Disharmony FC - a story of love and hate

Disharmony FC

Welcome to the wacky world of Disharmony FC. This is an English Premiership club with extraordinary players. All are in their peak, or just about to reach it. A near-perfect squad made up of 22 great players, with, as good fortune would have it, two in each position. In terms of reputation, they're just shy of the Big 4, and have a great chance of challenging for honours.

But Disharmony FC has a problem. Their manager, for want of a better phrase, has 'lost the dressing room'. He's allowed cliques to form, and rivalries to build. So, on the wings we have a left winger and a right winger who are bestest buddies, but who can't stand the sight of the other two wingers. The second pair of wingers, of course, think each other are just great, but have a mutual feeling of loathing for the first pair.

Up front, we have two strikers who hang out every evening after training, but who wish unfortunate training ground accidents upon their two rival strikers, who of course are themselves best friends and would love the other two to just disappear.

And so on throughout the team.

In terms of age group, each set of best pals features one in the prime of his career and one 4 years over it. Therefore, in each pair, one striker is 26, and one 30. One midfielder is 27, the other 31. One defender is 28, the other 32. The goalkeepers are 29 and 33. (Of course, they don't like each other).

So, the easiest thing for the manager, who does of course favour a rigid 4-4-2, is simply to pick groups of best mates throughout the team, whenever possible. Right? Well, maybe not...the catch here is that although the younger players are good, they're not quite as good as their older buddies.

Meet the players

Striker clique A: Forward A1 - age 26, CA 170 favours Forward A2 - age 30, CA 190

Both of whom hate each player in striker clique Z

Striker clique Z: Forward Z1 - age 26, CA 170 favours Forward Z2 - age 30, CA 190.

Both of whom hate each player in striker clique A

Winger clique A: Right mid A - age 27, CA 170 favours Left mid A - age 31, CA 190

Both of whom hate each player in winger clique Z

Winger clique Z: Left mid Z - age 27, CA 170 favours Right mid Z - age 31, CA 190.

Both of whom hate each player in winger clique A

Midfield clique A: Def mid A - age 27, CA 170 favours Att mid A - age 31, CA 190

Both of whom hate each player in midfield clique Z

Midfield clique Z: Att mid Z - age 27, CA 170 favours Def mid Z - age 31, CA 190.

Both of whom hate each player in midfield clique A

Full back clique A: Right back A - age 28, CA 170 favours Left back A - age 32, CA 190

Both of whom hate each player in full back clique Z

Full back clique Z: Left back Z - age 28, CA 170 favours Right back Z - age 32, CA 190.

Both of whom hate each player in full back clique A

Defender clique A: Centre back A1 - age 28, CA 170 favours Centre back A2 - age 32, CA 190

Both of whom hate each player in centre back clique Z

Defender clique Z: Centre back Z1 - age 28, CA 170 favours Centre back Z2 - age 32, CA 190.

Both of whom hate each player in centre back clique A

Finally, GK A - age 29, CA 170 hates GK Z age 33, CA 190.

Contracts

So that covers the short term problems. Longer term, contracts will need to be renewed, or the players sold on to restore harmony. But that won't be too easy. The older players, as a reward for past endeavours, are all on 4 year deals. The younger players are all on 2 year contracts. So, will all the younger players walk after 2 years and leave their best buddies with only their hated older rivals at the club for company? They might do, but since everyone 'loves the club', they might not want to leave.

To make matters worse, the club doesn't have much money, so can't just embark on a signing frenzy and release all these players. Besides, they would struggle to find many better players.

The manager

So who is the poor guy that needs to deal with all this mess? Meet Big Ron Stressed. He's a great manager. Perfect at spotting player potential and ability and a good coach. Unfortunately he is no use at working with youngsters and to compound the misery of having a low budget, has a low buying players ability anyway. As a club legend, the chairman gave him an extravagant long contract. Now aged 61 though, he will retire within a few years. If it all goes wrong before that though, does his long contract make him unsackable?

The coaches

The in-fighting doesn't stop there. There are of course, two goalkeeping coaches who dislike each other; two youth coaches who dislike each other; two fitness coaches that dislike each other and two first team coaches who dislike each other. There are even two physios who hate each other. To add to the manager's woes, his assistant is a jealous sort, and dislikes him. Oh yeah - they all have long year contracts but are likely to retire soon too.

Retirement planning

All of the players look like becoming good back room staff. Of course the club has spotted this and has given them very high manager release clauses to warn off other teams. But with them all loving the club, will they move into the positions that are to become vacant? Which will the chairman choose if he promotes from within? Will the club hire groups of buddies for these positions? Will the players go elsewhere and the buddies start to form manager-assistant teams? If they end up managing rival clubs, how will that affect how they interact with each other - will they refuse to sell players to each other?

Let's find out, shall we?

This sounds good, will defo be following

I should say right now, I have a lot of work to do to get this going. I wanted to get this intial post down to encourage some thoughts or ideas though. Let me know what you'd like to see.

Would be good if the players hated the manager and the backroom staff as well. Just a suggestion.

Will follow

Will Follow

Originally posted by Frazza Pee:

Would be good if the players hated the manager and the backroom staff as well. Just a suggestion.

I don't think it's necessary to be honest, this should create enough carnage as it is. Besides, the manager would then just want to sell them all. As it stands, he should - logically - just get rid of one pair at a time.

Originally posted by bermybhoy:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Frazza Pee:

Would be good if the players hated the manager and the backroom staff as well. Just a suggestion.

I don't think it's necessary to be honest, this should create enough carnage as it is. Besides, the manager would then just want to sell them all. As it stands, he should - logically - just get rid of one pair at a time. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Agreed, would make sense, will follow this but no pressure, do this in your own time, do not let people rush you into updates mate.

Originally posted by Manumoss:

Will Follow

I'll be following this mate.

Great opening post

Originally posted by thezogsageordie:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by bermybhoy:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Frazza Pee:

Would be good if the players hated the manager and the backroom staff as well. Just a suggestion.

I don't think it's necessary to be honest, this should create enough carnage as it is. Besides, the manager would then just want to sell them all. As it stands, he should - logically - just get rid of one pair at a time. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Agreed, would make sense, will follow this but no pressure, do this in your own time, do not let people rush you into updates mate. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

No Do It Now!!!!!!!!!

Great idea - love the premise and will be following with interest.

My hunch, however, is this: the players' CAs are so high that they'll achieve great success on the pitch and win titles. This will minimize conflict for the first 2 seasons at least.

It might have been more interesting if the club was more 'Newcastle' with high expectations but idiot/mediocre players and staff.

Originally posted by phnompenhandy:

It might have been more interesting if the club was more 'Newcastle' with high expectations but idiot/mediocre players and staff.

More Newcastle? what you trying to say?

Great opening post and great idea so I'll definately be following

Originally posted by phnompenhandy:

Great idea - love the premise and will be following with interest.

My hunch, however, is this: the players' CAs are so high that they'll achieve great success on the pitch and win titles. This will minimize conflict for the first 2 seasons at least.

It might have been more interesting if the club was more 'Newcastle' with high expectations but idiot/mediocre players and staff.

Interesting points. Maybe I should set club morale low to make sure all these guys become unhappy? The thing is I want as many of them as possible to stay, not for them to all be replaceable, to see what happens.

For the second point, surely having Newcastle and Spurs in the game covers that side of the experiment already

Incidently, guess which city has acquired a second big club and firece rivals?

You might want to consider making the younger players a year or two younger... at those ages, they're at their peak, and the manager should be looking for future replacements in any case.

Originally posted by Mravac Kid:

You might want to consider making the younger players a year or two younger... at those ages, they're at their peak, and the manager should be looking for future replacements in any case.

I actually initially toyed with the idea of doing this as a sign up. It occurred to me that they all involve young wonderkids, so started thinking about doing something similar for older players.

The reason for having the younger players in their prime is because all the players will have non-playing attributes, and I wouldn't want them to be too young to take up coaching. Also, (I suspect) it means that the after maybe a couple of years, the older players will have declined to the same level as the younger ones.

Edit: On reflection - I like this idea, and have indeed reduced all the ages by a couple of years.

Interesting. Don't know if you've been following the Bandits experiment (which I highly recommend 'what would happen if' is the threat title) but 2 idiot players with awful mental stats were created with 200 PA and CA which meant that although they played well, their team as a whole did really badly as the other players just couldn't play well with them in the team. This lot will do better because they are all of world class standard whereas those teams only had 1 world class player, but it won't be as clear cut as people might think.

All in all I suspect class will win out and morale will stay high as they will keep winning.

Originally posted by djhdjh:

Interesting. Don't know if you've been following the Bandits experiment (which I highly recommend 'what would happen if' is the threat title) but 2 idiot players with awful mental stats were created with 200 PA and CA which meant that although they played well, their team as a whole did really badly as the other players just couldn't play well with them in the team. This lot will do better because they are all of world class standard whereas those teams only had 1 world class player, but it won't be as clear cut as people might think.

All in all I suspect class will win out and morale will stay high as they will keep winning.

I certainly have. Suppose that is the overriding question - will this drag them down, or have no noticeable impact? I'm with you on it.

Sounds interesting

Have pretty much finished editing so will start some time soon.

I can't see a way to fix a retirement date so have just made the coaching staff so old that they will retire within 3-4 years, and their contracts are set to 5 years. Also, the younger group of players have a coaching potential of -8, and the older ones -9. As such, they are all more than capable of going on to very successful non-playing careers.

What's the predictions then?

• Will they storm the league in the first season or two due to sheer quality?
  
• Does the quality of these players mean that it will make no difference who they are paired with in the team?
  
• Will the manager be able to spot the disruptions in the team, and play the various cliques together?
  
• Will the players make big money moves to get away from their hated colleagues?
  
• With all the players heading over the hill, will the club act in time to replace these players?
  
• What will become of the players' careers? Will they head down the divisions or remain at the top?
  
• Who will the club appoint to replace the manager and coaches? They have a lot of potential right on their doorstep...
  
• Will the players who become managers appoint their friends as assistants?
  
• Will the players who turn to management hold grudges against their hated rivals?
  

Further thoughts and ideas welcome....

Predictions

Finish 4th in the league behind Man U, Chelsea and Liverpool

Players heavily involved in the player stats

Manager to do little except bring in some rubbish players and play them all the time

5 players ( 3 old 2 young) to move on at the end of the season.

Players will all play in top divisions

and of course England to go out of Euro 2008 on penalties

Will they storm the league in the first season or two due to sheer quality? No but they will win it, probably scraping by.

Does the quality of these players mean that it will make no difference who they are paired with in the team? Yes

Will the manager be able to spot the disruptions in the team, and play the various cliques together? Yes

Will the players make big money moves to get away from their hated colleagues? Some

With all the players heading over the hill, will the club act in time to replace these players? No.

What will become of the players' careers? Will they head down the divisions or remain at the top? Certain ones will go to the top

Who will the club appoint to replace the manager and coaches? They have a lot of potential right on their doorstep... Strachan

Will the players who become managers appoint their friends as assistants? Yes.

Will the players who turn to management hold grudges against their hated rivals? No.

Originally posted by bermybhoy:

Have pretty much finished editing so will start some time soon.

I can't see a way to fix a retirement date so have just made the coaching staff so old that they will retire within 3-4 years, and their contracts are set to 5 years. Also, the younger group of players have a coaching potential of -8, and the older ones -9. As such, they are all more than capable of going on to very successful non-playing careers.

What's the predictions then?

<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>Will they storm the league in the first season or two due to sheer quality? I think in the 1st season they'll be right up the pointy end of the table, but in the 2nd season, i can see them slipping down the table

<LI>Does the quality of these players mean that it will make no difference who they are paired with in the team? I don't think so

<LI>Will the manager be able to spot the disruptions in the team, and play the various cliques together? I don't think the 'disharmony among the team will stop anytime soon, and the manager will always have a major problem of somesort

<LI>Will the players make big money moves to get away from their hated colleagues? I believe that some will try it, but i'm not sure any team would actually want them despite their immense quality

<LI>With all the players heading over the hill, will the club act in time to replace these players? Well with such a little transfer budget, i don't think they can be replaced

<LI>What will become of the players' careers? Will they head down the divisions or remain at the top? I reckon they'll hang around at 'Disharmony FC', and then retire into the coaching staff

<LI>Who will the club appoint to replace the manager and coaches? They have a lot of potential right on their doorstep... That's a hard one, and I'm not actually quite sure.

<LI>Will the players who become managers appoint their friends as assistants? Oh yeah, i reckon they will bring in their 'friends' to help them

<LI>Will the players who turn to management hold grudges against their hated rivals? Mmmm, on FM, management is completely different to playing, and it think their grudges won't roll over on to management

Well done bermybhoy, awsome experiment, can't wait to see the results!

Further thoughts and ideas welcome....

Cheers pluckaduck. Just found your complimentary comment, it had got a little lost

I have realised now that none of these adverse relationships actually show up on the players profiles, just the good relationships...kinda means you don't know if your players hate each others guts.

I like how their home kit burns out your retinas, that ought to get the attendance up. I predict a bunch of little REQ boxes popping up in a couple of months.

Yes, the idea is that the home kit dazzles the opposition so much they don't stand a chance. Will need to bear it in mind when looking at the results.

Ok, in view of the fact that there seems to be a bit of interest in seeing how this goes, I intend to make a proper go of it, as time allows.

Note that I've made a small change, in that each of the players is now a couple of years younger. All other details will remain exactly as initially set out.

Awsome to hear mate. If you need any help, let me no

Nice idea, mate. Will surely be following this

Awsome to hear mate. If you need any help, let me no

Cheers...all I need is some motivation to do the write ups, everything else is covered. Glad to see people are interested.

This seems an awesome idea. I think that the fact they hate each other won't make a difference as most of them will be sold within a season.

This looks very interesting, I expect the hatred to boil over, especially if some of them get sold and come back to play against Disharmony.

I'm interested to see what happens, when I get a clash of personalities I always try and resolve it by offering new contracts and if necessary selling players. Should be interesting to see what happens when you actually encourage it.

I'm guessing it is too late, but could it be an idea to have two age groups and have the players tutor the players they hate?

I'm interested to see what happens, when I get a clash of personalities I always try and resolve it by offering new contracts and if necessary selling players. Should be interesting to see what happens when you actually encourage it.

I'm guessing it is too late, but could it be an idea to have two age groups and have the players tutor the players they hate?

Not necessarily. I've not run it 'for real' yet. I could either amend the ages of the younger guys or add a whole group of youth players. That said though - how would I set them to tutor each other?

Not necessarily. I've not run it 'for real' yet. I could either amend the ages of the younger guys or add a whole group of youth players. That said though - how would I set them to tutor each other?

I'm not sure if it could be done using the editor, I'm guessing it would be something that would have to be added after the game has started.

I'm not sure if it could be done using the editor, I'm guessing it would be something that would have to be added after the game has started.

I think I could only do that by adding myself as manager and trying to set it up then. That would take out the manager who's there though, and besides, I think if they already dislike each other, the young player might just reject the chance to be tutored by the other guy.

Unless you can think of another way round it. Like your thinking though.

You're probably right, they would probably reject the chance anyway.

Creating an age gap might be interesting though, you could have the ambitious youngsters vs the loyal veterans.

You're probably right, they would probably reject the chance anyway.

Creating an age gap might be interesting though, you could have the ambitious youngsters vs the loyal veterans.

We'll see how it goes as is and can maybe run it again with different variables in future.

Have you started yet?

Disharmony FC - the beginning

Disharmony FC are a club based in Newcastle, England. In the 2007/8 season, they will participate in the Premiership, facing the might of the Big 4 and of course their hated rivals, Newcastle United.

Club info screen

As discussed already, they are a formidable team, with some fantastic players. The manager, Ron Stressed is near legendary, but has a dressing room divided by some dreadful rivaries. Can Ron see this and sort it out, or will his club fade to obscurity? The media forsee a 7th place finish, but there's genuine talent in this squad...can they surpass this?

So, Disharmony's squad looks excellent. Refer to the opening post re their CA's and PA's.

Squad overview

Squad - defending stats

Squad - attacking stats

As you can see each player has his favourite buddy, and shows a desire to move into a backroom role. Happily (for us) this is mostly the same as their hated rival. What they don't show us, is that they hate each member of their rival clique. We can't see it, can Ron?

Example profiles are:

Forward A1 personal

Forward A2 personal

Forward Z1 personal

Forward Z2 personal

The staff profiles of these players are as follows:

Forward A1 staff profile

Forward A2 staff profile

Forward Z1 staff profile

Forward Z2 staff profile

Now, finally, let's see how they get on....all predictions and feedback most welcome. If there's anything else you desperately want to see, let me know as well.

Note: No transfers are allowed in the first window, so no-one's going anywhere.

Will definitely follow this one Bermy, i'm getting flashbacks of when I first read Kip's experiment

Definately following this

Forward A1 says that Right mid Z is a good player. Mind you that doesn't mean that he doesn't hate him. Anyway I'll definitely be following this and I hope all the updates will be up to that standard

Love it mate, can't wait for more

Do all the Zs hate all the As?

Forward A1 says that Right mid Z is a good player. Mind you that doesn't mean that he doesn't hate him. Anyway I'll definitely be following this and I hope all the updates will be up to that standard

Do all the Zs hate all the As?

They don't ALL hate each other. Just the ones who play in the same position. So winger A hates both Z wingers; full back Z hates both A full backs, and so on.

Oh thanks, just realised it said that in the opening post

Disharmony FC - the beginning

So Disharmony FC, a club wracked by internal strife, have embarked on their latest Premiership season. Their players are brilliant, especially the older ones - can they overcome their problems and claim the Premiership crown they maybe deserve?

Where better to start, than at the home of their hated city rivals, Newcastle United. Well, what an absolutely stunning start. As we can see, the manager picked his strongest side - all the older players, with their dislike for each other - but it made no difference. This is a BIG win.

The next notable result was v Portsmouth at home - another brilliant win. Forward A2 playing his heart out with his mate A1 beside him. We can also see that at full back we have both Z's, and the wingers are also both Z's, and therefore mates. Can we read anything into this?

The first defeat came away to Manchester City. Now this time, we do have all the top guys, and rivals. The same team that demolished Newcastle. Is this a sign of cracks?

Well, maybe not. Liverpol then came calling, and were absolutely demolished. It's the same team again. The Man City game is looking like a blip....

So at December 31, 2007, with half the games played, Disharmony are sitting in a decent position in the league, 3rd. Their results so far are very impressive. Not only that, their top striker, Forward Z2 looks like running away with the top scorer and maybe player of the year awards as this shows. He is an awesome player, and he's played most of the season beside his disliked rival, Forward A2.

As we've seen frm the games highlighted, and from the squad summary, in general, the older guys - who dislike their rivals in the same positions but have most talent - have played most games.

Old Ron Stressed, the gaffer, really has done a terrific job so far. Can they keep it up, or is it going to fall apart?