The Azzrentice 2019

First topic message reminder :

The football world has changed wholesale since Lord Azzy first welcomed fake online managers into his fake Boardroom more than ten years ago. Today, Lord Azzy is looking for an entrepreneurial candidate who can not only achieve success in the modern game, but make a profit. Are you that candidate?

If you would like to star in this year's Azzrentice, please notify the producers below and they will be in touch accordingly.

CONFIRMED CANDIDATES
Bam Bam
Dolph
Fernando
Trebs
Twist
Renege
Nadz
Fluxy

---------------

Your first task is very simple. The Scottish FA recently appointed Steve Clarke as their new manager, taking over from the dreadful Alex McLeish to right the wrongs of the past two decades of Scottish football.

From each of the two teams I would like you to provide a blueprint for the future of the Scottish national team. From coaching to playing personnel, from tactics and playing style to resolving the stadium issue and improving the quality of available personnel, I want to see your ideas for making Scotland a force in world football once again. The glory days of Souness, Dalglish and Law are long gone - but the "Flower of Scotland" spirit endures. The last major tournament Scotland qualified for was France 98, and this needs to be remedied over the next few years.

I will score your ideas as follows:

Coaching, tactics and playing style /5
Playing personnel /5
Resolving the stadium issue /5
improving the quality of available personnel /5
Other ideas /10

Now, to split you into teams.

Team 1: Dolph, Trebs, Nadz, Fluxy
Team 2: Bam Bam, Fernando, Twist, Renege

You must decide who is your team captain, and decide on a team name. Don't make the mistake of previous Azzrentice losers and pick a wildly inappropriate name for your team - this is a serious fake online managerial competition, and I am looking for serious candidates to fix the broken system in today's global game.

Post your submissions on this page by 12:00 on Wednesday 5 June, and I will see you all in my Boardroom after lunch that same day.

Trebs wrote:

Fernando wrote:This is a bigger disappointment then Trebs team putting Ryan Fraser as RM and Forrest as LM despite playing the opposite roles for their club sides. 

Says the guy whose team didn't think Leigh Griffiths was worthwhile picking in a Scotland squad

You picked a guy who hasn't played since December with a gambling problem 

There were rumours Griffiths was suicidal.... plus he’s turning 29 this summer so wasn’t exactly one for the now or future 

But if we’re having digs.... Charlie Gilmour can’t be that highly rated seeing he’s been released 

Rekt

A 29 year old is too old for now?
He's training with Celtic at the moment and making his comeback. If he's fit and available he's Scotland's best player.

Looks like Charlie Gilmour's going to Rangers in any case.

Guys I can only apologise - I realised just before 1pm that I'd fallen victim to an attempted fraud of tens of thousands. Spent all afternoon dealing with it. Will be back on later to continue and render my verdict but may have some time off work to reflect

Jesus! Hope all works out

Holy Poopie - hope when you say attempted it’s all going to be alright

I assisted it, then realised, so stopped it. Came close to costing my employers just shy of £30k. Which makes the idea of me being Lord Azzy highly amusing

Wow. Hope it's alright - better it's 30k of your employer's money than your own though!

Poopie.

Azzy wrote:I assisted it, then realised, so stopped it. Came close to costing my employers just shy of £30k. Which makes the idea of me being Lord Azzy highly amusing

How did they manage to do that to a boat 

If it makes you feel any better I can completely imagine Lord Sugar doing the same thing

Is there any plan going forward?

I'm happy to take on the reigns of this if necessary.

Personally in no rush, I'm away for a week from Tuesday, think someone else said they were too

Should give Azzy time to get back on track

BamBam wrote:Personally in no rush, I'm away for a week from Tuesday, think someone else said they were too

Should give Azzy time to get back on track

Yep, I'm also away next week. Will be back on the 17th. You're probably right, makes more sense to wait till after!

I was just hoping we could end up with byes for the next task and sneak through

I can get back on tomorrow, I'm interviewing today. Been quite the couple of days but I will have lots of time from 10am tomorrow to go through the first task.

May I say, it's been a really good task and I was very impressed with both submissions

Azzy wrote:I can get back on tomorrow, I'm interviewing today. Been quite the couple of days but I will have lots of time from 10am tomorrow to go through the first task.

May I say, it's been a really good task and I was very impressed with both submissions

No worries Azzy, cheers for letting us know

Trebs wrote:Is there any plan going forward?

I'm happy to take on the reigns of this if necessary.

One day, and mutiny is already in the air.

I love it.

I am on my way to the Flanders International Open for the weekend tomorrow - so I will expect to be shown the door!

Fluxy wrote:I am on my way to the Flanders International Open for the weekend tomorrow - so I will expect to be shown the door!

Feel free to PM your thoughts if you want me to post them tomorrow.
We won't be losing this task though so it won't come to that.

Good morning everyone. I have been busy conducting important business over the last two days but now stand ready to pass verdict on your submissions.

Good morning Lord Azzy

I'll go through each section and tell you how I scored each team.

Morning, I look forward to hearing your thoughts

Coaching, tactics and playing style
Marks out of 5

Team Unicorn:
I liked that you had a plan for lesser teams, and that your plan was entirely different for bigger games. As we've seen with England, you can't play the same way every game and expect to be successful.

However, I was not a particular fan of making so many changes between big games and lesser ones. I really felt for Charlie Mulgrew - good enough to take on Ronaldo and Messi, but not considered for games against San Marino where he could add to his caps and goals tally. I believe dropping senior players for lesser games, when there are so few talented Scottish players right now, could lead to even further division in the dressing room.

Team Sterling
You didn't even go so far as to add a layout to your tactics - it was very much an old-school tactical submission. Seeing players in position would have helped me visualise better your plans, which were relatively sound. Those wingers are indeed key to Scotland's hopes.

Overall, Team Unicorn put together a more detailed and more visually understandable submission, and they win this element of the task.

Scores: Team Unicorn 4, Team Sterling 3

Our internet dropped out, can you actually believe it

Playing personnel
Marks out of 5

Team Unicorn
Your squad supports your tactics, and was the better of the two squads in my opinion. Leigh Griffiths ought to be part of Scotland's plans going forward as he's the only pure striker capable of scoring goals at the moment, even having not had a good time of things this season.

Team Sterling
Weirdly, you named just 20 players in your main squad, named just two keepers, and completely ignored poor Scott Bain. Your squad was light, and wasn't as well selected as Team Unicorn's.

Both teams are to be commended for supporting Steve Clarke's decision regarding 'retired' players.

Scores: Team Unicorn 4-3 Team Sterling
Scores so far: Team Unicorn 8-6 Team Sterling

Trebs's team should be docked points for dismissing Kenny McLean from their squad

Stadium
Marks out of 5

Team Unicorn
You showed a very good understanding of what has been a very difficult and trying time for Scottish football. Including research into fans' opinions was very smart, and I liked that you sent games to smaller grounds in other parts of Scotland. This would have a huge boost to interest in the national team.

Team Sterling
You too showed a very good understanding of the situation, and also decided to share the games around. However, you shared the games with just the big three teams, meaning that the rest of Scotland misses out.

Scores: Team Unicorn 5-4 Team Sterling
Scores so far: Team Unicorn 13-10 Team Sterling

Improving players
Marks out of 5

Team Unicorn
You focused heavily on players out there who could step in in the near future - you neglected to focus on the long-term needs of the team. Simply asking Pat Nevin to tap-up academy players won't do it.

Team Sterling
The Scottish Qualified Development Pathway is an excellent suggestion, very well-thought out. There was so much to like here, and was the best part of either side's submissions on the whole task.

Scores: Team Unicorn 3-5 Team Sterling
Scores so far: Team Unicorn 16-15 Team Sterling

And so it all comes down to your other ideas...

I've lost count of the number of times I pressed refresh....

Other ideas
Marks out of 10

Team Unicorn
To begin with, I gave you a point for your team name. Team Unicorn is multi-adaptable, and will serve your team well throughout the competition. With it being Scotland's national animal, it was a smart choice for this task.

Your idea for the U21s matches was also very sensible. I loved the idea of bringing a 'national game village' to places like Dundee, so that youngsters can get to see their heroes without having to travel to Glasgow. You scored 3 points for this suggestion.

Your final suggestion regarding TV rights was also very good. The opportunities afforded by BBC Scotland are vast and this was a well thought-out idea, particularly to avoid clashing with MOTD in England. Again, you scored three marks for this.

Score: Team Unicorn 7
Scores so far: Team Unicorn 23-15 Team Sterling

Azzy wrote:Our internet dropped out, can you actually believe it

Couldn't pay the bills after someone had lost them tens of thousands of pounds?

Azzy wrote:

Team Sterling
You too showed a very good understanding of the situation, and also decided to share the games around. However, you shared the games with just the big three teams, meaning that the rest of Scotland misses out.

Saw something on this that appears to have passed everyone by, but will keep my counsel until after the firing so as to not influence the results

Afro wrote:

Azzy wrote:

Team Sterling
You too showed a very good understanding of the situation, and also decided to share the games around. However, you shared the games with just the big three teams, meaning that the rest of Scotland misses out.

Saw something on this that appears to have passed everyone by, but will keep my counsel until after the firing so as to not influence the results

Have you read through the team pages? Anything mentioned on those?

Other ideas
Marks out of 10

Team Sterling
I too gave you a point for your team name - but I gave you an extra point for it being the better name. Your explanation shows that it is a versatile name that can be used for all future tasks, which demonstrates your ability to think long-term.

You received three marks for your colts teams suggestion, which is long overdue in Scotland. Having a Celtic B and Rangers B team in the lower divisions would help everyone, even were it to not overly popular. Ensuring they could never play in the same division at their senior teams, like in Spain, would keep fans mollified.

I gave you just one mark on TV rights, as you were indeed correct that a Netflix-style setup can be costly to start up. Nice idea though.

Finally, the women's game. You score a point for even mentioning the women's game - Scotland qualifying for the World Cup is a big deal. But you do no more than that. No blueprint for improving attendance / interest. You were so close - anything like a plan for the women's game, and you would have won this task.

Score: Team Sterling 7

FINAL SCORE: TEAM UNICORN 23-22 TEAM STERLING

Both teams did exceptionally well. I'm loathe to fire anyone, because there was so much to like from both teams.

Congratulations to Team Unicorn. Your treat for winning the task is to re-watch England's defeat last night, which should have you singing Flower of Scotland for the rest of the day.

Team Sterling, you have lost this task. Bam Bam, Fernando, Twist and Renege - one of you will be fired.

Cheers for your feedback Azzy, really appreciate that you've read what we did and put a lot of detail into it.

Thanks to everyone in Team Unicorn for helping with this task as well.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Trebs's team should be docked points for dismissing Kenny McLean from their squad

this needs explaining

Would anyone from Team Sterling like to explain their role, and why they feel they should stay in the process?

BamBam wrote:I thought the task went well overall. I tried to set clear deadlines for when I expected each task to get to a certain level of progress, and they were generally kept to.

I was nominated to be team captain, although I did think my knowledge of Scottish football probably wasn't close to being the best in the team. I did think I could do a strong job of project managing overall, and decided to focus my efforts on that. I also put together the final submission, and moderated some of the other areas

I decided to allocate tasks with the individual skill sets of the team in mind, Renege obviously had a strong knowledge of that area, while Nando usually has decent knowledge across most football leagues and a good tactical brain, so it made sense for me to have the two of them work most closely on the playing personnel, coaching and tactical set up, as they essentially went hand in hand.

That left the stadium issue and longer term player development, I offered Twist the stadium to start with but was happy to swap. I asked all team members to come up with ideas for part 5

I was happy with everyone's contributions to their individual areas, however if I had a criticism it would be that there was limited constructive comments on other areas. Its always good to have more opinions from different angles, and that side was slightly lacking

Good luck to Team Unicorn too!

From my understanding of this, the following contributed as follows:

Tactics, coaching and playing style: Renege / Nando
Playing personnel: Nando / Renege
Stadium: BamBam
Player development: Twist
Other: All

Is this correct? If so, I would like to know who contributed what to that 'other' section please.

Almost correct, its probably just badly worded but was trying to say that Twist and I were left with stadium / player development, I offered him stadium but was willing to swap if he wanted, but he didn't

Tactics, coaching and playing style: Renege / Nando
Playing personnel: Nando / Renege
Stadium: Twist
Player development: Bam
Other: All

Other ideas
Colt sides - Renege
Netflix - Renege/Nando
SFA TV rights - Bam
Women's football - Twist/Bam
Team Name - Bam

I think I should stay in the process for the following reasons:

Project management - I led the task despite having probably the weakest knowledge of Scottish football, and was able to keep everyone on task and meeting the deadlines that were set. I think I allocated tasks appropriately for the skill sets of each team member, and do not think that anyone was on the wrong task.

Team name - you have scored us well for team name, it was my suggestion and justification, and I made the decision based on there being no other real suggestions

Player development section - I wrote this section more or less in its entirety, other than adding a bit about u21s after taking feedback from the rest of the team on my draft thoughts. The Scottish development pathway was completely my idea, and you have mentioned that you thought it was the strongest part of both teams submissions

I therefore think I performed strongly in my individual task, while managing the team well, so I think I deserve to stay

BamBam - based on the fact you wrote the best part of either team's submissions, you will return next week.

Your team lost by a point on coaching and tactics, by a point on playing personnel, and by a point on the stadium. And while you scored the same on other ideas, one mark of this was for having the better team name.

I'm inclined to allow Renege to stay, as he suggested the Colts teams. But...

I think I should stay in the process for the following:

My contribution scored highly (the 2nd top score from my team). I also contributed the Women's team idea as part of the other ideas part of the task, with research links for further information if needed. I also contributed a team name idea of The Brave, which my team leader warmed to and was, i assume, the next possible alternative. Even with the subject not being my strongest area of knowledge, I did some good research and was able to complete my part of the task to a high level.

Nando, you're the runaway tactical expert of the group, and you let your team down.

Twist...

Twist, you both shamed and did yourself proud with the women's game suggestion.

This is a difficult decision.

But, with regret...

I am going to allow you all to remain in the process.

Everyone contributed on both teams, which is a rarity, and everyone gave something of value. Twist, I would say that you were on the verge, and so I will expect you to be team leader on the next task.