FM18: The English Football League Thread - EFL in FM18

[Chewy2006]

 

Final Table

Squad

 

Looking at squad I think most of the loan players will go and with me just getting a new budget to finish mid table of £77m but having no wages to spend and not being able atm to put any of transfer kitty into the wages its going to be a busy some of ins and outs but hopefully I can build a squad to keep us in the league.

[robterrace]

Took a little negotiation, but, I like this.. 

 

 

Shame hes my captain, and its deadline day

[Adzke]

@robterrace What a sale! Can you post his attributes as well?

Good to see all you guys doing well!

[robterrace]

42 minutes ago, Adzke said:

@robterrace What a sale! Can you post his attributes as well?

Good to see all you guys doing well!

 

Going after a veteran Portuguese midfielder to replace him, as his replacement (an 18 year old Albanian wonderkid from my feeder club) doesn't come in until July.

 

 

https://gyazo.com/0c1553e749766cdac89581cbab5379a5 

[robterrace]

Incoming!!!

 

https://gyazo.com/0acbb788246573ff81b59c2ca53ff636

[robterrace]

So, the transfer window in January has gone. With two significant departures from the Keepmoat, and the attempts to replace them.

 

I always aim to have at least 2 or 3 players available to target if I have to replace ones I sell, thats the way I do things, and thats the way I know a fair few professional clubs do things (I know of at least two that do things by picking out the replacements for potential replacements).

Transfers Out

This screenshot is dominated by two transfers that appear towards the bottom, two that will collect me nearly £65m in the future.

The majority of the loan deals on here, are players either having been on short term loans in the first half of the season, being moved elsewhere, or are fringe players who want first team football, and are getting their moves now.

The likes of Trae Coyle, Nordine Benaldjia, Tobias Anton and Elliott Novak are recent arrivals, and given their young age, need some experience, although, in the case of Novak, he came in from Bolton on Deadline Day, and as part of the deal, returned to them on loan for the remainder of the 22/23 season.

 

The sale of Miguel Luís is one I've been expecting for a couple of seasons. He was brought in on a free transfer from Sporting in 2018, and slotted into the side, before becoming an irreplaceable part of the side in recent times (despite missing the majority of last season with an ACL injury). The fee initially offered was £38 million with half up front, and half in instalments. Managing to convince them to pay £42m up front for him, with another couple in addons for international appearances, was a bonus. 
The departure of my captain, would probably upset a few players, but, the fee received would cover a lot of next seasons business.

 

After Luis, I was braced for a bid for Manuel Henriques. It was known that about half a dozen clubs, including Dortmund and Bayern were interested, but, a bid came in from West Ham of £16m, with another £6m in instalments, with £5.5m due after 50 appearances. Henriques had already said that if a bid came in for him, he wanted to leave, but, whilst the offer wasn't as massive as the one for Luis, I was happy to let him go.

 

Transfers In

This is dominated a bit by the fee paid for Christian Frydek, the process and thoughts behind his transfer were discussed previously - https://www.p057code.co.uk/?p=304

 

The signings of Boutnaf, Piraldinho and Trae Coyle were viewed as ones for the future, and they'd go into the development process. Luis Fernando, isn't a footballer by any stretch of the imagination. Spotted as a 17 year old at Penarol, he evaded the attentions of the big clubs, despite being massively strong, hard working, and good in the air, and at 6'7" 15st 6 (216lbs/98kg), being a big beast of a man.

 

This was highlighted shortly after signing, when he was brought on as a substitute, not in his favoured defensive role, but, up front, as a route one option, as we searched for an equaliser against Southampton, something which came in the 92nd minute.

 

Tim Kleindienst is another signing that intrigued me. Picked up for £2.3m from Kaiserslauten, he is a targetman, and not one that runs forward. He is more than happy to back into defenders, and play the ball off towards his team mates. Hed scored 72 goals in 192 appearances throughout the German league over the last few years, and at 27 years old, offers something for a couple of seasons so we can develop our own players. He won't displace Ardiles, but, is a different option if we need the size.

 

David Subias had been in the reserves at Zaragoza, and was a match to the attributes we wanted from a centre half. Its entirely possible he could never play a game for Doncaster, but, if developed correctly, he could be sold on for a decent profit.

 

Alex Iacovitti is a bit of the same. At £2.4m, the Scottish left sided centre back is a bit on the expensive side of things as he was on the fringes of the first team at Forest, who sit bottom. Again, he will spend a bit of time in the first team squad here, and get some match time.

 

Following the bid coming in for Luis, it was to the Central Midfielders shortlish (I have 11 shortlists, depending on position), and look for replacements. 

 

As it was, the two replacements for him, were both of an age where they couldn't move to England until the summer, so, to bridge the gap, a very similar midfielder was targeted.

 

Joao Moutinho, at 36 years old, may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you're looking for a replacement capable of playing at Doncaster, and lasting a few years.

Despite the pace and stamina being basically non existant for him, he is still a very good player, highlighted by his mental and technical attributes.

He'll play the remainder of this season in and around the first team, then will probably find himself on the edges next season, but, will be kept around as a potential tutor.

 

Nordine Benaldjia came up in a scout search, and following a few checks, he came in for £300k, but, given the large amount of defenders that are already in the squad, the 19 year old will spend some time on loan. This was highlighted when he left to go on loan to Sunderland the same day as coming in, with the Championship club wanting him to be an integral part of their defence.

 

Tobias Anton was another player who appeared in a scout search, playing in 3 Liga at Bielefeld. Capable of playing in the Number 10 position, or on the right hand side of midfield (which is where he will end up for me), the diminutive, 18 year old German was picked up for £1m, and went out on loan to Union Berlin of Bundesliga 2 before the end of the day.

 

The last signing of deadline day, was 24 year old Danish midfielder, Victor Nelsson. Capable of playing anywhere down the 'spine' of the team except for striker, he is intended to replace Goncalves in the right hand side of midfield. Having played over 100 matches at Nordjaelland of the Danish Superliga, he comes with some experience.

 

Future Prospects

 

A quick look at the most highly rated youngsters in the Doncaster setup.

 

1. Byron Bond

At 16, Byron has already made his debut for the club, playing 90 minutes in the centre of midfield against Brighton, and making a good show of himself.

Good with either foot, he prefers to run at defenders, and will probably be trained to play out on the left wing, where he can use his dribbling to beat his man.

 

2. Ante Herceg

Older than Bond, he has already made his debut for the Croatian Under 19s. Came to the club as part of the arrangement with our Croation affiliate, and will need some work in the coming seasons to improve his weak areas. Will be used on the right hand side in the reserves before a possible first team debut in next seasons League Cup.

 

3. Daniel Mota

20 year old Mota has accrued over 80 appearances whilst out on loan in the last few seasons. Picked up from Leixoes in Portugal for £150k,  he will probably end up playing in the number 10 role, were he can feed off the midfield. Currently on loan at Maratimo, he has played in the Europa League as well as Liga NOS this season.

 

4. Bruno Oliviera

Bruno will be the next player to break into the squad at Doncaster after spending time on loan. He was signed from Real Sport Clube in Lisbon, seemingly avoiding being picked up by Sporting or Benfica, and went out to our German affiliate, Aue, as they got promoted to the Bundesliga (the less said about that one, the better). Having spent half of this season in Serie A at Sampdoria, he moved to Marseille on loan this last window, and will spend the rest of the season in Ligue 1. 

[robterrace]

With January came the transfer window (see previous post for info on the signings), but, as well as that, it was important to keep the team ticking over as we sought to preserve Premier League status.

 

The Results

January started with a couple of wins, at Home to Everton in the league, and an away trip to Field Mill, Mansfield in the cup, where we were able to use a few of the players who were on the fringes.

 

A poor return of losses from visits to The Etihad, Manchester, and the visit of Liverpool to Doncaster, was compounded with the poor performance against Burnley in the FA Cup.

 

Diogo Goncalves, Vittorio Parigini and Carlos Ardiles were the common names seen on the scoreboard throughout the next couple of months, as run of 11 points from a possible 18 throughout February and March saw us secure our safety for the season with a 1-1 draw when Jason Tindalls Nottingham Forest came to town on 10th March.

 

3 successive defeats, saw us drop away from European contention, before Ivan Stojanovic, making the most of Carlos Ardiles being rested, scored his first goals for the club as Stoke were sent packing. Another striker, Algerian Lakhdar Boutnaf came in and played just over an hour a few days later, as bottom of the table Burnley were beaten 3-0.

 

With perennial top 4 club, Arsenal the next to journey to South Yorkshire, a couple of first half errors saw the London side 2-0 up at half time, before a 2nd goal of the game from Alex Iwobi put it out of reach early in the 2nd half. A 3-0 defeat was disappointing, but, it also highlighted areas I needed to improve, mainly by finding attacking minded wingers who could go past a defender, or a number 10 who could control the ball and the game.

 

2 matches to go, and despite the defeat, our top half position was nearly secured, something which 2 points from the remaining matches would ensure. A trip to Old Trafford to face the Champions, who have only conceded 10 goals in the league all season, and a last game trip to Loftus Road, to face a QPR side that were one of six sides with a chance of relegation.

 

The journey to Old Trafford is one that every team with the exception of Souhampton had made and left with no points, Karl Robinsons side stealing a 1-0 victory. We weren't going to make ourselves the 2nd team to do this, as a Marcus Rashford double, and a Kingsley Coman addition saw Jose Mourinhos side run out 3-0 victors.

 

This meant, that following QPRs victory against Stoke, they needed to better Leeds result at home to Chelsea. We didn't need a win, following Palaces defeat against Tottenham, so, we were safe in the top half.

 

The last game of the season at Loftus Road, was also going to be the last match in the career of Joao Moutinho, the veteran midfielder having announced his retirement, and, hopefully, he will be stopping to be part of the coaching staff at the club.

 

A slight change in formation, testing out something for next season, saw us break into the lead after 4 minutes, courtesy of Christian Frydek, with Stuart Armstrong replying almost immediately.  Lovro Majer finished a long team build up with a volley from 10 yards out after 20, before the retiring Joao Moutinho slotted home a shot after Frydek rolled a corner to him.

Top scorer Carlos Ardiles hit his 21st league goal of the season, before Federico Viviani missed a penalty for QPR. The young Spaniard got his 22nd goal of the season after 55 minutes, before Armstrong chipped in another for the hosts. Young Dane, Victor Nelsson secured the 6-2 scoreline, with his first goal for the club after 80 minutes, before Ardiles hit the bar with a snapshot from 20 yards, and the game wound down.

 

A 10th place finish for our first season, given the start, and our media expectations, isn't too bad.

 

 

 

Manchester United secured the title, with Everton breaking into the top 4.  QPR, Brighton and Burnley dropped down to the Championship.

 

In the Championship, Swansea and Watford topped the table, with Newcastle joining them following the playoffs. Blackburn, Aston Villa and Exeter head down to League One.

 

League one saw Huddersfield bounce back after their relegation as Champions, with Swindon in 2nd. Portsmouth saw off Barnsley on Penalties in the playoff final . Leyton Orient, Fleetwood, Port Vale and Bury went down.

 

Bristol Rovers, Wycombe Wanderers and Cambridge were automatically promoted from League Two, Cheltenham defeated Peterborough in the playoffs, with Gillingham and Crawley dropping down to the National League.

 

Tranmere returned to the league, as did Lincoln who won the Playoffs in the National League.

 

The FA Cup saw Manchester City beat Wolves 2-0, with Manchester United winning the Carabao Cup.

 

Manchester United secured their 3rd major trophy of the season, defeating Arsenal in Berlin to win the Champions League. Inter defeated Nantes at Hampden Park to win the Europa League.

 

---

 

The Players

 

Top Performers

 

Goals - 

Only one Doncaster player reached double figures for goals, something which I aim to improve on next season, that was Carlos Javier Ardiles. The Spanish striker, despite only being 19, notched up 22 goals in his 40 appearances overall.

Next on the list was Vittorio Parigini with 9, the Italian having another consistent season, and his opposite winger, Diogo Goncalves contributing 6 goals.

 

Assists -

The two most important players assist wise, were Parigini, who contributed 14 goals for his teammates, and Goncalves, who chipped in with 10.

 

Average Rating -

Again, this was taken by Parigini, who is steadily becoming the most invaluable player at the club. The 27 year old Italian, in his 3rd season, has contributed 40 goals, and assisted on 46 since signing on a Free Transfer in 2020.

 

Club News

 

Signings

In defence, Perr Schuurs will depart to Lazio, and Dries Wouters to Nimes, with Zinho Vanheusden joining from Inter to act as a backup for Wikstrom, and 18 year old Belgian, Alex Pena will join to go into the clubs U23 development system. The biggest signing defensively, however, is wingback Jordi Alba, the 34 year old joining on a 1 year deal, he will be backup, and act as a tutor to a younger player throughout the season.

 

In midfield, no outgoing moves have been agreed yet, but some players will move on.

There are some interesting signings coming in however, with Lucas Tousart moving from Lyon for an initial £10m, which will go up to £22m in instalments.

18 year old Spanish midfielder Pepe comes in from Mirandes in the Spanish Liga 1 2 3 for £400k, another 18 year old, this one being Lima, comes in from Rio Ave in Portuguese Liga NOS, for £1.7m, the young playmaker being earmarked as one for the future.

Also heading in is 19 year old German Wonderkid Julian Karapici. Capped by Germany U19s, he has also made appearances for the Albanian U21 side, and has made 16 appearances in the Bundesliga for our partner club (affiliate) Aue, who were relegated with 14 points.

Next  on the list to come in is 18 year old Geoff Mullen. This deal was agreed in February 2022, when the then 16 year old signed a 4 year contract to start in June 2023. He has developed well as part of Derry Citys first team, and was part of the side that won the Presidents Cup in this current season. He will go out on loan initially, with an aim to use him in the Premier League in a couple of seasons time.

20 year old Spanish playmaker César Pérez comes in from UD Almeria, in a deal that will potentially reach £1.6m,  Determined and very talented technically, the youngster plays a lot like former midfielder Miguel Luís, and given the opportunity, will develop in the same way.

The last couple of signings see Portuguese winger Joao Filipe come in, along with Norwegian attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard. Joao Filipe is an upgrade on current left winger Diogo Goncalves, and will share duties with him until he fits in.

Norwegian Odegaard comes on a free transfer from Real Madrid, with the baggage of once being termed the best teenager in world football. He'll come and play just behind the striker, and offers something very different to the likes of Majer and Jingxi who have been playing there.

 

There a couple of player moves in the strikers, again, this will more than likely change.as I look to move out fringe players.,

First player to agree to sign, was Italian striker, Vittorio Vigolo, on a free transfer from AC Milan. The 23 year old had spent a lot of time away from the San Siro, and was transfer listed, with his contract expiring. Taking advantage of this, we signed him to a 3 year deal on minimal wages, so that we could ship him out on loan to get some match time and improve.

We made our first moves into South America, heading to Colombia to sign diminutive powerhouse forward Jorge López for £1m. At 19 years old, he had made 50 appearances in the Colombian Primera, and will hopefully will head out to Spain (to Cartagena, our affilaite club) where he will be afforded match experience at a different level to what he has played at.

 

Other Club News

 

The board announced that the Academy would be getting an expansion and an improvement in quality, heading towards Category 1 status.

 

They also announced the intention to increase capacity of the Keepmoat to just under 20000.

 

[sammo10]

Nice work @robterrace . 10th is a great finish for first year in the prem. What’s the average age of your squad ? Must be pretty young. 

[robterrace]

1 hour ago, sammo10 said:

Nice work @robterrace . 10th is a great finish for first year in the prem. What’s the average age of your squad ? Must be pretty young. 

Think its about 23-24.

The squad that finished the season was 23.9 years old, and that was with Moutinho in there as a 36 year old.

[Jogo Bonito]

@robterrace Great work with Doncaster, and as always very detailed updates. You've done an amazing job there so far.

Chewy2006, a very decent job at Forest and then on to promotion with Villa, well done.

Warlock, superb success for you with an unlikely promotion at Ipswich, was there a trophy at the end?

Sammo, another manager to win promotion, well done and good luck with Posh in the Championship. 

On ‎09‎/‎08‎/‎2018 at 09:54, sl101075 said:

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!!

Thanks for the kind words and hopefully you can join in sometime in the future.

 

Oh yes, I have finally completed season 4 with Forest Green Rovers! I'll put my update on in the next day or two. Then it's time for another adventure as we wait for FM19...

[robterrace]

Boom..

 

Liquid football... (or some bollocks like it)

 

 

[smplfc123]

@Jogo Bonito Looking forward to the update mate.

@warlock How's the summer going with Ipswich? Looking forward to see if you do a Fulham and sign pretty much a whole new team!

Will do my own update in the next few days hopefully  

[robterrace]

My Spanish wonderkid may be breaking things...

 

He has 5 in 6 in the league, 4 in 2 in the cup, 15 in 8 preseason friendlies, and just the 7 he scored there.

 

All in all, hes scored 40 in 20 this season

 

 

[sammo10]

Peterborough Mid-Season review 18/19

 

League table

Quite happy with our position at this stage of the season. Target was to try and avoid a relegation battle, so to be 12 points clear of the drop is very pleasing. Fully aware that I could easily be dragged back into it with a bad run. Hopefully we can keep on picking up the odd win.

 

Fixtures

It's been quite an inconsistent run. Thought it was going to be oh so easy after a great 3-1 win on the opening day. It then took us 6 games to get our next win. A 5-0 win against Brentford was the high point of the season but this was followed by 5 defeats in a row with only one goal scored. 

Thankfully we have been on a much better run since and goals have become a lot easier to come by. I have changed a few player roles around and that seems to have done the trick. There was also a great day for the club as we went to Watford and knocked them out of the FA cup. Jack Marriot heading us into a fourth round tie at home to Chelsea. Something to look forward to and hopefully a financial boost. 

 

Transfers - 

Out

We let a few leave in Jan. I tried to give as many of the promotion winning squad a chance but the above players could not really cut it in the Championship. 

In 

Conor Washington (£105k) -This was a deal I could not refuse. Washington had a tough time at QPR struggling to find the net in the past couple of seasons. The opportunity to bring him back to place that saw his form become worth £2.7m for only £100k seemed a no brainer. I am confident I can get him back to that form and he could be a great partner for Marriott. 2 assists and a goal already is a good sign 

Ryan McLaughlin (Free) - McLaughlin was someone I had my eye on in the summer. His contract was up in the summer but he continued at Oldham on a monthly contract until January. He continued his good form and this was enough for me to bring him in. Hopefully compete with Edwards on the right but can also fill in at right back which is handy.

Morgan Fox (100k) - With Hughes going out on loan, someone was required to come in at Left back. Fox has some nicely balanced stats and looks reliable. Another great price and one that seemed silly to ignore. 

Lloyd Jones (£675k) - A defender with lots of potential and has done really well so far at Luton in League 2 and now 1. With Taylor picking up a near career ending injury I felt I needed one more centre back. I feel this guy can come in and improve. Could turn into a key player. 

 

Squad - 

Below is the squad we go into the business end of the season with. Jack Marriott once again the standout. 13 goals and 15 assists. It amazes me how many assists he consistently gets. Wyke has settled in nicely next to him and made the step up well 10 goals so far is not bad return at all for first season at this level, but has to keep it up with healthy competition up there. 

Maddison and I have now made up and he's signed a new deal. Great news and I now have to quality players on that flank as Barkers has been great since signing too. Gwion performing well again. One of my favourite players to have managed on this game. Defensively Baldwin has been the main man and Nathan Smith is starting to settle now. Shaughnessy has proven value for money and provided some solidity in the midfield. 

[Jogo Bonito]

@sammo10 Solid stuff, doing well to stay out of danger. Scoring goals doesn't seem to be a problem for you, with Marriott and Wyke featuring frequently there. Good to see you take Washington back, it would be really nice to see him make an impact there again.

@smplfc123 My Forest Green update will follow soon. I look forward to seeing yours too.

[warlock]

22 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Warlock, superb success for you with an unlikely promotion at Ipswich, was there a trophy at the end?

Afraid not - had to settle for runners-up as we failed to win any of our last three games!

11 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

How's the summer going with Ipswich? Looking forward to see if you do a Fulham and sign pretty much a whole new team!

I'm afraid it's on the backburner. First thing that happened after the end of the season was board announcing they were building a new stadium - giving up the 33,000 capacity Portman Road for a 28,000 capacity white elephant named after our great and glorious chairman. Saddling the club with hundreds of millions of debt in the process. I requested an upgrade to the youth setup - sorry, no money because of the stadium. I requested an upgrade to training facilities - sorry, no money because of the stadium.

So for the remaining time in FM18 I've gone back to my Darlington save and my annual attempt to get them back to the heady heights of League Two. I'll be checking here to see how you're all doing, and I'll definitely be back in the EFL in FM19. Looking forward to it!

[Jogo Bonito]

@warlock Second place with Ipswich was still a great campaign! Sorry the board screwed you over, but at least you didn't have to play in Wiltshire for the best part of a season like me! Good luck with Darlo, I remember going to the old Feethams ground way back in time (long trek!) and I once saw them play a Wembley play-off final too (against Plymouth). Sadly the club was ruined by the chairman and that stadium. Stadium woes seem to be a recurring theme here!

[warlock]

Just now, Jogo Bonito said:

I remember going to the old Feethams ground way back in time

Grew up in Darlington and went to Feethams for most home games in 1969-72.

2 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Sadly the club was ruined by the chairman and that stadium.

Too true. A terribly sad episode in the club's history. They've done well to come back as far as they have, but I think we all know what a mammoth task it is get back to League Two (in real life if not in FM). I've been exiled down south for more than 40 years but still follow from afar. Was appalled a couple of years ago when they were denied a playoff place because of yet more ground issues.

[smplfc123]

Ah sorry to hear that @warlock and good luck with Darlo. A team close to me (geographically) so will be cheering you on!

[robterrace]

 

"If got had wanted us to play football in the clouds, he'd have put grass up there" - Brian Clough

 

As statements go about footballing style, the one above is one I will always remember. A man, recalled by many as one of the finest managers ever to have lived, Brian Clough had a way with words, and inspiring a team.

It was those words of inspiration that I was desperately looking for, just 3 games into the season.

However, before all that, a quick look at some player moves before the season begins.

Transfers

Following the preseason signings of Lucas Tousart and Martin Odegaard, as well as Italian wonderkid centreback, Raffaele Laterza, our business incoming for the window was just about done. 

I felt we were one player short, and that was someone who could fulfil the distributor role alongside the other, more mobile midfielders, in the system we were looking to play.

---

This would mean looking for a more experienced professional, and one was found, in 33 year old Joe Allen. 

The Welsh midfielder had been released by Stoke City at the end of the previous season, and although he wasn't the quickest, or the strongest, he fitted into what we wanted, in being a hard working (both individually and part of a team), more experienced, distribution minded midfielder. He would be playing in a role where he would stick to the same area of the pitch, and just drop back towards the defence, collect the ball, then pass it on towards his more mobile teammates. In other words, he would be more of a Carrilero than a proper playmaker.

Signing a 1 year deal, with the possibility of an extension, its a good deal for everyone.

A few outgoing transfers were also completed, with, a large amount of loans, which will pick us up some money through loan fees and the like.

Ruben Vinagre departed, back to the French Ligue 1, and Bordeaux.  He hadn't been greatly involved since our promotion to the Premier League, and it was better for both parties to depart, although, the £1.5m fee dictates we made a loss on the deal, this would be offset by other dealings.

---

Also sold, after a couple of seasons with us, was Croatian midfielder Lovro Majer. 

A player who was brought in for just over £2m to be an attacking midfielder, who then saw himself dropped several times through poor form, to be offered £15m for him was a bonus, especially when there were £5m of addons depending on appearances and other things.  Its the sort of profit making I like doing on Football Manager, and especially, when its a player for whom, most of his 58 appearances came from the bench.

Essential business done, it was time for friendlies, and the season itself.

The Season - Results

Preseason saw a training camp in Hong Kong, complete with a couple of friendlies, including one vs Real Madrid, which was us run out 3-2 winners.

The other thing, was due to the expansion work at the Keepmoat, we would be spending a season 18 miles up the road, at Barnsley FCs Oakwell.

The first match against Wolves was a perfect demonstration of what happens when you make numerous mistakes, with defenders clearing to opposing strikers, and just all round poor play. Being honest, the 5-1 defeat flattered us.

The poor form continued for most of the first month of the season, interrupted only by a 2-1 cup victory against Preston, which went to extra time.

If anything, the international break at the beginning of September came at the right time, and allowed a change in atmosphere to begin at the club.

I think I underestimated the desire within the side to improve, as a West Ham side who had spent heavily once more over the summer (£230m this past summer), were demolished in the first half hour at London Stadium. Right winger Joao Filipe contributing 4 assists and ripping the opposing defence apart.

After another poor performance at Anfield, a trip to Molineux to exorcise the demons of the first game.

Again, finding yourselves in the ascendancy in the first half hour, is a great way to start, so following Monday Paul poking home a corner, Carlos Ardiles lived up to his potential, scoring a hat-trick and destroying the Wolves back 4. The current European Golden Boy following up his excellent pre season with this performance. The game wound its  way down, with a 5-0 victory being seen by the travelling fans.

One thing the team had got into the habit of, was coming out of the blocks firing, which was summed up at Oakwell against Watford, where Joe Allen, normally in a defensive role, broke forward through the centre to score his first for the club.

Victories against Arsenal and Tottenham in consecutive weeks were somewhat knocked off, when Carlos Ardiles twisted his ankle in the game against Everton, where 25 shots on goal, with 12 on target were not enough to breach the hosts defence, and the broke clear to win.

With Martin Odegaard and Joe Allen prowling the middle, we were more solid, and although, draws against Swansea and Southampton came through general errors, the fact we managed to go toe to toe with Manchester City, losing to a last minute Paulo Dybala volley, was impressive. 

Defeats to Forest and Stoke in the league, and a 3-0 defeat at home to Arsenal in the cup saw us end the year on a bit of a damp squib, especially when we also came away from Leicester with a draw, after dominating possession, then losing focus and conceding, although, a highlight of that match was young Colombian striker Jorge Lopez brutalising Harry Maguire on the way to score the equaliser.
 

9th place at the turn of the year is better than I wanted to be, and it gives us the perfect opportunity to step off and go for possible European Qualification at the end of the season.

---

Players

At the turn of the year 14 of the 24 players to make appearances for the club have scored goals, with top scorer being Carlos Ardiles with 13 goals from his 18 appearances.

Other notable players are Diogo Goncalves, who has 7 assists this season, Jon Walters, who, despite being 20, has passed 100 appearances for the club, is playing regularly at right back, and enjoying learning from Jordi Alba, who has announced his retirement at the end of the season.

Transfers

The usual comings and goings of younger players for development will occur.

However, a few of outgoings, starting with Afonso Taira, who goes to Everton, Tomas Azevedo to Leeds and Matteo Guendouzi to Koln see us get rid of fringe players, with a few more possibly going. 

There are two big incoming signings, to tie up our midfield, and provide a bit more strength. Both are Brazilian youngsters, coming from Flamengo, and for a combined £34m, 

Luis Henrique and Laniyan de Assis both come highly rated, and the scouts say they'll be the best midfielders in the team.

This will probably be all of our dealings this winter. However, if a big potential deal comes in, I may move. Players to replace outgoings are sat out on loan, and if needed, will get brought back from the loans to fit in.

All being well, we'll head into the second half of the season, and push for Europe.

[Jogo Bonito]

At the end of my last update, The Green Devils had adapted well to their first Championship season

Sitting 11th after 15 league games, and just a couple of points outside the play-off spaces, confidence was quite high for the rest of the 20/21 campaign

I didn't expect a play-off finish, but as you can see from the next batch of fixtures our performances dropped off quite significantly from November

Humphrys and Eisa continued to impress in attack, but we were conceding far too many goals for my liking

By the time the January transfer window closed, we had slipped down to around 15th or 16th in the table

The good start had at least ensured we were well clear of relegation danger, but it was still disappointing

I lost my left-back in the window as Celtic loanee Calvin Miller went back to Glasgow after making 23 league appearances with a 6.87 rating

I'd made him captain when he joined, but sadly he refused to extend his loan or join on a pre-contract agreement 

The only incoming transfer in the winter window was the arrival of free agent Carlton Ubaezuonu, who had been released by Dundalk

The South African was classed as Irish after his years in the country, and he would be able to play anywhere down the left

I'd leave him and Adam Lewis to fight it out for the left-back slot, Lewis had yet to make the first team squad since joining on loan in the summer

The only player leaving the club in January other than Miller was winger Josh Bowler, who never made a start and went back to Everton

So, there was new hope despite the loss of Miller, but it actually went from bad to worse as you will see below 

After the Preston game I lost Eisa to injury, and Humphrys was also out at the time

By the time Eisa came back against Bristol City, we had stopped scoring, stopped winning, and I couldn't stop the rot

With him back, and then Humphrys returning, we did start to score again - but never regained anything like our best form

The rather isolated victory there in the middle over Fulham also marked the return to The New Lawn after 9 months playing in Swindon

Eisa made sure that the capacity crowd of 7701 witnessed a memorable spectacle on that day at least

The graph below shows our slide, but on the positive side, we never went lower than 16th which I guess was a decent effort

The stats show just how good Eisa had been again, with the £150k fee for him in January 2018 being money well spent

After the TV money and Championship competition funds came our way, our bank balance rocketed to over £5m by June 2021 too

Here is the final league table, which highlighted well our two major problems

Firstly, we were conceding way too many goals. Secondly, we were terrible on the road with far too many defeats

 

Here are the player stats for the season, which show why Eisa won the player of the season vote (Humphrys 2nd and Grubb 3rd)

So this brings an end to my fourth season at Forest Green Rovers, and it's time to move on to another challenge

To get here after taking them over in January 2018, five points adrift at the foot of League 2, represents a decent spell under my management

The board have announced they are expanding the capacity to 9000 ahead of the next season (the work will take three months to complete)

With a transfer budget of £2.4m and the wage budget being increased from £55k p/w to £88k p/w, they should go on to better things  

[CityAndColour]

As a real life FGR fan (but much prefer to play with Conference North/South teams career-wise), decided to have a save with them while I wait for FM19.

I went into the editor first and set Osbourne, Bennett, KMB and Monthe to leave after their contract expires (so the AI didn't extend them), then holidayed the first season a few times until they were relegated, so I could take over them in the Conference.

The exodus of players leaving was amazing, but I got handy fees for most (aside from James but this was more about getting his salary off the books):

Among the released (aside from the aforementioned) were Mullings, Bugiel, Whittle and Evans.

So basically had to build a new team - rather than getting bogged down with big contracts for average players, I used all six long term loans available to me:

Clough and Smith are both favourite sons so happy to bring them back, while Labadie is an absolute beast at this level. I play a DLF up front in a 4-1-2-3 (wide) so Harvey is ideal for this role.

Somehow I managed to get away with only making the playoffs as board expectation, and the media has us in 13th (!) - presumably due to losing so many players. We have started with three fairly comfortable wins however.

I also have more left in my transfer and age budgets than most clubs at this level start with.

[robterrace]

*Throws head back and laughs evilly... 

[smplfc123]

@Jogo Bonito Great update mate and a solid way to end an excellent save.

Looking forward to your next challenge!

[sammo10]

@Jogo Bonito Great update. You definitely left the club in a strong position. What role do you have Eisa playing in ? He is someone I've looked at but I play two false nines currently. Look forward to the next challenge. 

@CityAndColour Good to see another FGR save. That is quite an exodus. Don't know what Grubb is like on here (Looks decent if Jogo's update is anything to go by), but think he would've tore up the National League if he's anything like real life. Joss Labadie should be class for you though. Signed for Rotherham in my save. 

@robterrace Wow. Lukaku and Ligard at Donny. Crazy.

 

Peterborough End of Season review 18/19

 

League Table

In the end we survived comfortably. Not much excitement towards the end of the season with no chance of a play-off push or relegation battle, however I would have absolutely snapped that up at the start of the season. Huddersfield smashed the league only coming 5 points off of Reading's 106 point record. Blackburn went straight back down with Milwall and Birmingham.

 

Fixtures

We had a very solid second half to the season and really settled into the league. Sadly we were knocked out against Chelsea in the cup, but we put up a hell of a battle. Home form was very decent up until the last couple of weeks. Away form is something we will look to work on next year. 

 

Squad

Really pleased with how most of the squad from last year coped with life in the Championship. Jack Baldwin was the main man in defence, definitely worked out who my number one centre back is. Jay DaSilva was good and I hope to see him come back, I fear this might not be possible though. 

Once again Gwion Edwards was class on the right and even managed to earn a Wales debut, and scored to complete the dream. Maddison came back into the side to give us two solid options on the left in him and Barker. It seems odd to have arguably to of the more talented players in the league competing for one position. Shaughnessy and Lapslie did a really good job in the BWM role, whoever got the nod. Colkett continued in his dictating role alongside either. 

Up top, once again Marriot was incredible. Say it everytime but I just can not get over his assists. He got 24 this year! Add his 17 goals and I am fairly certain he contributed to the most goals in the league ... Probably the country. Alongside him Wyke proved to be an absolute bargain. Stepping up a league to scored 23 goals and finish as the third top scorer is not too shabby for £750K. Now valued at £5m.

The guys that came in during the Jan window never really got a chance to make an impression. Not easy to come into a settled squad and make and impact.  Confident they will all have an important role to play next year.

 

Marriot cleaned up at the club awards 

 

Next Season 

We have £1m to spend in the summer. Unless there is a huge sale, we will be looking at the free agents and lower league bargains I feel. The squad grew into it as the season went on though so if I had to keep this squad I definitely think we could improve on 16th. Not enough for a play off push yet though. Left back will be the main area to look at. With Hughes off and DaSilva heading back to Cheslea, January signing Morgan Fox will be the only left back at the club.

[smplfc123]

So after my failed Ipswich challenge, I've loaded up a new game. Keen to start with low expectations in the Championship to give me time to work on a philosophy and structure, I ended up going for Barnsley.

As suggested by some big hitters on this forum, i gave myself a little breathing space to work with, by starting the game with a Continental B licence and a Professional (Local) playing career. 

With a decent budget, I brought in 3 players, 2 for the first team squad and 1 youth player on a free. The 2 first team players were Josh Windass and Jordan Williams for £250k and £450k respectively. Both are young and home grown, something I'm keen to build around and both possess good team work, work rate and determination attributes.

Tipped for relegation, my aim is solely to survive. With the season over a quarter of the way in, here is how I'm doing:

As you can see a mixed bag of results and some excellent wins. Only 5 teams have conceded less than us, with the Sunderland deafeat being the only one we've lost by more than 1 goal. We've shown some great resilience in games, with last minute equalisers in both the QPR and Milwall matches. 

Tom Bradshaw has 4 in 8, but with me playing 4-1-2-2-1, I feel the rest of the team are going to need to help out and get some goals during the season.

Here is how the current table looks:

Looking pretty good for now. I do expect a few of those big teams below me to pick up at some point and drop me lower down though.

Wish me luck!

[sammo10]

Good luck @smplfc123 ! Like the business. Windlass should do well for you. Very decent start 

[robterrace]

@sammo10 - Wyke is always a good signing at that level, and, as you see, playing him alongside Marriott works really well. 

 

[warlock]

On 18/08/2018 at 13:33, Jogo Bonito said:

So this brings an end to my fourth season at Forest Green Rovers, and it's time to move on to another challenge

A job well done, I'd say! And I'll also look forward to your next challenge .

[warlock]

20 hours ago, sammo10 said:

In the end we survived comfortably.

Which counts as a great achievement, I think. Don't think you'll need much reinforcement to improve next year, and I'd think keeping your star players is much more important. Good luck!

[warlock]

19 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

i gave myself a little breathing space to work with, by starting the game with a Continental B licence and a Professional (Local) playing career.

Truly, a wise decision! 

Looks like a really good start - difficult to spot a pattern in those results: some great wins away, some disappointing results at home. As for the teams below you, from my experience only Cardiff and Boro usually do better than that. Under AI management Villa and Hull often finish in the bottom six, and Burton, Bolton and Sheff Utd are usually nailed on for a relegation battle.

And a quick thought: how are you setting up your widemen in the 41221? I've found this year that having an asymmetrical setup (winger one side, IF the other) works much better than having the same role on both sides, even if one of them doesn't look comfortable in the role.

Best of luck - if you can repeat that form for the rest of the season you shouldn't have any relegation worries.

[Jogo Bonito]

Thanks @smplfc123 and good to see you giving yourself a decent chance at Barnsley with a slightly better rep. Sensible signings and not a bad start at all. Good luck for the rest of your season.

@sammo10 Thanks and that's another great update from Peterborough. The strike partnership seems to be working really well, great job. I played Eisa as a poacher paired with a target man (Humphrys or sometimes Doidge) using the route one tactic to get him in behind defences with long balls over the top from defenders or midfielders, or through balls from his striker partner.

@warlock Thanks, I have a few clubs in mind so will see where I end up next.

@CityAndColour An interesting approach at Forest Green. Surprised you felt comfortable letting Doidge and Grubb go, but you know the club way better than me! I can't give Labadie my blessing but good luck getting them back in the EFL.

@robterrace Two very high profile signings. I kind of understand bringing them in, but the salaries of those two are obscene.

[smplfc123]

 Thanks @sammo10 same to you mate, Wyke proving to be a great signing there!
 

14 hours ago, warlock said:

And a quick thought: how are you setting up your widemen in the 41221? I've found this year that having an asymmetrical setup (winger one side, IF the other) works much better than having the same role on both sides, even if one of them doesn't look comfortable in the role.

Exactly that actually mate. I've got an IF and a Winger, usually Hammil and Windass, with my left FB staying wide whilst we attack to offer some width on the left hand side. The front man's role changes based on who is starting. Kieffer Moore was doing well as a target man before getting injured.

Thanks @jogo, I look forward to your next challenge.

[robterrace]

12 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

 

@robterrace Two very high profile signings. I kind of understand bringing them in, but the salaries of those two are obscene.

The wages are ridiculous, but, I need experience for the push I want to make, and whilst Lukaku won't get a great amount of matches, he fits the system I play, and is more than capable of standing in for Ardiles, so that I can rest him.

[robterrace]

"You can't win anything with kids" - Alan Hansen, August 1995

When you're sat there, wondering what to do, realising, that no one that has sat there before you, has ever found themselves in this position, its difficult, nay impossible, to properly think of your next action, and how it will affect things.

Well, turning up to Molineux, on a wet Tuesday night in January, to see your side that you've assembled, boss the match, only to lose out to a poor counter attacked goal, isn't what you've got planned. But, more of that as we go on.

The Second Half Update...

As mentioned above, the first match of the month was a Tuesday night in Wolverhampton, which, for the new £34m pairing of de Assis and Henrique, must have been a comedown from Rio de Janeirio.

Bouncing back from that defeat meant that a win in the FA Cup at home to Charlton was imperative.

The Friday before the match saw Club Brugge winger Mario Ferreira come in for £6m, filling the spot on the right wing that had been left since Vittorio Parigini tore his cruciate ligaments, and then Joao Filipe injured himself. The 23 year old endeared himself to the support by scoring the 3rd goal from the penalty spot in a 3-0 victory.

If the Charlton win was workmanlike, we needed more focus and effort to get through the next couple of games, with them being at home to Manchester United, the Champions, who had only conceded 7 goals all season, and a visit to Chelsea, who were doing a good job of chasing them.

United took the lead after 15 minutes, thanks to Antoine Griezmann, however, strikes from Diogo Goncalves and Carlos Ardiles pushed the Rovers in front. Marcus Rashford ghosted into the box to get an equaliser for the big spenders, before, with just over 5 minutes left, Bruno Oliviera, the young Portuguese midfielder, who had come on to replace de Assis, who had tired, broke into the box, and lashed the cross from Martin Odegaard into the roof of the net. 3-2. We never looked back.

Straight from the kickoff, a 4th goal came, as Carlos Ardiles showed what a great player he is, by nipping in and picking a long ball over the top before rounding the keeper to score.

The next match against Chelsea saw Ardiles rip the hosts back 4 apart with 2 goals in 5 minutes, before Joao Filipe hit a long range effort to put us 3 up after 25 minutes. Despite a consolation effort from Raheem Sterling, coupled with late goals for Alvaro Morata and Eden Hazard, Joe Allens 4th goal, midway through the second half saw a 4-3 victory secured.

Normal service resumed, despite the departure of Ibrahima Konate to PSG for £25m and Julian Karapici (who only joined in July) to Bayern for a deal reaching £37m. At least, until deadline day, when two deals became possible that would put us to the next level competitively.

Normally, when presented with a deal for a 30 year old striker for £14m and a 31 year old winger for a deal potentially reaching £30m, I'd run a mile, but, when the names in the frame are Romelu Lukaku, and Jesse Lingard, your ears pick up.

Both found themselves on the transfer list at Old Trafford, with Jose Mourinho preferring Andre Silva and Antoine Griezmann in the side instead of the 2 fringe players.

Offers for both players were accepted, and Lingard joined Lukaku in moving to Doncaster. Wages would be high for them, but, at the same time, they offered far more in terms of experience and also, allowing us to rotate players out of the side without causing too much damage to our chances.

• 
• 

As it was though, we would be aiming for one of two goals, both of which would see us qualify for European Competition.

The big one, would be qualifying for Champions League football next season, but the gap to the top teams would take some closing down.

The key to our season, would be keeping the triumvirate of Joe Allen, Martin Odegaard and Carlos Ardiles fit. The first two, at the heart of the 3 man midfield, allowed the rest of the team to play their football and attack, whilst keeping everything tight in the middle. They both have a lot of experience, and also, in Odegaards case, will pop up with a goal or two in support. 

Ardiles is slightly different. As a mobile forward, he has been creating his own space, but, has also, been beginning to suffer with little knocks and niggles, mainly in his legs. Keeping him fit, especially as he has been a massive goal threat, is essential, which is why signing a player of the calibre of Romelu Lukaku, is a bonus.

As it was, goals from Aridles dried up slightly post window closing, however, this didn't mean, as in previous seasons, that the teams supply of goals dried up. With quality widemen playing in the inside forward role, goals were always going to come, and with the exception of defeat at Tottenham, Feburary was dispatched, even with 2 FA Cup fixtures, away at Swansea and Newcastle.

March came and went in much the same way, with Lukaku finally opening his account in his 3rd appearance, with a goal away at Everton. The highlight came later in the month, when a hat trick from Ardiles saw off Manchester City, and accelerated our move towards the top 4.

As with all these games, there was a bit of an 'after the Lord Mayors Show' sort of effect, with Wolves bossing a match for 92 minutes in the 6th Round of the FA Cup, conceding a hit and hope volley from Lukaku, then conspiring to miss 2 penalties when winning the shootout, to go out on penalties.

Of course, this secured a Semi Final of the FA Cup, at Wembley, and with 3 games to go in the league after this, we made the trip down, in 4th place, 6 clear of the twin efforts of Tottenham and Manchester City.

The Semi Final pitched 2nd vs 4th, with the best two goalkeepers in the recent past of the competition (Thibaut Courtois and our own Joao Rodrigues) going head to head. Unlike the league games, this was going to be a bit of an arm wrestle.

It took until the second half for a chance to come, when Jemerson felled Martin Odegaard from a corner. The Norwegian picked himself up, and despite Courtois going the right way, the penalty nestled in the corner to put Doncaster 1-0 up. Of course, Chelsea were going to do what everyone does, and throw me forward, but, with a defensive line of an average height of nearly 6'4", and all strong, it was going to take an effort to breach, something which, despite 15 minutes of trying, Chelsea couldn't manage. 
That meant, little old Doncaster Rovers were going back to Wembley to play in the FA Cup Final, against Leicester City.

With 4 games of our season left, we face the following.

4 points from our last 3 league fixtures to secure 4th place, and with it, a Champions League place, and, with Liverpool having to face Leicester, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, they had a very similar run in to us.

Facing 3 of the bottom 6, especially when all of them could still possibly go down was a potential banana skin, especially when they would all be fighting for their futures,

Of course, to every Doncaster Rovers fan, that battle would take a slight move to the left, as to them, the chance of winning the FA Cup, was something they weren't going to miss.

That was nearly a month away, and would mean that it would be our latest finish to a season ever.

[robterrace]

The Run In

A slight change to normal. Instead of doing a summary of the matches, I'm going to do match by match.

 So. 3 league matches sit between history. Between Doncaster Rovers, and the possibility of sitting at European Footballs highest table.

As long as our results bettered the teams below us, we would make it there, allowing our fans to return to the newly expanded Keepmoat Stadium next season and welcoming some of the biggest names in European Football to Doncaster.

The build up was almost perfect, with defensive monster Luís Fernando coming 2nd in Premier League Young Player of the Month, with full back Jon Walters, having recently passed 125 games for the club, despite his young age, coming 3rd.

These were the players who would be fortunate enough to take us into contention, and they are more than good enough to retain that right.

Playing on a Sunday gave us a slight disadvantage, as teams below us played, but, at the same time, it allows us to focus on what we need to do.

Liverpool lost to Leicester to remain 5 points behind, with Manchester City and Tottenham winning to move 3 points off 4th place.

Sunday 5th May 2024 - Crystal Palace (16) vs Doncaster Rovers (4) - Premier League Matchday 36 - Selhurst Park - London

Managed by Turkish manager, Tayfun Korkut, Palace are more than capable, and have plenty of players within the team that have the capability to create goals and cause us issues.

Palace came in exactly like the scout reports said, with Alexis and Walter Gonzalez up front, the Paraguayan hoping to use his pace to get behind the defensive line, and with the midfield pairing of Duncan and Gnoukouri, a large amount of physicality.

Over the last few months of the season, this line up has virtually written itself. Martin Odegaard makes the bench, having sustained a slight groin strain in the previous week. In Bruno, a more than capable alternative exists, which will allow us to protect the Norwegian.

The front three of Lingard, Ardiles and Joao Filipe offer goals and mobility, and will trouble the defence.

Laniyan de Assis slots into the midfield alongside the metronome that is Joe Allen. These two will match up against the threats in the Palace midfield.

In defence, Colombian full back Felipe Torres has made the spot his own, especially now that Jordi Alba has announced his intention to retire at the seasons conclusion.

Glyn Gardner has over 120 career appearances, which, at only 20 years old, is a fantastic amount of experience, and since he was recalled from a loan spell at Portuguese club Santa Clara in January, has gone from strength to strength, especially alongside the Uruguayan man mountain that is Luís Fernando.

The cornerpin of the defence, Fernando, at 21, has played the majority of games this season, and although he isn't the bravest of defenders, has won 80% of the tackles he has attempted. A physical monster, he sits back and allows the defence to work as well as it does.

The last part of the back 4 is Jon Walters. The England international has played over 130 games in total since joining us in 2019, and has become a massive part of our defence. He can play anywhere across the back 4, and has, this season, but, at right back, he will go up and down all day, and lay on goals for his team.

Lastly, in goal, Joao Rodrigues. The nearest thing I have seen to Peter Schmeichel, his shot stopping abilities are silly, and now his agility has improved, he is probably the best keeper in the league. Again, at only 21, he has over 70 appearances for us, and over 100 in his career. A true cornerstone for years to come.

6' - Walters is freed down the right wing, and fires a cross into the box. Ardiles beats Chambers to the ball, and instead of heading goalwards, nods the ball down to an unmarked Joao Filipe, who scores his 10th of the season. 1-0

21' - Defence splitting pass forward from Joe Allen, sees Carlos Ardiles, hovering on the last mans shoulder, race clear, and beat Nick Pope low to his left. 29th goal of the season (24th in the league) 2-0.

24' - Great work from Joao Filipe sees his work pay off, as Ardiles has a snapshot turned away by Pope.

44' - Passing play on the left edge of the box, works Allen free, who slides a pass into Joao Filipe, whose effort from 15 yards is saved.

45' - Fantastic work from Oliviera, who fires a pass out to Walters on the right wing, before breaking into the box. His header is wasted and floats over.

Half Time - Crystal Palace 0 - 2 Doncaster Rovers

The second half started with both teams battling, Palace making 3 changes just after the hour. 

65' - Doncaster Substitution - Ryan Fraser and Daniel Amartey were pushing forward on the Palace right, and Jesse Lingard was withdrawn, Diogo Goncalves coming on and looking to exploit the space made by the attacking mindset of these

75' - Ardiles drifts out onto the left wing and collects a clearance, breaking forward. Getting to the byline, pulls the ball back, and Bruno Olivieras shot hits the post and bounces clear.

77' - Oliviera hits the other post, this time, with a shot from 25 yards, the ball goes for a goal kick.

80' - Olivieras day comes to an end, replaced by Spanish youngster Javi Martin. Goncalves moves into the #10 role.

83' - Palace hit the post through Walter Gonzalez, after a pass from Fraser allows him to just get on the goal side of Gardner.

87' - Joao Filipe leaves the pitch injured. Which sees Romelu Lukaku come on in the wide role for the last part of the match.

90+2' - Lukaku muscles Amartey off the ball, and slides Ardiles clear. Nick Pope is quick to come off his line and smother the chance.

90+2' - From the resulting corner, Ryan Fraser breaks clear, and from the resulting cross, Salvador Castro pokes past Rodrigues. 2-1.

90+4' - Palace throw bodies forward to try and get a last gasp equaliser, but, cannot do so. 

Full Time - Crystal Palace 1 - 2 Doncaster Rovers

Joe Allen picks up man of the match for his all action performance in midfield, but, Ardiles, and Joao Filipe push him close.

With 277 touches, and 109 passes completed (out of 120 total attempted), as well as 2 chances created, its easy to see why Allen was so successful. He was responsible for 20% of the play created by Doncaster Rovers during the match.

---

In the post match news, came the update that Joao Filipe was going to miss at least 3 weeks with a twisted ankle sustained during the match. This would make it touch and go for him to make the FA Cup final.

Arsenal also dropped points, losing 2-1 at Bournemouth, which, in terms of personal achievement, meant that with 2 games left, we needed a point to secure Champions League for next season, and it was just as likely for us to finish 3rd or 4th now.

Next up. Leicester City.

[sammo10]

Peterborough Season 19/20 preview

 

Transfers

Out - 

There were more major departures than first anticipated at the end of last season with some unexpected big offers coming in. First to leave was Tom Lapslie. A player that did well, however was not a guaranteed starter and Shaugnessy played more games in the same role last year. We signed him from League 2 for £500K so when Barnsley came in with a bid 5x the amount we signed him for it seemed too much to turn down. 

Maddison was half expected. After no arguments for 3 weeks I was surprised to see QPR come in for him. A premier league side and a very good price, it was time for our rolercoaster of a relationship to come to an end. 

Moore was one I did not want to lost. Another premier league bid, Moore wanted to go. We got double the amount we signed him for.

In - 

Anthony Hartigan (£525k) - With Lapslie going we needed someone to come in and compete for the defensive midfield role. Still only 19, a talented player with great potential. All round midfielder that should get plenty of minutes this year. 

Neil Etheridge (£400k) - A goalie lots of ability, I feel we have have actually improved on Moore for a tiny fraction of the fee. Also adds experience to a fairly young defence. 

Marvin Johnson (Loan) - Johnson comes in on a loan to buy deal. If I am happy with him I can sign for less than half a million. Has genuine pace with is something we slightly lack on the flanks. Will compete with Barker and should be a strong addition. 

Ryan Haynes (£575k) - Haynes is a really good prospect. With DaSilva going back to Chelsea we needed a replacement. A coventry regular from a young age, will hopefully give us plenty going forward as well as being a solid defensive addition. 

Corey Whelan (£350k) - I wanted to get young Leon Davies a full season of first team football on loan. Whelan is a solid option to cover Lenihan and can also cover at CB. 

Danny Rose (£165k) - I was rocked with the terrible news that Charlie Wyke broke his leg in pre-season and will miss the first half of the season. I wanted an extra body in for cover and Danny Rose could just prove to be an absolute bargain. 34 goals in League 2 last season, he clearly has an eye for goal. With the amount of chances Marriott and Edwards provide he will surely put some away. And at such a low fee it's not exactly a risk. 

 

Squad - 

We go into the season with the squad below. I feel it is a similar level as last year with most now used to the league. It's a very young side with lots to prove so will hopefully make a splash on the league this year. Net spend was about -£5m so fairly happy with how it looks considering. 

[robterrace]

So, after the victory at Palace, we had a week to wait until the dress rehearsal for the FA Cup Final, against Leicester City.

A couple of changes were made as a result of the injury to Joao Filipe, with Javi Martin coming in for the Portuguese wideman. Martin Odegaard returned to the side, with Bruno Oliviera making way.

11' - The ball is recycled on the left hand side by Filipe Torres, finding Martin Odegaard. The Norwegian plays in Carlos Ardiles, whose shot is parried by Andre Onaka, and Jordan Lukaku is unable to stop Javi Martin from slamming home the rebound, and with it, his first goal in a Doncaster shirt. 1-0

18' - Adama Traore loses possession in the Doncaster half, Luis Fernando feeds Laniyan de Assis, whose quick ball through the middle finds Carlos Ardiles in full flight. The Spaniard makes no mistake, beating Onana. 2-0.

29' - A fantastic reverse ball from Martin sets Jon Walters loose on the right wing, the fullback, unmarked roams forward, and his pinpoint cross is met by Ardiles, who sees his header from 6 yards hit the bar and bounce clear.

34' - Pressure from Ardiles forces a poor clearance from Onana, which finds its way to Martin Odegaard. His ball to Jesse Lingard finds the inside forward in space, and he miscues his shot into the crowd behind the goal.

36' - A poor clearing ball from Javi Martin is pounced on by Andre Horta, who finds Steve Canham on the edge of the box. The West Ham loanee finds space to fire past Rodrigues. 2 - 1

45' - A fantastic cross field move sees the ball find its way to Jon Walters, who gets to the byline, crosses, and hits the post. The ball bounces out to Ardiles, who is unable to react, and the ball goes for a goal kick.

Half time came, with the score remaining 2 -1.

51' - After a cross from Felipe Torres is cleared as far as Laniyan de Assis, the ball is worked back out to the Columbian left back, who swings the ball in for Carlos Ardiles to hit into the top corner. 3 - 1

60' - Steve Canham has his second of the day, hitting home from 18 yards as Glyn Gardner is tackled following a Leicester corner, and the ball from Horta finds Canham unmarked at the far post.

63' - Canham heads over a Leicester corner, as Luis Fernando closes him down.

64' - 15 year old Argentinian winger Mauro Sequeira comes on for his debut, replacing Jesse Lingard. The youngster being fasttracked into the first team as cover following the injury to Joao Filipe. Diogo Goncalves also enters the field, replacing Javi Martin, who was showing signs of tiring very quickly.

80' - Martin Odegaard is replaced by Bruno Oliviera. The Norwegian showing a few signs of tiring post injury.

80' - Canham collects his 3rd of the match, as Leicester throw more men up front in an attempt to make themselves safe. 3 - 3

83' - Andre Horta hits the bar from 35 yards.

84' - Carlos Ardiles fires wide from 15 yards.

90+3' - Following a tackle on the edge of his own penalty area by Felipe Torres, the ball is played to Ardiles, who, eschewing personal glory, beats 2 men, before squaring to Bruno Oliviera, who scores to make it 4 - 3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRq90z3n_Dc

Full time. 4 - 3. Not a vintage performance by any stretch of the imagination, but, job done.

Thats the first part of the objective achieved, however, this wouldn't mean we were going to rest on our laurels for the rest of the season. This, was undoubtedly the biggest moment in the history of the club, but, theres more history to be made.

Stoke provide the opposition in a game that has no meaning, as due to their current league position, they have already been relegated.

Closer to home, Carlos Ardiles is in with a big chance of winning the Golden Boot, with 26 goals this season (1 in front of Alexandre Lacazette). The Spanish youngster has 14 goals and 7 assists in his last 18 games, and has been a massive part of our rise this season. He averages in all competitions, a goal every 93 minutes.

With the last game of the season to come, there would be some rotation, in order to keep the team fresh for the FA Cup Final, but, the squad have got us to this position, its their duty to finish the job.

 

[Dong21]

I haven't had enough time to play any FM over the last month, but finally had a chance to do so today, so I thought I would do a quick update on how pre-season has gone.

Season 2022-2023 - Fulham - Pre-season

As you will see from the above screenshots, I have had an extremely busy transfer window in preparation for our first involvement in the Champions League. I was handed a large transfer budget, however the major theme for this window was bargains. In fact the window closed and I still had £90m left in the bank, this thrifty approach could backfire, however I think I have strengthened the squad and have reserves to operate in the January transfer window if needs be.

I brought in several experienced players on free transfers, including current England internationals Oxlade-Chamberlain, Henderson (England captain) and Walker. One disappointment was Walker picked up a 2-3 month injury on the eve of the new season. I was completely shocked to discover Gareth Bale available on a free transfer and moved quickly to snap him up. His physical stats have slightly declined at the age of 33, but his technical stats remain strong and I expect him to be a key player for me.

Along with frees, the other type of bargain I looked for was talented young players. Both Chile and Romania performed well in the World Cup and after watching closely I moved to pick up two talented young players from each country. As they are regens, their screenshots are below.

The other two noteworthy incoming transfers were attacking midfielder De La Cruz, an improvement on my current options, and I broke the clubs transfer record to sign 'keeper Lafont. I had a large amount of transfer funds and therefore decided it was reasonable to move for the best 'keeper available to me. Lafont has been my 'keeper on long-term saves on previous FMs and is yet to let me down.

There had to be a lot of outgoings due to the vast numbers of players joining the club. It was the right time for players such as Kalas and Christie to move on. I liked players like Dominguez and Masina, however they just weren't going to get playing time in such a large squad. Finally, the likes of Coman, Odegaard and O'Riley were loaned out as I see great potential in them and would like them to develop.

Pre-season went fairly successfully - the aims were to build fitness and team cohesion, which seemed to be achieved. We were unsuccessful in the European Super Cup, however that was as expected against the dominant Premier League and Champion League winners United.

The final thing to note is our Champions League group...

Couldn't have been much tougher... Wish me luck!

 

[smplfc123]

Good luck @Dong21 A very tough group indeed.

I'm languishing just above the relegation zone going in to January and the board have accepted my request for more funds. To my surprise, they have given me a very generous £5m to play with to ensure that we don't drop in to League 1. My only problem is now finding good enough players that will come here.

Will do an update at the end of January.

[smplfc123]

 

Possibly the strangest deadline day deal I've ever done and £1.6m for a 5 month deal seems like a hell of a lot. But with PSG paying a huge chunk of his wages and me only paying him £160 per week, he could be the difference in me staying up or going down!

[sammo10]

@smplfc123 Wow, what a signing. He should be massive if he can be bothered!

 

Peterborough Mid-Season review 18/19 

 

League Table 

We are doing surprisingly well! After a pre-season which saw some key players leave for big money and only about a quarter of the income being reinvested in the side, I was hoping for another year of survival. To my great surprise the team have been superb and are genuinely pushing for promotion. In December we were even second,1 point off the top but we have seen a slight dip in form over the festive period and January. 

 

Fixtures

The main reason for our success has been just our ability to snatch wins/draws and be really difficult to beat. There have been quite a few 1-0's and 1-1's. We went on a great spell in October which saw us win all 5 games without conceding a goal. Sadly the manager of the month curse proved real as we then lost at home to newly promoted Barnsley. Another good premier league scalp in the FA cup, this time Swansea, has set up another big tie, Liverpool. Hopefully we can run them as close as we did Chelsea last year or even snatch a result. 

 

Squad 

Neil Etheridge has proven a great addition in goal. His AVG rating is nothing special, but trust me, he has made some incredible saves. The back line of Smith and Baldwin were superb up until December, with already more clean sheets than last year. Sadly Baldwin is now out for 10 months with an ACL injury. The first of three long term injuries we have suffered. 

The second was Gwion Edwards. The star man the past two years. He missed four months. Thankfully McLaughlin stepped up and was great filling in. This saw his value rise hugely as you will see below. It's been great to have to super wingers on the left in Barker and Johnson. I can't really choose between them and don't feel anxious when swapping either. In the middle Shaugnessy has been as solid as ever and Jermaine Anderson has really stepped it up. Getting better and better as the seasons have gone on. 

Up top was where the third big injury came from. Last seasons top scorer, Charlie Wyke suffered a broken leg and was out until December. Since then he has come back and continued his great form from last year, bagging 6 in 7 starts. Once again Marriott has been superb notching and assisting. Washington and Rose have filled in admirably and both scored some big winning goals. 

 

Transfers 

Our quietest window to date. A great season so far, I didn't feel the need to bring anyone in. The main piece of business was selling Ryan Mchlaughlin. A year on from signing him on a free Cardiff came in with a massive bid. It seemed crazy to say no, even if he had been performing well. £3.7m for a backup is too much to turn down for a club like us. We did look to bring in a replacement but the right player was not there, so we will wait until the summer. 

[Dong21]

Thanks @smplfc123

Hope you get the good version of Ben Arfa and that he can be a catalyst for your season!

[robterrace]

underdog

[uhn-der-dawg, -dog]

1. a person who is expected to lose in a contest or conflict.
2. a victim of social or political injustice:

9 letters, 1 word. A definition, not just of the club, but of the way of thinking that had come through the club. 

From the days of Alick Jeffrey, through to the fan movements during the torrid Ken Richardson era, all the way through to the end of Belle Vue, and the move to the new, modern, Keepmoat Stadium. 

The successes the club had enjoyed, the thing they always prided themselves on, from the Chairman, all the way to the car park attendants, were that they were just having a laugh and enjoying themselves.

There was still a bit of work to do, before we could have a laugh and enjoy ourselves.

Before the Stoke game, squads for the upcoming European Championships were announced. 10 players, 7 of whom were at the club were called up for their respective nations.

There was a small change in backroom staff as well, Petr Cech departing from his Director of Football role, and being replaced by Victor Orta.

As stated previously, a rotated squad was picked, with Luis Henrique and Raffaele Laterza coming into the middle of defence to replace Luis Fernando and Glyn Gardner. Christian Frydek replaced Laniyan de Assis alongside Joe Allen, and up front, Mario Ferreira, Diego Goncalves, Bruno Oliviera and Romelu Lukaku replace Lingard, Javi Martin, Odegaard and Ardiles.

15' - Good work on the left side of the penalty area sees Bruno Oliviera cross for Romelu Lukaku, who beats Ben Chilwell to the ball and sees his header saved by Bruno Varela.

22' - A 15 pass move sees Mario Ferreira ghost into the box on the left hand side untouched, and his shot bounces back off the far post.

The story of the rest of the half sees Doncaster passing the ball around midfield, with Stoke sitting 2 banks of 4 on the edge of the box, trying to stifle everything.

Half time - 0 - 0

A couple of small changes were made with the hope of breaking open the Stoke defence, but, with little change happening, after 10 minutes of the second half, the dice were rolled with the hope of finding a goal.

Ferriera and Goncalves were withdrawn, replaced by Jesse Lingard, who felt he had to prove a point after being left out of the England squad for the European Championships, and Martin Odegaard, who would look to interchange with Bruno Oliviera and cause trouble for the Stoke defence.

62' - Torres leads a break out of midfield, feeding the ball to Lingard in the outside left channel. His cross to Odegaard at the back post sees the Norwegian have his header picked up easily by Varela.

70' - Doncaster make their 3rd substitution of the day, with Romelu Lukaku being replaced by Carlos Ardiles.

72' - Jean Ruiz hits a snapshot from 20 yards out that Rodrigues deals with easily.

78' - Doncaster Penalty - Jesse Lingard is fouled in the box by Diego Quieros.

Carlos Ardiles picks the ball up and despatches the kick, his first attempt of the season. 1 - 0

80' - Frydek sees his corner from the Stoke right met by Torres. His header bounces off the top of the bar and goes over.

90+5' - Manuel Lazzari hits a speculative effort from a way out. This drifts well wide of Rodrigues left hand post. The full time whistle blows. 1 - 0.

A fourth place finish secured, which, I'm sure, if offered at the start of the season, would have been more than snapped up by everyone. Champions League football comes to South Yorkshire next season, and, by association, everything associated with it.

[sammo10]

Congrats on Champions League @robterrace . Fantastic achievement. 

[robterrace]

@sammo10 Thanks.

So.

Here we are.

Wembley.

The National Stadium.

As a club, we've been here before. But, never in a match as big as this. Its safe to say, that, at this point in time, this may be the biggest moment in the clubs 145 year history.

Doncaster is a ghost town. Buses have been setting off since the early hours. The M1 is awash with fans, all heading south. Its impossible not to get excited for the afternoons events.

The morning of the final, we we told that Joao Filipe had failed his fitness test, despite having attempted to get over his ankle injury.

The FA Cup Final - 15:00hrs

Amid all the pomp and ceremony that comes with a big cup final, comes the story of the players. 7 of our starting 11 were under the age of 22, 3 of them having come through our own academy system.

Leicester came in with a strong team, with only a single change from the team that played against us a couple of weeks before. Steve Canham dropping to the bench, and Kelechi Iheanacho replacing him.

Barring the missing Joao Filipe, this was the strongest side we could put out. Diogo Goncalves had regained fitness after taking a knock a few matches back, Martin Odegaard and Jesse Lingard also came back in, along with Luis Fernando, Glyn Gardner, Laniyan de Assis and Carlos Ardiles.

First Half

 6' - Andre Horta loses the ball in the Doncaster half, patient build up work brings the ball forwards, before Diogo Goncalves sees his shot tipped round the post.

9' - GOAL!!!! Luis Fernando finds Martin Odegaard in space on the edge of the centre circle. Not closed down, he plays a through ball to Carlos Ardiles, who, despite seeing his first shot saved, fires the second one past the prone Onana.

11' - Leicester should be level. Remo Frueler is left unmarked and Demarai Gray finds him level with the penalty spot. His headed loops over untouched.

23' - GOAL!!!! Disaster for Harry Maguire, as the England international diverts Goncalves cross past Onana and into his own goal.

31' - GOAL!!!! Charlie Taylor gets Leicester on the board, firing a free kick past Rodrigues from 25 yards.

35' - Iheanacho draws a save from Rodrigues, firing straight at the keeper from 19 yards.

36' -  Rodrigues bowls the ball out to Gardner, who plays in Lingard, and his shot is just tipped around the post by Onana.

37' - GOAL!!!! From the resulting corner, Goncalves ball in is met by Torres, and the Columbian scores his first goal for the club.

Half Time - Leicester City 1 - 3  Doncaster Rovers

Despite having less of the ball, we've been more clinical, and made our chances count. Leicester are likely to fire the ball more direct in the second half, as they look to get back on terms.

Second Half

57' GOAL!!!! Ten minutes of second half action brings nothing, before Leicester are hit on the counter attack. The ball is cleared to Ardiles in the right wing position on halfway, before he beats Harry Maguire, gets to the byline and plays a sliderule ball for Jesse Lingard to score a 4th for Doncaster.

60' - Remo Freuler fires a speculative effort over the bar.

61' - Odegaard gets played through, but, under pressure from Maguire, fires wide.

62' - Big chance for a 5th Doncaster goal, as Odegaard gets behind the static defensive line. Onana tips the shot around the post.

63' - From the resulting corner, the ball comes towards Glyn Gardner at waist height. His volley comes back off the bar and is cleared.

67' - After a mixed performance, Martin Odegaard leaves the field, and is replaced by Bruno Oliviera.

72' - Laniyan de Assis is withdrawn, and replaced by Brazilain compatriot, Luis Henrique.

75' - Carlos Ardiles cross is headed back across goal by Lingard, and Goncalves sees his shot clawed off the line.

83' - Joe Allen leaves the pitch to a standing ovation, as he is replaced by Javi Martin.

90+2' - Ardiles shot is tipped wide.

90+4' -- Full Time. 

With the incoming platitudes from all corners, the first FA Cup Final, and with it, the first FA Cup in the clubs history is secured, and with that, our season ends.

[Jogo Bonito]

Well done @robterrace, a great way to end your season with the FA Cup win and CL football secured.

@Dong21 Good to see you back and cracking on with Fulham. It looks like some very good signings, especially if your free transfers like Bale and Walker can still do the business! Tough CL group for you, wow.

@smplfc123 Hopefully you're keeping Barnsley out of trouble? Sensational swoop for Ben Arfa, I hope he doesn't let you down!

@sammo10 Great job with Peterborough, you must be well happy with that! Good luck for the rest of your season.

I'm currently managing in Switzerland as it's an enjoyable break from the norm. My next update will be in that thread but I'm probably still not done with the EFL yet in FM18

[robterrace]

Just got offered the Spain and France jobs in my save.. Not interested. 

[robterrace]

"I love it when a plan comes together" - John 'Hannibal' Smith.

The move back to the Keepmoat happened at the end of may, with just under 7000 new seats taking the capacity to nearly 20000, replacing the 1200 we lost when undersoil heating was introduced, then adding another 5000.

We could afford another 5500 seats before a new stadium had to be considered.

The general aim of this preseason, especially given that its a European Championships year, is to get rid of a few deadweights who won't make it, and then top up the youth teams.

I cannot foresee a massive transfer window, as, honestly, we don't really need it, and only a silly transfer fee would have us listen to any of our players.

Of course, that is, until Arsenal throw this offer our way.

Even with paying the sell on to Odegaard, if he goes, it will be a massive profit for us, and allow for some investment in the team. We have a ready made replacement in Bruno Oliviera who can step in, and, at the same time, make sure Olivieras potential replacement is being worked on.

A few days later, the Odegaard deal becomes a reality.

Its a record transfer fee received for us, breaking the Miguel Luis one from last season. 

The use of Bruno Olivieira as the replacement was also made slightly easier, as a potential replacement was identified, and, at less than a million pounds, was more than affordable.

For £600k, Phil Foden is a low risk option. He matches everything we had in Martin Odegaard in terms of attributes, he is home grown, so fits into the Champions League picture, and is very technical and offers a great deal going forward.

Also signing was Argentinian midfielder Santiago Iniguez, from Independiente. The 21 year old is physically strong, and will fit into the midfield rotation, offering a replacement for Joe Allen, as well as being in the mix with de Assis and Henrique.

A few more bits of business go on, fringe players go out, raising some funds, with Rasmus Wikstrom departing for £10m, and Gavin Johnston, who hasn't developed like I'd hoped, and for that reason, has spent a large amount of time on loan, going to Wolfsburg for £14.5m, rising to £20m.

Carlos Ardiles was offered a new deal, and signed a 5 year + 1 year extension deal, doubling his wages to just over £100k a week. For the amount of goals he scores alone, even at this age, he is more than worth it, and, should he attract attention from elsewhere, a massive price will have to be paid to get him out of Doncaster.

Also coming in, this time on a free transfer from Manchester City, is Ilkay Gundogan. Mainly brought in to act as the other half of Joe Allen, so we can keep him fresh for the big season, Gundogan comes on a 1 year deal, and will provide a massive amount of experience when required.

A backup goalkeeper was brought in, as Daniel Bentley has picked up an injury preseason, Karl Darlow joins on a free transfer from Newcastle.

We also lost Diogo Goncalves for at least 6 months to a broken leg, the winger was one of the rotation options in his position, so will not cause too much damage to the team.

[smplfc123]

Thanks @sammo10 , @Jogo Bonito and @Dong21

So since my last update there's been quite a lot of ups and downs.

We went through a horrible stage in the league, picking up 8 points from a possible 45! That awful drop in form meant that we were now in 21st position and I was 3rd favourite in the sack race according to the bookies.

Whilst we had a decent starting 11, the squad was lacking enough quality for the fixture pile up at the end of the calendar year and it really showed. I knew we needed to add some quality in to the team in January and not just squad fillers. Here's what happened:

Yes OK, Jack Baldwin was a squad filler, but with Matt Mills doing everything he can to get an exit on deadline day, I had to bring in cover just in case. Hatem Ben Arfa as previously stated was a crazy deal, with us only paying him £160 p/w. Yes it's a lot of money for a transfer to then only get him on a 5 month contract, but if he can be the difference between us staying up and going down, I feel the risk will have been justified.

Ryan Leonard was transfer listed and has great attributes to play in CM. I also changed my tactics in Jan slightly, meaning that I needed someone with a bit more energy and tackling ability in there and he was the perfect fit. Yiadom, the club captain, was sold, not only to raise extra funds, but because he had 6 months left on his contract and we had 2 other RB's at the club that are more than capable.

Thankfully, although not really down to the transfers, more the tweak in tactics, we picked up our form. A 4th round FA Cup loss to Newcastle didn't stop us in the league, where after that horrendous run of 8 points from a possible 45 was completely flipped, with us picking up 15 points from the next 24, with 4 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss in 8 games. Impressive home wins against play off hopefuls Birmingham and Fulham were topped by a 3-1 away win against Aston Villa, now managed by Gerrardo Martino. We also managed to grab a good point at home to 2nd place Norwich. 

Tom Bradshaw has moved on to 9 goals in 25 games for the season, with Thiam starting to come to the fore with 6 goals in 11 starts (and 15 sub apps). McBurnie has been a disappointment.  The defence has certainly done its part, with Davies on 10 clean sheets for the season so far, which I believe is a good return considering we are still in Feb. Jackson and Lindsay have formed a very good partnership in the middle, with the full backs changing on both sides.

Here is how it looks going in to the final 3rd or so of the season:

Although i'm far from safe yet, I'm hoping that I've built up enough of a gap between us and the bottom 3 to be able to make it over the finish line and avoid relegation as planned.

I'm hoping a few more wins in the near future will make me safe and earn me a new contract so that I can start planning for next season!

Wish me luck!