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The Rise of the Monkeys!

Written by jamiepic

jamiepic's team has reached the semi finals for the first time. He's taken time out from his busy schedule to chat to hattrick press, amongst other things about the rise and fall and rise of his team.

Last week you faced the holders, h00ligans (555104526) a game in which you went behind twice, narrowly edging possession. I suppose the biggest surprise was having no reported chances up the middle (for either of you), please tell us a bit about your match preparation for this one, and how it felt to defeat a cup favourite?

To be honest I thought that was a winnable game – I knew if I could edge possession and have enough of a centre attack rating then I’d be in with a shout. Hattrick is very much a coin toss game at the higher levels so as long as my ratings were there or there abouts I thought I had a chance. What I wasn’t expecting is no chances down the middle at all, it’s certainly unusual – but my side attacks were good enough to not to have to consider myself lucky to score, so I’ll take the win thank you! I do expect that my opponent PIC’d though, so I’m sure he could’ve beaten me if he wanted to – maybe he underestimated me?

I never really considered that I was playing a favourite – I’ve not followed the top teams to be honest. I knew that defunked is the current England manager, but it’s only now I realize what a great history his h00ligans have. I fully expect that if we play against each other again he’ll show me who’s boss!

You took over your team on 18/05/05 just before s26. In s40 you made R11 of the cup (last 16), gaining promotion to II.3 the same season. After two seasons there, you tumbled back down the leagues before your current campaign taking you into II.2 for the start of s58. You are now in the auto-promotion slots for the Prem, with a home-grown defence and midfield, with a squad aged 27-30. Please tell us about your training strategy for these guys and whether they can help you get into the Masters?

My original team peaked in II where I realized that in order to get any higher I needed more money in the bank, which at the time was impossible (I should’ve recognized that earlier, to be honest)– so I made the decision to sell up and then to build a team based around homegrown players. I took 10 guys from my youth team and trained them all to at least Supernatural defence, then switched to PM, which I’ve been doing ever since (with a bit of passing mixed in occasionally). The result is the 6 core guys you see in my team now – I’m really proud of them! I sold the other 4, but my biggest regret so far concerns the last one I sold – as he would’ve been a great utility player.

My best HG - Casper Seymour (338223423) – I’m told is on the fringe of the England squad – maybe he’ll make the next tournament. I guess it depends on tactics though as PMs towards wing appear to be all the rage these days..

I've also wasted money along the way - i could / should easily have £10 million more in the bank right now.

"How Much? No thanks." replaced your "magic monkeys" team name (if not your logo) in June of 2015. With your platinum 2nd team battling for promotion into division II in China, just how long have they got before the plug is pulled on your supporter package (we assume the new team name is a reference to the price hikes for supporter)?

I have a year left of Supporter, and yes the name change is a protest against the new prices. I’m stuck in 2 minds though – I have loved playing Hattrick over the years, and I’m quite attached to my second team. It’s like the developers don’t want us to have 2nd teams – either that or they think we’ll just pay anyway. I’d love to know what the plan for the game is as some of the decisions baffle me. I will probably play to the end though.

My team name will change back again at the end of the season.

Have you a favourite tune from 2015, and if not an older classic would be just as welcome (link to vimeo or utube or soundcloud please?)

I like all kinds of music ranging from rock / metal through to rap / hiphop and even pop (I have a 3 year old who loves One Direction!). I grew up listening to rock (80’s hair metal) though, and still love it. Here’s one of my faves from back in the day - Poison – Nothin but a good time: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4XgT4nkihc)

Your manager page has you down as supporting Bury, together with their feeder club Manchester Utd. How have Reece Brown, Chris Eagles, Danny Pugh & Daniel Nardiello been getting on this season?

Ah, the Mighty Shakers! We’re doing ok nowadays – a new chairman came in with a 5 year plan to get us to the Championship. We’re 2.5 years in and were promoted to league one for this season and seem to be holding our own. We were threatening near the sharp end of the table up until about a month ago, but now the wheels have come off a bit. I would expect that staying up is the primary aim this time around, so it’s all good at the moment.

Your club is based in Tyne & Wear (you're also a Newcastle supporter), can you recommend any local attractions, pubs or places to eat, for any of our readers thinking of paying a visit to your area?

I moved to Newcastle (Whitley Bay) about 10 years ago and love living up here. My favourite place is Longsands Beach (Crusoe’s café (http://d3b4s6vywj2q8g.cloudfront.net/imageresizer/?image=%2Fdmsimgs%2FPAP12232.jpg&action=ProductDetail) does great food (http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/09/b0/18/b4/photo3jpg.jpg) and the view (http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/03/77/81/25/crusoes-tynemouth.jpg) is awesome, particularly on rainy / snowy days) and anyone thinking of coming here should definitely come out to the coast – it’s beautiful.

What do you make of the recent game changes, especially with the new tactical assistant that you used so effectively in the last round?

I’m flattered that you think I have a TA – I certainly don’t! I’m considering one for next season however unless I start getting beat by teams using them (I’m expecting that soon!) then I’ll stick with what I’ve got.

I think the whole new staff system hasn’t made much difference (to me anyway), it seems like a wasted opportunity. The TA could be the difference I suppose. I do like the fact that they’ve increased prize money – the league and cups are more appealing now, for sure. I would love to see the Youth System developed – maybe add proper leagues and increase the max age to 22 – therefore allowing teams at the top to develop young players, but also making the National U21s a bit more interesting. Something also needs to be done to the National Teams anyway – it’s wrong that players can’t really get in the team til they’re nearly 30. Oh, and TDFs are just wrong – they need nerfing completely.

Please provide a link to your favourite work of art?

I’m never been into ‘works of art’ sorry. However I do tend to seek out local art from places I’ve visited around the world – whenever I’m away I try to find something nice I can get framed that reminds me of my time there.

Have you seen the new Star Wars film, and if it is your favourite film of last year could you please tell us what else you'd recommend movie-wise?

I’m not a Star Wars fan – I’ve never been into it, so haven’t seen the new film. I like psychological horror films but good ones are tough to come by. My fave film of all time is Dog Soldiers – it’s quite funny but try watching it on your own on a dark night.. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280609/)

What did you do for Xmas and New Year (food/location/company etc)?

For Xmas I went back to Bury to visit my mum. We had the traditional turkey dinner with my family together with my brother and sister and their families, so there were 10 of us in a 2 bedroom bungalow for a few days. It was great for us all to be together. I did try to go and watch the Shakers, however it was called off due to all the flooding. Also, I don’t know if you saw on the news the 200 year old pub (The Waterside) in Summerseat that fell down and got washed away by the floods? This was my local when I was growing up, so I had a lot of memories from the place. We’d driven over that bridge literally the day before as well. Here’s a link: (http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/waterside-pub-collapse-astonishing-drone-10654099)