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Cup Final Interview with JT

Written by Johnny_Thunder

Johnny Thunder and his infamous quiff dream of glory!

We last spoke (21561) in April 2020, shortly before you were beaten at the quarter final stage by your Cup Final opponent, CARLISLE DRAGONS in s74. Last season you matched this best ever performance and were beaten by Nifty in the quarter final s78. You must be delighted to be in the Final this season?

I really am! I’ve had a decent couple of runs in the cup and have always enjoyed the excitement of Tuesday evenings. You always want to go one better so the semi finals was the goal. Honestly, I was surprised that Phoenix gave up midfield to us in the semifinals and went for CA and now here we are, unexpectedly, in the final! We have an awful record against the Dragons but surely we’re due a win?

Of course, but it's a huge disappointment for everyone that your talismanic striker Gareth 'Bullet' Hallam (418449853) picked up a knock last week and won't be able to play whilst Edgar Lora (418569630) got himself a one match ban on Sunday. Do you think it will affect ticket sales?

It’s bittersweet really. I’ve built the whole team around GBH and his training and it felt like it should have been his swan song. He’s nearly 35 so he’s not going to get many more chances at a final. He is our coach however, so he still has a role to play.

Lora was another blow and one we really couldn’t afford after losing Hallam! I rested quite a few players at the weekend but didn’t want to get completely destroyed in the league!
The Retro fans are obviously gutted but still have their heroes like Runaway Train and Neil “Neil” Neil” to cheer on and we hope to do them proud!

Last time we spoke, you introduced us to "Marbula One". Was this just a passing Fad or do you have your own team now? If not, what's your latest trendy thing that's making Mrs Thunder cringe with embarrassment?

I still quite enjoy watching it, it’s quite relaxing, but I’ve lately been enjoying watching YouTube tours through botanical gardens. I’ve become a keen gardener and keep plants inside and out focusing on the more tropical style plants. It’s a relaxing thing for me on my days off work and I’ve transformed my very plain paved garden into a but of a jungle!

As a Man United fan, it's been a mixed season with the return of Ronaldo and a series of hot & cold performances that have left many fans, pundits and ex players feeling that Solskjaer might not be up to the job. What's your take on it?

Solskjaer seems to have lost the support of his players which is never good. You have to remember of course that Sir Alex was once in the position of nearly losing his job and the rest is of course history. He’s fast running out of time though. It’s exciting having Ronaldo back though, he’s still a magical player.

You had a tough season in the Prem last season, but beat Bristol & Rockhill as well as picking up draws against Nowhere Man, FC Morci and Super AJ . What do you think your team might have needed more of in order to survive at this level?

Better form and a bit of luck! Most of my players seemed to dip at the same time and especially my midfielders who were all in poor form. It’s so tight in the prem, lots of games where you might be a slight favourite but if you lose 3 in a row of those types of games you have no confidence and it becomes an uphill battle. We just couldn’t string any kind of results together at the start, then had a slight resurgence but it was too late. I learnt a lot there, I have a bigger squad now and can pick players depending on form and injury but age is catching up with this team.

The latest announcements from hattrick have included some plans to improve AIM/AoW and the effectiveness of the press against Long Shot teams. They've also introduced measures to prevent storing liquidity in players that don't play for the club. How, if at all, will this affect your own plans at your next team rebuild, do you think?

It may have swayed my decision to train powerful defenders/midfielders, which I was interested in doing anyway. Does long shots need to be nerfed? I’m not so sure, I mean the two teams in the final are your traditional 352 teams and both have the flexibility to use 451 and 253. Long shots is a different strategy and is effective but I don’t think any better really, maybe it’s true strength shows in tournaments where attack boosting confidence doesn’t play a part so maybe that should be the focus instead? I would hate to see people abandoning long shots, it’s interesting for me to play a long shots or CA team and have to work out a different approach to the game.

You mentioned the legendary band AC/DC last time we spoke. What else have you been listening to recently, that you'd like to share with us?

Well I enjoy mainly guitar music and anything that has a classic retro sound. I love The Black Keys and the singer from that band has set up a record label called Easy Eye Sound. What is unusual about them is that they have a studio and house band which was common in the 60s (think Motown) and record all of their own artists. Their artists rang from aging bluesmen that most record companies wouldn’t have seen money in to soul and country. It definitely seems like a labour of love for the music. Check out Leo “Bud” Welsh or Yola.

You also mentioned you enjoy reading, have you read anything recently that you enjoyed as much as The Toyminator?

I recently read a book called The Gift which explores the idea of the perpetually moving gift and how the modern artist or musician can add so much to the world by gifting their creativity. Some cultures view a gift as something you should then gift something of similar emotional or financial value to someone else. The idea is to gift to the world and then you shall receive.

If you could influence one change to be made to hattrick to be implemented next season, what would it be?

I would like to see a few more ways of using tactics. I think it would be interesting to be able to choose both a defensive tactic and an offensive tactic. Defensive tactics would be Counter, Pressing or Normal. I had the idea of a new couple of defensive tactics, one being Tough Tackling which boosts your defence but gives you a higher risk of cards and conceding free kicks and Easy Tackling which is the opposite.

Offensive tactics would be AOW, AIM, Play Creative, Longshots and Normal. I think it would add another fun element to match days.

What's the best thing you've watched on Netflix or other streaming service recently.

I just watched We Need To Talk About Kevin, it was unsettling but very good. I really enjoyed the slow burn of Midnight Mass, I know people said it was slow but I like to soak up the atmosphere and explore the characters so what happens later has more impact.

OK. Thanks for that. What's the best thing Mrs Thunder has watched on netflix or other streaming service recently?

She enjoyed Maid and The Handmaids Tale, there seems to be a theme there!

I also meant to ask you about essential quiff maintenance during a pandemic when all the barbers are shut...?

Well, I was able to hire a barber as staff member but had to fire the form coach to make room which probably explained our awful form last season!

Awesome!

Thanks once again!