FM20: The English Football League thread

[robterrace]

So.

End of the Season has arrived, and its been rather successful in Cambridgeshire.

Things went a little downhill in February, mainly due to the 2 defeats, and both my strikers being a bit short of form.

Cernaz finished with 21 goals in 41 games in the League (24 in 51 in total), and Symons, 24 in 42 in the League (31 in 52 total).

Other surprises were Dimitar Mitov with 22 clean sheets, a league record.

New signings on the way in..

Most of these will be backups for the first season, especially Slicker, who has a little work to do on fitting my style of play.

[Jonthedon26]

4 hours ago, Dong21 said:

Sounds like your season's going really well @warlock! Have you had a chance to give Jude Bellingham any minutes yet? Intrigued to see how he develops. Just looked to see how he's getting on in my save (which I will be updating on shortly) and he's just made his Championship debut and got given MOTM for his contributions.

@Rollin93 Hopefully just media speculation as it sounds like you are currently overachieving!

I know you wern't asking me, but Bellingham has been brilliant in my Birmingham save. Regular starter since Jan of the first season, I am now in November of season two and he is worth aroind 15mil, and his stats are constantly improving. Only worry is his deal runs out in 18months and he wont discuss a new one.....yet

[Rollin93]

So I’m mid January and my charlton save is going well but a job that I felt would be a good challenge has been offered to me!

blackburn Rovers are currently sitting bottom of the championship table 

with the team they have and the youngsters I have accepted The job at ewood park!

[Jogo Bonito]

Ipswich Town - season 1

Heading in to March, Blackpool had emerged as the team to fear and topped the table - with the chasing pack right on my heels

The month didn't start well with just one point from six (and no goals) prompting a team meeting before hosting 3rd placed Portsmouth 

Despite going a goal down, the team responded to my touchline shouts and turned defeat in to a massive victory with two late goals

Soon-to-be relegated Southend was a much easier fixture to get April off on a positive note

But I failed to see off bottom club Bolton at home or mid-table Shrewsbury before outclassing Rochdale back on home turf

The penultimate game saw me needing a result at Doncaster, but my team played very poorly and deserved the 1-0 loss

Fleetwood won their game that day to go 2nd behind champions Blackpool, and two points clear of my under-pressure side

Luckily for me, that was Fleetwood's last match as they were due to have played Bury on the final Sunday but instead had a blank day

No doubt they were sat at home watching Sky Sports and wondering if I could get the win I needed to clinch promotion

Relegated MK Dons were my opponents in front of 19,540 fans at Portman Road, but the visitors took the lead inside 30 minutes  

However as I began to fear the worst, my team responded magnificently and ended up winning 4-1 to claim automatic promotion

I echo what others have said, the board are very demanding and even when top of the table I was getting a D grade from them for my efforts

The pressure almost very nearly got the better of me and my team, but I just about did enough to see the job through 

Congratulations to Blackpool who were worthy winners, commiserations to Bolton (and Derby, who drop to League 1...)

Here are the player stats for the season (Nelson and Connolly were my only transfers and played very important roles for me)

The 532 system with wing-backs had been nice to watch, with goals and assists from the wing backs being plentiful

My regular strike pairing of Norwood and (in particular) Connolly was good enough to get the club promoted

But it was Judge who stood out the most with a fine campaign

Playing as an advanced playmaker with licence to attack from a deeper position, he was the source of creativity and goals

The Irishman was voted player of the year by Ipswich fans, and was voted League 1 player of the year too

The board set a transfer budget of £460,000 for the Championship which isn't great, but there was some spare wage budget available

I've had a bit of a clear out now (recouping much more than I spent) and there is currently £1.2m in the budget as pre-season friendlies begin

I've got one or two decisions left to make, but most of the business has already been done and I'm fairly content with my squad

Hopefully the pressure will be less too, as the board, players and media expect nothing but a relegation battle for my side

Edited December 8, 2019 by Jogo Bonito

[Dong21]

Bolton Wanderers - Season 1 - Part 1

Transfer Update: Balancing the Books

Wheeling and dealing in the transfer market is probably my favourite part of playing Football Manager, so the challenge of sorting out Bolton's threadbare and thrown together squad was one of the things that most appealed to me about taking the job. The drawback was that most players currently at the club had signed recently (deadline day to be precise!) and so couldn't be moved on easily, and the club already had four loanees (although one of them, Josh Earl, was ruled out injured for 6 months). These loans could not be terminated, but do expire in January which gives me the flexibility to shape the squad more in my image soon.

With club finances precarious to say the least, I turned to the loan market to reinforce the squad. I was keenly aware that only five loan players could be included in a match day squad but took the call that if there were no wage contributions then there was not harm in adding them to the squad and that I would rotate where necessary.

In:

My first forays into the transfer market saw me reach out to my North-West neighbours Man Utd and Liverpool for reinforcements. As a Man Utd fan I was delighted to acquire the talented trio of Brandon Williams, James Garner and Dylan Levitt, all with no wage contributions. I was shocked that I was able to bring in Rhian Brewster (paying just 30% of his wage) from Liverpool, expecting more prestigious teams to trump me to his signing. The intention is for these players to form the spine of my team for the season.

Brewster picked up an injury early in pre-season that saw him ruled out for 2 months, but he has recently come back and has been inserted straight into my starting eleven. The other signing that you can see in the screenshot, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, also picked up an injury in pre-season, this one ruling him out for 3 months.

Out:

Even after the loan signings, there were still areas of the squad where I wanted to improve and I also wanted to revamp the coaching staff. I decided, therefore, to review my squad and see if there was anyone I could sacrifice to raise funds and balance the books. The only player who had any significant interest, and value, was 'keeper Alnwick. Despite his quality I decided I was comfortable with the ability of his understudy Remi Matthews and therefore cashed in, selling him to New York FC for a large fee.

In:

The Alnwick sale gave me the financial flexibility to continue to add to the squad. There were areas where we had no depth and so players were signed on inexpensive free transfers to bulk out the squad; Stuart Taylor (GK back-up), Dwight Tiendalli (RB back-up), Remi Streete (CB back-up) and Manucho (ST back-up). When looking at the list of signings it may look like an excessive amount, however I should note that 8 of the signings were teenagers for the youth squad. I gave my Head of Youth Development the remit to look for signings, retaining my right for final sign-off on deals, and he unearthed some gems.

As mentioned earlier, I had come to terms with having Matthews as my first choice 'keeper, and had signed Taylor as his back-up. However on deadline day I unearthed that experienced French goalkeeper Johann Carrasso was interested in signing. This was too good an opportunity to turn down and so I brought him in immediately.

Coaching team rebuild:

Something I like to do at all clubs I join is review the coaching staff and see if there are more skilled alternatives available to bring in. The Alnwick money meant I could do this and so I revamped my staff comprehensively.

Pre-season:

Pre-season couldn't have started much worse as we were thumped 4-0 by our own under-23s team (although the positive spin is at least these are my players! ). Morale was low after relegation the previous season and this enhanced my awareness of the challenge on our hands. I scheduled a full calendar of friendlies to give me time to get to know the squad, experiment with tactics, evaluate trailists and youth players and build morale with a run of victories. Luckily form picked up and I felt that pre-season was a success.

Edited December 8, 2019 by Dong21

[Jogo Bonito]

8 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

Bolton Wanderers - Season 1 - Part 1

Transfer Update: Balancing the Books

Wheeling and dealing in the transfer market is probably my favourite part of playing Football Manager, so the challenge of sorting out Bolton's threadbare and thrown together squad was one of the things that most appealed to me about taking the job. The drawback was that most players currently at the club had signed recently (deadline day to be precise) and so couldn't be moved on easily, and the club already had four loanees (although one of them, Josh Earl, was ruled out injured for 6 months). These loans could not be terminated, but do expire in January which gives me the flexibility to shape the squad more in my imagine soon.

With club finances precarious to say the least, I turned to the loan market to reinforce the squad. I was keenly aware that only five loan players could be included in a match day squad but took the call that if there were no wage contributions then there was not harm in adding them to the squad and that I would rotate where necessary.

Best of luck with your new squad and staff. As you will see from my Ipswich season, Bolton were relegated but had a decent crack at it. Embarrassingly, I only got one point out of six against them!

[John Joe O'toole]

27 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

Bolton Wanderers - Season 1 - Part 1

Transfer Update: Balancing the Books

Wheeling and dealing in the transfer market is probably my favourite part of playing Football Manager, so the challenge of sorting out Bolton's threadbare and thrown together squad was one of the things that most appealed to me about taking the job. The drawback was that most players currently at the club had signed recently (deadline day to be precise!) and so couldn't be moved on easily, and the club already had four loanees (although one of them, Josh Earl, was ruled out injured for 6 months). These loans could not be terminated, but do expire in January which gives me the flexibility to shape the squad more in my image soon.

With club finances precarious to say the least, I turned to the loan market to reinforce the squad. I was keenly aware that only five loan players could be included in a match day squad but took the call that if there were no wage contributions then there was not harm in adding them to the squad and that I would rotate where necessary.

In:

My first forays into the transfer market saw me reach out to my North-West neighbours Man Utd and Liverpool for reinforcements. As a Man Utd fan I was delighted to acquire the talented trio of Brandon Williams, James Garner and Dylan Levitt, all with no wage contributions. I was shocked that I was able to bring in Rhian Brewster (paying just 30% of his wage) from Liverpool, expecting more prestigious teams to trump me to his signing. The intention is for these players to form the spine of my team for the season.

Brewster picked up an injury early in pre-season that saw him ruled out for 2 months, but he has recently come back and has been inserted straight into my starting eleven. The other signing that you can see in the screenshot, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, also picked up an injury in pre-season, this one ruling him out for 3 months.

Out:

Even after the loan signings, there were still areas of the squad where I wanted to improve and I also wanted to revamp the coaching staff. I decided, therefore, to review my squad and see if there was anyone I could sacrifice to raise funds and balance the books. The only player who had any significant interest, and value, was 'keeper Alnwick. Despite his quality I decided I was comfortable with the ability of his understudy Remi Matthews and therefore cashed in, selling him to New York FC for a large fee.

In:

The Alnwick sale gave me the financial flexibility to continue to add to the squad. There were areas where we had no depth and so players were signed on inexpensive free transfers to bulk out the squad; Stuart Taylor (GK back-up), Dwight Tiendalli (RB back-up), Remi Streete (CB back-up) and Manucho (ST back-up). When looking at the list of signings it may look like an excessive amount, however I should note that 8 of the signings were teenagers for the youth squad. I gave my Head of Youth Development the remit to look for signings, retaining my right for final sign-off on deals, and he unearthed some gems.

As mentioned earlier, I had come to terms with having Matthews as my first choice 'keeper, and had signed Taylor as his back-up. However on deadline day I unearthed that experienced French goalkeeper Johann Carrasso was interested in signing. This was too good an opportunity to turn down and so I brought him in immediately.

Coaching team rebuild:

Something I like to do at all clubs I join is review the coaching staff and see if there are more skilled alternatives available to bring in. The Alnwick money meant I could do this and so I revamped my staff comprehensively.

Pre-season:

Pre-season couldn't have started much worse as we were thumped 4-0 by our own under-23s team (although the positive spin is at least these are my players! ). Morale was low after relegation the previous season and this enhanced my awareness of the challenge on our hands. I scheduled a full calendar of friendlies to give me time to get to know the squad, experiment with tactics, evaluate trailists and youth players and build morale with a run of victories. Luckily form picked up and I felt that pre-season was a success.

Nice update!

 

I cashed in the Rob Holding clause and Zach Clough and have quite a healthy budget now! Im playing quite a few youngsters and had a lot of interest in Ronan Darcy, despite trying to keep him Leicester bought him for £11.75 million with a 50% Sell on clause. The board accepted the offer over my head!

[Dong21]

Bolton Wanderers - Season 1 - Part 2

A second update in quick succession, but I haven't had many chances to play or pen write ups recently, so I thought I'd take advantage whilst I can!

Season Update: Tactical Challenges

Going into the season, my intention was to play a 4-2-3-1 formation. These plans were thrown into disarray during pre-season, however, as we picked up long-term injuries to many of my first choice wingers and attacking midfielders. Along with Brewster and Emmanuel-Thomas (who I mentioned in my last update), Crawford, Verlinden and Politic were both ruled out for lengthy periods of time. I therefore switched things up and moved to a 4-1-3-2, taking advantage of the number of CMs I had at the club. The starting eleven on the first game of the season was as follows:

The formation was designed to allow my attack-minded wing-backs to get forward, with the cover provided by the two defensive midfielders. Levitt and Garner were given license to push forward and the hope was that Dodoo's pace would gel well with Murphy's target man capability.

The start of the season was a struggle. We lacked creativity without wingers or attacking midfielders. The formation provided stability and therefore we conceded few, but I'm sure it wasn't particularly entertaining for the fans! We picked up 11 points in the first 2 months, meaning we only one point away from 'breaking even' and reaching zero points. The aim, of course, was to get there as soon as possible and see what we could achieve from there. The injuries weren't all bad news, it has allowed me to give some of the clubs promising youngsters match time, such as Ronan Darcy and Callum King-Harmes.

Positive Momentum

By the start of October players started to return from injury and I was able to revert back to the 4-2-3-1 formation that I had wanted to utilise from the start of the season.

Centre-forward Murphy has been the main benefactor of the move to 4-2-3-1, as he has received good service from winger Verlinden and attacking midfielder Levitt. Brewster provides a great attacking threat as an inside forward on the left-wing. I do wonder if I am wasting his potential to score goals by not playing up top, but Murphy's uptake in form means I can't bring myself to drop him.

October went great, as we won 3 out of 4 league games, only drawing to Bristol Rovers after they equalised in the 95th minute. I won October Manager of the Month and Murphy won Player of the Month.

The most exciting thing is that October's form took us into positive points for the first time this season and we are now only three points off escaping the relegation zone. The expectation from the board is to try and avoid relegation, but I'd like to think that if we keep up our current form we can push onwards towards mid-table. My best performer so far has been James Garner, but a nice surprise has been centre-back Harry Brockbank, who at only 21 years old has performed admirably thus far.

Edited December 8, 2019 by Dong21

[Jogo Bonito]

6 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

Bolton Wanderers - Season 1 - Part 2

The most exciting thing is that October's form took us into positive points for the first time this season and we are now only three points off escaping the relegation zone. The expectation from the board is to try and avoid relegation, but I'd like to think that if we keep up our current form we can push onwards towards mid-table. My best performer so far has been James Garner, but a nice surprise has been centre-back Harry Brockbank, who at only 21 years old has performed admirably thus far.

Wow, great start! Why settle for mid-table, aim for a PO spot

[Jamesbfc1887]

I did something good!!! 

Most of it was done in the beta and I finished it today and yesterday, with most of the results being terrible. Just about held on.

[warlock]

8 hours ago, Dong21 said:

Have you had a chance to give Jude Bellingham any minutes yet?

Planning to give him some game time during the remainder of the season. I have a surfeit of CMs who expect to play - one of the reasons I cancelled Slattery's loan was to make room for Bellingham.

[warlock]

5 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

However as I began to fear the worst, my team responded magnificently and ended up winning 4-1 to claim automatic promotion

Always good to finish in style . Good luck in the Championship.

[warlock]

@Dong21 That's a very impressive start to the season, in very difficult circumstances. I know the Man Utd youngsters pretty well and I'm sure they'll perform for you. And Brewster also started my game injured but came good when he returned, so I hope he'll do the same for you.

@Jamesbfc1887 Well played . Hope you can keep the positive momentum going.

[Jamesbfc1887]

22 minutes ago, warlock said:

Well played . Hope you can keep the positive momentum going.

Well post-January we were awful, 90% of our goals were set pieces and we averaged just over a point a game.

I think I'll be looking for pastures new.

Quite fancy a 442 or maybe a team with 5 at the back. 532 seems pretty strong this year.

[Dong21]

5 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Best of luck with your new squad and staff.

Thanks @Jogo Bonito! Congrats on the promotion with Ipswich, I'm looking forward to reading how you get on in the Championship.

Having played on a bit further, I think my hopes of mid-table might have been a tad optimistic, let alone a push for the Playoffs! But that's a story for another day...

49 minutes ago, warlock said:

@Dong21 That's a very impressive start to the season, in very difficult circumstances.

Cheers @warlock! Keep us updated how Bellingham gets on - hopefully he develops as well as he has for @Jonthedon26 (but with less of the transfer interest!).

5 hours ago, John Joe O'toole said:

I cashed in the Rob Holding clause and Zach Clough and have quite a healthy budget now!

Appreciate the tip off @John Joe O'toole,I hadn't spotted that the 20% sell on clause could be negotiated now! Just looked and I can cash in for £6.75m so I'm going to do that right away. Unlikely that Holding will be sold for over £35m and even if he does, that money would be transformative for the club right at the present time. It is worth noting that I currently only retain 10% of transfer revenue, but I am actually glad that the money goes into the club's coffers to help with long-term sustainability.

Edited December 8, 2019 by Dong21

[Jamesbfc1887]

Thinking of Birmingham or Cardiff for the Championship, think I could try a 442 with them. Also Bradford for an easier challenge. might have to start here to gain some confidence again.

Reading look good with all their youth talent as well, although a 442 would negate some of their young stars like Danny Loader.

[warlock]

1 minute ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

Thinking of Birmingham or Cardiff for the Championship, think I could try a 442 with them

Birmingham are a good candidate for a 442, although you'll have to bring in some additional strikers for rotation options. Brentford has good wide midfielders, but again they're short-handed up front - a 4411 maybe? Similar situation at Cardiff. It's a sweeping generalisation, but from the Championship up, most squads are set to play with a lone striker; while from L1 down, most squads are better for a two-striker tactic.

Bristol City would be a prospect and 442 would be a natural choice there.

[Jamesbfc1887]

19 minutes ago, warlock said:

Birmingham are a good candidate for a 442, although you'll have to bring in some additional strikers for rotation options. Brentford has good wide midfielders, but again they're short-handed up front - a 4411 maybe? Similar situation at Cardiff. It's a sweeping generalisation, but from the Championship up, most squads are set to play with a lone striker; while from L1 down, most squads are better for a two-striker tactic.

Bristol City would be a prospect and 442 would be a natural choice there.

Cheers I'll have a look 

[Jamesbfc1887]

@warlock Liking the look of that Brizzle squad, however I also like the look of the Brum squad. I'll have to put my thinking cap on.

Gonna avoid Cardiff, I can do without the stress of being predicted 4th and the board wanting promotion, managed them in the Prem last year too.

[Rollin93]

6 hours ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

@warlock Liking the look of that Brizzle squad, however I also like the look of the Brum squad. I'll have to put my thinking cap on.

Gonna avoid Cardiff, I can do without the stress of being predicted 4th and the board wanting promotion, managed them in the Prem last year too.

I have recently taken over Blackburn in my save could be one for you to look at the have Bradley Dack cam but also have Armstrong bereton graham and Gallagher as there strikers 

just an idea 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Rollin93 said:

I have recently taken over Blackburn in my save could be one for you to look at

@Jamesbfc1887 That's not a bad shout, actually 

[Jogo Bonito]

@Jamesbfc1887 Reading play a 532 (only) so present a good two striker choice. Apart from other names mentioned, QPR may also go 442. I wouldn't imagine it to be 'Eze' but if you want a battle they may be worth a look?

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

if you want a battle

Think he might like something a little less challenging  But Reading might be a good choice for a back 3/5 system.

[robterrace]

Should have a recruitment/signings update for Cambridge shortly. Trying to get a couple of new faces in who should make a difference.

[warlock]

11 minutes ago, robterrace said:

Trying to get a couple of new faces in

[Jamesbfc1887]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@Jamesbfc1887 Reading play a 532 (only) so present a good two striker choice. Apart from other names mentioned, QPR may also go 442. I wouldn't imagine it to be 'Eze' but if you want a battle they may be worth a look?

Yeah I'm a little tired of battles in all honesty. 

[Jogo Bonito]

1 hour ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

Yeah I'm a little tired of battles in all honesty. 

I'll be taking on the Royal challenge myself soon, but need to finish with Ipswich and try something other than 532/352 in between. I've not yet played a 4 man midfield or wingers in Fm20 yet. Bristol Rovers might be easy as a simple 4132 works well with them.

Edited December 9, 2019 by Jogo Bonito

[robterrace]

53 minutes ago, warlock said:

 

Another striker coming in, having scored 53 goals in the last 3 seasons in Spain, on a Free Transfer.

A free transfer from Norway, picked up in March last season, but finally signed a permanent deal in June.

Finally, a couple of interesting deals.

Politic will be my best right winger, and Darcy, immediately becomes my best midfielder.

 

[Barnetfan]

I'm in my third season and Ronan Darcy has signed for Newcastle in the premier league so that on the face of it is a cracking signing. I am currently Lincoln in League One sitting in second in January. I recommend to everyone Malik Batmaz a striker playing for Karlsruher in Germany, got him for 200k and is banging them in. Top of the training charts every month and is now being linked with top championship clubs and PSG of all clubs?!

 

P.S - Does anyone know how to screenshot on a Mac? I would like to post a few images of players I have come across

Edited December 9, 2019 by Barnetfan

[warlock]

@robterrace Very impressive, as usual. But what's up with your fullbacks? Slackers!!

[Jamesbfc1887]

43 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I'll be taking on the Royal challenge myself soon, but need to finish with Ipswich and try something other than 532/352 in between. I've not yet played a 4 man midfield or wingers in Fm20 yet. Bristol Rovers might be easy as a simple 4132 works well with them.

Good luck, Reading's home grown players look great!

[robterrace]

4 minutes ago, warlock said:

@robterrace Very impressive, as usual. But what's up with your fullbacks? Slackers!!

My fullbacks picked up numerous niggling injuries and generally lacked form, which is why they're not in.

Another departure as well, with Sylvain Deslandes departing to Ajaccio in France.

He cost us nothing, with the exception of his £1800 per week wages for a season, so, at just under £100k paid out, we make double that, of which, we have already brought in the likes of Politic and Darcy

[robterrace]

Another youngster in, as Connor Stanley joins on a free from Manchester United. I'm probably going to train him to play on the left wing and cut in as his crossing will work well for me.

This lad joined us in January from Cork, and went out on loan to Stockport to develop, I think he has done pretty well to be fair. I've had offers for Symons for a large amount of money, and Duffy is more than capable of taking his slot in the team, and, with a bit more work, will be very potent up front for us.

Departing the club is Macedonian midfielder, Beyhan Ametov, another free transfer in, leaving for £145k this time, which will go into the squad fund.

The next signing to arrive, is Luke Bolton, who can play anywhere down the right flank, and as a striker. 

I'm looking to do a bit of work on him and seeing if I can turn him into a right wing back.

Also arriving, is Irish centre back Aaron O'Driscoll, who comes from Southampton. He'll be Deslandes replacement.

As I mentioned at the top of the post, Symons has had a few offers made for him. 

Burnley had watched him several times at the end of last season, and were the ones making the biggest move.

Final couple of moves for this post, left winger Jonny Smith joins us on a free. The ex Bristol City midfielder arrives on a 2 year deal.

Also coming in, is left back Declan John. With masses of experience at higher levels, he comes in on a slightly big contract, but, the experience he brings is worth it.

 

 

[warlock]

Well, this is exciting 

[robterrace]

What should be my last couple of moves before the season starts.

Pierre Zebli, an Ivorian with Italian nationality, comes in. He appeared on my player list as a result of playing at Genk last season, and having a small amount of Belgian knowledge.

I also love the slight change in the social media bits we get this season.

Lastly, I've paid £300k for Nathan Holland from West Ham. He caught my eye playing against me for Southend last season, with 11 assists and 8 goals in 33 games, and the scout reports rated him very highly.

He'll be the first choice left winger whilst the other players develop.

[dothestrand]

For my first English save, I'm choosing my local team, Brentford FC. You might them best for their supposed Moneyball approach to football. In the last seven years, Brentford owner Matthew Benham, who made his fortune in gambling, is employing similar methods for Brentford. Their approach to recruitment is simple. Buy young, rough diamonds from the lower leagues, France and Scandinavia, polish them up and sell them on for big profits. The likes of Mepham, Konza, Maupay have been sold for seven figure sums in the last couple of years, and Watkins and Benrahma are likely to follow in the next year or so. If you're a manager who likes of dip into the market, you'll find Brentford an exciting challenge!

The board are ambitious too. Play-offs in the first season and promotion in the second - that's a challenge! There are a few other challenges not built into the club vision that you might want to consider - not signing anyone over 23, selling any player on for a realistic profit (e.g if you can turn a 300-400% profit, you should sell), focussing on the aforementioned reasons, not developing strong youth facilities (you can sign young players for the first team, but you are not developing an academy and stockpiling kids), and making the most of your relationship with Benham's other club, FC Midtjylland. 

With 5m for transfers and 12k for wages, we might try to bring another couple of youngsters in if they're going to augment or improve the first team squad. But we should focus on what we've got primarily and look to make big transfers next season. The tactics might need a tweak but the board want attacking, entertaining football. The first XI should be something along the lines of what you'll see below.

The Championship is always a competitive league and the play-offs would be a considerable achievement. 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, dothestrand said:

I'm choosing my local team, Brentford FC

Good luck! I'll definitely be doing a Bees save at some point. In my two saves so far, they've started poorly but finished strongly in season 1. They're in the automatic promotion spot in my Birmingham save (update below), so the playoffs are definitely achievable.

[Jamesbfc1887]

Right I think I've decided (well sort of ). You'll have to bear with me here but I think I prefer Bristol City to Birmingham so logically.....

I'm gonna start at Birmingham and use it as a test for Bristol City, no doubt I'll do terribly at Blues so that's why I'm choosing them first coz really I want to manage Briz.

[warlock]

Birmingham: season 1 - April

After a good run in January that saw us undefeated in the league, with three wins and a draw, we continued our form in February with a 3-0 win against Forest. And then it all went pear-shaped. When we scored we couldn't defend, and when the defence did it's job we couldn't score enough... six straight draws, and we failed to defend leads against Brentford and Sheffield Wednesday. The opening game in March saw us find a win against Reading, followed by an abysmal performance against West Brom - three times we had the lead, three times we lost it, and then conceded twice more in the last 10 minutes. We finished the month in better form, beating a very strong Huddersfield side 5-0 in our best performance of the season. I hoped that might give us some momentum, but the next fixture saw us visit table-topping Fulham and we lost against them for the third time this season.

That run of draws saw us slip down the playoff spots, from 3rd to 4th to 5th. Leeds produced their usual late-season collapse while Brentford pulled off an impressive run losing just twice since Boxing Day. West Brom also found a run of form to nudge Stoke out of the playoff positions.

Brewster and Villalba continue to carry the team, although Jutkiewicz also increased his season total to 9 goals, and Temenuzhkov has produced 4 in 8 starts. Kieftenbeld's status as best passer is deceptive since I'm sure they were all 5-yarders either backwards or sideways. He has the worst rating of everyone in the side and is now transfer-listed at his request after I refused to guarantee more starts. Bellingham has started 5 games but it's fair to say he isn't setting the world on fire, with just one assist and an average rating of 6.8.

Going in to the last four games, it looks like no-one can catch Fulham, and Brentford are the in-form side. We have a tricky match against Stoke that might be crucial - Stoke and Swansea could yet force their way into the playoffs if any of us slip up. At the other end of the table, QPR are already relegated and Charlton are odds-on to follow them. Barnsley are the other likely candidate to go down.

[warlock]

26 minutes ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

Right I think I've decided

Makes perfect sense. Well, not perfect, but I can kinda sorta follow your reasoning 

[Jamesbfc1887]

28 minutes ago, warlock said:

Makes perfect sense. Well, not perfect, but I can kinda sorta follow your reasoning 

Yeah lost all confidence in what I'm doing now, hopefully if I give myself a free shot at it, eventually I'll get it right. 

[Jamesbfc1887]

Started my Birmingham save, what the actual f*ck is that tent?  

[Jamesbfc1887]

And I'm still bad 

[Jamesbfc1887]

@warlock Looking good there, good luck with the last few games of the season 

[warlock]

43 minutes ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

Started my Birmingham save, what the actual f*ck is that tent?  

New feature... it's not in my save 

12 minutes ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

And I'm still bad 

Post your tactic and I'll compare with mine.

[warlock]

Sigh 

A battling draw against Stoke gave me hope; the home defeat against a relegated Charlton side was abysmal. Then against Derby we had a 2-0 lead at half-time, led 3-1 after 60 minutes and then gave up two goals.If firing squads were a feature in the game, my defence would be a blood-stained heap.

We did - just - enough to secure a playoff place in 6th. I have absolutely no confidence going forward. I've tried everything I can think of defensively but nothing has made any difference. Finishing anywhere from 7th to 10th would have been fine at the start of the season, but after holding a Top Three place for most of it, I'm appalled at the way we've fallen apart in the last two months.

[warlock]

You know those jokes that start, "I've got good news and bad news..."? To my suprise we outplayed Leeds in both legs of the opening playoff:

And Bellingham put in a PoM performance. We'll play Huddersfield in the final. The bad news was that we suffered injuries to third- and fourth-choice strikers Jutkiewicz and Gimenez, as well as to midfield star Dan Crowley. Then I realized that Brewster and Badiashile have left on international duty, so that's my best striker and best defender missing. And then, just to ice the cake, Stockdale suffered a training injury. So we'll play our biggest game of the season with an ageing backup keeper, one fit striker and a change of tactic. I'm about to kick-off - let's see if the lads can produce an absolute miracle 

[Jamesbfc1887]

8 minutes ago, warlock said:

So we'll play our biggest game of the season with an ageing backup keeper

Believe in Lee Camp 

There we go, improved a tad since those first 3 games.

[warlock]

I need a lie-down 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

improved a tad since those first 3 games

If it's working for you that's great. But it is the polar opposite of the way I've been setup. Below is how we played against Huddersfield with the players I had available. Normally, Juke would play TM-s on the left of attack, with one of the others as AF on the right. Crowley or Bellingham at MCR as AP-s, and Sunjic or Gardner as a BMW-d or CM-d on the left. Everything else is as normal.

 

I imagine your setup will overwhelm a lot of teams, but if you establish yourself as a playoff candidate teams will sit deeper and narrower and you might struggle for chances while they hit you on the counter. Keep an eye on that, but I hope it keeps working for you 

 

Edited December 10, 2019 by warlock