It’s time for an update on England’s U21 team. This message will also give you insight to the activities that have occurred in the since my opening message, things to be on the lookout for, and the state of affairs . I will not go any further without saying thank you to everyone who has sent me messages about players, well wishers, and support. I must also thank Waggy and elmacca for their initial scouting notes they provided to me. As I have said before, England has an awesome passion that I hope to embrace and give the best foot forward in everystep I take. Thank you again England/Managers of possible U21 players. My personal goal is to get the England managers engaged with the National Teams. To this end, I will be posting messages all over the place. I will also be responding as much and as fast as I can. We are going to bring the U21 team to you because this is your future and hope the interaction will generate more support among the managers. If we are good, here is your chance to comment. If we are bad, I’ll bring the tar and feathers. Most of my time this week has been spent on scouting. I was able to visit the first three division levels of England. I did this to get a better understanding of how developed we are as a country and learn the evolution of BB as well. It is very sad at the amount of turnover the country has seen in BB. The drafts showed lots of prospects that never made it over the age of 19 and the team histories are very small. That said, the future is very bright and next week you will start seeing some of that future. I will continue to dive into Div IV and see what talent is there. I have a feeling there will be some gems down there so I am excited to traveling through the 20 some odd divisions. If you recall from my election speech, I called for an initial team of 7. Now it is time to finalize those 7 and add 3 more to the squad. Currently we have 1 player injured so it may cause us to either go with nine or add and 11th. I am leaning toward 9 assuming we don’t have any stamina issues. I have contacted a few managers about the players I plan to add Sunday. Our goal is to get to 10 players by Sunday. The good news is we have some talent the make a quality squad. The better news is the owners are active trainers of these players. On Sunday/Monday I will provide a breakdown of our division. I have enlisted some support from 3 managers who are dedicated in supporting the U21 team. One of these managers had no choice (my other half) and the others are close friends who have played the game for atleast 4 seasons. If you would like to help, let me know and we can get you plugged in. By next Friday, you will see the team depth chart and U21 consideration guidelines. This list will be broken down in two areas. The pool of players for this season, and what I will term HiPOT’s. The HiPOT’s are players from Season 6 and 7 draft that have caught the eye of the scouting team. Every player will be considered, added to the pool and you will get a response to see where you stand. If you have a player that is not on these lists, do not worry. This is a long two seasons and players will go up and down depending on you the managers and how these players work into your scheme. I need you all to be successful in playing this game. The reward for the National Teams will be huge because those home grown players, then have the added opportunity to play for the country.
That was a mouthful and sorry for the long string – it’s the only way I can get this to all the forums. Please excuse me for the day as I must attend a Birthday of someone special. I wil then return energized to get us some W’s.
Best Regards
DFC