Experiment - Superstars in the BSN/BSS: who carries a team hardest?

The premise of this experiment is simple, 44 of the best players in the game, ages 17 to 30 have been moved to the 6th tier of English football on 1-10% wages and 'fixed' there by organising transfers to Lancaster City in 2050.

The short term part of the experiment is simply to see who carries their team the most effectively. Obviously 4 teams will go up into the BSP and I suppose that it's not unreasonable to assume that 2 of those four will continue the meteoric rise into L2. Theoretically they could get all the way to the Premiership, but at some point they will have to stop going up, weighed down by a team which will still be low-rep semi-pro standard. When all of the teams stay in the same league, or only one is promoted. The winner will be the highest finisher or the promoted one.

It's more of a competition among the players than a pure experiment but it's raised some interesting questions, such as...

With one superstar per team, where's the best place to have one?

In a control test, Adriano was moved and locked to Telford for a season to see if he could move. He scored 59 times over the course of the season and his superior technical skills and movement elevated his strike partner to 2nd top scorer behind him. This elevated 11th-predicted Telford to 1st by a single point.

So what if it was different, what if Iker Casillas was in the Telford goal? In addition to his obvious ability to stop shots, would he be able to marshal a very average defence into a unit capable of retaining possession and launching attacks, allowing an average strike force to win the league due to the 'Goals Conceded' column.

Or maybe a Fabregas or an Essien given free rein in the midfield? Would they be able to terrorise the opponents all over the pitch? Would the managers use them effectively enough?

It's Bobby Moore's 'If you never concede a goal, you're going to win more games than you lose.' up against Johan Cruyff's 'To win you have to score one more goal than your opponent.'.

How important will physical stats prove?

Physical stats are said to be key to the lower leagues, but all top-class players will be stronger and fitter than most part-time players who can't devote all day every day to training. Does it matter if you're an Iniesta or an Ibrahimovic?

Of course, injury proneness will play part. Arjen Robben's team will have to face up to the fact that he may well suffer injuries that will see them seriously outgunned for much of the season.

Is attitude important?

With world-class performers in the amateur leagues, unhappiness will be rife, that's why they had to be locked to the club. Though with the future transfers, the happiness status of most players seems to be 'Looking forward to joining his new club', how long will that last or is it a fact of the programming that it'll always be the status.

So will the players give their all for their 'old' clubs? Iniesta is the professional type, going about his business quiely, but will the Zlatans and Ronaldinhos really give a monkeys?

There is also a longer term aim...

You may have noticed that the age range of the players is 17-30, clearly not the 44 best players in the game, instead I decided that the 44 would be the 'most desirable to have in your team in July 2007', taking into account age as well is talent.

So once the game is run beyond 5 years, it will raise the questions...

Youth or experience?

While having 17 year old Bojan on your team would be an enormous advantage to a semi-pro team, he would not be able to compete with Ruud Van Nistelrooy from the word go. However, Ruud's team may suddenly find themselves a league above their station when he's declined significantly in 5 years time, whereas Bojan and co will be just coming into their best years... or will they?

Will these clubs be able to develop top young players?

While Adriano's stats did not drop at all in his season at Telforde, developing youth players is very different. It may be that the teams with younger players have potential they may never realise.

Will the players retire?

With future transfers arranged it may that the players must see out their deal with the future club, even if that means playing well into middle age. While there will be no value in running the game beyond such time as all the player cannot get a place in theri teams, it will be interesting to see who lasts the course.

And without further ado, the teams!

I'll give tables along with closer looks at certain matches and the performance of the players. Of course, it will be run on full detail along with the FA cup and Setanta Shield to see how far they get.

Anyway if any of you would like to predict, try these...

Predictions

Which 4 teams do you think will go up in the first season?

Which do you think will do down in the first season?

Will the rest of the squad's quality have a large impact or will it all be down to the superstar?

Will the young players develop?

Who will rise the highest before stopping?

Any questions or thoughts are welcome.

Very good idea will be interesting to see how it pans out.

So is it just one player per team?

very interesting idea, i'll follow

Very good idea will be interesting to see how it pans out.

So is it just one player per team?

Yep, apart from the superstar, the club is unchanged.

Predictions

Which 4 teams do you think will go up in the first season? Ronaldinho, Kaka, Zlatan, Torres. I really think it'll be a case of the technically gifted who also have above average physical stats who will run away with this.

Which do you think will do down in the first season? Fazio, Kroos, Sakho, Bishop, Vela, Giovani

Will the rest of the squad's quality have a large impact or will it all be down to the superstar? As you said in the test it was Adriano which led the team to glory. The club's reputation and finances will remain as they are so the rest of the players in the league will all be a similar quality anyway.

Will the young players develop? Messi/Pato will. Kroos, Sakho maybe not.

Who will rise the highest before stopping? Ronaldinho. He carried my team on a Barcelona save so he should do wonders here .

Great experiment by the way, looking forward to seeing this one in action

Bojan's Boston United

I think this is an excellent idea, but won't it be weighted hugely in favour of the younger players.

Akinfeev, RvN, Buffon, and Robben for example. Aren't they close to drawing their pensions:D?

Who is Bishop by the way?

Bishop's Stortford;).

All part of the experiment, Jimbo. The older player's mental toughness could keep them trying in the Blue Square.

Ruud's the only one where age is an immidiate concern, I think. Hm, maybe Ruud shouldn't be counted on a shining beacon of maturity.

My mistake on Stortford. It should be Banaga's Bishop's Stortford. Fixed now .

Which 4 teams do you think will go up in the first season? - Kaka and Ronaldinho. Henry and Messi.

Which do you think will do down in the first season? - Fazio, Kroos and Sakho. Biship, Vela and dos santos.

Will the rest of the squad's quality have a large impact or will it all be down to the superstar? - It will only for defenders and goalkeepers teams.

Will the young players develop? - Yes

Who will rise the highest before stopping? Pato I imagine

Oh I thought Bishop's Stortford were being used a control. Banega won't make too much difference for them though, I still see them struggling .

There'll definately be a few injuries though which will send some teams to the bottom of the league. Most of the teams are amateurs though which means that they won't be training as hard? Maybe less training could be beneficial in terms of less players picking up training injuries.

Predictions

Which 4 teams do you think will go up in the first season?

I will be honest with you, my knowldge of World Football is not what it might be. Some of the names mentioned mean absoltely nothing to me and others I know of but know so little as to not even know what position they play.

As a result, I will make my predictions based upon the positions/fitness of the "stars".

I think that the initial season will be about the control that the centra players are able to exert. The likes of Gerrard, Fabregas, Mascherano, (where is Fat Frank by the way?), and de Rossi will dominate games in a way that teams with stars in other positions will be unable to do.

Which do you think will do down in the first season?

All the teams who have strikers with reasonable fitness/injury levels will do ok because they will simply score too many goals to allow them to go down.

Any team whose "star" gets injured will be in deep poo poo.

Robben is injury prone enough to make him a candidate for relegation, and add the fact that he plays on the flanks into the mix and I think that his team will most certainly be at risk.

Do we have any full-backs in the line-up? If so then I would say that they too are highly at risk as they can affect the game less than a player in the middle of the pitch.

GK's are also an area of concern as they are severely limited with what they can influence on the pitch. Compare the influence of a GK or a DR or MR to that of someone liek Essien or similar. In the engine room of the middle of the pitch he will demand the ball and be able to have the biggest influence on the game. Dictating play, scoring goals and stopping them being scored at the other end.

Centre-backs, while limited somewhat in the attacking area, will be of significant threat from set-pieces so I would expect a considerable return in terms of goals from the likes of JT and Rio.

Akinfeev is a GK so he is at risk.

Cech is a GK so he is at risk.

Never heard of Fazio.

Joaquin is a wide player so he is at risk.

Never hear of Kroos.

Robben is injury prone, old and har all the strength of character that makes me think he will not enjoy being kicked up in the air by some useless hoof merchant in the lower leagues. Je is in severe danger.

Never heard of Sakho.

Never heard of Banega.

Buffon & Casillas are both at risk as GK's.

The relegation candidates will be on that list.

Will the rest of the squad's quality have a large impact or will it all be down to the superstar?

I think it will have an impact, especially the quality of the strikers in teams who do not have a star striker in the squad.

Will the young players develop?

Yes they will develop nicely.

Who will rise the highest before stopping?

As I have already said, I think that the central midfield areas will be the most influential. The age of someone like Fabregas and Mascherano gives them an advantage over the likes of Gerrard and de Rossi, (I've just realised that I've been confusing de Rossi with Gatusso, (a far better play in my opinion), so amyway, I think that Fabregas will be the one to take his team the furthest.

Great predictions Jimbo and lots of things I didn't think of. Most of the players you haven't heard of are young players with lots of potential.

Lampard isn't in as he just didn't quite make the cut. If there were 24 teams in each division...

De Rossi is a bit overrated in FM, I think, but that's what the experiment runs on.

Update coming soonish with one full match report. It's been interesting....

I'm really interested in this. I don't know who will go up/down but i'm rooting for Agureo and co.!

De Rossi's inclusion is important though as he is one of only 2, from what I can gather, pure DM players out of the 44 (The other being Banega). This will give a decent comparison against all rounders like Essien and AMCs such as Kaka.

Also his overrated status is up to debate but he is quality

Mascherano?

I was looking for a typical attack vs defense game to feature for the first week, but the fixture list was unkind so it's going to be...

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BSS - Rooney's St. Albans vs Henry's Havant & W

- Both players part of a striking partnership wearing number 10.

- Henry's first touch is on 1:05. The Albans keeper has to save at the near post on 1:06.

- It appears Rooney has a free role, he's all over the place, but his insistence on passing to his teammates make a goal look unlikely. However, this does stop Haant from getting the ball upfield to Henry.

- Rooney goal disallowed on 12 mins. However, he was given a free header from a long throw. Aerial skill could be vital.

- Henry looks to be playing off the shoulder of the defender. Though he is not in the game as much, it may be more effective as even with Rooney at the ball, it's hard for im to find a pass with his teammates not having much idea of positioning. He's frequently going wide and his crosses always cause trouble.

0-0 HT

- Goal for Henry on 53 mins. A long throw finds him 6 yards from goal and he can turn and slot it in the corner at his leisure.

- Rooney hits the bar on 55 mins. He seems to be coming to the halfway line, recieving, passing and trying to get forward to finish the move.

- Both stars seem to be hanging at the edge of the area for corners. Possibly due to their long shots rating being very high for the BSN.

- Henry goal disallowed on 63 mins. He's just hanging round off the last man and when the ball is played he seems to have the movement to get there first.

- Goal for Rooney on 65 mins. Simple pac the key. A long ball over the top and he blew away Henry's Havent with his pace, went round the keeper and slotted it in.

- Havant take off Henry... Charlie Henry.

- This is no joke... Rooney (Wayne) is taken off injured on 82 mins with a head injury.

FULL TIME - Rooney's St. Albans 1-1 Henry's Havant & W

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Rooney will be out for between 4 days and 2 weeks for a gashed head. That's between 1-3 matches they will be without him and possibly 4 witohut him in good shape.

Other BSS news

Buffon didn't yield to Messi's Lewes as Braintree won 3-0.

Casillas didn't fare so well against Banega's Bishop's Stortford as Essandoh put 2 past him. They had to settle for a point. One was a deflection, the other was him crazily rushing out do deal with the striker and getting caught out.

Eto'o bagged 3 as his Eastleigh took apart Anderson's Bath 4-0.

I should have followed Torres' Thurrock vs Zlatan's Hayas and Yeading. The game finished 4-5 with 3 by Torres and 2 by Zlatan. Torres made the assist for the other goal.

If you have any questions about a particular game, ask and I'll do my best to answer.

As Jimbo predicted, Essien was the engine room making a silly amount of passes and interceptions.

Blue Square North

Kroos' immaturity was shown as his team went down 4-3 to Telford, who lost Adriano before the game due to a strained neck. It has to be said that 17 year old Kroos is all potential.

A similar feat was performed as an Aguero-less Alfeton (gashed head) embarrased Robben's Nuneaton 2-1.

Fazio's Gainsborough beat fancied Ronaldinho's Solihull 5-1 as the young DC Fazio not only performed brilliantly, but also inspired the rest of his defence to perform to a great standard.

In scoring two goals to see off Robinho's Redditch, Andres Iniesta managed a simply astounding 96% pass completion rate, with only one of 30 attempts not finding a teammate.

Woo! Aguero's Alfreton managed to win without the star man himself.

Wow I can't believe Ronaldinho's team got thrashed. I thought they would be capable of goals, especially against a team with a potential star rather than a current one.

Great updates. I think the true test will be after 5 or 6 games once things have settled down and the good teams really come into their own.

KUTGW!

looks good

Buffon, JT & Rio all keeping clean sheets. I think that could be a continuing trend.

A good idea. And a nice update

Match Day 2 of 42

Games: 12

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Featured Game: Ben Arfa's Blyth vs Fazio's Gainsborough

A lot of people were surprised by Fazio's Gainsborough's win over Ronaldinho's Solihull, but he really is very good, Ben Arfa, on the other hand, is still very much a work in progress, but still snatched a 2-2 draw against Toure's Vauxhall.

Although they seem to be players who operate at different ends of the pitch, but they've both been deployed at MC for this match. Let's see if Fazio can work the same magic here.

- Goal for Ben Arfa on 18 mins! A misdirected clearence fell to him and he lashed home from 12 yards. Tough to see why Fazio has been moved to MC, he's brillant at CB and looks to struggle in this new position.

- Fazio does show some influence. He finds space about 45 yards from goal and advances, passing perfectly for Bird too put right at the keeper from 10 yards.

- Goal for Fazio's Gainborough, but Fazio had nothing to do with it. Adam Burley smashed a free kick in off the near post.

- Whenever Ben Arfa and Fazio meet in the middle, Fazio seems to have that little more about him and is playing strongly now.

- Another chance producced by Fazio's holding off Ben Arfa. It's driven into the dise netting by Fazio, though.

- A goal for Alex Callery of Fazio's Gainsborough 'coincidentally' as Fazio is shifted to DC. They looked more organised and didn't give them time to move before the mistake produced the chance and Callery made it 2-1 on the stroke of half time.

At Half Time, it's clear that Ben Arfa is largely being shut out of the game by Fazio, who has once again shown his influence. even spending 44 minutes at MC, he has a 93% pass completion rate. Ben Arfa needs to find space further up the pitch.

- Ben Arfa scores a second! He came on as a forward and that made the difference. Allowed space to move into up front, he gave Fazio the slip and tucked it away.

- Wes Parker scores for Fazio's Gainsborough! 3-2! Fazio just nipped in front of Ben Arfa to intercept, gave it to Pell who gave it to Parker who netted from 20 yards!

- Fazio's pace seems to be too much for Ben Arfa as his teammates lump the ball up front.

- After intercepting a corner, Fazio runs the length of the pitch, but can't beat the keeper.

- A last kick equaliser for Ben Arfa's Blyth. A throw over the head of Fazio allows Harrison to squeeze the ball in at the near post. Against the run of play, but it earned the point. It shows the even the best defender can't be everywhere at once.

FULL TIME - Ben Arfa's Blyth 3-3 Fazio's Gainsborough

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BSN News

Joaquin's Hucknall go top on points as they beat Sakho's Stalybridge 4-3. Curiously, not only was Joaquin not involved in any of the goals, but Sakho was not involved in the game! Despite being fit, he was not included in the squad.

An injured Aguero managed to set up the only goal of the game to draw with Mascherano's Leigh 1-1. It was not a good day to be a keeper as 1-1 was also the score for the 'shots on target' stat.

Ronaldinho's misery continued as his Solihull side were beaten 4-1 by Kaka's Hyde. He currently plays on the left. If he were moved into the centre, things may be different.

David Villa grabbed a hat-trick to sink Toure's Vauxhall.

Blue Square South

Pato's Maidenhead became the only team so far to make it two for two by beating Rio's Hampdon and Richmond 1-0. Serge Makofo was the hero when a cross aimed for Pato dropped into the net. There was nothing the immense Ferdinand could do about that one.

Anderson's Bath took advantage of Rooney's short absence to beat his St. Albans team 3-2. The goal tally of 5 is the highet so far without a superstar scoring in the game,

Van Nistelrooy grabbed all the goals in a 3-0 victory over Ramos' Newport County with a great run, a deft chip and a penalty.

Robben is injury prone, old and har all the strength of character that makes me think he will not enjoy being kicked up in the air by some useless hoof merchant in the lower leagues. Je is in severe danger.

Robben isn't that old is he, he's still in his early 20's iirc?

He's only 24. I'm quite surprised by that.

He's only 24. I'm quite surprised by that.

I know what you mean. It seems like he's been around for ages and the balding head doesn't help.

Great Experiment, looking forward to see if King Ronnie's team can lift their game.

Also did you give all of the teams equal reputation and other stats (training and youth facilities, moral etc)?

Great experiment

Are you making the DB available for download?

He's only 24. I'm quite surprised by that.

Wowsers, I thought he was very late 20's as well. Could of knocked me down with a feather when i found that out.

I like the idea of this experiment, I wonder how poor some of the potential stars will turn out, with the poor facilities in the lower teams, I can't see them fufilling their potential, i could even see some of them actually declining in CA.

The only thing that has changed about the teams is the inclusion of the superstar. I was planning on giving every team top facilites, but in the end I felt like it would have teams like Bojan's team a huge advantage in the long run. Also, it's good for looking it the 'facilities vs first team football' dilemma of the game.

The DB will most likely end up available at the end of the experiment. Like Kipfizh, I don't want people holidaying year into the future and finding it all out.

really good ecperiment

i ll be following this one..

Match Day 3 of 42

Games: 10

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Featured Game: Iniesta's Hinckley vs Gerrard's Harrogate

Both the midfielders kicked off their campaigns with a win this should be a great battle in the missle of the pitch.

Iniesta is in his natural AMC position in a 4-3-1-2 formation, oddly astute from a BSS manger, and Gerrard is an MC in a 4-4-2.

- Though at AMC, Iniesta's pace allows him to get forward and act as a striker when the need arises.

- Harrogate are looking to advance in the space down the wings before moving it to Gerrard. On this early occasion, he blasts over from 20 yards.

- As expected, Gerrard is both stopping attacks and starting them, he's keeping Iniesta out of the game for the time being.

- Half time. It'sbeen a boring half, to be honest. Much of the game has been the amateur players trying to take advantage of the space left behind by the marking of the superstars. Iniesta has been in good positions once or twice, but chose the pass. Good policy at Barcelona, not so much at Hinckley.

- A free kick from out wide sees Iniesta curl the ball wickedly towards the near post, but he just catches the side netting.

- Goal for Iniesta's Hinckley! He picks out a great liitle pass for Storer in the area who duly scores. 15 minutes left for Gerrard's Harrogate to equalise.

- Iniesta adds a second 5 minutes from time! A great free kick from 20 yards. That could be invaluable against BSS goalkeepers.

- 4th of the season for Iniesta on 87 minutes, Gerrard's Harrogate push up and he makes scoring from 20 yards look easy. Hinckley show that they can keep Gerrard out of it by playing neat little triangles around him in the build up to the goal.

- Gerrard's humiliation is complete as he gets an injury time free kick from the same place Iniesta scored from but succeeds only in cracking the post.

FULL TIME - Iniesta's Hinckley 3-0 Gerrard's Harrogate

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Blue Square North

More great stuff by Adriano's Telford, earning a draw against Akinfeev's Barrow with Adriano out of action. 4 from 6 without your superstar is fantastic.

More humilation for Robben and his Nuneaton team, beaten 2-1 by Robinho's Reddich with Robinho out with a wrist injury.

Blue Square South

De Rossi's Cambridge City nearly held on against Fabregas' Fisher with 9 men, but an 85th minute goal finished them off 3-2.

Henry bagged a record 5 goals and a 10 rating as his Havant team routed Messi's Lewes 5-2. His positioning and movement off the shoulder of the last defender as well as unerring coolness in front of goal were the keys to the win.

Torres scored 3 and created 2 more as Thurrock mashed Silva's Sutton Utd 7-1.

Eto'o's Eastleigh and Buffon's Braintree join Pato's Maidenhead on 6 points from 6.

Liking the look of this experiment! As has been said before, I think the AMC clubs will do best.

Will follow with interest

I am going to support Tamworth, not because I like John Terry, but because that is where I live.

Come on the Lambs!

come on barrow

Go Fabregas and your band of fishermen!

Very interesting experiment, looking forward to seeing more of this.

KUTGW

MAJOR CHANGE TO THE EXPERIMENT

Adriano's stats not declining was the exception, not the rule. Other stars' stats are markedly declining, about what you would expect over 6 months in a 32-34 year old player and it's only August. I have decided to give all the teams Good facilities with FMM. This does give an advantage to the younger players, but is neccessary to the experiment. Feel free to revise your predictions whenever.

Note that while this may make the clubs better equipped than many L2 teams, these new facilities are lots more expensive. Money troubles could be ahead.

On the plus side, I've answered one of my questions already! If the training facilities are rubbish, it doesn't matter how much football you get.

Match Day 4 of 42

Games: 22

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Featured Game: BSN - Adriano's AFC Telford vs Ronaldinho's Solihull Moors

Solihull's 5-1 and 4-1 batterings have been the cause of constarnation. Let's see what's going on as they take on Adriano's AFC Telford who have done so well without their superstar. He returns today, at 67% fitness and carrying that same neck injury.

Adriano is up front and Ronaldinho on the left wing.

- Adriano's Telford score in 11 seconds and neither of the legends were near it! An awry defensive pass was seized upon by Gary Birch who took it round the keeper and into the net. Could Ronaldinho's problem simply be that his team are too rubbish for even he to elevate?

- Ronaldinho seems to have the most effect when moving into the centre. A good pass gave Solihull a good chance which Telford keeper Young struggled with.

- Penalty to Telford! A long ball forward found the striker Gary Birch who was felled.

- Adriano to take. He unsurprisingly tucks it right in the corner. 2-0.

- Ronaldinho is hardly anonymous. All his crosses seem to land squarely on the heads of the Solihull players, they just can't put them away.

- Half time. Though Ronaldinho's Solihull look like making it 3 losses in a row, but they have been unlucky here.

- On 73 minutes Adriano comes off. Not only was he injured comng into the match, he's picked up another minor knock. Hopefully, it won't keep him away for long. Solihull will look to capitalise.

- Wow! I talked about free kick specialists being invaluable and Ronaldinho showed himself to be one, forcing the keeper into a full-strech save from all of 40 yards.

- Is the comeback on? Solihull outplay Telford on the right and Curran tucks it away from 15 yards. Ronaldinho didn't have a thing to do with that.

FULL TIME - Adriano's AFC Telford 2-1 Ronaldinho's Solihull Moors

That's 0 points from 9 available by Ronaldinho's team but panic bells shouldn't ring yet, Ronaldinho will score from anywhere inside 30 yards, has been releasing great through balls down the left and if the strikers find form, they can reverse this poor start.

Blue Square North

I should probably note that I'll be doing league tables and awards and such at the end of each month.

Cech could claim a victory in the battle of the BSN keepers as his Burscough team beat Akinfeev's Barrow 1-0, but Cech did not have the face a penalty, one of which beat Akinfeev after 9 minutes as Matty Mcginn sent him the wrong way.

Mascherano was the villain at Robinho's Redditch as he missed a penalty that would have earned Leigh a point.

Blue Square South

Torres picked up his third successive hattrick as Thurrock beat Anderson's Bath 3-2.

Van Nistelrooy also bagged 3 against Banega's Bishop's Stortford.

Pato's Maidenhead conceded their first goal, but hit back with 7 of their own. Pato's 6 in a game is a new record. They and Buffon's Braintree are the only teams on 9 points from 3 games.

Buffon is now the only keeper to have not conceded after a 1-0 win over Henry's Havant & W.

Nice idea and great experiment

The bests team name has to be Anderson's bath.

KUTGW

How are the standings so far?

I will follow and KUTGW:thup:

The bests team name has to be Anderson's bath.

KUTGW

Or Toure's Vauxhall. Wonder if it's a Vectra or a Corsa

How are the standings so far?

I will follow and KUTGW:thup:

Said I'd do it once a month but since you asked

Whatever Barcelona puts in their water it doesn't seem to work as well In BSN/BSS as aside from Iniesta, Xavi and Eto'o, the teams of the Barcelona players appear to be doing rather poorly. Messi and Ronaldinho with no points and then dos Santos and Bojan with 1 point. Henry's not doing too much better with just the 1 win.

nice threat, I'll follow it KUTGW

At the end of the month (or some other suitable point), it could be an interesting idea to post the average ratings of the superstar players. That'll show for teams like Solihull Moors and Lewes whether the likes of Ronaldinho and Messi are playing well and just being brought down by their team mates, or if they just don't fancy it at that level and aren't playing well as a response.

Henry's Havant and Waterlooville rolls off the tongue nicely

Agree that Anderson's Bath is the best team name though although I'm supporting them because he's a legend not the name

I'll be sure to keep an eye on the ratings and post them up.

Match Day 5 of 42

Games:22

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Featured Game: Ramos' Newport County vs Pato's Maidenhead

Despite keeping Madrid's back line in check, Ramos has failed at Newport, and Pato has come out of the blocks much better than his more experienced counterparts. Let's find out why.

Ramos is at CB in a 4-4-2 and Pato up front in a 3-5-2.

- Penalty to Ramos' Newport! A melee in the box led to a Newport player going down and Griffin is set to take.

- He scores it, but last time a team scored early against Pato's Maidenhead, they conceded 7.

- After a corner Maidenhead's Daly unleashes a thunderbolt which crashes agianst the bar from 30 yards!

- Ramos is keeping it tight and coordinating from the back and his team are well on top.

- Half time. It's been tight and Pato hasn't been in it. Looks like a good DC can keep a suerstar striker in check. It's when they're at AMC and have more space to move into that the trouble is.

- Can't do anytihng if you're over the otherside of the pitch, though! Pato blew by Jarman before testing the keeper from a narrow angle.

- Ramos can play at DMC and is coming forward to spray out passes a lot.

- A second penalty for Ramos' Newport. This time a push from a corner. Ramos has kept Newport on the attack and this is the second time Maidenhead have cracked under the pressure!

- In off the post! Griffin bags a second penalty, 2-0 on 71 mins.

- 5 minutes later and it's another, Charlie Griffin tripped in the area after sustained pressure!

- Brazilian Ronaldo's done it, now Charlie Griffin of Maidenhead has done it, a hat-trick of penalties, also becoming the first non-superstar to get a hat-trick.

- Bad day all round for Pato, he misses a one on one.

FULL TIME - Ramos' Newport Co. 3-0 Pato's Maidenhead

A most curious hat-trick for Newport and a masterclass by Ramos, keeping Pato out and then putting the pressure on Maidenhead, leading to the penalties.

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Blue Square North

Bojan convincingly beat Aguero in the race to be the best young striker, scoring 2 as Boston beat Alfreton 4-0. He gained a 9 rating to Aguero's paltry 5.

Gerrard is still fighting to the last in the lower leagues, outjumping Mascherano in the last minute to inflict a second 3-2 defeat on his Leigh side.

Robben got his first win Nuneaton team winning in the most unlikely circumstances, against Iniesta's Hinckley, with 10 men for 45 minutes.

Ronaldinho is still failing to inspire for Solihull, being average as Cech's Burscough beat them 3-1.

Kaka's Hyde and Xavi's Workington went top on points.

Fazio's Gainsborough's good start seem to count for little now as Villa put 3 past them, his Worcester side winning 4-0.

Blue Square South

Buffon's Braintree conceded their first 3 of the season as Benzema's Bognor Regis put 3 past them to earn a point.

Torres got an incredible 4th consecutive hat-trick in a row, but Thurrock still succumbed to Henry's Havant % W 4-3, with the Frenchman scoring 2.

Silva's Sutton United look a mess with their superstar not getting a single goal and lying bottom on 1 point.

Screenshot of the top goalscorers?

Just to let you know, I've updated the AI Experiment guide to include this thread now.

Screenshot of the top goalscorers?

It'll be a regular thing at the end of every month, but here they are now:

There are from before Match Day 6

Blue Square North

Blue Square South

Walcott's Wonderkids: Awesome, thanks.

Match Day 6 of 42

Games: 22

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Featured Game: Casillas' Bromley vs Silva's Sutton United

Silva has a good claim to being the best player in FM08 combining incredible technical ability with pace, a eye for goal and creativity, yet his team lies bottom of the BSS with him yet to score. Why? Here he will have free run of the midfield with the opposing superstar being a goalie.

- Silva is at MC in a very interesting 5-3-2 wingback system.

- Depsite having the highest free kick stat int he team with 14, Silva is not taking free kicks.

- Casillas is finding psyching out the amateur players is working. They just can't perform in front of him. No shots from Silva yet.

- This time Silva strikes a free kick from 20 yards. It flashes just wide of the post.

- Half time. Silva has kept Sutton Utd on the offensive, but Casillas has had an easy day and goalkeepers' teams know how to win 1-0.

- And they might have just done that on 61 mins! Silva will have to take the blame! He let Barry Moore nick it 25 yards out and he duly fired into the top corner. 1-0.

- Hockton makes it 2 a minute later. Holding off the defenders to tuck it into the bottom corner. Usually any side with Silva in it could turn back any 2-0 defecit, but here he doesn't look capable of anything.

- It gets worse and worse. On 67 mins, Hockton is held as a cross comes in and wins a penalty for Bromley.

- Tucked away by Hockton with aplomb, 3-0.

- That is the Silva we know and love, he storms forward and plays a one-two with McBean and puts it across Casillas into the bottom corner. 3-1 but with 15 minutes left, it looks over.

FULL TIME - Casillas' Bromley 3-1 Silva's Sutton United

We saw a flash of brilliance from Silva, but overall, it looked like he lacks the stomach for life this far down the league. It may be that scoring a goal may open the floodgates, but by the look of this game, I wouldn't count on that. He could benefit from a more advanced position.

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Blue Square North

Aguero grabbed 5 in seeing off Joaquin's Hucknall 6-3. Joaquin is having a miserable time this season and was taken off after 57 minutes.

Xavi grabbed an injury time free kick equaliser against Gerrard's Harrogate despite having an outfield player in goal for the last 5 minutes.

Kaka's Hyde stumbed against Fazio's Gainsborough as Fazio's deployment in midfield limited Kaka to one goal, caused by a wayward Fazio header.

Robben seems to be getting up for this lower league thing as his Nuneaton team would have triumphed agaisnt anyone but an inspired David Villa who scored all of Worcester's goals in a 4-3 win.

Another ordinary performance from Ronaldinho as Sakho's Stalybridge beat Solihull 2-0.

Terry's Tamworth go top on points by beating Kroos' Kettering 3-1.

Blue Square South

No 5th hattrick from Torres as he scored Thurrock's only goal in a 3-1 defeat to Messi's Lewes.

A 61st minute goal from Van Nistelrooy led to a victory against Anderson's Bath, relacing them as joint leaders with Pato's Madenhead.

A throughly miserable day for Zlatan's Hayes and Yeading as they lost 4-0 to Vela's Weston-super-Mare and lost Zlatan for 3-8 weeks with an ankle injury. With the club in 19th, there will be serious concerns.

Come on the Lambs, Top of the table, never thought I would be cheering on Terry.