FM21: The English Football League thread

[robterrace]

31 minutes ago, dozzie said:

Lastly, just wanted to share some advice, that I'd imagine most people may have worked out for themselves, but it took me longer than it should do to so... in League 2, your scouts are average, and not very numerous, so getting a report on a player takes a long time. It is usually quicker to offer the player a trial and within a week you can see their attributes and get a coach report on them to help you decide if you want them or not. I've found it loads quicker than my scouts.

Also, another one. Only pay for the 'Scouting Data Pack' at transfer window time. That way, you can save a little bit of money and your scouts will gain knowledge of players anyway by doing their assignments.

[robterrace]

Right, July 1st, player movement day.

We sold a sell on clause for Ben Wilmot for £1.3m, of which a little bit went on the transfer budget.

A couple of players joined prior to that, joining Ryan Allsop, who had already agreed to come, and Anthony Spyrou.

First to join was former West Brom academy player, Jacob Wakeling, who had been playing at Alvechurch in the Southern Premier Division, scoring 16 goals in 34 games. He'll play as a second choice to Spyrou this coming season.

Next, from Spurs, midfielder Romaine Mundle. He needs some work on his technical skills, but, the pacy midfielder offers will offer a rotation option.

 

On the opening of the full transfer window, all areas were strengthened.

Firstly, young winger, Deese Kasinga-Madia, who had been in the Southern Counties league at Tower Hamlets joined. Hes very raw, and will probably go out on loan for the next 6 months at least, but the scouting report said that he would be a future Championship footballer if given the chance.

A leftfield signing next, as right sided full back, Fábio Faria joins from Maritimo. He was offered to us by his agent, and his obvious dribbling skills, combined with his first touch and acceleration makes him a threat to opponents.

Next to join, and one that we paid £50k for, was former Bolton trainee, Jack Earing. 

He'd spent a couple of seasons at FC Halifax after his release by Bolton, and had impressed with his playmaking ability in the midfield. Despite some of the coaching staff rating him as a fringe player, he has more than enough about him to be in the first team picture from the off.

Another signing joined us from North London. With Belgian goalkeeper Jonathan De Bie arriving from Tottenham Hotspur. The 21 year old is very similar to Ryan Allsop in all of his areas of play, although, the older player is also a couple of inches smaller, and gives up a little bit of bulk in terms of strength.

A second former Norwich trainee joined us, with 21 year old midfielder, Alfie Payne joining for a fee of £!2k from Braintree, who were relegated from the National League South. Whilst not the quickest or strongest, its his ability to create that brings him to us, and hopefully he will show that.

Our habit of picking up young players with something to prove from the Premier League came up in the next two signings, as 19 year old winger, Connor Stanley joins on a free from Manchester United.

Lastly, to bring an imposing presence to the defence that was 5th best in the division in 2020/21, despite finishing 16th, was 
centre half Tunji Akinola. The 22 year old had been in the division last season, putting out a 6.7 rating over 38 games for an Orient side that finished bottom. It wasn't that which attracted us to him, it was his league leading figures in successful tackles, showing a decent ability to read the game.

There were a couple more irons in the fire, but, nothing concrete at this time.

[ScottParker]

I'm halfway through the season on my League One Charlton Athletic save. After a few bumps early on, the lads are flying and unbeaten in 18 games league games. An FA Cup win against Championship side QPR a particular highlight so far.

 

 

Tactics

The inherited Charlton squad had few specialised wingers and lots of CMs since Lee Bowyer plays a diamond. I decided to keep this idea and go wingerless myself. It took a lot of fiddling to get it working but now it's a joy to watch and very satisfying not having to buy expensive wingers. 

Bogle is my top scorer and 2nd in the league for goals. The other strikers have been ok, on-loan Balogun probably the pick of the bunch.

The tactic says gegenpress but it has been edited to a vertical tiki-taka.

 

Transfers In

In the first window I brought in Richard Nartey, who has been excellent at RCB alongside the on-loan Famewo from Norwich. Looking for a more long-term option, I spent 2.1m on Whatmough from Portsmouth. All thanks to some investment from the new owner, Mr. Sandgaard (profile pic).

Given that the wingbacks are the absolute key to a wingerless formation, I've also looked for reinforcements there, bringing in Perry Ng (120k) and Connor Ogilvie (150k) to cover each side. My scouts also picked up Sean Roughan (300k), a 17-year old who looks a great prospect. 

 

Paul Glatzel (ST, ) from Liverpool was also highly recommended by my scouts, and I signed him for 400k. The board aren't happy at this price, however, and we'll have to see how he works out.

Completing the numbers were Shaughnessy (84k), Balogun (loan), Kaylen Hinds (free). I sent back a lot of loans as my squad is very big and I'm having trouble offloading players.

(Anyone else having a major problem with work permits post-Brexit? I lost out on 4 signings because none of them got a permit. Need to have played a % of international games. So basically at this level I can only sign English players. So restrictive.)

The Worst Signing of All-Time

I was delighted to sign Bambo Diaby on a free pre-season. Not cheap wages but good stats and he played very well in the friendlies, but when the season came, he always seemed to be suspended. I thought this must be a bug? But after some googling I discovered this guy has been banned for 2-years on drugs charges. Great signing, eh?

I've tried to offload him but the transfer has always been cancelled because the other team's board notes his suspension. Why didn't mine!?

Plans

I'm hoping to bring in Curtis Jones from Liverpool to ramp up my AM slot, which is not very effective at the moment. I'd also like a better goalkeeper. Next season in the Championship (hopefully) will look to get some better loans in, such as Garner from Man Utd. The Charlton team also has some great youth prospects, particularly Albie Morgan, who will hopefully be pushing on for a first team place. 

Edited December 13, 2020 by ScottParker

[Jogo Bonito]

9 hours ago, dozzie said:

I've just finished my first season on my long-term 'lower league' save at Cambridge Utd. I'd recommend them as a team to take on as the squad is decent, has no glaring holes and expectations are relatively low for the quality in the team. As such, my first season was a huge success, I was challenging for the title until a run of draws late in the season saw me end up 3rd but comfortably clear of the play-offs and promoted.

At the end of the season I let a lot of contracts expire and released a lot of dead wood, anticipating I'd go big on signings to improve the quality of my squad for League 1. Thing is, I hadn't really factored in Brexit and the new work permit rules. I'm finding it frustrating not being able to get those overseas gems I get finding and I can't tell if it's all just taking the fun out of the game, or just giving me a new/kinda-fun challenge to unearth the home-grown talent. It is still frustrating though.

That said, I have somehow managed to sign Brazilian, Julio Vinicius on loan from Gent fresh from finishing top scorer at the U20 World Cup! He just scored twice on his debut in an opening day win. Very excited about this guy!

Lastly, just wanted to share some advice, that I'd imagine most people may have worked out for themselves, but it took me longer than it should do to so... in League 2, your scouts are average, and not very numerous, so getting a report on a player takes a long time. It is usually quicker to offer the player a trial and within a week you can see their attributes and get a coach report on them to help you decide if you want them or not. I've found it loads quicker than my scouts.

I agree their squad looks the most balanced in League 2. Quality for the level, and just the right numbers in each position too. The Brazilian guy looks good, should be exciting. Surprised you got him in view of the foreign player difficulties but should be fun to watch.

[Jogo Bonito]

6 hours ago, ScottParker said:

I'm halfway through the season on my League One Charlton Athletic save. After a few bumps early on, the lads are flying and unbeaten in 18 games league games. An FA Cup win against Championship side QPR a particular highlight so far.

 Tactics

The inherited Charlton squad had few specialised wingers and lots of CMs since Lee Bowyer plays a diamond. I decided to keep this idea and go wingerless myself. It took a lot of fiddling to get it working but now it's a joy to watch and very satisfying not having to buy expensive wingers. 

Bogle is my top scorer and 2nd in the league for goals. The other strikers have been ok, on-loan Balogun probably the pick of the bunch.

Transfers In

In the first window I brought in Richard Nartey, who has been excellent at RCB alongside the on-loan Famewo from Norwich. Looking for a more long-term option, I spent 2.1m on Whatmough from Portsmouth. All thanks to some investment from the new owner, Mr. Sandgaard (profile pic).

Given that the wingbacks are the absolute key to a wingerless formation, I've also looked for reinforcements there, bringing in Perry Ng (120k) and Connor Ogilvie (150k) to cover each side. My scouts also picked up Sean Roughan (300k), a 17-year old who looks a great prospect. 

Paul Glatzel (ST, ) from Liverpool was also highly recommended by my scouts, and I signed him for 400k. The board aren't happy at this price, however, and we'll have to see how he works out.

Completing the numbers were Shaughnessy (84k), Balogun (loan), Kaylen Hinds (free). I sent back a lot of loans as my squad is very big and I'm having trouble offloading players.

(Anyone else having a major problem with work permits post-Brexit? I lost out on 4 signings because none of them got a permit. Need to have played a % of international games. So basically at this level I can only sign English players. So restrictive.)

The Worst Signing of All-Time

I was delighted to sign Bambo Diaby on a free pre-season. Not cheap wages but good stats and he played very well in the friendlies, but when the season came, he always seemed to be suspended. I thought this must be a bug? But after some googling I discovered this guy has been banned for 2-years on drugs charges. Great signing, eh?

I've tried to offload him but the transfer has always been cancelled because the other team's board notes his suspension. Why didn't mine!?

Plans

I'm hoping to bring in Curtis Jones from Liverpool to ramp up my AM slot, which is not very effective at the moment. I'd also like a better goalkeeper. Next season in the Championship (hopefully) will look to get some better loans in, such as Garner from Man Utd. The Charlton team also has some great youth prospects, particularly Albie Morgan, who will hopefully be pushing on for a first team place. 

Doing very well. I've always felt Charlton have a good youth system and now there is finally an owner who seems to care, it's a prime club for progression.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

A terrible October but sort of turned things around and went unbeaten in 6 games and then lose 2 cup games but I played my youth players in them games.

Currently 7th and just keeping myself in the Play Offs. There is only 3 points between Exeter and 2nd place team Colchester so if I get a few wins now it will really help my chances of getting Automatic Promotion.

Ben Seymour continues to get better and better and he mostly plays cup games or comes on as a sub. He has 11 goals in 14 games. I might have him as my main man soon as Bowman has completely dropped off since last season with only 6 goals for the season.

Ben Seymour

Ryan Bowman

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Hopefully another Golden Generation coming through

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Getting there slowly. I am hoping to get into the Play Offs at least. I don't want to go backwards this season.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Another great Youth Intake for Exeter City

Here are some of the standout prospects

Ross Reed 

Rhys Brook

Josh Knight

John Barrett

Lewis Ingham

 

 

[BCFC_Mike]

Evening folks. 

Haven't posted on here for some time, browsed but not posted. Just wanted to share the below.

 

So I started with Bristol City in the Championship. Promoted via 2nd in the first season. The premier league has been a sruggle so far, we find ourselves in 18th entering January. We face QPR next, a team promoted via the playoffs last season, and sit bottom of the league, ever since day one I believe! However, they have won 2 of their last 3 league games and beating us would lift them off the bottom and out of the relegation zone. Us, on the other hand.. We started with 3 wins in our opening 4 league games, and we haven't won since. So this game at QPR is massive to say the least...

It's Half time......

What on earth? I literally sat back and just watched in shock, as my team seam to put away every chance that came our way. I didn't change anything too drastically tactically (I can get a screen grab of this if anyone would like). Main change was they couldn't score for **** outside the box, so (attempted) to limit their chances within the area by closing down quicker. (they actually had 9 attempts inside the box in the first half, so this failed.) Everything else, pretty bog standard to what we've been doing all season. 

The R's lineup had no real surprises within it, all their defence are experienced in the league this season...

 

Just a bit stumped to be honest. Been trying to get this side to perform for a while now, seemed we were only headed in one direction, then bang, A total collapse on QPR's front? Seen to this extent before? 

 

Anyway, thought I'd share haha.

 

Just in case

Edited December 13, 2020 by BCFC_Mike

[BCFC_Mike]

FT, 8-0.

No words. AND we got played off the park.

. 

[Jogo Bonito]

@BCFC_MikeIncredible stuff. It looks like he was a Forss to be reckoned with on the day...

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I managed to scrape into the play offs. It wasn't looking good but the last game of the league season I managed to get into the play offs. 

I got AFC Wimbledon in the Play Off semis.

[Brutalyouth]

My First Season Update a little later in season as i am engrossed in this save already enjoying it alot

Thing it safe to say gegenpress is my friend so far playing some lovely football at the moment tho im sure the bubble will burst and the inevitable mid season wobble will be due

 

Couple Of stand out players below

 

[robterrace]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@BCFC_MikeIncredible stuff. It looks like he was a Forss to be reckoned with on the day...

[Ronaldo Beckham]

So far so good as I bet AFC Wimbledon 1-0

[Ronaldo Beckham]

My game crashed just before the 2nd leg so I had to play the 1st leg again but luckily I won 3-0 this time. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I won 1-0 in the 2nd leg so I am going to Wembley and hopefully this time I will go up.

I got Gillingham in the final.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I have done it. I got promoted at my 2nd attempt. 

It was very tense in 90 minutes. It ended 0-0 and had to go to Extra time. 

I was prepared for Penalties but luckily super sub Ben Seymour scored in the 96th Minute and then my team defended for their life.

Boys turned into men on this day.

End Of Season Review

Ryan Bowman and Ben Seymour were the reasons I got promoted with their goals. Bowman started slow but hit form at the right time and ended with 18 goals for the season and super sub Ben Seymour will go down as a club legend after his Play Off final goal. Seymour managed to score 15 goals.

Ryan Bowman

Ben Seymour

Edited December 13, 2020 by Ronaldo Beckham

[Brutalyouth]

@Ronaldo BeckhamCongratulations all the best in league 1

[Ronaldo Beckham]

4 minutes ago, Brutalyouth said:

@Ronaldo BeckhamCongratulations all the best in league 1

Cheers buddy much appreciated.

[Jogo Bonito]

9 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I have done it. I got promoted at my 2nd attempt. 

It was very tense in 90 minutes. It ended 0-0 and had to go to Extra time. 

I was prepared for Penalties but luckily super sub Ben Seymour scored in the 96th Minute and then my team defended for their life.

Boys turned into men on this day.

Excellent, well done and good luck in League 1. Stick to your guns and hopefully your youngsters will rise to the challenge.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Just now, Jogo Bonito said:

Excellent, well done and good luck in League 1. Stick to your guns and hopefully your youngsters will rise to the challenge.

Yeah there is some good youngsters coming through. Not many of them have played much but I am slowly putting them in there. 

There is a strong core of good young players that started there like Joel Randall, Randell Williams, Lewis Ward and Archie Collins but you then have players like Jordan Lewis, Geoff Llewelyn and Thomas Dier. 

Jordan Lewis

Geoff Llewellyn

Thomas Dier

 

[warlock]

4 hours ago, BCFC_Mike said:

FT, 8-0.

Sometimes these things can't be explained. But it gives me hope for Forss in the second season - he's only shown glimpses of his ability in season 1 at Brentford.

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I got promoted at my 2nd attempt

Well played . And I'll add my best wishes for your promoted season ahead!

[robterrace]

3 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@BCFC_MikeIncredible stuff. It looks like he was a Forss to be reckoned with on the day...

I'm actually disappointed you didn't use this quote instead..

[Jogo Bonito]

It's been a good start to life in League 2 with Oxford

Apart from the odd Cup loss, only Crawley have beaten me and that was after they came back from 2-0 down after 81 minutes to win 3-2

After pre-season and a tough opener at Walsall, I changed from a 442 diamond to a 532 formation which makes much better use of my assets

In fact, the Cheltenham game was a 352 with the wing backs pushed up, but I dropped it back to a 532 for the string of away games early on

Generally I switch between the two depending on home or away, personnel or opposition but mainly go with 532

The starting X1 is pretty well fixed when everyone is available, but I rotate for Carabao Cup & Pointless Pizza games as I have capable understudies to call on

In one league game (home to Bradford) I struggled to break them down so ended with those wing backs at AML & AMR in an  odd 332(wide) 2 formation - but it worked!

Next up is the A420 Derby as my team make the short trip to Swindon who are in 3rd just behind Plymouth (the top three were all relegated last season)

Finances are holding up, but I'm now marginally over the budget after just recruiting free agent Jake Hesketh who had not found a club since Southampton released him

I had to de-register one player and the unlucky man was Jamie Hanson who got injured again just as he was about to return to the squad

Knowing that Matty Taylor would be off in January, I have agreed to sign striker Max Watters on loan from Crawley to take his place from 1st January

I'd already marked him down as a possible future transfer, but then he scored two against me in the league loss to Crawley a few weeks ago

The reason I have gone for a loan is that he is out of contract in the summer, so if he does well I intend to have him signed up permanently ahead of next season

I've also agreed a deal to sign out of contract left-back Amari'i Bell as I'd rather have my own men than loan players - but I won't be able to register or play him if I proceed

I'm weighing up whether to sign him now and leave him unregistered until January, or risk losing him and see what happens between now and then

Edited December 13, 2020 by Jogo Bonito

[Ronaldo Beckham]

13 minutes ago, warlock said:

Well played . And I'll add my best wishes for your promoted season ahead!

Cheers buddy. I am just hoping to not get relegated in the season ahead.

[warlock]

54 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

It's been a good start to life in League 2 with Oxford

Good going there - top of the league and with a healthy GD. All that registering/deregistering/not registering business sounds like a complication you could do without, but you seem to be managing 

[Jogo Bonito]

3 minutes ago, warlock said:

Good going there - top of the league and with a healthy GD. All that registering/deregistering/not registering business sounds like a complication you could do without, but you seem to be managing 

Cheers! I am promotion favourites, so I am only matching the expectations of media, bookies, board and fans. If it tails off, I might be under big pressure.

It is a pain and I also know that if I wasn't in the BETA, I would be allowed to have 22 players registered which would be perfect. To be fair, having 22 players including my two young ones is enough, but it's hard to improve some parts of the squad when opportunities come up.

With Hesketh and (soon) Watters arriving from Crawley, I am at least killing any need to manage them properly in FM21. That only leaves a small number of actual League 2 clubs on my (short-ish) list. Plus League 1 and Championship ones, obviously. Enjoying the 532 with Oxford so far though.

[warlock]

Defence still getting it done at Brentford:

[Jogo Bonito]

17 minutes ago, warlock said:

Defence still getting it done at Brentford:

Incredible! Brentford really are consistent for you. Still not getting a tune out of Toney?

[warlock]

1 minute ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Still not getting a tune out of Toney?

He'd just started to recover a bit of form with 3 goals in 6 starts, then got himself a straight red for a ridiculous (and pointless) lunge so he's currently suspended for 3 games . But we have started to find the net more regularly:

The good news is that Norwich have started dropping points again, so we're currently 2nd and just 3pts behind them. Not quite so good is the fact that we  can't shake off Bristol City, Blackburn and Bournemouth - we're ahead of City only on GD, and just 3pts ahead of the other two. Tight as a gnat's proverbial...

We're away at Norwich in the first game of March so the season could hinge on that!

[Jogo Bonito]

1 minute ago, warlock said:

He'd just started to recover a bit of form with 3 goals in 6 starts, then got himself a straight red for a ridiculous (and pointless) lunge so he's currently suspended for 3 games . But we have started to find the net more regularly:

The good news is that Norwich have started dropping points again, so we're currently 2nd and just 3pts behind them. Not quite so good is the fact that we  can't shake off Bristol City, Blackburn and Bournemouth - we're ahead of City only on GD, and just 3pts ahead of the other two. Tight as a gnat's proverbial...

We're away at Norwich in the first game of March so the season could hinge on that!

Oops, Ivan The Terrible! Going great guns though, best of luck for Norwich and the run-in. I'm done for today, will catch up on things tomorrow night.

[karanhsingh]

On 13/12/2020 at 07:14, robterrace said:

Also, another one. Only pay for the 'Scouting Data Pack' at transfer window time. That way, you can save a little bit of money and your scouts will gain knowledge of players anyway by doing their assignments.

Yes, the trial thing is a good tip too. works with a lot of players.

On 13/12/2020 at 10:05, ScottParker said:

I'm halfway through the season on my League One Charlton Athletic save. After a few bumps early on, the lads are flying and unbeaten in 18 games league games. An FA Cup win against Championship side QPR a particular highlight so far.

 

 

Tactics

The inherited Charlton squad had few specialised wingers and lots of CMs since Lee Bowyer plays a diamond. I decided to keep this idea and go wingerless myself. It took a lot of fiddling to get it working but now it's a joy to watch and very satisfying not having to buy expensive wingers. 

Bogle is my top scorer and 2nd in the league for goals. The other strikers have been ok, on-loan Balogun probably the pick of the bunch.

The tactic says gegenpress but it has been edited to a vertical tiki-taka.

 

Transfers In

In the first window I brought in Richard Nartey, who has been excellent at RCB alongside the on-loan Famewo from Norwich. Looking for a more long-term option, I spent 2.1m on Whatmough from Portsmouth. All thanks to some investment from the new owner, Mr. Sandgaard (profile pic).

Given that the wingbacks are the absolute key to a wingerless formation, I've also looked for reinforcements there, bringing in Perry Ng (120k) and Connor Ogilvie (150k) to cover each side. My scouts also picked up Sean Roughan (300k), a 17-year old who looks a great prospect. 

 

Paul Glatzel (ST, ) from Liverpool was also highly recommended by my scouts, and I signed him for 400k. The board aren't happy at this price, however, and we'll have to see how he works out.

Completing the numbers were Shaughnessy (84k), Balogun (loan), Kaylen Hinds (free). I sent back a lot of loans as my squad is very big and I'm having trouble offloading players.

(Anyone else having a major problem with work permits post-Brexit? I lost out on 4 signings because none of them got a permit. Need to have played a % of international games. So basically at this level I can only sign English players. So restrictive.)

The Worst Signing of All-Time

I was delighted to sign Bambo Diaby on a free pre-season. Not cheap wages but good stats and he played very well in the friendlies, but when the season came, he always seemed to be suspended. I thought this must be a bug? But after some googling I discovered this guy has been banned for 2-years on drugs charges. Great signing, eh?

I've tried to offload him but the transfer has always been cancelled because the other team's board notes his suspension. Why didn't mine!?

Plans

I'm hoping to bring in Curtis Jones from Liverpool to ramp up my AM slot, which is not very effective at the moment. I'd also like a better goalkeeper. Next season in the Championship (hopefully) will look to get some better loans in, such as Garner from Man Utd. The Charlton team also has some great youth prospects, particularly Albie Morgan, who will hopefully be pushing on for a first team place. 

Interesting tactic, do you get enough width from the full backs? or do the strikers pull into the channels too?

In fact, same question for @Jogo Bonito - rare to see a flat back 5.

11 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@BCFC_MikeIncredible stuff. It looks like he was a Forss to be reckoned with on the day...

Oh my...

5 hours ago, warlock said:

He'd just started to recover a bit of form with 3 goals in 6 starts, then got himself a straight red for a ridiculous (and pointless) lunge so he's currently suspended for 3 games . But we have started to find the net more regularly:

The good news is that Norwich have started dropping points again, so we're currently 2nd and just 3pts behind them. Not quite so good is the fact that we  can't shake off Bristol City, Blackburn and Bournemouth - we're ahead of City only on GD, and just 3pts ahead of the other two. Tight as a gnat's proverbial...

We're away at Norwich in the first game of March so the season could hinge on that!

Sounds like it's going to be a very tight finish! Best of luck.

And good work to the others too, @Ronaldo Beckham congratulations on getting promoted without any downloaded tactics, bet it feels a whole lot better!

[karanhsingh]

Derby County 2021-22 End of Season Update

First, the FA Cup. Quarter final draw.

After already playing Arsenal and Liverpool, I felt this was a bit harsh! Especially when you see the other teams left. What made it worse is that we would not be able to play our top scorer Delap who was contracted to Man City.

We fought hard, but ultimately fell short. No dream trip to Wembley this season. Still, a great run!

Now the remaining fixtures:

We were not as consistent after we won promotion but still the best team in the league. Highlight being that 8-0 thrashing of poor Reading.

We got promoted on 12th March - that must be some sort of record.

The final table makes for great reading. We also smashed the record for most points in the Championship - the previous best was 106 by Reading in 2006-07.

As you can see, Delap finished top scorer with a whopping 34 goals (so glad we get to keep him another year), while Whittaker & Laird led the assist charts. Clarke was fantastic at the back again. 

Squad stats ordered by appearance. Its difficult to pick a few players out because they were all phenomenal. I will be reviewing the Derby youth academy players in a bit separately.

[karanhsingh]

Club Updates

We got a very solid intake this season - great in terms of potential but not so much in terms of current ability. We may have to wait some time, but I reckon a fair few can break into the first team in the future.

I will post individual screenshots in the following post.

Can't complain much about the budget, but notably it is less than we got for staying in the Championship 

Very happy to see the Board continuing to invest in the facilities, they should be up to a world class level by next season.

Even happier that we are expanding Pride Park as well, with an average attendance of approx. 30k it was consistently over 90% full last season and the 2nd highest average in the division after Leeds. I wonder if this will now be at full capacity. Guess @Stuniversemay know.

New club vision is here as well, and all looks good.

Finally, we have already decided to spend 60% of our entire budget on a player we probably didn't really need...

But I couldn't resist the chance to bring him back. My thinking is that we surely can't keep Laird here long-term so we will need a new RB sooner or later.

I can now put out a fairly solid outfield 10 of only Derby academy players.

RB - Bogle
DC - J. Brown
DC - Buchanan
DL - A. Brown
DM - Bird
MC - Knight
MC - Sibley
AMR - Hughes
AML - Whittaker
SC - Delap

PS - if anyone is interested in player specific screenshots, posting those in the Derby thread as I don't want to clog this one up.

Edited December 14, 2020 by karanhsingh

[Stuniverse]

39 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Even happier that we are expanding Pride Park as well, with an average attendance of approx. 30k it was consistently over 90% full last season and the 2nd highest average in the division after Leeds. I wonder if this will now be at full capacity. Guess @Stuniversemay know.

The official capacity of Pride Park Stadium is 33,597 seats.

Source: The official Derby County site https://www.dcfc.co.uk/page/pride-park-stadium.

In FM21 we have set the used capacity at 32,983 due to seats being lost to provide segregation between home and away fans.

Edited December 14, 2020 by Stuniverse

[karanhsingh]

3 minutes ago, Stuniverse said:

The official capacity of Pride Park Stadium is 33,597 seats.

Source: The official Derby County site https://www.dcfc.co.uk/page/pride-park-stadium.

In FM21 we have set the used capacity at 32,983 due to seats being lost to provide segregation between home and away fans.

Sorry, I meant what the total maximum expansion capacity is in the FM database - which we cannot see. But I believe there is a hard-coded figure for each stadium?

[Stuniverse]

3 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Sorry, I meant what the total maximum expansion capacity is in the FM database - which we cannot see. But I believe there is a hard-coded figure for each stadium?

LOL... no worries. I don't know what that has been to set to, @karanhsingh. Sports Interactive would know, obviously, but I doubt it's something they'd make public.

Edited December 14, 2020 by Stuniverse

[MaxeyN17]

PETERBOROUGH UNITED - 2021/22 SEASON REVIEW

What a debut season in the Championship. And a bit of a spoiler here, our debut season will be our only season in the Championship.

We hit form at just the right time of the season, winning eight of our last 10 league games to get the last play-off place. We beat West Brom 8-5 on aggregate in the semi-final (a 5-2 home win and a 3-3 away draw) before defeating Hull 2-0 in the final with a fantastic performance. The first half of the season was a bit of a slog, we really couldn't put together any kind of run. This was probably my own fault as I carried on with Gayle and Austin up front, despite the managing a massive three goals between them. Once I switch to a 4231 with Clarke-Harris leading the line and Dembele and Obafemi out wide, we started to play a lot better. 

The Premier League is a whole different level and I really do expect us to struggle without some major improvements. Darragh has given me a £35m transfer budget and a £440k p/w wage budget so the money is there, but I have to spend it wisely. 

My player of the season - Michael Obafemi. 16 goals from the right wing was such a massive contribution to our success, hopefully I can get him back for another season at least!

[Ronaldo Beckham]

3 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Yes, the trial thing is a good tip too. works with a lot of players.

Interesting tactic, do you get enough width from the full backs? or do the strikers pull into the channels too?

In fact, same question for @Jogo Bonito - rare to see a flat back 5.

Oh my...

Sounds like it's going to be a very tight finish! Best of luck.

And good work to the others too, @Ronaldo Beckham congratulations on getting promoted without any downloaded tactics, bet it feels a whole lot better!

Yeah I do. I am enjoying the Exeter journey.

[Dong21]

I have just finished and summarised my first season with Oldham (over in the FM Career Updates section) if anyone fancies taking a look:

 

Edited December 14, 2020 by Dong21

[warlock]

@karanhsingh Fantastic season - 112pts .

@MaxeyN17 Congrats - a single season in the Championship is an impressive result.

Good luck to you both in the PL.

@Dong21 Well done, mate! Looks like you came through a tough end to the season with flying colours. I have no doubt you'll do well in L1 - I've never found much difference in quality (Top 6 excepted) between the two leagues.

[Mackem742]

Well my start to life in the Premier League has been average to say the least. Got off to a cracking start in the opening game but then plummeted down to 18th. Results so far:

Cardiff (H) 3-1 win
Brighton (A) 2-0 loss
Stoke (H) 3-2 win (Cup)
Leeds (H) 1-0 loss
Leicester (A) 2-0 loss
Man Utd (H) 1-0 loss
Swansea (H) 3-0 win (Cup)
West Brom (A) 0-0 (Went down to 10 men so happy enough with a point)
Northampton (H) 3-0 win (Cup)
Fulham (A) 1-0 win
Newcastle (H) 1-0 win 

 

I stopped playing after the Newcastle game because of the stress of it all 

Currently 13th in the league so bang average so far. Hopefully the last 2 wins will give us some momentum to kick on. However my next game is Arsenal away.

[Jogo Bonito]

Nice updates all, with success everywhere I look. 

@karanhsingh Great to see Bogle back and a full Academy bunch. I had the same ideas with Derby in FM20 but never really got going with it. Reading are the closest I can get to trying that in FM21 so will give them a go soon. As for the width in my 532 - yes, the wing backs give good width and crossing numbers, the underlapping midfield trio also seem to support the two strikers well.

[karanhsingh]

21 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Nice updates all, with success everywhere I look. 

@karanhsingh Great to see Bogle back and a full Academy bunch. I had the same ideas with Derby in FM20 but never really got going with it. Reading are the closest I can get to trying that in FM21 so will give them a go soon. As for the width in my 532 - yes, the wing backs give good width and crossing numbers, the underlapping midfield trio also seem to support the two strikers well.

Thanks! Could Reading put out a whole academy 11? Who would it have? 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

5 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Thanks! Could Reading put out a whole academy 11? Who would it have? 

I managed to do a very successful youth only save with Reading on FM2020 so I think it can be done.

Edited December 14, 2020 by Ronaldo Beckham

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I am going to have a break from my Exeter save as I fancy doing a season or 2 with Wolfsburg so I will be posting my progress with them in the new Bundesliga thread. 

I will be back with Exeter soon though as I have unfinished business with them.

[reptile]

Gillingham Season 1 . Just survived relegation on the last day of the season, also just kept my Job 

 

Season 2 . I managed to win the league on the last day of the season on goal diff. Mainly thanks to goals from Niall Ennis(loan) and Zach clough.