Conceed the season?

[RPI-Fan]

I got my team in the middle of last season, with probably a slightly below average starting squad. The kicker, though, was that I got stuck in DIV. I got a 7th place finish, and then, of course, was relegated. This season, I started pretty well, but have slipped off lately, and am sitting in 3rd place (12 - 13 goal differential). I'm in a weak division, and will be fighting with a few teams to stay at 6th place or above. At this point, I'm thinking about just tanking the season and relegating.

My financial outlook is not good. I'm $80k in the whole (have my best middie on the block for $50k atm), and in a week with a home match can break about even (default stadium). Without a home game, I lose $20-30k.

My youth squad is a very high solid, and I've been getting sell-able pulls lately. I also am beginning to get the makings of my training system in place (several 17 and 18yo defenders).

So, I'm wondering, what kind of financial hit is it to be relegated? Should I fight a battle to stay in 3rd or 4th, or just conceed by selling my best players, and drop to DVI?

Thanks!
~rpi-fan

[Franklinnoble]

You're 3rd place now, and you wanna tank the season? Why?

Even if you finish 5th or 6th, you'll probably win your qualifier... no bad news there. From what I understand, moving all the way down to DVI is NOT a good idea.

You're in better shape than I am... I'm in 7th place, have an inadequate youth squad, losing about as much money per week on my away games... with about $30k in debt at the moment. But I figure my team has improved enough to make 5th or 6th place, win the qualifier, and stay in the division.

With the right training, you're only going to get better - and with that youth squad, you're bound to crank out a big-money star sooner or later, which will bail you out financially and pay for a stadium upgrade. I'd say you're in good shape.

[DataKing]

The higher the Division you're in, the more money you will get from sponsors. Also, I believe you lose 10% of your supporters if you are relegated (you gain 10% if promoted).

[RPI-Fan]

*nod* - FTR, the bottom 6 teams in my division (myself included) all carry similar, very low, NSI's. That's why I'm concerned I'll drop (I've lost 3 in a row) - I do, however, have back-to-back games against the 7th placed team - 2 wins will do wonders for my spirit.

[FrogMan]

What DK says is true. You'll lose 10% of your fanbase if you relegate. I know, I got relegated from IV to V (in Canada) after inheriting a 8th place team with no points and only 4 games left in the season.

Many of you have heard about my all-bot league, and even though it's a lot of fun to win all the time, it sucks big time in term of interaction with other users. IMHO, you are probably better staying in your level V league than relegate to div VI. You never know, you might not get one of the easy ones but instead get stuck in a tough all-human div VI league and be stuck there for a few more season, THAT would suck big time.

I'm of the opinion that you should never pass a chance for advancement (or at least to stay put) because you never know when you'll get another chance...

These were my 2 canadian cents, worth whatever you wanna think they're worth ;)

FM

[DataKing]

Something else to bear in mind. As more and more users sign up for Hattrick, the game is only going to get more competitive. Opportunities for advancement are going to be more and more difficult to come by. I would not suggest worsening your overall position on purpose.

[The Afoci]

As DK has said, now it is very tough to break past DIV. Most teams that are there and above have played 4 or more seasons and are very dedicated to all that is hattrick. If you look at Sweden, most DV teams could crush just about every dV team in the US. So more users make thing much more difficult. Take advantage of not having to use another 4 months to get back to where you are today.

[FrogMan]

DK and The Afoci have just summarized my way of seeing relegation. I got lucky to get stuck in an all-bot league, in a sense. But you can go to canada.hatstats.info (http://canada.hatstats.info) and look at some leagues. My league is V.211, rated 192nd over a possible 256 leagues. Div V in Canada is quite similar to what D VI in USA is now. Some leagues are all-bot and will even promote a bot to div IV, but some other leagues are full of human-controlled team and getting out of them could take way more than one season.

V.11 in Canada was the highest ranked div V series in week 6. Average rating was 45, with highs of 59, 54, and 54... Say I'm a div IV team and I'm thinking of tanking to be relegated, I sure must pray not to be relegated to THAT series...

FM