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[FM10] It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Be a Swan) - Featuring Pile o'Stats

Pangaea

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It’s a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Be a Swan)

[video=youtube;H1iR2Wi3u5o]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1iR2Wi3u5o

Ridin' down the highway

Goin' to a show

Stop in all the byways

Playin' foot-i-ball

Gettin' robbed

Gettin' stoned

Gettin' beat up

Broken boned

Gettin' had

Gettin' took

I tell you folks it's harder than it looks

It's a long way to the top if you wanna be a Swan

It's a long way to the top if you be a Swan

If you think it's easy doin' one night stands

Try playin' in a crapp-y team

It's a long way to the top if you wanna be a Swan

Hotel motel

Make you wanna cry

Ladies do the hard sell

Know the reason why

Gettin' old

Gettin' grey

Gettin' ripped off

Under-paid

Gettin' sold

Second hand

That's how it goes playin' in a team

It's a long way to the top if you wanna be a Swan

It's a long way to the top if you wanna be a Swan

If you wanna be a star on pitch and screen

Look out it's rough and mean

It's a long way to the top if you wanna be a Swan

It's a long way to the top if you wanna be a Swan

It's a long way to the top if you wanna be a Swan

It's a long way to the top if you wanna be a Swan

Well it's a long way

It's a long way, you should've told me

It's a long way

Such a long way…

WaltonHersham.jpg

(The history is taken from their Official Homepage, so I hope that is okay in exchange for a little publicity for this fine club. I couldn’t possibly have written a better summary myself.)

Club History

A Brief History

Walton F.C. was formed in 1895, and in 1945, following World War II, amalgamated with Hersham F.C. to form Walton & Hersham F.C., the present club. They immediately joined the newly formed Corinthian League and followed a poor first season with a hat-trick of Championships and a runners-up position. They also won the Surrey Senior Cup for the first time in 1947-48, beating Isthmian League neighbours Kingstonian 2-1 at Crystal Palace. Election to the Athenian League soon followed and in their first season, 1950-51, Swans finished runners-up and again won the Surrey Senior Cup at Palace, defeating the much vaunted Dulwich Hamlet 2-1.

Great days, big crowds

These were halcyon days for the Stompond Lane side and the FA Amateur Cup Semi-Final was reached in successive seasons, 1951-52 and 1952-53, only for Swans to go out to Walthamstow Avenue and Harwich & Parkston respectively. During this period the club enjoyed a tremendous following, and a record crowd of 10,000 were at the Lane in 1952 when the famous Crook Town were the visitors for an Amateur Cup tie. Stars of this era included Swans’ most famous player, England and Great Britain Olympic defender C.R. ‘Jack’ Neale, and the prolific Reg Sentance, still the club’s all-time top scorer. Some lean years followed, although the FA Cup First Round was reached for the first time in 1957-58, Southampton winning 6-1 before 6,000 people at Stompond Lane. Don Stoker’s popular sides of the early 1960’s brought cup fever back to the Lane and there were fine runs again in the Amateur Cup. Two late goals by the prolific and popular Brian Jenkins beat the star-studded Wimbledon side in the Surrey Senior Cup Final of 1960-61, and the trophy was retained against Sutton United the following season. After several years of mid-table respectability the appointment of Allen Batsford as manager in 1967 heralded the beginning of the most successful period in the club’s history. At the end of his first season, a superb victory over a powerful Wimbledon side in the two legged Final secured the Premier Midweek Floodlit League title, the first of three, followed a year later by the winning of the Athenian League championship for the first time. The FA Cup First Round Proper was again reached in the following two seasons, only for Swans to lose to Barnet 1-0 in 1969-70 and Telford United 5-2 in 1970-71, both games being played at the Lane.

The runners-up spot in the League was achieved in both those campaigns and the Surrey Senior Cup came back to Stompond Lane in 1970-71, Woking being defeated 3-0 in the Final. Election to the Isthmian ranks followed, with third place attained in the first season, 1971-72.

Wembley at last

Then followed the most memorable season in the club’s history, 1972-73. The FA Cup First Round barrier was overcome for the first time with Exeter City being defeated 2-1 amid tremendous excitement at the Lane, only for visitors Margate to win by the only goal in the Second Round. Kingstonian were beaten 2-0 in the Surrey Senior Cup Final and the runners-up spot achieved in the League. Then on the 14th of April 1973 the ultimate prize was gained at Wembley when 41,000 people saw a last-minute Roger Connell goal against Slough Town bring the FA Amateur Cup to Stompond Lane, the trophy being won without a goal being conceded, a record never to be equalled. Dave Bassett, Willie Smith and Roger Connell also had the honour of playing for the England Amateur side. The following season Brian Clough brought his Brighton & Hove Albion side to Stompond Lane in the FA Cup First Round, and following a goalless draw, Swans pulled off a sensational result in the replay at The Goldstone Ground, a Clive Foskett hat-trick included in a 4-0 win. Sadly, when Batsford left for Wimbledon the following season the fine team broke up, the crowds drifted away, and relegation soon followed in 1975. The FA Cup First Round was surprisingly reached in 1975-76, and a young side put on a battling performance at Selhurst Park against Malcolm Allison’s Crystal Palace, only going down 1-0 to a late goal. Barren years followed, with the club several times being close to extinction. In the mid 1980’s the club was proud to have Sir Stanley Matthews as President, but sides flattered to deceive and only a draw in the final game of the 1986-87 season prevented relegation to Division Two.

Promotion

After 20 years out of the top-flight, a young side under Neil Price at last gained promotion in 1993-94, and the following season the First Round Proper of the FA Cup was again reached, Swansea City winning 2-0 at the Lane. However Swans’ Centenary celebrations were spoilt by relegation after only two seasons back in the Premier. Under the management of Laurie Craker the team ensured the stay in Division One was as brief as possible, promotion being gained on the last day of the campaign. After a creditable first season back in the Premier Division it again proved to be a struggle to remain there, and at the end of the 1999-2000 season Swans finished in bottom spot and relegation again became a reality. Swans had to wait until the 2004-05 season before more success came to Stompond Lane after long-serving player Alan Dowson took over as manager in October. After defeat in his first match in charge, Dowson led the team to a record breaking 13 match winning sequence, fine runs in the FA Trophy and League Cup, and promotion as runners-up in the Ryman League Division One. The Surrey Senior Cup Final was reached for the first time in 31 years, the Swans only losing a thrilling game against AFC Wimbledon 2-1 after extra-time before close to 4,000 people at Woking. After a creditable first season back in the Premier Division a poor start to 2006-07 led to Dowson’s early resignation and eventual relegation yet again. The last two seasons under respective managers Les Cleevely and Jimmy Bolton have started well with rebuilt squads, but both saw results fall away badly in the second-half of the campaign. Swans go into 2009-10 with former Brighton & Hove Albion defender John Crumplin holding the managerial reins, assisted by Stuart McIntyre.

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Game Setup

Club Information

  • Founded: 1895
  • Status: Semi-Professional
  • Reputation: Obscure
  • Chairman Status: Will listen to offers
  • Legends: None (of any category)
  • Rivals: None (of any category)

  • Average Ticket Price: £4.30
  • Average Season Ticket Price: £67.00
  • Season Ticket Holders: 0
  • Estimated Value: £275K
  • Media Prediction: 9th

The stadium capacity has to be wrong, cause it looks much smaller than 6,500 and all the sources I've seen say it has 2,000 capacity with 440 seats. The second picture looks particularly impressive, with holes in the roof....

Walton___Hersham_5.jpg

Walton___Hersham_4.jpg

Source: http://www.pyramidpassion.co.uk/html/walton___hersham.html

This link includes a short description of the conditions too.

Have to admit that one reason for choosing this club was the relatively big stadium, because I had huge problems with a starting small stadium in my last career in Trafford: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/174107-FM10-Roar-like-a-lion-and-soar-like-an-eagle

Hopefully starting with a decent stadium won't prompt the club to build an early new one if things go well here, as you have to wait 20 years between new stadiums. This is ultimately what killed off my Trafford save as I got tired of waiting around with a tiny 18K stadium that was holding us back financially.

In addition I love teams who play in red. It has to be pleasing on the eyes when watching that many games with hopefully the same team. I intend to stay here for a long time. But if things don't work out there is also the option of heading to Spain or Italy where my crap reputation has hopefully not spread yet.

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Thanks :)

Unfortunately it does have a running track. Not a proper football stadium, but that's what we've got. Think I read somewhere they are sharing it with the athletics club or some such thing.

I rephrased the song a little, but couldn't come up with a good rhyme to "match". So I stuck with "show" and put in the rather lousy "foot-i-ball" :D

It was, of course, "rock n roll".

I forgot to mention it in the introduction, but the club is affectionately known as The Swans.

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2009/10 - Walton & Hersham

Isthmian League First Division South

Board expectation: Respectable position

Media expectation: 9th

Odds: Don't recall

Season tickets: 38

The setup here isn't looking good, so the scout goes out hunting while we search for applicants for a coaching position. After one and a half month on the road, probably in taverns, the scout is back with some names on his pad. Soon later some old scruffy faces walk into the run-down training ground. This is going to be a rough ride.

We win the opening match 5-0. I am gobsmacked. So are the players, as they go on to lose the next four matches 0-1. It's "we" when we win and "they" when we lose... The season progresses in much the same humpty dumpty pattern. No consistency anywhere. Tactics-wise I wanted to employ a 442 formation, but with a wide diamond. Last time around, with Trafford (obviously I can remember my last life, quite a luxury, although my psychologist does not share that view), we used a narrow formation. I have since learnt this somewhat takes advantage of the match engine, so there was one thing I knew for sure: We are going to play with wingers! That's also the type of football I prefer IRL so it only makes sense my alter-ego should use such a tactic.

Obviously this person doesn't know what the hell he is doing though, cause results kept getting worse. We went from mid-table in the autumn, to relegation stragglers when we should be celebrating Xmas. Something must be done. I pull back the the attacking midfielder to help out protect the defense. Or so was the thinking. As usual it didn't quite work out like that. Results did arguably improve (and this could really be argued over, cause evidence is not conclusive), but our position did not. The board was not much pleased. The chairman had wanted out since I took over the club, who can blame him really, and now he finally found a willing buyer. A consortium takes over the club in February. I expect to be shown the door given my status is already "Very insecure". How they deduced I deserved to stay due to "impressive support" I cannot fathom. Before every match I am greeted with "pressure grows on Walton & Hersham boss".

We make position 19 our own, however, and is never in real threat of relegation due to Horsham YMCA and Walton Casuals being utter crap. The board drops their Pangaea rating to "Precarious" when they realise we actually finished 19th. It is a race to the summer vacation, when the board goes away and thankfully comes back with fresh thought about my management abilities.

EnglishIsthmianLeagueFirstDivisionSouth.png

League progress - Pretty crap

Isthmian League Cup - Hardly a success - but cups suck arse, right? Right!?

FA Trophy - Better, but not much to speak of either

FA Cup - We weren't even invited.

Transfers - Rough pickings, but during the season and after it we manage to lure some decent players to our running track.

Squad - Not exactly much to jump in the air about. Our top scorer has a whopping 6 goals.

Finances - Injection when new owner took over, but we're losing about 10K a month.

Pile o'Stats - Then to the featuring act. I've customized some screens rather heavily and added a Pile o'Stats. This screenshot was taken from my end of season save (I've started to do this in case I want to go back and check stuff, like season graph or match stats from other teams). Due to this, some players have left and others have come who have not played, but just ignore that. The most significant player to leave was probably Rees, because he played his last match when he was 40 years and 1 day. A record not likely to be beaten.

You can study the stats if you want. I'm not sure how much they tell, but I figured it would be nice to add them. I'm a bit of a stats nut when it come sto FM, though it's more about checking records and player stats and such. Which means I spend a lot of time just farting about in FM. One thing seems clear though, in retrospect. Moleski was not a good choice. We have much fewer points per game with him on the pitch, and despite not playing an awful lot he has managed to cause 3 conceded goals.

Here follows a short description of what the various stats mean. Many will be self-explanatory, but I include them for completeness.

Apps - Matches played (subs in parentheses)

Gls - Goals scored

Ast - Goals assisted

MoM - Man of the Match

Yel - Yellow cards

Red - Red cards

Av Rat - Average Rating

Mins - Minutes played throughout the season

Mins/Gl - Average minutes per goal scored (low is better)

Gls/90 - Average goals per 90 minutes (obviously higher is better)

Asts/90 - Assists per 90 minutes

Con/90 - Goals conceded per 90 minutes

Ps C/90 - Completed passes per 90 minutes

Pas R - Pass completion ratio

Tck - Tackles per game

Tck R - Tackle completion ratio (successful tackles)

Drb - Dribbles per game

Shots - Attempted shots

Sh T - Shots on target ratio

Hdr R - Won headers ratio

Pens - Penalty attempts

Pen/R - Penalties scored ratio

Gl Mst - Mistakes resulting in goals conceded (why is this in decimal format?)

Dist/90 - Distance covered per 90 minutes

Gwin - Games win ratio (percentage of matches won with player on the pitch)

Pts/Gm - Points won per game (with player on the pitch)

Key Players

Bit of a laugh really as all are crap. But here are some of our most important ones, from back to front of the pitch.

Preddie - The man between the stick

Brathwaite - Probably our best DC

Nwanze - Our midfield anchor man. Crucial for us actually.

Lake - With 8 assists, our most 'creative' player

Bramble - Our 'fantastic' goalscorer with a measly 6 goals. Maybe it's understandable our crowd went from 180-ish in the first match to 55 in the last ones?

Team of the Season/Best Eleven - There you see our starting formation too. Don't offer any tactical advice however!! That carries the death penalty by being burned on the stake. I can tell you that is not pleasant :)

Next Season

To improve the squad and our league position. This was not a good start at all, I've never been this close to getting sacked without actually getting canned. The goal is to prevent that next season by being less crap.

Small note: Tesfaye Bramble is apparently the brother (or relative) of Titus Bramble. He is listed under favoured personnel.

Career Summary

[b]Season   Division                 Pos   FA Cup   FA Trophy    Other Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[/b]2009/10  Isthmian First South    19th     -      2nd Q Rnd    Isthmian League Cup 1st Round. Consortium takeover.[i]

P = Promotion, R = Relegation[/i]

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Not sure if people are interested in seasonal records, but I'll include it now and see how it goes, and if I can be bothered to write it up for each season.

Club Records 2009/10

  • Attendance
    • Highest: 177
    • Lowest: 54
    • Average: 90

    [*]Results

    • Biggest Win: 5-0
    • Biggest Loss: 2-5
    • Highest Score: 2-5

    [*]Sequences

    • Won in Row: 3
    • Lost in Row: 4
    • Without Losing: 5
    • Without Winning: 11
    • Without Conceding: 3
    • Without Scoring: 4

    [*]Players

    • Top Goalscorer: 6 - Tesfaye Bramble
    • League Goals: 6 - Tesfaye Bramble
    • Most Assists: 8 - Ryan Lake
    • Highest Rating: 7.16 - Dan Nwanze
    • Most MoM: 4 - Dan Nwanze
    • Player of the Year: Dan Nwanze

    [*]Finances

    • Wage Budget: 1,300 p/w
    • Transfer Budget: 0
    • Balance (End): -30,000

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2010/11 - Walton & Hersham

Isthmian League First Division South

Board expectation: Mid-table

Media expectation: 15th

Odds: 10-1

Season tickets: 36 (down 2)

Last season was quite the rough tumble so I was hoping we would improve. We made some signings in the close-season and some over the summer. Harry Grimes (DC) comes from AFC Wimbledon, George Landais (ST) from Aldershot, Mauro Vilhete (MC) from Barnet, Matthew Clark (M RLC) from Oxford and Ricky Modeste (AM RL) from Chelmsford.

The start is a bit here and there, however. We lose some and win some, and are hovering in mid-table obscurity. But we aren't playing well. This is further highlighted by 7 straight losses, in which we score only one goal. That take us down to a threatening 18th and out of two cups before they get started. Clearly something isn't working. So I ask myself, "Okay, I'm **** with tactics. How can I best reduce the threat I make to this team?"

Obviously the solution is to abandon the trainwreck I had designed and start anew. I go back to basics with a very standard 442 and tinker with basically nothing. "Let's see how this plays out" *crosses fingers*

A point away to Dulwich Hamlet. Okay, so they overran us, but we did get a point. Improvement. A win and loss follows. Then we start to rack up winning strings. Definite improvement. We are climbing the table and starting to look pretty hot. I'm thinking we may push for a playoff spot with this pace. Sometime after Xmas we reach the dizzy heights of 5th. We remain there for ever so long, opening up a small gap behind us. The close season treats all teams up here rough, and we are no exception, but we do gain a couple more spots by the end of the season and finish with a handsome 3rd. Playoff spot is secured.

First up: Ramsgate in the semis. We have a bleak history against them. Four straight losses without scoring a single goal. But we walk onto the pitch with heads high after a good finish to the season. We shall be no walkover this time. But it is tight. Very tight. Extra-time tight. We have a great chance to decide the match on a penalty in the 84th minute, but as usual we don't even hit the target. Darby misses his 3rd out of 3 attempts. He hasn't even hit target yet. But just as the extra-time kicks off we find a way through and midfielder Matthew Clark slips one past the goalie (oo-err). We cling on and win the match.

Final match of the season and the most decisive. Kingstonian is up in the final. We haven't lost a point to them yet in two tries. A fantastic start sees us 2-0 up by 15 minutes - something Kingstonian cannot come back from. We win 3-1 and are promoted.

The chairman would not let me near the tactics board ever again.

EnglishIsthmianLeagueFirstDivisionSouth.png

League progress - Slow start and nice finish

Isthmian League Cup - Horsham were too strong for us - on penalties. Notice the missed penalty in game-time too.

FA Trophy - Out 0-2 to Ossett Town.

FA Cup - At least we were invited. 0-2 to Didcot.

Not the best cup year for us. Out of all three as quickly as we could, largely due to our crap early form and inability to score on penalties.

Transfers - Not much listed here, the important ones were from the backend of last season.

Squad - Some players have been sold in this shot. Here is the old one.

Finances - Things could be better. We are steadily losing money.

Pile o'Stats - One thing to notice is the amount of penalties we missed. Four out of five - plus a handful in shootouts. Some players are missing from the table due to designing it after the season was done with and some players had been sold. I do make backups just before the season update, but since there is no proper transfer window at these levels (implemented at least), some players left in May. Landais was a good buy and became our topscorer. Bramble is also very dangerous - actually more effective than Landais. Most important player gone is the old goalie, Preddie. He played most of the season.

Sometime in late April I read the addendum to Uncle Ron's FM2010 file. The most important points is that players at this level should only have 1-year contracts, and signings should not occur after March 31. Some players I signed were therefore not used after I read this, and contracts from now on will only be 1-year extensions. This was already largely in place, but some players were on 2-year contracts (you can check the expiry date). The best new keeper played two matches, but was not used afterwards due to this rule. I am employing the same 1-year policy with staff, which is causing some problems as we speak as the assman and scouts will not sign new contracts. Some players, notably Nwanze on his high 150 p/w contract will probably need to leave, as he won't lower his way too steep wage.

Key Players

Still a lot of crap, but some decent quality came in, particularly in midfield and up front.

Grimes - A good buy in defence.

Nwanze - Still a solid anchor man, good tackler.

Clark - Versatile midfielder

Darby - Talented midfielder who had some fantastic assists.

Bramble - Most effective goalscorer with 16 goals in 29(8).

Landais - Solid buy up front. Top scorer with 21 goals in 42(2).

Team of the Season - Not many complaints here.

Historic Team - Not a lot of changes. Old tactic still retained.

Other News

Despite the terrible first season, the new board gave me a 2-year extension on my contract, and offered me a £20 increase to £250 a week. Not at all actually. I could get by on that, I think.

This news message almost had me in stitches!

"Walton & Hersham are already in contract talks with Death and were believed to be close to sealing the deal but the Stags have made an eleventh hour bid".

Wouldn't bode well for our opponents I suppose. But more importantly, what the hell do a bunch of stags want with Death?!? Has it become that bad? Jesus! :D

Next Season

We got an unlikely promotion, so the goal is to not go down again. I'm actually fairly confident given how well we played in the new (de-Pangaeized) formation. The difference between level 7 and 8 isn't too great either. The team needs improving though, as there are some weak spots.

Career Summary

[b]Season   Division                 Pos     FA Cup     FA Trophy    Other Achievements[/b]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009/10  Isthmian First South    19th       -        2nd Q Rnd    Isthmian League Cup 1st Round. Consortium takeover.
2010/11  Isthmian First South    3rd P   2nd Q Rnd   1st Q Rnd    Isthmian League Cup 1st Round. New contract.

P = Promotion, R = Relegation

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Club Records 2010/11

  • Attendance
    • Highest: 219
    • Lowest: 66
    • Average: 129

    [*]Results

    • Biggest Win: 5-0
    • Biggest Loss: 0-2
    • Highest Score: 5-0

    [*]Sequences

    • Won in Row: 4
    • Lost in Row: 7
    • Without Losing: 11
    • Without Winning: 9
    • Without Conceding: 6
    • Without Scoring: 4

    [*]Players

    • Top Goalscorer: 21 - George Landais
    • League Goals: 21 - George Landais
    • Most Assists: 12 - Ashley Darby
    • Highest Rating: 7.25 - George Landais
    • Most MoM: 11 - George Landais
    • Player of the Year: George Landais

    [*]Finances

    • Wage Budget: 1,300 p/w
    • Transfer Budget: 0
    • Balance (End): -130,000

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Oh nuts! I'm two seasons ahead of the update here so will sort it out. Playing a friendly ahead of the 2013/14 season and my best striker just got crocked. Torn calf muscle. Out for 5 months. :(

This is made worse by the fact I've thinned the squad considerable for this season to try to make our economy a little better. Half the income last season came from board injections. Seems like we get bumped down to "Insecure" at about -250,000 so the board kept injecting money to keep us above that line. Thankfully one of the wingers can play up front too. But now I regret getting rid of McDonaugh for nothing as he did a pretty decent job up front when my strikers were injured.

Double-no. Next match and my left winger is out for two months with strained knee ligaments.

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Have forgotten to report a small tournament in Mandelaland.

2010 - World Cup

Out in group stage: Slovenia, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Mexico, Switzerland, Australia, Chile, South Africa, Japan, Egypt, Costa Rica, North Korea, Tunisia, South Korea, Cameroon, Honduras.

Qualified

A: Italy, Paraguay

B: Spain, Ivory Coast

C: Holland, Ghana

D: England, USA

E: Sweden, Germany

F: Argentina, Serbia

G: Greece, Bosnia & Herzegovina

H: Brazil, France

Group A-D

Group E-H

Second Round

Ivory Coast - Italy 2-1

England - Ghana 2-1

Germany - Argentina 1-0

France - Greece 1-0

Spain - Paraguay 3-1

Holland - USA 3-2

Serbia - Sweden 1-2

Brazil - Bosnia & Herzegovina 1-2 (!)

Quarter Final

Ivory Coast - England 3-1 (at least not on pens this time)

Germany - France 2-1

Spain - Holland e2-1

Sweden - Bosnia & Herzegovina e3-2

Semi Final

Ivory Coast - Germany 2-3

Spain - Sweden 2-0

Third Place

Sweden - Ivory Coast 2-0

Final

Germany - Spain 0-1e

Knockout stage

Very unorthodox winner I have to say.. :applause:to Spain.

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2011/12 - Walton & Hersham

Isthmian League Premier Division

Board expectation: Mid-table

Media expectation: 17th

Odds: 5-2 (a rather big difference between expectations and odds, no?)

Season tickets: 47 (up 11)

League

After a slow start but strong finish we got promoted last season. The board expect us to achieve a safe mid-table position. The assistant manager and both scouts buggered off after not wanting to re-sign new contracts, so it took some time to get in new heads. We played very well on the back of last season so I don't invest in a lot of new players, wanting to keep the stem of the team instead. We buy two central defenders and a defensive midfielder to replace Nwanze. He wanted steep wages, and I had to cut some men out of the loop. His 190 pw (after 25% promotion increase) was just way too much.

Some very familiar teams in this year's league setup: Biggleswade Town, St. Albans, Tooting & Mitcham and Lewes.

The betting men are better predictors than the media. We start the season well and are positioned in or just outside the playoff spots from the go. The new chairman is a wise man, and I don't even touch the tactics board with a ten-foot pole. We do well and are in the playoff race going into spring. Chairman hands me a letter with a big fat smile on his face "Here, take it". "Oh, it's like that, eh?"

Jokes notwithstanding, we go into April with our eyes set on title battlers Biggleswade Town, St. Albans and Bishop's Stortford. But Maidstone is pushing on and is soon the main contender. Despite some niggling injuries we are pushing them to the door. But with two matches left we need two wins to claim the league title. Margate is beaten 1-0. Goalscorer Landais gets injured, however, which is a big blow. It's a perfect finish. We sit on 3rd and face Maidstone on 1st at home. We need to win to claim the title, and hope Bishop's Stortford don't win their away match to Hemel Hempstead. Maidstone take the lead 1-0 and with DMC Daly getting injured just before tea-time it's not going our way. We hit one back but they are too strong for us and the match ends 1-1. Bishop's Stortford don't win theirs so a win for us would have done it. But in reality we were lucky to get a draw.

Playoff

We are riddled with injuries on key players after the tough league finish. Our nemesis St. Albans is up in the playoff semi final. We have had a tough time against them before. They're a very good team, and push us back from the go. We manage to keep most their finishes to distance, but our keeper is having a good day between the sticks and pulls out some "wow" saves. We have a rare visit in their half on a corner after a good half hour. It's a mess in the box, no clearance. DC Brathwaite gets on the end of it.... 1-0 Walton & Hersham! St. Albans continue to run rings around us, but we cling onto our lead, and in a last act of desperation I sub my striker and put on another midfielder to play 4-5-1 contain. "Seal the hatch guys!!" We ride it out and win 1-0, having only 5 shots to their 15.

Bishop's Stortford is lining up in the final, and what a final it turns out to be! Bishop's Stortford take an early lead. As often before we are dominating possession but fail to create the big chances. But after the lucky semi final win I am quite satisfied with going out in the final. We're not really ready anyway. Then, of course, it happens. Modeste gets a yard on the right side and finds Clark in the box. He very composed heads it back towards the far post, via the post and into the net. 1-1. We're back in it.

Having already made 3 subs, disaster strikes for Bishop. First their goalkeeper gets injured, and just before 90 minutes they lose a defender to injury too. They're down to 9 men without a goalie. No way they can win this in extra-time. And they don't. Central defender Brathwaite is again the hero when he puts us ahead before midfielder Darby scores a cracker of a goal to hammer in the last nail. 3-1 and we are promoted after playoff. Bishop were left playing an awkward formation.

I feel a bit bad for getting promoted actually. St. Albans should have beat us in the semi final and then our opponents are down to 9 men in extra time due to injuries. Will it bite us in the ass?

Cups

We don't do well in the FA Cup or FA Trophy. Basingstoke humilate us 0-3 in the FA Cup. It's very close against Bishop's Cleeve. They equalise two minutes on overtime in the first half, and score the winner 4 minutes on overtime. Bah. We lose 3-4.

The Isthmian League Cup is a better experience. We failed abysmally last season in the first round, so the players wanted revenge. In one of many tough encounters with St. Albans, we edge them 1-0 in the semi final. Bognor Regis put up a tough fight in the final and it could have gone both ways (at least if they hit target...). Thankfully for us McDonaugh and Hardman score one in each half and we run out 2-0 victors. Our first trophy!

The FA Cup was not a good experience for the big dogs either, particularly the Manchester teams. Man City flies out after a 0-2 defeat at home to Rochdale, while Reading walk over Man Utd 4-1. Both in the 3rd Round.

League Graph

League42.png

Transfers - Not much activity. I felt the team was pretty strong and didn't want to break up the team unity we had built up.

Squad - After two promotions on the trot we need reinforcements to survive in Blue Square South.

Finances - Not too bad of a deficit because we earned some 30K in prize money.

Pile o'Stats - Not until late April did one of our players reach double figures in scored goals. Thankfully we were pretty safe at the back, cause none of the frontmen were particularly venomous.

Key Players

Jack Turner - The new goalie has done well. Played every minute of football this season.

Rob Gier - Very good with an experienced head on right back. He is our vice captain.

Harry Grimes - Our best central defender.

Wes Daly - With the exit of moneygrabbing Nwanze, Daly came in and did a good job. Our new captain. Likes his cards though.

Matthew Clark - Versatile as he can play all over midfield.

Mauro Vilhete - Turned out better than I thought. Main assist man this season in addition to Landais.

Conor McDonaugh - Played more up front this season due to striker injuries and tiredness.

George Landais - Still doing well up front, but the step up has been tough for him.

Team of the Season - Little odd to not include McDonaugh as he is our top scorer with 10 goals, but this seems to go slavishly on average rating by positions.

Historic Team - Changed to the new default 4-4-2 formation.

Next Season

After two playoff promotions in a row the goal is simply to survive in Blue Square South. Hopefully we'll get some more crowds. Will also need to replace a good portion of the squad. I don't think my current bunch is strong enough. Both scouts will (yet again) bugger off as they for some reason want a vacation and don't think 50 a week is enough. That will give me problems when I need signings. Thankfully the ass man stays on board this time.

Career Summary

[b]
Season   Division                 Pos     FA Cup     FA Trophy    Other Achievements[/b]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009/10  Isthmian First South    19th       -        2nd Q Rnd    Isthmian League Cup 1st Round. Consortium takeover.
2010/11  Isthmian First South    3rd P   2nd Q Rnd   1st Q Rnd    Isthmian League Cup 1st Round. New contract.
2011/12  Isthmian Premier        2nd P   3rd Q Rnd   2nd Q Rnd    Won Isthmian League Cup.

P = Promotion, R = Relegation

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Club Records 2011/12

  • Attendance
    • Highest: 423
    • Lowest: 123
    • Average: 243

    [*]Results

    • Biggest Win: 4-1
    • Biggest Loss: 0-3
    • Highest Score: 3-4

    [*]Sequences

    • Won in Row: 4
    • Lost in Row: 4
    • Without Losing: 10
    • Without Winning: 4
    • Without Conceding: 4
    • Without Scoring: 3

    [*]Players

    • Top Goalscorer: 10 - Conor McDonaugh
    • League Goals: 9 - Conor McDonaugh
    • Most Assists: 10 - George Landais
    • Highest Rating: 7.08 - Mauro Vilhete
    • Most MoM: 4 - Wes Daly
    • Player of the Year: Rob Gier

    [*]Finances

    • Wage Budget: 2,600 p/w
    • Transfer Budget: 0
    • Balance (End): -170,000

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Very solid defense and not very exciting football. I've used a very basic 4-4-2 so far, but struggling now so may need to break into the tactic room and put my thinking cap on. Not sure if our struggles are down to tactics or players though. My teams tend to be solid defensively because that's what I do when getting points is tough, and I don't really know how to create good attacking formations either. But may try to give the wingers more attacking instructions as the strikers often get crap ratings. Probably because they get isolated. We tend to either lose or win by one goal a lot.

Happy with the progress so far, though. Now it's about building a team that can sustain itself in the Blue Square South.

I may have asked this elsewhere, but how are lower league finances looking in FM11? Are match day expenses still ridiculously high?

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Very solid defense and not very exciting football. I've used a very basic 4-4-2 so far, but struggling now so may need to break into the tactic room and put my thinking cap on. Not sure if our struggles are down to tactics or players though. My teams tend to be solid defensively because that's what I do when getting points is tough, and I don't really know how to create good attacking formations either. But may try to give the wingers more attacking instructions as the strikers often get crap ratings. Probably because they get isolated. We tend to either lose or win by one goal a lot.

Happy with the progress so far, though. Now it's about building a team that can sustain itself in the Blue Square South.

I may have asked this elsewhere, but how are lower league finances looking in FM11? Are match day expenses still ridiculously high?

I think you need to find yourself a few proven strikers. Real goal scorers. I bet that will take care of it.

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2012/13 - Walton & Hersham

Blue Square South

Board expectation: Avoid relegation

Media expectation: 19th

Odds: 6-1

Season tickets: 117 (up 70)

League

We have gotten two promotions on the trot after playoffs, the last one being rather fortuitous. We need reinforcements, and we need them badly. Not an ideal time for both my scouts to bugger off. I'm running through them like McDonald's go through employees. Adverts are put up and my first guy arrives in late July, with the other in late August. Meanwhile the assman checks out some players on our shortlist. This summer sees quite the clear-out. 7 players leave and 13 arrive. Our best 11 has 6 new names now, and we need them.

The start of the season is quite good. We yo-yo from mid-table to above the relegation spots the first third of the season. It's a tough league and we have many new players, so the start is promising. Results take a turn for the worse in mid-November and throughout much of the winter, however. First 8 matches without a win, then 7 more (after an impressive 4-1 win over later league winners Farnborough). 10 points in 16 matches won't quite cut it and we are mired in a relegation battle. Half-way we are already in trouble, and it gets worse. By round 25 we occupy a relegation spot. By now the team has gelled and I'm doing my best to be gentle with them, but finding wins is difficult.

We get the odd one, however, and at least pull our heads above water. With two matches left we look secure, but Basingstoke is pulling off one heck of an amazing escape. 9 points the first 21 matches, and 30 points the next 19. Title challengers Ebbsfleet come to Stompond Lane in the next last match of the season. We squeeze out another fine win to a top dog by beating them 1-0 in an even match. Wins like that, playing with 10 men for half an hour, makes a manager proud. With those 3 points we are secure. They turn out to be absolutely crucial too. Basingstoke and Eastbourne Boro win their last match while we lose ours. Even if we had drawn to Ebbsfleet we would have been relegated. 1 goal was the difference. Phew!

Very impressive escape by Basingstoke. 36 points the last 21 games is playoff material. We didn't beat many, but we did get the scalp of both promoted teams. I wonder if the AI 'user' was screaming abuse at the monitor...

Cups

The cups didn't treat us particularly well this season. In dramatic fashion, after a replay, Sutton was beaten just before penalties in the 2nd qualifying round in the FA Cup. Maidstone kicked our ass 0-3 in the 3rd round, however.

The FA Trophy tournament was much the same as earlier years, except now we entered later. Chester easily beat us in the 1st round proper. Strange to lose a match with 66% possession I must say. Perhaps I need to have a look at tactics again.

League Graph

BlueSquareSouth42.png

Transfers - A good clear-out as we prepare to face the challenge of Blue Square South football. The last three transfers are ahead of next season, but as there is no proper transfer window here they arrive a bit earlier than usual.

Squad - Must say I thought we were better able to handle this level of football. Barely double digits on the top scorer again.

Finances - Getting promoted in FM is apparently a Really Bad Idea. Despite bigger crowds, match day expenses is killing us. The real deficit is much larger, because the board invested 175,000 over the course of the season to prevent us going into administration ("Insecure" status at least).

Pile o'Stats - One thing that sticks out for me is that Nelthorpe is one heck of a work horse. 13.1 km a game is impressive. No wonder my wingers get tired. Another thing is that Hardman is simply not good enough on the head. Winning 61% of headers is way too little for a DC. He will be sold.

Key Players

Rob Williams - Quite talented keeper, but conceded more than the other guy.

Ryan O'Neill - Our best DC. Played virtually every match.

Ben Breakell - Good heir to Gier on right-back. Our vice captain is getting on a bit.

Jack Cross - Very good signing. He can play both in the defensive and attacking central midfield position.

Matthew Clark - Very useful because he can play on both wings.

Craig Nelthorpe - Had a fantastic start, but got injured for 3 months in September. Was never the same after.

James Norwood - Quick and can't jump but got a nice amount of goals and assists. Top scorer with 11.

Johnny Cosgrove - Another striker signing who did quite well in his first season.

Team of the Season - Some strange selections because average rating must be weighted too heavily. Cosgrove, for example, should have been in the main eleven.

Historic Team - Modeste on top is weird since he only plays there when our strikers are injured.

Next Season

We survived by the scruff of our necks. Hopefully next season's run-in is a bit more comfortable with us in mid-table. We need more quality players to achieve that, however. The board also gave me a new contract. A 2 year-extension on £400 a week.

Career Summary

[b]
Season   Division                 Pos     FA Cup     FA Trophy    Other Achievements[/b]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009/10  Isthmian First South    19th       -        2nd Q Rnd    Isthmian League Cup 1st Round. Consortium takeover.
2010/11  Isthmian First South    3rd P   2nd Q Rnd   1st Q Rnd    Isthmian League Cup 1st Round. New contract.
2011/12  Isthmian Premier        2nd P   3rd Q Rnd   2nd Q Rnd    Won Isthmian League Cup.
2012/13  Blue Square South       17th    3rd Q Rnd    1st Rnd     New contract.

P = Promotion, R = Relegation

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Club Records 2012/13

  • Attendance
    • Highest: 595
    • Lowest: 159
    • Average: 296

    [*]Results

    • Biggest Win: 4-1
    • Biggest Loss: 1-5
    • Highest Score: 2-5

    [*]Sequences

    • Won in Row: 2
    • Lost in Row: 3
    • Without Losing: 8
    • Without Winning: 7
    • Without Conceding: 2
    • Without Scoring: 5

    [*]Players

    • Top Goalscorer: 11 - James Norwood
    • League Goals: 10 - Johnny Cosgrove
    • Most Assists: 10 - James Norwood
    • Highest Rating: 7.05 - Matthew Clark
    • Most MoM: 4 - James Norwood
    • Player of the Year: Mauro Vilhete

    [*]Finances

    • Wage Budget: 2,800 p/w
    • Transfer Budget: 0
    • Balance (End): -235,000

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Forgot another international tournament - this time the European Championship.

2012 - European Championship

Out in group stage: Portugal (!), Poland, Ireland, Switzerland, Russia, Holland (!), Croatia, Belarus.

Qualified

A: Italy, Israel

B: Serbia, Ukraine

C: Germany, Scotland

D: Spain, Sweden

Groups

Quarter Final

Ukraine - Italy 1-3e

Scotland - Spain 0-2

Israel - Serbia 3-1

Sweden - Germany 3-2

Semi Final

Italy - Spain 1-0

Israel - Sweden 3-2

Final

Italy - Israel 2-0

Knockout stage

Impressive by Israel, but in the end Italy were too strong. Sweden must have quite the team here. Third place in the World Cup and semi finals in the Euros. Quite impressive performance by the Jocks too, getting through the group stage. England didn't even qualify. Sweden beat them in the playoff matches.

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I like his solo stuff a lot better than I do Iron Maiden. Not their biggest fan. If I was given a ticket I would jump at the chance to see them like ha.

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I like Maiden a lot too, but his solo stuff is a bit different and it's nice to listen to at times. Would have loved to see Iron Maiden's tour a little back when they played only the old stuff. Sadly I didn't have cash for it :(

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Was a bit behind on updates, and have been playing a lot lately :o

Just tried to change my formation a little. Let's hope it works out. Was an exciting finish last season, but I'd prefer to not be in that position again this season.

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2013/14 - Walton & Hersham

Blue Square South

Board expectation: Avoid relegation

Media expectation: 20th

Odds: 40-1

Season tickets: 117 (same)

League

We survived last season - barely. We needed to build on that achievement by investing in new players. I lose a scout again, but the other wants to stay. Several players come in on free transfers. Two strikers strengthen our forward line, a couple of defenders our defence, and a midfielder and winger our support. One striker and winger have to be brought in due to heavy injuries in the pre-season friendlies. All strikers are out. Then the backup winger gets crocked for 5 months in his first match. Most injuries are long-term too, so this set us back considerably in the first couple of months.Thankfully "backup" striker Marshall turns into a wonderful signing.

Partly due to injuries plaguing the squad we are not playing well in the opening months of the season, and find ourselves mired in a battle against relegation. We are badly struggling to score goals, and aren't great at the back either. Half-way through the season it is looking much like last year. Ahead of some cup games I decide to change the tactic a little again. We didn't exactly set Stompond Lane alight last season with 44 goals in 42 matches. Some player roles are changed, hoping to create more offensive football. It seems to work allright. We niggle through some early cup rounds, albeit often after replays. Without noticing the trend myself, I am greeted with a news message: We have set a new record by going unbeaten for 12 games. Guess it worked then, I think to myself.

Results in the league are greatly improving, and after closing the points gap to teams ahead of us we start to climb. With about 10 matches left to play we have closed the gap to the playoff teams to 6 points, and the leaders to 10. As we are in great form I am convinced we will grab a playoff spot, and perhaps even give the leaders a run for their money. After winning the 5 previous league matches, we hit a brick wall with 10 left to play. Hopes for another playoff quickly dwindle. We collect only 12 points the last 10 matches and finish in 10th position. But are then bumped up to 9th because Merthyr Tydfil go into administration and lose 10 points on the last day, which steals a playoff spot from under their noses. We are much more stable than last season, however, so I am happy.

It was a very close playoff race btw. This is the table with one match to play. 2 points separate 2nd and 8th, with leaders Dover 2 points ahead of the pack.

We have scored much more goals, so although we are also conceding much more the football we put on display will hopefully please our fellow Swans. A match like this could never have happened last season.

Cups

We are in financial problems so I decide to try and do well in the cups. We need the extra money from the FA Cup to keep us afloat. Match-day expenses are off the chart in FM, especially so for us with the rather big 6,500-capacity stadium.

The biggest moneybag is in the FA Cup, and we do pretty darn well there. First in the 2nd round do we meet a really tough opposition. We are drawn against League One side Stevenage. That proves to be too tough a task, but we do hold them to 1-1 at Stompond Lane. This match was surprisingly televised, which earned us 75,000 pounds. That's over half our income from tickets. Xmas and Easter simultaneously. They control the replay, but we only lose 0-1 and even had a couple of great chances to score. Exit in the 2nd round proper earns us a lot of prize money, and with the additional TV money we are moved out of "insecure" for the remainder of the season.

There are a lot of replay matches in the FA Trophy too. We get all the way to the semi final before we are stopped, and beat a couple of Blue Square Premier teams on the way. Wrexham are much too good for us, however, and we get beaten 0-2 away and 1-2 at home. A nice experience for the boys nevertheless.

"Oddly" enough this coincides quite well with our league form getting shot........

League Graph

BlueSquareSouth42.png

Transfers - A fair few transfers to help us improve on last year. Purcell (late May so not listed here), Draper and Marshall are great signings.

Squad - Some weaknesses in defence, but we are strong going forward now.

Finances - The FA Cup run helped us out tremendously, but we are still in trouble and will soon hit the "Insecure" barrier of £250,000 again. Board "only" had to invest 50,000 this season.

Pile o'Stats - Yadolahi is supposed to be good, but he is a danger back there and plays crap. 4 mistakes leading to goals is actually too low, as my DR got blamed for a fine cluster**** by Yadolahi on at least one occasion. Marshall has been a beast and scores 2 goals every 3 matches. Hopefully I can use Purcell more up front next season. He had to play right-winger a lot due to injuries and fatigue.

Key Players

Rob Williams - Very sturdy at the back, and is starting to really rack up the games now. Young too.

Kieron Charnock - New left-back who can also double in the middle during injury crises.

Jamie Smith - Has a mean shot on him.

Jack Cross - Good defensive midfielder. Likes his cards, though I guess I must blame my tactic by now as this is universal.

Ross Draper - Good central midfielder I am also retraining to right-winger.

Craigh Nelthorpe - Good left-winger I have also retrained to right-winger as I can't find anybody to play there.

Marcus Marshall - Signing of the season - hands down.

James Norwood - Many assists, but I think his reign is over - sadly.

Tadgh Purcell - Good striker who can double as right-winger.

Team of the Season - Poor average ratings in the back, but I think that's a FM 'problem'. I can never get very good ratings there. Unless we win by a lot, which is rare.

Historic Team - Marshall goes straight into the team up front.

Next Season

A good second season in the Blue Square South this season, and we sniffed a little on playoff. The goal next season is to achieve that, and hopefully get promoted. Don't think I will make many changes as there are virtually nobody on my shortlist who are interested.

Career Summary

[b]
Season   Division                 Pos     FA Cup     FA Trophy    Other Achievements[/b]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009/10  Isthmian First South    19th       -        2nd Q Rnd    Isthmian League Cup 1st Round. Consortium takeover.
2010/11  Isthmian First South    3rd P   2nd Q Rnd   1st Q Rnd    Isthmian League Cup 1st Round. New contract.
2011/12  Isthmian Premier        2nd P   3rd Q Rnd   2nd Q Rnd    Won Isthmian League Cup.
2012/13  Blue Square South       17th    3rd Q Rnd    1st Rnd     New contract.
2013/14  Blue Square South        9th     2nd Rnd    Semi-final

P = Promotion, R = Relegation

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Club Records 2013/14

  • Attendance
    • Highest: 2,063
    • Lowest: 197
    • Average: 428

    [*]Results

    • Biggest Win: 4-1
    • Biggest Loss: 0-3
    • Highest Score: 5-3

    [*]Sequences

    • Won in Row: 7
    • Lost in Row: 3
    • Without Losing: 12
    • Without Winning: 5
    • Without Conceding: 2
    • Without Scoring: 1

    [*]Players

    • Top Goalscorer: 27 - Marcus Marshall
    • League Goals: 14 - Marcus Marshall
    • Most Assists: 13 - James Norwood
    • Highest Rating: 7.22 - Tadgh Purcell
    • Most MoM: 8 - Tadgh Purcell
    • Player of the Year: Marcus Marshall

    [*]Finances

    • Wage Budget: 2,600 p/w
    • Transfer Budget: 150
    • Balance (End): -230,000

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I have forgotten to write how it has gone in the other leagues, so I'll do that here. There aren't many since I need to keep players to a reasonable level to not grind the speed to far down, but Italy and Spain is nice to add. I have all their levels but will just report on the top league.

England

2009/10

  1. Arsenal
  2. Man Utd
  3. Man City
  4. Liverpool
  5. Aston Villa
  6. Tottenham

2010/11

  1. Chelsea
  2. Arsenal
  3. Man Utd
  4. Man City
  5. Liverpool
  6. Everton

2011/12

  1. Man Utd
  2. Man City
  3. Chelsea
  4. Arsenal
  5. Tottenham
  6. Aston Villa

2012/13

  1. Arsenal
  2. Chelsea
  3. Man Utd
  4. Man City
  5. West Bromwich (!)
  6. Tottenham

2013/14

  1. Chelsea
  2. Aston Villa
  3. Everton
  4. Man Utd
  5. Man City
  6. Liverpool

Italy

2009/10

  1. Lazio
  2. Juventus
  3. AC Milan
  4. Inter
  5. Genoa
  6. Fiorentina

2010/11

  1. Juventus
  2. Genoa
  3. Inter
  4. Lazio
  5. Napoli
  6. Roma

2011/12

  1. Juventus
  2. Genoa
  3. Udinese
  4. Inter
  5. Lazio
  6. Sampdoria

2012/13

  1. Genoa
  2. Juventus
  3. Inter
  4. Fiorentina
  5. AC Milan
  6. Udinese

2013/14

  1. Juventus
  2. Lazio
  3. AC Milan
  4. Fiorentina
  5. Udinese
  6. Genoa

Spain

2009/10

  1. Barcelona
  2. Real Madrid
  3. Getafe
  4. Valencia
  5. Atletico Madrid
  6. Villareal

2010/11

  1. Real Madrid
  2. Barcelona
  3. Atletico Madrid
  4. Sevilla
  5. Betis
  6. Osasuna

2011/12

  1. Barcelona
  2. Real Madrid
  3. Sevilla
  4. Racing
  5. Valencia
  6. Atletico Madrid

2012/13

  1. Barcelona
  2. Real Madrid
  3. Sevilla
  4. Atletico Mardid
  5. Villareal
  6. Valencia

2013/14

  1. Real Madrid
  2. Atletico Madrid
  3. Barcelona
  4. Betis
  5. Racing
  6. Valencia

Champions Cup

2009/10: Barcelona (Chelsea 1-0)

2010/11: Real Madrid (Liverpool 1-0)

2011/12: Man Utd (Olympique Lyonnais 3-0)

2012/13: Real Madrid (Chelsea 2-0)

2013/14: Real Madrid (Barcelona 2-0e)

EURO Cup

2009/10: Arsenal (Fiorentina 1-0)

2010/11: Atletico Madrid (Fiorentina 4-0)

2011/12: Tottenham (Villareal 2-1e)

2012/13: AC Milan (Villareal 2-2p)

2013/14: AS Monaco (Napoli 1-0)

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Believe me, so am I. Would have been furious if they sacked me after all this work.

Don't think I've ever been fired after such speculation, but I always get worried by it. The feeling of having no control over it perhaps. At least the board I can deal with through results, though that was an incredibly close call in my first season. Was down to "Precarious" by the end, and before every match I was met by messages about "manager under pressure" (or however it is worded).

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Just thought i'd ask but where did you get your skin from because i prefer it when the league table shows red for relegated teams and yellow for promoted teams.

I made those myself actually as I think the colours in the default skin are crap. It's fairly easy, but I can upload the relevant pictures if you want them. I just changed the colours from the extracted .fmf file so the relegation and promotion spots would stand out more. It's a little fiddly. Open each picture in Photoshop (or whatever program you prefer), blow up the picture as it's tiny and then alter the pixels so the colour changes. That's how I added the 'ring' around the championship spot too.

Too tired to do it now, but can always upload them somewhere tomorrow.

Edit

Have added the files now. Just extract them to the skin you're using. Not sure if this works for FM11 too, but it works nicely for FM10. It may work to put it in the general graphics folder too in the main game folder, but I'm not sure about that. I have it in my skin folder and it works well.

I'm using the base skins. You can download them from the Skins forum somewhere.

http://www.gamefront.com/files/20218805/Pangaea+FM2010+League+Table.7z

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2014/15 - Walton & Hersham

Blue Square South

Board expectation: Mid-table

Media expectation: 12th

Odds: 40-1

Season tickets: 117 (same, again)

League

We were very good in the mid-season last year, but disappointed at the end when I thought we could grab a play-off spot. Our team was pretty good, so only one player is brought in during the summer: central midfielder Alan Rioch. Some reserves from last season left to lighten the wage load.

Not the best start with a draw and a loss, but then we pin back AFC Wimbledon and hump them 6-0. The team is playing well and we barely lose. As the season progresses we clearly take a "score one more than the opposition" mentality. Clean sheets are rare, but failing to score is even rarer. At the mid-way point we are looking better than last season. The three front-runners keep each other company all season, and neither of us seem to budge. A shame that when we finally have a team capable of getting promoted two other teams are playing fantastic football too, and reaching for the points record in the league's history.

Crawley go an amazing 23 matches without losing, and winning 18 of those. From winter to spring Exeter win 10 on the trot. We do well too, with 8 wins in a row, which you'd think was enough to get ahead. But not in this league. We lose 0-1 away to Weymouth, putting us 5 points behind with only 3 matches to play. I am certain it is game over and am resigned to a playoff adventure. But as can be seen from the fixture lists above, both Exeter and Crawley finally stop auto-winning. With two matches left we are suddenly back in it, and ahead of the final day we are on top after winning our last two matches while they throw away points where they shouldn't.

We have a +3 goal difference in our favour, so a win on the final day should seal promotion. Most players have thankfully gotten over my 1-week fine to Cross who got his 2nd red card in our loss to Crawley, which left 17 players angry with team morale dropping from 85-ish per cent to 31%. Maybe the punishment wasn't harsh enough. 27 minutes into the most important match of the season, central defender Evans elbows a striker in the face with the ref looking and is promptly shown directions to the dressing room. Crawley are already ahead so I know we have to win this match. But now we are a man less. Instead of subbing off a striker I go with 3 in midfield. If we lose 0-5 so be it, only a win is good enough anyway.

We take the lead just before half-time when Marshall finds the back of the net for the zillionth time. They hit us back shortly after the break. Apparently our goalie spent his time washing the gloves in soap instead of sipping some tea and resting his legs. Our other striker Purcell is having an off day, but thankfully Marshall is not. A corner is passed back to the left flank, the following cross finds Marshall in the area. He gets a fairly free header and heads it across the goalmouth and into the far corner. Goal!! We are 2-1 up with 20 minutes left to play. Time to shut up shop. Contain, wingers down on support, and all kinds of time-wasting shouts. Then some tactical subs. It works. We win the match 2-1 and are promoted in a most dramatic fashion on the final day. Love seasons like this! :)

Cups

Last season we did very well in the cups. Not so much now. Exeter was our bogey team as the humiliated us both in the league and the FA Trophy in the 4th qualifying round. Humiliated is an odd word perhaps. We dominated the match and somehow managed to lose it 0-3.

It went better in the FA Cup, but League One side Preston were too strong for us. Did make us about 80,000 however, which was great for the club's finances. They beat us 3-1 in the 1st round.

League Graph

BlueSquareSouth42.png

Transfers - Very little going on, but Rioch in was a good signing (he's missing here due to being bought in late May, but with proper transfer windows next season that shouldn't happen any more).

Squad - Still some weaknesses in defence, but I'm quite happy with this setup.

Finances - The new board took up a 210K loan. We're already back in the red, however, as match-day expenses are just killing us. Really hope we get bigger crowds next season so we can at least break even.

Pile o'Stats - Purcell had an absolutely ridiculous season. 34 goals, 17 assists and 19 MoM in 41(2) appearances. No wonder the fans loved him. Even though he barely played, Yadolahi still managed to cause 3 goals. I wanted rid ASAP, but unfortunately teams just offered him a contract so he leaves at the end of the season instead of during the winter holidays.

Key Players

Rob Williams - He has developed quite well and is by far our best goalkeeper.

Kieron Charnock - Very good left back.

Fraser Kerr - Our rock in defence.

Jamie Smith - A good season. Nice amount of goals and assists despite not playing up front this season.

Ross Draper - Turned into our defensive midfielder, and doubled on the right when wingers got tired.

Alan Rioch - Great signing. A nice amount of assists from central midfield.

Craigh Nelthorpe - Turned into our right winger. Did well there with a fine amount of goals and assists.

Nick Hegarty - Left-winger, also very effective.

Marcus Marshall - Our best striker. 30 goals and 15 assists. Wanted a massive pay increase at the end of the season.

Tadgh Purcell - Great striker. Top scorer with 34 goals and a ridiculous amount of MoM.

Team of the Season - One hell of a strike force. 64 goals between them, in addition to 32 assists and 24 MoM. Without them we'd be nothing. Our coaches sometimes rate them as "Good League Two strikers".

Historic Team - No big changes, 3 players make it to the bench.

Other News

I signed a new two-year extension at the start of the season, and am now making £475 per week. Still impossible to improve facilities as we are in the red and losing money each season.

Next Season

We had a good season and got promoted. I'm not sure how big a difference there is between BSS/N and BSP, we seem to do okay against Premier teams in the Cups. Hopefully we stay up, which I think we will with the offensive line we have. Doubt there will be many new players, but it depends a bit what my scouts unearth and who may now be interested in joining us. Hopefully increased crowds will stabilize our finances a bit.

Career Summary

[b]
Season   Division                 Pos     FA Cup     FA Trophy    Other Achievements[/b]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009/10  Isthmian First South    19th       -        2nd Q Rnd    Isthmian League Cup 1st Round. Consortium takeover.
2010/11  Isthmian First South     3rd P  2nd Q Rnd   1st Q Rnd    Isthmian League Cup 1st Round. New contract.
2011/12  Isthmian Premier         2nd P  3rd Q Rnd   2nd Q Rnd    Won Isthmian League Cup.
2012/13  Blue Square South       17th    3rd Q Rnd    1st Rnd     New contract.
2013/14  Blue Square South        9th     2nd Rnd    Semi-final
2014/15  Blue Square South        1st P   1st Rnd    4th Q Rnd    New contract. Consortium takeover.

P = Promotion, R = Relegation

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Pangaea

Pangaea

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Club Records 2014/15

  • Attendance
    • Highest: 753
    • Lowest: 351
    • Average: 490

    [*]Results

    • Biggest Win: 6-0
    • Biggest Loss: 0-3
    • Highest Score: 4-3

    [*]Sequences

    • Won in Row: 8
    • Lost in Row: 2
    • Without Losing: 10
    • Without Winning: 2
    • Without Conceding: 3
    • Without Scoring: 1

    [*]Players

    • Top Goalscorer: 34 - Tadgh Purcell
    • League Goals: 30 - Marcus Marshall
    • Most Assists: 17 - Tadgh Purcell
    • Highest Rating: 7.78 - Tadgh Purcell
    • Most MoM: 19 - Tadgh Purcell
    • Player of the Year: Tadgh Purcell

    [*]Finances

    • Wage Budget: 2,700 p/w
    • Transfer Budget: 325
    • Balance (End): -75,000 (210,000 loan)

Roll of Honour 2014/15

England

  1. Man City
  2. Arsenal
  3. Chelsea
  4. Man Utd
  5. Newcastle
  6. Aston Villa

Italy

  1. Genoa
  2. Juventus
  3. AC Milan
  4. Cagliari
  5. Udinese
  6. Inter

Spain

  1. Barcelona
  2. Sevilla
  3. Real Madrid
  4. Atletico Madrid
  5. Racing
  6. Getafe

Champions Cup

Atletico Madrid (Man Utd 1-0)

EURO Cup

Man City (Benfica 2-0)

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2014 - World Cup

Out in group stage: Algeria, Uruguay, Slovakia, Australia, Russia, Costa Rica, South Korea, Senegal, Mexico, Japan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iran, Germany, Tunisia, Mali, Colombia

Qualified

A: Spain, Ukraine

B: Cameroon, Italy

C: Saudi Arabia (!), Chile

D: Switzerland, Holland

E: France, Brazil

F: Argentina, USA

G: Czech Republic, Peru

H: England, Portugal

Group A-D

Group E-H

Second Round

Spain - Italy 2-0

Chile - Switzerland 3-2

Argentina - Brazil 1-4

Portugal - Czech Republic 0-1

Ukraine - Cameroon 0-2

Saudi Arabia - Holland 0-2

France - USA 3-1

Peru - England 3-4e

Quarter Final

Spain - Chile e3-2

Brazil - Czech Republic 3-0

Cameroon - Holland 3-1

France - England 4-1

Semi Final

Spain - Brazil 4-0

Cameroon - France 0-2

Third Place

Cameroon - Brazil 0-3

Final

Spain - France 3-0

Knockout stage

Spain retains the World Cup. Very impressive. They seem to dominate this save quite well.

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Just downloaded the skin but it didn't work for FM11.

Aah, what a shame. Guess they have changed too much then. But you can perhaps use the pictures. Maybe they've just changed the folder structure or something. Not sure how much they have changed as I have barely played FM11.

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