FM20: The English Football League thread

[karanhsingh]

I just realized since we are in 2022 in my save, there is a long break mid-season for the World Cup. Which seemed like a good time for a quick update!

Domestically, things are proving a bit tougher than last season. The big boys have all strengthened, and we have had to take a couple of tough defeats in games we dominated as well. None more so than the last game before the break which saw us lose to Bournemouth 3-1 and I swear miss like 10 sitters. Which means I now have to stew on that result for the next month and a half, as it also saw us drop out of the top 4.

However in Europe it's a whole other matter, as we could not have asked for a better group phase. We somehow won all 6 of our games thereby topping the group comfortably. Yes we didn't have to face any of Europe's premier clubs, but RBL, Porto and Valencia were still stiff opposition!

These are the player stats so far, Loader unsurprisingly is top scorer and now attracting interest from Arsenal. I am very happy with the start that Busio and McKenna have made, while Mitrovic has also been quietly impressive. Bellingham continues to flatter to deceive, his specialty seems to be dribbling through half the opposition and then shooting straight at the keeper.

My aim for this season is to try and finish top 4 again which looks like it will be quite a challenge - we may have to start spending some serious money from next season on if we are to actually be competitive at the top end of this league. Not my usual preferred style though - so will see how things develop!

[Jogo Bonito]

Great work @karanhsingh and  you already have them as an established PL side. Your form in Europe is quite incredible too. Danny Loader is indeed very generously rated in FM20, but as they say, make hay while the sun shines!

[dino]

@karanhsingh You first season in the Premier League was mightly impressive but you might top it this year.

[Jogo Bonito]

Ahead of the second season, I wanted to continue the evolution of my Dulwich Hamlet squad. This meant arrivals and departures, but also it meant putting players on to proper (part time) contracts to avoid the possibility of them being poached away. The latter aspect was easy enough, fuelled by the momentum gained from a successful first season and promotion.

The ins and outs was, I expected, going to be much harder to get right. Deciding who was surplus to requirements was a fairly simple task. If I could get a better player in, with the London connections, I would be happy to move a current player on. But to be honest, it was a bit of a surprise how easy it was to bring in better players. And so, at the time of squad registration, I was able to give squad numbers to the following 24 players. With league rules meaning only five substitutes could be named, this was a couple of players heavy, but I hoped I might be able to trim that a little.

But then a player that I had made a cheeky offer to sign earlier in the summer (on loan), came back and wanted to re-open talks. I'd actually completed my incoming business by then, but considering the level of ability and wage required, this seemed too good to be true. So without much more deliberation, the numbers were up to 25 with the one-year gift of striker Timmy Abraham coming in from Fulham.

Before his arrival, I'd decided that I only needed four strikers in my squad, and the unlucky loser on this decision was going to be Victor Fundi. After a decent first season, he was a victim of my ability to recruit well this summer, and he was sent on to Margate on loan with a mandatory fee after a low number of appearances for them. The arrival of Abraham on loan forced me to decide on which other striker to let go, and this was an even harder decision to make. In the end, I decided that I could get a decent fee for last season's top scorer Danny Mills, and as he was the oldest, I reluctantly sanctioned his sale for a fee of £6,000. The loan arrival of winger Jodi Jones from Coventry for no fee or wage contribution also saw me cancel the non-contract stay of another original player in the form of Connor Hunte. Winger Omar Rowe is also transfer listed and free to move on if anybody comes in with a token offer for him.

The new arrivals in the summer were all acquired without any transfer fees, and undoubtedly are a step up in class. Charlie Owens, Shaun Donnellan and Tom Pett are all options for central midfield roles. Rodel Richards from Tottenham is a striker far too good for this level, and quite frankly I have no idea how he ended up at Dulwich. Ted Smith came in from Southend as a challenger to George Legg in goal (Smith actually retired in real life amid an interesting story around one week ago), and Ryan Watson is another central midfielder who should excel for the club. Right winger Ody Alfa from QPR, striker Josh Davison from Charlton and central defender Joseph Olowu from Arsenal are other clear upgrades on what I had before. The finishing touches were the loan deals for Jones and Abraham, even though I really didn't want loan players in my squad.

  

With this group of 23 players at my disposal (22 if I can move Rowe on), confidence for a good Conference National season was high. Pre-season results backed this belief up with some really fine performances and results, including a narrow but well-deserved victory over a strong Crystal Palace side, and an impressive 0-0 draw with West Ham. My next update will share what season two brings for Dulwich Hamlet.

Edited May 8, 2020 by Jogo Bonito

[serg__23]

Can someone advice me on non-Pl club with good youth players like in Derby? My goal is minimum transfers and developing youth. Thank you in advance

[karanhsingh]

23 minutes ago, serg__23 said:

Can someone advice me on non-Pl club with good youth players like in Derby? My goal is minimum transfers and developing youth. Thank you in advance

Derby have the best I think but also Ipswich if you don't mind dropping down another league 

Birmingham of course have Bellingham along with Sunjic and Villalba 

Reading have Loader and Olise 

QPR have Eze, Chair and Osayi etc. 

@Jogo Bonito nice update! Timmy is an excellent acquisition at that level. Keep up the good work 

[Parmie]

39 minutes ago, serg__23 said:

Can someone advice me on non-Pl club with good youth players like in Derby? My goal is minimum transfers and developing youth. Thank you in advance

Crewe have a good rating in academy and recruitment, if you can get them maybe Hearts in Scotland would be an option.

[Dong21]

@karanhsingh Looks like you are on course for another cracking season! Balancing performing well in Europe and the league is impressive.

Looks like some solid recruitment there @Jogo Bonito with the signing of Abraham certainly a coup. I expect him to be a real threat at that level. Good luck for the upcoming campaign.

@serg__23 I might be biased but Bolton have some quality youth and, for me at least, the academy has continued to produce. Just up to you if you want to start with the challenge of starting on -12points!

[karanhsingh]

Thanks @Dong21 - although since the last update we have had a few shocking results  Maybe I am expecting too much too soon

I agree with the suggestions of both Bolton & Crewe as well

[Jogo Bonito]

4 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

@Jogo Bonito nice update! Timmy is an excellent acquisition at that level. Keep up the good work 

 

2 hours ago, Dong21 said:

Looks like some solid recruitment there @Jogo Bonito with the signing of Abraham certainly a coup. I expect him to be a real threat at that level. Good luck for the upcoming campaign.

 

Thanks guys. Yes, I would expect Richards and Abraham to fire plenty of goals. I'm not quite sure if they will play well together, but I also have Akindayini and Davison as target man options if the combinations need to be different.

[Parmie]

Bradford City 27/28:

Transfers are busy again. Although I'm keeping some of the players who helped us get here, they aren't good enough, that said, as I approach season start and even play a few games in August, I wonder at why Mourgos is still 1st choice while rated as a league one player.

Ibou Sissoko comes as a mature player at 29 for the half-back position. I don't want youngsters in every position so he adds experience, despite being rated as a leading Championship player, he's got his attributes in all the right places for me. 

Murata is a Japanese centre back with potential, as is Mexican Colin, rated as a wonderkid. I think pairing up Colin with another Mexican centre back wonderkid should do them both good, Ramos from the same club arrives too. This now gives me 3 good youngsters to work with Ryan Astley, and at least in the short term, central defence is finally sorted.

Kozomora is a Serbian left back with potential as well, he'll be used as cover for captain Norman. Ntuli and Kone are both cheap free youngsters from African who need permits, because of the weird league timings in Finland, my feedback club FC Honka, have to loan them to and fro.

Louie Barry is a good Championship player, but won't get ahead of Douglas so rather than make him unhappy, a bid from Swansea is accepted. An offer comes in for Moulden and given the troubles of last season I'd rather get a better replacement, but temporarily make do with an Argentinian prospect from Boca on loan to cover for Tie.

I can't find reasonably priced playmakers for the deep lying and mezzala roles, so Mourgos carries on with an Arsenal wonderkid coming in on loan.

Murata:

Spoiler

Colin:

Spoiler

Ramos:

Spoiler

The season starts well, we only lose 4 in the first 14 games and sit happily mid table again. December starts with 4 losses in the league, and although we hammer Arsenal 5-1 at home, the bad form continues into January as we exit both cups, albeit against top teams, and get just 4 more league wins until the season ends. 

I am not too surprised at the form, an influx of young players fitting into the 1st team tends not to go well. I don't have any players working in tactical partnerships until February, and even a couple of those show as ineffective rather than positives. I don't doubt the midfield engine of my control possession tactic being a league one player, a championship player and a youngster Arsenal have loaned out, is a big factor.

Drawing so many games keeps us well clear of the relegation zone, but we're lucky because no one below seems able to put a run together to overtake us. The league position line chart is a horizontal line at 14th from January to May.

I'm not too disheartened, those youngsters will have improved, learnt the language and have more favourable team dynamics going into the new season, but I really do have to sort out central midfield this close season, no matter what.

[StePratt]

Nottingham Forest. A club that has always captured the imagination. Historically, one of the big boys. Not just in the UK, but across Europe. Back to back European Cups. Clough, Shilton, Francis, O'Neill, the names roll off the tongue, even now. 

2019. Forest aren't that team any more. Relegation in 1999 from the top flight of English football was followed by another relegation in 2005 to England's third tier. They returned to the Championship in 2008, staying there. Middle of the road. Not really pushing up, not really being pulled down. Stagnating. A true, sleeping giant.

Could another lad from "up North" revitalise the City Ground? Could I return Forest to where they once were? Who they once were? 

Walking in the door, the first thing you notice, money is tight. There are a few players on a substantial amount of money per week. Some needed, others not. However, I'm trying something new. Sell to buy. The club had already spent £5 million before I took over, they had recouped £12 million. I had around £3 million in the transfer budget, I felt we might need that for FFP.

Looking through the squad the players who stood out were Grabban, Tiago Silva, Figueiredo, da Costa and Cash. Two strikers. Ok, let's party like it's 1979. 442, jumpers for goal posts, etc.

How did we get on? Quite well. We didn't always have the ball, but when we did, we made it count. 27 goals for Grabban, fantastic return for the 32 year old. 17 assists for Tiago Silva, great for his first season in English football. 

102 league goals scored, 62 at home. The good times had returned to the City Ground. Boro and Reading the only teams leaving with three points.

Massive overhaul needed in the summer. Need to trim the squad first, I reckon by about 60%. Big summer. 

Can we get back to Europe's big table? That's the aim.

[Dong21]

@Parmie I’m impressed at the rate at which you get through seasons! It’s taken me about 6 months to find the time to get 5 seasons in with Bolton 😂

[Parmie]

1 hour ago, Dong21 said:

@Parmie I’m impressed at the rate at which you get through seasons! It’s taken me about 6 months to find the time to get 5 seasons in with Bolton 😂

Lockdown helps, and I tend to change very little between matches so my saves are pretty much thrashing continue, that might explain why I don't do that well

 

[Dong21]

Bolton Wanderers - Season 5 - Part 3

Our form continued into November, with Hirst once again the star as we defeated Cardiff. The win against Derby marked 13 games in a row without defeat. This would unfortunately end in our next game though, as we lost to Sheff Weds in a game that we dominated. We then lost to Reading and I started to fear that this would be the start of a negative run of form that would see us plummet down the table towards the sort of position we had been expected to finish in.

My fears were allayed though in a busy December in which our form returned to being very satisfying. A win against local rivals Blackburn certainly lifted morale. Avenging their 3-2 win from last season with one of our own. A draw with Brentford saw us drop to 2nd, just behind Burnley in the table. A 2-2 draw with promotion chasing Brentford was by no means a bad result however. We lost to Bristol Rovers who have quickly established themselves as our bogey team, but otherwise won the 4 other matches that followed the Brentford match. The 4-0 destroyal of Nottm Forest was a particular highlight.

The Christmas period was as hectic as ever and meant that our emphatic victory over Forest was followed just two days later by our game against Cardiff. I played a very changed side and unfortunately they could not get the win. The 6-0 win against Luton in the FA Cup 3rd Round was one of the most enjoyable of the season, to date. This was not just because of the scoreline, but because I gave opportunities to a lot of squad players who all stepped up and performed. Third choice striker John-Jules got a brace and utility option Mbenza delivered a hat-trick from left wing.

We had been interchanging positions at the top of the table with Burnley, but our 1-1 draw with Barnsley, coupled with a defeat for The Clarets, saw us take the lead at the top of the table by a point. Two wins apiece since then has meant the margin has stayed the same. Carlo Holse has proven to be a key player over the last three months as the winger has stepped up to score important goals when it has mattered most. We are well placed in the table but this is over a third of the campaign still to go, so I don't intend to start getting complacent.

The month ended with a victory against Bournemouth in the FA Cup 4th Round. It was reassuring to be able to beat Premier League opposition, with promotion potentially on the cards, particularly as it wasn't a 'smash and grab', we were the better team. The next round see's us face Wolves who are 7th in the Prem; an even sterner test.

Transfers

It was an uncharacteristically quiet transfer window by my standards, primarily as things were going so well I didn't see much reason to change things.

Eddie Brown was not seeing many opportunities due to the great form of Hirst, Tedic and John-Jules, therefore I loaned him out to Bristol City to continue his development. There were a couple of sales of youth players, but neither of them had much potential so it was nice just to receive a fee for them. There was only one incoming player; someone who is quite popular on this forum!

In one of my press conferences a journalist asked me for my views on Reading manager Maarten Stekelenberg transfer listing Danny Loader. This was the first I had heard of this. Reading were having a good season (at that time they were 7th in the league) and Loader was in good form with 7 goals from the left wing - I therefore assumed he must be transfer listed by request due to ambitions to play for a club of greater stature. This was not the case however, as I discovered he was listed due to the club's financial status. In fact, the entire team was transfer listed and the club's financial position was listed as 'In Debt'. I don't recall seeing something quite this extreme before. He was transfer listed for £8.75m. I liked the player but I was well stocked on the wings and did not really need to change a winning team. I thought I'd be kind to Reading and see if they would accept a reduced offer but with the big benefit to them of keeping him on loan for the rest of the season. They accepted £6m with the loan and the deal was agreed. When the summer comes Correia will return to Man City and Schurrle will be a year older, so Loader will see opportunities on the wing at Bolton more plentiful. Reading ended up selling 14 players in January, with a few loan incomings to plug the gaps, it will be interesting to see where they finish in the league.

Edited May 10, 2020 by Dong21

[Jogo Bonito]

@StePratt That was quick, and very successful! 

@Dong21 Continuing your great progress, nice work. Reading are in financial meltdown, which may not be too far from the truth now. I've just reached January 2021 at Dulwich, and Bolton are trying to get promoted out of League 2 (sat 8th after 25 games). Pleasing to see promoted Sutton 18th in their debut EFL season too.

[CityAndColour]

Nearly 2/3 way through our first season in the Conference North and it's definitely been a successful one.

I suspect we will begin to fall away however, as we have a small squad and have just sold our best player (Devonte Aransibia) to Chesterfield for £15.75k. If we can stay in and around the playoffs I'll be really pleased - promotion would be a big ask and we don't have close to the squad or finances to compete in tier five. I would say that we have one player who is good enough for the step up (centre half Mark McGuinness) and one player who is maybe good enough (central midfielder Kane Thompson-Sommers).

Pleasingly I've been able to give debuts to four academy players so another season or two at this level would be great for their development.

[karanhsingh]

@StePratt - great introductory post and fantastic season one already! Will be interesting to see how the 442 works in the Premiership

@Parmie - another good season, I suppose your team must be mainly newgens now?

@Dong21 - promotion is in sight!! Good luck! BTW can you upload a screenshot of Loader would love to see how he's developed on your save.

[karanhsingh]

SUNDERLAND 2022-23 REVIEW - finally the first trophy! 

League review first, it was another consistent season from us, we spent much of the season in the top 4 and eventually finished in 3rd place to make it to the Champions League once again.

That said however, we finished with a poorer GD than last season, 12 points off the pace this time as opposed to 4 points last year. So an excellent season but we are some way behind I would say the best 2 teams in England right now - Liverpool & Chelsea. Their squads are just ridiculous frankly, world class players all over the pitch. This is the hardest part, trying to catch up to them. 

Our problem all season was the games against the big sides especially away from home we didn't win a single one this year, will have to try & address that. Next season Spurs also will definitely be more of a threat after getting taken over by HK based billionaires and blowing up 250m in the Jan window on Foden & Vinicius Junior!

Anyway, back to our team, here are the player stats for the season:

A lot of good performers, our two best players were Danny Loader who finished top scorer once again, and summer signing Mitrovic who lead the line very well and got a good number of goals & assists both. Apart from them, Fosu made the right flank his own with some great performances, Busio had an excellent first season in England and out shone Bellingham. Pickering continues to be a creative force if a bit defensively suspect. At the back Tosin was a rock again, and January loan signing Branthwaite made a significant contribution. 

In the Champions League, you may recall we finished top of our group, we were rewarded with a tie up against Juventus of all teams. However on analyzing their squad I was quietly confident as it was an ageing team still led by 38 year old Cristiano Ronaldo and struggling domestically. What happened though was another matter - we were schooled in the first leg away from home and we went down 4-0, it was like men against boys. A bitter blow, followed by a harsh 1-2 defeat at home for a massive 6-1 on aggregate. Disappointing, and a steep learning curve for us hopefully. 

Which brings us finally to the best part of the season, the FA CUP! Yes we did it, we finally have our first piece of silverware for this save. We got lucky to face Birmingham in the final (they are in the PL but obviously not as good) and Bellingham redeemed himself a bit by scoring the crucial first goal. Branthwaite put in an MOTM performance with a goal & assist, he is a massive threat off set pieces. This was the game which motivated me to splash a serious amount of cash on him in the summer. Our road to the final saw us beat Chelsea (on penalties) and Man Utd in the semis in what was probably the performance of the season. 

And so here is the season review:

 

[karanhsingh]

SUNDERLAND 2023-24 - LOOKING AHEAD

So we are 4 seasons in, and this is when I usually start to get itchy feet if not before. We have done really well but there is also the possibility that we may now begin to stagnate just because of how far ahead the best & biggest clubs are, and the mammoth challenge it is to actually consistently compete with them. 

With that in mind, we are going to have a real go at it this season, to see if we can make more of a challenge for the title and also maybe in Europe. Had to take some tough decisions in the transfer window to see how we can really try and upgrade the team at this point. Here is how we got on -

123 million pounds spent, makes it the biggest window in the history of Sunderland. We have strengthened every single position where I felt there might have been a slight weakness. 

Branthwaite comes in after impressing on loan and will probably be first choice CB alongside Tosin. This sadly will make Jordan Willis 4th choice for us.

Declan Rice comes in from relegated West Ham (we beat off Newcastle for his signature) and he will step into midfield alongside Dobson, replacing Scowen as our first choice BWM. 

Ismaila Sarr is our biggest summer signing but he has grown into a world class right winger - he will take over duties from Fosu and hopefully be the final piece of our front 3. 

Yan Valery from relegated Saints is another big signing and hopefully an upgrade on Furlong in the RB position.

Josh Tymon finally is our last big signing he is probably an upgrade on Pickering at LB but I expect them to share game time. 

I feel really bad for a number of players who have been amazing for us, and now either have had to leave the club, or be relegated to back-up roles, such as Hume (gone on loan), O'Nien (released), Scowen, Willis, Fosu, Gooch and Honeyman. However there was realistically no other way to keep making progress. This will probably be Scowen's last season at the club too as he's turned 30 and his contract is out next year. 

This is what the squad looks like then, going into the new season. A bit bigger than last year and looking a lot stronger hopefully.

And finally another piece of very good news, the Stadium of Light will soon be one of the largest in the country.

And so here we go, this is it! A hugely important season for us and me personally at Sunderland. 

[StePratt]

Nottingham Forest - season 2.

Spent a miserly £1.4m in the summer, tried to keep wages low and outgoings high. We managed to raise around 25m in player sales. Finances certainly look a lot better now. 

We kept the principles the same. 442. Old skool. However, I realised Grabban wasn't going to cut it in the big league. I made Martinelli of Arsenal a priority. Loans are a great way of keeping player costs down while building a foundation around them. 23k a week for a top striker, absolute bargain. 31 Premier League appearances, 25 goals. Remarkable. Nuno da Costa made the step up too, notching 16 league goals.

At the other end of the pitch we needed pace. In came another loan, this time in the shape of Tosin Adarabioyo. He formed a solid partnership with Joe Worral at the back. The small fee I did pay out went on Branimir Kalaica from Benfica. He was third choice at centre back. Tobias Figueiredo not really justifying his 30k a week wages. He'll be moved on in the summer. 

To keep us competitive next season we might need to improve our midfield options, Thiago Silva was a creative force again in the middle with Yates playing the "destroyer" role very well. It was out wide we could have been better, Lolley, Mighten and Carvalho all performed well, I want more though. Competition for places is key in this area.

Anyway, enough waffle. How did we get on in our first season back in the Premier League?

The FA Cup wasn't an aim this season, but I was bitterly disappointed to get knocked out in the semi finals by Blackburn of all teams (some may remember I had a decent amount of success with them earlier in the forum).

I'm amazed we've done so well in the league. No European football.......Yet. That will come. The struggle will be competing with teams throwing hundreds of millions at one or two players. We're still shopping for bargains, that won't change.

[karanhsingh]

Tosin is amazing isn't he?! Great season there and impressed you're managing to not spend any money! 

[StePratt]

10 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Tosin is amazing isn't he?! Great season there and impressed you're managing to not spend any money! 

I had him on my Blackburn save and he covers a lot of the stats I like in defenders, City won't renew his loan though. Arsenal won't renew Martinelli's loan either. 

I just did a save with Man United where they had a transfer ban until 2030, so spending no money isn't new! 

[Parmie]

14 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

 

@Parmie - another good season, I suppose your team must be mainly newgens now?

Yes. The real players left are:

Nicholas Tie: Goalkeeper

Ryan Astley: Centre Back

Brandon Fleming: Left back/winger

Ibou Sissoko: Defensive Midfielder

[Parmie]

Bradford City 28/29:

I call the close season a success by improving the critical central midfield positions. My thinking is Sissoko's defensive mid position is ok with him for now, it's the Mezzala and deep lying playmaker positions in front of him.

I think I'm messing up my scouting packages, I get very little from my scouts on senior players or just the usual search function, however, we find 2 exciting prospects in Brazil without outrageous release clauses and they'll both get permits.

Seki is more of a squad player, he's got versatility between defensive mid and central mid, and I think it may help Murata, the Japanese centre back I signed last season. 
Tie is beginning to reach his limit, which is that of a lower quality premiership level. Holguin is a more mature signing at 25 and goes straight in the first team, adding to my two Mexican centre backs. Tie starts to get unhappy at losing his place so I accept an offer let him move on. Peter Kennet had also peaked at a Championship level, and there is further interest in youth teamers who my coaching team say don't quite have premier potential so I let them go with chunky % sell-on clauses.

I'm still using loans for depth, Moulin returns from Chelsea and we get a Norwegian from Napoli to help cover for Jardel.

Glaucio:

Spoiler

Luis Gastavo:

Spoiler

Holguin:

Spoiler

Seki:

Spoiler

Our league form is inconsistent, stringing no more than 2 wins together, punctuated by runs of 2-3 losses. It's disappointing but still not that surprising, with more players in key positions needing to settle in, however, I was expecting some improvement but come season end, we finish in 14th again, just 3 more points than last season.

Tactically I've messed around a bit trying to find a consistency with the new midfield, trying a flat 3 central mid, which seemed to work well against some teams but the majority not. My conclusion is that I need a more cautious approach away from home and against bigger teams at home and then start looking to get/develop players that will fit into the tactics rather than tweak them to fit the players.

Even with the transfer outlay, we're still making a profit and I'm still trying to turn the academy into something more special to keep some local influence within the team. Towards the end of the season, I do give several substitute appearances to some promising graduates despite their current ability being poor.

The season ahead is more about tactics than recruitment for the first time since I started managing Bradford. 

A nod to the tragedy of the Bradford City Fire, the anniversary passed yesterday and I can still remember seeing it on TV as a youngster.

 

 

Edited May 12, 2020 by Parmie

[RageMaster]

I've managed to reach the summer of 2026 with QPR, and we managed to finish the last season in 2nd place behind a dominant Liverpool. I've decided to take a break from this save and park it up to hopefully return to it at some stage. 

Edit:

@Parmie fantastic save you've got there with Bradford, loving Glaucio and Gustavo especially, hopefully you can keep them in the long term. 

Edited May 12, 2020 by RageMaster

[karanhsingh]

29 minutes ago, RageMaster said:

I've managed to reach the summer of 2026 with QPR, and we managed to finish the last season in 2nd place behind a dominant Liverpool. I've decided to take a break from this save and park it up to hopefully return to it at some stage. 

Edit:

@Parmie fantastic save you've got there with Bradford, loving Glaucio and Gustavo especially, hopefully you can keep them in the long term. 

That's great going! Liverpool are equally dominant in my save too. You should give it a shot for another season

[Jogo Bonito]

@karanhsingh Great updates above, and doing very well in competitions and the transfer market. Keep up the good work!

To all others, always good to read your stories.

My overdue Dulwich Hamlet update should follow this evening (now January 2021).

[Kenzo]

Two consecutive promotions with Aldershot, absolutley p*ssing league one, onto the championship next season.

 

Just lost in the Carabao Cup final to Chelsea, gutted! 

[robterrace]

Oh balls.

Got it up to a total of £70m though.

[Jogo Bonito]

Season 2 sees Dulwich Hamlet competing at Vanarama National level. The new campaign comes hot on the heels of an impressive pre-season, and I already mentioned before that there was a sense of over-achievement in the transfer market. As August shows, my side's adjustment to the higher level was outstanding, starting off with four straight wins and ending the month with a 5-2-0 record. It's an understatement to say that Timmy Abraham (on loan from Fulham) settled in to his new surroundings well, with four goals against York followed up by three more at Barnet. September was a more inconsistent month, with a defeat at Bromley followed up with a home loss to Chesterfield (at the time they were top and flying). The month was seen out with back-to-back wins, and the only thing causing concern was the tone of the news article that described our first loss of the season. Some headline writer is surely being a bit cheeky on that one?

A very busy October saw the good form continue, as Abraham continued to flourish and the side enjoyed a league record of 5-0-1 and progress in the FA Cup (after a bit of a scare from Braintree). Stockport became the third side to beat us in the league, but the team bounced back to beat Woking next time out. November was another good month, although Chesterfield continued to jinx us and dumped my side out of the FA Cup. The league form saw two wins, one draw and no defeats from our less onerous three match schedule. 

December was another fantastic month, with only one draw in the league against Hartlepool preventing a 100% success rate. The FA Trophy clash with Aldershot was another tough one, and it took an away win after extra time to see me in to the next round after being unable to beat them on home turf. As you can see, Abraham's goals have turned in to a trickle (he had more than a 1:1 ratio for his first 27 goals of his season), but the benefits of a strong squad gave us other ways to win matches

As the performance graph shows, it's been a relatively comfortable ride so far this season. The gap at the top of the table is giving confidence that a second successive promotion might be on the cards. Club finances are in excellent shape too, and the club will be in a great position whatever league we are playing in next season. Of course, there are plenty of games left this season and it could go wrong, but I haven't yet seen anything that suggests the side isn't good enough to claim that one automatic promotion spot for the EFL. 

Edited May 12, 2020 by Jogo Bonito

[robterrace]

The impending departure of Ortiz, meant that we had to go scouring our lists for a signing. One was found, in the B team at Atletico Madrid, Borja Garces had been a regular scorer in non competitive football, and had also plenty of high ratings from my scouts who had watched him. He didn't 100% fit the club DNA, but, at 22 years old, he still has a lot to offer and time to develop. He came in for £275k

[dino]

@robterrace "The board have agreed £8m will be added to the transfer budget on completion of the deal." 😭

[Kenzo]

Looks like my Aldershot team will be in the Prem next season, back to back consecutive promotions, media had me to go down with just a 6m wage budget, however at Christmas we are top and absolutley flying.  Might be a bit too early as I've still got players that were playing with me in the Conference and League 2...Chairman hasn't given me a bean since I came in.

[robterrace]

4 hours ago, dino said:

@robterrace "The board have agreed £8m will be added to the transfer budget on completion of the deal." 😭

Yeah, although, hes not going till January

[StePratt]

Season 3 - Nottingham Forest

I only made three signings in the summer. Fransico Trincao, on loan from Barcelona, Emi Buendia, on loan from relegated Norwich and Gabriel Barbosa, on loan from Pep Guardiola's Manchester United (yes that did happen). The only outgoings were a few youth players who won't make the grade and have decent sell on fees if they do elsewhere. We also added a few to our Under 23 ranks to fill the numbers, Mark McGuiness the stand out on a free from Arsenal.

The season started very poorly. Rumours of a consortium buying Forest swirled around the City Ground all Autumn and we didn't win a game until the 2nd of October. Takeover talk and bad form had me fearing the worst. The sack loomed. We managed to go on a bit of a run, big wins at Spurs, Fulham and Newcastle the catalyst for our revival. Less talk of relegation and sackings, more talk of top 10 finishes.

As January approached our form was hit and miss, we'd win 2 or 3 then lose 1 or 2. We never got going. Had we have had a little more consistency in key matches we might have done even better than we eventually did. Only 2 defeats in the last 3 months really helped us on our way. Buendia and Barbosa topped our goal scorer and assist charts, Gabigol coming 2nd in the Golden Boot. 

We have made enquires to sign them permanently. Yes, a real transfer. Lewis Grabban is retiring at the end of the season and there are plenty of vultures circling some of our better performers. We might have to sell before we buy. 

More good news came in the way of a new stadium, hopefully we will have European football by then to celebrate a new beginning. 

Exciting times ahead. 

Some standout performances, but we definitely need to strengthen if we are to push on and get into Europe.

As you can see we weren't far off the Europa places, our early season form leaving us with too much to do. Still only spent £1.4 million though in 3 seasons so can't complain really. 

[karanhsingh]

Great updates guys!

@Jogo Bonito I didnt realize its only one automatic spot but you seem to be on course for it. Hopefully you can also extend the deal for Timmy.

[StePratt]

£9 million!! Absolute bargain. Hopefully he can lead our charge into Europe. 

 

We also signed Buendia for £34m. 

 

 

[CityAndColour]

Slimbridge - Conference North - 2021/22

A very successful first season at this level, undone in the final. The highlight of this match was conceding two goals to the same player in the same minute (I don't even know how this is possible with celebrations and kick-off after the first goal). Obviously they were both long shots and obviously they were both scored by a player with a poor long shot rating, because FM20.

Even more impressive given we sold our best player halfway through, and gave quite a bit of time to academy players. Fundi seemed to struggle with the step-up however still battled his way to 23 goals, while McGuinness was a mountain at the back and Diaz led the league in assists.

[Vladis]

2019 - 2024

 

24/06/2019 my alter-ego Chris Owens was introduced as the new Swansea manager.

 

Season 2019 - 2020

  Sky Bet Championship - Champions!

The Emirates FA Cup - Quarter Final (lost to Man City)

 Carabao Cup - Third round (lost to Wigan)

League Table

Transfers

Unbelievable first season for me as we were predicted for only top-half finish. 

Best eleven (my version) (4-2-3-1):

Woodman (now is at Newcastle) - Connor Roberts - Mike van der Hoorn (now is at Tianjin) - Joe Rodon - Jake Bidwell (now is at Crawley) - Conor Gallagher - Matt Grimes (now is at Reading) - Nathan Dyer (retired) - George Byers (now is at LA Galaxy) - Celina (now is at Sporting Gijon) - Brewster

Subs: Erwin Mulder (now is at Pescara), Kyle Naughton (retired), Jay Fulton (now is at Rochdale), Mason Greenwood (now is at Roma)

 

Season 2020 - 2021

Premier League - 12th place

The Emirates FA Cup - Fifth Round (lost to Liverpool)

 Carabao Cup - Fourth round (lost to Brentford)

League Table

Transfers

First season after promotion was as expected really tough but we managed to avoid relegation battle and finish at the comfortable mid-table position. 

Best eleven (my version) (4-4-1-1): Robin Olsen (now is at Al Ahli) -  Connor Roberts - John Souttar - Joe Rodon - Josh Tymon - Pablo Hervias (now is at West Brom) - Filip Bradaric (now is at Parma) - Josip Misic (now is at Tianjin) - Bersant Celina (now is at Sporting Gijon) - Lovro Majer (now is at Sampdoria) - Rhian Brewster

Subs: Jesse Joronen (now is at Norwich), Matt Grimes (now is at Reading), Mike van der Hoorn (now is at Tianjin), Conor Gallagher, Oliver Batista Meier, Marcus Forss

 

Season 2021 - 2022

Premier League - 10th place

The Emirates FA Cup - Third Round (lost to Southampton)

 Carabao Cup - Runners-up (lost to Man Utd)

League Table

Transfers

Good season overall. The main achievment was Carabao Cup final where we lost to Man Utd 2-4

Best eleven (my version) (4-4-1-1): Robin Olsen (now is at Al Ahli) -  Connor Roberts - John Souttar - Joe Rodon - Birger Meling (now is at Fulham) - Daniel James - Conor Gallagher - Flynn Downes - Mikey Johnston - Lovro Majer (now is at Sampdoria) - Rhian Brewster

Subs: Jesse Joronen (now is at Norwich), Pontus Jansson (now is at Sheff Utd), Josip Misic (now is at Tianjin),Pablo Hervias (now is at West Brom), Conor Gallagher, Marcus Forss

 

Season 2022 - 2023

Premier League - 10th place

The Emirates FA Cup - Fourth Round (lost to Brighton)

 Carabao Cup - Quater final (lost to Chelsea)

League Table

Transfers

Despite we finished at the same place as previous season, quality of our football decreased especially in terms of defence. I think it was a result of unsuccessful transformation to more attacking football and 4-2-3-1 formation. 

Best eleven (my version) (4-2-3-1): Robin Olsen (now is at Al Ahli) -  Juan Foyth - John Souttar - Joe Rodon - Lucas Olaza - Gedson Fernandes - Flynn Downes - Daniel James - Lovro Majer (now is at Sampdoria) - Mikey Johnston - Rhian Brewster

Subs: Dean Henderson, Pontus Jansson (now is at Sheff Utd), Connor Roberts, Pablo Hervias (now is at West Brom), Conor Gallagher, Marcus Forss

 

Season 2023 - 2024

Premier League - 6th place

The Emirates FA Cup - Fourth Round (lost to Everton)

 Carabao Cup - Third round (lost to Liverpool)

League Table

Transfers

After last season i decided to switch our formation to 4-1-2-2-1 (4-1-4-1 dm) as we were very vulnerable at the defence. And after some tweaking tactic at the start of the season we showed very nice football both in defence and attack and as a result qualified for continental football. 

Best eleven (my version) (4-1-2-2-1): Dani Martin -  Juan Foyth - Ben White - Joe Rodon - Lucas Olaza - Elisha Owusu - Gedson Fernandes - Jose Campana - Daniel James - Mikey Johnston - Rhian Brewster

Subs: Dean Henderson, Josh Tymon, John Souttar, Lucas Tousart, Conor Gallagher, Oliver Batista Meier, Marcus Forss

 

Swansea City 2024

 

So who is still with the club after 5 years of my management?

 Joe Rodon - our captain and one of the best players. Home-grown also.

 Connor Roberts - very brave full-back. May be he lacks some creative quality for my style of football but i don't want to sell him.

 Conor Gallagher - every year we extended his loan from Chelsea and only this winter we purchased him on the regular basis for only 5M£. Good hard working box-to-box.

 Rhian Brewster - key performer for all years with us. Top EPL goalscorer in 21/22 season. As Gallagher all 5 years we extended his loan from Liverpool. And now Liverpool is not willing to loan him out again and it's time to buy out him. I thik he will be cost us around 50-55M£. But he worths this money.

 

And our key players:

 Rhian Brewster - see above

 Gedson Fernandes (from Benfica) - top bargain deal. 10M for him is nothing. Now he costs 40. Superb well rounded midfielder who provide quality boths in attack and defence.

 José Campaña (free from Levante) - our best player this season with 7.4 av.rat. Just to note that last two seasons he played in Segunda division.

 Daniel James (from Man Utd) - most expensive transfer so far (42.5M with all bonuses). May be he is not so consistent as i wanted for him to be but his fantastic pace is our dangerous weapon.

 Joe Rodon - see above

 

 

Youth development

Our u23 and u18 teams every year among the best in England.

u18

Also winners of Viareggio Cup in 2021 and EFL Leasing.com Trophy in 2023

u23

Also winners of FA Youth Challenge Cup in 2024 and quater-finalists of UEFA Youth Leage in 2024 (lost to Man City)

 

I think one of the keys to success is our staff. Besides of great coaching abilities they have right personalities:

HoYD Bryan Klug - Professional

U23 Manager Kevin O'Connor - Model Citizen

U18 Manager Arnoud-Michele Royon - Model Professional

 

Best youngsters:

 Daniel Roberts - our academy product. Was born in Wales but declared to play for Portugal. In near future i see him as stable first team member and great cover for Fernandes.

 Samuli Toivainen - Finnish wonderkind who was brought from Sparta Rotterdam 2 years ago. In one or two years will be key player for us. And he has all chances to become on of the greatest defenders in his geneartion.

 Benjamin Sagnier - this season arrival. Young talent from Rennes academy. Plan to develop him through my u23 team for next season and give some playing time in cups.

 Josh Thomas - another player from our academy. He has not deveoped as i wanted from him but he has very good mental and physical skills and 2-3 year to reach his potential.

 Andy Moore - I retrained him to winger position. Potential top player If he will develop his techique skills. 

 Lee Goodyear - very skillful young player. May be will retrain him to IF role. 

 Jim Fowler - came in from last youth intake. Excelent potential, good mental skills for his years.

 

Facilities:

Superb training facilities

Superb youth facilities

State of the art data analysis facilities

Also we extended our stadium capacity to 31 632 seats.

 

Finances:

Our finances are secure with 137M in the bank. We have no net debt and transfer debt is only 5M. Profit this season is about 25M (transfers are not taken into account).

Also we are spending 1.2M per week on wages and this is still one of the lowest amount in the league. 

 

Plans for the next 5 years:

- Qualify for continental football every season

- Develop young players from academy

- Build long term complex training and tactical approach for all ages.

- Expand stadium again and upgrade facilities for the best possible level.

 

[Vladis]

3 часа назад, Vladis сказал:

and as a result qualified for continental football. 

Quick update. We didn't qualified for continental football cause Tottenham won Europe League and gained extra CL spot

Edited May 14, 2020 by Vladis

[Kenzo]

If I manage to stay up in the Premier League it will be the greatest achievment ever.

 

 

Edited May 14, 2020 by Kenzo

[nextqprmanager]

22 hours ago, Kenzo said:

If I manage to stay up in the Premier League it will be the greatest achievment ever.

 

 

Good luck, esp with that wage budget - its actually scandalous how much the big teams have got.

[Jean0987654321]

On 14/05/2020 at 08:51, Vladis said:

Quick update. We didn't qualified for continental football cause Tottenham won Europe League and gained extra CL spot

Well...damn. Not even a qualifying spot

Hope for the best next season

[Vladis]

42 минуты назад, Jean0987654321 сказал:

Well...damn. Not even a qualifying spot

Hope for the best next season

Thanks! I hope for the best too, EPL is very competitive league. 

 

And another small update: our club is purchased by French consrotium. Takeover saga is finally ended. No extra money or something else though. But may be we should look more closely to french market now 

[karanhsingh]

I've just played out the 5th and probably last season of my sunderland save. Hopefully get a full update up later tonight! It'll be a long one 

[Kenzo]

Looks like we're going to stay up, few games left but managing to get points. At one point we went on a massive losing streak, however a change in tactics saw me go 7 wins on the spin!

 

Club was taken over in mid January and managed to get 10million or so, got some reinforcements in.

 

We're playing at Craven Cottage 'cos our stadium doesn't meet the PL requirements. £20m wage budget in comparison to the next smallest, Burnley on £56m! And then  Man City spending £280m on wages. Crazy...

 

Young Billy Gilmour, who I had on loan last season joined ro £2.6m and he's bossing the midfield. Class player.

 

 

Regen striker James Taylor scoring the goals

 

 

Really need some money next season, I've got Matty Daly in midfield and he was on loan to us in the Conference just 4 years ago.  Squad was that thin and wages were so tight I was taking players released from League 1 clubs just to bulk out the squad!

Edited May 16, 2020 by Kenzo

[StePratt]

Nottingham Forest - Season 4.

At the start of this save the first aim was to make it to the Premier League. We achieved that in the first season, smashing the Championship without spending a penny. Two top half finishes followed with us relying on loans and freebies. Forest now had a sizeable transfer budget and boy did I utilise it. We spent around £90 million. It was an extravagance, a risk. Was it worth it?

Initially, no. After 15 games we were floundering in the bottom half of the table. We seem to be chronically slow starters, dropping to 18th after 9 games. There were murmurs of me being replaced if we failed to get enough points in the next 5 games. A 5-2 win over Spurs, three 4-2 wins and a 2-1 defeat against Watford had us climbing up the table again.

In January we splurged a further £60 million on Gravenbach and Arp, our squad looking strong, despite the sale of Kalaica to Hebei for £14.5 million (10x the fee we paid). We got as high as 5th. Nose-bleed territory. The lads panicked, we were dropping down the table. A slight tactical tweak and we headed into the final game of the season needing just a point against Everton to cement 6th place. 

Thiago Almada and Abdou Diallo had Everton in front after just 15 minutes. Wolves were 1 nil down against Man City. Hope.

Sandro Ramirez is sent off in the 50th minute for Everton. Wolves have equalised through Raul Jimenez. The momentum was with Wolves. 

20 minutes left. We're scratching our heads on the Forest bench. 

Alex Mighten gets the ball in the box, Alex Iwobi heads it into the wrong net. 1-2. Hope.

2-2. That man, Mighten, again. This time hammering it home from 18 yards. 2-2. Nearly. 

Word filters through that City have taken the lead at Molineux. Joy. 

Luis Otavio and Nottingham Forest born and bred captain, Joe Worral add injury time goals and we have completed an unlikely comeback win that didn't matter because of events in Wolverhampton.

Otavio was incredible. Buendia again, perfect. We'll struggle to keep hold of these two.

Carabao Cup Final. Anyone but City. We might have had a chance. There is always next year.

 

Europe here we come!

[Kenzo]

 

Final day of the season....we play West Brom, they could send us down.  Cmon the Shots!

 

[r_amanze]

Hey folks,

I’ve looked through all 33 pages of this thread, and couldn’t see anyone who has done a save with Cardiff City.

Could someone please let me know if they’ve done an FM20 save with the bluebirds? Think I’ll be starting a save with them shortly.