[FM24] CDs, BOTs, and Unkindness – FC Isle of Man

[erik45]

September 2039. Great in the cup, a bit wobbly in the league. Chorley and Biggleswade are both smaller teams than us - and we showed them how much better we were. Neither of the teams had a chance. Now we are just one game away from my goal of getting to the proper first round of FA Cup!

In the league the story wasn't that positive. Morecambe reminded us that we need to keep working and developing if we want to be the best team in the league. Winterton game was a very close to a defensive masterpiece by our 2nd XI, but in the 90th minute they broke the deadlock. After that a very convincing win against a sad Stafford side. In the last game of the month Southport almost came back to the game from 4-2 situation, but their red card in the 80th minute stopped their comeback.

Table. 2 wins, 2 losses are not the numbers of a champion, but it is not catastrophic. As long as we are in the cup(s), our 2nd XI needs to deliver in the mid-week league games. That is going to be a challenge, but we are up for it!

Finances. After two cup games and a player sale, our finances are looking stronger than in the last two seasons! About the player sale...

Transfer out. I decided to gamble, once again. Selling a star player for the hope that some day the sell-on clause will bring us a jackpot. I think this is the eight player I've sold with this idea and none of them have brought us any substantial amount of money  

This transfer is not only about sell-on clause "betting", but the fact I feel it realistic to let Dyer 37a move. According to the reports, he's just too good for the team (National level star / good League 2 player). I agree that his attributes for this level are really good. BUT his performances aren't that great, Yes, he's still young and learning to play in the men's games, but he should be dominating in our team. And he definitely is not. I don't think my system supports his strengths, so maybe at some other team he gets to shine. 

Marine just got promoted to League 1 so this could be a really good move for our young star. He's only 18 years old, so he should have plenty of time to develop.

 

International call-up. Long time no call-up! Our Gibraltarian back-up CB Turnbull got called up for the 2nd time in his career. The last time was six years ago  He's done something right to catch the attention of the NT manager, but I don't know what as he hasn't played almost at all.

Upcoming fixtures. Another kind draw in the cup, what is this?? I'm more than happy to take it!  Also, another opponent we are yet to play against, bring it on!

In the league we have relatively easier fixture list than in the first two months, but that's not a guarantee for points. The Tuesday away game against Blyth will be difficult for our 2nd XI. If we go through in the cup, the next game will probably move the Scarborough match to some other date.

[shd34_216_42]

Marine in League One is impressive.

[Carninho]

Still very impressed and jealous of the progress on your save 

Spoiler

I dont mean to spam your thread with my save but I finally managed to win the Champions League with my Ravens squad. 

Still only have a 10k stadium but after years of requesting a new one to be bulit I leaked a story to the press as a last resort and now i have plans for a new 50k stadium (which is over half the population of the island ).

Sadly I havent been able to get much from the youth system over the entire save. the best two current prospects are below, with the forward Smith being the only one to be born on the Isle of Man who I can see achieving anything. I really wanted to have the majority of the squad full of homegrown players by now. 

 

 

Edited June 22 by Carninho

[erik45]

1 hour ago, shd34_216_42 said:

Marine in League One is impressive.

I agree! What makes it even more impressive is the fact they are not tycoon-owned 

[erik45]

48 minutes ago, Carninho said:

Still very impressed and jealous of the progress on your save 

  Reveal hidden contents

I dont mean to spam your thread with my save but I finally managed to win the Champions League with my Ravens squad. 

Still only have a 10k stadium but after years of requesting a new one to be bulit I leaked a story to the press as a last resort and now i have plans for a new 50k stadium (which is over half the population of the island ).

Sadly I havent been able to get much from the youth system over the entire save. the best two current prospects are below, with the forward Smith being the only one to be born on the Isle of Man who I can see achieving anything. I really wanted to have the majority of the squad full of homegrown players by now. 

 

 

Wow, you've achieved amazing things with the team, bravo!  I'm always happy to see people sharing their saves and stories!

I don't think I'm ever going to win the EPL or any European trophy but I think it could be possible to make it to the Europe. It might take me 30-40 seasons, but fortunately there's still a lot of time before the next edition of FM! 

[Carninho]

3 hours ago, erik45 said:

Wow, you've achieved amazing things with the team, bravo!  I'm always happy to see people sharing their saves and stories!

I don't think I'm ever going to win the EPL or any European trophy but I think it could be possible to make it to the Europe. It might take me 30-40 seasons, but fortunately there's still a lot of time before the next edition of FM! 

It's been my longest ever FM save (and I started playing with Championship Manager 1 back in the day). Spent several days straight just scouting players only for them to turn me down for clubs in the league below. Once I made it to league 2 it's been pretty easy. But the none-league seasons were really tough with such a low reputation and zero budget. I bought 1 player in all those seaons, the others were all frees. Many are still inculded in the "Greatest Team", which is pretty cool.

I have lost in 9 semi finals along the way too, so the trophy cabinet could look better. Also won the World Cup, Euros twice and the league of nations thing several times managing France, Italy and as of today Spain.

[erik45]

13 hours ago, Carninho said:

It's been my longest ever FM save (and I started playing with Championship Manager 1 back in the day). Spent several days straight just scouting players only for them to turn me down for clubs in the league below. Once I made it to league 2 it's been pretty easy. But the none-league seasons were really tough with such a low reputation and zero budget. I bought 1 player in all those seaons, the others were all frees. Many are still inculded in the "Greatest Team", which is pretty cool.

I have lost in 9 semi finals along the way too, so the trophy cabinet could look better. Also won the World Cup, Euros twice and the league of nations thing several times managing France, Italy and as of today Spain.

Having the national team coaching on top of managing club on a long-term save, that's really impressive!

I still have some way to go for my longest save. I've usually continue my saves to 2050s or 2060s, which means I have only 1-2 saves per FM edition.  In FM18 I had a youth only save with Aintree Villa and at the end of 17th season I was in League 2, so not that much further up. From there it took me only 9 seasons to win FA Cup and Europa League. I think it's also the only save where I've been relegated and kept my job (from PL to CH). So, I agree that it gets easier after getting promoted to EFL.

[erik45]

October 2039. In the league, it was really tight. Our 2nd XI really fought hard against Blyth Spartans, matching their xG exactly, but fell short. After that our 1st XI took two wins where we really demolished the opponent, but couldn't score more. Still, wins are wins. After that the 2nd XI got their 2nd chance, but could only get a draw against a relatively weak Scarborough side.

In the cup we achieved my target for the 1st round as we glided past Retford, Gaul 35e scoring 4 goals?! He was selected as the player of the month in September and he's really continued his good form!

We didn't get the best or worst draw as Mansfield are fighting against relegation in L2. They took their first two chances and then just parried our attacks one by one. We found the net in the 2nd half and had amazing pressure from that point onwards, but it just wasn't enough. I felt we deserved at least a draw, but I can't say we were totally robbed by the result.

Table. 7 points from four games is just below my target of an average 2pts/game, but it's close enough  I like that it is very tight at the top and there are no massive gaps anywhere in the table. My aim is to fortify our position in the playoff spots and maybe after start looking up at the top 2.

xG table. I've said it multiple times in this thread that if we want to win the league at this level, we need to be both good and lucky. I think we are almost as good as I think we can be, but we are definitely not lucky enough. (Yes, I know deviation from xPts is not only about luck.) I feel we have the tools to be the best side in the league, and the time will tell if we can be lucky enough to make it closer to the top.

Finances. The FA Cup run is over, so it's time to look at the finances. The cup games brought us about 200k€, nice! We still don't have the money for any big improvements, but I think this season is more about the promotion battle than development behind the scenes.

Transfer rumour. Our 179 cm tall starting keeper is rumoured to clubs in CH and PL. The Birmingham manager Floribert N'Galula (who IRL just moved with Kompany from Burnley to Bayern) has been attending some of our games. I might be willing to sell Mortimer 36a, but his value is just way too low: 1-2k€?! I was able to get a new deal to him, but even that didn't affect his value. If a PL club wants my player, they need to pay somewhere north of 200k€ with friendly and a sell-on clause included in the deal.

Potential star player? I took this screenshot on Broe 39a's 17th birthday. His physicals (minus stamina) are good for this level and his mentals and technicals are developing quite nicely. He's clearly a some kind of winger, but I want to make him a CM (a). His stamina and attacking mentals are low, but maybe his high attributes in speed, flair and team work will cover for his deficiencies.

I will move him to the first team soon and start giving him minutes here and there.

Upcoming fixtures. I think I need to re-think if I want to play my 2nd XI in the mid-week fixtures in November. My thinking is that the league is much more important than the FA Trophy, so I would be happy to use 2nd XI in the cup game. If I can rotate and rest my players properly, I might be able to play all the other games with 1st XI.

[erik45]

November 2039. The FA Trophy game... let's just forget it  Our 2nd XI decided that on that day only one goal is in use.

If we ignore the cup game, this looks like an amazing month! It was almost perfect in the league, but we just couldn't squeeze a win against Hereford even if we created 4,4 xG against their 2,4. But the rest of the games were great! Especially the 4-0 wins against Rugby Town and Fleetwood Town, we just demolished them, gave them no chances.

Table. Great form means we are solidifying our position in the promotion battle. I don't know if our team is good enough to fight for the title, but at least we still have a chance to get into the fight! 

Player scoring (finally). This guy is the first choice for PF (s) position... for now. I think it is time to check out alternative solutions

Upcoming fixtures. Weird month as the Christmas time isn't that busy and we have a 1,5 week pause in the middle of the month?? It's also a difficult month as we face teams in positions 3rd, 13th, 12th (+ my rival), 7th and 2nd.

[erik45]

Youth intake preview. Alright, this looks quite promising! Best players in the centre of the field, I like it! Also, three strikers, maybe one of them is big or fast?   I know these previews don't mean much, but I can't help getting my hopes and expectations up by this. 

[erik45]

December 2039. So close to a perfect month! In the Radcliffe game we took our few chances and scored two, but they took their only three chances and scored three.  After that, a nervous win against Worksop before showing our class against tough Stalybridge and Avro sides. A very solid month!

Table. Ten points between us and the teams outside the playoff zone, it's looking good! 14 points (but two games in hand) between us and Radcliffe at the top, I don't think we can close that gap.

Loan transfer. There has been opportunities to loan back our old players, but so far it hasn't felt that those players could really help us. But this time it is different: a CB playing through his prime years, available for loan. I just could not skip this opportunity. What's weird is that we loan him from Morecambe (who are in the same division as us) and he's played almost all the games for them. Why would they loan him out?? 

He's had a real journeyman career, playing for 11 different teams! 

Upcoming fixtures. Bye bye 2030s, welcome 2040s! The last time we met King's Lynn Town, they won 5-0. This needs to be turned around! The games against Chester and Boston will be real tests for us!

[erik45]

January 2040. Hello new decade, I like you!  Just ignore the Boston game.  We decided to concede all the goals in one game, not the worst idea..? If I look at the xG only, I would think this was a draw, but somehow they scored with their first four shots. Other than that, this was a beautiful month. Solid playing throughout the team, no complaints! The Chester game gave us some headache because it was rescheduled two times before finding its place in the middle of the month, but in the end, we won it!

Table. The top two has beaten us in the last two months, but rest of the games have been ours to win. Fifteen points between us and the 8th, I think it is safe to say we are playoff bound! Now the battle is about home advantages!

Finances. I think this is the first time in the save that our income and expenses are very much in balance. So far we've made profit throughout the season.

Potential milestone. This is one of the main reasons we are doing so well. Our 1st GK Mortimer 36a is doing well and not having too many off-days. It is just January and he's already close to breaking the previous record. This, of course, means he gets injured in the last game of the month...

 

New contract. Our only real target man Dugdale 31c had just 6 months left of his contract and fortunately no teams had offered him to leave us for free. After the new contract he's the first player to earn 1k€+ per week.  The reason I'm willing to pay the big bucks is his consistency. He just keeps on playing on a high level and won the club's POTY award five times! Just look at his stats:

 

Upcoming fixtures. Morecambe, Winterton and Blyth all won the reverse fixture against us, so it's not going to be an easy month. We will be without our 1st choice GK, but the 2nd choice should be as good as the first, but he's just not that consistent.

[erik45]

February 2040. This was a tough month. Against Morecambe we created a lot of chances, but couldn't take them. They won this season's games against us with combined scoreline of 7-2.  But on the other hand, we got so, so, so lucky against Blyth Spartans. They scored only once from over 3,0 xG and we sneaked a win in the 93rd minute 

It definitely shows that we were without our first choice goalie, but not all the blame can be put on that. This is an okay month, but not the month of a team that tries to get full home advantage for the playoffs.

Table. We are still fourth, and my aim is to be 3rd (and I'm dreaming of getting to 2nd place, but that's too unrealistic).

Weird message. Our player was disappointed that his goal was not allowed. Nothing weird about it. Except it was his own goal and it was disallowed because opponent player pushed him from the back.  This is somewhat of a bug. Or maybe Bolton 37i is just so noble that he would've given the goal to the opponent.  

Upcoming fixtures. No opponents above 13th place this month, this really should be 6 wins out of 6. Also, it is time for youth intake!

[erik45]

Youth intake 2040. Say hello to Nicky Smith, the star of the intake! Or not just the intake, but the club as he is already the player with both highest current and potential ability!  Rest of the intake isn't that bad either, but I can't focus on them too much as Smith is shining just too brightly. 

What makes Smith 40a even more special is the fact he's a local lad!  His personality is not the best, but as his CA is so high, I'm not too worried.

Also, two players with 5 star PA, that's very positive! A lot of players with 1 star in CA, also positive  Nice amount of dual nationalities, my favourites being eng/ken and aus/gre.

My wishes were: one fast striker and/or one tall striker. We got a fast one on our star, but we also got a tall one! Lowndes 40k is over 190cm and has perfectionist personality  He doesn't have the highest PA, but I don't put too much emphasis on that right now.

Here are my favourites from this bunch (Smith 40a excluded):

 

 

Smith 40a. I wanted to have separate section for this guy. He's quick, he knows how to finish, has a bit of flair and technical skill, this is just amazing! His attacking mentals could be better, but there's time to develop those. He will be my starting advanced forward in the future, but how soon in the future, I don't know. He's way too good to be waiting in the U18s, but I don't want to overuse him when he's still so young. The most important task for me is to get him to sign a long, long, long contract with us when he turns 17.

And I was not joking, he really is the best player in the team!  He's much better than any of the strikers we have, so I will be tempted to use his abilities already this season.

 

Edit. I gave him a part-time contract immediately, he signs for 2+2 years, let's gooooo!

Edited June 25 by erik45

[erik45]

March 2040. This is a brilliant month!  Yes, there's one ugly loss, but even that one was a very even game where we created more chances than Fleetwood. We are scoring so much, I'm enjoying every moment! The highlight of the month was the debut of our new superstar Smith 40a, who scored a lovely goal from the edge of the box just minutes after coming off the bench. I tried to upload the goal, but Gyazo corrupted the file.

Table. Look at us! We have a good chance of making it to the top three! Technically we still have a slim chance for the title, but I think we need to settle for the 3rd place.

   

Records and passed objective! Most wins, most points and club vision objective passed three years ahead of schedule, nice! 

POTY Candidates. I think this is the first time we have four players in the POTY candidates. I think Dugdale 31c has a real chance of winning it, he's just been so good and is above everyone else in average rating.

International call-up. Robertson 37l was part of the 1st XI in the beginning of season, but now is on the brink of being left out from the 2nd XI. So, the call-up is a big surprise, but I'm happy for him!

Upcoming fixtures. Tricky fixtures both because of the opponents and the timing of the games. Mon - Fri - Mon - Sat, what a weird schedule.  My plan is to gain three points from all the games but the one against Radcliffe. There our 2nd XI gets to show me why they deserve to be picked for the 1st XI next season.  

[erik45]

April 2040. What a way to end the regular season! Tight wins agains all, but we just couldn't keep Worksop's attack from punishing us. Also, our young star Smith 40a continued his great form. The highlight of the month was the amazing win by our 2nd XI against Radcliffe. It gave us a theoretical chance of winning the league in the last round! Did we do it?

Table. In the end we fought bravely, but couldn't beat the top two in the table. Still, I'm very proud of the team and the fact we scored the most goals in the league!  The third place also means we get a home advantage for our first playoff game.

Youth league. Our U18s continued their dominant form, securing the title three rounds before the end. I just now noticed that our best goalscorer was McGeechan 39e, a full-back?! What happened there?? (Okay I checked and he took 17 penalties this season, scoring 15. That's a lot of penalties! )

Youth development. I think this is the only player I think about right now, but it is just so exciting to have player of this calibre. Now he's regarded as L2 level player 

Playoff semifinal. Chester have been very good this season, delivering great numbers, but not being as efficient/lucky as others. I think they might have a bit better player material than us, but I still think we are the favourites. Three things that support my reasoning: we won both of the games this season against them, we have home advantage, and their players are probably quite tired from their first playoff game on Wednesday.

[erik45]

Playoff semifinal. Our game plan worked to perfection! As expected, their players were not as fresh as ours, so my plan was to keep the tempo high and relentlessly tire them as the game went on. The game was very even for the first 60 minutes and after that our plan started to reward us. First, a goal from a corner kick and then a penalty at the last minute of the added time to seal the deal! 

This reminded me of our first game of the season against them, does it look quite similar in terms of the score and the timing of the goals?

 

Playoff final. Oof, I knew Boston was going to win their game. They needed extra time to do it and during it their star winger got injured and is out of this game. Still, they are slight favourites to win the final as they have home advantage and we have only one win from the six meetings we've had. I promise my team will leave everything to the field!

[erik45]

Vanarama North Playoff Final. This team is so, so, so resilient!!!!  We won, we are getting promoted!!!!!!!! 

The game was in our hands for the full 90 minutes, but it wasn't an easy game. They scored in the first half with their only shot on target in the game... of course. But we levelled the game almost immediately and then we had the control for the rest of the game. We had couple of half chances in the second half but it looked like it was going to extra time. The referee gave five minutes of added time. Dugdale 31c received the ball at the edge of the box at 94:40, took one touch and blasted the ball to the back of the net at 94:42! Of course it had to be him, he's been so reliant throughout his career and this season has been his best so far!

When the full time whistle came, a proper scream came out of me! 

Edited June 26 by erik45

[erik45]

Season 2039/2040 review. I needed to take some time after the playoff final before writing this review. The season was a success but what made it even more amazing was how we played in the playoffs!

Just look at these results and how late we scored the winning goals. I think that both of our opponents had a bit better players, but our system tired them and in the end we found our ways to score. I'm relatively lazy when it comes to tactics or strategy. This time I kept it very single. The idea was clear: teams will get tired during the playoffs, so I need to rotate players just enough so we are fresh throughout the games and keep the tempo and the press high. I think it worked even better than I expected  This is a bit about exploiting AI managers' difficulty of rotating players, but I don't think it is too unrealistic that a manager would use almost all the same players in all of their playoff games.

Final league table. Best points tally for us, ever!  We booked our place in the playoffs relatively early and were theoretically in the fight for the title until the last round! We scored the most goals and defence wasn't too bad. Very happy with all of this!

xG Table. When looking at our xPts and real position, we got exactly what we deserved. As needed to fight for promotion, we were quite effiecient/lucky, overperforming both our xG and xPts.

Team performance tracking. This was my 16th season as the manager and 4th promotion. I think that is relatively good pace and somewhat realistic as well.  This was the 7th time we made to playoffs and third time we won, that's a good record!

What I haven't noticed before is the fact this season is the very first season where our points per game is over 2. We have one our league only once, during my very first season, and even then we didn't have over 2 PPG.

The best XI. This is the same as 1st XI (okay Band 32c played about half of the games). I really put effort to keep the best players fresh and it definitely payed off!

Players by minutes. Here the 2,500 minutes seems to be the cut-off between 1st and 2nd XI. There wasn't too many players under 20 getting a lot of minutes. I think I need to do a soft reset on my 1st XI next season and put effort of finding places from the starting XI for our young talents. The young core of the team will be build around Wellenreuther 38b, Dingwall 39d, Broe 39a and maybe even Smith 40a, who's just too good for us.

Players by goals. Having two players scoring 30 goals, that's a luxury!  Gaul 35e and Dugdale 31c both have found a way to consistently find the net. They have more or less fulfilled their potential, but I think their current level is enough for the National League.

Players by assists. Box to box midfielder and pressing forward being at the top of assist charts, I like it!

Players by average rating. What made a clear difference from last season was our goalkeeper(s) finding a good form. I don't know why, but target man in my systems always gets the highest average rating. Why is that?? Dugdale 31c was just phenomenal, look at this:

 

Finances. We made a nice small profit this season, the playoff ticket money giving a nice boost at the end of the season.

Transfers. Just one transfer in (the 2nd one is a youth intake player who I decided to sign just before the trial ended), but a very important one. I think Mayman 28c brought more stability to our defence, which we really needed. He wasn't amazing, he was solid, and that was more than good enough for me.  

For the transfers out, there were a lot of loans, just one proper transfer. Our best player at that point, Dyer 37c left the team for 40k, friendly and 50 % of the profit of the next transfer. Selling him was a gamble, but I think it paid off. He didn't leave a huge hole in the team and he got to play in a better division - win-win! I expect that during the summer there will be more teams chasing our youth prospects.

As Mayman 28c's contract at Morecambe was not being renewed, I took the chance to offer him one - and he accepted it! 

Contract extensions. As the promotion got confirmed, so did my contract extension! Also, I did sign some extensions for some of the key players in the team.

Facility updates. We made our average attendance record, but to be able to play our games at the Isle of Man in the future as well, we need to increase our stadium's capacity. Fortunately it isn't too costly! 

It wasn't the only change in our facilities, we also got our youth facilities downgraded, and the board didn't want to pay for the new "improvement". 

[erik45]

Season 2040/2041 preview. First year at the Vanarama National League, the highest step in the pyramid for FC Isle of Man so far! For me, this is a season the stabilise our progress and give space to some of the younger prospects. We've made steady progress (as can be seen from the screenshot below) and my aim is to be in promotion places in 3-4 years.

Board expectations. They don't think we are ready for this level.   I think if we get our playing style working at this level, we can aim for mid-table finish. I'm satisfied as long as we don't get relegated.

Media predictions. We are expected to be one of the weaker sides in the league, but there are multiple teams with worse odds than us! This is the first time we play at a nation-wide division, so there will be loads of travelling! The new opponents I wait the most: AFC Wimbledon, Forest Green Rovers, and Barnet.

Media Dream Eleven. Our youngest and best player is also in the Dream Eleven, of course he is!  There's has been a lot of offers to buy Smith 40a, but his value is so low that I'm not entertaining offers right now. Most of the teams interested in him are from PL and CH, so he definitely has a lot of potential! I think we get to enjoy him only for this season, next summer he will certainly want to leave.

1st XI. I did some tactical changes last season and I felt those really worked, so we continue the same way this season. I just made some changes to players, our hottest prospects Broe 39a, Dingwall 39d and Smith 40a getting their well deserved spot in the 1st XI.

 

2nd XI. Last season's best goalscorer lost his place in the 1st XI to our wonderkid, but that's how it goes in saves were youth development is the most important thing. I would like to have more young players in this line-up, but most of the somewhat ready players are out on loan. I'm trying a new target man in Lowdes 40k, young but tall striker.

Transfers out. When a Championship team comes calling AND the player decides it's time to go, there's not much to do. I hoped the player valuations would've gone up after the promotion (as our reputation went up), but no real change happened. That's why 30+ k€ was the maximum, but the sell-on clause is the real thing. So far, we gained 0 € from about 7-8 sell-on clauses, maybe it will work now??  We also got him for loan for this season, gives us time to adjust to the new situation. I don't think Mortimer 36a is going to be a good Championship keeper, but you never know what happens!

Exactly the same story with Wilson 36b, with the exception that Burton is in League 1. He wanted to leave as soon as there were offers and this was the best of the bad offers. Loan back, friendly, and 50 % sell-on clause on profit. I think Wilson can have a proper career in League 1, but that might be his ceiling level.

It is kind of stupid I sell my best players so early in their career, but I also think that's just how it goes in the real world. Good season for a young prospect in lower leagues = jumping up 1-2 leagues for the next season.

 

Pre-season fixtures. Amazingly many wins considering we met three teams from League 1 and the reserves of the best team in Scotland (it needs to be mentioned Dundee United won the league last season for the second time in six seasons and also Greenock Morton has one win?! Rest of the championships were won by Celtic).

Upcoming fixtures. We start our life at the new level against a tough opponent: Crawley Town has spent most of the time in League 2 and they are the third favourites to win the league now. What I'm waiting the most is the game against Barrow as it is the first time in our home stadium with the new full capacity!

[erik45]

Falling giant? When I was looking when the transfer window closes in the PL, I noticed that there's a team in administration. And not just any team, but one of the Premier League greats, Liverpool!  They start the season with -9 points. A team of their stature should get out of relegation places without major stress, but nothing is guaranteed. They won the league in 2025/2026, but after that they haven't done anything worth of mentioning, finishing 9th, 6th and 10th in the last three seasons.

Liverpool were bought by Chinese (?) tycoon, but after five years the tycoon scaled down funding and withdrawing all the funding ten years after the takeover.

The club has actually done quite a bit to stay out of administration, at least when it comes to player transfers. From the season 2035/2036 onwards, they've bought players for 428 m€ and sold players for 930 m€! Their first team is very small now, just 15 players in it, but they're still using 191 m€ for wages (Tottenham are the big spenders: 540 m€/a).

The man who they decided to trust get them out of this tough situation is Thiago Motta, who took the job after resigning from Italy post after losing quarter-finals in the Euros. In the save, he hasn't done any miracles, but has had a very solid career. After leaving Bologna in 2028, he has managed West Ham, Manchester City, Aston Villa, and Italy NT winning... nothing  Although my sympathies are with Liverpool, I would love to see them getting relegated - and playing the Merseyside derby in Championship!  (Now that I checked their derby opponent: Everton are dead last in the Championship?!)

[erik45]

August 2040. It took us one game to get used to the new division, after that it was a very positive month! Even the Crawley game was very even, but they scored and we didn't.

I really enjoyed the away game at Tranmere. Smith 40a scored a hat trick, but what I appreciated even more was Tranmere's tactics: two strikers who are both 197 cm tall (6'5 1/2), just crosses to them in the box. They scored two with that tactic before I realised I need to instruct our players to stop crosses.

Table. Well, look at us! I will be happy as long as we keep some distance to the relegation zone 

Player of the Month. The young star showed why he was selected for the Media Dream Eleven. Six goals in four games is amazing for anyone, but Smith 40a is still only 16!

Finances. It is not unusual for FC Isle of Man to make a little bit of loss in August before the income gets better as the season goes further. But I'm a bit worried about the amount of loss, over 30k€!

The main reason for it is the youth setup. When our reputation went from 0,5 to 1 star, it increased the costs of the setup. The monthly costs have practically doubled from 30k€ to 60k€.

Stadium expansion. Now our stadium is bigger than ever, capable of accommodating over 4000 spectators (the National League minimum being 4000 )! Our fanbase isn't that big yet, in the first game with the new capacity we had 2610 people at the stadium.

Upcoming fixtures. A busy month, mostly against team that hasn't started the season well. I'm eagerly waiting to meet the real "Football Manager team" Wimbledon at the end of the month, before hosting "the greenest football club" Forest Green!

[erik45]

September 2040. Can someone explain to me how we are doing so well??? I knew that team is good enough to play at this level (although my coaches didn't agree with me), but I wasn't waiting for this kind of unbeaten run! Yes, many of the teams we faced have struggled in the league so far, but this is still amazing!

Table. 21 points after 10 games, I couldn't be happier! We've scored the most goals and our defence is playing quite well 

Injury. This might hurt us next month. At the of the month's last game Bremser 36c, our best left back, got injured and will the next month completely. On top of that, in the very next game the 2nd choice got injured and now we have no proper left backs left in the selection. 

Finances. Looks like the loss made in August was just a blimp, now we are back in positive. Not by much, but that is not to be expected at this level.

Upcoming fixtures. We start the month by facing Radcliffe, who won the National North last season. It will be a difficult game, but we want to show them we are more ready than them for this level. At the cup we start our hopefully long run as we host Runcorn Town. They play three divisions below us, so it should be a walk in the park for us, but maybe I jinxed just by writing this  

[erik45]

October 2040. Catastrophic start of the month in the league, balanced by the 8-0 thrashing in the cup. Radcliffe were a bit better than us, and somehow scored four. Against Grimsby and Solihull, there wasn't much happening, but again, they scored and we didn't (okay we did once, but it wasn't enough). But in the cup we just absolutely demolished Runcorn. Or to be precise: we demolished them in the first half, scoring eight and then stopped playing as me and probably the players as well thought that eight is more than enough for us.

In the latter part of the month we found our form in the league as well. We were unlucky not to keep our lead in the Yeovil game, but I can't complain too much.

Table. 2-1-3 is not the best record, but it still keeps us above the playoff line.

Upcoming fixtures. Tough cup game to start with. We won against Chester in the playoffs last season, but that was a home game. They've been okay in the league this season, so I think we are slight favourites. In the league we face e.g. the top two in the league, it is going to be interesting to get to test ourselves!

[erik45]

November 2040. Amazing fight in the cup, not so much in the league.

Against Chester we had a disastrous start to the game as they scored with their first two shots on target and were leading 2-0 after half an hour. We took our time, but at the 89th minute the "old" and reliable target man Dugdale 31c found the net for the second time and took us to the replay. The replay was a clinical display. We scored early and then controlled the ball and the game, restricting our opponent to a single shot on target. I would love to see more of that kind of performances!

In the league games we go from one end to the other: either everything goes to our way or nothing goes. There's no in between at the moment.

 

Table. Even with our bad form we are still higher in the table than I anticipated at the beginning of season. I know we can beat any team on a good day and have tight games on an average day, but we have just too many bad days to be realistically fighting for better positions.  

Player development. I mention this lad in almost every post, but he's just so dominant that I can not not be posting about him. He's still 16 (turns 17 at the turn of the year), but he's already League 1 quality. My plan is to keep him for this season, then sell him to some Championship club and hope he develops so much that a Premier League club comes and buys him and we get good money from a big sell-on clause. I don't know how realistic this plan is, but it is my plan at the moment!  

Another player who's developed quite nicely is our CM Broe 39a. He just turned 18 and around the same time he switched his "first" nationality from English to Irish. Does this mean he would be close to selection for Irish youth national team?

Finances. Two cup games = a lot of profit - and there's more to come!

Upcoming fixtures. A busy, busy month - with six(?!) home games!  The most exciting game is straight away, in the cup against Tranmere Rovers. They are in the same division as us and last time we won 5-3. We are favourites, but it will be a tight contest. If we win the game we might face a side from the Premier League!!!

We also have our first game in the FA Trophy. I won't be putting much emphasis for that competition, but at least for now, the 1st XI will play those games.

The league schedule is very busy, so we need our 2nd XI to show what they're capable of!

[erik45]

Maidenhead had my plan/dream of earning big from a sell-on clause happening in real life!

The first reports were that they had even 20 % sell-on clause but for some reason that made the deal "impossible" so Wolves re-negotiated the deal for 10 %. Anyways, congrats to Maidenhead! 

[erik45]

Youth intake preview. Another five star intake - as always so far!  Our youth facilities got downgraded during the summer, so it will be interesting to see how much it will affect the future intakes.

We will be losing our best GK and CB at the end of the season, so I'm not complaining if we get a level A prospect to goal and defence. I would love to get a good player to the middle of the field, but I guess this intake is not the one for that.

[erik45]

December 2040. Say whaaaat?! We are through in the cup, participating the 3rd round for the very first time in the club's history! 

In the FA Trophy we did even better, just totally battering Chasetown. After that, a small blip for the 2nd XI before finding the right form and winning five in a row?!?!

Here's the guy who literally saved our win, saving a penalty in the 2nd half. 

I was waiting the 3rd round draw eagerly as it was the first possibility for us to get a competitive game against a Premier League side. That didn't happen, we got an away draw against Burton. Meh. They should be clear favourites, but I think it can be an even game.

Table. Still in the promotion contest. At the moment I feel it is realistic to aim for top 10 finish.

Finances. Cup games + cup wins = cup money  I'm very close to asking a youth facility upgrade, maybe after the 3rd round game..?

Upcoming fixtures. The schedule is as busy as possible, having two games a week. The shining star of the month is of course the FA Cup 3rd round game, everything else is dull and boring compared to our cup run! 

[shd34_216_42]

I'd wait on the upgrade, probably want to see if you can somehow make it past the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

FA Trophy run looks like it could be a thing as well.

[erik45]

 

FA Cup 3rd Round. We used all the luck we had, but in the end, win is a win and we are through to the 4th round!!!  They had way better chances, but we only needed one as our goalie was in fine form. 

4th round draw. I was ready to have City, Arsenal, United etc. in the next round, but somehow we managed to miss them and get a game away at Bolton. They are not doing too well in the Championship, but they still have so much more quality than us that this is probably the end of our cup run.

Our heroic goalkeeper Mortimer 36a is unavailable for the game as we sold him to Bolton before loaning him back for the season. Luckily, our 2nd GK is not bad either!

[erik45]

January 2041. Nine games in a month?! Our 2nd XI got a lot of responsibility in the league with the mid-week games, achieving a respectable 2-1-2 record. Our 1st XI was mostly occupied with cup games - and they did so well in them! I already posted about the Burton win and the Blyth win was very expected but then the shining diamond of January: draw against Bolton in front of almost Bolton 20,000 fans! 

This was more even game than the one against Burton. They really dominated the game with quality chances, but this game against Bolton was an even game - for realz! The goal by Smith 40a was very much deserved and after that we could hold Bolton away from real threats.

If we could manage a win in the replay, we would get our massive opponent: Manchester City. The ticket money wouldn't be huge, as it is our home game, but it really would be an unforgettable game for us!

The replay will be our first ever televised game!  150 k€ is massive for us!

Table. Even when my focus has mostly been in the cup games, we've played quite well in the league. Our form isn't the best, but to be honest I'm positively surprised we are still in the battle for promotion playoff places.

Young player of the month. Our young target man Lowndes 40k from the 2nd XI played really well this month. Or maybe the 7.30 average tells that he wasn't amazing, but no other young player was better than him in January. He's gotten 6G+3A so far, very nice debut season from a 16-year old talent. 

Finances. 0.6 m€ from the gate receipts, I like it  Thank you FA Cup away games against bigger oppositions! We did make quite a bit of loss as I asked for youth facility upgrade - and got it!

 

Upcoming fixtures. Some league games, a FA Trophy game, blah blah blah. The only game in my mind is the FA Cup replay against Bolton. We deserved the draw away from home, maybe we can snatch a 1-0 or 2-1 win at home?

[shd34_216_42]

Even if you lose the replay, you got TV money and a likely sellout.

[erik45]

FA Cup 4rd round replay. Bye bye Bolton, you had no chance against us!  They took the early lead after ten minutes from a low cross, but after that it was pretty much one-way traffic for the rest of the game. Their manager Harry Clarke had said before the game that he's happy to have such an easy opponent, maybe that gave some extra motivation for me and the players.

Smith 40a had another amazing game, scoring two. He's now wanted by almost all of the top clubs in England.  Man United offered something like 50k€ + sell-on clause + friendly, but as he's still happy to stay, I want to develop him here and max out the selling price. At the time of writing this, his value has gone from January's 24-40 k€ to 75-130 k€.

Our star player was deservedly the POTM, but my favourite moment of the game was Dingwall 39d's goal. The 168 cm tall pressing forward won an aerial duel in the opposition box, controlled the ball, turned around and glided around three Bolton defenders before hitting it perfectly right under the bar to make it 2-1. 

The replay brought us a lot of money (just like @shd34_216_42 said). 150k TV money + 142k prize money + 70k gate receipts = over 350 k€. 

FA Cup 5th round. This will be so amazing! Away fixture would've brought us much more money, but it is such a once-in-a-lifetime occasion to host Man City's superteam at the Isle of Man. They haven't been as dominant as they used to be, but they did win the Premier League last season and won the Champions League the season before that.

If I could choose, I would give free tickets to this game for as many locals as possible. Man City are going to destroy us, but I don't care, it will be amazing no matter what happens. 

[erik45]

February 2041. Through in the cups, that's all I can remember from this month.  It is just too hectic at the moment, no time to think or hesitate! The only mid-week break between Romford and Yeovil games allowed me to change rhythm of the 1st XI for the weekends / 2nd XI for the mid-week, so our 1st XI would be fresh for the Man City game that awaits us.

Table. We still have a chance of making it to the playoffs, but I don't think we are real contenders for promotion. I'm happy as long as we keep the top 10 position, which looks close to secured.

Money, money, money. I noticed we were able to sell the sell-on clause from Dyer 37a's transfer. He's a Marine (L1) player but is loaned out to Aldershot in League 2. He's still only 20 years old and has some potential to be fulfilled. But he isn't playing that well (3G+2A in 55 league games after leaving us), so I don't know if he's going to move on from Marine with a big transfer. Getting over 120 k€ from the sell-on clause feels at the moment like a very good deal for us. 

Of course we get another televised game, as we are the last team from National League in the competition. Actually, there's no teams from League Two and only one from League One in the competition, so we are truly outliers right now.

New affiliate. In the beginning of the save we had Guernsey as our affiliate, but at some point the board cut the ties to the Crown Dependency on the other side of England. As we have had multiple promotions after that, I decided it was time to ask for a new affiliate to have a team to loan players to. There wasn't any amazing options. Harleston Town play four divisions below us and that level is no longer active in my save. But it's still something, I would like to have multiple teams, maybe even outside of UK at some point.

FA Cup 6th round preview. Our odds are just 8.00?! I would've thought it should've been north of 20.00.  Yes, Man City will probably rest their best players, but they should be slaughtering us, even if they use academy kids.

[erik45]

FA Cup 6th round. I need to applaud SI for creating such a cruel game. 

The first half was relatively even when it comes to possession and chance creation, but in the second half Man City were just too good. I'm still amazed that we were able to create over 1.5 xG against the team at the top of the Premier League. The way the game was decided was just too much for me  I'd love to think there were accusations of corruption after the penalty call, it just felt so, so unfair. Not in a way that they wouldn't have deserved the goal, but in a David vs. Goliath way. David didn't win in the end, what is that?!

I'm just so proud of the team after this crazy cup run! 

[erik45]

February 2041, part 2. As I already went through all the games and the league table for the month in the previous posts, I will skip those and move forward. 

Injuries. The Man City game was not gruelling only because of the result, but also by the injuries. We lost two key players, Hayward 32k for the rest of the season and Dugdale 31c until April. It wouldn't be a massive loss if we would have only one game a week, but at the pace of the 2 games a week we just don't have enough players. 

Finances. We've made soooooo much profit in the last two months, I'm in bit of a shock. Suddenly we have money for a second facility upgrade. But I think I'm going to put that on hold until the end of the season. If we somehow get promoted, I want to turn pro - and we need money for that. The chances for promotion are slim, but I'm not in a rush to use this money. (Okay I'm in a bit of a rush as I don't want to lose the money on taxes )

I think this shows quite well how extraordinary these past two months have been! 

March 2041. Still in one cup! And in the league we try to keep our playoff hopes alive, but it won't be easy as we start the month by facing the leader and finish the month by facing two sides battling for the promotion places.

Edited July 7 by erik45

[shd34_216_42]

Board should make you professional automatically when you get promotion to League Two.

[erik45]

Youth intake 2041. 2 players with 5 star potential and six players with more than 1 star in current ability, very nice!  Let's take a close look at the intake.

So many dual nationalities, I love it! Most of them have English as one of the nationalities, but then we have one IRL/COD and one NED/SUR - could he be new Clarence Seedorf or Edgar Davids?

This is a quite nice intake, but there are some questions in the air. Can the best talents actually fulfil their potential? Balanced, low determination and unambitious (with determination of 4) are the personalities of the top three talents. I will try to use mentoring to make them better human beings and players.

Here are the top three talents and two other of my favourites:

[erik45]

March 2041. Aaaand we've run out of gas.  Having two games a week throughout the season is just too much for us at the moment, even when we use 1st and 2nd XI evenly. These results reflect quite well how we played, maybe we should've gotten something out of the Stevenage game.

Here's the main reason of our meltdown: we just don't have enough fresh players. We've had some small injuries and usually it has meant that a player in one of the XIs has suddenly played in both.

Table. We are practically out of the promotion contest.  It would've been nice to get there, but in the big picture, top 10 position for the first season at this level is more than satisfying.

International call-up. Dingwall 39d is our 1st XI pressing forward. He doesn't have the best attributes for that (low teamwork and work rate being the Achilles' heel), but he's been doing quite well. He's also one of the very few players of making it to the international level. We've had some loan players playing these games, but not too many with a proper contract with us.

 

Youth trophies. Our U18s just went and won it all. Okay, they didn't win the FA Youth Cup, but that was never going to happen. They won everything they can in reality win. 

Upcoming fixtures. Odd friendly to start the end of the season. Three teams above us in the league, we want to show them that we are going to challenge them next season for real!

[erik45]

April 2041. After a disappointing March, these were three solid games to end the season! We even had a new goalscorer in the loss against Corinthian-Casuals as Burdett 37d scored a consolation goal in the end. He had a successful loan at National League North, scoring 10 times and he returned a bit early to finish the season with us.

Table. In the end we pushed so close to the playoffs. One win more and we would've been there. But being 8th on our first season at this level, that's more than decent final position!  We were the 2nd best promoted side, Corinthian-Casuals doing even better than us.

Record league appearances. This record feels big to me as it is a "marathon" record, now held by a youth product of our academy. Adams 30c has been a reliable soldier for us throughout the years. He's never been the star of the show and some seasons has had his playing time limited to impact sub, but he's still here. He's usually the CM for the 2nd XI but also the first choice to be moved to 1st XI if there are injuries. This season both the CM and DLP had injury problems, so Adams 30c took their place and played okay.

As he's one of the few players who are 25+ he also has been mentoring some of the players. His personality isn't the best, but for unambitious players with low determination he's a quite solid mentor.

 

Season review next!

[erik45]

The first season in National League - and quite a successful one! Let's dig deeper into it.

Final league table. In the end it was Stevenage that took the 2nd promotion place, relying on penalties in two of the three playoff games. We were just left outside of playoff spots (thank you, miserable March), but 8th place is a good platform for the next season.

xG table. We were pretty much where we "deserved" to be in the table. We scored and conceded more than the xG numbers suggested, and got almost the exact point tally as xPts. Stockport were the "luckiest of the season" but their luck didn't carry on to playoffs as they lost the final on penalties.

We were considered the biggest overachievers, which I think is a compliment in this setting..? I think this just highlights we really need to continue developing our players and our system to have a chance for the playoffs for the next season.

FA Cup review. If I doubt whether being "the overachievers" in the league is a compliment or not, I know that in the FA Cup it definitely is. We made it all the way to the fifth round, beating League 1 side Burton and Championship side Bolton during the run. In the end it was the mighty Man City who stopped us by winning 1-0 (scoring from a penalty ). What I think is really funny is that the club board wasn't that impressed. "Team outside of EFL making it to the fifth round, let's give them a... B+."

Best XI. Is the same as 1st XI, only difference being Hayward 32k, who was injured for three months, being pushed out by Adams 30c.

Players by minutes. Our latest (re-)signing clocked out more minutes than anybody else, that's quite surprising! Mayman 28c hasn't been amazing, but he's very solid and consistent enough to stay in the 1st XI. We will miss our loan players, as Mortimer 36a and Wilson 36b played the 2nd and 3rd most minutes this season. I'm happy they stayed with the team for "so long", leaving at the age of 21. 

Players by average rating (7.0 or higher). Unsurprisingly, Smith 40a was the star of the season. Target men (Dugdale 31c & Lowndes 40k), once again, got really good ratings and I'm happy to see four players younger than 20 in this list! 

Players by goals. 33 goals on his full debut season, that's just more than anyone could ask for. Scoring more than once every 90 mins, Smith 40a is just too good for us.

Players by assists. Not only was Smith 40a our top goalscorer, but he also got the most assists?! He literally carried the team this season.

Just look how good he was this season: breaking the league's record for average rating! No notes, just perfect.

Record. New average attendance record, thanks to many games in FA Cup (and the higher division).

Finances. This season our turnover got much bigger this season, thanks to cup games and facility upgrades. I was yet to post about the second upgrade, here it is:

Transfers in. Two players we sold and kept them for another year for loan and one player who we signed for free after returning for us on loan. These three players played the most minutes by any of the club's players, so really important and really successful transfers!

Transfers out. Two sales, a lot of loans and a few players leaving for free. I hope our and our players' reputations keep growing so we get more money from our talents in the future.

I knew this was going to happen. Smith 40a has been wanted by almost all the clubs in PL and CH. He said he's going to be unsettled if we don't agree the S'oton deal, that's why it is a bit lower deal than the rest of the accepted ones. About half of the clubs offered a loan back, so I hope some of those clubs will be the one our wonderkid chooses.

If I would be in Smith 40a's shoes, I would choose a smaller club with a clear path to the starting XI, maybe in the Championship. And I would definitely say no to a loan back to FC Isle of Man. He's a leading player at League 1 level, why would he stay with us?? Yes, he's from our academy and is a fan of the club, but still, it's just not realistic for him to stay on loan for us. But as I'm his manager and not him, I really hope he stays for another season!  

[erik45]

Season 2041/2042 preview. Second season in the National league. Last year we were three points outside of playoffs spots. If we can keep improving, we should be in the playoffs spots at the end of the season. What does our board think about this season?

Board expectations. They are much more pessimistic/realistic than me about this season. Avoiding relegation is enough for them. I think we should be nowhere near relegation battle.

Board culture. How have I disappointed them with developing players using the club's youth system?!  At the moment we have only players from our youth system. We also have the youngest squad in the league (20.67). What could I do more???

New contract. I noticed my contract was ending at the end of the forthcoming season, so I asked for an extension - and got it! As a bonus, I got a little raise.

Transfers. Big things happening at the transfer front! Sadly, we've sold our best three players. But it had to be done, as they were making noises about leaving. The positive thing is we have them all for one more season for loan. More about the deals below.

I think this is the first time we got some real money out of a sell-on clause. Nothing major, but 13k€ is still something!

This is the big one. All the big clubs were circling around him and I accepted 9 deals in the end and hoped he would choose the most beneficial deal for us. In the ideal world, I would've hoped Smith 40a moving to a Championship club before taking the step up to the PL. But he wanted to go straight to the deep end and I can't blame him. We get 200k upfront, a friendly, 2k per appearance for 50 games (= potentially 100k) and a profit clause. On top of that ManU offered a loan back. He's already a L1 level player, I don't understand why would they send him back to us?! But I'm not complaining!  Only downside with this loan is that he can be recalled, which I think they might do if he becomes even better, or even more "too good" for this level.

Just look at his valuation... 

The 2nd deal of the summer was much smaller, but still an important one. Wellenreuther 38b really wanted to leave, but his valuation was so low that it was impossible to get good money out of the transfer. In the end it was just 14k, but I really hope the profit clause will bring something to us. The friendly definitely will and I'm happy to have him on loan for another season. He's good, but he's wrong-footed to play right back, so he hasn't been that active providing chances to our strikers.

 

The two previous deals were to expected to happen, but this one was not. When Wrexham came knocking and offering very little for our best CM Broe 39a, he immediately let me know he needs to leave us for Wrexham to get to play in CH. I thought I would have him for at least one more season before bigger teams notice him, but I was wrong. 57k€ is an okay amount of money, but I think we could've had at least double of that season later. But he's still going to be with us this season, as I got a loan back included in the deal.

On top of the transfers, we got some "extra" money from the friendlies included in the previous deals. Coincidence or not, we faced both of the teams in the FA Cup last season.

Finances. After the summer, we are making quite a bit of profit! Usually July is a month of financial loss, but this time the transfers turned it to profit.

Facility upgrade. Our youth facilities were downgraded a while ago, and now we are back to the previous level. We also have a training facility upgrade going on, It will finish sometime in October. 

Media prediction. Usually I have this at the early parts of the preview, but as I wanted to showcase the transfers first, media prediction is now moved further. Last season we were predicted to finish 19th, now 15th. Last season we finished 8th, so now we finish 4th, right?  Smith 40a is our star and the star of the league, making it to the media dream eleven. But he was not on the lists for predictions for top scorer or best player of the league?!

In one month, his valuation has gone even further up, what's going on?? 

Our youth prospect is Arnison 41a, the best player from this spring's intake. He has started to develop nicely and is going to get some game time already this season. He's just too good for U18s, just look at his form:

He also has switched his allegiance from England to Gambia, and there has been discussion about him making to their national team. He hasn't played any games for us and just six for the U18s but he's already in contention for a place in the men's national team?? He must be a very hot prospect!

1st XI. Some changes here as we lost a goalkeeper and a centre back from the XI. After a successful loan, Gilroy 38a takes the CB spot and our previous back-up goalie steps up to be #1.

2nd XI. This XI has seen so many players already during this season. Many of the players planned to play in this XI left for loan to get more guaranteed game time. Most of the players have already experience at this level, but the defence is relatively inexperienced. GK Montgomery 39c will play his first games for an adult side and Johnson 38c, Cleary 39k and Diamond 37e get rewarded with a place in the 2nd XI after loans.

Pre-season friendlies. Many wins = very good. The Bolton win was the highlight and it is nice to see Smith 40a still has his scoring boots on.

This pre-season I didn't have as many friendlies as could have had. The reason is the busy fixture list onwards from ~November. Last season we ran out of gas in March, I don't want that to happen again.

Upcoming fixtures. A very straight-forward month: five games, all at Saturday 3pm. Gillingham is the only side expected to be better than us, so this schedule should give us an opportunity to start the season strongly.

[erik45]

August 2041. Definitely not the start we wanted - or even expected. Only six points from five games is much less than we deserved. The sample size is extremely small, but in xPts we are 2nd. For me, this means we are playing quite well, but being a bit wasteful in the attack and letting some easy goals in in the defence. The only solid piece of the puzzle has been Dugdale 31c who scored in all of the games!

Table. Well, six points means we start the season in mid-table positions. FC United of Manchester, who had the worst odds for winning the league, have started really strongly! 

Scoring in all of the games wins you trophies. This time a small personal accolade for Dugdale 31c, but hopefully his great form will be rubbed on others as well.

Upcoming fixtures. Our fixture list for the first two months of the season looks relatively easy, but I think August already taught me that looking easy is not the same as being easy. Still, we should have a strong chance of winning in all the games. And our 2nd XI will get their first game of the season against Kettering Town!

[erik45]

September 2041. Heyyy, an unbeaten month! Two annoying home draws, but still a very good month 

 

Table. We are in top 7, yee-haw! The league seems to be quite even, no team has more than 20 points after 10 games.

Finances. After the monster income months of last season (because of cup success), it has been much more quiet now. We are practically breaking even, which is good enough.

International call-ups. Two of the three players we sold and kept on loan with us got a call-up! Smith 40a for the England U20s and Broe 39a for the Ireland U21s  The only downside is that they have and will miss multiple games as for some reason they play four international games in one window?!

Upcoming fixtures. First busy month of the season as we start our journey in the FA Cup against Tranmere. It will be back-to-back games against them as we fave them in the league as well. Not the easiest opponent but I think we still have a fair chance of advancing.

[erik45]

October 2041. Tranmere times three and then the heaviest loss in this save, what a month...  We should've won the home cup game, but just couldn't find the net for the 2nd time after an early goal. Our 2nd XI played the other two games, and surprisingly won the league game. In the cup replay we almost pulled a miracle, but it just wasn't enough. No cup run this year.

Rest of the month was fine until the Romford game. They created dozens of chances and took too many of them. 3-4 goals would've been fair, but our goalie was not having a good day (5.7 rating).

Table. Not the best goal difference after the massive loss, but we are still in a good position. Now that there won't be any more FA Cup games, I think our stock will rise in the league.

Finances. The 2 cup games brought a nice little boost to our finances. 

Facility upgrade. Youth facilities were upgraded earlier this season and now the training facility upgrade is completed as well! Now those are at adequate level, which is, well, adequate at this point of the save.

 

Upcoming fixtures. No cup games to mess up the schedule, but still couple of midweek games. The Stockport and Corinthian-Casuals games will be the most interesting ones.

[erik45]

November 2041. A very nice month.  Corinthian-Casuals were too strong for our 2nd XI, but rest of the month was relatively smooth sailing. Highlight of the month was the 3-0 trashing of Stockport!

Table. We climb up only one position, but it is very tight at the top. Couple of wins and we could be close to the top 2.

International call-ups. Our two best players gets called-up again and both are doing well in their NTs. Broe 39a scored a hat-trick against Slovakia U21s! 

 

Upcoming fixtures. Veeeeeeery busy month. If we somehow manage to get through in the FA Trophy, I think there will be some re-scheduling. The 2nd XI needs to show their consistency in midweek games (and challenge for places in the 1st XI).

[erik45]

Youth intake preview. As always, an excellent intake is coming. Good goalkeeper has been more of a rule than an exception in this save, but I'm happy to have more of them  But mostly I'm excited about the "top prospect in the centre of the midfield".

I think I need to change my HOYD at some point as we are producing waaaay too many wingers. Many of them can play in the attack or maybe even as a full back, but it is bit of waste of our good youth setup to have so many wingers. Only 9 of the 16 players are in positions we have in our formation.

[erik45]

December 2041. In the FA Trophy game against Morecambe we created more than 3.0 xG, but scored only once... the rest of the month was much better. We are conceding way too many goals, but as long as we win most of the games, I can't be too bothered.

Table. 6 wins in seven games shoots us up in the table. We are 2nd, only by goal difference. Well, there's one team that will most probably overtake us: Stockport have played five(?!) games fewer than us and they've been really strong.

xG Table. This is just to show that our good performances are backed up by different xNumbers. We are doing really well (and I feel sorry for Maidstone )

Finances. Another strong month financially, mostly because of four home games + a cup game.

Upcoming fixtures. Our 2nd XI will start the new year against Woking before our 1st takes the stage. This should be a strong month for us, we'll see if it will be.

[erik45]

January 2042. Almost a perfect month. The game against Kettering Town got rescheduled because of waterlogged pitch, so we had an internal friendly instead. The actual game against Kettering was a disaster. They are last in the league. Their player received a red card in the 3rd minute. What happens? They create unbelievably 2.3 xG (and we didn't do much better with 2.5) and end up winning the game, what?! If we had won that game we would've been at the top by three points at that time. I think that was FM's way of saying "not yet, my friend".

Table. It is very tight at the top, but it looks like Stockport has the chance to run away with the title. They just keep grinding on wins. Their GK had 7.3 or more rating in all the games this month, he gives them the opportunity to win any game. My (updated) minimum goal is top 3, but I wouldn't count us out from the title battle.

Finances. Nice small profit once again!

Upcoming fixtures. What is this, why there are so few games?  The Tranmere game will be huge, it is already our 4th game against them this season. If we win, we have a 5 point gap against them and if we lose it will be even tighter between us.

[erik45]

February 2042. Terrible loss against Tranmere, a great win against FGR and a frustrating draw against Wimbledon. Not the greatest month.

Table. Four points from three games means we are a bit further away from the top than we were at the beginning of month. But there are still 9 games left to play and we are looking at least a place in the playoffs.

Penalties. Here's one small challenge we've had this season. Our star, Smith 40a is our penalty taker. He's good, he's happy and there's no indication there should be any major problems with his penalty taking. But he has score only 1 of his five penalties?! 

Clause buyout. I noticed I had two clauses to sell. One was almost worthless, but this one, this one is a big clause! Mortimer 36a hasn't played a single league game for Bolton and his transfer value isn't that high, so getting 1m€ for 30 % sell-on clause is good enough for me.  

 

Finances. After selling the clause, we are rich! At least compared to our previous financial position.

Upcoming fixtures. Really challenging month: Romford, Corinthian-Casuals and Stockport are all in the mix for playoff positions. BTW, why is it that Corinthian-Casuals can lure players from PL and CH to their amateur side?