dan_lcfc Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Hi all, Im in a bit of a pickle. Ive just got promoted, but my side is a financial mess, (my fault but i will get to that further in this post) and I'm wondering have a taken a step further than I can manage. Hopefully you guys can point me in the right direction. Im playing as Hinckley Utd on FM12. (my firm is based in Hinckley hence the choice). Im currently in the 2018/2019 season and Ive been with Hinckley since the start. My first season resulted in a promotion, after releasing alot of players on free transfers and signing better quality for cheaper I ended up with alot of space in my wage bill which over the season, as well as some good cup runs, covered the cost of cutting all the dead wood. Second season I kept the core of the same squad with a few additions and managed to get up through the play-offs. My balance was excellent for my stature due to the wage bill being so low. So my club turns professional for the first time in its history and were in the Football League. The main goal, surviving. And I did. with 2 games to spare my points total came to -for 23rd place- an unassailable deficit. Survival complete and the future is looking bright. The next season saw a nice mid table finish after we scored just three more goals than the previous season, but conceded a remarkable 30 less. At this point my finances are stable amd Im still under my wage budget. Then i made the move that got me into the sticky situation Im in now. I went for the jugular. I spent alot on a new striker (£0 initial, £20k upon promotion, as of this point I had not spent a penny on a player so it felt alot...) - earning twice as much as anybody else and signed my good players to better deals to keep them away from prying hands. This left me about 1k over my wage budget. Not something I like to do but promotion would be worth it. And so with 1 game remaining I sat 3rd in League 2, with a 1 point lead over Bury, all I had to do was better Bury's result to go up and see my plan a roaring success. Untill... Im held 0-0 with 21st placed Gillingham and Bury win. Consigning me to the playoffs in which we get beaten in the semi finals. Bad news, and my wage budget is cut from 22k p/w to 19k p/w. leaving me now 4k over budget. So i let a few players go but kept the most part of my starting 11. Ready to go for another season and having a windfall of a 325k over 24 months sell on clause for one of my old players who just had a 1.9 million transfer I spent the 325k over the same period for a long term target striker who had this as a release fee. On the whole his season, and that of the rest of the team was disapointing and I hand I had to settle for 8th place. My wage budget is cut again to 16k and after letting some contracts run out im sat with my wage bill 5k over budget and losing money fast. Poor attendances in the previous season, very poor sponsership deals plus the huge wage bill had put my club on the brink of administration. My chairman took a 2.2 million loan out to sttle the ship. So I signed nobody and risked it for one more season, 5k over my wage budget and all. And by jove we did it. My 325k striker bagged 20 goals amd we went up through the playoffs after beating Bury (of all teams) 1-0 on agg in the semi and Stevenage 3-0 (AET) int he final. Now comes my problem, With all of my palyers receiving pay increases for promotion etc (you can never seem to get them to sign a deal without this) my current wage went up to 27k. The problem is due to the terrible finances, I have only been given a 19.5k wage budget for the season! 7k less than my expenditure. With the players whose contracts have ran out I now have a squad of 17 players (without youths who are on the whole v. poor) and higher standard of opposition to contend with. the bookies place us as dark horses for promotion at 20-1 but the media predict 23rd. I have played the first game of the season and won 3-2 away to Bradford but woth such a small squad, one injury would destroy the season. So do I continue as I am, draining money from the finances and risk ruining the club? How long am I likely to last with the wage budget in such disarray? Would a few poor results see me out on the streets anyway? Anyway I blabbering and this post is way longer than it sounded in my head, so if you read it all kudos and :applause: And if you think you can give me some advice than that would be even better. Thanks in advance dan_lcfc Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Things Could Get Messi Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 I need to ask, what is your actual bank balance? As you are Hinckley, I assume Leicester are your feeder club? Could you get another feeder to help with free loans and boost your income a tiny bit? Have you even looked on the loan market to see if you can get anyone in without a fee or wage? Even a player who is only 2 star current would at least give you a bit of squad depth. Truth is though the best way of playing lower league is to sign frees who are within your wage boundaries and signing loanee's to fill the gaps. Having money is nothing short of a luxury before the championship. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_lcfc Posted July 27, 2013 Author Share Posted July 27, 2013 Current balance is -812k losing 135k pcm. Ive been asking for 4 years for another parent club but they always come back with no suitable clubs. All clubs keep asking for either a loan fee or a percentage of wages to be paid, neither of which i can afford. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonBlade Posted July 27, 2013 Share Posted July 27, 2013 Just put yourself to this simple test : Do you want to finish what you started? Make it work. Get the club successful? Would you be able to cope watching some AI manager reap the benefits of your hard work without a tinge of jealousy and bitterness? Or Move on. It's a club on the rungs of the ladder of your success. Personally I'd fight it out. Stay up this season and keep working on the board for more money. One good cup run could solve all your problems. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpartyOn Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 You know you want to stick it out. It's a local club for you, you've put a lot of time and effort in, and you wrote a long post about it here. If you manage to work your way out and eventually get Hinckley to the Prem, it'll be a great accomplishment and the adversity you're facing will just make it sweeter. If you get relegated and sacked, you'll still be able to get another job, maybe not all that much worse than you could get now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR866Gunner Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Stay stay stay! You know it makes sense! As Del boy would say... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IMT Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Yeah I agree, stick it out mate. One of my best ever saves was on FM10 when I took Brackley from the Southern Prem (edited DB) to the Premiership. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScotchWhisky Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 Stay until you get fired. Then if you do, reload a save and release all talent on a free transfer so the club can return to the dredges you brought it up from. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR866Gunner Posted July 28, 2013 Share Posted July 28, 2013 How you doing a league up then? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_lcfc Posted July 28, 2013 Author Share Posted July 28, 2013 Played 10 won 6 lost 4. 53 points should be enough to stay up so its been a good start. Still making loan offers for everyone who requires 0 wage contribution but all keep rejecting which is slighlty annoying. Hopefully the xmas period wont be to tough on us fitness wise!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cider Ed Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 I would definatly stay. Too many times I have started something really good in the lower leagues and then jumped ship and thought, if only I had stayed. The grass is always greener and all that. Keep plodding along and something good will happen. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jegpeg Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 I'm the opposite. I try to play FM as realistically as possible. IRL it think it is very unlikely that a manager could get Hinkley into the premiership, never mind win it. However a manager who gets Hinkley a couple of promotions could be head hunted by a top L1 / championship side and success there could lead to an offer by an exstablished premiership club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_lcfc Posted July 29, 2013 Author Share Posted July 29, 2013 Just turned down the Portsmouth job, they offered twice the wage budget im working with and their squad was alot deeper but im a third of the way to safety now and Im through to the third round of the JPT ( I did have a bye in the first round though) On a side note I am really struggling to get anyone on loan. The prem reserves all reject me, even for 3 month loans. Most of the other sides in the league have players on loan from higher clubs and all of the championship sides want a wage contribution. Is it just my reputation thats stopping me? Ive got several sides up through the leagues in previous versions and always managed to get loans in before.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
LFCFan91 Posted July 29, 2013 Share Posted July 29, 2013 signing players on loan shouldn't be to much of a hassle if your in the football league?, ive just started as luton town in the BSP and ive managed to get some good league one players in on loan, some I think are an absolute steal especially the defenders only conceding 2 in 3 games so far the strikers and attacking midfielders have scored 9 in 3 .. ive got pressure on me to deliver tho they want the BSP title and the FA trophy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_lcfc Posted July 30, 2013 Author Share Posted July 30, 2013 signing players on loan shouldn't be to much of a hassle if your in the football league?, ive just started as luton town in the BSP and ive managed to get some good league one players in on loan, some I think are an absolute steal especially the defenders only conceding 2 in 3 games so far the strikers and attacking midfielders have scored 9 in 3 .. ive got pressure on me to deliver tho they want the BSP title and the FA trophy I cant afford to pay any percentages of wages which all of rhe championship clubs want and non of the players from epl reserve sides will come to me even for short term loans Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPompey Posted July 30, 2013 Share Posted July 30, 2013 Why walk away from a challenge You can convert trasfer allowance into salary plus the board wont mind to much of you go over the salary budget a bit. if it was too much they would block it. At worst yu may need to sell a player in jan transfer window to balance books however if your attendance goes up you may be able to ask for a wage budget increase. Balance squad perhaps with some average free youth signings who can play in multiple roles to give cover if needed if you have injuries Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_lcfc Posted August 2, 2013 Author Share Posted August 2, 2013 Currently 5th in January. Managed to get 2 short term loans as cover but currently have 5 injuriesand im only 10 so its down to the youths who are noticably not up to this level. Ive had to switch to a 5-3-2 from a 4-1-2-1-2 due to players now and even though my defense has become solid, my attacking threat has become nearly nil. The first 3 games with the new tactic finished 0-0 and I won the next 1-0 from an own goal, followed by a 1-1 and another 1-0. Hoping form can keep this way and im only 10 points from near guarenteed safety so fingers crossed!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uprockindude Posted August 2, 2013 Share Posted August 2, 2013 if you aren't making chances maybe set your match preparation to attacking movement does the trick for me Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
karl b Posted August 3, 2013 Share Posted August 3, 2013 Depends on Your state of mind, the fact you wrote that essay shows the current job means a lot, i started as Bromley 'media prediction' 13th - result......1st with 6 games to spare. i started the save to get Bromley to champions league as i've done it before with Hartlepool and Tamworth but midway through pre-season i resigned, i find with the new season approaching (in real life lol) i struggle to stick to a project like that, 3 seasons later i'm at my 3rd club and 2nd in championship with an AWFUL midlesbrough team. why not save the game leave save it under a 'v2' type name and see how you feel. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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