[FM15 classic] - Trying to achieve more than mediocrity

Having made the decision to get FM15, here's my career save. I've given it the name I have as I hardly set the world on fire in my previous two career saves.

Setup:

FM15 Classic, with a large database and the following nations loaded (all divisions):

England

Holland

Ireland

Italy

Northern Ireland

Spain

Scotland

I start off unemployed, but with ex-pro (not international) reputation. I start off holidaying but set to apply for positions. As it turns out, two of the clubs without a manager offer me the job – Aldershot and Kilmarnock. So, I have a decision to make. Not a very hard one, mind.

2014/15 – KILMARNOCK – SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Media prediction: 7th

Board expectation: Finish above mid-table.

So, I start my career in Scotland. Kilmarnock are one-time league champions, having won the title in the 1964/65 season. In recent years, they have generally been in the lower reaches of Scotland's Premier League, usually ending up in the bottom group when the league splits in two after 33 games.

Financially, they're sound. Not rich, but not in danger of financial troubles and this should remain so as long as they're in the top tier.

Anyway, onto the action. The squad is what I would describe as adequate. Should be good enough to get somewhere near what the board expects, but never going to trouble the top couple of spots (and let's be honest, it'll take something special to topple Celtic).

Pre-season was largely taken up with a pretty unsuccessful tour of Germany. We get a couple of draws, but we are against good quality opposition and struggle to get any positive results. As a result, we start the league season with our morale in a state I'd say was far from ideal. Truth be told, we never really found our groove at the beginning of the season, and we struggled for both possession and shots, meaning it was not easy to get wins. We did pick up points here and there, but we never really hit form, except for one little patch where we go 6 games unbeaten (and even then, four of those were draws).

The other problem we had was injuries. Lots and lots of injuries. Mostly to key players, which didn't help. At times we were unable to name a full bench and had to pay the physio overtime.

At the league split, we were perhaps predictably in the bottom six, but with both Motherwell and Ross County being utterly dreadful we were not in any danger of losing Premier League status. The performances were definitely getting better as the season wore on, but our biggest problem was scoring goals, as we seem to be lacking that killer instinct in front of goal. It's not something I'm going to be able to address immediately as we're pretty much at our wage budget and have no transfer budget to speak of, meaning we can't even pay agents fees if we want to sign anybody.

We end up finishing 8th in the league and reach the quarter finals of both cups. Celtic unsurprisingly dominated the league, finishing on 99 points. Rangers also managed to get promoted via the playoffs at the expense of Ross County, so the Old Firm is back on for next season.

Finally, shortly after the season's end, the club entered the process of a board takeover. Will I keep my job if this goes through? I'll have to wait and see I suppose!

League table:

SEASON OVERVIEW:

Scotland:

Premier League: Celtic

Scottish Cup: Hearts

League Cup: Celtic

Training Cup: East Fife

Other champions:

England: Tottenham

Holland: PSV

Italy: Juventus

Northern Ireland: Linfield

Spain: Real Madrid

(Ireland not noted, as their first season in the save is still ongoing).

Champions League: Barcelona

Europa League: Real Madrid

Not bad season Hopefully you can improve it next season. Surprised to see Real Madrid winning Europa League

Not bad season Hopefully you can improve it next season. Surprised to see Real Madrid winning Europa League

I was more shocked at Spurs winning the Premier League! But yeah, I know it's a bit weird as you think of them as being Champions League contenders, but they were knocked out at the group stage after finishing 3rd.

Thanks for the kind words though, I am hoping to see an improvement this next season assuming I survive the takeover.

A solid start. Also surprised at seeing Tottenham win the league in season 1.

I would look to Ireland for players. In my save I found and signed about half the Irish National Team which was available as Free Transfers. Needed to free up about 100k for agents fees, and I was League 1 Swindon Town.

Good Start though.

PS. I even went back and transferred some of them to Liverpool after I got that job. They were 5 stars in League 1+Championship but 2-3 stars in Premier League.

Decent start, KUTGW mate

Thanks all, a quick mid-season update.....

2015/16 – KILMARNOCK – SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE

Media Prediction - 9th

Board expectation – Top half finish

Very little was done in pre-season in terms of adding to the squad. A couple of players were released as I'd found them to be useless in the first season, and one striker was added to boost the attacking options. However, after that signing, the board takeover process began and so the club was put under a transfer embargo.

Results in pre-season were a mixed bag, however I was encouraged by a 0-0 draw against Wolfsburg and a 3-1 win against Bournemouth, both of which we played very well in.

We made a reasonable start in the league, winning every other game pretty much for the first 8 games. Also, the board takeover, spearheaded by former Bolton chairman Phil Gartside went through and I survived this, but this happened just after the transfer window closed so I was not able to sign any further players. This was a bit of a problem, as once again injuries had hit hard and I was having to field youth players again and this started impacting on results, and we were on a bad run of 3 successive defeats and were in 9th place.

At this point, something unexpected happened. I was headhunted. And given the size of the club offering me the job, it seemed an offer too good to refuse. So, off to England I go......

League table at the time I left Kilmarnock:

2015/16 – BOLTON WANDERERS – SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP

Media Prediction: 12th

Board Expectation: Mid-table

League table at the time I took over:

It's quite funny that Killie were taken over by the ex-Bolton chairman and then find myself going the other way. It's fair to say that Bolton have found life outside of the Premier League difficult, and have not really threatened to return as yet. They have expectations of a mid-table finish, and as you can see it's not been going to plan.

Needless to say I have a bit of a job on my hands. There is some room in the wage budget to make some signings, and I do have just under £600k to play with as a transfer budget. I do need to be careful though, as the club does have an eye-watering amount of debt – net debt currently sits at £98.76m! Needless to say, the interest payments on this is pretty much hammering the bank balance (looking at the finance screen, the club would be profitable if not for this!). I'm guessing that, financially, the club really needs to be back in the Premier League.

Wish me luck!!

Actually chuffed to see someone had started there story with Kilmarnock! A rare sight, don't blame you for moving on though, we are awful!! Good move to Bolton, keep it up!

Good luck with Bolton

Actually chuffed to see someone had started there story with Kilmarnock! A rare sight, don't blame you for moving on though, we are awful!! Good move to Bolton, keep it up!

Thanks. I've always followed Kilmarnock as a second team (I'm a Southampton supporter primarily), so it was nice to start off there. I even owned one of their replica home shirts about 10 years or so ago! It is a tough situation though because the budgets are so small. It did tell me at the end of the first season that they also bring in the least amount of sponsorship money in the SPL as well.

Work to do at Bolton.

Work to do at Bolton.

Not half! It's proven to be quite interesting so far as well.

Bolton really are a financial mess this version it seems.

Bolton really are a financial mess this version it seems.

They seem owe roughly the same amount Portsmouth did before they spiralled into near extinction. I'm guessing they're surefire bets to go into administration relatively quickly, as they are losing almost £1.5m per month as well. That's with me something like £30k per week under the wage budget and spending almost none of the £600k transfer budget I had!

2015/16 – BOLTON WANDERERS – SKY BET CHAMPIONSHIP

So, to recap, I took over at Bolton on 1st November. They were 22nd in the table and had managed only 2 wins from the first 15 games. With the board wanting a mid-table finish, I had a hell of a job on my hands. So, really I needed to get off to a flyer. And as the picture below will show. I really didn't.

The first game against Brentford showed me I had a real job on my hands. We went a goal down quickly, and were down to 10 men before the 30 minute mark thanks to some reckless tackles by one player. The friendly there was put in during the international break, primarily to try some things in a match situation (and hopefully to improve morale a bit). The Bournemouth game was a frustrating one, as we went a goal up 3 different times before being pegged back, and losing very late on to a goal which should have been disallowed as the scorer had been a good couple of yards offside when the ball was played to him.

Still, after this dreadful start, things picked up. Here are the results for the rest of the season:

As you can see, things did pick up. After figuring out a system which seemed to work, we were playing well most of the time and picking up results. Sometimes we even managed a get something out of games when we didn't look so good. We exceeded expectations in the FA Cup, reaching the 5th round before losing out to a late goal against Premier League side Leicester.

However, the terrible first half of the season really did us in. Although we were by far the form team in the lower half, we just had too much ground to make up. Because of how far behind the pace we were, we never made it past 19th although as things played out were never going to be in danger of being in the bottom three come the end of the season. The form did drop for the last few games – this seemed primarily down to the players deciding they were unhappy with the club under-achieving, which struck me as being a bit harsh as our form in the second half of the season had been very good.

Final position: 19th

League table:

So, the league expectations had not been met. With the board and the players both moaning about it, it came as no surprise to me when I was informed shortly after the end of the season that my services were no longer required. So, I was out of a job and on the lookout for a new club.

SEASON SUMMARY:

England:

Premier League: Manchester City

FA Cup: Chelsea

Capital One Cup: Arsenal

Johnstone's Paint Trophy: Walsall

FA Trophy: Bristol Rovers

Other League winners:

Holland: Ajax

Ireland: Dundalk

Italy: Juventus

Northern Ireland: Portadown

Scotland: Aberdeen

Spain: Atletico Madrid

Champions League: Bayern Munich

Europa League: Manchester City

2016 European Championships: France

Just after completing this season, I have also started a game on the full FM15 to see how it compares to FMC, so I need to decide now whether to concentrate on one or do both side by side!

Full game all the way.

I have also started a game on the full FM15 to see how it compares to FMC,

Good luck with that.

Full game all the way.

I must admit, so far it is looking that way for me. Still we shall see how it goes!

My first thought when you took over Bolton was 'I wonder if he knows how financially troubled they are'

Turned it round though for what you had to work with. Onwards and upwards if you stick with it

My first thought when you took over Bolton was 'I wonder if he knows how financially troubled they are'

Turned it round though for what you had to work with. Onwards and upwards if you stick with it

I knew the finances weren't great as it did say "insecure". I think it'd be more accruate if FM had a "shafted" rating for finances!