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LLM position-1st Div wages, what more could you want?
Well, my most recent attempt at a Careerist game squashed by the need to install the new patch, I decided to take up the sword once again. I have all Euro leagues active, with 8 of them foreground. This is once again a careerist effort. But this time I turned to Toulouse, relegated to the National of France for financial irregularities. Unfortunately, our relegation did not lower our wage bill, even though it did lower our fan base. So although I do have 1st Division quality players sprinkled through the lineup, I have to sell players almost at a monthly basis to meet the wage bill. My average attendence in the 33,000 seat stadium is 7500. So I also have an ingloriously high maintenance bill. The board's goal is "promotion." No if's, and's, or buts.
By December, I sold 4 regular first teamers and several reserve teamers, a couple of whom had promise. I had added a Free Transfer 34 year old French Left Winger who had been an international in the Cantona days as a player-coach in preseason. I also added a Swedish AMC who had been cast aside by his team but my scouts loved in the first transfer window. Having sold 2 DMCs to meet wage bill, I also added a 25 year old Georgian DMC who had been playing in Poland in the winter transfer window. However, despite having sold nearly 8mil worth of players, I'm still losing almost 400k a month. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif" alt="frown[/IMG]
That said, our league position is excellent. We are first place at the Winter Break, only 1 loss all season in the National. We are still in the League Cup, but we were knocked out of the French Cup by Ajaccio AC in the 2nd round (a Div 2 side likely to be promoted). But, despite the excellent league performance (4pts up with 2 matches in hand), and the fact I've kept the club in the green despite the horrific financial situation. My board is only "pleased" with my performance. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif" alt="roll eyes[/IMG] What more could we ask for?
11-29-2002, 10:19 AM
LLM position-1st Div wages, what more could you want? Post #2
I should add this mini-saga too. I had also signed as a preseason FT, a 27 yr old French D/DM (RC) who had most recently played in the SerieA for 13K a week. He played magnificently until November. But then he injured his hip which sends him to the sidelines for 4 months. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif" alt="mad[/IMG] So now I have a 50k+ per month anchor on my wage bill for a player who's contributing nothing but his rehab efforts.
Like the title says, "What more could you want?" [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif" alt="wink[/IMG]
11-29-2002, 10:22 AM
LLM position-1st Div wages, what more could you want? Post #3
Well, it's not too hard to sign players. But I have had a couple reputation rejections. That said, as you noted, that giant sucking sound that's my wage bill, and the fact that I have 25,000 fans disguised as empty seats, makes for an interesting challenge. I have Auxerre "wnt" signs over a lot of my players.
11-29-2002, 10:45 AM
LLM position-1st Div wages, what more could you want? Post #4
It's really hilarious because both of my careerist games prior to this one I started at Auxerre. Now they're my pain in the rear. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif" alt="big grin[/IMG]
11-30-2002, 11:22 PM
LLM position-1st Div wages, what more could you want? Post #6
************************************************** ******************************
French National - Saturday 18th May 2002
************************************************** ******************************
--Can you tell that was my first table? It looked fine in edit too. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif" alt="roll eyes[/IMG]
We played pretty consistently the 2nd half. This despite a continuing stream of injuries and a 7 match ban to my DR for a kick he indulged in while retaliating for a punch thrown at him. I also had to transfer list my best DL because he felt it "harsh" that I gave him an official warning for a "5" performance. Interestingly, there aren't a lot of teams lined up to take the prat. We only lost 2 league matches while the season was competitive, and then 2 more once I had promotion and the title wrapped up, as I threw my reserves into the 1st team to take a look at them for next year. By and large, I was dissatisfied with them, so I TLed about half of them for 0, as all they'll ever do is eat payroll.
We clinched promotion with almost two months left, clinched the league with 4 matches left. And my board, well, they're "very pleased." Can you hear the golf clap? Nope, didn't think so. We finished the season 2mil in the green, despite our wage issues. And almost 10,000 people were attending by season's end. So now we only have 20,000 fans disguised as empty seats.
The Cup program was not as successful as I hoped it would be. I'll probably need a good run in one next year to make the wages work, as I'm not going to bank on back-to-back promotions. It's not beyond the realm of possibility, but we'll need to catch some breaks. We had a forward named to the National Select Side, but other than that, we were passed over by the media for honors as well. However, I'm ranked #14 (fair) in France as a manager. So at least I have some reputation in my community. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif" alt="wink[/IMG] That may come in handy, with the way my board expresses it's regard for me. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif" alt="razz[/IMG]
12-01-2002, 09:35 AM
LLM position-1st Div wages, what more could you want? Post #8
Well, nothing optimistic about the board this year. "Stay Clear of Relegation" is their mantra. Though in truth, I don't think I'll have a lot of trouble doing that. I added a pretty fair Czech Goalkeeper, a DC from one of the relegated sides as I pounced on the release clause in his contract (getting a 650K DC for 150K), and a Belgian Forward who had a non-promotion clause in his contract. These additions bring a lot of youth as well as skill to the side, and I'm comfortable that a mid-table showing is very realistic, and a promotion spot not impossible.
Ths was backed up with our preseason performance. It included a fine 2-0 win over First Division Lille, marking the second preseason in a row we knocked off a 1st Div opponent. Though this time we actually deserved the win, last season it was merely because our keeper stood on his head. I had a discipline problem with one of my youth signings from last season, a German DC. He failed to return from leave, so I fined him and then listed him. I also had another of my youth players complain when I fined him the second time he failed to show up for training on time. So I Free Transferred the prat. Finally, I got a 500k transfer offer for the DL I mentioned previously, so I sold him off.
But by and large, it was a good preseason, and judging by the fact that season ticket sale value was 3 times what it was last season, the empty seats might be significantly less. That would go a long way to aiding our promotion bid too, as it will allow me the freedom to use some cash to bring in a quality player if I feel the need. Time will tell.
12-04-2002, 02:59 AM
LLM position-1st Div wages, what more could you want? Post #9
November is approaching and the time draws near to examine our side once again. So far, my hopes have been well-placed. We are in 2nd place, 1 pt fro mfirst. But we are also 3 pts from 4th. If you know the French League, there is no promotion playoff. You either get into the first 3 positions and promote, or you stay down. It's a dogfight, as 7 teams are all within 6 points of first.
We have spent as more time atop the table than out of a promotion spot though, so I think if we continue to battle, we stand a good shot of going up. We added our allowed 2 players (1 FT and 1 transfer) after the deadline. The FT is a prospect, a 19 yr old Greek AM (L/C/R) who already shows good speed, passing, and crossing skills. He'll see duty in our cup matches this season. We also added a 22 yr old Norwegian right winger. So far he has not performed up to his abilities, however.
Also some players started hot and have begun to cool off, and injuries continue to beset our midfield. Despite this, we have maintained a solid defense, and our strike rate is impressive as well. I have my eye on another Greek, a 20 yr old Striker with more 20s than I've seen on anyone not on Roma (and that's only a mild exagerration). I'll have to beat another French team to him when the window opens on December 20th. But I have the cash to make the transfer.
So all in all, a good opening to the season. We need to build on it to go up. But the board is actually expressing "delight" in my performance. They've gotten more satisfaction out of my performance this year than the whole of last. That's good. But if we go up, I'm still going to look for a new job. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif" alt="wink[/IMG]
12-04-2002, 03:44 AM
LLM position-1st Div wages, what more could you want? Post #10
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by shawng1:
I had a discipline problem with one of my youth signings from last season, a German DC. He failed to return from leave, so I fined him and then listed him. I also had another of my youth players complain when I fined him the second time he failed to show up for training on time. So I Free Transferred the prat.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
I hate those wankers. I always warn them when they show up late training. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif" alt="mad[/IMG]
You can blow off training to be with the birds when you've got George Best skills - on the pitch and with the birds. Not before. [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_mad.gif" alt="mad[/IMG] [IMG]/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif" alt="wink[/IMG]
LLM position-1st Div wages, what more could you want? 
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