Phoenix FC- a sign-up/experiment

***THE SIGN UP IS NOW COMPLETE***

We all know that Southampton are about to go bust. However, the origins of this financial doomsday scenario were laid in the 07/08 season when the club overspent massively and were reputedly loosing a million pounds a month. This asks what would have happened if Southampton went bust last summer.

In May 2008, just days after beating Sheffield United 3-2 to stay in the Championship, Southampton chairman Leon Crouch announced he could no longer sustain the losses the club was making. He put it into administration, hoping to find a buyer. After none came forward Barclays bank served a winding up order. The players and staff were all released, the stadium and training ground were sold to Portsmouth (who renamed St. Marys the Harry Redknapp arena. Ironic considering he left for Tottenham just two months after cutting the blue ribbon and reaffirming his undying allegiance to Portsmouth) and the name, crest, history and trophies were sold to a mysterious American millionaire looking to set up a football club in New England. In short it was the darkest day in the life of all Southampton fans.

But every cloud has a silver lining. On June 1st 2008 it was announced that a consortium of Southampton legends (namely Terry Paine, Mick Channon, Martin Chivers, Jason Dodd, Claus Lundekvam, John Sydenham, Francis Benali, Hugh Fisher, Glenn Cockerill and of course Matt Le Tissier) were setting up a new club for the people of Southampton. After intense negotiations, they failed to buy back the clubs name, so the new club was founded as Southampton Phoenix Football Club (or Phoenix FC for short). They play at Eastleigh's Silverlake stadium, and as they lack a decent training ground train on a local schools playing fields. They have been granted admission to the Blue-Square South.

Because all the players and staff were released, Phoenix FC had to start afresh. Some former Southampton favourites answered the call and returned to help its reincarnation succeed. They are:

Jermaine Wright- Player coach

Michael Svensson- Player Coach

Paul Telfer- Player Coach

Anders Svensson- Player Coach

Brett Ormerod- Player Coach

Antti Niemi- GK coach

Marian Pahars- Player/Assistant Manager

Chris Marsden- Manager

However, there are as yet no players. This is where you get involved. Phoenix FC are looking for 23 youngsters to fill their squad. To take part in the training day, everybody who's interested must fill out the following application form;

Name (realistic please):

Nationality:

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990):

Position:

Role Model:

Determination:

Natural Fitness:

Consistency:

Dirtiness:

Important Matches:

Injury Proneness:

Versatility:

Adaptability:

Ambition:

Controversy

Loyalty:

Pressure:

Professionalism:

Sportsmanship:

Temperament:

Favoured Personnel:

Disliked personnel:

Favoured Clubs:

Disliked Clubs:

Any player in the world can be your role model, and more than one person can choose each. Your player's stats will then be based on this players, apart from those listed above, which you will decide. You have 180 points to spend on these. Each point spent on dirtiness, injury proneness and controversy lowers it by one point from 20. When entering these please state the value you want the attribute to be in game NOT how many points you want to spend on it. This is true for the negative attributes (injury proneness, controversy and dirtyness) as well. e.g. if you want your player to have 4 for controversy, this would cost 16 points, but you would enter 4 on the form. If its easier for you I don't mind if you enter the points you want to spend on each attribute, just make it clear you are doing this. All players will start with CA 100 and PA 200, unless your date of birth makes you 17 at the start of the game, in which case you will be CA 120 and PA 200.

The goal of this experiment is to firstly find out how a club with the fanbase of Southampton, but a poor stadium and training facilities will fare starting at the bottom of the playable pyramid. As an added spice we have the created players, and all players produced at the academy will be edited to have a PA of 200. So this will also be about player development. This adds further intrigue to the story of Phoenix FC. How will they use these potential stars? Will they be sold and the money reinvested, or will they be retained and help Phoenix rise through the leagues.

Team Roster

GK 1- Andrew Jackson

GK 2- Damian Waymouth

GK 3- Coby Bowler

LB 1- Leonardo Di Gennaro

LB 2- Jeremy Kyle

CB 1- Chris Randall

CB 2- Claudiomir

CB 3- Saul Goode

CB 4- Luis Rodriguez

RB 1- Fred Brookes

RB 2- Jake Nash

LM 1- Alex Barkley

LM 2- Lukas Axelsson

CM 1- Gervase Smith

CM 2- Cristobal Blanco

CM 3- Liam Ferguson

CM 4- Terrance Johnson

RM 1- James Hulme

RM 2- Ben Daglish

CF 1- Kevin Japan

CF 2- Joe Tompkins

ST 1- Tom Hamilton

ST 2- Marcus Van Der Cook

PS, please go easy on me, its my first attempt at one of these.

Name (realistic please): Tom Hamilton

Nationality: Australian

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990): 20/09/1990

Position: ST

Role Model: Alan Shearer

Determination: 14

Natural Fitness: 14

Consistency: 14

Dirtiness: 20

Important Matches: 15

Injury Proneness: 10

Versatility: 14

Adaptability: 15

Ambition: 14

Controversy: 20

Loyalty: 14

Pressure: 14

Professionalism: 14

Sportsmanship: 14

Temperament: 14

Favoured Personnel: Peter Taylor, Lawrie Sanchez, Mike Williamson

Disliked personnel: Paul Lamber

Favoured Clubs: Wycombe Wanderers

Disliked Clubs: Colchester United, MK Dons

Attributes to come in a minute

Got to do my bit for my beloved Saints! (That line about the Harry Redknapp Arena physically hurt me... =P)

Name: Kevin Japan

Nationality: English

Date of Birth: 30/09/1990

Position: CF

Role Model: Michael Owen

Determination: 16

Natural Fitness: 13

Consistency: 15

Dirtiness: 7

Important Matches: 12

Injury Proneness: 5

Versatility: 5

Adaptability: 9

Ambition: 8

Controversy: 8

Loyalty: 16

Pressure: 16

Professionalism: 13

Sportsmanship: 6

Temperament: 10

Favoured Personnel: Michael Owen, Matt Le Tissier, Theo Walcott

Disliked personnel: Cristiano Ronaldo, Harry Redknapp, Glenn Hoddle

Favoured Clubs: Southampton Phoenix FC

Disliked Clubs: Portsmouth, Manchester United

Name: Marcus Van Der Cook

Nationality: Norwegian

Date of Birth: 14/07/1992

Position: ST

Role Model: Steven Gerrard

Determination: 16

Natural Fitness:15

Consistency:19

Dirtiness:1

Important Matches:18

Injury Proneness:1

Versatility:10

Adaptability:1

Ambition: 17

Controversy:1

Loyalty:12

Pressure:20

Professionalism:20

Sportsmanship:19

Temperament:10

Favoured Personnel:Steven Gerrard, Ledley King

Disliked personnel: Arsene Wenger, Emmanuel Adebayor

Favoured Clubs: Phoenix FC, Tottenham, Barcelona

Disliked Clubs: Arsenal

Oh, and I'm having CB 1

Name: Chris Randall

Nationality: English/Welsh

Date of Birth: 26/10/1992

Position: Centre Back

Role Model: Jan Paul Saeijs

Determination: 20

Natural Fitness:20

Consistency:12

Dirtiness:10

Important Matches:14

Injury Proneness:1

Versatility:0

Adaptability:0

Ambition:17

Controversy:20

Loyalty:20

Pressure:18

Professionalism:20

Sportsmanship:0

Temperament:10 (total=180)

Favoured Personnel:Gordon Strachan, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Svensson

Disliked personnel: Harry Redknapp

Favoured Clubs: Phoenix FC

Disliked Clubs: Portsmouth

Name (realistic please): Joe Tompkins

Nationality: English

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990): 16/04/1991

Position: CF

Role Model: Cesc Fabregas

Determination: 17

Natural Fitness: 12

Consistency: 14

Dirtiness: 5

Important Matches: 10

Injury Proneness:12

Versatility: 16

Adaptability: 16

Ambition: 10

Controversy 4

Loyalty: 8

Pressure: 7

Professionalism: 12

Sportsmanship:11

Temperament: 11

Favoured Personnel: Cesc Fabregas, Chris Marsden (is that cheating? )

Disliked personnel: Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo

Favoured Clubs: Arsenal

Disliked Clubs: Chelsea

It hurt me too Lardman, but it had to be done for comic effect

Name: Gervase Smith

Nationality: English/Irish

Date of Birth: 11/05/1991

Position: CM

Role Model: Richard Hughes

Determination: 20

Natural Fitness: 20

Consistency: 20

Dirtiness: 1

Important Matches: 20

Injury Proneness: 20

Versatility: 20

Adaptability: 20

Ambition: 20

Controversy: 1

Loyalty: 1

Pressure: 1

Professionalism: 1

Sportsmanship: 1

Temperament: 1

Favoured Personnel: Linvoy Primus

Disliked personnel: Matt LeTissier, Harry Redknapp, Chris Marsden

Favoured Clubs: Portsmouth

Disliked Clubs: Phoenix FC

Name (realistic please): Alex Barkley

Nationality: English

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990): 07/08/92

Position: ML

Role Model: Luis Figo

Determination: 15

Natural Fitness: 20

Consistency: 12

Dirtiness:10

Important Matches: 20

Injury Proneness: 1 (20-19)

Versatility: 5

Adaptability: 10

Ambition:10

Controversy: 16 (20-4)

Loyalty:10

Pressure: 15

Professionalism:10

Sportsmanship:10

Temperament: 10

Favoured Personnel:

Disliked personnel: Cristiano Ronaldo

Favoured Clubs: Newcastle United

Disliked Clubs: Sunderland

Chave, that one is gonna be interesting!

Name (realistic please): Cristobal Blanco

Nationality: Peruvian / English

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990): 05/01/1991

Position: MC

Role Model: Steven Gerrard

Determination:15

Natural Fitness: 15

Consistency: 20

Dirtiness: 15

Important Matches: 20

Injury Proneness: 1

Versatility: 10

Adaptability: 10

Ambition:10

Controversy: 14

Loyalty: 10

Pressure: 10

Professionalism: 10

Sportsmanship: 10

Temperament: 10

Favoured Personnel: Steven Gerrard, Matt Le Tissier, Antti Niemi

Disliked personnel: Cristiano Ronaldo

Favoured Clubs: Barnet, Liverpool, Southampton

Disliked Clubs: Man Utd, Chelsea

Chave, that one is gonna be interesting!

I'm trying to bring you down from within...

Name (realistic please): Andrew Jackson

Nationality: Trinidadian/English

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990): 13/05/1992

Position: GK

Role Model: Rogerio Ceni

Determination: 20

Natural Fitness: 8

Consistency: 8

Dirtiness: 13 (8 pts)

Important Matches: 8

Injury Proneness: 12 (9 pts)

Versatility: 1

Adaptability: 5

Ambition: 17

Controversy: 13 (8 pts)

Loyalty: 17

Pressure: 17

Professionalism: 20

Sportsmanship: 17

Temperament: 17

Favoured Personnel: Shay Given, Michael Owen, Terry Skiverton

Disliked personnel:

Favoured Clubs: Newcastle United, Leicester City, Yeovil Town

Disliked Clubs: Millwall, MK Dons, Leeds United

Name (realistic please): Damian Waymouth

Nationality: Welsh

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990): 16/04/1990

Position: GK

Role Model: Peter Cech

Determination: 17

Natural Fitness: 15

Consistency: 20

Dirtiness: 3

Important Matches: 18

Injury Proneness:13

Versatility: 10

Adaptability: 6

Ambition: 10

Controversy 4

Loyalty: 8

Pressure: 7

Professionalism: 12

Sportsmanship:11

Temperament: 11

Favoured Personnel: Peter Cech, Alan Smith, Kyle Walker

Disliked personnel: Nicky Butt, Cristiano Ronaldo

Favoured Clubs: Shefield United

Disliked Clubs: Scunthrope

Name (realistic please): Fred Brookes

Nationality: Northern Irish

Date of Birth 07/10/1990

Position: Right Back

Role Model: Luke Young

Determination: 16

Natural Fitness: 16

Consistency: 20

Dirtiness: 10 (20-10)

Important Matches: 20

Injury Proneness: 1 (20-19)

Versatility:5

Adaptability:10

Ambition: 4

Controversy 20 (20-0)

Loyalty: 4

Pressure: 20

Professionalism: 16

Sportsmanship: 10

Temperament: 10

Favoured Personnel: John Carew, Simon Cox

Disliked personnel: John Terry, Ashley Cole

Favoured Clubs: Aston Villa, Swindon Town

Disliked Clubs: Chelsea, Oxford United

Name (realistic please): Liam ferguson

Nationality: English

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990): 01/07/1991

Position: MC

Role Model: Steven Gerrard

Determination:20

Natural Fitness: 20

Consistency: 20

Dirtiness: 10

Important Matches: 20

Injury Proneness: 5

Versatility: 18

Adaptability: 12

Ambition:12

Controversy: 8

Loyalty: 18

Pressure: 20

Professionalism: 15

Sportsmanship: 13

Temperament: 13

Favoured Personnel: Kenny jones, Richardson

Disliked personnel: Cristiano Ronaldo

Favoured Clubs: sunderland Hartlepool

Disliked Clubs: Newcastle Boro

Edit: Changed Position

Name: Claudiomir (Claudio Osvaldo Alves dos Santos)

Nationality: Brazil/Portugal

Date of Birth: 1/1/1991

Position: DC

Role Model: Rio Ferdinand

Determination: 20

Natural Fitness: 18

Consistency: 20

Dirtiness: 8 (20-12)

Important Matches: 15

Injury Proneness: 1 (20-19)

Versatility: 15

Adaptability: 13

Ambition:11

Controversy: 8 (20-12)

Loyalty: 11

Pressure: 16

Professionalism: 20

Sportsmanship: 10

Temperament: 13

Favoured Personnel: Matt Le Tissier

Disliked Personnel: Didier Drogba

Disliked Clubs: Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea

Name (realistic please): James Hulme

Nationality: English

Date of Birth: 13/07/1991

Position: RM

Role Model: C Ronaldo

Determination: 20

Natural Fitness: 20

Consistency: 20

Dirtiness: 1

Important Matches: 20

Injury Proneness: 1

Versatility: 12

Adaptability: 10

Ambition: 20

Controversy: 1

Loyalty: 5

Pressure: 12

Professionalism: 8

Sportsmanship: 20

Temperament: 10

Favoured Personnel: Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, C Ronaldo

Disliked personnel: John Terry

Favoured Clubs: Man Utd

Disliked Clubs: Rest of big 4 and Real Madrid

hope thats okay as didnt really understand how the point system works. please take a look

Name:Leonardo DiGennaro

Nationality: Italian

Date of Birth: 16/11/1990

Position: LB

Role Model:Paolo Maldini

Determination:14

Natural Fitness:16

Consistency:10

Dirtiness:5

Important Matches:11

Injury Proneness:5

Versatility:10

Adaptability:10

Ambition: 13

Controversy: 5

Loyalty:10

Pressure:8

Professionalism:12

Sportsmanship:12

Temperament: 9

Favoured Personnel: Matt Le Tissier, Giorgio Chiellini

Disliked personnel: Zlatan Ibrahimović , Christiano Ronaldo

Favoured Clubs: AC Milan, Juventus

Disliked Clubs: Inter, Man. United

Name (realistic please): Terrance Johnson

Nationality: Scottish

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990): 14/02/1992

Position: MC

Role Model: Andres Iniesta

Determination: 20

Natural Fitness: 20

Consistency: 20

Dirtiness: 1

Important Matches: 20

Injury Proneness: 18

Versatility: 18

Adaptability: 18

Ambition: 20

Controversy: 1

Loyalty: 1

Pressure: 20

Professionalism: 1

Sportsmanship: 1

Temperament: 1

Favoured Personnel: Ally McCoist, Alex Ferguson, Martin O'Neil

Disliked personnel: Rafa Benitez, Steven Gerrard, Gordon Strachan

Favoured Clubs: Rangers, Man Utd, Barcelona

Disliked Clubs: Celtic, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea

So I take it because I gave him 18 for injury proness his stat will show up as 2..

PinkhamJ yep, that is how i'll do it for you. I kinow some of you have done it the other way, i.e. put what they want the stat to be. Perhaps I should have made this clearer in the OP. For the negative attributes (dirtiness, controversy and injury proneness) it would be best if you could enter the figure you want it to be in game. e.g. under injury proneness if you want it to be 1, you spend 19 points on it, but enter 1 under injury proneness. If you want to do it the other way thats fine, just make it clear.

James99- I think your points allocation is OK, assuming you want to spend one point on the negative attributes, thus lowering them all to 19.

Name (realistic please): Saul Goode

Nationality: Welsh

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990): 27/11/1991

Position: CB

Role Model: Jamie Carragher

Determination: 10

Natural Fitness: 15

Consistency: 18

Dirtiness: 1

Important Matches: 12

Injury Proneness: 9

Versatility: 15

Adaptability: 14

Ambition: 15

Controversy: 15

Loyalty: 15

Pressure: 10

Professionalism: 5

Sportsmanship: 15

Temperament: 15

Favoured Personnel: Joe Ledley, Aaron Ramsey

Disliked personnel: Lee Trundle, Christiano Ronaldo

Favoured Clubs: Cardiff

Disliked Clubs: Swansea

Name (realistic please):Coby Bowler

Nationality:Singapore

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990):31/12

Position:GK

Role Model:James

Determination:10

Natural Fitness:10

Consistency:10

Dirtiness:0

Important Matches:10

Injury Proneness:0

Versatility:10

Adaptability:10

Ambition:10

Controversy0

Loyalty:10

Pressure:10

Professionalism:10

Sportsmanship:10

Temperament:10

Favoured Personnel:any starting with C

Disliked personnel:any starting with A/D

Favoured Clubs:any starting with C

Disliked Clubs:any starting with A/D

Name (realistic please): Lukas Axelsson

Nationality: Swedish

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990): March 16th 1991

Position: LM

Role Model: David Silva

Determination: 14

Natural Fitness: 10

Consistency: 10

Dirtiness: 10

Important Matches: 10

Injury Proneness: 10

Versatility: 10

Adaptability: 10

Ambition: 10

Controversy: 10

Loyalty: 10

Pressure: 10

Professionalism: 10

Sportsmanship: 6

Temperament: 10

Favoured Personnel: Sven-Göran Eriksson, Zlatan Ibrahimovic,

Disliked personnel: Carles Puyol,

Favoured Clubs: Chelsea, Real Madrid

Disliked Clubs: Barcelona, Liverpool

Name (realistic please): Ben Daglish

Nationality: English

Date of Birth: 15/09/1991

Position: RM

Role Model: C. Ronaldo

Determination: 16

Natural Fitness: 16

Consistency: 15

Dirtiness: 9 (spend 11 points)

Important Matches: 14

Injury Proneness: 6 (spend 14 points)

Versatility: 10

Adaptability: 10

Ambition: 15

Controversy: 8 (spend 12 points)

Loyalty: 4

Pressure: 13

Professionalism: 12

Sportsmanship: 12

Temperament: 10

Favoured Personnel: Martin O'Neill, Matt Bloomfield

Disliked personnel: Joey Barton

Favoured Clubs: Wycombe Wanderers

Disliked Clubs: Chelsea, Colchester

CB 4

Name (realistic please): luis rodriguez

Nationality: arg

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990): 16/09/1992

Position: CB

Role Model: alessandro nesta

Determination: 16

Natural Fitness: 13

Consistency: 14

Dirtiness: 6(spend 14)

Important Matches:15

Injury Proneness: 5(spend 15)

Versatility: 1

Adaptability: 9

Ambition: 13

Controversy: 10(spend 10)

Loyalty: 10

Pressure: 15

Professionalism: 15

Sportsmanship: 10

Temperament: 15

Favoured Personnel: andres iniesta

Disliked personnel: sol campbell

Favoured Clubs: fc barcelona, tottenham hotspurs

Disliked Clubs: real madrid, arsenal

Name (realistic please): Jake Nash

Nationality:Australian

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990):16/03/91

Position:RB

Role Model:Sergio Ramos

Determination:20

Natural Fitness:20

Consistency:20

Dirtiness:20(spend 0)

Important Matches:20

Injury Proneness:0(spend 20)

Versatility:15

Adaptability:20

Ambition:20

Controversy:20(spend 0)

Loyalty:10

Pressure:15

Professionalism:0

Sportsmanship:0

Temperament:0

Favoured Personnel: steven gerrard, harry kewell

Disliked personnel: c ronaldo, alex ferguson

Favoured Clubs: liverpool, barcelona

Disliked Clubs: man u, chelsea

So just one place left on the teamsheet!

Name (realistic please): Jeremy Kyle

Nationality:English

Date of Birth (must be under 18 at the start of the season, so after 31/7/1990):17/04/91

Position:LB

Role Model:Leighton Baines

Determination:15

Natural Fitness:15

Consistency:20

Dirtiness:5

Important Matches:20

Injury Proneness:1

Versatility:20

Adaptability:20

Ambition:10

Controversy:1

Loyalty:10

Pressure:15

Professionalism:10

Sportsmanship:10

Temperament:8

Favoured Personnel: Mikel Arteta, Tim Cahill

Disliked personnel: Didier Drogba, Rafa Benitez

Favoured Clubs: Everton

Disliked Clubs: Liverpool

Right, so thats the roster completed. Some interesting looking players there. Over the weekend i'll try to get the database edited, and the first update should be ready by Tuesday. Come on the Phoenix!

i always miss these

James99- I think your points allocation is OK, assuming you want to spend one point on the negative attributes, thus lowering them all to 19.

Erm ye so my stats will be 19 out 20, then thats good 4 me

Database is almost completed, just got to input the players stats.

Great news, let the good times roll!

luis rodriguez is excited to make his mark soon enough!

Just a quick update, i've managed to input stats based on role model, and i've input the mental stats up to van der cook. So in the meantime, here are the questions i'm most interested in;

1) how long will the created players stay?

2) What the hell is Gervase smith gonna do?

3) Which of the created players will have the best career?

4) What are the key factors in youth development?

5) Will Phoenix ever get to the premiership?

6) Will they quickly ship out their young players and reinvest, or develop them at the club and rise through the divisions?

Wisescummer, just out of interest what have you set the reputation of Phoenix FC as?

1) how long will the created players stay? 3 years

2) What the hell is Gervase smith gonna do? stay the longest

3) Which of the created players will have the best career? defender?

4) What are the key factors in youth development? rotation?

5) Will Phoenix ever get to the premiership? 10 years at most?

6) Will they quickly ship out their young players and reinvest, or develop them at the club and rise through the divisions? buy back may be possible.

1) how long will the created players stay? until the end of the season for most. Some to leave in January.

2) What the hell is Gervase smith gonna do? Move clubs a lot without enjoying much success

3) Which of the created players will have the best career? Claudiomir of course

4) What are the key factors in youth development? Reputation to keep the best youngsters.

5) Will Phoenix ever get to the premiership? Not at any great speed unless they spend their money wisely.

6) Will they quickly ship out their young players and reinvest, or develop them at the club and rise through the divisions? Ship them out. They won't have much choice

Reputation has been set pretty high for a blue square south side, 2000, which reflects the fact that this is a far bigger club than should be in that division. Minimum attendance is left at 14000, average at 18000. However, the capacity of 'fortress silverlake' is only 2300, so a stadium move may be in the offing soon. Training and youth facilities are both reduced to 1.

1) how long will the created players stay? hopefully long but not very likely for all

2) What the hell is Gervase smith gonna do? no idea

3) Which of the created players will have the best career? Lukas Axelsson ofc

4) What are the key factors in youth development? Playing them

5) Will Phoenix ever get to the premiership? If most players stay

6) Will they quickly ship out their young players and reinvest, or develop them at the club and rise through the divisions? not sure, hope alternative nr 2

1) how long will the created players stay? Not long at all

2) What the hell is Gervase smith gonna do? Ruin the club!

3) Which of the created players will have the best career? Duh, Tom Hamilton

4) What are the key factors in youth development? Games, Good Facilities and Coaches

5) Will Phoenix ever get to the premiership? Depends on how many players leave

6) Will they quickly ship out their young players and reinvest, or develop them at the club and rise through the divisions? A mixture of both

1) how long will the created players stay? One season at most...

2) What the hell is Gervase smith gonna do? Pass

3) Which of the created players will have the best career? Obviously Ben Daglish

4) What are the key factors in youth development? Regualar competitive football and good coaches

5) Will Phoenix ever get to the premiership? Maybe one day....

6) Will they quickly ship out their young players and reinvest, or develop them at the club and rise through the divisions? Ship out and reinvest

Just a quick update, database is now completed and i'll sim through the first season tonight. As for my own personal predictions;

1) could stay a couple of seasons, as the players all start with a low rep and nobody has a CA higher than 120.

2) **** off the manager and be the first to leave. He will have a journeyman career in the lower leagues, will never settle anywhere, and wont achieve much.

3) After Randall, Claudiomir looks good as does Jackson. Van Der Cook will do well if he can stay injury free,

4) Thats what I'm most interested in, my personal feeling is that its primarily mental traits, followed by match time.

5) Of course, but it may take a while.

6) Ship out and reinvest, hopefully in a new stadium pretty soon.

Transfer report- summer 08

Unsurprisingly for a new club, the summer transfer window was quiet. In fact, absolutely nobody was signed.

Season report- August to Janurary

After going unbeaten in pre season friendlies, Phoenix had their first match ever, away to Bognor Regis. A 3-1 win was the first of six on the spin in the league, a run that was extended with a 4-0 win over Weston-Super-mare in the first round of the setanta shield. Phoenix were bought to the ground with a 2-0 loss at Bishops Stortford. That proved to be their last loss of the year, as up until Janurary they won every game, scoring 44 goals in the process, to sit comfortably top of the league. They also made it through to the quarter finals of the setanta shield, but were less successful in the FA trophy, losing 3-2 to their landlords (and local rivals Eastleigh) in the first round. Their best results were saved for the FA cup however, where they reached the first round proper with wins over Gosport (4-0), Andover (6-0) and Eastleigh (4-0). In the first round they were up against fellow Blue square south side Bath, who were dispatched 1-0 at Silverlake to set up a home meeting with League 2 side Shewsbury. In the clubs biggest match so far, the Shrews were beaten 1-0 for a famous giant killing. All the staff and players waited with baited breath for the 3rd round draw. And cheered like mad when Phoenix were paired with Chelsea at Stamford bridge. Whatever happened, Phoenix were in for a pay day in Janurary!

any chance of screenshots of our players?

looks good - Chelsea in the 3rd round. i reckon we could score a goal

KUTGW

Transfer report- Janurary

Going into the month Phoenix sat comfortably atop the league, but this did mean that their young starlets were attracting attention.

Jake Nash was the first to leave, on 8th November, when he realised that Winter in England was quite cold, moving back to Australia with Central Coast mariners on a free transfer.

The next departure came in Janurary, and it was another off to sunnier climbs, Claudiomir moving to Sao Paulo for £240K. This opened the floodgates. Barkley moved to Dundee utd on a free, Ferguson to Celtic for 50K, Goode to Aberdeen on a free, Di Gennaro to Wigan for 210K, Johnson to Sheffield Utd on a free, Japan to Dundee utd for 275K, Brookes to Newcastle for 240K, Blanco to Celtic for 350K, Hamilton to Wigan for 250K, Hulme to Dundee utd (who are assembling a good team) on a free, Kyle to Bolton for 18K, Tompkins to Rangers for 95K, Smith finally engineered a move to Wigan on a free, Waymouth moved to Sunderland for 240K, Axelsson to Wolves for 240K and finally Daglish to Forest for 70K. The side had been gutted. 16 of the original players had left. But it had bought in 2.3 million. Would this be reinvested?

The answer is yes. First in was Paul Connor, a 29 year old striker from Cheltenham for £7K. He is a useful addition for this level, with a CA of 71 and a PA of 95. Next in was goalkeeper Tommy Lee, for £60K from Chesterfield. He has a CA of 73, and at 23 he may reach his PA of 119. Next in was David Bell for £1K from Limavady Utd. He is 24 with a CA of 61 and a PA of 85, so is solid at this level but unspectacular. The next signing was more inspiring. 20 year old striker Craig Mahon is an Irish u21 international, with a CA of 75 and a PA of 122. He was signed for £180K from Wigan. If this was a good signing, the next one wasn't. 17 year old Ali Crawford was signed for the same fee from Hamilton, but his CA of 65 and PA of 95 mean that though he may play at blue-square south level, he wont cope any higher. A waste of a large fee. ESpecially when you think what that would buy you. 18 Ralph Welches for a start. At 22 the AMR/ST has a CA of 69, but this could reach 122, and was signed for £9K from Darlington. The next two signings were in the same vein. Karleigh Osbourne is a 21 year old centre back, with a CA of 70 and a PA of 104, signed for £10K from Brentford, and Sean Rigg is a 20 year old AML/ST, with a CA of 71 and a PA of 105, signed for £8K from Bristol Rovers. In short those signings have room to improve, and with their current ability levels should be able to help maintain Phoenix's promotion push.

I'll get up the rest of the report tomorrow.