[FM10] Cambridge City ~ The Lilywhites Climb up the Leagues!

[LCFC]

Hello and welcome to my latest thread in this Career Updates forum. After planning on starting for quite some time but never getting around to it I have finally started "dafuge's FM10 challenge", and after the first holiday season have taken charge of Cambridge City also known by the nickname "The Lilywhites". Playing at "The City Ground", a 2000 (500 seated) stadium the club possess basic training facilities and minimal youth facilities. They have been promoted to the Blue Square North, and so my long adventure begins here.

Initial Manager Profile

Game: FM2010

Version: 10.3

Leagues: England (Down to Blue Square Noth/South)

DB Size: Medium

Edits: Using the Dafuge Challenge .ddt file

[LCFC]

Career Overview

[b]Season | League | Position | Achievements[/b]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11 | Blue Square North | 12th | -
2011/12 | Blue Square North | 5th | Promoted via Playoffs

[LCFC]

Competition Winners

Premier League:

Man City - 2010, 2012

Aston Villa - 2011

League Cup:

Stoke - 2010

Chelsea - 2011

Man United - 2012

FA Cup:

Chelsea - 2010

Newcastle - 2011

Arsenal - 2012

Champions League:

Bayern - 2010

Arsenal - 2011

Barcelona - 2012

Europa League:

Villarreal - 2010

Bayern - 2011

Man City - 2012

World Cup:

France - 2010

European Championship:

Russia - 2012

[LCFC]

World Cup 2010

Hosted by South Africa.

Group Stage Eliminations:

Italy          South Africa    Chile     Ivory Coast          Serbia       South Korea    Nigeria    Northern Ireland
New Zealand    North Korea     Mexico    Trinidad & Tobago    Australia    Denmark        Japan      Costa Rica

Second Round:

USA         1:0 England        Russia      2:0 Paraguay
Greece     p0:0 Brazil         France     e3:2 Portugal
Argentina   3:1 Algeria        Germany     2:1 Cameroon
Spain       2:1 Holland        Switzerland 3:0 Ghana

Quarter-Finals:

France      2:0 USA            Greece     e1:0 Russia
Germany     2:1 Spain          Argentina   1:0 Switzerland

Semi-Finals:

France      1:0 Germany        Argentina   2:0 Greece

Third Place Play-Off:

Germany     1:0 Greece

Final:

France      1:0 Argentina

No real goal-fests for the neutrals but some interesting results along the way with Greece being the surprise package of the tournament.

[LCFC]

2010/11 ~ Blue Square North

I'd set myself the target this season of getting used to the club and this level of football, with avoiding relegation the main aim and anything else a bonus - the board agreed.

Transfers

I was pleasantly surprised to see we had a few good players in the squad already, a solid base to build upon if my assistants report was anything to go on. I quickly released those out of contract and not up to scratch while re-signing those that I thought had a future. With the transfer of Sambrook from Welling pre-arranged I bought the total of new players in on permanent deals to 9 and bought two more players in on season long loans. Although not all successful they at the very least provided added squad depth.

League Table | Graph

A very impressive season saw us finish mid-table in 12th. The first half of the season up until the new year saw us fail to keep any consistency going where we would go 4 or 5 without a win before winning two on the bounce, before once more going on a run without a win. At the turn of the new year we were on a worrying long run without a win and for the first time could see the relegation place looming but a mammoth 14 game without a loss streak (5 wins, 9 draws) saw us rise up the table and we weren't mathematically without a shot of the play-offs until there were two games remaining, we which promptly lost. A brilliant defensive record was to be the backbone to this success although we struggled to score goals as I failed to find a strike partner for Bryan, something to rectify next season hopefully.

FA Cup

We got unlucky with the draw for the FA cup unfortunately, and faced Chelmsford from the BSS who were up in 3rd at the time (they went on to be promoted via the play-offs) and we just didn't turn up.

FA Trophy

Another unfortunate draw, and another away game against an in-form BSS team. We didn't put up a fight and fell at the first hurdle once again, this time to Bath.

Key Players:

Michael Abnett - The right back was a rock in our defence, putting in consistence performances throughout the season.

Tom Bender - The young Welshmen on loan from Colchester had a tremendous season at left back and together with Abnett stifled the opposition wingers for most of the season.

Anton Bryan - Our top scorer had a good season with a nice haul of goals. He did however have a bad patch mid-season where he failed to score for something like 20 hours but he bounced back in tremendous form once he broke the drought. Hopefully if I can find him a strike partner of the same ability he will strive.

John Kennedy - The versatile midfielder had a good season. Playing in a mixture of central midfield and right midfield he used his experience to help the younger guys around him.

Next Season:

Aim for next season will be to improve the squad further now that I know more about the current bunch, I'd be happy with mid-table again although I have hopes we could make a run for the play-offs with the right signings.

Career Overview:

[b]Season | League | Position | Achievements[/b]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11 | Blue Square North | 12th | -

[Nobby_McDonald]

Not a bad first season. Let's see if you can push on...

[LCFC]

Cheers Nobby, I'd be happy to consolidate our position in the BSN again although we're sitting top of the table right now, albeit after one game , a hat-trick for my new striker Matt Green on his debut helped us to a 4-1 home victory over Ilkeston (a team we failed to beat last season, although did finish ahead of in the league). It may be, well actually it is, too early in the season to predict anything but I have high hopes now.

[TIR669]

Not bad mate

Nice presentation and nice results for a newly-promoted club. Shame there aren't many comments; you're doing a good job.

Good luck with your climbing

[LCFC]

Thanks croman! I've taken elements from other threads when presenting my career but tried to put my own stamp on it, hopefully I've made it easy to follow and nice enough on the eye.

[Nobby_McDonald]

We need some glamour models in it.

[LCFC]

Haha, well the WAG's aren't lookers at the moment, but I'll keep an eye out.

[WH]

Thats a solid first season. Hope you can push on next year and maybe snatch a playoff place.

What is the financial situation @ City? I know they were close to folding a couple of seasons ago in real life.

[LCFC]

Thanks WH, things are looking positive so far this season. As for the financial side, all I know about them IRL is from reading about the club on wikipedia but it sounds like they were relegated in the 2007/08 season despite finishing 14th due to their ground failing some kind of inspection, and a couple of seasons before this the club were saved by a Supporters Trust takeover as those in charge before were planning to turn them into some sort of Cambridge United reserve/feeder team due to financial issues :confused:. Clearly not been good for Cambridge City in recent years.

If you meant in-game. Not good. No cup runs and a low average attendance (around the 300 mark last season) meant we bled money and are very much in the red, according to the finance page we made a loss of £160k last season and our balance in March 2012 is -£220k, this is despite me being below the wage budget last season and also this season where I'm paying £3,074 p/w and have a budget of £3,508 p/w. Not much I can do but hope for investment of some sort.

[LCFC]

2011/12 ~ Blue Square North

After a solid mid-table finish last season I hoped to repeat the feat and possibly put on a push for the playoffs if I could bring the right players in to strengthen the team.

Transfers

The screenshot is missing one key signing Matt Green who signed last season in May after the season had finished but for some reason his transfer has disappeared from both seasons transfer history page. 3 others came in on permanent deals and another 2 on season long loans each one playing an active role for us this season. None of those that left had impressed and so were allowed to leave without much ceremony from the club.

League Table | Graph

A huge 4-1 win in the first game of the season set the tone for this season. Another great defensive record but this time we could score a lot more thanks to the three key strikers Green, Bryan and Orr. Up until the midpoint of the season we we're keeping up with Nuneaton but an indifferent run of form meant they ran away with the league and in the end we squirmed over the finish line for the playoffs as despite going into them unbeaten in 5 we had drew the last 3 to eventually finish 5th on what was a tight run in for a place in the playoffs. This was partly due to losing the three key strikers mentioned due to injury at this crucial part of the season.

Playoff Semi Leg 1 | Leg 2

We faced Corby in the semi-final, and our head to head record in the league the past two seasons was 2 wins a piece, interestingly neither team managing to win at home. Richard Orr returned from injury just in time to be the hero of the semi-final for us as we managed to head through to the final with wins in both legs.

Playoff Final

Wealdstone awaited us in the final, recently moved from the BSS they had the upper-hand in the league after we had lost once and drawn the other against them. An early goal for them meant we went into the break behind and having not looked very impressive. We came out all guns blazing in the second half but nobody could make the breakthrough and become the hero we needed, cue our captain Jamie Baker the 32-year old scoring his 4th and 5th goals of the season late on to lead the team to the Blue Square Premier!

FA Cup

A better draw meant we progressed two round for some nice financial boosts but once more we drew Chelmsford, now in the BSP, away and although we looked better than before we rarely troubled to cause an upset.

FA Trophy

An away trip to BSS side St.Albans looked a tricky tie but an early Stanley goal and a solid defensive display meant we moved on to face BSP side Barrow, who we beat twice in the league last season even though they went up via the playoffs, but we lost this close battle.

Key Players:

Craig Stanley - The ex-Morecambe man had an amazing season, being far to good for this league. He added that spark in the centre of midfield which was missing last season.

Matt Green - The pacy striker had a great season scoring 18 goals in just 31 games with injury restricting his appearance total.

Anton Bryan - Less goals than last season but his teamwork with both Orr and Green depending on who he was playing with lead to some more impressive performances on the whole.

Richard Orr - Forced his way into the first team after starting as a substitute taking his chances when either Green or Bryan were out injured. His goals and assist tally speaks for itself.

Next Season:

Survive. Pure and simply. I don't plan on a huge squad overhaul, I'm just hoping to bring in some players in a few key areas plus a few more for added squad depth. That could all change though if things get desperate as the season progresses of course.

Career Overview:

[b]Season | League | Position | Achievements[/b]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11 | Blue Square North | 12th | -
2011/12 | Blue Square North | 5th | Promoted via Playoffs

[Nobby_McDonald]

Will City beat United next season..?

[TIR669]

Congrats

In playoffs you were the better team and won your way to BSP. Good luck in BSP, hope you'll survive

[LCFC]

United lost in the BSP playoff final this season so we'll be playing against them at the very least...

Thanks croman, it'll be tough but hopefully I can!

[LCFC]

European Championship 2012

Hosted by Poland and Ukraine.

Group Stage Eliminations:

Italy     Sweden     Romania    Serbia       
Israel    Ukraine    England    Croatia

Quarter-Finals:

Slovakia  1:0 Belgium         Portugal  e3:1 Poland
Scotland  2:1 Turkey          Russia    p0:0 France

Semi-Finals:

Russia   p0:0 Slovakia        Portugal   1:0 Scotland

Final:

Russia    2:0 Portugal

A tournament missing major nations such as Germany, Spain and Holland. Favourites Italy and England then fell in the group stages all leading to Russia claiming a surprise victory due to a solid defence and nerves of steels in the quarters and semis.

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

Loved my Lilywhites game. Still have it and might carry it on one day. I actually went 2 years without a league defeat. :o

Always handed Camb Utd their butts though.

[LCFC]

I saw your final season in the FM10 CSE Hall of Fame thread, you had an unbelievable record with them.

[Stephanie McMahon's Secret Lover]

I didn't even realise I was in it.

Fame at last.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Loved my Lilywhites game. Still have it and might carry it on one day. I actually went 2 years without a league defeat. :o

Had you been relegated to an unplayable league?

[WH]

Congrats' on the playoff win

What sort of transfer preferences do you have? Youth or experience? Or do you just take it as it comes depending on whats available?

Good luck for next season.

[LCFC]

Cheers WH.

As for my transfer policy, I like to have a balanced squad where I have almost one back-up for each position but generally a smallish squad of around 21 players with versatility important to me. At the moment when it comes to signing players I firstly look to replace first team players who didn't/haven't been impressing (e.g. both seasons I've had trouble with one of the centre back positions so this pre-season I've looked to rectify it again) before making sure I have the squad depth mentioned, so more a case of going for what's available in the positions I need, age wise I have a good mix of experience and youth in the current squad.