London Olympians, swallowing some pride

While I joined here a while ago, (and posted this before my laptop went all blue screen...), I figured i'd be able to manage on my own. Good fortune and a couple of reasonable signings got me out of div V, but up into a division where I am woefully under-equipped to challenge. An ongoing discussion on BR's website had me 1)making sure I stayed up in div IV, rather than dropping in order to win some silverware/money and 2) here for a bit of help.

Taking in a meagre 30k when I have a home game, i'm concerned that I've overstretched myself, with the level of coaches/facilities, etc. I don't exactly have any high-flighers coming or going from the academy setup just yet and i've only got a couple of players over 20k on the CSR front. But with a puny warchest of 175k, i'm somewhat hamstrung.

Here to get any advice gents, however critical! Would be happy to share team/positions, etc, if you think that'd help.

Ta

What Stadium do you have at the moment, the full breakdown of seating types please (office -> stadium). Also, how many members (office -> sponsorship).

Standing:1750
Uncovered seats:2200
Covered seats:1650
Member's seats:650
Corporate seats: 75
Total capacity:6325

And I don't quite sell out when playing at home.

915 Charmed members, with a total sponsorship income of 140k.


Maintenance of 50k
Salaries of 116k
Wages 45k

Right then, there's the problem, lets get to work .

Standing, destroy it all.
Uncovered increase to 3300
Covered increase to 2600
Members leave alone
Corporate increase by 10

How much will all that cost you? You probably can't afford it at the moment, but what's the cost, we'll see where we need to be.

312k, so a little out of my league at the moment!

I read your article on getting rid of standing, so bearing that in mind, I can afford the standing removal and uncovered increase, with a little grace left over. Make sense at this stage, or should I simply max out every penny I have?

Oh, and thanks for the prompt advice, a good level of service here!

Just destroy standing for now. Destruction comes with a 5k fee, construction a 25k fee. Therefore destroying some, and building a little = very expensive.

Once you've done the destruction, wait a few weeks and do the construction (when you have the cash of course).

Not to mention that it goes through in a couple of days, which is ideal. Much appreciated on that front.

While i've got your attention Raggs, whats the most appropriate way of modelling a players psotional suitability? I do my best to have a crack at it, but i'm all too often working on what I think would be appropriate in real life, rather than whats integral to the game.

If you have a quick look on the "Links and Help" section on here there's some great stuff about key skills for positions.
Also several people use applications such as BR Manager, programmes which will suggest lineups etc. there's links to them on the Links and Help section too

Real life is a good place to start too. Get onto the Chatbox at the top, and ask questions , it's usually busier in the evenings, folks will be happy to help.

Raggs, thanks. Have been going over your postition guide and seeing what the BRv3 management tool - the one in french? - would bring to the table.

Just to continue with the schooling i'm getting, with regards to training, can i assume that its best to be training 4 young players, ie sub 20, rather than "wasting" the sessions throughout the squad?

Cheers

Yes, better to get a few players to a standard that is long term, that spread the training and have to constantly replace players (in my mind anyway).

Basically if you put a lot of players on 2-3 training nets then you'll have none of them in a few seasons anyway, andthey won't sell for much either. If you put a few, perhaps as many as 5 (I'd go 2-3 but opinions will vary on this), on good intensive training you'll have some decent players that are either still playing for your in several seasons, or who will raise decent fees on the TM

It takes time, and patience. But short of cheating, and getting banned, there isn't a quick way to a good team/squad.

As I'm sure you're all dying to hear how your advice has been playing out, here's an update!

The stadium changes have beared fruit already, with enough funds to expand, making sure I avoid building "standing" sections. Still sailing very close to the wind, as far as finances go, this should help in the long-run.

Training wise, I've whittled it down from training 10+ players, to a tight 5. I'll chop this down to just three when I promote a couple of starlets, as 29 sessions simply isnt enough.

League-wise, relegation is now the last thing on my mind. By relaxing players during the games against the top 3 teams, i've clawed my way into fourth, which should help as far as prize money goes. A bp loss and one more win should be enough to hold this.

So, big thanks thus far gents.

Next step, where should I be looking as far as investing my money goes? A couple of quality (in my case, anyone above 30kcsr, as I have one with 26k and the rest below 20..!) ollder players, or more money into the academy side of things?

go for some quality older players i would think mate, untill you get level 4 training all set up the academy wont be worth it as its very expensive to run.

by older players you should probably draw the line at around the age of 25 with 30kcsr +

I'ev actually got a level 4 training, which is possibly one of the reasons that i'm haemoraging money. A chronic lack of any genuine quality youth coming up has had me training a number of players, rather than having any to really focus on. Was thinking a couple of better quality players would help, but aside from taking me out of the relegation battles, would it be worth it?

Just to give you an idea of the players I have here in league IV...;

Front row; 26kcsr, 17k & 17k
2nd row; 18k, 17k
Back row; 18, 20, 20

Halfbacks; 14k, 16k
Centres; 21k, 19k
Back 3; 12k, 15k, 19k

Not exactly much to shout about, although all pretty much under 22. Surprised I'm holding my own in my current division, tbh.

level 4s are good but you still dont need to worry about having a good academy yet . just get a level 3 scout and nothing else.

ideally you want to train some star players , look to replace your oldest/ worst players first

Your best bet tbh is to write off the next 4 seasons and use that time to train 3x U20 players. Level 4 sessions will be enough to get them into the U20 squad(upgrade asap tho)....and the masses of IGT you can give them in your division will allow them to be amongst the better prospects in the squad.

Once the 4 seasons are up, you'll have 3 quality youngsters who will be worth a minimum of $10 million. If you train a lock, prop and winger, you can expect that figure to be closer to $12 million.

Any money you earn in the meanwhile can just be used to invest in 'quick profit' players. The money making sectionhere might give you a few pointers

$10-12 million goes a long way when you invest in players aged 30+, so you could expect to turn that money into a mid table division 2 club. That's probably the quickest route to progress in the tough English league system imo

Gents, thanks as always. Getting involved offsite certainly helps the game stay fresh and keep its appeal. A shame that the work computers mean I can't get involved in the chatbox, but sobeit.

Listening to the reams of available advice, I've take most of it onboard and picked three of my U20 crowd to take all the training. As i've currently got two L3, L2 and L1 coaches, I've given each of my three coached players two of each level.

While I feel I have my players training in appropriate manners, I'd appreciate any of you casting your eye over their profiles, letting me know who you'd play where on the field and what training you'd give them. No prizes, aside from impressing me, for those who get it right!


Hiroshige Sugisata
20 y/o (R3, D7) | 27,005 CSR | $5,902 p.w. | 188cm | 122kg | Japan
Stamina: Decent Handling: Satisfactory
Attack: Reputable Defense: Reputable
Technique: Impressive Strength: Admirable
Jumping: Average Speed: Average
Agility: Limited Kicking: Despicable


Patrick Sishuba
19 y/o (R6, D5) | 20,089 CSR | $4,794 p.w. | 187cm | 112kg | South Africa
Stamina: Decent Handling: Average
Attack: Average Defense: Admirable
Technique: Admirable Strength: Decent
Jumping: Average Speed: Satisfactory
Agility: Limited Kicking: Horrible


Matías Leiva
19 y/o (R5, D5) | 18,588 CSR | $4,149 p.w. | 202cm | 119kg | Spain
Stamina: Satisfactory Handling: Moderate
Attack: Satisfactory Defense: Average
Technique: Decent Strength: Impressive
Jumping: Admirable Speed: Limited
Agility: Limited Kicking: Despicable

With the youth academy, I'd recommend not even having a scout. A level 3 scout costs $12,500 a week, so over a season this will be $200,000. And that's once you've paid all that money and waited all that time to get him. You can probably pick up three decent 17 year olds from the transfer market for less than that.

Did you notice destroying the standing cash in? I'm still not convinced that it loses money. I just think that there is minimal profit in it...

Maybe I can help you with this one Howie!

Firstly I would say if you are going at training you are better off to pick 17/18 year olds they generally go cheaply at this time of the season but of the three player you have there I will advise you on position.

The Jap - is a nice tall prop who should give your lineout a boost. For future reference he is a prop because of his good weight, his strength and tech. He could be a backrow but his speed is too low. I would give him very few sessions because of his age but he needs stamina and handling while defence, strength and tech are all the props core skills.


The second guy, the SA player, looks an openside flanker but he needs a lot of work in attack, speed, and agility as Opensides should be the quickest backrow for getting to rucks and supporting backs play.

The Spanish guy is a lock because of his good height - you could have him as a no 8 but stamina, handling, tech and defence need too much to go for a backrow. You need to train him in defence, stamina, handling, tech and jumping.