AI Experiment - what would happen if?

[5ergio]

With fm09 due out and a possible 2nd generation of The Bandits in the pipe line. Maybe they are due their own Badge. Rather than the one kindly donated by Fisher.

Prehaps Something like this.

Maybe one of the forums better artists could come up with a good one?

What do you say Kipfizh?

We have one badge made by a Bandits supporter way back. I can't remember exactly which page but you can see it on The Bandits Fan Club in facebook. (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=7652622135)

[WH]

Nice one, but i think they need to wear it with pride on the game screen for 09.

[Guest roberto922]

The fan clubs still going?

[vivu]

Got hooked on the thread .......

Tried a small variation as a test in my game.... wanted to assign players to conf team for a longer period.... so put the players on a 2nd team and put them on loan to the team i wanted (for 5 years) and then a future transfer at the date the loan ended..... Didnt have the patience to go through leagues (pc is a bit slow)....

Wonder how the outcome would have been???

Ny way have a better system now and would try again when i hve fm09 version and check out......

kutgw kip....:thup:

[Grevenfhi]

so this is all? last season of this team will be them relegated? that make me a sad panda

[Mravac Kid]

It's not done yet... the FM09 experiment can't start until there's a scout/editor program, and Kip said he won't be starting it anyway until the initial bugs have been ironed out.

[5ergio]

I'm expecting it to start around jan, maybe after the transfer patch so that we can be sure there won't be any more patches to game. Also, we do need Genie Scout or any equivalent one to see the big picture clearly.

This is all my expectations all of course based upon the hope that Kip will have the time to run it.

[Maviarab.]

Well what a farce. After a long lay off...come back to find the Bandits relegated, new forum and cant log in ????

Recognises my account yet cant use name as 'already in use?'

Bahh whats the point lol...going downhill rapidly imo.

Anyways, rant over...shame to see us relegated, but lets hope this isnt the end of the experiment. Great update as usual Kip despite the content.

[Guest roberto922]

Maviarab - It would be a good idea to contact one of the mods to let them know you've got a new account so that you can't get in trouble for having an alias

[nerner]

so this is all? last season of this team will be them relegated? that make me a sad panda

It does give it some kind of finality though, as it seems to be a proper ending. They would have either won the league or got relegated.

[kipfizh]

Update coming shortly

And to those wondering, I haven't got FM09 yet, and will probably wait until after Christmas for it. This experiment is probably going to run for the full two years and then there will be a switch over that, personally, I'm really quite excited about.

Because, as you may have noticed, I don't quite have the drive for the old experiment anymore, it does seem to have lost something recently. Maybe it's just the meandering seasons where there really isn't a lot to report, but then, it took me ages to tell you about their relegation too.

Still, there's some exciting stuff in store for FM09, and I'll be keeping my eye out for helpful tools as they arrive.

[Spleen!]

Looking forward to it, hopefully it's an update of a promotion

[4Site]

Can't Wait

KUTGW

[kipfizh]

Season 2061-62

Bandits report - Transfers

Transfers In

Transfers Out

Last season, the Bandits were relegated for the first time in their entire history, dropping back to the Championship after a long stretch in the top league. Now, with Yates in charge, their squad has been ripped apart, relegation surely only causing that problem to increase.

Can Yates form a decent squad for the Championship? Can he retain the couple of young starlets he still has? And if he starts badly, will he finally be dismissed?

Summer

With the reputation of the club now in tatters following relegation, there was an unsurprising exodus, one that had to occur given their sorry position. Youth players left, former star strikers de Lange and Messner went on frees, former right wing first teamer Joel followed, as the old guard were disbanded, unwilling to play in the lower league.

Danny Howarth had been a promising midfielder, but hadn’t been living up to his potential in terms of performance, so a 7m sale to QPR made sense. What was more disappointing was the sale of Danny Gould, the young right winger with a potential ability of 184. The sale wasn’t surprising – players like that aren’t interested in the Championship, but that doesn’t make it any less of a shame. Leeds paid 8.75m to capture him.

First choice centre back Matt Ricketts also decided he was too good for the Championship (correctly), and left to join high flying Burnley for 5.5m. His one time partner, Michael Thomas, joined Man City for 4.5m, but with him well into his 30s that was actually quite a good price.

An even better price was fetched for left back Borut Sadar, who earned the Bandits a healthy 8.25m for his move to Chesterfield, not bad for a 31 year old, while the last sale was Anthony O’Keefe, rated as the club’s best player but not performing well enough, and he joined Hull for 4.6m.

The clearout had been inevitable, but the fear had been that every promising talent in the club would have gone. In fact, although many of the older members of the first team had left, 24 year old David Ramos, with his 188 PA, stayed, along with 20 year old striker Thomas Mintus, Both starlets could be deadly in the Championship.

They needed some new blood, players capable of taking them straight back into the Premiership, where they belong. All attention turned to those coming in.

First to arrive was Irish central midfielder Richie Battams, a 3m capture from Liverpool. Now 29, he has a CA of 155, which is dropping away from his PA of 168. He is about the standard of many signings over the past few seasons, but while he isn’t a great Premiership player, he is very good for the Championship, and a good short term signing.

Next in was another arrival from Merseyside, Andy Downey, who cost 2.7m from Everton. At 23, the centre back has time on his side, with a CA that could rise ten points from its current level of 156. Again, good for the Championship.

For a Championship side, the Bandits continued to splash the cash, spending 4.7m to bring Chris Vincent to the club from Sunderland. The 28 year old was not quite as good, his CA of 149 now falling from its peak of 156.

Right back Lee Hulbert cost 2.4m from Huddersfield, the 25 year old having only a CA of 147, possibly rising to 158, and while he is a squad player he isn’t going to set the division alight. There was to be one more arrival, left sided player Andy Shaw. In true Yates style, he couldn’t go through a transfer window without buying one turkey, and Shaw was it. The 27 year old will never go above his current, quite frankly rubbish, CA of 117. Fortunately, he only cost 70k from Fulham, but what was Yates thinking?

Overall, the size of the squad has shrunk dramatically, which is a major worry, yet somehow inevitable after their relegation. But Battams and Downey are good Championship players, while the Bandits own Ramos and Mintus are far too good for this league. Can they take the club back up?

January

Only two sales were made in January, and both were stingers. The first was somewhat inevitable – Ramos had stayed loyal throughout the summer, but his 7.20 average in the Championship and superb ability had attracted the attention of the bigger clubs, and Premiership Colchester paid a healthy 17.25m for him, in respect of his talent. Ironically, Colchester would end up getting relegated, so Ramos may find himself moving on once again next season.

The second sale was that of James Constable, the peaking right wing back who, while not possessing the greatest ability, was a solid team player. He went on to join Chesterfield, also in the Premiership, for 4.8m.

And that was it. Mintus had once again been retained, and his 168 CA, along with striker partner Cash’s 164, is an excellent Championship combination. Could Yates bring in players to supply them?

He began by bringing in Stephen Sills, a left back who cost 2m from Crystal Palace, but the signing wasn’t exactly inspiring – the 23 year old has a CA of 146 and a PA of 153.

And in a slow January, there was to be one more signing, Lee Henry, a 25 year old right sided player who cost just 6k from Crewe. Again, the price was right, as his CA of 118 and PA of 129 aren’t exactly going to help.

And that was it. Of the fifteen top rated players in last season’s squad, only McParland, Taylor, Mintus, de Zeeuw and Cash remained, and the first two of them are keepers. The squad size is tiny, but they do have a couple of really talented players who chose not to move on. They will now be relied on – can they do it?

[kipfizh]

Bandits report - squad

Top 20 in Squad (sorted by CA)

Name, Pos, Age, CA-PA

McParland, GK, 32, 173-173 (-)

A Taylor, GK, 26, 170-170 (-)

Mintus, ST, 21, 168-176 (+6)

Lila, DLC/MC, 27, 166-171 (+5)

Cash, ST, 25, 165-165 (-)

Peters, DC/DM, 24, 163-176 (+4)

de Zeeuw, DC, 32, 161-174 (-4)

Doorn, ST, 25, 160-171 (+2)

Georgiev, DM, 26, 157-157 – new entry in top 20

Downey, DC, 23, 156-166 – new signing

Battams, MC, 29, 155-168 - new signing

Bingham, D/M R, 26, 152-162 – new entry in top 20

Vincent, AM C, 28, 149-156 – new signing

Hulbert, D/WB R, 25, 147-158 – new signing

Williamson, ST, 20, 146-157 – new entry in top 20

Sills, DL, 23, 146-153 – new signing

Casali, AM R, 28, 137-137 – new entry in top 20

Henry, D/WB/AM R, 25, 118-129 – new signing

Shaw, D/WB/M L, 27, 117-117 – new signing

J Taylor, DC, 19, 106-118 – new entry in top 20

Players in last season’s top 20 who have left the club:

O’Keefe, DM, 27, 174-183

Ricketts, DC, 29, 172-173

Ramos, AM L, 24, 171-188

Sadar, DL, 31, 169-174

Gould, AM R, 20, 168-184

Salvati, MC, 26, 165-171 – loan ended

Joel, AMR/ST, 27, 164-172

Howarth, AMC, 23, 163-178

Constable, D/WB R, 28, 163-168

Thomas, DC, 32, 161-173

Mitrev, WB/AM L, 29, 161-171 – loan ended

de Lange, ST, 32, 159-172

Players in last season’s top 20 who have dropped out of the top 20:

None

It isn’t a surprise that, following relegation from the top flight, a number of players decided it was time to move on. Eight remained from last season, all with a CA of 160 or above, and those eight players are now the absolute core of the team. A couple of 170+ players is still an excellent position for a Championship side and this should help the Bandits in their promotion push.

But the other twelve members of last season’s top twenty moved on, and while the 20th place player last season had a CA of 158, this season the same spot is filled by a hopeless defender with a CA of just 106. The lack of depth that the squad already had has been extended to a worrying degree.

With no injuries, this team could be superb – 160-170 CA players in the Championship are dangerous. But the backup is beyond abysmal.

Notable others:

None

CA of X or above:

190 : 0 … 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

180 : 0 … 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

170 : 0 … 6, 7, 8, 7, 5, 5, 4, 4, 2

160 : 0 … 18, 19, 11, 15, 16, 18, 14, 17, 8

150 : 0 … 27, 26, 21, 19, 20, 23, 22, 23, 12

140 : 0 … 29, 26, 22, 21, 20, 24, 22, 24, 16

130 : 0 … 30, 26, 24, 22, 21, 25, 25, 25, 17

120 : 0 … 31, 27, 25, 23, 21, 25, 25, 26, 17

110 : 0 … 31, 27, 25, 25, 23, 25, 25, 26, 19

100 : 2 … 41, 29, 27, 26, 23, 26, 25, 27, 21

Ouch. Of course with a relegation there is going to be a drop in standard, but the number of 160+ players has fallen from 17 to 8, and realistically the squad size is only sixteen.

Let’s hope for no injuries.

[Guest roberto922]

I look forward to the next part

[williamshankley]

I look forward to the next part

I think we will gain promotion this season

[kipfizh]

Bandits report – Season report

August-December

After a long spell in the Premiership, the Bandits had finally been relegated and faced a new challenge – getting themselves promoted from the Championship that they’d left behind 25 years ago.

The season started very well, two wins and three draws opening the campaign, along with a 3-0 win over Brighton in the League Cup, before they suffered their first defeat against Nottm Forest. In fact, up until the end of October things were going swimmingly – they lost only three games out of their first fifteen, sitting a very healthy third, and had progressed through three rounds of the League Cup.

In November they began to get a little inconsistent, a couple of excellent wins being intermingled with some appalling defeats – a 3-0 reverse at Morecambe was followed by a reminder of their Premiership struggles when Sheff Wed hammered them 4-1 in the League Cup.

December saw a decent recovery, two wins, two draws and a defeat seeing the Bandits end the year in second place, putting in a serious challenge for an immediate return to the Premiership. Cautious optimism began, with fans hoping that the relegation followed by a promotion would see a new squad put in place for their return to the top division.

The worry remained that their squad was too thin, but with 25 out of the 46 games already played, they’d stood up to the challenge pretty well. Could this finally be a happy season?

January-May

2062 didn’t start particularly well, defeats to Cardiff and Brentford seeing the Bandits fall out of the automatic promotion places within the first few days of the year, but a win over Lincoln in the FA Cup provided a welcome reaction. A win, and revenge, over Nottm Forest soon followed in the league, before a 3-0 defeat to Leicester pushed them to the lower reaches of the playoffs.

Another indication that the Premiership wouldn’t be a happy place was received when Man United came to town for the FA Cup, leaving 3-0 victors. But only one more defeat before the end of February saw the Bandits remain fourth with twelve games remaining. Two would go up automatically, while the next four would be in the playoffs. While the playoffs looked more likely, the Bandits were still desperate to push on the final stages of the season as their playoff record is awful.

As the season got towards its climax, disaster struck. March was a painful month for all connected with the club, with five defeats in six matches destroying a lot of the good work that had been done all season. As predicted, as soon as the Bandits got a few injuries, they collapsed spectacularly, as while their first team is a cross between a top Championship and a low Premiership side, their reserves would be lucky to get a game in the Conference. After one month of terrible results, they were suddenly down to 15th, the Championship being so close that a few bad results could send you tumbling down the table.

Two wins in the last four matches at least saw the club rise back up to 13th, six points from the sixth spot that would’ve seen them in the playoffs. The margin wasn’t that great, but a disastrous March, brought about by the irresponsible lack of depth that Yates has created, meant that they actually finished their first season back in the Championship in the bottom half.

It gets worse before it gets better.

Honours: League Cup (2044, 2047, 2052)

[kipfizh]

Bandits report – Season summary

2006-07, English Conference South - 1st, FA Trophy - Winners

2007-08, English National Conference - 7th, FA Trophy - Final

2008-09, English National Conference – 7th

2009-10, English National Conference – 9th

2010-11, English National Conference – 6th

2011-12, English National Conference – 18th

2012-13, English National Conference – 5th

2013-14, English National Conference – 1st

2014-15, English League Two – 21st

2015-16, English League Two – 21st

2016-17, English League Two – 6th

2017-18, English League Two – 6th

2018-19, English League Two – 7th

2019-20, English League Two – 6th, Johnstone’s Paint Trophy – South Semi Final

2020-21, English League Two – 10th

2021-22, English League Two – 1st, Johnstone’s Paint Trophy - Final

2022-23, English League One – 13th, Johnstone’s Paint Trophy – South Semi Final

2023-24, English League One – 11th, League Cup – Final

2024-25, English League One – 11th, League Cup – Semi-Final

2025-26, English League One – 18th

2026-27, English League One – 17th

2027-28, English League One – 14th

2028-29, English League One – 20th

2029-30, English League One – 1st

2030-31, English Championship – 14th

2031-32, English Championship – 10th, League Cup – Final

2032-33, English Championship – 12th

2033-34, English Championship – 8th

2034-35, English Championship – 21st

2035-36, English Championship – 2nd

2036-37, English Premiership – 17th

2037-38, English Premiership – 12th

2038-39, English Premiership – 15th, FA Cup – Semi-Final

2039-40, English Premiership – 11th

2040-41, English Premiership – 14th

2041-42, English Premiership – 13th

2042-43, English Premiership – 11th

2043-44, English Premiership – 6th, League Cup – Winners

2044-45, English Premiership – 9th

2045-46, English Premiership – 3rd

2046-47, English Premiership – 2nd, League Cup – Winners

2047-48, English Premiership – 5th, League Cup – Final

2048-49, English Premiership – 5th, UEFA Cup – Semi-Final

2049-50, English Premiership – 11th, League Cup – Final

2050-51, English Premiership – 6th

2051-52, English Premiership – 9th, League Cup – Winners

2052-53, English Premiership – 3rd

2053-54, English Premiership – 5th, UEFA Cup – Semi-Final, FA Cup – Semi-Final

2054-55, English Premiership: - 6th

2055-56, English Premiership – 6th

2056-57, English Premiership – 14th

2057-58

English Premiership: (Pos 12), P 38, W 13, D 13, L 12, F 54, A 52, GD +2, Pts 52

(Media Prediction: 10th)

FA Cup: 4th Round

League Cup: 2nd Round

2058-59

English Premiership: (Pos 13), P 38, W 13, D 7, L 18, F 52, A 62, GD -10, Pts 46

(Media Prediction: 13th)

FA Cup: Final

League Cup: Quarter-Final

2059-60

English Premiership: (Pos 14), P 38, W 13, D 8, L 17, F 48, A 51, GD -3, Pts 47

(Media Prediction: 12th)

FA Cup: 5th Round

League Cup: 3rd Round

2060-61

English Premiership: (Pos 19), P 38, W 10, D 8, L 20, F 46, A 72, GD -26, Pts 38

(Media Prediction: 15th)

FA Cup: 5th Round

League Cup: 3rd Round

2061-62

English Championship: (Pos 13), P 46, W 16, D 14, L 16, F 70, A 65, GD -+5, Pts 62

(Media Prediction: 2nd)

League

FA Cup: 4th Round

League Cup: 3rd Round

[kipfizh]

Bandits report - Best and Worst

General

Stats

New records:

None

This season:

Best player – Mintus, 7.53

Top scorer – Mintus, 24

Worst player – Georgiev, 6.31

Marcel Doorn also had an excellent season as Mintus’ partner up front, scoring 23 goals.

[kipfizh]

Bandits report - First XI Summary

GK: McParland (32, 173/173) – 7.50

LB: Lila (27, 166/171) – 6.95

CB: de Zeeuw (32, 161/173) – 7.23

CB: Peters (24, 163/176) – 7.02

RB: Hulbert (25, 147/158) – 7.00

LM: Shaw (27, 117/117) – 6.69

CM: Battams (29, 155/168) – 6.97

CM: Georgiev (26, 157/157) – 6.31

RM: Bingham (26, 152/162) – 7.04

ST: Mintus (21, 168/176) – 7.53

ST: Doorn (25, 160/171) – 7.20

Average age – 26.7 (up from last year’s 26.2)

Average CA – 156.3 (down from last year’s 168.0)

Average rating – 7.04 (up from last year’s 6.83)

No surprise to see the average CA take such a sharp drop after a relegation, and equally, you would expect the excellent rise in performance now that the players are in the league below.

In fact, the first team is pretty good, a bunch of 150 and 160 CA players in there should mean the Bandits are up in the promotion spots, but is hasn’t happened due to the depth in the squad. Look beyond these eleven and the quality sharply falls.

That is even visible in the eleven itself. Left winger Ramos stayed with the club until January, performing wonders with his CA of 171, but when he left he was replaced with Shaw, and his pathetic 117 ability. With issues like this, it is no wonder the club’s promotion challenge faltered so badly at the end of the season.

[kipfizh]

Bandits report – Outside the first XI

Dropped:

Cash (ST): Despite the cull, he was actually dropped in favour of Doorn.

Sold:

Sadar (LB): Moved on after a great career with the Bandits.

Constable (RB): Another who did not stay with the Bandits for the Championship campaign.

Ricketts (CB): Sold after relegation.

Ramos (LM): Never likely to stay after relegation.

Gould (RM): The promising youngster was moved on for the sake of his career.

O’Keefe (CM): Also moved on.

Howarth (CM): Ditto.

Prospects

None

[kipfizh]

Competitions - Other stats

It is World Cup year, and England are hosting it this time around. A group of Australia, Belgium and Paraguay shouldn’t be too hard to get through.

Tottenham returned to the top of the English game, winning the Premiership by a single point from the ever impressive Burnley. Sheff Wed and champions Liverpool filled out the Champions League places, while Colchester, QPR and Barnsley returned to the Championship.

West Ham lifted the FA Cup, denying Spurs the double by beating them in the final, while West Brom needed penalties to claim the League Cup ahead of Newcastle.

In Europe, Marseille stopped holders Barcelona from retaining the Champions League, beating them on penalties after a dull goalless draw. World beater Roberio hammered home the winning penalty. Burnley made it the furthest of the English sides, reaching the quarter finals. In the UEFA Cup, Aston Villa provided some English cheer, defeating Sevilla 3-1 after extra time.

[kipfizh]

Summary

After the first relegation in their history, the Bandits failed miserably to return to the top flight, finishing in the bottom half of the Championship after a disastrous March ruined their promotion hopes. Other than that fateful month, they were in contention, but now may struggle to retain the services of their few remaining stars, notably young Thomas Mintus up front, who shone this season.

Realistically, the only way they are going to succeed is to sack their hopeless manager, so it is good news that after another disappointing season, Danny Yates is finally under severe pressure. Will he even last the summer?

The Premiership, Europe and that glorious Champions League win in Munich seem so very long ago.

[kipfizh]

World View - World beaters (by CA)

Juan Carlos Gimenez (Lyon/Argentina, 25, 199/199, Midfielder: 75.99%), remains at the fantastic 199 level for the third consecutive season. Again, he doesn’t actually play spectacularly well, and is in danger of not becoming the legend his ability should allow him to be.

Juan Carlos Gimenez

Nenad Mijatovic (Milan/Serbia, 27, 199/199, Centre Back: 75.88%), remains with Gimenez at the top for the second season in a row, and unlike Gimenez, is really shining. Milan have a history of great central defenders, and with his 7.56 average Mijatovic can be added to the list.

Nenad Mijatovic

Roberio (Marseille/Brazil, 28, 198/198, Winger: 19.14%), remains at his peak for the third consecutive season, and helps Marseille reach the summit of European football, scoring the winning penalty in the Champions League final. He shone again this season, playing to a high standard and chipping in with plenty of goals from wide positions.

Roberio

Bjorn Zimmerman (Bayern Munich/Germany, 22, 195/195, Full Back: 77.59%), is a new entry in fourth position of the list, reaching his massive potential of 195 at the age of only 22. He is best at left back or centre back, but can play anywhere in defence and to a very high standard. He will, however, have better seasons that this one, but remember he is only 22.

Bjorn Zimmerman

Ismael Romero drops off the list after two seasons, his CA falling from 190 to 176.

[nerner]

Are you going to continue to update this, or are you going to uninstall and go on FM09. If so, can we have a save please...

[kipfizh]

Are you going to continue to update this, or are you going to uninstall and go on FM09. If so, can we have a save please...

As I said earlier, I haven't got FM 09 yet So this will continue for a while.

[nerner]

Sorry, must have missed that. Long live the bandits!

[snootyjim]

Depressing update, but an appreciated one. I'm half tempted to think that even if you holidayed for 50 years the Bandits would still fail to win the Champions League... money can't buy boards.

[5ergio]

Exactly. Money can't buy boards I still have this (stupid maybe) optimistic way of looking things however. We'll win big some day, just that some day maybe long away

[Mravac Kid]

You can take a club out of the Conference, but...

It takes a very special talent to first drop the world's richest club down from the Premiership, but it takes a mastermind to not have them bounce right back up. :-/

[yugo23]

Oh well, I was looking forward to this update, but it turned out to be even worse than our last few seasons in Premiership. I hope they will at least sack Yates asap.

[Abs_UK]

Hi kipfizh

I been following this thread for a long time now.. even though i have not posted much...

Since you going to start a new experiment for FM09 i thought maybe you would like some new graphics to go with your team..

I made these for one of my mates team.. and just edited few things to make it look right..

2 logos, different colors..

I personaly like the blue version

[Abs_UK]

These are the kits.. i have yet to put the alrenative logos on them.. i will do so if you decide to go for that one..

Let me know what you think..

[4Site]

wow mate awesome kits and logo.

[chopper99]

Good to have you back Kip, but what a disappointing update.

Unfortunately I doubt the Bandits will even get back to the Premier League now before the end of this experiment, and they'll definitely not win the Premier League before then, which is a shame.

This has been an absolutely fantastic experiment, but unfortunately the board has stopped the club from ever reaching its massive potential.

[WH]

Great logo mate.

Does anyone think a Bitter rival for "The Bandits 09" would be a good idea? It could be like Man Utd vs Liverpool. Start them at the same level and let them battle for supremicy. It might add some more interest in those seasons where there is nothing to left play for. We wouldn't need to know every detail about them just the effect they have on our season and us on theirs.

I agree with Chopper about the board. Maybe the Board takeovers in 08 and 09 versions would help The Bandits in the final push for the top.

[chopper99]

Kip's already said that he may be including 'The Sheriffs' in the next experiment, who will be the Bandits bitter rivals.

[VonBlade]

Insanity. Any other club in the world would sack a manager after getting them relegated. Mind you, any other club in the world wouldn't have hired the muppet in the first place.

Personally the hardest thing about trying to stay motivated with this isn't the Bandits poor performance, as a Spurs fan I expect it, but the horrendous turnover of players making it nearly impossible to get a feel for the squad. The amount of Kinch style loyalists can be counted on one hand.

So whereas once we had the initial players to follow, then the Bandits meteoric rise, then a very settled squad, now we've got complete disarray and a team of "who?"s.

Danny Gamble, where are you now?

Meanwhile Kip, FM09 itself is pretty bug-free. The only real problems (in terms of this experiment anyway) lie with the editor. 90% of the bugs you'll only notice if you're a manager, which you wont be.

Edit - @ Abs. Great looking logos and kits. Personally I've always seen the Bandits logo similar to the Skoal Bandit. Not too keen on the colours though. I know we play in Fishers colours currently but as the team are entirely invented we surely could have something better than Newcastle and Korona Kielce? No-ones ever going to have to wear them Not of course that it matters what I think.

Not sure Microsoft would be the ideal sponsors either. We'd need to be sponsored by something ficticious. I therefore would like to place one write in vote for the "Tyrell Corporation". After all, this is an experiment about artificial intelligence and who better than they? /Blade Runner Fan

VB

[kipfizh]

Loving the graphics!

Just to let you know, the Bandits are set up to play primarily in black (or a very dark blue) as their first kit, the closest to that is the blue/black kit which I actually really like.

Their second kit is a vomit inducing yellow if possible

And I like the second logo the best. I'll have to look on the Facebook group for the other suggested logo too, I can't remember it!

Great work!

[Abs_UK]

kipfizh so we can make the blue & black kit as the home kit since you like it.. and i will do some mockups of the away and third kit for you to look at. (any partucular sponsor you want on them?)

VonBlade i actually looked at the Skoal Bandit logo.. been searching the web and came accross this one which on first site i fell in love with and i think it looks cool.. (dont know about everyone else..)

I had the Microsoft logo already made on my sponsor list on photoshop and was a quick way to add the sponsor.. so it can be changed..

[5ergio]

Awesome work with the logos & the kits Abs.

[snootyjim]

Personally the hardest thing about trying to stay motivated with this isn't the Bandits poor performance, as a Spurs fan I expect it, but the horrendous turnover of players making it nearly impossible to get a feel for the squad. The amount of Kinch style loyalists can be counted on one hand.

So whereas once we had the initial players to follow, then the Bandits meteoric rise, then a very settled squad, now we've got complete disarray and a team of "who?"s.

Danny Gamble, where are you now?

You've got a point... it was fantastic when we were pushing for Europe in my opinion, I felt like I had a reasonable grasp of who was in the squad and so on, but these days I'd struggle to name more than 3 or 4 players. It really has died a bit of a death in that regard.

Nonetheless, I don't want to see the experiment end like this... can't we come up with some kind of a solution to it. If Kip doesn't really have much enthusiasm for it, it seems silly to carry on endlessly. Surely it would be better to do some really brief updates, ie which major players left/joined and how they performed in each competition, and just go through it really quickly. Then have a month or two with the Bandits 07 story finished, so that we're going into Bandits 09 fresh?

Just an idea, feel free to shoot it down people

[Abs_UK]

Okay just had a little time to put 2 kits together for you guys to judge..

both have different sponsors and different design..

I have to go out now.. once i return ill do a bit more work on some other designs..

PS.. i did not have the time to take the background off the Sony Logo..

[Guest roberto922]

The Boeing one is class

[VonBlade]

I prefer Boeing as a sponsor, and prefer the yellow and blue scheme as it fits the deep blue primary Bandits colour. Mainy because Sony actually sponsor people and we want to be unique. Although I still think we ought to have the Tyrell Corp, but clearly I'm alone in that lol.

If you wanted to get really ridiculous, the Bandits could be sponsored by Songbird PLC. They own Canary Wharf which is the nearest building to the home ground of Fisher Athletic and thus would help remind us of the Bandits roots. I know I know, terrible idea. I'm bored

I'm trying to think of a sponsor that would suit the Bandits. Huge cash, no end product. You need a company that makes really expensive stuff, but that doesn't provide lasting results. Pfizer? SAC Capital (Hedge funds). Hmmm.

VB

Edit Abs, can you point me in the direction of your template? Would come in handy for my created hometown team.

[SCIAG]

Insanity. Any other club in the world would sack a manager after getting them relegated.

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2028013_fans_plea_to_coppell__stay_loyal

I'm trying to think of a sponsor that would suit the Bandits. Huge cash, no end product. You need a company that makes really expensive stuff, but that doesn't provide lasting results.

Sports Interactive

NOTE THE WINK!

[Guest roberto922]

FM 09 isn't exactly expensive...

[Spleen!]

Terrible season, sack the manager, sack the board, and then we might actually have a chance of getting back up.

[Mravac Kid]

Nice logos, but they're more "The Ninjas" than "The Bandits".

I suggest replacing the ninja face, swords and shurikens with a masked bandit and revolvers (Wild West style).