[FM21] BackTheBulls - Jersey Bulls: a charge into the football league

[Sonic Youth]

A couple of good updates, and a really good chance of finishing top this season 

[Jtomsett11]

Youth intake 2030

An interesting intake. The top few are real prospects and the overall average attribute score has grown by 3, but the number of useful players I'll sign has decreased. Although I'd normally sign as many as possible with the hope they'll grow into useful players, I'm also mindful that we're expecting to keep getting better as a side so some of these are never going to make it.

[Jtomsett11]

Past players

I keep a shortlist of all the players who've left us in a sale, or on a free but have then done quite well. Dawkins left us a few years ago for £5k compensation, so we receive none of this fee, but he's the first Jersey-born player to play in the USA which is an achievement of the club even if he isn't with us anymore.

[Jtomsett11]

April, May and start June 2030

This has been a torrid period.

The two home games I felt were key. We drew 0-0 with Sutton and lost 0-1 to Halifax.

Telford did little better, but suddenly Colchester were breathing down our necks with Cheltenham on the same points but havign played a game more. Solihull could also close the gap.

We then won our next two games, including a double from Farmer who kept up his superb tally for the season. Despite this, I find I can't completely rely on him and he's often very poor in games. 

Colchester had dropped 2 points and Telford 3, so our home game against Colchester would be vital. A draw or, preferably, a win would keep us on track. A loss would see us all very tight again.

Unlucky you might say, but another home defeat. 3 home games in a row without scoring.

The next game, we all win. 

Three games to go. The next game against Torquay, we can only manage a draw.

Telford draw, but Colchester win. We're down to second place!

Home to Oldham and then away against Stevenage. Surely we can make up a point?

No, no we can't. What is happening to our home form?! That's it, we can't win the title. We end the season with a soul crushing defeat to Stevenage. 

I can't even begin to describe how disappointing this is. 

We've actually scored more goals and conceded less than last year, but have 6 less points. We don't deserve promotion and I'm not positive at all about our chances in the play-offs!

 

 

[Jtomsett11]

Play-offs 2030

I spent about 30 minutes tinkering with tactics, and then abandoned it all. My thoughts were that we'd got this far on these tactics and we're just suffering a blip and inconsistency from not having a legendary striker up front anymore. We've arguably improved many other areas of our squad, but not having that player who will regularly score 2,3 or 4 goals makes a huge difference. Let's keep the faith and our fingers crossed.

We're into the play-off final. A comprehensive win.

It's AFC Telford in the final. 

I click on 'instant result'. I can barely look at the screen as the result loads.

I see the result. 

I'm gutted, but not surprised. We've not been good enough at the end of this season.

But wait! I take a second glance. We're not the home team in this final... we're the away team!

We've only gone and bloody done it! 

We deserve it too on the balance of the game. 2-0 up, pegged back and we still go and win it. 

We are in to the Football League! Honestly, after the last few games, it's shear relief more than joy.

 

[Jtomsett11]

Promotion plans

Now, this is where things get interesting. 

That's not going to work, board of directors. We won't be able to sign any players before the season starts. What's more, we have 42 days until the season starts and my players haven't even gone on holiday yet. 

That's better!

1 day holiday lads - enjoy! I'd actually already sent them on two weeks immediately for those who I could, so hopefully we won't be having jaded issues all next year. I think we'll just try to get through it and survive in League Two and begin again next summer with a full break and pre-season.

Glad the board think we'll do well just to survive!

With that sorted I can do some analysis of last season, although I've accidentally gone through the reset date as it was the day after the final, so my analysis may be limited!

 

[Jtomsett11]

End of season review part 1

10 seasons in to this save, we've had 6 promotions and are in to the football league. It's an unqualified success. To turn professional with £2.4million in the bank is incredible as it gives us such a good platform to progress from. Add to that the improvement in our facilities and we're a club on the rise. 

We only had 6 Jersey-born players in the TOTY this year, which is a reduction and is based on my use of transfers to help us compensate for the loss of Geddes. I doubt we'll not make transfers this summer, but we may also promote some youth players to maintain the balance. Next year is about survival, and we'll have to deal with not having Stow-Tricker and Toomer as neither seems to want to join us on loan again. Early signs are most of my best young players will sign on professional deals for around £18-30k a year, which is very reasonable. We are going to be saying goodbye to quite a few players who I know weren't good enough for non-league last season let alone this season. It's going to be a very short but interesting pre-season!

 

[Jtomsett11]

End of season 2029/30 player performances

The reduction in numbers here across the board (apart from Brooking who took every set-piece under the sun it seems) show our overall drop in output, but perhaps a greater reliance on the team.

You can see here 4 players got into double figures for goals, with two more on 9 and 7. That's a much greater spread than last year. 

Goalkeepers

Gordon isn't as good as Boardman, but he's not miles off. His 17 goals conceded can be explained in that he played in cup games mainly where we got beaten heavily (8 goals in two games) when we went out. I may need an upgrade on one of them next year, and as Gordon is younger, he's the more likely to stay.

Defenders

Bondswell is by far our best defender. He's come on drastically the last two years. Hudson only played 8 games, but apart from him Bondswell is the best at intercepting and heading the ball. Hudson is likely to be released despite his decent stats as he wants a stupid amount of money to be retained. He also really struggled to tackle people last season and I watched some highlights where his missed tackles led to goals.

Tallack and Ransom are decent players with the former having a lot of potential. Decent ratings without scoring loads of goals: I don't have many complaints!

Holder and Fitton are clear first choices on their respective sides. Matondo may be retained as a backup, but Colbran has had a shocker. Mackenzie is more of a CB than a LB, but he did OK in his 3 games. He'll get game time going forward.

Midfield

Powell's injury meant Knill played a load of games at DLP and ended up with similar key passes and chances created. I didn't give Robbins enough game time as Edwards was very effective at the destroyer role, but looking at the stats Robbins is still better at tackling and intercepting, while his ability in the air is also key. I perhaps need to have more faith in him!

Attackers

I've grouped them all this year, because Kalantari and Anderson were the only two who only played up front! Toomer, Stow-Tricker and Farmer all played out on the wing and up front. 

Starting with those who played any time on the wing, Pennell still frustrates me but his output was the best alongside Brooking, who had the advantage of taking set-pieces. Stow-Tricker and Farmer may have ended up playing a lot up front, but many of their goals came from the wings. Stow-Tricker moves on now, but Farmer I need to get my head around. He doesn't appear to have grown as much as the others (I'll find out when I look at attribute growth) but his goal scoring record is superb. Do I just need to commit to him being my main advanced forward?

Behind them, Tierney had a disrupted season and Harrop played well in fits and starts and will get more game time next year. Williams is on his way out as we need better back up. Toomer was much more effective as a DLF still, and is the one I may be able to get back on loan. We will see. 

Kalantari is arguably the more successful of my summer striker transfers. He creates and scores goals and his physicals are improving. I've got hope they could improve a little more to make him a useful option at League Two. Anderson had good spells, but towards the end looked less and less like getting goals, so much so that I relied on Farmer and Stow-Tricker. I may not renew his contract but keep him on the books until I can sign someone better perhaps. 

 

[Sonic Youth]

Congrats on promotion 

A fingers over the eyes approach to the final though 

It was also great timing by your board to make the club professional 

With extra coaches and better coaching, I think the players you have should be better next season.

How many clubs will be semi-pro next season?

[deltablue]

Good luck as a Football League team.

[Jtomsett11]

On 29/09/2021 at 05:36, Sonic Youth said:

Congrats on promotion 

A fingers over the eyes approach to the final though 

It was also great timing by your board to make the club professional 

With extra coaches and better coaching, I think the players you have should be better next season.

How many clubs will be semi-pro next season?

Yes, I genuinely couldn't watch as I wasn't sure we'd get out of the league next year without Toomer and Stow-Tricker. I think all the club are pro, we're definitely at the bottom of the list regarding wages!

7 hours ago, deltablue said:

Good luck as a Football League team.

Thank you!

[Jtomsett11]

Attribute analysis June 2030

Goalkeepers

Gordon has made good progress this season, but he needs more game time going forward. Majernik may benefit from a loan this season coming. The question is, do I pump for Gordon to start, accepting the inevitable goals we'll concede, or keep Boardman as no.1, or find another keeper? I'm not sure on this one.

Centre backs

The continued growth of Bondswell and Tallack is great and along with Ransom we have 3 solid CBs. I will try and bring in another as Robbins mainly plays BWM and Sharp isn't quite there yet. Woozley has earnt a new contract on the back of his growth from this season. I will try and get a loan for him I think.

Full backs

Fitton seems to be hitting a plateau, but that may be due to part time non-league football, so he should see a boost this season coming. Holder's growth has been excellent again. I'm going to promote Howell's as number 2 LB as he has potential to grow. I may try and bring in a replacement for Matondo as he wasn't as strong last season.

Ball winning midfielders

Robbins is my clear first choice, although Edwards did well on loan and they split appearances last year. I'm not sure if we'll bring him back in yet. Long term prospects such as Barzey and Clarke may get game time next year depending if we bring in others. From experience we need 5-6 players capable of playing in midfield throughout the season.

Deep lying playmakers

Powell was our first choice for much of last year only to get injured and allow Knill another run at the spot that he's never quite made his own. However, Larkin's development on loan has been nothing short of phenomenal. He's improved technically and physically and I'm hopeful he can play a role this year. For that reason we may not keep Edwards on loan as he's unlikely to be first choice in either midfield role. 

Wingers

Our best two wingers are the two leaving us. They won't sign back on loan, so that's that! Brooking and Harrop have come on significantly on the left and right respectively, but on the right it's likely that Tierney or Pennell will start. Rowlands may get some time on the left and we also have Farmer, the scorer of many goals but also hugely inconsistent. 

Deep lying forwards

The question is, without Toomer can we rely on Kalantari in this role? He improved last year, especially physically, but I'm not sure he's quite good enough. Nobody else is anywhere near ready; we need another DLF for sure.

Advanced forward

We've changed this role from a poacher as it proved more effective later in the season.

Our top three players are leaving or playing another role! Farmer is perhaps the best option on this list, which tells me we need another advanced forward! Anderson we will keep until better players come in!

[Jtomsett11]

Some may have noticed that I've cut the squad quite a bit. 

This was in addition to two huge exits from our top two appearance holders. No room for nostalgia here!

[Sonic Youth]

Nice run down.

I was going to mention that your squad looks a little slim in places but you said why.

The forward line has looked trim since Geddes left.

How many games in League 2? Do you think you have enough squad depth?

 I was thinking if your not sure which of your ’keeper’s are best, they are all probably not as good as you’d like.

Looks a busy off/pre-season ahead!

[Jtomsett11]

5 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Nice run down.

I was going to mention that your squad looks a little slim in places but you said why.

The forward line has looked trim since Geddes left.

How many games in League 2? Do you think you have enough squad depth?

 I was thinking if your not sure which of your ’keeper’s are best, they are all probably not as good as you’d like.

Looks a busy off/pre-season ahead!

Hopefully I've managed to address the forward line and goalkeeper now ahead of the season. I'm definitely still short at CB and a lot of players have turned me down to go to Vanarama National for more wages! 

[Jtomsett11]

10 year update

Now, bearing in mind I made most leagues inactive except England to allow for all the extra lower leagues in play, this is how the top leagues and competitions have played out so far.

International football

Incredible from Jamaica! I checked and they've not even got any decent regens!

European continental competitions

No real surprises here due to the English slant on competitions loaded. Celtic winning the Europa League is pretty big though! 

Top European leagues

The big one here is Tottenham bettering their third place finish last year by winning the championship this year! Otherwise it's still mostly been Man City dominating. 

Jersey Bulls 10 year team

Our overall best 11. Fitton, Robbins, Knill. They're the only ones left from this team. One of them should break Hudson's appearance record this or next season.

[Jtomsett11]

Pre-season 2030/31

Another costly extension by very few seats was announced to comply with league rules. I'm not sure if it'll be all seats or some terracing now. Either way this is probably big enough for us for a few years!

Transfers

We lose Tierney. I'm not too bothered, as he had a horrible injury hit season last year and wasn't going to be first choice on either flank. For £900k I can't say no. It includes a 50% sell on fee, but not a loan back. This is him before he goes.

Something very strange also happened with Toomer. He joined Watford and was immediately sold for £300k to Millwall. Ridiculous considering they paid £1.8million for him! I bag another £150k as a result. 

Now for incomings, and you won't have failed to notice Burgess rejoins. Considering we sold our 50% clause for £827k a year ago, to get him for £10k is very good. 

To be honest, he's not really improved since he left us. However, we're very short up front and he will get game time as a DLF, and maybe there's some more potential to get out of him. 

Our other signings include a keeper, a left winger and an advanced forward.

This means our first team now looks like this:

Now there is an obvious and big gap at CB. I'm looking to solve that ASAP. Our backup LB and RB are also particularly suspect. We do have some young RBs and Howell should improve this season, so I'm taking a gamble. Overall however, I'm relatively happy. We've doubled our wage spending but almost everyone is on a professional contract now including staff. We'll see how this affects finances; we may need to do a sale every year depending on income from cups and ticket sales etc. 

We're predicted 18th by the media, which I'd be happy with!

We've also linked up with Man United as a feeder club, but they haven't sent us any loans yet. I'm hopeful this will benefit us a little over the next few seasons.

[Jtomsett11]

August 2030

We managed to find a CB who can also play at RB and potentially LB as he's left footed.

I like his mentals, especially his driven nature, team work and work rate. He signs for free and on a low wage. He scores 67.85 at CB and 64.67 at RB/LB so a great signing to bolster the squad.

We had a bit of a tough start, but did get a win after 3 games.

Turner-Cooke doing the business!

All in all, very pleased with the month. We've shown we're unlikely to be relegated and that's all that matters really. The fact we've won 2 games away is also really positive. 

The only downside is our promotion is going to cost us financially.

We're spending way more on staff now, and our youth costs have increased significantly now we're a full time outfit. If we lose this sort of money over the year, we'll need to sell roughly £2.5 million worth of players a year. Alternatively, we need to increase our attendances and have some good cup runs. Ultimately, I'm running the club well below the wage budget so I'll just keep doing what I'm doing and accept selling players. The only issue is it does hold back the Jersey-born aim as if we sell 2-3 good players a year, it's likely that our best youth players won't be around for long enough for the next generation to replace them. What we really need is someone fantastic developing in the youth team so the 50% of next sale earns £10 million + which funds us for years ahead. I don't think that's likely with any of the players we've sold so far unless Geddes or Stow-Tricker do something incredible in the next couple of seasons!

 

[RogerC]

Great save man! One question I have, what rule do you follow with your youth player nicknames? The 25D,27E or whatever, I'm guessing the number is year of intake, what about the letters?

 

Really interesting save! I'm managing Jersey Bulls too but i'm allowing myself some transfers, hehe.

[Jtomsett11]

28 minutes ago, RogerC said:

Great save man! One question I have, what rule do you follow with your youth player nicknames? The 25D,27E or whatever, I'm guessing the number is year of intake, what about the letters?

 

Really interesting save! I'm managing Jersey Bulls too but i'm allowing myself some transfers, hehe.

Cheers!

I get rid of first names as I find I run out of room otherwise. The letters are (JER) - jersey born, I.e. born in St Helier which is the capital of Jersey and the only town from the island in the game. Then I also add second nationalities or foreign nationalities to anyone from the youth intake. It's something I just enjoy keeping track of. 

I am using more transfers now,  I'm not sure I'd set myself the 'living wage' target again as that made things very tough early on,  but it's also rewarding using mostly youth players to get through the leagues. Good luck in your career!

[Jtomsett11]

September 2030

A nearly perfect month as we get into the flow of things in League Two. Everbody's least favourite trophy, the Papa John's Trophy, at least provides an opportunity to rotate players and the prize money is actually really good at £10k ish per win. 

Starting in August is definitely helping the squad as while we do play some midweek games, it's nowhere near the fixture congestion of the Vanarama leagues in this database.

I didn't think we'd be appearing in the play-off places at this stage! We're just going to play and keep picking up as many points and see what happens I think. 

We have a number of players who are playing their part at the moment.

As I thought when I signed him, with 16 pace Turner-Cooke is playing superbly. Our reputation means teams allow us space in behind as they believe they should beat us easily. While this will change, for now we make the most of it.

Nightingale was brought in to rotate/ be backup to Brooking, but actually he's outperforming him with 3 goals and 2 assists in his 5 appearances so far. 

Bondswell continues to be superb in the air. 

While Turner-Cooke wins the player of the month, Kalantari wins young player of the month with superb returns in the games he's played. He picked up a slight knock so Burgess played the other two games. Kalantari is really impressing me and I'm glad I stuck with him.

I really don't like losing money. I really don't like it. I'm just going to have to accept it while we retain a strong focus on youth development (despite my signings).

Edited October 2, 2021 by Jtomsett11
missing info

[Jtomsett11]

Clauses October 2030

I only sold Tierney in the summer, but this 50% sell-on clause looks way too good to be true. He's worth £650k, but is 20 years old, not out on loan and not getting games. I can't see him developing to become a £2 million + player before his contract expires in 2032. I'm going to cash in as this is 3 months losses covered easily. 

We now have a guaranteed £2 million from him and another £250k in clauses which may or may not be achieved. 

We still have the 50% clauses on Stow-Tricker and Geddes. 

I have to say, I've been paying a lot more attention to clauses since following @Jimbokav1971's posts, but this is the first time I've seen how productive they can be in my own saves. How my board got £827k for Burgess's 50% considering less than a year later he joined us for £10k is beyond me!

[Jtomsett11]

October 2030

Another positive month. We're top in the Papa John's Joke Trophy so look likely to qualify. More prize money to earn! 4 away games giving us a win, 2 draws and a loss is very positive for a newly promoted team, while we win our only home game.

We drop out of the play-off places, but we've got a game in hand. I'm really not too fussed where we finish at the moment. It's a really nice change to expect nothing after really, really wanting promotion last season and fearing we wouldn't get it. We are conceding too many goals, but we mainly play a 18 year old LB at least one 18 year old CB and a 20 year old RB. No complaints from me at all!

[Sonic Youth]

It’s a good start to the season in League Two. You look like you belong there and have a shot at getting promotion too 

[Jtomsett11]

November 2030

A disappointing month in terms of cup competitions. The FA Cup tie was always going to be challenging against a side a league above us, but I was hopeful of a decent run. The loss to Luton is also not unexpected, but means we go out on head to head results I believe.

In the league we had a really solid month, although it might have been different if we didn't pick up and win the final two games of the month. 

Nearly half way through the season and it appears now we'll stay up even if we pick up no more points this season with Oxford and Stockport's form! Portsmouth and Wigan are way ahead of the rest and should seal first and second spot, but that third automatic promotion spot looks up for grabs. There's also a little gap to 8th currently, although Notts County in 10th have two games in hand so the gap could be much smaller once they've played those.

[Jtomsett11]

December 2030

A very busy festive schedule saw us fall out of play-off contention and then storm back into the top 7 by the turn of the year.

Colchester, Portsmouth, Chesterfield are all extremely strong sides with 2 of those in the top 4. I wasn't surprised to only pick up a point from those games, in fact I felt this was quite a success! The home draw to Stockport was disappointing however. We were 8th after the Chesterfield game, but then won 4 on the bounce including beating Wigan in a really tough, backs to the wall performance. It means we're just 3 points off a promotion place and 4 points 'safe' in the play-off places.

It's funny that the 4 wins came at the end of the month, as our squad has become increasingly thin. Before the Oxford game we were down to just 6 subs including Clarke who was promoted from the U23s to provide us with a sub midfielder. While only Powell, Holder and Nightgale would count as starters, Larkin had started the previous 4 games before his injury. A real shame as he had played well in the first two wins on our run. 

Oh, and in other club news, the stadium is ready!

We won't be filling this in the next few seasons I don't think. Perhaps when we reach League One? Our initially very high attendances at non-league level haven't grown significantly despite all our promotions. I know this is down to the slow growth of reputation, but we could really do with these growing enough to fill the stadium sooner rather than later as this is where the money is at in the lower leagues. I think the expansion capacity of the stadium is 7000, so I doubt we'll need more than that unless we're in the Championship or Premier League at this rate.

 

Edited October 3, 2021 by Jtomsett11

[Sonic Youth]

The last promotion position is still up for grabs and if Jersey’s form continues (barring injuries), could start filling the stadium sooner!

[RogerC]

Great stuff man, are you still using quick results? BTW I'm really interested in that rating players spreadsheet you have there, seems very handy to compare players. Is that yours?

As I said, i'm currently managing Jersey Bulls too but I haven't advanced so much. I'm still in Southern league division one south, one thing though is I still haven't been able to upgrade any youth recruitment/coaching/facilities not even one bit.. 

[Jtomsett11]

On 04/10/2021 at 05:08, Sonic Youth said:

The last promotion position is still up for grabs and if Jersey’s form continues (barring injuries), could start filling the stadium sooner!

Cheers, it would be a brilliant achievement!

11 hours ago, RogerC said:

Great stuff man, are you still using quick results? BTW I'm really interested in that rating players spreadsheet you have there, seems very handy to compare players. Is that yours?

As I said, i'm currently managing Jersey Bulls too but I haven't advanced so much. I'm still in Southern league division one south, one thing though is I still haven't been able to upgrade any youth recruitment/coaching/facilities not even one bit.. 

Yes, I'm still using instant result due to time constraints. I don't think I'd get even a season every two months done without it currently! 

The attribute analysis is from @shaunvamosthread; I've just stolen the formula he used (with his permission). If you'd like a copy I'm more than happy to send you a blank template? You'd have to adjust the scoring attributes if you use different roles. It has been really useful, especially at lower league levels where you are now as star ratings are often miles off!

Interesting, are you making any money? I went for junior coaching first and probably had to badger them a few times, I can't remember if I'm honest! I wouldn't bother with facilities as they cost more upfront, not until you've got a few hundred thousand in reserve. 

[Jtomsett11]

Mid-season 2030/31 analysis

Goalkeepers

I've had all three of the goalkeepers at the club in the first team squad this season but have had Majernik available for the U18s and Gordon available for the U23s apart from the 4 cup games and 1 league game I've played him in. I want Gordon to hit 15 games in total, but may have to settle for fewer if we end up in a proper fight for third place. 

There's no real difference in numbers here except for average rating; Gordon has performed very well in his 5 games. I should trust him a little more I think.

Defenders

Ignore Martin Lloyd who is on trial! Only one defender with an average rating over 7 this time! 

What's fascinating is how much more defending my full backs do than my centre backs. 

If you look at interceptions, it's Howells, Holder, Haughton and Fitton who are out in front of any centre backs, although Bondswell is close to Fitton. My centre backs also make very few tackles. It's BWMs Knill and Robbins who top that list, but again, most of the full backs are up there. 

So what do they do?

Head the ball a lot! To be fair I do have a split block so I don't really want my CBs rushing out to make tackles, so this is part of the tactics. I'm just surprised the tackling numbers are still so low even as our CBs get better and the opposition get better i.e. they don't just hoof it up there. 

The big plus for me in defense is Haughton. This analysis only shows part of the story. He wins headers, makes interceptions and is outperforming the other full backs on key passes and assists. His tackle ratio is only exceeded by Holder, who to be fair has had a strong season at LB. To me, the average ratings for full backs are still too low. How can Holder, who wins 2 tackles per game, does 1 key pass per game, wins 75% of his headers and makes 2 and a half interceptions per game in a team doing pretty well only rate 6.72? Is that really bang average?

 

Midfielders

Knill has been played more as a BWM this year, alongside Robbins who is now my clear starter. Powell leads the way as a DLP with Larkin backing him up. Powell creates more key passes and clear cut chances than any of my central midfielders. 

If you look at this graph, you can see he's still only average for assists, but is one of very few players creating above 2 key passes per game. That's without set pieces too, which I think accounts for Brooking and Nightingale.

I've used Pennell, Brooking, Nightingale, Farmer and Harrop this year on the wings. I'd say all, bar the youngster Harrop have contributed significantly, with 3 appearing as high assisters on the graph above, and Farmer focusing on scoring the goals. He's just not had many opportunities up front, and that has a lot to do with our other forwards.

Forwards

Turner-Cooke has been sensational. 21 goals in 29 games is brilliant; he's my best forward signing for a number of years. Kalantari has also contributed a significant number of assists and a few goals, while Burgess hasn't done too badly for a backup DLF. 

This graph shows how we're creating a large number of chances for Turner-Cooke. Interestingly, our wingers also receive a fair number of chances. Burgess and Kalantari have actually done very well in terms of goals when you consider they've had just below the average number of shots on goal. Their role as the creator in tight games where wing play is less effective means their assists are just as valuable as their goals, if not more so. 

Overall, I'm really pleased with the team. There's nobody, other than some of the young players, who is significantly under performing in terms of what I've asked them to do. We probably need to tie Turner-Cooke down to a longer contract!

[RogerC]

11 minutes ago, Jtomsett11 said:

Cheers, it would be a brilliant achievement!

Yes, I'm still using instant result due to time constraints. I don't think I'd get even a season every two months done without it currently! 

The attribute analysis is from @shaunvamosthread; I've just stolen the formula he used (with his permission). If you'd like a copy I'm more than happy to send you a blank template? You'd have to adjust the scoring attributes if you use different roles. It has been really useful, especially at lower league levels where you are now as star ratings are often miles off!

Interesting, are you making any money? I went for junior coaching first and probably had to badger them a few times, I can't remember if I'm honest! I wouldn't bother with facilities as they cost more upfront, not until you've got a few hundred thousand in reserve. 

I'm actually starting to save up a bit now. I wasn't really paying attention initially and I kept upgrading staff members and paying for termination of their contracts. That being said, still no joy with any of the three (coaching/recruitment/facilities).

I would love a blank template, please! 

[Jtomsett11]

21 hours ago, RogerC said:

I'm actually starting to save up a bit now. I wasn't really paying attention initially and I kept upgrading staff members and paying for termination of their contracts. That being said, still no joy with any of the three (coaching/recruitment/facilities).

I would love a blank template, please! 

Attached!

Player attributes Template.xlsx

[Jtomsett11]

January 2031

What a January! 9 wins in a row, 5 of them in January and we've only conceded 4 in that time. 

Before we delve into our form and performances, I did notice that apparently we won the SPFL Trust Trophy in 2030... This is news to me, especially as we're about as far away from Scotland as you can get and still be in the British Isles! 

 It must be an error due to the database.

All that green! Notable was the 5-0 away win, where Farmer scored a hatrick of crosses from Brooking. 

A superb month for both players! Brooking is the top average rated player in the league currently.

We really are on a charge (pun intended) at the moment, and we're now up to 3rd.

What happens from here will depend on how long we can keep this form going. We only have 3 games in February, so it's a little breather for us (maybe with a couple of friendlies to keep sharpness). If we win all those games then we'll be right up there with a chance of promotion with just 8 games to go.

Transfers and squad news

It's been a very busy month away from the pitch. We've had some very sizeable offers come in for players.

I've rejected offers for Bondswell as he's a crucial player. In the same vein, Holder, Fitton and Brooking won't be going anywhere. However, tasty offers also came in for Tallack who is third choice CB at the moment as New has been very solid during our brilliant run.

At 20, I don't really see this guy fully developing.

Therefore this sale is a no-brainer! I offered him out having rejected £1 million on deadline day and managed to get this from Watford. He'll therefore stay for the rest of the season and we can then pick someone to promote from the U23s to take his place next year. This is a ludicrous amount of money, but this is Watford, the club who bought Toomer for £1.8 million and immediately sold him for £300k ish.

The fact I've only let one player go is down to my captain Knill.

I think he's persuaded 4 players to stay and 2 to drop playing concerns. He's becoming more and more useful, even if he still isn't the DLP I wanted him to be!

We also let two others go out on loan.

Gordon needs more game time, while Larkin needs the same after his recent injury. I'm hoping he kicks on as he did last season on loan to Dungannon.

I also released last season's signing Anderson. We just don't need him and he's taking up a space in the U23s.

Finally, we're still losing money, but that Tallack money should top us up nicely and the best thing is he's not even one of our best players.

[Sonic Youth]

That was a top update, and looking forward to the batteries of Jersey staying charged for the run-in 

Great work there by Knill 

And a good sale in Tallack!

[Pompeyboyz]

IRL 2 Vanarama National team do enter the SPFL Trust trophy as it is like a British Isles and Ireland competition.  Or at least they did before Covid struck. 

Check your fixtures from the season 

[Punch]

On 07/10/2021 at 06:13, Jtomsett11 said:

Attached!

Player attributes Template.xlsx 230.88 kB · 4 downloads

Been really enjoying reading this save. Good work.

Do you use a special view to print screen into your spreadsheet?

[Jtomsett11]

On 07/10/2021 at 08:18, Pompeyboyz said:

IRL 2 Vanarama National team do enter the SPFL Trust trophy as it is like a British Isles and Ireland competition.  Or at least they did before Covid struck. 

Check your fixtures from the season 

There's nothing there. It must be a flaw of the database, perhaps by finishing 3rd we automatically won it? I'm not running the Scottish league so that may also have contributed. There isn't any fixture history, only winners and runners up. 

 

23 hours ago, Punch said:

Been really enjoying reading this save. Good work.

Do you use a special view to print screen into your spreadsheet?

Thank you! I've been enjoying playing and writing about it! Yes, I have a goalkeeper attributes view and a player attribute view. A perfectionist might have got the attributes in the order that they appear in game, but it proved very tedious so I gave up! I've attached both views

 

Full attributes.fmf Goalkeeping attributes.fmf

Edited October 8, 2021 by Jtomsett11

[Jtomsett11]

February 2031

The winning run is over, but we're still unbeaten! Games are getting tighter and I can feel a loss coming. If it starts a bad run of form, it may be extremely bad timing!

Just two points separate us from Northampton, who have a better goal difference.

The run in isn't hugely tough, but it isn't easy either. Tranmere and Northampton away could be key games against tough opposition, so we'll know a lot more about our chances of automatic promotion at the end of March.

[Jtomsett11]

March 2031

We've been beaten for the first time since 5th January.

A little unlucky, but also we had this coming after such a good run.

Unfortunately, we followed this up with another loss.

The Grimsby result was resounding and I had some real fears that we were about go slump.

However, I switched tactics to our more cautious 4-4-2 for the away games against Tranmere and Northampton.

The results were excellent.

Two huge wins.

The Northampton game in particular shows our brilliant resilience this season. 10 men after just 13 minutes, and a 94th minute winner. 

Those two wins have given us some breathing space after the two previous losses.

With 5 games to go, I feel we should win promotion now. It's not over until the final day though!!

[Punch]

15 minutes ago, Jtomsett11 said:

There's nothing there. It must be a flaw of the database, perhaps by finishing 3rd we automatically won it? I'm not running the Scottish league so that may also have contributed. There isn't any fixture history, only winners and runners up. 

 

Thank you! I've been enjoying playing and writing about it! Yes, I have a goalkeeper attributes view and a player attribute view. A perfectionist might have got the attributes in the order that they appear in game, but it proved very tedious so I gave up! I've attached both views

 

Full attributes.fmf 14.75 kB · 0 downloads Goalkeeping attributes.fmf 14.72 kB · 0 downloads

That’s awesome, thanks so much.

 

I’ve been thinking of starting a youth save, but can’t decide on a team 😂

[Sonic Youth]

Nail biting stuff here 

[deltablue]

I love how you just keep climbing

[Pompeyboyz]

11 hours ago, Jtomsett11 said:

There's nothing there. It must be a flaw of the database, perhaps by finishing 3rd we automatically won it? I'm not running the Scottish league so that may also have contributed. There isn't any fixture history, only winners and runners up. 

Very weird glitch indeed as I have a save running on the same DB as you are using and only have English leagues going and there is nothing about that competition at all. 

[RogerC]

On 06/10/2021 at 21:13, Jtomsett11 said:

Attached!

Player attributes Template.xlsx 230.88 kB · 6 downloads

Thanks man! I'm working on a complete excel picking from a few guys' idea's and execution and adding my own touch. Loving the save! Mine is advancing at x0.25 pace of yours.

[Jtomsett11]

On 08/10/2021 at 22:33, Punch said:

That’s awesome, thanks so much.

 

I’ve been thinking of starting a youth save, but can’t decide on a team 😂

I went for Bari in Italy when I did one as they had a huge stadium which made things a lot easier financially! 

On 09/10/2021 at 01:48, Sonic Youth said:

Nail biting stuff here 

On 09/10/2021 at 10:04, deltablue said:

I love how you just keep climbing

This season feels totally different to last year as I wasn't expecting our superb form from mid-Jan onwards and therefore I'm not expecting us to finish 3rd. Therefore, while the season finale feels dramatic, I'm not feeling any pressure! I'm sure if we slip up in the next few games I'll feel it though!

On 09/10/2021 at 10:15, Pompeyboyz said:

Very weird glitch indeed as I have a save running on the same DB as you are using and only have English leagues going and there is nothing about that competition at all. 

Yeah, not one I can explain really! As it's not really affected me other than the news reports it's not a game-ending bug so I'm not particularly bothered beyond it being quite amusing!

On 09/10/2021 at 13:36, RogerC said:

Thanks man! I'm working on a complete excel picking from a few guys' idea's and execution and adding my own touch. Loving the save! Mine is advancing at x0.25 pace of yours.

Sounds good! If you're posting about it anywhere make sure to tag me, I'd be interested to see what you do! Haha, that's the bonus of instant result!

[Jtomsett11]

March 2031 youth intake

I skipped over the intake as I was focused on results, but took time to analyse it at the end of March as it's quite interesting.

The first thing I noted was that the number of players from Jersey has declined drastically. We've only got 3 players here who come from the island. This is the first indicator that our reputation is high enough to allow our exceptional youth recruitment to have an impact. It also indicates that going forward I'm going to find it harder and harder to have Jersey-born players in our team. 

Attribute analysis suggests that this is a slightly worse intake than last year, but I'm very pleased with the better players in the intake.

I don't like his one-on-ones rating coupled with a tendency to rush out, but otherwise some solid attributes there.

Pretty solid starting attributes and a decent personality.

Not quite sure about Black, but his personality means he'll probably develop quite quickly. 

Dornan I like. I think he has superb mentals and decent technical and physicals for a 15 year old. He'll contribute to the first team within a couple of years I'd imagine. 

[Jtomsett11]

April and May 2031

This news greeted us at the start of April, which is a bit of a blow as Gordon is out on loan. Majernik would come in for his first appearances for us. He's also kicked on this season with full time training and has a better attribute spread than Gordon.

Our first game of the month saw us fall to another home defeat (the second in a row). However, Northampton only drew to leave the gap at 5 points with 4 games remaining. 

Their run-in probably equals out with ours, as while they face more mid-table sides and we face lower-table sides, we also have Portsmouth in our final game of the season.

Next up was Fylde. We need to win a home game or it'll all be down to our away form.

A huge win! I brought in Burgess and Pennell and they've returned the favour!

Surely now it's promotion!

Bradford away, I think we'll stick to our cautious tactic and hope for a point or a goal on the break to seal it.

Turner-Cooke and Burgess do the damage!

An incredible achievement! We've signed 5 players this season and lost 2 huge players from last year and yet we've improved our points tally!

We rotated our squad to give a few youngsters some game time and finished the year in style.

Since 18th December, we've drawn 1 and lost 3 games. Below is the table for that period + the game before (we drew it). That form is just phenomenal. If we can keep our better players at the club and perhaps add one or two players of quality, who knows what we can do next year.

I'll take this all in before analysing our performances this season. I'll be paying particular attention to how our best performers fared compared to others in League Two as well as the leagues above us. 

One strange thing to leave this post with is this.

Can someone explain to me how on earth the board can say we've not used the youth?! I've given 4 home grown players debuts (50 odd appearances between them) this season and add to that a significant number of younger players who played last season getting minutes. I'm almost a victim of my own success as I play young players and then I guess they don't count as 'youngsters' anymore? I noticed this as we won promotion and it's slightly soured it for me. I'm unlikely to be sacked, but this takes what should be an A+ rating to a B-, so if we get into a tricky spell this could be a problem for me.

Edited October 10, 2021 by Jtomsett11

[Punch]

4 hours ago, Jtomsett11 said:

I went for Bari in Italy when I did one as they had a huge stadium which made things a lot easier financially! 

 

Haha nice. I've wanted to do something similar with Guernsey, but keep getting tempted by low level Scottish saves. Too many to choose from.

 

While waiting I have used your spreadsheet on an FC United of Manchester save, found I had some players in the wrong position, and some super stars in the 18's/23's. Made some adjustments and we have just been promoted from the VNL to League 2. So it's been a huge help in that regard.

 

Congrats on the promotion to League 1. KUTGW!

[Sonic Youth]

Nailbitting? Ppfftt 

Congrats on getting promoted 

Good finish to the season and a stellar second half of the season 

[Sonic Youth]

How long are you playing this save?