[FM20] Irchester Utd. Tier 10. England. Home. Youth Only.

[Jimbokav1971]

3rd fine of the season. Jan 2042. 

It's rubbish that they get this wrong, but it was actually 9 yellow cards and a red. When a player is shown a 2nd yellow and then a red, the game only counts it as a red when in fact it's a 2nd yellow and then a red. Anyway...

We lost 1-0. 

[Jimbokav1971]

41 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Transfer bid. Jan 2042. 

We're £428k overdrawn  and there doesn't seem to be any sign of our ex Spanish youngster being the answer to our financial woes in the near future, so an offer like this needs to be considered. His contract expires in 18 months, but I have a sneaky +2 years clause in there so there is no immediate need to sell if I don't want to. There are a few other clubs interested so I think I will hold off for a while. I just don't like being overdrawn in case the board decide to involve themselves in any bids we receive. 

The Chairman accepted a rubbish bid that I successfully protested, but I have to deal with this so that they don't jump in again. 

That will keep the wolf from the door, but I need a better deal for (40a) Sjoberg (Bal) lose PPM and the transfer window closes in 4 days..... done. 

But in other news....... at 1 point we had 50% of this.....

There's no point being greedy though. We knew what we were doing when we accepted it and we wouldn't have been able to progress without it. We've turned Pro, built a new stadium and paid for at least 3 facility upgrades. 

still................. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Further Transfer info. Jan 2042. 

15 mins before the transfer deadline we had a bid for (40b) Gilchrist (SCO)(L.Heart) and I decided to see what we could get for him. 

Our previous record was £500,000 and is now £600,000.

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2042. 

League 2. What a disaster of a month. We've gone  from the automatic promotion places to not even in the Playoffs. 

Transfers. 

Finances. 

[dllu]

Amazingly still only two points from 3rd place, though. Anything can happen! 

[-Jef-]

Have you tried offering third option players out on loan with monthly fees? Granted I play in BuLi but got some ridic fees for L2 level players when I offered out on loan.

Edited August 7, 2020 by rosque

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2042. 

League 2. After an awful Jan we have picked up again and are back in the mix just outside the automatic Playoff spots with 9 games to go. Just 3 points separate 4th to 9th and it might be important that we have a significantly superior goal difference. 

(39a) Harri (Pro) * has scored 20 league goals, (beating his record of 19 in each of the last 2 seasons, but his form has fallen off a cliff and he has scored just 1 goal in our last 14 games. I have rested him, benched him, (actually, he scored when I benched him so that's an idea), but I need to do something. He was scoring at better than a goal a game for most of the season and now couldn't hit a cows arse with a banjo! His form between now and the end of the season will likely decide whether we go up automatically, make the Playoffs, or miss out entirely. I know it's a lot of pressure for a teenager, but we need him to find form. 

If this was someone asking me advice I would probably say drop him to the Reserves, let him score a shed-load of goals against someone rubbish and then stick him back in the 1st team. Maybe I should follow my own advice? 

[Edit]

I just can't drop him for the next game. I can't. 

Bradford are in 3rd place and haven't won in 8 games, lowing 7 of them and only scoring 1 single goal in the process. 

He has to play! If he doesn't score then I will do something after this game. 

[Edit2]

He's injured for 1 day with a twisted knee. 

[Edit3]

They scored 2 goals, after scoring only 1 goal in total in their last 8 games, and we scored 1. We are in trouble. 

Edited August 7, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

17 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2041. 

You know I love everything Youth Intake related, but I find this one especially interesting. 

• An attacking midfielder we should keep a very close eye on. 
• We have 1 good Welsh AM from Merthyr who has caught the eye. 

I'm guessing that both these positives relate to 1 single player, but there could be 2 AM's coming through. With that in mind, we don't use an AM in our system and we would prefer that we didn't get any through the intake, so let's have a look at the HoYD and see why?  I appointed him in 2035 because I was sick of looking at @_Ben_'s thread and being embarrassed that I hadn't even bothered to look at mine. He was the best I could find with a good personality. Last season was perhaps the 1st poor intake in the whole save, and I think that was possibly down largely to the Nationalities, (which completely perplexes me), so I don't think there is any reason to be too critical of the HoYD here. Bit we had an AM come through last season and there is another coming through this system, and we play with a 442 and the HoYD prefers a 442 and even his 2nd favourite formation is 4141, (so no AM again), so maybe it's just a bit random but that still doesn't make sense to me. Why are we developing players who don't suit the senior system? 

• This is an excellent group of players coming through. 

I don't mind that it's not labelled as a Golden Generation at all. That means absolutely nothing and I have seen a complete load of pish come through as a Golden Generation and also had intakes not listed as Golden Generations be very good. Still, I will take positive feedback in this area ahead of no positive feedback. 

• We don't have any great numbers of players coming through in any single position. 

Well that should be in green surely shouldn't it? We don't want an unbalanced squad coming through. We really want a "match" squad coming through that covers all positions including the bench, (but ideally only 1 GK). 

• We have no DM's coming through. 

Good. We don't use a DM. I don't really understand why this isn't in green. They know we play 442 and this report from the DoF should be able to look at our history and appreciate that we have never played anything other than 442 when we have had 11 players on the pitch. 

• We haven't any new WB's coming through. 

Again, see the previous point. We play 442. We play with full-backs rather than wing-backs. I'm delighted with this. 

• The full-backs coming through are not the best. 

Ok, that's not great news, but we will just have to see exactly how good they are, (or aren't). We're weak in this area, (especially on the left), and our young right-back is starting to attract the attention of other clubs.

• Most of the new MC's do not look they will ever be good enough for the Senior team. 

Call me Mr Positive, but that suggests that at least 1 of them will be good enough to play in the Senior Team. That's positive! No? 

• The next crop of wide midfielders do not look like great prospects. 

Well ok, that's not great. (We use wingers in the ML/MR slots). We will just have to see what's what when they come through. 

• There are few good wingers in general. 

Again, I'm not greedy. I would love a left winger, but I'm easily pleased and I would be quite happy with a good right winger. just 1. 

• Most of our strikers coming through look like they will fall short of the required standard. 

Again, I'm being Mr Positive here but if we get just 1 good striker then I will be delighted. 

If we were to get 1 good striker, 1 good winger, (ideally left but who cares), and 1 good AMC who I can shoe-horn into playing somewhere else, then this could be a great intake. I think we look at the colour, don't see loads of green and just assume it's complete pish! It might be, but it doesn't have to be. 

Youth Intake day. Mar 2042. 

What I will try and do, (a little bit different to normal), is look at the above points from the preview and see if they are accurate or not. 

Squad by PPA.

Nations already represented by previous Intakes. 

New Nations represented in this Intake.  

• The much vaunted AMC is (42c) Goodridge (WAL) (Driven) who has just 1.5 CA and 4.0 PA, but I think he looks better than that. I think he looks quite good, but I'm also not really sure how to move him. I think I'm leaning towards either of the MC roles at the moment, and possibly leaning more towards MCR than the playmaker role at MCL. 

• It's an "excellent" group of players coming through? Well is it? They look ok, but certainly nothing worth getting excited about. 
• We don't have ant great number of players coming through in any 1 position? Yeah, this is accurate. 
• We have no DM's coming through. Correct. 
• No WB's. Correct. 
• The full-backs are not the best. I'm not sure I agree here. (42g) Gillespie (SCO) (L.Det) looks better than decent to me, although L.Det is an issue. I like him and I think once he develops physically he will be able to play. Maybe his PA is lower than 3.5 in reality? 

• Most of the MC's do not look good enough? Well we've already seen (42c) Goodridge (WAL) (Driven), but we also have (42b) Eric Gunn (Bal), (who looks a little raw), and (42e) Chris Lee (F.Sport) who I quite like the look of. 

• Neither the wide midfielders nor wingers seem good enough? Yeah, this is probably a fair call. 
• Most of our striker look short of the required level. Yeah, that's pretty accurate too.

All in all it's not a great intake, but there seems to be at least a few players who might make an impact. Centre-half, 2 midfielders, a left winger (maybe), and possibly a left back. at the end of the day it's not about what they are like now and it's not even about how they develop. It's how they develop in relation to what we have available elsewhere in the squad. Time will tell, but 2 new Nationalities makes me happy anyway. 

[TheMadMonk]

I may be totally off at a tangent here but .... I know we expect our HofYD to impact the players but the announcement always comes from you DoF ? - and the comments read "my influence" "in my style" etc. 

Also in the below - he (whichever one it is) is saying "his" mentality is shaping a L.Det player - your HofYD has a Fairly Professional Mentality - so that announcement doesn't seem to ring true.

And what attributes does "his" coaching style reflect in.

 

 

I've only dragged back the one intake statement - but I think they always seem to mention similar influences and reflections - I only ever manage to get through about 2 youth intakes before Im doing a new save, but with all the ones you've had maybe if you can workout what is being impacted by HofYD (or DoF) - you could better shape future Youth Intakes to suit your needs ?

Edited August 7, 2020 by TheMadMonk

[Jimbokav1971]

4 minutes ago, TheMadMonk said:

I may be totally off at a tangent here but .... I know we expect our HofYD to impact the players but the announcement always comes from you DoF ? - and the comments read "my influence" "in my style" etc. 

Also in the below - he (whichever one it is) is saying "his" mentality is shaping a L.Det player - your HofYD has a Fairly Professional Mentality - so that announcement doesn't seem to ring true.

And what attributes does "his" coaching style reflect in.

 

 

I've only dragged back the one intake statement - but I think they always seem to mention similar influences and reflections - I only ever manage to get through about 2 youth intakes before Im doing a new save, but with all the ones you've had maybe if you can workout what is being impacted by HofYD (or DoF) - you could better shape future Youth Intakes to suit your needs ?

While it's not obvious in my intakes, (mainly because of the standard of my staff I think), if you pop into @_Ben_'s thread you will see that it absolutely has a direct impact. 

 

[-Jef-]

What is your HoYD determination attribute?

[Jimbokav1971]

Just now, rosque said:

What is your HoYD determination attribute?

I've posted him in the last couple of pages, but if you can't find it or just can't be bothered I will post again later. Game not running at the moment. 

[-Jef-]

Just seen it is 14. Must just be bad luck to have low det player influenced by him

[_Ben_]

3 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

All in all it's not a great intake, but there seems to be at least a few players who might make an impact. Centre-half, 2 midfielders, a left winger (maybe), and possibly a left back. at the end of the day it's not about what they are like now and it's not even about how they develop.

I love everything about this thread but got to say the run down of your intake is particularly top notch. 

I do wonder though how much of the quality of intake is judged by other things aside from PA? You've got a fair chunk of negative personalities and, as you say - someone like Gillespie could be perfectly serviceable for you, if he wasn't almost certainly going to be hindered by at least one of the three (Pro/Det/Amb) development attributes being poor. Change him to a M.Cit, and I wonder if that would impact how the intake is judged?

[Jimbokav1971]

7 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

I love everything about this thread but got to say the run down of your intake is particularly top notch. 

I do wonder though how much of the quality of intake is judged by other things aside from PA? You've got a fair chunk of negative personalities and, as you say - someone like Gillespie could be perfectly serviceable for you, if he wasn't almost certainly going to be hindered by at least one of the three (Pro/Det/Amb) development attributes being poor. Change him to a M.Cit, and I wonder if that would impact how the intake is judged?

I haven't moved on from the intake yet, (watching the cricket). 

I don't think the personality is taking into account by those making the judgements. I "think" they are looking at CA and PA and they are comparing it to the best players at the club in a similar position, (I don't know for example if a left winger is compared to left midfielders and left wingers, or if they are also compared to right midfielders and right wingers).

So that means I'm saying they they look at "relative CA and relative PA", but I don't think they look at personality and I also don't think they look at injury proneness/consistency'adaptability/big game preference or whatever it's called etc etc. I think it's purely a numbers thing, and also remember that they are not looking at the proper numbers, they looking at their opinion on the numbers. 

In my head I often wonder if we know that they can't get the CA and PA right most of the time, how do we know that the injury proneness, consistency etc info is reliable? I think it is, but I didn't check it in my last save and don't want to look at the hidden attributes in this save. 

It would definitely impact how the likes of you and me view the intake, just not the staff member in charge of the stars. 

[Jimbokav1971]

@TheMadMonkand @rosquehave mentioned staff personality recently and it's something I've really neglected throughout this save. 

DoF is Balanced (Det of 8) and is on a month to month contract so I can swap him immediately. He's not good enough and I should have binned him long ago. It's pure lazyness.

I have swapped him for a Resolute DoF. (Det of 15).  

Ass Man..... I don't have one.  WTF!   What a shambles! 

I've just signed a 21 yo Model Citizen (Det of 16). 

HoYD is a Pro (Det of 14). I've had him since 2035 and he's done ok for me so I will stick with him. 

Although that's a start, I'll change the others more gradually. 

 

[-Jef-]

I also think U19/18 coaches matter a lot as well, tho not sure if I read it here or just my assumption. @_Ben_ has full staff of model pros and certainly in youth team and it seems to help A LOT

[Jimbokav1971]

5 minutes ago, rosque said:

I also think U19/18 coaches matter a lot as well, tho not sure if I read it here or just my assumption. @_Ben_ has full staff of model pros and certainly in youth team and it seems to help A LOT

Absolutely. Of course it does. 

We get a message from the HoYD saying that he has had an influence over bla bla and bla bla, but look at how many of those newgens have staff listed immediately as favoured personnel. There are all influenced in exactly the same way. The only difference is that we don't get a message about it. We have to go and look for the info ourselves.

So when someone mentioned earlier about my HoYD with Det 14 influencing a L.Det kid through the intake was me being unlucky, (it was actually you @rosque) .... no. No no no no no. It's not unlucky at all. It's lazyness on my part pure and simple. 

The difference between what I do and what @_Ben_does is proof of that. 

[Jimbokav1971]

New ill-discipline record. Apr 2042. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar & Apr 2042. 

League 2. The less said about our run-in the better I think. We needed just 1 point in our last game against Aldershot who were 20th at the time. We didn't get 1 point. 

[dllu]

6 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Mar & Apr 2042. 

League 2. The less said about our run-in the better I think. We needed just 1 point in our last game against Aldershot who were 20th at the time. We didn't get 1 point. 

Ouch.  

[Jimbokav1971]

Facilities. May 2042. 

Thanks, but I hope it doesn't cost anything because we are deep in the poo as far as money goes. 

The Chairman wants to sell the club at the moment so this is a pretty strange decision. I'm hoping that when the new buyer comes in he will consolidate the debt into a loan and we can pay ot off at a later date. 

i'm honestly not sure what the benefits of a higher "Youth Level" are in game. Do you get a different level of compensation? 

[scousevasey]

9 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Facilities. May 2042. 

i'm honestly not sure what the benefits of a higher "Youth Level" are in game. Do you get a different level of compensation? 

 

I think in real life there are differences in how many players you can have, and how far afield you can go for them.

There is also something about being able to poach players from lower rated systems more easily, as I read something a while back about teams pushing to get to a certain level.

Not sure how it will work alongside your high levels of recruitment, but the facilities and the number of coaches will play a part in it

[deez0r]

43 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Facilities. May 2042. 

Thanks, but I hope it doesn't cost anything because we are deep in the poo as far as money goes. 

The Chairman wants to sell the club at the moment so this is a pretty strange decision. I'm hoping that when the new buyer comes in he will consolidate the debt into a loan and we can pay ot off at a later date. 

i'm honestly not sure what the benefits of a higher "Youth Level" are in game. Do you get a different level of compensation? 

I think it is the calibre of player that they face so in turn it aids development. How that is done in game I dont know!

[Jimbokav1971]

7 minutes ago, deez0r said:

I think it is the calibre of player that they face so in turn it aids development. How that is done in game I dont know!

No, that's not it. In real life it relates to the minimum facilities available and also the minimum number of hours coaching that students will receive at a certain age. 

To give you a little example, with a Category 1 system, U11 players have to have at least 8 hours coaching per week, for 46 weeks per year, giving them a total coached time of at least 368 hours per year. In a Cetegory 3 system however, the same U11 player would only have to receive 120 hours tutoring. I know what it is in real life. I'm just not sure how it is transferred to the game. 

[Edit]

The other side of that is that it also has different impacts when a player is sold. 

If a 16 year old player who had been with a Cat 1 Academy since U10 went to another club, they would have to pay £200,000 compensation. 

If a 16 year old player who had been with a Cat 3 Academy since U10 went to another club, they would have to pay £71,500 compensation. 

If a 16 year old player who had been with a club without "Academy status" since U10 went to another club, they would have to pay no compensation. 

I'm not sure how accurate this is reflected in game, but I would expect it to be pretty close. 

Edited August 8, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

GK's. Jun 2042. 

We've had quite a few GK's come through recent intakes who have decent potential even if they are not quite up to scratch in terms of CA.#

Unlike other positions, they don't need to be rotated, I don't ever have one on the bench, they never get suspended, and barring injury, I never make a change mid-season. The GK I start the season with generally finishes the season. 

The "problem" I've got is that we now have 9 of them at the club and I need to have a think about who to keep and who to release/sell, but also how I'm going to best develop those that are staying but not playing, 

Just in case anyone is curious, the * at the end of a players nickname usually means that he is "special". In this save I've taken it to mean that I have 1st team plans for this player in the future. The problem with plans like that though is that by the time you get to the next Youth Intake and have 2 better players in the same position, the plan goes out of the window and you make a new plan, (so basically many are out of date). 

(33e) Lee Ward (NIR) (Bal). He's been my 1st choice GK for 7 seasons, but while he is our best GK, he is absolutely rubbish at scoring goals, (penalties in particular), and it's spoiling things a little for me. (I even considered taking him off pens this season when he was 0/3 at one stage). So basically he's got to go. I couldn't let him go before now because he was so much better than the others, but with some of the younger keepers going out on loan, their development has been accelerated. I've transfer listed him for £100k, and for loan, but either way he won't be oplaying for us next season. 

(40d) Giertl (SVK) (F.Pro). He is basically the reason for this post. We've had decent bids in from 4 Championship clubs, and it made me look at him to see what they were seeing. His contract was about to expire so I have just signed him to a new 2+2 one and he will be here for a while unless I sell him. AFC Telford finished 2nd in Conference North, (lost in the Playoff Final on penalties), so this has been a great season for him. If I don't play him next season then I will try and get him out at a Conference National club. 

(39c) Mendoza (COL) (Bal) *. I had big plans for him, (hence the *), but he seemed really slow to develop until this season. This was his 2nd season on loan and perhaps it's stepping up to Conference National that has triggered his development. He's got 2 years left on his contract, (but is already into the +2 I think). Yes of course I see that he has a penalty taking attribute of 12, but I'm telling you that it makes absolutely no difference, (yeah but it might be an omen from the FM Gods! Get him on pens quick!) Would I play this player in my 1st team today? Yes, absolutely yes I would. 

(35g) Shaw (SCO) (Bal) *. I don't like him as a player. Positioning is good, (and better than his competition), but when I look at his top left stats, (Aerial, Command & Communication), what I see is an imbalance there. We want them all to be similar and all about 10/11 as a minimum. When they aren't it really stands out to me. I kept him at the club last season specifically so I could loan the others out. I didn't want my 1st choice GK to get injured and have to rely on an U18 player for months. He will keep the same role again next season so that I don't stunt the development of others. He had a good season with Ayr, (and was promoted to the Scottish Championship), but conceded 3 goals in his only appearance for us last season. 

(37e) Clive Walter (Unamb) *. Another who has received a . Not good enough. 

(42d) Kamara (Bal). He's obviously not anywhere near ready for the 1st team, (looking at top left), but his aerial reach is impressive and if he could get Command & Communication to double figures over the next couple of season, (positioning is still an issue), he might look differently. I will try and get him loaned out somewhere. Maybe Conference North/South.

(41n) Chris Whalley (L.Det). He's not good enough and I have added a . to his name. 

(39e) Kirov (BUL) (Unamb) * is a player I really don't like. He has a * because I'm pretty sure he came through with 5.0 PA, but look at those top left attributes. No no no no no. The * is getting replaced with a . right now. 

(38m) Lewis Davies. (Unamb) You can see by the . after his name that I've already made my mind up about him. He's somehow got 2 years left on his contract, (did I really do that?) 

So I think I have decided that either (40d) Giertl (SVK) (F.Pro) or (39c) Mendoza (COL) (Bal) * will be my 1st choice GK next season. I'm just not sure which one. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Staff overhaul. May 2042. 

This is long overdue and I just can't hold off any longer. I've already made some changes, but I need to go through the others. 

Senior Squad. 

I'm going to ignore scouts & medical staff to start with, (although they will be changed at a later date). 

HoYDJake (Pro) (Det14). I'm happy with him for the time being. We have significantly over-achieved with intakes and he's been here since 2035 so I'm going to stick with him. 

DoFJoe (Res) (Det15) is a new signing and I'm happy with him. 

Bal GK3.3.3 Det10 Disc9 Mot4 (Bal) (Det11) You can see by his name that I have looked at this before, but he has been with us since 2024 and the problem back then was that there were just not any positive personality staff willing to join us. He's gone. 

GKCoachAston (Res) (Det16) will be taking his place. 

You might notice that I'm not bothering to show you the following information. While it is important, it's not important right now. I am so behind here that I just want to do the basics, (and remember we're in League 2). All I care about at this stage is Personality and Det, (although I will then see if I can find the best coach if I have multiple options). It's all about Personality.

AssManJim (M.Citizen) (Det16) is a recent arrival and he is definitely staying. 

CoachBrian (F.Pro) (Det12) is a recent arrival and is staying. 

FitCoachLuke (F.Pro) (Det13) is a recent arrival and is staying. 

That's it as far as Senior Squad coached are concerned, but actually we can employ more, (and will). 

We've already got 1x GK Coach, 1x Fitness Coach and 1x Coach. We can have 3 more. 

CoachSimon (Res) (Det15) & CoachDean (M.Citizen) (Det14) are joined by CoachGil (M.Citizen) (Det17). That's much better than i was expecting to get. 

Next I will try and do the same with the U23 and U18 staff. 

In case any of you are wondering why I am concentrating so much on Det and not Pro and Amb when I have said that they are equally important, it;s quite simple really. I can see the Det on the players coming through the intake. It's easy ti point out improvement to you and say look at that. It's far harder to do that with Pro and Amb which are obviously hidden. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Just realised I haven't done a season summary. Oops. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Season Summary. May 2041. 

League 2. I was really happy with the 1st half of the season, but distinctly underwhelmed with the 2nd half. 

FA Cup. When you concede 4, 3 and 4 goals, it's hard to progress. 

Carabao Cup. Who cares

Leasing.com Cup. We din't lose them all. 

FA Youth Cup. Disaster!

U18 Div 3 South-East. I expect to win every league at this level. We should be looking at going undefeated soon. 

U18 Div 3 Cup. Brilliant. 

Goal-scoring keepers. He only scored 2 of 6 penalties this season. While that means that he smashed in 4 direct free-kicks, I just can't accept a GK converting pens at 33%. I think that his 58th will be his last career goal. 

Overall Best XI. 

Awards.

25 league goals sounds like a brilliant return for a teenager, but actually it could have been so much more. 

In the 26 league games before New Years this season, (39a) Harri (Pro) * scored 19 league goals.
In the 20 league games after New Years this season, (39a) Harri (Pro) * scored 6 goals, and 3 of them were scored in 1 game. 

This is a trend that concerns me and while you might ask the question, did he not score because we were playing poorly in the 2nd half of the season, or did we play poorly because he didn't score in the 2nd half of the season, I think that there is absolutely a correlation between a young squad playing well up to Christmas, and then imploding as the season develops. 

I should add that he played 42(6) appearances and I think that I have over-played him. I really need to rest him more in the 1st part of the season, but it's hard when he's scoring every week. 

Squad by Appearances. 

Discipline. I'm very happy with the number of yellows, but less so with the number of fouls. 

Red cards is decent, but I really want this to be in double figures. 

17 yellows is decent, but the problem with also collecting 2 reds is that he would have missed 3 games minimum suspended for the 2 reds, and possibly more depending on the offence. When you consider that he would already have missed 6 games for 15 yellows, then he might have been suspended for as many as 13 games. 

I think I'm right in saying that this is the 1st time the same player has topped both the yellow and red card tables. 

Finances.

Facilities. 

Transfers. 

I tried to get (40a) Sjoberg (Bal) lose PPM to lose the "long shots" PPM, but never managed it. 

(40b) Gilchrist (SCO)(L.Heart) came out of nowhere really and although I had given him some opportunities in his 1st 2 seasons, when the bid came in from Watford it was a bolt out of blue. Most of his appearances were in the 2nd half of the season, (after the transfer), and his performances were significantly improved, (3x MOM awards from 12 appearances). 

Tracker. 

Records. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Takeover failed. Jun 2042.

 

I would be quite happy with a fans takeover. 

 

[RoguPL]

Quote

25 league goals sounds like a brilliant return for a teenager, but actually it could have been so much more. 

In the 26 league games before New Years this season, (39a) Harri (Pro) * scored 19 league goals.
In the 20 league games after New Years this season, (39a) Harri (Pro) * scored 6 goals, and 3 of them were scored in 1 game. 

This is a trend that concerns me and while you might ask the question, did he not score because we were playing poorly in the 2nd half of the season, or did we play poorly because he didn't score in the 2nd half of the season, I think that there is absolutely a correlation between a young squad playing well up to Christmas, and then imploding as the season develops. 

I should add that he played 42(6) appearances and I think that I have over-played him. I really need to rest him more in the 1st part of the season, but it's hard when he's scoring every week. 

Maybe he had a clause where he scores 20 - 25 goals and gets a bonus. after he fulfilled the bonus he doesn't care lol 

[rodesire]

Fans takeover is one of the worst kind, isn't it? You get election yearly and almost no money to progress usually

[Jimbokav1971]

16 minutes ago, rodesire said:

Fans takeover is one of the worst kind, isn't it? You get election yearly and almost no money to progress usually

Yeah, but in a save such as this that's not a problem at all. I plan on generating all the money myself so it would be a good fit. 

[-Jef-]

Do you check for injury probability when choosing the team? Maybe the striker had few games in a row where was highly probable of an injury and just had an injury afterwards

[Jimbokav1971]

Stolen! Jul 2042. 

I offered a contract to this player. He didn't accept, but it was offered and it was greater than the contract he was already on. Preston can sign him, but it can't be on a free. They have to pay compensation if he is under 24 years old. Even if he leaves on a free when his contract expires, if he then joins another English club, (might be UK actually but not 100% on that), before he turns 24, then they still have to pay the compensation, (because we hold his registration). 

If we don't have Academy status, (no Youth Level in game), then none of this applies because it is only for those clubs with Academy status, (and vanishes when when they lose their status), then he can be signed on a free. That's not the case here. 

The only possible explanation that I can think of, is that the player is Slovakian with no 2nd Nationality. He is not English. It is possible that these rules don't apply to him because he is not English, (but I would be astonished if that were the case). 

It doesn't matter that his contract has expired. All that matters is that he was previously contracted, we haven't passed on his registration to anyone else, he is still under 24 and the new club is in England/UK. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

36 minutes ago, rosque said:

Do you check for injury probability when choosing the team? Maybe the striker had few games in a row where was highly probable of an injury and just had an injury afterwards

No, he was only injured once after Christmas and missed a total of just 7 days. 

I rested him for the 1st game in January. 

He was injured for the 1st game in March. 

I rested him for another game in mid-March.

We played 20 games in 2042. 

He started and played a full 90 mins in 15 games. 
He started and played 88 mins in 1 game. 
He came off the bench at HT in 1 game. 
He was injured for 1 game. 
he was rested for 2 games. 

[Figure9]

Might be me being thick coz I’m tired, but doesn’t the DoF have 15 discipline rather than determination?

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Figure9 said:

Might be me being thick coz I’m tired, but doesn’t the DoF have 15 discipline rather than determination?

No, it's definitely 15 Det. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul & Aug 2042. 

I don't usually bother even showing pre-season results, but this was just so poor that I thought I would share. I can't remember the last time I saw a pre-season this bad. 

The other results aren't actually that bad considering the quality of the opposition, but losing 4-0 to our U18's is a bit much. 

Pre-season. 

League 2. Really happy with this. 3 clean sheets in the opening month is better than decent. I can't believe that after making a big deal of wanting a decent home record we went and lost the 1st 2 home games of the season. (Swindon and the Cup game against Sutton). 

Cup games. We had 2 red cards in this game so it was always going to be tough.

[Jimbokav1971]

Not so friendly rivalry with Sutton Utd. Sep 2042. 

You might remember that Sutton Utd were the club that signed (30a) James (DMA) * from us, (on a free), 11 long years ago, and we have been basically funding their existence ever since. 

They signed him on a free and then sold him to Burnley for a nominal fee plus some add-ons. The add-ons earned then £6M when he moved to PSG. 

He's just been transferred from PSG to Man Utd and again they have received a windfall. 

We have earned not a single penny from this player, despite the fact that he came through our Academy. 

Sutton Utd on the other hand keep cashing in every time he moves.  I know it's only £426k, but that's not the point! Where's our cut? 

[Jimbokav1971]

Ex Academy players on the move. Aug 2042. 

You know what strikes me when I look at this list of players that have come through our Academy and moved on? It's sorted by "recommended number" and it's that those at the top are all non-English. 

I've just shown you (30a) James (DMA) * moving from PSG to Man Utd for £85M. 

(31a) Liam Watts (FIN) * has just moved from Monaco to R.Madrid for £19M. (We have earned no money from this player ever). 

I missed the transfer of (37b) Júnior (POR) F.Det * moving from Bristol City to Juve at the end of last season. While we no longer have any claim on him in terms of clauses, we did receive approx £0.5M by way of a solidarity payment. (I think the game demands that the player has to be with you for a certain amount of time to trigger). 

(34a) Nieminen (FIN) (Driven)* has just gone from Napoli to Wolfsburg for £10.5M and that seems a bargain. We have earned money out of this player. 

(36a) Sani (NGA) (L.Heart) * has just moved from A.Villa to Sheff Utd for £1.7M after spending last season on loan at AC.Milan. He's immediately worth almost £10M and this seems an appalling deal for Villa. We have earned good money from this player. 

(39b) JFC (ESP) (Perf) 5'10" * is still at Valencia and the reason I wanted to show you him was because he is the 1st product of our Academy to be labelled as a Wonderkid. Nobody is interested in him at the moment, (which is enormously frustrating), because we still have a 50% clause on him. The longer this goes on, the move valuable our clause becomes and our DoF has so far not managed to do any deal for this clause at all. That's both bad news in that we are struggling for money at the moment and I would surely have cashed it in the 1st chance I got, but also good news because this clause is now worth FAR more than it might have been a couple of years ago. This is the clause that will hopefully set us up for the next phase of the save. (Unless he leaves on a free of course.....) Don't worry, he has 4 years remaining on his contract at Sevilla.

(37c) Komba (TAN) * scored 3 Premier League goals in 7(2) appearances for Palace last season, but they still decided to loan him out to League 1 Oldham for some reason, (where he only scored 8 goals in 22(1) appearances in the 2nd part of the season. This year they have loaned him out to Portsmouth in the Championship, (for a nifty £1.7M), and he has already scored 5 goals in 7 appearances. Him being on the fringes at Palace might just have helped his development in the long run. We made money out of this player.

I find it really interesting that all these players were produced BEFORE we turned Pro, and it's almost as if there is a switch that was turned on back then that has been turned off now. "Something" has changed in our intakes. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I think our intakes are good year on year, but they aren't this stupidly spectacular. (They are much more realistic actually). I wish to God I could work out why. Is this what everyone else sees when they see the old intakes compared to the new intakes? 

The other thing is that it seems to have coincided with English players being born further afield from Irchester, (Wellingborough and Northampton). It's almost as if our reputation was so poor that we didn't warrant attracting players from further afield, yet our Youth Recruitment was so good that we were nicking good players from abroad? (In terms of game mechanics at least). Does that make sense and does anyone else have another opinion? 

[Jimbokav1971]

Transfer update. Aug 2042. 

It wasn't just our ex players that were moving. 

We are still overdrawn at the bank and I'm trying to keep the debt down so was under pressure to sell. I didn't really want to sell (39c) Mendoza (COL) (Bal) * but in view of my opinion in the last post, I thought it better to sell a "foreign" player on the basis that I think there is a higher possibility of him having a better PA than a 5.0 English player. When I rank the whole squad by PA, he comes out 3rd after (42a) and (42c), who I expect to be downgraded over time. I made a big mistake though. A HUGE mistake. It seemed as if they were trying to rush this through before deadline and I worked hard to build the deal up from about £225k total to £600k plus add-ons, but what I didn't notice was that the transfer date was actually set for Jan 2043 rather than Aug 2042. We were getting him back in on loan so that's not an issue, but had I known this I would have (1) changed the loan back length to 12 months rather than the end of the season, (2) pushed harder for more add-ons, and (3) I think I would have possibly pulled out of the deal and tried to sell him at a later date. Yeah, I think I've screwed up here and this difference between this player now and this player in Jan could be significant. Damn! Having said that, we are getting money for him and it's a good deal for a League 2 club. A really good deal. 

The problem I have is that with (39c) Mendoza (COL) (Bal) * now leaving at the end of the season, and (40d) Giertl (SVK) (F.Pro) being "stolen" by Preston , I am back to looking for a new GK for next season. (33e) Lee Ward (NIR) (Bal) is still here because I couldn't find a buyer, but if he wasn't good enough at the beginning of this season, how is he going to be good enough at the beginning of next season when we hope to be playing in League 1? 

On the plus side, (39c) Mendoza (COL) (Bal) * is 1/1 with penalties. 

Finances. 

Edited August 9, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Pompeyboyz]

If I am honest, I feel like the reason you got so many foreign players in your intakes is due to the edited DB in some way. 

I've played many seasons with the vanilla DB or used @Dan BHTFC huge edited DB and never had those sorts of numbers of non-english players come through.....even when I have "tweaked" the facilities to improve the players coming through. I've even added feeder teams with amazing youth setups that can allow players to come through my youth intakes and they are few and far between.  The sheer number and quality of those foreign youth players reeks of something under the hood in the DB to me. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, Pompeyboyz said:

If I am honest, I feel like the reason you got so many foreign players in your intakes is due to the edited DB in some way. 

I've played many seasons with the vanilla DB or used @Dan BHTFC huge edited DB and never had those sorts of numbers of non-english players come through.....even when I have "tweaked" the facilities to improve the players coming through. I've even added feeder teams with amazing youth setups that can allow players to come through my youth intakes and they are few and far between.  The sheer number and quality of those foreign youth players reeks of something under the hood in the DB to me. 

I have considered that, but then again I keep reminding myself that we were a Semi-Pro club with Level 20 Youth Recruitment and I'm not sure I have seen anyone do that before. 

If I get bored of this save what I might do is use a normal database, pick a Semi-Pro team in Conference North/South, give them Level 20 Youth Recruitment and Level 12 Junior Coaching and see what they produce. 

In fact that's a hell of an idea. I think that's exactly what I will do. 

There doesn's seem to be a reason for this, (edited database), and I can't find what has been changed, so if I can't find something that has been changed then maybe it's other contributing factors and the most strange thing about this save is not that we were able to produce these youngsters, but that we were able to get to Level 20 Youth Recruitment while playing in Tier 9. The way that the allocation of Newgens is calculated under the hood relies primarily on certain things. If we were putting ourselves right at the front of the queue via Youth Recruitment, (and yes that's basically how it works), it stands to reason that we are going to be more likely to get these foreign youngsters coming through.

Is there anything else happening in game that might also influence this indirectly in our favour? Yes, I'm only running England as an active league, so these players that might usually be generated in their Country of birth, are now generated here (as they might be in any club with Level 20 Youth Recruitment). 

I don't think that it's the database that is the issue. I think that the clubs Youth Recruitment just pushed us to the head of the pile. 

One day next week I will set up a new save. I will edit the Facilities of little Conference North/South side and then go on holiday. I will then check on on their Youth Intake every season and see what they are producing. I think I'm right, (I've obviously been thinking about this a lot), but the only way to know 100% will be to run it with a normal database. Should be interesting at least. 

[Pompeyboyz]

I have started running a test using the Vanilla DB with 4 teams in different leagues.

Going to see what they get in their normal intake, then tweak the facilities to match yours from earlier on and also make changes to have perfect facilities and dreadful facilities and see if the league has any impact too

[Jimbokav1971]

In fact I have a better idea......

I'm really enjoying the save at the moment so I don't want to "waste" time on a holiday save. 

I've deactivated leagues below Conference North/South so what I'm going to do is find a Semi-Pro club, edit their facilities to 2.1.20.12 and then see what they produce. I can't sign any players so my knowledge won't help me. 

I also want somewhere that has a small population, because I think that might be a trigger. The game is looking to populate the intake but needs to look elsewhere?

I don't want someone who is going to get promoted or relegated, (not easy), and I'm also looking for somewhere that has a population of less than 5,000 (like Irchester). 

Needham Market seem to be the closest I can find. Population was 4,528 in 2011. 

Their finances are seemingly an issue but they are going to have to deal with that themselves. I will give their facilities an upgrade to look like this........

You know what I've noticed?

I'm saying that my facilities were 2.1.20.12, (and they were, I have just checked), but the 20 isn't Youth Recruitment. I have assumed that it was, but it's actually Junior Coaching. 

This picture is from Page 4 of this thread. April 2028. 

So that's what I will be replicating at Needham Market, (although I've left the corporate facilities as is). Now it should be interesting to see what they get through. 

 

Ok, so let's see how Needham Market do 1st of all. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

25 minutes ago, Pompeyboyz said:

I have started running a test using the Vanilla DB with 4 teams in different leagues.

Going to see what they get in their normal intake, then tweak the facilities to match yours from earlier on and also make changes to have perfect facilities and dreadful facilities and see if the league has any impact too

Make sure it's 2.1.20.12 and not 2.1.12.20 by the way. I almost made that mistake. 

Also, look for a location with a population of just under 5k if you can. I don't know that it has an impact, just thinking. 

[Jimbokav1971]

I'm just going through the CA/PA of players that have already come through Needham market to give us a comparison. 

2019/20. 

Retired
Retired
Now staff with PA 179
Retired
Retired

2020/21.

Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired

2021/22.

Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired

2022/23.

Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired

2023/24.

Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired

2024/25.

Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired

2025/26.

Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired

2026/27.

Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired

2027/28.

Retired
Retired
CA 16 PA 16
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired

2028/29.

Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired

2029/30.

CA 23 PA 32
Retired
CA 25 PA 31
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired

2030/31.

Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired

2031/32.

Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired

2032/33.

Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired

2033/34.

Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
CA 32 PA 38

2034/35.

Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired
Retired

2035/36.

Retired
Retired
CA 38 PA 88
Retired
Retired

2036/37.

Retired
Retired
CA 21 PA 22
Retired
Retired

2037/38.

Retired
CA 30 PA 37
Retired
CA 37 PA 41
Retired
Retired
Retired

2038/39. 

CA 6 PA 64
CA 15 PA 16
CA 31 PA 59
CA 14 PA 54
CA 26 PA 58
CA 37 PA 59
CA 23 PA 29

2039/40.

None. 

2040/41. 

CA 39 PA 46
CA 12 PA 49
CA 14 PA 29
CA 17 PA 68
CA 33 PA 39
CA 20 PA 54
CA 20 PA 69

2041/42.

None. 

Well that gives us at least a starting point to act as a comparison. 

Edited August 9, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Pompeyboyz]

40 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Make sure it's 2.1.20.12 and not 2.1.12.20 by the way. I almost made that mistake. 

Also, look for a location with a population of just under 5k if you can. I don't know that it has an impact, just thinking. 

I've done my first run with Vanilla DB

Just starting my second with the 2,1,20,12 but I am leaving corporate alone now and will run a second with that also changed just to see if it makes any changes(not that I expect it to)

[Jimbokav1971]

The other thing that I keep asking myself is why nobody poached our players earlier? (Just had the 2nd one now).