[FM21] Hometown Heroes

[Watson156]

2 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

February 2031:

A 1-1 draw at home before we went on the 15 or-so mile journey to Small Health, the scum of Birmingham. We went 2-1 down but a 51st minute goal from Spencer Gale brought us back on level terms before ex-Villa academy player Jacob Ramsey added his second deep into injury time as we went through. We created 1.09 xG to Blues' 1.39 xG but, once again, have shown that we are more than up for the cup!

We also netted just over £410k from this tie alone in prize ,money and gate receipts. Our prize:

I wish we were at the Emirates. Either way, we're getting a hammering!

EDIT: Sorry if you live in Small Health - nothing against the area, just the 'club' that represents it!  

Get in. Got to love a victory over the scum, and even better with Ramsey scoring the winner!!

[abulezz]

That is an awesome Intake - they are going to improve you very quick. 

[_Ben_]

April 2031: Player Development - Wiktor Krasniqi

This 15 year old is my brightest prospect, to date, and I'm really excited about giving him first team minutes. He doesn't have the best personality, but I can work with it at this point:

Mercenary
Loyalty 1-3, Ambition 16-20
Determination <18, Professionalism <18, Leader <19

Media Friendly
This is similar to balanced and covers options which aren't covered by anything else

Very low loyalty, very good ambition and no better than very good for Professionalism whilst having a visible Determination attribute of 9. Of the three 'key' attributes for development - we've got one very good one, one average one and one complete unknown - but a score of 1.5 out of 3 is good at this level.

---

Going forward - I think Wiktor is rounded enough to play as a forward as, Heading and Strength aside, he has no real weakness there. I ran him through my attribute analyser:

Intelligence is an area of weakness: Decisions are 6, Anticipation is 7 and Concentration is 6, for example. However, that'll grow. Therefore, I'm proposing utilising the CF(a) schedule, as seen below. At this point, as he learns to play as a ST, I won't add any additional areas as it'll increase his workload too much.

Up top is an area that I'm weak in but, with the right development, this lad could be a key player for us.

[_Ben_]

2030/31 End of Season

For our first season in League One, this has to be considered a very positive outcome. To finish above Fylde (23rd), Tranmere (24th) and Swindon (18th) shows that we had prepared best out of all the newly promoted teams and, in my opinion, have a better and deeper squad rooted in the same philosophical desires. Our playing style has started to take shape this season with us registered an average 57% possession (2nd in league) whilst we completed the most passes (21,513) at the best conversion rate (89%).  If I had to be picky, and a reason for the large number of draws, is that we've gone from such on-the-ball statistics to very poor offensive statistics: 22nd in total shots with 442 - some 226 less than first placed Oldham - whilst racking up just 1.33 goals/90 and a total of just 51.59 xG (16th in the league). However- and trying to take the positives from everything - our conversion rate, a historical problem for us, has improved as we move up to 6th - converting 13.8% of all of our shots.

This can be seen quite evidently in the below efficiency charts. I think that making the bottom left quadrant, as a newly promoted team (comparing that that 50% of the busy/leaky quadrant are made up from the other newly promoted sides) has to be seen as a bonus. If I can keep this level of defensive tightness whilst improving on my offensive game - we'll be in a stronger position in years to come.

Digging a little deeper - we have shown a little trend of conceding the most goals around the half time break with exactly a third of the goals conceded coming from through balls, either over, or through my defence. On the other hand, we are scoring over a third of our own goals from through balls, particularly those played in to the box from just outside the penalty area, and, with a slight disparity - 4:5 - of those coming from the right hand side and the feet of Carney Chukwuemeka. Worryingly, we have only scored once from a corner - so I will look at either recruiting a set piece specialist or ensuring regular training of it but, positively, have only conceded once from a corner too.

---

Here is the team stats, sorted by minutes accrued:

Obviously, the standout team statistic was our (relative) defensive stability and this is pretty well mirrored by the average ratings - with Amari Fenney leading the way in the league-wide AR standings, followed by McLoughlin and Okafor both above 7.0 too. In every metric, aside from tackles, our six defenders have performed really well, as seen below. The high interception rates is another really good indicator of my pressing game backed up with intelligence to be in the right place at the right time. As Paolo Maldini said-  if you have to make a tackle, you've already made a mistake.

I'd be inclined to think that, given the strength of my defence, then my attack must have been weak. However - when comparing the offensive attributes and, again, looking at their percentile rank within this division - I'm not so sure.

In Josh Thomas, we've got a great scorer and one of the best in the league but, sadly, someone who contributes little in the way of passing or creating chances for others. Jacob Ramsey has performed really well across the board and Spencer Gale leads the league in Dribbles/90 - in the exact role I wanted him to play. I think it's really hard to identify those who have had a bad season, except for maybe Chibueze, who, in a similar role to Ramsey, has really performed considerably worse than him:

---

A really successful season, overall, where we have made a big moves on and off the pitch. 

 

[_Ben_]

May 2031: Gathering Data

I've just pulled together a simple document that I can copy and paste in player search data, how I did the season review for percentiles, and have an automatic generation of that - rather than having to re-calculate each one. Here is part of it, showing a list of players in this division with the data that can realistically be gathered for them.

The plan is to use this as another tool for recruitment as I go forward.

[_Ben_]

May 2031: Solidarity payments

This 'free' money could be all the signings I make over the summer, for example. These kind of payments are great and have come at a time when I leak money the most - during the summer when we have no match day income.

[_Ben_]

June 2031: Awards

From a 'is he good enough for being a rotation option this year' to this. Here is a breakdown of his performance:

• Leads the league (all positions) on Average Rating
• 100th percentile for Interceptions per game with 7.5
• 100th percentile for Heading winning percentage
• 99th percentile for Headers won/90 with 4.63
• 100th percentile for pass accuracy with 94%

An all around great season for Amari.

[_Ben_]

June 2031: Name Change

I took the opportunity (as I remembered that I had the editor) to rename the stadium. The 'Redditch United Stadium' lacked any kind of imagination so I decided to name it after the shopping centre in the town which you cna read about here (I'm sure you want to!)

[_Ben_]

June 2031: Cosmetic Change

I edited the .lnc file to remove the 'United' from our short name. We'll match teams like Newcastle United, for example, who just show as Newcastle on screens like league tables. I just think that this is a more 'big club' kind of ethos as, Manchester United, aside, the only teams that really use the add-on to their name are those who share a city, such as Sheffield United.

The lower down you get, the more you see this kind of thing and I am eager to move past it...

[_Ben_]

June 2031: Player sale?

Newcastle were sniffing and I managed to increase their offer to nearly £1.4m, with all sorts of clauses. This prompted Fulham to come straight in with £1.5m in cash but I was able to negotiate a 50% clause in, which is great. I presume he'll accept, even though they've just been relegated to the Championship. I like Christian but being able to turn a profit like this in just a year is something I won't refuse.

[_Ben_]

July 2031: Poached

[Watson156]

4 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

June 2031: Awards

From a 'is he good enough for being a rotation option this year' to this. Here is a breakdown of his performance:

• Leads the league (all positions) on Average Rating
• 100th percentile for Interceptions per game with 7.5
• 100th percentile for Heading winning percentage
• 99th percentile for Headers won/90 with 4.63
• 100th percentile for pass accuracy with 94%

An all around great season for Amari.

He looks fantastic. Was he a CM initially and you retrained him to play CB? I think you said last year that you like to retrain tall central players to players to play CB if their attributes fit. It's a really interesting idea. Does that give you any extra bonuses? For example I'm sure he is better at coming out of defense with the ball and passing etc but does the lack of defending skills not limit his usefulness, or if he didn't/doesn't have the necessary skills to play CB then he wont play.

[_Ben_]

2031/32 Recruitment

Jimmy Murphy. Alex Duncan. Moses Ofori.

---

The strength of my squad tells you how we've managed to have done all of our business by the 4th July, and the fact that I began scouting for out of contract and expiring contract players straight after the end of the last season. However, I'm happy with these three. Firstly, Murphy comes in as the backup keeper. I didn't necessarily realise he'd be rated as highly as he is but I have made a commitment to Brad Rothwell as my number one so will honour that. Duncan is a good centre back with a great personality and is left footed, meaning he is able to take over from Sean McLoughlin as he reaches his retirement. He'll rotate with Arreola next to the mightily impressive Fenney. Lastly, Ofori comes in to give me some more energy in the midfield but was potentially a surplus as Fulham's move for Christian Williams broke down; so instead, I moved Jack Watson on to Crewe for £250k.

---

Going out, I have allowed Sam Broome and Will Finlay to go out on loan, as seen below, in order to gain some match experience for me to see if they are going to be good enough.

---

We are looking good in terms of our squad DNA although I feel that McLoughlin and Dasilva have probably entered their last season for me and I've still got some question marks over the squad depth. However, according to the average of the attributes for my players based on their role within the team, and split between positions, we are stronger than last year in almost every area.

[_Ben_]

22 hours ago, Watson156 said:

He looks fantastic. Was he a CM initially and you retrained him to play CB? I think you said last year that you like to retrain tall central players to players to play CB if their attributes fit. It's a really interesting idea. Does that give you any extra bonuses? For example I'm sure he is better at coming out of defense with the ball and passing etc but does the lack of defending skills not limit his usefulness, or if he didn't/doesn't have the necessary skills to play CB then he wont play.

He's been great!

He hasn't changed much since he signed in 2027 but has just performed really well, as seen below.

He has not changed position, no. But you are right - I do love retraining tall, defensively comfortable players to be defenders (if they are small and/or can dribble they tend to go to full backs) because I like to have players at the back who are comfortable on the ball and can play out from the back. Sometimes I take a hit, especially with Positioning, which is a defensively key attribute, but most that are good enough can be converted.

[_Ben_]

July 2031: Transfer money

Not a lot, but that is the same amount that I sold him for - so we've now doubled that income.

[robterrace]

Don't know if you saw this article that has been shared about on Twitter about how to use FM to create your different visualisations of stats, but, here you go.

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

Other than that, still getting some money in now and then, its allowing you to cover improvements and costs, which is all good.

[_Ben_]

5 hours ago, robterrace said:

Don't know if you saw this article that has been shared about on Twitter about how to use FM to create your different visualisations of stats, but, here you go.

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

Other than that, still getting some money in now and then, its allowing you to cover improvements and costs, which is all good.

Thanks for that. I've just been recommended Tableau by an old friend of mine, @F0rzaHso I'm waiting until I've completed some of the season to get some workable data.

---

As for the team: yeah, slow and steady improvements and keeping things ticking over. We have nearly £3m in the bank and a £1m sell on clause for Noah Kilman although I'm trying to hold out on that in case it is worth more soon. I'll just invest in YR and JC until they are maxed and go from there. I don't know whether I need to reach a certain youth level to get an u18 team - because that's something I'd really like, although I'm less keen on the yearly costs.

[_Ben_]

August 2031: Debuts

We shouldn't have lost but it is always nice to use cup ties to give some debuts...

[_Ben_]

August 2031: Record

My, potentially, best youth player breaks, hopefully, the first record of many.

[_Ben_]

August 2031: Interest

I had 'sold' him for £1.5m before his Work Permit was turned down - so, if I can double that and remove the Work Permit issue, I have certainly won here!

[_Ben_]

August/September 2031

I'm really happy with the start that we have made to the season and the position that we occupy in the league. Some decent results, particularly the Charlton game - versus a team who got relegated and beat us 4-0, at home, in the Carabao Cup last year. We conceded the latest of late goals against Preston too, which meant we succumbed to an unlucky defeat.

I rotated my squad massively for the Colchester tie, not being too worried about any further progress.

---

I have been playing around with some data and have created a 'cheap' version of an xG tracker that I've seen used really well elsewhere. I have also pleased myself by being able to include four axis on this - one with just text, too. The orange bar is our xG, whilst the blue is our xG allowed. The red line graph is a nice addition as it is the media prediction of our opponents and you can then also see the outcome of the game.

I think we did incredibly well to bring home four points against two of the top predicted teams in this division and even more unlucky to have lost to Preston, considering our xG total was much higher than theirs (2.37 to 1.39). We have also dominated 'top-half predicted' Bristol Rovers but our struggles have appeared against the lower predicted teams.

When breaking it down, I can see this:

We concede more xG against top level teams but create twice as many, which is a real shocker, if I'm honest. We need to find an approach that allows us to be as threatening as the bottom teams as it is against the top teams.

 

[_Ben_]

November 2031: New Contract

[QP]

Your graphs and spreadsheets looks amazing as usual, will you make a comparison again the about player statistics and adbanced metrics among league too?

Hope you can share these spreadsheets one day.

 

Edited December 12, 2020 by QP

[_Ben_]

October/November 2031

I am quite shocked by just how good we can be. I have found the whole process, since reaching the Vanarama National, to be a little underwhelming. We have barely recruited this summer and a handful of these players were also playing two levels below this for us, yet we are able to dismantle the best teams in the league quite often. 

Obviously - we've had a little dip and exited two cups with utterly terrible performances but I am really happy with how things are going and fancy us for a shot at the playoffs this year. My only concern is the lack of quality outside of the core 13/14 players that we have.

---

I have continued by analysis of xG over time and I'm reasonably happy with what I'm seeing, even if we have failed to register more than 1.5 xG in any of the last six league games. I am also finding the breakdown really interesting:

Scoring considerably more than expected and conceding less than expected - which, if I have interpreted this correct, is probably to be expected given our lofty league position. It is also interesting that we create less and concede more xG against lower half teams that top half teams - whether this is playing style or attitude needs to be properly explored.

 

[_Ben_]

1 hour ago, QP said:

Your graphs and spreadsheets looks amazing as usual, will you make a comparison again the about player statistics and adbanced metrics among league too?

Hope you can share these spreadsheets one day.

 

What do you mean by the first question? Which metrics/

You are more than welcome to download and pull apart what I've done so far. My reluctance to upload is only because it's always being worked on and I am very aware that some of the behind the scenes stuff is very shoddy at times!

I have attached it. Just please don't redistribute and pass off as you're own - although I'm not sure why you would want to do that anyway!

FM21 - Redditch v2.xlsx

[_Ben_]

December 2031: Youth Intake Preview

It's a golden generation but doesn't look that good?!

[_Ben_]

December 2031: Extortionate costs?

Below is the monthly outgoings at the moment for our 'youth setup'

This is concerning and has burnt a hole in our cash reserves.

It was back in 2027 when we accidentally upgraded our youth level and, since then have been able to upgrade our Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching each year - each of these being 'free' upgrades (as opposed to actual facilities that need to be built).

However - the monthly costs are now piling up as we've spent nearly £2m this season, to date on that, as seen below

This is for exceptional Junior Coaching and excellent recruitment but I wonder how necessary it really is...

[QP]

41 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

What do you mean by the first question? Which metrics/

You are more than welcome to download and pull apart what I've done so far. My reluctance to upload is only because it's always being worked on and I am very aware that some of the behind the scenes stuff is very shoddy at times!

I have attached it. Just please don't redistribute and pass off as you're own - although I'm not sure why you would want to do that anyway

Thanks man, I was talking about the xG, conversion rates, shot maps, passing plays etc. but compared to league wise cause I think there maybe a way to create a new kind of metric to analyse players or maybe a new formula like the efficiency rating or gamescore (GmSc) in the NBA.

Though it's hard to come up with a rating or a metric to cover all bases in football but here might be a way to create maybe 3-4 kinds of metrics for GKs, Defenders, Midfielders and Forwards based on their performances during the season but still football has many variabilities so I know It would be very time consuming to find the right pattern to create a formula.

 

Edited December 12, 2020 by QP

[_Ben_]

42 minutes ago, QP said:

Thanks man, I was talking about the xG, conversion rates, shot maps, passing plays etc. but compared to league wise cause I think there maybe a way to create a new kind of metric to analyse players or maybe a new formula like the efficiency rating or gamescore (GmSc) in the NBA.

Though it's hard to come up with a rating or a metric to cover all bases in football but here might be a way to create maybe 3-4 kinds of metrics for GKs, Defenders, Midfielders and Forwards based on their performances during the season but still football has many variabilities so I know It would be very time consuming to find the right pattern to create a formula.

 

I've read into GmSc and I get the impression that this is, essentially, just what the Average Rating is in FM? Taking into account all of the parts of their game to give them an overall score.

I think that it is difficult to create a DNA system based on performances (which is why 99.99% do it from attributes) because a technically gifted player playing in a Route-One style will be far less likely to notch up great pass completion numbers, for example.

I'll have a look into some ideas I do have though...

[_Ben_]

December 2031: Williams finally leaves...

Vancouver's interest never amounted to anything so I held on to him and he developed well, but this was too much to not act upon. With my youth setup draining all the money from my accounts, I had to strike a deal. I caved at £2.8m and 50% of his next sale before driving Christian to the airport and cashing the cheque. We desperately need these funds at the moment, and a balance of £3.398m feels much healthier.

[_Ben_]

December 2031: Spending those $$

Even with our growing costs - I decided to put something back into the club following the club record sale of Christian Williams.

[_Ben_]

January 2032: Youth Update

I took a screenshot of my better academy prospects at the start of the season and now, half way through the season, have revisited to see how they are getting on:

Both times I have missed Oscar Bennett from this list and I'm not sure how! However, he's doing really well.

When sorting them on ability, the top six isn't too different with the exception of Abrahamsson. The report, as seen below, is that Abrahamsson is developing exceptionally well but it appears that there are maybe players developing a little bit quicker than he is now. 

Airey has had a couple of injuries and I may seek a loan deal as he's only made a handful of appearances, however, there is a hole left in the midfield that he may grasp the chance to fill. He really needs to kick on now. Krasniqi is doing ok and has been on the bench for the last ten or so league games, but I haven't used him yet. He trains with the first team squad and is in a Mentoring Group aimed at bettering his loyalty in order to kick on from the Mercenary tag he has. Kevin Boyle has dropped in his perceived PA and not developed too much - and this is similar with Abrahamsson, too. Both of my loanees have done really well; despite not averaging more than 7.00, they have made some good attribute progress. Sadly, Hampson felt he was good enough for the first team and, when I disagreed, decided he'd force a transfer. Not working out amazingly for him.

---

We are four or five years behind the other established League One clubs in terms of academy players. I am seeing players regularly being sold for £4m+ to other sides at this level and big Premier League academies. Sadly, I don't see any of my players being able to even attract that kind of interest, as this stage. I need to invest in our youth system as all of this work with Junior Coaching brings them to the club with a 'better' CA but the lack of training facilities and good quality youth coaches (we don't even have an u18 team) means that they aren't developing and, as such, aren't profitable, yet.

 

Edited December 13, 2020 by _Ben_

[_Ben_]

January 2032: Milestone

I can't believe I've completed 600 games since the 10th November, when I started this game.

Hopefully I'm not going too fast that this save will be finished before next summer!

[_Ben_]

December 2031/January 2032

Last year we set the record for number of draws, yet, at the moment, we don't seem to want to share any points.

We've had a little bit of a poor run here and have lost touch with the top two even if we managed to get the whole of the Christmas period off thanks to a succession of waterlogged pitches. We have played two of the top four in this period of time but have been a little uneasy and that has been reflected in our much lower tally of xG than previous months. 

We are still in a strong position for the playoffs and then maybe a run for the title next year.

EDIT: Closed the game by accident. Drew the Cambridge game 0-0 but all is the same, otherwise.

Edited December 13, 2020 by _Ben_

[_Ben_]

March 2032: League

Nobody wants to win this league...

[_Ben_]

March 2032: Youth Intake

Nationalities. Excel Analysis. Excel Intake Tracker.

---

The Youth Recruitment improvements are definitely having an impact on this as we have now recruited our first Australasian born youngster in Scott Starrs as well as being able to pick in Baio from Guinea-Bissau, Louka from Cyrpus and Ferencik from Slovakia.

What is more interesting though is the English players. When we first started, they we are from Redditch. As we progressed, we had some from Bromsgrove (5 miles), Solihull (15 miles), Birmingham (16 miles), Stratford (16 miles), Worcester (20 miles) but now we have a lot wider range:

• Walsall - 31 miles
• Stoke-on-Trent - 62 miles
• Fleetwood - 147 miles
• Hayes - 102 miles
• Wolverhampton - 35 miles

When you consider the teams around these places, it shows how good our pull is. The Walsall and Wolverhampton players will have been on the radar of Villa, Blues, West Brom, Wolves and Stoke before coming to us and the lad from Hayes, on the outskirts of London could have gone south to a myriad of teams. Obviously, we then enter the discussion about whether my 'worst ranked' player would have made it for any of the aforementioned Midlands clubs, but that's for another day...

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[GK] Ollie Weaver

[RB] Ro Spink-Cowley

[CD] Dewi Bohana

[MC] Jenson Worthington

[MC] Joey Worthington

[ST] Vlad Ferencik

I think that we have got ourselves a really solid group of players here. Ollie Weaver is the top player and, due to the fact that I don't track Goalkeeper attributes on Excel, his exclusion pushes this down in terms of quality. I have to think that he could go on to be a really top player for us. At full back, Ro has a decent attribute set and no glaring weaknesses. In Dewi, I have my first intake '3 ticks' - which means his personality and Determination attribute meet my criteria for 'hopefully the best development' so I'll see how he goes. Joey and Jenson are remarkably well rounded central midfielders who just need to work on their personalities - and, these two would probably have been missed if they hadn't come up well on my own analysis. Up top, Vlad isn't the best technically but his pace, teamwork and eye for goal should make him a threat.

---

I am very pleased!

My top potential players at the club now looks like this:

5 star:

4.5 star:

It's now important that I do all I can to get these players to that level. As I have mentioned frequently, we are a few years behind the other teams at this level in terms of youth development so I need to give it a lot of thought.

 

Edited December 22, 2020 by _Ben_

[_Ben_]

2031/32 End of Season Review

  

What a remarkable season we have had. 

Even with a penalty shootout defeat in the final, we have massively overachieved and can leave feeling really proud of the developments we have made from out 10th placed finish last year. Preston are an incredibly strong outfit, relegated last year, and Walsall, Wimbledon, Charlton and the likes of Coventry, Millwall and Crewe are also significantly more reputable than us - yet we've been able to stick with it as the season has gone on.

We have been great defensively but have struggled a little more than in previous seasons going forward - creating 61 xG over the course of the season - although this was actually the fifth highest in the league. Given that Walsall's xPts would have seen this sit 13th and Preston's 5th, you can see that actually we were probably just a bit of bad luck away from a better finish.

---

I am going to do a full run down of the player performances separately...

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[Nottingham Forest]

Very unlucky. Hate play-off losses. I’m sure you’ll win the title next season.

[_Ben_]

May 2031: Player review and recruitment analysis

I really want to corroborate all of the data I collect about the players together to determine how we progress from here so I have broken it down into each position (minus GK) to analyse the season they have had and the suitability for me going forward.

Some notes on this:

• Comparing the percentiles against the rest of the league isn't always the most fair manner as we all play in different ways. However, at the very least, I am able to compare my own players - a player in the 10th percentile in the same position as one in the 95% is clearly not performing as well.
• The statistical analysis is done with players who have accrued 1000 or more first team minutes, so some of my players are missing.
• The DNA page has a suitability level for League One (that is an a rating of 12 or more shows as a tick). This is not a wonderful method of assessment as it doesn't take into account the attribute groupings and how more than one attribute in each area determines the quality of that area, but this will do for now.

---

Defenders

This is probably my strongest area of the team, yet the one where I will need to make the most changes over the summer. Sean McLoughin is retiring at the end of this season and didn't make enough appearances to be part of the statistical analysis and Cole Dasilva is asking for a move away - and one that I shall grant. Also, I have promoted Oscar Bennett to the first team to gain some exposure but he'll need to leave the club on loan to get some experience.

Statistically, in Duncan and Fenney, we have the top centre back pairing in the league - within the top 10% of all players for pass completion %, interceptions and headers. I love the statistic that Fenney just makes so few tackles but leads the division in interceptions - he's just so clever that he can read the game before he needs to make the tackle. Both Okafor and King are doing well - with them both in the top half for assists, which is great considering I'm comparing them to every other position - and they have weighed in with 8 this season.

Cairo needs to work on his distribution and I may look at bringing a trait in, such as Plays Short Simple Passes to try and improve this number as he's really strong everywhere else.

Over the summer, I need a centre back, who is willing to be fourth choice and quite short term as I have the likes of Bennett, French and Kirwan in the youth team as well as a full back who is prepared to rotate - ideally one who can play on both sides.

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Midfielders

I must say that I like this area of the team, too, although we are a player short after the sale of Christian Williams. As you'd expect in a team that favours a patient build up, we are excelling at passing completion and sheer number of passes but I do like that Mundle and Ofori are up towards the top end in the number of them that are considered 'key.' I am a little concerned that Carney hasn't pushed on here but is assisting at a decent amount, however, he'll need to be watched next year as I go forward.

Over the summer, I'd like to add another creative player, but this is towards the bottom of my needs.

---

Forwards

A strange one - considering hat this is the area that we have struggled the most.

Out of all of the players, I'd say that there is nobody who really stands out but I'd be confident in saying that Gale and Ramsey would be good enough for this level, with Thomas - who I keep writing off, probably also there given his great scoring record at the club. Chibueze was a concern last year and he's still towards the bottom of the pile in most areas except for his assists, which have been great. Likewise, is Connor Stanley, who has performed way better than his attributes would suggest but won't be having his contract renewed as Sam Broome is returning from a loan spell.

Over the summer - I'd really like a top, top striker but I do feel that it'd be harsh on Thomas, who has been a great servant.

[_Ben_]

2 hours ago, Nottingham Forest said:

Very unlucky. Hate play-off losses. I’m sure you’ll win the title next season.

Thanks! It's a slow build so, being truthful, I'm not even too concerned about next season either.

The Championship is an unforgiving league and a big step up so I'd rather we got our house completely in order before moving on up. We need a steady income to facilitate what would be a massively inflated wage structure and a suitable recruitment model that finds cheaper players who can strengthen the squad, along with a steady stream of youngsters who have the ability to contribute when called upon. We are some way off achieving that at this point.

[keeper#1]

22 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

What do you mean by the first question? Which metrics/

You are more than welcome to download and pull apart what I've done so far. My reluctance to upload is only because it's always being worked on and I am very aware that some of the behind the scenes stuff is very shoddy at times!

I have attached it. Just please don't redistribute and pass off as you're own - although I'm not sure why you would want to do that anyway!

FM21 - Redditch v2.xlsx 1.23 MB · 6 downloads

This excel work is top-class.  Thanks for letting us look "under the hood" and see what makes this engine hum.

[_Ben_]

2032/33 Recruitment

Squad DNA tracker. Overall Squad DNA.

----

Very quiet here.

Not really found the level of player I'm after as we are still predicted to finish near the bottom of the league, despite our performance last year. I managed to add Luke Offord to add some depth on both sides of the defence and some experience at this level and in the Championship. Chem is a really decent midfield option that has vindicated my choices to train both Mundle and Ofori as DM's to cover there and Tom Stones is a solid centre back who offers an aerial presence, which we miss. I don't envisage his stay to be too long as I want to promote from within, but those players aren't ready yet. I also added Ronan Smith, who holds an Irish passport to the development squad. I couldn't resist when he popped up in the agent offers but I really don't need him!

Traditionally, I try to get my dealings done before the friendlies start and we are at that point now, however, I can't help but feel we've underperformed here. Early thoughts suggest that we'll be no stronger than last year but, with Peterborough, Bolton and Oldham the three sides coming down, we may be where we want to be come May.

[Tom14]

On 23/11/2020 at 23:30, _Ben_ said:

 

It's fair to say that I am a huge fan of your threads. They are my favourite FM related 'content' by far. You play the game and document things exactly how I want to, with masses of attention to detail. I think someone else summed it up in your Voltaço thread when they said that reading your work is as enjoyable, if not more, than playing the game itself.

Sorry to break up the 'flow' of the thread but I just want to ask a quick question regarding the significance of the attributes with a gold background in the above table. Are these ones that you consider the most important for each particular position?

[_Ben_]

22 hours ago, brookie1402 said:

It's fair to say that I am a huge fan of your threads. They are my favourite FM related 'content' by far. You play the game and document things exactly how I want to, with masses of attention to detail. I think someone else summed it up in your Voltaço thread when they said that reading your work is as enjoyable, if not more, than playing the game itself.

Thank you so much! Really appreciate the kind words.

22 hours ago, brookie1402 said:

Sorry to break up the 'flow' of the thread but I just want to ask a quick question regarding the significance of the attributes with a gold background in the above table. Are these ones that you consider the most important for each particular position?

So the Gold/White is just the mental attributes, likewise the Purple/White are technical. However - the Yellow/Black are what I consider the key attributes. They form the numbers of my squad screen and the numbers in the 'intelligence' section of the youth intake. It's all linked!

[_Ben_]

August 2031: Player Sale

Too good to turn down, once again.

Cairo was a really solid defender but was actually the weakest of my centre backs last year. I know that, in losing McLoughin, I have weakened that area of the team but both Offord and Stone, who have come in over the summer, are capable of playing their and we have an abundance of talent hopefully able to step up soon.

I managed to push Montreal all the way from a £500k bid to this, with 50% of his next sale, which now takes our balance to over £4m for the first time.

---

This pleases me, too. Three players in the MLS who have 50% clauses of their next sale to come back to me.

• Kilman is a regular at DC United and on a decent contract. At 25, he may not be able to come back to Europe so I will look to cash in whenever possible.
• Williams has started his career brightly and, should he get some international recognition, could net me a decent sum in the future.

[Bracken]

Just finished reading this thread from the start, absolutely fantastic work, and I'll be following this closely. Not seen this level of detailed analysis on a consistent basis anywhere, truly impressive. Keep it up! 

[Watson156]

On 13/12/2020 at 16:45, _Ben_ said:

I love your work that goes into your saves, and in some ways I kind of hate it because it's made me completely change how I play and look at the game, although in general that is a good thing! I do have a question and about the above screenie although you use it on most of yours. Is the DET | PRO | AMB all linked to what value that player personality gives you or do you use other attributes etc to decide that?

On the 50% clauses you have with MLS teams. Just thinking but what if the players are traded/waived? Would the 50% clause be useless just like if the player was released? If Williams was traded to LAFC for example in a straight trade for no money, would LAFC then owe you the 50%? If you don't have the MLS active then maybe this wont be a problem. 

Cant wait to see Redditch in the Championship next season!

[_Ben_]

19 hours ago, Bracken said:

Just finished reading this thread from the start, absolutely fantastic work, and I'll be following this closely. Not seen this level of detailed analysis on a consistent basis anywhere, truly impressive. Keep it up! 

Thank you so much!

[_Ben_]

12 hours ago, Watson156 said:

I love your work that goes into your saves, and in some ways I kind of hate it because it's made me completely change how I play and look at the game, although in general that is a good thing!

Thank you so much! I just steal ideas from all kinds of places and try to incorporate them into my save yet I feel like I'm still missing a whole load - particularly about the in-match nuances.

12 hours ago, Watson156 said:

I do have a question and about the above screenie although you use it on most of yours. Is the DET | PRO | AMB all linked to what value that player personality gives you or do you use other attributes etc to decide that?

The Determination is obvious but the Pro and Amb is linked with personalities. On any screen where I show this, I have three 'checks'

Personality

=IF(F3="Professional",1,IF(F3="Model Citizen",1,IF(F3="Resolute",1,IF(F3="Fairly Professional",1,IF(F3="Casual",-1,IF(F3="Low Self Belief",-1,IF(F3="Slack",-1)))))))

Ambition

=IF(F3="Driven",1,IF(F3="Ambitious",1,IF(F3="Fickle",1,IF(F3="Model Citizen",1,IF(F3="Professional",1,IF(F3="Fairly Ambitious",1,IF(F3="Mercenary",1,IF(F3="Unambitious",-1))))))))

Determination

=IF(F3="Low Determination",-1,IF(BI3>=15,1,IF(BI3<5,-1)))

This returns a -1 for a low Pro/Amb personality, 0 for no information and 1 for positive Pro/Amb which I then use conditional formatting to show as ticks or crosses.

12 hours ago, Watson156 said:

On the 50% clauses you have with MLS teams. Just thinking but what if the players are traded/waived? Would the 50% clause be useless just like if the player was released? If Williams was traded to LAFC for example in a straight trade for no money, would LAFC then owe you the 50%? If you don't have the MLS active then maybe this wont be a problem. 

I do have the MLS active and I don't know the answer. I think that, if they are traded, I'd lose the 50% so I'll ensure I keep an eye out around transfer windows.

12 hours ago, Watson156 said:

Cant wait to see Redditch in the Championship next season!

We'll see!!

[_Ben_]

August 2032: Poached