Season 20 Updates

How is it, chaps?

I wanted to check in to see how you’re all doing. If I can lend an ear, I will and my inbox is always open.

I wanted to write with a few updates on things you all might be wondering and give an overall status update for the league.

I’m happy. I know there could be more activity and more excitement around here (and out there, as a matter of fact) but I’ve learned through the nearly 10 years I’ve been doing this that interest is always cyclical and that things are always changing. There’s a lot that’s changed since the pandemic. Hell, there’s a lot that’s changed since the start of the pandemic.

I know depression has been something some of my best friends have talked about. Sometimes, it’s tough to see. I’ve been there. And again, my inbox is always open.

As far as where we are as a league, I’ll be honest… even though we had a lot of daily activity around the time the first site went down, I thought about shutting her down just like that. I swear, that thought lasted for a few minutes. I thought… that I’d accomplished things I’d have never expected to when my dumbass joined effliga. I’ve won leagues. I’ve had consistent teams. I’ve had dominant teams, at times. I’ve scouted well. I’ve had some misfires. (Did you know my first ever U22 bid was Kolbeinn Sigthorsson? My second was Alex Teixeira. Fun fact.) I’ve made some good trades. You know who some of them are. I’ve made some shitty ones but I at least take consolation in that I rarely trade shitty players, even when I’m transfer listing dead weight. Guys I’ve considered dead weight and dealt simply because I’m always trying to have the most depth: Virgil van Dijk, Bruno Fernandes and more recently Maxwel Cornet. So, as much as football and always keeping my eyes open for talent is a big part of my life, I wondered if it was time to shut it down and move on. I was still living with Xavi4L. And I remember walking out of my bedroom and into the living room to talk to him. And after talking to him, I knew that this wasn’t something that could or should end. So, it was then… after whatever few minutes it was that I contemplated moving on, I worked on finding a solution and fixing the site. And I’m happy with where we find ourselves. Part of my pines (for the fjords) for the traditional forums we’ve all been to and have left over time. But as much as learning html and if you need to here’s a helpful thread for starters, has been a bit of a learning curve, I really feel good about where things are and where things will be. I’m happy to have Liga to look forward to. There’s not a week that goes by after every transfer window in which Xavi4L and I have a conversation about who is left and who we may think we want to target next window. When you’re in it like we are, football and watching for talent is an obsession. Xavi4L will be starting his first official season as a girl’s assistant coach. We’re LAFC season ticket holders and Culers to the marrow. Football is life. We ain’t goin’ nowheres.

It is with that said that I wanted to welcome you again, prim and proper. Have a look around, if you haven’t already. There’s been a lot of thought put into the designs and functions, made possible by many of your donations and contributions, in any fashion you’ve made them. You’ll find this place grows on you the longer you spend time on it. There’s a few guys who have been skimp on lineup submissions. All I’ll say is that if you’re not regularly making changes to navigate through the season and you think where you end up is ‘alright’, ‘the sim is random anyway,’ just imagine where you’d be with a little tinkering. Because sometimes, and I’ve noticed it with Xerxes and ProPAIN, they finish their seasons strong because of their tinkering throughout the season. And those few position advancements up the table make a difference over time.

We are still looking for roster pages for Curtinho and Mark. Once they’re posted, I’ll add all of the links to each to the logos.

With all of this said, I am a fan of the group that I find here today. We had some good ones. We kept some of the best. And I’m just as happy with the ones that joined us already here and have already started to make a name for themselves, if they haven’t already, in the pantheon of Liga history.

Now, onto the transfer window, I know that typically we had the mid-season transfer window around Round 12… this time we’re going to have it after Round 16. So it will be at least five weeks away. But on the bright side, the late start to the season means that we’ll roll right into Season 21 without needing to wait or have to come up with any hybrid solutions.