The Annual 'Give Youth A Chance' Failure Challenge

[MeLikeFM]

striker with low mentality and high creative freedom thus dropping off and slicing teams open

[d-machine]

As I said, I'm not going to start this fully until after I complete rancer's, but that doesn't mean I can't holiday through and take a look around does it?

Anyway, i've started as Merthyr because of my Welsh heritage, here's my personal page screenshot if it's required. Looking around the team I was naturally delighted to find that I had a fairly big staff roster. None of them were any good, but as long as I have them I should be fine. My Ass Man doesn't look that great, but I've found a potential replacement for him in my Youth Coach Jonathan Henderson.

Now onto the squad. I was quite surprised really to find that my squad held a fair bit of talent. Most notably goalkeeper Ashley Morris, central midfielders Ashleigh Evans and Matthew Harris, and striker Marcus Griffiths. All will play major roles in my initial seasons.

Now onto the first batch of youth players. I've nicknamed them all so I know which season they came through.

Martin Mclean | Coach Report

Looks decent, judging from his coach report he could play a back up role to my central midfielders this season.

Brett Marsden | Coach Report

His preferred position may be striker, but he is definetly more a right winger. 2 for finishing and 1 for composure against 7 dribbling and 10 flair. Might get a game or two.

Joe Berry | Coach Report

Not exactly what I look for in a central mid, but has high work rate/teamwork. His penalty taking could come in handy as well.

Andy Moore | Coach Report

My best youth. Will be back up at first, leading into some more game time later in the season.

Anyway, i've decided to favour the players that accept full time contracts over part time. It'll just be better for the club in the long run. I'll be playing this save a bit, but not as much as I normally play saves until I finish rancer's challenge.

--------------------------------------

I ended up playing my friendlies :o

Merthyr Pre Season Results

Merthyr 1:1 Eastbourne Boro (B Marsden[09])

A frustrating game where we could only draw, despite running them around the park.

Merthyr 1:0 Hayes & Yeading (A Facey)

Yet again it should've been 3:0, but our offence proved too weak.

Weston-super-Mare 2:2 Merthyr (B Marsden[09], C Steins)

We bombed a 2:0 lead, but it was still a decent performance from us.

Merthyr 1:4 Cardiff (S O'Sullivan)

As expected, they ran riot. We were lucky to get our goal.

Merthyr 0:1 Chester

Decent result, but we were never in the game.

So it was a decent pre season, 2 wins, 2 loses, and a draw. Bring on the season. Quite surprised that Marsden managed to score the most goals.

I'm looking to do 4 updates a season. One after the pre season, one at the end of Novemeber (August-November), one at the end of January (December and January) and then one at the seasons end. The journey begins...

[Thepathtoamen]

Hey this challenge looks good. I have read it from the start and STE looks like you are having a good season after the last one :-).

I am playing a save as England manager at the moment and I want to win the world cup which is about 5 hours playing time away, so after that I may switch this to my main save. Having said that I have never played a game below the top level (Premiership) before so it will be a challenge. I'm not the best at picking stats either so this will be a good learning experience.

Have to figure out this DDT file thing as well.

Will get back to you next week as I am away this weekend, with my progress. Good luck guys!

[berty1978]

Merthyr Tydfil - Season 2011/12 update

Media prediction: 6th

Actual position: 7th

Final table

Fixtures part 1

Fixtures part 2

It was a season that promised so much but delivered so little. After last seasons excellent total of 85 points but still losing out to Solihull I was hopeful for more of the same. We started out well with only 1 defeat in the first 9 games, that was at home to surprise package Welling. Things started to get slightly worse as we started drawing too many games but at half way we were still second. The second half of the season was pretty dismal though ending up only losing 9 games but drawing 16 meaning we missed out on the play offs by 6 points. Annoyingly 85 points would have comfortably won it this time.

We really sucked in the cups, enough said.

So to the best performers this season:

Matt Middleton: Now accomplished as a right midfielder so playing him out there, hence the 10 goals, and also the highest assists with 9. Our top performer again.

Todd Birkett: Had an excellent season in defence, still could improve his technical attributes but at least he's now consistant.

Dion Elliott: Been one of our best players from the start and still performing well, his passing is very good but could get more shots on target.

Marcus Griffiths: No prizes for guesing our top scorer again with 23 goals in all competitions. He has been on and off though and had a poor second half of the season which coincided with our poor form. If Jamie Bailey improves his performances he could be a good strike partner but at the moment nobody seems to be doing well alongside Griffiths.

[berty1978]

Merthyr Tydfil - Youth intake 2012

Dick Barnes: The first of two keepers, according to my Ass Man Barnes is the weaker of the two but still has good attributes.

Matthew Bulman: Not sure he'll get many chances with a few other promising young strikers already in the side. Although if nobody else can score any goals he may get a chance.

Kevin Lee: A decent looking defender with decent defensive attributes.

Kevin Rowley: At first sight he looks good, however he can literally only play AMC or AMR at the moment so very limited as I don't play those positions but I can always retrain him.

Grant Rubery: My Ass Man picked out Rubery as the best prospect, he already looks almost as good as Morris. With Ryan Griffiths not accepting a new contract he could be our second keeper next season.

Mike Todd: If he had a bit more pace I'd be more willing to give him a try in the first team, good crossing though so I may use him from time to time.

[ShanghaiNugget]

Just started this challenge with Carshalton in the BSS.

Slight problem however, the only people on the staff page are me and the chairman! Is it possible I could sign at least an assistant, coach and physio?

[ShanghaiNugget]

http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/526/consortium.jpg

The season hasn't started yet and I could already be without a job!

My pre-season didn't go swimmingly well however:-

Carshalton 0-4 Torquay

Carshalton 0-2 Randaberg

Cowes 2-2 Carshalton

Newport IW 3-3 Carshalton

First 3 games of the season are Merthyr (A), my hometown Basingstoke (H) and Eastleigh (A).

[Steboyuk]

Hey this challenge looks good. I have read it from the start and STE looks like you are having a good season after the last one :-).

I am playing a save as England manager at the moment and I want to win the world cup which is about 5 hours playing time away, so after that I may switch this to my main save. Having said that I have never played a game below the top level (Premiership) before so it will be a challenge. I'm not the best at picking stats either so this will be a good learning experience.

Have to figure out this DDT file thing as well.

Will get back to you next week as I am away this weekend, with my progress. Good luck guys!

Cheers mate, look forward to you starting your own challenge!

Just started this challenge with Carshalton in the BSS.

Slight problem however, the only people on the staff page are me and the chairman! Is it possible I could sign at least an assistant, coach and physio?

Welcome mate, good to see some new faces around here - you may sign an English physio and ass man but no extra coaches - look for the older members of the squad and try and persuade them to join the staff.

Promising start there d-machine, good pre season results, and some decent prospects aswell - think Mclean would do a good job on the left wing, your two central midfielders both look good to me, and Marsden could be very effective on either the right wing or upfront - also see he is left footed, which will lead to him cutting in from the wing of course. Id be giving all of them plenty of playing time in the BSS for sure.

berty so unlucky again! Surely you will reach the BSP soon though, Middleton keeps getting better and better, Griffiths is a proven goalscorer and you have a really good goalkeeper aswell, also think that Elliot looks a cracking player.

From the youth I think Lee looks excellent, as does the keeper Rubery. The other four I wouldent discount either, Todd deserves a chance, his accelaration of 11 isnt too bad, whislt Rowley and Bulman could you never know have hidden talent also.

KUTGW mate, you're time will come if you keep plugging away!

[berty1978]

Thanks Steboy, and I'll say good luck everyone else as well, d-machine and ShangaiNugget.

I'm not sure who's still doing this challenge or not, a few people who haven't said anything about stopping but haven't posted for weeks.

A few games into my season and we've just had a board takeover. The nice new chairman hasn't done anything about the finances (still £190k in debt) and terminated the link with Cardiff meaning no lucrative friendly every season.

[d-machine]

Promising start there d-machine, good pre season results, and some decent prospects aswell - think Mclean would do a good job on the left wing, your two central midfielders both look good to me, and Marsden could be very effective on either the right wing or upfront - also see he is left footed, which will lead to him cutting in from the wing of course. Id be giving all of them plenty of playing time in the BSS for sure.

Thanks. Just looked at Mclean again and saw that he has 8 dribbling and 15 flair, so he probably will be playing on the left wing. Marsden doesn't really have the right finishing attributes, but he did score the most goals in the preseason when played upfront. So I'm not really sure what to think of him.

[berty1978]

I asked the board for a new parent club and they came back with... nobody suitable.

[d-machine]

I'm starting again, the power shut off when I was playing and now it won't load the save Thankfully I wasn't that far into the save to really get mad

[d-machine]

Take 2 - Cambridge City

So after the unfortunate power outage that ruined my Merthyr save, Cambridge City is my new destination. Here is my profile if needed. My staff has the bare minumum, but I have some +30 aged players, so i'll look to make them coaches when they retire (One is 41 years old).

The Youth - 2009 Batch

Jon Bird - MC

Profile | Coach Report

Not exactly my ideal central mid, but might get some games because of his high determination, work rate and decent speed. Wondering what'll he'll use flair for.

Ralph Bond - GK

Profile | Coach Report

I don't see how he'll get into the team, not the greatest keeper alive. Maybe a few games every now and again.

Steve Davis - ST

Profile | Coach Report

Looks decent, but isn't fast enough in my opinion.

Daniel Lomas - DM/MC

Profile | Coach Report

Again, not my ideal central mid, and won't be playing as a defensive mid. One positive is that his passing is decent compared to Bird.

Paul Metcalf - DC

Profile | Coach Report

Probably the worst central defender i've seen. Can't tackle, mark or head the ball. Positive's are determination, work rate, jumping and bravery.

Robert Preston - ML/AML/MC

Profile | Coach Report

Probably the best of the batch. Left mid seems to be his position to play as, dribbling, flair and speed all decent.

Question - Can I sign greyed out players? I'm in desperate need of a second right back.

Looking through the thread it seems I can.

Me and my physio are the only people left at the club not on full time contracts (besides the youth players, but they have accpeted them)

------------------------------------

Cambridge City Pre Season Friendlies

Cambridge City 2:2 Chelmsford
[L Chaffey, D Bloomfield]
Cambridge City 1:5 MK Dons
[T Arojogun]
Cambridge City 0:3 Hampton & Richmond
[]
Cambridge City 2:3 Cambridge United
[T Arojogun, R Preston[09]]

Not a bad preseason. No wins, but we never played badly. In fact, if our defence was tighter and our striker better scorers, we could've won all but the MK Dons game.

[berty1978]

D-machine, we definately can sign grey players. Also you're unlucky with the youth intake, thats quite a bad set of players, Preston looks ok but your Ass Man still only rates him 2 star potential.

[berty1978]

Merthyr Tydfil - Season 2012/13 - First update

Friendlies:

Merthyr 1-4 Cardiff City

Merthyr 0-2 Northwich Victoria

Airbus UK 0-2 Merthyr

Penycae 0-4 Merthyr

Welshpool 0-2 Merthyr

We played ok against Cardiff and Northwich but their quality showed, but we got a good set of results on our tour of Wales.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 4-0 AFC Wimbledon

A fantastic win with Lewis Vaughan on form, we were 4-0 up after 38 minutes and four different scorers too.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-1 Weston-super-Mare

This was more of a difficult victory, being 1-0 up Elliott shot himself in the foot giving away a penalty and getting sent off. Down to 10 men we managed to get the winner.

Blue Square South

Billericay Town 4-1 Merthyr

An awful performance and at 1-1 we just completely lost it.

Blue Square South

Tiverton Town 2-4 Merthyr

An excellent performance as I was a bit worried it wasn't going to be our day. At 1-0 up in 6 minutes Elliott scored an own goal then at 2-1 they scored with their first shot on target. Then our scorer of both goals Jamie Bailey got injured but very late goals from Vaughan and Griffiths killed the game off.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 3-0 Basingstoke Town

Fantastic start to the game as we were 1-0 up in 53 seconds, we had few more chances in the first half. It took a penalty to go 2-0 up early in the second, then a quick fire 3rd gave us the 3-0 victory we deserved.

Blue Square South

Sutton United 2-1 Merthyr

Very frustrating defeat as we went 1-0 up and were just awful after that.

Conference Cup - 1st round

Merthyr 2-1 Lewes

We were well on top and then Lewes scored on the break with their first chance, to their credit we equalised moments after. Due to injuries we'd used all 3 subs so I was hoping it wouldn't go to extra time and in the 77th minute we got the winner, phew.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-0 Team Bath

A more than deserved victory as we were on top for the whole 90 minutes as our good home form continues.

Blue Square South

Newport County 3-1 Merthyr

Yet again we were awful away from home after going 1-0 up, I really need to look at the situation.

FA Cup - 2nd Qual

Merthyr 5-0 Team Bath

It took us all of 45 seconds to get the first goal as we were 3-0 up by half time. We outplayed them again in the second half in what was probably the best performance yet.

Blue Square South

Chelmsford City 3-2 Merthyr

FFS, we were 1-0 up then 2-1 up, we just can't keep hold of a lead away from home. I'm banging my head against the wall here, whatever I do doesn't work.

Conference Cup - 2nd round

Bromley 1-0 Merthyr

Ok, I'm not bothered about the conference cup and we had many players out injured and on international duty, but it's still a poor away defeat. If we don't start picking up points away in the league we're going to fail again!!

FA Cup - 3rd Qual

Whitby Town 1-3 Merthyr

Fantastic comeback, 1-0 down we hit the post but weren't playing particularly well and then they missed a penalty. I changed to a very attacking formation and scored 3 goals in the last 15 minutes.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-2 Tonbridge

An appaling performance with our players just showing no need to win the game. We were lucky to go in at half time at 2-1 down but did nothing in the second half even with a more attacking formation.

FA Cup - 4th Qual

Workington 0-1 Merthyr

We thoroughly deserved the victory here, we were unlucky to be 0-0 at half time but Matthew Harris scored the winner on 66 minutes. If only we can do this in the league. Also into the FA cup proper for the first time and we're drawn against... Crawley or Margate away, hoping Margate win their tie.

We're sitting somewhat disappointingly in 10th position with 5 wins and 5 defeats, most disappointing was the home defeat to Tonbridge. Most pleasing so far is Jamie Baileys improvement with 9 goals so far, with him playing alongside Vaughan most games, who has 5 goals and thus pushing Marcus Griffiths to the subs bench.

[d-machine]

D-machine, we definately can sign grey players. Also you're unlucky with the youth intake, thats quite a bad set of players, Preston looks ok but your Ass Man still only rates him 2 star potential.

Yeah my players weren't that impressive, but to make it worse (if it can be) I have to play Lomas, Bird and Preston as my midfield triangle (DM/MC/MC). I'm only have one other central midfielder, who is rather good, but he is currently injured. At the moment we are dominating games, but our midfield is too inexperienced to make chances count. Preston has been by far the standout so far though.

If only you could improve those away loses, you'd be one of the front runners for promotion. Good luck anyway, hopefully they'll pick up as the season progresses.

EDIT - Preston's improving a lot! Instead of "Left Only" he is now "Left" so his right foot has improved, his attributes have risen a fair bit this month (September) and he is now 3 star potential.

[Steboyuk]

I'm starting again, the power shut off when I was playing and now it won't load the save Thankfully I wasn't that far into the save to really get mad

Dissapointing mate, especially considering the fact that Merthyr are probably the best team to start with bar maybe Tiverton, Cambridge City will be a very tough one I reckon - dont start with a patricularly gifted squad I dont think, and your youth system wont be very impressive either I dont think. But who knows, my youth facilites with Staines are awful and ive got some cracking players, although my recent batches have been getting worse!

Good luck with the new start mate, looks as though the pre-season friendlies went okay, shame about the limited ability of the young lads though.

berty - It could be worse mate - you obvioulsey have the talent in the squad, and some good attacking flair, but it seems you're away performances are what is really hinderign you - I had the exact same problem in my early Staines days, and still Im not confident away from here either. KUTGW

[MeLikeFM]

Ye, you have had bad luck away. There is still a chance of promotion though

[Steboyuk]

Staines Mid Season Update:

So when I left you we were flying high 6th in the league, Kelly and Smith smashing in the goals as we progressed nicely in the cups also. Could we continue our superb form?

League: Hereford 2 - 0 Staines - Hereford were league leaders and flying - the fact that they deserved not one of the three points they took from this game proves how well we are playing.

League: Staines 4 - 3 Woking (Kelly 22', 32', Thomas 44', Hutchinson 49') - An even game but we took our chances, including young Lee Hutchinson's first ever goal for us - a 25 yard strike.

FA Cup 2nd Rnd: Gillingham 3 - 0 Staines - We were totally outclassed by a much better side than ourselves. Thank god they will be in the Championship next season.

Conf League Cup 4th Rnd: Exeter 1 - 0 Staines - Another cup exit followed from another tough game, this time however we were the much better side and there 93rd minute winner was a real sickener.

League: Weymouth 2 - 1 Staines (L. Smith 44') - Another tough away game, another defeat - this time we were by far second best. Lewis Smith had got us on level terms momenterilairly, but Stuart Beavon smashed in his second goal of the game to hand surprise package Weymouth the victory.

League: Staines 2 - 1 Ebbsfleet (Thomas 7', Kelly 45+3') - Finally a win, but the fact that it was a rather scrappy victory over the bottom side didnt do much for confidence.

FA Trophy 1st Rnd: Staines 4 - 2 Merstham (Wood o/g 7', Kelly 12', 25', Duncan 75') - They were hugely inferior opposition and we were relentless - with 8 youth graduates in the first XI it was a very pleasing victory.

League: Staines 1 - 1 Rotherham (Roberts 26') - An even game, and a missed opportunity, we should be winning games like this but we threw away our lead in the second half.

League: Staines 1 - 1 Dorchester (Kelly 77') - When 19th placed Dorchester came to visit, I expected a win - what a got was a battering and a totally undeserved point thanks to a moment of brilliance from Kelly.

FA Trophy 2nd Rnd: Staines 0 - 0 Basingstoke (Kelly m/pen 29') - Another game we really shouldve won, but didnt.

FA Trophy 2nd Rnd Replay: Basingstoke 2 - 1 Staines (Thomas m/pen 4', Wilson 79') - Again we shouldve win, another missed penalty (I got a bug here, Kelly shouldve took the penalty, but for some reason didnt as he got 'stuck' on the edge of the box, Thomas took it and missed, but on the overview it isnt there, and the penalty simply dissapered.) Wilson got us a late consololation but it wasnt enough. All cups are over now.

League: Crawley 3 - 0 Staines - A thoroughly depressing game. We were battered.

So not the best month at all, we crashed out of all 3 cups and didnt do much in the league either. We are now 9th, but only a mere 4 points from that final playoff spot.

Finances are good - we are making money, and our balance is now 307k, although this is still not enough to improve our facilites to any extent.

[MeLikeFM]

not a good month but I believe

[Thepathtoamen]

Finances are good - we are making money, and our balance is now 307k, although this is still not enough to improve our facilites to any extent.

Least you are making money thou, couple more seasons and you can upgrade your facilities surely?

[d-machine]

Cambridge City August-September Update

[b][u]AUGUST[/u][/b]
[b]BSN[/b]
Tamworth 1:1 Cambridge City
[Own Goal]
Cambridge City 0:2 Boston Utd
[]
Hyde 1:1 Cambridge City
[C Radcliffe]
Cambridge City 1:0 Worcester
[K Gibbins]
Stafford 2:0 Cambridge City
[]

[b][u]SEPTEMBER[/u][/b]
[b]CLC - 1st Round[/b]
Burscough 4:1 Cambridge City
[s Davis[09]]
[b]BSN[/b]
Cambridge City 0:3 Stalybridge
[]
Solihull Moors 2:0 Cambridge City
[]
Cambridge City 0:1 Hucknall
[]
[b]FA Cup - 2nd Qual. Round[/b]
Cambridge City 3:2 Bishop's Stortford
[D Bloomfield 3]
[b]BSN[/b]
Cambridge City 1:2 Alfreton
[s Smith]

So a very poor first 2 months in charge. Once I changed our tactic though, we beat Bishop's Stortford 3-2, then had a good performance against against Alfreton. If we can keep that up, we can stay up.

But whenever we have a win, a draw or a decent performance in a game, by the next week we've gone back to a terrible performance. I'm hoping this tactic, which worked so successfully with Brisbane Roar/Australia in rancer's challenge, will work successfully here as well.

League Table

[d-machine]

I can't continue with Cambridge, I just don't feel a connection. What are the limits of starting in other countries? I'm thinking of trying Greece because I've done Gundo's challenge there, or is this challenge just limited to the Big nations (Spain, Italy, England, Germany, France).

[berty1978]

Merthyr Tydfil - Season 2012/13 - Second update

Blue Square South

Hampton & Richmond Borough 2-1 Merthyr

We were awful first half going in 2-0 down, second was much better and did enough to get a draw but an 88th minute goal was too late.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-1 Bromley

Yet more points dropped, we should have easily won it though. After what seemed like 500 shots by us we finally scored from a penalty in the 83rd minute, great, but they got a very late equaliser. Unbelievable.

FA Cup - 1st Round

Margate 1-3 Merthyr

I changed to a narrow formation and we had more possession and we passed it better and it was a good win. Bet we still won't win in the league. Next round against.... wow, ready for it, Fleetwood away. Still, theres a chance for the third round there.

Blue Square South

Eastbourne Borough 0-1 Merthyr

Not a vintage performance but it was a vital win none the less. Due to injuries they were actually playing the last 30 or so minutes with 10 men, so at 1-0 up we protected our lead well.

FA Trophy - 3rd Qual

Crowborough Athletic 0-1 Merthyr

We should have won by a lot more but I'm not bothered, a win is a win. In fact it took a 50 yard effort by Matthew Harris to win it.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 0-0 Carshalton Athletic

Should have easily won this, however our finishing was very poor. Two injuries in the first 7 minutes didn't help but that's no excuse.

FA Cup - 2nd round

Fleetwood Town 0-2 Merthyr

Ok, we were favourites to win this but it was an away game and in the cup anything can happen. However we were very professional as we didn't allow them much and took our chances well for a deserved win. Come on, Man U or Arsenal away!!!!

I'm watching the draw now, we're drawn against......

Doncaster away, wooohoooo

Blue Square South

Lewes 2-0 Merthyr

We were useless today as our excellent league form continues.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 0-1 Eastleigh

We had enough chances to win the game and just as it was destined for 0-0 Steve Williams went and conceded a penalty, what a plonker.

FA Trophy - 1st Round

Worcester City 0-0 Merthyr

A draw was probably a fair result but we could do without the extra game.

FA Trophy - 1st Round replay

Merthyr 3-2(aet) Worcester City

2-0 up at half time and within 15 minutes it was 2-2, unbelievable. We managed to get a goal in extra time but again it was 30 minutes more playing time than we should have needed.

Blue Square South

Dorchester Town 2-0 Merthyr

Dorchester are top so we expected to lose here but keeper Ashley Morris didn't help. First goal he stood dtill as he watched their striker run in and blast the ball past him, the second he spilled the ball straight to one of their players, fantastic.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 0-2 Maidenhead United

Maybe we should just try not defending at all as we conceded two penalties which they scored. Other than that we did enough to win the game really.

Blue Square South

Staines Town 0-0 Merthyr

We should have won it.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-0 Braintree

I was getting ready to write we should have won it again but we finally scored in the 92nd minute.

FA Cup - 3rd round

Doncaster Rovers 3-2 Merthyr

We were unlucky on two counts, unlucky to lose it as we were actually 1-0 up and 2-2 in the second half. Also unlucky as it was a dismal crowd of 1,543, for an FA cup 3rd round game!! It also wasn't on TV so our hopes of making a bit of money were dashed.

Blue Square South

Dover Athletic 2-2 Merthyr

I should be satisfied with a draw here but we need to be winning games.

FA Trophy - 2nd round

Stafford Rangers 1-0 Merthyr

It would have been nice to get a home tie for once, but we were never in this game but can now concentrate in the league.

It's been a mixed season, an excellent cup run in the FA Cup with a disappointing tie at Doncaster. However I'm currently sitting in 18th position in the league despite three games unbeaten. With no cup games to worry about any more I'm hoping our league form improves, no chance for promotion but I just hope I keep my job for now.

[berty1978]

d-machine: the problem in other countries may be that you'll have to find a team with a decent amount of players and staff. Or do another ddt. file for Greece if you play there. Somebody started in Italy a while back but hasn't posted for a while so it's not a problem playing in other countries I think.

[d-machine]

I know that Niki Volou has a decent amount of players (not sure about staff) at the start, including a really good keeper. I start it anyway just to look around. If I can't really do much, then I'll come back to England.

Niki Volou have a full squad of players, an Ass. Man, a coach, a physio and less importantly a scout. I'm game.

Actually, I just remember the thing that made me dislike Greece a bit, only 2 leagues. I'd prefer more then that actually. I'm coming back to England.

[Thepathtoamen]

I am gonna try and start this tonight when I am home from work. Gonna be hard thou, here's to my best shot! :-)

[greenwhitearmy]

most of all the clubs in italy produce very good youth but im not sure if they have players at the start

[Thistles * player]

Is there a save game I can use as the ddt stuff confuses me :o

[Thepathtoamen]

most of all the clubs in italy produce very good youth but im not sure if they have players at the start

It could prove hard then, try spain ro something like that as they have loads of kids.

Is there a save game I can use as the ddt stuff confuses me :o

I'm sure that STE can give you one, he mentioned it earlier in this thread I think.

[Steboyuk]

Firstly, can only apologise for my lack of activity on the thread recently, just been incredibly busy - will hopefully cram some more in before I go off for a week holiday on the 19th.

I am gonna try and start this tonight when I am home from work. Gonna be hard thou, here's to my best shot! :-)

Great to here it mate, more the better! Good luck, and be prepared for the hardest challenge going!

Is there a save game I can use as the ddt stuff confuses me

Glad to here you are interested, ill have a look for my save game now - if I cant find it ill give you a simple guide to the ddt file, its actually really simple to get through.

I can't continue with Cambridge, I just don't feel a connection. What are the limits of starting in other countries? I'm thinking of trying Greece because I've done Gundo's challenge there, or is this challenge just limited to the Big nations (Spain, Italy, England, Germany, France).

Shame, but glad to hear you still want to continue with the task - I would be very interested for you to start it in a different country, would be very interesting to compare the difficulty levels.

Berty - Argh! still dosent look like you can get out of the BSS, but you have obviousley had some positive moments in that season - where do you struggle the most reagrding the league? Home + Away form? Have your youngsters improved or not - some of them looked superb for that level, have you tried increasing their playing time at all?

[Thepathtoamen]

can you send it to me as well please (the DDT guide)? or are you gonna post it on here? if so then that would be great.

Thanks in advance.

[Steboyuk]

DDT Guide:

you will need to use this DDT file. This file will load all of the players for the clubs eligible for the challenge and save loading the massive database created by loading all of the English players. Thanks go to michaeltmurrayuk for providing us with this.

Here's where it needs to go:

XP, patched: C:\Program Files\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2009\data\updates\update-910\db\910\edt

Vista, patched: C://program files/sportsinteractive/football manager 2009/data/updates/update-910/db/910/edt

Steam, patched: C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\football manager 2009\data\updates\update-910\db\910\edt

Mac, patched: /applications/Sports Interactive/Football Manager 2009/data/updates/update-910/db/910/edt

'910' there represented the 9.10 patch - im sure most of us are on the 9.3 patch now, so the folder will be 930.

So, step by step:

Download the file, save it to desktop. It should now appear on your desktop, simply follow the above links (for whichever system you have and stick it in there).

Then, before starting the new game, go into preferences and 'extra files'.. the dafuges challenge file should appear, tick it and your good to go.

I think.

[PFG]

I'm loading up a new game. My Ilkeston game was ruined a few weeks ago when I lost power on my laptop. I'm ready for another crack now (with auto save on this time....).

[Thistles * player]

Cheers Steboy for the guide - great for a rookie like me...

which brings me to my next question: how do you post screenshots?

[Steboyuk]

I'm loading up a new game. My Ilkeston game was ruined a few weeks ago when I lost power on my laptop. I'm ready for another crack now (with auto save on this time....).

Good to hear it mate, good luck.

Cheers Steboy for the guide - great for a rookie like me...

which brings me to my next question: how do you post screenshots?

No problem, for screenshots:

1. Press Print Screen on the keyboard to copy the screens image.

2. Open paint, and Paste. This should paste it into paint.

3. Save the file

4. Go to imageshack.us, click 'browse' and find the picture

5. scroll down to the bottom of all the links, and get the Direct URL. Paste this.

6. Click the 'insert link' button when writing your messgae on here. Its below the white smiley face, and paste the link inside the two IMG tags.

Bingo.

[Thistles * player]

My Profile

And so it begins...

With FC United I shall dominate europe! One youth player at a time.

[Thistles * player]

By the way is it still ok to sign a physio if you start without one? I think I saw this in an earlier porst but wondered if it was a one off.

[Thepathtoamen]

ah thanks STE, I will crack on with over the weekend now seeing as I just won the world cup with England. :-) Expect my profile tonight or tomorrow.

[Thistles * player]

The team

Not a bad squad. A good GK along with good attack and midfield. Worried about the centre backs though as they are poorly rated and I have no youth CB to look forward to. I could be shipping alot of goals this season. On the plus side my youth left back looks promising and could easily be challenging my first team soon. Papis Dieyte is my highest rated player and only 20 so I'll try and hold on to him.

The youth:

Five youngsters this year:

Matt Kearns - A striker who is good phyiscally but poor technical stats mean he won't go very far.

Timothy Rowntree - Centre mid with quite poor attributes, no more than a squad player.

Peter Carbon - At 5'8" he'll never be CB and weak physicality/technicality mean probably not

at left back either.

Ian Scaife - Left back that my coach says could become a good player and alot better than my current left back.

Ryan Miller - A pretty poor full back but he can play at either fullback so could be useful.

Targets

My board wants a mid table finish but I reckon with a bit of luck we can reach the playoffs.

I will post club news at the end of the season as lots of you may have been FC United already.

P.S. Thank Steboy for the help in starting my first challenge

[Thistles * player]

"]Better late than never[/url]

[Thepathtoamen]

Your very lucky Thistles :-)

[Thepathtoamen]

Excuse the double post but here is my profie:

(Can't figure out how to make a link in a post change name SORRY! If someone can tell me how to that would be great)

http://i778.photobucket.com/albums/yy61/Thepathtoamen/YouthChallengeprofileTonbridge.jpg

Don't think anyone has started with Tonbridge so thought I would try something new.

I will post team info when I can post screen shots properly.

[Thistles * player]

Season Summary - 09/10

A pretty good first season for FC United. After a storming start we found ourselves top of the table a few months in (not sure exactly when as I don't know how to get the league positions graph up). However, some poor form towards the end of the season meant we only just qualified for the playoffs on goal difference.

League table

The playoffs

We were drawn against Hinkley who had finished just above us in the BSN and I was hopeful that with a bit of luck we could get to the final. It wasn't looking so good after a 0-0 draw with them at home. In the away leg we were 3-0 down after 37 minutes and eventually succumbed to a 4-2 loss.

The Club

Information

Robert Nugent gets added onto favoured personnel.

Finances

A nice 118K profit to add to the coffers, although we were losing money each month by the end of the season.

Transfers

A few players released including two youth players.

The squad

General info

Assistant reports

Top scorer - Kyle Wilson (27)

Top assists & highest avg. rating - Carlos Roca (18)

Best eleven seasonal

The Youth

Ian Scaife - Put in some good performances at left back and can now play right back as well.

Matt Kearns - 7 goals including a brace on the last game of the season to make sure we reach the playoffs.

Peter Carbon - Filled in at centre back and left back but never shone, good backup.

Timothy Rowntree - An average centre mid still but got in few games and didn't make many errors.

N.B. I had released him and Ryan Miller when I took these screenshots as this report was made at the start of the season so I could show my new youth.

Ryan Miller - Indeed turned out to be useful with the positions he can play and helped when we had injuries.

New youth

Simeon Anderson - A strong, hardworking centre mid who is a bit on the slow side.

Jamie Carter - A quick centre mid with a bit of flair and a knack for free kicks.

James Daley - A pretty poor centre back who probably wont make it to my first team.

Tim Bates - A slow attacking mid who has quite good mental attributes.

Tyrone Fox - A very tall centre back who has terrible technical attributes.

Glenn Osman - An eccentric goalkeeper who has little prospects of first team action.

Targets

Last season:

My board wants a mid table finish but I reckon with a bit of luck we can reach the playoffs - Achieved

This season:

Gain promotion

Improve finances

Wish me luck!

[berty1978]

Good luck with Tonbridge Thepathtoamen, they're doing pretty well in my game.

Unlucky in the play-offs Thistles, hopefully improve next season, some pretty good youth there although none really stand out, maybe Tim Bates if he had pace.

Ste - I'm just struggling to find a tactic that is consistant, we can be good at home but rubbish away, it's those away performances I need to look at. At some point I'll post an update on my youth players, probably end of next season as it will be a 5 season update.

[berty1978]

Anyway to my third update of the 2012/13 season:

Blue Square South

Weston-super-Mare 3-1 Merthyr

Things go from bad to worse as this was an abysmal performance. I wish there was worse than angry on the team talk, like throw something at all the players maybe.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 0-1 Billericay Town

We were the better side in the first half but whatever happened at half time seemed to affect our players as we were poor second half and lost it.

Blue Square South

AFC Wimbledon 3-1 Merthyr

We started well, scoring first in fact and it went downhill from there.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 2-0 Tiverton Town

I'm messing around with the tactics now and how we won 2-0 here I'll never know. They were all over us for most of the game, ah well a win is a win.

Blue Square South

Basingstoke Town 0-0 Merthyr

I was disappointed in the end as the crossing was appalling, we had a lot of the ball and didn't create enough chances. In the end they could have won it.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 0-2 Sutton United

Not a bad performance as we created chances but they took theirs so very disappointed in that respect.

Blue Square South

Team Bath 2-3 Merthyr

We just about edged this game but still not a great performance, this was against the side at the bottom of the league. We need to improve in our passing.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-1 Newport County

We just didn't do enough to win this game, and again the passing was appalling whether long or short.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-0 Chelmsford City

A decent win against one of the stronger sides, but I know we can still play better.

Blue Square South

Tonbridge Angels 3-0 Merthyr

When we lose we lose badly, this was an awful performance, even though we were unlucky to lose by 3 goals.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 4-1 Hampton & Richmond Borough

If only we played like this every week, we totally controlled the match with Jamie Bailey on form with 2 goals. Their goal came from a penalty scored by 40 year old youngster Trevor Sinclair, he looks a good prospect.

We're now sitting in 15th position, I was never really worried about relegation but a run of poor results left me wondering how we were in that position. With 10 games left hopefully we can finish in a good mid table position.

[Thepathtoamen]

Cheers Berty, I will hopefully have some time this week to put some more hours into this game as I am lacking the time to actually play at all :-(

Will hopefully make up my opening review tonight as well.

Hard luck Thistles on your play off cause, but I am sure you can make it this year with the experience the younger ones will now have.

Berty, Hold out for mid-table, think thats what I am aiming for in my first season just to test the waters. need to also find a decent lower league tatic.

[berty1978]

Merthyr Tydfil - Season 2012/13 - Final update

Blue Square South

Merthyr 0-1 Eastbourne Borough

Inconsistancy is the name of the game as after a fantastic 4-1 win last time we were well beaten by a side in the relegation zone.

Blue Square South

Bromley 1-2 Merthyr

Strangely enough we were unlucky to go in at 0-1 at half time but a great comeback in the second half with an 88th minute winner from defender Steve Williams of all people.

Blue Square South

Carshalton Athletic 3-1 Merthyr

I was hopeful for this game after a good win at Bromley, but then it started, they actually scored after 19 seconds and scored two more. Actually we had a lot more possession and more chances, we just couldn't finish, arrrgghh.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-1 Lewes

Well annoyed as we were 1-0 up and Ashley Morris ('keeper) decides to clear the ball to the opposition, twice in a row.

Blue Square South

Eastleigh 3-1 Merthyr

Awful, they dominated possession, and they had way too many chances. I have no idea how to stop my players passing straight to the opposition.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 1-2 Dorchester

Dorchester are top but it was still a very disappointing performance, we allowed them too many chances.

Blue Square South

Maidenhead United 1-0 Merthyr

Another single goal loss but we really need to tighten up in defence, they've been the weakest link all season.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 4-0 Staines Town

We were fantastic first half and we should have been a lot more than 2-0 up. Luckily second half we didn't stop playing and this was probably the best performance yet as Merthyr manager.

Blue Square South

Merthyr 0-0 Dover Athletic

When Matt Middleton is missing penalties things definately aren't going too well. It was another good performance but somehow we failed to score.

Blue Square South

Braintree 0-1 Merthyr

Somehow managed to sneak this one, even though we weren't great. Good to end the season on a winning note though.

Final Table - A very disappointing season so I can surely only get better. If it doesn't I don't think I'll have a job for much longer. A new chairman came in and actually gave the club a loan, which we do have to pay back but it cleared the debt, for a couple of months anyway.

Squad stats - Nobody really stood out this season, even Matt Middleton had just an average season so things were bad. I'm hoping to get a good right winger so Middleton can go back to his preferred position of right back, a left winger would help too.

Youth intake to come shortly.

[berty1978]

Merthyr Tydfil youth intake - 2013:

Danny Donnelly: A right winger that I was hoping for, looks decent enough. Good on crossing but otherwise relatively poor technical attributes.

Ian Robertson: Got good mental attributes, though he could improve in his marking and tackling. Poor heading ability means he'll never be a good DC, and I'll make sure he's not marking a tall player.

Matty Green: He's best as a right defender so looks like he'll play there meaning Matt Middleton is stuck on the right wing. Excellent prospect though.

Nicholas Trott: My Ass Man says he's not nearly as good as Todd Birkett, but will become a leading league 2 defender, so they should form a great defensive partnership which is what I need, as long as they both stay fit.

Rory Miles: Another very good prospect, although I'll retrain him as an MC. His natural positions are WBL and DMC which I don't tend to play with.

Other news:

Link with Swansea: If you remember the new chairman terminated the link with Cardiff which I was pretty annoyed with, they redeemed themselves. I've arranged 3 friendlies with them for the coming season, may as well make the most of it. Had to cancel the planned loan signing of Jazz Richards though, he would have been amazing as well, and a great name too.

[Thepathtoamen]

Berty that is a brillant name (Jazz) :-)

Unlucky with the season although at least you stayed up! work on it for next year and aim for top 10