Hootieleece

I wish I could be as ruthless and as efficient as you in the transfer market. Glad to see you back at it.

Sell the ring leaders! and then find a leading player that supports you and make him Captain! That is what I did with a player rebellion in my PNE save. Also try to have weekly team bonding sessions during training.

Back September 2031: Regular Season "Reality Bites" Manager's Thoughts The month of September was a mixed bag. We lost both League matches but played well in the Cups. That is mostly because the backups played in the league due to registration rules and the fact that teams are beating our press with over-the-top balls again! Even with the 5 goals we gave up in Premier League play we are considered the best defensive team in the Premier League! This means if we play our starters we have a chance against ALMOST any team, but our backups need more seasoning and hopefully they will come along well during this first half of the season and keep us afloat until after the Champions League is over. Schedule Highlights September started with lots of meetings about the financial health of the Club after the Transfer Window. Even though we are playing in the Champion's League we have one of the smallest playing payrolls in the Premier League! One reason for that is the limited amount of Commercial Revenue and Sponsorships we have. While the meetings were going on the International Break happened and this occurred: Our main man Finley Roberts will miss all of the matches this month! We are 2000-1 to win the Champion's League! The first match of the month was against West Ham United at the DW Stadium. We were favored but Jester played the Backups because of the Champion's League in a few days time..... West Ham pressed our young Backups hard and were rewarded by the Referee with a penalty and numerous Set Pieces. The Backups are going to have to play better or it will be a long season. The next match would see a full strength PNE take on the weakest team in our Champion's League Fixture list. We dominated as expected, their only goal came on a World class shot from range on their only shot on goal! Our players are getting consideration for the English National Team! Next we traveled to London for a match against Brentford......another match played by the backups due to tiredness and registration rules. Brentford was favored but Jester thought we had a chance against Brendan Rodger's team. We were beaten time and again by balls over the top of our press. The next match would see the Backups play yet again this time in the Carabao Cup versus Liecester City Preston was favored and after the bad loss in London, they were itching to take the field! It was dominant performance for 70 minutes until Leicester went Over the Top Route one Style on us. Which is how we gave up the two goals that made the scoreline look better than it was. N O'Neill playing as CF-S led the line and the scoring! Our next opponenets in the Carabao Cup will be a less than Charitable Chelsea side..... The final match of the month was against Celtic in Glasgow! The match was between two evenly matched teams and led to a 1-1 draw. League Table Monthly Analysis Report Even though we lost both our matches in the league this month we are among the best defensive teams in the Premier League, mostly because of our Goalie. Player of the Month Management Report Financial Report Looking Ahead to be continued:

August 2031: Regular Season Manager's Thoughts Going on Vacation and forgetting all of the tinkering to the roster that he wanted to do was the best thing Jester could have done. The arrival of Harvey Vale put Castledine on notice and he is now playing the best football of his life. The same could be said of Nico O'Reilly who has been setting up the goals. If you had told Jester before the season that he would win three out of five matches in August including a Blowout win over Chelsea and playing Newcastle and Tottenham on the road close, he would have bitten off your hand! The team didn't tinker with formations or roles even though Jester has been watching a lot of Football lately and is thinking of the possibilities of a 3-4-3. This season will be live or die with the "Nesselquist" Variant again and the early returns are promising. Hopefully the team can keep up the momentum as the backups start playing more matches due to Champion's League. Schedule Highlights The regular season would begin with three tough matches Chelsea, Newcastle United and Tottenham. But before that the team started suffering injuries that would put players in jeopardy for the season opener against Chelsea. Carlos is one of our key players I am expecting him to whip in crosses to Finley Roberts. our Captain also went down as well..... He will only miss the opener probably..... speaking of the opener and our first at DW Stadium in Wigan. We will be the underdogs against a powerful Chelsea team whose Achilles heel is their Manager Simone Inzaghi. The Marketing and Sales Department reported they sold ALL available Season Tickets! Opening Day came and the team was ready..... All the match practice showed, and Chelsea was playing too defensively for all their offensive talent. Castledine the AMC-SS was the star of the show with a hat trick. Three days later the team traveled to Newcastle for the second match of the season. Since it was so close to the first match and the team had another match on Sunday at Tottenham. Jester rotated the squad and played the backups. This wouldn't help us in that we were underdogs, but Jester felt it was needed because he didn't want to wear out the first team before European Football started! It was a close match, Newcastle took and early lead and then early in the second half PNE took the lead! Then Rodri came on and won the match for Newcastle. Three Days later the team traveled to London and took on Tottenham.....this was a match that saw the team at full strength, but it was not enough to overcome Tottenham's early goal. Even though it was a loss, Jester saw a lot to like about his team and the two close losses showed that last season wasn't a fluke. Another week went by and the team hosted relegation candidate Norwich to DW Stadium. Preston was favored and Jester played his strongest side. It was an even match until Harvey Vale, our offseason acquisition, came on and scored two late goals to secure the victory! The team finished its renovation to the First Team Training Facilities, and they are now State of the Art! The Champions League Fixture list came out. We have a tough list, but Jester expects to win about half of them. Jester expects to play the Starters in most of the matches especially against the big-name teams Bayern and Juventus. Jester is happy with the progress being made compared to where we were 8 seasons' ago......one match from relegation from the Championship! Leicester City is the team that PNE begins its defense of the Carabao Cup against. This Cup will definitely see the backups used due to other commitments. League Table Monthly Analysis Report Player of the Month Management Report Monthly Financial Report Looking Ahead to be continued:

Auxerre will be a tough road to build up. I understand your defensive problems I had many with PNE until I was able to buy better players especially against top teams.

Real Madrid is everyone's "Bogeyman" in the Champion's League! Otherwise, it was another decent season......but you really want the treble so you can retire in style, right?

June/July 2031: Offseason Part Two/ Preseason Manager's Thoughts The team had a good preseason especially since there wasn't a lot of turnover in the squad. Newcomer Harvey Vale has thrived as a AMC-SS and will put pressure on the incumbent Castledine. As always Jester plays a lot of Friendlies to build up match fitness that allows his teams to get off to fast starts in the regular season which often negates the pressure of a possible relegation battle. This season the team will have European Football in the Champions League. This will test the team and its depth. The result against Borussia Dortmund shows we have a way to go before we are really going to be contenders. The most likely ending for this season is a midtable finish safely above the relegation fray, Schedule Highlights Most of the teams transfer activity was fininshed before the end of June. With Harvey Vale being the only player expected to make the first team. Somehow the team lost ranking even though we played better in the best league in the world and won a trophy! But the ranking must hold the lack of European Football against us! But our stature within the UK is growing! We were the biggest overachievers last season. It will be difficult to repeat with the European Football stretching the squad depth, but Jester expects a solid midtable finish. The signings of the season were mostly "wonderkids" that we can't afford to get for our team. Finley Roberts our young Striker has had the best season ever for a PNE player for consistency. This was a young "wonderkid" we tried to get before the big boys came in for him......of course he chose Manchester City instead of "bucolic" Preston. This is a player my General manager found to add to the U-21's. He might break into the lineup in a few years....if not he will be sold for a profit. June ended with the team still in good shape financially with almost $100M in the Bank! July 2031: Preseason The team reported for preseason training and the team was much different than last season. It included Harvey Vale and a few U-21's that Jester felt would get some time as backups with the extra matches due to European Football. The team was also scheduled to travel to California for a series of Friendlies with MLS teams. The teams preseason schedule saw the team play most of its affiliates and have big matches against Borussia Dortmund and AS St. Etienne so that Jester could gauge how his team would fare in Champions League. In other news a young player we sold to Fulham for $8.5M that helped bring in Finley Roberts was let go on a free..... He isn't bad and Jester almost offered him a contract......but decided he had younger better players already..... Early in the Preseason Training a backup Striker got a significant injury that will leave him out of the team for quite a while. The team expects to sell enough tickets to almost sell out DW Stadium and be 3/4 Full after the renovation to Deepdale! Jester was offered International Management with Portugal....he declined.....He has unfinished business with Preston North End! Most of the Preseason Matches were against inferior teams and PNE was able to win....after the trip to the USA they came back to their first real test. Borussia Dortmund was just better on the day with precise finishing especially on Set-Pieces. A week later the team took on ASSE from Ligue 1. Hopefully ASSE was just promoted because they were awful and made us look really good. This was our las friendly before we start the season with Chelsea! This player we signed for the U-21's was bought by Stoke without even playing a match..... The uphill fight financially that PNE faces is shown with the following graph: 2031-2032 Premier League Preview We should be able to stay out of the relegation fight especially if our Key Players Finley Roberts (Striker) and Carlos Colombo (LWB) have good seasons. No PNE players are Preseason favorites for awards. Management Report The Board, Supporters, and Team are behind Jester and are expecting a successful campaign. Financial Report to be continued:

Still struggling with squad sizes as well. My U-21 squad is massive and I loan out 10-15 players from it usually.

That is a problem I have at PNE as well, but it is also that I have a "Core" I am happy with......but in the upcoming season more young players will get playing time with Champions League and Premier League play stretching the rotation a bit.

Slovakia or North Macedonia?

Are you aiming for a Promotion Challenge this season? Youth Development in the Academy is always a "crap shoot"!

May 2031: Offseason Part One Manager's Thoughts After the Season was finished Jester decided to go on vacation and leave his laptop . He decided to head for Ibiza for ten days of sun, fun and debauchery. During which the dour Scot loosened up a bit......even as he forgot his plans for the future! Highlights FC Utrecht won the Europa League. The Clubs $71M dollar payroll represents only 35% of the Turnover which is allowing the club to make improvements on and off the pitch. It was an all Manchester final of the FA Cup for the first time! Man City won but it only stopped Manchester United from a Domestic Double. We won the Carabao Cup! The team owes some taxes but with all the Capital Improvements the tax bill isn't bad. Jester wasn't totally out of the loop and signed a player for depth in the Attacking Midfield to replace Mark Helm. And of course, since the club is doing well rumors are amok that it is being bought by a Consortium. This signing is a bit of an overspend but it is part of Jester's Vision for the Club to become a place for Scottish players to call home in the Premier League and Jester is trying to improve the Academy so we can have enough Homegrown players for European Tournaments! Financial Report Management Report Success on and off the Field have helped Jester get the backing of the Board and Supporters! The Locker Room is in a good place and the players are behind Jester. to be continued:

I am back and will put up the images of the end of May. As I try and remember how I was going to improve the team over the summer break. 10 days without internet will do that to you.......

Great win! Grinding out the Title like that!

Pick 1-2 players to replace with younger versions.

Wolves are after him in IRL. Bristol City turned down $20M.

May 2031: End of Season Manager's Thoughts The team had to assure themselves a top Four Spot if they wanted to play in Champion's League. The Team took care of it with wins in two of the three matches. This meant that the team finished 4rth, 13 places above its expected finish. Because of this finish the Board has decided to be ambitious in expanding the stadium and improving the Facilities to true Premier League standards. Now Jester will take some time off to rest and recharge before the next season starts while planning his moves in the transfer market to improve the depth of the squad. Schedule Highlights The first match of the month was against our Local Rivals Blackburn. They are a relegation threatened team, but Jester expects a tough fight. Preston was the favorites but would need to a professional job to satisfy Media and supporters a like. A little Jealousy from the Blackburn Manager? We win we secure Champions League! All to play for in a match that would otherwise be dead rubber. The pressure is on with everyone expecting a win! Takeover Rumors never seem to go away...... The team was prepared for a tough test...... It took a long time but Terem Moffi on the field for an injured Finley Roberts scored a late goal to secure the win! Not a bad injury He will be ready for the match against Newcastle! After the match a certain manager had to eat crow..... especially with his team being relegated. Champions League here we come! Jester tried to be magnanimous while sticking in the knife...... The next match was versus Newcastle this would be a tough match against one of the Top teams still fighting for a Top 4 place. Hopefully our former goalie will let a few through..... Man United should win the League with a match to go! We didn't play well defensively, and it showed.....we were a bit complacent since technically we had nothing to play for and it showed. Man United got the Trophy and we still have a chance at third place.... against a Tough Bournemouth Team. The Final Match would be held on the South Coast hopefully the team wouldn't be on vacation already. The U-21's continue their Good work. Tough match but the team concentrated on the win to celebrate and go on vacation afterwards! The Team finish 4rth and the Fans loved it! League Table 4rth most goals and 7th least conceded not bad for a team that was previewed for 17th! Our Goalie only allowed 28 goals all season in 32 matches! better than our old goalie! Finley Roberts our Starman upfront score 17 which is half of Haaland! Player of the Year Season Review We started fast and never really let up! The Overall best XI now has a Striker! Season Analysis Report Afterseason Board Meeting The Budget is the same but with some creative accounting we should bring in the needed depth. Jester was able to get better First Team Training Facilities and a Ground Expansion for now..... Jester was judicious with his transfer budget. $37.76M in Prize money makes up for the $20M in Transfer losses. We brought in more fans and are now expanding the stadium! The Board Vision for next Season! Jester decided to go to the USA for Training Camp. Get some more fans hopefully. Jester is thunderstruck by the actual ground Expansion plans..... which means we will be playing in another Stadium Next Season! Wigan's DW Stadium which is nearby (sort of) and bigger than Deepdale presently is. and now we have the best Youth Category as well.....we are on our way! These are the facilities for the next season! to be continued: PS: I will put this on Hiatus until after my vacaion. I should take this up again about July 31, 2023 and play until FM24 comes out.

I agree it was an excellent season, but only because we could really concentrate on the League. I will be posting later today, and we won two out of three......and claimed a Champions League Place!

April 2031: Regular Season "Trophy hopes dashed" Manager's Thoughts The team kept up the good play in the league and Jester even rested the starters before the FA Cup Semi-Final. It was all for nothing as our dreams of a double were shattered by Phil Foden. That left us playing for the top four and we are in a leading position holding fourth place currently and having a small lead. The Newcastle match next month will decide it. PNE will have European nights no matter what having already qualified for the Europa League. If we get Champions League, the team will need to add some players over the summer to deal with the match congestion. The team had an advantage this season because it was concentrating on the League and Domestic Cups. Jester knows that our starters can compete at the highest level but we need to upgrade the depth if we are to really challenge for titles and trophies. The Man City match proved it. Schedule Highlights April started with the publishing of Jester's Favorite list: And these are the players PNE is likely to sign from it. Steven McCarey Derek Wheatley Kristoffer Mardal All three look like useful players for the U-21's and maybe to loan out. Maybe in a couple of years breaking into first team. The first match of the month was a trip to Leeds United. Leeds was favored but PNE needed to do a professional job to keep them in the race for the top four places. Leeds Manager ran off with his mouth.... and his team was made to pay with an 0-2 loss! another injury during a match......our AMC-SS-A After the match Jesper started signing the Youngster on the list to contracts: Mardal will be converted into a DM-D for our formation. He is a little short. Castledine had been playing well and deserved a new contract. 10 goals and 7 assists don't hurt. The next match would bring Southampton to town..... Jester decided to rotate the team for this match...... and the backups did a wonderful job. In between matches the media showed that Preston was making a small profit even with the increased spending. The next match was the FA Cup Semi-Final at Wembley Stadium versus Manchester City. The first team was rested and ready for the match..... not really....Man City really stepped up the pressure after halftime and we couldn't respond..... So, after that misfortune the team had to rally and prepare for Aston Villa. The match was a draw.... but according to the stats we were lucky! The final match of the month would see us play relegation threatened Swansea. Looking to qualify for the Europa League....and after that possibly the Champions League if we can secure a top 4 slot. We put the nails in their coffin...... So someone else will be in the Europa Conference League. The Youth Candidates came through and look ok. League Table Player of the Month Looking Ahead: to be continued:

Gotta another trophy.....me personally would have been happier beating Man United, but you should be happy it looks like a double for them Premier League and FA Cup under Luis Enrique.

March 2031: Regular Season "Trophy Chasing" Manager's Thoughts The team continued its good play in a month dominated by cup play and an International Break. The Team reached the Carabao Cup final and did themselves proud defeating favored Liverpool in Extra time. It was the "Hobbit" Finlay Cross-Adair that scored two goals to win the trophy. The season is a success already but there is more to play for and the boys seem up for the challenge. What is at stake? A top 4 finish and a possible FA Cup Final if they can win at Wembley again Twice! Schedule Highlights The month of March due to the schedule would see the team spend most of their time in Cup Play. Starting with the 5th Round tie versus Norwich at Deepdale Stadium. Now that we are nearer to the end of the Cup Run the Starters are playing instead of the backups unless injured. Even though the starters played Norwich gave us a tough fight that went to extra time and penalties! Very even stats! We are now down Two Strikers..... and as a reward for beating Norwich we will get: We will play the Wolves just before the International Break! It is a winnable match. After the match congestion in January and February having a week off before the Premier League match with Brentford felt like forever. It was another trip to London and Jester wanted to do better than the last trip. Relegation Threatened Brentford played their hearts out and denied us the victory! We hit woodwork 3 times in the Match! Jester is trying to battle complacency in the team because of the Draw instead of win even though it is due to luck! No more Takeover Rumors..... Time for a Final! Liverpool is the Favorite, but don't count us out. Liverpool is in 8th place in the Premier League playing better under a new manager. Our Star man Roberts who only does basic passes is about to set a club record for Assists....he does play CF-S! Match Day came and it was an academy grad off the bench that won the Final for us. Finlay Cross-Adair that Jester affectionately calls the "English Messi" even though he is only a backup player. Match Stats show it was a close match and luck went our way this time! The board is pleased so season is successful.....but there are other targets to try for! We are the overachievers and Champions! Youth Intake Randolph Prince Leyton Slaven Xavier Fawns None of these players look great now but maybe in couple of years they can be backups and help fill out European Cup Registration. The FA Cup Quarterfinals were the last match of the Month, and it was held at Deepdale Stadium PNE were favored to win but needed to do a professional job to advance to the Semifinals! And that is just what Jester got from the Team! As a reward for reaching the Semifinals PNE's next opponent would be: About as tough a match as we could get..... After the match 25 First and U-21 players joined their national teams for International Duty. 50 Best Wonderkids League Table Monthly Analysis Report Still good defensively. and efficient even if we hit the post and crossbar a lot! Player of the Month Alfie Dorrington The Rock in the middle of our back three. Financial Report Looking Ahead to be continued:

February 2031: Regular Season "Gunned down" Manager's Thoughts The team kept playing well except for the terrible home loss to the Arsenal. Unfortunately it was only four days after a match with Man City and the team wasn't fully rested. The entire defense was befuddled by the new Arsenal Formation and it was the worst performance of one of the best defenses in the league. The team is probably out of the title fight but seems to be in the drivers seat for Fourth place and a Champions League spot. Which would be welcome because that should allow us to keep our top players even with their release clauses. Schedule Highlights The month of February started off with another trip to London this time to take on floundering Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea was favored because they are Chelsea. But it didn't matter we got an early goal and our defense stifled their attack. based on the stats we could have scored more! The next match was against Norwich and Jester rotated the Squad. The rotated squad was ready and the team wanted to put on a show to get more playing time. The team is doing well financially but investors must be attracted to the "Futures" Market. The rotated squad had some trouble with Norwich. and Nico O'Reilly helped us claim a draw from the jaws of defeat. The next match was a trip to Portsmouth for the FA Cup. Jester expected to play the rotated squad yet again. Portsmouth was relishing it chances with a home match against us. Then came the injury bug......in the Goalkeeping department! Both the first and second keepers go down. Thus it was up to Emergency Keeper: Harrison Foulkes! He had a relatively easy time of it, but made a couple of key saves. Norwich would be our next opponent. By rotating the Squad, the team was able to field the First Team minus Jonck against Man City at Deepdale Stadium. Man City with Haaland was of course the favorites. We played them tough and just about won the match except for Haaland in Extra-Time! Four Days later the First Team was tested again this time by Arsenal.....They were looking for Revenge and had changed their Formation to 4-3-3 from 5-2-1-2WB. Yes, the boys were tired but that didn't give them an excuse for this Defensive **** show! Even the stats prove we should have lost..... and after the Arsenal Disaster Takeover Rumors persist..... and the injuries continue to plague us..... This time one of our front two! The final match of the month is against West Ham United. Some mind games before the match. But it didn't matter! even though we went down to ten men we got the Victory! Thanks to our Goalkeeper making 8 saves! The first match of March will be the FA Cup versus Norwich. League Table Monthly Analysis Report Player of the Month Financial Report Looking Ahead to be continued:

I hope so too. I think that the Large Clubs underestimated us and were complacent. In the Next update Arsenal gets revenge with a formation change to a 4-3-3. I think that we could use some hardware and not just a top four spot, even though that would be nice and help keep the players from leaving (Patino and Roberts).

Spoiler: They get their revenge in the next update. I have young players who have the right attributes for the roles they play. Most were overlooked by the big boys and now I am reaping the rewards. It will probably be hard to keep a few of them this summer even with release clauses. Because of those release clauses I should be able to by some suitable replacements.

Originally the formation was 5-2-1-2 WB with the Gengenpress that comes with the tactics creator. The Media/Press IN THE GAME said I was playing a "possession" game with considered passing. The new formation has different TI's but is in many ways considered the same.