FM16 - The Sky Bet Football League thread

[kozmik]

Nice work Kozmik. Especially on your champions league run. Berardi at Derby, never thought I'd see that.

I've just begun life in the prem with Reading. Trying desperately to hang onto Jordan Obita with a couple of days left in the window. Should have an update this evening when I'm back home.

Obita was actually my preferred option to replace Telles, was too expensive though. He's currently at Stoke in my save, hope you manage to keep him. And hope you stay up!

The whole squad I have is pretty insane, considering we're in our third season in the prem. Average player value is 17,75 million And most of the signings I've made have been transfer listed. While the continual complaining of lack of first team football is annoying to deal with it also has its perks. Of all the key players we have only Renato Sanches, Gino Peruzzi and Armando Barreira (the regen CB) weren't transfer listed. Sane, Lemar, Pohjanpalo, Shaw, Sportiello and Correa were all listed on request because of lack of first team football. Berardi and Eggestein were listed on request for other issues, Son, Lucas Silva and Samper were listed by their clubs. Only three players remain of the squad that I took over, Hughes, Hendrick and Christie.

But I do think that the FA cup win in our first prem season was crucial as it gave us continental football and increased our rep a lot. And there was definitely a lot of luck involved in that. Man City was the only tough draw we had, and we only beat them on penalties after coming from behind twice in the replay. Other draws were QPR, Newcastle, Bournemouth, Aston Villa and Norwich. And we needed a replay against Bournemouth and even then only won it after extra time and of course the final vs. Norwich was decided on penalties.

All in all this reminds me a lot of a Southampton save I had on FM13. First season we barely avoided relegation after a disastrous second half of the season saw us drop from 7th around Christmas to 17th at the end of the season. A tactical rethink and a bunch of great signings and next season we finished 3rd, again some great signings and next year we won the title. In five years we were probably the best team in the world. That was easier though, as Soton at least in FM13 had a sugar daddy owner and there was no FFP, so I could basically spend how much I wanted and the owner always just pumped more money into the coffers. This time around though it's the TV money that almost has the same function. It really is absurd how much money you get in the premier league.

Here's Barreira's profile btw. Excellent player, my favorite regen so far in FM16.

20 years old and 21 caps. I wonder how many he'll get before he retires? CB with a high natural fitness, he could probably still be international quality at 35 if he doesn't get bad injuries. If I manage to keep hold of him, he'll be the next captain after Hendrick leaves in a year and a half.

[Gungner]

Life is hard at Wednesday... 19 games played, and I'm sitting first in the table.

But... I have 8 men out with injuries (longterm) and 2 men out with suspensions. Seems my Ball winning midfielder gets sent off every match, no matter who I play there. Now, I understand that a ball winning midfielder will pick up some cards along the way, but it's not like I have any instructions set to hard tackling or anything like that. Oh well... The date is December 7th, and I desperately need some backup's for certain positions, but the money is not there. Bank balance is £1,6 mil in the red, and the transferbudget is currently at £1,2 mil, while there is only £4k left for wages.

[sammo10]

Reading FC 2017/18 Season Preview

I think the main objective of this season is to stay uo. A cup run would be nice, but survival is essential, especially for finances. We won't be changing our approach to the way w eplay though. We will still look to dominate possession. This might see us get smashed once or twice, but I hope it will see us beat the teams in and around us.

Transfers

Out -

Jordan Obita £12m - We tried desperately to keep him, but with 2 days left of the window, Leverkusen bid and met his £12m release clause. I could not persuade him to sign a new deal. Champions league was too tempting. A massive loss.

Stephen Quinn £1m - Quinn struggled to get into the side in our promotion season. I decided to let him go and get first team football with Sunderland as First team options would be even more limited this year.

Paul McShane £100k- Macca has aged a bit and had gone right down the pecking order. Surplus to requirements so has moved onto Charlton.

In -

Jerome Sinclair, £450k- A feel this was a real good deal. I will give him the first team opportunity he was after. Hopefully he can grow into a natural goalscorer.

Ben Marshall, £3.3m - Marshall will hopefully add some quality to the wings. He has great technique and his dead balls could prove to be useful.

Bojan, £1.5m - A bargain deal. Bojan will add some real class and flair. I think he can turn into club hero, he has all the tools. Hopefully this is the place he will deliver.

Adil Rami, Loan with Option to buy - This was a big deal for us. He has a wealth of European experience. He will add some class to the back four and hopefully help the likes of Cooper improve.

Josh Scowen, £1.2m - Signed from Barnsley, he will come in to cover for Williams. He was too good for League one. I hope he can make the extra step and settle to Premier league football.

Alex Iwobi, Loan - A loan deal to cover for Fosu, Probably won't play that often, but has the ability to make an impact from the bench.

Luke Garbutt, £1.5m - Garbutt was a deadline day signing. He has big shoes to fill. Hopefully he can replace Obita. He has a fantastice left foot which will be a massive asset to us.

Results so far

Goals look like they may be a problem. 1 goal in 4 games is not good enough. On the bright side 3 clean sheets and only 1 defeat in 4 games. We have dominated the possession in most games. Hopefully Gayle or Sinclair can start firing the goals in. The Leicester game was a painful. They were set up perfectly to destroy us. All goals on the counter attack.

Hopefully we stay up!

Barreira looks insane. I agree about the Cup win playing a big part. Hopefully I can have the same luck. Good luck with the rest of the season.

Keep going Gungner. Stange one with the BWM and hard luck with the injuries. Could you delve into the loan market to help the squad out ?

[kozmik]

Life is hard at Wednesday... 19 games played, and I'm sitting first in the table.

But... I have 8 men out with injuries (longterm) and 2 men out with suspensions. Seems my Ball winning midfielder gets sent off every match, no matter who I play there. Now, I understand that a ball winning midfielder will pick up some cards along the way, but it's not like I have any instructions set to hard tackling or anything like that. Oh well... The date is December 7th, and I desperately need some backup's for certain positions, but the money is not there. Bank balance is £1,6 mil in the red, and the transferbudget is currently at £1,2 mil, while there is only £4k left for wages.

Remember that the ball-winning midfielder has the hard tackling PI on by default, you can't change that. It was my favorite midfield role in FM15, perfectly balanced between attack and defense for me especially with the right PPM's but they do indeed pick up way too many bookings in this years version. I gave up on them after the first season in my first save, and I think you'll be better off using a different role. If you're using BWM/S, I'd go with box to box midfielder, that's what I'm using now and it works ok. CM/S if you want him to be more stationary when you're in possession. CM/D if you use BWM/D, DM/S or DM/D if you're using him in the DM position. Just make sure you instruct him to close down much more to better emulate what the BWM does.

Eight long term injuries is desperately unlucky though. Although I'm sure LVG would think you're having it easy...

[kozmik]

I think the main objective of this season is to stay uo. A cup run would be nice, but survival is essential, especially for finances. We won't be changing our approach to the way w eplay though. We will still look to dominate possession. This might see us get smashed once or twice, but I hope it will see us beat the teams in and around us.

Hopefully active football will work for you as well as it did for me. I'd also suggest you start keeping an eye on possible January signings early on in case you get some money then. Don't be afraid to splash the cash if you do get some, it could make a huge difference. I spent about 30 million and it definitely worked for me. What are your board expectations? Do they expect you to stay up?

How's Garbutt looking in your save? He's an excellent crosser and a great set piece expert, had some really good performances for us in the limited time he was with us. Would've kept him if it wasn't for the huge January budget and a transfer listed Luke Shaw.

[Gungner]

Remember that the ball-winning midfielder has the hard tackling PI on by default, you can't change that. It was my favorite midfield role in FM15, perfectly balanced between attack and defense for me especially with the right PPM's but they do indeed pick up way too many bookings in this years version. I gave up on them after the first season in my first save, and I think you'll be better off using a different role. If you're using BWM/S, I'd go with box to box midfielder, that's what I'm using now and it works ok. CM/S if you want him to be more stationary when you're in possession. CM/D if you use BWM/D, DM/S or DM/D if you're using him in the DM position. Just make sure you instruct him to close down much more to better emulate what the BWM does.

Eight long term injuries is desperately unlucky though. Although I'm sure LVG would think you're having it easy...

I'm playing with three central midfielders, one DMC (Ball-winning) and two CM's (Deep-lying playmaker & Box to box).

[kozmik]

I'm playing with three central midfielders, one DMC (Ball-winning) and two CM's (Deep-lying playmaker & Box to box).

You could try DM/D, or anchor man, with more closing down. If you do, make sure to check the passing instructions as well so he won't try to do things you don't want him to do. If your BWM is on support duty, then you could try DM/S, again with more closing down.

[kozmik]

League table with 10 games to go:

Consecutive games against City, Chelsea, Pool and Arsenal are going to be HUGE. 7-9 points from those and not lose to Pool and we have a great chance to win the title.

I'm not sure why I'm worried about Arsenal though, they're currently 9th and just hired a new manager... Alex Neil, whose recent major achievement was being sacked by Norwich for flirting with the relegation zone.

This looks rather ominous, from Renato Sanches' transfer status page:

Next up will be 2nd leg vs. Shakthar at home, we won the away leg 3-0 so should be easy enough. In the FA cup we'll be facing Leicester, currently in the Championship, at home in the quarters so great chance to book another Wembley date.

[Gizmo7]

Hey guys, little update from me, I've been away all week so haven't had time to play, just finished my season with Morecambe in League One 2018/2019 now. Here's how the table finished up:

Far too many draws in the end cost us a chance for automatic promotion, but we now faced a Swindon side who are in awful form themselves, so I fancied our chances here. We drew the first leg at their place 1-1, but we dominated the match in all honesty, so it was looking very promising for the 2nd leg at our place. The 2nd leg was another cagey affair, but we won it 1-0 and thus progressed in to the play-off final, where we were to meet Carlise, who were also promoted with us last season, the 2 new-boys to battle it out!

The score?

It was a good, even game, and my heart was in my mouth when we gave away a penalty in the 71st minute, but our hero of the day turned out to be our goalkeeper, Nick Pope, who saved it miraculously, before Kaylen Hinds went on to score the winner for us 8 minutes later. It just shows the difference a good goalkeeper makes. Pope was awarded Man Of The Match and we're heading to The Championship!! (gulp)

[kozmik]

Congrats Gizmo, great achievement! I love winning games like that, opposition getting more shots and your gk getting MotM. Shame that we're so good now that in games like that we're usually the dominant side that ends up losing.

How do you rate your chances to stay up? Wasn't this your first season in league one?

[Gizmo7]

Thanks mate. Yes it was my first season in League One! The Championship is going to be extremely tough for us, I hadn't really planned for promotion this early to be honest.

This summer I need to sign a centre-back, defensive midfielder, 2 wingers and a striker all for our first team. Plus I need a few championship-standard backups and I also need to replace our 4 loan signings who are going back to their parent clubs now (Adrian Lawrence, Reece Brown, Kaylen Hinds and Philip Billing).

It's going to be a long summer...

[Jogo Bonito]

Fantastic stuff Gizmo, that must have been way beyond your target! It will be really interesting to see how you get on in the Championship. Could you post up your squad for next season when you get that far.

I'm hoping to get back on to my Coventry game now after not being able to play any FM for a while. They seem to carry more attraction than the L2 Blackpool side I also have to manage.

[kozmik]

Thanks mate. Yes it was my first season in League One! The Championship is going to be extremely tough for us, I hadn't really planned for promotion this early to be honest.

This summer I need to sign a centre-back, defensive midfielder, 2 wingers and a striker all for our first team. Plus I need a few championship-standard backups and I also need to replace our 4 loan signings who are going back to their parent clubs now (Adrian Lawrence, Reece Brown, Kaylen Hinds and Philip Billing).

It's going to be a long summer...

Long and tactical-fluidity-and-team-cohesion-destroying summer. Nice!

We made it to the champions league semi-final! Both QF legs against Liverpool finished 1-1, we won on penalties yet again. The second leg was a fiery affair to say the least:

That's 13 bookings, including two players sent off for two. Alas, our run will in all likelihood come to an end in the semi's:

But the real interesting bit, of course, is the league table... 5 games to go:

We've been really grinding out wins these last few weeks, in the last five league games we've had two 1-0 and two 2-1 wins. One draw, away at Stoke, where we were leading 1-0, got a pen late on which Eggestein missed and then they equalized at 90+2. Still to play City A, Liverpool H, Chelsea A, Palace H and Villa A. Can't be arsed to calculate the different permutations, but three wins will definitely do it, two if we beat Liverpool. Their run in is much easier, so we need to be on the top of our game. The worrying thing is that there's been a lot of nervousness in the squad in previous games. Need to find a way to ease the pressure.

[Jogo Bonito]

Very impressive progress there, the European challenge will be tough but what a great chance to clinch the league title! Best of luck in both.

[kozmik]

Very impressive progress there, the European challenge will be tough but what a great chance to clinch the league title! Best of luck in both.

Truth be told, I'm not really that bothered about the champions league. It was always going to be a very, very long shot to win that competition, and even if we'd had a lucky draw and got Benfica in the semis it would still have been Real or PSG in the final. Of course it's easier to upset the odds in a single game than over two legs, but still. Semi finals in the first attempt is a great achievement.

Meanwhile, we faced Nathan Redmond and Saido Berahino, aka Norwich, in the FA cup semi and they won comfortably 5-2 after Veljkovic got sent off early in the second half. Not particularly bothered about that either, just hoping it doesn't have too big an effect in our league performances. City up next but it'll have to wait for tomorrow.

[Gizmo7]

Fantastic stuff Gizmo, that must have been way beyond your target! It will be really interesting to see how you get on in the Championship. Could you post up your squad for next season when you get that far.

I'm hoping to get back on to my Coventry game now after not being able to play any FM for a while. They seem to carry more attraction than the L2 Blackpool side I also have to manage.

Thanks Jogo, sure I'll post my squad once it's finished! We still have the lowest wage bill in the entire Football League () at just £938k a year! Just looking at the lowest wage bill in last season's Championship and it was Rochdale with £3.32m per year, so I'm still paying my players waaaaay below average, which I'll probably need to sort this summer

Long and tactical-fluidity-and-team-cohesion-destroying summer. Nice!

Indeed! Great work with Derby

[kozmik]

...and with three games to spare!

So now I can fully focus on the champions league games and play youngsters in the league. Problem is I have something of an injury crisis going on... Lemar, Eggestein and Hughes are out for the rest of the season, Sane will miss at least the first leg vs. Madrid. So I have basically one fit striker and two fit wingers. Not looking very promising.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Hiya guys I am back, decided to start a save with MK Dons, already done the first season, only just stayed in the league at the last game of the season, managed to get as many Man City youth players as possible in my 2nd season and they have been awesome for me, especially Garcia, Ambrose and Bytiqyi, also got Ojo from Liverpool on loan who has been good.

MK Dons finances are rubbish but managed to be in profit by selling Carruthers to Bournemouth for 4.5m, managed to make 5m profit in the 2nd season on transfers, got 1.7m as my balance now.

Currently 6th after 5 games played, this is going to be my new long term save so will keep you guys posted how I get on.

[PhroX]

Well, it's been quite a while since I've posted in this thread, as I couldn't really get into FM16 as much as I wanted to. Dunno why, but I wasn't as addicted to it as usual. So I set it aside for a while. But a week or so ago, I decided to give it another shot, and picked up where I left off with my Cambridge game. For those who can't be bothered to go back to my updates, I managed to scrape into 3rd place in the first season, getting me up to League 1, and I had played the first couple of months of the second season before I stopped playing.

My summer signings had been a matter of what I could get for free - I had a respectable wage budget but nothing much in the way of transfer funds - but I strengthened in a couple of key areas, and added some more depth to the squad. The one place I was still weak was up top - I hadn't had any great strikers to begin with, and I was now a division higher without my strikeforce being much stronger.

The season started with me using a defensive 4-1-4-1 formation, which did its job well - I was very hard to beat. Unfortunately, when combined with my anemic strike force, I wasn't doing much in the way of beating other teams either. At one point, my league record was W4-D8-L2. Tried switching things up a bit, with a 3-5-2 type setup, which did a bit better, but the turning point came when I went for a trusty old 4-4-2. Again, I used a counter-attacking setup, but this time, something clicked with the team, aided by the signing of a young striker, Nabi, on a free in November. My scouts and coaches only put him as League 2 quality (albeit with a lot of potential), but he's averaging over a goal every other game, which ain't bad given my still relatively defensive setup, (and it's better than anyone else I have). And so I started to rise up the league. An 8 game unbeaten run over January was massive, and while I've lost a couple since then, we're still picking up a lot of points, so by the end of March, the table looks like this...

Here's my signings - brought in a couple more players in Jan/Feb to cover for some injuries:

[Nottingham Forest]

I wasn't able to get into the Dagenham & Redbridge save. Haven't been able to get into a Football League save on this years FM which is frustrating.

[MichaelBrown]

I wasn't able to get into the Dagenham & Redbridge save. Haven't been able to get into a Football League save on this years FM which is frustrating.

Yeovil...

[Nottingham Forest]

I've tried them and just can't do it .

[Gunner 101]

Hello, it's me..

So I've finally decided to load FM16 for the first time and gone with..

Wish me luck! Hopefully I'll get the time to play quite a bit and get into the game.

[kozmik]

Wow, don't even know what to say. So happy. I was extremely worried when Son missed his penalty, I was certain they'd go on to win the game then. But then time passed and apart from a couple of corners they didn't really create anything. At about 75 mins I went from counter to defensive and waste time, then the second goal came from pretty much nowhere after a poor clearance from our free kick. Just fell to Renato Sanches who had all the time in the world to pick out Sane who then placed it in the corner. 2-0 win at Bernabeu, I've struggled to get that even with world class teams! Amazing scenes.

A bit of bad news though as we lost another winger, Berardi, to injury - he should be back in time for the final though.

[MichaelBrown]

I've tried them and just can't do it .

A real challenge on this FM! I've not updated at all this season, but (if others remember) I'm always Yeovil on every FM. Currently in 2031, took me a long time to get to the Prem including two relegations.

[Nottingham Forest]

I had a cracking save with Yeovil when they were in the Championship. Is it going to be any better with the new patch or is this the toughest it will be?

[Brads-Wigan]

Hiya, any advice on good backroom staff for League 1??

[sammo10]

Hopefully active football will work for you as well as it did for me. I'd also suggest you start keeping an eye on possible January signings early on in case you get some money then. Don't be afraid to splash the cash if you do get some, it could make a huge difference. I spent about 30 million and it definitely worked for me. What are your board expectations? Do they expect you to stay up?

How's Garbutt looking in your save? He's an excellent crosser and a great set piece expert, had some really good performances for us in the limited time he was with us. Would've kept him if it wasn't for the huge January budget and a transfer listed Luke Shaw.

I'm definitely going to ask for some money in Jan to try and get a new striker. Could be the big difference maker in how the season goes.

Garbutt is great, a real asset and I'd say has been as good as Obita. The £10m difference between their prices is certainly not noticeable.

Incredible work in your save! Congrats on the title. Unbelievable scenes, good luck in the final!

[kozmik]

I'm definitely going to ask for some money in Jan to try and get a new striker. Could be the big difference maker in how the season goes.

Garbutt is great, a real asset and I'd say has been as good as Obita. The £10m difference between their prices is certainly not noticeable.

Incredible work in your save! Congrats on the title. Unbelievable scenes, good luck in the final!

Chances are that you won't have to ask for money, at least if you're doing well. I've been given tens of millions to spend in January (well, usually the money's been made available around October-November) every prem season so far. I think that the board at what is seen as a relegation candidate club isn't keen to spend in the summer in case they end up getting relegated, but if survival is looking more likely later in the season you get to spend some of that TV money.

Glad to hear Garbutt's doing well, though not surprising. His crossing is so good that any system where he gets to use that a lot should see him flourish. His only downside is his speed, which is why I ended up shipping him out rather than Biraghi.

I've only just finished the league season and am already nervous about the final. Exactly the same as the FA cup final earlier. I suppose it will be a bit easier this time around as the ramifications of the result, whatever it may be, aren't so huge. In the FA cup final it made the difference between continental football or no continental football. Now it's basically "just a trophy", even if it's the biggest of them all.

Won second consecutive manager of the year!

[sammo10]

Chances are that you won't have to ask for money, at least if you're doing well. I've been given tens of millions to spend in January (well, usually the money's been made available around October-November) every prem season so far. I think that the board at what is seen as a relegation candidate club isn't keen to spend in the summer in case they end up getting relegated, but if survival is looking more likely later in the season you get to spend some of that TV money.

Glad to hear Garbutt's doing well, though not surprising. His crossing is so good that any system where he gets to use that a lot should see him flourish. His only downside is his speed, which is why I ended up shipping him out rather than Biraghi.

I've only just finished the league season and am already nervous about the final. Exactly the same as the FA cup final earlier. I suppose it will be a bit easier this time around as the ramifications of the result, whatever it may be, aren't so huge. In the FA cup final it made the difference between continental football or no continental football. Now it's basically "just a trophy", even if it's the biggest of them all.

Won second consecutive manager of the year!

You know your stuff! Was not expecting anything near that considering my budget at the start of the season was £9m. January will be interesting. Congrats on Manager of the year again!

[kozmik]

You know your stuff! Was not expecting anything near that considering my budget at the start of the season was £9m. January will be interesting. Congrats on Manager of the year again!

It's exactly the same as it was when we were promoted, 9 mill in the summer and 30 in jan. I'm starting to sound like a parrot, but I'll say it again, the TV money in the prem is insane.

[Spiegel]

Hello, it's me..

So I've finally decided to load FM16 for the first time and gone with..

Wish me luck! Hopefully I'll get the time to play quite a bit and get into the game.

Good luck! I'm approaching halfway through season 2 with Hartlepool so if you need any pointers...

I'll post my January Season 2 update once I complete the transfer window (Just reaching January 1st now, 7th place in League 1)

[MichaelBrown]

I had a cracking save with Yeovil when they were in the Championship. Is it going to be any better with the new patch or is this the toughest it will be?

Well, at the minute they have a huge injury crisis and a very, very small budget so it's definitely a challenge. Without starting a new game, I'm unsure how long their key players are out for.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2nd Season MK Dons Update

Managed a very respectable 12th position in the league at the end of my 2nd season, MK Dons have awesome regens, trying to build a team full of regens and young players in general.

Financed with MK Dons are always a problem so I try to sell my best players to make profit and also improve facilities, junior coaching etc to get the best youth player regens I can.

Made 4m profit from transfers this year so far, sold Reeves and Hodson, survived on loans from Man City and other teams abroad to fill the squad up.

Looking forward to my 3rd season in charge, building the team with youth players and aiming to get a better position every year.

[kozmik]

Still haven't gotten around to playing the final. Will have some time alone in the house soon so will play it then so I can concentrate fully. Instead I've been contemplating summer transfers. I got quite a lot of money (40 mill transfer fund and 800k available wage budget) but I'm not sure how much I should spend. Balance was a few millions in the red before the premier league prize money was paid, and also we'll be facing a fine for failing the yearly wage increase limit. Buys will probably be very dependent on sales, should we lose first team players they will have to be replaced. Cyrus Christie is probably the only one I might actively look to replace, though I won't rule out a striker signing either as both Pohjanpalo and Eggestein have been pretty underwhelming this season. I've also looked at replacements for key players should they get sold, and have a pretty clear idea who I'd bring in. Son is probably the likeliest to leave, City bid for him in January and after I rejected he threatened to kick off, if they come in for him again I will probably sell, good as he is. As long as I get 30-40 mill for him.

[kozmik]

Well... Benfica broke Guttman's curse.

Barreira's red was what ultimately decided the match, even if we leveled right after that. We were completely overwhelmed the whole second half, and if anything it's surprising it took so long for them to score. The fourth goal came when we desperately chased the game. So disappointed. Fully deserved for Benfica though, they were the better team from the start, though you never know what might have happened if we hadn't been a man down.

[PhroX]

Ouch, that's a bad one kozmik. Losing a CL final hurts big time

As for me, well, I've gotten to the end of my second season, so here's a little run down of Cambridge's 2016/17

At the beginning of the season, everyone, from the press to the board and even most of my own players were expecting us to be relegated. A year later, nothing's changed. Well, except for the league they're expecting me to go down from.

Never quite managed to get the stunning form of January which took us from mid table to title contenders back, but in the absence of a runaway leader we did enough, and in the end, we stumbled rather than raced over the line, picking up a grand total of one point from our last two games, whereas my two closest rivals managed zero over the same period (Oldham lost 6-1 to Southend in their second last game ).

Player of the season was right winger Adam Drury, signed on a free last summer. His pinpoint crossing provided a hat-full of assists, and he chipped in with a few goals of his own, and managed to make the division team of the year (the only one of my players to do so). Adil Nabi was top scorer, with 14 in 20(3) appearances - a strike rate which probably would've had him top of the league charts had he been here the whole season. Forest and Myhre are continuing to develop nicely, with the former currently my first choice deep lying forward, and the latter an excellent centre mid, who I'm seriously considering making my captain (as both C and VC are leaving this summer and I lack anyone with excellent leadership) - and both apparently still have room to grow further.

Formation wise, my best form corresponded with a switch to a relatively simple counter-attacking 4-4-2, which seemed well suited to taking most of my opponents apart. Had the occasional problem with weak teams, but overall, I can't see myself having come up with anything better.

Gonna have to do some strengthening over the summer, and I actually have a transfer budget this year, but due to a combination of stubbornness, thrift and loyalty, I suspect I'm not going to be making massive waves in the market. I really want to give my players a shot at the division as they'd done so well to get me there, and while I'm expecting to increase my wage spending somewhat, I don't want to end up tripling my highest earner's wage. Definitely need a couple of centre-halves and a striker or two, but I'll see what I can find either on low wage free transfers or in the loan market.

[Gungner]

Considering finally starting a save with Wigan in League One. With a budget of £3 million, which is a lot for a League One team, there's some wiggle room when it comes to transfers or loans. The goal would naturally be to get promoted in the first season.

[Gizmo7]

Morecambe - Sky Bet Championship Preview - 2019/2020

Transfers - As predicted, it was a very busy summer window, but I'm finally happy with my squad in preparation to, what should be, a very difficult season in the Championship.

Joe Grant (regen) - One for the future, we managed to pick him up on a free from Clyde and he looks very promising. He'll be our 3rd choice striker this season, but should get a fair few minutes under his belt.

Jordan Graham - A winger who can play on either side, he looks quick, tricky and skilful, but his mental attributes look like they'll hold him back from being anything other than a decent player for us.

Paul Huntington - Experienced centre-back who's been brought in to try and steady our youthful backline. Has some nice mental attributes too so I'll be looking for him to tutor some of our younger players.

Luca Esposito - 20 year-old Italian winger, he looks okay, probably won't feature much this season, but he's young and cheap and I couldn't resist snapping him up.

Genaro - Exciting looking 21 year-old Spanish defensive midfielder signed on a free from Sevilla Atletico. Could be a rough diamond in the making.

Bernardo De Palma - Young Italian striker, for the future.

Miguel - Young Spanish striker, for the future.

Jack Powell - Looks to be a solid, all-round midfielder with no obvious weakness.

Giacomo Tulli - Our stellar signing, from Italy again, I have very high hopes for Tulli this season.

Umberto Eusepi - Italian, again. Experienced and a very good team player. Should prove to be a nice signing.

Jon Bautista - Signed on a season-long loan with a future fee of £200k agreed if he impresses. He's looked like our best striker in pre-season.

=======================

Squad

Squad continued

As you can see, I have signed a fair few Italians and Spanish this time around. I've had scouts out there for all of last season gathering together a solid database of players for me to search through in the summer, and it paid off for me

We've also lost our parent club West Brom, as we're now in the same league as them. We have a feeder club for the first time in our history too, with Lincoln in the Conference, so we're sending a few of our youngsters to them this season. Oh, and the board have agreed to improve our training facilities and our youth facilities (for the second year running ), so that's good news.

This season is all about stability, and turning in to a Championship club, not just a Championship squad. Looking forward to the challenge!

[Gungner]

Finally got around to starting a save with Wigan. The expectations from the board are simple: Not only do they want promotion, but they want it through winning the League. A transfer budget of £3 million is given, which is a lot for League One. However, there was only £5k in wages available, so I asked for a wage increase and they agreed, bumping it up to £25k. The squad is really lacking a right back, with only Kevin McNaughton who can play that position. And he's a natural left-back! So I signed Tyias Browning from Everton on a season long loan. I then asked for the scouting range to be increased, and the board increased it to all of Europe. I then scouted two french players, Jonathan Rivierez and Alexandre Cuvillier and signed them from Metz and Stade Brestois respectively, for a combined fee of £700k. Pre-season has gone well so far, with wins over Cork City and Birmingham, and a draw with Derby. Next up is Arsenal at home. Not expecting anything from that match. But I'm enjoying the save so far.

[Jogo Bonito]

Great to see so many updates, enjoyable reading. Thanks for putting your squad up Gizmo, and a big welcome back to Gunner 101, very nice to see you back amongst us.

Looking forward to seeing more of your varied saves, but only wish I had half the success most of you lot have had! I'm beginning to realise I must really suck at this game, and maybe I should consider a retirement from playing, and simply stick to making threads and posting comments instead

[PhroX]

Cambridge Summer '17

Well, summer went about how I expected. Managed to fill all my essential requirements without adding anyone particularly special. Here's my transfers.

Ray and Gasparotto will be my first choice centre-halves, Wiseman is an experienced right back who was one of the few positives in an awful season for Scunthorpe last year, Faour will give me a big physical presence up top and Bennacer should shore up the defensive side of my midfield. Clarke wasn't really someone I wanted to sign, as he's no better than what I've got but I was having real trouble getting another striker in so reluctantly signed him up, and Oxborough is a backup keeper / future prospect.

So, this is my squad for our first shot at the Championship:

In other news, Felix Horne Myhre helped Norway win the European under 19 championships, which is nice. In the end, I opted for Jeff Hughes as my new captain, but FHM is the VC and will likely take over at the end of the season when the former's contract expires.

The new season has kicked of reasonably well, with me unbeaten in the league after 4 games - OK, three of them were draws, but it's a good start for relegation fodder like us, and we scored in all four games. Managed to lose in the League Cup to Forest Green (I did mention last post my tactics are iffy against weaker teams), but at least that frees us up to concentrate on the league.

[Jogo Bonito]

Good luck PhroX. The first season promotion was not really a surprise, but the League 1 success was very impressive. Hopefully momentum will be a major asset for this new season.

[OrientTillIDie]

I started a York season a few weeks ago as a stopgap to keep me going before the update comes out and I start my annual Orient save. However I've actually started really well with York and am competing to be in the playoffs at Christmas time so may keep it to play if I get bored/frustrated with Orient! It was very much an experiment to see if I could work out how to implement a direct, defensive style of play using 4-4-2 (a la Pulis). A solid bank of four at the back, two CMs in the middle with wingers outside and a big man/quick man strike partnership.

Despite some of my players having woeful average ratings so far, I'm doing incredibly well defensively. Generally don't concede many which is lucky because I don't really score much either. I thought my quick man would be scoring my goals but it turns out Vadaine Oliver (my TM(s)) is an absolute monster and a sharp finisher. He's bagged 9 goals so far.Anthony Straker (who my assistant keeps telling me to sell) has also scored 9 goals from left midfield which is staggering. I've just reached January and am in desperate need of another striker who can score goals. I signed Calvin Zola in the summer to compete with Oliver but there's no competition really. So far I've offered for Harry Cardwell and Macauley Bonne both on loan. Other than that I'm pretty happy.

Most of my squad is out of contract in the summer which is frustrating, especially as the board are being very tight and not letting me offer much at all. I've only offered contracts to Josh Carson and James Berrett who have been two of my top performers.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Managed to get MK Dons promoted through the play offs in my 3rd season, thanks to the goals of Ambrose and Enes Unal, the debts have disappeared thanks to my promotion and was given 8m to spend on transfers which is a big difference as the 2 previous seasons I wasn't given a penny, really enjoying this save.

[Jogo Bonito]

Good luck with York, and well done with MK Dons!

P.S. Had so many posts to catch up with that I forgot to say anything about Derby - keep up the great work there!

[kozmik]

P.S. Had so many posts to catch up with that I forgot to say anything about Derby - keep up the great work there!

That's the plan! An extremely hectic summer underway, it's taking a ridiculous amount of time to get through as I haven't really had the time to play with full focus. Have so far rejected about 10 bids for Renato Sanches from clubs like City, Barca etc, looks like we might get to keep him! Other than that there's been a lot of movement in and out, and a couple of huge deals. Will post a full update before the start of the season proper.

[ScottGooner]

Great thread, once again Jogo. Although probably a little to good as I'm struggling to select a team.

[Jogo Bonito]

Great thread, once again Jogo. Although probably a little to good as I'm struggling to select a team.

Thanks very much, appreciated. I don't think I have seen you around the thread this year until now. Let us see if we can help you with some suggestions. What league and type of challenge are you after?

@kozmik: I can only dream about picking up players like that. I'm sure it's a nice place to be, having the cash and success to cherry pick your favourites!

[ScottGooner]

@Jogo. Just picked up 16 the other week. FM15 and real life got in the way.

Looking for a young team with a decent/good youth setup(not Crewe, been there got the t-shirt etc) and where it will take some time(if it's possible) to turn them into a decent L1 or if we allow dreams a decent Championship team.

Edit: I'm tempted by Colchester, Walsall to name two teams.