Jogo Bonito

Club selected. Now just deciding whether to update in FMCU or add the odd post in the GPTG pages. Very nice to see you sign up your striker to a long-term deal. I'll keep an eye out on his progress.

Nice work with Niort and Le Mans guys, excellent stuff. And @karanhsingh I am sure you're all set for another good season at Havre AC also.

Are you still at Atalanta? I like the challenge of their rules in Italy, but they are difficult and after being in England I need something a bit more loose for the moment. Catch a flight to Germany then? Auf wiedersehen pet

Just the one, then it's down to you Percious Boah.

Nice idea. And as your main striker is on loan, shall I give you a pointer towards a young free agent African striker who should be fine for that level?

Great choice. I just made a post elsewhere and mentioned Grafite (from what he did at Wolfsburg) so couldn't believe you mentioned him here at almost the same time! Good luck with Le Mans!

Nice to see you still going in Austria at SV Ried. I'm not so big on the tactical or data stuff of FM, but like reading about your stories for the good content, especially your transfer ideas and moves. As my spell in England has ended, I'm considering Austria and Germany at the moment. I feel the need to play with softer transfer regulations so these two nations are catching my interest. I never tried Austria but imagine it's quite a similar level to Switzerland (a place I managed often and enjoyed). I like green kits/clubs so had Werder Bremen & SK Rapid Vienna in mind initially. Then I thought about Wolfsburg as I was watching a great TV special on their title triumph last week (Grafite was an awesome asset and was interviewed too). But they're a bit 'too good' so will probably choose one of the first two or one of the other options in 2. Bundesliga (Germany) that came up.

Thanks for the kind words. Not really an expert as I don't get to go back to Africa these days and don't get to watch French football where I am based now. My favourite clubs for Ligue 1 recently might be Lorient (until they sold Moffi) & Montpellier, the two French sides I managed most recently. Strasbourg are a good option but you have done them. Elsewhere, ASSE and Bordeaux are great rebuild projects, and Le Havre are always a decent choice. I'd probably look at SC Bastia or Grenoble (for locations), possibly Stade Lavallois - or Le Mans / AS Nancy for a slower project. @karanhsingh An amazing season. Not so much the promotion, but winning a Cup in the first year was somewhat unexpected!

Thanks both. Yes a decent season and in years gone by I would have been delighted with slow steps to a better future. The trouble is, these days the game is so complex and time consuming, not like the days where you could plough through seasons and manage many different clubs in one edition. Here we are in February, and all I have achieved is two seasons (didn't play BETA or try and abort any other clubs). The transfer restrictions of England are also difficult post-Brexit which doesn't help either. Also I think slow, less frequent gameplay and updating doesn't make my posts very enjoyable here as nobody can really 'get in to the story' - that even applies to myself after a season to be honest. I fancy going somewhere else now sadly. Ideally that would be Italy, but I probably need to take on a club where transfer restrictions are less difficult. That doesn't make Spain much better, and I have done France often before, so it may be Germany or Austria next

Funnily enough, after managing in England and deciding I should look for a club with less restrictive transfer rules, I had been re-reading some posts from my Lorient save of a few years back as I wanted to see what had happened to my African transfers. One player I signed actually joined in real life, Datro Fofana has been in the news recently, whilst some of the others have done OK too. I made some kits for them, and was quite close to going back there, but then they sold Moffi and the temptation drained away. Le Havre/Havre AC is a really good club, great youth production legacy, lovely modern oceanic-shaped stadium etc. Good luck and enjoy if that's your next career! I managed them once before, quite a few years ago now. A nice concept idea, and good luck.

Sorry about that! Actually, not so much of a story to tell... I play slow. I update slow. What more can I say? Likewise, but appreciate you popping by! Sheffield Wednesday - 2023/24 (Sky Bet Championship) We pick up this story in January 2024, with The Owls firmly in mid-table (14th after 25 league games) The transfer window was quiet with central midfielder Archie Gray coming in on loan from Yorkshire rivals Leeds He replaced disappointing on-loan midfielder Lewis Fiorini after we manipulated Man City to recall him (we had no termination, but Pep got upset when we left him out) Two youngsters were allowed to leave on loan and development squad left-back Ryan Galvin was sold to Burton Albion for £36k We tried to complete a pre-contract deal for 21-year old African left-back Bayi Zogbo with an eye on the summer, but he was refused a work permit and we pulled out January saw us knocked out of the FA Cup by Fulham in a Round 3 replay, and two wins, two draws and one thrashing in the league at Sunderland February was another mixed month with three wins, one draw and two defeats as our position remained virtually unchanged throughout What was interesting is that from February until the last game in April, only our two strikers scored any goals (surprising over a 14 game run) March was yet another inconsistent month, with two wins, two defeats and one draw keeping us anchored safely away from the relegation zone The four games in April saw two wins and two losses in a rare unbeaten month, and this lifted us a couple of places to 12th And our season was wound up with a tame home loss to Watford and a draw at QPR as we held on to that same position in the table The season summary shows we had done well given the expected relegation battle Our attendances were great with 28,243 attending our home games on average, and of course Paul Mullin with 24 league goals was our best player yet again The performance graph shows mid-table stability but little else (not that we were unhappy with that) Mullin was the equal of any strikers even at this higher level, and we had the 2nd best average home attendances The finances show we had just about managed to stay on the positive side, but the losses accumulated rapidly from where we started the season Here is the full table at the end of the campaign, with Brighton worthy winners ahead of Stoke Coventry and Blackpool were relegated alongside a very poor Millwall side Our player stats across the season are shown below, and it's fair to say we relied heavily on Mullin and strike partner Shayne Lavery Apart from that pair, our central defenders had all been quite decent, and Leeds loanee Gray played his role impressively Six of our contracted players will see their deals run out in the summer (plus Gray) and all are likely to be looking for new clubs Of this group, Cameron Dawson was the only one we really wanted to keep as he has been at the club for many years - but he isn't interested in entering talks to stay The end of the season is always time for a manager to consider their position Tweets from Owls sources suggest this particular manager may be looking for a new challenge in another country after an enjoyable two-year stint at the club

Sorry for the slow reply, yes that sums it up well really. Always good to have you following along. It's my first time managing The Owls and it's been nice to try a new EFL club. I'm keeping well thanks and hope the same for you. Update coming soon!

Very nice background story and ideas, an enjoyable read. It looks like you're already on track to complete phase 1 of the recovery plan. Good luck in the rest of your first season.

A harsh sacking at that particular time, but you've landed a good gig at Palace and it gave you a great opportunity for a lovely and appropriate new story title!

Sheffield Wednesday - 2023/24 (Sky Bet Championship) Sorry it has been a while but I'm still stumbling around in Yorkshire and have now got to the January transfer window in my 2nd season We're managing to keep our heads above water and are safely away from the relegation battle so the board and fans are satisfied with our progress After a decent October we lost star striker Paul Mullin to injury and this had a fairly significant effect on results during November We found some form in December and have put together some decent results, along with the odd blip which was to be expected The home defeat delivered by struggling QPR was disappointing though, as we levelled after 94 minutes and then conceded another to lose 3-2 The good news is that Mullin has now returned, and our other main forward Shayne Lavery has started to grab some goals too We sit 14th after 25 league games, the performance graph is fairly steady, and financially we are doing well enough to be stable The transfer window is open, and we plan to send midfielder Lewis Fiorini back to Man City after no goals or assists in 13 (+5) appearances at a rating of only 6.79 Arrivals are probably going to be sparse, but central midfielder Archie Gray of Leeds is likely to join on loan for the rest of the campaign

Thanks mate and sorry for the late response. I'm now 1.5 seasons in on this and will post an update very soon. Happy New Year all.

Thanks for reading and good luck with Sheffield Wednesday! In the first year, I'd say look at the high earners, players over 30, players who will have contracts ending. Do your best to free yourself from some of that burden. There's not much you can do really, but generally FM will find some money from somewhere (board cash injections etc.) and you'll get through somehow. You've been sensible with transfers it seems. Only a small fee for Ched Evans, a free move for Ben Arfa, and a couple of extra loans. So you spent a bit less than me probably. You'll face an interesting time if you don't get promoted probably, but it's all part of the challenge. I didn't spend much for the 2nd season, but have more quality and spend less on wages. It's a good club to be managing. Thank you for that, much appreciated. It's stirring, if not yet fully awake! Merry Christmas to you both, and to anyone else reading.

Sheffield Wednesday - 2023/24 (Sky Bet Championship) After such a good pre-season there is always a doubt that the form will be turned upside down as soon as the serious business gets going Well, the performance of new striker Shayne Lavery at Hull quashed those fears as he grabbed four debut goals in a massive 4-1 away win However, since then it has been tough with narrow penalty wins in the Carabao Cup sandwiching two poor league performances in August The Steel City derby loss to Sheffield United was felt badly by the fans, but September started with a massive 2-0 win at Fulham (who just spent £54 million) We only grabbed a solitary point from the next three home league games, which saw us heading on a massive downward trajectory though We scraped past League 2 side Crawley to set up a 4th Round game with Norwich, and at least managed to notch an overdue league win at Rotherham last time out All of this sees us sitting mid-table but we have been forced to try different formations, and really don't feel too confident about the months ahead What will help us greatly is to earn our first home league win of the season - we need to make our home venue a fortress and benefit from the fans sizeable support Financially we are in a better position than before, and we have the 3rd best home attendance average to date - we need to make that count At least we are living a more sustainable way now, at the last count our wage expenditure was listed as one of the lowest in the league (21st)

I'm not sure how many people in Taunton know the club exists either You'll be able to compete well at this level, and as and when recruits are possible there are a few South West teams like Torquay, Yeovil, Exeter, Plymouth and the Bristol sides to steal from, plus released youngsters from the likes of Bournemouth and Southampton. Good luck in the land of Cider!

Nice choice of club, go for it Nancy

Until I left UK last December, I lived and worked in Taunton for 6.5 years and went to a few games so interested to follow this! We did indeed say Up The Peacocks in office banter style quite often!

Nice write up and a very good season, Celta is a good club with a strong youth pedigree, pleased to see you pick them. I had some theories about the salary to register Veiga (did not encounter that at Valencia in FM22) but as it's sorted we won't go down that path. A shame to lose Galan, a fine asset. But good luck in the new season.

Thanks very much. I'm really pleased with Coucke, Ferguson and Atkinson. The others, time will tell. 2023/24 Pre-Season Following promotion we are tipped to finish 23rd and be relegated back to League 1 The board just ask to 'fight bravely against relegation' but we think we can do better than that The pre-season results certainly suggest that, but it's not unknown for the total opposite to occur when the serious business kicks off Early optimism comes from the goals of new signing Shayne Lavery, with him and Paul Mullin looking like they could be double trouble for opposition defences 2023/24 - The Tactics and formation The formation for the coming season is almost identical to the one that gained us promotion The first change is to give Lavery (or Callum Paterson when selected) the duty of pressing forward instead of deep-lying forward The other change sees the defensive midfielder becoming a half-back instead of being a ball-winner or deep playmaker The wing-backs will be allowed to decide when they want to push forward, as a consequence of the half-back being more aware to drop back in Rob Atkinson is allowed to bring the ball forward from central defence, to suit his dribbling & preferred move competencies The 24-man squad shown previously is now set at 23 due to our 3rd 'keeper Max O'Leary being offered out and sold to Forest Green Rovers for £38k We already have two excellent options in goal, and a number of youngsters that can go from the U21 squad to the bench if necessary at any point Let the Championship season begin....

Sheffield Wednesday - 2023/24 (Sky Bet Championship) After our promotion last season, we knew a busy summer was ahead in the transfer market Leaving the club were all four loan men (McGuinness, Williams, Mighten and Kamungo) as the first three weren't able to return and the latter hadn't done enough In addition, we lost Heneghan & Smith in part exchange deals that actually suited us, whilst Iorfa (sadly), Bannan, Hunt, & Windass all left at the expiry of their contracts New contracts had been handed out to a couple of players, including Brown who was never going to be kept but had trained and played well above expectations last year So we had 10 first team holes to plug with little or no money, and we had to assemble our new squad to compete at a higher level too We are now at the start of July and although yet to play any pre-season games, we always like to have the group assembled in time for the start of pre-season training Our recruitment activity has seen nine new first team squad arrivals (two cost a fee and one is a loan), plus 5 youngsters for the development squad Meet the new men - 2023/24 edition The deal for Rob Atkinson had been some time ago, and the left-sided central defender finally arrived on 9th June from relegated Bristol City We expect him to be a regular starter and he should be a key element of our new-look defence With good striker choices in our budget quite limited, Shayne Lavery from Blackpool seemed the best pick as a partner or understudy to Paul Mullin He scored 2 goals in 6 games for Blackpool last season, has good finishing attributes and is known for being a very hard-worker (which we think we might need) Free Transfer signings Zak Vyner joined from relegated Bristol City on a free transfer, he wasn't our first choice but might be a good option at centre-back or even right-back at times We hadn't actually been in the market for a new goalkeeper, but Gaetan Coucke came on to our radar and is likely to edge out Cameron Dawson in goal A real-life target of West Ham earlier in 2022, the ex-KV Mechelen player looks like a really good reason to mix up our policy of sticking mainly to British markets Central defender Joel Latibeaudiere arrived from another relegated side in Swansea City, and like Vyner he was by no means our preferred solution After an injury-ravaged time since joining Crystal Palace, we hope that Nathan Ferguson can stay fit and get his career back on track He took a massive drop on his £30k p/w wage, and is signed to play at right-back although he can also do a job in the centre in a crisis Our second new right-back is highly-rated Harrison Ashby on a free transfer from West Ham - in real life he is expected to join Newcastle this winter For much of last season we had been using an asymmetrical formation with only a winger on the right, and Scott Banks is another free transfer He can play left-wing if we ever decide to go in that direction, but the left-footer is seen as being a good understudy to Mallik Wilks on the right flank Loan Signing We hoped to avoid having any loan men this year, but Lewis Fiorini of Man City was acquired on loan to ease the creative loss of Barry Bannan in central midfield Development Squad (Under 21) arrivals Of the five youngsters joining our U21 group, only Celtic forward Adam Brooks has cost a fee with £36k being paid for his services Irish goalkeeper Daniel Rose had been at Everton before joining Schalke in Germany, and we see him as a good prospect for the future Arsenal centre-back Alex Kirk also had some appeal, and it's always good to bring his type through from within the ranks Victory Beniangba had a good scoring record at Jong Genk last year and had scored a few in the Egyptian Premier League before moving to Belgium Marcel McIntosh is another central defender who may have something to bring to the club in the future, he joins after his release from Norwich Sheffield Wednesday - The Squad for 2023/24 The expected 24-man squad is as below, with the wage bill having reduced from £220k p/w to £204k p/w The new expenditure was much better, but pre-agreed promotion bonuses were paid out and Paul Mullin & Ben Jackson were rewarded with better deals too