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Is this a final cheap shot? No way you can compare an NT role with a club role.

These are the exact same questions I had, how are they a cheap shot?

You don't need an MBA to succeed at the club level. You do need to understand how to build a roster and implement a long term training plan. To some extent (even the latter where you'll be dispensing advice to managers on their trainees) that's all relevant at the NT level.

I think I explained my mistake fairly. I overshot my capabilities, thought I could keep my team up with some suboptimal lineups in the hopes of creating some monster forwards. I failed.

I would argue that making ONE player is alot easier to do, and if someone asked me on how to train one player to an awesome level, nearly all of us could get that more or less right within a fairly narrow range of deviation. (maybe disagreeements on exact ratios, or what to train first for salary purposes vs training speed purposes).

I paid for my mistake, really a 2 season mistake, as last season was spent by me recovering from my screwup.

I am back in d2, have enough money to buy another big-time bigman, and shold be just fine.

I have proven in the latter stages of the debate thread my technical competence, even my major detractors acknowledge that.

If you're referring to my comment, I think this is a stretch of what I said.

I think the separation between "TUG the tactician" and "TUG the GM" is mostly artificial. If you can't pick out the right players, it's probably because you're thinking that the GE works differently from how it actually does.

I also have reservations on "TUG the tactician" (your opening game of this season is a perfect representation, but perhaps you were punting it, so I won't insist on this point, but it's there for everyone to see).

FYI (but I don't expect you to comment on this), my experience is that there are two areas of managing an NT that you have not addressed (i) coming up with a good estimate of what the opposing team is going to do (ii) guiding the managers who have NTers and want suggestions on training.

On (i): if you have a good estimate, "coming up with the right tactics" does not require any thinking. In the other thread, there was a lot of discussion of my (no-brainer!) decision of normaling Brazil, and no emphasis to the actual mistake I made in that game: setting a 3-2 zone.

On (ii) it seems to me that your downplaying "TUG the GM" actually reflects badly on your ability to be a good guide.

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

1) i think isnt so hard. it's probably harder for you actually where players on aggregate are closer in ability and form matters more. Against unsophisticated managers we can both agree you look at their tendencies, look at the forms pf the players available to them, and take a good guess. Sophisticated managers are of course harder to game plan for, but again you have to look at their overall situation.

Is this a game they are likely to TIE?

Is this a game they really need to win (Meaning not only CT, but also a non-trivial chance you will get their best lineup and default tactics)?

Is this a team you might see again? If so are you willing to do something slightly different in expectation of a more important match later on?

Is this a game you really need? Do you think your opponent will recognize that by looking ahead at your future schedule?

There are other perhaps even bigger questions to ask. Specifically have you maybe been weak in an area (say defending the 3 ball) that you have since fixed?

As for ii, see my earlier post, but training one player to the max is *significantly* easier than balancing a team, maximizing increases in team skills via training versus keeping a competitive lineup on the field. My failing (and it was a HUGE one) was overestimating my ability to win games by playing 2 19 year old forwards heavy minutes at sg and pg.

I guess Im saddened more in the fact that there are so few contributors to the election debate.

One thing that cant be disputed is that yourself URP & Azariah would all be committed to the cause and you can never all agree on each facet of the game.

I am still amazed (unless I missed it) that no-one has stated they would risk upsetting the apple-cart by writing off players from contention if the owning managers don't play ball with the requests asked of them. I am equally amazed about the Steve Smiley comment from yesterday. If that really is the case then someone from the past has to take the blame/responsiblity for there not being more options available.

1) is it the case?
2) if 1 is yes then who is to blame?

I think this is a fair request. WIthin reason. THere are answers on a scale from 0-10.

0 = i just play the best lineup, the people training them can do what they want
10 = my way or the highway! Train as i say!

You are close to a 10. I would say i am a 7 or so. I am guessing others are at a 5.

As for your questions. I think it's clear who I would blame for us not having those players. We have the userbase to be at least a top 4 team. We squandered it.

No way you can compare an NT role with a club role.

His entire campaign has been based on having tactical insights and advantages. He has intentionally removed himself from contributing to the NT in the past. Other than his club team, how can we evaluate him?

edit: I'll add that I have nothing personally against TUG, and I don't think I've been particularly combatative in these threads (please don't attribute what Juice & Coco say to me). I have tried to point out flaws in his logic, but this shouldn't be interpreted as anything personal. My preference is obviously that the NT should be in the hands of someone who's participated in the NT or U21 efforts in the past, but we've certainly had worse candidates than him before. And I'll happily admit that his posts have made me re-evaluate some of my own tactical ideas. In fact, I sincerely hope that no matter who wins, this time around he'll chip in his thoughts and ideas, even if they are contrarian to the decisions that get made.

that is fair. I have noticed that and respected that, and have tried to been respectful for you. I can say if you do reach out to me I will offer my opinion and how i got to those conclusions.

I would also not totally throw away the work you have done with the database, and would try to have a working dialogue with you. Make no mistake, my thesis isn't moving. Namely, we have squandered a huge resource advantage and got results below where we should be. With that said, people that want to discuss things with me know how to reach me.

Well i am not going to invoke my inner Roger Dorn here.

I know what a good power forward looks like, I just haven't allocated the resources that way at present. Again, with a fixed amount of money i have felt the best path to success is training an outside game, and getting a top defensive center balance out my team. That would leave power forward as a low priority for me. I had attepted to adjust that way recently, and paid th price for it. At some point instead of training my own monster PF, I am going to have to pay, and pay through the nose for one.

I would also say regime is a fair word when the same person has been in charge of the NT for just shy of 2 real life years.