FM19: The English Football League thread

[Jogo Bonito]

@Jamesbfc1887 Cheers, pleased to see Bogle and Marriott doing a decent job. Derby are a bit 'all or nothing', lots of good youngsters on their way to making a decent career, and lots of experience/veterans. But an exciting squad to mange for sure.

@warlock Welcome back, hope you had a good time. Which league are you looking at?

 

Swansea City - Season 2 planning

Apart from the somewhat surprising 0-0 draw at Yeovil, pre-season results couldn't have been much better

The tour of Portugal gave great confidence early on, with plenty of goals being shared around against some big teams

Defensively it was even better, and only an 84th minute consolation for Genoa in the last outing spoilt a pre-season without conceding

You may have spotted some new names on the score sheet above, so let's move on to the transfer business...

I'm a bit of a rookie managing in the Premier League, but I wanted to stick to my plan of increasing the Welsh contingent in the squad

I also knew that if I wanted to fight against relegation, I had to find some top flight quality if the chance came along

There was also a fairly large group of players (that I didn't want) returning from loan on ridiculous wages

Included in that group was Andre Ayew on £80k per week, whilst plenty of others were earning way too much for their ability

At least I was fortunate that Wilfried Bony's contract was expiring so I could release him (he was on £90k per week)

By mid-July most of my sorting had been done, and even Ayew was taken with Palace paying £100k on top of their £56k per week wage share

Sales figures weren't high, but the wage bill was trimmed by nearly £300k per week through this mix of loans and sales

And that allowed me to bring in plenty of fresh faces myself, including four more Welshmen

And these moves left me with the following 24-man squad ahead of the new Premier League season 

Goalkeepers

It was a straight choice between Danny Ward and Karl Darlow (both Welsh) to challenge Adam Davies in goal

Ward was cheaper and less demanding, and I think I am very happy with my two Welsh 'keepers

Defenders

With Rodon and van der Hoorn forming a good central defensive partnership last year, I just needed some options here

Welshmen James Lawrence and Chris Mepham were available for reasonable fees, and I hope this quartet will be reliable enough

I'm confident that Roberts and Naughton were fine for right-back and I was able to renew the free loan of left-back Reguilon again from Real Madrid

For a long time I was tempted just to use young Blake as cover on the left, once it became clear that I couldn't get Ben Davies from Tottenham

A handful of other offers made didn't really work out, with the most incredible one being a £1m per month loan move for Benjamin Mendy

There's no doubt the fee was high, but £10m for 10 months of him would have been spectacular - unfortunately he rejected the move

The other ideas were much more modest, and I eventually decided that the left-side versatility of Jeffrey Schlupp would be a real asset

Midfielders 

My number one target here was Victor Camarasa, who would be familiar with South Wales after his loan at relegated Cardiff

This one took quite a while to complete, but I was delighted to get this deal done as he has the ability to deliver at this level

I also had Carroll coming back from loan at Aston Villa, plus Fer and Grimes, but I wasn't sure if I needed more

Luka Milivojevic was on the radar, but I had to remember I needed the wage budget for striking improvements later in the window 

Instead I decided that with Lawrence and Ajayi capable of playing centrally in defence or midfield, I should just about have enough

Attacking Midfielders

Alongside Camarasa, I think the purchase of Ayoze Perez was the most pleasing for a bargain fee of just £3.8m

An established player at this level, the Spaniard could play a number of attacking roles but would mainly be just in behind the lone striker

The loan of Liverpool's Welsh winger Harry Wilson was a fantastic opportunity to add an exciting young talent at little cost

I had to fight off plenty of other clubs for his signature, and expect him to play as an inside forward on the right in my 4231

I also tried to get Welshman David Brooks from Bournemouth, but after some initial encouragement, I found that too hard to finalise

Jarrod Bowen and Tom Lawrence were other options, but with James, Lowe and Celina also in the ranks, it was a luxury I resisted

I also have Dyer (who wants to leave but I can't shift) and teenage Portuguese winger Mario Ferreira in the U23 squad if I am really desperate 

Strikers

The central striking role was the most important signing I needed to make, and also the most difficult position to fill

With doubts over McBurnie and Adams, it was clear I needed a capable marksman to give me some threat in front of goal

The choices were quite limited, but I found out that Raul Jimenez was available for just £6.5m from SL Benfica

Unfortunately he didn't want to commit until after the Gold Cup, and then his wage demands were hard to meet

His club did agree to a loan and future fee of £5m in the end, but the player rejected it and I lost the chance to get my man

That left me with a loan option on Tammy Abraham (I didn't want to pay them £50k per week) or two permanent options

That pair was Aleksandar Mitrovic from Fulham, or Cenk Tosun from Everton

I had an offer of £26m and wages of £39k per week accepted for the Serb, but it was a lot of money and I kept dithering

At the same time, I was able to land Tosun for a much more modest £13.5m and wage of £33k per week

Whilst there must be doubts over his top flight pedigree, I decided that the Turkey international could turn out to be a bargain

I'd hoped I could have him and still work a deal for Jimenez, but after he signed I eventually failed on the Mexican

I'm a little concerned if this will come back to haunt me, but I suppose I have to trust McBurnie, Adams and Perez to chip in with a few goals too

 Staff Changes

I finally managed to convince Chris Davies to come back to Swansea as Assistant Manager, and so I happily terminated Billy Reid's contract

Slightly more controversially, I also brought back ex-boss Paul Clement as one of the coaches

Other recruits included former Swansea scout Steve Hetzke returning to his old role

Ex-Brentford man Phil Giles took up the vacant Director of Football role, a position he had performed well at the London club

The only negatives are that I still can't get John Toshack to open talks with me, and HOYD Nigel Rees has retired (not yet replaced)

[DefinitelyTaylor]

9 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Alongside Camarasa, I think the purchase of Ayoze Perez was the most pleasing for a bargain fee of just £3.8m

I feel like this deal is the best of the lot. A cheap deal, but one that is bringing in a young, talented player who has experience in the Premier League with Newcastle. I'm also a fan of Mepham joining the club and hope to see him thrive in the Premier League. Some interesting deals that I'm conflicted over, especially Tosun. A fair chunk of money for somebody that arguably hasn't entirely hit the ground running during his time in the top flight. However, I trust your judgement here and hope to see myself proven wrong! 

[Jogo Bonito]

1 hour ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

I feel like this deal is the best of the lot. A cheap deal, but one that is bringing in a young, talented player who has experience in the Premier League with Newcastle. I'm also a fan of Mepham joining the club and hope to see him thrive in the Premier League. Some interesting deals that I'm conflicted over, especially Tosun. A fair chunk of money for somebody that arguably hasn't entirely hit the ground running during his time in the top flight. However, I trust your judgement here and hope to see myself proven wrong! 

You have every right to be unsure about Tosun, as I am myself. I moved heaven and earth to get Jimenez, but his FM stats probably aren't as strong as Cenk's so I will cross my fingers and hope for the best. I'll read between the lines on the bolded part that you reckon I should have done better (you're probably correct). Unfortunately it's slim pickings for a promoted side. At least the fixture list was kind to me, Huddersfield at home for the season opener...

Edited May 6, 2019 by Jogo Bonito

[smplfc123]

QPR - JANUARY UPDATE

So as seen in my last update, I had a totally unexpected start with the R's, sitting 2nd after 6 games. I was very wary however, that with the lack of depth and quality in the squad, that it may be a false dawn and that the honeymoon period will soon be over. Here are the fixtures since that 1-0 defeat to Birmingham:

The lads carried on pulling off great results through September, October and November, continuing to defy expectations. What pleased me the most was our ability to bounce back from a defeat. A home crushing of Norwich and a tactical masterclass against fellow Rhondda lad Nathan Jones away at the BET365 were particularly pleasing, but my favourite result in that period was away at Rotherham. We were 2-0 down approaching the hour mark when a spirited comeback meant we took all 3 points.

Unfortunately, with our lack of depth and quality in the squad, the number of fixtures in December really hit us, with us only picking up 1 win and 5 points from a possible 18. Here's how the table looks now:

   

So despite our poor December, we sit in 3rd, 1 point off top, although Hull do have 2 games in hand. The lack of form in December was also down to our in form on-loan striker being out for 4 weeks. No, not Wells, Tomer Hemed. Hemed has racked up 11 goals and 2 assists in 13 starts for us so far, being the focal point of our team. Wells on the other hand, has only notched 4 goals in the same amount of games, but 3 of them were in 1 game away to WBA. Joel Lynch, Ryan Manning and Eberechi Eze have been the other outstanding candidates so far this season, with the latter 2 really providing quality from midfield. Manning has 4 goals and 6 assists in a B2B role and Eze has 7 goals and 3 assists from an attacking midfield role. Wszolek has also chipped in with 3 goals and 5 assists from out wide. 

 

I'm hoping that in Jan i'll have the chance to terminate some loans to free up some funds as I have no room to manoeuvre in either budget right now. Adryan has been far too injury prone, Wells a complete disappointment and Cameron hardly every used. Hall will be moved on, along with maybe 1 or 2 others. 

 

The aim was to avoid relegation, with 50 points being the target. The aim for me now is to see if we can somehow hang on a to a play-off spot. I know the depth and quality of other squads in and around the top 6 will pull them away from us, but if we can hang on in there, I'll be delighted. 

Wish me luck!

[green and white barmy army]

Hi all

First time poster on this thread. I'm going to be brave and put up updates on my continuing effort to get Argyle back to the championship. I chose argyle because I support them even though they've just been relegated IRL. So I'm making a fresh start as I'm always sacked from argyle but that's probably cause I'm the worse fm player you'll come across.

Anyway start of the season and I have a transfer budget of 90K and a wage budget of 57K pw, so not much to play around with. I'm currently waiting on my board coming back to me with recommendations for a senior affiliate to hopefully allow me to get some decent loans in.

The media predict me to finish 20th which is just outside the dropzone but I've never achieved that in all my previous saves.

If I am to survive then I need my 2 best players to perform ruben lameiras and graham carey.

 

 

 

hopefully these screenshots open fine.

If any of you have managed Argyle before any advice would be appreciated.

  

[Jogo Bonito]

22 minutes ago, green and white barmy army said:

First time poster on this thread. I'm going to be brave and put up updates on my continuing effort to get Argyle back to the championship. I chose argyle because I support them even though they've just been relegated IRL. So I'm making a fresh start as I'm always sacked from argyle but that's probably cause I'm the worse fm player you'll come across.  

Welcome and best of luck. You guys were unlucky yesterday but hopefully you'll do well and it will lift your spirits. Argyle in L2 next year is one that will probably appeal to me in FM20. 

@smplfc123 To have QPR sat in 3rd at any stage of the season is a massive achievement. Good luck for the rest of your campaign.

[auhsoj]

With the football season sadly coming to an end, I realise that I need something to entertain me until August. I've played FM on and off since 2009 and I've never really gotten into it, yet each Christmas for some reason, I believe this will be the year my Football Managing ability goes up a notch and everything goes perfectly... so I get the game, and put hours into fine-tuning my tactics, scouting potential new recruits and analyzing pre-season friendlies in depth. Then I go 7-0 down to Burton 4 games into the season, start telling the press to "**** off" whenever they ask me something I don't like and, eventually, annoy Steve Lansdown so much I get sacked.

 

And this year was going the same way up until yesterday.

 

THE BRISTOL CITY FC SAVE: Pre-Season, 18/19

First things first, I set up a tactic.

Gegenpressing it is. The plan is to win the ball back in the opponents half, pass it around a bit, then find either Eliasson cutting inside or one of the full-backs high up the pitch. At the back, the plan is to try and catch our opponents offside and if that doesn't work, panic.

 I feel the squad we have is best set-up to play a high press, and whilst I don't think it'll get us out of this division this year, I think a few sensible additions in the next few windows and we could be fighting for the play-offs.

Transfer Business:

No outgoings; I'd rather give everyone a fair chance for 6 months then get rid in January if needs be.

We signed 2 players though:

A big problem for City IRL has been a lack of depth in central-midfield due to 2 long-term injuries to Korey Smith and Lee Johnson's lack of faith in Liam Walsh. Whilst Liam Walsh is certainly not a bad option to have as a back-up on FM19, he's not superb either and there aren't 2 of him, so I signed experienced Argentinian midfielder Mariano Izco on a free, who is capable of playing as a BWM and a BBM. He's only on a 1-year deal which I almost certainly won't extend as I plan to look for younger alternatives next summer.

As Jay DaSilva was practically dying after 4 pre-season games at full-back, I came to the conclusion I needed a rotation option for him. Whilst we do have Lloyd Kelly, I'd rather him play as a CB than a WB on attack. As a result, I signed Diego Caballo from some Spanish side for 675k.

Pre-Season Friendlies:

City 2-0 Lausanne

Irish Pub Team 2-4 Bristol City

Irish Pub Team II 0-3 Bristol City

Bristol City 4-1 Partizan

Bristol City 3-2 PSV

Bristol City 3-0 Bournemouth

 

The first sign that I'm doing something right. Whilst obviously beating 3 semi-pro rubbish sides isn't all that impressive, Partizan are a good side and we thrashed them, and PSV put out a really strong side yet we still managed to scrape through. Bournemouth put out pretty much their best 11 too.

Only negatives from that pre-season is this:

2 disappointing injuries to Webster (which results in him missing most of pre-season) and Caballo means they're both not available for the start of the season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by auhsoj
accidentally attached august results

[smplfc123]

Good luck @auhsoj and @green and white barmy army with your respective saves. Good to see more people getting involved in this thread.

Thanks @Jogo Bonito, certainly going to be an interesting second half to the season. Keen to see those transfers of yours with the Swans.

[auhsoj]

AUGUST 2018

An absolutely blistering start as Brownhill scores from the edge of the box to put us in the lead with barely a minute gone. We continue our ruthless pressure and eventually get our reward with Jack Hunt absolutely rifling in a shot which goes through Pantilimon at his near post. Diedhiou scores but I don't see the goal as I'm too busying being crowdsurfed along the Dolman Stand. I get back to my technical area just in time to see Soudani head in a cross which O'Leary can't quite keep out. I'm nervous at this point but luckily Kalas picks up the ball after a corner and places a shot into the top-right. We switch to a 4-4-1-1 counter attack style, kill the game and coast home to victory in a result which Forest fans attempt to deny ever happened as they won the European Cup in 1882.

It's happening. We're going up. Nevermind thinking of the long-term and not aiming to go up this season, we're going to walk this tinpot league.

Balls.

A frustrating one. Diedhiou scores a close-range effort from a set-piece but apart from that, not a lot happens, until the 92nd minute when, following trying to kill the game once again, a long ball finds Oztumer through on goal and he smashes home.

 

I don't want to talk about it.

 

 

Great response from the lads up until the 85th minute but we can't kill the game off. In other news, water is wet.

 

Poor display here, they seemed to break our press too easily. Eze scores a decent goal from inside the box early on, but we respond from Eliasson who got on to the end of a cross. A minute later Freeman wins a free-kick, it hits Eliasson in the wall and goes in for an OG. That's probably a Guinness World Record of some sort. Anyway, late in the game, we concede a penalty and Hemed scores it and nothing else happens. 3-1 harsh on us but that's what happens when you don't finish your chances.

 

I was happy to not go harsh on the players following the Luton game as that was my fault for going too defensive and making too many changes to the system. But, whilst playing Webster when he had very low match sharpness was not a good idea, the inability of the players to take their chances hurt us in the end.

 

(you see, if I blame the players, I don't have to deal with the inevitable realisation that I'm just not very good at FM.)

 

A response was needed from the last game and we certainly delivered it. Eliasson curled a decent one in from inside the box to open the scoring, then Hunt laid the ball off to Paterson on the edge of the box and he rifled home past Mulder. Swansea got back into it following Fulton's goal but we go slightly more defensive, this time not making wholesale changes to the style of play, and it seems to work as Eliasson wins a penalty following a shove by Carter-Vickers, and Diedhiou converts it. However Fer scores a header from a set-piece to make it a nervy last few minutes, but we hold on.

 

So to summarize this month (I forgot to SS the table at the end of August):

• We're mid-table (11th)
• Boro are top, Blackburn are 2nd and we've got them next
• Diedhiou's got 4 goals in 5 games
• Eliasson is good 

Edited May 6, 2019 by auhsoj
nearly forgot to make a dig at forest fans

[DefinitelyTaylor]

1 hour ago, smplfc123 said:

So despite our poor December, we sit in 3rd, 1 point off top, although Hull do have 2 games in hand. 

You're doing a great job at Loftus Road! Having players like Tomer Hemed to rely on for goals is always helpful. The squad you have at your disposal certainly isn't fantastic, let alone taking into account the lack of depth. Results may have dipped recently, but I have full confidence that you can look to improve them over the coming months.

42 minutes ago, green and white barmy army said:

First time poster on this thread. I'm going to be brave and put up updates on my continuing effort to get Argyle back to the championship. I chose argyle because I support them even though they've just been relegated IRL. 

Welcome to the thread! Good luck with Argyle and I'm sorry to see you were relegated. Whilst the scenes at Southend were great to watch, I can only imagine the disappointment at Home Park, when it seemed you were surviving on the very last day. Hopefully you can enjoy some better luck.

1 minute ago, auhsoj said:

And this year was going the same way up until yesterday.

Welcome! Bristol City are an exciting team with a lot of talented players at their disposal, so I'm hopeful that you'll enjoy your save with them and continue to post here. We love to see activity in this thread, although I'm one to talk with the lack of save activity from myself.  A mixed start to life at Ashton Gate, but plenty of positives to take away from your early results, despite a few set-backs like an early departure from the Carabao Cup at the hands of Luton. The likes of Famara Diedhiou and Josh Brownhill will be pivotal to your success, for me.

[auhsoj]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6

1 minute ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

You're doing a great job at Loftus Road! Having players like Tomer Hemed to rely on for goals is always helpful. The squad you have at your disposal certainly isn't fantastic, let alone taking into account the lack of depth. Results may have dipped recently, but I have full confidence that you can look to improve them over the coming months.

Welcome to the thread! Good luck with Argyle and I'm sorry to see you were relegated. Whilst the scenes at Southend were great to watch, I can only imagine the disappointment at Home Park, when it seemed you were surviving on the very last day. Hopefully you can enjoy some better luck.

Welcome! Bristol City are an exciting team with a lot of talented players at their disposal, so I'm hopeful that you'll enjoy your save with them and continue to post here. We love to see activity in this thread, although I'm one to talk with the lack of save activity from myself.  A mixed start to life at Ashton Gate, but plenty of positives to take away from your early results, despite a few set-backs like an early departure from the Carabao Cup at the hands of Luton. The likes of Famara Diedhiou and Josh Brownhill will be pivotal to your success, for me.

Yeah, Fam's probably been the stand-out player so far. He's surprisingly good as a PF on this game, which may be due to his pace and natural fitness stats probably being quite a bit too high, but I'm not complaining, 4 in 5 is really good going. 

[swansongs]

@Jogo Bonito Nice work on the career so far. Jarrod Bowen doesn't have a Welsh bone in his body, though. 

[john1]

Is anyone in here, are managing Leicester City? If so, do you get taken over as I am currently managing them I just hit February 2019. and we are currently in red  Had to sell Ricardo Pereira to Man Utd to generate funds to buy players. Yet to receive news saying club in takeovers talks etc etc,

 

Edited May 6, 2019 by john1

[Jamesbfc1887]

@smplfc123 Quaality start to the season, I really didn't enjoy my save with QPR, good to see your doing so well. I couldn't get a tune out of Eze either. Good luck.

@green and white barmy army It's a shame about the other day, that's about as unlucky as you can get. I presume Carey and Lameiras will be going in the summer as well.

[green and white barmy army]

@Jamesbfc1887 Unfortunately the Accrington result the week took it out of our hands, it seemed as though the players just gave up until the final game after Adams was sacked. I would be very surprised if Carey, Lameiras and Ladapo were with us next season. Would be nice if I can get all 3 to play well on my game as that will help greatly in trying to stay up.

[green and white barmy army]

So my first update and its the end of pre season. As you can see it was it was a clean sweep of wins including 1 notable victory over Feyenoord. Got the lads playing tiki taka in an almost bog standard 4-4-2, ususally with the right winger moved up, not used any PIs or OIs but will monitor the games closely to see if I need to use them. So fingers crossed that I can actually last a whole season.

 

[Jamesbfc1887]

Derby

Transfer Update

Outs:

Unfortunately thanks to our system there's been very little need for wingers this season, therefore:

Florian Jozefzoon and Duane Holmes both exited in January, Reading part with £1.3mil for Jozefzoon which the board weren't best pleased with considering they'd outlayed £2.5mil for the Dutchman just 6 months ago. Roos and Cole also left, neither of them contributing, other than to increase our wage bill. The talented Max Bird -who I saw make his debut for Derby in 2017, at the tender age of 16!!!- left on loan for some 1st team experience.

Ins:

Going into the transfer window, I felt we needed a striker with the ageing Nugent not really offering the quality required as a backup option and young Mason Bennett isn't quite ready to contribute on a regular occasion. So naturally I didn't bring a striker in -obviously-.

The 1st signing was Joe Aribo from Charlton, someone I came close to signing in the summer to add some youth to our ageing midfield. A real talented player as well, with 5 months on his contract we got him for a snip of his actual value.

Nick Powell, also found his contract running down to it's last 6 months. £2.6mil seems like a hefty price to put down for the former Manchester United man, but he'll be more than worth it I'm sure.

Joe Wildsmith comes in on loan, with what looks like a strange signing. We're above Wednesday in the league and we're taking their 3rd choice keeper on loan. Hopefully he won't have to step in too often. 

Two signings for the future in, Ellis Chapman and Mak Varesanovic.

Chapman looks like a great player in the making, well worth £145k

So no new striker, we tried for Ben Woodburn as well as some of the top strikers in the Championship a la, Che Adams, Neal Maupay etc. But to now avail.

Edited May 6, 2019 by Jamesbfc1887

[DefinitelyTaylor]

24 minutes ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

Nick Powell, also found his contract running down to it's last 6 months. £2.6mil seems like a hefty price to put down for the former Manchester United man, but he'll be more than worth it I'm sure.

Some tidy business there, especially in Powell and Aribo. Those two options will significantly improve your options in midfield and bolster your chances of pushing for those play-off places. 

Think you've put the same screenshot twice, though.  

[torquayfmer]

@Jamesbfc1887 Some good signings, Aribo has caused me problems against Charlton and is someone I'm keeping an eye on myself if we are promoted this season, so I'll look forward to your updates!

@green and white barmy army I'm not sure if brave is the word I'd describe for wanting to manage Argyle, but I might be biased  unlucky on the result the other day, hopefully it might not be too much longer before there's another local derby but I hope that's from Torquay going up again not Argyle going down!

[Jamesbfc1887]

22 minutes ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

Think you've put the same screenshot twice, though.  

There we go 

[green and white barmy army]

I do really hate this game, 2 games into the season and I've given away 2 goal leads in both so when I should have 6 points I only have 2. Im sure this version is the most difficult fm I have ever played  

[Dong21]

Haven't had much of a chance to play any FM recently as I've been in the process of moving house, but have been keeping an eye on this thread. Some really great detailed posts and it's been good to see quite a few new faces among the regulars - welcome all!

Hoping to find some time to finish my seventh season at The Valley soon.

@Jamesbfc1887 I have a feeling Aribo will be a cracking signing for you - he's certainly served me well over the years!

Edited May 6, 2019 by Dong21

[warlock]

Well, just came here to announce my latest save and discover I've been usurped!

My weekend away was to visit my daughter for her 20th birthday; she's at uni in... Plymouth. And given the events of the weekend I figured I'd take on the Argyle and see if we couldn't rewrite history this season. Still, a little friendly rivalry is a good thing, right? 

Spent this evening sorting out the backroom staff, and made a couple of loan signings. Pre-season, so far, has been uneventful but against non-league opposition. First league games are against Coventry and Peterborough, so we'll see just how good (?) we are.

@green and white barmy army Good to have you with us, and good luck!

@auhsoj Welcome, and I think you'll do well with Bristol City... I had a great save with them last year; a lot of quality players there.

And to our regular contributors, keep up the good work, and may all our signings be successful!

[smplfc123]

QPR UPDATE - THE RUN IN

So when I left you at the end of 2018, we were sitting in the 3rd behind Aston Villa and Hull City, with the former being our next fixture. I was worried that we would go through a bad patch at some point and would slip. Here's how we got on:

Our start to 2019 was brilliant. Three 1-0 wins away to Villa, Sheff Utd and home to Preston were not expected at all, putting us top of the Championship. Our 1-0 defeat to WBA was only due to Luke Freeman being sent off after 26 minutes as we gave them a good game with 10 men for such a long time. February was mixed, but I felt we recovered well with a few excellent results starting with Boro away. Unfortunately, our bad patch has come at the crucial point of the season and has meant we have dropped down. The quality in the starting 11 isn't strong enough to sustain a challenge, never mind the quality in the depth of the squad. Here is how the table looks after 40 games:

So now we are sat in 4th. I think with the form they are in, both Leeds and Villa will run away with the league. January was quiet in terms of business. I only really wanted to add quality to the team, but was unable to find anything to make a difference. Grant Hall was shipped out to Cincinati £190k and Matt Smith to Clermont for £175k, clearing some of the wage bill. With Smith gone, I only had 2 recognised strikers, so a deadline day panic saw James Collins arrive from Luton as a back up option for £200k. 

Obviously hearing that I'd been slagging him off, Nahki Wells has decided to get a grip and is now on 15 goals in the league, moving above Hemed. It seems that our awful home form since the turn of the year and our inability to grind out a draw has let us down, but again I just have to remember that my initial aim was to avoid relegation. I'm just hoping now that we can arrest the slide and hang on to a play off spot. I have a 9 point gap over 7th and i'm hoping that will be enough to get me through.

Wish me luck!

[Mackem742]

1st season back in the Championship with Charlton is going better than expected. The board just expected me to avoid relegation back to League 1 and because of the financial situation at the club I couldnt buy anyone. The only player who came in was Jason Cummings (ST) from Notts Forrest and he has been a revelation, he has 20+ goals as I head into March. By the time the January transfer window came around I was expecting to have to sell some of my better players (Tarrique-Fosu and Aribo) but as I was flirting with the play off places I decided to hang onto them and make a push for a play off place. Currently in March and im 6th, 4 points clear of Brentford in 7th. Playing really well at the minute.

However, the financial situation is dire (6 million in the red, losing 1 million every month and not making anywhere close to that). Promotion is kind of imperative now, if not it will be a firesale at the club and everyone will go. One silver lining is ive just had that magical news item saying that the clubs chairman is trying to sell the club. Its going to be an exciting end to the season whatever happens!

[warlock]

1 hour ago, smplfc123 said:

I just have to remember that my initial aim was to avoid relegation

Very much this! Whatever happens, you have to be happy to be in the playoff positions in April. Great achievement .

47 minutes ago, Mackem742 said:

Promotion is kind of imperative now, if not it will be a firesale at the club and everyone will go

I know that feeling! Here's hoping you can clinch a playoff spot, and new owners would be welcome, too, I think.

[smplfc123]

@warlock Thanks mate, much appreciated.

 

We did manage to get our act together, arresting the slide and gave ourselves a chance for automatic promotion. However, despite an excellent 5-2 away win at Sheff Weds on the final day of the season, Villa matched our result, meaning this is how the table finished:

So it's Preston in the play-offs, with the first leg being away from home. Hull have been in absolutely horrendous form, so i'd go as far as saying Stoke will be one of the teams at Wembley. Hopefully I can join them. Wish me luck!

 

[Chelski Shogun]

Shrewsbury Town Update

So with promotion all sorted it was time to turn my head towards recruitment for the new season. The aim being to get a squad together capable of avoiding relegation and hopefully consolidating our position in the Championship. As I mentioned in my previous update the board have been rather generous handing me a £3m transfer budget and a wage budget of £80k to help our cause. I'll start off with the outgoings.

Firstly three key senior players in Scott Golbourne, Anthony Grant and Mat Sadler were released as they are all 30+ and just aren't quite cut out for the Championship (plus they wanted silly wages). Followed by a whole host of rotational/backup and youth players. Then as the transfer window approached Watford and Swansea decided to get into a bidding war over Ro-Shaun Williams, so I kept bumping up the price and in the end he was sold for a massive £4.8m (unfortunately Man United were owed a percentage from his sale which was around £1m)! Sunderland went from being one of our division rivals to spending £1.5m on our unwanted players as Amadi-Holloway, Norburn and Waterfall all left for the North East of England. Ryan Haynes handed in a transfer request and left for a cut price deal to MK Dons. Finally Angol, Okenabirhie and Vincelot complained when they were left out from the squad registration and consequently left on one-year loan deals. So that's the major outgoings done, time for the transfers in and I was extremely active in the window.

The first to arrive were the experienced heads of Lee Wallace and Mark Little. Both of their contracts were expiring but I put in offers for £0 which Rangers and Bolton accepted so I could get them in earlier. Then the bargains of the window arrived in playmaker Fabinho who joined from Portuguese side Famalicão for a fee of £6k and we raided Rangers again for promising box-to-box midfielder Jamie Barjonas who arrived for £50k (he should help fill the void left by Greg Docherty). 

So with our defence and midfield bolstered (to an extent) I decided to turn my attention towards signing a striker, and that's when I noticed Norwich had transfer listed the mobile target-man Dennis Srbeny who joined for a fee rising to £475k. Once the Srbeny deal was all wrapped up I moved for a new starting goalkeeper and that's when Connor Ripley joined us. Preston transfer listed him and for a fee of £110k it was a no-brainer. Then my attention turned back to finding another striker as I needed someone to compliment Srbeny up top as I utilise a 4-4-2 system, and I had to fill the gap left by our top goalscorer from last season Stefan Payne. This was probably the hardest signing off all, in the end it was a toss up between either Ikoma Lois Openda from Club Brugge or Sporting Gijón's Uroš Đurđević. As you can see I eventually went for Openda and in the process smashed our previous transfer record. He's only 19 so his best years are still yet to come, his off the ball and positioning stats aren't the best but if it doesn't work out for him up top then he'll be re-trained as a winger. So in came Openda for £1.8m!

Then the 1st of July was upon us so that means one thing... pre-contract signings arrive! In came Carpi's commanding centre-back Alessandro Ligi, club trained man Callum Burton (who was on loan with us last season) and Barcelona B's promising target man Alejandro Marqués. Marqués' signing was a real coup for us. I beat a host of other Championship clubs to his signing and he has the potential to become a Premier League striker in the future. He'll compete with Srbeny and David Edwards for the starting target man spot this season.

The pre-contract signings were soon followed by the loan signings of Marcus Browne and Josh Cullen. Both impressed me last season in League One and with their contracts expiring at West Ham, I'm hoping to sweeten them up and get them on free transfers at the end of the season. Red Star Belgrade's left-back Stefan Hajdin joined us for £125k to offer competition and eventually usurp Lee Wallace. Shamrock Rover's promising young winger Trevor Clarke was signed for a fee of £250k. More experience was brought in with the free signings of Jack Hobbs, Jonathan Walters and Calum Woods. But the big signing was the arrival of Huddersfield's Abdelhamid Sabiri. The last signing I really needed was a new left-sided inverted winger and my mind was set on Malmo's Arnór Ingvi Traustason but after a lot of back and forth unfortunately we just couldn't come to an agreement. Then Huddersfield handed us a lifeline by transfer listing Sabiri and in he came for a fee rising to £600k.

Finally I made a couple of loan signings to bolster the squad. Watford's promising centre-back Ben Wilmot came in along with Tottenham's Oliver Skipp. In typical fashion though just four days after Skipp's arrival he ruptured his ACL and will be out for the rest of the season (bye bye in January).

So with the summer transfers all done we've managed to massively improve our squad and raise £6.5m from player sales, leaving us with an overall profit of £3.4m. I'm extremely confident in avoiding relegation but it's a long season and anything can happen. However our form so far suggests we'll be alright...

Unfortunately we were knocked out in the League Cup by Southampton, but after nine league games played we're currently undefeated and sit top of the table!

The only worry I have is that apart from the Bristol City result we tend not to score too many goals and the early form of Openda is worrying. Out of all the strikers he's still yet to score for the club, but he still causes problems with his pace and direct dribbling so I'm sure he'll come good. However Browne and Sabiri have been in fantastic form, scoring a total of 9 and assisting a further 5 goals between them. Anyway we've set ourselves up for a good season so hopefully we can keep up the good form and reach our target of avoiding relegation.

Edited May 7, 2019 by Chelski Shogun

[warlock]

1 hour ago, smplfc123 said:

So it's Preston in the play-offs

Gah! That was so close to automatic promotion. Hopefully, you can produce a couple of good performances and see it through!

49 minutes ago, Chelski Shogun said:

after nine league games played we're currently undefeated and sit top of the table!

Amazing start. Keep it up!!

[smplfc123]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

Gah! That was so close to automatic promotion. Hopefully, you can produce a couple of good performances and see it through!

Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. A 1-0 defeat in the first leg I wasn't too displeased with, however 2 early goals in the return leg killed us. We fought back to make it 2-2 on the night, but a Maguire penalty sealed Preston's route to Wembley with a 4-2 aggregate victory. They will now play Hull (shocked me) after they hammered Stoke over 2 legs. 

I'm now going to have a think about where I go from here. Do I stay with QPR, find a new club, or start a new save....?

[warlock]

1 hour ago, smplfc123 said:

Unfortunately, it wasn't to be

Commiserations! Playoffs are always a lottery.

1 hour ago, smplfc123 said:

Do I stay with QPR, find a new club, or start a new save....?

The eternal question 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

6 hours ago, Mackem742 said:

The board just expected me to avoid relegation back to League 1 and because of the financial situation at the club I couldnt buy anyone.

It's always a positive when the boards expectations aren't too high. It certainly relives the pressure off of you and means that you can relax, to a degree. I'm a great fan of Cummings, I think he's a great player (and he seems a right laugh irl too), but I'm surprised to hear of his goal return - that's absolutely fantastic. Glad to see you're in a prime position to hold onto a play-off place, which is a fantastic achievement given this is your first season back in the second tier. It's now a case of ensuring you do enough to hold onto them, which I'm confident you can do! The financial situation doesn't sound too pleasing at all, though. I'm hoping the takeover brings some investment, or it could be a difficult summer if you're unable to pull off a shocking promotion! 

4 hours ago, Chelski Shogun said:

So with promotion all sorted it was time to turn my head towards recruitment for the new season.

A lot to go through here... 

A decent fee gathered for Williams, despite the fact a good portion of it will go to United. I'm not too surprised to see most of those names depart, with plenty of them not ready at all for Championship football. Although, Norburn perhaps has the potential in the distant future, but for the here and now, I can understand your decision to allow him to depart. A lot of quality brought in and you have maximised your budget excellently, by finding talented players for bargain fees. A very shrewd transfer window indeed, I have to say. I'm glad to see this has transitioned into the league season with a dream start - far beyond your expectations, I would expect. Here's hoping that Openda can find his form soon, but also that Browne and Sabiri can continue their form! You're in great stead to reach your target of surviving.

2 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. A 1-0 defeat in the first leg I wasn't too displeased with, however 2 early goals in the return leg killed us. We fought back to make it 2-2 on the night, but a Maguire penalty sealed Preston's route to Wembley with a 4-2 aggregate victory.

Hard luck mate... Make the decision you have to! 

Edited May 7, 2019 by DefinitelyTaylor

[warlock]

Well, the Plymouth adventure has come to a premature end.

Played through the first couple of months this morning and got off to a flying start. A scruffy home draw against Coventry didn't bode well, but we followed that up with a 6-0 spanking of Peterborough away. And by and large we kept up the good form. By the middle of September we were second to runaway leaders Charlton. Then the wheels fell off. By early October we had gone 9 games undefeated; by mid-November we had lost 7 in a row. Then the changing room rebellions started... players moaning about the atmosphere and how it wasn't fun. By the beginning of December we were 15th.

With an eye to our early season form, I figured it was my fault for tinkering too much with the tactics. So I started over. Instead of a 433 I went for a 442 (the same that brought me incredible success with Mansfield). Unmitigated disaster!

With all due respect to a fan like @green and white barmy army, this is probably the worst squad I've managed this year. On the face of it, they have three or four excellent players in Carey, Ladapo, Lameiras and Sarcevic but they just never turned up. Constantly among the worst for training, and rarely performed on the field. It was as though they thought they were far too good for the team. And I can tell you that the collective noun for Plymouth defenders is "a shambles". In one game we were 2-0 up at half-time, and eventually lost 5-4. How do you concede 5 goals in a half? I don't think I've conceded 5 goals in a game more than two or three times ever, let alone in 45 minutes.

Really thought I'd enjoy this one, but it was like root canal treatment 

Back to the drawing board...

[DefinitelyTaylor]

39 minutes ago, warlock said:

Well, the Plymouth adventure has come to a premature end.

Sounds great!  Best of luck with the next one... hopefully you'll have enjoy yourself a little more. 

[Mackem742]

4 games to go in the Championship with Charlton and im 6 points clear of 7th and currently sit in 5th. As it stands id be playing Watford in the playoffs who have done the double over me this season (a 0-1 and 1-2 defeats) so im not confident playing them. The other possibilities are Brentford and Swansea, depending on where we all finish, its so tight. Burnley and Stoke have the top 2 spaces sealed pretty much.

The takeover situation seemed to have hit the rocks but I recieved a news item last night just before I turned the game off that it was back on and an announcement was due in a few days so hopefully exciting times ahead!

In other news, my club Sunderland got relegated back to League 1 after sacking me when I had them in 2nd place the season before, they ended up getting promoted but then got relegated again in the season I won promotion from League 1. Sunderland are now on course to be promoted back to the Championship so if I dont go up then a reunion is on the cards. I still love Sunderland in real life but Ive got a grudge against them in game 

[Mackem742]

16 hours ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

It's always a positive when the boards expectations aren't too high. It certainly relives the pressure off of you and means that you can relax, to a degree. I'm a great fan of Cummings, I think he's a great player (and he seems a right laugh irl too), but I'm surprised to hear of his goal return - that's absolutely fantastic. Glad to see you're in a prime position to hold onto a play-off place, which is a fantastic achievement given this is your first season back in the second tier. It's now a case of ensuring you do enough to hold onto them, which I'm confident you can do! The financial situation doesn't sound too pleasing at all, though. I'm hoping the takeover brings some investment, or it could be a difficult summer if you're unable to pull off a shocking promotion! 

 

It will be an unbelievable promotion should I manage it! The only disappointment the board have with me is that I havent reduced the wage bill as much as hey would have liked. If I was in a mid table position in January I probably would have cashed in on a few of the higher value players but when I saw a chance of a premier League promotion was on I couldnt let them go. If I dont go up and the takeover doesnt come off it could be a disaster!

[green and white barmy army]

@warlock In fairness that's still better than anything I've managed with argyle in previous saves. Its unlucky you didn't last long with argyle, in a way it kinda backs up what I've said about argyle being one of the most difficult to manage in the efl. At the minute I've just played 2 leagues games and drew both 2-2 after winning 2-0 in both . Currently playing a my own version of a 4-4-2 with carey playing as a left winger inline with central mid, and lameiras playing as an inside forward from the right and Ladapo and the youngster fletcher up front. Carey has started quite well which is idea, just hope he carries on. will hopefully play a few more games tonight.   

[smplfc123]

Sorry @Jogo Bonito whilst busy updating my story on here I totally missed your summer update. Some interesting signings there, really like the Perez one.

Sorry to hear that @warlock. How about joining me at Loftus Road? I've decided to stay on for now.

[warlock]

2 hours ago, green and white barmy army said:

it kinda backs up what I've said about argyle being one of the most difficult to manage in the efl

Well, I certainly found them very difficult indeed! A more determined manager would probably have enjoyed the challenge, but in my defence I came down with a streaming cold on Monday so I was pretty miserable and bad-tempered yesterday .

Still, onwards and upwards... thinking carefully about a Norwich save, see if I can replicate their real-world success story. A lot of very good youngsters, too.

3 hours ago, Mackem742 said:

4 games to go in the Championship with Charlton and im 6 points clear of 7th and currently sit in 5th

Good work there! Fingers crossed for a few more good games.

35 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

How about joining me at Loftus Road? I've decided to stay on for now

Glad to hear you're sticking with it... hopefully you can bridge the gap this season.

[Mackem742]

Playoff spot secured with a game to spare, cant finish any higher than 5th.

The last few games have gone like this:

Burnley 1 - 3 Charlton - Very suprising result, Burnley have been promoted.

Bristol City 3 - 2 Charlton - Disappointing

Charlton 4 - 1 Blackburn - This secured the play off place, I was 0-1 down at half time, 2nd half we were sensational.

One game left away at Middlesbrough, Im 3 points ahead of 6th place Swansea but my GD is superior so it looks like 5th place. Play off semi final will be against Watford or Brentford.

Oh and the takeover went ahead, Ill see what that means for us in the summer transfer window.

[Chelski Shogun]

On 07/05/2019 at 16:04, warlock said:

Amazing start. Keep it up!!

Thanks! It's a shame to hear your adventures at Plymouth came to an abrupt end but hopefully you'll find another team that inspires you soon.

On 07/05/2019 at 19:56, DefinitelyTaylor said:

A lot to go through here... 

A decent fee gathered for Williams, despite the fact a good portion of it will go to United. I'm not too surprised to see most of those names depart, with plenty of them not ready at all for Championship football. Although, Norburn perhaps has the potential in the distant future, but for the here and now, I can understand your decision to allow him to depart. A lot of quality brought in and you have maximised your budget excellently, by finding talented players for bargain fees. A very shrewd transfer window indeed, I have to say. I'm glad to see this has transitioned into the league season with a dream start - far beyond your expectations, I would expect. Here's hoping that Openda can find his form soon, but also that Browne and Sabiri can continue their form! You're in great stead to reach your target of surviving.

Cheers! We were the most active club throughout the entire English leagues when it came to transfers in but I did manage to condense the post... a bit

The mass purge was definitely needed and there's only four players from last season that are still here (with Alex Gilliead and Josh Laurent being the ones who are Championship ready). As for Norburn he will become a decent Championship player but he started kicking up a fuss about game time and he was very inconsistent. I wouldn't have sold Norburn if it weren't for the fact that Sunderland paid over the odds for him.

Overall this was probably the most fun I've had during a transfer window for a while. But rather sadistically I do enjoy spending hours scouring the globe for random players/deals (Fabinho being a prime example of that). It's probably why my saves take longer than they should.

[Jogo Bonito]

On ‎06‎/‎05‎/‎2019 at 18:21, swansongs said:

@Jogo Bonito Nice work on the career so far. Jarrod Bowen doesn't have a Welsh bone in his body, though. 

Thanks, it's been enjoyable so far. I guess future FM versions will reflect his nationality better, as currently in game he is eligible for Wales and England. I have read up on it a bit more and it seems the Wales links were explored and then dismissed in 2017. Lucky I never signed him (thanks greedy agent) as he is showing as English 1st and Welsh 2nd now in game. 

Good to read the updates from everybody else (except @warlock - sorry your Plymouth management career didn't pan out), but way too many to comment on individually (which is a good sign of a popular thread). And now my first PL update with Swansea...

 

I was so grateful for Huddersfield at home to get the season underway

But going a goal down early on, and then 2-1 down, made me think this would be a long hard season

Somehow the team came storming back though, and I managed to smash them 6-2 to get the season off to a flying start

A more realistic loss at Liverpool followed, but then new signing Cenk Tosun saved the day with an equaliser from the bench at home to Bournemouth

The Turk had been injured since signing, but that was a really pleasing introduction to the team with a debut goal

The baptism of fire in my PL away fixtures continued with Arsenal, Chelsea and then Tottenham following the Anfield trip

Unsurprisingly, they all ended in defeat (the 7-3 at Arsenal was a shocker after being only 3-2 down at the break)

In contrast, I twice took the lead at Tottenham and only a 90th minute winner from Harry Kane saw off my challenge

A vital win over Burnley at home in October kept me just above the drop zone, but two more away defeats followed

I'd chopped and changed the formation a lot until November, but have now adopted a 523 (2 x CM and 2 wide forwards supporting the striker)

This formation seems to be working better for me, although it means I am forced to use either James or Perez from the bench too often

But that's a small sacrifice when looking at the results in November, and I suppose it keeps them both fresh

Since the switch, I've managed an away win at struggling Leeds, two spirited draws (conceding late goals in both) and defeated Leicester last time out 

To go a month and four games unbeaten never seemed likely earlier in the season, so I have a small amount of survival hope building 

The results in the last month have seen me hoist my team up to 11th, but before that last win I was constantly 14th to 17th in the table

As you will see from the results, the regular names on the score sheet are Harry Wilson and lone striker Tosun

Wilson has been superb as an inside forward cutting in from the right, with a stack of goals and assists

Tosun, the big money signing and biggest doubt in my mind, has easily exceeded expectations so far too

Always a threat in the box and a lethal finisher, he has 11 goals from 13(2) club appearances, with 8 from 11(1) in the  league

It's early days, but recent results have suggested that I might be able to muddle my way through the season without being relegated

Financially all the good work of last season was undone when strengthening the squad, but the balance is on the up now and should soon be fine again

[warlock]

5 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

It's early days, but recent results have suggested that I might be able to muddle my way through the season without being relegated

Agreed! First couple of months in the PL are always a baptism of fire, I think. But it looks as though you've found your feet now and you've really only lost games you'd expect to lose against the bigger clubs.

I'm working my way through pre-season with Norwich - a bit of a struggle given the number of injuries they start with. Not seeing much from the likes of Pukki and Buendia; I'm hoping that's just pre-season complacency and not a sign of things to come. Will post a proper update when the transfer window closes.

[Jogo Bonito]

1 minute ago, warlock said:

Agreed! First couple of months in the PL are always a baptism of fire, I think. But it looks as though you've found your feet now and you've really only lost games you'd expect to lose against the bigger clubs.

I'm working my way through pre-season with Norwich - a bit of a struggle given the number of injuries they start with. Not seeing much from the likes of Pukki and Buendia; I'm hoping that's just pre-season complacency and not a sign of things to come. Will post a proper update when the transfer window closes.

Cheers, yeah those away fixtures were tough and I was well out of my depth. It could easily come crashing down around me, time will tell.

I've got Norwich high on my list to manage as a celebration of their superb season. I'll probably only do the one season with them, unless I don't get them promoted! Sorry, I digress as usual...

I look forward to reading your On The Ball City updates, and I'm sure you'll get tunes from Pukki and Buendia soon enough! They've got some cracking players for this level, and were a joy to watch this season on many occasions.

[smplfc123]

Congratulations on managing a tricky start to life in the prem @Jogo Bonito hopefully you can keep the Swans in and around mid-table.

Good luck with Norwich @warlock 
 

QPR - SEASON 2 - SUMMER UPDATE

So after massively overachieving at Loftus Road last season with us finishing 3rd with an average squad at best, I decided to carry on and accept a 2 year contract at the club. I know realistically that I'm not going to reach the dizzy heights of last season, especially with a team like Leicester coming down. I didn't have much to play with, £2m or so and I didn't really want to sell anyone, but with Hemed, Wells, Paganini, Cameron and Adryan's loans all expiring, I had some holes in the squad I wanted to fill. I decided I didn't want to rely too much on loans this season, here's what happened:

Outs - Not shown on that list above, Cousins, Rangel and Baptiste were all released. David Wheeler was initially the only player sold, but then after our window had shut, recently relegated Frankfurt made an offer for Leistner that I couldn't refuse. Yes I can't use the money to strengthen my squad right now, but it added some much needed funds in to the club and with him not being first choice at the start of the season, I felt I could probably scrape through until at least January with the 4 centre halves I had at the club. Not on the list above as he's not leaving until 5th of Feb, Pawel Wszolek through his dummy out of the pram and I had no choice to agree a deal with LAFC in the MLS. Again after the window shuts so wont be able to replace him, but hoping I have enough to get me through until feb.

Ins - With not much to spend, I picked up 2 free centre halves. Zieries had a decent season with St Pauli and has been brilliant for us since joining, Wilson a youngster with potential. Alex Tettey felt like the perfect buy to add some much needed experience, leadership and aggression to our spine and was a great deal for that price. My 2 bigger money signings were from League 1, but 2 players I have had on many shortlists over numerous saves. Lyle Taylor and Jamal Lowe were brought in to add pace to our attack. Thorsby and Cardona were brought in on loan, although I don't see the latter going on to have much of an impact.

A great pre-season was almost backed up with a good performance against newly-relegated Huddersfield. Unfortunately 2 Van La Parra strikes pegged us back. Good wins against Luton and Sheff Weds came either side of my fringe players losing in the cup away to Gillingham. We should have taken all 3 points at the Riverside and were toothless at The Valley but we bounced back with Lyle Taylor netting his first for the club with a comfortable win over Wigan.

Amiot (who was a steal by the way, chuffed with that find) and Manning have been the stand out players so far and after the first month of fixtures, we find ourselves sitting in 4th. The boards aim is for us to finish top half, so that's what I'm gunning for. Wish me luck.

 

[warlock]

29 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

we find ourselves sitting in 4th

A good start, and it looks as though you've managed to strengthen the squad, which is often as much as you can hope for. The newly-relegated sides often struggle so I wouldn't be at all surprised if you make the playoffs again. Hopefully with a better outcome this time 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

12 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

It's early days, but recent results have suggested that I might be able to muddle my way through the season without being relegated

The last month or so has definitely helped your cause, given your tricky start to life in the top flight. I'm glad to see Tosun has proved us all wrong, too, scoring plenty of goals to aid your survival bid. Hopefully he'll keep that form going, as it will be a major benefit if you wish to survive - in which looks fairly possible.

12 hours ago, warlock said:

I'm working my way through pre-season with Norwich - a bit of a struggle given the number of injuries they start with. Not seeing much from the likes of Pukki and Buendia; I'm hoping that's just pre-season complacency and not a sign of things to come. Will post a proper update when the transfer window closes.

Good luck with Norwich! I'm not too surprised to see at least one person has been persuaded by their efforts irl. Hopefully you'll get the best out of Pukki and Buendia eventually.

11 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

After the first month of fixtures, we find ourselves sitting in 4th. The boards aim is for us to finish top half, so that's what I'm gunning for.

It's always difficult working on a shoe-string budget, when you have sides capable of splashing the cash - but I feel like you've made the most of the budget at your disposal. Lowe and Taylor are very capable players, who should be able to handle the step up to the Championship. The loan market continues to be used well, with a capable of freebies brought in too. A decent fee recouped for Leistner, given he wasn't entirely in your plans and therefore it's a sensible decision to cash in. It certainly hasn't hindered your league form, in which is fantastic, all things considered. Well on course to achieve your boards aims, although it is extremely early days! 

[Jogo Bonito]

19 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

Congratulations on managing a tricky start to life in the prem @Jogo Bonito hopefully you can keep the Swans in and around mid-table.

 The boards aim is for us to finish top half, so that's what I'm gunning for. Wish me luck.

 

Thanks mate, hopefully so but anywhere above the drop zone will be satisfying!

You're doing a brilliant job with QPR, setting Mark Warburton a high bar! Top half would be excellent, but 4th or a top-six finish again would be an amazing achievement if you can keep it up. I like the signings of Lowe & Taylor, have had good results managing both of them in recent years.

@DefinitelyTaylor Yes, very happy (and surprised) to see this return from Tosun! The current 11th position is flattering as we haven't been that high until the last win, but it gives us a cushion when the inevitable happens and form tails off. How are  you doing at Southend? If you don't update in here, I'm not sure if anybody will believe you're actually managing them

[DefinitelyTaylor]

34 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

How are  you doing at Southend? If you don't update in here, I'm not sure if anybody will believe you're actually managing them

Haha! Haven't been on for a little bit, in truth. We seem to all be busy at different times atm. I'll update you when I can! 

[Jogo Bonito]

30 minutes ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

Haha! Haven't been on for a little bit, in truth. We seem to all be busy at different times atm. I'll update you when I can! 

Yeah, I can't imagine the frustration of a network game for that reason. Good luck when you get going again