TheJanitor

Congrats on winning the league and UCL on first go! Made some excellent signings there.

23/24 - December I'm currently on my laptop only. Thankfully, the Sas24 skin got a laptop version and it looks lovely in my opinion. Results A near-perfect month saw us get back to form and me get the Manager of the Month award League Table We maintain first place, and thanks to Swansea dropping points we got them of our backs, however, Norwich also had a near-perfect month and are shaping to be the biggest threats to our championship run. Player of the Month David Brooks Our first-choice RW Adam Armstrong got injured for 2-3 months against Watford. Loanee David Brooks just returned from injury himself and made an incredible impact, scoring 4 goals and assisting one time. I considered going to the market to replace Armstong, but seems like Brooks got us covered for now. Player News With the transfer window opening next month, a few deals are already cooking. First, two outgoing transfers are already completed - Joe Aribo joins Leeds for £2.5M after barely featuring for us this season (despite scoring a cracker) and fringe player Jake Vokins joins Hearts for £15.5K. The first arrival to the club (remember, Ouedraogo joins next season) is a direct replacement for the departing Che Adams: Azon was signed because he is young, cheap, with good personality, and provides a different option compared to Sekou Mara, being more of a hard-working target man. I don't expect him to make much of a splash this season, but hopefully he will prove his worth over time. I suspect there is going to be more action this January, with Kyle Walker-Peters drawing an interest from a fairly decent side: With PSG and Aston Villa also interested, I am definitely preparing myself for KWP's departure next month. We have James Bree and Taylor Harwood-Bellis capable of playing RB, but neither got his offensive ability. I already going through a list of possible targets, but unfortunately I can't find someone quite as capable.

23/24 - November Results A mixed month for us. 17th placed Millwall landed us our 2nd loss of the season. We reacted again with possibly our best match of the season against West Brom, that included an amazing display from Sekou Mara, who scored 4, including a 12 minutes hat-trick. Relegation battling Huddersfield held us to a point before the match ended with a home win against Bristol City. We are still having issues turning our dominance into goals. Against Millwall, we had 13 shots (8 on target) compared to their 2 (1 on target), but no clear cut chances. Same against Huddersfield. League Table Despite our inconsistent results, we finish another month at first place, a point ahead of Swansea and Ipswich, 6 ahead of Watford at 7th. Player of the Month Sekou Mara In a below average month, Mara's performance against West Brom is a season highlight. He is now our leading goal scorer with 10 goals, and our starting striker ahead of Che Adams, who failed to score a goal since August. More on thus below. Player News With his incredible first month now a distant memory, and his contract ending at the end of the season, a decision was needed to be made regarding Che Adams. I asked his agent if any team willing to make an offer. RC Lens was willing to fork £8.5m for him and Adams will be off come January. With some cash available now, I went for a long-term target: I know Ouedraogo is quite famous amongst FM players, but I never got to manage him, so when I noticed him on the transfer list (due to Schalke's financial situation and Ouedraogo's release clause) I knew he will be our first signing. He will join us next season, hopefully helping us on our return to the Premier League.

23/24 - October Results Our unbeaten run was cut short against Stoke, but we reacted wonderfully against Rotherham. Against Preston we tried a 4-2-3-1 for the very first time, and it produced a solid display. It did also against Birmingham, however, they capitalized on our wastefulness and a shocking defensive error to snatch a draw. Overall, performance is good, but against Stoke and Birmingham we dropped points because struggled to convert our dominance into goals. Che Adams struggles meant Sekou Mara has seen more minutes this month and while he didn't really set the league on fire, he seems to be contributing more to our play at the moment. League Table We maintained our place at the top, as well as a very good goal difference that might come handy in this tight race. Player of the Month Samuel Edozie Edozie contribute 4 goals and an assist this month. There is a real contest between him and Sulemana for our LW spot at the moment. I think the latter would do a good job at RW as well, but Adam Armstrong has been solid himself.

Congrats on getting promoted! I think using a 442 with the same backline setup as your 433 that turns into a 3142 might be an interesting idea.

23/24 - September Results We kept the momentum with another great month. We rode our luck some times - especially against Middlesbrough where Edozie scored against the run of play before they had a player sent off. Against Sunderland we nearly blew a 3 goals lead, but other than that, things went smooth. We did lose Bazunu and Sulemana to injuries through the month, but they are both expected to be back early in October. In the EFL Cup, we bowed out in the 3rd round against Chelsea as predicted, but we were actually the better side. A missed penalty at 1-1 could have changed completely the direction of this game but it is what it is. League Table Thanks to our good run we climbed to 1st at the table, as well as having the best goal difference. Still a long way to go, but with matches against 4 of the other top 7 out of the way, we put ourselves in a very good position moving forward. Player of the Month Kyle Walker-Peters KWP put a solid shift this month and he is now leading our assists charts, along with attackers Adam Armstrong and Kamaldeen Sulemana. Interest is not surprisingly high for him, including from Manchester United and PSG, and with Bree being my only other RB, I should probably be on a lockout for a replacement sooner rather than later. Player News Speaking of transfers, another one of our players announced his intention to consider his options at the end of his contract, this time Che Adams. His form dropped massively this month, and he didn't score or assist once, but he is still wanted by top division sides in England and Italy. Thanks for all the reactions! Due to some very good things that are happening, I may not be able to update as frequently in the next week or two but I will follow up on some of the other career threads here.

23/24 - August Results A near-perfect start for us. In the league, we only dropped points to table-topping Norwich (who, to be honest, deserved a win) and performed well against the rest. The EFL Cup draw has been kind to us, but we were still impressive considering we fielded mostly substitutes and youngsters. Sadly, it seems like our luck ran out in the 3rd round: League Table Still too early to take the table too seriously. Obviously we are off to a good start but September promises to be a bit more difficult for us. Player of the Month Che Adams | Kamaldeen Sulemana Hard to pick between the two. Adams led the line incredibly for us this month, scoring 5 in 4 and assisting once, including a hattrick that single-handedly won us the match against Plymouth. Sulemana contributed with 3 goals and 3 assists, which is even more impressive considering the fact he did it in 2 starts (6 total apps). This earned him August's Young Player of the Month award. Staff Update Added three more coaches to our ranks. This should conclude our staff recruitment for the coming months.

23/24 - Pre-Season Results The Pre-Season trip to Austria went well, as we got high wins over all of our rivals. Picked a few nagging injuries as well, most of them short-term other than Flynn Downes, who will miss the first few games of the season, leaving us in the hands of young Shea Charles as his only replacement. Staff Changes Incomings Sorting staff is one of those pesky things we have to do every time we start a save. Thankfully, Southampton start with a good bunch and I didn't need to release anyone, only bring in where we had the space. I either signed staff recommended to me in the monthly meeting or those who answered an advert. Asked the board to increase the amount of coaches allowed and they agreed, so we will see two more coming in.

After my save with Crystal Palace died in the second season, I still had the itch to write about a Football Manager save. I felt like I had some unfinished business in England, so I remained in the country. My next team was Southampton FC. The Saints suffered relegation at the end of the 22/23 years after 11 impressive years in the Premier League, where they established themselves as a top half side, committed to youth development and attractive style of play. Unfortunately, constantly losing their top players (and managers) as well as making some bad decisions lead them back to the Championship. In real life, they were able to get back in their first try by finishing 4th and winning the play-offs. Squad There are a few key players at the club, all of which remained from last year's Premier League campaign and are probably at this level. First is Kyle Walker-Peters, and England international who is equally capable and RB and LB. Jan Bednarek is going to be our rock in defense while Che Adams is going to lead the line. Finally, we have the Armstrongs (no relation) - Adam and Stuart. The latter already informed us that he will consider his options at the end of his contract, which expires at the end of this season. And since we are Southampton, there are a few youth prospect to build upon. Manchester City sent 4 players down Southampton's way - Shea Charles, Samuel Edozie, Juan Larios, and Gavin Bazunu. All are ready to challenge for first team spots, with Bazunu already establishing himself as our #1. Sam Amo-Ameyaw is very young but ready for some minutes and Sekou Mara is going to be Che Adams depute upfront. In our U21 team we have Tyler Dibling, who looks like he would have been incredible if it wasn't for that low determination. Jayden Meghoma is a left back, but honestly, I am seeing his future in the CB position and will retrain him. Tactics Initial thoughts about the squad is that it is most suited for a 4-3-3 formation, due to the lack of depth in CBs and upfront, and also the lack of a truly capable #10. What we do have is a striker who is able to bring other players into play, star right back, and pacy wide players, so I going with a Barca inspired, possession-based tactic: Instructions are going to be the default "Control Possession" settings, with Positive mentality, standard tempo, and without "Work Ball Into Box" instruction, which appears to be working decently for me this year. Goals Supporter Culture & Expectations | Board Culture Looks like the supporters and the board are on the same page. The aim would be to play attractive football and sign young players, which doesn't make for the most creative FM save, but I will still try to appease it. I know FM24 is towards the end of it's run and pretty much every wonderkid is already known, but I will try to sign players that I at least didn't get the chance to manage this year. Unless Savio becomes available again

Enjoying this, lots of effort is put into this and it is shown! Hopefully you'll leapfrog Juventus into 6th :)

24/25 Pre-season Results My assistant Paddy McCarthy took over these matches and it looks like he had a crazy run. Squad Update Eze, Doucoure, Edouard, and Marc Guehi all signed new deals. Guehi also became our new captain following the release of Joel Ward. One player who gave me a headache is Michael Olise. One of the reasons I picked Palace. I knew it would be difficult to keep hold of him, but I hoped our Europa League finish will keep him satisfied for another season. Sadly, he is unhappy with the quality of players at the club. I will try to keep hold of him for the first half of the season at least, unless some big offer comes for him. Manchester United are interested. Transfers In Biggest arrival this summer is Savio. He was the first player I shortlisted as I thought he would be a perfect fit alongside Eze and Olise. Brings much more directness. I also jumped at the chance to sign Archie Gray, who looks like one of the biggest British talents out there. Anthony Patterson will become our new deputy GK and will challenge Henderson for the #1 shirt. I think about doing a Bravo/ter Stegen deal, with Patterson takings the cups and European matches. Alex McCarthy will be our third choice GK while Eric Dier add valuable experience and versatility to our defense. Transfers Out Not a lot of important outgoings. Sam Johnstone was unhappy being second chance. So he joined Arsenal. Also, while Mateta appears to be amazing in real life, in game, I couldn't believe it when newly-promoted Ipswich forked out 15m for him. A few players were released or retired - namely Joel Ward, Nathaniel Clyne, Jeffery Schlupp, and James Tomkins.

23/24 Season Update Premier League A season to remember as we finished 6th in the league and qualified for the Europa League! We spent the first half of the season playing a 3-4-2-1, getting good results, but kicking up a gear after switching to a 4-2-3-1. Best Eleven: The fulcrum in both formations was Ebere Eze, with 8 goals and 9 assists. In goal, Sam Johnstone started the first couple of games before Henderson took over and we never looked back. Upfront, Edouard established himself as our first choice, leading our scoring charts with 15 goals. Mateta got fair amount of chances, but only mustered 2 goals. Doucoure actually started ahead of Lerma but other than that, the rest of the team was consistent as above. FA Cup League Cup Not much to write home about. Unlucky to get City so soon in the League Cup. No idea what happened against Middlesbrough. Transfers In Joe Scally arrived for quite a fee but we lacked a first choice RB and depth at LB and he answered both issues. Ended up being our signing of the season. Talles Magno arrived as we needed a versatile forward while three of ours were in the African Cup. He proved to be quite useful and looks like a player with good potential. Ronnie Edwards was immediately loaned back to Peterborough. He is one for the future. Transfers Out The biggest departure was Joachim Andersen. We needed some cash to bring in players and Al-Ittihad took an interest in him. As we switched to a 4-2-3-1, I felt like we can manage without him. Youth Candidates Told you, they got a good academy. I like Seth Desai. He looks like a potential Vieira regen. Dan Brown (of The Da Vinci Code fame) got the hair to be a massive success, and Luis Chorley will surely be one as well. There are a few more decent talents, these are the ones who look the best so far.

Thanks! Okay so it's not Ajax But it's decent. Something to work with.

23/24 - Pre-season No first window is a rule for me, so this one isn't going to be very heavy. We we're mostly grinding for quality staff. I signed mostly British, as I love to have some theme around my staff I guess, but also to avoid waiting for work permits. Here are the incoming: And the departed (staff members, not one of the best movies of all time): Results: We're playing mostly a 3-4-2-1 formation, again inspired by Brazil. Sadly, both Olise and his replacement Matheus Franca start the season with long-term injuries and will miss a large chuck of the first round, so I'm playing with Ayew alongside Eze and one of Mateta and Edouard ahead of them, neither fill with me with confidence.

Of course it's... Crystal Palace Why? 1. Eze and Olise Taking inspiration from the Brazil national team of 2002, I wanted to have attackers that I can build around who are technical, speedy, and got loads of Flair. These two are perfect. They just need a solid defensive unit behind them and goal-scoring monster ahead of them and they are all set. 2. The Youth Academy The Eagles got an impressive academy, producing Wilfried Zaha, Nathaniel Clyne, Victor Moses, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka in recent times, all went to play for some of the biggest clubs in football. Currently the club got a few potential prospects, with Tyrick Mitchell already establishing himself as Palace's first choice left back and getting capped twice by England. 3. The Trophy Cabinet I'm not even going to ask about the Zenith Data Systems Cup.