maxjam

Congrats on promotion at the first attempt and completing the lower league double by also winning the FLT 5-0! Interestingly Portsmouth were my nearest league rivals in 2nd place, but they just missed out on the play-offs in yours. Off the top of my head the bottom four look very similar. We also received a similar youth intake of 2 elites and 6 top prospects. Good to see you sticking with the original Derby squad, I went down the wheeler-dealer route banking on achieving promotion and buying some youth to blood for the Championship. My top sale being Louis Sibley to Mainz 05 for £1.1m. If and when you do decide to pick up your Derby save again you'll have to let us know how you get on prepping for season 2... Good look in Norway!

Yes I had the same message as well despite increasing the numbers of u21/u18 staff throughout the season and upgrading facilities during my first season promotion campaign to the Championship. Its seems a little unfair that you aren't warned in advance that you are at risk of losing rank (and what you can do to maintain it) nor are you told what you need to do to increase it again - especially given that the board had agreed to increase funding/staff etc at various points throughout the season.

I have just had this email at Derby Co in FM24 at the end of season 1. Throughout the season I've increased various junior coaching budgets twice and hired a couple of extra staff. I'm a bit disappointed that the game didn't tell me I was in danger of losing a rank nor does it tell me how to get it back. The only options I've got at the moment are to hire more Performance Analysts or Sports Scientists which the board are unwilling to let me do. Any suggestions?

I lost my GK for 6 weeks during the first match of the season. I lost my backup for 2 months during the second game of the season. I've now got to the end of the transfer window without any further injuries to GKs...

Back for another FM with my beloved Rams... Before I did anything I ran through 3 seasons unemployed to see if the media prediction of 1st place was accurate, so I loaded up the game went on holidays and checked back at the end of the season. Two first places and a second, so automatics each time. If only real life was that easy... So, onto my game. I decided to play original mode with the first transfer window open, according to my first 3 playthroughs using the current squad should be more than enough but I enjoy wheeling and dealing and anyway someone once said ‘I want to win the league but I want to win it better' so thats what I intend to do. Or at least try... First things first, overhauling the staff. Three scouts agree to mutual termination as do a number of other backroom staff (I'm keeping Paul Warne's coaching staff this season as money is tight). Scouring the market I find far better replacements and get them all in. On to trimming the squad. Geez its tough, its full of older pros on hefty wages or newer players that have only just joined, there is minimal wiggle room to move players on. I checked the transfer budget and that sits at a disappointing £0. Its time to get creative... First off I check what clauses I can sell, 4 in total including 2 that total £1m - yay a budget! Then I send my staff off scouting under 21s that won't count towards the squad limit of 22. By the time the transfer window shuts we've signed; Further to those loans I also signed; To trim the squad down a bit the following were let go during a frantic Deadline Day (after spending an awful lot of time trying to find new clubs for a number of players throughout the first 2 months of the season); At the end of the transfer window, I'd built an impressive squad had £500k left in the transfer kitty and a (on budget) wage bill of £213k. As for results I am writing this at the end of the transfer window and we've won the first 7 games of the season, winning 3-1, 4-1, 5-0 and 5-1 along the way. The only downside being the loss of Joe Wildsmith for 6 weeks in the first game of the season and Joe Vickers for 2 months in the second game of the season! Lennart Moser is now my No.1 for several more weeks with Scott Loach sitting on the bench... Squad for the season;

Ah that sucks. I managed to keep all of my oldies fit - not just for games but for getting rid of them during the January transfer window and getting their wages off the books. If you want a decent LB for virtually no money check one of my earlier posts (open one of the reveal hidden contents options)

No worries, just a few basic things off the top of my head I run through at the start of every save - for everything else its years of playing FM and watching the flow of the match and picking up on ingame prompts. I'm at the end of Feb in my save now. The pre-Christmas wobble lasted throughout January as the large influx of new players bedded into the squad and system and we dropped to 3rd in the league. But we've since had 6 wins on the spin and pulled 3pts clear again and are starting to look invincible. Predictably, we lost to Arsenal in the FA Cup in the 4th rnd - but add that to a 4th rnd League Cup exit to Brighton we've done alright in the cups, especially as we have just won the Papa Johns SF against Charlton. Plymouth KOd Man Utds u21s in the other SF - which means positions 1 and 2 in Lg1 meet in the final...

Well I'm 3 weeks into January on my save now and despite thinking I wasn't going to spend a lot of money during the transfer window things kinda er, progressed... In the run up to January Curtis Davis asked for a new contract. Despite being 37 and losing his pace the rest of his attributes are holding up nicely so I added an extra year to his contract - he's now on £6.75k until the end of next season. Craig Forsyth also came to me and said he needed a new challenge - I told him I'd look for a new club for him. So into the transfer window we go... As for whats happening on the pitch, we stretched our lead at the top of the table throughout November but then had a wobble throughout Dec/1st half of Jan as I took the opportunity to rest players in the league to focus on the cups and were pegged back. We are currently in the SF of the Papa Johns Trophy having drawn 0-0 away at Lincoln (still top 6 Lg1) in the QF, beating them 8-7 on penalties. We got knocked out of the EFL Cup in the 4th rnd 4-1 away at Brighton despite leading 0-1 at HT. A quick double from Brighton after the break looked like securing the win - only for my last 10 minute Hail Mary play leading to 2x breakaway goals, giving them a convincing victory. We have played 3 lesser teams in the FA Cup and face Arsenal away in the 4th rnd. Ah well, the pay day will be nice! As for the league we're currently now top by just a single point, although we're significantly stronger now than pre-Christmas. The first game with the new signings saw us batter Port Vale 5-0 away. With new signings Browne and Edmundson bagging a couple each. FYI both Collins and Osula are banging them in. Collins has 29, Osula 21 both are scoring at around a goal every 80s mins. Sensational form! @Stuniverse as for tips, I dunno whether these will help but... - At the start of the season I selected 2 players for every position and played them 45mins during every pre-season match. - I kept a (very) close eye on the injury susceptibility, lowering the training workload frequently. - During pre-season I filled out my vacant staff positions with the best I could find. - I started scouting defenders. The current lot are ageing and are being paid £5k - £7k per week. - The obvious tactic for me was 4-2-3-1. Thats the only tactic I play, my thinking being learn one tactic really well with good players should see us win far more than we lose. - I do all the training myself, emphasis on Match Tactics, Team Bonding, Match Preview, 2x Recovery and Match Review before and after games to help with tactics, team buildings and recouperation. - I generally play with Cautious mentality, play out to wings and take advice as to whether we cross early or work into box. Collins is virtually as good at heading as he is with his feet so I take advice as to delivery as well. - Passing directness/tempo is changed to suit the mentality. For example, Cautious = slower, shorter. Positive = quicker, more direct. - The other advice my coaches give me is ignored. For example, Cautious can be pushed to Balanced, Positive or Attacking during the match as you see fit. - Corners/Set Pieces are another method of easy goals. Hourihane's delivery has created numerous goals for my defenders going up for corners - get them set up properly! - Defensively, I find the low block works well. Your defenders aren't blessed with pace - but they know how to defend! Wildsmith is also having a great season between the sticks. - I'm not averse to replacing my AML, AMC, AMR and S at the same time around 65-70 mins. Fresh legs often get a late goal. - Finally, my Hail Mary play is to sacrifice both DR and DL, bring on another DC and a S. Play 3-2-3-2 direct, quick tempo. I've used it 3x in the league - turned a 2-2 draw into a 3-2 win, turned a 0-1 into a 1-1 and lost the other 1-0.

Oduroh is one of approx half a dozen I loaned out - figured they would benefit from regular 1st team games rather than U21s/occasional first team bench warming. The scouts are coming back with some nice young defensive options now... Max Lowe (ex-Ram) is being put on the transfer list by Sheff Utd and would consider a return (although prefers Championship football and 15k wages!!!). There are a couple of high potential Lincoln players of interest and a couple more from Lg1 teams I cant recall off the top of my head. Depending on whether the 500k comes through from Bogle thinking about it I'll probably shore up both LB and RB positions - whilst weakening opposing clubs at the same time! Lincoln are currently doing very well and up to 3rd in my save. If Knight goes (as I've unfortunately seen in other peoples saves) I'm also looking at bringing in a couple of good young DCs to replace Davies, Chester and Stearman. I'll probably sit on the rest of the money though and scout midfield and attack positions for the summer transfer window.

18 games in now, top 4pts ahead of Bristol Rovers, Sheff Weds, Peterboro, Plymouth and Lincoln. Suffered back to back defeats immediately after my last report but followed that up with 7pts from 9. Yep, Collins is currently scoring at more than a goal per game, the midfielders are chipping in regularly and I spent a lot of time setting up set-pieces which is paying off nicely. Hourihane is currently my lowest rated player with a match rating of 6.77 despite having 0.45 assists per game, second only to Mendez-Laing at 0.61. Hehe yeah, I'm a Ram IRL - we're currently down to the bare bones! Ingame other than the 2x month long injuries previously mentioned I'm managing to keep them mostly fit and out of the red zone for injury risk - but its taking a lot of micromanagement to keep on top of things. Haigh has started 11 and come on in 4 - so playing a lot. 'Chelsea want to test him in a different environment now but may reconsider if the offer is too good to turn down, especially if it includes future fee'. I didn't realise he was only on a 6mnth deal at the start of the season, assumed it was for the entire season. It would be a shame to lose him but tbh I think I can get better for money elsewhere so unless I can loan him again cheaply I'll need a replacement. I'd also prefer to develop my own players not loanees where possible. I'm not looking to get rid of anyone. If bids come in however I'll happily let any of my older players leave whilst fighting for the younger players to stay - and replace everyone I lose. I'm already thinking ahead to next season. Unless I get a catastrophic injury run promotion should be a formality with this squad. Next season however will require major, major surgery. A significant number of 30+ players whilst also losing Roberts (progressing nicely, averaging over 7.3), Dobbin, Osula and Anang - who has been a good understudy for Wildsmith in the cups averaging 7.4 compared to Wildsmiths sensational 7.47 in the league. The staff started the season advising me we need to improve the GK position but Wildsmith has regularly been a solid last line of defence. Personally I'd like it if he had a little less to do but we aren't blessed with a lot of pace at the back... Knight (7.2) and Chester (6.91). We're covered in midfield so Knight has been playing RB. Due to having no one else available Chester has also been turning out there regularly - so much so that he is now accomplished in the position. With the potential for someone triggering Knights release clause in January and Haydon Roberts returning to Brighton next season I've currently got my scouts searching for a new RB and LB. Heading into next season with just Forsyth and Chester is making me nervous! TYVM, I've offered my firstborn to the Injury Gods!!! Still a couple of months to go before the January window opens, so far so good but this is Derby, nothing is ever plain sailing...

12 games in now, 10 wins and 2 draws and progressed twice in the cup, both times on penalties! Its not been all plain sailing however, we've thrown 2 goal leads away a couple of times and I risked a defeat swapping from 4-2-3-1 to 3-2-3-2 for the last 10 minutes to snatch victories in both. Collins is leading the line with 12 goals in 10 league Apps, followed by Osula on 5. Haigh, Barkuisen (now has Sth Africa call up) and Mendez- Laing have also chipped in with 7 or 8 goals between them whilst Hourihanes delivery from corners has also bagged us a few - Chester (1), Davis (2) and Rooney (2) have all scored from a set-piece. Its a full time job micromanaging the training schedules of players, reducing workloads where necessary or giving days off, but I'm keeping the oldies mostly fit. Chester has had a couple of short absences (under a week) whilst Mendez-Laing is currently sidelined for 2-4 weeks and Dobbin has been out for a month. Priorities for January will depend greatly on what the team looks like then and how much I've got to play with. I've just received a message ingame from my coaches telling me that I should extend Haighs loan, but Chelsea don't seem to want to play ball, I'm also getting reports that scouts are watching Knight and SIbley. I did get Knight to re-sign for the same money but annoyingly he wouldn't remove or increase his buyout clause (£15m). On the plus side, another email came through letting me know that Jayden Bogle is only 5 games away from triggering a 500k appearance clause - that could come in handy! I wonder if I can recall Bielik? Although I'm also tempted to sell him due to his wages and injury record. Currently, I'm pretty happy with my squad - its too good for Lg1. Assuming I can keep them all fit, I've got 2 players for every position and everyone slots nicely into the system and is playing well. If I can avoid spending too much in January I'd like to hang on to the cash until the end of season, assuming we get promoted the squad will need an overhaul before we go again and I'll need every penny.

Just started my Derby save... Then started it again! My first attempt I signed George McEachran, Ryan Cassidy, Cole Dasilva and Brandon Pierrick (took a punt on him after I saw Ipswich were after him in the social feed hehe) for £0 signing on fees and a combined £11.5k in wages - then proceeded to win all of my preseason friendlies (tour of Scotland) and first 6 league games, so figured that was a bit to easy and started again... My second attempt I started the season with the initial transfer window turned off and started with a thumping 5-0 home win vs Matlock Town a last minute 2-2 draw away at Feyenoord followed by a 1-0 defeat at some other Dutch club I've forgotten the name of before ending preseason with a victory against Newport. 2-0 and 0-3 victories in the first 2 league games of the season is currently where I'm at. Things are going well again but the squad is lacking in a couple of areas and I'm trusting ageing players that have their limbs gaffer taped together to carry me through to the January transfer window - a bad injury in the wrong position (or two) could set things back quickly. Currently playing 4-2-3-1 with cautious or positive mentality depending on opposition. Mendez-Laing, Barkhuisen and Haigh are all playing well in the AML/AMR positions and Collins is scoring for fun. COYR