[FM23 - Experiment] United Counties of Lincolnshire & Cambridgeshire Home Nation Draft

[nine_iron]

Due to the show stopping issue with the Europa League for custom nations I decided to do something different with the nation I initially created a long time ago now.

 

Setup

I searched for all players with the Lintab nationality and second nationality (bar a couple of exceptions or people I forgot, I may fix these if I do it again. I cancelled their contracts to make them all free agents. I also restricted all the nation's competitions to use home nation players only, all clubs seem to have initiated a transfer rule to only sign home nation players!

My final rule edit was to give all clubs a "wage cap", only for the draft as I am sure the clubs will adjust to accommodate for income later on, I will talk about this more in the draft section.

 

Nation Structure

The first division has 20 teams, unlike my previous file, each team playing each other twice.
I  also created a League Cup (Top two divisions), FA Cup (all divisions) and a Premier cup (top league only). These cups have fairly generous round rewards, if the clubs get too rich after 5 seasons I may adjust these for another run. I have not spent much time balancing finances but I have a rough idea of what is needed so whatever I have set will do for now, also dynamic rep will probably reduce them for the first 3-4 seasons anyway so tough times could be ahead!

The second division is now a North/South split with 10 teams each, same for the 3rd but non-playable division.

I didnt touch reputation, facilities, staff etc. I left any home nation player/non-player people at their clubs.

 

Premier Division

 

L2 North

L2 South

Testing

I may have "cheated" a little as I practiced the draft a few times to see how it may work, I did this for a few different teams to ensure I didn't practice too much with the one I will use. I didn't play any competitive games to ensure I didn't see how the players performed, generally I wanted to go into my real draft as blind as possible, which is hard when I can see PA and CA etc while editing. Generally I am really happy and the actual draft surprised me with who I could get!

I did run a few with fake players to test finances but generally this didn't yield much and I decided to press on and do the real draft, I was getting impatient by this point!

 

The Draft (Part 1)

Now comes the real thing! I also chose not to add players to playable teams to ensure as many signings as possible.

OK another admission, it didn't work well... Well not to my liking anyway.

I will be playing this save as Grimsby Borough, to limit my power to sign players a little but also to not too much!

Many of the best players just didn't get signed locally, I think this was down to "Based nation" not being the home nation. I should probably have found a way to fix that but maybe that is for a future experiment.

Now comes the cap, I gave all teams a 50K per week cap (sort of) in the editor, using the finance tab, and gave them all enough cash to pay for that over the first year. They will have to earn the rest of their money from prize money and other income.

I ran it a few times and identified a few players who didn't get picked often, I then manually assigned them to their previous or birthplace teams and set appropriate weekly wages for all these players. I couldn't match them all up perfectly due to the salary cap I mentioned, I actually bumped up the real life wages of a lot of players to better balance their salary cap usage. This meant some teams have used all their cap on 2 players, not realistic but will throw some variability into the mix. I assume as these are mostly the bigger clubs they will go over their wage limit anyway.

The Draft (Part 2)

In the real draft I started by searching for all players "doubtfully" interested in transfers, scouted players I knew (from my many years playing in the nation) would fit my team and set up my scouts to assess players for me. As I had a player/coach goalkeeper I had a few options open to me.

 

GK - Harry Flatters

Not the best pick IMO, Matthew Laycock went to Cambridge City and is 4* instead of 3. I tried but I ended up overpaying for Flatters as Peterborough and Lincoln were interested. I learnt a little from this (but not much as you will see) to get some better value later on.

 

CB - Lewis Shipley (of Norwich)

A better deal, good stats and balanced, I want to play them LB but I could only sign them with a promise to play CB. I was quite limited by this later on.

 

Other Defenders - Isaac Rice and  Sam Cartwright plus Harry Lewis (of Scunthorpe)

Lewis is really a AML but can play DL so I decided that with decent enough stats for the area they could play as a FB. I had my eye on a different AML anyway so this seems a good idea. Rice plays alongside Shipley in defence while Cartwright, who's strength is at CB plays RB due to decent pace and crossing. I think this is fairly close to the best defence I could assemble to fit a tactic where the FBs may come forward to fill the gap behind the AML and AMR.

 

Marcel Lewis

I thought Lewis would be the star of my draft but that was stolen at the last minute, more on that later!

A flexible attacking player who I utilise as a Mezzala, 5* in the role as CM. Some good set piece stats plus decent enough in their weaker stats means I feel this was a good bargain, I overpaid wages here but I don't think going deep is an issue until I optimise finances to make teams who do it struggle.

 

Other Midfielders - Dan Jarvis, Ben Grist (of Leicester), Jake Brown (Hull)

Grist is only 17 so we shall see how they cope as a DM, they are tall (6'2") and can head, tackle and pass well enough as they can also play CB. I may move Grist back if I can rearrange my defence next transfer window. Jarvis has little of note compared to M. Lewis but will do for now and Brown can cross, has fair pace and good fitness, they will do.

 

Strikers - Michael Fowler, Edwin Essel

I just couldn't sign anyone but Fowler has good work rate and balanced stats. At 21 I doubt they will improve much but I am happy as they are 6'2", so should benefit from crosses.

 

Star Signing, AMR - Ben Knight

Last minutes of the transfer window I threw caution to the wind, picked up Marcel Lewis and was already celebrating that victory when this happened!

I may rue the wages, I managed to fend off Man U as well as Grimsby. These stats should mean I can focus my attack down their right side. Lets hope it works out!

I made a few filler signings so I didn't have grey players on my bench, nothing to note.

I pressed on and played my first few matches with my new squad, lets hope I can keep paying them!

 

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by nine_iron

[nine_iron]

End of the Transfer Window

A quick review of the other teams in the league. I made some pre-draft picks as mentioned above then left it to the AI to fill out the roster.

Boston United 

Pre-draft picks:

- Harrison Burrows: I had a hard time finding them a club but Boston seemed a good fit for the Wisbech native who played for Peterborough. Its one people could argue but I was going for balance.

- Tom Hopper: A Boston native who previously played for Lincoln. I saw this as a chance to give some bigger players to Lincoln so Hopper ended up here.

The rest of their draft seems to be about filling gaps, their biggest weakness is their 52 year old keeper Bastock, who is also the assistant manager. I don't see them as being as strong as I hoped as they didnt even use half their wage budget.

 

Cambridge United

Pre-draft picks:

- Harry Darling: Makes his return to the club, the high value and wage reflect their ability

- Carlton Morris: Moving from Barnsley they come home to their birth town. With no record playing in the city in the game they seem a strange choice but their value makes up all of the remaining wage budget.

With no budget left Cambridge did well to fill the rest of their roster, mostly helped by their reputation. Zak Mills and Levi Sutton stand out as great value, I rate this team to be title challengers even with their heavy payroll.

 

Cambridge City

Pre-draft picks:

- Luke Berry: With Cambridge having no budget Berry jumps down to City, mostly due to their age. 

- Tom Knowles: A natural local pickup who is versatile.

I think Cambridge City will overachieve.

 

Grantham

Patrick Bamford: I got a bit experimental with this pre-draft pick, I didn't want to make any big team a "one player team" as they could easily use their reputation to sign a decent squad cheap. The league needed some competitive teams to make it work and I felt this embodied the "first pick" mentality some teams go for. 

The rest of their draft saw their manager fail to land any support, grey players aplenty here. Mid table mediocrity ahead unless their start forward tops the goal charts.

 

Grimsby Town

Pre-draft picks:

- Danny Andrew: With Cambridge full and Holbeach not a great option I found a space for Andrew at Grimsby. I was struggling to find players for the town so this seemed a reasonable compromise.

- Harvey Cartwright: Born local but raised across the estuary it seems, another good fit for not obvious reasons.

The rest of the draft is the most intelligent by the AI so far, all but Felix and Trebes look good on paper. I rate Grimsby as a team that can disrupt teams with higher reputation due to their quality across the board.

 

Lincoln City

Pre-draft picks:

- Sam Clucas: A long time playing away in big leagues, Clucas is now home and ready to win trophies in the twilight of his career!

- Ted Bishop: A midfield buddy for Clucas, a solid choice but more variety is needed.

I was most underwhelmed by the Lincoln draft, I feel they could have done a lot better. This is a team that is good in the middle of the park but weak elsewhere, can they even make top 5?

 

Peterborough

Pre-draft picks:

- Izzy Brown: A strong all round player, high ability but can they do better than Burrows would have done? Only time will tell.

- Ricky-Jade Jones: One of the brightest young talents, already established before this draft and didn't move. A difference maker if there ever was one.

Peterborough had a little money left but used their reputation and influence over the board to build a solid squad, Chapman, Worman (ex Cambridge) and Sembie-Ferris stand out. No doubt their actions limited the likes of Lincoln and Scunthorpe from building a bigger squad. If they don't win the league it will be a surprise. Maybe I could have done more to balance them with Cambridge but that ship has sailed.

 

Scunthorpe

Pre-draft picks:

- Sam Slocombe: An obvious choice to make their return to the Iron. Not the best keeper in the league but solid enough to prevent a lower half finish.

Another savvy AI draft, stealing many picks from me and other mid table teams. I think I meant to buy Dan Jarvis but I picked up Daniel Jarvis by mistake, my loss is Scunthorpe's gain! Overacheivers for sure.

 

The Rest

Very little else happened apart from squad bulking, a few teams got some strong players in the pre-draft but only to mop up players who wouldn't move easily. I don't expect any of the teams I left out to pose any real threat bar the odd frustrating draw or shock result. If I were to pick any it will be St. Ives and Gainsborough, expect them to record a few surprise wins, they will likely be my rivals come the closing stages of the season.

The national U21 team tells the story quite well, I scouted them heavily and this is reflected here.

Edited September 10, 2023 by nine_iron

[nine_iron]

After 3 Matches

Well I think I made an OP team! I stormed through the first rounds of the cups I was in and went undefeated in my first three league games.

- Cleethorpes with a much weaker squad fell to our attack from the wings with penalty going in our favour.

- Boston played their 51 year old Assman as keeper ahead of their 17 year old prospect and 23 year old option. This is proving their undoing and we scored with ease, Fowler getting a hattrick after being subbed off the previous game for a poor performance. I felt vindicated as Fowler could have been benched but I gave him one more chance!

- Cambridge City took a 2 goal lead into halftime but Knowles was sent off as we fought back to win 4-2. I don't think I have got that achievement for a long time!

Big tests lie ahead, there are 5 teams I expect to beat us, as predicted St Ives look like our early rivals for that 6th spot I am aiming for.

After 7 Matches

The first upsets started to happen with Boston beating Lincoln before we start our own underdog run.

- Scunthorpe took hard work but Essel eventually scored after replacing the injured Fowler, the next few matches are their time to shine! Which he immediately does.

- Peterborough fall 2-1 to our pressing style, this was totally unexpected and highlights how weak the grey players are and how even 3-4 of them are handicapping the teams.

We continue our win streak from then on with little spectacle bar Essel continuing to stake a claim as the starting forward, with the late rising Peterborough hot on our heels along with Cambridge who drop to 3rd after initially rising to 2nd. The sleeping giants have awakened, waiting for my team to falter.

Some extra details

Finances- We seem to be holding level, a little up from the start. I expect prize money to help grow our funds which I intend to sink into our facilities. My hope is other clubs do the same but only time will tell. When money transfers start it will get even more interesting!

I expect the January transfer window to address the grey player issue to some degree. I am also left thinking how I can make a better draft, or at least handicap myself somewhat, if I choose to do this again.

I have had to step down training intensity to keep players from wearing out from training, we are still part timers so until that changes I doubt much will change. The full timers also seem to have the issue as squad rotation is virtually impossible right now, even for me and my 21 players.

Still with a scent of  editing failure overshadowing on field success I press on. I will report back with less frequency now to see how things play out.

I don't expect a big following to this, its just me writing for the enjoyment of it. I have always wanted to play the game like this and I felt recording it might add a little extra fun.

 

Stats after 7 games

 

National Team

Edited September 12, 2023 by nine_iron

[Vakama2619]

On 11/09/2023 at 06:59, nine_iron said:

Scunthorpe

Pre-draft picks:

- Sam Slocombe: An obvious choice to make their return to the Iron. Not the best keeper in the league but solid enough to prevent a lower half finish.

Another savvy AI draft, stealing many picks from me and other mid table teams. I think I meant to buy Dan Jarvis but I picked up Daniel Jarvis by mistake, my loss is Scunthorpe's gain! Overacheivers for sure.

UTFI

[nine_iron]

As the end of the transfer window rolls around we see the table looking not too far from where I predicted it at the halfway point. Boston and Scunthorpe are not too far off the pace with Lincoln doing even worse than expected.

Grantham are showing that it takes more than one player to make a team and my team, Borough are slowly fading as the other teams gel and my overall bulky squad has less of an impact.

St Ives are the obvious other over-performer as they battle with Cambridge City to be the "best of the rest". I may have got Boston's strength wrong and over-estimated Cambridge City, only time will tell if they swap places or not.

 

One thing to note, I got Kaine Felix all wrong, this guy is a beast, Grimsby's top player ratings wise and a key part of their 2nd place title challenge. The AI did a superb job putting the team together.

 

Can Lincoln recover from this? What will happen after youth intakes? Can I keep a Euro spot? Are Peterborough anything other than title contenders?

Edited September 28, 2023 by nine_iron

[nine_iron]

Final table of the first season...

Yes I did mess up by playing a weakened team and losing to Histon... I was trying to build fitness as I was playing 2nd and 3rd. If I had just played a stronger team I may have won the league, as long as I still got the draw against Grimsby the following game.

It was a lot of fun but I will probably bring this to a close now, I can't really sign anyone and all my good players are about to get poached as teams from outside the nation can buy them too. 

It was fun while it lasted, I think if I did it again I wouldn't do as well as I would tweak things to make it harder. Still this was an interesting experiment and I really enjoyed it.

[nine_iron]

Here is the file if anyone wants it.

Lincs & Cambs NFP 3.00.27.fmf