Why Are 'Super Youths' So Expensive?

After reading an excellent article on HattrickNews.org about the inflated prices of 17 year olds I decided I just had to reply!

One reason that Spinis highlighted in particular was this:

In the past managers that bought these super-youths often argued their case with comments such as “I’ll get the money back when he’s multi-skilled and still young” or “I’ll get the money back with interest when he’s high in one skill and still trainable in another!”

For sure some managers do genuinely believe this, but as Spinsis says these players can be trained for several seasons and end up worth less than the initial cost as a 17yo youth pull! Maybe not the best situation when you have the intention of training for profit!

Other than those (unwise?) managers who are trying to train for profit I would guess that most 'super youths' are bought to either (a) train for their U20/NT or (b) train in multiple skills for one club for many seasons.

We are now firmly in the Multi Skills era of Hattrick so both are viable and realistic options and in both cases when bidding for the player the manager will be more willing to bid that little bit higher than if he were planning training for profit.

So there you have it: I blame the multi skill revolution!

(Well, at least partly!)

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Tags: Hattrick

Top 10 Ways To Waste Your Money

A simple guide for new Hattrick managers who are determined to spend their cash at any cost:

1. Expand your stadium to 100,000 seats in an effort to attract more supporters.

2. Buy an amazing player for pennies before realising his wages are €500,000 per week.

3. Hire an Inadequate skill / Inadequate leadership coach.

4. Invest in the YA or YS and not use them (better still run both systems and ignore them!)

5. List your whole squad of Weak and Inadequate players for transfer (then list them again and again when none of them sell).

6. Hire 10 of every staff type (because obviously 10 is better than 1, right?).

7. Try to make your millions day trading without knowing what each player is worth.

8. Hire a bazillion doctors to get your 34 year old Passable striker fit for the weekend.

9. Celebrate getting a bargain after buying a fantastic player at a ridiculously low price while his old team is playing a match (only to discover his +6 injury when the final whistle sounds).

Oh, and of course the old chestnut:

10. Get into an irrational bid war and pay twice the players true value.

If you can think of better ways to waste your money then please leave a comment to let me know. :)

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Tags: Hattrick

The Best Stamina Percentage

There are one or two options on the Training page that can have a big influence on how quickly your Hattrick club develops. Since Stamina was revamped in 2007 it has become by far the most talked about option on the training page, the most common question is always: "What stamina percentage is best?".

First things first: There is no single 'best' stamina percentage.

Your choice will heavily depend on the philosophy of your team. Are you a new club that is focussed primarily on training profits? Are you a high division team that is training General and is more interested in results? Or are you somewhere in between, trying to balance training profits with happy fans?

Your decision will also heavily depend on your squad of players. Are your non-trainees all old men who struggle to stay fit? Are you planning to sell most of them on in the next season or two?

You should also consider what level of stamina you want your team to have. Do you really need an entire team of excellents? Would you still be able to compete in your league with a team of passables?

Depending on your answers to the above somewhere between 10% and 20% will likely be suitable for your team, although it is not too uncommon for teams to use anything from 5% to 25%.

The best stamina percentage is the percentage that suits your team, your philosophy and your ambition.

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Related Articles: Stamina Percentage Research
Tags: Hattrick

Youth Development: YA or YS?

The youth systems in Hattrick can seem a little confusing at first, so here is an overview of your youth development options:

1. The Youth Squad (YS)

You invest a set amount and in return each week you get to add a young player to your senior squad.

Negatives: You have no control of what type of player you get and no control of what age they will be.

Positives: Quick and simple so it is good for managers who don't have much HT time or who don't want to learn how to run the more complicated Youth Academy.

2. The Youth Academy (YA)

In addition to your normal senior team you also get to control a team of youngsters aged 15 to 18.

Negatives: You can't see each player’s skills so it can take a fair amount of time and effort to work out who your best trainees are before developing them.

Positives: You play an extra game each week and have more control over the type and age of players you add to your first team squad. A good option for Hattrick addicts!

In Conclusion

You can think of the YS as a lottery ticket: you invest a set amount each week and get a chance of pulling a star. On the other hand you could think of the YA as a kind of fantasy football competition: it takes more time and thought than buying a lottery ticket but you have more control over your chances of winning big.

Whichever system you decide to use you should try to remember that (a) you won't get a killer player every week and (b) it takes time and patience to develop young football players.

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Tags: Hattrick

Choosing Your First Coach

It is often said that one of the first things every new Hattrick manager should do is hire a new coach, but what type?

It depends on a few factors but generally speaking you want to hire an External coach with Passable or Solid coaching skill and Poor leadership.

The coaching skill is because as a new team you will be focussing on training players to make money. Solid is highly recommended as it will train your players faster than Passable (and therefore you make money faster). Anything less than Passable is a waste of money.

The Poor leadership is also because training will be your primary source of income as a new team. Leadership is only used to manage Team Spirit; you won't need to worry about that until after you have started earning money from training.

Whether you choose an Attacking, Balanced or Defensive coach is up to you. You should decide what skill you will be training before making this choice. You can only make this decision if you know what type of football you want your team to play.

So in conclusion I would advise hiring an External coach with Passable or Solid coaching skill and Poor leadership. A good coach is vital when building a successful team.

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Tags: Hattrick

Friendlies For Profit

You certainly won't make your millions by playing friendlies but for new teams every penny is worth saving/earning.

As a new manager you only need to remember 3 things when choosing your opponent:

1. Try to play against high division teams who have been playing Hattrick for a long time and who have been winning games recently (these teams will bring the most fans to your game).

2. Play foreign teams at home (to avoid paying air fares).

3. Play teams form your country away (they will have a bigger arena than you and will have VIP seats).

It can be worth the effort to spend a little time challenging teams that meet these criteria, sometimes you will have to challenge a lot of teams before you get that nice juicy pay day.

Good luck!

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Tags: Hattrick