As in life, so in art 2.9

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To The Promised Land

I like the way that FM and football in-the-real-world (ITRW) interact.

Before I go to a match, I check the FM database: it helps me to notice things about players. And sometimes watching a player fives me ideas for FM. Would, on FM15, Justin Hoyte have become sweeper at far-away FC Minsk if, ITRW, I hadn’t been amongst the very select crowd who watched him play in the middle of a back three for Dagenham at Stevenage (2015-16) in the whatever the Not-even-the-League-Cup cup was called?

I’ve seen Nathan Smith play twice for Yeovil – at Stevenage in 2015-16 and at Cambridge in 2016-17.

He’s in an imperfect footballer (as I say, he plays for Yeovil). Probably he’s not-exactly-a-left-back-but-not-exactly-a-centre-back-either.

But I like him. He plays full-on. You couldn’t accuse him of a lack of combativeness.

At Cambridge I noticed him make a foray upward, give the ball way, realise he’d left the defence open and press the accelerator to enable him to win it back. That cameo harmonises with his FM17 profile: weakish passing, anticipation, and positioning; plenty of acceleration, determination, and tackling ability, plus sufficient team work and work rate.

He’s a player who will make mistakes but take responsibility for them.

If only Yeovil wouldn’t want something in the region of, according to our scouts, £75k.

I ask my assistant manager, Seb Rozental, what he thinks we should do. He took a half-consumed bottle of locally produced Arak from the shelf behind me, poured me a glass, and handed me the phone.

I noticed he poured himself one too. Generous of him to keep me company.

The phone call didn’t get off to the best of starts. ‘No, you probably haven’t…but then I doubt many people in Ashkelon have heard of Yeovil either.’

I wasn’t on top form, so had to agree to eighty grand. Ouch.

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Notts County supporter, at least nominally. Regularly watch Stevenage, Cambridge Utd, and Peterborough. On FM, favour teams from the eastern Med, especially on Greek islands. Addicted to searching for liberos and to signing Darren Lavery. According to Liam Billington, I'm 'the Iniesta of Higher Tempo Press' :)