[FM22] Chris Wilson Journey

[ChrisWilson]

I only recently moved onto fm22 after finishing up my long saves in fm21.
I did a few seasons with Chelsea to get a feel for a new game , and now its time to do my favorite type of a career which is a journeyman.
Hopefully others can also enjoy this save and follow my managers path.

Chris Wilson career story - December 31 2021

This is a fictional character that I have used for many versions on FM. 
In my imagination he is a former footballer from London that was in youth academy of Chelsea.
Injuries ruined his career and in his early 20s he got his badges done and at the start i imagine him as a u21s teams coach somewhere down the leagues in England.
He gets his chance at a struggling team that has sacked their manager and promoted him from within while either looking for a better option or keeping him in charge because of good results.
The game world and results dictate that side of the story for me.

Very often this save starts with him getting sacked because I always pick the bottom team in Vanarama National South/North on December 31.
It makes the story even more interesting for me if he gets sacked.
Its rare but I've managed to keep some teams up with massive luck and good runs of form. We will see how this goes.

Pretty simple goals for Chris, hopefully manage Chelsea one day and win some trophies.

Leagues

 

 

I am using a data pack with updated transfer for the new season and promotions and relegations.
I added the top leagues around Europe with the top5 leagues also having the 2nd division loaded and England all the way down to Vanarama National South/North.

League Table Vanarama National League South

 

 

Tauntons chances of survival are extremely low so its a sure way to get sacked.

League Table Vanarama National League North

 

 

Hereford on the other hand with 11 points off survival does not look good but much more likely and there is hope.

New Team - Hereford

 

 

Chris Wilson

 

 

This is a choice I make every time I do this save between having no badges and having Continental Pro License.
For anyone that's done a save with no badges you'll know you can get up to 3 star reputation after getting all the badges in just a few years.
Eddie Howe has 3 star reputation for comparison . In my experience it is possible to get all the badges in a team all the way down at Vanarama National if they have the money.
After that you can apply for Championship level jobs and even some top teams in other countries like Greece and Turkey.
That just doesn't feel like natural progression and I think its actually a lot harder when you start off with all the badges done when you do a journeyman.
Only achievements will make your reputation go up and let you get better jobs.

Tactic

 

 

This is similar to what worked for me at Chelsea in previous save and its fitting as Hereford doesn't have any good wingers . It fits the team after a quick look at the squad.
Let the journey begin and hopefully at the end of the season it will matter to take a look at the squad and learn more about the club if we manage to stay up.

[Punch]

Looks like fun! Good luck with your journey

[Sahaj Oberoi]

Fantastic, will follow.

[DomD]

Sounds interesting, looking forward to your next update.

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - January 29 2022

Few obvious problems with this club.

 

Keeper

 

This is the best GK at Hereford. Even at this level he is awful but I'm not sure how much better can we possibly get out there. 

Club Atmosphere

 

As you can imagine bottom of the league the clubs Atmosphere is awful and it just gets even harder to get the team to perform.

Morale

 

As expected awful morale and judging by my last save morale seems to be even more important in fm22.

Schedule January 2022

 

 

Well.. a lot to unpack here. 

First two games saw us come up vs 23rd and 22nd in the league and wins in these two games would have given us massive chance for surviving.
Reality set in really fast that a tactic that worked with a premier league winning team was not gonna do it at this level.
First game was ok as we conceded two goals late but game vs ScarboROUGH was rough. They were so much better I had to question my FM abilities.

Made some changes in 3rd game in charge with no improvement to performance. 
Only when we moved to 3 at the back did we get a draw but still ended the month on a loss.

League Table

 

I think there was hope.. but it really just slipped completely away in the first month. The first two games meant A LOT but I think our fate is almost confirmed at Hereford.

 

 

First achievement I guess.

I brought in two players and made offer to over 30 players but it seems clubs just snap them up as soon as you make an offer.. frustrating.

 

Jack Kiersey

 

Spoiler

 

Good CM that can do box to box role 

Liam Thompson

 

Spoiler

 

 

This is the new GK that I was hoping could make a difference but he's not that much better.

Mathematically survival is possible but it would be the best achievement in my 20 years of playing FM. But its good to have hope.
 

Edited November 26, 2022 by ChrisWilson

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - April 2 2022

 

New Striker

 

 

Obiero was the only striker out of around 20 players that actually accepted the offer.
Very fast for this level and I hope he can score us some goals.

 

Obiero History

 

 

Former Huddersfield player hopefully he can score his first goals for us.

 

Schedule February 2022 & March 2022

 

 

We started off with another BIG loss and at this point I was worried about my stats of not having a single win!
Stuck with the tactic and it saw us get results here and there but the loss to Telford in April meant we got relegated.

League table

 

 

 

And we are down. It was always gonna be an impossible job but when I took it 11 points didn't seem that far. Its that first month if we got it right we had the chance to stay up.

 

Obiero 

 

 

 

He became the main scorer so at least we know we can recruit a good striker at this level.
And yes I did give him number 1 as a striker.

 

Relegation 

 

 

 

Fired

 

 

 

Well .. now the story and save begins. We should still have the reputation to get interviews at this level and hopefully some team changes the manager in the summer or we will have to wait until December again.

[DomD]

Tough luck. Any job offers?

[ChrisWilson]

7 hours ago, DomD said:

Tough luck. Any job offers?

Yes , I will be managing a team in Vanarama National League South and will even have a pre season.

Will do an update tomorrow .

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - June 12 2022

 

Hereford Schedule

 

 

Hereford ended up losing every single game.

Hereford League Table 

 

 

Interestingly Scarborough pulled through. Them beating us 7:0 sure helped. They were 3 points off 20th when we joined.

Interview Offer

 

We didn't have to wait that long as the first interview came in a bit over a month after we got fired.

Hemel Hempstead Town League Table 

 

 

They actually finished 10th. A lot higher then the teams I expected to be talking to so this is a good opportunity.

Job Offer

 

 

After waiting for a few weeks with no other interview offers in sight we got the job.

 

I'm not sure if their club culture had anything to do with offering me the job but at the time my tactical style did say route one and I used very attacking in my tactic at hereford.
Its nice to imagine SI would get a detail like that into the game. Either way that's what id like to believe.. David Boggins the chairman ignored the awful losses we had at Hereford and focused on us scoring goals. 

 

New team - Hemel Hempstead Town

 

 

The club 

 

 

Team report - Best 11

 

 

Look at that! This was a nice surprise as its exactly the tactic i used at Hereford. 

Squad

 

 

After looking through the youngsters , which were not good, there are 9 players that are ready for next season. 3 really good players are refusing to sign a new deal so were left with just 9.

Big summer ahead as we need a lot of new players. Hopefully some good loans will be available. 

Edited September 18, 2022 by ChrisWilson

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - August 13 2022

 

Transfers in

 

 

 

A lot of new faces that well take a closer look at in a squad post that should be after this update.

Squad

 

 

I'm pretty happy with the squad even though some back up players I would rather not start if I don't have to.

Competitions Expectations

 

 

David wants us to fight against relegation but I want us to fight for play offs. at least I know our job should be safe unless we completely fail here.

Season Preview

 

 

Even the season preview has us higher then board expectations.

Salary Per Year

 

 

This is not always the best way to judge a strength of a team but its a good way to judge where you should be for the money you are spending on your players.
Interestingly it has us in 13th just like season preview does.

Pre Season

 

 

We are looking great going forward vs lower league teams. I'm not sure if its just the level or the 3 strikers up top is a bit OP in fm22.
I remember maybe fm 19 or 18 shadow strikers were too strong for AI to cope with and it quickly became an exploit. I used 3 striker up top at Chelsea with top players and definitely struggled at times even coming 5th in my second season.

Tactic

 

 

This is the tactic used in pre season.
I think only change from Hereford I made was tick passing up from shorter passing and also both box to box to get forward as well as wing backs to cross to target man.

Takeover?

 

 

TWO days before the first game of the season I got these news.

Finances 

 

 

I guess it makes sense why he wants to sell as FM's way of dealing with clubs that struggle financially is for owners to sell them.

I think our job should be safe when it goes through as we just got hired.

Squad overview in next update.

[Jimbokav1971]

Sincere apologies for posting my rubbish in your thread. 

I was updating my own thread in 1 tab and reading yours in another and appear to have become confuddled. 

In more on-topic news, I'm delighted that you escaped from SAS Land because conceding 21 goals in your opening month and then 8 in your next game was not the most auspicious of starts. 

On the other hand, scoring 11, 8, 6 & 5 with Hemel, (albeit in pre-season), is a significant improvement. 

Good luck. 

[ChrisWilson]

13 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Sincere apologies for posting my rubbish in your thread. 

I was updating my own thread in 1 tab and reading yours in another and appear to have become confuddled. 

In more on-topic news, I'm delighted that you escaped from SAS Land because conceding 21 goals in your opening month and then 8 in your next game was not the most auspicious of starts. 

On the other hand, scoring 11, 8, 6 & 5 with Hemel, (albeit in pre-season), is a significant improvement. 

Good luck. 

That was such a great moment because as I opened my thread I was reading your updates and myself forgot it was posted in the wrong place when I got to the end haha.

I guess it would be easier to keep up with your save through here.

I am hoping to do well at Hemel but also its a semi-pro club so its very annoying with little improvement to players and the tactic constantly not being fully familiar with the players but we will see how long I stay here!

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story

 

Squad Overview

 

 

This is how I keep track of my squad. A little table in excel. 

Keeper
 

Spoiler

Both keepers from last year before me.
Henry looks a little bit better with his physicals.

Right back
 

Spoiler

Simpson was here when I joined and I think he looks amazing for this level and should get a lot of assists.
Rutrherford is not a great back up but he's on loan for free and both our starting right back and left back can play right and left if we need to rotate.

Central defender
 

Spoiler

All 4 players are new to the club.
Gomis and Peter will start.

Left back
 

Spoiler

Dasilva is by far the best player at the club. He is wanted and refuses to sign a new deal . However nobody is making any offers for him right now.
He will start and he is also the vice captain. He was here when I joined.
Webb was also here and he should be ok back up.

Defensive midfielder 
 

Spoiler

Both players from last year. Gardiner-Smith is the captain and was Hemels best player last year. He will start.
Johnson is an ok back that's homegrown.

Box to box
 

Spoiler

All 4 new players
I have high hopes for Dawson as he looks very well rounded and O'Farrell will be on the left side as hes left footed.
OK back ups as well.

Target forward
 

Spoiler

I'm very happy with getting Barnwell as usually I'm not a fan of using target man but more of a DLF up top but the striker we had at hereford was also tall and good at heading and he was great before i got fired.
Tall and pretty fast as well . 
Leaburn looks like a good back up on loan.

Forward
 

Spoiler

I am gonna start Morgan and Reilly . Both we have on loan and they look fast and can finish. I think Reilly is a lot better with such high off the ball.
Fasanmade was here last year and should be the main back up .
Marsh-Brown is the only winger at the club when I joined. I did take a look at bring a left winger to the club so I could use him too but I decided against it .He will train to play up top and probably will not get many games unless we have an injury crisis.

Overall I think its a squad capable of getting top6 at least and depending on injuries maybe even higher.

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story 29 October 2022

Schedule

 

The season is going great 3 months into it. Random 4:0 loss to dover and a few draws and another loss but were looking really good. 
So far every player seems to be doing well.

League table

 

Cups Schedule

 

Out of the FA Cup. We made 11 k through the two wins we had.

Squad

 

Honestly everyone who starts has a good average rating. 
Only thing is Morgan has struggled to score so Fasanmade took the starting place. He is scoring a bit.
Reilly could also score more but Barnwell is getting the goals for us.
He looks great up top and so does Dawson in the middle as expected.
Dasilva is having minor injuries and I did not expect Webb to step up the way he did but he's doing good at left back.
Overall everyone is performing well so far.

Dasilva injury

 

After minor injuries that made him miss start of the season he got a bigger one so hopefully Webb can keep up his performances.

Take over

New Contracts

 

I'm starting to think about next season and I think Gomis and Simpson deserve a new deal already.

Take over part 2

Transfer embargo

 

I guess I offered new deals just in time before the embargo.

Take over part 3

 

Its finally done.

New owner

 

So apparently new owner decided to bring new players in. I know you sometimes get the option to cancel these deals last minute but I will not do that as its more realistic that way.

Finances 

 

We are in the positive.

Owen James

Spoiler

 

Oh wow we are actually offering money for them.. 4.9k for that and 600 wages is mad. 

Gregor Woods

Spoiler

 

Very average player but got to deal with the new owners wishes.

Dawson injury

 

Annoying injury to our best performer.. gonna miss a few games.
 

Edited November 26, 2022 by ChrisWilson

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 29 January 2023

 

Bank Loan

 

 

OH. That's how our balance went positive. 

Tactic 

 

 

I had to make Reilly a poacher as Charltons manager threatened to recall him if I don't.. I did not notice the promise to use him as a poacher but its similar role to advanced forward. 
Poacher probably fits Reilly even more

ALSO look at all those green lines and partnerships developing nicely.

Dynamics

 

 

Another positive thing to see.

Hierarchy

 

 

Getting the dynamics and the support of players has felt like the deciding factor between doing good and doing just ok in the past few versions of the game.

New contracts 

 

 

Top performing players from the starting 11 signing new deals.

Salary per year

 

 

New contracts and two players signed by the president bring us up in the salaries. 
Puts a bit more pressure to AT LEAST get play off spots this season.

Schedule November 2022 & December 2022 & January 2023

 

 

Good results with a few losses and a bit of a bad form in January but were still doing great.

League table

 

 

Billericay is on a crazy run of form and they overtake us into first place.

Cups schedule

 

 

Halifax are a league above us and knocked us out of FA trophy

Squad

 

 

Barnwell does not stop scoring . I have seen on reddit and many stories that players like Lorenzo Lucca are very good this year. 
He is similar with his height and heading and jumping.
Simpson is looking great as right back with his assists.
Also the tactic switch  of Reilly to poacher saw him start scoring a lot more.
Morgan was recalled due to lack of games and also we have James who in 10 sub appearances failed to score or assist..
Morale is a little down after the poor run in January and some players not getting game time but hopefully we can turn that around going forward.

Dasilva

 

 

Dasilva refused to sign a new deal and 70 k is a massive amount for our club so I had to accept this. 

Dasilva and Webb

 

 

To be fair he is doing a bit worse then Webb at left back.. So its not that much of a miss except we wont have two really good left backs.

Ben O'Hanlon

 

Spoiler

 

New left back back up. He is very average and I hope Webb does not get injured.

New Contract

 

 

We signed a new deal!

Reputation

 

 

Also at some point my rep went from 5 percent to 10 .. I missed the exact point it happened but hey.. progress!

World Cup

 

 

I was so surprised to see this news article. A former player of ours.

Jamal Lowe

Spoiler

 

Good luck to him at the world cup. Its crazy he was so far down with us and only in a couple years scored 14 goals in championship!
 

Edited November 26, 2022 by ChrisWilson

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 6 May 2023

 

Emmanuel Idowu

Spoiler

 

We made a signing and I thought he was joining at the end of the season but he is here now.
Looks promising.

 

Schedule - February 2023 & March 2023 & April 2023 & May 2023

 

February and march were really good result. 
Random loss to Farnborough was out of nowhere and it caused a massive drop in morale and a few losses and a draw followed.
Just confirms my feeling that the most important thing is morale and momentum.

 

League table 

 

We ended up 9 points clear of Billericay.

 

Won the league

 

Billericay Town schedule

 

 

They were on a good run of form and when they lost 2:0 to us that's where the title was ours.
The form they had after our game was really bad.
Thankfully morale and momentum works the same for AI as it does for player.

 

Squad

 

A great season really. Barnwell and Dawson by far the best players but everyone in the starting 11 has done well.

 

Reputation

 

I got an increase in reputation.

 

Best Eleven

 

Player Awards

 

Records

 

Barnwell awards

 

Head coach of the season

 

 

Stadium

 

 

We are getting a stadium expansion which means more loans to repay.

Good season overall. Have to make the right signings and do our best next year.

Edited November 26, 2022 by ChrisWilson

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 29 July 2023

Squad

 

These are the players we kept from last year. Happy with Reilly staying for another loan.

Transfers In

 

 

Squad

 

 

Full squad of 22 that I think can do good this year.

GK
 

Spoiler

Henry gonna stay as they main keeper.

RD
 

Spoiler

Simpson was great last year and he will start.

LD
 

Spoiler

Montague looks like a really good signing.

CD
 

Spoiler

Gomis and Peter were great last year but i need to find room for Idowu to play . 
He looks promising.

DM
 

Spoiler

Gardiner-Smith remains club captain and a key player.

CM
 

Spoiler

Raikhy is the new exciting signing that I hope can do really well for us.

CF
 

Spoiler

Barnwell stays and we have an even taller back up for him in Moses.

AF
 

Spoiler

 

Holland-Wilkinson looks good and he will start along with Reilly.

 

Season preview

 

 

Expectations

 

 

Team salary

 

 

We are second to last. Both us and Wealdstone are semi-pro. I think there's another team as well which only makes 3 semi pro teams at this level.

 

Pre season

 

 

 

I think we did ok in the summer. A lot of players rejected our offers so it was hard to improve the squad. Hopefully mid table with push for play offs by end of the season.

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 31 October 2023

 

Schedule August 2023 & September 2023 & October 2023

 

 

Very inconsistent.

League table

 

 

Cups schedule

 

 

 

Squad stats

 

 

 

Holland-Wilkinson started off STRONG but slowly faded out with his goals.
Raikhy also I had a lot of hope for but he is not performing great.
Like last season key players are Dawson , Simpson and Barnwell.

 

 

Stadium expansion

 

 

 

Interesting decision by the board to put us into a bit more of  debt..

 

Average attendance

 

 

 

Considering we only fill half the stadium???
 

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 27 January 2024

 

Schedule November 2023 & December 2023 & January 2024

 

 

A few rough patches saw us 4 points off relegation spots but in January we turned it around with good results.

 

League table

 

 

7th place has a lot of games in hand but were close to fighting for play off spots.

 

Cup schedule

 

 

Carlisle game was a massive win for the club with a late winner and first goal for Moses as well.

 

Squad 

 

 

Defense seems like the weak point this year.

 

Gate receipts record & Prize money

 

 

We are making amazing progress finance wise.

 

Finances

 

 

400K! I am planning on asking the club to go Professional end of the season and it should also be same time as contract talks for me as well.
I will say it here if they decline to go Pro there is a high chance I will have to move on.
 

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 20 February 2024

 

Schedule February 2024

 

 

We had a chance to win VS Wigan but they were too strong.

 

Record attendance & Gate receipts

 

 

I forgot how massive and important doing well in cups at this level is. So much money to be made.

 

League table

 

 

7th is still close but there is a reason this update is earlier this time...

 

Job offer

 

 

Over the past few months I applied to a few jobs in League two and we had two interviews. One team came back with a job offer.

 

Acctrington Stanley

 

League table 

 

 

They are 23rd with only 2 points off safety and a lot of games to go.. I think this job makes sense to take on.

 

Club comparison

 

 

Main thing is Accrington Stanley are professional and if we manage to keep them up we will be managing in a league above.
Estimated value, fans and better facilities plus club reputation all make this move seem like a good decision.

 

Finances Hamel Hempstead Town

 

 

I think I did a good job at Hamel. Got promoted and put them in good financial position.
I just don't think we will push for play offs and the natural progression in the manager career has to happen.
I also gave new deals to the good youngsters so hopefully next manager can do even better with the team.

Off we go for another relegation battle.
Last one didn't go that well.
 

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 27 February 2024

 

New club - Acrrington Stanley

 

 

Club

 

 

Under performing a lot judging off media prediction.

 

Salary 

 

 

Towards end of the table but should still be doing better.

 

Finances

 

 

Well.. these are tough to see after just leaving a club with 400 k in the bank
We will worry about this later. Got to keep the team up in the league first.

I think if we get relegated and somehow not fired it will only make sense to resign. 
Saying it in this updated if or when it comes to it I cant change my mind!

 

Dynamics

 

 

As usual a struggling team with bad dynamics and I even have 2 players oppose me. 
Got to turn this around quick.

 

Target Forward

 

 

Look at that! It's like the game wants me to keep using this role . Best striker at the club.

 

Tactic

 

 

We are gonna start off with this as Accrington has wingers that can somewhat cross.
Same tactic as we had before just the two strikers on the side of TF are now wingers.

 

Schedule February 2024

 

 

I took charge of the Cheltenahm and Rochdale games.
We can definitely score but defense is awful at this club.

 

League table

 

 

We just need to find some form and I think this should not turn into relegation.

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 29 March 2024

 

Schedule March 2024

 

Started off really well but ended the month on two loses unfortunately.

 

League table

 

We are out of the bottom two already but only by 3 points.

 

Form

 

Teams around us are having awful run of form. Morecambe is on 7 match losing streaks which is really helping us right now.

 

Jack Nolan

Spoiler

 

Nolan has performed really well as a winger and is carrying us to the wins we had.

 

Cohen Bramall

Spoiler

Bramall is hands down the best player in our team and possibly the league?
He would be amazing winger but I am using Nolan there so Bramall makes for a great wing back on attack right now.
It might be hard to keep him tho , he has a low release clause and refuses to sign a new deal.
Six more games to go and see if we can stay up.

Edited November 26, 2022 by ChrisWilson

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 11 May 2024

 

Battle for survival

After first two games of the last 6 we were 4 points off relegation and in 2 of our last 4 games we had 20th and 24th teams to play.
Perfect schedule.

 

Schedule

I tried 5 at the back for a game and I liked the look of it as we won 2:0 but then we lost 1:6 next game.. 
Moved away from that idea back to the 433 I was using previously as the only right winger at the club picked up an injury and 442 didn't make sense at that point.
Picked up results and I'm considering using 433 next season again. Just seems to click well with my teams.

 

Ticket refund

 

League table

Finished 18th but only 4 points off relegation so it was a lot closer then it seems.

 

Squad

 

Player stats

Ironside ended up top goal scorer in the league.

 

Hemel Hempstead Town

Wow.. I am aware when you leave a team AI almost always performs worse but I have never seen a team do this bad after my departure.

 

Schedule

All loses after we left with a draw last game of the season.. 
I feel a bit of regret leaving now as I did not expect them to go down right away.. Maybe next year.

 

Finances

This is kind of worrying going forward but we will see how it turns around.

 

Budgets

40k for wages probably puts us in bottom 5 of teams but that is a lot more then in previous teams I had.

 

Squad Plans

 

 

Going into the summer I need 5 players . 
Plans might change if I sell anyone but right now those are the targets.
 

[Sahaj Oberoi]

I like this. Keep going.

[ChrisWilson]

On 18/10/2022 at 22:51, Sahajpal Oberoi said:

I like this. Keep going.

Glad you like it

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 23 July 2024

Youth setup

 

I have never seen this before. In a regular FM save I would never agree to this but realistically we have only been at the club a few month and its the boards decision.
As far as I can tell it got rid of all the youth coaches. The u23s players still seem to be there.
Maybe no youth intake next year? We will see.

Transfers out

 

We got some money actually at this level.

 

Nolan

Spoiler

 

Nolan did really good for us at the end of the season but moving away from wingers to use 433 he had to go.

 

Morgan

Spoiler

 

I wanted to keep him but that was a lot of money for a 29 year old that also did not want to sign a new deal.

 

Transfers in

One loan and 5 free transfers. We got all the positions we were looking for except.. all of these players are 4th , 5th and sometimes even 6th choice offers.
The players we wanted kept going to other teams which made this window very frustrating.

Watson

Spoiler

Looks like a solid GK.

Davies

Spoiler

I wanted a good crosser and someone fast at right back and this is the best we could get.

Fox

Spoiler

Fox is a really good signing. I don't know if he will start but he is cover for box to box as well as DM positions at least.

Reid

Spoiler

It was really hard to find a good target man back up and the more I look at Reid the more I doubt I will use him and will have to adjust the tactic when the main target forward is unavailable to use.

Harbottle

Spoiler

This is a cheap 4th choice CD.

Titov

Spoiler

 

Titov looks a little better then Davies with my favorite Teamwork and Work Rate attributes high. He is probably the starter.

 

 

Full squad update next.
 

Edited November 26, 2022 by ChrisWilson

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 23 July 2024

Squad

 

We filled all the holes but its a pretty average squad.

 

GK
 

Spoiler

 

Watson is starter for me.

RD
 

Spoiler

 

Titov looks a bit better to start.

CD
 

Spoiler

 

I liked Baba and Baghuelou partnership last season so it will continue.
If one of them is not performing there is a home grown young player in Walsh to step up and get his chance.

LD
 

Spoiler

 

Bramall is our best player and there have been zero rumors or interest in him entire summer so I'm hoping it will stay that way.

DM
 

Spoiler

 

Coyle is the captain and he is really good for this level I think.

 

CM
 

Spoiler

 

Few good choices here but Sangare is my favorite out of the CMs.

 

TM
 

Spoiler

 

 

Hopefully Ironside can stay injury free and have as good of a season as last year. I failed to find a good back up for him.

 

AF
 

Spoiler

 

 

I am gonna give a chance to Hinds up top . He is nothing special but looks well rounded.
Also I really like Nuttall with his strength and off the ball.
They will be the other two strikers up top with Ironside as target forward.

If we stay injury free I think we can have a good season, also I think I need to set a goal that if I don't reach I have to resign but it will be considered me getting fired.
Long term plan at this club has finishing in top half in 5 years... That means I can keep this job pretty easily for 5 years.

I think the goal is definitely top half this year and maybe a play off push but promotion next year or i get fired.

Well I will resign but it will count as getting fired in the story.

Edited October 23, 2022 by ChrisWilson

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 11 August 2024

 

Bramall

 

VERY annoying as this happened a few days before the first game of the season.
I almost forgot about his clause as there was zero interest in him.
Really sucks losing such a good player but we have to move on without him.

 

Pre season 

 

 

Good pre season vs weak teams just to get fitness as usual.

 

Season preview 

 

 

18th is where we finished last year. 
I want at least top 10.

Salary

 

 

We are pretty low salary wise.

Kitching

Spoiler

Our new left back. He is OK. Good crossing but nowhere near the speed Bramall had.

Will come back with an update a few months into the season.

Edited November 26, 2022 by ChrisWilson

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 30 October 2024

 

Schedule August 2024 & September 2024 & October 2024

 

 

A bit of a mixed start to the season. Good wins with some odd loses and draws but I think team just needs more time to gel and get the dynamics better.

 

League table

 

 

We have our targets of top 10 this year and promotion next but I want to fight for play offs this year . Early to tell yet but were up there in play off spots now.

 

Cup schedule

 

 

Schedule is tight so players need rest and I've been using back up players for cup games. 

 

Papa John's Trophy table

 

 

Doesn't look great but I don't think prize money are high in this cup anyway.

 

Squad

 

 

Interesting how Titov is doing amazing with basically no end product. No goals or assists but he is getting all the key passes it seems.
Hinds need to score a lot more if we are playing 3 up top but I think the team just needs more time.
Also Kitching completely filled the role and the big gap after we lost a key player.

Not a bad start so far overall.

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 28 January 2025

 

Schedule November 2024 & December 2024 & January 2025

 

 

A lot to talk about here. After a loss and a draw you could almost feel a bad run of form coming. 
Its not  that we weren't getting results but also performances weren't there at all in those games..

I started switching the tactic up in hope of avoiding a drop in form and it worked amazing.
We tried wingers, played a back 5 for one game even a 442 diamond and slowly eased back into the 433 with 3 up top.
I don't know if its down to me making those changes or if the form would have came back strongly anyways but we just had momentum and a lot of luck in some of results.

 

League table

 

 

Its key we do our best to switch up again when the form drops as it always does in a season but right now promotion really is looking good .

 

Cup schedule

 

 

Lost to Barnet who are a league below us.. There goes the cup money.

 

Cup league table

 

 

Out of this cup too so just the league to worry about.

 

Squad

 

 

As you can see morale plus the momentum and the form is making us look unstoppable right now.
Ben Fox is becoming a starter with his performances and our two center backs are key right now.

 

Player stats

 

 

Expected from Ironside considering last season he was top goal scorer but Kitching completely surprised me.
Titov and Nuttall also should get a mention for great performances.

Coyle is our captain  and where he doesn't hold up with average rating he does great at getting the yellow cards.
It might be a role in my tactic that doesn't perform as well but there's nothing I love more then an aggressive Defensive midfielder that's a leader in my team so he is not going anywhere.

 

Player sale

 

Spoiler

 

An offer for a youngster I will never play

 

Loan cancelled

 

 

Awful timing on that as I just sold the 3rd keeper at the club. Need to find a replacement now.
I'm not sure why the loan was cancelled as he was playing , maybe not at the role it was agreed on?

 

Reputation

 

 

The run of form finally bumped my reputation up.

Edited November 26, 2022 by ChrisWilson

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 10 May 2025

 

 

Schedule February 2025 & March 2025 & April 2025 & May 2025

 

 

Form dropped slightly with some draws and few loses but we finished the season strong.

 

 

League table

 

 

We won the league with 10 points clear of second. That run in the middle of the season made the difference.

 

 

League win

 

 

 

Squad 

 

 

Ironside's goals dried up towards the end but Nuttall made a step up.
Defense was great this year with both wing backs probably the key players.

 

 

Stats

 

 

Nuttall almost caught Ironside in goals and Titov and Kitching showing they are key players going off of Average ratings.

 

 

Player awards

 

 

Record breakers

 

 

 

Tactic

 

 

This was the tactic we used with some tweaks in that middle of the season run but this was the main tactic.
No instructions on any players this year . Previously I had the box to box get forward but I removed it and just let the players dictate their roles a bit more themselves.

 

 

Facilities 

 

 

This is a worrying sign as we are 1 million in the negative finance wise. 
Certainly not getting any upgrades anytime soon. Also we did not have a youth intake this year.

It probably is the perfect time to move on for me as a manager as there already was interest from Oxford who finished 8th in League One.
I decided to stay for one more season to make sure this team doesn't go straight down.
Goal is obviously to stay up and to get some younger players with potential and build them up for the next manager to work with.

 

 

Reputation

 

Another increase for me as we won the league.

 

 

New contract 

 

 

Confirmation for me staying for another year.

 

 

Squad next season

 

 

Clear targets with a good goalkeeper and someone to come in for Ironside up top when his form is not there.
Also I would love to find a good box to box as Sangare has been average.

Maybe you can tell by now I am not a fan of massive rebuilds unless its a relegation and a failure not a success as we could have let go of a lot more players and brought in better upgrades.
I like staying loyal to players that perform well and keeping good dynamics and cohesion is more important then bringing in better players.

Small little additions to improve is usually how I TRY to manage the team.

 

 

Hemel Hempstead Town league table

 

 

 

Hemel did ok this year. There was a bit of a worry as they were down in relegation zone mid season but had amazing second half.
Hereford still have not been promoted after I got them relegated.

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 16 July 2025

 

Head coach of the year

 

Nice award for me from last season 

 

Ben Fox 

 

What an awful injury.. Might not see him in my journey anymore as he is out for this season and I plan on moving on the next season.

 

Transfers in

 

I'm actually very happy with this window as we got the main targets I wanted for specific positions.

 

Tolaj

Spoiler

 

This is easily the best transfers.. He was on 8.5k at Brighton and when our scout suggested him I almost didn't bother offering him a deal.
He accepted and I'm hoping he can be really good for us.

 

Lynch

Spoiler

 

Experienced keeper on loan. Best we could get.

 

Campbell

Spoiler

 

This is 4th choice for Centre back. Good potential but lets hope I don't have to use him much.

 

Batteche

Spoiler

 

Another really good loan I think.

 

Earing

Spoiler

 

This is Ben Fox's replacement and I'm surprised he joined us. Had ton of interest in him but maybe we offered the best salary.
Looks really solid.

 

Pre season

 

Fitness plus morale but we did beat Burnley who played a good squad vs us. 

 

Tactic

 

Had to change from TF to PF-A as it suits Tolaj more.
Also removed the crossing instruction. Considered dropping the defensive line depending on how Burnley game would go but for now its same as last year.

 

Season preview

 

Predicted to fight relegation.

 

Salaries per year

 

We are by far the last but the goal for this year is just to stay up.

 

Takeover?

 

 

We will see how this develops , maybe new owner will bring new players like at the last club i was at.

Squad overview next

Edited November 26, 2022 by ChrisWilson

[DomD]

Good luck with your fight against relegation.

It's a bit wild that when I compare it to where I'm in my save right now, teams in League One are spending more money on salaries than teams in the top division in Poland.

[ChrisWilson]

On 04/11/2022 at 08:42, DomD said:

Good luck with your fight against relegation.

It's a bit wild that when I compare it to where I'm in my save right now, teams in League One are spending more money on salaries than teams in the top division in Poland.

The finances in England are definitely crazy as you go up the leagues .

[ChrisWilson]

Apologizes for a long break but I had a bit of a break from the game and life in general . I am now back to the save I am really enjoying.

I did try the FM 23 beta and I'm not super impressed to switch over just yet.. I think for me personally fm23 will be something I play when I am over FM 22 as FM 22 is still new to me as well.

 

Chris Wilson career story - 26 July 2025

 

Squad

 

 

 

GK
 

Spoiler

 

 

RD
 

Spoiler

 

CD
 

Spoiler

 

LD
 

Spoiler

 

DM
 

Spoiler

 

CM
 

Spoiler

 

PF/TF
 

Spoiler

 

AF

Spoiler

 

Gannon is an exciting prospect from u21s.
I think this is a good enough squad to keep us up and with good form even possible mid table?

Edited November 26, 2022 by ChrisWilson

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 29 October 2025

Reputation

 

 

Another bump in my reputation after the season switched over.

 

Schedule August 2025 & September 2025 & October 2025

 

 

We started really well . The teams aren't taking us serious yet so I fully expect the form to drop soon as the AI adjusts and plays more defensive.

 

League table

 

 

Really good to see. Makes me wonder if I should consider staying if we somehow go up ?

 

Cup schedule

 

 

Amazing win VS wolves but lost to Wigan unfortunately. 

 

Squad

 

 

Tolaj I had high expectations for and he is doing well but he keeps getting little injuries.
Kitching was amazing last year but injuries forced me to play Kyezu and he really stepped up.

 

 

Manager interest

 

I am wanted by clubs in championship.. No interviews have been offered yet but I think that's a great sign for progress.
I do plan on finishing the season at Accrington.
 

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 31 January 2026

Schedule November 2025 & December 2025 & January 2026

 

 

AI adjusted and the form dropped massively.. the games are still close tho.

 

Cups schedule

 

 

United u23 were stacked with regens so we had no chance. Sutton game however we should have won in the FA cup.

 

League table

 

 

Play off spots still so there is a chance to go up.

 

Player stats

 

 

Titov stepped up massively this year. Last year it was the left back with best average rating and this year its the right back.
Also Jay at Centre back rarely has a bad game.

 

Squad stats

 

 

 

Were doing good and I'm pretty happy with most players so I'm extending many contracts regardless of how we finish this season.

 

 

Edited November 30, 2022 by ChrisWilson

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 15 May 2026

 

Schedule February 2026 & March 2026 & April 2026 & May 2026

 

 

Form got a bit better towards the end of the season as we made play off spots.

 

League table

 

 

6 points off 2nd for automatic promotion is actually so close.. if a few of our draws were wins we could have been promoted easily.

 

 

Play off Semi Final

 

 

Actually the worst team we could have had..
Salary wise its not even close and we lost both games VS Birmingham this year.

 

The games

 

 

First game was close but in the second they had double the shots and controlled the entire match.

Good try for first year in the league.

 

Squad

 

 

Titov made a good step up this year as it shifted from our left back being the source of assists last year to the right back this year.
Tolaj did well but was a bit disappointing.. he would go missing very often and if he got maybe 10 more goals we could have done much better.
Earing was a good signing and Hinds had a great season after I put my faith into him doing well up top from last year.

 

First 11

 

 

Player awards

 

 

Record breakers

 

 

 

Resigned

 

 

 

Time to move on. England gave me a good boost and to get some reputation but I think its time to go out in the world and see what I can do in other countries.

I will be back one day. Hopefully to Accrington as I had a lot of fun with them.

[ChrisWilson]

Chris Wilson career story - 24 June 2026

 

I had a lot of interview offers from Championship clubs in England but I was ready to go outside of the country.
I ended up in Bulgaria with Cherno More Varna.

 

Job offer

 

 

 

Not the biggest salary but this club is ambitious with top 6 finish for the payroll budget they have. So this is actually a big challenge I think.

 

Hired

 

 

 

Club

 

 

 

They have had some success in their history.

 

Previous finishes

 

 

 

Second 4 seasons ago but two 7th finishes in a row in a 16 teams league.

 

Finances

 

 

First thing to try and fix is the finances as the club is in debt.

 

Transfers In

 

 

Very tough summer window with mostly filling gaps and i could not find a good central defender so had to pay 25k for a Bulgarian one that is very average.
First season might be tough with this squad.

 

Transfers out

 

 

Jeka is a really good player but 1.8 m is just too much. Also sold a lot of deadwood.

 

Finances after transfer window

 

 

 

Much healthier now.

 

Season preview 

 

 

Team salary

 

 

Salary wise we are nowhere close to top teams but I think we have many players underpaid that over the season will see new contracts.

 

 

Tactic

 

 

So this is what I have been using in the pre season.
First time using IF-A and the way the squad is set up the back ups for LW and RW will have me switch roles.
So when the back up RW starts he will be IF-A and when back up LW starts he will be W-A. 

Hopefully its decent balance.
Nothing else changed from previous tactics I have used so far as the manager, my favorite DM-S with two B2B and Wing backs on attack.

 

Pre season

 

 

 

Played very bad teams so mostly just fitness and learning the tactic.

 

Season objectives

 

 

 

I wanted to go farther and make it harder on me by HAVING to get top4 so we get into Europe but after seeing how far down in salary we are I will stick to the boards objective of top6.
If we are not in top6 come end of the season and I am not sacked I will resign and treat it as a failure and me getting sacked.

Squad update next and I am excited to get into the season.