Claimed: Derailed, or what does future holds for Cologne?

[hedgehog337 3,483]

 

*De-railed...*

 

 

Let's face it, the Cologne Express franchise isn't in the best shape right now. Despite of having 2 firsts in the following draft, we can say with a certain that it could've been better. Currently Cologne has only one decent prospect in @Lunaro's player, Matthieu Bourdon and that means this team won't have an easy time with a rebuilding this team from the scratch. That's right - take Bourdon off and Cologne has nothing. The former GM, @punkhippie decided to step down as he wasn't sure about his abilities to turn this franchise into a threat again. The new GM will likely be announced in this off-season and now I'll name things that can make this team great again and will help the new GM to achieve that goal. 

 

 

PATIENCE

 

The new GM will need to realize that he won't make Cologne into a threat in 1-2 seasons. This is going to be a long process and maybe it will take not one, but two rebuilding phases to make things happen. He will need to stick with one plan and not to having twenty-one options (ironically, this thread's creator was having this issue two seasons ago). I think Cologne will start to compete in S60 if things are going smooth. Maybe even S59, but that requires a lot of luck. 

 

 

HIRING AN ESTABLISHED MEMBER

 

Hiring more established and experienced member is kind of a must thing for blue team to do. I'm not mentioning this point without facts as well. We had couple of new or returnee members who became GM, but did achieve nothing during their stint. Most recent ones:

 

@Ahma. Davos, S47-48. He was a very active member during his VHLM days and it wasn't a surprise when his activity paid off with getting a GM job. Davos started a rebuild and things were going quite nicely. Then suddenly he left VHL and I guess some members knows why. But it didn't help this team anyway though. 

 

@Daniel. Helsinki, S49-51. The same thing as with Ahma. He was very active during his Yukon days and that made him the Titans' GM after Draper stepped down. But the IRL things didn't allow him to finish a rebuild and start to compete so this team folded once again by Higgins to start a new rebuild. 

 

@jack. Stockholm, S49-50. It was an interesting choice when Boubabi named a returnee member as a GM, but he had a decent activity back then. It didn't last long though. I'm not sure why this happened, but I assume real life made him do it. Shortly after resignation, he went inactive. 

 

 

So I think Cologne needs a member who knows he will stay active for more than 5-7 seasons to at least bring the Express back on track. 

 

 

LUCK

 

It's not a required thing, but it surely will help this team. Will S57 first round picks pan out? Maybe S57 or S58 seconds will become sleeper picks? Or the GM will find a way how to make a genius trade by a luck? So yes, Cologne will need some luck too, but it won't be the smartest move to rely only on it either. 

 

 

I think the aforementioned points are going to help the Express franchise to make a splash starting from the next decade. 

 

 

That's it and I'm out. 

 

 

6 TPE goes to Krigars. 

[Ahma 1,467]

wowzie someone mentioned me!

 

i wonder if anyone actually knows why i left