[After 10 years with FM, my first career update]

I have caught up with you in real time now from North Wales, UK.

I am a Celtics fan. Always had desire to live in Boston but life had other ideas. (Havent checked my lottery ticket yet....who knows! ). Only once been to USA and that was a 3.5 hrs stop-over at JFK on my way to Vancouver, which nearly made me miss the flight!  

The Watford job is a challenge for you and salary room is there for you to make a difference. With the TV deal being astronomical in the Premier League, you should be backed up handsomely. (Speaking of salaries but I have changed the preferences in my save from weekly wages to annual wages since following your career. It makes more sense that way). 

 

 

 

 

[After 10 years with FM, my first career update]

What is your status in the game at this point, Tom? Interesting to see how it is according to the haul of trophies you have got. 

I always start my saves at a Sunday league reputation which makes it harder. In my save with Alfreton (2nd non league UK), I just got promoted in my 3rd season to Vanarama (one below league structure) on absolute joke finance. 

It would be quite interesting to see you take a challenge like that next

[After 10 years with FM, my first career update]

I am shocked and disappointed at FSG for not hiring you at Liverpool. 

[After 10 years with FM, my first career update]

Incredible stuff! The idea of documenting this save of all and then winning everything infront of you is beyond belief.....but fantastic to be apart of through these posts.  Congrats!

Now, rest up before you take on the challenge of the biggest sleeping giant in football, Liverpool FC! 

 

[After 10 years with FM, my first career update]

No worries, pal. We need you to be getting on with the career

 I agree with the training part. If you want to win in the game you need to have a plan regarding training. Depending on the opponent, I found it really useful to set the team training concentration 4-6 weeks ahead; attacking training vs. opponents I should beat, defending or tactical against stronger opponents etc. 

Also, dont underestimate the power of individual training. I have seen "one digit" stat players jump from nowhere to become very interesting prospect. 

I just envy you with your success so far. You are so close to winning the double and adding to the trophy cabinet )which you need to expand soon!). 

Let's hope Liverpool comes in for you soon! We need you. 

[After 10 years with FM, my first career update]

I finally caught up with your thoroughly enjoyable career. What a success you have had in such a short career. Starting up in Chile and winning that cup opened the door into Italian football which you have excelled in so far, including the national team. Spain was a mistake though in my opinion, but hey, this career is close to perfect so far! 

I agree with you on the name of this save: (Last chance save) as I am really torn regarding this game. My biggest issue with FM now is how often when you pretty much own a game you end up losing on a 30+  vs. 2 shots on goal. It is even worse when your opponent has a player sent off. Then you can guarantee that you concede a goal. Also, in 2017 version I am seeing too much of losing streaks or winning streaks. I either cant win a game and then win one and cant lose a game for the next ten. Perhaps, it is different on PC as I enjoy my game on my ipad.

However, I have played FM series since Kevin Tom's version of it in 1980's (with breaks in between) and the brilliant idea of putting an ipad version of it got me playing again. I just wish they would upgrade it to same level as it is on PC as it is missing the fun bit such as media interaction and all the key involvement where you can actually change player's mind by having a chat with them etc. I hope they get that sorted in 2018 version so I will buy it. If not, I wont.

Anyway, Tom. Your save has reignited my spirit and I have taken over at Alfreton in English Non League North where I am going to try a career like you have done.

Cant wait for next episode!

 

[After 10 years with FM, my first career update]

On 13/03/2017 at 03:31, trman73 said:

 

Hello all!

Since it looks like the 17.3.1 hotfix will be the last update to FM17, I’m going to embark on my first ever career update. I’m saving this career as “Last Chance FM17” as I’ve experienced some frustration with the last two versions of the game, and if I can’t get it together in this save and have an enjoyable experience, it’ll be back to FM15 for me, or perhaps even an overall break from Football Manager for a while. So I'm hoping that posting my progress here will inject some new excitement into the game for me.

Quick background: I’ve been playing since FM08 and have had dozens of careers, both successful and unsuccessful. As always I’m starting this career with my actual playing/coaching background (which is nothing - 43 y.o. American; no coaching qualifications; Sunday-league player). At age 43 I figure I’ve got a 25-year career ahead of me (assuming I last that long).

My goals are the following:

• Win MLS Cup
• Get hired by West Ham United
• Take the Hammers to the Champions League title
• Coach a national team (preferably the U.S.) in the World Cup
• Retire a legend 

Whether any of these things happen will partially depend on my first task: choosing my initial team. I always do this the same way: Using random.org, I start with all 51 playable nations, listed in alphabetical order. I then eliminate each country one by one until I arrive at the country where I will start my career. I then do the same thing with all teams within that country: list them alphabetically and eliminate them one by one until finally I know my starting team. So technically, I have the same odds of starting with Real Madrid as I do with the lowest-ranked team in Hong Kong.

For the record I highly recommend this method for picking a team to start a career. The suspense in each country being eliminated until you get down to the final three or four is legitimately exciting. Same with the teams. I’ve learned so much about teams and leagues by playing in different countries (some of which I had absolutely no interest in) than I ever imagined, and since I was a soccer novice when I started this almost a decade ago, all of my favorite real-life teams (West Ham, Sampdoria, and Watford) are based on my experiences coaching them in FM.

So that’s the setup. Hopefully I’ll have a long and enjoyable career, and this will be an interesting read.

Up next: Nation Selection

Is the elimination process done by you or the PC/tablet? I am curious about this and very much up for trying this. 

I am following this process.....