And it's absolutely nothing to do with freeze-ups or roll-backs.
Sharing a division with the excellent Hoarse Whisperers hasn't left me with many shots at the Champions' Shield lately so to go out to a team where I had by far the better squad, played what is accepted as the better of the two formations, had 100% gelling in my line-up and won on tactics (and add in my opponent used all his 3 substitutes after 15 minutes --- and played in blades on a normal pitch) is more than galling, it's ridiculous.
And it's not the first time this team has done it, beating the Borg (who might be "fallen" but still lead C5 with only one league defeat all season and a semi-final to play in the Elite cup) in an earlier CS round. One shock might (and that's a big might) be acceptable but to do it twice is just wrong. IMO it shows the match engine is now so severely flawed there is no point paying to be messed about.
I think I'll just do what some others have done (including my opponent last night) and drop down five or six divisions, pick up a squad of very young players and simply let them play in one formation until they reach the top level. With any luck they will have at least a season or two of being very competitive at the top before they fall off their perches. No need for any real concentration and with no need to bother about Private leagues, fairly cheap. And I'll still be involved (if only on the edges).
I might have to ask for advice on the dropping-down process so please be kind to me if I do :-)
