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

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, nie jem frytek said:

I think 2026 Player Disc should be highlighted red and not green.

You really are paying attention. 

[deez0r]

@Jimbokav1971 I definitely found that the Mercenary personality despite being "bad" technically actually developed really well for me. Not sure if it is because of their single mindedness but they were definitely some of the quickest developers for me!

[Jimbokav1971]

43 minutes ago, deez0r said:

@Jimbokav1971 I definitely found that the Mercenary personality despite being "bad" technically actually developed really well for me. Not sure if it is because of their single mindedness but they were definitely some of the quickest developers for me!

No, I think it's because the Amb is a known high and we all gravitate to high Det players and resolve Det issues significantly more easily that either Pro or Amb issues. So effectively we are attracted to High Det Merc players significantly more than Low Det Merc players so the results are skewed. (That's my take on it anyway). 

[Thebaker]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

No, I think it's because the Amb is a known high and we all gravitate to high Det players and resolve Det issues significantly more easily that either Pro or Amb issues. So effectively we are attracted to High Det Merc players significantly more than Low Det Merc players so the results are skewed. (That's my take on it anyway). 

I think you are right, isn't det, pro and amb the most important mental attributes for player development so a player with 2 or even 3 of those attributes (above 15) which is possible with a  mercenary personality could develop well.

To me Mercenary and fickle are neutral personalities not bad, bit like balanced they can mask a wide range of other attributes.

[OlivierL]

10 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Staff Recruitment. Apr 2029. 

@mattyjames_commented a while ago that coaching staff can have an impact on the personality of players coming through the intake, but I want to show you what I'm up against. 

 

I'm sure @OlivierLmade a comment about him liking Mercenary as a personality, (or something like that), but I can't find what he said, (I haven't looked that hard), but I'm afraid I don't agree. It could be decent, (because Amb is good we know that, but both Pro Det and Pro could be really bad). The good news is that we can see Det at least so it means that both Det and Amb are known(ish), so we need to only investigate and fix Pro. I can see what @OlivierLis doing now. It's very similar to what I do with Fickle. That's a good shout actually. It won't always be a good fit, but anything that has either Amb or Pro at known good levels is worth looking at. 

 

Good afternoon Jimbo,

The reason I put Mercenary among the good (not the best) personalities for youth development is indeed because they score high on ambition.
For staff and senior players I wouldn't recommend it.
In the meantime, I have seen in two topics that someone had a youth player with Mercenary who developed enormously well. It remains an experiment but I now have one with Mercenary personality and hope to confirm it within a few seasons.

 

 

[OlivierL]

11 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

I think you are right, isn't det, pro and amb the most important mental attributes for player development so a player with 2 or even 3 of those attributes (above 15) which is possible with a  mercenary personality could develop well.

To me Mercenary and fickle are neutral personalities not bad, bit like balanced they can mask a wide range of other attributes.

Idd ambition, prof and determination

 

[Jimbokav1971]

33 minutes ago, OlivierL said:

Good afternoon Jimbo,

The reason I put Mercenary among the good (not the best) personalities for youth development is indeed because they score high on ambition.
For staff and senior players I wouldn't recommend it.
In the meantime, I have seen in two topics that someone had a youth player with Mercenary who developed enormously well. It remains an experiment but I now have one with Mercenary personality and hope to confirm it within a few seasons.

Yeah, I started disagreeing with you and then as I talked myself through it found it very similar to my Fickle opinion. 

As for your 2 examples, I'm guessing that the difference is either the known difference between Det in the 2 examples, or the unknown difference between Pro in the 2 examples. 

[Jimbokav1971]

New Record. Sep 2029. 

[OlivierL]

3 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Yeah, I started disagreeing with you and then as I talked myself through it found it very similar to my Fickle opinion. 

As for your 2 examples, I'm guessing that the difference is either the known difference between Det in the 2 examples, or the unknown difference between Pro in the 2 examples. 

Yes idd, Fickle is also high on the list because of their ambition

[Jimbokav1971]

U23's. Sep 2029.

I'm pretty sure that Kidderminster U23's shouldn't be playing at a Senior level. 

AFC Rushden & Diamonds are the phoenix club of the old Rushden & Diamonds club that had a brief dalliance with the Football league before going bust. They have done well to get back up to Tier 7 , but we're comfortably out-performing them at the moment. We haven't played them yet, but I'm hoping for a bumper crowd. 

Kettering Town are also very local, (and they have a big rivalry with R&D. (We've just beat them 3-2 away). 

[Thebaker]

13 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

U23's. Sep 2029.

I'm pretty sure that Kidderminster U23's shouldn't be playing at a Senior level. 

 

I thought Hashtag Utd seemed dubious but they actually exist

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, Thebaker said:

I thought Hashtag Utd seemed dubious but they actually exist

Yep. They were a Sunday side who built up a sizeable YouTube following and they have converted to a Saturday side and actually done quite well so far. One of their ex players, (can't remember the name), has been signed for Northampton and made quite a few appearances for them. They are a proper club now. 

[Jimbokav1971]

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2029.

We could really do with a decent striker and we hopefully might have a Welsh one. 

[Jimbokav1971]

New Record. Feb 2030.

[Edit]

I've just started the game up and have lost the last save I did, which unfortunately included the above 9-2 win which was the last game. 

From 19th Feb 2030 I have to go back to 1st Jan 2030, (so not a disaster). 

Edited July 10, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

***Insert swear-word here*** . Youth Intake day. Mar 2030. 

Squad by PPA. A 5.0 CA player is excellent, especially when you consider that the CA of our squad has been slowly improving each year. 

Nations already represented in previous Youth Intakes. 

New Nations represented in this intake.    I didn't realise that there was a Dominica and a Dominican Republic. I love learning stuff so here is some Geography for those of you who are interested. The Dominican Republic is actually on the same land mass as Haiti, but Dominica is an Caribbean Island itself to the East of the Dominican Republic. Here endeth the lesson. 

(30a) James (DMA). Let me take this opportunity to remind you that we are playing in the 7th (SEVENTH) Tier of English football. This is astonishing. This bloke would be good at a Premier Division intake wouldn't he? 

[ToMexico!!]

Holy Moly!! 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

Holy Moly!! 

 

Honestly, he's bloomin fantastic!

How's my luck that he comes through when I can't even offer him any sort of proper contract? 

I can't remember how long I played my Welsh save for, but I got nowhere near anything like this. He's just remarkable, and even has a decent(ish) personality. 

[Jimbokav1971]

If he is nabbed by a big club, I don't even think I get 5% of his re-sale value or anything. I think I effectively get nothing, ever. 

[ToMexico!!]

17 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

 

Honestly, he's bloomin fantastic!

How's my luck that he comes through when I can't even offer him any sort of proper contract? 

I can't remember how long I played my Welsh save for, but I got nowhere near anything like this. He's just remarkable, and even has a decent(ish) personality. 

15 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

If he is nabbed by a big club, I don't even think I get 5% of his re-sale value or anything. I think I effectively get nothing, ever. 

Not even a youth contract? 

Would be such a shame to see him swan off with no reward. 

[Jimbokav1971]

19 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

Not even a youth contract? 

Would be such a shame to see him swan off with no reward. 

He's 17 years old already so he's doesn't get a youth contract. He goes straight onto a non-contract contract. 

In any case, I've just noticed that even those that are on a Youth contract, are on a Youth contract that has already expired. 

[Jimbokav1971]

A debut to be remembered. Mar 2030. 

Interestingly, (at least to me), the score was only 3-0 after 83 minutes, but despite not scoring any goals in injury time, we scored 4 goals in 6 minutes, scoring in the 84th, 85th, 88th & 89th minutes. 

New record. Mar 2030.

Edited July 10, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[RoguPL]

What a gem he is ! Wow. Congrats! 

I hope you manage to keep him, but I am afraid any pro team will come knocking for him soon 

 

When you hopefully move up the leagues I hope that you will be able to keep most of your young signings. 

Edited July 10, 2020 by rrozek93

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, rrozek93 said:

What a gem he is ! Wow. Congrats! 

I hope you manage to keep him, but I am afraid any pro team will come knocking for him soon 

When you hopefully move up the leagues I hope that you will be able to keep most of your young signings. 

There is absolutely no chance of me keeping him. 

Actually I don't mind players leaving. The way I see it, they will go on and develop better elsewhere than they could with us, and all we have to do is keep moving up the ladder and maybe we will have an opportunity to sign them again at some point in the future. We need money and I just wish that we had been able to offer him a permanent contract so that we would have earned out of him. 

[RoguPL]

8 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

There is absolutely no chance of me keeping him. 

Actually I don't mind players leaving. The way I see it, they will go on and develop better elsewhere than they could with us, and all we have to do is keep moving up the ladder and maybe we will have an opportunity to sign them again at some point in the future. We need money and I just wish that we had been able to offer him a permanent contract so that we would have earned out of him. 

I believe that's one of your rules hat you can only sign players that came through your club ? 

It looks like he can be really good and any bonus for him would be nice but you are right. 

 

Anyway I really enjoy your save. It makes me want to try it as well. When you IR its also quicker so the seasons fly faster. Do you only have UK loaded for database ?

 

Edited July 10, 2020 by rrozek93

[Jimbokav1971]

Just now, rrozek93 said:

I believe that's one of your rules hat you can only sign players that came through your club ? 

It looks like he can be really good and any bonus for him would be nice but you are right. 

Anyway I really enjoy your save. It makes me want to try it as well. When you IR its also quicker so the seasons fly faster. 

Yes, the only players I can sign are players that have come through our Academy. So if they come through the Academy and then leave then I can re-sign them, but I can't sign anyone else. (The 1 exception to that is that I signed a "grey" striker early on in the save as a bit of an experiment, but I'm not sure he ever played for us.

I'm not too bothered. This save is really just a bonus after my time in Wales. I usually only do 1 save per year but because I've been furloughed I've had so much time on my hands. I am happy to see players move on and do well. It's part of the save. If I wasn't then I would be in for a tough old time. 

Yes, the IR button really does speed things up, and you know that another intake is only round the corner. 

Thanks very much. 

[RoguPL]

7 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Yes, the only players I can sign are players that have come through our Academy. So if they come through the Academy and then leave then I can re-sign them, but I can't sign anyone else. (The 1 exception to that is that I signed a "grey" striker early on in the save as a bit of an experiment, but I'm not sure he ever played for us.

I'm not too bothered. This save is really just a bonus after my time in Wales. I usually only do 1 save per year but because I've been furloughed I've had so much time on my hands. I am happy to see players move on and do well. It's part of the save. If I wasn't then I would be in for a tough old time. 

Yes, the IR button really does speed things up, and you know that another intake is only round the corner. 

Thanks very much. 

 

I am lucky to be still working as the company I work for provides vital services to companies in public sector. 

I usually do a few but none of them is usually longer than 5 seasons. I think this FM20 is the first FM since fm08 that I have done a 10 season save.  Also I used to buy FM every other year as not many things are changing. 

If they poach the youngster update us in few seasons to see how he is doing.! 

Edited July 10, 2020 by rrozek93

[Jimbokav1971]

11 minutes ago, rrozek93 said:

I am lucky to be still working as the company I work for provides vital services to companies in public sector. 

I usually do a few but none of them is usually longer than 5 seasons. I think this FM20 is the first FM since fm08 that I have done a 10 season save.  Also I used to buy FM every other year as not many things are changing. 

If they poach the youngster update us in few seasons to see how he is doing.! 

The only year I didn't buy FM on release date was FM15 and simply because I loved by FM14 save so much I basically played it for 2 years. I love a long save and really don't like the start of saves. If you could only play FM for 3 seasons or something I probably wouldn't bother. 

Yep, I will absolutely do updates on the players that have left as they start to play games. At the moment I've got players as high up as the Championship, but I don't think any of them are playing for the Senior sides. 

[Jimbokav1971]

(30a) James (DMA) watch. Apr 2030. 

Sutton are in the Conference National. 
Watford are in the Championship. 
Bristol Rovers are in League 2. 

If he's going to go to one of these, I hope it's Watford. 

[RoguPL]

that's a nice filter there you have. TBF Championship side is quite good. Considering that you have been tier9 in 2025. 

I think best facilities for James to improve will be in Watford as well. 

[mattyjames_]

Amazing. An absolutely amazing youth player, and hopefully a sign of more to cone as your facilities improve and your reputation increases!

[Jimbokav1971]

(30a) James (DMA) * watch. Jun 2030.

There are more clubs in for him now. Southampton lost in the Championship Playoff Final, so will still be in the Championship next season.

[Jimbokav1971]

5 minutes ago, mattyjames_ said:

Amazing. An absolutely amazing youth player, and hopefully a sign of more to cone as your facilities improve and your reputation increases!

He is. He's an absolute belter. If anything he's too good and I expect him to be gone before the start of next season. 

On the plus side, as I like to say there is a chance of another one just round the corner in the next intake. 

[Jimbokav1971]

(30a) James (DMA) watch. Jun 2030 continued. 

Sutton finished 17th in Conference National last season, (Tier 5), so they are still 2 leagues above us. Their top earner is on £1,600 per week and he's just getting a few quid for us if and when he plays a game. 

Well that was short and sweet. 

They have signed him on a £400 per week contract. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Season Summary. Apr 2030.

This is what the real trophy looks like. 

Trophy cabinet. We've been promoted twice by the Playoffs, (so no trophies there), but I think we've done really well in the Cups when you considering that I'm obviously prioritising the league. 

BetVictor Premier Division South. 

Final League Table. If we had won either of our last 2 games we would have been in the Playoffs. We didn't, so we aren't. 

FA Cup. We might have to put more effort into the FA Cup. We need the money. 

FA Trophy. 

Southern League Cup. This was a shock result as Kettering Town won the league with a 90 point total. The only reason we managed to beat them was because youngster (30a) James (DMA) * scored 2 goals. I have absolutely no doubt that we would have lost without him. 

Goal-scoring keepers. He only missed 1 penalty from 10, but he also only scored 1 free-kick. 

Overall Best XI.

Awards.

Squad by Appearances. We're very reliant on (25m) Luke Bennett (F.Pro). He isn't that good, but basically that's almost the secret of his success. If he was any good then he would be playing for someone else. 

Discipline. It's weird. We nicked the record off Hanwell, seemingly by virtue of getting more red cards, but they are above us in the table.....

Finances. This is a problem. We're still spending way under budget, but we are also leaking money badly. 

Facilities. 

Transfers. We might have lost some players this season, but I also managed to sign some good players back who had previously left. (30a) James (DMA) * isn't on the list because he left after the season ticked over. 

Tracker. Some of this makes sense. Some of it not so much. Despite playing at a higher level than ever before, (and just missing out on the playoffs), and also winning a Cup, our reputation has somehow dropped a single reputation point. It's gone down! Our wage budget is significantly reduced for next season, but that's because of our financial situation. As long as we are within budget, (and we will be), then there is nothing else we can do. 

Records. 

Edited July 10, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[mattyjames_]

A great season, and hopefully not long before you get up into league football!

Shame the party with James was short lived, but he was worth his weight in gold while he was around!

 

Bring on the next youth update!

[Jimbokav1971]

Club favoured personnel. Aug 2030.

Jack Parkinson (ATG) was the striker who was already at the club when I arrived. 

(25m) Luke Bennett (F.Pro) isn't that good, but he scores goals at this level and nobody else seems seriously interested in signing him, (which is significant). 

(21a) Keith Moore (WAL) is still at the club despite not making a single appearance over the last 3 seasons. The problem with releasing him is that because the squad are not on proper contracts I don't have control over who leaves when, and I can't just release someone that I might need at some point in the future. (25m) Luke Bennett (F.Pro) has made 46, 47 and 40 appearances over the last 3 seasons, (and I don't think an outfield player should make 40 appearances), so if we lose him to another club or injury then I will need a stand-in.

Aaron Higginson was a really important centre-half for us who had 2 spells at the club. I'm astonished to see that he retired after leaving us. 

(30a) James (DMA) * only played in 3 League games and 1 Cup game for the club, but after scoring a hat-trick on his league debut, he scored both the goals that won us the Cup. In total he scored 5 goals and created 3 assists in 4 games for the club.

(21h) Sabbatus (LCA) (Driven) is very much in the same boat as (21a) Keith Moore (WAL). He's just a back-up that I can't afford to release in case we need him. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, mattyjames_ said:

A great season, and hopefully not long before you get up into league football!

Shame the party with James was short lived, but he was worth his weight in gold while he was around!

Bring on the next youth update!

Well we should have made the Playoffs last season but 2 of the teams finishing above us were promoted so that should help us a little. The minimum requirement this season is is Playoffs. I don't think we have the fire-power to win the title. 

As for the next intake..... absolutely. 

[Jimbokav1971]

International recognition. Aug 2030.

Although we haven't had a player gain a Senior International call-up as yet, we have had a number of players capped at U21 level. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Discipline issues. Aug 2030.

This is a new record even for us. 8 yellow cards and 2 red cards in 1 game. 

The reds, (both 2nd yellows), were shown in the 24th and 50th minutes. 

We lost, but only narrowly 2-1.

[Jimbokav1971]

New Record. Sept 2030.

[Jimbokav1971]

New contract. Sep 2030.

For the 1st time in this save I've been offered a 2 year contract. 

[_Ben_]

15 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

(30a) James (DMA). Let me take this opportunity to remind you that we are playing in the 7th (SEVENTH) Tier of English football. This is astonishing. This bloke would be good at a Premier Division intake wouldn't he? 

 

I know he's gone now, but, wow!

I, genuinely, would long for someone like that and I'm in the top tier of Brazil, with Excellent youth facilities!

What I've found, in the past (and I don't know if this is a consolation or what) is that these 'freak' CA players tend to come through very close to their peak - which is maybe how Sutton got in for him rather than the bigger clubs like Saints or Watford?

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, _Ben_ said:

 

I know he's gone now, but, wow!

I, genuinely, would long for someone like that and I'm in the top tier of Brazil, with Excellent youth facilities!

What I've found, in the past (and I don't know if this is a consolation or what) is that these 'freak' CA players tend to come through very close to their peak - which is maybe how Sutton got in for him rather than the bigger clubs like Saints or Watford?

You could be right. 

I've managed to hold off checking his PA after he left, so it's going to be good to see how he develops and follow his career. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. 

[Jimbokav1971]

16 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Youth Intake preview. 

Youth Intake day. Mar 2031. 

Squad by PPA. 

Nations already represented in previous Intakes. 

New Nations represented in this Youth Intake. 

(31a) Liam Watts (FIN).

Edited July 12, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[metallimuse]

Ooft, spent a few days a way on my own save and thread and come in to catch up on more talk of different mindsets behind personalities and youth development.

So we’re saying mercenaries are now desirable?

I really need to go back to the drawing board with my ideas on that and dig deeper.

[Jimbokav1971]

49 minutes ago, metallimuse said:

Ooft, spent a few days a way on my own save and thread and come in to catch up on more talk of different mindsets behind personalities and youth development.

So we’re saying mercenaries are now desirable?

I really need to go back to the drawing board with my ideas on that and dig deeper.

No, we're not saying the "mercenaries are now desirable". We are saying that everything is relative. If you are at a level where you have lots of great personalities, then of course Merc is not good, but if you are at a level where you are really struggling with even the basics of a new personality then it's maybe not the worst personality.

For player development, (and that's all we are talking about here), we want Det, Pro and Amb. Some of us might take this as a given, but you can see that the intakes I've been getting we often struggle with all 3. With that in mind, this personality gives us an automatic win at Amb. 

When you then consider that hid Det and Pro might be as high as 17 then this "might" be a good personality. At the very least though, it's at least decent at Amb, (so in 1 of 3 areas). That's better than being rubbish in all 3 areas right?

[RoguPL]

Liam Watts another gem ! Very nice. Keep them coming  

[Jimbokav1971]

New record. Mar 2031.