[FM21: The English Football League thread]

I will keep it rather short and simple: There is an awesome story behind this pic. If you take a look at the screenshot it looks like a normal promotion but it was everything but that. I want you to focus for a moment on the club who is sitting 3rd, Southampton (AI). We both just had the most awesome run ever. The thing you need to know is that I took over QPR after 19 matches played on the 22nd place with 20 points. In this very moment Southampton, coached by Van Bommel, did not much better only a few places above us with 27 points. My aim was just to avoid relegation and stabilize the team. However, I was just coming from an unbeaten run in the Norwegian Premier Division with Viking Stavanger. This one was already a surprise to me since I do all my tactics myself and by now never found one that works so great. Hence I decided to implementate this tactic with QPR too, especially since the squad was a decent fit for it. Success soon came up at QPR too and I was slowly but steadily crawling up the table towards those playoff places. Needless to say I meanwhile had the ambition to reach those at the end of the season. Except for one really devastating performance in which we lost hopelessly 0-5 to Watford I only lost in the FA Cup against Hull (more or less intentional, complete rotation). Just a few games before the end of the season I finally found myself sitting at 2nd with Southampton, Middlesborough and Crystal Palace chasing me. Yeah, you heard right, Southampton also worked its way up the table, actually these ****ers did not lose one single league game since November, including a 2-2 against me in December. They only drew a little more often than I did but else they were completely flawless. The last few match days were very tedious with no team doing any missstep. Therefore at the last match day actually all four teams had the chance to finish 2nd. And guess what the last fixture for me was? Southampton - Queens Park Rangers. The maths were easy on this one: If we drew or if I won I was safe second, if we lost I had to play in the playoffs. So the two seemingly invincible teams went into one last battle against each other and this was just awesome, a hell of a game with many chances on both sides. We were two times in front but they would come back any time. The last minuites I was just praying we could get away with the draw. And after an (from my perspective) unreasonable long additional time we finally did it, 2-2 and promotion! This journey gave me such chills. I really hope that Southampton wins in the playoffs now, I wanna battle on with them in the Premier League. Have a nice Christmas everyone!

[Football Manager 2021 Early Access Beta Official Feedback Thread]

I´d like to bring up another point of which I do not know if it has been mentioned yet or if anybody even has the same problem: I currently (5th season) got 11 employees in my first team training staff and the board refuses to increase it since two seasons. I´d understand this if we were in financial trouble or whatever but actually everything is great and I am even 100 Mio. € under my yearly wage budget. All I want is two or three more first team coaches and I cannot understand the slightest why this seems literally impossible.

[[FM21] Rate my Regen/Newgen Thread]

Got him with 16 for 20 Mio. € from Hoffenheim. Should turn out decent, can use him in the first team now.

[Football Manager 2021 Early Access Beta Official Feedback Thread]

I am currently in a really frustrating situation and I don´t think its exactly a bug but its something I´d like to bring up for future changes. So I am in summer 2022 and Spurs bet 29 Mio. € for Otavio which is his release clause. As a replacement I agreed upon a contract with Barcas Pedri, the transfer costs 31 Mio. €. My current transfer budget is 10 Mio. €. I already had to postpone the Pedri transfer twice because Otavio needed a work permit and everything took longer than I initially expected. Here comes the ****ed up thing: On 7.8.2022 at 9:47 a.m. the usual message comes that I don´t have enough funds for Pedri. I cannot delay anymore cause Barca will cancel. I cannot ask the board to fund Pedri cause he will refuse a contract offer from the board since negotiations were not successful (which is ******** at this point cause thats why I got the option for the board to take over). If I cancel the transfer myself I cannot even convince Barca to accept my offer again since they now demand his release clause of 91 Mio. €. And exactly one hour after I have to cancel the Pedri transfer (can also ask the board to take over, does not matter) Otavio gets his work permit and goes for 29 Mio. € to Spurs which ofc means I´d have the funds I needed just one hour later.