AI Experiment - what would happen if?

[Mravac Kid]

Yes, top 4 is quite possible. I expect them to reach Euro football at least.

But those are very fragile expectations... even a single injury would hurt a lot, and with two they'd be struggling mid-pack.

[ross8]

Come on people keep the faith.

Even the best sides have very average players in the team ie Man Utd and Darren Fletcher, or Chelsea and Ashley Cole

The Bandits will pull something out of the hat in they 50th year its destiny(I hope!!!)

My prediction F.A Cup winners and a top 4 finish

Come on you Bandits !!!

[FlownCanary]

Originally posted by Maviarab:

Oh my god. Things just go from bad to worse it seems.

Taken me a while to catch up, as usual had some hope for the coming season, read the report, got depressed, same again with the next season, read your report, guess it could have been worse, then read your latest summer transfer report and hangs head in shame.

Damn this is worse than being a Norwich City fan lol. But hey, who knows, he could turn out to be a genius tactically, though, I'm really not going to hold my breath.

Great updates as usual Kip, look forward to the next one as always

And just what, may I ask is wrong with being a Norwich Fan? Although, I do kinda know what you mean!

KUTGW Kip, Good job the bandits have unlimited transfers, ey? I'm dieing to get my hands on this save when you finish so I can finally manage the Bandits as they should be managed!

[FlownCanary]

Sorry for above post I meant unlimited transfer money.

[CanaryLawn]

This is exactly like being a Norwich fan! It's the hope that kills you so i'm looking forward to this season as the outlook is so bleak. I am my own worst enemy as though as I am starting to believe Kip is leading us up a garden path and the season will have proved a success. Here comes that hope again.

Where are Norwich by the way Kip? I'm fairly sure they have yet to meet the Bandits in a competitive fixture, and based on my own game they normally drop down to League 1 or 2 fairly early and then yo-yo between the two.

[VonBlade]

Originally posted by CanaryLawn:

based on my own game they normally drop down to League 1 or 2 fairly early and then yo-yo between the two.

Wierd. In my game by 2020 they were a huge club, by 2025 they were third in the world, (only me and Valencia are bigger), they're easily my biggest rivals and toughest opponents.

FM. Somehow relentlessly samey and yet always different.

[AB-forever]

Isn't it a little unrealistic that someone could be THAT stupid and know as little about football players as mr. Hay???!

I mean, WTF??!!

[Phil Macklam]

Kip, excellent as always. Worrying times for the Bandits maybe?

Could you tell me how Welling got on this season?

Also, how did their former manager get on as last I remember he'd gone to Aston Villa?

[FlownCanary]

Yeah in my FM game, Norwich have been a constant top 10 premiership side now for 3 years, (i'm in 2013).

Would love to know how Norwich are getting on in your game though Kip, would be interesting to see.

[RonnySanchez]

fascinating stuff

I stumbled on this tread three days ago and I couldn’t let it go… very interesting indeed

your discoveries about AI in FM are very interesting , my own opinion has always been that the FM AI is truly well done. While I was playing my own game of FM last night I was thinking about your experiment and AI behaviour in the game. I was thinking about an “experiment†that I myself once did on the FM’06. I rearranged the Slovakian league, swapped the teams from Macedonia (as I my self I’m from Macedonia) in order to play with my favourite team and in the same time I loaded the players from couple of African nations because these Macedonian teams were of so low reputation than not even Macedonian players wanted to play there. There was some kind of a limit on foreign players (I think it was maximum of five) so I my self bought about 7-8 foreign players but the AI did not plan that well about the limit, the teams that had some money and higher reputation were signing a lot of Africans, one of the teams had about 40 foreign players and in some positions they did not even had a single domestic player it was a disastrous situation.

Now to the actual question (it took a while to explain the background stuff ) is there a possibility for you to see how is the AI doing in leagues where is a limit on foreign players? Now given that you are playing only England on full detail it might be difficult to see that but I don’t know, is AI planning about the limitation on foreign players, let say… in the French league? I think that in some future experiment this would be an interesting thing to follow, if there is a difference in the way teams are planning how many foreign players they buy based on the quality of the board and the managers or is this something that Sigames have overlooked?

One other thing that interested me was how are the teams with relatively limited resources buying when coming from the championship to the premier league. Now the Bandits are a rich club and they always buy the best thing that their reputation allows but how are the less fortunate clubs acting – how do they spend their limited resources, do they buy one star player for the whole sum or what are they doing?

[Meitheisman]

Any foreign based experiment cannot be done on Kipfizh's save because he only loaded England which lead to reducing the foreign talent, if anything managers should buy less foreign players.

About how managers spend their budget it depends on so many factors (teams knowledge, players availability, team and player reputation, league reputation, board mentality, team objective...) that I think there's an infinity of answers to your question. It's pretty much like if you asked "How do people spend their salary, do they buy a big house and that's it or buy food and drinks, football tickets, shoes...?"

[Mravac Kid]

AFAIK, if only one league is selected, then the others are completely unavailable, meaning there's no matches at all that could provide any insight. You'd need to have several countries selected for that to work.

I don't remember if it's ever been said whether it's just England, or more countries selected with only England on full detail.

... but now that I think about it, recently it's been said the game was being run with games not on full detail, so I suppose it's just England, and even that not on full detail.

[wisescummer]

Yep thats right. Only England is selected, and matches are not on full detail, hence why Welling could win the cup.

[Mravac Kid]

But shouldn't reputation play an even bigger role without full detail? It should be even more difficult for a lower league team to win anything.

[VonBlade]

Originally posted by Mravac Kid:

But shouldn't reputation play an even bigger role without full detail? It should be even more difficult for a lower league team to win anything.

Absolutely.

However if Kips experiment has proven anything that we already knew, it's that over time the big clubs get smaller and the small clubs get bigger so in the end the gap between a BSN club and a EPL club is quite small, relative to the 8000 rep points it is at the start.

So whilst a lower team still needs a lot of luck in who they draw (hence only Welling doing it so far), at least when the stars align they can do it.

[wisescummer]

And small clubs do win the FA cup IRL, look at Portsmouth And when do we get another update Kip? (just joking, I know how long it takes) although as a saints fan I feel I can sympathise with the bandits and their crap board.

[djhdjh]

One thing about this I find highly unrealistic is that staff see their stats drop off towards the end of their careers. As we have seen with managers such as Robson and Ferguson, there is nothing really to suggest that managers necessarily lose it towards the end of their careers like players do IRL. Some do (Brian Clough for example) but many do not, I would even argue that they are more likely to improve as they become more experienced.

Just something for SI to think about.

[Shabby D]

Which is the most recent page can I find the fate of the original Bandit players on?

[Mravac Kid]

I think the last one retired from management on the previous page... their playing careers have been over many pages ago.

[Meitheisman]

Did the Bandits link on top of the page disapear or is it only me?

[Mravac Kid]

Yes, now it's a link to The Eurovision Striking Contest.

Seems they'll be rotating the threads.

[ross8]

Looking forward to to half century update kip.

I've got a good feeling about this season, there again I always think that!

Here's hoping!

Come on you Bandits!!!!

[The Lambs]

I think Guitar Hero's must be getting another outing or real life is very busy for Kip :-)

The half century update suspense is killing me.

[OrientMartin]

The update must be longer than most with it being the half century.

For some reason I think this may be the last season and Kip will take a breadk before doing a new Bandits experiment on FM09.

[Meitheisman]

Originally posted by OrientMartin:

The update must be longer than most with it being the half century.

For some reason I think this may be the last season and Kip will take a break before doing a new Bandits experiment on FM09.

Don't give him terrible ideas

Although to be quite honest it would be a very well deserved rest.

[iacovone]

Amen. Looking forward to this update - got a feeling it'll be full of excitement. Possible cup win followed by low and disappointing league finish is my prediction.

[cms186]

is Kip dead?

[Mravac Kid]

Nah... updates are sometimes late as is, and he's preparing a 50-year review...

[AB-forever]

I'm glad that I have to do a big history assignment so I'm not bored while Kip finishes the update

Oh wait

[kipfizh]

Bandits report – Season report

It hadn’t been the greatest summer in the world, with Robbie Way selling a bunch of decent players, mostly the older ones admittedly, and failed to replace them at all. More than ever, the Bandits were reliant on a few star names. Those names ran down the spine of the team, and would have to avoid injury for the club to have a successful season.

The season got off to a decent start, Rubio and de Lange scoring five times between them in the opening two matches as the Bandits won one and drew one, and despite losses at United and Chelsea, six more wins put them second, defying the pre season predictions of doom and gloom. They also found time to knock both Portsmouth and Barnsley out of the League Cup, and yet to suffer any major injuries, things were looking up.

But Newcastle then knocked them out of the League Cup, and defeat to Leeds in the league started a run of mediocre form which ran all the way up to Christmas, in which they struggled to score enough goals. At the turn of the year, their third placed position was a little deceptive – Sheff Wed were running away with the league, and the Bandits headed a pack of teams on much better form. Ironically, the only impressive result they had in all that time was a fine 3-0 win over the runaway leaders.

As January rolled around, the cup season ended embarrassingly, with a 4-0 thumping at Leeds in the FA Cup. But in a way, the lack of cup matches might do this small squad a favour – with so few top players, this would at least give them the chance of playing every match.

And until the end of February, that seemed the case, a run of much improved form saw them consolidate their spot in third, and with ten games remaining, Champions League football looked almost assured.

And then the injuries came. Rubio, Messner, Johnstone and Birchall all picked up knocks that would see them miss at least a few weeks, and suddenly the folly of Robbie Way’s transfer activity became painfully clear as their form reversed overnight. Losses to Chesterfield, Leeds and Burnley saw them slip outside the Champions League spots, and European qualification of any sort became the target.

Messner’s return helped them to a win over Nottm Forest, before a good performance saw Liverpool defeated, but a couple of draws left them vulnerable going into the last two games of the season, even though they sat at the top of a bunch of teams in third. Two wins would see Champions League football, two defeats would likely see no European football at all, because Aston Villa and Chesterfield had claimed the cups, and both were outside the European places. Sixth was not good enough.

A loss to Sheff Wed on the penultimate day of the season saw them slip back to fifth, two points ahead of West Brom and two points behind West Ham. Results could see them finish fourth fifth or sixth, leaving them with Champions League football, UEFA Cup football, or nothing. What would it be?

The opponents were midtable Sunderland, and the Bandits got off to a terrible start, going a goal down early, but a Kyle Cox equaliser saw them go into the half time break at 1-1. West Brom, starting the day sixth, were 2-0 up, but their inferior goal difference would not see them leapfrog the Bandits unless they lost, while there was fantastic news about West Ham, who started fourth, two points ahead of the Bandits, but were 3-0 down and reduced to ten men at half time. If the Bandits could win, they would pull off the unlikely and qualify for the Champions League.

Just after the hour mark, Rubio put them in front, and they became favourites for that spot, made even more clear when West Ham went 4-0 down. West Brom also conceded to Chesterfield to reduce their lead to 2-1. A win now would see them fourth. A draw would see them fifth and consigned to the UEFA Cup.

With nineteen minutes to go, disaster struck as Sunderland equalised, putting West Ham back in the box seat despite heading for a 5-0 humilation. As the minutes ticked away, West Brom coasted to their 2-1 win, and it was down to the Bandits. A goal for them would see them back into fourth. The unthinkable Sunderland winner would see them drop to sixth and out of Europe entirely.

With just three minutes to go, the deadlock was broken again, and it was Bandits hearts that shattered, Sunderland scoring a dramatic winner to take the game 3-2. West Ham finished fourth, West Brom snuck into fifth, and the Bandits would out of European competition again. For the third time in their history, they came sixth in a season where it wasn’t good enough thanks to unlikely cup winners.

The fans were deflated, but all of a sudden they had a lifeline. Aston Villa, who had won the League Cup and therefore qualified for Europe, reached the UEFA Cup final, and triumphed over Roma. With they place already assured, the Bandits were awarded the extra slot, and due to sheer dumb luck, they found themselves back in Europe.

But that shouldn’t disguise was had been a disappointing season. Perhaps the fans would’ve taken sixth at the start of the season because of the lack of depth in the squad. But having no European competition and being knocked out of both cups early meant that they hardly had any fixtures at all. When thre or four injuries finally came about, they collapsed. Had they had squad depth, they would surely have been playing Champions League football next season, because the stars in the team are so good.

There are some saving graces. They are better than Chelsea, who finished 12th this season after ending 13th last year, so they other financial giant is actually doing worse, while Robbie Way somehow convinced Rubio to sign a new five year contract, and with hardly anyone’s deals running out in the next two years, they should have some respite from the top players leaving. But he has to build a squad now.

(The report was a bit short this year because, quite frankly, the season was painfully dull until the final game!)

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: (Pos 9), P 38, W 16, D 7, L 15, F 56, A 51, GD +5, Pts 55

(Media Prediction: 6th)

FA Cup: Quarter Final

League Cup: Winners

2052-53

English Premiership: (Pos 3), P 38, W 21, D 6, L 11, F 67, A 46, GD +21, Pts 69

(Media Prediction: 8th)

UEFA Cup: 1st Knockout Round

FA Cup: 4th Round

League Cup: 3rd Round

2053-54

English Premiership: (Pos 5), P 38, W 15, D 15, L 8, F 55, A 46, GD +9, Pts 60

(Media Prediction: 5th)

UEFA Cup: Semi-Final

FA Cup: Semi-Final

League Cup: Quarter-Final

2054-55

English Premiership: (Pos 6), P 38, W 18, D 7, L 13, F 64, A 57, GD +7, Pts 61

(Media Prediction: 5th)

UEFA Cup: Quarter-Final

FA Cup: 4th Round

League Cup: 3rd Round

2055-56

English Premiership: (Pos 6), P 38, W 18, D 7, L 13, F 64, A 57, GD +7, Pts 61

(Media Prediction: 5th)

League

UEFA Cup: Quarter-Final

FA Cup: 4th Round

League Cup: 3rd Round

[kipfizh]

(Sorry that should be

2055-56

English Premiership: (Pos 6), P 38, W 16, D 9, L 13, F 61, A 54, GD +7, Pts 57

(Media Prediction: 4th)

League

FA Cup: 3rd Round

League Cup: 4th Round

[kipfizh]

Bandits report - Best and Worst

General

Stats

Finance Overview

The financial position of the club continues to improve.

New records:

None

This season:

Best player – Rubio, 7.61

Top scorer – Messner/Rubio, 19

Worst player – Hudson, 5.53 [the youth left back cruelly thrown into the first team for half a season]

The Bandits continue as the richest club in the world, with only Barcelona coming close to them.

Rich Clubs

[kipfizh]

Bandits report - First XI Summary

GK: McParland (26, 170/173) – 7.40

LB: Boateng (25, 159/169) – 6.57

CB: Dompig (30, 170/170) – 7.11

CB: Christie (27, 175/179) – 7.08

RB: Matthews (26, 172/185) – 6.69

LM: Baptiste (25, 159/164) – 6.29

CM: Parker (32, 159/176) – 7.00

CM: Birchall (28, 178/188) – 7.41

RM: Cox (25, 167/177) – 6.72

ST: Rubio (27, 184/184) – 7.61

ST: Messner (27, 175/175) – 7.57

Average age – 27.1 (down from last year’s 28.5)

Average CA – 169.8 (up from last year’s 167.5)

Average rating – 7.04 (down from last year’s 7.09)

In goal, the Bandits are fine, with McParland backed up by Johnstone. The centre back pairing of Dompig and Christie are also good, but they have no backup. In midfield, Birchall is outstanding and Parker decent, while up front, Rubio and Messner are feared by the entire division.

There are two major problems. One, only in goal do the Bandits have any sort of backup, so as soon as anyone misses out through injury, the quality drop is enormous. Second, in all wide positions (full back and wing), they are poor. Boateng isn’t good enough, Matthews can be but hasn’t settled, Cox needs time to settle and Baptiste is hopeless.

It is all very well having five star players, as the Bandits do, but it is too much to ask to rely on them every week. They got away with it this year because from January they were only playing league matches, but still only barely scraped into Europe despite a stunning front pair.

The average age has gone down because Johnstone has been replaced in goal, while the average CA rises with the sales of such useless players as Aizpurua. But while the first team are a match for anyone when firing, the wide positions cannot be carried when any of the stars goes missing.

They need squad depth so very badly, and to fix the half of the team that is so wrong.

[kipfizh]

Bandits report – Outside the first XI

Dropped:

Johnstone (GK): Was finally replaced by McParland, ten years his junior, but he is still a class goalkeeper.

Lopez (LM): Replaced by Baptiste, who did not impress any more than Lopez had.

Schweinsteiger (CM): Now 32, the German was replaced by Parker and Williamson.

Sold:

Veiga (LB): One of a number of sales that left the Bandits without a left back for the first half of the season.

Haaland (RB): Allowed to leave as he was well past his peak and fading.

Aizpurua (RM): Is useless, has always been useless, and was replaced by Cox, in his third stint at the club.

Prospects

They have no prospects. None.

[kipfizh]

Competitions - Other stats

England breezed through an easy European Championship qualifying group, winning all their matches without conceding a goal, but will have a tough task this summer, in a group containing Sweden, Portugal and Denmark.

In the Premiership, Sheff Wed had a board takeover in the summer, and the new men got rid of Ben Clayton. The result was a retention of their league title, by a massive margin, finishing fourteen points ahead of their nearest rivals. Those rivals were Burnley, who defied the odds to finish a superb second. QPR and West Ham completed the unlikely set of Champions League qualifiers, while Liverpool and Chelsea had appalling seasons.

Down in the Championship, Arsenal bounced straight back from their relegation to win the league and return to the Premiership, while one division lower, Welling suffered for their three consecutive promotions, going back down to League Two.

Chesterfield finished the season well, escaping relegation from the Premiership and then winning the FA Cup, beating Derby in the final. Meanwhile, Aston Villa took the League Cup, beating Leeds in the final, while Watford continued their truly abysmal form in the competition, extending their run to sixteen games without a win, a new record. They haven’t triumphed in a match for thirteen years.

Milan took the Champions League, beating holders Benfica in the final, while Sheff Wed went furthest of all Premiership sides, reaching the quarter finals. Ararat Yerevan of Armenia extended their losing streak to eleven in the competition, stretching back five years.

Meanwhile, Aston Villa’s win over Roma in the UEFA Cup final enabled the Bandits to qualify for Europe, as Villa had already won the League Cup and therefore qualified.

[kipfizh]

Premiership Analysis - Reputation

(league position in bold)

1 (1). Sheff Wed (1) – 9819 (+1278)

2 (10). Burnley (2) – 8107 (+905)

3 (2). Liverpool (16) – 8085 (-289)

4 (5). Bandits (6) – 7796 (-59)

5 (3). Tottenham (7) – 7608 (-345)

6 (11). Aston Villa (8) – 7568 (+466)

7 (4). Chelsea (12) – 7547 (-343)

8 (8). West Ham (4) – 7405 (+105)

9 (7). Leeds (15) – 7398 (-217)

10= (12). West Brom (5) – 7133 (+78)

11= (13). Man Utd (11) – 7133 (+178)

12 (9). QPR (3) – 7018 (-185)

13 (15). Man City (9) – 6885 (+169)

14 (19). Chesterfield (17) – 6783 (+660)

15 (14). Sunderland (10) – 6657 (-192)

16 (6). Newcastle (18) – 6567 (-1164)

17 (-). Crystal Palace (14) – 6463 (+78)

18 (-). Hull (13) – 6387 (+103)

19 (-). Derby (20) – 5769 (-655)

20 (16). Nottm Forest (19) – 5622 (-790)

Promoted sides

Arsenal – 7051 (+754)

Aldershot – 5636

Port Vale – 7030 (+717)6313

In a season of major changes, Sheff Wed storm miles clear of the rest after their complete dominance is restored. Their reputation is now close to the perfect 10000, and is nearly 2000 ahead of their nearest rivals.

In second place, Burnley announce themselves as a top club having run Sheff Wed the closest in the league. They are a true rags to riches tale, but will struggle to maintain it as they are slightly in debt. Liverpool drop to third, while the Bandits rise to fourth thanks to bigger losses by Spurs and Chelsea. The latter are paying for two consecutive seasons in the bottom half of the Premiership.

Aston Villa also make huge strides, while at the other end, Newcastle’s relegation decimates their reputation, while Hull’s superb survival will be difficult to repeat in their second Premiership season.

Of the sides coming up, Arsenal and Port Vale look set having spent only one season down in the Championship. By contrast, Aldershot look screwed from the start.

[kipfizh]

Premiership Analysis – Team Ability

(league position in bold)

1 (3). Sheff Wed (1) – 74.35 (+0.50)

2 (2). Liverpool (16) – 73.72 (-0.32)

3 (6). Bandits (6) – 72.37 (+0.44)

4 (1). Chelsea (12) – 72.25 (-1.85)

5 (9). Aston Villa (8) – 72.25 (+0.77)

6 (4). West Ham (4) – 71.86 (-1.39)

7 (13). Sunderland (10) – 71.27 (+0.93)

8 (5). Tottenham (7) – 70.96 (-1.08)

9 (14). Man Utd (11) – 70.89 (+0.65)

10 (8). Leeds (15) – 70.60 (-1.27)

11 (11). West Brom (5) – 70.49 (-0.60)

12 (10). Newcastle (18) – 70.33 (-0.88)

13 (15). QPR (3) – 69.61 (-0.08)

14 (7). Man City (9) – 69.34 (-2.57)

15 (16). Chesterfield (17) – 68.94 (-0.26)

16 (-). Hull (13) – 68.33 (+0.91)

17 (18). Burnley (2) – 68.01 (+0.50)

18 (17). Nottm Forest (19) – 67.75 (+0.11)

19 (-). Derby (20) – 67.42 (+0.96)

20 (-). Crystal Palace (14) – 66.08 (+1.16)

Promoted sides

Arsenal (18) – 69.50 (-0.92)

Aldershot – 64.12

Port Vale (19) – 65.69 (-0.34)

Sheff Wed complete their domination by returning to the top of this list too, with Liverpool remaining in second. The Bandits are up to third, so it is probably a measure of the first eleven rather than any sense of squad depth, because by that measure they would be way down. Chelsea, after two consecutive bottom half finishes, slip to fourth.

Lower down, Man City suffer major losses, and Burnley’s second place finish looks all the more remarkable given the paucity of quality at the club. Of the sides coming up, Arsenal have an excellent side and never should’ve gone down in the first place, while Aldershot are in desperate trouble.

Overachievers : Burnley, Burnley, Burnley and Burnley. And QPR.

Underachievers : Liverpool, Chelsea

Title Prediction : Sheff Wed to retain

Relegation Prediction : Aldershot to be abysmal, and be joined by Port Vale and Hull

[kipfizh]

Summary

It hasn’t been a great year for the Bandits, with them making some appalling transfer decisions in the summer. Fortunately, their small squad was just about able to cope with a season without European competition or cup runs, and they struggled to sixth, entering the UEFA Cup next season. With those extra fixtures, they will certainly need more of a squad.

Some wide men would be a start, to at least take the pressure off the stars in the spine, but they all need backup, preferably of the young variety, since the club has absolutely no prospects.

Sheff Wed are once again completely dominant, and with a new board now they don’t seem to have been badly affected. Burnley are suddenly a force in the Premiership, but with a weak squad and no money it isn’t likely to last.

Buy kids. Buy kids. Buy talented kids. Or, alternatively, fire the manager and hire a good one.

Bandit’s former manager watch

Justin Edinburgh has retired.

Steve Brackstone has retired.

Gary Perry has retired.

Dean Glover has retired.

Martin Lawton has retired.

Danny Gamble has retired.

Phil Edwards has retired.

Ben Clayton left Sheff Wed when their new board took over, and move to Milan, where he won the Champions League. Somehow, the completely talentless muppet is making a success of himself.

Stuart Davies has retired.

Left Back 1 has retired.

Neil Angus has retired.

Terry Arthur has retired.

Mark Nicholson moved from Benfica to Bayern Munich, and having been knocked out of the Champions League in the first knockout round he is now under severe pressure.

James Reynolds left Deportivo to join Inter Milan as manager, but a week after joining got knocked out the Champions League in the quarter finals.

Scott Tait was hired by Newcastle in the summer, but resigned later in the season with them 19th. It was too late for them to save themselves after that, even though they rose a place to 18th. He was then hired by Liverpool at the end of the season.

[kipfizh]

World View - Ones to watch

Your annual guide to the stars of tomorrow:

Bjorn Zimmerman (Bayern Munich/Germany, 16, 116/195, Centre Back: 55.53%) is a regular in Bayern Munich’s reserve team, and the centre back has a big future ahead of him.

Previous tips (legends, or players still with promise)

Hugues Guichard has retired.

Bjorn Strand (West Ham/Norway, 33, 156/193, Target Striker: 77.33%), loses eleven more points of CA, yet scores another 23 goals in a fine season for West Ham. He’s still superb, even at 33.

Umit Abdulkadir (Real Madrid/Turkey, 31, 170/199, Target Striker: 75.99%), drops fourteen points, and the legend is struggling to get a game for Real Madrid anymore.

Leonardo (Barcelona/Brazil, 29, 172/185, Target Striker: 74.90%), loses another six points, but scores fourteen goals in eighteen games for Barcelona, as he reaches the pinnacle of his career.

Peter Schulz (Bayern Munich/Germany, 31, 172/188, Target Striker: 70.11%), loses nine points, and suddenly gets dropped by Bayern Munich, even though he scores four times in the four games he gets.

Fabrizio Bucci (Inter/Italy, 30, 179/199, Target Striker: 76.25%), loses another twelve points, but continues his excellent form, scoring 21 goals for Inter. He will be a danger as ever this summer.

Guillaume Charton (Lyon/France, 29, 193/194, Goalkeeper: 76.04%), surprisingly drops off his peak by one point, but concedes only one every other game for Lyon., averaging a stunning 7.79. He will be difficult to beat in the summer.

Juan Perez (Real Madrid/Mexico, 26, 194/194, Winger: 79.53%), remains at his peak for the third successive year, but struggles at Real Madrid, having a real off season. Will he get back to form next year?

Aaron Lomas (Tottenham/England, 27, 185/198, Target Striker: 79.27%), maintains his CA, and is clearly not going to reach his awesome potential, but scores 25 goals for Spurs. And how about this for a statistic – he played four international games this season, and scored THIRTEEN goals. Watch for him this summer.

Graham Thomas (Liverpool/England, 25, 188/198, Centre Back: 76.13%), improves his climb, gaining four CA points, and has a very decent season for Liverpool, where he is considering his options.

Andre Luis (Valencia/Brazil, 25, 187/198, Attacking Midfielder: 73.05%), rises four points, but continues to struggle for Valencia. He is temperamental, is he like those original idiots?

Raymond van Dijk (Chelsea/Holland, 24, 185/195, Full Back: 79.63%), continues his improvement, gaining six more points of CA, and he enjoys another excellent season at Chelsea. A measure of the club’s dropping stature is that he actually wants to join a bigger club.

Roberio (Marseille/Brazil, 22, 182/198, Winger: 73.53%), improves by another five points, but he is really struggling at Marseille.

Olivier Texier (Sheff Wed/France, 23, 182/199, Winger: 79.69%), gains five more points, and despite his scouted rating being the best in the world, he continues to be appalling for his club, averaging 6.39. But he can only play in an attacking winger role or a wing back role, so he doesn’t fit into the 4-4-2 system at all.

Robert Wojcik (Sheff Wed/Poland, 18, 156/194, Target Striker: 74.69%), gains another fifteen points, and moves from Portsmouth to Sheff Wed for 4.7m. He scores a few early goals, but hasn’t settled in properly yet.

Juan Carlos Gimenez (San Lorenzo/Argentina, 19, 166/199, Midfielder: 75.32%), continues his impressive rise, gaining seventeen more points of CA, and is playing extremely well. He is wanted by Benfica and the Bandits, but so far only the Portuguese club have lodged a bid.

Gregory Bertin (Bordeaux/France, 18, 133/199, Winger: 57.66%), gains 29 points, but is yet to make his debut for his hometown club.

[kipfizh]

World View - World beaters (by CA)

Juan Perez (Real Madrid/Mexico, 26, 194/194, Winger: 79.53%), remains at his peak, and takes over at the top on his own, but ironically has a really poor season this time around, struggling to create very much for Real Madrid and even having some disciplinary problems. He will look to do much better next season.

Juan Perez

Guillaume Charton (Lyon/France, 29, 193/194, Goalkeeper: 76.04%), no longer holds the top spot with Perez, after he lost one point, but he is truly an incredible keeper, conceding just 27 goals in 52 matches for Lyon, where he is staying loyal. His average of 7.79 and his consistency are amazing.

Gillaume Charton

Mathieu Adam (Real Madrid/France, 26, 192/192, Goalkeeper: 76.60%), remains a superb keeper too, but imagine being him. You’re the third best player in the world, but you can’t get a game for your country because the second best player in the world is ahead of you. Football is a cruel game. Still, he concedes less than a goal a game, and his 7.58 average would normally make him a great in his own right except for the man above him.

Mathieu Adam

Fabrizio Bucci drops off the list as his CA falls to 179.

[kipfizh]

World View - World beaters (by scouted rating)

For once, there are no players hitting the 80% mark. Last season’s pairing, Joe Galloway and Raymond van Dijk fall to fifth and second respectively, and Olivier Texier’s 79.69% rating at left wing is the best in the world, but not good enough for this list.

Here are the best players in the world, in each position, by scouted rating:

Goalkeeper: Emanuele Amodio (Benfica/Italy, 31, 182/187, 77.31%)

Sweeper: Terry Hill (Bayern Munich/England, 28, 173/183, 77.20%)

Centre Back: Jiri Dolezal (West Ham/Czech Rep, 33, 163/175, 78.02%)

Left Back: Joe Galloway (Liverpool/England, 29, 178/190, 79.26%)

Right Back: Raymond van Dijk (Chelsea/Holland, 24, 185/195, 79.63%)

Left Wing Back: Rumen Borisov (Lazio/Bulgaria, 24, 179/187, 78.93%)

Right Wing Back: Sean Ross (Newcastle/England, 22, 170/177, 77.40%)

Defensive Midfielder: Patrick Frey (Bayern Munich/France, 26, 187/188, 76.16%)

Central Midfielder: Juan Perez (Real Madrid/Mexico, 26, 194/194, 77.56%)

Attacking Midfielder: Ronald Diaz (Newcastle/Bolivia, 32, 164/177, 78.07%)

Left Winger: Olivier Texier (Sheff Wed/France, 23, 182/199, 79.69%)

Right Winger: Juan Perez (Real Madrid/Mexico, 26, 194/194, 79.53%)

Fast Striker: Goncalves (Man Utd/Brazil, 30, 175/176, 77.43%)

Target Striker: Aaron Lomas (Tottenham/England, 27, 185/198, 79.27%)

Losing their place:

Joe Galloway (CB, LWB), Pacheco (RWB), Jochen Kunert (DM), Thiago (FS)

A few new names this season, with no-one hitting the magical 80% mark.

[kipfizh]

World View - Distribution of 180+ CA players

The clubs

Real Madrid – 4 (-2) (194, 192, 184, 180)

Barcelona – 4 (+1) (186, 183, 182, 181)

Sheff Wed – 4 (+3) (182, 181, 181, 180)

Lyon – 3 (-1) (193, 184, 182)

Milan – 3 (-1) (189, 186, 184)

Liverpool – 3 (+1) (188, 184, 180)

Tottenham – 3 (-) (185, 181, 180)

Bayern Munich – 2 (-1) (187, 180)

Chelsea – 2 (-1) (185, 185)

Inter – 2 (+1) (182, 180)

Valencia – 1 (-) (187)

Bandits – 1 (-) (184)

Marseille – 1 (-) (182)

Benfica – 1 (-) (182)

Man City – 1 (+1) (180)

Nantes – 1 (+1) (180)

QPR – 0 (-1)

Total – 36 (+1)

The number of stars rises by one, but it gets congested at the top with no club holding more than four. Real Madrid lose two to drop to four stars, and are joined by Barcelona and Sheff Wed, who are improving rapidly.

QPR drop from the list, but Man City and Nantes replace them.

The leagues

England – 14 (+3)

Spain – 9 (-1)

France – 5 (-)

Italy – 5 (-)

Germany – 2 (-1)

Portugal – 1 (-)

Total – 36 (+1)

England become the dominant nation, while Italy continues to struggle, and Portugal hang on to their place on the list.

The nationalities

France – 7 (+2)

England – 6 (-1)

Spain – 4 (+1)

Italy – 4 (-1)

Brazil – 2 (-)

Holland – 2 (+1)

Scotland – 2 (+2)

Mexico – 1 (-)

Belgium – 1 (-)

Argentina – 1 (-1)

Turkey – 1 (-1)

Russia – 1 (-)

Germany – 1 (-1)

Peru – 1 (-)

Colombia – 1 (+1)

Uruguay – 1 (+1)

Slovenia – 0 (-1)

Serbia – 0 (-1)

Total – 36 (+1)

In European Championships year, France and England are streets ahead of the rest, but Spain and Italy still hold a threat.

[kipfizh]

Sorry about the delay folks, I'll be honest with you, the reason it has taken so long this time is because the season was so gut wrenchingly, mind numbingly dull that I really didn't have the motivation to write the report!

So I took a little break and came back to it

European Championships and the fifty year report coming up soon (and I actually really mean soon this time!)

[Purefun]

Excellent thread i've been reading this for days now and finally made it to the (current) end. Now i hope i've learned something.

And a big hello to Meitheisman!! Long time no see mate. Sure miss you at the "Les Gones".

[kipfizh]

Originally posted by Mravac Kid:

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

2) Alter the money so that the board gets replaced?

Kipfizh already confirmed there had already been a board takeover in the club's history... With that in mind, it's probably not really about money, as the club has always been far, far richer than average opposition at their level. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That said, I will be changing the stats of the board(s) in the next experiment....

One of many changes from this one!

[kipfizh]

Originally posted by Maviarab:

Taken me a while to catch up, as usual had some hope for the coming season, read the report, got depressed, same again with the next season, read your report, guess it could have been worse, then read your latest summer transfer report and hangs head in shame.

It does seem a little cyclic, I must admit, which is strange, because every other club is yoyoing quite a lot.

Chelsea, for example, the only club richer than the Bandits, have just come 12th and 13th, and the Bandits haven't finished that low in fourteen years. But there does seem to be a glass ceiling they just can't break.

[kipfizh]

Originally posted by chopper99:

I have a bad feeling about this season, especially with a youth player spending half of it at left back. The way the manager's been panic buying in the January transfer window hints to me that they weren't doing well and desperately needed to sign some players. I'm already looking forward to seeing the back of this particular manager.

The left back mistake was unforgivable. The poor bloke never stood a chance, and averaged 5.53 in his 19 games. Try salvaging a career from that wreckage.

I can't wait for Way to leave, unless he completely reverses his act this summer.

[VonBlade]

Let's hope one of the options Graham Thomas thinks about is the Bandits.

With the way the manager is, ahem, managing I can't see us lodging a bid for Gimenez either. Knowing our luck we'll sell Rubio and bid 50m for Strand. Meh.

Definitely showing the lack of depth we've got though. I was hoping in the last couple of seasons, with the Premiership looking quite open, the Bandits would spend big and cement their position in the elite.

Unfortunately we've sold big and cemented our position as Spurs. A few awesome players then bugger all after that. Meh again.

Sack the manager, get a chairman with some talent for spotting a manager who isn't a two-star McDonalds employee and we might get somewhere.

Trouble is, as the manager slowly kills the team the expectations fall, then the likelyhood of his underachievement getting him the boot falls too. I'd be interested to see what a serious interfering chairman could do with all our cash. Doesn't look like the manager is going to spend any of it on anyone useful...

VB

[kipfizh]

Originally posted by JRHaggs:

Still, the board are the real culprits here. It seems that only by chance have our Bandits not previously found themselves tumbling due to lousy management. This guy isn't really all that different than those who have gone before him. It was just a matter of time before the board's abysmal managerial signings caught up.

True. I really feared for them this season, but they got away with it simply because they had so few fixtures to contend with. Next season? Yikes.

Running only one league in detail must really have profound effects on the database. It seems that the current managerial stock is riddled with the digital equivalents of inbred hemophiliacs and slack-jawed yokels. A little variety in the gene pool would do them some good.

Definitely one of things I'll be addressing in FM09 - I need to run every remotely important league on full detail, even if it takes a week to run a season. Should make for a more rounded experiment, and as you say, a little variety.

Kip: yet another screenshot request. May we see the world rankings, please? I'm going out on a limb here to predict that it will be a disaster. I doubt there will be many non-European countries in the top 20. I'm basing this prediction on the database behavior we've been watching for the last 50 seasons.

World Rankings

As it happens, there are quite a lot of non-Europeans in there, but that's mainly because of the system. If you succeed in the African qualifiers and African Nations Cup, you'll be up there even if you get trounced at the World Cup.

I'm beginning to get a little antsy for FM '09. Although I'm still rooting for the Bandits (c'mon the Bandits!), but I'm beginning to feel a bit jaded and in need of a rest (ha!) regarding this FM '07 database erosion. I feel like we've been witnessing what started as a reasonably predictable and dynamic system succumb to entropic forces, season by season. Each season now seems noticeably more frustrating than the last, and there is nothing to suggest that trend's abatement.

Me too, I'm looking forward to the new version too. All we need now is some tangible success!