Community » Hattrick Press

So it ends

Written by RickReaper

get a cup of tea, sit down and enjoy our Final interview

Manager F

Q1.How long have you been playing HT?
6 years

Q2. How did you hear about the game?
Through a friend whose team is now defunct. He used to own Lonely Wanderers. He finds it funny I still play and still asks how the team is doing. He's one of the most intelligent and perceptive people I have ever met - you wouldn't believe the analytical depth of our lunchtime discussions at work in the early days.

Q3. What is the highest level your team has ever reached?
Last 16 of the Masters a couple of times.

Q4. What would you change about the game?
- to follow -- this was a very detailed answer but put the article over the text limit so will be published as a seperate article

Q5. Care to tell us why you chose your team/user name?
Old name - Been a big [edit] fan since late 80s so it was an obvious choice although when I signed up I didn't expect to be playing 6 years later. [edit] was a homage to a [edit] song and HP Lovecraft books. New name - just fancied a change for the new team and reflects an obscure interest in Irish mysticism.

Q6. Some say you are the best NI manager ever, so why have you never ran for NT manager?
I dislike NT football - see comments re NT in answer 4. If they ever make the playing field a bit more level I might change that viewpoint. Who cares who is the best? It really doesn’t matter as long as you enjoy it. Maybe Rick is the best for selfless work on behalf of the NI community. Maybe Mongo or Drumkee is for tireless NT work. Maybe the Milkman is for a meteoric and impeccably timed rise. Maybe Gavin is for such a great low wage team. PIE Apple Dave was a very, very clever manager. Me, I just play to win - I'm competitive. Whether people perceive you to be the best or not is meaningless - a bit like music or film awards. it is all subjective.

Q7. What has been in your opinion your greatest Hattrick moment?
Hard to pinpoint one. getting to last 16 in the Masters is my best achievement. I was well outgunned against the Danish cup winners in my first run deep into the Masters due to injuries. Despite getting tanked in midfield I turned that one into a victory against a monster team through good tactics and working out his strategy beforehand.

Q8. What football team do you support and why?
Oddly i don't. I detest the corporate machines big football clubs have become. Fan loyalty means nothing to them, there is no local soul to clubs anymore - it is all just about money. Obscene wages for ill behaved morons is a worrying reflection of what society prizes the most. The WAGs are even worse. I just ignore it all!

Q9. Whats your favourite drink?
Any white wine from the Meursault or Marlborough region is good. Not that I know much about wine but they are very nice.

Q10. What Northern Ireland manager would you like to meet up with?
I'm a loner and pretty antisocial! Rick maybe - he seems remarkably level headed from reading 6 years of his posts. I always think of him as a Judge for some reason, although I know he isn't!

Q11. What other manager ( non Norn Iron ) would you like to meet up with?
Jerguss, Bose_Sacuvaj, or -George- - all gave me a lot of support and friendship over the years and are very polite, friendly people with whom I share common interests.

Q12. Whats your favourite band?
Pass - I have wide tastes. Metallica were amazing in their prime although age and their own merchandising machine haven't done them any favours (they are more of a brand than a band now). Primordial and Grand Magus are criminally underrated metal bands. Godspeed You Black Emperor are in a class of their own muscially and atmospherically. Rodrigo and Gabriela have to be seen to be believed. Tindersticks have a phenomenal indie back catalogue.

Q13. What was the best gig you have ever been to?
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Utterly unique. 9 people come onto the stage individually, eventually forming a circle over a 30 minute period while a home made film plays in the background with societal and political messages, all the while holding a single droning note on their different instruments. Then the gig begins with epic 20 minute soundscapes rising and falling in intensity. They don't say a word throughout - they don't need to, the music says it all. Final 25 minute song encore way past curfew before they all drift off individually again leaving the single note reverberating just where it all started. Never seen a crowd so awestruck or enraptured. I have seen over a thousand bands in my life but this little known, mystical Canadian band is a clear favourite. I'm just jealous my wife has seen them far more times than I have. Think it only cost 16 Euro or thereabouts too.

Q14. What band would you most have liked to see?
Tindersticks or J Mascis maybe. Not very metal but I like them.

Q15. Do you play any other online browser games?
I competed at the top at Battrick for a while but got bored fairly quickly.

Q16. Xbox, Playstation or PC for games?
No

Q17. Do you play any other online games?
Funkypool is a good way to waste your time if you like cuesports.

Q18. What book are you reading at the moment?
Racing through the Hakan Nesser crime series at the moment - Woman with birthmark is the current one. I'm a bookworm. Detest tv but love books. Usually Irish/Scandanvian crime fiction or occasionally dark philosophical/classic literature.

Q19. Best holiday you have ever been on?
Canoeing holiday down the Zambezi in Africa was amazing, although a bit surreal in places.

Q20. If you could live anywhere where would it be?
Either Merzouga in Morocco or Leh in India. You can tell i like travelling.