[FM24] Tulach Bòide [Scotland Tier 13]

[Jimbokav1971]

Jun 2024. 

Transfers. 

Interesting that (23) Pittman (Bal) has been approached by a WoS 4th DIv Team. I think that's still 2 leagues above us even after we're promoted. We've just been promoted from tier 13 to tier 12 and they're in tier 10. That's quite a jump..... and he's gone. 

And so has our 1st choice GK who I didn't like, (but he was still our 1st choice GK). 

Reputation. Anyone who reads my stuff regularly will know that I think Rep has a significant impact on Youth Intakes. 

I've tried to find where we were on the list, but even after removing all the clubs in the Pyramid proper and then the 4 WoS leagues and the EoS leagues there were still loads of clubs left and I was just scrolling and scrolling. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2024. 

Friendlies. Something to point out here is that although we have scored 27 goals so far, 10 of them have been scored by a Thom, (as expected), but (23) Esson (Unamb) and (24o) Hay (Bal), (who are our WBL's), have contributed 7 goals and 7 assists between them. May have to keep an eye on that. 

Transfers. We have made our 1st signing!!!! 

When a player leaves I put them permanently on a shortlist, and at various times I have tried to approach some of the players who have already left during this save but they were never interested. When I saw that someone was negotiating with (23) JAWs (SCO)(ENG) (L.Det) I thought I will have a little bit of that so also approached him and offered him a zilch contract. Because he was open to negotiations I thought I would see who else was open.....

Yes that is indeed our Goal-scoring GK who we have welcomed back into the fold. 

We lose a GK and an MC, so we bring in a GK and an MC. 

Injury. There goes our 30 goal striker. 

Interview offer. I'm not even going to take these interviews. What's the point? 

Finances. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[phnompenhandy]

47 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

There seems to be a huge gap between your best players and everyone else. I'm also surprised the finances are so poor, where is the money going, can't all be on the upkeep of the pitch.

The expenses page tells you. In my case it's 'travelling costs' - but then I'm in Orkney and Jim is in central Scotland. Match day expenses are still considerable and cost more than match day income. As Jim says, there's simply no income at this level, but there are constant outgoings.

[Jimbokav1971]

Aug 2024. 

Season preview. Both the board and fans want us to finish in the top 4. That's a bit of a stretch. 

Caledonian Amateur Division One. A bit of a strange opening month. Campsie finished 4th last season so that was a great result, but St Mungo's finished 13th last season and appear to have strengthened. 

Friendlies. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Nothing this month, but it's worth pointing out that the All Time Goals number is wrong for (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1". We know he scored 10 goals last season and 6 relates only league goals. When a player leaves the club, (even on loan), the game has an issue remembering the non-league goals and they are lost. I don't know about goals, but I wouldn't mind a few clean sheets. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Thebaker said:

There seems to be a huge gap between your best players and everyone else. I'm also surprised the finances are so poor, where is the money going, can't all be on the upkeep of the pitch.

Anything jumping out at you here? "Other" and "Match Day Expenses" cover a multitude of sins. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, phnompenhandy said:

The problem I had in tier 13 was that there were no weaker teams to play friendlies against, so any time we played, we got hammered and morale crashed. It will be interesting to compare your experience.

I'm not finding this, but then again maybe that's down to location. 

Granted we're not making money on this, (and there could be some additional costs incurred because of the extra match days with little income), but I'm not having an issue with either getting the games or the level of opposition when we do play them. 

[Thebaker]

id be intrigued to know what other and match day expenses are at a club at this level.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Thebaker said:

There seems to be a huge gap between your best players and everyone else. 

I think this is just another example of the limitations of the current star system. I honestly don't believe there is an enormous difference between the players, and to back that up the bloke who scored 30 goals last season is rated at 1.5 CA and the bloke who scored 23 goals last season is rated at 2.5 CA. I'm not suggesting that 1 is better than the other simply because he scores goals, but until you know and trust what determines "value" in the star rating then it should probably only be used as a very very very very rough guide. I filter by CA as a default, but I don't rely on it at all. It's rubbish. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Just now, Thebaker said:

id be intrigued to know what other and match day expenses are at a club at this level.

I can remember seeing a list for everything on here years ago. Can't remember now though. 

[phnompenhandy]

The star ratings are given by your assistant manager. When you look at his JPA and JPP, you know why you don't trust it!

[Jimbokav1971]

Just now, phnompenhandy said:

The star ratings are given by your assistant manager. When you look at his JPA and JPP, you know why you don't trust it!

No, it's not that. Give me a 20/20 Ass Man and they're still pants. 

[Deisler26]

55 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

No, it's not that. Give me a 20/20 Ass Man and they're still pants. 

Agreed. Trust your own eyes, IMO

[Jimbokav1971]

Sep 2024. 

Caledonian Amateur Division One. The only team we have dropped points to so far is St Mungo's and they're unbeaten after 5 games so I'm relatively happy. If you had told me that we would be joint top scorers in the league and sitting 4th after 5 games without our 30 goal striker from last season I would have said that will do nicely. 

William Turner Challenge Cup. (The opposition are a league below us). A really comfortable win. I didn't rotate the squad for this because we're playing fewer games because not only is the league we're playing in 2 teams smaller, (so 4 games less in the league), but we're also entering Cup competitions at a later stage, (so fewer Cup fixtures). 

Friendlies. The results of these games don't mean anything because they're primarily created for fitness, but although I'm starting the players who require fitness, the regular 1st team players are coming off the bench in the 2nd half, (look at the times of scorers and who is doing the scoring), so what we're getting is fitness for the fringe players AND then morale boost for the 1st Teamers. 

Friendlies impact on training. The problem with playing on a Monday is that it cancels training on a Tuesday. Now if I took over training I could probably stop this from happening, (it's designed that way for a reason), and it's likely that training the day after a game, something other than recovery or similar, (I don't even know what the units are called because I just delegate it), is likely to have significant repercussions on the condition of the squad. It's generally understood NOT to be best practice.

The question I have here is.... what benefits the team more? Playing a friendly every single week on a Monday night, (and cancelling training on a Tuesday), but giving a condition boost to the fringe players and giving a morale boost to the 1st Team, or having another double session to train them? I'm effectively discarding 50% of our training modules by doing this. The problem is that the decision isn't straightforward. People who read myself will know someone who often plays a Youth Only style and even when I don't I invariably play a Youth Development style of save, so how does it make sense for me to reduce the amount of training by 50% for the negligible development pluses of 1 friendly every week? 

The problem is that things aren't linear and there often isn't a clear answer and FM is designed specifically to be that way, (so we can't break it easily). The way I see it, there are some different questions that need to be answered before I answer the above one. 

1. How likely is it that with the facilities we have at the club, and the reputation of the club, that our Youth Intake is producing players of any great ability, (whether it be CA or PA)? I would suggest that the answer to this question is.... not very likely. Agreed? If you don't then feel free to tell me why you don't agree, (you could be right and I'm happy to be corrected), but assuming I'm correct, then let's move on to the next question. 

2. Assuming that the players we've produced by the Youth Intake are pretty poor, and the players we inherited are pretty poor, and the grey players I signed are pretty poor, (pretty poos is being polite by the way), then what about the level of football we play at, (was 13th tier in Scotland and is now 12th tier in Scotland), or the standard of our facilities, (L1 Training Facilities), or the level of my AI managed Coaching, (let's not even go there), that makes us think that any and all of these are conducive to the development of a player and will see him develop quickly? The answer is that there is absolutely nothing about the club and it's current situation and facilities that leads me to believe that any significant development is possible, (even if the players have the potential to grow significantly). 

3. Let's say I'm wrong and we produce a Wonderkid from the Academy and let's say I'm also wrong about us not being able to develop him and we manage to develop him.... what happens then? Does he stay here and help us rise up the leagues? No of course not. Ok, but we get a nice wedge of cash for him right? errrr actually no. We get nothing for him and there is nothing we can do about anyone signing him on a free. So there is absolutely no benefit to trying to develop players at this club at this stage of the save. 

So if we now go back to the original question.... it's a little easier to answer now isn't it? What do you think? Honestly interested to hear thoughts, even if they prove me to be wrong. 

Goal-scoring GK's. We were awarded our 1st penalty of the season, and (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" put it wide. He tried to make amends by saving a penalty later in the same match but the damage was done. He's not getting a Christmas card from me!

(23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (is no longer at the club).
(23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 10/11 from the spot at 91%. (He's back baby!). 

Finances. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2024. 

Caledonian Amateur Division One. No clean sheets but 3 comfortable wins. Especially pleasing when Eaglesham AFC sit 2nd in the league, (having played 1 game more). 

William Turner Challenge Cup. (The opposition are in our league). We beat them 7 days earlier in the league at home, but they got their revenge in the Cup. I'm quite happy to take the points and be out of the Cup. I want out of this league. 

If we're going to win this competition it will be when we're playing in the top level that is allowed to enter it and we will win this by accident while trying to win the league. 

Friendlies. 

(23) Thom (Unamb) returned from injury against Drumchapel Amateur F.C. and scored 1 goal & created 1 assist, but he was injured again in the following game against Myre Athletic AFC. I should have started him on the bench and eased him back in.  It's an absolute miracle that we're doing as well as we are without him. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Nothing this month. 

Finances. 

[phnompenhandy]

59 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

What do you think? Honestly interested to hear thoughts, even if they prove me to be wrong. 

What I'm experiencing in my save is that:

1.  The best of my intake are a tinier bit better than the average player in my first team squad, so incrementally the squad improves a little bit.

2. The CA improves only by playing enough first team games.

3. The player hits his potential or clearly stagnates due to his personality in just a year or two.

4. In his third year the player has peaked and either goes on a poor run or by now is replaced by a younger prospect.

Therefore, the shelf-life on my intake youths is very short; if they are better than that, they will be poached.

So nobody stays in my first team squad for more than 3 years (and that's only a few) - no point getting too attached!

If I wasn't doing an Academy-Only challenge and just wanted to go from 'Park to Premier' starting at this level, I'd be gathering a squad of experienced warhorses (or at least the spine of a squad), and get a year out of them before retiring them off in May and repeating for the next season (which is kind of what my team Loch Ness FC does in real life).

As it is, the small incremental improvements in my Academy Intake has been matching the standard of the division I'm promoted into, so I've been progressing. But with poor facilities and no money to upgrade, I have to hit a glass ceiling at some point. My latest intake is worrying - it is not an improvement on what I've got, so I might have hit that moment now.

[phnompenhandy]

Just been doing a deep dive into my squad. Of the 22 still in my squad who played a significant number of first team matches, 8 improved, while 14 didn't change a jot. And that's a title-winning side in tier 10. Half the stagnant ones have peaked; if the others stagnate in the coming season, they'll probably be released (I discussed the one player who peaked in his first six months but played in the first team for four more years, but he's the exception).

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2024. 

Caledonian Amateur Division One. Although there are 5 league games this month, it's just because there were 5 Saturdays in the month of November. A whole week between each match obviously means that there is no benefit of rotating, (at least in terms of gaming player condition to beat the opposition). We may have dropped 4 points last month, but nobody dropped fewer.

Friendlies. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 2 pens this month for (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1", both successful. 

(23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (is no longer at the club).
(23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 12/13 from the spot at 92%. (He's back baby!). 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2024. 

Caledonian Amateur Division One. We dropped 2 more points, but everyone else is dropping points left, right and centre so we extended our lead further. There is now a 10 point gap between us and 2nd. 

Friendlies. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 1 hit and 1 miss for (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" this month. 

(23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club).
(23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 13/15 from the spot at 87%. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2025. 

Caledonian Amateur Division One. After 18 games unbeaten in the league, we have finally lost. Eaglesham AFC are the side that knocked us out of the William Turner Challenge Cup earlier in the season so that's twice they've beaten us at their place.  We're still 8 points clear with 9 games left to play. 

Scottish Amateur Cup. (Our opponents play in the league above us). After not rotating when we lost in the other Cup earlier in the season, I made sure not to make the same mistake again and 9 of the 10 outfield players were rotated. Job done. 

Records. 18 league games unbeaten is pretty decent considering we didn't even win the league below last season. I don't think we should be topping the table by 8 points, (but we are). 

Goal-scoring GK's. Another miss from. It would seem that leaving us has not done hom any favours. He was 10/10 at 100% before he left and since his return he's 3/6 at 50%. 

(23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club).
(23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 13/16 from the spot at 81%. 

Finances. I know that @Thebakercommented on some of our expenses, (and the fact that we were losing money in the league below), but it would seem that we're actually quite static now with slightly improved attendances, (and an increase in season ticket prices) . The problem is that when the average ticket price is just £1, even an increase of about 80 people in terms of fans doesn't actually make much of a difference at £1 per ticket. It is however a step in the right direction. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oi! @Makoto Nakamura Step into my office please! 

He really doesn't look good, but his jumping, strength, bravery, anticipation, bravery & heading are all good enough to make him a supreme back-post merchant at this level. He's also our skipper and our only ICON. He's a big loss. He had the hump because I wouldn't agree to go and sign a GK. 

[Makoto Nakamura]

8 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Scottish Amateur Cup. (Our opponents play in the league above us). After not rotating when we lost in the other Cup earlier in the season, I made sure not to make the same mistake again and 9 of the 10 outfield players were rotated. Job done. 

 

...Did you at least scout them?

[Makoto Nakamura]

Just now, Jimbokav1971 said:

Oi! @Makoto Nakamura Step into my office please! 

He really doesn't look good, but his jumping, strength, bravery, anticipation, bravery & heading are all good enough to make him a supreme back-post merchant at this level. He's also our skipper and our only ICON. He's a big loss. He had the hump because I wouldn't agree to go and sign a GK. 

Well that is some mental timing!  Just as I'm making signings as well!

[Jimbokav1971]

8 minutes ago, Makoto Nakamura said:

...Did you at least scout them?

No, but I imagined an Abbot & Costello type conversation between our scouting team trying to explain why they hadn't been scouted. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2025. 

Caledonian Amateur Division One. 2 more wins, (each by a single goal), and our lead is now 9 points, but Weirs Recreation have played 1 more game. We have 7 more league games still to play. 

Scottish Amateur Cup. (Our opposition are in the tier above us). I rotated the squad and we took it to pens again, but this time we couldn't finish them, 

Transfers. 2 big losses for us this month. 

Goal-scoring GK's. 2 goals for (23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1", both in the Cup against Carlton, bring him to 5 goals for the season and 15 career goals. 

(23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club).
(23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 15/18 from the spot at 83%. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

NxGn 2025. Mar 2025. 

No, of course there isn't one of our players on the list,  but there is a Scottish lad so I thought I would share. 

I thought he was old, (and Irish)?  This is of course Lennon Miller....... actually, he actually looks like Liam Miller. Is this his son?...... No. His Dad is a footballer, but it's Lee Miller, ex of Falkirk, Hearts, Dundee Utd, Aberdeen, Kilmarnock, Falkirk (again), Livingstone, Falkirk (again again), and East Kilbride, (as well as being capped 3 times for Scotland). 

He's not on his own either. 

Great to see that neither of these lads are at the Old Firm. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2025.

Caledonian Amateur Division One. We romped it in the end. Winning the clubs 1st title of any sort with 3 games to spare. 

 

Trophy cabinet. I'm sure I have done at some point, but I can't remember ever managing a club in FM who had never won anything ever. 

Friendlies.

New contract. It's a 1 year contract. I hate 1 year contracts. One of these days someone is going to offer me a one year contract and I'm going to resign on the spot! 

Semi-Pro status. This was a surprise because the league we have just been promoted into is still an "Amateur" league. 

We're in the 12th Tier and about to be promoted into the 11th Tier. Really not sure we should be going Semi-Pro at this stage. Has financial mismanagement written all over it. 

Goal-scoring GK's. Nothing this month. 

(23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club).
(23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 15/18 from the spot at 83%. 

Finances. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake. Apr 2025. 

Well I wasn't expecting this. 

I'm guessing that this is all down to the fact that we've just turned Semi-Pro and probably a Rep bump that comes with it. 

I'm not going to show you all the players, but there are 3 I will show you and see if you can find the link, (it's not hard). 

Unfortunately there is nothing on their favoured personnel screen to suggest that they are related, (although they were all born in Alloa). 

[RoguPL]

That is very decent intake. 

If going semi pro and rep bump improved your intake I have better hopes for intake in my save where we turned pro and won the league, but the intakes have been absolutely dreadful so far whilst being semi-pro

[ToMexico!!]

Congrats on the title, good to see the bump in attendance too, I think I saw a 171 in there somewhere. Is that your record attendance? 

[Jimbokav1971]

8 hours ago, RoguPL said:

That is very decent intake. 

If going semi pro and rep bump improved your intake I have better hopes for intake in my save where we turned pro and won the league, but the intakes have been absolutely dreadful so far whilst being semi-pro

I promise you it's not.  It's just brilliant relative to the useless eegits at the club.  My intakes often look great simply because my players are rubbish, (and this is what the new intake is compared to). If your players are better then it's a higher standard to be rated against, (so the star ratings will be poorer)

Don't forget @RoguPLthat the general consensus of opinion is that it can often take a few years to see the benefits of the upgrades coming through, (I'm thinking it might take a min of 5 years to see the full benefit even though we also often see some short-term benefit too.

I remember when I did a Tier 10 save with Irchester Utd a few years ago I also saw a drop-off of intakes immediately after we turned Pro. I never understood why and of course it might just have been luck, but I think there was a period of about 5-6 seasons where our intakes were bang average, and lower than they had been while we were Semi-Pro. (I was using the IGE in that save so I was able to check the CA/PA in intake day so it certainly wasn't my imagination. The intakes were actually poorer). 

[Jimbokav1971]

47 minutes ago, ToMexico!! said:

Congrats on the title, good to see the bump in attendance too, I think I saw a 171 in there somewhere. Is that your record attendance? 

The attendances have taken a nice bump this season. 

1st season our home attendances ranged from 11 - 33. 
2nd season so far our home attendances have ranged from 74 - 171, (good spot on the 171 because I hadn't noticed that actually). 

We've actually got the 5th highest average attendance in the league this season with 101, (and we have just 1 home league game to play against Third Lanark). to make that jump is pretty decent because obviously many of them are our actual fans rather than away fans which is what I thought before checking the average attendances. 

It will be interesting to see how many season tickets we sell next season because we went from 5 in the 1st season to 23 this season. Is 100 a possibility? 

This sort of ties in with the question that @Thebakerasked about finances and in particular costs. I think that at this level the costs remain largely the same whether 5 people turn up or 105 people turn up, so actually I think the increase so far has been really good for us and has stopped the financial decline. The problem now though is that we've gone Semi-Pro and we now suddenly have costs, (such as playing bonus costs and staff wages), that didn't exist before. I'm guessing that there will also be hidden administration costs too to factor in things that the game would have previously seen done by volunteers, but where now a fee was to be paid. 

To be completely honest, while I use "Finances" as a talking point in my thread. none of it really matters to me. As a manager the only thing we control are budgeted, (wages, transfer fees & scouting costs), and as long as you stay within that then as far as I'm concerned any financial issues are none of my business. I only like to get involved further when I'm trying to build a balance in order to keep the Chairman away from selling our players. 

[Jimbokav1971]

11 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Youth Intake. Apr 2025. 

Well I wasn't expecting this. 

I'm guessing that this is all down to the fact that we've just turned Semi-Pro and probably a Rep bump that comes with it. 

I'm not going to show you all the players, but there are 3 I will show you and see if you can find the link, (it's not hard). 

Unfortunately there is nothing on their favoured personnel screen to suggest that they are related, (although they were all born in Alloa). 

You know this great intake..... well either I didn't save it properly or something happened, but whatever happened, when I loaded up just now there was no intake and the last save was 1st April 2025.    This game will be the death of me man. 

What's the betting we get a pants intake this time? Surely not! 

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake Take 2.  Apr 2025. 

I don't think it's anywhere near as good as the 1st intake, but it's what we've got so..... 

[Rikulec]

Still got the Fotheringham trio though. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Intake Summary. Apr 2025. 

I have a feeling that I didn't save last night. I was rushing to get to the end of the season and just had 3 games to go and didn't even think about the Youth Intake coming before the end of the season, (must have been tired), so when the intake came I just thought to myself well I will do the post and the nicknames and the contracts and the individual training and PPM's and then I will leave the last 3 games until today. 

I did the nicknames and the contracts and everything else and must have forgotten to save. 

The reason it's a big deal is because there were 2 central midfielders who were much better than what we already had and there was a striker I liked the look of. 

This 2nd intake is not nearly so good.  Even the 3 Fotheringhams aren't as good, (but maybe I'm just feeling a little negative now). 

We have 3 games to play and the 1st of them is now so I thought I would let the Ass Man pick the squad and see what's what. 

The only change I made to the starting XI was to replace (23) Scobbie (Real) with (23) Thom (Unamb) and then I dropped a GK from the bench and stuck the 2 Fotheringham's who weren't on the bench on it. On that note I' think I'm going to change them to Foth1, Foth2, & Foth3 because Fotheringham is a pain to type. 

The new GK (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" looks better than he did in the 1st intake. (I remember not being very impressed by him). 

None of the (25) intake make the starting XI at centre-half and that's a real change from the 1st draft because there were 2 there would looked like they were the best players at the club, and 1 was a Libero(ish)

(25b) Browning (SCO)(IRL) is the 3nd (25) player to make the starting XI. His physicals look his biggest strength. 

(25d) Hopkin (Bal) is the 3rd player to make the starting XI and although he's decent, there were 2 central midfielders in the 1st draft who had passing in double figures and also with decent vision. 

(25j) McDonald (Bal) SC was decent in the 1st draft, but actually the more I look at him in the 2nd draft, the more I like him. He has 4x 9's in his physicals and heading 9, First Touch 8, Dribbling 7 and Off the ball 7. I know those are pretty low values but that makes him pretty decent down here. The 1st draft (25j) McDonald (Bal) SC was better, but this bloke is ok.

Let's see how they go...

(25b) Browning (SCO)(IRL) was sent off for a 2nd yellow 37 mins into his debut. 

We conceded 4 goals, (2 of them pens), and the other 2 seemed to go right through GK (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1". 

Good job we've already won the league eh! 

[Jimbokav1971]

22 minutes ago, Rikulec said:

Still got the Fotheringham trio though. 

Yeah, really glad about that actually. 

I haven't checked to see if their positions are the same. That's certainly the way it used to work but I'm not sure now. [Goes to look]

 

 

 

The names, DOB, and general positions seem to be static, but there appears to be fluidity in the faces used and also a tiny bit with regards to familiarity of positions. 

 

[Thebaker]

names, nationality, DOB and main positions are fixed at youth preview, like you noticed they sometimes have extra positions (but awkard) or more familiarity with some positions. Its the ability (PA and CA) that will change at the intake

Christie is an odd GK, his high attributes are unusual from what i have seen.

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2025. 

Caledonian Amateur Division One. We finish the season a whopping 13 points clear of Calderglen in 2nd, (despite me letting my Ass Man largely select the squads for the last 3 games). It's good to see EagleSham getting promoted because they beat us twice away this season and they are indeed a sham and I hold a grudge and have a long memory! 

Friendlies. 

Confidence. Damn right they are happy. 

Transfers. I'll be completely honest with you, although he isn't very good at playing football, I will keep trying to re-sign (23) Thom (Leader) 6'2" because he's a bit of a cheat player at this level. You just hang the ball up at the far post and then go back to half-way and wait for them to kick off again.  14 Jumping, 10 strength and 18 bravery makes him almost unstoppable. 

Records. 

Facilities. The 1st upgrade request didn't even give us the opportunity to discuss it, but although the 2nd request did allow a discussion, it was still refused on grounds of funding, (and that's fine by me). 

Goal-scoring GK's. Our new GK (25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" might have conceded from 2 pens on his debut, but he scored 2 pens on his 2nd game. 

(23) Brass (Bal) 6'2" is 5/8 from the spot at 63%. (Is no longer at the club).
(23) Ewing (Bal) 6'1" is 15/18 from the spot at 83%. 
(25c) Christie (F.Sport) 6'1" is 2/2 from the spot at 100%.

Finances. Actual cash money! 

[Jimbokav1971]

Squad stats. May 2025. 

Squad by Appearances. 

Squad by goals. Because there was much less rotation this season, (because there were fewer games), we had a much smaller number of players who found the back of the net. Although (23) Thom (Leader) 6'2" scored 23 goals before he lef, (23) Scobbie (Real) top-scored with 16 of those who remained. 

Squad by Assists. Less games equals less goals equals less assists right? Not when it comes to (23) Esson (Unamb). Nobody managed double-figure assists last season, but he managed 18 this season and is probably our most key player, despite his strengths being more defensive than creative in my opinion. 

Squad by Avg Rating. Is it a coincidence that (23) Esson (Unamb) scored all those assists and his understudy as WBL got the highest match rating? What is it about that position? 

Squad by CA. If there were 3 players in the recent intake with 5.0 CA and there were 3 more players on 4.0 CA or better, where are those 6 players now? We only have 5 players with better CA than 4.0 and 2 of them weren't from the recent intake, so 6 has been reduced to 3 in 3 short weeks. 

Lies. Lies I tell you! 

Squad by PA. We have 32 players at the club with 5.0 PA. 

[Jimbokav1971]

41 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

names, nationality, DOB and main positions are fixed at youth preview, like you noticed they sometimes have extra positions (but awkard) or more familiarity with some positions. Its the ability (PA and CA) that will change at the intake

I did an experiment 2-3 years back and out of the box it turned out nothing was static and everything was variable, (although they fixed it in the 2nd patch). 

I like to check things though because sometimes just because it worked 1 way in the previous version doesn't mean it still works that way. 

Certainly makes sense that those things are static/largely static. 

Surprised that 1 picture is very similar. 1 picture is a little similar and the 3rd picture is very different though. 

[Jimbokav1971]

43 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

Christie is an odd GK, his high attributes are unusual from what i have seen.

I think a lot of the better players at this level look a little weird, but let's look at him again. 

There are a few things that I look for in a GK out of habit. 

Top 3 GK attributes. (Aerial, Command & Communication). 
Positioning & less so concentration. 
Jumping and Agility. 
Handling. 

Aerial 9.
Command 8.
Communication 9.
Positioning 6. 
Concentration 7. 
Jumping 12.
Agility 7. 
Handling 8. 

The Punching attribute has always confused me. It specifically says Punching (Tendency to punch). So it's not about how good he is at punching. It's about how often he punches. (I don't like a puncher personally). 

I think he looks ok except for positioning. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, Rikulec said:

Still got the Fotheringham trio though. 

On this point, when was the last time anyone saw a newgen relative in the game? 

I used to see sons in the game all the time. (I've had more than  1 myself). 

Haven't seen brothers or relations for the last couple of issues of the game and considering the type of save I play I would be more likely to see them than many. 

[Thebaker]

50 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I

 

There are a few things that I look for in a GK out of habit. 

Top 3 GK attributes. (Aerial, Command & Communication). 
Positioning & less so concentration. 
Jumping and Agility. 
Handling. 

Aerial 9.
Command 8.
Communication 9.
Positioning 6. 
Concentration 7. 
Jumping 12.
Agility 7. 
Handling 8. 

The Punching attribute has always confused me. It specifically says Punching (Tendency to punch). So it's not about how good he is at punching. It's about how often he punches. (I don't like a puncher personally). 

I think he looks ok except for positioning. 

I always look for  Reflexes, agility, balance and Handling, other attributes are good to have but less important for me.

High rushing out and punching are 2 things i don't like to see, especially with eccentricity. His teamwork and work rate are high for GK

[phnompenhandy]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Squad by Avg Rating. Is it a coincidence that (23) Esson (Unamb) scored all those assists and his understudy as WBL got the highest match rating? What is it about that position? 

I don't see a screenie of your formation and tactic on this page. Is your guy a WB on attack? I have that on my right and they get assists and high ratings.

[Jimbokav1971]

May 2025. 

CA PA Ratings.

Something that came up when I was looking at the players with the best CA/PA in the squad recently, and I noticed that there were quite a few players who appeared to have good CA on Day 1 of the intake this season, but only 3 weeks later had been downgraded significantly. 

Here is how it looked on Day 1 and rather than doing another picture underneath it I will show you a side by side comparison, (approx 2 months later). 

(Apologies, I can't get the right hand graphic the same size, but you see there has been a significant downgrade). 

  

Finances. £7 for a season ticket sounds like a ridiculous bargain. At the very least couldn't we round it up to £10 and make an additional £69 profit? 

23 season tickets is what we sold last season, (up from 5 the season before). I'm going to have a guess and say that we will have 51 season ticket sales this season. 

They've only just asked me to do this? What happened and how?  (I really don't think this should be in the remit of a manager. They should set the budgets and all we have to do is stay within them. This should be a DoF or Chieftain responsibility). 

The only change there has been is the £600 (or whatever it was), for winning the league. 

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Jimbokav1971

[phnompenhandy]

2 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Something that came up when I was looking at the players with the best CA/PA in the squad recently, and I noticed that there were quite a few players who appeared to have good CA on Day 1 of the intake this season, but only 3 weeks later had been downgraded significantly. 

Here is how it looked on Day 1 and rather than doing another picture underneath it I will show you a side by side comparison, (approx 2 months later). 

Isn't this simply a matter of the initial stars being mostly guesswork, and two months later your AM/coaching staff know the players better and can assess them more accurately?

[Jimbokav1971]

11 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

I always look for  Reflexes, agility, balance and Handling, other attributes are good to have but less important for me.

High rushing out and punching are 2 things i don't like to see, especially with eccentricity. His teamwork and work rate are high for GK

Rushing I quite like actually, (because we play a sweeper keeper, a high line and a back 3, 1 of whom is a Libero). 

Don't even look at Teamwork and Workrate for a GK. Don't even look at Teamwork for outfield players. 

I like eccentricity, (because for a while I wondered if it lined to free-kick taking ability for a GK). 

[Jimbokav1971]

11 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

I don't see a screenie of your formation and tactic on this page. Is your guy a WB on attack? I have that on my right and they get assists and high ratings.

They're both WB(a) but there seems to be a difference in output. (Actually there isn't a big difference in output at all). 

2 WBL's contributed 7 goals and 21 assists between them from 32(9) appearances. 
2 WBR's contributed 4 goals and 18 assists between them from 35(3) appearances. 

Actually that's much closer than I thought it was going to be and I think I missed it because 1st choice WBR left for another club during the season.

Set-pieces are also going to play a part but the big thing for me was which side (23) Thom (Leader) 6'2" was playing on. He played the 1st season largely on the right, but this season almost exclusively on the left.  

[Jimbokav1971]

6 minutes ago, phnompenhandy said:

Isn't this simply a matter of the initial stars being mostly guesswork, and two months later your AM/coaching staff know the players better and can assess them more accurately?

Yeah, but these aren't new players. These are young players who've been with the club for years and just been promoted to senior football. It shouldn't be this inaccurate, (but is). I'm basically reminding people again to not believe the star ratings, (especially Day 1 star ratings). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jul 2025. 

Transfers. I'm getting sick of seeing the same players train poorly. If they're not in the team and they're not training well then they might as well not be here. These 2 no longer are. 

My Profile. I forgot to show that I started with no coaching badges and Sunday League past experience so here is is belatedly. 

Favoured Personnel. 

Season Expectations. This might be tough, (top half finish), and I've always found it strange that of all the things that you can negotiate, you can't negotiate board expectations. Is there really a big difference between "Top Half Finish" and "mid table"? Shouldn't I have the option to try and downgrade, (or boost), their expectations? 

Scouting. With regards to scouting I have delegated everything so the Chieftain has recruited a DoF and the DoF has recruited a Chief Scout and the Chief Scout has recruited Scouts and they will be going out and looking at... someone but the reality is that I don't need a scouting Dept because I'm not going to be signing anyone, so I need to take control of some of this and get rid of them all. 

The Chief Scout has gone. 
1 Scout has gone. 
I tried to mutually terminate the 2nd Scout, (his contract not his life), but the board blocked it and he's the only staff member not on an Amateur contract, (so he stays).  I think we gave him a 12 month contract on £10 pw 3 days ago. (There goes £520). 

I've also taken charge of assigning scouts and made sure that I have unticked keep reports up to date on shortlisted players, (who are our ex players).

I think that should be everything sorted there.  

Finances. 

  

Edited December 7, 2023 by Jimbokav1971