Help!
 

Hi everyone,

Just wondering if anybody could offer any advise on what to do with my squad in terms of nets and starting XI etc.
Really any advice is more than welcome.

Well... This is my squad in descending BT Rating...

Zesh Hendrik - 18 yo, BT Rating=16,879
RH Batsman, LM Bowler. He is an attacking player with woeful leadership skills and woeful experience.
He currently has competent batting form, superb bowling form and fair fitness.
Stamina: mediocre Wicket Keeping: competent
Batting: proficient Concentration: respectable
Bowling: abysmal Consistency: proficient
Fielding: mediocre

Martin Ocarroll - 18 yo, BT Rating=12,854
RH Batsman, RH Spin Bowler. He is an attacking player with abysmal leadership skills and woeful experience.
He currently has superb batting form, superb bowling form and drained fitness.
Stamina: feeble Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: strong Concentration: feeble
Bowling: respectable Consistency: feeble
Fielding: mediocre

Jason Sekani - 31 yo, BT Rating=7,705
RH Batsman, RF Bowler. He is a destructive player with woeful leadership skills and competent experience.
He currently has strong batting form, superb bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: competent Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: woeful Concentration: mediocre
Bowling: mediocre Consistency: competent
Fielding: mediocre

Jordan Shearer - 31 yo, BT Rating=7,694
RH Batsman, RFM Bowler. He is a steady player with worthless leadership skills and competent experience.
He currently has proficient batting form, superb bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: mediocre Wicket Keeping: competent
Batting: mediocre Concentration: competent
Bowling: worthless Consistency: feeble
Fielding: feeble

Franky Mckagen - 22 yo, BT Rating=7,339
RH Batsman, RM Bowler. He is a destructive player with respectable leadership skills and woeful experience.
He currently has competent batting form, woeful bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: woeful Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: competent Concentration: respectable
Bowling: abysmal Consistency: feeble
Fielding: respectable

Robin Gibb - 18 yo, BT Rating=6,687
RH Batsman, RM Bowler. He is a cautious player with feeble leadership skills and abysmal experience.
He currently has strong batting form, strong bowling form and lively fitness.
Stamina: woeful Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: worthless Concentration: abysmal
Bowling: competent Consistency: competent
Fielding: respectable

Michael Durno - 31 yo, BT Rating=5,713
RH Batsman, RFM Bowler. He is a steady player with respectable leadership skills and respectable experience.
He currently has superb batting form, woeful bowling form and invigorated fitness.
Stamina: mediocre Wicket Keeping: mediocre
Batting: abysmal Concentration: feeble
Bowling: mediocre Consistency: competent
Fielding: feeble

Azgar Salam - 21 yo, BT Rating=5,177
LH Batsman, LFM Bowler. He is an attacking player with abysmal leadership skills and woeful experience.
He currently has superb batting form, proficient bowling form and lively fitness.
Stamina: abysmal Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: proficient Concentration: feeble
Bowling: worthless Consistency: abysmal
Fielding: feeble

Kumara Abeywickreme - 19 yo, BT Rating=5,058
RH Batsman, RFM Bowler. He is an attacking player with respectable leadership skills and abysmal experience.
He currently has feeble batting form, feeble bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: worthless Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: abysmal Concentration: worthless
Bowling: strong Consistency: woeful
Fielding: abysmal

Colin Hansen - 31 yo, BT Rating=4,948
RH Batsman, RFM Bowler. He is a destructive player with woeful leadership skills and feeble experience.
He currently has proficient batting form, superb bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: mediocre Wicket Keeping: mediocre
Batting: mediocre Concentration: mediocre
Bowling: abysmal Consistency: woeful
Fielding: feeble

Ron Briscoe - 31 yo, BT Rating=4,887
RH Batsman, RF Bowler. He is a defensive player with proficient leadership skills and competent experience.
He currently has worthless batting form, respectable bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: mediocre Wicket Keeping: mediocre
Batting: mediocre Concentration: mediocre
Bowling: abysmal Consistency: feeble
Fielding: mediocre

Fred Emerton - 31 yo, BT Rating=4,327
RH Batsman, RM Bowler. He is a destructive player with strong leadership skills and feeble experience.
He currently has strong batting form, superb bowling form and invigorated fitness.
Stamina: mediocre Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: abysmal Concentration: woeful
Bowling: mediocre Consistency: mediocre
Fielding: woeful

James Stearman - 31 yo, BT Rating=3,934
RH Batsman, RFM Bowler. He is a defensive player with strong leadership skills and competent experience.
He currently has superb batting form, competent bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: mediocre Wicket Keeping: abysmal
Batting: mediocre Concentration: mediocre
Bowling: abysmal Consistency: woeful
Fielding: feeble

Daren Chavhanga - 31 yo, BT Rating=3,821
RH Batsman, RFM Bowler. He is a defensive player with worthless leadership skills and respectable experience.
He currently has competent batting form, proficient bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: mediocre Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: abysmal Concentration: feeble
Bowling: mediocre Consistency: mediocre
Fielding: woeful

Darrell Abrahams - 18 yo, BT Rating=3,707
RH Batsman, RH Spin Bowler. He is a destructive player with strong leadership skills and abysmal experience.
He currently has proficient batting form, worthless bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: mediocre Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: abysmal Concentration: abysmal
Bowling: competent Consistency: mediocre
Fielding: feeble

Glen Mcintyre - 22 yo, BT Rating=3,658
RH Batsman, RH Spin Bowler. He is a destructive player with feeble leadership skills and abysmal experience.
He currently has worthless batting form, worthless bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: worthless Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: woeful Concentration: mediocre
Bowling: abysmal Consistency: competent
Fielding: competent

Martin Beesley - 18 yo, BT Rating=2,492
RH Batsman, RM Bowler. He is a cautious player with mediocre leadership skills and abysmal experience.
He currently has superb batting form, superb bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: abysmal Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: competent Concentration: woeful
Bowling: worthless Consistency: feeble
Fielding: woeful

Nigel Alexander - 17 yo, BT Rating=1,962
RH Batsman, RM Bowler. He is a destructive player with competent leadership skills and worthless experience.
He currently has abysmal batting form, abysmal bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: feeble Wicket Keeping: abysmal
Batting: abysmal Concentration: abysmal
Bowling: mediocre Consistency: mediocre
Fielding: woeful


Thanks In Advance

Okay, first question. How much cash do you have?

'Cos you're going to need it!

Buy / Train / Sell

Going through your players, these are my notes:

(nets in brackets aren't urgent, but will be needed one day)

Hendrik
1 WK
1 bat
(1 stam)

O'Carroll
1 bowl
1 bat
1 field
(1 stam)

Gibb
1 bowl
(1 stam)

Abrahams
1 bowl
(1 field)

Salam
Sell if you can get a decent price.
He'll never amount to much with that stamina.
If he had better stamina, I'd train his conc. As it is, it's not worth it.

Abeywickreme
As with Salam.
Some fool would be willing to take a punt on him.

Shearer
Not worth selling, and will give Hendrik a rest for lesser games.

Beesley
Also not worth selling -- won't get anything for a comp/woeful batsman. Don't bother training him, though, as it'd take too long to get that stamina up.

You have A LOT of 31yo mediocres. How on Earth have you managed to get that many?!

So, you've got some red herrings who are worth selling. With the money you get, you should be able to get some competents to replace those mediocres. You might be tempted to train them up a level or two in secondary/stamina first, but it's just not worth it at those skill levels.

If you sell Abeywickreme, you'll need to get a replacement FM or F bowler. You could do with another anyway, so one of each type should be top of your shopping list.

Assuming you've already got your nets set out as I've described above, you'll have a decent training structure -- two bats and three bowlers, which is just what you need. Give them a couple of seasons and they'll mature nicely.

Consider sticking to just the three trainees, and sharing two stamina nets plus one fielding between them. I don't think it's worth trying to train a fourth player when your main trainees have such low stamina, and neither is it worth double-netting. Not until you can afford better trainees, anyway.

Starting XI

These are your better batsmen, in no particular order:

And the same for bowlers:

Asterisks indicate trainees. I've ignored all your mediocre fillers -- just use them to fill the gaps.

Not too bad really, but you'll need to replace Salam and Abeywickreme if you sell them.

Summary

Stick to your three trainees. Sell two red herrings. You'll need to replace them with at least one bowler and one batsman, with another bowler to follow.

Hope that helps.

Cash = £126k

Cheers for all the advice, The training system I had implemented was

Hendrik = Battin x2, Keeping, Stamina
O'Carroll = Batting, Bowling, Fielding
Gibb = Bowling x2
Beesley = Batting

As you can see I didn't have the best idea what to do,
As for all of the 31 yr old Mediocre's... I have no idea as I didn't sign a single one of them!

I now have :

Hendrik = Bat, Keeping, Stamina
Ocarroll = Bat, Bowl, Fielding, Stamina
Abrahams = Bowling, Fielding
Gibb = Bowling

Should I hold onto Salam and Abeywickreme until I have purchased a replacement or whack them on the TM now?

£126k, huh? Doesn't give you much to spend, unfortunately. Are you making a fortnightly profit?

On second thoughts, you might be able to do better for a trainee than Abrahams. He's 18yo and only competent/mediocre/mediocre (bowling/cons/stamina), and you've already got a better trainee spinner anyway.

You should see what you can pick up for £50-70k -- with a bit of luck, either something like a 17yo comp/comp/med F or FM, or an 18yo resp/comp/med. I could be wrong though, as it's been quite a while since I trawled the market for that sort of player.

Salam and Abey. That's a good question. How's your season going? If you're in no danger of promotion or relegation, stick them on the market at a good price (for you!) and see if they sell. If you need them (esp. Abey), do 'em one at a time, or just wait.

Training I can help with, but I'm not very good with the transfer market, so someone else might be able to give you much better advice.

Cheers,
I'd like to think i'm in with a shot at promotion....
In my current match I played Durno ahead of Abey... Bad decision??
I have my eye on a few players on the TM.. see how it goes.
I'm just about breaking even fortnightly....

Nah, I think it's probably the right thing to do. You're trading Strong bowling (and nothing else) against Mediocre but with alright cons, stam and Respectable experience. Meh.

BTW, I've had a quick look at the transfer market and it seems that 17/18yo Comp/Comps (with alright stamina) are going for under £20k each. I think that should be your base level for trainees or fillers (although, for fillers, try for older players with some exp).

Zesh Hendrik - 18 yo, BT Rating=18,265
RH Batsman, LM Bowler. He is an attacking player with woeful leadership skills and woeful experience.
He currently has competent batting form, superb bowling form and fresh fitness.
Stamina: competent Wicket Keeping: respectable
Batting: proficient Concentration: respectable
Bowling: abysmal Consistency: strong
Fielding: mediocre

Martin Ocarroll - 18 yo, BT Rating=14,280
RH Batsman, RH Spin Bowler. He is an attacking player with abysmal leadership skills and woeful experience.
He currently has superb batting form, superb bowling form and low fitness.
Stamina: mediocre Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: strong Concentration: feeble
Bowling: respectable Consistency: feeble
Fielding: competent

Allahbukhsh Adeel - 17 yo, BT Rating=10,752
RH Batsman, RH Spin Bowler. He is a defensive player with competent leadership skills and abysmal experience.
He currently has superb batting form, superb bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: respectable Wicket Keeping: respectable
Batting: worthless Concentration: worthless
Bowling: competent Consistency: mediocre
Fielding: abysmal

Robin Gibb - 18 yo, BT Rating=6,980
RH Batsman, RM Bowler. He is a cautious player with feeble leadership skills and abysmal experience.
He currently has strong batting form, strong bowling form and fresh fitness.
Stamina: woeful Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: worthless Concentration: abysmal
Bowling: competent Consistency: competent
Fielding: respectable

Robyn Doyley - 17 yo, BT Rating=5,190
LH Batsman, LH Spin Bowler. He is a steady player with abysmal leadership skills and abysmal experience.
He currently has competent batting form, strong bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: mediocre Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: competent Concentration: mediocre
Bowling: abysmal Consistency: competent
Fielding: worthless

Darrell Abrahams - 18 yo, BT Rating=4,240
RH Batsman, RH Spin Bowler. He is a destructive player with strong leadership skills and abysmal experience.
He currently has strong batting form, worthless bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: mediocre Wicket Keeping: worthless
Batting: abysmal Concentration: woeful
Bowling: competent Consistency: competent
Fielding: mediocre

Bharadwaj Chanda - 17 yo, BT Rating=2,485
RH Batsman, RM Bowler. He is a cautious player with woeful leadership skills and worthless experience.
He currently has worthless batting form, worthless bowling form and sublime fitness.
Stamina: mediocre Wicket Keeping: woeful
Batting: competent Concentration: mediocre
Bowling: worthless Consistency: worthless
Fielding: worthless

What nets???

Computer says no.

Didn't realise it was such an issue giving someone a hand to help them on their way.

Heh, a bit harsh, but perhaps justified 8-)

Marcus, it'd be nice to give us your thoughts so we can tear them to shreds properly :ph34r:

It's Friday afternoon though, and I'm bored at work. Here are my notes...

Hendrik
Very nice. Should be at the core of your team for years.
WK, bat, fld, (stm)

O'Carroll
Also nice, should make the #5 slot his own.
bwl, bat, fld, stm

Adeel
Not worth training as a 'keeper.
Won't ever be great, but will make a decent change bowler.
If you're keeping him long term, his cons will catch up eventually.
bwl

Gibb
Worse than Adeel, but definitely worth training.
bwl, (stm)

Abrahams
See Gibb. Stamina can wait, though.
bwl

Doyley
Stick a long term batting net on him and he'll make a tasty 20yo.
Stamina can wait.
bat

Chanda
Must be very low competent batting with that BTR.
Wouldn't be too far behind Doyley, but behind nonetheless.
bat


Hendrik and O'Carroll are good enough to be your main trainees for the next few seasons. Don't be tempted to compromise on them, as you'd lose out on two potentially VERY nice players.

So that leaves too few nets and too many youngsters. Decide which you want to keep, and flog the rest. If you think any are reasonably close to popping, take 'em up a level then sell. Could make a decent bit of cash.

Thanks...
I'll whack those nets on the designated players....
I'll only ask if i'm in a real crisis.
It's just I didn't know where to turn with all those players lol!
See how we go this season :)

I got smashed by a team I'd previously beaten earlier this season....
How important is player fitness?

VERY. I think some people reckon on 1 level of PFL equating to 10% of a player's skills.

Morale is important too -- that's often why some teams have a late season slump after a few defeats, while others come from nowhere with a few mid-season wins and start winning games.