The first week of negotiations immediately presented me with a dilemma. Two CPU teams made bids for my players. One bid was 5000 points for Ruskin; the other bid was 7800 points for Altintop.

Both players were key members of my squad, especially Altintop with his burgeoning talent. What to do?

Okay. I’ve been thinking about doing this, and I’m going to do it: I’m changing my House Rules to include a rule that I heard about elsewhere.

From now on, “if a higher-ranked side comes in for a player, and offers the listed price or greater, he must be sold.”

This means I had to sell Ruskin and Altintop, right now. It hurt, but I did it. Away they went.

The point of this kind of House Rule is to make the transfer market more realistic. In reality a team that finished 6th from bottom of a league’s lower division (as I did last season) would never be able to keep a player that a better team wanted to buy. Even if the club declined the offer, the player himself would most likely rebel and the team would be unsettled. So in most cases it’s best to sell such players. That’s how the dynamics of the transfer marketplace operate in the real world, and now it’s in my Master League career as well.

But… I’ve got to include a personal caveat with the new House Rule.

Master League, for me, is immersive and compulsive for many reasons. One of those reasons is being able to get young players with average abilities and grow them over many seasons into superstars. I would sorely miss this aspect of Master League if I had to sell my best youngsters as soon as they showed a spark of a talent.

So I won’t sell them. Not all of them. I’m going to designate three members of my squad as protected players—they don’t have to be sold if bids come in for them. Two of those three players will be Camacho and Maldini.

And the third protected player will be… Mathieu.

I finally got him. Flush with cash from the sales of Altintop and Ruskin, I made two straight bids (just money, no exchanges) for Mathieu and a decent-looking striker called Cassano. Both bids were successful.

Throughout my first ML career as Coventry City, for five full seasons, I tried and failed to sign Mathieu, even when my team ranking was ‘A’ and then ‘S’. I have no idea why I’ve suddenly been successful in getting him this time around.

For the past three PES years, Mathieu has been the rock upon which I have built my teams. I’ve never played him as a left-back (unless injuries or suspensions have forced me to). Mathieu’s best position in PES is his alternate DMF position. Not even the likes of Gerrard has played better for me as a DMF through all the years.

Here’s Mathieu on the pitch in my first pre-season friendly, wearing the sky blue of Singers FC. I could hardly stop cackling with maniacal glee…

I hope Mathieu will be as good for me in PES2008 as he was in the last few versions. I’ll file a full report on his progress toward the middle of the coming season. If he’s anything like his illustrious counterparts in PES5 and PES6, I should have scored a couple of super-long-range blockbusters with him by then. Here’s hoping.

———————-

I bought a versatile WF called Melengue in a trade deal that saw Recoba depart from my squad. (Good riddance to Recoba: a good player, but absurdly unfit almost all the time. He only ever played about 1 game in 6.)

I also plucked a celebrated PES name out of the Youth list: Kompany, a CB. Both Melengue and Kompany are pictured to the left. Melengue has the most ridiculous hairstyle of any player I’ve seen on PES2008 so far. Kompany merely looks a bit camp. (Or kamp?)

I’ve never actually played with Kompany before, so I don’t know what to expect. At least the name ‘Kompany’ is rich in punning possibilities. If he has a couple of poor performances that materially affect my results, I’ll go straight for Bad Kompany, no messing.

I also picked up a decent young CB from the Rookies list called Serrano. Hiding in the Unbelonging list (always a must-see list for the stingy-minded ML manager) I found a great Brazilian left back called Marcelo. I needed a replacement for Ruskin. Marcelo and Bale will swap the left-back position between them.

I could have got plenty more players. Most of the cash from the Altintop and Ruskin transfers is still unspent. I’ve still got an excess amount of Default players in the squad. I could’ve gone mad on the transfer market if I wanted to. But I’m happy enough with the players I’ve brought in. I don’t want to buy new ones just for the sake of it. I’ll save my money to strengthen my squad in the mid-season period if necessary.

Here’s my new First XI and my 25-man squad in full:

Maldini drops to the bench, but he’ll still play in almost every game at either CB or SB. PES2008’s ‘quirky’ fitness and stamina modelling guarantees it. Caracciolo takes Altintop’s place as lead striker. Cassano displaces Kmolo. (And something occurs to me: 9 of my 25 players—over one third—have names that end in -O. I could easily assemble a novelty team made up entirely of such players. That might be one to think about for the future…)

——————

Pre-season friendlies. I only played the two matches that were chosen for me. Usually I like to skip pre-season friendlies completely, but when you have a lot of new players it’s always best to play a couple of meaningless games to enable them to settle down quicker. It still takes many more games for Teamwork levels to come up to scratch, but at least with two friendlies you’re getting a head start.

My friendly opponents were Lokomotiv Moscow and a South American Stars selection. I drew 1-1 with Lokomotiv. I was able to field most of my new signings from the start. Marcelo and Melengue are both very quick down the left side. Mathieu seems just as solid as ever, although I didn’t get any clear-cut chances to test his famous long-range shooting. They’ll come.

In the second game against the South American Globetrotters, I took a pounding. I was 0-3 down at half-time. Kompany was sent off as my frustrations grew. Somehow I prevented them from scoring any more goals, and then I noticed that their goalkeeper was taking all of their corners and free kicks. Near the end of the game, I got a consolation goal after one of their corners…

—————-

And so to business. There’s real talent in this squad and I plan to challenge for the title, not just push for promotion. Plus I’ve got Mathieu at last…

The last three (largely meaningless) games of this 2008 season are a good opportunity to take a quick look at one of my most reliable players—my right back, Postma.

He’s been an ever-present in my side since he arrived in the middle of season 2007. At the moment he’s 18 years old. His positions are SB/WB/SMF. Sadly, he has no special ability stars, but his key baseline stats go a long way to making up for that shortcoming.

Attack:78
Defence:76
Agility:81
Acceleration:80
Mentality:79

The above stats really do show up on the pitch. Postma can outrun almost any attacker and keeps his head when all about him are losing theirs.

A good right back (or, for that matter, a good left-back) is so important in PES2008.

They’ve always been important, but in the next-gen version of the game, with the opposition’s fleet-footedness and tricksy shimmying at the byline, side-backs who have good speed, tackling, and fitness are a necessity. Worth their weight in gold.

The benchmark for side-backs in PES2008, for me, has to be my old right-back from my last ML career, Guimaraes. Postma isn’t quite up to his level—he’s a long way below it—but he’s the next-best side-back I’ve played with so far, and he has a long way to go yet.

Postma’s development graph shows that his peak is many years away yet, and that it’ll be pretty high. Nothing jaw-droppingly spectacular, but it’ll do me.

—————–

Just three games left in the 2008 season. Then I’ll get down to some serious business in the transfer market, shore up my squad with some reliable talent, and make a real fist of season 2009. That’s the plan, anyway.

Immediately after I beat Sampdoria 4-3 in the D2 Cup Final, I came up against them in the League. This happens a lot in PES, and PES2008 is no exception. It happens in real life too, so it’s not really a cause for complaint.

Perhaps it was inevitable that my eye wasn’t really on the ball. The exertions of the cup final took their toll and I went through the game just pressing the buttons rather than engaged as fully as I should have been. The CPU took full advantage of my inattention just before half time, when yet another clearance from one of my corners landed ever-so-neatly right at the feet of a Sampdoria midfielder. He turned and ran from almost level with his own penalty area.

Upfield he went, past one defender, past two, jinking around a third—and then clean through on goal. It was my own fault. I can usually stop these post-corner runs that the CPU loves to go on. The Square button is my friend. I use a spare player to challenge while I get the player under my control into prime position to make a challenge or slide-tackle, with good results. Usually. But I was too hasty this time.

I dashed my keeper, James, out to meet the Sampdoria player on the edge of the box, but a shake of the hips later and the CPU had an open goal to slide the ball into. It finished 1-0 to them.

I perked up for the next game—the season’s penultimate game—against Feyenoord. And what a game it was for me. I scored six goals in a comprehensive 6-1 rout of the fallen Dutch masters. I call them fallen because in season 2007 they used to sweep my team aside with pitiful ease, but things are different now.

Here’s a couple of the goals, both from Altintop, my star man of the moment:

In the last game of the season, Sunderland seemed determined to prove that they are my bogey team, despite me believing that they’re not. Early on I had Pjinatnigh red-carded for nothing. It was a tackle from the side, not from behind, and it was up near the halfway line… Most referees in real life or in other football games, including most previous PES games, wouldn’t even have given a yellow card.

But I always play well with 10 men. I got it back to 2-2. First a penalty that was won by Matuzalem and then dispatched by him with style into the top corner, high up where no keeper is ever going to reach it. They’re the best possible kinds of penalties. In PES the game sometimes decides you’ll miss a penalty for no discernible reason. We need better penalties in PES. Here’s hoping for a (whisper it) FIFA-style power meter in PES2009 and beyond.

In literally the last seconds of the game, Leonardo popped up on the edge of the Sunderland box to do this:

I love goals that go in off the post. I loved this one. A hard-fought draw, and a fair result.

————–

And that was season 2008. Must do better next season.

Final position: 15th
Won:10 Drew:10 Lost:18
Goals scored:49 Goals conceded:58 Goal difference:-9
Yellow cards: 42 Red cards: 24

Teams relegated from Division 1: PSV, Paris St Germain, Tottenham.
Teams promoted from Division 2: Real Elcherino, Ajax, Torino

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this season. Having abruptly abandoned PES2008 at the turn of the year, and spending weeks flirting with FIFA, it was good to come home. What turned me off PES2008 was how extraordinarily easy the game becomes when using good players. It was never thus for me before. I was shocked and—frankly—disgusted to find that it was so for me now.

The importance of House Rules—as strict as they need to be, and no stricter (there’s no point in getting silly)—cannot be underestimated when trying to extend this game’s longevity. Self-handicapping is the way to go. No, we shouldn’t have to do it (curse you Seabass), but we play with the PES we have, not the PES we want.

Next season, my third with Singers FC, has got to be a promotion year. The negotiation period is coming up and it’s got to be a good ‘un. I’ll be taking my time and making my decisions carefully. I’ll also be tweaking my transfer market House Rules a little. Not too much—just enough to keep myself honest…

I had 30 players in my squad going into pre-season negotiations. Before doing anything else I had to get rid of 5 players. My House Rules dictate that my squad cannot be larger than 25 players.

The easiest and least expensive way to do this was simply not to renew some contracts. Around 10 of my Default players were up for renewal. It was against every instinct of my ML life. I have always renewed every player contract, pending future trade-in/transfer activity.

I allowed these players to vanish into the void:

Iouga
Ximelez
Fouque
Hamsun
Dodo

At a stroke my squad was down to 25 players.

I still had to make room for new players who would be coming straight to me from the Unbelonging list or the Youth list. So I also failed to renew these players’ contracts:

Stremer
Dodo
Ceciu

Ouch. I don’t rate any of the Default players, not even the best of them, but it still hurt. It just seemed so wasteful.

I also received an offer of 3000-odd points for Castolo. I decided to sell him. I haven’t rated Castolo for the past three instalments of PES. He’s had his purple patches for me this time around. But 3000-odd points was a fair price for a decidedly below-average player.

All of which meant that, along with all the PES points that Elcherino raked in for me last season, I was rich indeed. I had something like 21,000 points in the bank. My salary bill would be about 10,000 points.

I could afford to go a bit wild on the transfer market. Yes, it did occur to me that I was taking advantage of an imbalance in the game. Elcherino, as a monstrously overpowered Classic Player, was responsible for most of my excess bank balance. He scored 40+ goals for me last season, single-handedly winning most of the games he played in. Surely, after ditching Elcherino, I should also ditch - somehow - the riches he had brought? I gave it long and careful thought…

Nah, I thought. Let’s go shopping.

KMOLO (CF, 25)
LAGUTZ (CF, 26)
AKINFEEV (GK, 21)
GATTI (DMF, 25)
BALE (SB, 18)
MATUZALEM (CMF, 27)
MORFEO (SS, 27)
RECOBA (SS, 31)

These players came from a mixture of the Unbelonging list, the Youth (Rookie) list, and trade-ins with other clubs. I didn’t make a note of each one as I went along. I also had to release a couple more players to keep the total squad size at a nice round 25.

Getting Recoba was a surprise. He isn’t a top-drawer player, but he’s still a good player to have. In my last ML I couldn’t tempt any established players to Coventry City for at least a couple of seasons. Perhaps my strong second half of the season last year helped (although my team ranking is still only D).

Recoba is hardly the transfer scoop of all time. He’s one of the slowest forwards in the game. If he’s anything like his PES5 forebear, he’ll hardly ever be fit - and he won’t last more than 60 minutes even when he is fit.

As for Elcherino, I traded him in for Matuzalem. Cheekily, Matuzalem’s club refused to accept my initial bid of Elcherino alone. I’d figured that Elcherino alone was worth four times what their guy was worth. But no, they wouldn’t have it. I had to bump a second offer up to Elcherino+1000 points before I got Matuzalem. I hope he’s worth it.

—————–

There was one more piece of business to do in the pre-season. I hated the kits I chose for Singers FC’s first season - the dayglo-red home kit, and the fluorescent yellow away kit. What was I thinking back then? I think I wanted to make a clean break from the Coventry City career with an all-new team and all-new kits, but I just never got used to the new ones. These were those new kits:

Ugh. I hated playing with them. I made sure to go into the Edit Team option during this close season and change the kits to something more appealing:

Now that’s more like it.

After all this activity, the next thing to do is to choose a First XI and then actually play some games.