dafuge's FM11 challenge

[KLH84]

Interested to gauge opinion on when to offer full time vs part time contracts.

Now into my third season (first in the BSP) I have taken on a Scout with 15 for Ability and 16 for Potential (woohoo) on a full time basis as well as two full time coaches. Two players in my squad are on full time contracts and I am now looking to make all new contracts full time.

What has everyone else done in the BSP? Are you sticking to part time at the moment or pushing on and trying to take advantage of full time training?

[pickemgenius]

HENDON DONS PRESEASON REPORT: 2015/16
npower championship



notes:

ok wtf is this new stadium has to be scrapped. fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

New Budget: 1.7mill transfer/ 70k/week wage. Might trim the transfer to get bigger wage if needed. (which I did a bit)

It's so weird being able to sign really good players.

New Signings:

Liam Morgan:GK, $1400/week 3 years. 16/20 scout says Good EPL goalie. 18 years old(18 >1month after sign date of june 5)
Anduele Pryor:everywhere midfielder, $6250-/week 2 years. 30 years old
Mohamed Benmoussa:GK, $1500/week 3 years. 19(soon to be 20)y/o GK with good EPL potential. His stats are awesome right now. Is a big guy.(6'2" 200 pounds)
Mark Cullen:ST, $5250/week 2 years. 23 years old. 15 pace/15 finish. 5 foot 6 fireball express.
Frank Nouble:A(MR)/A(ML)/ST:$6500/week 2 years 23 years old-Natural striker which I don't need, but 16 pace on the outside will be nice.
Kiril KotevRC:$3600/week 2 years- 33 years old Bulgarian who should just be awesome. Only 3 attributes under 10(accel//agil/corners)
Sjoerd Winkens: DLC-$2000/week 2 years-32 years old, backup mostly, with a 20 workrate, so should be a fantastic workhorse backup
Jean Rabea: MC-$800 week/3 years, 19 years old(soon to be 20.) Last years dafuge I had a backup EPL Madagascan goalie, so i'd like a MC this time , plus he's pretty good.
Greg Halford: DR/MR:$6250/week/2 years, 30 years old, only bravery@9 is attribute under 10. need a MR so woo.


The youngins:
Mohamed Benmoussa
Jean Rabea
Liam Morgan

League Cup Draw home against Wycombe. woo home draw and against L2 team. yay!

Friendly Results:

2-2 draw with Celtic
1-1 draw with Man City
5-4 win with thurrock
2-1 win with Blackburn
1-0 win with Stoke

Thoughts:

Ok, so.... those friendlies were kinda awesome. Now instead of fretting, I think promoting will be quite easy.
I think basically every new face(exept Liam Morgan GK3/loan bait) will contribute. Just really want to start strong,
and avoid losing streaks as usual. I really don't have too much to say because I'm feeling super confident.

[Dons]

Interested to gauge opinion on when to offer full time vs part time contracts.

Now into my third season (first in the BSP) I have taken on a Scout with 15 for Ability and 16 for Potential (woohoo) on a full time basis as well as two full time coaches. Two players in my squad are on full time contracts and I am now looking to make all new contracts full time.

What has everyone else done in the BSP? Are you sticking to part time at the moment or pushing on and trying to take advantage of full time training?

Personally when signing players, i always use full time when possible. In most cases, i can get the signings for same price. When players are on full time schedule, naturally their stats and game efforts has better potential, compared to part time. The hardest part i have encountered, is getting staff on full time

[Jaffa]

Northwich Victoria
Season 2 - 2012/13 – Blue Square Premier
Preseason - Media Prediction: 19th
Final placing: 7th
We Are NOT Football League

Aim

Into the Blue Square Premier, the board wanted me to attempt to avoid relegation, but I went for mid-table, changing it to promotion when asked probably about 2/3 of the way through.

The Season
This season was very disappointing for me. We started off poorly, then went on an unbelievably good run springing me up to top spot. Your guess is as good as mine what happened after that, to say form was patchy would be an understatement, added to the fact Darlington and a few others got really strong runs of form going just resulted in me dropping to as low as 10th at one point. I really can’t quite put my finger on what went wrong, but I have been trying to operate with just the 1 tactic and then to tweak it depending on home/away and quality of opposition. I think I’ve seen the error in this as the “preparedness” of the team suffers.

FA Cup, I went out early, nothing to see here…

FA Trophy I managed to battle my way to the final of this competition, only to lose in the final DISMALLY 2-0 to relegation candidates Hayes and Yeading. My left back got sent off at 1-0 down and I was never coming back from that.

I have a 12k wage budget, which I think is a lot for the BSP, and I spent it…to no avail. At one point the club was 700k+ in the red with the board refinancing the debt giving me a black balance of 89k. However the finances are what they are if you take a look below

FA Trophy Final

Blue Square Premier Table | Positional Graph

Transfers

Finances

Top Scorer
Harry Bunn
Scored 25 goals, next in line was Callum Bagshaw with 17.

Northwich Victoria Awards

Fan's Player of the Year
Harry Bunn.
Undeserved in my opinion, he had a proper sulk on him for a good 15 games or so at the end of the season. Waste really could of taken me up.

Top Scorer
Harry Bunn
25 goals in 43(6) games. I’ve got to be honest I was disappointed with this tally, he’s capable of much more I feel. Mid-way through the season I just couldn’t seem to pick his morale up off the floor. It was very poor for quite a spell and his dry run was long to say the least. Harry’s form just went totally to pot once we dropped off top spot and he never looked the same player after it. I think I need to put more sugar in his half time brews.

My personal Player of the year award
Oliver Norwood
Consistent performer, scorer of spectacular goals and free kicks (though not enough of them…something to work on..) and general top player for me.



Next Season
I think I need to tighten up at the back, and score a few more aswell as have a back up tactic ready to fire. I really can not aim for anything other than promotion, it’s a must or I reckon it’ll cost me my job. A good few players I need to move on. I'm very strong in some areas, and have below par players in others, I need to fix that.



Career Overview

Code:

Season          League          End Position          Achievements
2011-12          BSN                 2nd              Promotion via playoffs
2012-13          BSP                 7th

[Dons]

This has to be the best goal i have seen so far!

[Dons]

Not that bad a season Jaffa. Low rep team playing in BSP for the first time in their history... Norwood is amazing, i love him on my team as well

[Junior89]

Evesham United - 2013/14 BSN

So after two midtable finishes the question was whether I could actually get my team promoted from the bottom division, although once again the media predicted dead last. Just to make things interesting the board cut my wage budget to 2.1k and refused to look for a feeder club, combined with an abysmal youth system this meant putting together a team was tricky. I had to let go Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu but I still had Saric and a south-african - David Somma - upfront so I should have been sorted. There were a few other key players eg the young Turk from Arsenal (Orzugan?) and a load of 18yr olds who would accept really low wages because they were so happy to be playing.

Then I stupidly set the squad win bonuses low which pretty much ****ed them off for the entire season. For instance Saric's morale was very poor the whole season and consequently he was totally naff, missing sitters every time he played. We would win 3-0 one week and lose 5-1 the next - we beat the eventual champions at home but The Robins also lost to the three relegated teams. Anybody else seeing a large number of crosses being fluked over their keeper's head and into their net, because that was a frequent occurrence at our end. I was relying on the shaky defensive capabilities of a BSN quality centre-back pairing too much due to the profligacy of the forwards: they weren't so such shooting blanks as they were lighting fireworks on the ends of their boots, with all the expected accuracy. Saric in particular must be world-class at ballooning it viciously over the bar when one on one with the keeper. Somma was our only consistent performer, netting 31 goals all season and dragging us to 4th place and the playoff final where we had a home tie against Northwich Victoria. I honestly thought we would make it since our home form had been pretty good and we had already beaten them before, but alas we went down with a whimper to a 1-0 defeat as only 2 of our team mustered a 6.5 performance - this really shocked me as I thought the chance of promotion would be a great motivator.

So it's a 3rd failure to get out of the BSN which I think must rival Vikeologist's claim for worst performance so far! To make it even worse Somma fell out with my left-back and demanded a move to a bigger club, but with a value of just 2.5k I was never going to get any money for him so I was forced to offer him mutual termination to free up his considerable wages for other players. Then the cheeky bugger goes and joins Tamworth, a team in the same league ! This was his "big club".!!! Saric is now also making rumblings of wanting to move which I am hoping I can at least postpone by a season.

The club was taken over just before the playoff final and the new board agreed that the wages should go up - to 2.4k a week. Wow that's backing for you!

PS I can't get the screenies uploaded into photobucket any more and when i could do that i couldn't link to them properly hence lack of picture action.

[Jaffa]

I know what your saying Dons, I should be happy but with the money I'm spending (the plummeting finances -189k now after close season) and the amazing run I had, I guess I just expected a bit more.

Still...onwards and hopefully upwards!

Grats to all who are going great guns by the way, I read the thread regularly and keep up to date

[vikeologist]

Evesham United - 2013/14 BSN

So it's a 3rd failure to get out of the BSN which I think must rival Vikeologist's claim for worst performance so far!

I did get Bradford Park Avenue out of the BSN!

[Junior89]

Ha, so it more than rivals your claim! I'm like the token amateur at the Olympics.

[jordanswinburn]

Crap. I forgot about the Community Shield. I've got Arsenal in that.

Europa League News. In the 4th Qualifying Round, I was seeded (because that makes any difference to me...), and got Debrecen. I'm going out.

[jordanswinburn]

This has to be the best goal i have seen so far!

What a goal. Why is that seemingly the only celebration the players ever do?

[Gypsum]

Well that's fortunate! Was going through a rough patch of form with 2 losses then 3 straight draws, then 3 days after my last game, I was set to face my main L2 championship rivals, Tranmere. But the game was postponed thanks to a waterlogged pitch, which game my team a bit of recovery before the next match and we managed to build up some form with 3 wins before facing Tranmere, and managing to win 3-1!

31 games in now and i'm 6 points clear at the top. Only 2nd placed Tranmere and 3rd placed Chesterfield are close, as i'm 15 points clear of 4th place. Looking good for automatic promotion as long as we can avoid any major injuries.

[darren1983]

Anybody can achieve 3 straight promotions and an FA Cup win, but the taste of victory will be all the sweeter for me.

Just remember that failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.

On an other note, I've not played much lately mainly due to work and the fact I want to start again, after 2 and a half years at FC United I still feel no affection for the club, and for me to do well in this challenge I need to feel the love!

On Holiday now

[KLH84]

Crap. I forgot about the Community Shield. I've got Arsenal in that.

Europa League News. In the 4th Qualifying Round, I was seeded (because that makes any difference to me...), and got Debrecen. I'm going out.

Knowing you you'll win that as well...

[darren1983]

Here I go AFC Hornchurch http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q...tributes-1.png

[Dons]

6 matches to go in BSP. This is getting really interesting. Grimsby has been topdog all season.
Table

5 games to go. Grimsby lost. Ashton lost

[Terk]

Right, finished for this gaming session (off to do some tactical experiments with Liverpool). After 11 games we've picked up to 8th place, so things are going better. We're only five points behind league leaders Hartlepool, so there's a long way to go and a whole lot to play for yet.

[KLH84]

My first game in the BSP ended up as a 2-1 home defeat to Stafford. We dominated the game but the curse of the last minute goal struck again.

Sticking with 4-1-3-2 as I feel it offers defensive stability as well as attacking movement - no other teams seem to use the tactic though so I'm either a visionary or an idiot.

My scout (A15 P16) has just picked out a defender (Ged Kent) who, he says, has the potential to be a good premiership player. I don't see it myself but I'm going to trust him.

[jordanswinburn]

Knowing you you'll win that as well...

Naa, I lost the Community Shield 2-1. They were all over me.

[minisav]

It's weird seeing the same names I'm getting in the Big Euro countries SC2BC challenge in here. Callum Bagshaw got me promotion to the Scottish 2nd Division and Ajose just got player of the season in the 2nd division for one of my opponents. Doesn't help my team is filled with youth players from the Premiership. I have from Man Utd alone!

And just saw another, star man from last season for me Oliver Norwood!

[foost]

Just finished 4th in the BSN first season... Next on the role: semi final vs AFC Telford

[Gypsum]

A young Italian signing just told me he wasn't settling in in England, so I told him to go back to Italy for a bit. Didin't realise he was going to spend a month there, cheeky *******!

[Dons]

Play off leg 1 away. I feel sooo robbed

[minisav]

Mon the Dons!

[foost]

F*ck, just lost at home 1-2 to AFC Telford... argh, will be hard to win away... :s

[Dons]

Ow and to make things worse, we just lost FAT final on penalties

[Dons]

Completely devastated. Was 3 pts away from winning BSP - Instead we lost in playoffs and the FAT final - the only 3 really bad games over the season, just had to come at this point QQ

NEED MORE BRIBERY OPTIONS IN THE GAME! (I know its popular in Italy)

[foost]

Whats bribery Dons? To bad tho, feeling the pain.

// I just won 0-2 away vs AFC Telford, meaning I am in the finals vs Hyde. We'll see, missing 4 key players pff

[Gypsum]

The season is grinding to a halt now. 9 games left in L2 and i'm still top, but top scorer Saric has just got injured, adding to other key injuries and the sale of Bailey which has really killed the playing style we had in the first half of the season. 5 draws in our last 6 games is not inspiring stuff. But we at least have a 15 point gap keeping us in the automatic promotion places.

[Gypsum]

Completely devastated. Was 3 pts away from winning BSP - Instead we lost in playoffs and the FAT final - the only 3 really bad games over the season, just had to come at this point QQ

NEED MORE BRIBERY OPTIONS IN THE GAME! (I know its popular in Italy)

Unlucky Dons. Bribery would be a nice option!

[fcunitedfan]

My girlfriend messed my save up! I left my laptop on when I went to work, and she decided to try out my game. She played about eight games, losing all of them because she knows nothing about football or computer games. She knew enough though to save the game when she'd finished messing it up. I could have cried and/or killed her, but instead I'm just going to resart my Colwyn Bay save. I was only half way through my first season anyway. So here it is, my new profile.

[foost]

Just won 0-2 vs Hyde in the playoff final!! WOHO!!!! PROMOTION!

With 7 yellowcards on my side it was a thug game haha... But who cares! BSP here we come!

[fcunitedfan]

Just won 0-2 vs Hyde in the playoff final!! WOHO!!!! PROMOTION!

With 7 yellowcards on my side it was a thug game haha... But who cares! BSP here we come!

Congratulations foost. Are you going to post a season review?

[foost]

Of course! But not now, will most prob do it tomorrow evening!

First some clicking through, then cooking and then have football training this evening so...

// Shame about your game, hope for you she is better in other stuff gl anyway with your new season!

[roganp]

Ok, I've read the rules and ready to get started on this challenge for the first time here is my Profile:
http://i1139.photobucket.com/albums/...Attributes.png

Could someone please tell me how I can name my link's so I can keep them shorter thanks.

[jordanswinburn]

We managed a 0-0 draw against Debrecen at Gigg Lane. I've now got to go pull off a miracle in Hungary

[Dons]

Ashton Utd - Season Summary 2012-13

Wont be making too long a post regarding the season, but will take a little time to share what i found out during the season instead.

Had a really good season for a first time in BSP. From midway and to the end, Ashton was in top 5. Was 3 pts away to win BSP, but an 8 week injury to key striker and 5 weeks away to key midfield was too much for team to handle. Final position: 2nd lost in play off semi finals both away and home to Lincoln.

Cup run was ok for FA - 3rd round exit to Blackburn. FAT lost on penalties in the final.

Table - Graph - Squad - Transfers - Finances - Profile ------------------ Key players this season Richard Bryan - Oliver Norwood - Romone Rose - Danny Uchechi

Now for the second part of the post. I will share the things that has worked for me, so following are my personal spoilers!

For training and increase in stats on players:

<player> -> training -> training levels -> (if you are not satisfied with your players current training level) private chat -> development -> training -> .....place for first team

If they agree great. If they dont agree tell them you are boss and you pick the team! You should see their stats increase over the next month. Personally i checked players every month and its just rinse and repeat.

For keeping morale high:

In game situations, players are suckers for positive words. What I noticed is: use <you can win this> or <encourage> - doesn't really matter if its away or home. If you use <expect better> and team looses, morale will drop. If you use the 2 other options (and occasionally <sympathise> when you loose) morale will stay indifferent on 90% of your players!

Game setup: People talk about and discuss the 3 attacker game mechaninc flaw. I have used a straight forward 4-4-2 at all time. I have attacking wingers, ball control mid, playmaker mid, target man and fast striker.
The playmaker should have a good freekick, and will make alot of assists or goals, target man will either pass or score.

Players vs Finances:

I have chosen a large squad. Agreed hurting finances, but my players are cheap. When scouts have found prospects that are either leading L2 or good/leading L1. if I can sign them cheap (and use the 30 match played wage increase option) I do that. Reason? Simple.. Games/morale/player condition go hand in hand. Naturally in theory, I could field a strong team at all time, but in reality it would be with players that are 80+ con. The games i have won the with most goals and least effort, is when my players "out-condition" the opponent.

So signing alot of potentially good young players for 3 reasons: 1) Subs when mains are low con 2) as the game progresses, I can most likely sell some with a nice profit. 3) It's fun to see if they develop good

Also, when i had a little cash from FA - first thing I did was to increase staffs (coaches) asked for increased scouting range and got it (continental scouting in BSP!) followed by asking for more scouts, which also was accepted.
There are many great free players for the BSS/N to L1 - why not use all your cash on increasing chance to get them? as welll as increase facilities, rather than buy that 1 CH rating striker? Money will come later with ease, so personally, I would rather increase chances of finding gems/have better facilities - than buy players the chairman will sell over my head

IF YOU READ the full small guide i wrote - YOU NEED A LIFE

[Dons]

My girlfriend messed my save up! I left my laptop on when I went to work, and she decided to try out my game. She played about eight games, losing all of them because she knows nothing about football or computer games. She knew enough though to save the game when she'd finished messing it up. I could have cried and/or killed her, but instead I'm just going to resart my Colwyn Bay save. I was only half way through my first season anyway. So here it is, my new profile.

Sure, blame your gf because your tactics failed

On a side note, I hate when my cat does the same

[TugSafc]

Half way through second season and we are 2nd, a couple of points behind Darlington who are frustrating me by keeping on winning when I am

[Gypsum]

Haha! What is this keeper doing!?!?!

[Annihilator666]

1 win in the last 8 matches means my lead at the top of the BSP has been cut to 4 points...

[Gypsum]

Just secured promotion to League 1 with 3 games to go! Now to push on and claim 1st place. Currently 3 points clear, but our form is unconvincing, and our two remaining good strikers both got sent off in the last match!

[heat02]

Canvey Island End of Season Summary 2013/14 - Third Season

Media Prediction: 17th
Actual Finish: 1st

After a poor start where we got torn apart by Bishop Stortford 7-0 we went strength to strength to go on a 18 match unbeaten run and take the league on the final game of the season. The league was extremely tight this year with 3 of us fighting for the top spot but we managed to clinch the title on the final day thanks to a 1-0 win away at on form Staines (even though we didn't need to win as Dover were beaten by Gloucester).
A change of formation was the major impact this season as the players really adapted and took control of games by dominating the centre of the pitch even though we went to a more attacking 4-3-3 formation we scored less goals than last year but our defending was amazing conceding only 33 goals in the league.
We were knocked out of the FA Cup in the 3rd Qualifying round by non-league Margate which went to a replay however in the FA Trophy we made it to the Semi-finals where we took a 4-3 lead on agg to Mansfield where they beat us 2-0.

It was an amazing and exciting season and now I can't wait to give the Blue Square Premier ago as I'm sure it will be a challenge.

Transfers: 10 In/ 23 Out

Best Players of the Season

Carl Magnay - Signed him up after he was released from Chelsea and gave him the captain's armband where he strengthened our back four and made the team unbeatable.

Callum McFadzean - Last two seasons we were struggling with a left back so when my scout highly recommended Callum I jumped at the chance and he was amazing all season. Great at defending and attacking he suited the 4-3-3 formation perfectly.

Alexis Nikolas - A consistent performer with a cracking shot. Nikolas scored some absolute beauties this season and his passing was second to none.

Vincent Pericard - Top scorer again this season and was always there when we needed a goal. Decided that with 10 games left he deserves to be at a bigger club (probably right) so will be a struggle to keep hold of him.


Aim for Next Season
Consolidate in BSP
Improve quality of squad
Get a decent cup run

League Finishes
2011/12 6th BSS
2012/13 8th BSS
2013/14 1st BSS

[roganp]

Just lost my first league game with Canvey Island 0-1 to an own-goal from my new centre-back and to top it off my new skipper got injured and will be out for 2 to 3 months.

[Quavis]

NANTWICH TOWN - Blue Square North 2013/14

League Table

3rd times the charm! Congrats on promotion Scooty! Always great to avoid the playoffs and get promoted as Champion! Thanks for another great update.

Interested to gauge opinion on when to offer full time vs part time contracts.

Now into my third season (first in the BSP) I have taken on a Scout with 15 for Ability and 16 for Potential (woohoo) on a full time basis as well as two full time coaches. Two players in my squad are on full time contracts and I am now looking to make all new contracts full time.

What has everyone else done in the BSP? Are you sticking to part time at the moment or pushing on and trying to take advantage of full time training?

o.O you made it to the BSP with everyone on P/T contacts? That's impressive! I put everyone on full time contracts from the get go. You can often do it for the same/slightly more on the contract and the difference in training can be huge. This will also dramatically improve your fitness levels. My advice is to get everyone on F/T contracts ASAP!

[CENTER]

Northwich Victoria
Season 2 - 2012/13 – Blue Square Premier
Preseason - Media Prediction: 19th
Final placing: 7th[/SIZE]

7th is great for the 1st season in the BSP Jaffa. Unlucky to not win the the JPT final , but congrats on making it that far! Thanks for the great update.

Evesham United - 2013/14 BSN

Don't let yourself get down over still not making it out of the BSN. Most of the people having instant success have done this challenge many times in the past amongst other things. Even for veterans this challenge can be very difficult. Remember that its not about who finishes first, but the experience and the stories that go with it.

It looks like you made good improvements this year. You did well to make the playoffs and them to make the final! Anything can happen in those 1 game knockouts and there is nothing wrong with being eliminated at that point. Hopefully next year you can challenge for the top stop and avoid them completely.

Don't let those players push you around! I'm notoriously bad about dealing players whining about new contracts. I will keep playing them and let them complain about it until they request a transfer. I grant their request and set a value I'm happy with. If someone comes in at that price, great. If not, they can keep playing and deal with no one wanting them. I've found that winning cures almost all happiness problems and they usually end up swallowing their pride and telling me they would like to stay and to please unlist them.

Ashton Utd - Season Summary 2012-13

Great start. Unlucky in the FAT trophy and playoff finals. If only those streaks could be toggled on/off at will! :P Thanks for the update! ps. Lives are over-rated :P


Apologies if I missed anyone I don't have jimbo'd. I'm doing my feedbacks from work this morning and I have to keep alt-tabbing.

[Quavis]

Canvey Island End of Season Summary 2013/14 - Third Season


Media Prediction: 17th
Actual Finish: 1st

I could have sworn I had this multi-quoted in my last post. 3rd times the charm! Congrats on promotion, especially doing it while being able to avoid the playoffs! Thanks for the update

[Gypsum]

Last game of the League 2 season, both Chippenham and Tranmere on 89 points but Chippenham in 1st place with a large goal difference advantage, we're the only two teams who can finish 1st now.

And our last game of the season... away to Tranmere!

The Tranmere board have chosen it as a fan day too, nice choice!

[Annihilator666]

I've gone from battering every team in the league to losing to teams in the relegation zone. I have no idea what happened, around the middle of January everything started falling apart... :S

[darren1983]

Don't let yourself get down over still not making it out of the BSN. Most of the people having instant success have done this challenge many times in the past amongst other things. Even for veterans this challenge can be very difficult. Remember that its not about who finishes first, but the experience and the stories that go with it.

This is so true. Been doing this challenge for the last 3 or 4 years now ( never completed it! Always win either the prem or the champ league, never both) and am finding it tought to even get into BSP this year

[regariol]

Progress report with Carsharlton Athletic:

1st Season in the BSS and it didn't start too well - perhaps a few too many signings saw the team struggle to find any early form in the league. After 10 games we were flirting around the relegation zone. We also experienced a bad away defeat in the FA cup to a non-league team. With hindsight though, it was the criticism that followed this result that spurred us into action. A few tactical revisions and a few words into the ears of the new signings put us onto the winning foot, sending us up the table.
Mid-Season we now find ourselves plum centre of the league, but heading in the right direction. Our FA Trophy run also continues, with a 2nd round tie looming around BSP opposition.

Most new signings have now settled in. The young keeper is perhaps still struggling with 1st team expectations, but confidence is high that he will find belief in himself.
Consistency is now the buzz-word - a play-off position wouldn't be beyond us if we can continue our recent form.

In the last match we produced perhaps our performance of the season, winning 5-0 away from home against Worcester. The 4th of these goals was an outrageous Alonso-esque finish from within his own half by my full back who spotted the opposing keeper out of his area - coming soon to YouTube when his manager sobers up!

In other related news, congratulations to all fellow managers who have tasted success with their teams. Special mention to the guy who won the FA cup with his team - an amazing achievement mate!

[Quavis]

I've gone from battering every team in the league to losing to teams in the relegation zone. I have no idea what happened, around the middle of January everything started falling apart... :S

I always seem to lose to the relegation teams. They should be easy points and I always slip up. How are your fitness levels? That part of the season tends to have heavy fixture congestion. I tend to try and rest my players in between any close packed games, even if its only 1 day. It hurts their training routines a bit and they might not develop as fast, but with higher fitness levels they do better in those back to back games.

[Annihilator666]

I always seem to lose to the relegation teams. They should be easy points and I always slip up. How are your fitness levels? That part of the season tends to have heavy fixture congestion. I tend to try and rest my players in between any close packed games, even if its only 1 day. It hurts their training routines a bit and they might not develop as fast, but with higher fitness levels they do better in those back to back games.

Yea, my fitness levels are awful.

[Gypsum]

LIVE COMMENTARY

Around 15,000 fans are expected at Prenton park for the League 2 title decider between Tranmere and Chippenham, thanks partly to the Tranmere board declaring this match a 'fan day'. Both teams have already secured promotion to League 1 next season, with Chippenham currently sitting 1st with a 9 goal advantage, but it comes down to the last game of the season to decide who takes home the silverware in what will be a fantastic atmosphere. Chippenham name an almost full strength side, with French defender Christophe Labejot returning after dislocating his jaw. The notable exception being Nikola Saric, Chippenham's top scorer this season who has been out with a torn groin muscle, and hasn't regained fitness in time for this match. In his place is Dean Kelly, a striker who has recently found form with 6 goals in his last 5 League 2 games.


KICK OFF

24 seconds - GOAL - Astonishing start for Tranmere! They break down the left, working the ball into the box until John Welsh finds space to shoot. The shot strikes the defender and spins into the top corner! Unbelievable! Tranmere 1-0 Chippenham

6 minutes - GOAL - What a game we have here! Chippenham get a corner whipped in by young Ben Coleman, he finds Ignasi Miquel marked at the near post, but the Spanish defender manages to stretch his long legs and pokes the ball into a defender and agonizingly past the man on the post! It's given as an OG! Tranmere 1-1 Chippenham

14 minutes - GOAL - A scrappy exchange between both sides struggling to retain possession leads to a Tranmere break down the right wing, the cross picking out Reece Connolly who manages to prod the ball past the keeper into the bottom corner. A packed Prenton park erupts! Tranmere 2-1 Chippenham

21 minutes - Chippenham are on the rack here, another Tranmere attack leads to a shot from the edge of the box which leaves the keeper stranded and strikes the crossbar. It's all action here, but Chippenham need to do something to stop this becoming a rout.

25 minutes - GOAL - A corner from Chippenham leads to nothing but a Tranmere counter down the right. An uncontested run leads to a cross which blazes across the face of the goal, but ends up with Soares on the back post, he controls, jinks past a defender and taps into an empty net. Disaster for Chippenham! Tranmere 3-1 Chippenham

And Chippenham make a change already, the left back Chris Armstrong who had been so assured all season is having a nightmare, and is replaced by Steven Smith.

41 minutes - Chippenham look to be building in confidence, and a long ball by Leven feeds Ben Coleman down the left, the keeper came across to track the ball but is in no mans land now, the cross falls perfectly for Dean Kelly, who strikes it... but his strike partner Ryan Mason gets in the pay and deflects it wide! They just can't catch a break!

HALF TIME - Terrible performance from my team, they need a kick up the backside! Prepare for the hairdryer treatment lads!

63 minutes - Everything good for Chippenham is coming from Ben Coleman. A good ball down the left finds him and he makes space from his marker to whip in a cross, it finds Pat Hoban who brings it down and shoots... but his effort goes tamely wide.

65 minutes - GOAL - But the good spell doesn't last long, another Tranmere break down the left wing leaves Chippenham reeling. The ball sails across goal to be picked up by Max Power, whose first shot is superbly saved by Hansen, but he has enough time for a second and buries it. It gets worse for Chippenham! Tranmere 4-1 Chippenham

80 minutes - A good break for Chippenham finds Mason in space centrally. He runs toward the edge of the area and fires off a shot, only to go straight at the keeper. The ball goes out for a corner, which leads to nothing. Chippenham are going all out attack now to try and salvage something from this.


FULL TIME - Tranmere 4-1 Chippenham - A terrible performance from Chippenham leaves them to settle for 2nd place, while Tranmere's 15,000 attending fans celebrate winning the league. Before the match it looked like there would be no losers here, but judging by that performance, a lot of Chippenham players will be looking for new clubs in the summer...

[PVentress]

Has anyone else suffered from the ridiculous defending of set pieces?

Just conceded 2 in my last game from free kicks where my entire defence lined up in a perfect line across the 18 yd box, except for 1 player who decided it was a good idea to stand 5 yds behind them all,

7 of the opposition decide to take up a position in the box safe in the knowledge they were well onside, with my genius players totally ignoring them and still rooted to the 18yd box

Low and behold the ball is chipped over the top of all my players and they have an easy tap in,

It looked ridiculous

[Quavis]

Haha! What is this keeper doing!?!?!

When did you play against Mr. Butterfingers? That is exactly something he would go and do. My guess is that he thinks he is in punt protection mode and forgot which version of football he is supposed to be play :P

[Quavis]

Has anyone else suffered from the ridiculous defending of set pieces?

Just conceded 2 in my last game from free kicks where my entire defence lined up in a perfect line across the 18 yd box, except for 1 player who decided it was a good idea to stand 5 yds behind them all,

7 of the opposition decide to take up a position in the box safe in the knowledge they were well onside, with my genius players totally ignoring them and still rooted to the 18yd box

Low and behold the ball is chipped over the top of all my players and they have an easy tap in,

It looked ridiculous

Set pieces in general have been absolutely rubbish for me this year. I'm not sure if it is because I haven't gone through the new Set Piece Wizard or whatever it is this year or not. On attacking corners, the ball is always launched perfectly into the middle of the box, yet all of my players just stand there and watch it hit the ground. NO ONE attacks either the near or far post and 99% of the time its harmlessly cleared.

I still give up far too many goals from corners. Fortunately, I haven't played against many players who have a decent free kick stat, so I don't give up too many of those yet.

[Annihilator666]

Just lost my last game of the season against Grimsby at home. I needed to beat them to secure promotion, but their victory sends them up. Have to settle for the playoffs...

[Gypsum]

When did you play against Mr. Butterfingers? That is exactly something he would go and do. My guess is that he thinks he is in punt protection mode and forgot which version of football he is supposed to be play :P

I just checked and it was a actually a goalie they had on loan from West Ham, he's pretty decent too, worth £350k!

But then I noticed the problem!

[Quavis]

Gypsum: Sorry I missed the edited commentary. Tough loss At least you had already clinched a promotion spot. Looking forward to your end of season recap

edit: ROFL at the Robert Green part

[KLH84]

Urgh...having a really bad start to my first season in the BSP. My Hastings team just cannot score and are struggling with the step up to this league. Borini is still performing but he can't carry the team on his own. Consider me to be sulking *wishes he was Swinburn*

[Terk]

Note to self: When the Marine board sack you, make sure you don't over promise and under deliver in your next job.

[Dons]

Note to self: When the Marine board sack you, make sure you don't over promise and under deliver in your next job.

Ouch... what did you promise?

[Terk]

Ouch... what did you promise?

After last season I promised promotion as I felt it was well within my grasp. Obviously we've started this season poorly, and my job security has dropped from 'untouchable' to 'insecure'. We need to string some wins together and get into the play-off places or I'll get the chop.

[fcunitedfan]

Sure, blame your gf because your tactics failed

On a side note, I hate when my cat does the same

Cheeky sod! I was actually doing OK. I may have been 18th in the league, but I was still in the FA Cup and FA Trophy. My finances were terrible, but that didn't bother me too much. This time round, I'm not going to sign so many free transfers. I ended up a few hundred over my wage budget on my first attempt, and the team was struggling to gel.

[Terk]

First game back this session, 4-0 win over Hayes & Yeading. That should ease a bit of the pressure, climbing ever more towards the play-off spots.

[KLH84]

After last season I promised promotion as I felt it was well within my grasp. Obviously we've started this season poorly, and my job security has dropped from 'untouchable' to 'insecure'. We need to string some wins together and get into the play-off places or I'll get the chop.

I might join you at the job centre if this carries on. Drastic measures time - complete switch from 4-1-3-2 to 3-2-3-2.

God knows how this is going to turn out...

Oh. So we beat Wrexham 3-0 with McLean (who hasn't scored all season) scoring a hattrick. Perhaps I should have changed tactic a while back...

[Dons]

I couldn't help it. I just had to

[KLH84]

I couldn't help it. I just had to

He needs to be at your club for the entire challenge as a mascot.

[fcunitedfan]

I might join you at the job centre if this carries on. Drastic measures time - complete switch from 4-1-3-2 to 3-2-3-2.

God knows how this is going to turn out...

Oh. So we beat Wrexham 3-0 with McLean (who hasn't scored all season) scoring a hattrick. Perhaps I should have changed tactic a while back...

That's a very good tactic change if you keep getting those results. Good luck with your new tactic. Hope it works out well.

I couldn't help it. I just had to

Hehe

[Terk]

Callum Bagshaw has just netted his 50th goal for Marine, in his 97th game. Happened to be the only goal in a win over Salisbury as well. I doff my cap to his non-league awesomeness.

[fcunitedfan]

I just signed Matthew Regan for my BSN Colwyn Bay side on a free transfer. He's potentially a leading League One player, and I'm only paying him £40 a week. Thank you Assistant Manager!

[KLH84]

Callum Bagshaw has just netted his 50th goal for Marine, in his 97th game. Happened to be the only goal in a win over Salisbury as well. I doff my cap to his non-league awesomeness.

Terk, I have a confession to make.

I released Bagshaw into the wilderness after a frankly poor showing for Hastings.

Sorry

[Dons]

He needs to be at your club for the entire challenge as a mascot.

He is a potential leading league 1 - BUT he doesnt have the skills for a regular spot, so doubt he will resign a new contract

[Terk]

Terk, I have a confession to make.

I released Bagshaw into the wilderness after a frankly poor showing for Hastings.

Sorry

Clearly just means that I'm better than you if I can get this much out of him

[Willy Wonka]

FC United of Manchester - League 2 - 2013/14 Season

In a word, dull.

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

2011/12   Blue Square South        2nd         Promoted through playoffs
2012/13   Blue Square Premier      1st         Champions
2013/14   npower League 2          12th

[KLH84]

Clearly just means that I'm better than you if I can get this much out of him

Clearly means Borini is better than him

And what you said...

[fcunitedfan]

Don't panic Mr Mainwaring! Don't panic! Why oh why would I want to offer this player a new contract? I only just signed him about two days earlier...

[Quavis]

Clearly means Borini is better than him

And what you said...

Bagshaw is pretty much a sub for me as well. He just seems to do better coming off the bench in my game. I don't know about this Borini chap you all have signed. He still has a contract at Porto through 2013 in my bag. One of the quirky things about having your own save instead of downloading one :P

[Quavis]

Don't panic Mr Mainwaring! Don't panic! Why oh why would I want to offer this player a new contract? I only just signed him about two days earlier...

Backroom advice is broken in FM2011. All I get are retraining suggestions to train someone in a position I'm not even playing them in. Hopefully it will be fixed in the first patch.

[Gypsum]

Gypsum's Chippenham - End of season update - 2013/14


Media prediction - 24th
Final postition - 2nd / League table / League positions chart

A solid start to the season saw us rise to the top, and stay there for most of the season. But as the campaign wore on injuries, tiredness and the sale of Dean Bailey came into play and our results got gradually worse. Thankfully, our early success kept us afloat even during tough times, and saw us through to a final day match against Tranmere where the winner would claim first place. Unfortunately the occasion with 15,000+ fans in attendance, must have got to my team, as we slumped to a humiliating 4-1 defeat in what was easily our worst performance of the season. While it was a disappointing note to end the season on, finishing second and comfortably making automatic promotion is a massive success for this club and we still have a lot to be proud of.


Chippenham info;

General squad info

Transfers - As you can see, our biggest piece of business came from the sale of young left winger Dean Bailey to Huddersfield for £350k, 50% of his next transfer fee and a friendly.

Finances

Average attendance: 3481


Star players;

Nikola Saric - ST - Another season on top form from the Croatian striker, as he bagged 19 goals and 7 assists with a 7.26 rating, attracting the interest of Crewe and Portsmouth. A torn groin muscle saw him miss the last two months of the season and he was a big loss to the club as we struggled for form.

Ignasi Miquel - DC - Another player who showed his class despite injury problems. The towering Spanish centre-back managed a 7.16 rating despite missing 2 months of the season with a hip injury.

Christophe Labejot - DRLC - A new signing in the summer and a real quality player. The ex-Arsenal defender was magnificent in defence at times, and salvaged results when we were really struggling for form, showing experience beyond his years and getting a 7.13 rating. An exciting player for future seasons.

Dean Bailey - AML - Despite just a brief spell with us, Bailey made a big impact on the club. Singing in the summer after leaving Manchester United, Bailey made 23 appearances for us, scoring 6 goals with 13 assists and a 7.45 rating. This form attracted the interest of Championship side Huddersfield, and I reluctantly decided to sell him for £350k plus clauses. He is now tipped as a future Premier league star.


Goals of the season;

Nikola Saric v Luton - A through ball leads to a beautiful lob by Saric.

Dean Bailey v Fleetwood - A freekick from an impossible angle manages to find the back of the net! (Wrongly attributed to the GK in the video)

Ryan Mason v Grimsby - Included for its freak value alone, a long ball up the pitch looks to be going to the goalkeeper, who simply ignores it and goes for a wander! Meanwhile Mason chases it down and taps into an empty net.

Year                  League                           Position                                   Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/12               BSS                               2nd                                       Playoff winners
2012/13               BSP                               1st                                        FA cup 4th round
2013/14               L2                                 2nd

Aims for next season;
Strengthen everywhere! The only position I am happy with really is DC, everywhere else really needs some extra quality. Financially, we're in a pretty stable position, so hopefully we'll be able to afford the wages of some higher quality players. Also, a parent club which actually loans us players would be nice!

[Dons]

Haha - had a player get upset with me for some random reason.. Tried to talk to him and got this response: So, what have I done this time?

Nice one from the programmers!

[darren1983]

AFC Hournchurch Season 2011/12 Review

Media prediction: 22

Final Posistion: 16

Table

Graph

Squad

Not to much to say really, brought lots of players (names most of you know, Bagshaw etc) but we were so frustrating, every time we turned a corner we seemed to reverse back around it! We wernt helped by the fact that at various times we had both our strikers out injured and a defence that would just give up as soon as we let a goal in, and our main CB somehow managed to get 12 yellow cards and 4 red! We managed to stay up and after the first few games were never in danger of going down so at least we have a platform for next season. I think I need a new back 4 for the new season.

FA Trophy

FA Cup

Aims For Next Season

Progress! New back 4

[fcunitedfan]

Haha - had a player get upset with me for some random reason.. Tried to talk to him and got this response: So, what have I done this time?

Nice one from the programmers!

LMAO! That's an awesome response!

[Jaffa]

Good season Gypsum, Second season BSP looks like it might be a struggle for me. My wage bill is crippling, I can't afford to strengthen but if I let my higher earners go, I lose my best players...obviously

[wriches]

Congrats Scooty_BAFC, foost and heat02 (Pericard in the BSS, lol).

Unlucky Jaffa and Dons (League football for both of you next season I reckon). And unlucky Junior89, Gypsum (still a very decent season) and darren1983 too.

3 promotions out of 8 on this page

[wriches]

Haha - had a player get upset with me for some random reason.. Tried to talk to him and got this response: So, what have I done this time?

Nice one from the programmers!

Haha, I had that too right at the beginning of the season. One year later and he still starts every conversation with that, and yet he "is enjoying playing for the club" despite the fact he never plays, and it doesn't say he has a poor opinion of me on his Personal tab.

So, good luck with that.

[Dons]

Strange and evil programmer humour

[jmknpk]

Could someone please tell me how I can name my link's so I can keep them shorter thanks.

If you type the short text you want between the ] and [ that text should show up instead of the strange looking url.

[Annihilator666]

Annihilator666 - FC United - Season 13/14 - Blue Square Premier

Table - League Table | Position Graph
Squad - FC United Squad
Transfers - Transfers Summary
Finances - Finance Summary
Other Info - Club Information | Manager Information
Top Scorer - Jake Cassidy
Records - Overall Records | Season Records
Best Eleven - Overall | Season

After a fantastic start to the season, during which I built up a 15 point lead at the top of the table, everything started going wrong in January. A run of 6 games without a win allowed our closest rivals, Grimsby, to catch up and our continued bad form allowed them to overtake us at the top of the league. In the last game of the season, I had Grimsby at home. They were 1 point clear at the top, so only a victory would allow me to win the league title and gain automatic promotion. In a fantastic first half performance, I dominated the opposition but only had a 1-0 lead to show for it. Of course, within 10 minutes of the game resuming, Grimsby scored twice and held on to win the match and league title.

This left the playoffs as my only hope for promotion. Drawn against Forest Green, I hammered them 4-1 away from home in the first leg. We made things difficult for ourselves in the 2nd leg, going down to 10 men in the first half. Forest Green scored twice and I had to hang on for dear life to see out the tie and progress to the final.

38,000 fans turned out at Wembley to see FC United take on Histon in the BSP Playoff Final. We controlled the game for large periods and took a comfortable 1-0 victory to achieve promotion to League 2.

Had a decent run in the FA Cup this season too, reaching the 4th round before being defeated 4-1 by Blackburn at Ewood Park. Got £300k from the match as a consolation.

Season     League                      League Finish    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/12    Blue Square North           7th              None
2012/13    Blue Square North           1st              BSN Champions
2013/14    Blue Square Premier         2nd              Promoted via play-offs

[jordanswinburn]

Come on! 2-0 up against Debrecen IN Hungary! Zines got our first, and they scored an own goal for our second.

I've hit the post about 4 times already, and it's not half time yet.

3-0! Borini!

3-0 FT. We just ****ed on Debrecen.

[jordanswinburn]

3-0 FT. We just ****ed on Debrecen.

Group Stage Draw done. I've got Besiktas, Kaiserslautern and Wisla. It could have been much worse.

[timers]

Evesham United - 2013/14 BSN

So after two midtable finishes the question was whether I could actually get my team promoted from the bottom division, although once again the media predicted dead last. Just to make things interesting the board cut my wage budget to 2.1k and refused to look for a feeder club, combined with an abysmal youth system this meant putting together a team was tricky. I had to let go Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu but I still had Saric and a south-african - David Somma - upfront so I should have been sorted. There were a few other key players eg the young Turk from Arsenal (Orzugan?) and a load of 18yr olds who would accept really low wages because they were so happy to be playing.

Then I stupidly set the squad win bonuses low which pretty much ****ed them off for the entire season. For instance Saric's morale was very poor the whole season and consequently he was totally naff, missing sitters every time he played. We would win 3-0 one week and lose 5-1 the next - we beat the eventual champions at home but The Robins also lost to the three relegated teams. Anybody else seeing a large number of crosses being fluked over their keeper's head and into their net, because that was a frequent occurrence at our end. I was relying on the shaky defensive capabilities of a BSN quality centre-back pairing too much due to the profligacy of the forwards: they weren't so such shooting blanks as they were lighting fireworks on the ends of their boots, with all the expected accuracy. Saric in particular must be world-class at ballooning it viciously over the bar when one on one with the keeper. Somma was our only consistent performer, netting 31 goals all season and dragging us to 4th place and the playoff final where we had a home tie against Northwich Victoria. I honestly thought we would make it since our home form had been pretty good and we had already beaten them before, but alas we went down with a whimper to a 1-0 defeat as only 2 of our team mustered a 6.5 performance - this really shocked me as I thought the chance of promotion would be a great motivator.

So it's a 3rd failure to get out of the BSN which I think must rival Vikeologist's claim for worst performance so far! To make it even worse Somma fell out with my left-back and demanded a move to a bigger club, but with a value of just 2.5k I was never going to get any money for him so I was forced to offer him mutual termination to free up his considerable wages for other players. Then the cheeky bugger goes and joins Tamworth, a team in the same league ! This was his "big club".!!! Saric is now also making rumblings of wanting to move which I am hoping I can at least postpone by a season.

The club was taken over just before the playoff final and the new board agreed that the wages should go up - to 2.4k a week. Wow that's backing for you!

PS I can't get the screenies uploaded into photobucket any more and when i could do that i couldn't link to them properly hence lack of picture action.

What formation do you play with Evesham? I've made it into League 2 in my 3rd season and have found some good success with a 4-4-2 with 2 wide players. 2.4K a week also seems low, is that $?

[Jaffa]

Strange and evil programmer humour

Haha Dons, I keep getting referred to like that in news items too since I lost to Hayes last in last seasons final...annoying isn't it

[Richoman]

Group Stage Draw done. I've got Besiktas, Kaiserslautern and Wisla. It could have been much worse.

That's phenomenal. Keep up the good work mate.

[KLH84]

Would like to buy

A win.

End of.

[fcunitedfan]

Come on! 2-0 up against Debrecen IN Hungary! Zines got our first, and they scored an own goal for our second.

I've hit the post about 4 times already, and it's not half time yet.

3-0! Borini!

3-0 FT. We just ****ed on Debrecen.

How man? Just how? Congratulations on getting into the group stage. How much money did you get for reaching that stage? Oh, and what kind of tactic are you using to overachieve like you have?

[Yidd0!]

Well, we didn't get promoted in our second season. We did well, hovering around 6/7/8, then in Feb we hit a massive slump and fell down to 15th, not gaining a point after that.

I'd write a proper review, but my internet is limited (I'm running of a 3g dongle today, net has brokenssssss)

Having said that, started the next season and WOW. Brought in some seriously good players over the summer. These are as follows:

Danny N'guessen (Leicester)
Dominic Blizzard
John-Joe O'toole
Marko Mitrovic (Liverpool youngster)
Janos Kovac (Lincoln/ Hereford)
Stuart Fleetwood

Plus, a reserve keeper I had stowed away for when Gilpin gets injured has been called up to the Republic of Ireland U21 squad. Me thinks I'll be playing him more often now.

Played 4, won 4 so far this season. Saric has been on FIRE alongside Mitrovic, with Montano/ Fleetwood on the bench, ready to kill anything. Our midfield is solid, if lacking a little pace in the middle at times, but we can cover that with fast defenders. Will post my squad as soon as I can get some decent freakin' internet connection.

[Gypsum]

Currently preparing for my League 1 season and there are some amazing free players available. Guys like Tevez, Ashley Cole and Theo Walcott (who went to Galatasaray!). But even players I can afford. It seems like a lot of players run to the end of their contracts rather than being sold on FM11.

[jordanswinburn]

How man? Just how? Congratulations on getting into the group stage. How much money did you get for reaching that stage? Oh, and what kind of tactic are you using to overachieve like you have?

£870k, plus £140k for playing in the qualifiers and £78k for winning against Debrecen.

I'm playing with the same tactic I've used since the BSP. It's a 4-2-4 variation. Straight back four, two MCs, two wingers (AMs) and two up front.

GK - Defend
DR - Full Back (Attack)
DL - Full Back (Attack)
DC - Ball Playing Stopper
DC - Ball Playing Stopper
MCR - Box To Box
MCL - Deep Lying Playmaker (Support)
AMR - Inside Forward (Support)
AML - Winger (Attack)
ST(R) - Complete Forward (Attack)
ST(L) - Target Man (Attack)

Everything in team instructions is default apart from...

Philosophy - Fluid
Starting Strategy - Counter
Closing Down - Press More
Primary Playmaker - None (It's selected, but None is chosen. I don't want to change this, just in case)
Primary Target Man - None (See above)