[FM23] North of the Border... A Trip to Stenhousemuir

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Welcome

It would be rude of me not to begin this thread by addressing the elephant in the room. What happened to the Nancy save/thread? The answer is pretty straight forward. I haven't enjoyed this year's game as much as I have previous iterations. Usually, I would return home from work having thought about my FM save at some stage of the day, open up the laptop and start playing. Yet I wasn't getting the same urge or motivation to play. Not to say there was anything wrong with the save I was playing as I still feel it would be excellent save to play and document, but my heart wasn't there and ultimately the save fell by the wayside.

My game-time on FM23 has been spent playing a network save with my boyfriend and a mutual friend of ours a few times each week. Whilst, again, I haven't probably enjoyed the save as much as I have in the past, I have found enough enjoyment to remain faithful. 

In fairness, I probably haven't given FM23 a fair chance outside of the network save. My time has been divided up between multiple different things but particularly work. Now that the festive period is out the way and things are, hopefully, about to become a little less chaotic, I should finally be able to have some time off which in turn means I can give FM23 a fair crack of the whip. 

As a result, a new save begins... and so with it a new thread.

...

I will be taking over Stenhousemuir Football Club who ply their trade in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scottish pyramid. I typically enjoy lower-league management and have done so within this game cycle having managed Spennymoor Town in the Vanarama National League North at the beginning of our aforementioned network save. Scotland presents a much more dynamic challenge than that posed in England however, so I am looking forward to testing myself. 

Much of the club's history has been spent in the third and fourth tier and interestingly, they remain the only club to have competed in the professional leagues since the 20th century but never to have won a league title, according to Wikipedia (so perhaps take this with a pinch of salt?). The club does, however, boast of just one piece of silverware. The SPFL Trust Trophy was captured in 1996 and has remained solitary in the club's trophy cabinet since. The aim will be to add to this and guide Stenhousemuir up the pyramid in the process.

Setup

Belgium (Jupiler Pro League -> Proximus League)

England (Premier League -> Vanarama National League North/South)

France (Ligue 1 Uber Eats -> Championnat de France amateur)

Germany (Bundesliga -> 3. Liga)

Republic of Ireland (SSE Airtricity League -> SSE Airtricity League First Division)

Italy (Serie A TIM -> Serie C)

Northern Ireland (Danske Bank Premiership -> Belfast Telegraph Championship 2)

The Netherlands (Eredivisie -> Keuken Kampioen Divisie)

Portugal (Liga Portugal Bwin -> Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG)

Scotland (cinch Premiership -> cinch League Two)

Spain (LaLiga Santander -> Segunda Federacion)

Wales (JD Cymru Premier -> JD Cymru North/South)

The Club

Profile - Facilities - Supporter Profile - Manager - Squad

Edited January 9, 2023 by DefinitelyTaylor

[DefinitelyTaylor]

*Reserved*

 

Edited January 9, 2023 by DefinitelyTaylor

[Ronaldo Beckham]

45 minutes ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

Welcome

It would be rude of me not to begin this thread by addressing the elephant in the room. What happened to the Nancy save/thread? The answer is pretty straight forward. I haven't enjoyed this year's game as much as I have previous iterations. Usually, I would return home from work having thought about my FM save at some stage of the day, open up the laptop and start playing. Yet I wasn't getting the same urge or motivation to play. Not to say there was anything wrong with the save I was playing as I still feel it would be excellent save to play and document, but my heart wasn't there and ultimately the save fell by the wayside.

My game-time on FM23 has been spent playing a network save with my boyfriend and a mutual friend of ours a few times each week. Whilst, again, I haven't probably enjoyed the save as much as I have in the past, I have found enough enjoyment to remain faithful. 

In fairness, I probably haven't given FM23 a fair chance outside of the network save. My time has been divided up between multiple different things but particularly work. Now that the festive period is out the way and things are, hopefully, about to a little less chaotic, I should finally be able to have some time off which in turn means I can give FM23 a fair crack of the whip. 

As a result, a new save begins... and so with it a new thread.

...

I will be taking over Stenhousemuir Football Club who ply their trade in Scottish League Two, the fourth tier of the Scottish pyramid. I typically enjoy lower-league management and have done so within this game cycle having managed Spennymoor Town in the Vanarama National League North at the beginning of our aforementioned network save. Scotland presents a much more dynamic challenge than that posed in England however, so I am looking forward to testing myself. 

Much of the club's history has been spent in the third and fourth tier and interestingly, they remain the only club to have competed in the professional leagues since the 20th century but never to have won a league title, according to Wikipedia (so perhaps take this with a pinch of salt?). The club does, however, boast of just one piece of silverware. The SPFL Trust Trophy was captured in 1996 and has remained solitary in the club's trophy cabinet since. The aim will be to add to this and guide Stenhousemuir up the pyramid in the process.

Setup

Belgium (Jupiler Pro League -> Proximus League)

England (Premier League -> Vanarama National League North/South)

France (Ligue 1 Uber Eats -> Championnat de France amateur)

Germany (Bundesliga -> 3. Liga)

Republic of Ireland (SSE Airtricity League -> SSE Airtricity League First Division)

Italy (Serie A TIM -> Serie C)

Northern Ireland (Danske Bank Premiership -> Belfast Telegraph Championship 2)

The Netherlands (Eredivisie -> Keuken Kampioen Divisie)

Portugal (Liga Portugal Bwin -> Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG)

Scotland (cinch Premiership -> cinch League Two)

Spain (LaLiga Santander -> Segunda Federacion)

Wales (JD Cymru Premier -> JD Cymru North/South)

The Club

Profile - Facilities - Supporter Profile - Manager - Squad

Good luck in your save in Scotland mate and if you ever want someone else to join your network game then feel free to message me as I am always looking for a good bunch of lads to have a network game with.

 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

On 09/01/2023 at 20:23, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Good luck in your save in Scotland mate.

Much appreciated mate! 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Pre-Season 2022/23

As you would probably imagine at this level, finances are tight. We were blessed with £700 p/w to spend on improving our squad which, truthfully, I thought was well-balanced on the most part. Of course, there was room for improvement but the budget afforded to us seemed enough to pursue the targets I needed. I identified two positions where I thought we could do with either a) further depth and/or b) an upgrade on what we already had. The first of these was on the left-side of midfield. We had a few players capable of playing in that position but I had plans to use two of the three in other areas (Euan O'Reilly as an AMR and Matt Yates as our Advanced Forward) and with only Niyah Joseph left, we needed further depth.

First and foremost however, we also needed to improve our backroom team. Michael McLaughlan (Physio), Michael Meechan (Scout), Kitty Forrest (Head Physio) and Jonathan Henderson (Head of Youth Development) joined the existing staff.

After plenty of scouting and numerous trials in our bid to improve the squad as discussed, I settled on Callum Hambrook from Hearts, who will be joining us until the end of the season. The attributes I look for in a player in his position at this level are very basic. I look for 'Crossing,' 'Dribbling' and 'Pace,' as a very basic measure. If they have other attributes I tend to like in a player such as a decent work-rate, that's an added-bonus, but you simply aren't going to find the finished article at this level. You have to be a lot less expectant as to what you can bring in. I feel he ticks the boxes pretty well. The bonus with his signature is that it comes at a relatively low-cost as we negotiated his wage percentage down to 20% (£60 p/w). 

The second and final signing we have made to date is one that I think some readers may recognise. We completed the signing of former Dundee United, Watford and Hearts midfielder Prince Buaban on a free transfer. There is a lot to like about Prince, he's very versatile in the roles he can play, he's experienced and I truly think he is a coup for this level. His attributes are very well-rounded on the whole, again, something that drew my attention to him. I'm pleased we didn't have to break the bank either as he's agreed a deal until the end of the season on £180 p/w although part of that contract includes a £35 appearance bonus. 

There has been one ongoing in the form of Scott Walker who has departed to Vale of Leithen on loan to gain further experience.

...

Friendlies

Pre-Season is a little different for clubs outside of European competition in Scotland. The majority of pre-season is spent playing competitive football given the Scottish League Cup takes place throughout July. As a result, we participated in two friendlies prior to the kick-off of the competition before playing a third in the midst of it.

We began with a 7-2 demolition job of East Kilbride, a side playing at the level below us, before succumbing to a disappointing loss to Jeanfield Swifts who play a further level down to East Kilbride. A 2-0 victory against another lower-league outfit, Clydebank, concluded our business.

Scottish League Cup

The Scottish League Cup begins with a group-stage format of eight groups of five. The groups contain Scottish Premiership clubs who aren't participating in European competition, Championship, League One, League Two and two clubs from outside the League. The team who tops the group progresses alongside three of the best-placed second-placed teams. The draw is also seeded.

We were drawn alongside Hibernian (Premiership), Greenock Morton (Championship), Queen of the South (League One) and Albion Rovers (League Two). Expectations were minimal from both myself, the board and the supporters. It was a free-hit for us as a League Two side, but I saw the game against Albion Rovers as an opportunity to test ourselves prior to the league-opener which, ironically, is against Albion. 

The pressure was off us from the start of every game and I think that was what helped us. Our campaign began as we played host to Hibs, a side who will have been disappointed they're even having to participate in the group stages given their recent years of qualification for the Europa League. An early goal for the Premiership side quickly deterred any hope of a cupset but our performance across the ninety minutes was never to be sniffed at. I was very impressed with how we kept our heads up throughout and this is highlighted in the number of efforts we had on goal. Although they weren't high-quality chances, we weren't afraid to get forward and we certainly didn't bow down to the top-flight excellence of our visitors. A 3-0 defeat was probably an unjust reflection of the game, truthfully.

Our next two games were trips to League One outfit Queen of the South, recently relegated from the second-tier and Championship side Greenock Morton. The Queen of the South game particularly demonstrates the type of game we played. We sought to frustrate our opponents and remain tidy at the back and we managed that in both ties. As a result, we took them both to penalties where we would prevail. Conor Brennan saved Ciaran McKenna's effort after five conversions from us against Queen of the South to win 5-4, whilst he would save three efforts from Morton to win 3-2. Substitute Nat Wedderburn missed our only penalty of the four taken. Brennan would deservedly claim Man of the Match awards in both ties.

The final game of the competition would earn our first outright victory with a 2-1 win against Albion Rovers. The xG paints a bit of a false picture of the game with Albion challenging us throughout until we managed to bag a second with Matt Yates, who hasn't impressed as much as I would have hoped so far, nine minutes from time. There was a fairly nervy ending once Blair Malcolm netted but we managed to see it out to claim all three points.

We performed well-above expectations and I couldn't be happier of our efforts. It is a fantastic way to mark our start here at Stenhousemuir and hopefully this can give us a boost heading into the new season. 

...

Upcoming Fixtures

 

[DavidBeckham]

Solid start to the save mate! KUTGW! Will be following this

[DefinitelyTaylor]

On 17/01/2023 at 03:59, DavidBeckham said:

Solid start to the save mate! KUTGW! Will be following this

Many thanks mate. I’m enjoying this one!