When to sell, when to keep training?

[kopiteinkc]

One of the hardest things I find in hattrick is when to actually sell my trainees.

How high do you let your trainee go before you sell him? How old do you let him age before selling him?

There is no perfect answer to this. I'd be interested to know at the higher levels at what point the improvements in skill level don't bring you that much more money.

[Helghallen]

One of the hardest things I find in hattrick is when to actually sell my trainees.

How high do you let your trainee go before you sell him? How old do you let him age before selling him?

There is no perfect answer to this. I'd be interested to know at the higher levels at what point the improvements in skill level don't bring you that much more money.

I too would like to hear what the others say about this.

I presently have a 19 year old excellent. Will pop to formidable before the end of the season. I'll keep him a while longer. I have some other players that I am currently trying to pop so I can upgrade their age. Both are 19, but neither are solid yet. In the future I plan to keep them longer, but until I get the quality of player to start with, my plan is to continue doing what I'm doing, except Mikael.

[johno]

I too would like to hear what the others say about this.

I presently have a 19 year old excellent. Will pop to formidable before the end of the season. I'll keep him a while longer. I have some other players that I am currently trying to pop so I can upgrade their age. Both are 19, but neither are solid yet. In the future I plan to keep them longer, but until I get the quality of player to start with, my plan is to continue doing what I'm doing, except Mikael.

what is the size of your squad? If You are selling off promising players I assume its because you have better ones on the bench... then, u are selling them to avoid paying wages as well?


Sorry bout all the annoying questions guys... I am dying to start playing this game...

[kopiteinkc]

what is the size of your squad? If You are selling off promising players I assume its because you have better ones on the bench... then, u are selling them to avoid paying wages as well?


Sorry bout all the annoying questions guys... I am dying to start playing this game...

How long before you get your team? We are all ready to give you lots of really good advice ;)

[Helghallen]

what is the size of your squad? If You are selling off promising players I assume its because you have better ones on the bench... then, u are selling them to avoid paying wages as well?


Sorry bout all the annoying questions guys... I am dying to start playing this game...

No, ask away. We don't mind answering questions.

My roster presently has 18 players on it. I have a full slate of midfield/wing trainees: 6 midfielders and 4 wingers. I have to play my goalie in both games and one forward and defender in both games.

I don't have better players on the bench, just younger ones. I'm trying to get younger with my trainees, that is the reason I have sold off the two players I did recently.

[johno]

How long before you get your team? We are all ready to give you lots of really good advice ;)


Thanks for the vote of confidence (ie, not seeing me as an idiot for all the questions).

I registered late Monday night/ early Tuesday morning...

The last group of 26 players joined on yesterday after applying 2004-04-11 23:57:00

[Craig P]

what is the size of your squad?Right now, I have 21 players who get time most weeks when they're not injured, although I shortened the squad considerably over a couple of weeks in the Cup when I needed to win both matches.

If You are selling off promising players I assume its because you have better ones on the bench... then, u are selling them to avoid paying wages as well?When I sell a trainee, I generally don't have a better player on the bench. I do have a player who's about a season behind, so two or three levels of skill, which isn't all that much of a drop. It's not so much about paying wages as cashing in my training investment so that I can improve other areas of the squad.

As an example, at the start of this season, I sold an outstanding keeper for $2.5 million. His backup was actually pretty close in skill because I started training the backup at solid and the guy I sold at inadequate, a season apart. That wouldn't be the case if I did the same thing now, my backup is excellent and my primary is outstanding going on brilliant.

Anyway, I did want to save the wages, but he was getting too old to train and I also needed to upgrade my squad to compete -- I bought an outstanding midfielder for $1.5 million, an excellent forward for $400k, a new trainee (18-yo solid who was only a week or two from excellent) for $180k, a solid/poor coach for $270k, and a 10k stadium expansion. The middie and the forward have been important components in a team that currently sits atop the series (albeit only on goal differential) -- I doubt I'd be in the same position if I hadn't cashed in my trainee.

[Craig P]

One of the hardest things I find in hattrick is when to actually sell my trainees.

How high do you let your trainee go before you sell him? How old do you let him age before selling him?

There is no perfect answer to this. I'd be interested to know at the higher levels at what point the improvements in skill level don't bring you that much more money.I don't like to train past 20. I haven't hit on the rolloff point on the high end of keeper training yet -- I know that outstanding keepers sold for $2.5 million at the start of the season, but I don't know about the higher levels. I suppose I should start keeping an eye on it so I can make that kind of a judgement.

[johno]

Right now, I have 21 players who get time most weeks when they're not injured, although I shortened the squad considerably over a couple of weeks in the Cup when I needed to win both matches.

When I sell a trainee, I generally don't have a better player on the bench. I do have a player who's about a season behind, so two or three levels of skill, which isn't all that much of a drop. It's not so much about paying wages as cashing in my training investment so that I can improve other areas of the squad.

As an example, at the start of this season, I sold an outstanding keeper for $2.5 million. His backup was actually pretty close in skill because I started training the backup at solid and the guy I sold at inadequate, a season apart. That wouldn't be the case if I did the same thing now, my backup is excellent and my primary is outstanding going on brilliant.

Anyway, I did want to save the wages, but he was getting too old to train and I also needed to upgrade my squad to compete -- I bought an outstanding midfielder for $1.5 million, an excellent forward for $400k, a new trainee (18-yo solid who was only a week or two from excellent) for $180k, a solid/poor coach for $270k, and a 10k stadium expansion. The middie and the forward have been important components in a team that currently sits atop the series (albeit only on goal differential) -- I doubt I'd be in the same position if I hadn't cashed in my trainee.

Thanks very much... so insightful... so you wont sell a good player unless you have abundance in that position or, enough in that position and he can earn you enough to benefit the team in the long run... kinda like selling Ruud Van Nistelrooy to buy Henry, Totti, and Ballack right?

Thanx

[Craig P]

Thanks very much... so insightful... so you wont sell a good player unless you have abundance in that position or, enough in that position and he can earn you enough to benefit the team in the long run... kinda like selling Ruud Van Nistelrooy to buy Henry, Totti, and Ballack right?There are two kinds of sales that I make:

Selling a trainee -- when one of my trainees gets to the right age and/or ability, it's time to sell. I'll get diminishing returns, and the cash is better spent on a new trainee and improvements to the club. The nature of selling trainees is that there's always someone else to step in, albeit usually a season or so behind in skill. This would be (in my case) like selling Oliver Kahn to buy Rio Ferdinand or David Beckham.
Selling an obsolete player -- my squad is to the point now that I don't really need more depth. I could maybe add one more player to get a full "B" squad, but I'd have to be careful to make sure it didn't hurt my tactical flexibility. So if I buy somebody to improve (as with that outstanding middie I mentioned), I'll also sell the weakest player at that position and move everyone else down the depth chart.

[Kevin in Louisiana]

Here's a question I have:

I sometimes see people quote figures about how much money you can expect to get for a player at a certain level at a certain skill at a certain age. Obviously in a game played by humans these figures will vary and there will be exceptions. But what are these figures, on average? Is there any site with the figures laid out nicely in a table or list? It'd be a nice table to have so somebody could try to weigh the decision of when to sell that playmaking trainee.

[johno]

How long before you get your team? We are all ready to give you lots of really good advice ;)


Ok... so I have my team... I have an abundance of wingbacks but just one winger, which is fine because a few of my wingbacks make decent wingers... my strongest trait is probably defense and I have just 2 strikers... I was considering what I should train... as it is I have only 1 CB who is 17 and trash... should I train wingers?

[Deuteriumoxide]

Ok... so I have my team... I have an abundance of wingbacks but just one winger, which is fine because a few of my wingbacks make decent wingers... my strongest trait is probably defense and I have just 2 strikers... I was considering what I should train... as it is I have only 1 CB who is 17 and trash... should I train wingers?

No matter what you train you're going to have to buy some trainees.... so I wouldnt worry about trying to go off of what you have.

You need to get a better coach also.

[johno]

You need to get a better coach also.

I spent about 40,000 on a coach already and I bought 3 assistant coaches

And by trainees you mean players under 20 right?

[AAGunner3]

I spent about 40,000 on a coach already and I bought 3 assistant coaches

And by trainees you mean players under 20 right?
Preferably 17-18 year olds, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do... You might not be able to afford 17-18 year olds.

And preferably passable or better skills. But once again, you might have to settle for an inadequate.

[Craig P]

Here's a question I have:

I sometimes see people quote figures about how much money you can expect to get for a player at a certain level at a certain skill at a certain age. Obviously in a game played by humans these figures will vary and there will be exceptions. But what are these figures, on average? Is there any site with the figures laid out nicely in a table or list? It'd be a nice table to have so somebody could try to weigh the decision of when to sell that playmaking trainee.The only source of this information that I'm aware of is Loke's TPE for HAM (that was also used, for a time, by Hattrick Buddy, although of late I haven't been able to pull that information). However, the last I knew, Loke didn't plan to continue it unless he could pull that information from the user's transfer history, because it's not accurate enough when the users are prompted to enter the data. I also think it was causing a lot of server traffic for him.

Anyway, to an extent, the data is a moving target. The best way to get a handle on where the market is right now is to watch it for a week.

[kopiteinkc]

Here's a question I have:

I sometimes see people quote figures about how much money you can expect to get for a player at a certain level at a certain skill at a certain age. Obviously in a game played by humans these figures will vary and there will be exceptions. But what are these figures, on average? Is there any site with the figures laid out nicely in a table or list? It'd be a nice table to have so somebody could try to weigh the decision of when to sell that playmaking trainee.

As Craig said, watch the market for a week

To do this I punch in the same age and skill levels my potential sale has and bookmark a few players and watch what they go for. Sweden tends to be high priced market IMO.

In Hattrick Buddy (dunno about other software) it gives you a price evaluation each week for each player that I find helpful too.

[Helghallen]

In Hattrick Buddy (dunno about other software) it gives you a price evaluation each week for each player that I find helpful too.

I like this feature of Hattrick Buddy. Usually pretty accurate.

A suggestion for training. Since you don't seem to have any trainees in any areas, you might consider training keeper. Startup costs are minimal (2 trainees) and it will give flexibility in your formations. Keepers also train the fastest.

[johno]

I like this feature of Hattrick Buddy. Usually pretty accurate.

A suggestion for training. Since you don't seem to have any trainees in any areas, you might consider training keeper. Startup costs are minimal (2 trainees) and it will give flexibility in your formations. Keepers also train the fastest.

Dear god you might have lost me but i hope not...

If I wanna train gk's then i need 2 17-19 yr olds who are gks, and a gk coach - thats all right?

Edit: Actually I was just able to snap up 2 young innermidfielders and I have a couple of not so old ones in my squad anyway who are passable so I can deal with selling the youngsters if they get old... quick question.... Training Playmaking = Innermidfield right?

[AAGunner3]

Anyway, to an extent, the data is a moving target. The best way to get a handle on where the market is right now is to watch it for a week.

The market is constantly changing. I'm expecting prices to decrease over the course of the season. That being said, due to last year's HT economics upgrade, I'm expecting prices to be above last year's going rates.

Capital Spending Indicators for arena expansions are high due to the influx of money into cash starved clubs. Expectations are that clubs will use the arena expansions to collect more revenue.

Bankruptcies in Hattrick are on the rise due to the increased interest of potential managers, but will likely stay at historical percentages.

The demand for coaches will continue to increase, but due to HT contract constraints, the salaries of coaches will remain the same. The advantage here goes to the clubs hiring a coach since the clubs are making more and more money, while the coaches salaries are unadjusted.

Doctors and support staff will continue to find positions, but should see some positive change.

Expect the big change to be clubs investing the max of 20k into their youth squads, despite the concerns that it may not be worth it. Clubs are desperate to keep up with the Jones' and do not want to fall behind.

and finally...
Wingers are undervalued,
Defensemen are overpaid,
Middies are on the upswing,
Goalies are dropping slightly but still highly valued and
Strikers are in high demand despite most teams only needing two.

This has been your daily HT economic outlook.. :rolleyes: