lfc7 Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 @Andrew Haines @kingjericho congrats on the 2 promotions. Looking good @Crispypaul Great first season @CMU Chips Some commitment that. Glad to see you got promoted @_JHTB_ Great first season in the prem In the VNN/S just wondering how everyone sets up there scouts as obviously not using player search ? where do you send them to look for loans free transfers etc ? appreciate any replies thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crispypaul Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 I had 3 - one England, one U23, one U18. The latter two are really for the second season so I can shortlist higher league players that are being released. Most of my players came through agent/player offers and a handful from the director of football making recommendations. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfc7 Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 5 hours ago, Crispypaul said: I had 3 - one England, one U23, one U18. The latter two are really for the second season so I can shortlist higher league players that are being released. Most of my players came through agent/player offers and a handful from the director of football making recommendations. Thanks do you just have them looking at end of contract, loan or transfer ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crispypaul Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 21 minutes ago, lfc7 said: Thanks do you just have them looking at end of contract, loan or transfer ? I didn't select any extra fields, they largely came up as players with contracts expiring. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfc7 Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 1 minute ago, Crispypaul said: I didn't select any extra fields, they largely came up as players with contracts expiring. Ah ok the default option is transfer so i will leave it on that thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tremor Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Chesham United 2026-27 Season Overview: I'll keep this short and sweet... it's been another great season, for a brief moment it looked like we might even compete for the title but we really fell away later in the season when injuries begin to hit hard. We made some very shrewd signings, although i ended up going for more foreign talent than i usually like to... i literally could persuade any young British talent to sign for me but apparently there are lots of very talented french players who like the idea of playing for Chesham. Anyway, we did great in the cups got pretty deep into the FA cup (injuries really hampered us later on) and after going 0-1 down to Norwich in the Carabao semi-final home leg i was resigned to not getting any silverware, but a swashbuckling second leg saw us come back to 2-2 and then go through on pens... then somehow we turned it on in the final to beat Chelsea 3-1! So, second season in the Prem: Prem league - 2nd Carabao Cup - Winners FA Cup - 5th round Definitely on track! Three players in the team of the season! My profile: This is the most puzzling though... end of season meeting... last season we were 9th, this season 2nd plus a cup but still when i state i think we are good enough to stay clear of the relegation battle, everyone but 2 players think i'm being over optimistic! We're playing in the Champions league next season ffs! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Haines Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 On 08/03/2020 at 21:36, lfc7 said: In the VNN/S just wondering how everyone sets up there scouts as obviously not using player search ? where do you send them to look for loans free transfers etc ? appreciate any replies thanks I add all released players from League Two to Prem to a shortlist and scout as quickly as possible. The longer a player is on a free the more likely they will be to sign for you and the lower a wage they will accept. Around mid-November you can pickup up some great players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
numero uno gunner Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Weston-super-Mare Season 2021-2022 Season summary Well, football is a funny old game, isn't it? The cup competitions were abysmal, and we deserved to be knocked out of both. We were horrifically poor in both of them, and it's frustrating because the extra revenue would've been most welcome. The league was an odd sort of affair. We started off pretty well, and then got better and better as the season went on. The top few teams were always way ahead of us, but we remained in the playoff picture consistently. We managed to secure a playoff place with 6 games to go, and it's a good job too. As the fixture list below shows, we then proceeded to lose our last 6 games, and it looked like we'd finally been found out. To say the first playoff game, away at Leyton Orient, will live long in the memory isn't so much an understatement as it is a damn lie. Tedious, dull, like watching two teams managed by Tony Pulis and Sam Allerdyce play anti-football for 2 hours. Penalties almost came as a relief, as I think we could've played all week and not scored. We went through, and travelled to Fylde for the semi final. The same Fylde that had beaten us 4-0 during our calamitous run-in. Expectations were low. It was another drab affair of few chances, until the game turned with a red card for them on 76 minutes. Could we now go on and grab a winner and send ourselves to Wembley? The full-time whistle came and went, and into extra time we went. Up stepped George Dowling with a peach of a free kick to send the travelling supporters wild. We clung on during the inevitable onslaught, and headed to Wembley to face Dagenham & Redbridge, who had finished the season in 2nd, but had fallen apart during the run-in themselves. Another 90 minutes went by without us scoring, but also without us conceding either. 90 minutes became 120, and we found ourselves in a penalty shoot out. It didn't last long. In fact, it lasted 6 penalties. We scored our 3, they missed their 3, and back-to-back promotions became a reality! I feel fairly confident in saying not too many teams will go through 3 playoff games and win promotion whilst simultaneously failing to score from open play for 360 minutes. I mean, that's just ridiculous, and yet here we find ourselves in the Football League for the first time ever! Players-wise, this squad isn't going to cope with the step up. A few might, but the majority won't. I made a big call at the start of the season in dropping leading scorer from last year Josh Davison in favour of new signing Victor Sodiende, and he rewarded my faith ten-fold. Well, 27-fold, actually, as that's how many goals he scored. George Dowling is one player I do think will manage the step up, and I'm so pleased I was able to keep him with us for this season. Defensively we were solid throughout, but that was a collective effort rather than any outstanding performances from individuals really. League table Fixtures Finances Transfers Next steps? Well, we're turning professional! I'm expecting upgrades to the ground as well, as I don't think it'll be up to League Two standard. This squad certainly isn't up to League Two standard either, so another summer of lots of trialists coming in and trying to scour the loan market for a decent signing or two ahead. Exciting times though! Realistically, I'd say the amount of players in the squad capable of League football is in single figures, so survival is the target. It'd be nice to get a round or two into a cup competition, but I imagine that'll be unlikely unless the draws are kind to us. Onwards and upwards! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Haines Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Whitby Town League Two – 2022/23 –3rd Squad Transfers Overview Having been tasked with achieving a finish in the top half in our first season in League Two, we over-achieved with a third successive promotion courtesy of a third place finish. Recruitment was difficult and in the event I was reliant on five loan signings in the first XI. Despite the season finishing so well, we were awful in the first quarter of the season and won none of our first nine games. Somehow in late September we kicked into gear and won seven successive games. After this we rarely lost and rapidly climbed the table, even sitting on top of the table at various stages. We weren’t really good enough to be champions, but promotion was fair enough. I have balanced the books with a handful of player sales. Key amongst them were centre-back Teden Mengi who left at the start of the season for £450k to Rotherham and was followed in January by his partner at the back Sam Robinson who left for Walsall, also for £450k. This has kept us out of the red but has made maintaining a team difficult. Hence the reliance on loan signings. Key Players Jake Doyle-Hayes – Signed from Aston Villa on a free and achieved an impressive average rating of 7.39. Jermaine Stewart – Winger on loan from Tottenham. Scored 8 goals and assisted 14. Record Season League Position Europe Achievements ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2019/20 Conference North 5th 2020/21 Conference North 2nd Playoff Winner, Promoted 2021/22 Conference National 1st Champions, Promoted 2022/23 League Two 3rd Promoted Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_JHTB_ Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 Bognor Regis Town 2031/32 Season Overview Premier League – 7th place – Europa Conference League We were in the end fairy close to finishing as high as 5th but settled for a exceptional 7th place finish in our second premier league season. We actually stumbled out the blocks of the season getting just the one win from our first three games which on it’s own is not really that terrible, but it was against the three teams who ended up getting convincingly relegated the first a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest. In fact in our first 6 games we had only managed 3 goals scored. The start of October led me to be fearing a relegation battle if anything for the season, a 5-0 loss to Chelsea our biggest league loss ever. Our form after that, however, picked up somewhat with what I would describe as solid midtable form losing to those expected to lose against with some draws thrown in and then beating or drawing to everyone else. Towards the end of January we’d put together some pretty strong form before facing Arsenal where 8 of our 25 man premier league squad were inexplicably on international duty, a 2-0 loss ensued. February started our surge up the table 5 wins in a row propelling us up the table with us joining a 4 horse race for 5th to 7th place European qualification with Wolves, Sheffield United and Manchester City who were having a bad season by their standards with us still having to play all of them in the back end of the season. Manchester City came first with us running out convincing 3-0 victors, before the end of the same month we found ourselves 1-0 down to Wolves and down to 10 men, remarkably we sparked a comeback winning 2-1 courtesy of a 93rd minute winner from us. A 4-0 win against bogey side Bournemouth in the Dean Court Derby set us with 2 games to go 2 points ahead of Sheffield United for the last Europe qualification spot with us to face them, a 0-0 draw however took it to the last game where we drew again but Sheffield United succumbed to a final day defeat secured us 7th. The board were giving mixed signals for our final position. FA Cup – 3rd Round I wasn’t expecting to qualify for Europe via the league but thought we may have an outside chance in the FA Cup, unfortunately a disappointing 1-0 defeat to League One Sheffield Wednesday. Carabao Cup – 3rd Round Another 3rd round exit in this one losing 6-0 to Manchester City, which is the only reason our 5-0 loss to Chelsea in the League was not our largest ever defeat, cups not for us this year. Awards --- Stats --- Fixtures (1) --- Fixtures (2) --- Season Review --- Hot Prospect --- Key Player --- Overall Best XI --- Squad --- Records Transfers – We yet again beat our transfer record signing a player in a position I wasn’t planning to strengthen really with Guido Fontanelli joining for 5.25 million, which is probably too much for a player that doesn’t play in a role that we use, a natural advanced playmaker on the right attacking midfield. We did spend 25.5 million in total however only 4 of our signings were for the first team and in the areas planned for improvement. Outbound we brought in some fees for previous season transfer flops alongside saying goodbye to club stalwart Dan Wilshaw the right back leaving the club after 7 seasons at the club. The ‘Terry Hart’ Player of the season Award – Ivan Bueno: Bueno joined in January last year but this season he had a very good season averaging a 7.34 with 3 goals and 7 assists making the Deep Lying Playmaker role his own. Second was none other than Terry Hart – He’s back! A long way from first place but Hart took his league goal total for the club to over 200 with some strong end of season form 7 goals in his last 12 games rolling back the years for the Welshman. On loan defender Jose Dias claimed 3rd spot, the young Portuguese defender has been very good for us through every season he’s been with us and this season was no exception, 3 goals and 2 assists to his name helpful too. Squad Overview – I probably need to add more home nation players to ensure we meet registration rules but we still have plenty who’ve followed us up the leagues. Spoiler Goalkeepers: Adam Lake: Lake is still our number 1 and has passed 200 appearances for the club, less goals conceded and more clean sheets gave Lake a lower average rating for the season, but a good season nonetheless. He has been a dependable player for us but has certainly hit his ceiling, I want to have him be our back up, but only if we can get someone who I feel can perform as well as him in his place. Denis Panic: Panic was injured for the first cup game and conceded 6 in his first start of the season, in terms of technical attributes he’s not far from Lake ahead of him, but his Physical attributes make me wonder whether he’s ever going to surpass Lake, I think he probably needs a loan next season to try and fulfil his potential. Left Full Back: Hamza Hosni: Hosni kept his spot as first choice left back, I’ve not really been able to find anyone who could replace him as Meddeb hasn’t progressed enough to pass Hosni’s ability. Hosni is strong physically and pretty decent defensively and also provided 5 assists for the season. I have resigned him on loan but I’m hoping he’ll drop out the team next year as he’s an ok player but not sensational. Selim Meddeb: Meddeb didn’t really push on from last season finding himself a bit part player this year he is slightly better attacking wise than Hosni, but he’s not really good enough to compete in the Premier League effectively, another who would benefit from a loan next season. Right Full Back: Samu Rubio: I did actually sign a player with the aim for them to replace Rubio, but Rubio’s form meant he kept his spot. 3 goals and 2 assists and averaging over a 7 for us is a very good return. He’s actually pretty good in terms of his attributes for his position but I am still looking for someone who could at least challenge his position. Hein Seynaeve: Seynaeve was the player brought in to replace Rubio and in terms of attacking he’s probably marginally better but Rubio does actually outperform him in most attributes so not all too surprising that he outperformed him in general. Another in a growing list that would probably benefit from a loan move out. Centre Back Mohamed Mansour: Another solid season from the Egyptian Wonderkid, his physical attributes are very good. The number of yellow cards he picks up is a bit of a worry with him missing 6 games this season due to suspensions. I’m very happy with him though and think he will keep his spot for years to come, or we’ll get a very big bid in for him. Jose Dias: 3rd in the player of the year and still considered our best player he did only play 24 games in the league for us missing a portion through injuries. I really want to keep him but Tottenham understandably wont loan him to us again and on enquiry want over 100 million to sign him permanently so can’t see us pulling that off. He is a large part of us getting promoted and performing well in the league so I thank him for his services. John Andreas Bjerkestrand: Bjerkestrand maintained his place as our 3rd choice centre back, he’s not really all too bad in terms of his attributes but his jumping reach is concerning and prevents him from being at a level to challenge to be a first choice player. I wouldn’t be opposed for him staying as 3rd choice and he did actually sign a new deal towards the end of the season, but am happy to sell him on as well. We had a few defenders who were in the back up to the 3 defenders but none featured all too much. Centre Midfield Ivan Bueno: Bueno had a sensational season, 3 goals and 7 assists and is well rounded in his attributes for his role, he’ll be keeping his spot as first choice next season. The coaches reckon that he does not actually have any further potential for improvement but I’m hoping they’re wrong and even if they’re not, he’s good enough to hold down a spot until someone else develops enough to take it from him. Jose Diaz: Diaz kept his place as our first choice Mezzala, well not really as we changed it to a Box to Box, but first choice nonetheless. 5 goals and 2 assists a good contribution for another player dubbed a Wonderkid by the media. (or was, he's not on the screenshot I got). I’m happy with our centre midfield contingent and Diaz and Bueno as first choice. Stuart Lea: Last season it was hinted that Lea may find himself playing further forward with some regularity but in the end he found himself a squad player. He isn’t a terrible player but he has seemingly reached his ceiling in terms of his attributes. A good player to keep around as a squad player nonetheless as he is both Home Grown Nation and Club. He did contribute 3 assists in the league as well in his squad role. Christopher James: James is largely in a similar position to Lea, a good player but not a top end premier league starter. He did perform well when called upon and as mentioned in previous seasons his Mental attributes are a positive, in fact if his technical attributes had met his mental’s he would surely be a stand out player. Like Lea he has the added benefit of being homegrown and considered a nonforeign player for registration rules. With these 4 players I didn’t feel we needed any other players in the centre mid, but some of our other players can play there if they were needed. Left Attacking Midfield Alen Jancar: Jancar is the first of the new look left attacking midfield as we looked to rectify poor average ratings that have plagued the position for so long. It still isn’t really fixed but Jancar offers a different option to the previous two players we had in the position a right footer on the left suitin him to a more inverted role. Jancar is actauly a very good utility player as he’s natural in all attacking midfield positions though was mostly utilised on the left. Francisco Zarate: Zarate was a player who was brought in to claim the left attacking midfield spot for his own, unfortunately like many before him he suffered the same affliction in average ratings, though he’s another considered a wonderkid, I think it’s handed out a little easy as a description but Zarate does have time to develop with Jancar providing good competition. Both Jancar and Zarate have seemingly higher ceilings than Burns and Mooney before them so I’m okay to stick with them. Mark Mooney: Mooney found himself going from first choice left winger to 3rd choice in the position he will likely find himself as back up again or sold as he hasn’t developed as much as I would have hoped. Our coaches actually reckon he’s as good as Zarate and Jancar but I’m not convinced. Right Attacking Midfield Guido Fontanelli: Club record signing came in to provide more competition to the right hand side. His natural role of advanced playmaker is not one that I want to use out wide so he was deployed as both inverted winger and Raumdeuter throughout the season, not particularly as a first choice but in rotation, he may start next season as 1st choice however. Yet another dubbed a Wonderkid and I feel he can probably develop nicely as time goes on. David O’Brien: O’Brien played rotation with Fontanelli as Mokoena was loaned out to get him some consistent football. The right wing is having similar issues to the left in terms of average rating, but O’Brien towards the end of the season dropped off fairly significantly paving the way for Fontanelli. He managed 2 goals and 3 assists in a quiet season. He’ll likely be in the squad again next season due to being home grown but don’t see him featuring as much as this season. Centre Attacking Midfield: Barry Blair: In spite of new players coming in who can play in attacking midfield Blair kept his spot in the team featuring in all but 3 games this season. He had his best season in average ratings for 3 years and in general just played well hence him keeping his spot in the team. Another of our home grown contingent, is probably going to start next season yet again as first choice. Federico Stroppa: Replacing the outbound Correa as our back up attacking midfielder, Stroppa is a step up on Correa although didn’t feature all too much in his first season at the club and technically is probably better in the role than Blair. The other area of his game need improvement to take Blair’s spot, but hopefully he’ll be able to push on next season to give me something to think about. Striker: Simon Watson: Watson was probably mainly our first choice striker but he’s not anywhere near prolific enough for me to want to keep him in the role, 9 goals and 3 assists this season is a fairly tame return and Watson himself is starting murmurings of wanting to leave which I might actually be happy to let him. His overall progression since joining the club is probably also a little underwhelming, so his place at the club may be under threat. Terry Hart: Never write Terry Hart off, he didn’t have a fantastic season last year but he broke back into the team in place of Watson towards the end of the season and scored some key goals in our push for Europe. I am still at a loss how he is not considered a club legend, but he has now amassed over 200 league goals for the club which is sensational considering the clubs progression in his time here. Our top league goal scorer with 11 goals, but as much as he has been fantastic for us I want to be able to have him as back up rather than first choice, but if he maintains his end of season form who am I to bench him? We did have a 3rd choice striker on loan with an optional fee of 33 million from Arsenal, he was starting to break into the team and doing reasonably well before breaking his leg and going back to Arsenal Finances – Our balance is very good helped of course by a good season whilst still paying relatively low in terms of wages, I imagine we’ll have a healthy budget next season. Youth Intake – We haven’t had anyone who I’m really excited about in any of our intakes thus far and that didn’t change this year Sam O’Toole and Phil Bentley considered the best options from this years intake. Next Season I’m probably aiming for a finish in and around the same position next season upper midtable and maybe another European qualification campaign. I’ve no idea of the strength of the Europa Conference League but I feel we can preform reasonably well in it. In squad terms, a new striker is an area I want to improve as well as a replacement at the back for the outgoing Jose Dias. Largely I’m happy with the squad as a whole, but back up players may change if I can find players who will push the first choice players more. News Youth and training facilities once again are on the upgrade with the board allowing for an improved youth recruitment. The new stadium has been delayed meaning we’re going to be trekking to Bournemouth for at least the first part of the season. The under 23s did a little better this year getting to the first knockout round of the Football League Trophy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_JHTB_ Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 @Andrew Haines Congrats on the back to back to back promotions @numero uno gunner 6 losses in a row must have shattered morale, so to get through the playoffs without conceding is a very good achievement. As you say a shame you didn't progress in the cups as professional status will eat into the balance. @tremor That is a very good second season in the premier league very comfortably in the Champions League spots, you could complete it in your next season, and with your relative progression each year it wouldn't be too out of the question for that. On the team expectations its probably linked to the club reputation more so than taking into account where you finished in the league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfc7 Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 On 09/03/2020 at 22:38, Andrew Haines said: I add all released players from League Two to Prem to a shortlist and scout as quickly as possible. The longer a player is on a free the more likely they will be to sign for you and the lower a wage they will accept. Around mid-November you can pickup up some great players. How do you find them without using player search ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Haines Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 1 hour ago, lfc7 said: How do you find them without using player search ? I go to each league and go to transfers then filter on released players and youth departures. Highlight them all and add to a shortlist. Later in the game I'll start scouting them before the end of the season and they are released. In this case I go to each club in a league and sort by contract expiry date and add anyone expiring at the end of the year to a shortlist. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingjericho Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 Nantwich - Vanarama National League North - 2024/25 This season was all about transition. The club turned professional which meant all contracts were renewed from P/T to F/T. Naturally these renewals took a large chunk of the wage budget which limited the amount of new players I was able to bring. The board's expectations were just basic survival in all competitions. Fortunately this meant our early exit in both the FA Cup and the EFL Cup didn't impact the board's confidence in me. In the new EFL Trophy we advanced past the group stage which was a good thing because these matches were all for my second options and it allowed for them to keep the fitness levels up. In the league we had a slow start but quickly moved up near the playoff places. At one point we were battling for 3rd place but we had a meltdown in the last quarter, with a 3-5-4 record in the last 12 matches and that cost us the desired 7th place which would have gotten us at least a chance of battling for promotion. Season Division Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Vanarama National League North 13th 2021/22 Vanarama National League North 7th 2022/23 Vanarama National League North 1st Promoted as champions 2023/24 Vanarama National League 1st Promoted as champions 2024/25 Sky Bet League Two 8th Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KVJ92 Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 Enfield Town - League One - 2024/2025 League Table - Promotion! League Graph - Solid season. Had a bad period in January and start-Februay. Managed to secure promotion on the last day! FA Cup - 3rd round loss after replay. Lost to Brentford who got promoted from Championsship. EFL Cup - Also 3rd round loss. To Nottm Forest who ended just outside playoffs in Championsship Squad - 6 loans this season. Couldn't find cheap and good enough players to joins. So relied on loans. It worked! No idea yet who will be staying. 9 players has a year left on their contract. Most of the 9's not good enough for the step up. Transfers - £2,4M profit! Got 2M for Schackleton + 50% of next sale. Couldn't say no to that! Finances - Looking great! Key Player Profiles: Paris Haynes - Did really well in CM(a) role! George Davis - Loaned when Shackleton was sold. Did great! Jake Taylor - Not the best average rating but the team played much better when he played. Bossing the DM spot. Career Overview: Season Team League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/2021 Enfield Town Vanarama National League South 2nd Won Playoff (Promoted!) 2021/2022 Enfield Town Vanarama National League 5th n/a 2022/2023 Enfield Town Vanarama National League 2nd Won Playoff (Promoted!) 2023/2024 Enfield Town League Two 1st Champions (Promoted!) 2024/2025 Enfield Town League One 2nd n/a (Promoted!) Next Season: I just want to survive. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tremor Posted March 11, 2020 Share Posted March 11, 2020 9 hours ago, _JHTB_ said: @tremor That is a very good second season in the premier league very comfortably in the Champions League spots, you could complete it in your next season, and with your relative progression each year it wouldn't be too out of the question for that. On the team expectations its probably linked to the club reputation more so than taking into account where you finished in the league. Thanks mate, not sure about that, i think i was just really lucky to catch a lot of the big clubs in a transition period, i very rarely won against the big boys but was a lot more consistent against the lower teams. I'm seeing it more like my 'leicester' season rather than a true indication of where i am. Once more i'm really struggling with my recruitment and i've actually issued a ticket about the dynamics... still seeing players opting to join clubs 2 leagues below me on fractions of the wages i'm offering and with less playing time and worse facilities... i know i'm only 2 seasons in the prem but... i have won a cup and i'm in the champions league next season... that must count for something right? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfc7 Posted March 12, 2020 Share Posted March 12, 2020 @tremor Congrats 2nd in prem and a cup @numero uno gunner @Andrew Haines Congrats on promotion @_JHTB_ 7th and Europe nice @kingjericho Good first season in league 2 @KVJ92 4 promotions in 5 seasons 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMU Chips Posted March 13, 2020 Share Posted March 13, 2020 Whitby Town 2026/2027 - New level, same problems First season in Vanarama National went about the same way as the second season in Vanarama North. Pretty solid first half with us in the playoff spots for the first 24 weeks of the season before a complete collapse in form and we finish 9th. Defense struggled, I couldn't find anyone who looked a worthy first choice goalkeeper (though the guy we got turned out to be adequate), and our wages were 20% lower than the next lowest team in the division (the top team could pay our wages 18.5 times over). We did manage to set a record for worst discipline though. There was positive news as we got a new chairman partway through the year who through personal investments and bank loans managed to get us out of the red. Now that the season is over, rumors are swirling again. I hope they don't get to the point where I am blocked from transfers, there is a lot of improvement that needs to be made. Only one player will be released in the summer, the rest were on 2-year deals for the first time ever. Board only expects avoid relegation next year for some reason. League table- Transfers- Squad stats- Year League Position Cups Training Youth Junior Recruitment Attendance (Cap) Badges Transfers (In-Out) Top Scorer Most Assists Av. Rating Clean Sheets May balance Total wages 2026/2027 VN National 9th FAC: 4th qual., FAT: 2nd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 1221 (4000) Nat. C (£0) 6-4 Connor Bell - 23 Connor Bell - 12 Connor Bell - 7.27 (47) Anthony Patterson - 14 (£15k) £5.9k p/w 2025/2026 VN North 1st FAC: 1st round, FAT: 3rd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 576 (3180) Nat. C (+£8k) 11-4 Joe Ridley - 32 Joe Ridley - 18 Bob Thomas - 7.59 (50) Jonny Orritt - 25 (£583k) £4.9k p/w 2024/2025 VN North 5th FAC: 4th qual., FAT: 2nd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 640 (3180) Nat. C (+£150k) 10-2 Cole Kiernan - 29 Connor Bell - 20 Alfie Payne - 7.52 (32) Dave Richards - 12 (£541k) £5.4k p/w 2023/2024 VN North 5th FAC: 2nd qual., FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 565 (3180) Nat. C (+£12k) 14-10 Mitchell George - 31 Dion McGhee - 11 Mitchell George - 7.45 (51) Marcel Wusiewicz - 16 (£443k) £7.4k p/w 2022/2023 VN North 5th FAC: 3rd round, FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 798 (3180) None (£0) 18-6 Mitchell George - 40 Jake Cain - 16 Mitchell George - 7.35 (55) Jacob Carney - 17 (£37k) £6.3k p/w 2021/2022 VN North 8th FAC: 3rd qual., FAT: 3rd qual. Basic Poor Adequate Average 644 (3180) None (£0) 10-1 Mitchell George - 27 Mohammed Sangaré - 11 Mitchell George - 7.33 (46) Jacob Carney - 11 (£174k) £5.9k p/w 2020/2021 VN North 10th FAC: 3rd qual., FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 633 (3180) None (£0) 9-2 Connor Bell - 10 Jordan Barnett -11 Dale Hopson - 7.02 (49) Jacob Carney - 19 (£98.71k) £6.2k p/w Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vipertitan Posted March 14, 2020 Share Posted March 14, 2020 David Clark decided to try this again with my home town team south shields current squad- Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadedaf Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 I'm starting off the challenge at Haringey Borough! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfc7 Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 (edited) Hi everyone i couldn't carry on in season 4 with a new team so restarted and Warrington came up so decided to go them again. Anyway started off with 4-4-2 wasn't working out switched to 4-2-3-1 was working great, beat York away 1-0 who were top and i was 2nd only 1 point behind. Since that game everything has gone downhill had 1 win in 8 so am getting to the point where i am looking on changing tactic again, maybe I've brought in too many players and its upset the rhythm of the team i don't know. Here is my starting profile and the club even funded a coaching badge early on, plus recent results Profile Coaching Badge Recent Form Edited March 16, 2020 by lfc7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Haines Posted March 16, 2020 Share Posted March 16, 2020 33 minutes ago, lfc7 said: Hi everyone i couldn't carry on in season 4 with a new team so restarted and Warrington came up so decided to go them again. Anyway started off with 4-4-2 wasn't working out switched to 4-2-3-1 was working great, beat York away 1-0 who were top and i was 2nd only 1 point behind. Since that game everything has gone downhill had 1 win in 8 so am getting to the point where i am looking on changing tactic again, maybe I've brought in too many players and its upset the rhythm of the team i don't know. Here is my starting profile and the club even funded a coaching badge early on, plus recent results Profile Coaching Badge Recent Form I wouldn't get too disheartened. The first season is always brutal. You don't have much choice but to bring in a lot of new players as generally the players you start with won't be up to it. Form can swing wildly. Ninth place in the first season isn't bad at all. 4-2-3-1 can be a bit aggressive as a tactic (depending how you set it up) when you aren't at the top end of the table. If it has worked for you then sometimes worth sticking with it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMU Chips Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 Whitby Town 2027/2028 - The worst roller coaster? This was certainly the strangest season I've had doing one of these challenges. Board expectations dropped to mid-table after our 9th placed finish last year and I wasn't sure why. Early season form was ok, then decided to completely crater. A complete tactical change (and giving up on some high attribute players) seemed to turn things around but we kept drawing/losing games where we were the better team. The defense and goalkeeper allowed far too many easy chances to go in, and goals from everyone except Malloy started to dry up. Finally we hit some form near the end of the year, but it was too little too late. Ignore the final line in past positions which has us in 6th; we would've been 8th on goal difference even with a win in our final game. While we were in that crater, I told quite a few players that they wouldn't be returning next year. But was it all bad? Nope. In selling one of our best players for next to nothing three years ago, the board managed to do one smart thing and added a 40% of next sale profit clause. The player has developed well at Boro and they offered to sell us that clause for 1.6 million. It was an easy decision. All our financial woes for the foreseeable future are gone, and since it was a transfer clause it went into my budget. I was able to get more players interested as I could finally offer 1k p/w. The board agreed to two training courses for me and improvements to youth and training facilities that will occur this offseason. We've got a lot to look forward to next year. League table - Season stats - Transfers - Year League Position Cups Training Youth Junior Recruitment Attendance (Cap) Badges Transfers (In-Out) Top Scorer Most Assists Av. Rating Clean Sheets May balance Total wages 2027/2028 VN National 9th FAC: 3rd round, FAT: 2nd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 1309 (4000) Nat. A (+£1.6m) 10-4 Ray Malloy - 25 Bob Thomas - 13 Ray Malloy - 7.16 (51) Anthony Patterson - 10 (£1.6m) £10k p/w 2026/2027 VN National 9th FAC: 4th qual., FAT: 2nd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 1221 (4000) Nat. C (£0) 6-4 Connor Bell - 23 Connor Bell - 12 Connor Bell - 7.27 (47) Anthony Patterson - 14 (£15k) £5.9k p/w 2025/2026 VN North 1st FAC: 1st round, FAT: 3rd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 576 (3180) Nat. C (+£8k) 11-4 Joe Ridley - 32 Joe Ridley - 18 Bob Thomas - 7.59 (50) Jonny Orritt - 25 (£583k) £4.9k p/w 2024/2025 VN North 5th FAC: 4th qual., FAT: 2nd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 640 (3180) Nat. C (+£150k) 10-2 Cole Kiernan - 29 Connor Bell - 20 Alfie Payne - 7.52 (32) Dave Richards - 12 (£541k) £5.4k p/w 2023/2024 VN North 5th FAC: 2nd qual., FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 565 (3180) Nat. C (+£12k) 14-10 Mitchell George - 31 Dion McGhee - 11 Mitchell George - 7.45 (51) Marcel Wusiewicz - 16 (£443k) £7.4k p/w 2022/2023 VN North 5th FAC: 3rd round, FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 798 (3180) None (£0) 18-6 Mitchell George - 40 Jake Cain - 16 Mitchell George - 7.35 (55) Jacob Carney - 17 (£37k) £6.3k p/w 2021/2022 VN North 8th FAC: 3rd qual., FAT: 3rd qual. Basic Poor Adequate Average 644 (3180) None (£0) 10-1 Mitchell George - 27 Mohammed Sangaré - 11 Mitchell George - 7.33 (46) Jacob Carney - 11 (£174k) £5.9k p/w 2020/2021 VN North 10th FAC: 3rd qual., FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 633 (3180) None (£0) 9-2 Connor Bell - 10 Jordan Barnett -11 Dale Hopson - 7.02 (49) Jacob Carney - 19 (£98.71k) £6.2k p/w Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfc7 Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 (edited) @Vipertitan @Fadedaf Good luck @CMU Chips Your season sounds like mine this season Good luck for the season ahead also nice sell on clause love when they come in at any level ha Edited March 17, 2020 by lfc7 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfc7 Posted March 17, 2020 Share Posted March 17, 2020 (edited) 16 hours ago, Andrew Haines said: I wouldn't get too disheartened. The first season is always brutal. You don't have much choice but to bring in a lot of new players as generally the players you start with won't be up to it. Form can swing wildly. Ninth place in the first season isn't bad at all. 4-2-3-1 can be a bit aggressive as a tactic (depending how you set it up) when you aren't at the top end of the table. If it has worked for you then sometimes worth sticking with it. Thanks. I have about 9/10 games of the season left. No chance at title but hoping to make the playoffs. I've gone back to 4-4-2 Edited March 17, 2020 by lfc7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tremor Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 Ouch, pretty tough draw for the CL... will be a miracle if i make it out of the group... then i guess it's the standard concern of... small squad & Europa league, or dodge the bullet and drop out of Europe altogether... i'm probably leaning towards CL or bust, i think dropping out of the top 4 in the league could be a big problem. exciting times in Chesham though... European midweek football 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cloondawg Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 (edited) Season 1 (2020/21) - Vanarama National League North Competitions: Overview | End of Season Review Vanarama National League North (Table| Results): Board Expectation: Avoid relegation. Media Prediction: 15th. Finish: 5th. We got off to a decent start but this quickly tailed off as my small squad, that was still being put together with transfers and loans, struggled with the early season fixture congestion. In this period I just drew too many games (9 out of the first 17), which took me out of the title race. From October on results picked up and I was winning a lot more games, it wasn't all perfect but I quickly moved up the table into the playoffs spots and stayed there from the end of January onwards. On the final day I jumped above Gateshead, who I would play in the Playoff First Round, into 5th spot. I had drawn home and way to Gateshead 1-1 earlier in the season and that's how this Playoff tie ended. I dominated the match and created a lot more chances. Cameron Archer put us 1-0 up in the first half, but we couldn't find a second to finish off the tie. Gateshead equalised in the 87th minute to send us to extra time and then penalties. Unfortunately, Gateshead won the lottery that is penalties 7-6 and ended my hopes for promotion this season. We go again! FA Cup (Results): Finish: Knocked out in Fourth Qualifying Round by Boston United. A 5-1 thrashing of Rushden & Diamonds and then seeing off Berkhamsted after a replay, sent me through to the Fourth Qualifying Round against Boston United of the Vanarama National. It was a close game, but we just didn't have the quality to get a result and lost 1-0. FA Trophy (Results): Finish: Knocked out in Fourth Round Replay by Dagenham & Redbridge A nice run in this competition for us this season. We saw off Gainsborough, Stourbridge and St. Albans before getting revenge against Boston United who knocked us out of the FA Cup earlier in the season. Then we had an unexpected Fourth Round tie against Dagenham & Redbridge who were flying high in the league above. A thrilling 90 mins and extra time couldn't seperate us and it ended 3-3, we took the lead 3 times! Then in the replay they were just too good and we lost 2-0. Club: Squad (End of Season Awards): There was a lot of new players coming in early on and this could have been part of the bad run at the start of the season. I hope I can keep the core of the squad and add a bit of extra quality to push for promotion next season, but a lot of my better players were in on loan. Transfers: We let a few players go who didn't feature much throughout the season, more to save money than anything. We brought in good quality and used the loan market well. Burton became our senior affiliate and we managed to get one young striker on loan who scored a few goals. Hopefully we can get some more players off them next season too. Club Vision: Expected to reach the playoffs again next season. Was offered a new contract for another year. Key Players: Kyle Hawley - Brought in on loan from Morecambe, the big target man was really good for me. With 17 goals and 9 assists in the league and another 10 goals in the cups, he was my top goalscorer this season. Hopefully can sign him on loan or free in the summer. Cameron Archer - Signed on a free after he was released by Aston Villa. He scored a lot of goals especially towards the end of the season. He managed 21 goals in the league and was the league's top scorer. Already signed up for another season at The Brig. Ryan White - Was at the club when I arrived and provided a lot of chances and assists from the right wing. 7 goals and 17 assists in all competitions was a good return and he topped the league's assists chart with 13. Emmanuel Osadebe - Brought in on loan from Macclesfield. He had a good season but I was expecting a bit more. Improved as the season went on. Could be difficult to get again next season. Remi Savage - A good season for the young centre back who was also my captain this season and played a lot of games this season. He had good defensive stats in the league with the second most interceptions and headers won. Best Youth Intake Player: There were no players I thought were worth signing. Finances: Still not looking great although the owner has pumped substantial money in, to keep us going. Manager Profile: The club is refusing to allow me to start the next coaching course. A few attribute increases nonetheless. Season Team League Finish FA Cup FA Trophy Top Goalscorer Most Assists Notes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Bamber Bridge Vanarama National League North 5th 4th Qual. Round 4th Round Archer (21) White (13) Lost in Playoff 1st Round Edited March 18, 2020 by Cloondawg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingjericho Posted March 18, 2020 Share Posted March 18, 2020 Nantwich - Vanarama National League North - 2025/26 After analysing the team report I conclude that, statistically, we are still one of the worse League Two teams. However, I wanted to improve what we did last season. One issue with this goal was the sale of star striker Daniel Lewis to Middlesbrough for €600k, a sum I just couldn't say no to. He carried the team last season and so I had to look for a decent replacement, which I found. A more hardworking striker and with a better personality, but his finishing needs work. Still he bagged 24 goals in 51 apps. We reached the playoffs but we started with a 2-3 loss at home which meant no good. We still had enough heart to force ET in the second leg but in that period we crumbled and lost 3-2 again. In the cups, nothing new. We only reached the minimum and no big gate receipt came our way. This summer I want to get my hands on a handful of quality players that can help the team take a leap forward and increase our quality, which is currently subpar. We rely too much on our runs of good form and that can be dangerous, plus it doesn't always work against better teams. Season Division Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Vanarama National League North 13th 2021/22 Vanarama National League North 7th 2022/23 Vanarama National League North 1st Promoted as champions 2023/24 Vanarama National League 1st Promoted as champions 2024/25 Sky Bet League Two 8th 2025/26 Sky Bet League Two 7th Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfc7 Posted March 19, 2020 Share Posted March 19, 2020 (edited) Season 1 (2020/21) - Vanarama National League North Season Overview League Playoffs 1 Playoffs 2 Board Expectation: Avoid relegation. Media Prediction: 16th. Finished: 7th As you know second time with Warrington and tbh was just hoping for playoffs at best . First half of season i was using 4-2-3-1 and we were 2nd going into December, i then went on an bad run of form before i changed to 4-4-2 and results were better, in last 8 games had 1 Draw 1 Defeat and 6 Wins. Last game of season i played Boston at home and had a comfortable 3-1 win. I was then drew against Boston away in the playoffs, i had 3 goals disallowed in the first half and according to news feed one should of stood 2nd half they had 2 chances and scored 2 goals so out i go. Comps Went out in both cups very early Squad Transfers Lots of ins and outs as started off with not a lot of decent players, but scouts found more as season progressed so tried to replace as many as i could with wages allowed. Finances Poor finances but expected with no cup runs. Key Player (Parker) Parker 2 Only came in on loan for last 10 league games, but what an impact. Will be looking to resign on loan if possible Mooney Started off great and finished as my top scorer, but shows you how much he fell of a cliff as his last goal was 2nd Feb and still ended up as my top scorer. Don't think it would of been the case as i had signed Parker sooner. I offered him an part time contract when he was in a hot streak as other clubs came in for him so have him for another season. Sangare Had a great partnership with Denny in cm and was a blow to lose him 3rd to last game of the season. Wont be resigning him right away as still out for 2-4 months when contract ends. Banister Played well when played on either flank, will most probably resign for another season. Eppiah Started off slow but scored the goals that Mooney wasn't before Parker came in. Hoped to resign but went from £350 p/w to wanting 1K, no chance so goodbye Denny The other part of the CM partnership performed decent enough and have him signed up for next season, never got injured once. Manager Profile Gained 1 coaching badge asked for another one, but got told no due to finances Next Season Hoping to gain promotion but think i am being too greedy The annoying thing is last time they wanted playoffs again after i made playoffs in season 1. Halfway through season 2 because i was 10th they were unhappy which led to me disagreeing and my sacking which hopefully wont happen this time around as i think its stupid. I tried to change it, but minimum target is playoffs SEASON DIVISION POSITION TOP GOALSCORER MOST ASSISTS BADGES ACHIEVEMENTS NOTES --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Vanarama National League North 7th Mooney (19) Sangare (9) Nat.C Made Playoffs. Got First Coaching Badge Edited March 20, 2020 by lfc7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lfc7 Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 What key stats does everyone look for in a goalkeeper at VNN level ? Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadedaf Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Haringey Borough Season 2020/21 Report This season has been nothing but chaos, from start to finish and in every way possible. Here's how we got on: League- When I took over the club, it had 0 staff and a total of about 15 players across the first, U23 and U18 teams, most of which were not good enough to play for my mixed social 7 a side team on saturdays. Anyways, after deleting most of them and signing no less than 28 new players over the course of the season and having 6 poached away on free transfers (2 of which were signed by me this season) the squad was nearly unrecognisable. It took a long time to transition however and I had to play my first league game with a centre back up front and a bench of a GK and 3 CBs, all from our youth teams. And yet we won that game somehow and started an unlikely run that saw us looking like promotion candidates. We then decided to completely implode and went through a horrendous spell of form as soon as we hit december in conjunction with my best striker being poached away for free, with 9 games without a win. We tinkered with tactics a few times and gradually kept sliding down the table until in serious danger of relegation. Our final tactic of an extremely simple 4-3-3 seemed to have some good results and out of nowhere we beat first in the league Ebbsfleet 3-0 away to secure safety, while they needed a win to become champions. A ridiculous season overall where we occupied all places between 1st and 18th at some point in time. The highlighted 'game of the season' was a 4-1 win over Billericay and our 'moment to forget' was a 4-1 loss to Billericay which really sums it up well. FA Cup- We beat lower league East Grinstead, took Woking to a replay then beat them, defeated Truro and came up against Chorley from the division above. We took them to a replay as well, resulting in our first ever televised game however we were beaten easily in the return leg. A pretty solid performance overall. FA Trophy- Beat lower league Winchester before losing to holders Dag & Red. Transfers Results Results 2 Best Players- Top Goalscorer: Jayden Reid & Enock Asante (14) Good overall seasons from these two, despite Asante being a psycho and continually getting himself suspended. This would have gone to my star striker Daniel Akindayini if he wasn't poached away in december. Most assists: Jayden Reid (9) Highest avg rating: Enoch Asante (7.10) Most POM: Jayden Reid (5) Next Season: goals are minimum of a mid-table finish but i'd love to make the playoffs and I think we can with some good signings. Season League Position FA Cup FA Trophy/Carabao Top Scorer Most Assists Highest Avg Rating ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Vanarama South 15th 1st Round 1st Round Reid/Asante(14) Reid(9) Asante(7.10) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_JHTB_ Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 (edited) Bognor Regis Town 2032/33 Premier League: 7th – Europa Conference Cup: Champions Awards --- Stats --- Fixtures (1) --- Fixtures (2) --- Season Review --- Hot Prospect --- Key Player --- Overall Best XI --- Squad --- Records Season Overview “The Rocks were one of the competition’s more unpredictable teams, enjoying an impressive spell of form between August and September that saw them rise to 8th, but also slid as low as 18th in an up-and-down season that did at least end with them exceeding expectations” ------------------- First Half ------------------- Summer Transfers As we’re now fairly secure in the Premier League and have a good basis for a team the summer was spent trying to find players to bring in that would-be long-term improvements or replacements in key areas. A shortfall in recent seasons has been a lack of a consistent goal scorer so the summer window started with the signing of a striker for a then club record fee (appearance and goal addons dependant), Jorge Cossu off the back of a solid first professional season. Defence was next on the hit list for improvement with the loss of loan signing Jose Dias. Olly Cherry the first defensive reinforcement to come in, though even at the time the young Englishman was coming in for depth as we were gearing up to break the transfer record again. This time the sum was all upfront triggering the release fee of Joseph Córdova a player who had 2 seasons under his belt. Two more first team signings were made towards the end of the window with Héctor Presedo challenging for the left back spot in the team freeing up Selim Meddeb to go out on loan for first team football. And finally, Marcos Díaz arriving to give Adam Lake his first real competition in goal since he arrived also allowing back up Denis Panic to get first team football. All other signings in the window went out on loan or were in the development squad. So as the transfer window closed the team was largely similar to that of the season prior with a bit of extra quality and depth in key areas. Or that was the hope, the day after the transfer window closed one of our left attacking midfield contingent got injured for 8 to 9 months, great start to the season. Premier League The first half of the season just saw us be massively inconsistent some heavy defeats against big teams and some heavy wins against smaller ones combined with disappointing losses, such as 1-0 loss against Leeds and very good wins like the 2-1 win against Tottenham and draws aplenty. The league as a whole outside of those who finished in the top 4 however was very inconsistent with few points between 6th and 16th midway through the season. Europa Conference League - Group Stage The Euro Conference League started with a relatively straightforward progression to the groups through the playoff before we completed an almost flawless group stage Beitar Jerusalem and Qarabag were dispatched easily and a slim 1-0 victory at home against Marseille with a 0-0 on the reverse fixture left us top without conceding a goal, Marseille only themselves conceding the one. League Cup Two away games in the 3rd and 4th rounds were dispatched with relative ease to set up a quarter final against a strong Chelsea side. We went blow for blow before a late Chelsea goal saw them run out the victors. Chelsea went on to win the competition so we were knocked out by the eventual winners. ------------------- Second Half ------------------- January Transfers In spite of a generally inconsistent first half of the season I wasn’t unhappy with the squad going into January with only left attacking midfield being the area I needed an extra body in due to the injury that we had. So in typical fashion the first player for the main squad to sign was a central midfielder in the shape of Amr Nagy, pretty versatile player and not all too expensive couldn’t say no. In all fairness the only reason the first signing wasn’t a left attacking midfielder is because we were facing competition from the European big boys for a player to add to the ever growing Argentine contingent in Pablo Ferreyra a signing made more ideal by our switching from regular to inverted wingers/forwards as the season progressed. We also snagged a young English player in the same position to add more domestic players to the squad David Bastunov joining from Manchester United, not as high potential, but a decent young English player. Outgoing we had our club record sale £10.25 million and a 50% of next sale clause added for good measure for young Togolese centre back Anthonio Kouami Gaty, who looks ok, but nowhere near the level of our main centre backs and when that sort of money is offered you can’t say no. Mohammed Mansour also reckoned he wanted out of the club so I was braced for offers for him with a replacement identified. Luckily, no one bid so I kept him. Premier League In all reality the second half of the season wasn’t all too dissimilar to the first half not particularly consistent, however the big difference was that we didn’t draw all too much, either winning or losing. And again, most the losses were against teams we were expected to lose to though our 3-0 loss to Aston Villa was particularly disappointing considering we created more chances than they did. A 3-0 loss to Arsenal in the penultimate game meant we travelled to champions Manchester United on the final day knowing we had to win and Leicester had to draw or lose to relegation threatened Burnley to get what I thought was the all important 7th spot in the league, we were also without our first choice centre backs through suspensions. We won 3-1, my shock at the win equalled by the fact that Burnley won meaning we secured 7th spot. Manchester City in 12th won the Europa League though so 7th wouldn’t have got us any qualification anyway. Europa Conference League As a result of topping our group we got a bye into the 2nd knockout stage where we faced Galatasaray, any worries were dispelled in the first game a 3-1 victory away from home giving us a strong foundation for the second leg and a relatively easy time of it. Red Star next up was where I saw us battling out a 1-1 draw at home meant we had to travel to Serbia and score at least 2 to progress without extra time and penalties. The game looked as though it were to end 1-1 again, but we snatched a 90+3 winner to send us to the Semi-Finals. Lyon awaited, a team who had dropped down from the Europa League. The first game was fairly even, but we managed to get a late goal to make the score 2-1 to us with 2 away goals which I though would be very helpful. 36 minutes into the second leg the two away goals were matched by Lyon as they took a deserved 2-0 lead prompting tactical tweaks which saw us spring to life a goal just before half time to level the tie and then 4 second half goals saw us through to the final fairly convincingly. Atalanta were the team we would face, the game in itself a very cagy affair and when we went down to 10 men in the 63rd minute I feared the worse, step up Simon Watson on a return from injury scored a 73rd minute header the only goal of the game 1-0 Bognor Regis. Our first piece of silverwear and Europa League qualification secured Southampton finished the season 6th and didn’t qualify for Europe as a result. FA Cup Very lacklustre in the FA Cup a 0-0 draw against Leicester followed by a 2-1 defeat in the replay. I had hoped we’d be able to progress further in the FA Cup so a 3rd round loss probably the low point of the season as a whole. The ‘Terry Hart’ Player of the season Award – Iván Bueno: Bueno is good, pardon the pun, the Colombian who was signed for a mere £1 million a figure looking more and more of a rip off as the days go by. 4 goals and 7 assists in the league, and whilst not providing as much in terms of assists and goals in continental competitions he averaged a 7.51 in all competitions the highest average rating we’ve had since our promotion season from the National League North! Guido Fontanelli came in second place a long way from the winner, a good season by all accounts 8 goals and 4 assists in the league significantly better than his haul in his first year at the club. 3rd was club record signing Joseph Córdova, solid first season at the club though probably needs to work on his discipline 15 yellow cards in the league meant he missed 6 games through suspension. Squad Overview – The squad is a lot more settled, the vast majority of the players are owned by us and have fairly long term deals, the first team squad had a bit more depth to it this season as we were competing on more fronts. Spoiler Goalkeepers: Adam Lake: Lake was our number one this season, playing in most of the league games, except the ones I forgot to swap him back in. He is a solid keeper, but is no longer improving and if we want to step to the next level we need someone who can be better than he. He’s very well rounded as a goalkeeper so am definitely happy for him to be our back up probably even till the end of the challenge he’s not let us down really he’s just hit his ceiling, 6 seasons as number one, he’s agreed a new contract as backup, though he’ll probably be cup goalkeeper in at least domestic cups if not Europe. He did feature in one European game which is good as it allowed him to be eligible for a medal. Marcos Díaz: Díaz this season was our cup and Europe goal keeper, he looks very good in certain areas of his technical attributes 19 reflexes and 16 one on ones stand out. Mentally and Physically he is lacking a little but key areas he’s got ok attributes in them especially as he’s not featuring as a sweeper keeper. Still young and plenty room to grow hopefully he’ll be our long term goal keeping solution. Left Full Back: Héctor Presedo: Although not all too much between Presedo and Hosni, Presedo got the nod as our first choice left back by virtue of him being contracted to the club rather than on loan, in the league he wasn’t fantastic, but did do well in Europe though average ratings in that competition were certainly bloated by two 7-0 victories. Attribute wise he looks solid if not good, certainly improvement required technically though decent in key areas for his position. Physically he’s very good and mentally fairly good too. Unfortunately, he broke his foot mid-season, so progression halted somewhat, but he’ll be back as first choice next season. Hamza Hosni: As above, Hosni likely would have kept his spot at left back if he were actually contracted to us. The first half of the season he did rarely feature for us however, as a result of Presedo’s broken foot he did step in and do ok in the second half of the season. His contract at Porto was running out, but decided not to sign him permanently due to his wage demands and us having a left back out on loan that could probably do the job of back up just as well. Jindrich Silhan: Due to continental competitions we had more players at the club for depth this season with Silhan registered for the Europa Conference League but not the league, although a centre back naturally he played left back when suspension and injury dictated. Right Full Back: Hein Seynaeve: Seynaeve did end up being first choice right back this season, but was fairly close to his back up Rubio in terms of overall game time. A solid season nonetheless 3 assists to his name in the league. Unfortunately he doesn’t seem to be progressing at the rate I probably need him to for continuing first team football technically not fantastic for his role and mentally and physically areas that are lower than what I would want really. Samu Rubio: Rubio is a bit of an enigma the fact that he’s still in the team, he’s a player that overall hasn’t really developed all too much in his time at the club, but benefitted from a good few solid seasons as first choice in his position. He did actually start the season as first choice before he made 2 mistakes leading to goals in our second match dropping him to second choice but in general is a fairly solid and consistent performer. He’ll probably stay as back up with Seynaeve the one going out on loan as a new right back signed last summer returns from his loan comes for the starting berth. Amr Nagy: From January onwards when suspension and injury struck Nagy filled in at right back, though was definitely signed as a midfielder. Centre Back Mohamed Mansour: Mansour keeps going strong in this team and despite him wanting to leave in January a new contract means he’ll be with me for the foreseeable future maintaining his spot in the heart of the defence. Just generally solid with a good average rating for his position. He does like a yellow though another season of 15 yellows taking his total to 43 league yellows in his 3 years at the club. Joseph Córdova: Córdova had big boots to fill with the outgoing Días being a very good player in his 4 years at the club. He’s not as good on the ball as the aforementioned Días but he makes up for it in other areas of his game. In attributes just geared towards being a defender first and foremost everything bar tackling is 14 and over. I think he compliments Mansour well and hope that these two can form a strong partnership at the back for the years going forward. Like Mansour he had a good season at the back in rating terms as well. John Andreas Bjerkestrand: Bjerkestrand once again found himself as 3rd choice centre back, not an awful player to have as a backup but he’s not really progressed in his 3 years at the club and his lack of height and jumping reach continue to be warning signs but everywhere else he looks a very solid defender. As long as he stays happy he’s a decent player to have on back up and allows for defenders with potential to be pushing for first choice roles to go out for first team football for development. Olly Cherry: Another player in as back up, a cheap buy at 86k, whilst probably not having the potential to challenge for a first team spot, he is not awfully different from Bjerkestrand. This means that Bjerkestrand doesn’t have the back up spot all to himself. Cherry being a domestic under 21 means for the Brexit scenario I got him to be in the squad without being registered giving depth without taking a spot from someone else (and hopefully staying that was so that until Mansour has been here 5 years for citizenship so not counting as a foreign player) Centre Midfield Iván Bueno: True to what the coaches predicted, Bueno is probably at the peak of his ability already, however, that peak is still good for us. As a deep lying playmaker he has had a very good season for us. 5 goals and 11 assists in all competitions is a very good return and he is certainly going to keep his spot in the team. José Díaz: Díaz also kept his spot as first choice going into the season, however his league rating left a lot to be desired, 6.86 compared to Bueno’s 7.45 a huge disparity. Now of course they were playing in different roles but I would still have hoped Díaz would have done better. In continental competitions however Díaz was a man possessed 8 assists and a goal from 14 games with a 7.80 average rating very good. Díaz probably suffers somewhat from being played in a less creative role as his attributes do suggests he could play the same role as Bueno with his traits probably suiting a playmaking role also but Bueno means he doesn’t get to play there. Amr Nagy: Whilst not 3rd choice for the entire season having only joined in January, Nagy stepped into that role once he arrived, though was also deployed as right back when needed. His natural roles within the team aren’t really any that we utilise though and his attributes in those roles aren’t yet as good as those who play the positions but I feel he could grow into them and surpass one or both given time to develop but a good rotational option to have regardless, plus anyone breaking into their national team at 17 seems a good punt to me. Stuart Lea: Lea was very much down towards the back up side of the team this year featuring very sparsely overall. We are having some issues in registration rules with nonforeign players so Lea acts as a nonforeign player of an ok quality. Until such a time we get nonforeign players in that are at least as good as Lea with room to grow I hope I’ll be able to keep Lea around as an ‘experienced’ player. Like this season next year his play time will be limited. Christopher James: For James you could probably read Lea’s overview as it’s very much the same story. Very similar amount of game time, very similar reasoning for him still to be around the first team squad. Michael Morante: Morante is a weird one, ticks a lot of boxes in his attributes, dubbed a wonderkid by the media, he came back from a loan spell in January to take a place in the midfield unit and even did pretty well when played before his injury. But on his return to the club some clubs put bids in an he got annoyed they were rejected so he may be sold in the Summer to prevent similar situations down the line if he does well for us. Left Attacking Midfield Alen Jancar: Due to Zarate getting a long term injury just after the window closed Jancar found himself in the position of first choice left attacking midfield with not as much competition behind him. In January there was more depth added to the position giving him more competition, but all in all a decent season for the Slovenian. He did actually perform as back up to the right attacking midfield as well where needed and attacking midfield centre due to his versatility. He is progressing slowly but surely though will probably move down to more of a squad player role that first choice going forward. Pablo Ferreyra: Ferreyra came signed in January actually to take Jancar’s starting place in the team, however his early for dictated that Jancar kept the spot for a little bit. Towards the end of the season he did start to pick up a little so will probably start the season as first choice, but with Jancar to step in for drop offs in form. He looks solid and as with all of our signings has plenty time to grow and potential to grow into. It is curious the number of Argentinians we end up with on the books that look good and yet none of them have had a call up. Mark Mooney: Mooney is very much a casualty of us playing a system that didn’t get the best out of anyone in the position as a lingering thought behind him not featuring as much as he may well have otherwise done. In limited appearances he racked up 4 goals and 5 assists which is actually one of his best returns for us. He has complained about game time and wants to go out on loan, though I may look to sell him. Loaning him out at 23 doesn’t really benefit us, selling him might. David Bastunov: Bastunov is a contributing factor to me being open to sell Mooney. Another relatively cheap young English player. Like Cherry as a defender, Bastunov provided depth to the position whilst not taking up a spot in the registration. He featured very infrequently, however, I feel he is good enough to do a job if needed. Right Attacking Midfield Guido Fontanelli: Fontanelli kept his starting spot from last season and continued to play in a role that he wasn’t natural in to what I would say is good effect. 8 goals and 4 assists a good return, if still fairly low on the assists front. He is progressing relatively well and will likely keep his spot going into the new season. Alen Jancar: Jancar was near enough second choice right attacking midfield, especially after Ferreyra came in to oust him from the left side. Mohamed Mokake: Mokake is a player who acted as back up in the right attacking midfield and did actually score some key goals and assists in the latter stages of the season, namely in the Europa Conference League Semi Final, 2 goals and 2 assists across the two legs despite only starting in one of them. Almost certainly Tanzania’s best player and whilst he probably won’t progress to be a started, he’s a very good squad player to have his either footedness proving to be beneficial. Centre Attacking Midfield: Federico Stroppa: Stroppa ended up featuring most frequently in centre attacking midfield position, though he did feature on the left and right at times whilst a couple appearances as striker. Whilst in Europe he did very well 7 goals and 2 assists. The league was not sensational, 3 goals and 2 assists, towards the back end of the season he was out of the team due to a change in shape and going back to two strikers. I think Stroppa has the potential to be a good player, but I plan to loan him out next season so he’ll actually play as game time would be limited for him in our new system. Barry Blair: Blair like Stroppa will find his game time diminished somewhat though Blair has already gone through that in recent years from playing all games where he was available down to just 10 starts and 6 sub appearances this season. He isn’t really of the quality needed for the premier league and finds himself in similar boat to Stuart Lea and Christopher James – kept mainly due to registration rules. Like many players he has a good average rating in Europe but we played some weak teams there so hard to properly gauge performance from that. Striker: Jorge Cossu: Whilst Watson and Hart did score relatively well last season Cossu was brought in to try and be more prolific to increase our chances. Between them Watson and Hart only managed 22 goals in all competitions last season, not great. Cossu came in pretty well rounded with his mental attributes probably being the area that is the weakest. He managed to get 24 goals in all competitions on his own though again, inflated by both more competitions and big wins against worse opposition. Changing to a two striker system means Cossu will keep his spot anyway, but allows Watson, Hart or any other striker more opportunities to prove their worth. Simon Watson: Similarly to last season Watson wasn’t particularly prolific however he start a lot fewer games this season 9 goals for his campaign isn’t awful but it’s far from great though one of those 9 won us the European Conference League so not all bad. He did actually improve a fair bit over the season in terms of his attributes and he may benefit from playing alongside another striker. Next season he’ll be vying for one of the striker spots with Cossu and one of our on loan Strikers who scored 18 in Ligue 1 this season Terry Hart: I’m annoyed that Hart is still not considered a club legend, but this season wouldn’t have helped his chances of ever reaching there, he found himself very much a back up this season though got a bit more game time after the switch to two up top and was instrumental in our victory at Old Trafford on the final day of the season claiming 2 assists which, for him, is very good he has only gotten more than 2 assists in an entire season once since league one. I probably should let him leave and score goals a plenty elsewhere, but I’m attached, plus he’s in the Blair, Lea, James boat of being from the home nations. Finances – Not really sure I still need a section for this, still very good finances as expected, would be interesting to see how high I can get in here before in starts to decrease due to wages and transfer expenditure. Youth Intake – Our Youth intakes are all rather similar these days whilst they’re not terrible, they also aren’t really producing anyone who might step into the first team in future years this years’ best prospects Ed Muggeridge and Aaron Walters. Next Season The aim has got to be a higher league position this season we didn’t progress there finishing in the same position with a slightly worse record, though I do feel we progressed overall in playing staff and change in style. On players I’m actually happy with the crop that we have and don’t actually think we need to make any signings who are going to be starting players. Some of the returning loan players look like they will be able to add stronger depth, this summer I may look at bringing in some English Talent to bolster the ranks and to free the likes of Lea, Blair and James. Future prospects will probably be signed but I’m now getting to a point where I can fine tune incomings better. News The board are only upgrading youth facilities, not training facilities this year which is a shame. We’re also already getting a ground expansion as we sold over 14000 season tickets and ended the season playing in a 13000 capacity stadium, work that one out. This time we’re not trekking all the way to Dean Court a much more sensible temporary ground share at the AMEX in Brighton. Wasn’t to be for the U23s as they crashed out of the Football League Trophy in the group stages. Edited March 20, 2020 by _JHTB_ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMU Chips Posted March 20, 2020 Share Posted March 20, 2020 Whitby Town 2028/2029 - Anyone want to loan us a title? Promotion to League Two has been secured without the need of playoffs as a complete 3-0 win on the final day was enough (Chester only managed a draw but we had better goal difference, so it wouldn't have mattered). I had a chance to sign slightly better players with our newfound financial security, but found very few good free options. Ended up getting 3 new starters on frees and 4 on loan. Two of the loan players ended up as some of the best players in the league (though our best two were still our players: Malloy and Thomas), while the other two were first team regulars but struggled in terms of average rating. I was shocked that Middlesbrough agreed to loan us Sandhu after he had been transfer listed for 2.6mil, but he wanted to play for me again and I definitely wasn't going to say no to having a Championship level player in the squad. Malloy thrived with 4 good playmaking options behind him and smashed in the goals, barely missing out on tying the Vanarama National scoring record. Plans to improve youth facilities for a second time this summer were scrapped after we needed 1.7m to get our stadium up to minimum League standards. League Table - Squad Stats - Transfers - Year League Position Cups Training Youth Junior Recruitment Attendance (Cap) Badges Transfers (In-Out) Top Scorer Most Assists Av. Rating Clean Sheets May balance Total wages 2028/2029 VN National 1st FAC: 2nd round, FAT: 2nd round Below Average Basic Fairly Basic Basic 1297 (4000) Nat. A (+£11.5k) 10-3 Ray Malloy - 40 Bob Thomas - 19 Ray Malloy - 7.59 (48) Brian Isherwood - 15 (£302k) £15k p/w 2027/2028 VN National 9th FAC: 3rd round, FAT: 2nd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 1309 (4000) Nat. A (+£1.6m) 10-4 Ray Malloy - 25 Bob Thomas - 13 Ray Malloy - 7.16 (51) Anthony Patterson - 10 (£1.6m) £10k p/w 2026/2027 VN National 9th FAC: 4th qual., FAT: 2nd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 1221 (4000) Nat. C (£0) 6-4 Connor Bell - 23 Connor Bell - 12 Connor Bell - 7.27 (47) Anthony Patterson - 14 (£15k) £5.9k p/w 2025/2026 VN North 1st FAC: 1st round, FAT: 3rd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 576 (3180) Nat. C (+£8k) 11-4 Joe Ridley - 32 Joe Ridley - 18 Bob Thomas - 7.59 (50) Jonny Orritt - 25 (£583k) £4.9k p/w 2024/2025 VN North 5th FAC: 4th qual., FAT: 2nd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 640 (3180) Nat. C (+£150k) 10-2 Cole Kiernan - 29 Connor Bell - 20 Alfie Payne - 7.52 (32) Dave Richards - 12 (£541k) £5.4k p/w 2023/2024 VN North 5th FAC: 2nd qual., FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 565 (3180) Nat. C (+£12k) 14-10 Mitchell George - 31 Dion McGhee - 11 Mitchell George - 7.45 (51) Marcel Wusiewicz - 16 (£443k) £7.4k p/w 2022/2023 VN North 5th FAC: 3rd round, FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 798 (3180) None (£0) 18-6 Mitchell George - 40 Jake Cain - 16 Mitchell George - 7.35 (55) Jacob Carney - 17 (£37k) £6.3k p/w 2021/2022 VN North 8th FAC: 3rd qual., FAT: 3rd qual. Basic Poor Adequate Average 644 (3180) None (£0) 10-1 Mitchell George - 27 Mohammed Sangaré - 11 Mitchell George - 7.33 (46) Jacob Carney - 11 (£174k) £5.9k p/w 2020/2021 VN North 10th FAC: 3rd qual., FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 633 (3180) None (£0) 9-2 Connor Bell - 10 Jordan Barnett -11 Dale Hopson - 7.02 (49) Jacob Carney - 19 (£98.71k) £6.2k p/w 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Haines Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 On 20/03/2020 at 01:38, lfc7 said: What key stats does everyone look for in a goalkeeper at VNN level ? Thanks I just make sure they have decent reflexes and handling. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingjericho Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Nantwich - Sky Bet League Two - 2026/27 A great league performance for us, even if once again unsurprising in the other competitions. In the EFL Trophy we had a good group stage but then fell at home to Chester on the penalty shootout. In the FA Cup our first match was away to a League One team which proved too hard for us. In the League Cup Blackburn was our first opponent, much stronger than us as well. During the summer I was aware I had assembled a great squad - my main transfer targets were all successfully signed to us and I was confident we could go toe and toe with the title contenders. As it has been the case in this game, when our morale and form start to pick up we turn into a goal scoring machine and even though our defense is not the best, we end up outscoring our opponents most of the time. The big gap to the second place started to happen around matchday 30, when Grimsby and Rochdale started dropping several points and we carried our winning ways until the end of the season. Season Division Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Vanarama National League North 13th 2021/22 Vanarama National League North 7th 2022/23 Vanarama National League North 1st Promoted as champions 2023/24 Vanarama National League 1st Promoted as champions 2024/25 Sky Bet League Two 8th 2025/26 Sky Bet League Two 7th 2026/27 Sky Bet League Two 1st Promoted as champions 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Haines Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Whitby Town League One – 2024/25 –12th Squad Transfers Overview A good start to life in League One, so far as I was concerned at least. The board were less impressed having expected us to make the play-offs. We were inconsistent most of the season and never looked likely to break into the top six. As with last season we were over-reliant on loan signings as I am struggling to find players on free transfers of the quality required to climb the leagues. Those I brought in did okay but my hope is to bring in my own players. I expect to be supplementing them with loan players again however. Key Players Mark Ferguson – Midfielder on loan from Arsenal. Did well adding 13 assists. Tom Williamson – Young English Striker signed from Everton on loan and scored 20 goals. Record Season League Position Europe Achievements ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Conference North 5th 2021/22 Conference North 2nd Playoff Winner, Promoted 2022/23 Conference National 1st Champions, Promoted 2023/24 League Two 3rd Promoted 2023/24 League One 12th 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMU Chips Posted March 22, 2020 Share Posted March 22, 2020 Whitby Town 2029/2030 - It just takes some time to gel All of our loan players went back and we lost a CM who started every league game to a bid from Fulham but we found some decent replacements... or so I thought. We won just 2 of our first 9 and I was gearing up for a long season. Instead we started dominating teams nearly every match. We ended up 2nd in the league in possession and first in most scored and fewest conceded. Quite a surprising year as our top scorer last year struggled in the higher division, but we got a decent amount of goals from a wide range of players. My coaches seem to think Bob Thomas doesn't have it at this level based on his CA, but he won player of the year. Also struggling to find more than one or two players each year worth permanent deals so we had loanees as 3 of our top 4 players. Lost a little bit of money on the season but nothing major. We do have some loans to deal with for the stadium improvement. League Table - Season Stats - Transfers - Year League Position Cups Training Youth Junior Recruitment Attendance (Cap) Badges Transfers (In-Out) Top Scorer Most Assists Av. Rating Clean Sheets May balance Total wages 2029/2030 League Two 1st FAC: 1st round, Carabao: 1st round Below Average Basic Fairly Basic Basic 2582 (5500) Cont. B (+£275k) 13-2 Shemol Millington - 17 Bob Thomas - 16 Bob Thomas - 7.43 (46) Tony O'Flaherty - 28 (£256k) £23.6k p/w 2028/2029 VN National 1st FAC: 2nd round, FAT: 2nd round Below Average Basic Fairly Basic Basic 1297 (4000) Nat. A (+£11.5k) 10-3 Ray Malloy - 40 Bob Thomas - 19 Ray Malloy - 7.59 (48) Brian Isherwood - 15 (£302k) £15k p/w 2027/2028 VN National 9th FAC: 3rd round, FAT: 2nd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 1309 (4000) Nat. A (+£1.6m) 10-4 Ray Malloy - 25 Bob Thomas - 13 Ray Malloy - 7.16 (51) Anthony Patterson - 10 (£1.6m) £10k p/w 2026/2027 VN National 9th FAC: 4th qual., FAT: 2nd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 1221 (4000) Nat. C (£0) 6-4 Connor Bell - 23 Connor Bell - 12 Connor Bell - 7.27 (47) Anthony Patterson - 14 (£15k) £5.9k p/w 2025/2026 VN North 1st FAC: 1st round, FAT: 3rd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 576 (3180) Nat. C (+£8k) 11-4 Joe Ridley - 32 Joe Ridley - 18 Bob Thomas - 7.59 (50) Jonny Orritt - 25 (£583k) £4.9k p/w 2024/2025 VN North 5th FAC: 4th qual., FAT: 2nd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 640 (3180) Nat. C (+£150k) 10-2 Cole Kiernan - 29 Connor Bell - 20 Alfie Payne - 7.52 (32) Dave Richards - 12 (£541k) £5.4k p/w 2023/2024 VN North 5th FAC: 2nd qual., FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 565 (3180) Nat. C (+£12k) 14-10 Mitchell George - 31 Dion McGhee - 11 Mitchell George - 7.45 (51) Marcel Wusiewicz - 16 (£443k) £7.4k p/w 2022/2023 VN North 5th FAC: 3rd round, FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 798 (3180) None (£0) 18-6 Mitchell George - 40 Jake Cain - 16 Mitchell George - 7.35 (55) Jacob Carney - 17 (£37k) £6.3k p/w 2021/2022 VN North 8th FAC: 3rd qual., FAT: 3rd qual. Basic Poor Adequate Average 644 (3180) None (£0) 10-1 Mitchell George - 27 Mohammed Sangaré - 11 Mitchell George - 7.33 (46) Jacob Carney - 11 (£174k) £5.9k p/w 2020/2021 VN North 10th FAC: 3rd qual., FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 633 (3180) None (£0) 9-2 Connor Bell - 10 Jordan Barnett -11 Dale Hopson - 7.02 (49) Jacob Carney - 19 (£98.71k) £6.2k p/w 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormtochampion Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) Since fm is free to play for a week, decided to go with Stourbridge for this year challenge after last year challenge with Whitehawk. Board expects us to fight bravely against relegation Edited March 23, 2020 by kazemagic Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean3h Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Haven't properly done this properly for a few years, so thought I'd jump back in and give single player FM a bit of a kick! After many reloads (I started at 7am this morning!), I'm starting as my local team - Worthing. #WeAreWorthing Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goonergez Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 I’m going to start running one of these alongside my Dulwich Hamlet save. I’ll be setting up my game this afternoon after I’ve finished work (joys of being a food delivery driver 😏) I’ll update you when I’ve started! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vipertitan Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 South Shields-Season 2020-2021-Vanarama National League North The media prediction for my first season was to finish in the bottom half of the table in 13th place so i was expecting it to be a hard season for us. League Table - Wining the League my first time of asking was a joy even with the 110 points total i was shocked at how well we did in my first season. FA CUP- - We did well in this we managed to get to the first round but a strong Carlisle United beat us 2-1. FA Trophy-- Again we went all the way to the semi finals only to get beat by Maidstone United but the scoreline dose not reflect on how well i thought we played. Squad-- I got rid of most of the older players and focused on youth but kept one or two older placers keep the balance of the team. Transfer History-- All free transfers so did not spend much of our budget on buying players. Finance Summary-- I over spent on the better players to try and get them on long turn deals and they signed. KEY PLAYER PROFILES : Top Scorer- Jason Gilchrist Most Assist- Luke Daly Highest Average Rating- D'Mani Mellor Most Valuable Player- Ethan Galbraith Top Youth Prospect- Kieran Charlton Career Overview: Season League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 National League North 1St Champions NEXT SEASON: I'm Feeling quit optimistic about our chances of avoiding relegation if we get the right signings. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goonergez Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 Well after reloading for literally all of yesterday afternoon, my chosen team did finally pop up for use. I played through pre-season and the first few games last night, and I’ll have an update later on my early progress in charge of my new club. Never tried this before but must say it’s already grabbed me big time! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadedaf Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 Haringey Borough Season 2021/22 Report Aims for this season were mid-table minimum with eyes on a playoff berth League- Started really well, just like last season. Had a mid-season collapse, just like last season. Came back even better, unlike last season and this time we just barely scraped into the playoffs in 7th on goal difference. We took on Eastleigh in the playoffs and it was a 1-1 draw in regulation before going all the way to penalties and we unfortunately lost 6-5 on pens. FA Cup- Both Lewes and Bognor Regis from the league below took us to a replay although we won both comfortably, before taking care of Eastbourne Boro from our division. We then came up against Eastleigh and unfortunately they knocked us out of this competition too, losing 4-0. FA Trophy- Got an unlucky draw with Maidenhead, the eventual winners of our division and they scraped a 1-0 win over us. Transfers Results Results 2 Best Players- Top Goalscorer: Kelsey Mooney (29) By far my best striker this year, although actually a little inconsistent. He scored 18 of these goals in the first and last months of the season, make of that what you will. Most Assists: Jake Evans (11) One of the few to keep their starting spot from last season, i'm very happy with how well he and the rest of my midfielders played. Highest avg rating: Kelsey Mooney (7.37) Most POM: Kelsey Mooney (10) Next Season: Another playoff berth is the minimum expectation, but ideally I think promotion is within reach if we have another year of good signings. We are in dire financial straits so hopefully we find a way to alleviate that. I actually signed a player for real money in Hywel Evans, a welsh wonderkid who is my best fullback at the age of 18, however he has been incredibly costly with all the clauses. Season League Position FA Cup FA Trophy/Carabao Top Scorer Most Assists Highest Avg Rating ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2020/21 Vanarama South 15th 1st Round 1st Round Reid/Asante(14) Reid(9) Asante(7.10) 2021/22 Vanarama South 7th 1st Round 3rd Qual Round Mooney(29) Evans(11) Mooney(7.37) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goonergez Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 dafuge FM20 Challenge So my first ever attempt at this challenge, and so far I have found it very enjoyable indeed. I've already spent much of this years edition playing in the Conference National and North/South, so feel that I should be fairly equipped to give this challenge a real good go. In honesty I don't expect to achieve it, but I want to give it a go and now seems as good a time as any with the amount of time we are having to spend indoors. I have set my manager profile up the same as I always do, with all the requirements for game setup met. Having holidayed over and over again yesterday afternoon, I finaly got the team I was chasing for after about four hours. That gave me some time to play last night, and I got the pre-season done and cracked on with the start of the league campaign. My team of choice, was Cray Wanderers who gained promotion in game from the Isthmian Premier Division. I wanted them as my club as they are only about twenty miles away from my home, and also they have a blank canvas of history waiting to be rewritten. For me that is an exciting prospect indeed. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cray Wanderers were founded in 1860 by a group of railway workers who used to kick a ball around for leisure. If these origins of the club are to be true, then they would rank as one of the oldest football clubs in the world. The club is based in Bromley on the outskirts of London and play their home games at Hayes Lane,, which they ground share with Bromley of the Conference National. In real life the club are currently building a brand new stadium on the site of the old flamingo park, just off the a20 into London. Unfortunately and not particularly surprisingly this move is not included on the game. That doesn't disappoint me greatly, as it is again in keeping with my hopes of kicking off on a clean slate. Hopefully in the future we may end up with a new stadium named in my honour. Part of my reasoning for picking this club was the geographical position though, as being near to London centre should make attracting players simpler. The club have never reached the main stages of the FA Cup, going as far as the Fourth Qualifying Round during the 2005/06 season. In the FA Trophy the best effort is a spot within the Third Qualifying Round. Hopefully I will be able to rewrite this as I forge my career here. The highest ever league finish was 9th in the Isthmian Premier, although in game they obviously went better by winning the play-offs to gain promotion. As I have said it is this blank history that really drew me to this club. I'm hoping to stay here for many years and this gives me a great basis for writing the clubs hopefully improved future. Basically anything that my players or my team achieve here will end p going down as a club record. For the first season here my aim is just to get the setup of the club exactly how I want it to be, and how I want it to work. The board asks for a brave battle against relegation, but presented me with a wage budget that was big enough to bring in a few new signings. Nothing extensive, but a few. I'm not really expecting too much, but a safe finish within mid-table would leave me very happy indeed. Upon my arrival I sorted out my backroom staff, brining in a whole new team of staff. The only one of note really is Darren Bent, the former Tottenham man joining as a first team coach. We also signed an affiliation with Accrington Stanley. It hasn't proven anything of note as yet, but hopefully will go on to prove fruitful in the future. Tactically we're going to play a 4-1-2-2-1 formation, a kind of twist on a standard 4-5-1. The lone striker will need to be hard working, with him and the wingers proving our offensive threat. Defensively I want us to be really difficult to break down, hence the inclusion of a holding midfield player. My aim is to win the ball and break with speed, exploiting the flanks. Hopefully we can make it work to our advantage. We did conduct some transfer activity, but in all honesty not as much as I had expected. Financially this club is projected to bleed money, and so for that reason I tried to keep the wage bill down. A new goalkeeper was a priority, and I also found a winger who should fit into our system effectively. In total we brought in six new players, all for the first team. We are just over the weekly allocated wage budget, so I will be chasing a cup run of some sort to help boost our cashflow. Of our transfer activity it is probably central defender Pablo Martinez I am most excited about. He was on the books with West Brom until just before my arrival, and so will have a point to prove in the yellow shirt of ours. I am really excited to get stuck right into this, and we've already played four league matches so far. Two victories presents a very solid start, but a disappointing 0-2 defeat to fellow new boys Gosport Borough put a blot on our start. We aren't having any problems creating chances and holding possession, but so far we have struggled to put the ball in the net. Hopefully as this team begins to gel it will become easier for us. I'm hoping we can string some form together, and when I return I will have good news to update you on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
goonergez Posted March 25, 2020 Share Posted March 25, 2020 Cray Wanderers FC: 2020/21 Mid-Season Report I've got through to the halfway point within Cray Wanderers first campaign in the Conference South, and therefore it's time for a brief update on our progress so far. With all of the changes that we made both on and off the field I wasn't expecting very much, and expectations around were that we were in for a season of struggle. I was expecting us to struggle through the early days of the campaign, but was hoping that as the season went on our form would improve. As my team got used to my style tactics and methods I expected improvement, but I didn't expect what actually occurred. Everybody seemed to jump on board with my club plan, and it's been an enjoyable ride so far. In total honesty, I really didn't' expect this at all. I really did anticipate a season of struggle as my players got used to everything I brought to the club. I believed it would take time for the players to familiarise themselves with our tactics and playing style, but instead they gelled immediately and have gone on to defy all pre-season expectations and predictions. It's even more unbelievable, when we lost our second game 0-2 at home to fellow promoted side Gosport Borough in a very poor display. We're unbeaten in twenty one games though, and flying high. We've scored plenty of goals so far led by striker Owen Gallagher. We picked him up in the summer after his release from Nottingham Forest, and after a slow start to the season he really has hit some form. He's bagged 16 goals so far, and sits as the top scorer in the division so far. Defensively we have been superb, hence conceding the fewest goals of anybody in the league. My newly formed central defensive partnership of Pablo Martinez and Kevin Healy has really done us good. Goalkeeper and fellow summer recruit Cameron Plain has been consistent for us too, keeping 10 clean sheets, and conceding just 14 goals so far. The only real disappointment has been young winger Harlem Hale. We picked him up after he was released by Southampton and I was expecting him to be a stand out performer. His performance have been poor though, and he's contributed just 1 goal and 3 assists so far. He can't command a spot in our starting line up at the moment, and with his contract up in the summer he's going to have to show some considerable improvement. Financially I was hoping for a nice run in the FA Cup, especially as I had gone over the weekly allocated wage budget with my summer dealings. We entered in the Second Qualifying Round, and managed to get through a tricky away tie against Lewes with a 1-0 victory. We were extremely unlucky in the draw for the next round though, drawn at home against one of the strongest teams in our division. At the time our league leaders Havant & Waterlooville arrived, and despite fighting valiantly we lost 0-2 to exit the competition. That forced my hand, and after trying and falling for a couple of months I managed to shift a player on a simply astronomical wage. Winger Andre Coker was earning just shy of £700 per week just to sit and warm our bench, having been handed a new contract just prior to my arrival. We are paying £100 per week towards his new contract, but I was delighted to shift him off to Weymouth on a free transfer. After freeing that room on our wage budget I was able to move and add depth to our midfield. 18-year old Rafferty Pedder was signed up to play in central midfield, after being released by Tottenham in the summer. Delightfully we are still under our wage budget even after bringing him in. In the FA Trophy we travelled away and won against Berkhamsted in the Third and final qualifying round, winning a tight game 2-1 to progress. That put the club in the First Round of the competition for the very first time in its history, and we were drawn at home to Conference National side Sutton United. We put up a great fight, but unfortunately lost the game 0-1. I've been suitably impressed with how we have started the season, and how we have managed to prove everybody who doubted us wrong. At time we've played some truly brilliant football, and we've performed better than even I had felt we were capable of. Fears of being embroiled in a relegation battle have long disappeared, and even a mid-table finish would go down as a disappointment from this position. I see absolutely no reason why we can't at lease try to be involved in the play-off picture, come the end of the season. We've performed well enough to do so, and now it is just about showing consistency to achieve it. The issue we may end up facing is just purely the lack of depth in the squad. I'm running with a squad that contains just eighteen players, meaning it is extremely difficult to rotate the side. We've tried to keep players as fresh as possible, and so far it has just about worked. Exiting the FA Cup early definitely helping to ease fixture congestion. Thankfully we haven't yet faced and real injury or suspension problems. Once the matches start coming thick and fast we may struggle though, and that is my biggest fear. There is enough room in the allocated wage budget to bring in new faces, but I would rather try and save the club some money by avoiding that. It's going to be tough for us to keep going as we have, but I am determined that we make sure we have a real go at it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMU Chips Posted March 26, 2020 Share Posted March 26, 2020 Whitby Town 2030/2031 - Wasted season but at least we're rich Brought in a ton of new players on loan/frees and we were the best team in the league.... until the game randomly decided we sucked in the last month and a half. Players standing still as the ball goes over their head, goalkeeper kicking the ball off the other team's players, just generally stupid stuff. It dropped us to 3rd and we gave up 5 in the first leg of the playoffs despite allowing less than a goal per game until March. Almost rage quit. Guess we'll have to figure out how to improve next year. The nice thing is we will be able to do it from a secure financial position. O'Flaherty had a transfer clause which I was able to remove with a new contract, but in January Watford came and offered 1.4mil. I declined and they came back with 4.3mil. I negotiated up to 5mil+2.5mil+50% profit. It was too much to decline. It got the board to improve our facilities at least. Also sold a transfer clause for 1.75mil so we are very secure. The board decided this was the right time to look for a ground where we could build a new stadium as we were coming close to capacity at Turnbull Ground. League Table- Squad Stats- Transfers- Year League Position Cups Training Youth Junior Recruitment Attendance (Cap) Badges Transfers (In-Out) Top Scorer Most Assists Av. Rating Clean Sheets May balance Total wages 2030/2031 League One 3rd FAC: 1st round, Carabao: 1st round Below Average Basic Average Fairly Basic 4763 (5500) Cont. A (+£10m) 16-3 Gareth Durham - 26 Bob Thomas - 19 Bob Thomas - 7.25 (49) Tony O'Flaherty - 11 (£5.9m) £38.7k p/w 2029/2030 League Two 1st FAC: 1st round, Carabao: 1st round Below Average Basic Fairly Basic Basic 2582 (5500) Cont. B (+£275k) 13-2 Shemol Millington - 17 Bob Thomas - 16 Bob Thomas - 7.43 (46) Tony O'Flaherty - 28 (£256k) £23.6k p/w 2028/2029 VN National 1st FAC: 2nd round, FAT: 2nd round Below Average Basic Fairly Basic Basic 1297 (4000) Nat. A (+£11.5k) 10-3 Ray Malloy - 40 Bob Thomas - 19 Ray Malloy - 7.59 (48) Brian Isherwood - 15 (£302k) £15k p/w 2027/2028 VN National 9th FAC: 3rd round, FAT: 2nd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 1309 (4000) Nat. A (+£1.6m) 10-4 Ray Malloy - 25 Bob Thomas - 13 Ray Malloy - 7.16 (51) Anthony Patterson - 10 (£1.6m) £10k p/w 2026/2027 VN National 9th FAC: 4th qual., FAT: 2nd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 1221 (4000) Nat. C (£0) 6-4 Connor Bell - 23 Connor Bell - 12 Connor Bell - 7.27 (47) Anthony Patterson - 14 (£15k) £5.9k p/w 2025/2026 VN North 1st FAC: 1st round, FAT: 3rd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 576 (3180) Nat. C (+£8k) 11-4 Joe Ridley - 32 Joe Ridley - 18 Bob Thomas - 7.59 (50) Jonny Orritt - 25 (£583k) £4.9k p/w 2024/2025 VN North 5th FAC: 4th qual., FAT: 2nd round Basic Poor Adequate Average 640 (3180) Nat. C (+£150k) 10-2 Cole Kiernan - 29 Connor Bell - 20 Alfie Payne - 7.52 (32) Dave Richards - 12 (£541k) £5.4k p/w 2023/2024 VN North 5th FAC: 2nd qual., FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 565 (3180) Nat. C (+£12k) 14-10 Mitchell George - 31 Dion McGhee - 11 Mitchell George - 7.45 (51) Marcel Wusiewicz - 16 (£443k) £7.4k p/w 2022/2023 VN North 5th FAC: 3rd round, FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 798 (3180) None (£0) 18-6 Mitchell George - 40 Jake Cain - 16 Mitchell George - 7.35 (55) Jacob Carney - 17 (£37k) £6.3k p/w 2021/2022 VN North 8th FAC: 3rd qual., FAT: 3rd qual. Basic Poor Adequate Average 644 (3180) None (£0) 10-1 Mitchell George - 27 Mohammed Sangaré - 11 Mitchell George - 7.33 (46) Jacob Carney - 11 (£174k) £5.9k p/w 2020/2021 VN North 10th FAC: 3rd qual., FAT: 1st round Basic Poor Adequate Average 633 (3180) None (£0) 9-2 Connor Bell - 10 Jordan Barnett -11 Dale Hopson - 7.02 (49) Jacob Carney - 19 (£98.71k) £6.2k p/w Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
G_D_K Posted March 26, 2020 Share Posted March 26, 2020 (edited) Season Review (Season Six, 2025-26) Table / Position Graph / Squad / Finances / Transfers / Manager Attributes / Facilities / Annual Injuries / Competitions / Reputation / Club Vision SUMMARY Season Six was, to put it mildly, a stunning success. We started out slow, but gradually picked up steam as some new players integrated into the team. Things looked bleak early, with a rare run of form in the friendlies giving us one draw and 5 losses, causing, I am sure, a plummet in morale. Looking back, the slate of teams we played (Man Utd U23s, Grimsby, Fulham U23s, Cardiff) set us up for failure! Will have to pay more careful attention next season. August saw us open w/ 2 pts in our first 3 before grabbing our first two wins.... and from there a 7 match unbeaten streak. That gave us the momentum we needed, and we didn't lose more than 2 games in a row all season (and that, only twice). By matchday 11, we were firmly entrenched in the playoff hunt, dropping out on a couple occasions when we had matches in hand due to cup ties (and cup replays...lots of those I seem to recall!). After matchday 30, we never dropped out of the playoffs, and continued to climb the table. By matchday 37, we had a first round bye all but secured (never dropped lower than 3rd after that week), and after matchday 42, we had 2nd in our hands and just needed to see it out. Surprisingly, Stockport, the eventual winners, fell off form and gave us an out to snatch the title, but a timely win in their penultimate match meant we could at best tie them, and they had a +7 goal differential for us to overcome. It didn't matter, they handily won their final match, so that left us with the reins on 2nd, a first round playoff bye, and the future in our own hands. Offensively, we were a powerhouse. Our 79 team goals placed us joint 2nd on the league leaderboard (Leyton Orient managed 91 for first). Satisfying our boards demands of making most of set pieces, we scored 13 goals from corners (also joint second in league, also behind Leyton Orient), 3 from DFKs (joint 3rd), and 8 from IFKs (6th). We had FIVE different players with double-digit goals, led (of course!) by Tom Fielding (22 goals). FIelding was followed closely by left winger Rio Campbell (15 goals). Rounding out the group were strikers Richard Wilde, Harvey Bradbury, and midfielder Tom Sharpe, who snuck in late in the season with some great goals to reach a career season high (in fact, Sharpe only had three senior goals prior to this season). Defensively, we were solid, although not spectacular. Our 48 goals conceded put us 7th on the defensive leaderboard. The defense was led (from December on at least), by newcomer Alpha Camara, who instantly became my best center back upon his signing. (He entered the team as a decent VNL CA, w/ Leading VNL potential -- one of the few VNL CA players on the squad). He would end the season with a respectable 7.02 AvR, and be instrumental in our solid run in the second half of the season. He was aided by the returning DCs Bradley-Green, Oliver Casey, and Matthew Moloney. In addition to a solid defense the quartet also contributed 7 goals from setpieces. Rounding out the defense were starting fullbacks Benjamin Allison (DR--42 appearances w/ a 91% tackle won ration) and Luke Robinson (40 appearances /w a 91% tackle won ration, 2 goals and 4 assists). This backline aided our two goalkeepers Joshua Roach and Ryan Hall, who together managed 19 clean sheets in the league --- 3rd overall. These two are going to get a boost (or one of the two will...assuming I potentially let one go) by the Spoiler full-time training we're about to benefit from. All said and done, a very successful run to make the playoffs for the second straight season. Here's hoping our playoff push goes better this season. Given our results (esp. against some of the top 5 or 6 teams in the division), I had high hopes. Promotion / Playoffs Well, well, well. Playoffs...for the second straight year. This is year 6 -- the year I historically like to get out of the VNL mire in this challenge. Usually I'm successful...but usually it's by winning the title...the playoffs are just so...chancy! We had a (small) chance of snatching the title, but Stockport did just well enough in their final two matches to deny us...so here we are again. At least, by finishing 2nd, we have a bye and a chance for some VERY MUCH NEEDED REST, after playing 14 matches in March/April! We also have the home field advantage --- and home field crowds (which have been climbing steadily for the past couple months!) to cheer us on. Our first fight would be vs Barnet, a team we had beaten 3 times, lost two twice, and drawn with once in our 6 matches together since we've joined the VNL. Of note, this year featured a 1-0 away loss and a 1-0 home win. So, I could expect a tough match, and hope our home-field luck still worked. It did. Well, luck, and skill. And, a ref that wasn't violently Anti-Needham Market helped too (8 yellows in the match, 5 for Barnet, 3 for us), and the team combined for 31 fouls (15 Barnet/16 Needham Market). It was a well fought battle, almost literally! Barnet grabbed a lead late in the first half with a break-away goal --- their keeper distributing the ball over the top, and striker Flint splitting defenders Camara and Bradley-Green to slot it past a helpless Ryan Hall. That goal, in the 40th minute, stood, until, exactly 40 minutes later, in the 80th minute, left winger Rio Campbell, who was having the season of his career, made a run into the box on Harvey Johnson's corner kick and tucked the ball into the net behind the keeper at the far post...and ultimately sending us into extra time. Extra time brought no heroics as each team tried to grab the winner, and to the penalty shootout we went. And I say, WE went, as Barnet didn't seem to know what to do. Harvey Bradbury, Rio Robinson, and right winger Joshua Crompton scored on our first three attempts. Ryan Hall saved Barnet's first attempt. And his second. And, with his THIRD PK SAVE of the shootout, won the semi-final, denying Tom Fielding even the need to take his shot! With the FAT final to come, we now were facing TWO Wembley appearances this season! To the final, and after we had dispatched Kettering in the FAT final the week prior, the lads were now well used to the environment...and ready to face <groan>……. Gillingham. Again. Okay....yes, I say this with a groan. Sure...we've faced them in two big matches, and came out on top. The first, last year in the league playoff semi-final, was certainly a fluke win. And, while the meeting in the FAT2R wasn't a fluke win, we were still badly outplayed. IN fact, prior to this final, we've played them 6 times and not lost once.... and you KNOW they are out for blood. This is going to be one helluva match! And.... It didn't seem that way early on, as Tom Fielding once again plays the hero, scoring in the FOURTH minute and putting the team at easy. This is our match to win. This is our ticket to league football. We're up, Gillingham has it all to do....again. Then....the ref steps in. Booking, Richard Wilde, 8th minute. Sakyi 25th minute. Johson 34th minute. Sackey 45th minute.....whoa there ref! (to be fair, Gillingham picked up 2 first half bookings as well, but still.....). Start the second half, and we make it thru to the 84th minute with our goal lead and no more bookings...when Gillinghams two strikers link up and beat Hall at the far post.....1-1. And, to extra time we go (4 yellow cards for us, 3 for Gillingham at this point. Extra time would add two to our tally, costing us a fine, while adding one to Gillingham's tally as well, for a total of 10 bookings in the match). Extra time, and it was, fittingly, extra time connoisseur Tom Fielding, with the goal of his career (tho by far his best goal) scoring in the 107th minute to give us a 2-1 lead that would hold to the end, and to victory, especially as Ryan Hall came up with two HUGE saves in the final minute to deny Gillingham yet again. Playoff Champions, League TWO, here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cup Competitions Needham Market had another pretty decent run in the cups this year. In addition to our normal FAC and FAT runs, we had a pleasant surprise waiting at the beginning of the season, as I found myself in something called the "Tunnock's Wafer Cup" --- the.... wtf? cup is this? Turns out it is the Scottish Challenge Cup, which expanded it's included teams outside of Scotland back in (I think) 2017 -- and we were the invitees from England to help them round out their cup schedule. So, we get a few more games under our belt...no problems, right? Just another game probably...but one (2-0 win over Scottish Queen's Park) turned into another....and hit an end. Not a very bad end, mind you...a hard contested 1-0 win against Scottish Championship Ross County (who would go on to win the entire thing). But, an end, nonetheless. The only disappointing thing was we only had 654 in attendance at this home match. But, that aside, we now had the FA Cup to look forward to. Hoping on a big money grab this season (as we're still deep in debt at this point)...turned futile. We did...as well as last year, picking up wins against Guisley (2-0), Barrow (2-0), and Dover (3-1) -- the latter two at home with more disappointing crowds to set us up with a 3rd round matchup for the 2nd straight year. This time, it was a lucrative away matchup.....vs Peterborough. So much for any ££££. A crowd of only 4500 turned up to watch a lopsided match (Peterborough had 34 shots to our 6) in all respects save the final scoreline….we scored twice late to make it a more respectable 4-2 at the whistle. Those that only caught the scores on the tele might have been impressed. So...no money there, that leaves us with the FA Trophy. And this is where we nearly wrecked our squad! We started out well enough, with an easy 1st round win vs Tamworth (3-2 at home) in December. Easy enough, but it took us two penalty kicks to seal the win, against a feisty VNLN squad who were looking to slay the giants (sort of!). The January round two match saw us face up against a team that's got to be hating us by now --- the same Gillingham we knocked out of the VNL playoff semi-finals in season 5. You remember, the match we won 1-0, despite getting outshot 20-3? The match where our goal wasn't even one of our three shots?? Yeah...they're out for blood. We took the lead in first-half stoppage time thru Richard Wilde, but Gillingham made it a contest with a late 87th minute goal forcing extra time. As has been the case for the previous 4-5 matches to this...it was miracle man Tom Fielding who stepped up and grabbed a goal early in the 1st half stoppage time to give us a 2-1 lead and eventually win the match for us. Poor Gillingham---they dominated us again (though not as badly as our playoff semi-final -- shots were 22(6) to our 14(7), though the did enjoy 58% of the possession as well. Their downfall...they played with only 10 men for the last hour of regulation + stoppage time! Well...an extra-time match at this stage of the year wasn't ideal, but worse was to come, as we managed, only thru a replay, to get by Carlisle (1-1 away, 2-1 home), setting up a semi-final matchup vs Fylde (and here, I thought this was a final, as it was a 2-leg match! So, TWO more matches to see if we make our first ever FAT final (and one of MY few, if not MY first ever FAT final! Probably not my first...but they've been rare!). Two more matches tho….were a killer. Because of this, because of weather delays and/or other postponements, we had NINE matches in March and FIVE matches in April. That was an absolute killer. Toss in a couple 3-4 week injuries and I was hard pressed to field a team capable of achieving my goals at the end of the season! Regardless...Fylde. A brilliant 3-0 away win set us up to be comfortable in the home match...and as I had opted to field some of my youth players in the league match or two prior (vs bottom of table opponents) I was able to field pretty much a starting lineup. Possibly didn't need to, as a 14th minute goal gave us an aggregate 4-0 lead, but Fylde battled back and grabbed a goal in the 53rd, and a 2nd in the 87th when my team started flagging. It was too little too late however, and we would make our first ever FAT final in the team's history. And, since the playoffs have already been posted above....you'll note that this is our 2nd Wembley appearance of the season! The final was pretty anti-climatic (though not easy). We were pitted against VNLN Kettering, a team that had bested us 4 out of 5 prior matches (back in our early days in the VNLN). Again, with rest we fielded a full-strength team, and our winning goal came thru a Blaize Clucas DFK -- a goal that might have been goal of the season if it had been in the league. As it was played before the playoff final, this ensured our first trophy of the historic DOUBLE that we achieved! The £ was what was the best however, as between this, the playoff final (and the playoff final of last year), we cut our cash deficit do around £200K (from nearly £1M we were at prior to this point last season). Additional Details Team of the Season Best XI Inductees Set piece specialist Harley Johnson proudly joined the teams historic Top XI team, with 85 appearances, 12 goals, 19 assists, and an 7.07 AvR over Two seasons. Additionally, Declan Blanchfield became the first Needham Market youth academy graduate to feature in the teams historic Top XI. Declan graduate the academy in the 20/21 season and made his senior debut in the VNLN matchup on 4 Sept 2021 vs Gateshead. Playing as a right winger, he scored his first senior goal against Nuneaton Boro on 5 Feb 2022. Declan has made 84 league appearances, scoring 6 times while providing 11 assists. He has also featured in 10 cup matches, scoring twice and providing one assist. Historical Best XI Fans Player of the Season -- Tom Fielding (30 goals, 6 assists, 10 PoM, and a 7.27 AvR) was the clear choice in the voiting again this year, garnering 64% of the votes. while left winger Campbell (12 goals/9 assists/7.13 AvR) and Set PIece Taker (MC) Harley Jonshon (7 goals/8 assists/7.11 AvR) got 15% and 12% respectively. Signing of the Season DM/DC Hugo Jenkinson (Free) Young Player of the Season Let's just round it out by introducing Tom Fielding as the young Player of the Season as well. End of Season Stats -- For the second consecutive year, Fielding dominated the team stats, as top goalscorer (30), Highest AvR (7.27), and most PoM awards (10). Rio Campell on the left wing contributed with the most team assists (9), while Sakyi was best passer (82%). On the negative side, Josh Hosie (loanee DL) had 14 yellow cards, while 5 players (Blanchfield, Bradley-Green, Pata, Rio Campbell, and Tylyer Daly) all saw red once. Youth Intake Top Graduate Spoiler Season 1 Karl Ward, Midfield could slot into the wide spots of my 4-4-2 and 4-1DM-3-2 Wide formations. Rates to be better (if he reaches his potential) than my current wingers. Season 2 GK Tommy Black was deemed the best of a very lackluster crop. This class was so bad I took the rare (early-challenge) step of only signing 5 of the class to a youth contract. Season 3 AM(C)/AM(R), ST(C) Marc Baxendale could potentially develop into something useful, at least for the lower levels, but I can't see a long-term future for him. Season 4 DR/MR Gary Mitchell is probably the best -- he could actually start in a pinch for the senior squad. Left to be seen if he will develop into something better. Season 5 Midfielder Iain Jeffersappears to be the best of a bad lot. Not sure if any of the current class will ever make the senior team (or develop into something worth selling for that matter). Season 6 TEAM, INDIVIDUAL, AND LEAGUE RECORDS A host of records were set or broken this year: (* denotes ongoing record -- bold indicates record broken this year) Spoiler Needham Market -- Team Records Highest League Position -- 2nd in Vanarama National League (2025/6) / Previous record -- 4th in Vanarma National League (2024/5) Lowest League Position -- 15th in Vanarama North (2020/21) Most Points in a Season -- 103 (2022/23) / Previous Record -- 73 (2021/22) Fewest Points in a Season -- 57 (2020/21) Most League Wins in a Season -- 32 (2022/23) / Previous Record -- 20 (2021/22) Fewest League Wins in a Season -- 15 (2020/21) Most League Defeats in a Season -- 19 (2020/21) Fewest League Defeats in a Season -- 7 (2022/23) / Previous Record -- 13 (2021/22) Most League Draws in a Season -- 13 (2021/22) / Previous Record -- 12 (2020/21) Fewest League Draws in a Season -- 7 (2023/23) / Previous Record -- 12 (2020/21) Most League Goals in a Season -- 79 (2022/23) / Previous Record -- 73 (2021/22) Fewest League Goals in a Season -- 48 (2020/21) Highest Attendance -- 3000 (vs Leeds, FAC3R, 31 Dec 2022) / Previous Record -- 884 (vs Bost Utd, VNLN, 6 Mar 2021) Highest Gate Receipts -- £47.67K (vs Leeds, FAC3R, 31 Dec 2022) / Previous Record -- £10.23K (vs Maidon & Tiptree, FAC2QR, 19 Sept 2020) Average Attendance -- 1040 (2025/26) / Previous Record -- 874 (2024/25) Lowest Attendance -- 286 (vs Halesowen (H), VNLN, 31 Aug 2021) / Previous Record -- 301 (vs Matlock, VNLN, 17 Apr 2021) Biggest Win -- 5-0 (vs Hornchurch (H), English FAC1R, 9 Nov 24)/ Previous Record -- 5-1 (vs Blyth (H), FAT3QR, 19 Nov 2022) Biggest Defeat -- 1-5 (vs Harrogate (A), VNLN, 26 Dec 2021) / Previous Record -- 2-4 (vs Merthyr (A), VNLN, 20 Oct 2020) Highest Scoring Match -- 5-5 (vs Chelmsford (H), FAC4QR, 15 Oct 2022) / Previous Record -- 4-5 (vs Brackley (A), VNLN, 27 Nov 2021) Highest Scoring League match -- 4-5 (vs Brackley (A), VNLN, 27 Nov 2021) / Previous Record -- 4-2 (Vs Tamworth (H), VNLN, 29 Aug 2020) Most Matches Won in a Row -- 7 (4 Jan - 19 Feb 2022) / Previous Record -- 3 (19 - 26 Sept 2020) Most Matches w/o Losing -- 18 (10 Jan - 22 Apr 2023) / Previous Record -- 15 (4 Jan - 16 Apr 2022) Most Matches Lost in a Row -- 5 (20 Jan - 17 Feb 2024) / Previous Record -- 4 (15-25 Aug 2020) Most Matches w/o Winning -- 5 (20 Sept - 4 Oct 2021) / Previous Record -- 4 (15-25 Aug 2020) Most Matches w/o Scoring -- 3 ( 13-27 Feb 2021) Most Matches w/o conceding -- 5 (7 Feb - 4 Mar 2023) / Previous Record -- 3 (19-26 Sept 2020) Highest Transfer Fee Received Highest Transfer Fee Paid -- £750 (Gary Burton, from Coventry, 5 Jun 26) / Needham Market - Individual Records Most League Goals by a Player -- 83* -- Tom Fielding / Previous Record 38 -- Luke ingram Most Overall Goals by a player -- 30 -- Tom Fielding (2024/25) / Previous Record -- 28 -- Tom Fielding (2022/3) Most League Appearances by a player -- 342* (Kieran Morphew) / Previous Record -- 303* (Kieran Morphew) Most League Goals by a Player -- 24 -- Tom Fielding (2023/24) / Previous Record -- 22 (Tom Fielding (2022/23) Highest Average Rating -- 7.48 -- Tom Fielding (2022/23) / Previous Record-- 7.231 -- Harrison Nee (Coventry) (2021/22) Youngest Player -- Thomas Quinn -- 16y209d (vs Altrincham (A), VNLN, 24 Apr 2021) Oldest Player -- Harrison Dunk -- 33y 2d (vs Dulwich Hamlet (H), VNL, 20 Apr 2024) / Previous Record -- Harrison Dunk - 32y 4d (vs Chelmsford (H), VNLN, 22 Apr 2023) Fastest Goal -- Tom Fielding -- 11 s (vs Carlisle (A), VNL, 17 Feb 2024) / Previous Record -- Harrison Nee -- 13s (vs Darlington (A), VNLN, 16 Apr 2022) Most goals in a Match -- 3 -- Harrison Nee (3-2 vs Kettering (H), VNLN, 29 Jan 2022) / Previous Record -- 2 -- Jack Stevens (4-2 vs Tamworth (h), VNLN, 28 Aug 2020) Most goals in a League Match -- 3 -- Harrison Nee (3-2 vs Kettering (H), VNLN, 29 Jan 2022) / Previous Record -- 2 -- Jack Stevens (4-2 vs Tamworth (H), VNLN, 28 Aug 2020) Most Assists in a Season -- 13 -- Kieran Morphew (2021/22) / Previous Record -- 6 -- Jack Stevens (2020/21) Must Shutouts in a season -- 23 -- Ryan Hall (2022/23) / Previous Record -- 19 -- Ryan Hall (2021/22) Most PoM Awards -- 10 -- Tom Fielding (2024/25) / Previous Record -- 9 -- Tom Fielding (2023/24) Youngest Goalscorer -- Warren Saberton -- 17y 236d (vs Chorley (A), VNLN, 19 Feb 2022) / Previous Record -- Jack Stevens -- 18y44d (vs Farsley (A), VNLN, 8 Aug 2020) Oldest Goalscorer -- Harrison Dunk -- 32y 319d (vs Leyton Orient (A), VNL, 2 Mar 2024) / Previous Record -- Harrison Dunk -- 31y 341d (vs Southport (A), VNLN, 25 Mar 2023) The Rest of England Spoiler Promoted from the Regional Premier Divisions Torquay, Poole, Hednesford, Chelmsford, Enfield Town, Farsley, Southport, Mickleover LEAGUE WINNERS (Promoted / Relegated) EPL: Man Utd (Brighton, Stoke, West Brom) Championship: Sheffield Utd (Sheffield Utd, Fulham, Leeds / Barnsley, Preston, Fleetwood) League One: Ipswich (Ipswich, Wigan, Reading / MK Dons, Colchester, Blackpool, Crawley) League Two: Crewe (Crewe, Lincoln, Oldham, Doncaster/ Stevenage, Wrexham) Vanarama National League: Stockport (Stockport, Needham Market / Hendon, Macclesfield, Barrow, Weymouth) ** Needham Market Overachivers** Vanarama National North : Fylde (Fylde, Northampton / Alfreton, Leamington, Harrogate, Hitchin) Vanarama National South: Ebbsfleet (Ebbsfleet, Havant & Waterlooville / Hayes & Yeading, Slough, Canvey Island, Concord) CUP WINNERS English FA Cup: Tottenham (vs Man City) ****TOM FIELDING owns modern day record (with 7 goals!!!) ** Needham Market Overachievers ** Carabao Cup: Chelsea (Vs Brighton) Community Shield: Man City (vs Chelsea) Leasing.com Trophy: Sunderland (vs Crawley) English FA Trophy: Needham Market (vs Kettering) ** Completing the Double ** ** Needham Market Overachivers in 3rd comp of the season!!!** EURO QUALIFICATIONS Champions Cup Group Stage: Man Utd (EPL Winners), Arsenal (2nd in EPL), Liverpool (3rd in EPL), Man City (4th in EPL) Euro Cup Group Stage: Tottenham (FAC Winners), Chelsea (EPL 6th Place) Euro Cup II Playoff: Bournemouth (7th in EPL) CONTINENTAL ACHIEVEMENTS Liverpool --Eliminated from Club World Championship Quarter Final (By Man City) Man City -- Won Club World Championship (vs FC Bayern) Man Utd -- Won European Super Cup (vs Roma) Crystal Palace -- Eliminated from Euro Cup II Best Placed Fourth Qualifying Round (by Lazio) Chelsea -- Eliminated from Champions League Group Stage Everton -- Eliminated from Euro Cup Second Knockout Round (by FCP) Liverpool -- Eliminated from Champions League Quarter Final (by Man City) Tottenham -- Eliminated from EURO Cup Quarter Final (by Inter) Man City -- Eliminated from Champions League Semi Final (vs Barcelona) Chelsea -- Eliminated from Euro Cup Semi Final (By Rennes) Man Utd -- Lost Champions League Final (vs Barcelona) What's Next Season 6 was an outstanding success, in many ways. In addition to the success in the matches, we had a small uptick in reputation (1.5* and regional reputation). This gave us an early boost to home attendance --- not huge, but, just enough that from September on we actually made small profits each month. That gained traction as the season went on successfully, and even without the cup runs, we were slowly climbing out of debt. We'd still be deep in debt w/o the two Wembley runs --- but those two very nearly pulled us out. As of late June, we are only £65K in cash debt (another £1.4M in loan debt as well, as the stadium is being fit for League Two requirements -- but nothing we can do about that). Our board remained tight-fisted throughout the run, however, and up until the end of the season, thru six seasons in charge, I had managed to get ONE SINGLE SCOUT from him. That all changed abruptly as we won promotion to league two. Before I woke up the next day from the wild celebrations, he had already contact me about going professional. "Who are you and what have you done with my Chairman?????" Okay...all jokes aside, it was fast, but it was very welcome. I also asked and was approved to go on my VERY FIRST COACHING COURSE of the save. Sadly, trying to get another coach a course was not authorized. Still, it's a start. We also got auto upgraded in coaching department (new Sports Scientist, Head of Sports Science, and one precious new coach allowed). And, an upgrade to our scouting range, to include all of UK&I now. Finally, small, incremental progress. We're still getting regular rumor of takeovers -- they died around December, then picked up hard late in the season. Who knows --- I don't think anything is going to happen... but it would be welcome if it did. It's still going to be pulling teeth to get anything out of him I think. For next year...well, we only need to be better than two teams to stay up. That's one of the beauties of L2. But, I want to do better... Maybe not top half, but better than 8 or 10 will do. Looking hard at the squad, picking who is good enough to stay and who I need to replace. Rio Campbell, Fielding, Hall and/or Roach, Camara, Johnson, Sakyi, are all definite keepers. I need potentially another DL, definitely an MR, probably a DM, and a whole lot of squad/rotation players. At the moment, I have...18 players set for release (though I might change my mind on one or two of them, and maybe half of them are graduates that just came up from the youth team that will never make the squad). It still leaves me with a few holes, but I think the core is fairly strong. One, two seasons in L2 would be great, but I need some signings to do it. Going pro is good...but the £12K wage budget is going to be rough...but we'll persevere, as usual! Career Overview Season Team League League Position(Predicted) FAT FAC JPT LC UEFA CL OTHER Spoiler 2020/21 Needham Market Vanarama North 15(23) 1rd 3QR 2021/22 Needham Market Vanarama North 8(23) 3QR 4QR 2022/23 Needham Market Vanarama North 1(20) 2R 3R 2023/24 Needham Market Vanarama National 14(23) 1R 2R 2024/25 Needham Market Vanarama National 4(23) 3R 3R 2025/26 Needham Market Vanarama National 2(23) (Promoted) WON 3R Scottish Challenge Cup R2 (loss vs overall winners Ross Co) Edited March 26, 2020 by G_D_K Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
b4usiddhu2 Posted March 26, 2020 Share Posted March 26, 2020 (edited) Set to start this Challenge with Salisbury FC. Hope I stick to this save long term Edited March 26, 2020 by b4usiddhu2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnoldinho Posted March 26, 2020 Share Posted March 26, 2020 Hi everyone, Long time lurker in these thread and a many time starter of the challenge but usually get stuck/bored after the first one or two promotions. Same as usual this year - I started a couple of months back. However, in common with many FM-ers just now I appear to have a lot more time on my hands! So thought I'd try to ramp up the pace and give this a proper go. I have decided to take the reins at Buxton. A few reasons for this. Firstly, they are a middle rep team - I didn't want to take on one of the "big" teams in case the pressure from the board and fans was really high out of the gate, and I also couldn't be bothered to reload 100 times to get one of the really small teams! Secondly, I have family in the area so at least some sort of link! Thirdly, I figured geographically they're in quite a good spot where I might be able to persuade the rejects of big teams either side of the Pennines and either side of the Peak District to come and join me. And finally... they have sensible kit colours - blue at home, red away. Sounds silly but if you're planning to spend a lot of hours watching matches you don't want something too lurid... I've actually already completed two seasons - I will try to post my updates over the next few days. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnoldinho Posted March 26, 2020 Share Posted March 26, 2020 Arnoldinho: Buxton FC 2020/21 Vanarama North Transfers ¦ League Fixtures 1 ¦ League Fixtures 2 ¦ League Table ¦ Cup Fixtures Offseason and Transfers Taking over a new club at this level is always a bit of a lottery in terms of who might be in your squad to start with. I was relatively pleased with what I found - a passable goalkeeper, a couple of decent defenders and midfielders, and one reasonable looking Italian winger/striker. However, there was one glaring exception. Brian Wilson, a 37-year old centre back with Pace 4 was not only in my squad, but taking up more than 20% of my total wage budget with an £800/wk incentives laden contract! With no transfer budget, I tried to get him to agree to a mutual termination unsuccessfully, at which point he refused and sulked in the reserves all season - declining all transfers and sucking up squad morale as well as wage budget. In the end, my failure to move him on cost me my club captain Callum Chippendale, who I foolishly promised to put on a real contract rather than a rolling one and then couldn't afford to. He eventually walked in January. I did however have some success in the early free agency period, adding a range of players to my squad, most notably forward Yassine En-Nayeh (who would go on to become our top scorer) and young defender Riley Harbottle. Looking back through this thread it seems I was not the only one to alight on these two and they gave me a solid base for my attacking line and defensive line respectively. League Campaign Despite the fact the squad was still in flux at this stage we got off to a flying start, with only one defeat in our first eleven games. We were playing a counter-attacking 4-1-4-1 DM wide, and catching complacent opponents out with lightning quick breaks and some clinical finishing from En-Nayeh in particular. As a result for the first two months of the season we were hanging around the playoff places, and I wondered if we might be better than I had thought. But around the end of September, the worm started to turn, I think for two reasons. The ridiculous fixture schedule of the early part of the season caught up with my threadbare squad and injuries and exhaustion forced the rotating in of poor quality youth players. And as teams started to take us more seriously and play more defensively our counter-attacking tactics stopped working. We had a lot of draws - ending with a league record 18 - and then as autumn turned to winter more and more defeats. Some fiddling with tactics in the new year, and catching teams by surprise with different formations or approaches helped us stop the rot, and a strong finish with 5 wins and only 2 defeats in our last 10 saw us finish with more wins than losses, in a respectable 10th place. The fact our goal difference at the end of the year was precisely 0 summed it up really - although we were up and down, overall we were middle of the pack. In truth, if you'd offered me 10th at the start of the year I'd probably have taken it, but it was a bit of a rollercoaster to get there. Cups Awful. We beat lower league opposition in the 2nd Qualifying Round of the FA Cup, only to crash out to Vanarama South side Lowestoft in a 3rd Qualifying Round Replay when the fixture gods decided to give us four games in a week. In the FA Trophy, we were one and done, losing to local rivals Stockport. Finances Unfortunately I forgot to screenshot the finances page, but the lack of any progress in the cups meant we lost money on the year. The board are reasonably sensible though, and I stuck within the wage budget, so the losses weren't too terrible. My hope was that we could turn this around in Season 2. Looking Ahead As always during Season 1 I spent a lot of time scouting players with contracts due to expire in the summer, trying to build up a picture of my options for a complete squad overhaul. But I approached the start of season 2 with some trepidation, as neither En-Nayeh (top goalscorer and fans player of the season) nor Harbottle - by this point club vice-captain - appeared willing to sign new deals, and a couple of other decent but not spectacular players were asking too much money for their skill level. As such I ended May with only one player, right-back Brad Roscoe, on a part-time contract for the following year. All the rest were non-contracts or looking like they were headed for the exit. Question for the Community Thought I'd add one of these in to each post as I'm always keen to hear other people's views. Normally they'll be about the game, but my first one is really dull - how do I do one of those clever career summaries at the bottom of the post?! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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