Dong21
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Posts posted by Dong21
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Going up a division and facing a better array of attackers, upgrading my defence was going to important.
Right Backs
Raph Diarra became my unlikely club captain after an exodus of experienced players in the summer. Diarra is a good solid defender and does have leadership capabilities but lacks in the ability to go forward, something I expect of my full backs. I sold Diarra's deputy, Tamari Moore, to Burton for £40k.
Former Almeria and Real Madrid academy graduate Fran is my most extravagant signing. The other player to acquire a work permit, the Spaniard is my highest earner at the club. I am hoping he is worth the outlay though, as he significantly improves the right back position. He offers the forward thinking capability that Diarra doesn't.
I also signed right back Daniel Oyegoke on a free from Arsenal. With two good pros in front of him, the young man won't feature often this season but is certainly one for the future.
I think it is always a good sign of a good window when your first choice player becomes a back up to a new and improved option.
Left Backs
I was very happy with Borthwick-Jackson's contributions and had no intention of selling him, despite interest. His understudy, Andrea Badan, was available to be moved on and I was happy to cash in by selling him to Potenza for £30k.
Despite arriving with an injury that will see him miss the first 6 weeks of the season, I was pleased to bring in Man United's Reece Devine in on loan. I was searching around for affordable options, with my wage budget basically non-existent at this point, so pounced when I realised I could get him by covering just £400 p/w of his wages. Prior to bringing in Devine, I had a deal in place to sign Fabio Coentrao on a free transfer. He was happy not to be first choice and his wage demands weren't excessive. Unfortunately, despite having 52 caps for his country, he was unable to acquire a work permit and therefore the deal fell through.
Both of my left backs could be first choice. I will keep the faith with CBJ as a contracted player who did well last year, but it is great to know I have a quality option available if needed.
Centre Backs
This area of the pitch practically saw a reset. At the end of the season I released Wheater, Jombati and Jameson, and then followed this up by selling Piergianni to Blackpool for £35k. Robert Costa must have been looking round the dressing room trying to find a familiar face.
Signed on a free from Northampton, Cian Bolger is most likely to partner Costa in the upcoming campaign. Impressed by his mental attributes, I have already made him club vice-captain. I don't anticipate Diarra will be first choice, so Bolger will likely be matchday captain more often than not.
Next to join was a man Liverpool fans will be familiar with, Rhys Williams. Signed on loan from the Reds, he puts me in a great position whereby I have three good quality options to choose between. Williams has though unfortunately picked up a 4 week injury (twisted ankle) on the eve of the new season. I also had a loan deal agreed for Bristol City's Robbie Cundy, but at the confirmation stage I decided to cancel. It would have been nice to have a fourth good option, but I decided I could use the loan spot and wages elsewhere and wanted to give some of my young promising CBs a chance instead.
Sams, Baker and Jay Williams all possess a good amount of potential and therefore I will look to give them opportunities rather than signing another further first team defender.
Details of my signings further up the field to follow tomorrow.
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Great work @Jogo Bonito, as expected. Since you made such light work of League Two, I anticipate you will carry this good form into League One (you will say I shouldn't count your chickens before they are hatched, but I am pretty confident you will seal the deal!).
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Despite coming second in League Two in our first campaign, there was not an abundance of quality in our squad and many of our key men were loanees.
However, one player shone above all the others for me last season; Dylan Bahamboula. He provided assists and goals, and so often the spark of creativity that made the difference between drawing and losing. If we were to be successful, I thought, then he would likely play a big part in that. On 01 July, when I had barely got to work on reshaping my squad, disaster struck as I was faced with this news item:
I sent Bahamboula to a specialist, but with him being out for so long I basically have to plan for the season ahead without him. He is still young in relative terms, so I am hoping he doesn't come back half the play he once was, as was the case with Wheater last season.
I already had indicated in my end-of-season squad performance review that a lot of work was likely to be done in the transfer window, and this news made that even more critical.
Staffing Upgrade
There was to be no staffing overhaul this summer. I was happy with the staff I appointed last season and decided that at the end of next season would be a better time to reassess my coaching staff. The one person I didn't replace last season was assistant manager Alan Maybury. He seemed competent and therefore spending money on a new man did not seem essential. Now we had been promoted it was time to upgrade.
Former Burton assistant manager Gary Crosby was the man I chose to succeed Maybury. Good judgement of both players ability and potential attracted him to me, and his attacking coaching expertise sealed the deal.
Following the promotion, the board also granted me permission to appoint one more coach to my staff. I decide to bring in a defensive specialist to help me deal with the challenges of League One and selected Paul Robinson as the man for the job. Not only does he have defensive expertise, his mental attributes are also top class.
Squad Overhaul
It has been a little while since I posted an update and that is in part due to life getting in the way of playing FM but also because I have put a good amount of time and effort into considering options and signing players.
I have ambitions to finish higher than 15th in League One, the club's highest finish in over a decade, and wish to avoid a relegation slugfest if possible. Therefore I have tried to transform my squad into one you would expect to see in League One. I am pleased with the outcome, but do let me know what you think. The comings and goings have been somewhat numerous so I have decided I will break this down over a few posts as to not make this update too lengthy. I will share with you details of the players signed and provid a snapshot of what the squad now looks like after the transfer business.
I write this on the eve of the new season. I have tried to get a full and complete squad in place for the opening game and don't intend to do more business. The transfer window, however, is inexplicably open for a further month so there is a chance additional dealings could take place. If that happens I will follow up with a later post.
Goalkeepers
Where better to start with than with the goalkeeping position. The season ended with only one first team 'keeper, Ben Alnwick, who had performed admirably but was on the start of a decline due to his age. With one year left on his contract I was happy to make him my second choice keeper, but then Cambridge showed an interest and I saw this as a prime opportunity to cash in. I sold him to our fellow League One promoted side for £25k.
My first signing was former Portland Timbers stopper Jeadine White. White is very much an exception to the rule when it comes to a theme you will see in this transfer window. Due to the strict Brexit rules, many of the players I initially targeted could not get work permits, so I had to primarily focus on British players this window. White was one of a small handful of exceptions as he is a current Jamaica international. This was a positive, as it meant he got a work permit, but a negative as days after signing him he surprised me by departing for the Gold Cup, leaving me once again with no 'keepers. My first few pre-season games I had to field trialists in the net to paper over the fact I had no goalkeepers.
When I signed White it was with the intention that he would be my first choice goalkeeper. The Gold Cup incidence suddenly had me worried that he would be jetting off in the middle of the season leaving me without a 'keeper at key points. I therefore decided to once again go hunting for a first choice player between the sticks. I settled upon former Brentford man Luke Daniels. Signed at the same age that Alnwick was when I signed him last season, I am aware he may decline after a year. But, if I can get a good season out of him then I will be happy.
Again, with White's international commitments on my mind, I thought it was best I looked for a young keeper who could deputise on the bench when he was away with Jamaica. I was delighted to sign James Hillson who has much potential, pedigree having just left Arsenal's academy and a very small pay packet.
I prepare to begin the new season with a roster of goalkeepers a much higher quality than when I ended last season. White's international duties and desire to be number one may see him need to be moved on later down the line, but at a great age for resale and personal development, I have no concerns about this.
Details on the rest of my signings to follow.
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Thanks @SCCP1910! It is certainly a challenge but one I am enjoying so far.
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Cheers @karanhsingh and @Bitner
The hard work starts now!
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I have just finished and summarised my first season with Oldham (over in the FM Career Updates section) if anyone fancies taking a look:
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Thanks @Jogo Bonito, @Rikulec and @DavidBeckham!
11 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:Presumably survival is the sole intention?
Very hard to say at this stage. Once I have assembled my squad for the upcoming campaign I'll have a better view on what we can achieve. Haven't had confirmation of next season's budgets but I'm assuming a similar wage budget as we currently have and no transfer funds, as we continue to struggle financially.
15th in League One is the best final standing the club has achieved in the last 10 years so, having ticked off the top half finish goal, exceeding this is my new objective. Whether it is this season or later down the line, time will tell.
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With promotion in the bag, my attention turns to assembling a squad capable of surviving and perhaps even thriving in League One. Before I begin to review the transfer options available to me, it is important to first reflect back on the performances of my squad over the season concluded. Most players are on one year deals, so there is a lot of flexibility for me as to who I choose to keep or retain. Certainly a lot more than there was at the start of the first season.
So let's take a look at how my players got on in the 2020/21 season:
Goalkeepers
Ben Alnwick turned out to be an astute signing. Costing me only £800 p/w, he provided us with 19 league clean sheets and even got one assist! Although he did so well, at 34 his attributes are declining and my coaches believe he has fallen from a 3.5 star player to a 2.5 star player. I will be letting him go in the summer when his contract expires and looking for alternatives. I gave Pitaluga a run out on the final day of the season when there was nothing left to play for - he did well but has no future at the club. Likewise, Bilboe will be departing soon, never having had enough ability. So it will be a fresh start in this area of the pitch next season. Young academy 'keepers Chapman and Ryan have potential, but I will probably try and sign two new goalies for the next campaign.
Centre Backs
Wheater was our best player in the first half of the season, but his huge injury saw him come back half the player he was and he will now leave in the summer as he can no longer justify his large wage. With promising youngsters Sams and Williams come through, I had no hesitation setting Wheater, Jombati and Jameson for release. Clarke played more than any other CB, partnering combinations of Wheater, Piergianni and Costa. He did well, but I won't be asking Arsenal for another season of him. Costa was very solid after joining in December and I imagine will remain first choice next season. Piergianni has another year on his contract and I don't mind keeping him as a squad option.
Full Backs
CBJ was the top assistor at the club and can be proud of his input for the season. Diarra was a square peg in a round hole - a defensive player being asked to play wing back. He did okay but contributed nothing going forward. I have just renewed his contract as I've been able to reduce his wage from £1.3k p/w to £1k p/w. I am hoping he becomes second choice to a new signing. Understudies Moore and Badan are a big drop off in quality from my first choice full backs and could see themselves leaving the club during the summer.
Central Midfielders
My first choice CMs, Gailbraith, McCalmont and Dabo, all did well without being spectacular. For example I don't currently have plans to try and renew the loans of the two Northern Irishman, but a lot can happen in a summer and that could change. I was somewhat surprised to find that McCalmont was named in the League Two Team of the Season. Carruthers was a decent back up and Whelan probably didn't get as many opportunities as his potential suggests. Next season I want to give more chances to young Wootton.
Wingers
Bahamboula was rightly named the fans Player of the Season after he delivered 11 goals and 11 assists. Either operating on the right wing or in centre attacking midfield, he offered a spark of creativity that couldn't be found elsewhere. I have renewed his contract for a further two years. On the other wing, I feel McAleney under-performed as an inside forward. His bright moments were few and far between. With his contract soon to expire I was considering letting him go, but when I realised I could renew him on reduced terms (£800 p/w) I have decided to keep him around as a squad option. Soumaré did well, filling in on the right wing when Bahamboula was moved central. DKD's contract expires in the summer, and if it wasn't for his 4 goals in the final 2 games I would probably be letting him go. Now I have a decision on my hands. Dearnley didn't offer much and often picked up knocks.
Strikers
Rodel Richards had a great season. His 25 goals made him the third highest goalscorer in the division. An average rating of 7 across the season was the best of all my players. His £350 p/w contract at Spurs finishes in the summer and I would love to swoop in and make him a permanent member of the squad. The problem is a good number of Championship and Premier League clubs are circulating, so it looks like I will be looking for a new leading man. Rowe underwhelmed as Richards understudy and I'll be glad to get his hefty wages off the books. Blackwood chipped in here and there with his limited chances.
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February 2020
After writing in my last results update about our 15 game undefeated run, it was almost inevitable that we would lose our next game. We followed that up with a goalless draw with Scunthorpe, but were then back in winning ways with three wins in a row. A theme for this season has often been victories without turning over our opposition. The 3-1 victory over Tranmere, therefore, stood out as one of our better results. We fell to a disappointing loss up in Carlisle at the end of the month. We were fairly inconsistent but so were our rivals, so saw ourselves in the top spot as it turned to March.
March 2020
Our fixture against Port Vale moved from 09 March to 18 March due to a waterlogged pitch. This led to an unusual situation whereby our first three games were at home and then our next three were away. I thought this might impact results, but clearly it didn't make much of a difference. The loss to Cambridge was tough to take, their winner came in the 94th minute. This saw us fall below Bradford and Colchester into 3rd in the table. McAleney was ruled out for three weeks with a calf injury just before the game against Port Vale but we overcame this to win and rise up to 2nd. The game against Bradford had huge league title permutations. We were put in a difficult situation as both McCalmont and Gailbraith missed the game as they were on Northern Ireland U21s duty. I played CB Clarke in CM in their place and brought Wheater back into the team at CB, finally returning after months on the injury table. Wheater gave away a penalty and we lost 1-0... We were then missing Bahamboula and Moore against Leyton Orient, as they were then on international duty. If they all went at the same time, we'd have had the option to postpone both games.
April & May 2020
Defeat against Crawley meant we hadn't won in four games and had fallen behind Colchester into third in the table. We happened to then be facing Colchester, knowing a win would see us second and a loss would likely mean we fall out of the automatic promotion places. We took the lead from Richards and then doubled it after a cracking direct free kick from CB Costa. He had taken a few during the season that has tested 'keepers, so this was a great time to finally hit the net. Dearnley went off injured after we'd already made five subs, leading to a nervy final 10 minutes in which we conceded one goal. This took us back 2nd, but six points behind leaders Bradford. We needed to hit some form after months of inconsistency and for Bradford to go off the boil. Sadly only half of that happened.
After three wins in a row it was a bore draw in front of our biggest crowd of the season which saw us clinch promotion back to League One. My aim at the beginning of the season was simple; get the club to finish in the top half of the table for the first time in over ten years. We achieved that and so much more when we sealed promotion. This was something I had seen as a longer-term objective. It really was mission accomplished. The work does not stop though, this is the start of my adventure with Oldham Athletic. There is much still to be achieved.
Our best win of the season came against Mansfield, which secured our 2nd place finish in the table. Keillor-Dunn (DKD) was the surprise scorer of a brace. I kept faith with DKD in the final game of the season and he repaid me again with another brace. One of his goals was even declared our goal of the season! Although we came 2nd in the table, massively overachieving our objectives, I never felt we set the world on fire - the final two games, I guess because the pressure was off, we finally started playing with flair and confidence. Here's hoping we can take that into next season.
Whatever the result in the Forest Green game, we would be finishing 2nd, so I used it as an opportunity to look to the future. I moved players who were on loan and won't be returning (with the exception of Richards) and those who were on contracts I wouldn't be renewing out of the matchday squad. In their place came some of my best youth prospects. Tom Sams started at CB and Wootton, Williams and Asomugha all made their debuts from the bench.
League Table
Here are the final league standing for 2020/21. I am unable to capture a screenshot that shows Harrogate finished 24th.
We had the leanest defence in the division, conceding fewer than any other team. Our goalscoring prowess was also pretty good, with only three teams bagging more than us. Our over-achievement was demonstrated by our xG stats; we scored 66 goals when our expected goals were 50, we got 86 points when our expected points were 70 and we finished 2nd when our expected position was 5th (that is based on xG, our media prediction was 14th). I was awarded the accolade of Manager of the Season in League Two.
We only finished a point behind league winners Bradford, but I am not feeling any angst that we didn't lift the trophy. Getting promoted at the first time of asking and putting smiles back on the faces of downtrodden Latics fans was certainly reward enough.
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On 11/12/2020 at 14:19, Dong21 said:
Youth Intake
Will all this make a difference? It's hard to say if it will overcome the fact we have poor youth infrastructure at the club. At least I can say I am doing everything in my power to increase our chance of developing quality young players.
The youth intake preview provides some promise that my actions may have had a positive impact, with it stating there will be "an excellent group of players coming through".
I have learnt not to get too excited until the youth intake actually arrives. Ones definition of a quality prospect can often differ! Here's hoping there are some new talents arriving.
Good news to report, the youth intake has arrived and they look like a promising group.
The three attackers Webber, Townley and Dlamini all look very promising. I am also excited to have a young goalkeeper with potential as my current first choice Alnwick is 34 years old and will inevitably begin to decline, so it is great to have a 'keeper in the pipeline.
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Thanks everyone!
2 hours ago, DazRTaylor said:Nice thread though I question your title. I am a Yeovil fan, we have gone from bottom of the Championship to the relegation zone in the Vanarama National in eight years.
It is certainly a subjective topic! When I considered the title it was with the view that Oldham have had absolutely nothing to celebrate over the last 10 years. Yeovil have at least had a promotion during that time. That said, you’ve definitely had a bad time of late!
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Thanks @karanhsingh and @john1, things are certainly going better than planned! Fingers crossed we can keep it up.
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@Jogo Bonito Oh, yes
I did mean that! Don’t want to put too much pressure on you... 
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@Jogo Bonito Great updates. I always enjoy hearing about squad building challenges. Is the aim to win League One?
@warlock Going well with Brentford, given your striking difficulties.
@karanhsingh Derby are flying! Seem to be getting the most out of that squad.
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38 minutes ago, marcMCFC1986 said:
Good luck - I’ll follow your progress!
Thanks @marcMCFC1986
Good stat that Rochdale is the only team in the EFL not to win a trophy! Good luck with them. If you get to the Championship, that will certainly be a challenge.
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If my last update left you feeling like everything was going smoothly at Oldham, this one is the reality check.
Anyone who is familiar with me will likely know that I love to wheel and deal. I get a lot of enjoyment out of improving a team in the transfer market and I like to think it is where my strengths lie - I'm certainly more of a transfer specialist than master tactician! It therefore saddens me to report that there were basically no signings made in the January transfer window.
We were over our wage budget, with the December deal for Robert Costa (enforced by Wheater's injury) being the deal that tipped us into the red. I have included an image of the club finances to show that it wasn't just the owner choosing not to provide me transfer funds - our finances really aren't looking good. You will see my summer player sales in September took us into the black, but those funds are long forgotten. Back in November the owner injected £210k into the club to help with running costs.
I have a large squad and so thought I would ship out some players to balance the books and allow us to consider some new options. The nature of a League 2 side though is that the vast majority of players are on one year contracts and therefore in January, with 6 months left on their deals, have no resale value whatsoever.
Failed Deals
I agreed a deal to sell midfielder Brice Ntambwe, who had not started a game for me, to Bradford City. The deal was for no transfer fee, but would have cleared £1k p/w off my wage bill. On the day the deal was to be completed, he broke his leg and would be out for 5 to 7 months. Deal over, no money saved. I tried to sell or loan out Danny Rowe as he hadn't performed and he is on £2k p/w but nobody would take on his wage, even if I subsidised some of it. Trying to sell Rowe has made us fall out, so it has had a lasting negative impact. I tried to loan out the likes of Blackwood, Jameson and Keillor-Dunn to get their wages off the books, but also to develop them. Again, no interest.
One of the reasons why I was so keen to get the wage bill down was because Will Keane was available and was interested in joining the club. This was also why I tried to move on strikers in particular. He had just been released by Wigan after scoring 11 goals in 20 games in the first half of the League One season. He would have been a great signing. He spent the whole January transfer window with us, but I could never cobble the money together to sign him. In the end I pissed him off by offering him £1k p/w, when he wanted a reasonable £2k p/w.
Bizarre Botch
A strange scenario happened on deadline day, when I was alerted by the press that Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Livingston were interested in my Scottish 'keeper Woods. He had returned from loan at the start of January and I had terminated other 'keeper Lawlors loan to make Woods my new number 2. When I realised I could get his £45k transfer value though, I immediately looked into selling him. I accepted bids from Motherwell and Kilmarnock. The deal was going down to the final hours of the market. I was salivating thinking as soon as this deal is done I can secure Keane and have plenty of money left to add to the club coffers. With two hours to go I took Marcelo Pitaluga on loan from Liverpool, covering £600 p/w of his wages, as the new backup goalkeeper once Woods had departed. At midnight I got a notification that Woods had been sold. Rejoice! Then, this is where it gets strange, I realised he was still at the club. It looks like the deal went through immediately after the deadline passed. So Woods remained at the club, and the agreed deal will go through in the summer. This was no use to me and in fact I'd now wasted wages on a third keeper. I registered Pitaluga and excluded Woods, so at least it felt like something had come of these dealings.
Brexit Blues
A further challenge to report on is the impact of Brexit finally taking place. The new stricter rules will be a hindrance to lower league management with restrictions on how many foreign players you can have in your squad.
Contract Renewal
I'll end on a singular positive, I did manage to renew Borthwick-Jackson's contract so he now has 2.5 years left to run on his deal. As well as things are going, many of the clubs players will depart when their deals conclude in the summer. I am pretty sure I will be on a mission to rebuild the squad under my own vision. CBJ is one of a minority of players who I see being part of a longer-term plan.
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November had been our worst month of the season with three defeats out of six games and to top things off, talismanic leader Wheater had just been ruled out for three months with injury.
I decided a tactical switch was needed and so we pivoted to a 4-2-3-1 (2 DM) formation that we had been preparing as our third tactical approach. Below is an example of how we lined up against Cambridge on 05 December. With an abundance of talented wingers, but lacking AMs, I elected to move Bahamboula to behind the striker and bring Soumaré in on the right wing.
This tactical switch appears to have worked wonders for us as we have put together quite the run of results that has seen us move up the table.
December 2020
We began the month with an all action draw against Tranmere which highlighted our goalscoring prowess but also our defensive frailty. We followed this up by beating then-League leaders Cambridge, with Richards bagging a hat-trick for the second time in just four days. You may recall we had a game in hand? Well I'm disappointed to report that this turned out to be a draw with strugglers Morecambe, despite our domination. The draw against Bradford was more palatable, as they are strong side. We then went on a run that saw us win all four of our remaining league games of 2020. There was lots to enjoy in this period; a Richards hat-trick against Newport, late winners against Walsall and Grimsby and squad players delivering in a win versus Harrogate.
Bahamboula suffered pulled knee ligaments half way through the month which saw him miss 3 weeks. Luckily McAleney and Carruthers stepped up to fill the void at AM and results did not suffer. December was Rodel Richards' month as the youthful forward won both the League Two Player and Young Player of the Month. I renewed Harry Clarke's loan deal until the end of the season, as the young Gooner defender has done well for me.
We saw in the New Year sitting top of the League 2 table.
January 2021
A draw with then-3rd placed Forest Green Rovers saw us fall to 2nd in the table on goal difference. Always looking for ways to enhance my squad, I took six players on trial who had recently been released by their clubs at year end. I arranged a friendly for them to play in alongside my squad players. None of them impressed and their trials were terminated. Not long after returning from injury, Bahamboula was then ruled out for three weeks with a virus (after the year 2020 has been, I was hoping for no references to viruses in the game!). Our game that was scheduled for 23 January was postponed as our opponents were playing in the FA Cup 4th Round, most other teams played which meant we fell down the table slightly. We won our next two games though, whilst other teams slipped up, so end January 2nd place in the table on goal difference, with a game in hand.
If you don't count the EFL Trophy defeat to Carlisle (the game was a draw that we then lost on penalties) we have now gone 15 games undefeated in all competitions. I am sure that will come to a halt soon, our side isn't strong enough to maintain this. But when it does, I'll still be proud of the run that we've been on. Richards has been the star of the last two months, but a special mention should go to Carruthers who has come into the side, having been a squad option until now, and has really performed well.
With three and a half months to go anything could still happen. That said, our target of a top half finish is looking achievable with even, what seemed a very unlikely before the season started, a possibility of promotion.
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Thanks for the compliment @smplfc123!
On my Oldham save Cheltenham are rock bottom in 24th and Morecambe are not far ahead of them in 21st, so both definitely will be big challenges. Depends how tough you want it to be I guess!
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When you are operating in the fourth tier of English football, you have to ask yourself the question; is youth development worth the time and effort? Investing in youth facilities, recruitment and coaching all comes with a cost. Geographically, Oldham are also in a difficult location with much more attractive clubs sharing a catchment area.
The club's controversial owner, Abdallah Lemsagam, has clearly decided it's not worth the hassle. The youth facilities are poor and when I arrived at the club there were no U23 players, only 10 U18 players and only a Head of Youth Development and an U18s manager, in terms of staff dedicated to youth.
Shortly after arriving I requested the youth facilities were improved. Rejected. I requested to improve youth recruitment. Rejected. Enhance our youth level? Rejected. Even pleas to send staff on training courses to improve them were, inevitably, rejected. It seems that for as long as I have Lemsagam as owner, making improvements to our youth setup will not be on the cards. A long-term hope for this save was already that we are taken over and this was just an extra reason added.
So you might be thinking give up on youth and just focus on the first team... But Oldham is a club that in recent years has found away to produce talent, despite the difficult circumstances of the last 10 years. The Latics have produced the likes of James Tarkowski (Burnley), George Edmundson (Rangers), Carl Winchester (Forest Green Rovers), Neal Eardley (Burton) and Tom Eaves (Hull). So I feel strongly that it is worth doing what I can to try and develop youth, despite the restricted environment I am operating in.
Youth Team Staff
To give the players currently in the youth team the best possible chance of developing, I have put effort into recruiting the best quality staff available to me. Paul Murray and Selim Benachour were relieved of their duties and the following staff have arrived:
Ben Van Dael has top flight managerial experience in both Holland and Poland. His attributes for judging players ability and potential were what attracted me to him and his mental attributes appealed too. Good mental attributes is a theme for all the staff I have recruited, as this is just important as coaching attributes when it comes to developing young players.
As Kilmarnock U18 manager from 1989 until 2016, Alan Robertson has quite the pedigree as a youth manager. I managed to coax him out of semi-retirement as he had been managing Kilmarnock semi-professional side Bonnyton Thistle until I approached him. His key attributes are terrific, let alone for League 2.
I was quite surprised to find that former Wolves 'keeper Carl Ikeme's coaching expertise was not in goalkeeping! Ikeme can be described as an all-rounder, something that is extremely valuable in a small coaching team.
I had hoped to find an U18s goalkeeping coach with goalkeeping attributes in the double figures. As this was not possible, Gert Davidts stood out due to the consistency of his ability in the three goalkeeping specialisms and for his mental attributes.
Finally, Phil Greenwood feels like somewhat of a coup as his ability to coach fitness (13 for the attribute) matches that of my first team fitness coach, Stuart Vance.
Youth Recruitment
In addition to enhancing my youth coaching team, we also added to my youth set up by signing players. I gave Director of Football John Ward autonomy to approach players to sign for the U18 team. I retained the ability to veto signings and did so in a couple of instances where the proposed signings appeared to have limited potential. None of John's signings so far have been particularly spectacular, however I think there is definitely benefit in having a fuller squad. Players can play in their preferred positions, which in turn benefits their development.
In addition to the signing made by Ward, I personally recruited some youngsters on free transfers that I thought had the potential to make it into our first team. All four of them are too old to play in the U18s but my Assistant Manager has been arranging weekly U23 friendlies so they have had the opportunity to play in these alongside my squad players.
I purposefully targeted CBs as both Wheater and Jombati are 33, therefore I was pleased to be able to sign both Sams and Williams. Versatile Asomugha, who can play on either wing or up front, is a player who excites me and CM remains a thin area of the squad when my loanees depart at the end of the season, so I was pleased to secure former Cardiff man Wooten.
Youth Intake
Will all this make a difference? It's hard to say if it will overcome the fact we have poor youth infrastructure at the club. At least I can say I am doing everything in my power to increase our chance of developing quality young players.
The youth intake preview provides some promise that my actions may have had a positive impact, with it stating there will be "an excellent group of players coming through".
I have learnt not to get too excited until the youth intake actually arrives. Ones definition of a quality prospect can often differ! Here's hoping there are some new talents arriving.
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Apologies to those of you who were following this with intrigue, I have been unable to play any Football Manager this week due to work commitments. That changes today though. Updates incoming.
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On 02/12/2020 at 22:38, Jogo Bonito said:
Dylan seems to be doing well, but the loss of Wheater will be testing. I agree that a back four might be worth it, but I am sure you'll adjust correctly.
Quick update on this front - I have just (mid-December) signed a free agent CB to replace Wheater as he's out for so long. Spaniard Costa is ex-Getafe and scouts rate him the best CB at the club. I did switch to a back four and it has been going well, so I think I'll stick with that but integrate Costa.
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18 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:
How would you assess Danny Rowe so far?
I only play one up front and Rodel Richards has been my first choice. Richards' pace at this level is very effective. Rowe has only started 7 games but has made 12 substitute appearances. He has 5 goals and 2 assists so far which is not too bad.
17 hours ago, Chrisofclubs said:Loving this so far. Great start with some great signings!
Thanks Chris!
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Having just three months ago (save months, not real ones) wrote about the importance to me of restoring David Wheater to the Oldham first team, I didn't think I would now be writing an update titled 'Wheater Out'.
Wheater has sustained a hip injury that will see him ruled out for three months.
This is a real blow as Wheater has performed really well up until now. Although the defence has been leaky, he has been a shining light amongst my defenders. I played him as a no-nonsense stopper and he clearly relished the opportunity to get his head on everything coming our way, with 64 key headers and an average of almost 8 interceptions per game. His average rating of 7.14 is the highest at the club after Bahamboula. At his age, I think this will take a hit to his attributes that he might not be able to recover from.
Our back three approach was in many ways designed to be built around Wheater. With this long-term injury I am thinking a switch to a back four is on the cards. Watch this space.
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6 hours ago, Hootieleece said:
Good job so far....but be aware that streaks are very potent in this year's FM. Losing Streaks seem much harder to break.
Thanks - I'll keep an eye out for that and report back on whether I am affected in the same way!
5 hours ago, warlock said:That's not bad at all! How are your team cohesion and tactical familiarity looking? Should be OK by now, but with so many new signings and (I'm guessing) a bit of squad rotation there might still be room for improvement.
Team cohesion is listed as 'average', so still a way to go before they are truly clicking as a group.
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I did mean that! Don’t want to put too much pressure on you... 
[FM21] - Rejuvenating the Most Depressing Team to Follow in Recent History
in FM Career Updates
Posted · Edited by Dong21
Alfie McCalmont and Ethan Gailbraith were my centre midfield pairing of choice in our promotion winning season.
The pair returned to their respective clubs (Leeds and Man United) and I didn't make efforts to retain them. I decided in the first instance I would look to make some permanent signings to ease our reliance on loanees in the centre of the park.
Central Midfielders
This player was my number one transfer target as soon as I was aware he was available on a free from Forest Green Rovers. Carl Winchester had played for Oldham from 2010 - 2017, when they were last operating in League One. Although he did technically start out at Linfied, Winchester is the closest thing to an Oldham academy graduate, so to bring him back had added meaning. Having managed him before on previous saves, I have always loved his work rate and versatility (adept as a CM, DM or RB).
Going into a higher division, I wanted to bring in a ball winning midfielder for when we face tough opposition. Ryan Tunnicliffe fitted the bill and only wanted a mere £800 p/w for his services.
I did end up returning to the loan market, and to Man United yet again, to bring in Charlie McCann for the season. Labelled by the media as 'the next David Platt', I think he will be a good fit as the playmaker in my team. He has the added benefit of being able to play as a CAM as well, if required.
The final central midfield recruit, Romaine Mundle, is very much 'one for the future'. The Tottenham academy graduate makes his way up from the north of London to the north of England.
In one transfer window I went from having a dearth of central midfielders to having a surplus. I had released Brice Ntambwe at the end of the season, but realised I still need to sell to trim the numbers. I decided to sell Callum Whelan. He had potential but hadn't been good enough to get in my team in League Two, so was unlikely to feature in League One. He had a number of suitors but chose Sunderland in a £54k deal. There was interest in Dabo and I did also consider selling him, but none of the offers were reasonable so his stay at Boundary Park continues. Wootton and Mundle will feature for the U23s, so effectively I have 4 CMs competing for two positions.
Centre Attacking Midfielders
I intend to continue using the 4-2-3-1 that gave us success in the first season, although we have commenced learning a 4-4-2 as a backup plan. Bahamboula had predominantly played in the CAM position last term, so a signing here was key.
Developed in the respected Southampton academy, Jake Hesketh has spent the last two seasons on loan at Lincoln and then Crawley. I decided he was ready to step up and give League One a crack, signing him on a free transfer from The Saints.
Samir Carruthers remains the deputy for this position, although many players such as McCann and Bahamboula can play here if required.