FM18: The English Football League Thread - EFL in FM18

[Jogo Bonito]

2 minutes ago, warlock said:

Well, that's creative! It looks like it shouldn't work but I can see how it would throw the AI into confusion. I'd probably be tempted to try an attack duty on the right-hand midfielder but if it works, it works. As for Fredericks I have to say he's been solid for me in the Premiership - goes through lean spells but so far is rating above 7.0 for the season with a couple of assists for good measure, but he's on strict game-by-game rotation with Iorfa.

Hope you can hang in there... 17th looks precarious and two or three wins away from a more secure position. Good luck!

 

Thanks mate, yes it probably wasn't a formation or tactic that many (any?) would have guessed! But there was logic behind the apparent madness.

Fredericks has averaged 6.80 this season, so not too bad. But he has put in some poor performances, and I needed to give Christie some chances to stay motivated. I've thought about the attack duty on the right flank, but haven't needed to so far. It's still on support that side because until this switch, I had used my right-back as an attacking outlet too. As you will know, it's all about trying to get the balance right, and so far so good. I'll update again tomorrow night, and hold no illusions that it may all go pear-shaped quite quickly!

 

 

[kozmik]

I wasn't really planning on doing a mid-season update, but I have to as I'm super excited!

I did a slight tactical change around November-December, going from using either counter or control to very fluid standard with a high press and offside trap, using work ball into box, exploit the flanks and play much wider against defensive teams and more direct and pass into space against teams that attack more. It has completely turned our fortunes around. After that we've so far only lost one game in the league, a 6-1 demolition at Old Trafford. Our defense has become much more solid, and at the moment our GA average is just above one per game, when it's been closer to two per game before. At the time of the change we were 10th, and have since climbed into top 4 which is pretty ridiculous. And what's interesting is that we've played most of our difficult matches already - United, Chelsea and Liverpool twice, City, Arsenal and Everton away. I don't expect us to finish in the top 4 as our form is bound to decline at some point, but we have a great chance of qualifying into Europa - especially if the top teams win the domestic cups.

[warlock]

40 minutes ago, kozmik said:

I wasn't really planning on doing a mid-season update, but I have to as I'm super excited!

Quite right, too! That's a very impressive performance, and always interesting to see how a good run of form can push you high up the table. 

[warlock]

Wolves: Premiership season 1

Mid-table obscurity - that's the media summary of our first season in the top flight, which seems a little harsh. The bookies had us down for 15th so we did rather better than that. But we were horribly inconsistent - as shown above, we went to Old Trafford and came away with a deserved victory, and did the same when Arsenal came to Molineux. But the result against Leicester was merely the worst scoreline. We often did well against the top clubs - taking leads against Spurs, Liverpool and Man City, before succumbing to defeat. And then did really poorly against bottom-half teams we hoped to pick up points against.

Patrick Cutrone carried us all season. Although Diogo Jota and Ivan Cavaleiro started the season well, chipping in with goals and assists, they both faded badly after Christmas and we managed just one win in ten games between Boxing Day and late February. Bonatini was poor, managing just six goals and no assists in 22 appearances - he was cheap but over-priced, and he's now transfer-listed. If we lacked consistency at the front, the same can't be said at the back - we were consistently shocking in defence all season, managing just eight clean sheets in all competitions.

The board have allocated £58m for next season's transfer budget, which looks generous but will need careful spending, given how many places need strengthening. The only areas we look solid in right now are the AMR and AML positions, and my guess is that we need two LBs, one RB, at least one CB, one creative midfielder, and at least one striker. With Cutrone valued at £26m and AC Milan not wanting to sell, he's probably unobtainable unless he's available for another loan. Grujic has been great, but would probably cost north of £30m, so he needs to be replaced.

With both Burnley and Southampton relegated, I'm hoping to pick up a couple of defensive bargains from Mee, Tarkowski, Hoedt, and Bednarek. Southampton's Clasie, Lemina, Romeu and Ward-Prowse are also possibles. My scouts have uncovered lots of hot prospects, but I doubt they're capable yet of pushing us on in the top flight just yet. Much research and pondering required!

[kozmik]

Holy ****!

Decent personality, consistent performer, amazing heading/marking/tackling/positioning for a 16 year old. Mentals and physicals will improve, that aggression is the only thing I'm worried about. I don't mind low aggression as such, but 2 is a bit extreme.

@warlock Very good first premier league season there, congrats! That "mid table obscurity" assessment is incredibly harsh for a newly promoted team. This game is so ridiculous sometimes.

[Jogo Bonito]

@kozmik and @warlock very good progress being made with both of you there. I could only dream of such heights myself!

[kozmik]

@Jogo Bonito Patience, mate! You'll get there

Anyway, the season's finished now.

So our final position is pretty much what I expected when I posted the mid-season update. Here's where it all went wrong:

The last 10 games of the season. That Palace game was the last game of an 11 match unbeaten run that started on boxing day. The City defeat was pretty harsh, it was a fairly even game where we probably would've been just about more deserving winners, they scored at 90+2 minutes. The West Ham game we completely dominated, but couldn't finish. After the Stoke game I was very relieved as I thought we had avoided a longer slump, but as you can see I was completely wrong. Particularly the Southampton and Newcastle games were some of the worst we played all season, the earlier Old Trafford demolition aside. Couldn't string two passes together, when we did get a shot in it was off target, defenders running around completely unable to mark opposition attackers et cetera ad nauseam. Both scorelines flattered us greatly and both goals we scored (late consolations) were entirely undeserved.

Oh, and the less said about the cups the better:

And no, neither Sunderland nor Luton have somehow become great. They finished 20th and 24th in the championship this season.

One thing I'm wondering about is whether we might actually still miss out on Europa. Southampton will play in the FA cup final vs. City and Spurs (who finished 12th) are in the Europa final vs. Benfica. If Southampton win the cup, they'll qualify for the Europa group stage, pushing us into the qualifying rounds. If Spurs win the Europa final, they'll qualify for the champions league. But if both win their respective finals, will that push us out altogether? Can a single nation have eight teams in the continental competitions?

Well, hopefully they both lose and I won't have to worry.

If we do end up qualifying, I have a pretty clear picture of what signings we need to make. If we don't, then I don't. If we don't then I can't see us doing a lot of business. I'm keeping my eye on a GK currently at West Ham, who were relegated again, and we could do with a better starting right back. I'd like a new CM/A but don't really have room in my squad and there isn't really anyone I'm keen to sell. First things first though, my starting CB's are wanted by Arsenal so time for new contracts...

[Jogo Bonito]

@kozmik Very well done indeed. I must admit I'm not sure how those qualification scenarios would work out, my experience of that level is somewhat lacking.

[warlock]

@kozmik Congratulations on a solid achievement. That end-of-season run must have been nerve-wracking, but they're always tough. Almost everyone in the league has a lot to play for - either European places at the top, or the threat of relegation at the bottom.

As for your European qualification, it's about as clear as mud, but I think you go into the Europa Cup qualifying round regardless - there can be six English teams in the Champions League: the top four, plus cup winners.

[Dan McCullough]

It's been a hectic couple weeks for myself so I'm slightly behind with all your progresses. I'm working my way through slowly. Completed my first month was a new side too, so I'll probably get something out.  

[kozmik]

11 hours ago, warlock said:

@kozmik Congratulations on a solid achievement. That end-of-season run must have been nerve-wracking, but they're always tough. Almost everyone in the league has a lot to play for - either European places at the top, or the threat of relegation at the bottom.

As for your European qualification, it's about as clear as mud, but I think you go into the Europa Cup qualifying round regardless - there can be six English teams in the Champions League: the top four, plus cup winners.

Actually I'm fairly certain that no more than five clubs from a single nation can participate in the champions league. So if both the champions league and europa league is won by a team finishing outside top 4 then the 4th in the league misses out.

In any case, Southampton lost 1-0 and Spurs lost on penalties so it's all good.

[Dong21]

Great to see a thread on here so actively used, good work @Jogo Bonito! Interesting to read everyone's updates.

Stumbled upon this thread at the right time as I have just completed my first season in a save as Fulham - I shall write up a summary of how the season went shortly!

[Dong21]

Fulham - 2017/2018 - Part 1

So when selecting a team for this save my objective was to gain promotion to the Premier League from the Championship, whilst playing good attacking football. I chose Fulham as I have been impressed with the style of football they have played IRL this season. An added bonus was the quality of their youth setup and the talented youngsters already at the club.

The first thing I did was design a formation that I hoped would be able to provide attractive football. This formation proved successful and I utilised variations of it throughout the season:

I have always thought that having a quality coaching team is essential to executing your tactics and developing players, therefore I put some effort into completely restructuring Fulham's staff roster. I ensured that I had quality individuals in all roles, at all levels:

I was able to invest heavily in a staff restructure as, having assessed the squad, I had come to the conclusion that not many additions to the playing staff were needed. I felt it was a strong and balanced squad who were able to play the style of football I wanted to play. The only transfers I made were free transfers, picking up experienced internationals Anderson, Bassong and Rat just to provide additional depth to the squad. It turned out that combined the three of them only started 13 league games throughout the season, but they were there for emergencies and also were useful to use as mentors to the younger players. The only other signings were youth prospects and all outgoings were merely youth players going out on loan to experience playing professional football:

 

[Dong21]

Fulham - 2017/2018 - Part 2

The season was a great success as we won the Championship, finishing 16 points ahead of second place Wolves. In fact, we took top position in the table on the second match day of the season and remained there for the entirety of the season. This came as a surprise to me as I had suspected that playing attacking football and utilising wing backs, etc. would have left us open to defensive frailties, however the formation seemed to balance attack and defence well. We finished top scorers in the league, scoring 83 goals, but also conceded the least goals (32) and kept the most clean sheets (24). The most satisfying stats are that we had 80% pass completion and on average 54% possession, indicating we played the style of football I desired. Our 17 dribbles per game were the highest in the league by some distance.

League table:

*Notes - Reading went on to win the Play-offs. Interestingly Wolves beat Chelsea 2-0 to win the League Cup so qualified for the Europa League, alongside their promotion success.

Results:

Season Review:

Accolades:

*Note - I also picked up the Manager of the Year award.

The two players with the highest average rating in my squad for the season were Ream and Kalas, both of whom were phenomenal. My most important players then were Cairney, Sessegnon (top assistor), Mitrovic (top goalscorer), Norwood, Targett and Johansen.

One of the most satisfying aspects of the season was the rapid development of youth prospect Matt O'Riley. His development was assisted by the Under-23s progression to the Checkatrade Trophy Southern Semi-Finals, which meant he got to play against good quality opposition. After their elimination from that tournament I called him up to the first team and he featured in 11 league games during the final third of the season. I also attach a screenshot of Ryan Sessegnon, who despite being heavily involved did not improve as dramatically as I had hoped, but still is developing nicely.

 

[Jogo Bonito]

@Dong21 Welcome and thanks for the nice words. You did very well with Fulham - much better than me in my first season in the league. I hope you have a much better second season than me too! O'Riley has been developing nicely in my U23 team also, along with 'the other' Sessegnon. Both will be ready for league action next year if we are relegated.

@Dan McCullough Welcome back, will look forward to hearing who this mystery club is!

@kozmik Enjoy your time in Europe with Barnsley!

[Dong21]

Thanks @Jogo Bonito!

What style have football have you played in the Premier League? I’d like to try and keep playing possession based attacking football but I am conscious that could lead to being turned over by the bigger teams...

[Jogo Bonito]

I tried to keep the same formation and tactics, thinking we were good enough to hold our own and pick up enough wins. That strategy was mainly the same formation as yours - and involved counter attacking, high tempo, run at defence, close down more. As time went on, you will have seen we had some crushing away defeats, so I tried some different ideas. It's probably just me though, as I am a PL novice. Others have done much better after promotion with (respectfully) weaker squads than mine.

[kozmik]

12 hours ago, Dong21 said:

Thanks @Jogo Bonito!

What style have football have you played in the Premier League? I’d like to try and keep playing possession based attacking football but I am conscious that could lead to being turned over by the bigger teams...

You'll get hammered plenty by the bigger teams whatever you do. I think the most important thing is to not get hung up on the idea of playing a certain type of football come what may. Set up a few tactics with different styles and try to adapt to the occasion. Don't be afraid of making changes. Having the right approach for a given match is more important than having the tactical familiarity bar at maximum.

Well, that's what I try to do anyway.

[Rsellwood]

I've started a game with Cardiff and in 6th with about of the season gone. 

I've spotted a few players to change in the January window and a few youngsters I want to start blooding. My problem is finding a defensive midfielder. I have Gunnarson and Damour will be back from a 5 game ban soon but I'd like someone to grow and nurture. Any suggestions?

[Jogo Bonito]

@kozmik Sound advice and it certainly works for you.

@Rsellwood Welcome, Cardiff is a good team to manage. I actually thought that might be one of their stronger areas (not quite as strong as the pool of central defenders of course). In addition to the two you mentioned, can't Ralls play there too? In real life, Patterson has looked good in that role also, but IIRC he wasn't reflected like that in the game. Toure from Nantes is good enough for the level, if you have the funds (somewhere around £750k might be enough).

I've completed season 2 with Fulham, so will got all my bits and pieces together soon for my end of season report. 

[kozmik]

I'm a few games into the new season. Had a pretty good start, beat West Brom at home, drew at Spurs and then won at Newcastle. Only three goals scored but we do have three clean sheets which is great. Shockingly, we only signed six senior players, and only three went into the first XI. And even more shockingly, we actually made a profit from our transfer deals.

Full backs Adolph (our first monster regen) and Arana are new starters. I had my eye on Lafonte, who was relegated with West Ham, since the start of the season. Wouldn't have gone out of my way to sell Karius to get Lafonte in, but after Southampton bid for Karius the decision was practically already done. Lafonte is currently at around the same level Karius was at and has 4,5 star potential, so should be a great buy. Hughes had a release clause of 32 million, so I had no chance to keep him when City came knocking, but when they bid I decided to ask them for 30 million and 50% of next sale (not profit) and to my surprise they accepted. Hopefully they end up selling him a couple of years down the line. His replacement Klein is just 18 but is pretty close to his level already with potential to improve a lot. Couple of decent freebies too in Onomah and Nakajima. Bentley, Connor, Clayton-Robb and Jones-Beeden were signed mainly to complement our academy graduates in the U23's and provide additional emergency cover now that we're playing two games most weeks. Clayton-Robb should have a decent chance of becoming a first team player eventually, Connor less so. Can't see Bentley and Jones-Beeden making it. I'll also have three academy graduates in a first team role this season. I'm really excited about the Powell kid I raved about earlier. Will be interesting to see how well he can do.

Here's a screenshot of the monster regen I mentioned, 15 mill with 2 mill add-ons from Red Bull Salzburg:

Will be a struggle to keep him beyond this season unless we qualify for the champions league, which I don't expect us to do. But hopefully we'll get a decent profit for him if we do sell.

And finally, here's our Europa group:

Looks easy enough. Hopefully we'll fare better than we've done against minnows in the domestic cups...

[john1]

Fantastic progress guys! I am currently struggling to get a save going  Might start a save with Bristol City  

[warlock]

Wolves in the Premiership: Second Season

After a respectable mid-table finish in our first Premiership season, the pressure was on to improve - the board demanded a top-half finish, and I wanted improvement too. But we began with three major holes in the first-team squad: star striker Patrick Cutrone, AM Callum Slattery, and LB Josh Tymon were all recalled from loan and their teams refused to renew. The LB slot was particularly problematical since we only had Barry Douglas, who struggled at the higher level, as did CBs Miranda, Boly and Bennett. I also wanted to move on striker Leo Bonatini, who failed to perform in the top flight. But the biggest blow was several top clubs seeking to sign superstar Reuben Neves. I fended off offers from Barcelona and Man Utd, but then Dortmund triggered his £45m release clause. Outgoing transfers thus looked like this:

Which gave us a huge transfer budget of around £100m. Alas, the club's lowly reputation meant that none of my first choice signings wanted to join. For example, I had offers accepted for Donny van de Beek and Matthijs de Ligt, but neither would entertain a transfer. It was a similar story with any striker you've likely heard of, so much time was spent scouring my scouting reports for players who would sign while strengthening the squad. Two LBs were brought in - Ruben Duarte from Alaves, for £6.5m, and Tim Leibold from Mainz for £4.5m. At CB I signed James Tarkowski from relegated Burnley for £12.5m. To replace Neves, Norwegian star Sander Berge joined from Genk for £21m (James Ward-Prowse from relegated Southampton also declined transfer talks before joining West Ham). I bolstered the midfield with two newcomers, Francisco Geraldes from Sporting (a decent starter for £5.5m) and Jonathan Mexique from Monaco (backup for £2m).

Finding a replacement for Cutrone was even more problematical, and I went through dozens of transfer bids and failed negotations before my scouts turned up an unlikely candidate: Alfredo Morelos at Rangers. My scouts gave him glowing reports, looking at his stats he certainly looked the part, and he had a good scoring record up in Scotland. And he was affordable, and keen to join. £10.75m secured his signature. Individually, everyone came in and did pretty well - except Morelos as the Columbian went ten games without scoring. The fans were on my back, the media joined in the chorus and pressure was mounting. I tried criticising him, I tried encouraging him... nothing worked.

Then in an away game to Middlesborough - who were languishing at the foot of the table - I gave him another chance:

Results & performance

With Christmas having come and gone, we've had a frustratingly inconsistent first half of the season. We started with a 0-3 home loss to Liverpool, quickly followed by a 0-3 away at Man Utd, a 1-4 defeat away at Chelsea, and 0-1 loss at home to Arsenal, interspersed with a couple of reasonable results. But the Arsenal match saw a good performance and we were unlucky to lose, so our next fixture - a visit to Huddersfield who were mired in the bottom three - looked promising. They tore us apart and we crawled off the pitch after a 0-5 thrashing.

In what is becoming our usual style, we then travelled away to fourth-placed Bournemouth and stuffed them 3-0, followed by a fantastic 2-0 away win at Spurs in the Carabao Cup. Anyone who thought that might be a turning point doesn't know this Wolves team. We could only draw our next two games, won the next two, drew the next two, and then lost away to Man City. We simply can't put together a decent run of results, never managing more than two wins in a row.

However, the result is a secure slot in 10th place:

Looking ahead

With transfer budget remaining after the summer, I've been looking for prospects who can improve the team in January. The two likely candidates to leave are RB Ryan Fredericks and AM Jordan Graham, both of whom seem to be going backwards rather than progressing. I have an offer in for Portuguese prospect Xadas, who was signed by Liverpool but hasn't played, and I'm still looking for a decent RB. Also of major concern is former star player Diogo Jota, who has been a passenger all year. His form tailed off in the second half of last season and so far he has failed to put in a decent performance with no goals and just one assist in 11 appearances. Unless he does much better in the next six months, I think he'll have to move on.

Players who have performed well include ex-Monaco and Mainz defender Abdou Diallo, signed last January, who is developing a solid partnership with Tarkowski in central defence. Young defenders Hause and Iorfa are still developing well, and Cavaleiro and Helder Costa have been stellar up front. Young AMC Connor Ronan is also impressing, and he's developing into quite a player.

[Jogo Bonito]

Season 2 - end of year review

At the end of my previous review, I was hopeful that my sweeper/strikerless formation was an act of genius that would solve all our problems.

It didn't exactly work out like that (despite Leko seeming to love it), even if some of those results were a bit unlucky.

We finally exited the Europa League with a narrow 3-2 defeat in Leipzig, although it was the first leg draw that really cost us any hope of progression.

We followed that up with a 3-0 defeat at Man City, but all of those came in the last 10 minutes when we finally cracked under pressure.

We scrambled a late point at home to Wolves, but then another three hard fixtures saw us pick up no points from nine. 

Charlie Austin returned for the first time since December in that spell, and I went back to my original 4123 (wide) formation to get him involved again.

That worked a treat at Turf Moor against relegation-bound Burnley, but we surrendered weakly at home to Everton in our penultimate fixture.

That left us 18th on 35 points, with West Brom and Palace above us with 37, and Bournemouth had 38. Unfortunately, all three had a better GD than us too.

Our opponents Newcastle were safe on 40 points, whilst Brighton and Burnley were below us and already down.

Alarmingly, it only took Newcastle four minutes to open the scoring at Craven Cottage - and there was little optimism around the stadium.

More surprisingly, we equalised within seconds, thanks to that man Leko. And the right winger went on to put us ahead before the interval too.

It didn't really matter. We had to win and hope both West Brom and Palace lost. We couldn't ever pull back the GD on Bournemouth.

Mo Eisa had been surplus to the needs of a PL team, the victim of our promotion in season 1 unfortunately.

But Cutrone, starting in place of the injured (again) Austin, had a stinker. I hauled him off after 74 minutes as part of a triple switch to see the game out.

I brought on two more full backs and played wing-backs on both sides, just in front of the full-backs. It was time to close up shop.

But it's a funny old game. Despite this caution, we somehow grabbed a third, Mo Eisa with his first goal for the club (possibly with his first effort on goal too).

After 85 minutes I checked the other fixtures. Palace were winning at Burnley, and Bournemouth had a point at home. Both were safe.

Albion were 1-0 down at Old Trafford  thanks to a 4th minute goal from Fosu-Mensah of all people.

That meant we were surviving by a point, but the Baggies grabbed an 87th minute equaliser and that was going to put us down by GD.

Well, no it wasn't. It turns out that Magic Mo's goal had put us equal on points and GD with West Brom.

So what decided it? Alphabetical order, head to head? No, goals scored! And we had 10 more than them, despite a much worse defence.

Ironically, a stack of those goals had come from their very own loan player, Jonathan Leko!

So it was genuinely an incredibly anxious finish, and I still don't quite know how a six-defender contain formation managed to grab that 3rd and vital goal.

But as you can see, we had defied most expectations, and Fulham will live to fight on for at least another year in the top flight.

The final table looked like this. I wanted to blank out the goals against column, but in a quirky way that had actually saved our season.

You can see two things here. The graph showing we never looked like a Premier League team. And the finances. Yes, we were doing pretty well again there.

Here are the end of season player stats. It doesn't include those players that were sold like Butland (I wish there was a way to show even the departed player stats).

I do remember Jack's average rating was lower than Bettinelli's - but not lower than Shawcross!

That Shawcross transfer had been a disaster, and he was expelled to the U23 team after his 6.13 rating from the first three appearances.

Further forward, it was the wingers Sessegnon and Leko that stood out again. Austin did quite well when fit, Cairney and Johnasen did OK too.

Poor Mitrovic still doesn't have a WP and Nasri was poor. The latter is joining Burnley for £5m in the summer though, so that is a £5m profit made on him.

The final word here should go to Magic Mo, who kept us up despite only 33 minutes on the pitch all season.

Here is the season summary. There were so many moments to forget, I don't know how FM could pick just one to be honest!

The team of the season was spot on, although Ream would have been on the left of Flint. But yeah, that was our best team and formation overall.

And Sessegnon deservedly won the Player of the Season award again. He's won senior England caps now and we are so lucky to have him. 

Shahid has been generous with our budget for next season. That's a very decent sum of money for a club like Fulham to have.

But unfortunately, I won't be going through that hell again for another year.

I find the PL too far from my comfort zone, and vowed that I would only continue if we got relegated.

I had some really good plans for that scenario, but Magic Mo ruined it for me!

I'll be back soon, either continuing in League 1 with either Reading or Peterborough - or starting off somewhere else... 

 

 

[Jogo Bonito]

@kozmik Nice update on life at Barnsley. You seem to have the PL sussed out, and I'm confident you'll have another great season.

@john1 Welcome (back) and if you start with Bristol City that should be an enjoyable one for you.

@warlock Fantastic update, I really see you having some of the struggles I faced - but you at least get good results in there too! It's a shame that you have lost much of your core team either because they couldn't step up (like Douglas) or they were too good to keep (like Neves). Best of luck, that's good progress being made overall.

[warlock]

9 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Fulham will live to fight on for at least another year in the top flight.

Doesn't get much tighter than that! Sorry you didn't get relegated . But, as I've said before, there are so many great saves, and so little time to play them all.

Looking forward to your next destination!

[Jogo Bonito]

2 minutes ago, warlock said:

Doesn't get much tighter than that! Sorry you didn't get relegated . But, as I've said before, there are so many great saves, and so little time to play them all.

Looking forward to your next destination!

Cheers mate, yes you're spot on. Being relegated would have been much better for me personally, but it really has been a fantastic club to manage. It's the PL rather than Fulham that makes we want to go elsewhere. Best of luck with Wolves

[warlock]

5 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

It's a shame that you have lost much of your core team either because they couldn't step up (like Douglas) or they were too good to keep (like Neves).

I guess that's to be expected, and I'm pleased to have many of the original squad still here - Ruddy, Batth, Cody, Iorfa, Hause, Ronan, Costa and Cavaleiro are all either good Premiership players, or solid backups. Might still get European football, too - we beat Liverpool in the Carabao Cup quarter-final, and we have Forest in the semi, and then either Huddersfield or Chelsea in the final. Although given our results against Huddersfield and Chelsea this season, maybe not!

In which case I'd be in a similar position as you - if we got a Europa Cup place, I'd have to stay and play next season. Failing that, and another mid-table finish, I think it will be time for pastures new. Still have Brentford very much on my FM18 bucket list, and also fancy a crack at the Italian lower leagues. Never managed in Holland or Scandinavia either. So many... well, I already said that 

[john1]

I am stuck on the picking club screen, I am not sure who to manage  Was thinking about picking Leeds. I got leagues loaded to League 2.

 

Any teams suggestions? @Jogo Bonito

[smplfc123]

Congratulations @Jogo Bonito  on staying up and good luck with your new challenge. 

@john1 I am in the same predicament.  I did have a Barnsley save started but I went away for a week and now find myself struggling to find a team to go. I would like to go a team in the Championship.

[Jogo Bonito]

@john1 All I can do is suggest a few of the teams I am considering: Brentford, Cardiff, Ipswich, Preston, Charlton, Oxford, Portsmouth, Scunthorpe, Wigan, Cheltenham, Exeter, Forest Green Rovers, Luton, Stevenage, Swindon. And of course Fulham, I cannot recommend them highly enough.

Leeds have some good players, particularly in midfield. I think they need to strengthen their defence and perhaps you should look at the wages spent on their loan players.

@smplfc123 I know you have your reputation issue, so for you I would be suggesting the likes of Ipswich, Preston or maybe Brentford.

@warlock I agree with you on Brentford, should you be directed away from Wolves.

I like to go to other countries too, mainly because most of the players I want to sign in England can't ever get a WP and I always miss out on managing these players. Surprisingly I like the idea of the Red Bull network of clubs, and I am tempted to consider RB Salzburg or Liefering. Austria itself isn't very exciting but the links to RB Leipzig, NYRB, and their affiliates in Ghana and Brasil would keep it interesting I think. I tried Holland again this year, but although it's good for WP's you have to pay a minimum salary which was way too much for the players I wanted to bring in at FC Twente (although next season in the second tier I will be there for sure).

I've done many years in France as I have decent knowledge of clubs and players there, and it's an absolute dream for taking African players over. As an alternative to France though, I have a Spanish side in mind for something different. I was close to trying Malmo at one point as I have never managed in Scandinavia either, However, the best two locations for me are likely to be Switzerland (this time at BSC Young Boys) and Denmark. If returning to the latter, it would probably be Copenhagen again as they have the cash to make a few signings and there are no foreign player limits or minimum salary rules. My last effort over there was at SonderyskE but it's not so easy with them!

[warlock]

43 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

I would like to go a team in the Championship.

Well, any of them! In basic FM terms, there's about seven or eight with a realistic chance of promotion, and about 10 or 12 with a realistic chance of relegation. What do you want from the save - promotion, relegation, or a safe mid-table finish without too much pressure? And within those parameters, there must be teams you like/dislike; management you like/dislike; histories that you find boring or romantic. And in football terms, do you have a preferred type of football - possession, attacking, defensive? Many teams are set up for one or another. What about formations - wide players versus narrow? Again, many teams can't accommodate a different kind of football.

It seems to me that about 30 minutes basic research before you choose will reveal the teams you want to manage, the teams you couldn't possibly manage, and those you're not sure about.

Failing all that, answer the following questions, and I'll pick one for you:

1. Do you prefer attacking, defensive, or possession football?

2. Do you like wingers or not?

3. Do you want short-term or long-term success?

[smplfc123]

I think that's my main problem @warlock I am stuck in a rut about formations and how I want to play.

I think I'm going to narrow it down to Ipswich and Forest. Judging from media predictions,  I'm hoping both will have no more than top half/ mid table finish expectations giving me the chance to work out exactly what I want style of play wise.

@Jogo Bonito Thanks for the tips mate, I have a weird thing about not wanting to manage in London, strange I know  , so that would rule out Brentford. 

[kozmik]

Well done on avoiding relegation @Jogo Bonito! Looks like the very definition of by the skin of your teeth. Shame we won't be seeing more of your exploits in the premier league, I'm sure you would've fared better next season.

@warlock Solid going with Wolves there. I see you've signed two players I've signed too, Geraldes and Diallo. Very solid players the both of them. You got Geraldes for a lot less, I paid 13,5 mill iirc. He'd be world class if he wasn't so slow and weak, but a good player as is. He's currently valued 25,5 mill in my save.

Good luck to all and sundry wherever you might end up next. I thought I'd put in a good word for Lincoln for those considering what team to take up next, they have a squad made for 442 with a target man and a fantastic midfield duo for league 2 level, and some money to bring in more players if needed. Should be a good platform to overachieve, at least in the first season.

A little mid season update on my Barnsley save. We were absolutely flying early on, going unbeaten for the first 19 games of the season in all competitions, easily topping our Europa group and even sitting in 1st place in the league table for a few weeks. Then just as we were about to break the club's unbeaten run we fell to defeat at home vs a ridiculously defensive Stoke, then demolished CSKA Moscow 7-0 in our last Europa group game and then getting destroyed on the counter 4-0 at Southampton. Those two are our only defeats so far this season, we even managed a late equalizer in a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, but a host of draws have seen us slide to 4th in the table as the top teams keep on racking up the points at an impressive rate. Also, we're on the cusp of getting to our first final, as we'll be travelling to Newcastle for our league cup semi second leg with a 3-0 lead.

Also made one transfer in January so far, signing Jadon Sancho from Dortmund. He had half a season left on his contract so got him relatively cheaply, 18,75 million. Obviously I could've signed him on a free too at the end of the season but I wanted him in immediately, as the right wing has been something of a problem position all season. He's had a brilliant start to life here, with 3 goals and an assist in three games. And only one of those goals was against Wycombe in his debut.

[kozmik]

Oh dear

Suddenly I'm having regrets... Managed to just about talk him out of it with the "I can't believe how unprofessional you're being" line, but that doesn't look promising at all. Have to remember to use the explain substitution individual talk every time I take him off, hopefully that will keep him in check.

[duds]

Just a heads up that after getting promoted from the Championship with Sunderland first season and after my tycoon takeover, I went on to finish 2nd in the Premier League.......obviously the Knap tactic I use is very good but the unrealistic nature of the second season has cheesed me off.

I've abandoned my Sunderland save for now and I think I will save them for FM19. That should be fun with the Stewart Donald thing and relegation to League One.

I'm going to look for another Championship or League One club to play with, one that definitely won't get taken over in the short term.

 

Enjoying reading everyone's updates.

[Jogo Bonito]

3 hours ago, kozmik said:

Oh dear

Suddenly I'm having regrets... Managed to just about talk him out of it with the "I can't believe how unprofessional you're being" line, but that doesn't look promising at all. Have to remember to use the explain substitution individual talk every time I take him off, hopefully that will keep him in check.

Blimey, not what you want or expect from a new signing. I've never had that before.

@duds I would feel the same, but I agree in FM19 they should be a club to consider (I will be). Good luck with your next pick.

@smplfc123 Good luck with who you pick. You're not keen on Preston? Ipswich would be ideal for you I think. Reading might be worth considering? Personally, I want to release the lot of them but you could go in to it slightly less frustrated than me and use the positives that they might offer you.

[duds]

I've picked Nottingham Forest.

I've loaded the game but won't get to properly play until tomorrow night and Thursday so will update then.

[Jogo Bonito]

Best of luck at Forest. They have great history and a lovely location, plus some decent HG talents in the first team. Plus lots of dross

[kozmik]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Blimey, not what you want or expect from a new signing. I've never had that before.

I haven't either. I could've probably handled the situation a bit better, I instinctively went for the "I make the decisions here" line, maybe actually explaining would've been a better idea. I took a very strict tone in the press conference too which he reacted badly to, so I'll have to be careful with him. Shame really, he's been very good on the pitch.

In other news:

We completely dominated the game until the goal, United didn't have a single shot on target by that point. After that the tide turned completely, but we managed to keep them from creating any good chances. The goal will likely be our goal of the season, a thundering shot into the top corner, hitting the bar, onto the ground and in.

[Jogo Bonito]

@kozmik Congratulations! Only the best of us managers win the Carabao Cup  John Swift though

[warlock]

1 minute ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Only the best of us managers win the Carabao Cup

Agreed. Alas it eluded me in this Wolves save. After despatching Forest 5-2agg in the semis, we came up against Chelsea in the final and got tonked. They also beat us in the league a couple of weeks earlier (five times we've played them, five losses), so I had to endure endless press questions about why I couldn't beat Conte?!!

So I think that's me done with this save. Results have been dispiriting - we have an outside chance of finishing in 9th (which would qualify as top-half) but 11th or 12th is looking much more likely, which would be no progress from last season. I'm also a bit burned out on FM, so I think I'll take a break while I decide who's next. Still can't decide whether to go with Brentford, or put some real effort into a Darlington save, or go somewhere much more glamorous - I'm feeling the lure of Bordeaux. Love their wine .

[Jogo Bonito]

12 minutes ago, warlock said:

Agreed. Alas it eluded me in this Wolves save. After despatching Forest 5-2agg in the semis, we came up against Chelsea in the final and got tonked. They also beat us in the league a couple of weeks earlier (five times we've played them, five losses), so I had to endure endless press questions about why I couldn't beat Conte?!!

So I think that's me done with this save. Results have been dispiriting - we have an outside chance of finishing in 9th (which would qualify as top-half) but 11th or 12th is looking much more likely, which would be no progress from last season. I'm also a bit burned out on FM, so I think I'll take a break while I decide who's next. Still can't decide whether to go with Brentford, or put some real effort into a Darlington save, or go somewhere much more glamorous - I'm feeling the lure of Bordeaux. Love their wine .

Unlucky having to play Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final, but you can be pleased to have been there. Another decent season whether its 9th or 12th,

Your updates have been enjoyable so for that reason I would say Brentford when you're ready to go again! But seriously, I can understand why Darlington and Bordeaux would have appeal too. I'd toyed with the idea of the latter when FM18 launched, but never quite got there. They have some good staff either at the club or available to recruit with Bordeaux connections, and it's probably your last chance to manage Malcom there too

[warlock]

9 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

probably your last chance to manage Malcom there too

Yes, that has certain appeal. In my almost-forgotten Man Utd save (midway through season 3 but unplayed for a couple of months now) I signed Malcolm, Zivkovic and Jadon Sancho - added to Martial, Rashford, and Lingard. Awesome combinations all over the pitch!

13 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Your updates have been enjoyable so for that reason I would say Brentford

Very kind of you to say so, and there's absolutely no reason why I couldn't do Brentford and another team in turn (I can usually get through a season in four or five days). I highly recommend retirement .

[Jogo Bonito]

@warlock A double save sounds good then, that's what I am doing these days (but it's hard if they're all in the same country even if EFL).  On the retirement front, I can understand that. Actually did do it myself for a couple of years after working overseas but then I got lured back to UK for a new job. I'm prepping myself to do it again, and now you're making me miss those days of doing as little or as much as I wanted

[smplfc123]

Congratulations on the cup win @kozmik

I don't know why @Jogo Bonito but there is something just putting me off Preston, I can't put my finger on it.

[Jogo Bonito]

29 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

Congratulations on the cup win @kozmik

I don't know why @Jogo Bonito but there is something just putting me off Preston, I can't put my finger on it.

That's fair enough mate, lots of teams I wouldn't ever fancy myself too! I reckon your destination is Portman Road

[kozmik]

What. A. Season.

No, not THE treble obviously, rather the Mickey Mouse one. But still, I'm flabbergasted.

The Europa final was almost disappointingly easy, even though we only won 1-0. Dominated from start to finish, I don't think Valencia had a single shot on target. If our finishing hadn't been so poor, it could've easily been 3 or 4. The FA cup final was very different. I had lost my previous match to Chelsea 5-1 using my usual system so I decided I had to try something different. Went with a counter attacking 442. Chelsea dominated possession and shots but didn't really create too many good chances. What chances they did create were promptly fluffed or saved by Lafont. In the end it went to penalties after a 1-1 draw, where they completely crumbled and we won 3-1.

Didn't do too shabby in the league, either:

The five games we lost in the league (2-0 to Stoke, 4-0 to Southampton, 5-1 to Chelsea, 4-2 to City and 3-1 to United) were our only defeats in the season. We did get a bit lucky with the draws in domestic cups, with Liverpool in the league cup being the only top team we faced apart from the finals. In Europa though we only got one lucky draw in the knockouts in Red Bull Salzburg, the other draws were Southampton, Leverkusen and Schalke. In the end we were two goals away from breaking the Europa scoring record, scoring 47 goals in total.

Our defense improved a great deal, conceding less than a goal a game (33) for the first time in the premier league. Lafont even ended up 3rd in the clean sheet table with 20. Great to see after the shambles of previous three seasons. Even in cups our defense worked pretty well considering I mostly used a defense made up of kids and Charlie Taylor. Moise Kean was definitely our key performer, ending up as top scorer in the premier league with 22 goals and 2nd highest average rating, scoring 34 and assisting 11 in 47 games in all competitions. It was great to see, as last season he was pretty unconvincing and streaky, going long periods without a goal. Last summer I probably would've sold if someone had made a good offer, this summer I'll be doing all I can to keep him.

This summer will be massively important. I'll have to make the most of the champions league qualification and sign proper quality players to make sure we qualify again next season. Will definitely be buying 2-3 midfielders to replace Grujic, Swift and probably one of the AML playmakers. Central defense is a bit of a dilemma. Lascelles and Diallo formed a very good partnership and are my captain and vice captain so I'm very reluctant to sell either of them, even though I could probably sign better players. Second choice pair Joe Powell and Miguel Angel is a young (17 & 20) and extremely promising (both 5 stars PA) pair who performed well enough and who I'm keen to develop further, so can't really replace them either. Happy with full backs, right wingers and strikers, so unless I end up selling, I won't be signing anyone for those positions. Same with GK, Lafont has been excellent.

[john1]

Cracking season there @kozmik I have finally picked a team to go with;

 

Something made me pick them  Been busy revamping up the backroom staff. Will do monthly update.

[Jogo Bonito]

@kozmik Wow, what a season! Congratulations on those successes, very impressive indeed. Have you been playing Moise Kean as a central striker?

@john1 Best of luck in Shropshire. Somebody once told me the badge looks like frightened on-fire lions. Poor Paul Hurst, getting dumped after what he has done for them