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West Molesey FC, a 2nd team in progress

Written by canary_wharf

An interview with LA Canary Wharf, a Macedonian legend whose 2nd team here in England is facing the Cup and Prem Champions this week.

Your 2nd team, West Molesey FC knocked out II.2 side Malin United in the last round (R5) (526106393) and now face the reigning Cup and Prem double champions h00ligans in R6, as the lowest ranked team left in the cup. You must be delighted with your 2nd team's progress this season?

Absolutely! Anyhow, I think it is fair to say that it this game was very much influenced by random and I don't deserve too much credit. With my first team I have been in Malin's situation many times in cup games. Usually, when playing against weaker opposition you want to avoid playing all of your best players. Sometimes, trying to be an inch better than your cup opponent is like walking on a wire, and it can hit you hard. Malin made just slight mistake in calculating his required midfield which gave me a slim and theoretic chance for a success. The random of the HT engine did the rest.

Your primary team, Canary Wharf, is based in Macedonia. It is just over 7 years old, and you won the Prva Makedonska Liga in September 2012, and then repeated the feat,three seasons later, in August 2013. Up until this season you had spent 12 consecutive seasons in the top division in Macedonia, putting you 6th on the historical standings. Please tell us a bit about how you managed to achieve this?

Well, many people before me have said that the most important thing to understand about Hattrick is that it is a marathon, and not as a sprint, and I absolutely agree. Secondly, everybody knows that money (as a resource to manage) plays an instrumental part in Hattrick success. Having said this, I don’t agree with hoarding cash reserves and then later heavily investing in your squad hoping for a rapid success. The problem with hoarding, is that to succeed, you usually have to spend too much time hibernating in totally non-competitive leagues, waiting for several seasons to build your budget. Whilst doing this it becomes easy to fail to keep up with the game changes, easy to forget how to beat the various types of opposition and you will be lacking in tactical experience to help you make the best use of the funds you spend on buying a team.

I am, however, in favor of smart money management and step-by-step investing in your team to make it more competitive slowly but steadily. Of course, a good long term strategy for team development is essential. I won't go into details about mine, but in brief, I felt it was important to construct a team that could give me several different, competitive tactical options. I have always tried to get the best from my squad's salary in terms of the income they can help to provide (I was regularly among the lowest salary levels of teams in our top division).

A good training plan is important when the league you're in is not so competitive, but in higher leagues I always tended to have proper long cup runs. I like to select a balanced team in all sections of the field and I always pay attention to building an SE optimized team and maximizing the effect of it. Finally, for me, it is very important to be able to replace older players and to rejuvenate the squad in timely manner.

From my experience in the Macedonian top division, after winning two titles, my milestone was to be a member of the league for 19 consecutive seasons which would have been a Macedonian record. I managed 12. I think I made some tactical mistakes in the crucial matches towards the end of the season and lost my top division status. Nevertheless, a bit more relaxed II division allowed me to win the National Cup last season, which is something I am extremely proud of. Previously I'd achieved two cup finals, losing both to good friends of mine. Last season I finally managed to win it but it was with much weaker team than in the seasons in which I'd reached the Cup Finals before.

If you have a favourite tune of 2015 so far, please provide a link to vimeo/utube/soundcloud for us to listen, but an older classic tune, or a favourite Macedonian act would be just as interesting?

Well, I am bit older than an ordinary HT player, so I am more nostalgic for old times rather than new hypes. I grew up with Depeche Mode and Pet Shop Boys as my favorite bands. Now, it depends from the mood I am in. Sometimes it’s Colplay or Café Del Mar chill out, sometimes are movie soundtracks compilations which I enjoy very much (Pirates of Caribbean as my favorite). So if I must point out a favorite one at the moment, let’s say Coldplay Sky Full of Stars ((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPRjCeoBqrI)) and Hanging Tree from Mockingjay ((https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nxqxg0V0Osk)).

You applied for your second team here in England and received it in May 2013, which was when they first became available, and so this is your 7th season with it. Can you tell us what made you want to have an English team and what your strategy has been to progress over the last 7 seasons?

I have close relatives living in GB (in West Molesey and therefore this is my team name – a small town near Hampton Court Palace of Henry VIII). As a boy as spent many summer holidays with them and as a result England is my second favorite country. Second reason is my admiration for English football, the passion, the fans, tradition, social status, sportsmanship etc. Premiership is my favorite football league in the world.

Regarding the second part of your question, the strategy stays the same – slowly building the team and raising its competitiveness step by step. Although at this time I am much more focused on training than on results.

If a fan wanted to buy you a pint, which pub or bar would it be easiest to find you in, and what's your poison?

Hahahaha, I live in Skopje, Macedonia, so most of the places here are totally unknown for the readers. Anyhow, if anyone is paying a visit to Skopje, for a nice mingling I would recommend Sotto ((https://www.facebook.com/pages/SOTTO/1412317495726792?fref=ts)), but for a good place to watch a football match, have a good beer in a good atmosphere than my choice would be Galerija Caffe (https://www.facebook.com/juventusmkcom/photos/a.431512340256479.98682.113946692013047/828269127247463/?type=1&theater).

You are a diamond supporter, how do you rate the supporter package you have in terms of value for money, and have you or will you renew at the latest prices that have been announced?

I get the supporter for free as HT official (I am an LA-language administrator for Macedonian language), so maybe my opinion is not that important. Nevertheless, for Macedonian budget standards, diamond and platinum are too expensive, and I don’t think that with silver or gold you get the real feeling of entering 'another dimension of Hattrick'. If I were among those guys in Sweden, I would have dropped silver altogether, and made platinum standard, (not as it is, a premium package) as I think that it gives you the proper freedom for enjoyment and entertainment on offer with the game.

Your manager page states that you are an Arsenal Fan. Arsenal seems to be on a good run at the moment, 8 games won, and up to 2nd on the table. Which Gunners players have been key in your opinion, and/or is it simply that (excluding Chelsea) the other usual top 4 rivals have just been a bit rubbish this season?

Well, Alexis Sanchez has taken plenty of the spotlight this season, but my real hero is Santi Cazorla as he pulled out several extraordinary top performances in some crucial games to becoming a strong yet steady top 4 contender. From the young guns I am very impressed by Francis Coquelin's performances. I am really upset with our Champions League elimination as for the whole of the rest of this season we haven't played a single game that was anywhere close to the rubbish performance on display in the Monaco home leg.

On the whole, I've really enjoyed the top 4 battle this season (apart from for first place) and I think it could be one of the tightest finishes ever.

Please tell us how/where you met your other half (or last conquest), and how he/she feels about your hattrick addiction?

As I mentioned, I am bit older than ordinary HT users, and as a family man, I met my significant other a very long time ago (so long I don’t remember at the moment :)), but it was through some common friends.

For the second part of the question, I would simply say that I try to balance my HT addiction and my private life. Of course sometimes it doesn’t go so smoothly, but in general, I have the necessary level of understanding to balance my personal interests with my relationship.

Have you ever been to a hattrick social event, if so please tell us about it, if not will you please arrange one?

Several years ago, with a group of HT users we used to have something of a traditional noon Saturday gathering every weekend (during league games, as in Macedonia the HT kick off time is Saturday at 12.15). This was usually held in a pub or coffeeshop. It was very nice to hang out with and meet some very good people through those meetings, and some of them have became close friends. So, I will say that HT has helped me to increase my number of real life friends.

You are an LA for hattrick? Please tell us about this job, what you like and dislike, and how it has made your hattrick experience more interesting?

The LA is translates everything in Hattrick to the language which he administrates. I wanted to help the people of my country to have the opportunity to play Hattrick on their own native language. It is a hard job as there are plenty of things to be translated as HT always changes things or makes some new announcement. As everything in the game goes through me for translation it has really helped me to understand Hattrick better and to be fully up to speed with all the news and changes in the game.

What is your favourite film?

Until the End of the World from Wim Wenders. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101458/) It is a movie from 1991 and the plot happens in 1999. It is an interesting science fiction which details Wenders foresight of the near future in terms of economy, culture, social events and degradation of the global society.

Star Wars serial is also my favorite, hardly waiting for December 2015 premiere of the new movie. My son also :)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMOVFvcNfvE)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCc2v7izk8w)