FM19: The English Football League thread

[warlock]

1 minute ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

Right I'm off to do some revision 

Investing in the future! I approve .

[Jamesbfc1887]

43 minutes ago, warlock said:

Investing in the future! I approve .

[steveyisatard]

NORWICH CITY FC

2018/19 Season Summary

Apologies for the lack of updates got a bit carried away with the season! Safe to say it didn't go as smoothly as the opening month suggested it may. Had a battle with Bristol City for the title that went down to the final day of the season! Made it to the fourth round in both cups which I am quite content with as we lost to Premier League opposition in both - taking West Ham through two 0-0 draws all the way to the lottery of a penalty shootout.

Had to make a few decsions on players in January to ensure we could remain finacially stable for the long term and invest in the team more wisely which saw Ben Marshall and Grant Hanley leave for a combined total of an initial 22.5m potentially rising to 26.5m. It is certainly going to be a tough pre-season with further tough choices to make around the first team squad with Pukki and Vrancic also departing come the new transfer window, we do however have a confirmed transfer for Georges-Kévin Nkoudou (4.3m) to provide some competition for the wide roles.

As ever my update is going to be more visual than anything but feel free to ask for further screenshots or ask any questions!

 

 

[sammo10]

Forest Green Rovers 2018/19 - Mid Season update

 

Transfers

There were a fair amount that came in during the summer. 

 

The 3 free transfers were the first pieces of business. Ruben Bover was bought in having previously played at Barnet. A technical Spaniard able to play in any of the 3 roles behind the striker, but most comfortable as a ten. Likely to just be cover but versatility could result in more appearances. Nathan Doyle again was mainly cover, but has good experience in the football league and gives some solidity in the middle. The other free transfer was Milan Lalkovic. A real coo really. Very talented winger who imo is league one level at the very least. 

The big money buy was Danny Newton. With Doidge going for a large sum, a replacement was definitely needed. Could be a gamble, spending what is a big amount at this level on a player with only a years experience at this level. However I felt he was perfect for the type of striker I had in mind with the style of football I was looking to play. A real hardworking livewire that should be ideal in the high press. 

There was also a couple of loans. Chair was similar to Bover, but probably has a bit more quality and likely to be more of a regular. Edwards has come in Jan as Liam Shephards workload was ridiculous so having two top players in this position can only be a good thing. 

 

League 

As the January window closes, we currently sit in fourth place, 2 points and one place off of the automatic spots. All to play for. 

 

Squad 

Full backs, Mills and Shephard have been superb for us. Chipping in with assists and being solid defensively. Reece Brown has been a real creative spark in the deep lying midfield role, but its on the flanks where with really shined. Williams and Lalkovic with 26 goals between them already. Sometimes its not fair having Williams as he is clearly way to good for this level. 7 caps for Wales says a lot and if he carries this form on I am sure he will be back playing in the higher leagues and maybe back in that Wales team. He scored 4 on the opening day! Newton has made a great start with 18 goals, a relief considering what we paid. Hopefully he can keep it up. 

[warlock]

3 hours ago, steveyisatard said:

got a bit carried away with the season!

Can see why! Good going there, and that goal difference? Was that a brilliant defence, a storming attack, or both?

1 hour ago, sammo10 said:

As the January window closes, we currently sit in fourth place

Solid! Hopefully you can keep it up and claim one of those promotion spots (assuming you hate the playoffs as much as I do - much too hard on the nerves). 

[steveyisatard]

12 minutes ago, warlock said:

Can see why! Good going there, and that goal difference? Was that a brilliant defence, a storming attack, or both?

Mainly the attack - 96 GF, 42 GA

[warlock]

3 minutes ago, steveyisatard said:

Mainly the attack - 96 GF, 42 GA

Well, you know what they say about attack being the best form of defence .

[smplfc123]

Good evening all.

So after toying with a few clubs, I couldn't really get a save going on FM19, so I decided to start as unemployed with an A Licence and lowest pro footballer experience and went on holiday. After a few failed job applications, I was handed an interview with Reading who were sitting in the relegation zone and in dire financial straits. 

I took over in January with the club sitting on 22 points from 27 games, with the relegation scrap looking to be between Wigan, Bham, Sheff Wed, Rotheram, Bolton, Ipswich and ourselves. 

I managed to amass 27 points from my 19 games, with 8 wins, 3 draws and 8 losses, which considering the state of the squad, i thought was a pretty good return. This is how it panned out:



Devastated. Unfortunately my final 3-0 hammering of Birmingham wasn't enough to save us and we were relegated.

£100k already over the wage budget and about 10 first team players coming to me asking to be moved on, it's a massive summer ahead of rebuilding to stop the club from going further down.

Here are my transfers out so far at the 1st of July:



1 or 2 players are still looking to be moved on. I'm hoping smith and wilson will prove to have too much at this level! Wish me luck in this massive rebuild!

Come on the Royals!
 

[warlock]

1 minute ago, smplfc123 said:

Reading who were sitting in the relegation zone and in dire financial straits.

You do like a challenge . But I do, of course, wish you luck with your massive rebuild. Looks like a good start with Korey Smith, who I liked at Bristol last year, and Wilson should do a good job for you - if you can keep him fit.

[smplfc123]

Thanks @warlock it definitely is a big challenge!

Keeping Wilson fit is also that,, but if i can, i think his pace and finishing ability should really help me in this league. Really looking hard for some bargains.

[steveyisatard]

28 minutes ago, warlock said:

Well, you know what they say about attack being the best form of defence .

Very true - now to try and enhance my squad to at least finish in a respectable position in the EPL!

[sammo10]

12 hours ago, warlock said:

Solid! Hopefully you can keep it up and claim one of those promotion spots (assuming you hate the playoffs as much as I do - much too hard on the nerves). 

Hopefully! However since I posted this my have has been more like a side down the bottom. Need to sort it out or I'll be very grateful for the playoffs. 

[ellzo]

So just checking on the progress of my 16 y/o regen striker who after 5 games in league 1 has 7 goals. The next Ian Wright 

[Dong21]

@warlock Great update. Unlucky with the injuries but it clearly hasn't held you up, with some really impressive form there! As you say, the real challenge will be when you make it to the Championship, although I'm sure you will continue to do well.

Also, I'm jealous of how many saves you've managed to get through - Charlton is still the only team I've played as so far on FM19!

@steveyisatard Good work with Norwich - Look forward to seeing how you fare in the Premier League.

@sammo10 Strong start with Forest Green, looks like automatic promotion is achievable - good luck!

@smplfc123 Interested to see how you get on at Reading. I love it when I get to completely overhaul a squad and rebuild the team in my own image - a great challenge.

[Dong21]

Charlton Athletic - Season 4 - Part 2

At the end of my last update I had just suffered a 4-0 defeat to Liverpool and I predicted that I would likely be on the end of similar results when facing other top sides - that proved to be the case as we were heavily beaten by Chelsea and Man United. I approached these games with a defensive mentality and a counter attacking philosophy, hoping to secure a 0-0 or a win on the counter attack - obviously this did not happen! Any advice for taking on vastly superior teams would be appreciated?

Despite these defeats the players heads did not drop and we picked up important points against other sides. Record signing Pacheco began proving his worth, scoring a brace in a 3-0 win against Everton and another goal in a 3-1 win against Burnley. We continued our progress in the Carabao Cup by beating Wolves and Sheff Utd.

Our biggest to date in the league came when we thrashed Newcastle 5-1, which was all the more notable when you consider that Newcastle are flying high in the league, occupying a place in the top 4 at the time of this game. This was an important game for young Jovan Markovic who scored his first two league goals for the team, coming off the bench after an injury to Kalinic. The Croat has been injured for other 2 months since, so 20 year old Markovic has led the line.

We experienced a torrid November, but as we played both Spurs and Man City in the month this was no real great surprise. December has been much more positive with four wins out of six. I was heartened to lose only 2-1 to Arsenal, rather than the usual shellacking! Markovic and Pacheco have been key to our success. Henderson got injured prior to the Watford game but luckily Jed Steer has stepped in and performed well - Henderson is expected back in mid-January.

The 4-1 win versus Cardiff was a highlight during this period, but clearly the most notable result was our win over Liverpool in the Carabao Cup Quarter Final. Liverpool dominated position and had more shots than us, but the team was resolute and we scored two goals late in the game to pull off the upset. We have drawn Bournemouth in the Semi Finals which, although won't be a walk in the park by any means, gives us a chance of making the Final.

At just past the halfway point of the season we have exceeded all expectations and sit 11th in the Premier League. If we can continue to pick up points against the teams around us we might just stay there!

[warlock]

35 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

Any advice for taking on vastly superior teams would be appreciated?

Sign better players . Seriously, there's no shame in losing to top 6 teams even as an established PL side. You can either try to shut up shop, or treat it as a free hit and go for it, knowing you're likely to lose either way. Improving your team enough to compete at the top usually takes a few seasons.

Otherwise it looks like you're doing fine.

[smplfc123]

Cheers @Dong21 i'm looking forward to the challenge too.

Great start to the season too, as @warlock said, the big teams are a free hit, it's all about beating those around you for now until you're good enough t compete with the top 6.

[warlock]

Barnsley: Season 1, March

Last update saw us sitting comfortably at the top of the league, unbeaten all season but having just ended our run of consecutive victories. A minor blip, or the start of something worse?

Perhaps something in between. We soon got back to winning ways, but the relentless winter schedule - with an extra FA Cup replay after we forced a draw against Aston Villa - and a string of injuries took their toll. As a result, we lost our unbeaten status away to Oxford, and soon followed with a Cup defeat to Villa and at that point I was fearing a bit of a collapse. But the lads done good, and we embarked on a run of 9 league games with 7 wins and 2 draws. Our run in the Checkatrade Trophy came to an end with a semi-final defeat to Sunderland on penalties, which bothered me not at all except that I like a winning culture at my clubs and hate losing any game.

Revenge was sweet, though, and two weeks later we handed the Wearsiders a 3-0 spanking, which produced this:

Top of the league, 31 points clear and 9 games to play. In the process, we set new club records for games without defeat, consecutive wins, and most wins in a season. Cauley Woodrow led the line and produced 17 league goals and 25 in all competitions (so far). I have a decision to make about Keiffer Moore who has not impressed with just 8 goals in all competitions. He was surpassed by young Victor Adeboyejo who scored 9 in fewer appearances and would surely have done better but for a couple of injuries, and Moore was equalled by Mamadou Thiam who scored 8 in just 9 starts and 7 sub appearances. Thiam isn't even a natural striker, preferring an IF role on the left.

January transfers

I was hoping for a quiet January, looking to add only one additional striker and holding on to my best players. Unfortunately, my three CBs are all rated as good Championship players and the vultures were circling. I turned down offers for all of them, which prompted to Liam Lindsay to kick-off and starting a (very) minor squad rebellion. But I stood my ground, got the squad back on side, and Lindsay dropped his concerns in mid-February. Unfortunately, I couldn't do the same with Jordan Williams, the jewel in the crown. This 19-year-old backup at RB was rated by my coaches as a strong prospect for the Premiership. I fended off a couple of offers from Championship clubs,, but when Southampton came in with a guaranteed million in stages, and 40% of the sell-on profit, the board intervened.

So with the prospect of Lindsay sulking for the rest of the season, and Williams gone, I brought in CB Ro-Shaun Williams on loan from Man Utd, and RB Connor Randall on loan from Liverpool on the last day of the window. But no sooner had the window closed than Randall suffered a calf injury and was out for a month or longer. With no even half-decent alternatives in any of the squads, in a bit of a panic I turned to the free transfer market and signed former Fulham man Kay Voser. Although his pace has gone, he has reasonable stamina and good mental and technical attributes and, on little more than a grand a week, should provide the necessary cover. With the title secured and a fairly leisurely schedule for the remainder of the season, he might not play a game.

With nearly two months to go, and not much to play for beyond a bit of pride, I expect it will be difficult to keep performances at a high level, and my thoughts are very much on the Championship, who to keep and who we might sign.

Edited January 7, 2019 by warlock

[dino]

47 minutes ago, warlock said:

31 points clear and 9 games to play

Crickey, what a storming season.

[steveyisatard]

5 hours ago, warlock said:

Top of the league, 31 points clear and 9 games to play.

[warlock]

@dino @steveyisatard Cheers, fellas. Just finished the season; update incoming.

[warlock]

Barnsley: Season 1, May

After clinching the title in March I was mildly concerned that the players would switch off for the remaining games. Happily, apart from a single defeat against promotion-chasing Walsall, they kept up their performances and we recorded another 8 wins from the final 9 games.

Which left the final league table looking like this:

A winning margin of 37 points over second-placed Luton! Despite what the screenshot shows, Woodrow finished top scorer with 19 league goals and 27 in all competitions (FM seemed to reset his records when he joined permanently in January). Although I'm happy with that, he went through two barren spells before Christmas and after February, going 7 or 8 games without scoring, which cost him the golden boot for the league. That went to Walsall's Morgan Ferrier who racked up 24.

There were no real weaknesses in the side and everyone who played more than half-a-dozen games finished the season with a rating of 7.2 or better. But the key to the season was our solid defence, as we lost just 2 league games all season, and turned in a large number of clean sheets and more than a few 1-0 victories. Incidentally, I was wrong about Voser - just after the last update first-choice RB Dimitri Cavare suffered an ankle injury and missed most the remaining games. Voser played 8 of them, turned in one PoM performance and was solid throughout. Excellent judgement on the part of the manager, I'd say .

In addition to the team records mentioned earlier, we also set new league records for total points, most games won, and fewest lost. Since I'm sure some of you are wondering, here's the astonishing tactic that delivered:

An unremarkable 442, no PIs or OIs, and I used it plug-and-play for every single game. The only changes were an occasional TI of 'more expressive' and more width in attack if we were struggling to break down defensive sides. I'd like to say it was genius on my part, but I just lucked into it from the off .

So, to the summer break and tough decisions on personnel. I'll probably keep everyone currently on the books, and desperately want to keep the CB crew together. The questions are around current loans. Bahre has an optional £300k permanent fee and is a no-brainer at that price, Wing is likely to be out of our price range, and the others are unknown at the moment, although I'd certainly like to sign Ro-Shaun and Galloway if we can. Beyond that, a Championship-level goalscorer would be nice but almost certainly on a loan basis. We shall see...

[sammo10]

Forest Green End of Season update 18/19

 

Results

All in all a very pleasing set of results. A very strong start and end to the season with a pretty inconsistent middle. Highlight was probably the opening day 6-1 win which falsely led me to think it would be a breeze. After a great string of results at the end of the season we went into the final day needing a win and results to go our way for automatic promotion. Unfortunately we did neither. So with the play-offs confirmed we met Crewe who were easily the weakest side to make the playoffs. We dispatched them with ease to book a trip to Wembley (Our second of the year after drawing Tottenham in the FA Cup)

 

League and Play off Final 

 

 

We did it! Reece Brown the surprise hero netting twice. Just short of doubling his tally for the season. A fantastic result and something I wasn't really expecting. League table below. 

 

Players

Some real good individual performances this year. George Williams the clear stand out and I'll go into more detail on him below. McGinley grew as the season went on at the back and Shephard and Mills managed to hit 17 assists between them from their attacking full back roles. Reece Brown brilliant in midfield with Lloyd James proving solid backup. Grubb ended up with some great figures in the 10 role. 16 assists and 8 goals has attracted some interest from League 1. Lalkovic proved he's got a real eye for goal. Up top Danny Newton slowed down quite worryingly, despite ending on 24 goals, that was quite disappointing considering he was around the 20 mark at the end of Jan.

 

Awards

George Williams ended the year was an impressive hat-trick getting player of the year, Golden boot and getting into the Team of the year. Nothing less than he deserved. 24 goals from right wing is a joke. Way too good this level and I expect him to be one of the best in League One ... If I can keep him. 

Great to see Shephard, Rawson and Brown make to Team of the year as well. 

 

Really looking forward to next season. Didn't expect promotion at all. Summer should be fun and I'm looking to bring quite a few in. Have a pretty nice transfer budget of £600K, which is quite a lot for a team going into League one if I'm not mistaken. Rest of the Doidge money coming. 

 

 

@warlock Amazing work with Barnsley. Pretty sure that's the earliest I've seen a promotion. I really wish Pinnock was still at FGR. An absolute class act IRL who I expect to see in the Prem soon. Looks like he's doing the business for you as well. 

@smplfc123 Good luck with Reading! Looks one hell of a challenge.

[warlock]

58 minutes ago, sammo10 said:

I really wish Pinnock was still at FGR.

Don't blame you - he's been brilliant all season (small consolation, but I believe we're bunging you a few fees based on appearances!)

Congratulations - that's a really good achievement with FGR. And you've got an amazing performance out of Williams - he's only scored 7 in my save, and FGR finished 17th.

Good luck in L1.

[steveyisatard]

As much as I am enjoying my Norwich save I want more of a challenge - can you guys hit me up with some fairly challenging teams to manage from League 2?

[smplfc123]

Congratulations both @warlock and @sammo10 on your fantastic seasons. I'll be keeping an eye on what business you do in the summer.

 

[kozmik]

Finished my 7th season with Sunderland a couple of days ago. Not a bad season by any stretch, but there's a distinct feeling of us starting to become a bunch of perennial nearly men:

I actually took a long break from the game mid season as I was just too frustrated to continue. In the end I made my peace with the situation and came back, managed to pick up form and did well in the cups even if they too ultimately ended in disappointment. The persistent main problem in terms of league performance is breaking down defensive teams. Our record vs. top teams is still very good, even if we got our worst league defeat yet getting hammered 5-1 at City and got our first ever defeat against Liverpool. But 10 points were dropped in games which we completely dominated and either failed to score or got FM'd by the opposition. Additional 10-12 points deservedly dropped in games we should have done better in. I'm not exactly sure what I should've done differently. I will be doing a major tactical overhaul for next season, and we'll see whether that will help us be more consistent against the dross. Hopefully so.

Transfers:

I also agreed a whopping 113 million deal in January for regen winger Maximiliano Flores to move to City in the summer, which helped me fund the Leidsman and Jeferson deals. My plan for next season is to replace 2-3 players in the first team squad with young players. Might hurt us in the short term but will hopefully be beneficial in the long term. I've already signed a center back, not a position where we needed strengthening but an opportunity too good to pass up on, as one of the best cb's in the world, a Belgian regen, was transfer listed by request at Monaco for only 62 million. The result is that we're now completely overloaded in that position:

Will definitely need to ship two out one way or the other. Mai should be first out the door, then it'll be either Roberts going out on loan or Tah getting sold. I'll need to buy one DM/CM, but I hope that will be that in terms of signings. Martial is on his way out and one or two more should follow. I've also been after an Italian regen keeper who will at some point be Pickford's replacement, whether it's this summer or the next I don't know. I've managed to upset him but so far Fiorentina has demanded far too much money for him. I probably need to get him to request a transfer to get him for a more reasonable amount.

In the long term, I can't see myself keeping going with this save for more than 2-3 seasons. Hopefully by then we've managed to win the prem and/or champions league.

[warlock]

12 hours ago, steveyisatard said:

I want more of a challenge

Well, as I said in the OP, I reckon Macclesfield might be the toughest challenge in England. They haven't really been able to strengthen the squad from the VNL and there's no money. Morecambe is another toughie, but with a slightly better squad. You might also look at Crewe, who have a proud history of producing top youngsters but have fallen far from those days and are predicted to endure a relegation battle in the first season.

[warlock]

1 hour ago, kozmik said:

Finished my 7th season with Sunderland

Another pretty good year, I think, but I can see why frustration might be setting in. It looks like you're getting in the players who can compete at the very top level so a tactical rethink might be all that's left. There's no shame in finishing second to Man City and PSG but it doesn't seem likely that you can compete on budget with those two (correct me if I'm wrong). It's interesting that we see so many complaints about AI-controlled clubs falling apart after a few seasons yet you have two of the biggest going strong after seven years.

Hope you can find a way to make that last step up .

[kozmik]

32 minutes ago, warlock said:

Another pretty good year, I think, but I can see why frustration might be setting in. It looks like you're getting in the players who can compete at the very top level so a tactical rethink might be all that's left. There's no shame in finishing second to Man City and PSG but it doesn't seem likely that you can compete on budget with those two (correct me if I'm wrong). It's interesting that we see so many complaints about AI-controlled clubs falling apart after a few seasons yet you have two of the biggest going strong after seven years.

Hope you can find a way to make that last step up .

Well, I can't really compete per se, but I do have a very, very good team, so good that I definitely wouldn't say we're overachieving at the moment, more like underachieving tbh. One major issue is that I can't rely on any player to score goals. My top goalscorers in the league last season were Jadon Sancho and Maximiliano Flores, who both scored 9 from the wings (Sancho AML, Flores AMR). First choice striker Wicherink scored 8. Second choice striker Jeferson, signed in January, scored 6, so he shows some promise. But those are terrible numbers for a title contender. Next season I plan to use an aggressive 442 diamond formation, try to just properly overwhelm the bus parking opposition. Then a bit more conservative 433 against teams that actually try to play and a counter attacking 4231dm for big away games and protecting leads. Or that's the plan at least, we'll have to see how it pans out.

And yeah, City are looking ridiculously good at the moment. They're managed by Marcelo Gallardo, who only came to Europe from River Plate three years ago, took charge of Barca for a season and then went to City after Guardiola left for Chelsea. PSG are immense too. The common denominator between those two is that they have fantastic players. Their average age is high though, and most of their starters are around 30 years old. Will be (or would be, in case I don't hang around long enough) interesting to see whether they start struggling when those players start declining en masse. I've no idea how well the AI can plan these things in advance.

BTW, congrats on your 122 point season, brilliant achievement

[smplfc123]

So the Royal Rebuild begins. With all the players wanting to leave, I was able to generate a nice bit of spending money, but I knew I had to buy with a plan in mind, not just buy for the sake of it.

As you can see some big first team players left, but like I said they wanted to and I didn't want to start a new season with players who didn't want to be here.

I pretty much had to strengthen in every department and decided to go for a mix of experience in the EFL and new foreign influence which offered value for money. I've also brought in 2 loans in Dowell and Kent, 2 youngsters who have had championship experience and should hopefully stand out in this division. I feel the likes of Leadbitter, Hooper and Korey Smith should add some valuable experience and the rest of the signings will hopefully prove to be bargains!

Viviano was brought in as the experienced GK, but Messenholer was a panic buy with an hour left of the transfer window as Sam Walker decided to force a move away to Ipswich.

James Wilson has been the best signing so far, scoring 6 in 5 starts, with Jack Hendry shining at the back.

From the squad I inherited, I still have McShane, ilori, Samson, Obita, Richards, Kelly, Clement and Loader. 

The season has started well, with our only defeat coming at home to AFC Wimbledon who caught us on the break and deservedly took home a 3-1 victory. A penalty shoot out defeat in the 2nd round away to Middlesbrough has sent us out of the Carabao Cup, not that I'm particularly gutted about that and we are about to start our Checkatrade trophy campaign. The squad has been constantly rotated due to the fixture congestion, but some have started to nail down a first team place.

Wish me luck on continuing the Royals Revival!

Edited January 9, 2019 by smplfc123

[DefinitelyTaylor]

@warlock: An absolute stormer of a season! The quality is plentiful at Barnsley, although less so now Brad Potts has departed irl. You have definitely got the best out of the players to perform at such a high-standard throughout the season and I look forward to seeing how you and the Tykes perform in the Championship. As noted in the OP - Barnsley are quite a yo-yo team currently so it would be fantastic to see you solidify their status in the second tier before pushing into the top tier at a later date.

@sammo10: Congratulations on promotion to League One! George Williams is an excellent player for that level and I'm not surprised to see him absolutely destroy League Two. A lot to be happy about though given that Forest Green are certainly not expected to be pushing for promotion so you've performed above expectations. Interested to see how you and the team handle the jump to League One. I was thinking of starting a FGR personally, given a new found liking for the club with the whole Bolton/Doidge/Dale Vince situation! 

@kozmik: Seventh season, that's absolutely fantastic! Glad to see you're committed to finding success with Sunderland. It just seems to be eluding you at the present with a loss in the UCL final and sitting adrift from the top of the pile in the league too. Fingers crossed you'll be able to make a breakthrough next season! I totally understand you ending the save in a few seasons time, though.

@smplfc123: A huge turnover of players, but it is fully expected really when a club drops down a division - especially one of Reading's stature as I consider them a regular fixture in the top two divisions. A good start to life at the Madejski and hopefully that will be something to build on throughout the season and you go from strength-to-strength.

 

I've been following the thread as usual, but have been reserving posting as I usually just read it in my spare time between lessons at college. I've been playing FM, but not really settled into a save (at least in the EFL) recently, instead turning my attentions to Non-League instead. I'm looking to get back into the groove here though and seek to contribute as I said I would a couple of months ago - or whenever it was now. Time goes by too quickly and I forget.  I'm looking to start a save in League Two, with who I'm yet to decide (suggestions are welcome!) although a couple of Championship clubs have grabbed my attention - but I think that could be a save for a later date. I'm looking forward to starting a save with Peterborough after the update given they've signed Kyle Dempsey on loan. He's a player I really like, but have never managed due to him playing at Fleetwood who I don't like too much for my own reasons. But for now, I'm seeking out a new League Two save and look to post here soon! 

[smplfc123]

Thanks @DefinitelyTaylor, I look forward to your update, whoever it is you decide to go with. 

[westmarsh7]

So im from Grimsby and never ever am I Grimsby. Yet a friend of mine went with Town and said it was fun save..... so why not! 

Long short of it, I’ve smashed through season one and to my shock I won the league in season1!!! At one point I had 7 loan players so going up will need to have some big changes.

i got a take over mid season and I’ve seen my budget for season 2 in league 1..... between 1.5 mil and 2 mil!!! What the hell....... 

so people ideas advice on what to do, do I sign or go for loans again? And what players should I target?!? 

Seen a few Grimsby followers and saves going on in here so would love to get ideas and help and guidance from you guys please 

[warlock]

@westmarsh7 Welcome! Can't personally help with squad suggestions since I don't know Grimsby that well, but hopefully someone will be along shortly who does. As for signings or loans, I think you'll find a split in opinion but my usual practise is to thoroughly abuse the loan system at least until the Championship. It can be hard to attract the kind of quality that improves the squad at L1 and L2 level, so good loans can make a huge difference. Of course, at the end of season 1 you might be able to pick up a few quality youngsters who've been released by Premiership and Championship clubs.

Good luck!

[warlock]

@smplfc123 Looks like a good start, and nice to see Wilson bagging a few. As I suggested before, he's a good player - the challenge is keeping him upright on two functioning legs .

[Jamesbfc1887]

@warlock What a season with Barnsley that was! 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

What a season with Barnsley that was! 

Thought you might like it .

Wish I could say the same for life in the Championship. We got off to such a bad start I've had to take a break to get over my depression! I'll try to get an update posted over the weekend.

[Jamesbfc1887]

@warlock I'm sure you'll turn it around  the Barnsley faithful will stand by you. Sometimes the saves that don't quite go to plan and you have to work for sucess are the most enjoyable ones.

[Rollin93]

Hello 

This years football manager I’ve really struggled to get into a save 

I’m currently stuck between Sunderland or charlton?

any recommendations?

Edited January 11, 2019 by Rollin93

[warlock]

44 minutes ago, Rollin93 said:

any recommendations?

Barnsley .

Actually, we've seen some very successful saves with both Sunderland and Charlton - both similar "fallen giant" clubs, with huge potential to grow. If you can't choose, just flip a coin.

We'll look forward to following your progress.

[Rollin93]

6 hours ago, warlock said:

Barnsley .

Actually, we've seen some very successful saves with both Sunderland and Charlton - both similar "fallen giant" clubs, with huge potential to grow. If you can't choose, just flip a coin.

We'll look forward to following your progress.

I did look at them aswell😂 after some thought I decided to go Sunderland!

Edited January 11, 2019 by Rollin93

[smplfc123]

15 hours ago, warlock said:

@smplfc123 Looks like a good start, and nice to see Wilson bagging a few. As I suggested before, he's a good player - the challenge is keeping him upright on two functioning legs .

Cheers mate. I've managed to get a few out of Hooper and Colak as well which is pleasing. Will update further when I'm at the end of January. Loving this rebuilding job so far.

[Dong21]

6 hours ago, Rollin93 said:

I did look at them aswell😂 after some thought I decided to go Sunderland!

@Rollin93 Didn't see your post in time but I would have suggested Charlton who I am thoroughly enjoying managing!

[Rollin93]

23 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

@Rollin93 Didn't see your post in time but I would have suggested Charlton who I am thoroughly enjoying managing!

For like 3 days I’ve been trying to think 😂 just felt Sunderland’s team looked like more of a challenge to me for some reason even tho that sounds weird 😂😂

[Dong21]

@Rollin93 Fair enough! Sunderland have an abundance of resources, but that comes with increased expectations which presents it's own challenge. Good luck!

This conversation has reminded me to write my latest career update, so here we go...

Charlton Athletic - Season 4 - Part 3

With Carabao Cup Semi-Final legs and an FA Cup 3rd Round Replay, January turned into a mammoth nine game month!

January

It may have took two matches in the end but I was very pleased to beat Newcastle, a side that have been challenging at the top end of the Premier League this season, in the FA Cup 3rd Round. We then took on Nottm Forest and drew, to set up yet another replay - another test for the depth of my squad. I was heartbroken in the Carabao Cup, as we missed out on the Final by the finest of margins. We were unlucky to have lost 1-0 away from home in the first leg, but evened the tie by reciprocating their 1-0 win in our home leg. This took the tie to a nail-biting penalty shoot out, which Bournemouth ultimately won 12-11. Bournemouth went on to lose the Final to Man Utd.

In amongst all this cup action we picked up an important win against Leicester and drew with Wolves and Forest - I was pleased not to lose any of these games, considering the fixture congestion. We had a respectable narrow loss to Liverpool, but the end of the month saw us thumped by Chelsea in our biggest defeat to date. I think the schedule finally caught up with us!

Transfers

The theme of the January transfer incomings was young English talent; Abraham was transfer listed at a bargain place and I could not resist bringing him in, left back was an area I had been looking to enhance so I splashed out on the highly rated Tymon and Chong came in on loan to provide a new dimension on the flanks. In terms of sales, I moved on three players who had traveled up the divisions with us but were not cut out for the Premier League (and all had only 6 months left on their contracts).

February / March

Our FA Cup adventure continued on as we thrashed Forest at the City Ground, before traveling to League One Hull where the weakened side I fielded left it late but got the job done. A Josh Cullen screamer in Extra Time saw us secure a huge victory away at Stamford Bridge. We now travel to Wembley for third Semi-Final of the season, which is once again against Bournemouth. Hopefully we can come out on top this time, after losing by the narrowest of margins in the Carabao Cup!

Our league form was stuttering along and our defeat to Everton was one of the most frustrating I have had as, under no pressure, my centre-back Bielik turned around on the half-way line and chipped my goalkeeper. Truly one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen on FM. This disappointment was soon forgotten though as we secured a huge victory against Man United, which led to a spell of good form.

With just eight league games left of the season, satisfyingly we sit in 10th position. European qualification is too far away, so the objective is to hold on to our current position. There are good teams close around us, so that in itself will be a good challenge! Abraham is yet to score and Chong cannot get match fit, so I am hoping these things both change in the coming weeks.

 

Edited January 11, 2019 by Dong21

[Jamesbfc1887]

@warlock Decided to start a save as Accrington, Jesus it's one of the hardest things I've done on FM for a few years tbh, the players are just nowhere near League 1 level.

Edited January 11, 2019 by Jamesbfc1887

[warlock]

3 minutes ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

Decided to start a save as Accrington

Man Utd too easy for you?  Just caught your post in the United thread. After we talked about United the other day I thought I'd give them a go myself while I figure out what to do with Barnsley in the Championship.

Accrington looks like a tough gig, but in my current save (Dec 2018) they're sitting 7th in L1. Billy Kee has 17 goals playing in a pretty standard 442.

I'm sure you'll make a good go of it .

[Jamesbfc1887]

3 minutes ago, warlock said:

Man Utd too easy for you?  Just caught your post in the United thread. After we talked about United the other day I thought I'd give them a go myself while I figure out what to do with Barnsley in the Championship.

Accrington looks like a tough gig, but in my current save (Dec 2018) they're sitting 7th in L1. Billy Kee has 17 goals playing in a pretty standard 442.

I'm sure you'll make a good go of it .

Yeah second season at Utd is flying. 54 points after 20 games! Milinkovic Savic is unreal, in my opinion he's the best player on FM full stop.

Billy Kee has been as useful as a silent alarm clock for me  

[robterrace]

Just taken over at Wigan at the end of the first season. They've been relegated, and sacked most of the backroom staff.

Blank slate, and some saleable assets