Now You Do Not Punish Someone, English Or Otherwise, For Being Rubbish At FM...

[SnakeXe]

They should be rewarded, if anything!

What?
That's right, your friend and mine SnakeXe is back for another lengthy career- and relationship-threatening Football Manager save! With FM12 coming out and a PhD to study for I thought I'd treat to myself to a new computer for both purposes, which means for the first time I can have a proper crack at a journeyman game with a good number of leagues loaded. For those who haven't read my career threads before (although you still can, here and here), I like to play the game in a fairly realistic manner, only signing players my scouts have recommended, no third party tools, etc etc. Now finally I can treat my career development in the same way, instead of being a one-club man.

I've holidayed the first season to give me a choice of the clubs newly promoted to the Blue Square North and South in England. The idea is basically to progress as I would do were this my real-life career, with the set of aims detailed in the following section - hopefully if all goes well I can tick them off like achievements as I go.

Aims

• Win promotion
• Win a cup competition
• Manage my current local side, Bath City
• Win a top-level league
• Win a top-level cup competition
• Manage the side I support, Newcastle United
• Win a trophy with Newcastle United
• Win a European title
• Win top-level league titles in all of the "big five" European leagues - England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France
• Win a top level league title in another continent
• Win a top level cup competition in another continent
• Win a continental competition in another continent
• Win a top level league title in all five continents
• Win a top level cup competition in all five continents
• Win all five continental competitions
• Win an international competition
• Win the World Cup
• Win the World Cup with an Asian or African nation

"Social" Media
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/SnakeXe
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Snakexe

The Technical Rubbish
Leagues Loaded
Medium database with the following leagues:

Country         | Lowest League Loaded
-------------------------------------------
Argentina       | Second Division
Australia       | A-League
Brazil          | Second Division
China           | First Division
England         | Blue Square North/South
France          | National
Germany         | Third Division
Holland         | Jupiler League
India           | National Football League
Ireland         | First Division
Italy           | Serie C2
Mexico          | Promotion League
N. Ireland      | Second Division
Portugal        | Second Division
Russia          | First Division
Scotland        | Third Division
South Africa    | National First Division
South Korea     | N-League
Spain           | Second Division B
USA             | MLS
Wales           | Premier League

A total of 51 leagues across 22 nations and 5 continents - should be a good challenge for my new computer! Speaking of which:

Computer Spec

• Intel i7 Processor
• nVidia GTX 560 Ti 1GB GPU
• 12GB RAM
• 120GB SSD

[deltablue]

Looks like you could have an excellent adventure.

[Blue_magic]

Looking forward to this!

[deadfncat]

will be following!! glhf

[Blue_magic]

Have you just gone for a large database or custom?

[B.W.G]

Good luck

[Nottingham Forest]

Nice, I'll shall be reading.

[roganp]

I will be following. Good luck

[Luton Town]

Good luck i shall be following your progress.

[Flamers]

Good luck

[crouchaldinho]

Awesome! Looking forward to your exploits on this year's game, my friend! Good luck!

[jackripper]

good luck mate

[Hypanimz]

Im Looking forward to this. Good luck!

[SnakeXe]

Thanks guys, think this is more feedback than I got in the entire first 5 pages of my last career and I haven't even picked a club yet!

Speaking of which, I'm visiting my parents this weekend so only have my laptop with me - I'll at least try and get started with a club but probably won't get to competitive football before I get back.

Have you just gone for a large database or custom?

It's a medium database - I'll edit that in to the OP.

[AK22]

Good luck SnakeXe

You've certainly got plenty of ambition! Should keep you busy until FM13

[SnakeXe]

Name: Weymouth F.C.
Nickname: The Terras
Founded: 1890
Stadium: The Bob Lucas Stadium, 6600 (960 seated) capacity
Status: Semi-Professional

From Wikipedia:

Weymouth Football Club were founded in 1890 and played their first game on 24 September of that year. Nicknamed 'The Terras' almost immediately, due to their terracotta strip, the team won the Dorset Junior Cup for the first three seasons, becoming a senior club as the team rose in stature.

I misjudged the league reset date, so had to make a choice between the teams who had already come up. I was half planning to take St. Albans, but as they hadn't come up, I decided to go to the south coast and Weymouth F.C. I have somewhat of a tie to the place, as I've actually been there quite a few times, something the likes of Billericay and Wealdstone could not boast!

The squad is relatively complete in terms of numbers, but clearly quality is an issue for a newly-promoted side. Also, there doesn't appear to be a single player capable of playing MC - interesting!

Next update will be on the eve of the season opening, taking a look at the squad and board expectations - as well as what I think is achievable.

[SnakeXe]

2012 UEFA European Championship

Group Stage:
Group A:

 | Pos   | Inf   | Team    |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   |
 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 1st   | Q     | Ukraine |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 5     | 3     | +2    | 7     |
 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 2nd   | Q     | Turkey  |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 4     | 3     | +1    | 6     |
 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 3rd   |       | Croatia |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 4     | 4     | 0     | 4     |
 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 4th   |       | Denmark |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 2     | 5     | -3    | 0     |
 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group B:

 | Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   |
 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 1st   | Q     | England  |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 5     | 4     | +1    | 6     |
 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 2nd   | Q     | Portugal |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 8     | 7     | +1    | 4     |
 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 3rd   |       | Poland   |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 5     | 5     | 0     | 4     |
 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 4th   |       | Sweden   |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 3     | 5     | -2    | 3     |
 | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group C:

 | Pos   | Inf   | Team    |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   |
 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 1st   | Q     | Holland |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 3     | 2     | +1    | 6     |
 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 2nd   | Q     | Italy   |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 3     | 1     | +2    | 6     |
 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 3rd   |       | France  |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 3     | 3     | 0     | 4     |
 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 4th   |       | Ireland |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 1     | 4     | -3    | 1     |
 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group D:

 | Pos   | Inf   | Team       |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   |
 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 1st   | Q     | Spain      |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 5     | 2     | +3    | 6     |
 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 2nd   | Q     | Germany    |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 6     | 4     | +2    | 6     |
 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 3rd   |       | Montenegro |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 2     | 6     | -4    | 3     |
 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | 4th   |       | Russia     |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 4     | 5     | -1    | 3     |
 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Knockout Stage:
Quarter Final:
Ukraine 0 v 1 Portugal
England 3 v 0 Turkey
Germany 2 v 0 Holland
Spain 2 v 1 Italy

Semi Final:
Portugal 1 v 2 Spain
England 0 v 1 Germany

Final:
Spain 2 v 0 Germany

[deltablue]

Good luck with your preparations.

[iseemonsters1]

Good luck with Weymouth! Really enjoyed the Messi? Nah... thread so looking forward to seeing what you do with a journeyman career!

[MattSpurs94]

Good luck, Snake, looking forward to another cracking career.

Seeing everyone with their games makes me want tomorrow to come earlier. It's gonna be my birthday, and I'm (hopefully) getting FM then

[SnakeXe]

Thanks everyone!

Happy birthday for tomorrow, Matt, Spurs should give you a nice present given Blackburn's form!

[crouchaldinho]

Weymouth. Very interesting start indeed!

Good luck my friend! Take them back to the Conference!

[Romanista1994]

Good luck Snake! Looking forward to seeing where you end up.

[o JaY]

Haven't read your threads before, but this looks quite the adventure!

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 1 Preview - Weymouth F.C.

Board Expectations:
Blue Square Bet South - Safe Mid-table Position (minimum of Avoid Relegation, Predicted 22nd out of 22)
FA Cup - Third Qualifying Round
FA Trophy - Learn from the experience

My Expectations:
Blue Square Bet South - Top-half finish
FA Cup - Not bothered
FA Trophy - Not bothered

Budgets:
Transfer: £0
Wages: £1,970/week (£2,250/week currently)
Balance: £21,057

Squad:
Incredibly young - both my starting wingers and my starting right back are youth players - but that allowed me more wage budget to spend on the little bits of class that should take us to the next level. Overall I'm happy with the squad, and they've done reasonably well in pre-season, just the one loss to League 2 side AFC Wimbledon blotting the copy book. We should survive, and if we keep key men fit and firing, we should do so comfortably.

Key Men:
Goalkeeper/Defence
Loris Karius - GK - Former Man City trainee turned down a return to Germany to join us - could make a huge contribution.
Matthew Blatchford - DRLC - Lucked into this guy being at the club on non-contract terms when I arrived - signed him up to a full contract straight away.

Midfield
Stefan Oakes - MLC - Some experience to guide the youthful talent in the squad, his competency from corners should also be a big help.

Strikers
Corby Dawes - AMC/ST - The guy I'm looking to to score most of the goals. Quick, and a reasonable finisher for the level.

[SnakeXe]

Cheers crouchy and Romanista - and good to have you on board, Jay

[ManUTactician247]

I had Stefan Oakes on my Tamworth save, he had a decent first season but his stats deteriorated afterwards... hope he does well for you.

[SnakeXe]

Yeah he's not a long-term solution but looks good for a season or two. Always nice to have one or two older heads around the squad as well.

[SnakeXe]

Season 1: Halfway House Update

My first competitive fixture on FM12 saw us tackle Salisbury away from home. They took the lead early on, but we managed an equaliser through an own goal. We couldn't stem the tide for much longer, though, and two second half goals sent me to a debut defeat.

We immediately hit back with a 2-0 home win over Truro, before losing the next match away at Hayes & Yeading. In fact, the first 5 matches followed the non-League blueprint - win at home, get stuffed away. Luckily we had 3 home matches and 2 away in that time, so we were never too concerned with making a terrible start.

We then turned that form on its head by winning 4-2 away in Dover but only managing a draw against Havant & Waterlooville at home. However, that defeat to Hayes & Yeading was our last for 11 games, so we had a very encouraging start indeed.

That run came to an end with a 1-0 loss away to BSN side Corby in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round, a result that clearly knocked our confidence as we were thrashed 3-0 away by Thurrock in the league. A 3-match winning streak put things back on track, but a run of just 2 wins in the next 7 saw us out of the FA Trophy in the first round to league-leaders Woking, and slipping back into mid-table in the BSS, having looked like making an unlikely playoff charge.

All things considered, I'm pretty happy with where we are at the moment, if a little disappointed that our form has tailed off after that excellent 11-game run.

The Good

• The 11-game unbeaten run
• Generally looking a good side
• Creating a good number of chances

The Bad

• Terrible finishing
• Karius has been awful at times for no good reason
• Poor form recently

Results - League Table - Squad

[AK22]

The Bad

• Terrible finishing

That should be the Blue Square South's slogan Absolutely shocking in real life too!

[SnakeXe]

Too soon?

[Flamers]

No Go for it

[iseemonsters1]

What do you think your chances are of actually getting the job? Since it's one of you aims for your career, I'd be sorely tempted - but I'd also be wary of having no chance of getting hired and annoying my current employers!

[SnakeXe]

I was mentioned amongst the possibilities for the Stockport job which came up earlier in the season, and they were top-half of the BSP, so I assume I would have had a shot had I gone for it. I didn't in the end though, thought it was a bit early to change jobs - especially as Bath have been relegated.

[crouchaldinho]

Difficult one.

I'd say it's probably too soon. You need to be at Weymouth for a couple of seasons to build up a reputation before you make a move to a new club.

Tough one though as obviously you'd like to manage them.

In this case, the question is, what would you do in real life, and what do you think is a realistic move?

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 1 - 2012/13

Story of the Season:
Blue Square South - 2nd, Playoff Semi-finalists
After being in a comfortable mid-table position at the turn of the year, we found some form from somewhere and went on a mighty run of 13 wins from 16 games to propel us to a peak of 3 points clear at the top of the table. Unfortunately our luck ran out at that stage, and we lost 3 on the bounce to basically hand the title to Dartford. A win draw and loss from the last 3 games was enough to secure 2nd place however, and if we could rediscover our earlier form we had a great chance to earn promotion.

We drew Truro in the playoffs, a side we'd lost to away and beaten at home in the league. I tried to keep things tight in the away leg, and they seemed to be working early on as we stifled their attacks, and nicked the opener from a corner. Eventually the fact that we couldn't pass the ball 5 yards caught up with us, and we went 2-1 down. Luckily we grabbed a lucky goal back with 10 minutes to go to take a draw back to The Bob Lucas Stadium.

Another dire game followed, the one shot on target from either side coming from us in the 70th minute. The 0-0 meant extra time, and extra time that mirrored the match meant penalties.

With our 4th penalty, we took a 3-1 lead, meaning if we scored ours or they missed any of their penalties, we'd go through to the final.

We missed, they scored.

We missed the next one, they scored. Game over.

FA Cup - Lost in 4th Qualifying Round (v Corby)
Wins over from-outside-the-playable-leagues sides Frome and Enfield Town were good; a limp 1-0 defeat away to BSN strugglers Corby was not.

FA Trophy - Lost in 1st Round (v Woking)
We beat Bishop's Cleeve more comfortably than the scoreline suggests in the qualifying round, but then lost badly to eventual playoff winners Woking in the first round proper.

Results 1 - Results 2 - Squad

Transfers - Broke even
A whole load of frees. Best signing was probably Nathan White, you can take your pick for the worst. Karius is mine, worst 5* player ever.

Finances
Surprisingly good, for a non-league side.

5 Most Important Players:
5. Ross Simpson - DR - Solid enough.
4. Daniel Ball - AMC/ST - Equal top scorer, despite being a bit rubbish.
3. Stefan Oakes - MLC - Leading assist maker from the centre of the park. Tailed off badly.
2. Nathan White - ST - The other of the equal top scorers, we probably would have won the league if he hadn't been badly injured. That's not to say he's that good, just the rest were abysmal.
1. Matthew Blatchford - DRLC - The leader at the back, also contributed with goals at set-pieces.

History:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Season  | Team            | League                | Country      | Position | Notes                                     |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012/13 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Semi-finalists                    |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Season:
Despite nearly winning the league our squad is very poor. If I can find a good striker then the rest probably won't matter, that's how it is at this level. We've got a couple of very promising young wingers, so building the team around them might be sensible. Operation find-a-big-lump-to-aim-at ho!

My feeling at the moment is if we can win promotion, unless it's absolutely spectacular BSP-beware sort of stuff, I'll probably leave at the end of my contract.

[B.W.G]

A good solid first season,unlucky with the penalty shootout loss in the playoffs.Hope you achieve promotion in the new season!

[CarlosEsDios]

Gutted about the penalty shootout loss - you were virtually there! Don't let it get you down, loved reading it so far Snake.

[crouchaldinho]

Very nice season with Weymouth there SnakeXe.

Any chance of some tactical talk? I'm always interested to hear how people set up their teams!

[SnakeXe]

Cheers guys, glad you're enjoying so far!

Tactics wise it's very simple - a rigid 4-4-2 with the emphasis on getting quick passes to the strikers so they can get within shooting range before being closed down (because even without being closed down... well, let's just say they should put down a tarp if they ever go to the sperm bank).

All default roles except wide midfielders swapped to wingers, with "cross from" set to mixed, as by the time they've beaten the full back sometimes the opposition has 9 other men behind the ball, plus the advanced forward swapped to poacher, although that didn't work particularly well so I think I'll change that for next season.

Team instructions are all standard except a rigid philosophy, less freedom and direct passing.

When it works well it's brilliant direct football. Unfortunately with players of this calibre it's sometimes a lottery.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Unlucky in losing the playoffs. Good luck next season.

[arinceo]

Best of luck with this mate, just spent the last few hours going through your Messina career and you've definitely given me an itch to do something similar. Hopefully you'll find a journeyman career just as enjoyable

[roganp]

Unlucky on the playoff defeat, but an excellent season considering where you were predicted to come. Good luck for next season .

[crouchaldinho]

Sounds good SnakeXe. Pretty much how I would set up my team at that level.

I noticed you had 4-4-1-1 on one of your screenies. Was that your plan B?

[SnakeXe]

Thanks guys, and glad you enjoyed the last thread arinceo.

Yeah I used 4-4-1-1 and 4-5-1 as alternatives, might switch to the latter for this coming season. Same sort of philosophy, just a slight repositioning of the players.

[Flamers]

I am having to go more rigid this season as I am now not the best team in the division

[SnakeXe]

Must be a new experience for you, Flamers



What's this? A new contract, for exactly the same length of time, but with a £50/week pay rise? Don't mind if I do!

[Flamers]

It is I don't like it. And I don't like not having strikers that can run the length of the pitch in about 3 seconds

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 2 Preview - Weymouth F.C.

Board Expectations:
Blue Square Bet South - Top-half (minimum of Mid-table, Predicted 16th out of 22)
FA Cup - Third Qualifying Round
FA Trophy - Learn from the experience

My Expectations:
Blue Square Bet South - Playoffs
FA Cup - First Round
FA Trophy - Not bothered

Budgets:
Transfer: £0
Wages: £3,092/week (£3,582/week currently)
Balance: £33,045 (+£11,988 compared to last season)

Squad:
Shipped out most of the guys who disappointed me last season, kept a couple (Karius included) who I thought I could get more from with better coaching (a dedicated goalkeeping coach for one). I have high hopes for a successful campaign, considering the improvement in quality over last season's fare.

Key Men:
Goalkeeper/Defence
Matthew Blatchford - DRLC - Player of the season last time, very good defender for the level.

Midfield
Harry Rubbins - AMC - Came in mid-way through last season and didn't really break into the team, I'm expecting more of him as the most attack-minded of a 3-man midfield.
Ben Davisson - AML - Solid all-rounder of a winger.

Strikers
Darragh Duggan - ST - Hopefully can be the consistent goalscorer we missed last season.

[SnakeXe]

Errr WHAT?

[MattSpurs94]

Errr WHAT?

Awkward....

[B.W.G]

Good luck for the new season

As for the England match.....shocking

[SnakeXe]

Now this is interesting...



Darlo are currently 15th in the BSP having been predicted 3rd and finished 5th last season. The only black mark as far as I'm concerned is that the finances are listed as "Insecure".

Should I go? I think I'll save and stop for the night and sleep on it, any advice would be welcome!

[Liverbird93]

Errr WHAT?

Good read so far and as for the England game just the usual then

[egesagin]

you can't get that team relegated snake, and since you'll survive, it'll give you a chance to go for League Two the next season, if I'm not mistaken of course. I say go for it!

[Watson156]

I would say go to Darlington. Quite a lot of potential.

[CarlosEsDios]

I say stay! You've been given a rise by the board at Weymouth in recognition of your good work. Yes it's only a small gesture but it means they want to keep you. Keep performing well with Weymouth and bigger fish will come calling.

[JonnyCurrie]

Losing on penalties is sickening no matter what context it's in, so my sympathy for that alone. Still a pretty good season considering your half-way position.

I'm sure you'll go one further this season.

[SnakeXe]

So, I decided to do what I would do in real life, which is be respectful to Weymouth by not saying anything in the press, but popping a CV off to Darlington just to see what my options are.



However the media seized upon it:



So I did the honourable thing:



But that seemed to spur my suitors into action:



With a 100% pay increase offered and the budget more than quadrupled, I felt I'd probably made the right decision. The only thing left to do was negotiate another year onto the contract, which Mr. Singh agreed to. County Durham here I come!

[SnakeXe]

Name: Darlington F.C.
Nickname: The Quakers, Darlo
Founded: 1883
Stadium: The Darlington Arena, 25,033 (all-seater) capacity
Status: Professional

From Wikipedia:

Darlington Football Club (also known as Darlo or The Quakers) is a professional association football club based in Darlington, County Durham, currently playing in the Conference National. The club was founded in 1883, and originally played its games at Feethams, before moving to the Darlington Arena in 2003. The arena is an all-seater stadium with a capacity of 25,000, although this is restricted to 10,000. The cost of the stadium was a major factor in driving the club into administration. The club originally played in regionally-organised leagues, and were one of the founding members of the Northern League in 1889. They were first admitted to The Football League when the Third Division North was formed in 1921.

They won the Third Division North title in 1925, and their 15th place in the Second Division in 1926 remains their highest ever league finish. Since their admission to the League, they have spent most of their history in the bottom tier. They won the Third Division North Cup in 1934; their first victory in nationally-organised cup competition. They have reached the last 16 of the FA Cup twice, and the quarter-final of the Football League Cup once in 1968. In the early 1990s they won successive titles, with the Conference National in 1990 and the Fourth Division in 1991. In 2011 they won the FA Trophy, defeating Mansfield Town 1–0 at Wembley Stadium.

The club's main rivals are Hartlepool United. The club's traditional colours are a black and white shirts, black shorts and black and white socks. The club's crest depicts Locomotion No. 1, referencing the town's railway history, as well as a stylised Quaker and the club's nickname, The Quakers, referencing the religious movement that had a historic influence on the town.

Just looking at the bare stats makes me realise how much bigger a club I've moved to - Darlington have a huge, modern stadium (white elephant though it may be) and are fully professional. The club's turnover last season was a whopping £1,859,449 - a figure that dwarfs Weymouth's. However, despite this potential for bringing in money, the club made a £440k loss over the season. Sorting out the financial situation will be a tricky challenge, but one that I'll probably have to make an attempt at sorting out if I'm going to stay here much beyond the end of this season.

But now to the positives - the vast majority of the squad that finished 5th last season is still at the club and the previous manager made some very astute signings over the summer. The squad is a little imbalanced in terms of positions, but not terrible. With some encouragement and back-to-basics football, it should just be a case of returning their belief.

[o JaY]

Good luck at Darlo Don't they have a massive stadium for BSP level (or is that Gateshead)?

EDIT: Just saw your update, great potential of a club!

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 2 New Club Update - Darlington F.C.

Board Expectations:
Blue Square Bet Premier - Challenge for the title (but not judging at the moment, Predicted 3rd out of 22, 15th place on arrival)
FA Cup - First Round
FA Trophy - Semi-final

My Expectations:
Blue Square Bet Premier - Playoffs
FA Cup - First Round
FA Trophy - Try and win it

Budgets:
Transfer: £0
Wages: £12,912/week (£13,849/week currently)
Balance: -£940,580

Squad:
A little midfield-heavy and only one really good striker, but there's plenty of talent and pace in there. A decent goalkeeper is an absolute must, I hope I can either push the budget just a little further or bring someone in on loan. Young striker Brian Gray looks like he'll become a really good player, but 16 is probably a little young to be leading the line.

Key Men:
Goalkeeper/Defence
Steven Swinglehurst - DLC - The on-loan youngster should be a great player for us.

Midfield
Oguzhan Ozyakup - MRC - The former Arsenal trainee adds a touch of class in midfield.
Benvindo - AMRL - Pace, trickery and versatility.

Strikers
Callum Robinson - AML/ST - All the ingredients are there.

[Paolo Willenté]

Good move I say! Nice career so far and still plenty of time to turn the season round at Darlington. Keep it up!

[deltablue]

Looks like a good move, hope you go up before too long.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Pack your jumpers, it's colder in Darlington than Messina.

[Blue_magic]

Good luck with the new club.

[Nordan]

Thanks guys, think this is more feedback than I got in the entire first 5 pages of my last career and I haven't even picked a club yet!.

Amazing what a pic in the OP can achieve!

Good luck in your struggles to conquer the world.

[SnakeXe]

Thanks all

Pack your jumpers, it's colder in Darlington than Messina.

Well Weymouth isn't exactly the Costa del Sol either! I'm sure my extra £375 a week will stretch to some long-johns.

Amazing what a pic in the OP can achieve!

Good luck in your struggles to conquer the world.

Well I guess if I saw an OP with Gareth Keenan in I would be hooked!

[duffy89]

You will not be disappointed in darlo! I had an epic 20 season save with them in FM11, good luck!

[JonnyCurrie]

Good luck with the new season.

[AK22]

Good decision moving to Darlington. A decent push and you'll make the playoffs

However, I'm a bit surprised that they were happy to employ a manager with only one season's experience in the league below. It's such a big step-up from Weymouth too. Might have something to do with the reputation of the BSP and BSS being so similar I suppose.

[SnakeXe]

They were in a bigger state than I thought, so they may have been a bit desperate. Plus I almost won the league with the side predicted bottom, that's got to boost my rep a fair bit!

[Nordan]

They were in a bigger state than I thought, so they may have been a bit desperate. Plus I almost won the league with the side predicted bottom, that's got to boost my rep a fair bit!

Can be fun sorting out a club,good luck with the new challenge.

[SnakeXe]

Season 2: Halfway House Update

My first game in charge of Darlington was very simple - a home match against bottom-of-the-table Hinckley. My players looked a little unfamiliar with the 4-5-1 system I had in mind, but we still came away with a relatively comfortable 1-0 win.

The next game, however, was not good. Away to Eastbourne Boro, who were below us in the table, we shipped 2 goals despite being on top to go 2-0 down. Somehow we wrested the match into our control and brought it back to 2-2 only to throw away all of our hard work in letting in a third cheap goal in injury time. In the following game against Crewe we took the lead twice only to end up losing after an own goal equaliser and yet another injury time winner for the opposition.

I'd like to say things got much better from then, and the squad rallied round, but they didn't. They crumbled. I only won 2 more league games before the halfway point.

Luckily we also got a couple of wins in the FA Cup against regional Conference sides, but then blew our chance of a big pay day in the third round by losing in typically self-destructive fashion against Braintree.

I'm almost tempted to just holiday through to the end of the season, there's no two ways about it - the squad needs massive surgery.

The Good

• Reasonable FA Cup run
• We probably won't go down
• Err...

The Bad

• Throwing away at least a dozen points in injury time
• Awful defending, laboured attacking
• Everything, to be honest

Results - League Table - Squad

[MattSpurs94]

Still think this was the right move?

[SnakeXe]

Still think this was the right move?

Dunno, next season will be the acid test. Sure, it's painful now, but with my own side in place and a full preseason under my guidance we should be far better off.

As an aside, I'm starting to be linked with lower League Two jobs - although it looks like AFC Wimbledon will be joining us in the BSP given their current form.



Either the footballing world realises what a mess I walked into with Darlo, or the rep increase is a bit unbalanced at the moment! Probably a bit of both I'd say.

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 2 - 2013/14

Story of the Season:
Blue Square Premier - 14th
The second half of the season was actually quite a lot better than the first. We found some rhythm and even resembled a football team at times. However, some crucial injuries meant I couldn't use our favoured 4-5-1 system so I flitted between 4-3-1-2 and 4-4-1-1 for the rest of the season, which had some pretty changeable results - including losing our last 3 matches when some wins might have meant a decent league position, if not quite where we wanted to be at the start of the season.

FA Cup - Lost in 2nd Round (v Braintree)
Two wins over regional Conference sides got us to the second round, but unfortunately we missed out on a much-needed payday when we couldn't beat a third.

FA Trophy - Lost in 1st Round (v Burton)
Never got going.

Results 1 - Results 2 - Squad

Transfers - Broke even
Large player turnover, plenty of loans coming in. Best signing will hopefully be Adorjan, worst was Mellor on loan - single-handedly cost us 6 points.

Finances
Getting better, though still badly in the red.

5 Most Important Players:
Rather than 5 most important players this season, this is the 5 players most likely to help next season not be this painful/dull/terrible.
5. Oguzhan Ozyakup - MRC - Should sing in a better team.
4. Brian Gray - AMC/ST - Amazing prospect, will sign professional terms in the summer so should be capable of starting.
3. Harry Davis - DC - Let down by fairly poor fullbacks, tried manfully enough to suggest he'll do better with better company.
2. Matthew Urwin - GK - Kept 4 clean sheets in a row when he first joined, couldn't keep it up though.
1. Krisztian Adorjan - AMC/ST - A wonderful capture for us - the scouts say he's League One standard and I agree. I'll be building the team around him.

History:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Season  | Team            | League                | Country      | Position | Notes                                     |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012/13 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Semi-finalists                    |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2013/14 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 3rd      | Resigned in October                       |
|    -    | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 14th     | 15th on arrival in October                |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Season:
I'm sure the board and fans won't settle for anything less than a promotion push, and neither will I to be honest. I really want things to work out here, I feel I owe it to the fans and board after suffering through last season without much sign of improvement.

[egesagin]

I bet you'll make the playoffs next season! Btw, can you take a look at my topic here and give a few tips perhaps? I'm a total noob on lower leagues management :/

[SnakeXe]

Yeah sure, could you drop a link in here? Not sure I'll be able to help too much - I'm not doing that great myself

[egesagin]

Here you go! A hint about finances will be fine, other than friendlies of course. And some basic tactics would be ncie too since I don't know any other atctics than pssing games but these guys clearly are incapable of that and I'm going to have to use long balls I guess but I need some advice on the use of that. I'm playing a classic 4-4-2 and my squad consists of players accordingly. Thanks anyway, even if you can't help, the fact that you're willing is enough

[iseemonsters1]

Adorjan looks excellent for this level. Do you think he can thrive in your preferred 4-5-1, or will you have to mix things up tactically?

[SnakeXe]

Here you go! A hint about finances will be fine, other than friendlies of course. And some basic tactics would be ncie too since I don't know any other atctics than pssing games but these guys clearly are incapable of that and I'm going to have to use long balls I guess but I need some advice on the use of that. I'm playing a classic 4-4-2 and my squad consists of players accordingly. Thanks anyway, even if you can't help, the fact that you're willing is enough

Well being as you've won your first four games I'm not sure you need my help! Finances are tricky in lower leagues, basically if you want to ensure you don't lose loads of money you have to work out how much your wage budget actually is, rather than what the board tells you it is - often what your club can really afford is much less. Keep a close eye on bonuses when signing contracts as well - you might think "Well £100 per goal is fine, I'll be happy to pay that" - but if he goes on to score 30 in the season that's £3k. Not to mention appearance fees as well!

Tactically I like to keep things rigid and very very simple. Get the ball forward quickly, as few passes to goal as possible - basically going by the principle that the fewer touches it requires, the less likely there is to be a mistake. 4-4-2 is usually the best bet.

Adorjan looks excellent for this level. Do you think he can thrive in your preferred 4-5-1, or will you have to mix things up tactically?

I'm hoping to use him as an advanced playmaker in the AMC position, so I'll work out what the best arrangement around that will be. I'm torn between 4-3-1-2 and 4-4-1-1 at the moment. 4-4-1-1 is probably better defensively whilst 4-3-1-2 has the advantage of two men up top and plenty of men in midfield to retain the ball. I'll probably get training in both over the summer and experiment in the friendlies. I love 4-2-3-1 as a system (see my Messina game) but it's not really practical at this level I don't think, unless I get some outrageously good fullbacks.

[SnakeXe]

Former Club Watch:

Weymouth F.C.:

Having left the side in third, they continued to challenge for a playoff spot until falling away with about 8 games left. They still wildly exceeded the season's prediction of 16th so I can feel proud of how I've established the club in a league they were expected to drop straight back out of.

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13*  Blue Square South       2nd       Playoff semi-finalists
2013/14*  Blue Square South       9th       I left in October

NB * indicates that I was in charge for at least part of the season.

[SnakeXe]

Same wage, one more year's payout when I get sa-... er, I mean, one more year I get to manage this amazing club to glory? Sign me up!

[egesagin]

Gratz on the offer!

As for your advice, I wish I saw that before the season started lol. I've used half of my wage budget and it's apparently more than we can actually pay. We'll see how it works out. About the tactics, I began the first game with direct passes with the same principal in mind as yours, but that didn't work out. Now we're playing a short passing game and amazingly, we can! We play much better this way and I think we can make a midtable finish, hopefully that is ^^

[AK22]

Looking at the players you've got, I'd be amazed if you don't finish top five next season. Quality through the core of the team

[SnakeXe]

Gratz on the offer!

As for your advice, I wish I saw that before the season started lol. I've used half of my wage budget and it's apparently more than we can actually pay. We'll see how it works out. About the tactics, I began the first game with direct passes with the same principal in mind as yours, but that didn't work out. Now we're playing a short passing game and amazingly, we can! We play much better this way and I think we can make a midtable finish, hopefully that is ^^

That's good news! Always better to play a passing game if you can, frustrates and tires the opposition as well as being an excellent defensive tactic. I just haven't been able to implement it with anything less than a top side.

Looking at the players you've got, I'd be amazed if you don't finish top five next season. Quality through the core of the team

Piling the pressure on, eh?

Nah I agree, we should really be looking at taking the title. I just need to get to grips with how to set up a team to succeed at this level.

[SnakeXe]

2014 FIFA World Cup
Hosts: Brazil
Holders: Spain

Group Stage:
Group A

| Pos   | Inf   | Team    |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Brazil  |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 7     | 3     | +4    | 7     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Canada  |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 5     | 3     | +2    | 7     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Morocco |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 7     | 8     | -1    | 3     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Romania |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 3     | 8     | -5    | 0     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group B

| Pos   | Inf   | Team      |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Spain     |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 6     | 1     | +5    | 9     | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Sweden    |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 7     | 6     | +1    | 4     | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Australia |       | 3     | 0     | 2     | 1     | 2     | 4     | -2    | 2     | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | U.S.A.    |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 2     | 6     | -4    | 1     | 
| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group C

| Pos   | Inf   | Team         |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | England      |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 9     | 3     | +6    | 9     | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Russia       |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 7     | 3     | +4    | 6     | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | South Africa |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 5     | 7     | -2    | 3     | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Saudi Arabia |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 1     | 9     | -8    | 0     | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group D

| Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Wales    |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 9     | 3     | +6    | 7     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Serbia   |       | 3     | 1     | 2     | 0     | 6     | 4     | +2    | 5     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Paraguay |       | 3     | 0     | 2     | 1     | 2     | 4     | -2    | 2     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Mali     |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 3     | 9     | -6    | 1     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group E

| Pos   | Inf   | Team           |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Italy          |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 9     | 2     | +7    | 9     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Uruguay        |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 3     | 4     | -1    | 4     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Bosnia & Herz. |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 3     | 6     | -3    | 3     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Ghana          |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 3     | 6     | -3    | 1     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group F

| Pos   | Inf   | Team        |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Portugal    |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 7     | 3     | +4    | 9     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Ivory Coast |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 5     | 3     | +2    | 6     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Holland     |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 3     | 4     | -1    | 3     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Iran        |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 3     | 8     | -5    | 0     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group G

| Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Mexico   |       | 3     | 1     | 2     | 0     | 4     | 3     | +1    | 5     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Chile    |       | 3     | 1     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 0     | +1    | 5     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Slovenia |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 2     | 2     | 0     | 4     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Japan    |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 2     | 4     | -2    | 1     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group H

| Pos   | Inf   | Team        |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | France      |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 9     | 1     | +8    | 9     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Argentina   |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 4     | 3     | +1    | 3     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | South Korea |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 2     | 5     | -3    | 3     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Jamaica     |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 1     | 7     | -6    | 3     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Knockout Stage:
Second Round:
Brazil 4 v 2 Sweden
Spain 6 v 0 Canada
England 3 v 1 Serbia
Wales 0 v 1 Russia
Ivory Coast 0 v 2 Italy
Uruguay 2 v 1 Portugal
Mexico 2 v 4 Argentina
France 4 v 3 Chile

Quarter Final:
Brazil 4 v 2 Russia
Spain 0 v 1 England
Italy 1 v 2 France
Uruguay 1 v 3e Argentina

Semi Final:
Brazil 3 v 0 Argentina
England 2 v 0 France

Third Place Playoff:
France 3 v 1 Argentina

Final:
Brazil 1 v 1p England (Okay, officially the least realistic FM ever, I want my money back)

[SnakeXe]

SnakeXe's Career - Season 3 Preview - Darlington F.C.

Board Expectations:
Blue Square Bet Premier - Promotion (minimum of Top-half, Predicted 6th out of 24)
FA Cup - First Round
FA Trophy - Unimportant

My Expectations:
Blue Square Bet Premier - Promotion
FA Cup - Hope for Third Round
FA Trophy - Hope for Winners

Budgets:
Transfer: £0
Wages: £11,395/week (£10,671/week currently)
Balance: -£612,603 (+£327,977 compared to last season)

Squad:
Wage bill down, quality up, a squad with class and character. If it's not enough then I'm the problem, simple as.

Key Men:
Goalkeeper/Defence
Harry Davis - DC - Captain and leader at the back.

Midfield
Oguzhan Ozyakup - MRC - Poor last season, should do better.
Krisztian Adorjan - AMC/ST - Sheer class.

Strikers
Joel Ambalu - ST - The on-loan youngster should thrive at this level.

[SnakeXe]

A nice landmark, celebrated by an equally nice 3-0 away win!

[Azeryk`]

Be careful - I've started to be linked with L2 jobs but still seem to be miles away when I actually apply for them - I think breaking into the football league makes a big difference.

[SnakeXe]

Oh definitely, I wasn't planning on taking one until I've actually achieved something in non-league, just nice to know my burgeoning reputation didn't take too much of a hit from not being an immediate messiah at Darlington!

[Nordan]

I think you forgot to change your template,under My exp it says BSB south.

I am very confident you will make top 5,and probably win the title this season!

[SnakeXe]

I think you forgot to change your template,under My exp it says BSB south.

I am very confident you will make top 5,and probably win the title this season!

Well spotted!

[SnakeXe]

Season 3: Halfway House Update

We started the season very very well, with 4 wins from the first 4 matches. We first dropped points away to Eastbourne, who we battered for 80 minutes but only found one goal, whilst they had one attack and scored.

3 wins, a draw and a loss from the next 6 wasn't great, but 4 wins after that and a 7-0 thrashing of Wakefield in the FA Cup qualifying meant we were feeling really confident.

However, I absent mindedly asked the assistant to take care of the team talk after the 7-0, and he managed to **** off the entire squad. Cue 5 games without a win.

A penalty shootout win over Telford in the FA Cup first round restored confidence, and we beat League Two side Oxford in the next round, and won our next two league games as well. Unfortunately injuries started to mean I couldn't use either of my favoured 4-3-1-2 or 4-4-1-1 systems, so I had to reshuffle. This resulted in 3 straight defeats to end the half-season.

The Good

• Comfortable in a playoff spot
• Playing good football
• Bignall has scored well

The Bad

• Injuries
• Can't work out Adorjan
• Poor finishing (broken record, huh?)

Results - League Table - Squad

[SRL88]

This is a nice read Snake. Nice to see your in charge of my local side

[SnakeXe]

This is a nice read Snake. Nice to see your in charge of my local side

Thanks not the one you support though, by your location?



Jammy little... err... mouse flatterers.

[SRL88]

Thanks not the one you support though, by your location?

Haha no. Born & brought up a Liverpool fan off family.

[adam426]

This is a great read, I hope you do well.

[crouchaldinho]

I'm visiting your thread SnakeXe to catch up and also to get some inspiration for starting my own FM12 adventure!

England beaten by San Marino but then winning the World Cup in 2014? I'd take that, to be honest!

Nice move to Darlo. I think it was the right move although I did kind of want to see what you could do with Weymouth if you stayed a bit longer.