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SESL Rules

This is a specific page for the SESL league of SOS-SOCCER-MANAGER. divided into sessions.  Each manager submits lineup order instructions online for each sessions]], and the commissioner ('Commish') then resolves the matches using the Online software which determines the scores and the effects of the sessions on each manager's club.  

 

Team sponsorships will be offered again in SESL (see foot of Wiki page).

Player Value rough GUIDE as at START of season 31 (summer 2013).  Assume all players have PU of 0.  As season progresses, values of older players may reduce especially leading up to mid-season aging skill level loss. Below left are actual prices paid at auctions on average, courtesy of Mark Boland of DUU.  As a comparison on the right at START of season 27 (summer 2011). GK: add 10% to these values. Multipositional SD, DM, MA, UT add 20%

There will be 12 auctions per season now with a mix of players and/or resources. 

 

Auction player Skill Levels for S31 onwards:    

  • Age 0: SL range  6 > 10    

  • Age 1: SL range 11 > 16    

  • Age 2: SL range 14 > 19    

  • Age 3: SL range 18 > 23    

  • Age 4: SL range 19 > 25    

  • Age 5: SL range 23 > 28

 

50 CP and 50 TP is the maximum that can be held by any one team at any time.  This includes pre-season team orders, so all teams should aim to finish season with less than 10TP because their 40TP free allocation will otherwise be reduced.   A manager will be given 24 hours to trade away excess resources, and then any over 50 will be deleted.

 

Pre-season CP costs:     

  • 20 CP costs  750k 

  • 25 CP costs 1000k    

  • 30 CP costs 1250k  

  • 35 CP costs 1500k    

  • 40 CP costs 2000k  

  • 45 CP costs 2500k  

  • 50 CP costs 3000k

 

Healthy budgeting - try plan a budget from gate receipts and top up with participation bonuses from blog and journals.  All teams will need at least 750k in bank at end of each season to buy CP for following season. At end of season 27 December 2011 there were 4 teams who had a bank under 750k (BRE, NAI, BER, STI).   At end of season 29 December 2012 INV could not afford minimum CP (but soon traded plenty in). This is most unusual but a reminder on the need for healthy budgeting as part of your good management.   The trade window deliberately does not open until after all pre-season info has been submitted so there is no opportunity to trade your way out of poor budgeting.

 

To clarify a common question: un-used CP or TP will carry over to new season as normal.

 

No loans are permitted, and this includes loaning resources as happened in season 23.

 

Squad size is 18 - 25 players.  Any team found with less than 18 players will have 24 hours to resolve via a trade or have an apprentice added by the Commish at normal cost. 

 

18 players minimum is to help prevent the software crashing if injuries or suspensions pile up.  If a team cannot put 11 valid players on the field, the manager may ask the Commish to add three age 8 sl 1 players as squad fillers for the cost of 25k (this rule added after QP could not field a team for playoff match end of season 23 and trade window was closed).  SL0 players need be retired.

 

A team MUST start match with 11 players.  If this does not happen for any reason (e.g. NMR program cannot field a valid lineup due to low EL) then the team loses the gate receipts from that match.  The only exception is if a software bug causes the issue.

 

Player suspensions carry forward to new season, although DP is wiped clean to zero at start of a new season.  This was from a 20:12 vote in favour January 2010.

 

Bad boys team fine for any team with 200 DP or more.  230 DP = 230k fine.  This rule has become necessary with so much aggressive and dirty play with little consequences.

 

New Bosman skill levels for start of season 23 and no GK option continues unchanged

 

Morale bonus earned for following season to be as follows:    

  • Div 1, 1st: 0.30 morale bonus    

  • Div 1, 2nd: 0.28 morale bonus    

  • Div 1, 3rd: 0.26 morale bonus    

  • Div 1, 4th: 0.24 morale bonus    

  • Div 1, 5th: 0.22 morale bonus    

  • Div 1, 6th: 0.20 morale bonus    

  • Div 2, 1st: 0.15 morale bonus    

  • Div 3, 1st: 0.10 morale bonus    

  • Cecil Cup Winner: 0.08 morale bonus    

  • Cecil Cup Runner-up: 0.05 morale bonus    

  • SESL Cup  Winner: 0.12 morale bonus    

  • SESL Cup  Runner-up: 0.06 morale bonus

 

Morale reminder: morale bonus re-set and applied at start of each season (maximum bonus 0.3), while normal team morale carries forward each season with minimum starting morale 0.5

 

MVP reminder: MVP are reset at start of each season.

 

NMR reminder: 3 NMR\'s per season and a replacement manager will be brought in unless exceptional circumstances are notified to Commish.  If you are going to be busy with family or working away from home, a quick email to commish asking for a caretaker manager to cover your lineups is a good option.  We need minimise NMR's to try keep SESL competitive.

 

Participation reminder: 3 Journal Press Releases are expected by each manager each season to enhance the SESL community.  Exceptions may be made for foreign language managers or exceptionally busy managers with family/work. 

 

Captain Change rule reminder: 1 captain change allowed during season, costs 100k.

 

Robin Hood rule reminder: no team can have more than 4,000k in bank at any time.  More details below.

 

Physio Boost rule reminder: a player on -8 or worse EL can get a Physio Boost  of +8EL at cost of 80k (applies per session whether 1 match or 2 match session). More details below.

 

  • Season 29 runs August > December 2012

  • Season 30 runs February > June 2012

  • Season 31 runs August > December 2013

  • Season 32 runs February > June 2014

  • Season 33 runs August   > Dec  2014

  • Season 34 runs February > June 2015

  • Season 35 runs August   > Dec  2015

  • Season 36 runs February > June 2016

 

Summer 2013 - was the return of Ball Control as a viable team tactic option.

Ball Control is an openly aggressive tactic that requires a heavy duty midfield, enough DF SL to push the ball into the MF area, and as high an OTF as possible. Even with all that, Ball Control can be awfully wide open at the back.  Like Barcelona today, a Ball Control team tries to keep hold of possession, but rather than using clever 1 on 1 skills, they tend to use physical play, and create a Wall of Force across the middle of the field. Also all that MF and DF development doesn’t leave much for FW and GK training and coaching.  Ball Control teams could in theory have both a solid defence and a crushing offence, but it seems to require an extra 40+ SL MINIMUM advantage over the opponent to get away with it. The weakness at the back and in goal will likely bring them up short in the final analysis against the best. This is probably the least used tactic of all due to its difficult nature.

 

SESL season 31 will tweak OFF MF from 0.75 to 1.25 for Ball Control. This brings B closer to P as an attacking option, as P is OFF MF 1 currently.  B will be changed to OFF MF 1 to match P at end of S31 review as tweak too strong.                                             

 

Ball Control DEF OTF is 0.75 and OFF OTF is 2.0   SESL season 36 will be same as season 35 for Ball Control, but the numbers that are on database are noted here to clarify:-

 SESL Officers 2016

Officer Duties

*The 'Commish' is responsible for running the league matches and the league as a whole.

  • Commish has right to reverse any one-sided or poor trades.  

  • Commish will edit or delete offending Blog or Journals and may fine managers.  

  • Please read Benign Dictatorship section for more on Commish.

 

Press Officer will award Participation Bonus based on Press Releases posted on the Blog and Journal, 50k is the maximum award for Participation Bonus a week.

 

Auction Analyst by Marc Legowski from Season 30, although Mark Boland will continue to track and updated a guide on auction player values via the SESL blog pre auction.

 

Prediction League chief is Paul Cockayne who will post matches on SESL forum and promote and provide results to prediction league standings.  

 

A 'Trade Dispute Committee' will deal with any trade disputes reported e.g., another manager feels an agreed trade was too one-sided.  5 random managers may also be asked to pass judgement on any unfair trades and suggest a fair add-on to even the trade up e.g. 3 or 4 TP to be sent to other team to balance a trade.   A majority verdict (3 out of 5) will carry, with Commish Creasey acting as decider should a vote end in a draw (if 1 manager is undecided)  Where a newbie manager has been taken advantage off, Commish will almost always reverse trade to protect a new manager and the integrity of SESL.

 

Helper rewards will be paid mid-season:

  • Prediction Chief : 300k

  • Press Officer  : 200k   

  • Auction Analyst: 100k

  • prediction & auction guys will also earn cash for these blog posts of course

 

Website

 

Almost all functions of the game have been automated on the website.  This was implemented around season 16 onwards and SESL is indebted to Olmec creator Allan Sellers and Olmecfm guru Graham McDermott.

 

Orders are submitted online, trades are completed online, and interaction with other managers is possible on the blog, journal and match comments.

It is possible to communicate with other managers by email or better still via team INBOX option. This is commonly done for trade discussions, as well as banter.

 

Informal voting polls are often put on the website, as well as end of season Manager of the Season voting.

 

SESL Forum

 

Currently unavailable

 

If a manager is seriously under-achieving with a team that should be going for glory, then that teams CHAIRMAN (Commissioner) may give him a warning and expect things to improve.  This is normally done on the forum as a bit of fun (initially) to gee up a de-motivated manager.

 

Prediction League was ran via the SESL Forum. From season 28, prediction league will be ran on the SESL front web page bottom right under the 'Notebook' option.

 

Roll of Champions

 

Due to size of Wiki file, this now has its own dedicated WIKI page

 

The Structure of a Season

SESL has Cup competitions and the League.  The season starts with the CECIL Cup and ends with the Promotion/Relegation Playoffs. The commish will publish the fixture schedule at the beginning of the season.

 

Session

 

Each manager submits lineup order instructions online for each session, and the commissioner then resolves the matches using the SOS-SOCCER-MANAGER software which determines the scores and the effects of the session on each manager's club.

 

A session consists of  

  • one match for Cup  sessions

  • two matches for League sessions.

 

Normally there are two sessions in a week, alternating between Cup sessions midweek on Wednesday and League sessions on a Saturday.

 

  • Before Mid-Season Ageing CECIL Cup games are played on Wednesday.

  • The first sessions after MSA are the group stages of the SESL Cup

 

Tactical Formulae

Other formula tweaks

In the standard Olmec settings the Ball Control special OTF bonus is set to (OTF + 5)/4 * number of extra MFs as a bonus. This is set in SESL to (2*OTF + 5)/4 * number of extra MFs.

 

Physio Boost

 

The Idea of using a physio is to reduce the \"down time\" of a player. A 2 game session adds +8EL to a player, and Physio Boost‚ will also add an additional +8EL so the recovery time is effectively halved. Player must be on a -8 or worse EL rating at the start of a session before ‚Physio Boost‚ can be used. So for a cost of 80k the player will get an extra EL Boost of +8 at the END of next session. 1 player per team per session allowed.  1 game session also +8EL at 80k. Manager must post on Blog his wish to use ‚Physio Boost‚ on 1 specified player BEFORE that weeks session kicks off.

 

League

 

The League consists of 3 Divisions (Div) of 16 teams playing the other teams in their division twice (once at home and once away).  The Champions are the team that finishes with the most points at the end of the 30 game league campaign in Div 1. With Division winners being the team top of their respective divisions.

 

1st Division

  • All 1st Division game revenues will give each team an extra 25k per game.

  • Exempt from CECIL Cup Qualifier Round.

  • Apprentices cost 400k.

  • At the end of each regular season

    • 13th to 16th relegated to Div 2.

    • 11th and 12th into relegation Playoffs.

 

2nd Division

  • Must compete in the CECIL Cup Qualifier Round.

  • Apprentices cost 300k.

  • At the end of each regular season

    • 1st to 4th promoted to Div 1..

    • 5th and 6th into promotion Playoffs.

    • 13th to 16th relegated to Div 3.

    • 11th and 12th into relegation Playoffs

 

3rd Division

  • Must compete in the CECIL Cup Qualifier Round.

  • Apprentices cost 200k.

  • At the end of each regular season

    • 1st to 4th promoted to Div 2.

    • 5th and 6th into promotion Playoffs

 

Standings

 

Clubs are ranked in the League Divisions and the SESL Cup Group primarily by the number of points (Pts) they earn.  Clubs earn 3 Pts per win and 1 Pt per draw.  Clubs with equal Pts shall have that tie broken using the following criteria (in order):  

  • Goal Differential  

  • Total Goals Scored  

  • Head To Head Record  

  • Most Goals Scored in Head To Head Play

  • Games Won

  • Goals scored @ home  

  • Home matches Won

  • Leading Goal scorer

  • Flip of a coin

 

Playoffs

 

  • Playoffs to encourage more meaningful games towards end of a season.   

  • These are One-off games at neutral venue.

  • Note: No EL Boost  before the playoffs

  • Div1 11th will play Div2 6th

  • Div1 12th will play Div2 5th 

  • Div2 11th will play Div3 6th

  • Div2 12th will play Div3 5th

 

Wooden Spoon / Robin Hood

 

At the end of each regular season ‚ the manager whose team has finished bottom of Division 3 will automatically retire and be replaced by a waiting list manager. However, if the bottom Division 3 manager has shown sufficient effort during the season (despite their unfortunate lowly league position), then the manager may be given a further season to improve his team.  If the Chairman sacks the bottom team manager, he will be placed at the top of the waiting list and invited to re-join SESL as soon as a team becomes available ‚ this is at the discretion of the Commissioner.

 

Div 3 bottom team will also benefit from any excess cash via ROBIN HOOD rule:-

 

Healthy budgeting is one thing, but no team may have more than 4,000K in their team bank at any time.   If a team goes above this limit, then the excess money is given manually by the Commish to the bottom team in Division 3.   This is known as the  Robin Hood rule where the rich give to the poor!  Managers whose team bank approaches 4000k+ can of course buy apprentice players or trade money away for other resources to try and remain within the limit.  

 

Negative bank balance should be resolved by a manager with Blog and Journals and trading away resources within a week of the debt.

 

Captain Change rule reminder: 24 hours notice is needed for a change of club captain.  1 captain change allowed during each season at a set cost of 100k.

 

The Cups

 

The two Cups in SESL are the CECIL Cup and the SESL Cup

  • Each team is guaranteed at least two games in the CECIL Cup.

  • Each team is guaranteed at least five games in the SESL Cup

  • 'Note: No EL boost]for knocked out teams not playing

 

CECIL Cup

 

CECIL Cup (stands for Commish Early Campaign Inter League Cup) is a knock out cup, played over 2 legs, home and away. Until the final, which is a one off game at a neutral ground.   There is a preliminary round between D2 and D3 teams over 2 legs to qualify.  These 2 extra matches at start of each season help lower teams to add gate receipts before first auction of season.

Advancement in the cup

 

  • The team with the superior aggregate score (combined) over the two legs.  

  • In the event of a tied aggregate score, away goals count double.

  • If the tie is still level, then a penalty shoot out will be required.

 

Round Structure

 

The CECIL Cup starts with a Qualifying Round.  This will consist of Div 2 and Div 3 teams having a 2 leg match, with the winner going into the draw with the Div 1 teams.

 

Qualifying Round pairings has in recent seasons been just the order teams appear in Div 2 table 1-16 paired with same number from Div 3 reverse alphabetically.  This is easier and more efficient given almost no one turned up in chat room for a cup draw before season had kicked off.  From Round of 32 to the Final, the pairings follow a tree with known opponents along the way.

SESL Cup

 

Takes place in the second half of the season, with the Group Stages being the first session after MSA (Mid Season Aging).

 

Group Stages

 

  • Consists of 8 groups (A-H) of 6 teams randomly drawn, with a live draw in a online chat room or via longstanding helpers

  • Each team plays one game against the other teams in their group.

  • Games in these groups are played at Neutral venue.

  • SESL Cup group stages are the first games after MSA

  • The top FOUR teams in each group qualify for the last-32 knockout stages played Midweek

  •  

Knockout Stages

 

  • The knock out rounds use the table to seed the group winners.

 

Bosmans

 

Background

 

In 1995 a Belgian player, Jean-Marc Bosman, challenged his employment rights saying he ought to be allowed to move freely to another club at the end of his contract. The European Court of Civil Rights upheld his complaint and this had a major impact on real life European football. Players were to be treated like any other worker who could move to a new employer without a transfer fee. European football is now flooded at the end of a season by hundreds of players looking to join a new club for free.

 

SESL Background

 

The Commish implemented Bosman Players into SESL to replace both Trialist Player and a pre-season draft. The main reasons are that new managers often got confused between trialists and apprentices, plus many managers wished to re-name their trialist to that of their favourite real life player. This can now happen with Bosman Players who are named at the time of joining their new team at the start of a season.

Bosman Player Allocation

 

  • The pre-season Bosman allocation occurs just before the start of the current season.  

  • Bosman [[Player]] are free of charge and may be either SW, DF, MF, WG, or FW.  No GK Bosman

  • Div3 may choose a SD, DM or MA, plus the Skill Level offered has been altered a little per forum discussions with managers December 2008.

  • Each team gets one Bosman (always age 1) based on each team's finishing position during the previous season.

  • These players are allowed to be traded without playing 10 games, unlike other player acquisitions.

Awards

 

These have been tweaked slightly from the start of season 22, in 2009.

 

Manager of the Season

 

Each Division will have Manager of the season, as voted by all the managers on the website frontpage.

  • Earns 2 OTF

 

Golden Boot

 

  • Golden Boot 300k Div 1

  • Silver Boot 200k Div 2

  • Bronze Boot 100k Div 3

 

Golden Gloves

 

  • Golden Gloves 200k Div 1

  • Silver Gloves 100k Div 2

  • Bronze Gloves  50k Div 3

 

Other Awards (per division) updated 2017 from season 38 onwards

 

  • Over Achievers (top17 start v league table finish) 400k

  • Rookie Hotshot (now Age 0 + Age 1) 300k

  • Most Man of the Match  200k

  • Worst Shooter 100k

  • Fair Play Team Award +2 OTF

  • Bad Boys Team Fine - scrapped from season 37 onwards

 

Prediction Competition

 

From Season 31 saw end prizes increased to cover top 5 teams (and those tied top 5) overall. OTF is offered as prize to encourage OTF to remain a feature in SESL as typically half the league teams have less than half OTF on their teams.  Prediction League winners getting OTF bonus are added at start of following season, but when a team will exceed the maximum 10 OTF then a single CP will be awarded for each OTF over 10. 

 

Prediction Prize

  • 100k shared by weekly winners

  • 1st Overall +3 OTF  

  • 2nd Overall +2 OTF

  • 3rd Overall +1 OTF

  • 4th Overall +2 TP

  • 5th Overall +1 CP

 

Prediction League Rules

 

  • There will be 12 rounds in the PL.  Each entrant's best 10 rounds will count in the final ranking.

  • In each round, you will be asked to predict the results for all the matches in one division.

  • Participants are awarded one point for each correct prediction.

  • You cannot predict your own team to lose or draw.

  • You cannot predict all matches the same.

  • Entries must be posted at least 1 hour before scheduled (not actual) kick-off.

  • Entries in violation of any of these rules will be null and void.

  • If a manager leaves his or her club in mid-season, PL points remain with the club.

 

Format of Entries

 

  • Put your team abbreviation on top line of entry

  • Predict the result of each game ‚(Home = 1, Away = 2, Draw = 3)

  • Paul of team CB is prediction chief from season 32 (Feb 2014)

  • Season 20 saw the re-introduction of the Prediction League.

 

Team Sponsorship

 

  • Team sponsorship for season 31 will be via INBOX bids only to Commish.

  • Maximum 1 sponsor win per team, so once a sponsor lot has been secured all other bids by that same team are ignored. Bids will be manually applied in lot number. Winning bid will be 1k more than 2nd highest bid as per usual online auction. Bids over a teams bank account will be lowered to bank total as at day of auction.

  • New this time is that sponsors will be per division. The winner from each of the lots will have their bid value deducted on day of auction. Win pay outs will be at end of season. Of course if you fail to meet your sponsorship criteria, then you have lost the money from your winning bid! That's the gamble.

 

Season 30 (year 2013)

 

1.  Earn 500k: win 5 games in a row at any point in the season                

2.  Earn 500k: 1 player earns >=5 Man of the Match Awards  

3.  Earn 400k: top 6 league finish in your division      

4.  Earn 400k: last 16 in SESL Cup                                  

5.  Earn 300k: team league goals for >=50                    

6.  Earn 300k: have >=3 age0 players SL10+ on last day of season   

7.  Earn 300k: 3 clean sheets (no goals against) in a row                                             

8.  Earn 200k: team DP <= 200     

9.  Earn 200k: win >= 10 league games this season                         

10. Earn 200k: 1 player scores >=10 league goals

 

SCHEDULE Season 36

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