[FM11] : Town over Gown

Here's a bit of info about the club.

Year founded : 1893

Status : Professional

Stadium: The Kassam Stadium

Fierce rivals: Swindon and Reading

The year is 2020, after holidaying for 10 years I then decided to pick a team languishing somewhere in League 1/2, in the end I elected to pick the university city of Oxford . Inspired by other saves on this forum, I will not be buying (or loaning) any players, I will be relying solely on my academy for new players. For your information, on FM11 the youth intake is before the season starts. Here is how Oxford United did in the 10 previous seasons.

They seemed to have established themselves as a solid League 1 side, only for a poor season last time around. We are once again predicted to finish 18th, but my chairman expects a mid-table finish. I'd personally be pleased with anything higher than 14th. Here are the facilities, nothing special at all really.

I'll be updating with mid-season updates, and other random posts that I think people may find interesting. I have a free summer so will hopefully be whizzing through the seasons

Pre-season 2020/21

Transfers - I gave a number of marginal players new contracts as I couldn't afford to lose them. Shame to see Dickman go () , as he could have certainly done a job for us as backup striker, as it stands I have to rely on a couple of 17 year olds with 1* PA, was my mistake really I refused to offer him the wage he wanted, and he was then unwilling to restart negotiations.

Friendlies

Was mainly building up tactic familiarity here, but we got a couple of decent results like beating Goteburg at the Kassam

Youth intake - Forgot to screenshot, but was poor. Craig Harding was the only half decent prospect and so was made YP01, he is a pacey left winger/back that has 3* PA which is a decent League 1 player. I will be giving him a fair amount of game time as it's the only way for him to develop, but I can't see him becoming the next Gareth Bale.

Craig Harding YP01- Stats, Report

Key players

Tim Penfold - An ex-Chelsea youth player who's been at the club for 5 years is a solid winger, who could probably do a job in the Championship.

Billy Boden - A pacey striker who can also play out wide, scored 15 last season.

Nathan Cameron - A big, strong centre back, need I say anymore?

Comment: We have a small squad, so need to stay clear of major injuries to key players - but I'm hopeful we can have a decent season as we are competent in pretty much all of the positions in the 4-4-2 I plan on playing.

Media prediction: 18th

Chairman expectation: Mid-table

My target: Higher than 15th

Cupdate!

JPT South:

Comment: Meh, didn't really care about this competition. Highlight being YP01 scoring his 1st and 2nd goals for the club, his goal against Exeter making him the youngest goalscorer in our history.

Carling Cup:

Decent wins over Millwall and Brighton, the less said about the QPR game the better.....

FA Cup:

3rd Round is respectable, although we really made it hard for ourselves in both games against Bury. We played pretty well against Watford, and weren't it for their clinical finishing we could have got something out of the game.

2020/21 Mid-season update!

Npower League 1.

Going far, far better than I expected. At the start of the season we drew a couple games we really should have won, but our form since then has been remarkable (Tranmere game aside, they played 4(four) strikers!!!WTF). I don't fancy us to be automatically promoted with such a small squad but a play-off place is definitely on the cards.

Shame we are out of all cups, but the League has to take priority at this point. I've asked the board to improve our youth facilities but despite having 500k in the bank, they have refused my request each time.

Here are the stats so far for the 3 players I outlined as our key man before the season began.

Tim Penfold: Been Beckham-esque at times (well a League 1 version!)

Nathan Cameron: Started every game so far, and has been excellent.

Billy Bodin: Scored quite a few goals including a quartet vs Bury in the FA cup.

2020/21 End of Season Update!

2nd half of the season League results

Npower League 1 - 5th , (Lost in Playoff semi-final 1-0 on agg to Exeter)

Squad stats

A great performance in the league, we were unlucky to not beat Exeter, but with our squad it would be nearly impossible to survive in the Championship. Our form tailed off towards the end of the season but that was to be expected with such a small squad.

FA Cup - 3rd Round

Johnstone Paint Trophy South - 2nd Round

Carling Cup - 3rd Round

Player of the year - Billy Bodin, 30 goals in all comps is great.

Now I need some advice.... I've asked the board for improvements to the youth facilities all year, but was constantly rejected due to a lack of funding. My second youth intake was even worse than the first, with every player bar one (with 1.5* PA), has 0.5*PA. Now after my good season at Oxford I've been linked with a number of Championship jobs, I'm wondering should I persevere with Oxford in an attempt to improve the finances so I may get a player who isn't totally abysmal or should I take my youth only philosophy with me to a higher club. Interested to hear your thoughts.

Did it take you long to holiday 10 years? And how many leagues do you have loaded?

Tried something similar a while ago, but holidaying took forever

Now I need some advice.... I've asked the board for improvements to the youth facilities all year, but was constantly rejected due to a lack of funding. My second youth intake was even worse than the first, with every player bar one (with 1.5* PA), has 0.5*PA. Now after my good season at Oxford I've been linked with a number of Championship jobs, I'm wondering should I persevere with Oxford in an attempt to improve the finances so I may get a player who isn't totally abysmal or should I take my youth only philosophy with me to a higher club. Interested to hear your thoughts.

I've done a youth only save before with a low division team.. You can eventually get decent players but it's going to take time. The question is if you personally have the patience to invest several seasons to get good youth intakes or not? The process will be faster at a big club, but you still won't get world beaters every year..

I'd say stick with the small club, it's so very rewarding in the end

Did it take you long to holiday 10 years? And how many leagues do you have loaded?

Tried something similar a while ago, but holidaying took forever

I just had it running in the background for about 2 days, so yeah quite a while. I have England (to League 2), France (1st and 2nd tier), Italy (1st and 2nd tier), Germany (1st and 2nd tier) and Spain (1st and 2nd tier) loaded.

I've done a youth only save before with a low division team.. You can eventually get decent players but it's going to take time. The question is if you personally have the patience to invest several seasons to get good youth intakes or not? The process will be faster at a big club, but you still won't get world beaters every year..

I'd say stick with the small club, it's so very rewarding in the end

Hmm I guess it's just a concern that with the poor finances I can't see the facilities improving for a while and I only have a couple more seasons before the first teamers start to retire and I'll have to be playing people who aren't good enough for the conference week in week out. But I think you kinda said what I was thinking, I'll re-assess the situation 2 seasons down the line I reckon.