[FM22-Derby County] Why manage the Rams? How are you getting on?

[causticgrip]

Season 3

Hadn't spent too much before, so had plenty of money available. Got rid a few players too who weren't up to the standard required.

McNeil=Spent big on him but really liked him on FM21, great potential. McAtee=Used the buy option after his loan, exciting talent. Shackleton=Good utility player, came in Jan to replace Fredericks. Araujo=Young talented LB. Sarr= Quality for the price. Green= Good backup and potential heir to Johnstone. Soumare= Crazy low price for a talented player, was great for me in FM20 too. Matondo=Free transfer, no brainer tons of pace. Gelhardt=Has a lot of potential, maybe someone to buy.

Pleased with 5th, massive improvement on last season. Mainly because of this little run:

Pellegri, what a player. Unlucky not to win the golden boot.

My squad had an average age of 23, the majority of players will only get better and better. Also, 3rd lowest wage budget too, only above Barnsley and Forest who were relegated.  More to come- maybe go for a trophy next season...

 

 

[danbucks]

Hello all

 

It's been a blast reading all of your Derby stories which inspired me to start my own Derby save a couple of weeks ago. I started making all of the suggested changed in the pre game editor, so Rooney is my AM and everything else lines up with real life. First window disabled. Here's the story so far!

With the first window disabled and being in administration, there's not much for us to do besides prepare and play games. I eventually settle on a possession based 4-3-3, All 3 GKs look decent, but with Marshall being 36 I left Allsop and Roos battle it out during pre season and Allsop impresses. Byrne and Buchanan will be my full backs and Curtis Davies will be partnered by Stearman or Jagielka, as they both have a preference to play right sided centre back. In midfield, Max Bird will sit infront of the back 4 in a Half Back role, with Shinnie playing a BWM or BBM role, and Morrison as a Mezzala (A). Sibley on the right, Lawrence on the left. Up front we're weak - Stretton and Baldock are the only options going into the season, with Kazim-Richards being both injured and 407 years old. 

 

Opening day of the season we're at home to Huddersfield and we play well until the 78th minute, when Jordan Brown comes off the bench to get a straight red. This wouldn't be the last time either, and Brown will find himself on the transfer list after repeating his party trick of coming off the bench to get a red card against Milwall in November. Regardless, we hold out for a 0-0 with Huddersfield. -20 points. 

We beat Oldham in the league cup and, following 3 wins on the bounce against Peterborough, Hull and Middlesbrough, I'm starting to feel like Pep. This football managing lark is easy. -11 points. 

 

Then reality strikes. A Lewis Grabban double sends us crashing out of the league cup to rivals Nottm Forest, then, following consecutive 0-0 draws against Forest (again) and Birmingham, we get smashed 4-1 by West Brom.  At this point, Stretton and Baldock have a whopping 1 goal each from our first 7 league games and we sit at -9 points. Oh, and did I mention that Ravel Morrison had his foot broken in the cup game against Forest? Yep. That's 3 months on the side-lines.

Morrison had been surprisingly consistent for me up until now, and was a big reason for a lot of our points. Losing him was a blow. Sibley, on the other hand, had been absolutely useless on the right, despite me expecting him to be our star man. For that reason, I thought I'd repurpose Sibley as our Mezzala while Morrison was out. Spoiler alert - he was still terrible. 

 

We managed a 1-0 win against Stoke in our next outing, but follow that up with a run of 5 winless games (D2 L3). Somewhat impressively, we manage to do the exact same over the next 6 games - winning the first and then drawing 2 and losing 3 of the following 5. I don't really want to keep this pattern up lol. Following a 6-1 battering at the hands of Fulham in a game which we finished with 8 men due to red cards, the last game of November is against QPR and we win 2-1, in keeping with the strange cycle, and taking our point tally to 4. We're still a long way from safety and I desperately want to get to January and try and make some loan signings. 

A minor miracle occurs! We break the cycle and follow up our victory over QPR with another win, this time over Bristol City. Great! Then we lose 4 in a row. Great! Ravel Morrison also throws a hissy fit after I bollock the team following the loss against Blackpool, meaning he's on the transfer list now, too. 

There's light at the end of the tunnel, though. I's January and we're out of administration.  I still have budgets of £0, but I've already got some sales lined up, and have been working on loaning out youth to raise funds for wages. 

Roos was my 1st choice GK, but for 20k a week in wages I could bring in 4 loanees, so he had to go. Kazim-Richards was always injured and Marshall was 3rd choice. Jagielka wanted an 18 month deal and I couldn't commit to that, so I let him go to Poland. Wasn't trying to sell young Plange, but for 550k plus 50% of his next sale, I thought it worth the gamble. With the money raised from sales (of which I could keep 20%) plus what I'd saved on wages, I went mental on loanees. 

Balogun being the bell of the ball, in come 8 loanees, 1 permeant signing and, back from the medical room at last, Bielik is ready to take his place as the DLP lynchpin in front of my back 4. I reshuffle Bird and Shinnie together as my CM pairing and install Bielik behind them. Balogun comes in as my new striker, with Liam Delap returning to Derby on loan as a rotational option. Gunnarsson replaces Allsop, Bate and Forshaw give us some much needed cover in midfield while Cresswell and Nat Phillips replace Jagielka and Cashin, who goes out on loan after providing solid cover for six months. My wingers have all struggled, so I'm hoping Kayky brings a bit of creative to the wide areas, and Bidwell is an adequate replacement for Forsyth, who Cardiff paid 85k for.

"But can't you only have 5 loaness in your squad on match days?" Don't care. Need points. I'll make it work somehow. 

"But why so many players from Leeds, a rival?! I'm a Ram and I hate that"" I did what I had to do lol. Cresswell and Bate were both unhappy with the lack of playing time by the time the season was over any way. And Forshaw is just a back up for Bielik. Hopefully that makes you less offended lol  

Despite my reservations, I also extend Tom Lawrence's deal on a whopping 30k a week, despite him producing next to nothing so far. I don't want him going on a free. 

The balancing act pays off, and the loaness make a huge difference. Delap scores on his debut. Then Balogun scored on his debut, and the following 2 games. Lawrence starts producing goals and assists. The points begin to rise and we slowly lift ourselves of the foot of the table. After losing 11 league games before January, we lose only 4 following January and we survive. Great escape complete.

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by danbucks

[danbucks]

Season 2

The new owner put £10M into the running costs of the club and gave me £10M to spend. £10M!!! Needless to say, I did what anyone would do and requested improvements to the youth facilities, youth recruitment and youth coaching. The board agree on all fronts. Superb. Last years' youth intake was good, including two 4-5* prospects in a CM called Hugh Hall an Irish right back named Lee Felix. More of the same this year would be very welcome.

Allsop has agreed a free transfer to the MLS and Gunnarsson has finished his loan, so a GK is high on my list of priorities. I bring in my big money signing for this year as a whopping £1.5M is spent on Newcastle's Karl Darlow. I actually tried a double swoop for him and Freddie Woodman for another 300k, but sadly Woodman chose Brighton over us. Speaking of Newcastle players rejecting us, my huge disappointment this year was missing out on Sean Longstaff after his contract expired. He chose Bournemouth over us and I was gutted, he'd have been a perfect BBM for us. As it is, we settled for bringing in Dewsbury-Hall on loan from Leicester instead. 

Curtis Davies had also agree a free to the MLS, and with Phillips and Cresswell being loanees and Stearman coming to the end of his contract, I'm in dire need of CB's, too. There's a leadership void with Jagielka and Davies both leaving, so my first CB will also be my new captain - 110k Grant Hanley from Norwich. I then extend Nat Phillips loan for a year, and snap up Kortney Hause and Jake Clarke-Salter on free transfers. Centre backs sorted. With a need to cut back on loanees, I let Cresswell return to Leeds, as well as letting Bidwell return to Swansea and bring in Chima Okoroji for 400k from Sandhausen as a replacement LB. 

I desperately wanted to keep hold of Balogun for another year, but he wasn't interested. I manage to bring in another loanee to replace him - Fabio Silva from Wolves - and I extend Delap for another year to rotate. 

With those two plus Dewsbury-Hall and Phillips, I have room for one more loanee. I browse the market and one man catches my eye. We don't NEED an upgrade at RB, infact Nathan Byrne was one of my best performers last year, but Jayden Bogle is interested in coming back to Derby on loan and I'm a big fan. I go for it. Ebosele leaves on loan and Bogle comes in. Welcome home. 

To complete our business, Patrick Roberts joins on a free to compete with Sibley for the RW role, and, finally, I spend 700k on a back up keeper because I can lol. Andrew Fisher joins from MK Dons. 

The board want mid table but I think we can aim a little higher than that, if the new signings bed in well. The season starts...poorly. A 1-1 draw against newly-promoted Sunderland isn't the worst start ever, but we follow that up with a penalty loss in the first round of the league cup against Oldham, and a 1-0 loss against Norwich.

In August and September, however, we fly. A single loss and a single draw are the only blemishes to our record, as we climb to 1st in the table. Fabio Silva helps himself to 7 goals in 10 games as Lawrence and Sibley (finally) begin to contribute consistently. Bogle and Byrne take turns trading ratings of 8+ on the regular at right back. Karl Darlow is a revelation, his highlight being a 9.0 rating in our 2-1 triumph over Sheffield United. Hanley and Hause are regularly shutting out opposition strikers and even manage to grab a goal each during this time, too. Things are looking good.

Then comes October. And it's pretty sucky. A loss against promotion favourites Brentford kicks things off, with the only goal of the game coming in the 96th minute. Followed by a loss against Reading through a penalty and then a worrying battering by Luton Town. One team meeting later sees us end the slump with wins against QPR and Birmingham, but we've already slid down to 5th. The Championship is relentless lol. I schedule some friendlies for during the winter World Cup, and I notice no other Championship teams appear to be doing the same. Could the extra sharpness give us an edge when we return to action in December? I'm hoping so! Especially after we follow up our two wins with a loss against Cardiff. 

We kick things off on our return by throwing away a 2-0 lead at Peterborough to draw 2-2. Not the edge I had hoped for. Things pick up from there, though. as Patrick Roberts, who started very slow without a goal or assist in his first 9 games, scores 5 in the next 5 games and we kick off another unbeaten run. We do surrender another 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Forest, but that's the only blot on the record for the rest of the month. Next month is even better, We win 4 league games on the spin, knock Hull out of the FA Cup to book a 4th round tie with Peterborough, and survive a battering at West Brom to hold on for an undeserved 0-0. We sit 2nd in the table, 3 points behind Brentford, and I have to say I am ecstatic with how things are going. I was expecting at least one more year in the championship but, if we can keep this up, who knows?! 

 

Darlow top for most clean sheets, my centre back pairing 2nd and 3rd in average rating and Fabio Silva 3rd on the scoring charts. You love to see it. Side note - Bidwell also top for yellow cards so, I'm glad I let him go back and didn't look to extend the loan lol. 

As you can see from the fixture list above, that's where our story ends for now, but I'll keep you guys updated as I go from here if you're interested!

Youth intake looks good this year, too

Edited December 20, 2021 by danbucks
added youth intake

[JaytheGreat]

In our 1st season in the Premier League we some how stumbled our way to 9th place which is not an easy feat. We did pretty well against most teams in the league but we couldnt touch the big teams like Arsenal, Liverpool, Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, Tottenham or even teams like Everton and Leicester. We scored 54 goals which was good for 8th in the league and also had a league leading 13 goals come from set pieces. On the flip side we gave up 60 goals which was 15th in league. Our defense just couldn't keep up with the big time attacking talent in the Premier League. This team's offense revolved around Joshua Zirkzee who scored a whopping 22 goals in the Premier League which was good enough for 3rd behind Liverpool's Erling Haaland (he is legit scary to play against) and Man Utd's Cristano Ronaldo. After Zirkzee, Louie SIbley chipped in with 6 goals being his naturally good self at the mezzela role. Someone who really let me down was Jason Knight he really just isn't Premier League caliber as a CAM, not a great dribbler or finisher he was basically a non factor this season. Tom Lawrence didn't too bad coming off the bench and Kun Temenuzhkov actually scored some goals which is a pleasant surprise. Our midfield was ok new signings Adrian Fein and Ante Palaversa took awhile to settle in but once they did they both played solid. Max Bird had a decent season as Ball Winner and added 4 assists from the position. Defensively Nathan Byrne was once again our 2nd best player at 32 his stats are declining and yet lead the team in assists and had the 2nd best rating on the team, high work rates are a beautiful thing. At the beginning of the season Bielik and Clarke were getting eaten alive but putting Clarke in the Cover role seemed to help fix the problem for awhile. Max Melbourne who didn't even have a contract started 13 Premier League games and once again the high work rate player put in a good season for his talent level. Dylan Williams and Reece Devine were good on the Left wing but neither could really run away with the job despite some individually good performances. Mateu Morey broke his leg in March so that was fun and Jack Walton played very well in goal. 

 

The Offseason

So the chairman definitely heard my rant last post because he's willing to throw some serious cash around this season, I have a transfer budget if 70 mil and 36 mil wages to spend which is good because I have ALOT of ideas on how to make this team better. Biggest holes are CAM and CB, Knight and Lawrence just don't cut at this level and we really need another serious offensive threat to help out Zirkzee. The amount of goals given up is enough said, we really only have 2 decent CBs and 3 CBs that I just pray don't make huge mistakes when I throw them out there. A potential upgrade in the GK spot would be nice along with just generally adding more talent. 

[JaytheGreat]

Derby 24/25

1. Michael Cuisance CM - Bayern Free

We go back to the free Bayern player well once again, this time bringing in the French playmaker. While Fein is much more of sit back and ping passes, Cuisance will definitely be more involved in the build up and be more involved in the final 3rd. Not only is he a great passer Cuisance is not afraid to try long shots and with 15 Long Shot. All in all a very good playmaker that will cause headaches for all the defenses we play.

2. Mario Vuskovic CB - Hajduk 4.2 mil

Our 1st CB signing, he was beloved by the scouts and is more in the Bielik and Clarke mode, not a lot of speed or acceleration but a rock in the air along with high tackling and marking attributes. Good mentals and at the age 22 Vuskovic will definitely still improve.

3. Thiago Almada CAM - Velez 11.75 mil

Probably the star of the transfer window, we wanted someone who could come in and take some scoring pressure off of Zirkzee and boy did we. Almada is an amazing attacker, good first touch, dribbling, passing, and long shots to go with great flair agility and technique. Almada has 6 goals and 1 assist in 10 Premier League games so far and has been a great compliment to Zirkzee and Sibley.

4. Vanderson RB - Gremio 10.75 mil

One of the best all around Wing backs I've ever seen, the Brazilian can really do it all. Great offensive stats, good defensive stats along with the physical skills to make him a menace on the wing. Great work rate which I love to see, he's really going to replace Byrne as the engine that really makes this team go. Mentally he's very solid and just like Almada and Zirkzee if he stays with Derby he will without a doubt become a Derby legend.

5. Folarin Balogun ST - Arsenal Loan

A familiar face to bring some depth

6. John Souttar CB - Hearts 8 mil

Our only CB that is quick and all around solid. Souttar is going to be the CB that leads us to the next level of the Premier League, at 27 he's the oldest player I've signed but if his physicals hold up past 30 he will be our most important CB for a while.

7. Steven Benda GK - Swansea 10 mil

I love Jack Walton but we can do better Benda loves Big Matches and is consistent like Walton but has the better attributes.

[YankeeRam]

I started a new game after the update which has the -21 deduction on it, wish me luck because I am going to need it.

[YankeeRam]

At the end of the first transfer window I got rid of Forsyth for 90K to Birmingham and Marshall to Ross County for 75K. Sitting on -10 points and just demolished Florist 4-1. With the 11 point we got that would have put us in third place at the table right now. Glad to get through the window without losing anyone major. 

[Alexpuk2002]

So I started a game with Derby and it isn't going to well. Currently I have played 27 games, Won 7, Drawn 7, Lost 13. I haven't been able to sign any players yet as the transfer embargo was only just lifted in January. What tactic are people using as I was hoping to survive the first season and not get relegated

[JaytheGreat]

1 hour ago, Alexpuk2002 said:

So I started a game with Derby and it isn't going to well. Currently I have played 27 games, Won 7, Drawn 7, Lost 13. I haven't been able to sign any players yet as the transfer embargo was only just lifted in January. What tactic are people using as I was hoping to survive the first season and not get relegated

I used a 5-3-2 which did pretty well. Playing Sibley at the Mezzala on the right of the midfield 3 did wonders for me. 

[3rik]

Season 2

Managed to buy a few very good players in Ricky-Jade Jones, Clarke-Salter, Zach Muscat and John Swift. Had a good start to the season with Swift and Jones as very good partners up front. Was in the top 6 places the majority of season and in the lead at one point. Unfortunately the team crashed at the end of the season and left us at a third place but still playoff opportunities. After a chrushind 3-0 defeat to Ipswich in the first leg after Dylan Williams got 2 yellows cards and draw a penalty in 30 seconds apart I thought it was over but we managed to win the second playoff match with 4-1 but went out after penalties. A very tough season that looked so bright.

Season 3
 

A big turnover of players during the season but it didnt matter. We dominated the league from first round until the end. It was never close that any other team catched up to us.  Had a very good goal difference despite lacking a rock solid defence. Tweaked the tactic this year to be more offensive. Will probably have to fix the denfece in PL next year. 


Best players were Ricky-Jade Jones, Sibley, Clarke-Salter and a brazilian cb Thuler. Peart-Harris on loan from Brentford with 16+10 is a personal favorite. Hoping to keep him next year aswell. Rodak was a big step up from Roos and Allsop who had declined a lot between the seasons. Burnely let him go for only £1,7M which im grateful for. 


Ricky-Jade Jones finished with 35 goals in 36 apps in the league. Adding to his 28 goals in 35 matches from last season. Still he misses a lot but outscores his xG for sure. 
 

[kopfan1977]

Nice to see people still going on this.. Been so busy with work and Life in general as well as taking time for my other save. I'll be picking this back up soon enough though

[causticgrip]

On 27/12/2021 at 20:08, Alexpuk2002 said:

So I started a game with Derby and it isn't going to well. Currently I have played 27 games, Won 7, Drawn 7, Lost 13. I haven't been able to sign any players yet as the transfer embargo was only just lifted in January. What tactic are people using as I was hoping to survive the first season and not get relegated

I went with an attacking 4-4-1-1 first season, it was successful mainly due to Tom Lawrence as a Shadow Striker with 13 goals and 28 assists and Baldock as an Advanced Forward with 37 goals... 

[Stuniverse]

58 minutes ago, causticgrip said:

I went with an attacking 4-4-1-1 first season, it was successful mainly due to Tom Lawrence as a Shadow Striker with 13 goals and 28 assists and Baldock as an Advanced Forward with 37 goals... 

Thank you @causticgrip

[Trugdish]

Really enjoying playing as Derby, I think the first 11 is actually quite strong it's just the depth that is the problem. Currently upto 12th in my first season and just had to share my youth intake, I've never had one this good before. I'm thinking of throwing the right back in straight away as first choice.

 

[Stuniverse]

3 minutes ago, Trugdish said:

Really enjoying playing as Derby, I think the first 11 is actually quite strong it's just the depth that is the problem.

Thanks for sharing, @Trugdish. I would say that's a very good assessment.

What system are you playing and have you made any signings?

4 minutes ago, Trugdish said:

Currently upto 12th in my first season and just had to share my youth intake, I've never had one this good before. I'm thinking of throwing the right back in straight away as first choice.

Congratulations on your 12th place and a really good looking youth intake. Nothing to lose by giving Sam Fallon some playing time to see how he gets on.

Good luck.

[Trugdish]

I've been quite busy and think I really got lucky with afew of them, I think it could be because I disabled the first window that allowed for a lot of them to be available still

 

 

I also mutually terminated/released Baldock, Curtis Davies, Allsop, Stearman, Forsyth and Kazim-Richard

I've been playing a Gegenpress system and didn't really fancy any of the options up front to start with so I just threw Jack Stretton in as first choice and he's upto 11 in 33 so far for the season and improved a lot, obviously Liam Delap has taken over now

[Stuniverse]

18 minutes ago, Trugdish said:

I've been quite busy and think I really got lucky with afew of them, I think it could be because I disabled the first window that allowed for a lot of them to be available still

I also mutually terminated/released Baldock, Curtis Davies, Allsop, Stearman, Forsyth and Kazim-Richard

I've been playing a Gegenpress system and didn't really fancy any of the options up front to start with so I just threw Jack Stretton in as first choice and he's upto 11 in 33 so far for the season and improved a lot, obviously Liam Delap has taken over now

Nicely done, @Trugdish. Great work in the transfer market there.

[Trugdish]

Finished the first season very strongly in 8th position, delighted with it, however due to financial issues the board have decided to sell my training facilities, I've never seen this before in game.

 

 

This has taken my facilities back down to poor, I don't know what the next step forward is at this point?

 

[Stuniverse]

9 minutes ago, Trugdish said:

Finished the first season very strongly in 8th position, delighted with it, however due to financial issues the board have decided to sell my training facilities, I've never seen this before in game.

This has taken my facilities back down to poor, I don't know what the next step forward is at this point?

Wow! I've not seen that before either and you're the first to mention it on here.

[BigPaz90]

Well I wish I’d of found this thread before I started my Derby save. Minus 24 to start with and didn’t turn off the first transfer window. Just got through January and now down to 1 senior keeper and no sign of coming out of the transfer embargo. Lost a lot of good youngsters for peanuts and not looking forward to end of season as no one wants to sign a new contract. Now onto the season started like an house on fire and soon got down to minus 1 point and beating spurs in league cup 3rd and that was has good as it got, from there went on a 13 match winless streak but now slowly picking up points and with 17 games to go need to make up 19 points.

[Stuniverse]

35 minutes ago, BigPaz90 said:

Well I wish I’d of found this thread before I started my Derby save. Minus 24 to start with and didn’t turn off the first transfer window. Just got through January and now down to 1 senior keeper and no sign of coming out of the transfer embargo. Lost a lot of good youngsters for peanuts and not looking forward to end of season as no one wants to sign a new contract. Now onto the season started like an house on fire and soon got down to minus 1 point and beating spurs in league cup 3rd and that was has good as it got, from there went on a 13 match winless streak but now slowly picking up points and with 17 games to go need to make up 19 points.

Thanks for sharing, @BigPaz90. Good luck for the rest of the season and onto the next...

[edgar555]

Because I'm a masochist I've decided to start with Derby County. As I said to @Stuniverse on his FMCU thread, I'm exiled in Derby and all my wife's family are Rams, also a friends husband is the U18 manager so I always felt I'd end up with this. I've obviously gone with 1st window off and I've just got through pre-season, which went well enough. It has led me to a tactical revelation though. Obviously first season, strikers and goals are thin on the ground, soooooo, don't bother with a striker is my answer! I created a 4-3-3-0 for a Man City save I had. Obviously that wasn't fit for the Rams, but some tweaks and changes have made it suitable (or so it seems, early days). The idea was for Tom Lawrence to play the SS role but he's picked up a 6 week injury, therefore I'll be hoping Ravel can do his thing there. Looking forward to this save and keeping you all updated.

[edgar555]

It’s taken us 11 games to clear the 21 point penalty. The 4330 didn’t last and I’m now switching between a standard 433 and 442 (especially now CKR is back). Only West Brom have destroyed us (4-1 away). We’ve also lost to Sheff Utd (those 2 are top of the league so I’ll take that). We beat Forest 4-1 at Pride Park so that was amazing. We’re the leagues top scorers (by virtue of putting 6 past 6th placed Swansea). 
Sibley, Bird, Byrne and Jozwiak have been my best players. Lawrence has underwhelmed. 
Ravel has just been Ravel. Had 2 outstanding games then disappeared. Then got upset that I kept criticizing his training ‘efforts’. He was putting up 5.9’s and 6.0’s and I won’t have that. He’s now sulking. With the 442 being more prevalent he’s not really missed. Will look to shift him asap. When I get control of that obviously. Still no takeover but the administrator has only sent out 2 youngsters on loan so no major impact yet. 

[edgar555]

After getting to 0 points it took another 3 games to get out of the relegation zone. At the same time our takeover occurred. It’s one of those boring internal ones and the chairman has assured me my job is safe but they have no intention of investing in the club so that’s good and bad news all at the same time. 

Edited January 9, 2022 by edgar555
Fixing dumb autocorrect

[JaytheGreat]

2 hours ago, edgar555 said:

After getting to 0 points it took another 3 games to get out of the relegation zone. At the same time our takeover occurred. It’s one of those boring internal ones and the chairman has assured me my job is safe but they have no intention of investing in the club so that’s good and bad news all at the same time. 

I got the same takeover, hopefully you get enough money to resign the players you want to. 

[edgar555]

12 hours ago, JaytheGreat said:

I got the same takeover, hopefully you get enough money to resign the players you want to. 

To be honest at this stage it's only really Lawrence and maybe Roos that I'm particularly bothered about. Lawrence was injured at the start of the season and ineffective when he first came back but the last month or so he's really hitting his stride. I've already convinced him to extend by 2 years for the same wages. Roos started the season as back up to Allsop but has come in and claimed his place so will look to extend him too. Byrne and Davies would probably be next candidates seeing as the likes of Bird, Jozwiak and Knight all have time left anyway. I've started looking around for January freebies and loans but there isn't much money in the coffers at all. I have Andre Wisdom, Hal Robson-Kanu and Gio Dos Santos in on trial. Not sure any of them will cut the mustard.

[edgar555]

Into January and we said goodbye to Sam Baldock, Phil Jagielka, David Marshall and Ravel Morrison. Baldock and Jagielka weren't really good enough and wanted silly money (that we don't have). Marshall never featured but was super professional (unlike others in the squad) and goes to Nashville with my best wishes. Ravel has gone to Willem II in the Eredivisie. We argued about his awful training and then about his playing time, before finally he came to me and said he didn't think he was good enough for this level, this is something we could agree on and off he went for £190k. We got to keep 20% of that! Roos wouldn't extend his contract and will leave on a free, also to the Eredivisie at the end of the season.

Coming in, so far is not enough players. We've bought in Falorin Balogun from Arsenal on loan to play upfront (CKR is also wanting to leave, I'm happy for him to do so if we get an offer). Also in, Andre Wisdom on a 6 month deal with an extension if he plays 15 games. It's unlikely he will because Stearman and Davies have been great, but I needed cover. We do have a loan offer in for Teden Mengi from Utd, they want no money so that would be a great deal and he would in all likelihood replace skipper Davies if he comes in. I've got an offer in for Clement Grenier on a 6 month deal also. My midfield has been great but it's young and some experience back up would be great. I also have Tevez in on a trial. His experience backing up Balogun would be ideal and it also wouldn't matter if CKR goes then. 

We have no money and only get 20% of transfers out, hardly ideal. It'll be interesting to see what happens in summer.

 

In the league we've played 28 games now and sit in 9th, 9 points off the playoffs and seemingly safe from relegation. We're still the highest scorers in the league and would be top if it wasn't for that pesky points deduction.

[DaveMUFC]

Having an absolutely torrid first season at Derby, and really need to take a break as the save is just getting too stressful. 

 

Actually started out promising the first few games, I had a takeover early on which increased the balance to £20m, and went on an unbeaten streak, but from December to January it's been terrible! Biggest issue is that I seem to lose every time I play a relegation rival, and conceding goals in the 90th+ minute. 

 

Thought bringing in Delap, Braaf, and Shelvey on loan would sort the issues and make me OP for the league, but I'm still not scoring or winning any games, and I'm out of ideas. 

 

Injuries are also awful in this squad, with most players regularly getting bad injuries more than once. Bielik finally came back from his long time out, played 3 or 4 games, and is out for 7 months again, considering retiring....

[edgar555]

5 hours ago, DaveMUFC said:

Having an absolutely torrid first season at Derby, and really need to take a break as the save is just getting too stressful. 

 

Actually started out promising the first few games, I had a takeover early on which increased the balance to £20m, and went on an unbeaten streak, but from December to January it's been terrible! Biggest issue is that I seem to lose every time I play a relegation rival, and conceding goals in the 90th+ minute. 

 

Thought bringing in Delap, Braaf, and Shelvey on loan would sort the issues and make me OP for the league, but I'm still not scoring or winning any games, and I'm out of ideas. 

 

Injuries are also awful in this squad, with most players regularly getting bad injuries more than once. Bielik finally came back from his long time out, played 3 or 4 games, and is out for 7 months again, considering retiring....

Yeah injuries are not what this squad need. The first XI is actually quite strong but depth is an issue. If you get lucky then you can do ok but a couple of injuries can ruin your chances. I was flying but lost both Roos and Lawrence (basically my 2 best players) just after the January window closed (and I sold Allsop on deadline day). My form has crashed without those 2. 

[edgar555]

So. Season 1 is over. 

And Derby County are going up to the Premier League after a playoff victory! We beat Blackpool 2-1 on aggregate (AET) in the semi with young Bobby Duncan clinching the win. We then dispatched Fulham 3-1 in the Final.

An incredible season with ups and downs, clearly more ups but still some squeaky moments. Tom Lawrence missed the last 7 weeks of the season and we really had to grind the results out without our creative master. He missed 16 league games all told and still topped the assist charts by 4 with 17. He came back as a sub in the first leg of the playoff semis and then slotted back into the team. Goals weren't a problem for the team, we were Championship top scorers with 99 but they rarely came from our strikers. No matter, we'll work on that.

Louie Sibley had a great season, ever present in the league and chipped in with goals and assists and winning Young Player of the Year. Byrne was our Fans Player of the Year while Teden Mengi robbed Sibley of the Fans Young Player of the Year. 

We've been given a transfer budget of £26m and wage budget of £470k, of which I'm currently spending £250k. It'll be interesting to see who we can get. I'm gonna need 2 x GK, 2 x CB, maybe a LB, a couple of midfielders and definitely a ST or 2.

 

 

[edgar555]

Also forgot to mention that my youth intake was a true golden generation. 5 x 4.5 star potentials; 4 x 4 star potential; 6 x 3.5 star potential. Plus a number at 3 star. A good split across positions too. 

[DaveMUFC]

Unfortunately couldn't keep Derby up, and we went down, 5 points off safety. We didn't deserve to survive in the end, as we bottled it and lost the last 4 games of the season. 

Doesn't seem like a disastrous thing to happen in the end, as I can continue bleeding in the youth, I got given £12m(!!!) As a budget for League 1, which should go a long way, and I've also managed to extend the loans of Mosquera, Braaf, and Delap, who should run riot in League 1. 

Doesn't seem to be many offers coming in for my key players yet, just a £10m offer from Palace for Sibley, but they be also agreed to loan him back to me for the season, which I'm satisfied with. 

Hopefully can walk League 1 and get back ASAP!

[edgar555]

And now the training facilities have been downgraded and the cheap ass board refuse to invest to bring them up to scratch. These guys are gonna kill me. -21 points and I take them up anyway and they’re just gonna dish out zero in cash. Not cool. 

[edgar555]

We're fast approaching kick off in season 2, our first in the PL. It's been a busy summer trying to get enough and good enough players in. I think we've done ok apart from being light in a couple of positions.

Ins:

Max Kilman - £2.8m

Nathan Ferguson - £5.5m

Jed Steer - £350k

Juan 'Cucho' Hernandez - £5m (rising to £7.5m based on apperances)

Alvaro Montero - £5m (this guy is a steal, a keeper that wouldn't look out of place in a top 6 club)

Mads Roerslev - £6.5m (rising to £10m on appearances and achievements)

Pietro Pellegri - £1.5m

Teden Mengi - back on loan but with £20m option to buy

Adam Forshaw - free

 

Outs:

Stearman and Wisdom - released

A bunch of youngsters on loans, the best of which are Isaac Hutchinson, Connor Dixon, Harrison Solomon and Kornell McDonald

 

So my squad/team looks like this:

GK SK/D - Montero/Steer/Alnwick (he's injured atm but I'll shift him when he's recovered)

DR WB/Su - Roerslev/Byrne

DC BPD/De - Mengi/Ferguson

DC BBP/De - Kilman/Davies

DL WB/Su - Forsyth/Buchanan

DM DM/De - Bielik/Bird (he's injured for 3 months)/Brown

MC Mez/At - Sibley/Shinnie

MC Mez/At - Knight/Forshaw/Watson

AMR IW/At - Lawrence/Stretton

AML IW/At - Jozwiak/Plange

ST AF/At - Cucho/Pellegri/Defoe

 

Left back we aren't good enough, same with left wing, Jozwiak had some great games last season and ended up our top scorer but boy is he inconsistent and obviously back ups on both wings are shall we say a little inexperienced. But we have no more money and no one out there on 'free' loans either. People like Patrick Roberts have turned us down for Championship clubs cos they have stronger squads apparently.

The board are absolutely insane. They invited me to a meeting to discuss increasing wages for the Director of Football, I've got a DoF (Marco van Basten actually) and he's got 2 years on his contract so why would I need that. They asked if I agreed or thought we should use it elsewhere. So I said please increase the percentage of transfers retained from 20%. They replied that they were insulted by my request and that they were sticking with their idea. So why bother asking?

Later in the window I asked again to increase to retained percentage, and they told me I should stop wasting their time. 

They are gonna drive me out of this club.

We are 1-2 to go down and start our campaign away to Man City followed by home to Chelsea. GREAT.

 

[edgar555]

I’m sorry to say my Derby reign has come to an end on deadline day. I’ve been battling the board all summer for money and they don’t care. Our first few games showed that the squad was woefully short in quality, at the back and in midfield. I was only asking for them to do deals on players worth a couple of million but they kept talking to me like I was a moron. They also accepted a £15m bid for Sibley, I can’t replace him for the 20% of that I’d have got. 
Halfway through deadline day I was offered an interview with Leicester. They’d sacked Javier Aguirre the previous weekend after we beat them 6-3 (our only win). That was a freak result and clearly they have a top half PL squad. So I resigned and took the interview. I got the job a couple days later. 
I know I took the easy route out, but the board were no fun to work with and I play the game to have fun. 
my advice to anyone playing with DCFC is don’t get promoted first season unless you have a sugar daddy/tycoon takeover!

[YankeeRam]

I'm only halfway into the January year one transfer window and I've already lost:

Baldoc and Jags - contract expired

Morrison to FC Groningen for 74K

Roos to FC Utrect for 600K

Plange to Brentford for 750K

Shinnie to Wigan for 30K

No sign of a new owner and the team is being torn apart in the market, sitting 12th on 31 points currently but I worry the second half of the season is going to get ugly as there isn't a huge gap between me and the relegation zone. 

[HighwayCathedral]

On 07/11/2021 at 09:44, The Art of Drowning said:

 

Got to be happy with that, although even after the takeover the club are in an absolute mess financially, £9m in the red and growing.   Just missing from the squad screen are Malcolm Ebiowe, Olamide Ibrahim and Jamie Hamilton  (£48k Hamilton) who I gave some games to once survival was secured.

 

Baldock, Forsyth, Lawrence, Byrne, Marshall and Plange all sold for fees with Curtis Davis and Phil Jagielka both released after not being happy with their lack of games.  Shinnie, Allsop, Morrison, Kazim-Richards, Stearman and Hutchinson have all agreed moves away too.

Eiran Cashin at left centre back probably the pick of the promoted young players, Harrison Solomon also did well on the right side although I'm less sure of his potential.  Tried Max Bird as the Libero but I think that position might need some tweaks.    Jack Stretton the top scorer with 14 deserves a mention too.

We have like, 80%+ similar tactics

[YankeeRam]

On 16/01/2022 at 21:11, YankeeRam said:

I'm only halfway into the January year one transfer window and I've already lost:

Baldoc and Jags - contract expired

Morrison to FC Groningen for 74K

Roos to FC Utrect for 600K

Plange to Brentford for 750K

Shinnie to Wigan for 30K

No sign of a new owner and the team is being torn apart in the market, sitting 12th on 31 points currently but I worry the second half of the season is going to get ugly as there isn't a huge gap between me and the relegation zone. 

Made it through the window without losing anyone else which is nice, sitting in 11th with 39 points. With the points deduction we would be top of the table. 

[Balotelli]

Is there anyway to remove the points deduction? I know this goes against the spirit of the game haha. Just asking out of curiosity

[Stuniverse]

5 hours ago, Balotelli said:

Is there anyway to remove the points deduction? I know this goes against the spirit of the game haha. Just asking out of curiosity

It’s not my area of expertise, @Balotelli, but when Derby’s points deduction increased from -12 to -21, and when Reading were docked -6, people were able to make these changes in the pre-game editor, I think using Advanced Rules. If you can add a points deduction, I would imagine it’s possible to remove one.

I’d suggest you ask in the Editors Hideaway.

https://community.sigames.com/forums/forum/26-editors-hideaway/ 

[YankeeRam]

Season One for the Mighty Rams is in the books and I did far better than I expected.

Final Finish: 4th lot in the playoff final to Barnsley 

Takeover happened in mid March, it felt so good to be able to extend contracts. I used a 4-3-3 Wide DM Gegenpress and it was great, Cybulski hit a goal scoring patch in the Jan/Feb which had is take off into playoff places and used a ton of youth players too. Now to figure out who to keep and who to let go and bring in since I can sign people now. 

Relegated: Luton, Swansea and Huddersfield

Promoted Sheff Utd (Champs) Bournemouth and Barnsley

Top Goals: Lawrence with 19 followed by Cybulski 12

Top Assists: Byrne with 12 followed by Lawrence with 10

Top Rating: Lawrence with 7.22 followed by Allsop with 7.20

[knc191]

#1

Started a save today.

Will be trying to develop young players from the academy.

Current Debt: 59,158,742 €

W: / D: / L:

Points: -21

Formation: 3-5-1-1

[Cider Ed]

Just a quick question. has anyone playing as Derby managed to get a ground expansion or new ground built?

I've just finished season 5 (my 2nd in the Premier League and board are refusing to increase my capacity. I have over £84 million in the bank. There reasoning is that we don't fill the ground. I've had a crowd of 32956 for every single premier league match over the 2 seasons. If you look at general info Pride parks capacity is 33,597 (32,596 capacity in normal matches) This means im not registering any sell-outs and the board are not interested in increasing capacity. Im fearful this will be for the whole of the save. I hate my chairman as it is and am hoping its down to his tightness than a bug.

[wakesta]

I just finished the first season with derby. As you can see, I have avoided the drop, and that was a good experience. I have never managed a team with that many points deducted within any CM/FM series. I thought I would never get out of this relegation during the season, but I did get the job done that the board asked for and kept Derby County up.

So I have £9M for the upcoming 22/23 Season still within the championship. so I need to look at a few Central defenders & Striker (might have to loan). & bring some players through our youth system as per the club objectives which the board has set.

The board still has us fighting to avoid relegation for the upcoming season, but I think we could aim for a top-half finish if we recruit well and get a few wins over the August/September months. We can start to build on that depending on the fixtures we have in those months, and then we can begin to build on that for the play-off places.
 

[Stuniverse]

On 27/01/2022 at 17:56, Cider Ed said:

Just a quick question. has anyone playing as Derby managed to get a ground expansion or new ground built?

I've just finished season 5 (my 2nd in the Premier League and board are refusing to increase my capacity. I have over £84 million in the bank. There reasoning is that we don't fill the ground. I've had a crowd of 32956 for every single premier league match over the 2 seasons. If you look at general info Pride parks capacity is 33,597 (32,596 capacity in normal matches) This means im not registering any sell-outs and the board are not interested in increasing capacity. Im fearful this will be for the whole of the save. I hate my chairman as it is and am hoping its down to his tightness than a bug.

Sorry, @Cider Ed, I haven’t progressed that far with a Derby save on FM22 but, no, it’s not something I’ve seen.

Edited February 5, 2022 by Stuniverse

[Ronaldo Beckham]

@Stuniverse Has anyone managed to do a youth only save with Derby after they get the 12 points deduction or is that too much of a challenge.

I am tempted to do this.

[Stuniverse]

4 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

@Stuniverse Has anyone managed to do a youth only save with Derby after they get the 12 points deduction or is that too much of a challenge.

I am tempted to do this.

I’m not aware of anybody doing that but a youth only save should be feasible - there are some good, young players with plenty of potential if a manager can develop them well.

Good luck 🍀 if you decide to give it a go, @Ronaldo Beckham. Let us know how you get on…

[Ronaldo Beckham]

19 hours ago, Stuniverse said:

I’m not aware of anybody doing that but a youth only save should be feasible - there are some good, young players with plenty of potential if a manager can develop them well.

Good luck 🍀 if you decide to give it a go, @Ronaldo Beckham. Let us know how you get on…

Yeah I might start it sometime soon. I will tag you when I do decide to manage them. 

[Stuniverse]

On 23/10/2021 at 13:09, Stuniverse said:

FM22 - Winter Update

Before you start a new save...

I'd recommend you disable the first transfer window when starting a new save.

There are some changes, I'd suggest you consider making with the pre-game Editor because of the club's unique Administration - transfer embargo situation but, as follows:

[1] Adding the players Derby County lost in January back as Rams players for the start of the season and setting their future transfer for the January Transfer Window (see below in this post for details).

[2] If you don't want to do the above, I'd suggest you remove the injuries for the players who are injured at the start of the season (Bielik, Kazim-Richards, Knight, Buchanan at least).

Basically, the combination of Derby County's threadbare squad (you'll start a new save season with the squad Wayne Rooney has at his disposal now) plus the injured players at the start of the season make it incredibly difficult to name a competitive team at the start of the season unless you make one or other of the above changes.

Derby County First Team Squad

Note: These are the players who have featured in a match day 18-player squad (not all of them are genuine first team players) this season:

U23 Squad

Note: These are the players in the U23 squad who haven't been allocated a squad number:

U18 Squad

Note: These are the players in the U18 squad who haven't been allocated a squad number.

The Derby County U18 squad has featured 11 U16 schoolboys this season who cannot be included in FM22 for legal reasons.

--

Ins:

Josh Butler - U18 Coach 30/10/2021  (promoted from within Academy)

Luke Plange - on loan from Crystal Palace 31/01/2022

—

Outs

Adam Thorley - joined Chelsea as U15 Academy Coach

Kain Ryan - joined Brighton & Hove Albion 26/11/2021

Dubem Eze - joined Norwich City 09/12/2021

David Marshall - joined QPR 11/01/2022

Sam Baldock - released 13/01/2022, joined Oxford United 04/02/2022

Phil Jagielka - released 13/01/2022, joined Stoke City 14/01/2022

Graeme Shinnie - joined Wigan Athletic 16/01/2022

Dylan Williams - joined Chelsea 22/01/2022

Jordan Brown - joined Leyton Orient 24/01/2022

Isaac Hutchinson - joined Crawley Town on loan 31/01/2022

Andres Perez De Gracia - released 31/01/2022

Seb Thompson - released 31/01/2022

Luke Plange - joined Crystal Palace 31/01/2022

 

 

[WilsonJuve]

On 27/02/2022 at 09:33, Stuniverse said:

 

Been waiting for the winter update for a new challenge away from my Italian save and decided to give this one a go. Gonna go without any injury or transfer changes though to make it more challenging. My old headteacher was a massive fan and I look forward to seeing what I can do. Hoping to develop some youth and fingers crossed for a semi decent takeover. First transfer window will also be disabled for my save. Just a quick note I also go through stages where I can get a good amount of game time or very little so my updates will vary. The joys of working full time and having two beautiful little boys to look after.