An extremely impressive i32 finish from TLR's CSS team coming in at 4th against Europe's finest teams was the beginning of the end.
Later that week we saw TLR move to H2K and drop arguably one of their finest performers from the Multiplay LAN, Remy and replacing him with Friza.

There was a lot of speculation surrounding the move to H2K, a lot of people, as per usual, jumping on the flame wagon saying that they would fail and that they are bad. I caught up with Chef to see what he had to say about it : "I found out via an msn message from Pez. I was very very shocked and baffled. I didn't know what to say and couldn't understand it. I felt disappointed, baffled and not sure what i had done wrong" A few days later we then hear from Pez that him and Ewaf are quitting the team to move to COD4. Some claimed they knew it would happen and that it's just "Pez being Pez".

Rumors flew back and forth about "New TLR teams and rosters", I had countless conversations with people claiming to have "insider knowledge" on the workings of selecting the new CSS team, none of them obviously having a clue what they were talking about. On the 23rd November 2007 TLR release an official statement naming a new source team. I present you with the TLR CSS squad:
-rem7
-quiver
-debaser
-jai
-techno

Where will this team be in 6 months time? Do they have what it takes to be the best in the UK? These were just a few of the questions floating around in my head. In all honesty, i don't think this team will be around in 6 months, I think as soon as results start going against them that tempers will flare, the egotistical players of the team will get angry and embarrassed, combine this with a poor performance at i33 and i see it as a recipe for disaster. Of course this is just my opinion, I'm not saying they are going to fail at i33. In fact what i am trying to say is that this team looks like the sort of team that will chop and change, give up and fold to solve the problems, rather than put in some effort and just work through them. No disregards to the team, i wish them the best of luck. I do believe they have lots of potential, It will be interesting to see how they perform as a team and if they stick it out for some time, I believe they could be contenders for high ranking.
1 thing that crops into my mind at the moment is CGS, why pick up a source team so close to the CGS drafts? Does this team really have what it takes? Lets ask the boss himself.

Porky: So Chef, how did you come about picking up the team you have now as your source team? Was it an easy decision to make? who contacted who? and where do you realistically see your CSS team in 6 months time? Do they have what it takes to be the best in the UK? Why would you pick up a team that has a chance of being drafted with CGS around the corner?

Chef: Need to firstly say that when the old TLR lineup left for H2K , I got 20+ emails and also pms asking about if I am going to get a new CSS team. The answer was obviously yes, but non of the teams I felt was what I wanted for TLR. I wanted a team that was dedicated, had promise and could go far. That’s not to say any of the teams that send emails didn’t. I came to picking up the players I did, through basically my thoughts of 3 of the Cc guys, I think tech, quiver and debasers skills, dedication and enthusiasm. I also brought back rem cause I feel he’s one of the best players in the uk , a great callers and a genuinely nice guy. Pretty similar situation with jai been in TLR before, very skillful and wants to play and succeed. Through listening in matches and watching the guys they seem to have great communication and team work. The initial contact for all this to happen was made by me too quiver and the ball set rolling. In the next 6 months I see the guys working, hard on team work , communication and tactics as well as focusing on any lans or events both online and offline that may occur including starbytes, i33, lan 79 and anything else along the way. I don’t think the team initially will have what it takes to be the best in the uk, but I think this lineup under time will progress and get to that point, I really do have faith in this team, I think they will be together for a long time and become a force both in the uk and also Europe. The team that I have picked up will be contracted. This may play a factor in the players or the players old enough wanting to go to the CGS or be part of it. We also have 2 players that’s 16 so they can’t take part in the CGS. Its always a hard decision for a manager in a organization and the CGS situation. I did’nt contract them to stop CGS it was based on previous situations around TLR CSS teams.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish TLR the best of luck from myself and SourceJunky.

Comments

Add New Search