[FM21] Hometown Heroes

[_Ben_]

34 minutes ago, Northernpilgrim said:

Going really well so far this season

Thanks! As I said - I can't narrow it down to change in tactical roles or new players as the three new signings are all pretty important:

---

Shame the same can't be said for Plymouth...

[_Ben_]

October 2039: New Contract

My joint highest earner but this is massive as he's attracting interest from a host of big clubs like Milan. I've got him for another four years, even if his appearance fees etc have exceeded what I'd normally want to pay.

[chokosc]

Just gone through all 15 pages and my god this is some save! The level of detail you are going to is amazing. Hoping to see you in the PL next time I pop in.

[Halezadinio]

Great career thread! Been reading it for a while and I love the detail you go into aswell as the way you're building the club as a whole

[_Ben_]

1 hour ago, chokosc said:

Just gone through all 15 pages and my god this is some save! The level of detail you are going to is amazing. Hoping to see you in the PL next time I pop in.

 

36 minutes ago, Halezadinio said:

Great career thread! Been reading it for a while and I love the detail you go into aswell as the way you're building the club as a whole

Thanks both!

I think I've had to dial back a bit of the depth in this one as we are so far away from an elite club at the start (level 6 rather than level 3, which is where the majority of my previous saves have started) but I'm planning on bringing it all back pretty soon!

[_Ben_]

October/November 2039

October was great, November was not.

Vlad Ferencik has royally gone missing in his worst scoring run of all time and Alex Villanueva has also decided that Redditch is too cold for him in November. We have been fortunate that teams around us, Watford aside, haven't been in fantastic form so we haven't slipped too far down the table.

---

My other concern lies here:

The below players are out of contract at the end of the season.

• Duncan will be allowed to leave. He's a great tutor but lacking on the pitch now.
• Rothwell will resign if he will accept being a backup. There is no interest but he's asking for a new challenge so I need to hope that subsides as he's a useful number 2 keeper and a great mentor.
• Both Turner and Bohana have got ridiculous - £30k p/w plus - demands and I'm not willing to meet that at this point. Bohana is a solid player and valued well so I'd rather not lose him for free but all previous interest has been abroad so I'm worried about offering him out in January.
• Reece's agent wanted a 50% rise when we get to the Prem plus a rise from his basic £3.5k to £20k wages after just five games, which is way above what I can offer. He's developing really well and I want to keep him around but need him to get himself a new agent.

I have managed to renew Bennett's contract but I got drawn in to the new, higher demands of these agents now we have more money in the bank. £14k p/w puts him as the joint third highest earner yet he's my fourth choice centre back. I need to be careful of this so I don't burn through all of the money that the Suarez sale brought in.

[_Ben_]

December 2039: Youth Intake Preview

Annoying.

[_Ben_]

December 2039: Facilities

Seeing the intake reminded me to badger the board again...

I did get this though:

[_Ben_]

January 2040: Transfer update

It looks as if Bohana will be off. His demands are still soaring and I'm not willing to pay him twice what Maddison and Ferencik earn. At least I'll have him for the remainder of this season though.

---

This is great news. I originally had a £9m bid accepted for Nwadike but, when comparing him to Patrick Reece, I couldn't really justify such a massive fee. However, he's now available for free, even though he'll spend six months unattached before he signs for us on just over £5k p/w. I really like him, even if he's very similar to Reece and would potentially leave me short of a proper 'ball winner.' However, with such great perceived potential, it's going to be all down to how I develop him.

[_Ben_]

January 2040: Loan Offer

Plymouth did this to me last year with Jordon Roberts, offering him first team football when he wasn't good enough for me. Now, they want the same with my third choice keeper. Granted - they are bottom of the Premier League, but the exposure that Lowe will get will help him massively.

[_Ben_]

January 2040: Sacked

Bobby is great, on paper, but hasn't delivered the best intakes in the past three years or so and, Ferencik and Krasniqi aside, hasn't produced the depth of attacking talent I really need. Therefore Mirko Magni has been signed as my new HoYD.

He's a drop down in attributes but his Determination is better and he also has a Model Citizen personality, which is wonderful! Hopefully will enable a few more American newgens, too.

[_Ben_]

January 2040: Back to his best

After a quiet start to the season, he's now back to firing on all cylinders:

[_Ben_]

January 2040: Contracts!!

Whilst on the subject of Vlad...he's entering the last eighteen months of his deal and is wanted by a few others club. He is, however, my talisman and, as an academy graduate, the shining light of what I want from my save. I've entered contract discussions with him and been forced into a corner with these:

Four years is great and I'm happy to have him as my top earner - considering he's had two seasons on his previous deal, scoring well over fifty league goals. The loyalty bonus, working out at £350k p/a, £6.73k p/w does add a bit on to that wage though. His agent fee is a one off payment and I'm fine with that as I have money in reserve.

Cost in year one: £1,300,000 + £350,000 + £120,000 = £1,750,000

This is where we start to get a little concerned...

Vlad is averaging 41 appearances a season for us since we got promoted to the Championship, so that is a further £205k a year and £820k over the course of his deal. Likewise, he's average 32 league goals a season, which, when you an an average of 5 cup goals, takes it to another ~£180k and £720k over the course of his deal. He's been Top scorer twice so far in the Championship and also in the Team of the Year twice - adding up to another half a million, or so.

He is currently out of the international squad but has 18 appearances in the five years since his debut, which doesn't tally up to too much.

This is where it gets really silly so thanks Jamie Rogerson!

As I said, Vlad has averaged over 30 goals a season and is my talisman. If he does that this year - he's net himself £993,500 and a whopping £3.974m over the course of his deal, on top of £5k per goal anyway.

----

Whilst this is worth it for arguably the player that got us here and has kept us here - I can't be sucked into this for lesser players!

 

 

[_Ben_]

December 2039/January 2040

We're really starting to make a statement here!

December was hit and miss and it was unfortunate that we came up a slightly resurgent Blues side as well as a Villa side who are rightfully at the top of the league after spending more than £90m in the summer. We followed that up with a really strong win over Blackburn, who have since fallen away but at the time were fourth and it looked unlikely that we'd be able to end our winless run. A strong Boxing Day showing over Sheffield Wednesday where Ferencik had his best game of the season lifted our spirits. Brighton outplayed us and a heavily rotated team was soundly beaten by Watford.

January has been very different - with great performances and Vlad firing us back towards the playoffs, with automatic promotion, rightly, being too far away. We have blown away every side except for Watford who recorded their second win over us in the space of three weeks. The Portsmouth tie, for me, was special - we fielded eleven academy players in what is not even considered a rotated or youth side, which is a credit to their strength. 

Realistically, this is going to be as high as we'll get, given how strong Aston Villa and Watford are. Relegated Everton are fighting back and have far more quality than we do - so it's a fight between ourselves, West Brom, Reading, Burnley and Brighton. It appears that the relegation two years back did nothing for Blues as a 13th last year probably won't be followed by a real playoff. Getting a promotion push together may be easier next year as the three promoted sides are currently in the drop zone, as seen below, and all are much weaker than the other three teams that occupy the top four in our league.

----

I'm still making some tweaks to the development side of this and toying between moving on some of the non-academy players in my U23 squad. I have a plan for the Prem that would see me use the in-game editor to reduce my Youth Recruitment to the lowest level in order to really push the Hometown aspect of this save - but we'll see! In the meantime, I'm able to create pretty decent deals for the likes of Mikey Tait - who hasn't ever featured for my first team.

[_Ben_]

March 2040: Youth Intake

There is a big issue with the intake preview...

One 'green' line in the preview to this:

Yet Dean is nowehere near the top rated player...

----

Excel Analysis. Intake Tracker

----

[GK] Stephen Holland

[DR] Dexter Wells

[WBL] Dean Rodgers

[AMC] Charlie Simon

---

Some decent canvasses here to work with and my first ever Model Citizen in Blair Fyffe, although he's probably not going to amount to much. However, for experiment purposes, he'll stay as, in the past, I've had massive success with really positive personalities for players who have no real holes in their game, despite having, presumably, a really low CA. Yet another goalkeeper on our production line in Holland and I like both wing backs, with Rodgers, to be fair, justifying that tag as the 'best' from the intake - hopefully his potential is there. Simon is my second American, after Ferencik, and I think he's potentially quite a classy Advanced Playmaker type.

[_Ben_]

March 2030: Worries?

Alex has settled in ok - scoring 12 goals in 25(5) games in the league at an average of 7.09. However, there are two things I'm concerned at:

His 'Days to gain nationality' tell me that he's been in the country 273 days yet can't even speak basic English and his inability to connect with Ejza (who is Pro) tells me that his Professionalism is low, too. He's in the Core Social Group but there are two things that are worrying me.

[Dereka]

18 hours ago, _Ben_ said:

March 2030: Worries?

Alex has settled in ok - scoring 12 goals in 25(5) games in the league at an average of 7.09. However, there are two things I'm concerned at:

His 'Days to gain nationality' tell me that he's been in the country 273 days yet can't even speak basic English and his inability to connect with Ejza (who is Pro) tells me that his Professionalism is low, too. He's in the Core Social Group but there are two things that are worrying me.

Is this a negative just because these are two teammates whose personalities manages to conflict; or had Daniel been mentoring Alex?

It's a brilliant way of connecting the dots and find out more about one's personality, very clever sir

Edited January 18, 2021 by Dereka

[_Ben_]

4 hours ago, Dereka said:

Is this a negative just because these are two teammates whose personalities manages to conflict; or had Daniel been mentoring Alex?

It's a brilliant way of connecting the dots and find out more about one's personality, very clever sir

No - there was no mentoring. Daniel is an 18 year old breakthrough player and Alex a rotational first team player. They are in different social groups though.

As you said, yeah, it does show me a bit more. This is Alex's personality and media handling:

So that Pro could be anything from 6-14 (I think) and to say he's struggling to connect, professionally with a Pro (18-20 as he's below 23) tells me that it's on the low end.

---

Similarly, I can look at Aaron Stefansson (F.Pro - so 15-17) and see that he's struggling to connect with France (M.Pro so 20), although this does not directly mention professionalism.

[_Ben_]

February/March 2040

Not the nicest couple of months, which seems to follow the pattern when I wax lyrical about this side in the previous update.

We've struggled and, as you can still see, when Ferencik or Villaneuva aren't scoring, we aren't scoring. There's been some tough ties: West Brom, now in form, Burnley and Everton are probably all acceptable defeats but it's the losses to relegation candidates Barnsley and Swansea that may ultimately cost us this season.

[_Ben_]

April 2040: Playoff bound

I'd rather face West Brom than Everton though...

[_Ben_]

April 2040: The greatest escape?

Plymouth have become a team that I've followed as this save has progressed as they've had a couple of loanees of mine and they are also a real underdog in the Premier League, much to @Northernpilgrim's delight. Here is the situation with three games left to play:

However, look at their fixtures:

Leicester are 7th and chasing Europe but Wolves are gone given their current form of one win in thirteen but they do face Brentford, Sheff United (12th) and Bournemouth (8th). Boro's other game is away at sixth placed Southampton on the last day.

---

Everyone loves an underdog made up of Championship players operating in the smallest group with the smallest budget!

[_Ben_]

2039/40 Season Review

One step further than we've ever been before but 180 minutes short of the eventual goal.

A 0-0 draw at the Kingfisher Stadium gave me some hope but we were well beaten, 4-1. at Goodison and that has put pay to our promotion bid for this year. As you've seen from the updates across the year - inconsistency is still there and, even though I must accept some of that with a young and not-necessarily hand recruited squad, we need to find another gear in a few games so that we can push on. Sadly, we'll face Plymouth again next year as their valiant attempt ended in failure as Wolves pulled off an unlikely last day win.

Defensively, we have remained strong with only Watford having a better GA column than us but, once again, our attacking statistics drop into that passive zone - largely thanks to some really poor runs in front of goal. However - we're performing above average and, unlike last year, our xPts position is level with our actual end result.

----

S0me really strong performances in a variety of positions, even if good old trusted Amelia doesn't think so...

Ferencik is, once again, my leading scoring but was ably backed up by Villanueva, despite his personal issues. Stefansson was another promising signing as he led the side in assists, which is even more impressive when we do not focus on set pieces. A special mention goes to Alex Duncan, who, despite not featuring much this season, will hang up his boots and go down in memory as my first M.Pro and the player that really kick started the mentoring regime at the club.

---

Some promising news as we head into the summer!

 

Edited January 19, 2021 by _Ben_

[DaneBramage]

I'm enjoying this career (and the Voltaco one before too). Very informative, looking at personalities is definitely something I've tried to take from this to incorporate more into my games.

Unfortunate with the play-off loss, that always sucks, but given the consistent improvement over the years I reckon it'll only be a year or two more before you're in the Prem. KUTGW.

[_Ben_]

June 2040: Player Development

I have to say that Ben looks like one of the most mentally advanced 17 year old footballers in this country but, given my terrible training facilities that the board continue to refuse to upgrade, he's made very little progress. I'm trying to develop his technical side, in particular, solidifying his defensive aspects to make him an all round midfielder but he's really going to need some game time to assist with that. If you compare that with Patrick Reece, a very similar player to Austin - you'll see that game time (1009 first team minutes) have really helped his game even if our training facilities haven't allowed that natural development.

With no u18 team, an u23 team who don't play competitive matches and terrible training facilities - I'm having to work harder than normal to get anything positive from my youngsters...

[_Ben_]

15 minutes ago, DaneBramage said:

I'm enjoying this career (and the Voltaco one before too). Very informative, looking at personalities is definitely something I've tried to take from this to incorporate more into my games.

Unfortunate with the play-off loss, that always sucks, but given the consistent improvement over the years I reckon it'll only be a year or two more before you're in the Prem. KUTGW.

Many thanks!

We're still a bit of a way off where I want us to be in order to survive that first Prem season but we're building well towards it.

[_Ben_]

July 2040: New coaching badge

About as fun as we're getting this summer...

[_Ben_]

Summer 2040 Transfer Window

I turned a nice profit on Rensch and Da Silva as well as waving goodbye to Bohana on a Bosman. Yet another promising keeper in Box left on loan, meaning that both he and Lowe are getting first team action this year and Weaver is my first choice - a real area of academy quality.

I didn't really want to sign anyone as Diaz and academy player and successful loanee Conor Poole have stepped in for the outgoing Bohana and retiring Duncan, however, I was alerted to free agent Noel Segui. He signs more on a learning curve than anything else - he has no Work Permit so can't play for me. It's been so long since I've managed anywhere that requires WPs so I need to refresh my mind. I've shipped him out on loan for some regular football at a decent level, hoping that'll help with a renewal. If not, I can move him on for a decent fee as he's a classy playmaker.

---

I'm quite happy with the squad I've assembled here - a mix of 16 youth academy graduates, good personalities and some local lads. I'm aiming for the playoffs again this year.

 

[_Ben_]

August/September 2040

We really haven't hit top form at all, which is a concern for a settled team.

Going in to the season with just Dewi Bohana not remaining from last year, I'd have hoped that we'd pick up where we left off, but that really hasn't been the case. A steady start before our backup players were handed a drubbing at Plymouth before a false sense of excitement was built with two commanding home wins. We've since been up and down: the highs include a solid win away at Burnley and the lows are the hammering at the hands of QPR, who are significantly weaker than ourselves.

We're in a very similar position here - good at the back and Ferencik knows how to find the net but not as creative as we may be should be.

---

An interesting side point here is that I'm in the process of renewing a lot of contracts. Ollie has signed a bumper contract, making him my third highest paid player but, importantly, I've been able to remove his (and everyone else's) 35% promotion wage rise - which could amount to around a £100k p/w saving on wages.

 

[_Ben_]

October 2040: New Signing (nearly)

Chib hasn't joined yet, but, when checking on his progress, I noticed that he's now a wonderkid. I think I could have pulled off a right coup with this deal...

He joins in January.

[Northernpilgrim]

Only 11 games into the season. Plenty of time to mount a challenge. Incredible work to get Redditch that close to the Premier League anyway. I wouldn't have the staying power!

[_Ben_]

2 hours ago, Northernpilgrim said:

Only 11 games into the season. Plenty of time to mount a challenge. Incredible work to get Redditch that close to the Premier League anyway. I wouldn't have the staying power!

I know! It just seems that we're not making too many forward steps at the moment. I do have a plan, but I'm contemplating as it does seem a bit 'cheaty' as it's uncovering something that is hidden to track and try to develop! I'm not sure what people think...

Also - yeah - 20 years to get this far is a long time. Fortunately, I've got no idea where else I want to manage on this game (normally, I'm flooded with ideas of where to manage) so I can let this one run.

[_Ben_]

October/November 2040

Just the seven games here, but again, no real quality shown throughout but we do end with a 13-game unbeaten home record, which does give me a cause for hope.

There is no need for major concern - the season is long enough, and, aside from the top two, we are in touching distance of the playoffs. The aforementioned Nwadike will join in January along with this lad, Egill Vidarsson - who might just be a catalyst to unlocking defences. With Villanueva and Stokes battling out for the starting role on the left wing - I wanted a new striker as backup for Ferencik. Vidarsson is not really that man, at the moment, but I want to take into account his ridiculous pace - as that has been a useful tool for Vlad to become such a top goalscorer. He cost £215k, his release clause, from Valur - the same club that produced my winger Aaron Stefansson.

[_Ben_]

December 2040: Interview

I like how my 'identity' is forming - a manager who brings in youngsters and doesn't care for set pieces!

Don't want the job though...

[_Ben_]

December 2040: Youth Intake Preview

A 'good' group - but I'm still sure this means nothing at the moment!

[_Ben_]

December 2040: The quest for CONSISTENCY

I've got a really young squad and that is ok, and, kind of expected given the nature my game playing  - promoting players from the academy means that they'll be in the first team at 19 rather than 29. However, it is also posing me a problem. Above are the players in my first team that are 21 or younger. Whilst I have some really strong players here like Nwadike, who has just joined, Roberts, who has actually won this league with Plymouth on loan, and Maddision, my best player on paper, they have a average of just 59 professional games under their belts.

THIS is my concern. How can I expect these players to come into the first team and perform well when they haven't got the experience and built the consistency to perform at this level. I am toying with the option of showing the consistency attribute (as I have the editor) to see just how consistent this lot are and how I can impact that through loans and other types of development - because there is no actual way to export the scout/coach report that says it, but I always worry about unhiding things that are meant to be hidden!

I have two choices here:

• Go for broke. Sign replacements that are ready, consistent replacements that will get me out of this division whilst this lot are out learning about professional football on loan
• Persevere with this squad and allow the players here to age and grow, allowing some ups and downs but, probably, keeping us at this level.

---

My head says number one. This game hinges so much on facilities and maybe promotion will get the stubborn board to actually invest but my head says the second - staying true to the methods I've tried to bring in throughout this save.

[_Ben_]

January 2041: Player Sale

Alex really hadn't settled - failing to pick up any more than basic English in his year and a half at the club and with a clear lack of professionalism towards his play and development, stood out like a sore thumb. I was able to get just £2m for him from Al-Jazira, which, annoyingly, he was entitled to a chunk of:

[_Ben_]

January 2041: Giantkillers!

Amazing that we can still do this in the odd game but we can't even consistently beat teams near the bottom of our own league over the course of a season! We face Palace next...

[Bot Makel]

1 hour ago, _Ben_ said:

 

I have two choices here:

• Go for broke. Sign replacements that are ready, consistent replacements that will get me out of this division whilst this lot are out learning about professional football on loan
• Persevere with this squad and allow the players here to age and grow, allowing some ups and downs but, probably, keeping us at this level.

This is the situation that happens in these careers (happened in Italian Serie B with the team of my city like you), you get to a point that either you resign yourself to mediocre seasons but of growth of your players hoping to make money with their development to upgrade facilities or take trained players to attempt promotion. More than anything else I understand how being anchored is frustrating and how the desire to go where there is money is so great. I do not advise you either, I tell you to evaluate well based on what you intend to do and who you would like to see play the fight for the title in the premier league.

[_Ben_]

2 hours ago, Bot Makel said:

This is the situation that happens in these careers (happened in Italian Serie B with the team of my city like you), you get to a point that either you resign yourself to mediocre seasons but of growth of your players hoping to make money with their development to upgrade facilities or take trained players to attempt promotion. More than anything else I understand how being anchored is frustrating and how the desire to go where there is money is so great. I do not advise you either, I tell you to evaluate well based on what you intend to do and who you would like to see play the fight for the title in the premier league.

Thanks for the comment. You have absolutely hit the nail on the head! It's either slow progress with the squad and the style I'm trying to build or I splash the cash and get promoted, earn loads of money and maybe, feel a bit hollow inside. I'm pretty sure that I'll be sticking with the squad I've got and building slowly but also trying to investigate a bit more of the 'why' as we certainly have some of the player required to be promoted from this level.

[Bot Makel]

7 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Thanks for the comment. You have absolutely hit the nail on the head! It's either slow progress with the squad and the style I'm trying to build or I splash the cash and get promoted, earn loads of money and maybe, feel a bit hollow inside. I'm pretty sure that I'll be sticking with the squad I've got and building slowly but also trying to investigate a bit more of the 'why' as we certainly have some of the player required to be promoted from this level.

I have read all your topics and the great quality of content that you bring to youth development especially for the personality of the players. I have never commented because I have always tried to learn from you. In this case, having had a similar situation, I wanted to intervene.

After this premise I can tell you that I am very curious about this fact you want to investigate. Because it's something I've noticed too. Younger players with better qualities who perform less than poorer but more experienced players. So experience has such an important value in the game? The answer is yes but how much? I also want to bring you a practical example because it is very eloquent. A San Marino full-back who played for the national team with bad values in the fundamentals such as speed, acceleration and off the ball performed much better than other complete players for that role as characteristics. One thing that made me think a lot and made me ask questions.

[_Ben_]

December 2040/January 2041

A mammoth playing session today!

We just aren't quite there yet we sit only two points from the playoffs and have been able to beat the then-table topping Stoke side and a (slightly rotated) Man City side in the FA Cup. Yet, our issues are clear to see - you can't lose 3-0 away at Preston and then, more embarrassingly, 3-0 at home to Bristol City and expect to be in the mix for promotion - I can't bare to think what Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool would do to us. We also have another problem, which is entirely my fault:

Above is the minutes played this season. You can pretty much pick that first XI - Weaever, Glasscoe, Roberts, French, Chance, Maddison, Turner, Ferencik are all vitally important but have been greatly overused. The arrival of Nwadike does allow us some rotation but my rotational players - Airey, Diaz, Musah, Ejza and Poole are just not getting the football that they need to a) develop and b) ease the workload. There comes  a point in the season where, even after I've allowed the likes of academy player Curran and poached Aussie Davies debuts, that I need to prioritise games to rest players and games to field my strongest XI. I'm used to running a small squad and rely on team spirit but FM21 seems to have added an extra layer in that you have to be able to play a squad game. Right now, I'm not doing it!

---

In other news, the M.Citizen youth player I signed Fyffe has had this happen:

That would tell me that there is a negative trait somewhere within the team but, fortunately, it's not professionalism. I often get messages saying controversy and temperament have been negatively impacted - so just need to review my Team Leaders again at some point...

[_Ben_]

11 minutes ago, Bot Makel said:

I have read all your topics and the great quality of content that you bring to youth development especially for the personality of the players. I have never commented because I have always tried to learn from you. In this case, having had a similar situation, I wanted to intervene.

After this premise I can tell you that I am very curious about this fact you want to investigate. Because it's something I've noticed too. Younger players with better qualities who perform less than poorer but more experienced players. So experience has such an important value in the game? The answer is yes but how much? I also want to bring you a practical example because it is very eloquent. A San Marino full-back who played for the national team with bad values in the fundamentals such as speed, acceleration and off the ball performed much better than other complete players for that role as characteristics. One thing that made me think a lot and made me ask questions.

Thank you for the kind words!

I think Important Matches, Consistency and Pressure might be the three that are important to performances of youngsters with Ambition, Determination and Professional the key to their growth. The latter ones I have been able to track, analyse and build upon but I must say that I have completely overlooked the former. For example:

• I have six players in my first team with orange, or red for consistency in their coach report.
• I have five players in my first team with orange, or red for Important matches in their coach report.

I don't know how I can impact those two and, if I can, I don't know by how much. However - I do think that they'd certainly allow my youngsters (who I can put all my effort into with facilities, HoYD, training etc to get a good PA and reach it) to flourish on the pitch. I do know that I can view these as attribute numbers so I'm thinking of adding it in to my tracking of player development but I've got a few things to consider about how I do it.

[Nottingham Forest]

Haven’t posted for a few weeks. But honestly the progression is still there. Don’t go away from the principles as you know they’ll work eventually.

Intrigued to see who the rebel team leader is. Reckon you can find out who? I now have visions of you completely discarding them!

[tyler16]

Wouldn't be against you showing the consistency attribute, for what it's worth. Always felt a lot of "behind the curtain" attributes should be visible to provide more information on players. If we have an objective value on a player's "determination," something that's subjective in real life, surely we should be able to know more perceivable things like injury proneness, dirtiness, etc.

Just my two cents.

[_Ben_]

52 minutes ago, Nottingham Forest said:

Haven’t posted for a few weeks. But honestly the progression is still there. Don’t go away from the principles as you know they’ll work eventually.

Intrigued to see who the rebel team leader is. Reckon you can find out who? I now have visions of you completely discarding them!

Have you found yourself a new save yet?!

I am going to stick to my values, definitely - it's about youth development still but I'm now feeling like a branch off of that to find out how I can develop their on pitch behaviours (and I use that term rather than ability because I've got a decent amount of experience with developing their ability, but I think that this is very different). It might mean I'm here for another five years or we might go up next year - who knows!

As for my rebel - here is a view I like to use to weed them out:

No issues here. Level-Headed backs up good Pro level and adds in a decent, or better, level of Loyalty. Reserved adds a low level of controversy, which is good.

Unflappable adds good Temperament and good Pressure but I think it's the Media Friendly:

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

As these are all newgens and you can have the negative personalities - I think that this MH must mean anything above 5 in those, but still, that could very likely be the cause of what has dropped Fyffe from the below:

Model Citizen
Determination 14-20, Professionalism 15-20, Ambition 12-20, Loyalty 15-20, Pressure 14-20, Sportsmanship 15-20, Temperament 15-20.

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On the other hand, he's a youth player so could just be finding his feet in the game and this has nothing to do with it!

[_Ben_]

19 minutes ago, tyler16 said:

Wouldn't be against you showing the consistency attribute, for what it's worth. Always felt a lot of "behind the curtain" attributes should be visible to provide more information on players. If we have an objective value on a player's "determination," something that's subjective in real life, surely we should be able to know more perceivable things like injury proneness, dirtiness, etc.

Just my two cents.

I have to agree. You can see Determination on an off the pitch just like you can see their Injury Proneness or Consistency. I just want to work out a way to track it so that its not just another load of numbers to share and then see how much it can be impacted.

[Nottingham Forest]

No, no proper new save. Started as Forest. Stormed the league first season playing a rather attractive style of football. Started the second season well including beating a top 6 side. But just not feeling it.

Decided to download an edited database and have taken my local side Clifton All Whites to the title in the first season playing a very attacking 4-4-2. We actually lost only two games all season which included a cup SF which we were the better side and game 37 which ruined my unbeaten season which I’ve never had. We did score 143 goals and only conceded 32!

That’s a shame that you’ve not found the source yet.

[_Ben_]

3 minutes ago, Nottingham Forest said:

No, no proper new save. Started as Forest. Stormed the league first season playing a rather attractive style of football. Started the second season well including beating a top 6 side. But just not feeling it.

Decided to download an edited database and have taken my local side Clifton All Whites to the title in the first season playing a very attacking 4-4-2. We actually lost only two games all season which included a cup SF which we were the better side and game 37 which ruined my unbeaten season which I’ve never had. We did score 143 goals and only conceded 32!

That’s a shame that you’ve not found the source yet.

Both sound like really good ideas, but, if it's not sticking then that's a shame! Ever managed in some obscure league half the world away? I was once very burnt out from an old FM but found some love again in the second tier of Israeli football.

[_Ben_]

2041 Youth Intake

Intake Analyser. Nationality Tracker

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I'm scaling back the Excel analysis for a little while as I want to build something new and improved. However, I can't help but feel incredibly underwhelmed at this group with very few players really catching my eye. However, I do have a radical plan (stolen from @Makoto Nakamuraand his St.Buryan save):

I'm pondering turning the Youth Recruitment all the way back to 1 (it is currently 19).

• This is Hometown Heroes. Three players here are from Redditch. Just three of the first team are from Redditch (and one from Bromsgrove, ~4 miles away)
• Even at the start, when my YR was terrible, I'd get those dual nationalities, which I like. I'm hoping feeder clubs will come into play when the board allows.
• My Youth Recruitment is Exceptional and now there is a broad range of players from all over England coming through.
• IF YR is more important that YF and JC, then I'll lose out here. If not, then I'll still get good CA newgens (JC) and good PA newgens (YF) just from a much smaller pool.

My only questions are for experienced Youth Only players like @Jimbokav1971 who have studied this kind of thing in more detail than I. Is it worth it? Am I going to get 75% of the intake from Redditch but, as a town with under 100,000 people - a group of players who just aren't good enough for the Premier League or does FM bend the rules slightly so that it fits?

[Nottingham Forest]

42 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Both sound like really good ideas, but, if it's not sticking then that's a shame! Ever managed in some obscure league half the world away? I was once very burnt out from an old FM but found some love again in the second tier of Israeli football.

Weirdly, I have. I dislike managing abroad but a few years ago. FM13 I was struggling from FM burnout so decided to try rancer890’s Asian challenge. 
 

Decided to go to Indonesia and it’s my longest FM save to date as I got to 2072 iirc. It’s also my second most enjoyable save after the Billericay save. I’ve gone back to the All Whites save now. It’s very basic and you’d do a lot of frowning as we’re not playing nice football and I’ve got no respect for finances. But we’ll see if it leads to anywhere.