FM21: The English Football League thread

[StePratt]

44 minutes ago, goonergez said:

 

 

Crewe Alexandra Takeover (January 2024)

 

I've managed to get Crewe as a senior affiliate, hoping they send me some players soon. Good luck.

[robterrace]

Just doing a bit of messing around, with a save at Forest (whilst trying to get the data updated for the next patch ;))

 

Few moves already, with Zach Clough and Michael Hefele departing, and the following 2 coming in.

 

Also had a bid accepted for Perry Ng, as well as one for a Spanish winger.

[Ewan0404]

@robterrace Spalek looks quality, where did you sign him from?

[oakesypvfc]

Well, I was just about to wish you luck at Bristol City @goonergezbut then I find out you have gone to Crwho  I guess I wish you good luck, hopefully you are able to go back to the days where they used to bring through some nice players. 

Rough start at Wigan @nyg, hopefully Garner and Keane can help you turn things around!

[goonergez]

Thanks to all of you for all of the kind words. I was a bit annoyed at myself for the Bristol City debacle, but hopefully I am onto something new and positive here now. There are some really good saves going on in here, and although I am not going to comment on any specifics right now, reading them is more than entertaining. Keep it going guys!
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Crewe Alexandra FC: January 2024

I've literally only been in charge here for a little over a week, but it's already been a busy spell as I look to lay down my markers for management at this club. Off the field I have struggled to build a backroom team, and so far I am still navigating life here alone. I'm sure over the next few weeks I will manage to put something in shape though. I want to get my appointments right though, as I plan to set up a positive future here at this club. It looks like former Charlton Athletic manager Johnnie Jackson is soon to arrive as a coach, but so far I have had no luck in finding the right man to become my assistant manager.

With only a week left of the transfer window I didn't expect to conduct very much business so soon after my arrival. I plan to overhaul a lot of this squad, but to do so now would just be silly. There are a lot of players out of contract in the summer though, and I would expect a lot more activity when that happens. For now I planned on minimal business, perhaps focusing more on outgoings than incomings. We only ended up allowing one player to leave the club though, with winger Keshi Anderson being sold to AFC Wimbledon in a £60,000 deal. That's now the second time as a manager I have sold him from my club. Arrival wise I hunted a goalkeeper, midfielder and a backup striker. I managed to conclude deals for two of those positions. 25-year old keeper Viktor Johansson joined us from fellow League One side Rotherham United on a loan deal until the end of the season, hopefully adding some quality between the sticks. He wasn't playing regularly for them, and I think he's a really good signing for us. I then spent the money made on the sale of Anderson to bring in Leeds United midfielder Alfie McCalmont. The 23-year old looks like a really good player for this level, and we parted with a fee of just £55,000 to clinch his services.

We started my reign with a solid enough victory over Wycombe in a game in which we should've won by a more comfortable score line. A good clean sheet away at 10th placed MK Dons followed in another solid result. Next up is my biggest test so far though, away against promotion chasing Luton Town. I'm pleased with two clean sheets in two though, and it sets us up well for the coming weeks.
 

[Jogo Bonito]

@goonergezGood luck at Crewe. Are you still there?  Might you be able to re-sign Ng and Lowery?

[goonergez]

14 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@goonergezGood luck at Crewe. Are you still there?  Might you be able to re-sign Ng and Lowery?

I am still here haha We’ve had a bright start actually, losing just once in my first six matches. My tactic has sorted the defensive side pretty well, although we do lack goals. I’d love to sign either of them but it’s unlikely. Perry Ng is now a regular at Bristol City and Tom Lowery is still performing really well at Blackpool. Speaking of Blackpool, they’re currently two points clear of the drop zone with around 10 games to go.

[robterrace]

2 hours ago, Ewan0404 said:

@robterrace Spalek looks quality, where did you sign him from?

Brescia. Cost me just under £3m, but, I think with a season with me, I can get at least double that for him.

[nyg]

                                                                                                                                                 2020/21 season part three

Had a good hope of reaching the play-off, but the last 10 games ruined it. I would still say it is both a successfull season and more than we could hope for before the season started. After all the media predicton was 24th. I'm fairly confident that with the right reinforcements the play-offs should be in reach next season. 
Also made it to the fifth round of the FA Cup and won at St. James Park on the way - major win! All in all a good debut season. 

 

Charlie Brown delivered one hell of a debut season, and ended the season on 25 goals in all tournaments. I really hope I can hold him at the club for another season. Both Crankshaw and Merrie made the best eleven, but none of them are top League One material. Maybe not even League One material at all. The most important positions before the upcoming window will be CM, RM/LM and a central defender. 

Financially it looks ok for the time being, and there's a small amount of money to invest in players. Once again I need to be smart in market and look for bargains. Hopefully I can bring in some money by offloading some players, and especially the ones with high wages. The players with contracts that run out after the season will release £19k pr week - that's a lot of money to invest in League One. I'm eager to invest in the academy and facilities as well, and trying to build more than a strong first eleven. Need to build brick by brick I guess. 

                                             

[goonergez]

10 minutes ago, nyg said:

 All in all a good debut season.                           

That is a very good debut season. Well played indeed. Interested to see what you can do to kick on with the Latics.

[Jogo Bonito]

@nygYes a very nice debut season at Wigan, good work. Charlie Brown did well, and I know you didn't pay peanuts for him  so that was rewarding. He has moved to MK Dons in real life so League 1 is probably his level, but with some low-cost additions you should be able to push on next year.

[nyg]

@goonergez Thanks! Feel I've could've done better after 4th place after the first 10 games, but I guess I have to save that for next season! 

@Jogo BonitoThanks! Haha, payed good for him! And will be paying more when he scores more goals 

[Jogo Bonito]

7 minutes ago, nyg said:

Thanks! Haha, payed good for him! And will be paying more when he scores more goals 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Brown

I hope he does it all again for you next season.

[goonergez]

Crewe Alexandra: 2023/24 Review

So pretty soon after my last update at the closing of the January window I put together the backroom team I am hoping guides us to glory. As mentioned former Charlton manager Johnnie Jackson did arrive as a coach, and I brought in Damian Matthew as my new assistant. The 53-year old should bring a wealth of experience to us and I am excited to work with him alongside me. A new scout and a physiotherapist were both brought in to complete our off the field activities. On the pitch we performed well, improving our league position by  five places to finish in eleventh and a surprise top half finish.

A record of 9-3-3 since my appointment saw a steady climb up the table to clinch the highest finish in the table for Crewe since I took charge of Blackpool some four years ago. I'm not saying everything was perfect, and a 0-4 defeat to Bristol Rovers proved that. But there was definitely improvement. In my fifteen matches the team conceded just ten goals, which is exactly the sort of affect I wanted to bring in. Goal scoring proved to be the problem, with main striker Mikael Mandron managing just the 2 goals since my arrival as manager.

The summer will be an intriguing one as I look to put together a team capable of competing a little higher up the table. I am not expecting miracles, but I would love to bring about steady improvement beginning with next season. There isn't ridiculous amounts of money, but I am going to be given a little to delve into the transfer market. I won't go crazy, but there will be a number of new arrivals. I intend on rebuilding this squad, although there are a couple of players I definitely want to keep around. Central defender Luke Offord is one of them, as is central midfielder Max Sanders who has actually just put pen to paper on a contract extension. One of my main priorities will be to find a more regular goal scorer for us, as well as trying to keep loan goalkeeper Viktor Johansson here permanently after a successful loan period. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by goonergez

[nyg]

34 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Brown

I hope he does it all again for you next season.

Aah. I didn't take the reference.. Great humor! 

 

@goonergezWow. 30 of 45 points is fantastic! With that tempo you could finish even higher next season. Good luck! 

Edited January 26, 2021 by nyg

[Jogo Bonito]

1 minute ago, nyg said:

Aah. I didn't take the reference.. Great humor! 

Haha that's OK it's a very old cartoon character!

@goonergezIt seems to be a repeating theme for a few new managers, but well done that was a good solid finish to the season. I'm sure you will (much like Wigan) push on and have a good season next time around.

[CityAndColour]

8 hours ago, warlock said:

I've noticed this a lot this year - parent teams really demanding every tiny aspect of the loan agreement. Maybe it's more realistic but, combined with wage contributions, it has made me less keen on loans than previous FMs.

Yeah it's a little bit overkill. I have a player on loan who can play AML and AMR and has started every league match at AML. I must have accidently put him as an AMR on the loan agreement because I get a call from his manager every month, which goes the same way:

- Why isn't he playing AMR?

- Does it matter? He is playing every week anyway.

- Ah yes, well, carry on then.

Rinse and repeat.

[dozzie]

End of my first Premier League campaign and I've never been so pleased with mid-table obscurity. As per my last update, I was flirting with relegation in December, but changed tactic to a 5-3-2 and things turned around sharply. My form from January to March was amazing and I was now looking good to compete for 10th-11th place in the league. However, the wheels came off a bit as my thin squad started to get exposed and tired and I only won 2 of my last 8 games.

This left me in 13th place at the end of the season. I would have taken it all day long at the outset so I'm well pleased. As you can see from the table there was a stark difference in home and away form - something I'll need to address if I want progress next season. It's funny that my home form is so good really considering I'm not actually at home, I'm currently sharing The Den with Millwall while a new stadium is built!

My star man was Tjaland - the only player I had with a 7+ AVR come the end of the season and it was his goals that took me on that great run from January to March. In fact, in March I only scored one goal in each of my matches, and Tjaland got every single one!

I'm now heading into the post-season and in dire need of re-enforcements and a jump in quality. I am targeting the spine of my team again, with a new, class Goalkeeper, Centre Backs, a commanding Centre Midfielder and a back-up/rotation option up front. I have a £48m transfer budget which I hope will afford me most of what I need.

My recruitment for the season just gone was pretty satisfactory, with Kelleher and Ehlers being the best signings, along with Laird on loan. There were a couple of flops, Abdelli (who is already sold and leaving soon) and Hlozek who I'm hoping to move on. I had high hopes for him, but once I changed tactic I couldn't play him where he is best and he's too valuable not to cash in.

[oakesypvfc]

Decent seasons there with Wigan and Crwho respectively there @nyg @goonergezHopefully you can build on for next season! How is the academy looking gez?

I've had a lot of that @CityAndColourbecause I've been playing DM's in CM, Klopp even recalled Clarkson because of it last season.

Sheffield Wednesday - League One - Season 2023/24

January was rough on us, as mentioned in my previous post, losing top scorer Lebrun Swann and also Dendoncker and Konaté. With our new recruits however, we had to push on. Were we able to finish off what we started?

Despite a very dodgy February, where we lost three games in five, including being knocked out of the FA Cup by Preston, we were able to dust ourselves off and go again. Unfortunately, we weren't able to replicate the goals of Swann with Adebayo nor Omatoye but goals from elsewhere in the team showed us to the finish line.

These are a list of our lads that performed over 9 games for the club this season. Without Swann, we were lacking in goals, with Shodipo our top scorer with 11.  Andrew Gutman was our top in average rating, rotating for left bacl with Brandon Mason. I was very happy with our new number 1 Ryan Whitaker and I pray that we can get him back on loan next season. My favourite player of the season though was new signing Idris El Mizouni, with an impressive 15 assists, I was very happy with his return.

Although we have done amazingly so far, I think this team needs a lot of work if we are to challenge in the league next season, as the Championship is an entirely different animal than League's One and Two. This club is based around loan players at the moment, we will still probably look to get a couple in but it is also an aging club. With a £5,000,000 transfer budget and over £100k wage budget, I expect it will be a busy summer at Hillsborough.

[Jogo Bonito]

@dozzieThat's a fantastic achievement, nice one. Tjaland has certainly been able to cope, great returns from him. And a transfer budget like that should be good enough to help you get that extra quality in.

@oakesypvfcJob done! Again that is a healthy budget to add some decent players, I am sure you can do very well again next season.

Edited January 26, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

Things going well at Crewe, great season at Wigan, and a fantastic performance from Cambridge.

I seem to have come over all @goonergez and lost the impetus for the Darlington save. Having done 5 seasons with them last year (I think my longest FM save ever) it felt like treading the same ground. And the same story with other favourites - Ipswich, Plymouth, Brentford, Forest. I think I need a completely new challenge, someone I've not managed before. I'm seriously thinking about a club from the city of Durham, my birthplace.

Durham City AFC currently ply their trade in Division 2 of the Northern League. With a population around 60,000, Durham is one England's largest cities not to have a professional football team and a save there would represent a major challenge, but current Vanorama sides like Blyth Spartans, Spennymoor and the reformed Darlington 1883 have made the journey so why not!

[Jogo Bonito]

17 minutes ago, warlock said:

Things going well at Crewe, great season at Wigan, and a fantastic performance from Cambridge.

I seem to have come over all @goonergez and lost the impetus for the Darlington save. Having done 5 seasons with them last year (I think my longest FM save ever) it felt like treading the same ground. And the same story with other favourites - Ipswich, Plymouth, Brentford, Forest. I think I need a completely new challenge, someone I've not managed before. I'm seriously thinking about a club from the city of Durham, my birthplace.

Durham City AFC currently ply their trade in Division 2 of the Northern League. With a population around 60,000, Durham is one England's largest cities not to have a professional football team and a save there would represent a major challenge, but current Vanorama sides like Blyth Spartans, Spennymoor and the reformed Darlington 1883 have made the journey so why not!

Well why not. Maybe the personal attachment will make it work for you. It will take some time though...

Which edited database file will you go for?

Can I tempt you to York instead if I go there next?

[warlock]

8 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Maybe the personal attachment will make it work for you

Hope so, and it will give me the opportunity to bore you all rigid with personal nostalgia as we play our local rivals - here's where I started school, here's where I has my first under-age pint .

Just downloaded the first Tier 10 database I found in the editor forum. And on taking the reins at Durham, imagine my surprise when I found this guy in the squad:

Star player indeed!!

11 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Can I tempt you to York instead if I go there next?

Of course . As you noted, if the Durham save takes it will be a long-term project and a bit of variety will be welcome.

[oakesypvfc]

37 minutes ago, warlock said:

Things going well at Crewe, great season at Wigan, and a fantastic performance from Cambridge.

I seem to have come over all @goonergez and lost the impetus for the Darlington save. Having done 5 seasons with them last year (I think my longest FM save ever) it felt like treading the same ground. And the same story with other favourites - Ipswich, Plymouth, Brentford, Forest. I think I need a completely new challenge, someone I've not managed before. I'm seriously thinking about a club from the city of Durham, my birthplace.

Durham City AFC currently ply their trade in Division 2 of the Northern League. With a population around 60,000, Durham is one England's largest cities not to have a professional football team and a save there would represent a major challenge, but current Vanorama sides like Blyth Spartans, Spennymoor and the reformed Darlington 1883 have made the journey so why not!

What about Sheffield

That's sad to hear about Darlington though, best of luck with Durham! With Chimbonda by your side, what could possibly go wrong?

[Jogo Bonito]

2 minutes ago, warlock said:

Hope so, and it will give me the opportunity to bore you all rigid with personal nostalgia as we play our local rivals - here's where I started school, here's where I has my first under-age pint .

Just downloaded the first Tier 10 database I found in the editor forum. And on taking the reins at Durham, imagine my surprise when I found this guy in the squad:

Star player indeed!!

Of course . As you noted, if the Durham save takes it will be a long-term project and a bit of variety will be welcome.

Pascal looks actually really good for that level, especially at that age. Congrats on finding somebody even close to being as old as us 

Nostalgic commentary will be perfect I think!

[CityAndColour]

Chimbonda still looks like he could turn out for some L2 sides!

[CityAndColour]

23 hours ago, CityAndColour said:

Our next two are Harrow away (13th) and Wimborne at home (21st) which should hopefully present six points, before we finish up with WSM at home and Met Police away, so we could realistically finish anywhere in the top five.

So, first we went to Harrow and put in a very professional display, keeping them without a shot on goal and coming away with a comfortable 1-0 win.

Then home to Wimborne, who were rock bottom with only six wins and a goal difference of -55, which of course meant only one thing...

We took an early lead, before my 'keeper kicked the ball into the back of their striker on the edge of the area, allowing the ball to rebound into an empty net. Said striker then completed a quick fire hat-trick within the next 23 minutes, and although we pulled one back and bombarded their goal in the second half, it was a pretty embarrassing (but entirely predictable) loss.

WSM were next, taking the lead before we immediately hit back. They missed a penalty just after the hour mark and we then picked them off twice on the counter to take a 3-1 clutch win and seal a top two finish.

During this stretch, Met Police could only muster two draws and a loss, setting up a winner takes all final day clash at their ground, Imber Court...

 

[John Joe O'toole]

A great result for me, normally i try to shut up shop against top teams but i just played my usual tactic and dominated possession and made things happen. This tactic in the picture is from the 87th minute when i took swift off for another CB to try and hold on to my lead! 

 

RJJ Bagging the winner!

[goonergez]

@John Joe O'toole good to see RJJ playing the hero role

@CityAndColourthats an exciting season ending right there! I’ve got faith in you! Where did you find the add on for those leagues?

@warlock chinbonda does actually look decent. Loved him at Wigan but hate him for Spurs haha

@oakesypvfc I knew I was right to have faith in you! Guessing the real challenge starts now for you though?!

[CityAndColour]

@goonergez - I am using the database from @BoyInGreen (found here ) however there are a couple in the editor download forum.

A lot of work goes into them and it's very impressive.

[goonergez]

Crewe Alexandra: 2024/25 Season Preview

Upon my takeover I had said I planned on a pretty major squad overhaul during this summer as I wasn't sure on a number of players within the squad. After enjoying a really impressive start to life here though I was a lot happier, and pleased with a number of the players I inherited. That wasn't to say I didn't want to make changes, but a jump of five league positions and eight wins in my fifteen matches had given me a lot more confidence in my side. I decided not to do anything too radical, feeling that a few good additions could help us to continue the form we showed after my arrival and help us enjoy a really positive campaign. Our form last season just snuck us into the top half, and that pleased both myself and the board greatly. They want more of the same this time around which does add some pressure, but is something I am confident we can achieve.

My first priority was to keep the core of the squad together. Holding on to central defender Luke Offord proved tough, with plenty of interest and bids from Championship sides. At one stage the board accepted a bid from Middlesbrough, but I managed to convince them that we shouldn't sell him and that he was vital to my plans for the coming season. In midfield Brad Walker and Max Sanders both signed new contracts, and we also had January arrival Alfie McCalmont who had impressed. Up top Mikael Mandron failed to impress me, but has one year to run on his deal and would be kept at the club unless we received a huge bid for him. A new striker was something I wanted as a priority though, as was another central defender. 

Defensively we kept nine clean sheets in our fifteen matches last season, so I was keen to keep as many of that unit together as possible, including January loanee goalkeeper Viktor Johansson.
The board presented me with a £500,000 transfer budget for the summer, as well as leaving some room in the wage budget to help with new arrivals. The finances at this club aren't great, but it isn't in my style to risk the long term stability of this club anyway. I was more than happy with what they had given me to work with. We did gain a nice little fee of £140,000 from Blackpool though. After there relegation last season (gutting for my former side), they opted to sell Tom Lowery to Barnsley in a £475,000 deal. That was a nice little booster for our transfer kitty.

Departure wise it was about trying to free up some wage budget by releasing surplus players, as well as raising some funds to spend in player sales. We did both, and we did it pretty effectively. Contract expirations saw thirty players depart the football club, although most of them were from our development sides. Only seven of them were involved within the first team squad, and only veteran Luke Murphy and defender Cheye Alexander had featured since my takeover. We somewhat surprisingly didn't offer new contracts to two young options who then moved elsewhere. 19-year old full back Ryan Wilson left for QPR, and striker Brendan Gudger opted to join Reading. Gudger in particular had potential, but despite looking to be well rounded, his finishing ability didn't fill me with enough confidence to keep him at the club.

We raised some good money to spend also, by selling three players over the summer. Firstly we allowed two backup goalkeepers to depart.  Jordan Smith joined Lincoln City in a £100,000 deal, and Jake Turner joined Walsall (promoted from League One) in a £50,000 transfer. Finally was a really tough call, as I allowed a regular under me to depart. 27-year old Connor Shaughnessy was a real key part of my midfield last season, but I couldn't turn down a £300,000 deal. He left to join Ipswich and I was left to hunt a replacement. I just felt that as important as he was, we just could not turn down the opportunity to bring such a big fee into the club. I want to be self-sustainable, and dealings like that can only help as it would go on to fund our entire summer dealings.

One of my real key targets for the summer was to keep loanee goalkeeper Viktor Johansson at the club longer term. Rotherham weren't interested in another loan deal, but we snapped him up on a free transfer and two year contract. There is a huge 40% sell on fee included in the deal, but I was keen to add that in rather than spend valuable transfer funds. We also snapped up promising 18-year old winger Silko Thomas on a free transfer from Morecambe. They were relegated from our league at the end of last season but Silko had impressed for them with five goals and four assists over 37 appearances. Chasing a striker I feel we've found a really good one for the coming campaign. 19-year old Bruce Roles has joined on a season long loan from Tottenham Hotspurs. He is raw but looks to possess real talent, and will compete with Mikael Mandron for the lone striker role.

The signing of Tom Grivosti is a pretty big one for us, and at a knockdown price as well. He impressed for Wycombe in 27 appearances last season as they were relegated to League Two. I had said I wanted cover at the heart of our defence, and we did well to snap him up. There was a lot of interest from other clubs, but it is a testament to what we are building here that he rejected those opportunities and chose to join our ranks instead. The signing of 31-year old George Thorne goes against a lot of my plans for this club, but the sale of Shaughnessy had left us short of capable holding midfielders. I am hoping the experience he brings can help us, and am sure that he will prove a reliable arrival. The loan deal also gives us the freedom to spend the next season hunting around for Shaughnessy's long term replacement. Finding it this summer proved elusive. We added some nice depth to our squad as well, with a few young prospects joining us. The signing of pacey winger Aymen Benarous from Brentford is an exciting and intriguing one. I didn't want to spend as much as we did for him, but he looks to possess a lot of potential. His crossing needs some work in training, but he has plenty of pace and can travel well with the ball. If we can sort out his final delivery then we could have one hell of a player on our books.  20-year old Logan Pye is a left back who will be in and around the squad and 21-year old central midfielder Odel Offiah looks really promising to me. He impressed in League Two for Exeter last season, and will definitely get some football for us here this season.

Outside of the transfer market I also moved to bring a couple of our development players into the first team squad for the coming campaign.  20-year old goalkeeper Jerry Legrand-Akpo will play understudy to Johansson, and 18-year old Spanish central defender Javier will also be in the mix. He's already picked up two caps for his national under-21s side, and could well see some action with us this season. I'm keen to ensure that we develop players internally as well as bringing in exciting prospects in the transfer market.

It was a fairly busy summer for me and the club, but I would definitely say a successful one. I managed to shift on a lot of players I didn't see as a part of my plans here, and brought in plenty of promising players. The focus was definitely on bringing in younger talents, but we managed to fill all the gaps within the squad that I had highlighted. Allowing Connor Shaughnessy to leave may bite me in the backside, but his departure funded our entire summer activity, with plenty of money left over. I'm not expecting promotion, but would love for us to show some of the form we showed after my arrival last season. I see no reason why we can't clinch another top half finish this time around, and the media are predicting us a 6th placed finish. That shows how positively people are viewing this club now, and fills me with plenty of excitement. If we can get a positive start we may be able to increase our expectations, but I would definitely be happy with more of the same. This is a tough league to get out of, and compared to some we can only be considered a small club really. This club last played Championship football way back in 2006, and I am hoping that we can go some way towards ending that in the next couple of years with a really strong showing this season.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Career Honours:

Blackpool FC: 1x League One Champions

Bristol City: none

Crewe Alexandra: none

[Jogo Bonito]

@goonergezVery nice update, I like to hear the stories around shaping a squad, and the depth of detail and thought processes behind it. Best of luck for the new season!

I'm hoping to finish my Reading season tonight, if all goes to plan.

[goonergez]

My first full season in charge at Crewe has begun, and we were looking to build on the solid finish we put together last time around. The summer had been fairly busy, but I felt as though we had managed to do good things to our squad. As the season kicked off I was full of hope for what lay ahead. An early goal looked like it would be enough for an opening day win, before we conceded a disappointing injury time equaliser. A 1-1 draw away at Millwall proved to be a fantastic result. Summer arrival George Thorne was sent off shortly after half time, and after conceding soon after we did brilliantly to equalise and cling on for a point.  In the League Cup we took a shock lead just before half time, before falling away in the second period to lose out at the first hurdle 1-2 to Nottingham Forest. Then we smashed Oldham for a straightforward result. A Bruce Roles double inside the opening ten minutes saw us cruise to our first victory of the season, and he completed his hat-trick ten minutes from time.

The reason for my update isn't good news though. 

After spending the majority of the summer fighting off advances I am left absolutely gutted to be losing a real key part of our defensive unit. Offord had been an ever present since my arrival at the club, and a lot of our summer activity was around him being at the heart of our defence. I can't complain at the financial positives of the deal, but on the field it may hurt us. I'm not looking to sign anybody, and will instead be using summer signing Tom Grivosti as a key member of our back line now. On top of that we also sold winger Rekeil Pyke to Morecambe of League Two. He had done nothing but moan since I arrived, and in the end I decided to let him leave the club on a free transfer. Hopefully we will still manage to get by without these two. We've had a pretty decent start, so here's hoping things continue in the same vein.
 

[Jogo Bonito]

6 minutes ago, goonergez said:

After spending the majority of the summer fighting off advances I am left absolutely gutted to be losing a real key part of our defensive unit. Offord had been an ever present since my arrival at the club, and a lot of our summer activity was around him being at the heart of our defence. I can't complain at the financial positives of the deal, but on the field it may hurt us. I'm not looking to sign anybody, and will instead be using summer signing Tom Grivosti as a key member of our back line now. On top of that we also sold winger Rekeil Pyke to Morecambe of League Two. He had done nothing but moan since I arrived, and in the end I decided to let him leave the club on a free transfer. Hopefully we will still manage to get by without these two. We've had a pretty decent start, so here's hoping things continue in the same vein.

It sounds like a reasonable start, but I guess your board just couldn't turn down what was offered!

A bit of a gamble choosing not to replace him but I hope that works out well for you.

[robterrace]

Since my last update, we've completed the signing of Perry Ng, who drops straight in at right back.

Needing another winger, as I'm expecting to lose Joe Lolley, Spanish winger Dani Ojeda was spotted when I sent my scouting teams out, and, he more than fits what we need, and, for £300k from Albacete, there is a decent chance of a profit in a couple of seasons.

Nothing else appears to be coming at this time.

[goonergez]

28 minutes ago, robterrace said:

Since my last update, we've completed the signing of Perry Ng, who drops straight in at right back.

Superb signing. He was a real key signing for me when at Blackpool and was consistently impressive.

[robterrace]

3 minutes ago, goonergez said:

Superb signing. He was a real key signing for me when at Blackpool and was consistently impressive.

He has exactly what I want. Consistency, and workrate. 

[robterrace]

Ouch.

 

Still. If I get the full fee, I'll be happy to spend some of it.

[nyg]

                                                                                                                                         2021/22 season part one

 

After a decent first season and some impressive results, reinforcements were still needed If i want to kick on and challenge for promotion or play-offs. Manage to get the board to invest in Junior coaching and Youth recruitment, it's still adequate and the latter are average. Still better than it was, and I think it's an important part of the clubs future. Would love to get at least one academy graduate promoted to the first team every season in the long run. 

As expected I didn't get a big budget, but I managed to sell two of the talents I brought in for free to Premier League sides. And what a profit it is. Both Twigt and Lautenschutz will give me 40% of the profit from the next sale as well. Forget about Bitcoin, this is a immense profit in a year for a club like this. 

In addition to these I also signed Josh Tobin from Chelsea, Iestyn Hughes from Man United and Jack Wilshere on a free. Wilshere is injury prone and it's maybe just a matter of time when the first injury arrives. Even so he brings good quality for £2k pr week and have started the season with 3 assists in 5 games. He will also bring some experience to the team and he's a decent mentor. Considering the average age is 22 I tried to bring in Perry Ng for more experience, but he opted for Reading this time around. 

More than happy with the window after all. Got a lot of money in and managed to offload the highest earners. Lee Evans wanted out because I sold the youngsters. While he's absolutely a good player for this level, he's also overpaid and Jack Wilshere will fill that gap. 

 

According to my assistant this is the best eleven. I'm using Tariq Uwakwe on the left wing when available, had him in a previous save and he become unplayable for me. Also Wharton and Happe have been my duo in the heart of decende - Vitik looks a good talent and will get his chances. A lot of talents and potential in the squad now and I'm quite excited for the future here. 

 

I would dare to called this a decent start to the season (provocative, I know..). Sitting 5th after 5 games. Crewe and Oxford have won all five so far. I'm not really sure what happened the first two games, It could be result of changing to attacking mentality and the opposition underestimating us after last season. Both Lang and Brown has scored 7 in the first 5 games. Came back after summer looking like R9 and Haaland up front. I have no hopes that these results and form will continue over a long period of time, but it's really promising. If I can manage to make the bad runs shorter and get some draws in games we lost last season we'll be playing in the Championship next season. 

Edited January 27, 2021 by nyg

[Jogo Bonito]

@nygGreat start and you have some decent League 1 level players in there now. Those first two results were incredible, but beyond that you seem to still be scoring plenty.

[nyg]

@Jogo Bonito Absolutley. Really satisfied with the players I brought in. Been scoring for fun so far, and if it continues it could be fun season. Fingers crossed! 

[robterrace]

31 minutes ago, nyg said:

@Jogo Bonito Absolutley. Really satisfied with the players I brought in. Been scoring for fun so far, and if it continues it could be fun season. Fingers crossed! 

From previous experience, Happe is an outstanding signing.

[robterrace]

3 hours ago, robterrace said:

Ouch.

 

Still. If I get the full fee, I'll be happy to spend some of it.

Out goes Joe for £15m, along with Gaetan Bong to Swansea for £1m.

In comes a replacement in German, Robin Hack from Nurnberg for £2m.

Another signing, was Italian forward Andrea Adorante for £700k. He has lots of great mental and physical attributes, and could fit in well with a few technical improvements.

Last signing of the window, for £1.8m (going up to £2.2m), was Tim Handwerker, also from Nurnberg.

[hasdgfas]

Ah, delightful. I was looking for a place to stick my Vanarama North save, and it appears that I can give some updates here.

I make it a habit in every FM to try a save with a VNN/VNS team, with the long-term goal of Premier League/European glory. It never goes well. I can't ever get out of the lowest leagues and I give up very quickly. Something about the squad building/scouting down there doesn't work with my usual playstyle. Maybe posting updates in a thread will help with motivation.

So with that being said

-----------------------------

BLYTH SPARTANS - Save to date

Blyth Spartans are a team I've had a soft spot for over the past ~15 years, ever since I saw them in my first ever FM(2007) in the early FA Cup rounds. I went to school at Michigan State University here in the USA, and their sports teams are also the Spartans, and also play in green and white, so it was meant to be. I'm giving them a real go this FM. The board weren't expecting all that much, so I figured it could be a low-pressure save trying to learn the lower leagues.

LEAGUE TABLES:

2020/21 was a pretty good performance. 12th, solidly mid-table. Unfortunately we really faded at the end of the season after being right around the playoff spots for most of the year. Still, a good base to build off of.

2021/22 was good progression after that first season. 7th place, last spot of the playoffs. We went out immediately, of course, but still, we proved we could do it. Could we improve further?

2022/23 was a HUGE step back. 19 draws is WAY too many, and they kept us from any sort of playoff or promotion push. Yuck. Have to be better.

Finally, I just finished 2023/24, where we finished 5th. We were well below the top 4, but still didn't even get to fight them, because we lost 1-0 at home to Altrincham in the first round of the playoffs. Again, a good showing, but we really need to clean up these draws. Convert some of those into wins and we'll be right up with the best in the League.

-------------------

Now, for all our disappointments in the League, we've had some good FA Cup runs.

2020/21 - all the way to the First Round proper before losing to L1 AFC Wimbledon.

2021/22 - Made it to the Second Round proper before losing to ... L1 AFC Wimbledon. We even got a replay out of them! But then got smashed 4-0 at home in the replay

2022/23 - Again made it to the First Round proper. Here we lost to L2 Carlisle

2023/24 - Again to the First Round proper before losing to L1 Charlton

Making it to at least the First Round proper every season feels very good for a VNN side, and we've stayed in a good financial situation because of it. Hopefully our coffers will let me splurge a little bit on a couple strong players to take us over the top.

[warlock]

30 minutes ago, hasdgfas said:

Making it to at least the First Round proper every season feels very good for a VNN side

Yeah, a good cup run is key to keeping the finances on an even keel in a non-league save. I'm not sure what advice I'd give you, except that perseverance - and a 20-goal-a-season striker - will take you a long way . I'd also say that Blyth are probably a bit tougher this year than in recent FMs, but they definitely have potential. Hope you can go one better than the playoffs next time!

[hasdgfas]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

Yeah, a good cup run is key to keeping the finances on an even keel in a non-league save. I'm not sure what advice I'd give you, except that perseverance - and a 20-goal-a-season striker - will take you a long way . I'd also say that Blyth are probably a bit tougher this year than in recent FMs, but they definitely have potential. Hope you can go one better than the playoffs next time!

The board are being patient and not requiring promotion anytime soon, so I'm feeling all right about this. And I've actually had a pretty consistent goalscoring striker!

Blackett was in on loan the first and was on FIRE until he got an injury that also caused our form to dip, and is probably what took us from promotion places to 12th. He's been regressing since and I'm trying to find someone to take that goalscoring spot. It's a fun struggle though, I feel like I kinda understand what I'm doing, instead of previous FMs where I was out of my depth in the VNN.

Edited January 28, 2021 by hasdgfas

[CityAndColour]

2020/21 - Yate Town - Southern Premier South

League Summary (2nd, lost in playoff final)

Going into the final game of the season, only a win at Met Police would be sufficient to overtake them. We were very impressive and took a 2-1 lead, however an equaliser halfway through the second half meant the spoils were shared and we were consigned to the playoffs.

We drew WSM again and an 89th minute header from our best defender, Kane Baldwin, secured a 1-0 win a place in the final against Farnborough, who beat Tiverton in extra time.

They, of course, FM'd me:

Overall I am fairly pleased however. We were predicted to finish bottom and ran with a fairly small squad all season, so luck with injuries was key.

Key Performers

So often this season we were spearheaded by Ollie Mehew and Ricardo Rees, playing AMC and AMR respectively. Rees scored 29 times and assisted another 11, while Mehew scored 20 and assisted 14. Aaron Ward-Baptiste completed the attacking trimvirate with 19 goals of his own and new captain Cameron Healey had 17 assists as a deep-lying playmaker.

Next Season

I have managed to extend the contracts all of all my key players, so it will just be a matter of some re-enforcements and squad depth. I would hope for another title challenge, although Tiverton and their ridiculous strike force (73 goals) remain in the division.

[warlock]

5 hours ago, CityAndColour said:

They, of course, FM'd me

FM'd indeed! Hope you can escape upwards next time.

I've had Baldwin on trial at Durham but he ultimately turned me down and signed for someone else. And thanks for reminding me about Healey - he was a go-to signing for me for years in Darlington saves (and in a brilliant Mansfield save a couple of years ago). Don't know how I could have forgotten him . Wonder if he'd sign for Durham? 

[Jogo Bonito]

@hasdgfasI really enjoyed reading about your efforts at Blyth. Keep it going, you will definitely get there soon!

@CityAndColourVery unlucky losing out like that, but very close now! Do Tiverton still have the ex-Taunton striker in their team?

@warlockI'm pleased to see you're giving Durham a go. I have the last few games to play at Reading but with all this non-league love, I am likely to start a parallel game with York too. I will be using regionally based players (loosely) so we may end up signing some similar players. I already checked out a few that are destined for York the other night.

[goonergez]

It's fair to say we've enjoyed a pretty good start to my first full season at the helm, shocking everybody with a string of solid performances. Defensively we still look good, and in Bruce Roles we finally have somebody I have faith on to put the ball in the back of the net. He has 12 league goals already, and has helped us on our way. A number of the young players have stepped into the side well, and so far things are looking pretty good.

We lost our last match to Charlton, but that was a first defeat in ten league matches. We are playing some really good football, and I am really happy with how things are going. Hopefully we can keep the form going until the transfer window opens. Our defence has performed well but due to the enforced sale of Luke Offord we are definitely a body short. 18-year old Javier has slotted in pretty well after I promoted him from the youth setup, but I would like to bring in a more established centre back.