[FM21] Salford City - a club on the rise

[stevecummins78]

I am going to start a Salford City save when the full game comes out. It coincides nicely with their manager changing in real life as well.

By the looks of the beta Salford have a pretty strong squad with experience and quality in every position and some decent youngsters.

Key players

Promising youngsters

Tactics wise Salford look well equipped to play a 4-2-31 with Henderson operating off a lone striker, either a target man like Tom Elliott or the more mobile James Wilson.

 

Is anyone else managing them and how are you approaching it?

 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by stevecummins78

[StePratt]

I'm doing Salford as my Beta save. Just made it to January in the first season. Notable transfers have been Teden Mengi (loan, Man United), Joe Gelhardt (loan, Leeds United), Stephen Ireland (Free transfer) and Corentin Fiore (Free transfer). Top of the league after 21 games, level on points with Grimsby. I've made it to the third round of all three cup competitions, so squad fatigue is high and so is rotation. Gelhardt and Tom Elliot have 29 goals between them, rotating as lone strikers. It's a very talented squad already, just needs a few tweaks.

[stevecummins78]

11 hours ago, StePratt said:

I'm doing Salford as my Beta save. Just made it to January in the first season. Notable transfers have been Teden Mengi (loan, Man United), Joe Gelhardt (loan, Leeds United), Stephen Ireland (Free transfer) and Corentin Fiore (Free transfer). Top of the league after 21 games, level on points with Grimsby. I've made it to the third round of all three cup competitions, so squad fatigue is high and so is rotation. Gelhardt and Tom Elliot have 29 goals between them, rotating as lone strikers. It's a very talented squad already, just needs a few tweaks.

That’s great, well done! How are you setup tactically? Which central defensive and midfield combination have you opted for? I want to build the midfield around Towell, not sure about Gibson.

[StePratt]

13 hours ago, stevecummins78 said:

That’s great, well done! How are you setup tactically? Which central defensive and midfield combination have you opted for? I want to build the midfield around Towell, not sure about Gibson.

4-2-3-1, custom gegenpress. Pretty standard, tried not to over complicate it, being league 2! Mengi and Bernard play centre back, with Turnbull and Clarke as back up. Ireland (dlp-s) and Towel (bwm-d) are in the middle, I did have Harvey White from Spurs but fell out with Mourinho over his playing role, so called Denny up from the Under 23s. Gibson and Lowe are  back up, Lowe getting decent game time as right back too. Beat Forest in the FA Cup 3rd round, off to QPR next. 

[StePratt]

Nightmare scenario. Bielsa recalled Gelhardt back to Leeds, leaving me very short up front. I've made a move for James Norwood from Ipswich on loan to replace him. Just as they accept a loan bid, Bielsa takes the Real Madrid job. I'm straight back in for Gelhardt. If I can get both in I'm going to be happy.

[stevecummins78]

2 hours ago, StePratt said:

Nightmare scenario. Bielsa recalled Gelhardt back to Leeds, leaving me very short up front. I've made a move for James Norwood from Ipswich on loan to replace him. Just as they accept a loan bid, Bielsa takes the Real Madrid job. I'm straight back in for Gelhardt. If I can get both in I'm going to be happy.

You don’t fancy any of the back up forwards already at the club then?

[StePratt]

3 minutes ago, stevecummins78 said:

You don’t fancy any of the back up forwards already at the club then?

James Wilson is playing on the right, cutting in with his left foot. I use Henderson in the AMC spot with Asante-Thomas used in rotation with Bruno Andrade on the left wing. There isn't a lot of out and out quality in the striker department, imo.

[stevecummins78]

3 hours ago, StePratt said:

James Wilson is playing on the right, cutting in with his left foot. I use Henderson in the AMC spot with Asante-Thomas used in rotation with Bruno Andrade on the left wing. There isn't a lot of out and out quality in the striker department, imo.

I was thinking of Wilson in that role as well. Are you using Hunter on the left as well?

[StePratt]

13 hours ago, stevecummins78 said:

I was thinking of Wilson in that role as well. Are you using Hunter on the left as well?

Yeah Hunter is my third highest appearance maker, 3rd in goals and 4th in assists. Rotation is key at this level, especially with the cup runs we've had.

[StePratt]

Season 1 Review

 

Couldn't have gone any better really. The aims at the start of the season were to finish mid-table, maybe challenge for the play off positions. What transpired was a truly remarkable season that will live long in the memory of the fans at The Peninsular Stadium. 46 league games played, 111 goals scored, 33 conceded, 4 defeats and 4 draws. Meaning we won 38 league games, finishing on 118 points, a massive 31 points clear of second placed Newport County. 

Stand out players, originally at the club, were Hladky, Clarke, Towell and Tom Elliot. Loan signings Mengi, Burr, Vica and Gelhardt were inspired additions. Free transfer signings Fiore and Stephen Ireland were outstanding too. Overall no-one played badly.

Next season is going to see us in League One. Big changes need to happen, but it looks like funds will be limited and the value of my players too low to have an effect. I will be mostly using free transfers and loans again as we look to battle against the drop next season. 

 

*Joe Gelhardt scored 22 league goals but spread over two separate loan spells. 

[Geordieboy52]

How was Vilca? From a NUFC point of view, we have high hopes for him eventually.

[StePratt]

5 hours ago, Geordieboy52 said:

How was Vilca? From a NUFC point of view, we have high hopes for him eventually.

Very good. 21 goal contributions in the league. Brought him back in for another season. Annoyingly there was a bug where Bruce kept asking me to play him in the role we had agreed, which he was but I took great delight in fobbing him off every week!

[stevecummins78]

Amazing effort! I started the season pretty well myself. Gelhardt does look brilliant, also picked up Cole Dasilva on a free.

[stevecummins78]

Well I am promoted with 10 games to spare, and on track for the title.

I am worried about club finances though, they are currently insecure and my wage budget was just reduced. Do they improve at all?

[bestbrother]

Whats the money situation at the club?

[stevecummins78]

On 28/12/2020 at 19:44, bestbrother said:

Whats the money situation at the club?

Tighter than you expect, though I think I overspent on staff

[stevecummins78]

2020/21 Season Review

Salford City’s rise from non-league obscurity to the Football League, backed by the investment and pulling power of the fabled ‘Class of ‘92’, had been well documented. The vision of the owners had been consistently clear - to achieve successive promotions with the aim of establishing Salford as a Championship club, potentially even reaching the Premier League. They had also shown a ruthlessness when it came sacking managers, so it was a challenge to take the manager’s job in summer 2020 and the expectation was to win the League Two title in my first season.

The club had the highest wage bill in the division after a summer of extensive recruitment, with 13 new players arriving. The strategy had shifted to signing proven players with Football League experience, with players such as Tom Clarke, Jason Lowe, George Boyd, Darren Gibson, Ian Henderson and Tom Elliott all being prepared to drop down the divisions. We had also spent £135k on winger Ashley Hunter from Fleetwood Town. Tactically, the squad was well resourced to play an attacking 4-2-3-1 formation. I knew I had a strong defence, with the excellent Vaclav Hladky in goal and a back four of Oscar Threlkeld, Ibou Touray, Clarke and Di’Shon Bernard (on loan from Manchester United). Ashley Eastham and Jordon Turnbull provided cover. In midfield I planned to use either Boyd or Gibson as a deep lying playmaker alongside the more mobile Richie Towell, or the ball-winner Lowe. In attack, Hunter was to be deployed as an inverted winger on the left, allowing Touray to attack up the left flank. Bruno Andrade took the right wing position, though I also had ex-United striker James Wilson who was to do a good job as an inside forward. Henderson played as shadow striker behind target man Elliott. I strengthened further in September, bringing in full back Cole Dasilva on a free transfer and striker Joe Gelhardt on loan from Leeds United. Former Aston Villa winger Andre Green joined on a free in January, with Luke Armstrong and Martin Smith leaving.

We played no fewer than six pre-season friendlies in August, but put those to good effect as we built team cohesion around what would be a consistent tactical shape. The first competitive game though, at home to Fleetwood Town in the EFL Cup, was lost 0-1. We would also be eliminated at the first stage of both the FA Cup and the EFL Trophy (though we did enjoy a great night beating Manchester United’s Under 23s on penalties in the group stage). Freed from the distractions of cup competitions we focused on League Two, which we were to run away with. We were unbeaten in our first 14 games, winning 12 of them, and would only lose three games all season. We set a new record of 115 points, winning 36 of our league fixtures. Promotion was secured with a 5-1 rout of Barrow on 13 March with 10 matches still remaining, and the title was won in a 1-1 draw at Forest Green Rovers on 5 April. On an individual level I won Manager of the Month no fewer than six times, as well as the Manger of the Year award. James Wilson enjoyed a sensational scoring streak in the run in, scoring three hat tricks and 14 goals overall in his last 10 games, enough for him to finish joint top scorer for the division. More importantly, Salford City would play in the third tier of English football after a fifth promotion in seven seasons.

 

Edited January 22, 2021 by stevecummins78

[stevecummins78]

2021/22 Season Review 

The club had been losing money due to its large wage bill and the board decided to reduce the budget from £62k a week to £48k. I also knew that I would have no more for transfers and very little room for manoeuvre on salaries, so I would have to try and offload some of our large earners. Bruno Andrade, despite having an excellent season, was sold to Rochdale for £200k after being unprepared to accept a wage reduction. Ashley Eastham went to Ross County for £100k, Jordan Turnbull to Wigan Athletic for £65k and Jason Lowe to Doncaster Rovers for £46k. I also released George Boyd and Darren Gibson, as well as several fringe and youth players. One player I did fail to sell was Tom Elliott, whose wage demands put several clubs off. His promotion wage rise made him our top earner on £5.75k a week, though he was only going to be a fringe player for the season ahead.

I then set about trying to replenish the squad and add a bit of extra quality required for stepping up a division. That quality was provided to a large extent by Ethan Galbraith, signed on loan from Manchester United along with Anthony Elanga. Galbraith was to slot in to the left side of central midfield as a Deep-lying playmaker, where he would excel all season, playing wonderful cross-field passes to Andre Green. Other midfield reinforcements, both signed on free transfers, were Jordan Houghton and Matty Willock. I also signed two central defenders, Matty Pearson from Luton Town and Sam Hughes from Leicester City. Both came in on reasonable wages and would eventually form a first choice pairing. I also renewed the loan deals for Joe Gelhardt and Di’Shon Bernard, and brought in right back Ben Johnson on loan from West Ham United. Having brought in funds from players sales and reduced the wage bill I also had a squad that was good enough to take on League One.

In reality, we dominated the league from the start. We won our first game 1-0 at Wigan and followed this up with a 3-2 home victory against Peterborough United and a 3-1 win at Doncaster Rovers. Although we lost at home to Barnsley in our next match we went on a run of 19 victories and two draws and were runway leaders by Christmas. Having a couple of full internationals in the squad meant we had to postpone some fixtures and that, along with progress in cup competitions, meant we had a fixture pile up requiring us to play 11 games in December. We won nine of them, the only defeat coming at Peterborough. By January we were 15 points clear with a game in hand, having won 23 and drawn two of our first 27 games. Sadly, we had been knocked out of the FA Cup having at least made it to the third round. I thought we were the better team at home to Championship strugglers Bristol City, but went down 2-3. We fared much better in the EFL Trophy, a winnable competition that I was determined to have a really good go at. Having topped a group including Newcastle’s U23s, Carlisle United and Lincoln City we then beat Harrogate Town to set up a third round tie against Manchester City’s U23s. It was a televised classic, with City’s kids taking the lead before United loanee Elanga equalised and former red James Wilson gave us the lead. City levelled again before Cole Dasilva’s stunning strike made it 3-2. Back came City, Luke Ilic making it 3-3, before Richie Towell came off the bench to score two long range goals and seal a memorable 5-3 victory. Coventry City were beaten 2-0 in the quarter-final but lost on penalties at League Two leaders AFC Wimbledon in the semi-final, with both Green and Wilson missing in the shoot out. If you are going to win the Papa John’s Trophy you need a slice of good fortune, and we didn’t have any.

We consoled ourselves with wrapping up promotion, which was secured with a 3-2 win at Bristol Rovers on 2 March. Wilson scoring two late goals despite us being down to ten men. The League One title followed three days later in a dominant 3-1 win at Fleetwood. We had secured back to back promotions and were now a Championship club!

Edited January 28, 2021 by stevecummins78

[Geordieboy52]

2032 in my current save and they’re in the championship. Something seems a little off as none of their player values have gone up and their all worth less that £250-500k

[stevecummins78]

2022/23 Season Review

We had achieved the ‘Class of ’92’s’ goal of Championship football much sooner than anyone could have expected, so the challenge now was to stay up and consolidate our position in the second tier and continue to grow the club. The board gave the go ahead to expand the Peninsula Stadium, which meant that we would play our 2022/23 home games at the 12,000 capacity AJ Bell Stadium, home of rugby clubs Salford City Reds and Sale Sharks. I also had at my disposal a modest transfer budget and a significant increase in the wage budget. Midfielder Ben Whiteman was signed from Doncaster for £250k and made club captain following the retirement of Tom Clarke. I once again raided Manchester United for players, signing Di’Shon Bernard, Reece Devine, Nathan Bishop and Mark Helm on free transfers and Will Fish on loan. I also spent a club record £500k to make Ethan Galbraith a permanent signing. Other free signings included striker Jack Marriott and midfielder Nick Powell. Powell’s was a difficult signing, but he lowered his wage demands after Stoke City released him. I once again supplemented my squad with loans, including Blackburn Rovers ball-winner Jacob Davenport, Tottenham winger Jack Clark, and renewed loads for Ben Johnson Tom Gelhardt and United’s Anthony Elanga. Notable departures included Ian Henderson and Tom Elliott.

We got off to a great start, over 10,000 fans watched us come from behind to beat Derby County 2-1 with goals from Galbraith and Elanga. Doncaster were then beaten 4-1 in the EFL Cup, but then we lost 0-1 to a last minute goal at fellow promoted Oxford United and were take apart 0-3 at home by Birmingham City. We rallied to draw 2-2 against Middlesbrough and thrashed Sheffield Wednesday 4-1, but then lost 1-2 at Crystal Palace and 2-4 at home to Luton Town. We had also made it to the round of the EFL Club, but were outclassed 0-3 at home against Premier League Aston Villa. By then I had replaced John Dreyer as assistant manager with Scott Kellacher from Inveness and we went back to the drawing board on our tactical set up.  Encouraging 2-1 wins against Blackburn and Cardiff City were followed by a run of only one win in five. We were in 19th place going in to the October international break.

I switched us to a more patient playing style, still using the 4-2-3-1 but in away that allowed us to have more of the ball and be less wasteful with it. The result was a 2-1 victory at West Bromwich Albion, followed by a 2-0 win at home to Preston, a 1-1 draw at Reading and a thrilling 3-2 home win over Swansea City. We followed that with a 2-1 win at Millwall and came from two down to beat Newcastle United 3-2 at St. James’ Park. With the eyes of the world on the FIFA World Cup in Qatar we beat leaders Watford 1-0 through a goal by Marriott, the fifth consecutive match which he found the net, and we were up to fourth in the table. We were unlucky to lost 0-1 at home to Bristol City, but we won 3-0 at Huddersfield then 2-1 at home to Oxford. We faced Premier League Leeds United at Elland Road in the third round of the FA Cup, losing a thrilling encounter 2-4, but as we went in to the new year an unlikely third consecutive promotion started to look a real possibility. Both Birmingham and Cardiff were beaten 4-2 and we also enjoyed victories over Derby (2-1), Sheffield Wednesday (4-0) and Crystal Palace (3-0). The only dropped points in this sequence was a 1-2 reverse at Middlesbrough, where we conceded two goals in the final minute of a game in which we were the better team.

The good form continued in to February and we went top of the table with a 3-0 victory at Luton Town. We only won one of the next four but Swansea and Watford, the teams around us at the top, also dropped points. We returned to winning ways in style. Nick Powell, who had not been as consistent as I would have hoped across this season, scored two stunning free kicks in a 5-2 rout of Rotherham.

Ethan Galbraith missed the whole of March with a groin strain but we won three out of four, the exception being a 2-3 home defeat to West Brom. We came from behind to win 2-1 at QPR, then the recall of Will Fish to defence helped us keep clean sheets in victories over Preston (1-0) and Reading (2-0). The Preston win felt significant as they were flying going in to that game at Deepdale, but Marriott’s goal second half goal gave us a precious three points. With six games to go we were four points clear at the top and seven clear of third placed Birmingham.

Consecutive 2-0 wins over Reading and Millwall put us on the brink or promotion. The decisive period came with three consecutive games against our promotion rivals. A 1-1 draw at Swansea was a good result, despite the fact that we led through a Powell goal. We then went to Watford and trailed to an early penalty, before they went down to ten men and the match swung in our favour. Marriott equalised just before half time and then slotted home the winner on the hour mark. We got in to the dressing room to hear that results elsewhere meant that our promotion to the Premier League had been confirmed. The party could begin, but the Championship title was still there to be won. Newcastle came to the newly reopened 7,919 capacity Peninsula Stadium on 15 April and we looked lethargic in the first half, deservedly trailing 0-1 at the break. Will Fish equalised with his only goal of the season before Anthony Elanga tucked away the winner. We were up as champions - a third consecutive league title! Marriott was the league’s top scorer with 24 goals, while Green was only one short of the leading assist maker. It had been a remarkable season for a team tipped to struggle against the drop.