TM Ireland - Trophymanager Ireland

CK - One who always seems to come up smelling of roses...

Crimson Kings have acquired just about every trophy there is to acquire in this game (including the quickmatch one...!), so much so that rumour has it that his trophy cabinet is causing TM all sorts of performance problems.  Thought it was about time we caught up with him again..

• So CK, long time no chat, how you been man?

I'm fine thank you.

• What intrigues me most about you and other teams that appear to have achieved almost all there is in this game, is your motivation — what keeps you interested in TM, coming back…?

Lots of 1s in there

•What questions in particular?

Is mentality working? There's a long thread they ignored for a long time (i gave up and haven't checked it recently but for weeks they made no comment)

• Which do you enjoy most, the wheeling and dealing of the transfer market or developing player skill?

Both.

• Have you ever thought about throwing the whole Crimson Kings legend in to the furnace, then beginning again at the bottom in say, England or Denmark, you know for the challenge?

Yes but I don't have the patience. Remember that it takes seasons to succeed with youth pulls (2-3 seasons to get to level 10, 3 more seasons to develop early bloomers, even more for normal and late bloomers) and also with trading playing and training them (you need seasons to find good coaches and to upgrade training ground to level 10). So to spend 2 years of my life just to get what I need to succeed, and what for? to prove to someone I don't even know I will succeed in that? It does not really interest me to be frank.

• Loads of additions/ changes to the game recently, some more or less cosmetic others more potentially far-reaching — what’s your favourite change and why?

My favorite change is the focus on position while selecting youth. It will help balance the market in small countries where some positions are hardto find while others have too many.

• What’s your least favourite change… and why?

The match preview that for some reason forces me to wait 1:40 minutes every time I want to see a quick match, even if it was already finished playing!

• Just on that match preview thing, I just delete the_pre bit of the url and it goes straight to the match.  Not sure if it works every time tho... Seemingly one of the only titles you haven’t won in TM is a World Cup, with the return of the NT matches around the corner, are you a national coach at present?

I am but only because our coach was inactive and no one was saving players. My understanding is that before the next tournament there will be elections - and I will not be running.

When CK saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer

• How do you think they’ll fare?

Israel has problems in the CD and keeper positions and will do ok, but not win. I will not be coach.

• Will you be making yourself available for an NC job again?

Not any time soon.

• OK, this might seem like a bit of an obvious question, but I am keen to find out more about your motivations — a while ago you cashed in your diamond, was this just in order to win the quickmatch trophy or was there another reason?

The other reason which is part of the same reason was to show how money can buy a title so the developers are under pressure to give a fair chance to diamonds in the quick match competition. It did not happen :( People don't seem to care.

• What were you thinking??

It's the only title I did not have, that crystals look nice, and I want to make all the diamonds cry and shout why they cant play more free games.

• Was it worth it?

Not sure.

• How would you reply to claims that you can be arrogant and that you are obsessed with winning?

There is nothing wrong with wanting to win. Is there? Arrogant? I guess its true to some extent but not as much as people think. I'd like them to switch places with me first and then see how exactly they behave. For example, if I get 20-30 mails per day and don't answer all and some of these guys get insulted and think im arrogant, am I? I have a life people. I do have a temper though, this is right.

• Or is this apparent arrogance more cultural, more the way you come across?

It's not cultural.

• OK, enough of the deep probing, potentially personal questions already! Can you remember when you first found TM, what hooked you?

A guy from freekick who is not in TM already. He published a forum message with names of 10 other soccer manager games and what he thinks about them. That was in season 3.

• If you cast your mind back to the early days of TM, were there any ‘eureka’ moments when you suddenly discovered, ‘I thought I knew TM before, but now I have it sussed!’ or was it a more gentle evolution?

When I understood how to calculate a players TI, even if he is not mine, and without any information from the owner.

• How much of the game did you learn from the User Guide, other managers (ie the forum), your own experience?

I started with the user guide but then took it farther with my own research. The user guide in most such games is intentionaly vague to not spoil the experience of improving and researching the game yourself.

• Now something hypothetical: you have two keepers, both more or less the same skill, although one is a 30+ veteran with 40 routine & no special professionalism, the other a young gun knocking 25 routine, but with very good professionalism, you have a must win cup game coming up, who do you play?

The experienced keeper. I don't think professionalism is so important, according to my observations, although it does affect tendency to get stupid cards (kick the ball after the whistle etc).

• Seems a bit old now, but the new ME, what’s your verdict?

Better than the old one that was too random. Still buggy and problematic though.

• What other managers in TM do you regard as your rivals/ equals, if you will?

Rivals - none. Equals - I rather not use this word. Maybe they are better? I will simply mention a few managers I have respect for and think are top class:

Olympique Lyonnais²

FC Zemedriq

• If you could pick up a potential 300k asi player today, what position would you want him to be (standard dual positions also)?

MC. simply because I dont have enough players in that position.

CK’s trophy cabinet has its own dedicated server

• What are three things that a new manager needs to learn quickly in order to progress?

The value of players in the market.

How to spot talent.

How to choose a line-up.

• Finally, Eliyahu Waldvogel, you sold him in season 18, then bought him back last season… sentimental reasons…?

Yes, but also because I needed a backup MC. I bought my old players several times before. Players not good enough for my team as youngsters can become good enough when they are old and have routine to be subs.

Cheers mate and good luck with the season.