[FM20] It was Cambrogi in Wales, but now it's all about aggression in Wales, in England. Bellicosity, pugnacity and belligerence are all excellent words. But Welsh belligerence, in England now.

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2025.

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2025.

4 home games this month made me think we had a real opportunity to get ourselves back in with a shout. A good win in the Cup was followed by a Big Matt inspired demolition of Monmouth, (who were managed until recently by @smp20in another thread). His performances are putting me to shame at the moment. 

We had a player sent off in the 1st half against Port Talbot and then we battered Llantwit Major in the last game but the ball just wouldn't go in. 

I'm thinking if benching Big Matt for the rest of the season and playing double AF's up front for the rest of this season and the whole of next season, (with Big Matt just featuring from the bench). I need to try something new because this is like Groundhod Day. 

The problem is that Big Matt has scored 14 goals in 22 appearances at an average rating of 7.41. Whatever the problem is, it's not him. 

[SRL88]

Big Matt is just the best name ever 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, SRL88 said:

Big Matt is just the best name ever 

He's 6'6". 

He's ****, but he's 6'6" ****. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Interview declined. Jan 2026.

Penybont are 8th in our league. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake. Apr 2026.

Intake ranked by PPA. 

Intake ranked by actual PA.

Hierarchy.

Compare the above 3 players, (which are all influential), the following player who is classed as "other players", simply because he has been at the club for a shorter period as a Youth Player. 

In the past when I have looked at this, high potential, (and possibly current ability), has been something that was able to impact hierarchy. I'm not seeing that at the moment. 

(26a) Alan Brown *.

[Jimbokav1971]

Operation bench Big Matt. 

I mentioned previously that I was going to revert to double AF's up front and send Big Matt to the bench, fut unfortunately out form has not been good. Big Matt has done his bit from the bench, but we have continued to score FAR too many goals. 

Unfortunately, where as I still want him to be played as a TM when he comes on from the bench, it would seem that he's actually playing as an AF, (which isn't ideal at all). Despite that, he's still been doing ok and the results are suggesting that this wasn't a good move. 

For the last 15 games of the season, Big Matt has started on the game and he has featured in 11 of these, scoring 6 goals. 

6 goals from 11 sub appearances is decent I think you would agree. 

Unfortunately we have not coped well in his absence from the starting line-up. 

We only failed to score in 1 of 15 games in the last 4 months, so scoring is not a problem, but where as we have scored 24 goals during this period, we have also conceded 25 goals during the same period. Stopping conceding goals is the priority, but our defenders are of such a poor standard that it's tough going. 

Cardiff Uni won the league in the end but they really limped over the line, winning only 1 of their last 5 games. They were unbeaten at Christmas and ended up losing 4 games. On the plus side, we won't have to play them next season. 

Best XI.

End of Season Awards. 

I don't imagine that I was too popular, benching Big Matt for the last 4 months of the season. (He still finished the season on 20 goals).

Season Review.

Finances. 

Facilities.

[Jimbokav1971]

Mistakes. 

I've made loads of mistakes in FM, but benching Big Matt with 4 months of the season still remaining must surely be the biggest in recent years. 

How many goals would have have scored if I had just kept playing him? We will never know now. #Idiot. 

[DazRTaylor]

Big Matt has an impressive average rating each season for you.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, DazRTaylor said:

Big Matt has an impressive average rating each season for you.

He does indeed. I really like the way we play with him, but he's just so rubbish in front of goal. I made a mistake benching him though. If anything we should be playing through him even more. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Strategy. Jul 2026. 

Pre-season is here and it's time for me to stop fannying about and get out of this God-forsaken league. 

1. All players need to be match fit for the start of the league season. That means that I have to either streamline the squad or select which players will be playing in what friendlies. I can't be bothered with selecting the squad so I will be moving fringe players to the U19's so that the initial 22 players will be fit and ready to go.

2. I need to decide who is ranked where and in what position and try and stick with it. I have nicked this idea from @oriole01who I have seen use it in the Joint Save thread. 

3. Our GK's keep getting poached by other clubs. I've tried to get Rees back in, Roberts retired over the Summer and (24k) Connor Owen * is at a JD Cymru Premier club, (so it contracted). 

The DoF has been approached and asked to suggest a GK available on a free. The idea of signing a 3rd Parry, (to go with the left back and striker Parry's), is quite appealing. 

Before the 1st Nathaniel MG Cup match, our condition and match sharpness look decent. 

We've still got 3 friendlies to play, (we have played 6 so far), so hopefully things will improve between here and the 1st league game. 

 

The media have commented on which players are most likely to be the stars of the coming season. 

Graham Carpenter is only on trial at Haverfordwest and is a centre-half, so I have immediately offered him a contract. 

Darren Robinson is a free agent currently so I have also offered a contact to him. He wants me to sign a friend or an ex team-mate, but I will deal with that as and when it happens. 

Thankfully the DoF is on the ball and arranged this loan deal. I didn't realise until I saw this message why we had signed him and almost cancelled the deal. 

This is the match day squad ahead of the 1st league game and I'm very happy with the condition and relatively happy with the match sharpness. 

[Nobby_McDonald]

Feckin hell Jimbo, you're stuttering a bit at this level.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Nobby_McDonald said:

Feckin hell Jimbo, you're stuttering a bit at this level.

Stuttering? 

We're actually regressing after my insightful decision to bench our top goal-scorer and best player Big Matt. (I should have been shot for that never mind about sacked). I will pretend that I have been a little click happy and have just been going through the motions, (I haven't), but I have been a little too generous with giving our Academy products senior football.

No more Mr Nice Guy. I have brought in some quality and will be pulling out all the stops this season. If we don't get promoted this season then it won't be for the lack of trying. I will be leaving no stone unturned and no..... something else....... something elsed. 

I was told at work today that I am being furloughed, (sent home on 80% pay for the next 3 weeks), which is a result when you considered that I resigned a month ago and after them giving me 3 weeks paid leave sitting at home to think about it, (well ok then, if you insist), I went back for a week and a half and am now off again on Wednesday. It's a tough old life at the moment. 

Anyway, where was I? Yeah, I'm rubbish, but I plan on being slightly less rubbish soon. 

[Jimbokav1971]

I'm not saying we are one-dimensional but...... Aug 2026.

I would like to take the praise for such an opening day victory, however we were 1-0 down at HT and my Ass Man made 3 changes at HT and we ran riot in the 2nd half.

I think it's fair to say that me dropping Big Matt to the bench last season for 4 months, (no I really did), has taught him a valuable lesson and all that's left is to reap the rewards. 

2 goals, 2 assists, a MOM award, and both centre-backs living in his pocket. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug & Sep 2026.

Well that's a better start to the season and I'm sure it will get the fans, (aka @Nobby_McDonald) back onside. 

Big Matt has absolutely bossed it, but I still can't understand why he played as an AF against Port Talbot. (As a result he was pinged offside on 5 occasions in that game, and 0 occasions in the 2 games where played as a TM).

Anyone else see something dodgy with this? 

That's more like it.

There have obviously been more goals from Long Throws. 

And let's not forget my GK Rees. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sept & Oct 2026. 

It's been a nit of a strange couple of months. We lost 4 games, (3 in the league and 1 in the Cup), but all 4 were by a single goal margin, and it was nice to beat another JD Cymru Premier club in Afan Lido, (albeit only on penalties). 

The 2 draws towards the end of the month hurt us, and the reason for this is probably the Cup Qtr Final that was squeezed in between them. We simply don't have the ability to play more than 1 game per week at the moment. When we do our results suffer. 

Even after stuttering a little during this period, we are only 4 points off Penybont at the top. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1st International call-up. Nov 2026.

[rodesire]

Carpenter looks a star!

[Jimbokav1971]

7 hours ago, rodesire said:

Carpenter looks a star!

Everything is relative. He looks like a star compared to what else we've got.  

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2026.

6 unbeaten is great, but it's the wins that count in a tight title race. Not only have we won 3 on the bounce in the league this month, but we also kept clean sheets in 3 of our 4 games. (Something that has not been easy in this save so far). The Penybont win in the 88th minute was a big goal, but if I'm completely honest I would have been happy with a 0-0 there just to keep the momentum going. 

Only Cearau Ely have conceded few goal, (1 goal less), but if I can keep close to the best defensive record then I think we will be there or there abouts come the end of the season because we will score a lot of goals.  

My GK Rees seems to be in decent form at the moment. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2026. 

Despite seeing off Port Talbot in the Cup with a weakened team, we couldn't do the same thing at the end of the month in the league. 2 losses from 3 league games puts us in a tough position and we not trail both Penybont and Port Talbot by 5 points. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2026.

[Jimbokav1971]

2nd player called up for International duty. Mar 2027.

I've already showed you Carpenter, but Darren Robinson is also getting recognition. 

[KrKAlex]

I love your save, and the approach. It is super funny to read. BIG MATT  

[Jimbokav1971]

10 minutes ago, KrKAlex said:

I love your save, and the approach. It is super funny to read. BIG MATT  

That's great, I'm really glad you are enjoying the save. 

I would like to point out though that this isn't meant to be funny. I am meant to be winning every game and winning trophies. 

Needless to say we won't be winning anything this season either. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake Day. Apr 2027.

Golden Generation my ass. 

Squad by PPA.

Squad by actual PA.

It's not a good intake. Having said that, we have 2 players with decent CA in (27a) Rhys Giles * and (27k) Craig Williams.

The best player by actual PA is (27j) Nigel Jones (ENG). The thing is that he might never even reach his potential because of our poor facilities 

[rodesire]

How much ability points do you reckon a player can improve if he spends 16-25 at a club with worat possible facilities but decent game time?

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan, Feb, Mar & Apr 2027.

This looks like we have been in decent form, but actually, while there 2 losses in the league, (losing 6 possible points), there are also 5 draws, (losing 10 points). 

Penybont smashed it this season and won the league with about 5 games to spare and finished with a margin of 13 points.

We were the top goal-scorers, (with 65 goals scored), but our 40 goals conceded is where the problem lies. The best defensive teams conceded just 25, 29 & 37 in comparison.

Big Matt's return of 15 goals and 8 assists is decent, and I'm enjoying the way he plays, but honestly, (and I can't stress this strongly enough), he is appalling in front of goal and enough is enough.

He only averages less than 2 shots on target per game, and that's just not enough to get us promoted with the faltering back-line we have.

I know when I benched him before it didn't work out too well, but I'm seriously thinking about starting next season with him on the bench, (and keeping him there).

I suppose I should have a look at who the replacement options are up front and remind you that my general preference is to play with double AF's up front. 

Caton *. He's already scored 55 league goals for the club. I wonder if he might score more if he wasn't playing with a sloth?

(22h) Jack Morris *. I don't think I have really given him a fair shout. I think I'm going to play him or release him.

Jack Rogers *. I'm a big fan of physical attributes at lower levels and this bloke will surely play a key role this season. Again, he's not really been given a chance so far. 

Parry *. Has also scored 55 league goals for us and again, were he playing with someone more pacy, I wonder if this figure might be higher?

(24e) Michael Brooks *. I like the look of this bloke and feel that he could be better than decent, but he needs games and it's hard to get them if Big Matt takes 1 of the striking positions in each game. 

[KrKAlex]

2 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

That's great, I'm really glad you are enjoying the save. 

I would like to point out though that this isn't meant to be funny. I am meant to be winning every game and winning trophies. 

Needless to say we won't be winning anything this season either. 

When I said funny, I meant your story telling and the way you turn things around.

[Jimbokav1971]

Summary. Apr 2027.

Overall Best XI.

Finances. We're still in credit. Partly because of a good Cup run that saw us progress to the Semi-Final, but also a board take-over and re-structuring of debt that saw us take out a loan of £23.5k.

Awards.

Big Matt was obviously Fans Player of the Season again, (for the 4th consecutive season), and I don't think it's a good sign that it mentions a "Golden Generation" of home produced players because we have such poor facilities. I think I need to accept that I need to sign a starting player in each position where the previous 1st choice is an Academy Product.

[Jimbokav1971]

27 minutes ago, rodesire said:

How much ability points do you reckon a player can improve if he spends 16-25 at a club with worat possible facilities but decent game time?

The truth is I don't know. 

Although I have the editor activated, I don't really like to use it for stuff like this, but let's look at it now just for the hell of it. 

A "Golden Generation" was mentioned in the recent season summary and players such as (22o) Ian Dorward *, (22b) Alun Rees *, (23c) Tom Brown (ENG)  * and Graham Morris (Poached) specifically mentioned. I can't track the CA of Graham Morris (Poached), because if you remember he was poached while at our Academy and actually came through the intake at Woking. I should however be able to track the progress of the other players mentioned. 

(22o) Ian Dorward *. He's made quite a regular contribution to the Senior Squad since arriving. He was 13 CA 80 PA when he came through the intake and if I look at him right now then he is showing as 36 CA. So he he progressed 23 points in just about 5 seasons, (although has probably only played for 2 full seasons and 2 half seasons during that time). 23 points over 5 seasons is 4.6 points per season. That's really not great, but what have I got to compare it against? Absolutely nothing. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I think I have to ignore PA or PPA, (I find that very hard to do), and just concentrate on CA for a while). 

(22b) Alun Rees *. Another who has made a significant contribution, he also came through the intake in 2022, with a CA of 33 and a PA of 51. This relatively high CA gave him an advantage and a route into the Senior side. He was nicked by Connah's Quay for a season, but we managed to get him back. His CA is now showing as 44, so he has risen just 11 points since he came through, while playing approximately 4 full seasons for our Senior side. So that equates to just 2.75 points per season, (which seems awful). 

(23c) Tom Brown (ENG)  * came through the following season in 2033, with a CA of 20 and a PA of 60. His CA is now 48 meaning that it has risen 28 points in 4 seasons of playing. Actually I have just realised that I only counted full playing seasons on the previous players but that's rubbish because players improve even when they are playing for the U18's so my figures earlier in this post are incorrect. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, rodesire said:

How much ability points do you reckon a player can improve if he spends 16-25 at a club with worat possible facilities but decent game time?

After trying and failing to answer your question, I think the correct answer is....... very very little. 

[Fudal]

Do you have the shoot less often PI on Big Matt?

[Jimbokav1971]

Save Summary to date. May 2027. 

Some of you are probably reading this thinking, "when is he actually going to start winning things?" or "bloomin hell, this is a slog", but it honestly doesn't feel like a slog and there is no rush to win things. If it was all about winning everything and it was easy, then it wouldn't have been fun. Honestly, Big Matt, and a number of different GK's, have given me good value in this save so far, but now might be a turning point for a period with a different strategy. 

Considering I started off with hardly any points to spend because I had no badges and Sunday League experience, things are developing reasonably well. 

My stats look even more reasonable. 

I've had Manager of the Month awards, but never the big prize. 

We may have only finished 5th this season, but we scored 10 more goals than last season and conceded 15 fewer.

TNS obviously won the JD Cymru Premier last season, but it's interesting to see that Cardiff Met Uni, who won our league the season before, finished 4th and will play in Europe this season. 

Wrexham finished 6th in Conference National last season. 

Newport County finished 15th in League 1 last season.

Swansea finished 20th in the Championship last season.

Cardiff finished 10th in the Championship last season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

25 minutes ago, Fudal said:

Do you have the shoot less often PI on Big Matt?

No, I experimented with him in a TM(a) role rather than the more familiar TM(s) role this season for a while, but in coincided with him not scoring for a while and us losing twice so I dismissed the idea. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul & Aug 2027.

Pre-season.

I was more concerned with strengthening the squad than arranging friendlies, so this is the 1st time I have looked at the results and realised that I forgot to play the U18's in pre-season. 

Jul & Aug.

These results look bad, but actually I'm relatively pleased. 

For a start we have had 3 sending offs in the 6 games, which means that as well as playing a man short in 3 different games, we were also weakened in the following games through a suspension. 

I would say we were unlucky against Monmouth, especially playing with 10 men.

We were definitely unlucky against West End. We absolutely battered them!

I still can't quite believe that Port Talbot beat us. This is an absolute shellacking! But we somehow still came away with nothing. 

So while the league table may not be pretty reading, I am comfortable that we will come good and that the changes I have made will work in the long-term.

Having said that, we are currently languishing in the relegation zone. 

[Edit]

I should add that we seem to have been running a "Goal of the Season conceded" because just about every goal we have conceded has been an absolute blooter from outside the box. It needs to stop because I'm starting to get the hump! 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

God I'm frustrated. 

If we are't conceding a wonder-goal, we are conceding a joke of a goal. 

 

Edited April 2, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[KrKAlex]

7 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

God I'm frustrated. 

If we are't conceding a wonder-goal, we are conceding a joke of a goal. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sept & Oct. 

Only 2 losses in 2 months is a big improvement in form, but still only sees us sit 8th in the league. 

I stopped the full-backs over-lapping at the start of this period and I think it's starting to pay dividends at the back. Haverfordwest look the team to beat this season. They deserved to beat us and were very clinical. The other defeat was against Swansea Uni where we were again unfortunate to not get something out of the game. 

Barry are currently 4th in the JD Cymru Premier, so it was a big deal beating them in the Cup. It shows that if we ever do get promoted we should at least be competitive. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Gula sacked by Cardiff. Nov 2027.

This is now the 5th time that Matthew Bloxham has taken over as caretaker Manager. 

His current record is Won 2 Drawn 2 Lost 4 so I can see why they aren't considering him for the role full-time. 

Cardiff are not doing great, but they are doing better than Swansea. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Long range GK goal. Nov 2027.

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2027.

Our form continues to improve. The only loss this month was against Cwmbran Celtic and they probably deserved to nick it. We've been better in other games and I'm starting to look upwards rather than downwards. 

We were 12 points behind the leaders last month and are still 12 points behind them now. We need to go on a winning run if we hope to reel them in. I'm not sure how realistic that is if I'm honest. 

[rodesire]

3 sides averaging more than 2 PTS a game, one should survive but the rest can be caught

[Jimbokav1971]

8 minutes ago, rodesire said:

3 sides averaging more than 2 PTS a game, one should survive but the rest can be caught

Yeah, but you get nothing for 2nd place in this league. 

Every season there seems to be at least 1 team absolutely smashing it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2027.

[Thebaker]

I would say rather than look at your strikers (big matt stats actually look fine, my strikers look far worse), look at the midfielders. There seems to be few goals  from them, which can make the difference, ultimately tightening the defense with a change or tweak in tactics will probably prove to be the winner.

The youth players you showed, none have particularly positive  personalities like professional, determined, ambitious. This makes a big difference in ca improvement when you have poor facilities in my experience.

Edited April 3, 2020 by Thebaker

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2028.

The 2 games we lost were both Cup games to JD Cymru Premier sides, so actually it was a decent month. 

We were 12 points behind the leaders last month and now just trail by 6 points with 10 games remaining. We're in with a shout now at least. 

Rees scored his 6th goal of the season to make it 16 career goals. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Thebaker said:

I would say rather than look at your strikers (big matt stats actually look fine, my strikers look far worse), look at the midfielders. There seems to be few goals which can make the difference, ultimately tightening the defense with a change in tactics will probably prove to be the winner.

The youth players you showed, none have particularly positive  personalities like professional, determined, ambitious. This makes a big difference in ca improvement when you have poor facilities in my experience.

You are completely correct with regards to the player personalities, but they are what they are. 

Yes, I've done something at the back, (no more over-lapping), and I'm hoping it will continue to pay dividends. 

The problem with Big Matt was the way we were set-up didn't fit with his strengths. When he scored it was almost in spite of the way we played rather than because of it. Don't get me wrong, he was great for the visuals general team-play and to watch, but it didn't suit the team. That's it in a nut-shell. 

In the last 8 league games we have hit 4 goals on 4 occasions, 3 goals once and 2 goals twice. We're scoring at 3 a game right now when it was just 2 goals per game over last season. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Thebaker said:

I would say rather than look at your strikers (big matt stats actually look fine, my strikers look far worse), look at the midfielders.

Big Matt had a poor season last season and only scored 11 league goals in 30 starts. 

Compare that to 1 of my strikers Davidson *, who has 15 goals and 4 assists in his last 10 games. 

That's a bit of a step-up in returns from Big Matt. 

It's not just him though. The introduction of a TM completely changes the way that the team plays and doesn't affect just the player playing in Big Matt's place, but also the 2nd striker. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2028.

We've hit form but I'm still not sure that there is time to over-haul Llanelli. 

We've hit 4 goals 6 times in the last 9 games and that's far more like the form I was expecting.