Numpty >> trečiadienis birželis 10 - 21:45

You'll need a hotel for the semi, so we've taken the liberty of booking you into Fawlty Towers.   

I'm sure you'll enjoy the stay. 

Lee >> penktadienis birželis 12 - 23:43

I would like to apologise to the 6 teams I've drawn with.......it was never my intent to stop you taking all 3 points.

Dragontao >> Šeštadienis birželis 13 - 18:49

@Numpty, you forgot some vital information about Fawlty Towers. Watch out for rats and don't, I repeat don't, mention the war!

Numpty >> sekmadienis birželis 14 - 08:01, Pataisyta sekmadienis birželis 14 - 08:01

That's not a rat, it's a pet hamster. Answers to the name of Sybil. 

The war is all forgotten now, let’s hear no more about it. So, that’s two egg mayonnaise, a prawn Goebbels, a Hermann Goering, and four Colditz salads.

Numpty >> trečiadienis birželis 17 - 12:31

Congrats to Monk (and Stephen). We gave it our best shot but we were just outplayed by a better team. Back to the humdrum of level 5 now ... :)

Stephen >> trečiadienis birželis 17 - 13:06

A good run to the semis for you Numpty. Good work.

If I were you I’d seriously think about moving up as far as league 2. You can pretty much do the whole win at home lose away thing in at least tier 3, but probably the second tier.

See you in the final, Monk. *arrogantly heads off to buy some silver polish*

Numpty >> trečiadienis birželis 17 - 15:07, Pataisyta trečiadienis birželis 17 - 15:45

Thanks Stephen. 

There are both pros and cons to moving up. The matches are obviously easier in L5 and that means I can pretty much field any team that I want. Both youngsters for xp and poor popular players - without any risk and also (usually) without the board complaining.   

There's also early entry in the cup, which this season gave us 8 matches - which were all at home. 

Once we get to L2 there are no easy matches and I'll have to spend a bit more on players. 

As far as I can see the only upside to promotion is increased attendances.

This would only make any real difference in L2, but on current projections we would likely be filling the stadium against bots in around 4 seasons time in any event - and it would take at least 2-3 seasons to get there, so there's really not much point until we start building stadium 11.  

Which is ultimately what the current plan is. I just need to find a spare billion ... 

All opinions welcome.  

Edit 

Comparing the popularity of the tier 3 clubs. By the time we get there we would probably get a small attendance boost (for 40-115%) for about half the matches and nothing at all (under 40%) for the other half.  

Stephen >> trečiadienis birželis 17 - 16:01

My feeling is you could manage the development of your club just as well at a higher level and then when you’re ready to compete, you have to waste less time moving up the levels. You’ll not find level 3 very hard, I don’t think.

For League 2, there are more established clubs, but the standard is not that great. It’s a huge leap to League 1 or that’s how the promoted clubs have typically found it over the last 20 seasons.

Monk >> trečiadienis birželis 17 - 16:37

Commiserations to Numpty, close game but I edged it with the single goal. Delighted to be in my first English domestic cup final, but against Seaburn? Urgh. I'll try my best.

Numpty >> trečiadienis birželis 17 - 16:52, Pataisyta trečiadienis birželis 17 - 16:57

Yeah, I agree with most of that, @Stephen. It's a fair point about the time it takes to climb the levels.

I have no definite plan so this is all sketched out on the back of an envelope.

I hope to start the climb as soon I start building stadium 11. It takes 123 days to build it (with a CM) and that gives me over 2 seasons to climb through Levels 4 and 3 and start trying to assemble a squad at least good enough for Level 2.

(Apologies to anyone in Level 3, but we'll be coming straight through ...) :D

So if I get the timing right we should arrive in L2 around the time the stadium is ready.  In the meantime there's the small matter of trying to find all that money... and this is mainly what's holding us back.

@Monk. To be fair the scoreline flattered us. It could easily have been 2 or 3 more. The plan was to try and keep the score down and hope to get lucky. The first bit almost worked ... the second bit didn't. :)

coldstar >> penktadienis birželis 19 - 19:49

Will Stephen win all the games this season?

Stephen >> penktadienis birželis 19 - 21:10

7 more games in which to find out! *checks fixture list* Hmm, Winchester away tomorrow. Is you asking this question a sign you’re quietly confident of ending the run...? We’ll see tomorrow :)

Stephen >> Šeštadienis birželis 20 - 07:42

Phew! That was close. A crazy last 10 mins, with an equaliser from Winchester and then two more goals from Seaburn to keep the run going.

6 more to go...

Lee >> Šeštadienis birželis 20 - 10:51

Shockwaves are felt through all 5 divisions as the Pixels manage to hold on for a massive 2:1 win at fellow strugglers Reading City. They are now only 3 points behind.........has the great escape started?

Stephen >> pirmadienis birželis 22 - 13:38

Champions! And a brilliant come from behind win to snatch the U21 Youth Cup while I slept.

The Cup final against the Melchester lads tomorrow. It’s another early morning one, so I doubt I’ll be in attendance there either.

Just 4 more games left now. Can the Beach keep the 100% record going? I’ve just started to believe it’s possible so probably next game it’ll be the kick in the pods.