Subject: Training

How is everyone's training going?

Mine seems decent except 1 guy. The only Welsh outfield trainee i have, Daniel Rigden. Seems clear that he doesn't have great talent.... not sure what to do with him, as he might still be viable for the U21s just due to the lack of players.... so my head says to get rid of him, but my heart says to stick with him!

I should have known he'd be dodgy when i bought him from Pheonix! ;)

It's been going ok this season - generally I've tried to give my trainees more games, plus a few games where I haven't done my team! Dumont's injury this week was a real pain as he's one of my best trainees and to lose a month's worth of training on him is pretty brutal but that's the game isn't it.

On the Welsh front, Cesterfield who I bought off you is coming along well - I'll have to give him some tech training but as an 18 year old striker he's not bad at all. He certainly plays well above his stats, keeps up with Lambert on the domestic scoring front.

Hoping to add a few more higher quality trainees at the end of this season and ideally some more Welsh ones! I've got Brewer up for sale at the moment who's not great, thinking of bringing back Trotter who's also ex academy for me but not really much between them. Adrian Rees will likely be sold end of this season, and Ryan Penn is coming along well as a jack of all trades but not sure he'll ever develop into a speciality quick enough for the U21s. Finally got some juniors coming through over the next few weeks, including a 16yo who comes out at 17 in Week 1 next season who might be worth something. Currently at good so we'll see how he develops.

As for Rigden, he was fine when I had him, I can't accept any of the blame for your coaching! ;)

As for Rigden, he was fine when I had him, I can't accept any of the blame for your coaching! ;)

Fair point! :D

I'd like to get more Welsh trainees. It's just hard to get decent ones... managing the U21s has highlighted to me how few players we have compared to other nations.

This is my academy at the moment - going to try not to sack youth products wherever possible and at least keep people for training, even if they're not U21 starting quality. For now and while injuries are in play for NT games, it's partly a volume game isn't it.

Training juniors Age Skill level Formation Weeks
Edward Piper 16 poor [3] outfield 1
Andy Stead 18 excellent [10] outfield 3
Brian Hough 16 good [7] outfield 4
James Borrowman 18 very good [9] outfield 5
Vaughn Bowen 16 average [5] outfield 5
Shaun Oster 18 good [7] outfield 9
Matt Claridge 19 outstanding [12] outfield 10
Neil Thompson 17 good [7] outfield 12
Adam Power 19 good [7] GK 13
Ollie West 16 good [7] outfield 14
Bleddyn Bluck 17 average [5] outfield 15
Pugh Cowley 16 average [5] outfield 19
Mark Buckeridge 18 very good [9] outfield 20

Oster and Power are in there for a numbers game for the Junior league more than anything else, although they could go this week tbh without a fixture.
(edited)

Junior team, 13 juniors
Main team Junior team
Training juniors Age Skill level Formation Weeks
Sion Batchelor 16 solid [8] outfield 1
Dylan Orphan 17 adequate [6] GK 4
Matt Hough 18 formidable [11] outfield 5
Dean McCarthy 17 good [7] outfield 5
Alun Watkins 17 solid [8] GK 5
Gwyn Hunter 17 adequate [6] GK 7
Neil Joins 17 good [7] outfield 14
Del Fryer 16 unsatisfactory [2] outfield 15
Morgan Pearse 16 adequate [6] outfield 15
Thomas Meaker 16 good [7] outfield 26
Alun Phelps 16 weak [4] outfield 28
Ollie Mosley 17 adequate [6] outfield 28
David McCarthy 17 adequate [6] outfield 30

That is my lot. Never seem to get high levels or good talents tbh. Most just get fired after a while as they just don't seem worth the spot in the academy...

What's your junior coach rated?

Level 14. I don't think i can really afford level 16 yet.... i have been close to ditching academy a lot of times, as i've spent a lot more than i get back.

Likewise it's been a huge net loss for me so far but in this league at least there's a bit of a ceiling on what that extra money would get me during the league, so I see it as a bit of a necessary expense! I've got up to a level 15 coach for it this season but the cost of getting a level 16 one is so much that I don't see that happening for a long time.

Another double pop for Cesterfield today in stamina and passing. Anyone got any tips on him - he’s currently training pace and has been all season. His tech is still very low at the moment so I want to get that trained up to make him better all round, but the older he gets the slower his pace will increase. Any thoughts on when I should move him over to tech for a bit to train that up? Huw Lambert for reference below as one of our starting U21 strikers in my team - his training has never been as good as Cesterfield as my coaches have slowly improved through the year. Cheers!

Roderick Cesterfield, age: 18
club: HDFC Phoenix, country: Cymru
value : 65 100 £
wage: 510 £
superdivine [18] form
excellent [10] tactical discipline
height: 176 cm, weight: 76.6 kg, BMI: 24.73
bookings:
average [5] stamina tragic [0] keeper
very good [9] pace unsatisfactory [2] defender
unsatisfactory [2] technique poor [3] playmaker
solid [8] passing solid [8] striker

Huw Lambert, age: 21
club: HDFC Phoenix, country: Cymru
value : 126 150 £
wage: 1 230 £
very good [9] form
outstanding [12] tactical discipline
height: 172 cm, weight: 72.4 kg, BMI: 24.47

good [7] stamina tragic [0] keeper
formidable [11] pace good [7] defender
solid [8] technique adequate [6] playmaker
very good [9] passing solid [8] striker

Another double pop for Cesterfield today in stamina and passing. Anyone got any tips on him - he’s currently training pace and has been all season. His tech is still very low at the moment so I want to get that trained up to make him better all round, but the older he gets the slower his pace will increase. Any thoughts on when I should move him over to tech for a bit to train that up? Huw Lambert for reference below as one of our starting U21 strikers in my team - his training has never been as good as Cesterfield as my coaches have slowly improved through the year. Cheers!

Roderick Cesterfield, age: 18
club: HDFC Phoenix, country: Cymru
value : 65 100 £
wage: 510 £
superdivine [18] form
excellent [10] tactical discipline
height: 176 cm, weight: 76.6 kg, BMI: 24.73
bookings:
average [5] stamina tragic [0] keeper
very good [9] pace unsatisfactory [2] defender
unsatisfactory [2] technique poor [3] playmaker
solid [8] passing solid [8] striker

Huw Lambert, age: 21
club: HDFC Phoenix, country: Cymru
value : 126 150 £
wage: 1 230 £
very good [9] form
outstanding [12] tactical discipline
height: 172 cm, weight: 72.4 kg, BMI: 24.47

good [7] stamina tragic [0] keeper
formidable [11] pace good [7] defender
solid [8] technique adequate [6] playmaker
very good [9] passing solid [8] striker

needs tech, yes as he gets older it gets slower but he turns 19, which is still fast, but low tech he won’t be good for any pos you have planned, looks like a striker, his tech will pop fast at first if talent is ok, every 3 weeks, maybe 2 since it’s a low start. remember nothing wrong with training people until they’re 25/26 if you have the time and space, you could train pace sure, but if he doesn’t get good side pops you have a player who has the heaviest first touch while dribbling at high speeds.

needs tech, yes as he gets older it gets slower but he turns 19, which is still fast, but low tech he won’t be good for any pos you have planned, looks like a striker, his tech will pop fast at first if talent is ok, every 3 weeks, maybe 2 since it’s a low start. remember nothing wrong with training people until they’re 25/26 if you have the time and space, you could train pace sure, but if he doesn’t get good side pops you have a player who has the heaviest first touch while dribbling at high speeds.

personally i wouldn’t keep that many gks in, for one gks can be kept around for a long time and you can realistically only train 2 at a time. plus half decent gks are cheap on the TL compared to other positions, so keeping 1 or 2 gks are fine, if they have good talent then i’d keep them in for now but for future id still to 1-2 spots for gks at most

i mean technically 2 at a time but i wouldn’t give 2 spots to gks in advanced unless i had no other talent.

these days i don’t keep many players at 30+ weeks, especially if they’re 17 or 18, or unless their expected skill is 15+, no point in waiting over 2 seasons for a 20, 21 year old with mediocre SUM, obviously the RNG every week where you can get 1 youth or 5 is frustrating but this game just takes time unless you get lucky.