Compatibility alignment

A conveyor team in action.

A while back I started doing a screencap of my teams at the end of each season so I had a record of their DV to refer to. This proved quite interesting for the purpose of seeing the team develop over time and how the conveyor worked.

Here is the diary of how Hungarian Cheese progressed from a mid ranked team in Club 24 to becoming double champions.

Season 42

Hungarian Cheese as they were known had taken a LONG time to develop. I started with a pretty rubbish side and a big problem of a conveyor is getting it going when you don't have older players. From seasons 35-40 I sat stuck in D4. I was promoted to D3 in S40 but got stuck the next season. Season 42 was nothing special and I finished 4th on 14 points. 

At this stage I had some legacy mistakes in the team design with a few too many players around the same age. 5 mids aged between 25-30 and a big gap in defence.

Season 42

Season 43

In earlier seasons I'd made VERY good money from farming forwards and had been buying 20/9, 21/10 type players - and as i had money to burn I had bought too many hence the age cluster. That money had started to dry up and I noticed it first in one of my other teams that was affected worse. The net effect was I had to buy younger players and there was this big toothy gap in defence. HC had got away with in defence but a new approach to buying youths was needed.

No more Galacticos, I was going to go with cheapo 17/4s from now. Problem was they had to be hard trainers and HT can send player prices rocketing so plan B was buy 17/3s with HT and some SQs.

Season 43 saw a double jump for Caterall and the acquisition of a lowly 17/3 mid Goolsjenks. I think the division was a bit weaker this season and the team had matured a little bit and I came top with 22 points.

Season 43

Season 44

Double Jumps for key youths Isma and Caterall. I sold defender Skleptic and mid Elliot to help sort the age issues. in hindsight Stowell might have been a better sale in defence. An amazing season for HC as I powered to a perfect 10-0-0 record and only conceded 1 goal - this is fun :)

I bought a stopgap keeper. My keeper Alegre was getting old and i had cash so I started looking for a new keeper and wanted flexibility to sell him when I wanted to.

Season 44

Season 45

During S44 Caterall in mid had got 2 injuries and that caused him to miss his jump this season. New 17/4 defender Soares and a disappointing 2nd single jump for Goolsjenks who is starting to look a bit shabby. He did start VERY low in his band when I bought him, just a 2.7.

Another fabulous season, 7 wins 3 draws and top spot again - promoting me to the top division. I could get used to this and it seems bizarre that I had been struggling so much in recent seasons.

Season 45

Season 46

A fabulous 19 DV in S45 gave Soares a DJ. Finally a DJ for Goolsjenks. Caterall DJed as well to regain the bar he lost.

Alegre had been great in not retiring but had already lost a bar and I was having average age problems with defence. Despite all the money in the world I was struggling to find a decent keeper who was compatible and ended up with a 26/13 for my 1st season in the top flight.

I had to be careful with my keepers as Boland needed as much DV as possible but he was weak for the top division and no heart. He was a Diva which helps but slightly off compatibility. In the end I played Alegre in 2 games where FKs could be a factor and Boland in the other 8.

I tried listing Alegre twice. He was valued at 9m and I listed him at 5 then 3.5 and he didn't sell. I guess I could have started lower but it was nice having a backup keeper in my first season at the top.

As a rule I don't train keepers up - it is too much of a liability for a team that is trying to compete so I look to get cash from elsewhere to buy in ready made keepers.

Brilliant first season in the top - I won the first 5 games and ended with a 8-1-1 record, 25 points and the title. Woohoo. 27 goals for, 5 against.

Season 46

Season 47

A 2nd DJ for Isma. I had bought him in S41, just before this post starts, as a 17/4. By S47 he's a 23/12 and I'm definitely happy with that. Alegre decides to retire. In comes a new conveyor mid Gommans.

Another great season and once again I won the first 5 games but the second half of the season wasn't so good and I ended up with an undefeated 6-4-0 record and 15-3 on goals. My 2nd title in C24 - only the 4th team to retain the title in 47 seasons.

I generally sell players when they get to 34 and midfield star Arjona has to go - and after he went the team seemed significantly weaker. That's my excuse for the 2nd half of the season and poor goals tally. Stunning performance in goal by Boland who conceded a mere 3 goals.

Season 47

Season 48

A DJ for Gommans and 2nd DJ for Goolsjenks makes him a very tasty looking 22/10. Boland also gains a bar but at 28/14 is still the weakest keeper in the division. Stowell in defence decides to retire - at 34 he would have been sold mid season but it costs me around 4-5m lost income. This will be the 3rd big name to leave since I reached the top flight

Another problem is my defence which is looking a bit old and im getting average age issues in defence again. With Stowell leaving it just means the youngsters can get more games. The season ended shortly after the transfer markets merged and prices of HTs went through the roof. I was keen to get an allrounder or freekicker as Gilmore will be leaving soon and after being outbid on a few players I end up with tusken a 17/3 allrounder for 60k. Not ideal but I figure prices will fall and I might replace him next season.

This is the stage where it gets hard for players like Goolsjenks who is now 6th on the roster of mids but needs more than a couple of games. I pretty much have to juggle the bottom 3 to get enough games but there is very little scope for picking up DV if the AF ends up bad - which is typically how it went.

On the playing side things started amazingly, and I did definitely get the luck. I won the first 7 games and after game 5 started playing the kids more as I had a nice cushion. I needed a draw on week 8 for the title and that's what I got so 2 free games of pure DV :)

Season 49

A lot of oldies gained a bar and I got doubles for forward AAK and Gommans my youth mid. Gilmore gains a bar but decides to retire this season which is something of a killer blow as it will leave me with no FKer. I feel I've been unlucky with retirements recently.

I have money to buy a FKer if one should come up but not sure I could find a place in the team and he would need be 16+ skill. S51 I will likely need an oldie defender so do it then. Long term Goolsjenks will be ok but I need time with him and a proper FKer as a youth - bad planning :(

I end up buying Gilmore a 17/3 FKer for 3m which means Tusken gets to rot. 

On the playing side it's not great and I end up finishing 4th. Tough competition but the team is pretty much in good shape for the future and DV was great this season.

Season 50

Double for Gilmore is nice and Soares manages the same. Penney the forward doubles too, so the 2 forwards leave for a combined 15m. Veteran mid Balinger drops a bar and another "early" retirement with Wareing. I decide to go crazy and pay way too much (8.2m) for a 17/4 mid with heading. Midway through the season I decide to offload Ballinger. 

As there's a cup I buy an extra farm in defence - then goout first round. 2nd game of the season I lost due to a keeper injury. Decent home form but heavy defeats to the 2 other strong sides pretty much sealed it. 3rd place and use the run in for DV - some decent figures again. The squad is starting to look a litttle thin now as the conveyor only started properly about 8 seasons ago (Caterall onwards) so I have a 7 year gap in defence and Cooke in mid never really developed properly.

Season 51

Season 52

After around season 50 I pretty much stopped playing serious and the team started to reflect this. S51/52 were just going through the motions and after that I stopped even collecting data (or logging in really). 

Over the course of 11 seasons the team was pretty strong, had good prospects and hadn't burnt into the cash to any great extent.