corinthiano Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 (edited) The Premise I moved to Milton Keynes (and England) in 2002, which was around the time it was announced that Wimbledon would relocate to Milton Keynes. That caused outrage in the football community, with the team being branded "Franchise FC". But I don't despise them as to me Milton Keynes and MK Dons have pretty much always existed and I have even watched them a few times, once when they were still playing in Selhurst Park down in London, once when they just moved and did well to get a draw against West Ham when they were back in the second tier and once in the shiny new Stadium MK when they were awful in League 2. They have bounced up and down but are languishing in League 2 again and most people would argue that the whole move has been a failed experiment. Milton Keynes is a new city in itself, only being built in the 70s as a way to move business and some of the population out of London. The city is very un-British, with a grid of Horizontal and Vertical roads connecting the neighborhoods and a big shopping centre in the middle. That already does not make it popular with the rest of the country, some claim it has no "soul". This probably explains why there hasnt been a strong club that rose from the lower divisions, but I have always been a little surprised at the fact they did not even make it close to the Football League. Today MK Irish are the highest placed club outside of MK Dons down in Tier 9 and I think there is a lot more potential in the city. MK Wanderers MK Wanderers are an Amateur club in Milton Keynes, but there are others. So why did I pick them? Because I actually played for their u-16s and u-18s, so when I saw that they are available in Tier 12 database it raised a lot of interest. I have played against the youth teams of a lot of teams in the area so it will be an interesting experience to go against them in FM. They are currently playing in the North Bucks & District League Premier Division, down in the 12th level of English football. They play at Kents Hill, which is where I used to play too. FM says it has a capacity of 300, which is probably based on how many people you can comfortably get around a field, because Kents Hill is literally a bunch of fields with a pavilion in the middle The club has a solitary season ticket holder, which is probably one of the players mom. Facilities are terrible as expected, but at least the pitch is in good condition Save Expectations I am managing as my now favorite alias Kojo Danquah, so it will be interesting to see if we get some Ghanaian players coming through. Ultimately it would be nice to get to the level MK Dons is at, but quite honestly I am not setting too many expectations. This is because I will be playing this as a youth only save and I am terrible at it. But I felt that it fitted with the theme of the save and at this level youth only is more forgiving so I may even do OK. Ultimately I am just looking forward to play against some familiar teams I don't have any staff yet, so once I do I will post some sort of Season Preview, updates after that will be monthly with a Season Review at the end, but keeping things simple. Edited January 9 by corinthiano 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corinthiano Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 Made a great first impression, we lost our only season ticket holder 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KibworthBull Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 Work and Family reasons have brought me to MK many many times. Ran a half marathon around the city as well. Been to see the "Dons" when they played at the Hockey Stadium, and at the Stadium MK. Played Cricket at various venues around the city as well. Seen Newport Pagnell Town play a few times as well. A very long winded way of saying I'll be following along on this journey. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corinthiano Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 19 minutes ago, KibworthBull said: Work and Family reasons have brought me to MK many many times. Ran a half marathon around the city as well. Been to see the "Dons" when they played at the Hockey Stadium, and at the Stadium MK. Played Cricket at various venues around the city as well. Seen Newport Pagnell Town play a few times as well. A very long winded way of saying I'll be following along on this journey. Thanks, great to have you along! I watched the MK Dons at the Hockey Stadium too, that was the West Ham game and a very weird setting, definitely felt like a very improvised venue. Newport Pagnell Town is one of the clubs I played against and they are less than 5 mins away from where my parents live Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corinthiano Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 2023/24 Season Preview The media have us favorites to go up and the board only wants a top half table + I don't think we'll have many cup distractions and a very short season with only 22 games. All sounds good on paper and we have a decent squad, problem is the best players are wingers and I am stubborn so will not steer away from my narrow 4-1-2-1-2 Best Players by Current Ability First XI So we have a few decent players but when you put it against our formation it does not look as great, could come back to haunt me especially as this tactic is not really suited to lower leagues, but I will stick to my principles and try to make passing football work at this level. Top Rated Players Not bad for this level other than physicals. He will be the creative force of the team, which does not fill me with confidence. Luke and Chimaobi are interchangeable as AP and Mezzala so might see where each one fits best. Initial Fixtures No idea what to expect, in theory we are playing some of the stronger sides but who knows how it will pan out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corinthiano Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 September 2023 Not a bad start to the league, drawing away and winning at home. The last two games of the month were not as strong and we got some late goals to give us the required results, but the team is still getting used to the tactics so the fact that we have started unbeaten is great. Next Fixtures We spend most of the month away, where we have not been convincing yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corinthiano Posted January 9 Author Share Posted January 9 October 2023 We were terrible against lowly Wing Village and that has seemed to wake the team up as we have been excellent since and go top for the first time this season. Next Fixtures The fixtures dry up now as we only have two games a month for most of the rest of the season. Based on recent performance I would like two wins in November. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corinthiano Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 November 2023 The draw against Old Bradwell U-21s was really frustrating, we were never able to pull away from them and they pegged us back twice. That being said, Hanslope drew twice this month and we open up a nice 4 point lead at the top at the halfway stage. Next Fixtures A critical set of fixtures as we face 2nd and 3rd in the league, we could put ourselves in a really good position if we get positive results. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corinthiano Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 2023/24 Youth Intake Preview Goalkeeper is the weakest area of our first XI so a decent one would be very welcome. Good strikers and midfielders are also welcome, wingers less so and full backs we don't really need. Would have like decent defenders but doesn't seem like we'll get quality there this year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corinthiano Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 Chairman already wanting to step out it seems. Debt-ridden means $5k in the red by the way 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corinthiano Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 December 2023 Two frustratingly similar games where we dominated posession, went ahead, but then let in an equalizer and couldn't score a winner. McGowan even missed a penalty against Hanslope with 15 minutes left...Things are tight at the top now, with Great Linford joining the party. Next Fixtures Two winnable games as we try to hold on to our lead into 2024. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corinthiano Posted January 10 Author Share Posted January 10 January 2024 Our inability to convert chances could cost us promotion. The Great Horwood game was a classic example of that as we dominated the first half but only scored once, after the break they scored two goals in 5 minutes and we failed to score an equalizer despite dominating the second half and having plenty of chances. We are still top, but the margins are very fine. Next Fixtures Two games against supposedly lesser opponents, but seeing as our two losses this season have been at sides lower in the table I am not taking anything for granted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corinthiano Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 February 2024 Two wins on the bounce for the first time in a while but we almost bottled it at the bottom side again as Newport Pagnell Athletic pegged us back twice, including a 90th minute equalizer, before we earned a penalty in the last stoppage time minute to ear a well fought draw. Stewkley also lost to Olney so open up the gap to 4 points with 5 games to go. Next Fixtures A month with 3 fixtures for the first time in a while, but we are still playing every 14 days. Good chance to consolidate our position at the top with 2 home games. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corinthiano Posted January 12 Author Share Posted January 12 (edited) So…I wildly underestimated how much this database would demand from my laptop, it is complaining about low memory and we are not even done with season 1…so unfortunately until I can get myself a decent system this will have to be put on hold. Back to the drawing board…. Edited January 12 by corinthiano Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick87 Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Shame mate, you were going well 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
KibworthBull Posted January 12 Share Posted January 12 Ah man. That sucks. If your savvy with the editor there are ways to speed up a L12 database - basically turning off promotion/relegation on all leagues apart from the ones in your pathway. Speeds it up quite a bit. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
phnompenhandy Posted January 13 Share Posted January 13 (edited) 6 hours ago, KibworthBull said: Ah man. That sucks. If your savvy with the editor there are ways to speed up a L12 database - basically turning off promotion/relegation on all leagues apart from the ones in your pathway. Speeds it up quite a bit. Up to a point. I tried a save with that db with only England loaded. My 10-year-old rig couldn't handle it either. It's the hundreds of leagues in parts of the country not in any way connected with your league that slays an old rig. What you could do, if you have a strong personal attachment to MK Wanderers, is swap it for a club in the L11 tier - or L10 if needs be, and not load up L12 (or L11-12). The reputations of your league opposition won't be significantly higher if the teams are still amateur. In immersion terms, it would be as if MK Wanderers achieved a promotion or two just before you joined. Edited January 13 by phnompenhandy 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
corinthiano Posted January 14 Author Share Posted January 14 Thanks @KibworthBull and @phnompenhandy for the suggestions. I did debate making changes but in the end opted to go with another save. Even at L10 the save would have been a bit slow so I ended up going with a set-up more familiar to what I know my laptop can handle - more obscure nations with fewer leagues Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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