FM22: The English Football League thread

[Parmie]

Bradford City: Season 7 (2027/2028) 

During the previous season in January, we sign a young Brazilian centre back newgen - Milico, perhaps his U20 caps explain his permit eligibility, let go by BRB in Brazil's second division. Nick Theslof, our American scout has a vast range  of knowledge across the Americas it seems to find these players. In addition Ben Nelson from Leicester was a bargain £230k. This give us 4 good centre backs in case of injuries and for rotation, as the Championship just has clusters of games throughout the schedule.

Marcel Ruiz had been signed by Inter, loaned back to Mexico for the entirety of his contract and we snap him up on a free. Although he's an attacking midfielder, I hope to develop him as a central midfielder to give us a more creative option to break down defensive teams, Dave Tredinnick, a newgen striker from Portland, also arrives for free and looks good as another creative forward option to Younghusband. I also pick up Erik Novotny another American striker newgen but a much more goal scoring threat and Jose Ricardo, a young Brazilian left back on loans for further depth. 

To balance the books, and the reason for 2 centre back signings, Lamare Bogarde is signed by Reading for £8.5m, who seem to have piles of cash despite only returning to the Championship from League One this season.

I think the squad overall is looking good, we've had several players through their prime years and the younger ones developing nicely.

The season kicks off well, we win 13 of our first 16 games, and just 1 loss. We've had a couple of 3-2 thrillers but the defence settles down and we're usually getting a 2 or 3 goals ourselves. We're top of the table but Watford are nip and tuck with us, with several clubs also close behind. November to March sees less consistent form, we're drawing quite a few, losing a couple here and there. There isn't any obvious reason as there are no significant injuries, morale is good but every game, including the wins just seems a battle and I have to hammer or cajole the team constantly to eek out a performance. We drop from automatic promotion places into the playoffs spots.

April though, sees us sort our stuff out, and we head into the last game of the season neck and neck with Watford and Blackburn. Any one of us can either win the league or finish in the playoffs depending on how final results go, although we're in the weakest position in 3rd but just need either of them to draw to get at least runners up and go up automatically. We're at home to Millwall. 

We blow away Millwall 4-0, at one point it looked like Watford were going to draw but they scrap past Huddersfield 2-1, while Blackburn smash Stoke 5-2 away. It's the playoffs for us.

I got mired in endless Championship playoffs in previous versions, so I'm not particularly hopeful. We're 8 points clear of 4th and got good results against all the other teams this season. We play Stoke away in the 1st leg. It's another struggle, Che Adams scores for them with the first shot of the game, then bags another and they're outplaying us, however, Wesley gets one back before half time. We look the better team in the 2nd half, but we give away a stupid penalty with the animation showing a defender suddenly decide to aggressively push their player in the back when he's facing away from goal, they score this but in the 86th minute, Frank Francis gets us another away goal back,

For the return leg, I do the old "no pressure" team talk. This does the trick with the performance, a much more comfortable and comprehensive result, Jason Younghusband gets an early goal, and then another mid way through the first half to settle us down. Jacob Davenport smashes one in during first half stoppage time and we're 3-0 up, ahead 2 on aggregate, with Stoke needing a miracle.....they don't get it, they get the odd chance and even one disallowed but we see the game out.

This means we're up against QPR in the final. Younghusband again pops up with an early goal, and gets another in the first half. QPR pull one back before half time. The 2nd half is tense but back and forth, my heart sinks when they get an equaliser on the 86th minute but the referee steps in and disallows it. The time runs out and we win, we're up!

87 points - 3rd (promoted via playoffs)

I'll post the screenshots of the team that got us here in a separate post as people seemed to like that for FM21. 

But once again the off season presents us with the challenge of how to stay up. We've had a board takeover along the way, Simon Santiago, a businessman from Tavistock, which I assume is the small Devon town near Plymouth near where I am from, bought us and then floated us, without much change in finances. We do however, get a £33m transfer budget, but only £500k wage budget, which is a bit unbalanced but I'll think about that later as I start to think about how to strengthen.

[Pablo Sanchez]

need a club lol

[warlock]

2 hours ago, Parmie said:

It's the playoffs for us

Always exciting, but not always in a good way . Congrats on the promotion!

[warlock]

2 hours ago, Pablo Sanchez said:

need a club

What kind of a save might interest you? There's 72 EFL clubs, so there should be a couple that will do the job 

[nexting]

Started with Swindon Town, I had an epic network game with them on 21, I have a soft spot for them now so I'm going again. I had actually already got them promoted with 108 points but i had attribute masking on and just could not get along with it so i restarted.

 

We are just approaching December in season 1 and we are clear by 9 points. Tyreece Simpson is an absolute bagsman with 34 goals in 25 starts.

 

An interesting save with them this year having been relegated to league 2, losing their best players, Scott Twine in particular, and a year long transfer embargo to deal with it!

Edited November 24, 2021 by nexting

[limey150781]

On 19/11/2021 at 22:46, warlock said:

I doubt you'll be alone in that situation . It's going to be interesting to see how FM22 deals with finances long term - previous editions have tended to magic up money when your club needs it but it would add to the challenge if boards cracked down on the debts.

But good luck in the promotion hunt!

Got promoted last night via the playoff final on pens after a 1-1 draw with Rotherham. Got hit really hard with injuries in the final couple of months, particularly up front. Lost Leko and Stockley for the season in March and even a loan signing who I brought in on deadline day got injured and only returned for the playoff final. Sold defensively but struggled with goals  overall but promotion is all that matters. 

Financially still losing money but have 3 larger earners leaving on free at end of their contract, the board have injected 2.3 million but I will still be in trouble as the season goes on without a couple of big sales or a decent  cup run despite some additional sponsors coming in after promotion. 

On 19/11/2021 at 19:32, limey150781 said:

I've started with Charlton and just coming into the new year sit in third 4 points behind second placed Ipswich.

The club is losing money every month so I've got rid of 4 bigger earners who aren't regulars and promoted some talented youth. Had a great 1-3 away win at Preston in the cup and hoping I can get a big draw to bring some money in. Picked up Jota on a free and he has been exceptional in an IF position on the right.

 

[Jogo Bonito]

35 minutes ago, limey150781 said:

Got promoted last night via the playoff final on pens after a 1-1 draw with Rotherham.

Good job, well done. Hopefully the finances will settle down with extra revenues and competition money after the promotion, but good to be careful and sensible.

23 hours ago, nexting said:

Started with Swindon Town, We are just approaching December in season 1 and we are clear by 9 points. Tyreece Simpson is an absolute bagsman with 34 goals in 25 starts.

An interesting save with them this year having been relegated to league 2, losing their best players, Scott Twine in particular, and a year long transfer embargo to deal with it!

Swindon were my pick of the league 2 clubs, but I've not started a proper EFL game yet and there are a couple of other sides slightly more appealing when I do. I like Simpson, have used him at Ipswich in each of the previous two versions of the game and his FM attributes seem to capture the potential he has IRL quite well. I'd imagine Williams, Gladwin and Iandolo are all decent enough too?

@warlockI missed your Crewe post, but that's an incredibly strong start for them. Hoping it's not another 'too easy' experience?

[Brutalyouth]

After looking around for a save last day or two I  decided to give Gillingham a whirl

Not sure why it could be the kit i love a stripped kit haha or fact they have a player i always sign in Jack Tucker

Hoping this will be a challenging long term save just about to get stuck into preseason no signings tho as we have a transfer ban until jan so adds a little spice hahaha

 

[Rollin93]

38 minutes ago, Brutalyouth said:

After looking around for a save last day or two I  decided to give Gillingham a whirl

Not sure why it could be the kit i love a stripped kit haha or fact they have a player i always sign in Jack Tucker

Hoping this will be a challenging long term save just about to get stuck into preseason no signings tho as we have a transfer ban until jan so adds a little spice hahaha

 

Gillingham are my local team they need all the help they can get! Good luck!

[Brutalyouth]

39 minutes ago, Rollin93 said:

Gillingham are my local team they need all the help they can get! Good luck!

What were reasons behind transfer ban? Also am I right in calling your chairman is a bit of a character haha I'm looming forward to the challenge 

[warlock]

5 hours ago, limey150781 said:

Got promoted last night via the playoff final on pens

Maximum stress . But congratulations!

2 hours ago, Brutalyouth said:

I  decided to give Gillingham a whirl

They caught my eye, too. Should be an interesting save 

4 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Crewe... Hoping it's not another 'too easy' experience?

That was my fear but, inevitably, we lost the first match after I posted that update and we've dropped a few more points since then. Still going incredibly well but not the stroll in the park that opening month might have suggested.

[Rollin93]

18 hours ago, Brutalyouth said:

What were reasons behind transfer ban? Also am I right in calling your chairman is a bit of a character haha I'm looming forward to the challenge 

They have had money problems for ages think covid hit them bad same as everyone yeah he defo is a character 

[Brutalyouth]

Needless to say i didn't expect this result 

[Parmie]

Bradford City: Season 8 2028/2029

Heading into the new season with a large transfer budget and increased albeit still small salary budget for the premiership, I'm expecting a few recruits in key areas will help us avoid relegation and consolidate.

To that end, I find Martin Kleine in Dortmund's second team waiting for his chance. He's a premiership level goalkeeper they'll let come on loan for £8k a week plus wages. While that signing is relatively straight forward, it's difficult to find good players who want to join us with reasonable prices at least domestically. So I try to find some players on the cusp of wonderkidhood. Mirko Nikolasevic £3.7m from Red Star, Huseyin Acar £8m from Galatasaray, £6m for Tariq Sejdiu, Ronny Betancourt is a monster right back £1.1m from Atletico Nacional. Deadline doesn't offer up much and I don't have a scout in the UK, so I sign a Chelsea reserve on loan in a bit of desperation Mohamed Ben Yahia and John Tolkin as emergency cover at left back, both of these loan signings are the lower end of their ranges and much worse than I had hoped.

The newgens:

Spoiler

Most of the squad who aren't good enough for the Premier League are still here, and are stubborn when it comes to leaving. Marcel Ruiz, who is worried about getting a new permit is keen to leave and goes to Tigres for £10.25m, Kitching and Philips head off on loans to the lower leagues but thats our only meaningful outward movement.

5 games into the league, we've had a 1-0 win against Burnley and a draw against Liverpool, with respectable losses to Wolves, Man Utd, but a bit of a hammering away to Arsenal. But it's a promising start. We pick up points here and there to hover above relegation, but then hit a 10 game losing streak into February, we pick up a couple of results but it's starting to look bad, and we've dropped into the relegation zone. The 7 games sees us win 2 and draw 3, but it's not enough, we're relegated with a game to go.

I tinkered a little with my 442 during these runs but nothing had a great effect, rallying team talks helped morale but didn't change results. An annoyance with the match engine I've had since FM20 is that it represents losses mainly through your players not doing what they're told or just being daft. We had several games with 5 or 6 yellows, players getting sent off, giving away penalties and so on.

30 points - 19th relegated from the premier league.

My job doesn't appear to be under threat at all, which is good but I feel like the pressure will be on to do well in the Championship, The players we've signed pretty much all have non-negotiable relegation release clauses, so we could lose several of them if they're as good as I thought they were.

Edited November 27, 2021 by Parmie

[Spiegel]

 

Hartlepool United - Mid-Season Summary
Made it to January 1st 2022 with my newly promoted Hartlepool side, and everything's going rather well. We sit 2nd in League 2, with 50 points from 25 games. As in real life, Forest Green have been in imperious form and are currently 2 points ahead of us, with two games in hand. 

Running a possession-heavy 5-3-2 to utilise the new wide-centre back role, and it's been incredibly effective. Not only are we topping the goals scored and conceded tables, we're the best passing team in the league. 

In terms of player performances, all of my regular players are above a 7.00 average rating. Jamie Sterry is the best player in the league on average rating, with an incredible 7.66 over 14 games - he's had a few knocks which has stopped him playing more. 

 Transfers In: 

 
Rodel Richards has been a breath of fresh-air in my striker rotation. 15 goals in 15 starts for him. 
Tyler Nydam has been a useful addition in midfield. I typically use a MEZ (A) on the left of my midfield, but Nydam is a more defensive, playmaking option. 

Full Squad:

[seether]

On 25/11/2021 at 23:36, Brutalyouth said:

What were reasons behind transfer ban? Also am I right in calling your chairman is a bit of a character haha I'm looming forward to the challenge 

Gillingham are my local team as well. Reason for transfer ban is because the accounts were not submitted on time....it's a 6 month total transfer ban, and with our small squad, it makes for a tough challenge.... Paul Scally (our chairman)....yeah he divides opinion...

[Brutalyouth]

Nearing1st jan and I'm having a blast as gillingham here's my results so far and a bit if a crazy match we had with crewe. Looking towards jan may not be to many signings as very little to spend and in reality not a big enough squad to really sell anyone at the moment so may look at a loan or two and the real building of squad can start in the summer.

[warlock]

Crewe Alexandra, Christmas 2021

For roughly the ten billionth time in FM, the media has reported a season of good cheer . Here's how the Railwaymen have fared so far...

After winning every game in August it wasn't surprising that the natural order of things re-established itself in September as we managed just two league wins this month. A handy win in a goalfest against L2 Forest Green Rovers in the Carabao Cup set up a money-spinning tie away to Premiership giants Arsenal.

October saw a complete reversal of fortune as we returned to winning ways in the league but exited the Carabao Cup. The sole defeat this month surprised no-one, but a huge £750k payday salved our wounded pride somewhat.

November started in decent fashion with wins in the FA Cup and the Pizza Pot, but the relentless schedule of games started to take a toll on fitness and form. We were lucky to hold on against Gillingham but couldn't manage the same against Wimbledon. However, we followed that with a storming performance against much-fancied Ipswich away. The defeat to Sunderland in the PJT was neither here nor there since we'd already qualified for the knockout rounds.

We saw out the year with another 8-game month, which we managed to navigate without too much damage. A narrow defeat to Gillingham was disappointing but of greater concern were the performances of 'keeper Will Jääskeläinen. Although he was still capable of a clean sheet, he had developed a bad habit of conceding from almost every shot on target. Bolton had only 2 SoT but scored with both, requiring a huge effort from the forwards to bag two late goals to give us the victory. Against Charlton it was a similar story where we let slip a 3-1 half-time lead, and again against Wigan. That game prompted a frank exchange of views and seems to have resulted in a much better performance - and a clean sheet - against Morecambe. 

Up front things are much brighter as Scott Kashket continues to lead the league scoring chart, finding the net at a rate of a goal per game - 29 goals in all competitions in 24(5) appearances. We're also getting a regular supply of goals from midfield, such that we lead the league with 59 goals from 26 matches. Although our defensive performance only ranks 8th in the division, we're still holding on to top spot:

With the January window about to open, we have a healthy war chest of £600k but I'm not sure where I'd spend it. An upgrade among the backup strikers would help to ease some of the burden on Kashket and, for the reasons discussed, I'd be open to a better first-choice GK. My scouts aren't offering me much in the way of transfer targets but I might have to push the striker issue - a serious injury to Kashket could see our season go south in a hurry.

[Jogo Bonito]

Very successful seasons with Hartlepool, Gillingham and Crewe. Well done all and I enjoyed reading your updates. Particularly good to see Hartlepool mentioned (and going well) as they're definitely one of the less popular choices in here over the years 

After several seasons of success for Bradford, I guess a relegation was on the cards but plenty of reason to believe you can bounce back again 

I'm busy managing in another country but have set up a League 1 save last week so at some point I will join in with your chronicles of EFL joy/misery.

[Dong21]

On 21/11/2021 at 00:17, Jogo Bonito said:

And a 'bit of fun' at Charlton will probably last until FM23 for you @Dong21 

You know me too well @Jogo Bonito - I have so far only managed eight weeks of game time, in the same period @Parmie has managed eight seasons 

So here we go, here is an update on my first experience of FM22:

Charlton Athletic - July & August 2021

Transfer Dealings:

In my last post I mentioned that I thought the squad was well balanced, with quality throughout. After a slightly deeper analysis I identified both full back positions as our biggest weakness. At right back Gunter and Matthews are fairly average players, and at left back Purrington is out injured for the first three months of the season. 

There was very little transfer budget to address this though, so I decided to do some wheeling and dealing. As usual I took on a large number of trialists to review (around 18 I believe - many of whom went on to higher paying clubs) and I quickly identified that Oumar Niasse - a Championship level forward, in my opinion - was available and keen to sign for just £4k p/w (that may sound a lot but would make him only our eight highest paid player). This was outside of our budget but I worked out I could cash in on Conor Washington, replace him with Niasse (an upgrade, in my view) and have plenty of budget left over to improve the full back positions - so that's what I did!

Fees of over £300k were agreed with MLS teams for Washington (maybe his name appealed to them...) however to my annoyance he rejected them and we had to accept a lower fee from league rivals Rotherham. Luckily nobody swooped in for Niasse to scupper my plans and the former-Everton man arrived as planned. 

As mentioned previously, this save is 'a bit of fun' and therefore I am not thinking particularly long-term. In normal circumstances his age and previous injury record would have put me off, but in this instance I went with heart over head (and the appeal of his brilliant technical attributes) and signed Fabio Coentrao as my left back reinforcement. From the Bernebeu to The Valley in the space of a few seasons!

Over at right back I think I've made quite the coup - Bogdan Butko has made over 250 league appearances across the top flights of Ukraine, Russia, Poland and Turkey, and at 30 years old he is arguably still in his prime. Chris Gunter was moved on to Shrewsbury to make room in the squad. 

I sent two first team players out on loan. Striker Josh Davison went to Salford and winger Corey Blackett-Taylor went to Rotherham, both for the whole season. A further seven youth players were also sent out on loan to develop. The final incoming was 20 year old striker Jamie Soule who was brought in on loan from West Brom. Due to his age he does not count in the 22 man squad limit. He will provide us with additional depth up front. 

The strict League One squad size rules, stopped me making a number of further deals I had been considering. In fact, perennially injured Forster-Caskey (out for five months when the season starts) has been left out the squad to make room. His registration will be reviewed and considered in January. 

Performance:

 

Pre-season went extremely smoothly. I played a lot of games to get used to the squad, develop a number of tactics (we have been alternating between a 4-3-3 DM Wide and a 4-2-3-1 thus far, both with a focus on wing play), but also so I could get used to the new edition of FM!

Other than a bad day against Wigan, it's been a strong start to the league campaign. I won't bother sharing a league table, as it's only been five games, but we currently sit 4th and are one of five teams on 10 points sitting behind league leaders Rotherham who have 13. Perhaps I shouldn't have sold them Washington as so far he's scored four in seven for them!

We have done well in the League Cup, beating a decent MK Dons side and then pulling off a comeback and cupset against Championship side QPR. I made ten changes to my strongest team in the Pizza Trophy and therefore can be fully blamed for the loss. Am I bothered? Not particularly.

So how have the new signings performed?

Despite the team doing well overall when he has played as a lone striker, Niasse got off to a surprisingly sticky start when he didn't score in his first four games. He did, however, score against QPR and I am hoping this will be what kickstarts his season. Young striker Soule made his debut in the recent Orient loss, and it wasn't a performance to write home about. Plenty of time to make bigger contributions.

The full backs, however, are shining brightly. 

Butko has got the highest average rating of all my players at this stage of the season (7.26). He has played all seven games due to an injury to Matthews early in the season and already has two assists. As reliable as Butko has been, Coentrao has been the provider of fun. After one of my key players, winger Charlie Kirk, got ruled out for a month at the start of August, I decided to utilise Coentrao's quality technical attributes and trialled him in the inside forward position. Oh boy did it work. He got three goals in two games and against QPR he provided a superb assist for Leko's goal that brought us even. Since then I have dropped him back to left back - but I may very well choose to unleash him on our opponents yet again. 

Edited November 30, 2021 by Dong21

[warlock]

@Dong21 Seeing the goals from Coentrão I was wondering what witchcraft that was, then... 

1 hour ago, Dong21 said:

I decided to utilise Coentrao's quality technical attributes and trialled him in the inside forward position. Oh boy did it work

And all was revealed . A bit of tactical genius! 

Good start to the season, and a nice result against QPR, too 

[warlock]

Crewe Alexandra, March 2022

The January window came and went and I managed to find a GK and a striker so, on the face of it, job done. Unfortunately, the former has been far better than the latter. Also unfortunately, both came via the loan market rather than permanent signings. Between the sticks we brought in Leicester's Jakub Stolarczyk and as results will show, he transformed our fortunes in February. Up front, we signed Everton's Ellis Simms... good in the air, he looked like the ideal backup for Mandron in the TF role. I'm hoping he's just taking a while to settle in but in 4 appearances he's looked way off the standard.

As noted in my last update, my biggest fear was an injury to star striker Kashket and inevitably he suffered a hamstring injury and missed most of January. His absence doesn't entirely explain our form that month but was a major factor:

No wins in the league, a string of results that saw our 8pt advantage over Portsmouth disappear, and we ended the month hanging on the first place by virtue of our superior goal difference. Happily, things took a turn for the better in February:

With Stolarczyk in goal we suddenly looked a lot more secure at the back (and no coincidence that he was injured for the Cheltenham match), while Kashket's return gave us a greater threat at the other end. The big game, of course, was the top-of-the-table clash against Portsmouth and that win opened up a 3pt lead, which immediately dropped to 1 following the end-of-month draw. It makes for a tight and nervy picture at the top of the table, particularly as 3rd-placed Ipswich are the form team of the moment, with just one defeat since November.

We begin March by hosting Southampton in the FA Cup 5th round in another highly profitable cup run. As always, my only ambition is to avoid a morale-destroying spanking. 

[Brutalyouth]

And we are up. Championship here we come few games to go til season end. Budgets for next season are not best so loans and wheeling and dealing ahead

[warlock]

2 minutes ago, Brutalyouth said:

Championship here we come

Well done . I wouldn't worry about budgets - don't think you ever get much for promotion to the Championship, but you don't need much by way of upgrades to avoid relegation or even achieve a mid-table finish.

[Brutalyouth]

10 minutes ago, warlock said:

Well done . I wouldn't worry about budgets - don't think you ever get much for promotion to the Championship, but you don't need much by way of upgrades to avoid relegation or even achieve a mid-table finish.

Going to doing alot of scouting rest of tonight and after work and just hope I hold onto my best player jack tucker clubs ade sniffing around him 

[Jogo Bonito]

Great update @Dong21 Fabio doing great stuff at Charlton partly due to illogical tactics - well done  What happened with your Ugandan trialist, not worth signing or not able to? My pick of the FM22 free transfers and is in my Panathinaikos side. 

@warlock Still right on track with Crewe and even if my FM21 stalwart Ellis Simms hasn't yet convinced, I think that's a great move. Give him time & hopefully he will do as well for yu as he did for me at Ipswich.

Very well done @Brutalyouth quite an achievement with The Gills. As was said above, you'll definitely have enough to survive even if signings don't appear to be earth shattering.

P.S. I had a go at making some Plymouth kits for my EFL effort. What do you think? I haven't mastered changing the default colours yet so working with the original colour scheme at the moment. They should work on 3D if I include the config file correctly.

 

Edited December 1, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

56 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

my FM21 stalwart Ellis Simms hasn't yet convinced

Aha! I knew I recognised the name when my scouts flagged him, but couldn't pin it down 

Shirts look impressive (even if a bit too flash for the likes of Plymouth 

[Jogo Bonito]

16 minutes ago, warlock said:

Aha! I knew I recognised the name when my scouts flagged him, but couldn't pin it down 

Shirts look impressive (even if a bit too flash for the likes of Plymouth 

Yeah he scored about 1000 goals for me in three seasons at Ipswich. 

I've tried to make a few just to see how they turn out. Just 'flashy Plymouth' a couple of Spanish ones and KRC Genk. I'm quite happy with them but to experienced makers they are really basic 

[warlock]

Crewe Alexandra, April 2022

Down the final stretch:

Ipswich have been relentless, overtaking us in March. I think it's fair to say we have the toughest schedule with all remaining games against Top 10 opposition, including what might be a promotion-decider against the Tractor Boys. Pompey probably have the easiest schedule, but the momentum is all with Ipswich.

Regardless of what happens, we've massively over-achieved, but it would be hard to bear if we missed out on promotion having led the league for almost the entire season. 

[3rik]

Has anyone seen any changes to the laws with work permit or foreign players a few years in to the game?

[warlock]

1 hour ago, 3rik said:

any changes to the laws with work permit or foreign players

I haven't played beyond the first season yet, but I wouldn't expect any changes to the English system - work permits are the reality and likely to stay that way, I'm afraid.

[3rik]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

I haven't played beyond the first season yet, but I wouldn't expect any changes to the English system - work permits are the reality and likely to stay that way, I'm afraid.

Yeah it´s fine, just curious if it's programed to stay the same.

[Brutalyouth]

Season 2 transfers. few loans got Chelsea as senior affiliate paid out for Jack Rudoni whom im excited to use in amc role 

Going to be challenging season bookies have us nialed on to finish bottom as expected but i think we could surprise a few

[Brutalyouth]

Near post corners what ppls thoughts seeing or of ppl saying it's op this year

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Brutalyouth said:

Near post corners

I don't see much difference from FM21 - but they were a bit overpowered last year. In my Crewe save my CBs have 13 goals between the four of them all season, so it probably depends on the quality of delivery as much as anything.

[Jamesbfc1887]

1 hour ago, Brutalyouth said:

Near post corners what ppls thoughts seeing or of ppl saying it's op this year

Very powerful this year imo.

A couple of taller lads in your team and you'll score 10-15 goals a season, especially if like me you play with 3 centre backs and a target man.

Just need a bit of time to update everyone on my new efl save,  now I've finished spending stupid amounts with Newcastle 

[Jamesbfc1887]

Similar story for Lacroix and Mancini

[warlock]

28 minutes ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

Very powerful this year imo

I'm obviously not exploiting it right 

[Dong21]

On 01/12/2021 at 22:05, Jogo Bonito said:

Great update @Dong21 Fabio doing great stuff at Charlton partly due to illogical tactics - well done  What happened with your Ugandan trialist, not worth signing or not able to? My pick of the FM22 free transfers and is in my Panathinaikos side. 

I had Faruka Miya on trial for almost a month and he looked good but his wage demands were well beyond my budget. In the end he went to Seattle Sounders and I can see he is on £8.5k per week there. The other two notable trialists were Gambian Hamza and Henri Saivet, who chose to go to Troyes and Montreal Impact respectively. In both instances the money they were offered was more than I could stump up. 

Charlton Athletic - July & August 2021

Staff Improvements:

One thing I forgot to cover in my last update was that I also revamped my entire staff upon arrival at the club. Pretty much the only person who kept his job was Assistant Manager Johnnie Jackson (the other being Head of Youth Development, Steve Avory). Jackson's attributes are decent for this level but I particularly like having the former Charlton player on my staff as I have a personal affinity for him having seen him play several times IRL at The Valley and he always put in a Man of the Match performance.

I'm not sure if anyone finds updates about staff interesting - but I thought I'd share as there might be other lower league managers looking for good staff at this level and I've effectively done the hard work for you! 

My 'star signing' when it came to staff had to be former Reading and Leeds manager Brian McDermott. Initially he wanted a role as a scout but he has terrific stats as a coach at this level and I managed to steer him in the direction of coaching. 

The other two coaches were regen Head of Youth Developments who I persuaded to become coaches due to their great coaching attributes (much better than any of the actual coaches available).

Physio Claudio Piatti is rated 18 for physiotherapy and has a lot of pedigree being previously at the likes of Lazio and Monaco. 

Michael Murphy, brought in from Peterhead, also deserves a mention for his very high scouting attributes. On the scouting front, I couldn't resist bringing in Vicente who was with me every step of the way when I took Oldham from League Two to the Premier League on FM21.

When operating on a budget it is tempting to search only for free agent staff, however you can miss out on some real gems operating at non-league level who can be picked up for minimal cost, such as Willie Conlon, Russ O'Neill and Tommy Miller.

There is always something appealing about hiring coaches who were ex-internationals at the highest level. It was, therefore, particularly pleasing to bring in both Andreas Isaksson and Jussi Jaaskelainen as goalkeeping coaches. 

While not possessing outstanding attributes, the likes of Nick Barmby and Joe Cole provide top level experience to my youngsters. 

I made sure to bring in our full quota of physios as the club only had a handful when I arrived and this may be a factor in why the club had several injured players when I arrived.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Dong21

[warlock]

3 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

I couldn't resist bringing in Vicente

Yeah, I think I signed him for every club I managed in FM21, although in England you have to accept a year of recommendations for players who won't get a work permit until his local knowledge increases.

I've often signed McDermott as a scout but will have to take a look at his coaching attributes, too.

[Dong21]

3 minutes ago, warlock said:

I've often signed McDermott as a scout but will have to take a look at his coaching attributes, too.

Pretty good for League One, in my humble opinion! 

Edited December 2, 2021 by Dong21

[warlock]

Crewe Alexandra, end of season 2022

As per the last update, we went into the final 4 games of the season in the promotion hunt but having surrendered our place at the top to Ipswich. Here's how April played out:

The first of our final four matches saw us record a convincing 5-2 victory over the Dons, while Ipswich managed a 3-2 win against Rotherham. Next up, we travelled to Sheffield to face the Owls and came away with another win but the Tractor Boys slipped up against Wigan, succumbing to a 1-2 loss, which put us back on top. Then came what was, in effect, the title decider as Ipswich came to Crewe and... nothing was decided as we fought out a 3-3 draw. So it all came down to the last day of the season and Ipswich had to win while we had to not lose. Ipswich gave it their all, spanking Charlton 5-1 while we scraped a very unconvincing draw away to Lincoln. But it was enough to secure the title for the Railwaymen, although we were denied a trophy presentation - I think the powers-that-be thought the title was heading to Suffolk.

Kashket finished his season as our top scorer, although two injury spells in the second half of the season slowed him down quite a bit. Fortunately, his backup, Chris Long, took up the slack and bagged 20 goals of his own.

The board have given me a rather generous £1.55m transfer budget to prepare for life in the Championship but I suspect most of my investment will be in the market known as "free".

[Dong21]

Terrific season with Crewe there @warlock, congrats on your promotion to the Championship!

Sounds like Kashket’s numbers would have been phenomenal if it wasn’t for a few injuries. I’m sure you have no complaints about 33 goals nonetheless.

[warlock]

19 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

I’m sure you have no complaints about 33 goals

None . He was brilliant all year... it will be interesting to see how he handles the step up next season. My coaches rate him a "good" L1 player but unlikely to improve at 26. I reckon he'll be fine - although maybe not "33 goals" fine 

[Rollin93]

So I’ve decided after a long time thinking that I am starting a save with newport county!

[Spiegel]

We've only gone and done it!

Few additions to the side since we left off; 

Mich'el Parker and Jack Barmby joined on free transfers during the season. Parker proved to be a very solid addition on the right of my back three. Barmby rejoins the club, having previously been here on a loan spell from Man Utd back in 2013. He's spent a few years floating around the MLS, still a very useful player. 

Summer Transfers - Outs: 
Unfortunate to see these lads go - Bryne, Smith, Ogle and Francis-Angol were all very good players for me over last season, but I needed to make upgrades to survive in League One!

 

Summer Transfers - Ins: 

A modest £5.75k spent. Which is a relative pittance compared to also-promoted Forest Green's £145K spend! 

Freddie Ladapo is a proven goalscorer at this level - scoring 9, 14 and 18 goals in his last three seasons irl. AI Rotherham didn't use him much last season and released him. He's looked very good for me in preseason and offers a more physical replacement to the outgoing Tyler Burey. 

The big budget signing Myles Kenlock looks a terrific all-round player with 11's and 12's in most attributes. I'm expecting that he'll feature heavily on the left of my back three, while offering competition to Ferguson at LWB. Essentially the same role Zaine Francis-Angol carried out last season. 

Jake Cain joins on loan from Liverpool. A swashbuckling Mezzala who will offer competition to Matty Daly (who's loan deal I extended at the end of the season). 

Josh Pask serves as a replacement to Neill Bryne, and to an extent Reagan Ogle. A tall, quick defender who is capable on the ball. He'll offer competition at the WCB position. 

Richie Smallwood is a relatively local lad, and adds some steel and experience to my midfield. He's looked excellent in the B2B role in preseason. 

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by Spiegel

[Jogo Bonito]

Congrats on promotions @warlock and as was said that's incredible scoring from Kashket who is IRL a fairly modest striker.

Same to you @Spiegel and I agree Ladapo looks like she should be a good pick up on a free transfer.

@Dong21 Nice update as usual, delighted to see Brian McDermott back in a proper role. A really nice guy who has done some good work in the past. I swear that next time you see the name of Vicente crop up in one of my posts, it's purely coincidental that you and warlock are talking about him as a frequently recruited staff member...

Shame you couldn't sign Miya, but he is better than League 1 so he probably made the right career choice in your game.

Edited December 3, 2021 by Jogo Bonito

[Spedding]

Started with swindon,

We start with a year long transfer ban so no transfers.

At the end of august only lost to peterborough in the cup and salford in the league.

currently 4th 

Tyreese Simpson been on top form during august

 

[Jogo Bonito]

12 hours ago, Spedding said:

Started with swindon, We start with a year long transfer ban so no transfers. At the end of august only lost to peterborough in the cup and salford in the league. currently 4th. Tyreese Simpson been on top form during august

Excellent pick, a really strong side for League 2 but limited depth. Board expectations are reasonable although the embargo is tough. Simpson is a really promising player, and as you have seen he should dominate at that level.

[DefinitelyTaylor]

On 28/11/2021 at 13:31, Spiegel said:

Rodel Richards has been a breath of fresh-air in my striker rotation. 15 goals in 15 starts for him. 

Not surprised to read this at all. He has been a revelation for me at Port Vale in L1 on a network save I have going. Great start!