TheGoodRebel

January 26

The Libero would normally push into the DM zone and the DM would move across to form a 2 in that area. However, my understanding is that the match engine will only allow a maximum of three players to form part of a zone when they rotate positions. Since you've already got 2 IWBs who will join your DM I am not sure if the Libero will still push into this zone.

You should watch a match in full and pause the game when your team are in possession to see what positions they take when you have the ball.

January 26

SEASON: 2026-2027

Before the January transfer window closed we brought in a new defender to replace Jarrad Branthwaite;

LORENZO PIROLA - CENTRAL DEFENDER

Lorenzo was signed for £34m from Salernitana. He is another left-footed central defender so will compete with Buongiorno for that spot.

That concluded our transfer business for the season. How would we fare in the competitions?

EFL CUP

A definite low point of the season as we lost at home to Stockport in the 3rd Round.

FA CUP

Thrashed Leeds in Round 3 but then lost narrowly to Bournemouth in Round 4

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE

I feel we had more potential than we showed here. Our home record was exceptional in the Premier League but awful in Europe. We, somehow, made it through the League Phase before getting dumped out in the Play Off Round by Benfica.

PREMIER LEAGUE

Back to back Top 4 finishes but this time we finished 3rd. Just 9 points to bridge to top spot. We need to turn some of those draws into wins next season and we might have a chance of winning the league.

THE PLAYERS

Nelson Weiper and Evan Ferguson both among the goals again. Weiper has decided he wants to leave though because we couldn't agree terms on a new contract. Hopefully I can change his mind and tie him down to a new deal before the new season. We need some more firepower in the wide attacking positions so this is an area I will be looking to strengthen in the summer. I don't think I'll be turning Sancho's loan into a permanent move though

We have already decided to move on a couple of players before the end of the season.

Miranda has been unfortunate because he suffered a few injuries last season and Doig took over him in the pecking order. Adingra doesn't possess the quality we need to get to where we want to be so he has been let go also. I have a couple of promising youngsters who might be promoted to the first team squad for next season.

January 23

Your transfer policy intrigues me. You’ve let some big important players go. What’s the thinking behind it?

January 21

IVÁN FRESNEDA - RIGHT BACK

Iván was available and he's a big upgrade on Patterson. He cost £50m but he is only 21 and has bags of potential. Should be our nailed on first choice right back for many years to come.

We have made it until January and things are going ok as far as the league is concerned. We've lost a couple of silly games but we're in with a title shot. Hopefully Manchester United will drop some points soon.

However, there was some player unrest. Amadou Onana was unhappy with his game time and a bid was received from Atlético. We decided to let him go so as not to disrupt the harmony of the squad. Jarrad Branthwaite's contract was due to expire at the end of the season so we let him go instead of losing him for nothing.

We have a transfer budget of £167m so we will look at bringing in some new faces to make us stronger for the run in until the end of the season.

January 21

SEASON: 2026-2027

We ended up getting off to a decent start - much better than I expected at least.

Before the transfer window closed we made some signings.

IVAN BAJIĆ - GOALKEEPER

Ivan was brought in for the future. We immediately loaned him back to Čukarički for the rest of the season.

HEITOR - RIGHT BACK

As our full backs were in demand with Saudi clubs we brought Heitor in on the cheap as a potential replacement. If we end up not needing him we can always sell him on later for a profit.

JOSH DOIG - LEFT BACK

Likewise with Josh. However, I actually think he's better than the two at the club, and it didn't cost much because he had a release clause. It makes selling one of either Miranda or Mykolenko an easier decision.

January 21

SEASON: 2026-2027

The new season is drawing closer and we had a transfer budget of £25m to work with - not much for a club in the Champions League. A couple of our players wanted to leave but there had been no bids for either so we were having to be frugal in the transfer market. Therefore we only made one signing during close season.

JADON SANCHO - WINGER

In comes Jadon Sancho on a season long loan from Manchester United. We have the option to buy him for £33m at the end of the loan - but let's see how it turns out.

However, it wasn't long before the Saudi clubs decided to raid us;

That's a very tidy profit on Jonathan David. Signed on a free, one average season later and then sold for £62m. We'd also made tidy profits on Adli, who didn't even play a match for us, and Mukiele. Nathan Patterson is also attracting interest from the Saudis but no bids have come in yet. Abdoulaye Doucouré has Ieft on a free transfer. However, I now have a transfer budget of £152m and desperately need a new right back. Pre season is over though so we don't have much time to bed one in.

I'm also beginning to think Football Manager doesn't like me after seeing my start to the new season;

Despite that brutal opening set of fixtures we are looking forward to the new season and hopefully we can make our mark in the Champions League.

January 18

PREMIER LEAGUE

We made a good start to the season, had a bit of a lull around the middle, but finished strongly to secure 4th place and Champions League qualification for next season.

I am pleased with the volume of goals we scored, the most in the league, but still need to sort that defence out if we're going to mount any challenge for the title.

THE PLAYERS

Overall some very strong performances. Nelson Weiper actually outscored Evan Ferguson. Although, in fairness, Weiper played in a lot of Conference League games and most of his goals came there. Juan Miranda managed 10 goals and 10 assists from left back. However, he is our set piece taker.

A few players have expressed a wish to leave this summer so expect to see the likes of Jarrad Branthwaite, Abdoulaye Doucouré and Vitaliy Mikolenko going.

I'm not 100% convinced with Jonathan David. There is Saudi interest in him so he will be on his way if a suitable offer comes in.

All in all though I am very happy with how the season went and can't wait to have a crack at Europe's elite next season!

January 18

SEASON: 2025-2026

TRANSFERS

Before the summer transfer window closed we added another striker to our ranks in the form of Nelson Weiper for just £5.25m. The young German striker would provide an excellent alternative to Evan Ferguson.

Then during the January transfer window we brought in two more players to the club;

LEOPOLD QUERFELD - CENTRAL DEFENDER

We actually wanted to sign Leopold in the summer transfer window, but he moved to Real Madrid. However, he didn't get the game time he was promised and wanted to leave. We signed him for £16.25m

JOAN GARCÍA - GOALKEEPER

A few of my players were unhappy with the squad depth in the goalkeeping department - so Joan was brought in for £2.5m from Espanyol to boost the numbers.

Would the new signings help us achieve something this season?

EFL CUP

Man Utd beat us 3-1 in the 3rd Round.

FA CUP

We made it through to the semi-final against Norwich and we fancied our chances of making the final. However, we just didn't turn up on the day and got beaten comfortably.

UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE

An early set back against Lyon, but we bounced back and eased our way through to the final where we would face Napoli.

We went 2-0 up and despite Napoli pulling a late goal back we were always in control of the game and it was a lot more comfortable than the result suggests.

We had finally won our first trophy at Everton!

January 15

Finally, we completed our transfer business before the season beginning by signing Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Leicester for £36m. He will be our new mezzala.

I'm looking forward to the new season and there will probably be another couple of new faces arriving before deadline day, but we're ready.

Although I'm not too keen on the start to the season.

January 15

Conor Gallagher arrived from Chelsea. I am very happy to have gotten him. He will be our main box to box midfielder.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis from Manchester City who be one of our right sided centre backs.

We then decided to spend some of that £150m we had sitting in the bank;

Simon Adingra arrived from Brighton for £7.25m. We needed some more cover out wide and Simon fitted the profile of player we were looking for.

Then we smashed our transfer record to bring in our new centre forward.

Evan Ferguson joins us, also from Brighton, for an initial £47.5m rising to potentially £57m with add ons.

January 15

SEASON: 2025-2026

Despite our capitulation last season we HAVE got European football coming to our new Bramley-Moore Dock Stadium in the shape of the Europa Conference League.

Not the competition we were hoping to be in but we will definitely give it our all this season.

I was unhappy with a few players at the end of the last season so I have gone about reshaping the squad ahead of the new season.

TRANSFERS OUT

The first thing we decided was that we didn't want to retain the services of Politano and Castrovilli. They were shipped off to Sheffield United and Fulham respectively.

Then we received a couple of offers from Saudi Arabia and we decided to cash in;

Trincão and Beto left for a combined £98m which meant we had a total transfer kitty over £150m. However, we wanted to see who we could pick up on the cheap firstly.

TRANSFERS IN

First through the door was Yacine Adli from Milan for just £1.8m. He has been brought in for some much needed squad depth in midfield.

After him came an influx of players who all arrived on free transfers.

Tommy Doyle was the first one to arrive from Man City. Another midfield player to provide squad depth.

Jonathan David is a versatile, quick forward. We will look to utilise him on the left hand inside forward position primarily.

January 15

On 09/01/2024 at 20:21, SixPointer said:

Very tough one that! Don’t think I’ve seen a collapse in form like it!

Pickford probably to the huff at something stupid. 🤣

Probably - he's on borrowed time now that's for sure!

On 12/01/2024 at 20:12, AlfieLucas said:

Following this one closely. I've got an Everton career going alongside my Tottenham one. Quite enjoying it thus far, and despite that second half season collaspe, you're still doing very well.

Thank you - nice to have you along for the ride

January 8

20 hours ago, SixPointer said:

In rich vein of form in front of goal only failing to score in one game so far this season! Like you state defence is an issue. I’m having a similar problem

We just completely fell apart in the second half of the season. Pickford just seemed to be letting everything in. If you'd have said at the start of the season I'd finish 8th after 16th in the first season I'd have been happy. But to be challenging for the title and just completely fall away is hard to take.

January 8

SEASON: 2024-2025

At the half way stage of the season we were mounting an unlikely title challenge. Could we push all the way until the end?

TRANSFERS

We decided to bring in Nikola Milenković on loan from Manchester City to boost our defence for the run in.

However....

PREMIER LEAGUE

I had the worst 2nd half of the season I've ever had. Our form just fell off a cliff;

Not only did we miss out on Champions League football, we missed out on European football altogether - a total disaster!

FA CUP

We got past York and Crystal Palace before Arsenal taught us a lesson at The Emirates.

EFL CUP

We beat Chesterfield and Leyton Orient but couldn't take our chances against West Ham, who beat us on penalties in Round 4.

PLAYERS

A few players will be moved on during the summer. Politano, Trincão and Castrovilli haven't worked out, Beto wants to leave and I won't be following up the permanent signing of Samuel Lino.

Hopefully I can get Zaïre-Emery on another loan as well as sign a top quality goalkeeper and central defender.

Not the end of the season I was expecting so my plans for next season will have to change dramatically!

January 7

What a rise this has been! Great job! Just had a binge read now. Honestly don’t know how you get Vertical Tiki-Taka to work so well. Whenever I try I do ok for a couple of games but then start getting pumped and can’t find the back of the net.

January 7

10 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Four really tough fixtures to start the second season. The fact you threw away leads is very frustrating but at least shows you have the ability to take these teams on. Further backed up by smashing arsenal!

Yes, that's the pleasing part, we can compete with them and we have a base to build from moving forward!

January 7

SEASON: 2024-2025

After our encouraging start we ended up putting together a run of 16 games without defeat which firmly put us into title contention;

However, following back to back defeats to Villa and Man City, we have a tricky few games to navigate;

I feel these games will define our season. If we lose these we will be well out of the title race. Although, in fairness, we never expected to be involved in one so the team is actually ahead of where I wanted to be at this stage. Qualifying for Europe would be more than an achievement.

The league table still looks pleasing on the eyes if you're an Everton fan.

We need some defensive reinforcements in January though. We're scoring plenty of goals but also concede way too many. Loans will have to be the way to go though as we don't have lots of money. I might try and flog a couple of my summer signings as they were brought in for a specific style of play that we no longer play.

Much to ponder - but overall I am very happy!

January 6

SEASON: 2024-2025

We finished season 1 in 16th place. Experimentation was over and we went into the new season with a tactical plan that we were going to stick to and bring in the players to suit that plan. We also had a couple of players who wanted to go, so out went the following;

TRANSFERS: OUT

Ideally we would have liked more for DCL but he was unwilling to sign a new deal and we would have risked losing him for nothing so we cashed in while we still could. The same can be said for Ben Godfrey, while Neal Maupay wasn't in my plans so was offloaded to Lille.

TRANSFERS: IN

We finally had some money to spend so we went to work bringing in the following players;

Let's have a closer look at the new recruits;

JUAN MIRANDA - LEFT BACK

We needed somebody to provide competition for Mykolenko so we decided to go for Juan. He's a well balanced full back who is very capable from set pieces.

GAETANO CASTROVILLI - CENTRAL MIDFIELDER

Gaetano has been capped 4 times by Italy and brings some much needed dribbling to our central midfield. I have him earmarked as a mezzala in our new system.

ALESSANDRO BUONGIORNO - CENTRAL DEFENDER

Another Italian international. Alessandro gives us extra depth to our central defence and is left footed so will compete with Branthwaite for the left sided central defence berth.

NICCOLÒ PISILLI - CENTRAL MIDFIELDER

I had the next couple of seasons in mind when signing Niccolò. He isn't one for now but someone who I'd like to be our mezzala in a few seasons time.

FRANCISCO TRINCÃO - WINGER

Francisco has been brought in to play on the right sided inside forward position but he can also cover on the left, or through the middle if required.

MATTEO POLITANO - WINGER

Like Trincão, Matteo has been brought in to play on the right sided inside forward position.

WARREN ZAÏRE-EMERY - CENTRAL MIDFIELDER

Warren is only 18 but described as a Wonderkid and will play in our deep lying playmaker role.

YOUSSOUFA MOUKOKO - STRIKER

Brought in to provide competition for our current first choice striker, Beto.

SAMUEL LINO - WINGER

Another one who can play out wide. However, Samuel will occupy the left sided inside forward position. We have an option to sign him permanently for £14m at the end of the season.

PREMIER LEAGUE

After a good pre-season we kicked off the league away at Spurs but got absolutely demolished 4-0. I was very unhappy with how we played so I immediately abandoned my tactical plan and reverted to what served me so well on FM23. Our results after that improved;

We actually threw away 2-0 and 3-1 leads in the Liverpool and Chelsea games.

We're still conceding a few goals so I'll be keeping my eye on that but we currently sit in 5th place after 6 games. Performances have been far more encouraging and we're hopeful of a good season with possible European qualification.

January 4

I'll be following along with this one for sure! My Missus is from Venezuela so it has definitely piqued my interest!

January 4

SEASON: 2023-2024

So after our average start November looked like a month where I could get some points on the board. However.... as this is my first attempt on this year's game I was still messing around with different tactics and trying to see what works and what doesn't work.

Therefore the season turned out to be a real slog!

NEW BOARD

Midway through the season we had a takeover by a London based investor;

However, as part of her takeover, she wanted to sign Liel Abada from Celtic for £26m - something which I wasn't keen on at all.

Thankfully he rejected us and no further bids for him, or anyone else, were made.

TRANSFER WINDOW

During January we signed our first two players for the club, both on loan. However, Nordi Mukiele also agreed to sign for us permanently at the end of the loan for £7.5m

Saïd Benrahma was just brought in as cover for the wide positions. Michael Keane was unhappy with his playing time and moved on to Wolves for £4.9m

PREMIER LEAGUE

As mentioned above, the season was a real slog and we finished our league campaign in 16th place. We just drew too many games and made lots of defensive mistakes.

FA CUP

We beat Sunderland in Round 3 but were defeated narrowly by Manchester Utd in Round 4.

EFL CUP

Lost on penalties to Nottingham Forest after a 3-3 draw.

PLAYER PERFORMANCES

Dominic Calvert-Lewin lead the way with 22 goals but he wants to leave. Other noticeable performers were James Garner and Arnaut Danjuma who will be returning to his parent club next season.

NEXT SEASON

Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Ben Godfrey have both said they want to leave so will both be sold when the transfer window opens. I have also decided to dispense of Ashley Young, Seamus Coleman and Idrissa Gueye when their contracts expire.

There isn't a lot of money to spend at the moment, £24.4m to be precise, so I'm going to have to be smart in the transfer market. Firstly though I need to settle on a style of play and commit to it before signing anybody!

January 3

SEASON: 2023-2024

It's been a steady, if unspectacular, start to the season. We had a quiet transfer window with nobody coming in and nobody leaving - with the exception of a couple of young players going out on loan. So it's been very much a case of working with what we've already got.

We didn't win any of our first 6 games and threw away two goal leads against Fulham and Wolves. However, we now appear to have settled on a tactic and we've had 3 wins on the spin.

Those wins have lifted us out of the bottom 3 and we finally have a positive points total.

November looks relatively kind fixture wise so hopefully we can pull ourselves further up the table.

January 2

SEASON: 2023-2024

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my new save for FM24 - I'm finally getting around to playing it for the first time and have decided to start with Everton. It seemed like a good place to start with the 10 point deduction.

Let's meet the squad...

GOALKEEPERS

The standout here is Jordan Pickford. England's number 1 is easily the best at the club and will continue to be first choice. João Virginia will likely be the backup for the coming season. Billy Crellin is young but doesn't possess the potential to push Pickford and Andy Lonergan is 38 so has no future at the club.

CENTRAL DEFENDERS

Some good, if not outstanding talent, available. James Tarkowski, Ben Godfrey and Jarrad Branthwaite are the pick of the bunch. Ryan Astley has potential but will probably be loaned out so he can develop. Michael Keane will serve as 4th choice and possibly be moved on.

FULL BACKS

Ashley Young and Seamus Coleman are both experienced members of the squad but are getting on a bit now. Nathan Patterson and Vitaliy Mykolenko have good potential. I will start with these two initially but see how things go.

CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS

Idrissa Gueye, Amadou Onana, James Garner and Abdoulaye Doucouré are all good options to have. Onana also has very good potential and I will probably build my midfield around him. André Gomes and Dele Alli have no place in my plans and I will look to offload them at the earliest opportunity.

WINGERS

I'm happy with all three players here. However, Arnaut Danjuma and Jack Harrison are only on loan which just leaves Dwight McNeil beyond this season. This is one area I will need to look at in terms of recruitment.

STRIKERS

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is the obvious choice for my starting striker. Beto is also a more than capable backup. However, DCL is wanted by a couple of clubs and I may be tempted to sell him if we receive a large enough offer as we currently only have £1m to spend.

FINANCES

The Overall Balance is healthy enough, but £1m to spend on transfers is not enough to shape the squad how I want it so I may have to cash in on somebody like DCL to generate some funds.

The aim for the first season will be to stay in the Premier League - it should be possible to finish mid table with Everton despite the points deduction. Then I would like for us to give a good account of ourselves in the cup competitions.

UP THE TOFFEES!

November 11, 2023

I managed to fix mine using the following steps;

Library>Application Support>Steam>steamapps>Common>Football Manager 2024

Inside there is the correct icon for FM24.

Then I right clicked on the FM23 (FM24) shortcut on my desktop, selected 'Get Info' and dragged the icon from the folder above over the FM23 icon image in the Get Info menu and hey presto - it updated my desktop shortcut to FM24.

Give it a try - hopefully it should work for you too.

Manager Profile Editor · October 22, 2023

I’ve often wondered, why does the manager avatar editor never include a baseball cap as one of the accessories? It’s one of the most commonly used and yet there’s no place for it in FM. Why?

October 21, 2023

Looking forward to this. Always enjoy a one club save starting at the bottom. Good luck 😊

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