FM21: The English Football League thread

[warlock]

2 hours ago, Plainlayzee said:

we finished the season in 3rd place by 1 points, promoted back to division 1

Knew you could do it! Well played 

[Jogo Bonito]

3 hours ago, Plainlayzee said:

Well here is how it ended, what a run. Honestly can't remember the last time I was so overly emotionally invested in a FM game. Towards the end of the season, 4 late winners in our last 7 games kept us fighting to the final day, when we took apart Forest Green 3-0 in what was one of our best performances of the season. With Tranmere and Colchester playing out a 2-3 Colchester away win and Grimsby only drawing 0-0 against 10-men, we finished the season in 3rd place by 1 points, promoted back to division 1. I've absolutely no idea how we managed that one, nor how Mansfield who were some 22 points above at one point finished all the way down there! I need to have a full review of the squad, it's likely nowhere near good enough so we need some clever deals and loans to give us that quality so we can make an attempt at staying up. I've also had a few notifications saying other clubs are considering approaching Oldham for me, I won't lie...its tempting to jump ship if the owner doesn't start looking to improve the club soon. So far he has refused to improve anything at all, not even increasing the junior coaching budget. Let's see how the first few weeks after the end of the season play out. 

A tremendous effort from what you inherited, and great to see you really enjoyed it emotionally too! Hopefully you will stay on and build something in your second year.

 

March got off to a good start against Exeter, but my nearest challengers at the time were Cambridge and they cruised to a 3-1 win after my side took an early lead

Struggling Barrow and Tranmere were seen off (although it took 93 minutes to edge past Tranmere) and the win at Bolton was much more impressive

The final game of the month was massive as I travelled to Grimsby (now 2nd and in red hot form)

The 3-2 win makes it look closer than it was as they scored a late goal, but it was a very important result to keep them at a distance

April started badly with a stoppage time equaliser earning Harrogate a fortunate point, and then a loss at Leyton Orient

Forest Green were dismissed without much concern, but a defeat at Colchester (now 2nd) really trimmed my lead at the top and boosted them at the same time

Promotion was clinched with a 6-1 thrashing of moneybags Salford, a great effort without my top scorer Adebayo, but the title was still no formality

And despite my demands for focus, a humbling 4-1 loss at Scunthorpe cut the deficit to just two points as Colchester sensed an opportunity to take the trophy

As my boys recovered to see off Morecambe, the Essex boys also won their 45th game to keep the gap at two points heading in to the final fixture

With my massive advantage on goal difference I knew that only a point was needed on the last day, but my last three road trips had all been losses 

As it turned out I got the performance I needed to win 3-1 at Carlisle, whilst Colchester lost 3-2 at Tranmere to a 96th minute goal

Ironically, the men from the Wirral saved their bacon with that as the last gasp win avoided the disgrace of relegation on goal difference 

The performance graph indicates it was a fairly easy season from the mid-point, but it took 43 games to seal promotion and 46 to be crowned League 2 Champions

The margin of victory was somewhat flattering at five points as Colchester had a really great season themselves

Stevenage came from nowhere to take third as Grimsby and Cambridge faltered, and Mansfield won the PO Final after hitting form at just the right time

Financially, the graph shows a massive spike at the end for competition and performance money after the balance had dwindled to around £40,000 by mid-May

Here is the final League 2 table - poor old Barrow only won two league games all season

And here are the player stats across the season in all competitions, with just 21 being used in 55 competitive games

No additional players had been used as there were no sales since my first day in charge (and no youth players were promoted to first time duty at any stage)

Six of my players were selected for the League 2 Team of the Year (Roberts, Scarr, Habergham, Kinsella, King and Adebayo)

Adebayo won the League 2 player of the season after scoring 28 goals in the league and 30 in total

Harvey Knibbs of Cambridge pipped him to the top scorer award, and ended up with 30 goals in League 2 after a late flurry

But I think if you win five player of the month awards you have demonstrated your ability and hats off to him for his excellent effort during the campaign

[Ronaldo Beckham]

9 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

A tremendous effort from what you inherited, and great to see you really enjoyed it emotionally too! Hopefully you will stay on and build something in your second year.

 

March got off to a good start against Exeter, but my nearest challengers at the time were Cambridge and they cruised to a 3-1 win after my side took an early lead

Struggling Barrow and Tranmere were seen off (although it took 93 minutes to edge past Tranmere) and the win at Bolton was much more impressive

The final game of the month was massive as I travelled to Grimsby (now 2nd and in red hot form)

The 3-2 win makes it look closer than it was as they scored a late goal, but it was a very important result to keep them at a distance

April started badly with a stoppage time equaliser earning Harrogate a fortunate point, and then a loss at Leyton Orient

Forest Green were dismissed without much concern, but a defeat at Colchester (now 2nd) really trimmed my lead at the top and boosted them at the same time

Promotion was clinched with a 6-1 thrashing of moneybags Salford, a great effort without my top scorer Adebayo, but the title was still no formality

And despite my demands for focus, a humbling 4-1 loss at Scunthorpe cut the deficit to just two points as Colchester sensed an opportunity to take the trophy

As my boys recovered to see off Morecambe, the Essex boys also won their 45th game to keep the gap at two points heading in to the final fixture

With my massive advantage on goal difference I knew that only a point was needed on the last day, but my last three road trips had all been losses 

As it turned out I got the performance I needed to win 3-1 at Carlisle, whilst Colchester lost 3-2 at Tranmere to a 96th minute goal

Ironically, the men from the Wirral saved their bacon with that as the last gasp win avoided the disgrace of relegation on goal difference 

The performance graph indicates it was a fairly easy season from the mid-point, but it took 43 games to seal promotion and 46 to be crowned League 2 Champions

The margin of victory was somewhat flattering at five points as Colchester had a really great season themselves

Stevenage came from nowhere to take third as Grimsby and Cambridge faltered, and Mansfield won the PO Final after hitting form at just the right time

Financially, the graph shows a massive spike at the end for competition and performance money after the balance had dwindled to around £40,000 by mid-May

Here is the final League 2 table - poor old Barrow only won two league games all season

And here are the player stats across the season in all competitions, with just 21 being used in 55 competitive games

No additional players had been used as there were no sales since my first day in charge (and no youth players were promoted to first time duty at any stage)

Six of my players were selected for the League 2 Team of the Year (Roberts, Scarr, Habergham, Kinsella, King and Adebayo)

Adebayo won the League 2 player of the season after scoring 28 goals in the league and 30 in total

Harvey Knibbs of Cambridge pipped him to the top scorer award, and ended up with 30 goals in League 2 after a late flurry

But I think if you win five player of the month awards you have demonstrated your ability and hats off to him for his excellent effort during the campaign

Well done winning the league with Walsall and I am glad Adebayo has been amazing for you. I look forward to seeing how you do in League 2 and see how Adebayo makes the step up.

[Jogo Bonito]

Just now, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Well done winning the league with Walsall and I am glad Adebayo has been amazing for you. I look forward to seeing how you do in League 2 and see how Adebayo makes the step up.

Thanks mate, don't tell me I have to play another year in League 2? 

I'm considering my options at the moment so may be heading somewhere else.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

11 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Thanks mate, don't tell me I have to play another year in League 2? 

I'm considering my options at the moment so may be heading somewhere else.

D'oh you know what I meant lol. 

Good luck wherever you end up going.

[Plainlayzee]

Well done @Jogo Bonito, great performance that well done on promotions.

Now your in the same boat as me trying to find signings!! 

[warlock]

21 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I'm considering my options

Itchy feet, eh? A really good season, though - well played at the end to seal the deal. It looks like we had remarkably similar seasons - title won, league top scorers, resolute defence, almost identical disciplinary records, and similar home attendances. Hope your next venture will be as enjoyable 

 

[Jogo Bonito]

@Ronaldo Beckham @Plainlayzee Thanks chaps.

@warlock Thank also. Yes very similar seasons it would seem. I have to say the ME of the full game wasn't as nice or enjoyable for me as the BETA (mainly due to the ratings issue).

I'll keep you posted on what I decide to do next.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 minute ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@Ronaldo Beckham @Plainlayzee Thanks chaps.

@warlock Thank also. Yes very similar seasons it would seem. I have to say the ME of the full game wasn't as nice or enjoyable for me as the BETA (mainly due to the ratings issue).

I'll keep you posted on what I decide to do next.

 

I assumed you would of stayed with Walsall for a few seasons at least and try get them back in the Championship.

[Jogo Bonito]

1 minute ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I assumed you would of stayed with Walsall for a few seasons at least and try get them back in the Championship.

That really was the plan, but now I am re-thinking it. I'm happy I got to manage a new club, and some players I like (with pretty much a real squad) so that was nice anyway.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

12 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

That really was the plan, but now I am re-thinking it. I'm happy I got to manage a new club, and some players I like (with pretty much a real squad) so that was nice anyway.

With my work basically closing down by the end of the week I have a lot more free time so if you fancy doing a network game or we can do a challenge and pick a team and see who can do the best with them etc. 

Just to make life interesting for a bit.

[Jogo Bonito]

Hope the work thing turns out OK. I still have to be working as was the case last year throughout.

I'm really not the person for a Network game due to my time availability. The same club challenge sounds good, but I'm afraid that won't work for us. Remember you play about 10 seasons to each of mine (I have played three seasons in total since BETA).

You might get some other takers though.

[warlock]

26 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I have to say the ME of the full game wasn't as nice or enjoyable for me as the BETA (mainly due to the ratings issue).

The ratings thing is troublesome. I'm hoping we might get a hotfix for it now that SI are back at work - it would be a serious pain if we have to wait until the major transfer update.

[Jogo Bonito]

7 minutes ago, warlock said:

The ratings thing is troublesome. I'm hoping we might get a hotfix for it now that SI are back at work - it would be a serious pain if we have to wait until the major transfer update.

Yeah, it needs to be fixed. It surrounds key tackles for the human manager as it seems they aren't being registered at all. This affects ratings and can subsequently harm form, morale, player value, board happiness, fan reaction etc.

I've got my BETA game with Oxford so might revert to that (assuming that would be on the originally good basis) if it isn't fixed sharply. They really cannot let this remain unfixed until the next update, and I am sure they won't do that either.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

15 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Hope the work thing turns out OK. I still have to be working as was the case last year throughout.

I'm really not the person for a Network game due to my time availability. The same club challenge sounds good, but I'm afraid that won't work for us. Remember you play about 10 seasons to each of mine (I have played three seasons in total since BETA).

You might get some other takers though.

Yeah I thought the same club challenge might be better. We can use a random number generator to help pick the team in the EFL or we can start with Barrow or Southend and see how we do.

We can do a points system for stuff like highest goalscorer, team with the most nationalities, most points in a system with that certain team etc.

I could just wait for you to complete a season.

Maybe @warlock would be interested or someone else as I know you are busy Jogo.

[Plainlayzee]

The ratings thing I never really realised until recently.

So my team are on a 1 defeat and 3 draws in what about 20 games, not one single player in squad has an average rating of above 7? 

If a fix is released, any idea if it'll be save game compatible? 

[warlock]

16 minutes ago, Plainlayzee said:

any idea if it'll be save game compatible?

I'd imagine so since it's not database-related but more about how key analytics are not being recorded in matches. 

7 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Maybe @warlock would be interested

I wouldn't be averse but it would probably have to wait until much later in the year... I have too many saves of my own to get through for now 

[Plainlayzee]

@warlockThanks, I just had a look on other threads people generally seem to think it will work with saved games so that's good, otherwise all this was a complete waste of time haha. 

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Barry Fry's journey ends with him getting Birmingham another 7th place in the Premiership.

Ricky Jade-Jones got 23 goals for the season. 

I do think he can be a good striker for any Prem team even at the start of the game when I first bought him.

Here is a screenshot of my manager history.

Where am I going to manage next. Well I fancy a save as Genoa or Bologna so I am off to bug the people in the Calcio thread but I will be back sometime soon.

[Plainlayzee]

Thought I'd update where I am up to after playing through a few months. 

Firstly, the main aim for the window was to try and keep the players that had performed so well last season and add some league 1 quality, ideally through youth players.

As we knew Bahamboula was due to leave and I allowed the full back Badan to leave as well as he had no role going forward.

Incoming was as follows:

Two youngsters added from Chelsea and Tottenham who will play a bit part more than likely before moving up the ranks, and Mcginty comes in at centre back. Experienced added in Liam Kelly from recently relegated Coventry, plus bringing back Richards and Galbraith on loan who did well last season. Allsop was added due to the need to have someone to complete with Woods for the no1 shirt. Diallo, 22 year old released by Wolves gives us some more legs in the middle of the park, and he has a 12 for most of the stats I wanted such as work rate, team work and passing which for me in league one is good. James Bree is costing me 5k a wee in wages but he gave me someone who can play in that attacking bull back role. 

Finally bringing in Bobby Duncan from Derby on loan, someone who I believe can score some goals at this level and get his career back on track. 

We did have a fair few failed bids too, in particular for James Wilson, ex Man UTD winger who was released by Salford and Matthew Pennington who was released by Everton. Both looked likely but opted to go elsewhere. 

Anyway, happy enough with my deals, onto the first few games...

As you can see, a great start. 3 goals in the first 15 minutes saw off Wimbledon, a late winning v Blackpool and then great wins against Salford and Wycombe, two teams I imagine will be near the top of the league. Bobby Duncan has got 4 in 4 and 3 MOTM's which is great promise. 

More winnable games coming up in my opinion so hopefully we can continue the good start and get as many points on the board as possible before we inevitably fall apart haha. 

[Jogo Bonito]

@Ronaldo Beckham Nice work with Birmingham over a number of seasons. Good luck in Italy.

@PlainlayzeeImpressive start in League 1 with Oldham, keep it going.

I'm taking a break from England at the moment as the ratings bug was bothering me. I did go through another pre-season on my BETA save with Oxford (I got them promoted from League 2 after they were relegated) and might pick that up again as it may not pick up the bugs from BETA (especially with wing-backs).

I also looked at clubs relegated from League 1 to League 2 in my Walsall save and set up a game with one of those as it's a club with good facilities and potential, but they never had a group of players I liked enough to manage. I had the advantage of expiring contracts and few inward transfers, enabling me to assemble a squad of 23 players that I like after pre-season. This might be the one to go for, along with Reading, who I really want to go back to again. 

In the meantime, after planning to be in Spain and rejecting Italy again (way too many players in each squad for me sadly), I seem to have found a temporary home elsewhere. I fancied Club Brugge or Vitesse Arnehm and had a long look at them and several Norwegian teams, but ended up somewhere else in Europe. I've not decided whether to charter it or not or whether to do a thread in FMCU, but I'll likely be back in here again soon anyway as there are always EFL clubs going through my head.

[warlock]

23 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

ended up somewhere else in Europe

Man of mystery . Hope it proves enjoyable and will await your return to the EFL in due course.

I'm just about at the end of the transfer window at the start of season 2 so might post an update later. Lost far too much time last night watching the shenanigans in Washington DC 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

38 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@Ronaldo Beckham Nice work with Birmingham over a number of seasons. Good luck in Italy.

@PlainlayzeeImpressive start in League 1 with Oldham, keep it going.

I'm taking a break from England at the moment as the ratings bug was bothering me. I did go through another pre-season on my BETA save with Oxford (I got them promoted from League 2 after they were relegated) and might pick that up again as it may not pick up the bugs from BETA (especially with wing-backs).

I also looked at clubs relegated from League 1 to League 2 in my Walsall save and set up a game with one of those as it's a club with good facilities and potential, but they never had a group of players I liked enough to manage. I had the advantage of expiring contracts and few inward transfers, enabling me to assemble a squad of 23 players that I like after pre-season. This might be the one to go for, along with Reading, who I really want to go back to again. 

In the meantime, after planning to be in Spain and rejecting Italy again (way too many players in each squad for me sadly), I seem to have found a temporary home elsewhere. I fancied Club Brugge or Vitesse Arnehm and had a long look at them and several Norwegian teams, but ended up somewhere else in Europe. I've not decided whether to charter it or not or whether to do a thread in FMCU, but I'll likely be back in here again soon anyway as there are always EFL clubs going through my head.

I really enjoyed my save with Rayo in Spain. The Spanish league looks quite fun. I hope you have fun with whomever you pick and please post about it. I don't know if you noticed but I did start a thread for people who want a manage a team outside the bigger leagues and had a really fun save with Anderlecht.

 

[Plainlayzee]

AC Milan is a save that keeps sparking my interest in Italy but not quite at the stage of wanting to do it yet. 

As a Liverpool fan the joy of winning us our first title has gone out the game and everyone seems to say they just win everything, so the challenge isn't there.

Maybe even rebuilding Barca back could be interesting but they don't seem to have the financial issues in the game that they have in real life?

 

[Plainlayzee]

Off topic and not an update, but struggling to remember a time I saw a team of that magnitude, expected to come 2nd in the league, score less goals 

 

[warlock]

46 minutes ago, Plainlayzee said:

a team of that magnitude

Give us a clue . That's a pretty grim run of form by any standard.

[Plainlayzee]

12 minutes ago, warlock said:

Give us a clue . That's a pretty grim run of form by any standard.

Sorry didn't mean to cut the top off, it's Sunderland .... 

[warlock]

1 minute ago, Plainlayzee said:

it's Sunderland

Ah, somehow I find that less suprising 

[Jogo Bonito]

8 hours ago, warlock said:

Man of mystery . Hope it proves enjoyable and will await your return to the EFL in due course.

I'm just about at the end of the transfer window at the start of season 2 so might post an update later. Lost far too much time last night watching the shenanigans in Washington DC 

In this case, an International Man of Mystery  I hope you had a good transfer window and look forward to your update at Exeter.

@PlainlayzeeThat is sleep-inducing stuff from Sunderland. Are black cats meant to be lucky or unlucky?  One of those opponents got relegated to League 2 in my Walsall game, and might be a contender if I run a secondary save alongside my new one.

[warlock]

Exeter, September 2021

With the transfer window just closed, here's how we managed to set up for our first season in L1.

A number of last year's squad were either declining because of age, not good enough for the step up in competition, or both. To no-one's surprise, there were no offers for any of them so those on expiring contracts were allowed to leave, and a couple were offered (and accepted) mutual termination to get them off the wage bill. Having decided to stick with the 352 system that worked so well last year, that left me needing a striker, at least 2 central midfielders, at least 3 central defenders, and a right-sided wingback. With plenty of money in the transfer budget I didn't foresee too many difficulties but things turned out to be trickier than expected. The problem, of course, was club reputation - many of my targets (and there were many) simply refused to enter into contract talks. Of those that did, a disappointing number ultimately preferred to sign for higher-reputation clubs, even on lower wages. And another minority were too greedy for my taste and talks ended when they declined offers that were, in my opinion, generous but not stupid.

But we did manage to bring in a few new faces. The first group were deals completed before the transfer window opened:

Ryan Wintle is a 24-year-old central midfielder my coaches rate as the best at the club - good mentals and capable of playing either B2B or DLP roles. Liam Shephard is a tough-tackling RB with good passing and crossing, and the stamina and pace to get up and down the wing all day long. The wonderfully-named Madger Gomes is a little more forward-thinking than most of our midfielders and is rated at 4* ability - a bargain on a free transfer.

Some of you may have heard of that Adebayo bloke - not a bad striker, apparently, with bags of potential. I wasn't inclined to sign him in light of his appearances in this thread, but my scouts loved him so what's a manager to do? He nicely fills the available striker slot.

Sam Lavelle is also highly rated at CB and even at 24 was immediately awarded the captain's armband; I have high hopes for him. Central defence is where we ran into the most problems in attracting the quality I wanted and, having exhausted my target list, I eventually had to turn to the loan market. Racic is a player I know well from multiple Brentford saves and I know he's capable of performing at Championship level so I have no doubts about his ability in L1. Mark McGuinness is more of an unknown quantity but coming out of the Arsenal School of Defence I'm sure he'll do fine - certainly, my scouts and coaches think so.

Zidane Iqbal is another young prospect, a graduate of the Old Trafford academy. The staff here suggest he has a bright future but time will tell. With a free transfer we have nothing to lose. He immediately went on loan to Yeovil.

In an ideal world, I'd have liked another CM but wasn't convinced by what was available. In the end, I decided to keep my powder dry and have plenty of money available for reinforcements in January should they prove necessary.

Our early form has been suprisingly good. Everyone, including me, expected a relegation battle this season but we've started well:

 

[Jogo Bonito]

10 hours ago, warlock said:

Exeter, September 2021

With the transfer window just closed, here's how we managed to set up for our first season in L1.

A number of last year's squad were either declining because of age, not good enough for the step up in competition, or both. To no-one's surprise, there were no offers for any of them so those on expiring contracts were allowed to leave, and a couple were offered (and accepted) mutual termination to get them off the wage bill. Having decided to stick with the 352 system that worked so well last year, that left me needing a striker, at least 2 central midfielders, at least 3 central defenders, and a right-sided wingback. With plenty of money in the transfer budget I didn't foresee too many difficulties but things turned out to be trickier than expected. The problem, of course, was club reputation - many of my targets (and there were many) simply refused to enter into contract talks. Of those that did, a disappointing number ultimately preferred to sign for higher-reputation clubs, even on lower wages. And another minority were too greedy for my taste and talks ended when they declined offers that were, in my opinion, generous but not stupid.

But we did manage to bring in a few new faces. The first group were deals completed before the transfer window opened:

Ryan Wintle is a 24-year-old central midfielder my coaches rate as the best at the club - good mentals and capable of playing either B2B or DLP roles. Liam Shephard is a tough-tackling RB with good passing and crossing, and the stamina and pace to get up and down the wing all day long. The wonderfully-named Madger Gomes is a little more forward-thinking than most of our midfielders and is rated at 4* ability - a bargain on a free transfer.

Some of you may have heard of that Adebayo bloke - not a bad striker, apparently, with bags of potential. I wasn't inclined to sign him in light of his appearances in this thread, but my scouts loved him so what's a manager to do? He nicely fills the available striker slot.

Sam Lavelle is also highly rated at CB and even at 24 was immediately awarded the captain's armband; I have high hopes for him. Central defence is where we ran into the most problems in attracting the quality I wanted and, having exhausted my target list, I eventually had to turn to the loan market. Racic is a player I know well from multiple Brentford saves and I know he's capable of performing at Championship level so I have no doubts about his ability in L1. Mark McGuinness is more of an unknown quantity but coming out of the Arsenal School of Defence I'm sure he'll do fine - certainly, my scouts and coaches think so.

Zidane Iqbal is another young prospect, a graduate of the Old Trafford academy. The staff here suggest he has a bright future but time will tell. With a free transfer we have nothing to lose. He immediately went on loan to Yeovil.

In an ideal world, I'd have liked another CM but wasn't convinced by what was available. In the end, I decided to keep my powder dry and have plenty of money available for reinforcements in January should they prove necessary.

Our early form has been suprisingly good. Everyone, including me, expected a relegation battle this season but we've started well:

 

Great start in League 1.

I like the signings of Wintle, Gomes and McGuinness - all of whom I looked at them for my newly-relegated club now in League 2.

Wintle turned me down on a free transfer and joined somebody better. I opted against Gomes but think he is a good player and should play well for you. McGuiness was a loan and I think I found somebody slightly better. Adebayo gets his overdue chance in League 1 having got me there twice now, and I really hope he shows he can handle it. Lavelle is one I've never looked at, but if he is good enough to be your captain then that suggests he will be a regular. Racic has proven himself to you so should be trustworthy.

Bonus mention for having the formation in your fixtures & results image - I do like that idea 

By the way, I see that Celtic are really keen on Randall IRL for this transfer window. I'm pleased to see you still have him although I wonder where you fit him in?

Edited January 8, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

Randall is playing WB on the right and doing okay. Not the best defensively but with 3 CBs behind him I don't need that from him. He bagged a goal against Barnsley and gives us the width in the attacking third. I've been pleased with all the new signings, but Adebayo and Ajose are showing signs of a good partnership up front.

BTW, if you missed it a new update arrived tonight which is promised to fix the ratings issue 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

8 hours ago, warlock said:

Exeter, September 2021

With the transfer window just closed, here's how we managed to set up for our first season in L1.

A number of last year's squad were either declining because of age, not good enough for the step up in competition, or both. To no-one's surprise, there were no offers for any of them so those on expiring contracts were allowed to leave, and a couple were offered (and accepted) mutual termination to get them off the wage bill. Having decided to stick with the 352 system that worked so well last year, that left me needing a striker, at least 2 central midfielders, at least 3 central defenders, and a right-sided wingback. With plenty of money in the transfer budget I didn't foresee too many difficulties but things turned out to be trickier than expected. The problem, of course, was club reputation - many of my targets (and there were many) simply refused to enter into contract talks. Of those that did, a disappointing number ultimately preferred to sign for higher-reputation clubs, even on lower wages. And another minority were too greedy for my taste and talks ended when they declined offers that were, in my opinion, generous but not stupid.

But we did manage to bring in a few new faces. The first group were deals completed before the transfer window opened:

Ryan Wintle is a 24-year-old central midfielder my coaches rate as the best at the club - good mentals and capable of playing either B2B or DLP roles. Liam Shephard is a tough-tackling RB with good passing and crossing, and the stamina and pace to get up and down the wing all day long. The wonderfully-named Madger Gomes is a little more forward-thinking than most of our midfielders and is rated at 4* ability - a bargain on a free transfer.

Some of you may have heard of that Adebayo bloke - not a bad striker, apparently, with bags of potential. I wasn't inclined to sign him in light of his appearances in this thread, but my scouts loved him so what's a manager to do? He nicely fills the available striker slot.

Sam Lavelle is also highly rated at CB and even at 24 was immediately awarded the captain's armband; I have high hopes for him. Central defence is where we ran into the most problems in attracting the quality I wanted and, having exhausted my target list, I eventually had to turn to the loan market. Racic is a player I know well from multiple Brentford saves and I know he's capable of performing at Championship level so I have no doubts about his ability in L1. Mark McGuinness is more of an unknown quantity but coming out of the Arsenal School of Defence I'm sure he'll do fine - certainly, my scouts and coaches think so.

Zidane Iqbal is another young prospect, a graduate of the Old Trafford academy. The staff here suggest he has a bright future but time will tell. With a free transfer we have nothing to lose. He immediately went on loan to Yeovil.

In an ideal world, I'd have liked another CM but wasn't convinced by what was available. In the end, I decided to keep my powder dry and have plenty of money available for reinforcements in January should they prove necessary.

Our early form has been suprisingly good. Everyone, including me, expected a relegation battle this season but we've started well:

 

Sam Lavelle even though I never played him in my Birmingham save I could tell he was a good player and a good option as captain. I hope he performs well for you.

[Jogo Bonito]

9 hours ago, warlock said:

Randall is playing WB on the right and doing okay. Not the best defensively but with 3 CBs behind him I don't need that from him. He bagged a goal against Barnsley and gives us the width in the attacking third. I've been pleased with all the new signings, but Adebayo and Ajose are showing signs of a good partnership up front.

BTW, if you missed it a new update arrived tonight which is promised to fix the ratings issue 

Ah thank you, yes I did not know about that. Is it save-game compatible too?

That makes sense on Randall, nice idea to use his attacking ability there. Glad to hear that Adebayo is starting off well.

[warlock]

Just now, Jogo Bonito said:

Is it save-game compatible too?

Generally, yes. There are some changes to specific league rules (Israel?) that would need a new save but otherwise it's working fine in my save.

[Jogo Bonito]

15 minutes ago, warlock said:

Generally, yes. There are some changes to specific league rules (Israel?) that would need a new save but otherwise it's working fine in my save.

Cheers, let's see how it works out then. It sounds like things such as key tackle stats may still not be showing properly but if the ratings are apparently fixed, this is more important.

I flagged some issues with the player search/scouting and player descriptions before the New Year too (wrong from BETA until now) but haven't yet had any response. The trouble is, once you notice these things it really can be distracting.

Edited January 8, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

1 minute ago, Jogo Bonito said:

once you notice these things it really can be distracting

Don't tell me, don't tell me 

[Jogo Bonito]

Just now, warlock said:

Don't tell me, don't tell me 

Me and you 

[Dong21]

Enjoyed reading your update @warlock, as ever. Sounds like a well balanced squad. Good luck in the campaign ahead! 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Dong21 said:

Enjoyed reading your update

Thanks mate  It is a good and well-balanced squad... as long as everyone stays fit. There's not a lot of depth and we don't have a u23 squad (board declined my request at the start of the season). And there's not a lot of talent coming through the u18s. We got a bit stretched in season 1 with playing 2 games every week, but the more leisurely pace this year means it's easier to keep up rotation and rest.

The 352 system makes it somewhat easier to maintain the balance because it reduces the number of specialists you need. Squad currently looks like this:

2 x GK

5 x CB

2 x WBr

2 x WBl

5 x CM

4 x ST

plus a couple of youngsters who are too old for the u18s, if not quite good enough for the first team, but they've been thrown into cup games to give better players a rest. Going well so far, touch wood!

[torquayfmer]

Started a save as my home town club, Torquay United.

I've brought in N'Guessan (CM), Lamy (RW) and Bakary (RB), all young players with room for potential but still good enough for the first team. 

Outs have been Slough and Koszela on year loan deals as they just won't get football here, Buse and Kerr didn't fit in and wouldn't have played so they've left to give a bit of room in the transfer budget.

Not the news we wanted before the season had even started for our captain! Another central midfielder is now going to be needed.

[torquayfmer]

Asa Hall decided to retire after his injury. He would have only been in the side this season, and on £800p/w I'm quite glad he has decided to retire instead of being injured for all that time! He will become our Under 18's Manager when he retires at the end of September.

I'd already seen that Asa was considering retirement following his injury and we moved to bring in the 25yr old Jak McCourt as his replacement. He is on the same wages but is already much better than Hall. He has similar features, a defensive midfielder with leadership qualities. 

Not the best pre-season, but there was a few tactical changes here and there and quite a few trialists came and went.

Joe Lewis, who was on loan at Torquay last season, has rejoined on loan for the season and will be first choice CB. He can also cover both full back positions.

Now for the first game of the season!

[Jogo Bonito]

@torquayfmer You probably did get lucky with Hall deciding to retire, my experience is the older players just sit around collecting the cash if injured. Lewis is a good loan for the level, and McCourt looks OK too. Teams like Swansea, Bournemouth and possibly even Exeter should be able to help you with loans as and when.

So with you at Torquay and some other chap at Exeter, that's almost a clean sweep of Devon pro clubs to follow in the thread now.

[warlock]

5 hours ago, torquayfmer said:

Started a save as my home town club, Torquay United

Welcome back. Will look forward to a bit of Devon rivalry 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@torquayfmer You probably did get lucky with Hall deciding to retire, my experience is the older players just sit around collecting the cash if injured. Lewis is a good loan for the level, and McCourt looks OK too. Teams like Swansea, Bournemouth and possibly even Exeter should be able to help you with loans as and when.

So with you at Torquay and some other chap at Exeter, that's almost a clean sweep of Devon pro clubs to follow in the thread now.

I am predicting @Jogo Bonito to do a save with Plymouth at some point in 2021 lol.

[torquayfmer]

Good to be back @Jogo Bonito@warlock@Ronaldo Beckham. Talking of loans, I've just got Bristol City as our Senior Affiliate, so that should help over the next couple of years.

October has started really well, through to the FIrst Round Proper of the FA Cup after a 5-1 win at home to Chesham (who oddly, Torquay actually played in the Fourth Qualifying Round this season), and sitting top of the Vanarama National League after five wins and two draws so far.

Player of the season so far has to go to Andrew Nelson. He has scored 11 in 8 appearances so far this season and is going to be really key to our season, hopefully we can keep him fit.

Ben Whitfield is our other standout player so far, with 7 assists and 2 goals in 8 games.

[Plainlayzee]

I got a bit carried away with my save and I've flown through half a season. 

This is how it stands at the minute...

Who wouldn't be happy with it. Some excellent performances but more important some excellent wins against the teams around us. We've won away to Wycombe, Hull and Coventry so far which has been huge. 

 

For anyone going into league one, Bobby Duncan, 14 goals in 23 games has been our star player by a mile. 

I've had a look and the teams in 2nd and 3rd went up last year with 79 points, so the aim is 80 hoping that gets me automatic promotion. That means I need 29 points from 24 games which to be honest, the form we are in, I can't see us not doing.

 

Edited January 10, 2021 by Plainlayzee

[Jogo Bonito]

@Plainlayzee Fantastic progress, The Latics are flying again. Whatever happens from there, I can't see anything other than successive promotions (and probably the title too).

[warlock]

6 hours ago, Plainlayzee said:

some excellent wins against the teams around us

Remarkable form, and particularly from a newly-promoted side 

[Welshace]

 

Interested to know if anyone has tried this guy in the english leagues at all? cheap as chips, young and is EU too, so no WP issues afaik.. looks great for a striker maybe..