FM22: The English Football League thread

[Ronaldo Beckham]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

@Ronaldo Beckham Congrats on the promotion. Good stuff!

In terms of the save goals, is Iling the first player you've managed to move up to the PL?

Yeah he is which is a good start. I want to try become the biggest club to produce Premiership players.

[ShaunG95]

I was going to start a save as AFC Wimbledon myself but as @Ronaldo Beckham is doing so marvelously well with them, I decided to punt for Accrington Stanley instead. I'm not using an updated database or anything like that as I have an aversion to edited databases in any capacity - call me strange!

Overall, I'm only at the end of October and it is much tougher than my Shrewsbury save that I did earlier in the year. I was top of the league with the Shrews at this point whereas I'm 6th with Accrington. Where Shrewsbury had a core in the squad that were reliable and pretty professional, Accrington are average with only a handful of players in the starting squad who are worth keeping hold of. I've loaned in an absolute army but it is proving troublesome constantly rotating in order to ensure their loan requirements are fulfilled.

I have a clear view on how I want the save to pan out, I often favour Eastern European players as it is but I envisage a couple of the Russian boys I've brought in (on loan) to be the main figureheads in my lineup for years to come. I will update in depth at the end of season one.

[warlock]

47 minutes ago, ShaunG95 said:

I decided to punt for Accrington Stanley

Good luck  I've always thought Stanley to be one of the toughest saves in FM (maybe alongside Morecambe) because the clubs are so small and difficult to grow off the pitch. It will be interesting to see how you get on.

[Jono Cpfc]

1 hour ago, ShaunG95 said:

I was going to start a save as AFC Wimbledon myself but as @Ronaldo Beckham is doing so marvelously well with them, I decided to punt for Accrington Stanley instead. I'm not using an updated database or anything like that as I have an aversion to edited databases in any capacity - call me strange!

Overall, I'm only at the end of October and it is much tougher than my Shrewsbury save that I did earlier in the year. I was top of the league with the Shrews at this point whereas I'm 6th with Accrington. Where Shrewsbury had a core in the squad that were reliable and pretty professional, Accrington are average with only a handful of players in the starting squad who are worth keeping hold of. I've loaned in an absolute army but it is proving troublesome constantly rotating in order to ensure their loan requirements are fulfilled.

I have a clear view on how I want the save to pan out, I often favour Eastern European players as it is but I envisage a couple of the Russian boys I've brought in (on loan) to be the main figureheads in my lineup for years to come. I will update in depth at the end of season one.

good luck mate, i also currently have an accy save going with the updated database and yeah the team is trash hahaha they lost so many good players!

Edited August 18, 2022 by Jono Cpfc

[CityAndColour]

2028/29 - Willand Rovers - Conference South

Season:

After a few seasons of struggle, it was nice to have a season where we played some genuinely good football and weren't just scrapping for points. We dropped as low as 14th early on, but from that point pretty much stayed in or around the top half of the table, save for one week in 13th. We didn't quite match our Conference South best points total of 64 (which we got in our first season), but a late season run got us to 60, which we hadn't hit since. Our wage budget is also 40% lower than it was in that season so overall I'd say this is our best campaign yet at this level.

Ultimately, we did it from the back. Only four teams could better our goals conceded number of 41, meaning we still registered a positive goal difference despite only scoring 44 times.

After winning their league last year, our u18s finished runners up behind Eastleigh. We also got 67 starts and 48 sub appearances in the senior team from our own academy products.

 

Players:

Some good performances across the board, plus the ever-outstanding Stanford.

Sean Stanford - His best season yet. He led the league for average rating, player of the match awards, interceptions and clearances, and won 89% of his headers. A colossus.

Jérémie N'Goma - Signed from lowly North Leigh, he was a class act and made a huge difference to our season between the sticks. Unfortunately, he won't sign a new contract and even if he was interested, we can't really afford him anyway.

Ashley Woolston - As you can see, he's far too good for this level. Mostly played in central midfield however also deputised in the centre of defence when required.

Carlton Bullock - A summer signing from Bideford, I nearly released the ex-Coventry youth after he got sent off three times in his first seven starts. But he settled down and was reliable at both centre half and left back.

Bradley Keetch - The club captain finishes the season just shy of 300 club appearances and is rightly listed as an icon. My coaches don't really rate him but he is as consistent as ever.

Jamie Gannon - A really classy attacking midfielder with a cultured left foot. Exeter have allowed me to take him on loan for next season too, including a slightly-ambitious £300k optional future fee.

Kyle De Silva - At 35, he was again excellent all season playing on the right with 10 goals and eight assists. He has now announced his retirement and will manage Chertsey next season.

Narcis Drejan - On loan from Eastleigh, the mercurial Romanian was brilliant in the first half of the season. He fell away quite a bit after January but still finished with 19 goals in all competitions and a third of our total goals in the league (15/44).

Next season:

Despite a number of rumours and media headlines, we're still no closer to a board takeover and as such, will keep operating under the same financial restraints. That being said, aside from N'Goma, we've kept hold of all other key players and have a little bit in the wage kitty to hopefully chase a prolific striker, as we've already found a replacement 'keeper via loan.  

Last season was the first for a new HOYD, and he has already brought in two promising talents in his first intake - Ugochukwu Nnanami and Darren Williams (who scored on debut), plus had a 'keeper poached by Weston-super-Mare. Both of them will go straight into the first team squad to hopefully accelerate their development.

If we can find a reliable striker and some decent loans, this is the first point I've felt like a playoff run could be on the cards. Big if though!

[ShaunG95]

1 hour ago, Jono Cpfc said:

good luck mate, i also currently have an accy save going with the updated database and yeah the team is trash hahaha they lost so many good players!

Butcher and Sykes are really, really good. Arguably two of the best players they have and both gone!

2 hours ago, warlock said:

Good luck  I've always thought Stanley to be one of the toughest saves in FM (maybe alongside Morecambe) because the clubs are so small and difficult to grow off the pitch. It will be interesting to see how you get on.

Little to no wiggle room in the wage budget which was really concerning to start off with, it almost put me off a bit. I decided to loan out the majority of the u23s just to get money off the wage bill currently so I could get loans in to improve the side, not to mention selling a few of the players. Notable departures have been: John O'Sullivan, Stephen Sama, David Morgan and Michael Nottingham. Ironically the former two have left in real life so I suppose it makes for a somewhat realistic experience. I've also terminated a couple of the loans they had too as I didn't feel paying their wages warranted value for money when foreign imports were much more cost effective.

[ShaunG95]

Now, this could be tasty...

[warlock]

Gateshead, May 2023

With the lovely MrsW away for the week on business, I've had a lot of time for FM . In our last report from the International Stadium at the start of the year we were comfortably on top of the division and on a good run of form. As often seems to be the way, the wintry start to the year is usually accompanied by a drop off in performances and this year was no exception. It wasn't terrible, but there were causes for concern:

Suddenly we were dropping points everywhere, culminating in the February defeat to Barnet. Of more concern was the fact that we won only two league games in January, and just the one in February. Our steady progress in the FA Trophy only added to the general fatigue among the squad. Having held a comfortable 14pt lead over nearest rivals Notts County, our advantage was slowly but surely being eaten away. Happily, we turned things around in March:

An unbeaten month and just two points dropped in a fantastic run of form. The win against County in the FA Trophy was pleasing; to see them off in what may have been a title decider to close the month was fantastic. As we headed into April, they were the only team that could catch us if we slipped up:

Thankfully, the lads got the job done and the win against Maidstone confirmed our second consecutive title. After an early scare against Solihull in the home leg of the FA Trophy semi-final we also produced a brilliant away performance to book ourselves an appearance at Wembley. Could we do the double?

We could, but it was a knock'em out, drag'em out slugfest. Despite dominating in terms of possession and shots on target, we just couldn't put them away. Going into extra time it seemed they'd bagged the trophy with a late goal until Robbie Tinkler stepped up with an equaliser five minutes from time. Tinkler stepped up again in the shootout to score the penalty that gave us the win.

So thoughts turn to rebuilding the squad for life in League Two, and a big rebuild is required. About half of the squad is on expiring contracts and aren't good enough to make the step up. A couple of our key loan signings - Marschall in goal and Sunderland LB Newall - are also about to run down their contracts but neither appears to be interested in joining us permanently. In better news, our star midfielder Taylor Chartres - who just won National League Player of the Year - has agreed to extend his loan for another year. Otherwise, we have a lot of critical vacancies to fill, and just £25k to get the job done. A long summer awaits...

[Ronaldo Beckham]

AFC Wimbledon Season 4 Review

Another lovely season for AFC Wimbledon who comfortably managed to survive and stay in the Championship. It wasn't comfortable for most of the season with us going on a terrible run but we managed to form in March and by late April we were mathematically safe so I could relax.

For some reason I am unable to upload screenshots on here for some reason today so this season update wont be very exciting.

We finished 19th in the Championship in the end. I am hoping to get a low mid table position next season.

Jaden Williams was the top scorer with 19 goals in 42 games.

Nya Kirby was the best player for the season with an average rating of 7.14 and the most assists with 12. He also scored 9 goals. 

Goalkeeper Fynn Talley played the most games with 47.

Key signings who went on to play well for us were TJ Eyoma(£155k from Lincoln), J'Neil Bennett(Freebie from Fulham) and Luke Bradley-Morgan(£525k from Stevenage).

Nya Kirby won the Fans Player Of The Season.

Sean Robertson won the Young Player Of The Season.

Jude Russell was voted Best Signing Of The Season.

 

[ShaunG95]

League One Table - 2021/22

We found ourselves in 7th in mid-February and at which point it wasn't looking good for an automatic promotion, however, this run of form then happened...

Ipswich led throughout most of the season yet somehow bottled top spot. We ended up losing on the final day to Wimbledon and I was content with a 2nd place finish but The Tractor Boys also lost at home to Charlton which meant that Wigan leapfrogged them on the final day. Justice was served when they won the play-offs against Oxford.

Transfers In - £200k

As we can see, it was nothing short of a loan army that propelled us to promotion. Kor was a totally free loan and was very impressive as a right-winger. Pinheiro was played sparingly and I upset Porto with his lack of game time, this was down to Mandela Egbo's consistent performances at RB. I was really impressed with him and I'm sure he'll be a key member of our Championship squad. Laikin and Shitov both came in from Spartak Moscow, if I'm honest I knew nothing of Laikin but he looked quite well rounded and proved a reliable set-piece taker throughout the season, chipping in with some really important penalties on occasions throughout the season. Shitov (excellent name) is the striker I want to build around ideally, I know that he's potentially very good on the game and scored 10 goals in his first senior season. Biuk, Simons and Morton were trusted loans that I brought in after their success in my Shrewsbury save earlier in the year - during this season Biuk was class, notching 13 in the league while Simons was consistent when called upon but I did prefer Laikin most of the time as it felt a bit too easy to rely heavily on someone I already knew was great based on a previous save. Morton's loan was short lived as he sustained a hip injury early in the season and upon returning Klopp recalled him due to a lack of play-time. I had a lot of time for both Montano and Gomes who were really good options when called upon - I often preferred Montano over Vazquez despite paying the latter more money as part of the loan deal. Bloxham, like the earlier trio was a reliable player during my Shrewsbury save, it is safe to say I didn't play him that much though as I wanted to get the most out of Shitov and Bishop. Defensive solidarity was something I felt the squad lacked so Jackson, Raglan and Salimi were brought in as professional heads to sure up our backline. Salimi was originally on trial without a work-permit but debuted for Iran in this time and was subsequently given one from there on out, great success!

I can confirm that Pinheiro, Simons, Bloxham, Machuca, Vazquez, Ambriz and Wagner have all returned to their parent clubs for the Championship campaign while the rest have been extended. Very excited to see how we get on personally.

Transfers Out - £190k

Best Eleven

[warlock]

2 hours ago, ShaunG95 said:

Fantastic season! Well played, fella 

[CityAndColour]

Without a board takeover and some funds, that will be the end of my Willand career, as it will be impossible to even fill a squad.

[ShaunG95]

5 hours ago, CityAndColour said:

Without a board takeover and some funds, that will be the end of my Willand career, as it will be impossible to even fill a squad.

That's a massive shame and also the very reason I tend to struggle getting into a proper lower league save.

[CityAndColour]

5 hours ago, ShaunG95 said:

That's a massive shame and also the very reason I tend to struggle getting into a proper lower league save.

 

I actually just realised I can convert my scouting budget into transfer budget, and in turn can convert that into wage budget. So I have at least been able to get it back to where it was.

Edited August 21, 2022 by CityAndColour

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I just had a weird situation where I didn't have any Championship games for the whole of the 2025/2026 season. Must be some sort of weird bug cos of some edited files I have on FM.

Very weird. Luckily I have fixtures this season so I can carry on with this save.

 

 

 

[nexting]

Guys, im currently doing a save with Bromley and im just wondering if it is possible to check gate receipts on a game by game basis? If so where do i look. Cheers.

[robterrace]

Had a couple of issues defensively in my first few games of the season, so, naturally, I needed to find a centre half with top flight experience who I could add to my squad.

The player in question was found at Chelsea, and he had experience at Bournemouth, having spent time on loan there last season. He also developed at Southampton, so, comes under the home nation trained criteria. 

It was a scouting trip to Switzerland that spotted my next defender, one for the future, although, with 6 caps for his country at 18 years old, he is definitely one that will be in the reckoning sooner rather than later. 

Those were the last couple of deals of the window, with only youth players signing and heading out on loan, except for a signing made for the end of the season.

This one really interests me. In scouting Teplani, I paid some attention to European competitions, in those, playing for FCSB, was 17 year old Attila Balogh. Despite his tender years, he has 10 caps for Romania, as well as over 60 for FCSB, winning 2 league titles in the process.

He will no doubt go on to play at the very highest level, but, for £5m, he is well worth the fee.

This shows how out of touch in terms of wages with the rest of the division I am..

That will probably change over the coming seasons, but, my chairman doesn't like spending any money unless he has to, so, everything I've spent this summer has been funded by Ben McNamees blockbuster move.

 

[CityAndColour]

Well, that's the end of an era...

I'd managed to convert some of our unused scouting budget into wages, however the chairman simply lowered the budget again. Coupled with us being in the middle of a winless run which had dropped us from being in a playoff push to looking over our shoulders at the bottom three, I realised I didn't have a heart for the battle anymore. I leave after 385 matches in charge, which returned 161 wins, 84 draws, two promotions and 538 goals.

Given we're going into the last few months before FM23, I'm going to drop back down into tier eight and try and get another promotion or two.

 

Edited August 22, 2022 by CityAndColour

[warlock]

3 hours ago, CityAndColour said:

Well, that's the end of an era...

Indeed, but no-one can say you didn't give it everything. Better luck with your next club 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

AFC Wimbledon Season 6 Review

A season of progress with AFC Wimbledon reaching a 16th place finish in our 2nd season in the Championship.

Best Player - Nya Kirby

Kirby was our best player by a clear mile with 14 assists and 8 goals. He was top goalscorer and most assists.

We lacked a clear out and out goalscorer this season but Kirby's contributions kept us in the league.

Best Signing - Uche Ikapeazu - Free Transfer from Middlesbrough

Experience was needed up front this season and we signed Ikepeazu who didn't score loads but he played very well and got a few important game winning goals.

Overall Best Starting 11

Player Awards

Bola got the Player Of The Season mostly cos he had the best average rating in the team but I personally would of picked Nya Kirby.

Luke Bradley-Morgan got the Young Player Of The Season.

Uche Ikepeazu got the Signing Of The Season.

My aim as always is to just get a little higher up the league next season.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Unfortunately I am unable to carry on with the AFC Wimbledon save cos of a bug in my save that for some reason gives me no league fixtures every other season.

I am off to do a save in Spain with Elche and sign Argentinians but I will be back at some point with another EFL save.

 

[robterrace]

3 weeks before the Winter transfer window opens, and I get this.

Part of me is happy, as I've already done one bit of outgoing business that should allow me to strengthen, and that is Daryl Dike departing to Wolfsburg for £18m. Its probably a couple of million above what I wanted for him, but, I'm not going to complain, he is a bit inconsistent, and that shows this season with the step up in class.

Hopefully, whoever takes over, keeps me on, and gives me a decent sized warchest to strengthen a couple of key areas.

This is actually OK though. 

-----

Then, on top of everything, the last match before the window opens, James McAtee, who has been outstanding for the last month, injures himself and is out for 3 months with a torn back muscle.

[ShaunG95]

Championship Table - 2022/23

We were running away with is very early doors, the 'underdogs' tag with an attacking formation always tends to work a treat. This was our run of games up until October, consistent to say the least.

We also ended up facing Sheffield United for the title on the last game of the season - it was a dreamland situation as our academy graduate Scott Neville (who is very good) came on to win the game.

Transfers In - £7.5m

Loaning shrewdly again was my mantra. Samek, Voloshyn and Balogh were the pick of the bunch performance wise. Samek slotted in seamlessly as our regista, Voloshyn's early crossing was deadly and a constant thread on the right-wing while Balogh was imperious as our right-sided central defender throughout the season. Denis Alijagic also hit 12 goals in 35 games in his debut season, alternating with loanee Vladislav Shitov who hit 13 in 33 games in total - not bad for teenagers. Alessio Rosa was a bit of a genius signing as AC Milan paid his release clause in January, £5.5m into the transfer kitty and having him back on loan for the rest of the season was great. You may well balk at the Elias Jelert and Oliver Dovin signings given the transfer fees but I actually paid £50k upfront for each of them. The rest are to be paid over installments, as we were top of the league in January, these signings were sensible 'wait for the Premier League money' buys. Funnily enough both of those signings were secured before Rosa's departure so that income allowed us to sign Samek and Montano permanently at the end of their loans in 2024.

Transfers Out - £6.1m

Best Eleven

Honourable Mention

Not bad for a freebie! I was astonished he got a work permit but he proved to be a very potent inverted winger, out-muscling the departing Stipe Biuk for the starting berth.

It will be a massive summer ahead of transfers in the next update, brace yourselves... Some players significantly over-performed in the Championship and this has meant that the vast majority of them are wildly overvalued currently so it would be rude not to cash in on the players who won't quite be Premier League quality.

 

Edited August 25, 2022 by ShaunG95

[robterrace]

Our aims for the season, had moved on from avoiding relegation, to being a mid table team. The board set the challenge, with a slight increase of wage budget, and I was more than happy to accept this.

Of course, going into the transfer window, I felt I needed some strength in midfield. Okeke and Simic were both excellent players in there, but, playing in the style I was (diamond midfield with AMR/AML behind the striker), I needed an orchestrator alongside the two youngsters. Alex Mowatt had proven dependable, however, it was beginning to appear that he was another one of those players that was too good for the Championship, but not good enough for the Premier League.

The key was, finding a player who could fit into the setup. Once more, our scouts directed us north of the border, to Celtic Park, where former Man City trainee Tommy Doyle had been plying his trade after leaving the Etihad. The Scots were happy to accept £7m for him, with another £1.5m based on appearances. He has the energy to fit our style, and also counts as home grown for the quota.

After Doyle, I picked up another midfielder, one who I had been after for a couple of seasons, and had actually spotted when I was Cheltenham manager. He'd moved to the MLS, and we hit his minimum fee clause of £6.75m. 

There would be a gap up front, as Noah Holm is a little bit short on ability at the moment, but, I aim to play McAtee up there, or Dukanovic (they can also play on either flank, if I feel that way inclined), but there are a few other options I can look at within the squad as well. 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I got bored of my Elche save quite quickly so I am back here in the EFL thread and my next project is one that is local to me as I am going to manage Birmingham City. 

 

Why Birmingham City ?

I lived in Birmingham for a few years and the poor areas of Birmingham have a lot of talented players that aint been unearthed yet so my aim is to do something similar to my save with AFC Wimbledon.

My aim is to only sign players who either used to play for Birmingham academy, come from the Birmingham or the surrounding areas.

I will be promoting players from my academy.

The first player I will be promoting is someone who has a famous brother who also played for Birmingham City.

Take a guess........No ok let me tell you.

Jobe Bellingham

He looks decent already and can improve a lot. I don't know if he will be as good as his brother but my main aim of the save is to mould a team of Brummies to win the Prem and Champions League.

My only worry is I will lose him eventually before he help me win something.

He is only 15 years old but I managed to convince him to sign a 3 year contract so that is a good start.

Other decent youngsters at Birmingham are Odin Bailey, Josh Home, Adam George, Morgan Dance, Jordan James and Ryan Stirk.

They even have a player called Pharrell Williams lol.

Hopefully my other aim for the save is to bring Jobe's big brother back to Birmingham City.  

If I don't though and he does leave Dortmund hopefully it will be a big earner for the club as they have a 25% profit clause. 

Hopefully he goes for £100-£150m lol.

Other notable clauses that will benefit Birmingham is 40% of Che Adam's next tranfer if he leaves. 

Hertha Berlin also have the option to buy Ivan Sunjic for £4.3m which will be a good earner.

My aim is to use the Youth Academy to produce players to sell on for profit to keep the club out of the red.

Birmingham have a projection to lose £14m over the next few years so player sales and clauses will help with that.

The boards aim is to just avoid the relegation zone for this season which I think I can achieve with the squad I have.

 

Edited August 26, 2022 by Ronaldo Beckham

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Birmingham City 1st Signing

Ben Foster from the surrounding area of Leamington Spa is an excellent first signing who has excellent experience and also can still perform very well in the Championship.

I have managed to sign him to a 2 year contract.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Jobe Bellingham having a disaster of a debut with a red card in his debut in the Carabo Cup.

He did make history for the club though beating his brother's Jude's record.

Edited August 26, 2022 by Ronaldo Beckham

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Birmingham City Transfer Business

I managed to sign a few former Birmingham City academy players. 

Nick Townsend - £51k from Newport County

Dominic Bernard - £30k from Forest Green

Beryly Lubala - £240k from Blackpool

Amarie Brown - £71k from Shrewsbury Town

Troy Smikle-James - £300k from Everton

Wes Harding - £475k from Rotherham United

Lubala looks like a great signing so far with 2 goals in 3 games played so far

Currently unbeaten in the league with 4 wins and 1 draw.

 

 

[robterrace]

First new signing, as I look to improve my striking options.19 year old Greek striker, Thodoros Saklamakis. He has fantastic strength, and pace, and his other attributes can be worked on. Given time, I feel he'll bully defences in England. Olympiakos only wanted £10.75m for him, and that was more than worth it.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Jobe Bellingham Breaks Another Record

Not only does Jobe beat his brother again for a Birmingham City record but he also becomes the youngest ever Championship goalscorer.

We are currently top after 15 games played.

[robterrace]

Second signing up front, and this one was a player that I'd noticed whilst scouting another one. 

Cristian Blanco had been part of the Independiente side that had won the Copa Argentina last year, but, had led the team in scoring with 24 in his 42 matches. 

Another player with impressive pace, there were elements of his game that needed work, but, at the same time, he had enough about him that he could compete at Premier League levels.

The final area I wanted to look at during the window was in goal. With Roche out on loan, and Josh Griffiths nowhere near good enough, Agirrezabala had no real challengers to his place. Whether this made him complacent, his performances haven't been good enough for the last month, and he doesn't seem comfortable with the ball at his feet.

Although he was at a rival, Joe Bursik was someone who was one of the best goalkeepers in the Championship, and had been a big part of Stoke being in the top 6, keeping 10 clean sheets in this time.

He was available at a fee of around £1m, which, for someone of his calibre, was far too low, and he moved to The Hawthorns on a 3.5 year contract.

[robterrace]

There were a few departures on deadline day. First, Bart Van Rooij, who joined in August, departed for £8.5m to Burnley. He'd spent nearly 3 months injured, and then decided that he would have a tantrum as he wasn't getting picked (mainly as his replacement was having a good season), threw a transfer request in, and Burnley came in to double our money in less than 6 months.

Full back Fabiano Souza also departed on loan, to Norwich. The Brazilian had been a dependable option for a couple of seasons, but, had fallen by the wayside since promotion. Also heading to Norwich was Dara O'Shea, also on loan. The Irish centre half had lost his place to Taylor Harwood-Bellis, and had requested to go out on loan to get game time.

The squad was probably still a couple of players short, mainly in squad depth more than first team players now, but, I wasn't going to rush anything needlessly.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Wow I just had this superstar central defender come through my youth intake. 

16 in Heading, 17 in Aggression, 17 in Determination, 16 in Work Rate and 19 in Bravery.

He also has a Fairly Determined personality. 

His name is Peter Dunne 

No not that Pete Dunne.

My assistant has already reccommended I promote him to the first team squad.

He has a very bright future.

He made his debut straight away in a 2-1 loss to Watford. He started well but after we conceded the losing goal his rating went to a 6.5.

He will get better though.

He also beat Jobe Bellingham's record for Birmingham's youngest ever player.

Edited August 28, 2022 by Ronaldo Beckham

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Birmingham City FC Season 1 Review

Competitions

A very good first season in charge especially with the board only wanting us to stay away from the relegation zone. 

3rd in the league and only losing 1-0 to Norwich in the Play Off final after beating Sheff Utd 5-1 on aggregate in the Play Off Semi's. We were so close to the Premiership.

We did terrible in the cups as I mostly played the reserves/youth in them and we were knocked out by Bristol City in the 1st round of the Carabao  cup and knocked out by Wigan in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

Best Players

Top Goalscorer - Troy Deeney

Good old Troy Deeney banging in the goals for us was a big reason we got to the play offs this season.

Most Assists - Przemyslaw Placheta

15 assists and 9 goals for the Polish winger Placheta who we had on loan for the season from Norwich when I took over. 

He will be going back to Norwich as he doesn't line up with my transfer policy but he will be sorely missed.

Best Average Rating - Teden Mengi

Another player who I had on loan was Teden Mengi and he will also be sorely missed as he always performed well and even got 6 goals for us. 

Luckily I have Peter Dunne who played a few games this season and done well. Dunne will be a good replacement for Mengi.

Honourable Mentions

Marc Roberts, Ben Foster, Taylor Richards, Juninho Bacuna, Wes Harding, Lyle Taylor and Dominic Bernard all played their part.

So when I started this Birmingham save they had 5 players on loan for the season which were Taylor Richards, Teden Mengi, Przemyslaw Placheta, Lyle Taylor and  Krystian Bielik who were all first team regulars who will all be going back to their clubs as they don't line up with my Birmingham City transfer policy I have put in place.

I have Peter Dunne ready to play centre back so Mengi's loss is covered but the other 4 will be very difficult to replace. I am hoping Jobe Bellingham, Odin Bailey and Jordan James can step up as they are very exciting talents.

Jobe Bellingham

I managed to give Bellingham some decent game time but I didn't want to overexpose him just yet.

He played 9 games and 7 substitute appearances getting 2 goals and a 6.72 average rating. Rated at 4-5 stars potential I think he will definitely get better next season.

Odin Bailey

Bailey who at 22 years old is playing more games then Bellingham and Jordan James due to him being older and more suited for first team football.

He contributed well with 5 goals and 4 assists and a nice 6.91 average rating.

I think next season Bailey, Bellingham and James will be my main attacking midfield trio.

Jordan James

Jordan James spent most of the season on loan at Derby but after I saw him perform exceptionally for Derby I had the chance to bring him back and I gave him some game time. He is rated very highly with a 4-4.5 stars potential. 

He played 13 games with 3 sub appearances. Getting 2 goals and 1 assist. 

At only 17 years old the Welsh wizard will soon be playing for the Wales national team.

Peter Dunne

Already making a great impression at the club with 4 games and 3 sub appearances under his belt. 

He even got a man of the match in one of them games. A 7.09 average rating shows that he is already ready for first team football.

Season's Overall Best 11

Accolades

 Teden Mengi got the Fans Player Of The Season & Young Player Of The Season.

Wes Harding was our Signing Of The Season.

Jobe Bellingham got The Goal Of The Season.

Thank you for reading and I will keep you updated how I get on.

 

 

[warlock]

2 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

A very good first season in charge

Really unlucky not to get the promotion there! Better luck next time.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

8 hours ago, warlock said:

Really unlucky not to get the promotion there! Better luck next time.

Cheers mate. I will get there eventually.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Birmingham City FC Season 2 Review

Heartbreak Again

Brentford were just too strong and we just couldn't beat them.

Considering the squad we have we are punching above our weight but it is still gutting to lose another Play Off final. 

Hopefully next season is 3rd time lucky.

League Table

We just scraped into the Play Offs with a 6th place finish. 

We then beat West Brom in the Play Off Semi's 4-3 on aggregate before we lost 3-2 to Brentford in the Play Off Final.

Best Players

Top Scorer - Troy Deeney

Deeney continues to keep on scoring into his mid 30's with 21 goals for the season which was better then what he done last season.

Best Average Rating

Marc Roberts

Marc Roberts was our best overal player for the season with an average rating of 7.34 and a 74% Tackles won and 520 Clearances.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Part 2 Due To The Forums Not Letting Me Post More Photos 

Most Assists

Odin Bailey

Bailey is now a first team regular and doing really well with 9 assists, 6 goals, 7.04 Average Rating and a Pass Completion rate of 82%

How Are The Youth Prospects Doing?

Very well actually. 

Jobe Bellingham

Jobe is really coming into his own now becoming a first team regular at 17 years old and on the verge of signing a new 3 year contract so we will have him for a few more years yet.

He managed to contribute with 5 goals and 5 assists and got an average rating of 6.75. There were times where he underperformed but he is still young and has plenty of time to impove on his performances.

Jordan James

Jordan James really performed well in his first season as a first team regular with 7 goals, 7 assists and an average rating of 6.91

Peter Dunne

Peter Dunne is so frigging good at such a young age. My highest valued asset. He just has such a commanding prescence in the team and even though he has only been at the club a year he feels like he has been here for years.

5 goals, 3 assists and an average rating of 7.12 with a 73% Tackles Won and 458 Clearances.

Keyendrah Simmonds

Wing wizard Simmonds delighted the Birmingham City fans with his skills and got 5 goals and 2 assists.

Overall Best 11

Accolades

Marc Roberts was our Fans Player Of The Season.

Peter Dunne won the Young Player Of The Season.

Max Lowe(£1.2m Signing from Sheff Utd) was our Signing Of The Season.

 

[robterrace]

Its been a little bit - 

NxGN 2026. 

Just the 6 representatives from West Brom.

So, in no particular order, here they are.

6. Zoran Simic - Recently made his debut for the Serbian national team. Part of the engine room of midfield, and hopefully, will have a few more seasons with us.

20. Emeka Okeke - Made his debut for the England U21s at the start of the season, qualifying for them as he was born in England, despite playing in Nigeria. More attacking minded than Simic, he links the attacking midfielder up with everything from the back.

27. Gentris Teplani - The Kosovan centre back has been a consistent performer in the middle of the defence, has put in a lot of work on improving technically, but, his great defensive and physical abilities cover that slightly.

28. Thodoros Saklamakis - The Greek forward will be very, very good. Immensely strong, and able to spin centre backs with his pace and agility, he already has a hat trick against Arsenal in the league to his name. Will only get better as he gets more experience in the Premier League.

34. Francesco Sanna - Diminutive Italian Winger, who, has had a few issues this season, which has seen his determination drop a couple of points. However, great with the ball at his feet, and gets himself in positions to provide assists.

40. Marcus Raynor - The January signing makes the list, technically proficient, and able to find gaps between the defenders, he makes late runs into the box and takes the pressure off the striker.

[CityAndColour]

Decided to have a bit of fun with a tier 9 save before FM23 comes out...

My first ever unbeaten season and my first ever 100-point season in FM.

Probably a slight asterisk with it as most of the teams in the division only have 7-8 real players and a bunch of greys, but I'm still claiming it!

[warlock]

11 minutes ago, CityAndColour said:

My first ever unbeaten season and my first ever 100-point season in FM

Well played! Must have been fun after the trials and tribulations of Willand 

[robterrace]

End of the 2025/26 season, where finishing mid table was the target.

A decent finish, given that for large portions of the season, we were really poor defensively, something which changed after our transfer window in January saw Joe Bursik arrive.

From making his debut on 31st January, he played 15 games, conceding 12 goals, with 7 clean sheets, was on the losing  side 3 times, and saw us draw and win on 6 occasions, picking up 24 points in the process.
For this, he got a call up to the England squad for the forthcoming World Cup.

Thodoros Saklamakis top scored, with 10 goals in 14 games (9 in 13 League), with Dukanovic and Garnacho chipping in with 8 and 7 respectively.

With Garnacho only being on loan, there was the need to find a long term replacement on the left wing.

Columbian 19 year old, Robinson García, who joined in September from Envigado, played 4 times towards the end of the season, getting a bit of experience, however, I wanted to rely on my own players this coming season.

First choice, however, was going to a new signing coming in June.

Bulgaria was becoming a bit of an interesting area for scouting players, mainly as I kept sending scouts out to Romania and other South Eastern European states to try and find players, as had happened with Dukanovic.

Angel Iliev, is an 18 year old left winger, who has broken into the Levski Sofia side over the past season. Naturally right footed, he loves to cut in and run at defenders, and can pick out the back of the net, as he has done on a regular basis this season. He comes with a £4m release clause, which was activated, and he joins this summer. 

---

We received £10m from Al-Duhail of Qatar for Javi Lopez in April, the left back departing after feeling he that he wasn't up to the standard of the Premier League. This left us short at that position, although Darnell Furlong and Felix Carrillo provided cover there for the remainder of the season.

Again, it was Bulgaria that provided the solution to this issue, with a player that appeared at 12 on the NxGN list this year. At 18 years old, he has, probably one of the best personality traits in the game, and is of a good standard all across the board. Another minimum fee clause (this time £3.7m) was available, and he joins in June as well.

----

Also leaving this summer, is Noah Holm. The Norwegian forward hasn't lived up to expectations since joining from Rosenborg, and heads to Bournemouth for £7m, seeing us make double our original fee for him.

 

[robterrace]

Moving into the close season, its looking very likely that Harwood-Bellis and Teplani will be first choice CB when I play 4 at the back next season. However, TH-B is also rated as my best right back at this point in time, so that becomes the priority for recruitment this summer.

Top of the list is Argentinian Braian Aguirre, the 25 year old has over 150 appearances for Lanus, in his home country, Able to play either side of the defence, he has been a regular over the last few seasons.

He has the stamina, workrate and fitness that I want in a player, and is pretty quick as well.

The offer for Agirre, in the region of £15m was successful, and he received a work permit for the move.

However, something that had escaped my attention, was Angel Iliev had not got a permit for his move, so the 18 year old would be sent out on loan for the season into Europe.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I feel like this thread needs a @Jogo Bonito career thread special lol.

I hope you are ok Jogo.

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Another Great Prospect

Tony King is the best prospect I have had come through my youth intake since Peter Dunne. A great attacking midfielder with 10's in nearly attribute already and he only just come through my youth intake.

He goes straight into the first team for his debut match against Luton

I now have 9 out of my starting 11 as originally coming through the youth academy.

What a great transformation.

 

 

Edited September 1, 2022 by Ronaldo Beckham

[Ronaldo Beckham]

King Scores On His Debut

Tony King managed to get a debut goal and a great performance from him. 

His future is bright.

We also got our first Home Nations international with Ryan Stirk getting his first cap for Wales

 

Edited September 1, 2022 by Ronaldo Beckham

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Birmingham City Season 3 Review

Well the question we all want to know is did Birmingham finally get promoted after 2 painful Play Off final defeats..........

How have we done this again. I just can't believe it 

We managed to get a 4th place finish and defeated QPR 4-3 on aggregate in the Semis but Middlesborough were just too strong for us.

I am starting to think cos we have such a young team it will take us a few seasons to get the players to believe in themselves in the big games.

Best Players

Top Goalscorer - Troy Deeney

Troy Deeney's goals are starting to dry up with just 13 goals for the season. Still not bad for a 35 year old. 

I am hoping my young strikers Finlay Thorndike, Kieran Wakefield or Troy Smirkle-James will step up next season and take over the mantle that Deeney will leave eventually. 

I will keep playing Deeney until someone steps up.

Best Average Rating - Marc Roberts

Old head Marc Roberts lead by example with some great performances and got a few goals as well. 

I will miss him and Deeney when they retire.

Most Assists - Jordan James

Probably our best overall attacking player was Jordan James who got 8 goals and 11 assists. He gets better and better every season and is only 19 years old. 

I worry a bigger club will sign him in the summer as he recently signed a new contract but insisted on a minimum fee release clause of £11.75m. 

Other Notable Mentions

Ryan Strik

Great performances in midfield got him a few caps for Wales national team.

Odin Bailey

I think if it wasn't for all of the minor injuries Bailey got he probably would of been my best attacking player but he only played 30 games. He still done well with 7 goals and 8 assists.

Keyendrah Simmonds

How Did Jobe Bellingham Do This Season ?

He did very well actually with 5 goals, 3 assists but his overall performances have yet to live up to his potential but he is only 18 years old and still has plenty of time to improve. 

Worringly Everton have shown interest in him since January so I am worried he might get his head turned by the bright lights of Goodison Park. 

This is going to be an interesting summer.

Overall Best 11

Accolades

 Marc Roberts once again won the Fans Player Of The Season

Ryan Strik won the Young Player Of The Season

Tony King who only played once this season managed to get the Goal Of The Season

 

 

Edited September 1, 2022 by Ronaldo Beckham

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I just convinced Bellingham to sign a new contract with a £30m minimum release clause. Hopefully that will put Everton off.

It gets worse as Peter Dunne wants to leave for a bigger club now.

[robterrace]

To cover the issues we have with Iliev not receiving his work permit, a quick trip north of the border to sign Czech U21 international, Petr Jira from Motherwell. He wouldn't need a WP as he had Scottish nationality, picked up from being in the Scottish side youth setup. For £3.8m, he was pretty much 'risk free'.

Leaving for £2.5m, was Darnell Furlong. The 30 year old saw his playing time decrease over the last season, and was happy to go.

Youngsters Joe Jordan and Ben Woodley also departed, to Coventry and Watford respectively, both had healthy sell on clauses in the deals.

Also joining us on an end of contract signing from Manchester United, is Teden Mengi. The centre back has been a regular out on loan, and will train up to play more at right back, something he has the athleticism to do.

 

 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Dunne Gets Capped For Replubic Ireland

Nice to see him get recognition. 

Unfortunately he will be leaving the club as the board accepted a £10m offer for him from Newcastle without any future fee clause which aint fair so I offered him out for £8m plus 30% profit on the next transfer so  hopefully he rejects Newcastle so I can make more money for the club in the long term.