Stay or go.....HELP!!

Well a short history of my career so far:

July 2011 - June 2013 Forest Green Rovers - Left when contract expired as debt grew so large and after finishing 6th and 9th in BSBP i felt i could take club no further.

September 2013 - September 2016 Crewe - Took Crewe to BSBP title in first season and lead them to 16th and 8th in League 2. Left early in next season after a poor start but happy that the club had cleared debt and was stable following the sale of some quality youngsters.

October 2016 - November 2019 Huddersfield - My first job in League 1 lead to play-off semi final defeat at end of first season, followed by 8th and 9th placed finishes with a young squad. By far the highlight was lifting the League Cup in 2019. At the start of the following season we entered the Euro Cup in the 3rd Qual. round and after getting past Djurgarden on away goals and CFR Cluj 4-2 on agg we joined the group stage with Bordeaux, Osasuna and Maritimo. Despite finishing bottom of the group 3 points were gained from draws Bordeaux away and both games with Osasuna. The lure of the Premier League came after 4 of these group games.

November 2019 - March 2020 Sheff Wed - My biggest mistake to date. Took over a club rooted to the bottom of the Premier League with an ageing squad and could not stop the decline. Brought in 6 players in the transfer window including 3 of my highly rated Huddersfield squad. From game one i felt i had made a mistake leaving the Galpharm Stadium. My role lasted 17 games before i resigned with my tail between my legs.

May 2020 - October 2020 Derby - I thought this would be a great job to rebuild my career in the Championship and rejected offers from Leeds and Hull to accept. The promise of £7m transfer budget sealed the deal, little did i know the club where £9m in the red....My morale had dropped to an all time low and despite rebuilding the club with free transfers my heart was not in it. I quit in October after an average start and sitting 14th in the table. For the first time my cursor hovered over the delete button of my save.

December 2020 - June 2022 Ipswich - Along came Ipswich so i gave it one more roll of the dice. The club was spending stupid amounts on wages and i used the transfer window to rebuild the squad from top to bottom. I have a few quid to spend (£4m) and had a flying second half to the season, ending in play-off final defeat to Reading. the following season the squad gelled and i finished 3rd, my points tally would have been enough for automatic promotion in 6 of last 7 season. This time i was successful in the play-offs despite selling my topscorer in Jan for almost £10m. Looking forward to a Premier league season and was running the rule over my squad when...

JOB OFFER FROM MID TABLE PREMIER LEAGUE SIDE NEWCASTLE.

My first thought is yes yes yes, go, go, go, St James' Park here i come (or should that be Sports Direct Arena)...

Then my mind wandered back to the whole Huddersfield/Sheff Wed episode.

After seeking advice from my girlfriend, who bacisally told me i was an idiot i closed down my laptop to mull over the offer.

June 2022 - Current June 2023 Newcastle - Decided to go for it and packed my bags for the North-East and what a season its been. Brought in 8 of my backroom staff from Ipswich, 5 of which had followed me from Crewe to Huddersfield to Sheff Wed to Ipswich. Also signed 11 players through the summer and got the wage bill down to £24m per year (only Ipswich spent less in that season). Too many draws stopped us finishing in European places but a 9th place finish was the highest since 2005/06 season. To top off a fanastic season in ym eyes was the FA Cup victory over Aston Villa (5-0). All set for season two with Newcastle when...

JOB OFFER FROM PREMIER LEAGUE 3RD PLACE SIDE ARSENAL.

I have no idea what to do now. Have slowly and surely worked up from BSBP in 2011 to 2023 with a bottom half of Premier League given the last 10 finishes for Newcastle the best was 13th until i came along. This is what i started my save for, a place on the top table of English football and Champions League chances.

Would welcome your feedback on what you would do.......

Will you ever get this offer again? Realistically, do you think you take Newcastle to third and compete every season with the top teams?

Personally I would go. You seem to be delighted with this offer and if you've been working up to this for the 12 years then you should go. You may not get another chance and if you struggle at Newcastle and get sacked, then you'll be back to the level before Newcastle.

I would say go for it unless you hold aspirations of joining another size towards the top of the table. Forest is right though... there's a chance that your stock is as high as it will ever be at the moment so seize the moment!

Id say stay keep the board really happy and maybe get a bigger chance with the buget they will probably offer you to get to the champs league you never know one of the 2 manchester clubs may come in for you!

shaker90 - I have already been mentioned for the Man City job but they decided to pay £2m to release Steve McLaren from his contract.

mack4like - That was certainly my first thought until i made the fatal mistake of checking out the Arsenal squads. The first team is full of regens from 20-26 all with cracking stats and the under 18 squad looks like the Manchester youth squad of the early 90's. I base my game around youngsters more often than not so the thought of being able to bring through 7 or 8 players into a successful team as opposed to one or two in an underachieving squad is like being a kid in a sweet shop.

I really dont think i have given a job offer this much thought in any FM or CM. (well apart from the Ipswich to Newcastle move mentioned earlier)

Take the job, you know you want to. This is your chance to put your name in lights. You have been around the lower leagues, you have messed around in the premier league. Now its time to take the next step, win the league, dominate in europe and have your name up in lights. Your biography should be epic.

jmf1488 - Out of interest, are you an Arsenal fan? You seem as passionate about my save as i am

Personally I think you need to take a closer look at Arsenal before making your choice.

Given its 2023 Arsenal could easily be in a much different situation to what they are currently. I tend to look at things like club value, any loan debt, financial status, age of squad, player wages, any obvious strengths or weaknesses in their squad, how have they performed in the league recently etc.

Personally I think you need to take a closer look at Arsenal before making your choice.

Given its 2023 Arsenal could easily be in a much different situation to what they are currently. I tend to look at things like club value, any loan debt, financial status, age of squad, player wages, any obvious strengths or weaknesses in their squad, how have they performed in the league recently etc.

Club Value - £420m

Club Debt - £25m

Financial status - Rich

Age of Squad - 26 compared to Premier Lge ave 27

Wages - £74.4m per annum (5th highest in Prem behind the 2 Manchester, Chelsea and Liverpool)

League Performances - 3rd, 5th, 1st, 3rd, 1st, 1st.

2 FA Cups in 4 years and 3 sucessive Champions League semi-finals.

In terms of weaknesses both 2nd choice FB's are going to be 32 when season starts and have Wilshere and Ramsey who are 32 and 31 but seems from the last 10 fixtures its only one or the other who plays as they have a 29 year old CM who played 36 Prem games from the start.

They are only behind Man Utd in English clubs value, one of 7 teams described as rich.

Worldwide they are 4th richest club and importantly since i started save they have had 4 managers, Wenger and van Gaal both sacked in 2014, then Laudrup left after 3years to join Man City and his replacement has also left for Man City after 6 years in charge.

Sounds like a good opportunity tbh.

A successful team that isn't too old (No major rebuild needed) with money to spend. The only downside would be expectations will be high.

Given you've just been at Newcastle one season you haven't really had time to stamp your mark on the squad so I think I would probably take the Arsenal offer if you think you can handle the expectations.

Well luckily for me im out for a bit tonight so wont have to make a decision until about 10pm. Planty of time for FM12 to ruin my evening with potential signings and formations running through my head!!

If they are still a strong squad, I would go for Arsenal, it's definitely easier to win the EPL with arsenal then with Newcastle, then again if its a challenge you seek, you might want to stay at Newcastle cos its more of a challenge.

I'd go, you've got an awesome career there and you've been playing pretty realistically. You've got a great opportunity, maybe you won't get a second chance to join a big club. Accept the offer and enjoy lifting the Premier League trophy.

jmf1488 - Out of interest, are you an Arsenal fan? You seem as passionate about my save as i am

Sorry, not an Arsenal fan. I just like to play the game the way you do. I like to mess around in LL and get a few obscure trophies then gradually move my way up to big teams. Once I reach the big the team and I dominate for a while I tend to move to a different country and win a few trophies with their big teams. I would move around until I am satisfied enough that I have enough trophies and learnt lots of languages then I will look for a team I would want to settle in and start developing youth and try to sign as many home nationals as possible. I like to read back my biography and see all the stuff I have done. Its good once you get about 20 years into the game as their is lots of great regen players and lots of opportunity to develop talent.

The hardest thing about this style is leaving behind your players. Its crazy the attachment you can make to some of them.

i'd go you deserve it after building up for something over the years.

Kris0710, are you an Arsenal fan? I am a die hard ManCity fan, and find it hard to manage any team that rivals my Blues. So, I couldn't accept the Arsenal job.

JBoyd33641 - No mate im not, if i was im sure i would have accepted straight away. I am/was a Rushden and Diamonds fan until this summer although now we are back as AFC Rushden and Diamonds although only playing u-18 this season. Its fantastic though.

jmf1488 - Its like we are seperated at birth, my favourite time is 15 years in when all the real players are staff only and some obsure teams are moving through the leagues. Somebosy earlier in the thread commented that i have only been at newcastle one season and not stamped my mark on my current squad, but i really feel i have. I look at each of the players, particuarlly the ones who have moved with me and feel i have brought them through from u-18 although its only been 12 months.

After much thought i have decided to stay with Newcastle and look to build on what, compared to NUFC other seasons, was fantastic. Super happy with my squad, i have cut the wages again meaning i have 22 first team players, 12 reserve and 20 yth players on a weekly wage spend of just £283,000. In this day and age having my highest paid player earning £50k a week is brilliant. This club s building for the next 5 years and will have the finances to fall on if needed. The chairman, Bill Kenwright has been fantastic too, giving me £28m to spend and £500,000 left in wage budget.

The future is bright, the future is Geordie.

Good story, I enjoyed the read. I am waiting for a job offer from Barca or Real... Or one of the Spanish teams, I bascially won everything with Liverpool, Nothing else left to go for apart from " winning double trebles etc "...

I enjoyed reading your story shows how determinated you are, Good choice staying to Newcastle fiancially...