Nottingham Forest Posted November 14, 2020 Share Posted November 14, 2020 (edited) So my first proper thread on this forum for some time and I've decided to follow a popular trend that is youth only challenges. I've loaded the database up with Just England down to the North/South and various player setups which gives me a total player count of around 44,000. I've holidayed for a season and taken over Basford United. They're the closest side to me to be able to attempt the youth only challenge from the FMCU. The full aim of the challenge is to try and win the champions league with just players who come from your intake. However, once they have been sold/released or leave the club you can't re-sign them as players. I've started with no qualifications and the lowest past history. Edited November 14, 2020 by Nottingham Forest Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 14, 2020 Author Share Posted November 14, 2020 Basford United 2021-22 Pre-Season So with me being unable to sign any players, I decided to press ahead to try and identify my key players and the staff I needed to bring in to help us progress. Initial thoughts on the squad are that we've got a decent one of a reasonable average age and there's no reason why we can't avoid the drop. The 3 strongest players from the squad were Callum Chettle, Alex Howes & James Clifton. The full squad I inherited is below. We had a strong pre-season against some sides within our league as there wasn't much on offer. We lost Dominic Roma as he retired and Wayde Hines who was transfer listed for some reason and he departed for Hungerford. Shame as both would have been good options. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 Basford United July-Dec 2021 Results League Table Finances Thoughts On paper if you're a newly promoted side you'd take 12th. However, our form is slowly starting to dip. We started off with a narrow loss to recently relegated Halifax and gave a good account of ourselves. The next 18 games had me dreaming as we managed to reach the FA Cup 2nd Round having beat higher opposition. We were drawn to face Spennymoor who were below us in the league but in better form. Unfortunately they won and drew Villa at home in the 3rd round. We still got some cash for our run as the game against Solihull Moors was chosen for TV. That has helped the finances slightly. The concerning factor is our form in December as we just can't seem to break out of the rut. Something we'll need to sort if we're to maintain our mid-table spot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 Basford United YI Preview 2021-22 Season A decent preview with a striker definitely needed. Any players are good players right now. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Great Title. Is the manager named Eddy Grant? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deisler26 Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Callum Chettle? Steve's boy? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 12 minutes ago, Hootieleece said: Great Title. Is the manager named Eddy Grant? Damn it! Missed that. 6 minutes ago, Deisler26 said: Callum Chettle? Steve's boy? He is. Too good for this level. Steve actually manages them in real life. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 (edited) Basford United Season 2021-22 Youth Intake In a youth only challenge, any youth players are good players. Our first isn't a bad one as there a number of players who have potential. All have been taken on. The best of the bunch who could make an immediate impact is Paul Cooper. He'll probably get some game time soon enough. That screenshot seems to have cut Josh Chettle off. No relation to Callum or Steve. He is a GK. Plus Reece Higginson as well. He's a winger/striker but not very good. Edited November 15, 2020 by Nottingham Forest Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 He's got good numbers in the right categories for his position. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 Yeah, hopefully he can add some depth and progress. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazRTaylor Posted November 15, 2020 Share Posted November 15, 2020 Having a good first season. Also loving the intake. Hopefully the striker can develop quickly. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 Yeah, we’re doing well. It’s a decent intake but not much else happening with that unfortunately Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 Basford United Jan-May 2022 Results League Table Finances Thoughts You'd say to stay up as a newly promoted side is a good achievement. But the way we performed after Christmas was a concern. The two wins against Blyth and Alfreton have kept us up. I have an idea of how I want to play and it's how we started the season so well. But I just don't think we have the players to perform that way regularly and when the going gets tough we don't have the ability to turn it around. All things that will hopefully improve in time. Financially we're in the red and only just. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 Basford United 2021-22 Season Review Last season could be considered a success having finished 18th in the league and reaching the FAC 2nd round. Unfortunately our form is concerning and we'll need to address that over the pre-season. All players have been retained thankfully and with a few juniors making the step up we should be stronger. I think I'm going to have to review how I'd like to play the game over the next few seasons and I'd probably have to accept that the ball being away from our goal is better than it being in the goal so hoofing it forward maybe the road we go down for now. Only two players departed over the season in Dominic Roma and Waide Hines. Key Players The below three players all performed very well for us last season and without them we'd have probably struggled. Niall Towle - Smashed 26 goals in the season which definitely helped keep us up. Callum Chettle - 15 goals and 7 assists from a central midfielder is class. Even if some were pens. Has plenty of time to get better. Owen Betts - A rock at the back at tough times. Again another player who can only get better. Best Youth Ryan Ashman YP0d - Chipped in with 7 goals and 6 assists from 45 games. Not bad for a first season. Also become our youngest player and goalscorer before Paul Cooper took the youngest player record off him. Next Seasons Expectations The board and my expectations haven't changed for next season. Just stay up by any means possible. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted November 16, 2020 Share Posted November 16, 2020 Young squads are so maddingly inconsistent - it is by far the most frustrating part of doing a youth-only save. They'll hit highs and they'll reach down and when you think they've hit the lowest low, lol, oh no. They'll manage to dig through that hole and send you spiraling down a ditch so deep and dark that all you can feel is despair as you seek that green circle from anywhere. I love it, though. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 16, 2020 Author Share Posted November 16, 2020 I enjoy it. Just rather frustrating. If we’re successful it’ll be worth it though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 17, 2020 Author Share Posted November 17, 2020 Basford United Pre-Season 2022-23 Expectations & Predictions The board wanted us to fight against relegation and that was my aim as well. The media were expecting us to finish in 21st again whilst the bookies had given us title odds of 300-1. In the cups we were expected to reach the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round and the FA Trophy 2nd Round. The Squad Not many changes to the squad but I decided to look to play more direct and went into a 4-3-3 with central midfielders and three strikers. Our pre-season results are below. Some good results and the only blip was the Clipstone game as they scored in the 87th and stoppage time to secure a draw. Finances I only expect this to get worse unless we can get a decent FA Cup run. Lewis Carr replaced David Hockaday who had only joined the season before as our new HoYD. Carr had previously been a player for us a few seasons ago. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 Those are some pretty good numbers for a HOYD for this level. What is his personality like? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 18, 2020 Author Share Posted November 18, 2020 Fairly determined. Will check further details when I get in later. Hoping the good pre-season form can help us kick on. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 2 hours ago, Nottingham Forest said: Fairly determined. Will check further details when I get in later. Hoping the good pre-season form can help us kick on. That's a good HOYD overall. Now he needs to put his talents to work and actually give you prospects you can work with. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 18, 2020 Author Share Posted November 18, 2020 Basford United July-Jan 3rd 2022-23 Season Results League Table Finances Thoughts A solid start soon turned into an expected relegation scrap. We just lack any form of consistency and I am genuinely concerned about where we may finish. Just need to fight and get enough points. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 18, 2020 Author Share Posted November 18, 2020 Basford United YI Preview 2022-23 Season Another intake but again I'm not sure what we'll get. Anything is a bonus though. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted November 18, 2020 Share Posted November 18, 2020 Looks like you are getting a few good defensive prospects. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share Posted November 19, 2020 Basford United 2022-23 Season Youth Intake Another season and another intake. Yet more defensive reinforcements which can only help. Best two players who should progress into the first team are Dwight Manning, Ryan Morrison & Kian Hannis. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share Posted November 19, 2020 Not confident..... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazRTaylor Posted November 19, 2020 Share Posted November 19, 2020 You have this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted November 19, 2020 Share Posted November 19, 2020 I have faith in Basford! It is squeaky bum time but ...like @DazRTaylor says "You have this." 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share Posted November 19, 2020 Basford United Jan-May 2023 Results League Table Finances Thoughts After the defeat to Kettering I genuinely thought we were gone in 13 league games. In January we managed to put together enough of a run and then that continued as we picked up points here and there. Going into the final four games of the season was nervy. We destroyed second placed Gloucester before then losing to King's Lynn who were below us. A draw at Gateshead left us 2 clear going into the final game. We never really looked like losing and when Halesowen we relaxed a little. Finances are a concern as we've still not had any upgrades. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share Posted November 19, 2020 Basford United 2022-23 Season Review Once again a good start was undone by a poor mid-season. But unlike last season we rallied after Christmas to pick up enough points. Technically it's a better season on paper but it was closer than I'd have liked it to be. We need to find a way to feed Niall Towle more whilst keeping it tight at the back. How that is I don't know yet. Key Players Niall Towle - The only man for the title this season as he scored 41 goals in 50 games including 38 in the league. Finishing second in the charts. Best Youth No standout performers for this one unfortunately. Ryan Ashman YP0d and Paul Cooper YP1d are the obvious but they didn't perform that well. Next Seasons Expectations The board and my expectations again haven't changed for next season. Just stay up by any means possible. I'm thinking of a tactical rethink of a narrow 4-1-3-1-1 as our wingers just don't perform. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazRTaylor Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Well done on survival. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
abulezz Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 Love me a great striker like Towle in the lower leagues. Literally they make or break your season. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 Basford United Pre-Season 2023-24 Predictions Media Prediction: 19th Title Odds: 50-1 Board Expectations Vanarama National League North: Avoid Relegation FA Cup: Third Qualifying Round FA Trophy: First Round The Squad A number of changes to the squad of this pre-season as we allowed a few senior players who hadn't played many games to depart and promoted a number of youngsters to try and compete with the current senior squad. My original plan was to play a narrow 4-1-3-1-1. That was sacked off after the first pre-season game where I reverted to a basic 4-4-2. Transfers The below players departed the club including skipper Matt Thornhill and a new youth player who wouldn't sign a contract on my terms. Eventually he agreed but it was the day before his trial expired. As he departed the club before accepting that I cancelled the contract offer. Results Finances A number of cash injections from the board saw our finances improve. Other Bits As Greenwich Avenue doesn't meet the requirements yet(already postponed once), we have moved to Coronation Park in Eastwood. Niall Towle is expected to be the league's top scorer as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 Cheers Daz. Towle has been awesome. Just got better and better last season. He's still only 22 as well. So if I can keep hold of him I should get another 8 seasons out of him. Just have to hope we've got some youngsters who can come through and help him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 Basford United Aug-Dec 2023-24 Season Results Table Finances Thoughts We started off like a house on fire as we managed to remain unbeaten in the first seven games. Infact, the first couple of months up until the end of October went as well as expected and we sat comfortably in the play-offs. As with our usual form, we dropped off a cliff in November and December only picking up three wins including the 5-1 thumping of King's Lynn. Something has to give in the second half of the season as I am genuinely concerned going into the new year. Again! FA Cup run was ended before it properly got going and that means we've so far not had any upgrades. Finances are still poor but the board keep chucking cash to help us out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 Basford United YI Preview 2023-24 Season Probably our worst preview of the save. Hopefully it's better than it looks. But still, any new youths are better than none. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 Basford United 2023-24 Season Youth Intake Currently no one goes straight into the first team. Probably the poorest intake yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 (edited) Basford United Jan-May 2024 Results League Table Finances Thoughts Genuinely after the first three games in January I thought we were in for a tough second half of the season. We picked up points here and there. However, after the Guiseley game I'd had enough. I decided to reinvent us tactically with a DM based 4-3-3. An anchor sat infront of the back four with a couple of central midfielders and wingers. The players responded and we somehow put together an incredible run of eight games unbeaten including 4 successive wins to end the season with the 6-1 thrashing of Kettering. Edited November 20, 2020 by Nottingham Forest Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 20, 2020 Author Share Posted November 20, 2020 Basford United 2023-24 Season Review A solid start was again the story of our season that come Christmas collapsed drastically only just picking up enough points into the new year. Come the end of March I'd had enough and decided to go for it. It worked wonders as we put an eight match unbeaten run together to finish 11th and thirty points clear of the drop zone. Key Players Niall Towle - An incredible striker for this level and we'd not survive without him. Led the scoring charts for most of the season only to be narrowly pipped by Halifax's Jason Scrimshaw who scored the same amount of goals (42, I believe) in 45(1). Whereas Towle started all 46. Callum Chettle - The central midfielder came alive when we changed tactic and finished the season with seventeen assists and 8 goals from fifty-two games. Owen Betts - The central defender was a rock at the back again. Unfortunately he'll most probably be leaving at the end of the season as he doesn't feel we can match his ambitions. Rev James - The striker/winger predominantly played on the right wing and whilst inconsistent at times chipped in with twelve goals from forty-seven games. Best Youth Ryan Ashman YP0d - What a season the youngster had. Had a good start. Tailed off as our form dipped. But when we changed to the 4-3-3 DM he kicked on again. Finished the season with twelve goals and nine assists from forty-two games. Paul Cooper YP1d - Not the greatest of seasons in terms of ratings but he played forty-six games. Dwight Manning YP2a - The young right back has a task on his hands to displace Cooper. Still managed twenty-one games despite not being consistent here. But we're covered here for the future if we can keep hold of both. Leon Holloway YP2g - The left back wasn't highly rated. I saw something in him and he's made twenty-three appearances on an inconsistent level. Keen to see what he can do next season. Youth Breakout 2024-25 Season Ryan Morrison YP2b - Has come on leaps and bounds in training as he featured, comfortably in a few games towards the end of the season. If Betts does depart I'd expect him to have a breakout season in the 2024-25 season. Other News Vegar Kirsebom YP1n has received numerous call-ups to Norway's under 19s. Our first international! He's done well in the few games he's played. Next Seasons Expectations Nothing has changed. Avoid the drop. Try and get to the third round proper FA Cup. Improve facilities. Simples! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazRTaylor Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 A solid season overall, though a tough second half of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 Yeah, the good run towards the end of the season masks over it a bit. However, maybe we’ve turned a corner. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Keep plugging away eventually you will have the players to make a promotion run! I know your troubles. I am playing with Southport FC! I have had to sell my two best defenders in the last two transfer windows. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 7 minutes ago, Hootieleece said: Keep plugging away eventually you will have the players to make a promotion run! I know your troubles. I am playing with Southport FC! I have had to sell my two best defenders in the last two transfer windows. Yeah, it's frustrating. Still no upgrades either. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 (edited) Basford United Pre-Season 2024-25 Predictions Media Prediction: 20th Title Odds: 25-1 Board Expectations Vanarama National League North: Avoid Relegation FA Cup: Third Qualifying Round FA Trophy: First Round The Squad For the first time in this save I didn't have to reinvent us tactically. This meant I could press on with working out my squad for the new season. As you can see we've promoted a couple of the third years and I'm also training the Mouritsen YP3p to be a winger. Transfers Couple of departures that I'm not overly fussed about. But the key man in Owen Betts refused to sign a new deal and left without even staying on non-contract terms. I'm sure he'll be a big loss. Results An incredible set of results with the 4-3-3 DM. Finances Edited November 21, 2020 by Nottingham Forest 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hootieleece Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 I was able to cash in on both of my best defenders (for a total of $36K) and I found a comparable player. Most of my players have actually taken pay cuts to stay with the team. So this season I have a healthy Bank Balance! I give up more goals than I like but I have been tasked with playing "Attacking Football". What formation are you using I am going with a 4-2-3-1 Wide. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 I’m playing a 4-3-3 DM. I’ll post a screenshot later on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 Missed this, sorry! @Nottingham Forest Looks like you're setting some decent foundations despite the lack of cash for facilities. Good luck! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 Thanks @_Ben_. Maybe, who knows. Just slightly frustrating that we're just not able to break the shackles when we hit a good run of form. It's the first pre-season where I've not had to reinvent us or boost morale during pre-season. So maybe things are on the up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 Basford United Aug-Dec 2024-25 Season Results Table Finances Thoughts 7th! Midway stage. Unheard of. However, it's not all been rosy. We started well against Gloucester who have been promotion hopefuls over the last few seasons before going on an incredible unbeaten run which included dispatching Halifax from the league above. We held Dagenham & Redbridge to take them to a replay at our place. 2-0 up at half-time and I believe I cost us that game. They went on to win 3-2. Heartbreaking as they managed to beat Crawley in the next round of League Two. Our form from then onwards dipped and aside from a 3-0 cup win against Hitchin we didn't win until we faced promotion rivals Chester on New Years Eve. Yes, good half of the season. No, the poor form just doesn't go away. Hopefully we can improve further and the Chester result wasn't a one off. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
_Ben_ Posted November 21, 2020 Share Posted November 21, 2020 8 minutes ago, Nottingham Forest said: Thanks @_Ben_. Maybe, who knows. Just slightly frustrating that we're just not able to break the shackles when we hit a good run of form. It's the first pre-season where I've not had to reinvent us or boost morale during pre-season. So maybe things are on the up. It's that micro managing aspect that I do love. You've got the same players, minus 1 or 2 academy graduates so building that cohesiveness always pays off massively. Good luck for the season ahead! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nottingham Forest Posted November 21, 2020 Author Share Posted November 21, 2020 Basford United YI Preview 2024-25 Season Best one yet! Players who fit into our tactical setup hopefully. Keen to see who this Spanish striker is. Hopefully he can help challenge Towle. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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