lollujo Posted October 16, 2009 Author Share Posted October 16, 2009 2013/14 Season Summary Premier Division Winners - Arsenal Relegated - Gillingham, Sunderland, Bristol City Championship Winners - Doncaster Promoted - Doncaster, Watford, Sheff Utd Relegated - Huddersfield, Nottm Forest, Leyton Orient League 1 Winners - Leicester Promoted - Leicester, Southampton, Swindon Relegated - Oldham, Hartlepool, Crewe, Rochdale League 2 Winners - Wycombe Promoted - Wycombe, Tranmere, Bury, Yeovil Relegated - Accrington, Darlington Conference Winners - Bristol Rovers Promoted - Bristol Rovers, Oxford Relegated - Altrincham, Barrow, Lewes, Cambridge C Conference North Winners - Cambridge Promoted - Cambridge, Ilkeston Relegated - Blyth, Hitchin, Stafford Conference South Winners - Weymouth Promoted - Weymouth, Forest Green Relegated - Bishop's Stortford, Hayes & Yeading, Canvey Island FA Cup Winners - Arsenal League Cup Winners - Man City Community Shield Winners - Arsenal Johnstone's Paint Trophy Winners - Barnsley Conference League Cup Winners - Grays FA Trophy Winners - Mansfield Champions League Winners - Barcelona UEFA Cup Winners - Olympique Lyonnais World Cup - Germany Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamilton162 Posted October 17, 2009 Share Posted October 17, 2009 A good career so far lollujo, apart from the spell at Bristol Rovers Nice to my hometown team, Wycombe, doing fairly well by winning a few promotions, even if they have been relegated a couple of times as well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 17, 2009 Author Share Posted October 17, 2009 There's quite a few teams that seem to be bouncing around between divisions. As a Peterborough fan I always check what they're up to, and they seem to be bouncing between the Championship and League 2! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 18, 2009 Author Share Posted October 18, 2009 Rotherham United - Blue Square Premier - 2014/15 Mission accomplished: League Table League Position Graph I thought we were going to throw it all away with a couple of games to go when we dropped down to second place, but luckily my usual bad luck in the play-offs wasn't repeated. My play-off record is now 2 promotions from 5 attempts, so I suppose that's not terrible, but I really would like to never have to play in one again. We also won the FA Trophy along the way for a nice little pot of prize money. I'd like to think that's the last time I'll ever play in it... Transfers - Lot's of comings and goings over the summer, mainly because I decided to get rid of all my highly paid, experienced players, and replace them with a load of teenagers recently released by Premier League and Championship clubs. The theory being if we got promoted, hopefully they'd be good develop enough over the season to be able to keep us up too. It also led to a £6000 p/w reduction in our wage budget. Finances - A near £600,000 swing in the right direction! We went from a £281,000 loss last season to a £290,000 profit this year, meaning we're still in the black at the end of the season (just). The reduction in the wage bill certainly went a long way towards achieving this, as did the cup runs and a few pre-season friendlies against Premier League clubs (the Everton game brought in nearly £100,000!). Unfortunately every player in the squad has a had a pay rise due to the promotion, so we're starting pre-season £2000 p/w over the wage budget, with some definate gaps in the squad that need filling, so I'm going to need to have another clearout to fund another summer of recruitment... Squad - Everyone performed to a decent standard. The only problem is that the only player who scored consistently was on loan from Man City - he'd cost £600K to buy, and doesn't want to come on loan for another season. So main priority for the pre-season is to sign a striker capable of getting me 20+ goals in League 2. For free. I'm not overly confident. Career Overview Season Team League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 08/09 King's Lynn Blue Square North 5th Lost in play-off semi-final 09/10 King's Lynn Blue Square North 3rd Lost in play-off semi-final 10/11 King's Lynn Blue Square North 4th Promoted via play-offs 11/12 King's Lynn Blue Square Premier 12th 12/13 King's Lynn Blue Square Premier 6th (at time of resignation after 18 games) 12/13 Bristol Rovers League 2 24th Relegated to BSP (sacked) 13/14 Rotherham Blue Square Premier 5th Lost in play-off semi-final 14/15 Rotherham Blue Square Premier 2nd Promoted via play-offs Next season The board want a mid-table finish, but I think we might struggle. For the third summer in a row I'm going to have to sell off anyone who I can get money for just to balance the books, and let the higher earners (ie. best players) leave. The average age of my squad is only 20, and I think the step up a division may have come a year too early for them. I only have a year left on my contract, and so far I've not been offered a new one. I'm only on £525 p/w, and if a good offer comes in, I may walk. I've already had an offer from a French third tier club, but they only offered £475 p/w, and wouldn't budge. I'd want £1000+ a week to go abroad. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 18, 2009 Author Share Posted October 18, 2009 2014/15 Season Summary Premier Division Winners - Man City Relegated - Sheff Utd, Doncaster, Watford Championship Winners - Gillingham Promoted - Gillingham, Hull, Sunderland Relegated - Derby, Cardiff, Crystal Palace League 1 Winners - Charlton Promoted - Charlton, Nottm Forest, Carlisle Relegated - Wycombe, Cheltenham, Yeovil, Tranmere League 2 Winners - Blackpool Promoted - Blackpool, Oldham, Brentford, Aldershot Relegated - Oxford, Bristol Rovers Conference Winners - Macclesfield Promoted - Macclesfield, Rotherham Relegated - Braintree, Ilkeston, Forest Green, Eastbourne Boro Conference North Winners - Fleetwood Promoted - Fleetwood, Southport Relegated - Farsley, Droylsden, Eastwood Conference South Winners - Havant & W Promoted - Havant & W, Basingstoke Relegated - Boreham Wood, Oxford City, Farnborough FA Cup Winners - Liverpool League Cup Winners - Man Utd Community Shield Winners - Arsenal Johnstone's Paint Trophy Winners - Nottm Forest Conference League Cup Winners - York FA Trophy Winners - Rotherham Champions League Winners - Chelsea UEFA Cup Winners - Tottenham Woohoo! We went up, Bristol Rovers went down and King's Lynn stayed down, so in a reversal of last year, the best of the 3 teams I've managed is the one I'm currently at! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 18, 2009 Author Share Posted October 18, 2009 Within minutes of writing this update, Rotherham offered me a new 3 year deal at £575 p/w. I'm enjoying this job, and I think I can have them in League 1 within 3 years, so I signed. I definately won't leave for at least 2 seasons now, unless I'm sacked or offered the Peterborough job. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamilton162 Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Wycombe yo-yo'ing between League 1 and League 2 A good season with the millers there When do you reckon you'll jump ship? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 19, 2009 Author Share Posted October 19, 2009 Unless I get a really good offer, I'll stay at Rotherham for at least another 2 years hopefully. I'd like to get another promotion with them if I can, then move on to a club with a bit more financial stability to allow me to push on towards the Premier League. As much as I'm enjoying Rotherham, with no ground and a large debt, I'm always going to have to sell my best players to keep the club affloat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancer890 Posted October 19, 2009 Share Posted October 19, 2009 Nice work with Rotherham in getting promotion. Like that the AI Gills did a lot better than me in getting them to the Premier League. Just hope they stay there this season. Are they still at Priestfield? And how are the leagues outside England shaping up? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 Nice work with Rotherham in getting promotion. Like that the AI Gills did a lot better than me in getting them to the Premier League. Just hope they stay there this season. Are they still at Priestfield? And how are the leagues outside England shaping up? Yep, still at Priestfield, and currently sitting 7th in the Premier League after 20 games! I haven't really paid attention to any of the top leagues as I've generally been in the non-league. But you've got me wondering now, so I'm going to have a look, and I'll post in a minute with the past winners from each country since the start of my game. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 English Premier Division Year Winner Runner Up Third Placed 2015 Man City Man Utd Arsenal 2014 Arsenal Man Utd Chelsea 2013 Man City Arsenal Man Utd 2012 Chelsea Man Utd Man City 2011 Chelsea Man City Arsenal 2010 Man Utd Chelsea Arsenal 2009 Chelsea Arsenal Man Utd Interesting to see no sign at all of Liverpool in the top 3 in 7 years. Plus Arsenal have only won the league once - I thought they were supposed to dominate FM09? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 Serie A Year Winner Runner Up Third Placed 2015 Sampdoria Juventus Fiorentina 2014 A.C. Milan Roma Juventus 2013 Fiorentina Juventus Roma 2012 A.C. Milan Juventus Roma 2011 A.C. Milan Inter Roma 2010 A.C. Milan Inter Fiorentina 2009 Inter A.C. Milan Roma Some unexpected winners in amongst the Milan domination? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 LIGA BBVA Year Winner Runner Up Third Placed 2015 R. Madrid Barcelona Sevilla 2014 R. Madrid Barcelona Zaragoza 2013 Barcelona R. Madrid Valencia 2012 Barcelona R. Madrid Valencia 2011 Barcelona R. Madrid Sevilla 2010 R. Madrid Barcelona Sevilla 2009 Barcelona R. Madrid Valencia Now that's what I call a 2 horse race. This could be an interesting league to manage in to try and break the Barcelona & Madrid domination. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 20, 2009 Author Share Posted October 20, 2009 I've also got the leagues from France, Germany, Argentina and Brazil loaded, I'll post them tomorrow if I get the chance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 Rotherham United - League 2 - 2015/16 Well that was a much nicer experience than my last visit to League 2: League Table League Position Graph We took a few games to settle into playing at a higher level, but from mid-September onwards, we always looked likely candidates for promotion, and when we hit the top of the table around Christmas time, we just kept getting better. Transfers - At a club like Rotherham, transfers are both frustrating and quite good fun. If anyone ever offers us any money for a player, we have to take it. Equally, if an established player wants too much money, we have to let them go. It's very hard to build a settled team. But at the same time, it is good fun trying to find a new batch of free transfers each summer who are as good as or better than the ones on their way out of the club. It worked this season, but will only get harder the further up the leagues we go. Finances - We stayed in the black all season again, but then had to pay out a £240,000 bonus for winning the league! Looks like another pre-season of selling our best players... Squad - We have great spine to the team, in Thompson at the back, Spooner in midfield and Edwards upfront. They're all been at the club for a couple of seasons now and perform consistently well. Unfortunately, they're all attracting interest from bigger clubs, and I'll have to accept any offers that come in to balance the books. Career Overview Season Team League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 08/09 King's Lynn Blue Square North 5th Lost in play-off semi-final 09/10 King's Lynn Blue Square North 3rd Lost in play-off semi-final 10/11 King's Lynn Blue Square North 4th Promoted via play-offs 11/12 King's Lynn Blue Square Premier 12th 12/13 King's Lynn Blue Square Premier 6th (at time of resignation after 18 games) 12/13 Bristol Rovers League 2 24th Relegated to BSP (sacked) 13/14 Rotherham Blue Square Premier 5th Lost in play-off semi-final, Conference League Cup Runner-Up 14/15 Rotherham Blue Square Premier 2nd Promoted via play-offs, Won FA Trophy 15/16 Rotherham League 2 1st Promoted as Champions Next season I think that's my job done at Rotherham. When I joined them 3 seasons ago, they had just suffered back-to-back relegations and were in the Conference. They were also losing money hand over fist. Now they're back in League 1, and financially stable with a good young squad that is only going to get better. Unfortunately, without owning their own ground, and with such low attendances (even last season only averaged around 4000), I don't think I can take them any further. I'm very much listening to any offers that come along. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 2015/16 Season Summary Premier Division Winners - Arsenal Relegated - Fulham, Birmingham, Sunderland Championship Winners - Watford Promoted - Watford, Doncaster, Everton Relegated - Charlton, Nottm Forest, Carlisle League 1 Winners - Millwall Promoted - Millwall, Brighton, Huddersfield Relegated - Peterborough, Brentford, Scunthorpe, Bury League 2 Winners - Rotherham Promoted - Rotherham, Lincoln, Wycombe, Cheltenham Relegated - Tranmere, Kidderminster Conference Winners - Havant & W Promoted - Havant & W, Mansfield Relegated - Basingstoke, Fleetwood, Burton, Histon Conference North Winners - Northwich Promoted - Northwich, Ilkeston Relegated - Vauxhall, Marine, Solihull Moors Conference South Winners - Forest Green Promoted - Forest Green, Tonbridge Relegated - Bognor Regis, Hampton & Richmond, Harrow FA Cup Winners - Tottenham League Cup Winners - Man Utd Community Shield Winners - Man City Johnstone's Paint Trophy Winners - Northampton Conference League Cup Winners - Salisbury FA Trophy Winners - Salisbury Champions League Winners - Arsenal UEFA Cup Winners - Tottenham Euro 2016 Winners - Norway I'm keeping an eye on Havant & Waterlooville. They were taken over by a Thai tycoon 2 years ago, and having spent £3.5million on players, they've now had back-to-back promotions and will be League 2 for next season. They spent £800K on an England Under 19 striker from Sunderland when they were still in the Blue Square South, he's now scored 52 goals in 77 games! I'm glad I'm not still down at that level, as it would very frustrating trying to compete with that! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 Plymouth Argyle Football Club This was a very easy decision. I was already getting itchy feet when Plymouth came in and offered to more than double my weekly salary to £1300 per week. My assistant resigned with me, and I immediately appointed him at Plymouth to reward him for his loyalty. Plus his recommendations have been excellent over the last 2 seasons, so hopefully he can keep that going. Plymouth have been a boring mid-table League 1 side for the last couple of seasons, and that's all they want me to do this season as well. So without the pressure to achieve anything, and the huge £65,000 per week wage budget I've been given, I'm quietly confident about sneaking a promotion through the play-offs, which would be my third in a row. When reading up on the club, I also notice they are the largest city in England never to have a top flight football club. I might have to see this one through, because I'd like to add that achievement to the CV. I just need to think of a suitable new name for my thread now. Any idea's? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamilton162 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 A fantastic season with Rotherham there lollujo As for the title, perhaps something the lines of "It's not plain sailing" ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
klose11 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Enjoying this career. Hope it works out well at Plymouth. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 As for the title, perhaps something the lines of "It's not plain sailing" ? That'll do me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WH Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Well done mate, Very good job getting back to back promotions with Rotherham. I also like to try to turn round a club that is struggling for cash. It feels like more of an achievement than winning with a rich club. Good luck in the next phase of your career. This could be where you make the step up in reputation to be mentioned amongst some of the bigger names in football. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancer890 Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Good luck with Plymouth! I got them to the Premier League in FM08 so hope you can emulate my success. How did The Gills do the past season? They didn't get relegated. :D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 How did The Gills do the past season? They didn't get relegated. :D They finished 14th. And in a semi-spoiler of the update I'm about to write, they finished 17th the following season, so they're now into their third consecutive year of Premier League football. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 Plymouth Argyle - League 1 - 2016/17 This was probably the most fun season I've had in this save so far. I had double the wage budget I had with Rotherham, and only half of it was being used when I arrived, so I had some fun, and signed some top quality players. We were good enough to win the division, and we should have really, but I can't be too disappointed with 2nd place and my third promotion in a row. League Table League Position Graph It was also nice to see Rotherham secure a nice safe spot in mid-table. I'd hate to see them undo 3 seasons of hard work and start to slide back down again. Transfers - The first thing I do when I arrive at a new club is sell every player who is unhappy. If they don't want to be there when I first arrive, they're not welcome to stick around! At Plymouth, that meant selling the 2 star players from the year before for a combined £1.5million. That comfortably paid off the £200,000 debt at the club, and gave me a some money to spend for the first time in my career (£250,000). The first thing I did was sign my captain from Rotherham, Stephen Thompson, who'd been with them since they were in League 1 before. He hadn't let me down in my 3 years at the club. I immediately appointed him captain at Plymouth as well. I spent the rest of the money on a central defensive partner for him, and a central midfielder to replace our record sale. The rest of my transfers were frees who I'd been tracking for a while at Rotherham, but couldn't afford. Finances - A very healthy profit for the season of £840,000, mainly due to the 2 big sales pre-season. We still found ourselves in the red at the end of the season though, after paying out some big bonuses for the higher than expected league finish. I've got some big money friendlies lined up for the pre-season, and my star midfielder who I signed on a free last season is being linked in the media with a £7million move to Celtic! So hopefully money won't be an issue in the future... Squad - My 2 star men were my central midfield partnership of Neale Saunders and Adam Johnson. They complement each other perfectly, Saunders sits in the holding role and Johnson gets forward well and scores goals. I see Saunders at 23 as a future captain of the club, who could still be in the team in the Premier League. Johnson on the other hand isn't interested in renewing his contract, and with only a year left to run, and multi-million pound transfers being rumoured, I think he's probably on his way. I'll keep trying throughout pre-season to get him to sign though. Career Overview Season Team League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 08/09 King's Lynn Blue Square North 5th Lost in play-off semi-final 09/10 King's Lynn Blue Square North 3rd Lost in play-off semi-final 10/11 King's Lynn Blue Square North 4th Promoted via play-offs 11/12 King's Lynn Blue Square Premier 12th 12/13 King's Lynn Blue Square Premier 6th (at time of resignation after 18 games) 12/13 Bristol Rovers League 2 24th Relegated to BSP (sacked) 13/14 Rotherham Blue Square Premier 5th Lost in play-off semi-final, Conference League Cup Runner-Up 14/15 Rotherham Blue Square Premier 2nd Promoted via play-offs, Won FA Trophy 15/16 Rotherham League 2 1st Promoted as Champions 16/17 Plymouth League 1 2nd Promoted Next season I'm very much looking for consolidation in the Championship. My experience from my Peterborough save is that the Championship is the hardest league in the game to get out of. I think it took me around 5 years with Peterborough. So I'll be happy with mid-table finishes for the next few seasons while we build up a strong enough financial position to mount a promotion push. Of course, if a Premier League team offers me a big sack of cash in the meantime... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 2016/17 Season Summary Premier Division Winners - Arsenal Relegated - Watford, Bolton, Doncaster Championship Winners - Fulham Promoted - Fulham, Sunderland, Q.P.R. Relegated - Colchester, Huddersfield, Brighton League 1 Winners - Bradford Promoted - Bradford, Plymouth, Derby Relegated - Carlisle, Oldham, Cheltenham, Barnsley League 2 Winners - MK Dons Promoted - MK Dons, Havant & W, Rochdale, Scunthorpe Relegated - Macclesfield, Grimsby Conference Winners - York Promoted - York, Ebbsfleet Relegated - Cambridge, Ilkeston, Southport, Tonbridge Conference North Winners - Altrincham Promoted - Altrincham, Burton Relegated - Boston Utd, Halesowen, Buxton Conference South Winners - Lewes Promoted - Lewes, Braintree Relegated - St. Albans, Bromley, Tooting & Mitcham FA Cup Winners - Stoke League Cup Winners - Man City Community Shield Winners - Arsenal Johnstone's Paint Trophy Winners - Derby Conference League Cup Winners - Tranmere FA Trophy Winners - Weymouth Champions League Winners - Barcelona UEFA Cup Winners - Villarreal A third promotion in a row for Havant & Waterlooville. They're now up to League 1. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feedolover Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 With all those leagues you've got loaded, do you have to spend a lot of time on the game to do 9 seasons in a month? The most I've ever managed is 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 I'm playing a lot more than I ordinarily would because I'm trying to get as far into this career as possible before FM10 comes out. I'd love to get another 5 seasons done in the next week, but I think that may be pushing it a bit. I'm lucky as I'm a student with not a lot of work to do, and I have a fast PC that handles all the leagues easily (my old laptop used to struggle with just the home nations loaded). Sad as it sounds I've played from 9am until around 1am for the last 3 days! My play style suits quick play as well, as I spend a lot of time on pre-season, then race through the season itself. I very rarely sell or sign a player once the first game of the season comes around. Plus I only play 2D or commentary only. Basically, that last 2 paragraphs was me trying to find an acceptable way to say I'm a big loser who spends way too much time on his PC... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saxonaitor Posted October 24, 2009 Share Posted October 24, 2009 Could I have some infromation on how how Norwich are doing? Good ole Havant & Waterlooville, had a career on them in this very forum, good times, good times... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 24, 2009 Author Share Posted October 24, 2009 Could I have some infromation on how how Norwich are doing? They got relegated from the Championship in 2008/09, and haven't been back since. They dropped down to League 2 for the 2012/13 season, but came straight back up again, and since then they've been a mid-table League 1 club. Although they did get into the play-offs last season, but lost in the semi-final. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeLikeFM Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 They got relegated from the Championship in 2008/09, and haven't been back since. They dropped down to League 2 for the 2012/13 season, but came straight back up again, and since then they've been a mid-table League 1 club. Although they did get into the play-offs last season, but lost in the semi-final. Are going to stay with Plymouth for the foreseeable future or hop around some more. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 Are going to stay with Plymouth for the foreseeable future or hop around some more. They've just given me a new 3 year contract on £2,500 p/w, so unless a really good offer comes in, I'll probably stick around. I'm enjoying it here, so don't see any reason to move on yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 Plymouth Argyle - Championship - 2017/18 A nice boring season of consolidation, which was exactly what I was expecting: League Table League Position Graph From October onwards, we never went any higher than 15th, or any lower than 18th. There was never any danger of getting promoted or relegated, and we just kept ourselves to ourselves. We did reach the 4th round of the FA Cup to face Arsenal away, which was my first competitive game against top flight opposition. They thrashed us. Transfers - The good thing about being at this level is that clubs are willing to pay decent money for my cast-offs. So I sold some of the deadwood for just over £1million, and brought in better replacements for free. Including Matthew Newsham, a left winger who I gave a league debut to at age 15 when I was at Bristol Rovers. He played almost every game while I was there, and now aged 20, my scouts see him as a future Premier League player. Finances - A £1million profit for the season, which looks good on paper, but when you consider I made £1.2million profit on transfers, it shows that for the time being we're still very much a selling club. I expect to have to sell one or two stars every summer just to balance the books, unless of course we reach the promised land... Squad - I eventually managed to re-sign Johnson, but by then I'd signed his replacement, another defensive midfielder to play alongside Saunders in a much more conservative formation. But as I've not been able to sign a decent right winger since I've been at the club, he made himself a new home out wide. I also seem to have stumbled across a defensive gem, Aaron Thomas. I signed him to provide cover at right back, but by the end of the season he was first choice centre back and in the England Under-21 team. There are some big clubs sniffing around him, and he's said he wants to go, so I guess he'll be the book-balancer this summer! Career Overview Season Team League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 08/09 King's Lynn Blue Square North 5th Lost in play-off semi-final 09/10 King's Lynn Blue Square North 3rd Lost in play-off semi-final 10/11 King's Lynn Blue Square North 4th Promoted via play-offs 11/12 King's Lynn Blue Square Premier 12th 12/13 King's Lynn Blue Square Premier 6th (at time of resignation after 18 games) 12/13 Bristol Rovers League 2 24th Relegated to BSP (sacked) 13/14 Rotherham Blue Square Premier 5th Lost in play-off semi-final, Conference League Cup Runner-Up 14/15 Rotherham Blue Square Premier 2nd Promoted via play-offs, Won FA Trophy 15/16 Rotherham League 2 1st Promoted as Champions 16/17 Plymouth League 1 2nd Promoted 17/18 Plymouth Championship 17th Next season The first part of the mission is accomplished, we have a squad that's too good to get relegated from the Championship. Now we just need to add some quality players each season, and gradually move on towards the Premier League. At this level, quality doesn't come cheap, so I'll have to build the team slowly. As long as we're moving in the right direction each year, I'll be happy. I was offered, and accepted, a new 3 year contract in the close season on £2,500 p/w (double what I was on before), and I fully expect to be here for at least a couple more seasons, unless a big offer comes in for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 25, 2009 Author Share Posted October 25, 2009 2017/18 Season Summary Premier Division Winners - Arsenal Relegated - Portsmouth, Q.P.R., Everton Championship Winners - Birmingham Promoted - Birmingham, Ipswich, Coventry Relegated - Sheff Wed, Southend, Derby League 1 Winners - Norwich Promoted - Norwich, Crystal Palace, Leyton Orient Relegated - Walsall, Scunthorpe, Nottm Forest, Cardiff League 2 Winners - Hartlepool Promoted - Hartlepool, Kettering, Peterborough, Torquay Relegated - Stockport, Oldham Conference Winners - Grays Promoted - Grays, Crawley Relegated - Burton, Accrington, Macclesfield, King's Lynn Conference North Winners - Cambridge Promoted - Cambridge, Barrow Relegated - Worcester, Bedford, Burscough Conference South Winners - Tonbridge Promoted - Tonbridge, Basingstoke Relegated - Eastbourne Boro, Hayes & Yeading, Solihull Moors FA Cup Winners - Arsenal League Cup Winners - Tottenham Community Shield Winners - Arsenal Johnstone's Paint Trophy Winners - Brighton Conference League Cup Winners - Kidderminster FA Trophy Winners - Cambridge City Champions League Winners - Man Utd UEFA Cup Winners - Inter World Cup - Argentina After 7 years in the Blue Square Premier, and a couple of near misses on promotion to the football league, King's Lynn are now back where I found them, in the Conference North... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rancer890 Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Nice work meeting your goal of surviving in the Championship. The Gills are still in the EPL. :D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 26, 2009 Author Share Posted October 26, 2009 Plymouth Argyle - Championship - 2018/19 I'm getting bored of slowly building a team capable of a promotion push... League Table League Position Graph Although we finished a fair bit higher up the league, we still never looked like getting into the play-offs. I'm getting frustrated with having to sell my best players each summer just to balance the books. Transfers - We sold Aaron Thomas for a club record £3.1million, plus another £2million worth of fringe players and has beens. I got half of it back, and decided on a change in transfer policy. I didn't buy any players older than 21, and I was specifically targetting under 19s who my scouts predict a Premier League future for. The main reason behind this is that hopefully these players will have good resale value to allow us to stay affloat without selling any established first teamers in future. And also, if I sign 5 or 6 of these a season, and only sell 1 or 2, within 2 or 3 seasons I should have a team full of players capable of playing in the top flight, assembled on the cheap and fairly quickly. That's the plan anyway. Finances - Despite the £2.5million profit I made on transfers, we still only made £350,000 profit for the season. My new transfer policy has already led to a £30,000 p/w reduction in the wage bill as I've let older players leave and replaced them with teenagers. That works out at £1.5million over the course of the season. Hopefully that will allow me to just need a transfer profit of around £1million each summer, so I shouldn't have to sell too many stars. Squad - Star man of the last couple of seasons Dwayne Bowles turns 30 this summer, and there are clubs interested for around £2million. So Johnson and Saunders look set to be able to reunite their League 1 central midfield partnership next season. They are now captain and vice-captain of the club, and I'll be heavily relying on the two of them to provide valuable experience and leadership to all the teenagers playing around them. Career Overview Season Team League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 08/09 King's Lynn Blue Square North 5th Lost in play-off semi-final 09/10 King's Lynn Blue Square North 3rd Lost in play-off semi-final 10/11 King's Lynn Blue Square North 4th Promoted via play-offs 11/12 King's Lynn Blue Square Premier 12th 12/13 King's Lynn Blue Square Premier 6th (at time of resignation after 18 games) 12/13 Bristol Rovers League 2 24th Relegated to BSP (sacked) 13/14 Rotherham Blue Square Premier 5th Lost in play-off semi-final, Conference League Cup Runner-Up 14/15 Rotherham Blue Square Premier 2nd Promoted via play-offs, Won FA Trophy 15/16 Rotherham League 2 1st Promoted as Champions 16/17 Plymouth League 1 2nd Promoted 17/18 Plymouth Championship 17th 18/19 Plymouth Championship 10th Next season More of the same please. I'm going to be selling a lot of the older squad players and trying to bring in as many youngsters as I can fit in the wage budget. Either it'll work and I'll be a hero, or I'll end up getting relegated with a bunch of youngsters not ready for first team football... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 26, 2009 Author Share Posted October 26, 2009 2018/19 Season Summary Premier Division Winners - Arsenal Relegated - Birmingham, Ipswich, Coventry Championship Winners - Everton Promoted - Everton, Portsmouth, Stoke Relegated - Norwich, Bradford, Doncaster League 1 Winners - Sheff Wed Promoted - Sheff Wed, Huddersfield, Shrewsbury Relegated - MK Dons, Blackpool, Wycombe, Aldershot League 2 Winners - Scunthorpe Promoted - Scunthorpe, Mansfield, Crewe, Walsall Relegated - Chesterfield, Cheltenham Conference Winners - Bournemouth Promoted - Bournemouth, Forest Green Relegated - Altrincham, Grimsby, Northwich, Braintree Conference North Winners - Accrington Promoted - Accrington, Cambridge C Relegated - North Ferriby, Fleetwood, Guiseley Conference South Winners - AFC Wimbledon Promoted - AFC Wimbledon, Sutton Utd Relegated - AFC Hornchurch, Mangotsfield, Hemel Hempstead FA Cup Winners - Arsenal League Cup Winners - Liverpool Community Shield Winners - Arsenal Johnstone's Paint Trophy Winners - Derby Conference League Cup Winners - Forest Green FA Trophy Winners - Wrexham Champions League Winners - Barcelona UEFA Cup Winners - Inter Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamilton162 Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 A good promotion season, followed by 2 more consolidation seasons, good work Wycombe stayed up for 2 years before coming back down again Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saxonaitor Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Norwich I blame you lollujo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WH Posted October 27, 2009 Share Posted October 27, 2009 Going well so far. Steady progression, similar improvement will see you in the playoffs next year. Transfer policy is the same as i like to use, its good long term but can be painful in the short term. Good luck! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 28, 2009 Author Share Posted October 28, 2009 Plymouth Argyle - Championship - 2019/20 Well, it seems my gamble on youth didn't pay off. Although the squad was full of players with lots of potential, there wasn't enough quality and experience to take care of this season. I don't think we would have been relegated, as performances were starting to improve, but all my senior players had lost confidence in my ability, so the board gave me an extended Christmas break by sacking me on boxing day. And I think that calls a day on lollujo (09 version)'s management career. If the gamble had worked, and led us to Premier League, I was seriously considering leaving FM10 uninstalled to finish this career properly. As it is, I can't be bothered to start again at a new club with FM10 only 2 days away. I did learn some lessons from the failed youth experiment, which hopefully my reborn 2010 vintage can use to his advantage when he takes over the reigns at Corby Town in a couple of days time... Career Overview Season Team League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 08/09 King's Lynn Blue Square North 5th Lost in play-off semi-final 09/10 King's Lynn Blue Square North 3rd Lost in play-off semi-final 10/11 King's Lynn Blue Square North 4th Promoted via play-offs 11/12 King's Lynn Blue Square Premier 12th 12/13 King's Lynn Blue Square Premier 6th (at time of resignation after 18 games) 12/13 Bristol Rovers League 2 24th Relegated to BSP (sacked) 13/14 Rotherham Blue Square Premier 5th Lost in play-off semi-final, Conference League Cup Runner-Up 14/15 Rotherham Blue Square Premier 2nd Promoted via play-offs, Won FA Trophy 15/16 Rotherham League 2 1st Promoted as Champions 16/17 Plymouth League 1 2nd Promoted 17/18 Plymouth Championship 17th 18/19 Plymouth Championship 10th 19/20 Plymouth Championship 21st (when sacked after 24 games) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 28, 2009 Author Share Posted October 28, 2009 Career Summary Highest fee spent £650K for Thijs Peters on 20/07/2018 Highest fee received £3.1M for Aaron Thomas on 08/07/2018 Number of players bought 157 Number of players sold 121 Number of players released 141 Total value of players bought £6,250,000 Total value of players sold £12,500,000 Longest time at a club 1594 days (King's Lynn) Shortest time at a club 153 days (Bristol Rovers) Number of teams managed 4 Number of awards won 9 Total career earnings £475K League wins 1 Cup wins 1 Games played 629 Games won 289 Games drawn 164 Games lost 176 Goals scored 801 (1.3 p/m) Goals conceded 578 (0.9 p/m) Goal difference 223 Team Date Joined Date Left Achievements King's Lynn 08/07/2008 18/11/2012 Promoted from BSN Bristol Rovers 18/11/2012 20/04/2013 Relegated from League 2 Rotherham 27/05/2013 06/07/2016 FA Trophy Winners, Promoted from BSP, League 2 Champions Plymouth 06/07/2016 26/12/2019 Promotion from League 1 Thanks to all those who've read and enjoyed my thread. I'll be back with my new one sometime over the weekend. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamilton162 Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 A disappointing end to a topsy turvy career lollujo. Hopefully you can do better on FM10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saxonaitor Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Well done Indeed Lollujo, looking forward to your career in FM10, will it be LLM as this one or normal rules? I'm still deciding for myself to be fair.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raware Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Nice career with both up's and down's. At least this career thread managed to stay open! Good luck with your new game on FM10...I look forward to reading. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SI Staff Dean Gripton Posted October 28, 2009 SI Staff Share Posted October 28, 2009 Superb! Nice one lollujo. Feel free to msn me anytime Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 28, 2009 Author Share Posted October 28, 2009 A disappointing end to a topsy turvy career lollujo. Hopefully you can do better on FM10 If I can get from the BSN to the Championship in less than 10 years again like I did on this save, I'll be a very happy chappy. Well done Indeed Lollujo, looking forward to your career in FM10, will it be LLM as this one or normal rules? I've not been able to play anyway other than LLM since the moment I first discovered it. So without doubt, it's going to be another LLM career. Nice career with both up's and down's. At least this career thread managed to stay open! If my first FM09 save had gone the way this one did, I don't think that thread would have been closed either. I've obviously lost the beginners luck. Superb! Nice one lollujo.Feel free to msn me anytime Cheers, and I'll be keeping my eye on those researcher vacancies, so I'm sure you'll hear from me again! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WH Posted October 28, 2009 Share Posted October 28, 2009 Unlucky in the end but a good job done over 10 years and a good read. See you soon with the new version. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeLikeFM Posted October 30, 2009 Share Posted October 30, 2009 Superb! Nice one lollujo.Feel free to msn me anytime Healthy gay relationship thriving Always nice to see Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lollujo Posted October 30, 2009 Author Share Posted October 30, 2009 I couldn't let the last comment be the final post in my thread! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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