Zilla Blitz

March 16, 2021

Quick update that we're just starting Season 5 in Walkabout: Europe with a new club, and have just crossed the 500-mile mark in distance walked/exercised.

Today's episode is a great catch-up episode to jump into the series:

All are welcome! Bring your sneakers.

February 5, 2021

Oh, your case is even more pronounced. It certainly does seem like it's stuck. I'm hopeful we'll hear a response from SI.

I remember it was like this on release with FM20 as well, then they fixed it.

For multi-country journeyman saves, it'd certainly be nice to have it working as intended.

February 5, 2021

Is the manager adaptability attribute not increasing?

I just managed just seasons in the Czech Republic as an American manager and have learned fluent Czech. Now I've moved to Austria and have been picking up German. But my manager adaptability rating is still what I set it in the beginning (5). All other ratings except goalkeeper ratings have increased, and it feels like adaptability should have gone up.

I know adaptability wasn't increasing in the release version of FM20, but was fixed in a patch along the way. I'm wondering if the same bug is back in FM21?

January 14, 2021

Hi Everyone!

Walkabout: Europe is a new journeyman save where I combine Football Manager with getting in shape and losing weight. Basically, I'm doing a journeyman save where I can only move between clubs in the game when I've walked/exercised the equivalent distance between the clubs in real life.

First episode is up on YouTube, and the series is a few videos in now.

Feedback, comments, hate mail are all appreciated. Well, maybe not the hate mail.

Thanks!

January 6, 2021

I'm wondering if someone here might be able to help...

I'm using a custom database by Timo for Czechia that extends the game to the lower levels of the nation. I'm currently playing in the third level, the MSFL. Here's the problem:

Although all the contract settings for the third level in the database are correct, teams can't offer players anything other than amateur contracts. Many of the clubs already have players on paid contracts at the start of the game and are semi-pro clubs, but once you start playing you can only offer players free contracts for no money. You can add bonuses for goals, assists, and clean sheets, but that's it.

The kneejerk reaction to this is "Go connect with the database creator because this isn't an issue with the game", but the settings in the custom database are correct. A completely different database creator has looked it over too, and confirmed this. For whatever reason, the game is ignoring these settings.

I'm wondering if it's possible that something is hard-coded into the Czech lower leagues that is causing this? Or perhaps it's a bug?

Any thoughts or guidance would be helpful. Thanks!

January 3, 2021

8 hours ago, Abysmal said:

I'm sorry Neil but this just simply isn't true is it? Last year on FM20, I had a player who at the start of the season was worth 2m, and by all means was a bang average player for the championship, never mind the premier league where I was playing. But after a superb season of a 7.5 average rating and 15+ assists, Manchester United offered 35m for him which I gladly snapped their hand off for. Checked his CA and PA just out of interest to see if there was something more that would make him worth so much more than his value and his CA was 125 and his PA was 132. His 7.5 average rating clear boosted his value and interest.

There is no way that same player would sell for so much more than his value if his average rating was a 6.8. I understand where you're coming from that it only has some affect on the player value but its enough to affect the long-term economics of a saved game.

Are performance ratings connected to morale? I've got a new save I started and even though we've won half the time (in line with expectations) our ratings are god-awful compared to our performance and our player morale is in the doghouse. And that extends in turn to the board's evaluation, as they're not happy that team morale is so low.

December 8, 2020

Hi Everyone! I've got a new short Football Manager 21 series up on YouTube:

The Sodfather
Can we last one season at a "family-run" Juventus, where we have to start the Sodfather's 16-year-old twin sons at striker and keeper? Spoiler: They suck.

Comes complete with:
- Stupid intros
- The Sodfather
- Nintendo characters
- Pronunciation errors
- Horses
- More stuff I haven't thought of yet

Total series will be about 10 20-minute episodes.

Thanks in advance for checking it out!

May 13, 2020

Club

Season 5: September 2024
Clicking

Manager Notes
Our bumpy start settles down and we go on a good run in September. Our loanees are a powerful help, and have made us immediately competitive on the outsides. In particular, our LB and RB are so strong, and having attacking support from these positions really helps our offense click.

We stumble a bit at the end of the month with some losses, but overall our performance is good enough to lift us to 3rd place. I’m starting to wonder if we might actually be a decent club this year. I wish we weren’t relying on loaned players so much, as we’re not developing our own players to the degree that I’d like, but given our circumstances I think this is the only way.

Season 5 Episodes 3 is up on YouTube.

May 12, 2020

Club

Season 5: August 2024
A Bumpy Start

Manager Notes
We start the season with a rough stretch, as we pick up only two points in our first four matches. I’m starting to get nervous, but then we rebound in the bottom half of the month, as we win three of four and pick up some momentum. Of particular note is a 5-0 rout over Blackpool to get our first win. We end the month in the top half of a yet tightly packed table.

We might be okay. Our loaned players look as good as advertised. It’s nice to have strength on the outsides. Last year we were weak on the outside, but our loaned fullbacks and wingers look like the real deal. I’m cautiously optimistic that we might have enough about us to avoid getting embroiled in a relegation battle. I do feel like we were quite lucky in some of our wins, however, so I’m not sure we’ll have much more about us than avoiding relegation. It’s really tricky to call, as we’ve looked both awful and brilliant at times in this first month.

Season 5 Episodes 2 is up on YouTube.

May 12, 2020

Club

Season 5: Summer Preseason 2024
Onward to League 1!

Manager Notes
This season promises to be a bear, as we are completely unprepared for promotion to League 1. We’ll have the lowest budget in the league by about £10k, and as we enter our off-season, we have only one player who grades out as a good fit for League 1 competition. Somewhat repeating the blueprint we’ve used in previous seasons, we dive into the offseason with the intent of keeping the better half of our team and replacing the lower half with players better suited to the league we’re heading into.

But without a doubt, I spend the most time I’ve ever spent in a Football Manager offseason micromanaging sales and player acquisitions. We earn about £300k for selling players, which allows us to increase our wage budget so that we’re only £5k lower than the next lowest team. I haggle for every pound of salary as we look for replacement players, and refuse to consider only what looks like the best value. We go through every Championship and Premier club looking for loans.

By the time we head into the season opener, we’ve added a good dozen new players to our team. A key moment comes when Leicester City allows us to take two quality outside wingers on loan for free, then Aston Villa lends us a brilliant-looking right back for free as well. We end up leaning way too much on loans for my liking, we’ll likely be starting the limit of 5 loanees in every match, but we simply don’t have the funds to compete without doing so.

As we head into our 5th season, we brace for a bear of a relegation battle!

Season 5 Opener on YouTube

May 12, 2020

On 04/05/2020 at 16:04, Nobby_McDonald said:

I don't know of one team that has done it since the playoffs were reintroduced in the 1980s.

Ha! I feel special.

April 30, 2020

Whew, it's been a while since the last update...

Club

Season 4 Summary 2023-24

Season Notes
Although our League 2 season started slowly, we picked up a good head of steam a third of the way in and soared to a playoff spot by the three-quarters mark in the season. We tailed badly at the end, and barely made the playoffs and a 6th-place finish thanks to some helpful losses by clubs around us. With little momentum and awful morale, I thought we'd have little chance to gain promotion. But fortune smiled on us, as we scored in extra time in the second leg to make the final, then squeaked out a 1-0 win to gain our third consecutive promotion.

This is the first time I can remember that I’ve gotten three consecutive promotions in Football Manager. And as happy as I am with the promotion, my overall feeling is that it would have been better for us to stay in League 2 for another season. It’s looking like we’ll have the lowest wage budget in League 1 by about 10k. Our youth and training facilities are poor. We have one player who our scouts say is ready for League 1. Everyone else is League 2 or lower. We have lots of work to do, and with the playoffs running until the end of May, a considerably short window to get stuff done.

Unlike last year, we get no notable Year End Awards. Nya Kirby, our outstanding CM on loan, gets our Player of the Year. Other than that exception, we were more of a team of lots of good players but no superstars.

We’ll have a lot of work to do in the off-season, but it does start out with some great news. I’ve asked Chairman Jimmy dozens of times to improve our training facilities, and every time he’s refused, but this time, with our account flush with cash from the playoffs and a deep FA Cup run, he relents. We’ll be building new facilities in the fall. That should help a ton!

Going forward, we’ll attack this offseason with much the same approach as we have in the past. Selling on or releasing the bottom half of the team who would struggle at League 1, and trying to replace them with players who can handle that level of play. Let’s get busy!

Screen Shots
Table
Manager Profile
Transfers

Year-By-Year

Season 4 Wrap Up Video

April 30, 2020

Club

Season 4 Summary 2023-24
Table | Manager Profile

Season Notes
This is the first time I can remember that I’ve ever gotten three consecutive promotions in Football Manager. And as happy as I am with the promotion, my overall feeling is that it would have been better for us to stay in League 2 for another season. It’s looking like we’ll have the lowest wage budget in League 1 by about 10k. Our youth and training facilities are poor. We have one player who our scouts say is ready for League 1. Everyone else is League 2 or lower. We have lots of work to do, and with the playoffs running until the end of May, and a considerably short window to get stuff done.

Unlike last year, we get no notable Year End Awards. Nya Kirby, our outstanding CM on loan, gets our Player of the Year. Other than that exception, we were more of a team of good players than were of stars.

We’ll have a lot of work to do in the off-season, but it does start out with some great news. I’ve asked Chairman Jimmy dozens of times to improve our training facilities, and every time he’s refused, but this time, with our account flush with cash from the playoffs and a deep FA Cup run, he relents. We’ll be building new facilities in the fall. That should help a ton!

Going forward, we’ll attack this off-season with much the same approach as we have in the past. Selling on or releasing the bottom half of the team who would struggle at League 1, and trying to replace them with players who can handle that level of play. Let’s get busy!

Season Wrap Video

April 30, 2020

On 27/04/2020 at 15:50, Nobby_McDonald said:

Well done winning the playoffs. I'm surprised you put in a couple of friendlies before though.

Thanks! You're the second person to mention the friendlies to me.

I had trouble keeping players match fit the last time we were in the playoffs (first season), and think we lost partly because of it. Also, our morale was horrible after we lost our last three matches of the year. I figured some easy friendlies would help me keep players ready and boost morale.

I guess that's not normally something that's done in football? Risk of injury?

April 24, 2020

Club

Season 4: May 2024
Onward to League 1!

Manager Notes
In dramatic fashion, we claw our way through the League 2 Playoffs and win promotion to League 1! We faced off against Tranmere in a home-away two-leg Semi-Final. After two legs and 180 minutes of football, we were dead even at 2-2. But in extra time on the road, Jake Scrimshaw scores a stunning goal to give us a lead that we’re able to nurse home.

In the Final against Walsall, Andrew Robinson scored the sole goal of the game 24 minutes in, and that’s enough to see us squeak by Walsall at Wembley to win promotion. Woot!

As glad as I am to be moving up, I’m also equally nervous about the idea. We’re not even close to ready for League 1, not in terms of players, finances, or facilities. This will be a bear of a jump, and I’m almost wishing we had another year to solidify the club’s situation. But no looking back now!

Playoff Episodes on YouTube
Season 4 Episode 11 (Semi-Finals)
Season 4 Episode 12 (Final)

April 22, 2020

Club

Season 4: April 2024
Whew! We Made that Hard!

Manager Notes
By the slimmest of margins, we made it to the playoffs! We actually did pretty much everything we could to blow it. After winning our first match of the month, we only picked up one point in our last four matches. We took things to the final day of the season, where although we lost, we got help from teams around us losing as well to just barely qualify for the playoffs! Whew!

The omens look fairly dire for us heading into the playoffs, but we’ll give it our best shot! We’ll need to win two matches to get promoted to League 1, and we’re coming into the playoffs having only won one of our last six matches. Fortunately, we’ll get a bit of rest before we jump in and play, and maybe that slight break will help us get our heads screwed on right again.

Season 4 Episode 10 is up on YouTube.

April 22, 2020

On 20/04/2020 at 15:43, Nobby_McDonald said:

A safe bet for the playoffs and still a shot at promotion.

Turns out it wasn't so safe after all, but we just barely made the playoffs!

April 19, 2020

Club

Season 4: March 2024
Slipping Away

Manager Notes
Our run of good form grinds to an end, as we only pick up 8 points over six matches in March. Injuries are a factor, but it just seems as if opponents are adjusting to our tactics and we’ll need to come up with something different. Our offense in particular is struggling, as we only get two goals in our most recent five matches.

The slip in form sees us drop from 4th to 6th, five points away from automatic promotion. With 5 matches left in the season, automatic promotion is looking like a stretch, and we suddenly find ourselves looking at clubs in our rear view mirror. We’re seven points safe for a playoff spot, but unless we sort things out we may find ourselves in a battle just to hold our current position. The fact that most of our recent and remaining schedule is made of top-third teams doesn’t help.

Hoping we can hang on for this last stretch of the season!

Season 4 Episodes 9 is up on YouTube.

April 14, 2020

Club

Season 4: February 2024
Still Rising...

Manager Notes
We have a generally strong month, rolling to four league wins against one loss and one draw. The 13 points see us rise to fourth place in League 2, only two points outside of an automatic promotion spot.

As with January, our new 4-1-2-3 formation has made a ton of difference, as we aren’t allowing teams to score with any consistency. We only gave up two goals the whole month, which makes it easy to keep tacking on the points.

We’ve got some tough matches coming up in March, but it’s exciting to be so close to an automatic promotion spot. With 11 games left in the season, there is still plenty of time to move up if we can keep up this form!

Season 4 Episode 8 is up on YouTube.

April 14, 2020

On 02/03/2020 at 15:22, Nobby_McDonald said:

Going very well now.

Thanks Nobby! I've been really surprised with how the season has turned around. The formation shift has worked wonders.

March 2, 2020

Club

Season 4: January 2024
Rising Rising Rising...

Manager Notes
Our good form from December holds true for much of the month, and we crawl slowly up the table. We win 4 of 6 matches, only lose one, and get a draw in the other. The 13 points are good enough for us for rise just into the playoff zone, at 7th place. Our 4-1-2-3 and 4-3-3 formations have been strong, with the 4-1-2-3 thriving on the road and against top teams, and the 4-3-3 thriving at home and against teams down the table. Our defense is particular has been stellar: we manage a run of 10 games without conceding before our 2-0 loss to Tranmere.

We also have some good fortune in the FA Cup. We get a super easy draw against Swindon Town in the 3rd round, which we cleared 1-0. Then we drew Newcastle at home. Stunningly, we hold them 0-0 until the 85th minute, when they bang home a winner to beat us 1-0. The financial haul from the run helps push our finances to over 700k, but still our Chairman won’t open up to spring for better training facilities. The cheap bastard.

Going forward, it’d be awesome to sneak into the playoffs, but we’ve got to keep up our good form to do so. With a third of a season to go, it’s anyone’s guess how this will turn out!

Season 4 Episodes 7 is up on YouTube.

February 26, 2020

Club

Season 4: December 2023
The Part Where We Find a Nice Bus

Manager Notes
Our awful September seems a thing of the past, as our new 4-1-2-3 formation transforms our defense. We go the entire month without conceding a goal. Our offense is marginal, and we do manage to lose a cup match in a penalty shoot-out, but still, the solid defensive work gets us two wins and two draws in league play, and a huge 2-0 win over League 1 Doncaster in the FA Cup Second Round.

We end the month in 12th place, but we’re only 4 points away from a playoff spot now and we have a match in hand to most clubs in front of us. If we could keep up this pace, we could conceivably reach the playoff zone in another month. Lots of work to do, but it appears as if our season has taken a solid turn for the better.

Season 4 Episodes 6 is up on YouTube.

February 26, 2020

@Andrew Haines - Good luck!

@CMU Chips - Mitchell George looks like a beast! I've not had anyone close to his numbers. Whitby seems like a tricky club to try this with!

February 26, 2020

On 24/02/2020 at 15:42, Nobby_McDonald said:

Doing well for your first season in the Football League.

Thanks, Nobby! It's a bit of an adjustment from the previous two seasons, but I have to tell myself that, like you say, this is okay for a first season in League 2.

February 26, 2020

Club

Season 4: November 2023
Ups & Downs

Manager Notes
The month is an odd mix of highs and lows. We drop two of our three League 2 matches. One of the losses is an embarrassing 4-1 defeat at home to lowly Leyton Orient; the other is a respectable 2-0 loss to top of the table Gillingham. We also pick up a wild 4-3 FA Cup win over Ebbsfleet, and a penalty-shootout win in EFL Trophy group play. At the end of the month we switch into a new 4-1-2-3 formation and pick up a convincing 2-0 win, so we may have stumbled onto something good for December.

As we near the halfway point in the season, we’re definitely a mixed bag of good and bad. Still, for a first season in League 2, to be sitting mid-table feels like a passing grade.

Season 4 Episodes 5 is up on YouTube.

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