StePratt
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Posts posted by StePratt
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My fourth season as Barnsley manager has drawn to a close. Mixed bag of a season.
The average age of my squad is just 22, with the oldest player being 28 year old Callum Brittain, who was at the club in League One when I took over. Callum Styles is the only other Barnsley original left. Godwin-Malife joined from League One Forest Green after promotion to the Championship. The squad is smattered with some incredible regens and a few classic wonderkids who hadn't moved to bigger clubs.
We had a terrible run during December and January, losing 8-3 (Chelsea away) and 6-1 (Man City away), whilst also getting knocked out of the FA Cup by League One Plymouth. I was hanging on to my job through this spell, picking up 3 points from the 27 available.
However, we made it to the Carabao Cup semis, getting knocked out by Man City, 5-3 on aggregate after losing the first leg 4-0. Our away performance all season.
Let's take a look at the competition overview and see where we finished up.
Oh yes, Euro Cup Finalists! Sadly, it wasn't meant to be. What a run though.
We played and beat some absolute monsters of Europe, past and present. We just didn't turn up against West Ham in the final. After the Milan result I was confident we would pick up our first major piece of silverwear.
Squad overview from the end of the season. It's looking like a big summer of recruitment, whilst only signing players under 22, with only Kik Piere and Labrovic being exceptions. Omadiagbe is going to be my number 1 next season.
Spoiler
Alexander Velez had a breakout season and will become one of the best in the league if he keeps improving.
Spoiler
Andro Arrue will be my first choice CB this season as I phase out Kovacevic and use Dorrington and Scalvini in rotation.
Spoiler
The club has had several takeover rumours and we are in the process of expanding Oakwell to make the most of our recent success.
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Barnsley 2024/25
Since my last post bemoaning the lack of realism our form at Barnsley plummeted. We only won 7 games in the 2025 portion of the season. Due to our early season form we managed to finish 5th. City won the league and then signed Mbappe. Riiight.
My standout player was Lorenzo Lucca who we had signed on loan. Despite many efforts to try and sign him permanently we couldn't reach a deal with Spurs. He eventually left to join RB Leipzig.
Tidy profit for the North London side, as he fired us above his parent club.
With European football on the horizon at Oakwell moves were made to upgrade both the training and youth facilities, we also purchased Oakwell back from the local council. Great moves to secure the future of the club.
We were handed a modest budget for the summer and I have put a new restriction on signing loan players, unless I can agree a fee to buy. Three major signings have been completed already this summer with Andreas Schelderup, Roony Bardghji and some lad called Sesko joining us. Hopefully they can replicate the goals that Lucca scored last season.
Aims for the summer are to target a centre back to challenge Mai and Kovacevic. Godwin-Malife is good but could be better. I also have this Chilean newgen to train and introduce to the squad this season.
I'm thinking he can be a big player for us over the next 5 seasons, unless bigger clubs come knocking.
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January 1st 2025.
Think this Barnsley save might have run it's course.
Just one example of how ridiculous it has become.
Another one.
It's taken the realistic feel out of the save. Not sure what to do. I've made some signings to come in at the end of the season with a view to changing shape and going towards a winger formation, to add a bit of intrigue.
This is my current first team squad. Helik is going to Trabzonspor when the Turkish window opens, Jang Sang-Bin is going back to Wolves due to lack of game time. It's a similar story for Matteo Lovato. These players will be replaced by a number of wonderkids found by my scouts.
In my two and a half seasons, I have spent around £18m and recouped £40m, before Helik's departure.
Like I say, I feel that some realism is missing. This is my first season in the Premier League. For context, Bournemouth and Sheffield United were promoted alongside me.
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8 hours ago, robterrace said:
Thats the big thing. Making sure you've got enough firepower to ensure you get back up should the worst happen, but, at the same time, prepare/aim to finish 17th.
Wolves just triggered Zirkzee's release clause. Tried to offer him a new deal but he wanted over 100k a week. Nope. 17m, 40% to Bayern. Going to be a struggle now.
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As mentioned before, Barnsley are back in the Premier League. Consecutive promotions from League One into the richest league in the world has me quite apprehensive.
Our run in the League Cup gives me some hope that we might do ok.
That Galbraith goal in the 96th minute was pure joy, especially as Liverpool had scored in the 93rd minute to take the lead. Oakwell was rocking. Oakwell would have been rocking all season, to be fair, with only two defeats coming on home soil all season, to Bournemouth and Blackpool.
Last season we broke the record points haul in League One, this season we equalled Reading's record of 106 points, we should have beaten it but a draw away at Burnley in the final few games scuppered that ambition. Zirkzee finishing as top scorer in the league with 22, 29 in total.
Our transfer dealings followed a similar path to last season, young and cheap. We managed to sell Liam Kitching who was our fifth choice centre back for 800k, so happy days.
We have agreed a few sales already, with the Premier League on the horizon a few new faces are needed. Mads Andersen is going to Norwich for 5.75m, Carlton Morris is going to Sunderland for 4.5m and Aaron Leya Iseka to Aberdeen for 3.3m. I'm hoping to use this money to unearth more young and cheap signings that will do a job next season and get us back into the Premier League after the probable relegation next season.
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Just a quick update on my first season back in the Championship.
Still a few games to go until the season ends but I really, really didn't want to go up!!
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Barnsley 2022/23
My first season as manager of Barnsley has concluded. We've played some great football and picked up some great results playing a narrow diamond with a focus on winning the ball back high up the pitch. Transfer targets were all under 22 and on short or expired contracts, the focus here being to buy cheap, develop and sell high. Simple, right?
Reece Devine signing on a free transfer from Manchester United exemplifies the strategy perfectly. 20 assists from left back and now we are fielding £2.5m offers from established Championship clubs.
Two massive signings on deadline day too, with Bayern Munich's Lukas Mai joining on loan and Joshua Zirkzee signing for £110k (including a 40% sell on fee). Zirkzee will score goals at any level, massive coup for the Tykers and I will be trying to get Mai to sign permanently during the summer.
As you can see, we finished top of League One with 104 points, which I believe is a record total. Cauley Woodrow played at the tip of the diamond and grabbed 31 (38 in total) goals, finishing as the leagues' top scorer. We beat Villa away in the FA Cup 4th Rd and won the Pizza Cup, beating Man City U23s in the final, after they had a player sent off early on.
Now the planning begins for our return to the Championship.
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It's been a while since I've posted in here.
I've downloaded a database that starts on the 30th of May and inputs all the results. So the football league, except the play offs, is how it is today.
Starting as unemployed I received an invite to interview for the Barnsley job, recently relegated from the Championship.
After a successful interview, I was offered the job. I duly accepted the offer.
Barnsley are part of the PMG collection of clubs, which includes Nancy and Thun, and use a moneyball-esque style towards recruitment. I will be fully buying into this to, firstly, get Barnsley back into the Championship and, ultimately, into the Premier League.
The squad contains a lot of young, talented players and with a few additional signings our aim is to win League One.
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Can anyone recommend a monitor please? 27inch and under £150, preferably.
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3 hours ago, Smurf said:
Just this morning I put together a roundup of laptops that I could find
Cheers. I think I'm leaning towards upgrading my desktop for now but I will bear these in mind.
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Hello wonderful people. I've been reading through the forum but I am struggling to make a decision.
I have around £900 to spend.
The laptop will be used mainly for FM but also for Netflix, kids homework, other games, like Minecraft and some other games on Game Pass, Steam and Epic. All the family will have access, so it needs to be quite robust.
Tl;dr
A good all rounder with capability to have a good experience on FM.
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Finally managed to finish season 4 at Oxford. Cast your mind's back and we won the Championship at the first time of asking, securing Premier League football. The season didn't start well, but we managed to turn the corner and clawed our way to a 10th place finish! Conceding far too many goals, but scoring a few too, I've had a really enjoyable season.
54 Premier League points, FA Cup semi finalists and runners up in the League Cup. All with league one players and kids.
It'll probably take me another 2 months to finish this next season. Hopefully see a few more posts in here in the meantime.
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I'm still plugging away at Oxford in the Premier League, but I'm no longer furloughed so have to go to work and can't play FM as much as I want to.
Currently 17th after 13 games. Lost 8. It's a slog. Hopefully the winter window can provide some quality to my team.
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Well the Premier League experience is truly underway. How've we done? Errrr.......
Last minute winners and equalisers have cost us dearly. The Villa game was a plain defeat, we weren't really in it and were 2-0 down at half time. Away at Leicester next, 3-0 down and down to ten men after 60 minutes, we lost to an 86th minute Timothy Castagne goal! Heartbreak for the lads. This theme would carry on into our next game. 3-1 at home to Fulham in the 89th minute, we conceded 2 and threw it away.
Against City, we were level going into injury time at the end of the match, before Memphis Depay scored a 91st minute winner. Lots of positives to take from a side that included 8, out of the 14 players used, original League One players.
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Slight disparity here
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How are you guys coping with Brexit in-game? First window as a Prem side and can't get work permits for anyone, with English talent being massively overpriced.
*Please note, I am not trying to be political.*
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I honestly thought about throwing the last few games, to avoid going up. I'm a glutton for punishment though and can't wait to get battered at Anfield and the Etihad!
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Oxford United 2022/23
Following on from our undefeated season in League One, we tackled the Championship. How did we get on?
We relied heavily on loans and kids. We are going to get battered in the Premier League. I still have a core of League One players, which is nice. The board have given me £31m to spend, but I think we'll need to keep that for a rebuild back in the Championship.
Our form through 2023 has been exceptional, especially in April when we went from 3rd to top.
Squad overview, as you can see lots of league one players with some Championship loans. I highly doubt we can keep any of the loanees but I said that season and got Forss & McGuane to stay on. January signing Josh Tymon (200k from Derby) really cemented his place at left back, allowing McGuane to play further forward. A quick look down the yellow card column shows we missed a few players through suspension, a bit more depth is definitely needed.
All in all, I'm very happy with this save and the squad. I've turned down offers from Wolfsburg, Lyon and Everton so far. I want to take Oxford into Europe and then I'll start over somewhere else.
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Anthony Rees, £45k from Ross County. Had Premier League clubs sniffing around, so we went high with playing time and wages. I think the gamble paid off. Already a solid Championship centre half, hopefully, only going to get better.
Spoiler
John Raynes, came through the youth set up at Oxford. Probably the best newgen I've had on this years game. He is unreal. Genuine Premier League potential.
Spoiler
As for the rest of the team, we loaned Illias Akhomach from Barcelona Under 19s, absolute baller and destined for the top, Troy Parrot from Tottenham, plus McGuane and Forss.
Here is my squad to date, under £65k in transfer fees and currently smashing it with a lot of original players.
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Good evening everyone. Quick Oxford update....
We are currently 4th in the Championship, having just got to the World Cup 2022. Around 20 games played. Happy with the progress we have made following last season's promotion.
We're ranked 23rd in wages and have barely spent any money, while Brentford spent 30m on a player from West Brom! Crazy money being spent.
Highlights of the season so far; beating Burnley 7-3 and a couple of regens making starting roles their own. I'll upload some screenshots tomorrow of them. You'll want to see them before they get poached by the big boys.
Rumours of a takeover keep cropping up but so far no new investment has been made.
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Forss and McGuane have both extended their loans! Over the moon with both deals. £3k a week for McGuane and diddly squat for Forss.
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17 minutes ago, Gunner 101 said:
That goal difference of 112.
What an achievement to go the entire season undefeated. Guess it makes up for the previous seasons disappointments.
I was disappointed we conceded 39 goals!
Definitely makes up for last season.
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I've peaked. Oxford are the Invincible's of League One. I don't know how else to put it. Finishing 4th last season, followed by a heart-breaking, extra time defeat to Blackpool, we were in the mud. A strong start evolved into a wonderful season. Just magical.
We also added the EFL Trophy, beating Leeds Under 23s in the final, but that wasn't important.
Marcus Forss, on loan from Premier League side, Brentford.
Record breaking season.
Yan Dhanda, signed on a free from Swansea.
Record breaking season.
I can't see Forss staying next season. We'll be playing in the same league as Brentford and I reckon they might need him. He's not the only one who might not last the summer. I'm already fighting off interest in Atkinson, Moore, Brannagan and Aaron Collins (23 league goals). Dalsgaard has agreed a free transfer back to Denmark, his experience and versatility will need replacing. It's going to be a big summer at the Kassam Stadium, as we prepare for a season in the Championship.
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What an achievement to go the entire season undefeated. Guess it makes up for the previous seasons disappointments.
[FM23] - Free Transfers and Hidden Gems
in Good Player & Team Guide
Posted · Edited by StePratt
Just started a Deportivo save and found this guy. Looks a solid player.
Edited to say he has really low determination!