* England u21 candidate actually makes a speech shocker *
So, I suppose most people noticed I took a while to actually declare I was running for the job? I don't think I can/should get away with not mentioning it, so I'll bring it up first...
I have enjoyed the two seasons overall and think I've done a decent job on the results/tactics side of stuff, our ranking has gone from 54 when I took over to 35 now. In season 40 if games 2 and 3 went the other way (they were both v. close) there was a small chance of making the next stage that season...Obviously it's not all down to me, with the u21s you always need some luck with getting a good batch of players, and I've had some good players (and good trainers!) to work with. The odd flaw I've had to work around as well, but that's where the management part of it comes in?
It was almost a surprise to me that I didn't seem that keen to carry on, if the election wasn't a thing I'd be "yeah, I'm the u21 manager, it's cool, I'll keep doing ma thing..." but the fact you have to re-elect yourself does make you think about it a little at least. I failed last season on giving any match reports, I think I'm a bit poor at communication with other managers / being interested in it, I can't achieve any kind've grand plans by myself, and have failed at getting anyone else involved in 2 seasons!
...so here we are. Maybe it's just high standards - I don't want to be an average/solid manager, I wanted to do more than that y'kno? I was also happy to see what plans others might've had if they stood and would've been happy to be an assistant / backup if they didn't feel confident of doing it themselves at first. I messaged AJHG the other day to ask what his plan was but didn't get a reply (and we haven't had a speech), so I basically had to stand again?
I've done a bunch of scouting today and put up a post about last seasons squad in that thread, partly to re-connect (maybe I just needed a few days off?) and partly because I had to at least put something up about last season.
If I win I'll actually message all English managers about their current trainees / if they have interest in primarily training for the u21s (maybe with a 2nd team, no commitment to win there) in future. I've scouted all ages, but especially looking at the 20y olds and 21y old depth, I'm a bit scared about the future...Apparently you can't trust the majority to train the players worth training at all in some cases, never mind sensibly (even the HOF potentials) so it does need more of a plan and input from people who know what they're doing I think.
(and the BB training system limitation are an issue, I know...it's not 100% on the managers)
All a bit serious innit, it's just a game! Not even a real life “just a game” like football, it's just an online game...But it's one I like a lot and don't fully understand yet, so will keep messing around spending too much time here until I'm bored of it, and I'm pretty far from there...
So if I do win, does anyone wanna be a “scout”/formal assistant type to share the database with, message others about training plans, etc? Up for more than 1 person obviously, and we can do anything by committee if we agree that's the best way to go. Something like I'll do 19/21s, but leave 18s and 20s to others (but identify the 18s that should be being trained / kept an eye on, etc).
So yeah, let's abandon all hope of being good next year or the year after, focus on these 18/19s and the next draft and get 10+ of us decent trainers doin' a thiing. Maybe.
Tldr: Just vote for the reigning English cup winner? He's won an important game or two recently XD
Last edited by Bergkamp at 04/14/2018 14:05:47