FM18: The English Football League Thread - EFL in FM18

[warlock]

48 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

7 points in 5 games or I'm gone....

Ouch! Always seems a bit unreasonable to me... very little margin of error, two wins and a draw really because one win and four draws seems much tougher unless you have a team capable of parking the biggest of buses.

Hope you can pull it off!

[karanhsingh]

also @robterrace I just noticed that you hired Eva Carneiro as well

nice one

[robterrace]

30 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

also @robterrace I just noticed that you hired Eva Carneiro as well

nice one

Yeah, shes been there since the start. Probably the first staff member I brought in with the exception of my DOF.

[smplfc123]

 

I started the stint of games off perfectly. A home win over derby was followed with a great draw away at Fulham, giving me 4 points from just 2 games and only needing 3 more from the last 3. However, I threw away leads to both Leeds and Bolton meaning needing to take all 3 points in the last of the 5 games at home to top of the table Wolves was going to be too much.

Absolutely gutted. Maybe my experience and badges didn't help, but I loved the challenge and I will be back in the Championship with a new save before long.

[karanhsingh]

That sucks man!! Yeah give it a shot with better badges etc. As someone said before, it’s hard enough as it is, no point adding further to the challenge. 

[karanhsingh]

As I had feared, the wheels seem to be coming off. We just conceded 4 goals away to Southampton and it could have been more. They’re 15th in the league too. Apparently my players have forgotten how to pass the ball to each other. 

Arsenal beat city 4-0 and are now 3 points behind us. 

[smplfc123]

It was frustrating as I really wanted to build my team around the great young talent they had. I just think my tactical impatience and lack of identity meant that I was never really convinced with what I was doing or who I was backing in each position. Too much rotation and not enough belief in certain players ultimately cost me I feel.

But now I start a new challenge and although still not being the top dog, I have moved my experience up to Pro Footballer (Local) and moved my quals up to Cont B, as well as putting transfers on to give me some freedom in changing the team to the way I want it.

I wont say who it is yet as it's still very early days, but it's a championship team.

[warlock]

45 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

it's a championship team who are predicted to finish lower than Ipswich were

 That has to narrow it down quite a bit. Burton, maybe?

Whoever, I'm sure that having more realistic experience/badges will help enormously. If it's not too late, the other thing I find helpful is to adjust the balance of managerial attributes according to the level I'm playing. So, at lower league level where you have to work with fewer specialised coaches, I'll usually try to max out a key set of training attributes - tactics, attacking, technical, usually. At higher levels - Championship and above - I use the slider to give myself more attributes for the mental side: discipline, motivation, man management (because you have more coaches available who can deal with the day-to-day training).

Anyway, hope you find more success this time around. What a great game this is, eh?

[smplfc123]

@warlock Nope, further north than them!

Cheers mate, never thought of it that way. I hope you continue to do well with Ipswich as I do have a soft spot for them now, despite my sacking 

[warlock]

Ipswich: the end of January window

So without wishing to rub salt in @smplfc123's wounds, we head into February in a good position - if in somewhat questionable form.

We ended the year on a high with a good 2-0 win against Derby at Portman Road, but started 2019 on a low with a visit to promotion contenders Fulham and coming away with a defeat. Then, having drawn Premiership side Huddersfield in the 3rd round of the FA Cup we endured another defeat after Luke Chambers drew his second yellow in the first half and we went down to 10 men. If we'd had 11 on the field I believe we could have progressed but, all told, I couldn't really complain about the result.

An up-and-down month continued with a fantastic 4-0 win against Leeds, followed by an abysmal defeat to bottom-of-the-league Bolton where, again, we went down to 10 men after Emyr Huws went off for two yellow cards inside of 30 minutes. The lack of discipline is a worry, especially since I don't use 'get stuck in' or 'tackle harder' instructions on players, or 'close down more' or 'mark tighter' as TIs. But I think it's an indicator of a general weak mentality throughout the squad - lack of discipline is a problem, and so, too, is a lack of resilience when we go behind... too many players exhibiting complacency, or nervousness, or just a lack of mental fortitude!

On the positive side, we then entertained our nearest rivals, Wolves (who just spend the best part of £10m in the January window) and sent them packing!

I'd have liked to have spent money in January - but there wasn't any! We did, however, sign one player. Key squad members Joe Garner and Grant Ward were missing throughout January with injury, and a late-month injury to David McGoldrick left us short up front so I made a loan move for Kai Sierhuis from Jong Ajax. I know from previous experience that he's a streaky hot-and-cold player but I think he'll offer us something a bit different - and useful - up front.

The beginning of February sees us holding on at the top of the table - not convincing but, compared to pre-season predictions, a fantastic position nonetheless. Next up we have an away day at mid-table Sunderland and I'm hopeful of another three points from that one.  If Joe Garner can continue to find the net up front, and Ward maintains his amazing form from the right-wing, I'm optimistic going into the last third of the season. 

And Nydam continues to exceed expectations. With the injuries up front I had to move Sears from right-wing rotation to striker-rotation, and that meant I needed another wide player. So I moved Nydam from DLP-D in centre-midfield to a less-natural LW-A role, and he did even better! Notice that 9.0 rating in the FA Cup - that was the game we went down to 10 men against Huddersfield; he couldn't quite win us the game, but he couldn't have done any more. Love this kid!

 

[smplfc123]

Great update @warlock mate.

Nydam really is quality youngster! Versatile too as you've pointed out. Have any of the other youngsters done much for you? Kenlock, Bishop, McGavin, Morris etc?

[warlock]

5 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

Have any of the other youngsters done much for you?

Must admit I'm just bringing Bishop into the first team (about two games, doing ok). McGavin and Morris haven't featured yet. But Kenlock has made the LB position his own - Knudsen isn't bad, but if they're both fit then Kenlock is playing! But I have to come clean - I'm really bad at bringing young players into the first team... however much potential they have, I'd always much rather rely on actual ability. It's often injuries that force my hand... I wish I was better but for me - sadly - immediate results triumph over long term potential.

[smplfc123]

Haha! We all have our preferences Jose...sorry I mean @warlock

I like to try and bring through the local talent if I can, but then again I got sacked and you're top, so hey, take no notice of me 

If you manage to cap off the excellent season with promotion, are you considering a complete overhaul, or sticking with the core?

[Jogo Bonito]

@smplfc123 Sorry to see that you got the boot mate. Didn't you consider starting again with Ipswich after tweaking your rep slightly? It doesn't feel like you had a great run at a club you wanted to manage. Still, best of luck in Yorkshire  unless it's Bolton...

@robterrace My word, another transfer window so my head has officially exploded again. But great to see you're still having an enjoyable experience with Donny, keep up the good work.

@karanhsingh Excellent so far, a few wobbles are probably to be expected, but doing very well there.

@warlock Fine stuff with Ipswich, to be top of the pile is very impressive. It's about time they had a quality manager in this thread

I've managed to get a handful of extra games in at Forest Green, we are now just beginning the winter transfer window of January 2021. I'll do an update at the end of January so you can see how we have done in our first Championship season so far. I'm going to complete this season before walking away and trying a new team way back in 2017, but I want to see if I can keep them up. I also deserve to get a handful of matches in the expanded stadium from March 2021 before I wrap it up with them. 

[robterrace]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

 

@robterrace My word, another transfer window so my head has officially exploded again. But great to see you're still having an enjoyable experience with Donny, keep up the good work.

Thanks Jogo.

 

Hopefully, the madness of my purchasing during transfer windows will die down over the next window or two. Got a few youngsters who are ready to unleash on the world.

[superbowl145]

I´m deciding to manage between Nott Forest and QPR, Which one is th best 

PD: If you have any other reccomendations feel free to gave them 

[karanhsingh]

4 hours ago, superbowl145 said:

I´m deciding to manage between Nott Forest and QPR, Which one is th best 

PD: If you have any other reccomendations feel free to gave them 

I like Forest because they have some good youngsters breaking through - Worrall, Cash, Brereton. All from the academy I believe. 

Plus the clubs history from the 80s makes it a proper fallen giant scenario. 

[karanhsingh]

@Jogo Bonito - thanks for the kind words. Why are you not looking to persist with your current game though? It’s been really interesting! 

[karanhsingh]

So in my game, Arsenal are basically 1 point behind us now in second place, and our next league game is away against them. 

Theyve covered up a lot of ground lately so I decided to look into how they have been performing. 

Basically they have 13 wins on the trot, and have not conceded a single goal in the last 14. How the hell do you compete with that?!

they are managed by Antonio Conte now in my game and he’s playing his preferred 3-4-3 formation which clearly seems to be doing wonders!

[smplfc123]

12 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@smplfc123 Sorry to see that you got the boot mate. Didn't you consider starting again with Ipswich after tweaking your rep slightly? It doesn't feel like you had a great run at a club you wanted to manage. Still, best of luck in Yorkshire  unless it's Bolton...

Haha, thanks pal 

@warlock Fine stuff with Ipswich, to be top of the pile is very impressive. It's about time they had a quality manager in this thread

Hey! Well the truth does hurt 

Any ideas who your next team will be when you've finished with FG?

 

 

[warlock]

12 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

are you considering a complete overhaul, or sticking with the core?

I'll probably stick with the core, especially the younger players. We'll definitely need at least one new striker - I'm not convinced by McGoldrick or Waghorn - and a couple of the older midfielders will definitely need an upgrade, but otherwise I think the majority of the squad should be capable of keeping us up. Got to secure the promotion first, though. As I said, we're terribly fragile mentally and it will be... um, interesting to see how they cope with the pressure that will surely come in the last month or so.

13 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I want to see if I can keep them up

It'll be a great achievement if - when! - you do. As others have said, I'll look forward to seeing where you go next. Can't believe we've already had the announcement for FM19 too - I'm running out of time for about a dozen saves I had planned for FM18!

[robterrace]

Little insight into my January plans? 

 

[Chewy2006]

 

Hey All,

           After a spell in America with Atlanta United where I won the MLS Cup, Supporter Shield and US Open cup, I decided that I couldn't do much more with them and having won the first trophies for that club decided i'd look for a new challenge and with my reputation ok starting with the lowest badges and earner 1 star rep from winning them trophies I was offered the chance in the championship with both Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest as well as a chance in Serie B with Parma, I was tempted by Parma but with some awkward rules in signing players like in the U.S.A I decided against that route and then looking over Birmingham and Forests squad I couldn't see too much difference in them in fact Birmingham's had a slight edge but with very different transfer budgets. At Birmingham I would of had a pitiful 5k and at forest 380k so not a lot to work with.

 

I decided to go for Nottingham Forest, with the team 22nd in the league with 33 games played 6pts adrift of Sheffield United and with now the transfer window closed given it is the 22nd Feb I decided to embrace this challenge and hopefully with 13 games left I can save them from the drop this season and then in the summer have some more funds to make the squad a lot better than it currently is.

[karanhsingh]

Good luck with Forest. Which season is this in?

[Chewy2006]

 

Cheers Karan,

                        Middle of First

[smplfc123]

2 hours ago, warlock said:

I'll probably stick with the core, especially the younger players. We'll definitely need at least one new striker - I'm not convinced by McGoldrick or Waghorn - and a couple of the older midfielders will definitely need an upgrade, but otherwise I think the majority of the squad should be capable of keeping us up. Got to secure the promotion first, though. As I said, we're terribly fragile mentally and it will be... um, interesting to see how they cope with the pressure that will surely come in the last month or so.

 

I was never fussed on them 2 either mate. I'm confident you'll gain promotion though 

[Chewy2006]

After taking charge in late Feb and Finding Forest in 22nd place I managed to hit the ground run and went on a great run of results which saw us not only close the 6pt gap we had to safety but go beyond it and shoot up the table finishing in a respectable 18th place. It could of been a lot better but after losing to the eventual champions Bristol City 5-2 the confidence in the team just drained and I ended up finishing with 4 defeats in the last 5 games so plenty to build on for next season.

 

Looking through the squad at my disposal the only real quality in the team that showed in my 13 games where the widemen of lolly and McKay who delivered some excellent crosses that to no surprise Daryl Murphy finished off superbly, without them 3 players I think it would of been a real struggle to of got out of the drop zone. The midfield does have abit of quality with Osborn in particular standing out in some games but overall the team lacks a lot of pace and that's something I will try to address.

 

Fixtures

 

 

I took over from the QPR game and as you can see from the screenshot I went on a decent run of results early on before tailing off come the end of the season.

 

Squad

 

This is my current squad atm but most if not the majority of these players I will try and ship out in the summer and hopefully can recoup most of the transfer fees I can get and improve the team next season.

 

Final Table

[karanhsingh]

Lost to arsenal 1-0  

Ozil won a header in the box (that’s realistic) and laid it off to Hulk for their goal 

and Jack Marriott missed a one on one to equalise in injury time

so we are down to second now

[karanhsingh]

@Chewy2006 I signed Cash for free in my game and he’s been developing quite well fyi

[sammo10]

Peterborough End of Season 17/18

 

League Table

We made it up. It went right to the wire and it all came down to the final day. We matched Wigan's result and got the promotion on goal difference. Neither of us were ever close to Blackburn who absolutely walked it. Wigan ended up joining is in the Championship anyway beating Oxford on penalties in the play-off final.

 

Fixtures

There were some massive games in the second half of the season and some very key moments. John Akinde's last minute winner against Gillingham a week on from a disappointing loss at Oxford seemed like a huge moment at the time and ended up proving very decisive. He then popped up with another massive goal on the final day getting the winner to take us up. Blackburn didn't let up sadly and battered us at Ewood Park, despite already being champions. 

 

Squad and stats

Jack Marriott and Omar Bogle both smashed the 20 goal barrier. Having two players able to do that is always going to give you a massive advantage. Lenihan did well after joining in January and kept Davies out of the side most of the time. Davies still manager 20+ games despite his age. Colkett continued his fine form in midfield and I think he will take the Championship by storm. Lapslie settled nicely into the side and was a big player doing Charlie's dirty work. 

Gwion Edwards was the standout for me and was great to watch him beat his man so often. Even hit double figures for goals and racked up 15 assists. George Cooper staked a claim to be involved next year, deputising nicely whilst Maddison was out injured. Maddison and I have now had our third argument. All on different topics and I am a bit sick of him to be honest. He did okay, but Edwards on the right gave me so much more and with much less grief. Not sure if I am going to keep him on or not. 

Still can't decide who my favoured centre back pairing is. 

 

Awards

There were some nice individual awards at the end of the season. 

Gwion Edwards won the League Player of the year. Something I fully back. He was class. 

 

 

Colkett, Edwards and Marriott all made it into TOTY and all deserved it. Marriott also came runner up to Keinan Davis in the Golden Boot award.

 

I did also pick up Manager of the year. 

Bogle cleaned up at the Club awards and I will be sad to see him go. Steven Taylor with the shock GOTS scoring an absolute screamer on the opening day. 

 

Next Season -

I was very pleasantly surprised to see that Darragh MacAnthony is going to back me next year with a £5m budget. Maybe I will be seeing all of that Leo money. I want to give as many players from this year a chance but there are some areas that I think most need strengthening. 

GK - Bond will be returning to Reading. His contract is up at Reading though so I may well just try and get him back. 

LB - Hughes was solid but I can't see him being any more than a backup in the Championship. Definitely feel I need to strengthen here. 

CM - I am probably going to look to move Doughty on as he is not a natural BWM and we already have Colkett and Anderson as DLP's. I'm going to try and a find a real top quality ball winner to compete with Lapslie. 

ST - Bogle's loan will be up. I may look at bringing him back, but despite his goals, he did miss an awful lot of chances as well. A real target man to g alongside Marriott is on the list.

Possibly a left winger as well, but that all depends on what i decide to do with Maddison. I welcome any recommendations for all listed! 

 

@robterrace  - Looks like some good business. Edwards should be great. Broke into my Tottenham side when I was managing them and I have had high hopes for him IRL. Sadly looks like his attitude could be his downfall.

Great progress with Ipswich @warlock and gutted to see they got rid of you @smplfc123. Look forward to seeing who you take on next. My money is on Barnsley... 

Good luck with Forest @chewy2006 

[smplfc123]

@sammo10 Cheers mate, your money is safe for now  Congratulations on a great season! Really interested to see what business you manage to do over the summer! Especially the partner you pick for Marriot.

[robterrace]

Something slightly different, no real update, just looking at a team issue.

 

Something that I highlighted a while back, but, have only had the opportunity to do now, is look at the makeup of my side.

 

My fullbacks are mobile, cover a lot of ground up and down, and are more than capable of playing at the level required of them. They aren't required to be the most defensive of players, but are good at what they need to do.

 

As you can see, they are attacking fullbacks, and as such, will head into play and leave the defence behind. Something, which, when we are overpowering teams in the Championship and League One, you can rely on your centre halves to do.

 

 

As you can see, all the first choice centre backs are of a similar ilk. This is where my first problem arises. 

Every one of them is strong, has decent pace, if not overly quick, and is good in the air. In my previous seasons in the Championship, and the promotion season from League One, I operated with a split of central defender types, one being an 'enforcer', the strong, powerful one (to use a comparator, the Robert Huth style), and one being the more technically proficient and quicker (a John Stones type).

However, due to things happening whilst I was in the Championship (within the first 6 months of promotion), I have stepped away from this and have made errors. This will need to be sorted. 

 

If the defence isn't capable of withstanding the more physical attackers who use their power intelligently, then this will cause problems at both ends of the pitch, as they will not be able to be in the location required to start attacks.

 

Categorising the wingers and strikers within the same area, I feel that we are dealing OK with the rigours of top flight football, and the improvement in opponent that we see. 

Whereas before, the wingers were beating defenders for fun, and the strikers getting plenty of space to create chances. We lost Pedro Marques for a club record fee last season (to Sunderland, who were relegated, but he has kept up his scoring rate, and finds himself targeted by several clubs, giving us a potential windfall on any fee). The money raised from this sale, was reinvested, wisely, if, a little bit panicked, in Carlos Ardiles, who has become one of the best young strikers in Europe, and furthermore, into Ivan Stojanovic, who provides a more physically direct option if needed.

We lack the experienced head up front, whilst Jack Marriott (signed on a free towards the end of the August window) provides an alternative to what we have, he has no top flight experience to use. This is where Sergio Aguero would have helped before his untimely retirement. Again, this is something that will need to be looked at and rectified.

 

Moving into midfield, this is where the biggest mistake has been made.

Throughout the time in League One, up until the January transfer window in the Promotion season, we operated with 3 'central midfielders', two deeper ones, and one in a 'Number 10 role'.

 

The two sitting midfielders were split with an enforcer/destroyer type player, who could break up play and do the work that no one really notices a player do (think the role Michael Carrick played for a long time for Manchester United), the role of linking the play between the defence and the strikers. The other role was a playmaker type, one who would be responsible for chance creation.

 

In the 2020/21 season, we operated with Miguel Luis in the playmaker role, something which he had been specifically brought in for at the beginning of the 19/20 season, and a young midfielder called Erik Andersson alternated with Duarte Valente in the destroyer role. Their attributes didn't exactly match the type of role they were playing, but, playing alongside Luis, and with Besuschkow or David Brooks in the 10 role, he was able to fulfil the role, and as such, the defence functioned well, and the forward line chipped in with their share as well (we finished 6th that season, losing in the playoffs to Huddersfield, scoring the 3rd highest amount of goals in the division). 

The 2021/22 season, being our promotion season, was where everything clicked together, defensively strong, and players who had played together for a long time, had an understanding of what their roles were. Due to injury, Luis missed the majority of the season, coming back in March. Andersson covered the playmaker role, not creating as many chances as his compatriot, but, effectively pulling the strings.

 

In that side, the most important player was Duarte Valente. He played the holding/ballwinner role perfectly, had near perfect attributes for this (Marking, Tackling, along with Workrate, Teamwork and a few other areas). 

He was sold on Deadline Day, January 2022, to Hertha Berlin. In the 17 League games after that, we conceded 29 goals, scoring 28 in reply. In the 29 league games where Valente had played that season, we had only conceded 25 goals, as well as scoring 80.

 

Looking at it this way, its easy to see what influence he had on the side, and its something that we haven't had in the side since, hence the struggles at the end of the promotion season, and the struggle we're going through now.

 

Of course, the easiest way to rectify this, would be to get a player that matched him in every area possible. There are a few players who fit that way of thinking.

 

Firstly we have Duarte. He won't be anywhere near available, or affordable now

 

Next is José Rodríguez. At 27, he is experienced, and has been playing in Europe this season for Besiktas. He offers a great deal, but, will be an expensive option to consder.

 

John Obi Mikel has played this sort of role for years, but, is beginning to show the signs of aging in game, with his stamina dropping, and his lack of pace. He may just be affordable.

 

US International Michael Bradley falls into the same area as Obi Mikel. Showing signs of aging through his lack of pace and agility, he is mentally strong, and like Obi, may just about be affordable.

 

The last of the exact matches to Duarte is a 26 year old Midfielder called Wolfgang Sereinig. Playing at Liefering, a feeder club for the Red Bull empire, he has experience in England, as well as having a lot of time in Austria.

He falls into a lot of areas, physically imposing, he is good in the air, and whilst every attribute may not hit Valentes level, there is room for those to improve. Out of contract in the summer, it may be possible to convince Liefering to part with him, and he will fit into the pay structure.

 

 

In the absence of a large amount of targets, the search on attributes was taken down a notch.

 

This provided a list of 20 players, ranging in value and age from £85k to £35m, and 17 to 35.

 

I could afford to be a little bit picky going down the list here.

 

Second from bottom, in terms of value, is 18 year old Alvaro Marambio. He would probably be good enough to step into the side now, but, given his age, he would lack experience, and is also lacking in Concentration.

He recently won his first cap for Chile, so, whilst he may not be able to get a work permit, he is one to look at in coming years.

 

Next on the list is 30 year old Portuguese midfielder, Alfonso Taira. Playing at Hapoel Kiryat-Shmona in Israel, he is mentally and physically more than capable of standing up to the rigours of Premier League football, having nearly 300 career apppearances to his name. At his current age, he will be more than capable of playing for at least 4 or 5 years, as long as he remains fit. He''ll be scouted again so that a potential fee and other things can be firmed up.

 

 

Next is Daniel Torres. The Colombian has already played in the Premier League at Everton, and, like a lot of the players we're looking at, has great attributes for his role. At 32, he should have a couple of years at least left over, and whilst not overly big, would provide some power.

 

Serbian International Radoslav Petrovic fulfils virtually every attiribute for what we need, he is a little bit lacking in pace, but, operating as an enforcer, he makes up for it with his other mental attibutes. He is probably the best that we have to go on so far.

 

The last player on the list at this time is Austrian, Stefan Schwab. Again, at 32, he is reaching the age where some attributes will naturally decline, Hitting the literal target on the other Mental and Physical attributes makes him one of the best on the list. He is affordable in both wages and overall cost.

 

Its just passing the end of October in game, so theres still plenty of  time to go for things to be scouted and the like.

[warlock]

@robterrace That's an interesting appraisal with a lot of analysis I rarely bring to my own saves, but one thing in particular struck me.

After @smplfc123 admonished me (and rightly so) for my regular failure to develop young players - he called me Jose, the cheeky beggar - in my defence, and contrary to Sr Mourinho, I am not averse to playing youngsters if they're good enough. But also unlike Jose - and you, apparently - I will rarely sign a player older than 27-28, and almost never if they're older than 29-30. For me, older players represent a lot of work in scouting for a short-term gain, with a good chance I'll have to repeat the process in a year (or two, if lucky). And, in my experience, buying a 30-year-old when I've had to do it, is money down the drain because they're almost impossible to move on and they end up on the bench or in the reserves while their contract runs down.

I have my scouts constantly looking for 18-23-year-olds and if given the choice (usually because of budget) between a player under 20 and one older than 28 I'll opt for the youngster. Partly because he represents a better investment but, importantly, because while he may not be perfect now, the chances are he'll get better while the older player will almost certainly get worse.

I'm not for a second suggesting either approach is better or worse - I am in constant awe of the time, effort and sheer thoughtfulness you put into your save. It's just interesting to me that the game is so rich that it supports this level of detail. I think it's also significant that 90% of the forum discussion is about tactics, where you and I might agree that squad management and development is far more important yet gets discussed less often.

[robterrace]

1 minute ago, warlock said:

@robterrace That's an interesting appraisal with a lot of analysis I rarely bring to my own saves, but one thing in particular struck me.

After @smplfc123 admonished me (and rightly so) for my regular failure to develop young players - he called me Jose, the cheeky beggar - in my defence, and contrary to Sr Mourinho, I am not averse to playing youngsters if they're good enough. But also unlike Jose - and you, apparently - I will rarely sign a player older than 27-28, and almost never if they're older than 29-30. For me, older players represent a lot of work in scouting for a short-term gain, with a good chance I'll have to repeat the process in a year (or two, if lucky). And, in my experience, buying a 30-year-old when I've had to do it, is money down the drain because they're almost impossible to move on and they end up on the bench or in the reserves while their contract runs down.

I have my scouts constantly looking for 18-23-year-olds and if given the choice (usually because of budget) between a player under 20 and one older than 28 I'll opt for the youngster. Partly because he represents a better investment but, importantly, because while he may not be perfect now, the chances are he'll get better while the older player will almost certainly get worse.

I'm not for a second suggesting either approach is better or worse - I am in constant awe of the time, effort and sheer thoughtfulness you put into your save. It's just interesting to me that the game is so rich that it supports this level of detail. I think it's also significant that 90% of the forum discussion is about tactics, where you and I might agree that squad management and development is far more important yet gets discussed less often.

I normally stick to that, but, I look at buying older players depending on their personality, that way, I can use them to tutor.

[robterrace]

In the previous part, I showed how finding out the problems my team was suffering, was down to mistakes I'd made in terms of recruitment, and how I intended to solve them.

Going into the work I had done on finding a potential replacement for Duarte Valente, something which should have been done nearly 12 months earlier, I'd requested scout reports on the targets that had been identified.


Using these, as well as the framework of the Ball Winning Midfielder player type, brought us to Afonso Taira.

The 30 year old Portuguese midfielder is normally the sort of player I wouldn't look twice at, due to his run of the mill attributes, and slightly poorer than normal Technical stats.

However, fitting the BWM player type into it, the following comes to light.



Technically, his dribbling, crossing and finishing stats are poor for the level we're at, but, when we consider that all we're wanting Taira to do is break up play, the Marking and Tackling attributes are where we look. With a 14 tackling, and a rating of between 10-13 on marking, he will making decent tackles, all whilst not being left in a poor position by his marking. With a 12 first touch and 13 passing, this also shows that he is able to make interceptions and pass to his teammates without any real issues.




Moving onto his Mental Attributes, this is where we see what we want. A 'Ball Winning Midfielder' requires decent attibutes in Positioning, Teamwork, Workrate, as well as Aggression, Bravery, and Determination.
This all centres around a players ability to be in the correct position through his reading of the game, how much he'll do for the team ethic, and how hard he'll work towards that goal.
With attributes at a lowest mark of 14 in this area, it is easy to see that he will be more than capable of being able to get himself into these areas, and at the same time, not be caught out. Further to that, with a good leadership attribute will mean that he is able to set an example, and hopefully be a good tutor to the younger players.




Again, his physical attributes show the plus side of getting a player who is in an age range where he won't decline as quickly as some. He isn't the quickest, but, taking into account his Mental attributes, he should be able to read the game and position himself properly. With a stamina and strength rating of what it is, he will be able to keep closing down his opponent, and not be knocked off the ball as easily as he could be.
For a fee of £675k, he will come into the midfield, and be a very good option to sit and screen the defence.

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

As well as Taira, I looked to the future slightly in the same area. I'd been monitoring 23 year old Czech midfielder Christian Frydek for about 18 months, scouting him on about a dozen occasions, and watching him in person on half a dozen occasions. Whilst he wasn't the perfect fit to the Ball Winning Midfielder mould, with a little bit of work, he would become my sitting midfielder once Taira becomes unable to fill the role.




The only area that would require any immediate work for him to become a decent BWM, is strength. With high work rate, stamina and decisions attributes, he will basically act like the metronome in the middle of the pitch for me, moving around and allowing his colleagues to find space. A slightly hefty fee was agreed for him, but, the potential future fee is what we're looking at here. For £5m, he is nearly a perfect fit for what we need.

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

Other areas that were highlighted for improvement were in the defence. Once more, following some work looking at the areas needed, Alex Iacovitti, a 25 year old Scottish centre half playing at Nottingham Forest was targeted. The reason behind this is threefold. He fits the criteria we need to fill, being strong, good in the air, and having a good bravery level. He is left footed, so can play on the left side of a 3 man defence, which is something being developed at Doncaster, and finally, he counts as Homegrown in the Squad Registration screens. For £2.4m, he comes at a premium, like all British players do post Brexit, but, he will be worth it.
Whilst his technical attributes aren't fantastic, I don't see him as needing to do anything other than break up attacking play around the 18 yard box.



Further to Iacovitti joining, a deal was concluded for Spanish centre back, David Subías. This would be a signing for a few years down the line, as his development had stagnated at Zaragoza in the last few seasons, and as such, he needs some training support to improve his stamina and balance, as well as having a loan spell to get some regular football. The next bit I hope to look at, is the Strikers, something which many people have their own differing opinons on.

[smplfc123]

2 hours ago, warlock said:

After @smplfc123 admonished me (and rightly so) for my regular failure to develop young players - he called me Jose, the cheeky beggar - in my defence, and contrary to Sr Mourinho, I am not averse to playing youngsters if they're good enough. But also unlike Jose - and you, apparently - I will rarely sign a player older than 27-28, and almost never if they're older than 29-30. For me, older players represent a lot of work in scouting for a short-term gain, with a good chance I'll have to repeat the process in a year (or two, if lucky). And, in my experience, buying a 30-year-old when I've had to do it, is money down the drain because they're almost impossible to move on and they end up on the bench or in the reserves while their contract runs down.

I have my scouts constantly looking for 18-23-year-olds and if given the choice (usually because of budget) between a player under 20 and one older than 28 I'll opt for the youngster. Partly because he represents a better investment but, importantly, because while he may not be perfect now, the chances are he'll get better while the older player will almost certainly get worse.

I'm not for a second suggesting either approach is better or worse - I am in constant awe of the time, effort and sheer thoughtfulness you put into your save. It's just interesting to me that the game is so rich that it supports this level of detail. I think it's also significant that 90% of the forum discussion is about tactics, where you and I might agree that squad management and development is far more important yet gets discussed less often.

I completely agree that squad management is more important despite being less talked about. I also tend to scout players only under the age of 25. I don't normally like bringing in "ready-made" players, normally because they cost too much for the club i'm at 

My argument on the older players, say 30 and above, would be that maybe they could add experience, know-how and leadership to a young squad. I do like to bring in an experienced signing or 2 in the windows if I can, mainly for back up purposes, as they won't expect too much game time, but adding that extra bit of leadership the youngsters may lack through inexperience.

Like I said though i'll very rarely bring in an 'older' player to be first choice, as like you said, they're only going to last a season or 2.

In terms of size when it comes to squad management, how do you set up for the season? Do you go for 2 players for each position, overload a certain area, or do you look to bring in versatile players to help out all over the pitch?

Something I'm trying to do the longer I play this game is change my approach to different things. In this new save for example, I've upped my experience and badges as @Jogo Bonito and yourself recommended. 

I also want to try formations I wouldn't normally, moving away from my comfort zone (Although that failed with the kids at Ipswich) and try new approaches to transfers and squad building.

[warlock]

2 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

My argument on the older players, say 30 and above, would be that maybe they could add experience, know-how and leadership to a young squad.

No question, but I couldn't tell you when I've had such a squad . There always seems to be a core of older players at every club I've taken on.

2 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

In terms of size when it comes to squad management, how do you set up for the season?

Usually I aim for a 22-man squad with a first choice and backup for each position, and hopefully there's two or three in the reserves who can do a job during an injury crisis. Down at League Two or lower, though, that approach is a bit of a luxury. So more versatile players can be useful. But at that level I don't use many specialist roles if any, and pretty much any CM can do what I need doing in the middle, while wingers on one side can usually do a decent-to-good job on the other. In the Vanorama I've usually run with a squad of about 18 players and reserves/youth for a crisis.

In general, it's why I like narrow formations - without the need for specialised wide players squad management becomes a lot easier, I think. On the other hand, three-at-the-back means you need either a bunch of CBs, or at least a couple of decent squad players who can switch between CD and DM (Kyle Walker notwithstanding, I've never found many who can switch between CD and the progressive wingback roles).

2 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

I also want to try formations I wouldn't normally

Always a good thing! So far this year I've played mostly 433dm wide, 442 or 4411, the deep version of the 4231 with two DMs, a 433 wide with a flat midfield, and a 343 wide. Never been able to make the 352 work! And as far as trying other approaches, I guess I really ought to have one good go at winning things with kids .

[Chewy2006]

 

After a busy summer window and with only 380k to spend I had to balance the squad out which took a while, I managed to raise quite a lot of money 12.5m in player sales and I decided against spending any more as I only got 35% of transfer income but the wages were a massive stumbling block being only able to offer upto 8k. I therefore decided the loan route would be my best option to bring in some premier league quality players and a few decent free transfers mainly ben arfa who i'm looking forward to seeing also added to the quality of the squad.

 

 

Squad

Here is my current squad going forward and I don't think I need to improve it much more.

 

 

[warlock]

52 minutes ago, Chewy2006 said:

Here is my current squad going forward

Looks good. But that background! How do you play without going cross-eyed? 

[Chewy2006]

 

I know haha,

                      just got used to it I guess but I wish I could make squad list text bigger, i'm sure it used to be better and more zoomed in on previous fms

[warlock]

Ipswich: the season climax

I was afraid of our mentality going into the final third of the season, and my fears were well-justified. Having held top spot for months, a sequence of poor results saw us drop to second as Wolves continued to pile up wins.

With four games to go we need to pick up two extra points over Wolves. Unfortunately, the way they're playing and the opposition they face, I don't see them dropping those points, while we have struggled against the relegation battlers all season and we face two more in the run-in, both away.

February wasn't a bad month, although the home loss to Burton (who were 20th at the time) was an appalling result. But we strung together three victories after that and were looking good at the top. The rot set in with another home defeat to relegation candidates Hull, and then another loss to Sheff Wed. A stunning 6-1 against the other side of Sheffield proved to be a false dawn and further defeats followed. If we could have converted some of those losses into draws we'd still be top, but it was the usual late-season story: no obvious reason for the slump, but defenders couldn't defend, strikers couldn't score, and passing throughout the side was poor. Nerves, mental frailty, lack of guts... whatever you want to call it, we crumbled under the pressure.

Realistically, my best hope now is that we can take advantage of our lead over Brentford and hang on to automatic promotion from second place. Our better goal difference gives us an effective lead of 8pts and with just 12 available we can't fail. Can we?

[warlock]

Well, that was unexpected. First game of the final four, we went to Forest and won 3-0; Brentford went to Fulham and lost. Second place guaranteed, and automatic promotion with it!

Perhaps the Championship is not beyond us yet!

[smplfc123]

Cracking stuff @warlock! Congratulations 

[robterrace]

Only good enough for second in Goal of The Month..

 

 

Although, this makes me smile

 

[sl101075]

This thread is absolutely amazing to read. Well done to all of you. I wish I had the time and commitment to it myslef. And seeing that my laptop is only capable of running FM16, there is no real point in making updates on here :-).

But I will keep on reading your brilliant updates. The championshiop is a fantastic League, and thoughout the post I can see my favorites from Aston Villa never do well haha :-).

 

Keep up the good work!!

[Chewy2006]

 

After having a busy transfer window with loans/frees we started the season in a positive fashion and quickly moved up the table to be around the play off places. However that form didn't last long and I found myself going on a terrible run of form which saw us slide down the table to be sitting in mid table although the table itself was quite tight at that point with only 6pts separating 10th place to 1st.

Fixtures

 

After that poor run of form it was getting tough and tough to find some consistency with both tactics and results and with the club constantly cutting my transfer budget despite me bringing in 12.5m I went from 3.8m at the end of august to now having 550k and that started to irate me as with no real budget and very little to offer in wages aswell I didn't feel I had the resources to strength the squad where I feel I needed to in Jan.

Current Squad

Therefore with some of the relegated premier league clubs really struggling I was thinking it would be only a matter of time before one of these jobs might be available and that was starting to turn my head as with the resources at them clubs it would of been impossible to turn them down. Other big clubs in the division were also struggling and by the middle of December both Sheff Wed and Aston Villa jobs were up and I thought I fancy managing one of them with the squads they have, the great clubs they are and with my stock still high in the media giving how they feel I was overachieving after finishing low mid table last year I felt the time was now to move on.

 

League Table

 

[Chewy2006]

I didn't get the Sheff Wed job but they were in a relegation battle so it would of been tough at the start but on boxing day I got the best Christmas present I could of wished for this Christmas and Aston Villa offered me the job and with the team they have and 5.5m to send although they are struggling in 10th place I couldn't resist and now i'm looking forward to hopefully taking Villa back to the prem

 

[robterrace]

It doesn't take an idiot to know that the Premier League is a completely different level to the Football League and the Championship. 

Having got promoted from the Championship playing my version of 'Sarri-ball', the high tempo style preferred by Maurizio Sarri, 

There is a distinct possibility that this won't work in the top flight, which is why I've created another couple of systems to throw in if needed.

---

•     

The idea of the first one, as with Sarri-ball, is to get the ball forward as quickly as possible. The ball was often fed out to the wingers via the sitting midfielder, who would then follow on behind.  Space would also be created by the centre forward dropping deep and holding the ball up, with the attacking midfield going past him, giving him the option to arrive late in the box onto crosses.

The second formation and setup is one that is only going to be tested in matches where I am the overwhelming favourite (at this time, I don't have the confidence to try it against a Manchester United), as it is, for all intents, an overpressing formation, with the intention of trying to pin the opponent back. The holding defensive midfielder is given the half back instruction, and will drop back into the defensive line to give a 3rd centre back, and the wingbacks will look to overlap the wingers and get to the byline. Its a crazy tactic, based on the sort of thing that Marcelo Bielsa threw together at Bilbao.

The last one, is the formation that will take us forward. Based loosely on the 3-4-3 type formation that Johan Cruyff developed at Barcelona in the 80s. The central midfielder of the 3 plays deeper in the middle, and is responsible for all of the playmaking efforts, the wingers are given freedom to go up and down, with the emphasis on getting forward to support the striker and attacking midfielder. The only thing that concerns me, is the potential for crosses to come in from either wing should an overlap or lone winger be out there. The centre of the 3 defenders is the one that will be tasked with covering the other two, and as such, will be responsible for picking up these crosses.

---

The Matches

Starting the season on a Monday night is always weird, I suppose thats why a 3-0 defeat to West Ham was what we deserved. The same followed on the Saturday after, with a 2-1 defeat at home to Southampton. A victory against Preston in the cup followed, with a poor performance at Everton, which saw us lose 3-1, and also lose first choice goalkeeper, Daniel Bentley, to a broken arm, which will keep him out for a couple of months.

Coming in to replace him, was 19 year old, Joao Rodrigues. The towering keeper had been signed with the intention of taking up the gloves as first choice next season, but, the 6'4" stopper was going to get thrust in at the deep end, and face Manchester City, the team that had finished 3rd last season, but had the double threat of Paulo Dybala and Mauro Icardi leading the line for them.

Rodrigues made his debut, and following a controversial penalty in the 80th minute, found himself on the losing side in a 3-2 defeat.

The first win for Doncaster in the Premier League came the following week, when 10 man Crystal Palace were defeated 2-1. A trip to Anfield for a 4-1 defeat came next, before going on a 3 match undefeated run, with a 0-0 draw against Chelsea the high point.

Defeat to Wolves put us out of the cup, and Spurs put 5 past us in a weak performance. That was the last defeat we suffered, until Arsenal put 6 past us after Jon Walters was sent off, Alex Lacazette scoring 4.

The run up to Christmas and the New Year was all good after the Arsenal defeat, with Manchester United coming to the Keepmoat, and leaving with a 1-1 draw, before QPR and West Ham visited and were defeated.

This took us to 7th at the turn of the year. A far better performance than was expected.

The Players

Goalkeepers

1. Daniel Bentley

Signed for £800000 from Burnley prior to last season, was the first choice for us before being injured against Everton. Has been unable to reclaim his place since.

13. Joao Rodrigues

Arrived for £275000 in the summer from Nacional de Madeira in Portugal, with the intention of being the backup to Bentley. Came into the side after Bentley was injured, and hasn't looked back, playing 17 times in the league, and a couple of cup appearances. His shot stopping ability is ridiculous, and once his agility improves, he will probably be one of the better goalkeepers in the world.

Defenders

2. Jon Walters

Quite literally can play any position in defence, having learnt how to play centre back. Signed back in 2019 for £1.7m from FC Midtjylland in Denmark, and has developed at the club since. Plays either side of the back 3, or on the right of midfield. Rated as a wonderkid, and made his full debut for England against Mexico earlier on in the year. Will probably play centre back in the future.

3.Niklas Beste

Signed on a Free Transfer from Dortmund in the summer, with the intention of playing him on the left side of a back 4 originally. Since the change of formation and style, he has seen action on the left side of midfield, mainly as a substitute, and is more than capable there.

5.Rasmus Wikstrom

Signed from IFK Goteborg in the Allsvenskan in 2021, I thought at the time, we paid too much for him, however, was the cornerstone of the defence last season. Was appointed vice captain when Duarte Valente left last January, and has been the best player in the under pressure defence at the start of the season. Has made his Sweden debut since signing for us.

6. Ibrahima Konaté

Signed in the January window last season, and stepped into the team as we needed a strong yet pacy option to try and protect the weaknesses that I had noticed in the defence. A man mountain who isn't beaten much in the air, Ibrahima plays in the centre of the defensive three, using his pace to cover his team mates. 

18. Monday Paul

Strong but small Nigerian centre back who was signed in 2020, before going out on loan for that season to Roma. After a season in the SPL at Rangers, he came back, and forced his way into the side, displacing Manu Hernando from the squad, before the move to three centre backs saw him play more regularly in the side. Not the greatest technically, but physically outstanding, and despite his small stature, isn't beaten often in the air.

Other Defenders.

Bosko Culjak - 19 YO, Serbian CB.  3 apps
Manu Hernando  - 24 YO, Spanish CB. 1 app
Dujon Sterling - 23 YO, English Utility, 2 apps
Ruben Vinagre - 23 YO, Portuguese LB, 2 apps

Midfield

4. Miguel Luis

I cannot say enough about Miguel. Signed from Sporting in 2018, on a free transfer, hes developed into the complete central midfield playmaker for me. Coming up to 150 league games, he has been invaluable, and has been captain for the last 2 and a half seasons. He can, and will improve, and hopefully at Doncaster.

8.Lovro Majer

By Doncaster standards, a newcomer to the squad. Signed for £2m from Lokomotiva Zagreb in summer 2021, the Croat has been an integral part of the side, playing the Number 10 role in rotation. I'd like to see him get into the Croatia squad, but, he has struggled with his fitness at times.

17.Diogo Goncalves

Left winger, signed from Potimonense for £2.5m at the start of the season. Can go down both sides, and cuts inside the opposing fullbacks due to his PPMs. High earner, so will probably only spend a season here.

24.Manuel Henriques

Arrived in 2021 from Leiria on a free, he spent the first half of last season on loan at Millwall, before returning to Doncaster when Duarte Valente left. Has been used as one of the central midfielders this season, and uses his workrate and determination to make up for some of his technical deficiencies.

29.Pedro Diaz

Signed at the beginning of this season for £2.1m from Rayo, it took some time for Pedro to get up to the required level of fitness. Playing alongside the playmaker, he is mobile and very technically proficient. Links up really well with the defence, again, due to his mobility.

30.Lewis Baker

Came in from Chelsea for £2.6m at the beginning of last season, he offers a lot to the team, and is able to play anywhere across midfield, and in the number 10 role. Due to a clause in his contract, is the highest earner, so will be moved out before his contract expires.

37.Vittorio Parigini

Signed on a free transfer in 2020, after leaving Torino, hes made 83 appearances, and has scored 37 goals, finishing as top scorer last season when we were promoted. Also contributes with assists, and is more than capable of going down either wing, but, when deployed on the right wing, can beat most full backs.

39.Marcus Edwards

After he was released by Tottenham, joined on a free at the start of the season. Scored 4 goals and assisted 4 from the Number 10 position, but has also appeared on either wing when required.

45.Speedy Jingxi

The South African, who has one of the greatest names I've seen, came from SuperSport United in his homeland, making 59 appearances over the 3 seasons prior to coming to the UK. He has made 9 appearances, playing in the number 10 and central midfield roles, and will be playing more in rotation with Majer and Edwards.

Other Midfielders

Harrison Reed - 27YO English CM, 2 apps
Matteo Guendouzi - 23YO, French DM/CM. 3 apps
Byron Bond - 16YO, English CM 1 app (Youth academy product)
Tim Weah - 22YO, US RM, 8 apps (been injured most of season)

Forwards

9. Ivan Stojanovic

Has struggled with a couple of niggling injuries since he joined in the summer from Backa in his homeland. Arrived with a broken ankle suffered prior to his arrival, and since then has been out for 2 and a half months with groin injuries. In the glimpses we've had of him, he has bullied centre backs with his strength and heading. Not the bravest player, but, works very hard.

10.Carlos Javier Ardiles

Quite literally, the hottest property in European football, having just won the European Golden Boy award. Has led the line very well since he got used to the change of pace of the league. Plays off the shoulder of the defender, and isn't afraid to get into battles with the big centre halves. Has scored 26 goals in his 35 appearances for the club, and is creating opportunities as well.

27.Jack Marriott

Signed as a backup to Ardiles, having left Bolton at the end of his contract. Will probably find his opportunities limited in the near future with signings coming in, and as such, will be offered out on loan at the end of the window. Has scored 120 goals in 320 career games, and has been a dependable option wherever he has been. Has 1 goal in 8 substitute appearances.

In the next bit, I will go through the signings and player movements that are coming up.

[sammo10]

Peterborough Mid-Season review 18/19

 

Transfers

Out - It was only Joe Ward that left the club in the summer. We tried everything to get Maddison out of the door, but sadly he is still here whinging and trying all he can to get the rest of the squad on his side. 

In - 

Nathan Smith (350k) -  Nathan Smith was the first player to come in. This one was confirmed before we even went up. I was desperate to get him in. He's a talented young centre back that has already played 100 games in the football league. He will be competing with the other three centre backs making my decision even harder. 

Jay DaSilva (Loan) - DaSilva come in on loan from Chelsea. This was a no brainer. Probably one of the best left backs in the league and I won't have to pay a single penny for him, not even wages. 

Mitchell Beeney (Free) - Another Chelsea youngster through the door. Beeney will come in as back up and hopefully compete for that Number one spot. 

Charlie Wyke (£750k) -  The man signed to replace Bogle, Wyke scored 17 goals last year in league one and I've got full confidence in him to come into the side and be a success. I hope he can strike up a strong partnership with Marriott. 

Brandon Barker (Free) - A real bargain here. The main reason I'm more than happy to let Maddison go. A young talent with bags of ability. Should go onto to be a great player for us. 

Conor Shaughnessy (£1m) -  The most expensive signing of the window. It seems to be really difficult to find a natural BWM at this level. Conor looks to be very suitable and will fight for the shirt with Lapslie. Hopefully prove to be worth the money. 

Simon Moore (£875k) - I needed a new number one when Bond went back to Reading. Moore is a very good stopper and will hopefully win us some points this year. 

 

Squad - 

So this is how our squad looks going into the Championship

. Still a few I wanted to get out of the door but nobody wanted to sign. Will hopefully be enough to keep us in the league, but if its not looking promising in Jan I still have half of my budget to work with once that comes around. 

  

[Chewy2006]

After taking over Villa at Christmas, I knew it was going to be a tough task to build on my promise to the board that I would not only get them into the play offs but also get them into the top 2 giving how many points we were off at the time. Looking through the squad and although it was a strong squad I felt with a few additions in the jan window, mainly on loan as getting a few permanent deals might be tricky to pull off giving how tight the wage budget was.

 

However I knew for sure that some of the squads contracts were up in the summer and a few of these players were on big wages so I decided to try and move them on now although I knew I wouldn't get a big fee for them it was still better than nothing and then hopefully the extra wages I could use to help me to get some deals in aswell.  One of the biggest earns was Micah Richards who was on 60k and in a way it was sad to have to get rid of him giving how much of a good player he was back in the day irl and I liked him as a defender but obviously not playing irl for a while meant his stats weren't upto much and then u added his wages on top of that. I thought it would be a struggle but it was pretty straight forward to get him out the door, other top earners were hutton, steer, de laet but again after a few weeks I managed to move them on.

Whelan and Jedinak didn't want to go but with them both again being on high wages and jedinak who was going to retire in the summer I eventually managed to release them on frees. All these outs allowed me to bring in some extra quality to the squad, Rhodes in particular who although I wanted him on a permanent deal, I failed with a few attempts due to lack of wages but managed to convince him to come on loan eventually and in the end it proved a master stroke, he was rusty at first as sheff wed had dumped him the under 23s and with no real match fitness it took him a while to get upto speed but when he did and the team gelled to my formation, the team and Rhodes really took off and with 15 goals in 18 games he fired me to promotion.

Transfers

Table When I took over

 

 

Fixtures