[FM23] Another Island Life - Green Lion Pride - A Guernsey FC Youth Story

[Punch]

- After the fun I had with my FM21 Isle of Man save, I always intended to do a youth save in FM23, and now seems like the perfect time to get it started.

- I ran through a list of ideas I had for a new youth save, which was going to be low league, but I was going to give the goal scoring goal keeper a miss this time around.

- Like FM21, I came up with a list of story ideas, but in the end, I kept circling back to the one team...the team that were the runners up on my FM21 short list.

 

- So I give you: Another Island Life - Green Lion Pride - A Guernsey FC youth story.

[Punch]

Welcome to Guernsey

Guernsey is part of the Channel Islands, and while it is not part of the United Kingdom, it is classified as a British Crown dependency.

 

St Peter Port is the capital of Guernsey, home to nearly 20,000 of the islands nearly 65,000 population.

 

St Peter Port is also home of Guernsey FC - The Green Lions.

 

[Punch]

 

Guernsey FC - The Green Lions

 

Founded in 2011, Guernsey FC are currently members of the Isthmian Division One South Central League, at Step 5 (Level 9) of the English Football pyramid.

 

Debuting in the Combined Counties leagues, The Green Lions were promoted up to the Isthmian South East in 2013, where they have struggled to make progress, before being moved sideways to the South Central division in 2021-2022, where they finished 14th last season.

 

The club possesses very basic facilities all round, with the exception of a fairly large stadium for this level.

 

Home games are played at the 5,000 capacity (700+ seated) Footes Lane.

A multi use stadium with a natural grass surface.

 

[Punch]

 

Phoe Nix - the wandering Aussie who ended up on an island

 

Phoe Nix is a young Aussie footballer who spent time in youth academies, and while it would be easy to claim injuries curtailed his playing career, in reality he just wasn't good enough as a player to make it to the top.

While doing some traveling around the UK and it's surrounds, I found myself on the island of Guernsey, attending a football match.

After the match I follow the crowd to a nearby pub, seemingly where the players went to as well, and strike up a conversation with a local.

The local, being impressed with my views on how the team played, and ideas about how they could improve, asked me if I had ever considered leading a club.

Turns out this local, was none other than Mark Le Tissier, the Chairman of the club, who decided that what they had spent the last decade doing, was leading them nowhere, and it was time to make a change.

The club decided to risk it all on a young, untested manager, with no badges or licenses, and no history in management.

 

This could all go horribly wrong...or it could be the start of an amazing transformation for this club.

 

Showing just how big a risk they are taking, the club is only prepared to offer me a one year deal.

 

The club expect us to sign players under 23, which being a youth save, should be no problem to meet.

They also are expecting at least to make the play offs, which could be a challenge.

 

The supporters, which will be a huge part in how the club survives financially at this level, want play offs, and to beat Jersey, should we come up against them.

 

The club is in a decent position financially, and there is some room under the wage budget, although no transfer budget, as you would expect at this level.

 

I better get to know the squad quickly, as there are friendlies fast approaching.

[Punch]

 

Guernsey FC - meeting the squad

 

So we have a complete mixed bag of abilities, but one thing that stands out quickly, is the age of the squad.

We have a 40 year old winger, a 35 year old striker, and multiple players in their mid to late 30s.

This may come to hurt us down the line, as one of the challenges of Guernsey FC, is they have no 18s or 21s squad to draw on when players are fatigued,

Seems like the first youth intake will halve the average age.

 

I am going to continue with the successful 4231 tactic that I have been using.

While it's not all out aggression like I usually do, it's still a very attacking tactic.

[Punch]

 

Player attributes & training

 

Like the FM21 save, I will be tracking player attributes, using the formulas developed by @shaunvamos, and the spread sheet given to me by @Jtomsett11, with some slight tweaks as I will only be tracking 4 positions.

This is to go in line with the training that I tested and found worked best in FM21, so I want to try it again in this edition.

After plenty of reading about training, and plenty of testing of my own players, I found it a waste of time to train players in the individual positions for a tactic, but better results were achieved from training that developed the most attributes.

For example, all defenders, regardless of if they are left, right, center, or wing backs, I found got the best results training as Libero (Attack), as this trained the most attributes.

Central Midfielders train the most attributes in Box To Box (Support), and forwards train the most attributes by being trained as Complete Forward (Attack).

So testing this philosophy again, I will be tracking the attributes in just four categories.

 

Goalkeepers

Just two keepers, very close in age and ability at this stage.

These two will provide competition for spots with each other.

 

Defence

The defence looks both light in numbers, and quality.

It's also carrying some age.

We also only have two left sided defenders.

Bring on the intakes.

 

Midfield

We have some pretty decent options here, but again, carrying some age.

 

Forwards

The best player at the club, and by some distance is a 35 year old striker.

Plenty of decent options, but fatigue will play a huge role later in the season.

 

Best Squad

With an average age pushing 30, and an attribute rating less than 41, there is massive room for improvement, but still reason to be optimistic about this season.

 

Up next...time to get into some games.

I will probably rush the season a bit up to the first intake, as that's where the fun will start anyway, and most of these players probably won't be at the club next season.

[Punch]

 

July to September 2022

 

The Bookies don't rate our chances of making the play offs too highly, listing us 8th.

 

 

A slow boil though the friendlies turned into a blistering start, winning our first 5 League games, and winning through our first two FA Cup games.

We lost our first two League games in September before we went on a tear again, winning another 5 straight in all competitions.

All those games will test the fatigue management.

Impressive supporter turn out at Footes Lane as well, with over 600 turning up to League games, and over 1,200 at the FA Cup games.

 

I forgot to screen shot the table, but we were sitting about 3rd at this point.

 

Some impressive performances, particularly Ross Allen and Carlos Canha, laughing their way through this League smashing home 27 goals between them so far.

 

After losing money early in the season, we have bounced back with the Cup games in September.

I did hit the Board up for a coaching course, and to improve youth recruitment...and was told in no uncertain terms to go away...

 

That's a massive amount of season tickets for this level.

 

The game of fatigue management will be real next month.

Edited January 19, 2023 by Punch

[ToMexico!!]

Good luck with this and good start. 

I wonder how much travel costs will impact you through the save? 

[Punch]

 

October to December 2022

 

We made it through to the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round where we were thumped by National League Aldershot, but an impressive corwd gave us a nice financial boost.

Our League form started to fall away however, while we won two and drew three of our 5 games in October, we didn't win a single game in November.

Although we lost our first game in December, we did manage to pull it back together, winning two of our next three.

 

Amazingly we still find ourselves in 4th place, but we did drop as low as 8th after November.

 

Allen and Canha still laughing their way through this League, racking up 47 goals between them.

41 year old Ryan Zico Black has been a surprise packet, contributing 6 goals and 9 assists in 15 games, with an impressive performance rating.

Our attacking players have generally been very good, while our defence has been very hit and miss.

 

The finances bounce up and down, although we may struggle now with the FA Cup exit meaning less money coming in.

 

This will help the situation slightly, as we had no sponsors prior to this.

 

I finally managed to get the Board to agree to send me on a course to get my first badge.

 

They are still not interested in hearing about increasing youth recruitment though.

 

Pretty much everything we need.

This is a very exciting looking intake, and hopefully will give a massive boost to our aging and ailing squad.

Bring on April.

 

With a few less Cups, the schedule has become a lot less hectic.

Hopefully this helps us with the fatigue management.

[Punch]

3 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

Good luck with this and good start. 

I wonder how much travel costs will impact you through the save? 

Thank you!

They are a pretty decent percentage of our expenses. Over £11k to the end of December.

[phnompenhandy]

2 minutes ago, Punch said:

Thank you!

They are a pretty decent percentage of our expenses. Over £11k to the end of December.

Don't Guernsey have to pay for away sides' flights or something? The huge expense should offset your good gate receipts. Good to see Matt Le God's brothers are still there!

KUTGW!

[Punch]

2 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

Don't Guernsey have to pay for away sides' flights or something? The huge expense should offset your good gate receipts. Good to see Matt Le God's brothers are still there!

KUTGW!

Yes I believe they do pay the away teams traveling expenses IRL. Not sure if that is represented in game or not.

Thank you!

[Ronaldo Beckham]

@Punch you might want to have a look at WorkTheSpace's youtube channel as he is currently in season 7 with Guernsey and having trouble recruiting players as he can only sign players mostly from the South of England.

You might want to look into getting Southampton, Bournemouth or Portsmouth as a parent club and also look at raiding their released players.

Will Merry is a good player to look at for example. He is an ex-Southampton player.

 

[Punch]

2 hours ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

@Punch you might want to have a look at WorkTheSpace's youtube channel as he is currently in season 7 with Guernsey and having trouble recruiting players as he can only sign players mostly from the South of England.

You might want to look into getting Southampton, Bournemouth or Portsmouth as a parent club and also look at raiding their released players.

Will Merry is a good player to look at for example. He is an ex-Southampton player.

 

I have heard about that save, but there will be no recruitment in this save, as it's youth only.

[argento]

Look forward to following this one

[Punch]

1 hour ago, argento said:

Look forward to following this one

Thank you! Glad to have you along for the ride.

[Ronaldo Beckham]

2 hours ago, Punch said:

I have heard about that save, but there will be no recruitment in this save, as it's youth only.

Oh sorry I missed that part. 

I will keep an eye on this and good luck buddy.

 

[Punch]

1 hour ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

Oh sorry I missed that part. 

I will keep an eye on this and good luck buddy.

 

Haha no problem mate

Thank you! Hope you enjoy the ride

[Mr Jabay]

Hey Punch, good luck with this save, l enjoyed your previous one. And I love the shadow striker in your tactics:)

[Punch]

3 hours ago, Mr Jabay said:

Hey Punch, good luck with this save, l enjoyed your previous one. And I love the shadow striker in your tactics:)

Thank you! Good to have you along for the ride.

[Punch]

 

January to March 2023

A real mixed bag here, we exited our last Cup, before putting together a nice undefeated run through January and February.

We lost a high scoring match to start March, before putting together back to back bug wins, but rounded out the month with a disappointing loss.

 

Four games to play, and eight teams can still make the play offs.

We sit 2nd, but can finish anywhere between 1st and 8th.

 

Ross and Canha continue to rattle up the goals, now piling on 62 goals between them.

 

The Board decided to offer me a new contract.

They initially only wanted to extend me for one season, but I talked them into two years.

 

 

We continue to lose money every month, especially with the Cup games finished.

 

Four games to play to the end of the season.

Still a chance to win the title, make the play offs, or miss out completely.

We also have the first intake coming up shortly.

[Maw74]

Good luck with this.

I am also following Work The Space on YouTube, so it will be interesting to see how you both do, he has advantage of signing players though.

 

 

[Punch]

Just now, Maw74 said:

Good luck with this.

I am also following Work The Space on YouTube, so it will be interesting to see how you both do, he has advantage of signing players though.

 

 

Thanks Maw!

Yeah, the extra challenge of youth only adds a different complexity to the save. Especially when we have no youth teams and basically zero in the way of facilities/recruitment.

Plenty to try and build on anyway.

[Punch]

 

APR 2023 - Match Day 35

Oh dear. our only match against the top 8 teams to finish the season and we got absolutely spanked.

They simply just outplayed us all up and down the park.

 

We lose a place, and are now vulnerable to the teams outside the play off places.

[Punch]

 

APR 2023 - Match Day 36

A much better performance as we scored two early goals, and then continued to pressure.

While we didn't score any further goals, our defence held strong and kept Bedfont scoreless.

 

Everyone on the top 5 won, so we stay in 3rd place, with two games to play.

The title, play offs, and missing out completely are all still on the cards.

[Punch]

 

April 2023 - Youth Intake

Our first youth intake has arrived, and it has delivered in spades.

Fifteen 5 star potential players, and the other is 4,5.

As the preview promised, there is a fantastic mix of positions.

A few of these players will either be straight into the first team, or not far off.

 

Not a huge amount to tell about the attribute ratings at this stage, but it will be interesting to follow their improvement over time.

 

A mixed bag here with three of the players holding dual citizenship, but as expected at this stage, the vast majority being Guernsey natives.

 

The Best 3

The best player from our first intake, and already looks like a promising AM(C). While he may not displace Canha in the form he has been showing, he will certainly get his chances.

Good starting pace will make him a pest at this level, and if he can improve his strength and finishing, he will be an absolute handful in the front third.

 

Yates is another forward, who needs to work on his pace, strength and finishing, but looks like he could become a useful striker.

 

The best defender from the intake, and will already be one of the best defenders at the club, will not be far away from the first team straight away.

The fact that he can play left side where we are short of numbers will be a massive help as well.

 

 

All of these players will be taken to boost our numbers, and depth, especially as there are a few of the original players who have announced they want to leave at seasons end, which I am more than happy to have happen anyway. Some of them were making ridiculous demands for playing time and payments.

 

The big decision now is do I hit up the Board for an Under 18's team, or do I let the majority of these players filter into the first team, and the balance become back ups as the originals leave.

With only two games to go this season, it's probably not something I need to worry about straight away.

 

All in all, a very exciting start to the youth intake part of this save, and I am very interested to see how these kids perform, and develop.

[Punch]

 

APR 2023 - Match Day 37

A massively disappointing result as we were far the better team, but couldn't get the ball in the net.

We limited Marlow to just two shots on target, but they took won of them, and it was enough to take all three points.

 

Two of our youth intake made their debuts, with Docherty coming off the bench, and Hickinson starting in the center of defence.

Both put in solid performances and give us reason to be excited about the future.

 

It didn't take long to break our youngest player record.

 

The disappointing loss means the title is now out of reach, but with one match to play, we are also not yet assured of a play off place.

[Punch]

 

APR 2023 - Match Day 38

An absolutely crazy game, where we came back from 0-2 down to level, missed a penalty, had a player sent off, had two goals disallowed, only to concede a third goal and lose the game.

No wonder coaches have grey, or no hair

 

A positive from the game as young defender Hickinson scores his first goal, and becomes our youngest ever scorer.

 

We fall into the play offs on goal difference alone, despite losing 4 of our last 5 games.

 

 

[Punch]

 

APR 2023 - Play Off Semi Final Draw

We travel to 3rd place Basingstoke for our Semi Final fixture.

 

We will need to overturn a poor record if we want to advance to the final.

Games between us have produced plenty of goals this season.

Edited January 21, 2023 by Punch

[Punch]

 

APR 2023 - Play Off Semi Final

A massive effort to put together a come from behind win against a team we had not beaten before.

We went behind in first half injury time, before hitting straight back.

A Ross Allen second half double gave us a good lead, and while Basingstoke hit back late to make the final few minutes interesting, we managed to hold on to the end, finding our way into the Final.

 

Southall upset Leatherhead, meaning we get to host the Final.

 

We have a good record, but it counts for nothing in a winner takes all shot at promotion.

[Punch]

 

APR 2023 - Promotion Play Off Final

In front of a bumper crowd of almost two thousand at Footes Lane, we celebrate promotion by winning the Play Off Final.

A goal in each half, along with a defensive display that prevented Southall from registering a shot on target was enough to get the job done.

 

 

From a pre-season prediction of 8th, the Board and Fans wanted us to make the Play Offs, so to win promotion seems like a massive over achievement for this group.

Going to make for a tough season in the Regional Premier Leagues next year though, as we have a few players that want to leave, and a bunch of kids, most of which won't be ready for first team yet.

Ready or not though, they are going to have to take their chances.

[Punch]

 

APR 2023

Despite winning one and losing four of our last five League games, we fell into the Play Offs in 4th place.

While it was a poor end to the regular season, we came good when it mattered most, upsetting Baskingstoke away in the Semi Final, and then shutting out Southall in front of a monster crowd at home to win promotion to the Premier League...well, the Regional Premier Leagues at least.

 

We landed in 4th place on goal difference, before winning promotion.

Poor Leatherhead, lead the comp for most of the season the get pipped for the title in the final day, and then got thrashed 4-0 in their play off semi final by Southall, to miss out completely.

 

So we have very little money in the bank, a transfer budget we won't use, and lots of room under the new wage budget.

 

Up next will be some season reviews, before take on season 2, with the class of 23 kids likely to be much more involved.

[Punch]

 

2022-2023 Season Review

[Punch]

 

2022-2034 Season Review - Stats

 

 

[Punch]

 

2022-2023 Season Review - Attributes

 

A lot has changed since last season, with the first youth intake, and a lot of players retiring/being released at season end.

We now take a look at the players will take us into the new season.

 

Goalkeepers

Kelly won the race to be our number 1 last season, and will have Jones as his back up this season.

 

Defenders

Hickinson has developed in the best defender at the club, at the age of 16.

We will only have the bare minimum in defence to get us through this season, until the next intake arrives.

 

Midfielders

Plenty of options across the midfield, and a lot of the youngsters will get time this season.

 

Forwards

We will still be leaning heavily on Allen and Canha to lead the line this season, although there are plenty of options for the kids to get game time when rotation is required.

 

Best Squad

With retirements and players released, a lot of the 23 kids have made their way into the top squad places.

For this reason I have decided against asking the Board for an Under 18s team at this stage, as I think they will get enough development in the first team.

 

Another idea I borrowed from @shaunvamos.

Our average age has plummeted from almost 30, to below 21.5, the retirement of a lot of players in their late 30's and early 40's, along with the addition of 15/16 year olds from the intake helped that.

Our attribute average has also fallen to begin the season, but hopefully this will improve as the kids continue to develop.

 

[Punch]

 

JUN 2023 - Off Season Things

We landed in the Southern Premier League South for the new season.

 

The Board don't have massive expectations which is good.

 

The Bookies don't like our chances of staying up.

For comparison, Weston-super-mare are spending about £226k per year on wages, Slough are over £260k...we are spending less than £70k.

 

Season ticket sales allow us to claw back some of the losses.

 

The Board have agreed to get my second licence, but no coming to the party yet on youth recruitment improvements.

 

Friendly season has arrived.

 

[Punch]

 

JUL 2023

Some quality performances in the friendlies, but as always, more about the minutes than the wins.

 

A good start to season financially as the season ticket sales money comes in.

 

One more friendly, a testimonial for club stalwart Matt Loaring, before the season proper kicks off.

[ToMexico!!]

Well done on promotion, how many goals do you think Allen can get you this season? Hopefully no signs of retiring just yet from the big man. 

[Punch]

24 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

Well done on promotion, how many goals do you think Allen can get you this season? Hopefully no signs of retiring just yet from the big man. 

Thank you!

I am not sure that he will get 38 again, but if he an Canha start running amok again, who knows.

[Punch]

 

AUG 2023 - Matt Loaring Testimonial

Our final pre-season match as we honour club stalwart Matt Loaring, who has spent his entire career with the Green Lions.

 

Not a big crowd in at Footes Lane, but they were entertained, including the man of the moment heading home an equaliser in the first half.

Worthing proved too good though and finally collected a winner in the second half.

 

A fitting way to honour Loaring, our all time appearances leader with 274, who has also chipped in with 75 goals along the way.

 

Up next...the season proper kicks off as we host Tiverton Town in our Southern Premier League South debut.

[Punch]

 

 

AUG 2023 - Match Day 1 - Vs Tiverton Town FC

 

Match Report

Spoiler

A nervous start before a massive second half performance to overturn the deficit and take the three points in our Regional Premier League debut.

 

The third member of the class of 23 made their debut, and broke the youngest player record in the process.

 

 

 

Table

Spoiler

We are in the play off spots, but not much to be read into the table yet.

Although wow, there were a lot of draws.

 

 

 

Up next...we travel to Swindon Supermarine.

Edited January 22, 2023 by Punch

[Punch]

 

AUG 2023 - Match Day 2 - At Swindon Supermarine FC

 

Match Report

Spoiler

Another nervous start and we found ourselves 0-3 down by half time.

A better performance in the second half as we tightened up defensively and even managed to pull two goals back, but we couldn't find an equaliser.

 

Another of the class of 23 kids makes their debut.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

The loss drops us to mid table.

 

 

 

Up next...another tough match up as we host Truro City.

[Punch]

 

 

AUG 2023 - Match Day 3 - Vs Truro City FC

 

Match Report

Spoiler

A massive effort from the boys to come from 0-2 down to not only level, but then find a winner.

These slow starts are really hurting us though.

Due to the quick succession of games, I had to rotate pretty heavily in this one, and the kids really stood up.

 

Four more class of 23 kids made their debut in this match, two of them scoring.

The future is looking pretty good.

 

 

 

Table

Spoiler

Back in the winners circle sends us to 6th. I am sure there will be plenty of up and down this season.

 

 

Up next...another tough match as we travel to 2nd place Totton.

[Punch]

 

AUG 2023 - Match Day 4 - At AFC Totton

 

Match Report

Spoiler

Before the match, we'd have taken a draw against the team sitting 2nd, but this almost feels like lost points.

We got the early goal, rather than conceding two or three like we had in our first few games, but having a player sent off before half time, for two cards in 8 minutes was going to hurt.

A clumsy penalty was saved, but the rebound was put away to level the scores.

Even after that point, a man down, we still looked the most likely to score, but just couldn't execute.

We will take the away point, but can't help nut think it should have been more.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

We drop a few spots to 8th, but still performing much better than expected.

 

 

Up next...away again as we travel to 14th place Hendon.

[Punch]

 

AUG 2023 - Match Day 5 - At Hendon AFC

 

Match Report

Spoiler

Another result that feels like lost points.

We started the season conceding early goals, then trying to run teams down, but now we have stopped conceding the early goals, but have gone gun shy late in the game, creating chances, but struggling to execute.

 

Another class of 23 member makes his debut.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

We lose a few more spots, down to 10th, but we are only one win from 1st as well.

 

 

Up next...we round out a busy August, hosting 8th place Merthyr Town at Footes Lane.

[Punch]

 

AUG 2023 - Match Day 6 - Vs Merthyr Town FC

 

Match Report

Spoiler

A managers nightmare as we gave up 2-0 and 3-2 leads for it to be 3-3 heading into injury time.

Canha completed his double deep into injury time to secure the win, and three points.

 

 

Spoiler

The win catapulted us up the table into 5th spot.

 

 

Up next...we host 2nd place Plymouth Parkway.

[Punch]

 

AUG 2023

A busy start to the season, but we have performed well above expectations, with members of the class of 23 really stepping up, allowing me to manage fatigue playing two games a week.

 

We currently sit 5th, which is a brilliant performance, but there is only two wins between the top 13 teams.

 

Stats

 

Goalkeepers

Just the one keeper used this season, and while he has performed well, we have conceded too many goals.

While they are not all his fault, his save percentage is way down on the expected save percentage.

 

Defenders

The defensive line has been improving every game, and while we concede too many goals, we have stopped conceding 2-3 goal leads.

I have been impressed with the two 23 kids, Hickinson and Jaenicke, who have been putting up some good numbers.

 

Midfielders

The midfield has been solid, without being spectacular, Gauvain and de la Mare have been the main players getting us going forward.

 

Forwards

Allen and Canha have been the main goal scorers again, while it's good to see Docherty playing well, he needs to start making more of his chances.

 

We still lost money this month, but not as much as we used to.

 

A few extra season tickets sold this season, very good numbers for this level.

 

We enter the FA Cup at the First Qualifying Round this season, hosting Great Wakering Rovers

 

Another busy month coming up. Game of Fatigue Manager coming up.

[Punch]

 

 

SEP 2023 - Match Day 7 - Vs Plymouth Parkway FC

 

Match Report

Spoiler

We scored early before giving up goals either side of half time to have to chase the game.

A late penalty gave us a share of the points against the team sitting second, so not a bad result.

 

 

Table

Spoiler

Our 5th match unbeaten, but we have only won two of them, so we still dropped two places out of the play off spots.

 

 

Up next...we travel to 15h place Beaconsfield Town.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Punch

[Hootieleece]

You should beat Beaconsfield I did in the FA Cup preliminaries. I destroyed them 6-0 with my backups and comic relief role for my new #9.

I called them a "Pub Team" in my update!

 

[Punch]

1 hour ago, Hootieleece said:

You should beat Beaconsfield I did in the FA Cup preliminaries. I destroyed them 6-0 with my backups and comic relief role for my new #9.

I called them a "Pub Team" in my update!

 

Here's hoping. But anyone can spring a surprise on their day. We also have an FA Cup game three days later to think about.