[FM22] Local to Legend - Now or Never

[Junkhead]

Introduction

My name is Junkhead (Not really, obvs) and I am a restart-a-holic.  I haven't always been, but the last 6-7 years or so, I don't think I've gotten beyond 5 seasons in any FM.  The grass is constantly greener; 

I pick a team on a whim = I haven't thought about it enough. 

I really think about things and narrow it down to two teams = I should have chosen the other one. 

I start unemployed = I reject an offer that I think I should have accepted & start again.

I use a random team generator = I end up too high up the pyramid.

I watch a single episode of Sunderland 'Til I Die = I need to delete my current save & start as Sunderland.

I start as Sunderland = I wish I hadn't deleted my previous save.

You get the picture.  As an example, I started a new save yesterday.  And today I will be starting another.

 

I used to think this was because of limited time.  When I was in education, or working nights, I would get loads of time.  Now I generally don't get much.  However I've recently had lots of time on my hands due to a work break, yet I still haven't been able to settle on a save despite over 400 hours on FM22.  The one save I did get into I got relegated and sacked, and had nowhere to logically move to as I had started with the lowest rep team in the lowest rep league in the entire game.

So, I've decided - it is now or never.  When I don't have an FM save on the go, I find myself regularly considering which team to be.  Reading articles about Lower League Teams to start with.  Writing suggestion articles.  Browsing @Brother Ben's excellent website (https://www.the9llamas.com/).  Then I decide on a team.  And eventually start again.  But this time is going to be different.  A recent conversation with @Platinum reminded me of why I play FM - to have FUN.  And repeatedly starting new saves is NOT fun.  Now, we all have different ideas of what fun is.  For me, fun is about playing (pretty much) in line with LLM rules, and having a realistic career.  I also have a list of 10 or so aims that I one day want to achieve on FM.  It's been on my phone/computer for 5-6 years.  In that time, I've achieved none of them.  I'm not going to share them all here, but my aim in this save will be to achieve at least one of them.

I want to win the European Cup (sorry, Champions League - I'm old) for the third time with my beloved Nottingham Forest.  I've never done so on FM (or any other game for that matter) having been playing since the original Championship Manager.  If I achieve any more of the aims on my list, then great - I will highlight those as they happen.  I will also be logging any in game Steam Achievements I get as the save goes on so I can look back at what I've achieved.

Word of warning to any fellow LLaMas - I WILL be posting player names/pictures and tactical screenshots in this thread.  If I do so and I am doing something fundementally stupid tactically, please don't tell me.  Allow me to fail.  Feel free to point and laugh too if you like.

So, I have a plan.  It's the same plan I've had for ages and never achieved, but nevertheless, it's still a plan.  

Now all I need is a SINGLE starting point........

[Junkhead]

The Set-up

Now, one of the things I get obsessive over is the leagues I run and the leagues I don't, to the point where I sacrifice game speed and run all of them.  Then, I realise some are missing, so I start again to add more.  Then I realise that some new ones have been released, so I start again to include them.  Not this time.  I am starting the save with admittedly too many leagues, many added thanks to @davie77 , @Robbles Quin ®™ & @sporadicsmiles.  I've no doubt they will soon be bringing out more, but I am determined to ignore them.  That being said, it's not as if I don't have enough leagues to manage in during this save - I will be running 145 leagues from 65 Nations (!)

Now I realise that this is alot.  And, before anyone asks, no I do NOT have a super computer.  But it's a trade off for me - realism & an active and evolving large gameworld vs speed.  I am comfortable with this although I appreciate many wouldn't be.   The player count obviously includes the required players from the leagues I have active, as well as all current internationals (which means all Nations will be manageable throughout the save), players from clubs in continental competitions (meaning no grey players in continental cups during the first season at least), players from top clubs (which hopefully means very few grey players in continental cups during the entire save), and all players from the inactive league below where I will be starting (which means when I inevitably get sacked, the chances of me having to take over a team with no players is slim).

I will be using the below settings;

Not adding key staff is, in my opinion, important for realism.  If I have no Assistant, I have no Assistant.  I will go and find one.  Another is adding players to playable leagues.  Whilst I know it's advised to add players when using many editor files, I don't do this for two reasons.  Firstly, the additional leagues I am using are very detailed and there are few issues with teams not having enough players.  This is because the creators concerned are great at what they do and go for quality over quantity.  Any teams that don't have enough players will fill their squads soon enough, and before I come across any in game issues. Another thing that adding players to playable teams does is populate youth squads with fake players at lower levels.  I don't want that to happen. Disabling the first transfer window is also a standard for me.  I want to play half the season with the squads that played half a season.  I believe this contributes towards having a unique game world as injuries, form etc take their toll and are different from save to save.  I will be playing with attribute masking and - for kit updates only - with the IGE enabled.

I will also be using some of @nik33's datapacks, and of course (the majority of) @Daveincid's outstanding Realism Patch.  If anyone wants a full list of what I do & don't use, fire me across a DM so I'm not boring people to death on the thread.  There is also a couple of self created files to update kit colours & management appointments up until the second patch date to keep things consistent.

Edited February 8, 2022 by Junkhead

[Junkhead]

The Starting Point

So, here I am, looking slightly pensive and very clueless.  Which is accurate.  I am 40 years old at the start of the game (and in reality which is quite upsetting) and am a Nottingham born Forest fan.  I have no past playing experience and no National C license, so my attributes are rubbish.  As well as supporting Forest, I also have a soft spot for Woking (used to go and watch them regularly) and Gimnastic Tarragona (went to Tarragona on holiday once and really liked it).

I have decided to start at the semi-pro English club closest to where I currently live in the West Midlands.  Kidderminster Harriers are actually the closest, but being a Professional club, they were off limits.  Therefore, I am the proud(ish) new manager of.....

They've given me a year long part timecontract on £625 a week meaning that unfortunately I still have to go to work as well to pay the bills, but hopefully that won't be forever.  The media believes that they will come 13th in the league, and I am particularly pleased that both the training & youth facilities are considered "Good" (which is fantastic for this level) and also that their Chairperson is Andy Pryce, a former player who purchased the club.  He would like us to play entertaining football (the chances of which are quite slim if we're honest) and in the first season, avoid a relegation battle.  Doing so should keep me in work, and allow me to work towards the highly ambitious plan of being a top-half National League North club for the next four years (and possibly forever).  

Telford have had an up and down (mostly down) last 20 years, and since relegation from the National Leage 6 years ago, have only finished in the top half once.

We have three affiliated clubs, the most important being senior affiliate West Bromwich Albion from the Championship.  Hopefully this link will bear fruit in the form of some decent loan players.  The other two clubs are Market Drayton (two divisions below me) and Shawbury (four divisions below me) where I can loan my younger players.  Market Drayton would be a good starting point for a younger player's loan journey, however Shawbury are too low down to be of any use.  Once I've got a bit more job security, I will be asking the board to terminate that link as it's completely pointless.  I don't think it would be realistic to ask them to do so straight away.

My first job is to try and boost up the backroom numbers a bit - it's all well and good having good facilities, but I can't imagine players will develop much under the current regime.  I usually use the job centre for this, but might have a bit of a delve myself for a change to see what's available;

And talking of players, this is how things look to start with.  Gut tells me it might be a good idea to use wingers and no centre-halves..... can't imagine that would go well.  Luckily, at this level, free transfers will be allowed as soon as the summer window shuts, so I am hopeful that this will be a temporary problem.  On the flip side, decent wingers and a target forward means that hoofing it up away from my awful defence at every opportunity is likely to be my prime tactic and you can't get much more lower league than that.  Not sure that this is the "entertaining football" my chairperson wants but we will see;

[Platinum]

Looking forward to this and following your journey, its great that youve got good facilities as well.

[Robbles Quin ®™]

whatever you do dont manage in tir 5 japan cause its a nightmare to get to tier 4. 0-2 out of 86 teams get promoted. yes 0. its fricken hard, but good luck

[Junkhead]

54 minutes ago, Platinum said:

Looking forward to this and following your journey, its great that youve got good facilities as well.

Thanks, and thanks for reminding me why we play this game!

18 minutes ago, Robbles Quin ®™ said:

whatever you do dont manage in tir 5 japan cause its a nightmare to get to tier 4. 0-2 out of 86 teams get promoted. yes 0. its fricken hard, but good luck

Haha - thanks for the warning!  I only have J1 & J2 active so I won't be tempted - sounds an INSANE challenge.

[Junkhead]

Pre-Season

Sorted the backroom out during pre-season, and now the best in the league.  I find it very easy to build the best backroom in the division at lower levels even using the job centre - this is certainly something that needs to be made more difficult.  There is very rarely a bidding war for coaches or scouts, even those that have the "WNT" icon in their profiles.  Still, all we can do is play as realistically as the game allows, and I'm really pleased with the backroom which now looks like this;

For pre-season I had set up a series of friendlies of progressive difficulty to get the lads prepped.  As expected, we did generally well against the easier teams, and not so well against the tougher ones.  Particularly disappointing was the defeat against Tamworth and draw against Redditch who are each in the division below.  An injury to Kyle Bennett in the game against Bridgnorth meant he played more or less no part in pre-season, only making a sub appearance in the Wrexham game.  This was not helped by a shorter, less serious injury to Brendon Daniels leaving my left side pretty sparse in the lead up to the  season opener.

All in all, I am not 100% what to expect from the season.  I need to strengthen the defence, I've no doubt, but I suspect that the fact that there is only one relegation spot this season will mean we will be quite unlikely to go down.  We're scoring goals, just need to stop conceding! 

[Junkhead]

August 2021

An ok if far from spectacular start to the season.  Although four points isn't a great start, the manner of the defeats makes me feel hopeful for the season ahead.  In a pretty even game we lost by a goal from a corner against Darlington before improving against Chorley to beat them quite comfortably in a game where they never really threatened.  We dominated Blyth but couldn't score, giving away a late penalty for handball.  Hereford had won every game before playing us, so I was pleased to take a point.  All of this leaves me comfortably in the lower mid-table, where I honestly expect to finish;

Of the teams below me, I suspect that it is only likely to be Kidderminster who will be away from the struggle come the end of the season.  As I said, I would be shocked if I end up seriously worried about relegation come the business end.

September has some tough games in the league, and to be honest I would accept three points from somewhere before a much more paletable (on paper anyway) October fixture list.

Now we are into September I am able to bring free players in, but my scouts are yet to find anyone who will strengthen me.  Ideally I would like a left back and a centre half and possibly a right back - of my Defenders, only Theo Streete is dependable whilst everyone else is horribly inconsistent.

Achievements Gained so far;

Edited February 12, 2022 by Junkhead

[Junkhead]

September 2021

Bet you all thought I'd succumed and started again! No chance - it's now or never, remember?!

I had wanted 3 points from what was going to be a very tough September and, suffice to say, I didn't get them.  

The result against Boston was considerably better than the performance, and we were lucky not to get taken to bits.  Then we did get taken to bits by Alfreton in a game in which we were completely awful.  Up until this point I had been playing a defensive minded 4-4-1-1, but this was limiting my already limited squad too much, with the height of Jason Oswell our only real outlet.  I changed things up a bit in the cup game against Romulus and went with a simpler, narrow 4-4-2 diamond.  Whilst this felt counter intuitive given the good quality of winger in the squad, Brendon Daniels dropped back from left midfield to left full back allowing him to bomb on, with Elliott Durrell moved into a striker role.  This allowed Kyle Bennett to sit just behind a front two and move around the pitch and, with Walker & McHale putting in good performances from midfield as runners, I was suddenly no longer quite so one dimensional.  

We were the better side against Brackley in the next game, however I blew it by panicking and reverting to my more defensive formation with 20 minutes to go.  Our defence is too poor to sustain prolonged pressure against decent sides, as the Alfreton game showed.  But I go into October full of hope with an easier (on paper at least) set of fixtures to come.

October 2021

An absolute horror show of a month congestion wise with 9 games packed into 29 days.  Things started well enough with a formality at home to Needham Market in the cup with Jason Oswell earning me a steam achievement with a hatrick.  This meant that I had made it into the fourth qualifying round which was the minimum board expectation.  A tough game away at Spennymoor followed in which I survived an absolute barrage and nicked it with 20 minutes to go with a penalty.  This time the defensive formation was used until half time when I went for it at 0-0 before putting everyone behind the ball for the last 10.

The following week was the stuff of absolute nightmares as we tried the same thing which had worked against Spennymoor.  It worked again, with Dominic McHale and Elliott Durrell putting us 2-0 on the 66th minute.  Then I tried the same thing which had worked against Spennymoor but had failed against Brackley just a couple of weeks before and threw it away.  This meant that I ended up having to play FOUR GAMES IN A WEEK.  This was way too much for my tiny squad and I had no option but to rest lots of players against Farsley who were easily the better team on the day.  

I decided to go at Brackley from the off in the replay and raced into a 4-1 lead.  They almost did it again but couldn't find a fourth, taking me through to the 1st round proper for only the third time in the club's history.  Unfortunately, the match was ruined by a long term injury to Brendon Daniels who broke his collar bone putting him out until around New Year.  My squad is so threadbare that I have very little outside of the first 11 but, more than that, my new tactic is built around Daniels' ability to bomb it down the left side from deep all game.  Gutted.

Then, with my players hanging on by a thread, I almost FM'd FM, with Gloucester only finishing my exhausted team off in the last 10 minutes.  The game was not an enjoyable watch 

With some of my players clinging on by a thread and desperate to avoid another long term injury, I rested a few again against Guisely and turned things round after going behind with a very comfortable 3-1 win.  The final game of the month saw us entertain bottom side Curzon Ashton who almost beat us, we needed an 87th minute equalizer from Oswell (his 14th of the season already!!) to take a point.

This leaves us in 14th position going into what I hope will be a slightly less insane November.  I get the feeling that around 14th is where we will end up.  We are good enough to give most teams a game at this level, but are rubbish at the back and injuries and suspensions will ruin us if we don't strengthen.

The next couple of months don't look too bad, with our reward in the cup an away tie at Aldershot, who are in the division above.  I would quite like to avoid another replay, so I am considering resting what few players I can.  Then, aside from the games against Fylde & Gateshead, I should be able to take some points and, you never know, trouble the top half.

On a side note, in a turn of events that us Llama's don't come accross very often, I am MAKING money.  Last month I made about £168k.  Some of that would have been TV money as the whole nation got to see me chuck away a two goal lead against Brackley in the first cup game (BBC i-Player & BBC website I imagine  ) but if this continues once the cup run is over then, coupled with my decent facilities, the future will actually look quite bright at Telford!

Except for the fact that I am the manager.  

Steam Achievements