Forget Müller, here come the Magpies

snootyjim · October 9, 2012

Youth Intake 20 - 2033/2034

Disappointing set of youths in all honesty, we're going to need genuine stars in order to make our way up the leagues. Having said that, Peacock and Wilson should get opportunities in the first team over the next couple of years.

No standout attributes as things stand, but at least his physicals are promising.

snootyjim · October 9, 2012

Just a few things to fill you in on...

Firstly, this:

Secondly, this:

Oh, and finally, that:

snootyjim · October 10, 2012

Fantastic final month, starting with a brilliant result against City. Abreu was really great, and of course the aforementioned FA Cup run. Pity we couldn't hold on for a better league position, but it was a terrific month, all things considered.

snootyjim · October 10, 2012

Season 20 - 2033/34

Competitions

League Table - League Positions - A brilliant late surge took us up to 7th, but we couldn't hold on. Still, it's a new record, and a whole 11 points more than last season.

FA Cup - Sensational stuff. We were blessed yet again with a generous run, and this time really grasped the opportunity. Europa League beckons.

League Cup - Shouldn've have lost against Wolves, but the early red card really screwed us over. Not much I could do about that one.

Club

Finances - Still making shedloads of cash, particularly through the new seats. Gate receipts have surged and should be very impressive next year. The cup run was very handy as well.

Facilities - I still want to fund some improvements to the stadium, and perhaps to the facilities as well, but it may take some real convincing to get the board to agree to it. We've certainly been prolific in recent improvements, so I can't complain too much.

Players

Squad

A heavily trimmed squad now. Some of our recent recruits have come on leaps and bounds with the opportunities I've been providing them with - notably Matteo Vinciguerra who is now a regular CB, Ben Abreu who has been impressing alongside Piper (YP28), and Matthew Fraser who I've been handing opportunities in the hope he'll push ahead of Lyndon Browne (YP27). The only fear is that we might be a bit thin on the ground for the Europa League campaign next season, but there's not much I can do about that given the restrictions of the challenge.

Ethan Blunt (YP4) - Not bad, but he's very reliant on there being no adequate RBs in the squad.

Ged Scott (YP24) - Decent season, but the emergence of new strikers indicate his time may be up.

Lyndon Browne (YP27) - His best season ever, with only 51 conceded in 37 games, but he's under huge pressure from Matthew Fraser.

Chris Piper (YP28) - Another great season, particularly with his 14 assists.

Neal Carter-Harris (YP29) - Still useless. I'm handing his place in the team over to Hawkins (YP35) and Scott (YP24).

Robert Symes (YP30) - Again, a little better, but still not great. It'll be a while before anyone challenges him, sadly.

Ross Jordan (YP31) - Good season, and doing well for the England U21 side as well.

Hasmet Aktürk (YP32) - If it wasn't for the Europa League next season, I'd let him go. Pretty pointless.

Jason Stephens (YP33) - Much better. He's finally living up to his billing.

Stuart Hawkins (YP35) - Another decent season - I'm retraining him a little to MR, so he may play there a bit next year.

Caijah Sylvester (YP36) - And here, the man who let me shift Hawkins (YP35) out to the wing. He's really moving quickly now, looks a great prospect.

Daniel Nicholas (YP37) - His first consistent season. Hopefully he'll start next year in the same kind of form, he could be a huge player for us.

Leon Monks (YP38) - Less impressive than I expected, he's been usurped a little by Abreu. Still lots of time to come back fighting though.

Ben Abreu (YP39) - Great year, with 13 goals in 17 starts. He may start next year partnered up front with Piper (YP28).

Matteo Vinciguerra (YP40) - Now really adapted to his CB role. He's grabbed 5 goals as well - weird having a CB who can finish!

Matthew Fraser (YP41) - This could be the "one to watch" next year. I plan to start him as our first choice keeper if all goes well.

Former Players

Greg Williams (YP17) - Decent season again in the BSS.

Will Hughes (YP22) - Left on a free transfer, now rubbish for Wycombe in League 1.

Spencer Paul (YP25) - Left on a free, useless for League 1 Wrexham.

Morton Tarr (YP26) - From AFC wimbledon, to Swindon, to Bradford, and he's still not found his level. Not looking good.

Aaran Cook (YP34) - A new club record! Signed for Championship Stoke for £250k, and - get this - was useless for them. I was looking to get rid, and to get that much for doing it... what a deal!

Retired Former Players

Nathan Haley (YP1) - The first youth player, and a top player as well. He managed to play in every single league for us, although just the one solitary appearance in the Premiership.

Tadhg McCormack (YP2) - 223 league appearances for the club and was valuable if not impressive. No real career after leaving.

Mike Greenwood (YP3) - Made 381 league appearances, mainly at RB, and was a vital part of our journey up the leagues, but the Premiership was a step too far.

Kenneth Adu (YP5) - Played 204 games but couldn't make the step up in league football and, failing to find a new club, retired at 22.

Junior Cochrane (YP6) - Failed to hold down a first team place, and couldn't hack it after he left either.

Daniel Hopper (YP7) - The first real club legend to retire. 470 league appearances, 217 goals. Without him, we would never have made it up to the Championship.

Harold Radcliffe (YP8) - 342 appearances, primarily on the left wing. He was a terrific player when on form, but couldn't keep pace with our rise up the leagues. Never re-established himself after leaving.

Harry Bryan (YP9) - Radcliffe (YP8) retrained to ML very successfully and rendered him pointless - so pointless that FM didn't save his details.

Ricky Benson (YP10) - Looked to be first choice early on, but almost instantly played out of the team. Only 49 appearances before retiring.

Thomas Pryce (YP11) - Like Benson, he looked like he'd be first choice, but never really got much of a chance and retired after leaving.

John Carey (YP12) - Spent a long time as our first-choice keeper, but lost his place to Lyndon Browne (YP27). Never established himself after leaving.

Geoff Western (YP13) - Was a very useful striker for a long time, and almost moved to CM, but others overtook him and he never caught up.

Jermaine Frear (YP14) - Scored a goal every 4 games, but he was always a backup and was quickly overtaken by new youths.

Carmine Tubbs (YP15) - Was important for a while at MR, but quickly dropped off under the challenge of Charnley and retired after leaving.

Ross Burnell (YP16) - Was a useful DR/MR utility player, but couldn't keep pace with the Championship.

Marcus Hopkinson (YP18) - Struggling to play, I let him go on a free transfer, and he quickly decided he wouldn't play elsewhere and retired at 25.

Callum Fleming (YP19) - Looked to be a valuable CM and ML backup, but quickly dropped off and never made it at Forest.

Neil Charnley (YP20) - Was a useful MR and MC for years, but couldn't make the step up to the Premiership.

Owen Bartlett (YP21) - Decent DL, but never looked a convincing long-term prospect. 174 appearances, and just the one goal.

Nicolas Ashton (YP23) - Didn't play, and he retired almost as soon as I let him go.

tmason122 · October 10, 2012

Just read through this thread for some inspiration for my new save on FM13 when it comes out. I've never done a save like this, longest I've ever managed is 10 seasons. But it's mighty tempting to give something like this a shot after reading through this.

Fantastic effort!

Quick question, what settings do you have your game on for viewing matches? Automated results, highlights only?

snootyjim · October 10, 2012

Just read through this thread for some inspiration for my new save on FM13 when it comes out. I've never done a save like this, longest I've ever managed is 10 seasons. But it's mighty tempting to give something like this a shot after reading through this.
Fantastic effort!

Quick question, what settings do you have your game on for viewing matches? Automated results, highlights only?

Thanks

I have the highlights on key, and play them at 2 notches below full speed. I don't make any tactical changes beyond Contain/Defensive/Counter/Attacking/Overload mid-game, so I can get through matches fairly quickly.

I had a go with holidaying through matches in FM11 and letting the assistant manager take control, but I didn't think he did a particularly good job so I only holiday very occasionally now - generally where I'm not too worried about a result.

snootyjim · October 11, 2012

This has been a seriously tough month. Squad is nowhere near big enough to compete on the European front, and I've been relying on some of the really young youths who aren't up to task.

We're holding on in the Europa League, but the Premiership is proving really tough. I'm optimistic that once we're out of the Europe we can get our league form back on track, but there's no way I'm going to stop trying to compete on all fronts. Injuries have hit us hard as well, most importantly Piper (YP28), who we have lost for 4 months to a torn calf muscle. He's halfway through rehabilitation, but missing him for even a couple of weeks is a big problem when he's so influential.

It has allowed Abreu and Monks to step up to the plate, certainly, but they're really struggling to keep up with the sheer number of games we're playing.

snootyjim · October 11, 2012

Our first ever England cap

deltablue · October 12, 2012

About time

snootyjim · October 12, 2012

Leon Monks (YP38) has been absolutely fantastic, and of course the story of the month is our success in the Europa League. I didn't expect it in the least, but we're through to the knockout stage against Spartak Moscow. It looked as though we probably wouldn't make it, but the wins away at Lech and at home to Malaga were very impressive and ensured success. Who knows how much further we can go, but I have to say I fancy our chances against Spartak - they've not been too good in Europe over the last 2 or 3 years. Anything is a bonus, frankly.

Thankfully the squad has recovered a bit, and we look like we might actually be able to compete on all fronts now. League form is still a bit disappointing, but we do have 2-3 games in hand over most of the other teams, and if we win those we can make around 10th place.

The only downside so far is that Piper's injury has really hit his attributes hard, and I'm not sure yet whether he'll be the same player on his return. I seriously hope so, because he's such a massive asset to have in the squad, but at least Monks (YP38) has been playing so well - it certainly makes me less fearful.

jayahr · October 12, 2012

Just read through all of this. Top stuff :thup:

Crispypaul · October 12, 2012

Great thread! I was born in Dorchester so like your choice of team.

Weird on the stadiums though - if this were to ever happen I'd expect Dorchester to groundshare with either Yeovil or Bournemouth, or at a pinch in Weymouth - but a random stadium in Waterlooville?

Interesting that your new stadium can hold the entire town with seats to spare!

snootyjim · October 12, 2012

Just read through all of this. Top stuff

Thanks

Great thread! I was born in Dorchester so like your choice of team.
Weird on the stadiums though - if this were to ever happen I'd expect Dorchester to groundshare with either Yeovil or Bournemouth, or at a pinch in Weymouth - but a random stadium in Waterlooville?

Interesting that your new stadium can hold the entire town with seats to spare!

Hadn't realised Dorchester was so small! All the more amusing now

I still don't know what the game was thinking with the Waterlooville move, but at least we didn't spend too long there.

snootyjim · October 12, 2012

We were so close to going out against Moscow, but we deserved the win in the end - fantastic result for the club. We're facing Genoa next, but it's nigh-on impossible to know what to expect with them largely fielding grey players.

Good to see Piper (YP28) back amongst the goals with a hat-trick against Fulham, but he's got a tough job on his hands to displace Monks (YP38) or Abreu (YP39). Hawkins (YP35) has been in terrific form of late, really makes a difference to the power of our midfield when he's available to play.

Otherwise, it has been more or less business as usual: apart from the sensational win at home to Arsenal, we've had a mixture of results, and typically got nothing out of the 4 games against Manchester clubs. League placing is still a bit disappointing, but again we're heavily behind on games - win the games in hand, and we could be up to 8th. How likely that is, I have no idea, but as long as we don't go backwards compared to last season I don't mind too much.

snootyjim · October 12, 2012

Youth Intake 21 - 2034/2035

Another disappointing intake. Unless we can improve the quality of our youth recruitment imminently, I think we might struggle to ever push beyond our current level.

Decent player, who can do a job on the left of midfield and also in the centre. I'll probably start handing him opportunities as soon as possible, with a view to taking over from Symes (YP30).

deltablue · October 13, 2012

Hopefully you won't have much of a glass ceiling before you get a few quality players.

snootyjim · October 13, 2012

Hopefully you won't have much of a glass ceiling before you get a few quality players.

Same here. I'm hoping I see some improvement in our intake soon, but it doesn't seem likely.

snootyjim · October 13, 2012

Some really poor results in here, particularly the 11-0 loss to City early on, when I send out youngsters to rest the first XI after a tough spell of matches. Then, after getting stuffed in the Europa League by Spurs, I couldn't really motivate the players to get back on form in the league, and losing players for U21 matches, injuries and again a lack of fitness really hurt us.

Hard to know how things will go next season, but I'm confident that we'll do a bit better without the extra stress of Europe.

snootyjim · October 13, 2012

Season 21 - 2034/35

Competitions

League Table - League Positions - Frustrating season, almost certainly the consequence of our exertions in the Europa League. Every time a game came up we were missing players through injury, fitness or jadedness, and then to compound things matches were rescheduled during U21 international breaks.

It's also worth mentioning that Fulham had possibly the worst season in Premiership history. Excellent stuff. And Southend may be a force in years to come, owned by a tycoon and really shooting up the leagues.

Europa League - We got a heck of a lot further than I thought we could, with brilliant performances against Spartak Moscow and Genoa at home. Spurs were step too far, but I'm extremely happy with reaching the Quarter Finals.

FA Cup - Did well to force City to a replay, but the end result was inevitable.

League Cup - Given our efforts in Europe, I put out mostly U18s in the league cup against Blackburn, and paid the price.

Club

Finances - Growing every season, and at a much faster rate than I can spend it. The money from the new stadium is making a huge difference.

Facilities - Weird pattern at the moment where we improve the training and youth facilities every single year, but I'm struggling to see any actual benefit so far. No word on expanding the stadium as of yet either.

Players

Squad

We're looking a bit better off now, with a good prospect in every position across the field. Andrew Thompson at RB and Marcus Peacock at ML need a bit more time to mature, but that shouldn't be a problem.

Ethan Blunt (YP4) - I'm trying to give Thompson opportunities over Blunt, but for the moment Blunt is still a handy player to have. Unless he has outrageous wage demands, I'll extend his contract for a couple more years.

Ged Scott (YP24) - Fairly poor season, failing to impress in any position. When Hawkins (YP35) is out, he's a good MR backup though.

Lyndon Browne (YP27) - Lost his place in the team to Fraser (YP41), but was much more reliable. If I wasn't so keen to bleed in new talent, he'd have kept his place.

Chris Piper (YP28) - Looks like injury might have ruined him as a player, but 10 goals in 20 starts is still impressive. Hopefully he does better after a good pre-season.

Neal Carter-Harris (YP29) - Another very average season. I only play him now if I have to.

Robert Symes (YP30) - Played reasonably well, but I'm trying to bring through Peacock to take over from him.

Ross Jordan (YP31) - Best season so far - really looking like a quality asset.

Hasmet Aktürk (YP32) - Not really serving much purpose.

Jason Stephens (YP33) - Decent season, and a first cap for England. I think he can do better though.

Stuart Hawkins (YP35) - Really useful at MR, and appearing frequently at MC as well. I really rely on him now, top player.

Caijah Sylvester (YP36) - With Hawkins' shift to MR, first-choice CM, and doing a good job there.

Daniel Nicholas (YP37) - Still failing to blow me away with his performances, but his first England cap.

Leon Monks (YP38) - Good year, with 20 goals in 34 starts. Certainly came out fighting when Piper (YP28) went out injured.

Ben Abreu (YP39) - Not as impressive as Monks (YP38) but still good. Hopefully he'll keep on improving.

Matteo Vinciguerra (YP40) - Still learning his role, with a few too many bookings for my liking. Great long-term prospect though.

Matthew Fraser (YP41) - Really poor, but I've still got faith in him coming through. Will monitor him over the course of the next season.

Former Players

Greg Williams (YP17) - Decent season again in the BSS.

Will Hughes (YP22) - Released by Wycombe, no appearances. Hard to know what will happen.

Morton Tarr (YP26) - Now at his 4th club in 4 years, and although he played a lot of games finally, he wasn't great.

Aaran Cook (YP34) - Still don't know why Stoke signed him, he's been awful for them.