[FM24] So, what does a Grecian urn? An ECFC Story

[RaySunshine]

Introduction

So here begins my save for 2024! My last few saves on FM have been journeyman careers with an aim to get around the world or get a job at a particular club. For FM24, I've decided to have a go at a one-club save and see how far I get. I've got two ideas for saves and this is the first of them.

In the season 23/24, Exeter City celebrate 20 years of fan ownership through their supporters' trust. As the graph below shows, the club has a storied history. It nearly ran out of money in 2003 only for the fans to buy it and save it. Under the direction of the Trust, the club regained it's Football League status and then went on to achieve a spell in League One. That only lasted two seasons but the club dreamed of getting back - this was done in the 21/22 season with the club going on to stay up.

The club is famed for patience - the Trust has never sacked a manager and for having a great youth system - Ollie Watkins is the most famous recent graduate of the ECFC youth academy. More recently, the club has given a second chance to players unfancied elsewhere. Players such as Tom Carroll, once of Spurs but having suffered many injuries, is now on the books.

There, however, will also be challenges. The club has to run to a tight financial line - the club only has the money it can generate itself. This is often in the selling of players out of their youth academy so I think I'll be needing to take something of a moneyball approach here. The other is that the squad has not been doing well this season. The side have not won in their last 12 games IRL and have one of the longest winless runs in the top six divisions.

The save will last as long as I can stay at the club - Come on you Reds!

[RaySunshine]

Pre-season

I've turned off the transfer window at the start of the game so the main action began with pre-season. It was a good set of results all round and I'm very pleased with how the team have come to work with my tactics (which I'll share in the next post). The most important of the results in my mind was the one against League Two Crewe showing that the 4-3-3 I've brought over from FM22 should work well.

This was the disappointing news that starting CB Alex Hartridge wants to explore his options at the end of his contract. He's a decent player for this level and not a position that I need to upgrade or change so it really isn't helpful news!

This was the much more helpful news that the club would pay for the first of my coaching badges. I was stunned that they were prepared to pay for it straight away but, if it helps improve my training and effect on the team, hopefully they will enjoy the benefit.

The club's vision aligns neatly with its history - we need to work within the wage budget and, slightly off this screen, work towards developing the best youth system in League One which would be a rather exciting place to be!

The general competition expectations really focus on the league - the club is expecting a safe mid-table finish and some good news in the cup competitions wouldn't go amiss but isn't vital. Do the media think we can pull it off?

The answer appears to be yes! The club aren't expected to be stunning at this level but are not expected to be in any trouble either. That seems like a nice place to be when you're trying to bed yourself into a long-term save!

Wycombe open the season and are predicted 9th. The next league games will be a challenge as Blackpool are predicted to be 2nd and Portsmouth, 5th. Carlisle are expected to come in 22nd so there are points to be gained there and Reading should finish around 13th so those two games will give me a good idea of where my team are at! So, now we need to have a look at the strategy that I'm hoping to employ!

 

Edited December 22, 2023 by RaySunshine

[RaySunshine]

Starting XI

So here we have the tactic that I'm going for in this save. The aim is to play out from the back with the HB there to drop in and help the movement of the ball from back to front. On each wing, there is a little variety so that, on the left, Muskwe will head in towards the box and Harper will overlap while, on the right, Mitchell will be much more likely to get chalk on his boots with Sweeney behind him. Cole and Trevitt are expected to put the yards in and simply be wherever they're needed to be!

As you can see from the stars, LB will an area of priority as soon as transfers become an option. After that, there will be gaps where the loanees are for sure and, hopefully, Hartridge will decide he wants to stay by then. If not, then options will be needed! Carroll doesn't rate highly for the position that he's selected in but first-choice DM, Harry Kite, is presently out injured for the first 3-4 months of the season!

Will Aimson joined the club in January for a fee of £25K from Bolton. At the moment, he's not even making the bench in my selection so I'm hoping that won't cause too many problems! Pierce Sweeney has been at Exeter since 2016 and is one of the longest-serving members of the team so his influence on the dressing room will be vital. Jack Fitzwater is new to the club having come in from Livingston this summer. Let's hope he can knit together a tight defence!

What can this team do? Can we achieve great things? There's only one way to find out...

[RaySunshine]

August 2023

The season, and my time at Exeter, began with the game against Wycombe (Mitchell 22). Exeter dominated the game and the got the only goal when Sweeney flicked a ball forward for Mitchell to square up his opponent, beat them and score from a tight angle!

Game two was a cup game and saw Exeter enter the EFL Cup. The opposition this time was Oxford United (Trevitt 21, Hartridge 82). Trevitt's goal, in particular, was a real beauty and was worth the entry fee alone! The game went on to penalties and Exeter did best taking them on and into the next round.

A return to league action saw Exeter take on Blackpool (Casey o.g. 46). Casey scored at both ends in this match - knocking the ball into his own net before redeeming himself by scoring a header at the other end!

Against Portsmouth (Sweeney pen 13, Muskwe 23, Rafferty o.g. 87). When Exeter were 3-1 up going into added time, I'd thought that we'd got all three points. That wasn't to be the case though as Portsmouth got two late, late goals and the points were shared again.

This was not good news - Muskwe came off with a knock against Portsmouth and it became clear that he wasn't going to be playing for the next few weeks for sure. The team managed to overcome this though in beating Carlisle (Wildschut 30, Sweeney pen 48). Wildschut stepped into the shoes of Muskwe comfortably and got himself onto the scoresheet in the first half. Sweeney then got another penalty to secure the result.

Things then took a turn for the worse against Reading (Cole 55). Reading took the lead through a Fitzwater o.g. before Cole struck. He hit a hard shot from outside the box and it spun off a couple of players on its way through to the net. Both sides remained neck-and-neck throughout the match but Reading made the second-half strike that gave them the points.

On top of Muskwe's injury, his replacement also gets himself injured! This didn't help the team going into the next cup game against Charlton Athletic (Watts 14, Borges 77). Mitchell got himself sent off in the first couple of minutes and the team struggled from then onwards. The only good news was that high-potential youngsters Caleb Watts and Pedro Borges both got goals to secure good marks for them.

At the end of month one, Exeter City are in the top half so I can't complain! So far, the team have built up a five point gap on the teams in the relegation places. I'm seriously hoping that that will be enough to help us through any sticky situations that come up later in the season!

Burton (14th), Leyton Orient (20th), Cheltenham (21st) all represent good opportunities for us to get points on the board and widen that gap between the team and trouble. Oxford United represent more of a challenge as they reside in 5th while Northampton Town are another point-grabbing opportunity languishing in 19th.

 

[RaySunshine]

September 2023

My start in August had felt pretty promising when it began with that five-game unbeaten run. I have to say that September might show me better the scale of the challenge that I face! Unless things pick up, it could be a rather short one-club save...

The month began without too many shocks and a 0-0 draw against Burton Albion. What was frustrating was our domination of the xG but failure to score. This was a theme that would come up more than once this month.

Kite is one of our key players but hasn't kicked a ball yet as he's been out injured since the start of the season. It's a blow to my plans to find out that he could well be leaving too. Will there be anyone left next summer?!

We then took on Charlton Athletic with a heavily-rotated side in the EFL Trophy and it is certainly fair to say that we were well beaten.

In a return to league action, we took on Cheltenham (Muskwe 7). Muskwe gave us the lead with a crashing header at the far post from a Mitchell cross. Cheltenham equalised in the next minute though and that was the way the game stayed.

If we couldn't get points against Cheltenham, I really wanted to get them against Leyton Orient. Once again, we were the better team in xG terms but we couldn't score and they could depriving us of any points at all.

Oxford United were flying high in the play-off places and simply comanded the game. We could never keep up and they strolled to their well-deserved 3-0 victory.

Our run of three games without a goal also included the match against Northampton where, once again, our frontline won the xG battle but didn't put the ball into the back of the net. By this stage, I've given Aitchison a run in the CF slot to see if he can get a goal but it isn't happening for him either!

We've plunged down the league table and now sit only four points above the relegation places. The real worry is that we've played several of the teams in that area and not got wins off them! In the EFL Trophy, we're also bottom of the group but that's far less of a priority at the moment!

Charlton we've played twice and lost twice so far this season so I don't have too much hope there! Bristol Rovers are just above us in the table while Lincoln are just below us so they're games we have to target for points. The other is the game against Wigan who are in the relegation places. Let's hope this long-term save doesn't reach a premature end!

 

[RaySunshine]

October 2023

Just like September, there is a distinct lack of green on this chart and I am quite concerned with how long this challenge is going to last! Things got off onto a bad footing when we took on Charlton Athletic. It wasn't a game that I expected to do well in and... we didn't. They controlled the match and cruised to their 2-0 victory.

A feeling of unhappiness began to grow around the camp and it's fair to say that people are beginning to wonder whether I'm the right man for this job...

We were better in the match against Barnsley but we couldn't really lay a glove on them and they didn't look troubled for their 2-0 win either. This didn't help my situation at all!

Finally, in the match against Walsall (Cole 6, Scott 14, Taylor pen 78) we got some goals and a win - it's just a shame that it was against a League Two side in the EFL Trophy! Rankine layed it across for Cole to fire home low and hard from the edge of the box before Scott made the most of a gap in their defence to fire home from outside the box. Then the nerves took over as Mitchell was sent off and they got it back to 2-2. A late penalty was needed to save the day!

Then it was more good news - thankfully, Woods hasn't been a regular member of the starting XI but nothing seems to be going right!

These two words seemed to sum the situation up as the press started to speculate about whether my days in Devon are indeed numbered! In the next game, Wigan dominated the game but somehow or other, they failed to make the most of their domination and didn't score!

I detected a theme in the problem that we're having. We're just not scoring goals. Even in games where we have managed to go toe-to-toe with the opposition, we're not able to put the ball in the back of the net.

Just to add insult to ... well, you get the picture. It ain't getting any prettier!

Somehow or other, much to my surprise, we didn't get beaten by Derby County (Scott 90+1). It looked very much like we were going to be but a late defensive mix-up gave James Scott the chance to fire home his first league goal of the season and rescue a point.

I'd targeted the next two games as being real chances to pick up points. When we got a goal later on against Lincoln City (Wildschut 79), I thought we'd done it at last but they got two even later goals to turn it around and give us a defeat we could well have done without!

Once again, the squad were unhappy and it felt like the card tower was waving in the wind! The last game of the month was against Bristol Rovers (Sweeney pen 90+2). I couldn't believe my bad fortune when they scooped home a bicycle kick in the opening minute. It looked like another defeat until we got a penalty and rescued a point.

 

Trouble emerges in the League as that red zone hoves into view. I really don't like the look of things at the moment!

It's quite clear to see where the problem is having only scored 12 goals in 16 games. Our performances against similar sides have been good but we just can't score!

Surely, we can open November with a win against Oxford City to get some cheer going. Then it's Fleetwood who are 2nd so won't be an easy source of points. The league games are where the focus has to be and they give us Peterborough (10th), Bolton (14th) and Shrewsbury (9th). The problem is that, from where we're stood, we're looking up at everyone!

[RaySunshine]

November 2023

Now that's a bit more like it! After what had been a challenging couple of months, it's much more pleasing to see one that has far, far more green in it than red!

Our upturn in forturne began by playing bottom-of-the-Vanarama Oxford City (Scott 90+1). We enjoyed almost complete domination of the game but weren't scoring. Thankfully, that changed at the death when James Scott made the most of Mitchell's fine cross to head home!

Our only defeat of the month came in the game against Fleetwood. They were second in the table and were comfortable throughout the match. We were lucky that they didn't score more than just the one.

This was really unwelcome news - Hartridge is one of our best performing defenders and I really could do with him back soon!

Another win came in the EFL Trophy against Fulham U21s (Diabate 34, Muskwe 45+2, Cox 65). Diabete opened the scoring by heading home Reece Cole's in-swinging corner. Muskwe made it two by muscling their man off the ball, knocking it to Harper to ran it on before flicking it back to Muskwe to apply the finish. The third came when a headed ball from our corner dropped to Fitzwater. He slid the ball across the box and young Sonny Cox finished with aplomb. Fulham got two late goals back though and this punished us hard as we dropped out the competition on goal difference.

Wins in the cups were fine but it was a win in the league that we really needed and we got it at last against Peterborough (Sweeney 7). A bit of penalty-box pinball resulted from a corner and Sweeney benefitted by slotting the ball into an open goal.

Next up was an away game against Bolton (Rankine 3). I thought we might have got all three points as we held onto the goal scored by Rankine when he made the most of Zack Jules fine cross. Despite it not being a listed position, Jules has made the LB slot his own in recent games. It wasn't to be though as they scored late on and the points were shared.

I had to ring the changes a little for the game against Shrewsbury (Scott 13, Diabate 48, 78, Carroll 89). It didn't seem to matter though as Scott scored a fine shot from Niskanen's ball in. Diabete then scored two great headed corner goals before Carroll finished things off with a 20-yard thunderbolt. How great it is to have a team in form and some tough selection choices to make because players are actually playing well!

 

As mentioned previously, the ELF Trophy was a close with Charlton, Walsall and Exeter all finishing on six points but GD did for us in the end. In the league, our two wins and a draw saw the relegation places move out of sight and it's nice to have a four-point gap between us and trouble!

December opens with a big game against Bristol Rovers - where we have a chance to get into that big money third round! In the league we begin with Port Vale (17th) and Stevenage (14th) which both look like close but winnable games. Cambridge United are 24th so I really hope that we can score some points there before we take on Wycombe (9th) and then top-spot Portsmouth in the traditional Christmas games!

 

[RaySunshine]

December 2023

After having had something of an upturn in November, it would appear that the Grecians have returned to form in December. Game one was the FA Cup tie against Bristol Rovers (Niskanen 56). Niskanen managed to get the goal-scoring going with a great header off Mitchell's huge cross. Rovers managed to level though and the game would go a replay. In the draw, we found out that the winners would play Premier League opposition in the form of West Ham United.

The cup draw was followed by one in the league against Port Vale (Mitchell 61, Sweeney 90+2). Exeter managed to take the lead through Mitchell who was at the far post to head home Sweeney's great cross. Port Vale then levelled before City took the lead again when Sweeney made sure that a corner was bundled home. The scoring hadn't finished though and Port Vale had managed to bundle a leveller home.

For a save which is all about one-club development, this is a screen that I'm very pleased to see indeed. Provided I can hand on to the job, it looks like we have some potential to develop.

The cup replay also brought good news for Exeter City when they took on Bristol Rovers (Cole 48, Muskwe pen 86). Cole started the scoring by firing home a fierce free-kick and then a late Muskwe penalty sent Exeter City into the moneyspinning third-round tie!

A return to league action saw the team take on Stevenage (Diabete 19, Muskwe pen 90+4). Set pieces were again what were vital with Diabete heading home a corner and Muskwe firing in a last-gasp penalty to ensure a share of the points after Stevenage had turned it around.

Cambridge United were bottom of the table when we played them but you wouldn't have known it from the game. It took a penalty for them to get the game's only goal but they never looked in danger of letting Exeter get one back.

Wycombe (Scott 26) were next and it looked like Exeter were going to grab a 1-0 win courtesy of Scott's great finish from a Carroll through-ball. Ex-Grecian David Wheeler had other ideas though and, with a 84th minute goal, the points were shared.

With the team having struggled so far this season, a feeling of unhappiness had entered the squad and I had to try and reassure them that things will be better in three month's time. Let's hope they are!

It certainly didn't look that way after the Portsmouth game where we lost 1-0 again and...

... I had to talk the board into letting me keep my job. I said that their concerns were a bit knee-jerk based on recent games alone and, somehow, they agreed with me. My job status is still insecure though so I'm taking nothing for granted. I need to find someone who equals goals in January!

A tough month sees us slide into the relegation places. This is not a happy place to be and we need to be seeing some progress and fast!

Reading (3rd) will be a tough game followed by that golden ticket of a West Ham game. After that, it's a vital game against 22nd-place Carlisle; a real six-pointer! Blackpool (4th) and Barnsley (7th) skirt either side of the other vital game against Cambridge United (23rd). I reckon I need at least six points from this month to keep my job. Get me goals!

[RaySunshine]

January 2024

After what was a tricky December, I was hoping that January would be kinder and it wasn't really! We did get four league points but everything still feels squeaky-bum as the great man once said!

Game one was against Reading (Wildschut 90). Generally, we haven't been in the games against the top teams and this one fell into that category as well. Wildschut did get a goal at the end putting home a great ball flicked in by youngster Caleb Watts but it could be no more than consolation it has to be said.

Goals have been a struggle for my side so far. I decided to try, moneyball style, to focus on the area of weakness and so 6'9" Kyle Hudlin comes in on loan. I hope that, at this leve;,

This was followed by the FA Cup moneyspinner against West Ham United. I did make a few changes but, as expected against a side sixth-placed in the prem, we weren't in the game. The money was a nice income for this month though!

Everyone knew that the game against Carlisle (Hudlin 50) would be a vital six-pointer. Thankfully, we got the single goal in the game when their CB played a loose ball back and Hudlin made the most of it to smash home a goal on his debut!

Table-topping Blackpool (Hudlin 29) were up next. Hudlin scored two-in-two when Carroll chipped in a recycled corner for Hudlin to poke into an empty net. We couldn't hold on though and favourites ended up turning us over.

Will Aimson hasn't been playing much for the side and I had promised to sell him this month. With the lack of offers coming in, a loan out was the best that I could do.

The game against Cambridge United (Hudlin 34) was going to be huge with the mangers of both relegation-threatened sides fighting for their jobs. Hudlin make it three-in-three when he headed home Jules's neat cross. We couldn't hold on though and they levelled. Neither manager lost their job but it wasn't the result I wanted.

More good news - MacDonald wouldn't be available now for a few weeks.

And then more bad news. Diabate is a promising player but overtones from abroad have lured him away. Let's hope that he can keep us up before he moves on!

The month's final game was against Barnsley (Fitzwater 9). You look at the 4-1 score and think we were simply blown away. That wouldn't do the game justice though as we were level on xG, missed a penalty and also had Zack Jules sent off for the vicious foul!

We're four points up on where we were last month and, most important of all, we're out of the relegation places. Can we hold on to that till the end of the season and will it be enough for me to keep my job?!

Bristol Rovers (19th) open the next month and it's another vital six-pointer! After that it's Wigan (17th) so there's the hope that we can challenge there too. Derby County are 8th so that looks like a much harder game. Lincoln City are in 12th so that's a possibility before we take on Fleetwood who are 7th. Two potential games for points that we have to target at the start of the month. What can we do...

 

 

[RaySunshine]

February 2024

There might have been one flicker of green to be seen in January but the month of February had nothing of the sort to show for itself.

I had really hoped to get three points off Bristol Rovers (Scott 39) and when James Scott headed us level just before half time, I thought we were in with a chance. It didn't last though as they got another and we were deprived of any points at all.

Then came the major blow! Our new player, and goal hope, was going to be out for several weeks. I really wanted Hudlin's early impact to help launch us up the table. Will he come back soon enough to make an impact? Will he still have the same form? Will it all be too late? This feels like this injury might just blow apart any hopes that I had.

The same seemed to be true in the Wigan game. They scored early and went on the enjoy complete control of the game. We could barely lay an xG glove on them!

And then we get the news that Carroll is joining the list of players thinking about walking out at the season's end. Let alone moneyballing the club to success; all the players are going to walk out!

The game against Derby County was another frustrating defeat and the second game in a row where we didn't score. Derby had the better of the game so we really can't complain at the result.

Although his form has been patchy at best this season (let's face it, who in the squad hasn't been patchy?!), Mitchell is one of my highest ability players so, on top of Hudlin's injury, this is even worse news!

With the players that we had left, we had a game of real drama against Lincoln City (Cole 45, Muskwe 90). Cole opened the scoring by smashing home from the edge of the box when a corner was recycled out to him. In the second half, Lincoln City turned it around but the scoring wasn't over though and, in the 90th minute, Niskanen made a bursting run into the box and cut the ball back to Muskwe who fired home to get us a point!

Another week, another players announces their consideration to leave - will there be anyone left?!

The month's final game saw us take on Fleetwood Town (Muskwe 45, Rankine 49). If the last game was a game of drama, this was a game of real frustration. Muskwe opened the scoring just before HT - being on hand to tuck home Jules's great cross. It got even better when Niskanen fired a ball to the back post for Rankine to slot home. I really hoped this would be our three-pointer but Fleetwood had two goals in them two and, once again, the spoils were shared.

And, once again, another player announces that they're considering leaving the club at the end of the season!

It's as you were, we remain just two points above the relegation places but now a good ten points below the next team up. We're really being cut adrift into the pool where the sharks are circling. Can we keep above the waterline?

Peterborough are 4th and look like a tough source of points away. Bolton are 12th though so that gives us a small flicker of hope. Shrewsbury are 9th and preceede the massive six-pointer against Burton Albion. That's really going to be a live-or-die game. Leyton Orient are 11th and Charlton Atheltic 16th so there's always the hope of points in those two games.

[RaySunshine]

March 2024

I'd sincerely hoped that things would begin to pick up with some of the games to go this month but it's fair to say that nothing of that sort happned!

It all began against Peterborough (Rankine 63). Exeter were second-best throughout the game. Rankine got a goal late on when he made a great cut-in off the right and let off a low, hard shot but Exeter were already three goals down by that stage so it was no more than consolation.

Another week, another player considering signing out at the end of the season!

Against Bolton (Muskwe 61), the situation was the same was as the Peterborough game. This time, Muskwe got his goal by making the most of Zak Jules's big free-kick over the top but, with two goals already conceded, it wasn't enough.

This brought up the inevitable board meeting. I insisted that things would be better by the end of the season and that the club would be out the relegation zone. The board agreed to give me that long...

Then there was the Shrewsbury game. They got the games only goal and our winless run carried on. My role, however didn't.

My time at Exeter comes to an end in a rather-shorter-than-planned one club save! Needless to say, this proved to be real challenge and I really didn't get onto the stages of squad-building etc but that's so often the way it goes!

For the first time, the bottom of the table wandered into view and with my sacking, Exeter are at their lowest placing since the save began. I can see why I got the chop!