warlock

An excellent choice, I think. The squad is pretty solid all round, although you do need some backup at striker. There's a lot of flexibility across the attacking midfield, but if you want to play the 4231 I'd agree you probably want another body on the left. I was dabbling with a Bees save but since the latest update I've decided to start over. I brought Sorloth on loan from Palace for the striker position and didn't need anyone else as I was playing 4123-wide. Good luck!

Oooh, a cliffhanger!! Does sound like you were doing well.

Welcome back! I'm sure you'll have them back in the PL in no time.

Ah, I vaguely remember reading that last year. Thanks for the reminder .

I admire everything they're doing as a club (and they're my local team!) so I really want them to do well. But I'm up to the first international break and I sympathise with Mr Frank - on paper the squad looks brilliant but there are a few players who just don't perform - and we're getting murdered by injuries! Eventually I'll find a long-term save, but mostly I get really bored once we get to the PL. And I know that's 'a first world problem'!!!

You know you want to! And I'll confess - I'm playing a sneaky Brentford save alongside my Wednesday main effort.

Please, follow up on this! My initial reaction to your first post was to question some of the TIs. I see it a lot, but given that you're playing this way, what do the 'play through the middle', play 'narrow' and 'overlap' TIs get you? I mean, you're naturally going to play through the middle and narrow, and the FB/WB roles can't help but overlap. Is there some incredibly subtle but valuable advantage to the TIs?

@DefinitelyTaylor Can't stay away, can you? Come on, man - get back in the game!

Just caught up with this thread and wanted to offer some support, but the above is your first problem - if you constantly quit after a couple of bad games you'll never get better. You need to stick with it. Having said that, I'm managing the Owls and after three seasons I won the Championship, survived the first season in the PL, and am just starting to build from there. I know you don't want a download tactic, so I won't give you one (although I'm happy to share if you want!) but I have some thoughts that might help. I hold Rashidi in the highest regard and would not lightly disagree with him when it comes to FM, but I do think he's a bit harsh on Wednesday. On paper, 442 looks like a natural choice but because of the injuries at the beginning of the save you can't really play that. Instead, I went for a cautious 4141dm and, because you need options out wide, brought in Oliver Burke from West Brom on loan. When everyone recovered from injury I went for the 442 but discovered that the players simply don't have the quality - Winnall, Fletcher, Hooper and Matias simply never performed for me. But up front, Niuhu, Joao and Forestieri did the business (with the latter mostly playing IF-L but filling in at striker when necessary) and the latter two are still with me in season 3. In midfield, Bannan was the outstanding player in the squad, and was able backed up by Onomah and Lee. Hutchinson and Peluplessy rotated in DM. I brought in McTominay from Man Utd as additional midfield support. At the back, Lees and Hector were great, playing simple CM-D roles, and van Aken was OK in rotation. So let's talk about FBs. Yeah, they're not the best but Thorniley and Palmer did well for me all season in a four-at-the-back setup. I used Baker as backup at RB and he wasn't great but did enough; Fox at LB was better. The trick at LB is to use Pudil - he's not perfect but he is better than the alternatives. I didn't go with it, but if you can bring in some extra rotation at CB you could play a 3/5 defensive system, which would let you get the best out of Reach and Penney, who aren't really good enough at LB or RM but are pretty good at WB-R. For me, the trick with Wednesday was to keep things simple, play your best players in their best positions, and accept that you don't have the talent (Bannan excepted) to do anything remarkable. In my case, we hit the top spot in September and never surrendered it. If I can help with anything, just ask!

Fair enough. I don't think I've done international management for years - too boring on its own, and too distracting when you're managing a club. But I wish you well! You can say that again . I applaud your approach of building for the future, even though I rarely have the patience to do the same myself.

Follow the money! Oddly, in my Wednesday save - while we were locked in a relegation battle - I was offered the Man City post . After I turned it down, they appointed Rafa Benitez - and I was immediately offered the Newcastle job . In other episodes of Manager Musical Chairs, Pep took over at Arsenal, Poch went to Everton, Klopp went to Real Madrid and Sarri took over at Anfield.

Unfortunately, many clubs in the EFL fall foul of this rule, and the bad decisions have been made before you take over. There are two categories: home grown in nation, and home grown at club. And it's the latter that causes the problem. Youth players usually don't qualify because they haven't been at the club long enough. The solution is to name only six substitutes, or to name a u23 player you have no intention of bringing off the bench (a goalkeeper will often suffice).

@dino That's a great first season with Bradford. Congratulations. (And I don't know of anyone who likes the Checkatrade - apart from @Jogo Bonito, of course). @kozmik Another good season for you, and I think you're far too modest - top four in the PL is always a major achievement! And I've said it before but I'm a big fan of your tactic - one of the most beautifully simple setups I've seen this year.

Cheers, and here's hoping!

Sheffield Wednesday: Season 2 - the finale 2020 proceeded in the expected manner as we continued to pick up a few points but unable to put together a sequence of good results. As a consequence we spent most of the spring slipping into the relegation zone and clawing our way back out. Failing to pick up points against fellow relegation strugglers West Brom, and a home defeat to Brighton, were big disappointments. But an unexpected win against West Ham and a miraculous triumph over Man City give me renewed hope for a productive April where we played Palace, Southampton and Villa who were all beneath us in the table. In the event, we managed just four points from a possible nine. Our last two games of the season were a visit from Spurs, and a trip to already-relegated Burnley. I expected (hoped!) that a win against Burnley would be enough to secure our survival, as Southampton had played fewer games and would almost certainly push us down into 17th place. So Spurs arrived at Hillsborough, outside the European spots but with games in hand and needing a victory. They set up with an aggressive 424 formation. As expected of a team who beat us 3-0 at their place in December, and 2-0 in the FA Cup, they battered our goal. But my lads defended like Trojans and produced yet another miracle. And we're safe! That most unexpected victory means that West Brom and Aston Villa can't catch us and the Burnley game is a dead rubber. My nerves are shredded (and Imgur is having a meltdown) so I'll post the final table and season review sometime later.