uncle ron Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Despite success in my Swindon Supermarine save, getting Marine to the Football League, some issues arising with the 10.2 patch and regional sorting made me decide to restart afresh a new career save. This time I've decided to start much higher up the pyramid at Swindon Town, a team who, bizarrely, I haven't managed on FM for several years. So I've putting my own data to the test. Swindon Town Football Club was founded in 1879 and plays at The County Ground in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently the club is in the third tier of English League Football, the Football League One, having played in all 4 professional leagues since 1993/1994 season which was STFC’s first, and only season in the top flight. The club’s most momentous occasion was the 3-1 win over Arsenal in the 1969 League Cup final after extra time. This win caped an excellent 1960s for the Robins, now in the 2nd tier and participating (and winning) in Europe in the Anglo Italian Cup and League Cup. The late 1970s and early 1980s saw the club drop to a new low and much turbulence, culminating in a 17th place finish in the old Division Four in 1983/1984. Pride was soon restored under the leadership of Lou Macari, the Division Four title, the first title in the history of the club, was gained with a record 102 points in 1985/1986. The following season a second successive promotion was assured following a third place finish and a play-off final reply victory over Gillingham. Town soon gained a reputation as a good ‘footballing side’ under the guidance of Macari and Ardiles however it was off the field financial affairs that was to cost the club a first season in the top flight in 1990 following a 1-0 play-off win over Sunderland. The board admitted a series of financial irregularities and were initially demoted to the Third Division, but later this decision was reversed on appeal and the club continued in the Second Division. In 1993 Swindon finally made the top flight after beating Leicester City in a 4-3 game at Wembley under the leadership of Glenn Hoddle, who weeks later left to join Chelsea. The Premier League season is remembered for three things; John Moncur being stamped on by Cantona at The County Ground in a 2-2 draw, Fjortfot finally finding his scoring boots and conceeding 100 goals in 42 games. In later years our lack of wins (only 5) and poor points total (30) were shown to be beatable in the worst club stakes as Derby County and Ipswich can testify. A double relegation followed in 1994/1995 to the third tier and Town were soon back up after taking the Title away at Chesterfield. But despite this rise back up, after a few seasons due to poor club mismanagement and general lack of ambition the club were soon on the downward spiral having been overtaken by the wave of previously small clubs obtaining new investment in both playing and off the pitch facilities. Since Steve McMahon left in 1998 there were a further six managerial appointments until, with the club back in the fourth tier (League Two) in 2006/2007 the modern age of STFC begins having reached a new low, as ever the club was ready to bounce back with a third place and promotion finish. Under Paul Sturrock and later Maurice Malpas, STFC just about retained their status in League One. Now with a business conscious chairman and board now in place, with Aaron Smith in charge of team affairs having replaced the recently disposed Danny Wilson, once again fans are starting to dream and look upwards with a sense of optimism….. although as we have learnt and must not forget… is this another false dawn…. the story continues. Game Setup I've started with 10.2 Patch and 10.2 data. Edits made to Swindon Town are my 'official' edits I have already made for the future 10.3 data release, plus adding Alex Henshall who is 15yo and so is not included in the SI release, but as he has appeared on the bench a few times this season and I have assessed his performance several times he is added and assessed in the same way of the remainder of the squad. Also, in terms of finances I've made it more realistic by significantly shortening the terms of my loan repayments so I'm losing money to represent the £2M real life loss. We had decided against these realistic loan repayments for the release as it would ruin people's game! Active Leagues: • England down to Southern, Isthmian and Northern League feeders (i.e. level 8) using my league edit - see here for info and download • Scotland to Third Division • Spain to Liga Adelante • Italy to Serie B • France to Ligue 2 • Germany to Bundesliga 2 • Holland to Jupiler League Plus top leagues on view only from: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Czech Rep, Denmark, Greece, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine and USA. All players from top leagues and all current international players are retained. In total there are about 115,000 players. Game Aims I have 3 aims in this save: 1. I have taken charge of both the first team and the U18 squad. I've never managed the U18 team in FM before, so seasons may take it bit longer than usual. I normally disregard much of my youth teamers so I hope this way I will better understand their qualities and help to develop their careers into the main squad. 2. Utilise my good relationship with neighbouring Swindon Supermarine (Southern Premier) and Hungerford (Southern South/West Division) to good effect by sending my developing youth players out on loan to get vital experience and hopefully help the local non-league teams gain promotion. With the possibility that I will one-day join on of the local non-league teams once I have taken Swindon Town as far as possible. 3. Get into international management at the earliest opportunity, but starting with an U19 team and only moving up to U20 / U21 / U23 team and then to full international level after winning a competition at each level. I will be playing by finding players through my scouts, using the job centre for staff appointments and playing as realistically as possible as the game allows me. 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uncle ron Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 Swindon Town Year | Club | Division | Pos | FAC | FLC | ECL | EL | Other ----------|--------------|----------------|-----|-----|-----|------------------------- 2009/2010 | Swindon Town | League One | 16 | 1R | 1R | | | 2010/2011 | Swindon Town | League One | 9 | 1R | 1R | | | 2011/2012 | Swindon Town | League One | 10 | 3R | 1R | | | 2012/2013 | Swindon Town | League One | 8 | 3R | 1R | | | 2013/2014 | Swindon Town | League One | [b]1[/b] | 3R | 2R | | | 2014/2015 | Swindon Town | Championship | 6 | 4R | 2R | | | 2015/2016 | Swindon Town | Championship | 13 | 3R | 1R | | | 2016/2017 | Swindon Town | Championship | 8 | 3R | 1R | | | 2016/2018 | Swindon Town | Championship | 1 | 5R | WIN | | | 2018/2019 | Swindon Town | Premier League | 9 | 3R | QF | | 2QR | 2019/2020 | Swindon Town | Premier League | 10 | 3R | 3R | | | 2020/2021 | Swindon Town | Premier League | 5 | 6R | 4R | | | 2021/2022 | Swindon Town | Premier League | 7 | 3R | QF | | | 2022/2023 | Swindon Town | Premier League | 1 | 3R | WIN | | 2KO | 2023/2024 | Swindon Town | Premier League | 2 | SF | WIN | 1KO | | Community Shield Winner 2024/2025 | Swindon Town | Premier League | 2 | 5R | RU | 1KO | | 2025/2026 | Swindon Town | Premier League | 1 | WIN | RU | SF | | Moved into new 39,326 seat stadium Playing Record in All Competitions by Season Year | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Agg | G.D. | ----------|-----|-----|------|-----|----------|----------|------|---- 2009/2010 | 51 | 15 | 11 | 25 | 66 (1.3) | 79 (1.5) | -13 | 2010/2011 | 50 | 22 | 9 | 19 | 85 (1.7) | 80 (1.6) | +5 | 2011/2012 | 54 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 93 (1.7) | 98 (1.8) | -5 | 2012/2013 | 53 | 24 | 10 | 19 | 78 (1.4) | 65 (1.2) | +13 | 2013/2014 | 57 | 31 | 16 | 10 | 110(1.9) | 63 (1.1) | +47 | 2014/2015 | 53 | 22 | 15 | 16 | 68 (1.3) | 64 (1.2) | +4 | 2015/2016 | 48 | 19 | 11 | 18 | 65 (1.4) | 63 (1.3) | +2 | 2016/2017 | 50 | 23 | 11 | 16 | 65 (1.3) | 49 (0.9) | +16 | 2017/2018 | 58 | 31 | 22 | 5 | 77 (1.3) | 33 (0.6) | +44 | 2018/2019 | 45 | 16 | 13 | 16 | 43 (0.9) | 42 (0.9) | +1 | 2019/2020 | 41 | 17 | 11 | 13 | 47 (0.9) | 40 (0.9) | +7 | 2020/2021 | 46 | 26 | 13 | 7 | 66 (1.4) | 29 (0.6) | +37 | 2021/2022 | 52 | 26 | 14 | 12 | 67 (1.3) | 39 (0.8) | +28 | 2022/2023 | 63 | 44 | 14 | 9 | 134 (2.1)| 37 (0.6) | +97 | 2023/2024 | 58 | 39 | 12 | 7 | 113 (1.9)| 34 (0.6) | +79 | 2024/2025 | 55 | 33 | 12 | 10 | 113 (2.1)| 49 (0.9) | +64 | 2025/2026 | 64 | 45 | 11 | 8 | 133 (2.1)| 52 (0.8) | +81 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Total | 898 | 453 | 219 | 226 | 1423(1.6)| 917(1.0) | +506 | Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 Youth Team Year | Team | Division | Pos | FA Youth Cup ----------|------------------|----------|------|---------------------- 2009/2010 | Swindon Town U18 | Group 9 | 1st | 3rd Round 2010/2011 | Swindon Town U18 | Group 9 | 3rd | 4th Round 2011/2012 | Swindon Town U18 | Group 9 | 1st | 4th Round 2012/2013 | Swindon Town U18 | Group 9 | 3rd | 4th Round 2013/2014 | Swindon Town U18 | Group 9 | 4th | WINNERS 2014/2015 | Swindon Town U18 | Group 9 | 7th | 4th Round 2015/2016 | Swindon Town U18 | Group 9 | 1st | 3rd Round Trophy Cabinet 2009/2010 English U18 Group 9 Champions 2011/2012 English U18 Group 9 Champions 2015/2016 English U18 Group 9 Champions 2013/2014 English FA Youth Cup Winners Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 International Career Year Country Competition Achievements/ Notes ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2012 Latvia U19 UEFA U19 Championships 2nd Round 2013 Cameroon U19 Resigned after 2 games 2013 U.A.E. U19 Asian U19 Championships 2014 S.Arabia U21 Resigned due to no competetive games 2015 2016 Bolivia CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying 2017 Bolivia CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying Resigned after 14 of 18 rounds 2018 Albaina U21 UEFA U21 Qualifiers 2019 Ecuador CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying Resigned to join Chile 2021 Chile CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying S.American Qualifying 1st Place 2022 Chile FIFA World Cup Group Stage 2023 USA Gold Cup Winners 2023 USA Copa America Winners Dates Country Record --------------------------------------------------------- 29.07.2012-18.11.2012 Cameroon U19s 18.11.2012-22.12.2013 UAE U19s 22.12.2013-01.06.2014 Saudi Arabia U21s 26.07.2015-11.06.2017 Bolivia 18.06.2017-27.07.2019 Albania U21s 28.07.2019-09.01.2021 Ecuador 10.01.2021-10.07.2022 Chile 17.07.2022-13.10.2024 USA 19-1-1 13.10.2024- Brazil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 2009/2010 - Swindon Town - League One Club Info I'm given a 2 year contract with a transfer kitty of £110,000 and a wage budget of £33,000 per week and an expectation for a safe mid-table position. I did originally think I might try playing the season without signing anyone, but I soon gave up on that idea after the first few friendlies and and injuries. Start of the season was a bit of a disaster to be honest with only 1 win in 12 we hit rock bottom and already I might be getting the sack! But then the turnaround with 6 wins out of 8 we climb up to 15 in November with the help of loanees Nathan Tyson, Ben Mee and Maceo Righters (who signs until the end of the season). As in consistent as ever we loose the next 6 in a row and don't win until 15th January. With just more than half the season gone we are back in the relegation zone and hardly reflecting the real life performance, I blame the poor research! 3 further three month loans in January, all Manchester United youngsters works wonders for the squad and eventually I settle on a less attacking tactic, although perhaps I should have realised this sooner! We steadily climb the league again and don't go on any long losing runs. April was a great month with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss to Leeds we finally secure our place in League One next season and I get the manager of the month. Consequently with the manager of the month, as ever, I lose the final 2 games of the season, but settle for a 16th place finish eight points clear of the drop. Table - Pos 16th, Pld 46, Won 15, Drn 9, Lst 22, For 61, Agg 70, D.G. -9, Pts 54 - League Graph FA Cup - 1st Round League Cup - 1st Round FL Trophy Southern Quarter Final Finances Transfers Squad and Appearances Best XI New Club Records Average Attendance: 6383 Games without Conceding: 2 Games without Scoring: 2 Top Goalscorer: 24 (Charlie Austin) Most Assists: 10 (Chris Cleaver) Highest Average Rating: 7.09 from 48 Apps (Charlie Austin) Most Man of the Match: 6 (Charlie Austin) Worst Disipline: 3 yellows and 1 red (Matteo Albertini) Youngest Player: Alex Henshall 15 years and 321 days Total Transfer Spending: £35,000 Total Transfer Income: £100,000 Fastest Goal: 28 seconds (Ben Hutchinson) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 2009/2010 - Swindon Town U18s - English Group 9 With Town being the reigning champions I inherit a strong squad. The U18s are a complete contrast to the first team, unbeaten and top of the league all season, only losing our 20th of 22 games at home to Bristol City, which was mainly due to 3 youth players in the first team squad that weekend covering injuries and the recent loan departures. Of the U18s only Alex Henshall makes a first team appearance. His Town first team debut was on the 2nd January and therefore becoming our youngest ever first team player at 15 years and 321 days. He goes on to keep Alan O'Brien out of the team and makes 14 appearances. Fixtures Squad and Appearances The FA Youth Cup was something to forget, after being knocked out by Woking in the 3rd Round Youth graduates offered professional contracts: Billy Bodin (AML/FC) Elliot Knight (DR) Matt Barnes (AMR) Jordan Record (SC) Will Evans (DC) Youth released: None Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Not the best of starts there Aaron... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 Not the best of starts there Aaron... Shocking start, I'm surprised I wasn't sacked. If this wasn't a career save then I would have resigned! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 21, 2010 Author Share Posted January 21, 2010 2010/2011 New Scholars to Youth Team Mark Henderson - Good pace and teamwork Adam Hall - Needs a lot of improving Anthony Gilligan - Pretty poor keeper Gavin Dobson - Ok, but doesn't look as good as Egan Martyn Roberts - Singled out by my Assman, I agree he is the brightest prospect Paul Swann - Looks fairly promising Adam Gowland - Good attributes for his MC position Steve Franks - Another one which probably won't make league football Danny Wright - Fair pace but poor attacking attributes Jim Egan - Quite impressive stats for a 15yo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted January 21, 2010 Share Posted January 21, 2010 Good read this so far Uncle Ron. I'll be following. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iacovone Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Very interesting reading you manage your youth team. Don't think that's been done before in a career thread. Which is weird come to think of how much we all love a youth player Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangaea Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Not the best of starts. But that's how good careers begin Fjørtoft is a massive arse these days btw. He's on TV and can't go 2 minutes without saying something stupid. He grew up a good half-hour from where I did. Maybe that's why Great title and introduction. Made me chuckle Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobatwal Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Uncle Ron Enjoy your Career threads and hope you can turn it around What Computer do you have 115,000 players thats a lot Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangaea Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 I hear NASA are enquiring where their stuff went. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kristof1983 Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 yeah what type of pc, mine redlines at 92000 which is kinda annoying Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 Uncle Ron Enjoy your Career threads and hope you can turn it around What Computer do you have 115,000 players thats a lot Hi, I have a Q9450 running at 3.2ghz with 4gb DDR3 RAM, a quality motherboard and I'm running Windows 7 64 bit. It flies through. I have tested my save setup well into the future and I know that even after many seasons it will still run quickly. Many of those players retained in the original game setup db will not be regenerated so the actual number of players will drop by about just under a third over 30 seasons until it reaches it's lower limit. But even after that drop all nations are playable at International level in the future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
crouchaldinho Posted January 22, 2010 Share Posted January 22, 2010 Interest that, Uncle Ron. In my Calcio Journeyman save, I loaded all international players in Europe. I've played around five seasons now and I have found that a whole bunch of the smaller countries that were manageable at the beginning are no longer active. I assume that this is because some of the players are dropping out of the game, as you describe. Any idea on the how and the why of this? How does it work and why do players drop out of the game until it reaches a 'lower limit' as you call it? Sorry to go off-topic in your career thread. :o I'd be grateful for any knowledge you have on this as it would be useful to know for future saves. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 I found loading all current international players doesn't provide enough players for the game in the future as not all current players are regenerated. I got around this by loading all players from top divisions (worldwide) to give more from all nations, so this helps a greater distribution of players. Personally I would prefer an option when starting the game to allow a specified nation(s) to be and remain playable throughout the length of the entire save. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 22, 2010 Author Share Posted January 22, 2010 I'm loving Martyn Roberts (the new 16yo scholar) as he scores 2 goals, his first being a magnificent 35 yard shot into the top corner, in the First Round of the FA Youth Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 25, 2010 Author Share Posted January 25, 2010 Not the best of starts. But that's how good careers begin Fjørtoft is a massive arse these days btw. He's on TV and can't go 2 minutes without saying something stupid. He grew up a good half-hour from where I did. Maybe that's why Great title and introduction. Made me chuckle Just the other day I was watching some clips of Fjørtoft scoring for Swindon. A true legend Is he a regular pundit on TV now? The title of the thread is a quote from Red Dwarf. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangaea Posted January 25, 2010 Share Posted January 25, 2010 Just the other day I was watching some clips of Fjørtoft scoring for Swindon. A true legend Is he a regular pundit on TV now? I'm living in Sweden now so maybe a miracle has happened and he's been taken off - cause he's really annoying. But he has been chairing the CL broadcasts for years already. He most probably still is. Fairly regularly he has been on TV in connection with Norwegian football broadcasts too. IIRC he actually is one of the directors in Lillestrøm now, one of the top-flight clubs. It's one of those hate/love characters I suppose. There's no middle way. Exactly what did he do for Swindon though? Apart from scoring some goals now and then. The title of the thread is a quote from Red Dwarf. Never knew that! I just found it funny Had to change my title as it was just too crappy. As I wrote in the 2nd post there, it's about the griffin in the club logo. Which apparently is in the council shield as well. And a huge load of other places throughout history. From at least ancient Egypt to various US symbols. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 26, 2010 Author Share Posted January 26, 2010 It was really the goals. Once he got going he was a joy to watch. He had great energy and exuberance, a great goal scoring celebration. Loved by the fans. Shame he fell out with our manager and was sold to Middlesbrough for only £1.3M Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 26, 2010 Author Share Posted January 26, 2010 2010/2011 - Swindon Town - League One Club Information Board Expectation: Enjoy the experience of participating in League One My Expectation: Safe mid-table finish Transfer Budget: £40,000 Wage Budget: £33,000 per week Transfers 10 free transfer signings, 5 loan signings, 13 players released and 2 sold for a combined total of £95K. The big clearout starts in earnest with about half the first team being released. Nathan Tyson again joins on loan from Nottm Forest as well as a new French contingent joining. The season starts as poorly as the last. Austin fails to find the net in the first few games and nothing is working. We get thrashed 7-1 at Notts County in the League. We also go out of the main cups very early, out of the FA Cup after a 5-1 defeat at Notts County. After a major tactics review allowing Tyson and Austin to work better together we keep putting together a few decent runs and early in the new year we cementing a mid table position, as expected. 4 goals scored by the winning team seems to be the score of favour, as we either concede early and go lose another few goals, or dominate and score many ourselves. An unbeaten February and a strong March see two Manager of the Month awards and soon we are within 3 points of the play-offs and climb to 8th place. We never get closer to the play-offs with 10 points taken from the last 6 games we finish 5 points off. League One Table Position Graph I'm confused by the insane amount of goals scored in League One. Both Notts County and Oldham hit over 100, also 5 hit over 80 goals. 4 concede over 100 and Torquay let in 98. This isn't repeated in any of the other divisions. FA Cup League Cup Football League Trophy Squad and Appearances Finances - We lose over £1M for the second season in a row, putting us firmly into the red. Best XI Aim for 2011/2012 - 2010/2011 has significantly raised expectations and with the finances in a mess I'm somehow got to try to live up to / exceed this season. However, 4 key players (Morrison, Austin, Greer and Mikklesen) have their contracts expire in June 2012 and they won't renew. It's very possible they will need to be sold immediately to keep the club afloat, however they can't be replaced easily. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangaea Posted January 26, 2010 Share Posted January 26, 2010 Very nice follow-up season there, especially after the shoddy start. Good luck pushing for playoff next season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 28, 2010 Author Share Posted January 28, 2010 2010/2011 - Swindon Town U18 - English Group 9 Group 9 Table - Final Position 3rd League Progress The youth intake lacked any real quality and my decision to let some of the best youth players go out on loan left the u18s threadbare. Last season we went unbeaten for most of the campaign. This time was started with a loss and this set the tone for the first half of the season. The team improved greatly over the course of the season and with 2 games remaining were sitting top of the league, 1 point ahead of Bristol Rovers u18. However, our early season form reared its ugly head and we lost one and drew the other, finishing in a respectable 3rd position, with Rovers winning taking the title on goal difference. U18s Squad and Appearances - Left back Thomas Ryan and left winger Alex Henshall were the star performers. Martyn Roberts was way too inconsistent, he scored a cracking long range effort then couldn't score for 5 games. FA Youth Cup 4th Round - It started with a dream first round home tie again Swindon Supermarine, later followed by games against Sutton United and Slough. Aldershot beat us in marathon penalty shootout 12-11 after scoring a late equaliser. Players released: Seb Broomfield Thomas Ryan Matty Clarke Josh Parsons Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 29, 2010 Author Share Posted January 29, 2010 2011/2012 - Swindon Town Youth Scholars Geddes, Bishop, Harrison, Carter, Thomas, Batchford, Young, Pollard, Jordan, Darren Young, Gee Mostly rubbish, except for Chris Thomas, who at only 15 has all the attributes for league football. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 29, 2010 Author Share Posted January 29, 2010 International; In June I take my first step into international management, joining Latvia as their U19 manager. We have two friendly matches remaining against Sweden and Kazakhstan. 1st September 2011 away v Sweden We start with a friendly against Sweden. Not surprisingly we have a weak team, but the team show they are no pushovers and get the deserved equalizer in the 2nd half. A great and unexpected result. 5th September 2011 home v Kazakhstan Against the other struggling team in the league we dominate the first half, soon taking the lead with Ivanovs' drive from the edge of the box. The Kazakhs sit back in the second half and hit us on the break scoring a long range effort. Despite pressure we can't break them down and a 1-1 draw is a little hard on us. We are drawn in Group 2 of the UEFA U19 championship qualifiers along with Croatia, Faroe Islands and Slovenia. 3 matches and the top 2 in each group progress to the next round. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 30, 2010 Author Share Posted January 30, 2010 International - U19 UEFA Qualifiers v Croatia The early goal killed us and we couldn't get anything from this game that no-one, including myself, expected to take anything from. v Faroe Islands Given the mechanics of the group we needed to win this game by a few goals. The team duly delivered, but given the 20 shots on goals I'm a little disappointed with only 4 goals as we were playing 10 men. After the first two games we are in second place and need at least a draw against Slovenia to make it through the the second stage of qualification. v Slovenia We got it right when it mattered, dominating the match and playing a stronger Slovenia team off the pitch. For the second qualifying phase we have been drawn in a tough group with France, Austria and Czech Republic. Games start in May 2012. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason the Yank Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Heh, the thread title makes me think of this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 31, 2010 Author Share Posted January 31, 2010 May 2012 - UEFA U19 Qualifiers 2nd Round Only the top team from each group qualifies to the UEFA U19 Championship. v Austria After dominating the first half play, scoring in the 34th minute with a low shot from Ivanovs, we manage to hold Austria until the last 15 mins. The sending off of our best defender for two bookings killed the game as Austria pulled in-front. We manage to get the deserved equalizer late in the game. We would have won if not for the sending off. v France 0-0 at the end of the first half. The French obviously get a roliking from their coach and promptly score 3 goals in 15 mins. A late consolation doesn't hide a poor performance. We are out of the competition and France qualify from the group. v Czech Republic Ivanovs again gets the early goal from a swift counter attacking move, which helps setting the team. Again the team perform poorly after the break, conceding two in 10 mins. I'm beginning to think it's my team talk! With the team failing to qualify I decide to resign to search for another U19 position elsewhere. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangaea Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 You did very well though. Latvia isn't exactly a big-shot in the same league as France and Czech Republic. Btw: How did you get Swindon Supermarines as affiliate? I'd love to get FC United so I could try and help them out with loans. Even tried to apply for a team the other day. And although some local-ish teams was suggested, even at the level FC United currently play at, FC didn't come up. I rejected them all, and it seems like the board agreed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted January 31, 2010 Author Share Posted January 31, 2010 I was happy with the Latvia U19, but I can't imagine I could take them any further in this competition given the top team can only qualify. Swindon Supermarine are an affiliate at the start of the game. My loans haven't helped them this season as they have been relegated to the South/West Division! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangaea Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Okay, didn't know that. Shame about the relegation, but hopefully they can jump right back up again. Probably right about Latvia. Very tough to get a team like that anywhere. Can't imagine they have too many class players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 A better second season Aaron. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 2011/2012 - Swindon Town - League One Board Expectation: Top half finish My Expectation: Safe mid-table finish Transfer Budget: £0 Wage Budget: £31,500 per week | later increased to £34,500 following player sales Transfers | 4 in for £0 | 14 out for £2.3M Early season moves out for Morrison and Dossevi helped the bank balance. Selling players which pretty much the story of a poor season. £2.3M was raised an this really impacted negatively on the team. I wish we had not achieved last season's near play-off miss as expectations were way too high. I'm always struggling with a poor start and this season was no exemption. Soon I was touted in the media for the sack as we couldn't put any meaningful run together to push up the league. These reports continued from October right up until the FA Cup 2nd round tie in November. Wins again Bristol Rovers, Southampton and Millwall kept me in the job. Early 2012 was much better with a steady upwards push. It was nothing special. I was just grateful for the points and a safe 10th place finish. League Table - Final Position 10th | League Position Graph FA Cup - 3rd Round - v Huddersfield (lost 5-2) League Cup - 1st Round - v Leyton Orient (1-1 and lost 5-3 on penalties) Football League Trophy - 2nd Round South - v Yeovil (lost 4-1) Squad & Appearances | Best XI | Finances Aim for 2012/2013 - With the end of a £120,000 per month loan we may now start to turn a small profit every month and it will allow me to plan for the future. I'm aiming for another top 10 finish with a view to really pushing in 2013/2014. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangaea Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 For once the Cup didn't Suck Arse, eh? Good catch-up though, and glad you kept your job. Should be easier now when the loan soon is paid off. KUTGW Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Yea the Board really wanted that cup run to the FA Cup third round. Thankfully I delivered otherwise I would be collecting my P45. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted February 24, 2010 Author Share Posted February 24, 2010 2012/2013 - Swindon Town - League One Board Expectation: Top half finish My Expectation: Top half finish Transfer Budget: £0 Wage Budget: £34,500 per week Transfers | 7 in for £0 | 5 out for £700K | 17 released on free transfers Loans | 6 players join | 11 players leave It's been a strange season and has taken me nearly one month real time gameplay as I have been busy creating this. So I don't really remember much about the season apart from: - After being drawn against Oxford United in the FA Cup 1st Round, we are held to goalless draw in the first match and are taken to a replay. We beat Oxford in the replay and then immediately after the game Oxford sack their manager! Nothing better for a Swindon fan. - In the 3rd Round of the FA Cup against Wigan at home, my AMR only goes and scores from his own half. Best goal I've seen on FM. Although we loose 3-2. - Charlie Austin continues to keep scoring and hits 35 goals in all competitions and 29 in the league, including all five goals in a 5-0 win away at rivals Bournemouth. We are steadily improving in the league and we were in contention for the play-offs until the final game of the season. Still much improvement needed. League Table - Final Position 8th | League Position Graph FA Cup - 3rd Round - v Wigan (lost 2-3) League Cup - 1st Round - v WBA (lost 0-1) Football League Trophy - 2nd Round South - v Bournemouth (lost 0-1) Squad & Appearances | Best XI | Finances Top Goalscorer - Charlie Austin - 35 goals / 29 league goals Top Average Rating - Christopher Buchtmann - 7.20 from 40 apps Most Assists - Jesper Mikkelsen - 12 Most Man of the Match - Charlie Austin - 6 New Club Records Highest Gate Receipts - £300,000 v Wigan in FA Cup Third Round Average Attendance - 8169 Top Goalscorer - 35 (Charlie Austin) Worst Discipline - 9 Y and 0 R (Valery Mezegue) Total Transfer Income - £700,000 -------------- Swindon Town U18 The team can't build on last season's title and finish in a respectable 3rd position. Unfortunately we are not able to progress well in the FA Youth Cup as we are stopped by Arsenal in the 4th Round. -------------- Affiliate Watch With the help of none less than 11 loans to help Swindon Supermarine reverse their recent relegation to the Southern League South and South West Division they storm the league, taking the title in March. However our other affiliate Hungerford Town get relegated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pangaea Posted February 24, 2010 Share Posted February 24, 2010 Modest improvement there Aaron. Good luck pushing for the playoff next year Looks like the finances are good too, almost in the black. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted February 25, 2010 Share Posted February 25, 2010 A good attempt, pretty much matched what was expected. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
letissierandhenryaregreat Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 To help Latvia to progress you needed to get promoted 1 or 2 times and then when you can choose an affiliate by yourself choose a latvian one and then you could start buying latvian players as well it's easier that way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted February 27, 2010 Author Share Posted February 27, 2010 To help Latvia to progress you needed to get promoted 1 or 2 times and then when you can choose an affiliate by yourself choose a latvian one and then you could start buying latvian players as well it's easier that way. Why don't you go teach your grandma to such eggs Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted February 28, 2010 Author Share Posted February 28, 2010 I forgot to add to the 2012/2013 review: I became manager of the Cameroon U19 team in August 2012, however shortly afterwards I realised SI didn't programme any African national team youth competitions. So after 2 friendly wins I resigned. Shortly afterwards, I became manager of the U.A.E. U19 team. We have a year of friendlies before the Asian U19 Championship Qualifiers. We play 10 games, winning 6, drawing 2 and losing 2. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainPlanet Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Red Dwarf quotes ftw. Swindon ftw. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Almondo Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Good read here uncle ron. It was the Red Dwarf quote that drew me in as I love that show. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted March 6, 2010 Author Share Posted March 6, 2010 2013/2014 - Swindon Town - League One Board Expectation: Play-off My Expectation: Play-off Transfer Budget: £0 Wage Budget: £36,500 per week Transfers | 7 in for £300K | 2 out for £2M | 13 released on free transfers Loans | 7 players join | 10 players leave for first team experience The start of the season see our two best defenders leave. Christopher Buchtmann joins Mainz for £1M and Phil Jones joins Portsmouth for another £1M. Whilst this wasn't ideal, it gave us a much needed cash boost and more transfer / wage options. For the past 4 seasons I have had the original backroom staff as I've not been able to afford any compensation fees. So with money in the bank I replace the scout, coach, assistant manager, fitness coach and physio for £69K. This probably proved to be the best decision of the season. I managed to sign 3 key loan players on season long loans. DC Jeffrey Bruma from Chelsea, AMC Davide Petrucci and FC Chris Gadi from Manchester United. All 3 were outstanding and ever-present. We delivered in the first half of the season, scoring plenty and soon hitting top spot where we never fall below 5th all season. The cup runs took their toll with 2 or 3 games a week during December and January the squad is suffering and we can't find any consistency. The division is relatively level with no-one storming off with the lead as per previous seasons. As a result, we stay in the mix for promotion despite our far from convincing form. With 4 games to go it is between Swindon, Stockport, Charlton and Brighton for the automatic places. We find ourselves 2 points behind 1st place in 3rd. Two home wins against Barnsley and Preston 3-0 and 1-0 respectively, sets up a tantilsing away game at Charlton knowing a draw would see us promoted. Top scorer Charlie Austin scores in the 12th minute and we hold firm until just after half time when Charlton's constant pressure sees them equalise. The pressure then increases further and we go down to 10 men with our DMC sent off for two bookings. The bombardment continues and our GK keeps us in the game with a string of great saves. Then with Charlton pressing for the win, the ball gets pumped up to Austin who is one-on-one with the keeper and scores the winner in the 91st minute. Swindon Town are promoted to the Championship and confirmed as League One Champions as Brighton and Stockport both lost. League One - Table | League Progress | Squad & Appearances | League One Manager of the Season FA Cup - 3rd Round lost reply v Swansea 2-1 League Cup - 2nd Round v Stoke lost 2-1 Football League Trophy - Southern Section Final v Brighton lost 2-1 agg Finances | Best XI Top Goalscorer - 36 (30 League Goals) - Charlie Austin Most Assists - 17 - Chris Gadi Highest Average Rating - 7.39 fro 45apps - Davide Petrucci Most Man of Match - 10 - Charlie Austin New Club Records Highest Gate Receipts £325,000 v Swansea in FA Cup Third Round Most Games without Conceeding 4 Top Goialscorer - 36 Charlie Austin Most Assists - 17 Chris Gadi Most Man of Match - 10 Charlie Austin Worst Disapline - 15y and 2r Valery Mazague Fastest Goal - 21 seconds Jesper Mikkelsen v Brentford in League One ------------------------------------- U18s Although this was a very average intake this season... it did prove to be a very successful campaign in the cup at least. U18s Group 9 - Table 4th place | Squad & Appearances FA Youth Cup - Fixtures | Final We are very lucky. Relying on penalties or extra time on 5 of the 8 games. Also helped by the draw as we played just 2 Premier League teams on our way to an unlikely final appearance. Extra time was again our savior in the final against a much stronger West Ham team with SC Danny Blake hitting the winner after the 1st min of extra time. Swindon Town U18s lift the cup! Goodness knows how! ------------------------------------ Affiliate Watch Swindon Supermarine finish 4th back in the Southern Premier and were in contention for promotion until the end of the season. Unfortunately they couldn't achieve the dream double promotion losing to Mangotsfield 1-0 in the play-off semi. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted March 7, 2010 Share Posted March 7, 2010 Well done Aaron, especially in losing to Stoke in the League Cup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted March 14, 2010 Author Share Posted March 14, 2010 2014/2015 - Swindon Town - Championship Board Expectation: Avoid Relegation My Expectation: Avoid Relegation Transfer Budget: £0 Wage Budget: £74,500 per week Transfers | 11 in for £0 | 6 out for £1.1M | 24 released on free transfers Loans | 7 players join | 10 players leave for first team experience Despite all efforts, I can't sign the 3 quality loan players from last season and the season long loan intake are nothing to shout about. I do mange to pull off some major coups in the free transfer market with the signing of Ramazan Ozcan (GK), Alex Bruce (DC/DMC), Eggert Jonsson (DR/DMC/MC) and Owen Garvan (MC). We blitz the first quarter of the season, staying top of the league until the end of November. We are playing counter attack and strong at the back. The teams just can't cope and haven't yet worked out how to play us. Unfortunately the run ended when my Assistant Manager was poached by fellow Championship side QPR and things then started to go downhill. I guess the AssMan had a greater impact on the team than I could have ever imagined. From late November through to February we could hardly buy a win. The new AssMan could fill the shoes of his predecessor and we soon drifted down the table, hitting a low of 9th position. Our opponents had started to understand our style of play and my players were hardly helped by my panicked approach to tactics, eventually trying out 6 different styles, before going back to a version of the formation so successful from last season, but without the counter attack. We perform well in the last 7 games and manage to get a 6th place finish. A magnificent achievement. In the Play-Offs we come up against Sheffield United and suffice to say, we got well and truly beaten. The first leg wasn't helped as I forgot to put my first choice left back in the match squad and his younger deputy had an awful game. Play-Off Semi-Final 1st Leg | Play-Off Semi-Final 2nd Leg Championship - 6th Position | Table | Graph FA Cup - 4th Round v Hull lost 2-1 League Cup - 2nd Round v Wigan lost on pens after 0-0 draw Goal scoring was our problem. Charlie Austin left his scoring boots in League One and only hit 12 goals. I had expected he wouldn't find the jump to Championship too hard but I'm off to find a replacement in the summer to partner promising Irish u21 Striker and giant Joe Connolly. Squad & Appearances | Best XI | Finances Finances had improved to plus £4.5M during the season so I thought it was a good time as any to ask for some infrastructure improvements. All requests were granted by the Board so I'm looking forward to the 2,500 seat extension to the ground as well as Training and Youth facility improvements for next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted March 14, 2010 Share Posted March 14, 2010 Cracking season there Aaron, despite your playoff defeat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle ron Posted March 15, 2010 Author Share Posted March 15, 2010 On the 26th July 2015 I break my starting rule which was to take international youth jobs before taking a full international post, but......... I couldn't resist taking the Bolivan national coach position. Bolivia are 97th in the FIFA World Rankings below Haiti and the Solomon Islands to name a few. The squad has only two players worth more than £1M. I've been given a brief to develop the players for the future and we are to remain competitive in the forthcoming World Cup qualifiers which start in October. Just 1 friendly against Puerto Rico in August to assess the players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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