest team in the league on paper you could be doing better, are you happy with the way the season is progressing? It seems as though you're coasting a bit and if you really wanted to you could push to be first place or is it more of a case of the Middle League being so competitive that victory isn't as easy as it seems? The season could be going better for us that's true, we've had a game or two that we could've won but we can't play our strongest line-up every game. My ultimate goal is the elite league title and until we're ready to claim it, results just aren't that important. We could go all out and win every game but it's not worth trying to win every game at this stage if it's going to hinder your development. Even though we have a small team, we don't have the same line-up every game. It is also true that the middle league is very competitive. I may have the strongest team but there are 4 other teams also with a strength rating of 8 and four below them on 7. This is a very close division in terms of strength. I'm aiming for promotion but I won't sacrifice development for it. As long as I don't get relegated, I'm happy. Question 2) Looking at your team there seems to be a fair balance of young and old but with a couple of retirees in Birch and Blessed on the horizon with possibly a few more soon to follow, is a squad reshape on the cards soon or are you happy with how the future is looking? If so, will you be looking to bring in youth, veterans or both and what attributes will you look out for. It's a shame to see those players retire as they are two of only three players remaining from when I first got the team, but I've only had them as reserves for the last three seasons so it's not a great loss to the strength of the team. I think I have a good development system but no matter how well you plan, you can never guarantee that every player will raise every season which leads me to my midfield. We had a shake up not long ago but the midfield just didn't develop as well as our defence did so I had to lose a couple of players. Now I've kind of reset the midfield again and I would've liked a 20-8 or something for balance this season but now I think I'll wait until next season so I can build up some funds. I've just signed a new youth defender which I think tops off my defence for the next few seasons and if we're promoted this season I'll maybe look at another forward. Generally I'm happy with the current team and I am working towards something with them. Question 3) I couldn't help but notice you have five teams on the go on xpert, tell us a bit about how you got into that and how you find managing the other sides etc. Do you find you forget tactics or training more when the attention is spread so widely and do you have different philosophies for your other teams? Most importantly, how do the other leagues compare to N-Euro, are the other teams there as involved or dedicated and which do you get the most satisfaction from? When I became admin for this league it freed up a space for a new team (you can have 2 teams in leagues you're admin of, one official team and another three teams in leagues run by others) and I was very pleased as it meant I could join a league that ran games on mondays and thursdays (thursdays were the only days when I would have no matches being played). So now I have at least one game every day of the week and I've not forgotten tactics once. I love the game and as soon as I've watched a match, I set up the tactics for the next one. My N-E team was my first team and I had no idea what I was doing at first so it's taken a while for me to rebuild it into something worthwhile. With my other teams I've started off knowing what to do so it's been easier to craft decent sides. I tend to stick to the same philosophy with balance and the training regiment so eventually I hope my teams will look identically strong. I could ramble on for 2 pages about all of my teams so I'll leave it at that! The other leagues I'm in are as active (or more so) as this one but I don't think there's any more dedicated than us. We have the most going on aside from the main game with the amount of discussion we have as well as the reports and the lottery games. N-E satisfies my thirst for more Xpert and I care about doing well in this league the most, but I don't think Real Peeps is my best team just yet. Any final words... I hope that every team in our league is happy and now that we've reached 30 active teams I would very much like to keep it that way. If anyone ever has any suggestions for the league or if they have anyone they know who'd like to join, I am completely open to them. I know frustrations can run high this game and I like the dedication and passion members have for it but at the end of the day it's a game just for fun and while I love the banter, I think sometimes people get a bit carried away. I wouldn't like any members to feel unwelcome. Of course, for every minor argument you have fantastic posts from the likes of Dan-Likes-Trees and generally good-humoured posts from members like bob and Roger Federer as well as the reports and this series of interviews. I'm happy to be a part of The N-Euro Championship! Great job Peeps, I'm sure we'll be seeing you back in the top flight in no time. Our games have always been full of goals and drama so I look forward to the time we can resume our battles. Best of luck for the rest of the season! The Inter View list:- 1. Haden 2. Coloccini 3. Madpool 4. Peeps 5. Eights 6. Balbuzards 7. Co-op 8. Fedex 9. Recall 10. bob 11. Cubic 12. Valyrian Steelers (Alliance) Keep an eye out for the next Inter View with reigning two time Elite League champion Eights Utd this weekend!

Wa wa wa, sucks to be you I get it...bored now as is everyone else! This isn't about me anyway, pay your debt like I've already done (and which has been accepted as I've already said) and lets move on!

DuD, I paid my debt and the case was settled with people agreeing 500k off per player was acceptable for me given the situation and the amount the players I bought were worth so option two is more realistic but shouldn't you be quoting his normal price as of now seeings he was bought pre-season and had plenty of time to recover from that injury before the next season. Also, when you buy someone I'm pretty sure you can sack them straight away, the 30 day thing only applies if you want to sell him.

Btw, I just realised something looking at DuDs V Winston match report and I hate to drag all this up again but how is it I had to pay pretty much the going rate for the players I bought off Seahawks last season in the end and DuDs (who kicked up the fuss in the first place) got away with keeping Carrascosa - a 26-9 defender with heading, for only 300k?? Surely he should have either did what I did, (sell and buy him back at the proper amount, minus 500k mates rates) or sack the player!? Instead, he's played him in all but one game so far, helping him towards some shock results and a nice third place spot currently in the league with the third best defensive record so far too!?

First of all MadDog of MadPool, welcome to The Inter View..tis always a pleasure to converse with an old fellow nWo compatriot. Just before we start I'd like to say thanks for a good game today and I'm sorry to have been the one to inflict punishment upon you earlier and then ask you to perform an interview with me straight after as I'm probably not your favourite person right now but it's much appreciated. Question 1) We all know that you're a supporter and administrator of attacking football and it is this which has helped seen some entertaining games and huge victories for your team at Hiles Field over the years such as your 7-0 destruction of Rising Phoenix towards the end of season 24; the season which saw you score a mahoosive total of 68 goals. However, on the flip side, this has lead to your defence being wide open to the counter-attack, seeing them become unstuck on many occasions too such as two seasons ago when you conceded 46 goals; more goals than you've ever conceded in a single season since your now 20th season as a manager here. Do you think this may be why that Elite League Title has eluded you for so long? If not, what do you consider to be the problem? If so, would you consider changing your philosophy to gain results at the expense of entertainment? My defence doesn't play good ratings, but that's just the way i play. I focus on my midfield and forwards so i can score as many goals as possible. I always expect my defence ratings to be below average, it's not my main focus. When i first started, i had a few good midfielders and i tried to enhance that strength by playing 4-5-1. That got me amongst the better teams. I then developed a couple of good strikers and that evolved us into my current 3-5-2 formation. I've been pretty lucky in that i've always had good midfielders and that's become my 'thing', i'm happy that i have an identity of being an attacking team that tries to play good football. It'd be hard to leave that. If i was less stubborn, i'm pretty certain i'd have won a league by now. I'll never change how i play and my love of attacking football will never go away. If i'm ever to win a league, it'll be won by playing the football i play now. Question 2) You seem to have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at trying to win your first ever Elite League trophy and failed so far but now with the emergence of great new teams like Yellow Submarines and DuDs Baggies seemingly creeping up on teams like you and I and catching us off guard, how do you go about trying to push forward at a faster rate of acceleration to them? Every team will have a period of time when they're competitive, it's just hard to sustain it over a number of seasons i've found. I've spent the last few seasons really focused on playing my best players and neglected my young players, and i think i'll have a spell when i'll be less than competitive in a few seasons time because of that. New teams will eventually challenge, it's just how long they can stay up there and keep their squad at a high level. I've brought a few young players in and my average age has dropped a little, hopefully my older players are around long enough for these new players to develop into good players. Question 3) You seemed to have peaked a few seasons ago and become disheartened by a couple of second place finishes. Currently you sit dangerously close to the relegation zone in 7th, level on points with Silverdale who is in the relegation zone in 8th, you have one win, one draw and three losses...is the only way down now for MadPool or is there a grand plan that is escaping the view of the onlookers? I'm very confident i won't go down, i'm pretty good at beating the weaker teams, i just struggle against the best teams. I obviously want to challenge and i believe i have to quality to do so, but things just don't seem to be going for me. I'm not happy with a solid mid table finish, i want to be challenging, and anything less than that is a poor season for us. Any final words... I know one day i will win the league, as many teams have. I think winning it and dominating it for season after season is the ultimate goal for me. Like how Battlestar Galactica and Essex Elites did in the past and how Eights might very well do right now. I'd like to manage one of those legendary squads that go down as one of the best in N-E history, i don't want to just win one title and disappear. I want to go down as one of the best manager ever in N-E history. Thanks to the Mad one there for his contributions, next up in the hot seat will be...Peeps! The Inter View list:- Haden Coloccini Madpool Peeps Eights Balbuzards Co-op Fedex Recall bob Cubic Valyrian Steelers (Alliance)

Cool, you're on the list...are you going to be the spokesman for your group? As we have a pretty healthy Inter View list now I may start doing two a week where possible to get through them but we'll see how I'm doing for time, if need be it can just extend into pre-season anyway.

Spotlight: 3-1 with 2 freekicks in the game!

Argh...I just got screwed over by the pools! I had provisionally put in all my guesses, went to compare teams for one of the games then clicked back and confirmed the bet only to see that all my guesses had been automatically changed but I only noticed after it was too late...grrr! Never know...it may have worked in my favour but I doubt it! The Inter View list now looks like this:- Haden Coloccini Madpool Peeps Eights Balbuzards Co-op Fedex Recall bob Cubic Valyrian Steelers (Alliance)

I thought the same a few months ago so had a quick search and whilst there are a few small forums out there they didn't seem to be as diverse, dedicated or devoted (3D) to xpert as this one...they should employ us! :p Greetings MilaGi of Coloccini FC and welcome to The Inter View, it's good to have you on the show! You should be familiar with the way this works now so I'll just fire away:- Hello and thanks for having me! Question 1) You're still relatively new to xpert in your sixth season here now, do you feel like you've got to grips with it yet and how would you describe your footballing/managment philosophy? I still can't quite believe it's been 6 seasons already! I knew it would always take a while to get to grips with it, but I feel I'm getting there (slowly but surely). I have to thank Peeps and Aqui1a for giving me a lot of advice as well as introducing me into the world of Xpert in the first place! As for my managerial style, I'd say I'm an advocate of fluent attacking football. A bit like the Kevin Keegan style of "you score 3 and we'll score 4" philosophy! We want to entertain, we want to win games, we want to win titles and accolades. We're not here to make up the numbers, we're here to compete, but we want to do it the right way! Question 2) You seem to have a fairly high turnover of players at the club (27 players have been shown the club exit door since you arrived, only five less than mine and I've been managing 6 seasons longer...why such a cull? Also, with 12 of your 17 players aged 22 or younger are you finally happy with your current youthful batch and is everything going according to plan? I think the beauty of having a relatively new team is that there are no immediate expectations resting on your shoulders. I've been able to manage my team with practically zero pressure, and in turn, it has enabled me to mould the team the way I want without drawing too much attention. I could have easily played my highest skilled players game after game from the offset but chose to almost build from the foundation up with the exuberance of youth and develop a squad capable of challenging for honours. I see it as more of a long-term project that will take a bit more patience and hopefully that patience will be rewarded in a few seasons time! I believe we're starting to get somewhere. I also believe the disappointment of relegation last season will be seen as advantageous than anything negative. I'm quite happy with my current squad. I still have a reasonable mix of youth and experience, although we're lacking any real stand out players. I could possibly take on one more youth, but they'll have to be very special for that to happen! I'd probably say "watch this space" for now and I'm sure everyone will see a difference in about 2-3 seasons. Question 3) What are your short and long term aims for the club? Being only the fifth strongest squad in the lower league on paper this season, can you see yourself winning promotion to the Middle League yet? I'd say my short-term goals would be to continue to develop the youth players I have, which also leads into a long-term aim of having a strong team that could be challenging for league titles. The long-term aim is simple... to reach the Elite League and try and break into the top half there, which is no mean feat! I'm ambitious but we're not going to get ahead of ourselves. We know there's a long way to go to get anywhere near that level, but we'll strive to get to that. In the meantime, we'll be taking it game by game, season by season. Our aim this season is to achieve a top 3 finish within the lower league and gain promotion back into the Middle League. I don't think we'll manage an unbeaten season like we achieved last time we were promoted but that's not important. There are stronger teams than us this season and I'm sure we'll have set backs. It's how we deal with those which will determine the direction of the club. We're off to the best possible start with 3 wins from 3 so just have to keep getting those results on the board! Our next match is at home to Andy's Allstars, who we beat 6-1 in a pre-season friendly. Andy happens to be my brother so it's all about sibling rivalry and bragging rights. Let's see if he remembers to set his tactics this time! There'll be no friendly reminder! Any final words (optional)... I'd like to thank Haden and Madpool for inviting me into the SHIELD this season. It's an honour to have such faith put into me and it's been a boost for the players too given our frenetic start! Nikos, thanks very much for inviting me for The Inter View. It's been a pleasure! Thanks, it was good to have you in the hot seat. We'll all be looking forward to seeing how your team turns out in three seasons or so as I can see the potential is there for you to become a formidable force in time! Look out for next weeks Inter View with MadDog of MadPool...

First of all Haden, we've had our differences in the past but it is a pleasure to welcome you onto the first ever episode of The Inter View and it's great to have you as my first interviewee, thanks for volunteering. Just to summarise the way this works, I'll hit you with three topic questions, some with their own sub-questions attached so feel free to answer in as much or as little detail as you like. Finally, there'll be an optional opportunity at the end to make a comment/statement/shoot the breeze/say your piece on anything you'd like to end on to close the interview with. Ok, time to fire away:- Question 1) I realise this show isn't supposed to be all about me but it only seems fitting to ask - what do you make of how your old protege (Nikos of Intergalactico Stars) has turned out? You were the one who invited, introduced me to and mentored me on all things xpert in those early days. Are you proud that you played your part in nurturing a two-time Elite League champion or do you wish you never unleashed the beast? Thank you for inviting me on the first episode of the Interview! I hope this ranks up there with Jericho and Edges talk shows rather than Miz TV. When I unleashed the poision onto the NE league I thought like when Vince unleashed the real NWO it might just peter out and die but not in your case! You have done great and I would expect nothing less knowing your form on fantasy football. You have done superbly matching a great match by match tactical knowledge with a longer term strategic vision. I think the challenge for you now is to maintain that high standard. The Elite league is a very interesting place, you have the monster that is Eights United, teams just below that like Madpool, yourself and Odwinica, maybe Silverdale but he is lacking some consistency as of late (sorry Rowan :P ) and new teams such as Yellow Submarine and DuDs chomping at the bit to get in the top 5. Your challenge now will be to match youth development with keeping incredibly high standards of players in your team. Nowhere is this harder than the top league where easy games are almost non existent. My challenge to you Inter is to reach four league titles before Eights!!!!!!! (The crowd roars, some chant Inter others chant Eights) Question 2) As one of the original surviving managers left in the N-Euro leagues, a four-time Elite League Champion with Haden Utd and a league admin title to boast on your CV, you've seen and done it all, what has been your favourite moment or experience and what keeps you hungry or motivated knowing that you've already done it all? I actually thought I was a three time champion! I must be going mad. Hmm that is a good question, my fave moment with Haden United was the last time I won with the club. There had been a six season gap and the team was looking a bit past it compared to some of the new teams, I had lots of classic players in the team that had never won the big one and I wanted to make sure they won it before the team finished. When that team won it they were almost a perfect team in regards to promosing youths, great veterans and deadly in every part of the pitch. Looking at that team in that moment I knew it was the perfect moment to finish with Haden United no more could be done. What keeps me hungry is how Xpert is turning into such a beast season on season. It was started with just two leagues as a very informal game in 2007 by Oddy. It now has 30 active teams, was voted NE GOTY, live cup draws, has reports done, alliances, interviews and a whole history and folklore that just surrounds our forum playing it. Being part of that is really special and is why I keep playing. Question 3) You're into your sixth season now with Hadens Rangers, how do compare starting up this time to how it was before? Can you see Rangers going all the way and one day lifting the Elite League trophy or are the likes of Eights and BSO just too far out of reach? That is an even better question! And a scary one. I think the league is a lot harder now, having said that when it first began basically Oddy knew how to play and the rest of us didn't have a clue. Hence Oddy winning 5 of the first 10 seasons! So in that sense it was a real challenge but now its like you have at least 19 maybe more seasoned managers who really know what they are doing to play against so to win now means a lot more. I would like to think one day Rangers will win it but like you say Eights and BSO not to mention you, Madpool hell every team in the top tier would destroy me at the moment. Still I have a very nice development of players in midfield with Astle leading a group that are still quite young and looking very good, maybe in 7 seasons time just before they retire Rangers will be ready! It would help if Eights had retired by then :p Any final words (optional)... Nikos, you have been a friend, an enemy and an opponent I have one thing to say to you. Don't trust anybody. Sierra, Hotel, India, Echo, Alpha, Delta (Dear god the Shield have arrived! But wait here comes NWO! A brawl has broken out oh my god! Haden and the Shield runs off) Nick that alliance trophy is ours this season, ours!!! Tune in next week for an exclusive interview with Coloccini FC...

Excellent, thanks guys! The interview order is as follows so far:- Haden Coloccini Madpool Peeps Eights Balbuzards Co-op Fedex Recall

Excellent, then you shall be my first interviewee and Coloccini my second! I'll aim to do one a week at first, if it's really popular then maybe stretch to two but we'll see how it goes. I just realised, if I post it as my own PR then that can be my press release for the week...kill two birds with one stone! My segment shall be called...The Inter View...haha!

I choose 6 for the lotto draw. Spotlight: 1-1, chances 3-2 Also, I was thinking we should bring back the manager interview section we did a few seasons ago as it was quite interesting! I don't mind conducting the interviews. I can randomly select people and/or those who fancy being interviewed next just say so. I think the format before was three tailor made questions and I'll post your answers on here, then maybe Peeps or Haden you can post it in a PR for others to see on xpert!?

Awesome, good to have you on board! Our Alliance is now complete: Inter-Leeds-Fedex!

...and as I said on the page before, Fedex is with me. We do need a middle league team though if anyone is interested...

Is there gonna be a lotto for a VIP prize for the winners of last seasons leagues/competitions?

Can anyone ask the Roger Federer Crew if he would like to be in an alliance with me and Fedex? I think him and Fedex would get on well, what with both of their teams being devoted to Federer 'n' all! :p Unless Tales doesn't want you Peeps, in which case we'll have you! :wink:

Hey Peeps, can you reinstate dirty trix?...I wanna take out Haden for refusing a friendly against me but then going and arranging games with Madpool and Silverdale to spite me! :p

I say we just abandon the cup now, write it off and get on with the league...too many delays! :p (not that this has anything to do with the fact I've been eliminated or anything, lol )

Are you gonna accept my challenge Haden?

From what I gather he resigned from his team then Peeps deactivated, right Peeps? He said he then tried using the league invite link too but the only option it ever gives him is to rejoin Seahawks. Then he tried to create a new account with a different email but it won't let him so he's not sure what else he can do!?

Seahawks says he's tried creating a new account, tried a different username and email address but it's still not working for him...any ideas?