FM21: The English Football League thread

[Zeonflux]

4 hours ago, warlock said:

I just view it as one of the real-life limitations. I rarely try to sign foreign players. I have had success with loans, which seem to be exempt from WP issues. There can be problems with the lesser European leagues (especially Scandinavia), but it's relatively easy to sign players from France/German/Spain/Italy, and rather too easy to snap up South American wonderkids.

In terms of a fix, you can install a no-Brexit mod that would solve the issue.

Yeah I definitely agree that you can get players it’s just becoming slightly annoying to find a great player and find that you can’t get him due to work permits.

Yeah the loan thing is odd, I had a player in league 1 on loan from Porto B who originally wouldn’t sign a contract when his had 6 months left as he wanted me to get promoted, ended up getting him on loan and he scored something like 10 in 13. He helped us win league 1 so I went to offer him a contract but was told he wouldn’t get a permit (unless I payed him like £20k a week) and he ended up going to Everton.

I think part of it is that having got to the play off in my second season in the Championship, I know I could push for automatic promotion with a few good buys but can’t get anyone that’s an improvement on what I have to get a work permit…..also doesn’t help that the club reputation hasn’t really improved since we got to the championship and the chairman won’t increase my scouting range.

But as you said you can definitely find players it’s just a case of spending a long time searching, I have got Paraguay’s no1 goalkeeper at the moment who I got on a free so they’re definitely there.

[warlock]

Hull City, May 2021

It has taken a while to reach the end of the season, after April turned into what felt like The Month Without End - two games a week, every week, and that schedule continued to the end of the season in May. The highlights were already posted above, as we secured the League title and cemented a place in the FA Cup final where we would meet Manchester City.

Despite the punishing run of games, we came through it dropping just 2pts. From January 1 we lost only a single game. 

The task was made much harder with an injury to N'Lundulu in the Oxford game that meant he was missing for all of the remaing league games. Backup striker Max Watters came in and did okay, although he only found the net once. Happily, our AM unit picked up the load as Wilks and KLP bagged a few, helped by key set-piece goals from CBs Greaves and Hughes.

Apart from that rocky patch around Christmas, we were pretty much flawless this season, finishing with the best attack, best defence, and best stats for passing and possession. N'Lundulu ended the league campaign with 21 league goals, and 28 in all competitions, a remarkable achievement given his struggles before Christmas. No less valuable were the contributions from young CB Jacob Greaves, and the creative force of CM George Honeyman.

Looking ahead, I've already renewed the loans of N'Lundulu and Slater, and there are very few holes in the squad that require filling in the summer window. A striker to provide backup/rotation cover up front is a key requirement, and a backup GK will also be needed. We might also need a first-choice GK - Matt Ingram wanted a new contract and I was happy to discuss it, but his opening offer was a demand for £10k a week wages (up from £2k currently), and his agent wouldn't compromise. We'll have to see what the fallout from that might be. In an ideal world, I'd find a world-class AMC for peanuts - it's probably our weakest position in the squad, and although we've done well with the players available, all are better played in wide roles.

But before that, we have an FA Cup final to win. Maybe. Probably not, but you never know... 

[warlock]

The FA Cup final... could minnows Hull City pull off a miracle against the might of Manchester City? Er... no . We were hammered:

City boss Pep Guardiola pulled off a tactical masterstroke. Instead of the controlled possession tactic my scouts told me to expect, City opted for a simple game of hoofball - defenders lumping it up to Gabriel Jesus who was 1-on-1 with our GK Matt Ingram time and time again. With the game beyond hope at half-time, we'd had 7 shots on target and scored 1; City had 8 shots on target and scored 5.

On the bright side, between more than £1m in competition money, TV coverage and a share of the gate receipts, that one defeat was worth nearly £4m. For a club like Hull, that's a result!

[Ronaldo Beckham]

@Jogo Bonito I need your help. 

So basically I enjoyed doing my recent Brentford save but I got bored quickly as they were already in the Prem and it just gets easier to succeed when you are in the Prem.

So I wanted to replicate Brentford's transfer policy with a different team. I picked Derby with the aim of downgrading youth facilities, lower the junior coaching and keep the youth recruitment down to a minimum.

I only done 1 season with Derby but the board would always reject my requests to downgrade facilities etc. So I am looking at an EFL team that has good training facilities but rubbish youth facilities or they can have decent youth facilities but more importantly I need a board that doesn't want me to focus on developing youth.

So to sum it up what I am looking off you is a few team suggestions that I can replicate Brentford's data approach and also doesn't have good youth facilities and doesn't have developing youth as a part of their club culture.

I know this is the EFL thread but if you want to suggest teams abroad I am cool with that. I just want a save I can get my teeth into.

Also I done a save with Barnsley recently who are similar in their apprach to Brentford so no need to reccomend them 

[causticgrip]

After a long break from FM, just finished the 2028/29 (9th) season with Bournemouth. Still sticking the 100% domestic bias and no regen rule i've set myself.

Tomori in as a back up, Maddison out. Because whilst despite still being decent, frustratingly injury prone now and on a big wage. So sold him for a good price. 

 

Another really tight league battle but this time I came out on top! Struggled with my tactics a bit and after being disappointedly dumped out in the round of 32 in the CL, I decided to drop my ST into the AMC slot, which led to be better results overall (4330, inside forwards with a shadow striker). Especially in the FA Cup, won it easily enough in the end. Still annoyed I conceded more goals than last season in the league though, would love to challenge Chelsea's real life record (15)

 

Lots of good performances, goals and assists spread out a bit so not to reliant on one player. Brooks, Cook, Mepham and Solanke, all players i've had since the beginning are creeping up in age but the first 3 still important players for me and I hope there's a couple more big seasons in them still.

Next season i'd love to win a 2nd CL with this team. Retaining the PL title important too but everything else is lower priority for me. The real treble would be nice though, come close with a CL+FA Cup and a PL+FA Cup doubles, so why not hey?

Edited July 25, 2021 by causticgrip

[Ronaldo Beckham]

@Jogo Bonito After looking into it more I have a small list of teams and I was just curious which team you would think would be the best to do a long term save with and try copy Brentford/Barnsley's transfer policy.

Here are the teams.

Millwall 
Preston 
QPR 
Bolton 
Salford 
Scunthorpe 
Stockport 
Wrexham 
Alfreton 
Boston Utd 
York 
Ebbsfleet 

@Welshace @karanhsingh @warlock Feel free to contribute if you want to help.

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

which team you would think would be the best to do a long term save with and try copy Brentford/Barnsley's transfer policy

Just back from a weekend away, but if I have time tonight I'll try to give this some thought. Nice idea for a save 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2 hours ago, warlock said:

Just back from a weekend away, but if I have time tonight I'll try to give this some thought. Nice idea for a save 

Ok cheers mate.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Sod it I have gone with Millwall.

 

 

[warlock]

Would be interested to know why you picked Millwall - they seem to have a pretty solid youth and academy setup. I'd have thought Wycombe with no youth recruitment and no academy coaching would have been a better prospect. Also, the lower down the pyramid you go, the better the chance of clubs having poor youth training, recruitment and the like. Wrexham looked like a good bet in the VNN.

I guess one of the key things is that the club should not want you to develop youth. If they don't have that restriction, you can get rid of u18s coaches, and the HoYD if you have one (although they will cost you money to end contracts). You can also request the board to decrease the junior coaching budget, and to cut back youth recruitment. Equally, you can try to get "buy players to sell for profit" added as part of the club vision.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

6 minutes ago, warlock said:

Would be interested to know why you picked Millwall - they seem to have a pretty solid youth and academy setup. I'd have thought Wycombe with no youth recruitment and no academy coaching would have been a better prospect. Also, the lower down the pyramid you go, the better the chance of clubs having poor youth training, recruitment and the like. Wrexham looked like a good bet in the VNN.

I guess one of the key things is that the club should not want you to develop youth. If they don't have that restriction, you can get rid of u18s coaches, and the HoYD if you have one (although they will cost you money to end contracts). You can also request the board to decrease the junior coaching budget, and to cut back youth recruitment. Equally, you can try to get "buy players to sell for profit" added as part of the club vision.

I went with Millwall cos they have good youth facilities but it is not in the Club DNA so there is no pressure to develop youth and also if I unearth a wonderkid through the youth system then he will get moved on to a bigger club with a few clauses on.

I did think of Wycombe and Wrexham and I might manage them further on as I have decided if I get promoted to the Prem with Millwall I will resign and wait for one of the other teams job's to come available.

I might end up managing all the English teams I listed in the end.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Millwall Squad Analysis

I haven't managed Millwall for a few years now but I recognized a lot of their players. A lot of them are EFL regulars but there are a few I aint heard of. 

Mahlon Romeo

Romeo is a pacy right back who will be crucial in my Burnley inspired tactic.

Murray Wallace

Wallace on the left of defense either as a full back or as a centre back is definitely capable of performing well. He has good strength, marking and tackling. He will be one of my dependable players.

Connor Mahoney

The Millwall version of David Beckham who has great corners, crossing and has good free kick skills. He will be bringing the entertainment to The New Den this season.

Mason Bennett

Mason Bennett is a former wonderkid from Derby and suprising he is only 24 years old so he still has time to become a good player.

I will post some more as I go along the season and will let you know of any key transfers.

[torquayfmer]

Torquay Update

Been a while since I've posted, since my last update where we'd finished 5th in first season and lost in the play offs, then won the league second season to get promoted to League Two, we've gone from strength to strength.

We won League Two, and then League One in ridiculous form. Matty Butler, the 18yr old striker that I posted in my last update who I'd signed for £1k from Guisley, damaged his cruiciate ligaments half way through the League Two season, and didn't end up playing for the club again. Italian side Empoli came in with an offer of £275k and that was something I couldn't turn down, especially as he would have struggled to get back to full form.

After promotion to the Championship, the board gave me a transfer budget of £1.7m. I knew we'd need to use it as our side would have been overrun with the jump in quality. We added to this with the sales of a couple of youngsters (Morgan Alderman who was from a previous youth intake, sold to Swansea for £350k, and Al Clark, an American LB who I signed on a free transfer to develop into a CM, sold to Hull for £400k after only 20 games for the club!). Also sold Marvin Epiteta, who had joined for our League One season on a free transfer. Dundee came in with a £450k offer for him, and I couldn't say no when in all likelihood he wouldn't have been a first choice in the Championship.

We spent £1.1m (mostly on regens), but one of our key players has been with us since the National League. 

Regan Booty has been so consistent, is now our captain and has played CM and LB over the last couple of seasons and performed extremely well in both.

Cian Smith was another youngster I've taken a punt on, my scout found him at the end of the last season and for a free transfer it was well worth a go. He has started the season brilliantly with 7 goals in 6 games.

[hasdgfas]

1 hour ago, torquayfmer said:

we've gone from strength to strength.

Looking strong! Keep it up!

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I managed to get the board to downgrade junior coaching but I think there is an error as it says the old junior coaching was average and the new status is average so I am confused but if it has worked then it is encouraging to see the board back me.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I managed to convince the Millwall board to downgrade the youth recruitment. 

I need to save money when I can so hopefully this will help.

[causticgrip]

Bournemouth 10th (and final?) season

Just finished the 2029/2030 season with my 100% domestic and ageing squad (average age 30). Well actually did use some of my own youth academy regens for once, in some cup games and I may carry on my save for a new generation of Bournemouth success. We'll see.

Transfers: Nothing major, couple of back up players, sold some unneeded players for a decent amount of  cash

 

So there we go, The Treble! My biggest achievement so far and the one I wanted

-League wasn't so close this year. Not my highest points total but scored plenty and had a fantastic defence. And only 2 losses...maybe 'Invincibles' is the next big goal?

-FA Cup was easy, nice draw all the way through hah

-CL was tough, lost a couple of First Legs and had to battle back. Final was so tense too but a Man of the Match display from the GK Aaron Ramsdale kept us in it , before Dwight McNeil scored a late winner

-League Cup, I got FM'd- hit the woodwork like 4 times before losing 2-1. Not impressed.

The Jadon Sancho show this season. What a player. Some other good performances too though. Lots of rotation. Brewster ended up taking Brooks' place in the first 11, he's become a great shadow striker. 

This is how the squad looks age, nationality, value wise: 

Spoiler

 

So yea, the 10 year old planned journey is over.

Maybe I'll carry on, maybe not.  Thanks for reading

[Jogo Bonito]

Sorry @Ronaldo Beckhamjust saw your messages, glad you made a choice and good luck with The Lions

@warlockWell done on your promotion cruise, unlucky in the Cup but that would have been insane.

Great efforts elsewhere with Bournemouth and Torquay. Long and successful spells there.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

20 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Sorry @Ronaldo Beckhamjust saw your messages, glad you made a choice and good luck with The Lions

@warlockWell done on your promotion cruise, unlucky in the Cup but that would have been insane.

Great efforts elsewhere with Bournemouth and Torquay. Long and successful spells there.

Cheers Jogo. I am really enjoying the save with the limited funds I have which is basically 0. I have had a consortium take over but they only put £1 million into the club and added 0 to the transfer budget lol.

 

[Jogo Bonito]

Season 2023/24

After finishing 13th in the second tier last term and spending absolutely nothing in transfer fees during the summer transfer window (and receiving around £13.5 million in transfer revenue), the test was to see if I could nudge Ipswich in to the top-ten this time around. 

Despite several injuries to players pencilled in to start the season, I have to say that things have gone remarkably well so far. The transfer window has just closed, and the only other change in the squad saw  one arrival on deadline day. I'd gone that far with just one right-back and a couple of youths to cover. One of those (Sammy Robinson) had to start the first three games but moaned about me rejecting a bid from a team below Ipswich in the pyramid rather than embracing the chance to start and become a member of the main squad. As you can imagine that didn't end well for him, and I eventually sent him away on loan to Wrexham. Whilst that wasn't great, a three-month injury to one of my two left-backs (Luke Garbutt) left me with just one fit option for each of those two positions. Against all my intentions, I therefore needed to loan-in a defender who could play both full-back sides and somebody who would be better quality than my youth players. That was achieved on deadline day with the year-long loan arrival of Ben Johnson from West Ham, taking the first team squad size to 22.

This kind of start was not on the cards at all, and I am edging towards meeting the board target of avoiding relegation already! The 532 has been fantastic, watertight in defence, creative and solid in midfield, and scintillating in attack. My strike force has been thriving with Simms, Zirkzee and Adebayo causing opposition defences all sorts of trouble whether starting or coming from the bench. I even decided to cancel the £2.5m signing of really promising young Danish striker Kent Olsen as I felt this trio, plus Marriott and two real contenders in my U23 squad (Zach Robinson and Tyreece Simpson) could easily manage the load. I'll monitor Olsen just in case his club don't tie him down before I can submit an 'approach to sign' offer in January 2024.

Edited July 29, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

54 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

unlucky in the Cup but that would have been insane

It would . But I think we used up all our luck in getting past Everton and Spurs. A memorable ride, though!

That's a fantastic start to the season at Ipswich - looks like that tactic is running like a Rolls-Royce. Around 3 goals a game scored (if my maths is correct). Hope you can keep it going 

[dino]

On 23/07/2021 at 00:49, warlock said:

 

I know I'm late to this post but that points tally: JEEZ.

[warlock]

3 minutes ago, dino said:

I know I'm late to this post but that points tally: JEEZ.

Yeah, we had a good season . Essentially unbeaten for the first half of the season, then a rubbish patch at Christmas, then back to (almost) unbeaten in the second half. As a just-relegated Championship side, the squad was very strong with an excellent spine of Matt Ingram (GK), Jacob Greaves (CB), George Honeyman (CM) and Dan N'Lundulu (ST) and a decent supporting cast. But a lot of the credit has to go to the tactic - a 4231 I put together a few months ago and has proved to be good in a number of saves. I'm thinking I need to change to something different for a bit of challenge. But not yet 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Millwall Season 1 Review

I am quite happy with the first season with Millwall. I play a certain way with my tactic of Pullis/Dyche type of football where it is vey straight forward. 

A nice mid table finish. I was 10th until the last 2 games of the season but happy overall.

I just need to slightly improve next season. 

Tom Bradshaw was my top scorer with 14 goals. Matt Smith got a few as well. The problem is most of my strikers are either getting on a bit in age or just aren't good enough.

I am hoping to rectify that in the summer but I have very little transfer budget and I am over on my wage budget so I will have to sell to bring in funds.

Connor Mahoney was my best player overall with 10 assists and best overal rating. I don't want to lose him but I might have to if it helps the finances but he wont be leaving unless it is for good money.

 

The board are not happy and want me to get 8 points in the next 5 games to keep my job. 

I assumed they would be happy with a 14th place in the Championship but I guess they want more and I have to step up.

 

Annoyingly the board now want me to develop players through the youth system. I tried to negotiate it but they weren't having it so maybe my time at Millwall will be over soon.

[hasdgfas]

On 27/07/2021 at 15:39, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I managed to get the board to downgrade junior coaching but I think there is an error as it says the old junior coaching was average and the new status is average so I am confused but if it has worked then it is encouraging to see the board back me.

Coaching level is a range between 1-20 like attributes, and many levels have multiple numbers, so you probably went from like 11-9 or something.

Edited August 2, 2021 by hasdgfas

[Ronaldo Beckham]

4 hours ago, hasdgfas said:

Coaching level is a range between 1-20 like attributes, and many levels have multiple numbers, so you probably went from like 11-9 or something.

Yeah I have managed to downgrade them even more cos of the dire finances at Millwall.

 

[Jogo Bonito]

Season 2023/24

A fairly short update on life at Ipswich. As you (and I) would imagine, it wasn't going to be possible to maintain the early season momentum which had delivered six straight league wins and a safe passage through two rounds of the Carabao Cup. However by the end of November 2023, my side still hold a healthy seven point lead at the top of the table - it had stretched to 10 before a narrow loss at 2nd-placed Brighton last time out.

Looking behind the results, it's fair to say that some bonus points have been gained very late on as 'spirit' became as important as ability. The 3-3 draw at home to Huddersfield saw two late goals rescue a 3-1 deficit, and the last two home wins over Cardiff and Blackpool were both 1-0 thanks to winners after 89 and 88 minutes respectively. The scorers of those last-gasp goals are my inform strikers Ellis Simms and Joshua Zirkzee, but until now it's been a real group effort. Talking of the group, my squad of 22 has in reality been much less than that, with two of them (Balmer and Allen) not yet seeing a minute of action, Marriott only having one 17-minute bench cameo, and my back-up goalkeeper only making one appearance. I'm not expecting the remainder of the season to be a stroll, but anything above last season's 14th would have been acceptable progress so I'll just see where I can take them.

[warlock]

7 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

A fairly short update

Good to hear from you, and things are looking pretty healthy in Suffolk. No shame in the loss to Brighton, but that defeat against Reading looks irksome. On the other hand, a 12pt cushion in the playoff places looks very good indeed. KUTGW 

I'm a bit idle at the moment - the Hull save became a procession as we were marching towards the Premiership. I started the 5,000-1 Challenge but immediately recognised I was just repeating my first season with Hull so that paled in a hurry. Looked hard at a Torino save but the usual issues with Italy dampened my enthusiasm. Best bet at the moment might be Gateshead... there should be one decent team in the north-east 

[Jogo Bonito]

44 minutes ago, warlock said:

Good to hear from you, and things are looking pretty healthy in Suffolk. No shame in the loss to Brighton, but that defeat against Reading looks irksome. On the other hand, a 12pt cushion in the playoff places looks very good indeed. KUTGW 

I'm a bit idle at the moment - the Hull save became a procession as we were marching towards the Premiership. I started the 5,000-1 Challenge but immediately recognised I was just repeating my first season with Hull so that paled in a hurry. Looked hard at a Torino save but the usual issues with Italy dampened my enthusiasm. Best bet at the moment might be Gateshead... there should be one decent team in the north-east 

Thanks, yes all good at the moment. The 532 suits my squad perfectly, and it's great to have such a tight unit to work with. I've got some really good options in the U23 group who deserve (but unfortunately never been given) a chance too.

Sorry that Hull became too easy. I think that is common of FM now. I'm really thinking of dropping my reps down from the suited level just to try and make it artificially harder in future editions. That's on top of trying to ignore/terminate loans, keep the wages low, and end each transfer window on a financial positive. Torino would be good and I nearly went for them before going with Parma. Is it the EU transfer limits that put you off?

In respect of England, have you considered an update database for something different? There are several good ones in the forum (FM Inside, Pro/FMTU, Darkness) which include promotions, relegations and transfers up to a fixed period such as end of July. If you time it right you can get a squad with virtually no loans and low player numbers after the 30th June released players have left, and you can build your own side. For example, you could take on Rochdale or Swindon in League 2 (or Reading) with virtually half a squad. Just a thought.

Edited August 8, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

29 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Is it the EU transfer limits that put you off?

Partly that, but largely the ridiculous squad sizes and the fact you have players that should be first-team regulars out on loan, while loaning in players who aren't as good. It always seems a bit messy.

31 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

have you considered an update database

I should probably look into that; never really explored that option and it might give the game a new lease of life for the remainder of the year.

[Jogo Bonito]

22 minutes ago, warlock said:

Partly that, but largely the ridiculous squad sizes and the fact you have players that should be first-team regulars out on loan, while loaning in players who aren't as good. It always seems a bit messy.

I should probably look into that; never really explored that option and it might give the game a new lease of life for the remainder of the year.

Ah yes. You're absolutely right. Squad size and number of players in/out on loan is ridiculous in Italy. That's why Parma was my first Italian save in all the years of FM, had always disliked that over there.

Worth a look at those databases. They're never perfect and with transfers it's not easy be accurate, but they can be a good way to find a short-term blast. I took a look at one with transfers until the end of July, just to give an idea on what one or two clubs looked like ahead of FM22. Before deciding whether to start anything, I need to finish my last season with Ipswich first anyway.

[warlock]

1 minute ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I need to finish my last season with Ipswich first anyway

Quite right 

I'm having a rummage in the editor forum right now 

[causticgrip]

Bournemouth season 11

Ok so season 10 was gonna be my last and as we won The Treble, would have been the perfect ending. However I realised i was within reach of overtaking Bob Paisley as the most successful English manager, so I decided to carry on. With my ageing ,100% domestic, no regen first team squad hah. I did temporarily promote some academy regens for games against super weak opposition this season though.

Transfers, spent big for the first time in years, bringing in Giovanni Reyna (represents USA but born in England, has English nationality too) in the summer and Harvey Elliott in January. Good job I did because they replaced players who ending up suffering bad or repeated injuries during the season. Transfers out, well notably Solanke left for Inter Milan after wanting a new challenge. One of my original players, although he'd become a bit unreliable and diminished he last 3 seasons I had him, so no big deal. Got rid of several other players to so net spend wasn't super high really.

 

So yea no repeat of last year unfortunately, extremely lucky to win the league for the 3rd time in a row, limping over the line. We did hammer the runners up though at one point, maybe proving still the best team on our day

-No shame in losing to Bayern in the CL, I mean they have notable names like Erling Haaland, Pedri, Mason Greenwood, Eduardo Camavinga, Jude Bellingham, Alphonso Davies, Iliax Moriba. All Wonderkids now at the peak of their powers lol.

-Losing to City 2-1 in extra time  in the FA Cup final kinda disappointing but my players looked slow and weary, never gonna win.

Sancho not quite as amazing as last season but still the main man. Pleased with Reyna's contribution, Sibley had a great scoring season from CM too, an ageing David Brooks still showed a lot of quality and even McNeil with his loss of speed has done well being changed to a CM. Maybe there's more life in the squad yet even at average age 30, although the GK and defenders need to cut out the increasing number of mistakes...

And finally

Mission accomplished. Still miles away from Sir Alex Ferguson of course but that's never been on the cards. Not a record i'll be overhauling in this edition of FM hah

[Duckelfsc]

Any teams that start with a good target man?

[warlock]

The Brian Clough Challenge

Something a bit different...

Legendary manager Cloughie was appointed manager of a struggling Nottingham Forest side on January 6, 1975, when his new side were stuck in 13th place in the second tier of English football. Within 5 years, he had taken Forest into the top flight, won their first league title, and won the European Cup, twice.

And that's the challenge - holiday to January 6, 2021, install yourself as manager of the club in 13th place in the EFL Championship, then win the PL title and Champions League within 5 years. Simples!

When I started this tonight, I figured there was a decent chance of getting Forest, or one of the perennial mid-table sides like Preston, Middlesbrough or Derby (the latter two clubs also managed by Clough before Forest). To my surprise, I got Brentford:

In this parallel universe, the Bees got off to a pretty good start to the season but form plummeted after October and the side won only 4 out of the next 19 games Manager Thomas Frank was given until Christmas to turn things around but was fired just before New Year. We're only 5pts outside the playoff places, but the board is demanding that we make a Top 6 finish to the season, so the pressure is on.

In terms of the backroom staff, the recruitment team looks pretty good, but the coaching and medical staff are spectacularly poor:

There are few surprises in the playing squad, but new additions include LB Miiko Albornoz on a free from Hannover, and DM Ibrahima Sissoko on loan from Strasbourg. There's still room in the squad and in the budget for a couple of loan signings, but I'm not sure we need much in the way of reinforcements. What we do need is to get more out of star striker Ivan Toney, who has just 8 goals from 24 appearances.

Let battle commence...

Edited September 2, 2021 by warlock

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

The Brian Clough Challenge

Something a bit different...

Legendary manager Cloughie was appointed manager of a struggling Nottingham Forest side on January 6, 1975, when his new side were stuck in 13th place in the second tier of English football. Within 5 years, he had taken Forest into the top flight, won their first league title, and won the European Cup, twice.

And that's the challenge - holiday to January 6, 2021, install yourself as manager of the club in 13th place in the EFL Championship, then win the PL title and Champions League within 5 years. Simples!

When I started this tonight, I figured there was a decent chance of getting Forest, or one of the perennial mid-table sides like Preston, Middlesbrough or Derby (the latter two clubs also managed by Clough before Forest). To my surprise, I got Brentford:

In this parallel universe, the Bees got off to a pretty good start to the season but form plummeted after October and the side won only 4 out of the next 19 games Manager Thomas Frank was given until Christmas to turn things around but was fired just before New Year. We're only 5pts outside the playoff places, but the board is demanding that we make a Top 6 finish to the season, so the pressure is on.

In terms of the backroom staff, the recruitment team looks pretty good, but the coaching and medical staff are spectacularly poor:

There are few surprises in the playing squad, but new additions include LB Miiko Albornoz on a free from Hannover, and DM Ibrahima Sissoko on loan from Strasbourg. There's still room in the squad and in the budget for a couple of loan signings, but I'm not sure we need much in the way of reinforcements. What we do need is to get more out of star striker Ivan Toney, who has just 8 goals from 24 appearances.

Let battle commence...

I might try this at some point. You should put it in the Challenge section buddy as it might get more people involved on there. 

You picking Brentford was a bit lucky. I hope you manage to complete the challenge.

[warlock]

35 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

You picking Brentford was a bit lucky

It was lucky - a club I know really well. There's a real challenge though - form and morale are abysmal, and it'll be tough to turn it around.

Trying to emulate Clough at Forest is something I've done several times, but it was only today that I thought about taking over the side in 13th spot in January like he did. Was really surprised when it turned out to be Brentford 

[Jogo Bonito]

16 hours ago, warlock said:

It was lucky - a club I know really well. There's a real challenge though - form and morale are abysmal, and it'll be tough to turn it around.

Trying to emulate Clough at Forest is something I've done several times, but it was only today that I thought about taking over the side in 13th spot in January like he did. Was really surprised when it turned out to be Brentford 

I feel sorry for you. Most of us got a regular version of FM21, but meanwhile you got an exclusive Brentford Manager 21 copy. One club option to manage, Brentford or nobody 

In other news, it's taken who knows how many weeks but I have finally completed the 2023/24 season with Ipswich.

Before getting on to that, here is a quick view of how my successful U18 and U23 sides did this season. Both have made a habit of winning their leagues as I have added some good youngsters over the years on free transfers and the retained youth intake have usually developed well too.

Ipswich U18 team

There are many talented youngsters in the group, but Tchiaka has again been incredible with 60 goals in 35(2) youth games (33 goals the season before)

I could have profiled some other U18 players, but Haruna also looks like he would become a fantastic first team player in time

Ipswich U23 team

 

The U23 group also has many talented players who could easily have been in the main squad, but positions were not available for them

The pick of the bunch would be Gibbs and my strike duo of Simpson and Zach Robinson (signed two years ago from AFC Wimbledon for a small fee)

Ironically the two main strikers matched exactly their goal totals of the previous season (21 and 18)  

 

Edited September 3, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

5 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

One club option to manage, Brentford or nobody 

Be fair- I've only done 5 or 6 Brentford saves this year .

That looks like a great crop of youngsters you've assembled at Ipswich. I'll look forward to hearing how the first team has got on 

[Jogo Bonito]

Just now, warlock said:

Be fair- I've only done 5 or 6 Brentford saves this year .

That looks like a great crop of youngsters you've assembled at Ipswich. I'll look forward to hearing how the first team has got on 

Really is that all? I thought it was more - but maybe I added your Brentford saves from other years by mistake 

Yes I'm a bit disappointed that I never got to use them for the senior side as I always put a lot of effort in to recruiting and coaching those levels.

I'll try to update on the first team shortly.

Enjoy 'The life of Brian' anyway. I like the concept, but would have tried again to land another team.

[warlock]

44 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I like the concept, but would have tried again to land another team.

It did cross my mind, but I was so surprised to see Brentford languishing down there that I got quite excited at the prospect!

I'm afraid I'll probably have to do a couple of Brentford saves in FM22, see how we get on in the big league. But I'll also have a crack at promotion with Fulham. They're my next-nearest club and were a regular choice... I was going to say "until recently" and then I just looked it up and found al-Fayed sold the club nearly a decade ago and he was definitely still the chairman when I last managed them 

[Jogo Bonito]

Season 2023/24

When I last updated on 8th August, my Ipswich side had a surprising 7 point lead at the top of the Championship table after 19 games played. Following on from a mediocre 13th place finish the season before (64 points) this kind of form had not been on the cards at all. So now it's time to see how the rest of the season played out.

December and January had been fairly good months, and although there were three league defeats just before turn of the year (and an FA Cup exit in January) all other games had been won. The lack of draws was definitely a help as it meant the odd blip could be absorbed without too much impact. The scoring rate of prolific striker Ellis Simms dropped off in the first month of the new year, but Joshua Zirkzee grabbed a few himself at that time and other players also chipped in. However this did stir me in to making a deadline day signing just before the transfer window closed. The new man was Daryl Dike for what I hoped would be a bargain fee of £1.4 million. There were no outs and the only other arrival was striker Josh Thomas for the U23 squad

Despite topping the table, February was poor. No wins and four draws from six league games was disappointing and by game 35, my side had relinquished top spot. That was a real slide as the gap had been 12 points just a few weeks earlier! The only plus point was that my two main strikers had kicked in to gear again and were hitting the net regularly once more. The pair continued that habit in to a much better March, and as April came along it was a three from two scenario for automatic promotion.

However that month saw difficult fixtures against strong sides like Brighton, Brentford and Nottingham Forest. Pleasingly, the best results during April came in those big matches which had the extra impact needed to keep the challengers at bay. An exception to that were Sheffield United who had by then powered clear at the top - so all I could claim would be 2nd (or 3rd). As you can see, the 46th and final fixture in May was a lame defeat at Swansea. Was that loss a kick in the teeth or an irrelevance then?

 

[warlock]

5 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

February was poor

Oh, I've had so many Februaries like that . Excellent recovery though, even if you couldn't overhaul the Blades. A cliffhanger ending... I'm betting you secured the promotion 

[Jogo Bonito]

22 minutes ago, warlock said:

It did cross my mind, but I was so surprised to see Brentford languishing down there that I got quite excited at the prospect!

I'm afraid I'll probably have to do a couple of Brentford saves in FM22, see how we get on in the big league. But I'll also have a crack at promotion with Fulham. They're my next-nearest club and were a regular choice... I was going to say "until recently" and then I just looked it up and found al-Fayed sold the club nearly a decade ago and he was definitely still the chairman when I last managed them 

Brentford Manager 22 is a nice choice and presumably much cheaper than the full game? I like Fulham in the second tier too. Had a nice year with them a few versions ago when I launched my asymmetric 433 formation for the first time (winger Sessegnon and narrower Piazon being the two supporting the striker).

5 minutes ago, warlock said:

Oh, I've had so many Februaries like that . Excellent recovery though, even if you couldn't overhaul the Blades. A cliffhanger ending... I'm betting you secured the promotion 

I don't normally get one really bad month like you. Let's see if your prediction is right 

[Jogo Bonito]

Mission accomplished. The Blades were too sharp for everyone in the end, and their relentless surge of form sealed a well-earned title. But the unfancied Tractor Boys (thanks to a crucial victory over Forest in April) managed to claim 2nd and automatic promotion. That had actually been wrapped up before the final game of the season, so although the Swansea surrender in the final outing was a sad way to end, perhaps the players could be forgiven for taking their foot off the gas by then. Long-time title chasers Brentford and Brighton fell away alarmingly as you can see with the volume of red in the image below. 

The performance graph shows how many months Ipswich had topped the table, but after being caught in February it was largely a battle for 2nd or 3rd that became the main focus. Financially, the club has a secure footing that could give them a chance under the manager who takes them on in the Premier League. The second best average attendance of just under 30,000 was also a really pleasing statistic. As shown below, Simms was top scorer despite running dry towards the end. In his three seasons under my control he has scored 74 goals in 145 appearances (including sub appearances) across all competitions. He also won the fans Player of the Season award for his efforts. Considering the board only wanted us to fight bravely against relegation, this was a very successful campaign indeed.

Here are the player stats for all competitions. Until the later addition of Dike (who didn't feature that much) there had been a squad of 22 with one not playing at all and one playing only 17 minutes all season. Walton had been earmarked to start the season in goal until he was injured pre-season, and he had only played a couple of times in Cup games until playing the last 10 or so league games. Allen had served us well over a couple of years but only grabbed a few minutes towards the end too, so it was largely a core group of around 17 or 18 that delivered this promotion.

[warlock]

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Mission accomplished

Well played 

Back-to-back promotions are always an accomplishment. Ellis Simms did a fine job for you, and it looks like Zirkzee picked his games going by those PoM awards.

I'm guessing you won't be accompanying the Tractor Boys to the top flight... do you have another FM21 save in you?

[Jogo Bonito]

26 minutes ago, warlock said:

Well played 

Back-to-back promotions are always an accomplishment. Ellis Simms did a fine job for you, and it looks like Zirkzee picked his games going by those PoM awards.

I'm guessing you won't be accompanying the Tractor Boys to the top flight... do you have another FM21 save in you?

Thank you, it was an enjoyable few seasons in Suffolk. When I took over at the start of 2021/22 and deconstructed the squad without much mercy, it was because I thought they would do the same IRL (and they have). But it wasn't back to back promotions, I limped home in 13th place in 2022/23 - which actually makes me feel much better than going up every year.

There's no doubt that my two strikers were excellent assets. Zirkzee was picked up on a free transfer and Simms cost £350k after a successful year on loan. Virtually all of my signings were free transfers in fact, and I made some big sales along the way too.

You're right. I won't be managing them in the PL. Not sure yet about other saves, but will give it some thought.

[warlock]

The Brian Clough Challenge

April 2021

With 6 games remaining in the season it's time to assess how we're doing. Answer: Not bad. The board is demanding we make the playoffs and we've managed to haul ourselves into the last playoff spot. In fact, we managed that several times over the last couple of months but haven't been able to maintain the progress, usually slipping back immediately. Our rivals are making life difficult, as the top teams just keep winning and closest competitors Birmingham have been hard on our heels. Our most recent game saw the Blues visit the Brentford Community Stadium and a 2-0 win opened up a gap for the first time:

On taking over in January, I switched the team tactics from 4231 to variations on the 433 on the grounds that the former setup had not been producing results for months. But we never looked convincing and by mid-February I decided to switch back, despite the fact that we have no natural AMCs. But we do have several players who are accomplished in the role, especially Saman Ghoddos and he immediately became our most important forward. The tactical change brought immediate results with a 3-1 win in the derby game at QPR:

Since then, we haven't looked back. Our only defeat came away to then-3rd placed Norwich, more than compensated for by the superb 4-0 demolition of 2nd placed Forest:

Realistically, I don't think we can do better than 6th - although we could potentially overtake Swansea - but a playoff position would represent 'job done'. In our remaining games we still have to Bournemouth and entertain Watford so points will be hard to come by in those fixtures. Our biggest concern is the continued failure of striker Ivan Toney - in the last 3 months he has scored just twice from open play (and once from the penalty spot). Backup striker Marcus Forss has also failed to step up, and we're heavily reliant on the aerial strength of our central defenders from set-pieces.

Off the pitch we've had troubles, too. Winger Sergi Canos ruptured his knee ligaments in January and will miss the rest of the season. Also in January backup LB Albornoz suffered a hip injury and still hasn't returned to training. On-loan DM Sissoko was also crocked in training in January and his loan was terminated. To cover Canos's absence I brought in one-time wonderkid Jacob Murphy from Newcastle for £2.3m, and recalled young Dominic Thompson from loan for cover at LB.

Other problems included the fact that I hadn't spotted that RB Henrik Dalsgaard had a transfer to Lech arranged, prompting the panic loan of Middlesbrough youngster Djed Spence. And finally, star prospect Brian Mbueno wasn't happy with the team's performance and didn't believe I could transform our fortunes. When RB Leipzig made a transfer offer he demanded a move and eventually left for £10.5m. With no good options available on the transfer or loan markets, I promoted on-loan youngster Valgeir Valgeirsson, who has done pretty well.

So it hasn't been a trouble-free start to life at Brentford, but with the tactic now bedding in it's a question of seeing how much further progress can be made. If we don't make the playoffs I fear my job might be on the line; if we do, we might have an outside chance of sneaking a promotion.

 

[Jogo Bonito]

@warlock Nice work there. Doing well to be in 6th especially with a lack of goals from Toney and Forss and a few of your other issues. It looks like you're enjoying it and that's all that matters.

I've been looking around at some databases with transfers/promotions etc. I'm impressed by the time and effort the creators put in to them, but haven't been tempted in yet. What it has done is give me plenty of time to look through clubs and squads that I could be managing in FM22. From that I think I have identified a League 2 team (never managed), a good number of League 1 teams (most of them never managed) and a handful of Championship teams (mostly new ones) so the research has been worthwhile. I've already got some other European clubs shortlisted too.

In the meantime, I may take on my first French save of this version. I found a team that I haven't managed before and I've done a couple of edits in the 21.4 database to move some sold and unwanted players out, and add some of their 21/22 actual signings in. So it's virtually their 21/22 squad with a couple of differences, starting in the 20/21 season with other teams having their 20/21 squads too (e.g. no Messi).

Edited September 6, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

4 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

It looks like you're enjoying it

I was, but... we'll come back to that!

4 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I may take on my first French save of this version

That sounds promising. I still have fond memories of your L'Orient save last year and how you inspired me to a good save with RC Lens. It should not go unmentioned that since I got Lens promoted, the team was so inspired that they repeated the success in real life. Fact .

As for Brentford, this late in FM21 I've developed a bad habit of simply abandoning saves without a final notice so let's tie this one up... We managed to secure a playoff place and faced Forest in our opening round of games, first tie at our place. An even game we eventually lost 1-2, but I wasn't too upset - their winning goal was a flukey mistake by Pinnock, so I was confident we could get a result in the away leg. Unfortunately, we played magnificently but couldn't secure a win, game ending 3-3 so Forest took the playoff place after the first result.

Disappointing, but I was happy enough with the season - I'd met the board demands, came within a whisker of progressing, and all from a very tricky starting position. And then the heavens fell. Every single first-team starter was the subject of a non-negotiable low-ball bid, from Raya in goal to Toney up top. I was prepared to lose a couple of players for anything approaching value, and prepared to lose a couple more if we could get a price that would make replacements possible. But these were bids £2-5m below stated value and completely unacceptable. So all were rejected, but with the idea that some improved bids could be accepted.

Every single player went berserk. I couldn't be trusted, I was sabotaging their careers, nothing I suggested was acceptable. I've had player rebellions before but nothing on this scale. I can kinda sorta understand it... morale and player confidence had been an issue since I took over, but I was still taken aback by the ferocity of it.

So I binned it, and holidayed again to January 6, got Stoke City and decided I'd done enough Championship saves this year - just couldn't face another 6 months of wet Tuesday nights in Stoke . 

But, the lovely MrsW and I spent a tremendous week in the south of Spain week before last, and I remembered a conversation we had a while ago about saves in Spain. So my alter-ego is now the new manager of Malaga. Started this morning and enjoying it enormously - interesting club with a very challenging recent history. I'll probably update in the appropriate sub-forum here.

Hope you get into that French save 

 

Edited September 6, 2021 by warlock