Club 24 Thread: C24 Interviews

http://www.xperteleven.com/viewLeagueMessageN.aspx?threadID=3029543&read=1&Lnr=0&dh=4

Duffster Blev medlem: 2006-09-11 mne: C24 Interviews Skrivet: 2008-05-12 21:41:23 Uppdaterat: 2008-05-12 22:04:38 For the leagues first ever interview i spoke with leading Romania manager Blu3red and quizzed him on his thought's about X11 amongst other issues, enjoy the read!. How did you come across Xpert11? - A friend of mine told me about this game, and first I wasn't that interested about the game, 6 months or something had passed.. but then in a boring way I decided to read the rules and since then I have spent a lot of my time on here. I really like this game and I have time to be here because I don't like other online, pc/video games. So just one game for me, and as you can tell I'm playing very seriously. Tell us a little bit about yourself the man behind the screen. - Nothing much to tell, I am an 18 years old student (19 this month) and I am living in a superb city called Cluj Napoca from Romania, the most beautiful country in the world, if you don't believe me come and see. My CV and other credentials are secret and since there are not many girls here I won't reveal this secret! You now have a new adventure in the Xpert leagues with Juventus Cluj, what was the reasons behind leaving the Pro-league? -I was stuck after a great performances in Pro league, 4 consecutive promotions from div 4 to top division, a cup final and two quarter-finals. I knew that even if I would have enter in XCL , it would be just useless because I had a pretty mediocre team. So, I wanted something new.. create a team from scratch, and to have only hard trainers in the team. I am very close of this dream now. Juventus Cluj are arguably one of the best youth teams around X11, are you happy with how they are progressing? how much effort went into finding the correct players & what do you expect they may achieve when they peak? - I am defenetely satisfied about how my team is going, very good average forms and the players are playing very good now. I spent lots of money in evaluations but most of the players were bought from the forums. We all know what hard trainers are capable of when they reach their peak so I have great expectations in 3-4 seasons from now... but I still want to make some adjustments to my team. Lets talk about your private league Romanian Elite, what was the original plan behind the creation of this league? where did the idea come from to start an all Romanian league? - I had this idea after I joined VIP World Elite, I was thinking to myself that this concept of a great elite league is perfect for Romanians, because we are clearly the most serious private league players, that's why Romanian Elite is ranked number 1 now. Romanian Elite went straight in at number 1,something only a handful of private admins have

managed, how did you as an admin feel about this? - Of course I am proud but this is not my achievement only, I thank all of the managers who entered this league because they are very serious and they accept very well my demands for the league. You also are admin of the Fanatik League,whats your plans with this league and you're other private teams?. - Fanatik League - Snooker FC , well.. this was a small league at the beginning just with some friends, and we had great time there. Now is full of English managers, who are crap by the way, and the Romanians are fewer and fewer. I am just raising a team there and doing some tactical experiments. EuroXtreme VIP - U Cluj , I am planning on staying forever here, this is my favourite nonromanian league so far,I definitely want to win some trophies here!. Club 24 - Oscar Actors , I like small seasons.. this is quite a challenge, I would like though some time in the near future to have again a CL format. But I am satisfied with my team here, despite of having some bad results from time to time. I am not going the whole youth thing here, no no. What do you look for when joining a private league,having been in some of the "Big private leagues" what was your thoughts on those leagues? -I just look for some great managers to interact with and some great competition too. VIP World Elite was perfect at the beginning, but AndyM2033 made some mistakes there and the league have lost some great Romanian managers due to Romanian Elite, and some others too, like you for example. Worst league is definitely Xtreme Challenge Trophy, sorry for Dado_ who is a great guy and he is doing his best, but the swedes are soooo quiet and they are not so good managers either. And a big mistake for these so called "big" private leagues is that you never should create VIP leagues,who can guarantee you that some great managers from that league will stay forever as VIP's? And of course you are coach of Hoj who are one of the most succesful Xpert Ladies side, You have managed to win the Xpert Ladies Cup with them (congrats btw), do you have a long term plan that will mirror Juventus Cluj? - I just want to get into Hall of Fame, it will be tough but I am already promoted this season in the top division, and next season I will sell two of my young players to buy some new high skilled players to reach my objective. I will also play only on 1 mil win bonus, it will be interesting Romanian managers are known for being very competitive and boasting a tight community is this the way you see it? being a respected coach by your fellow countrymen you must have a few native rivals - Yeah, the Romanian managers are great, not only the top 500 managers but others too. We have a very strong community, we help each other sometimes and we are hoping that soon, more good Romanian managers will appear. I don't have rivals really.. we are all great coaches and of course that I am more proud when I beat a manager like DannyS, Sam11 or Pryncyus but I'm not doing anything special when I play against them. What other managers do you rate as the main players from Romania?, and is there any up & coming managers from Romania we should be looking out for? - Best11, Sam11, Lupy, DannyS, Uliu, Pryncyus, Popaeugen and so many others. You should look for managers like Vuck, Laurentt, Blade8760, Fcbprofetu, Natanael_morar.. they will become great in the near future. Outside Romania what other managers do you enjoy competition with, and is there any you would like to challenge with at some point be it xpert/private competition?. - I would like to play against you, never played yet, it will be interesting. I would like to play against Gazebo too, who is a very good manager. TheAzzurri (old pal from Pro League), Holidays( I am his role-model, hehe), Dado_, Z0la,

Doomonyouall and again so many others I don't know right now. Moving on to the game, there has been quite few changes in recent months on X11, what's your opinion on these changes? - Not so good, the best change was produced today (12th may) with this local top 5. I like rehab training though, especially with my hard trainers. For example I have an injured player now, and he has form 15 because of the rehab training, that's very good. No comment upon the morale and others changes, they are rubbish. Do you feel the site has got better overthe last 6 months or do you see the game getting more and more random? - The game is better because new good and ambitious managers appear day by day, but the game was, is and will remain always random from points of view. A lot of managers are divided about the benifits of playing careful and that it is far superior to the other 2 agression options, how often do you use careful and do you too see it as a major factor on ranking points? - 80% of the time, but I only use careful if I am raising a team(I raise 3 teams so probably that's why I am using it so much), or if the ref is bad, like S2 H9 and so on.I don't know if careful brings you lots of manager points. I don't see any difference here. I think the aggression tactic only counts 0.5% from a tactic, so not much to gain from that if there really exists a benefit. Apart from the training icon, do you tend to try and buy players with any other SQ's, some managers believe there is no need to rely so much on the "non-hidden" special qualitys for their gameplan,whats your thoughts - I always like a moody midfielder! But just one. And my favourite icon after hard training is the greedy one. I like to have lots of hidden qualities. The non-hidden special qualities are important for midfielders and especially for forwards. My favourite is goal instincts but I like quick, ice and intelligent for a midfielder. Header and goal instincts for a forward. And of course one good freekicker, the most important in the team. But remember this, excluding the forwards I always want to have a greedy or a cheater instead of the shown special qualities! What would you like to see the devolpers implement to enhance the gameplay,? - Some new tactics would be great, but I don't know.. I don't have any good ideas in my mind right now. The average age rule, reduced to 25. Simple from my point of view. A great thing would be the private league job center and if the X11 Crew really not intend to change something, at least I want to see some more statistics, like a best average tactic game (all tactics divided by the number of matches) or something like that and many others, I need some time to think about it. But in my opinion some new statistics will be gold for this site. As you can see I don't have ridiculous or impossible ideas/demands, but unfortunately for us the swedes think that all ideas are ridiculous. They are very conservative. Okay Blu thank's for your time and all the best in the future, hopefully you reach your goals, and just for fun heres the Quickfire 10 Fav Team -Always U Cluj, even if our rivals (CFR Cluj) will play directly in Champions League Groups next season and even if we are playing in the second league! - All Time Player - Zidane -Sexiest Woman - Elisha Cuthbert - Food - All kind of salads - Drink - Water - Band - Coldplay - Film - Shawshank Redemption -Best X11 achievement - Winning Xpert Ladues Cup

-Predicted number 1 on x11 - Doesn't matter to me, not soon! -(S)6 (h)4 Ref -Cheat,offside or none? -none, or sometimes cheat. Cheers Blu /Duff

The usefulness of a cup is its emptiness. http://www.xperteleven.com/viewGlobalMessageN.aspx?threadID=3841256&forumid=26&read=1 Flytta till verst p sidan Duffster [Kontakta frfattare inom ligan] [Anvndaren r VIP-medlem] [Anvndaren r ligaboss fr ligan] [r med i Hall Of Fame!] [Duffster] Blev medlem: 2006-09-11 Svar till: Duffster Skrivet: 2008-12-29 13:16:01 Since this thread is long overdue on updating, thought i'd paste in Musky's interview from xtreme done by Holidays yesterday that explains his reasons for dropping two teams etc.. 1. Commiserations on your heart breaking defeat in the EuroXtreme final today. Unfortuantely no fairy-tale finish. Can you explain how you are feeling right now? Not too bad I have to admit, as soon as my keeper got injured I started looking at my average form and stuff, wondering how it would be for the next guy/girl; Id already accepted I was going to lose and become philosophical about it 2. Blu3red is a formidable opponent wherever you meet him. You must be really pleased to have come up against such a good manager on more than 1 occasion. How much do you now hate Blu3red? I think Blu is the most knowledgeable manager Ive EVER come across on xpert11. Like Duffster, he is one of those who are only the right set of circumstances away from being ranked Number 1 in the whole thing. Having said that, his tactics today were rubbish! So were mine though, so what can you do.. 3. You have decided to quit 2 of your sides, this one and New York Rangers of club 24. Many would consider these to be your most competitive sides in the most competitive leagues. What are your reasons for leaving such good sides? I just dont have time for them. Ive got a lot on at work there is now someone working for me,

and I really cant sit there on xpert all day while he does my job for me! These are the only two teams I *could* quit the ones that remain are all essentials (a league with real-life mates; the league I joined xpert for; the xpert league and my own league) so to free up any quota at all these had to go. I didnt want to leave either of them, theyre top leagues. 4. Do you think you'll feel any sadness about someone else taking over the good work you have done with these teams? Thats no problem, Im not sentimental about them. With C24 I feel a bit guilty if anything, as Colin has a bit of a job on his hands, the Rangers being in a bit of a state compared to the top teams. 5. Building AS Saint-tienne has been a long term job, with the purchase of a whole side of 17 4's. Obviously the culmination for you was winning the cup and todays final. Did you ever think you'd reach this day where your team is competing at a higher level, especially during the Aston Villa days where the team was being stuffed every week. I didnt really think about it, I was just hoping the league would still be going by the time my team didnt suck! I am genuinely unable to concentrate on more than two teams at a time (another good reason for leaving a couple) so I just set basic tactics for here and enjoyed the lack of responsibility. I didnt mind getting dicked on all the time, Im not a competitive person (although I understand some people dont imagine this to be true!) Winning the Cup was great, though, I enjoyed that. 6. What will you miss most about both EuroXtreme and C24? Here, Ill miss all the trading and VIP transfers and just being in a really big, well run league. I also really like my team, having hated them for several seasons.. Ill miss Gordon Cowans especially me and him have a special relationship. 7. Your Xpert side Hellmoppers are considered one of the all time great Xpert sides. Do you have any long term ambitions to take them back to the very top? Yeah definitely. Not sure if Ill be able to I am doing pretty badly so far, and not nailing tactics at all really, compared to with Bellagio but the plan is to stick it out until Steve Steadman and all the other youths Ive bought are in their 30s. I want to win the Cup with them, and to see if Kurdiska and all that lot are catchable in the league. In terms of Champions League theyve won it before, albeit in a different, less competitive xpert climate, so itd be great to get there again. 8. Being as team-hopping is considered by many to be for the weak, do you think you'll ever change your Xpert side again. Or would Audub leave your league in disgust if you did such a dastardly thing? Heheh, Ive no plans to leave Hellmoppers. If audub left the VEEP everytime he was disgusted with me, hed have a MaxwellT style xpert rating by now, so Ill have to survive without his good opinion. The only circumstances in which Id change teams would be firstly if I completely cock up Hellmoppers over a long period of time and just basically fail there and have to retreat with my tail between my legs secondly if I won the Champions League with Hellmoppers, and a nice team came up in the Dream League. The Hattrick is fine, but the Dream League is the best xpert league without a doubt and best just means it has the most managers I like in it so one day Id like to end up back there Ideal scenario, Hellmoppers win the Champions League and League double and the bloke who runs Alandia Stars retires at the same time. THEN Ill team-hop, ooh yeah 9. So, of all the leagues you've have been in, which is your favourite and why?

The VEEP isnt just my favourite league, its my favourite thing about xpert, period. Partly because, for obvious reasons, its set up just how I like it, but mainly because of the people in it. Its just a fabulous bunch of men! 10. Finally then, although this is the end of your involvement with this team, do you think it's likely we might see you back here in this wonderful league sometime in the future, perhaps with a new uber-shitty 5 skill. - No mate, Im out. When I do get itchy feet and a bit more time (by finishing the Masters Im doing whilst working a full-time job, basically) then I may go back to C24 with a new team if Duffster will have me, and I will at some point join my mate Bogdanleos league as Ive been promising him for more than a year But the long term plan is basically to concentrate on Zildjian, Hellmoppers and Portugal Ill even quit the league Im in with my mates, and hand-over adminship of the VEEP to Neowhite, so I can really cut down my xpert-hours (and actually set decent tactics for all the teams I have left). Cheers mate, and congrats to Blu and best of luck to whoever takes over (if you sell Cowans Ill hunt you down and kill you).

The usefulness of a cup is its emptiness. http://www.xperteleven.com/viewGlobalMessageN.aspx?threadID=3841256&forumid=26&read=1 Flytta till verst p sidan Duffster [Kontakta frfattare inom ligan] [Anvndaren r VIP-medlem] [Anvndaren r ligaboss fr ligan] [r med i Hall Of Fame!] [Duffster] Blev medlem: 2006-09-11 Svar till: Duffster Skrivet: 2009-01-29 19:42:37 Uppdaterat: 2009-01-29 19:45:16 It's been a long while since we've had an interview, all these interesting managers under one roof and the old admin never got around to questioning them, must've been a right lazy tosser, nevermind..... We've got SIX yuss 6 - rolled into one Cheech style for you to read over, Myself & St.Ash threw in some Q's for the first group of 6 (we'll be getting around to you aswell) with some bog standard questions in hope of some varied opinion. RF RichardFenn BAS BasilBrush303 OLI Holidays GB GrassBandits TP PrinceCharming77 SHER Sherwyn. * Whether you play for ranking or just for winning (which comes hand in had some argue) what one thing in the team set-up do you think awards the most manager points? RF Formation and playing style. The variations depend on team strength as well as what your opponent will do, so there's a lot to consider and a lot of ways that you can screw it all up. Bas Playing Careful

Oli Playing the right agression for the right referee. GB I've never tried to understand the number of points associated with each individual action. I'd like to think it's the lowest aggression setting, but I suspect it's guessing the playmaker correctly. When my rank went to it's highest point I was winning and creating more chances pretty much every game, but I think the key was playing teams who don't change their playmaker. TPI hate to lose, Im probably the worst loser in the world. So I always play to win but I think if you play to win you will also get good ranking. They go hand in hand. SherIn my private leagues, i try to win rather than try to be the best ranked manager, whilst in the xpert leagues I try to get more ranking points but I also try my best to win at the same time. Im less inventive in my tactics and formations in the xpert leagues and more flamboyant with tactics and formations in private leagues. I think exploiting the ref values correctly as well as putting out your strongest 11 gets u the most points * What is the most enjoyable aspect of playing Xpert 11? RF In terms of the game itself, the CR. As long as it's a good one. Bas Beating managers I rate. I like the community and I like winning. Oli Got to be the social side of the game. Most of the time spend on here is nothing to do with your team at all. GB Knowing you've absolutely nailed your tacitcs. It's a bit like betting on a winning horse - when you're right you know exactly why you were right and can justify everything that made you choose a specific action, when you get it wrong it's not your fault. TP As I said, Im very competative and if I play a game I have to win it. So for me its the challenge of the whole thing. Sher The roleplaying aspect. Being a manager, building your team, guiding them to greatness and at the same time competing with other real life players... Something which no other manager sim can deliver. * What's your favourite special quality that can be used in a game, Do special qualities make much of an impact to a game? If Free kick is the first what's the second! RF FK, Intelligent. FK has the obvious impact, but then I really can take or leave the rest. Bas My favourite SQ that can be used in a game is moody. The vast majority of SQ's add a small % value to a player's skill so makes little difference until a players has a medium amount of skill (say 8). With the outfield/goalkeeping SQ's having one SQ will make you less able when trying to score/save with other attempts than your SQ. So at a low skill their effect will be negligible and with goal instincts possibly have a negative effect when placed with a higher skilled player. With moody you can get up to +30% and although you can get up to -30% this can be offset to some extent with form and a win bonus. Only greedy comes close to this. Oli Cool. I don't really rate sq's because they have a smaller effect than their monetary value would imply. For that reason, I tend to buy players without these visibles. GB Freekicker is obviously the one quality that tangibly makes a positive impact. In VIPI I've a high quality freekicker who's scored 6 direct freekicks, assisted 1 set piece freekick and scored 1 penalty in his last THREE games. I dont believe in itself any one other quality is head and shoulders above others. To me SQ helps with your flexibility in preparing your team for specific challenges different opponents offer or exploiting their weaknesses. Asthetically I like a forward who can header, but it's swings and roundabouts depending on who/what you're playing. TPFree Kicks is probably no#1.. but hard trainer and cool are also up there. I like the SQ:s without them the game would be a lot less tactical and thats no fun. I think the SQ make quite an impact on the game and to know how to use and counter them is really important. Sher Special qualities dont impact a game that much but id choose the intelligent sq * Do you believe the rumour that St.Ash is in fact a woman playing a dude, disguised as a dude? RF I'll believe it when I see it Bas On the internet nobody knows you are a dog.

Oli Most definately GB Ashleen? Anyone who openly talks about nipping home at lunchtime to give the wife a quick length of pink steel is clearly either i) a gayer who wants others to talk about the cock action they're getting, or ii) a deranged middle aged female (e.g. LCF?) who wants to hear others talking about there cockular exploits. In the unlikely scenario that neither is true do you think Mrs Stash would be up for a spit-roast session? n.b. For the record Ash is welcome to whichever end of Celine Dion's rotting corpse gives most satisfaction to his/her needs. TPIsnt that quite obvious? Come on, you gotta have some harder questions than that.;) Sher I think he would like long-balls on his forehead. * What is your take on the use of pressure? Do you use this a lot or try and avoid it more often than not, When is it useful? (Apart from - counter LRS) RF Not really much clue. But I'll use it if I think I need it to tip the midfield in my favour or my opponent is using LRS. Don't like using it as a weaker team - if you go behind, you go more offensive and combining that with pressure can open up your defence. Bas I use pressure nearly all the time with the only exceptions being bruise, and then about 50% of the time. A lot of this game is won and lost in midfield so anything that will boost it I see as a bonus. There are times when it can be detrimental and can mean that you will give away free kicks depending on the ref. Oli I always play pressure. Thats not to say I don't have an idea when not to use it. I just see it as something which ultimately has only a small bearing on negative results. There are more important tactics IMO GBI use pressure far more than is probably good for me, but I kind of bought into the theory that I'll take the upside of the 70 minutes or so it's on your side, if you know the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent. Tend to play pressure at home with a 442 or most of the time when I have 5 in midfield, but I'm much more cautious about using it away especially when I believe my opponent will play long balls. i.e. I haven't a fucking clue when to use it. TPI use it probably close to 90% of my games. To have the stronger midfield is essential, at least the way I play. If i only played with three MF I might not use it but I almost never play that way. It doesent hurt to have some cool players to take away some of the negative from useing it though. SherI use pressure in most games, as long as you have more midfielders or stronger midfielders then pressure will give u a boost. * IWhat would you say your strength(s) is within the game & your weakness or/and area you'd like to improve? RFI think my strength is probably getting good CRs. My weakness is prob that I'm never really that confident of reading other managers - I tend to sit on the fance and hedge my bets rather than make a committed decision. Not very adventurous when it comes to transfers, either. Bas Strengths 1. Team building, especially at finding a bargain and knowing when to sell a player. 2. Able to learn and absorb quickly. 3. Know that you not only play a team but also a manager Weaknesses 1. Do not fully understand the referees yet. 2. Still struggling to fully understand the game engine. Improvements Researching why form changes and what dictates the change in the hidden form tendency Oli I'm a confidence manager. If things go well, then my teams are competetive. I let things get me down sometimes, which leads to a lack of focus. The 2 relegations are a case in point. Need to take games 1 by 1, like the Floyd game and stop looking at the bigger picture. GBUnfortunately my strength is ultimately my weakness. I analyse and reflect probabilty in my selections and set-up which means I almost always do good things but rarely do great things. I should probably take more chances in certain situations, but I tend to look at the odds and play the percentages. Don't think I have enough long term vision either - I was happy to sign 18/6's for

my Xpert team this season, when I should be bolder if I want to create a great rather than a very good team. TPI think Im strong when it comes to team selection and tactics. I can set my tactics in a couple of minutes and they will be pretty good. But I suck at team building. I dont even know wich agents that are trustworthy. SherStrength- Team building Weakness- still dont quite know how to break down overly defensive teams * Will Doomonyouall ever have a team over 26 average age? RF Not in my lifetime. Bas Doom really needs to figure out what he wants from this game and how he can actually achieve it. Oli I doubt it. Perhaps if he ever reaches the XCL, he might, but the chances of that are probably zero so..... GB Never. The world will end just as his 16/6's - that cost 80m each - turn 20. TPTrick question? Of course not. Sher No he's an X11 paedophile * The diverse opinion on ref values is interesting, If I give you 2 ref values here what would be your settings? the formation is 3-5-2 & it's a regular league game with an established first eleven. S5-H9 S6-H4 RF (S5, H9) Offsides, careful, no cheat. I'll assume I have less than 6 cheats. (S6, H4) Offsides, normal, no cheat. Bas You have not said if these games are home or away as I believe that referees react differently depending on this. After talking to blu I might cheat on a 5-7 ref at home but not away.Generally though, i would play pressure on both and bruise on neither. I might cheat at home on the 6-4 if my playmaker had the cheat SQ. Oli S5-H9 - Offides, Careful - S6-H4 - Offsides, Normal GB S5-H9 - Offsides: Almost always yes, Cheat: No, Aggression: If I'm confident I'll win (particularly at home) then Careful, but in all other circumstances (say 50-60% of the time) I'll go Normal. S6-H4 - Offsides: Yes, Cheat: No, Aggression: If I'm reasonably confident I'll win (particularly at home) then Normal, but in all other circumstances (say 20-30% of the time) I'll go Bruise. TPS5-H9 - Careful, offside traps, no cheating. S6-H4 - Normal, offside traps, no cheating. I hardly ever cheat unless its a obvious ref (S2H2 or something like that) Sher S5-H9 - Pressure, careful, offside traps( if all defenders have hearts and teamwork value high) cheat (if more than 4 cheaters in team) S6-H4 - Pressure,Offside normal * Do you find the competition in Club24 as strong as it looks from the outset? And if asked to invite someone to join us, who would you choose? RF I think my team's starting to find the right level, so it's been hard to judge - I probably had it a bit easy in the first couple of seasons against youth teams and shot up the rankings, then got screwed over when we got too high up. Bas It is getting better as the seasons go by but I would still like to see a Cup introduced. I would like to see Cruze join. Oli Yep, it's strong. We had 3 shots at the overall title, winning once, and they were the "easy" seasons. As we've dropped leagues, the competion has if anything got harder. Fantastic league, no let ups at all.As for who I'd like to join... would have to be Canaries4life. Was in my Xpert division when I joined the game (joined within a couple of days of each other). In a poor 8th

division, we fought to the last (me prevailing ). He's a Norwich fan too so we had some good banter. We both moved clubs and went our seperate ways. 18 months on, he now manages in the Final League top division, and is doing a damn sight better that I managed in my time there. GB Yes and no. I don't think there's much tactically between most of the managers in the top 1000, so whilst you can expect to get it right all the time everyone is in the same position so it's all relative. The managers I appreciate build great teams without going all youth. I won't name names but there are 5-6 managers here who I think are a level above the rest (and no I'm certainly not one of them). There are several managers who I'd love to see here including ContraDuck, Furad, Gildar, and Franzie...but to name one it would have to be rps78 TP The competitions quite hard. Because its only six teams and were pretty even its always exciting when the last couple of games are to be played. I like it. I would ask Gerry77. You probably never heard of him but hes quite good. We have had a lot of battles in a private league (and Ive lost most of them ) Sher Definitely strongest tactically minded league ive ever been in. I would invite Ricky_sa... Masterful tactition! * What's your game plan within this league? are you happy with development & how long before you can challenge for the title? (or again if already win) RF Take the team as high as I can, as quick as I can without going all youth. BasIf I can get 4 points from my first two games then I stand a chance. Otherwise I am going to have to wait a couple more seasons for my team to age before I will win it. Oli To develop a first 11 that can challenge. The all yoofs sides are coming up good so for depth it will take some time to challenge again. But players like my 2 van strikers convinve me that over time a good can be built season on season. I predict 5 more seasons and we'll have stability. GB It took me nearly two seasons to adjust, and my strategy has changed accordingly. _angst_ raised this recently, but I've found the short seasons are mint for player development, and I'm a much heavier trainer here than in other leagues. Its not going great, but I have a reasonable "conveyor belt" in defence, keeper would have been OK, save my #2 hasn't gone up in 2 seasons, need to move two of my high skill mids out quickly, and my strikers are a mess but will be resolved this close season. Concerns are that the different areas of my team won't peak together so ultimately we'll never be hugely competitive. I'm aiming NOT to be promoted this campaign - playing a stronger side in easier games, and giving marginal players the experience in harder games to take the defeats I need. We'll definately aim for promotion to C24 next season, but we'll need a lot of good luck/tactics to challenge in the next 3-4 seasons, by which time, Duff, Rob, Sherwyn, Kate and others will have uber teams that will inevitably mean I start from scratch at some point. TP I suck at team development so my starting line will probably never be the strongest in any division Im in. But if we set good tactics and have some luck perhaps it can be done this season. SherI plan to build a team then dominate. Still very far from even thinking of climbing the leagues but in 4-5 seasons I should be challenging to win divisions. * Age old question, But.... what is the game lacking? and what would be good for Xpert11 to improve on? RF Some cup incentives. The cup is truly shit unless you have one of the strongest sides or get lucky. Bas I would like to see the option to trade one of 'my own' league slots for a private league slot for a higher VIP membership fee.I am also looking forward to the Morale feature being implemented as I believe that it will mean that managers will no longer be able to play for ranking alone. Oli Would like to see cup runs made more attractive. On this game, the negatives are more injuries, big form losses and a lowering of team development. Cup matches and the XCL most certainly should not result in the last one... since when did playing in the Champions league, FA cup and Premiership put Manchester United at a developmental disadvatage.In real life, such problems would be lessened by financial incentives anyway something not present now. Not sure

hpw to rectify the problem, but on my eyes only the injuries from extra matches is a reasonable negative side effect. The rest take the fun away. GB It's against the ethos of the game, but I'd like to see a larger element of financial control needed to run a good team. It's difficult to envisage how this could be done without ruining the simplicity of the current product. Perhaps SQ could have a slightly higher improtance in performance to reflect the disparity in player valuations with/without key SQ too. TPSome more tactical choices would be nice. Not to many but some more. Like if you have a big lead the guys would play more defensive and more careful and the other way around. Some more SQ would also be fun. And a little less injuries please. SherI would like a bigger squad of players and more different sqs and player characteristics. MINT!! Cheers guys,

The usefulness of a cup is its emptiness. http://www.xperteleven.com/viewGlobalMessageN.aspx?threadID=3841256&forumid=26&read=1 Flytta till verst p sidan Duffster [Kontakta frfattare inom ligan] [Anvndaren r VIP-medlem] [Anvndaren r ligaboss fr ligan] [r med i Hall Of Fame!] [Duffster] Blev medlem: 2006-09-11 Svar till: Duffster Skrivet: 2009-04-04 14:34:55 Time for an interview (yuss Nort I got around to one) caught up with Roberto11x to find out a little more about the great MANager!! enjoy. Q1 Rob, how did you first get involved with X11? I joined through a football forum Im a member of. Within a month though I noticed that the admin had done some dodgy direct transfers with my team just before I joined. I called him out and quit the league in disgust. By that time though Id got my first Xpert team and another couple of private teams, and was already hooked on the game. Q2 I'll begin with your official team Midgar Meteors, you've been with the club nigh on a year now and decided to take a youthful direction, what's your thinking on this option & how long before you expect to be moving them up the divisional ladder in the more established Euro league? Looking at the BK Hammarslags and FC Ballbreakers of the game made me realise that the very strongest teams dont go for the balanced building approach. Both of those teams bought a core of great juniors in 2005/06 and are now the two strongest teams in the XCL. I think its very unlikely that Ill be able to repeat that as I have a slightly wider age gap between my oldest and youngest players (6-7 years as opposed to 4 years for Ballbreakers), and my team will probably peak before I reach the top division (if I ever reach it!) In the short-term I expect to be relegated to Division 6 this season, and possibly Division 7 after that. After that though Im pinning my hopes on achieving promotions every other season, maybe even two out of three seasons. Im confident enough in my development skills that it will be one of the strongest sides in the Euro League, so at worst Ill have a side capable of doing well in the Cup. Odds are that Ill never win a trophy with

my Xpert Team, but I live in hope! Q3 What goal(s) have you set yourself on the global side of the game? and whats been your biggest virtual merit/moment thus far? I have the same goals as most others I guess. Itd be nice to get to Number 1 and/or be MOTW. But the biggie is the XCL first step to reach it, then to try and win it. With my average age hovering around the 19 mark its going to be a year or two in real life terms before I can have a crack at any of those goals though. Ive never won an Xpert Division, even with my old team Northern Lights who always had a competitive average age and line-up. So really my only merits have come in private leagues. The best moment by far was winning the Boogie Times League shortly before Flugels mental breakdown. Its one hell of a tough league but I went on a 3 season surge winning Division 2, Division 1, and the top flight all in a row. Its something Ill never match again with any team. Q4 How long do you take to set up tactics ahead of a match? It varies. In here it's almost beneficial to spend less time looking at your opponents tactics, as good managers rarely do the predictable (unless its a double bluff!). On average though Id say I initially spend around 10-15 minutes checking the opponent and setting my line-up and so forth. Very often Ill go back and tweak them, sometimes even moments before a match! Q5 Your team Kingfield Knights has been in the Club24 since season 3. How happy are you with the development of your side? In the most part, Im very happy. Im content that the goalkeepers, defence and forward line have the potential to match any in the league. I am very aware though that I neglected the midfield early on and am now paying for it with relegation. Most of the other teams who started out at the same time as mine now have solid established midfields, whereas Ive only got three who are 8skill+. I have finally settled on my midfield now though, and once the other three gain a skill bar or two, Ill be happy Ive got a good working midfield to stick with for a few seasons. Q6 What method/philosophies do you employ when looking to strengthen your squad on the transfer market? I have a solid method for finding undervalued players on the Xpert market, but now that Ive built the core of my squad I probably wont be in the market for any more of these. With private league transfers though Im fairly useless and often pay over the odds for a player I really want (just look at my 2 keepers in Kingfield!). With Kingfield and my VIPI team I have only really bought youths. Ive had a lot of luck turning 18/4s into 19/6s and making a massive profit, so one thing I do (especially in here) is buy a few 18/4s and keep those who come with high form, in the hopes I can get them to double jump I must have had at least 7 or 8 18/4s do this in Kingfield and its helped fund the purchases of slightly better players. Another thing I do is spend a fair bit on evaluations trying to find hard trainers Ive been successful with that so far and I now have 8 of them in this team and 6 in my Xpert team. They are worth every penny Q7 Who was/Is your favourite xpert11 signing? It was the goalkeeper in my old Boogie Times League team. He was immense for me. Bought as a 20/6, he gained a bar every season and was a 25/11 when I left. He had the Moody SQ, but coupled with being a hard trainer meant his bad games were never terrible but his great days were match winning performances. No doubt about it, that keeper was responsible for a large chunk of the success I had with that team. My favourite signing with a current team is Li Hoi Quan with my Xpert team. He is still a 16/4 but has 4 hidden SQs that I love, and will be immense in 10 seasons time.

Q8 And what is your favourite part of the game? Change Reports and the few days after when Im buying new players. Im pretty good at predicting how my Reports will go, but I still like being surprised! I can often be found up at 4am on the day of a change report (especially in here as they always fall on a weekend). Q9 I personally and sure others have too, taken notice when you've gave opinion on form training, it seems a strength of yours, so without giving too much away, what's key in your opinion to getting best out of form? Cheers, nice to know I can add something in a league with so many knowledgeable managers The key is pre-emptive form training. In other words, not waiting for form drops and red arrows to happen before training the players. The player form graphs are very useful in working out if a players form has levelled out, which is one instance where pre-emptive form training comes in handy the player has to drop form at some point, so if you can see it coming you can correct it so that a player doesnt play 2 games in a row with a negative form tendency. Another tip is not to be afraid of the risk of overtraining if one in four players who are pre-emptively form trained overtrains then it was still worth doing it as the benefit to the other three is so great it totally outweighs the one overtrain. Q10 You have 2 other private teams, can you tell us a bit about these clubs, and what has been your best private merit/moment to date? My VIP Invitational side Coventry Cougars were a youth side when I took them over, comprised almost solely of 18 year olds. Id never had an all-youth team before that. Slowly Ive managed to rebuild the side, bringing in some better youths and giving a healthier spread of ages. But Ive never once come close to winning a division, and its only now that they are starting to become competitive. Within 3 seasons though they should be one of the strongest sides in the league and ready to challenge for some silverware. Ive had some instant success with my newest team, Flamengo. Ive just won the cup in season 1 and have developed some half-decent juniors. I very much doubt Ill stick with that league though as its a bit of a poor-mans Club 24, and is full of game threads, certainly not my cup of tea! My big hope is to find another newly created league of high quality, as Im getting sick of building youth sides and want another crack at building a good balanced side from a level playing field. Q11 The best/worst piece of advice you have been given, either about the game? Best nugget Ive picked up from someone else would be something Blur3d said about not trying to outguess very good opponents just play to your own strengths. Worst advice its hard to say, there is so much crap and contradictory statements in the main Xpert forum that I generally dont take on board anything I read in there. Q12 What would you say has been your favourite change made by the crew to xpert11? I hated the idea of removing notations for training and friendlies, but Ive come to like the decision as I think Ive adapted to it better than most, giving me an advantage. Now managers have to be clever with their training, rather than just clicking the button as often as possible. Q13 What about changes in general to xpert11? what should/could be implemented? I am quite nervous about the suggestion of merging Match Experience and Average Form. I find it puzzling and unnecessary it would represent a fundamental change to the way we all play the game, and Im not sure Id like that. On the whole the crew dont make the changes I want to see a lot of it comes across as window dressing and fluff (i.e. away kits that youll never get to see because youre a VIP!). Id like to see a couple of new SQs, or some of the existing SQs to be tweaked/expanded as with Ice.

Q14 Are you a fan of SQ's? what do you deem important in this area and what SQ do you rate and avoid? I love hidden SQs, but can do without most of the visible ones as they drive the price up too much and only serve to specialise a player. Free-kicks and possibly Ice are the only exceptions to this every squad should have at least one of each. My favourite SQs are Training (obviously), Moody and Greedy, all of which help players play beyond their skill. I wont touch Fragile players will a barge pole. The only exception across all my teams is one of my defenders in the Knights, but he is also has the magic cone so I let him off! I try to avoid Divas too but I can live with one or two per team. Q15 Mint!! Thank's for your time Roberto! Cheers for the opportunity to ramble on! - Quickfire 10 Favourite: Drink Southern Comfort Food - Mexican Woman Louise Redknapp Sports icon - Romario Car (own) Ford Fiesta ST, (want) Aston Martin Vanquish Recommend: Holiday Destination Thailand (avoid Bangkok like the plague though) Website http://www.cinemasacre.com Song Gangstas Paradise (Coolio) Book I dont read much fiction, but for any history buffs I can highly recommend Laurence Rees Auschwitz book Film Pulp Fiction is my favourite, but youve all seen that so Id have to recommend Idiocracy by Mike Judge (creator of King of the Hill and Beavis and Butthead). Funniest film Ive ever seen!

The usefulness of a cup is its emptiness. http://www.xperteleven.com/viewGlobalMessageN.aspx?threadID=3841256&forumid=26&read=1 Flytta till verst p sidan Colinzink [Kontakta frfattare inom ligan] [Anvndaren r VIP-medlem] [Colinzink] Blev medlem: 2008-01-18 Svar till: Duffster Skrivet: 2009-05-15 02:41:35 As I begin my C24 interview adventure, I decided to interview one of the newbies to the league, Bejjita. The dude has accomplished a lot already and his interview is really good stuff...so I'll stfu now and get on with it! 1) Give us a quick intro behind the man behind the username and how you came to know X11. Well my name is Nathan and Im 18 from Northampton studying my A Levels at school to go to

University next year at Kent to study Law for 4 years with one of those years abroad. I came to know Xpert Eleven after a mate of mine started the league which is now the Xpert Series. I was skeptic before joining but eventually a great mate of mine and I joined the game on the 5th of June 2008. Little did I know this game was to absorb me for months to come...! 2) Bejjitayou havent even been on the site for an entire year, yet here you are in Club 24. Tell us what you think about that, and please try not to kiss Duffsters ass too much as he is insufferable enough as it is. K, thanks. Im extremely flattered in all honesty. I desired to join this league for a very long period of time because it combined the two things I love most about this game. [Good] Competition, and ten game seasons. Its quite easy to tell I love my short seasons seeing as I run two 6 team leagues and was in the ELoS for a very long time. I do have to thank Duff for having faith in me at least, I had a pretty unknown rep when I showed my interest and Im glad that Ive been given the opportunity to join a league where my thirst for knowledge can be satisfied! 3) Your ranking is pretty flippin good considering you havent had a whole lot of time to work out the kinks in this game, and you are also a former MOTW. What is the one thing that you think helped you get to where you are? I am looked more or less for an outstanding tactical nuance if you will like what you feel is the most important thing to get right on that page, and not giving a manager credit (so save your undying manlove for Richardfenn until the end of the interview ). Why thank you! Hmm, while its extremely clichd and quite cheesy I know I have to say the crucial piece of the puzzle for me is research. I usually buy at least 3 tactical reports per competitive game that I play in preparation for the tactics and I take a lot of joy in breaking an opponent down and getting their tactics nailed, even when they change semi regularly. There are always trends in players and even though that dont have trends and showing a trend in that behaviour itself . But seeing as you asked nicely I will have to say that Im a big fan of the Bruise setting on the tactics menu. Bruise is incredibly underrated IMO and Ive won countless matches where I have come up against managers who play refs by the book and Ive managed to steal the win due to what was Bruise IMO. 4) You arent one of the old farts around here so the xpert flame is still burning strong I am sure, but what is the most goddam frustrating thing about this game for you? The most frustrating thing for me is the length of the official leagues. 3 months is a huge amount of time and I think its quite offputting if you start with a brand new team in the more established leagues. I lost something like my first 12 games in a row when I first got my new side because I had a squad with an average strength 2 bars lower that just the second weakest team in the league. It was a shambles. I think the length of time is too long and the tempo is too slow to enthrall you. If it wasnt for the ranking I wouldnt have too much interest in the official leagues until I was in a position where I could challenge for the title/cup/XCL. However other notable mentions include Injuries. Being the speed league whore I am injuries are the quickest way to say goodbye to your lovely change report. Careful vs Careful injuries (had one today infact) are the ones which grate me the most. Very frustrating. Another pet hate of mine on the game is players who just refuse to increase in form. You know things are absurd when you train a player for 40 days straight and his form is still below 10.. And no hes not injured :P. 5) What is the visible SQ that you feel makes the most of a difference, and how much of a premium would you pay to get that SQ? Also, if the answer is FKs, give us something else to

work with too. Ahh you know me too well! Hahaha. FK it is! But seeing as you asked, all round. There was once a day and age where I thought all round was pretty useless. But having played Tony Toni Tone from my New Jack Swing side in a huge amount of games in the midfield position to see him perform to his skill regularly has been invaluable in keeping my squad versatile. There are all sorts of mind games you can play in terms of tactics when allrounders are involved too. Non midfielders as PMs, PMs in defence among others. How much would I pay for it? At a high skill level Id say up to 2-4m. If you wanted a more prominent SQ in terms of value then probably shooting power as it is essentially the FK takers younger brother :P. 6) Some managers feel that playing long balls over someone playing pressure is an excellent tactic. How do you feel about this and when you use press, do you think about this? Despite that, when do you think is the best time to use press? Im not a believer of that personally. I see them as separate options and if my tactic report came up to find that someone used LB against my Pressure I wouldnt sweat it. I have decided after research that I most often use pressure when Im NOT going offensively (which is quite often), when I play a large amount of midfielders (no less than 4) and when Im facing LRS. If Im forced to play in 3 for example and I know that Im facing LRS then I will make an exception but an exception it is and not the rule. I also do not use pressure with bruise that often although it does make for good mind games in terms of baiting LRS and vice versa. And in cup games I try to stay away from pressure once more, and it makes for great mind games there, the mix-up pressure can impose is immensely useful at times when youre facing a good manager. 7) On a run of the mill referee, (5,5/6,4/5,6) are you checking offsides or cheat? Does it ultimately matter? Do you consider things like how many cheats/talkers/cool/tough players or teamwork values when choosing any of the checks like using traps, press, or cheat or is that just taking it too far? 5, 5 neither for me. 6,4 Id go offsides no cheat, and 5,6 neither. I dont think Id cheat with anyone above 5 in skill and 4 aggression coupled with 5 skill (Gunner Gren I think?) and to cheat with someone 5 in skill Id expect at least 2 or 3 cheats minimum in the team and that is borderline. I dont consider talkers for anything as I think the SQ isnt noticeable from experience. Good luck working out the big mouth in my NJS side! Dont particularly rate (dont shoot me!) cool that highly so rarely have enough in the team to make a difference and tough players or teamwork I never take notice off in regards to the aforementioned tactics. Although there are certain situations where I would shy away from using a tough player as playmaker in a game Im likely to go careful in because of Tony Nolan/9,9 say. 8) When it comes to teambuilding, how do you like to build your sides? I know you have been in a few youth leagues in your time on the sitedid you pick up any good strategies with youth players from those leagues that you would like to share? Im not fully assertive in my theories regarding teambuilding yet. My most successful and nice creation was my Depor team in the ELoS, there was a nice staggering of ages (barring the forwards) and the team was coming along real nicely. The new manager(s) have ruined it though. I often like to try my teambuilding moves in private leagues to test them. Im currently in the process of applying a strategy I talked over with Iknowwhoiam in my New Jack Swing team and my squad is in transition so dont make too much of a judgement over my teambuilding just yet. Im not even near started. I still like to hear many theories on the subject though, so I just absorb the info and once I get the dream team via the JC I will hopefully have an ultimate strategy to implement (and no not all youth/old :P)

9) Ok, lets talk about your xpert league career. You managed BK Egon but also just moved in the JC not too long agoI think I told u it was a premature move, but with yesterdays change I look like the fool now, lolz! Anywho, your new team is in first but the division looks hella tight. Do you think you are going up, do you want to go up, or do you think you will shit the bed? Haha. You know what Zink? If I dont promote this season then shoot me. Im on one game a week and my form is gonna shoot through the roof, Im the best manager in the league and I have one of the stronger teams. It cant go wrong to be honest. As for do I want to go up? Hell yeah, winning is the best feeling of all in this game, everything else is means to this end. 10) In PLs, you are in Dooms leagueI know what it is like of course but everyone else would sure like to know the answer to how the hell anyone can put up with his incessant ramblings? Ok, for the real question I see you are the admin of 2 leagues. What types of things have you tried to do with them and do you envision either of them being a top league one day? Doom is nice once you get him on his own . Well unlike most of the players around this ranking band, my two leagues were created so that my friends IRL had a league to play in competitively against each other. As a result there are certain players who drag the league rating down. Its a mixed bag. In the Xpert Series I have some absolutely cracking managers at the top. But Division 2 is a very very mixed bag. I did once consider getting rid of the shitty managers but when I realised that some of them only play the game as part of my league I realised how cruel itd be. Running a top league would be nice but its not a priority for me. So maybe one day, but for now I am content with them. 11) I sorta mentioned it earlier, but what do you think of the new take on the JC? A step in the right direction, fuckin stupid, or a total waste of time altogether? What change do you wish that they made instead? Hmm, I dont think it has really sank in yet and until its more likely to affect me (when I can hop) it hasnt caused me to think too deeply about it. I can see why they did it, and why it was needed, but one thing that did jump out at me is that the weighting of the skill bars awarded seems a bit too high. We will see how it affects things though. 12) You have a new team here and it isnt too bad all things consideredwhat do you think will be your first couple of moves? Obviously the division is gonna be really hard to win; do you think you got the goods to step on everyone else in there and get off the bottom? I wish I knew a few of these things youre considering! The team sucks! :D But I am simply gonna try and play the transfer market and gonna need a bit of luck. I got real lucky with that 20/6 keeper youth so that was a cool break. I have just got to keep my head, and buy enough players in while saving enough money for my beloved training. My teamwork values are gonna be horrible not to mention a pretty shit average age I imagine, so dont expect too much from me , I will aim to win every game regardless though. 13) Now I told u there would be a spot for thiswho are the managers that in general you give a lot of credit for your X11 knowledge? Also, have you formed any good rivalries out there and if so are they friendly or fierce? Fennmeister this is your equivalent of the e-christmas card. Other managers who have helped me directly have been Iknowwhoiam, PaulR, Ricky_SA, Sherwyn come to mind.

Managers who have written some great posts who I took interest in not mentioned above include GB, Duff, yourself Zink, Holidays has a lot of good stuff to say, Blu3red, hell I might as well say most of C24 really :D! As for rivalries, my ultimate rivalry will always be with H04NG, hes one of my best mates IRL and we joined X11 on the same day. A true rival til the end, although Ive beaten him a lot more than hes beaten me . It was because of him I wanted to get so good at the game for sure. 14) Do you think you will be playing X11 in 5 years and if so, do you think you will be in the XCL kicking the shit outta mofos, or will you be in a perpetual state of arrested development like Doom? XCL kicking shit out of mofos for sure . I would love to still be playing X11 in 5 years and making the Hall of Fame is a huge task that I want to achieve. 15) Duffster dangled the idea out there that he will be creating another league sometime in the futurewhat do you think the idea is? Rather, what do you think the best thing for a private league would be and how would you go about doing it? Getting me in from the beginning of course :P. No in all honesty, Im not sure, hes already got the nail on the head with C24, short seasons , and top competition. I guess all that could improve is for there to be even more active managers. I cant really pick something out that I would find to be a necessity that isnt already in the league. 16) Anything you would particularly like to finish on? Me? I like to finish on a cocktail waitress....YUSSS!!!!1111!!!!1!1 Your fac.. No I mean thanks a lot for the opportunity , and I hope you enjoyed reading the interview as much as I did writing it. Although it wasnt THAT enjoyable, I did an even longer version but bastard Xpert Eleven kicked me out to the lobby when I went to send so this is the slightly condensed version . Maybe another time Ill have more to talk about! Thanks Zink! And thanks to you, Nathan!

They took you nightman and you don't belong to them. They locked me in a world of darkness without your sexy hands, and I miss you nightman...sooo baaaaaaaaaaaaaad! Flytta till verst p sidan Colinzink [Kontakta frfattare inom ligan] [Anvndaren r VIP-medlem] [Colinzink] Blev medlem: 2008-01-18 Svar till: Colinzink Skrivet: 2009-06-12 04:05:03 Up next on the interview trail is former long-time number 1, _angst. Per usual, I will let the interesting interviewee do the talking since I am not interesting at all.

1) Greetings, _angst_! Can you tell us a little about yourself? Preferably give us a schedule of where you will be the next few days and a list of all of your fears? Dont ask me, hitmen these days Howdy Colin! I am a perfectly normal human wormbaby. Err Well, Im a student even though Im currently taking a sabbatical. Im studying to get a masters in the field of molecular biology. Main interests besides science include sports, music, boardgames, ccg's Well, guess you could sum it up by calling me a full fledged geek. 2) You have a Big 5 listed in your presentation...but I dont see making it onto Colinzinks friend list in therebollocks Which achievement do you think is the most impressive and which one do you want the most? Maybe it is one that you have already achieved? Yeah, I thought about putting it on the list but then I realized that if I ever manage to accomplish that feat Im afraid that other managers will get too jealous. Im sure they can handle it if I get ranked 1 or if I win the XCL. But I dont think they would be able to handle it if I made your friend list. Im most proud of the ranking I managed to get and keep for a while. The one I want the most atm is an Xpert League win. Sure, winning the XCL would be cool, but its not a realistic achievement atm. Considering my team Im not sure any result-based achievements would be realistic but a coach can dream 3) Im pretty sure every manager that started in the early part of 2008 knows who you are since you were number 1 for a great majority of that timewhen I look at your page; it says you had 21 bars!!! And if I am right, Malm FF were not in the XCL at that time, so what mainly do you attribute to such dominant tactics? Is there something that you can share with us that can help us achieve this? And why do you think you are back to the mortal status of 14 bars now? I did. I even have a printscreen of it . I was in the XCL though after losing the cup finals to Adrenochrome who also won the league that season. I did however manage to miss the playoffs and thus only got 6 XCL-games into my ranking cycle. I got completely humiliated by the amazing coach Contraduck during 2 games of the group stage and then I lost the deciding game due to an early red card (http://www.xperteleven.com/gameDetails.aspx?GameID=5648465&dh=1). I did manage to get all that ranking because Im a very good tactician; at least when I have the time to spend on creating perfect tactics. Ive always been a good tactician and I have a history of being good at strategy games. Im talking the big takes at least 9 hours to play boardgame strategy games now. Im not sure I can give any concrete tips on how to create good tactics. Most of the coaches in this league already know how to do it. All they have to do is to take the time to analyze their opponents and outsmart them. The main reason my ranking is bad atm is that I dont have the same amount of time to spend on tactics. Ive had sort of a low activity period on X11 and you cant expect to have a good ranking if you dont spend the time to get it. Im also trying to rebuild my Malm FF side which affects results which in turn lowers my rank even more .

Hopefully Ill be back soon. Just dropped into the >100 zone which is horrible. I havent been this bad for over 1 years :(. 4) What would you say is your managerial weaknessso I can exploit it when we play (If I dont just tumble all the way down without getting to play you)? Teambuilding. And it will be till I actually manage to build a competitive team. Im learning and Im slowly getting better. But Im not close to good yet. 5) Do you spend a lot of time thinking about SQs? Do you dream about them like CosmicRichie does? No seriously, it has been said that managers like Chrille have been able to exploit the ranking system because of SQsdo you buy this and if so, can you explain? I like them but I dont think theyre worth the econs people spend on them. Theyre just not that good. Sure, if I buy cheap players, like 18/4, I can spend a few extra 100k on sqs but usually I go for the cheaper players. Skill is way more important than sqs. They are one of the keys to exploit the ranking system. Thats a given. They help you strengthen your tactical choices but they can also undermine you. Theyre far from the only key to good ranking though. Chrille combined it with ok -> good tactics and a stronger team generating lots of wins. This adds up to a good ranking without you breaking a leg to get it. 6) Sort of a weird question, but have you ever met anyone on X11 in real life? If so, what was it like? Weird? Fun? Sticky? Didnt I write that in some kind of post on the forums? Yes, Ive actually met Zanza67 and weve discussed X11 tactics at a local coffeeshop a couple of times. Hes a nice guy. It was pretty weird in the meeting strangers from the internet kind of way but Im not shy enough to care. Ive also met Motorroger who is a friend of my brother Krissepoffer. I dont know him though, only met him a couple of times. He gave me some tips when I started playing X11. 7) One of the first topics you started was about injuries. Do you have any further insight on injuries and what we should all be thinking about? I was just giving you some Xpert Tactics love . Sadly though I dont have much else to share with you at this time. I have a theory that not playing to the refs might cause you more injuries. Like if you play careful when Charlie Fender is judging while your opponent goes bruise. But I havent been able to gather enough data on this yet. 8) I have this quote of yours in my notes: Yeah, in my limited team building experience the only way to get a new team on its feet is to buy a bunch of young guys (I prefer 18 y o with 4 skill and a sq) and keep a bunch of old guys to help the all the players reach 100% match exp. Then once they develop you sell some and keep some using the money gained to bring in younger and better players. Rinse and repeat till you're good and rich enough to beat everyone. Do you still agree with this? This is what Im trying out in my private leagues and I think it works. I also want it to be true. IMO a team should consist of a first squad, then a bunch of youth prospects and a bunch of halfdeveloped future first team players. Problem is that it takes a lot of time to get a team like that and that its easier to buy 30+/>=12 and just win everything.

I think the team Adrenochrome is my role model when it comes to team building; being able to sport a really strong avg age 26 side while having lots of nice prospects too. 9) Ok, lets talk about your xpert league career. You have made it to the top division in Xpert League, congrats! Do you think you have what it takes? Some strong teams and managers in therelike Adrenochrome (OMG, I mentioned Glidars team, watch out for Doom and Bejjita beating off back to back!)surely this is the pinnacle challenge of you xpert career, or am I wrong in saying that? Thanks . I was in division 1 when I decided that I needed to reconstruct the team. Getting rid of the old guys and trying to develop the future Malm FF first team squad. First thing I managed after that was getting in to the top division. That wasnt really part of the plan . I always try to win every game I play. But given the strength of my team Im no top candidate for the title. I can only sport 11 decent players atm. I can however beat the other coaches with good tactics (even though gildar and zanza are tough to beat tactically) so if I get lucky injury-wise and shape up my tactics I could be able to do some great things . Current plan is to be ready to win it all in about 6 seasons so anything before that would be a great bonus. 10) In PLs, you are in WWVIP and Xpert Tactics. Care to tell us a bit about them? Also, it has been mentioned that you have some super secret Swedish knowledge about actual skill that you wont sharewhich is cool (and by cool I mean totally lame)but is there something else not quite as huge as thatthat you can share with us? And feel free to tell me the exact skill thing Ill leave the money in the usual place. WWV was the best thing to ever happen to my X11 career. I was about to join something new and I ended up in the WWV. Then I got to know coaches like Duffster and EvertonAce. Great guys, great times . Sadly the league seems to get less and less active with more and more of the good coaches leaving it. Or perhaps its just me losing interest since Im rebuilding the team in that league too. Xpert Tactics is a league where a bunch of experienced managers are trying to analyze the game. Currently its not very active but the potential is out there. There are some great guys in that league and once discussions gets going they usually turn out great. I do know some things. Things spoken so softly that only certain coaches (and hippos) can hear them. I dont share other peoples research though and thats why Im not sharing that info. Im happy to share my own ideas and theories though . 11) You are chief of staff for the Swedish Xpert Daily (yay!). Your XD is in a bit of a transition phase if I recall correctly. Can you tell us a little bit about what Swedish users can expect from the newspaper in the coming months? And do you have any cool ideas for those of us in the English XD staff? I hear Doom might actually write an article for once, but that is probably a buncha shite. Sadly I cant do that since I dont know anything yet. I will have some downtime due to summer related stuff but in a few months I will start spending more time trying to figure new interesting stuff out with my reporters. I am however looking forward to the daily hippo gossip column by doom .

12) You are one of the few coaches here to conquer the 10-bar challengewho is your money on to be the next to do it? Basically anyone not currently involved in a broiler project. I dont know most coaches in this league yet so I dont know what they can and cant do. Ill take a guess and say it will either be you, Patongniakos or YGA. 13) A relatively standard questionwho are the managers that in general you give a lot of credit for your X11 knowledge? Also, have you formed any good rivalries out there and if so are they friendly or fierce? I spied on Rps78, Nobego and Clarremarre when I first started here. I developed my tactics by discussions with Dado_, Gildar and Zanza67. I also want to mention Duffster and EvertonAce for some nice discussions. I only have friendly rivalries, at least to my knowledge. My main rival was my brother Krissepoffer but he stopped playing the game a few months ago. Other rivals are the ones mentioned above minus Rps and Nobego. Gildar is my toughest opponent and I think I would consider the Adrenochrome Malm FF rivalry my most important fixtures. Im not sure they consider us such bitter rivals though considering weve always been the ones beating from below. Weve faced off in 4 competitive games. Theyve won 2 cup finals and 1 league game. Weve won 1 league game where Adrenochrome were already champions. Sure they played their best squad and wanted to win but still 14) Is there a Swedish conspiracy and if there was one, would you tell us? Yes. Soon the Swedish empire will rise from the ashes and rule the world. Everyone will tremble before our might. Weve sent agents (hippos) of doom to every corner of the world plotting the destruction of civilization as we know it. But dont tell anyone since its a secret 15) Anything you would like to add? Not really. Thanks for taking the time to write these questions and thanks for taking the time to read my answers. Regards Alex

They took you nightman and you don't belong to them. They locked me in a world of darkness without your sexy hands, and I miss you nightman...sooo baaaaaaaaaaaaaad! Flytta till verst p sidan Duffster [Kontakta frfattare inom ligan] [Anvndaren r VIP-medlem] [Anvndaren r ligaboss fr ligan] [r med i Hall Of Fame!] [Duffster] Blev medlem:

2006-09-11 Svar till: Duffster Skrivet: 2009-11-21 14:45:02 Uppdaterat: 2009-11-21 14:49:52 The long overdue interview is with the Flying Dutchman Patongniakos. With a strike rate up there with Bergkamp, the flair of Cruyff, the tactical mind of van Gaal & of course a striking head of hair that shames even van Nistelrooy... I tried to get past those flowing locks and into the mind of a clockwork orange.. Enjoy!! We'll start with the basic question.. how exactly did you get to know this game? and what keeps you interested on a daily basis? *Pata - I first heard of X11 on a holiday forum about Thailand in August 2006. Some guys in there put up a post to join their new created league. I missed out the season creation date by one day, so had to wait till that season finished. I actually didnt start playing X11 till about 2 months after I first signed up. On a daily basis I like the experimenting thing with my teams. Will these tactics work? Why did those tactics work back then and they didnt work now. The teambuilding thing of course and after all these years I still get a bit aroused when my youth coach pops up saying he found a new talent for my club. You know when I see your username, I need to admit here despite always sharing at least one league with you over past years I still struggle to type it.... and that's every month aswell if we go by in here, So where doe's the username come from? is it Greek. *Pata - Do you have a moment? It's kind of a lonnnng story, but here it goes: As it was suppose to be a Thai oriented league I thought it would be very inspirational of me to choose a team name with my holiday destination in it, which was Patong on the isle of Phuket. Makes sense, doesnt? Okay, here comes the complicated part: With a lot of fantasy the name of Patong sounds a bit like the beginning of the Greek football club Panathinaikos. (Why on earth I chose a Greek football team still puzzles me, they must of had a good result in the Champions League that night) Put those two names in a cocktail shaker and after that make the classic error to fill in the team name as the username, when filling in the registration form when entering the site for the first time. After all those brain twists I ended up with the very unique Xpert username of Patongniakos. (Im so very sorry all) In you're profile.. you are from Limburg, way down south in Dutchland and bang in middle of Belgium & the Germany, do you speak..Limburgish? Is this Netherland's Hadrian's Wall? *Pata - The people from Limburg all kind of have a singing accent in the South of Holland. I do understand it now, but I cant speak it. I moved to Maastricht 9 years ago. Its an old Roman city famous for its Universities and its a well known place in Holland for shopping, eating and drinking. We do have some old Roman city walls here, but I dont think Hadrian would be very impressed with it. Good city to life in though. Before we go onto the teams, what about yourself Pat? outside Xpert.

*Pata - I work in hotel management. I traveled around a bit after my college time. I worked in a hotel north of Hyde Park in London for 5 years and after that I settled down in Maastricht and I life here now together with my family (GF and daughter). You've been with your official team Rio Bangla Boys for almost 3 years now, I don't want to tell you what I got typing that name into google Pat lolz, where doe's the name originate from? *Pata - Some very dodgy results on Google lol ... maybe its time for a team name change. Anyway back to the question. I took Bangla from one of the main tourist roads in Patong and put Rio in front of it to add some Brazilian flavor. At the back I put Boys as Rio Bangla sounded a bit unfinished. RBB have made steady progress season after season climbing the Super league winning 5 divisional titles, what has been the highlight of your time with the club? *Pata - 5 divisional titles and 6 promotions in 9 seasons is good stuff I suppose, but the best thing about it all is, that I never finished lower then the season before. Every season I improved! Unfortunately thats all going to change this season as I will get relegated. Now you've reached Division 1.. and I look around at those in direct competition with RBB it's clear your sqaud is lacking just a bit in the skill department, how are you finding this? *Pata - Frustrating to be honest, but I cant do much about it. In terms of strength Im just not good enough no matter what tactics I play. Its the downside of having a relatively new club in a high division. I dont think I could have had a stronger team on this level by doing things different, but not to worry next season the team will be a bit stronger again and I will be in division 2. Do RBB have the econ to spend on higher skilled player(s) or are you dependant on development? *Pata - I have 21 million in the bank at the moment, but I wont be spending it on some spectacular transfer anywhere soon. What can you buy anyway nowadays with that kind of econs? One 26 year old 12 skill? No way, I saved up far too long to spend it like that. Ill invest it in good youths, when the time comes and its the only way to improve my current squad. Having been involved in private cup competition with you & knowing it's an area you usually do well in, I was suprised to see other than season 12 RBB have struggled to get passed the 5th round in Super league cup.. is/was this intentional for development reasons? *Pata - I always play to win, so no, it isnt intentional. This year I went out against a stronger first team lineup from division 3. Last season my tactics were worse then my opponent so I deserved to go out. The season before I had one of my most annoying results on X11. I lost to a manager ranked around 70.000, who just ticked all the boxes on his tactics page. In other words Im doing the best I can. Have you ever personally been tempted by the job centre? Or have you grown the virtual attachment to Rio Boys? What is your take on the much debated subject of - Staying with original team V Using the job centre? *Pata - Its my team and as long as I see progress it will stay my team. Im afraid if I jump to another existing team I will regret it afterwards and as a result will loose interest in the game. If other managers jump to higher division teams to win prizes thats fine with me. Its just that I prefer to play it my way. If managers use the jobcentre as a tool to improve their rank and then jump to a higher division team I dont like it at all. I believe the creators of this game have to come up with a better ranking system anyway as in my opinion a lot of the high ranked managers are not as good as their ranking tells us.

Moving onto Private leagues Pata, tell us about your own private league - VIP World Elite? *Pata - I like the league setup with 50 teams spread out over 5 divisions of 10 teams. Its not the most active league around, but most managers log in each day so the league is taken seriously. Your profile has a list of many milestones, and that isn't even updated, just how many merits have you had in private competition? *Pata - Hmm I came up with 18 titles including cup wins. It could be more though. If I add division wins it should be around 30. What about your current private league/teams? *Pata - Paris Angels: Consistent team which reached every playoff played in that league. - Dutch Delight: The seasons are incredibly short! I probably lost one or two titles by developing youths, but if I hadnt done it that way I would not have been in the position to challenge for those titles anyway. - ROE Windmill Myths: Team with the most horrific team logo on this site, although Chrilles logo in this league looked mint as well. *What do you regard as best merit on Xpert Official + Private? *Pata - Xpert: I havent got a clue to be honest. If I say something I'm just saying something. . Private: Im giving every one a head start in TCC, but Im number 1 in the all time standings of every league Im playing in. Club 24 seems to be the easiest league Im in. Favourite player you've signed? *Pata - As most valuable player: Hroar Tvedt Paris Angels - Header Rock in the defense for many seasons. As exciting prospect Rui Novoa Rio Bangla Boys Hard trainer, free kick and moody. Right now hes on 18 average form with 3 games to go. Favourite youth you've developed? *Pata - Sonny Silooy Dutch Delight Hard trainer, allround and shooting. I took him on as a 17/3 and he developed into a 30/14 I've heard the Rock/Paper/Scissors term used many times by managers about the tactical choices, so I asked 3 managers outside the league that are ace on the tactical side of the game to give you a wee game of Rock/Paper/Scissors, this is how you got on Pat. Some might say I'm getting a bit too predictable here. I just hope no one will notice the pattern I'm using here ;o) Nobego +-----------+ Pat 1.Paper <-----> Paper 2.Rock <-----> Rock 3.Scissors <-----> Paper

Ursprungligen postat av: Nobego Ha! hope I win Indeed you did. Rps78 +------------+ Pat 1.Rock <------> Paper 2.Paper <-----> Scissors 3.Scissors <---> Paper Ursprungligen postat av: Rps78 No one beats me this game hahaha Sorry R.. But...I think Pat just p3wnd you there. $crooge +-----------+ Pat 1.Paper <-----> $cissors 2.Rock <-------> Paper 3.Scissors <---> $cissors Ursprungligen postat av: $crooge Hehe...cool, m8 :D In swedish its in fact called "sten - sax - pse" = translating = "rock - scissors - paper (bag)" Looks like the dutch master has outdone you too $crooge! What can we expect from Dutch Delight over next few seasons? DD have been ultra consistent using the conveyor belt method even seeing off the best up & coming youth teams over time and remain a major challenger every season, what's the opinion on these two methods being used within the league? *Pata - Id really hate losing for seasons in a row, so creating a youth team would never be an option for me. Youth teams will rise and a few seasons later fall deep into the lower divisions again. Delight might drop one or two divisions, but they will always stay competitive. Few of the "norm" questions here... Most constructive change in your time? - When they took the form notations away after every training and match played. Most disliked change in your time? - Not being able to receive talents after they decided to close the transfer markets. What change you'd like to see implemented in your time? - A Hall of Fame page for each club with player and club awards e.g. longest winning streaks, unbeaten runs, biggest wins, record signing fees, 5 best club goalscorers, etc. etc. - Average age lineup between 26 and 29 if not the performance of the team will be affected. - Being able to tick substitute slightly injured for each individual player. - The use of a tab key in the league forums for making tables or lists. Few questions from the assistants... St.Ash Having just won the title for the 3rd time what are your plans now? Do you think you'll ever just "Sell up" and go the all yoof route like some cheaters on this site and fall down the leagues or will you try and rebuild as you go and stay in the top league for as long as you're on the site?

*Pata - Ill never go all youth with any of my teams. With Colin going down and PrinceCharming coming up, next season will be a difficult one again. YGA and Grassbandits for the title and the others fighting it out for relegation. I believe Grassbandits said he would rebuild after this season, so it should be a bit easier in season 16 again if we survive. Ill just stick to my conveyor belt game plan again this season. Bejjita You've built some good teams in your time on X11, what do you believe is most crucial in taking and developing a side from the bottom to the top? 2/3 year age gaps in every line of the field and fielding a squad of 26 year average age. And....... You've been in the top flight for nearly your entire stay in C24, yet you have managed to win the title. Given the fact that your team is not strongest (albeit well built in light of your constant results) have you ever been tempted to throw a few results down the drain in order to build a stronger side? Or likewise, to ignore that extra bar of form at the change report or so, just to get that one win? *Pata - To stay in the top division for this long its pretty obvious I had to develop my youths, so I didnt always field my strongest squad. When Im choosing my line up and making my tactics I always look at the possibility to get anything out of a game. I must admit I didnt stick to my principle of developing all my youths in season 13 and 14. I dont think I ever threw a result, although I was pretty sure I would lose that last game with Delight against Zinks Thunderhorse. Mistra Mr. Pata, Dutch Delight have never been the strongest team out there, yet results are continuously impressive, always there challenging for the title, what is your general approach when playing against stronger teams? *Pata - Strength is important, but so is choosing when to play pressure and which playing style to use. If everything is against me Ill just go defensive and pray. Ha ha its all a bit abracadabra here ... you know what I like most about this game figuring out how the opponent will play and countering those tactics spot on. *Quickfire Q's!! Food Winter dishes from the oven Drink After a good dinner a fine glass of malt whisky. Woman Im very happy with mine Film - Pulp Fiction Song YMCA from The Village People ha ha just joking it would be a song from U2, Pink Floyd, Dire straits, The Golden Earring uhm I cant pick one it depends on my mood really Greatest Goal [link?]- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTylUoFfjtI He knows exactly what hes doing. The simplicity is just brilliant! Holiday destination Phuket Website [other than x11] http://www.nu.nl, which is a Dutch news site Music album Moby (Play) Book Lonely Planet Best hooker in Amsterdam Very expensive What about the forthcoming World cup Pat? The mighty Dutch looked good in the qualifiers even against the more talented Scotland, can that carry on to the finals & see the men in orange win it? *Pata - I think 5 or 6 teams can win it and the Dutch are one of them. Its best for the Dutch if they are in the underdog position, once they are getting confidence it quickly turns into overconfidence and then it always goes terribly wrong. The good thing is they have a down to earth coach.

Who is your all-time favourite Dutch player? and who is the most promising up & coming young Dutch player? *Pata - Cruijff was the best Dutch player ever, but from my time I always enjoyed watching Bergkamp play. Promising players: Afellay and Wijnaldum. If any of us C24ers travel to Holland or is that Netherlands? and stay at your hotel Pat... would you chuck in a free hooker & a couple of space cookies?:P *Pata - Just send a mail when nearby, but free hookers and space cookies erh sorry Duff we are not managing a brothel here lol! *There goe's my fantasy then Pat.. Cheers & good luck mate! /Duff

The usefulness of a cup is its emptiness. http://www.xperteleven.com/viewGlobalMessageN.aspx?threadID=3841256&forumid=26&read=1 Flytta till verst p sidan Bejjita [Kontakta frfattare inom ligan] [Anvndaren r VIP-medlem] [Ligaassistent] [Bejjita] Blev medlem: 2008-06-05 Svar till: Duffster Skrivet: 2010-12-19 20:46:27 Club 24 hasn't had an interview in a while so to fire up the league a bit - who better than everyone's favourite/most hated DOMINATOR... Bejjita to get cracking on interviews to give you an insight into some of the managers who don't quite have a mouth like me! First on the list is Stevejohnston. Steve is a really nice guy and unless you've been living under a rock, you'll know he took home the Club 24 trophy last season. Great choice for an interview and Steve justifies it with some great insight into his life, and his tactics! So sit back and enjoy yourself C24'ers. ***** [Bejjita]Hey Steve, you've been playing Xpert Eleven for about 2 years and 3 months now, what brought you to the game, and what has kept you here? [Steve]My brother-in-law (yorkshiretrev) was staying with us and he was using my pc to set tactics, I'd never heard of x11 so was curious to see what he was upto. He gave me a very basic brief about the game and said I could join the HBOS league. I started with an xpert team first as it

was a couple of weeks till the new season started and got hooked straight away even though I was unsure what I was doing. He's the only person I know irl on x11 and for bragging rights that keeps me pretty motivated! The private leagues have kept me here tbh, competing against top managers and looking to come out on top, with a little banter along the way. Who is Stevejohnston? My money is on you being Steve Johnston, but what do you do offscreen, outside of setting tactics and setting form training? I live in sunny Paignton near the beach. I'm 28 on Wednesday, got 2 kids (an 8 yr old daughter and 4 yr old son) with my fiance (got engaged 7yrs ago lol). My family keeps me pretty busy tbh. I work in an independent jewellers full time. In my spare time (which I dont really get much of!) I collect slot cars and rake some of them around on my 90ft track and play pool (good excuse to get slaughtered once a week) amongst other stuff. Lets have a look at your official journey. I remember you coming through in the lower leagues of the Xtreme League, before moving to Final League, and then again to what is now Excelsior XI. What is it that kept you in the Final League, is it the best league? Yep started off in the Xtreme league, didn't have much of a clue about the game so it was there where I was starting to pick up what worked and what didn't. Think I got promoted once or twice, used 352 and 451 alot as it suited my team which was good for my ranking and back in those days I got upto no.1 in UK pretty quick tbh. Then I applied for a team in job centre first time I looked at it and got the job to my surprise, then I switched to Excelsior in the same division as it was in a better position than my old team and have been here since. There was no particular reason I joined the Final league, it was just what panned out at the time, I'm happy here though and there are some decent managers that I've come to know, so I've no plan to move at the moment. Regarding Excelsior specifically, how is the team coming on, how do you feel they are coming on towards meeting your targets, and what targets are they? The team is an old one, do you feel you can rebuild it(or even want to) and how will the average age rule hinder you do you think? Will you try and get around it? My target was to get them to the top division to try and win the title, I managed the first part winning 2 successive divisions part but the second part was always going to be a struggle with the strength of the teams up there. My team is old and I've already got 3 retiring at the E.O.S. and I got shafted by X11 early in the cup which pissed me off. My goal now is to rebuild the team, I've never rebuilt an old squad so its a new challenge. I'm fortunate to have some decent assets to sell off and will keep my 2 24/11's and my 25/12 and a few oldies to help with the avg age rule. Its a challenge I'm looking forward to and as long as my interest in the game continues hopefully I can find my way back up to the top of the Final League, prob in about 10 seasons time! I've noticed with Excelsior that you've been quite active in the transfer market since you've joined (something I like to see!). Just how important do you see this, and do you ever feel its a waste of time? It's always good to be involved in the TM, to build a strong enough side to compete at the top, buying and selling are key. You have to buy at the right time and price and sell at the right time to raise maximum econs, there can also be a need for repeating the process which takes a long time. I've had some success but I'd be the first to admit I've made plenty of mistakes in the TM which hopefully I can learn from now I'm going to rebuild, so definitely hasn't been wasted time. Lets move on to something you'll enjoy even more, the private leagues! Starting with our very own C24. You've only been at the team for not even a year and a half but you've already won arguably the best league on Xpert Eleven. How did it feel?

Amazing, best day on X11 - helped by the fact on the same day we were confirmed group winners in the CC!. Like you say arguably the best league to win and I'm proud we made it considering last season not many people would have predicted it - even myself! So many great managers here so its always going to be a great achievement. Now in the official leagues, it's fairly common, even in the higher divisions that an opponent may forget tactics not once, but maybe more than once a season. As a C24 calibre manager, you're likely to be good at exploiting this. But playing in C24 means you're up against a top manager every week. Just how did you win C24 with all this in consideration, what did you do to get ahead of the top managers? Firstly I played to my strengths, I know where my squad is strong and I know where its vulnerable. I had an idea how alot of teams were going to set up against me and if I thought my weakness would be exposed I would try to counter that. Some managers I had played before and tried to look for patterns and what worked but generally went with what I thought was best to get the job done, and didn't tinker too much before kickoff. Also I had to have that little bit of luck, where small things went my way. Sometimes you have seasons where everything seems to work well and last season here was certainly one of those. What about the Captain's Club. This is another prestigious league that has a lot of competition, and you are currently the league title holder. So yet again, victory to Steve! Once again, how did you do it, but in particular - this time you were there from the creation of the first season. How different was it starting on a (theoretically) even playing field and how come it took you 8 seasons to win do you think? That was what attracted me to the league in the first place, first time I joined a league from the start and the initial transfers were manic. It was a new challenge competing from the start and to see what methods the other managers were going to take. It's a little different as its a group league so you have to decide whether your gonna go for quick glory or develop a squad that will take longer to get to the top but be stronger when you get there. I bought some HT's and plenty of yoofs - prob more than alot of others and I knew it could be a few seasons before I climbed to the top. My team has been at or near the top of the squad value and strength list for the past few seasons so I'm pleased with the job I've done. Can't skip any, so tell us about the HBOS league! I would imagine it's the league that got you into the game no? That's correct, as I said earlier that's where the manager is I know irl so its good to talk to him about tactics and stuff. I joined in season 2, one manager in the league inherited a strong starting squad and he just wrenched every last drop out of them to dominate the league for the first 6 seasons winning the league 5 times before having no other choice than a full rebuild. I have since built up my squad as prob the strongest in the league and have won the title 3 times. My goal there is to now dominate the league for the next few seasons and win the most amount of titles before the youth teams catch me back up. I've noticed that you're (stalker I know!) very picky with your quota and didn't even really join and leave leagues. What was it about C24 and CC that made you decide - these are worth using my quota on, what do you need in a league for it to be viable? Your right, as yet I've never dropped out on a private league. The first league I joined for the obvious reasons previously mentioned. C24 is prob the best league in X11 with so many great managers. I wanted to face the best so I applied, I had a high rank so thought I could bluff my way in! Lots of tactical stuff in the forums etc. Its here where I learnt to find HT before the changes and so much other stuff so a great league to be part of and I'd never leave whilst I'm active on x11. With Captains Club Basil asked me to join and the challenge of starting from scratch against

strong opposition was too good to miss, I may never have got the chance again so I was pleased to become part of the league. During the first few seasons lots of people joined and left(including Basil) so I took over as captain of our group. The league has now stabilised and I'm glad I joined. Our group won last season aswell as my team winning the top division, there is quite of bit of banter in CC which adds to the league. A good admin and top managers are the vital ingredients which is the case here and in CC, its a challenge to compete as it should be. I'm sure there are plenty of other good priv leagues out there and hopefully sometime I will get the chance to play in some of them. Lets hear a bit about your opinions on teambuilding. What do you look for when you're trying to build a team and do you have any methods you would like to share with us? What SQ's do you prefer when building a team as well? When I'm building my teams i focus a fair bit on the midfield, for me the midfield is the most important part of the team and a strong midfield is crucial, I like to have 1 or two moody mids if possible aswell, I'm a big fan of these but not so much on moodys in other positions. I like to stagger ages aswell, I dont like to have more than 1 player in any position of the same age. Got to have a decent fk specialsit this is the most important sq, also like the "position" sq for my keepers where possible to help a little against fk's. Sq's are important for the resale factor for those sq lovers than inflate the prices to crazy amounts. Some tactical debate is conventional in a C24 interview. Two points: 1 - When do you use pressure, and how do you counter it? Very difficult question to answer, so many factors but I use pressure probably more than most. There's the obv like with/against lrs and with a stronger and/or larger midfield. I will often press against normal offence. I press the majority of the time to counter the performance drop from careful aggression. Long balls and through plays are very effective against pressure based on past results, but as I like to have a strong midfield I will often match my opponent by playing 5 mids and also pressing. So due to the way I build my teams and the fact I often use a 5 man mid I use pressure over 90% of the time. 2 - When do you find it appropriate to bruise an opponent, and do you tread the line with 'inappropriate' refs? If I'm stronger I don't like bruising, I will only usually bruise against a stronger team to get that needed boost with the right refs. I sometimes bruise and mark a strong keeper if i think it will help to win a game but its obviously ref dependant. I don't take too many risks with the refs, I'd bruise with a s7,h4 ref against the right team if I thought it was worth it but I play it safe when I'm stronger. Overall I'm not a fan of bruise and try not to use it really. What's your plan in C24 now that you've won it? To win it again and defend my title!, Its only so long before I will need to rebuild and the longer I leave it the less funds I can generate, I will keep going for a couple of seasons as long as I'm at the top, a hattrick of titles would equal Blu's record which would be a great achievement albeit one which is a long way off. If I cant do it this time I will rebuild and hopefully come back stronger. What would you rate your strongest skills on the game, and your biggest weaknesses (hey we might even try and help!)? My strongest skills and weaknesses probably contradict each other a little. My strength is knowing what works best for my team and how to get the most from it with the right formation against my opponents. My weakness is not mixing thing up enough, and not being adventurous enough with the tactics.

Still not that great on the transfer market but I'm improving on that aspect. I suck on neutral ground too my cup history is pretty shocking! What was the best piece of advice you were given, and the best that you've given? The best piece of advice I've been given is - not to concentrate too much on my opponent and focus on my own strengths. The best piece of advice I have given is - try new things out to find what works and learn from your mistakes. Any last words? Not a great deal, just to say thanks for taking the time to do the interview and to all the people reading it! Cheers Nath for taking the time to write the questions and stalking me. ;-) Steve. More than welcome, thanks a lot!

Deus Ex Machina.. future XCL winners. Flytta till verst p sidan Bejjita [Kontakta frfattare inom ligan] [Anvndaren r VIP-medlem] [Ligaassistent] [Bejjita] Blev medlem: 2008-06-05 Svar till: Bejjita Skrivet: 2011-04-22 17:11:55 Your favourite interviewer is back! Next I'm getting to know one of the newer managers in the league.. but a stranger to good competition he is not! It is ShadowsDT! ShadowsDT has been playing in C24 for one season now and is playing in C9 with a brand new team, The Sports Analytics. Making sure not to knock over the trophy cabinet, I go and get an insight into the Aussie genius himself! Hey Shadows, nice to speak to the man himself! Welcome to Club 24! What are your thoughts on the league having finally joined? I have been keeping my eye on this league for a while (over 2 years) and I have always wanted to be apart of it to test my skills and Im happy with what I see. You're obviously in the league as you're a manager with some ability (so I hear :P), so what would you say you bring to the table? What are your biggest strengths as a manager, and your weaknesses?

My biggest strength would probably be development of players and trying to get that extra DV across all players in the squad especially the younger ones. I wouldnt say I have a weakness just something that Im not the best at and thats managing my econ, if I have to train a player or not, I will train him. Could you give us a bit of history about Shadows? How you grew as a manager, early experiences and teams? I first started out with my ShadowsDT side (which I am still with) and won the division to get promoted then won the league the next season, I discovered early (after 6 months or so) that developing youth is the best way to build a team and get results. I was with a couple of other teams but the structure didnt interest me and a team in VIPI that I achieved all of my goals (winning the cup and league) before coming here. You've managed to build a team that has exceeded the 400m mark for team value in the official leagues. Congratulations! Just how did you manage to do it? And how long is it now until you win big honours with Whitsunday? Thanks. When I first joined Whitsunday it was in division 7 facing relegation at the half-way point of the season and valued around the 15m econ mark (old system). I sold a few players before the end of the season which brought in around 30m. In the next 2 seasons I brought in a few old higher skilled players to help out with average form as well as many youths, who if they got a double increase in the CR were sold and profits were made on as many players as I could. Then I noticed a team full of special qualities win the cup (Squid-Kid's Stormtroopers in season 12) and thats when I first started to have any long-term plan with the side and started bringing in mainly 16/4's or 17/4's with special quality combos with potential and training the pants of them. Since then (11 seasons ago) I have taken my team from division 7 to just 1 step away from the Super League while having a "youth base" which I planned to try and win Super League with. As for big honours with Whitsunday, it shouldnt be that far away, I plan to get promoted in the next couple of seasons and by then Big Boyz will probably be my main threat for the SL title. Another thing I have done with the team is manage to get 7 or more MOTR's each full season which I guess has helped with the success so far. Having had a look at your presentation, you're clearly a fantastic manager when it comes to achieving honours in the private leagues. How is it that you're so consistently successful, and will this success translate to Club 24? I think the main reason is because of great teambuilding with good tactics, I have nearly always been in the top few on the best coaches and strongest team list in. Also always playing youths in most matches and taking one match at a time. Yes, of course even though its going to take many seasons to reach the top of the Club. Hypothetical question (or maybe not so hypothetical seeing as you do have a new side!). You have a new side and there are two scenarios: 1 - You start with a new side in a new league. How do you go about building the team 'the ShadowsDT' way to ensure success? In a new league with all teams on a level playing field I would definitely bring in some youth players in each position which I could make a profit off if I need to and make sure I had a good goalkeeper and freekick taker, as these two players can win many games then any others. 2 - You start with a new side in an established league, at the very bottom, and therefore have to catch up, ditto question in point 1. In a well established league (like C24) I think going youth is your best option. With my C24 team I

have brought in many youths players and I plan to sell all of them and make good profits, buy players on a better skill path and start again building a "base squad" which you plan to win things with. However seeing as though there are 10 divisions in C24 it might need an extra rebuild to two. In addition to this, I noticed a lot of your private sides play in leagues that do not have very deep league systems. Which encourages a youth setup because you can comfortably make it to the top before the team matures. This isn't the case starting from C9 in C24. Will this hinder you at all? The simple answer is no, it will just take a little longer to get there. As Ive previously said with my xpert league team I started with a "youth base" after two and a half seasons there and with many of the seasons getting promoted my goal was to just survive from relegation but avoiding promotion seemed harder. Its all about having a plan in place and following it. Yes this league is full of good managers and will make it tougher to get there but if you have the confidence it will take you a long way. It is clear from your sides that you are very good at building strong sides ultimately. But how do you rate your tactical ability? If (when? ) you make the XCL you'll be coming up against sides just as strong as your own if not stronger in some cases, do you think you have the tactical nous to blow away all in your path? You're not used to a Smogens-esque skill deficit when the going gets serious right? Well I wouldnt rate it as good as my team building ability but it isnt bad at all. In recent months my xpert ranking has been in the top 100 for a while now and is currently top 20 and thats only with 8 cup matches on my 6 month cycle, not sure how many managers have achieved that. As for taking on stronger teams, its something I dont often do being a good teambuilder but coming up against a better team is something I look forward to against team like FC Botosani in TCC and Imperial Cobn, LA Colts, Big Boyz (which Im was maybe unlucky to get results from this season and their are 2-3 bars stronger) and Realgalacticos when the time comes. But it wont be until 3 seasons or more time until I target the XCL, when that time comes my squad will be more developed by then with the old average age rules there wont be many teams full of players in their 30's playing at their best. Enough Xpert for now! Tell us about yourself outside of x11, an insight into ShadowsDT! Well ShadowsDT is short for Shadows Dream Team which was my team name for all fantasy sports from EPL, F1's even golf and nascar a few years ago. You could say I live for sport, I play cricket, pool (8-ball) and running IRL but I follow most sports. Im working at a pet/produce shop atm but Im thinking about doing a degree on sports analysis which Ive been putting off for some time. Back to the game, what would you say the best advice you were ever given was? And the best you could give? Not sure what the best advice I was given but "Shinozu" helped me with a lot of the basics when I first joined and leftbanks guide helped immensely. As for what I could give is buy youth players and train them as much as you can as I think teambuilding is just as important as tactics but tactical advice is more readily available. Could you tell us a bit about your private leagues? KBM Xpert League was the first league I joined and it was for managers from Kaki Bola Malaysia which I found through a yahoo fantasy football forum that someone advertised there but that forum is dead now. I created Asian Elite for the better managers in KBM but didnt expect as many to join that did and it is probably peaked but I cant see it dying anytime soon. In TCC I was

made captain in season 4 and I had a lot of pieces to fix. This is when my restructured youth team started being really competitive, Ive won 2 titles there and Im also unbeaten for 47 league matches, if only the same could be said about the cup. What's your general opinion on Xpert Eleven as a game right now? A lot of things have changed recently with two way average age rule, DV and such. What's your opinion on the game as a whole? The game as a whole is great if you get into it but if your not it could make you lose interest. For new managers joining the site, unless the read leftbank's guide or get some good advice I cant see the site going ahead and mainly keen managers will stay with it. As for any company if you dont look after your customers you wont go forward. I just hope the crew realize this and it keeps moving forward. Any last words my friend? To succeed at Xperteleven you need to do as much as you can. Be it countering everything in the tactical space to developing your players and building them into the best team you can, if you do this you will go along way. Thanks very much Shadows, a pleasure.

Deus Ex Machina.. future XCL winners. Flytta till verst p sidan 1

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