Asunto: [NT]Auldreekie1874

Hello Australia.

One or two of you may remember me from my time in charge of the Scottish national team (hopefully anyway!)

My name is Ally and I've been around sokker since 2005.

My Brief Club History
Within 3 seasons I made it to the Scottish Premier League and finished a respectable 4th in my first season. After a relegation and an instant promotion I changed my team name to YoYo as it was appropiate and so it was to be as the next 2 seasons followed the same pattern. I arrived back in the premier last season and have again finished in a safe 4th position. A semi final exit from the cup this past season is also worth mentioning.

NT Experience

In season 8 I began a 4 season spell as National Team boss of Scotland.

Both qualifying campaigns were successful with the highlight coming in the group stages of the first World Cup which I qualified for.

Scotland were ranked around 25 at the time and we were thrown in with 3 nations ranked inside the top 16.

Played 3 and won 3 was definately the highlight of my campaign.

Those matches can viewed here

World Cup iv

Group Stage

Scotland 3 USA 1 5938953
Scotland 1 Italy 0 5938955
Estonia 1 Scotland 3 5938957

Unfortunately in the ko stage we were once again drawn against the then world ranked #2 Italy and were disposed of 2-0

Why Australia?

I believe the Australian national job is a very prestigous job to have and cant believe that we are now in to Wednesday and no serious managers have put their name forward. There is definate potential with Australia and sitting at world rank 31 is a very sound base to build on.

My Plans

The main aim would be to climb the rankings as high as possible in order to gain a 2nd seeding for the next World Cup. With respect to others, this shouldn't be to difficult as you are virtually there already. Rankings between 16-30 I believe would be enough based on the number of current national teams. Like I said it shouldn't be too difficult as New Zealand are in there!

The mini World Cup would be a possible option for this season if the community was happy to enter.

Tactics

I cant sit here and tell you what tactics I'll use because I believe the opponent shall have an influence on what formation I will use. Keeping it simple, mark their danger men and create space for our own :)

Well, I wont go on and bore you all so if there is anything you need to know about me or anything that you want to ask then I am here for all your questions.

Thanks for reading,

Ally

Thanks for the interest in going for the Australian NT job.

I think in many previous seasons one of the reasons foreign managers haven't applied comes down to the belief that most of us pick the Australian manager over anybody else.

For certain my vote usually goes to whoever I think deserves it more (regardless of nationality).

I do remember that IV world cup when you managed Scotland, as being the Australian manager at the time, had a strong interest in other NT performances and thought you did an exceptional job with Scotland given the side you had and the teams you came up against.

I don't think I need to ask a question of how you deal with a small userbase as you've proven that in the past with Scotland to very good effect.

Instead here's a few other questions for you to start with.

1. If elected, will you continue the rivalry between Australia and New Zealand which I suppose is similar to the rivalry between Scotland and England?

2. How do you intend to operate with the U21 NT and that manager? I guess by that question I'm looking for whether you see it as 2 separate jobs with no communication between the two, or whether there should be some form of linkage to support the two NT's together even though another manager primarily takes control of the tactical side.

3. Forum activity seems to be on the slide here. What strategies might you use to generate more interest in the NT that might get users interested in training up more NT players in the future?

Thanks again for applying, if i think of any more questions I'll post them here.

Good luck with the election.

Thanks for the kind words Cometer. I'm glad somebody remembers me :)

1. If elected, will you continue the rivalry between Australia and New Zealand which I suppose is similar to the rivalry between Scotland and England?

Absolutely, local rivalry is essential both on the park and in the forum. I'm also aware that in the last couple of seasons New Zealand has been fortunate enough to fluke a few results in their favour. This needs rectified asap.

2. How do you intend to operate with the U21 NT and that manager? I guess by that question I'm looking for whether you see it as 2 separate jobs with no communication between the two, or whether there should be some form of linkage to support the two NT's together even though another manager primarily takes control of the tactical side.

I'll be very happy to work with the U21 manager and my mailbox will always be open to him for any help or queries that he may have.
Planning for the future is also important, I'd like to know what kind of players are coming through and if needed can offer advice training wise so there is definately going to be a need for us to communicate anyway. Perhaps info passed from myself to the U21 manager to the players owner is the best way to go giving that they should already be on mailing terms. I would also like to see what area's of the team are going to be strengthened in the future and there will also be the sharing of the ntdb.

I've watched rtg and dandy(Scotland's current NT managers) work very well together since the creation of the U21's and definately see the benefits that it can bring. So all in all, It's quite important to me to develop a working relationship with whoever the U21 manager may be.(all if elected of course)

3. Forum activity seems to be on the slide here. What strategies might you use to generate more interest in the NT that might get users interested in training up more NT players in the future?

I'll certainly be launching my favourite competition. I've tried a few over the years both regarding the NT and in the leagues that I've been in to get a bit activity going but my favourite one was one I stole.....not sure, but it could have been from You :)

At the start of the season I would get the users to pick a team made up from the NT, usual formations, 4-4-2, 4-5-1 etc then points will be handed out on a weekly basis for things like clean sheets, assists and goals scored etc.

A dream team kind of competition. Prizes would be on offer ranging from capping players to 3 months plus (nb, this is not a bribe! )

Thanks for the questions.
(editado)

Hi Ally, forgive me for not remembering your time with Scotland. Cometer certainly speaks highly of you. Are you sure there's no cash for comment going on here? ;)


With the NTDB's future in doubt, what backup measures do you have in mind?
It would be a huge loss to us, not only for selection, but also as a means of keeping track of key trainers outside our community.


You mention a dream-team competition...
That's something even cometer had trouble keeping up to date. How do you plan to run a competition and take on a MWC campaign, while juggling your other scouting duties?


I look forward to following your election campaign.
We have a small but dedicated community, driven to producing and nurturing top talent for our NT.

There are also several managers who don't have the time to run the NT full-time, but would be valuable assets as assistants if required.

Good luck with your campaign.

Thanks for your questions and for your well wishes.

I'm aware of the ntdb's problems but fortunately I'm on first name terms with the man who can help ;)

rtg has actually created a seperate db for Scottish players only which is problem free and with a bit of bribing maybe he would consider creating something for Australia. This is not a promise though as I believe It's very time consuming for him and I haven't actually mentioned anything to him yet. No harm in asking though :)

That said however I will be using a seperate db anyway. When with Scotland I simply created a few folders for my desktop for each position for both NT and U21's also one for talented youth pulls and ex 21's who wern't quite NT standard.

These were kept in the same form as you see you players on your players page and I simply had to edit the skills which had popped.

Because of these folders I asked the managers to send me updates via sk mail aswell as entering details into the db.This ensured regular contact in the first instance and created a sokker friendship or two aswell.

We had a young player called Irvine Nixon at the time and I regulary received updates from TerjeH on him. Very humorous mails indeed and I find it sad that Australia may be losing his wit and banter for ever :(

I always reply to my mails , good or bad and hopefully I can build up as good an understanding with the trainers of Australian talent as I have done in the past.

The dream team competition is actually quite easy. Players picked at the start of the season will last for the whole campaign so it's just a case of checking the match report and adding the points each week.

I can usually have the results and league table updated within an hour or so of the match ending.

As long as the NTDB is working well then that should make scouting really easy tbh. Help would be best served with sk mails of new and young talent but even then that may be more suited for the U21 manager.

I would be happy to take on an Australian Asst Manager/scout who could hopefully learn something from myself and about International football so that one day he himself can take over the reigns.

Hope that answers your questions,
Cheers

Do you think you are able to beat New Zealand?

Cometer failed twice, tigermaster once...The upcoming season will be the last chance for it. And don`t forget the traditional friendly in week 15.

:)

No problem, New Zealand have a decent set of players but are hindered by a wrestny manager. He should still be there next season so I'd be confident of restoring Australian pride. His name escapes me just now though.....

I've noticed Australia have now jumped ahead of NZ in the world rankings. Natural order restored :)

Actually I am sure that on paper NZ is bit weaker, but that`s just my opinion. Yes, Australia jumped ahead, but I was expecting that and we are going to drop more. I need strong games before World Cup even if I know I am going to lose. And probably will drop more than 5 places in ranking due to losses in upcoming WC. But the aim for the second half of the season is to get us back in top 32 to get the 2nd seed for next season WC Qualification phase.

*cough* NZ qualified to World Cup, Aussies did not*cough*

I see you have basically won the elections already, congrats:)

Hmm pretty sure im 50/50 against the Kiwis... but that includes the U21 and NT =)

Well, Thanks Australia for voting me as your new National Team manager. Hopefully It's the start of a long and successful relationship.

The first thing that I noticed was that the U21 election pulled in a few more voters than the nt one so I'm thinking that maybe some part of Australia would have preferred to vote Australian. With this in mind my first task is to try and win these guys over and the best way to do so would be to involve some of the community with the national team. It should benefit us all, myself included.

I've already had initial contact with a couple of users and once we have confirmed things I'll name and shame them :)

In the meantime I look forward to gaining access to the DB and planning for my first match.

Thanks again for the votes,
Ally

Good luck mate. Interested in a game vs Belgie? I have free weeks nr 3, 14, 15...

Thanks and sure. Week 14 is good for us.

Kiwi bashing in week 15 :)

Kiwi bashing in week 15 :) Is that east coast speak for spanking the monkey? Man you must be small being able to bash into a kiwi!!.

P.S. I bet he didnt say in his election speech that now you have voted in a scot you will be bombarded with endles drivell on haggis, buckfast, whisky, sheep (dont tell the kiwis we have sheep also) and other stupid things.

*Hic

So week 14 it is :)

Congrats Reekie, didnae even know you were throwing your hat into the old NT ring again.

All the best.

U21 will always be more popular :)

And don't worry about the sceptics, they'll come round in no time.
We have had a few good foreigners here over the years, guys like Borkos or Terjeh and it's just a question of getting to know you.

With your coming announcements you will show the community will be involved so it's all good. This is exciting stuff for these guys!

The U21 staff is looking forward to working with you :)