KickAbout Rulebook

These players should be considered as those common real-life types, the ìnjury-prone’ footballer. The Darren Anderton and Jon Woodward type of player, always beset by injury. In effect a fader doesn’t add experience every time he plays, he loses it, so gradually, unless trained, his performance level will reduce. Obviously this raises a different set of problems for the manager. Do I train him, where do I train him too, and when is his level going to reduce (galling indeed when you rain him and the same session he loses that level). It’s even worse if he is a specialist who costs more levels to rain in the first place. Still, faders often cost much less to buy and put into your team, and aren’t to be dismissed out of hand like some do. Remember as well that once they get to level twelve they DO NO T fade any further as long as they don’t get injured.

A problem arises though if they go star as fading will start again and when they do fade they will go to a level eleven as losing a level has to reduce their performance level by one, and you can’t have a level eleven star thus the star status ones. Training them to thirteen is always a good idea, but this might be an on-going things a they lose a level at various times during the season! Better though to have a level 13 fading star than a level six ordinary player??

Another thing to remember about faders is that they ALWAYS stay faders. There are five levels of fader, from low fader to ?ou really don’t want one of them’ type of fader. At the end of every season a fading star slips down from where he was to the next worse level so over time a fading star is going to become worse and more difficult to handle. When he reaches the bottom rung he stays there for the rest of his career, hugging the bench and taking his wages, so to speak, until you get rid of him. Of course, every now and again their are different times in the auction that might well assuage these problems, but that’s in the lap of the Gods isn’t it??.

Risers, of course, are the type of player that everybody wants. This type of player rises automtcilly with games played in terms of perfomacne levels. In effect he receives an enhanced experince game every time he plays which means his level will rise much faster thn through nornal experience. As with faders there are five seperate levels of risers, Every season a riser will decrease one level from his satrting level and when he gets to the lowest level then the followign season he will revert to a normal player and lose any risign status that he had.

It is important to emembe this when buying a riser, even worse there is no way to know what level a riser (or a fader) is currently at when you buy hime. Through the auction you are given ‘some’ idea but often it isn’t very clear.

Please reailise with both risers and faders that the amount of added experience that a player gians or rises each turn is randome, modified by his age and fader/ riser level. Thus rising and fading will never be a fixed, quantifiable amount, it is bound to vary. The number of mons about ‘my riser has stopepd rising’, or “my fader has started to fade twcei as fast as earlier in tehe season’ are easily explianed if you keep this in mind.

After you have selected your team and ADDED up the levels correctly to come to a SUB-TOTAL of levels in each area, it’s time for the Application of Additions. This encompasses a number of items and can also be the difference between winning and losing if done correctly. The number of mistakes made her, the number of times a player gets something wrong or for soeme explicable reason forgets to add on or all of them and even fail to come to a FINAL total box is quite amazing. Make sure you do this every time and get it right.

The biggest problem here seems to be the simple one of woring out what you are entitled to, it’s explained in the rulebook and really shouldn’t be that difficult. Please remember that the dreaded three-times rule (ie no outfield area may be three times larger than any other), applies to both sub-totals and final total boxes by the way. There is nothing worse than seeign your lovingly laid-out tem coming abck emsculated by the computer that has moved one of your players to eradicate this mistake.

The number of levels given to you by your captian is shown on your squadsheet. Sometims your captain will get to the next level which triggers another level, during a session This you can use immediately if you are aware of it.

You have a limited number of the former, so use them wisely, an unlimited use off aggression, but this carries it’s own penalties. Playign aggression on certain areas raises the chacne of the players in that area collecting bookings and sending-offs by the ay. Remember also that a GK or SW uses 2MP/AGG to rise him by one point and that you put 2/4/ etc in the relevang box, but only raise his final performance level by the one/2 levels, etc. Remember also that the total aggro or MPS you may use in a game is ten (of both not either by the way).

Then all you have to do is add them up (if you keep making mistakes then teampick is for you cos it does all the maths and leaves you free to oncntrate on tactics and planning).