FM21: The English Football League thread

[hasdgfas]

Well, with all 46 done, how'd it end up?

We've got a shot!

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Wigan Takeover

Thank god for that as I stupidly got rid of all of my staff before realizing I can't hire anyone until I am out of administration.

Hopefully me doing a youth only save will help with finances.

 

[warlock]

3 hours ago, hasdgfas said:

We've got a shot!

Knew you could do it. Now for the next step 

2 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I stupidly got rid of all of my staff before realizing I can't hire anyone

Saved in the nick of time! I sacked all my staff once and only then realized I had no way of telling who was actually interested in the jobs 

[warlock]

3 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

nothing like the real takeover

Wonder how those Arizona pensioners feel about what's being done with their retirement funds 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

7 minutes ago, warlock said:

Knew you could do it. Now for the next step 

Saved in the nick of time! I sacked all my staff once and only then realized I had no way of telling who was actually interested in the jobs 

Yeah that is what happened to me 

Luckily its sorted now. The bank balance is pretty good after the takeover.

[warlock]

Another title in the bag 

[Jogo Bonito]

23 minutes ago, warlock said:

Another title in the bag 

Splendid, congrats (again). EFL for three seasons then you can have your PL meltdown 

[warlock]

15 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Splendid, congrats (again)

Thank you, sir!

15 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

EFL for three seasons then you can have your PL meltdown 

Well, I wouldn't mind an extra season in L2 or L1. The trouble with back-to-back promotions is that you rapidly outgrow the players. We've got some great youngsters and it would be nice if they had the time to develop. For example:

My first-choice left-back.

First-choice AMR (currently out injured).

Good prospect for the AMC role, already has his first senior goal.

And the pick of the u18 squad, with a couple more 5*-potential youngsters in the latest youth intake.

[hasdgfas]

Dream is over, but still a fantastic season, about a year ahead of what I was expecting. If I just keep slowly improving I'll get there soon. Need a few small upgrades, but we're almost there.

[warlock]

York City, May 2022

Here's an end-of-season wrap-up (although not quite the end of the season, as we have the small matter of an FA Trophy final against Stockport to come). I think we were about to enter the new year (time flies in FM!!) last time, and we carried our good form into 2022:

The loss to Leicester in the FA Cup was entirely predictable, but we gave them a game and came away with a significant boost to our finances. The weird formation was the result of having to play RB Tinkler as a DM because we ran out of fit CMs. Then came March:

The injury crisis really hit home as we suffered our first back-to-back defeats of the season. The biggest loss was an injury to Abdul, which had a knock-on effect on Alexander's scoring - without his main supplier of chances he struggled. An emergency loan of Kyle Taylor from Bournemouth paid immediate dividends in the game against King's Lynn. And we never looked back, with an unbeaten run to the end of the season:

Not surprisingly, Alexander and Abdul together carried us all season long: the former contributed 38 goals in 39 starts, while the latter chipped in with 22 goals and 11 assists in 40 appearances. Other contributions of note include 11 goals and 18 assists from AML Harry Bunn, who featured in almost every game of the season; and on-loan GK Bradley James, who delivered 28 clean sheets, starting every single game. Collectively, the team had the best attacking and defending records. 

The board have provided a transfer budget of £173k but I expect to spend little if any of that, and some will almost certainly be transferred into the wage budget. The loss of Alexander to Scottish football is a blow, and currently Millwall are refusing to renew the loan of Abdul but I hope that might change when we "officially" become an L2 side. As always with promotion, there are questions around who can make the step up and who has reached the end of the road, but all I really need is another 60-goal strike partnership and we'll be in good shape 

[karanhsingh]

19 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Yeah mate I am doing youth only.

How did you approach it?

I didn't realize you are managing Wigan lol.

No worries mate, I only just started.

[karanhsingh]

Since when do half the clubs in League One play 3-5-2? 

[Gunner 101]

Nice work on the promotion @warlock I’ll be happy if you lose in the final of the FA Trophy mind. 

[warlock]

4 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Since when do half the clubs in League One play 3-5-2?

Plenty of teams doing it in non-league in my save. Very effective - 5 at the back, 2 strikers, and a hoofed clearance out of defence usual puts one of them clear through on goal. What I find more unrealistic is the effortless way an amateur outfit can morph between all manner of systems in the course of a single game. Must be some very slick coaching in non-league 

[CityAndColour]

Since my update, we've just about been getting the results we need, and other results are mostly going our way too. 

First, a dull 0-0 at home to Concord, before we faced Bognor...

We were the better team at half time, but it remained 0-0. I gave them a rev-up and just after the hour, we got sucker-punched twice, first with a set-piece header and then an own goal. Just as I was raging, we pulled one back, then another, went attacking and loanee Antone Applewaite put one in off the post just shy of the 90. Would this be our Macheda/Villa moment?

Two late Gary Fitzpatrick goals (on 75 and 77 minutes) got us another three points against Havant, before we travelled to Hemel Hempstead two days later. At this point I made the decision to play a weakened team, due to fixture congestion and three home games to follow, and we duly lost 0-2 (although Dayle Grubb missed a penalty at 0-1).

Following this match, talisman Ricardo Rees picked up his customary late-season injury, with pulled knee ligaments meaning we will likely have to secure the title without him. He will however be back for the playoffs if it comes to that. 

We bounced back, as this team so often does, with a tight win over Met Police, effectively clinching a top two finish and leaving the table as such:

Our remaining fixtures are Billericay (20th) and Maidstone (11th) at home, the latter of which is our game in hand, before we finish with a tough trip to Kingstonian. On the other hand, Bromley host Concord and then travel to WsM on the final day.

At worst, we will have home advantage throughout the playoffs.

 

[karanhsingh]

6 hours ago, warlock said:

Plenty of teams doing it in non-league in my save. Very effective - 5 at the back, 2 strikers, and a hoofed clearance out of defence usual puts one of them clear through on goal. What I find more unrealistic is the effortless way an amateur outfit can morph between all manner of systems in the course of a single game. Must be some very slick coaching in non-league 

True get two pacy strikers and do some serious damage. However my last 352 experiment was not very good so I don't think I'll be going down that road again. 

[warlock]

13 hours ago, Gunner 101 said:

I’ll be happy if you lose in the final of the FA Trophy

Your wish has been granted . We might have won but couldn't find a way past George Shelvey in the Stockport goal - he ended up with the PoM award. Stockport won it with a set-piece goal in the 72nd minute.

But the £30k prize money and share of the 40,000 attendance pushed our total profit for the season up to £862k, literally a silver lining!

[Ronaldo Beckham]

16 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

No worries mate, I only just started.

How are you getting on with Wigan mate. I am really struggling to hit form.

I have tried loads of different tactics but nothing seems to work and I am in the relegation zone coming into the middle of March.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

A very good youth intake in my first season with Wigan.

 

[CityAndColour]

No one will ever convince me this stuff isn't scripted.

Followed immediately by this...

A crucial three points, but it shouldn't have been close. Instead it's the usual collection of awful finishing, the AI 'keeper catching shots from point blank range and making freak saves in the corners, a mountain of blocked shots and headers onto the crossbar. All it was missing was a disallowed goal and a missed penalty.

Still, it keeps us two points ahead of Bromley going into the final game. We travel to Kingstonian (5th) and they travel to WsM (6th), so we both have tough fixtures. If they win, we have to win due to goal difference, however if they don't, we will be champions regardless.

[Gunner 101]

8 hours ago, warlock said:

But the £30k prize money and share of the 40,000 attendance pushed our total profit for the season up to £862k, literally a silver lining!

That’s a decent return though on the financial front. I’ll probably go and lose my final now. 

[warlock]

Every time I come back to lower leagues I'm reminded how much I hate the Deep Pan Pot. Just faced a Man Utd u23 side that included Talles Magno (valued at £23m), Amad Diallo (£26m), James Garner (£30m), and a French CB (£9m). Dunno why they don't just buy the trophy and have it dropped off by Deliveroo.

[hasdgfas]

mini-update in August:

We are no longer the lowest wage bill in the division!

We also have continued our wild Cup matches:

by destroying Wolves at Molineux in the Carabao Cup. Only the second round, and they were a man down for the second half, but always fun to take a Prem scalp.

[warlock]

7 minutes ago, hasdgfas said:

always fun to take a Prem scalp

Well done. Fair to say Wolves had some disciplinary issues in that game 

[hasdgfas]

4 minutes ago, warlock said:

Well done. Fair to say Wolves had some disciplinary issues in that game 

Big Prem team getting played off the park by the scrappy Champ team with a smaller wage bill than several players on your team? They were mad 

[hasdgfas]

Almost forgot. STOP THE COUNT!

[hasdgfas]

Pretty darn big expansion for someone of our size:

[hasdgfas]

And what a way to ring in the new stadium:

(sorry about lots of small posts in a row, been a bunch of small things happening when I'm not expecting them)

[Dave92]

A 5-0 hammering at home to Wolves in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup was not ideal, let's hope that doesn't dent confidence too much at Vale.

[warlock]

York City, November 2022

Meant to post an update earlier than this, but I've been enjoying myself after a tricky start to life in L2. To start with the summer transfer window...

The first bit of business was to sign first-choice GK Bradley James, on loan from Boro, to a permanent deal. Early attempts to renew the loans of star front men Abdulmalik and Alexander were rebuffed, so I set about replacing them. In the striker role I eventually managed to bring in Max Watters on loan from Cardiff, and in the AMC slot Swansea's Oliver Cooper came in on a free deal. No sooner had those deals been agreed (and we ticked over into being an L2 outfit) than Millwall agreed to loan us Abdulmalik for another season.

Otherwise, our greatest needs were down the left side where we needed a better option at LB, and rotation/cover for Harry Bunn at AML. The latter opening proved easier to fill when Man City released young prospect Micah Hamilton and he was snapped up. The left-back position was much harder and a number of possibilities were approached but ended in failure. In the end I turned to an old favourite and Southampton's Jake Vokins came in on a season-long loan. I seem to have been loaning Jake for years and he's never let me down.

After the season started, it became obvious that we needed another striker - young prospect Reon Potts, who had done well last season , was declining rather than developing. At which point a news item caught my attention: several clubs were interested in signing George Alexander on loan from his new club, Motherwell. A quick offer was made and he agreed a season-long loan with us.

Our final signing of the season came in the form of CB Paul Downing after the window had closed. What looked like a serious injury to our best CB Joseph Olowu had me searching for another option in defence and the Blackburn and Portsmouth veteran was available on a free. At 30 years old he was a decent signing on a two-year deal for £650 a week.

The board demand - and media prediction - was for a mid-table finish, and that looked a little optimistic in the opening weeks of the season:

We made an immediate exit from the Carabao Cup to a Barrow side that we should have beaten, and followed that with a defeat to Wimbledon. Wins against some poorer opposition in the form of Tranmere, Southend and Mansfield were more than offset by poor performances against the likes of Cambridge and Fleetwood. A few tactical tweaks in defence made us more secure at the back, and each game increased our team cohesion. By the time October rolled around we were firing on all cylinders:

That form sent us from our predicted mid-table position, into the playoff places, and then:

Top of the heap! As I said, Jake Vokins never lets me down, And Max "Still" Watters (he runs deep!) has got off to a brilliant start. Indeed, all of our signings have performed admirably. The only cloud has been the number of injuries to central midfielders - almost all of them minor but horribly frequent, which presents a selection headache every game. The really bad one has been to AML Harry Bunn who tore his knee ligaments in August and will be out until January or February. He was never the healthiest specimen before the injury and I fear he may not fully recover - a backup to Hamilton will be a priority in the January window.

 

Edited April 16, 2021 by warlock

[CityAndColour]

2024/25 - Yate Town - Conference South

League Summary (1st, promoted as Champions)

After being unable to get out of this league in umpteen attempts on FM20, we went and did it at the first time of asking this time around.

In terms of recruitment, I opted for quality over quantity, only signing two first XI players and renewing two loans, preferring to trust the players that had gotten us promoted in the first place. This approach worked as it meant there was no time needed to gel, and we very quickly rose to the top few spots in the table (after an opening day draw, we never dropped out of the top five, stayed in the top three from game 12 onwards and the top two from game 19 onwards).

It got very tight towards the end, with a succession of postponed fixtures meaning we didn't draw level with the sides around us in terms of games played until the penultimate fixture. A win over Maidstone in that one meant we only had to match Bromley's result on the final day, and we did so with aplomb, easily beating Kingstonian 3-1 in probably our best away performance of the season.

Bromley would then go on to lose the playoff final in extra time to Hampton & Richmond, who will join us in tier five.

Thankfully we weren't in the Conference North however, as Kettering amassed 106 points, with York winning the playoffs (after 96 points themselves).

We also got the first player through in our academy with first team potential. Bobby Smith, while diminutive, looks like he could develop into a handy playmaker - the mercenary personality may not lend itself to being a team player, but it should serve his individual development well.

Key Players

It was really all about Gary Fitzpatrick again this season. Despite only being rated as a good tier seven player by my coaches, he scored 43 times in all competitions, including a succession of key goals in the final month of the season. He just seems to be one of those players who performs well above his attributes and I'll have no choice but to give him first crack at leading the line next season.

His partner in crime, Ricardo Rees, chipped in with another 24 goals from the right wing, becoming Yate's first 100+ league goalscorer in the process. Remarkably, neither he or Fitzpatrick has made it onto the club's favoured personnel yet, although the coaches say that the fans really like both players, so perhaps it's just a matter of time.

In the middle of the park, skipper Cam Healey was magnificent, setting up 19 goals as a deep-lying playmaker, also leading the division for key passes and clear chances created. My coaches only rate him as a leading tier seven player, but his leadership, consistency and mental attributes ensure he will be the first picked next season.

In the heart of defence, central pairing Matt Bower and Lexus Beeden were magnificent, starting 44 of a possible 46 matches together and even combining for 14 goals from set pieces. The latter took home the player of the season gong with a 7.35 average rating and ranking top five in the league for key tackles, clearances and interceptions.

Finally, our trusty custodian Andy Hannah had another consistent season, conceding less than a goal a game and achieving an average rating of over 7.02. With 212 appearances, he is now Yate's all time leader in league appearances.

Awards

 

Next Season:

I always favour loyalty over changes, meaning the core of the team will get their chance at the higher level. The main areas to strengthen will be left wing, right back and the box-to-box role in central midfield, although if a quality centre half presents themselves I would have to look at that too, if only to create competition.

The Conference National is my favourite league to manage in, so I am more than happy to battle relegation and spend a few seasons there.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I got relegated with Wigan despite my best efforts and several tactics changes.

But I haven't been sacked and luckily I don't many players on wages above £3,000 per week so I am hoping for a better time of it in League 2.

[warlock]

4 hours ago, CityAndColour said:

skipper Cam Healey was magnificent

Happy to see him doing well for you. Congrats on the promotion 

1 hour ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I haven't been sacked

Small mercies, eh? Good luck in L2.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

3 hours ago, warlock said:

Happy to see him doing well for you. Congrats on the promotion 

Small mercies, eh? Good luck in L2.

Yeah I was surprised they kept me on but I am hoping to bounce back.

Annoyingly my squad is very thin so I am having to bring in a few players as a stop gap but my aim is try do youth only.

I have bought back a few former Wigan youth players. I bought in Danny Redmond and Adrian Purzycki.

I want to bring a few more former Wigan players back but a lot of them aren't even good enough for League 2.

It is working progress at this point.

[karanhsingh]

On 16/04/2021 at 04:06, Ronaldo Beckham said:

How are you getting on with Wigan mate. I am really struggling to hit form.

I have tried loads of different tactics but nothing seems to work and I am in the relegation zone coming into the middle of March.

Hey mate, it's been a bit of a struggle for me too TBH. At the mid-way point of the first season, we are in 8th place, a point off the play-offs. It seems a very disjointed squad, and it is hard to find the right tactical balance. Also through November & December we had major fitness issues playing 2 games a week.

Going to catch up with the rest of your updates now.

[karanhsingh]

6 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I got relegated with Wigan despite my best efforts and several tactics changes.

But I haven't been sacked and luckily I don't many players on wages above £3,000 per week so I am hoping for a better time of it in League 2.

Whoops just saw this. Bad luck, but do plough on. There are only 3 players at the start of the game who have a contract beyond 2021 so you really get the chance to mould your own squad.

[Gunner 101]

Nice one @warlock I had Max Watters on FM20 for Stockport on two season long loan deals. He’s probably better on this version though given he performed so well IRL for Crawley.  Great start to life in the EFL! 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Gunner 101 said:

Great start to life in the EFL!

Cheers, yes - I'm beginning to think there might be something to those "FM's too easy" complaints. I've often said there's not much difference in quality between the VNL and L2, but even I didn't expect to top the league before Christmas. Equally, of course, I won't be a bit surprised if we now go on a long run without a win 

[warlock]

4 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

At the mid-way point of the first season, we are in 8th place, a point off the play-offs

Doesn't seem like a *terrible* struggle 

[Jogo Bonito]

Great stuff @warlock and pleased you can bring in quality like Vokins & Watters. Who said FM was too easy?  Maybe you're just too good at managing football clubs 

Well done @CityAndColourthat was very efficient.

Good luck in League 2 after relegation @Ronaldo Beckhamand good luck with your 'terrible struggle' @karanhsingh

I'm now at January 2022 so will do an Ipswich update soon.

Edited April 17, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[Ronaldo Beckham]

6 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Whoops just saw this. Bad luck, but do plough on. There are only 3 players at the start of the game who have a contract beyond 2021 so you really get the chance to mould your own squad.

Yeah I got rid of Massey, Evans etc and I am currently top of League 2 after 5 games played. Thelo Aasgaard has been really good for me.

Well done getting 8th place with Wigan. You are having better luck then I did in League 1.

 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Maybe you're just too good

It's possible, he said modestly . I do think there's a large element of good fortune - stumbling on a solid tactic, and being able to attract quality players is a large part of the success. But I'll take it 

[karanhsingh]

9 hours ago, warlock said:

Cheers, yes - I'm beginning to think there might be something to those "FM's too easy" complaints. I've often said there's not much difference in quality between the VNL and L2, but even I didn't expect to top the league before Christmas. Equally, of course, I won't be a bit surprised if we now go on a long run without a win 

Don't worry, if & when you get to the Premier league all the myths about it being too easy shall be dispelled 

9 hours ago, warlock said:

Doesn't seem like a *terrible* struggle 

Haha yes, while the board wanted mid-table though I felt that we could give it a shot for promotion this season, which still could be possible to be fair.

9 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Good luck in League 2 after relegation @Ronaldo Beckhamand good luck with your 'terrible struggle' @karanhsingh

I'm now at January 2022 so will do an Ipswich update soon.

Thank you  and I look forward to your update too.

7 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Yeah I got rid of Massey, Evans etc and I am currently top of League 2 after 5 games played. Thelo Aasgaard has been really good for me.

Well done getting 8th place with Wigan. You are having better luck then I did in League 1.

Yes seems like it. Aasgard been developing well, Kyle Joseph too. 

[Jogo Bonito]

January 2022 in my game and Kyle Joseph has just been sold to a PL club for £4 million. (Removes from shortlist).

[karanhsingh]

16 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

January 2022 in my game and Kyle Joseph has just been sold to a PL club for £4 million. (Removes from shortlist).

Wow! Can you put up a screen shot? 

[Jogo Bonito]

Since the last update at the end of September 2021 there has been a bit of change off the pitch. On 29th October 2021 (in a move mirroring what happened in real life very recently) Marcus Evans sold the club to new owners. Unlike the real American investors there aren't mega millions likely to go in, but Jack Perkins and his consortium did put in £4.5 million immediately and the club was put on a very secure footing, especially for League 1. Luckily the two new signings they insisted on both failed to get their Work Permits and fell through. In truth, the Icelandic player may have been OK, but this manager far prefers to do his own transfer business. The transfer budget was increased by £300k to £850k upon arrival of the new board, although that isn't really important.

On the pitch, results before and after the takeover were fairly good during October and November, with (pleasingly) and early exit from the Papa John's Trophy and progress through two FA Cup rounds. In the league, there was a loss to relegated Wycombe and MK Dons (who went top as a result), and a good 2-2 draw with early season pace setters Rotherham (2nd by then). The only other team to take a point from us in that spell was relegated Millwall, who were very nearly my destination prior to taking the role in charge of this tractor. During this period the team was generally 3rd-5th depending on the results and order of fixtures, with only MK Dons and Rotherham ahead. 

On 24th December 2021, Santa finally delivered a gift in the form of an Assistant Manager. Since arriving in May 2021 we had been working without one as we attempted to convince out-of-work Mark Bowen to forget his Norwich allegiances. However, seven months later he still wasn't interested and other approaches to Alan Irvine and Kevin Sheedy also failed to garner any enthusiasm. A quick check of the market did however reveal that ex-Blackpool boss Neil Critchley was available, and he had all the attributes (tactical, technical and excellent mental traits) to become the perfect number two for this club. His wage demands were very reasonable and he was welcomed aboard with much delight. Unfortunately the wages allowed for my preferred Technical Director have never been anywhere near what is need to bring ex-Town favourite Frank Yallop back to the club (he also involved in the real life takeover idea in the early stages, so would be a great fit).

A fairly packed December saw a good return of league points, with only a loss at a very average Swindon side and two dropped points at Wigan preventing a maximum haul from nine League 1 fixtures. This was achieved without top scorer and talisman Adam Phillips for all except the first two games of the month, with the attacking midfielder suffering an injury after a blitz of goals before this. As time has gone on, Luke Garbutt has returned to the team following his own injury, and his set-piece deliveries have seen a bit of a shift in the pattern of goal scorers with all four of our central defenders notching from this source of supply in the last four games. Defensively the side has tightened up and with the goals still flowing it's beginning to look much more cohesive. Next up is a really tricky FA Cup Round 3 tie away to Cardiff, followed by three tough League 1 games against challenging clubs.

After 27 games, the year of 2021 has now come to conclusion and as you can see below, Ipswich are top of the tree. The new board did not increase expectations of a mid-table finish so there is no pressure on gaining promotion or even a PO spot this season. But even I would admit that this squad is very strong and there would be questions asked of the manager if a PO spot was not achieved at the very least. The reality is that it had taken 26 league games to reach the summit and even now the top three (or even four) are all bunched very closely together. Until hitting the top, we have only been inside the top two about four times, so there is no complacency here in Suffolk. The performance graph shows consistency, especially in the last month or two.

As you can see, injured midfielder Phillips is still the top scorer by some distance - but I'm not unhappy with either of my central strikers (they are rotated) or my right-winger (also rotated). With James Norwood not having made any starts and not training well, his days are nearly up (contract ends in the summer) and youngster Nathan Broadhead was snapped up on a free transfer after being released by Everton. He can't be registered for EFL action due to the squad number limit of 20 (he is too old to be used as an unregistered youngster) so I try to give him U23 action and some minutes in the FA Cup to keep him interested. Originally seen as a winger, he has been reinvented for Everton in their PL2 side as a central striker, with a very good scoring ratio for them IRL this season. Financially, as you can see below, the club is in a very good state now. It's not very likely there will be much money spent in the transfer window, with a pre-contract bid for Feyenoord's young Scottish central defender George Johnston (a real life target of the club) being the only offer made so far.

Edited April 18, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

6 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Ipswich are top

Well played! Looks like you're getting goals from everywhere, which is always pleasing. And I'll be interested to see how Broadhead does for you... I've looked at him in multiple saves but always had a "neither fish nor fowl" vibe.

Good luck for the second half of the season 

[Jogo Bonito]

7 minutes ago, warlock said:

Well played! Looks like you're getting goals from everywhere, which is always pleasing. And I'll be interested to see how Broadhead does for you... I've looked at him in multiple saves but always had a "neither fish nor fowl" vibe. Good luck for the second half of the season 

Cheers, it's been enjoyable - not just because we are winning, more because it's a good group of players compared to what I had with them before. I've also promoted Liam Gibbs during the absence of Phillips and given him a few minutes as he is one of those 'promising youngsters' that hasn't really failed them (yet) in real life. My prediction for the summer of Ipswich under Paul Cook is that they will do an overhaul similar to mine, and if/when that happens hopefully it will show my own approach was in retrospect quite realistic 

I've never signed Broadhead before either. He was always a lightweight winger type but now as a central striker option he seems like a reasonable punt. He can also cover the flank positions too if necessary but that isn't where I plan to use him if he plays much. With Norwood soon to be leaving, Ladapo out of contract with 50/50 chance of a new one, and Simms on loan that might only leave Lankester so it was an insurance policy just in case.

Edited April 18, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

17 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

My prediction for the summer of Ipswich

Quite so. I think you can trace quite a lot of Ipswich's decline to the fact that they haven't grasped that nettle. Loyalty to players is a fine thing, but there comes a point where you accept that 33-year-olds aren't going to do it anymore. Mind you, I was never sufficiently ruthless in my own Ipswich saves, so I'm a fine one to talk 

[StePratt]

I've peaked. Oxford are the Invincible's of League One. I don't know how else to put it. Finishing 4th last season, followed by a heart-breaking, extra time defeat to Blackpool, we were in the mud. A strong start evolved into a wonderful season. Just magical. 

We also added the EFL Trophy, beating Leeds Under 23s in the final, but that wasn't important. 

Marcus Forss, on loan from Premier League side, Brentford.

Record breaking season.

Yan Dhanda, signed on a free from Swansea.

Record breaking season.

I can't see Forss staying next season. We'll be playing in the same league as Brentford and I reckon they might need him. He's not the only one who might not last the summer. I'm already fighting off interest in Atkinson, Moore, Brannagan and Aaron Collins (23 league goals). Dalsgaard has agreed a free transfer back to Denmark, his experience and versatility will need replacing. It's going to be a big summer at the Kassam Stadium, as we prepare for a season in the Championship.