CSI: Portsmouth - Our future hanging by a thread, a career thread that is.

[Ty]

Portsmouth FC

Home of corruption, tax-dodging and disappearing money

Why is this a career save?

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The Great Escape

Portsmouth have already made a great escape, back in the 2005/06 season. This was the great escape against all odds in which Portsmouth survived the drop, with what has to be some of the best goals scored by one team in a season.

This great escape isn't just about avoiding the fall to league one, but can Portsmouth drop the high earners and survive liquidation.

Pompey on the brink

Portsmouth administrator Trevor Birch has warned that the club could be liquidated within the next fortnight.

Portsmouth has got to be saved. It's a great club with great traditions. It would be a disaster if this club went out of business. It has great fans to the extent that, if you live in Portsmouth, you are a Portsmouth supporter. If you walk around in that town, you don't see people wearing Manchester United or Arsenal shirts.

It is soul-destroying to see them in this predicament, and there must be a group of people out there or someone who could take over the club so cheaply and save them.

Portsmouth administrator issues club closure deadline over high earners

The administrator at Portsmouth has served notice that the club will be shut down on 10 August unless all senior players still on the books at the 2008 FA Cup winners accept compromise deals on their wages or agree to transfers away from Fratton Park before that date.

Trevor Birch has revealed he will have "no option" but to liquidate the club by that deadline.

Can it be done? Can Pompey be saved?

[Ty]

Details

Nation – England

Year Founded – 1898

Status – Professional

Reputation – National

Nickname – Pompey

Chairman Status – Enjoying life at the club

Legends – Jimmy Dickinson, Linvoy Primus

Icons – Glen Johnson, Nwankwo Kanu, Sol Campbell, Lassana Diarra, Gary O'Neil, Benjani,

Robert Prosinecki, Alan Knight, David James, Peter Harris, Duggie Reid, Avram Grant, Jamie O'Hara

Derbies - South Coast Derby (vs Southampton)

Fierce Rivals – Southampton

Other Rivals – Brighton, Reading

Finances – Insecure

Average Ticket Price - £19.00

Average Season Ticket Price - £415

Season Ticket Holders – 9,000

Estimated Value - £6.5m (Loan Debt: £46m)

Continental Competition – None

Media Prediction – 24th

Squad Personality – Determined

Facilities

Name – Fratton Park

Location – Portsmouth

Capacity – 21178 all-seater

Year Built - 1898

Owned By – Portsmouth

Stadium Condition – Average

Under Soil Heating – No

Roof – No

Surface – Grass

Pitch Dimensions – Length: 101m, Width: 66m

Max. Pitch Dimensions – Length: 114m, Width: 70m

Pitch Condition – Very Good

Corporate Facilities – Adequate

Training Facilities – Average

Youth Facilities – Adequate

Junior Coaching – Adequate

Youth Recruitment – Average

Minor Background Information

Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed, and often simply referred to as, Pompey.

Portsmouth have been champions of England twice, in 1949 and 1950. As well as the 2008 FA Cup win, Portsmouth also won in 1939, when they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final at Wembley Stadium. Portsmouth were a successful club in recent years, especially during the 2007-08 Premier League season, when they qualified for the UEFA Cup, as well as winning the FA Cup in 2008, beating Cardiff City 1–0 in the final. Portsmouth had a number of great star players at the time, such as David James, Sol Campbell, Sylvain Distin, Glen Johnson and Jermain Defoe, as well as Peter Crouch in the next season. However, overspending of players caused the club to enter administration twice.

Game Details

I will be starting on the newest official patch. With this, Portsmouth start on -10 points in the Championship, no transfer budget, 0% of transfer revenue made available and the wages over £99.5k over budget.

I started with a few active leagues, mainly the top league in most European countries and the Brazil league.

I cannot promise you endless wins like a lot of people here in the Career section. I cannot promise you a glorious transfer window full of new players. I cannot promise you a trophy a season.

What I can promise you is a struggle, a fight and a well updated career.

[Ty]

In an attempt to cut as much wages as possible from the club, Portsmouth have hired local lower league manager Ty Clark, who has no experience in the Championship, but has been successful in and around Portsmouth for a few years with a host of local clubs. Is this step too much for the new manager?

So, I have been appointed Portsmouth manager and was greeted with a reassuring message from the chairmen. Stating that I shouldn't listen to the press and media who claim "I am too inexperienced" for the job.

I get given the team report with what I have to work with, a list of my staff and a transfer budget big enough to make Man City tremble;

Okay, that bit may not be entirely true... we are 99k over budget with not a penny to the clubs name. This prevents the club signing any players, with no wage being able to be offered out for free transfers either. I will have to take a look at the squad in a bit more depth and see what is really behind all this...

Current Squad

[Kyle Seddon]

Interesting. Really looking forward to this.

Best of luck.

[PaulHartman71]

looking forward to seeing how you do, quite like Portsmouth so don't want to see them die IRL.

[Dexter_Morgan]

Looking forward to this, will be a struggle to say the least

[dashi112]

sell and survive on youth candidates?

[Ty]

The Problem

32 years of age, Hayden Mullins. One of the most average of players to ever grace Portsmouth with his presence on the pitch.

He is sucking £20k a week out of the clubs funds, he is the first target to leave.

Everyone would love this guys agent. Managed to secure himself a pay rise at Man City after their takeover then get him a deal at Portsmouth on £36k a week.

He is a good solid defender who could have a few more years in him, but for £36k a week... he has to be the second target.

Dave Kitson, another terribly average footballer.

Had a couple good seasons at Reading seeing him bag close to 20 goals but since his big money move to Stoke, has struggled to net 5 a season.

His last season with Portsmouth being the best with 8 goals. For £20k a week,

Portsmouth really need to offload... target number three.

Again, same with Ben Haim... a solid defender, who can also fill in at midfield if needed, but on a crazy wage for a Championship club.

At the ripe age of 30, he hasn't got long left, if we could offload him on a free transfer it would still save us almost £1.5m a year.

Target number four for sure.

[Ty]

I have nothing against Lawrence, quality footballer and can cover a few positions.

Ever since he joined Portsmouth he had given 110%, but for £20k... I wouldn't expect less.

I hate to say it, but Lawrence is the final target that needs to go.

[NorthernGooner]

Looking forward to this Ty

[Ty]

New manager Ty Clark announces the intended sales of big earners at Portsmouth FC. The news of this has caused disruption in the pre-season camp, with nobody knowing quite what the young managers plan is yet. A few backroom staff have already left, what players are to follow?

---

I have assessed the main problem with wages at Portsmouth, the only other problem now is what would be left at the club if they was to go.

Still a lot of high earners. Let's do a quick run down;

GK: Two goalkeepers who both want to be first team players, with the wages to show. I will try and offload Ashdown who has never really made his mark at the club since arriving, and with Henderson only just arriving this season it would be a struggle to sell.

CB: With the chance of Ben Haim and Mokoena leaving the club, it would leave Jason Pearce and Rocha the only first team CB's at the club. If the offer was right, I could even do away with Rocha (Earning £10k a week).

RB/LB: A real struggle here, with Halford being the only natural fullback in the first team squad.

CM: Norris. We have only Norris... with his work rate and determination he could run the midfield by himself, but as a game of football requires 11 players in your side. He may need some help in there. Ward can provide cover for CM but much prefers RM (Although, he looks more of a RB to me, possible re-train).

RM/LM: Etuhu, Varney and Ward can all cover across these areas, but none of them really convincing in each role. Varney could be retrained to play LM and Etuhu to RM (both traditionally wingers). Would much prefer Varney up top where he could cause defenders some hassle though.

ST: Huseklepp. He may be earning £17k a week, but he is young and has the attributes to prove this wage. If we can hang on to him for a season (remember we still have -10 points), he could really help us push up the table. Futacs has some solid target man attributes and Benjani will work hard, Kanu will claim his wages by sitting on the bench or in the reserves most of the time.

Reserves/Youth

After everyone is gone, this is what I shall be falling back on, the clubs youth and reserve players. The stand out players that will be making the the step up to the first team are (all names hyperlink to screenshot);

Gledhill - 17 (GK). He wont make too many starts, if any, but will provide suitable back up for Henderson.

Stockford - 18 (CM). Not going to set the world a light with his technical attributes, but he will work hard and provide cover, even start a few games.

Magri - 17 (CB). Captained the England youth teams and will get his chance in the first team at PFC. When he returns from injury he will be useful.

Fitzharris - 17 (DR). The first team needs fullbacks and it is this lucky lads season to make the step up.

Webster - 16 (D RLC). What a little gem this guy is at the tender age of 16. Can cover the whole back line and has very nice attributes. Welcome aboard son!

Grant - 16 (DC). Not quite there technically, but will provide suitable cover for the first team, hopefully he can improve a bit as well.

Wheeler - 17 (DR/MR). Another lad who can provide great cover down the right side.

Vine - 17 (ST/AML). Has a bit of pace about him, sure enough... that is enough to get into the team. Valuable impact substitute!

Harris - 17 (AMC/ST). Not quite sure how he would fit in, but has a couple solid attributes for a youngster. His creativity and flair is hopeful.

That is what the reserve and youth team have to offer the first team. It could of been a lot worse, hopefully with a lot of money axed off that wage bill, there may even be hope of a couple experienced free transfers. Not holding my breath though...

[Ty]

Interesting. Really looking forward to this.

Best of luck.

Cheers, I'll need more luck than "best of" though!

looking forward to seeing how you do, quite like Portsmouth so don't want to see them die IRL.

I support them, so of course I don't want to see them die... so thought I'd give this a crack!

Looking forward to this, will be a struggle to say the least

Struggle is a massive understatement from what it looks like

sell and survive on youth candidates?

This is my hopeful plan!

Looking forward to this Ty

If I fail, I blame you.

[PaulHartman71]

yeah I had a crack at managing them at Portsmouth on FM10, went into admin and was relegated from the PL, went into admin whilst in the Championship and survived but lost key players (including 2 young lads that I'd taken from the academy who were really promising), looked like was going to get back up but then went into admin the following season (losing a third and final promising player from the academy) before I was eventually sacked for being on the border of relegation to L1.

[Ty]

Ty Clark went in front of the media for the first time since taking charge, he told the media that he knew exactly who was in his plans, where he wanted to strengthen and his determination to succeed in the Championship.

The reshape has begun!

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Staff

The only reshaping of the staff was the mutual termination of one of the physios and both the scouts. I have brought in 6 new scouts to the club (minimum 15/15 JP/JA). All the scouts accepted less than £500 a week. Erich Beer, Jack Chapman, Glenn Cockerill, Dave Fallows, Steve Jones, David Mills are the new scouts which shall be joining up with the club soon. They will soon be sent out in various directions of the globe to build up Pompey's scouting knowledge.

The new physio was Steve Whitehall, who has 20 for physiotherapy.

Players

Ben Haim, Kitson, Ashdown, Mullins have all been offered out to clubs and have interested parties.

Nobody was remotely interested in Mokoena, so he could have to be part of the plans for the season, he could even be used to mentor the younger members of the squad.

Lawrence is currently injured so will remain with the squad until fit, then will hopefully moved on.

Parent Club

The board have acknowledged my request for a parent club to hopefully secure some free loans and help the club out this season.

Will hear back from them in the near future.

[Ty]

With transfers heating up and players leaving the club, the off field antics are set to get a bit more crazy as Portsmouth become speculation of a takeover.

Money? Please

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General

I am not going to get my hopes up over a takeover, the probability it will fall through are quite high.

Ben Haim, Ashdown, Mullins and Kitson have now all fully left the club. We are £28k over budget still, with a few youth players on the verge of signing a professional contract to tie them down.

Scouting

I have set up 5 scouts to head in different regions, hopefully this will broaden my search when looking for free transfers.

The 6th scout is set up to search the English reserve leagues, hopefully he will be able to find something over the coming months.

Dan Thompson

Young starlet Thompson, has been recalled from his loan at Havant & Waterlooville. I feel he may have a role in this season if any more players leave the club, better get him back now so he can fit in than recall him at a later stage.

[Ty]

Parent Club Results

Three very good clubs in which we can choose from, but whom?

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After careful deliberation, it was discussed by the board and myself... that Arsenal would be the most suitable parent club for our needs. The agreement would see us receive £104k a year from Arsenal, a friendly hosted by Portsmouth which all gate revenue is kept by Portsmouth and the most important part; Arsenal can send players on loan to Portsmouth to gain first team experience, all wages paid by Arsenal.

Glad to have got this wrapped up before the season starts, depending on what Arsenal send our way, we could possibly part with another high earner or two.

[Nathan Pike]

An intriguing save - best of luck and I'll be following your efforts.

[b101]

Great thread so far, I remember starting with Pompey on last year's demo and finding it tricky to say the least. Good call keeping Huseklepp - he played really well for me on that save if i remember correctly. Also, well played in getting Arsenal as a parent club, hopefully you can get some decent players from them. Echoing everyone else's "best of luck"

[B.W.G]

Best of luck with Pompey,glad to see you have got rid of some of the big earners.

[deltablue]

Massive task ahead in the short term.

[Ty]

Great thread so far, I remember starting with Pompey on last year's demo and finding it tricky to say the least. Good call keeping Huseklepp - he played really well for me on that save if i remember correctly. Also, well played in getting Arsenal as a parent club, hopefully you can get some decent players from them. Echoing everyone else's "best of luck"

Huseklepp could be a great asset to us in the first season in our survival. He can be sold at the end of the season for a high fee if the clubs finances aren't looking good, so always better to keep hold of him now.

Was happy when I saw Arsenal and Chelsea pop up as potential parent teams, as I casually laughed off Liverpool

Massive task ahead in the short term.

I know, the thought is daunting. Hopefully all the kids can step up and blend with the senior team enough to survive the drop.

[Ty]

An intriguing save - best of luck and I'll be following your efforts.

Best of luck with Pompey,glad to see you have got rid of some of the big earners.

Cheers

--

Another thought, how is the best way to update a career? Never really done this before.

I was going to carry on with the updates as and when they happen pre-season until everything was sorted, and then do monthly updates possibly? (Of course, separate updates when something big happens).

Any feedback would be brilliant cheers!

[Helginho]

Fantastic start, looking forward to more updates!

[markyosullivan]

Enjoying this thread so far, good luck!

[dafuge]

Nice to see a detailed career thread about Pompey

[Ty]

Enjoying this thread so far, good luck!

Thanks, more updates a bit later as just finished work. Can't wait to get stuck in again

Nice to see a detailed career thread about Pompey

Forgot you was a fellow Pompey supporter. I hope to do you proud!

[wisla_krakow]

Nice to see a detailed career thread about Pompey

Indeed daf! Us Pompey boys have to stick together so I'll be rooting for you Ty!

[Ty]

With the clubs takeover talks now complete and the ownership now swapped hands to local Businesman Sheepshank, the club can move on to concerntrate on results in the Championship.

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Takeover

As previously mentioned the takeover has been completed within 2 days. The embargo was enforced and then the next day it was lifted, Sheepshank extremely happy with the club and has explained that he shall continue to let me remain doing my job as I was before.

Parent Club

Arsenal have yet to send me any players unfortunately, which means I am going to be heavily relying on the youngsters at my club.

Transfers

Lawrence is now back from injury and will be placed on the transfer list to allow the £20k a week wages freed up. There are a few clubs interested in his services and as long as the fee is right, he can leave.

Nobody looking to come in with only a few days left in the transfer window, perhaps someone may pop up... No promises.

[Ty]

Transfer Deadline Day Special

As Pompey look set to lose more high earners, there could be a few deals happening at the South Coast club on the last day of the summer transfer window.

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Transfers Out

• Liam Lawrence
  
• Ricardo Rocha
  

Portsmouth main defender Rocha left the club today in a shock exit. The high earning CB who looked to be safe at the club was subject to a last minute bid from Ipswich which saw the Portuguese defender swap the Coast for the Fens. The fee was said to be around £425k, with the defender earning the same wages as he was at Pompey; £10k a week.

Liam Lawrence was speculation all summer whether he would leave the club or not, but after recovering from injury it was said by manager Ty Clark that there was a strong possibly he would stay until at least Christmas. After the takeover was completed at Pompey, the new chairmen said that the club needed to be breaking even to avoid further set backs in the clubs future. This lead to Lawrence leaving the club on a free to Nottingham Forest on the last day of the season. Reports suggest that Pompey are paying Lawrence a further £8k a week until his contract ends. This is a £12k deduction from what Portsmouth were previously paying and was happy to oblige to the high demands.

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Pompey Sign Determined Midfielder Hdiouad

Portsmouth have wrapped up the defensive minded CM on a free transfer to help out the seriously lacking midfield at the club.

Hdiouad who is supposedly close to Ty Clark was happy to take a lower pay to help the troubled club out.

He signs a 1 year deal on the coast with an option to extend it at the end of the season.

Just outside Fratton Park, Clark was found for a quick interview introducing his new player.

[Ty]

With the summer over and the season underway, Portsmouth manager Ty Clark is now concentrating on getting his team to perform and take on the challenge of the -10 points.

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Squad

The squad is huge, but thankfully, it isn't full of the high earners it was at the start of the season. Now it consists of youth players bloating out the squad to allow rotation and freshness in the squad.

Squad Picture

As you can see, we lack CB department. A late raid of the free transfer market to replace the £10k a week Rocha was unsuccessful. Hopefully I can retrain Joel Ward who looks like he could be a quality CB. He has been retrained to DR to cover there more efficiently but his services may be more useful at the heart of the defence.

Transfers

The 'transfers in' section only consists of the Hdiouad on a free transfer, so I haven't included that in the screenshot.

Transfers Out

The club have let 6 players leave the club for a combined total of £1.8m. The best part is that the combined wages that has left the club is £5.8m a year, which is an amazing result. If they had seen out their contracts it would of been close to £10m milked out of the clubs account, good business done. The only bad result was that Lawrence was made to leave on a free. The club still has negative £6k a week in wages, but hopefully that will be sorted out by Christmas.

Tactics

I will be playing a basic 442 with a target man. The squad shown below is hopefully my starting squad in most games.

Futacs is a great target man, has all the right attributes. I reckon with the right finishing training, he could be a quality spearhead for the attack.

Halford I would prefer to play at RM due to his technical attributes, he can finish and cross, something that Etuhu lacks.

The backline is looking solid, with youngster Webster looking to make an immediate impact this season on the left side of the back line.

[NorthernGooner]

Some of your screenshots aren't loading mate, unless that's just me

Looking good anyway, really looking forward to this and the use of some youth players as well.

[Mark Heath]

great work so far, looking forward to seeing how you get on with this challenge

[Ty]

Some of your screenshots aren't loading mate, unless that's just me

Looking good anyway, really looking forward to this and the use of some youth players as well.

Which ones buddy?

Everything is loading fine my end (and on my parents PC as well), but I have my suspicions that the Gyazo ones would be the ones not loading?

[dafuge]

They are loading fine for me.

[deltablue]

Hdiouad looks a great value player.

[markyosullivan]

Maybe if some of your youth team players play well, they could end up attracting interest from some Premiership teams?

[Ty]

They are loading fine for me.

Ah, must be just NorthernGooner... trouble maker!

Hdiouad looks a great value player.

You cannot complain for £875 a week with those great attributes for a season. No problem with WP either due to EU nationality.

Maybe if some of your youth team players play well, they could end up attracting interest from some Premiership teams?

I wouldn't want to sell if they play well

[Rikulec]

Looking great so far, I believe in you!

[Kyle Seddon]

Fantastic introduction. Good luck with the start of the season.

[NorthernGooner]

Yeah I'm the trouble maker it was just the 'Sky Sports' ones and the headline ones, but they're fine now

[Ty]

With the transfer window now passed, teams in the Championship can now fully concentrate on results. Portsmouth who still may be on the look out for a free transfer, couldn't ask for more to the start of what could of been their last campaign.

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Pre-season

This was a dreadful time for the club, with nobody sure about the future of the club. The players got on with their job regardless, even though nobody knew if they would be at the club the next day.

Some solid results, at one point during the Bolton game we was dominating but I brought on a few of the youngsters to freshen things up and it went a bit downhill. Overall an average pre-season but I wont read to much into the results, it was a matter of bringing the team together and getting them fit.

Championship

Come the start of the Championship, my squad was pretty much complete (players out and reserve/youth players evaluated and promoted). Going into the first game full of confidence. Unfortunately, things never go to plan and we lost 2-1 to a strong Watford side. We couldn't hit a barn door in the game and was gifted a goal from a clumsy Mariappa.

The second game, like the first, didn't go to plan either. I started the game with the hope of defending most of the game and snatching a goal, unfortunately it worked out to do the opposite. We dominated in spells but it was West Ham who nicked a goal and then defended it like a cup final.

A strong win against Bristol City away shocked me. Everything we hit went into the back of the net, as simple as that. With the confidence high, we went into our next game against promotion chasing Leicester all guns blazing and took the lead through a well worked Kanu goal. Our celebrations lasted 6 minutes before Leicester hit back from a set piece. If you had asked me before the game if I would of took a 1-1 draw with them, I would of snapped your hand off.

To wrap up what has been a pretty good month on the South Coast, Luke Varney scored a delightful goal in the next game to secure a win against Millwall away. He was later rewarded by the Championship with this honour;

[Ty]

Portsmouth provide shock against slacking Swansea in second round of the Carling Cup. Portsmouth are looking like a new team without their high earners and their exciting youth, a team to watch for sure this season.

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First Round

We beat Plymouth which has to be one of the most one sided games you will see all season. If the strikers had took half their chances we would of broke a new record in the Carling Cup.

Second Round

When we drew Swansea, I was a little gutted as I wanted the team to have an easy route to the next round with a few lower league teams still in the competition. Fortunately the Swansea that everyone knows, the passing and possession Swansea, didn't turn up. Instead we faced a team on the back foot most of the game. In the end we had one more shot on target than Swansea, which we took full advantage of, Huseklepp showing the fans why he wants to stay on the South Coast.

After the game, Swansea manager Rodgers told the press in a post-match interview what he thought about the Portsmouth style of play;

Next Round

We face Liverpool away in the third round of the cup. Hopefully can give them a quality game but it shall also provide great experience to some of the younger lads in the squad who haven't played in such a big game before.

[Ty]

Loan Repayments

It is only small payments, but at least we are starting to pay off our debt.

We these payments coming out, I have to be wary if I was to buy a player over monthly periods in future.

[Nottingham Forest]

I like this save already. Can't believe Forest took Lawrence off you though .

[Northernpilgrim]

What would have happened if you hadn't sold off the players? Does FM12 provide for Liquidation of a club, and if so, what happens to you (the manager), and all the players? Cast out as redundant as in real life?

[Rikulec]

Clubs don't get liquidated in FM.

[Barnsley]

i'm currently Portsmouth and was taken over within a week of being manager, nothing seems to happen atm, the club just keeps restructuring the debt meaning they just take out a bigger loan to try and get your finances back in the black! but within a month you lose about 2mil from paying them all back so

desperate need of some real investment or premier league status!!

[NorthernGooner]

Not a bad start to the season!

[Ty]

I like this save already. Can't believe Forest took Lawrence off you though.

I am glad they did, nobody else wanted him.

What would have happened if you hadn't sold off the players? Does FM12 provide for Liquidation of a club, and if so, what happens to you (the manager), and all the players? Cast out as redundant as in real life?

Clubs don't get liquidated in FM.

As this man says, clubs don't get liquidated. I am just keeping it realistic to the career by talk of liquidation and selling players

i'm currently Portsmouth and was taken over within a week of being manager, nothing seems to happen atm, the club just keeps restructuring the debt meaning they just take out a bigger loan to try and get your finances back in the black! but within a month you lose about 2mil from paying them all back so

desperate need of some real investment or premier league status!!

Yeah that is why I hope selling up will restore the clubs finances, I have a long way too go before I even think of the word "Premiership".

Not a bad start to the season!

Cheers. It could of gone a lot worse I suppose. Still on negative points which isn't fun

[Northernpilgrim]

Clubs don't get liquidated in FM.

So why the need to balance the books then? Just keep all the players, go for promotion, and carry on?