dafuge's FM10 challenge

[Terk]

I just signed the best players I could and formed a decent tactic.

That's what I'm trying, I just appear to constantly end up with total chumps

Only got 1 win so far with Canvey, in the FA Trophy, but we have drawn our last 4 league games (the last two with stunning come backs) so things are maybe looking up a bit. Thought I'd pulled off a major coup by loaning a kid who was transfer listed and desperately unhappy in Chelsea's U-18s (asked my ass man for loan recommendations and I was staggeringly surprised to see him suggest someone from a Premier League club, and then even more so when the kid agreed) but he's played 7 games so far and no even come close to a goal And he moans when I sub him, looks like he's a total diva.

[Terk]

ngngngngngngngngngng so close to my first league win but Ebbsfleet got an 89th minute equaliser. Five undefeated though

[roseboy64]

Don't try anything fancy with the tactics. KISS

[Cerneo]

Make a solid counter tactics, one for playing at home, one for away thats a bit more defensive, and one thats real direct for real bad weather.

[kaNovi]

And sign the best players you have on full time contracts. i remember back in the lower league days that almost my complete squad was swapped from bsn to BSP to L2 and so on, but a few good i kept around.
Sign pace and play pace in your tactics. Its one of the best weapons you can have in the lower leagues if your player have 13+ pace/acc. and often i tend to look at the mental/physical attributes more than the tecnical.

[JonnyCurrie]

Make sure determination is high enough also. Can be the difference between a 2-0 defeat and a great comeback to 2-2.

[SnakeXe]

I have to ask, how the hell are people getting out of the BSN/BSS, let alone completing the bloody challenge? This is one of the most rock solidly difficult things I've tried in years. Probably since my many seasons of futility at Leigh RMI in CM01/02.

Before I completed the challenge with Merthyr, I'd had 3 goes, one on FM07, one on 09, and then one on 10. Never got beyond the BSP with AFC Wimbledon in 07, BSP again with FC United in 09, sacked for being in the relegation zone of the BSP with Nuneaton in my first go on 10.

Either I'm better at FM now, or Merthyr were just a good team for me, either way you'll get there in the end I'm sure

[MikaelS]

I have to ask, how the hell are people getting out of the BSN/BSS, let alone completing the bloody challenge? This is one of the most rock solidly difficult things I've tried in years. Probably since my many seasons of futility at Leigh RMI in CM01/02.

Its simply a matter of signing free players. That way you don't spend money on transfer. Go for strikers with high pace, acceleration. Finishing, believe it or not, isn't that important.

Send scouts on players, get players on trial will get you a feel on what kind of players you can attract and what kind of players the club needs.

[mag man]

I have to ask, how the hell are people getting out of the BSN/BSS, let alone completing the bloody challenge? This is one of the most rock solidly difficult things I've tried in years. Probably since my many seasons of futility at Leigh RMI in CM01/02.

I am also finding this version much tougher than previous years. It has taken me two seasons of scapping in the bottom of the BSS to put together a squad capable of promotion however my finances are a mess and if I go up the players are nowhere near good enough

[Terk]

Cheers for the advice, everyone. I am a sucker for technical attributes, so I'll keep it in mind to look for pace and acceleration first and foremost. Looking forward to another day of struggle with Canvey; if we manage to stay up it'll be a miracle

[shaggy61]

Shaggy's return

After getting to the championship with Whitby in 07, and the Premiership with Heybridge Swifts in 08, the lure of FM, returned for shaggy in 2010. Signing up just before christmas he must have known that the white stuff was around the corner (if not the four days at xmas spent with the inlaws).

Not being a FM legend but an experienced player over the last 17 years or so, jumped a little bit headlong into Dafuges challenge for this season, without Demoing nor the experience of 2009 neither. Personally the jump of two years was quite a large one, and am glad to see that SI have toughened up the lower leagues nicely.

Still the search for the next Super Kyle, Zavon Hines, or the never to be forgotton Jack Neville(Heybridge's L2 wonderkid who went onto grace Liverpool, Chelsea, Southampton and England)

Season 2010/11
A slowly slowly approach offered a sure fire change from the sign everyone you can go massively over budget, but guarantee play offs as a result, plus a lack of knowledge of who's good at this level was sure to play havoc on the challenge.

The only players coming in and out
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...61/Horsham.png

After an amazing win win start, we struggled and christmas we were deep in relegation mire, exits at the first stage of both cups bought nothing but misery to the fans who dared actually watch the team.

A new year change in tactics, showed a narrow and direct 4-3-3 taking over from a traditional 4-4-2 which had proved ineffective, now Nathan Crabbb(the Tank) at 6 foot 9 and 16 stone was sure to prove a handful at this level. Also arriving were two new full backs Ashley Deeney from Luton on loan and an old favourite Sacha Opinel whose class would be needed at this level.

Sure enough we improved-just enough to avoid relegation, but keeping the club under budget and on track seemed to impress the board as they gave me another 2years in the job for my efforts.

Final Table
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...quareSouth.png

Season 2 to follow swiftly....

[Terk]

Obviously I just need every game to be a cup game, just smashed BSP side Dagenham & Redbridge 5-1 in the FA Trophy

[Terk]

Well done on avoiding relegation in season one, shaggy Sacha Opinel wasn't a success for me at Bradford PA, he got dropped pretty quickly.

[foost]

Just won 2-0 vs Chelsea in my first ever game against them. Feels good!

// Mmm, just saw my fixtures list. Hate the guy who made it.

Chelsea
Man City
Man Utd
Aston Villa

[shaggy61]

Season 2 Horsham in the BSS

Following on from last seasons softly softly approach only a couple of new faces joined in the summer Deeney remained on loan this time for the whole season, targetman Rob Duffy joined up front, whilst Gregor Patek joined on loan a little sneakily from Charlton for the season. Some dead wood was also shipped out, leaving the budget on target but the squad small in depth.

A much improved season saw an early season play off charge and FA cup campaign to be proud of. A run to the 3rd round proper gave a plum away tie againt Premiership Aston Villa, on new years eve, and the security gained from the profits of this run will no doubt leave the club in secure footing.

However the new year didnt go well, perhaps not strengthening was a mistake and the lack of strength in depth showed as key injuries to centre half Stewart resulted in a disappointing finish of 11th.

Still onwards and upwards, starting to getting into the game a little more now, ideally positioned to strengthen both on and off the pitch now. The end of season clear out has started, some kids will follow out the door too, so come June the trials shall begin in earnest, with promotion a priority.

Table
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...areSouth-4.png

Ins and outs
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p.../Horsham-5.png

Loadsamoney
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p.../Horsham-4.png

Really i won this....(beauty of the cup)
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...areSouth-2.png

The legend is back.......(you know you want to look at it!)
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...areSouth-3.png

[foost]

lol, seriously from the Blue Square North untill the Premier League I havn't got any job offers from any club. No problem, I can live with that. But within 1 month I have got an offer from Ivory Coast and just 1 minute ago from Manchester United! I feel honoured! 65M transfer, 1.7M wage and a 89k a week contract...

[Terk]

Very impressive cup run, shaggy Hopefully should mean you get a bigger wage budget next season so that you can improve the depth of your squad and push for promotion

In my game \o/ LEAGUE WIN \o/ 1-0 at 21st placed Weston-super-Mare. We're still bottom of the table, but only three points from safety now.

[Terk]

Back to back league wins Does my awesomeness know no bounds?

[Almondo]

nice one Terk

[Crispypaul]

Make a solid counter tactics, one for playing at home, one for away thats a bit more defensive, and one thats real direct for real bad weather.

I actually don't bother with this - I have one set tactic that I change with shouts and mentality depending on the situation and backroom advice (I have a decent assistant). Currently 3rd in League 2 and in the 4th round of the FA cup so it must be working!

[Terk]

Just checked the BSN, Nuneaton are top of the league They picked up Jamie Mole on a free transfer from Hearts and he's scoring by the bucket load.

[foost]

Right, anyone had this before? My keeper is 19 years (wonderkid) and is already the keeper of Denmark! Great huh. But also still of Denmark u21!

[foost]

Well must say I am quite proud of this hard fixture month, since it is my debute in the Premier League...

Guiseley 2-0 Chelsea
Guiseley 1-3 Man City
Guiseley 1-1 Man Utd
Aston Villa 2-2 Guiseley

[kaNovi]

Right, anyone had this before? My keeper is 19 years (wonderkid) and is already the keeper of Denmark! Great huh. But also still of Denmark u21!

Yeah its quit annoying.. happened to my English players Robson, Burke and Canham..
But then again it also happenes irl? Walcott etc.

[Terk]

A decent win

[Terk]

Not a bad way to follow it up

[dafuge]

I have to ask, how the hell are people getting out of the BSN/BSS, let alone completing the bloody challenge? This is one of the most rock solidly difficult things I've tried in years. Probably since my many seasons of futility at Leigh RMI in CM01/02.

Scout and trial as many players as you can, perhaps looking at unattached under 21s. If the scout/coach reports come back good, look to sign them.

I usually find the lower leagues easy(ish) since it is easy enough to build a squad that is better than the other teams in the league. It is the leagues further up that give me the problems.

[Terk]

I usually find the lower leagues easy(ish) since it is easy enough to build a squad that is better than the other teams in the league. It is the leagues further up that give me the problems.

I'm usually exactly the opposite. I can take a struggling club anywhere from L2 to the Premier League and turn them around, often going on to be very successful, but drop to the BSP or below and I'm completely out of my depth (though often that's when I enjoy the game the most, on FM08 I managed York - taking over about three seasons into the game - for seven straight seasons of bottom half BSP finishes ).

[kaNovi]

The only team i havent got my revenge against is Aston Villa so this much be to no1 goal next season. They are going down!

Ill have my Chance now.. hmm... not my favorite opponent. The history shows 3 european semi-finals lost to Villa

[hrbfcrule]

Ill have my Chance now.. hmm... not my favorite opponent. The history shows 3 european semi-finals lost to Villa

good luck in the final

[kaNovi]

Kingstonian (2032/2033)

Premier League Prediction - 2
Premier League Position - 1


Table
Graph

Summary
Let me quote my goals for this season i posted in my last review " Win it all " I did a nice try!

The League
It was almost a walk in the park this year. We didnt have to much pressure on our team and with 10 games remaining i started playing my youngsters.
My striker Casado got the Premier Division top goalscorer award. He was pretty good this year but it was also because of striker partner and captain Escobar

FA Cup
We finally managed to get the FA Cup trophy back! But it was a hard Final

Champions League
The best news!! I won The Final And the fact that it was against Villa just make it double fun! Villa have beaten us 3 times in semi finals
in European competetion. This team was also the last team i wanted revenge over since our several loss earlier in the career.

Just great to finally win something more than the League and finally win the Treble
Unfortunaly i couldt forfill my goals of winning it all because just Arsenal beat me in the Quarter final in the League Cup.

The only negative side of this season is that we didnt have any good prospects coming up from own ranks Its the first time in along time
that there havent been any really good prospects promoted.

Squad

PLAYERS FROM OWN RANKS:

Bowler
Robson
Burke
Brackenridge
Elliot
Henry
Canham


Transfers
Im in a position where im thinking about a "no signing" policy.. I havent really signed any 1st team players in 2 years so im actually almost already doing the no transfer policy.

Goals for the upcoming season:
Win the league cup . Im hoping that an exciting International job will become available.

League                Season    Finished   Achievements
-------------------------------------------------------
Blue Square South     2010/11   4th       Playoff Final losers
Blue Square South     2011/12   1st       Blue Square South Champions
Blue Square Premier   2012/13   5th       Playoff semi-final losers 
Blue Square Premier   2013/14   1st       Blue Square Premier Champions
League Two            2014/15   2nd       JPT Winners, Promotion
League One            2015/16   13th      none
League One	      2016/17   2nd	  Promotion
Championship	      2017/18   14th	  none
Championship	      2018/19   12th	  none
Championship	      2019/20   5th	  Playoff semi-final losers
Championship	      2020/21   5th	  Playoff final losers
Championship	      2021/22   1st	  Championship Champions
Premier League	      2022/23   10th	  none
Premier League	      2023/24   14th	  FA Cup semi-finalist
Premier League	      2024/25   13th	  FA Cup Winners
Premier League	      2025/26   9th	  none
Premier League	      2026/27   7th	  none
Premier League	      2027/28   2nd	  Uefa Cup Semi-finals, FA Cup Final
Premier League	      2028/29   4th	  Champions League Winners
Premier League	      2029/30   1st	  Premier League Champions  - CHALLENGE COMPLETED
Premier League	      2030/31   1st	  Premier League Champions
Premier League	      2031/32   1st	  Premier League Champions
Premier League	      2032/33   1st	  Premier League Champions, Champions League Winners, FA Cup Winners.

[MikaelS]

How do I tell my defensive players to get rid of the ball instead of fooling around with it?

it costs me alot of goals when they tackle the ball and instead of passing it or kicking it out the park, they get tackled back and loose the ball and the opponent scores.

[hrbfcrule]

Congratz on another impressive season kaNovi. Hopefully you're not disappointed this time

[kaNovi]

Robson

Is now described as a world class midfielder

ty hrbf No im not that disappointed this year, hehe :d

[kaNovi]

As i didnt get any good prospects last year, this year has brought us two good looking prospects : Webster Russel

[SnakeXe]

Great season kaNovi! You're really powering ahead of me now, my time spent on the game is basically zero now thanks to lovely exams

[foost]

Nice season kaNovi! Nice to see you finally beat those Villa's.

LOL, Sunderland is some funny team in my game I must say. They are playing 4-2-3-1 with players like Kakuta, Nasri, Cavani and Kaka(!)... Like whatever, Kaka and Sunderland lol

[Swindon69]

1st season in the BSN

First 21 games Shots 262 on target 130 CCC's 72 Woodwork 12 Goals 40
Opposition Shots 194 on target 80 CCC's 34 Woodwork 6 Goals 30

Next 9 games Shots 111 on target 41 CCC's 20 Woodwork 6 Goals 14
Opposition Shots 80 on target 37 CCC's 22 Woodwork 1 Goals 14

AS you can see a massive drop of in terms of shots on target, more opposition CCC's and I'm still 50% more likely to hit the woodwork.

[foost]

Sounds stupid, but I always have the feeling the AI is better in the 2nd half of the season because they know how I play or summat then the first lol

So must be that Swindon hehe

[foost]

Ole, Vidal just played his first 45 minutes. Did not score tho (but must say a debut vs Man Utd and scoring in it is a little bit to much).

[hrbfcrule]

My completely new attack force has gelled together now and we are scoring freely . In the last 4 games we have scored 19 but unfortunately conceeded 6 as well (6-1, 4-1, 4-3, 5-1)

So far this season we have scored 63 in 27 games (2.3 goals/match) But we still keep losing to other promotion contenders quite comfortably (eg 2-0/3-0) its really frustrating

[Bilyletdinov7]

I've got King's Lynn, looking forward to the challenge
Profile

[Swindon69]

Welcome

It's great fun.

[Bilyletdinov7]

First game at home against Farsley got hammered 5-1

[PhilJay]

anyone got a save of Durham about? been trying for months but they still wont come!!

[Terk]

Canvey Island
2012/13

I took over in October, nearly a year after getting the boot from Nuneaton, and we've had a pretty solid first year, certainly something to build on if I can avoid getting sacked in my second season this time.

Blue Square South
When I took over after 9 games, the club had just one win to their name and we're looking likely to live up to the media prediction of 21st place. I thought that major squad surgery would be needed, but to be honest, throughout the season the majority of the starting XI were players already at the club when I joined. Once we finally got our first league win under my guidance we began a steady yet relentless climb up the table which actually saw us in with a chance of sneaking a play-off place going into the final round of games. Forest Green pooped that idea with a 3-1 win at our place (for which they will be made to pay at some point in the future) but it gives me hope that we can be in the mix up next season.

League Positions Graph

FA Cup
The club had got to the 4th qualifying round before I arrived, and a home tie against Merthyr should have been easy enough to negotiate, but we got dumped on our asses as we still struggled to find some form.

FA Trophy
A much better run for which I was fully in charge, we started out with a win over Hayes & Yeading and followed that up with a 5-1 rout over Blue Square Premier side Dagenham & Redbridge. Eventual Blue Square South champions Chelmsford were dispatched next in a tight match before we ran out stunning 8-1 winners over Dartford. Rushden & Diamonds waited in the 4th round, but after drawing 3-3 at home, we lost the replay 4-2 at their place.

Key Players
The most pressing matter when I joined was to sign a goalkeeper (the only two on the club's books were only 16 years old and neither was any good even for that age). Rob Lainton joined for £500 from Airbus (and shall always be remembered as my first cash signing) but it was free transfer (and former Southend 'keeper) Jeet Padaruth who played the vast majority of games. He was nothing special, but solid enough to do the job.

Already at the club when I joined was Paul Hakim, who became the focal point of our three man attack and ended up with a haul of twenty-four goals in all competitions. Alongside him we loaned in Phil Taylor (I'm not even a darts fan and I couldn't stop from calling him 'The Power') and, like Padaruth, he did a solid if unspectacular job. My favourite player, however, was young midfielder Mark Hartmann, who showed an eye for a quick, defence splitting pass that was invaluable and earned him a new contract. He's made 79 league appearances already for the club and will likely make a lot more if we stay at this level.

Next Season
It'll be interesting to see what the board expect; this season they merely wanted us to fight bravely against the drop, so no doubt they're utterly delighted with me. The finances are, as ever at this level, a real problem as we side more than £160K in the red, so I wouldn't be surprised to see budget cuts, and if that happens then avoiding relegation will once again have to be the main item on the agenda.

Career Overview

Season              League               Final Pos.              Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nuneaton Town
2010/11       Blue Square North             5th           Lost in play-off semi final
2011/12       Blue Square North            12th           Sacked 11 games into the season

Canvey Island
2012/13       Blue Square South            10th                      None

[roseboy64]

BTW, good idea to make sure your captain has high determination and influence.

[kaNovi]

Great season kaNovi! You're really powering ahead of me now, my time spent on the game is basically zero now thanks to lovely exams

Hehe at some point i cant keep playing as much as now. I also have exams etc etc. but the last couple of weeks i have had time of because of extreme snow and teacher sickness! And that cant last forever, hehe.

[SnakeXe]

1st season in the BSN

First 21 games Shots 262 on target 130 CCC's 72 Woodwork 12 Goals 40
Opposition Shots 194 on target 80 CCC's 34 Woodwork 6 Goals 30

Next 9 games Shots 111 on target 41 CCC's 20 Woodwork 6 Goals 14
Opposition Shots 80 on target 37 CCC's 22 Woodwork 1 Goals 14

AS you can see a massive drop of in terms of shots on target, more opposition CCC's and I'm still 50% more likely to hit the woodwork.

Your CCC conversion rate is actually pretty good, indicating that when you create chances they are very good ones (as all CCCs are not created equal ). So your attacking play is working nicely enough, but it looks like the opposition have found a flaw in your tactic. Have a look at how their chances are coming about and see if there's a common theme - balls over the top, giving the ball away, your defenders getting outmuscled, etc. This will give you the clue of how to fix things

Hehe at some point i cant keep playing as much as now. I also have exams etc etc. but the last couple of weeks i have had time of because of extreme snow and teacher sickness! And that cant last forever, hehe.

Yeah the problem with the snow for me here is that I can't concentrate at home so I have to go into university in order to do worthwhile revision - which is impossible when the buses are cancelled due to the snow! And of course none of the exams will be cancelled

[shaggy61]

Canvey Island
2012/13

I took over in October, nearly a year after getting the boot from Nuneaton, and we've had a pretty solid first year, certainly something to build on if I can avoid getting sacked in my second season this time.

Blue Square South
When I took over after 9 games, the club had just one win to their name and we're looking likely to live up to the media prediction of 21st place. I thought that major squad surgery would be needed, but to be honest, throughout the season the majority of the starting XI were players already at the club when I joined. Once we finally got our first league win under my guidance we began a steady yet relentless climb up the table which actually saw us in with a chance of sneaking a play-off place going into the final round of games. Forest Green pooped that idea with a 3-1 win at our place (for which they will be made to pay at some point in the future) but it gives me hope that we can be in the mix up next season.

League Positions Graph

FA Cup
The club had got to the 4th qualifying round before I arrived, and a home tie against Merthyr should have been easy enough to negotiate, but we got dumped on our asses as we still struggled to find some form.

FA Trophy
A much better run for which I was fully in charge, we started out with a win over Hayes & Yeading and followed that up with a 5-1 rout over Blue Square Premier side Dagenham & Redbridge. Eventual Blue Square South champions Chelmsford were dispatched next in a tight match before we ran out stunning 8-1 winners over Dartford. Rushden & Diamonds waited in the 4th round, but after drawing 3-3 at home, we lost the replay 4-2 at their place.

Key Players
The most pressing matter when I joined was to sign a goalkeeper (the only two on the club's books were only 16 years old and neither was any good even for that age). Rob Lainton joined for £500 from Airbus (and shall always be remembered as my first cash signing) but it was free transfer (and former Southend 'keeper) Jeet Padaruth who played the vast majority of games. He was nothing special, but solid enough to do the job.

Already at the club when I joined was Paul Hakim, who became the focal point of our three man attack and ended up with a haul of twenty-four goals in all competitions. Alongside him we loaned in Phil Taylor (I'm not even a darts fan and I couldn't stop from calling him 'The Power') and, like Padaruth, he did a solid if unspectacular job. My favourite player, however, was young midfielder Mark Hartmann, who showed an eye for a quick, defence splitting pass that was invaluable and earned him a new contract. He's made 79 league appearances already for the club and will likely make a lot more if we stay at this level.

Next Season
It'll be interesting to see what the board expect; this season they merely wanted us to fight bravely against the drop, so no doubt they're utterly delighted with me. The finances are, as ever at this level, a real problem as we side more than £160K in the red, so I wouldn't be surprised to see budget cuts, and if that happens then avoiding relegation will once again have to be the main item on the agenda.

Career Overview

Season              League               Final Pos.              Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nuneteaton Town
2010/11       Blue Square North             5th           Lost in play-off semi final
2011/12       Blue Square North            12th           Sacked 11 games into the season

Canvey Island
2012/13       Blue Square South            10th                      None

Terk that was a harsh sacking, apologies if missed earlier post but did you guarantee promotion or massively overspend, ultimatums etc to get sacked at that new team i've never heard of called Nuneteaton (Nuneaton-i have done though.) Looks like you've sorted Canvey, expect to see you in the BSP soon.

[Terk]

Terk that was a harsh sacking, apologies if missed earlier post but did you guarantee promotion or massively overspend, ultimatums etc to get sacked at that new team i've never heard of called Nuneteaton (Nuneaton-i have done though.) Looks like you've sorted Canvey, expect to see you in the BSP soon.

My wages were always well within budget and I agreed to the board's expectations, didn't promise any more. Nuneaton have, I think, the highest reputation of any of the possible teams and it's difficult to build a side quickly enough to justify that reputation. They won the BSN in 2012/13, by the way, so evidently sacking me did them good

And cheers for pointing out the typo, I'll fix that

[roseboy64]

Turn of the year and I'm in the CC Semis, FA Cup 3rd Round coming up against lower league oppo, qualified for the knockout round of the wafer and a point behind the top two with a game in hand. Could we do a treble or quadruple this year? Would just be satisfied with an automatic CL place, progressing as far as possible in Europe and final of the Carling Cup. Another FA Cup semi would be nice as well. Anything else is a bonus but winning something major in the final year we'll be using York Street would be nice.

[kaNovi]

Bowler capped The expectations of this guy gets bigger! At only 18 he got his first cap! Pretty proud moment for the Kingstonian youth academy.

[hrbfcrule]

Congratz Terk it looks like you are getting the hang of these lower leagues, or Canvey just suits you. Either way well done and good luck for next season

[MikaelS]

Bowler capped The expectations of this guy gets bigger! At only 18 he got his first cap! Pretty proud moment for the Kingstonian youth academy.

He looks bloody amazing. I wish I could produce youths like that.

[foost]

Just signed, what my scouts and I think, a great prospect! Shame I have to wait for a year (since he is 17 atm)...

Alexandr Gitinov

[kaNovi]

He looks bloody amazing. I wish I could produce youths like that.

My youth setup is incredible! i have a real shot at winning it all with my own products in 5 years maybee but only if my academy keeps this up!

Only minus with Bowler is that he doesnt score enough goals :/

[MikaelS]

My youth setup is incredible! i have a real shot at winning it all with my own products in 5 years maybee but only if my academy keeps this up!

Only minus with Bowler is that he doesnt score enough goals :/

does the goals really matter that much? As long as he performs well and provides some goals and assists, I would be more than happy. He still contributes to the team

[kaNovi]

does the goals really matter that much? As long as he performs well and provides some goals and assists, I would be more than happy. He still contributes to the team

It mathers if you wanna make a Roberts out of him but no, im very pleased even tho he doesnt score the goals !

[Almondo]

Just guaranteed a BSN playoff place after a 3-0 win over Southport with Boston

[kaNovi]

I have just taken over France. They have 2 WC playoff matches against Greece. Although its not the best team in the world, it will be a challenge to try to win the WC again

[Almondo]

Boston united season 2 2011/12

So a second season in the BSN meant some strengthening in certain positions such as MC. In the league we had a good performance staying in the top 2 or 3 for most of the season. We were actually top for around half the season before the form took a tumble.

League Table, Position Graph

We were finally promoted after a nervous two leg tie in teh playoffs against Hinkley and then a Final which went to extra time against Droylesden.

Fixtures pt 1, Fixtures Pt 2, Fixtures Pt 3

FA Cup Got to the 4th Qualifying round here before being put out by Chester
FA Trophy Into the 3rd round here before going out once again to Chester

Transfers A bit of good dealing here on the players I got with John Terry's brother Paul joining on a free and several others who have become rather good for us.


Key Players
Rhys Coleman A good young defender who started every game he could.
Brett Solkhon A good central midfielder who is being traind as an AMC due to my now employing a diamond formation.
Jack Compton Once again Compton has been fantastic down the left.
Kern Miller Brought in on loan to shore up the defence for the final 13 games. I was so impressed I've signed him on a free from Lincoln for the new season.
Paul Terry John Terry's brother. He wasn't getting games at Rushden so I snapped him up on a free as he's versatile. He was a revelation even at 33.


Finances

Season           League              Final Position               Achievments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11       Blue Square North          7th                         none
2011/12       Blue Square North          2nd                       Promoted Via Playoffs

Other Winners
Premier League - Manchester United
FA Cup - Wolverhampton Wanderers
Carling Cup - Manchester United
Champions League - Barcelona
UEFA Cup - Juventus





Aims for next season

Stay in the Blue Square Premier
Strengthen the squad.

[Terk]

Congratulations on the promotion, Almondo Hope you back it up by avoiding relegation next season.

We've started pretty well, 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 defeat in our opening four games. Ebbsfleet have set themselves as the early pacesetters having won all four of their games so far without conceding a goal.

[kaNovi]

France and i are going to the world cup with a 5-0 agr. win against Greece in the playoffs.

Something is wrong with my team this year.. We are not playing good football and that is despite us having exactly the same team as last year. we are just hanging on to the top of PL and we are about to actually not qualify from CHL group with Valencia, Fiorentina and Dinamo!!!!!
Other than that our terrible display in League cup continued this season losing 2-1 home to Swansea in the 4th round!

[Swindon69]

[QUOTE=SnakeXe;4621712]Your CCC conversion rate is actually pretty good, indicating that when you create chances they are very good ones (as all CCCs are not created equal ). So your attacking play is working nicely enough, but it looks like the opposition have found a flaw in your tactic. Have a look at how their chances are coming about and see if there's a common theme - balls over the top, giving the ball away, your defenders getting outmuscled, etc. This will give you the clue of how to fix things



I've switched my full backs to defend - that seems to have tightened things up.

[rigbyscafe]

Hi guys lurking around and got myself Fm 2010 a few days ago, but played the competition like 2-3 years ago. I got 2 questions , i like a good challenge and try to get the lowest rep team. Is Kingstonian realy the lowest rep team or is it a typo ? Second question is , where can i get the badges and logos for these teams newly promoted. I remember few years ago someone made these for the challenge. Thanks for any response

[Munchkin]

Well this looks promising...

[MikaelS]

Well this looks promising...

So does this :-)

[hrbfcrule]

So does this :-)

and this

[kaNovi]

and this

This too Man it would have been embarrasing if i didnt quailify! i won it last year gosh!!

Good luck with the promotion race you guys =)

[Swindon69]

Gutted - lost the play-off final 1-0 to "a weak close range effort".

[kaNovi]

Im embarrased. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY TEAM!!! we just lost 1-0 in the Club world Ch. to America!

To bad Swindon. Keep going, i know how you feel!

[Rockets Creed]

Hi guys im new to this, been following you guys last year and this year, thought id give it a go, at the first try i managed to get truro! what luck will try to do screen shoots soon but not sure how to do it. Rocket.

[SnakeXe]

Im embarrased. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH MY TEAM!!! we just lost 1-0 in the Club world Ch. to America!

To bad Swindon. Keep going, i know how you feel!

/o\ something's up there!

Hope you get it sorted, I'm missing FM now

[hrbfcrule]

secured promotion to the championship with 2 games to spare, just playing for the title now.

Just destroyed barnsley 6-1 but i had 13 ccc's

[JonnyCurrie]

Dartford - Barclays Premier League - 2031/32

Predicted: 1st
Finished: 1st

Time to stop signing big names and start letting some starlets through.

League Table
League Table Graph

Much closer than last year but we did lead nearly all of the way.

Community Shield Won it again this year.

Carling Cup Decided I was going to play my youth/reserves not only in this but also the Carling Cup. We reached the Semi-Final which was fine by me.

FA Cup Again the kids did most of the work to get us to the final so when it came around to picking my team for the final, I put their efforts before anything else and picked nearly all youth in my team selection (just check how many are 21 or under). I expected a good fight from my young ones with them gaining some invaluable experience but in the end, they blew their opponents out of the water.

Champions League Last year we only made the Semi-Final. This year we reached the final in Moscow against Man United. We dominated the game but it went to penalties and we know one thing from recent memory; United have good fortune in Russia.

-----------------------------------

Squad Youth coming through nicely..

Dartford players representing..

World Team of the Year ...Eneko Martin making his first appearance in this.

World Footballer of the Year ...Grgic finally got his hands on this.

World Player of the Year

European Goalkeeper of the Year

European Defender of the Year

European Striker of the Year

European Footballer of the Year

FWA Footballer of the Year

PFA Young Player of the Year

Premier League Top Scorer

PFA Player of the Year

European Golden Boot ...First time any of my players got this trophy since Guto years ago.

-----------------------------------

Transfers Former wonderkid Klebson wasn't advancing like I hoped and given the likes of young strikers biting for a chance at first team football, I let him move on to Bayern for £14million.

Finances Looking well.
------------------------------------

Key Players This Season

Eneko Martin An unsung hero since he arrived but he was outstanding this season.

Tiaguinho 40 goals in all competitions.

Marko Grgic Just under 50 goals in all competitions. Considering he plays the 'Rooney' role by dropping deep and therefore most of his goals are from outside the box, it's outstanding.

Dida A big season from the Brazillian.

Mario Henrique Probably the best left-back in the game at present.

------------------------------------

Youth Prospects

Andrea Olsen Popped this guy into one of my Carling Cup selections and he stayed with the first-team all season. Could be amazing if his performances are anything related to his potential.

------------------------------------

Hanging up their boots

Russian centre back, Eugeny Kirichenko was a record signing for Dartford in our early Premier League years. He has served us more than well as his biography shows with more than 20 major honours to his name.

As it turns out despite saying he wouldn't stay in the game, he became a coach. A great coach at that, with 20 for Defending and 15 for both Determination and Discipline. So I signed him up! Welcome home Eugeny!
------------------------------------

Italy

Another bad draw against a poor side. I quit. Italy job over.

------------------------------------

Club Career Overview

Season    League                   Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2010/11   Blue Square South        4th         Promoted Via Play-Offs
2011/12   Blue Square Premier      5th         Defeated in Play-Off Semi-Final
2012/13   Blue Square Premier      1st         Promoted as Champions
2013/14   Coca Cola League Two     10th        n/a 
2014/15   Coca Cola League Two     2nd         Promoted
2015/16   Coca Cola League One     6th         Defeated in Play-Off Semi-Final
2016/17   Coca Cola League One     9th         n/a
2017/18   Coca Cola League One     1st         Promoted as Champions
2018/19   Coca Cola Championship   13th        n/a
2019/20   Coca Cola Championship   3rd         Promoted Via Play-Offs
2020/21   Barclays Premier League  8th         n/a
2021/22   Barclays Premier League  10th        Qualified for Europa League via Fair Play League
2022/23   Barclays Premier League  16th        n/a
2023/24   Barclays Premier League  15th        n/a
2024/25   Barclays Premier League  5th         Carling Cup Winners, FA Cup finalists, Qualified for Europa League
2025/26   Barclays Premier League  1st         Premier League Winners, Europa League Winners, Qualified for the Champions League
2026/27   Barclays Premier League  1st         Premier League Winners, FA Cup Winners, Champions League Winners, Super Cup Winners

Challenge Complete

2027/28   Barclays Premier League  1st         PL Winners, FA Cup Winners, CWC Winners, CL Winners
2028/29   Barclays Premier League  1st         PL Winners, CWC Winners
2029/30   Barclays Premier League  1st         PL Winners, FA Cup Winners
2030/31   Barclays Premier League  1st         PL Winners, FA Cup finalists
2031/32   Barclays Premier League  1st         PL Winners, FA Cup Winners, CL finalists

------------------------------------

International Career Overview

Season    Nation                   Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hired by Brazil

2027/28   Brazil                   N/A
2028/29   Brazil                   Qualified for the 2030 World Cup

Sacked by Brazil

Hired by Italy

2030/31   Italy                    N/A

Resigned from Italy

------------------------------------

Next Season

Got another good chunky stadium expansion to look forward to being completed firstly..again. This will put us up to 60,000. Hopefully that isn't the limit.

Got to win the damn Champions League! Got to!

[hrbfcrule]

Congratz on a very impressive season JonnyCurrie

[JonnyCurrie]

Thanks hrbfcrule!

[hrbfcrule]

Sutton Utd L1 2014/15

Competitions:

Fa Cup: Lost in 5th round 2-1 to West Ham
JPT: lost in 1st round to Crystal Palace on pens after 1-1
League Cup: lost in 2nd round to West Ham 2-1
League: 1st Promotion

League Table, League Graph
Squad, Transfers

A brilliant season from start to finish. We spent most of the season in the automatic promotion spots. Halfway through the season it was clear that the promotion race was going to be between 3 teams (Sutton Utd, Ipswich and Swansea(who seem to be excelling since i sold them Ruben Ramos who scored an incredible 29 goals in 46 games)

With 10 games to go ipswich dropped off the pace a bit and we secured an automatic promotion spot with 2 games to go with a 6-1 thrashing of barnsley. Now it was just a fight for the title and as expected we got tharshed ourselves next game 5-1 by mid table oxford and swansea scraped a 1-0 win against rock bottom Northampton. This left us both on +40 gd but with us 2 points ahead.

We were due to play 5th place Watford at home, Swansea played mid table bournemouth away. We went in at half time 1-0 with swansea 2-0 already. But disaster struck, Watford scored 2 in 2 mins and Swansea had got 1 goal back . Then in the 90th min we scored to draw 2-2 and swansea conceded again to make sure Sutton secured the league 1 title

We couldnt stop scoring in the league (as shown by the league table link) we scored 106 and the next team only managed 88. We conceded quite a few as well tho, im not really sure how to fix that im pretty sure ive got the best defenders possible for a league 1 club.
I was very happy with this as well, although none of my players won golden boot, to have 3 in the top seven was pretty impressive for me.

Player/s of the Season

Miguel Angel - Came in for Igor and did exceptionally well, but i fear i won't be able to keep him for another season with top championship clubs sniffing about him. Scored 31 goals and 21 assists in 51 appearances

Ezio Massaro - Played mainly at right back, has been with us for 3 seasons and has been consistently amazing:

League history
2012/13 - 22 games played, 7.04 av rating
2013/14 - 42 games played, 7.01 av rating
2014/15 - 44 games played, 7.11 av rating

considering he's only 21 its looking good for the future and he has already won most league caps for the club, but again only a matter of time before bigger clubs bid for him.

Special mentions must also go to Paolo Sanna and Pablo who were both amazing partners to Miguel Angel throughout the season

Cups

Not as good as last year, again falling at the 1st hurdle in pens this time in the jpt and at the second hurdle in the league cup. The fa cup was slightly better getting to the fifth round before being out played by west ham, i was surprised we kept the score down to just 2-1. We also lost 2-1 to west ham in the league cup as well.

Finances:

Fa cup was main help, im gonna need this money for next season as i cant rely on just frees in the championship

Career so far:
 
 
Season    League                   Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
2010/11   Blue Square South       2nd      Promoted via playoffs
2011/12   Blue Square Premier     1st      Automatic Promotion 
2012/13   League 2                   3rd       Automatic Promotion
2013/14   League 1                   7th       N/A
2014/15   League 1                   1st       Automatic Promotion

[Terk]

When I took over at Canvey after nine games of last season, the club had 4 points and were 21st in the table. After nine games of this season, we've amassed 20 points and are 2nd in the table (two points behind Ebbsfleet). We've only conceded 6 goals in those 9 games (3 of which came in our last game, a 4-3 win over Havant & Waterlooville) and we've scored 17. So, all in all, not a bad start to the season. I think I might get past the 12th game of my second season with a club this time

[Terk]

Congratulations on the promotion, hrbfcrule If you can keep hold of Ezio Massaro it will be interesting to see how he goes with the step up in division. Looks like a good player

[roseboy64]

Not buying any established CM as I currently have two promising youngsters who can reach leading Prem standard. Also have a 27yo who's pretty good to play there. Got in Hargreaves on a free as a backup. Thinking I'll bring in another cheap experienced vet in the summer for rotation play.

Now need to get in a young CB or throw in my on loan CB. My current best two are 31 and 32 who are stop gaps. So have the CB who's out on loan and someone else of similar age who started plenty last season but I have relegated to backup getting sub appearances and the odd game. Will check at the end of the season their progress and if I'll need to bring in an experienced backup or a wonderkid . The fullback slots have two promising players there so no problem there.

Have a quality GK now and a younger goalie who was my starter last season but now backup and should become good. Have spotted a young goalie who's Man City's backup(same age as my young GK) and thinking of doing a swap deal for him and my starting keeper. He's almost as good as him and not yet reached his full potential so will become world class surely. Will mean I loan out my youngster next season and get in a vet as backup though so he doesn't stagnate and can become a sold backup.

No problems with wingers ATM. Up front though, all of my strikers are 28 or older. Sent out on loan my promising striker and have one coming in the summer as he's Brazilian and 17 now. Do I get rid of two of my strike quartet now and chuck in the youngsters or send them out on loan? Hmm.

[foost]

Just saw that Andras Herczeg is already 16059 days manager of Debrecen. That are a lot of years! Must be a bug or is he in real life also 40 years at the same club as manager?!

[roseboy64]

Oh am a world class manager. One of two on my save. Ancelotti at Chelsea the other. Only won the Carling Cup as a major trophy as well. The 5 league wins from BSN to Prem putting me there as well as the JPT being counted.

[MikaelS]

Just saw that Andras Herczeg is already 16059 days manager of Debrecen. That are a lot of years! Must be a bug or is he in real life also 40 years at the same club as manager?!

sounds a but weird considering he has been managing other teams during his years of managing. Link to wiki

[Crispypaul]

I came 2nd in League 2 last night and thereby clinched promotion. A full update will follow this evening.

[Almondo]

okay first season in the Blue Square Premier. Played 4 Won 2, Lost 2. Scored 3 Conceded 7.

[hrbfcrule]

Congratulations on the promotion, hrbfcrule If you can keep hold of Ezio Massaro it will be interesting to see how he goes with the step up in division. Looks like a good player

Thanks Terk but it is getting difficult to keep him with the likes of Racing S.A.D, Everton and West Brom consistently trying to unsettle him. Everton and West brom finished 11th and 13th in the premiership respectively and all i know about Racing S.A.D is that last season they managed to get into the euro cup so they probably finished around 5-8th in La Liga or won a cup, So they cant be that bad.

Luckily at the moment Massaro has rejected ideas of him moving anywhere, saying he is loving life at Sutton

[foost]

I cant be happier! Vidal did ok in his first season (update tomorrow), but was injured 2 times therefor he only could play 13 games. But scored 8 in it. Now in the new season two games played and already scored 6!

[hrbfcrule]

i just recieved 1.6 mill in parachute payements due to recent promotions from blackburn, bristol city, west ham and sheff utd. you only got around 70k/team in lge1

[Rattlesnake_85]

Hopefully I have found a club that suits me (fingers crossed)
Love the badge and blue kit
Also a relatively low rep/low expectations
Dont think many other people have chosen to manage them
Here's my Profile for another attempt at this challenge.

[hrbfcrule]

good luck Rattlesnake 85

[Swindon69]

Start of my second season - played 4 games had four players taken out, both my starting strikers and half my starting midfield - all injured in matches. Still won 3 and drawn 1.

[Rattlesnake_85]

good luck Rattlesnake 85

Thanks

With previous attempts I lost motivation to continue once times got hard. Going to need support from you guys to keep going and not jump ship at the first sight of water on deck.

Been researching a bit about Bedford and I now feel an emotional attachment forming which can only be good in the long run

[michaeltmurrayuk]

I finally won my first Premier League game beating Everton 3-1, it only took nine games, I've got a feeling this is going to be a long hard and ultimately fruitless seasons as we are just getting torn apart by pretty much everyone

[kaNovi]

Sorry to hear that michaeltm.. How come? havent you signed good enough players or do they just not gell?

[Thebaker]

Merthyr Tydfill Championship 2026/27

Table

Positions

FA Cup - 4th Rd
League Cup - 4th Rd

Was looking to improve on last seasons playoff loss but started so badly i was busy looking at avoiding relegation until xmas. At this point i started to win games more consistantly and with teams above dropping points i slowly made up the gap. I won the last game of the season to pip Huddersfield who could only draw.
In the playoff semi final i faced Leicester and won 3-1 at home before comfortably seeing out the second leg 0-0 to progress.
The playoff final was a very close match against Sheffield Utd which was a relief since i had been thrashed 4-0 a home by them only a month before. A late winner proved enough.
In the FA Cup i narrowly lost again to Arsenal 3-2 at home. In the league cup i lost to Birmingham.

Transfers

There was not much activity this year mainly buying and selling a few backup players.
Miguel (history) was sold on with Carreras coming into replace him.
Lehmann wants to leave and was loaned out for a fee when no-one met my asking price.
Williams was a promising youth product who appeared this season and was promptly pinched by Chelsea as he was on a youth contract. i made 1.1 million up front and sold some clauses for a further 2.5 million.


Squad

Bonetti established himself as first choice goalie.
Hagelstein and Carreras were the fullbacks.
Tedeschi started the season but was so poor Bray came in and played alongside Antonacci at centre back.
Roberto and Volpi provided the width and the Rodrigues and Morisse were the main central midfielders.
Up front Amestoy was slightly disappointing again but Abraham and Kilicaslan made big strides foward.

Star player - There were 2 this year, Roberto was again a huge threat with his goalscoring. Also showing good improvement was Hagelstein, rated my best player and at leading prem standard i think he may be one of the best right backs in my game.

Career so far:


Season    League                       Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2010/11   Blue Square South             3rd         Promoted via playoffs
2011/12   Blue Square Premier           9th         None
2012/13   Blue Square Premier           2nd         Promoted via playoffs
2013/14   League 2                      15th        None  
2014/15   League 2                      13th        JPT Winners
2015/16   League 2                      5th         Promoted via playoffs
2016/17   League 1                      13th        None
2017/18   League 1                      14th        None
2018/19   League 1                      12th        None
2019/20   League 1                      15th        None
2020/21   League 1                      14th        None
2021/22   League 1                      1st         JPT Winners,Champions
2022/23   Championship                  16th        None
2023/24   Championship                  8th         None
2024/25   Championship                  10th        None
2025/26   Championship                  6th         Playoff semi-finalists
2026/27   Championship                  6th         Promoted via Playoffs

Edit: starting the prem season the board have decided to replace all the terrace for seating meaning for 8 months my attendance capacity for league games is 1400
Hagelstein is still rated 5 stars, impressive when 3 stars is a good prem player.
Abraham and Carreras are now listed as wonderkids

[Thebaker]

I finally won my first Premier League game beating Everton 3-1, it only took nine games, I've got a feeling this is going to be a long hard and ultimately fruitless seasons as we are just getting torn apart by pretty much everyone

i know the feeling i've lost the first 5 games and lost 1-0 at home to a league 1 side in the league cup

[Goskii]

i know the feelin thebaker, the board decided to upgrade my stadium, my first attendance for a premier league game at home to arsenal on the first day of the season? 108 people????

[Swindon69]

What 108 ?