fries

Congrats @scarp!

Premier League 2042/43 (season 19) Season Summary A dream season! Everything clicked this season and we completed the challenge by winning both the Premier League and Champions League! In the league, we never hit a bad form and had a few periods of very good form. In the end, we only needed to win one of the last two games against Leeds or Crystal Palace. We unfortunately lost to Leeds. Thus I was a bit nervous before the last game. But we won the championship in the end! In Champions League league phase we had a good draw. I played the best 11 against Paris, Milan, and Barcelona, and the second best 11 against the other teams. We qualified as number 4. In round of 16, we were up against AC Milan again. We lost the first game away from home. But in the second leg, we won in the penalty shoot out. In the quarter final, we were up against Paris SG, again. In the first leg away from home, we lost again. In the second leg we won. This time in extra time. In the semi final, we were up against Barcelona, again another team from the league phase. We lost the first game away from home 1-4. I though it was over. But in the second leg we managed to win 4-1 too. We won in the penalty shoot out. 3 great comebacks and we made it to the final! In the final, we were up against Napoli. In the middle of the first half we managed to score from a corner, and just before half time we secured the lead with 2-0. My team has lots of depth and one elite player. I rotated the team a lot and I think a lot of my success was due to playing time management. Flynn developed well this season and he is by far my best player. Eze had a great season with 16 assists and 10 goals. Asamoah and O'Halloran did well in the defense and Harewood and Jamerson did well offensively. For the first time in many years, I did not have any players on the NXGN-list. A bit disappointing. Flynn, my best player, won the best young player award! He has elite mental stats! We also had 4 players on the team of the year! Asamoah also won the best rookie award. The youth intake preview was great. 5 stars and two A's. The actual intake was okay. 4 elite talents, but I am not that happy with the personalities. No outgoing transfers of significance this season. Finances and Upgrades No upgrade to report about here. Next season Well, the challenge is over. Maybe I will continue with this save. Maybe I will play with my only other FM24 save, with my favourite save. Or maybe I will try the Youth Academy Challenge with another team.

Premier League 2041/42 (season 18) Season Summary A great season. The best so far. On the last day of the season, we had the chance to be champions. We "only" needed both Arsenal and Man City to lose their last game and to win against Tottenham. Unfortunately, nothing of that happened. But overall I was very happy with the season. The team overperformed and we only lost 4 league games, including no lost games in the league from the middle of December until the last game of the season. In the Europe League, we lost to Chealse in the Quarter Final. We rotated the starting 11 throughout the season in this tournament as I was focused on the League. My team has lots of depth but my top players are not elite. This season I had 7 players with a rating above 7. A few of them, Heritage, Eze, and O'Halloran played exclusively in the best 11 in the League, while e.g. Sinclair, Mustafi, Young-Min, and Asamoah played mostly on my "second 11" in other tournaments and as substitutes. I had only 1 player on the NXGN list, my wonderkid Flynn. I had hoped Webster and Sears would be on the list too. Flynn has developed to be my best player, on paper. And he forms a great midfield pair with Heritage, and with Sinclair and Godwin as reserves. The youth intake preview was okay. 4.5 stars, a singe A and C, but the rest were E's. The actual intake was as expected. 1 or 2 elite talents, but I am not that happy with the personalities. I sold a few players this season. Wallace had not developed enough to play a role on the time. While Karakas, Nembhard, and Asante was old and declining in abillities. Finances and Upgrades No upgrade to report about here. Next season Next season, I will try to play my chances in both Champions League and Premier League. And maybe put my focus after Christmas on the tournament where the chances of success are best.

Well done! Can you show a few of your top players. I always love to see the heroes (others than the true hero, the manager, of course) that made it happen!

You are allowed to do that. And it is probably necessary in many countries to do that in order to survive the first few years.

Premier League 2040/41 (season 17) Season Summary A short step back. We had our first season in the Champions League. But in the Premier League, we fell 4 positions compared to last season. In the Carabao Cup, we had a good campaign but lost in the final to Arsenal. In the Champions League, we managed to get through the league phase but lost in the round of 16. My best player of last season, Burton, broke his leg in the summer break, and he was unfortunately not as great as before after his comeback. No players' perfomance was outstanding this season. But I was happy with my topscorer Jamerson and Eze who was the replacement of Burton. I had only 1 player on the NXGN list, my wonderkid Flynn. I do not understand why Panayotov and Williams were not on the list. Willams was on the list last season, and rated above Flynn. The youth intake preview was great. 5 stars, two As, and a B. The actual intake was okay given the great preview. 3 elite talent, but I am not that happy with the personalities. I had no transfers of significance this season, only some loan-outs. Asamoah has developed well in Spain and he will maybe step in to the team. Finances and Upgrades No upgrade to report about here. Next season Next season, I want to qualify for European football again and develop a few of my young players. The step up to the biggest clubs are unfortunately massive right now.

Premier League 2039/40 (season 16) Season Summary A very great season. The best so far. Something clicked and we managed to qualify for the Champions League in the end. We did not start very well. But later we had long periods in good form. For example, we won every game in November and we did not lose a game in both January and February. Thus, we managed to get the highest position ever and the highest number of points in the Premier League. 2 positions better and 13 more points than last season. In the Europe League, we got through the league phase but lost to Celta Vigo in the round of 16. Burton had a great season. One of the reasons why we had success. He managed to score 16 and assist 13 goals. Primarily from the position just behind the front striker. Harewood had a great season on the right wing with 19 goals. Jamerson did well as my front striker with 17 goals. O'Halloran did very as a fullback with 10 assists and 5 goals. Williams had his breakthrough with 11 goals and 6 assists but ended his season early with an injury. Here is Burton. He won the Footballer of the Year in England and the Players' Player of the Year. I had 2 players on the NXGN list. Williams and Flynn. My two greatest and most promising talents with lots of game time. I do not understand why Panayotov and Francis was not on the list. The youth intake preview was great. 5 stars, two As, and two Bs. The actual intake was disappointing given the great preview. 1 elite talent, Webster, but "only" 4.5 stars. Hopefully Schaarup, Egbe, and Winther can step up too. Webster can hopefully develop into a great full back. I had no transfers of significance this season, only some loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades After the season the training facilities downgraded but the board quickly accepted to upgrade again. Next season Next season, I would be very happy if we repeat this season's results. But the Champions League is another challenge

I have a problem in my save. I have no good set-piece takers! We are a Premier League team but these are the stats of my best set-piece taker of every category: Free kicks: 13 Corners: 10 Long Throws: 10 Penalties: 10 Is it a problem with my training? How is the situation in your club? And what do you do?

Premier League 2038/39 (season 15) Season Summary I am very happy with this season. The best so far. In the league, we started a good form in January which continued in February and March. Thus, we managed to get the highest position ever and the highest number of points in the Premier League. 3 positions better and 3 more points than the 2036/37-season. In the Europe League, we got through the league phase with 7 victories and 1 loss against AS Roma. We beat OL in the round of 16 but lost two games to Everton in the quarter-final. The campaign was once again used as an opportunity to get young talented players important game time. No players were standouts this season. Jamerson was back as my topscorer and others played well too but not great. Heritage, Willoughby, Anthony, and Nelson developed well and had their breakthrough on the team. While Layne, Flynn, and Panayotov also developed well and will possibly get their first team breakthrough next season. Another player who developed well is Francis who played in Europe League before Christmas but was on loan to Coruna in La Liga in the spring. I had 2 players on the NXGN list. Nelson and Anthony were on the list again. But not ranked very well. The youth intake preview was okay. 4 stars, a A, and a B. The actual intake was not that great but okay. 1 elite talent, Sears, but "only" 4.5 stars. Otherwise, I only think Panteliadis can maybe develop into a role on the first team. Sears is technically gifted, but only has a balanced personality and a bad physique. The most important transfer was that Hassan Eze was sold for £800k. He is favoured personnel of the club. A player with more than 400 league appearances for Dulwich Hamlet. He was a part of the holiday season intake. He was a starter from my first season in League North until my first season in the Premier League. Unfortunately, he is not good enough anymore and has not been in a few years. I had no other transfers of significance this season, only some loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades We managed to get a youth facilities upgrade early in the season! The club had a takeover later during the season. A rich Qatarian... Wy don't need the money... The tried to build a new stadium. But the local council did not approve it. Next season Next season, I would be very happy if we repeat this season's results. Hopefully, the players will develop well in the Europe League.

Thanks for a detailed answer! I don't think your approach is too far from mine. I to have a starting XI, a backup XI, and a handful talented rotational young players. The players typically move into the last category when they have 2 stars CA. This group typically gets minutes on the pitch in cup games, conference league or europe league (As an english team. Would probably be different if I played in another country), and a few sub appereances in the league. If they are not good enough to get into this group there are two options depending on their age. Below 18: They are in the youth team. 18 or above: out on loan. If this group of players are too big or I have to many in the same positions, I will either loan out the players with worst CA or the oldest players in this group depending on feel. Sometimes I rotate this group too. A half season home getting a few games against weak opponents and a half a season out on loan. If the players fail to develop into the backup XI before they turn 20 or doesn't seem to grow over 1-1.5 season, I will typically loan them out.

Is there a specific reason why you loan out the 17 year olds? I thought it was the general consensus that game time are more important for players aged 18 or above. While training are most important for 15-17 year olds. However my own experience is that 16 year olds and 17 year olds also develop well with loads of game time, at least when your training facilities are bad. Thus I bring the young kids early when I am in the lower leagues but priorities training when I am established with better facilities. What are your thoughts on this? Everyone else are also very welcome to share your experiences with how you get most out of your young players.

Premier League 2037/38 (season 14) Season Summary I have not played FM since February. But the Euros got me back! Last season we managed to qualify for the European Conference League. It was a welcomed opportunity to get a handful of young players first team football against opponents on a lower level than the Premier League. It went very well. We played a mix of young players and first team reserves and we were undefeated in the league phase. In the winter transfer window, I loaned out 5 talents that were important in this campaign as I was afraid I couldn't guarantee first team football in the spring. However, I kept a few. Harewood, Nelson, and Willoughby. In the round of 16, we were against Sparta Prague. With the 5 players sent out on loan, I managed to find some even younger talents from my under-19 player to fill in. They did well with a mix of older players and we were on to the quarter finals. We were unlucky with the next draws and managed to get the most difficult opponents. Thus, it was time to play my first team players. They did well too and we managed to win the tournament and thus qualify for Europe Leauge next season. Harewood was the conference league topscorer with 14 goals in 15 matches. Including a hattrick in the second leg comeback against Nice. In the league, we performed a bit worse than last season. We ended two positions lower and with 8 fewer points. The two strikers Burton and Harewood played well this season with an average rating of 7.04. They both played different positions and were mostly not the front striker. Harewood, Eze, Nelson, and Willoughby have developed well this season. A few important younger players Clark, Heritage, Anthony, Layne, and Shiba are not on the list as they were loaned out in January. Clark and Heritage have developed well this season too, and I expect they will play are bigger role on the first team next season. I had 3 players on the NXGN list. Harewood was 2nd ranked while Nelson and Anthony were also on the list. I had hoped to see at least Clark and Heritage as well. Harewood is already a great player. But hopefully, he will develop more. The youth intake preview was great. 5 stars, 2 As, and a B. The actual intake was okay. 1 elite talent, Flynn, with an OK personality. Howell is also looking promising and has a resolute personality. Flynn is a very clever defensive midfielder. But I lack a bit of physical appearance and is not technically gifted. But I think he ca develop into an important player in a few years. I had no transfers of significance this season, only some loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades No upgrades this season. The board is not willing to upgrade the youth facilities despite me asking a few times. Next season Next season, I hope to give young talented players more game time now in the Europe League. And hopefully, get another mid-table position in the Premier League. I don't think it is reasonable to hope for more in the league.

Premier League 2036/37 (season 13) Season Summary Great season! The change of tactics paid off this season. We managed to get 58 points, a 9th position in the league, and thus in the end qualification to continental football after the summer break. We also had a very great FA Cup run, but in the end, we lost 3-2 to Man City in the final. As a result of the tactical change, the team does not score that much anymore. We only scored 55 league goals compared to 63-78 in the last 3 seasons. Thus my offensive players don't have the same high ratings and stats. However, my first-choice striker Jamerson scored 15 goals. However, the defense was much more solid. We only conceded 49 league goals compared to 77-97 in the last 3 seasons. A massive improvement. But strangely, me goalkeeper dropped in his average rating. It was great to see the NXGN list this season. I had 4 players on the list. None of them are top-rated but they are also young and haven't had their breakthrough on the first team. Hopefully, they will get lots more first-team game time in the next season in the European Conference League. The young players on the NXGN list already have experience with continental football as the under-18 team won the UEFA Youth League. The youth intake preview was great. 5 stars and an A and a B's. The actual intake was okay. 2 elite talents, but the personalities are a bit disappointing. I had no transfers of significance this season, only a few loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades I do not have the option to ask for any more facility upgrades. However, after the season the board announced to expand the stadium with MASSIVELY 323 seats... Next season Next season, I hope to give young talented players more game time in the Conference League. And hopefully, get another mid-table position in the Premier League.

Thanks! So far I haven't done much regarding the party king. I have changed my formation to be less dependent on him. It is not very funny when the planned starter doesn't show up to a match. He is of course fined with a two-week wages fine every time he misses training or matches. So far he has paid close to half of his wage this season back to the club as fines. I try to speak to him every time as well. I think I will give him another season and see if he will improve his behavior. But I don't know how to handle him.

Premier League 2035/36 (season 12) Season Summary A new season. Same position as last year, but we got 4 more points. We also had a great Carabao Cup run where we were knocked out in the semi-finals by Tottenham. I continued playing with my 3-4-3 tactic, but with 8 games to go, I changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation. Primary because one of my former stars, Santangelo, suddenly became a party king and missed double-digit number of matches and training. He also had a drop in attributes. The new tactic is less dependent on him. Kadeem Jamerson was again my top scorer and best performer. Kane Burton also did well with 16 goals. My goalkeeper Smith played well again too. Strangely, he keeps performing well according to average rating, while we have the worst defense in the league. I hope the new formation will help out our defensive problems. I "only" had one player on the NXGN list, O'Halloran (41st) again. I hoped a player like Sinclair would make it on the list too. The youth intake preview was great. 5 stars and two A's and two B's. The actual intake was good. 3 elite talents, but the personalities are a bit disappointing. I had no transfers of significance this season, only a few loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades I managed to get an upgrade of my training facilities. They are now State of the Art. The board also promised to upgrade the youth level to level 1 after this season. I hope they will succeed. Next season Next season, I will try to survive once again. It will take a few years before we can start to challenge for European competition spots.

What do you do in a case like this? Santangelo is one of my best players. Suddenly he starts to miss training this season. 3rd case now! In a normal save, he would be gone in the next transfer window. But I don't have a replacement. What to do?

I am quite certain that Hungerford is a bigger challenge. I admire your persistence. Your Scarborough save will forever be the most legendary YAC save.

Premier League 2034/35 (season 11) Season Summary Second season in the Premier League! It was bit tougher than the first season. We had a long streak of games without any wins where I thought we were going to get relegated. We didn't win any league games in January, February, and Marts. 12 games in a row. But then April came and we won 3 games in a row. Once again we scored lots of goals, but conceded way to many. Kadeem Jamerson developed well from being our 4th best striker before the season to the best player on the team. He scored 34 goals! My goalkeeper Smith played well once again. And Santangelo and Karakas had a great season too. Young players like Sinclair, O'Halloran, and Mustafi have also developed well this season. Kadeem Jamerson was second on the topscorer list, just behind Haaland. He also won the Golden Boy award! I only had one player on the NXGN list, O'Halloran (49th). I was actually a bit disappointed as players like Santangelo, Langley, and Mustafi also had the age to be on the list and were better players than O'Halloran at the time of the list. The youth intake preview was great. 5 stars and two A's. The actual intake was good. 3 elite talents, but the personalities are a bit disappointing. I had no transfers of significance this season, only a few loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades I managed to get 3 updates of my training facilities and 1 of the youth facilities. Upgrade-wise it has been a great year! Next season Next season, I will try to survive once again. It will at least take a few years before we can start to challenge for European competitions spots.

I hope you managed to turn it around. My only advise is to do everything possible to keep the players' morale high. Take a team meeting, praise good training (above 7.9) or criticize bad training (below 6.4) every week, and play friendlies against the weakest team available when ever possible (mostly during international breaks, as the schedule is packed in the Championship). EDIT: and of course try to have a team bonding session every week in training. I have had success with timing a team meeting after a bad form just before a "must win" match against an opponent from the bottom of the league.

The hidden attributes like professionalism, ambition and so on are very important for player development. Therefore, you should take notice of the personality and media handling style of your youngsters as they reveal the hidden attributes. From my experiences a 3.5 stars PA player with e.g. a resolute personality will develop much better than a 5 stars PA player with a bad personality. Take a look at the guide here: https://www.fmscout.com/a-guide-to-player-personalities-football-manager.html

First, Dulwich is already a pro team at the beginning, which is a big advantage when you start. It means a much better player development early on. Furthermore, the team is good for the level and thus, I managed to gain a promotion in the first season as I have also seen a few others do with Dulwich here. I don't think it is unfair to state that the difference in difficulty between starting pro or semi-pro is at least 5-10 years. Second, pure luck with the intake in the first few seasons: When I took over the team I had two great regens, where one is still a starter on my team now, and the other, whom I lost on a free transfer at some point, is now playing in the Championship. In season 2, I got 5 players that were starters when I won promotion to Premier League, and in season 3 I got 3 more players that were starters when I won promotion. That was almost a full team before I entered the football league. Third, I also hope my experiences with this challenge have significance for the success.

Premier League 2033/34 (season 10) Season Summary First season in the Premier League! I am very happy with the team. The games were nicely distributed, which allowed for moments with very good form and others with very bad form. We performed well against the teams below us. But only managed to get 5 points in 14 games against the top 7 teams. We scored lots of goals, once again. 78 goals are the third highest in the league. However, the many goals for are perhaps at the expense of the solidity of our defense. We allowed massively 97 goals against us. As our goal score could indicate the strikes played really well. I have 4 strikers with an average rating above 7. They all scored double-digit goals and contributed with double-digit assists (except for Jamerson with only 8 assists). I am very happy with the performance of my strikers as the best striker left before this season to Saudi on a free transfer. More surprisingly my goalkeeper who allowed a ton of goals also had a very high average rating. But I think my team lacks depth. I only have 14 players with a higher CA than 2. That is my starting XI, 1 striker, and 2 defenders. I had two players on the NXGN list. Jamerson was 2nd ranked while Santangelo was 15th ranked. I had expected and hoped that players like Mustafi and maybe Langley also would be on the list. But I am happy with two players. Jamerson is probably my fourth best striker. But he gets lots of game time as a play a 3-striker-formation. Hopefully, he can take a few steps and develop to be my best striker. Santangelo is my first-choice left-midfielder. He has developed well this season from 2.5 CA to 3.5 CA. The youth intake preview was okay. "Only" 4.5 stars and but only a lot of Cs. The actual intake was okay, maybe a bit disappointing with only a 4 star rating. Wilson is clearly the most talented. Hopefully, he can develop well. I had no transfers of significance this season, except for Frederick leaving for free. I had a few loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades The board promised to increase the Youth level to level 2 after this season. With the inflow of Premier League money, I also managed to get 2 updates on the training facilities. There have been a few rumors about a new takeover of the club. I actually hope it will soon happen, as the board keeps reclining my requests to improve the youth facilities. Next season Next season, I will try to survive once again.

Sky Bet Championship 2032/33 (season 9) Season Summary A great season, that ended with a promotion to Premier League! We played very well at the beginning of the season. But we were close to throwing it all away with 5 games without a win. But we managed to win the last two games and secure promotion. We scored a lot of goals. But we also have the worst defense in the Championships. It is going to be interesting how that will end in Premier League... As our goal score could indicate the strikes played really well. The only 4 players with an average rating above 7 are my strikers. Frederick is, by far, my best player. Both by attributes and by performance. He was topscorer in the league for the second year in a row. However, he is not going to follow the rest of the team up to Premier League. He has not been willing to renew his contract in a few years. So now he is moving to Saudi... It is going to be difficult without him. He has been great for my team in a few seasons The youth intake preview was okay. "Only" 4.5 stars and one B. The actual intake was okay, maybe a bit disappointing. Where Sinclair is by far the most talented player. Kadeem Jamerson was on the NXGN list for the second time. He is the one labeled as "the next Michael Owen". I think he will play more and hopefully develop well now that Frederick is moving. Jamerson will now be the 4th best attacker instead of the 5th best, and we play with 3 in front. I had no transfers of significance this season. I had a few loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades I did not manage to get any upgrades. But the youth category rating was improved to category 3 and the board is increasing the stadium capacity. This season we played at Craven Cottage. Hopefully, I will manage to get a few more upgrades next season with the inflow of Premier League cash. Next season Next season, I will try to survive. But at least I will be financially secure and hopefully get a lot of upgrades of the facilities.

I have two brothers on my team. They are somehow both called Kadeem Jamerson. I don't know what the parents were thinking? The oldest brother has a great potential while the younger is quite poor. In FM23 I actually had a father and son on my team. The father was a great club legend who was with me and scored goals from the National League North up to the Champions League. 1 or 2 seasons before his retirement his son came through my youth intake. However, the son was sadly quite poor too. The only first team minutes the son played was when I substituted both the son and the father on the pitch in the last league game before the father's retirement.

Sky Bet Championship 2031/32 (season 8) Season Summary A great season that somehow left me disappointed in the end. First season in the Championship. We played very well and ended 4th in the league. And thus qualified for the play offs. In the play-off semi-final we were up against Leeds. They are probably the best team in the league, but they are also a UEFA Conference League finalist, so they had a very tight schedule throughout the season. But unfortunately not around the play offs. First leg, they smashed us 4-1. I couldn't see us getting back in the second leg. And I was right, we lost home 2-3. Frederick had a wonderful season with 41 goals. He is the primary reason why we played at the top of the league. In general the squad depth is not great. I have 9 players which I think are good enough for the level with 3 or more stars. Plus 4 with 2.5 stars. In every game I play at least one player with only 2 stars. Frederick is, by far, my best player. Unfortunately, his contract only runs for one more season and he is not willing to enter negotiations. I might have to sell him this summer to secure the club financially. I hoped a promotion would mean I could keep him. The youth intake preview was fine. 5 stars and a few Bs. The actual intake was okay. Where Mustafi is by far the most talented player with a good personality. I think I will play Mustafi as a central defender in the future. I had no transfers of significance this season. I had a few loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades I managed to upgrade the youth facilities and the board promised to increase the youth level after this season. But financially we are not well with a negative balance at over 2 mill £. Next season Next season, I don't know what to expect. It depends on whether or not we can keep Frederick.