FM23 - By Wisdom & Courage (Consilio et Anamis)

[Jogo Bonito]

Welcome to my first career of FM23

I didn't play more than a few games on the BETA (with Middlesbrough) and hope that this year will be enjoyable & satisfying

Recent versions of FM have seen me working at Valencia, Palermo, Parma, Montpellier, Lorient & APOEL (those I recall instantly)

But now and after much deliberation, I have decided to start this series in England - at a club I have never managed before

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club

History

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of The Wednesday Cricket Club (itself formed in 1820), they were known as The Wednesday Football Club until 1929.

Wednesday is one of the oldest football clubs in the world of any code, and the second-oldest professional association football club in England. In 1868 its team won the Cromwell Cup, only the second tournament of its kind. They were founding members and inaugural champions of the Football Alliance in 1889, before joining The Football League three years later. In 1992, they became founder members of the Premier League. The team has spent most of its league history in English football's top flight, but they have not played at that level since being relegated in 2000.

The Owls, as they are nicknamed, are one of the most successful teams in English football, having won four league titles, three FA Cups, one League Cup and one FA Community Shield. Wednesday have also competed in UEFA cup competitions on four occasions, reaching the quarter-finals of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1963. In 1991, they defeated Manchester United 1–0 in the Football League Cup Final as a second-tier team. As of 2022 they remain the last team to win one of English football's major trophies while outside the top flight.

In the 19th century, they played their matches at several stadiums around central Sheffield, including Olive Grove and Bramall Lane. Since 1899, the club has played all its home matches at Hillsborough stadium, a near-40,000 capacity stadium in the north-west Sheffield suburb of Owlerton. Wednesday's biggest rivals are Sheffield United, with whom they contest the Steel City derby.

Nickname
In their early years, the club was nicknamed The Blades, a term used for any sporting team from the city of Sheffield, famous the world over for its cutlery and knives. That nickname has been retained by Wednesday's crosstown rivals, Sheffield United.

Although it is widely assumed that the club's nickname changed to The Owls in 1899 after the club's move to Owlerton, it was not until 1912, when Wednesday player George Robertson presented the club with an owl mascot, that the name took hold. A monkey mascot introduced some years earlier had not brought much luck.

Crest
Since 1912, the owl has become a theme that has run throughout the club. The original club crest was introduced in 1956. The club's Latin motto, Consilio et Animis, is again displayed beneath the shield. This translates into English as 'By Wisdom and Courage'.

Edited November 20, 2022 by Jogo Bonito

[Jogo Bonito]

 

Keeping the history - but heading in a new direction

In 2014 the club was taken over by a new owner, with Thai businessman Dejphon Chansiri purchasing the club from Milan Mandarić for £37.5m.

In 2022, it was time for a change.

................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Out with the old, and in with...the older!

Ex-Wednesday winger Brian Marwood was talked out of his Chairperson role at City Football Group to take the senior position at Hillsborough

Ex-Everton & Man City legend Joe Royle also relinquished his new role on the board at Oldham to become Managing Director

And the new board was completed with the appointments of two returning former Wednesday greats Roland Nilsson & Chris Waddle

And then it was time for a Wednesday Welcome, to new manager Roy Race

With all this retro talk, it was at least necessary to get some sharp, stylish new attire to get the fans attention

And here are the new self-designed 3D kits that The Owls will be wearing for the 2022/2023 campaign

Edited November 20, 2022 by Jogo Bonito

[Jogo Bonito]

Goalkeepers

25. Cameron Dawson // 1. Max O'Leary (£51,000 from Bristol City)

Defenders

6. Dominic Iorfa // 20. Michael Ihiekwe // 5. Ben Heneghan

15. Akin Famewo // 34. Mark McGuinness (on loan) // 2. Liam Palmer

32. Jack Hunt // 3. Jaden Brown // 21. Ben Jackson (£400,000 from Huddersfield Town)

Central Midfielders

4. Will Vaulks // 8. Dennis Adeniran // 14. George Byers

19. Tyreeq Bakinson // 17. Fisayo Dele-Bashiru // 10. Barry Bannan (captain)

Forwards

11. Josh Windass // 45. Alex Mighten (on loan) // 7. Mallik Wilks

24. Michael Smith // 13. Callum Paterson // 9. Lee Gregory

12. Paul Mullin (£250,000 from Wrexham) // 18. Bernard Kamungo (loan from FC Dallas)

 

The Registered 25-Man Squad for 2022/2023

Defender Akin Famewo and striker Michael Smith will start the regular season injured, and midfielder Will Vaulks is missing most of the pre-season

 

Edited November 20, 2022 by Jogo Bonito

[Jogo Bonito]

With £1 million to spend in League 1, this club has one of the best budgets available at this level

A strong starting squad had been assembled already, with a number of new recruits coming in to replace the various players released or moved on in the summer

But with a hefty sum available, it's always nice for a new manager to fine tune the group at his disposal

I've already shown what the assembled squad looks like, but here is a brief run through of the stories behind the moves I had made

Additional Outs

Veteran goalkeeper David Stockwell wasn't what I wanted to challenge Cameron Dawson for the starting position in goal, so he was cut free from his contract

Left-midfielder Marvin Johnson was also now the wrong side of 30, and he too saw his deal cancelled by mutual consent

Finally, left-back Reece James saw his loan from Blackpool terminated as he was only marginally better than Jaden Brown and I wanted to find better

The New Recruits - Permanent Transfers

Max O'Leary has experience at Championship level, and a modest £51,000 fee was enough to seal a deal with Bristol City for my new understudy goalkeeper

The new first-choice left-back came from Yorkshire neighbours Huddersfield, with £400,000 paid to bring youngster (and actual Rangers target) Ben Jackson to the club

I've been bemused by Paul Mullin operating in the fifth tier at Wrexham, but feel that the £250,000 shelled out for a goal-hungry striker will be good business

The New Loan Recruit 

The 25th member of my squad is wide forward Bernard Kamungo - a loan with an option to buy for this former Tanzanian refugee who now has a blossoming career in USA 

He joins the two other loan players whose deals had already been done prior to my arrival

  

Edited November 20, 2022 by Jogo Bonito

[Jogo Bonito]

Sheffield Wednesday - 2022/23 (Pre-Season)

Our six games arranged ahead of the competitive kick off went entirely as expected, with solid wins when facing four non-league opponents

Unfortunately we did not look good in the losses against Blackburn (after leading 2-1) or Leicester, showing some worrying defensive vulnerability 

At least our new striker Paul Mullin was scoring, and the early signs were that the fee of £250k paid to Wrexham would be decent business

League 1 - Season 2022/23

We kicked off our league campaign with a home game against Portsmouth, and by this point we had decided to change our pre-season formation

Out went our 433 with a defensive midfielder and two wide forwards, with the plan being to give better support to our lone striker who was getting isolated

That also meant we had two sacrifice our two wide men, with one having to drop in to the hole behind the strikers even though it wasn't ideal

The opening day win was narrow and the lovely new graphic predicted correctly that Barry Bannan would make a difference (scoring a direct free-kick)

Charlton (who were my original idea for managing) were then crushed 5-1 with the first of three league hat-tricks grabbed by Paul Mullin already

But the form after that dipped badly, and four winless games dropped us down to mid-table obscurity

We then moved to a strange asymmetrical system with the number 10 shifted across to the right wing, and three wins from four in September were much needed

However the first part of October was very poor, conceding late goals to convert wins in to draws

Even worse was letting in anther late goal to get beaten 1-0 at Cambridge

A much-improved display at high-flying Lincoln got the season back on track as the pressure began to mount

And two more wins duly followed to leave us cautiously optimistic ahead of the next few months

Cup Focus - Season 2022/23

We dropped out of the Carabao Cup on a bad night at Crewe, but couldn't achieve an exit from the disliked Papa Johns Trophy yet

We have been drawn at home to Stevenage of League 2 in FA Cup Round 1, a far from glamorous tie but one we would expect to win comfortably 

Anything else?

There were no more transfers in or out since the opening post, although we had lined up a replacement for Liam Palmer when Preston were linked with him

Young Birmingham right-back Joshua Williams was the man we turned to, but in the end we pulled the plug on the £300k deal as Preston never made a bid for Palmer

Williams remains on the radar for next year though, as Palmer is one of 15 players in our 25-man squad who are not contracted to us for next season

Three or four of those we should be able to keep if we can meet wage demands, but another three or four are unwilling to even talk about a new deal

A larger number of the rest will be allowed to move on as we re-set with a younger focus whatever league we will be in

We need to comment on injuries, as we had a few at the outset and sadly picked up three or four more since the season started

We have good replacements in the squad so can't complain much - more concerning is the financial situation (the board have injected funds three times already)

Below is a brief overview of where we stand at the end of October, highlighting very erratic graphs for both league ranking and financial status

On the plus side, we have found a bit of form and now sit 5th in the table after 17 games with the best average attendance of 22,810

Whilst Mullin is clearly scoring an impressive amount of goals, young left-back signing Ben Jackson is also doing very well in training and games

Edited November 27, 2022 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

now sit 5th in the table

Not a bad start, especially if the improved form continues.

Dodgy finances seem to be pretty common this year across a number of countries and leagues. Those average attendances have to be good, but I suppose a decent FA Cup run would be a massive help.

Good to see Bannan still getting it done - I loved him in a Wednesday save I did about three years ago. 

[Jogo Bonito]

On 27/11/2022 at 18:06, warlock said:

Not a bad start, especially if the improved form continues.

Dodgy finances seem to be pretty common this year across a number of countries and leagues. Those average attendances have to be good, but I suppose a decent FA Cup run would be a massive help.

Good to see Bannan still getting it done - I loved him in a Wednesday save I did about three years ago. 

Thanks mate. Yes the start is not too bad - although nothing but promotion will satisfy the board. 

It will be interesting to see how the financial side goes (the FA Cup might help, but not enough). As always, we will look to move out high earners and replace with younger and more economically viable players. Bannan is a nice player at this level, although his wage of £17.5k per week is too much even if we get promoted. We will enjoy him this season, but he is likely to be moving on in the summer when his contract expires.

 

 

[Matty Aqua]

Love the fact Joe Royal is on board!

[Jogo Bonito]

4 hours ago, Matty Aqua said:

Love the fact Joe Royal is on board!

Thanks. Better to have Joe than Jim!

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Thanks. Better to have Joe than Jim!

[Jogo Bonito]

Jamie Smith had been a loyal assistant to ex-boss Darren Moore and seemed like an honest worker, but it was time to cut ties with the old managerial team

He was replaced by out-of-work Dean Holden, who agreed to join on about 50% of the wage we had been paying his predecessor

We wished Jamie well and just a few days later, we returned to action in FA Cup (Round 1)

Teams from the top two tiers of English football don't join the competition until Round 3, so Sheffield Wednesday are clearly one of the biggest names in Round 1

But after seeing the ridiculous comments of motor-mouth Stevenage boss Steve Evans, all plans to rotate our side were dismissed

We not only wanted to win, we wanted to smash the Scot's League 2 outfit

Thanks for the motivation Steve, hopefully we won't ever need to see or hear from you again

P.S. Our star left-back Ben Jackson did not appreciate the heavy tackle that has put him out of action for 6-7 weeks with a wrist injury

Edited December 3, 2022 by Jogo Bonito

[Jogo Bonito]

Season 2022/23 continued

As shown previously, we kicked off this batch of fixtures with a comfortable FA Cup win, but struggled to get past League 2 side Mansfield in Round 2

We were happy to finally exit the Papa Johns Trophy to relegation-threatened Derby as we had more important commitments ahead

The league form continues to be decent, despite a nine-match unbeaten run being ended by Fleetwood on Boxing Day

We sit 3rd at the end of the year, with Peterborough the long-time leaders and Plymouth also having a very strong season to date

Ipswich have closed the gap recently and are one to watch, whilst Charlton were in the relegation zone a few months ago and are another one to keep an eye on

The financial status is of grave concern, the season shows a profit but we are currently losing £1.2 million per month so promotion is going to be vital

Brian Marwood probably never experienced anything like this at Man City, but we will count on him to help sort out our future

The summer of 2023 will see lots of high-earners moved off the wage budget, including captain Barry Bannan who is on £!7.5k per week (crazy in League 1)

He has announced his plans to move on when his contract ends in June, and at 33 years of age it suits us to have an amicable parting too

Josh Windass is also being offered out and players like Michael Smith & Liam Palmer will probably not be here next season as we must trim our expenditure

We did extend a few of the cheaper contracts, but some others like Dominic Iorfa stated that they want to move on and that's a bit of a shame

Talking of finances, the New Year also sees the contract of striker Lee Gregory come to an end

He has scored 17 goals in 40 league appearances for the club but is one of many striking options draining the finances

Apart from those shown below we also have Windass (on £12k per week), Mallik Wilks and Bernard Kamungo who can play as a second forward

Paul Mullin continues to fire goals, and his recent record is exceptional by any standard

Knowing that we are going to make a fair number of sacrifices, we snapped up promising young American striker Darren Yapi on a free transfer from Colorado

In December 2021, the youngster had trained with Arsenal in England, and prior to that had done similar at Club Brugge in Belgium

Previously named Colorado Rapids Academy Player of the Year in 2020, he also scored 64 goals in 95 appearances at Youth level (often playing above his age group)

According to FM23 he has goals at USA youth level, and as his profile just before joining us shows, had a considerable price tag on his head

Edited December 4, 2022 by Jogo Bonito

[Jogo Bonito]

Season 2022/23 continued

So the New Year began with some optimism - 3rd in League 1 and still in the FA Cup

2nd January 2023

We had been trying to lure back long-serving former goalkeeper Martin Hodge for some months to fill the vacant Technical Director position

He wasn't keen and we couldn't give him his preferred Chief Scout role, but eventually we managed to get a deal structured to bring him in as a Scout

We'd brought back a few former favourites, including Kevin Pressman, and the appointment of Hodge was a popular decision on our part

2nd January 2023

News stories circling on the very same day about our dire financial status were more sobering

6th January 2023

31 year old defender Liam Palmer had been at the club 15 years, but was not interested in signing a new deal - neither could we afford to do it

Dundee United somehow managed to offer him £9k per week in wages, and he agreed a pre-contract move to happen on 1st July 2023

However, knowing that we desperately needed the cash, we offered them a 'buy now' option at £190k - and it was a fond farewell to a club stalwart

Liam (no relation to Carlton) had made 329 appearances for the club - including 24 this season with 3 assists and an average rating of 7.01

25th January 2023

We didn't really want to bring in a loan player, but money was tight and we only had to pay £500 per week in wages for his replacement

We had contemplated paying £300k for Joshua Williams in the summer when there had been talk of Palmer switching to Preston

This loan made sense and we hope Birmingham don't offer him a contract extension so we can pick him up in the summer on a free transfer

Our other options at right-back are Dominic Iorfa (won't discuss a new contract) and veteran Jack Hunt (can't play before releasing because of an appearance trigger clause)

31st January 2023

We tried to off-load a few players like Hunt, Michael Smith and Josh Windass - but their high wage demands put  them out of anyone's reach

It had therefore been a quiet transfer window with one free transfer and one loan arriving, whilst Palmer and veteran striker Lee Gregory (released) eased our wage bill

As the transfer window closed on 31st January, Chairperson Brian Marwood also made a statement about the club's financial status

5th February 2023

Less than a week later, we had this somewhat alarming update from Marwood talking about the very real threat of administration

19th February 2023

Two weeks after his last warning, Marwood announced that we had been forced to sell the club's training facilities - ouch

Pitch matters

So with the club in turmoil, how had we performed on the pitch during January & February?

Well, apart from a money-losing FA Cup exit at the hands of Oxford, it's not been too bad on the whole

Perhaps the atmosphere around the club had affected home performances where we struggled to win, but we picked up some good results on the road

The home defeat to Plymouth (2nd) was a massive blow as we were 3rd and could not close the gap - but in recent games we have managed to find some home form again

Next up is another big clash against league leaders Peterborough though, not an easy one for us

After 34 games of the the season, we are 3rd but some way from the top two automatic promotion spots

In fact we are more likely to get caught by Fleetwood or a resurgent Derby (in the relegation zone early season) than catching either of the teams ahead

Financially we really need this promotion, so the last 12 games of the regular season are going to be a massive test of our credentials

1st March 2023

The training ground sale seemed to bring in approximately £12 million and so we should be able to see out the season and then take more drastic cost-cutting measures

Edited December 6, 2022 by Jogo Bonito

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Nice to see you back Jogo. I am enjoying your progress with Wednesday. I hope you get promoted to ease the financial situation.

Good luck  buddy.

[Jogo Bonito]

2 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Nice to see you back Jogo. I am enjoying your progress with Wednesday. I hope you get promoted to ease the financial situation.

Good luck  buddy.

Thanks very much for reading & following. Administration might also be fun, but I doubt FM ever goes that far.

[warlock]

3 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Financially we really need this promotion ... a massive test of our credentials

Well my friend, that's why they pay you the big bucks 

3 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Administration might also be fun, but I doubt FM ever goes that far

Yeah, I doubt it will come to that. A mysterious source of funds will be found and disaster averted. Still on course for a playoff finish, but don't we all hate the playoffs?!?

Good luck with the rest of the season... a win against Posh would be a great start 

[Jogo Bonito]

On 06/12/2022 at 23:37, warlock said:

Well my friend, that's why they pay you the big bucks 

Yeah, I doubt it will come to that. A mysterious source of funds will be found and disaster averted. Still on course for a playoff finish, but don't we all hate the playoffs?!?

Good luck with the rest of the season... a win against Posh would be a great start 

Haha, I guess you're right. IRL that kind of wage wouldn't be turned down by most.

Thanks for the best wishes. A win against the table-toppers would indeed be a good place to start.

3rd March 2023

So we pick up in 3rd spot, 34 games in to the regular 46 game League 1 season

ITV Sport are right on the money, we must really be concerned about our relegation prospects as we head in to this promotion six-pointer 

Before turning back to the football, it's good to see that our best of the youth intake (a winger) has goalkeeper listed as his best role and duty 

Funny moments aside, how did we get on hosting Peterborough and in those other league games?

Well, not great really as we lost the big one by a bigger margin than the score reflects, and then went another three games winless too

Luckily bottom side Forest Green Rovers came along at just the right time so that we could end March on a better note

The start of April continued in good form and another five straight wins saw confidence restored

However our March had seen us and Fleetwood trading 3rd & 4th spot, whilst Plymouth and Peterborough surged ahead winning almost every game they played

After 44 games, that pair had booked automatic promotion and either us or Fleetwood would finish 3rd or 4th

23rd April 2023

It's not a good feeling to learn that both the board and fans were let down, but these are the two 'failed' messages we saw on 23rd April

We played out our final two games with a loss and a win, and here is how the final run-in had gone

Lincoln City are our opponents in the Semi Final, and with both the board and fans unhappy, it really could see the end of my tenure at the club

On the plus side, we still have some cash reserves due to the board topping it up frequently

Paul Mullin has 41 league goals (48 in total) in 45 league games and has beaten the all-time English 3rd tier record of 39

With many of our players due to leave at the end of the season (and a couple of those under contract not really wanted) we completed one major transfer on 3rd May

With finances as they are, this may be the last transfer fee we can pay for a while, but £165k (plus Ben Heneghan) for a good left-sided central defender was still sensible

The new man is 24 and has played at a higher level, was talked in to accepting our new wage structure, and replaces an inferior 29 year old

But for now it's time to get on with the Play-Off battle against Lincoln...

[Dong21]

Paul Mullin has been an excellent signing with that goal return! 

Good to see updates from you again on these forums @Jogo Bonito - hope all is well with you 

[Jogo Bonito]

3 hours ago, Dong21 said:

Paul Mullin has been an excellent signing with that goal return! 

Good to see updates from you again on these forums @Jogo Bonito - hope all is well with you 

Yes it was a very good bit of business at £250k, and I don't recall ever having a striker score this many goals for me in one season.

I'm good thanks, and hope the same for you?

Season 2022/2023 conclusion

Despite a poor showing away at Lincoln, our performance in the return leg at home was tremendous and we comfortably won through 4-2 on aggregate

We faced Fleetwood in the final, a team who earned their place on merit after a fantastic season

For once it wasn't the goal-den boots of Paul Mullin that won the day, but on-loan winger Alex Mighten who raced through to fire home the only goal

After that, we closed the game down effectively and managed to hold off our opponents to snatch a job-saving promotion

Here is the final table after a tough but very enjoyable League 1 season

And here is the brief summary that reflects the importance of Mullin to our achievement

The player stats across all competitions are below, excluding Liam Palmer and Lee Gregory who departed mid-season

Midfield creator Barry Bannan also gets a special mention, an impressive final season at the club having announced months ago that he wished to leave

There are nine players due to leave us now, five contracted players and four loan men

Most of the departing men are high earners we cannot and should not keep, but we really did try to retain defender Dominic Iorfa

Unfortunately at no stage this season was he willing to discuss a new deal, so he will be moving on (as will Heneghan who was sacrificed in the Rob Atkinson transfer)

We would have re-loaned Mark McGuinness and Alex Mighten for another season, but their parent clubs want to keep them for themselves next year

We are hopeful that Birmingham will allow Joshua Williams to leave on a free transfer, but Bernard Kamungo hadn't done quite enough to trigger our £150k option

The awards for Mullin were numerous after such spectacular form (he was our only representative in the League 1 team of the year too)

Brian Marwood announced the budgets for the following season and we can't really complain given the cost of running the club

And unfortunately Joe Royle has retired from football after one successful season as our Managing Director

It's now time to reflect whether it's time to stay or go, depending on what sort of squad we can assemble for next year

Edited December 11, 2022 by Jogo Bonito

[Dong21]

Congrats on the promotion! 

Satisfying that Mullin got to the magic number of 50 goals across all competitions.

I look forward to seeing how you get on with rebuilding the squad for life in the Championship. 

6 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I'm good thanks, and hope the same for you?

Glad to hear it. All good here as well thanks. I'm yet to take the plunge and purchase FM23 as I am still enjoying a career on FM22 (Oldham), however I am sure I will do very soon into the new year!

[warlock]

You took the scenic route but promotion is a fine end to the season.

I hope you stay - it would be good to see how you build from here (and we can all be grateful that Windass's contract is expiring - £12k a week for that season!) It would be a great achievement to get Wednesday back to the PL - even if we all know a PL season is unlikely for Roy of the Owls 

[Jogo Bonito]

On 11/12/2022 at 23:12, Dong21 said:

Congrats on the promotion! 

Satisfying that Mullin got to the magic number of 50 goals across all competitions.

I look forward to seeing how you get on with rebuilding the squad for life in the Championship. 

Glad to hear it. All good here as well thanks. I'm yet to take the plunge and purchase FM23 as I am still enjoying a career on FM22 (Oldham), however I am sure I will do very soon into the new year!

Thank you! Yes, Mullin had an amazing season. Glad you're still enjoying Oldham, I'll try to catch up on your progress!

And thanks for your support.

On 11/12/2022 at 23:58, warlock said:

You took the scenic route but promotion is a fine end to the season.

I hope you stay - it would be good to see how you build from here (and we can all be grateful that Windass's contract is expiring - £12k a week for that season!) It would be a great achievement to get Wednesday back to the PL - even if we all know a PL season is unlikely for Roy of the Owls 

I'm not sure we deserved the promotion but happy with the outcome even though it was quite a lot of pressure through the whole season.

Roy of the Owls has spent a few days trying to wheel and deal. Given the number of players departing and lack of transfer budget, it was always going to be a tough ask to assemble a squad that might be competitive whilst living within much more sensible financial parameters. It meant there were far too many deals done for my liking, but as we have just clicked in to July, it looks like I am staying for a second term.

Thanks for the encouragement!

[Jogo Bonito]

Sheffield Wednesday - 2023/24 (Sky Bet Championship)

After our promotion last season, we knew a busy summer was ahead in the transfer market

Leaving the club were all four loan men (McGuinness, Williams, Mighten and Kamungo) as the first three weren't able to return and the latter hadn't done enough 

In addition, we lost Heneghan & Smith in part exchange deals that actually suited us, whilst Iorfa (sadly), Bannan, Hunt, & Windass all left at the expiry of their contracts

New contracts had been handed out to a couple of players, including Brown who was never going to be kept but had trained and played well above expectations last year

So we had 10 first team holes to plug with little or no money, and we had to assemble our new squad to compete at a higher level too

We are now at the start of July and although yet to play any pre-season games, we always like to have the group assembled in time for the start of pre-season training

Our recruitment activity has seen nine new first team squad arrivals (two cost a fee and one is a loan), plus 5 youngsters for the development squad

Meet the new men - 2023/24 edition

The deal for Rob Atkinson had been some time ago, and the left-sided central defender finally arrived on 9th June from relegated Bristol City

We expect him to be a regular starter and he should be a key element of our new-look defence

With good striker choices in our budget quite limited, Shayne Lavery from Blackpool seemed the best pick as a partner or understudy to Paul Mullin

He scored 2 goals in 6 games for Blackpool last season, has good finishing attributes and is known for being a very hard-worker (which we think we might need)

Free Transfer signings

Zak Vyner joined from relegated Bristol City on a free transfer, he wasn't our first choice but might be a good option at centre-back or even right-back at times

We hadn't actually been in the market for a new goalkeeper, but Gaetan Coucke came on to our radar and is likely to edge out Cameron Dawson in goal

A real-life target of West Ham earlier in 2022, the ex-KV Mechelen player looks like a really good reason to mix up our policy of sticking mainly to British markets

Central defender Joel Latibeaudiere arrived from another relegated side in Swansea City, and like Vyner he was by no means our preferred solution 

After an injury-ravaged time since joining Crystal Palace, we hope that Nathan Ferguson can stay fit and get his career back on track

He took a massive drop on his £30k p/w wage, and is signed to play at right-back although he can also do a job in the centre in a crisis 

Our second new right-back is highly-rated Harrison Ashby on a free transfer from West Ham - in real life he is expected to join Newcastle this winter

For much of last season we had been using an asymmetrical formation with only a winger on the right, and Scott Banks is another free transfer

He can play left-wing if we ever decide to go in that direction, but the left-footer is seen as being a good understudy to Mallik Wilks on the right flank 

Loan Signing

We hoped to avoid having any loan men this year, but Lewis Fiorini of Man City was acquired on loan to ease the creative loss of Barry Bannan in central midfield

Development Squad (Under 21) arrivals

Of the five youngsters joining our U21 group, only Celtic forward Adam Brooks has cost a fee with £36k being paid for his services

Irish goalkeeper Daniel Rose had been at Everton before joining Schalke in Germany, and we see him as a good prospect for the future

Arsenal centre-back Alex Kirk also had some appeal, and it's always good to bring his type through from within the ranks

Victory Beniangba had a good scoring record at Jong Genk last year and had scored a few in the Egyptian Premier League before moving to Belgium

Marcel McIntosh is another central defender who may have something to bring to the club in the future, he joins after his release from Norwich

Sheffield Wednesday - The Squad for 2023/24 

The expected 24-man squad is as below, with the wage bill having reduced from £220k p/w to £204k p/w

The new expenditure was much better, but pre-agreed promotion bonuses were paid out and Paul Mullin & Ben Jackson were rewarded with better deals too

Edited December 13, 2022 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

The expected 24-man squad is as below

Liking the look of that defence, but some solid recruitment across the board. 

[Jogo Bonito]

On 14/12/2022 at 00:24, warlock said:

Liking the look of that defence, but some solid recruitment across the board. 

Thanks very much. I'm really pleased with Coucke, Ferguson and Atkinson. The others, time will tell. 

2023/24 Pre-Season

Following promotion we are tipped to finish 23rd and be relegated back to League 1

The board just ask to 'fight bravely against relegation' but we think we can do better than that

The pre-season results certainly suggest that, but it's not unknown for the total opposite to occur when the serious business kicks off

Early optimism comes from the goals of new signing Shayne Lavery, with him and Paul Mullin looking like they could be double trouble for opposition defences

2023/24 - The Tactics and formation

The formation for the coming season is almost identical to the one that gained us promotion

The first change is to give Lavery (or Callum Paterson when selected) the duty of pressing forward instead of deep-lying forward

The other change sees the defensive midfielder becoming a half-back instead of being a ball-winner or deep playmaker

The wing-backs will be allowed to decide when they want to push forward, as a consequence of the half-back being more aware to drop back in

Rob Atkinson is allowed to bring the ball forward from central defence, to suit his dribbling & preferred move competencies

The 24-man squad shown previously is now set at 23 due to our 3rd 'keeper Max O'Leary being offered out and sold to Forest Green Rovers for £38k

We already have two excellent options in goal, and a number of youngsters that can go from the U21 squad to the bench if necessary at any point

Let the Championship season begin....

Edited December 17, 2022 by Jogo Bonito

[Jogo Bonito]

Sheffield Wednesday - 2023/24 (Sky Bet Championship)

After such a good pre-season there is always a doubt that the form will be turned upside down as soon as the serious business gets going

Well, the performance of new striker Shayne Lavery at Hull quashed those fears as he grabbed four debut goals in a massive 4-1 away win

However, since then it has been tough with narrow penalty wins in the Carabao Cup sandwiching two poor league performances in August

The Steel City derby loss to Sheffield United was felt badly by the fans, but September started with a massive 2-0 win at Fulham  (who just spent £54 million)

We only grabbed a solitary point from the next three home league games, which saw us heading on a massive downward trajectory though

We scraped past League 2 side Crawley to set up a 4th Round game with Norwich, and at least managed to notch an overdue league win at Rotherham last time out

All of this sees us sitting mid-table but we have been forced to try different formations, and really don't feel too confident about the months ahead

What will help us greatly is to earn our first home league win of the season - we need to make our home venue a fortress and benefit from the fans sizeable support  

Financially we are in a better position than before, and we have the 3rd best home attendance average to date - we need to make that count

At least we are living a more sustainable way now, at the last count our wage expenditure was listed as one of the lowest in the league (21st)

Edited December 21, 2022 by Jogo Bonito

[Danalb08040210]

Hi Jogo, cool save was interesting catching up on it!

I’ve just started a Sheff Wed save myself today and was looking for some pointers/ideas of how the finanicial and contract situations pan out for Wednesday - looks a bit scary to be honest!

I’ve got a good side though, only played 3 games, blew away Pompey 4-1, MK 6-1 and lost to Preston on pens in Carabao 2nd round.

my team is (4-2-3-1):

GK- Stockdale

RB -Palmer

CB -McGuiness (on loan at start)

CB -Ihekiewe / Iorfa

LB -Wilson-Esbrand (loan)

RCM - Can Vary / mostly Bakinson

LCM - Bannan

RW - Ben Arfa (free)

LW - Samuel Edozie (Loan)

SS - Josh Windass

CF - Ched Evans (cheap on transfer list)

overall a strong side but from reading how things go, I fear it will be much weaker next season even with promotion. Trying to offload some dead wood on the cheap.

what’s your thoughts?

Merry Christmas also mate!

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by Danalb08040210

[SixPointer]

Just catching up! Awakening a sleeping giant so I see!

[Jogo Bonito]

18 hours ago, Danalb08040210 said:

Hi Jogo, cool save was interesting catching up on it!

I’ve just started a Sheff Wed save myself today and was looking for some pointers/ideas of how the finanicial and contract situations pan out for Wednesday - looks a bit scary to be honest!

overall a strong side but from reading how things go, I fear it will be much weaker next season even with promotion. Trying to offload some dead wood on the cheap.

what’s your thoughts?

Merry Christmas also mate!

Thanks for reading and good luck with Sheffield Wednesday!

In the first year, I'd say look at the high earners, players over 30, players who will have contracts ending. Do your best to free yourself from some of that burden. There's not much you can do really, but generally FM will find some money from somewhere (board cash injections etc.) and you'll get through somehow.

You've been sensible with transfers it seems. Only a small fee for Ched Evans, a free move for Ben Arfa, and a couple of extra loans. So you spent a bit less than me probably. You'll face an interesting time if you don't get promoted probably, but it's all part of the challenge. I didn't spend much for the 2nd season, but have more quality and spend less on wages. It's a good club to be managing.

2 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Just catching up! Awakening a sleeping giant so I see!

Thank you for that, much appreciated. It's stirring, if not yet fully awake!

Merry Christmas to you both, and to anyone else reading.

[warlock]

17 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Merry Christmas to you both, and to anyone else reading.

Currently engaged in pre-Christmas prep - I appear to be on KP duty today - but Christmas wishes to you, and continued progress with the Owls 

[Jogo Bonito]

On 24/12/2022 at 13:02, warlock said:

Currently engaged in pre-Christmas prep - I appear to be on KP duty today - but Christmas wishes to you, and continued progress with the Owls 

Thanks mate and sorry for the late response. I'm now 1.5 seasons in on this and will post an update very soon.

Happy New Year all.

[Jogo Bonito]

Sheffield Wednesday - 2023/24 (Sky Bet Championship)

Sorry it has been a while but I'm still stumbling around in Yorkshire and have now got to the January transfer window in my 2nd season

We're managing to keep our heads above water and are safely away from the relegation battle so the board and fans are satisfied with our progress

After a decent October we lost star striker Paul Mullin to injury and this had a fairly significant effect on results during November

We found some form in December and have put together some decent results, along with the odd blip which was to be expected

The home defeat delivered by struggling QPR was disappointing though, as we levelled after 94 minutes and then conceded another to lose 3-2 

The good news is that Mullin has now returned, and our other main forward Shayne Lavery has started to grab some goals too

We sit 14th after 25 league games, the performance graph is fairly steady, and financially we are doing well enough to be stable

The transfer window is open, and we plan to send midfielder Lewis Fiorini back to Man City after no goals or assists in 13 (+5) appearances at a rating of only 6.79 

Arrivals are probably going to be sparse, but central midfielder Archie Gray of Leeds is likely to join on loan for the rest of the campaign

[SixPointer]

Going along nicely in the championship

[karanhsingh]

Just caught up, always one of my favorite clubs to manage! Hope you're doing well Jogo and continuing with this one. 

[Jogo Bonito]

On 09/01/2023 at 00:07, SixPointer said:

Going along nicely in the championship

Sorry for the slow reply, yes that sums it up well really.

On 27/01/2023 at 04:54, karanhsingh said:

Just caught up, always one of my favorite clubs to manage! Hope you're doing well Jogo and continuing with this one. 

Always good to have you following along. It's my first time managing The Owls and it's been nice to try a new EFL club.

I'm keeping well thanks and hope the same for you.

 

 

Update coming soon!

[warlock]

8 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Update coming soon!

Ah, you tease! 

When you're ready... 

[SixPointer]

Cliffhanger…….

[karanhsingh]

On 05/02/2023 at 22:24, Jogo Bonito said:

Sorry for the slow reply, yes that sums it up well really.

Always good to have you following along. It's my first time managing The Owls and it's been nice to try a new EFL club.

I'm keeping well thanks and hope the same for you.

Yes all good thanks, just been really slow getting into FM this year due to work & life...

[Jogo Bonito]

On 06/02/2023 at 02:31, warlock said:

Ah, you tease! 

When you're ready... 

Sorry about that! Actually, not so much of a story to tell...

On 06/02/2023 at 17:36, SixPointer said:

Cliffhanger…….

I play slow. I update slow. What more can I say? 

On 07/02/2023 at 09:48, karanhsingh said:

Yes all good thanks, just been really slow getting into FM this year due to work & life...

Likewise, but appreciate you popping by!

Sheffield Wednesday - 2023/24 (Sky Bet Championship)

We pick up this story in January 2024, with The Owls firmly in mid-table (14th after 25 league games)

The transfer window was quiet with central midfielder Archie Gray coming in on loan from Yorkshire rivals Leeds

He replaced disappointing on-loan midfielder Lewis Fiorini after we manipulated Man City to recall him (we had no termination, but Pep got upset when we left him out)

Two youngsters were allowed to leave on loan and development squad left-back Ryan Galvin was sold to Burton Albion for £36k

We tried to complete a pre-contract deal for 21-year old African left-back Bayi Zogbo with an eye on the summer, but he was refused a work permit and we pulled out

January saw us knocked out of the FA Cup by Fulham in a Round 3 replay, and two wins, two draws and one thrashing in the league at Sunderland

February was another mixed month with three wins, one draw and two defeats as our position remained virtually unchanged throughout

What was interesting is that from February until the last game in April, only our two strikers scored any goals (surprising over a 14 game run)

March was yet another inconsistent month, with two wins, two defeats and one draw keeping us anchored safely away from the relegation zone

The four games in April saw two wins and two losses in a rare unbeaten month, and this lifted us a couple of places to 12th

And our season was wound up with a tame home loss to Watford and a draw at QPR as we held on to that same position in the table

The season summary shows we had done well given the expected relegation battle

Our attendances were great with 28,243 attending our home games on average, and of course Paul Mullin with 24 league goals was our best player yet again

The performance graph shows mid-table stability but little else (not that we were unhappy with that)

Mullin was the equal of any strikers even at this higher level, and we had the 2nd best average home attendances

The finances show we had just about managed to stay on the positive side, but the losses accumulated rapidly from where we started the season

Here is the full table at the end of the campaign, with Brighton worthy winners ahead of Stoke

Coventry and Blackpool were relegated alongside a very poor Millwall side

Our player stats across the season are shown below, and it's fair to say we relied heavily on Mullin and strike partner Shayne Lavery

Apart from that pair, our central defenders had all been quite decent, and Leeds loanee Gray played his role impressively

Six of our contracted players will see their deals run out in the summer (plus Gray) and all are likely to be looking for new clubs

Of this group, Cameron Dawson was the only one we really wanted to keep as he has been at the club for many years - but he isn't interested in entering talks to stay

The end of the season is always time for a manager to consider their position

Tweets from Owls sources suggest this particular manager may be looking for a new challenge in another country after an enjoyable two-year stint at the club

 

Edited February 8, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

The performance graph shows mid-table stability but little else (not that we were unhappy with that)

Yup, no shame in that. Looks like you've at least stabilised the finances and - if this is the end of your time - you're leaving the club in a much better position than you found it 

[karanhsingh]

Sometimes a boring season is a good one... Look forward to seeing if you will continue with the owls 

[Jogo Bonito]

On 08/02/2023 at 23:01, warlock said:

Yup, no shame in that. Looks like you've at least stabilised the finances and - if this is the end of your time - you're leaving the club in a much better position than you found it 

On 09/02/2023 at 05:35, karanhsingh said:

Sometimes a boring season is a good one... Look forward to seeing if you will continue with the owls 

Thanks both. Yes a decent season and in years gone by I would have been delighted with slow steps to a better future. The trouble is, these days the game is so complex and time consuming, not like the days where you could plough through seasons and manage many different clubs in one edition. Here we are in February, and all I have achieved is two seasons (didn't play BETA or try and abort any other clubs). The transfer restrictions of England are also difficult post-Brexit which doesn't help either. Also I think slow, less frequent gameplay and updating doesn't make my posts very enjoyable here as nobody can really 'get in to the story' - that even applies to myself after a season to be honest.

I fancy going somewhere else now sadly. Ideally that would be Italy, but I probably need to take on a club where transfer restrictions are less difficult. That doesn't make Spain much better, and I have done France often before, so it may be Germany or Austria next

Edited February 12, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

5 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Ideally that would be Italy, but I probably need to take on a club where transfer restrictions are less difficult.

I hear that! No matter how many times I've tried, I can't get my head around the non-EU rules in Italy (and judging by the number of posts across the forums I'm not alone!) Oddly enough, although I've played relatively little outside England I've probably managed in Germany more than anywhere else (including several different saves with FC Koln).

I might start something new after the winter update. But good luck wherever you hang your hat 

[Ronaldo Beckham]

4 minutes ago, warlock said:

I hear that! No matter how many times I've tried, I can't get my head around the non-EU rules in Italy (and judging by the number of posts across the forums I'm not alone!) Oddly enough, although I've played relatively little outside England I've probably managed in Germany more than anywhere else (including several different saves with FC Koln).

I might start something new after the winter update. But good luck wherever you hang your hat 

Come join the cool kids in the French league thread buddy 

[Jogo Bonito]

23 minutes ago, warlock said:

I hear that! No matter how many times I've tried, I can't get my head around the non-EU rules in Italy (and judging by the number of posts across the forums I'm not alone!) Oddly enough, although I've played relatively little outside England I've probably managed in Germany more than anywhere else (including several different saves with FC Koln).

I might start something new after the winter update. But good luck wherever you hang your hat 

Are you still at Atalanta? I like the challenge of their rules in Italy, but they are difficult and after being in England I need something a bit more loose for the moment.

Catch a flight to Germany then? Auf wiedersehen pet 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

3 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Are you still at Atalanta?

No, that was another save that didn't stick. Played up 'til Christmas but just wasn't feeling it. Just finished the first season of a new save with Darlington. Won the league (and narrowly lost the FA Trophy final) so a very good season. Now working through the transfer window and building for the VNN.

[Jogo Bonito]

Shame it didn't work out well for you in Italy. I wanted to start there but need some easier transfer rules before doing it. Speaking of which, I have decided on my new club, designed the kits etc.

You can take the man out of Darlo but not the Darlo out of the man, right? Excellent stuff with The Quakers and I'm sure the VNN will not halt your progress.

 

[warlock]

3 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

You can take the man out of Darlo but not the Darlo out of the man, right?

I reckon so .

3 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I have decided on my new club, designed the kits etc.

I'll look forward to the grand reveal!