Welcome back to the word on the street.

This issue we talk to one of the recently crowned Division 1 champions.

Welcome to the Zone elusive manager of Gavião Kyikatejê.

1 Firstly congrats on the title and promotion. Did you expect this at the start of the season and what do you expect from next season ?

Thanks and thanks for inviting me to speak The Zone! Being away from the game for a while it was difficult to know what to expect! I wasn’t sure the standard of the other teams in the league or how many were actually active! I threw a young team together fairly quickly and was promoted to division 1 playing a handful of games due to being the only active team in division 3.5. Form was an issue at the start of the season (was playing too many friendly games) and had sent some key players to TC. Around halfway through the season it became apparent promotion was a possibility, players returned from camps and fortunately some of the teams above us dropped points. I would have liked another season before being promoted but with that there’s no guarantee of being promoted next season, I’ve been stuck in division 1 before!

Next season I expect to struggle, there will be no easy games. I have a fairly young squad and will need to rotate players around training camps while trying to pick up enough points. My team is lacking in some areas but I just don’t have the funds to strengthen at the moment, will go with what I have and see what they can do! I’m looking forward to coming against some familiar names from the past and some managers I’ve never played against, should be fun!

2 I believe you’ve been around a lot longer than your team profile would suggest. Tell us the history of elusive on MZ and your highs and lows?

I think I stayed away from the game too long once and the history, profile and stadium got reset a while back. It’s probably for the best that the true number of years I’ve been unsuccessful on MZ is hidden :D

I did have one success in winning the SPL in Season 19 when I managed to break the run of Balloch Gers. I tend to buy younger players and train them up, get bored of not winning or life gets in the way of playing and sell my teams before they reach their potential. Training younger players is my biggest enjoyment in the game, buying them for low prices and growing them into players of quality and value but it takes patience and that is where I struggle! I often check training reports when they come out just after midnight hoping to dodge a maxing! I’ll never match the multiple SPL titles and cup runs some teams have managed but hopefully this time around I’ll be able to stay around longer and become competitive.

SPL history from the start of MZ to Season 58 is on the team page of ‘tonnerwhu’ for anyone interested and hasn’t seen it. Hopefully someone has or can piece together the history after Season 58 so there remains a record.

3 How does MZ now compare to your early days here?

Honestly much of the game is the same but I do struggle to remember much past a couple of years! Obviously players have come and gone over the years but it’s good to see some have stuck it out. One of the main differences is the increase in transfer prices, it’s amazing to see some of the fees being paid for younger players. I guess this is partly down to the Uxx tournaments and the increase of foreign/work permit players allowed. I like both those changes, I recently got 3^rd place in one of the smaller U23 cups which was nice. It gives more managers a chance to get to the latter stages of a cup and possibly pick up a trophy. Previously when only 3 foreign players were allowed you would enter senior Official Cups just to get destroyed early on by teams that had more users. It’s not quite there but there’s definitely more balance and chance now to compete in cups if you are playing from a country with less users.

I’m not keen on the scout report indicating high and low potential of a player, I think that has driven up the price of ‘elite’ young players and driven down the price of average ones where they become less worth training to resell.

4 Who is the person behind the elusive username. Tell us a wee bit about yourself?

Fast approaching 40, from Aberdeen originally been living down just outside London for many years now. Work as a site engineer in construction, 4 children, support Aberdeen and QPR so it’s not just my MZ team that’s useless!

5 What are the minimums you look for in a player before you decide to keep, sell or sack?

All outfield players:

Speed and Stamina 8+ , Ball control and Player Intelligence 6+

Defenders: Tackling 9+, Heading 6+

Midfield: Passing & Aerial Passing both 7+ with mixture of some 7+ tackling, some 7+shooting

Strikers: Shooting 9+, Heading 7+

That’s what I’ll be looking for from now as a minimum, not everyone is there yet! Currently lacking player intelligence across my team so I’ll rotate training everyone that I intend to keep on it. I train all my youths on speed/stamina or ball control with coaches and work on other skills through training camps.

6 Share with us (using a skiller if possible) a current or ex playing legend for your team?

It’s too early days for current legends, all my players are fairly newly signed except one. Aiden Murdoch is the current club captain, he’s been here since youth and is the only survivor from selling up previously. Nothing special, he missed out on alot of training and has woeful P.I and heading but I love him like a son :D

http://mzplayer.se/?id=0624164207

John Brieve id 205748084 and Innes McKnight id: 202687417 are my two favourite players from the past that I owned and can remember! I’m sure there are others but much of my transfer history and memory has been obliterated!

7 Have you ever managed the national side? If so how did you do…if not why not ?

Never had the minerals to manage the national side! Although we have a small number of users compared to some other countries and expectations should be low, I don’t want to let anyone down. I don’t have the time to commit to it nowadays and like the freedom of being able to leave and come back to the game when time allows. I’d rather the NC job went to someone with better understanding of the sim and tactics than myself and/or someone who really wanted it.

8 Did you follow the SPL this season and what were your thoughts?

I kept an eye on it, was an interesting battle at the top until near the end! It wasn’t until the top 3 teams transfer listed some players during this season break that I realised how far the quality has improved. I felt a bit confident about next season until that :D A shame one team left the game and Alness AFC sold their players half way through the season. Hopefully Alness will be back, they have been around for a long long time. I don’t think I’ve played any of the current SPL teams recently so I’ll be looking to the playoffs to get an idea what to expect next season when grangemouth and Montgomerie Galaxy play Celtic & Dunfermline from div 1.3 I was just in.

9 Predict the top four for next seasons SPL?

Alot depends on what happens over the season break however I think top 3 will be as they were this year. The rest of us have a fair bit of catching up to do! Floodish, Chelsea Headhunters and North Face all seem to be making outgoing transfers so it should be interesting to see who they bring in. North Face seem very well setup with young players for the next few seasons, weren’t far behind the top two in terms of goals scored and perhaps it could be their time for another run of SPL titles. It will come down to how the top 3 fair against each other again, sure going to be interesting!

1.The North Face

2.Chelsea Headhunters

3. Floodish FC

4. Alfordians

10 Whats your record transfer sale and buy?

Transfer Out: Innes McKnight id: 202687417 (£1,869,476)

Transfer In: Naithan Nandez id: 209278757 (£3,765,001)

McKnight was the best player I’ve owned, by far my most regrettable sale but I had to leave the game for a while. I had a good side with potential when I sold up and it’s painful to see three players I had currently in the NT. I’ll be glad when they retire ;)

Naithan Nandez was a fairly recent purchase, also one I regret. I got into a bidding war and massively overpaid for him but couldn’t walk away. Prices have gone crazy for younger players, especially strikers and it will take a couple of seasons before he really becomes top drawer. I get alot of enjoyment out of training younger players and seeing them progress but won’t be in a rush to spend that sort of money on one player again!!

11 Do you have a rival within the game ?

Not rivals as such but I used to have close competition with Loch Lomond 04 managed by wr50l, our team’s were evenly matched for a while. They haven’t been around for a long time now. Spent a long time being behind zefrenchy (Renoresa Psygi) and aplam68 (Balloch Gers) but they were both far better managers than myself! Maybe some rivalries will develop over the coming seasons ;)

Real football ….

12 Scotland……Will they finally qualify for a tournament by getting past Israel and Serbia/Norway?

I think Israel is very winnable but fear Serbia/Norway are a tough tough ask, both countries have some very good players and proven themselves difficult to beat. I’d love to be more optimistic and really hope I’m wrong!

13 Finally any words of wisdom for new managers in MZ and your rivals in the SPL next season ?

For new managers I would just be aware how slow paced the game can be. If you are going to go down the route of training up youths/young players, it’s a great rewarding way to play the game but will take a ALOT of patience before you see the fruits of your labour.

Good luck to all the SPL managers next season, see you out there in the dugouts!