dothestrand

No point really loading any other leagues.

I always wonder - if you agree to £0pw, do you get the money back into your wage budget?

He was excellent in 18. I don't think you can go far wrong with any of the Palermo youngsters. That's why they're always a great team to manage.

My 22-23 season has just ended and we finished 1st! Touch and go going into the final two fixtures. We were top by 3pts ahead of Barca with a worse GD. We were away to Real Madrid, dutifully lost, but Barca could only manage a draw. So as long as we matched their result, we would be champions on the last day. It didn't bode well drawing 0-0 at HT at Malaga, but bringing on Williams inspired a 3-0 victory. Barca drew again! We have some great young players coming through. I could upload plenty of screenshots but will stick to the creme de la creme of the youth. Javier Martin is a wonderkid and has already usurped Muniain. Although his crossing and dribbling isn't the greatest, his physical stats are superb. Aitor Iturrino is an AMC who I'm converting to an AMR (I play a strict 4-1-2-2-1). He has everything. Mikel Royo is another AMC who I'm trying to convert into a CM. I won't expect him to do much tracking back or tackling, but to distribute the ball to the more attacking players. I like to think of him as my Juan Mata. The reason Royo doesn't need to track back is Inaki Gomez, who will sit in front of the back four and repel the opposition. If it wasn't for his weak jumping, I'd consider retraining him as a CB. Andoni Barandiaran isn't quite a wonderkid but he's nabbed the LB spot from Yuri. Wish his crossing would improve though. Last of all, I mentioned the French Basque keeper at Nice. Well, I didn't really need him. I have two young keepers who could replace Remiro tomorrow, but look at him. And Nice finally accepted 31.5m. A bargain. I have another 140m left in the transfer fund. I would love to sign Laporte (who wanted 400k per week!) or Oyarzabal, but I'd really be taking the mick if I did.

When I managed Brentford (before the file corrupted) and we made it into the EPL, I was able to sign him but for 70k per week!

It doesn't matter whether I start a new game, I always come back to Athletic Club. I just finished off the 21-22 season and we finished 2nd behind Real Madrid. Barcelona and Atletico Madrid obviously rounded out the top four. In terms of transfers in, well it's just picking up the regens from the other Basque clubs where you can. I'm moving on some of the more fringe players and occasionally some of the Italian clubs will pay silly money for youth players you don't think will make it. There's a tasty French Basque youth keeper at Nice who I can't sign - no release clause and they won't take 50m! So in many ways, this is the ideal scenario, bring through your young players and give them first team opportunities. I'm less worried for when, say, Munain and Williams move on. Would be nice if we could get a quality regen striker though!

@Milkmanhole I hear you, my Brentford save file got corrupted and we were in the Premier League! I'll have to save each game multiple times now.

Pretty well. Certainly no need to try to improve upon them. Konsa's been talked up for England squads without making them.

@Jogo Bonito Most of the defence is the same (Mepham, Henry, Konsa). Yennaris is still around, and Watkins is on the periphery somewhat these days. Otherwise, everyone else has moved on. Chalobah is coming and didn't even ask for more wages (35k).

@warlock Yes, we are. 17000 capacity, though no chance to upgrade that yet. There's still people in Ealing or Slough who need a team to support!

2020-21 Premier League season was expected to be a torrid battle against relegation....instead a pleasant surprise as we finished 10th. Check the goal difference though, almost as bad as Swansea, who finished 19th! We copped some hammerings against the big guns, but we were pretty effective at single goal victories against our rivals. Joshua Onomah and Patrick Roberts were the only guys who averaged higher than 7. The defence found it tough but it's hard to improve much - we had signed Panzo from Monaco in January. Midfield probably needs beefing up - and I'll aim for Cholobah in the Summer. Jack Marriott was a surprisingly effective front man, having cost just £4m from Derby. The club's infrastructure is poor so we're trying to improve that. Hopefully we get enough cash this Summer to invest in this as well as the playing squad.

That's OK. Yes we've moved into the new ground. 17000 capacity so going to Old Trafford is going to seem like a huge step up. Only small transfers for now on guys who were out of contract like Freddie Woodman. I burned my loans on Walker-Peters from Spurs and Harrison from Man City when I really should've gone for Solanke as we are very, very weak up front. I'd like Kasey Palmer, who is for sale, but Chelsea want 30+m. I'm hoping they will change that fee. I've bid for Patrick Roberts on a free for 70k per week. Can you imagine Brentford getting to that stage?

2019/20 Brentford update. First half of the season we were holding our own in mid table, which was precisely in line with expectations. In the January window, we took advantage of Palace's interest in Daniel Bentley to sell him on and replace him with Christian Walton for less than half the price. With a settled side, we gradually made more progress and rose the table. Tavernier/Henry (highest average across the league)/Konza/Mepham was a strong back four. Yennaris/Reed/Towell was a match for most sides in midfield, and Watkins and Bowen offered real threat out wide. And Eddie Nketiah, on loan from Arsenal, was scoring at a rate of one every two. From March to May, this progress accelerated hugely - the last 11 games saw 7 wins, 3 draws and just 1 defeat, which left us in 5th place and in the play offs. Well ahead of expectations and with a challenging tie against West Brom, we thought we'd enjoy the experience, bank the extra cash and build on for next year. Certainly when we lost the home tie 2-1, that's what we thought. But then....a 2-0 away win in the second leg came out of left field. This left us with a final against Aston Villa, who we completely dominated, hammering them 4-1. So this means Brentford are in the Premier League! Strange season really as Wigan were the frontrunners, though they ultimately finished 2nd behind Cardiff. Palace and Huddersfield, who'd also been relegated in 18/19 were nowhere to be seen. Leicester, Fulham and Middlesbrough have come down, so there may be scope to pinch a player or two. Swansea, Burley and Stoke hovered around relegation, so there are sides we'd hope to finish above if we recruit well. So with 35m for transfers, we will need half a dozen players good enough for the top flight. Come on you Bees!!!

Right, I really need to watch out as Palermo are usually my go-to side in Italy.

Does he start at Besiktas or in Italy?