AI Experiment - Fatski’s Follow A Little Club(with Big Ambition) in a Big Euro Nation

Opening Post:

I know, the title is not the catchiest, but hopefully that won’t put you off my FM09 experiment.

Why this experiment?

Not long ago, I took little known AFC Wimbledon from the Conference South into the Premier League. Not only have many of you done this, or something similar before, but in addition I had: A 30,000 all seater stadium, £15 million in the bank, A Sugar Daddy, and State of the Art training and Youth Facilities. Though it wasn’t testing, I still enjoyed it, partly because I hadn’t had a massive amount of success on FM09, partly because I tried my best not to spend big money on players, and partly because I basically kept the same team all the way up, which I found very rewarding. Another thing that I liked about this challenge is that the Sugar Daddy chairman only injects the amount of money that the club has lost that month, so that the club will always be very secure (they will all start with a £15 million balance) but will not get ridiculous in their spending.

You still haven’t explained what’s happening?

Enough of that, I am basically doing the same thing, but with a team in the lowest division of England, Germany, Spain, France and Germany. In order to make sure that they all have equal chance of reaching their respective Promised Land, they will all have completely equal set-ups. Same sized stadiums, same amount and quality of back room staff, same standard of facilities (all, of course, first class). They will keep their current squads, as it is nigh on impossible to compile a full squad of players in the month before the season starts. Hopefully, we’ll see some top-notch youngsters come through the youth systems early doors. Each club will get a manager with 150 CA and 200 PA, and a back room staff (who will all have the same Abilities) consisting of: One Assistant Manager, 3 Coaches, 1 Fitness Coach, 1 Youth Coach, 1 GK Coach, 1 Physio and 2 Scouts. Only the manager will have a name (usually an attempt at humour on my behalf), the other staff will be called English 1, English 2, etc. All teams are to be Professional, will have a reputation of 4000, and a Morale of 20. Their aim is, well, to get as far as possible! I will be documenting their lives, starting as big fishes in small ponds, until some of them reach the sea, and some of them starve and shrink!

Team Information:

I chose the five teams with the most interesting names (judged by me), or who have other qualities which I deemed appealing, and it is my hope that everyone will pick one or two to keep as their most treasured. Obviously some have fewer tiers to climb before they reach the top division, so choosing the English team means that though success may take longer, it will be much, much sweeter.

Choice of teams to follow, followed by questions/predictions for you. Cheers for reading if you still are, and sorry if it’s been a bit like wading through treacle. Any question/query/encouragement is welcomed!

The teams are:

In England: Vauxhall Motors

Vauxhall Motors, the English participants, play their home games at a 30,000 capacity stadium, The Corsa Arena. Their manager, Frank Driver, has been given the position, much to the relief of his wife, who was getting fed up with his unemployment after a career as a mechanic had failed to take off. Starting in the Conference North, they have 5 promotions to complete before reaching the big stage. The underdogs, but will they have the good old English spirit to get them through it? This is the team for all English patriots.

In Spain: Marbella

Marbella, the Spanish participants, have been chosen due to their English connections. I am sure you are aware that it is a popular holiday destination for the rich and famous, and one of these men enjoyed his time there so much that he, after a night at the casino, had enough money to buy a football club. Marbella have benefited, and their stadium is named ‘The Costa del Sol Stadium’. They have few promotions to achieve, but the first one, to climb out of Second Division B4, will be tricky. This is the team who prefer sangria and paella to lager and chips, and who want to follow a team playing in the sun, close to a beach, who play Joga Bonito.

Italy, France and Germany to follow...So dont choose yet!

*dances up and down* Can we have a Portuguese team? hehe

Looking forward to following this Fatski

Fiiiine, I'll bow to your demands. A Portugese team will be added, but only due to my excitement at having my first follower!

Thanks Fatski And I love the lower leagues of the big nations. I must say though that the German and Italian teams are more likely to get up quicker, as they have no stupid playoffs, the French team should go up pretty quickly as well given the number of reserve sides in CFA. But it will be interesting to see how it all goes.

In Italy: San Marino

San Marino have been chosen as they add a new dimension into the experiment: the ability to produce the players who will (largely) make up the San Marinese national team. They play their home games at ‘Hotel San Marino’, and start in Serie C2/B. This is the team to support if you like your pasta and mopeds, and if you are interested to see how the national team will fare(we will follow them too). The Boss- Mario Marinetto

In Germany: Wuppertal

Chosen for their interesting name, hopefully this team will not turn out to be the ‘Wupping boys’ of the experiment. Supposedly in one of the weakest nations in terms of league, they also only have two promotions to achieve. Surely this is the team for impatient glory supporters, who enjoy a Currywurst or two at half time, and hell of a lot of beer if the team wins anything! They will play at ‘Wupper Park’. Manager – Jan Wupperman

In France: Pacy Football

Pacy Vallée-d'Eure Football, or Pacy Football, will look to live up to their name by playing (in theory), fast-paced, one touch football à la Ajax of the Cruyff era, or Arsenal of the Wenger era. This is the team to support for the romantic fan, who also enjoys pâté, wine and facial hair (or just...hair). They will welcome the opposition to the ‘Speedy Stadium’. Manager- Francois Rapide

In Portugal: Infesta

This club, added in at the last minute, are in the Second Division Group B in Portugal. They play their games at the ‘Quarantine Stadium’, due to the amount of infestation that grips the town. The population may have poor immune systems, but boy can they support their team with passion. This is the team for passionate Portugese fans (and LLR!) Manager - Joao Quarantino.

So, there are your teams. An interesting mix of cultures and styles. It’s now up to you to choose!

Questions:

1. Who will you be following?

2. Who will reach the top first, and why?

3. Will all the clubs find instant success?

4. What could be the problems faced?

5. How long before the managers leave?

In Portugal: Infesta

This club, added in at the last minute, are in the Second Division Group B in Portugal. They play their games at the ‘Quarantine Stadium’, due to the amount of infestation that grips the town. The population may have poor immune systems, but boy can they support their team with passion. This is the team for passionate Portugese fans (and LLR!) Manager - Joao Quarantino.

Questions:

1. Who will you be following?

Infesta - Go the boys with the flu, watch out or we will infect your squads.

2. Who will reach the top first, and why?

Wuppertal or Pacy - Less tiers than some of the other teams, but they also don't have to worry bout a weird promotion series.

3. Will all the clubs find instant success?

No - Vauxhall will fail to start, just like the car by the same name. Infesta will miss out in the promotion stages, and Marbella will attempt to get relegated in season one.

4. What could be the problems faced?

Weird rules for Promotion, Players not building any loyalty to the clubs as their managers and chairman move them on quickly.

5. How long before the managers leave?

San Marino - Straight away, the rest will make 2-3 seasons, but all will have left within 5 seasons.

Thanks LLR, some interesting predos...Have done half of the teams but have something to do now until 10pm. I cant promise that it'll all be done by tonight, but tomorrow we will be up and running. Anyone else who is reading, please please please get involved!

Cheers.

Questions:

1. Who will you be following? as much as i hate them, i have to support the French in this, so Pacy

2. Who will reach the top first, and why? Pacy, because of the number of reserve teams in the lower leagues

3. Will all the clubs find instant success? no. they will have to wait a season or two for the stadiums to bring them in more cash to buy players, by which time they will have gained enough rep for said players to agree to move.

4. What could be the problems faced? stadium upkeep if low attendances, silly promotion rules, keeping hold of youth players

5. How long before the managers leave? as soon as vacancies at better jobs become available

Looks good, will follow with interest! Vauxhall motors rule! KUTGW

Questions:

1. Who will you be following? vauxhall motors

2. Who will reach the top first, and why? Pacy and i dont no why i think that

3. Will all the clubs find instant success? no. they will have to a bit for them to get good players

4. What could be the problems faced? stadium upkeep if low attendances, promotion rules, getting players into club

5. How long before the managers leave? when a big job comes calling or if they do bad

Questions:

1. Who will you be following? - Probably the French or the Germans

2. Who will reach the top first, and why? - The Germans, as they seem to have the least promotions needed.

3. Will all the clubs find instant success? - No, I doubt any of them will. Well, I'd class success as say 2 or 3 promotions for the English club, and 1 or 2 for the others.

4. What could be the problems faced? - Clubs stay mediocre, lose money, managers, staff etc.

5. How long before the managers leave? - Couple of seasons, some might leave in the first/second depending on new jobs available to them though.

1. Who will you be following? I'll go with Infesta. No idea why though.

2. Who will reach the top first, and why? Wuppertal. Only 2 promotions needed, and I see it being easier than Spain, Portugal and France.

3. Will all the clubs find instant success? No. Teams in Spain, Italy and Portugal may find it harder.

4. What could be the problems faced? Following on from question 3, the promotion out of the bottom leagues I believe is harder in those nations as there's less promotion places per group or league. They could remain there for a few years if they're not careful

5. How long before the managers leave? If the club doesn't get promoted too quickly I can see them being poached by bigger clubs after a year.

Sounds like it has the potential to be an excellent experiment.

Right, database (should be) finished. Will just have a test drive and check that everything is going well. Fingers crossed for some epic youth player regens with unrivalled loyalty! They are, after all, what I play the game for. Cheers for your predictions by the way, no doubt we'll be revisiting them soon!

Questions:

1. Who will you be following? San Marino!

2. Who will reach the top first, and why? San Marino, because I said so!

3. Will all the clubs find instant success? Yes.

4. What could be the problems faced? Players, managers, staff leaving.

5. How long before the managers leave? Within a year...

Come on Wuppertal!

Questions:

1. Who will you be following? Pacy Football

2. Who will reach the top first, and why? I can't think of any distinctive reason that puts another team ahead of them.

3. Will all the clubs find instant success? Yes, although Vauxhall will struggle

4. What could be the problems faced? Players, managers, staff leaving.

5. How long before the managers leave? As soon as a big-name job comes along!

First update: Season 08/09 Transfer Update

I took over Bognor Regis, so that I could make a shortlist of all the youth players. They were predicted to come 24th in the Conference South so I guess that’s just what I’ll do every year, take the 24th predicted BSS team, as England is the nation with most teams, so will be least affected, if that makes sense?!

Anyway, everything database-wise looked in good shape, so we were ready to begin. I will do a segment for each team and then add lots of interesting (or not) stuff in at the end...

Infesta:

Probably the people’s favourite, Infesta showed great ambition with their transfers. £6 million spent, mostly on Luiz Adriano, who is....well, what do you think? Time will tell with that signing. Shirt sales went through the roof after another BIG NAME signing... He has started very well, but whether he can emulate his namesake and hit 40 goals in the season remains to be seen. They also won their first two games 3-0 and 5-0, which was a great start to the season. Nuno Vilaca is the youth player to watch.

Best Youth Player from Intake: Nuno Vilaca: 64/151

Marbella:

Second after one game, a 2-0 win, Marbella had a large squad to start with, but have made some forays into the transfer market as well. They have made the best signing in terms of CA out of any of our six teams, and what a name too: Ivan Moreno y Fabianesi

One thing which genuinely made me laugh out loud was their big, bald, pasty striker. He claimed he joined to further his career, but I think we all know he’s just in it for the sun and the females! Good mental stats though. Regarding their youth team, as it was already full, they didn’t have an intake at the start of the game, but its fine, as we have two players to follow. They are not very good but check out the nationalities of two of their youngsters!

Best Player from Intake: N/A

Pacy:

6 games, two wins, two draws, two defeats. Mid-table. Not a particularly exciting start to the season for the Pacy side. From looking at their transfers, you might’ve thought they’d be all set for a title challenge. With George Junior Weah and a classy Brazilian striker called Eduardo bought, they looked to live up to their name with a fast, attacking style of play. However, success doesn’t always come straight away, and they have two good looking defensive youth players to nurture.

Best Player from Intake: Allan Cohen: 65/146 Max Simone: 53/138

San Marino:

The San Marinese team sit 2nd after one game, a 3-1 win, and also won their 3 Serie C Cup group games. In terms of transfers, they haven’t showed an awful lot of ambition, though they did buy a few players. The lack of youth team players also makes them an unappealing choice of team this season, but once they start producing them, it’ll all heat up. Praying for promotion otherwise I imagine it’s easy to get stuck.

Best Player from Intake: N/A

Vauxhall Motors:

After the first five games, which have all been won, ’The Motorists’ sit top of the league, and personally I think that Vauxhall have used their money better than the other teams. The two youth players are nothing special, but I think Stewart could do a job, though it is doubtful whether he’ll reach his potential without game time. Signing of the transfer window is sure Joe Lewis, a quality keeper. Sheridan, Tyson and Dixon will provide goals all day long at this level.

Best Player(s) from Intake: Peter Stewart: 52/134 and Keith Baines 48/132

Wuppertal:

Wuppertal’s pre-season has really disappointed me. They have not lived up to their wacky name, perhaps because they already had a fairly large squad. Only two free transfers have been added, and the only money they have spent is on a player who won’t come until next season. They sit in mid-table after five games. They do, however, have the best youth players in my opinion; Bungert could be really classy if he can get close to his PA, and Michael has the right attributes for a CM. Their scout (German 6) mysteriously left after his contract was terminated. It is thought that he had become frustrated by sitting at home playing Football Manager instead of being sent on actual scouting missions by Jan Wupperman

Best Player from Intake: Dennis Bungert 65/157 Eric Michael: 52/132

So, at the beginning of the season, the ones to watch seemed to be Vauxhall and Infesta, unsurprisingly as they both spent big, primarily on strikers. Vauxhall especially seem to have hit a 6th gear that I bet they didn’t even know they had. Marbella and San Marino both missed out on regens this year, but will their large squads carry them through. Wuppertal perhaps have the largest squad of them all, but didn’t spend any money! Will they pay the price if they don’t get promoted, and will their two prodigious youth players get a look in? Or will Pacy, who seem to go from 0-60 fairly slowly, hit top speed eventually? If they do, let’s hope they have cruise control.

Ok, big first update – following update will be the January update, signings and progress. Hope you’ve managed to read it all, hope you didn’t cringe too much at the car puns () in the summary, and hope you can give me some feedback as to how to improve it all!

nice update. will the awful puns continue?

Yes; if the feedback is 'very funny' or 'awful puns ' with a smiley.

No; if the feedback is 'oh dear' or 'shut up and die'

Awful puns

This is a great thread, KUTGW

Oh Dear (Awful puns )

Hehe Infesta all the way to the Promotion Semis before they lose. DOWN DOWN the rest of you. Vauxhall will stall once more.

Fantastic puns

I'm gonna be a fan of Wuppertal, even if they didn't spend big, they've got the best name ever..

Great first update, Pacy are doing alright and I think those two youth players will come in handy.

KUTGW Fatski (May the puns long continue!)

Ok, well I'll try my best to find some puns, cant promise anything though! Cheers for the support guys, next update will most likely not be up today, but if not today then certainly tomorrow.

Nice experiment fatski, I'll be following and its all about Pacy Football really...

interesting idea. and you can put me on the wuppertal fanlist.

I'll follow vauxhall

And btw, do you mean Joe Murphy as the goalkeeper not Joe Lewis?

KUTGW!

I'll follow vauxhall

And btw, do you mean Joe Murphy as the goalkeeper not Joe Lewis?

KUTGW!

Yes, of course I did! Thanks for pointing that out.

Update to follow shortly, we've got to January. And I'll also be posting a list of who is supporting who!

Supporters list:

Vauxhall: WBA4LIFE,m1234566778, fergysafc, BenArsenal

Pacy: Iacovone, PluckaDuck, PaulHartman71(?), brambleten, AB-Forever, KiddingChoc

Wuppertal: Ghostwriter, GazTheDoood, Kenco, PaulHartman71(?), Chubsie

San Marino: Rancer890, Walcott's Wonderkids, Brettney1980

Marbella: Denther

Infesta: Lower Leagues Rule,Sir Liam

Have just seen this, I will support Marbella as somebody has to (and they have signed ex Swindonian Tommy Mooney )

KUTGW

January 1st 2009 update.

Half of the first season has been completed, and our batch of ambitious lower league clubs are all doing well (with the exception of one). Three of our six are sitting top of their respective table, one team is second, one is third, and one....well....I’ll let you find out but it aint pretty.

I’m only going to give the league tables and a brief summary, as I will be doing a January transfer update later as well.

Infesta:

Infesta are unfortunate as there is another very strong team in their division, but they manage to lead them by one point as they reach the second half of the season. Messi and Luiz Adriano have been scoring goals for fun, and the youth player Vilaca has gone up a few CA points and is looking good. League table. Even if they win the league, there is a tough play-off in order to be promoted to the Liga Vitalis, so they will want to stay clear of injuries if they reach that stage.

Marbella:

The Beachbums are sitting in third, which I think they will be happy with, and they have a big enough squad to mount a serious challenge in the second half of the season. July signings Aurelio (DL/C), Carlos Moreno (AML/C) and Moreno y Fabianesi (MR/L/C) are the three top performers so far.

Pacy Football:

The Speedsters are very happy in 2nd place at the moment, one point behind the leaders Chamois. New boys Domi (D/WBL) and Eduardo (SC) have lit up the league so far, Domi in particular with a 7.34 average rating. They are also into the French Cup 9th round. Allan Cohen and Simoni, the youth players, have both moved up a few CA points.

San Marino:

The Nationalists have absolutely flown to top spot in Serie C2/B. Strikers Piavoccari (signed from Inter/Treviso) and Parma (from La Fiorita) have got 27 goals between them. Promotion is surely in the bag, as they are 13 points clear. They were knocked out of the Serie C Cup in the 1st Round.

Vauxhall:

A wonderful start to the season for The Motorists, and they are still unbeaten in the league after the first half-season. Sheridan, Tyson and Dixon have 48 between them, and Joe Murphy has conceded just 11 goals in 32 games, keeping an outstanding 24 cleans sheets (earning him £1,000 each).They are still in the FA Trophy, Conference League Cup, and, most excitingly, play Reading in the FA Cup 3rd round, a match which I will be attending.

Wuppertal:

I can hardly bear to write this report. Jan Wupperman failed to bring in any new players of note, and has paid the price, as Wuppertal sit in 15th in the German Third Division. The highest average rating is 6.60, which says it all really. A big second half of the season is needed; otherwise the Sugar Daddy will be choking on his currywurst. Perhaps some signings will be made in the transfer window. On a more positive note, Dennis Bungert, the highest rated youngster out of all the teams has improved a few CA points, and now has 12 for both crossing AND dribbling:eek:. Magical.

Next update: January 2009 transfer window.

Please keep commenting, supporting and reading! Thanks.

Marbella: Denter

, It's Denther

Nice to see them third in the league, Wuppertal like you say need some January signings!

, It's Denther

Nice to see them third in the league, Wuppertal like you say need some January signings!

How very dare me! Its correct now... I think you're right about Wuppertal. I haven't watched any of their matches (I only watched one of Infesta's against their main title rival, which was 1-1), but I just think they have a squad of very average players!

Good job San Marino, top of the league.

Not really surprised by any of the results.

Vauxhall will win the FA Trophy and Conference League Cup.

Marbella will struggle for promotion along with Wuppertal.

That's my educated predictions.

dam cant see vauxhall points

, It's Denther

Nice to see them third in the league, Wuppertal like you say need some January signings!

dam cant see vauxhall points

No sure why that happened...But 61 is the total!

No sure why that happened...But 61 is the total!

It happened with the Spanish table as well, I think it's to do with you moving the window to the right as I can see another screen behind on the left, make sure the window is centred when taking the screenshot

Wow Vauxhall are doing amazing! Keep it going boys!

You put Joe Lewis again

January 09 Tranfer window update:

A disappointingly quiet transfer window seeing the team who are doing the best – Vauxhall – make the most aquisitions. They got hold of Paul Marney and Lloyd Sam. I think that Sam will do good things for them this season and next, whereas Marney is solid but nothing special. They have also offered a contract to Martijn Powel, who I think could be really good for them, though I imagine there may be some work permit issues.

The only other team to dip their bread into the transfer gravy was Marbella, who brought in two players of differing qualities on free transfers. Raul Garcia looks like a decent, experienced player, unlike Mamina who, frankly, is pants. In other Marbella news, Forum-favourite Tommy Mooney was sold to Bournemouth on a free after only playing 3 games in the first half of the season, scoring a goal. He’s already bagged 2 in his first four games for Bournemouth.

To follow, probably tomorrow: End of season report.

Have Vauxhall, Infesta and San Marino secured their titles?

Have Marbella left their party attitude behind and found their way to the top of the table?

Have Pacy Football seen the light and given more games to George Junior Weah (not a single start for him yet), who could surely emulate Papa Weah and fire them to the top and into Ligue 2?

Have Wuppertal looked at themselves hard in the mirror, smashed in, and started again with a new, ambitious attitude?

Yay, Pacy are doing good

KUTGW mate

Good job by Infesta, but they still have to win in the Promotion Stage, and then win in the Promotion Semi-finals as well. Only 2 teams out of the 48 get to go up.

Good job by Infesta, but they still have to win in the Promotion Stage, and then win in the Promotion Semi-finals as well. Only 2 teams out of the 48 get to go up.

Yep, they have two more games of the original league season, and then all the complicated stuff begins! I think they must be in the top 2, but need the strikers to be firing on all cylinders on the big days.

It's not too late for new readers to pick a team by the way!

Just looked in this thread for the 1st time, really interesting idea Fatski.

Think I will follow San Marino as I'd quite like to see how their nation team gets on now that they have a sugar daddy!

Although I do love some of the other team names... Infesta

I think I'm going to follow Pacy

KUTGW Fatski

You guys have been added to the list, thanks for reading!

In other Marbella news, Forum-favourite Tommy Mooney was sold to Bournemouth on a free after only playing 3 games in the first half of the season, scoring a goal. He’s already bagged 2 in his first four games for Bournemouth.

He could have been a legend

Just saw this.

Go Vauxhall! Full fledged supporter here.

You've been added to the list, you big glory supporter you!

I'm going the glory supporter route and cheering on San Marino!