dafuge's FM11 challenge

[Quavis]

Welsh Wizard: Great Update! Congrats on the 3rd consecutive promotion. Where are you already finding brazilians and how in the world did you get work permits for 2 uncapped brazilians lol? 31k/wk wages o.O . GL in league 1, you like like you already had quite the squad, and those brazilians will only improve it.

[Quavis]

Well, we didn't have enough fixture congestion... so of course the backup squad I sent out managed to draw the game in the 90th to force a FA Trophy replay....
The good news is the replay pushed the St. Albans game until AFTER the 2nd round cup tie, so now I can play a full strength side in that game (assuming no one picks up yellows in the cup tie). The bad news is that we added yet another back to back game to my schedule, and we haven't even gotten to the Christmas fixture congestion yet.

[Quavis]

I REALLY hate negotiating deals with players and then have the player come back and saying "never mind" . You then try and re-open negotiations and all of a sudden they want 10x what they agreed to last time....

[jordanswinburn]

No FA Cup this season. Lost to Bolton 2-0 in the 4th round.

[wriches]

I can see him going somewhere on a free by that time (sort of like pires at game start).

Please don't compare Bareth Garry with Le Bob in any way, shape or form! Arsenal fan here

[jordanswinburn]

Woah! I was 2-0 down to CSKA Moscow by 30 minutes, by half time it's 2-2. Zamani and NimNimNimely equalising!

[jordanswinburn]

Woah! I was 2-0 down to CSKA Moscow by 30 minutes, by half time it's 2-2. Zamani and NimNimNimely equalising!

**** SAKE! Another bloody crash dump. The same thing happened! I've found the cause though.

I tried to go back into the match to upload the highlights, it must have dumped the memory and crashed. ****nuggets. Guess I'm holidaying the CSKA result. I'll just take the first result again, regardless.

WHAT?!

I got the exact same result from the holiday! Score.

[wriches]

Unlucky Gypsum, and ridiculously well done to Welsh Wizard and edin-dzeko. If either of you are promoted again next season, then I shall indeed be suspicious

Are you on an old PC or something Jordan? I don't think I've had a crash since FM05.

[wriches]

I REALLY hate negotiating deals with players and then have the player come back and saying "never mind" . You then try and re-open negotiations and all of a sudden they want 10x what they agreed to last time....

Yeah. Also, I will often click "Approach to sign" just to see how interested they are, then suddenly realise I haven't got a scout report on them yet. Then if you continue so that you can get a report, they'll be annoyed that you cut off the last talks and so won't be interested. IMO, if you don't click "Exit talks" and you advance the date, that same contract conversation should remain open for a few days. Damn annoying.

[jordanswinburn]

Unlucky Gypsum, and ridiculously well done to Welsh Wizard and edin-dzeko. If either of you are promoted again next season, then I shall indeed be suspicious

Are you on an old PC or something Jordan? I don't think I've had a crash since FM05.

Far from it. I went on the Can You Run It site earlier today and it passed with flying colours. Must just be some bug or something wrong. Not too much of a problem, managed to get 2-2 result again. Should I get any more crash dumps, I'm going to print screen it and post it in the bugs section.

FC United 2 - 2 CSKA Moscow

[Quavis]

This was NOT what I was expecting from the FA Cup 2nd round match against a non league side. WTF is going on with my side all of a sudden??? TWO more straight red cards, both for violent conduct. I will now have 3!!!! first team starters missing in my next match, including BOTH DC's. Our chance of gaining ground in the next 3 games against teams near us on the table is now likely 0 and we will probably drop a few spots. I'm surprised you guys didn't hear my post-match meeting all the way across the Atlantic :P

The good news to come out of the match is that we still made it through. That was 100% because of new signing Johnny Cosgrove. He scored ALL 4 goals, including scoring when we were 2 men down. His pace was just way too much for the Oxford City defense. He also singlehandedly got their player sent off with his pace The ex-Fulham man joined Chippenham town less than 2 weeks ago but has already proveded to be a fantastic signing, well worth the 1k signing bonus I had to use to lure him to Hardenhuish Park. He will prove the pace and clinical finishing up front that I have been chasing the entire challenge.

Third round draw in a few minutes! Pray for an away match!

edit: I wanted an away match and I got it. I guess I should have specified I wanted an away match vs a Prem team..... Away at L1 Bradford is not really what I was hoping for. I guess some money is better than no money though!

[wriches]

This was NOT what I was expecting from the FA Cup 2nd round match against a non league side. WTF is going on with my side all of a sudden???

Oh, so now all of a sudden you can look down on non-league sides?! Remember where you came from!

[Quavis]

Oh, so now all of a sudden you can look down on non-league sides?! Remember where you came from!

Erm...non league was perhaps the wrong term. Unplayable side might have been better lol. I'm still in the BSS (non league myself) I did expect to win, I feel this side can probably play at a league 2 level, I did NOT expect 2 straight reds This "easy match" may end up killing my chances for promotion this year lol.

[wriches]

Erm...non league was perhaps the wrong term. Unplayable side might have been better lol. I'm still in the BSS (non league myself) I did expect to win, I feel this side can probably play at a league 2 level, I did NOT expect 2 straight reds This "easy match" may end up killing my chances for promotion this year lol.

Heh, just playin

Quick Tip: For those struggling to hold onto leads (which I was quite a lot), this has been helping me a lot the last dozen or so games (only applicable to 4-4-2):

• Gradually increase Time Wasting from half-way to full over the last 30 minutes. If you do it too quickly, it backfires and you start giving the ball away and getting booked.
• Change strategy to Counter.
• Put width up to about 75% (important if using Counter, as that sets width to quite low).
• Change Focus Passing to "Down Both Flanks" and use the touchline shouts "Exploit The Flanks" and "Retain Possession". The combination of those two results in you just keeping it down the touchline.
• If your opponent has wide midfielders sitting pretty deep, then you might find keeping the ball in wide positions problematic, in which case use "Work Ball Into Box" and "Retain Possession". Although they sound contradictory, they'll then pretty much spread it side to side.

Before, I was of the opinion that holding out at 1-0 in non-league football is asking for trouble, but this is working pretty well for me now. Getting 1-0s left, right and centre now.

[Welsh Wizard]

Quavis - Managed to get the board to increase my range to worldwide and sent my 11 scouts to different continents and my South American one happens to be half decent. I've got 7 or so he think could become Good Prem players but all but 1 would need work permits. Was going to wait to see if they get any sort of caps but interest came from Scandinavia teams so decided to make a move and see what happened. Agents were a pain but managed to get them to sign. Work permits failed at first attempt which is the 75% caps part I think 2nd attempt was successful which is the potential bit I think so whoever passed them agrees with my scout.

Think wage budget is down too my cup runs and good finances of past seasons but could be the downfall as losses were huge last season despite selling out at home. Prize money and cup runs keeping us afloat atm 2mil on wages last season.
This season wage budget is 48k.

Question of the day.

What is your Wage budget and what League are you in?

[Welsh Wizard]

wriches - I'm getting suspicious of the game being bugged. Honestly thought L2 would be alot harder but seem only a bit harder than BSN/BSP. Getting harder every time I go up but then I see top players who could play at higher lvls interested so sign them which bridges the gap. Just seen Gibson interested but wanted more than I offer at that time. Think he just signed for Birmingham in the Premiership and should make bench at least. Looking at my team I think a few could play in the Championship and even one or or two in the Prem. Especially the Brazilians who could play for decent Prem teams imo.

I think L1 should be harder based on the JPT final result as they finished around 20th but then again I did win be it narrowly.

Think I'm the only one secretly hoping for mid table boringness or even a relegation battle to make things more interesting.


Forgot My Goal of the season/L2 Goal of the season in my season review so here it is

[Quavis]

Wriches: That sounds pretty much like my normal tactic :P I avoid "retain possession" and timewasting in the lower leagues however. Retain possession will just make your players pass the ball around and eventually they will pass it to the other team. Timewasting just always seems to backfire on me :P

Welsh Wizard: Worldwide already? Nice! 48k wage budget...lol

My Current Wage Budget (BSS/Top Half) is 4.5k/wk

[Quavis]

Chippenham Town Mid-Season Update - Blue Square Bet South - 2011/12

With the season half over, Chippenham Town find themselves sitting atop the table in the Blue Square Bet South, if only on goal difference.

The team is finally coming together the way I'd like it to. I haven't tweaked my tactic at all since the season started. The Chippenham strikers are still doing their jobs and giving us a chance to win every game. Our midfield is much better this year now that I have some pacy wingers to run at the opposition defense. The 1st team back four has done very well this season and we are only allowing a goal a game, which is still a bit high, but much, much better than last season. Our goalkeeper position is very strong unlike last year.

League Table
League Position Graph

Top Goalscorer - Chippenham's Captain, Gibson is the target man up front. His goals aren't the prettiest, but he gets the job done.
Best Rating - A new signing for this season, Keanu's speed causes all sorts of problems for opposition defenders. He has done a fantastic job beating his man and then delivering perfect balls into the box for our strikers.
Best Midfielder - The creative play maker, McCabe continues to dominate in the midfield. He is involved in just about every play, the statistics don't do him justice.
Best Defender - The rock in the back, O'Connor is still the glue that keeps the back line together. When he is out of the lineup, we leak goals like a sieve.
Goalkeeper - Jansson is solid in the net, and after last year that is really all I wanted. 8 clean sheets in 21 games is not bad at all. I'm now very deep and have several GKs that should be able to challenge for the starting spot if given the chance..... I'm just too nervous to tweak anything and give them that chance.

FA Cup
We are still alive in the FA cup and that is incredibly pleasing. The FA cup run has helped to stabilize our finances and was badly needed.

FA Trophy
I intentionally played a very weak side in the FA trophy to try and reduce fixture congestion. It took a game longer than I thought it would, but we are not longer in this competition.

Finances - The FA Cup run helped. I've also sold a few players, though no big sales. We are still well into the red, but I'm hoping the 3rd round FA cup tie will help balance the budget a bit. I also suspect a few more people will be sold prior to seasons end.

Goals for the rest of the season:

Win Promotion! (preferably as champions)

Bring in 2-3 more high quality players. We badly need cover for our back four. I could also use cover for both wingers as they seem to get injured often.

AVOID INJURIES!!! - at this point I think only injuries can stop us from gaining promotion this year. I've struggled with injuries throughout the season and they are really starting to pile up. There are currently 2 first teamers already gone for most of the rest of the season with long term injuries. I can't afford to lose many more.

[deadfncat]

quick question. is it out of the rules to change a teams uniform using an editor?
im trying to find a new team and really hate the look of some unirforms :P

[deadfncat]

been sitting here for about 2 hours and just reloading the list and the only teams i have been given are all over 1000 rep. only 1 that wasnt was Whitby
i want a 600 team gorramit!

[jmknpk]

Three Team System with Many Friendlies in Blue Square South

I am using a system which is a bit unrealistic, but is allowing me to have success in the Dafuge's challenge. The most unrealistic part is that I have scheduled many away friendlies which brings in a huge amount of cash.

What I have set up at the club are three teams. A first team, with 5 subs to play in the competitive matches. A second team, complete with 12 subs to play in friendly matches. And a third team with only enough players for a starting team (no subs).

During the pre-season, I scheduled two friendlies a week. One on Saturday and one on Wednesday. I schedule only away friendlies in order to receive the high fee. Most of these are with foreign clubs. I think the highest fee I received was 22K. Once the season starts, I scheduled friendlies for every monday following a saturday match. I needed to schedule all these friendlies before the season began. Otherwise, once the season begins, only domestic teams are available for friendlies and they don't pay the high fee. Near the end of the season, the friendly fees were as low as 2.5K. But this is still good money.

What did I do with all the money? Well I hired the three teams, staying just over the salary budget. The board let me go a little bit over the budget, but not much more.

When I first tried the dafuge challenge this season, I noticed that rating of most of the players which started out as five star had dropped down below three stars. I guess that's because players who look good when they are not yet on the team don't turn out so well after they've joined the team. So, that's where my three team system comes in handy. I can sign a lot of players to low contracts and let the better ones float up to the first team while lesser players sink down to the third team.

I only sign players whose contract has expired. I pay no transfer fees. I only sign players who both my scout and assistant manager recommend "hire at whatever the price". Most of these players are under twenty five. I only hired three players at about 15K per year. The majority of the players were in the 5-10K per year range, with a fair amount of youngsters at 300-450 per year (some of these do quite well on the first team). The majority of these players are under 20 years old. I was able to find quite a few 19 year old players who perform really well in Blue Square South. I used the player search to find them, focusing on key attributes. I isolate the list down to a managable chunk of players who look good based on their attributes, then I send my scouts out to report on them. The ones that come back from the scout with "sign at whatever the price", I send my assistant manager to get a report. The ones that the asst mgr gives "whatever the price" and who are cheap, I sign.


I was able to have other teams pick up most of the original (prior to promotion to Blue Square South) team players on free transfers. But I have a couple on my second and third teams that no other teams wanted.

As far as squad status, I have the entire team on the main team (i.e. noone on the reserve squad). I have squad status as "backup" or higher to keep the morale up. Players apparently don't like to be on the lower teams officially, but noone complains if the first team squad is so large and they actually play only reserve games.

I play the first team in most of the competitive matches. The second team plays the weekly (Monday) friendly and is able to provide players to the first team to fill in for injuries or tired players. The third team fills in for players on the second team and plays in reserve matches, which helps keep the players match fit. Having an entire second team is really handy for those places in the schedule where there are two blue square matches per week. I'm able to field teams that are near 100% condition.

Advantages:
1. Plenty of quality depth to cover for injuries.
2. Financially stable club. The large number of high-fee friendlies covers the cost of the three teams plus some.
3. Many players signed means higher quality at the top. There's quality in quantity.
4. Large club means there's plenty of room for quality young players and they get plenty opportunity for play at the 1st team level (friendlies) or on the reserves.
5. Enough play time to keep most of the club at "match fit" rather than "severly lacking in match fitness".
6. Plenty of depth to keep fresh legs in those high congestion weeks with multiple matches.

Disadvantages:
1. Not realistic. WOuldn't be able to have that many high fee games on Monday nights throughout the season. Real life playes would realize they are playing a reserve squad role despite their first team in-game status.
2. Lots of micro management running three squads with first teams status. Before each game (including the weekly friendlies and also the reserve games) need to sift through the entire system to decide who to play.

Anyway, this is the system I'm using and am having success with so far (less than part way through first season). I'm curious what others think and whether or not others have done something similar. In some ways, I think it's kind of cheating. But I also choose not to have parent club or take players on loan, so maybe it's not that bad. I don't think I've broken any dafuge challenge rules, so I'll play on with what I have.

If I'm able to win it all, maybe I'll start the challenge again, with a lower reputation team playing with a more realistic system in the future. For right now, I seem to be having enough trouble just completing the challenge the way I'm going

[Dons]

been sitting here for about 2 hours and just reloading the list and the only teams i have been given are all over 1000 rep. only 1 that wasnt was Whitby
i want a 600 team gorramit!

On one of the first pages, is a list of uploads with many teams - try browse there.

[SurvivorSoso]

Welsh Wizard: congrats on your achievements. It might sound really silly to ask, but what skin are you using?

[Dons]

jmknpk - unrealistic yes, cheating I wouldn't say so. Abusing game mechanincs pre season to organize games with non playable clubs during a full season indeed. But as long as you play without the nono's such as scouts, databases (and more or less discussed I-WIN-CAUSE-I-USE-HAXXOR-FLAW-MECHANICS-SETUPS) then personally fine with me.

On the time consuming scale however, if the reason to do this, is to increase your finances - I am sure that focusing on just 1 team and play them to L2+ will be alot faster and your earnings will go up alot due to attendances, better players, sell on clauses etc. Also for players, you wont find many (if any) players that will sign for you in BSS that can actually compete in CH and PRM - so realistically, if you want to use that 3 team method, you should wait until atleast L1 - (if the reason to do it is cash)

If you want to see how many crappy youngsters you can get mediocre - hey continue what you do now

[PVentress]

Hastings Utd
Season 3 - 2013/14 – League 2
Prediction - 24th
Actual - 5th

Going into the season i was expecting a season of struggle and was hoping for survival and not much beyond that, I expected the 2 succesive promotions to cause us to find our level,
I tried to be a little more reserved than normal in the transfer market and try and focus on stability and consistency rather than a total squad overhaul.

We started out solidly enough, and the step up didnt seem to be as stark as i had expected, we soon found ourselves comfortably in mid table and spent much of the season floating a similar number of points away from the Play Offs as we were from the Relegation Zone.

The turning point of the season came when as a manager i had to admit i had been wrong about one of the players i had banished to the reserves.

Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu had been deemed surplus to my requirements at the start of the season, i felt he just didnt have it anymore for this level of football,
I sent him to the reserves and left him there to play out his contract till the end of the season,

But, at around the start of February i needed a spark, we were going nowhere and struggling to finish teams off, we had picked up a few niggles and knocks in the forwards and so i bit the bullet and brought Ndumbu-Nsungu back into the fold.

From that moment he sparked something in the team, first game back he picked up 2 goals in a MOM performance against Morecambe, and another Goal and MOM in his second game back in a 3 - 1 win against promotion chasing Lincoln.

I dont know if he was just playing for a new contract but he had become a one man goal machine, the draws we had suffered from were turning into wins and we finally started to close the gap on the Play Off places.

with 7 games to go we really kicked on and whilst others around us were losing there heads and imploding, an Ndumbu-Nsungu inspired Hastings hit a purple patch of form and managed to climb and climb until on the last day of the season 6 teams were battling it out for the final automatic promotion place and the four play off places, 1 team was going to miss out.

If we won our game, the rest didnt matter, we would have a play off spot,

But if results went our way, automatic promotion was a possibility,

It was not to be, a 1 - 1 draw with Champions Notts County left us in 5th and in the Play Offs

It was Colchester in the Semi's and was negotiated far easier than i had anticipated, the 3 - 2 aggregate scoreline doesnt really reflect the way we played and the domination we had for large parts of the tie, but the main thin was that we were in the Final

Gillingham awaited us in the Final and given that we had played them 3 times this year, suffering 2 defeats and a draw i was not hopeful,

But, The man who had inspired the late season surge stepped up to the plate once again,

2 Goals, 1 Assist, The MOM - Step Forward Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu

Gillingham were destroyed by a 25 minutes Blitzkreig at the start of the first half

Hastings were 4 - 0 up and (I think) were playing Just Like Brazil

It was by far the most outstanding perofrmance so far in this challenge fromk the team and the final score of 4 - 1 saw us gain our promotion and saw Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu step into the History of Hastings Utd as the man who inspired a team to promotion.

If you missed my live commentary - Here it is

Play Off Final
Highlights

League 2 Table
League Position Graph
Transfers
Squad
Finances

Top Players

Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu - Even though he only played half a season, the man was inspired, the reason we got promoted

Kristjan Emilsson - A solid first the season from the big man, scored plenty and generally made a nuisance of himself

Reece Hands - Developing into a quality playmaker, 22 assists is a phenomenal return

Cameron Lindsay - Our resident International Centre Back, Solid and unfussy, a rock at the back

Ryan Fredericks - His pace alone terrified left backs all season, 11 goals from the wing is a cracking return

Next Season

I always feel that survival should be the main priority and even after 3 succesive promotions i am not going to change that view, eventually i feel we will be found out and i just know there is a long tough season just round the corner

Career Overview

Season        League                        League Finish            Achievements
2011/12       Blue Square South             1st                      Promoted/Champions
2012/13       Blue Square Premier           4th                      Promoted/Play Off Winners
2013/14       League 2                      5th                      Promoted/Play Off Winners

Hastings Legends

100 Apperance Club

Name                 Joined   Position      Apperances       Played In
Adam Street           2011       GK            123           Blue Square South, Blue Square Premier, League 2

[deadfncat]

ZOMG NO FKN WAY!
been sitting here for little over 2-3 hours now srsly about to give up
DIDCOT!

[Gypsum]

ZOMG NO FKN WAY!
been sitting here for little over 2-3 hours now srsly about to give up
DIDCOT!

That's awesome!

[wriches]

Season 2 update - this has been one of my hardest ever seasons in FM (you'll find out why in my review - in all good book stores from later today ).

It's been a hell of a slog but fortunately for me, the teams around me dropped a lot of points the last few games and I've secured a play-off place with one game to go.

If I lose in in the play-offs, I'll be utterly, utterly devastated!

[chris_bemand]

ABSOLUTELY LOVING THIS! 1ST V 2ND, EASY EASY EASY!

[Terk]

I enjoyed this piece of BSP analysis.

[chris_bemand]

I enjoyed this piece of BSP analysis.

Not a bad bit of coverage for your team at all mate!

[Terk]

Not a bad bit of coverage for your team at all mate!

Cheers After the start we made to last season I'm just enjoying my day in the sun and being top of the table

Nice win over Ebbsfleet, btw Always enjoyable to get such a result from such a big game.

[chris_bemand]

Cheers After the start we made to last season I'm just enjoying my day in the sun and being top of the table

Nice win over Ebbsfleet, btw Always enjoyable to get such a result from such a big game.

Not a problem! ahh good to hear it, promotion on the cards for this year then?

Thanks, it was a great result, its just a shame i lost two of my best players through injury in that match, always the way!

[wriches]

Season 2 update - this has been one of my hardest ever seasons in FM (you'll find out why in my review - in all good book stores from later today ).

It's been a hell of a slog but fortunately for me, the teams around me dropped a lot of points the last few games and I've secured a play-off place with one game to go.

If I lose in in the play-offs, I'll be utterly, utterly devastated!

And in the meaningless final game of the season, my star striker gets injured for 3 weeks. Kewl!

[Terk]

Not a problem! ahh good to hear it, promotion on the cards for this year then?

Hopefully. We're top of the table, a point ahead of Salisbury with a game in hand after 15 games of the season. I'm desperate to try and get automatic promotion after our two play-off failures though.

[Ridleys]

Far from it. I went on the Can You Run It site earlier today and it passed with flying colours. Must just be some bug or something wrong. Not too much of a problem, managed to get 2-2 result again. Should I get any more crash dumps, I'm going to print screen it and post it in the bugs section.

FC United 2 - 2 CSKA Moscow

Jordan; the reason why crash dumps occur is normally because of edited/downloaded files that you have in your game that are probably corrupted or just not edited correctly. If you have downloaded any facepacks and/or logo's they may be the reason why you are getting these crash dumps.

[fcunitedfan]

Welsh Wizard, excellent update. I hope I can do that good with my Colwyn Bay save.

[Azeryk-]

ZOMG NO FKN WAY!
been sitting here for little over 2-3 hours now srsly about to give up
DIDCOT!

Upload the save file as quite a few people will be interested in playing with such a low rep side

[sheeshy]

ZOMG NO FKN WAY!
been sitting here for little over 2-3 hours now srsly about to give up
DIDCOT!

I just got them too!

[Terk]

Just lost 4-3 to BSN side Barrow in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying round. Not sure it's possible for me to be more gutted right now.

[chris_bemand]

Hopefully. We're top of the table, a point ahead of Salisbury with a game in hand after 15 games of the season. I'm desperate to try and get automatic promotion after our two play-off failures though.

Ahh right, playoffs are such a lottery, i cant stand them, the keyboard always ends up flying across the room! haha im top by 3 points with 2 games left! come on your gulls!

[Dons]

Finally some justice

[sheeshy]

Started at Oxford City, Predicted 22nd, decent wage budget, fairly small squad and no assistant.

Pretty much on the bones here, and the only way is up!

[edgar555]

Ok, I've taken the plunge.
In every FM ever, I've been dedicated to the following saves: Spurs x3(1 for each patch), 1 in La Liga, 1 or 2 in Serie A, Lyon, Bayern, Ajax and then a.n.other from a random but decent level league (ie Boca or CSKA). I have never managed at a low level. I am scared. I could be very out of my depth. I mean where are all my coaches and scouts and physios?
Anyway its time to be a bit of daredevil, I think I'm going to enjoy the challenge.

This is me, Matt Murdock, new manager of Sutton Utd, The U's in BSS. Sutton is a nice fit, owing to my Surrey roots.
The media have predicted a 15th place finish, I've told the chairman that I'll get us a safe mid table position, for this I'll get (unsurprisingly) £0 transfer budget and £6.5k pw wage budget, with the club already spending £5.4k pw.

We actually seem to have a little bit of technique about the squad but I'm really not sure whats good or bad at this level so I could be wrong.

Thinking it may take me 2 years to get out of here and build from that.
Anyway. We're off!

[PVentress]

Well this all seems a bit surreal!!!!!

10 games into the new season, our first in League 1

And we are sitting 4th, after a start that is nothing short of sensational

P10 W6 D3 L1 F15 A 5 Pts 21

Hope it can continue, but wont hold my breath

[Azeryk-]

If you've not done LLM before then you should find it fun as it will be different from the other saves you've played. I think I prefer starting at a lower level now than starting with Spurs who I support.

[Ridleys]

FC United of Manchester: 2013/14 Season Summary


Media Prediction: 9th
Actual Finish: 1st

League Table | League Positions Graph | Team Stats | Player Stats
Squad | Finances |Transfers
Season Best XI | Overall Best XI

There was just one aim for this season, promotion. It was a hard season, we were always there or there abouts, but we rarely reached the top of the table. The only time it really matters though is at the end of the season, and what a thrilling end to the season it turned out to be. One of the closest finishes i have ever seen, let alone been involved in. Coming in to the last game of the season we were three points behind league leaders Alfreton, and level on points with Stafford who were in third.

We knew that if Alfreton were to lose, if we won we would take the league on goal difference, unless Stafford had a massive win in their final game. Due to FC United playing at Gigg Lane, they play their home games on a Sunday, so we knew that it was in our hands as to who would win the league. Stafford won, and Alfreton lost, it was all down to us. Stafford were up to first position for the time being, all we neded was to win.

We were up against Altrincham, who had had everything to play for as they were chasing a playoff position. One of last seasons best performance for us was against Altrincham in the Playoff Semi Final as we beat them 5-0 at their ground. I was hoping something like that would happen again. And wow, what a performance, everything seemed to just go well once again! Borini got us off to a good start as we took the lead after 22 minutes, we were pegged back just three minutes later though as Altrincham levelled.

Thats' when we really started playing though. 2 minutes in to injury time in the first half James Collins put us back in to the lead after a fantastic assist from Carole. After half time, two own goals from Altrincham helped us build up a lead of three goals, and finally, with almost the last kick of the game, Philip Roberts made it 5-1, and that is how it finished. What a fantastic result. We had won the league! Everyone was delighted, the fans, the board, FC United favourite Karl Marginson, the fans again, the board again and Karl Marginson again! It was a new record high position again for the team, and that record will be broken again next season.

Top Scorer and Player of the Season

Fabio Borini

Another fantastic season for Borini, in fact quite a bit better than last season! He shot his way in to the record books on just the 9th of February, becoming the clubs top goalscorer of all time for a single season. A couple of weeks later he broke another record, after claiming his 8th man of the match of the season, breaking last seasons record held by Philip Roberts, who got 7. He finished top goalscorer in the league, with 29 league goals, and 35 from 45 games in all competitions.

Signing of the Season

Richie Baker

After playing in League 2 for seven seasons, i thought Richie would be a great signing, and one that would be able to add to the experience in the midfield alongside Chris Herd. He had a great season, with an average rating of 7.03, scoring 2 goals and providing 10 assists for the team over the course of the season, claiming the man of the match award three times.

Next Season Aims..

• Stay up
• Strengthen the squad

Season    Team        League              Pos   Pld  Won  Drn  Lst  For  Ag   G.D  Pts   Achievements

2011/12   FC United   Blue Square North   18th  42   12   8    22   41   57   -18  44    None
2012/13   FC United   Blue Square North   3rd   42   23   7    12   75   46   +29  76    Playoff Finalists
2013/14   FC United   Blue Square North   1st   42   21   12   9    81   43   +38  75    Blue Square North Champions

[Jaffa]

Wriches, the width and retain possession works with my formation. Just got me 3 points lad, cheers

[Jaffa]

If you've not done LLM before then you should find it fun as it will be different from the other saves you've played. I think I prefer starting at a lower level now than starting with Spurs who I support.

I'm the same Azeryk, I never start as my beloved Liverpool anymore. It's too easy for a start. I get so much more enjoyment now playing LLM than I used to, I just didn't open my eyes to LLM until a few years ago

[Gypsum]

Nikola Saric is injured AGAIN! Bloody hell... in 2014 he missed a total of 7 months with 3 different injuries, now this season he has had broken ribs and a thigh strain, and i'm only 2 games in!

[Jaffa]

Is anyone else getting an error whereby when playing at home commentary and comments in the media name your ground as whoever the away teams ground is, and when i play away in the post match summary refer to the game as having been played at my home ground (Victora Park) in my case. 'Cos it's happening constantly to me. Managers keep referring the "dangerous pitch" (condition is very poor at my place) at my place but always the stadium name is the away teams. Annoying me tbh.

Example attached: I played this game away at Dagenham and Redbridge saying a scout was spotted at my ground during the match...but I PLAYED IT AWAY!!! Grrr

Next example is the Wycombe manager commenting on the playing surface for the match - I'm at home...but yet again its mentioned in the article as being at their home ground, Adams Park in this case.

[Gypsum]

For my Gooner friends in this thread...

[edgar555]

For my Gooner friends in this thread...

Bale,Bale,Bale <3

[Anti Spiral]

I'm quite enjoying my current save at the moment, but once I'm done with it, I'll start this challenge as I do every year!

[sheeshy]

Beat local "rivals" Oxford United 3-2, having hoovered up a lot of released youth players from England, and giving them a second chance. Works well, some ask for stupidly low wages.

[Jaffa]

Bloody hell, just went out of the JPT 3-4 to L1 Rotherham. Borini completing his hattrick in the 92nd minute, gutted.

Hate him already.

[Welsh Wizard]

Welsh Wizard: congrats on your achievements. It might sound really silly to ask, but what skin are you using?

Thanks

It's the SI dark one.

[fcunitedfan]

Oh my God! I just realised something... I read the rules just for a recap, and nowhere does it say I can't do a player search to find the players I need... I've not done this yet as I thought it was against the challenge rules! DAMN IT!!

[dafuge]

Oh my God! I just realised something... I read the rules just for a recap, and nowhere does it say I can't do a player search to find the players I need... I've not done this yet as I thought it was against the challenge rules! DAMN IT!!

The player serach screen is fine, it is things like Genie Scout that are not allowed

[fcunitedfan]

The player serach screen is fine, it is things like Genie Scout that are not allowed

Thanks for the confirmation. I bet I could have had some ace players if only I'd used player search lol.

[roganp]

Just finished my 1st season at Tonbridge Angels review is coming but here is how the league finished

[edgar555]

What is this craziness?
Media predict 15th, board want mid table, bookies have us as 2nd favourites for promotion!

[jordanswinburn]

HT in Moscow. 2nd leg of the Europa League first round. Currently 2-1 up against CSKA. Borini and Chopra scoring.

[Gypsum]

Humph! I go out and sign some quality young players, but now they get called up to their international Under 19 squads. Missing 4 players for the next match!

[Jaffa]

Thanks for the confirmation. I bet I could have had some ace players if only I'd used player search lol.

but also bear in mind it's in the rules that any player you do sign must be able to be scouted, even if he does show up on the player search screen. I sometimes get the feeling this rule is oft overlooked on the sly

[fcunitedfan]

but also bear in mind it's in the rules that any player you do sign must be able to be scouted, even if he does show up on the player search screen. I sometimes get the feeling this rule is oft overlooked on the sly

I always scout before signing, or at least trial the player.

[Anti Spiral]

Ok I decided to start this now (after going 11 games without a win and conceding 40 goals on my other save).

[dafuge]

I always scout before signing, or at least trial the player.

I actually prefer trialling to scouting, the reports seem to be a lot more reliable. That's how I make most of my signings, using my scouts to rate the unattached players then bringing in the best ones in on trial.

[edgar555]

Quick question. Will I be invited to the trialist matches? Are they of any value?

Ok so it was 2 questions.

[SJ234]

Okay I have the players file in the place stated but it isnt turning up in my game. What do i do?

[dafuge]

Okay I have the players file in the place stated but it isnt turning up in my game. What do i do?

Is it definitely in the right place?

[roganp]

Tonbridge Angels- Blue Square South- Season 2011/12

We were predicted to go down this season but I was confident that we could be comfortable in mid-table and at a push challenge for a play-off spot

League Table
League position graph

Play-off semi-final Leg 1
Play-off semi-final Leg 2
Play-off final

After a great season in the league and a brilliant performance in the semi-final I was gutted we lost in the play-off final especially after the game was at our home ground and we managed to come from 2 down to equalise but in the end my players we knackered and they pounced.

Transfers 1
Transfers 2
Squad

A crzay season in terms of transfers lot's of young players came in with some deadwood being released the main problem with the squad was fatigue I will be looking to work on the player's fitness. A new goalkeeper and some wingers will be my top priority next season.


F.A Cup- Not much happened here really disappointed that we went out so early.
FA Trophy- We should have gone further in this cup losing at home to lower opposition.

Key players:

Callum Ball- Released from Derby a really talented striker.

Tyler Sheppard- Didn't make the grade at Yeovil but formed a great partnership with Ball. Unfortunately he got injured before the play-off final if he had played we may have won.

Cheick Toure- Brilliant season for the former Fulham man. Always seem to be in the right place at the right time for set-pieces managing to chip in with some important goals whilst being solid at the back.

Tony Diagne- Released from Nottingham Forest. Formed a solid partnership in the middle of defence with Toure.


Carrer Record

Season    League                League position    Other acheivments
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/12    Blue Square South        2nd            Playoff's- Lost in final

Aims for next season

My sole aim for next season is to get the team promoted hopefully with a few new additions we should be strong enough to go up

[SJ234]

Is it definitely in the right place?

It is with the team holland file.

[Jaffa]

Great season Roganp, unlucky there in the final dude, happens to the best of us.

Callum Ball looks quality by the way, good signing that.

Good luck for next season.

[dafuge]

It is with the team holland file.

Is it in the updates db folder rather than the original db folder?

[PVentress]

Has anyone else suffered from this problem?

And if you have, how did you fix it

My Star Striker seems to be a total wuss

He played really well when i first got him and his morale was superb, but now before every game, and i mean every game the opposition manager says how great he is and that they will have to stop him

His morale plummets to Very Poor and i now cant get a performance out of him for love nor money

I have tried softly softly and taken the pressure off, and i have tried giving him the hair dryer nothing makes a difference

I am getting to the point where even though he is far and away my best forward, i am just going to have to cut my losses and drop him

any help appreciated

[SJ234]

Is it in the updates db folder rather than the original db folder?

Found it, I seem to have cocked up again

[chris_bemand]

about 11 of my players just left on free transfers as i forgot to renew them! :'( fml! byee bagshaw and montano :'(

[roganp]

Great season Roganp, unlucky there in the final dude, happens to the best of us.

Callum Ball looks quality by the way, good signing that.

Good luck for next season.

Thanks. Callum Ball always seem to score without playing to well.

[Jaffa]

Pventress - I've had this exact same problem. Let me ask you a question - what have you set your expectations at for the season? Depending on that I might have a theory for you that seemed to add up for me....let me know

[PVentress]

Pventress - I've had this exact same problem. Let me ask you a question - what have you set your expectations at for the season? Depending on that I might have a theory for you that seemed to add up for me....let me know

Jaffa - I have set my expectations as Avoid Relegation, its my first season in League 1 and i expected us to struggle, we have however started well and after 15 games are sat in 4th place, despite the implosion of my striker

[Anti Spiral]

Am I allowed to Select my favourite club? I can't see anything about that and I assume it makes little difference?

[dafuge]

Am I allowed to Select my favourite club? I can't see anything about that and I assume it makes little difference?

That's completely up to you.

[Anti Spiral]

I have been appointed the new Manager of the Tonbury Angels!

Profile

Let's see how this goes.

[edgar555]

Only just played my 1st friendly(competitive one, not counting beating my ressies) and I'm hooked.
I know Burton aren't miles above us, and that it was a friendly but I was very impressed with the performance, we dominated them, this was no lucky counter attack victory.
Chris Fagan is an ex Man U youth and it shows, could be key to my season.
And Ibrahim Farah, released by Cardiff was my first signing and he too looks a class above.
As I say I'm enjoying this, even though I'm struggling to find an assman and a physio and part time contracts and training are a completely new thing to me!

[fcunitedfan]

BO SELECTA! Just drew Farnborough in the FA Cup second round! A struggling BSS team who are in 19th place, against my Colwyn Bay side who are top of the BSN. Bring on the big money third round draw!

[Jaffa]

Jaffa - I have set my expectations as Avoid Relegation, its my first season in League 1 and i expected us to struggle, we have however started well and after 15 games are sat in 4th place, despite the implosion of my striker

Scratch my theory then

[Quavis]

Yikes, this thread has been jumping today. If I missed your question/update, my apoligies in advance!

quick question. is it out of the rules to change a teams uniform using an editor?
im trying to find a new team and really hate the look of some unirforms :P

Changing kits is fine. It shouldn't need to be done in any sort of editor. Any sort of editors are banned.

Three Team System with Many Friendlies in Blue Square South

I am using a system which is a bit unrealistic, but is allowing me to have success in the Dafuge's challenge. The most unrealistic part is that I have scheduled many away friendlies which brings in a huge amount of cash.

This is one of those gray areas that is up to each individual. Obviously scheduling tons of big money friendlies throughout the season is highly highly unrealistic, and generates easy cash. This will make the challenge much easier, but if you want to do it thats up to you.

Hastings Utd
Season 3 - 2013/14 – League 2
Prediction - 24th
Actual - 5th

Congrats on Promtion PV! Squad is looking great. I'm slightly envious as you have a lot of the players who have been little *****s and won't sign for me :P 3rd Promotion in a row, all your people need to slow down!

ZOMG NO FKN WAY!
been sitting here for little over 2-3 hours now srsly about to give up
DIDCOT!

I call complete BS on this one. Didcot isn't going to come up in this challenge, and certainly not after only a few hours. The division they start in is probably the hardest to get ANYONE other than Salisbury to come up in with their 1800 rep. Getting a 550 team out of this division just isn't happening. It took MichaelS over 2 days just to get Chippenham to come up and they are at 950. There are 12 teams lower than Chippenham that are still about Didcot. It makes it especially suspicious when the person who got them is constantly talking about editors. This is the reason I'd suggest to anyone to reload your own games instead of downloading a save. You have no idea what the person on the other end of the save has done, not to mention it means your all playing the exact same game (a la the demo, with the same manager shortlists, ect.)

[CENTER]FC United of Manchester: 2013/14 Season Summary


Media Prediction: 9th
Actual Finish: 1st

3rd times the charm! Congrats on Promotion Ridleys! Was interesting to see that you won the BSN on fewer points this year than you had last year. I like the look of Baker, 19 anticipation! Talk about someone who reads the game well Great update! I like your code for the career overview with the added w/l/d/points and gd. Would you mind if I used that in my end of season updates?

Oh my God! I just realised something... I read the rules just for a recap, and nowhere does it say I can't do a player search to find the players I need... I've not done this yet as I thought it was against the challenge rules! DAMN IT!!

The player search screen (F5) is directly tied to your scouting knowledge. The only way players are unscoutable on this list is if they have your nationality (I see some US players I can't scout), or if the player has previously played in a scoutable region and then gone home to a non scoutable region. Its the player search box at the top that we try and get people to avoid. This bypasses scouting knowledge.

I actually prefer trialling to scouting, the reports seem to be a lot more reliable. That's how I make most of my signings, using my scouts to rate the unattached players then bringing in the best ones in on trial.

It is interesting to hear you say this and I'd love to hear more on your reasoning. I see to always find the opposite, my scouts generally seem to provide me much more information than my coaches. They will at least give me some idea on PA, where my coaches never seem to have this information. In addition the scouting reports will tell me whether the player is interested and what wages they will want ahead of time, which coaches reports wont. Obviously playing the player in a friendly can tell you quite a bit, and trialing will reveal all stats while scouting may not.

Tonbridge Angels- Blue Square South- Season 2011/12

Welcome to the challenge! Great update, they are much appreciated. Sorry to see you lost in the playoff final. Those can be a coin flip unfortunantly. Your first season was sort of like mine where Salisbury just took off and no one was going to catch them. Thats what 1800 rep will do for you lol. Your squad looks very strong so hopefully you can challenge for the champions spot and automatic promotion next season. GL and keep us updated!

[Quavis]

edgar555: I'd always trust the bookies over the media. At least the bookies have money on the line so they have to be more accurate. Although.. the bookies still have us as the underdog in every game we play, so they must be losing quite a bit of money on me :P

[dafuge]

It is interesting to hear you say this and I'd love to hear more on your reasoning. I see to always find the opposite, my scouts generally seem to provide me much more information than my coaches. They will at least give me some idea on PA, where my coaches never seem to have this information. In addition the scouting reports will tell me whether the player is interested and what wages they will want ahead of time, which coaches reports wont. Obviously playing the player in a friendly can tell you quite a bit, and trialing will reveal all stats while scouting may not.

I find that to get a reliable scout report I need to scout a player multiple times, which I don't always have time to do. Getting him in on trial gives me the chance to get a coach report, which don't seem to vary at all and a chance to compare him directly with the players I already have. Basically, it means I never sign a player and find his stars suddenly drop the second I sign him.

[Quavis]

I find that to get a reliable scout report I need to scout a player multiple times, which I don't always have time to do. Getting him in on trial gives me the chance to get a coach report, which don't seem to vary at all and a chance to compare him directly with the players I already have. Basically, it means I never sign a player and find his stars suddenly drop the second I sign him.

Thanks dafuge I may have to start trying this a bit more. I've definitely seen some of my players stars drop right away after I sign them. Does trialing them still count as offering a contract? In past versions as soon as you offered a contract, more people would become interested right away. Before the negotiation screens this year I always found that players would sometimes take the first offer they got, even if it was lower. I always tried to make sure I never trialed a player until I was absolutely sure I wanted them as if I offered a trial and someone else came in an offered a contract, they would always take the contract and I lost out. My coaches also never seem to give me decent reports, particularly as PA is concerened. It may be because I don't look for coaches with JA/JP attributes though.

[jsar]

I always scout before signing, or at least trial the player.

After a mistake in last years challange which saw me sign a foreign player, who then became my star player forcing me to to restart the game i now trial every single person i am interested in purchasing just to be on the safe side!

[Terk]

Right, a little delve into the upper echelons of my game. I've noticed that a lot of managers are getting sacked, particularly in the Premier League, so I figured I'd take a look at who is managing who in the top division. THe teams are listed in table position after 13 games of the current season (2014/15) and remember that Man Utd have won four titles on the bounce.

1. Arsenal (Roy Hodgson)
2. Aston Villa (Gareth Southgate)
3. West Brom (Dennis Wise)
4. Everton (Steve Round)
5. Birmingham (Keith Millen)
6. Sunderland (Tony Pulis)
7. Manchester United (Avram Grant)
8. Manchester City (currently none, they've just sacked Carlo Ancelotti)
9. Tottenham (Mike Phelan)
10. Liverpool (Paul Jewell)
11. Blackburn (Alan Curbishley)
12. Burnley (Chris Hughton)
13. Middlesbrough (Tony Mowbray)
14. Fulham (Mark Bowen, caretaker manager. They've just sacked Mick McCarthy)
15. West Ham (Sam Allardyce)
16. Bristol City (Aidy Boothroyd)
17. Stoke City (Mark Hughes)
18. Chelsea (Alex McLeish, recently appointed from Sunderland after Alan Shearer sacked by Chelsea)
19. Southampton (John Metgod)
20. Blackpool (Gianfranco Zola)

So one team in the top division has the manager they started the game with, and that's Middlesbrough

[Quavis]

Man Utd winning 4 titles on the bounce
Avram grant managing Man Utd....
Chealsea sitting 18th also makes me quite happy :P

Please tell me that they won these titles under Sir Alex and that Mr. Grant is just a new arrival this season. No wonder they are currently sitting 8th.

I have noticed though that the AI is not patient at all with managers at any level. Fortunantly my chairman seems a bit more forgiving.

[Terk]

Man Utd winning 4 titles on the bounce
Avram grant managing Man Utd....
Chealsea sitting 18th also makes me quite happy :P

Please tell me that they won these titles under Sir Alex and that Mr. Grant is just a new arrival this season. No wonder they are currently sitting 8th.

I have noticed though that the AI is not patient at all with managers at any level. Fortunantly my chairman seems a bit more forgiving.

Old Whisky Nose won three on the run and then retired. Uncle Fester took over at the start of last season and won United's 4th on the run but can't replicate that form this season. Thankfully

[Quavis]

Old Whisky Nose won three on the run and then retired. Uncle Fester took over at the start of last season and won United's 4th on the run but can't replicate that form this season. Thankfully

Actually sounds about right, Uncle Fester can win if he inherits an already Championship winning side, but can't rebuild or maintain the side. Good to see SI is always spot on the realism

Will be interesting to see how fast the AI lack of patience with managers allow dafuge to work his way up the ranks on his career game.

[darren1983]

Not played my game (or even read the thread) since wed due to work (Grrr) but am all caught up now so massive well done to all those that have got promotion since wed, unlucky to those that missed out and of course welcome to the new peeps playing.

Quick update from me, season 2 still in BSS and am 8th after 20 games with a game in hand and just a few points off the play offs, have a FA cup nd round replay against Bradford to play as well, am out of the Fa trophy though - anyway have tonight and all day tom to play so off I go!

[Quavis]

On another note: Special thanks to whoever it was that mentioned holding private chats with players who were not doing well in training the previous month. That is working great for me this season!

[Terk]

I'll tell you something, the 6-1s and 4-0s are all very good and lovely to watch, but for me one of the most satisfying things in this game is the tight, cagey away match against a title rival, claiming a 1-0 victory with a goal in the final fifteen minutes and watching your keeper pull off a world class save in injury time to secure you those vital three points. How the f*ck can a computer game get under my skin and produce emotion like this? I just did the full, fist-pumping celebration when the final whistle sounded, now I feel like opening a beer as a reward

[Quavis]

Sigh, Arsenal are always outbidding me! Yes, hes leading Prem ability and I'm know he would never sign for me. Over half my shortlist will probably never sign for me, but if even 1 ever does its worth it. I do usually have a 100k value cap filter set, but apparently I must have it unchecked atm.

Also interesting to note, Arsenal are complete idiots. The player in question, Sergio Asenjo, is out of contract in 6 months. If they simply offered him a contract he could be signed for free or with minimal compensation. Why in the world would you make a 7.25m bid on a 1.3m player at this point? Its even odder considering the professor is still their manager and would never make a mistake like that (or pay 7m+ for a player :P)