Episode 4: Season four is over, season five starts today

Kick-off

Ida: The voices in this podcast are AI-generated.

Malte: The stories are not. They all really happened. This week.

Malte: Hello and welcome to the fourth Kickoff League Show! I'm Malte.

Ida: And I'm Ida. Hello!

Malte: Ida, season four is over. The final table has been set since Tuesday at midnight, and the last matchdays have been played.

Ida: And season five has already started. The first matchday is today at half past three. So today we have a closing episode for you: the Silver League with three human clubs at the top, the Bronze League with its ties, what is new, one typical beginner mistake and tips for the market.

Malte: And the number of the week?

Ida: Not today. It comes when it has a reason to.

Malte: That sounds like a threat.

Ida: It's an announcement.

Silver League: three humans at the top

Malte: We start at the top. Silver League, league five, division one. Ida, how did it end?

Ida: The three top places go to humans. The leader finished on eighty-five points, with twenty-eight wins, one draw and one defeat. Plus one hundred and thirty-three goals and only sixteen conceded.

Malte: And the second place?

Ida: Eighty-one points, twenty-seven wins, three defeats. The third place has seventy-six.

Malte: Four points between first and second. That was the case last week too.

Ida: Exactly. Both won their last two games, so the gap did not change. The leader is therefore champion of Silver League division one.

Malte: And the three humans are promoted?

Ida: Yes. The three human clubs are the promoted teams into the Gold League. We had that maths last week already, now it is official.

Malte: And at the bottom?

Ida: The last three are relegated, and all three are computer clubs. The fourth place, the one that is not played by a human, has forty-eight points and is far away from the drop.

Malte: So no human in the relegation fight.

Ida: Not in this division. That is a rare week.

Silver League II: tops in both divisions

Malte: Now Silver League II, league six. Two divisions, and humans are at the top of both. Ida, start with division one.

Ida: The leader has eighty points, twenty-six wins, one hundred goals and twenty-two conceded. The second place has the strongest attack and scored one hundred and thirty-six goals, but only seventy-nine points. Plus twenty-seven goals conceded.

Malte: So the second place plays open football.

Ida: Very open. It was not enough for the title. The leader is one point ahead. The third place has seventy-three.

Malte: And division two?

Ida: There the leader is ahead on seventy-nine points. One hundred and eighteen goals, thirty-one conceded, twenty-five wins. Behind them the second place with seventy-five and the third with seventy-three.

Malte: And at the bottom, places fourteen to sixteen?

Ida: In both divisions, computer clubs. The relegation places go to computer clubs, in both divisions.

Bronze League: ties

Malte: Now the Bronze League. There were some ties.

Ida: In division one, two human clubs have seventy-eight points each. The tie was decided by goal difference. One has one hundred and ten goals and twenty-seven conceded, the other one hundred and two and twenty. That is plus eighty-three against plus eighty-two.

Malte: So one goal difference.

Ida: One goal. The one with the extra goal is on top.

Malte: Division three?

Ida: There the first two have seventy points each. The third has sixty-nine, just behind. The top club has ninety-seven goals scored and twenty-four conceded, so plus seventy-three. The other has one hundred and twelve scored and forty-one conceded, so plus seventy-one. More goals, but that is not the sum that counts.

Malte: And the first one won the last matchday?

Ida: Six nil. That kept the goal difference ahead.

Malte: And division four?

Ida: That is the opposite. The leader has eighty-four points, twenty-seven wins and three draws, without a single defeat. Only thirteen goals conceded in thirty games. The second has sixty points.

Malte: That is a clear lead.

Ida: Twenty-four points ahead of second place, in thirty games.

What is new

Malte: Now something you can try today. Ida, what is new?

Ida: First, the tactics rule for season five: Counter beats possession, pressing beats counter, direct beats pressing, possession beats direct. Your team's strength still decides first. The rule is in the help article for season five. The tactics section of the guide does not have it yet.

Malte: Second?

Ida: After every final whistle, the press conference for that exact match appears directly under the match report and the back button. You no longer need the club menu or the inbox. It shows up a second or two after the final whistle, because that is when it is created.

Malte: And third?

Ida: During a live match, the crests and names of both teams lead to the opponent's club page, in a new tab. The match keeps running. Before kick-off, this also works on the waiting screen in the new design.

Malte: And the opponent's tactics?

Ida: Still hidden before friendly matches.

Beginner mistake: the weekly offer limit

Malte: Now the beginner mistake of the week. Ida, what is the limit for offers?

Ida: Every manager may make at most five offers per week. The week starts on Monday at midnight. Every offer of the week that has not been rejected counts. That means accepted, open and withdrawn offers.

Malte: Withdrawn offers count too?

Ida: Yes. This is where many people trip. If you withdraw an offer because no answer comes, you think the slot is free again. It is not.

Malte: And when is it free?

Ida: Immediately, when the club rejects the offer. Rejected offers free their slot right away. Everything else stays in the count until Monday.

Malte: So it is better to get a rejection than to withdraw yourself.

Ida: If you have the choice, yes. And check first: a club without a manager shows up under the Computer clubs filter. A club whose manager has been gone for weeks shows up under With manager, and there no answer comes. An offer there is often not worth it.

Community: three wishes and bugs

Malte: The community. Ida, what wishes are on the list?

Ida: First, the youth rises at the season change. Two hundred and fifty-eight talents went up by one point. The rule: the talent must have played in every youth matchday of the season, and decision plus concentration must add up to at least one hundred and twenty. The cap is the limit of its rarity.

Malte: And gold?

Ida: Gold talents have been capped at eighty-two since the twenty-seventh of September. Some managers found that was not announced. We have added it as topic eight hundred and forty-two, with nothing promised. Talents already above that keep their value.

Malte: Second?

Ida: Rivalries. Two human clubs become rivals when they have played each other twice in a competitive match. Some think two games is too few for a rivalry, others want arch rivals with bigger rewards. That is recorded as a wish, nothing is built yet.

Malte: And the third thing?

Ida: The daily task "Tip two match results". It was set even when no matches were left open. Then it cannot be completed. That was our mistake, and it is recorded as topic eight hundred and twenty. No fix is promised yet.

Tips and tricks: market and contracts

Malte: My favourite part. Ida, who should we look at?

Ida: The rule first: you may buy Gold in every league, Diamonds only from league five on. State Wednesday morning, seven o'clock.

Malte: Good.

Ida: Gold: Raffaele Leone, nineteen years old, right midfielder, overall strength eighty-one. The buy-now price is just over eighty-one thousand. The auction runs until Friday, one pm, eight minutes past. Nobody has bid yet.

Malte: Silver?

Ida: Craig Scott, thirty, central midfield, overall strength seventy-one. The buy-now price is just over seventeen thousand. There is already one bid. The offer runs until Tuesday the seventeenth, ten pm, twenty-six minutes past.

Malte: And Diamond, only for clubs from league five on?

Ida: Nathanael Bienenstock, seventeen, striker, overall strength eighty-eight. The buy-now price is just over two hundred and forty thousand. Runs until Friday, ten pm, eight minutes past. Whoever pays for that checks the account first.

Malte: And the contracts?

Ida: The rule stays: if a contract runs out at the end of this season or the next, your offer goes to the player as a contract offer. No minimum fee, even zero is possible. And players without a club are open to everyone.

Malte: Long balls!

Ida: Stop it.

Join in: code word and your questions

Malte: The code word of this episode is new. Ida, say it.

Ida: Offside.

Malte: Offside. The line you only see when it's already too late.

Ida: Malte, the code word is not a rulebook.

Malte: The code words of the first three episodes still count. Corner flag, Cross and Crossbar. The deadlines are on the code word page.

Ida: Each club can redeem once per episode. The club must be at least one week old and have a real manager behind it.

Malte: And where?

Ida: At beanlings dot com, slash kickoff, slash podcast. Sign in there with your club.

Malte: And the questions page?

Ida: You'll find it at beanlings dot com, slash kickoff, slash podcast, slash questions. This time no new question came in, but the page is open. There you choose whether we name your club, your manager name, or no name at all. We only name a manager if you explicitly choose that.

In our own words

Malte: A short word about ourselves. Ida, you brought something.

Ida: Yes. At pinnry there is an online advent calendar to give away. Twenty-four doors with your own texts, a voucher, a saying, or a small pixel animation. The calendar costs four ninety-nine once. In the Plus version it costs nine ninety-nine, with your own photos and videos.

Malte: And a word about the supporters.

Ida: Supporting is not compulsory. If you just play along, you are part of the crowd just as much.

Malte: And to everyone who is already on board: thank you. From the heart.

Ida: We only name names here if someone explicitly wants that. So today, no names.

Outlook

Malte: Finally: season five is running. Today at half past three the first matchday starts, and every table starts from zero.

Ida: The three promoted clubs from the Silver League will play in the Gold League in season five. That is a new pitch for them.

Malte: My tip: the humans from the Silver League will show what they can do in the Gold League.

Ida: You say that every week.

Malte: And I say it every week, and every week I am a little more surprised.

Ida: That was the Kickoff League Show. Remember the code word: Offside. And the five offers: the week starts again from zero on Monday.

Malte: And long balls!

Ida: Malte!