Dong21
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Posts posted by Dong21
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With my last post acting as a reminder of the context of my career - it is time for an update on the latest from my manager's office at Boundary Park.
When I last updated we had finished 8th in the Championship. Our league standing would suggest our expectations should be to push on and challenge for a Play-Off place in our fourth season, and yet the reality is very different. Based on the quality of our squad and, I assume, our reputation the media have predicted we will come 22nd and therefore be relegated. The club's expectation is that we simply avoid relegation. We have a wage budget of £125k p/w, which matches last season when we had the smallest wage bill in the division, therefore there is not much room to manoeuvre. That said, I got to work wheeling and dealing.
This update is written on the 30th June 2023, for reasons that will become apparent later in this update, therefore the window remains open and there is scope for further deals.
Permanent Fixture
After two seasons on loan with me, and 82 matches played, I knew exactly what player I was getting when I signed Charlie McCann on a permanent deal, following the conclusion of his Man Utd contract. Although he was not first choice for me last season (he only started 17 games) he is a great squad player who is already well placed within the team's social groups. I also love that he has determination 20 and a driven mentality - clearly a great influence to have round the squad. At 21 years old he has room for improvement and resale potential. He only wanted £2k per week, likely through loyalty to me as I am listed as his favoured personnel. A great addition to the squad at a bargain price.
Unlikely Return
I have pulled off one of the deals of the century, and it is all by pure luck. In February 2023 I decided to cash in on attacking midfielder Jake Hesketh when San Jose came calling with a £1.5m offer. It was therefore a complete shock to me when in June 2023 my scouts alerted me to the fact that Hesketh was available on a free transfer. I looked into it and found that San Jose had released him on a waiver in March only a few weeks after paying a seven figure sum for him. He never played a game for the MLS side. Perhaps someone more familiar with the MLS can explain to me what has happened here. It was not like he suffered an injury and they decided to cut their losses. There is no logical reason for them letting him go.
I was perplexed. But I could not miss out the opportunity to complete such a savvy piece of business by bringing him back! San Jose effectively paid £1.5m to loan him for 4 months. He returns on exactly the same wages as before. It's a no lose situation as he either features for me or I sell him for a profit for a second time! I intend to play a 4-4-2 which doesn't necessarily suit him, but last season proved it pays to be tactically flexible, so I'm sure he will be an asset to the squad.
Wingers Wanted
As mentioned in previous posts, I want to play 4-4-2 next season, but I don't have any wingers. None at all!
I was primarily looking for pacey players who can get up and down the byline. Operating on a budget, the loan market was the best place in my opinion to look for reinforcements. When players are released on June 30th there will be more options to consider to bulk out the squad, but these two signings are a good starting point.
First up, I turned to my parent club Chelsea who have kindly given me the services of Kieron Bello for the season. The major benefit of making loan signings from my feeder side, is that I don't need to contribute anything to the wages. Bello is raw but fast and will be useful addition to the squad.
Like Bello, the other winger I have signed is comfortable on either wing. Thomas Hill joins from Liverpool so I do have to cover his wage, but fortunately it is only £2.5k p/w. Hill is more mature in his development than Bello and is more likely to secure a starting berth.
EFL's Most Wanted
My most extravagant signing to date in this transfer window is a man who has been very popular over in the FM21 English Football League thread where managers such as @Jogo Bonito and @Ronaldo Beckham have had success with him.
Only a loan - Premier League Newcastle signed him after he scored 19 goals for Peterborough but then didn't play him all season and put him on the loan list for this campaign - you may ask how the signing of Ricky-Jade Jones is extravagant? Well, I will be covering all of his £9,250 a week wages, which makes him the highest earner at the club.
He seems worth a gamble though. 19 for pace and acceleration. 14 for finishing, work rate and composure. Comfortable up front or on the flanks. He could be a game changer.
Preemptive Signing
Only days after completing the season, rumours started to circulate that Premier League sides Brighton and Norwich were targeting my centre back Callum Doyle. Soon Sheffield United and Fulham were also hot on his trail. It felt inevitable that I would be losing the player I took from academy graduate to first name on the teamsheet during the 2022-23 season.
I therefore decided to prioritise signing a new CB so that we weren't left with a gaping hole in the team if he were to depart.
After the surprise Hesketh deal, I decided to take the time to check who every single MLS club had released on a waiver in the last few months. There was a surprising number of decent players.
It was here where I discovered Venezuelan defender Wilker Ángel who had been released by Vancouver. My scouts determined that he would be the best CB at the club if we brought him in, therefore I thought his wage demands of £4.7k p/w were reasonable. As he is 30 years old a two year contract seemed good business, giving us a break point in case he starts to decline.
As you can see, squad building on a budget was coming along well. However, I paused to write an update mid-way through the transfer window as a transformative event for the club has occurred:
As noted earlier, a string of Premier League clubs were sniffing around my 19 year old CB Doyle. The media were saying that the fee may be £11m, and that caught my eye.
As much as I have enjoyed developing the player recruited from the Man City's academy just a year ago, a fee in that region would make a monumental difference in my quest to take this club to the next level. I had to think of the greater good.
I offered him out for £10m and instantly received bids from Brighton and Norwich. I then got worried that I had gone too low, as they didn't baulk at the price tag. I cancelled the deals and offered him out for £11m with a 30% sell on clause. Nobody bid... Luckily when I offered him back out for £10m I hadn't blown it as Norwich did come back in for him, but I did lose Brighton in the process.
Doyle agreed to join the Norfolk side, in what was a club record deal for The Latics. £1.5m went to City thanks to a long forgotten clause in his contract, but I was still delighted with the return on a free transfer signing.
When I was waiting for the deal to go through, I managed to persuade the board to up the amount I keep from sales to 70%, from 55%. This meant that £6m went into my transfer budget.
I am pleased that the remaining £2.5m went directly into the club's coffers, as it provides us with financial stability. I just hope the board are now more accommodating when it comes to requests to improve our basic youth facilities or our average training facilities, and that they don't just pocket the cash.
I quickly moved half of the transfer revenue into our wage budget and we now have a whopping surplus of nearly £90k per week to play with. This gives me a great opportunity to upgrade the squad in a busy second half of the transfer window. I will try not to go overboard as careful management of the club finances is also an objective of mine. For a moment though, I am going to revel in the excitement of finally having a transfer and wage budget of any note after three years of penny pinching!
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An update, but this time it is from real life and not my save.
Last night, you may have seen, Oldham have once again sacked their manager meaning that they are looking for their 14th manager since Lee Johnson left in 2015.
Kewell was not doing incredible, the Latics are currently in 16th place, but not many could when faced with a restricted budget and such haphazard recruitment from the club's sporting director.
An Oldham supporters group, Push The Boundary, have called out owner Abdallah Lemsagam and his brother and sporting director Mohamed, releasing the following statement:
Quote“In the last few years, managers have come and gone in quick succession but the one constant that it is impossible to ignore is that the custodians of this club continue to act without thought to the legacy they are destroying with each passing moment they are at the helm.
“What also stands out is how the current structure at the club, in terms of recruitment and the working relationship between the head coach/sporting director is not working.
“Usually when a manager leaves his position, either of his own volition or if he is released by the club, it usually brings with it the opportunity to enter a new era, to have a fresh start and push forwards.
“Sadly with our club in more recent years, especially under the regime of the Lemsagams, it just feels inevitable that change and/or controversy is always just around the corner.
“It is impossible to ignore that despite questionable recruitment over the last three years, it is yet again the sporting director who outlasts the head coach and there appears to be no sign of that changing.
“How can we push forward as a club when there is no accountability from the person who has overseen recruitment in one of the darkest periods for our club?
“Our club needs an urgent overhaul of the footballing structure before a new head coach/ manager is brought in.
“For the integrity of the club, the town and the long-suffering fans it represents, we are calling on Abdallah and Mohammed Lemsagam to rethink their current “vision” for the club.
“Let us be perfectly clear, this is not about Harry Kewell, it is about the disdain with which fans are being treated, yet again.
“Whoever is next through the door give them the opportunity to do it their way without interference and free from sporting director control. Only then will we see change.”
This is a timely reminder of why one of my biggest hopes for my save is to receive new owners of the club.
Hopefully if I can continue to deliver success then it will make the Latics an appealing proposition for prospective buyers.
Currently Lemsagam is 'happy to stay', here's hoping that changes.
The Case for Consistency
Despite only lasting seven months and managing the side for just 41 matches, Kewell has overseen more fixtures than 12 of the club's last 13 managerial appointments.
This is a ridiculous stat and shows that these owners have never been willing to give a manager time.
Perhaps my Oldham career to date, if anything, makes the case for giving a manager more than seven months at the helm:
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A great piece of business from you to get Bakambu on a wage of just £12.5k p/w! If I recall correctly from when I looked at him on one of my saves, he was on £200k p/w+ out in China
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On 06/03/2021 at 14:12, Chevie said:
BREXIT PROBLEMS:
Thanks to the Brexit, I now have a new issue to contend with when it comes to future signings. All British players will now be considered as non-EU. Slovak league rules allows a MAXIMUM of 5 non-EU players in my match day squad. I will need to be careful when building my squad using players who haven't made it at United, ensuring I keep this limit in mind. This throws a large spanner into the works and I hope doesn't mess with the challenge too much!
That is an unfortunate development @Chevie. Hopefully you can still recruit more ex-United players, even if you do have to focus less on those not born in Manchester. Longer term you could hopefully start to sign players young enough to be naturalised in Slovakia over time.
Results seem to be better than expected - I can see this career developing into a ‘how well can you do in Europe?’ challenge over time!
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You’re taking over this Forum
Hope the seasons going well @Jogo Bonito, I look forward to reading your Jan 2021 update
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As we were undefeated and played really well in the last seven games of the season, I think I want to try and keep going with that for the new campaign... certainly tactical food for thought though @Hootieleece
Yes he’s certainly capable @Number seven and I think I may have played him there a handful of times when we were in League Two. With crossing 15 he really should be an asset from wing back though 🤔 I’ll let you know how he gets on!
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6 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:
A very fine season. The stats on CBJ seem to suggest he hadn't been that much of a let-down but you saw him every game and felt disappointed. Taylor sounds like a spoilt brat, he looked like he would be good. All in all, 8th was a great effort though.
Thanks @Jogo Bonito.
It's a funny old game isn't it? You're right that the average rating would suggest CBJ was one of my best players but he didn't live up to expectations in the role I had designed for him. With a back five for most of the season, the wing backs were set to attacking with their primary focus on chance creation which is where he didn't deliver. His tackles per game were the third highest in the Championship, however, so his defensive work probably influenced his overall match rating. For next season I am thinking of sticking with the 4-4-2 that brought me success in the final month of this campaign, so that might benefit CBJ if he's to revert to a more orthodox left back.
I don't have any wingers at the club so that will need a huge overhaul this summer if I'm to stick with this tactic. Lot's of wheeling and dealing to be done, which takes me a lot of time and effort, but I must admit squad building is probably the most enjoyable aspect of the game for me, so I wouldn't have it any other way.
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Considering the number of long-term injuries your squad has suffered, I think your league performance to date is commendable. Hopefully your recent upgrade in midfield helps you turn all those 0-0s into wins! Good luck for the run in.
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So let's take a look at how my players got on in the 2022/23 season:
Goalkeepers
Only one player appeared more frequently in the Championship than my goalkeeper Lumley. Ever present between the sticks, he conceded 47 goals in 46 games. One goal a game isn't the best, but for our first season at Championship level, with basically a whole new team built before the season, it is certainly acceptable. It should be noted that he did provide 18 clean sheets, which is the 5th most of any 'keeper in the league.
After not featuring all campaign, Daniels has announced he will retire this summer. His successor on the bench, McGill, is already in place.
Centre Backs
Callum Doyle is my player of the season (and signing of the season too!). He started as fifth choice, the more experienced pros were under-performing and the 19 year old came into the team and didn't put a foot wrong. He's now one of the first names on the teamsheet. The rest of this group all under-performed in the first half of the season, but eventually performed better as the season went on. You can see this from their recent form match ratings. Perhaps this can be attributed to a new team gelling at a higher division than before.
Full Backs
Fran was the main man last season and he did not disappoint this time either. 10 assists in 36 games is a cracking return for a full back. He ended the season as a makeshift right midfielder. Fran was voted the Fan's Player of the Season.
Hare had a solid season as Fran's understudy. Four assists is not bad considering he doesn't often play.
Unlike Fran, CBJ did not step up to the Championship in the way that I expected. One assist is very underwhelming. He is the only player who survives from before I arrived. I like him and want to give him another chance, but he is on thin ice. He missed six weeks of the season with a double hernia, so it wasn't all his own doing. Butler, on the other hand, did okay but his sending off against Derby sticks in the mind. 17 year old Davidson is a prospect I would like to nurture.
Central Midfielders
As a club, we won more tackles (1,155) than any other team in the Championship. A lot of the credit for that stat goes down to Simons who provided cover in front of a questionable defence - he had the second highest number of tackles per 90 minutes in the league. His versatility, though, is demonstrated by the fact his goal against Stoke was voted our club Goal of the Season. Despite making him club captain for the second half of the season, and Chelsea being willing to send me him again, he has refused the opportunity to renew his loan for a second season.
In contrast, Man Utd's Gailbraith has jumped at the opportunity to play for me for a third season in four years. His loan was renewed, once again with 0% of wages being covered by Oldham. As you can see from the appearance stats, he was the most ever-present in my midfield. McCann and Winchester featured less frequently than I expected. They are both players I like, but they suffered from the consistency of Gailbraith, Simons and Peart-Harris. Burton was signed as an emergency backup and was never really called upon - I do have some guilt that I have likely stifled his growth.
Attacking Midfielders
Peart-Harris was a joy to manage. Comfortable playing anywhere in the midfield, I can't remember him letting me down. Perhaps he could have scored more when operating behind the strikers, but it should be remembered that we were the underdogs in most fixtures. Like Simons, he has sadly turned down the chance to return for another season, likely with bigger clubs in his sights.
Webber is the home-grown prospect I would love to have fulfill his potential. After his first goal for the club, he was ruled out with knocks for around 4 weeks that stopped him building upon his dream start. If he can stay fit next season I can see him getting more opportunities.
Aarons leaves the club this summer with my thanks for a sparkling end to the season.
Strikers
Despite our league success, I end the season feeling like my strikers didn't live up to their potential. I thought I had compiled a roster of potent strikers and they didn't all perform as I'd hoped. Richards who'd done so well for me in League 2 and League 1 did not reach the same heights at Championship level. Cumulatively he missed over two months of the season with injuries, which didn't help his quest for form. Smith did not offer too much, although played less than the others. But it was Taylor who was the biggest disappointment of all. Signed from Arsenal with the hope of a great scoring run to end the season, the first-choice Northern Ireland striker only bagged one goal. His attitude stunk too as when I told him to up his game, he reacted badly rather than taking it as motivation. I dropped him from the matchday squad for the final four games of the season.
Last season' goal machine JHI remained a shining light though. Despite the coaching staff not rating him and telling me to drop him every week, I played him more than any other forward and he rewarded me with 17 goals. This was the 5th most of any player in the Championship. Doidge also did pretty well in his role as super-sub.
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15 minutes ago, warlock said:
Quite so
. If you could put together a few more months like April who knows where you could go!
I certainly hope we can keep it up next season! Just got my transfer budget and it's just £742k with my wage budget remaining at £125k p/w. I fear it is going to be a challenge to match or better this season, but I'll give it my best shot.
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Have been catching up on all the posts in this thread and really enjoying following the EFL adventures you are all going on. Haven't posted as much in this thread as I have in previous years as writing in the FMCU, but always make sure to read everything posted.
I have just written about the conclusion of my third season with Oldham, if you fancy a read here:
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February 2023
The month of February started in disappointment as we were defeated in an evenly contested match against Brentford and then followed that up with a defeat against the division's worst side, Charlton. The Addicks finished last in the league, some 14 points away from safety.
Determined to not let the potential of a top half finish, in our first season in the Championship, slip through our hands - I switched things up and changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation. This had an immediate impact as we beat Cardiff. This game was particularly special as young Ronnie Webber, who I've profiled in this thread previously, scored to become the club's record youngest goalscorer at just 18 years old and 3 days. We followed this up with a dominating performance against Boro, which ended up as a draw.
Despite the British transfer window closing in January, this turned out to be a busier month for transfers. The headline is the sale of Jake Hesketh to San Jose for £1.5m. I decided with only 9 games to go I could risk a smaller squad and take the money whilst it was on the table. Young right back Ola Okeowo was loaned to his native Nigeria, where he will spend the rest of the calendar year developing at Enyimba Aba. Disappointingly a £350k sale of club captain Raph Diarra to Wycombe fell through as he couldn't gain a work permit. Not getting into the squad, in the end I loaned him to Ostersunds for the rest of the season. With Diarra gone, loanee Simons was appointed captain for the remainder of the season, by virtue of his leadership skills.
Thanks to a continued spell of playing time, young centre back Doyle had gone from a 2.5 star player to a 3.5 star one, in the course of the season. Having only been on £180 p/w, I was happy to agree to his requested new contract. The pay rise to £1.4k p/w was reasonable, but the concession was a £14.25m release fee. Finally, Rolando Aarons withdrew his transfer request as was willing to knuckle down and contribute for the final 4 months of his contract.
March 2023
For a month with only three fixtures, March was somehow still a rollercoaster of emotions.
We suffered our worst defeat of the season at Pride Park. We were 2-0 down after just 22 minutes. Left back Butler then got sent off for a bad tackle on 30 minutes, scuppering any hope of a comeback. We conceded two more goals from set pieces to complete the rout.
We then took on league leaders Brighton, an impressive side who would go on to finish on 100 points. After the Derby game, this one scared me.
I decided to go back to basics and switch to a 4-4-2. One thing I know we have in our squad is pace up front so I gave the wingers the license to attack and whip low crosses in to my forwards. With barely any wingers at the club, I got creative and played Peart-Harris (AM) and Fran (RB) on the wings. It worked. We pulled off a huge win against the league leaders. To top it off, Richards scored the winner, after over 11 hours without a goal.
We ended the month with a late great equaliser against WBA. A game that demonstrated the resilience in my group of players.
April 2023
April was the month that has inspired the title to this post (which in turn was inspired by the song Beautiful Goal from the Paul Oakenfold FIFA07 soundtrack - sacrilegious to mention, I know
).
As April commenced we got the news that we had avoided relegation - completing our target from the start of the season. Our win against the league leaders meant an unlikely top half finish was now possible, we just needed to guard against complacency and not coast now little was left to play for.
I had nothing to worry about. We ended the season with a flourish. Besides the Millwall result it was four wins out of five, and all of them very convincing too, with at least three scored each time.
Rolando Aarons was the unlikely hero of the month, bagging four goals. The switch to 4-4-2 meant he finally had a role to play. Despite this late spell of form and a desire, for now at least, to stick with this formation next season, I still intend to let him go and look for improvements in the transfer window.
Notable moments from this month included; Aarons and Simons coming on from the bench and both scoring screamers against Stoke, Richards going off injured in the second minute vs Luton but his replacement Doidge delivering a hat-trick (he even had two more disallowed!) and giving debuts to teenagers Dlamini and Davidson from the bench last day of the season against relegation battling Blackburn, and Dlamini getting on the scoresheet.
Thanks to our unexpected April form, we rose from 12th to 8th in the final month of the season.
I'd have genuinely been pleased with 21s when the season started, so to end the campaign just six points off the Play-Offs with the smallest wage budget in the league is a finish I'm delighted with.
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Good luck for the season ahead @Chevie and fingers crossed Jones lowers his wage demands!
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11 minutes ago, Chevie said:
I hadn't thought of this, but I don't see why not? My main targets will still be those released by United but could expand this to give those there currently a chance to play first team football. Especially this early on in the save when there isn't many former players available.
Seems like a good approach season one if the number of available players is limited. Still fits with your ethos of developing players who’ve come through the club.
From the end of the season United will start releasing players and you should have some decent options
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Really like the concept @Chevie - looking forward to following along and seeing what you can achieve with Pohronie!
When I saw you had taken Brown on trial, I was hoping it was Wes!With regards to your philosophy, in addition to signing former United players, can you also take current United players on loan?
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With things going smoothly at Boundary Park and the owners pleased with my performance, despite their numerous conflicting expectations, my job stability had not crossed my mind.
I was therefore surprised, at first, to see a news article circulating that was speculating on the next manager of Oldham. It then dawned on me that I only have 5 months left on my contract and therefore it was rational for speculation to commence!
What makes this particularly newsworthy is the reported candidates for the job.
I was not at all surprised to see John Sheridan linked with the job. With a rich playing history for the Latics and three separate managerial spells here already under his belt, it is almost inevitable that Shez will once again be making a trip down Sheepfoot Lane.
David Adams is also a reasonable candidate, having recently left Reading.
Where my surprise and bemusement occurred was when I saw Mikel Arteta linked with the job!
His last job was at Arsenal in the Premier League. How was he being linked with a club that was recently in League Two?
With a respectable 52% win percentage at Arsenal, it wasn't that his reputation was in tatters and he needed to rebuild. All I can conclude is that I have built Oldham's stature to the level that top manager's are interested in taking over. He mustn't have heard about the owners
New Contract
I swiftly crushed Arteta's ambitions by asking the board for a new contract. They were more than happy to offer me a new two year deal and the ink was dry on the contract less than a few hours after the subject was raised. Maybe next time Mikel...
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Thanks @Chevie and @Jogo Bonito. I'm certainly hoping Taylor can make a difference in the final stages of the season.
With Richards and Hector-Ingram both back from injury, we should have quite the strike force.
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With 53 long days between fixtures, I decided to arrange a mini pre-season before the league campaign restarted. The three local sides selected posed no significant threat, they were purely chosen so we could build both fitness and morale. I noticed that the other Championship sides had not elected to do the same, therefore potentially providing us with a competitive advantage.
As well as sorting out my staff (as detailed in my post above), I used this lengthy period of time without fixtures to study and upgrade both my training schedules and my tactics, with particular attention given to my corner routines in a quest to seek any fine margin that could provide us with an uptick in form. We did pre-season specific training schedules, which included team bonding and community outreach sessions.
At the start of the winter break striker Richards tore his hamstring, ruling him out for 3 months. The only positive was that due to the break he would miss less than a month's worth of games.
In mid-December we signed 22 year old ex-Brighton goalkeeper Thomas McGill on a free transfer. My current backup 'keeper Daniels is 34 so this is to give me some more youthful cover. I decided to keep Daniels around as third choice until his deal expires in the summer.
I was invited to a recruitment meeting in mid-December that turned out to be a complete waste of time. The transfer suggestions provided were either far too expensive (we don't have any budget left) or, in most instances, have no chance of getting a work permit. I understand that as we are a small club the quality of my staff / owners isn't the highest and therefore I won't get the best suggestions but you would expect them to have a basic understanding of the work permit rules. I'm really not sure if this is intentional or a bug that needs reporting.
I also received an underwhelming news item regarding our next youth intake. This indicated that other than a good goalkeeper, there is nothing to look forward to. The enhancement to our youth facilities can't come soon enough.
December 2022
Pre-season was going smoothly until JHI went off injured in the first minute of our final friendly. He was ruled out for a month with a back strain. This meant that going into the restart we were down to just two first team strikers.
I had taken Jack Marriott on trial during the break to check him out. He had been in good form for the U23s and his fitness was coming along well. I tried to offer him a contract but I was only able to offer him reduced terms as we have no budget, this pissed him off and it ended badly. I therefore decided to promote home-grown prospect Ronnie Webber from the U23s. Probably more naturally a winger, he is capable of playing up front and was added to the bench for our return game against Hull. I feared a tough return as they had 'new manager bounce' potential, with it being Slaven Billic's first game. It turned into a fairytale though as Webber came off the bench, was chopped down in the box and won us the penalty which McCann converted for the win.
Webber has gone on to make four substitute appearances since that game. He is still raw and I hope I can help him fulfill his potential in the coming seasons.
Lumley was ruled out of the FA Cup game with a knock, so McGill made his debut vs League Two Crawley. We had 24 shots but only 4 were on target. We comfortably kept a clean sheet, so it was 0-0 and penalties. Young Webber scored his, but CBJ missed and Crawley converted all four to knock us out of the competition.
I can now add Palace to the list of team's who's jobs I have rejected. Cardiff have now been rejected twice.
January 2023
January has undoubtedly been our strongest period at Championship level. In the initial months of the season our defence appeared to be letting me down, but all that has changed - this can be demonstrated by the run of six clean sheets we achieved following the restart. Our new challenge has become goalscoring.
We dominated high flying Bristol City, had 13 shots, but couldn't score a goal. Striker Smith hasn't scored in ten games by this point. We trained chance creation and conversion all week and were able to beat Reading 2-0 but then went back to dominating but not scoring against Portsmouth (15 shots!). Even though JHI and Richards were due to return from injury soon, I decided to bring in a new striker to freshen things up. The board had recently allowed me to upgrade expectations from 'attempt to avoid relegation' to 'avoid relegation' giving me a small boost in wage budget, so I could now afford to pay 70% of the wages of Arsenal youngster Dale Taylor.
Taylor made his professional debut in football against Preston and scored in his first game! He then got his first assist, providing for one of Doidge's brace against QPR. He hasn't scored since but the positve results have continued. We now have five good quality strikers to choose from. This is probably too many but with the injury challenges we've faced it might be a necessary precaution (for example Kent was ruled out for 6 weeks with a sports hernia prior to the Preston game, McCann out for two weeks and Bolger out for four weeks after Palace loss and Winchester out for 5 weeks after Sheff Weds match).
The Palace loss was disappointing but we played okay and picked ourselves straight back up to get two hard fought wins against Watford (2nd in the table) and Sheff Weds. 19 year old centre back, match winner vs Watford, deserves a shoutout. After a shaky start he has been ever present since the restart and has put in some really solid performances. He came 2nd in the January Championship Young Player of the Month awards and 3rd for Player of the Month. A few clubs came in trying to loan him on deadline day, but I rejected them.
Other than the Taylor deal, the only other January business was the sale of Ryan Tunnicliffe to Hamilton for £40k. Austin FC had bid £1.3m for Hesketh which I gladly accepted (great money!) but he rejected their contract.
So at the end of January we sit 13th in the Championship table, closer to the Playoffs than the relegation zone. There will be no complacency though, I know how tight this division can be. A few good or bad results and the table can look very different. 12 games remain to see out the season.
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October & November 2022
We switched our tactic up slightly at the start of October, dropping a DM in effectively between the two forward-thinking wing backs. We got creditable draws against Derby and West Brom, needing a last minute goal to secure that, but then lost to Stoke. We conceded in all three games so I concluded that the tactical tweak provided us with no extra defensive cover, so switched back to our favoured 5-2-1-2.
After no win in five, I decided it was the right time to to hold a team meeting and rally the troops. The positive effect was evident as we convincingly beat both Millwall and Luton. Unfortunately centre back Bolger broke his arm in training and had to be sent to a specialist for 7 weeks. JHI had a great October, with his four goals seeing him named Championship Player of the Month.
We finished off with three draws before the winter break. The Huddersfield game was particularly frustrating as we led 2-0 but then ended up drawing.
During this period I found myself a man in demand. I rejected job interviews at both Blackburn and Sheffield Wednesday, and denied press speculation linking me to the West Brom job.
World Cup 2022
The season was paused due to the Qatar World Cup. It felt quite unnecessary as (you'll be surprised to hear!) none of my players departed for the tournament - but I am sure many of the bigger sides in the division were impacted, therefore this was the fairest outcome.
The World Cup was lifted by Belgium, who overcame Italy in a thrilling Final that finished 3-3 and was settled on penalties.
England exited at the Quarter Final stage, losing 1-0 to Holland. This saw Dick Advocaat lose the England job and subsequently be replaced by Sean Dyche.
Winter Break
There were 53 long days between the Nottingham Forest game and my next fixture.
I didn't want to to be a complete waste of time so I set myself a small project to review and enhance my staff. At the beginning of the season when some staff's deal were expiring, I took the opportunity to replace them where improvements were readily available. It was not, however, a large scale overhaul. Now we are in the Championship we have more prestige so it would be remiss not to take the opportunity to upgrade my staff.
In prior seasons, as we were a League Two and then a League One outfit, I was happy to just not have certain staff to save costs. Now we are in the Championship I decided it was time to hire staff for the U23 team and grow the U18 coaching team in an attempt to set us up for the future.
Coaching Departures
Firstly, here are the staff that departed in the summer. Some of them I hired myself, but as our stature has grown so has the quality of candidate. They all would have wanted pay rises after promotion, so the better quality alternatives were in most cases the cheaper option. There is no room for sentiment here.
Coaching Arrivals
As you will see the arrivals are numerous (we have 50 staff now) so I won't showcase their attributes individually. I think it is important to keep evolving all areas of the club, not just the playing staff.
There was also one October transfer arrival to report as I brought in former-Liverpool academy graduate Oakley Cannonier. At just 18, he has been added to the U23 squad to develop.
Club Improvements
At the start of the winter break I asked the board if we could upgrade our youth facilities. To my complete surprise they accepted - this was one of the only requests they have ever accepted. It will cost the club £350k and the work will conclude in October 2023. It seems my careful financial management of the club has garnered me some trust.
My optimism was short-lived however, as they soon returned to their unambitious ways. They rejected my request to improve our training facilities, wouldn't increase the wage limit for any of the staffing roles and decreased the percentage of transfer revenue I can retain to 55%.
The owner remains 'happy to stay' - here's hoping someone eventually makes him an offer he can't refuse.
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17 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:
I'm not sure what the point of the Conference League is? Rewarding mediocrity and fixture congestion is all I can see, so it was by no means important to me. I suppose there might be some extra revenue to come, but I would have traded that if given the choice.
Yes it does seem a lot of extra effort with little reward. I guess the idea is to give sides outside of the 'elite' or top leagues a chance to win a European trophy as the bigger sides are preoccupied, but I suppose the prestige is somewhat decreased by the fact it's a third rung competition. Still, maybe it will throw up some interesting ties for you. It will be nice if you can find some links to Parma's past appearances in Europe.
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Congrats on a great end to the season @Jogo Bonito! Qualifying for Europe with Parma's modest resources is an impressive start to this career. I look forward to following how you fare in the Europa Conference League (UEFA could have come up with a better name for it than that, surely...).
Only recently discovered your posts here in FMCU the other day and have caught up on everything - an enjoyable read, as I have come to expect, with an interesting narrative.
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Thanks @Jogo Bonito, a short break but couldn’t resist keeping going.
Yes I also like to keep a close eye on attendances - those three home wins in September won’t have done any harm!
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No updates for a month and then five come at once - I am well and truly back up and running at Boundary Park!
I have played the first few months of the campaign so it's time to provide an update on how we have adapted to life in the Championship.
July 2022
The fixture list threw up a tough start for us as we took on Nottingham Forest, who were playing their first game returning from the Premier League. It was a tightly contested affair and I was pleased to start the campaign with a draw. Most pleasing was a brace for JHI, continuing his form from League One and pre-season.
Next up were League Two Mansfield in the Carabao Cup. I played a strong side, with a view to building up some form ahead of our next league fixture. Things did not go to plan though, and we were a little shell shocked when Mansfield played the better football. They scored a 94th minute winner and with that, we were out of the cup. League survival is our priority but I was still very disappointed due to the manner in which we played.
The loss against Huddersfield was frustrating as the winner was a tame direct free kick that Lumley palmed into his own net. At this early stage in the transfer window we were yet to recruit Peart-Harris, Burton or Simons so our bench only consisted on defenders and strikers.
Due to the World Cup enforced winter break, games come thick and fast this season with a fixture nearly every single Wednesday and Saturday. This clearly benefits the sides with bigger squads. I mentioned previously that we had the smallest wage budget in the league - to put it into context; our wage bill is £110k p/w and Crystal Palace are spending £800k p/w.
August 2022
We picked up our first win of the season against Hull. This was a good barometer of the improvements made to the squad as they were the runaway leaders of League One last season, and we lost 2-0 last time we played. The media informed me that this win was our 30th game undefeated at Boundary Park - it was a near certainty this would end the next time we played there.
We followed up the win with two very credible away draws against Bristol City and Reading. We were the dominant force against The Royals so this felt like dropped points. Unfortunately Fran sprained his ankle ligaments in this game and was ruled out for five weeks.
After a run of three good performances I thought this might once again be a season of unexpected over-achievement. What followed grounded me - four losses out of five. I'm almost pleased that this is the case (perhaps that perverse to say?) as there needs to be adversity to enjoy success. If a save is all plain sailing, I won't enjoy it as much as if there is an element of struggle to overcome. I want to scrap and fight for points as they will then mean more when they are acquired.
Although we lost it was always by fine margins with no thrashings. Portsmouth are having a great season, but the defeat to them was gutting as both the goals conceded were soft. First the 'keeper should have saved the shot and second he palmed a good shot back into the path of another striker to tap in. This did cast doubts in my mind over Lumley. To add further anguish, Smith missed an open goal that would have seen us draw. You have to be clinical at this level.
September 2022
After playing 5-3-2 throughout August, we reverted to 5-2-1-2 in September as identified games against fellow strugglers where we could be more attacking. This decision paid off as we secured three crucial wins against Sheffield Wednesday, Charlton and Cardiff. We had to be resolute against Charlton as Butler went off injured after I'd made all our subs, so we had to hang on for 13 minutes with just ten men. Sandwiched in between was a 5-2 loss against Brentford, who I had highlighted pre-season as a major threat. In a strange turn of events, their centre mid Downes got a hat-trick. Lumley and Kent were poor in that loss but I took comfort in the form of my strikers. Four in four for JHI.
We ended the month with two more defeats. Against Boro we hit the post and had a goal disallowed for being just offside. Again, fine margins. Brighton are league leaders so avoiding a heavy loss could be seen as a success. JHI had a late miss that could have easily made it a draw too. Overall three wins out of six makes September a good month for us.
For some reason, seemingly due to resolution issues, I can only ever display 23 out of 24 teams when viewing league standings. Incentive to reach the Premier League just to make screenshotting easier! Brighton sit top of the table with 34 points.
JHI (8 goals) and Gailbraith (5 assists) have been the top performers so far. Doidge has performed well in recent games and will see more game time too, alongside JHI. Meanwhile, Kent has underperformed which is demonstrated by his average rating of 6.47 after 13 games. I have perservered with him but it might be time he sat out of the team.
After 16 games we are in 18th position, eight points ahead of the relegation zone and eight points below the Play-Off places. So far, so good.
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Just checking out your updates @SixPointer and like your posting style. I particularly like the match play graphics you've included.
It caught my eye that you have Conrad Wallem, a player who played a big part for me in a long term Bolton Wanderers save on FM20, although I see you are selling him
Understandable, though given your tactical set up.
Good luck for the rest of the season.
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Understandable, though given your tactical set up.
[FM21] - Rejuvenating the Most Depressing Team to Follow in Recent History
in FM Career Updates
Posted · Edited by Dong21
Thanks @Ronaldo Beckham - I really hope that RJJ does the business for me.
Cheers @Chevie! Although we have a decent budget finally, the news item that ranks clubs by reputation still had us below nearly every single Championship club and even four League One sides, so even though we can now afford more we still may not appeal to all my targets. That said, I definitely have much more flexibility in the market this season - so reasons to be positive indeed.
Appreciated @warlock, it's been an enjoyable journey so far. Fingers and toes crossed for that sale!
I almost don't know where to start with the transfer kitty @Jogo Bonito, I'm in uncharted waters in this career now I've got funds. I wanted the sale of Doyle to stand out in my update and I knew I'd already wrote quite a lot about my early window signings, so I thought the breaking news graphic might draw attention to it. Seemed to do the job!