Jogo Bonito

That's a really strong start to the season, especially after shedding so much of the better talent on relegation. Keep up the good work!

That really is ALOT of friendlies, but have fully noted the first team only got involved towards the end. Do you need so many trial players now you're at a decent club like Viking? Good luck for the new season, you're doing a fine job there.

Chequebook manager, that sounds like a brand new franchise idea. Alas, my wife got that copyright sorted nearly 20 years ago. I made some PGE tweaks as mentioned in my intro, but not with the aim of making it easier. Lo and behold a few days after starting, the club got another points deduction (and maybe more to follow) so I was a bit disappointed I didn't start with -10 or -12 really. But I had invested too much time by then, so will be continuing. Wolves are a good club, nice history, I managed them a few times back in League 1 days. A limit of £20 million per player is probably harder at your level than what I am doing to be fair. I'll be doing another update soon so hope it remains interesting

Very good job mate, from where they were when you arrived that was a very good navigation to safety. What are your aims and ambitions for next season? Top half minimum, I would guess?

A great finish (6th) last year and keeping up the same level of form again. You do a really good job of long-term improvements at the clubs you manage.

Thanks, very kind. It seems the point deduction wasn't a big handicap (unlike in real life where the first 3-4 months were quite shocking). But the real challenge will be trying to keep the club ticking along without being able to pay fees for any players until 2025. I see that as manageable, whether playing at League 1 or Championship level.

Thanks Hootie. And yes, I really hope at League 1 level in England we don't get too much of that nonsense. Thanks, good to have you around. On the pitch yes, all good. Off the pitch, it's still a shambles. But at least the ownership doesn't come up as a deterrent to my enthusiasm.

You need to keep winning to avoid the Ultras storming in to your PC/Laptop, or even worse in to your home...

3rd is a bit of an over-achievement but perhaps you're just an elite manager I look forward to reading about your spell with FC Magdeburg. Will that be starting afresh in 2023/24 or picking up from where you ended? I'm guessing the former.

Thanks, yes better than expected to be fair. But also we are aware we had the rub of the green with a few late goals so the points tally is a little generous.

Continuing the impressive form, on all fronts. Where does that leave you in the league at the start of February?

Reading back, that's a coup to pick up Oscar Bobb for a very reasonable fee after his loan, and very sensible wages too. The manager change at Bodo/Glimt is interesting, if a little harsh on the successful Knutsen. Good luck for the new season!

Unlucky on the injury to Casteels but good to see a new 'keeper has already been lined up for you! You seem to be clawing your way out of trouble, and I think you'll be comfortably safe in the end.

Yes he isn't looking great inside the game. But I guess they'll be dancing in the streets of Bendel Insurance.... Thanks for the comment, it's good to have some interest in a club that doesn't really have much positive appeal at the moment.

Indeed, a good start even if some of those wins were left very late! Kelvin flatters to deceive at times IRL but does have some ability and will be an asset for me, especially until Sam Smith is fit. Then he might have to share the left-attacker role with Paul Mukairu as he does in real life. Local commentators frequently just call him Kelvin E. as they butcher his name when trying to say it too. Some opposing fans also remarked a few months back that we had a 'wifi password' playing in attack, which has also led to certain fans nicknaming him 'Wifi' too. And an added note for you, his younger brother Princewell is now on the books of 'your Southampton' after leaving Reading about a year ago.

Those good old days have passed for most of us mate! Likewise I get little time to play FM these days, but I've done a season with FC Heidenheim and a few months at each of Southampton, Notts County and Servette. I've recently started out with Reading but only done the intro posts and first months so far (thread in these very pages). Looking forward to following your Wolfsburg progress!

Thanks for the support mate! The squad is young but good enough for League 1. Since creating this thread, there has been another two points deduction added in real life, but if I re-started every time the idiot owner harms the club like that, it would never get going. Season 2023/24 Despite the injuries, it has been a good start to the season with an impressive number of wins U21 winger Mamadi Camara was promoted to star on the opening day as the two-goal replacement for the injured Femi Azeez on the right-wing Two late goals just about saw off League 2 outfit Forest Green Rovers in the EFL Cup in the first of three fixtures where we had plenty of struggles Lewis Wing scored a late winner at Port Vale in a tough battle, and we only drew at home to a weak Cheltenham side next time out But two more wins over Stevenage (home) and Exeter (away) keep the club in a much better league position than we expected by this stage Last time out, Southampton dumped us out in Round 2 of the EFL Cup but we weren't really expecting much in that competition The tally of nine points from five games is of course a result of the four point deduction, but it's a really strong start Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan is filling in well for the yet-to-feature Sam Smith as a lone striker in our 4231 formation Our other fit attacking midfielders (Paul Mukairu and Harvey Knibbs) also have two league returns too The finance graph shows a small positive balance, but that will be negative soon as sponsorship & season ticket sales hide the crisis the club faces The original £89 million debt and additional interest leaves a current net debt of over £100 million with monthly repayments of £475k for 20 years With the self-imposed transfer restrictions on the club until 1st January 2025, we made just one new signing in the summer transfer window We had options in central midfield, but most were suited to the defensive-minded central midfield role and we needed somebody suited to the other role Wing plays He is one of the most important players in the side, so the signing needed to be tactically suitable, cheap and also willing to accept limited minutes too Arsenal's Miguel Azeez was a perfect solution with well-suited attributes costing only £600 per week in wages, and being the brother of winger Femi Azeez Young right-back Sam Paul is nowhere near the first team squad and was allowed to join Oxford City on loan We blocked many loan bids for other youngsters as we feel many will be useful assets during this campaign The club has a bit of history with recruiting young Irish and American rookies, and one such pre-contract move has been set up for January 2024 We think Orlando City striker Duncan McGuire will be a good asset for the club, and his £2.9k weekly pay falls well within our new wage structure We also expect that some of our more established attackers may be stolen in the winter, so the American seems sensible business for the future We also need to try and reduce the wage budget further, so ideally Guinness-Walker and Dean will be leaving by the winter

Welcome back, I hope all is well. The German Bundesliga is a great place to manage in, and I look forward to seeing what you can do with VfL Wolfsburg.

Very strong form and top of the tree, great stuff @warlock.

Indeed. Squad review now updated, we cannot yet put out a strong and consistent line-up due to injuries. Hopefully that will improve.

You could say we are in a Parallel-Stuniverse! Hopefully Reading FC will come out of the mess and recover as Derby and Bolton are doing. Good to have your support!

The Squad Three goalkeepers, Button will be first choice if not injured, with Pereira and Boyce-Clarke (long-term successor) offering support Much depth in defence, but many are youngsters and/or injured Yiadom will be right-back with two from Holmes, Bindon, Abbey and Mbengue centrally, and Mola, Dorsett and McIntyre left-back options In real life Abbey and McIntyre left in the winter window but will be used here, Holmes also left but is still at the club on a loan-back The formation being used in recent times is either a 4141 or 4231 Wing is the main man here, with Savage or Craig playing the more defensive role, Elliott is lightweight but good in attacking phases Ejaria is long-term injured and does not want to stay (mutually terminated in real life) Knibbs has been best as a central attacking midfielder (almost a shadow striker) so will play that role rather than on the wing Azeez will be an inverted winger on the right, Mukairu and Vickers will roam from the left flank Ehibhatiomhan will play centrally as lone striker until Smith gets fit, Ballard and Clarke will support In reality, Vickers was also sold in the winter window and Ballard had a season-ending injury in the autumn and returned to parent club Southampton Pre-Season Results Mixed results here, but perhaps the last outing will be one to inspire the team when the real action starts

Manager Announcement A welcome to the new (old) manager, from the new Chairman (old DOF). Club Profile General Info The transfer embargo mentioned will be manually applied until 1st January 2025 (finances are kept as insecure)

A new career at a nothing club in the 3rd tier of English football - a really boring choice right? But beneath the hood, herein lies a club that has a long and (until recently) proud history. Formed in 1871, it is one of the oldest football clubs in the world, but The Royals (so nicknamed as they are from the Royal County of Berkshire) have never been remarkable. Most of their existence has been spent in the 3rd and 4th tiers, but since 2001/02 they've been 2nd tier stalwarts. Within that period they have also enjoyed their only three top flight years (2006/07 and 2007/08 then 2012/13). But after becoming perennial relegation battlers, the 2022/23 season finally delivered what was well overdue - relegation back to the 3rd tier. Locals thought this was rock-bottom, only to be 'entertained' by even greater depression as they have endured a torrid 2023/24 campaign spent largely in the relegation zone of League One. Remarkably results have improved in recent weeks, and a further relegation back to the 4th tier may just be avoided. But that shouldn't really be seen as something to celebrate. Since 2017, the disastrous stewardship of Chinese owner Dai Yongge has seen the club lurch from one crisis to another. He's already been responsible for the closure of clubs in Belgium and China, so he certainly has 'form' in football failure. In 2023/24, all sorts of fan protests have been arranged to try and force the owner to sell, and hopefully this will happen before administration or even liquidation come calling. So, what records does this club hold? Well, the latest can be proudly attached to the current owner's tenure. Yes, Reading are the only club in history to have points deductions in three successive campaigns. Last year this saw them relegated (excusing the fact they were awful and deserved it), and this year they must overcome a four point deduction after regular non-payment of wages to players & staff, and failure to pay HMRC tax on time. Other clubs have had bigger penalties than this, but to be so inept over such a sustained period is quite an achievement. The club also hasn't been able to sign players for a fee (and above a strict wage cap) for more windows than a glazing company have seen in a lifetime, and this will continue until 31st December 2024. Before this period, the club was seen as a prime example of a well-run smaller club and in better days their records tended to be of a positive nature. The club still holds the record for the number of successive league wins at the start of a season, with a total of 13 wins at the start of the 1985/86 (3rd tier) campaign, and also the record number of points gained in a professional league season with 106 points in the 2005/06 Championship (2nd tier) season. So why are we here then? Well, firstly it's the only time in my FM days that the club has started outside of the top two tiers. So that's 'exciting' right? Secondly, I have found a way via the PGE to make some subtle changes to the database that stop this opportunity being passed up. I want to rescue and revive Reading, but not by making it easier. I want to do this in 'The Reading Way', which was how the community club was often described during the admired era of Sir John Madejski. Free transfers and occasional non-paying loans will be the order of the day until at least 2025, and after that, all fee and wage decisions will be taken with 'sensible financial prudence' at the forefront. Summary of Changes The Chinese owners & Thai director have been removed. Deleted. It was not possible to manage the club and see their names there, even if they were ousted very quickly. The club has been made 'fan-owned' with the chance of any external takeovers excluded as I don't want rich buyers to come along. The full debt of £89 million that was payable to the owner on departure has been put in to a repayable bank loan over 20 years at 3% interest. I did not want the debt to just disappear as the club deserves to be financially restricted for many years to come. I've also removed the rich benefactor entry. Mark Bowen (current DOF) has been inserted as Chairman (with no elections) of the new fan-owned club. He is one of the few good guys in a sorry story. I extended the transfer embargo from August 2023 to January 2025, but eventually removed it entirely as it was stopping the club being able to bring in loan players or sign players on approach to sign deals. In real life they can bring in loan players if paying no fee, and they can even sign attached players as long as they don't pay any fee, and I wanted to be able to do the same. I'll just make sure no transfer fees are paid until 1st January 2025 in order to keep it real. The wage cap of £6k per week could not be limited in time via the PGE so would have remained forever. I have therefore removed the cap but will again personally make sure no new players earn more than £6k per week until at least 1st January 2025. I very slightly reduced the club reputation score in the editor, but not by too much. I've removed all staff that are no longer at the club (including the two made redundant recently). I've not sold or removed the players that were sold behind the back of the Manager/DOF this winter. But if an offer comes in for them, I will probably allow the sale. This deprives me of income, but I wanted a few months out of players who featured in the first part of the season. I've abolished contracts for Dean Bouzanis and Sam Hutchinson. Bye bye to both of you. I've deleted Rubén Sellés from the database, but the new manager of the club is effectively a clone of him*. *He's made plenty of mistakes, like the 4222 formation that saw the club unable to play football for many months, the exclusion of certain players early on, the desire to play players in unsuited positions etc. But he deserves full credit for fronting up week in, week out to the media. Being the only person at the club willing to talk, and finally beginning to use the players in a way they could perform properly. All done with good grace, charm and selflessness. There was no other choice but to reward his clone with the Reading job in FM24. Credit and thanks to @Stuniverse for some guidance on my set-up plans. Much appreciated.

Unlucky there, very close and could easily have gone your way. Plenty to look forward to though.