Living the Zero Trophy Life | A Rochdale Re-do

[Fudal]

My love affair with FM saves with Rochdale goes back a couple years. I've documented all my attempts at this time-intensive challenge on this forum, and I wanted to give it another go in 2023. The appeal of this club is the fact they have 0 trophies in FM. The goal? To become the most decorated club in England, and hopefully Europe. To do this we have to win more Premier League's than Manchester United, more FA Cup's than Arsenal, more Carabao Cup's than Liverpool and more Community Shield's than Manchester United. As well as hopefully winning more UCL's than Real Madrid.

The club in FM:

Liam Kelly and Ethan Brierley are our top players, as they were last FM. Lots of club legends, and 0 trophies.

The Squad:

Goalkeepers:

O'Donnell is our #1 and Slicker, who's on loan from City is our #2.

Right Backs:

Seriki and Keohane are our main guys here, but expect Harry Lowe to make some appearances this season, he doesn't look too horrible, and he's got 5* potential.

Left Backs:

John will be our main guy here, but he's also good cover for CB. No real prospects here, so we'll have to buy some younger players, or hope for our academy to support us.

Center Backs:

Our partnership will be Ebanks-Landell and Nelson who is on loan from Leicester. Expect Watts to play a lot, he's in the first team squad and I want to blood him in.

Defensive Midfielders:

Kelly will be playing further forward, as will Brierley so Diagouraga will be our first choice half-back.

Central Midfielders:

Ball and Malley will be our backups.

Left wingers:

It will be an inside forward by committee, pardon my American football reference. Genuinely no clue who I prefer here.

Right wingers:

Same thing goes for the right. We desperately need help on the wings.

Strikers:

Ian Henderson will be our main man, but Moffat and Thomas are waiting in the wings.

Key Players:

Femi Seriki will be our starting RB this season. Hoping to get him back on loan next season.

Liam Kelly feels like the only good player on this team. He's got lots of yellow in his profile. He's got Championship potential, and he's going to be key for us.

Ethan Ebanks-Landell is a very good lower league center back. Would hope for higher positioning and jumping reach, but he'll do.

Ian Henderson is the epitome of what I dislike in a striker. He's slow, can't jump, and comes deep to get the ball. However! He's a club legend, so he stays. Plus he's great for mentoring.

Key Prospects:

Harry Lowe is a great no nonsense fullback. I've stuck him in the attacking group to hopefully get him to gain some technical ability.

Archie Moffat is a great striking prospect. He's either footed, he can finish, he can dribble, and he's got great work rate. Need to up his composure, so he'll be on final third training.

Matthew Inman is our most ready made player in our academy. He's an out and out winger, who's very one dimensional. He'll also be on final third training.

Paddy Watts is a very well rounded ball playing defender. He needs to improve a lot before he can play a full season for us.

Peter Thomas is a great forward prospect. I like him to be our number 9 next season unless Moffat grows a lot, or we find a great striker in the summer.

Ethan Brierley is our next Liam Kelly. He's going to be our roaming playmaker this season, and will hopefully take on that role for the next 5 years or so.

[Fudal]

The Tactic and Projected Lineup:

This is our projected starting 11 and bench. Lots of youngsters are going to get minutes and we have Keohane and Malley for support.

[Fudal]

Now for the fun part.

The spreadsheets:

The basic season review spreadsheet.

The nationalities of players that have made appearances for Rochdale. This only counts for first nationalities.

All youth academy players will be documented here.

Trophy cabinet, as well as the current leaders.

[Fudal]

New HOYD with a professional personality 

[Gundo]

Cool team to do this with. Best of luck.  

[Fudal]

18 hours ago, Gundo said:

Cool team to do this with. Best of luck.  

Thank you! Hoping to actually play some FM tonight 

[Fudal]

First signing of the save!

Jahmal Hector-Ingram is our inaugural signing of the save, and I'm hoping he resolves our left Inside forward problem. He's pacey, is a clinical finisher, and can shoot from range. He also fits a sell-on profile as a young talented player. If he doesn't work out he can always be sold on for more than we paid for him.

[Fudal]

Signing number two comes in, and it's completely free! Jack Wells-Morrison is a defensive midfielder who is very well rounded. He will replace Diagouraga in our starting 11 as our half back.

[Fudal]

D'Margio Wright-Phillips is our final signing of the summer and he is brilliant! He's far too good for this level in my opinion. Also completely free.

[Fudal]

July + August update

Fixtures:

We're through to the Carabao Cup third round to face Everton in November. We're playing really defensively solid football, and with Wright-Phillips and Hector-Ingram coming in we should be potent in attack in the coming months as well.

League Table + Stats:

Even with the four draws we're in a good position. Hoping to finish in 12th-16th place this season so we're far surpassing expectations thus far.

We're the highest tackling team in the league, we press a lot, and we run a lot. Our possession is slightly higher than I expected.

Player of the Update:

Tyrese Sinclair will probably be our starting striker for the remainder of the season, given how clinical he has been so far.

Best Developer of the Update:

Peter Thomas has improved drastically so far this season, his pace, off the ball, decisions, flair, and anticipation have all improved by 1 so far. He's being rewarded with a 120x pay increase from 5 p/w to 600 p/w and is a fully professional footballer now!

 

[Fudal]

Hat trick hero!!

[Fudal]

Upgrades!

[Fudal]

September-November Update

We've been pretty poor, although we only lost on pens to Everton.

League Table + Stats:

Kings of the draws. We're very average.

We now lead in high intensity sprints and tackles. We press very well, but we also concede a lot of shots.

Player of the Update:

Liam Kelly is as expected, our best player.

Development of the update:

I've been here 5 months and this player is already improving like a madman. Plus 5!!!! to composure.

[Fudal]

Youth Intake preview looking very good! Although there are 0 central midfielders.

[Fudal]

First signing of January

A quality left sided player. He's a physical specimen.

[Fudal]

Youth Intake 2023

7 players with at least 4* potential. That's huge for this club. Two players who could contribute already.

Already planning on him being our starting RB next season. Hope to give him the following traits:

Hugs Line

Gets Further Forward

Two either footed players. He's going to be our RW next season as well. Following traits:

Cuts inside from right wing

Extremely consistent GK who just needs to work on his positioning.

Upon first glance he's kind of awful. He could be good, but not yet.

Versatile, brave, determined, Good leader, consistent, probably a future captain for us if he pans out.

If only he didn't have one of the three worst personalities in the game.

Great dribbler, but he's inconsistent and will fall over after a light breeze.

Another wingback.

 

[Fudal]

December-March Update

Fixtures:

We're so inconsistent, and when we win games we're not very convincing. I think we could really struggle next year.

League Table and Stats:

We really are the epitome of a mid table side.

Our attack has improved a lot as you can see by our XG. Now we just need a clinical striker.

Player of the Update:

The addition of the wingback has heavily improved our left hand side. He'll hold this position for a couple years.

[Fudal]

April-May Update

Results:

Just the one loss in our final 8 games. three 3-1 wins in our final 4 games.

League Table + Stats:

A very solid season. We finish in 11th just 5 points off the playoffs, which is my goal for next season.

We had a very good attack, and we press so much. I love the way the team is playing right now, although I would like to see our wingers create more.

Player Stats:

Liam Kelly was our only player above a 7 Average Rating. That really is poor.

Player of the Season:

Kelly was really the only option for this award. He was our only "good" player this season.

Young player of the year:

He was okay, not the greatest, he had a lot of games where we couldn't find him on the pitch.

[ShaunG95]

Peter Thomas never really developed on my save, ended up releasing him at the end of the first season. Thank you for the heads up on Hector-Ingram, I signed him on my save and he was brilliant. I recommend Glen Taylor from Spennymoor, that guy was unreal for me in League Two.

[Fudal]

Offseason of 2023 Update

Eight new signings arrive on June 9th, with all of them likely to feature for us.

Jonathan Mitchell is our new number 1.

Brandon Hanlan is supposedly League One quality. He's our new starting striker.

James Bolton will be our starting RB over Holt. Holt is just 16, but he's our long-term plan for the position.

Chris Forino is a great no nonsense center half. He's potentially a Championship player.

Dawson Devoy will likely be a backup this season, but with ample game time, I believe he has some potential still to unlock.

Ryan Tunnicliffe is going to be our starting DM for this season. He's brave, determined, and can put in a tackle.

Andy Cannon will be a starting midfielder for us, which means Brierley will miss out.

Famewo will be Forino's partner for this season.

[Fudal]

19 hours ago, ShaunG95 said:

Peter Thomas never really developed on my save, ended up releasing him at the end of the first season. Thank you for the heads up on Hector-Ingram, I signed him on my save and he was brilliant. I recommend Glen Taylor from Spennymoor, that guy was unreal for me in League Two.

Will have to check out Taylor, but Thomas and Hector-Ingram have been very good for me in the first season!

[Fudal]

It was always going to happen this summer. He's moved to Bristol City to make 1.6k per week.

[Fudal]

We needed another winger, so we brought in Lubala for free.

[Fudal]

And we're back! Finally am done moving and wanted to play this save as well as the SAF challenge currently going on in the FMCU forums.

[Fudal]

July-October Update:

Fixtures:

We made the switch to a 4-4-2 after the Port Vale game, and we've run rampant ever since.

League Table & Stats:

We're in the auto promotion places, and have the best goal difference in the league.

We're the best attack in the league by a reasonable distance.

Player of the Update:

Famewo has been a revelation this season with a 7.38 average rating in the league.

 

[Fudal]

November-February Update:

Fixtures:

Unfortunate to be out of the Pizza cup but it happens.

League Table & Stats:

Top of the table, by 11 points if we win our game in hand.

This is the best attack I've ever had in an FM save, we're absolutely dominant.

Player of the Update:

Brandon Hanlan is incredible. No other words needed.

[Fudal]

Youth Intake 2024

 

A really solid midfielder, but we need him to improve his vision.

A 5'3" striker . In all seriousness, he looks really good. He needs to improve his pace.

Pop is a behemoth at 6'4" and has some defending ability to go with it.

This lad could be our GK of the future.

[Fudal]

March-May End of Season Update:

Fixtures:

We dominated the last 8 or so games, but was it enough to win the league?

League Table & Stats:

It was enough! We ended up running away with the league.

We were the best team for the entire season in almost every metric.

Player of the Season:

The best player in the league by Average Rating.

[Fudal]

Squad Planning for the upcoming season:

Goalkeeper:

Mitchell is gone after the end of this season so we need a new goalkeeper as priority #1.

Right Back:

I would like a new starting RB, as Bolton is only leading League Two level. I plan on loaning out Holt to get him PT.

Center Back:

I'm happy with Forino and Famewo as our starting CB's next season but as of right now we don't have a single back up. We need 2 backups here.

Left Back:

Left back isn't a need. We have our rotation of Brown and John here and that's good enough.

Right Midfield:

Lubala is a good backup but we need help on the wings.

Central Midfield:

We need a new midfield four, to be honest. All these guys are just League Two level players.

Left Midfield:

Brown will be our Left back so we really only have Lubala.

Striker:

We're fine at striker. We could use another backup if we have extra funds.

TLDR:

Needs: GK, RW, LW, CM

Wants: RB, 2x CB, 2x CM

[Fudal]

Offseason Update:

We get a starting midfielder for a pretty penny, but I think he's worth it.

He's going to play our mezzala role.

We're paying him so much money, but a goalkeeper with PL experience is such an upgrade for us.

We pay decent money for a versatile defender.

There wasn't anyone better for the price tag we could afford.

A very cheap backup striker, don't mind the playing time I promised him, he won't complain as long as we're winning games!

Less than 1k per week for a league two level midfielder is insane.

He'll be a box to box.

We get our right winger, unfortunately it is a loan.

He's incredible for the lower leagues.

And our Left midfielder.

He's not as good, but he can pick out a pass.

And a backup CB.

[Fudal]

August-November Update:

Fixtures:

We've put in consistent good performances, even in our losses.

League Table & Stats:

We're comfortably safe of relegation which is all I wanted from this season. However, promotion would be real nice!

We're a very complete team, third in shots against, fourth in shots for.

Player of the Update:

Our season one hero has just gotten better and better.

[Fudal]

We allow JHI to go to Ross County as he felt he had achieved everything he could with this club. (We're in League One mate, there's plenty of challenges to be had.)

[Fudal]

December-February Update:

Fixtures:

We are better than we should be to be honest, when looking at the profiles of these players. I wish this game had random player development like Out of the Park baseball has, that way if a player is overperforming, their ratings can improve.

League Table & Stats:

We're firmly in the playoffs, albeit with a game more played.

10 more XG for .

Player of the Update:

In the words of Stephen A. Smith, Dawson Devoy is a bad, bad man.

Development of the Update:

I want to highlight 3 players in this section.

Trent Myler, who I highlighted as a potential RB, has been running sprints for the past 12 months or so. His mental and physical development has been so fun to watch.

Joel Luoto is going to be trained as a RM to fit into our 4-4-2. He'll likely start next season.

Wade Forth is going to be our starting GK next season. Unless we're in the Championship.

[Fudal]

2025 Youth Intake:

Our first model citizen!

Papa Johns Trophy Final vs. Chelsea u21's

Rochdale's Road to the Final:

7 games played, 7 wins, 2 goals conceded.

Chelsea's Road to the Final:

Almost as dominant as us. Their team features 12 players valued over $10m.

The best players:

Carney Chukwuemeka being in this match is so unfair 

#3 on the NXT Gen list.

Don't be surprised if he's our LB next season .

Academy boy Peter Thomas makes the difference!!!

 

 

[Fudal]

End of Season Update:

Fixtures:

We rotated in the league to attempt to win the PJT. Was our form good enough to finish in a playoff spot?

Barely.

Best XG in the league again.

[Fudal]

League One Playoffs:

6 minutes to go 

Edited March 17, 2023 by Fudal

[Fudal]

Offseason Update:

First signing of the summer is a stop gap goalkeeper.

The quintessential box to box.

Three new signings.

We say goodbye to our season one wonderboy. He's just not good enough and we're cash strapped.

A really solid midfielder

Lots of solid backups for cheap, because we loaned out all our youth players to get them developing.

[Fudal]

August-November Update:

Fixtures:

We beat Arsenal and Bristol City and will face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup Quarters!

League Table & Stats:

Already have a 10 XG lead on the next team.

Player of the Update:

Brandon Hanlan is the man. He scores for fun.

Loan Farm Update:

No one is playing particularly well.

[Fudal]

New Roster Overview:

Goalkeeper

Right Back

Center Back:

Left Back

Right Midfield:

Central Midfield

Left Midfield

Striker:

[Fudal]

Huge sale of our hot prospect! He wasn't going to make it into our 18 man matchday squads, so when Bournemouth came in, I accepted.

[Fudal]

[Fudal]

Big signing for us.

[Fudal]

August-November Update:

Fixtures:

We're so inconsistent.

League Table & Stats:

Player of the Update:

Simpara is our star, as I predicted.

[Fudal]

Our first star from the academy has been sold.

[Fudal]

Our first real marquee signing.

[Fudal]

Two more academy prospects leave for big money.

[Fudal]

December-February Update:

Fixtures:

We've improved a lot, and we're still getting carried by Simpara and Barath.

League Table + Stats:

Moving up surprisingly enough.

Norwich is so much better than everyone else.

Player of the Update:

The guys an absolute starboy.

[Fudal]

End of Season Update:

Fixtures:

We're in really good form right now.

League Table + Stats:

Somehow we make the playoffs???

Player of the Season:

The only Championship level player we have.

Playoffs:

An incredible comeback 

[Fudal]

How the **** am I meant to build a Premier League squad when 90% of my players are League 1/2 standard??

 

[Fudal]

Ok, offseason update here we go!

Central Midfielder #1.

Our new RB.

He'll have to learn both English & Left Midfield but I hope he can manage.

Pittman has been really solid throughout his career and he's making the jump from League 1 to the Prem.

A really solid backup on a free.

A new CB.

4.5m straight up.

He's our new star striker. Idk how he'll perform but he's who we're relying on.

Our new starting GK.

He's just filler.