FM14: The Skrill Premier, North & South thread

[toffifee]

Skrill Premier time and its another rebuild job, firstly as we are crippled debts... although the board seem to be managing them. We also lose a few players who are out of contract, most notably Stuart Fleetwood who I decide to release even though he notched 24 goals the year before.

Off the back of that, shockingly I let Adebola go... I gave him my word that if a league club came knocking he could talk... so that he did and off to Plymouth treks the 39 year old off the back of a miraculous season. Portuguese 'Star Boa Morte also returned home in a cash deal that bought 30k into the club as he gets another shot at top flight football with Beira Mar.

All in all we are left with 9 players, we scrap the youth system to save money.... so there is nothing coming in that way, and finally to top if off, we will play at Gosports ground whilst our stadium is upgraded to deal with Conference Premier standards and crowds.

Time to trawl the cast off lists and see what I can muster together....

[CityAndColour]

If you like I'll give you a few names of players who generally get released after the first season:

Brian Dutton (DC/DM/MC, Salisbury)

Nathan Elder (FC, Dover)

Scott Garner (DC, Cambridge)

Mitch Harding (MC, Bristol Rovers)

Clive Platt (FC, Northampton)

Steve Brogan (AMLC, Forest Green)

Jonathan Smith (MC, Luton)

Theo Streete (DRC, Nuneaton)

All good enough for that level and I suspect most would be willing to sign for a newly promoted club (Maybe not Smith).

[CityAndColour]

10 points clear with a game in hand as we approach the end of January...

I'm hoping we can build a big enough lead to ride out the inevitable February/March slump.

In transfer news, Paul Ince and Sheffield Wednesday are sniffing around Jack Mills, who has really established himself as a rising star this season.

[CityAndColour]

A really good deal for the club. The £100K is all up front, we get him on loan for the rest of the season to help our title chances, and we get 50% of any future transfer fee. Mills also gets the chance to go to a big Championship club.

[Guest El Payaso]

First month in Football League. Set-pieces have really turned against me once again in this season. Charlton scored twice from set plays and Plymouth, Crawley and Barnet did it once... And at the start of september it got even worse as we lost in Johnstone's Paint Trophy 0-5 to Portsmouth who scored three from corners, one from free-kick and one from penalty. I think that I'll have to take a bit of break with this game as it drives me crazy. My full-backs have been absolutely horrific against opponents' wingers; just allowing them to make those long dribbles which lead to corners and throw-ins and those lead to goals. It's not really rewarding to score all of your goals from open play just to see your team being in all kinds of trouble in every set play...

[CityAndColour]

Not a bad first month to be fair, though I agree the ME seems really unbalanced in terms of the types of highlights it produces.

[Guest El Payaso]

Not a bad first month to be fair, though I agree the ME seems really unbalanced in terms of the types of highlights it produces.

Aye but propably should have won those two against Plymouth and Crawley though they both had more shots but it's really a kick in teeth when you're seemingly tight at the back an then boom! A goal from set play. I think that with this current squad, this season will be a big struggle as I wasn't able to bolster the backline at all. Just got these two:

Joshua Debayo

Bradley Lewis

And also got Matt Ball back...

I guess that with O'Loughlin and Stone as my starting centre backs I simply don't have enough quality... Kerr should be dominant as right full-back but really isn't, Debayo or Finnegan as left back seems to be even bigger problem.

My midfield just isn't doing enough to help my backline this season. Currently playing Boon or Cox as an anchor man, Ball as Advanced playmaker and Smith or Wearen as Box to Box midfielder...

Flanks once again; pretty weak for this level. Whichelow as a left winger and Richards as right winger.

Crooks will be my number one soon but at the moment York is the starter...

I think that the main question will be how well my players will progress this season. Almost everyone in my starting line-up has loads of potential left to reach... Luckily I've got Alan Smith tutoring Matt Ball at the moment and his determination has already improved a lot after under a month of tutoring. Also got Richard Hughes tutoring Dave Boon...

What I would need is a good left back and central defender but don't have any money in the wage budget left. If we will stay up I'm going to invest also into a new left winger as Whichelow is really an attitude problemed diva. Was hoping that I could have got him tutored by Smith but Smith lost his ability to play as attacking midfielder... Although I bet that he woudn't learn a thing.

[CityAndColour]

I think the problem with O'Loughlin is, for all his bravery and leadership, he's not exactly someone you want on the ball. Fine for non-league but as you go up the leagues he'll probably get exposed.

Ball looks class even for that level.

[Guest El Payaso]

I think the problem with O'Loughlin is, for all his bravery and leadership, he's not exactly someone you want on the ball. Fine for non-league but as you go up the leagues he'll probably get exposed.

Ball looks class even for that level.

Yeah I think that with O'Loughlin I forgot the fact that the guy actually isn't that good defender at all. Two brilliant seasons and two times named as fans' player of the year but quite useless now. I think that I've done big mistakes with building my team for this season by not letting enough players go... Also lots of my players wanted pay rise when signing full-time contracts.

Ball is excellent, yes and hopefully his personality will turn to resolute after tutoring so that he can help in that also in the future.

One more centre back would be a huge thing for us. Maybe I'll just get rid of those tutoring oldies in my U-21 team... That might just do the trick.

[CityAndColour]

I'm hoping we can build a big enough lead to ride out the inevitable February/March slump.

A bloody prophet, I am.

Thankfully we re-found our killer instinct against Oxford City (six clear cut chances in the first 25 minutes) and in doing so effectively wrapped up the title. We're 15 points clear with five to play, but with a goal difference that is +14 better than second place.

[CityAndColour]

2014/15 review - Conference South

League table

Graph

Squad

Transfers

Just a dominant season. We won our first five, eight of our first ten, and established a 19 point lead by the time the transfer window shut at the end of January. We could even afford a small blip in February/March as we wrapped up the title unofficially after 37 games, and officially after 38. I let my assistant handle the last four matches and they all ended 1-1, so we could have had an even greater margin of victory.

Transfer deadline day also saw a club record smashed, as we received £100K for a youth defender in Jack Mills who was signed on a free last March. We are also due to receive 50% of any future transfer fee, which may yet be a tidy piece of business given he apparently has the potential to be a good Premier League centre half.

We made the first round of the FA Cup, disappointingly going out at Wealdstone in a replay, and were knocked out at Welling in the second round of the Trophy.

---

Key players

Stevenage loanee Daniel Udoh was the star man here, bagging 28 goals in just 30 starts and generally looking a class above this level. Club stalwart Jamie Gleeson excelled in the middle of the park, with 13 assists in a deeper role, while teenager Jack Mills was a rock at just 16, earning his big money move.

'Keeper Matt Bulman had a league best 14 clean sheets, and should be good enough for the next level.

[Guest El Payaso]

Really tough month to take as they kept hitting me from all kinds of set plays. I think that 3 of the all goals we conceded were scored from open play... If we manage to get to the first ball the clearance will always be poor and straight to the opponent... This is the first time in this version where we seem to allow more than 15 shots against us in games, okay most of them are from set plays but still quite poor effort from my midfielders in terms of intercepting and dispossessing. The minimum my board wanted was mid-table finish and it looks very unlike with these players. And when asking for more money, I get this:

I let a few of those older players go and finally got me the DC I needed:

[CityAndColour]

Probably not a good time to tell you Davies stank for me with Havant then!

[waitsfornone]

I have been curious about player ratings and how they apply to the different tiers. For example, in the Conference N/S am I looking for ratings of 10+ to be good for that particular attribute? And then the Conference Premier is 12+, and on up the ladder. I understand that the different attributes mean different things based on position and role, etc. I am trying to get a general gauge for what ratings level is acceptable for what league tier. When I have tried my hands at lower leagues, I fell like I am getting the required ratings a bit wrong and signing poor players for the level. Thank you.

[CityAndColour]

I don't look at it that way, I look at it more in terms of how many attributes I want.

For example, if I want a good advanced forward in the Conference North, I just look at finishing, pace, and off the ball/composure. If I was to look at one in the Championship, I'd be looking at first touch, dribbling, anticipation etc as well.

I still like the key attributes to be 12-14, but I look at fewer at a time.

[waitsfornone]

OK, thank you. That helps a lot. I was looking at a large number of attributes, but around 9-11 as good for Stockport. Ended up with versatile players, that couldn't get it done when squeaky bum time came.

[Sammuthegreat]

That's probably a fair assessment City - you have to accept that even the best players at Conference level have at least one glaring flaw in their stats. It's all very well having a 15 (very high by Conference standards) in Finishing but if they have 3 Acceleration and 1 Composure, it's a total waste. You'd be better off with a player with 8s all round than one with one 15 and a bunch of 3s.

Look at Adriano Moke for example - he was a real mainstay in my Stockport team in both the Skrill North and Premier. On first taking over, I was considering selling him because he had barely any double figure stats. But then I looked closer and saw that near enough all his stats were in the 7-9 range, meaning that he was a brilliant all-round midfielder for that level. It's all about covering as many of the important bases as possible, since one great stat won't be worth anything if it's combined with two or three rubbish ones that are important for that position.

[Addzyp]

Started with Workington and not a bad side for the skrill north, came first to gain promotion in my fist year.

only managed to resign a few of my players, finished the second year 1 position above the red zone, resigned most of the players and the had a decent season as i was the odds on favourite to go down for the second year running, managed to finish 16th witch was a great achievement.

so 2/3 the way through my 4th and current season, joint favourite to go down, made a few good key signings plus kept the stars from last season, currently sitting top of the table and in fa cup fourth round and trophy fourth round. lets hope i take this semi professional team into the football league.

[Guest El Payaso]

Probably not a good time to tell you Davies stank for me with Havant then!

He certainly seemed to make some difference for my team.

Much better month already. Even though a bit of Jekyl & Hyde in terms of performances. Against Torquay we were aggressive like I would like us to be and against Oxford soft as teddybears especially inside of our own penalty area. Short passes along the floor inside the penalty area... simply shouldn't be happening as we have a huge man advantage there; 5 my players inside the box and maybe 2 opponents and still they seemed to have space and one man free.

Made one swap to my squad once again; Jamie Smith was released and got Danny Mayor in.

The league table looks good once again.

[CityAndColour]

Started with Workington and not a bad side for the skrill north, came first to gain promotion in my fist year.

only managed to resign a few of my players, finished the second year 1 position above the red zone, resigned most of the players and the had a decent season as i was the odds on favourite to go down for the second year running, managed to finish 16th witch was a great achievement.

so 2/3 the way through my 4th and current season, joint favourite to go down, made a few good key signings plus kept the stars from last season, currently sitting top of the table and in fa cup fourth round and trophy fourth round. lets hope i take this semi professional team into the football league.

Nice - I'm from Melbourne too. Are you Victory or Heart?

Solid 2-6-2 start with Dorchester in the Conference. I am happy with this as, despite having a fair bit of wage budget and even a transfer budget to spend, I struggled to attract anyone better than what I already had. So I essentially have the same squad that won the Conference South..

[Guest El Payaso]

Had a frustrating game against Luton at home. Went man down in the 29th minute as Locke decided to throw the ball to Davies' backside and the deflection released Luton's striker through on goal. Davies had no other chance but to tackle him and it resulted to a penalty kick and straight red for Davies. The penalty was scored... Locke made his second mistake by dropping a crossed ball to Luton's striker. 0-2 down at half time. Nothing else really could be said but that I want to see something different... And I sure did. Managed to get a penalty kick at 52nd minute and Wearen slotted it home, then Wearen put Alfie Crooks through on goal in 62nd minute and we were suddenly even. And then even Whichelow scored; from a half-chance, narrow angle and absolute rocket, no keeper in the world would have saved that one.

Of course this happened then:

1) Ball (21) not showing to weaker foot of the Luton's midfielder after a really slow attack they produced.

2) Hawkridge is allowed to just take the ball under control and take a left footed shot that is parried to the left by Locke

3) The full-back is much closer to the loose ball but of course he reacts so slowly and it's an easy goal for Hawkridge...

This soft defending inside own box is really frustrating sometimes. I didn't even ask my defence line to drop deeper and they are almost sitting on the lap of my goalkeeper. Awful and sloppy indeed. Not really rewarding to get ahead with man down just to concede cheap goals like that.

BTW; about attendance, do you get more spectators when you get promoted? We're already in League-2 and still having something like 800 spectators per game, no wonder we're making loss every month. I guess that it's time for a goal bonanza when we have our next fan day...

[Dan BHTFC]

I got Whitehawk promoted into the Skrill Premier and at our first home game we had just over 300, think I better get them to the top of the table otherwise we will get into debt quickly

[red and white]

Started with Stockport. Half-way through season and I lead the table by 4 points, having only lost once all season. My main problem is attacking, none of my strikers have stood out at all and my top scorer (Jevons) has 5 goals, including a hatrick. Team is based on defensive solidity.

Here's my first choice team

GK - Ian Ormson - I have to say I am disappointed with him. Potential yes, however makes a lot of basic mistakes for me, particularly positionally. Attempted to sign David Grof to play instead of Ormson many times however still can't agree personal terms with him. His stats look awesome for BSN level.

RB - Lewis Hunt - Struggled at the start as I played him as a wing back, however he's extremely solid as a limited full-back. Experienced too. Signed for free at the start.

CB - Mansour Assoumani - Been very impressed with him so far, another free signing. Classy defender, a threat from set-pieces too.

CB - Kieran Charnock - Often rotate him and Exodus Geohaghon, however Charnock is far more reliable to have. Solid defender, impressed.

LB - Fred Murray - Played as a wing-back and he is a threat. Contributes with creating chances and assists, only problem is he isn't very solid defensively. Free transfer.

CM - Dwayne Mattis - Club captain and free transfer. Highest average rating, never puts a foot wrong, solves the midfield problem at the start of the game.

CM - Manny Panther - Took me a while to recruit him however it was worth it, cracking player to have as a BWM. Midfield is very good with these two free signings.

RAM - Adriano Moke - Always seems to chip in with crucial goals, started the season on the bench however has blossomed. Good squad player, however would suggest finding better.

CAM - Jordan Villums - On loan from Mansfield as I saw suggested on here. Most assists in the BSN, only problem is he can be inconsistent.

LAM - Danny Schofield - Free transfer again. Experienced however I have found him a very good player, improved the attack when I signed him in late-September.

ST - Phil Jevons - I rotate him and two other strikers. Scored 5 league goals which is a bit meh, however he is the most 'consistent' striker I have.

Conor Deards seemed a cracking prospect at the start of the game on a free transfer, scored for fun in August however has not hit the net since. Steve Brooker is another experienced striker I found on a free, he also went on a good run of goals but has been extremely inconsistent. Need to sort my striking options out as Kristian Dennis and Ben Mills (on loan from Chester) have simply not been good enough. Avoid Jordan Agbaje, probably my worst signing.

I have found Exodus Geohaghon (free transfer) and Jordan Fagbola to be good backup defenders, James Tunnicliffe and Stephen O'Halloran flopped for me massively, I infact ended up releasing Tunnicliffe to free up some wages.

Iain Howard is a good option from the bench on the wing, has chipped in with a few goals and assists off the bench. Ian Craney seemed to offer a lot at the start however has been another disappointment. Looking to release Jamie Hand and Aman Verma if/when I can find a good free midfielder as they have also been disappointing.

My concern is I lack a bit of depth, been lucky with injuries and suspensions luckily however will need to address the problem with backup players as I only have about 14/15 decent players. My first team have shown they can compete higher up, beating Wrexham 2-0 in the cup (with 9 men for half an hour too) and taking Football League side Scunthorpe to penalties (despite having 10-men for the majority of the first game). Played youth in the trophy as I want to focus on getting promotion and I crashed out 3-0 at Barrow in the process.

[cantona 21]

As a former Stockport season ticket holder I am excited at the prospect of restoring the club to it's former glory. I won the Skrill North quite comfortably.

Currently 5 points clear at the top of the Skrill Premier at the end of January 2015. I am surprised as I replaced most of my squad at the start of the season to remove poor players and deadwood. I must say the signing of Liam Dickinson has been vital for me. 48 goals in 52 games in all competitions last season and 26 in 37 so far this season. Sadly, York are looking at signing him and he has said he wants to leave. He is contracted to the end of the season and he is key to my promotion hopes so I hope he remains professional. Rob Burch in goal has been solid and I have just signed a 15 year old goalkeeper who apparently has the potential to be a 'good premier league goalkeeper'. Need to keep hold of him.

I am happy with my progress and would like to thank Andy Cole and Zdanek Grygera for their excellent coaching and my new assistant Alex Gildea for just being awesome.

[CityAndColour]

Good to see some new posters - Stockport seem a very popular save on this version which isn't surprising.

Four wins in five have seen my Dorchester side in the heady position of 8th after 15, with a game in hand to go into the top five. Dan Udoh has again been the star man with 12 goals, however for some reason I could only loan him for six months in pre-season so will need to ensure I am well and truly safe by January.

The other key signing has been Jack Parkinson, who has filled the void left by Jack Mills wonderfully. I still have funds to strengthen but I will wait until January when hopefully quality free agents will be more willing to talk to me. Right now I can only approach Conference North/South standard players.

I expect us to fall away sharply as the squad simply isn't good enough, but if we can gain as big a gap between us and the relegation spots as possible while we're in form then it will ease the pressure later.

[CityAndColour]

Anyone ever get the feeling they're being punished for taking the lead at a bigger club?

Away to 2nd placed Macclesfield and given no hope, we raced into a deserved 2-0 lead after 20 minutes, with our opponents barely having touched the ball.

Then they score from a free kick which my 'keeper drops over the line, and suddenly it's carnage. Every single attack seemed to put a man through, my defenders started freezing and running the wrong way, and in reality 2-5 could have been 2-10.

Cue an aggressive full time team talk and five players warned for poor performance. Seemed to do the trick, as we then held Alfreton without a shot in the first half in a 2-1 win.

[Guest El Payaso]

Anyone ever get the feeling they're being punished for taking the lead at a bigger club?

Not exactly same thing but I think that these games are really annoying where your players just stop trying and playing like they are instructed even though they could. I had those two matches against Kidderminster and also two against Grimsby where they were magnificent (taking too many of their shots from range though) and our boys just hoofed the ball away when they got it. I managed to escape two of these four with a win but was still annoyed.

[afcwatfordunited]

I've been lurking here for quite some time, and this is by far my favourite thread! I've been managing Maidenhead United and have them in the Skrill Premier in my third season. We're somewhat draw specialists! I'll update probably tomorrow as I'm at work now. I have one regen who I picked up in my second pre-season. He was only 16 but is touted as a future Premier League striker. In the Skrill South even at 16 he banged in 20 plus goals. However, he's struggled a bit at the higher level. However, despite this Everton and a host of other Prem teams are watching him every game.

Maidenhead are my local team, and I'm desperate to get them into the football league at least! Here are a few screenshots to be getting on with of my youngster with potential Marvin Doherty....

First Season in Skrill South:

Now in Skrill Prem:

[Sammuthegreat]

Season 6 at Stockport is done!

The table

We actually got off to a pretty shaky start, only winning one of our first 5 games. I tweaked my central midfield roles a bit and eventually we pulled through. I was hoping to hit the playoffs this year, since we had no money at all. That would have been a fairly reasonable result as we were predicted to finish 12th, and I had a very young squad.

Results (who needs possession anyway?) and performances improved over the months approaching Christmas, at which point our finances were edging further and further towards the red. Eventually in the end of November, a takeover happened. I'd had an excellent relationship with the previous chairman, who had approved significant infrastructural improvements to the club, but the news sites were all reporting that the new chairman wanted to bring in a new boss to replace me. I was spitting feathers at this point - 4 straight promotions and this is how they repay me!? Eventually though the chairman saw that I was too popular to dismiss and I was allowed to continue.

We continued to be pretty consistent for the remainder of the season, taking top spot at about the halfway stage from the previously untouchable Derby. We never surrendered 1st position. Derby faded and ended up going up through the playoffs, while Fulham (my bogey team, the only team to do the double over me) were resurgent in the 2nd half of the season, pipping Derby to 2nd place by beating them on the final day of the season. I'll have to improve if I'm to beat Fulham next season in the Premiership.

The team

Championship player stats

Keepers

1st choice goalkeeper: Robert O'Brien

Aaron McCarey started the season in goal but a number of errors had crept into his game. Eventually O'Brien took over between the sticks and, as he has the potential to improve, I'll be looking to use him as my number 1 in the Premiership.

Defence

1st choice defence (right to left): McLaughlin - Ivanovs - Olsen - Bach

Age was catching up with Manny Smith and Mark Roberts, my previous central defensive stalwarts. Roberts was used mainly as a tutor this year while I gave my promising young centre halves plenty of 1st team action. They both revelled in their newfound responsibility too, Ivanovs recovering from a poor start to become a really classy centre back. Olsen is the hard man and pops up with goals from corners. Bach was a calculated risk; last season's left back Adama Tamboura is now 33 and not up to the challenge. I didn't really have a top class left back so I chucked then-18-year-old Bach straight into the deep end, and he certainly didn't sink. McLaughlin improved hugely on last season's performances and is a steady and reliable influence at right back now.

Midfield

1st choice midfield (right to left): Turchetta - Racle - Gueye - McEvoy

Sadly this year will be the final year that my hero Elliot Durrell is a regular in the 1st team picture. I've given him a 1-year contract extension out of pure sentiment but he's 29 now and he's simply not up to the challenge of the Premiership, even if he was a useful rotation option this season. Still, if he gets a game next season (which I'll make sure he will) he'll have played for Stockport in 6 different leagues. A phenomenal achievement.

Turchetta is a different player to the one that almost asked to leave the club in search of 1st team football back in League One. He's a class act, popping up with plenty of goals and assists. He's often the player who will change a match single-handedly. Bigger teams have come in for him; I asked for £4m (back when he was only worth £1.5m) but other clubs see that as too much. Their loss!

Racle is an interesting player - he's clearly a playmaker, and I've struggled to fit lightweight playmakers into this team in the past. I originally paired up Gueye and Racle in central midfield, with the former in RCM in a MC(D) role and the latter in LCM in a BBM(S) role. That clearly wasn't working though, partly because Gueye clearly isnt a defensive midfielder and also because I hadn't noticed he was left-footed. Eventually I made the tweak I mentioned earlier, moving Racle to RCM in a DLP(D) role, where he was very solid as his stats shot through the roof. Gueye swiftly became my Yaya Touré in his BBM(S) role at LCM, and his stats have skyrocketed along with his form. He'll be a big player for me in the Premiership. Racle was wanted by several clubs and had a nasty £750k release clause for Premiership clubs; luckily no-one activated it, but I was frantic throughout the summer and winter transfer windows trying to renew his contract, failing repeatedly because we were too hard up to meet his demands. After gaining promotion though I've made him my club's highest earner on a long-term £12.5k/week deal, so if anyone comes in for him now I can drive a hard bargain.

McEvoy continued in a similar vein to last season, scoring plenty but picking up lots of little niggles. A good player, but I'll be looking at finding a top-drawer left winger in the summer.

Strikers

1st choice strikers (right to left): McClements - Kelly

This was the year of the McClements. He's going to go down as possibly my greatest ever signing on Football Manager. Signed for a free, he's now 2 short of 100 league goals for Stockport in just 3 full seasons. He scored every 80 minutes over 42 games. He scored 5 goals in one game achieving a perfect 10.0 rating. The lad is a machine, and I hope he stays at Stockport for years to come. And of course, he absolutely swept up at the end-of-season awards. He's now worth over £4m with a Continental reputation, he's scored 4 times for his country and somehow, blessedly, no AI teams have come in for him yet. If they do, I'm asking for £30m.

Kelly will take over the captain's armband next season after 36-year-old Mark Roberts leaves on a free. His stats are now incredible, and he does a stunning job in the CF(S) role. For the 2nd year on the trot he's got more assists than any other player in the league, and that's despite him missing 2 months through injury over the course of the season. He's now wanted by bigger clubs but it'll take a bid of £20m+ for me to even consider selling. This lad lives and breathes Stockport.

Jordan Russell is possibly the unluckiest man in football. He's been kept out of the team by McClements for 3 seasons now and has only ever played a rotation role, despite ostensibly having higher potential. The reason I first started playing McClements instead of Russell is because his stat spread is better, whereas Russell only has 11 for Finishing, 10 for Heading and 12 for Composure. He's basically all speed, which I don't really like in my strikers. I prefer them to be more all-round. Russell has scored consistently as a backup for me, but he's a year older than McClements and shows no signs of dislodging him. So he'll forever be the bridesmaid. He's just turned 24 and I'll most likely look to cash in on him before long since I don't think he'll ever reach his potential.

The prospects

I've signed a number of youngsters, all of whom have at least "good Premiership" potential.

Gustavsson - Andersen - Bendixen - Sedlar - Gauld - Malone

Bendixen and Gustavsson both made significant contributions this season, and will both be in the first team frame next season. Sedlar came in on a free in February having been released - his potential is better than Bach's but he's more defensively minded, so I'm retraining him as a CB. He's also quite injury prone, so Bach is the better bet at the moment. I'm particularly excited about Malone, who not only has leading Premiership potential but is also a Stockport youth product, whereas the rest were poached from other clubs. One to watch for sure.

I'm also very interested in bringing in this kid however possible (his Composure would need work though...)

So there we have it! I'm into the promised land, with all the financial benefits that entails. My new stadium is finished in around a month, and my board have given me a wage bill of £200k/week and a transfer budget of a whopping £19.5m to beat the drop. I'll most likely plough most of that money into a better wage budget (it'll stretch as high as £400k/week with a transfer pot of £9m) and hoover up the free transfer market/use loans from Chelsea, my parent club, to cover any weaknesses in the squad).

It's a good time to be a Stockport fan

[afcwatfordunited]

I posted here earlier as I've been lurking for a while about a game I'm having with Maidenhead United. Alas, the post is awaiting moderation! This is a really good thread, and hopefully my post will be up here soon. If not I'll try to repeat it tomorrow with a couple of screenshots!

[Guest El Payaso]

The form has turned to good one as we've stopped conceding from set plays. A striker with ability to score would still be nice though. Mayor seems to be a great signing already and also found the left back finally as Marc Pelosi joined. O'Loughlin seems to be waking up as he picked two MotM's this month.

Team stats

Table:

[red and white]

Finished my first season with Stockport and won the Skrill North, however I have to say I'm far from satisfied with my teams performance in the second half of the season. Won the league with 83 points, crawled over the line with mid-table form after being 11 points clear in February.

One bright spark however was Josh Wilson who I signed from Halifax on a free, he scored 12 goals in his 16 appearances, a very good contribution. Adrian Cieslewicz came on loan from Wrexham and was another inconsistent player, however he won the March player of the month award and scored 5 goals overall. I also managed to find Richie Baker on the loan list at Tamworth and got him in, and he was a very good signing, however his arrival came with the performances of Mattis and Panther dropping. Infact I ended up dropping Panther, playing Geohaghon in defensive midfield (which I would recommend, very good). Phil Jevons finished top scorer (in all competitions) with 16 goals.

Think a re-haul is needed if I am to compete for promotion in the Skrill Premier.

[Guest El Payaso]

Over half of the season gone and still fighting even for the promotion places. I would never have guessed this with the start that we had for the season. We seemed unstoppable untill the set pieces started to punish us once again. Three goals conceded from set plays against 24th Accrington and one against very strong but underachieving Swindon and 4 points lost.

FA Cup has been good for us so far and we have an excellent chance to qualify for the fourth round as we got a home tie against League-1 team Yeovil.

If I had any wage budget left I would certainly look my scouts' reports for a new experienced striker as scoring goals has been the main struggle for my team. Crooks, Richards and York are all getting the chances but none of them able to finish.

Team's stats

[CityAndColour]

I posted here earlier as I've been lurking for a while about a game I'm having with Maidenhead United. Alas, the post is awaiting moderation! This is a really good thread, and hopefully my post will be up here soon. If not I'll try to repeat it tomorrow with a couple of screenshots!

The physicals on Doherty look outstanding for his age - what training have you got him on and what role do you play him in? I'd want to see off the ball and composure improved if he is to reach his potential, and probably first touch.

[Guest El Payaso]

It seems that my strikers might just finally be kicking of in terms of scoring. It's a bit of a surprise that we're still there fighting for the top places but I don't mind. Got Jack Barmby in and my team is now all ready.

Our FA Cup run was good one this year:

Managed to beat Sunderland's feeder club deservedly. The key was to stop Connor Wickham in the second leg and we really did it even though he was a real danger every time they got the ball to our box.

Reading, 8th in the Premier league, was too big task for us even though the boys fought bravely in the second half:

Saying that they dominated is quite wrong as we clearly had the upper hand in the second half. One rookie-like marking error and corner goal were enough for them.

And we had a goal ruled out, really close call:

Team stats

[CityAndColour]

Sammu - Awesome progress again. What role do you have McClements on?

redandwhite - Nice work on first time promotion. I had great success with Josh Wilson with Guiseley and find he performs just as well as an AMC. Richie Baker is a really underrated lower league player too.

El Payaso - Looks like back to back promotions might be on the cards. Unlucky cup defeat too.

As for my Dorchester save, we've reached February of our first Conference Premier season (3rd overall) and it's been a success. We sit a comfortable 8th in the league with 33 games played - still a shot at the playoffs but I'd be delighted with mid-table given our squad is amongst the weakest in the division. Loanee Daniel Udoh has been the star again with 20 goals, and could have been so much more if not for four separate injury spells (2x pulled hamstrings, 2x bruised ribs).

We also take a 2-1 lead to Aldershot for the second leg of the FA Trophy semi final, but it should be all but over. We absolutely battered them in the home leg, then a terrible defensive error let them back in and probably makes them favourites to progress, with injuries and suspensions decimating our first XI. Macclesfield lead 1-0 against Wealdstone in the other semi.

Youth intake day coming up - I've gotten our junior coaching increased to a 'good' level so hopefully we can get someone through.

[Guest El Payaso]

El Payaso - Looks like back to back promotions might be on the cards. Unlucky cup defeat too.

With the March's form we're nearly there. I never expected this season to be so 'easy' for us in the league as we started very badly... Set plays always seem to turn to our fortune in the second half of the season. Davies is truly leading our defence and we only managed to concede from a penalty spot that month.

Team's stats

And the most important news of the month is:

[afcwatfordunited]

The physicals on Doherty look outstanding for his age - what training have you got him on and what role do you play him in? I'd want to see off the ball and composure improved if he is to reach his potential, and probably first touch.

Hi City, yes indeed out of all the regens I've ever had he looks one of the best, he is touted as a Premier League striker of the future. Unfortunately I'm at work now so can't do any screenshots; however, I'll try later this evening.

As it happens I've been a bit disappointed with Doherty this season despite his relatively young age. He's played most of the games in what was a reasonably successful Conference Premier season for semi-professional Maidenhead (we were the highest non fully professional team). He has been out shone by Alex Wall who returned to the club from Luton. Doherty scored about 10 goals, to add to his 21 last season (in the Skrill South). I've played him mostly as a target man, but would expect him to knock in a few more. He's been one-on-one numerous times but his shots are either saved or hit the bar (if I had £5 for every time we hit the bar this season I'd be a very rich man indeed). I'm working really hard to train him in order to improve composure though, and make him a more 'complete forward'. However, he's not improving in that area as much as I would like, maybe because our training facilities are so bad?

Hopefully next season will be his real breakthrough. Numerous Premier League teams are looking at him, and have talked about him, but as yet no offers. I think this is just because he has been so average, with a rating of under 7.00 at season's end.

Like I said, I'll post some screenshots later if I have time.

As far as Maidenhead goes, we had a good solid season. Flirted with relegation, until with about 10 games to go I changed formation to 4-1-3-2 and then went on an unbeaten run to end up comfortably mid-table against all expectations. I will continue with this tactic next season, and it will be interesting to see how we do playing most of the season like that. We do seem to be getting some really decent regens through who are touted again like Doherty for the Premier League! I'm hoping they can help get us up, and we can then sell with a high sell on percentage, thus boosting our very poor finances!

Watch this space!

[Guest El Payaso]

There it is; third consecutive league title and yet another promotion.

League 2 player stats

[afcwatfordunited]

Good work El Payaso! Will be interesting to see how far you can take Boreham Wood. In my previous experiences with managing teams who start below the Conference I've found League One is often the ceiling of mine/the clubs ambitions. I find it difficult to take them any further. I had a really good game with St Albans a few years back, and I could just not get above mid-table in League One, even after 4 seasons of trying!

[CityAndColour]

League One is when you start getting the bigger clubs I find - there's always one or two clubs relegated from the Championship that have double the resources of everyone else.

[CityAndColour]

Anyway, lost the FA Trophy semi-final on penalties after conceding a 121st minute goal. Gutted doesn't quite describe it!

[afcwatfordunited]

Just to update, here's a couple of screenshots, first of Doherty's stats over the two seasons I've had him and the final Skrill Premier table. Close of season now, so going to try and pick up some bargain frees to supplement these decent youngsters I have!

[Guest El Payaso]

Good work El Payaso! Will be interesting to see how far you can take Boreham Wood.

I'm fairly optimistic when approaching the first season in League-1. My young talents Kerr, Boon and Alan Marsden have developed rapidly when they got to the first team and especially Boon and Kerr are going to be big names in the future, both of them also seem to be loyal ones as they ditched their requests to play in higher level as we sealed our promotion.

I think that my current squad is really good and once again; no need for strenghtening if I don't want to. Got one Danish right winger in, one good centre back and now looking for 2-3 good mentors for my promising players, already got James Constable in, hopefully he can do the job for Alfie Crooks who is my main man for years to come. Kerr is still with balanced personality but if I find a big fish I might just be able to turn that around. Boon has been 'resolute' for a long time thanks to Sam Cox and Richard Hughes.

GK: Marsden (PA: leading League-1 player)

DL: Pelosi (PA: leading Championship player)

DC: Lionel Stone (Leading League-1 player) <-might need replacement in the future

DC: Andrew Davies (Good League-2 player) <- certainly need replacement in the future

DR: Kerr (Good Premier league player)

DM: Boon (Decent Premier league player)

MC: Ball (Leading Championship player)

MC: Wearen (Good Premier league player) <- Won't reach it and with bravery attribute 1, need to replace

AMR: Mayor (Good League 2 player) <- A bit of touch and go, already 25-year-old but improving every month, we'll see...

AML: Barmby (Good Premier league player)

ST: Crooks (Leading Championship player)

Those are my starters.

I'll post some screenies once again after the pre-season is over.

[Guest El Payaso]

Got more than I was thinking but this is once again a mix of young talents and great mentors.

GK: Alan Marsden

DL: Marc Pelosi (currently tutored by Alan Smith)

DR: Roger Kerr (looking for a good mentor for him)

DC: Andrew Davies

DC: Lionel Stone

DM: Dave Boon

MC: Matt Ball

MC: Eoin Wearen

AML: Jack Barmby

AMR: Danny Mayor

ST: Alfie Crooks (currently tutored by Chris Porter)

S1: Thomas Sorensen (currently tutoring my U-18 5 star keeper)

S2: Damien Delaney (currently tutoring Dion Conroy)

S3: Alexander Rommedahl

S4: João Teixeira

S5: Joshua Debayo

S6: Carl Hughes (looking for a mentor for him)

S7: Jerome Sinclair

This is the team that will be battling for mid-table position in the League 1.

[roynaldo]

cityandcolour is there any chance you could upload your 3-5-2 tactics so i could give them a try at stockport because they look quite good have you changed the individual player instructions or just left them alone

[afcwatfordunited]

First game of the new season and BANG Doherty nets a superb hat trick! I'm now playing him as a supporting Target Man, maybe this is his best roll? Can I hold onto him though?!

[CityAndColour]

First game of the new season and BANG Doherty nets a superb hat trick! I'm now playing him as a supporting Target Man, maybe this is his best roll? Can I hold onto him though?!

I play a target man on support and get plenty of goals out of them. Think I got something like 35 goals and 22 assists out of Nathan Elder in this role.

[CityAndColour]

2015/16 review - Conference Premier

League table

Graph

Squad

Transfers

A really, really good first season in the Conference. We struggled to make any real impact in the transfer market and as such were left with essentially the same squad that won promotion. In the end we stayed in the top half of the table for most of the season, and even around the playoff spots for much of the last third. Unfortunately two points from our final four matches put an end to any playoff aspirations, but 9th is a really good season.

We also made a fantastic run in the FA Trophy, with a 121st minute goal by Aldershot in the semi final second leg denying us a place in the final.

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Key players

Stevenage loanee Daniel Udoh was again the star with 21 goals, however persistent injury troubles limited him to just 32 starts. New recruit Jack Parkinson was the fans' player of the season, deservedly so, and will be captain next season after the retirement of Mark Jermyn

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Career progress

2013/14 - Conference South - 5th (lost in playoff semis)

2014/15 - Conference South - 1st (promoted as champions)

2015/15 - Conference Premier - 9th (FA Trophy semi-finalists)

[CityAndColour]

cityandcolour is there any chance you could upload your 3-5-2 tactics so i could give them a try at stockport because they look quite good have you changed the individual player instructions or just left them alone

The only additional player instruction I have is "get further forward" for the right central midfielder, and I'll often play a targetman (s) in the right striker spot depending on the player. In terms of shouts, I will add 'lower tempo' and 'shorter passing' and remove 'drill crosses' when I'm under the pump or struggling to get into a game. I use the same tactics home and away.

I wouldn't class myself as anything close to a tactical guru, but it seems to produce some nice football, creates plenty of clear cut chances and we rarely get played off the park.