Part 13: Chapter the Eleventh: Bring me the diamonds in the rough.
Chapter the Eleventh: Diamonds in the rough.March 8, 2014-March 22, 2014
A couple days before our big match against Altrincham our youth academy brought in recruits. For the sake of narrative cohesion I decided to put off talking about it since it really deserves it's own chapter as it's such a big part of being a Lower League Manager, and because the Altrincham match was a big one for our team.
To my surprise, three of the youth players look like they could end up playing for us at some point. This is rather shocking, as we have “Fairly Basic Youth Recruitment”- which is one step above the lowest level of “Basic Youth Recruitment.”
Marc Pearson, Goalkeeper
Youth Recruitment determines how widespread your recruiting is, teams like ours are able to bring in local kids that aren't picked up by more prestigious clubs while Barcelona and Real Madrid are signing grade schoolers from Japan. The ingame depiction of this is that Barca brings in potential worldbeaters from across the globe each year while we get the kids who fancy themselves something special in local pick-up games.
Dougie Rutter, Attacking Midfielder
Your scouts will describe players as having the ability to be a "leading" player at a certain level of competition. If you're wondering how that will translate to a higher level of play, you can more or less accept that a player described as a "leading" player will still be a "decent" player two leagues higher. So as applied to Dougie it means that the Assistant Manager believes he could become a decent Premier League attacking midfielder.
Kris Clough, Striker
I've never had this good a group of kids this early on in prior games, I don't think any of them will still be with us when we're at the top, but they could help us get there. Of course, that depends on how much they can improve, and how long we spend in the lower leagues. If they don't evolve as players and we get multiple back to back promotions they might never play a single first team game. In which case, ignore what I've said about these guys. They're just kids with bright grins and weird hair who'll only disappoint you and leave you as a single mother living on the dole. Our own recruits aren't my main concern at the moment, though. I'm after something more...
SHOW ME THE DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH!
Every other team in England also brought in new youth players, and Scottish, Welsh, and Northern Irish teams did the same five days earlier. Ireland has it's own intake day in September. This period in early March is one of my favorite parts of being a lower league manager. Because we've had our scouts looking for new talent all over England our scouts have already compiled information on several of the youth side players, but I also order them to fan out to scout as many players as they can to find potential stars.
You should look at players brought in by lower division teams, no one who has a youth contract from a major team is going to be interested in joining some lower division team even for better pay and an immediate spot on the first team. And be warned that you've got to sift through a lot of dross to find worthy signings. But this can very much be worth it, you can find players who are able to develop as players while you through the ranks of professional soccer, until the 15 year old you signed from West Bumfuck Dairy FC is now a 26 year old star striker on your Champion's League team. Or, they get really good and you have to sell them because you're still just a mid-table Premier League team and Barcelona wants them.
Our first signing is a kid from East Kilbride in Scotland, a team so far down the football pyramid they aren't even listed as being in a league.
Stuart Mair, Defensive Midfielder
£5,750 from East Kilbride
The reason I don't immediately put Mair into the starting 11 is because he's a natural Defensive Midfielder, and not adept at playing in the central midfield. But we can, and will, train him for a central midfield role. If we ever switch to a 4-5-1 he'll also be a good fit for a defensive-minded deep lying playmaker. He's got a couple glaring attribute weaknesses at the moment, the first being that you can knock him over with a feather. Strength is important in making sure you can muscle other players off the ball/not get muscled off the ball, and in being able to fight for position. I set him to strength training immediately. He's also very bad at offensive movement when he doesn't have the ball, which means he won't be capable of helping us set up attacks. He's the clear best of the players that we add.
Anton Brady, Right Fullback
£10,000 from Woking
Usually the most I can afford is one or two of these guys for the first couple years, but we've got money, so I make offers to guys who in other games would bust my budget. I don't expect to get all or even most of them.
Nathan Adcock, Striker
Free Transfer
Still, kids who are likely to stick with the side half a decade or more, and will develop to match or exceed the level of play you find yourself at, are a much better choice than the older, mediocre players who you can normally sign.
Once a player signs a pre-contract with a team you don't have the ability to steal them. This will happen a lot, especially if word leaks that you're trying to steal a player out from under the team that trained them through their academy. Crewe Alexandria had three players I was interested in, and all three chose to stay at Crewe rather than joining us. That's how it goes for all of the higher division youth talent I tried to sign, which means Mair is the only signing who has the ability to jump immediately into the side.
Levi Blackmore, Centerback
£5,000 from Hednesford
Our three other youth recruits don't have as high a ceiling or as well developed as Mair, but they make out youth squad pretty darned good and through our own youth system and raiding other clubs we've gained a grand total of seven players who have Championship level potential for a grand total of £20,750.
Now that we've got some players with real potential I need to give them real coaches. Your U-21 team trains with the First Team coaches while your U-18 club is only trained by U-18 coaches, with the exception of fitness and goalkeeper coaches. At this point our coaching staff is acceptable, largely because of oligarch money allowing us to have a very large staff for a lower league team. I won't get to see these guys develop, though, unless I get a new contract at the end of the season. And that means winning promotion.