Copied and pasted from the season thread, I'd like more people to read and consider this now that I've done research on how the game has tanked our respective depths from managerial decisions and why we're now sitting ducks unless we pick more players. We're still only at the end of August report so it's not too late to turn back on season three. I'll publish the October report after we've come to a proper decision on this. It'd be such a shame if such a detailed and sophisticated draft came tumbling down due to in-game managers having the power to make dumb decisions by AI.
I'm very glad about the praise of the first two seasons and also find it to be a cracking format, but I took this on with the understanding that we'd be able to dominate world football from Scotland and if we can't, my motivation to do these reports decline rapidly. They take many hours of my time after all and for that I want to see what we do live up to expectations, no matter if it's mine or someone else's team taking the honours
When the clubs have had all their depth slashed by selling off anything in sight, it purely becomes like playing Yatzy what happens with the remaining 14 players and in fact not much about selection skill at all.
Ok if that is a big issue, I would open to redrafting more players. Maybe after this season? 14 is not big enough of a squad but I thought they would still have few decent-ish players leftover who can play odd cup games. Probably will have to discuss some issues around it though as certain teams were built to peak later, but if we re run the draft from say 2010-2015, those teams will never fully live to thier potential.
It's a tough call. I feel everyone have done a good job with the players they've picked but I've also found a lot of good players remaining in other clubs that then become stars going up against some nobody who hardly even was a regular even before these teams showed up.
I could go this season and then run six more like that with the points from this season included, but then again like you said it's difficult because some teams will peak later than others.
The problem then is twofold:
a) The European clubs will sweep up all the talent coming up and be back to near their best in five years time.b) Many of our drafted players will be 35 or older at that time and be spent forces, even those we picked who weren't in their 30's yet.
c) The depth we did have is being eroded season-by-season by managers selling what we had when we began. Therefore, with our current setup I believe it's curtains for all of us in Europe either way after season five and then that's definitely very disappointing. Already now Lampard is 33 and he's been the lifeblood of St. Mirren for two seasons.
Looking at Aberdeen, which is a team I know rather well because I played quite a bit with them,
they sold three players guaranteed in the XI already in the summer of 2009, their previous captain departed the summer after and then the vice-captain and talisman at the back didn't get a new contract in 2011. There have hardly been any replacements signed. I didn't calculate that those problems could show up and it's been a major disappointment to me.
One alternative would be to just do the seven seasons all over, just hand out 12-1 bonus points to teams and just push through with it now that I know how the game works in that regard.
It's been a very useful experiment but when managers sink our chances by deliberately dumping the depth elsewhere, there's only so much us as drafters can do with 14 men I'm afraid