FM18: The English Football League Thread - EFL in FM18

[smplfc123]

8 hours ago, warlock said:

Yeah... If I can stay awake long enough, I was just planning on doing an initial report. 

I can tell you it's a good squad, but a big challenge. Of the obvious first 11, you start the season with three long-term injuries, and two of your best young prospects are also out for months. There's very little transfer budget, and you start with five loans (and I'm sure we all know you can only play five loans in a Championship match-day squad) so bringing in extras brings its own problems. In turn, this means you're limited in terms of formations - it's a struggle to get play two CBs, so a back-three is pretty much out of the question. You have a bunch of wide players (all of them natural right-footers) so playing a narrow formation is equally difficult.

I've played through pre-season two or three times and it's the usual story. Won the pre-season games comfortably, and then I collapsed with the first competitive games. So I've been experimenting with tactics - all based around 442, 4141, or 4123dm - before finally settling on a pretty simple 442. Although it is a good squad, I don't feel it's as good as Wolves, Derby or Bristol City - my other three triumphant teams. Despite losing the opening game (at home!) we're now on a three-game winning streak (woohoo!) so I'll be sticking with what I have now.

I have to say this thread has been the making of FM18 for me... the feedback from the regular posters here and seeing what they're doing in their saves has been great. So if you want to take on Ipswich for a bit of friendly rivalry, that would be great; if you want to do a different FL save and post here, that would be great, too. Just dive in!

Thanks mate, great reply.

I've finally managed to squeeze in a bit of FM time this week, so i'm going to load up an Ipswich save after your report. I'm going to start with transfers off and with no playing experience just to make it that little bit harder too!

I'm going to try and blood the youngsters and aim for a solid mid table / top half finish for season 1, before then trying to shape the squad to how I want it.

Good luck and I look forward to your proper update 

 

[karanhsingh]

For the guys playing Ipswich, Dozzell has been pretty good the last few editions. Does he have high potential this time around as well? My scouts do seem to rate  him.

[smplfc123]

@karanhsingh He certainly has the potential, but he is out for a whole year at the start of the game, so add in a good few months recovery playing time on top of that and I don't think you can expect him to be playing senior football for a good 18 months. Hopefully that doesn't halt his progress too much as he does look a talent.

[robterrace]

Update of something that happens in my preseason... 

 

[robterrace]

There comes a moment in every plan, where you have to take a step back, reevaluate, and have another go.

 

This preseason is one of them.

 

The last couple of seasons, we've frozen under the headlights, this band of talented youngsters. Youngsters being the operative word. Looking at the average age of the squad I put out in the playoffs, it was a touch under 22 years old, with the oldest player being Jack Hendry, who had only turned 26 a matter of days beforehand. I needed to get some experience, but, at the same time, allow the talents I had in the squad to develop properly.

 

Of course, there was going to be a turnover of players, both those that get released, or sold, and those coming the other way. Recruitment this time round was focussed more domestically, with exceptions being made if a special talent was found.

 

Onto the released players.

 

 

Most of the ones released had been in the reserves or out on loan last season. Glover had spent most of the time injured after losing his place last August, and couldn't force his way back into the team once he recovered. He has, however, ended up moving down the M18, remaining in the Championship at Sheffield United, and will compete with Simon Moore for the starting spot.

 

Charlie Brown moves to Swindon off the back of a season and a half on loan at Mansfield, where he scored 24 in 61. He should have a steady career if he keeps that strike rate up.

 

Of the other players, Alejandro Santome heads to Spain to Jaen of the Segunda B, Borja Sanchez heads to League One Bury, and Craig Alcock also goes down a division, to MK Dons. The others (at the time of writing this), have no club at this time.

 

The new signings

 

A large spend came up this season on incoming players, but, a lot of the smaller fees, were to get youngsters into the club to develop for the future. The likes of Bruno Oliveira, Fred Sorensen and Barry Gordon, along with Michael Mitchell and Pedro Sousa, will all be placed on the development list, with the intention of sending them on loan to lower divisions to gain experience. The only youngster who is an exception to this is Manuel Henriques. When I was making my move to bring him in (the intention is to replace Duarte Valente with him eventually), Manchester United and Arsenal were showing an interest. If I can keep him around the matchday squad and get him gametime, hopefully, their interest will remain, and I can try and flip him pretty quickly for a profit.

 

Lovro Majer is another player who will be a massive influence this season, and will hopefully replicate the drive that Erik Andersson gave prior to his departure last season. At £2m, it was about the limit of what I wanted to pay, but, he wanted to leave Lokomotiva, and I couldn't turn down a player who again, is a very good talent.

 

Next on the list is Rasmus Wikstrom. At 20, he is a young centre back, but, he brings pace, strength, and an excellent ability in the air. A current Swedish Under 21 international, he spent time on loan in Belgium in 19/20, before breaking into the IFK squad in his homeland. At £2.5m, the fee may be a bit much for his age, but, I believe he will become a very good player for the club, and a couple of seasons down the line, we'll be able to move him on for a profit.

 

George Evans comes in as a rotation option in midfield. at 26, hes right on the fringes of the age range I want to buy from, but, he can play in a number of positions, and has nearly 200 career appearances.

 

Another player coming in as a backup, is Mikael Anderson. The 23 year old Dane joins from Midtjylland, where he was in the reserves. Able to play down either wing, he is technically adept, and whilst not fantastically quick, has the ability to beat a man.

 

The next few signings add experience and grit where I want them, and are the reason the spend is higher than usual.

 

First up is Lewis Baker. Again, he turned 26 at the tail end of last season, and wages wise, is now the highest paid player at the club, but, he brings physicality, along with great technique to the midfield. He will slot in alongside the current midfield, and hopefully, be part of a successful campaign. 

 

 

Next is Daniel Bentley. At 28, hes the oldest player I've signed in this save. However, he is a very well rounded goalkeeper, with over 300 games experience, which, for his position, and age, is great. On the transfer list at Burnley, he was more than happy to come to the Championship to try and kickstart his career after it stagnated at Turf Moor. His arrival also means that Pombo can go out on loan if required.

 

 

Ruben Vinagre is the next signing we made, and at £4.8m, it is right up near our transfer record. However, what he brings is the ability to play anywhere down the left side of the pitch, and also, an attacking threat. At 5'9, he isn't the biggest player around, but, with his pace and ability with the ball at his feet, he will more than make up for it.

 

 

The last signing we made, again, is 26 years old, and has spent the last 4 seasons playing in the Championship for a variety of clubs. A product of Southamptons vaunted Marchwood academy, which has produced countless players over the years, Harrison Reed joins to be part of the first team picture. Again, not the most physically imposing of players, but he is more than happy to get in the faces of his opponent, and will work hard to close down the ball when needed.

 

 

As you can see, only two players have left for a fee, with lost of fringe players and youngsters going out on loan.

 

It was always my intention to shift O'Connell on this summer, and despite the fact the fee from Aston Villa means I've made a (small) loss on him in terms of fee, he wasn't the type of player needed due to his lack of pace.

 

The second sale for a fee was Max Clark, which means we make a profit on him. As we only purchased him for £875k, he has done exactly what was required of him. Came in, performed, and earned a move. This move was spoken about by the press at the end of the season, and Millwall have given him a healthy pay rise to go to The New Den.

---

 

Of course, the player moves are one thing, but, the odds for promotion indicate how the rest of the country are looking at us, and our business.

 

 

Its safe to say, I'm mildly surprised to be this far up the list. Cardiff and QPR were both relegated last season, and will be there or there abouts, and the other teams above me are the ones that were around the top 6 for most of last season with the exception of Watford, who were also relegated.

---

 

Preparations take a knock however, during a friendly against Kettering, when captain, and the centrepiece of the team, Miguel Luís, leaves injured, and will miss most of the season.

 

 

---

 

Next up, the odds for top goalscorer, and once again, the bookmakers think my rebuilt midfield production line may come up trumps this year, with Pedro Marques being made 3rd favourite to be top scorer in the league. He scored 24 in the league last season (29 in total), and already has 4 in 5 friendlies this season. If he stays fit, he'll do well.

 

 

So. That concludes the preseason. Next up, the challenge of the new season.

[robterrace]

I may be experiencing the strangest result I've ever seen on FM.

 

I may just be pulverising a full strength Huddersfield side.. 

 

Its in double figures.. Help!!! 

[robterrace]

Yeah. So. This happened.

 

 

 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, robterrace said:

Yeah. So. This happened.

Looks like Marques wanted some of that 8-1 betting action .

[robterrace]

Just now, warlock said:

Looks like Marques wanted some of that 8-1 betting action .

Yeah, I think he may have bet a couple of weeks wages on it.

[Jogo Bonito]

@robterrace Another quiet transfer window for you then! Boring football on the pitch too I see. In all seriousness, an incredible result against Huddersfield for you.

@smplfc123 and @warlock I am really looking forward to the friendly inter-Ipswich challenge.

[robterrace]

52 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@robterrace Another quiet transfer window for you then! Boring football on the pitch too I see. In all seriousness, an incredible result against Huddersfield for you.

I'd say it was slightly quieter. Just a different style of window..

 

As for the Huddersfield result, I have no idea what happened there...

[karanhsingh]

11 hours ago, robterrace said:

Yeah. So. This happened.

 

 

 

Jesus.. that's insane. Never seen this in a competitive fixture! Hope you can make the promotion happen this season, with results like this

[karanhsingh]

Blackburn Rovers - end of season 2018/19 update 

So on my last update we had 6 league games to go, and we needed a few more wins to guarantee promotion. Luckily our next 2 games were against the sides 24th and 23rd in the league, we won both of them comfortably leaving us on the brink of promotion. We then proceeded to lose in the last minute away against Hudds, and got turned 2-5 at home in a shock result against Bristol city. We also lost the last game of the season 1-2 at home to QPR. However, we got promoted the day of our biggest defeat of the season because our rivals didn't win either. This in a way was characteristic of the Championship season, with no team really able to dominate. We eventually did win the league with just  90 points, that's less than 2 points per game. In the end we kind of stuttered over the line. 

However,  I am not complaining. It's consecutive promotions and we are back in the big time! 

A lot of my players had been asking for new contracts, and I had been putting them off till the end of the season. Well as it turns out, BIG mistake. The guys who were asking fo 15k a week then, are now asking for minimum double of that, I am guessing because we are going to be a Premier league club. Not to mention crazy signing bonuses and what not. So all the new contracts are going to cost me a LOT of money 

Needs to be done though, many of them have only one more year to run now. Apart from that, the first  order of business will be trying to extend the loans of Leko, Edwards and Tuanzebe. 

[warlock]

Ipswich: Championship, season 1

On taking over at Portman Road there are the usual mixed messages regarding expectations. The bookies reckon we'll do well to manage 17th with relegation a real possibility; the board want a safe mid-table position, which the players agreed with. But I think the squad is good enough to push for top-half, if not a playoff spot. Those expectations are tempered somewhat by medium- and long-term injuries to a number of important players. This would present something of a dilemma: do you try sign capable replacements knowing that your better players will return to fitness later in the season, or settle for short-term cover? In fact, there's little choice: your predecessor has already brought in four loan signings, and there's only a tiny budget for transfers anyway. So it's more or less a matter of going with what you've got.

My start at the club was further complicated by additional injuries in defence and midfield during pre-season, which left us further depleted for the start of the season proper. Back to the loan market I went, eventually bringing in Alfie Jones from Southampton to bolster the back line, and old favourite Scott McTominay in midfield. At the first international break at the end of September, some of the injured are now back in the lineup and the squad looks like this:

Which is too many players for a club with the limited financial resources of Ipswich so - barring any further serious injuries - some of the loanees will be returned to their clubs in January, a decision that is likely to be made on wage costs since they're all performing at a similar, good, level.

Tactically, the nature of the squad is a limitation on certain setups - a back three would be problematical with lack of cover, for example, I experimented with variations on 433 and 442 and eventually settled on the latter. However, with just three first-team strikers a long-term injury here will make life difficult and 433 might yet make a comeback (Sears is good backup for a striker role but that would then leave us with just three wide players).

Early form

An opening day home defeat at the hands of Birmingham was disappointing, although in hindsight it wasn't too bad since Birmingham have been the pacesetters so far, with just one loss in 11 games. We then put together a good run of consecutive league wins, before dropping points away at QPR and losing away to Derby. We've since taken 10 points from the last 12. With the exception of the Birmingham game, we've had the lead in all of our losses and draws - if I can figure out how to secure the team when the AI goes all-out attack when chasing the game, we'll do really well, I think.

The Carabao Cup ended in early disappointment when we were unlucky to be matched against Southampton when so many easier teams remained in the draw. But we gave them a game before losing by the odd goal in three.

We're currently sitting in third, just a point behind leaders Birmingham, although - as always seems to be the way in the Championship - it's very tight at the top. Grant Ward playing as an attacking winger on the right leads the team in assists and form, and has four goals to his credit, but I've had good performances all over the pitch. A special mention to 17-year-old Tristan Nydam who has ably deputised as DLP-D for five games, rating a solid 7.0 with a 90% pass-completion stat. A good lad and I'm looking forward to seeing him develop.

[Adzke]

@warlock Ipswich has always been one of my favourite FM clubs to follow - Keep it up! How is Andre Dozzell doing for you?

[sammo10]

Fantastic thread this. I posted in here quite regularly a few versions of the game ago and great to see the EFL thread is still going strong. Always great effort put in by @Jogo Bonito . 

Looks like there are some good saves going on and looking forward to reading through them all this evening. Nice to see a Forest Green save. Have a soft spot for them after some epic saves in the last two versions of the game. Doidge is someone I will be trying to sign when I start my save this evening. 

 

Im going to be starting a save with Peterborough and trying to adopt their philosophy of signing players from the lower leagues, developing and selling on for large fees, whilst hopefully also having some successs. Will hopefully have an update tonight. 

[warlock]

4 minutes ago, Adzke said:

How is Andre Dozzell doing for you?

Sadly, he has a cruciate ligament injury at the start and is likely to be out for the whole of the season. Emyr Hughes and Teddy Bishop are also on the long-term injury list, although they should be available in the New Year.

[Adzke]

Just now, warlock said:

Sadly, he has a cruciate ligament injury at the start and is likely to be out for the whole of the season. Emyr Hughes and Teddy Bishop are also on the long-term injury list, although they should be available in the New Year.

I see! I had no idea he was injured, but hopefully he can come back and help you in your quest for the Premier League later in the year! I'm not sure if those long injuries are still career destroyers on FM. Back in the day, it seemed the player would never recover.

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Adzke said:

I'm not sure if those long injuries are still career destroyers on FM. Back in the day, it seemed the player would never recover.

Hope not, but I think they can be. Things like ligaments, broken legs, spinal and hip injuries I believe can impact the long-term fitness and some specific attributes like pace, acceleration, agility and so on. Fingers crossed that Dozzell will make the comeback - he looks a good prospect.

[robterrace]

3 minutes ago, warlock said:

Hope not, but I think they can be. Things like ligaments, broken legs, spinal and hip injuries I believe can impact the long-term fitness and some specific attributes like pace, acceleration, agility and so on. Fingers crossed that Dozzell will make the comeback - he looks a good prospect.

Definitely. By all accounts, hes having a good preseason, and hopes to be fully fit soon.

 

 

[robterrace]

Hmmm.... 

[karanhsingh]

@warlock - good luck with Ipswich! I just signed Webster in my game, he looks good. 

@robterrace - you going to take the job? 

[karanhsingh]

I just made Jarrod Bowen the record signing for Blackburn at 11 million. Anyone have experience with him? Hope he can perform in the premiership. Full pre season update coming up shortly. 

[Adzke]

56 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

I just made Jarrod Bowen the record signing for Blackburn at 11 million. Anyone have experience with him? Hope he can perform in the premiership. Full pre season update coming up shortly. 

The dreaded transfer record! I hate breaking them, yet I did so twice this season! I have no experience with him, but on my career he has 14 goals over three full seasons and an average rating of 6,84. He can only do better for you

[karanhsingh]

Blackburn Rovers - 2019/20 Pre-Season Update

And here we go, back in the big time! Quite excited about the upcoming season, and pleased with our summer business. Here is how we got on - 

Transfer missing is Hoilett to LA Galaxy for 6 million which happened in May. I was pleasantly shocked when they came in with that offer because he had been absolutely rubbish! Oh well, Americans :/ 

Players IN

Axel Tuanzebe - not mentioned in the screenshot because it was a loan renewal. I can only have 2 long term loanees in the squad so I had to be judicious about who to renew from my 5 stars of last year, I went with Axel who was a real rock at the back for us.

Jonathan Leko - the other loan renewed, after 18 goals and 14 assists last year from the left wing I had to bring him back. Looking forward to see how he fares in the PL.

Adam Webster - picked up from relegated Ipswich for 4 million. Very quick for a CB and two-footed. Should hopefully form a good partnership with Axel. 

Callum Paterson - I thought he seems like a solid dependable player with a good attribute spread. He can play DR, AMR and I am also re-training him as a striker. 

Jarrod Bowen - as previously mentioned our record signing at 11 million from Stoke. He will replace Marcus Edwards as our inside forward in the AMR position.

James Wilson - snapped him up on a free transfer, the only player from this squad that I have had before on FM18 and he has always performed. Should fit in well in any of the 3 forward roles.

John McGinn - again we got him on a free from Hibs. Looks like a well-rounded CM to compete with our other options there.

Matty Cash - my scouts rated him highly so I got him on a free, although I am not too sure if he will be able to break into the team this season.

The remaining signings are young players brought in by my HOYD, most of them free. We shelled out 600k for Andrew Hartigan though and he does look good, he had bids from a number of other Premiership clubs.

So, that leaves our all British squad looking like this - 

Planning to continue with my 4-3-3 formation, first team & back up players will probably look like this going into the season -

GK - David Raya (Leutweiler) 
DR - Nyambe (Paterson)
DL - Williams (Bell)
DC - Webster (Lenihan)
DC - Tuanzebe (Mulgrew, Wharton)
DM - Mulgrew (Smallwood)
MC - Dack (Bennett, Sheaf)
MC - Rankin Costello (McGinn, Sheaf)
AMR - Bowen (Bennett, Paterson)
AML - Leko (Wilson)
SC - Marriott (Wilson, Graham)

In other news, we have renewed a number of contracts including Dack, Nyambe, Rankin Costello, Mulgrew, and Graham for another year. The youth facilities are being upgraded but I haven't convinced the board for training yet. 

[Adzke]

@karanhsingh Looking great with all the Brits! That was actually my plan at first as well, but right now my squad is looking quite like every other Premier League squad full of foreigners. I think you will be mighty pleased with Adam Webster, I didn't sign him for my first season in the Premier League, but I surely should have! I never got Leko to perform for me (the curse of the inside forward), how are you playing him?

[karanhsingh]

Inside forward on attack duty - AML role. He smashed it in the championship but that may be due to his amazing physicals. Let’s see how he fares in the Prem. I also have both my IFs on sit narrower so they get into the box more, while the full backs go on the overlap. 

[Adzke]

3 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Inside forward on attack duty - AML role. He smashed it in the championship but that may be due to his amazing physicals. Let’s see how he fares in the Prem. I also have both my IFs on sit narrower so they get into the box more, while the full backs go on the overlap. 

I am giving this a go now to see if I can get some more production. I hope it won't crowd the box too much with the two strikers.

[robterrace]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

@warlock - good luck with Ipswich! I just signed Webster in my game, he looks good. 

@robterrace - you going to take the job? 

Temptation is there, but, I've got a project to do.

 

If the job comes up in a couple of seasons, I'll go for it.

[robterrace]

Although, I've just seen who the caretaker is at Forest, and theres no way I could put him out of a job.

...

 

In the end, it was Eddie Howes assistant at Bournemouth, Jason Tindall who got the job.

[Jogo Bonito]

6 hours ago, sammo10 said:

Fantastic thread this. I posted in here quite regularly a few versions of the game ago and great to see the EFL thread is still going strong. Always great effort put in by @Jogo Bonito . 

Looks like there are some good saves going on and looking forward to reading through them all this evening. Nice to see a Forest Green save. Have a soft spot for them after some epic saves in the last two versions of the game. Doidge is someone I will be trying to sign when I start my save this evening. 

 

Im going to be starting a save with Peterborough and trying to adopt their philosophy of signing players from the lower leagues, developing and selling on for large fees, whilst hopefully also having some successs. Will hopefully have an update tonight. 

Thanks for that, appreciated. Welcome back and good luck with your Posh job! I've enjoyed Forest Green although feel that Doidge hasn't been used as much as I would have liked, considering he was one of the main reasons for taking the challenge on. That's not his fault, I just stumbled across two prolific strikers who have been doing it from League 2 to the Championship.

As for everyone else, good updates and shared information, exactly what this thread is about. Good start at Ipswich for you @warlock

[Adzke]

Blackburn 20/21 - Halfway through

First things first. I broke the club's transfer record twice leading up to this season, and I brought in a total of seven players leading up to this season.

First off, I broke the record by signing Ignacio Gómez, whom I mentioned in an earlier post, for €10,5M and then I broke it again by signing Alan Macdonald from Aberdeen for a ridiculous fee of €22M. Macdonald has only gotten 6(1) games in the league, but I expect that to pick up after Christmas. At least I hope it will. Romanian Sorin Moraru and Czech David Novotny have also made their way into the starting lineup. Elsewhere, Richardson-Daily is my starting right winger as of late, as Bennett has been injured. Derek Nugent is my full time starter in goal this year, and he has been selected for the national team twice without getting a cap so far. 

All in all, the first half of the season has gone really well, I am top of the league (albeit barely), and I have advanced from the group stages of the Europa League.

I am however not of much use in the domestic cups this year. I was beaten in the Carabao Cup by Everton who were on deadly form in the beginning of the year, and I have drawn Man Utd in the FA Cup, and I expect them to make short work of me.

Both Ormerod and Smith have gotten their debuts in the national side, and Ormerod has even scored a goal. That seems like a nice sign for the future, and they are both playing very well. Their values have skyrocketed as well, but I obviously hope to keep them both for the foreseeable future. Ormerod has signed a new contract until 2025 with a release clause of €103M with an expiry date of July 1st 2022.

Table And Transfers

 

Players

 

 

[robterrace]

Bit of a random managerial appointment here (17th November 2021)

 

 

Although, heres a list of all the managers in the top flight, with other interesting ones...

Premier League - 

Arsenal - Jurgen Klopp
AFC Bournemouth - Eddie Howe
Brighton - Chris Hughton
Burnley - Guillermo Amor
Chelsea - Zinedine Zidane
Crystal Palace - Alan Pardew
Everton - Alessandro Dal Canto
Fulham - Stuart Gray
Leeds - Garry Monk
Leicester - Erik Ten Hag
Liverpool - Markus Babbel
Manchester City - Ernesto Valverde
Manchester United - Jose Mourinho
Southampton - Andrea Mandorlini
Stoke City - Manuel Pellegrini
Sunderland - Mauricio Pellegrino
Swansea - Sean Dyche
Tottenham Hotspur - Rafa Benitez
West Ham - Fatih Terim
Wolves - Henk Fraser

 

West Brom are managed by former Heerenveen and Reading player Joey van den Berg, Hull are in league one with former Barcelona U19 manager Javi Garcia in charge of them. Wigan have their former player Ben Watson in charge, in his first job since retirement. Gianfranco Zola has been at Crawley since 2018, Frank Lampard is currently U23 manager at Peterborough, but is also Caretaker Manager for the 4th time, following the departure of Carlo Cudicini. 

---

Real Madrid have Massimiliano Allegri in charge, and Harry Kane leading the line for them
Luis Enrique is still at Barcelona
Diego Simeone is still at Atletico
Leonardo Jardim is at Bayern
Carlo Ancelotti is at PSG

--
Gareth Southgate has just lost the England job, ex Leverkusen manager Markus Weinzierl is Germany manager, Arsene Wenger has been French manager since 2018, former Rayo Vallecano player and manager Michel is Spain manager. Vincenzo Montella has been in charge of Italy since 2020.

[Adzke]

@robterrace Where has Pochettino gone? Wenger is managing Liverpool on my game in 2021.

I always have such a hard time turning these things down

[karanhsingh]

Yup its always tempting. I got offered the West Ham job after taking Blackburn up, they are in the Championship with a very strong squad. Rejected it as we have a long term project at Ewood Park and I am not abandoning my fellow Indians until we win the Premier league! Eventually the manager of the other promoted club Fulham decided to drop down and take the West Ham job. 

Also I am seriously pissed off with my HOYD (why are they all so useless), I somehow got an offer of 3m accepted for Timmy Abraham, he made a stupid contract offer which got rejected.  Next thing you know he signs a new contract at Fulham and now they are turning down 10m for him! 

[karanhsingh]

@Adzke - sounds like you're doing really well, top of the league is amazing! Still playing the same formation & system?

Have all of those regens come through your academy itself? Hows Rankin-Costello coming along? Sad  to see Nyambe and Wharton go! What happened with Raya by the way, I assume you sold him? And Lenihan? 

[karanhsingh]

@robterrace good luck to Rio! Absolute legend, hope he does well in your game. I can never see him managing IRL, he seems to love the pundit & social media lifestyle too much. Also Real Madrid seem to buy Kane in every single save of mine too, somewhere between 60-100m.  IRL he would cost at least double that.

[Adzke]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

@Adzke - sounds like you're doing really well, top of the league is amazing! Still playing the same formation & system?

Have all of those regens come through your academy itself? Hows Rankin-Costello coming along? Sad  to see Nyambe and Wharton go! What happened with Raya by the way, I assume you sold him? And Lenihan? 

Nugent and Ormerod is from the same take-in. I got Smith the following year, and Richardson-Daily the year after that. He didn't look that good when he came through, but his determination shot up all of a sudden, and I decided to use him, as I didn't really have a good alternative on the right wing. He's been doing fine, and my coaches give him a nice potential now. He was in a take-in where no one stood out as far as I recall.

Still the same tactics, but I am finding it a bit harder to break down the opposition this year, so I might have to tinker a bit down the road. I've instructed my inside forward to sit narrow, but it hasn't really affected his performance.

EDIT: I finally sold Nyambe and Wharton this summer. They weren't getting any playing time, and even though they weren't complaining either, I just wanted to send them somewhere else. Nymabe features regularly for Sunderland, Wharton is finding first team football hard to come by at Hull. Rankin-Costello is doing really well. He is still in my starting lineup at every opportunity, and he has 4 goals and 7 assists in 22 (2) matches so far in the league. He hasn't been capped as a full international, but he has played two U21 games.

[robterrace]

33 minutes ago, Adzke said:

@robterrace Where has Pochettino gone? Wenger is managing Liverpool on my game in 2021.

 

Hes been out of work since 2019.

 

28 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

@robterrace good luck to Rio! Absolute legend, hope he does well in your game. I can never see him managing IRL, he seems to love the pundit & social media lifestyle too much. Also Real Madrid seem to buy Kane in every single save of mine too, somewhere between 60-100m.  IRL he would cost at least double that.

Kane went for £85m in this one, quite literally, a transfer merry go round..

 

Man City have spent £118m on Dybala in 2019, £95m on Dembele and £73 on Ben Woodburn in 2020, then £147m on Marco Asensio from PSG (who he joined from Real Madrid for £90m in 2019) in 2021.. Still not won the title though.

[robterrace]

Further to the Southgate losing his job post.. The favourites were Eddie Howe or Garry Monk.. 

[robterrace]

Finally get the 'Model Professional' Director of Football I've been after.

 

 

Although, my Under 18s coaching staff have just become quite awesome

 

[karanhsingh]

Nice! What do you use the DOF for anyway though? Does he handle transfers?

By the way, which Facepack are you using?

[robterrace]

5 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Nice! What do you use the DOF for anyway though? Does he handle transfers?

By the way, which Facepack are you using?

At the moment, DOF is responsible for recruiting staff, and the HOYD does all the loan moves.

 

Got a couple of facepacks on the go, as well as the regen pack from https://twitter.com/wtforkgaming, the DF11 Megapack (https://df11faces.com/en/Overview/) , and the FMSite.net Hexagon pack.

 

[smplfc123]

Great start @warlock giving me a lot to contend with already. I'll post my first update at the end of the transfer window.

[warlock]

3 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

I'll post my first update at the end of the transfer window.

Looking forward to it 

[Adzke]

In four youth intakes at Blackburn, I have now had three golden generations, and once again, I am getting an absurd player. Three star CA from the get go. Now, left back is one of my weaker positions, but still three stars at a Premier League club seems pretty decent. Never seen anything like it before. Paul Smith had four, and if Steve Collins is anything like him, I'll be much pleased!

How are your intakes, @karanhsingh?

  

[robterrace]

Bloody hell, hes good.

[Adzke]

And he's still almost half a year from turning 16!

[robterrace]

Yeah, hes going to be frighteningly good.

[robterrace]

So.. Here we go. Halfway through the season...

 

----------------

It was the fictional character, Ben Parker, who said "With great power, comes great responsibility", well, in the case of Doncaster Rovers at this point in time, nothing could be more true.

 

Reaching the beginning of August, and ergo, the start of the season, with only Miguel Luis missing, through his cruciate knee injury, was, to be honest, great. The usual stories had been in the news, linking the likes of Duarte Valente and Pedro Marques with moves away from the Keepmoat, so much so, that the striker had come to see me and said he wanted to move if a bid came in from Hannover. Being up front with him, I agreed that as long as a bid came in of around £9m for him, I would let him go. This move placated him, and the season started, with the same fixture as last, a visit to Huddersfield.

 

With a very similar setup to how we ended last season, 4 at the back, 3 in the middle, with Marques up front, and two wingers either side of him, we intended to play an attractive style and score goals, all whilst being good in possession.

I had no idea how much this was going to come to fruition in this match.

 

I've had good days whilst in charge of sides, this, goes down as my best.

 

I can only describe the first half as carnage, as we score 2 goals in the first 10 minutes, then, after a gap of 20 minutes, 3 in 5, then another 3 in 5, to put us 8-0 up. I don't know what Stale Solbakken had been doing with his squad over the summer, but, they were coming off second best to every ball. Pedro Marques had a hat trick, and the two wingers, Vittorio Parigini and Ryan Hedges, both had braces, topped up with an own goal from the unfortunate Jordan Archer.

 

In the second half, Marques scored two more before he was withdrawn, David Brooks coming on in his place, Parigini notched up two more as well, before David Brooks wrapped up the scoring with a brace of his own in the dying minutes. A 14-0 win was secured, and Parigini secured the Player of the match award, for scoring 4 goals, and providing 4 more for his team mates.

 

 

Scores like this make the rest of the division take notice of you, so, it wasn't surprising when Norwich, Middlesbrough and Brentford came up in the league and played defensive football against us.

 

In the days after the Huddersfield match, we made another signing, strengthening the defence slightly, with the arrival of German full back, Erik Durm, from Borussia Dortmund for £1.4m. At 29, he was a departure from the 'youth first' policy I wanted, but, being able to play in either full back role, and having represented Germany 7 times, as well as making nearly 200 appearances in the Bundesliga, he will provide great experience, as well as being technically sufficient to play in the way the side was set up. This would mean that Jon Walters would provide cover to both sides of the defence, but, the 18 year old would gain more than enough experience throughout the season, as long as he stayed clear of injury.

 

In the days building up to the transfer window, moves were made to send fringe players out on loan, as well as some players who would find their time at the club cut short.

The likes of Perr Schuurs went on loan to Zwolle in Holland, before Mikael Anderson, who had signed in the summer, went out on loan to Motherwell in Scotland. Lewis Morgan, and Nigel Girvan went to Spain to play for Cartagena in the Segunda.

 

Of course, following his 5 goal explosion against Huddersfield, there were still clubs showing interest in Pedro Marques, culminating in an offer coming in for him from Charleroi in Belguim. The initial offer of £5m, and addons wasn't of any interest, but, I managed to negotiate it up to £7m up front, with another £3m in instalments, with sell on clause and international appearances clause thrown in.

 

With the acceptance of this offer, this meant I had to find a replacement for Pedro at short notice, and, looking through the loan list, was able to find two suitable candidates, one in France, and one in my favourite shopping centre of Lisbon.

 

Rafael Leao came from Sporting Lisbon B with a big reputation, able to play out on the wing, or through the middle, he was quick, and strong, providing a large target for direct play. As well as that, he was technically proficient, liking to run with the ball at his feet and beat the defender. He came in on loan until the end of the season.

 

The second loan deal was for a young French striker with a very big reputation. Again, he was able to play down both wings, is very technically proficient, and provided a bit of pace to trouble the defence. Coming from Lyon, he was used to the expectations of him, and as such, Willem Geubbels also arrived.

 

There was a 3rd deadline day deal, as I looked for a player to provide backup for Parigini, should he be injured or depart. The solution was found in a 25 year old Italian striker, again, who can play down both wings, and was available at less than half of what his valuation was. So, for £1.4m, Simone Polumbi swapped the metropolis of Rome, for Doncaster, and became the last signing of the window.

 

There is a sting in the tale however. Pedro Marques had met up with representatives of Charleroi, and decided that a move to Belgium wasn't for him, and turned down the contract from them. This meant that, as well as the 2 loan signings, he would also be with us, until January at least. Instead of the forward line getting slightly weaker, it had just got considerably stronger.

 

 

Post window, we appeared to get stronger, dispatching Colchester and Preston without Bentley having to face a shot, and coming away from a visit to the New Den with a point after Scott McTominay had given them the lead. Cardiff came to the Keepmoat as one of the favourites for promotion, having been relegated last season. They left with their tails metophorically between their legs, finding themselves 3-0 down at half time due to goals from Lovro Majer, Willem Geubbels and Vittorio Parigini.  The one down side to the month, however, was losing Pedro Marques for 3 weeks due to him sustaining a concussion during the Preston game. This however, was more than made up for him being covered by the players brought in to replace him.

 

 

October was a month of continued good performances, the only downside being a trip to Ashton Gate, where Bristol City ran riot for 90 minutes, Lois Diony and Famara Diedhiou scoring the goals in a 3-0 win. The big bonus of the month, was a trip to Hillsborough, where 3 first half goals from Valente and Marques were enough to bring home the points, before Rafael Leao came off the bench to provide the exclaimation point to the day, and giving us a 5-1 victory.

 

 

November provided more of the same from us before a visit from Watford saw us lose to Tom Cleverleys goal, and a poor performance at the City Ground saw us lose to Forest. There was a change in staff for us, as Michael Carrick and Wayne Rooney came in to coach in the Under 18s, and Petr Cech arrived as Director of Football, replacing Matt Jackson, who had been with us since 2018.

 

 

December brought a big test, as QPR, who were level with us at the top of the table came to town, after the Portuguese sniper had hit a hat trick in 5 minutes to get rid of Birmingham. They were taken care of, thanks to 2 more goals from Marques, to take him clear at the top of the divisions scorers with 18 goals in as many games. His fantastic month continued against Middlesbrough, as although Duarte Valente was absent due to a twisted ankle, he scored 2 in a 3-0 victory, with Rafael Leao carving his way in from the left wing to conclude the scoring. We had 2 fixtures to conclude the year, firstly, a visit to Norwich on Boxing Day, but, on Christmas Eve, a message comes through that may have a big impact on us later on in the season.

 

 

He may only have begun the rehab, but, even if he is back in action by the end of March, he will provide stability and vital leadership to our hopes at that point.

After the good news of Luis being on the road to recovery, the Boxing Day trip proved profitable, as Norwich were despatched 3-0, two more goals from Marques, the first after 90 seconds, and a David Brooks 3rd seeing the Canaries off.

The last fixture of the month was a repeat of the first game of the season. Huddersfield had found the going tough all season, and Stale Solbakken had paid the price with his job in early November. They came into town sitting 22nd in the table, with former Reading manager Jaap Stam at the helm, having left Nottingham Forest to move to The John Smiths Stadium. In a slightly different affair to the one at the start of the season, Vittorio Parigini scored the only goal of the game, as the our side was much changed due to the two games in 3 days. This left us top as the New Year came around.

 

 

 

Not only content with being top scorers in the division, we also had the best defence in the division as well, and also the top individual scorer in Marques, along with the top assist provider, in Vittorio Parigini, who has also contributed 14 goals to the cause.