(FM17) King's Lynn - Youth Academy Challange

[LeLaga]

 I tried to take on this challange - with King's Lynn as well - some time ago, but failed. I took a little break from FM, but after watching some Football at the start of the season, I felt like playing some again - so thought I'll make a topic again and see how it goes. Still didn't buy new computer, so still playing the old FM.

 Goal is to see how far can I take King's Lynn, taking it after promotion to Vanarama North, using only youth academy to recruit new players. Little spoiler alert -I already played one season, didn't want to start a thread in case it was going to end after 1 season with relegation, so here is a little season overview.

 

 (Season 1: 2017/18):

 Team Squad:

 

 Couple Key Players:

 

 

 

 Table at half-way mark (Season 1: 2017/18)::

 

 Season Ending Table (Season 1: 2017/18):

 

 Season Review:

 

 X

  Overall, it was a solid enough season. I knew that staying up will be difficult, there's just not much depth in the team. I lost first couple games, but after getting first win I was above the water and never got into relegation zone again, always winning some important game when it mattered most. One regret is losing in FA Cup Second (First in which We competed) round against lower league team. It was my poor tactical decisions which costed team the win.

 

 I was trying to play more defensive Football and I hope to build a good defensive team eventually - but it's not easy when that's how We compare to other teams in the league:

 ...considering that, We were probably solid enough defensively.

 

 Here are two best players of the season which made the biggest difference for us:

 

 Youth intake was solid, there were couple players I was able to bring into first team rotation almost immediately.

Here's the biggest talent of the bunch, Ally McBride:

 

 Evan Collins also played a bit in first season:

 

 -

 Coming into second season - all I ask for is a progress, however small - and the goal will be to make something happen in Cups this time around, as We ended the season with significant debt.

 I re-signed most of the players for second season. One gamble I took is getting rid of my best league scorer in Jacek Zielonka:

 

 He was very streaky, scoring 12 goals in a season... but two hat-tricks, so that's half of them in just 2 games. He also lacked in ambition - and I'll try to give a chance to some of the youngsters instead, mainly McBride.

 

 To sum up:

[LeLaga]

Season 2 (2018/19)

 Second season came to and end and it was one of the most fun seasons for me managing lower leagues.

It started a bit rough, as my young striker - who I was hoping for to provide goals and replace Zielonka, suffered bad injury in pre-season which put him out for solid 3 months:

 

 Without him, I had a lot of trouble scoring early in the season and after 15 games I was "occupying" last place in table:

 

  While I was struggling in a league, one exciting part about this season was getting opportunnity to host some higher league teams at home, after solid cup runs:

 A lot of it was down to lucky draw - in FA Cup We played only lower league teams, at home at that - in 3 qualifying rounds and got a chance ot play league 1 Plymouth, which provided a much needed bust for Club's budget.

 I was even briefly leading in that game, but We were quickly brought back into reality:

 

 After our Cup "adventure" was over, We were able to put our focus into league more and after 30 games, with important win over fellow relegation candidate - We got ourself out of relegation zone:

 McBride was also getting back from injury right around that time and We had a good run to finish the season:

 In March, for the first time in my career with the club, We were able to win 3 games in a row, although pretty brutal defeat to Spennymoor followed to bring us back to eart.

Win over Altrincham put us over the line in terms of avoiding relegation and in final 2 games, I gave chance to some of the youngsters and played around with tactics.

 

We finished up at very solid 15-th place, what I consider big success:

 

 Season Summary and some take-aways:

 

 

 

1) Heathcote was holding our defence together and I don't even want to think what his injury would mean to us. Thankfully, He seems to be blessed with good health.

2) Wilson Carvalho was biggest surprise to me. When I came to the club, He had serious knee injury and was sidelined for basically all of first season. After Lee Smith hit poor run of form, I gave Carvalho the chance and He was magnificant for us, scoring and providing crucial assists.

 

3) Joe Brennan is another crucial player, leading the team in goals and assists.

 

4) After coming back from injury, Ally McBride showed his talent in second half of the season and continues to develop, giving me hope for the future.

 

 His good performances also resulted in surprise international call for Scotland's under 19 team!

 

5) In terms of youth intake, there were some interesting ones again and I'm very happy with the job that Head of Youth Development is doing.

Out of the lot, Clive Austin is considered the biggest talent by my staff:

 

6) Here is how Club's financial situation looks like:

 If not for cup runs and game with Plymouth, which provided record 65k gate, We'd be in trouble.

 

7) After the season, I got rid of couple players, which were disappointing in 2 years:

The biggest gamble was passing on Jack Turnbull, who was objectively one of the more skillful player of the team, but He was competing for first team with Jake Heath, who was team captain and slightly better player - and He asked for even higher purse than Jake.

 His departure will be a chance for Danny Morrison, good little player of his own, who began to break into first team at the end of last season already:

 

8) I began a coaching course to get my first badge and I should be able to finish it before start of next season, which should allow me to help out in training a bit more.

 

 Next Season goals:

 I think for the first time, I'm in position where I'll have reliable replacement on every position... probably outside of Heathcote as best Central back, who remains my best defender by far.

I hope He stays healthy and if that's the case, I think that upper half of the table is not unrealistic... but I'll be happy with any progress. Other than that, I hope that young players continue to develop as We build the winning culture and hopefully build a team that could eventually compete for promotion.

 

Edited September 7, 2023 by LeLaga

[LeLaga]

Season 3 (2019/20) - Half-season Update:

 

 While We still lacked consistancy, first half of the season was better than in previous two years, which gives me hope that even if progress is slow, We're on the right track. We gathered 24 points in first 21 games. Last season at this stage it was 20 and two seasons ago - 21.

 

 In FA Cup, We fell short of getting past qualifying rounds, but We had tough draw in 4th and final qualifying round, playing one of the top Vanarama National team on the road.

 

 In FA Trophy We got further than in past two seasons already, with a nice upset win against top 3 Vanaram North Team in Boston United, which was additionally satisfactory for the fans, since Boston is one of King's Lynn's main rivals. In January, We'll play Sutton United, who are at 21 position in Vanarama National currently.
 Playing at home, I think We might have a chance to do something there so I'm looking forward to that challange.

 

 Some other points:

1) Young Ally McBridge established himself as Club's leading scorer, with 11 goals. Joe Brennan slowed down a bit with 6, but Luke Willsmer - another youngster who didn't seem all that promising early on - stepped up with 8.

 

2) Biggest issue for me remains finding reliable left back. I'm usually playing one of the veterans, Jordan Yong in there (Club's record holder in most league appearances), but He's very offensive minded and I'm usually playing more defensive football, where I don't want my side defenders too "adventerous".
 I tried to give a chance to couple youngsters, but They dissapoint thus far and might need a bit more time.

 

3) I didn't mention my tactic yet, so I should probably give at least basic overview:

 

 I play with one formation, 1-4-1-3-2, only playing with instructions based on opponents. I'm playing structured, old school Football, with not much involvement in offence for defenders. I rely on long balls and quick counters after interception.

 One more modern "flavor" in my tactic is using defensive forward alongside more classic Advanced forward.