FM22: The English Football League thread

[warlock]

On 10/02/2022 at 07:59, Parmie said:

Our first season in the Championship. Time for consolidation

Not much consolidation there . Well done on making it to the PL - I don't know what you're doing at Bradford but it's obviously working very well!

7 hours ago, CityAndColour said:

do you think you'll have a crack at the PL

I'm certainly going to give it a go. Had the usual problematic transfer window where most of the players willing to join us weren't good enough to improve us. But we'll see... if it gets too unspeakably depressing I'll jump ship without a backwards glance 

[goonergez]

Derby County FC: Takeover Report

Since the turn of the year I’ve really struggled to get into FM, trying but failing to stick at a number of different saves. I’ve tried the daFuge challenge with East Thurrock United and also attempted a save with Wycombe Wanderers without success. The past few days I’ve found myself being drawn towards the enviable challenge of taking over from Wayne Rooney though and so here I am. I absolutely hated him as a player but Rooney really is doing a truly sensational job with the rams. Hopefully I can do the same.

Unsurprisingly Derby County have been a popular choice for players this year, the twenty one point deduction making fighting relegation extremely difficult. Especially with administrators in control of the club and therefore no opportunity to make any transfers. Also unsurprising is the expectations upon arrival, with relegation at the forefront of every bodies minds. My target is purely to stay up and hopefully that will come during a season in which a nice rich tycoon decides that Derby County is the perfect football club to invest in. Realistically I see that as unlikely though, and somebody who just helps to keep the club afloat would be a nice start.

Clearly my future with this football club will depend on my ability to get us to avoid relegation. Overturning a huge points deduction would be one hell of an achievement but it’s a challenge I am very much ready for. I’ll have to head into this campaign with the squad I inherit but hopefully by January we will have some new owners and I’ll at least have the opportunity to bring in one or two new faces on loan deals to help our cause.

My first impression of the squad is that it is relatively strong though. There are a lot of injuries but I feel that when everybody gains full fitness we actually have a chance of doing pretty well. The biggest of those injuries has to be that of Krystian Bielik though. He will form a real key part in my side and it’s gutting that he will miss at least the first five months of the season recovering from a damaged cruciate ligament. I see Ravel Morrison as a real important component to this squad too. If I can get him playing well then I have no doubt that he can create plenty of chances for us to score goals. Up top there is a lack of quality but I’m confident that there is enough on show to get by.

I’m really excited by this challenge although not entirely confident. I am far from the best player at this game but I am throwing caution to the wind and trying something new. Hopefully it’ll work out and hopefully it’ll make a good read too.

Derby County Honours
-------------------
ongoing

 

[warlock]

3 hours ago, goonergez said:

I am throwing caution to the wind and trying something new

Fortune favours the brave, they say. Good luck with the Rams 

[Parmie]

Bradford City - Season Five (2025-2026)

We're unexpectedly in the Premiership for the first time and the board have given me £30m to try to keep us up. At the start of season's where I need a lot of transfers, I do a squad plan for who to keep, who I might replace with the right opportunity and who I definitely need to sell. Other than Xavier Simons and Sontje  Hansen who are both in my prospect category, no one is good enough. Louie Barry, is on that cusp of going from Championship to Premier league level, so returns on loan for a 4th season!

Season Review:

With the budget fully spent (see below), I wonder how well my 433 will do with such an inadequate squad, is it a miracle tactic able to overcome those odds? Other than wins against fellow strugglers Sheffield United and Brentford, we lose every game until October. Back to back wins in November helps but otherwise we're getting outclassed in every game, the match engine pulling it's usual tricks in this situation, namely sendings off and giving away penalties. However, we have company in our terrible form, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United are worse whipping boys than us, Crystal Palace are slightly worse and Fulham slightly better, so going into the 2nd half of the season, it's still possible we can stay up.

We win 1 game a month from January to April, but with the run in turning into a head to head against Palace, with Sheffield United and Middlesbrough still even worse than us, it's neck and neck going into May, We turn hope into despair, losing all 4 games while Palace put enough results together to nudge above Fulham who slipped down but with superior points and goal difference, were never really at risk. We are relegated from the Premier League.

 

Off the Pitch

Premier League promotion for the first season I always find difficult to find quality recruits for, the reputation boost lags behind, and players of sufficient quality either don't want to join or readily accept any other option. For real players, we find Calvin Ramsay up in Aberdeen looking like a good wing back, and Mihailo Ristic was listed at Montpellier for the left side. I am unsure about Christian Sanchez, the 19 eccentricity Cuban goalkeeper but he's better than our current options.

We're then into young prospects, those who are about Championship level currently, but I hope could rapidly progress during the season, bear in mind that I am lagging behind with season updates so these screenshots are from 2 seasons ahead (as I didn't take them when I recruited these players).

Newgen recruits

Spoiler

Money worries are a thing of the past (hopefully) and with parachute payments for next season, unless teams start buying up my youngsters on their release clauses, things should be stable. Trying to avoid complacency, if our worse team can get an unexpected automatic promotion, I like to think this stronger team will just go straight back up.

Edited February 12, 2022 by Parmie

[warlock]

8 hours ago, Parmie said:

We are relegated

Total respect for taking your punishment. In a season like that I usually bail before Christmas. I'm trying to develop some intestinal fortitude but the Forest save is going just like your's. I make no promises  

[Parmie]

4 hours ago, warlock said:

Total respect for taking your punishment. In a season like that I usually bail before Christmas. I'm trying to develop some intestinal fortitude but the Forest save is going just like your's. I make no promises  

What I would say is that the first season prem always seems this way as if it's something about the reputation being lower and perhaps the way the players act from that. Subsequent seasons in the prem assuming you go back up again just seem easier to handle with the majority of the same team albeit the youngsters with an extra season of development.

[Parmie]

Bradford City - Season 6 (2026-2027)

Back in the Championship. It feels like we're still building up the team and I'm hoping to avoid destruction of the team due to relegation release clauses that we had to agree for last season's new signings. One is triggered as soon as the window is opened, Spurs sign and then loan back central midfielder and yellow card magnet Matthias Bungener, Despite the permanent loss, having him back on loan, and no other forced sales help stability.

Season Review:

We start the season strongly with 4 league wins and a Carabao tie against a good Derby side. We have the occasional slip up which means we're not quite the dominant force I assumed we would be, Forest are running away at the top, and as the season progresses, it just looks like we're going to have to fight it out in the play-offs, we're never in danger of dropping out of the top 4 but equally, can't get close to automatic promotion.

With some trepidation we're up against Swansea in the Semi-finals, and they beat us 3-1 at home in April. But some clutch talks and we get a good 1-1 away draw in the 1st leg and are fairly comfortable in a 1-0 win at home. Birmingham see to Derby in the other semi-final and we're set for the final. We take an early lead with Birmingham equalising just after the break. 2 goals within 5 minutes at 72 minutes give us a strong position and despite conceding a late goal, we see the game out comfortably. We are promoted to the Premiership (again)!

Off the Pitch:

We've still got Stefan Rupp as owner despite rumours of internal takeovers, our successes seem to keep him happy and I spread out requests to keep relations nice between us and  the occasional decline gets overturned on appeal. The Spurs money and some smaller deals, McIntee to a rich Shamrock Rovers for £1m, a former Man United newgen sold on for £2,5m that never played a game for us etc kept us in a positive financial position despite relegation.

I find myself with the threat of a small squad, I don't think I'm being overly picky but I just want the roles I need, I really struggle to find an upgrade for Target Forward, eventually realising one was quite close to home, and I get Mika Biereth from Arsenal in on loan in January. I'll do a full team run down for our latest Prem campaign in a next post. 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Parmie said:

We are promoted to the Premiership (again)!

Crikey - you whip through the seasons! You seem to have completed another in the time it's taken me to play four games 

But congrats (again!) Hopefully you can find enough points to stay up 

[goonergez]

Well my adventure with Derby lasted all of about ten games before boredom and disappointment got the better of me. I was taken over by a Chinese tycoon in pre-season but after promising a huge transfer budget he actually gave me nothing. Opened up with two draws before a run of straight defeats saw my interest wane. I’m currently trying to find a new save with either a league one side or a league two one but am undecided on who to opt for. Any recommendations?

[Parmie]

3 hours ago, warlock said:

Crikey - you whip through the seasons! You seem to have completed another in the time it's taken me to play four games 

But congrats (again!) Hopefully you can find enough points to stay up 

Yeah, once I design a tactic at the start, I am married to it, the most I do is tweak cautious/positive occasionally. So my saves are click fests on the continue button until a window, then on again!

3 hours ago, goonergez said:

Well my adventure with Derby lasted all of about ten games before boredom and disappointment got the better of me. I was taken over by a Chinese tycoon in pre-season but after promising a huge transfer budget he actually gave me nothing. Opened up with two draws before a run of straight defeats saw my interest wane. I’m currently trying to find a new save with either a league one side or a league two one but am undecided on who to opt for. Any recommendations?

League One has a glut of fallen prem teams to try to rebuild, Bolton might be tempting for a financial challenge, or theres Newport in League Two for the Welsh club in the English league thing.

[Parmie]

Bradford City - Season 7 (2027-2028)

Bouncebackability became a word apparently, we've shown ours with an immediate return to the Premiership and I think I've made some key signings to ensure our survival this time.

Team Overview:

Goalkeepers: 

Đorđe Petrović - after missing out on several other choices, it looks like I finally find a Premiership level keeper, with a release of only £2m from Čukarički. He seems a bargain. I've targeted good passing and kicking attributes to fit in with the tactical instructions.

Alessandro Conserva - backup for Petrovic, similarly bought to fit the tactic with kicking and passing, he cost just £825k from Venezia and is potentially a long term replacement as hopefully he progresses.

Spoiler

Wingbacks:

Omar Campos (left) - record signing £12.25m from Burnley following their relegation, they only signed him in January themselves for £7m so a good turnaround for them.

Caio Felipe (left) - an FM traditional Brazilian youngster release buy for £9.75m, lacking technicals somewhat, he's back up for Campos while we try to bring him on.

Calvin Ramsay (right) - Ramsay was bought in our first Premiership campaign for £9m from Aberdeen, looking like he had good technical skills for the Complete Wingback role. Watford have tried to activate his £17.25m release from the Championship but he's declined and staying with us.

Neil Wardrope (right) - the same story as on the left, but Scottish and purchased from Sheffield Wednesday for £4.7m, also lacking dribbling and crossing for a Complete Wingback, we'll see how he progresses.

Spoiler

Centre Backs:

Finlay Burns: Championship level managers probably know Burns well, usually released by Man City, they hung onto him this time, he was a bargain £245k signing in the January of our first Premiership season in an attempt to shore us up at the back, which he didn't. However, he still shows as a lot scope to improve.

Noa Vukelic: One of our Croatian contingent. £4.5m from NK Rudeš, once again for our first survival attempt, but back then he was just too young and inexperienced. He had Premiership potential but that seems to be waning as time goes on.

Miguel Figuera: Was reported on one of those top 50 wonderkid news items, which was enough to get him shortlisted, £5.5m from Santos Laguna as a rotation option and showing as higher potential than the others.

Spoiler

Mezzalas:

Robbie Gill: Bought in 2024 as another prospect we were hoping to develop during the season to stay up, he looked ok at £9.75m from Rangers, although his crossing is limited for a player supposed to get wide from a central position.

Vito Caic: Recruiting Croatians seemed like a good idea for dynamics, off the production line at Dinamo and cheap at £1.1m. We added Caic during our relegated season to add some depth and a naturally left footed player to go on that side of our central three.

Elliot Watt: at the club since 2020, the one original survivor, a good Championship player, but as he's entrenched as a team leader, and without depth to completely leave him out, he's still with us. His contract runs out at the end of this season and he wants a new challenge after 8 years.

Spoiler

Central Midfield (defend):

Javi: Our only loan signing this season. Javi was signed by Chelsea for £2.8m and we take him on a wages plus £75k a month loan deal, He's got the attributes we need as our holding midfielder.

Carlos Vielma: actually bought as a central defender prospect for £2.1m from Penarol, but after spending a few games on loan in Australia last season, on his return, he looked a decent midfielder and we retrain him towards that to act as cover for Javi.

Spoiler

Forwards:

With 3 strikers, I have variety and a lot of them at the club! I have just lumped them into a single section as with injuries, there was some rotation around the DLF and AF roles but you should be able to spot the target forwards:

Mika Biereth: had joined us on loan in the Championship but in his final year of contract at Arsenal, never having played a game for them or even been out on loan apart from us for the previous 3 seasons. Somehow he's developed into a decent player though and accepts our end of contract offer.

Aaron Pressley: a signing from way back in 2023 for £130k after his transfer listing by Brentford, a strong Championship level player who wasn't great in the Premiership last time and is demoted to backup for Biereth.

Antonio Loncarevic: another Croat, our permanent replacement for Louie Barry who had spent 4 seasons at Bradford. Not quite fast or exceptional at finishing, he's got room in his potential. One of our more expensive Croatian signings at £8.25m 

Jurica Tavic: Yes, more Croats, £3m from Hajduk, he operates as our creative DLF, although with injuries, can also pop up as a Mezzala, and even for a game or two, had to play centre back.

Tariq Bibby: For the more observant readers, Bibby has not popped up as a transfer before, he's an academy graduate. Somehow our 2022/23 academy produced a quality player from League One. With a successful loan out at Rochdale, and plenty of Championship games for us last season, he's a good option to rotate with Tavic.

Spoiler

Season Review:

We hit the ground running with a 3-0 win against Aston Villa and a draw against Leeds but a loss away to Spurs. We go on to lose all the games in September but even then, they are more competitive and as we gel the new signings we win 7 and draw 2 games from October to December, this sets us up in mid-table. We have a bad patch in January but string results together from February onwards, going 7 unbeaten, relegation is not a threat and we're safe by April, stomping on already relegated Forest 5-1 in the last game,

Off the Pitch:

Transfers in is covered by the squad overview other than what looks to be like a quality Thai player who I had to loan out for permit purposes. No great movement out, Xavier Simons, still not reaching his potential was released and Sontje Hansen, not as good as our other DLF options returned to the Netherlands for £3.5m to FC Twente.

From the screenshots, you'll be able to see that Elliot Watt, has left us at the end of his contract and gone to Rangers. Tavic, who had a release clause of £27m for teams in continental competitions, had it activated by Real San Sebastian, who have got themselves into the Champions League.

Now it feels like we have properly consolidated, progression will be more about improving the first team as much as it is still about youngster recruitment. 

At the end of the season, the Chairman has completed his property prospecting and a plan to build the Stuart McCall stadium is announced, which will take 3 years and cost £100m,  a good chunk of our credit balance goes towards it and a £75m loan is taken out to fund the rest.

Edited February 13, 2022 by Parmie

[goonergez]

Mansfield Town FC: Takeover

Unfortunately my Derby County adventure was an instant failure but I was determined not to be deterred by the Football League and so I have returned. My team of choice this time is Mansfield Town, sat in League Two. In recent times they’ve been desperate to win promotion but last season really disappointed in finishing in 16th. My task is to be the manager to take this team into League One.

On first view this squad looks to possess plenty of quality and makes achieving the media prediction of a 6th placed finish look possible. Former Premier League players in Jordan Bowery, Stephen Quinn and Marek Stech join other quality including George Lapslie and Tyreese Sinclair in the ranks. Leicester City centre back Richard Nartey is here on loan for the season to and looks more than capable.

Expectations from the board are to finish in the play off spots and that is my sole target for the campaign. I don’t expect miracles but I hope that we can hit the ground running and enjoy a positive campaign. I won’t be focusing on the cup competitions with all my eggs being firmly put in the League Two basket for this coming campaign.

[goonergez]

Mansfield Town: 2021/22 Preview

My first pre-season period has drawn to a close and it was a fairly quiet one in truth. We brought in one new face and allowed two to depart as I looked to finalise my squad ready for the beginning of the league campaign. Funds weren’t flowing freely for us meaning that I didn’t want to go crazy on bringing in new players.

Our only arrival sees left back Will Kokolo join the club on a season long loan deal from Championship side Middlesbrough. The only hole I could really see in our squad was in the left back position and Kokolo looks like the perfect addition. His wages are relatively low and I can see him becoming a real key performer in our defensive line. Departure wise we allowed young full back to gain a season worth of experience by granting him a loan move to Solihull Moors. Our only permanent departure was midfielder Harry Charsley who was allowed to join Wrexham in a £40,000 deal. We had more than enough midfielders on our books and I couldn’t see where I could fit him into my plans.

On the field we played five friendly matches, winning four. Our only defeat came to Derby County in our final match before the league kicked off. Our wins all came against lower level opposition but defensively we looked really good and we were also pretty ruthless in front of goal.

With preparations complete we head into the season with high hopes of enjoying a good season. The squad looks pretty good and I’m confident that we can achieve the targets of making the play offs. There is plenty of quality here and I’m confident that we can do everything expected and kick my career here off in the best way.

[Van Den Berg]

Thinking about do a "Road to Glory" series with Hull City. ... New Owners, New Ideas 

[warlock]

@Parmie A much better season in the PL. Well done!

@goonergez Sorry the Derby save didn't stick, but hopefully Mansfield will be better. I had a great save with them a couple of years ago so I hope it works for you.

@Van Den Berg Hull should be a good save. I managed them in FM21 and enjoyed it a lot - plenty of good youngsters to build with... don't miss Brandon Fleming in the u23s; he was a good backup option from day 1, and developed really well.

[kopfan1977]

16 hours ago, Van Den Berg said:

Thinking about do a "Road to Glory" series with Hull City. ... New Owners, New Ideas 

 

Build a team around Keane Lewis-Potter - The kid is Class. Even in Premier League. I played him upfront after signing him and had him retraining as a striker

[Van Den Berg]

4 hours ago, kopfan1977 said:

 

Build a team around Keane Lewis-Potter - The kid is Class. Even in Premier League. I played him upfront after signing him and had him retraining as a striker

Yes mate, he looks a decent player 👍 the squad needs a couple of good signings though to even think about reaching the play offs

[dex_98]

Starting a save with Bradford in league two, this is my first proper lower league save, any suggestions on how to go about transfers, staff etc would be greatly appreciated 

[warlock]

1 minute ago, dex_98 said:

Starting a save with Bradford

Welcome . You could do worse than read back a few pages - @Parmie has been tearing up the English pyramid with Bradford.

As a general rule down in L2 you won't have a lot of options for staff - just get the best you can afford/willing to sign. I tend to prioritise a good fitness coach in the lower leagues, and unless you're planning a focus on youth development don't bother with a HoYD until the Championship. They're an expense you don't need.

For transfers, look for freebies - there are plenty around, and try to find a good mix of experienced old pros and promising youngsters. As for scouting, forget about finding cheap South American wonderkids... you almost certainly won't be able to scout outside the English lower leagues, but if you can find a couple of scouts with good Scottish or Welsh knowledge they may uncover a gem outside of your scouting package. In the early days, make extensive use of trials and keep trials going throughout the season - it costs you nothing except a bit of extra work in managing the process. You'll often find the better players want more than you can afford, but put them on your shortlist and keep an eye on them - a few weeks or months of unemployment usually lowers their demands 

[dex_98]

9 minutes ago, warlock said:

Welcome . You could do worse than read back a few pages - @Parmie has been tearing up the English pyramid with Bradford.

As a general rule down in L2 you won't have a lot of options for staff - just get the best you can afford/willing to sign. I tend to prioritise a good fitness coach in the lower leagues, and unless you're planning a focus on youth development don't bother with a HoYD until the Championship. They're an expense you don't need.

For transfers, look for freebies - there are plenty around, and try to find a good mix of experienced old pros and promising youngsters. As for scouting, forget about finding cheap South American wonderkids... you almost certainly won't be able to scout outside the English lower leagues, but if you can find a couple of scouts with good Scottish or Welsh knowledge they may uncover a gem outside of your scouting package. In the early days, make extensive use of trials and keep trials going throughout the season - it costs you nothing except a bit of extra work in managing the process. You'll often find the better players want more than you can afford, but put them on your shortlist and keep an eye on them - a few weeks or months of unemployment usually lowers their demands 

Cheers mate  - I will definitely check out that thread for some ideas!

 

I am planning on avoiding youth development for the first couple of seasons - more of a wheeling and dealing kind of approach, of course once I develop the team in a higher division I might change my philosophy to focus on youth prospects.

Thanks for the advice - I have brought in four players on trial so far, Mich'el Parker, Rodel Richards, Callum Gribbin and Tristan Nydam, all look like great quality players for this level, however, the limited wage budget (2k per week) will make it quite interesting on who I can bring in.

[goonergez]

Mansfield didn’t last for me. Started well and then couldn’t buy a win after new year. I’m not to be deterred though and I am back with a new club. I’ll play through a while before posting though as don’t want to spam the thread with failures.

[warlock]

32 minutes ago, goonergez said:

Mansfield didn’t last for me

Sorry to hear that, Gez. 

32 minutes ago, goonergez said:

don’t want to spam the thread with failures

I wouldn't worry about that, but it can add a bit of extra unwanted pressure when you're not doing well with an audience. Nothing wrong with playing through the first half-season to make sure things are working. But good luck with the new venture 

[warlock]

2 hours ago, dex_98 said:

I have brought in four players on trial so far

Richards and Nydam should be top quality in L2, and Parker looks like he could do a job. Be wary of Gribbin - he can be good, but his mentals are terrible. When things go wrong for him, they go badly wrong. There's a reason he hasn't played much in recent years.

[Parmie]

3 hours ago, dex_98 said:

Starting a save with Bradford in league two, this is my first proper lower league save, any suggestions on how to go about transfers, staff etc would be greatly appreciated 

Get a senior affiliate as soon as you can, while Man City tend to always pop up for me and I go for them, at the start of the game nearly all their U23s worth loaning are already taken. But a prem parent club will be willing to give you wage free loans. Other than that my scouts are always on final year U23 prem players awaiting their release and I try for the highest potential ones I can. I probably don't spend any money on transfers at all until the Championship and youth development, with the level of youths you tend to get is usually a waste of time with lower league facilities, however, I always seem to get one or two even in league one that can potentially be premier league players, so keep an eye on if youth graduates really are 5* potential as you improve.

[Parmie]

Bradford City - Season 8 (2028-2029)

With a safe mid-table finish last season, I'd like to push on. Having lost Tavic, we get in a creative forward from Brazil to keep the squad depth. Unfortunately, Dortmund leave it until deadline day to come in for last season's top goal scorer Loncarevic for £36.5m. We respond by securing another Brazilian youngster who competes for the advanced forward role with Tiago Morais, whom we signed from Liverpool.

Season Review:

Our league form continues from last season, overall it feels better than last season until April where we lose 4 in a row, and have a very tough run in against Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool, we pick up a win at home vs Arsenal. League position edged up towards 10th up until that bad run, and we drop to 14th, Analysing the games as we play through them, central defence just seems weak, Finlay Burns, considered only a decent premier level, is our best defender, Vukelic, seems to have levelled out at Championship level while Figueroa and Vielma don't seem to be developing as I'd hoped.

Brentford have the worst season I've ever seen, finishing on only 6 points, 3 draws and only 1 win, that win....against us.

In January, Bayern come in for Mika Biereth with a release activation, and I make a move for a replacement, surprisingly, Biereth decides to stay. It's good to have recruited a rotation option for the target forward role.

I switch to attacking full backs rather than complete wing backs at one point, hoping the slightly more defensive stance will help, I'm not sure it does, as the overall tactical familiarity drops with that change.

Off the Pitch:

Transfer business is quite heavy in value with the incoming money needing to be reinvested as I move away from fresh faced 18 year prospect signings, to those who should be first team ready or close to it. 

Chairman Rupp is still hanging in there, as time moves on through the season, takeover rumours continue but nothing concrete happens. I'm continuing to push for facility upgrades, part of the problem at centre back development may be our limited coaching staff numbers and training facilities, Coming into season end though we're upgraded to Excellent Training, Great Youth. After 2 consecutive bad intakes, and struggling to get his pro licence, I replace the Head of Youth Development, Tariq Bibby, are one academy first teamer even pre-dated his appointment.

We're a year into the Stuart McCall Stadium build, with £8m paid off the loan debt.

Transfers in:

Spoiler

Centre back is the key improvement target for next season, and if I can get some good ones, I would expect us to push up several places. 

Edited February 17, 2022 by Parmie

[warlock]

You may have guessed from the lack of progress lately, but I have called time on the Forest save. I did play through the transfer window in the hope of pulling off a miracle signing or two, but we just couldn't attract anyone of quality. Which left us with the cheapest, weakest squad in the league. There was a small glimmer of hope when we opened the season with a draw against Bournemouth and a win against Leicester but reality set in pretty quickly - a defeat to West Ham was followed by a 7-0 spanking at the hands of Arsenal and things went downhill after that. So...

Doncaster Rovers, September 2021

It's back to L1 with the Yorkshire Rovers who have endured very mixed fortunes in recent years - promoted to the Championship in 2008, then a relegation/promotion/relegation record between 2012 and 2014. They then suffered another relegation back to L2 in 2016 but bounced back immediately the following year, since when they have never really looked like returning to the second tier. Time to change that!

Like their record over the last decade, the squad is a mixed bag - some good old hands and promising youngsters, but also some absolute dross, including a worrying number of players of 1.5 and 2* current ability. Making matters worse is the fact that two of our best strikers start with injuries that will keep them out until at least until October. The final obstacle we face is that there is no money - no surplus wage budget and no transfer pot - and we're already maxed out with 5 loans. I did eventually manage to free up some extra wage budget but it didn't really help. After pre-season and the first couple of league games it became apparent that our biggest needs were for more firepower up front and a tough-tackling midfielder. But it didn't make sense to sign another striker when I had two coming back from injuring before Christmas, and I simply couldn't find the right midfielder at a price we could afford. So we run with what we have until January, at least.

We opened our league campaign with two lacklustre draws against Wimbledon and Sheffield Wednesday, but sandwiched between them was a storming Carabao Cup win against Championship Middlesbrough, which gave me cause for hope. And we then produced a run of wins in the league and another in the cup (against Derby). A trip to Rotherham gave us our first defeat of the season, before we finished a hectic month with a penalty win against Man City u23s (who featured a couple of promising youngsters called Renato Sanches and Ferran Torres . Worth about £100m between them, apparently).

 

Board requirement is a mid-table finish and we're looking good for that. I'm not sure we have the quality to do better but a playoff run might be on the cards. Striker Joe Dodoo has been our best player, but we're equally reliant on the performances of on-loan 'keeper Pontus Dahlberg. The biggest issue will be staying relatively injury-free - it's not a big squad and there's not a lot of quality behind the first-choice 11 (and we have no u23 squad). A couple of injuries would be problematical; serious injuries to Dodoo or Dahlberg would constitute a full-blown crisis.

[goonergez]

Wrexham FC: Takeover Report

I’ve been enduring one of those horrible patches with this game whereby I start save after save without being able to stick with one for a considerable amount of time. After failures with Wycombe Wanderers, Derby County and Mansfield Town I’ve decided to drop down to non-league football but with a team surely destined for the Football League soon enough.

I’ve never managed Wrexham on any edition of football manager and to be honest I normally try my best to avoid the Conference National unless I’ve been promoted into it. There is something about Wrexham that I just couldn’t avoid though and they will hopefully be my home for a considerable amount of time.

I was surprised to find that Wrexham haven’t been absolutely managed to death on these forums after their takeover by Hollywood a-listers Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElleney. They invested upwards of £2,000,000 into the club to try and take them into the Football League beginning with promotion from the Conference National. Following the takeover in February 2021 the club recruited well in the summer and look well set to enjoy a solid opening campaign with myself at the helm.

The biggest named recruit of the summer has to be Paul Mullin who dropped two levels to join from Cambridge United. That move coming after he finished last season as top scorer in League Two as his Cambridge United side gained promotion into the third tier. Midfielder James Jones arrived from Lincoln City and should go on to be one of the best performers in the league as well. Right back Bryce Hossanah and centre back Harry Lennon were also picked up in a very successful summer of transfer activity.

The overall squad looks impressive for Conference National and in Paul Mullin the club really do have an out and out goal scorer. There is quality throughout the squad and that is shown in the fact the media predict a 1st placed finish and promotion. The board are somewhat more realistic first up though and ask merely for a finish in the top-5 spots and a crack at the play-offs. The inherited squad should be capable of that as a minimum and that is without taking into account any transfer activities. Promotion straight up would be a real boost though as the board expect the club to be pushing on in the level above within three seasons of me taking charge.

Despite being armed with a significant transfer budget of £200,000 I managed to conduct two new arrivals without spending a penny of that. Both players come in to the club to play significant roles and fill two gaps I wanted to plug in my personal tactical setup.

Emryr Huws comes in on a free transfer after he was released by Ipswich Town. He’s joined to play in a holding midfield role and is quite a coup to get. He’s got enviable talent and I’m delighted to get him in to protect our defensive line for the coming campaign. David Amoo joins us on a season long loan deal from Port Vale and will feature regularly in the wide areas. He can play on either flank and that versatility is helpful in an area of the field in which we lacked excessive options. I’m expecting both of these signings to play huge roles for us as we look to have a successful campaign fighting at the top end of the league table.

One of the clubs visions is to play entertaining football and I feel that my tactical setup definitely aims to please. I want us to play pretty football and I feel like this is the perfect way to do it. Our play has to centre around getting the ball to Paul Mullin and I feel we’re set up perfectly for that to happen. I think we will score plenty of goals and I’m confident that our defence is strong enough to concede fewer than we manage to put in at the other end. Right back Bryce Hossanah looks a good threat going forwards and so I’ve given him some freedom with the attack instruction. Hopefully Emyr Huws will provide cover for his surging runs from the defensive midfield position. I feel the balance is about right within this setup but tactically I’m far from good at this game. Hopefully it works out for us and if not maybe the quality of the playing squad can paint over the cracks anyway.

The tactical approach seemed to work during pre-season at least. We played seven friendlies over a six week period, winning all of them and scoring a ridiculous amount of goals. We also managed to keep five clean sheets showing that we look very much prepared for the long season ahead. The opposition may all have been games we should have won but it was still satisfying to go through the whole period successfully.

That’s about it really and now I can get cracking on the league campaign ahead. I’m confident that my squad has the ability to make the play off spots and keep the board happy. Anymore than that will be a real bonus. We possess some real quality though and I feel like we’re very well set to go out and enjoy a successful campaign. I’ll be focusing on the league although it would be nice to have a little run in the FA Cup too. That’ll depend on how the draw goes for us though. I have minimal interest in the FA Trophy but that may change if we get through a few rounds and dependant on how the league table is looking.

[Welshace]

2 hours ago, goonergez said:

Wrexham FC: Takeover Report

I’ve been enduring one of those horrible patches with this game whereby I start save after save without being able to stick with one for a considerable amount of time. After failures with Wycombe Wanderers, Derby County and Mansfield Town I’ve decided to drop down to non-league football but with a team surely destined for the Football League soon enough.

I’ve never managed Wrexham on any edition of football manager and to be honest I normally try my best to avoid the Conference National unless I’ve been promoted into it. There is something about Wrexham that I just couldn’t avoid though and they will hopefully be my home for a considerable amount of time.

I was surprised to find that Wrexham haven’t been absolutely managed to death on these forums after their takeover by Hollywood a-listers Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElleney. They invested upwards of £2,000,000 into the club to try and take them into the Football League beginning with promotion from the Conference National. Following the takeover in February 2021 the club recruited well in the summer and look well set to enjoy a solid opening campaign with myself at the helm.

The biggest named recruit of the summer has to be Paul Mullin who dropped two levels to join from Cambridge United. That move coming after he finished last season as top scorer in League Two as his Cambridge United side gained promotion into the third tier. Midfielder James Jones arrived from Lincoln City and should go on to be one of the best performers in the league as well. Right back Bryce Hossanah and centre back Harry Lennon were also picked up in a very successful summer of transfer activity.

The overall squad looks impressive for Conference National and in Paul Mullin the club really do have an out and out goal scorer. There is quality throughout the squad and that is shown in the fact the media predict a 1st placed finish and promotion. The board are somewhat more realistic first up though and ask merely for a finish in the top-5 spots and a crack at the play-offs. The inherited squad should be capable of that as a minimum and that is without taking into account any transfer activities. Promotion straight up would be a real boost though as the board expect the club to be pushing on in the level above within three seasons of me taking charge.

Despite being armed with a significant transfer budget of £200,000 I managed to conduct two new arrivals without spending a penny of that. Both players come in to the club to play significant roles and fill two gaps I wanted to plug in my personal tactical setup.

Emryr Huws comes in on a free transfer after he was released by Ipswich Town. He’s joined to play in a holding midfield role and is quite a coup to get. He’s got enviable talent and I’m delighted to get him in to protect our defensive line for the coming campaign. David Amoo joins us on a season long loan deal from Port Vale and will feature regularly in the wide areas. He can play on either flank and that versatility is helpful in an area of the field in which we lacked excessive options. I’m expecting both of these signings to play huge roles for us as we look to have a successful campaign fighting at the top end of the league table.

One of the clubs visions is to play entertaining football and I feel that my tactical setup definitely aims to please. I want us to play pretty football and I feel like this is the perfect way to do it. Our play has to centre around getting the ball to Paul Mullin and I feel we’re set up perfectly for that to happen. I think we will score plenty of goals and I’m confident that our defence is strong enough to concede fewer than we manage to put in at the other end. Right back Bryce Hossanah looks a good threat going forwards and so I’ve given him some freedom with the attack instruction. Hopefully Emyr Huws will provide cover for his surging runs from the defensive midfield position. I feel the balance is about right within this setup but tactically I’m far from good at this game. Hopefully it works out for us and if not maybe the quality of the playing squad can paint over the cracks anyway.

The tactical approach seemed to work during pre-season at least. We played seven friendlies over a six week period, winning all of them and scoring a ridiculous amount of goals. We also managed to keep five clean sheets showing that we look very much prepared for the long season ahead. The opposition may all have been games we should have won but it was still satisfying to go through the whole period successfully.

That’s about it really and now I can get cracking on the league campaign ahead. I’m confident that my squad has the ability to make the play off spots and keep the board happy. Anymore than that will be a real bonus. We possess some real quality though and I feel like we’re very well set to go out and enjoy a successful campaign. I’ll be focusing on the league although it would be nice to have a little run in the FA Cup too. That’ll depend on how the draw goes for us though. I have minimal interest in the FA Trophy but that may change if we get through a few rounds and dependant on how the league table is looking.

Keeping an eye on this, wrexham are my local side and a club I used to play for a long time ago...  It's a shame you didn't use a transfer update as they've got another superstar striker in to rival Mullin this winter window in Ollie Palmer .. and they both make a great duo in game.

[Dong21]

Just catching up on the updates in this Forum.

Shame it didn't work out for you at Forest @warlock. The Premier League has killed many a good save! Doncaster will be a good challenge though. You've started well, especially with the striker injuries! I look forward to seeing how the season plays out for you.

Good luck at Wrexham @goonergez. Considering the strength of your squad, I think your approach of making minimal signings and banking the transfer budget for bigger challenges down the road is a sensible one. Will be following with interest. 

I have finally finished my first season with Charlton. Update incoming. 

[Dong21]

Charlton Athletic - April & May 2022

April Performance:

Our victory in the Papa John's Trophy Final was followed by a defeat away at eventual league winners Rotherham and a draw against Rotherham in which Coentrao got sent off with 30 minutes to spare. I wondered, then, if our form was starting to unravel? But three important victories against teams in the bottom half followed. Conor Wickham's 93rd minute winner against Shrewsbury was exciting and validated my signing of him for squad depth a month earlier. 

Ricky Jade-Jones was injured in the Morecombe victory and ruled out for 8 weeks. With Niasse and Leko both injured, and Stockley sold previously, we were at this point limping along with a threadbare squad. In January I would not have expected Lee and Wickham to be my first choice forwards in the vital final stages of the season. 

Going into the final matchday of the season we sat 3rd and were playing 2nd place Ipswich. Automatic promotion was in our hands, if we beat them we leapfrogged them. We drew 0-0 and were second best on the day. So Rotherham and Ipswich went up and we went into the Playoffs.

May Performance:

With a ten day gap between the end of the season and the Playoffs beginning, I decided to play a morale boosting friendly against our Under 18s. A 2-1 win wasn't exactly thumping but it was good day for Wickham at least. We lost 5-3 on aggregate to 6th placed Sunderland, who went on to secure promotion in the Final. We got Niasse back from injury just in time to play and he bagged the first goal of the tie. He tired quickly though and was unable to play in the second leg. In the first game we were leading 2-1 and playing well, but conceded in the 84th and 92nd minute to lost. Their second was a comical goal where my centre back booted it against the striker and the ball cannoned back into an empty net. In the second leg we took the lead, giving us hope and had an xG of 2.6 to their 1.7, but it wasn't to be in the end.

All in all is was a good season. We played attractive football and that was evidenced by the fact that no team scored more than us (90). In the end, injuries caught up with us and we didn't quite have enough to seal promotion. One satisfactory element of this season, was that on the whole my signings were all a hit. These four had the highest average match rating across my squad at the end of the season:

When I started this save back in November I described it as 'a bit of fun' to get to know the game. As such, I am pleased in a way that we didn't secure promotion as I would have had to carry on with this save and it may well have become a saga  Now I can step away and find my next challenge! I am not sure if this will be in the EFL or further afield - watch this space...  

Edited February 19, 2022 by Dong21

[warlock]

@goonergez Hoping for better from this save  . I, too, expected more Wrexham saves than we've seen so far. You need to show everyone how it's done!

@Dong21 Seems like you're happy with the way things turned out, but that end to the season was a real kick in the... um, morale. Hope you get as much enjoyment out of the next save, wherever it happens to be 

[goonergez]

Wrexham FC: January 2022 Update

I’ve managed to reach the turn of the year in charge of Wrexham and we’ve enjoyed a really promising campaign so far. We entered the season full of hope in a push for promotion into the Football League. I was confident we had enough quality to push for at least a play off spot and ideally more than that.

We started the season like an absolute train, winning nine of our first ten league matches. A 5-0 demolition of Dover on the opening day really setting the tone. Striker Paul Mullin scored a hat trick in that match and went on to grab 11 goals in his first 7 league appearances for the club. I had highlighted him as a real key component and we had definitely proven himself so far. His goal scoring record has slowed a little but he’s still contributing at an average of a goal every game.

On top of that we’ve been very solid defensively. That despite the fact that Rob Lainton our first choice keeper picked up an injury in training after our season opener and has only recently returned.

We’ve done pretty well in both the FA Cup and the FA Trophy as well but I’ll save my reviews on them for the end of the season update. Things are going well for me here though and now it’s just a case of finishing the job and making sure this season ends in a positive way.
 

[warlock]

Doncaster Rovers, November 2021

After a good start to the season in August, the obvious question was whether we could continue our good form in the face of a cruel fixture list that saw us playing twice a week, most weeks. As it happened, yes we could:

After a single defeat in the opening month, we proceeded through the next two months with just one more loss. Set against that, a number of impressive victories - including a brilliant 4-0 demolition of second-placed Ipswich - suggested we had the quality to do much better than our predicted mid-table finish. October produced rather more draws than I would have liked (although all were against capable opposition), but to go through a tough month without defeat was very pleasing indeed.

That excellent form secured our place in the playoff positions as we head into the winter schedule:

For most of the period we've enjoyed a firm hold on second place, but that last draw against Charlton was costly in such a tight playoff situation. And we arguably deserve better, given our overall form:

But possibly more impressive than our league form has been our performance in the Carabao Cup:

After seeing off three Championship sides by - I would suggest - impressive scorelines, we were rewarded with a fourth-round tie against Steve Gerrard's Premiership outfit Aston Villa. To be honest, I was hoping for nothing more than to avoid a morale-sapping humiliation. The lads had other ideas:

Fejiri was making his first appearance of the season after a long injury layoff and was only on the pitch for 6 minutes before bagging the winning goal.

As we head towards the transfer window we have one urgent problem... our best AMC is Peruvian Rodrigo Vilca, on loan from Newcastle but only until the January window. We're paying £2.5k a week wages with no loan fee. When I tried to extend his loan for the remainder of the season, Newcastle were happy with the wage contribution but wanted a £30k a month loan fee and a compulsory transfer fee of £10m. Both of which are completely out of the question. Otherwise, I'm largely happy with the squad. We could do with another decent midfielder, but with Dodoo now regularly referred to as one of the best players in the league, and second in the scoring charts, and with Fejiri and Jordy Hiwula now back from injury, we're looking very good in attack. We're almost as strong in defence, so midfield is the problem, but we have next to no money to work with.

Ambition is the big issue... Having said last time that a playoff run was possible but not likely, after three months in the playoff places I'm already thinking we should be chasing promotion  The question is how I manage the squad to achieve that potential.

[goonergez]

Wrexham FC: 2021/22 Review

So my first season in wales has drawn to a close and it was all about trying to see through the early platform we laid to try and gain promotion into the Football League. At the turn of the year we found ourselves in a fantastic position at the top and we were well set to push on and try to win a surprise league title.

The January transfer window came and went quietly despite us being linked with a large number of talented players. I decided to show faith in the squad we had and so we didn’t make any signings. Departure wise we allowed a couple of younger players to leave for clubs lower down the pyramid without bringing in any fees.

In truth we managed to cruise our way for the title, swatting away challenges from both Aldershot Town and Notts County to lift the league crown with four games to spare. We were fantastic near enough all season and when we did suffer disappointments we managed to bounce back quickly to winning ways. The goals up top by Paul Mullin were pivotal, he grabbed a ridiculous 31 league strikes for us and was a constant threat. The return from a serious knee injury by backup striker Kwame Thomas also helped as he scored some crucial goals late on in the campaign. Defensively we were brilliant all season, only conceding more than two goals in a game in one match. Goalkeeper Rob Lainton was particularly impressive but ably helped by the core of Ben Tozer and Aaron Hayden in front of him.

My two summer signings also did fairly well. David Amoo was decent enough on the wing, but central midfielder Emyr Huws was fantastic in the core of our engine, he was superb defensively but also popped up with a couple of wonder strikes.

We also provided good runs in both the FA Cup and FA Trophy to aid our successful season. In the FA Cup we saw off Morpeth Town and Chester to reach the proper stages of the competition. The draw was kind to us as well as we beat Borehamwood and Maidenhead at home by 2-1 and 3-1 score line respectively to reach the Fourth Round. We finally got out big match as we played host to Premiet League side West Ham United. We produced a spirited display and only lost out 1-2 to end our fairy tale. I was proud of  our efforts though and never expected to get that far.

In the FA Trophy we comfortably saw off Kidderminster, Grimsby Town and Altrincham Town to reach the Wuarter Finals where we would play host to Yeovil Town in our second tough match (after high flying Grimsby). We didn’t really turn up on the day though and despite a spirited fight back we were beaten 2-3 to crash out. At that stage I was disappointed as we were flying high at the summit of the league and could really go after the trophy and a trip to Wembley.

A fantastic first season for me as we picked up a surprise league title with absolute ease. We were brilliant from the very first game and to be honest by the time we clawed ourselves a four point cushion we never performed badly enough for that gap to trim. To win it with four games remaining was a real positive though. We broke the league record for victories and points and I was all awarded the Manager of the season award. A very pleasing campaign indeed.

I’m going to be presented with a budget for transfers just under the £1,000,000 mark which is quite ridiculous for League Two. I actually believe the squad we have would be able to avoid relegation without any reinforcements so I’ll be looking at who I can bring in to push us on more. I’d be happy with a safe mid table finish but will be aiming to try and push on for the play off places. A lot is going to depend on who we manage to recruit, but the money is there to do so. I’m excited but also a little bit nervous of what’s ahead. Hopefully I’ll be able to bring in a few players of real quality to slide in alongside the enviable talent we already have on our books.

Honours
---------------
2021/22 Conference National Winners

 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, goonergez said:

we managed to cruise our way for the title

Easy peasy in the end  And a cool million to strengthen the squad... spend it wisely!

[goonergez]

Thanks @warlock! I’m actually about halfway through the second season already and I didn’t spend anywhere near the million I was given. I’ll have another update soon but as I said before I don’t just want to spam the thread coz I get a lot of time to play and fly through saves rather quickly.

[warlock]

25 minutes ago, goonergez said:

I don’t just want to spam the thread

Oh, spam away mate... we're not exactly overrun with posts this year. Forum generally seems much quieter than usual.

[Bergbatov]

 

I have been fascinated by MK Dons in real life. The way they built up their squad and how the manager Liam Manning have managed to get them to chase promotion with an attractive playstyle, made me wanna build up this club in FM and continue the journey. If your not familiar with the club and how their tactics are, and what I am trying to recreate take a look at this great tactical analysis: https://totalfootballanalysis.com/head-coach-analysis/liam-manning-mk-dons-202122-tactical-analysis-tactics

Vision

First we are going to build our tactics around the club vision which is:

 - Play attacking football
 - Play possession football
 - Play entertaining football
 - Develop players using the club's youth system

So I'm going to recreate their IRL tactics 3-4-2-1/3-4-3 systems and have an more defensive 3-5-1 as a third option if we need to shut the shop and hold on by the ropes, but that won't be used as we strive for perfection and play our game. It will be more difficult to develop young players from the youth system since it's not great and isn't really many young talents in the U18 now, and no U23-team. But that will be a focus to build up when we hopefully manage to make some money by selling players with some profit. 

Transfers

MK Dons have been focusing on bringing in young players that can help the club in the long run as well as loaning in young talent from Premier League and Championship. So my focus will be to keep it that way and to focus in technical players that suits our tactics. The only transfer we are going to do from the start is to get another CB in that has some speed and can take the club legend Dean Lewington's place as he is getting old and slow.

Tactic

It might be some minor tweaks to the tactics but this our starting point and ambitious plan to move towards Championship and more. 

 

..The journey begins

Edited February 24, 2022 by Bergbatov

[Ronaldo Beckham]

5 minutes ago, Bergbatov said:

 

I have been fascinated by MK Dons in real life. The way they built up their squad and how the manager Liam Manning have managed to get them to chase promotion with an attractive playstyle, made me wanna build up this club in FM and continue the journey. If your not familiar with the club and how their tactics are, and what I am trying to recreate take a look at this great tactical analysis: https://totalfootballanalysis.com/head-coach-analysis/liam-manning-mk-dons-202122-tactical-analysis-tactics

Vision

First we are going to build our tactics around the club vision which is:

 - Play attacking football
 - Play possession football
 - Play entertaining football
 - Develop players using the club's youth system

So I'm going to recreate their IRL tactics 3-4-2-1/3-4-3 systems and have an more defensive 3-5-1 as a third option if we need to shut the shop and hold on by the ropes, but that won't be used as we strive for perfection and play our game. It will be more difficult to develop young players from the youth system since it's not great and isn't really many young talents in the U18 now, and no U23-team. But that will be a focus to build up when we hopefully manage to make some money by selling players with some profit. 

Transfers

MK Dons have been focusing on bringing in young players that can help the club in the long run as well as loaning in young talent from Premier League and Championship. So my focus will be to keep it that way and to focus in technical players that suits our tactics. The only transfer we are going to do from the start is to get another CB in that has some speed and can take the club legend Drew Lewington's place as he is getting old and slow.

Tactic

It might be some minor tweaks to the tactics but this our starting point and ambitious plan to move towards Championship and more. 

 

..The journey begins

Good luck with MK Dons. Maybe you could bring back Dele Ali to the club or unearth the next Dele Ali. 

I look forward to seeing your progress.

[warlock]

2 hours ago, Bergbatov said:

we are going to build our tactics around the club vision

Sounds great, and I'm looking forward to following your adventure. Good luck 

[goonergez]

Wrexham FC: 2022/23 Review

After promotion during my first season in charge this campaign was all about progress. The board hadn’t expected me to lead the side back into the Football League so quickly which meant this season would be a bit of a free pass for me and my side. I was presented a transfer budget just shy of £1,000,000 to put together a squad capable of avoiding relegation straight back down. I wanted more than that though and decided that a top half finish was the least of my ambitions. 

We made seven signings in pre-season as we spent £50,000 on new recruits. Winger Cal Roberts joined from Notts County to replace the departing David Amoo at the end of his deal here. The best signing would probably be central defender Fraser Horsfall though, we grabbed him from Northampton Town in a £10,000 deal. Performance wise our best signing would be veteran left back Joe Jacobson though after we signed the 35-year old on a free transfer from Wycombe Wanderers. He would perform wonders for us and we really missed his presence during the new year when he suffered a long term injury. I’m January we made one more signing in spending £20,000 to sign Devante Rodney from Port Vale. The striker slash winger was picked up to provide cover to our squad.

We put together a superb season to clinch a spot in the play offs and have the opportunity to compete for a second successive promotion. In truth we should’ve done even better then that as we led the league from day one all the way until the turn of the year. A cluster of major injuries derailed our season and we did well in the end to turn our form around and finish in the play off spots. Defensively we weren’t as good as last year although not tragically for a newly promoted side. Thankfully the reliable Paul Mullin put in another sensational season for us as he bagged 37 league goals to help us on our way.

A gutting way to end the season as we suffer defeat in the final after extra time, the game itself was a cracker with both teams showing creativity and solidarity in defence in what was an exciting match. We took the lead a couple of minutes into the second half before conceding late on after a really poor bit of play in midfield. Our opponents suffered a red card in the closing stages and we entered extra time with confidence that we could see off the ten men. In the end we were beaten by a sublime 35 yard volley and will have to compete another season at this level.

We made the final comfortably in the end, seeing off Barrow 4-1 away from home and then picking up a 0-0 draw in the return leg.

The cup competitions did very little for us this season as we failed to really make waves. We did alright in the League Cup early on though. We got through two League One opponents before losing a thrilling third round tie 3-5 to Everton of the Premier League. We also did fairly well in the Johnstones Paint Trophy getting through the group as winners before losing out to League One side Derby County after a penalty shoot out. The FA Cup saw us crash out at the first hurdle this time around though, a real disappointment for us.

We end the season in a disappointing manner but have to be pleased with how the season went on the whole. For much of it we looked like promotion was a real possibility before suffering an injury crisis and losing form. We did well to fight back and clinch a play off spot but it’ll definitely be a season of regret. There was a genuine chance for us to make it back to back promotions and we fell short. 

The summer won’t be too busy but I am looking to add some reinforcements. Having come close this year I’m determined to go better next year and complete the job and with it promotion. Left back Joe Jacobson has unfortunately decided to retire and we’re also going to lose midfielder Emyr Huws who refused to sign a new contact to stay with us. The biggest worry surrounds star man Paul Mullin though. He’s got an active release clause due to our non promotion and I’m really worried clubs from higher divisions are going to come in for him. Keeping hold of him may turn out to be our best business of the summer but we’re going to have to work hard for it.

Honours
---------------
2021/22 Conference National Winners

 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, goonergez said:

We end the season in a disappointing manner

Cruel game sometimes! But good luck next season... and good luck in holding on to Mullin.

[CityAndColour]

Great work @goonergez - sounds like the owners will back you all the way up the leagues, but I get the temptation to keep it realistic and build organically.

[CityAndColour]

Halfway point of out first season in the Southern Premier South, and we're right in the mix in what is a bit of a logjammed playoff battle...

We've had a few games where we've been by far the better team but have been suckerpunched, so could easily be right at the top, but it's still a decent start. It's been with mostly the same squad that got us promoted, however signings Bradley Keetch, Ben Jefford and Rio Garside have provided that extra bit of class. I would say we are still a consistent goal threat away from contending however - our Brazilian Douglas has done an admirable job leading the line, but lacks that real quality some other sides have.

One thing I have noticed is that the AI doesn't seem to give their players adequate rest - I use rest days to keep players fresh, but will routinely come up against opponents full of tired players, especially during midweek matches.

[Parmie]

Bradford City - Season 9 2029/2030

Still looking to threaten the top half of the table, I recruit a centre back to combat the defensive frailties from last season and we're looking good as we approach two players in each position depth.

Season Review

A positive start with just one loss away to Man City in our first four games is a promising start but our inconsistency returns, with poor runs, while we are picking up points, we're worse than last season and relegation is a risk coming out of January, with expectations on the rise, I'm not sure I would survive another one. While my tactic is always risky, dynamics is more fragile as players begin to want moves or improved contracts.

While I keep the 3 strikers, I tinker with my tactic, completely changing to a passing game and looking to bring in our central midfielders more into the attack, I also switch away from everyone trying to cross to the target forward. These changes stabilise us somewhat and although we're at risk in the last game of the season, we're 16th and it would have taken some strange results to relegate us. Overall, a step backwards. as we finish with 20 losses.

We're out in the 2nd round of the league cup at Newcastle on penalties, and get to the 5th round of the FA Cup before drawing Man City away and losing 4-2.

Off The Pitch

The Stuart McCall Stadium is another year closer, And with the outward expenditure from the previous season showing on this year's finances, we lose £35m. Our one major signing is the centre back, who didn't help much at all.

Spoiler

We're still a very young team, the oldest player at 29/30 is goalkeeper Petrovic. Maybe I should try to balance the squad out with some more mature players with high leadership skills.

[CityAndColour]

They say the second season is usually the toughest for a newly promoted side to the EPL so I'd still take that as progress.

[warlock]

3 hours ago, Parmie said:

Overall, a step backwards

1 hour ago, CityAndColour said:

I'd still take that as progress

It's always disappointing when you're not improving season on season, but I'd agree with C&C here - continued survival in the PL is never a bad thing. And I'm always impressed by your patience and persistence... I haven't managed a save for more than two seasons so far in FM22.

On which subject, I've started a new save with the latest update, taking a break from the EFL for a bit. Long-term visitors here may be aware that I've done multiple saves with Brentford in the last couple of FMs, usually bailing out after promotion to the PL. So I'm doing another Brentford venture, this time starting in the PL . There's every chance we'll soon be back in the Championship, but we'll see how it goes.

[goonergez]

Wrexham FC: 2023/24 Review

Our second season in League Two has ended and my third at the helm of this football club. I broke my own personal rules of not spending too much money as I looked to build a squad capable of challenging at the top end again having suffered defeat in the play-off final last term. We spent a club record £300,000 on young goalkeeper Joe Walsh from QPR as well as £170,000 on promising central defender Archie Porter from Accrington Stanley. We fought off competition from clubs higher up the pyramid for both of them. Departure wise we allowed George McEachran to leave for Burton in a £275,000 deal and also lost left back Joe Jacobson who decided to retire from playing. The biggest loss was probably Emyr Huws though who refused to discuss a new deal with us at the expiry of his.

We had a real lapse in the middle portion of the season which cost us any chance of going up in the top three and automatically. Striker Paul Mullin had a very quiet season for us and that certainly didn’t help us out. Defensively we got better and better as the season went on but a slow start and a really poor run of form midway through the campaign meant we never really looked like going up. We went into the final match of the season knowing a win may see us sneak into third but we drew 0-0 with Newport County despite playing over an hour against ten men. That one performance sort of showing everything that was a problem for us this season.

We didn’t even make it to Wembley this time around losing out to Bradford City in the semi finals. We lost the first leg 0-1 at home in a game we absolutely dominated and were hit by a late sucker punch. We took an early lead in the second match but just couldn’t find the second goal that would’ve helped us stand more of a chance. We conceded an equaliser and crashed out 1-2 on aggregate in a really disappointing end to the campaign.

The cup competitions were nothing to write home about again as we crashed out of all of them relatively early. The best effort probably came in the Johnstones Paint Trophy where we at least got through our group before being eliminated in the very next round. I’m not too fussed but some good cup runs would certainly boost the bank balance.

I’m disappointed to be stuck in League Two for a third straight season but we did well to even make the play offs during a campaign in which we were just so wasteful in front of goal. If we can sort that problem out then we could absolutely blitz this division. With Paul Mullin in the squad I’m sure that’s a realistic target as well. I want promotion next season and that’s what I’m going to be pushing my transfer activity in the summer towards. The board here are still absolutely delighted with me and again they only ask us to avoid relegation next season. Hopefully we can do more than that though, I’m confident it’s not unrealistic to expect it.
 

Honours
---------------
2021/22 Conference National Winners

 

[warlock]

3 hours ago, goonergez said:

we could absolutely blitz this division

Looks like just one more win would have seen you pip Mansfield for the third automatic promotion spot with your better GD. So you're not far away at all. Good luck 

[goonergez]

Wrexham FC: 2024/25 Review

After winning the Conference National title in my first season with the club we’ve managed to secure two play off campaigns in League Two before suffering defeats in both. Progress has been steady though and with the club looking forwards it was important that we came into this campaign with one eye firmly on promotion and making it third time lucky for us at this level.

Armed with a significant transfer budget I made sure any new arrivals were geared towards League One and tried to keep hold of our key performers from last season. Quality was added to our squad in abundance this season including the experienced striker Alfie May (free transfer from Cheltenham Town) and central defender Anton Walkes (free from Coventry City). We also parted with £75,000 to Bristol Rovers to sign holding midfielder Rowan McDonald who came in to phase out the veteran Ben Tozer in that role. Our most expensive signing was another goalkeeper though. We paid Crawley Town £200,000 and gave them veteran Rob Lainton to bring in 22-year old former Aston Villa man Viljami Sinisalo to be our new number one.

These moves were funded with two significant departures though. Youngster Greg Brisley was snapped up in a free transfer dealing from Liverpool at the end of last season but was sold to AFC Bournemouth in a £425,000 deal just before this season kicked off. Winger Kian Williams joined Valur in January just a year after we signed him from Iceland on a free transfer. His departure brought in £100,000 meaning our seasons dealings were well in the profit.

The table doesn’t really do justice to how great of a season we produced as we fell a single point away from winning the league title. We actually led the league from matchday one all the way to the final day before being pipped in a dull goalless draw with Bristol Rovers. A disappointing way to end the season but at least we managed to clinch the promotion I so desperately wanted.

The arrival of Viljami Sinisalo in goal and Anton Walkes alongside Fraser Horsfall at centre back really made the difference for us as we were much better defensively. Sinisalo kept 21 clean sheets and conceded just 30 goals all season although the defensive line of Bryce Hossanah, Fraser Horsfall, Anton Walkes and Archie Porter definitely helped. We actually started the season with a sixteen match unbeaten run that saw us fly to the top of the table. We deserved the league title really but a tough run of fixtures at the end saw us fall just short. Paul Mullin was top scorer again for us with 26 league goals. He’s been top scorer in all four of my seasons in charge of this club.

Outside of the league we disappointed in two cup competitions but did pretty well in another. 

We failed in both the FA Cup and League Cup as I rotated the squad heavily to ensure we continued our good league form. In the Papa John’s Trophy we managed to get all the way to the semi final stage before losing out to Chelsea’s under 23s side in a penalty shoot out. We did have a bit of luck on our run but definitely deserve credit for reaching it that far. It would’ve been nice to have another trip to Wembley but it wasn’t meant to be.

At the third time of asking we finally gain promotion into the third tier although missing out on the league title does make it feel a little bit bittersweet. We deserved to go up though and now I can begin preparations for the summer transfer market and ensuring that we’re going up a level to stay and not just for one season. I’m being presented with a budget just shy of £2,000,000 which is more than enough for me to be able to strengthen the squad. We had one of the smallest squads in League Two this season and I don’t think we will survive without adding some bodies to our ranks. I’m confident though and I cannot wait to get cracking now.

Honours
---------------
2021/22 Conference National Winners
2024/25 League Two Runners Up