dafuge's FM08 small club to big club challenge

[rlipscombe]

Originally posted by foost:

@ rlipscombe

Luke Malcher is great isnt he! I signed him on a free, lucky me...

can't get him to sign for me at the moment - not interested. with a bit of luck i can keep him for the season and he can help us challenge. are you playing him as an out-and-out striker?

[rlipscombe]

quick question regarding parent clubs... i have Yeovil as my parent club, and to be brief, they're rubbish! not offered me one player on loan so far (end of October 2008) and none of their youth players want to come anyway.

after reading about a few of you getting rid of thier parent clubs, if i got rid of them, would i be able to get a new one straight away? i tried for a new one at start of season to no avail, and option is greyed out at the moment.

should i get rid of Yeovil Town? i don't want to be left with no parent club for any real period of time...

[dafuge]

Originally posted by Allan:

Still looking for help with this:

Need a breakdown of each cup competition, and the requierments to enter it. for example:

Charity Shield:

Win FA cup or Win premiership

I'll do it, give me while and I'll put it in here.

[andy139s]

just checked the clubs confidence in me before starting new season and saw this confidence screenie how can i not have met my long team expectations in BSS as i am now in my 3rd year and this is my 2nd season in the BSP so surely i have met this and more and considering the next one says they want me to stay clear of relegation in BSP

i think i may get the same treatment as jordanknox as he was managing chelmsford in league 2 by this point and got the same sort of message and then was promptly sacked

[spankie]

Originally posted by rlipscombe:

quick question regarding parent clubs... i have Yeovil as my parent club, and to be brief, they're rubbish! not offered me one player on loan so far (end of October 2008) and none of their youth players want to come anyway.

after reading about a few of you getting rid of thier parent clubs, if i got rid of them, would i be able to get a new one straight away? i tried for a new one at start of season to no avail, and option is greyed out at the moment.

should i get rid of Yeovil Town? i don't want to be left with no parent club for any real period of time...

You can only ask for a parent club every 6 months.

I suggest that you wait until the option is no longer greyed out, then cancel the agreement with Yeovil and wait a couple of days after confirmation cancellation before asking for another parent club.

[manu legend]

Chippenham Town in the Blue Square Premier - End of Season 2010/2011 Update

League: Blue Square Premier

Predicted Position: 15th

Finishing Position: 1st

FA Cup: 1st Round defeat.

FA Trophy: Semi Final defeat

Setanta Shield: Quarter Final defeat.

League Review

League Table

League Graph

Absolutely delighted with our League performance. We were always around or in the play offs but we peaked at the right time to go top and manged to stay there. Our defence was solid and we scored plenty of goals.

Squad

The whole squad did really well this season and thankfully we didn't suffer many injuries. Darren Edwards finished top scorer with 20 goals but imo our best player was Aaron Ramsey who I had boughton a free transfer.

Aims for next season

Next season will be tougher in League 2 and my aim will be to avoid relegation.

[Allan]

Originally posted by dafuge:

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

Still looking for help with this:

Need a breakdown of each cup competition, and the requierments to enter it. for example:

Charity Shield:

Win FA cup or Win premiership

I'll do it, give me while and I'll put it in here. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Dafuge

[andy139s]

also found this summary screen for confidence screenie as last post in league better than clubs long term plan for a 2nd season so how oh how can you not be meeting clubs long term plan surely the board must want the club to progres up the football league pyramid as the higher you get the better the teams rep becomes, the club makes more money and in lower league tornaments and fa cup the higher you are the later you enter these competitions giving the team a chance of progressing further than ever before and also getting better draws and making lots more money

[dafuge]

FA Cup - open to all clubs

Carling Cup - open to Premier League, Championship, League 1 and League 2 clubs

Community Shield - Premier League winners vs FA Cup winners (or double winners vs 2nd place)

Johnstone's Paint Trophy - open to League 1 and League 2 clubs

Setanta Shield - open to Blue Square North, South and Premier clubs

FA Trophy - open to Blue Square North, South and Premier clubs, plus the three feeder leagues

Champions League - open to the top four from the Premier League, or the holders and the top three from the league

UEFA Cup - 3 places initially available, FA Cup winner (or runner up if winners already qualified), Carling Cup winners (but not runners up), highest placing in the league, if the cup teams have already qualified the places go to the best league finishes. The winners of the Intertoto Cup and the teams finishing in 3rd place in their CL groups also qualify, there could also be a place available for the Premier League via the fair play table.

Intertoto Cup - highest placed Premier League team that has applied to take part in the competition

Super Cup - CL winners vs UEFA Cup winners

Club World Championship - CL winners qualify

I think that's it, though there's bound to be something I've missed, so if someone could have a look and check it for me.

[dafuge]

Originally posted by andy139s:

also found this summary screen for confidence screenie as last post in league better than clubs long term plan for a 2nd season so how oh how can you not be meeting clubs long term plan surely the board must want the club to progres up the football league pyramid as the higher you get the better the teams rep becomes, the club makes more money and in lower league tornaments and fa cup the higher you are the later you enter these competitions giving the team a chance of progressing further than ever before and also getting better draws and making lots more money

That's a bug, hopefully it will be sorted in the patch.

There's already been at least one casualty of it.

[foost]

Originally posted by rlipscombe:

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

@ rlipscombe

Luke Malcher is great isnt he! I signed him on a free, lucky me...

can't get him to sign for me at the moment - not interested. with a bit of luck i can keep him for the season and he can help us challenge. are you playing him as an out-and-out striker? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Tbh I don't have a standard position for him. Sometimes he is striker together with Klein-Davis (4-4-2), then he is a right midfielder (4-4-2) and otherwise he is a rightattacker (4-3-3)... Still didn't find the right tactic for my team hehe.

But facts are that he scored a couple of important goals and he is momently the best assister on my team.

[freelinet]

Chippenham F.A Cup update 2011/2012

F.A Cup 2nd Qual rd

Chippenham 2-1 Banbury

F.A Cup 3rd Qual rd

Merthyr Tydfil 0-3 Chippenham

F.A Cup 4th Qual rd

Forest Green 0-3 Chippenham

F.A Cup 1st round proper

Chippenham 2-0 Aldershot

FA Cup 2nd Round proper

Chippenham 1-0 Hyde

F.A Cup 3rd Round proper

Chippenham Vs Norwich

Don't quite know how I won but I did and can you guess who I got as a reward, I wonder if my -£100k bank balance will be gone??????

Thankfully I'm away!!

[WoodsMonk]

I've finally holidayed through the year, Manager profile

Tiverton Town is the club of choice!

[dafuge]

Originally posted by freelinet:

Don't quite know how I won but I did and can you guess who I got as a reward, I wonder if my -£100k bank balance will be gone??????

Thankfully I'm away!!

That's like the lower league jackpot, I was lucky enough to get them last year with St****s, made me about £1m while in the Conference.

[Shandiar]

Hi all.

I here frequently of the joys of the infamous Dafuge challenge, so i thought i'd give it a go this year! I'm in the process of registering with the website (and photobucket) having just become manager of Tiverton Town!

Can anyone offer me, as a complete beginner to this challenge, any words of wisdom and advice for my first few months in charge??

Thanks in advance (and i shall post my profile pic as soon as i have it on photobucket),

Shandi

[freelinet]

Considering I'm god knows how many leagues I am below them I didn't disgrace myself:

Result

Just for the record I made £800k

[Thebaker]

Originally posted by Jimbokav1971:

The manhood thing at the front was mostly a joke

No it wasn't, it was completely a joke .

There are no easy teams and no tactics that make the game easy and nothing but hard work brings you success, (unless you use the editor) . Loads of people play in their own little way and we all co-exist beside eachother in harmony most of the time.

We had a bit of a an issue with people bringing in talented foreigners, but that was dealt with by the "scout or trial rule", earlier in this thread we had issues with, "unrealistic money spinning frendlies", abusing flaws in the game, and I personally have an issue with the loaning of quality players from the likes of Bristol City to some carppy little Conference North/South side, (someone remind me to request that in next years challenge we limit a loan player dropping down to a maximim of 3 divisions), and also this year there seems to be a prevelance of people using the "no club" search to check for talented foreigners, (Islanders), and then getting them in on trial to circumvent the existing rule. I don't like that so I don't do it, that's not to mean that nobody else should either.

Anyone who gets anywhere near to completing this challenge without using the editor and without using a scouting tool deserves the utmost respect. I will spend a lot of time playing this game, (as I have done in previous issues), but let's be honest, whether or not I actually ever manage to complete this challenge is completely irrelevant as that is not what this is about. There is absolutely no competition between us and that is why we share info on tactics and decent players and we enjoy each others success. Gloating and bragging is allowed in this thread but be warned, the FM Gods see all and they always get their revenge.

using no club to search for players would be wrong, but i should point out the islanders come up on the player search screen as they have english nationality and if its good enough for dafuge who admits to signing some. I don't really think it is any different to signing irish or scottish players after a trial who you also can't scout at the start yet i would imagine nearly everyone does. Only way to stop this would be to say only sign players you can scout no exceptions.

[mattyisalegend]

Its just taken my about 3 hours at work to read all the updates since i was last on on Sunday. I cant believe how quickly some of you manage to get through the seasons.

im still in the 1st season with 7 games to play and have had a bit of a slump 2nd have of the season but at the minute am just about hanging on to 5th position and the final play off spot.

Im at work so will post screenshots when i get home but all 3 players ive brought in to strengthen the squad since january all got injured in their 1st couple of games. Scott McGliesh made 2 sub appearences then had to be released as he tore his calf and wouldnt be playing again.

Hoping to get the 7 games played tonight before footie training and with a bit of luck will be playing in the play-offs tomorrow night.

Congratulations to everyone who has achieved promotions in the last few days and to those that havent i hope your still enjoying the challange. I am

[dafuge]

Originally posted by Shandiar:

Hi all.

I here frequently of the joys of the infamous Dafuge challenge, so i thought i'd give it a go this year! I'm in the process of registering with the website (and photobucket) having just become manager of Tiverton Town!

Can anyone offer me, as a complete beginner to this challenge, any words of wisdom and advice for my first few months in charge??

Thanks in advance (and i shall post my profile pic as soon as i have it on photobucket),

Shandi

Spend ages deciding which players you sign, getting the right players early on can make all the difference.

It also helps to get all your players on full time contracts as soon as possible.

[mattyday315]

dafuge im halesowen and need to no some players to sign could you go on msn and help me please. thanks.

[mfarrelly1]

Tiverton- end of season update- 08/09- Blue Square south

Sorry havent been posting but i have been hooked!

my tiverton team have really improved alot after bringing in loan signings from plymouth, my parent club

this is how we finnished up in the league table

so we did preety well to say we were 17th at christmas these are the results part 1

and the results part 2

so results were a little inconsistent.

squad

star player was Martyn Pitcher

we were predicted to come 21st so very happy!

on for next year, cmon tivvy!

[Jack Edwards]

Matty, get your scouts, If youw ant to do a challenge, there has to be a CHALLENGE element about it, rather then all the players spoonfed to you.

JE

[Phil1987]

Season 2008/09 Review – AFC Wimbledon in the Blue Square South - phil1987

<STRIKE>**************************************************************************</STRIKE>

Once taking over the reigns at AFC Wimbledon I decided that if I was to be promoted I’d have to invest heavily, so I signed 16 players on free transfers and I counter the wage bill I got rid of 6 pieces of “dead wood†. Had a very good start to the season and it was clear from the start I’d achieve more than the 8th position predicted by the media.

Final League Table

League Positions Graph

Although Loan signing 1my league form was good, my cup competitions weren’t as great as I tried to do an “Arsene†and give the youngsters a run out. Needless to say I got knocked out in the first round of all the cups entered.

Squad

My star players are 2 loan signings from Palace but a surprising star is our welsh wizard who was also our top goal scorer.

Loan signing 1

Loan signing 2

Club overview:

Bank Balance: £33,395

Wage Total: £11,380 p/w

Average Attendance: 2788

Highest Attendance: 4299

Affiliated Clubs: Crystal Palace, Horsham

Club Value: £325k

Status: Semi-professional

Squad Average Age: 22

Future plans:

After comfortable promotion this season I’ve got a feeling next season will be a lot tougher so I will again invest in quality players (including some on loan) during the summer and then see how it goes next term

[kaNovi]

matty you should be able to find your players urself =)

But here is a couple of players that have done well for my halosowen team;

Paul Jarvis - Great Prospect

Lee Ellington - Fast striker!

[Phil1987]

Originally posted by Phil1987:

Season 2008/09 Review – AFC Wimbledon in the Blue Square South - phil1987

<STRIKE>**************************************************************************</STRIKE>

Once taking over the reigns at AFC Wimbledon I decided that if I was to be promoted I’d have to invest heavily, so I signed 16 players on free transfers and I counter the wage bill I got rid of 6 pieces of “dead wood†. Had a very good start to the season and it was clear from the start I’d achieve more than the 8th position predicted by the media.

Final League Table

League Positions Graph

Although my league form was good, my cup competitions weren’t as great as I tried to do an “Arsene†and give the youngsters a run out. Needless to say I got knocked out in the first round of all the cups entered.

Squad

My star players are 2 loan signings from Palace but a surprising star is our welsh wizard who was also our top goal scorer.

Loan signing 1

Loan signing 2

Club overview:

Bank Balance: £33,395

Wage Total: £11,380 p/w

Average Attendance: 2788

Highest Attendance: 4299

Affiliated Clubs: Crystal Palace, Horsham

Club Value: £325k

Status: Semi-professional

Squad Average Age: 22

Future plans:

After comfortable promotion this season I’ve got a feeling next season will be a lot tougher so I will again invest in quality players (including some on loan) during the summer and then see how it goes next term

that's better

[mattyday315]

sorry about asking for help about players but my scouts are rubbish lol and you boys are much better scouts . Anyways how are you lot doing. Good luck everyone.

[Jack Edwards]

You allowed to ask for help, Just not who he Bought and EXACTLTY what he did, Go to The good player and team guide forum, there is a conference section.

JE

[mattyday315]

ok mate. how are you getting on in your game.

[Gilbster]

How do you all pick the teams you started with. Having been sacked from Hendon (my local), and having a really bad time with Boreham Wood (also local), I really have no idea who to pick for my next attempt.

Harrow and Hemel Hempstead are also local teams for me, but I dont know if I have the energy to do the reloading to get them.

[Naryana]

Hendon - 2009/2010 Blue Square South - Roundup

My starting goal for this season was to not get relegated. This was decided on quite early as it was unclear what state the club would find itself. No staff and a hand full of youth players was how I was greeted.

My first task as manager was to advertise for an Assistant Manager. This was to take a while, so I set about implementing my training regime and setting up my 4-1-4-1 system. After a two week advert I received a number of applications from staff at other football clubs, but due to the finances at Hendon I would not of been able to pay the compensation due. With one standout application Kevin Donovan, who I knew quite well from my days watching the Albion, was invited to take up the position.

Once Kevin had been employed, a barrage of staff and player was to ensue. At this time, team understanding was at an all time low with so many new players and staff incoming. This really did concern me, as most of the players had low morale along with this. A careful pre-season was to follow, with a lot of effort put in to building up the players moral, by not being too harsh on any problems that occurred. By the end of pre-season the teams understanding hadn't improved much but the players morale was at a good standing.

Our 09/10 Season was full of mixed fortunes, we would go on runs of not losing and runs of losing, looks like we really have got the runs. This being said we found out self 5th going into the last game of the season, with a win taking us into the playoffs. Going into the game my first choice goalkeeper Steele sustained a chest injury. I was just not able to bring myself to asking him to take an Injection. With this choice I hope to have him back in a week rather than a month. Sadly we managed to throw the game against Bognor away losing 4-2 with a goal disallowed. Needless to say Bath won their game taking them into the last play-off spot.

At the start of the season I would of been happy with a top half finish, but I am now gutted that we managed to miss out on the playoffs in the last game of the season. I guess this fits into our five year plan of winning the Blue Square South and I should have the foundations of a team that is capable of winning the league. All that is needed is a few more signings to replace the loan players and shore up the defence. hopefully with the increased reputation we should have from this season I will be able to attract more talent.

Part of the way through the season I decided to terminate our agreement with our parent club, Woking, as I saw no real benefits from our side of the agreement as they sent no players and were only one league above us. I will be re-evaluating the parent club situation at the beginning of next season.

Blue Square South: 6th

FA Cup: Lost in Third Qualifying Round

English FA Trophy: Lost in Third Qualifying Round

Setanta Shield: Lost in Fourth Round

Screenshots:

09/10 League Table

Ending Profile

Board Confidence

Squad

Conclusions on the game:

• One thing I have noticed is that players from bigger clubs in your area seem more likely to be interested in coming on loan to you.

• Would it be realistic for a Blue Square South side to send a scout to the world cup final? Or would he just be watching it at home on TV?

• One of my players is on a part time contract, aged 20. Cardiff offer him a contract as his is expiring and he signs, but I don't get anything for him. Don't you get compo for players under 24?

[WoodsMonk]

Theres a French striker who i can scout at the start, is it ok if I snap him up?

[wbabaggie]

Originally posted by mcelroys:

Theres a French striker who i can scout at the start, is it ok if I snap him up?

If you can scout him then yes.

May be best to provide a screenshot showing you can scout him, to prove everything is above board.

[migwar]

my understanding of the rules is that you can

i'm prepared to be corrected

[ManU@oldtrafford]

Originally posted by mcelroys:

Theres a French striker who i can scout at the start, is it ok if I snap him up?

100% you can even if you could not scout him you could get him on trial and then you prove it thanks to the new feature

[ScottishSteven]

First off, KUTGW folks! I love reading everyone's updates, the more detail the better! Love to see the different avenues that everyone takes on ultimately the same journey!!

On a side note, I'm getting really worried about the bug with the long term goals.

It's being mentioned in my monthly confidence summary every time now, about how they are disappointed that we are not trying to achieve the 5 year plan (Win the Blue Square South) when I'm hoping to get promoted from the BS Premier this season.

Think I might keep a few backup saves in case it all goes Pete Tong, and use them when the patch emerges...

[rlipscombe]

Originally posted by spankie:

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

quick question regarding parent clubs... i have Yeovil as my parent club, and to be brief, they're rubbish! not offered me one player on loan so far (end of October 2008) and none of their youth players want to come anyway.

after reading about a few of you getting rid of thier parent clubs, if i got rid of them, would i be able to get a new one straight away? i tried for a new one at start of season to no avail, and option is greyed out at the moment.

should i get rid of Yeovil Town? i don't want to be left with no parent club for any real period of time...

You can only ask for a parent club every 6 months.

I suggest that you wait until the option is no longer greyed out, then cancel the agreement with Yeovil and wait a couple of days after confirmation cancellation before asking for another parent club. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

thanks for that. i wasn't sure whether you were able to ask for a new parent club straight after cancelling one or not, especially as i hadn't done it before, especially with having played the game alot... i will wait

[ManU@oldtrafford]

Originally posted by ScottishSteven:

First off, KUTGW folks! I love reading everyone's updates, the more detail the better! Love to see the different avenues that everyone takes on ultimately the same journey!!

On a side note, I'm getting really worried about the bug with the long term goals.

It's being mentioned in my monthly confidence summary every time now, about how they are disappointed that we are not trying to achieve the 5 year plan (Win the Blue Square South) when I'm hoping to get promoted from the BS Premier this season.

Think I might keep a few backup saves in case it all goes Pete Tong, and use them when the patch emerges...

same here

[Law_Man]

Thinking of doing the challenge for the first time. This may be a very stupid question but what's the reasoning behind having to go on holiday for almost a year before you pick a team? Cheers, and good luck everyone

[johnnyquest409]

Originally posted by Law_Man:

Thinking of doing the challenge for the first time. This may be a very stupid question but what's the reasoning behind having to go on holiday for almost a year before you pick a team? Cheers, and good luck everyone

To allow you to choose a newly promoted team.

[hee163]

Originally posted by andy139s:

also found this summary screen for confidence screenie as last post in league better than clubs long term plan for a 2nd season so how oh how can you not be meeting clubs long term plan surely the board must want the club to progres up the football league pyramid as the higher you get the better the teams rep becomes, the club makes more money and in lower league tornaments and fa cup the higher you are the later you enter these competitions giving the team a chance of progressing further than ever before and also getting better draws and making lots more money

I had something similar... I had 2 successive promotions at the start of the game. Between the 2nd promotion and the end of the season, the long term confidence bar went right down to zero.

Now I'm in League 2, the board have given me a new 2 year plan to survive in L2, and everything seems ok again.

[hee163]

Originally posted by rlipscombe:

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

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

quick question regarding parent clubs... i have Yeovil as my parent club, and to be brief, they're rubbish! not offered me one player on loan so far (end of October 2008) and none of their youth players want to come anyway.

after reading about a few of you getting rid of thier parent clubs, if i got rid of them, would i be able to get a new one straight away? i tried for a new one at start of season to no avail, and option is greyed out at the moment.

should i get rid of Yeovil Town? i don't want to be left with no parent club for any real period of time...

You can only ask for a parent club every 6 months.

I suggest that you wait until the option is no longer greyed out, then cancel the agreement with Yeovil and wait a couple of days after confirmation cancellation before asking for another parent club. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

thanks for that. i wasn't sure whether you were able to ask for a new parent club straight after cancelling one or not, especially as i hadn't done it before, especially with having played the game alot... i will wait </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That worked for me... I got rid of Walsall and got West Brom Shortly after.

[dafuge]

Originally posted by mattyday315:

sorry about asking for help about players but my scouts are rubbish lol and you boys are much better scouts . Anyways how are you lot doing. Good luck everyone.

My advice to people is that they should learn to find players that suit their own tactics, a player that plays well for one manager may be not as good when playing for another.

Learning the relationships between player attributes and tactics is the key to becoming good at the game.

[foost]

Amen, to that dafuge

[iacovone]

Originally posted by NepentheZ:

Its all over..

After two very poor seasons, i've been sacked due to the takeover.

Anywho, due to the genius on Daf's website, im now taking control of Carshalton, The team i first completed the challenge with in FM07.

Im very excited.

Good luck NepentheZ

[mattyday315]

thanks for the advice dafuge.

[dafuge]

Originally posted by mattyday315:

thanks for the advice dafuge.

No problem.

Just to give you an example, if your tactics rely on getting lots of crosses into the box, look for wingers with good crossing attributes and strikers who are good at jumping and heading.

I prefer to play with wingers who can put my strikers through on goal, so I look for wingers with good passing and creativity attributes and strikers with good pace, acceleration and finishing.

You'd be amazed how just a few high key attributes can make a player effective in the lower leagues.

[mattyday315]

m start to the season has been 1 win 4 draws whats going on.

[Phil1987]

Originally posted by dafuge:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mattyday315:

thanks for the advice dafuge.

No problem.

Just to give you an example, if your tactics rely on getting lots of crosses into the box, look for wingers with good crossing attributes and strikers who are good at jumping and heading.

I prefer to play with wingers who can put my strikers through on goal, so I look for wingers with good passing and creativity attributes and strikers with good pace, acceleration and finishing.

You'd be amazed how just a few high key attributes can make a player effective in the lower leagues. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I also find composure and off the ball attributes are key for a striker who runs onto through balls.

[Phil1987]

Originally posted by mattyday315:

m start to the season has been 1 win 4 draws whats going on.

stick with it, its only early days

[migwar]

i started with a tactic involving quick wingers, wide play, a target man and a qick finisher.

after half a season i was forced, due to injuries and suspension to play a narrow game with no target man. it worked like a a dream!

now halfway through my second season and my new players, brought in to accomodate my new tactic, are starting to gel and its looking pretty rosy.

i think the lesson here is you should always be prepared to adapt your players and tactics and never fear change.

oh, and its a marathon, not a sprint