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maybe a quick summary of our opponent's strengths and weaknesses in the continental tournament?
which teams are the best? which one will win the title? what are your goals for the upcoming season?

Summary of opponents: the first position in my staff I set already is for tactical analysis. I asked Lentigos, already with me in SA and Italy U21, to start immediately analysis. It is sure that Misr is superior, full stop. Further analysis will follow, however as usual I will not post detailed information in advance (in private, if interested) to avoid telling opponents what I have in mind. However, I will post some first hand forecast probably before or just after first match with Misr.

About my goals: I have two priorities. The first would be to enter second round, and, compared with previous mandate, I think that 5th place could be a good result (so not far from a bronze medal, so let me study the others and see if there is any chance).
The second and even more relevant chance is to develop the roster. I reviewed 145 players, and have not so many good news. It looks like that, after players falling into my ancient mandate, almost no player was well developed. A deeper analysis will follow soon (btw, looking for volunteers to ensure I am not missing players, in case drop me a note). It is crystal clear that the work of U21 coach is definitely critical, and will get in touch with my mate on U21 side to understand how to boost development of young players.
The good news here is that skills are not so far from good players trained for 5-6 seasons, so we could probably replace aging players by end of my mandate (hopefully). However, again, first let me set the roster, then we can work on development of future one.

congrads!

(20731378)
Weekly salary: $ 6 669
Age: 26
why is that player in NT? it's a joke?

not much to joke...

the only way to know the skills is to call and release ALL players at the beginning of the season. I did it for all the player drafted between S15 and S18 so far, all star or above (but some stars were checked). We'll check now 22y old (to be sure not to miss any) and backwards till S11. 80+ players are in the db, with minimal good news and player clearly deskilling fast (over 34...).

Good news: an all star prospect well trained for 3 seasons has chances to join the NT. Bad news: need to check U21 players, and of course such a player will hard take any gold medal in the world cup. But let me proceed a step after the other, first list of players, in progress.

Analysis is completed. Excluding players with 21 or less years (under U21 scope), I have 66 players in the (wide) selection list. 9 of them are 32+, risking (fast) deskilling. BBmails were sent to managers with instructions and questions, their responses will influence selection (I have to know if manager is reliable and players kept in good GS and possibly trained).

Players will be called Saturday evening or Sunday, just after TS reset deadline. So, expect ALL players to be de-flagged on Saturday: in fact, I have to keep as many slots open as possible, for any needed save in the future (too few players to handle). Somebody in my staff will care about potential free agents.

Roster is a bit worse than expected. Many players at top of list are 31+, coming straight from "my" generation. The good news are that all stars (perennials, if tall men) have chances to join NT if well trained: that means that new draftees could join NT in 3-4 seasons if fully trained. I will have to contact U21 coach, but first I needed to understand the scenario. For instance, Namuswa (on sale) could enter NT by two seasons (considering 10 pops in primaries and aged players deskilling).

A generic comment is that something curious happened in the past. I've never seen so many players with so high FT (9+ is quite common), nor so many players heavily trained in (secondary) 1v1 instead of primaries, kept low despite potential. Anyway, my staff and I are here to find how to improve. It will take some time, but I'm confident to accelerate.

Last edited by GM-BlackMouse at 3/14/2013 6:24:45 PM

I wish to anticipate you my first "wish list" of players. It is purposedly limited in number at this stage, reflecting who I'd call at this moment. For instance, an aged player with risk of deskilling in bad GS would be unlike to be called this week.

Guards
My picks here would be Schartner, Kadzamira, Mwathiwa, Kolane and new entry Tsie. If trained, Mokitimi and Sugiura are very likely to take starter spots by end of the season. A fully trained all star with good decimals in potential and reasonably good skills drafted now as 18 could become a challenger in something more than 3 seasons.

Tall men
List is quite obvious: Galvin, Motihala, Wagana, Mtolo, Wall (the only realistic SF). Here, young guys are at top of the list, while followers are Moonsamy (capped?) and U21 Namuswa, both very far away. My 20 years old La Vella would be in top 15 now, and would likely enter top 10 by end of this season.

I understand that these anticipated picks are subject to change. However, I wanted to share my first thoughts, capture any comment, stimulate a thinking about pushing training at full speed... and -why not- stimulate competition between managers

then you will pick only 10 players to start the season?
isn't it a too small list in case of injuries?
is TS dropped if adding players later?
or is it just when players are removed from the NT?
thanks ;)

Perpete prevented me, too quick

Yes, TS drop when releasing players. That is why I will not create a long list at the beginning: calling a player that you don't use and could get injured or in bad GS is just a risk of burning a precious slot, and we'll need a lot TS...

I decided to limit calls at this stage to only 9 players. No surprises among winners:

Schartner
Kadzamira
Mokitimi
Kolane
Wall
Motihala
Wagana
Mtolo
Galvin

The 10th I pre-selected, Dimi Tsie, is below 7 GS due to wrong minutes and was not selected at this round.

Apart of Wall, who presents unique profile and, despite deskilling, will stay among top players till end of this season, I have avoided to call 33+ aged subject to deskilling. They might be added later, but summing risks of injuries/GS with deskilling was too high unless specific assurance by manager. Several players are kept under observation, but manager cooperation is a crtiical success factor to call them. I hope that a couple of players could grow in hierarchy during the season, and expect needing to save others.

One note is about SA managers owning multiple players (Ebene, Gilgamesh...): I will contact you directly to discuss about your roster and training programs, as we have to look at them altogether.

I will try to keep them in good GS
Galvin should get some pops that season ;)