diegolawliet Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 (edited) IFK Lidingö FK (Sweden) Okay, new try . After my failure in Wales ― I lasted less than a season ― I start a new journey in Sweden. I think I had luck with the promoted teams, because I found this IFK Lindigö FK which have more stars in the facilities and recuirment than the others. I hope I'll help me to not be relegated in the first season again. Sweden has four levels, and the fourth one (Division 2) is divided into six leagues. We are in the Division 2 Norra Svealand. I've never played in Sweden so it will be fun. Many players trained at club, so is great, but the squad is very short, only 16 players. We need all of them, so I hope no one leaves the club. In wales my main problem was the player exodus. Our best players according to our assistant coach are three defenders: Hugo Lemme, Jesper Stokki and Gabriel Flores Englert. Of course I take it, here are also good players in the attack, I think we have a solid base. I leave here my profile as head coach by the way. Edited May 2 by diegolawliet 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potat Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 I thought not posting until the end of the second season would mean I don't curse myself like I normally do. But nope Season 3 rolls in and my best two outfield players leave on a free (they still have no club) and my only goalkeeper is now injured. Just as I thought it was finally going well this save seems to be as good as dead now. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanziZoloman Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 @skills and @XaW how the hell are you doing this. It’s crazy amazing congratulations @Padders I am so happy you‘re here and you are doing an unbelievable job. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Padders Posted May 2 Popular Post Share Posted May 2 Season 104 - 2126/27 - PL First season back in the PL And disaster again. We are simply not good enough. I never seem to have a decent enough squad when I get promoted Over the half the players are Championship/L1 players at best I try to change tactics to make us harder to beat but we get beat even more! Thing it needs a complete rebuild My Youth Preview had loads of Green and A's. Not had many like that 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 14 minutes ago, HanziZoloman said: @skills and @XaW how the hell are you doing this. It’s crazy amazing congratulations @Padders I am so happy you‘re here and you are doing an unbelievable job. Experience, a bit of luck with the intakes, and a tactic I've played with for 7 versions of the game and that I know how I want to work. But this is probably the quickest ride I've ever had to the Premier League in this challenge. The only time I've completed it in England, I think I had 6 or 7 seasons in the Vanarama National... But the major change this time is that I feel like I've always made money somehow, so I've been able to always improve the youth setup and gotten in better talents. That's not to say I have a perfect squad, I mean my best current left back is rated as "decent" for League Two. Granted, I have a talent that might reach Premiership quality, but he is currently rated for the Vanarama Regionals, so he needs more time. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkiIIs Posted May 2 Share Posted May 2 2 hours ago, HanziZoloman said: @skills and @XaW how the hell are you doing this. It’s crazy amazing congratulations @Padders I am so happy you‘re here and you are doing an unbelievable job. I'm a bit surprised myself, most of my players are league 1 level at best. Will post something shortly 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post SkiIIs Posted May 2 Popular Post Share Posted May 2 Never done a post like this but thought it was worthy as I'm quite proud of these lads... note im saying this before kicking a ball in the premier league and my view could change very quickly! In goals we have the one time capped Greek International Theofanis Dalamitras 32A who played about two thirds of the season. He was injured in the middle of the season and our 19 year old German keeper deputised whilst he was injured and did a really good job and kept Theo on the bench. We play an attacking brand of football and we do leak a lot of goals but he will be key for us if we are to stay up next year. Alex McParland 34E is our right back who has really developed and made this position his own over the past couple years. Still think there is more to come from him as he can sometimes rate poorly even in solid wins. Charlie Cooper 35A is our first choice left back playing his second full season with us. As an 18yo in League 1, out of necessity he was thrown into the squad early and has done ok. We dont really have much competition for him and so had to play him even when his form was a little off this season. We're working on his forward output and would love to see more assists to his name. Our best centre back is Leighton Truffas 31C. Somehow we've managed to keep him on the books having to fight back numerous offers over the years. His rating isnt great but thats a bit of a result of how we play. Was just about ever present over the season and is quite versatile if required. His main partner in CB is Tommy Malone 31E who has remained as unambitious which is probably why his physicals just havent developed over the years. Both my centre backs came in the same youth intake and have a great partnership in the heart of my defence. Tommy is usually the one sacrificed when I play my third rotational defender hence only starting 34 league games. I rotate my B2B midfielder as I have two equally as good players for this position, however Luke Harvey is my more defensive workhorse. Only league 26 starts is symbolic of how i try to rotate the team where I can but bobbed up with a few crucial goals and assists as well. Luke really came of age in his loan to Hyde as I never really had him earmarked for the first team before that even tho he was top of his class in 2030. Our Mezzala is probably pound for pound our best player. Can play both behind the striker and in our Mezzala role and really drives the team forward. He is also our penalty taker and does miss more than he scores which really annoys his coach and does hurt his overall rating (not at home in time of writing this so can state the figures but its not a good record). 30 goal contributions in 39 starts is an amazing season averaging almost a goal every third game out of midfield over his career for us. Our right wing is one of our weakest positions and is currently filled by Josh Hamilton 35F. Gave this kid a lot of game time this year as we really do lack depth on the right and when available, he did quite well. Started the season strong but then was injured and never really found the form that we know he's capable of after that. Andrew Rees 31D is our left wing and came out of that amazing intake of 2031. Started his junior days as a striker however I've retrained him as a left wing as we've generally had good depth of talents up front. His pace on the left is crucial in the way we play and broke the record of assist in the Championship this season with 26. I'd say he's not too far off being called up to the Wales national team if he can continue to perform well. Our Shadow Striker is Leighton Dorney 33A who replaced Cole Hay this year. Similar to Rees, his best position is up front and you can tell by his attributes below that he's made to be an Advanced Forward but we had a hole to fill and he filled it well. Was virtually ever present and definitely had his best ever and most consistent season for us to date. Had previously played him up front and never really scored as many as you'd like when you play with 1 striker. Our record break and man of the moment is definitely Kyle Wood 34A. What an absolute breakout season he had. Scoring 40 (no penalties) in his first full season as a starter was an absolute stellar performance scoring many crucial goals and winners along the way. They were rarely in big batches but more spread out evenly just about every game which is what you like to see in this game. His goals will be crucial for us if we are to stay up next season. 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CDGBruno Posted May 3 Popular Post Share Posted May 3 (edited) PUTNOK FC SEASON 2 - 25/26 The press forecast gave us the worst in the competition. Intake of young people with a great player, Boros has the potential to be a great winger. And surprising everyone, we made an excellent debut in the first division. Honestly, a terrible decision to build a new stadium. Kovács is the man, without him we would be in a difficult situation. Edited May 3 by CDGBruno 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Cultured Left Foot Posted May 3 Popular Post Share Posted May 3 (edited) If you'd like to follow this Youth Academy Challenge in more detial, its a series on my YouTube channel : http://www.YouTube.com/c/CulturedLeftFoot C.D. Toledo - SEASON 20 (The Catch Up Review) So, its been a while since you've had an update from me ont he forums. The save hasn't not died and the challenge continues. We've progressed 20 seasons and are now a force in La Liga. But rather than giving an update every season as most do, I'm giving update every 10 or 20 years ! The save has been great fun and really enjoyable and the club have climbed from strength to strength over the years. Climbing from the reaches of non-league to La Liga. We've secured 3 4th places finishes in the La Liga since we gained promotion to the top flight. Our last season was our best season in terms of points and wins - we've still got some catching up to do to Real Madrid, but we're making solid progress. Of course, over the time of 20 years we've made some amazing improvements to the club in terms of facilities and finances. We've also manage to become a club legend and all but one name on the lise (Raul Bravo) is a product of our Youth Academy save. The key players now that we are in the La Liga are our three Spanish superstars. Joe Page* (named after a Patreon), Pedro Moreria and Miguel Moreno. And that, after 19 seasons, is where we currently stand. One final snapshot of the club overview. I'll be back for another update in 10 seasons time ! Onwards we go for the Champions League and La Liga titles ! If you'd like to follow this Youth Academy Challenge in more detial, its a series on my YouTube channel : http://www.YouTube.com/c/CulturedLeftFoot Edited May 3 by Cultured Left Foot Tidy up 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
resurectedja Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 Keep it up @Padders!! If there is one person I desperately want to complete this challenge its you mate! Anxiously awaiting every update. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanziZoloman Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 @skills great team you‘d build over the years. My players are not that far away from you but I guess you take a lot of risks tactically. Congratulations for going up with this bunch. I had one spell of Championship Football with a team coming up from EFL Two, back to back promotions, but went down and never came back. I wish you the best of luck 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAwtunes Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 6 hours ago, SkiIIs said: Never done a post like this but thought it was worthy as I'm quite proud of these lads... note im saying this before kicking a ball in the premier league and my view could change very quickly! In goals we have the one time capped Greek International Theofanis Dalamitras 32A who played about two thirds of the season. He was injured in the middle of the season and our 19 year old German keeper deputised whilst he was injured and did a really good job and kept Theo on the bench. We play an attacking brand of football and we do leak a lot of goals but he will be key for us if we are to stay up next year. Alex McParland 34E is our right back who has really developed and made this position his own over the past couple years. Still think there is more to come from him as he can sometimes rate poorly even in solid wins. Charlie Cooper 35A is our first choice left back playing his second full season with us. As an 18yo in League 1, out of necessity he was thrown into the squad early and has done ok. We dont really have much competition for him and so had to play him even when his form was a little off this season. We're working on his forward output and would love to see more assists to his name. Our best centre back is Leighton Truffas 31C. Somehow we've managed to keep him on the books having to fight back numerous offers over the years. His rating isnt great but thats a bit of a result of how we play. Was just about ever present over the season and is quite versatile if required. His main partner in CB is Tommy Malone 31E who has remained as unambitious which is probably why his physicals just havent developed over the years. Both my centre backs came in the same youth intake and have a great partnership in the heart of my defence. Tommy is usually the one sacrificed when I play my third rotational defender hence only starting 34 league games. I rotate my B2B midfielder as I have two equally as good players for this position, however Luke Harvey is my more defensive workhorse. Only league 26 starts is symbolic of how i try to rotate the team where I can but bobbed up with a few crucial goals and assists as well. Luke really came of age in his loan to Hyde as I never really had him earmarked for the first team before that even tho he was top of his class in 2030. Our Mezzala is probably pound for pound our best player. Can play both behind the striker and in our Mezzala role and really drives the team forward. He is also our penalty taker and does miss more than he scores which really annoys his coach and does hurt his overall rating (not at home in time of writing this so can state the figures but its not a good record). 30 goal contributions in 39 starts is an amazing season averaging almost a goal every third game out of midfield over his career for us. Our right wing is one of our weakest positions and is currently filled by Josh Hamilton 35F. Gave this kid a lot of game time this year as we really do lack depth on the right and when available, he did quite well. Started the season strong but then was injured and never really found the form that we know he's capable of after that. Andrew Rees 31D is our left wing and came out of that amazing intake of 2031. Started his junior days as a striker however I've retrained him as a left wing as we've generally had good depth of talents up front. His pace on the left is crucial in the way we play and broke the record of assist in the Championship this season with 26. I'd say he's not too far off being called up to the Wales national team if he can continue to perform well. Our Shadow Striker is Leighton Dorney 33A who replaced Cole Hay this year. Similar to Rees, his best position is up front and you can tell by his attributes below that he's made to be an Advanced Forward but we had a hole to fill and he filled it well. Was virtually ever present and definitely had his best ever and most consistent season for us to date. Had previously played him up front and never really scored as many as you'd like when you play with 1 striker. Our record break and man of the moment is definitely Kyle Wood 34A. What an absolute breakout season he had. Scoring 40 (no penalties) in his first full season as a starter was an absolute stellar performance scoring many crucial goals and winners along the way. They were rarely in big batches but more spread out evenly just about every game which is what you like to see in this game. His goals will be crucial for us if we are to stay up next season. Love this 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HaylingZar Posted May 3 Popular Post Share Posted May 3 Macclesfield FC - 2029-30 Season - Season 6 - VNL (Tier 5) - 1st (Champions!) Season Update What a season! After 5 years in the national league, we're finally going up to the football leagues. It's a dream come true. Now hopefully I can get us promoted in fewer seasons this time. We started the season incredibly strongly, winning most of our games in the first few months. We went unbeaten in September and November. By the time January came around we were beginning to get some injuries and fatigue was ramping up so we ended up suffering a poor spell of form, but this year we had sufficient squad depth to rally and come back from it, keeping us top of the table by goal difference alone as we entered the last month of the season. In April, we lost 0-2 to Grimsby and beat Fylde 4-1, meaning a victory against Worthing would give us the title. So of course we naturally lost 0-4 against Worthing, which meant our fate was in our hands as we approached the final game of the season. Barring our goal difference being overturned, we needed only a point against Hartlepool, a team I traditionally always seem to lose against! For this game, I decided to employ a defensive formation, maximum time wasting, you know the drill. Despite pre-game hopes of a 0-0 draw, we were up 2-0 in the 90th minute, and with both teams scoring once post-90 minutes, it was little more than a consolation goal for Hartlepool as we ended the game 3-1, winning us the league. It was only at this point that I got the news that promotion rivals Dorking had failed to win their final game of the season, meaning the result we got was irrelevant! My board was so impressed with our performance that I was offered a new contract just 3 minutes post-game. Outside of the league, we were progressing well in the cups, but the fixture congestion was just getting too much. Our players were constantly playing with low condition and getting injured. We took a graceful exit from the FA Cup in the 4th round against Premier League side West Brom and then ducked out of the FA Trophy versus Concorde. I was hoping to win the Trophy before we left the national leagues but I didn't want to be stretched so thin, so an exit was probably the best strategy. There will be plenty more trophies to win down the line, I'm sure. Next season will be a struggle, for sure. Most of my players are around the level of "Leading National League North/South Player", with our best players being "Good National League Player". I don't have anyone that's "Leading National League" or above. This will prove to be a challenge, but I'm confident in my squad and believe that we can battle to avoid relegation. National League truly is hell to get out of, so I'm determined to never come back here! Youth Candidates A fairly bad year for Youth, with only 3 potentially good players compared to 11 last year. No one that is ready to contribute to the first team yet, even from the bench. I'm worried that this is a sign of things to come, but we will see. Key Player I want to shout out Dave Richardson, he's been great for us this season on the right wing, although I wish we could develop his weaker foot a bit more as I like to play inside forwards. Hot Prospect We didn't get anyone good in our Youth Intake this year, but I'd like to draw attention to our young Gibraltarian striker Josh Stewart. He's performed very well for us this season, scoring 14 goals in 30 appearances, and has just recently made his first senior international cap for Gibraltar (the first player in my team to ever make a senior international cap!). His development is coming along very nicely. My favourite attributes of his are of course his rapid pace but also his great personality: 16 determination and 15 teamwork / leadership. He could easily become a strong candidate for captaincy down the line. Transfers We sold one youth player with a horrible personality, and released another who looked like he wasn't going to make it. Apart from that it's just loans and more loans. Spoiler Squad I'm going to let a lot of the original squad go at the end of this season, so we will be left with just one actual player and the rest is newgens. This squad is going to find it tough in League 2, but I believe we can survive! Spoiler League Table Promotion by winning the league feels amazing. I hate playoffs. Spoiler Club Info We've made some investments into youth facilities and also improved our youth recruitment as it had dropped down a level. We are now a professional club so our players can actually train in the season! I also got my Continental C license which doubled my discipline attribute. I think it's because I chose "disciplinarian" as my management style at the beginning, didn't realise it made that big of an impact! Maybe this means my players will stop coming to me with pointless problems. Spoiler Finances Finally, the finances are looking alright for now, although running a professional club can get expensive we should also be making a bit more money from playing in League 2 next season. Spoiler Thanks all for reading, and I hope to update you again soon after my next season. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post XaW Posted May 3 Popular Post Share Posted May 3 Loved that player update @skills, so you inspired me to do the same for my best players! He is our first choice goalkeeper and has been really good for us. His issue has been his handling, which I've worked on for years and it has slowly improved, but other than that, I can't complain much. His understudy is Peter Bedia 31c who looks very promising. No surprise who our right back is. He is just becoming a beast, even if his speed is lower than I would ideally want. Left back is probably the weakest position for us, but his high mentals means he can usually do well enough. Our best defender, and have you ever seen a more stereotypical lower Premier League defender? Just the type we need in order to battle for survival. The other central defender and they've ben a great duo for a few years now. We also have Jackson Caldwell 30b being an option for both the right back and central defender. The DM in my 4-3-3 DM Wide, and the link between defenders and midfielders. He is a work horse and does his job well. I'd like him to be a better passer, but it is what it is. The other work horse, ball winning midfielder, in my tactic he is one of those who just do a job and let the others be flashy. The more attacking alibi of the midfielders. I'd like him to be better going forward, but as a two-way player he does well. Probably our best player. A physical monster out on the wing who bullies full backs both on ground and in the air. The wide player on the left who are really good, but haven't really done as well as I would like to see. I have John Hurst 33a and Friday Shehu 31d waiting in the wings ready to replace him if he doesn't deliver. Up top we have our main striker for many years. His only drawback is that he is not a natural finisher, so working on first time shots can possible help that... He is an excellent player, and the other options for a striker is a bit lacking, so I can see him being the main scorer for many years still. I think those are the main 11 and some subs, so sorry for stealing your shine @SkiIIs, but remember imitation is the most sincere form of flattery! 17 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The7Striker Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 Here I am trying to get a save without getting fired or the team losing confidence in me, and there's a guy with a dancing avatar called @XaW climbing the English pyramid like there's no tomorrow. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padders Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 8 hours ago, SkiIIs said: Never done a post like this but thought it was worthy as I'm quite proud of these lads... note im saying this before kicking a ball in the premier league and my view could change very quickly! In goals we have the one time capped Greek International Theofanis Dalamitras 32A who played about two thirds of the season. He was injured in the middle of the season and our 19 year old German keeper deputised whilst he was injured and did a really good job and kept Theo on the bench. We play an attacking brand of football and we do leak a lot of goals but he will be key for us if we are to stay up next year. Alex McParland 34E is our right back who has really developed and made this position his own over the past couple years. Still think there is more to come from him as he can sometimes rate poorly even in solid wins. Charlie Cooper 35A is our first choice left back playing his second full season with us. As an 18yo in League 1, out of necessity he was thrown into the squad early and has done ok. We dont really have much competition for him and so had to play him even when his form was a little off this season. We're working on his forward output and would love to see more assists to his name. Our best centre back is Leighton Truffas 31C. Somehow we've managed to keep him on the books having to fight back numerous offers over the years. His rating isnt great but thats a bit of a result of how we play. Was just about ever present over the season and is quite versatile if required. His main partner in CB is Tommy Malone 31E who has remained as unambitious which is probably why his physicals just havent developed over the years. Both my centre backs came in the same youth intake and have a great partnership in the heart of my defence. Tommy is usually the one sacrificed when I play my third rotational defender hence only starting 34 league games. I rotate my B2B midfielder as I have two equally as good players for this position, however Luke Harvey is my more defensive workhorse. Only league 26 starts is symbolic of how i try to rotate the team where I can but bobbed up with a few crucial goals and assists as well. Luke really came of age in his loan to Hyde as I never really had him earmarked for the first team before that even tho he was top of his class in 2030. Our Mezzala is probably pound for pound our best player. Can play both behind the striker and in our Mezzala role and really drives the team forward. He is also our penalty taker and does miss more than he scores which really annoys his coach and does hurt his overall rating (not at home in time of writing this so can state the figures but its not a good record). 30 goal contributions in 39 starts is an amazing season averaging almost a goal every third game out of midfield over his career for us. Our right wing is one of our weakest positions and is currently filled by Josh Hamilton 35F. Gave this kid a lot of game time this year as we really do lack depth on the right and when available, he did quite well. Started the season strong but then was injured and never really found the form that we know he's capable of after that. Andrew Rees 31D is our left wing and came out of that amazing intake of 2031. Started his junior days as a striker however I've retrained him as a left wing as we've generally had good depth of talents up front. His pace on the left is crucial in the way we play and broke the record of assist in the Championship this season with 26. I'd say he's not too far off being called up to the Wales national team if he can continue to perform well. Our Shadow Striker is Leighton Dorney 33A who replaced Cole Hay this year. Similar to Rees, his best position is up front and you can tell by his attributes below that he's made to be an Advanced Forward but we had a hole to fill and he filled it well. Was virtually ever present and definitely had his best ever and most consistent season for us to date. Had previously played him up front and never really scored as many as you'd like when you play with 1 striker. Our record break and man of the moment is definitely Kyle Wood 34A. What an absolute breakout season he had. Scoring 40 (no penalties) in his first full season as a starter was an absolute stellar performance scoring many crucial goals and winners along the way. They were rarely in big batches but more spread out evenly just about every game which is what you like to see in this game. His goals will be crucial for us if we are to stay up next season. Unbelievable players and great ages Can't say I have ever had such a good group at the same time 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Padders Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 1 hour ago, XaW said: Loved that player update @skills, so you inspired me to do the same for my best players! He is our first choice goalkeeper and has been really good for us. His issue has been his handling, which I've worked on for years and it has slowly improved, but other than that, I can't complain much. His understudy is Peter Bedia 31c who looks very promising. No surprise who our right back is. He is just becoming a beast, even if his speed is lower than I would ideally want. Left back is probably the weakest position for us, but his high mentals means he can usually do well enough. Our best defender, and have you ever seen a more stereotypical lower Premier League defender? Just the type we need in order to battle for survival. The other central defender and they've ben a great duo for a few years now. We also have Jackson Caldwell 30b being an option for both the right back and central defender. The DM in my 4-3-3 DM Wide, and the link between defenders and midfielders. He is a work horse and does his job well. I'd like him to be a better passer, but it is what it is. The other work horse, ball winning midfielder, in my tactic he is one of those who just do a job and let the others be flashy. The more attacking alibi of the midfielders. I'd like him to be better going forward, but as a two-way player he does well. Probably our best player. A physical monster out on the wing who bullies full backs both on ground and in the air. The wide player on the left who are really good, but haven't really done as well as I would like to see. I have John Hurst 33a and Friday Shehu 31d waiting in the wings ready to replace him if he doesn't deliver. Up top we have our main striker for many years. His only drawback is that he is not a natural finisher, so working on first time shots can possible help that... He is an excellent player, and the other options for a striker is a bit lacking, so I can see him being the main scorer for many years still. I think those are the main 11 and some subs, so sorry for stealing your shine @SkiIIs, but remember imitation is the most sincere form of flattery! Another great group of players Why do I never get this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Padders Posted May 3 Popular Post Share Posted May 3 (edited) Season 105 - 2127/28 - SBC A really poor season. not helping that I didn't notice my tactics were still defensive style from end of the PL season I was watching the games and thinking why aren't we pressing! A really poor intake Edited May 3 by Padders 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Padders Posted May 3 Popular Post Share Posted May 3 (edited) Dylan Cox has retired He went to Saudi after Real Madrid He finished England's all top scorer and most caps 172 goals in 189 caps Think he was potentially England's best ever player Even at 37 look at his stats! Unreal player Edited May 3 by Padders 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 19 minutes ago, The7Striker said: Here I am trying to get a save without getting fired or the team losing confidence in me, and there's a guy with a dancing avatar called @XaW climbing the English pyramid like there's no tomorrow. My first match in the Premier League was a good result too! But I think we will struggle this season... the Premier League is really hard! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAwtunes Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 9 minutes ago, Padders said: Another great group of players Why do I never get this Kids in your save are more interested in their hoverboards than old soccerball. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo_Geo Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 (edited) RECORD POINTS HAUL FOR CREWE UNITED AS EUROPEAN FOOTBALL STARTS An improvement of 1 position this year and an extra 16 points gained compared to last season and another European Place Play-Off win to return to the Europa Conference League qualifiers next season once more. I'm still getting beaten by the professional teams more often than not but I have started to get some points against them this season. Northern Ireland is an interesting league because there is such a gulf in class between the top teams and the rest and it's just a case of plugging away and hoping for the best with the intakes to bridge that gap before thinking of winning the league. Our first foray into European football was better than expected. In the first qualifying round we hammered FC Santa Coloma of Andorra 10-2 on aggregate to set ourselves up against Valur of Iceland and this is where I thought the adventure would end however a confident 2-0 win at home gave me hope that we might just sneak through and we did with a 2-1 loss in Iceland (in both games the xG was almost bang on though they were just under 1 in the first leg and that clean sheet ultimately ,made the difference). Just before the second leg Johnny Barr Y4-A left for Aberdeen after I had finally managed to get a deal with 50% of his next transfer (as the fees for a semi pro club in Northern Ireland are too low to even care about now that I have a season of European prize money coming in). Hopefully Barr will get on well and bag a move elsewhere but for now he's been in their Reserves all season and scoring pretty well. His contract was up at the end of the season as was Sam Knox Y4-A who I felt I was prepared to keep and lose for nothing as I couldn't let two strikers of that quality go. The third qualifying round was against Standard and we got taught a lesson with a 6-3 aggregate loss which could have been much, much more with Dobson Y5-Apulling a 7.6 out of the bag in the away tie even though he conceded 4! At this stage it doesn't bother me much I know the squad isn't good enough to make any real progress in Europe and I'm delighted to just qualify and put the money to good use. It was however nice to see that the review of the Europa Conference League identified Crewe United as the biggest overachievers In the cups we failed to reach our 4th Clearer Water Irish Cup Final in a row as we were put out by Larne in the Quarter Final but we got our revenge by beating them in the European Place Play-Off final which obviously was the more important of the two ties. CLUB NEWS Spoiler Thanks to the money from the European "run" our balance had increased to £1.5m at its peak which of course meant I had to request Training Facilities to be improved (as well as Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment). I had to persuade the Chairperson for the Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment but this is now par for the course for these improvements to go ahead. We are still semi-pro as the financial projection is still on a downward trajectory and obviously qualifying for Europe isn't a given by any stretch of the imagination therefore we have no guarantees we could stay in the black as a result. The stadium remains unchanged since the improvements required upon promotion to the Premiership and we are currently getting around 900 supporters in on average (45% of capacity) but selling out against Linfield so comfortable staying like this for the foreseeable. SQUAD AND TACTICS Spoiler I've added this section in now as I expect where the save is just now this will become more interesting as time progresses. In the previous season we shipped too many goals and it wasn't just the top teams (76 goals in 38 games so 2 goals a game conceded) so I opted to bring my wingers back and also stopped with the offsetting of the central players as I started to get my DM to man mark any opponents that played an AMC. The big teams still find ways to punish me as my defence just isn't as good as my attack and I notoriously concede from crosses to the back post where my fullbacks just aren't capable of defending. I've dabbled with the idea of playing 3 at the back or to re-train some of the central defenders who are good in the air to be fullbacks but I'm still relying on the wings for most of my attacking play. I was fully expecting to end the season with Sam Knox Y4-A leaving on a free. For months he would not talk due to the fact I extended his contract but around February of this season he put that issue behind him and I thought "Great, lets get that contract extended" to which his agent informed me he wasn't interested as the squad wasn't strong enough (he's right as Knox at this point was head and shoulders above the majority of the squad). Once the season ended however (possibly due to the Youth Intake) Knox was prepared to talk. By this point Kilmarnock, St Johnstone and St Mirren had all been interested in him with only St Mirren remaining and fortunately this interest was not enough to stop him from negotiating although I had to add a few promises into the mix before we could talk about the contract itself. I've had to make him the highest paid player at the club and with the agent limiting the contract to 1 year I added in an extension after league games (as he can't be annoyed about that extension taking place!). The squad as a whole is starting to take shape but there are too many areas of weakness and nowhere near enough depth to think that I've got a clear path to challenging for a top 3 position just yet. The other saga that I have been facing is Star Players complaining about not getting enough game time because I rotated when they were just below 90% condition. Not sure if this version is worse than FM23 but its incredibly unrealistic that when I promise to play them and drop them for 1 match out of about 12 they complain once more that the promise was not kept, so I have to end up playing them until they flag as needing a rest then tell them I am going to rest them. The issue is probably making them a Star Player but when they demand it at the contract stage because they quite literally are a star player compared to the rest of the squad you have to go with it. The issue is managing this going forward as their relative ability drops and they become important or squad players. I managed to handle Dwayne McDonald Y1-A however Dean Sloan Y1-A is out of contract in about 5 days time as I write this and the promise of more game time has 100 days left. He won't negotiate and when he is free to leave I suspect he will do just that which will be annoying as he started 31 league games out of 38 last year but its still not enough. It makes it harder to develop his understudy as well if I can't start them in any matches. YOUTH INTAKE Spoiler Intake preview was ok and having an A for a striker was the main feature of this preview as having lost Barr Y4-A and expecting Knox Y4-A to leave it was vital I had someone to partner Tim Leacock Y5-A to continue to have enough quality up front to stay up in the division. When the intake dropped so did my jaw! Step forward Curtis Graham Y6-A, a 5 star current ability graduate who at this level was more than the finished article at just 15 years old. This one really excited me as this is without a doubt the best graduate of the save and it looked like a godsend with my 2 strikers looking like they wouldn't be here in Season 7. The rest of the intake was good and getting another centreback who could potentially hit 5 stars is great given it is a weak area of the team. I had another 2 star potential striker in Alan McLean Y6-A who definitely fits the poacher mould with good finishing, off the ball and acceleration. If I could have been really greedy it would have been to have a 2.5 or 3 star current ability goalkeeper as again thats an area where the squad is a little light. Not long after the intake this came in: As I said earlier the fees on offer are derisory but for Newcastle to come in for him I'm thinking he's got to be special. The next sale potential for a player like this probably isn't that great if a team like Newcastle sign him unless he's that good that the elite clubs come in for him in the future. Ideally it would be a championship club coming in with an offer and getting the 50% of next sale clause in there as the Premiership move will be much greater from the Championship than selling directly from Northern Ireland. When Barr Y4-A left for Aberdeen his upper transfer value was £4.7m which if he ever gets that kind of fee leaving there I'd be delighted. It's worth noting that Graham Y6-A at 16 years old has 1 U21 cap and scored as well, so I fully expect him to be the first full international of the save and be gone from here in a season or two, just have to enjoy him while I can! ADMIN Spoiler Johnny Barr Y4-A's sale and the 2 loans with confirmation of zero signings NEXT SEASON Spoiler As a rework of the update format I've moved the schedule from season 6 in here: Next season will all be about trying to get the European place again, the Europa Conference League draw has me up against Tre Penne of San Marino with the winner facing Lugano of Switzerland so I reckon there is no way we get past the 2nd round. I think I have the firepower this year to score at will and the wide players are improving but the centre of the park and defence is definitely an area for concern so if I finish 4th again and manage to get into Europe I'd be delighted. Edited May 3 by Neo_Geo 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CDGBruno Posted May 3 Popular Post Share Posted May 3 (edited) PUTNOK FC SEASON 3 - 26/27 A better position than the previous season, moving up. Korbely stole the position from Kováçs and became the man of the season. This season's intake did not show any elite players A new improvement in recruitment. New stadium cost details and capacity announced. Edited May 3 by CDGBruno 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh__ Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 Guys I need help... I am in sweden 2029 and my U19 team is still not in the youth league, I can see that other youth teams are getting "promoted" and "relegated" each season from the lowest tier of the youth league pyramid but my U19 never get "promoted" or invitied, and I can't find anything that I can do to get my team into the youth league? Anyone know how I can get my team into the youth league? My Youth facilities is 4, youth recruitment is 6 and junior coaching is 14. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post CDGBruno Posted May 3 Popular Post Share Posted May 3 (edited) PUTNOK FC SEASON 4 - 27/28 An outstanding season, we were perfect in the league, Ferencváros is unbeatable at the moment, but we managed to beat them once, we will have European football for the first time. Korbely had another sensational season and was our main man. And we finally had a newgen debuting and in great style, Boros can grow and help the team a lot, perhaps it will be difficult to keep him for a long time. No talent that attracts attention at the start of this season. Edited May 3 by CDGBruno 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrobertgordon13 Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 12 hours ago, Padders said: Dylan Cox has retired He went to Saudi after Real Madrid He finished England's all top scorer and most caps 172 goals in 189 caps Think he was potentially England's best ever player Even at 37 look at his stats! Unreal player If he becomes a staff member you should try signing him Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahzun_Savas Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 13 hours ago, jrobertgordon13 said: If he becomes a staff member you should try signing him Is there any benefit to signing ex-players as staff if they are poor staff? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post libbyshuss Posted May 4 Popular Post Share Posted May 4 Belgium - Lyra Lierse - 2059/60 Season Summary Pro Jupiler League - RUNNERS UP Really frustrating, we should have won it easily. By christmas we were at least 9 points clear but then had absolute brain fart and threw it all away. To be honest, in Belgium it doesn't really matter as the Championship group is effectively worth double points and it's there that we've won the title before. This year though, we struggled, only winning 4 out of the ten matches. But we played leaders Kortrik on the final day of the season - win and we'd be champions! we drew.... Champions League We started brilliantly! and then..... eep. Still qualified for the knock out round and actually put up a pretty good fight against Arsenal but just didn't quite have enough Croky Cup We won it but really, who cares? Players Top Scorer: Sam Straetman 51A - 40 in 46 games Top Assists: Sam Straetman 51A - 14 in 46 games Turning into an absolute superstar, and just signed an 8 year contract as well. 30 Belgian caps at only 24 as well, I got high hopes he could become our all time top player. Look how good he looks now Wonderkids One problem is the ludicrous number of huge potential youth players atm. I can't play them all! but these two made the NxGN list, which was nice Adam Daniels 57D - left back and left winger who I gave the first choice left back slot too. He did pretty amazing all told. Still only 18 and a very high ceiling in terms of ability Svenne Schlabertz 55A - a real conundrum this one. Clearly really talented, but an absolute toilet of a person. Has so far missed FIVE matches as he's been seen falling out of nightclubs the night before. He's been mentored by our most professional pros but he needs to sort his nonsense out. Especially as he's now a bone fide wonderkid! Youth After three ridculously good intakes I was looking forward to another amazing intake. And given that 3 star CA these days makes a star Pro Jupiler League player even top talents could be great. So what did i get? Mateo Pinto looks like he could be a real star in the future, although he'll have a job shifting my first choice keeper who is also Belgium's first choice. He's class! Career 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Koetzer Posted May 4 Popular Post Share Posted May 4 Livorno | Season 2035/36 | Serie B The first half of our debut season was incredibly good – we were leading at the end of January, but could only win four games after it and almost lost the playoff spot (had no chances there anyway). The xG table puts us on 5th place though, so we played better than the actual result (which could be expected with one of the weakest squads in division). Coppa Italia We defeated a Serie A team! Bologna didn’t field their best squad, but that's not our problem anyway. And a shootout win over Pescara led us to the toughest opposition so far, the game at Diego Maradona stadium was decided quickly (Hojlund needed 30 minutes for a hat-trick) however we managed to score three after it. Squad stats S.Rizza *31a – our MVP of this season, played either mezzala or AP on the left wing and was equally good on these positions. F.Rossini *26a – struggled to perform on a higher level, but still scored a half of his usual goals number from Serie C. G.Sabba *30a – a new starting left-back and our best assistant. P.Fabbrizzi *29e – had a great start of his debut first team season (that was the reason why I moved Rizza to the left wing for a while, they both deserved a place in first 11), wasn't as impessive in spring but the same can be said about almost everyone. W.Renai *32b – our best center-back now, though he's wanted by Serie A and EPL clubs so may leave quite soon. Transfers Youth intake (preview) Falomi *36a | Ragusa *36b | Imbimbo *36c | Grazi *36d Third intake in a row with a promising goalkeeper, guess we shouldn’t worry for this position now. First academy upgrade in years! 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrobertgordon13 Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 (edited) 6 hours ago, Mahzun_Savas said: Is there any benefit to signing ex-players as staff if they are poor staff? It’s really just for name recognition, but some people do it anyways. Plus there’s always that change of one of your former players being a good staff member Edited May 4 by jrobertgordon13 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahzun_Savas Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 Just now, jrobertgordon13 said: It’s really just for name recognition, but some people do it anyways Thank you 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ron_Swanson Posted May 4 Popular Post Share Posted May 4 [FM23] Reymersholms IK - season 35 - 2057 Only one youngster worth mentioning, second best is unambitious so no high expectations and again lacking good defensive players Another title after leading for almost entire season but Hammarby were always close behind. On top of that we won the domestic cup and we're still in Champions League so a magnificent season for us. Stefanos Anagnostidis is not stopping at all breaking club record with 45 goals scored. Our whole offensive lineup is doing quite an impressive job. Club's new stadium was finally completed and it was 99% filled the entire time so board agreed to expand it right away, +4k seat at first but at the end of season we're getting +7k 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaylingZar Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 Question: If I sell a player am I permitted to sell with the "Loan Back Until End Of Season" clause, or would that invalidate the challenge as it counts as a loan in? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The7Striker Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 6 minutos atrás, HaylingZar disse: Question: If I sell a player am I permitted to sell with the "Loan Back Until End Of Season" clause, or would that invalidate the challenge as it counts as a loan in? You can't unless the offer is non-negotiable by the other side. If it is, you'll have to print out the offer and you can't use the player in official matches, and you'll also have to print it out at the end of the season. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
diegolawliet Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 AFC Telford United (Season 1 - 2024/25) Yes. Third try in only two forum pages. It only makes sense if you read me when I said I'm the worst FM player in the world. I won't stop, I want a long save, I want to achieve something. So, here I am. Let's try with England, the country with the most success ratio in this topic. I've chosen AFC Telford United because of its facilities plus youth recruitment. It was the best option. 24 teams in the Vanarama National League North, 4 of them will be relegated at the end of the season. It can't be so difficult, god. The season preview places us in the 19th place. It would be amazing. We have 24 players in the squad. 23 if we don't count Reece Styche, who's retiring in a few days. We must keep all the other players. It's crucial, especially in the first season. In the future it won't be so important because we are receiving new players every season, but the first 9 months we can't sign anyone. There are five wanted players: Dinanga, Bood, Walker, Whitty and Scott. Ricardo Dinanga is also our best player. Double reason to keep him. As always, I'll make my own report and create a tactic based on that. I'm going to do something different if I don't want to be relegated once again, but I'm not sure what yet. [+] Diego Castillo Flores' profile [+] AFC Telford United's finances 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice029 Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 One small step. I haven't updated much (if anything at all) but the youth-only Romania edition team just won the first european title in the year 2044. UCL and first to do Romania here I come! 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaylingZar Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 (edited) Macclesfield FC - 2030-31 Season - Season 7 - Sky Bet League 2 (Tier 4) - 5th (Lost in Playoff Semi-Final) Season Update It seems like we have a habit of having a great season immediately following promotion. When we got first promoted into the national league we finished second place in our first season, although it took us 4 more years to get out of that league! This season, we continued that trend with a strong finish. I can only hope that it doesn't become a habit to spend 5 years in each league. Despite what looks like a great performance overall, I was devastatingly let down by the team when it mattered and endured one of the most frustrating experiences I've encountered in my time playing the game. At one point, I genuinely considered putting the game down and having a few weeks off. Still, I've learned a lot and will put these experiences towards a better season next time out. In the off-season, I worked on tinkering with my tactics and developed what felt like a strong playing style. With our club's professional status secured, I also put together some training plans for the upcoming season. After 6 seasons of being unable to train my players properly, this would turn out to be a godsend. I could now focus our training on the key areas for improvement and ensure players were sufficiently rested between matches. I attribute the majority of our subsequent success to this. We started the season decently enough, losing just one of the first 11 league games (although we drew most). Our form picked up in earnest around November (I feel like I say this a lot!) a month in which we won 4 and drew 1 game. This strong spell of form continued into the new year, and suddenly an unlikely promotion looked to be on the cards. As we approached the end of the January transfer window, we were second in the league table and had convincingly won our last 4 league games, including a 7-1 battering of Yeovil and a humbling of fellow promotion rivals Swindon. Our morale was high, everyone was pulling in the right direction, and with the momentum we had, it felt like almost a certainty that we would be playing in League 1 next year. Then, it happened. My captain - Rainford comes to me along with almost every single member of the first team. "Boss, we need to talk about the lack of sufficient quality squad depth in the goalkeeping department". He was right to an extent, our keeper wasn't technically a League 2-level player, more of a VNL keeper. But who cares, he's doing decently enough, we're outscoring the other teams, and we are riding high at the top of the league! Why come to me now? Of course, I couldn't promise to sign new keepers, so I said what was true - I'd like to give some time to youth prospects between the sticks and see how they develop. This did little to placate the troubled captain, and in one fell swoop, the entire squad's morale went from Perfect to Abysmal. I was crushed. We had been on course for a memorable promotion challenge, and with one minor issue, the entire squad became miserable. Of course, following this, we lost 7 of our remaining games (more than we had lost all season up to that point!), dropping us out of the automatic promotion spots and ensuring that we were playoff-bound instead. The misery continued as we lost 0-3 away in the first leg of the playoff semi-final, and subsequently lost 0-2 in the second leg, confirming our status as a League 2 side next season. Don't you just love player interactions? So that brings us to now. A promotion challenge that looked impossible at the start of the season, looked guaranteed halfway through the season, and felt snatched away from our fingertips so unfairly at the last minute. Anyway, enough moaning. Let's get into the fun stuff. Youth Candidates Another year with no improvements to our Youth system, so I'm not surprised that our intake is slightly worse than last year's. Only 2 good talents compared to 3 the year before (and 11 the year before that!) Polat has a good personality and looks like he could be a rotational option for Davies on the left fullback position, while Hopkins joins what feels like a dozen strikers in a battle for 2 spaces in the lineup. Key Player Last season's Hot Prospect becomes this season's key player as Stewart cements his position as our best striker. 31 goals in 46 is simply sublime. He also scored his first goals for his country! #ProudDadMoment Hot Prospect From our Youth Intake this year we get 16-year-old Welsh striker Hopkins, he's already made his mark on the team with 2 goals in his first 5 appearances. While he doesn't especially stand out attribute-wise, he is fairly well-rounded as a striker and has a lot of room to develop in future. He could be a solid rotational option on the bench for now. Transfers Fortunately didn't have to sell anyone this year. Spoiler Squad I have a love-hate relationship with these guys. They bring me joy with their ridiculous 90+7 winners and misery with their pointless inane issues. Spoiler League Table God I hate playoffs Spoiler Club Info We finished some improvements to our training facilities started last season. We also started expanding the stadium. I got my Continental B licence and started on my A. Spoiler Finances The financial situation is starting to look... Worrying at best. At least we've got 2 million quid lying around in the transfer budget... Spoiler Thanks all for reading, and I hope to update you again soon after my next season. Spoiler Edited May 5 by HaylingZar 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanziZoloman Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 vor 21 Stunden schrieb Mahzun_Savas: Is there any benefit to signing ex-players as staff if they are poor staff? sure, it looks amazing. My stadium is even named after my best striker Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanziZoloman Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 vor 35 Minuten schrieb HaylingZar: Then, it happened. My captain - Rainford comes to me along with almost every single member of the first team. "Boss, we need to talk about the lack of sufficient quality squad depth in the goalkeeping department". He was right to an extent, our keeper wasn't technically a League 2-level player, more of a VNL keeper. But who cares, he's doing decently enough, we're outscoring the other teams, and we are riding high at the top of the league! Why come to me now? Of course, I couldn't promise to sign new keepers, so I said what was true - I'd like to give some time to youth prospects between the sticks and see how they develop. This did little to placate the troubled captain, and in one fell swoop, the entire squad's morale went from Perfect to Abysmal. I was crushed. We had been on course for a memorable promotion challenge, and with one minor issue, the entire squad became miserable. Of course, following this, we lost 7 of our remaining games (more than we had lost all season up to that point!), dropping us out of the automatic promotion spots and ensuring that we were playoff-bound instead. The misery continued as we lost 0-3 away in the first leg of the playoff semi-final, and subsequently lost 0-2 in the second leg, confirming our status as a League 2 side next season. Noooooo That's the beauty/ beast side of the game. Keep my fingers crossed for you, that you can work it through with your lads. Teamtalks, teamtalks ... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaylingZar Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 10 minutes ago, HanziZoloman said: Noooooo That's the beauty/ beast side of the game. Keep my fingers crossed for you, that you can work it through with your lads. Teamtalks, teamtalks ... Thank you for your condolences! I am already part way through the next season and things are looking a lot brighter! New update coming soon... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrobertgordon13 Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 Poole Town - 2024/25 League - 9th FA Cup - L in Fourth Qualifying Round vs Wealdstone FA Trophy - L in Second Round vs Eastbourne Borough (The Screenshots may be small, this save is on my phone) 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Ice029 Posted May 5 Popular Post Share Posted May 5 (edited) @darren1983 do I get a cookie? Spoiler Team name for the leaderboards: CSM Bucovina Rădăuţi Spoiler It started in FM23 (see below) and them I moved to FM24 when the game released. Transfers: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1N7iGA4KCCJ3eoxM9z3jAwmd9R4xEJSBH?usp=sharing (read that no transfers were made other than season 1 when the team was not playable) For everything else there is another day, I will go celebrate now. Edited May 5 by Ice029 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
darren1983 Posted May 5 Author Share Posted May 5 2 hours ago, Ice029 said: @darren1983 do I get a cookie? Hide contents Team name for the leaderboards: CSM Bucovina Rădăuţi Hide contents It started in FM23 (see below) and them I moved to FM24 when the game released. Transfers: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1N7iGA4KCCJ3eoxM9z3jAwmd9R4xEJSBH?usp=sharing (read that no transfers were made other than season 1 when the team was not playable) For everything else there is another day, I will go celebrate now. No cookie I'm afraid but I do offer my congratulations and a spot in the HoF Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDGBruno Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 (edited) PUTNOK FC SEASON 5 - 28/29 Cup champions, highlighting the clash against Ferecváros. we finished 4th in the league. Many improvements this season, the future is promising. No great talent that attracts attention in the new intake of young people. Young players who will join the first team this season, I had a problem with Newgan and the face of Boros changed, by the way he was our player of the season. Edited May 6 by CDGBruno 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neo_Geo Posted May 5 Share Posted May 5 BEST OF THE REST FOR CREWE UNITED LEAGUE Spoiler A superb effort from the squad as we finished runner up Linfield who have now won 3 in a row. It was only 6 points in the end but in head to head matches Linfield are still getting the better of me and until I can improve the keeper, defence and central midfield I suspect it will remain this way. From match day 8 we stayed in second place apart from one week dropping to third then back up again the next week so it was a well deserved second place finish. The change in tactics once again led to fewer goals conceded with 52 this year (a drop of 9 from last season) and a big increase in goals scored of 12 to 95 this year. Graham Y6-A and Knox Y4-A have been in fine goalscoring form with 66 goals between them but Tim Leacock Y5-A has done his fair share too with 22 goals, so scoring goals has not been a big problem. Holding onto Graham Y6-A will be a big task as Spurs are now interested and its only a matter of time before he says he wants to talk. DOMESTIC CUPS Spoiler Two semi-final knock outs to and a runner up in the League Cup is fine, its not my focus at this moment in time and the league is absolutely the priority if I want to start making progress in Europe. I lost to Linfield in one semi final and the league cup final and Portadown in the Mid Ulster Cup which I wasn't too pleased about but this save has the potential to rumble on for some time so I am sure I'll have plenty more opportunities to fill up the trophy cabinet. EUROPE Spoiler I mentioned in my last update that I was drawn against Tre Penne of San Marino and if I got through Lugano of Switzerland. It went largely as I expected with a 9-2 aggregate win over Tre Penne before losing 6-4 on aggregate to Lugano (including a 4-3 home win!). The money went straight towards the improvement of the training facilities and at the moment I am able to do one per European run so the priority right now is to continue to qualify for Europe each season. I'll need a fair bit of luck to progress at this stage as drawing a Swiss side was always going to end this way. CLUB NEWS Spoiler Junior Coaching was maxed out over the last summer but I forgot to screenshot the agreement from the board. Youth Recruitment has now improved to 17 which means I'm getting closer to my initial target of maxing out these two given they don't require upfront capital in order to achieve this. The training facilities I thought I had requested just after the European money came in but I felt like I never saw the decision from the board, there was no sign of it in the board details but it was no longer on the list of requests to make. I was a bit worried as one of the promises to Knox Y4-A when he signed a new deal was to improve the training facilities. Luckily in November it appeared again and the board approved without me needing to fight my case. I feel we are really starting to take shape now. Dean Sloan Y1-A decided to leave the club despite playing a large number of games it wasn't enough for him and he left when his contract ended in June. I'd have happily kept him on but he ended up dropping a division to sign for Ballymena United. BEST ELEVEN Spoiler Inspired but other posts and to help those that want to get to know my team a little more I've decided to put the profiles of each of the Best Eleven from each season into these updates: Goalkeeper Right Back Left Back Centre Backs Defensive Mid Central Mid Right Mid Left Wing Centre Forwards Here are the player records at the end of Season 7 YOUTH INTAKE Spoiler I was very pleased for the preview to show that a central defender was expected to come in with an A as I felt the number of goals being conceded was still to much to consider myself ready for a title challenge or any sort of progress in Europe. Keith Brown Y7-A didn't disappoint. 6 foot 2 and fairly determined he has great mentals and average physical and technical abilities. A jumping reach of 16 as well will make him a threat in the air if I can get his heading improved. A left back that can play with either foot will give me some much appreciated versatility in the fullback position and James Barr Y7-A looks like a good prospect in the middle of the park where I have really struggled for any quality relative to the forward line. What has been good to see is the Reserve team doing much better in their league, finishing 4th this year compared to 9th last year. ADMIN Spoiler NEXT SEASON Spoiler Pray for a kind draw in Europe to perhaps make the third or fourth qualifying round, keep a hold of Curtis Graham Y6-A and Sam Knox Y4-A for at least one more season and also potentially push for a change to professional status. I'm not bothered about the cups domestically but I would like to finish in the automatic European place again in the league. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkiIIs Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 On 05/05/2024 at 06:24, HaylingZar said: Question: If I sell a player am I permitted to sell with the "Loan Back Until End Of Season" clause, or would that invalidate the challenge as it counts as a loan in? what I have found useful is to delay the transfer date to the end of the season. Especially on players where their contracts are running down and wont resign 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post XaW Posted May 6 Popular Post Share Posted May 6 James Nash 31a is now considered a wonderkid! And considering he is already a "decent PL player" and my staff think he can improve a lot makes me hope he is a world beater, and I just tied him down to a 3+3 year deal! 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaylingZar Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 (edited) Macclesfield FC - 2031-32 Season - Season 8 - Sky Bet League 2 (Tier 4) - 1st (Champions!) Season Update Wow! What a season! After the tribulations of last season, I felt like we were sure to capitulate and spend the next few years hanging around League 2 as mid-table certainties, but we just proved anyone who doubted us wrong. We started the season on the wrong foot, experiencing yet more of the same issues - players crying about "lack of squad depth" causing poor morale once again. We took a couple of chance wins which helped float us around mid-table, but overall didn't look impressive. However, this changed in October when a couple of lucky wins boosted our morale just enough to go on a string of victories. Success begets success and we went on to win all but two games between then and the end of the year. Going into the new year period we were top of the table but some typical January form caused us to drop down just to second place. By resting our players we were able to shake off our jadedness and push on to the end of February. We were still second-placed but winning our next match would confirm promotion. We felt confident going in against bottom of the table York, and our confidence was raised further when Densmore scored an absolute rocket in the 9th minute. Hopkins followed it up with a nice header home from a cross just 3 minutes later, and though we were reduced to 10 men as Densmore was sent off for persistent fouling, we were able to hold strong and limit the opponents to a single goal, confirming our status as a League 1 team next season. We didn't stop there as title rivals Newport County dropped points in the penultimate match which we also won, putting us level on points going into the final game of the season, though we trailed on goal difference. The final game versus Exeter was a tough one, but when Defensive Midfielder McCarten curled home a lovely effort from outside the penalty area to put us 2-0 up, we were almost sure of the result. We conceded in the 88th minute as our keeper fumbled the ball but it was of no concern. We knew that anything short of a victory by promotion rivals Newport County would hand us the title, and the news came in - they had drawn on the final day! We were champions! While we dropped out early from all cup competitions to focus on the league, this seemed to have been the right decision. With the margins being so thin, one fewer goal in any number of matches could have been the difference-maker for the title. Youth Candidates This was an OK year for Youth, with a couple of decent-looking prospects but none ready for first-team minutes just yet. We still haven't improved our Youth system at all because our finances are in the mud. Hugo Rodrigues looks to be the most promising of the bunch. Key Player Am I allowed to highlight the same player twice? Well, I make the rules, so please welcome back Dave Richardson for his second appearance! What can I say about this kid that hasn't already been said? He's been in superb form for us this season yet again, even when he isn't scoring or making assists he's creating space and playing great passes for the team. There's a lot of interest in him from other clubs so it will take some effort to hang on to him. Hot Prospect Conor Hamilton is quickly becoming one of our best options up top, with 20 goal contributions in 28 starting appearances this season. His recent form has been nothing short of brilliant. He could become a key player for us. Transfers All good things must come to an end, and no matter what I said, Sivert Topper had his heart set on leaving. I agreed I'd only sell him for a high price, but unfortunately, the most I could negotiate with him was £900k - much lower than my valuation of him. In the end, he left to Ipswich for £900k +40% profit from next sale. Considering he is now worth £12-18M, that should be an extra £4.5-£7M assuming he is sold by Ipswich down the line, although we may sell the clause if we're not sure that it will be triggered. Spoiler Squad I wouldn't call this squad League 1 Material, hell most of them are hardly League 2 material, but we gotta make the most of the situation and do our best to stay up. I am confident we will stay up although I doubt we will get promoted quickly. Spoiler League Table Spoiler Club Info The club completed a takeover although of course, we had no investment... I'm also working towards my continental Pro Licence now. Spoiler Finances Probably the less said the better, at this rate we won't be upgrading any facilities until we reach the prem! Spoiler Thanks all for reading, and I hope to update you again soon after my next season. Edited May 6 by HaylingZar 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaylingZar Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 6 hours ago, SkiIIs said: what I have found useful is to delay the transfer date to the end of the season. Especially on players where their contracts are running down and wont resign Good idea, I didn't think of that! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
XaW Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 Hurts to decline! 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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