Tales Posted April 29, 2015 Posted April 29, 2015 Honestly, winning in that way against Winston is going to be worth more than winning the actual season
dan-likes-trees Posted May 2, 2015 Posted May 2, 2015 Honestly, winning in that way against Winston is going to be worth more than winning the actual season Lucky cos the latter is looking a bit unlikely :P
dan-likes-trees Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 Hey @The_Peeps I sent you some interview questions earlier! Whenever you get a chance. Whilst I'm at it - Stop moping about being your awful season and get your responses back @Zell
Zell Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 Hey @The_Peeps I sent you some interview questions earlier! Whenever you get a chance. Whilst I'm at it - Stop moping about being your awful season and get your responses back @Zell Just sent them your way!
dan-likes-trees Posted May 4, 2015 Posted May 4, 2015 Just sent them your way! Brill, just read them, great analysis - reminds me of speaking Inter last season. I'll get them posted up in the next couple days. Big double header for Winston from Friday. Caammaaannn.
The Peeps Posted May 5, 2015 Author Posted May 5, 2015 I was surprised we didn't score more with our ratings that much higher tbh :p especially once his reserve keeper went in!
dan-likes-trees Posted May 7, 2015 Posted May 7, 2015 We find ourselves at a vital juncture in our country's history. Two fierce rivals will clash in what is the culmination of weeks of buildup and media hype. I talk, of course, about the double header between Lylat and Winston. Before this huge fixture I had some time to speak with The Peeps about transfer dealings, the league merger, and winning the league. -- -- -- I’d like to start by looking back at last season. You had a massive opportunity to make it two titles in a row but it just seemed to me that ultimately Aqui1a just wanted it more. The final, decisive match was a poor performance by Lylat. You didn’t seem too bothered - how did Lylat bottle it so in the final few games? It would have been nice to win two titles in a row but our title win was somewhat of a surprise hit for us. I mean I don't think we were expected to win so perhaps some teams weren't as guarded as they should have been. Last season I think we may have been taken more as a 'team to beat' so we faced tougher matches against opponents we'd beaten the season before. Most notably we drew twice against Intergalactico Stars and I think we deserved a win at least in the home game. We also drew away to Coloccini which took points away from us. A win in any of those fixtures would've given us the title again. I definitely agree that Aqui1a wanted it more, almost like he had something to prove last season! It came down to the last match and he had the better team and tactics on the day, can't fault it at all and he deserved the win. You’ve made a couple of odd sales lately - 24/9 Flynt Coal was a decent-ish prospect, Lilywhite 30/12 brought good experience - selling them has made your team lightweight at the back. Is your squad now too thin? Could you talk about these sales? Flynt Coal was brought on because we needed a freekick taker. He was a risk because he was on the average age/skill curve when we bought him and a player of his quality being on the transfer market may have meant he was low in his skill band - meaning he was unlikely to raise. This turned out to be the case and he failed to raise from 22-8 to 23-9. With the team we've got I didn't want someone at a young age to be behind the skill curve so I didn't see any value in keeping him. I kept him on for another season in the hopes of double jumping but he missed out and the money we got for him and Burt Lilywhite (simply too old, no room on the team for him with youths coming in) went towards Nick Damon, 20-6 but young enough to get a double jump out of him even if he doesn't raise in his first season. How did it feel to win the title for the first time? It’s been a long time coming - you had to wait 15 seasons to get to the top. I feel perhaps sometimes it’s hard to express your emotions as a manager alongside your role as league director but you must have been overjoyed. It did feel like a long time coming but in that season it all just came together. We didn't really have any youths that needed game time, our youngest players were Accrington and Rosbottom who were 21 and 20 but above average in skill and the average age was spot on each match. Basically we could put our best team out each game, focussing on tactics and not worrying about development. The best feeling came from knowing we had a fantastic team and it was literally our last season before I knew we had to take youths on to keep up our conveyor belt style development. Talk to me about a manager you admire, perhaps when you were coming through up the leagues. I didn't pay too much attention to the top league before I entered it myself but Tales was always a manager I respected simply due to his team management. I think looking at his squad, I can tell that we have similar thoughts on skill/age ratio and balance. He's had a consistently strong team for as long as I can remember and hasn't dropped out of the top league since season 19. Nikos9 gets a shout out too for similar reasons and Haden of course inspired me a good deal. The league merger has really kickstarted the series as a whole. Could you talk about the new teams and how this has affected your plans for Lylat? The league merger was much needed as we really were struggling for players each season. We couldn't keep roping Cube and others in each season when they clearly had no real interest in the game anymore. It'll be a couple more seasons until we've hit full integration but I think the skill bar has been raised for the league as a whole and that's not a bad thing. The lower league isn't a place for weak teams anymore as they're all pretty strong! As for Lylat Wanderers, it adds a bit of pressure to keep ahead of the game but I think we'll be in good enough shape for when the strongest teams reach the top league. You are a manager who famously spends a lot of time in the game, with six teams across various leagues. Can you give me a glimpse into the world of Lylat - perhaps a top tip for the newbies I have one official team and five private league teams so I have a match or two every day. I watch a game and immediately do form training before setting tactics for the next match. So for n-e I'll watch Tuesday's match on the day and have Friday's tactics sorted in that same session. I do this across all teams on their respective match days. First and foremost, set your squad for development over results. If your squad is strong enough, you'll win enough games for promotion anyway and if not, you're not ready for promotion. Do not be discouraged at losing games or missing out on promotion because it simply means you need to spend more time building up your strength and the only way to do that is to maximise DV for your younger players. The worst thing you can do is get promoted too early and wreck a promising team because your opponents are on another level. Pay attention to form because that and actual game time is what drives DV. Have a good mix of old and young players but always remember that youth comes first. It's better to go down with a strong team and rise up next match/season than it is to go up with a weak team and fall back down. Finally... are Lylat going to win the league this year? I always aim to win each game no matter what team I'm putting out but I'll never put out a team purely to win unless I don't need the DV for the youths. Two of them are already on 16 and the other is on 13 so it looks like I'll be in the running this season at least... but I think we'll have the real answer to this question after our head to head! Thank you Peeps for taking the time to talk to me - all eyes will be on tomorrow's game. Best of luck! Next week on Words With Winston - Zell of Yellow Sub
dan-likes-trees Posted May 17, 2015 Posted May 17, 2015 This week I have the pleasure of talking to one of the great managers of Xpert's history, Zell, of Yellow Submarine. Zell! It is a true pleasure to speak to a manager with such a vast history of success. You are a manager who I have admired since the outset, particularly you meteoric rise as a young manager starting out. This manager has always seen you as a machine of success, an opportunistic manager in the best possible sense. By contrast to Tales, nearly every title race you have been realistically involved in you have won. What do you attribute this winning spirit to? You are known for curveball tactics, particularly against Eights - is this the biggest factor? Thank you for the kind words. I still remember my very first match in Xpert. It was a cup game against a team called Bubbles who were in the Middle League at the time. Anyway, I lost 4-0 to a Bubbles side playing 4-5-1 against my 4-4-2. After the match, the manager of Bubbles gave me constructive beginner advice along the lines of “it’s poor tactics to play pressure against a 5 man midfield which is stronger than your own”, and for some reason this has stuck with me ever since. I attribute a lot of my early success to my strong midfield at that time. Having a stronger midfield than you opponent generally equates to more possession and more chances – like a poker player I was simply playing a numbers game. Nowadays, I feel a lot of other teams have caught on to my early tactics so my midfield no longer stands out as it once did. Also there isn’t a much of a skill gap separating the teams at the top, so the biggest differentiator in my opinion is tactics. With teams like Eights though, you have to play curveball tactics. It’s the only way to win when your team is statistically weaker in every department. So you have to outthink your opponent in order to nullify the skill gap. In important matches, you need to strive for every little advantage. You also have to think about the other manager’s approach and mentality going into the game. Is the other manager going to treat this as any other game? Does he want to win or does he want a draw? Are they going to play their strongest team/formation or will they try to counter my tactics? As Littlefinger says, always keep your foes confused, so I try to vary my tactics and formations as much as possible. So in answer to your question, yes, tactics have been a big factor in my success because it has allowed me to win important matches that on paper I should have lost. And it is in the winning of important matches that make champions. With teams like Eights you have to play curveball tactics. You have to outthink your opponent in order to nullify the skill gap. The last two seasons have been unfruitful to say the least, and this season you are already (at time of writing) eight points off mighty Winston. Your team is set up to include an array of ages, but you couldn’t claim that you are ‘focusing on youth’ as is so often the way with unsuccessful teams hiding their failures. Do you feel your team right now is simply not up to the level required? I’ve always maintained that success and development are not mutually exclusive, so I will not hide behind a ‘focusing on youth’ excuse. When I first won the league, my team was far weaker than it is now and was also far weaker than most of the other teams in the league at that time (think of the likes of Eights, Battlerstar, Inter, Madpool, Silverdale). So why am I not winning the league every season? The truth is that for the last few seasons, my tactics have not been up to scratch. When I first started, I was sedulous in my tactic setting and would spend a lot of time analysing results of my rivals to better understand the inner workings of Xpert. I’ve stopped doing that now because my interest has slowly waned due to general fatigue. Recently I’ve simply been going through the motions when it comes to setting tactics and this had led to underperformance – something I am looking to address this season. Could I challenge for the league if I really wanted to? Maybe. Do I care about winning the league? Without trying to sound arrogant, I’ve been and done that already, my goals have moved on. Further to this, when, realistically, do you see yourself challenging again? Have you written off this season yet or do you consider yourself to still be in the mix? "Other seasons, teams seem to be stagnating or transitioning, and it’s these seasons where I can see myself snatching the title." It depends on the aspirations of other teams in the league. Remember that I won the league only three seasons ago, with a reasonably low points tally. Some seasons, you really see teams “giving it a go”, like Winston are this season. Other seasons, teams seem to be stagnating or transitioning, and it’s these seasons where I can see myself snatching the title. I don’t see myself being in the mix this season unless results start going my way. We are certainly capable of beating any team in the league on our day, so if we can get some decent results against the teams above us then we may still be in for a shout come season end. I was always inspired by the YS transfer principles - lately you have given up on buying skilled mid-20s players. Delpiano, Ataisik, the lynchpins of your midfield and central to your title successes, were bought with this tactic in mind. Why the change to only youth? Do you feel the standard is now too high in the league for these players to make the cut? Yes I do. Back in the early days of Yellow Sub, players like Delipiano, Ataisik and McEnroe were brought in to balance the side age-wise. They were fantastic signings at the time; the problem now is that I have youths that were brought in as 17-4 or 18-4 now coming through as 23-10s. So why would I spend 4 or 5 million on a 24-9? It would be a step down. Buying mid-20s players at the quality I need is very expensive. I would definitely still invest in one if I felt it necessary, but what I am trying to set up is a “conveyor belt” of youths, so to speak. Yellow Sub peaked 2-3 seasons ago – what I want in future seasons in consistency. Do you feel that the seasons in which you challenged or won the league hampered your club’s future in the long term? As I said, YS are currently off the pace of Eights, Lylat, even Winston. Even Winston! Now that is embarrassing! As I said earlier, I’ve won the title before with relatively weaker squads. Yes, we are off the pace somewhat, but is that down to tactics or team strength? I’ll let you decide. It could be argued that Yellow Sub may have been a stronger club now if only we had focussed more on development a few seasons back. That is simply not the Yellow Submarine philosophy. We have always played to win, and will continue to do so. After so much success what keeps a manager like yourself going? Do you, like Inter, aspire to be the most successful team in the history of the league? When I first signed up, my aspiration was to win the league once, so to win it 3 times is way more than I hoped for. "What keeps me going more than anything is the competition and camaraderie." I don’t think I’ll be the most successful manager in the history of the league and I don’t really aspire to be either. I hope that I am known as a good manager beyond any Championship success. Before I signed up to Xpert, I used to play a lot of Mafia. For a very long time I was top of the Leaderboard, but I don’t think I was ever considered to be a “good” player. It wasn’t an entirely unfair assessment, nevertheless it did undermine the success I had. For Xpert, I hope I’m known as a strong and respected competitor regardless of how many titles I’ve won. Some of the managers I have the most respect for have never won the league. What keeps me going more than anything is the competition and camaraderie. I’ve had some good rivalries over the years and the community at N-E is great. It makes the game all the more meaningful. Lastly, could you comment on the threat of the new teams in the middle leage? Caltech Shelldonians are currently on one and a half seasons with only two points dropped. The Shelldonians are a powerhouse who will surely disrupt the current balance of power in the Elite League. They will surely be one of the favourites to win the Championship next season – the big question is how they will handle teams of similar skill levels. They cannot simply power their way through teams like they have been doing in the lower leagues; they will need to step up their tactical game too. Which managers do you respect the most - and do The Sub have any enemies? First and foremost, Tales. Eights are my fiercest rivals and we’ve had some epic clashes over the years. Tales gets some stick for having not won the league more, but no other manager in the history of the league has developed a side as strong as Eights United, so you have to respect him for that at the very least. I also have a strong rivalry with Nikos. Inter have a strong record against me and I’m still bitter about my Champions League final defeat. I should mention Peeps too, it’s been a slow grind for him but now his team has really started to blossom. I can easily see Lylat going on to win more titles. That dave-loves-bees chap is not bad too I suppose. As for enemies, I try not to make enemies but I’m sure there are some teams out there that hold a grudge! I suppose you could say that AC Elites were once my enemies before they lost their way. I would like to see them make a bit of a comeback just so that we can continue the old lower league rivalry we had going. Thank you for your time Zell. This week's interview has confirmed my suspiciousns that Zell if one of the most intelligent and savvy managers in the league. I was particularly interested in his words on opportunism, picking one's time and 'snatching' the title. Like with my words with Inter last year, he attributes his success in large part to varied, or curveball tactics in key games Zell mentions that Yellow Sub 'peaked' 2-3 seasons ago - I will be keeping a close eye on their recovery in the future. Anyone else up for some Words With Winston, let me know!
Tales Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 So I'm going abroad Monday and will therefore miss the last five matches. Anyone want to take over? Preferably someone from the middle league but I guess there aren't many forum members there.
MilaGi Posted May 20, 2015 Posted May 20, 2015 @dan\-likes\-trees put my name down if you like and i'll be sure to respond this time!
Zell Posted May 21, 2015 Posted May 21, 2015 So I'm going abroad Monday and will therefore miss the last five matches. Anyone want to take over? Preferably someone from the middle league but I guess there aren't many forum members there. I would offer myself up, but I think there may be a conflict of interest! Big matches tomorrow: Eights vs Winston and Lylat vs YS. Looking at the remaining fixtures, if Winston win then they look dead set on winning the title.
dan-likes-trees Posted May 22, 2015 Posted May 22, 2015 I would offer myself up, but I think there may be a conflict of interest! Big matches tomorrow: Eights vs Winston and Lylat vs YS. Looking at the remaining fixtures, if Winston win then they look dead set on winning the title. Pretty chuffing good day to be a Winston fan! This must be our year. Touch wood. So I'm going abroad Monday and will therefore miss the last five matches. Anyone want to take over? Preferably someone from the middle league but I guess there aren't many forum members there. Glad you didn't go abroad a week earlier - wouldn't have wanted a good manager to be in charge of Eights for our game today :P @MilaGi - haha alright you better do! I'll draw up some q's over the weekend
Tales Posted May 24, 2015 Posted May 24, 2015 No one? I can't be bothered to set tactics now and I can't do anything with the training. If there's a conflic of interest, I honestly don't care. I can't win anyway, I'm just worried about the development, so I would be grateful if anyone could help me with that.
Aqui1a Posted May 24, 2015 Posted May 24, 2015 No one? I can't be bothered to set tactics now and I can't do anything with the training. If there's a conflic of interest, I honestly don't care. I can't win anyway, I'm just worried about the development, so I would be grateful if anyone could help me with that. I'll do it if you want.
Zell Posted May 26, 2015 Posted May 26, 2015 Xpert is weird sometimes. I completely bollocks up my tactics and scrape to a lucky 1-0 home win, yet Xpert gives me 5 stars and manager of the round.
dan-likes-trees Posted May 26, 2015 Posted May 26, 2015 (edited) I'll do it if you want. Am also game if you want a manager who's picked up more than 7 points this season. EEeeyyyyyyyyy. Seriously though Aqui1a enormous respect for you as a manager and team however I much I might slag you off. But what's gone wrong this season? Why did you sell MVP Forbesy and Upson? (Let me know if you'd like to answer via a Words with Winston. By the way, Peepsy, EDIT: Glad to see Caldech Sheldonians finally drop two more points. Still en route to make it to upper league having never lost a game though. Edited May 26, 2015 by dan-likes-trees
The Peeps Posted May 26, 2015 Author Posted May 26, 2015 haha you're safe as long as you don't lose any games
dan-likes-trees Posted May 28, 2015 Posted May 28, 2015 @dan\-likes\-trees put my name down if you like and i'll be sure to respond this time! Done and done!
MilaGi Posted May 28, 2015 Posted May 28, 2015 Done and done! Cheers! I'll try and get the replies to you over the course of the weekend
The Peeps Posted May 29, 2015 Author Posted May 29, 2015 Congratulations @dan\-likes\-trees you deserved the title for sure this season and you got it
dan-likes-trees Posted May 31, 2015 Posted May 31, 2015 (edited) Waves / 1,266 roars They were cubs then: a series of scrawls on a dusty blackboard buried in the basement of a victorian terraced house in Northern Leeds Chalk clawed into the slate; the Great British 442, ill fated against the DuDs Baggies, iller fated still. (I had much to learn) Those marks perhaps remain 168 miles away 1,266 days 30,000 worldly hours. Here stood Rosebotham Wilkins Alvaro Did these young lions know the depths of history whose infancy they would come to define? Their names will now be immortalised - the founding fathers of one of those most rare of teams; the crown champions of the Elite League. These lions have grown. The essence of Winston has flickered through ever evolving machines, whose veins were injected with specced up RAM, the jumbotron dilating, ever more crisp, ever more dazzlingly bright, finally pouring forth from a glorious 220ppi retina density. The pep talk given from Goa the crisis meeting in Cambodia and the final, crucial tactical time out, thrashed out over hot chocolate in the secondary St Albans branch of Costa. yes, marshmallows. Please, cholocate sprinkles. Today, the works. Below me, I feel: the weight of a thousand digital footprints on the worn grass.. Time is marked through the scores of players come and gone, through the manager’s hairline, pounding ever slowly back back like some enormous, slow descending tsunami.. Del Grosso, Tobin, bowed out, so close to elusive cup. Rafts of .png files litter the screenshots folder of dropbox, like the plastic wrappers of Waitrose chocolate digestive bars, anxiously consumed on matchdays The LifeStats that define the careers of these great men. Xpert has rolled on relentlessly, this constant, graceful and stately guiding light, against the ebbs and flows of furiously pounding Life. It is the ship that Keeps pacing forward The electrical surge that drives onwards Through the 2:1, delivered by post 3-1 The leaden eyed on the 7.15 to Kings Cross 0-0 The mountains of Honshu, a blur from the window of the Shinkansen 4-2 I was: Clammy. Cold. Exhausted. Overjoyed. (…) There have been those given the pleasure of spectatorship The beauty is lost on them; it is an elusive, complex, earnt pleasure. Could one truely understand the artful central distribution of Iwao Akera Had they not seen him thumble a free kick in a middle league derby against Dragooo in season 23? This secret history of all of ours, a code sealed in a vault, deep in some Swedish urban sprawl Culmination of my four and a half years The lions, now at their peak of feral carnivorosity These pups that I have nurtured since birth They can barely be contained My macbook practically purs with the heft of these beasts performing at full throttle Last week I watched them take down the old Alpha They tore at the throat; merciless. Deranged. Gluttons. There was a glint in the eye of Bonifcaio - it said ‘This is what it is to be a Lion’. One of the Tales for the ages. Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can’t lose. (And where now?) Edited May 31, 2015 by dan-likes-trees
Zell Posted June 1, 2015 Posted June 1, 2015 Well done dan, thoroughly deserved. To win it with three games to spare is also pretty special. I was hoping that I could make a difference to the title race at the end of the season, but I guess it will be a dead rubber now. The rest of us will need to step up our game next season!
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