Season 28 Week 11 processing...

Greetings and welcome to week 11, can't believe we are already at the halfway stage of the season, reset underway...

Data entry started...

Bit of a bad week for me this week as I've only now discovered that four recent startups were sent out as expert turns and the system was not resetting club bank balances for expert turns only startup turns. This was totally my fault as I'd forgotten why I introduced startup turns and the resetting part of the startup turn.

This has basically resulted in four clubs, Watford, Real, Barcelona and Inter Milan transferring to new managers with unreset club balances. The starting balance should have been the normal measly £5m. This has affected the game balance significantly and flooded the economy with cash and I will have to do something about it. As one very long time manager has said, "It's not much of a game if I cant buy an uncapped player for £60m".

So here are the details of my mistake for all to see

Phil started at Watford with 212m.
Rob started at Real with 185m.
Adam started at Barca with 388m.
Ollie started at Inter with 11m.

As you can appreciate it is a large influx of cash that has many players unsettled and it is totally my fault so I think it is only fair I listen to any arguments you want to put forward before I decide what to do about this issue. Thanks for your understanding and patience.

The only option I can see at the moment does seem a bit harsh to me and that is to reclaim the "extra" from each of the affected sides. I'm open to suggestions or ideas.

Just FYI the average bank balance across all managed clubs is currently between 0m and 5m with only five clubs into their overdraft limits, so this is a bit of a "must sort out" situation.

For instance my Banstead side are 7m overdrawn this week having been promoted to the Championship on a 500 capacity home crowd. 

For instance there are four long term managers at Plymouth Newcastle Man City and Charlton who all have "healthier" than 5m balances but who have worked hard to build up that balance in the hope of signing their number one target, I cant see all their hard work wasted because of my mistake.

Fixtures: 
 Villa v Plymouth Man United v Wolves
 Chelsea v Soton Watford v Liverpool
 Fulham v Charlton Birmingham v Man City

Villa v Plymouth Likely Lineup;
Jack Butland:GK,Kyle Walker:RB,Nacho Monreal:LB,Adrien Rabiot:AM,Stefan Savic:CL,Jeffrey Bruma:CR,Wilfried Bony:S2,Francis Coquelin:BW,Romelo Lukaku:CF,Olivier Giroud:ST,Cesc Fabregas:DY
Petr Cech:GK,Hector Bellerin:RB,Ashley Cole:LB,Fernandinho Roza:AM,Raheem Sterling:DR,Shkodran Mustafi:CL,Danny Welbeck:CF,Jack Wilshere:TM,Nemanja Matic:BW,Riyad Mahrez:DL,Toby Alderweireld:CR

Well tinker boy Rob couldn't resist a Tactical shakeup this season and has swapped to the highly effective ISF with Lukakau leading the line for the Villans last week out it didnt seem the front 3 were clinical enough infront of goal and no doubt Rob had them in for Extra shooting practice! As the point could of gone to the home team instead of the ruthless Fulham. How will Villa fair up against rejuvinated Plymouth who seemed to suffer due to the absence of there manager last season. They have a close knit group who have played together now for many season's with only the odd transfer here and there from the once Haryy Redkapp of the Transfer Market... However the Argyle boss did declare his interest in bringing in a few new faces to help mount his title challange. 


Man United v Wolves Likely Lineup;

Sergio Romero:GK,Benjamin Mendy:LB,Nathan Ake:CL,Ashley Williams:CR,Conor Mclaughlin:RB,Marouane Fellaini:AM,Henrikh Mkhitaryan:RW,Anthony Martial:ST,Vincent Janssen:CF,Sandro Ranieri:PM,Ashley Young:LW
Wayne Hennessey:GK,Gianni Zuiverloon:RB,Mitchell Dijks:LB,John Mikel:AM,Curtis Davies:CL,Richard Stearman:CR,Rajiv Vanla Parra:RW,Jonathan De Guzman:DY,Ricky Van Wolfswinkel:CF,Robin Van Persie:TM,Marvin Emnes:LW

Well due to the nature of the league this season this is a massive game for the teams involed this week, could a win for either side here be the momentum they need to avoid relegation ? Utd certainly looking to avoid going back to the championship with aquisition's of Young, Mkjitaryan and Fellanini adding much needed quality to the Side that was looking a bit lacklustre. 
As for Wolves they have mangaged to keep RVP fit for the fist half of the season and will be hoping that he can claim some more points for the away team however will the TOT style of football be too exposed away from home ? It's nice to see Team's utlize winger's but who will provide more pivitoal Sandro at PM or RVP at TM.... it's all about the quality of delivery. 


Chelsea v Soton Likely Lineup;

Ben Siegrist:GK,Luis Filipe:LB,Ron Vlaar:CL,Dejan Lovren:CR,Wallace Oliveira:RB,Vurnon Anita:AM,Angel Di Maria:DL,Radamel Falcao:ST,Ibrahim Afellay:TM,Gylfi Sigurdsson:S2,Luis Anderson:DR
Joel Robles:GK,Cedric Soares:RB,Leighton Baines:LB,Mikel Arteta:AM,Marc Muniesa:CL,Nemanja Vidic:CR,Radosav Petrovic:DR,Salomon Rondon:ST,Jay Rodriguez:S2,Filip Duricic:TM,Dusan Tadic:DL

Chelsea another team that will be looking to make the home advantage count as they are ever close to the relegation battle which is a new concept for the players at stamford bridge who have usually been mid to top table in the last few seasons but a lack of transfer acvitivy means they will be relying on the same group to keep them up, they certainly have the quality in the front 3 of Falcao / Afellay and Sigurdsson but Di Maria certainly hasn't been at his best. As for Soton well they certainly nearly gave the Top of the Table City a scare last week and on chances created they maybe should of at least got a draw out of it. Maybe being rock bottom is taking there toll on the team and could do with a mid season break to build moral.. however it might already just be too late for the southern coast team....


Watford v Liverpool Likely Lineup;

David De Gea:GK,Nathaniel Clyne:RB,Danny Rose:LB,Paul Pogba:AM,Vincent Kompany:CL,Philip Jones:CR,Eric Dier:BW,Gareth Bale:DL,Christian Eriksen:DR,Kevin De Bruyne:TM,Harry Kane:CF
Peter Gulacsi:GK,Fabio Da Silva:LB,Ragnar Klavan:CL,Sebastian Coates:CR,Jon Flanagan:RB,Jake Livermore:AM,John Swift:PM,Wilfried Zaha:RW,Islam Slimani:CF,Carlos Tevez:TM,Victor Moses:LW

Well Watford certainly clicked last week after a poor transitional period and a new tactical approach from the New Manager and it certainly delivered last week with De Gea not being called into action once. Is this the turning point for a Ruthless Watford team who with Kane uptop looked in good shape.. Or will they fade away. Age is certainly on the Watford team's side so even if this season is about finding our feet.. Next season will be the true test. 
As for liverpool the sale of Aqualini seem's to have impacted there creatitvity and were unable to contest a the wolves side last game out which would cause signs of concern from some of the Anfield fathful.. will the leave the middle of the park for John Swift to control or will they bring in a more Household Name ? 

Fulham v Charlton Likely Lineup;

Jose Reina:GK,Ryan Bertrand:LB,Seamus Coleman:RB,Andrea Ranocchia:CL,Victor Lindelof:CR,Yaya Toure:AM,Seb Schweinsteiger:DR,Alexis Sanchez:ST,Theo Walcott:S2,Elano Blumer:TM,Ramires Santos:DL
Ederson Santana:GK,Danilo Da Silva:RB,Cesar Azpilcueta:LB,Virgil Van Djik:CR,David Luiz:CL,Jordan Henderson:AM,Willian Borges:DL,Adam Lallana:DR,Philippe Coutinho:TM,Gabriel Jesus:ST,Roberto Firmino:S2

Fulham seem to have carried on there fine form, from previous management swapped there style to suit there new manager, how will they cope this week vs Charlton. Fulham were clinical in there last game and managed to use there experience to win the game how will the fair vs the Fast and Fluid attacks from Charlton? Elano has stepped back up into the Premier league after a few absent seasons but taking like a duck to water and helping his new teammates and could we pick up a premier league winners medal if he keeps the form up. Charlton seem to have had a stop start season this year, usally at the summit with majority of the other teams however it would appear the away form is what is holding him back, can he shake things up a bit and buck the trend or will Charlton be dipping into the transfermarket to bring in someone else?


Birmingham v Man City Likely lineup;

Tim Krul:GK,Rafael Da Silva:RK,Jesse Lingard:LK,Daley Blind:AM,Brede Hangeland:CL,Jonny Evans:CR,Ander Herrera:DR,Javier Hernandez:ST,Alexandre Lacazette:S2,Stevan Jovetic:TM,Dimitri Payet:DL
Joe Hart:GK,Aaron Cresswell:LB,Antonio Rudiger:CL,John Stones:CR,Micah Richards:RB,Leroy Sane:DL,Danny Drinkwater:DY,Edin Dzeko:CF,Sergio Aguero:ST,Andy Carroll:S2,Ilkay Gundogan:DR

Well it would seem that Brum havnt managed to get the new manager bounce it would appear that they a few too many players all wanting first team, so a purge was in order it would seem to get the harmony back in the dressing room.. Will they stick with the formation they have? Bringing the Brazlian Samba to the premier league.. City, sitting at the summit of the premier league look like they've mastered grining out the result against the run of play and most would expect this game to be a bit more comfortable but that's why we all love hemsoft.. nothing is ever straight forward!

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Just FYI the average bank balance across all managed clubs is currently between 0m and 5m with only five clubs into their overdraft limits, so this is a bit of a "must sort out" situation.

I personally wouldn't want to ruin the integrity of the game through having the influx of money. However i assume it was left due to the fact Jamie decided to cash in on a few players the week before i took over e.g Rooney to Everton for 75million. 

However.. considering the squad I've inherited i can't complain if the bank balance is reset at all. Personally. 

Was the starting balance not 20million? 5 for Feeder clubs etc?

How will this be calculated vs the friendlies that have been played recently etc. As i did so 9 per week so if i was stripped back to 5 million technically i'd be owed 1.8 million and also Europe money for champions league?

p.s 

PROFIT SINCE INCEPTION   :  11,816,145

so would i go to: 16,816,145??

Thanks for the support Phil much appreciated.

If we decide to go ahead with the 'hard' option then Watford would lose 202m from their opening balance of 217m but as you reminded me there was a big deal for Rooney the week before you took over by that guy who only stayed one week so I'd be willing to refund the 75m meaning Watford would lose 202-75=127m this week in a sort of one-off tax.

This only affects the club balance not its profit or any income since you took over.

How about a quasi type of situation where you were to reduce the amount of money the four teams have to a certain level and recompense some of the other managers to even things out? That way nobody loses out but it means that the managers who have taken over don't suddenly have no funds to play with here?

Paul - you know the system better than any of us so whatever I think is both easier for you here and whatever gives less disruption to the game world - in terms of players being unsettled etc...

Personally, I wouldn’t have taken Real on without the extra cash which I assumed they had. Inter were in a much better shape and it wouldn’t have been worth moving as Real needed a massive overhaul. Also based on that I made a lot of decisions in letting players go which I wouldn’t have done so those would need to be reversed as well to make things fair if we reset at £5m. So I’m more than happy to reset with £5m but I’d then probably not have moved from Inter or I’d like all the transfers I’ve made since moving reversed.

Rob@Real wrote:

Personally, I wouldn’t have taken Real on without the extra cash which I assumed they had. Inter were in a much better shape and it wouldn’t have been worth moving as Real needed a massive overhaul. Also based on that I made a lot of decisions in letting players go which I wouldn’t have done so those would need to be reversed as well to make things fair if we reset at £5m. So I’m more than happy to reset with £5m but I’d then probably not have moved from Inter or I’d like all the transfers I’ve made since moving reversed.

Echo this. I know I’m new to the game but have made decisions on how the club was presented. Happy with a reset to £5m but would like all the transfers I have made reversed please.

I don't want to start an argument and upset anyone, but don't think that would ever be a possibility?  We would then surely enter the realms of people asking for results to be reversed too and games replayed?  Not possible surely to take the game back in time etc

Appreciate that you wouldn't have done the deals, and maybe even taken the clubs but we need to move forward and find a solution somewhere?  Paul is in a really difficult situation and doesn't want to upset anyone. 

My understanding was always that starting at a new club meant you started with their squad and a balance of 5m, has been the case since I started. 

You have to admit that inheriting the squads you did, arguably two of the strongest in the whole game, along with balances of 185m and 388m respectively isn't really fair on the rest of us?

Don’t think there’s any argument and I can clearly see your point. At the same time you only spend what you have on your finance report and having retrofitted balances of 5m means I wouldn’t have done the deals I have. Telling me after the fact is a bit unfair too. So being 3 or 4 weeks into the game if I am suddenly £200m in debt when I hadn’t expected to be it doesn’t make a lot of sense to keep playing.

Surely that doesn’t solve the issue of teams having more money than they should have. It just means they need to spend quicker. So I can invest it all in buildings and spend seasons reaping the benefits or buy lots of players now and then sell them later to recoup the money. It simply defers the issue. I completely understand the issue but in order for it to be completely fair all transfers should be reversed and the balances reset to £5m. So Thiago comes back from Lazio etc etc. That way it’s fair on everyone. Rob? Phil?

Tom did you just delete a message? I was responding to a post you hadn’t just put up.

Keyes, stop ranting. I’ll see you in the morning for some Mariokart and coffee. Agree that it needs to be fair for all and agree that the only way is to reverse all the transfers and the bank balances. 

What was the Tom post that’s not up now?

Sorry guys seems I've created an almost impossible situation for myself.

However you may have the wrong impresssion about the hard option, it is not to reset the balances to 5m but rather to remove from the current balance the extra money you were granted on the startup turn.

I'll calculate the exact figures tuesday morning and look at the transfer deals and there values then, oh hang its tuesday morning already, so later today it is.

Ben@Plymouth wrote:

How about a quasi type of situation where you were to reduce the amount of money the four teams have to a certain level and recompense some of the other managers to even things out? That way nobody loses out but it means that the managers who have taken over don't suddenly have no funds to play with here?

Paul - you know the system better than any of us so whatever I think is both easier for you here and whatever gives less disruption to the game world - in terms of players being unsettled etc...

Thanks for your support Ben, it's much appreciated, but it looks like I've created another monster situation similar to the one that saw Dan Furneaux leave the game several years ago, and if that's the case then I can only do what's best for the game, as I did back in the day with Dan. Always sad to lose players but it just seems to be the way of it sometimes.

Hello Everyone. This is a mess, I think. Can I just go back to the way I had things at Feyenoord before this all started please?

Given the situation isn’t great for anyone could I suggest that rather than resetting everything back to how it was and removing cash - people have already made decisions and started at their new clubs - that these teams keep the cash and transfers (which is what would happen in real life) and those teams who have not beneffited gain recompense (in terms of a one-off cash boost) to ensure the game world runs smoothly - I.e if everyone has more cash then it becomes a level playing field.

I wouldn’t mind that as an outcome which means we can continue to operate as it was and we can move forward quickly with what is a great season - thanks as ever for all your hard work Paul. These things happen and we just deal with it - would be a shame to have everything move around again and it all reset?

Tom,Geoff, Dave etc - presume you wouldn’t be avert to this? Phil, Rob, Ollie, Adam - seem a fair compromise?

Just to add - in terms of working out a cash amount you - you might say all clubs double their current balances, bar those involved, which gives everyone a proportional benefit. It’s not going to be the x% that the four taking over has benefited but this seems pretty fair to me?

I certainly wouldn't want to lose anymore managers that's for sure... 

Tom made a good solution last night in the group chat. The teams could opt to keep there current cash till EOS where they would be taxed so they could improve there clubs and invest in youth til then and then prepare for the tax bill from there current value. 

I for one am happy to be taxed this turn. 

However for the people who arnt I can understand.. 2 things that have crossed my mind, that money at real and Barcelona has been in the game before the managers took over and therefore had been generated by Iain and Matt and if they were still with us they could of spent that  mney... 

Secondly I believe this has been the case in previous manager take overs... such as Andy at Schalke who in his first couple of weeks bought Suarez and Walcott for a lot of cash. Who with Suarez leading Schalke to a lot of success. 

Catch 22. The money isn' being hoarded by real or Barcelona and is being used like icardi 150milllion etc. And in turn is allowing them to move players on in loan deals and swaps that otherwise would be kept and improving the transfer market

Thank you to all those managers who have voiced their opinions, it's always nice to know what people are thinking before taking a big decision.

So I've looked at the numbers and checked the transfers and decided that I wont be spreading the pain to other clubs by undoing transfers, but I will be treating this situation exactly the same as my bank once treated me after they had paid £500 into my joint bank account that wasn't mine or my wife's. Just after my wife spent the money on a new hat they just took the money back, which put the account into unauthorised overdrawn status and they then started charging me interest cos I'd gone beyond the agreed overdraft. So I will be doing the same to correct my mistake and control the damage.

Watford will have £127m removed from their opening bank balance this week. That consists of the £202m extra less an allowance of £75 for the sale of Rooney the week Phil took over.

Barcelona will have £383m removed from their opening bank balance this week. That will put Adam over £200m in debt and the system will automatically sack him. Not a very auspicious experience for our newest community member. Once the system has sacked him I am going to appoint him as the new manager and the system will reset Barcelona's opening balance to £5m. I am then going to return the £40 credit he had previously sent me. This will effectively allow him to continue with his original cash investment with the team he is currently building. However he may choose not to continue in which case I will return his £40 credit with my apologies.

Inter Milan will have £6m removed from their opening bank balance this week.

What will Real look like Paul?

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Thank you to all those managers who have voiced their opinions, it's always nice to know what people are thinking before taking a big decision.

So I've looked at the numbers and checked the transfers and decided that I wont be spreading the pain to other clubs by undoing transfers, but I will be treating this situation exactly the same as my bank once treated me after they had paid £500 into my joint bank account that wasn't mine or my wife's. Just after my wife spent the money on a new hat they just took the money back, which put the account into unauthorised overdrawn status and they then started charging me interest cos I'd gone beyond the agreed overdraft. So I will be doing the same to correct my mistake and control the damage.

Watford will have £127m removed from their opening bank balance this week. That consists of the £202m extra less an allowance of £75 for the sale of Rooney the week Phil took over.

Barcelona will have £383m removed from their opening bank balance this week. That will put Adam over £200m in debt and the system will automatically sack him. Not a very auspicious experience for our newest community member. Once the system has sacked him I am going to appoint him as the new manager and the system will reset Barcelona's opening balance to £5m. I am then going to return the £40 credit he had previously sent me. This will effectively allow him to continue with his original cash investment with the team he is currently building. However he may choose not to continue in which case I will return his £40 credit with my apologies.

Inter Milan will have £6m removed from their opening bank balance this week.

Hi Paul,

I don't mind either way here but could I offer a suggestion here (without prejudice).

Given that 3 out of the four managers who this affects have suggested that they wouldn't have made the deals/moved clubs they would have (if they had known the situation as it stands) I think its challenging to suddenly remove their funds - leaving them with some players who they wouldn't have signed etc. Given three of them have suggested going back to previous teams/amending deals wondering whether this might be a better scenario here than removing cash?

As I said, think you do a great job here on this game and feel free to ignore the above - just my thoughts here and not trying to cause any issues here.

Thanks

Ben

Real Madrid will have £180m removed from their opening bank balance this week. This will put them £80m in debt and the system will automatically sack Rob and I then appoint him as the new manager with the normal £5m opening balance and his current squad.

Now at this point things get complicated...

option one = Ollie stays at Inter & Rob stays at Real Madrid and continue their team building with less money.

option two = Ollie moves back to Feyenoord, Rob moves back to Inter and my very good friend Joey who is desperate to takeover at Real Madrid gets what he wants too and I move him from Feyenoord to Real Madrid.

option three = Ollie gets another well deserved promotion and takes over at Real leaving Inter free for Rob.

Joey has agreed to leave Feyenoord and takeover at either Real or Inter and that will depend on the Rob and Ollie decision. Note: if Rob and Ollie move back to their old clubs I will reinstate the bank balance to the amount they were when they left.

Feel free to continue the discussion but this seems the cleanest way of giving everybody what they want after my mistake. Thanks guys.