Abaddon879
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Posts posted by Abaddon879
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6 minutes ago, Alexpuk2002 said:
It is interesting that this tactic is still working. Had a lot of success with this tactic early in the new year. I managed to win the Champions League with Red Bull Salzburg, and had a lot of success with Plymouth and Swansea. I think I'll have to try this one out again as I have really struggled since the March updates to find a tactic that is consistent like this one was.
I've seen no drop off in terms of results post update. It is crucial to maintain morale however. If that drops even slightly, it can ruin your season. I am constantly praising training and performances to keep the players happy. As with in real life, if you can maintain good morale throughout the squad, an average set of players can go on to dominate.
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I'm planning to transition to a total football style and managed to sign these amazing youth prospects to be the focus of this new style of football. I need help trying to work out where I should focus their training, and what PPMs would work well for them however.
Ronaldinho Matthysen (18 y/o South African)
A hard working midfielder, I'm thinking he would be best suited to one of the DMC roles, but unsure which of the two? I'm leaning towards the Segundo Volante to make use of his Work Rate and Determination. Would need some focus on his first touch and stamina, but otherwise he seems perfect? His tackling and marking should be covered by the role training.
Role: Segundo Volante
Individual Focus:- Ball Control (First Touch, Dribbling, Technique)
- Endurance (Stamina, Work Rate)
PPM:
- ???
Till Löhe (18 y/o German)
The obvious option would be to train him in the AMC (Gullit) role, however I have some concern about his attacking movement, balance, strength, and finishing. With his smaller stature, should I maybe consider converting him into a winger? His lack of crossing and dribbling is of concern for that role however. To cover his weaknesses
Role: Segundo Volante
Individual Focus:- Attacking Movement (Off The Ball, Anticipation, Decisions)
- Agility and Balance
- Finishing (Finishing, Long Shots, Technique)
- Strength (Jumping Reach, Strength)
PPM:
- ???
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On 04/04/2021 at 10:14, jinxwhitsmith said:
2nd season in the prem with Bolton and finished 4th. Fair to say this still works folks!!
Completely agree, after a short hiatus from the game, I resumed my Farnborough save and we dominated the Championship with a team and a budget that had no rights to win it's fourth back-to-back promotion as champions. Yet another record breaking season with the most clean sheets, most points, and very close to the most wins ever in the division.
Now to assemble a Premier League squad with a League One reputation...
Edit: So after making just 5 signings, my League One standard team managed to finish 4th in our first season. Had we not had our new-year wobble, we could have finished as high as second or third! Safe to say, if you can ensure morale within the squad, this tactic can overperform massively. So much so in fact that I'm now going to move away from it and transition the team into a more eye pleasing style of football.
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Still going about our business with minimal recognition. Despite our meteoric rise up the leagues, and me recieving manager of the year each year, I've yet to see any interested from other teams.
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1 hour ago, DazRTaylor said:
Thank you though it won't happen. My first sacking of 2021. Played ten, lost nine, drew one. I couldn't sign many players and those I already had are not good enough.
Sigh. Maybe I will try FC United again. I am already in the Premier League with them so hopefully I will get my love back for the save.
Shame it didn't work out. They were the team I had originally been hoping for as they are the closest team to where I live, but they were just a little too low reputation, and after 150+ reloads I gave up trying and finally settled for Farnborough.
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8 hours ago, goonergez said:
Just been sent this way and been furiously scribbling down some notes to help me in my next effort for the daFuge challenge. What a great read. Despite being in depth its also easy enough to understand for people who haven't delved this deep into tactics before.
Where can I find said book though? Be interesting to read more........
I believe this is the document you are after, from his Dropbox drive.
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I suspect this is far from a plug-and-play tactic, as I ran a quick holiday sim with Milan, using the exact players that the author suggested, and I was sacked with the team down in 15th! It's not a style of play that you can easily just adapt and expect to work. I would say its an advanced tactic that needs you to understand how and why the match engine works to get the most from it.
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3 minutes ago, Mr U Rosler said:
Thanks for the update.
I’m now 26 games into my League 1 campaign, no Red Cards so far, but of course lots of fouls & yellows as we are breaking up play.
I’m in danger of getting promoted to the Championship, as I’m playing an Academy Challenge I know I won’t be ready to stay up in the Championship for another couple of seasons at least, and that is with my next 2 youth intakes being good. Tempted to sabotage my season to ensure we don’t go up, but that would be against the spirit of the game so I’ll do my best to get up and live with the consequences which runs the risk of me getting sacked when we come back down again, on the plus side we’ll bank £5 million TV money and my players will get a season of Championship Football which will accelerate their progress toward their maximum ability.
I have a feeling we’ll fail in the play offs this year, but go up next which is still a bit early but we’ll have a chance.
In terms of the ill discipline, ‘get stuck in’ is the same as any other team instructions, to employ it the upside has to be bigger than the downside, a plus expected value situation (+EV) in gambling terms. The idea is to find all the team instructions with a +EV, use them all and all those ‘little wins’ add up to give you an edge.
If you feel its not worth it, you could drop it off without too much of a downside.
I'll see how the summer transfer acquisitions go. As we've now had five back-to-back promotions, our club reputation is well below where it needs to be to attract the required level of player, or I have to pay inflated wages to secure their signatures. I had expected us to struggle with the progression through the leagues, but this tactic has made them somewhat easy, despite a very small squad and limited ability outside the first eleven.
I find myself in a similar position to you, where I could have done with an extra year spent in one of the leagues so that my reputation and squad ability could catch up. Instead I am faced with another rebuild to remain competitive next season. I fully expect next season to be our toughest yet, with the step up from League One to Championship. With a tough battle ahead, I would not be surprised to see the number of cards to actually increase next season, as we will be on the back foot even more. As long as we start well though, I am confident this will keep us up.
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Actually turned out to be a better season that early form predicted. I didn't finish the season with the league's worst disciplinary record! Only received 103 yellows and 3 reds this season, so we are getting better.
Considering we are scoring the most and conceding the least in the league, I think I can just about accept this. From what I've seen, they are often a result of the urgent press dragging players out of position and then making slightly rash challenges to recover ground or break up attacks. Considering we are regularly one of the worst for ball possession, it is to be expected somewhat.
We made the most successful tackles with 1023, however conceded 807 fouls and only had a tackle success rate of 78%, which was one of the worst in the division.
With our promotion to the Championship now, I will hopefully be able to attract more well-rounded players, and thus reduce the number of fouls and poor tackles.
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Farnborough - Sky Bet League One - 2024/25
Mostly due to the strong signings we made last summer, for the first time since taking over we were not predicted to finish bottom. Instead the media had graced us with a predicted 21st place finish. This meant that survival was very much a possibility, and I would go as far as to say expected.
Preseason - A very strong preseason from us saw us beat some much more illustrious teams such as the Glasgow pairing of Rangers and Celtic, as well as Blackburn and Aston Villa. This suggested to me that the squad was strong enough to comfortably remain in the division, and maybe even push for top half.
League Table - Not quite as easy as last season, as we had two significant stumbles during the season which could have easily cost us, but we recovered strongly, and finished the season 6 points clear at the top.
Uncertainty around the ownership of the club seemed to destabilise us, and where we would usually score one more than the opposition, we went on an extended run without scoring and our strikers forgot how to find the net. Some training focus on chance creation and finishing aligned nicely with the announcement of the takeover being complete just before the Sunderland game saw us rediscover our touch with a 5-0 demolition of Plymouth. Luckily for us, our early season form had allowed us the luxury of this poor patch, and we did not lose top spot as a result of this.
EFL Trophy - Unexpected progression to the quarter finals, but the match against Man Utd U23s came during our second wobble (se above), and so we were easily dumped out.
EFL Cup - A battling display against Bristol City was quickly forgotten as we were beaten on penalties by Gillingham.
FA Cup - We were no longer reliant on a cup run to keep the club running, but nonetheless I was disappointed to lose. Again, this coincided with our second poor run of form, so was to be expected somewhat.
Squad - You'll notice a large number of loan players make up our defence this season. This is a clear weak point for the squad, and something I am hopeful to correct in the off season. Archie Stride has been with us for two seasons now, and it looks like Leyton Orient may not want to renew his contract so I will hopefully be picking him up on a permanent contract in the summer. He has been a key player on the left wing for us, and will be hard to replace should they not let him go. Both Alex Kirk and Rhys Williams had bids for them in the January, but I was not in a position to even consider selling either of them at the time. Time will tell how many of these players remain at the club at the start of next season, as the step up from League One to Championship will be significant.
Transfers - The summer was dominated by the departures of youth prospects Dan Braithwaite and James Ballard for huge transfer fees. In addition to these, as a result of the on-going ownership situation at the time, several transfer embargos were imposed, severely disrupting our activity in the transfer window.
It was clear early into the season that we were suffering from a thread bare squad in certain places, so the focus in January was to improve our options at centre back. Paudie O'Connor came in on a 6-month contract for big wages, but registered just 1(5) appearances and did nothing to show he deserved a longer contract (or quite frankly, the wages he had demanded) so will be leaving just as quickly as he came in.Finances - It's obvious what a difference the money from the Braithwaite and Ballard transfers made, They have ensured the clubs financial future for the next
Key Player Profiles
James Hillson - For the second season in succession he has been fantastic, and single-handedly won us yet more matches with his shot stopping. An incredible 23 clean sheets in 46 league games, with only 32 goals conceded. If he continues in this form, he will soon be playing in the Premier League )either with us or after a big money transfer).
Sean Adarkwa - Was originally a squad player, and mostly used as backup, but after injuries and poor form saw other players drop out, he came in and made it difficult to drop him. 19 goals overall, and top scorer in the league with 14 goals in 19(4) shows just how good his return was. His goals arrested our second slump of the season, with 4 against Plymouth alone, so he fully deserves his position here. Whether he will be starting as much next season is entirely up to him.
Oscar Thorn - Despite loosing his place halfway through the season, he still ended the season as top overall goal scorer with 20, and won player of the season for a second time. I fear that his playing time will be limited next season however with the emergence of Sean Adarkwa and Guillem making strong claims. Time will tell how he responds next season, but his pace and overall athleticism are key assets not to be overlooked at any level.
Career Overview:
Season League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2021/22 National League South 7th Promoted via playoffs 2022/23 National League 1st Promoted as champions 2023/24 League Two 1st Promoted as champions 2024/25 League One 1st Promoted as champions0 -
Sky Bet League One - 2024/25 Season Review
Mostly due to the strong signings we made last summer, for the first time since taking over we were not predicted to finish bottom. Instead the media had graced us with a predicted 21st place finish. This meant that survival was very much a possibility, and I would go as far as to say expected.
Preseason - A very strong preseason from us saw us beat some much more illustrious teams such as the Glasgow pairing of Rangers and Celtic, as well as Blackburn and Aston Villa. This suggested to me that the squad was strong enough to comfortably remain in the division, and maybe even push for top half.
League Table - Not quite as easy as last season, as we had two significant stumbles during the season which could have easily cost us, but we recovered strongly, and finished the season 6 points clear at the top.
October struggles that coincided with our loss of top spot
Uncertainty around the ownership of the club seemed to destabalise us, and where we would usually score one more than the opposition, we went on an extended run without scoring and our strikers forgot how to find the net. Some training focus on chance creation and finishing aligned nicely with the announcement of the takeover being complete just before the Sunderland game saw us rediscover our touch with a 5-0 demolition of Plymouth. Luckily for us, our early season form had allowed us the luxury of this poor patch, and we did not lose top spot as a result of this.
EFL Trophy -Unexpected progression to the quarter finals, but the match against Man Utd U23s came during our second wobble (se above), and so we were easily dumped out.
EFL Cup - A battling display against Bristol City was quickly forgotten as we were beaten on penalties by Gillingham.
FA Cup - We were no longer reliant on a cup run to keep the club running, but nonetheless I was disappointed to lose. Again, this coincided with our second poor run of form, so was to be expected somewhat.
Squad - You'll notice a large number of loan players make up our defence this season. This is a clear weak point for the squad, and something I am hopeful to correct in the off season. Archie Stride has been with us for two seasons now, and it looks like Leyton Orient may not want to renew his contract so I will hopefully be picking him up on a permanent contract in the summer. He has been a key player on the left wing for us, and will be hard to replace should they not let him go. Both Alex Kirk and Rhys Williams had bids for them in the January, but I was not in a position to even consider selling either of them at the time. Time will tell how many of these players remain at the club at the start of next season, as the step up from League One to Championship will be significant.
Transfers - The summer was dominated by the departures of youth prospects Dan Braithwaite and James Ballard for huge transfer fees. In addition to these, as a result of the on-going ownership situation at the time, several transfer embargos were imposed, severely disrupting our activity in the transfer window.
It was clear early into the season that we were suffering from a thread bare squad in certain places, so the focus in January was to improve our options at centre back. Paudie O'Connor came in on a 6-month contract for big wages, but registered just 1(5) appearances and did nothing to show he deserved a longer contract (or quite frankly, the wages he had demanded) so will be leaving just as quickly as he came in.
Finances - It's obvious what a difference the money from the Braithwaite and Ballard transfers made, They have ensured the clubs financial future for the next
Key Player Profiles
James Hillson - For the second season in succession he has been fantastic, and single-handedly won us yet more matches with his shot stopping. An incredible 23 clean sheets in 46 league games, with only 32 goals conceded. If he continues in this form, he will soon be playing in the Premier League )either with us or after a big money transfer).
Sean Adarkwa - Was originally a squad player, and mostly used as backup, but after injuries and poor form saw other players drop out, he came in and made it difficult to drop him. 19 goals overall, and top scorer in the league with 14 goals in 19(4) shows just how good his return was. His goals arrested our second slump of the season, with 4 against Plymouth alone, so he fully deserves his potion here. Whether he will be starting as much next season is entirely up to him.
Oscar Thorn - Despite loosing his place halfway through the season, he still ended the season as top overall goalscorer with 20, and won player of the season for a second time. I fear that his playing time will be limited next season however with the emergence of Sean Adarkwa and Guillem making strong claims. Time will tell how he responds next season, but his pace and overall athleticism are key assets not to be overlooked at any level.
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Finally, after months worth of speculation, our previous chairman Simon Gardener put himself on garedening leave and relinquished control, of the club .
Previously in charge of Hyde United didn't exactly fill me with enthusiasm, and while there were no talks of replacing me, they soon confirmed no additi0onal funding would be injected into the club. They do appear to have cleared the previous loan that remained since our initial stadium expansion however. This was likely just part of the takeover deal however, as there is no sign of investment in the club finances. Saying that, we still have a £16M balance, so it's not a bad position to be in for a League One club.
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Definitely something funny going on, as already 8 games into the new season and we top the discipline records with 25 yellows and 2 reds.
I'm wondering if its due to the fact I often use Instant results, rather than playing out the games. Maybe there is something in the match engine that makes bad fouls more likely. I'll play out the next few matches and see if I continue to get similar. I'll also consider dropping the Get Stuck In instruction and see if that helps. Guessing its a combination of the urgent press and physical style, as the players dont have high aggression or dirtiness ratings.
Weirdly however, despite the constant bookings and suspensions, we are continuing to win...
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On the upside, the additional funds have allowed me to convince the board that they should resume plans to improve the youth facilities.
The long term aim is to be self-sufficient and not rely on the scraps thrown out by Premier League clubs each season to remain competitive. Until our facilities are improved however, that is unlikely to be possible, as the standard of the club needs to drastically improve. Hopefully these new training and youth facilities will help us move towards that end goal.
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This is the latest version. Only PIs are Shoot Less on all attacking duty players
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We're being picked apart by the teams in higher divisions, with another of our promising defenders being picked up by Championship team Brighton,
Again, another bidding war erupted between a handful of teams, and Brighton emerged victorious, completing the signing for a £4.8M upfront fee, with an agreed 50% sell on clause.
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Quote
I'm on Xbox version playing on PC.
Guessing they must be on FM21, but not sure of compatibility with the Xbox version?
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We finished our season with a new league record 121 yellows and 7 reds, so will have to see how this new version performs in terms of discipline.
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BREAKING NEWS!
In an unexpected, but massive development for the club. Dan Braithwaite has just signed for Premier League Watford for a record £10.5M.
After a bidding war broke out between a number of Premier League teams, Watford emerged victorious with a bid of £10.5M upfront, plus a 50% of next sale clause.
The former Cardiff Met Uni player, who can play either in defence or midfield, was signed on a free just 12 months earlier. He played 31 times for Farnborough, scoring 2 goals, before being picked up by the Premier League club.
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More awards coming our way...
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After the loss of our youth facilities, but in the face of their willingness to increase the training at a cost of £750k, I asked the board to improve the youth coaching and recruitment. I had tried a sneaky request to improve the youth level as well, but this was promptly rejected once more due to financial constraints put on us by the training facilities.
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1 minute ago, dafuge said:
Signing this player was a game changer for me:
I had actually expected another of our signings, Paul Glatzel, to be the key player up front after a debut hattrick, but he had a bit of a wobble and was complaining about a few things during the season. Meanwhile, Oscar Thorn just got on with his job and scoring goals. Great little player. Promising to see that he may be able to continue his rich vein of form higher up the leagues. Don't think I'll need to strengthen the attackers department this summer, which leaves me to focus more on the midfield and problem wingback positions.
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After our recent expansion of Cherrywood Road at the start of this season, I was positive about the future. So it was a surprise to see a new item appear in the 5 year plan...
You will also notice that the owner is looking to sell. There have been several news items about consortiums and fans trusts attempting to purchase the club, but so far the current owner has rebuked all speculation. It now appears that he has decided he cannot take the club any further, and is willing to listen to offers. These are slightly worrying times.
The very next day, the plans were confirmed, and the search has begun for a new home for Boro. It was a bit surprising to hear that the owner was keen to take the club forward to the next level considering he is also looking to sell. Slightly contradicting himself there I think.
It was quickly followed by some bittersweet announcements. We had already agreed plans to improve the youth facilities, but it seems that improvements to the training facilities will cost so much that we can no longer complete the youth facilities upgrade. I wont complain at better training facilities (we are currently basic), but I would have liked to have both pushed through.
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Farnborough - Sky Bet League Two - 2023/24
Another preseason prediction for us to finish last, but our signings soon changed that and by the time our transfer business was done, we were predicted to finish fifth.
Preseason - You know the drill here. Financial boost to the club, test out new players, a and build fitness. We also played fewer matches, as we looked for a more structured preseason schedule with our new professional status meaning full-time training. Despite playing much larger reputation teams, we weren't once humiliated, and actually managed to win a fair few of them. I can only put this down to them not playing full strength teams or lacking fitness. As a final hurrah of preseason, we played fierce rivals Aldershot and beat them 4-2. This was the match to kick start our season and give the fans something to cheer for.
League Table - We were never really threatened from the start. We were unbeaten in the league until November, and ended the season with the most goals and fewest conceded to hammer home our dominance.
EFL Trophy - A fairly weak group, but was never a competition that we focused on. Mostly playing the reserves to build match sharpness for fringe players.
EFL Cup - A strong start with a 5-0 thumping of Northampton gave us some hope early in the season, but we were put in our place by Cambridge. As the finances on offer here are less than the FA Cup, there was less emphasis.
FA Cup - Another fantastic run saw us defeating Sheffield Wednesday and Fulham to set up another money spinning away fixture at Leeds. A massive goal fest saw us on the end of a 6-3 beating. Not a great score line, but at least we went down fighting. You will see once again from the finances, that it helped the club massively and boosted our balance by around £600k again. As this was the fifth round, we also saw an increase in prize money as a result.
Squad - It took a few seasons, but I'm finally happy with the squad depth assembled this season. It had quality in every position and we finally have a good nucleus to build from.
Transfers - Originally we had not planned many signings, but there were a number of excellent players being released, so we put offers in early before a number of contracts expired to beat the rush. With our newly acquired scouting reach of Wales, we also raided a few of their lower tier teams for two young defenders who had great technical and mental abilities, but need a bit of work in the physical department.
Once July 1st hit, we snapped up several more players, notably strengthening in every position. Key signings were made for the wingback roles, and a new striker partnership. Our squad had been complete going into the first game of the season, but then a player became available that we had to break the bank for.Finances - The new stadium expansion is now costing us £7k/month, which saw a gradual decline in our balance, but luckily another cup run helped to provide another much needed boost. I'm a little worried how our finances will fare if we fail to mount another cup run next season.
Key Player Profiles:
Oscar Thorn - I had been a little worried when I first signed him. His stats were good, but our coaches informed me he wasn't a very consistent performer... He's now the new club record holder for most goals in a season, with 27 in the league and 34 overall. Needless to say, the coaches will be leaving the club this summer.
James Hillson - Although being in last season's hall of fame, I didn't feel Jonathon Mitchell was able to make the step up, so we we signed this guy. A former player from my hometown Reading, snapped up by Arsenal a few seasons ago, but didn't do enough to seal a new contract there. Their loss was our gain, and he had a remarkable season, conceding just 40 goals in 46 league games, and keeping 16 clean sheets. His aerial ability isn't the best, but at this level you wont find many better at shot stopping!
Rhys Williams - And this was the guy that we broke the bank for. I had forgotten about him in all honesty, as he wasn't interested when first released by Liverpool. As we started preparing for the first game of the season however, Bolton put in a bid, and I thought I would make a cheeky enquiry to his agent. The wages he was demanding were eyewatering, but it wasn't an immediate refusal and his ability was plain to see. A fast, physical ball-playing defender that has no rights playing in League Two. Due to this high wage demands, we were also able to negotiate no minimum release fee, so this guy will either be a monster player for a number of seasons for us, or command a club record transfer fee when he leaves.
Helping us to promotion in his first season, he has already begun to repay the £125k yearly salary he is costing usCareer Overview:
Season League Position Achievements ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2021/22 National League South 7th Promoted via playoffs 2022/23 National League 1st Promoted as champions 2023/24 League Two 1st Promoted as champions0
[FM 21] Gun For Borah
in FM Career Updates
Posted · Edited by Abaddon879
Sky Bet Championship - 2025/26 Season Review
Another season of struggle predicted, with the media expecting us to finish rock bottom and come strait back down. I was more confident of our survival chances however, especially if I could land some key signings in areas we needed.
Preseason - The finances were looking much stronger, but I still wanted to give our guys a real challenge during pre-season to show what level we were at. Recently relegated Premier League sides Derby, Crystal Palace, and Bournemouth were there to show whether or not we could compete in this league, while parent club Chelsea, along with Everton, were the exhibition matches. For perhaps the first time since taking over however, we ended our preseason with some easier matches. Friendlies against our fierce local rivals Aldershot and Woking were arranged to add a competitive edge to these matches, and Notts County were thrown in for good measure.
Seeing the results that we were able to achieve during this gruelling preseason, my confidence in the team was only further enhanced.
League Table - A flawless assault on the Championship saw us break numerous records and go on to win the title. This was a bittersweet moment for me however, as we beat the league points record of 106 from my own beloved Reading FC.
EFL Cup - Strong performances against fellow Championship teams Reading and Swansea allowed us progression through to the fourth round, where a spectacular match saw us lose 5-3 to Nottingham Forest.
FA Cup - We made it all the way through to the quarter final, however the draw was not kind to us as we faced last seasons Premier League champions Manchester City away from home. A respectable 1-0 defeat ended our chances of progression, but I was very pleased with how well we did overall.
Squad - Despite our success, it cannot go unnoticed that we were heavily reliant on loans. We ended the season with just two of the five recognised central defenders actually employed by us, The rest had been brought in on loan, and this is something I would seriously have to address in the following season.
Transfers - I was keen to ensure we did not completely overhaul the squad so that they could continue to build bonds and so we had a stable platform to build on. With this in mind, I extended the loans of Jamie Box, Garry Osman, and Leon Pambou, while also ensuring that there were no major players leaving during the summer. In addition to this, I was able to land my two top targets - Jez Davies, a 20y/o midfielder from Tottenham, and Layton Stewart, a 23y/o striker from Liverpool. They commanded huge wages of £8.75k/week and £12k/week respectively, however we were well under our wage budget and I saw these as key acquisitions.
January saw a headline transfer leave in the form of Archie Martin. The 19 y/o midfielder originally signed on loan during our League Two campaign, and then joined us permanently a year later from Braintree for a mere £7.5k. Despite only playing 10 league games this season, Norwich and a few other teams started showing serious interest and when the bids came in, I was able to squeeze £11M out of them for his services. He clearly had potential, but much like the ytransfers for Braithwaite and Bullard, this kind of money would help sustain the club and also fund the on-going improvements to the club facilities. Alex Kirk, who had been a key member of our title winner League Two and League One campaigns, unfortunately had found himself on the edges of the first team due to the arrival of Jack Hardy on load, and with his contract due to expire at the end of the season, an offer of £525k from Preston was accepted. In a strange twist of fate, Dan Braithwaite was brought back to the club on loan from Watford as a result of this move. Also, the revelation of last season, Sean Adarkwa, left the club for Plymouth. His contract was running down, and he hadn't shown anywhere near the levels of performance as last season. In fact, since joining Plymouth, he managed just 4 substitute appearances for them in League One without a single goal.
Finances - I won't pretend that the massive transfer fees we've been able to generate haven't helped us here. We are maintaining a bank balance that would be the envy of almost every other club outside of the Premier League. This has allowed us to consistently pursue improvements to our training and youth facilities that have now made them amongst the best in the country.
Key Player Profiles
Layton Stewart - There was a reason I was so keen to land this striker, and he proved exactly why that was. 20 goals in the league, and a further three in cup competitions, made him our top scorer. A really exciting prospect going into our first season in the Premier League.
Garry Osman - One of the players from last season that impressed enough for me to extend their loan a further season, and boy did that decision pay off. While 14 assists from the wingback position was second best to Leighton Clarkson's 17, combine that with his tackle success rate, key passes, and chance creation, and it's clear to see why this guy made the wing back role his to keep and kept my other key signing (Jez Davies) out of the team for large parts of the season.
Guillem - While technically there were players who had higher average ratings (Leon Pambou, Oscar Thorn, James Hillson), the impact that this player had in our promotion cannot go unmentioned. He ran Layton Stewart very close for top scorer with an equally impressive 18 league goals, and had Premier League teams making multi-million pound bids in January for him. I tied him down to a new contract, but very much hope this guy will stay around for a while longer, as he could turn out very good indeed.