Brothers do battle in Wales - For Power and for the Glory

[theBlackPrince]

My Brother and I finally decided to set up a Network game and play through for plenty of years until FM13 shows its head. After reading through hundreds of stories on here, drew inspiration from JackJCFC's Welsh adventure, we decided to do something similar. Loading all the UK and Irish leagues up we will be starting in Wales trying to have European success from Wales, whilst improving the league. It will be a purely head to head battle for trophies with bragging rights for the winner for FM13. We hope to stay in Wales until we win the Champions League andhelped re-shape the Welsh League for decades to come. We have to play this on FM11 as we both didn't get 12.

We decided that to give the league the best chance to grow to pick teams from the bottom half of the game. After some wikipedia knowledge and keeping the team selections to semi-pro to hopefully add more of a challenge to the first couple of years, the teams were chosen!

theBlackPrince would be Prestatyn and Andres Messi would be Bala. Both team predicted to finish in the bottom half, and both managers went about ripping the heart's out of the team and replacing players, the league game us the following odds to win the League.

Time to do battle, as you know when Brothers get involved, it's Personal!

Messages from Managers:

theBlackPrince

The goal set from the Board was to get a mid-table finish. I would like to go one better and get into the top 6 shoot out and even try to push for a top 4 finish to secure a spot in Europe. I would be happy with anything above 8th, but I feel if they can learn my tactics, we can secure a top 6 finish and more.

Andres Messi

Our aim from the Chairman was to avoid relegation, plan and simple! I feel we can secure a top 8 finish and I would be happy with that to build on. Most of players are longer term prospects so looking at this year to give them experience ready to challenege the top 6 next season.

[theBlackPrince]

Saved for Career Progression Info



Head to Head Record

[JackJCFC]

Always enjoy reading a Wales save, interesting to see a network save in Wales too. Hopefully you can improve the league faster than i was able too! You've certainly both picked some difficult teams to start with.

[theBlackPrince]

The first ideal time to do an update came at a point not seen in English Football, the split in the Champions and Relegation groups of the league after playing each team twice. With Prestatyn Town already safe in the top 6th and a game in hand, Bala Town were not in hold of their own destiny, and relying on Port Talbot to slip up and lose points. Both on 31 points but with Port Talbot having a 5+ Goal Difference on Bala Town, all Andres Messi could do was win, and pray!

Bala Town in 7th vs 9th Llanelli - Port Talbot 6th vs 8th Aberystwyth

Andres Messi

Really delighted with the way the boys handled the pressure today, getting an early goal and settling the game early in the second half. We heard Aberystwyth had taken the lead but got in at half time to find Port Talbot had equalised. It was hard to keep the team focused at half time, knowing that one goal either for Port Talbot would drop us down to 7th and out of the top 6 shoot out. The game seemed to slow down in the second half, we had done the job but everyone's attention was on the other game. Luckily, Aber did the job and kept them out and we are into the top 6. This is way above our expectations for the season, but I urge the fans to not start dreaming about Europe yet.

theBlackPrince

Over the moon with the progress the team has made this season. We have been performing well and have been rewarded with a good chance to finish in the top 4. This is the crunch time of the season tho, all the other 5 teams are gunning for the same prize so every game is a cup final game. We just have to trust the players, stick to tactics and keep winning and hopefully that is enough. I don't think we are in a position to win it all yet, but there is a lot of heart in this team.

Welsh Cup

Both teams went out to lower league opposition in the 3rd round. High embarassing for both teams, but with prospect players playing for both teams, they all showed themselves to not be worthy to play in the first team and better work hard on the training ground and in the reserves.

Loosemores League Cup

With both teams securing a bye in the 1st round, unfortunately for Bala they were drawn vs Prestatyn in the Quarter Finals. Bala scored first but Prestatyn managed to score one late on and with both teams struggling in extra time, Prestatyn dropped one in to sink Bala 2-1. In the Semi-Finals Prestatyn drew league leaders Neath and Carmarthen played Bangor City. Both Prestatyn and Carmarthen dominated both legs, winning 5-1 and 5-2 respectively to set up a mouth watering tie and the first chance for theBlackPrince to secure his first trophy and get one up on Andres Messi!

Time to take on the Champions Group games, playing the top 5 teams home and away again. This gives Prestatyn and Bala another 2 chances to play each other this year, another two chance to get one up on each other!

[JackJCFC]

Great work both getting in the top 6, good to see Carmarthen top

[theBlackPrince]

Always enjoy reading a Wales save, interesting to see a network save in Wales too. Hopefully you can improve the league faster than i was able too! You've certainly both picked some difficult teams to start with.

Thank you, thats the hope that with two teams "hopefully" doing well the League should be dragged up quicker, but who knows. And we didn't want to try and make the first few seasons too easy, so these teams seemed ideal to start with and make Professional!

Champions Group - 5 Games In

The top 5 teams showed they are ahead of Bala in terms of ability, creating a small gap to the 6th placed team. The top 5 are really close in terms of quality and points, and every game is a real battle. Who has the deepest squad or the man who can create a bit of magic as this title could come down to the final day of the season for not only the title, but the important Euro places!

Andres Messi

After losing the first couple of games badly I decided to concentrate on youth promotion and tactic modifications. I was pretty much out of the running and with us already way above our target, it's time to look forward to the new players coming through. I'm not throwing in the towel, just seeing who shows me the want and desire (plus skill) to move into the first team.

theBlackPrince

Despite picking up 2 wins and a draw in the 5 games, I'm livid with my Strikers. They have been average all year but they between them have only scored 1 out of the 9 goals in the 5 games. Thats poor. They have 5 games to score goals and keep up where we are or they will be gone! I'm just pleased other players have picked up the slack and kept us competitive.

So we come to the business end of the season, all to play for. After a dreadful run for Prestatyn and a great run by Bala, there was lots of twists and turns in the the final games which left the standings with one game left as this.

Prestatyn played TNS and Bala played top of the league Neath. Could Messi help theBlackPrince out or would it all come tumbling down???

[JackJCFC]

Bala done well to recover in those last 5 games. Very close at the top though, a slim chance of the title!

[deltablue]

Good starts, especially for you.

[theBlackPrince]

Final League Game of the Season

Well it all comes down to this. Bala could help Prestatyn or TNS to lift the title if they beat Neath. Bala are just playing for pride now but they are the most inform team of the past few games. The whole season, came down to this game, and what a final game it was!

theBlackPrince

Well we kept our end of the bargain, we got the 3 points today, we could do no more. We lost the title with a poor run in the last 4 games do was down to me and not seeing that other teams had caught on to our tactics. We still over-achieved by several places and qualified for Europe. The season is a success even if the other game goes against us.

So close for me, with Bala scoring early in the 1st minute things were really looking up. Neath grabbed a couple of goals to take the lead and Bala, on top for most of the game got one back to make the final 10 minutes interesting. They hit the woodwork but could not score a 3rd.

Andres Messi

We made quite a run in the end and I'm pleased how the players reacted to the new tactics installed. If we ha played them earlier, who knows where we could have ended up. Predicited 12th to end up 5th, Team of the season? Must be up there!

As Aberystwyth won the Welsh League Cup, there was a play-off to see who else got into Europe. Bala played well and beat Bangor Town in the Semi-Final before facing TNS in the final. It was not meant to be Andres Messi's day, going down 2-1 in the end.. Just missing out on Europe but definately a big stride to challenging the top few teams next year.

Final League Table

theBlackPrince

I was overall very pleased with the quality of players brought into the club. My Player of the year would have to be Centre Back Ryan Carolan. He popped up and scored 7 goals which was second best in the team and kept the back 4 in check! He did everything I want from my CB and with little fuss. Most frustrated with the Strikers, Meade answered the rally cry in the end with 12 goals but I released the likes of Darryl Clare who couldn't hit a barn door from 5 foot away. That is where I need to improve the squad the most the next season.

Andres Messi

The team really came together and gives me hope that I wont need many players to come in. My player of the year would be Steven Foley, who overcame injury at the start of the year and really impressed, pulling the strings in the middle of the park for the whole season.

Loosemores Cup Final
There was also the matter of the Loosemores Cup Final, where theBlackPrince could get the first trophy of the network game. They came up against at Carmarthen who were on a terrible run of 5 games without a win. Changing from the 4-4-2 that beat Carmarthen just 3 days earlier, a more attacking 4-3-3 was installed and it proved to be the difference maker. Prestatyn recoreded an Easy 3-0 Victory to their first trophy under theBlackPrince.

Season 1 had being a success for both managers. No league title but 1 trophy for theBlackPrince and Andres Messi had improved his team and were looking the in-form team as the season ended. They could be really dangerous in the new season and must be odds on to be in the top 3 next season!

[JackJCFC]

Unlucky in the league title but good work in the cup. Bala were unlucky not to make europe!

[deltablue]

Wow, very close in the league, and already some silverware.

[B.W.G]

Very good first season from both teams.

[Nobby_McDonald]

It will be interesting if you have to face each other in a final or some sort of decider.

[MadDog]

Hi I was wondering if you could tell me how you connected for this network game as me and my mate keep getting an "unable to connect to server" message. I have looked at many tutorials and such but was wondering if you could give me a hand cheers.

[theBlackPrince]

Unlucky in the league title but good work in the cup. Bala were unlucky not to make europe!

Yeh was a little gutting for him after the run was started too late to make it to Europe, next year hopefully!

Wow, very close in the league, and already some silverware.

Always great to win a trophy but to be honest, that one is not hard with only 12 teams in it, couple of wins and you're in the final!

Very good first season from both teams

Thank you, pretty happy with the season and how its going!

It will be interesting if you have to face each other in a final or some sort of decider.

Oh trust me it makes them head to head games much more tense and involving. I tend to take the laptop in the room and its intense and frustrating, how management should be! Hopefully we make a final together and that would be fun.... for one of us!

Brother's do Battle in Wales - Season 2

Well after a very successful first season, spirits were high for a repeat and to do better this season. Prestatyn also had the Europa Cup 1st Qualifying round to contend with, the first venture into Europe for either team. Well, it was explosive the first leg and the second one was a bit of a disappointment after the first one, but ultimately we were out-classed and the first leg probably gave me false hope as they played us of the park!

theBlackPrince

Obviously we would have loved to have gone through, but we came up against a very talented team who have plenty of experience n Europe. We certainly can come away with our heads held high and gave them a real scare at their place, but just couldn't match them at home. We have learn't from this, and hopefully we can get back there this year!

As the aim is to increase the League, it is now at this standard.

We were feeling confident and thought we would get more wages to spend on better players. How wrong were we! Messi went from £2,600 a month down to £2,100 and mine stayed at £2,400 for the year. This really has hampered brining in better players and with bad training facilities and low number of coaches, improving players in house is a very slow progress......It could be a very long season as we have seen some great players moving to the other teams as they can offer the money we can't! Just did a quick scout through to compare this and it was quite a difference for a couple of teams compared to the rest of the league...

Top Wage & Average Wages per Squad:
Prestatyn 200 - 60
Bala 250 - 80
TNS - 975 - 375
Aber - 240 - 75
Afan Lido - 275 - 85
Airbus - 400 - 100
Bangor - 250 - 95
Carmarthen - 240 - 85
Llanelli - 840 - 375
Neath - 2,500 - 475
Newton - 150 - 55
Port Talbot - 210 - 70

New Signings

Onwards to the season now. Been a little slow as we had things on this weekend, back to it now before tonights Football!!

[cerud]

Very interesting career concept! A 2 in 1