dafuge's FM10 challenge

[Almondo]

I'm getting very annoyed with the injuries I'm picking up at the minute. There should be the option in press conferences to do a Wenger and complain about them.

[The-Perfect-Fm'er!]

Terk - Indeed, the proper way and on your second point, surely you can't fine yourself

Almondo - Ouch! Tis annoying but at least we like play-off's!

[bean824]

Wealdstone - Blue Square South - Season 2010/11

My very season in dafuge's challenge turned out to be a successful one, as the team pulled together through some rocky patches in form to capture the Blue Square South title, with the table at one point being this close! Many of our poor performances came away from home, something that'll need to be fixed before next season! However, we were devastating at home, beating teams such as Havant and Waterlooville 5-0 and Basingstoke 4-1, and this, in the end, managed to pull us out of any ruts caused by the away form and onto more positive results.

FA Cup - Had a good run, including a close 2nd qualifying round against fierce rivals (and nearest club) Harrow, until the 1st round, where we went out to Bradford of League 2.

FA Trophy - Disappointing. Went out to Worcester in a one-sided match in the 3rd qualifying round.

Key Players - Transfers

Michael Wilde - After a relatively slow start, Michael, who was suggested to me by my board, started t show his true colours, ending up with 32 goals from 40 appearances, many coming in crucial 1-0 wins away from home.

Dexter Ravenhill - Despite being rather inconsistent, and so therefore being largely in Wilde's shadow for most of the season, he did show flashes of brilliance, none more so than in the previously mentioned 5-0 win over Havant and Waterlooville, where he scored all 5 goals, and was unlucky not to add to that. Him and Wilde should hopefully be good enough to make up my attack in the BSP!

Sam Sloma - Already at the club when I arrived at the start of the season, Sloma was said by the assistant manager to be the best player at the club, and he proved to be, providing most of his goals and assists from set pieces and the result of his probing runs down the left wing. Regularly switching places with my right-sided winger, he proved to be instrumental in creating space for my strikers to cause havoc in. A class act.

So, overall, a great season, considering I only brought in 5 or so players. However, some massive improvements to the defence and midfield are definitely required for next season, along with a right-sided winger with good pace and acceleration (imo a must for any lower-league side). My laptop is off for repair for 2 weeks (or so they say, I bet its longer) tomorrow, so don't expect any updates on this for a while .

UP THE STONESSSSSSSSSS!

Season          League          Position          Achievments
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11         BSS             1st               Promoted (Champions) to BSP

[Terk]

Congratulations, bean824 A very good first season.

And TPF, I'd happily fine myself

[The-Perfect-Fm'er!]

Nicely done Bean!

Ohh, professional club now and the level of players I can attract has really gone up.

I want a trophy darn it! I don't want to stoop to Terk's level of unwinningness (clearly a word)

[Almondo]

Still wondering how I managed to pull out a 3-0 win over Premier League Wolves in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

[Terk]

Canvey Island
2022/23
Premier League

Premier League
It seems slightly churlish to describe a season in which we finish third at this stage of the challenge as 'disappointing', but in a few ways this was just that. Having played very well in the first two thirds of the season, claiming 51 points by the time we'd played 27 games, a real level of inconsistency dug in and we claimed only another 16 out of the final 33 points available. Winning at Leeds and thumping West Ham 4-0 were great results, but the elation was tempered by throwing away a 2-0 lead at home against Reading and losing 3-1 on the final day to an already relegated Man Utd side. Overall, however, it would be ridiculous not to count this season as a success. We opened up and played a more attacking style of football, and it reaped its rewards with the second highest goal tally in the league, even if we did concede a few more than I would have liked. Still, Champions League, here we come.

League Positions Graph


League Cup
I had targeted this as my first trophy, so getting spanked 4-0 by Championship side Sheffield Wednesday in the third round wasn't ideal.

FA Cup
With the League Cup gone, I turned my attention to the bigger prize. We disposed of lower league opposition in Fulham, Liverpool and Middlesbrough before we faced soon-to-be lower league opposition in Man Utd in the quarter final. We should have got it done first time but threw away a two goal lead at Old Trafford, and we very nearly did the same in the replay, hanging on in the end for a 2-1 win. That paired us with Chelsea in the semi final, a side who haven't conceded in the competition since January 2021. They still haven't. They won 1-0, and I'm quite frankly a little scared by Uncle Carlo and his team that can go a Premier League season and concede only 12 goals.


Transfers
We broke the club's transfer record twice in ten days this summer, first bringing in Pitshou Daniëls from PSG for £8M before we needed £9.75M to part Chris Wright from Burnley. A few big ticket sales meant that we ended up with a net transfer profit, which I hadn't expected, and the overall quality of the squad that I have assembled now possibly means that I can chase those one or two big money signings each summer to try and move us that big closer to the irresistible force (Man City) and the immovable object (Chelsea).


Top 5 Players

5. Giovanni Pasini - A reluctant choice, but he just about deserves his mention as there were times during the season when he put in blinding performances, and 15 clean sheets is impressive. However, he still can't catch a cold, and I will be exploring the possibility of replacing him this summer.

4. Radim Pokorny - A £1M buy in January whom I had no intention of playing this season, until I saw quite how good he was. It was immediately obvious that he was going to gain nothing from playing in the reserves, and he acquitted himself very well in early sub appearances. Even at just 17, he'll be a fixture in next season's squad.

3. Yvan Favre - Niggling injuries interrupted the Frenchman's first season at Canvey, but he showed what he can do and has the potential to make the left back spot his own over the next few years.

2. James Murphy - Another top notch season from our young centre back. He's being chased by the great and the good of European football and I'm delighted we have him tied down to a long term deal. Will be vital if we're to make anything of the Champions League next season.

1. Manuel Wiedl - The best thing to come out of Austria since Hermann Meier, Manuel showed us just what we missed last season when he was out with a broken leg. Both a goal scorer and creator, he could have done even better if his season hadn't been interrupted by a couple of ankle sprains. Eager to see him play on Europe's biggest stage next season.


Next Season
Well, another top four finish has to be the aim, doesn't it? I wouldn't be happy with 8th place after getting a taste of Champions League football. As for our place at Europe's big table, we'll almost certainly get a bitch of a group (if we get that far) as we won't have a seeding, so if we can finish third and drop into the Europa League then I'd consider it a success.

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
2013/14       Blue Square South             4th               Promoted via play-offs
2014/15      Blue Square Premier            3rd               Promoted via play-offs
2015/16           League 2                  8th                        None
2016/17           League 2                  3rd                Automatic Promotion
2017/18           League 1                  4th               Promoted via play-offs
2018/19         Championship               12th                League Cup Finalists
2019/20         Championship                3rd               Promoted via play-offs
2020/21        Premier League              17th                Didn't get relegated
2021/22        Premier League              10th                League Cup Finalists
2022/23        Premier League               3rd           Qualified for Champions League

Canvey Island 100 Club

Name (Position) League Games (Overall Games); League Goals (Overall Goals); Average Rating
(Dates at club)

James Foster (ST)             215 (260); 118(135); 7.12
(2013-2019)
Jeet Padaruth (GK)            213 (243); 76  (89); 6.96
(2012-2018)
John Bostock (AMC)            196 (231); 22  (30); 7.05
(2015-2022)
Matthew Darlow (DC)           194 (232); 16  (20); 6.86
(2011-2017)
Kostas Tsioukas (DC)          188 (223); 27  (30); 7.14
(2014-2020)
Mark Hartmann (MC)            183 (217); 20  (31); 6.91
(2010-2017)
Giovanni Pasini (GK)          153 (178); 42  (53); 7.07
(2019-Present)
Iain Blackman (AMLC/FC)       144 (172); 31  (39); 7.01
(2016-2021)
James Murphy (DC)             134 (160); 14  (16); 7.16
(2019-Present)
Theo Angus (DL)               125 (150);  0   (2); 6.87
(2012-2018)
Joseph Owusu Tabiri (DR, MRC) 105 (130);  3   (4); 6.91
(2012-2016)
Sam Vokes (ST)                103 (127); 31  (40); 6.96
(2019-2023)
Kyle Wilson (ST)              103 (120); 36  (44); 6.96
(2013-2016)
Ismail Yakubu (DC)            102 (113);  4   (4); 7.09
(2013-2016)

[Almondo]

Nice enough season there Terk. Shame about the form at the end of the season.

[The-Perfect-Fm'er!]

Cause your good Almondo!

Cracking season Terk. Murphy. That is what you call you solid at the back!

[Terk]

Cracking season Terk. Murphy. That is what you call you solid at the back!

I :heart: James Murphy (and yes, I know that makes me ghey ). His tackles per game ratio isn't that high compared to others in the league, but whenever he goes in for one he seems to come away with the ball, his success rate is immense. And he just picked up the Young Player of the Year award, which he fully deserved.

[Terk]

Getting another upgrade to the training and youth facilities \o/ Think at the moment we have 'good' training facilities and 'adequate' youth facilities, so we definitely need a bit of investment.

[aeropaus]

Nice season Terk, though I'd be on the phone to Chelsea to see if you can trade attacking/defensive tips Pretty cool to see two polar opposite teams separated by one place.

Still, a PL/CL spot puts you on 'challenge point' I guess so good luck for the coming season!

[Almondo]

Getting another upgrade to the training and youth facilities \o/ Think at the moment we have 'good' training facilities and 'adequate' youth facilities, so we definitely need a bit of investment.

That's good then. I'm hoping we can give York St a good send off as a 6000 seater stadium isn't big enough to keep a Championship team in the black. We move to the new Boston Utd Stadium in the summer.

[The-Perfect-Fm'er!]

Don't worry, I knew anyone!

Yeah, he looks the part. I bet your thankful you tied him down to a contract! Hopefully the only thing you tied him down to!

[Terk]

Nice season Terk, though I'd be on the phone to Chelsea to see if you can trade attacking/defensive tips Pretty cool to see two polar opposite teams separated by one place.

Still, a PL/CL spot puts you on 'challenge point' I guess so good luck for the coming season!

Their defensive record this season is utterly ridiculous. They kept 27 clean sheets in the league and they just won the FA Cup for the second season without conceding a goal in the whole bloody tournament.

As you say, it shows that there is no definitive 'right way' to get success in football; I just hope we can score against them next season

[Almondo]

Head scratching moment just appeared. I sold a player I picked up on a free to Brostol City for £925,000. I've just received a message stating that Bristol city are offering me the player I sold six months ago at the same price they bought him for.

[aeropaus]

9 games to go in the BSN and we're 2nd, 3 points adrift...

Luckily Southport, whom we trail, have a pretty hard fixture list as they play all the top 5 teams in those last nine, including us on the penultimate day.

Exciting end to the season awaits.

[Almondo]

Hope you can do it aero.

[Terk]

Just been given a £36M transfer budget for the new season Think I'm going to blow £20M of it on a Brazilian striker.

[Almondo]

Apparently the Man Utd board are lokking at me replacing their current manager if he doesn't sign a new contract.

[aeropaus]

Hehe, didn't realise declaring an interest in Rooney would cause a massive morale boost to my players

[Almondo]

Brilliant aero.

[CityAndColour]

I'm still really confused as to whether my 4-3-3 is successful on 10.3. In terms of results, it surely is, as we've only lost five of our last 25 games and currently hold a 2-0 advantage going into the second (away) leg of the playoff semis against Kettering, however, we very rarely dominate games and don't generate a lot of clear cut chances. We concede a lot of long shots and headers too, but we don't concede many CCCs either.

I guess you just have to go by results in the end, though I get the feeling having a good squad and a couple of excellent players is pulling us through rather than the tactics.

[aeropaus]

Oxford City - 2010/2011

Blue Square North - Prediction: 21st // Promotion odds: 14-1 // Goal: Safe mid-table finish
Final Position: 1st - Table - Progress

The season started fairly well given the total lack of unity in the side as players were drafted in from all over. Within six games the team were establishing themselves in the playoff positions. Quite quickly a top four emerged consisting of Oxford City, Boston Utd, Hyde and Southport, but by mid-point both Southend and Oxford City were running away from the peleton at the top of the table.

The two were inseparable until Southend hit a rough patch of form in late February, allowing Oxford to take the lead. However, a 2-0 defeat at Southend saw this gap narrow. In the end, the championship would go down to the last day, where a thrilling 4-4 draw with Braintree, combined with a Southend defeat to relegation battling Farsley, was enough to claim the title for Oxford.

Awards: James Keatings (Top Goalscorer); Victor Death (Manager of the Season);

FA Cup - Goal: Third Qualifying Round
Reached Fourth Qualifying Round - Progress

A disappointing run in this despite going beyond our goal, simply because the fixtures were all winnable. We dispatched Nuneaton in the Second Qualifying Round with a 2-0 away win, goals being provided by the everpresent Keatings and Fitzharris. In our next tie away at Truro, James Keatings put us ahead in the 7th minute before Mark Millar scored from the spot to deliver another 2-0 win.

However, the run came to an end at home against minnows Harrow, who scored a last minute winner to take out a 2-1 win, despite us having four clear cut chances.

FA Trophy- Goal: Learn from the experience
Reached Fourth Round - Progress

This was a more impressive performance than the FA Cup. The run began in low gear as we struggled past Blue Square South Hampton & Richmond, only breaking the tie when Craig McShea popped up in the 112nd minute of the replay. This took us to Blue Square Premier Hayes & Yeading, whom we comfortably defeated 4-0 with two a piece to McAusland and Fitzharris.

Next on the agenda was Worcester, against whom a replay was required after a 1-1 draw at home. The second leg went well however, with Keatings and Fitzharris delivering a 2-0 win.

Blue Square Premier Cambridge United was next, and we took a deserved 2-0 win at home with Fitzharris dictating the scoreboard both times.

However, the run ended when we lost to minnows Kingstonian away 1-0, their goal coming in the 8th minute. A flat performance by us meant it was a fair result, though defender Gordon Dick had a goal disallowed due to offside.

---

Transfers - Obviously lots of churning. A number of freebies in and binning the fluff who didn't have expiring contracts; nothing exciting.

Finances - 100k in the red, mostly due to our poor FA Cup run and low attendances.

Squad - A solid core, but no depth. A goalkeeper is no doubt the primary goal for the summer.

Key Players

Sean Fitzharris - Nominally our poacher, despite a good haul of goals he actually ended up with more assists than goals. He and Keatings certainly went hunting in pairs.

James Keatings - Brought in to play target man, he bagged an epic number of goals. 34 appearances, 32 goals, 10 assists, 10 man of the match awards and BSN Player of the Season. Enough said.

Mark Millar - No goals, but 15 assists from the playmaker role and the key to our midfield.

Jason Marr - Our main centre-back, an intelligent player with good physical abilities and good enough technically to make him a very useful BSN defender, and as soon as he joined he wasn't booted from the first team.

Grant Gallacher - While fullbacks aren't particularly important at this level, he's worth a mention as was thoroughly reliable with a good average rating and will feature into the future.

---

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

2010/11       Blue Square North             1st             Promotion (Champions)

[Swindon69]

Started again using 10.3 - really struggling in my first season with Boston, which is wierd as I didn't do too badly with them on 10.2.

[SnakeXe]

Awesome season Terk, bypassed the Europa League like the Merthyr boys did

[unitedmadandy]

started this when game was released as manager of dartford

but have been so busy than had computer problems so decided to wait to restart when patch is released

so here goes holidaying as i type will post profile pic as so as chose team to manage

[Terk]

Awesome season Terk, bypassed the Europa League like the Merthyr boys did

Cheers When we fell down to about 10th after 10 games I didn't expect us to climb back up the table, and I'd have been pretty happy to stay around that 10th spot, but the next twenty or so games were just brilliant and once we'd got back into the top four we never really looked like dropping out.

Good luck with Tiverton, by the way

[SnakeXe]

Good luck with Tiverton, by the way

Cheers mate, haven't even gone a week in that save yet, I've trialled literally over 200 players

[jordanswinburn]

Finally got my first win in League One against Brighton in a 2-1 win. But then got knocked out of the JPT by an offside goal

[Dalbeider]

Looks like my teams are always taken over in the first season... A consortium has just replaced our previous chairman in Sutton Utd, injecting €275k into the club's accounts, which is nice. This plus the FA Cup money should keep us on the black for a full season or two at the very least.

Oh, and of course they want to replace me with some regen manager called Danny Watson. Heh.

[Gypsum]

Started again using 10.3 - really struggling in my first season with Boston, which is wierd as I didn't do too badly with them on 10.2.

Same here. I restarted the challenge with Merthyr on 10.3 and have struggled so far. It's not a disaster, and my sides usually pick up later on in the season, but it's not looking promising for anything other than relegation survival. But in my previous attempt at the challenge I made swift progress with King's Lynn, and other saves i've found going fairly easy. I've changed my tactics to try and make things simpler, but with my pretty useless players i'm just hoping for survival and a signing spree in the summer.

[Terk]

I want to rip my chairman's balls off He's just accepted a bid of £8.5M for my very promising 22 year old Spanish midfielder, despite the fact that I had slapped a £20M asking price on him I wish I could get a takeover, been stuck with this muppet in charge since I took over.

[SnakeXe]

I want to rip my chairman's balls off He's just accepted a bid of £8.5M for my very promising 22 year old Spanish midfielder, despite the fact that I had slapped a £20M asking price on him I wish I could get a takeover, been stuck with this muppet in charge since I took over.

After having qualified for the Champions League too! Utterly, utterly ludicrous

[jordanswinburn]

These bloody refs have a vendetta against me! Nearly every goal scored against me has been either offside, or from a penalty that shouldn't have happened. Furthermore, I'm being rejected pens, and having goals ruled offside unfairly

[Holyehsauce]

My goalkeeper just took one for the team, was 3 on 1 so he ran out of goal and fouled the oncoming striker. Got him a red card but we finished 1-0 instead of 1-1.

[Gypsum]

Just got a really good 2-0 win over Eastleigh to put us 16th after 19 games. I managed to make a few new signings which seem to have sparked some life into the team. And my change to simpler tactics which I used on a previous save seems to have helped. Hopefully we can find a second wind after Christmas!

[SnakeXe]

Phew, finally made it through all those trial-ees! Trialled over 350 players, signed 15, with one more (a goalkeeper) still to sign - fingers crossed!

[Holyehsauce]

Phew, finally made it through all those trial-ees! Trialled over 350 players, signed 15, with one more (a goalkeeper) still to sign - fingers crossed!

If you don't comes 1st in the 1st season then I'll be surprised :P

[unitedmadandy]

setup and holiday done so here goes

The new manager of Dartford

let the games begin

[Terk]

My £20M Brazilian striker has just revealed, on the eve of the league season, that he can't settle in the area

[Terk]

After having qualified for the Champions League too! Utterly, utterly ludicrous

And to make it even more utterly, utterly ludicrous, they only gave me £3M of the money to reinvest

[jordanswinburn]

****! 15 games into the season, I save, and try out a custom DB to see if I could get the cup to work. Come back to the save, and it corrupted!!!!

Fortunately, I have backups, but it took me back to the Brighton game, which was the one I won, and I bet you I lose this now

Annoying thing is though, I'd just won 6 games in a row! Taking me into the top half

[Gypsum]

Just beat Thurrock 4-2 on a fan day in front of a bumper 346 crowd! For some reason our first half performances are usually superb, but in the second half we just die. So i'm trying to sign as many important players on full-time contracts as possible so I can get their fitness up. If we played through a whole match like we do in the first half we'd be pushing for playoff places! But as it is we're 17th after 22 games.

[foost]

Woohooo... I just resigned as manager of Guiseley (2024). And waited till some nice new team will pop up in the BSN/S. And some nice teams showed their faces. I decided to sign for a team that didn't get into the BS in all those years I played with Guiseley. Only two teams filled that criterium. Halesowen and Stocksbridge! I decided to go for Stocksbridge... Added a new manager, took over Stocksbridge, deleted the account and applied with my Guiseley manager account. The chairman just sended me a message saying: he warmly welcome me and he is delighted that one of the worlds top managers signed for his club...



This gonna have some eyes rolling in the world.

AWARDS/WON:

2009-2024 Guiseley:
Premier League 5x
Champions League 2x,
Europa League 1x,
FA Cup 2x,
League Cup 1x,
Community Shield 4x,
FA Trophy 1x,
Blue Square Premier 1x,
CocaCola League 2 1x,
CocaCola Championship 1x

2023-2024 Brazil:
Copa America 1x

2024-.... Stocksbridge

[Terk]

Good luck at Stocksbridge, foost

Just had my first Champions League group drawn.

Benfica, Bayern, Standard Liège, Canvey

Far from the worst group I could have had, but Benfica won the CL in 2011 and Standard won the Europa League in 2021, so it will still be tough to get through.

[Terk]

We scored against Chelsea And won

[SnakeXe]

Nice one Terk! I remember my first win against a big team, such a great feeling

Good luck foost, should be easier this time round with your massive rep

[Almondo]

Nice win over Chelsea Terk and that's not a bad looking CL group really

[m1234566778]

Brought in some decent players now with Park Avenue.

'mon the league!

[SnakeXe]

If you don't comes 1st in the 1st season then I'll be surprised :P

Well 6 games played and the form is DWLWWW, second in the table. Looking good for a playoff challenge at the moment, depends how well the squad performs when I have a few injuries. Certainly can't complain so far

[Holyehsauce]

Well 6 games played and the form is DWLWWW, second in the table. Looking good for a playoff challenge at the moment, depends how well the squad performs when I have a few injuries. Certainly can't complain so far

2 games in with Boston Utd now.

Just beat the favourites Chester 4-1 for our second win..

[midgetram]

2 games in with Boston Utd now.

Just beat the favourites Chester 4-1 for our second win..

Nice going

I'm getting ever more concerned by our financial situation. Last month the board injected 25k into our balance, and we still made a 20k loss

They've just gave me a 40k injection, where on earth they're getting the money from I don't know , and I'm on target to make a 10k loss even with this money I used to be extremely tight with finances on 09 so I don't know what I'm doing wrong this time around...

[andylincoln]

Just got the ball rolling on my career with Nuneaton FC.....wish me luck
andy

[SnakeXe]

Just lost 6-2 to a team full of greys in the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round.

[Holyehsauce]

Just lost 6-2 to a team full of greys in the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round.

What the hell?

What tactic are you using?

[Swindon69]

Had too many games like the one I finished this season with me 11 shots none on target them 4 shots 3 on target 3 scored.

[SnakeXe]

What the hell?

What tactic are you using?

Standard 4-4-2 which had worked perfectly well for the previous 8 games ridiculous result

[midgetram]

Whilst it was a great result, this is easiest the worst pun I've seen in a news item.

[Matty_efc]

On patch 10.3, does anyone else only ever get the same teams, but alternating on each reload?
I always get either Bradford and Boston, and Nuneaton in the BSN. I take it this shouldnt be the case every time, they could FC United of Manchester in there at least once out of 20 tries...
Also, shouldn't there be two teams that come up from the northern league into the Blue Square North? There is only one on the game
(I'm using the 24th June save from the thread posted earlier with the ddt file added)
Any help much appreciated

[Holyehsauce]

Standard 4-4-2 which had worked perfectly well for the previous 8 games ridiculous result

Yeh.. Maybe all your players were on their periods or something.

That is ridiculous.

Oh and by a matter of interest did you sign Jabuti? He's done wonders for me so far

[Swindon69]

Dreadful first season limped into 11th - no highlights.

[aeropaus]

Just lost 6-2 to a team full of greys in the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round.

For some reason I found those unplayable teams to be more of a challenge than proper playable BSN/S teams.

[jordanswinburn]

On patch 10.3, does anyone else only ever get the same teams, but alternating on each reload?
I always get either Bradford and Boston, and Nuneaton in the BSN. I take it this shouldnt be the case every time, they could FC United of Manchester in there at least once out of 20 tries...
Also, shouldn't there be two teams that come up from the northern league into the Blue Square North? There is only one on the game
(I'm using the 24th June save from the thread posted earlier with the ddt file added)
Any help much appreciated

You'll nearly ALWAYS get Nuneaton, took my ages to get teams like FCUM and Retford.

Check if who you want are on my thread?

Saves Thread

[Matty_efc]

Well at least I know its not just me now!

I'll keep going until someone interesting comes up, (Not Bradford or Boston!!)

[jordanswinburn]

Well at least I know its not just me now!

I'll keep going until someone interesting comes up, (Not Bradford or Boston!!)

If you want a challenge, get the Banbury one. No transfer budget and only 3k wages. Midgetram said it's worse than Canvey

[Holyehsauce]

Well at least I know its not just me now!

I'll keep going until someone interesting comes up, (Not Bradford or Boston!!)

How dare you say Boston arn't interesting

[turn it in]

Well after nearly three seasons in charge of AFC Hornchurch I have dragged them kicking and screaming into the BSS play-offs. It was a ridiculously close league I could've finished ninth or second with two games to go (I finished second) and am about to play Chelmsford in the semi-finals. Eeep.

[turn it in]

And a 2-1 win away in the first leg. Was 2-0 up but had made all my subs and had a defender come off injured ten minutes before time. Conceded in the 91st minute, still a lead is a lead is a lead.

[jordanswinburn]

Another day, another job link/offer. Offered the Hartlepool job, days later, linked with the vacant Reading post. Both are in League 1 with me now.

[GreyedOutMan]

GreyedOutMan finally takes over Boreham Wood for another crack at Dafuge's Challenge. Up the Wood!

By the way as for my manager name - guess which team I support?!

Thanks to JordanSwinburn for the link that allowed me to take over my favourite BSS team!

[jordanswinburn]

GreyedOutMan finally takes over Boreham Wood for another crack at Dafuge's Challenge. Up the Wood!

By the way as for my manager name - guess which team I support?!

Thanks to JordanSwinburn for the link that allowed me to take over my favourite BSS team!

No problem, my pleasure. Glad to help

[turn it in]

YES! Was 2-0 down at half-time and going out of the play-offs but a second half fightback saw us win the game 3-2 and the tie 5-3. We'll be playing Eastbourne in the final.

[Swindon69]

Congratulations - at the moment after my opening season I don't think I'll be anywhere near the playoffs this season.

[turn it in]

Well, well. Looks a lot closer than it was but we did it! The mighty Hornchurch will be playing BSP football next year. Report to follow shortly.

[Holyehsauce]

Well, well. Looks a lot closer than it was but we did it! The mighty Hornchurch will be playing BSP football next year. Report to follow shortly.

Wow a big score for a playoff match :O

Congratz anyway

[foost]

Thx Terk & SnakeXe! Very curious on what kind of players I can get with my rep. Hope that I can get Guiseley to be my parrent team for a couple of season. That would be awesome.

Will update my last 2 seasons with Guiseley tomorrow aswell..

[turn it in]

AFC Hornchurch Update (Season Three 2012-2013)
Media Prediction: 13th
Final Standing: 2nd (Promoted via Play-offs)
Promised Board: Respectable League Position
FA Trophy: 2nd Round
FA Cup: 1st Round
My Final Opinion: The season we cracked it.


I checked just now and my last season update was 14/11. There have been many reasons for this none more so than my desire to see 10.3 and play the challenge on the final patch and what a season it turned out to be. When I took my hiatus it was in January (in the game) and the team had enjoyed a solid start to the season. We started poorly but were floating around the top ten when I decided to give it a rest. We'd also gone further than ever before in the FA cup as Hornchurch arrived into the national conciousness with a journey to the first round proper (where were we roundly thumped by Mansfiled 6-0) and made it to the second round of the FA trophy against Salisbury of the BSP.

When I started playing again after installing 10.3 things started to go poorly. We lost to Salisubury and then went on the clubs worst run of games without a win in my tenure. It was at that point that I was about ready to rip this squad apart and rebuild from the ground up for next season, but then amazing things started to happen. We started to win and win well and the best thing was that Harry Crawford who had spent the first half of the season being maddeningly inconsistent found the richest vein of form ever and didn't stop scoring until the end of the season. Suddenly the play-offs were on again and there was even a point where automatic promotion was a possibilty. Coming into the last game of the season I was playing Bishops Stortford at home who were also hunting a play-off place and were on a better run of form than I was. Due to other results the winners would finish in the play-offs and the losers would finish in the worst position in the league 6th. As it was we squeaked through and finished second in the league. The graph shows what a dip I had and what I rally I had too!

Hornchurch Graph
Final BSS table

So onto the play-offs. We went to Chelmsford on in the first leg and came away with a good 2-1 win. All set up for us to cruise through at home except by half-time of the second leg we were 2-0 down and facing up to our fourth season in the BSS. A half-time rocket however soon sorted them out and we won the game 3-2 and the tie 5-3 to set up a match up with Eastbourne. A tight first half that ended 2-1 to us became 5-1 and then 5-3 in the second half but we held out to take Hornchurch that one step closer to League football and for this local lad that's a hell of an achievement.

Needless to say my player of the season was Harry Crawford as his goals proved invaluable, however an extreme honourable mention goes to this young 17 year old right back who not only finished the season as my highest rating player but also deposed the club captain because he was playing so well. I'm expecting big things of him next year.

Other screenies for you now:

Hornchurch Squad
Transfers

The worst thing is that all of my money buys turned out to be rubbish including Krause who had a stinker of a season. I'm hoping if he settles he'll be solid next year, but I need to get better at buying that is for sure.


Aims for Next season:

Well I finally have achieved promotion but I still think my hunch during our slump was right and I've got a bit of deadwood to clear out. I have the spine of a good side having added Grant Basey to my back line. I have two excellent young midfielders in Reed and Sherriff who should be able to make the step up and Harry has the ability to get goals but the squad will definitely need strengthening. A goalie, a centre back, a centre mid and someone to play alongside Harry are the top priorities. Oh and I need to make money obviously so a cup run would be nice. Survival and rebuilding are now the key aims if I'm gonna take Hornchurch to the next level.

AFC Hornchurch
Season 1 (2010-2011); BSS 16th; FA Cup 3QFR; FA Trophy 1st RD
Season 2 (2011-2012); BSS 9th; FA Cup 2QFR; FA Trophy 1st RD
Season 3 (2012-2013); BSS 2nd (promoted via play-offs); FA Cup 1st RD; Fa Trophy 2nd RD

[turn it in]

Wow a big score for a playoff match :O

Congratz anyway

Yeah thanks. Gonna have a lie down now I think.

[SnakeXe]

Oh and by a matter of interest did you sign Jabuti? He's done wonders for me so far

I had not, but I've just offered him a trial on your recommendation

Edit: Signed him up as he looked good, won a penalty (which my clownish defender missed) then scored on his debut - thanks a lot!

[Holyehsauce]

I had not, but I've just offered him a trial on your recommendation

You will not be disappionted.

[SnakeXe]

You will not be disappionted.

I'm not - see the edit above

[Holyehsauce]

I'm not - see the edit above

6 goals in 9 Apps for me so far, and he plays a supporting role which has caused my other striker to go 10 goals in 9 apps.

[Dalbeider]

Jabuti is insane. He's scored 37 in 34(5) apps for me so far, and has singlehandedly brought my Sutton Utd team to the playoffs in my first season. Against the BSS defenders he looks like Ronaldo (the good, Brazilian, sometimes fat one), running between, around and ahead of them as he pleases. Fantastic player.

[Terk]

That was slightly humbling, lost 2-0 at Standard on our Champions League début and it could have been four or five to them

[aeropaus]

Ha! Had my first ever run in with the home-grown players rule. Since so much of 'good' squad were either under-20 or Scottish, we ended up with only 3 "home grown" players to start the season and you need 4 to play a game, so we had to go with 4 subs only for our first few games.

Luckily we're up to five now as we brough in a couple of "vets" (22-25 years old heh) but still an amusing side effect of having a squad with an average age of 20.

[Almondo]

Okay it's the final game of the Championship and both automatic promotion spots are taken and decided already with Boston United and Ipswich playing Premier League Football next season. Both teams are on 86 points so it all comes down to this.

[DizzyIzzyB13]

I started this earlier, but I lost my save file and become more interested in playing other games. Now 10.3 is out, I'm going to give this another crack. Manager Profile. 'Mon the Eagles!

[Almondo]

YESSSSSSSSSSSS. That's it with a 3-0 win over Leicester at the Walkers stadium Boston United take the Championship title on Goal difference.

Edit: Welcome aboard Dizzy

[foost]

Anyone here has the kits/logo of Stocksbridge Park Steels?

[Swindon69]

In my second season with Boston, in the 1st season my "Other" costs were £39k, in my second season by September they're already at £38k. I haven't gone up a division - does anyone have any idea why they've suddenly rocketed?

[jordanswinburn]

Into the 3rd round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 win against Blackpool in the away replay. We got Villa at home next.

We've just followed that win with a 5-2 win against 5th place Port Vale. That win takes us into the top half

[Almondo]

Boston united season 18 2027/28


League Table , final position - 1st - Champions

Well what can I say about this season. We were only expected to be a top half make weight by the media and the bookies although I had the feeling that the youngish squad had the quality to make a real playoff push. To be honest I would have been perfectly happy with a playoff place but the way the season went surprised me with us being top 2 or 3 from the off really. The real tense part of the season was the final couple of games where the title was at stake. All we needed to do was match Ipswich's result on the final day and we'd be champions. The problem was we were away at Leicester while Ipswich had a home game which the won 4-1. However the players really seeemed up for the game and we won comfortably 3-1 giving us the title. Also with us moving to a new stadium in time for the new season We give York St the send off it deserves.


Cups

A quarter final appearance in the League Cup. With us putting out holders Leeds in the 4th round. We also saw the 5th round of the FA Cup before going out to Man City

FA Cup Went out in the 5th Round to Man City

League Cup A Quarter Final saw us go out to West Ham


Transfers





Star Player

The star player this season has been Charlie Harber Harber has been fantastic once again this season. Putting in some great performances in the centre of defence.



Key Players

David Pusztai Picked up free and proved to be a great pick up.

Rafal SochaOnce again solid at right back.

Jonas Bergstrand The third of my main 3 strikers saw a lot of game time scoring 14 goals in the league.

Milen Vladimirov Another good season for the Veteran Bulgarian.

Aiden CampbellThe Irish Wizard was top scorer this season



Finances


I was also given Manager of the Year

Season           League              Final Position               Achievments
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11       Blue Square North          7th                         none
2011/12       Blue Square North          2nd                       Promoted Via Playoffs
2012/13       Blue Square Premier        15th                        none  
2013/14       Blue Square Premier        20th                        none
2014/15       Blue Square Premier        12th                        none
2015/16       Blue Square Premier        3rd                       Lost in Playoff Final   
2016/17       Blue Square Premier        1st                       Automatic Promotion, FA Trophy
2017/18       Coca Cola League 2         2nd                       Automatic Promtion
2018/19       Coca Cola League 1         21st                      Relegated to League 2
2019/20       Coca Cola League 2         4th                       Lost in Playoff Final
2020/21       Coca Cola League 2         4th                       Promoted via Playoffs
2021/22       Coca Cola League 1         9th                         none
2022/23       Coca Cola League 1         11th                        none
2023/24       Coca Cola League 1         1st                       League 1 Champions
2024/25       Coca Cola Championship     11th                        none
2025/26       Coca Cola Championship     14th                        none
2026/27       Coca Cola Championship     5th                      Lost in Playoff Semi Finals
2027/28       Coca Cola Championship     1st                      Championship Champions

Other Winners
Premier League - Arsenal
FA Cup - Man City
Carling Cup - Chelsea
Champions League - A C Milan
UEFA Cup - Sevilla
European Championships - Turkey


Aims for next season

Survival, Survival, Survival

[jordanswinburn]

Good season Almondo, shame about the defeat to my beloved City in the 5th round.

Just beat Preston 5-1 in the game after Port Vale. Where the hell did this come from?

We're edging ever so closer to the playoffs, and we're a game behind, which that win could take us in or just outside em.

[Terk]

Boston into the big time Well done, Almondo

[jordanswinburn]

I think I've figured out what's brought this great run on (which is now up to 6 consecutive wins, against most of the top teams in League 1).

I've went with Terk's 'more strikers = more goals' ideology. Greenhalgh (who after 4 years has finally got striker position), Elford-Alliyu and Paynter are now my front three. In the past 6 games they have got 18 between them.

[Gypsum]

Nice job Almondo.

My Merthyr side are cruising into a mid-table position with just a couple of games remaining in our first season in the BSS. But i'm quite optimistic as a change in tactics and a few new signings midway through the campaign have really seen our performances shoot up. Hopefully we can pick up from here next term and challenge for promotion.

[threelions1goal]

Cambridge City Season 2102/13

After last seasons unexpected promotion, as Champions of the BSN, it was predicted we were in for a tough time.

Media prediction was 24th and after the first ten games or so, I was beginning to think this was a distinct possibility, hovering around the relegation zone, as consistency was virtually impossible to find.

Then, after stumbling across what was my best team for my 4-3-3 formation, it all seemed to click into place and we went on a real decent run surpassing all expectations where we......

Reached the 3rd round of the FA Cup, narrowly losing 2-1 at home to Ipswich (board wanted 1st Round)
Reached the 3rd round of the FA vase, losing to bitter rivals Cambridge utd (board wanted 2nd round)
And in the league, we finished...... 10th flirted with the play offs until an end of season collapse where we lost 4 of our last 10 matches.

So, my pursuit in making City bigger than united in Cambridge must trumble on for another season - especially as utd were promoted, as Champions, to League 2.

Next season, I'm quite optimistic that we can challenge for the play offs and I intend telling the board so, in my start of season expectations..... so hopefully I'll get a good wage budget as my control over wages in my previous 3 seasons has been really good.

I've not posted the progress table, like you guys as I'm not sure now to do it, so any help will be appreciated, but these are my previous seasons -

2010/11 Blue Square North finished 9th
2011/12 Blue Square North finished 1st Promoted as Champions
2012/13 Blue Square Prem finished 10th

(Incidentally, I really want to start a new game with the new patch, but I can't quite leave this as I'm getting a real affinity for some of my players.... how sad!!)

[Swindon69]

This season I've stuck with 4-4-2 with one deep-lying forward set to "Attack" and a Trequarista, so far my side has banged in 22 in 9 games in the league.

Gah knew I was tempting fate - following this post I played Bedford (a team of greys) at home in the 4th Qualifying round of the Cup.

Match Stats

Shots 25 Them 3
On Target 8 Them 2
Hit Woodwork 2 (both in the last five minutes) Them 0
CCC 6 Them 1

And the final score was ...... 1-1.

[Rattlesnake_85]

Well im holidaying AGAIN!!!. It must be something to do with Dartford having a white kit. I didn't enjoy watching their matches as it kind of hurt my eyes.So will be changing team once again.