PGC - Back to our Roots

[FFCStu1428]

Because of a conflict of interest the Scotland league is now closed. 

 

We will restart Monday back to our old stamping ground England. We will start off in league 2 and work our way up. Spots are still open for new people to join so contact me, Look out for posts by our members and the teams they have taken. Fingers crossed this time we should have a smooth enjoyable Clan like we always have. 

[Kaboooom]

WYCOMBE WANDERES FOOTBALL CLUB

EARLY YEARS

Wycombe Wanderes were founded in 1887, at a meeting held at the Steam Engine Pub on Station Road.
Playing friendly matches in its early years, the club joined the Southern League in 1896, a year after having moved to Loakes Park, which was to be its home for 95 years.
The Chairboys resisted the opportunity to turn professional, remaining amateur and enjoying success as two-time champions of the Spartan League, joining the Isthmian League in 1921.
Ten years later, in 1931, they achieved one of the finest accolades to date, winning the FA Amateur Cup at Highbury in front of 32,000 fans, defeating Hayes 1-0.

POST-WAR

In 1947, Frank Adams - a former captain of the club having made 331 appearances for the club - presented the deeds of Loakes Park to Wycombe Wanderers,
enabling the club to own its own ground and provide the platform for future success.

Sid Cann was appointed manager in 1952 and led the club to their first Isthmian League title in 1956, which was then succesfully defended the following year,
in which they also reached a second FA Amateur Cup Final. On this occasion, though, they were defeated 3-1 by Bishop Auckland at Wembley.

Brian Lee became the club's first conventional manager in 1968 - with team selection having previously been chosen by committee - and his arrival heralded
three more Isthmian League titles inside four years, while the club also reached the third round of the FA Cup for the very first time,
losing 1-0 to top-flight Middlesbrough in a replay after a 0-0 draw at Loakes Park.

A period of transition followed and Wycombe joined a national league - the Gola League - for the first time in 1985.
They were relegated and promoted as the division became renamed as the GM Vauxhall Conference,
and the departure of boss Jim Kelman at the end of the decade paved the way for a period of unprecedent success at Wanderers' new home.

THE ADAMS PARK YEARS

Martin O'Neill's appointment as manager came in the same year as the club's move to its current Adams Park home. In 1991,
the Chairboys had an FA Trophy title to their name, clinching a 2-1 win over Kidderminster Harriers at Wembley, and came agonisingly close to winning promotion to the Football League a year later,
just missing out on goal difference.

However, success returned the following season, and in some style, as Wycombe won the double to be crowned Conference champions and FA Trophy winners once again,
with Runcorn being swept aside 4-1 at Wembley in the final.

The club's forward progress didn't end there, as their first season in the Football League ended in triumph, winning the play-off final 4-2 against Preston North End to reach the third tier,
and they came close to another play-off adventure the following season in 1995.

O'Neill departed that summer and the club survived a couple of relegation scares,
most notably in 1999 when Lawrie Sanchez steered the club away from danger with a memorable final day win at Lincoln City.

Two years later, Sanchez masterminded an incredible run to the semi-final of the FA Cup,
beating Wolves, Wimbledon and Leicester on the way to a meeting with Liverpool at Villa Park,
with the Premier League giants edging through with a 2-1 win.

Tony Adams was appointed manager in 2003 but couldn't halt a relegation back to the fourth tier,
but the club turned their fortunes around quickly, building a promotion-chasing squad each year, including a play-off semi-final defeat to Cheltenham in 2006.
The following year, Wycombe reached the semi-final of the League Cup in 2007 under Paul Lambert's tutelage, holding Chelsea to a 1-1 draw at Adams Park in the first leg.

Lambert took the club into the play-offs in 2008 but again there was disappointment as Stockport progressed to Wembley,
but new manager Peter Taylor secured automatic promotion the following year,
only for the Chairboys to struggle in League 1 and they suffered an instant return, with Gary Waddock the new man at the helm.

Waddock rebuilt the squad, including the signing of inspirational captain Gareth Ainsworth,
and led the Blues to another promotion in 2011, although again the spell in the third tier was short and sweet.

That summer of 2012 saw the club fall into the hands of its Supporters Trust,
becoming one of the few fan-owned clubs in the Football League, and Waddock departed soon after, with Ainsworth taking the reins as manager.
A year of consolidation was followed by a season of struggle, but a miraculous final day escape from relegation at Torquay proved to be the catalyst for a period of progress.

The following season (2014/15), the Chairboys accumulated their highest ever points total in the Football League to reach the play-off final at the new Wembley Stadium,
losing out to Southend United on penalties, and enjoyed FA Cup adventures against Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur in the two years that followed.

The club plays at Adams Park, which is situated on the western outskirts of High Wycombe, and they traditionally play in quartered shirts of navy and pale blue.

The club's nicknames are "the Chairboys" and "the Blues".

Adams Park Stadium

 

 

 

[FFCStu1428]

Stuart - Notts County 

 

So back we go to the start. Notts county i picked and pleased to be here. Seen as the oldest team in England it has a great history and shouldn't really be in the lower leagues of English Football so i hope i am able to turn things around. 

 

The Team is ok little weak in some areas but over all i pleased with it. The ground is very good for league 2 and County have a good following of fans. 

 

Season ahead. Mid table top half i will be looking for dont see me doing anything to special this season its all about getting to know the players and the club 

 

Nothing really more to add. Full end of season report will follow. so look out for that. 

 

Till next time 

 

 

[Jonas Christensen]

 

We've left the ****** weather of Scotland.... for the ****** weather of England...

So, with the lads giving up in the country they chose, we're now moving to a country where they might be able to stand it...

I've taken on Port Vale, going in a new direction compared to previously, where I always selected the lowest ranked team. This time I've chosen this path to avoid having to fight too much for survival, given that I'm going unprepared into the game.

Facilities wise we have a decent size stadium, while the other facilities aren't great, but not awful either... So there's room to build, but we don't have to build all the way from the bottom like I normally do...

[smashin88]

LINCOLN CITY FC

After the scandal of Scotland here we are, A new tactic, a new team and a fresh start. Lincoln have a good history and the team has a solid starting 11. Ive added a few loan signings, well more than a few if I'm honest but hopefully I can send some of them packing in the next window. I was initially going to try a 4 4 2 this year but after losing to Mikes diddy team in the first game I punted that idea and resorted to the 4 3 3 that served me so well last year. 

The season has went well so far with a good cup run and sitting 3rd in the league. Wins over Burton Leeds and Bristol Rovers in the caribou cup has left the team with a home tie against Southampton. The cup run has helped encourage the team onto league success with good wins over Sean's Stevenage side and Stu's Notts county team. Star players so far are Eddie Nketiaha loanee from Arsenal and DaSilva also from Arsenal, Bostwick also has started well playing at the back or in midfield.

[AccyScott]

THE CLUB THAT WOULDN'T DIE

ACCRINGTON STANLEY

Best known for being that team off the advert from the 80's. Accrington Stanley? Who are they? Exactly!

I'm the new lad in the PGC ranks and once I saw we were starting in League 2 it was too difficult a challenge for me to reject the chance to manage the club I love, so here I am. I'm in at the deep end I suppose you could say, I don't exactly know what to expect from the other lads but at the same time it works both ways, suppose you could I'm the wildcard, I'll take that. Now, Stanley are doing fantastically well in the real world under (super) John Coleman, however it's highly unlikely that'll be replicated by myself as realistically, it shouldn't even be happening in reality and this is reflected in game where we are predicted to finish in 20th. The squad is fairly mixed however there are a lot of loans so I was fairly limited in the market, alongside the fact the club have the lowest budget in the league and even most of the National League, just to give you some perspective. Anyway, here's a little bit of a background to the club.

History

Founded just 49 years ago in 1968, we are one of the youngest clubs within the Football League after the reformation of the old club. The journey really began for the club when Stanley were promoted from the Northern Premier League in 2003 to gain promotion to the Football Conference, where the club opened the season on TV against another reformed club in Aldershot. The season was one to behold as they finished 10th and also reached the 3rd round of the FA Cup, before losing to Colchester United in a replay. The following season saw the club turn professional and again, finish in 10th place before the surprise promotion to League 2 in the 2005/06 season, which was helped largely by the 19 game unbeaten run the club sustained from October to March, leaving Stanley with 91 points at the end of the season. 

Since then, it's been a real journey for the club who have somehow, despite all the odds, have remained in the fourth tier for the past 12 seasons. During those years fans have witnessed the near collapse of the club in 2009 before it was rescued by Ilyas Khan - who's son supported the club, before leaving the club after stabilising it three years later. On the pitch, Stanley have gone from surviving on the last day on three occasions, to many people's surprise, to making it to the playoff semi-finals just two seasons ago which shows that sometimes money isn't everything. A news article documents the real struggle the club has maintaining the budgets here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4744704/Accrington-owner-Andy-Holt-life-football-s-basement.html

The Ground

Now called the Wham Stadium, the Crown Ground has been the home of our club since their formation and has seen the up's and down's of the club. It has been the heart of the real community club and although it is the second smallest ground within the Football League (5,057), only beaten by Forest Green Rovers (5,032) has become a part of the much loved image of Accrington. Seating just 2,000, it has standing areas at each end of the ground, in which one is used for housing travelling supporters, however it is famously known for having no roof. You can't hate it, if I'm honest with you.

Targets & Aims

It's a real uphill battle with our lads. With the smallest budget, one of the smallest grounds and a below-average squad (though I hate to admit,) it's difficult to really have any proper aspirations. However, with players such as Billy Kee (above), Jordan Clark, Sean McConville and Seamus Conneely, we can see some real quality that shows that we can aim for a solid season. The board have set the expectations low and have told me that they only expect us to battle to avoid relegation, however I am setting the bar a little higher and can't see, despite what I have just said, why we can't aim for a mid-table place (15th-18th) this season. With that said, MON THE STANLEY.

[SeanBhoy88]

Sean, My Stevenage football club aventure on PGC clan 2017/2018 

 

Stevenage Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team play in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system

 

Stadium : The Lamex 

Capacity : 6.9k 

Applying our trade in League 2. 

Season expectations - 12th

 

 

What made me select these was the fact i saw some youthful prospects on their roster, combined with mid table expectations  i thought this was a challenge that could get my juices flowing.

 

Season so far, as my post is a tad late ' oops ' we are currently half way through the season so ill update on how its gone so far, well in a nut shell the word that springs to mind is eventful lol we started of the pre season window setting about the loan market with me being the typical read something quickly and steam in type of guy i read ' unlimited loans ' and charged ahead with 52 loan bids, slight exaggeration but u get the just, after signing a shed load id noticed that as much as yes the loans are unlimited u can only actually play 5 so i had upwards of 18 players on loan ( no im not joking ) and a load of people in my squad who where not happy because of lack of game time we started the season like a team that meant business but despite my early performances we actually got 0 wins to show for it, something that started the negativity bandwagon very quickly especially with so many players in the squad unable to play....

but like the old determined war horse we galloped on, we fell as low as 23rd and at one point i was starting to think here goes... squeaky bum time indeed, we did however manage to fix our set up just in time reverting back to a more direct style of play in a completely different shape that would allow us to grind points rather than play attractive football. 

 

We have continued from above to climb the table and we sit just shy of the automatic promotion places, in my head earlier in the season if u had said promotion? id of laughed and said not this year but now I will give it my all to ensure that we at least make the playoffs. 

 

The others. 

 

Stuart - Settled in nicely at Notts had some rocky spells but also has had so many injuries its damn near frightening, serves him right for signing the likes of Carlton Cole :-D will the fans ever forgive him?

Scott - Settled in to clan life well took lowly predicted Accy and is in contention to fight for the playoffs doing a swell job and im hoping he's one who will embrace clan and stay for the long haul. 

Johannes - Hasn't been with us long but has hit the ground running and done very well, as said above i hope he embraces clan and hangs around for a while good luck to you both. 

Mike - Sacked from his role at Wycombe recorded a record defeat at Mansfield, 9-2 i thought id put NFL manager 2018 on for five minutes had to look twice pull your socks up Mikey boy. 

Jonas - Sacked as well couldn't really get a head of steam going and will rejoin in the start of next season. 

Gilly - Last because he's first on the table its only logical, Gills has done great at Lincoln he's in a club with real potential to grow they have financial benefits from a healthy cup run the season previous and he's went and done a bit more in the cup this year, he will be hard to stop after securing some excellent loans and putting in a stellar year so far. 

[Johannes]

Johannes Chesterfield

 

I've had some experience with online but recently I've not been active. I have played with these lads before however.

 

Chesterfield is based in Derbyshire just 7 miles from Sheffield and 24 miles from Derby and Nottingham. For me, when I think of Chesterfield I think of Kevin Davies and that FA cup run they had in 1997. That says more about their history than my football knowledge. They've had association football but yo-yoing from L1 and L2 for decades.

 

 

 

When I joined the season was on its way, maybe 15-20 games and I didn't think of taking Chesterfield initially. At first I was thinking about Barnet or Colchester but I didn't noticed that Chesterfield was available to me until Stu tipped me about them be available to me due to their league position (around 20th). They were relegated from L1 and for some reasons they were finding themselves in relegation battle when I took them. Their team is actually not too bad. I had success with them straight away and getting some decent results. However, it was not going to be easy as their start was horrible but so far it's been quite good. I've managed to get some signings, but nothing spectacular. I did sign too many on loan however. It was as if I had gone into January window in gung-ho mode because I missed summer window. Some panic signings, that's all. 

 

I've been getting good results against the humans, although I lost to Sean's Stevenage in my 2nd game in charge. However I'm getting strings of bad results also, due to some problems with tactics which due to competitive reasoning i'm not going into. League 2 has 24 teams and with 3 sides getting automatic promotion this can get interesting. I think there's a possibility  there wiill be 3 humans in playoffs (me, Sean and Mike) and Scott being quite a longshot making the playoffs. We'll hopefully finish this season around the weekend or on Monday as we've got 7-8 games remaining of the season. I've played 38 games and with game in hand. With a win in that game I'll be in playoffs zone.

 

Stuart Notts C ?  - Well, he has had better days the lad. But more about that later. 

Scott Accrington Stanley - Joined just before I did I think. He is midtable if I remember correctly. He's doing okay 

Mike Mansfield - I think he joined them after being sacked from Wycombe. He has done well so far bringing them from relegation battle to playoff contention.. 

Andy Lincoln - He is first but I beat him 4-2 after being down 0-2. Remember that game Andy? I don't think he cares about that game as he has auto promotion almost guaranteed.

Sean Stevenage - He has a player from the Kennedy family and he's in 5th positin, close to automatic promotion.

 

[Johannes]

I have to add to this. So we finished the season yesterday. Before the session I was in 9th position and still very much in playoffs contention. With 7-8 games remaining I also had a game in hand and with a very easy schedule. Going into the session on form as well I was optimistic. As the session went on I hardly lost any games but drew a little too much for my liking but it was plenty enough to establish myself in a playoffs spot. With 3 sides getting automatic promotion there are 4 sides in playoffs (4th-7th).

 

I finished the season in 7th place and was drawn against Luton who are a good side. Due to known faults with FM18 I had to restart the 1st leg after being 1-0 up at home. However I won the 1st leg 2-0 when we reloaded. The away game was crazy. Luton were in attacking mode and after only 23 minutes I was winning 3-2. The final result was 5-4 to Luton meaning a 6-5 win on aggregate. Meanwhile Cheltenham won their semi final easily after a 4-1 win away from home. The Spireites are on their way to Wembley!

 

Come on you
Spireites are on their way to Wembley
Chesterfield's going to do it again
They can't stop 'em
The boys from Chesterfield
The boys from Proact Stadium

 

So I Cheltenham at Wembley in the finals. I don't think many of my clan member expected me in playoffs. I was nervous before the finals, not going to lie. I felt they had studied my team and using my weaknesses against me. However, I had a goal lead early in first half but Cheltenham scored before halftime to make it 1-1. The 2nd half was a drab and hardly anything happened so 1-1 with e/t remaining. I did not want penalties by any means. I felt we had the edge somewhat so I tried attacking them a little and scored in extra time first half (I only wish we had golden goal or silver goal). With 15 minutes remaining of the extra time at Wembley I felt anything could happen and so it did. In the 118th minutes they scored a ping pong goal with the ball going from the post and making some strange deflection and dropping for them for the goal. 2-2 and my morale dropped. Going into penalties like that is always more difficult. The penalties turned out to be a nightmare. We did not score a ****ing goal and loosing 3-0 on pens. Devastated, shattered, shocked and chagrined!! Going into the playoffs I decided to take whatever happened as it went, knowing I had some injuries, 25% chance of winning the playoffs but also knowing I was on form. Anything could happen right? But loosing like this?? 

 

For next season I must be favorite to win the league or at least getting promoted. I'm aiming for automatic promotion. With Sean and Andy in L1 I think I should get promoted next season!!

[FFCStu1428]

Stuart - Sacked by Notts county

 

Its a season i will want to forget about but there is little chance of it. Like always there is Drama when it comes to football manager season. We had a really good summer window, with some good loans and a couple of frees, Carlton Cole was going great for me. signed on a free and on a 1 year deal he was quite the find, 10 goals before we got to jan i was really happy with him, I also signed Stephens Humphrys on loan from fulham. Being a Fulham fan i know all about this young lad and what a handful he could be in league 2, He was going great with 5 goals in 8 games then got a bad injury that had him out till christmas. It was a season changer for me as before that i was sitting 3rd in the league. After that things got harder, with me losing players to injurys week in week out, at once stage i had 8 1st team players out, tho i still went to cambridge and won 1-0 in there own back yard with a team of kids and old men. When we finish for the week i was sitting in 8th place and 2 points off the playoffs, i was looking good. 

 

Manager injury 

After leading County to 8th i took myself and my Mrs out on sunday to watch the derby games, after a good day i headed to bed early so i would be fresh for mondays session. Half way though the night my sciatic nerve pinched and i ended up in hosptial till Wednesday. After telling the clan members what went on i somehow sat in front of the screen and play the session. It was to be my downful, Being on very powerful pain killers and the dreaded morphine i wasn't able focus on the games at all, i went from 8th to 18th in less than 3 hours and was sacked, i handed over host dutys till Sean and he saw the season out for me, i went to bed wednesday and i woke up friday. 

 

Road to Recovery 

 

As i write this i am happy to say that i am off the morphine but will be laid for sometime. This is great news for the rest of the lads cos they know ill be about most of the time. I will be back in charge of the game Sunday where we will be having a extra session and i will let you all know what my new team will be. 

 

So thats my season, i hope for a mid table no drama finish next season. Till next time 

[FFCStu1428]

Stuart - Hartlepool -AKA Monkey hangers 

 

 

After the nightmare of last season on and off the pitch, it was time to pick a new team, With Scotts micky mouse side sporting  such a low MP there was little for me to pick from, but Hartlepool had made a return to the football league and as Sean said, DO IT FOR JEFF!! ( stelling for those who don't watch GGS on a Saturday ) 

 

The side was really weak and tho i am not one to rip a side apart in one window this summer i went crazy. 17 new signings so far and more on the way will see me with a whole new team for the start of the season. Below is my list of summer business 

 

Monkey hangers 

 

The Hanging of the Hartlepool Monkey

Legend has it that during the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, a shipwrecked monkey was hanged by the people of Hartlepool, believing him to be a French spy! To this day, people from Hartlepool are affectionately known as ‘monkey hangers’.

A French ship was spotted floundering and sinking off the Hartlepool coast. Suspicious of enemy ships and nervous of possible invasion, the good folk of Hartlepool rushed down to the beach, where amongst the wreckage of the ship they found the only survivor, the ship’s monkey which was apparently dressed in a miniature military-style uniform.

Hartlepool is a long way from France and most of the populace had never met, or even seen, a Frenchman. Some satirical cartoons of the time pictured the French as monkey-like creatures with tails and claws, so perhaps the locals could be forgiven for deciding that the monkey, in its uniform, must be a Frenchman, and a French spy at that. There was a trial to ascertain whether the monkey was guilty of spying or not; however, not unsurprisingly, the monkey was unable to answer any of the court’s questions and was found guilty. The townsfolk then dragged him into the town square and hanged him.

So is the legend true? Did the good folk of Hartlepool REALLY hang a poor defenceless monkey?

There could perhaps be a darker side to the tale – maybe they didn’t actually hang a ‘monkey’ but a small boy or ‘powder-monkey’. Small boys were employed on warships of this time to prime the canons with gunpowder and were known as ‘powder-monkeys’.

Over the centuries the legend has been used to taunt the residents of Hartlepool; indeed still today, at football matches between local rivals Darlington and Hartlepool United the chant, “Who hung the monkey” can often be heard. Most Hartlepudlians however love this story. Hartlepool United’s mascot is a monkey called H’Angus the Monkey, and the local Rugby Union team Hartlepool Rovers are known as the Monkeyhangers.

The successful mayoral candidate in the 2002 local elections, Stuart Drummond, campaigned dressed in the costume of H’Angus the Monkey, using the election slogan “free bananas for schoolchildren”, a promise he was unfortunately unable to keep. However this appears not to have dented his popularity, as he went on to be re-elected two more times.

Whatever the truth, the legend of Hartlepool and the hanged monkey has endured for over 200 years.

[smashin88]

LINCOLN DOMINATE 

A really impressive season has ended with a league title and a 15 point gap too second place. The team looked awesome from beginning to end. Some inspired loan signings and an effective attacking tactic has allowed the team to ease to the winners medals and even provide the fans with an exciting cup run.

 

Stand out players for the season were probably Micheal Bostwick  Josh DaSilva and Eddie Nkitiah, Kieran Ohara deserves a special mention too as he proved to be a solid goalkeeper and his performances left him rewarded with a contract for the new season. The loanees from arsenal signed fresh loan contracts I'm happy they can perform at a higher level and ive also signed up Bostwick to a new deal along with Woodyard who was attracting strong interest from Blackburn.

 

  

[AccyScott]

THE CLUB THAT WOULDN'T DIE

ACCRINGTON STANLEY 2017/18 SEASON REVIEW

What a season. The season proved to be an exciting rollercoaster ride throughout and that's perhaps an understatement as over half the teams in the league seemed to be in the hunt for the League 2 playoff places going into the final stretch of games. Overall I am very pleased with my efforts, despite finishing below my own ambitions but that's only due to the teams around us rather than because of ourselves, we just burnt out eventually which can perhaps be expected considering the gulf between our facilities and finances to the other clubs in the league, especially to the likes of Johannes' Chesterfield and Andy's promoted Lincoln side.

 

I was very worried after the opening games, everything seemed to be going against me and we sat inside the bottom two with just three points from the opening six games. I was making slight tweaks to the system in an attempt to get results, however after the 4-1 loss to Carlisle I said to myself '**** it, something needs to change here' and a massive overhaul to the system was made. 

 

I got immediate results, thank ****ing god I thought! The football was miles better to watch and although it wasn't pretty, as we became one of the dirtiest outfits in the league - it was getting the results needed. In this spell came a win against a pre-Johannes Chesterfield and Jonas' Port Vale side. Following this we did slip up a bit with losses to three of the top sides in the league (Luton, Coventry and Sean's Stevenage side, who were under their own little resurgence.)

 

We closed out the year just outside the playoff places, despite being in them several times. Victories against Mike's Wycombe side, Exeter and Swindon were really pleasing however one result that sticks in my mind prominently is the draw to Crawley, where we conceded a 93rd minute equaliser as an injury saw us go down to ten men. This also saw us go to a replay against Morecambe just a few weeks before in the FA Cup 2nd round, where we lost 2-0 at the Globe Arena and missed out on a home tie to Everton. 

 

In the end we just proved to be too inconsistent for the playoffs. However it was a terrific effort from all the players and I can't fault them at all. Standout performers for the season were Billy Kee (18 goals in 42 appearances), Jordan Clark (11 assists and an average rating of 7.01 from 46 games) and finally Liam Nolan (an average rating of 6.88 from 44 games, although this is definitely much more in my opinion).

 

All the players who exited the club were for development purposes and should be kept an eye on for the future, especially Zehn Mohammed. However, Kayden Jackson will most likely be leaving soon as he is unhappy at not being given first team opportunities and after a good spell at York in the Vanarama National North, will attract interest I'm sure. Connor Hallisey has also left this season after his arrival proved to be a huge mistake on my part, the American was unable to secure a work permit and so was unable to make any impact on the team and went back to his home country to play for Indy Eleven.

Tafari Moore was definitely the signing of the Summer coming on loan from Arsenal. He enjoyed a fantastic season with us and has now just been loaned out to League 2 champions Lincoln. Oscar Gobern was also a key deal and was a vital part of the midfield three last season, perhaps more of a rotational option for the upcoming season but he will be key once again. Reuben Noble-Lazarus and Nathan Doyle were brought in for squad depth and the previous has been loaned out to York for the season. Conor Masterson was brought in to replace Andy Hughes who was injured for the majority of the second half of the season and had a mixed spell whereas Andy Cook was brought in to give competition to Billy Kee but failed to really make a start, yet his presence is definitely still welcomed.

 

We oversaw an early exit to Championship side Sheffield United which was very much expected. We made a good account of ourselves but it wasn't enough against a side with too much quality. The Checkatrade Trophy was a competition I really didn't care about and fielded a lot of rotated teams (to semi-boycott it, as I don't agree with the format.) We went out without a single point, good? I guess so. Finally I briefly mentioned the FA Cup earlier, however I will go into more depth about it. We comfortably beat National League side FC Halifax Town in the first round to set up a tie against Morecambe, one of the overachievers in the league last season. It seemed as though we were going to progress as we led 1-0 with fifteen minutes to go. Seamus Conneely then had to come off the pitch with injury and having made three changes already, we were forced to play with ten men in which the Shrimps capitalised on and managed to force a replay. At this team they were unbeatable at home and my point was proved with a 2-0 loss.

 

With my season review wrapped up... how did I rate the other lads?

 

Andy (Lincoln):  Congratulations to Andy on winning League 2, he and his side had it wrapped up for the whole season it seemed as nobody could really match the likes of dangerous forward Eddie Nketiah. His transfer dealings were absolutely fantastic and he made use of the financial advantage he had on most of the league given the run his team had in the FA Cup last season as well as the excessive use of the loan market, where he found Nketiah. I would be very surprised if Andy struggles in League 1 next season, he seems to have a well balanced squad and is a very good manager to boot.

Sean (Stevenage): Again, congratulations to Sean on promotion. He started slowly and was nervous about losing his job early on but managed to steady the ship and pushed on up the league over the course of the season, sitting comfortably in the playoffs for the majority. Managing to keep the services of Ben Kennedy will be his biggest triumph too I feel, he was a key part to his season and will be next also. Again, somebody who used the loan market a lot, he did so well and the free signing of Matty Fryatt can't be overlooked too as when fit, Fryatt was a dangerous player and found the net frequently last campaign. Good luck to him next season, I fully expect a mid-table finish at least for him.

Johannes (Chesterfield): Johannes came in halfway through the season and single-handedly turned the fortunes of a struggling Chesterfield side with his arrival. Using the free and loan market to his advantage, he managed to mould the squad to his liking and pushed on through the table, to many people's surprise I feel. I definitely didn't see him making the playoffs, however he proved me wrong and narrowly missed out on promotion in the final which was disappointing for him considering he had a successful season and like Lincoln, he and his side looked unbeatable. Definitely the favourite for promotion next season, he has the title in my book.

Mike (Mansfield): Mike had a rather up and down season. He was doing steadily well with Wycombe and a few losses and missed games saw him and his team slide down the table and ultimately saw him lose his job. Luckily for him, Mansfield were doing very poorly and he took the job on and began getting some very credible results, as well as (I believe) the biggest loss the clan has seen. Expectations are high at the club and he will need to have a good season next season or could face his second sacking of the save, I am confident, from the limited things I have seen from him, that he can have a good season and aim for the playoffs.

Stu (Hartlepool): Did ****.  Just kidding, myself and Stu have had a bit of a laugh this upcoming season as I have nicked a few of his target in which has caused him to call me a 'sniper' although I think he's just a bit bitter at the moment. His time at Notts County was similar to me at Accrington really, he was getting some good results and then couldn't really keep the consistency needed to do well. In what proved to be a tough week for the man, first he was in hospital for a short time and then saw himself sacked. They say things come in three's but luckily for him that saying was wrong. Now at promoted Hartlepool, the pressure is off his shoulders a little and he'll be able to relax and just try and keep the club in the division, for Jeff's sake. Some good Summer signings will definitely help his cause and I can see him causing a few surprises and landing a top-half finish. 

Ali (Cambridge): Making his return to the clan, Ali has decided to take Cambridge this season. He has set the bar low for himself, saying he'll be happy on an improvement to the clubs poor finish last season, however Cambridge have definitely got some quality in the ranks and with, a good manager (so I have been informed, as much as others will try and deny it), I can see a good season for the U's, at least grabbing a top-half spot. 

Jonas (N/A): Under-performed at Port Vale, however it's a very tough job to take, as proven in real life pre-Aspin era. Since his sacking, Jonas hasn't picked a team for the season so there's not very much to say for him just yet.

 

Accrington Stanley 2018/19 Summer Transfers

 

Ben Richards-Everton was unhappy all of last season and never stood a chance of breaking into the first team and so left to Scottish Championship side Livingston. Ross Sykes and Zehn Mohammed went back out on loan to National North and National League opposition respectively, joined by Mekhi McLeod and Reuben Noble-Lazarus to National League sides also. Connor Hallisey as mentioned made a return to the US. Finally Janoi Donacien made the switch to Cheltenham, who were promoted via the playoffs last season for a fee rising to 60k after failing to nail down any regular first team football at the Wham Stadium.

Tommy Lee joins the club as first-team goalkeeper after being released from Chesterfield in the Summer, the 32 year old made 21 appearances for the club last year after spending the last ten years at the Proact. Another experienced arrival is full-back Joe Jacobson who arrives from Wycombe Wanderers, now 31 the Welshman is making a return to the club after spending two loan spells here in the 2010/11 season and will be looking to add to his 371 Football League appearances over his career. 27-year-old Jermaine Grandison will be looking for more regular football after making just five starts for Oldham Athletic last season, able to play at both full-back and center-back, he will be a key option for us this campaign.

Doug Loft also joins on a free following his release from Colchester United. The 31-year-old will provide another option in midfield for us this season. Another former Wycombe man is Sido Jombati, the Portuguese defender will be instrumental on the right-hand side after moving here on a free and has the experience at this level with three and four year spells at Cheltenham and Wycombe. The final free signing of the Summer was central-defender Tom Dallison who spent the season with us on loan from Brighton last season. The defender was released in the Summer and will be welcomed back to the club with open arms after impressing both myself and the fans.

Wingers Will Annan and Conor McKendry from Championship side Hull and Premier League Ipswich will be ones to watch this season. The youngsters have the attributes to do well and will be contesting with fan-favourites Sean McConville and Jordan Clark for the roles. Andre Burley and Bassala Sambou have been brought in as rotation and depth options to the squad. Burley is a versatile player, able to play in left-back as well as a defensive-midfielder whereas Sambou, who joined Everton from Coventry for 250k two seasons ago will be competing with both Billy Kee and Andy Cook for the focal striker role.

Targets & Aims 

Last season proved to be a really tight season in which many teams could have easily been in the playoff-places, the top half and so on. This definitely could be expected again with a lot of quality in which division, especially with the relegation of Bradford City for example. The aim for this season is pretty simple: impress. I don't really want to aim for a position in the league, instead I want to do what I did last season and just look to take it a game at a time and see where it takes us. As soon as we do as well as we did last season or even better, which would be fantastic, I will be happy. The board want us to avoid relegation once again, something I am 100% confident of doing and hopefully we can push for a top-half spot this season, who knows.

[SeanBhoy88]

Sean - Stevenage! 

 

What a season for the lads! we started off as mentioned before in a struggle i was worried that i was heading one way with morale slipping injuries mounting but a change in formation and fortunes and up up up we went, unbelievably snatched promotion narrowly on goal difference but who can complain right?  

Enough about that as i covered it in my last post mostly  

The other clan maniacs - 

Stuart - got the sack at Notts county, had an injury IRL and came back this season hoping to have a better time at popular club Hartlepool ( thanks to Jeff Stelling ) 

Scotty - Did a solid job at his beloved Accy, took a team that had little in the way of financies or structure but steadied the ship and done well for the most part of the season, was never in any danger of losing his job surpassed his expectations, i fancy he will go well this season. 

Jonas - If anyone see's him give me a shout 

Johannes - Came into the clan flexing his muscles sat down and got to work instantly, turned chesterfield around fast and was very unlucky not to be promoted. 

Gilly - Did great all season, had a great transfer window made some cracking signings and never looked back awesome season from the Dumfries diddy.

Mike - Sacked way Wycombe, took lowly Mansfield and narrowly missed out on PO's did a good job there in reviving them. 

Ali - Has just joined back all the best.

 

Onto the new season and what i think/expect - 

 

My window was very demoralizing i got rejected by almost every loan i went in for, when it looked like i had someone coming someone like Leeds united would come in at the last minute and prize then away, this happened all window long and i grew increasingly frustrated, but hey ho u can only work with what u can as the window drew to a close i signed a couple of experienced players and i think this will help me massively, do i have a great side? absolutely not can i compete at this level with what i have? Yes, all though if we get injuries we are screwed we don't have a big squad and some area's are badly lacking. 

 

My predictions for myself  - top 8 

Gills prediction - top 5 

Scott - top 7 

Johannes and Ali - top 5 

Mike - top 8 

Stu - top half 

Jonas - Still lost. 

 

Until next time.  

 

 

 

 

 

[Advantageous]

Alejandro Santiago - Cambridge United F.C

Upon my return to PGC, I've decided to go for my local side - Cambridge United. It was difficult coming into a side that had underachieved last season, knowing that there ought to be a few reinforcements to the squad but lacking that scouting knowledge (and understanding of the new scouting system on FM18) to really plug those gaps. It was a slow search for talent, but we finally managed to bring in a couple of lads who can improve the side. A left back and a goalkeeper, both transfer listed at their previous clubs. The biggest change I made was to the backroom staff. There was a lot of deadwood hanging around the scenes stealing a wage, so I mutually terminated most contracts and bought in members of staff that could get the best out of the players via training and reports via scouting.

It's early days but our form in the first few games looks promising, with our strikers forming a good partnership and performing well. A few injuries here and there have lead to a couple of players getting starts that they would not otherwise have had. Corie Andrews is one of those, and is enjoying himself in front of goal at the moment. His attributes aren't much to look at, but his raw pace off the ball is causing all sorts of trouble for defenders.

Not much else to report at the moment, but there will no doubt be drama ahead if we continue in this vain. My initial hope was for a top half finish, but I feel we might be able to sneak a play-off position. Anything above would be grand. 

 

 

 

 

[Kaboooom]

WYCOMBE WANDERES FOOTBALL CLUB

I joined Wycombe Wanderes Football Club in July. After bringing in some players like Neves, Cosimo, ... decent players for this league we started well and where hanging around 9th place.
But for some personal raisons i had to leave my team to my Ast. Manager, who destroyed the mental aspect of the team and dropped wycombe to the bottom of the table.

After rejoining the game i heard, i was sacked by Wycombe Wanderes President.

After a couple of weeks i had the chance to join Mansfield who where bottom of the League.

So a new chapter started with new ambitions to get out of the relegation zone with Mansfield.

After getting staff in place and tactics we i started my job well and did a winning streak with Mansfield for about 7 games and got the team out of relegation zone.



We even had the chance to get a playoff position, but the team did already a great job to get us so far up again in the league.
We ended the league in the safe zone - mid table.

For next year i'm still building a team at mansfield and we will see what happens next year, there is no pressure on us.
 

Until next time.

Mike Pauwels (Mansfield Manager)

[FFCStu1428]

Stuart - HART-BREAK-POOL 

 

After 158 seasons playing Football manager with the clan never has the game screwed me over like it did this season. I had been punching above my weight all season long hanging around the top 3 all season long, beating teams that i should never have had the right to beat. We started off slow 1 win 6 but then it all came togetter big time, we went on a run where we won 13 out of the next 15 games. It saw us in the top 3, and the dream of going up was alive and kicking. in the Jan window i made some key signings to boost my numbers and add the class i needed, we was still weak in the fall back area but we was getting by, We also had a great cup run that saw us up against Liverpool, We was at home and we was able to get a 2-2 draw and maybe should of won, but in a way i was happy because the reply would give us much needed cash from the gate, added to that the game was shown on TV tho we lost the reply 6-1 we made 1.2million out of it something that will see the club right for a couple of years. 

 

After that things went down hill and this is where i question the games algorithm as from nowhere i lost 5 games in a row, not only did i lose i got hammered 16 goals leaked in 5 games, losing to side who where nowhere close to me who were playing like Madrid. I was in a rage but i left everything how it was to see if it would turn around, same team same tacitcs i changed nothing, and then from nowhere things changed again i went and won 7 of the next 8 only a losing to Ali. But we were still fighting for 3rd spot and ali had slipped up, with 2 games to go i was 4 points clear, a win at home to Gillingham who sat 23rd would see up. This is where i question everything about the ME, i said to the clan that there was noway i was going ip, i said i would lose to gillingham and lose to barnet, the reason i said this was because of the 5 games i lost from nowhere. Anyway 23rd in the league Gillingham turned up and played like Man City and barnet went 3-0 up in the final game after 20min, No shock really as i did say it to everyone. so it was the playoffs for me. After a 3-3 Draw in the 1st leg against Notts county i beat them 3-1 at home, I Faced Swindon in the final, Ali said i should go up and i said nah the fix is in, I knew somehow the ME Would find a way to keep me from going up, and boy was i right. 0-0 at half time saw me playing well, 2nd half we was much the better side, and in the 85th min we got a pen and my pen taker Arnold Garita who had only missed 1  all season long, and yup you guest it he missed again, with that swindon went up the other end ref gave them a pen they scored game over season over and the Fix was proven and it was hart break all round.

 

I love playing Football manager but when you start calling things that will happen before the games are played and then see it play out you have to question the the ME and the game itself. I might come across bitter but the others will tell you the same story i have, I knew i wouldnt go up and i knew the fix would be in and i knew games i would lose and how i would lose, Even calling that a pen would screw me over as its all on the skype chat we use. Anyway thats my season. below is how it went

 

SUMMER WINDOW

 

I dont need much this summer, Full backs a center half and a winger and a Striker and im good to go, I will be selling off the dead wood at the club and bringing in new staff and alot of players will be leaving on a free so that will free up some much needed wage. The club has a tidy sum of cash now with a great cup run and even the playoff final at wembley gave me 700k in gate. Added to 575k for finishing 4th in the league we have over 2 million in the bank. 

Business so far

 

Season ahead 

 

I have to go up this season or i will be left behind, others are moving up the league and only me and scott are left in in league 2. 

 

The Others 

 

Andy - Great season for him, winning the league again saw him run riot. His forward line is crazy good, Trouble he will have now is the club wont be able to keep up with him, he will need to upgrade everything and try and stay in the championship. anyway you look at it, its been a wonderful couple of seasons for the Ceptic fan lol. Well done m8

 

Sean - Hard line for sean this season, was fighting it out in the playoffs but fell away at the end and finished 7th and missed out. Sean will go up next season i have no doubt, He will write the wrong of this season. 

 

Johannes - Great season for the ice man, wonderful forward line great cup run saw him win the league, johannes has a great side and a good set up at chestefield and it wouldnt suprise me if he went up next season. 

 

Mike - Strong 2nd half to the season saw mike go up in 2nd place, his side was a handful all season and they found form at the right time. Well done 

 

Ali - Beat me into 3rd place missed some of the season but his ass man did ok for him, when he was able to play ali was very strong and he is another who will be fighting it out in the top half of the league next season. Well done 

 

Scott - so close to the playoffs but just missed out, Scott like me has one of the smaller sides in the league, he aint far off a very good side, and i hope me and him go up next season.. 

 

Well thats that on a season of Queations and heart breaks. 

 

Look out for the others post. 

[smashin88]

TWO IN A ROW FOR LINCOLN

Winning is becoming a habit for this Lincoln team they really do look like world-beaters at the moment. The whole team from front to back looks so strong the pace I have in the forward positions causes huge problems for defences and the team really picks itself every week. If I'm honest the real class in the team is the loan players I have but finances have dictated my policy in the transfer market and at this level there really aren't a huge range of players to pick from. 

 

   Daniel Iverson - The signing from Leicester had a great season one of the few players to cost any money at the club took over from OHara and brought a little more quality to the position January interest from Blackburn wasn't a surprise but I have tied the keeper down to a 2 year deal and he seems happy enough as my first choice 

Alex Lacey - The other player that I actually spent money on in the squad I signed Lacey from Gillingham for 235k I real bargain to be honest hes my first choice centre back and rarely makes any mistakes

Kyle Jacobs - I really brought this lad in as cover for the CM position I stole him for peanuts from Queen of the South my local team up here in Dumfries, but he has slotted in as a RB very nicely 17 assists for the season and he never misses a game. I'm not too sure if he will continue that form into the championship though so a new RB is on the to do list

Micheal Bostwick - The teams most important player can play anywhere in the midfield or as I have been using him as a CB. Solid reliable and now the teams captain he is signed to a new deal and will have no problem stepping up a level next season.

Scott McTominay - A loanee from Man U this midfielder is an important player in my middle 3 he is very creative and his range of passing opens up the field for me. in all honesty this player is probably too good for this league but he has signed on to play next season also and I think he will remain a mainstay in the middle off the park for me.

George Thomas - This player I chased all last year and couldn't get him in on loan from Leicester. he finally signed this season and has formed a lethal partnership with Nketiah he can play as an advanced forward or a deep laying one and can even fill in as a playmaker behind the front 2. Thomas is a great finisher and his pace enables him to get in behind defences with ease.

Eddie Nkitiah - The superstar in the team, he scored 49 goals in 53 appearances and assisted another 20 or so. He never gets injured and  works harder than any other player. His 2 years at Lincoln have been a huge success but he wont sign on for next year seems he thinks hes on to better things, to say I am disappointed would be a huge understatement.

The team has to take all the plaudits but il give my assistant a shout out as he filled in for the last 10 games or so while I was away on a staff night out . He only lost 1 game and stuck too the plan keeping Lincoln at the top of the table and scoring plenty of goals. the stats are looking good with a win percentage of 65% for the 2 seasons ive been in charge a huge goal difference is also a major plus point and something I'm very proud off.

 

 

[SeanBhoy88]

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Sean - Stevenage FC - Season 2                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

This season was one of very mixed emotions for me i had highs lows and moments where i felt like just saying ahhh feck it  considering we got promoted against the odds first season it was harsh of me to expect instant results in league one however giving some of our performances and  how easy we brushed aside some teams my hopes grew and i felt like you know what maybe just maybe we can do something here.  We played a great season for 2 thirds of it then on our final session i think we won like 1 game out of 8 conceding 90 minute goals etc etc eventually we fell out of the auto promotion race and eventually we slumped out of the playoff zone losing out by just 2 goals in the goal difference tally its deeply disappointing but at the same time we put up a valiant effort to even be in the mix, our window was nothing special our signings where not flattering at all but we put up a fight.

What i need to do now is go away and work more on my tactical game and try my best to get a much better understanding of the new scouting system as i seem to be relying on loans and free's without finding anyone spectacular yet

 

The other mugs? Who gives a sh** haha just kidding

 

Gilly Espie - Doing fantastic way Lincolnlona, his loan deals have been like watching 27 year old men run rings round 5 year olds shrewd loans and signings and made it look very easy so far, wonder how much he's charging for some one on one FM lessons? 

Stu - Hurt his back celebrating his first season in the hartlepool hot seat, had a great year losing in the playoff final in cruel circumstances. 

Johannes - done great last season and did not disapoint this season went up and made it look easy, GG to the ice man! 

Ali - comes into clan gets promoted bish bash bosh easy peasy for Tina Turner, another who's took to it very well and done great job.

Mike - After his sacking he landed Mansfield and since he has been there he has done a great job and got himself promoted. 

Scotty - Still at his beloved Accrington fighting hard and doing above his expectations, waiting on old Scotty boy to kick on he's taking the patient long route to the top where as Gilly and the rest have been driving over the grass cutting all the corners. 

                                     

[Advantageous]

League Two

A fantastic maiden season in England's 4th division as we sneaked into the top three automatic places. This was at the expense of Stu's Hartlepool side who were predicted to be battling for relegation. The season began fairly strongly, with our side keeping within reach of the play-offs as I missed two sessions due to other commitments. Upon my return, we shot up the table in a short space of time and began our challenge for top three. It was looking likely that we would end up 2nd for a while, as Mike's team began slipping up and we'd already gone past Hartlepool. But then we started to become more and more inconsistent as we headed into the final stretch and I'd given up hope on automatic promotion as we were four points adrift in 4th. Thankfully, Stu managed perhaps one of the biggest bottlejobs in our network game history by losing both of his final games. We had to go away to the league leaders and get a point to secure promotion, which we did with a last minute goal. It did feel like something you couldn't write and, as Stu will tell you, 'was definitely fixed', but if I had been here for those two missed sessions, I truly believe I could have secured second and maybe even pushed Johannes all the way.

Domestic Cups

Nothing to write home about here. We faced Spurs in the 3rd round and narrowly lost in one of the cups. Not a focus of mine if I'm truly honest. The main objective is to finish as high as I can in each league. 

Transfer Window for the Upcoming Season

I came into my second window thinking, 'Now's the time to really knuckle down and build a side strong enough for back-to-back promotions. A side that has one or two great players for League One in it's ranks.' I feared the worse when the board gave me £47k to spend, and felt sick when I realised that this was maxed out on my budget adjustment settings. I had to settle for loans and frees. The first three weeks of window was spent trawling through the free agent list and trialling anyone who looked like they could handle themselves in the English Lower Leagues, before scouting those loanees who looked like the could add something to the squad. Despite finding some great talent, they either did not want to join, or did not get a work permit (brexit rules in our game). In the end, I had to take a look at what I had, and focus on keeping a close-knit, relatively small squad together and motivated, with excellent morale. 4 players arrived on frees as back-up to replace those who left at the end of the season.

[Johannes]

Johannes Chesterfield

 

Ok, we've just started the 3rd season. I'm in L1 now. Last season I had a great first half of the season, beating Tottenham in the cup and having a good lead at the top of L2. However, due to work commitment I missed the last session of the season and the whole pre-season session. My assman tried ****ing up what he could, but I did win the title regardless.

But joining in the 9th of august with hardly any player under contract I had loads and loads of things to do. With some hard work I did a pretty good job at getting ready for the season. I signed some experienced players, like Jordan Mutch, James Vaughan, Martin Kelly (signed as a ball playing centre back). Some of them on good contracts as well. I also brought Jerome Sinclair on loan the third straight season and english/greek 17 yo phenom on loan from Spurs. 

We're at Brexit now, so at lower level there's almost only UK players available. 

I've just got Chelsea as senior affiliate and improving training and youth facilities so infrastructure is good. Finance is looking good also with 2.5m in the bank and no debt. It helped getting playoffs final at Wembley and I've sold two youngsters for around 1 mil. I also drew Newcastle away this season and Spurs last season. However the forementioned older players have big contracts.

I think I will get promoted this season. But I have to hope for Sean and Ali not running away with top 2 and having some luck if I'll only get playoffs.

 

 

The other lads

Andy Gills - doing incredibly well. At the moment he's well in playoff zone in championship. I don't think he will get promoted though, but he will be in playoffs.

Stu - He's doing well at the moment in L2 after, after somehow missing promotion last season. His defense is solid and I expect him joining the other lads in L1 next season (I will be in ccc next season obviously)

Sean - He's a favorite for promotion. With only 3 teams promoting from L1 I'm thinking it will be me or him in top 2.

Ali - Had a great start in L1 much to everyone's surprise, himself included. I don't think he will get promoted though.

Mike - My biggest rival. Mansfield and Chesterfield are enemies. I don't like them. He won't get promoted this season. Mark my words. I beat him

Scotty - Not looking so good for him, but solid enough. He will be promoted soon, but not this season I reckon.

 

 

[FFCStu1428]

END OF WEEK STANDINGS

 

Andy - Lincoln 

 

Sean - Stevenage

Ali - Cambridge 

Johannes Chesterfield 

Mike - Mansfield 

 

Stuart - The Mighty Hartlepool 

Scott - Plymouth 

 

[AccyScott]

From last season to now...

It's been a really interesting past season and a half for myself. Last season was one where I wanted to push for the playoffs and in the end, managed to finish in the top half after falling away at the end of the season. It was frustrating for me because I always felt like I could have done it, however we dropped points in the situations where a win would have got us there. That isn't good enough in this division and inconsistency cost us. A top half finish was still a remarkable season and I don't think some understand that I'm working miracles at the end of the day. We have no budget to get players in, even Stu at Hartlepool has some budget available to him to get in players - he put this to good use in the Summer. I am limited to free signings and loanees. 

At the start of the current season I only played a few games due to having a virus (man flu) and so I missed a session or two which ultimately saw the assistant manage the side for me. I was never confident in him, he's definitely not up to manager standard to lead the team like I had been doing. I was right to do so, we found ourselves just outside the bottom two and really struggling at the wrong end of the table. I was also sacked. So, all my hard work at Accrington was over just like that. I was frustrated to say the least, I had assembled a good squad and was hoping to enjoy a successful season and finally managing to get into the playoffs, however this wasn't going to happen.

Where does that leave me now? It leaves me at Plymouth Argyle. Argyle were relegated from League One in the first season of this save and massively underperformed finishing in the lower half of the table last season. They were doing so again this season, 22nd in the table after 25 games so I was given a big opportunity to turn around a top team with good facilities and the ability to spend - something completely different to what I was used to at Accrington. I'm quite a distance off the playoff places so realistically this season is about just winning as many as we can. Next season is when we can set out the aims and look to join the others in League One. 

I am blessed with a very talented squad and a decent budget to be able to improve in January and the Summer window, I will definitely be doing so as the defence seems to be the main issue at the club. There's a good balance of experience and youth here in South Devon and hopefully we'll be able to kick on and really make something out of this top club, a club who definitely have the basics to become a good side in League One in the near future. 

The image shows the clubs position as I was appointed as manager. Since, I have collected 13 points from a total of 18, losing one and drawing one whilst winning my other four League Two games. The job here is going to be a good one I feel, there's plenty of expectation but nothing that definitely can't be obtained with a relatively talented pool of players that I have available. More to come here at Plymouth soon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SeanBhoy88]

Stevenage - 

I went into this season full of hope rather than expectation my window was pretty average i was busy IRL and found myself bidding on loans going on holiday making bids going on holiday i wound up with about 12 loans when only 5 are allowed to play each game, i also signed some prospects who are in the club and receiving a wage but don't actually have a permit :-D so yeah in short i made a ton of mistakes some lazy ones some just being busy but what we managed this season was to play consistently good attacking football throughout the season, we only dipped in form a few times over the course but we managed to hit 97 damn points and get promoted in one of them luxurious auto promotion spots! i could have and maybe should have won the title but Ali snatched it from me fair play to him but ultimately our goal was reached and im over the moon. 

 

This season was a thriller in league one with MK Dons going 19 games without defeat they looked away and gone i think their biggest gap in front was 14 points, myself Johannes and Ali where all in and around the playoff places all of the time keeping each other on our toes afraid to drop points all of us hit over 95+ points which is incredible with Alistair's band of mental cases hitting about 140 goals or so, madness really but a thoroughly enjoyable season.

 

 

Screenshot number one is our lad Ben Kennedy he goes into his fifth season with us, the lad has been one stand out and one who's improved each season so ass much as cashing in on him would be ideal for my club right now i simply cannot bring myself to do it, As time goes on and as we hopefully march forward there may come a time when the money from selling him is essential but lets hope he's here for a while

Screenshot number two shows just how exciting the run in was last season it was epic! to say the least, lots of swings lots of squeaky bums but i would not have had it any other way the season was damn fun! 

 

This season in the CCC - 

 

Had a horrific window and currently played 5 lost 5, squads incredibly thin i couldn't get any wingers for my budget all loans wanted cash which i didnt have so im massively underwhelmed with my window and now my squad is really deflated and suffering the effects of such a poor start.

[FFCStu1428]

Stuart - Hartlepool 

 

 

After 46 league games and being top most of the season we did the same thing as we did last season. Lost 5 out of the last 8 games, it cost us the league and almost a top 3 place. I have no idea why this happens but i will stick to the ME of Football manager that truly sucks balls. Im not going to go into it but other members are now saying they can see whats going to happen before things happen in the game, One being when a goal is coming. 

 

Anyway i not going to let the Games terrible mechanics get in the way of what was a very good season for hartlepool. Still having much of the same side as last season with the players we added in the summer we was a force all season. Madine proved to be the striker i thought he was with 23 goals in his 39 league games. my winger Frank was another who had the season of his life. i could go on and on with how well the team did this season but they all chipped in when they needed to, it was a team effort and with that in mind im going to go into league 1 with alot of the same players. It also comes down to money we now own our ground and i can get to work on the whole set up of the club over the next 4,5 seasons. But i firmly think that this side is good enough for a midtable finish next season. I say midtable because the club as a whole is not ready for the step up to the championship anytime soon, i must lay the groundwork first if i am going to do anything down the line with this club. 

 

Over all the season has been good to me, apart from the final few games but ive had my say on that and wont say anymore on the topic, Next season will be our biggest challange and one i cant wait to get stuck into. Below is how the season played out..

 

 

 

 

Jeff at full time win against Port Vale

 

Summer window 

 

Like i said i wont be ripping the team apart but will try and add in key areas where i know where are weak. I would like a couple of Center mids and a solid Center half, a Falls backs are still something i worry about and with brexit now in full swing on the game my french left back can no longer get a WP ( least the game gives you what you voted for ) so i will need to sell him but have a replacement already lined up. 

Money is now tight at the club, the 2m loan taken to buy the ground will now bite as the pay backs have now started, i will be looking to get the board to upgrade the training ground either this season or next but i am in no rush with this club, It is small so its going to take time. 

 

Season Ahead 

 

5th bottom ill be happy, Only looking to stay up have a better cup run than this season and get the funds needed for my plans down the line, other than that im not looking to do anything special. 

The Others

 

Andy - Solid season in the championship for Gills, midtable is a great effort and with funds now starting to come into the club he will be sure to push on over the next couple of seasons. 

 

Ali - Outstanding by the Teacher, Came up from league 2 had the worst summer window ever so went with the same side that took him up and they went and won him the league, Truly outstanding Effort 

 

Sean - Like me sean is not happy with the mechanics of the game but he will be happy with a 2nd place finish him Ali and Johannes had there own personal battle all season long and nerves were shot to bits by feb so it made the chat on skype quite funny them all playing mind games. Solid season for sean, big test now tho 

 

Johannes - Like Ali, the iceman has gone up 2 seasons in a row, He was very unlucky not to win the league, only a Bug that stopped him from going up ( the Bug they fixed about game frezz when u sub players, yeah that one lol ) but he made the playoffs look easy. Johannes has cash and a takeover in the pipe line and is one to watch again next season as he might make history and do a Wimbledon and go through the leagues into the Prem. 

 

Mike - Steady season for mike, hes got one eye on next summer i think and moving clubs, Mike is the arry rednapp of clan, likes a bargin but don't stick about long at one club, his efforts at Mansfield tho have been very good, and only the outstanding work but the 3 guys above have taken some of the light from what was a very solid season from mike. 

 

Scott - Having Man flu Scott got sacked and took over plymouth, He started really well with them and moving away from the drop zone, Then the snow came and like a child went out and build snowmen and had snowball fights when he should of been helping his plymouth side. He was lucky not to get sacked as the board are not happy with him so a quick start will be needed next season to keep the pressure off him.

 

Well thats another season done. Look out of the others post, Im sure that will have more info than seans does lol. Till next time 

 

[Advantageous]

League Two

I didn't think we could top lasts season's last minute automatic promotion snatch and grab, but we only went and won the league on the last day (with a cup run thrown in for good measure). It was a neck and neck battle between Sean's Stevenage, Johannes' Chesterfield and my Cambridge side all season long, before MK Dons decided to do a Stu and lose most of their last few games. That meant any two of four sides could either win the league or win promotion through the automatic places. It was a tense few hours in game as the top four teams swapped places with each round of games. Then, as the very last game approached, we found ourselves sitting second and facing Mike's Mansfield away from home. I had resigned myself to the play-offs in previous sessions as we hit poor patches of form here and there, but as the time ticked by, we found ourselves one up, and then two up before half time. Mike's side grabbed one back, but we shut up shop and watched on as Sean and Johannes both failed to win their final games. Cue scenes of disbelief as we moved to the top of the league for the first time since about round 16. 

Domestic Cups

Made it all the way to the fifth round and faced Man Utd at home. We secured a 2-2 draw and found ourselves on the receiving end of a 7-2 thrashing at Old Trafford. £1.2m in the bag though, so I wasn't too fussed about it, especially after I was forced to rest a couple of players who were experiencing fatigue.

Transfer Window for the Upcoming Season

It's a little early in the window to really talk about signings, or even what I expect my squad to look like at the start of my 3rd season, but I have had my scouts out looking for players all over the UK with several options in different positions on my radar. Ideally, I'd like to sign a deep lying playmaker to sit in my midfield three, and possibly a proper, no-nonsense ball winning midfielder, but I'll just take improvements on my current set up to aid our survival England's second flight. The board aren't expecting much from us, so I can enjoy a pressure free season in effect. 

The Other Lads

Gilly: Solid season from the Scotsman. Will be satisfied with a mid-table position. Never looked threatened by relegation.

Sean: Promoted in 2nd after two seasons in League One. Will be delighted after it felt as though he might miss out towards the end.

Johannes: In the fight for majority of the season, but ended up losing 5-3 to my lot at my place. That was the game that made all the difference, especially as we were forced to leave 73 minutes in when the score was 3-3. Thank goodness for my assistant in the remaining 17 minutes. Eventual play off winners though, so a great effort after being promoted last season.

Mike: Midtable consolidation. He might have hoped to fight for more, but settled for another season of League One early on.

Stu: Tried to throw automatic promotion out of the window, but managed to hang on to 3rd place. Will be happy with his season overall and may look to repeating mine and Johannes successes with a challenge for back-to-back promotions. Realistically though, mid table security will be his aim.

Scott: Took over Plymouth and showed signs of fight and form (if the skype chat was anything to go by). Has a great set up there and could have a run at the automatic places.

 

[smashin88]

 Something to build on for Lincoln 

A good solid season from my team they had to work hard and grind out some important results but in the end a mid table finish is a good end to the season. I went into the season with a hope of making the play offs but looking back I think confidence was just high after back to back titles. The infrastructure and team are basically still league 2 quality so anything above the relegation places realistically is a cracking season. 

 With no real stand out players in the team I tried to rely on hardwork and a solid tactic to see me through the season. Ched evans was my best player a lay out of 280k aswell was a lot for little old Lincoln but he repayed my faith with 20 league goals and finishing the clubs top goalscorer. There is some intrest in him from other clubs and at 31 I would normally sell but I think hes got a good season ahead of him and I'm going to keep him on.

      

  Phil Foden had a good season but theres plenty more to come from him hes signed on for another season and I'm expecting big things. he is going to see more of the ball this season as I drop him back a little instead of as the main playmaker.

 Other players like Richie Towell and Ben Turner did well for me and after a tough start Sean Kavanagh regained his position at LB. Darnell Furlong was a tough transfer to get done and it took nearly all the window to finalise but he really did tremendously well chipping in with 13 assists too meant he became an important part of how we got through teams defences.

Theres a lot to do going into the new season but I have an extra 50k wages to work with I already have some intresting players lined up and think the team will be a lot healthier going into this new season. A new goalkeeper and striker is a must along with a strong fast CD and a tough tackling midfielder.

I'm going to give a shout out to all the lads in League 1 this year I breezed through that league with just me and Sean in it but this year was a dogfight Johannes Sean and Ali were slitting each others throats right till the final day and it made for compulsive viewing. Its only fitting that all 3 went up and I'm looking forward to playing some human managers this year again..... Well done lads great effort.

 

 

 

 

[Johannes]

Johannes Chesterfield

 

As my colleagues mentioned above last season in League 1 was really something. So Sean had already been there for a season but me, Mike and Ali got promoted. Due to work commitments I missed the pre-season and the end of League 2. I joined my team in 9th of august and did wonders in improving the team and making it more than ready for playoffs contention. Mind you, we all know that League 1 and League 2 are pretty similar and most often (online or single player) I get back-to-back promotions so I was a bit optimistic when I managed to sign 15 players in august and I felt comfortable. 

 

I thought Ali would struggle from day one if I'm honest. But Ali, Sean and M.k. Dons started with gun blazing. I lost the first game 4-1 to Mike. So just consider how much I improved the team from 1st game. Mike literally slaughtered my team as I just didn't have any players. I needed a bit time to adjust to the players. But I quickly managed to climb the league and was in playoffs soon. However, M.K. Dons were having a spectacular start to the season. It didn't help me that Sean and Ali were also doing really well so I was in 4th place with a great record. So it was difficult because there's only 2 automatic promotion spots in L1 so I had to have 2 of the top 3 sides to stumble a little bit. I was scoring loads. James Vaughan and Paidousis lighting it up. But Ali was having a season to remember. The lad had 3 strikers leading his attack and they all scored more than 30 league goals!! Ali? How's that even possible. Paidousis scored 37 goals but still was only 2nd places. In the end M.k struggled a little bit allowing Sean to top the league more often than Ali. I only topped the live league table once. The last game of the season I had Swindon away from home. Swindon were fighting for their lives in the league. A loss for them meant relegation. A draw or win and they'd stay in L1. So this game meant sometthing for both sides. I was 2-0 up in halftime and leading the table. Not going to lie, I felt good. In second half they drew 2-2 but I scored to make it 3-2 before they scored in 80th minute to draw 3-3. A spectacular end of a great season meant Ali won the league with Sean getting the 2nd places despite doing a Stu in the end of the season. M.K. also did a Stu and only managed 4th despite not loosing a game until 2nd half of the season. Lucky for Ali and Sean I beat m.k. 6-0 in the end of the season and they didn't really come back from that.

So playoffs for me again. I also had playoff final in season 1 which I lost. I'm not going to lie I was frustrated after this season. I had a ****ing 95 points, scored 123 goals with a goal difference of 56, yet I did not get automatic promotion!! How insane is that?  I felt like if I 'd loose again in playoffs after this season it might be very difficult to go forward from that. But anyways.

 So me, M.k, Pompey and Bolton. Pompey were having a great run and Bolton were having a decent run. I had semi finals against Bolton, first leg away 1-1. At home I won them 4-0. The final game vs Pompey was also an easy win. Usually playoffs is really tough but this was the easiest playoffs in ages. Never felt pressure in the playoffs. So I got promotion and some money through the Wembley final.  

 

Now, there had been a rumour lurking around Chesterfield that our owner/chairman was retiring and selling the side. Takeover is always a bit fun, especially when there's a team which has been going through the leagues. After a long negotiations, first with a London tycoon (I was really hoping for them) and the second with a Dunfermline business tycoon. The latter was succesful in buying the club for 3.4m. The chairman allowed me adjusted wage budget of 260k!!! With me only having a 60k wage bill that was insane. I also got a request for expanded stadium accepted. Earlier I had had training facilities improved twice and youth facilities improved once. Despite this, I only got a 800k cash injection. So I'm hoping that the owner has deep pockets and a willingness to inject more money but he could just be stupid, overly ambitious and have no sense. So despite this, I "trying" not to go overboard. Granded, this is no oil money but it's still enough for me to be able to offer 49k a week!

 

At this time, we're at the first game in championship. I've signed quite a lot of players and not really finished yet. I have no reason not to challenge for mid table /playoffs in my opinion. However, Andy DESTROYED League 1 before coming to championship and struggling a bit at times. Then again, Lincoln is a smaller team with less attraction and less resources than the mighty Chesterfield so I'm quite optimistic although I'm aware that the likes of Leicester, Wolves, Aston Villa, Preston all have had premier league money and some great players. I'm trying to work around work permits with the whole Brexit.

 

I managed to sign these guys while in League 1:

 

James Vaughan: the youngest ever premier league's goalscorer. At 31 he's really good for league 1. Yes, I he gets his share of injuries.

Jordan Mutch: I wasn't sure how to utilise him but when you have good enough players they will fit and so he did. Was really good.

Nick Powell: The Charlton product, signed to Man Utd. I thought of him as CM in attacking role and also a reserve striker. He has been quite good.

Martin Kelly: the former Liverpool right back. Signed him for versatility as Wing Back and centre back. Yes I know his natural position is neither, but he's good enough to do really well at WBR and DC. He was so good he managed to get team of the year.

Luke Hyam: ball winning mid. Had him in sp game. He's good in that role. He's really dirty and aggresive. I expected more from him, but tbh I used him often as a sub.

Matthew Virtue: loan from Liverpool. Another versatile player (you might see a pattern here) who plays MC, WBR and WBL. Was really good.

Julio Pleguezuelo: ball player centre back on loan from Arsenal. He's quite good and managed to sign him on a cheap permanent contract.

Jerome Sinclair: striker on loan. He has been with me since day one. After back to back promotion I went elsewhere but does a great job at L1 and Mike did a great job loaning him for his campaign in L1.

Sam Evans: centre back from Man City. He has been improving A LOT. I extended his loan. He's a great player

Antonis Paidousis: striker on loan from Tottenham. WHAT A PLAYER. I loaned him only because he was free and looked decent enough but was too young I thought. But he was incredible. How good you ask? 37 goals in 36 games. I managed to extend to loan and he's one of top 2 strikers in the Championship at the moment. 

 

Andy Gills - he missed a few games but managed a mid table, which is very good. He has improved his team now and he should challenge for playoffs in championship. I think he has made some good signings and says himself that he has improved his team a lot so I think at least playoffs for him or automatic promotions.

Stu - Stu pulled a Stu in the end of the season. He was on top of the league I think from day 1 but despite loosing almost all of his last 6-7 games he managed to get automatic promotion to L1. I think he will be able to get playoffs next season. Not sure about automatic though.

Sean - he's in championship at the moment. He wont be in any serious relegation battle and will cruise at low mid table

Ali - What a season he had. 147 goals! 3 strikers with more than 30 league goals. 97 points despite being predicted to get relegated. I honestly can't make any predictions with this lad. But here goes. He will be somewhere between 1st and 24th in championship and he will compete in FA cup and League cup this season.

Mike - Being a big rival for me because of the proximity from Chesterfield and Mansfield I enjoy playing against him. He never got going in the league and at times I forgot he was there. He signed Jerome Sinclair who I've had for more than 2 seasons. I think Mike will challenge for playoffs.

Scotty - He is Plymouth in League 2. Sorry lad, but you should get promoted easily. You have the managerial abilites and a great setup on this level in a very poor league with no human managers. He will get promoted, he just can't miss too many sessions.

 

 

 

 

[smashin88]

So the team is shaping up nicely going into the new season, Last years mid table finish was excellent considering the standard of player at the club. I have tried my hardest to be loyal to the players who gained me promotion but there is no room for sentiment in football management and I have rung the changes.

THE  NEW LADS

GOALKEEPER

Freddie Woodman done really well for MK Dons down in league 1 he was on loan from Newcastle he was my first signing of the new season. my young keeper had worked wonders for the last 2 years but the championship was definitely a step too far for him. I have high hopes for this young lad he has a lot of potential to improve so I have brought in david stockdale as a back up and will be hoping that he tutors him over the next 6 months

DEFENDERS

Ethan Ampadu was a player I tried to loan last year he picked Barnsley instead though and had a pretty good season. There's lots more to come from him though, He can start attacks and is good on the ball but hes pretty solid as a centre back too. I'm over the moon I have got him in for a years loan and will be trying my hardest too secure him for next season. The first few games have shown how right I was about this young lad really tough in the tackle and good at breaking up the opponents attacks he is going to be very important for me this year.

 

Ryan Bennett won this league with wolves so he definitely has what it takes. He is still a good young age at 24 and when I spotted he was a free agent I made him a top priority. He is the biggest earner at my club on 12k a week but its money well spent and alongside Ampadu I hope these 2 will form a formidable partnership.

Tom Field is a player I thought I couldn't afford, luckily for me they transferlisted him and I begged and borrowed the board for enough to get the deal over the line. The player is everything I want in a good wing back and he can cross a ball really well too. My wingbacks are probably the most important players for my tactic so despite costing me a chunk of my budget if he plays as well as I think he can it will be money well spent.

ATTACKERS

Harvey Barnes is going to take a little work. Ive signed him up to play him as an AMC he is more of a winger but his stats look perfect to retrain him. He is on a good wage but is already worth 2.8 mill after I picked him up for free I think he's going to do fine and he is already chipping in with goals. To be honest with Foden in that position aswell when I push Foden back and play Barnes in there the team does start too look quite exciting going forward.

Carlton Morris I had on loan last year but ive signed him up now with his contract running down at Norwich. He has a great scoring record in his 2 seasons on loan before I picked him up and I think he will make a great partner for Ched Evans who I'm hoping to get 1 more good year from. I have picked up an extra few loan strikers mainly due to some horrific luck with pre season injuries but Morris when fit will be one of the first names on the team sheet.

 

 

 

 

[Kaboooom]

 

SEASON 2019/2020

After finishing last season 2nd in the Skybet Two League we automatically promoted to Skybet One League.

So we needed to get busy in the summer to attrack new players to joins us, to avoid relegation this season, this was also the demande of the board.

Some players who left the club are:
Daniele Pozzoni (Loan - Tranmere), Romain Cagnon ( AC Ajaccio - 66K), Kane Baldwin (Loan - FC Halifax),
Teddy Bloor (Loan - Halifax), Moussa Coumbassa ( Loan - Santa Fe).

Players who joined the club are:
Yanis Henin, Ilias Moutha Sebtaoui, Oliver McBurnie, Yan Dhanda, Marc Guehi, Mason Bennett
Martin Samuelsen, Jordan Marshall, Sam Byrne, Ronan Fadden, Danny Collinge, Will Swan.

Summer Preparation Fixtures:

Season Begins:

On August the 10th we started the season against Chesterfield who got promoted also to League One and rivals ( Score 4-0 Win ).
We played a quitte season and avoid relegation zone, we where a mid table team all season long.

Board was happy over the overall season and we maintained in League One for another year.
Board also decided to upgrade Youth System and some new extra staff position where added to the Club, to get the club to and higher professional status.
 

Here some results:

League Stand at the end of the season:

Next year we will try to do better, like we do every year.
Let's hope.

Until next time.

 

 

 

 

[FFCStu1428]

END OF WEEK STANDINGS, AND WHAT A WEEK

 

Johannes - Chesterfield 

Ali - Cambridge 

Andy - Lincoln 

Sean - Stevenage 

 

Stuart - Mighty Hartlepool ( We got a chance! )

Mike - Mansfield 

Scott - Plymouth 

 

[SeanBhoy88]

 

Apologies for the technical issue with the tables, it seems Stu's table generator 2.0 had somehow managed to land poor Stevenage and Villa in the wrong places, but it has now been amended thank you for your patience during these horrific bugs. 

[smashin88]

MANAGERS IN DEMAND

In a day of manager madness Sean Black has been unveiled as the new Fulham manager. The manager was controversially sacked from Stevenage after putting together an unbelievable end of season run narrowly missing out on safety by a point. The story took a rather bizarre twist though when Hartlepool manager Stuart Abrey a life long Fulham fan turned up at the ground demanding an interview for the job, baffled stewards who didn't know who the manager was telephoned the police which infuriated the manager more resulting in shouts off " il have u I will " and " I hope ur next sh#t is a hedgehog" . The police arrested Abrey and after initially struggling to understand that u need to blow into a breathalizer and not suck on it he was found to have consumed high levels of alcohol and be under the influence of some rather serious painkillers. Abrey was released without charge and is now back in Hartlepool hoping to still have a job with the now championship club.

     

[FFCStu1428]

Stuart - Hartlepool 

Unbelievable jeff. They were the words being screamed on the last day of the season. after a solid start to the season we were in and around the top 2 all season long, a little dip in form before the jan window saw me slip to 8th but with it being so close it didnt really bother me, with by back 4 doing really the only thing letting me down was my forward line, Mardine had been doing his best but was getting tried after player every game and injurys were starting to creep in. Looking at bank balance it was not looking good, tho i could spend money if i did i would throw myself deep into debt, it was either stick with what i got of go for it, i only needed 1 Striker and after thinking long and hard about it all window on the final day i made my move, it was to change EVERYTHING. Moving wages into money and letting players go i was able to 325k togetter and sign Stefan Payne and boy did i make the right choice. 12 games 7 goals he returned with in the 2nd half of the season and with 1 game to go i was 3 point behind bolton but had a better goal difference, what happen next was nothing short of crazy.  We were at home to Rochdale as bolton needed a point or more against there Rivals Blackburn. i went all out attack and was 3-0 up after 60min, all eyes then went onto blackburn game 0-0 for the 1st 70 the last 20 was madness, Blackburn take the lead to send out fans crazy word had got to the players and the pressure was off and a 4 goal was added close to the end. in stoppage time the cheers had stopped at Bolton had scored in the 91st min goal to make it 1-1 with our game over with we all waited on the pitch and moments later all hell broke lose as word had come that Blackburn had scored with the last kick of the game 90+3 meaning Little hartlepool had done the unthinkable with back to back promotions.  Never in million years did i think this side was able to finish 2nd top i was always of the mind set that we would find the league abit to hard for us but fair play to the players, they didn't fear anyone and got the job done. 

 

Jeff loses plot as blackburn get last seconds winners to send us up

 

MASSIVE JOB ON OUR HANDS

 

With us going up has made things really hard.. This is a league 2 side no better than that be it with the ground or the set up over all. With no money at all ive been left trying to get a team togetter so we don't become the whipping boys of the league. Looking at Sean last season and the goals that he leaked all season i have tried to sure up the back 4 and i have made some good signings with the Danny wilson of Rangers and john ruddy being stand out.  My window is going to be a long one and i need more players. 

 

SEASON AHEAD

 

Nobody gives us a chance and rightly so but we will try our best and hope for abit of luck along the way. 

 

THE OTHERS 

 

Johannes - No stopping him now hes in the prem Money and youth talent the rest of us can only dream of. Great season the ice man and mid table is a sure thing next season

 

Ali - So unlucky, got to Playoff final and should of won but a sucker punch at the end cost him. Will go again next season and has added some very good players. 

 

Andy -  solid season yet again for gills. hes building a solid side now and im think he might go up next season. He has a great eye for a player and his summer business has been very good. One to watch

Sean - After a shocking 1st half of the seaosn Sean almost pulled of the greatest of great escapes. After he went down Stevenage Shockingly sacked him, He is now at the home of Football down at Craven Cottage and has Fulham. He best turn things around there or he will be getting a dry slap off me lol. 

 

Mike - Think might might be a little unhappy the way his season went, he was fighting it out with me in the playoffs most of the season but fell away towards the end, Should be up there next season but there some good sides in that league this season 

 

Scott - So unlucky to miss out on a playoff place, He has signed my old Striker Kane and with a beast of a target man now in his side im sure he will be going up next season. 

 

Well thats you upto date Screen shots to follow 

 

 

[Advantageous]

Last Season

Despite the season being marred by a play-off final defeat, I have no option to be very satisfied by the campaign as a whole. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was rather cautious in predicting my teams eventual finishing position as we had a poor transfer window where there were no improvements to the first 11. I was concerned that after back-to-back promotions, we had risen much too quickly and were about to pay the price with inevitable relegation. My concerns were alleviated however, when we found ourselves in the top two after ten or so games. From then on, we hovered in the play-off positions, occasionally moving into second, but never beyond that after Johannes' Chesterfield and Leicester began to exert their dominance. We eventually ended up in third position even though we suffered from patchy form in the final 6 games of the season. This meant we went into the play-offs in perhaps the worst form of the season. It showed. We scraped through the first two legs, winning on penalties, before facing off against 6th place Norwich. They took an early lead, before we pegged them back, just in time to see them snatch the winner in the final few minutes. I'm convinced our poor form entering the play-offs contributed to our defeat, as we'd performed well against Norwich in the two league games. 

Domestic Cups

Reached the 5th round of the FA Cup and came up against the Premier League's Southampton. After a 1-1 draw at our place, my assistant took control of the replay due to work and earned a respectable 2-4 defeat. Elsewhere, we were destroyed 7-1 by Manchester United in the Carabao Cup. There was a clear gulf in class and we just could not live with their pace in attack.

Transfer Window for the Upcoming Season

I ought to be delighted with this transfer window so far, especially when compared to last seasons. Our pool of fairly talented youngsters has now reached an age where they can go out on loan, with most going to League Two and Vanarama National sides. Had our rise through the leagues not been so rapid, two or three of those may have made it into the first team squad. As it is, they go out on loan to get some first team experience with the hope that they perform well enough to make progressive strides in the ability. Coming into the club are five players that will improve the first eleven and 2 that will significantly improve the bench and play a rotational role for this coming season. I'm hopeful that I can add one more, but if not, I have cover for that particular position. As you can see from the screenshot below, I have spent majority the £5.5m earned in our first second flight season which the board kindly pumped into the transfer budget.

The Other Lads

Johannes: Back-to-back-to-back promotions (if that's even a phrase) for the Icelandic manager. He will be very happy with his season and openly aimed for promotion after buying and loaning smartly in the window.

Gilly: Suffered early on and was, at one point, only a handful of points ahead of Sean's Stevenage, but managed to get his side pulling the right direction and finished towards the higher end of mid-table. With a tactical re-shuffle, I think he'll be quietly hoping for promotion, or at least a strong challenge.

Sean: Relegated and then sacked after a poor season followed a poor window. Was unlucky with the sacking as the club was predicted to finish rock-bottom with a significant lack of funds available to improve the side. His late season rally appears to have earned him the job at Fulham, where his first task will be to rebuild whilst lowering the average wage. 

Stu: Openly stated he didn't want promotion, but deep down hoped to stay as close as possible to the leading pack. Stu will ply his trade in the Championship next season after promotion, but found the window just as hard as I did, with players joining lower league clubs with slightly higher reputation and more money.

Mike: Mid-table for Mike's side and he'll probably not be particularly happy about it after having the play-offs in his sight for majority of the campaign, but will look for a promotion challenge next season. 

Scott: Plymouth's manager will, no-doubt, be looking at promotion after narrowly missing out last season. Like Mike, he'll want to move up the leagues as quick as possible now that we have one human in the Premier League.

[Johannes]

Johannes

 

"You have to spend money to make money"

 

Our 5th season coming up. I'm in the premier league now!! I got promoted from championship after a back-to-back-to-back promotion from League 2 to premier league. At the moment the stadium is being expanded to 12500 and undersoil heating. It's only a few weeks until the expansion will be finished but I'm going to expand the stadium even more because I want to establish myself in the premier league and that costs money. You have to spend money to make money.

Actually the championship campaign was a very good one for me. I was never in real doubts at not getting promoted but Ali was lurking behind me at 3rd place for almost the whole season. With 2 wonderkids and some really good players I had the talent in my opinion even though I was lacking in depth. Antonis had yet another amazing season with 31 goals in 42 games and Kenny Black was also incredible with 29 gls in 31 games. Harry Wilson (the Liverpool product) was also very good also scoring around 30 goals and ******** of assists. I forgot I couldn't loan all of them (I probably would have taken Wilson and Antonis) but I could only loan two and Kenny Black and Antonis had accepted the extensions first.

Getting promoted so fast it's a little bit difficult to improve between seasons, so I've had to sell or release players who the fans adored. Especially the strikers, Wes burns (now an icon at the club) and James Vaughan (the former captain). I've got way too many midfielders so I'm hoping I can sell Nick Powell for around 5-7m and Luke Hyan for 1.5m-2. Then I might loan some of the others centre mids because I was worried that me getting promoted too fast I wouldn't be able to sign the players I wanted, so I signed a little bit too many of them just to be sure I wouldn't start the campaign in prem with L1 players. Somewhat shockingly I was able to attract much better players than I expected (like Mousa Dembele, Theo Walcott, Javier Pastore) as well as some young regens. 

I think I've got enough talent to get mid table and even challenge for europa league or some cups. The attacking counter attack system I use works wonders against premier league level teams so I'm a bit optimistic. 

 

Now lets meets the players:

Sifiso Koto, bought when I was still in CCC. I knew he would get wp in prem. However, he won't get wp until in september.  Should be good for that MCa role for and he was cheap. Basically he's the new Nick Powell for me.

 

James Mccarthy: Perhabs he's a bit too expensive, on 47k a week. But I really wanted a proven anchor in the middle. He's my captain.

Antonis Paidousis: on loan from Spurs. This is his 3rd season for me. A wonderkid by now. He's a class player. 

 

Javier Pastore: probably the biggest name in my team right now. Should fit my MCa role.

Kenny Black: on loan from Stoke. His 2nd straight season. Had a great last season for me. He's very cheap for me, maybe even free.

 

 

Joe Luis Gilardoni: Signed him for a record fee. Only 20 year old and he's quick so he will be good at right or left centre back. However, he has some weaknesses but I'm sure he will be a good investment

 

Ondrej Hrdlicka: Czech striker who's only 18 but has the quickness and finishing to score lots for me. Was a cheap signing as he was brought from his home country

Jayden Walker: I scouted him actually seasons ago. I wanted him from day one and I just had to have him. Has the quickness, dribbling and finishing but lacking in composure. I dont know how I gave him 35k a week however.

 

Ericson Henrique: Brazilian striker signed from his home country. Only 19 and should improve on his already very good attributes, including 17 finishing, 17 work rate, 16 accelaration. I'm sure he will be a great investment.

 

Below are the academy products. From day one I put money into infrastructure and youth setup. In last seasons youth intake it paid off.

 

First, Nathan Chapman:, a 16 year old promising centre back and already a rotation player and a future captain at the club. This player will be worth 40-50 millions after a few seasons.

Scott Howell-Davey: goalkeeper with lots of potential but maybe lacking in ca and attributes. Only 16. I dont know how many times I've had young goalkeeper who never get close to reach their potential.

Steve McWilliams. A 16 yo left wing back who actually suits my formation 100%. Looking forward to see him improve.

Adam Nightingale: 16 yo promising striker with driven personality and already some okay attributes.

Luke Heskey: Promising winger (I dont use winger) whom I'm converting into striker. 16 and has good potential.

Luke Hammerton: another promising striker who could be good.

This player I'm hoping will be signed in the transfer window. He's 16.

The other managers:

Ali - He has done very good. Probably would have been promoted if it hadn't been for me and Leicester. How he managed to fight with me and Leicester with such a mediocre team is beyond me. I think he might get promoted this season. 

Andy -  I think Andy might gain from being longer in championship (this is his 3rd season in ccc) because he's gradually improving his team all around and will be better suited for premier league long term. If he would have got promoted to Premier League with the tiny Lincoln he might have had huge problems adjusting to premier league.

Stu - Got promoted to championship. I think he will struggle in ccc. However, I don't think he will get relegated, but he will be in relegation battle. 

Sean - After a horrible summer after promotion from League 1 he came into the championship with mediocre team and some horrible defense. He paid for getting promoted too fast and wasn't able to attract the players he needed for this level. He ended up paying with his job. However, Sean and Stevenage was never meant to be and he's now at Fulham and I think he's happier. He's a great manager and I think we will see Fulham in top half of the Premier League sooner than later. He has cleaned some of the mess there and I know he has a few regens from the academy who are very very good. He's in the league one and should get promoted easily.

Mike - I have to be honest I dont know much about Mike's Mansfield. With Mansfield being my team's biggest rival I can't loan players to him. But I think he has a chance at playoffs in league 1 this season

Scott - I expected him to get an easy promotion but he didn't deliver. 

[FFCStu1428]

END OF SEASON TABLES 

 

 

[SeanBhoy88]

                                                                                                                                Stevenage 

Well this season was a bloody roller coaster for me i had arguably the worst window of my FM clan career, each defender i owned bar one had like 7 pace and stated ' decent signing for league one ' which ofc was the league below, our GK was wearing over mits instead of gloves it really was a shambles, when we went into the season i knew things where bad but in the back of my head i was thinking its ok at worst we wll stay up narrowly but boy oh boy what a culture shock the difference in quality and pace alone i was getting cut apart i think i picked up 10 points in about 25-30 games it was bitterly disappointing for me on a personal level as those who know me they know that i am not used to being in this position. 

We got to January and the only thing in my mind was right defenders with some pace i managed to get in 2-3 players and switched up my tactic to a more compact narrow system giving little away, we managed to notch up 36 points in our last 10-15 games which for a team who couldn't win all season was incredible we went down by the skin of our teeth on the final day of the season after receiving a red card and having our hopes and dreams of survival ripped away, the baffling thing for me was my job was secure the club wanted us to battle bravely which we did they where happy with all aspects of my managerial reign but still they sacked me anyway

 

                                                         Fulham 

So as the title above says my new adventure is fulham a club much bigger in stature than my old club but a club that has just been relegated and not in a good place with most of the players very unhappy and wanting to leave and the club demanding that we reduce the wage bill by 300k. 

 

For me the biggest challenge at Fulham was trying to get that wage bill down and my biggest fear with this team is the fact so many have gone and the club's still so unhappy, i think ill be in with a good shout of promotion id like to think i can do it however this is FM and i am always pessimistic because i know what can happen especially when morale is low, my signings so far havent been flattering but they are by no means terrible either its been an ok window, my club's balance went from nearly 3m negative to now 14m in the plus but i am expecting to lose a chunk of that over the course of the season, i will set about trying to upgrade youth training and all necessary and try and get Fulham to the top as quickly as possible and make old Stuart proud of me with him being a Fulham fan himself. 

 

 

 

 

[AccyScott]

Plymouth Argyle - Season Update 2020/21

I came into the season looking to consolidate after what proved to be a tough season. I managed to steady the ship, just about, to remain in League 2 and the board gave me a little bit of money to spend in order to rebuild a poor squad. I do think that some people expected too much of me, it's easy to look at the league and notice I'm the only human left, but this was my first full season at the club and at a club where it was a completely new squad with lots of upheaval, it was of course going to take time to adjust. My aim was for a top half finish, like the board wanted, I'm one for a cautious approach - similar to the great Claudio Ranieri and so this was, for us, a season where we looked to build for the future. I feel we did that, just missing out on the playoffs on the final day after a collapse at the end of the season following a brilliant unbeaten run which had us in the automatic playoffs at one point.

 

To lose out on the playoffs in this way did hurt, I can't lie, but the lack of depth and a goalscorer did cost us in the end and that's something I have ensured won't be the case this season. One issue for us is that despite the very good finances we have, the geographical location and reputation can put a lot of players off. For example, I have been chasing players such as Harry Cardwell (Grimsby) amongst others that are put off due to these reasons. It is frustrating because we could realistically be one of the strongest teams in this division, but we are left with a low pool of players to approach and it can really affect us. Hopefully if we gain promotion we'll be able to address this situation and be able to widen our selection of players to attract to Home Park. 

Again, there has been a few ins and outs at the club - there needed to be as a lot of players just simply didn't cut it compared to what we had available to us. I always try to avoid spending too much money, especially at this level, but sometimes it's unavoidable when you have such limited resources. Another approach I had was to look towards the lower leagues for players and see if we could tempt them into the Football League. This is what caused us to bring Hepburn-Murphy in on loan from Aston Villa, as he ripped up the National League last season. This can obviously pay off or flop, I did the same last season when we brought in Sam Smith after he was released from Yeovil after an impressive season. He failed to really settle in the end, however I have hopes for him this season as he did impress in the latter games of the season when given an opportunity.

Injuries were a common problem last season. Key players seemed to go missing for lengthy spells when we needed them the most, perhaps this was due to the demanding schedule or something else, but I'm hoping that we'll be able to deal with injuries more officiantly this campaign. Sarcevic and Whitmore are just two examples of players that spent time on the sidelines and seemed to really impact our results. This is where the depth became an issue - I underestimated it completely and this is why there has been such activity in the window again

.

Will Smallbone has been brought back on loan after spending the past two seasons here at Home Park from Southampton. The midfielder has become a huge part of the first team and has been comfortable sitting just behind the striker, however is also comfortable as a central-midfielder where he will more than likely be getting his game time this season.

Rushian Hepburn-Murphy as previously mentioned managed to rip defences to shreds last campaign in the National League for Ebbsfleet and I'm hoping he can do the same this season. He fills the void left by Keith Kendall who returned to his parent club Reading this Summer. Scoring 26 goals in 46 games last season, I have high hopes for the young Englishman.

Aaron Phillips was transfer listed by Northampton after their disappointing finish in Sky Bet League Two last season. I was close to putting in a bid for the full-back, however opted against it and placed a loan offer instead. The reason for this was to preserve some cash, in which we still have over £100k to spend. He will be competing with Joshua Webb for the right-back spot this season, a position which lacked quality and depth last season, beside Webb who joined from Scottish Championship side Raith Rovers.

Harry Darling is the final loan signing made this Summer, joining from Ali's Cambridge United side. He has been a constant presence in the Cambridge squad for the past few seasons, however made just ten appearances in the Championship for the U's last season, however made a good impression with an average rating of 7.13. The signing was needed as Rob Atkinson, who was released by Fulham in the Summer, left to a League One club.

Harry Smith is one of several free signings made in this window. After being released by Stu's Hartlepool side, he was chased by both myself and Mike, who placed a trial offer for the forward but ultimately joined us. He is a proven goalscorer at this level, scoring 30 goals in his two campaigns in League 2 and he managed to score five from eleven starts last season for Pool season, showing he still has quality in his locker.

Manny Monthe has been a familiar face in the Forest Green squad for the past five years playing 167 times, however was granted his release this Summer. The Cameroonian central-defender displays the strength and ariel presence we perhaps lacked last year and will be a great rotation player to have. Now 26, he still has many years to go yet.

Joe Maguire will provide competition at full back to Mal Benning, who has been getting too comfortable in his role at left-back. The ex-Fleetwood player made 28 appearances for Bristol Rovers in League One last season and so has the potential to become a real star at the club this season as we look to push on. The 25-year-old is the perfect candidate for us, with plenty of pace to attack down the flank, but also having the ability to defend also.

Anthony Grant and Harry Pell have both been added to the squad to provide depth to the centre of midfield. We lacked a real tough tackler in the middle and these two, 34 and 29 respectively, have the experience and know how to become the player we need to sit inbetween the gap of the defence and midfield. Grant is definitely ageing however is only here on a one-season deal and so will do the job until we find a suitable player, as David Atkinson rejected us to join Portsmouth in League One.

Michael Harriman is the first player to be brought in for a fee, The full-back joins for just over £31,000 after impressing at Wycombe and adds to the depth of Joshua Webb, Aaron Phillips and ex-Manchester United academy star, Joe Riley. 

The marquee signing of the Summer is that of Siriki Dembele from fellow League Two outfit Grimsby. The Scottish winger terrorised defences last season, scoring 14 goals from 32 games and assisting ten times for the Mariners. He has been a key figure to Jason Goodliffe's side for the previous four season since joining on a free after leaving Scottish side Ayr and will be a real star if he lives up to the hype that surrounds his arrival to the club. £160,000 certainly isn't a cheap fee, however a large majority of that will be paid over 12 months and won't provide many issues due to our stable financial position at this moment in time.

On the other hand, we lost youngster Tom Purrington to Leicester after he was tempted away by the Premier League club. He certainly had the potential to be a very good player for us but there was nothing we could do to stop him from achieving his move to the top flight. Swiss midfielder Yang Ming-Yang also departed, leaving to join Spanish club Recreativo de Huevla for a good fee of £165,000. I was gutted to see him leave, but the new rules put into place due to Brexit meant he didn't qualify for a work permit and there was no way for him to get accepted so we were forced to let him go. Finally, Matt Dolan left to Blackpool this Summer. He struggled to fit into the squad after joining from Newport County and has been moved on for a decent amount of money.

With that said, here's to next season! GREEN ARMY!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[smashin88]

MID TABLE AGAIN....

Another season of mid table mediocrity, the team played well in parts and shocking at times too. Late goals and poor decisions at the back cost the team any hope of the play offs, injuries played a part too and seems too be an on going theme for me this fm. I tried 4 different tactics this season and I am still struggling to find a perfect system. I want to try and incorporate the tight pressing game from last seasons fm with a 3 striker formation as it seems to be the in thing this year. I looked at 3 at the back but I cant make it work never have been able too so that's been ditched for the foreseeable future. 

     

Going ahead into the new season I'm going with a 4 3 3 it will either be a flat 3 in the middle or 2 with a DMC I have good squad depth for these positions and I don't need to rely on loan players anymore after 2 seasons of effective cut price shopping in the windows. 

     

The squad has taken significant steps forward in quality this summer The signing of Izzy brown was a surprise and eased the pain of losing my star striker too a shockingly low release fee. I fought of bids for my goalkeeper from wolves almost all summer there's no way I could let him go after taking so long to find a keeper off his quality that was within my budget. I used my link up with man U to good effect getting in Jason Clark a good young striker on loan and another couple of squad players to help cover for injuries. Ethan Ampadu and Ryan Bennet will hopefully form a good pairing at centre back after struggling at times last year I'm hoping the tactical shift will help cut out the mistakes at the back.

The other lads had mixed seasons Johannes romped the league he has a new rich owner and a tactic that scores goals for fun he is also the first to make it to the Premier League so he has a great head start on the rest of us now. Ali aswell is using the 3 at the back 3 up top tactic and has had huge success with it little old Cambridge really should have went up after the season he had but his squad is stronger this year so he will definitely be in the mix again.Stu had a good season playing down his promotion hopes but realistically he had a great shot and didn't disappoint, he will need to spend well this window though to compete with the bigger clubs he will be facing now. Poor sean had a shocking window and struggled to get Stevenage going in the tougher championship, a late rally nearly pulled of a miracle but he has landed on his feet taking the Fulham job I fully expect him to win the league with ease. Mike is still stuck in League 1 but will probably make a good push for promotion this year and Scott it seems is afraid of heights so is doing his level best at keeping all of his clubs as low down in the table as he can.

[Kaboooom]

SEASON 2020/2021

Last Season we finished 15th in Skybet One.

This season we kept working on making our team stronger, with adding some new staff, upgrade our facilities to become a more profesional club. Also attract new better players to join our Mansfield journey.

Some players who left the club are:
Safwan Mbae, Yanis Henin, Giuseppe Esposito, Olvier McBurnie, Jonathan Kindermans, Cameron Heeley,
Teddy Bloor

Players who joined the club are:
Timonthy Weah, Mehdi Zerkane, Amilcar Silva, Jesus Garcia Tena, Alex Lacey, Lorenzo Tempesti,
Micah Richards, Willem Tomlinson, Jamal Blackman, Jerome Sinclair, Jake Picard,
Eddie Loizou, Ike Ugbo, Dion Pereira, Mason Bennett, Florent Cuvelier, Abdullahi Abdullahi

Summer Preparation Fixtures:

Season Begins:

On August the 8th we started the season against Port Vale with ( Score 4-1 Win ).
We played a decent season all season long hang just under the Playoff Promotion places, we had the chance to move in promotion position in March, but lost some important
games who couldve lead us to a playoff position or ticket.

But the let me down a couple of games and we dropped again to the 10th place of league.
After that my woke up and did some couple wins and could still dream for a playoff ticket but on the last game we lost and it was a done deal.

It will be another season in Skybet 1 and ended the league on 9th place.

Board was happy over the overall season, but next year they will demande a bit more than last season.

Season Begins:

Board also decided to upgrade Youth System, Youth and Training Facilities,

Here some results:

League Stand at the end of the season:

Next year we will try to do better, like we do every year.
Let's hope.

 

[FFCStu1428]

END OF WEEK STANDINGS 

 

Johannes - Chesterfield 

 

 

Stuart - Hartlepool, In dream land right now. 

 

Gills Lincoln 

 

Ali Cambridge 

 

 

Sean - Fulham 

 

Mike - Mansfield 

 

 

Scott - Plymouth 

[SeanBhoy88]

Quick update - 

 

Overcoming morale from the clubs relegation has been well tricky but we have been plucky and managed to grind into top spot, we are not perfect tho we have had our fair share of iffy perfomances but all things considered our start at fulham has been one iv enjoyed, long may it continue. 

COYW

[FFCStu1428]

END OF SEASON TABLES

 

Johannes - chesterfield 

Andy - Lincoln 

Stuart - Hartlepool 

Ali - Cambridge 

Sean - Fulham 

Mike - Mansfield 

 

Season Reports to follow from members on a truly Crazy season 

[Johannes]

Johannes

 

"Home of the wonderkids"

 

So let me first say we had a dispute (mainly two of the members). We made a decision to ban all tactics with 3 strikers up front. It's a tactic which seems to brake match engine, it just can't handle the block of 3 advanced or complete strikers. That decision was made when the season was already underway. It was around November if I remember correctly. So I had been using 5-2-3 WB formation and changed it to 5-2-1-2 WB and also sometimes using 5-3-2 WB.

I had a good start to the season which saw me at 6th position at times and only as low as 12th. I had problems with defending. I signed Tom Davies as I needed better centre midfielders and I also needed UK players in the starting lineup.

 

Every single ticket at home were sold out. The first two games of the season the stadium hadn't been expanded. Next season I will be playing at Bramall Lane in Sheffield as my stadium is being expanded to 19000.

 

As you can see I was involved in a 9-5 game. Yes, that's a game of football where I scored 9 goals and my opponents scored 5. I was also involved in a 7-5 win against Chelsea.

FA Cup and League cup:

I wanted a success in cups this season. My FA cup run came to halt as I lost to Stuart's Hartlepool in 4th round after a replay. In the league cup I lost to Southampton in 4th round

 

Schedule

 

 

Transfers:

 

Lets meet some of the new players

Castaneira: Was signed in January for 140k. Had an amazing campaign in the premier league, playing 9 games, scoring 7 goals and 4 assists. He's a wonderkid by now and touted the next Jorge Valdano (former Real Madrid striker and manager). He might have a few games at AML as inside forward. He's not really the best finisher with 13 finishing, 6 concentration, 11 composure, 12 technique. His attributes are weird though as he's really well rounded for a striker. He was an A+ signing if there ever was one.

Ericson Henrique. He had a good season scoring 21-22 goals in the premier league. Wonderkid and touted the next Ronaldo.

Matija Cmrecnjak: Goalkeeper with a last name even his own mother could not pronounce. Signed from Inter Milan and he's a current Croatian international. He's my third Croatian signing. I'm hoping he can improve. He wasn't my main target, but he's young and will do for now. Could be an okay investment, but he did set me back 7.5m.

 

Alan Greco: I don't remember how much Greco was, but he was signed from Brazil so he wasn't too expensive. His attributes are good, he's 3 star current ability at the moment. Will be a rotation player, might even be loaned out. 

 

Bareiro: Now, I had been following Bareiro for some time. He was very cheap but when I pulled the trigger he was slightly more expensive. He was wanted by the best teams in Europe so I was surprised to get him. Another wonderkid him and another determined/driven player. He's a right winger and I would love for him to be able to curl the ball. I will use him some as I will be using 4-2-3-1/4-2-2-2 at times. He's very talented.

 

Damir Postonjski: Signed from Ipswich. I had my eyes on him for a while. Ipswich were relegated and he wanted to leave. Centre back who can use both feet and can pass the ball. A wonderkid and a Croatian International by now. He's a bit small, with only 12 jumping reach.

 

Ludwig Augustinsson: Attacking full back with great crossing and set piece skills.

 

 

Espinola.  Yet another wonderkid from South America with driven personality.

 New academy products:

 

[smashin88]

ANOTHER TITLE FOR LINCOLN

Finally the championship trophy is now in the cabinet, it look pretty good sitting beside the league 1 and 2 winners trophy's. The team performed well all season and if it wasn't for a stutter at the end of the season drawing a whole ton of games the team would have had the title tied up well before the end of the season. With the shock ( really there were no clues ) news that some tactics were causing the match engine problems came the inevitable arguments and "it wasn't me comments" we even had a drunken late night bitching session which was fun for all involved. 3 up front is now banned and so we move on. I won both my previous titles with 2 up top so it wasn't going to be a problem for my Lincoln side.

The run in proved to be one of the most exciting we have had on clan for a while, three clan members fighting it out for the top 2 positions in the league and the play offs too. Preston were being a pain in everyone's side and were right in the mix too. Stu and his Hartlepool team were going great guns and Ali was trying to put his play off heartbreak from last season behind him.

The success this year was definitely built on the team rather than individuals Jason clark had a good season up front on loan from Man U and Billy Kingsmill was a surprise in the CM slot playing his way into a starting position early on in the season.  Izzy Brown added a touch off class this season and was my favourite addition to the squad in the summer coming in on a free from Chelsea and along with Keinan Davis they gave me pace and power up front and an opportunity to get in behind defences . Tom Field had a good season at LB and Colin Barlaser a loan signing from Spurs did the same at RB both making the Championship team of the year. A special mention too for Freddie Woodman who despite heavy interest  from other clubs signed a new deal and went on too break the Lincoln clean sheets record for a season.

 

[FFCStu1428]

Stuart - Hartlepool   

 

History made Hartlepool are in the Premier league 5 years after winning a non league playoff final to rejoin the football league and in true Stuart Fashion i don't do thing the easy way . After a solid start to the season using a 433 Dm tactic i brought in a 3 up top system that i used for 8 games mostly away from home, in that time i won 5 drew 2 lost 1 but at the time didn't know the issues 3 up top caused, after a long draw out chat we ban the tactic and so i went back to my tried and tested 433, I was also working on a new 4231 formation that was ready for the final push. with 9 games to go in the season i was 6 points off Gills and preston, with them 2 teams doing so well i knew that i had to win maybe 8 of my 9 games to stand any chance of getting 2nd Things started off well with 2 wins from the final 9 but the a loss to Villa saw me fall 8 points behind and though my dreams of 2nd place was all but over. I needed preston to slip as i didn't think andy would slip up, how wrong i was as both Lincoln and preston were dropping silly points and drawing games they should be winning. after the loss to Villa i switched to my new 4231 and i didnt mess about with nicking goals here and there, Very Fluid and overload from the start and see where the chips land at the end of it all 4-1 win against Newcastle followed by a 4-1 win against Ipswich Followed by a 4-1 away to sunderland had Preston and andy looking over the sholders, the gap was 1 point with 3 games to go. 3 points were all i could hope for now as i thought anything less would see preston and andy get away from me. a 1-1 draw against Wednesday was followed by another 1-1 draw against reading, thinking all was lost preston were still drawing games, they even drew there game in hand that would of seen them go up. So on the final game of the season it was all up for grabs, I was away to leeds and Preston were at home to Barsnley who were also sitting just outside the playoffs so they had something to play for to. I got off to a flyer and was soon 1 up, but in good old Stuart Fashion it soon became 1-1 then 2-1 and then 3-1 before HT, i even put on skype its Playoffs for me. At half time i changed it again 2 up top AMC 2 inside forwards one MC and full backs bombing on, What happen next will go down in hartlepool history. My Rightback found himself somehow in the box for a cross to make it 3-2 moments later on loan striker Giffin hammered the ball home from 25 yards to make it 3-3 and then it happen a corner came in that was headed clear by the leeds Defender and Herbie Kane struck the sweetest volly i think he will ever strike that gave the keeper no chance senting the fans wild and my laptop up in the air ( kid you not i jumped when he scored lol ). i paused the game 541 was the system and orders were anywhere will do. leeds had 1 chance at the end but it was not to be, FUll TIME LEEDS 3 HARTLEPOOL 4, FULL TIME PRESTON 1 BARNSLEY 1 HARTLEPOOL ARE IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE. 

 

 

SUMMER WINDOW 

 

25.5m i was given, add to that i have a new board after a take over who have now starting on building a new ground for me. I have been put into a temp home for 2 seasons that holds 12.500. the new ground will only hold 15,000 but its better than what i have been working with. With off the field plans now under way i needed to get a whole new side, maybe kane and a couple of others can play at this level but other than that it was a fire sale. Below is my business 

SEASON AHEAD, 

Simple ready 17th or better. Have to stay in the league to get the fund to build this club up into something special. 

 

THE OTHERS 

Johannes - solid season now 3 up front is ban from clan he is working on a new system, will be interesting to see how he goes, 

 

Andy - won the league and rightly so, has build slow at lincoln and now goes into the prem with a better set up than me for sure. i expect him to be mid table or better next season as the players he has already are good enough and what his added have that touch of class you need at this level. 

 

Ali - Joins Me andy and johannes in the prem with a great playoff final victory, after heart break last season Ali found it hard going early on, then it got his act togetter and make a late charge and was able to take that form into the playoffs and all the way to the final where he won against leeds. Ali is said to be very happy with his window as he has signed every player he wanted, time will tell what he does next season but i think 17th or better like be will suit him fine. 

 

Sean - The Contract on Sean head has been put away as he took my beloved Fulham back into the championship, he done it in style by winning the league, Sean has added some very good players this window and i think he can go up next season. great job COYW!

 

Mike - The Shock package of the season, Mike somehow has taken Mansfield up into the championship, He was in the playoffs all season but what really is impressive that he had to do it the hard way by besting Middlebrough in the playoff Final, a team that should never even be in the league with the talent they have, but mike hung in there and won 1-0 in the final. Mike might find it abit harder than sean next season but still a great job by getting Mansfield up. 

 

Scott - Oohhh Dear, left plymouth with the hump after it all fell apart, waited till end of the season to take a new club and used the lowest human rule by jumping into league 1 and has taken over at blackpool. Time will tell what he does but he has some good players there so who knows. 

 

Big well done to all the members this season on going up with there clubs, Even scott went up and didnt have to do anything lol.  

 

Till next time 

 

[Advantageous]

Last Season

Last season's play-off final defeat was a little disappointing, and that seemed to have an effect on the side as we went into the new season. We hovered around mid-table for a fair while playing very inconsistently with no real flow to our attacking play or solidarity to our defensive shape. Moving to a 5-3-2 formation with wing backs seemed to help matters half way through the season, as we ditched the now banned three-striker formation, and we began our climb to finish in 4th place. Despite being in for 2nd place on the last game of the season, I had to rely on Stu bottling 2nd place (which he very nearly did) and Preston losing (which they did) as well as beat Gilly's rampant Lincoln away from home, so I was happy to settle for the play-offs for a second season in a row. 

The play-offs themselves were a completely differnt animal this time around. Last season, we went into them on a poor run of form, where as this time around, we went in with strong form. It showed as my assistant brushed aside the semi-final first leg and I finished off the second leg and ground out a 2-1 victory against Leeds in the final. 

Domestic Cups

Knocked out in the Carabao cup against Portsmouth 1st round, who managed to face us in our run of poor form, but salvaged some dignity in the domestic cups as we held West Ham to a 1-1 draw at our place in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, before losing 3-1 in the replay. Fairly respectable, but it did highlight that we would need to add significant reinforcements should we win promotion to the Premier League.

Transfer Window for the Upcoming Season

Very happy with this window's transfer business as I've managed to strengthen every position and add quality reinforcements. Currently, the bookie still have us as favourites to finish in the bottom four, along with Chesterfield, Lincoln and Hartlepool, but as long as we stay up, I'll be celebrating come the end of the season. The board very kindly gave us £20m to spend during this window, as well as a relatively healthy wage budget. Every player who has joined will be a first team member, with the exceptions of Peter Ankersen, who will rotate with Lucero in the right wing back position, and Sam Evans, who has been sent back to Man City as we no longer need him in the centre of defence. Leaving the club on loan are a selection of youngsters who are too old to play in the U18s, but not good enough for the first team squad (we currently do not have an U23s squad due to our youth rating) as well as several squad members from last season who failed to find a club. 

The Other Lads

Johannes: Finished in a very smart 8th position in his maiden Premier League season and will want to build as quick as possible to maintain the gap between himself and the three humans now joining him in England top division. 

Gilly: Won another lower league title and will be very happy with his season. Has yet to finish his transfer dealings this window, but will be looking to avoid relegation and build for the future with a mix of quality and potential surely on their way to Lincoln. 

Stu: Found the jump from League One to the Championship as easy as Johannes did and will be looking forward to mixing it up with the big boys in the Premier League. Like Gilly and myself, we will all be trying our very best to avoid relegation, so anything 18th will be his aim. 

Sean: Rebuilt the Fulham squad whilst offloading players who appeared to be stealing a living during their relegation season. Turned them into a force in League One and will be hoping to do the same in the Championship and join the four lads now occupying places in the Premier League as soon as possible.

Mike: Play-off winners Mansfield go into the Championship with Sean's Fulham under Mike's stewardship after a strong season where he occupied a place in the top seven for majority of the season. Will be looking to climb as quickly as he can as he adds a few quality players to his squad.

Scott: Hasn't had it easy so far, after stints at Accrington and Plymouth, but decided the Plymouth job wasn't for him and resigned towards the end of the season. He now finds himself at the now Oysten-less Blackpool where he will be hoping this is the club for him.

[AccyScott]

Plymouth Argyle - 2021/22 Review

Going into the season, I was confident we could look for the playoffs at least. This was also the expectation of the board, who had backed me in the Summer with a rather healthy pot of money to spend in the window. With just two league defeats to our name in the middle of October, just outside the top three due to playing a game less, things looked bright at Home Park. However, a 1-0 loss to Doncaster, who scored late on in that game, seemed to be the start of an endless downfall of form. It was a similar story to last season, when things seemed to be going so well, one loss and lapse of form seemed to result in mass devastation as we never regained any good run of form and slipped right down the table as a result.

Morale is something vital, of course, as an unhappy playing squad means that results will 99.9% of the time suffer. I still don't know why there was such an issue with the morale of the players at times, but even in times when we were on huge winning runs, a fair chunk of the team was still not content. When you have certain players like this, one loss often means that it spreads and continues to do so like a disease. As the losses kept coming and coming, no matter what I did to try and resolve the issues on and off the pitch, it was never good enough. I accepted that there was going to be teething problems at some point in the season due to the mass activity in the window once again - but I expected this towards the start of the season, not towards the end of the first half of it. 

In January, after a 1-0 loss to Forest Green Rovers, in a game where we dominated but couldn't score - I lost it. I lost it because every game we seemed to look the better side but never had the passion or effort to put the ball in the net. Harry Smith, who absolutely ripped it up for Stu at Hartlepool, looked a great signing and proved to be so near the start of the campaign. But like the majority of the squad, soon shown his true colours and began to put in poor performances that weren't up to the standard I expected. I resigned after that game because it looked like we were destined for yet another year in League 2. I do hold my hands up and take the blame because perhaps I could have done more to sort things out, but the players thoroughly let me down.

Resigning meant I was forced to sit out the rest of the season, something I was content on doing after the shambolic tenure at Plymouth in recent sessions. I came back after the season had concluded and was allowed to choose any side who had finished below 12th in Sky Bet League One that season. This was due to the lowest human rule implemented in the clan. To be honest, I was heavily considered AFC Fylde who had gained promotion from League Two for next season. However, I narrowed it down to two options - Blackburn Rovers or Blackpool. Blackburn were the side I was leaning towards, however I was put off by the insecure finances at the club as I would be gambling. I wouldn't know if I would be able to bring in some of my own players for example. So it was Blackpool who I chose, now free from the terror of the Oyston family.

The Seasiders finished 15th last season, a disappointing finish considering the 7th and 4th placed finishes the previous two seasons after relegation from the Championship. There was a huge turnover of players in the Summer pre-my arrival. I wasn't too keen on this, however I was ready to assemble a squad just to meet the boards expectations of a mid-table finish at least. With just 16 players left at the club, it shows the challenge I have at my disposal to bring in capable players to do well this season. I have, as I write this towards the back end of July, brought in three players. Unfortunately, Ramarni Medford-Smith who I brought in on loan from Reading, will be out for four months already which is a huge disappointment already.

There will be a lot more activity in this window, I feel a lot more prepared with a large shortlist of players in a range of positions than I did at Plymouth. I'm hoping to get a few more faces in at least before the start of the season, which begins on 6th August against Millwall at The Den which can be a very difficult place to go due to the usually hostile atmosphere created by the home fans. At this moment in time I don't really want to speak about the upcoming season as I just want to get faces in, as at the moment we are lacking in certain areas on the pitch. Once I address this, I'll start making predictions and aims about the season but as I say, I'm just focusing on the window at the present time. Hopefully I'll be enjoying a more successful time at Bloomfield Road, beside the sea. 

[SeanBhoy88]

FULHAM - BACK TO WINNING WAYS. 
COME ON YOU WHITES. 

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This season was pretty much A okay for the entirety of the campaign we where first or second throughout and never really looked in any danger, however in the home stretch i was starting to flounder a wee bit with injuries and fitness worrying we lost a 12 point gap and even lost top spot i was wondering am i going to pull an almighty bottle job here? but a quick switch up change around and change in fortunes and we battled back to take the title.

Upon taking Fulham i knew i had a club with good pedigree one much bigger in stature than my previously managed Stevenage but this wasn't the blatant easy task people might think it was, taking over a club relegated from their previous division a team depleted fulled with old high waged players who just all want out of the club is a task in itself, but our wages where cut from 425k down to 130k thats less than half our whole objective for a long time was flushing out those unhappy and those on big/undeserving wages, i cashed in on a few kids as well rather reluctantly but i did add clauses that benefit the club my aim was to get this club ready for league one but also to have it in a position of health financially going forward, iv managed to reach all my goals so far and im pretty happy about it.

 

going forward - 

 

Iv set about in this window to get as many good defenders in as possible im not bothered about slightly over paying as i said previously i built the clubs financies into a healthy position for me its about making sure i dont sufferr the same fate as i did with Stevenage. 

I think ill get playoffs minimum anything less ill be pretty gutted but the closing stages of the window are gonna be a big few days for me i really need to add some more strengh and depth its a long old season i need more numbers and cover than i have.

 

 

As shown on the SS's my table and confidence is high after a fantastic season, lastly id like to say well done to the lads 

Gilly, Ali, Stu, Mike on promotion, Johannes on a fantastic first year in the prem and Scott for finally saying goodbye to league 2.