dafuge&#039;s FM16 challenge

Board Expectation: battle bravely against relegation

Media Expectation: 24th

Finish: 18th

Heading up to the Championship with only a 2k stadium ad a threadbare squad was a daunting prospect. 5 defeats after 7 games saw us rooted at the bottom and we were 2-0 down after 80 minutes in our 8th game. 2 late goals saw us grab a 2-2 draw, a timely morale boost that saw us then go on a run of only 2 defeats in 18. A lot fo draws meant that we never really pulled too far away from the relegation spots but a constant 10 point cushion meant we never felt in any real danger after christmas

Cup Competitions

fairly appalling, both first round exits. The FA Cup saw us lose 5-0 away at premiership Hull. Not our finest hour.

Conference North - 10th

Again trawling the free transfers. One day I'll hopefully pay a fee for someone. Jacob Jones came on loan again, he looks a great prospect.

Finances

still not great, we were 4m in debt by the end of the season so a few player sales are going to have to be arranged. i just need a new stadium though.

Notable Players

Ryan Riley - A fantastic first season from the AM whcih was only spoiled by a cruciate ligament injury on the final day of the season

Borja Perez - Played in a new position of inside forward and responded with 20 goals, making him top scorer. looks really well suite for Championship football.

J ack Lock - box to box midfielder who works tirelessly for the team.

Next Season

Consolidation i think. It still feels too early for a push to the premiership

Career Overview

Season    League                       Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2016/17   Vanarama National League North      13th       
2017/18   Vanarama National League North      13th
2018/19   Vanarama National League South      9th
2019/20   Vanarama National League South      10th
2020/21   Vanarama National League South      2nd       lost in play-off semi-final
2021/22   Vanarama National League North      4th        lost in play-off semi-final
2022/23   Vanarama National League North      [b]1st [/b]       Champions!
2023/24   Vanarama National League          [b]1st [/b]       Champions!
2024/25   League 2                            12th
2025/26   League 2                            5th          Play-off winners
2026/27   League 1                            5th          Lost in play-off semi-finals
2027/28   League 1                            [b]1st           Champions!
[/b]2028/29   Championship                     18th

100 Club

Name                (Position); League Games (Overall Games); League Goals (Overall Goals); Average Rating;        Years
Harvey Rodgers          (DC)         122        (140)                4           (4)            6.94               2017 - 2022
René Copeland           (MC)         208        (242)                22         (30)            7.26               2017 - 
Frazer Hampson         (GK)         214        (246)                                              6.84               2019 - 
Tómas Ingi Urbancic    (AMR)         121        (182)                23         (35)            7.27              2020 - 
Ady Gilmour             (AMC)        139        (211)               31          (46)            7.60               2019 - 
David Popa               (S)         121        (145)               80          (92)             7.26              2020 - 2024
Elijah Adebayo           (DC)       129        (147)               7           (8)              7.01              2021 - 
Emmanuel Gyasi        (AML/S)   130                              57                                               2022-2025
i will add more one day

bodminwomble · May 26, 2016

Back for my 2nd attempt, this time in National League North again but with Buxton FC, Predicted 18th so in theory should be a much stronger side than my previous attempt with Matlock Town.

Andrew Haines · May 26, 2016

My first Dafuge of FM2016. I didn't buy the game until patch 16.3 and it's taken me a while longer than usual to get a tactic I am happy with. Going for Whitby, had happy times with them on previous saves. Would dearly love Merthyr but I setup a Macro to reload automatically and reloaded 1000+ times and didn't see a single team anywhere near their rep..

profile

Lenzar · May 27, 2016

Andrew Haines is it possible to make this macro available? I'm sure some people would like it.

Andrew Haines · May 27, 2016

I use a program called MacroRecorderLite, it records keypresses and mouse clicks. You would need to set it up yourself but it isn't too difficult. You can set the gap between clicks to 0.1 seconds meaning it is loads quicker than doing it yourself. I had it so a reload took about 25 seconds and you could start it by hitting the spacebar. I would watch a film while constantly hitting space. This is fairly easy to do.

I got a bit more advanced and set it to reload, save a copy of the game with a particular filename. It then took a screenshot of the teams promoted and saved it with the filename the same as the saved game. Then the really clever bit was I used a batch OCR tool to turn the screenshots into excel documents giving the filename and the names of the teams reloaded. Essentially this meant I could run it all day (I left it going one day and it did 600ish reloads) then just check the excel document for the team I wanted. This was really temporamental and I didn't have the patience to set it up again..

Tecmo · May 27, 2016

My first Dafuge of FM2016. I didn't buy the game until patch 16.3 and it's taken me a while longer than usual to get a tactic I am happy with. Going for Whitby, had happy times with them on previous saves. Would dearly love Merthyr but I setup a Macro to reload automatically and reloaded 1000+ times and didn't see a single team anywhere near their rep..
profile

If you don't mind starting in 2024 you can start playing Merthyr then.

Major Baws · May 27, 2016

My first Dafuge of FM2016. I didn't buy the game until patch 16.3 and it's taken me a while longer than usual to get a tactic I am happy with. Going for Whitby, had happy times with them on previous saves. Would dearly love Merthyr but I setup a Macro to reload automatically and reloaded 1000+ times and didn't see a single team anywhere near their rep..
profile

Good luck! My first attempt at this challenge this year was with them and it was pretty disastrous. On my third attempt now (this time with Frickley) and I think I'm finally going to survive the first season.

Andrew Haines · May 28, 2016

2016/17

Overview

A solid first season. I started with a number of decent players who gave me a good run in the first few months of the season. This is always a challenge as I try and bring my own squad in. This ensured we were more in danger of making the playoffs than slipping into relegation trouble.

I now have a squad I am relatively happy with but it needs a few more players if we are to push on for promotion.

Conference North - 1st

GK -

RB -

CB -

LB -

RW -

DLP -

CM -

LM -

AMC -

CF -

Year League Pos. Champ.L UEFA FA Cup FA Trp Achievement
2016/17 Conference North 10th na na 2ndQual 3rdQual

Major Baws · May 28, 2016

Frickley Athletic - Season 2016/17 - Conference North

Manager Profile | League Table | Transfers | Squad

While I'm happy to have survived the season comfortably after previous failed attempts with Whitby and Mickleover, I'm ultimately very disappointed with the final league position as I was only four points away from the playoffs at the beginning of March. A spectacular collapse at the end of the season, taking just four points from the final eleven league games, means we finished at the lowest position we'd been in all season.

The obvious highlight from this season was reaching the FA Cup 1st Round and landing a plum tie and subsequent TV match against League One Bolton. Overall from the cups we generated ~£120k from prize money and TV revenue alone, and hopefully this will help to increase the club's reputation further for next season.

Top Players

Aaron Knight - Top scorer. He has the attributes to play a variety of striker roles at this level and has agreed a new contract for next season. More consistency required for next season - aiming for at least 20 goals.

Junior Konadu - One of the first players on the teamsheet. He is so comfortable on the ball despite the low composure rating and is a key passing machine. Hoping for more goals and assists from him next season.

Declan Benjamin - Excellent mental and physical stats compensated for his lack of technical ability for much of the season. Still isn't highly rated by my coaching staff, but should continue being a regular next season.

Next Season

Of course getting out of this league has to be the priority, but I'll be happy with a top half finish with a view to sneaking into the playoffs. As mentioned above, I'd like to achieve more consistency and to get more out of this season's top players. Problem positions have definitely been the defence - there are one or two worth keeping, but I ended up signing several duds this season that I'll be glad to get off the books. Hopefully Guiseley end up winning the playoffs as I'm fed up of their narrow 4-3-3 and their fullbacks with aimbot crossing.

Season         League                 Position       FA Cup     FA Trophy    League cup    Europe       Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17        Conference North       18th           1st Rnd    2nd Rnd      N/A           N/A          N/A

Andrew Haines · May 29, 2016

Whitby Town

2017/18

Overview

Automatic promotion at the second time out was a little surprising. I thought we could push to be in contention but form in December was poor and we found ourselves in the pack trailing ten points behind run away leaders Kettering. We closed the gap with a run of only two defeats in 15 games after Christmas and with six games to go sat four points behind the leaders. Only two points from the following four games though seemed to end our hopes. Kettering however had also faltered but stood five points clear of us with two games to play. I was almost unaware of this. Having given up hope I was thinking about the playoffs and hadn't noticed Kettering's form. I had an eye over my shoulder as our form was looking like it could cost us even a playoff place. Our next game was away at the leaders Kettering, we hammered them running out 3-1 winners. This still left us with slim hopes. We were third and a win for Kettering or Chester would see us in the playoffs. Both sides were away, at Alfreton and Curzon Ashton respectively. We were at home to Southport, took a 2-0 lead within 5 minutes but conceded after half-time. At this stage both Kettering and Chester were losing and we were sneaking into top spot. We conceded a goal on 54 minutes which cued 36 nervous minutes. Kettering equalised which prolonged the suspense but we held out and we finished the season top.. level on points with Kettering but with a +2 goal difference.

We have a strong but disappointingly two of the stars of the season left on frees at the end of the season. Bossaerts and Jones arrived mid-season but only signed to the end of the season. They were the standout players so this was a blow. They leave a big gap to be filled. Taking into account 2-3 players who aren't strong enough for the step up I have a lot of work to do in readying us for the Conference National.

GK - -

RB -

CB -

LB -

RW -

DLP -

CM -

LM -

AMC -

CF -

Year League Pos. Champ.L UEFA FA Cup FA Trp Achievement
2016/17 Conference North 10th na na 2ndQual 3rdQual
2017/18 Conference North 1st na na 2ndRnd 1stRnd Champions, Promoted

libbyshuss · May 29, 2016

Cambridge City 2029/30

Championship

Summary

Board Expectation: avoid relegation

Media Expectation: 22nd

Finish: 5th

I felt confident we could improve on 18th and the season started fairly well for us. We were comfortable mid-table all the way through to December when a fantastic run of 5 win out of 6 around christmas suddenly shot us into the top four. The gap between fourth and twelfth was admittedly only three points but it suddenly gave us confidence that we may be onto something. We managed to maintain some form without ever really pulling away from the chasing pack but a win of three wins from our last three games sealed a play-off place by a point.

The play-offs saw us play Brentford, who we had beaten 4-0 away from home only two months previously. The first leg was at home adn we absolutely battered them, 20 shots to 5, 9 on target to their 2. But we just couldn't break them down, their keeper had a stormer and they sucker-punched us with two breakaway goals. We lost the second leg 2-1 as we chased the game after taking an early lead. A disappointing end to a generally successful season.

Cup Competitions

Round 4 of the FA Cup but came unstuck at home versus Manchester City as they cantered to a 3-0 win. 3rd round of the league cup, losing to Burnely on penalties.

Conference National - 12th

Having to sell players to keep our heads above water now. Not ideal but the board won't build a new stadium.

Finances

Just build me a stadium already! 2k is not really gonna cut it at this level

Notable Players

J acob Jones - Third season on loan from Chelsea, first season where he's unquestionably been first choice. 30 league goals and already signed up for next season

J on Schumacker - Made the right wing spot his own after being brought in originally as just a back up player. 10 goals and 12 assists in 35 games as a winger is a fantastic return

Next Season

With the right strengthening maybe a push for promotion is on

Career Overview

Season    League                       Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2016/17   Vanarama National League North      13th       
2017/18   Vanarama National League North      13th
2018/19   Vanarama National League South      9th
2019/20   Vanarama National League South      10th
2020/21   Vanarama National League South      2nd       lost in play-off semi-final
2021/22   Vanarama National League North      4th        lost in play-off semi-final
2022/23   Vanarama National League North      [b]1st [/b]       Champions!
2023/24   Vanarama National League          [b]1st [/b]       Champions!
2024/25   League 2                            12th
2025/26   League 2                            5th          Play-off winners
2026/27   League 1                            5th          Lost in play-off semi-finals
2027/28   League 1                            [b]1st           Champions!
[/b]2028/29   Championship                     18th
2029/30   Championship                      5th         Lost in play-off semi-finals

100 Club

Name                (Position); League Games (Overall Games); League Goals (Overall Goals); Average Rating;        Years
Harvey Rodgers          (DC)         122        (140)                4           (4)            6.94               2017 - 2022
René Copeland           (MC)         208        (242)                22         (30)            7.26               2017 - 
Frazer Hampson         (GK)         214        (246)                                              6.84               2019 - 
Tómas Ingi Urbancic    (AMR)         121        (182)                23         (35)            7.27              2020 - 
Ady Gilmour             (AMC)        139        (211)               31          (46)            7.60               2019 - 
David Popa               (S)         121        (145)               80          (92)             7.26              2020 - 2024
Elijah Adebayo           (DC)       129        (147)               7           (8)              7.01              2021 - 
Emmanuel Gyasi        (AML/S)   130                              57                                               2022-2025
i will add more one day

Andrew Haines · May 29, 2016

Whitby Town

2018/19

Overview

We started the season very strongly and at Christmas were top of the table. Our form fell apart however and we only won two league games in 2019. Not a bad performance however and there is quality in the squad. With a few signings we can hopefully have a run at promotion next year.

GK -

RB -

CB -

LB -

RW -

DLP -

CM -

LM -

AMC -

CF -

Year League Pos. Champ.L UEFA FA Cup FA Trp Achievement
2016/17 Conference North 10th na na 2ndQual 3rdQual
2017/18 Conference North 1st na na 2ndRnd 1stRnd Champions, Promoted
2018/19 Conference National 12th na na 4thQual Semi

Pippadoc · June 1, 2016

Canvey Island

Vanarama League South - 2016/17

Transfers

I was busy in the free agent market, bringing in a total of 11 players to fill out the first team squad. I used a mixture of 1 year contracts and pay-as-you-play deals to fill out the squad and I will look to extend/sign to real contracts the players that have panned out this season. The rest can be gotten rid of on the cheap and hopefully replaced by better quality players.

All in all we brought in 5 players that ended up being part of our first choice eleven including 3 of our back four. Unfortunately, I couldn't sign a goalkeeper that would significantly improve on what we have. Given that our current goalkeeper is apparently only a good players for the level below us, Goalkeeper remains our most important need going into next season.

Vanarama National League South

League Table - Fixtures Part 1 - Fixtures Part 2

It took a little while for the squad to gel and get used to the tactics, but after that we had a pretty solid season. We were up as high as 11th at one point before we went on a poor run of 8 games without a win in the second half of the season. In the end we finished in a very respectable 16th place, which should be a good springboard for next season.

We were pretty solid going forward, ending up as the 11th highest scorers in the division. It was our defence that let us down coming in at an awful 20th in goals conceded. If we can shore that up next season and improve a little going forward, then we can end up with a good shot of pushing for the play-offs next season.

FA Cup

Fixtures

A solid FA Cup run saw us beat two non-league sides before losing to a side in the division above us. It was a shame we couldn't make it to the first round proper and give us a chance to get a big money fixture with a big side.

FA Trophy

Fixtures

A little disappointing run in the FA Trophy, again we managed to beat a non-league side in our first tie. In the second we lost to a fellow VNLS side, Sutton did go on to make a play-off spot, but I was hoping we could earn a win and rack up some more prize money.

Squad and Key Players

Squad Overview

Jordan Shipley (MC) - Shipley played as a Centre Midfielder (Defend) and he really excelled. His tackling is really poor, but he more than made up for it by intercepting a lot. He kept possession excellently for us and just kept the side ticking over nicely.

Joe Brothwell (MR) - Brothwell played as a Winger (Attack) and despite his 1.5 stars of ability, he was actually a very solid player for us. His solid dribbling and crossing, combined with his good physical stats led to him being able to beat his man often. His crosses were pretty deadly for us creating 10 goals and chipping in with 4 goals as well.

Jonathan Hippolyte (ST) - Hippolyte played as Poacher for us and started off the season excellently. He picked up an injury during the middle of the season and really struggled to find form after returning. In the end though he came good and scored some crucial goals in the run-in to help us stay up. He ended up with 15 goals and 10 assists - hopefully if he can stay injury free he can improve that goal total next season.

Arel Amu (ST) - Arel Amu played as Deep-Lying Forward (Support) for us and was fantastic for us this season. He was our top goalscorer with 19 goals in total, he also managed to set up another 9 goals. Amu is going to be a key member of the squad going forward and will hopefully be here for many years to come.

Finances

The financial season hasn't officially ended, but we're currently just under £1000 down for the year. We'll end up making a small loss, which is disappointing after we did reasonably well in the cup competitions. I'm hoping I can lower the wage bill this season whilst also strengthening the side. We'll need another cup run, but hopefully if our attendances can increase a little we'll end up making a profit next season.

bodminwomble · June 1, 2016

Second attempt at the challenge went better but still got fired at the end of the 2016-17 season after suffering relegation on the final day with Buxton having lost 5-0 at home to AFC Fylde while Bradford Park Avenue beat North Ferriby United to stay up by a point.

Now to reload again for attempt 3, this time in National League South.

bodminwomble · June 2, 2016

On to attempt number three, this time it's starting in National League South with Chesham United, hopefully will go one better than the attempt with Buxton and stay up.

libbyshuss · June 2, 2016

Cambridge City 2030/31

Championship

Summary

Board Expectation: mid-table

Media Expectation: 12th

Finish: 5th

I'm still a bit in shock after this season, possibly one of the maddest seasons I've ever had. I felt confident going into the new season and an opening day 6-0 home win against Reading just reinforced that. Sadly, our second game saw us travel to Middlesborough and lose 4-0. We then won our third game but lost the next two. Suddenly, we couldn't buy a win. We lost 3-2 on three occassions, all three saw their winner scored in the last ten minutes, we dominated games only to draw, and I was constantly told by my assman not to go to hard on the players. By December we were sitting in 21st place and rather than looking ahead to the play-offs it started dawning on me that we were in a relegation battle and I started hoping I'd done enough over the years to avoid the sack shoulg we go down.

December 14th saw Sunderland visit, with the very distinct possibility of us dropping into the releagtion places should we lose. We managed to win a close game 2-1. The next game saw us away at promotion chasing Brighton, where we sneaked a 1-0. With in a month we'd won 8 in a row and were sitting comfortably mid-table. It didn't end there - in the final 24 league games we only lost three, and one was to a last minute goal after we'd played 88 minutes with ten men. Somehow, from a relegation battle we'd made it into the play-offs, and were easily the in form team.

Our semi-final opponents were Reading, who we'd already done the double over. Our confidence was high and our form was good and we absolutely dominated the first home leg. We drew 1-1. Going away to Reading we were still confident and a sublime display was rewarded with a 3-0 victory. We'd made it to Wembley!

The final was against WBA, one of the only teams we hadn't beaten in the league. The first half was all them and we were lucky to go in only one down. A half-time rollicking and a change to an attacking strategy saw us a different time in the second half. We quickly equalised and then, with ten minutes left, up popped dos Santos with what proved to be winner. A season that halfway through saw me worrying about relegation had ended with promotion!

Cup Competitions

round 5 of the FA Cup and round 4 of the league cup. Pretty good, really.

Conference National - 14th

Some fantastic free signings made

Finances

Well, promotion may solve a lot of financial problems

Notable Players

J acob Jones - Not quite as prolific this season but did enough for me to sign him up on a free

Tom Newbold - picked up on a free from Derby. A natural in 4 positions, turned out to be so good i wish i had three more of him

Pep dos Santos - I wasn't sure how good he was until the second half of the season. He struggled for fitness until christmas.

Next Season

Staying up!

Career Overview

Season    League                       Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2016/17   Vanarama National League North      13th       
2017/18   Vanarama National League North      13th
2018/19   Vanarama National League South      9th
2019/20   Vanarama National League South      10th
2020/21   Vanarama National League South      2nd       lost in play-off semi-final
2021/22   Vanarama National League North      4th        lost in play-off semi-final
2022/23   Vanarama National League North      [b]1st [/b]       Champions!
2023/24   Vanarama National League          [b]1st [/b]       Champions!
2024/25   League 2                            12th
2025/26   League 2                            5th          Play-off winners
2026/27   League 1                            5th          Lost in play-off semi-finals
2027/28   League 1                            [b]1st           Champions!
[/b]2028/29   Championship                     18th
2029/30   Championship                      5th         Lost in play-off semi-finals
2030/31   Championship                      5th         Promotion! Play-off winners!

100 Club

Name                (Position); League Games (Overall Games); League Goals (Overall Goals); Average Rating;        Years
Harvey Rodgers          (DC)         122        (140)                4           (4)            6.94               2017 - 2022
René Copeland           (MC)         208        (242)                22         (30)            7.26               2017 - 
Frazer Hampson         (GK)         214        (246)                                              6.84               2019 - 
Tómas Ingi Urbancic    (AMR)         121        (182)                23         (35)            7.27              2020 - 
Ady Gilmour             (AMC)        139        (211)               31          (46)            7.60               2019 - 
David Popa               (S)         121        (145)               80          (92)             7.26              2020 - 2024
Elijah Adebayo           (DC)       129        (147)               7           (8)              7.01              2021 - 
Emmanuel Gyasi        (AML/S)   130                              57                                               2022-2025
i will add more one day

Tecmo · June 3, 2016

Merthyr Town FC

2024-2025

One last try with this after being fired from a long, but ultimately fruitless stint at Slough Town. Couldn't resist taking Merthyr Town when they were promoted the following season. Pretty decent setup here, at least in terms of a 10,000 seat stadium and a healthy starting balance.

On the other hand, I was handed a very weak roster and very low reputation, so we went into the season as massive underdogs, 5000-1 odds to win the title. Next lowest odds were 80-1. We also had a ridiculously low budget, somewhere under 4K a week. But we also had a little transfer money, so that was different.

League Table

But survive we did...barely. 40 points on the season and a -31 goal differential to finish 19th, 1 point clear. We were the first team to survive a season with only 40 points. Despite one of the worst defensive records in the league, we actually had some good stretches including a run of 5 straight clean sheets and another stretch where we won 4 of 5 games with 1-0 scores.

Top Players

ST Matt Smith led our team in goals and assists with 16 and 6. He'll likely be our captain next season although I need to find a better partner for him up front in the 4-4-2 we're using.

MC Kieran White, signed from Everton, was pretty easily our best player and the one player I'm really counting on currently. Provides a good B2B presence in midfield.

DC Matthew Hanks - I didn't really have a 3rd key player but Hanks is notable as I paid Bath 3.2K to sign him on a transfer and we threw him into the starting lineup as a 16 year old. He had his struggles but I still have a lot of hope for him.

Cups

We won our first game in the FA Cup quite easily, 3-0 over Deal before drawing our next game at home against Margate 0-0 and then getting destroyed in the replay 1-5. Our FA Trophy ended quickly, 1-3 at home against Eastbourne Boro.

Youth Intake

MC David Morgan was our one player with any real potential, if you squint really hard.

Finances

Somehow, we managed a profit last season of about 27K and we are sitting 134K in the black. I'm hoping to make good use of loans this year to keep salaries down and keep the finances strong.

Looking Ahead

Just trying to survive again, a bit more comfortably this time I hope. Need to strengthen the squad, our biggest need is some midfielders who can actually pass the ball. And more help in defense. And another forward or AMC who can find the net.

Season    |     League          |     Position    |    FA Cup    |    Other Cup         |    Top Scorer
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2024/25   |  Conference South   |         19th    |      3rd Q   |  FA Trophy 3rd Q     |   Matt Smith (16)

Andrew Haines · June 3, 2016

Whitby Town

2019/20

Overview

A poor season failed to improve upon last seasons 12th place. I twice was called in by the board to explain poor results. I managed to survive but am struggling to recruit better players. I have a few decent players but need to raise the overall level of the squad.

Conference National - 4th

GK -

RB -

CB -

LB -

RW -

DLP -

CM -

LM -

AMC -

CF -

Year League Pos. Champ.L UEFA FA Cup FA Trp Achievement
2016/17 Conference North 10th na na 2ndQual 3rdQual
2017/18 Conference North 1st na na 2ndRnd 1stRnd Champions, Promoted
2018/19 Conference National 12th na na 4thQual Semi
2019/20 Conference National 14th na na 2ndRnd Winner

Andrew Haines · June 4, 2016

Whitby Town

2020/21

Overview

Following a disappointing season last year I struggled to bring in players to improve the quality of the side. As it proved, the players in the squad already turned in a vastly improved performance. I was able to bring in three players in October who did boost the quality. Keeper Kurasik and Defender Elsdon were slight improvements on the standard in the team already while attacking midfielder Connor Ronan was a significant signing. As well as being the best player in the squad he has a lot of pace which is important in the AMC position in my 4411 formation.

Despite a start with far too many draws, we kept in touch with the teams at the top of the table all season. In the end we couldn't manage the final push for top spot but were playing like the best team in the league by the end of the season. This boded well for the playoffs, a home draw with Wrexham in the first leg was not a good start though. We grabbed an away win 2-1 in Wrexham which saw us into the final. At Wembley we outclassed Barrow and ran out 5-0 winners.

For next season most of the side should be strong enough to keep us so I will concentrate on bringing in younger players I can develop.

League Cup - 1st Round

GK -

RB -

CB -

LB -

RW -

DLP -

CM -

LM -

AMC -

CF -

Year League Pos. Champ.L UEFA FA Cup FA Trp Achievement
2016/17 Conference North 10th na na 2ndQual 3rdQual
2017/18 Conference North 1st na na 2ndRnd 1stRnd Champions, Promoted
2018/19 Conference National 12th na na 4thQual Semi "
2019/20 Conference National 14th na na 2ndRnd Winner FA Trophy Winner
2020/21 Conference National 4th na na 3rdRnd Winnr Promoted, FA Trophy Winner

Drew the Cookie Eater · June 7, 2016

So finally started this challenge, quite later than usual than in previous versions.

But I have taken over as Kingstonian

And the squad, pretty decent, and I have made a few transfers.

IainWhite · June 8, 2016

So i'm back again this time i'm thinking of Salford as their promotion means they wont be available next year for this challenge.

Managers Profile

Managers Information

bodminwomble · June 8, 2016

Chesham United - National League South 2016-17

I was expecting a struggle to keep Chesham United up when seeing that we were predicted to finish 22nd in the season preview with title odds of 1000-1 and a £3.9K per week wage budget, this was not helped by suffering an opening day 6-2 loss away to Eastbourne Borough in the league, thankfully we gained some form and had a good league run from then until mid-January had us looking at a potential spot in the playoffs.

The playoffs however were not to be as our main striker suffered a cruciate ligament injury and we then struggled to keep up momentum heading into the end of the season resulting in another four wins and a handful of draws to finish in 14th and secure a second season in National League South.

We did not fare well in the FA Cup though having been knocked out 2-1 away to Weymouth in the 2nd Qualifying Round after being reduced to 8 men in what I thought was the worst moment of the season, the FA Trophy also proved a struggle as we needed a replay to beat Ryman League Division 1 South side Chipstead 1-0 at home in the 3rd Qualifying Round before losing out to Gosport Borough 3-1 after extra time at home in a First Round Replay, hopefully the cups will go better next season.

Heavy investment is required in the club though as about £350K of debt has been accrued so far and I think that unless some investment comes in then we could enter administration in the 2017-18 season.

League Table

Fan's Players Of The Season

1st: Tommy Tejan-Sie

2nd: Alex Przespolewski

3rd: Liam Malone

Top Goalscorer: Luke Holmes (13)

Season    |     League           |     Position    |    FA Cup    |  FA Trophy/JPT  |    Top Scorer
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016-17   | National League South|      14th       |    2nd QR    |    1st Round    |   Luke Holmes (13)

Joe. · June 8, 2016

I've attempted this sporadically over the past 3 versions of the game and the same things always happen;

I play as Nantwich Town, I do well to start with, I lose form in the second half of the season.. I desperately try to find the weakness in my tactics, ultimately fail to do so and then plummet down the table. I survive by the skin of my teeth/get relegated on the last day.

I just haven't figured out how to get going.. I think my best run doing this was about 4 or 5 seasons in the Conference North, but with crippling finances.

Alas, I'm trying again but will hold off posting on here until I know I'm not just going through the motions once more.

Andrew Haines · June 10, 2016

Whitby Town

2021/22

League 2 - 1st

FA Cup - 2nd Round

Johnstones Paint Trophy - Quarter Final

Overview

I didn't go for wholesale changes after last years promotion and it paid off. Players were brought into the weakest positions, the two central midfielders being areas I looked at first with Gardner arriving in July bringing creative passing to the playmaker position. Last seasons captain Calum Butcher started the season in the holding role and was a decent choice there but when Bayliss became available I snapped him up. Butcher ended up moving to Sunderland who are currently stuck in League 1 midtable. The other key arrival was Yohann Jouan who was released from Arsenal a year previous, Robinson moved back to left back to accomodate him. I tried hard to bring in a striker as Bojaj had done well for 3 seasons but I felt he would be lacking at this level. He proved me wrong..

We started slowly and hung around just above midtable for most of the first two thirds of the season. Form was fantastic following Christmas and we climbed the table rapidly. It was only in March that we climbed into top place and we always look likely to hold onto it from there.

The undoubted star of the season was Connor Ronan. He was good last season scoring 13 league goals but this season he was unbelievable scoring 31 goals. His pace running from deep was a real bonus.

Key Players

GK - Dominic Kurasik

RB - Dan Casey

CB - Gareth Reilly

CB - Matthew Elsdon

LB - Tyrell Robinson

RW - DJ Buffonge

DLP - Neal Gardner

CM - Ollie Bayliss

LM - Yohann Jouan

AMC - Connor Ronan

CF - Florent Bojaj

Year League Pos. Champ.L UEFA FA Cup Lge Cup JnPTrp FA Trp Achievement
2016/17 Conference North 10th na na 2ndQual 3rdQual
2017/18 Conference North 1st na na 2ndRnd 1stRnd Champions, Promoted
2018/19 Conference National 12th na na 4thQual Semi
2019/20 Conference National 14th na na 2ndRnd Winner FA Trophy Winner
2020/21 Conference National 4th na na 3rdRnd Winnr Promoted, FA Trophy Winner
2021/22 League 2 1st na na 2ndRnd 1stRnd QtrFnl na Champions, Promoted

libbyshuss · June 14, 2016

Cambridge City 2030/31

Premiership

Summary

Board Expectation: battle bravely

Media Expectation: 20th

Finish: 20th

Well, it was always going to be tough. The board finally decided it was time to increase our 2 000 capacity stadium so our inaugural season in the Premiership saw us play home games at the abysmally titled stadium:mk, a name that makes me sad every time I see it, and not just because of the ludicrous use of lower case letters. After 9 games we had won one and lost eight and were sitting at the bottom, where we stayed all season. There was a bright spark around the start of March where back-to-back victories saw us move within three points of 17th and safety. With 9 games left, we had a chance! 6 defeats and 3 draws later we were doomed.

Cup Competitions

Shamefully, we were 2-0 up after 84 minutes against league 1 Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup 4th round when they scored 2 in 2 minutes, then beat us in the replay.

We finally had a transfer budget! Some fairly astute signings were made but it left us with a young and inexperienced squad, which really showed throughout the season. Some panic buys made on deadline day in a vain attempt to bolster a weak defence. The gamble backfired though and I'm now lumbered with fairly average defenders on fairly high wages. whoops.

Finances

At the end of the season we now have £54 million in the bank. The premiership really is a massive cash cow.

Notable Players

Manuel Murillo - A bargain 3m signing from Barcelona, is equally at home in MC or AMC. I'm going to ty and keep hold of him if I can, he'll destroy the Championship

Tom Newbold - A great season, mainly from inside forward. Had a 9m relegation release fee and there was no way he was staying so once relegation seemed obvious I struck a deal with Marseille and sold him for £20m. Stupidly cheap price really, but what can you do?

.

Next Season

Another year at stadium:bleurgh as more work is done on ours but with the squad and financial clout we now have we should be looking at immediate promotion

Career Overview

Season    League                       Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2016/17   Vanarama National League North      13th       
2017/18   Vanarama National League North      13th
2018/19   Vanarama National League South      9th
2019/20   Vanarama National League South      10th
2020/21   Vanarama National League South      2nd       lost in play-off semi-final
2021/22   Vanarama National League North      4th        lost in play-off semi-final
2022/23   Vanarama National League North      [b]1st [/b]       Champions!
2023/24   Vanarama National League          [b]1st [/b]       Champions!
2024/25   League 2                            12th
2025/26   League 2                            5th          Play-off winners
2026/27   League 1                            5th          Lost in play-off semi-finals
2027/28   League 1                            [b]1st           Champions!
[/b]2028/29   Championship                     18th
2029/30   Championship                      5th         Lost in play-off semi-finals
2030/31   Championship                      5th         Promotion! Play-off winners!
2031/32   Premiership                        20th

100 Club

Name                (Position); League Games (Overall Games); League Goals (Overall Goals); Average Rating;        Years
Harvey Rodgers          (DC)         122        (140)                4           (4)            6.94               2017 - 2022
René Copeland           (MC)         208        (242)                22         (30)            7.26               2017 - 
Frazer Hampson         (GK)         214        (246)                                              6.84               2019 - 
Tómas Ingi Urbancic    (AMR)         121        (182)                23         (35)            7.27              2020 - 
Ady Gilmour             (AMC)        139        (211)               31          (46)            7.60               2019 - 
David Popa               (S)         121        (145)               80          (92)             7.26              2020 - 2024
Elijah Adebayo           (DC)       129        (147)               7           (8)              7.01              2021 - 
Emmanuel Gyasi        (AML/S)   130                              57                                               2022-2025
i will add more one day

miniman98 · June 22, 2016

Season 4 (2019/20): Vanarama North

Prediction: 17th (of 22)

Expectation: Avoid Relegation

Transfer: 0k

Wage: 7.1k/w

In: 9 for £0 (1 loan for £0)

Out: 10 for £0 (2 loan for £0)

The outgoing players from last season slashed the wage bill in half so I decided to try and keep it as low as possible, only signing an on-loan striker and a CB over summer. Unfortunately the universe wasn’t going to let me get away with that and immediately started throwing injuries at me. The worst hit were at LM and CM, where I was forced to play 1/2 star backups of the backups in a few games, as my left winger Jimmy and my fan’s player of the season, Drunk Tank both picked up long term injuries. Drunk Tank in fact spent over 60% of the season out injured which has killed his rating so he’ll be off in summer but still managed to be beaten by prophet, one of my main strikers from last season who damaged his cruciate and sat out for 10 months. Thankfully, the CM replacements I brought in were actually much better than the Barwell Physio Squad and did a fine job.

League: 4th

We started the league exactly how we finished it last year, going unbeaten in 5 but with only 2 wins before we lost to Worcester which put us 8th. Another 4 draws in the next 5 dropped us to 12th and injuries to my strikers, plus them generally being crap forced me to bring in Islam, a 23yo Irish ST, who completely turned the season around. In his second game he got his first goal for a 1-0 win, his second in his third game and then smashed home a hat-trick in his fourth. His goals started turning the draws into wins and we shot back up the table, finally managing to break out of the playoff chasing pack and sitting 5th at the turn of the year. 3 more wins in January pushed us to 3rd before Islam got hit with a 2 month injury. 5 draws in a row proved how much we needed him. Thankfully his return heralded a full 7 wins on the bounce to put us 9 points clear of 6th and fighting for the top playoff spots with Salford and Lincoln. Unfortunately Tamworth had run away with the league and were 14 clear of us so there wasn’t much chance of catching them. A loss to Tamworth capped our unbeaten run at 24 and then two draws in the final two games left us in 4th and drew us against Lincoln in the playoffs.

Both games against Lincoln had finished 2-2 in the main season and I knew we had a definitely chance but our best centre back, TJ, getting injured for a month in the build-up didn’t help matters. Thankfully the rest of our injury worries were behind us though and we fielded a full team otherwise. The first half was pretty close with us controlling the possession and a couple of wayward long shots but no real chances. In the second half everything opened up though. First a deep cross was met by Islam on the volley and their keeper pulled off an absolute wondersave to tip it round the post. Then they hit the post with a shot from the edge of the area before we headed back up the other end and my other striker managed to fluff a golden chance by toe-poking it straight at the goalie but thankfully with 10 minutes left, Islam latched onto a mirror ball of his previous chance and this time gave the keeper no chance, lashing it into the top left corner on the volley. I was sure that had given us the win but frustratingly a completely skewed cross from their left back hit the bar late on and their striker was there to level the game at 1-1.

The second leg got going much quicker with good chances going to both sides in the opening minutes. Unfortunately it was Lincoln that got the first blow in, heading home from the middle of the area after a cutback. We went close a few times before half time, missing one cross on the stretch and heading onto the top of the bar from close range but couldn’t equalise. The second half continued the same way with us having most of the chances but not able to finish until finally a cross came in from our left back and was bundled home by our RM. I pushed them forward, looking to grab a winner but it left us vulnerable at the back and after a long ball behind the defence our keeper backed off the 1 on 1 and gave them an easy goal. With the minutes dying on the clock I threw everything we had at them and we charged the ball down in central midfield with 5 seconds of normal time left. Two passes later and our substitute striker put in a cross to Islam on the penalty spot and he hit it first time with his left foot straight through the keeper! We won! Right? Away goals? Nope. apparently they only count after extra time for some ******** reason. By this time we were dead on our feet but we pushed on anyway only for Lincoln to score from a corner 5 minutes in. I tried to push forward but the boys were too tired to even pass accurately to each other and a third comeback was too much to ask as Lincoln got another goal late on to finish us off. In the end the missed chances in the first leg cost us but we gave a damn fine showing.

Playoff Semis:

(H) 1-1 Lincoln

(A) 2-4 Lincoln (aet)

kNTGOmr.jpg?1

Cups:

We had a pretty good run in the FA Cup, comfortably beating VNL Macclesfield in the 4th Qualifying Round before putting up a valiant 1-0 defeat at L1 Walsall and earning a record gate from it. The FA Trophy wasn’t quite so good as we were embarrassed by our non-league local rivals Leamington and put out in the first round.

FA Cup: 1st Round

(H) 1-1 Arlesey

(A) 3-1 Arlesey

(H) 1-0 Curzon Ashton

(H) 1-0 Macclesfield

(H) 0-1 Walsall

FA Trophy: 1st Round

(A) 4-2 Halesowen

(A) 1-3 Leamington

In the end this was a fantastic season and we truly became the kings of late equalisers to salvage points from nothing. We did struggle from throwing leads away at times though and failing to convert dominance into leads. If we can turn some of those draws into wins next year then we might challenge for the title but if not then i’m happy with challenging for the playoffs again. A good few players will be going out again in the summer, including Drunk Tank who takes up 1/10th of my budget by himself. Hopefully that means more quality in again and maybe even another striker that can actually score so everything’s not relying on Islam.

Player of the year had to be Islam, who finished with 23 goals overall and 20 in the league even with a 2 month layoff. Fernando was also key coming in as a midfield playmaker and we struggled to break teams down without him. His main partner, Dave, was the absolute rock in the heart of the midfield that allowed him to go on such runs and honourable mention also goes to Big Bang, who topped the assist charts from right wing with 21 as well as scoring in the playoffs.

Financially we actually made a 60k profit this year but that was mostly a technicality of the board putting in a load of money right at the start of the financial year. Still, progress is progress. Or at least it’s treading water.

Average Attendance: 504 (+217)

Finances: +59k

Balance: -270k

Stats:

End of Season Awards | Season Review | Confidence Review | Final Table

[color=#333333]
Season            League             Position       FA cup     FA Trophy   League cup    Europe 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2016/17        Conference North        18th       3rd Qf Rd    1st Rd          N/A          N/A
2017/18        Conference North        13th       2nd Round    2nd Round       N/A          N/A    
2018/19        Conference North        10th       4th Qf Rd    1st Rd          N/A          N/A
2019/20        Conference North        4th       1st Round     1st Round          N/A     N/A[/color]

Stats:

LeProfIamNot · June 23, 2016

Kingstonian 2016/2017

Vanarama National League South

Season Review

League Table

Expectations

Board: Avoid Relegation

Media: 19th

Finish: 5th

Overview

I took one look at this squad and knew immediately, there was no way we would get relegated, and immediately targeted mid-table. I played with the exact squad provided upon walking in on the first day and spent no money on transfers except for one gamble on a striker that bombed big time. We started off with some solid results, which I feel was due to good preparation fitness-wise while the first few games were against non-fit opponents (I find that to be common at this level). We were able to get up in the top half of the table quickly and we never went below 8th all season.

Cup Competitions

We met expectations on the FA Cup by beating two lower division clubs and then getting knocked out by same-division club Eastborne Boro, who strangely ended up in the 17th spot in the league table. I was pretty upset about this loss because I really wanted that big pay day but whatever. I remember the match, though, and they completely dominated us. They had so much desire and we played flat. They deserved to win but it sure stung. In the FA Trophy we met up with Margate, who eventually won our division playoff. I lost every match against them except for one draw. I really grew to hate this club I must say. We played them once in the FA Trophy, twice in division, and twice in the playoff. When they beat us in the playoff I had just about had enough of them. They won the playoff and promotion so good riddance Margate. I can say, however, that every match against them was a nail biter. No match was decided by more than one goal.

League Cup - 1st Round

Seabright and Vint were already on the incoming list when I got there and there was nothing I could do about it. Vint ended up being my best defender, and will be my captain for next season. Seabright was a disaster. He kept complaining about playing time but I quickly learned that he was horrible. His attributes were really good but his 2 positioning always put him in the wrong place at the wrong time. I soon decided to just string him along as long as I could and dump him at the end of the season since nobody would take him, even on a free. Frannie Collin was a blind buy that was a bust. I felt I needed another #9 and took a shot. Ashley Miller was non-contract for cover and was let go a few months later. The last four were purchased at the end of the season and were not meant to be integrated quickly into the squad. I didn’t want to fight too much once the transfer window opened and was trying to get my ducks in a row before the summer break. Henry Lander is a 19 year old central defender that was completely lighting up the Northern Premier League. He performed quite well at the end of the season and I believe he may have a decent amount of upside. Jordan Tunnicliffe is a 23 year old central defender that was putting in very stable performances in League North after not cutting in in National. I’m hoping one of those two defenders can make a mark next season. Tom Wyant is a 19 year old goalkeeper to replace Seabright. He put in a very solid first year for Worcester City, who took 5th in North. I’m hoping he’s ready to feature as our #1 soon. I’m super excited about Saraiva. He’s got all the right attributes to play #10 and he was tearing it up in Isthmian with a crazy number of assists. I’m not sure I needed him, but I felt he was a steal and couldn’t pass him up. If he pans out, the idea of him in the midfield with Shulton makes me shiver (more on Shulton later).

Finances

It’s not looking good but I was about as frugal as I could have been. I spent almost nothing over what was already in place and lived off the land. The board says we have a new grounds lease and that it will bring in lots of new supporters so we’ll see. We started off the season with attendance ranked 19th in the league and we ended the season in 16th. They keep saying that we’re OK but will have problems in the future but they just keep saying that. I’m hoping they know something I don’t and there is a sugar daddy that will come in to bail us out. I will continue to remain well below the budget. I went the whole season at 100k annual under budget and plan to do the same again this season, although the board raised the budget another 100k and I'm going to use it and go deeper into debt. No guts no glory.

Player Performances

I grew really attached to most of the squad for various reasons, but it was all about the following standouts:

Scott Shulton: Vanarama National League South Player of the Season runner up. It just didn’t matter where I put this guy. In the beginning of the season, when I was still feeling out the squad, I played him in the holding playmaker role, the number 10 role and even as AML inside forward. He rarely had an off day. He missed 20% of the season due to fractured ribs though. If that doesn’t happen, maybe we scrap the 7 points we were short of the leader. I extended his contract before the new year, as it was clear he was special. I wish I would have started featuring him sooner as our #10, as it took me a little bit in the beginning to see his talent. I only decided to feature him because we were playing a very defensive system and I wanted his set piece skills on the pitch. 2 of his 5 goals were off free kicks and he assisted goals on a handful of set pieces as well. A key pass machine.

Pelayo Gomez-Pico: This was no surprise. He had 8 and 9 ratings in pretty much everything. He did nothing amazingly well but could do everything asked of him and that’s what made him great. I figured he would be my best player from the start and he pretty much was. He linked up very, very well with Shulton once he began to feature, providing the stability in the midfield and could play anywhere in the middle. I put him at #9 for 11 games when McCollin went cold and he hit for 7 goals, 4 assists in that period. He started going cold and was then moved back to the holding playmaker and number 10 role when Shulton was out with injury. Honestly, if he doesn’t go stale playing striker with some bad ratings, I believe his average rating would have easily been higher and he would have been in the running for player of the year. He was 7.50-7.60 up to that point. He was a playmaking machine, averaging one key pass per 20 minutes, second only to Shulton’s 1 per every 17 minutes. Not sure why his attributes dropped the way they did at the end of the season though. Hopefully it isn’t an issue.

Andrew McCollin: Andre will remind me to never underestimate anybody. I saw this guy and thought there was no way he’d be good. He’s so tiny and I was looking to play a shape that had a lone striker. I was afraid he would get pushed around but this guy dominated open space and I built my system around his skill set: pace, flair, aggression and touch. We played very, very defensively and regularly hoofed it long to let this guy beat the defenders to the balls. Looking at his stats you can see how often I decided to not start him just so I could sub him at the 45-60 minute mark to come on when the other center backs were tiring. He’s getting older but I hope he has a little more gas in the tank. 0.63 goals per 90 minutes. 5 foot 7 inches tall. Awesome.

Lessons Learned

Looking back, I just didn’t realize how close we were to promotion. I continually kept thinking our form would dip or a string of injuries would hit, or some other catastrophe. Aside from 2-3 small runs of bad form, we were in the playoff running for most of the year. I should have seen that, used the 100k I had free in the budget to bring in a couple of high profile players and make a run at the promotion. The other lesson was that tactically, I wasn’t preparing to be a favorite at any point in the season. We played defensively all the time, home or away, and it worked well (4th in goals against, 5th in goal difference). We slipped at the end of the season and hit a bad run of form because clubs started sitting back on us and we weren’t prepared to deal with it tactically. Had I taught them how to play a more control-based, attacking system, it might have made more of a difference. We were only 7 points from the top of the table and I just honestly never thought we could stay up there the whole year.

Upcoming Season

I extended contracts for the core of the squad halfway through the season so most of everybody is coming back, except for Fabian Rowe, as he aspires to play in National and wouldn't re-sign. Excellent player for me and he will be missed. The guys I brought in at the deadline should be pretty much acclimated by the start of the season and I am only looking for another few players to fill in some gaps to build a rather large squad with a lot of depth. I was really over playing a lot of the squad and I feel that that’s another reason why we started having some issues late in the season. I almost never rested Gomez-Pico or Shulton and my central defenders were barely rested because I didn’t trust their cover. Depending on how the lads are performing this season, I may decide to splurge the budget near Christmas so make a run at promotion but I really do believe I have a chance to win this thing with what I have now plus 2-3 more. The board is only expecting us to stay up again, so there isn’t much pressure there. I am a bit upset that they won’t let me take a class, though, so we’ll see if I can change their tune by overachieving again.

Season    League                       Position    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2016/17   Vanarama National League South      5th       Lost first playoff tie

Andrew Haines · June 25, 2016

Whitby Town

2022/23

League 1 - 14th

FA Cup - 3rd Round

Johnstones Paint Trophy - 1st Round

Overview

A solid first season in League 1. My team was built around a core of players signed from the Irish league. Talented and Promising players such as Derek Kerr, Gareth Reilly and Mark Maloney arrived to supplement the previous seasons promotion winners. Unfortunately I have money issues with almost a million of debt. A handful of our top players are looking to move to bigger clubs so it is likely I will sacrifice a few to bring in funds. Hopefully some of this can be re-invested in the squad to push up the quality.

Key Players

GK - Dominic Kurasik

RB - Ola Aina

CB - Derek Kerr

CB - Gareth Reilly

LB - Olsin Matthews

RW - Anthony McGrath

DLP - Neal Gardner

CM - Ollie Bayliss

LM - Mark Maloney

AMC - Connor Ronan

CF - Ollie Knight

Year League Pos. Champ.L UEFA FA Cup Lge Cup JPtTrp FA Trp Achievement
2016/17 Conference North 10th na na 2ndQual 3rdQual
2017/18 Conference North 1st na na 2ndRnd 1stRnd Champions, Promoted
2018/19 Conference National 12th na na 4thQual Semi
2019/20 Conference National 14th na na 2ndRnd Winner FA Trophy Winner
2020/21 Conference National 4th na na 3rdRnd Winnr Promoted, FA Trophy Winner
2021/22 League 2 1st na na 2ndRnd 1stRnd QtrFnl na Champions, Promoted

The_Gato_In_Goal · June 28, 2016

Fm 16 finally went on sale a couple of says ago, so I picked it up and have played with Halesowen and Grantham both without success (relegated first season). Currently I'm halfway through a season with Chesham and things are looking better, so I should have an update out in the next day or so.

Here's a picture of my manager profile for those interested.

The_Gato_In_Goal · June 29, 2016

After trying a single season with both Halesowen and Grantham and not being able to survive, I tried to ditch my counter tactics I was using for those 2 saves. I settled on a 3-4-3 that certainly left us exposed on the flanks but was relatively solid with 2 central mids on defend duty. As you can see, it resulted in some very exciting high-scoring matches and was highly successful in the first half of the season. But once the inevitable drop in form hit, it was near impossible to stop. For some reason, our forwards decided to stop creating chances. We would still concede the same amount, but were unable to outscore opponents. Ismael Ehui, our top goal-scorer, scored 26 goals in the first 21 games but only 2 in the last 24. We scored 58 goals in the first half of the season but only 32 in the second half. Defense, like I said, was consistently bad with 36 and 32 goals conceded respectively. We lost approximately 1.43 goals/match in the 2nd half of the season.

If you can’t score goals while playing 3 strikers along with 2 wide midfielders on attack, then you can’t score goals with any other formation. So that lead to me using my tactic that I had previously used with my Grantham save for the last few matches. When we reached the playoffs, however, I stubbornly stuck with my 3-4-3 in hopes of regaining some of that original form. The semi-final first leg proved that the 3-4-3 was always destined to fail. We got absolutely dominated, but apparently the fm gods let me off the hook and somehow turned a errible performance into a 2-1 home win. The only other formation I had used during the year apart from my 3-4-3 and the Grantham 4-1-4-1 was a 4-1-2-3 to counter the attacking midfielder used in a random match against Maidstone. So, I decided to give it a test run in the away leg. Somehow, we beat Maidenhead handily and won 5-1 on aggregate. This set up a playoff final matchup against Maidstone, the team we first used the 4-1-2-3 against ironically. Using the formation we took a 1-0 lead into halftime, but our inferior quality shone when we collapsed to lose 3-1 and stay in the Vanarama South for a second year.I did feel a little hard done by the fact that we didn’t create too much, but had 2 clear cut chances to their one. However, I guess that makes up for our incredible luck in the first leg.

So after a rather successful first season, I’ll be looking to strengthen the side and push for promotion next year. I think I’ll end up tweaking the 4-1-4-1 to start scoring a bit more, because it has shown promise.

Best 11 + Subs (3-4-3)

GK - Aaron Myles

Career Overview

Season    League                       Position    FA Cup          Capital One Cup     Johnston's Paint Trophy  FA Trophy       Achievements/Notes           Top Scorer             Most Assists                               Highest Avg Rating       Avg Attendance
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17   Vanarama Conference South    4th         3rd Q Round     N/A                 N/A                      3rd Q Round     Lost in playoff finals       Ismael Ehui (28)       Liam Adams (15)                            Ismael Ehui (7.41)       569

The_Gato_In_Goal · June 30, 2016

Did I manage to settle on a working tactic? No. Did that matter in the long run? Somehow not.

So with a ramshackle tactical system(s), We managed to win the Vanarama South. A good thing as well, since we got beat pretty bad by St. Albans and probably would have lost to them in the playoff finals. The whole season, we would have a tactic, play well for 10 or so games, and then fall apart and have to change tactics. As you can see, the trusted 4-1-4-1 came in clutch for us at the end of the season securing the title against all odds.

On to my tactical analysis (which is ironic since I apparently can’t do tactic creation well) then. The 4 formations we used during the year were:

[table=width: 500, class: grid]

[tr]

[td]Tactic[/td]

[td]Win %[/td]

[td]Loss %[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]4-1-2-3[/td]

[td]50%[/td]

[td]38%[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]4-4-2[/td]

[td]60%[/td]

[td]30%[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]4-4-2 Diamond WB[/td]

[td]44%[/td]

[td]19%[/td]

[/tr]

[tr]

[td]4-1-4-1[/td]

[td]67%[/td]

[td]17%[/td]

[/tr]

[/table]

So as you can see, the 4-1-4-1 was certainly the most effective tactic (albeit with a small sample size relative to the others). Regardless, I can't ignore the 67% winning pct and will try to tweak that tactic in preseason to maximize offense, while still staying solid at the back.

The 2nd formation I will stick with next year is the 4-4-2. A bit less effective than the 4-1-4-1 because it concedes WAY to many goals from crosses by full-backs (and to a lesser extent wingers). So if I can make it a bit more solid without compromising the attack, it might challenge the 4-1-4-1 for the main spot.

Something else to note however is the amount of draws the Diamond 4-4-2 with WBs resulted in. It had the lowest winning pct of all the tactics, yet it had the 2nd best loss pct--losing only by 2% to our solid 4-1-4-1. Even though I won't be developing it next year, it is something to remember for the next inevitable time my tactics fail and I need to scrap everything.

(Tell me if any pictures are wrong or not working and I will fix them, I was too lazy to check them this time :rolleyes: )

Best 11 + Subs (4-4-2 Diamond WB aka 2-3-2-1-2)

GK - Aaron Myles

Career Overview

Season    League                       Position    FA Cup          Capital One Cup     Johnston's Paint Trophy  FA Trophy       Achievements/Notes           Top Scorer             Most Assists                               Highest Avg Rating       Avg Attendance
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2016/17   Vanarama Conference South    4th         3rd Q Round     N/A                 N/A                      3rd Q Round     Lost in playoff finals       Ismael Ehui (28)       Liam Adams (15)                            Ismael Ehui (7.41)       569
2017/18   Vanarama Conference South    1st         3rd Q Round     N/A                 N/A                      First Round     Champions, Promotion         David Pratt (30)       Liam Brownhill (12)                        Fabio Saraiva (7.36)     373

The_Gato_In_Goal · June 30, 2016

Preseason started off pretty well as I signed this regen who had interest from TNS and Limerick along with a few other clubs. Had to pay a bit extra to secure his signature, but it should be worth it.

libbyshuss · July 1, 2016

Cambridge City 2031/32

Championship

Summary

Board Expectation: promotion

Media Expectation: 3rd

Finish: 1st

After releagtion, we lost a few of our top players, most of whom had relegation release clauses. Murillo was the hardest one - 3 goals in our first 3 games from midfield when Palace triggered his release clause. Luckily, I had a lot of money to reinvest and a quality, new squad was assembled. It looked way too good for the Championship and so it proved. A lot of draws in the first half of the season meant by February there were 7 teams battling it out. We played 5 of those 7 in Feb/March and won every game, so by the end of March we were 10 points clear and didn't look like blowing it. In the end it was a breeze.

Cup Competitions

3rd round exits in bot the LEague and FA Cups, both to teams in the division above. Nothing to complain about, really