[FM07] Overtaking Colin

[DaneBramage]

On 16/06/2020 at 22:39, Deisler26 said:

I've loved this save, but I will be so happy when you get back to getting promoted!

Thanks, that's nice to hear. I've scratched the itch and won a few trophies, but I'm pretty sure that whatever happens this year, this will be my last season in Wales. 

----------------------------------------

Haverfordwest County - October + November 2020

League

Goalscorers: Milne 6, Anderson 3, Butcher 2, Galloway 2, Holden 2, Hill 1, Anson 1, Cox 1, Hodgson 1

Can't complain. Five wins from five led to me winning the manager of the month award. Two more wins in November also helped. But most importantly, we didn't lost to Llanelli. We were actually leading most of the game, but they dominated the second half and got a late equaliser.

Llanelli were knocked out of Europe at the very stage, losing to Dinamo Tbilisi in the Champions League qualifiers. Due to this they've played twice more than us, as a bunch of our games have been re-arranged to fit in our UEFA Cup matches. So they hold a six point lead, but we have two games in hand.

Domestic Cups

Goalscorers: Milne 4, Hill 3, Anderson 3, Butcher 2, Galloway 1, Anthony 1, Own Goal 1

Easy work in the Welsh Cup, the Ton Pentre game in particular being fun with both Milne and Anderson notching hat-tricks. The Newport game was tougher, but after making noises about not playing enough Anthony made only his second appearance for the club, and repaid that trust with his first goal.

UEFA Cup

Goalscorers: Milne 2, Hill 1

As expected the group stage is a lot tougher, but we're doing alright. We were a bit lucky against Brugge, they were definitely better than us, but couldn't add to their one goal lead. Hill came on a sub with 20 minutes left and made the difference to send the fans home happy. We suffered a heavy loss to Lille, the damage was done in the first half, though we did get a late consolation. The AEK game was a historic night for the club, a first group stage win, and it was of course Milne who got the only goal. In truth, the winning margin should have been even larger but we missed several easy chances.

With one game left we sit outside of the qualification spots. If we win and the Lille-AEK game ends in a definitive result, we go through, overtaking the loser. If they draw, then we'll need to win by at least four goals to catch up with AEK's goal difference.

Edited June 20, 2020 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Haverfordwest County - December 2020

League

Goalscorers: Milne 6, Butcher 3, Anderson 3, Galloway 2, Houghton 2, Anthony 1, Own Goal 1

Absolutely fuming with this. There was no reason for us not to win the Aberystwyth game. They had one shot all game. We had 13, but only three on target. Poor, but I could just about look past it. But the follow up was just abysmal. Our two senior goalkeepers were out injured, so Nash (YP20) had to step in from the youth team. He completely embarrassed himself, conceding all five shots that came his way. Immediately released after the game.

Llanelli won all four of their matches this month, and have built the gap at the top to five points.

UEFA Cup

Goalscorers: Milne 1, Hodgson 1

We took a two goal lead within half an hour, but Steaua pulled one back before half-time. We couldn't add to this in the second half, so we were relying on the result from the other game to progress. If it was a draw we were out, if either Lille or AEK defeated the other we'd be through.

Lille beat AEK 1-0. That was enough to send us through to the first knockout round, where we have quite the daunting tie ahead of us.

Edited June 20, 2020 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Haverfordwest County - January 2021

League

Goalscorers: Butcher 2, Galloway 1

And everything has fallen apart. That's now only one win in five, and the gap to Llanelli has grown to 11 points.

They're uncatchable at this point. And let's be honest, I won't be beating Arsenal in the UEFA Cup. I could stick around to try for the domestic cups, but it doesn't really seem worth it. 

[DaneBramage]

January 2021

Unemployment did not last long at all.

An underperforming big club had been relegated from the Championship last year, and were now struggling in League One. They'd fired Ian Holloway in November, so I had been looking at it for a little while.

The problem was they were bankrupt, and had an ongoing transfer embargo.

But the timing worked out nicely. At the end of December a takeover went through, putting the club in a more stable situation. I moved quickly, and in less than a week I was in a new job.

Balance: £9.25m

Transfer budget: £1m

Wage budget: £69k

Finances are good, have a little bit of money to play with. It looks like there are a bunch of younger players at the club, as well as a few too many on the wrong side of 30, so I'll need to bring in a couple of lads in their prime.

With 20 games to go there's plenty of time to try and make a push up the table.

[Northernpilgrim]

9 points off the playoffs, 20 games to go. Difficult but doable 

[Deisler26]

Ooh. Nice move!

[Nobby_McDonald]

A good move... though I'd have been tempted to stay and play the Arsenal tie first then move on somewhere.

[DaneBramage]

On 20/06/2020 at 17:30, Northernpilgrim said:

9 points off the playoffs, 20 games to go. Difficult but doable 

Probably a tad optimistic, I'll be happy with securing midtable and deciding who I think will be important for next year.

On 20/06/2020 at 18:22, Deisler26 said:

Ooh. Nice move!

I think so. Facilities are top notch for this tier, and we're making money every month (not sure why they were previously listed as bankrupt then), so there's definitely room for potential.

22 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said:

A good move... though I'd have been tempted to stay and play the Arsenal tie first then move on somewhere.

It crossed my mind, but the anger at throwing away a push at the league again won out. 

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - January + February 2021

Looking over the squad and playing the first couple of games, I realised there wasn't a huge amount of quality here. In particular we were lacking in midfield and upfront. All of the scouts at the club were rubbish and in the process of being replaced, and as we were halfway through the transfer window there wasn't much time to look for new options. So I did something I'd generally resisted doing so far in this save, and raided my old club. I'd left for a reason, angry at results, but there were some players I still liked and considered reliable.

Transfers In

Having scored 129 times in less than five years it was a no-brainer to bring goalscoring hero Milne with me. And while I was there I also picked up my first choice midfield pairing of Anthony and Houghton.

Loans In

23 year old centre forward Hindmarch had been on my radar a while, but he had been out of my reach, both in terms of finance and reputation. Reading are our parent club, so I had to make a move to bring him in until the end of the season. They also sent along Thomas with him, who will probably be my sub midfielder. Boyd is a centre back I had on my shortlist, I don't know if he'll play much but he adds another option at the back.

January Results

Goalscorers: Kiely 3, Flanagan 1, Parsonage 1, Own Goal 1

A poor start, just the one point from the first three games. But we then had the first leg of the Southern Final in the EFL Trophy. Playing a side in a lower division helped and we managed an easy win, before carrying that momentum over to gain a big league win.

February Results

Goalscorers: Hindmarch 5, Milne 2, Kiely 2, Parsonage 1, Houghton 1, Own Goal 1

A great month, I'm very happy with this. Going unbeaten in the league with three wins is always welcome, and we did very well to get the two draws. We were two down against Doncaster, but hit back in the second half to earn a hard fought point. We had to work even harder to gain a point from top of the table Hull, being three down after half an hour, but Hindmarch grabbed a hat-trick to rescue a result. 

In between this we had the second leg against Grays, Milne's first goal for the club helped send us to the final. We will be taking on another League Two club, Boston United.

League One

We've moved up three places, and now sit eight points outside the play-offs, and eight points above the relegation area.

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - March + April + May 2020

March Results

Goalscorers: Hindmarch 1, Parsonage 1, Flanagan 1, Thomas 1, Anthony 1

Following a strong February we started the month with a win, but that quickly changed. We struggled to get points in the next three league games, coming from behind to get a couple of draws, but losing in a terrible performance against Millwall. After the game the board raised concerns about how bad the defeat was, and their confidence in me dropped.

In between this we had the EFL Trophy final against League Two side Boston. We should have thrashed them, even missing a penalty in the second half, but again an awful performance led to a goalless 90 minutes. We finally beat them on penalties, but it was not a satisfying way to win a trophy.

April Results

Goalscorers: Hindmarch 2, Kiely 1, Murphy 1, Thomas 1, Eastwood 1

A much needed unbeaten month, as although we didn't score many goals, we won four games by just a one game margin. This gave us a big push up the table, leaving us one point outside the play-off area with just one game to go.

May Result

Goalscorers: Hindmarch 1, Own Goal 1

We did our part, a comfortable win on the final day. Unfortunately Stockport also won, so we couldn't catch them in sixth place.

The board aren't satisfied with my performance as manager or the final position in the table, which I think is pretty harsh considering where we were when I joined. My 10-6-4 league record, extrapolated over a whole season, would have equalled 82 points, well in the automatic promotion mix.

League One

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - 2020/21 End of Season Review

I won't do my usual awards as I wasn't here for the whole season, but there aren't too many players I was particularly impressed by. The goalkeepers and defence were ropey at best, the wingers were rubbish, and the strikers were very inconsistent and struggled for goals.

Of my signings, Boyd was fine at centre-back. Didn't stand out, but was far from the worst at the back. Anthony and Houghton were good in midfield, they were important additions. Thomas was mainly used as a sub, so although his rating is low, that shouldn't be held against him too much. Both goals he scored were game-winners.

Hindmarch was the top scorer during his time here, can't argue with a one-in-two record. Milne was truly poor though. Two goals and two assists in his first six games, then nothing in the next 14. Completely out of his depth.

[DaneBramage]

My History

Edited June 27, 2020 by DaneBramage

[DaneBramage]

Previous Club Watch

Hednesford Town

Made a solid start to the Conference National season, but form dropped in winter and they plummeted down the table. With three games left Darron Gee was fired, Leaving the club in 22nd place. He was replaced with Nigel Adkins, but he only managed to earn one point from the nine available, and they were relegated with a game to go.

Hinckley United

After narrowly avoiding relegation from League Two last year Hinckley really kicked on this season. Paul Bamber led them to fourth place, but their dreams of promotion were ended by Stoke in the play-off semi-finals.

Haverfordwest County

With Richard Lucas in charge they managed to overhaul Bangor and finish in second place, nine points behind Llanelli. In the UEFA Cup Knockout Round they weren't embarrassed, but did lose 4-0 on aggregate to Arsenal. They did add to the trophy cabinet though, winning the Challenge Cup, beating Llanelli 2-1 in the final.

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - pre-season 2021/22

Division: English League One

Media prediction: 1st

Bookies odds: 6/4 (favourites)

Board expectation: Win League One

Fan expectation: Promotion from League One

The pressure's on. Expectations are high all around, though after years of disappointment the fans are more cautious than everyone else.

Balance: £7.3m

Transfer budget: £740k

Wage budget: £72k

A very healthy balance and the club makes money every month, but I haven't been given too much to spend.

Transfers Out

A bunch of players were allowed to leave at the end of their contracts having failed to impress.

Loans In

I needed to overhaul the first team squad, but without a huge transfer budget I had to make a few smart loan moves. I raided our parent club Reading again. I couldn't get the two players I had last season back, but was sent centre-back Brightwell and striker Warren instead. Also took the central midfielder Owens from Charlton. All three should go straight into the first team.

Transfers In

Wright will be my first choice goalkeeper. Stimpson and Berry will fight for the left-back berth. Archibald should be a first choice centre-back. Paterson is another option for the left-wing. Lampi will be the first choice right-winger, with Lillis as his back-up. He was slightly signed in error, he did well for me at Haverfordwest but I didn't realise the scouting report was from that time. Burge will go straight in up front.

Friendlies

[Deisler26]

Good start. Let’s see you carry this form into the season

[DaneBramage]

5 hours ago, Deisler26 said:

Good start. Let’s see you carry this form into the season

Thanks, hope this won't be a case of commenter's curse.

Southampton - August + September + October 2021

August Results

Goalscorers: Burge 5, Warren 2, Kirby 2, Owens 2, Lillis 1

A very slow start to the season, just one point from the opening two matches and already the board were getting upset with me. Luckily we turned it around pretty quickly, grabbing four wins in a row. Burge had an impressive first month, while Warren also won us a few points with his goals. Kirby also emerged as a forward option from the reserves. Houghton struggled in midfield and was replaced by Owens.

September Results

Goalscorers: Milne 2, Burge 1, Warren 1, Lampi 1, Paterson 1

Our unbeaten run in the league stretched to five games, but then came to a screeching halt against Millwall. A Stimpson own goal within the first 60 seconds put us on the backfoot all game and we couldn't find a way back into it. Another defeat against Colchester followed, leaving us languishing in eighth place.

Bolton are flying high in the Championship so perhaps weren't concentrating on the cup, giving us the opportunity to knock them out. With the confidence of a cupset behind us, we used this to record two more league wins. Milne was back in the team, although in midfield rather than up front, and he scored the winner in both, ending his long goal drought.

October Results

Goalscorers: Kiely 2, Burge 1, Milne 1, Paterson 1, Short 1, Archibald 1

Of course, this being Football Manager you're only ever one game away from a calamity. Both Arfield and Abbey scored one goals against Cheltenham, giving us another loss. Both were banished to the reserves, neither will play for me again. Wright was also removed from the team after this, to be replaced by Foderingham between the sticks.

Foderingham then kept five clean sheets in a row, justifying his return to the first XI (and possibly making his removal in the first place look a bit foolish). 

Warren's loan deal was terminated and he was sent back to Reading, three goals in 12 games being a poor return for a player of his talents.

In the cup we played the kids against Arsenal, going out to a narrow loss. We required penalties to beat Bristol Rovers.

League One

We're in the play-off spots with a third of the season played, but it's all very close at the moment.

In the news I was mentioned as the favourite for the vacant management job at Coventry (bottom of the Championship). I distanced myself from the role, putting me back in the board's good books.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Making good progress on the South coast.

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - November + December 2021

November Results

Goalscorers: Burge 2, Milne 2, Lillis 1, Flanagan 1, Coleman 1, Own Goal 1

A good month, albeit one with a bit of a stumble at the end. Two league wins briefly pushed us up into top spot, but the draw against Macclesfield dropped us back down to second place.

We made progress in two cup competitions, though needed penalties to get past Wolves.

December Results

Goalscorers: Burge 2, Flanagan 2, Owens 2, Kiely 1, Milne 1, Lillis 1, Anthony 1, Eastwood 1, Archibald.

We got back to winning ways with a victory in the FA Cup, and carried that over into the league with another four wins. It should have been five, but we couldn't hold on against Norwich. Archibald was sent off just after the break, and Norwich made their man advantage count. He's only recently turned 19 and has been playing consistently at centre-back, so I'll let him off on this occasion.

Goals were well spread out amongst the team this month, nine different players getting on the scoresheet.

League One

We're on top, but Cardiff are matching us every step of the way. Our defence has been good but I would like to be scoring more goals. Burge is our top scorer with just 11 goals, then Milne behind him with six, and nobody else has more than four. Assists are equally as sparse, three players on four each.

Edited July 4, 2020 by DaneBramage

[nie jem frytek]

Nice thread

[Northernpilgrim]

Looking good for promotion at the halfway stage. Keep going!

[DaneBramage]

3 hours ago, nie jem frytek said:

Nice thread

33 minutes ago, Northernpilgrim said:

Looking good for promotion at the halfway stage. Keep going!

Cheers lads.  I hope I can keep it going, the problem is when I say things like this - "Archibald was sent off just after the break, and Norwich made their man advantage count. He's only recently turned 19 and has been playing consistently at centre-back, so I'll let him off on this occasion." - and he then repays me by giving away a penalty, scoring an own goal, and getting injured in the next four games.

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - January + February 2021

Transfers Out

Happy to get rid of all these three, getting any money for them was a bonus.

Transfers In

Martin can cover any attacking position, but is very much a backup option. Useful to have on the bench, unlikely to start often. Sinclair is a big money signing, I only had one right-back good enough for the first-team so I needed to bring in another, and he should be able to fit in right away.

Loans In

If in doubt, raid your parent club again. White can play in attacking midfield and upfront.

January Results

Goalscorers: Burge 4, White 2, Lillis 1, Owens 1, Sinclair 1, Coleman 1, Own Goal 1

A bad start to the new year as we missed out on five points against teams we should have beaten easily, and our 14 game unbeaten run was ended. Cardiff jumped back above us at this time. Palace then knocked us out of the cup, and we were four games without a win.

Luckily we then hosted a League Two side in the EFL Trophy, and got back on the right track with a win ahead of a big six-pointer with Cardiff. Eastwood was injured within five minutes and replaced by Sinclair, who scored after just a few minutes on the pitch to instantly make himself a favourite with the fans. A goal for fellow debutant White doubled the lead, and while Cardiff did get one back, Burge put the result beyond doubt late on. We stayed behind them, but only on goal difference and with a game in hand. 

This seemed to knock the wind out of Cardiff's sails as they earned just two points from their next two games. We played three games in this time (including our game in hand) and took seven points, sending us top and giving us a nice five point lead.

February Results

Goalscorers: White 5, Burge 2, Eastwood 2, Milne 1

What better way to celebrate building a lead at the top than immediately trying to throw it away? We scored early against Millwall, but they were more clinical with their finishing, scoring twice to complete the double over us. Then there was no effort at all to try and beat Huddersfield, letting Colchester catch up to just one point behind us. 

We dispatched of Gillingham easily in the EFL Trophy regional final, before picking up a comfortable win in the league.

Then it was time for another six-pointer, this time against Colchester. They had all the early pressure but couldn't create any decent chances, and we punished them with White finishing neatly at the near post. They equalised with 20 minutes remaining, but substitute Milne scored a late winner to keep us at the top.

And again we fail to follow up on it. A pathetic showing against Cheltenham, Lillis being particularly poor and missing three easy chances, allows the gap to be reduced straight away.

League One

[Deisler26]

On the edge of my seat for this! Will you go up as champions???

[Northernpilgrim]

1 hour ago, Deisler26 said:

On the edge of my seat for this! Will you go up as champions???

It's only Colchester, of course he will

 

[mattyjames_]

Oh my, this has been an incredible adventure so far - I've read from the start to here today. A great idea for a campaign!

Excited to follow on and keep reading!

[DaneBramage]

14 hours ago, Deisler26 said:

On the edge of my seat for this! Will you go up as champions???

 

13 hours ago, Northernpilgrim said:

It's only Colchester, of course he will

 

6 hours ago, mattyjames_ said:

Oh my, this has been an incredible adventure so far - I've read from the start to here today. A great idea for a campaign!

Excited to follow on and keep reading!

The pressure's really on now then. If I screw it up from here the laptop's going out the window.

[DaneBramage]

Southampton + March + April + May 2021

March Results

Goalscorers: White 2, Lillis 1, Lampi 1, Flanagan 1, Paterson

Plymouth took an early lead and things weren't looking good, but Foderingham put on a man of the match performance to prevent them scoring any more. Paterson got an equaliser in the second half and I would have been happy with that, but substitute Lampi completed the turnaround in the 87th minute, sneaking in at the far post to head home. Colchester could only draw with Doncaster, putting the gap up to 4 points.

White has been an important part of the team since joining in January, proving his use once more with the only goal of the game against Crewe. Archibald's poor run continued, this time missing a penalty. Despite this, he is still attracting interest from a lot of sides, including Arsenal and Liverpool. Colchester also picked up a win against Millwall.

A few players had an off-day against Chester and we had to scrap our way to a draw. Colchester couldn't capitalise on this, also only managing a draw.

Flanagan has struggled on the left-wing this year, but made his mark with the opening goal against Bristol Rovers before White added another. Cardiff did us a favour by holding Colchester to a draw, letting the gap grow to 6 points.

EFL Trophy Final

We then had a break from the league run-in, as we'd made it to the EFL Trophy for a second year in a row. We were up against Norwich, who'd beaten us once already this season.

We fell behind early on, Norwich going ahead in the sixth minute. We scratched and clawed at their defence, but couldn't find a way through. With 15 minutes left we made all three substitutions and re-jigged the formation, pushing Lillis forward. With five minutes to go this made the difference, the former Haverfordwest man poking home from Martin's cross.

For a second year in a row, our final appearance went to penalties. We scored all four of ours, Norwich's third penalty was blazed over, Foderingham saved the fourth, and the engraver could start adding our name again.

April + May Results

Goalscorers: Hayter 3, Burge 3, Milne 2, Lillis 1, Eastwood 1

Eastwood curled in a free-kick from 25 yards out for the only goal of the game against York. The winning margin should have been more comfortable but Burge missed a penalty, increasing his goalless streak to seven games. Colchester beat Cheltenham.

We beat Lincoln easily, while at the same time ten-man Colchester struggled to a draw, and we increased the gap to eight points.

Burge ended his drought in some style with a rocket against Macclesfield, but it looked like this would be for nothing as they grabbed two late goals in the 82nd and 88th minutes. Colchester fans started getting their hopes up, despite their side only drawing themselves, but youngster Hayter scored for the second game in a row to save a point.

The Wolves game was awful, Berry getting sent-off and Foderingham fluffing a routine save to concede the only goal of the game.

Despite the loss this was confirmed after the game. But with Colchester picking up a point, the gap to second place was reduced to seven points, so there's still work to be done.

We made a few changes for the Stockport match, and replacement goalkeeper Wright had a nightmare, not coping at all with the occasion. Three times we went behind, but credit to the team, three times we fought back to earn ourselves a point (Hayter again making the scoresheet). And that was enough. Colchester were battered 5-0 by Chester, we're the champions!

I'd be tempted to say the last two games didn't matter at this point, but that would be a lie. I'm actually really angry about it. Just two points from the last five games is absolutely pathetic. A lot of players have shown that they don't deserve to be at this club. 

League One

Edited July 5, 2020 by DaneBramage

[Deisler26]

Yessss. One more to add to the trophy case! 

[DaneBramage]

4 hours ago, Deisler26 said:

Yessss. One more to add to the trophy case! 

The League One and EFL Trophy double has clearly impressed some people, as my reputation has certainly seen a boost.

The board though? Apparently not.

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - 2021/22 End of Season Review

Top Scorer – Lewis Burge - 19 goals - I'm pretty underwhelmed with this. As the first choice all season, you'd expect more from a team winning the league. It often seemed like we were playing with only ten men on the pitch, and without bothering to check, I don't think he ever scored twice in one game, or even two games in a row.

Most Assists – Andy Lillis - 8 assists - Again, underwhelming. Flanagan was next with seven, then Stimpson and Burge on six. Creating and scoring goals was definitely a bit of a problem this year, averaging less than 1.5 goals per game in the league.

Highest Rating – Rhys Coleman - 7.29 - Didn't start the season in my first team plans, but impressed when he was called upon and from there made the position his own. At the age of 32 he was offered a one year contract, but he was rejected and will be moving to Hearts in the summer. Worryingly, after him three of the next four highest ratings were loanees. Not many players had a rating substantially over 7.00, which is also a bit of a sign that when we were bad, we were really bad.

Fan's Player of the Year –  Lewis Burge - Nope. I disagree.

My Player of the Year – Mark White - Gave us the impetus to go on and clinch promotion. Had a real impact in the attacking midfield role, scoring or creating 14 goals in his 18 appearances. Archibald also needs mentioning, while he was pretty poor in the second half of the season he showed some class before Christmas, earning eight man of the match awards.

Waste of Space – Willie John Kiely, Dan Wright - Kiely's age caught up with him, he was well off the pace and fell out of first team reckoning. At least he helped the reserves win their league. Wright was signed to be first choice keeper but failed to nail down the position, Foderingham quickly regaining his place between the sticks. Wright was also voted as the division's worst signing of the year.

[DaneBramage]

My History

My Stats

Warnock v Fandango

[DaneBramage]

Previous Club Watch

Hednesford Town

Immediate promotion from the Conference North was expected and Nigel Adkins had them up in the play-off positions for a while, but seven games without a win over January and February saw him lose his job. New boss Carl MacAuley steadied the ship, pushed them back up to fourth place, and then won the play-offs to clinch promotion.

Hinckley United

Runaway winners of League Two, Paul Bamber secured the title with several games to go, eventually winning the league by 14 points.

Haverfordwest County

Richard Lucas achieved what I failed at five times, lifting the Welsh Premier League trophy at his first attempt. They also won the Welsh Cup to make it a double. I'm definitely happy for him and not at all bitter.

[mattyjames_]

1 hour ago, DaneBramage said:

Previous Club Watch

Haverfordwest County

Richard Lucas achieved what I failed at five times, lifting the Welsh Premier League trophy at his first attempt. They also won the Welsh Cup to make it a double. I'm definitely happy for him and not at all bitter.

I've gotta admit, I had a little chuckle at this one!

[DaneBramage]

I'm in demand this summer, both Premier League clubs though so rejecting both.

[Sheriff7]

[Nobby_McDonald]

Very well done winning League One.

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - pre-season 2022/23

Division: English Championship

Media prediction: 12th

Bookies odds: 16/1

Board expectation: Safe mid-table

Fan expectation: Safe mid-table

Expectations seem to be that we should be comfortable in the new division, and perhaps even looking upwards if things go well. 

Balance: £10.6m

Transfer budget: £1.5m

Wage budget: £107k

Our bank balance has continued to grow and my transfer budget has doubled, but it still feels a little stingy. It will be tight bringing in much quality, will have to be hunting for bargains and loans again.

Transfers Out

The headline here is Foderingham leaving. While he did have moments of excellence in goal, I just never took to him.  Darlington initially offered £700k, I raised this to a million, and off he went. It would have been nice to keep Coleman for another season but at his age he wanted a longer deal. I got a lot more than I would have expected for reserves Welsh and Brown, and the departures have doubled our transfer budget.

Loans In

Reading have sent us striker Warren for a second season. Last year we sent him back after just a few months, hopefully he can achieve a bit more with his second chance. That being said, we've also taken striker Dalland from Charlton and I like the look of him more, so it may be a battle for Warren to even get playing time.

I don't remember bringing in Milligan, which might not be a good sign, but he is a centre-back and we were running low on those. Birmingham looks like a real talent from Liverpool, however being a left winger with a crossing attribute of just 6 may be why they were happy to loan him out.

Transfers In

Ward wasn't even on my radar, but when he was offered around by Arsenal I did not hesitate to pick him up. He could be an utter bargain. A 26 year old goalkeeper with less than 10 first-team appearances may not have set the world on fire so far, but having come through the Real Madrid set-up and with over 100 Castilla appearances he must have something about him. Anderson is also in as a back-up/cup goalkeeper.

We're now able to scout Europe and found Waldh (MC) and Hansen (DL/AML) on the cheap in Denmark and Sweden respectively. Neither will go straight into the first-team but should be decent squad options with potential. The same can be said for Cooper, a young Scottish forward.

The positions I'd identified as needing a top quality signing were central defence and central midfield, but I had real problems finding the right players. They were all just too expensive, or when I thought I had a deal sewn up, they were stolen away by bigger clubs. Templeton can provide cover in both these positions, but probably isn't ready to be starting regularly in the Championship yet. Flottum (DLC) was a bit of a last minute signing, just to get another experienced defender on the books, but he looks like he could do a job.

Friendlies

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - August 2022

August Results

Goalscorers: Dalland 3, Burge 1, Cooper 1, Birmingham 1, Lampi 1, Sinclair 1, Eastwood 1, Own Goal 1

We started against recently relegated Manchester City, and went down to an expected loss. I actually had an eye on this job in the summer, was half-hoping to be offered it, but instead they went with Dean Saunders. Then Ward really stepped up to the plate, playing a key part in us winning three games in a row. He won the MOTM award in each game, including saving a penalty against Barnsley. This run included our parent club Reading, though I'm not sure how this link is still active now we're in the same division. 

A slightly rotated side was knocked out of the League Cup by League One side Brighton, embarrassing ourselves by conceding two injury-time goals. Due to the league form I didn't get too upset about it. We survived a scare against Preston, they had the ball in the net once but it was ruled out for offside. We then hosted league leaders Hull and convincingly knocked them off top spot, the highlight being Dalland's brace after coming off the bench.

Templeton won the division's young player of the month award (7.33 average over three games, MOTM against Preston).

Championship

[Deisler26]

Good start to the season.

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - September + October 2022

September Results

Goalscorers: Dalland 1, Lampi 1, Houghton 1

Dreadful. The inability to score goals is a real problem. So far only two players have scored more than once.

October Results

Goalscorers: Burge 2, Dalland 1, Archibald 1

A change of formations brought about a brief change of fortunes, but the goals dried up again swiftly. It can not be overstated quite how useless this team is at the moment.

Championship

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - November 2022

November Results

Goalscorers: Dalland 5, Cooper 1, Lillis 1, Lampi 1, Eastwood 1, Archibald 1, Own Goal 1

A very up and down month. We managed two great wins, one good draw, one annoying draw, and two pathetic losses.

The first win was a cracking comeback. We were 2-0 down at half-time but four unanswered goals in the second half, including a brace from Dalland, gave us bragging rights over Portsmouth. The second win was also a second half demolition, it took 78 minutes to break through against QPR but when we did we hit them hard.

Prior to that we'd failed to beat Darlington despite having 15 shots, six of them coming from Warren. He turned out to be as ineffective in this spell at the club as he was in his first, again the loan deal was terminated early. And the second derby, against Bournemouth, was a real shocker. It was the opposite of the Pompey game, ahead for so long only to fall apart at the end.

Transfer In

We needed another striker to ease the goalscoring pressure on Dalland, so we snapped up Jansson, a Finnish striker, after his contract with FC Lahti expired. The 21 year old has an eye for goal, notching 23 times in 32 games for them.

December Results

Goalscorers: Dalland 2, Jansson 2, Cooper 1, Lillis 1, Birmingham 1, Archibald 1

We started the month with two clean sheets, and up the other end of the pitch Dalland scored in both games. It looked like we had some form building, but these hopes were dashed by Norwich and Reading then kicked us while we were down. I didn't expect much from the Manchester City encounter, but we took an early lead and pretty much bossed the game from there, this time Dalland turning provider to set up two for his strike partner Jansson.

Championship

We're outside the play-off places, but not by much. I've moaned about our lack of goals but that seems to be a bit of a running theme here, everyone else seems to be struggling too.

[Svarteq]

I just wanted to hear if you're running the game on a modern computer? I haven't found any ways to play FM07 on Windows 10. 

[DaneBramage]

19 hours ago, Svarteq said:

I just wanted to hear if you're running the game on a modern computer? I haven't found any ways to play FM07 on Windows 10. 

Afraid not, it's Windows 7 on a laptop that is getting on a bit now. I suspect it will be my last long-term save on this game, it's probably time I get a new laptop and a more up-to-date version.

[Svarteq]

2 minutes ago, DaneBramage said:

Afraid not, it's Windows 7 on a laptop that is getting on a bit now. I suspect it will be my last long-term save on this game, it's probably time I get a new laptop and a more up-to-date version.

I see, thanks for your reply! I actually made it work last night, but I can't install the latest patch unfortunately. I'm just happy to play the first version I ever owned again though.

I haven't been following this from the start, but I will try to catch up. Always interesting to see another person playing a version you play yourself. 

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - January + February 2023

Transfers Out

Just the one departure. Kiely, at 34 and long past it, was receiving £9k a week to sit in the reserves. He accepted his contract being torn up for £85k, which will save about £150k over the rest of the season.

Over the past few months Arsenal kept making offers for Archibald, starting at a million in the summer and rising up to £5 million in January, but I kept telling them to increase this to £7.5 million or to go away. They didn't go for it, and he's now signed a new contract with a £10 million release clause.

Transfers In

I wanted another central midfielder and Giles was going cheap despite being a regular in League One. Lehtinen is only 17, he's gone straight into the under 18s. Lampi picked up a hip injury putting him out for a few months, and I'd never been terribly convinced by him anyway, so I wanted a new right winger. I bought two. I was negotiating with both and meant to cancel the McKenzie signing when Eames agreed to join, but accidentally approved it instead. McKenzie can also play centrally, so I'll have to find a way to give him game time too.

January Results

Goalscorers: Dalland 3, Jansson 3, Cooper 3, Hayter 1, Lillis 1, Birmingham 1, Milligan 1, Own Goal 1

Not quite a perfect month, but still excellent. The Hull game was a hard fought win, but the Preston match was pretty easy. Barnsley nearly took us to a replay, but a last minute goal from Dalland (his second of the evening) gave us the late win.

We destroyed Forest, Jansson the man of the match with a second-half double, though Birmingham also took the plaudits with a hat-trick of assists.

A trip to top of the table Luton proved fruitless, but this didn't bring us down as two home games first took us through to the next round of the FA Cup, and back in the league we beat fellow play-off contenders Derby. One note about the cup game is that Moloney (YP22) made his debut as a second-half sub. I haven't really mentioned youth intakes much as this version of the game is before the intake screen started providing much info about potential, it just has one line from the AssMan picking out his favourite. But in this case he was mentioned as being potentially one of the best players of his generation, so I will be keeping an eye on him and giving him some minutes where possible.

Milligan won the division's young player of the month award. This was a bit surprising as he missed two games through injury, but in his three appearances he did register a goal, an assist, and a MOTM award.

February Results

Goalscorers: Hayter 2, Jansson 1, Dalland 1, Stimpson 1, Archibald 1

The West Brom result was a disappointment, leading for most of the game but giving up a last minute equaliser. We made up for that though with a comfortable win against Brentford, Eames getting an assist on his debut. There was both an early scare and a late scare against Walsall, but the three goals we scored in between were enough to make it through another round.

The month ended on a sour note, two utterly lifeless performances earning just one point. The hammering by Leeds was a disgrace, three players received fines for their poor displays.

League One

We're just about hanging on to the last play-off place, but the poor February results are leaving this a lot less comfortable than it should be.

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - March + April + May 2023

March Results

Goalscorers: Dalland 2, Jansson 2, Hanson 1, Houghton 1, Eastwood 1, Milligan 1

Crap. Is it really that hard to keep a clean sheet? Five times we took the lead in matches, only twice did we hold on to get the win. Giles got sent off against Walsall in just his fourth game for the club, receiving an instant two week fine, and a one way trip to the transfer list. 

The teams below have fallen away even worse though, we remain in sixth place with now a six point gap over seventh place.

April Results

Goalscorers: Dalland 3, McKenzie 2, Birmingham 1, Eames 1, Houghton 1

Much better. Birmingham returned from injury and added some energy back into the side, a slight tactical rejig put McKenzie into central midfield and he repaid this decision with a couple of goals, and Ward managed a couple of clean sheets after too long without.

I was named the manager of the month, McKenzie was named the young player of the month (two goals, one assist, and one MOTM award in three appearances).

We're guaranteed a place in the play-off, the only thing left to decide is whether we finish fifth or sixth.

May Results

Goalscorers: McKenzie 1, Own Goal 1

A win on the final day, McKenzie with the winner in injury time.

League One

[mattyjames_]

Great run of form to finish the season, congratulations!

Good luck for the playoffs and can't wait to hear how they play out for you!

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - May 2023

We're drawn against Norwich in the semi-finals. We beat them at home, but lost at their place during the regular season.

Championship Play-Off Semi-Final Leg One

A boring game where very little happened, but the one moment of skill went our way. In the 79th minute Birmingham beat his man and whipped in a cross, and substitute Milne was in the right place to poke home at the near post. A great time to get his first goal of the season.

Championship Play-Off Semi-Final Leg Two

A much more open game, Birmingham and Lillis both had efforts stopped in the first 20 minutes, while Ward was called into action a few times at the other end. But neither side could open the scoring, we got to half-time with the game goalless. The second half was poor, Dalland and Jansson anonymous up front, and when Norwich finally got a clear chance with less than ten minutes to go they made the most of it, sending the game to extra time.

The first 15 minute period was dull, the second half went mad. Norwich completely lost their heads. With 10 minutes to go Lillis was through on goal when he was pulled down by their left-back. A straight red card and we punished them for it. Just like in the first leg, Birmingham claimed the assist. His cross went into the box, and Hansen rose highest to power in a header. Minutes later Norwich received a second red card for an off-the-ball incident, and in the dying moments a third, Cooper tripped as he burst into the box. Sinclair blazed the resulting penalty over, but the final whistle blew seconds later.

A 2-1 win on aggregate, we're into the final.

[DaneBramage]

Southampton - May 2023

We're up against Reading in the final, after they knocked out Manchester City 2-1 on aggregate. We beat them at home, we lost away during the regular season.

Here's our starting line-up, no changes made. I wanted to drop Sinclair after his horrendous performance in the last game (4 rating, missed penalty) but my other right-back is injured.

Championship Play-Off Final

We had the first attack of the game, Berry's shot being saved at the near post. But from the keeper's clearance Reading broke away and scored the opening goal. The game played out in midfield for the rest of the first half, until Reading won a free-kick on the brink of half-time. The free-kick deflected off Birmingham in the wall, leaving Ward with no chance. A terrible way to concede.

The second half was a non-event. Reading were happy to sit back, our players offered nothing. Devastating. A massive letdown.

[mattyjames_]

Noooooooooo