[FM20] Derby County - Why manage the Rams? / How are you getting on?

[Stackalee]

22 minutes ago, OJ403 said:

This seems to be the common trend in the thread. Out of interest how does Bielik perform at the back for everyone? 

He was the point deep in my midfield for the Championship season, then later started getting game time at CB. He's largely the same there for me, in terms of average ratings and most of his general performance.

The reason i moved him back was in harder matches I was finding him getting pressured in to mistakes in the DM slot, with opposition number 10s often closing him down his one footedness and sloppy first touch seemed to become more of an issue. In at CB he's had more space in general so has been able to keep up his performances at a higher level without causing me any grief.

Edit - just remembered he played CB in the Championship before I settled on a back 4 also, but the main point remains he's been fine for me there.

Edited May 19, 2020 by Stackalee

[smplfc123]

9 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@smplfc123 Some tough ones there mate. I'm sure you'll get the right changes put in place soon, hopefully the board won't lump any pressure on you until then.

Cheers @Jogo Bonito to be fair the board are still grading me at B's and C's at monthly meetings as they just want to avoid a relegation battle which we are well clear of.

8 hours ago, Impz82 said:

@smplfc123 i am no fm expert, but I have a feeling the inconsistent play stems from the type of players we have at the club. They dont seem to be particularly determined, a lot of disjointed philosophies in terms of player recruitment and strange players on monster wages that should be appalling (Anya for 29k wages wtf???).

I think to not upgrade on gk, even a temporary one is a very bad idea. Its one of the clear weakness in the squad and you should try to look for an upgrade asap.

Totally agree @Impz82 it's definitely a disjointed squad and I have to remember I'm blooding quite a few inexperienced players to help remove some of the useless previous signings and they'll need time to develop. As for the GK situation, it definitely was a massive mistake, but again I'm almost happy in a strange way I made it as it means I haven't nailed everything in the first season.

1 hour ago, Luke6 said:

@smplfc123 is that 4-1-4-1 you are playing? If so, 1 slight adjustment I'd make personally is move Bielik at that back, taking over from Curtis Davies who is already retired in my save and move Rooney into the holding, set as a DLP. 

Bielik is a gem and is arguably better at centre half than as a holding midfielder and Rooney, from my experience anyway, will absolutely boss at DLP. He was pulling in ratings of 8 plus regularly for me in the championship whilst there. Hes certainly no BBM anyways that's for sure. 

I did start that way @Luke6 with Bielik at CB and Rooney in DM as DLP but It just wasn't working. I basically built the side around Rooney playing that holding midfield role but I feel we're too lethargic in attack and too open defensively. Bielik was injured for a couple of weeks so hence Davies starting (and me looking for a new CB). Bielik has performed too good to move him from DM for now and Rooney is helping further up the pitch as DLP(s) in CM. It's giving him the freedom to dictate the game without worrying about being the only defensive midfielder.

51 minutes ago, OJ403 said:

Looks like a tough start to the season. I've also found S1 hard with us though as we have a very disjointed squad. And on Bielik as a HB, its nice to see someone else using him in midfield. Based off his loss of pace after an injury in my save and also my real life opinion I don't see him as a centre back, as has been popular in this thread. He now plays as DLP-D or a CM-D in my save. He's definitely best suited to a midfield role in my opinion.

Yeah as I say above to @Luke6 I'm really liking Bielik at HB @OJ403. He's put in some excellent performances and has helped us to an away clean sheet since my last update (SPOILER).

Thanks for the replies and suggestions though guys, really appreciated.

[Impz82]

3 hours ago, OJ403 said:

Looks like the tactics worked out in the end, which is really good news. Even better news that Tonali is staying though. The signing of Francesco Martinez looks to be a steal too. If I recall wasn't he English? If so I love an English player with an exotic name...

@OJ403 Tonali is definitely staying for long. The best news is yet to come with a lot of new purchases coming up. The defensive reinforcements are coming hot and fast to ensure that this season won't be a regerssion. Francesco Martinez is definitely English with Spanish nationality possibly too. Darn interesting and it's fascinating how he is still undecided on which national team to report to. I can see him being a national team in 2 years with those attributes and he can only grow.

Quote

This seems to be the common trend in the thread. Out of interest how does Bielik perform at the back for everyone? As above, hes never really played there for me, instead in the first two seasons forming a formidable partnership with Rooney as an AP-A and CM-D duo

Bielik is the defensive rock along with Rick van Dronghelen for me in central defence and is a threat at corners because of his decent jumping reach and headers. He is also not too prone of "idiot mistakes" like Wisdom. 

I have to say though, my scouts can get it wrong (I bought one youth dud) but they definitely pitched Bielik right.

[smplfc123]

Finally I'm starting to find my feet a bit with this Derby squad. December was a much better month for us all round. Tactically we were smarter and more complete, individually there were some excellent performances and we seemed to work more effectively as a team.

I tweaked my away/expected to be dominated tactic for the trip to Ewood Park, dropping the role of a playmaker leaving Rooney and Huddlestone to watch on from the bench. I opted for a more workmanlike approach and it paid off, with a very solid 1-0 win thanks to super sub Mason Bennett. We followed this up with a comfortable 2-1 home win over Sheffield Wednesday. Goals from Curtis Davies and Duane Holmes (who is surprising me with his performances) was enough to get us over the line despite a late consolation from Iorfa for the Owls. We then battered Millwall and it was a matter of time until we broke the deadlock until Rooney decided to revert to his petulant youth, elbowing Ben Thompson in the face on the hour mark, meaning we were happy to just settle for a draw. We dominated 6th place Reading away from home, we doubled their amount of shots on target, the only problem being they scored theirs and we wasted ours. We then travelled to high flying Wigan (surprise!) and went 2-0 up. We then decided to have another mini collapse. Whilst i'm annoyed that we threw away a 2 goal lead, I'm slightly pleased that we still took something from the match. We finished off the month starting a weakened side against Charlton. It took us a while but Huddlestone and Sibley eventually put the Addicks to the sword.

The improved month sees us move up to 9th in the table, 13 points off the play-offs (the top 6 are flying!)

On the transfer front, Pascal Kopke has agreed to join for £1.2m from Hertha Berlin to give us another option up top. I accepted a bid totalling a whopping £13.5m for Whittaker from Atlanta Utd, but he turned them down. I'm expecting the circling premier league clubs to start bidding soon though.

[Stackalee]

Struggling with the transfer window in summer 2022. I think I'll be rejecting the (£56m) bid for Jack Marriott. It's a bad decision I'm aware but I was really hoping to get as much as I could from the Derby squad in this save, rather than just be a total mercenary (like I usually am). I think he can be part of a team that wins the biggest trophies and the club have no real need for the money. This is all horrible news for Peterborough, who are teetering on administration and stand to gain £5.64m from the deal.

Summary of Previous Business

I did sell Louie Sibley to Schalke last summer. He had done well for me but wasn't improving anymore, and my HoYD said he wasn't going to either. So out he went for £25.5m, replaced by the incoming Mason Mount in the first 11. Sibley is now a starter for Schalke, and Mount has been great for me, winning the players' young player of the year award in the EPL as well as the Derby supporters' player of the year award. So all in all as much as I wasn't keen to replace players, that worked out well for everybody I think. Troy Parrot also joined that summer to compete for either striker spot, with Troy Deeney physically deteriorating and my lingering suspicions about the quality of Marriot.

James Garner came in around the same time, as I chose to make his loan deal permanent. Over the course of the 21/22 season he pretty much replaced Bielik as my starter in the defensive midfield spot, owing largely to his greater press resistance and ability to start attacks from deep. Bielik dropped in to CB to replace John Souttar who pushed for a move to China in January (greedy swine). At this point Axel Tuanzebe joined for £16.5m from Manchester United, because I didn't know that once you've asked your board to deal with a transfer there is no going back! Lesson learned but he's a good player so no bother, the two compete for the spot.

Currrently

So I'm left in summer 2022 with a starting 11 looking pretty much like this;

And I'm slightly unsure what to do. It's taken me what feels like around a week (real time) to come to any sort of conclusion about Marriott. My current thinking on that is that he'll stay unless he requests a transfer. It isn't all good news for Jack though, I will be bringing in a new striker to compete for his spot, having sold previous understudy Danny Loader. This was possibly completely unfair of me, but selling Loader was the only business I was totally sure of this summer. I was initially optimistic about him as he had some similarities with Marriott. BUT, after this game;

all I could see when I looked at him was the three sitters he missed after being introduced as a sub. I know he's young and learning etc but I just couldn't see past it, in my eyes he single-handedly destroyed what would have been an historic win so when bids came in off he went. He scored 4 goals in 20 league games in his final season for me, so won't be missed but does need to be replaced. I have half an eye on Mason Greenwood, who is interested and I haven't had before in FM so could be fun and looks fantastic. The only downside is I am slightly conscious of becoming a Manchester United B team.

Aside from a rotational striker though, I'm still not quite sure what I want to do. I could start looking at competition for Lowe, who hasn't really kicked on or even Bogle, but I'm less than enthusiastic about that as I feel they're probably the best two of the players Derby start with. The club is fantastically rich so I'm fairly free to do whatever, but I don't really want to just throw cash around willy-nilly.

[Impz82]

13 minutes ago, Stackalee said:

Struggling with the transfer window in summer 2022. I think I'll be rejecting the (£56m) bid for Jack Marriott. It's a bad decision I'm aware but I was really hoping to get as much as I could from the Derby squad in this save, rather than just be a total mercenary (like I usually am). I think he can be part of a team that wins the biggest trophies and the club have no real need for the money. This is all horrible news for Peterborough, who are teetering on administration and stand to gain £5.64m from the deal.

Summary of Previous Business

I did sell Louie Sibley to Schalke last summer. He had done well for me but wasn't improving anymore, and my HoYD said he wasn't going to either. So out he went for £25.5m, replaced by the incoming Mason Mount in the first 11. Sibley is now a starter for Schalke, and Mount has been great for me, winning the players' young player of the year award in the EPL as well as the Derby supporters' player of the year award. So all in all as much as I wasn't keen to replace players, that worked out well for everybody I think. Troy Parrot also joined that summer to compete for either striker spot, with Troy Deeney physically deteriorating and my lingering suspicions about the quality of Marriot.

James Garner came in around the same time, as I chose to make his loan deal permanent. Over the course of the 21/22 season he pretty much replaced Bielik as my starter in the defensive midfield spot, owing largely to his greater press resistance and ability to start attacks from deep. Bielik dropped in to CB to replace John Souttar who pushed for a move to China in January (greedy swine). At this point Axel Tuanzebe joined for £16.5m from Manchester United, because I didn't know that once you've asked your board to deal with a transfer there is no going back! Lesson learned but he's a good player so no bother, the two compete for the spot.

Currrently

So I'm left in summer 2022 with a starting 11 looking pretty much like this;

And I'm slightly unsure what to do. It's taken me what feels like around a week (real time) to come to any sort of conclusion about Marriott. My current thinking on that is that he'll stay unless he requests a transfer. It isn't all good news for Jack though, I will be bringing in a new striker to compete for his spot, having sold previous understudy Danny Loader. This was possibly completely unfair of me, but selling Loader was the only business I was totally sure of this summer. I was initially optimistic about him as he had some similarities with Marriott. BUT, after this game;

all I could see when I looked at him was the three sitters he missed after being introduced as a sub. I know he's young and learning etc but I just couldn't see past it, in my eyes he single-handedly destroyed what would have been an historic win so when bids came in off he went. He scored 4 goals in 20 league games in his final season for me, so won't be missed but does need to be replaced. I have half an eye on Mason Greenwood, who is interested and I haven't had before in FM so could be fun and looks fantastic. The only downside is I am slightly conscious of becoming a Manchester United B team.

Aside from a rotational striker though, I'm still not quite sure what I want to do. I could start looking at competition for Lowe, who hasn't really kicked on or even Bogle, but I'm less than enthusiastic about that as I feel they're probably the best two of the players Derby start with. The club is fantastically rich so I'm fairly free to do whatever, but I don't really want to just throw cash around willy-nilly.

I do feel like Derby's top three players that will stay long will be Bogle, Lowe and perhaps Archie brown.

 

I do think that Knight has a future, at least in my save as a 4th choice midfield behind Tonali, Ferguson and Bellingham. The rest, I am less sure. Louis Sibley did not develop at all despite game time and he will likely be sold at pennies in my game.

 

I think at least in my case, I have 30+ million but no one really to buy...The players I want are not that interested while the ones I dont rate are the ones keen. I just learned about brexit rules and honestly it favours the big moneybags, especially with English players being so darn expensive. 

Edited May 19, 2020 by Impz82

[OJ403]

5 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

Yeah as I say above to @Luke6 I'm really liking Bielik at HB @OJ403. He's put in some excellent performances and has helped us to an away clean sheet since my last update (SPOILER).

Yeah he started as a HB for me in a narrow 4132, but when we switched to 442 in S1 he moved up a strata.

3 hours ago, Impz82 said:

Bielik is the defensive rock along with Rick van Dronghelen for me in central defence and is a threat at corners because of his decent jumping reach and headers. He is also not too prone of "idiot mistakes" like Wisdom. 

Very true, he definitely is one of the best defenders early on. However in my save he suffered a longish term injury that saw his agility and acceleration drop below 10, which didn't suit my offside trap.

1 hour ago, Stackalee said:

So I'm left in summer 2022 with a starting 11 looking pretty much like this;

I'm really liking the look of your team too, especially the return of Mason Mount. That'll be interesting in the stands as both him and Jason Knight have the same song (the old Ian Wright one)! I agree that both Bogle and Lowe (I'd probably add Knight and Marriott into this too) are the weaker links in the side, but I like to remain loyal to players. If they play well they can keep the shirt, which is perhaps why its took me so long to get promoted...

2 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

On the transfer front, Pascal Kopke has agreed to join for £1.2m from Hertha Berlin to give us another option up top. I accepted a bid totalling a whopping £13.5m for Whittaker from Atlanta Utd, but he turned them down. I'm expecting the circling premier league clubs to start bidding soon though.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on Köpke after he's played abit for you. I signed him in  S2. His lack of dribbling ability (only 10) was a bigger issue than I anticipated. He was quickly displaced by Archie Brown and has since been sold to Preston in January S3. Although its good to see everythings starting to click for you!

[OJ403]

As I hinted in my previous post promotion has finally been achieved! I secured the title with 3 games left of the season earlier on today, and haven't played any further since. In the end we ran away with promotion but as I said earlier this didn't look to be the case...

We slumped in form around February, winning on game in the month, which coincided with Jack Marriotts poor and goalless run of form. I tried various players in his position (Archie Brown, Mario Mandzukic and Oliver Batista Meier, as well as few newgen youth players), however they all failed and this lead to a change of system into a 4411, as follows:

Louis Munteanu stepped into Marriott's AF role, my DLF dropped down to become an AM pushing Ruslan Malinovskyi on and introducing Jason Knight. This lead to a major upturn in form, at the time of writing Munteanu sits on 12 goals and 8 (I think) assists for the season and Malinovskyi has 4 goals and 2 assists in 5 games, as well as double figures for both this season. Jason Knight also impressed and Scottish newgen centre back Graeme Gebbie came in at centre back. He'll likely be loaned out next season as he's not yet good enough for the Premier League, but with a perfectionist personality and 14 leadership at 18 he has future captain written all over him. Mel Morris has given me £40 million for the coming season and here are my transfer plans:

The question marks represent incoming transfers, plus Matt Clarke's loan will be made permanent for £5 million. Batista Meier may become back up AM, with a new first choice IW-A brought in instead. Matt Clarke also covers left back (particularly in our big game system as an IWB-D), so Lee Buchanan may leave and a 4th choice centre back may join. Even if he stays its unlikely Buchanan will play - he'll just provide cheap squad depth and homegrown status.

[Stuniverse]

3 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

Duane Holmes (who is surprising me with his performances)

@smplfc123, Duane Holmes is surprising me on my current save too (I’m early into January 2020) and is keeping Martyn Waghorn out of the team.

[Stuniverse]

2 hours ago, Stackalee said:

I think I'll be rejecting the (£56m) bid for Jack Marriott.

Is Marriott going along with this, @Stackalee, or is he kicking up a fuss?

 

Edited May 19, 2020 by Stuniverse

[Stuniverse]

12 minutes ago, OJ403 said:

As I hinted in my previous post promotion has finally been achieved! I secured the title with 3 games left of the season earlier on today, and haven't played any further since.

Congratulations, @OJ403. Great job winning promotion, even with the end-of-season slump in form.

[Stackalee]

17 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

Is Marriott going along with this, @Stackalee, or is he kicking up a fuss?

 

If he does after how long this decision has taken me there may well be tears.

I haven't got that far yet though I'll let you know!

[OJ403]

15 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

Congratulations, @OJ403. Great job winning promotion, even with the end-of-season slump in form.

Cheers mate

We picked things up after the switch to the 4411, which I'll be running as our main system next season. The extra man in midfield, as well as a more defensively responsible partner for Bielik really helped things. As well as a flip of the duites out wide.

29 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

@smplfc123, Duane Holmes is surprising me on my current save too (I’m early into January 2020) and is keeping Martyn Waghorn out of the team.

@smplfc123, I've been surprised by Holmes too. He's been first choice every season up til now. He's definitely not good enough to start in the Premier League though, so will be demoted to a back up role for S4

 

[Stuniverse]

16 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

Keeping in faith in Roos and Hamer to cover the GK slot was clearly a massive mistake.

Probably, @smplfc123, probably. I always advise anybody managing Derby on FM20 to either sign a new goalkeeper or recall Scott Carson from his loan at Man City. On my current 🐏 save I recalled Carson and sent Ben Hamer back to Huddersfield but, with mistakes starting to creep into Carson’s game, I’ve signed Jed Steer from Aston Villa in January 2020.

On 18/05/2020 at 15:46, smplfc123 said:

Whilst it's been hugely frustrating, I am absolutely loving this save.

Pleased to hear you’re loving your Derby save, frustrating though it is.

22 hours ago, Impz82 said:

With that, Derby has way over achieved in its efforts and secured 6th position, getting a Europa place. I must say i am absolutely happy to even get 6th. If anything, the critical point of my season is to secure the loan and eventually the purchase of Sandro Tonali. He is an excellent base to start and I am glad lewis ferguson forms a formidable partnership with him.

Congratulations, @Impz82, that’s some achievement.

22 hours ago, Impz82 said:

I also put in an offer for Ibanez who seems to be unwanted by Roma. His work permit will be seeing an appeal and if it doesnt work out, I have to find another player...

Do you have another player in mind?

 

[Impz82]

Even though its only early July, my in-going is complete. I like to do my transfer early rather than late. My third season with Derby and second season in the Premier League, I am keen to improve to be more than the best of the rest, though that will likely need another 2 more years minimally.

On the selling part, I sold Shinnie for 1.5 million when it is clear that he will play a bit part role and he was taking up quite a bit of wages. I also sold Louis Sibley because he was not very happy at not playing and he was not developing well at all despite having games. I only sold him at a miserly 1.5 million.

On the incoming transfers, boy, I spent a lot to try and beef up the defensive side of the house.

Sandro Tonali, as you all know, came in on a free transfer and takes up 90k of wages. He will slot right into the central midfield. I might put him further up as an advanced midfielder because he is so well rounded.

Marco Kana, an excellent wonderkid, who had no interest to join us last year, suddenly had some interest. I threw 23.5 million on a player that can improve our defence and midfield immediately. He has made me change my formation back to a 4-1-4-1. and I believe he has improved our squad tremendously.

Jude Bellingham needs little introduction. The young Birmingham genius was unsettled and I spent 19 million along with Henrich Ravas (whom they want) as a bit part player. He will be more of a bit-part impact sub for this season but he should blossom into an excellent player. I have not decided if he is best suited at AM or M yet.

Nicolo Armini was my second choice of having better quality defensive cover at a nice 11.5 mil. My first was Ibanez, whose work appeal failed because I was too cheap to give him good wages. No matter, Armini slots in as the third defender at 20 years old and will play cup games as a squad player. He can play all three sides in the defence, which is excellent.

Guga, a 22 year old Brazilian who was extremely keen to join us, comes in as second choice to Jayden Bogle at wing back. I have been depending on loans or Wisdom (omg, why!), which has been less than satisfactory. It's good to have a decent cover who still has space to develop and has very well rounded stats. He does not really excel at anything, which is fine with me. Let's hope he can improve in his stay here.

Francisco Martinez, an especially Spanish name, is in fact English and a young 17 year old promising striker from Charlton. He will be third striker behind Berisha and Strelec, but I might even make him second striker because based on purely attributes, he's already the best striker I have. I think he will be developing very well for us.

The remaining players are youth punts. I think they are likely to be eventually sold but who knows. I might strike gold.

 

[smplfc123]

48 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

Probably, @smplfc123, probably. I always advise anybody managing Derby on FM20 to either sign a new goalkeeper or recall Scott Carson from his loan at Man City. On my current 🐏 save I recalled Carson and sent Ben Hamer back to Huddersfield but, with mistakes starting to creep into Carson’s game, I’ve signed Jed Steer from Aston Villa in January 2020.

You did advise me to do so and I stupidly thought I could get away with it. Steer is on my shortlist too.

Good to see I'm not the only one having some good use out of Holmes @OJ403

[smplfc123]

Some cracking signings there @Impz82, very strong options in centre midfield!

[Impz82]

15 hours ago, Stuniverse said:

Probably, @smplfc123, probably. I always advise anybody managing Derby on FM20 to either sign a new goalkeeper or recall Scott Carson from his loan at Man City. On my current 🐏 save I recalled Carson and sent Ben Hamer back to Huddersfield but, with mistakes starting to creep into Carson’s game, I’ve signed Jed Steer from Aston Villa in January 2020.

Pleased to hear you’re loving your Derby save, frustrating though it is.

Congratulations, @Impz82, that’s some achievement.

Do you have another player in mind?

 

Yep. I got nicolo armini. I also just made a loan offer for a transfer listed player. I might make it permanent if Berisha decides to leave...

[Impz82]

14 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

Some cracking signings there @Impz82, very strong options in centre midfield!

@smplfc123 yep. I finally have some depth in the defense and center of the park. My heart always cannot take it when Wisdom does a bone headed decision, get caught in possession and I concede a goal. I have enough of that! I swear I do not dislike Wisdom simply because he played for Liverpool before. I mean, I have no issues with Harry wilson =)

With armini, kana, lord van dragon and blesik, here are four defenders who can actually be a defence fighting for top four.  te wierik is fifth choice and sold if i can find a buyer.

 

I now have good depth in the center of the defence. My central midfield is good too. My strikeforce is a tad weak but its still good. All in all, I think as long as I can keep my key players, Derby should do very well. If not, if someone offers stupid money, I will sell too. =)

Edited May 20, 2020 by Impz82

[Stackalee]

16 hours ago, Stuniverse said:

Is Marriott going along with this, @Stackalee, or is he kicking up a fuss?

Got ingame and checked this now, he was upset initially but telling him: 

"Your wages should be the least important part of your career as a footballer, they might be able to pay you more but if you're not enjoying your football or the atmosphere at the club then is it worth it?"

immediately placated him. Having looked now he does want me to triple his wages to sign a new deal, this may be an even worse idea than I thought.

[smplfc123]

1 hour ago, Impz82 said:

@smplfc123 yep. I finally have some depth in the defense and center of the park. My heart always cannot take it when Wisdom does a bone headed decision, get caught in possession and I concede a goal. I have enough of that! I swear I do not dislike Wisdom simply because he played for Liverpool before. I mean, I have no issues with Harry wilson =)

Even as a Liverpool fan Wisdom does my head in on the save. He's just covering CB and RB for now, but despite his already inflated salary, he's asked for an improved contract as he started a few games in a row when I had a few injuries! As i'm Welsh and a Liverpool fan (insert customary joke here) Harry Wilson will always have a place in my heart.

Finding a goalkeeper I want is really turning out to be a struggle @Stuniverse! Hmaer's loan has been cancelled and Roos leaves mid Feb, leaving me with the recently recalled Mitchell as back up until Roos goes. I've not called Carson back yet as i feel he is past it and another 6 months of not paying his wage could help us financially. If I can't find a keeper to bring in before the window shuts, it's going to have to be Carson coming back. 

The good thing is that we're in 9th, but about 15 points off the play offs and over 20 ahead of relegation and have been knocked out of both cups to Premier League opposition, so whatever I go for GK wise, it's not really going to cost us anything this season.

[Impz82]

2 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

Even as a Liverpool fan Wisdom does my head in on the save. He's just covering CB and RB for now, but despite his already inflated salary, he's asked for an improved contract as he started a few games in a row when I had a few injuries! As i'm Welsh and a Liverpool fan (insert customary joke here) Harry Wilson will always have a place in my heart.

Finding a goalkeeper I want is really turning out to be a struggle @Stuniverse! Hmaer's loan has been cancelled and Roos leaves mid Feb, leaving me with the recently recalled Mitchell as back up until Roos goes. I've not called Carson back yet as i feel he is past it and another 6 months of not paying his wage could help us financially. If I can't find a keeper to bring in before the window shuts, it's going to have to be Carson coming back. 

The good thing is that we're in 9th, but about 15 points off the play offs and over 20 ahead of relegation and have been knocked out of both cups to Premier League opposition, so whatever I go for GK wise, it's not really going to cost us anything this season.

So I am not the only one getting irritated by him. No one wanted to buy him btw, so I let go of him for free. Now the difficult part is how to tell Tom Lawrence to go away.

I just brought in a loanee who can cover at the AML level and I also had a 6.5 mil optional fee if I choose to buy him. His stats look excellent so I am surprised they are willing to let him go so cheaply. He was also listed by the club at 6.75 million. It looks like he has a bit more room to develop too, and depending on his performances at AML and occasionally AML, I might bring him in permanently. For now, it's a cheap 10k per week outlay. I take that for a good trial.

Welcome Amiri Gouri to Derby.

 

Edited May 20, 2020 by Impz82

[Jogo Bonito]

It sounds like I did well to extract £3.5 million from Bristol City for Wisdom shortly after taking over in 2020. Even if I only have Bird as understudy to Bogle, it was a no-brainer sale.

[Luke6]

@smplfc123 have you tried Wuilker Farinez? I couldnt recommend the guy any higher, however I know a few people on here have tried when they are in the championship and he doesnt want to join so failing that..  either Fruchtl from Bayern? I got him for 200k going up to 300k and hes only 20 years old with potential of 4 stars plus. 

I had Viviano in my 1st season on a free. He was brilliant. Maybe worth having a look at if he isnt already picked up by another team of course. When I first started my save, I thought GK was the 1st and most important area to work on as I dont think Roos is up to it in the championship. I am a follower of AFC Wimbledon and saw him up close when he was on loan a few years back and he didnt exactly look amazing in League 2 back then.

[smplfc123]

21 minutes ago, Luke6 said:

@smplfc123 have you tried Wuilker Farinez? I couldnt recommend the guy any higher, however I know a few people on here have tried when they are in the championship and he doesnt want to join so failing that..  either Fruchtl from Bayern? I got him for 200k going up to 300k and hes only 20 years old with potential of 4 stars plus. 

I had Viviano in my 1st season on a free. He was brilliant. Maybe worth having a look at if he isnt already picked up by another team of course. When I first started my save, I thought GK was the 1st and most important area to work on as I dont think Roos is up to it in the championship. I am a follower of AFC Wimbledon and saw him up close when he was on loan a few years back and he didnt exactly look amazing in League 2 back then.

Thanks @Luke6 I will check them out!

[smplfc123]

January looks a lot worse on paper than it actually was. We started the month with a revenge job over Barnsley. Lawerence, Bogle, Marriott and Sibley gave us the perfect start to 2020 by putting us 4-0 up before ht, which is how it stayed.

Against Palace we were the better side. We couldn't break down a typically resolute defence, but as it reached 4:37 seconds in to 4 minutes of injury time, I was confident that we could beat them in the return leg. That was until Kouyate hit the ball in anger from 25 yards fearful of the final whistle and Kelle Roos decided he couldn't be bothered to save the shot that came straight at him  

We then went up to the North East for a game against Play-Off hopefuls Boro. A very even game separated by an 80th minute winner from on loan Jon Toral. Our only really poor game of the month came at home to Hull.

I don't know if we were complacent or just uninterested, but we slipped back in to our old ways and went 2-0 down within 15 minutes. A Duane Holmes goal gave us hope before HT, but they stayed strong and killed the game off in injury time.

We finished the month with a trip to the capital. We battered Luton, but once again, our inconsistency in front of goal came back to haunt us and we ended up conceding another set piece goal.

Still, we sit in 11th place, 18 points clear of that relegation zone that the board are desperate not to get dragged in to. In terms of transfers, this is what happened:

Outs:

Bird - Loan
Whittaker - Loan
Evans - Loan
Malone - Loan
Hamer - Loan Terminated
Hepburn-Murphy - Loan Terminated
Roos - MLS in February
Forsyth - MLS in February

Ins:

Kopke - £1.2m
Wiedwald - Loan

So as you can see I couldn't source a permanent transfer for a GK i wanted, so went with the loan option for Wiedwald for now whilst I keep searching for my future number 1. Kopke comes in to challenge an inconsistent strike force.

Edited May 20, 2020 by smplfc123

[Impz82]

On 18/05/2020 at 21:06, Stackalee said:

Hmm I'd have been tempted to cash in on te Wierik to free up more funds to lure children to the club! Not seen Klauss before he looks like a quality signing for the level, should be a good season that.

Super slow response but I personally just sold Te Wierik for 7.5 million which potentially can go up to 9 mil pounds. It's a good deal considering I am not likely to play him much and his value will only dip. I rather let Rick, Bielik and Armini have as much play time as I can.

Edited May 20, 2020 by Impz82

[Stackalee]

1 minute ago, Impz82 said:

his value will only dip.

Sounds like it did already! I got £14.25m for him from Brighton, he was at the club 3 days.

I still haven't spent it so I don't feel bad, just didn't want him at the club. 

[Jogo Bonito]

26 minutes ago, Stackalee said:

Sounds like it did already! I got £14.25m for him from Brighton, he was at the club 3 days.

I still haven't spent it so I don't feel bad, just didn't want him at the club. 

He'll go down as a club legend or icon after making you that much money in three days 

[Stackalee]

So I found what I believe to be a solid solution to my Lowe dilema. I don't really want to just replace him for the reasons I've been over previously, however he hasn't really been that good or kicked on.

Rather than bringing in a straight up replacement I'm really giving him what I feel is a fair chance, I activated the relegation release clause of Karamoko Dembélé to take him from Watford. He's got some decent attributes to be an attacking wingback type of a player and fits with my young and English policy nicely. He is also a right winger.

In my mind if Lowe loses his starting spot at left back to a 19 year old right winger that's entirely his own fault. The bad news for Lowe is that the early signs are Dembélé has magical feet, seems really fun at left back and is one of my favourite players already.

In Marriott news, I rejected the offer from MUFC and gave him a new deal which includes a £65k goal bonus - if he wants to use that to become the best paid player in the world he's welcome to do so!

Edited May 21, 2020 by Stackalee

[Impz82]

 

1 hour ago, Stackalee said:

Sounds like it did already! I got £14.25m for him from Brighton, he was at the club 3 days.

I still haven't spent it so I don't feel bad, just didn't want him at the club. 

Wah. I am terrible at bargaining for more money though for deals. Usually, I sell players I don't need. Tom Lawrence is one of them that makes it so difficult for me to sell him. No one wanted to offer any money beyond 3 million.

[Stackalee]

2 minutes ago, Impz82 said:

Tom Lawrence is one of them that makes it so difficult for me to sell him. No one wanted to offer any money beyond 3 million.

How does that compare to his value?

[Impz82]

1 hour ago, Stackalee said:

How does that compare to his value?

much much lower. His value is around 9 mil.

[Impz82]

Hoping to hear some thoughts.

So, I already have rick von dronghelen, blielik, nicolo armini at CB, and Kana/Tonali at DM. I also just spent some moolah on Guga as a covering rb. I play largely 2 formations, 4-1-4-1 for more difficult games and an expansive 4-2-3-1 formation in the typical games.

The dilemma is this. I have a habit of trolling teams by sending derisory bids to young star players. Now Nohan Kenneh, a young 18 year old english player, has been unsettled by me and is available for 25 million by transfer request. I only have 12 million in the bank though, and I have decent backups. He is a rb/cb/dm natural and is physically monstrous.

Should I be greedy and buy him lol?

Edited May 21, 2020 by Impz82

[Stuniverse]

On 19/05/2020 at 14:12, Impz82 said:

I think at least in my case, I have 30+ million but no one really to buy...The players I want are not that interested while the ones I dont rate are the ones keen. I just learned about brexit rules and honestly it favours the big moneybags, especially with English players being so darn expensive. 

I find that as well. I always try to build an English / British squad with the Rams but it’s not easy as the English players are very expensive.

[Stuniverse]

19 hours ago, Luke6 said:

@smplfc123 have you tried Wuilker Farinez? I couldnt recommend the guy any higher, however I know a few people on here have tried when they are in the championship and he doesnt want to join so failing that..  either Fruchtl from Bayern? I got him for 200k going up to 300k and hes only 20 years old with potential of 4 stars plus.

In my current save I went for Jed Steer from Aston Villa. I wanted Wuilker Farinez and could agree a transfer fee with Millonarios FCSA from Day 1 of the save but the player wasn’t interested in entering into contract negotiations during the 2019/20 Championship season. We’re in the last week of the January transfer window and I’ve just tried again without success. Same story: transfer fee agreed, no player interest.

[Stuniverse]

19 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

January looks a lot worse on paper than it actually was. We started the month with a revenge job over Barnsley. Lawerence, Bogle, Marriott and Sibley gave us the perfect start to 2020 by putting us 4-0 up before ht, which is how it stayed.

Ouch! It does look pretty bad.

19 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

Still, we sit in 11th place, 18 points clear of that relegation zone that the board are desperate not to get dragged in to

That’s not bad though and, I think, roughly where you wanted to be in mid-table first season if memory serves me correctly.

19 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

So as you can see I couldn't source a permanent transfer for a GK i wanted, so went with the loan option for Wiedwald for now whilst I keep searching for my future number 1. Kopke comes in to challenge an inconsistent strike force.

Wiedwald, Felix I assume, looks a good signing. My strike force is inconsistent too. Marriot is on a goalless streak for me at the moment and I’ve just told him I don’t know how much longer I can keep picking him if he doesn’t start scoring soon. Marriott said he knew and he would do better.

[Stuniverse]

17 hours ago, Stackalee said:

Rather than bringing in a straight up replacement I'm really giving him what I feel is a fair chance, I activated the relegation release clause of Karamoko Dembélé to take him from Watford. He's got some decent attributes to be an attacking wingback type of a player and fits with my young and English policy nicely. He is also a right winger.

I’m managing Dembele in 2024 in my Scotland save and he’s probably the best player I’ve managed on FM20 so far, although I play him as a right winger.

[Stuniverse]

5 hours ago, Impz82 said:

The dilemma is this. I have a habit of trolling teams by sending derisory bids to young star players. Now Nohan Kenneh, a young 18 year old english player, has been unsettled by me and is available for 25 million by transfer request. I only have 12 million in the bank though, and I have decent backups. He is a rb/cb/dm natural and is physically monstrous.

Should I be greedy and buy him lol?

That’s quite a transfer fee deficit you need to make up there as, by my maths, you’re £13M short.

My question would be: do you really need him and could that money be better spent on other areas of the team?

[Stuniverse]

Inconsistent Strike-force
A common theme on here, particularly for those of us who stick with the current strike-force at the beginning of a 2019/20 save, is an inconsistent strike-force.

What has everybody done to try and mitigate this or resolve it?

[Stackalee]

2 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

I’m managing Dembele in 2024 in my Scotland save and he’s probably the best player I’ve managed on FM20 so far, although I play him as a right winger.

It's slightly strange how fun he seems, he seems to get past his man far more easily than other players I've had with higher dribbling/technique and isn't massively quick. It might just be that he's more willing to actually take his man on.

I know it's daft but I'm hoping to turn him into a defensively irresponsible Marcelo-esque fullback.

[Stuniverse]

4 minutes ago, Stackalee said:

It's slightly strange how fun he seems, he seems to get past his man far more easily than other players I've had with higher dribbling/technique and isn't massively quick. It might just be that he's more willing to actually take his man on.

I know it's daft but I'm hoping to turn him into a defensively irresponsible Marcelo-esque fullback.

How much did you sign Karamoko Dembele for and in which season?

I agree. He’s a really fun player to manage.

[Stackalee]

40 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

How much did you sign Karamoko Dembele for and in which season?

22/23 season - £28.5m (his active relegation release clause at Watford). Kinda expensive but I had no other real targets on and a huge budget.

47 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

Inconsistent Strike-force

What has everybody done to try and mitigate this or resolve it?

Marriott was amazing for me as an advanced forward in the Championship, all I really did was build the attack around him scoring the goals and occassionally give him a game or two off. None of my other forwards scored but I didn't expect or need them to. In later seasons he's been consistently around a 1 in 2 goal scorer, while playing with a physical foil (Troy Deeney then later others).

1 hour ago, Stuniverse said:

I find that as well. I always try to build an English / British squad with the Rams but it’s not easy as the English players are very expensive.

You can mitigate this a bit by bringing young Brits back from abroad - guys like Panzo, Mola and Oxford are available for a fraction of what they would cost from English clubs. They aren't the best around but they're all good enough to do a job while the club grows.

Edited May 21, 2020 by Stackalee

[Impz82]

1 hour ago, Stuniverse said:

That’s quite a transfer fee deficit you need to make up there as, by my maths, you’re £13M short.

My question would be: do you really need him and could that money be better spent on other areas of the team?

Actually the main reason is that he is 18 years old and English, which makes it a very attractive proposal to secure home grown talent. In the end, I decided against it because I wont be able to give him enough game time. If only I didnt rush and buy armini...

I do want to try and have more English players but I simply cannot be throwing 30-40 million for a half average English player when I can get a godly player like Marco Kana at 23.5 million. It might make sense for Chelsea, Man city or united, but not Derby. No matter how fictionally successful, it just doesnt make sense imho.

Edited May 21, 2020 by Impz82

[Impz82]

1 hour ago, Stuniverse said:

Inconsistent Strike-force
A common theme on here, particularly for those of us who stick with the current strike-force at the beginning of a 2019/20 save, is an inconsistent strike-force.

What has everybody done to try and mitigate this or resolve it?

@Stuniversei give up and buy Berisha. =)

I think the issue is that Derby probably suits a 2 striker approach. Marriot and Waghorn plays off each other pretty good in championship at least.

The problem is, I am not the manager who agrees with that. So i tore up the entire strikeforce and put my own take on it. =)

Edited May 21, 2020 by Impz82

[OJ403]

1 hour ago, Stuniverse said:

Inconsistent Strike-force
A common theme on here, particularly for those of us who stick with the current strike-force at the beginning of a 2019/20 save, is an inconsistent strike-force.

What has everybody done to try and mitigate this or resolve it?

Well I was lucky, I didn't encounter this until S3, when I had vastly different and higher quality attacking options. This meant I could change things when Marriott fell off a cliff.

In S2 Waghorn stopped performing, so both Rooney and Archie Brown had a go up front with Marriott and in S3 Munteanu joined and is now the main man in our 4411. So there was much rotation between the options to support Marriott and over time I lost patience with them all so Munteanu signed - problem solved.

13 minutes ago, Impz82 said:

 I think the issue is that Derby probably suits a 2 striker approach. Marriot and Waghorn plays off each other pretty good in championship at least

1 hour ago, Stackalee said:

Marriott was amazing for me as an advanced forward in the Championship, all I really did was build the attack around him scoring the goals and occassionally give him a game or two off. None of my other forwards scored but I didn't expect or need them to. In later seasons he's been consistently around a 1 in 2 goal scorer, while playing with a physical foil (Troy Deeney then later others).

@Stackalee and @Impz82 have summed this up perfectly. In S1 all of our strikers aren't lone strikers (maybe Martin is, however his lack of mobility hampers this). I played both a 4132 and a 442, so everyone always had a partner. 

[Impz82]

14 minutes ago, OJ403 said:

 

@Stackalee and @Impz82 have summed this up perfectly. In S1 all of our strikers aren't lone strikers (maybe Martin is, however his lack of mobility hampers this). I played both a 4132 and a 442, so everyone always had a partner. 

This is my personal bias, but I believe that a single striker system means minimally that the striker cannot have an obvious flaw in its buildup. He cannot be too slow or too short or too unaware. A lot of his stats must be at a moderate 12 or 13 at least for them to hold their ground. The best is of course someone like Haaland who can run the channels, built like an ox, run like a cheetah and decently serviceable aerially.

I will say at the clear absence of any possibility to get Haaland, a physically strong player who can hold up play while not slow as a snail will be great.

Edited May 21, 2020 by Impz82

[Tee2]

Hello all, just dropping in to see how everyone's getting along, and stealing some tips doing some extra-curricular scouting along the way.

I thought I'd done a hell of a job in getting Derby promoted. Looks as though many of you found it to be pretty straightforward. In my save we were consistently hitting playoff form for most of the season and then maintained it towards the end as our rivals began to fall away. It made me smile, I'll admit, to see Leeds perform their usual collapse, albeit in my save it happened after Bielsa left for Wolves (who then were relegated with him in charge), and Sam Allardyce brought his magical touch to Elland Road. Who's for a pint of red wine...

For me, Derby have a pretty decent squad from the start. The right wing was an issue (I signed Bakery Jatta from Hamburger SV), and we absolutely needed a better goalkeeper than either Hamer or Roos. My choice was Lorenzo Montipo, the Novara keeper who joined for £3.6 million. That might sound like a lot, but as far as I'm concerned you're snookered from the start if you have a rotten netminder, and 'Enzo' has developed to the extent that he's good enough for the Premier League team that I now manage. 

I struggle to have the same level of faith in Jack Marriott that a lot of you have shown. In 19/20 he ended up supplanting Troy Parrott (brought in from Spurs on loan, started brightly but vanished from the action far too often), and while he didn't score many his hold-up play was top notch. To my mind he just doesn't seem to be good enough for the top flight. He's currently out on loan at Legia Warsaw in 20/21 - I'd have happily sold him but could only get a loan deal, and at least this way I get to see if he comes back better for his adventures.

Some interesting signings you guys have mentioned... I can heartily recommend Stuniverse's bumping of Will Hughes. The guy doesn't come cheap, but he sweats Derby and always puts in a big effort. A better midfield general would be hard to find. It helped that in my save Watford were relegated at the same time as we went up so it was a natural move, and now Mr Will gets to live his Premier League dream at a team he loves playing for and that loves him in return. It doesn't get much better than that.

Wayne Rooney is more problematic. I'll admit I didn't realise his wages were paid by sponsors, as the £63,000 he now earns weekly has had me howling at the moon. More importantly, someone who was Mr Massive for me in my early days is now in steep decline and my preference for his role at DM is Pedro Chirivella, signed very cheaply from Liverpool after a great half-season on loan with us. Pedders is improving all the time, almost as though he's sucking all the ability out of Rooney while doing so, and I'm conscious that an ageing England legend and Derby team leader is someone who I wouldn't normally pick for the team. 

My second season has started much more brightly than I imagined. We're sixth after eight matches, taking in a heroic 4-2 home win over Chelsea along the way, but each time it feels like the margin between winning and cocking it up is frightfully thin. To those who don't know, I have a blog about all this - http://greyhairedgamer.co.uk/wp/ - and go here - http://greyhairedgamer.co.uk/wp/derby-chapters/ - if you want to launch straight into the entries about Derby. There's a lot of them. I've made it my mission during lockdown to tell the story of my Pride Park antics at the exhaustive length I'd really like to go into and normally couldn't. The 20/21 season is being told on an entry-per-match basis, and I'm not even bored yet!

Anyway, good luck all. I'm really pleased to see this topic get so much love. I echo the comments elsewhere that Derby are a fascinating club to manage. I've really enjoyed it. I'm also bemused that some of you have managed to snag someone with the quality of Tonali, a distant dream for the likes of me, and I take on board fully the tip about checking out young English players who are making their way outside of England. We signed Ademola Lookman in the summer, and we're scouting Rolando Vieira heavily right now. Yeah, yeah, I know he's a Leeds man, but he's a great fit for us, and that name...

[Stackalee]

Nice update. I read a bunch of your blog before I decided on Derby!

27 minutes ago, Tee2 said:

I struggle to have the same level of faith in Jack Marriott that a lot of you have shown.

I'm not sure I'd call it faith, our current understanding is that if I keep throwing money at him he'll keep scoring goals.

Edit - also a question perhaps for people who have played more FM20 in England than me: Krystian Bielik asked me for £130k a week in his latest contract negotiations so I immediately threw him and his agent out of my office and placed him on the transfer list, am I behind the times here? Is this a reasonable wage demand in this day and age?

Edited May 21, 2020 by Stackalee

[Tee2]

45 minutes ago, Stackalee said:

Edit - also a question perhaps for people who have played more FM20 in England than me: Krystian Bielik asked me for £130k a week in his latest contract negotiations so I immediately threw him and his agent out of my office and placed him on the transfer list, am I behind the times here? Is this a reasonable wage demand in this day and age?

Yikes, what was he on before that? Given that you're a couple of years further along in the game than I am I would see that request as steep but not absolutely outlandish. Obviously it depends on the level of interest in him elsewhere and what his peers at Derby are earning, however for a player our coaches rate as having 4.5 stars of potential it looks as though he could develop into a regular Premier League starting defender and they normally command a decent whack. I raised his wages when we were promoted and we are now paying him £25k per week (in early 20/21), however if I was negotiating his contract now I would expect him to be demanding close to double that amount. I would see his peak earnings as being around the £90k mark personally...

Edited May 21, 2020 by Tee2