FM15 - The Sky Bet Football League thread

[Jogo Bonito]

Cheers Kaiser. We won't be catching you up any time soon

@lewis: That sounds like a good find for you. I always like looking for early contract expiries too. The MLS/Australia can be useful, also Ireland. I generally keep away from Norway/Finland/Iceland etc unless I'm really struggling.

@smp: That's sad news indeed. They didn't warn you that your job was under threat? That's harsh - but I'm pleased you were enjoying it down at this level and happy that you want to have another crack. Will you consider Exeter again, or will it be a new club? Perhaps Burton?

I've only played 11 games but have 13 points and sit 11th. We have lost the last three though, so need to break the cycle. I've added another free agent, ex-Southampton youth midfielder Andy Robinson (21) although he got injured before I could even put him in the squad!

[smplfc123]

@Jogo Not Burton, I want to go someone in a similar position to Exeter I think, a team not expected to go up and could potentially get drawn in to a relegation scrap.

Should I go exeter again or would you recommend another team?

[Jogo Bonito]

I'd say Exeter again, as you probably can't really be finished with them after 24 hours. If you did learn some stuff that was new to you at L2 level, you can probably use that in your next attempt?

However, it's got to be your choice, and I can totally understand if you want to try somebody else now. In my opinion they're the hardest challenge to take in L2, apart from possibly Accrington Stanley. I guess they might appeal as they are near(ish) to Liverpool, and probably the worst Sky Bet club of all in game. I can't be enthusiastic about them though - I don't know why, but they just don't seem attractive to me.

Wycombe are another one to consider. I think the squad is far better than their media prediction, which is set very low because of last season. You probably won't find yourself in a relegation scrap unless you do really badly though! The club has some resources that could be useful if you do progress upwards and from memory, I think they have some financial issues in the game too. If I wanted another club with low media expectations, I would probably take them, but I wouldn't be doing it without believing I could over-achieve.

Other strugglers (in game) might be Cheltenham, Newport, Dagenham & Redbridge, Northampton or York (who have two good strikers for L2, but be warned about their stadium capacity, which actually gets reduced as you go).

As with any save, people (not just me) can make suggestions, but it really has to be something that you 'feel' inside. Hopefully we won't lose you from the thread, and be aware that I have left a parking space for you in the Exeter car park...

[Kaiserwatman]

In whats now entering the fifth year of a five year plan seems along time now since James Collins was tearing up League Two, Shrewsbury Town enter the championship as League One Champions. The early season worries when Benjamin Siegrist who had played 126 league games between the sticks departed when championship side Charlton Athletic. Vanja Millinkovic Savic a young serbian keeper arrived on loan from Manchester United with the promise of first team football. A string of sublime performances means he will be priority number one as his contract expires at his parent club in the summer.

Initial thoughts looking at the strength of current championship sides and the resources i have at my disposal relegation is indeed on the cards. Whilst Walsall last years champions did actually survive , MK Dons and Oldham Athletic were relegated before easter. Fleetwood Town have shown me how it should be done , they've gone the short route , L2 Champions L1 Runners Up - picking up a JPT along the way , will be interesting see how they fare next season given they have even less resources than me. Pompey bounce back after play-off victory over Southend to be at the very least a division they deserve to be in.

WBA did ask for a chat following their relegation from the premier league but it was a non runner, its championship time with the shrews.

Its obviously a pretty changed side from what was inherited but there are 7 stalwarts of the original side still getting very regular football - Goldson who has been at Shrewsbury all his career has 209 league appearances and will lead the side out when the championship commences. Regenerated Youth Product David Crammond will also be part of the squad. He will soon make his 50th appearance for the club

Best Signings

Richie Towell signed on a free transfer from Irish club Dundalk - 112 appearances , 21 goals , 30 assists 7.27 A/R from the centre of the park

Chris Lester signed on a free transfer from Bolton Wanderers - 111 appearances , 24 goals , 47 assists 7.34 A/R wide right in a 4-5-1 Formation -- In NI International Side

Will Grigg signed on a free transfer from Brentford - 90 appearances, 59 goals , 24 assists 7.27 A/R as lone man up top -- In NI International Side

International Bias -- 10 ENG , 6 IRE , 3 NIR , 1 CRO SRB SUI GUY CIV

[Jogo Bonito]

Congratulations Kaiser, that's a fine achievement. It's nice to see that you still have seven 'originals' and that Goldson will be leading you out at Championship level. I like your write-up style, it's different and you provide good information on what is going on. Hopefully the momentum from promotion will see you end year five safely established as a second tier team.

[MichaelBrown]

@ Lewis - Isn't Hartlepool's debt non-repayable, or repayable on the departure of the chairman? I was Hartlepool on the old FM and I swear it wasn't as destructive as, lets say, Bolton's or Northampton's (iirc about theirs two.)

[smplfc123]

@Jogo Don't worry I haven't left. I'm trying to get settled with a team and then I'll upload (or attempt to) an update!

@Kaiser Great achievement mate

[lewis999]

@ Lewis - Isn't Hartlepool's debt non-repayable, or repayable on the departure of the chairman? I was Hartlepool on the old FM and I swear it wasn't as destructive as, lets say, Bolton's or Northampton's (iirc about theirs two.)

Yeah it is after looking. Wonder why on my projection i'm 500k in the black but end of season is 750k in the red.

[Jogo Bonito]

@Jogo Don't worry I haven't left. I'm trying to get settled with a team and then I'll upload (or attempt to) an update!

Good man! Good luck finding the right team, or I'll see you back at Exeter

I said I was 11th, but I must have played before everybody that week as next time I checked we were 17th! I then managed to get a 0-0 draw at home to Hartlepool (I don't think I saw you in the dugout lewis) to halt the run of three losses, but it's definitely a work in progress. We look particularly weak in the striking positions, but hopefully I will find a tactical solution to help the strikers out better.

[Stfc mason]

Only the small matter of a Many City away cup tie to play:D

[Jogo Bonito]

Stfc mason, that's a tough draw! Going well though, looking good in the league.

[lewis999]

Two promising results against good teams.

[Gungner]

Portsmouth coming along quite easily. Three pre-season matches, three wins. I've gotten Adam Campbell from Newcastle in on a season-long loan, so that should sort out the goals.

[Jogo Bonito]

1. Performance update

Well, I have survived until January 2015 with Exeter. Despite a few ups and downs, I've managed to keep us out of the relegation scrap (so far), although we have always been closer to that end of the table than the top. The main problem has been scoring enough goals to win matches - although the majority of those that have been drawn were due to late goals conceded (and I mean 90+ minutes). On the plus side we are generally quite good in defence, and hard to beat. You may notice that we have a game in hand too, which is because on Boxing Day our home match against Cheltenham was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. Ours was the only game called off, so I guess our facilities aren't as good as the other L2 clubs!

We have also scraped in to the 3rd Round of the FA Cup after a replay win over L2 leaders Portsmouth. The home tie in Round 3 against Southampton will almost certainly prove a step too far, but the financial rewards will be more valuable than any hiding that we may (will) be given.

2. Team update

We have suffered a fair amount of injuries, losing a whole host of players at different times, but have generally been able to pick a specialist in the roles required. I switched from 442 to 433 (three men in a flat midfield and two wingers supporting my poacher in attack), and this has worked a little better than the old formation.

I've been impressed by most of my five original signings: McGee in goal has been reliable, Stewart has become the permanent CB partner of Bennett, and Morris (now back from injury) is a real threat on the left wing. Allen was my lone striker, but is the latest injury victim and will be out for some time. He has had some dry spells but also found the net as often as anybody else. Dempsey hasn't been able to get much action, and is possibly surplus to requirements now, so I may send him back to Carlisle in the winter window.

The board reduced my retention of transfer revenue to 5% so I didn't bother to offload anybody yet. I have renewed a lot of first team player contracts (all only until 2016) without having to pay increased wages. Quite a few wanted 'avoid relegation bonuses' but I scrubbed these out of all contract extensions as I don't wish to be breaking the bank to reward mediocrity. I've also decided that quite a number of the first team squad will be allowed to leave at the end of the season unless they do something quite remarkable to change my mind. The board seem happy enough with my management so far, as they offered me a new contract - which I happily accepted.

To end on a positive note, I've added three more new players since my last proper update - all on free transfers and very low wages, as there is still no money to spend at all. Robinson has been steady as one of the central midfielders, and was a worthwhile transfer for the club to make. Bodin was injured when he signed and has not yet been fit enough to be named in the squad. I was short of wide options as Wheeler got injured just after Morris returned from his own lay-off, but it's only a contract until 2015 so he needs to impress if he gets a chance. Nicholls gives another striking option, and was signed partly because the club had recruited him in real life (after the data lock). He officially joins today (1st January) so I will see how he gets on whilst Allen is out injured. Here are the three signings...

I'm enjoying this very much. The level of difficulty is high, but the low expectations mean I can just get on with it and not worry too much about any pressure of the axe.

[Kaiserwatman]

So 10 games into my debut season in the championship with Shrewsbury Town , think i spent most of them shaking my head or with my head in my hands. The Applecart has already lost a wheel and the other is barely holding together.

It all started on a positive note, Vanja Millenkovic Savic who had performed so admirably last season on loan from Manchester United agreed to join the club permanently but was denied a work permit. Was not going to go down the same route as the previous season so a fourth application was launched for Thomas Glover a young Aussie who currently has WP issues but this was once again denied.

With one senior goalkeeper who had never actually played outside the conference. The club announced European scouting and the real search began but their wasn't much interest at an affordable cost.

Eventually a young Hungarian keeper was snapped up as a short term solution. I think this kid is going have back problems from picking the ball out of the net repeatably.

Its back to the drawing board , and i need 5 or 6. I am about 35% under my weekly board funding so have some room to maneuver but can't really extend too much as its putting club financially at risk. 1.5m to spend in the transfer window also but the sums don't add up so i can't really see me entering any transfer fee negotiations. Will see how things are closer to Christmas and how bad the crisis is. I could may well be down by then..

[Jogo Bonito]

Kaiser, tough times there. I thought my graph was bad enough Good luck with the fight against relegation.

[danm2501]

My Morecambe side are blowing very hot and cold. We go from smashing teams, to making basic errors and losing games we should be winning. Case in point, we just followed back to back losses with a 6-1 win at Doncaster, a 3-0 win against Colchester and then followed those results with a 2-1 loss to Leyton Orient. It's just not good enough. We're still in a decent spot in the table, but falling further and further behind Peterborough. In February, with 32 games played this is the table:

Another thing that is set to hurt the side is leading scorer Jack Redshaw getting injured for 6 to 7 weeks. We've just had Jack Barmby out for 7 weeks, and that had a pretty big effect, but fortunately Wildschut stepped up, but we have no replacement anywhere close to Redshaw's ability. He's absolutely blitzing the league, and is without doubt the best player in the division, which is pretty impressive for him, considering he was the best player in League 2 too. Been so, so impressed with him. Here's how the top goalscorers and average ratings look:

He's got decent stats, and playing as a False Nine he's been exceptional, with 49 goals in 1 and a half seasons. Certainly looking good enough to make the jump to the Championship, and could likely play a role in the Premier League as a back-up too. He's been awesome.

Hopefully as the season starts to wind down the form will gain some consistency. As you'll be able to see from the screenshot below, we've just not been anywhere near consistent enough. Also need to get out of the habit of turning 1 loss into multiple in a row, which tends to have happened a few times. Hopefully we'll turn it around and put together a good run and secure automatic promotion!

[smplfc123]

@Jogo - Nice update! Win that game in hand and you are sitting pretty!

@Kaiser - Keep at it mate, I'm sure you'll keep them up.

@Dan - You might be blowing hot and cold but you are doing well in the league! Keep it going and you'll be in the Championship

My Update: I didn't get much chance to play yesterday so I'm looking to make some time up today. I wont post a proper update until I'm a few games in so I know i've properly bought in to the challenge.

[danm2501]

Continued blowing hot and cold to finish the season, and very disappointingly missed out on automatic Promotion finishing 4 points behind 2nd place Chesterfield. A real poor run of results, where we managed 1 win in 6 was the nail in the coffin, as we gave away strong positions in games to drop points. The defence completely lost it at the end of the season, and we paid for it big time. Securing 3rd we should have a good draw in the Playoffs, but it's always a bit of a lottery. Be gutted if we don't make it up to the Championship after such a positive season in League 1. Here's how we finished:

Gives us a Playoff Semi-Final against Leyton Orient, who we failed to beat in either match in the league campaign, so will need to put that right. Then, in the final we'll be taking on the winner of Derby-Oldham. Derby, who somehow managed to keep hold of Will Hughes despite relegation to League 1 have a strong side, and a team we beat once, and lost to early on in the season. As for Oldham, we again have a 1-1 record against them in the league, but they did knock us out of the Johnston Paint Trophy. So, overall, it's not looking too positive. Going to need to pull something impressive out of the bag.

Redshaw didn't finish too strong after his injury, only managing 3 goals in 8 appearances, but he still finished top scorer with 30 goals from 38 games which is a very handy record. Finishing 2nd was Ryan Williams. On loan from Fulham he has been mighty impressive playing as an Inside Forward from the AMR position. From 40 starts and 5 sub appearances he managed 27 goals, 15 assists and finished with an average rating of 7.57. He is also out of contract at the end of the season, so hopefully I'll be able to snap him up and keep him for next season. Jack Barmby impressed once again, and is another loanee that is out of contract in the summer, so I'm hoping to make both guys permanent members of the squad, just hope I can afford their wages. Here's the player summary at the end of the regular season:

[danm2501]

Apologies for the double post, but WE'VE DONE IT After losing the first leg of the Leyton Orient clash 2-1, we came back with a vintage 3-1 performance at home, hero Jack Redshaw bagging 2 more. Then, in the final against Derby, we stormed out of the blocks, with Barmby scoring 2 in the first 22 minutes to give us a 2-0 lead. Just before half time Simon Dawkins made it 2-1. We hung on in the 2nd half for 40 minutes before Craig Bryson forced the game into extra time in the 84th minute. Deadlock didn't last long though, just 2 minutes into extra time we were awarded a penalty, and key man Redshaw converted to give us a 3-2 lead. Derby came at us incredibly strong, but we clung on thanks to some magnificent saves from Taudul. Then, Championship football was all but confirmed when Shaun Beeley, a man that started the year on the transfer list and in the Under-21s popped up to secure a 4-2 win, and top off a magnificent season.

Now the hard work begins as we prepare for our first season in the Championship. Have already confirmed 1-year loan extensions for Barmby and Shane Griffin, and will be praying that Fulham fail to agree terms with Ryan Williams, and we can bag him on a free. The defence again will need some improving, as will the centre of midfield, but I'm pretty confident that we'll do a good job in the Championship.

[smplfc123]

@Danm2501 Well done mate, great achievement.

[TottenhamBoi90]

Hi Guys,

I just wanted to post my successes with Portsmouth. I was suprised to see that they are still in debt in the game as it has been documented in real life that Pompey are debt free but i was even more suprised to see how much money the board pump in. Ive had a good million every season whilst that doesnt sound a lot, i dont pay anything for most of the successful players i have signed and every time i ask for more coaches, physio's, scouts, afiliates, training and youth facilities and scouting range they always seem to say YES. So i have been quite well looked after at Pompey. My biggest success was securing an affiliate link with Arsenal in the first season because the kids they have are quality and i am a Tottenham fan! Here are some of my signings and finishing positions so far ...

2014-15

League 2 - 4th (Play-Off Winners)

Probably didnt deserve to go up as most of my signings were rubbish but good results in big games proved to be enough. I'd like to talk about the team that helped me achieve promotion out of the basement football league for the first time on FM15 after a few failed attempts with Luton and Carlisle, Stevenage and a few more ... oops.

In goal we have Paul Jones who made crucial saves time and time again and impressed me with 14 clean sheets. I also brought in Rob Lainton who played 8 games and seemed a good prospect from Bury.

At right back was a loanee from Crystal Palace called Alex Wynter who is already at Pompey from the start and he did okay but in january my eyes lit up when i saw Hector Bellerin available from my parent club Arsenal and he came in as a complete wing back and made a very good impact with 1 goal and 7 assists.

At centre half it was all about 1 kid who looks like Jack Wilshere with a blonde wig on whose name is Jack Whatmough. His potential looked really good but from his stats i wasnt really sure what to do with him. His aggression was poor so he couldnt be a stopper and he didnt have great acceleration so cover would be risky, he did though have 12 passing which is impressive in League 2 so i made him Ball Playing Defender and as Ben Chorley was the stopper i made him cover and dropped the defensive line back to cover his lack of pace so he could just pass the ball out from the back and he did really well playing 44 games and scoring 5 goals and a good defender to watch. I also signed Tom Naylor from Derby as a player to develop and rest the legs of Chorley and he had a good first season with me.

Left Back was a complete wing back role for Nicky Shorey who was also the set piece specialist. He was amazing with 8 goals from free-kicks and 10 assists from corners and getting forward to cross from left back.

Overall i based my defence on Brazil with CWB-A CD-X BPD-C and CWB-A defending deep and with a corner defending tactic i divsed myself of which i am quite proud because on previous games ive had it has been a problem area with dodgy lapses in concentration concededing a lot of goals so i chalked up a part zonal system which was simple and effective. Wingers on the posts, Full backs and centre mids man marking and 3 marking zonal which were the 2 centre halves and my biggest striker. This proved to be successful which just left my in game defending deep forcing the opposition to shoot from range. Now it was up to my midfield to help out and strikers to get the goals.

Right midfield i decided to go with Jed Wallace as a Wide playmaker when Bellerin came in but a winger with Wynter full back support beforehand and he did really well with 9 goals and 10 assist.

In the middle of the park, the engine room i went with simple central midfield support and defend which i later just changed to advanced playmaker support and deep lying defend. The key to the middle was James Dunne who was solid defensively and very consistent. The rest of my midfield was signed by myself but all of them proved to be a load of rubbish in Lee Lucas, Joe Partington and Olly Lee.

On the left i went for Blair Turgott as a winger support and he was a menace but it was all about Shorey down that side.

Overall my midfield was being out assisted and outscored by my defence but i had a style of play i liked with the defence set up so i hoped i would create a 1-0 mentality at best unless my strikers could be clinical.

Upfront i signed Charlie Wyke who is capable of scoring 10 in 10 from previous saves ive had in this league but playing him as a deep lying forward didnt help him at all. He only got 8 goals in 31. Craig Westcarr as poacher only scored 6 so clinical they was not so i got in Vadaine Oliver and David Ball in january and whilst Oliver got 9, Ball only got 4 goals. Miles Storey scored 7 and all of which were mostly of the bench he was a good impact player on loan from Swindon but i never wanted to make that deal permanent.

Overall i won 11 games including the play-off final 1-0 and i thought some more clincal play and more creative midfield would put us in good sted in League 1.

2015-16

League 1 - 12th

A very good first season back in League 1. A few more good signings from Arsenal really boosted my creativaty and clinical edge.

The defence was the same that finished in League 2. I renewed Bellerin's loan and brought in Paul Downing as Ben Chorley left. Only 9 clean sheets this term but still the most creative controlling part of my team was the back 4. 12 assists for Bellerin, 5 goals for Whatmough and 2 goals 8 assists for Shorey. I pretty much kept faith with the defence that got me up. I signed Fanimo from West Ham to give Shorey some restbite and Jeffrey Rentmeister from Blackpool for experience.

The midfield was much changed with incoming Serge Gnabry from Arsenal and Conor Henderson from Crawley. Gnabry got 4 goals 5 assists but the 2 shining lights were again Jed Wallace and James Dunne. Wallace got 5 goals 2 assists. Johnny Gorman and Bobby Grant also came in but were mainly used for impact players off the bench.

Upfront Vadaine Oliver got 13 goals and Charlie Wyke got 10 both of which were out shone by new freebie signing Marvin Sordell who got 16. Chube Akpom also came in from Arsenal and got 12 so a massive improvement on last season in a tougher League so i thought the future was bright.

2016-17

League 1 - 4th (Lost in Play-Off Semi-Finals to MK Dons)

This season was all about the Arsenal link more and more now as Bellerin, Gnabry and Akpom all renewed their loans and was joined by Ryo Miyaichi but this time on a free transfer permanently. I made some changes to the defence which conceded 68 goals last season but despite that goals conceded only dropped to 67.

Jones was still in nets with Bellerin serving up 13 assists and another season averaging over 7. Whatmough chipped in with 3 goals as Paul Downing became his main partner. Joe Bennett was signed to replace the retiring Nicky Shorey and he was a success with 7 assists and a goal to boot.

Midfield was bolstered again as joining the likes of Gnabry and Wallace were Chris David from Fulham and Kane Ferdinand from Peterbrough. David was an immediate hit with 7 goals 6 assists and a good set piece to replace what we'd miss Shorey most for and the biggest gain to our midfield was the goals whom previously no one had chipped in anything like that figure. Henderson netted 4 times but James Dunne was sold and £1m man Kane cousin of Rio and Anton Ferdinand came in to anchor midfield really well. Miyaichi also got 3 goals from the winger support role which was an improvement too.

Up top a good strike force last season was much the same as Wyke 18, Akpom 20 and new loan signing Azzoaui got 10 but a move to deep lying forward for Sordell and Akpom now poacher was a success as Marvin bang in 19 goals and sealed a 750k move to Leicester and the end of the season.

At the end of the season after MK Dons beat us in the Play-Off semi-finals it was always going to be there year to finally go up after a few misfortunes of their own. This was good for our motivation next season so i didnt see it as a bad thing it was too early for us and we maybe overachieved. I also made a few rubbish signings from europe but it got my eye into the market maybe id be better next time around.

2017-18

League 1 - 2nd (Promotion)

What a year for Pompey FC. We had been building for a good few seasons now, scouting range upgraded, training and youth facilities completed during the season before so everything was in place now for an attack on promotion. I now have upto 12 Pompey coachces and physios, 6 scouts and established names in the Director of Football role, U21 and U18 Managers roles and With the players and style of football we was playing i was confident a good squad would do it for us. Akpom is injury prone and Sordell at Leicester i had to replace a few goals but confident none the less.

After a couple of leaky seasons in goal i felt it was time for Jones to step aside as Alex Bass was coming through the ranks and Sam Johnstone became available. Sam was a solid replacement getting 7 clean sheets in 28 and only conceding 37 was a big positive from Jones the year before. Bellerin found himself improving more and more and also getting a few right midfield starts saw him get 9 goals and 11 assists which was immense. Jack Whatmough also got 6 and a new partner as Francesco Lovric arrived. Joe Bennett continued his good work down the left with a goal and 8 assists. Dionotan Teixeira also proved to be a handy signing at Centre half but played mostly in the defensive deep lying role in midfield as he had good passing like Whatmough but i didnt want to retrain a lad doing so well in defence.

Gnabry was becoming a more of a danger with 8 goals and 11 assists. His place as Wide-Player maker now secured as Wallace left for West Ham for £1.5m. Chris David had another good year getting 6 goals 6 assists and Kane Ferdinand was being pushed by Ryan Tunnicliffe and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Miyaichi improved with ratings over 7 but i began to feel that the winger support role was wasteful and to tighten up at the back a change was needed so next season it would be Winger attack and Full back support to sure it up. The goals struggle to go in upfront when Akpom is out but he manages 21 in 33 games in an injury ravaged season. I realised that the deep lying forward role for Sordell last year was a success because of his passing stat and with him now gone i thought to a couple of fresh faces to test the water on the theory so in came Adam Campbell and Max Clayton, both with 12 or above passing. Campbell banged in 9 and Clayton only 3 but it was defeninately another tactical breakthrough for me. Azzaoui has a nack of scoring late goals and he scored another 9.

The promotion campaign should have been title winning one but with a 4 point lead with 5 games to go i got 4 straight draws meaning the title would come down to a play-off on the last day with now first placed Peterborough i needed a win but i drew again which meant the title went to Peterborough but we were up none the less.

2018-19

Championship - 7th (IN JAN)

Scouting range upgraded again now and some more solid investments. I had signed Sirgiy Bolbat last season but without a work permit he was useless so i sold him for 9m giving me a £10m bumper kitty this season. I have signed Kyle Naughton on a free and Remie Streete for £1m. Jack O'Connell for £500k. Jack Powell and Jermaine Anderson have joined the midfielders but after securing the permanent deals of Bellerin, Gnabry and Akpom over the past few season i thought id take another look at Arsenals youth with Elias Chatzitheodis and Dan Crowley joined by Zakaria Bakkali. George Green has also came in for cheap money like Powell and Anderson who were all under £300k each. Soulemane Coulibaly also comes in upfront. Amazing position challenging for the play-offs at the minute and with a healthy squad it cant be long before im in the promise land. I have been investing in youth for a the past few years as well and now i have a few home grown and imported talents on the fringes of the squad or promisingly out on loan. Those players are Alex Bass, Calvin Davies, Tom Ellis, Pete Beechers, Christian Oxlade-Chamberlain, Chris Doswell, Danny Morrison, Conor Chaplin and foriegn imports Brian Nielsen, Svien Myhre, Stian Aasen and Andre Olsen, some of which are regens.

Im really enjoying this save. My advice to anyone thinking the lower leagues are not for me, try and think long term for the ultimate achievement taking a club from the bottom to the top. Work on projects like youth to keep you interesting through the tough mid-table or battling relegation seasons you will have but stick at it. Stick with a formation to develop yourself. Ive had a few successes above but its still the same old 4-4-2. Look for problems until you change something and the cogs starting making your team really do what you want it to. There is more to FM than the usual Premier League and Champions League stuff, Its a brilliant game. Thanks SI. (someone gotta say it) and also dont think of yourself, think of the players your developing and the club your developing on the way and take pride in that rather than yourself. And if you do have successes like my Bolbat or Sordell selling for good profit invest it in the squad but dont spend for spending sake, invest it in the club, if you got money left over and you have a good squad, get facilities and scouting range coaches and physio's and scouts, it sets you up long term. It makes this game great.

[Jogo Bonito]

Nice one dan, you made it in the end. I know I mentioned Redshaw in my L2 preview, but that is exceptional form over two seasons. One other thing I noticed - 114 goals

@smp, looking forward to hearing which club you went to, I hope it's enjoyable.

I've progressed (actually that's the wrong word!) to mid-February with Exeter, and we have been given some serious spankings in the last few weeks. The league position is about the same, but having a leaky defence is not at all comfortable for me. I've had some abysmal injury problems (usually only able to pick from 18 of my 25 players, regardless of their fitness) but even so, some of the recent performances have been terrible to watch.

[danm2501]

Yeah, Redshaw's been awesome, been so impressed with his goalscoring, he's so consistent. Be interesting to see how he gets on in the Championship. Haha, yeah, we score a lot of goals. When we get going in a match we often score a few, had 12 games where we scored 4 or more. The defence just had too many off days, and would crumble. One game finished 5-5 which was utterly ridiculous.

Ryan Williams has signed on a permanent. Ruben Loftus-Cheek has signed on loan, Bastien Héry is joining on a permanent and have offered Jack Price, a young midfielder from Wycombe a permanent contract.

[Jogo Bonito]

@TottenhamBoi, welcome along and thanks for sharing your Portsmouth save. That's solid progression, and good to see how much you're enjoying it. Obviously they do have the facilities, fan base, reputation and board support to make your job easier, but it's still good to see them competing again at Championship level. It's nice to hear about who you signed and developed, it helps tell a good story. I managed them for about four seasons in FM14 and had an enjoyable time there too.

[TottenhamBoi90]

@TottenhamBoi, welcome along and thanks for sharing your Portsmouth save. That's solid progression, and good to see how much you're enjoying it. Obviously they do have the facilities, fan base, reputation and board support to make your job easier, but it's still good to see them competing again at Championship level. It's nice to hear about who you signed and developed, it helps tell a good story. I managed them for about four seasons in FM14 and had an enjoyable time there too.

Cheers mate, My team before was Mansfield when they were in the conference. I got them up to the kusp of europe in 12 seasons, i even had a regen son because i brought Abdi Ibrahim and had him for 10 years. That team had everything i loved it more than this Pompey team but the principles were the same, youth, facilities, coaching and tactic development. Im struggling to find another Abdi Ibrahim though who you can get for cheap at the bottom and still have him in the Prem but Bellerin is looking that way.

[Jogo Bonito]

I don't think I ever managed a club for more than five or six seasons, but can see why you got attached to it. I remember when Mansfield were in the Conference and had £300k to spend - insane - although I never managed them. Bellerin was a coup at L2 level, and it would be good if you have him until the end of your save. You wouldn't even believe the 'quality' of players that reject even the idea of joining Exeter - and that's from the small pool of players whose parent clubs don't dismiss our loan enquiries!

[lewis999]

Was struggling to get into the Hartlepool save. I've come to the conclusion it's because I haven't taken my home town club (Barnsley) to the big time! So now's the time. When I get to the first match i'll post my transfers both in and out. In the middle of making a massive signing, I didn't even think he'd want to speak to me but I accepted an offer for one of my players and had money to spend.

[Stfc mason]

last 10 games (apart from the man city game) have been pleasing we are sitting comfortably at the top of the league and its all about planing for next season in the championship which is not going very well at the moment. Jon Obika has been banging in the goals as too has Adam Campbell unfortunately the latter has not scored for quite a while hoping that ends very soon. With regards to transfers would love to buy some of my loan players but I just would not be able to afford them. Aaron Khul's performances have been disappointing in the last 5 games but he has done well this season so it just a case of dropping him for a couple of games I think.

[lewis999]

Not a proper update but I just wanted to announce my new signing before the season starts. He's a bit of an FM favourite this year but after Hull came in with an offer of 2.5m for England U20 international Paul Digby I had 1.9m to spend as the board only gave me 75% of the sale.

Here's my new man:

I thought of him because his old team MK Dons is in my league so there was a chance of him joining us as it wouldn't be a step backwards, more a side step.

I only had 1.9m and MK Dons wanted 2.8m so I put down 1m up front and 2m over 48 months and they accepted. I was then intrigued to see if he wanted to even talk to me or his demands would be too high. He wanted 9.5k a week but I was only allowed to offer him 7.5k so with a mixture of a low-ish minimum fee release clause and some yearly wage rises he decided to swap Milton Keynes for South Yorkshire and i'm sure that decision will be justified when he's lining up in a Barnsley shirt in the Premiership one day.

[Jogo Bonito]

@lewis: Good luck with Barnsley. Great deal on signing Alli - that's superb for you!! You really must have an excellent chance of promotion. Also, there will be no chance that you will lose enthusiasm for managing them!

@mason: Going very well at Swindon. I think I will probably delay managing them until the final update, which I think will represent them better.

[lewis999]

I have a fantastic team for this division. I have a lot of confidence for this season, it's going to be the Championship and the Premiership that are the challenges. Especially after my loans go back to their parent clubs.

[smplfc123]

@Lewis - Amazing signing in Ali there mate, good luck with Barnsley

@Mason - Going well there, looks like Obika is banging them in for you.

@Jogo - Good things come to those who wait I'm hoping to have an update for you tonight, tomorrow daytime at the latest!

[Jogo Bonito]

@lewis: I thought the squad looked strong even without any improvements, so you should walk it with Alli/Hourihane, regardless of whoever else you signed

@smp: I can wait mate. Nothing happens quickly over here, it's no problem to me

[Stfc mason]

My youth intake has arrived, I thought it was the 13th march in game but here it is. Very average where only 2 players are really worth keeping. Just a quick question, Can you sign youth players that clubs have released straight away and when do they normally get released?

[numero uno gunner]

Hi all.

I've been rubbish at keeping up-to-date with everyone's games, but it seems like a fair few of you are starting to have real success with some of your clubs. I wish you all well (although for those of you playing as Exeter that is really hard to do!) and hope you all continue your rise up the football league. I'll try and keep up this time!

I have finally managed to finish my first season in charge of Plymouth. My cup record reads played three, lost three, but in the end that was completely and utterly worth it as we sealed promotion back to League 1, amassing 91 points in finishing third, 9 points behind eventual champions Oxford, and 12 clear of fourth-placed Southend. We had unbeaten runs of 7, 8 and 10 games at different points throughout the season, which undoubtedly provided us with the foundation for promotion.

Reuben Reid was our standout performer, with 32 goals and 10 assists, and a league-topping average rating of 7.30. That said, Yohan Guichard hit 15 goals with 13 assists, and Jason Banton also weighed in with 8 goals and 12 assists. Also, pretty impressively, all of my defenders bar, Ben Purrington, averaged over 7.0 over the course of the season. Needless to say, I am thoroughly pleased to have sealed promotion, and am already looking forward to preparing for next season's challenge.

The downside has been having several of my players complaining about a lack of game time after finding themselves out of a settled side. Lewis Alessandra, Dominic Blizzard, River Allen and James Bittner will all be on their way in the summer, which should provide some extra room in the wage budget. I have utilised the loan market well this season, and that is going to be crucial again next season. Several of the players I brought in on loan are due to be out of contract with their parent clubs in the summer, and I have my eyes on a couple of them. I don't want to make wholesale changes to the squad, as I think we have enough about us already to cope with life in League One, but feel that we are going to lack strength in depth. I'll be aiming to utilise the free transfers and loan signings to supplement what I already have in place. I would gladly welcome any recommendations for decent League One signings though, as I have been handed a transfer budget of £200k for next season, which is a complete novelty to me at this level!

Onwards and Upwards!

[lewis999]

Lewin Nyatanga has just thrown a fit about wanting to join Bournemouth (Even though he isn't good enough :confused:) I negotiated upto 500k and they said no and he went into a rage about me blocking his move. I needed him so I told him to like it or lump it basically and he didn't back down (Damn!). So instead of him disrupting the team I offered him out for 500k which is his value and Bournemouth came in with 475k which I have just accepted.

So now my mission is to find his replacement. My #1 target at the moment is :

This guy. 100k is an absolute bargain. He's more of a John Terry with pace and will compliment Martin Cranie well who is more of a clever sweeper kind. The only issue is I doubt he'll get a work permit.

My #2 target is Sean St. Ledger who is very well known to the championship which should help us. As he's a free agent that is another plus but would only be a short term solution. His low jumping is putting me off a bit to be honest.

[Jogo Bonito]

@numero uno gunner: Well done on promotion with Plymouth. I'm pleased to see that Reuben Reid did well, I wish I could drag him to Exeter!! I think the strength of Plymouth is in defence, so assume the likes of Nelson and Purrington will continue developing well. Also having O'Connor on loan in season 1 was useful - every time I managed him in FM14 he has been a very reliable performer, and being able to play RB/CB is a bonus. The free transfer and loan markets should help you to make a good L1 squad, the reputation of Plymouth should attract players to join you above some others at your level.

@lewis: Not a bad deal for Nyatanga and I'm sure you can find a replacement of similar ability for less than that. If I'm not mistaken, that defender is Vieux Sane? I'm not sure about the WP but obviously he would do great at L1 level (one of those that is rated generously compared to real life, in my opinion). Sean St.Ledger would be a decent squad player, although he may not be your star performer

[danm2501]

I'm annoyed. Asked for a new feeder club after our deal with Leicester was terminated due to being in the same league as them, and was given 3 options, Man City, Liverpool and someone rubbish. I'd normally go Man City, as being an Everton fan it'd feel dirty being connected with Liverpool, but they had Dele Alli on the loan list, and the temptation was too much. Picked Liverpool, and first thing I did was make a loan offer for Ali. Offer accepted, and I was feeling excited about having such a promising youngster for our Championship campaign. Excitement didn't last long though, as Ali rejected the move. So now, I'm connected with Liverpool, and the only player I really want from them won't join. FFS.

[Jogo Bonito]

I'm annoyed. Asked for a new feeder club after our deal with Leicester was terminated due to being in the same league as them, and was given 3 options, Man City, Liverpool and someone rubbish. I'd normally go Man City, as being an Everton fan it'd feel dirty being connected with Liverpool, but they had Dele Alli on the loan list, and the temptation was too much. Picked Liverpool, and first thing I did was make a loan offer for Ali. Offer accepted, and I was feeling excited about having such a promising youngster for our Championship campaign. Excitement didn't last long though, as Ali rejected the move. So now, I'm connected with Liverpool, and the only player I really want from them won't join. FFS.

That's tough, but hopefully Alli will change his mind at some point.

[Cesc_cil]

Without reading through this entire thread has anyone had a game with the mk dons? if so is it a good save and whats the progress like. wish there was a team thread

[Jogo Bonito]

1. Performance update

It's still a bumpy ride with Exeter, and we have had some heavy beatings dished out by Oxford and bottom of the table Bury. However, we also seem to have turned a few more draws in to wins, and it's better for the points tally to win one and lose one instead of racking up the draws - like we had been earlier in the season.

To my surprise, a run of four consecutive victories in March has taken us to the edge of the play-off spots - but I'm well aware that this team will not sustain such impressive form over a longer period of time, and so expect us to drop off the pace again at any time. You can see from the graph that we haven't ever really been in contention, and quite frankly it would be a disaster if we got promoted this season.

Our FA Cup run came to end in expected fashion in January, when Southampton cruised past us with a 3-0 victory at St James Park in Round 3. The mini-run had generated some much needed revenue though, and the board and fans were happy with that.

2. Team update

There have been no further signings made since my previous update (the last arrival being Alex Nicholls on 1st January). Nobody has left the club all season - even on loan - except for Kyle Dempsey, whose loan I terminated at the start of January. That means we haven't spent a penny all season on either transfer fees or agent fees, and I am quite proud of this (that covers 5 free transfers and 2.5 loans).

I have been busy deciding which player contracts to renew, and it looks like eight players plus a further four from my U21/U18 squads will be released at the end of the season. Quite a few of the players that I have offered new deals to, will be taking wage cuts. Hopefully I can add a couple of players to this group on free transfers or loans for next season.

Injuries have still been a real problem all season - on many occasions we only had 18 players available, the bench was not well balanced, and often not very fit. My best player has been Kieron Morris (teenage winger on loan from Walsall), but he has had three separate injuries, two of them for more than six weeks. Ross Allen has started to find some form towards the end of the season, as has David Wheeler, who has scored some crucial goals recently. Arron Davies has done better than expected - he really only got his chance due to injuries - but I'm probably not going to keep him on next season anyway.

[Kaiserwatman]

Good going there @Jogo Bonito maybe even a chance of sneaking a playoff place in the final few games.

Still chugging along with Shrewsbury , slightly better than my previous update , at least i am the correct side of the dotted line at the moment as i approach the busy Christmas schedule in 20th place.

Chances been created , chances been missed on a regular basis so my hand has been forced in this relegation battle so its caution to the wind. Shrewsbury Town announce the signing of

[Jogo Bonito]

@Kaiser...wow, that's a fantastic signing. He must have won all those caps for Qatar in the last couple of seasons, after taking advantage of their dubious citizenship regulations - but he should be a star at your level.

[smplfc123]

Guess Who's Back?

That's right, I'm back and determined to succeed this time after my last effort got me sacked at Exeter. I learned a lot from that experience as I've never really managed in the lower leagues before. I took on board the suggestions from Jogo and after a couple of days of contemplating tactics and philosiphies, I decided on the club I felt suited my '5 year plan the best'.

Cheltenham are the club lucky enough to have me at the helm.

Their finances aren't very good and the squad isn't brilliant. But, I believe there is a base there for me to work on and help take the club forward.

Transfers

As you can see I've managed to bring 6 players in to the club, all of which I believe will be involved within the match day 18 on a regular basis.

So Far

I decided to give myself some tricky friendlies against Coventry, Reading, Bristol City and Peterbrough to toughen my squad up. I think it has worked.

Yes I did lose to Bury 3-0 and without sounding one-eyed, I could have got something from that game. We were 1-0 down at HT but we were breaking on the counter constantly, I got carried away and went attacking, thinking I could easily get a goal. I got caught out myself on the break and they scored 2 quick goals to kill the game. Lesson learned.

I wasn't confident about the Watford game and played a second string side. I was chuffed that we ran them so close, especially as they played such a strong side. But ultimately, I'm not too concerned about the league cup as it gives me the chance to focus on the league.

Table

So a good start, with 2 clean sheets. I'm looking to make Whaddon Road a fortress and cement myself in to League 2 for the next 2 seasons. I'm hoping by the end of my 5 year plan that I can be towards the top half of League 1 and still playing the football I'm trying to implement now.

[smplfc123]

@Kaiser - Nice signing mate

@Jogo - Nice update mate! Some cracking results there. I see david wheeler on the score sheet regularly for you in the latter games. So what players are you looking to release/not renew at the end of the season?

[Jogo Bonito]

@smp: Welcome back! Interesting choice in Cheltenham, and I hope it works out well for you. I see most of your signings are non-league players, so they will have to step up a level. Having said that, Gorman and Love are possibly the best two non-contract players you can sign from that level. You'll have to talk me through the £13k for Matty Taylor - what have you seen in him that you couldn't get for free? Best of luck mate, the five year plan sounds very sensible - and the last two results are encouraging for sure.

Yes, Wheeler and Ross Allen (signed from Guernsey) have really found some good form. I was using Wheeler mainly as RW until the latest injury for Kieron Morris, then had to switch him to LW and put Davies on the right.

The players leaving will be Butterfield, Dawson, Riley-Lowe, Oakley, Davies, Cummins and Jamie Reid from the first team squad. I'd like to keep Oakley as a coach but the board won't allow it, so there is no point keeping him as a player only at 37 years of age. Maybe if he leaves, I can somehow get him back on the staff. I would have kept Davies if he accepted a 50% pay-cut, but he wouldn't agree that. I might have kept Riley-Lowe but he was sulking due to only making three starts all season. Against my better judgement, I have kept Woodman and Baldwin as cover players for one more season, despite their ages - and due to accepting massively reduced wages. Quite a few U21/U18 players will be released too, although I have kept some on.

[Chongtom]

Like Dan, I've started as manager of Morecambe as I've seen a few games of them up north. However, unlike Dan I haven't had much success with them. I've just ended my second season with them coming 9th in league 2, an improvement of a massive 2 places from the previous season.

Morecambe don't have a lot of money, good facilities or many fans and I was unimpressed with the playing squad considering what I wanted to do with the team at the beginning. I wanted to play a 4-3-2-1 or a 4-5-1 but the players were not the greatest to do this with. I believe the biggest limitations for us in the second season when I was finally happy with my squad was my own tactics, which I feel were over complicated and if I'm honest I couldn't be that bothered to tweak them mid season. That was probably the sole reason we didn't reach the playoffs although I am now changing them and realising where I've gone wrong.

1st season -

The key signings I brought in were lee molyneux in January for 5k, Rubén garcia rey at DM, and Jeremy Walker at RM who cost 27k.

Found Redshaw was my star performer with 24 goals along with Ryan Williams and Andrew Wright. It was an inconsistent season and we didn't pull up any trees in the cups. I focused on sorting out the coaching and getting a feel for the club and just wanted a steady season which is what we got and knew I would be able to make my mark the following season.

I'm rushed for time so apologies for the brief and probably fairly uninteresting overview ofthe first unremarkable season. I'll post about season 2 in more detail later.

[Jogo Bonito]

Welcome Chongtom, no need to apologise for that post! A steady start, and with Redshaw doing as well for you as he did for dan, you should be able to make the play-offs next time around. I'll be interested to hear more when you get season 2 underway.

[Kaiserwatman]

Right time for a mid season update on Shrewsbury Town . If the league progress bar was human you would probably be declaring it dead but i am fine with that so long as its above the dotted line.

The introduction to the championship has indeed been quite a challenge and has lead to no fewer than nine new additions during the season as i try to stave off relegation. The most notable additions been Imoh Ezekiel , Ryan Tunnicliffe and new recruit Yasser Kasim after he mutally terminated his contract with Stoke City. Kasim and Ezekiel will finally make their debuts following some asian cup tournament and help me move away from the dreaded dropzone.

Financially stretched a clearout will commence in summer once hopefully survival is guaranteed.

*EDIT - Ezekiel's season is over.