warlock

I assume it's this one: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3193321525

Those runs are hard on the nerves, but you've done well to stop the rot. Good luck with the recruitment

I love those! Have you seen social media posts from fans saying things like "This 4231 DM asymmetric AM(R) system really suits us"

Great season. Well played

Been busy this evening but came back fully expecting you to have clinched it. Glad to see you didn't let me down Well played!

Thank you Still looking for my next save. I did run a pre-season with Malaga and, unfortunately, it wasn't happening for me. The squad is virtually identical to the original, and in pre-season there were the same transfer offers, the same players left... it was deja vu all over again I'm now thinking somewhere in France after really enjoying my time at Bordeaux (until the board let me down!)

Don't worry. I've accidentally done this and resting players are still available for selection on match day. Unlike sending them on holiday... one of the reasons I prefer the constant rest days rather than running them into the ground and then having to give them a holiday that they can't be recalled from.

Oh yes! That's how it's done. Well played, mate

I don't know, to be honest. On the one hand, the consensus on the forums is that you can gegenpress all game, every game, all season, and there are no consequences. On the other hand, my own experience is that you can't - if you push players too hard they're dead on their feet by halftime and performances suffer. With tired players I see passes going astray, defensive headers missed, players don't make attacking or covering sprints. As for remembering to rest them, it gets easier if you make it a habit. As soon as the post-match press conference note appears in my inbox, I select the players for rest. The alternative I've seen suggested is to micro-manage training sessions and intensity, but that's too much fiddling for my taste

Thanks (and I agree about the Charity Plate).

I remember in one of last season's FA Cup rounds, a non-league club getting a home draw and the media interviewer asking the manager if he was disappointed they couldn't find a winner. "The chairman would have killed me if we'd won," came the reply

It's a tough gig, and I have no clue about all the forumites who claim you can gegenpress all season without consequence - the only way I could manage with Southampton was to give everyone who played a match two days off from training, even if that meant that most weeks the first-choice 11 were barely doing any training at all. As for results, my gran used to say you can't enjoy the highs without suffering the lows. She knew nothing about football, though

Quite, but the real shame was getting a home tie - an away game at Newcastle could have been worth quite a bit. Also a shame that you can't shift the expensive deadwood. Otherwise, things are looking good.

Sinners & Saints May 2028 - the end of the road After clinching the title and the unexpected victory over Real Madrid in the home leg of the Champions League, the players - perhaps not surprisingly - suffered a severe drop-off in form and performance. Of our three remaining Premier League games, we failed to win any. We lost at home 1-2 to Liverpool, 2-3 to United at Old Trafford, and finally stopped the rot with a goalless draw away at Newcastle. We led 2-0 at halftime against United and the capitulation was a worry in what was a dress rehearsal for the FA Cup final. Before that, we had the return leg of the Champions League semi-final to play in Madrid: It was "rabbits in headlights" stuff from us as the home side bossed the game from start to finish. Still, over two legs it was an achievement to go out 3-4 on aggregate and, as I told the media, there was no shame in the defeat. So we headed to Wembley for the FA Cup final, the last match in a 65-game season, wondering how I could lift the players for one last effort. We did enjoy a full week's rest before the game and I gave the entire squad two days free of training, held a team meeting in which I tried to find a middle ground between adding to the pressure and telling them they were on a hiding to nothing, and decided to return to our positive, front-foot style of football. We are back-to-back champions of England, one of the four best teams in Europe this season and - dammit! - we were going to play like it. The first half was a cagey affair and I'd decided that I'd give Edozie, who was doing little but give the ball away, would get 10 minutes before I hauled him off. Right on deadline, we worked the ball into the United area and it fell to Edozie on the edge of the D. He ran all the way around the back of the defence before hooking a shot just inside the near post to give us the lead. Just four minutes later, we worked the ball down the left wing where Edozie took control, drove into the area and, with a cheeky rabona, put it on a plate for Abraham to tap in. Player of the match in four minutes. It's been a great journey, lit up by some of the outstanding young talents we uncovered along the way. But now I think it's time to take care of some unfinished business in Malaga - I hope you'll join me there

Severe pain in the shins, caused by repetitive shocks to the bone and covering tissue, usually brought on by physical exercise. Apparently . Cured by a period of several weeks' rest, it says here.

Well, this is the worst possible news: Arguably our best player, and he'll miss the rest of the season

Here's how the gameday played out, allowing us to clinch the title: City dropped points to Arsenal; United lost at home; we took care of Spurs; and Forest held Liverpool to a draw. There's quite the battle going on for the Champions League and other European spots, but ultimately we were just a bit more consistent than our rivals. Table now looks like this: With the title secured we'll be focussed on Real Madrid in the Champions League and Man United in the FA Cup final. I have no expectations against the former, but have a belief we can beat United.

I understood that reference Cheers buddy!

Sinners & Saints April 2028 - Part 2 Premier League I said last time that I'd like to sew up the title as early as possible as our final four league fixtures were against four of the toughest opponents. We did our best: We saw off Everton with little difficulty, and had to dig deep against Fulham who were fighting for survival in the bottom three. The critical game came against City at the Etihad: City had endured an up-and-down season but came into this one unbeaten in 7 games and still in with a chance of claiming the title. I knew we were up against it so I did something I've never done before - went all-in on the counter-attack and started with a 'cautious' mentality. It worked better than I could have hoped as we denied them the ball for long periods and, while they peppered our goal with shots, most were off-target. We took the lead as DM Patrick Berg pounced on a loose ball outside the City area and drilled it in off the post, and we held on until the interval. But we switched off at the start of the second half and allowed City an equaliser, and had a late scare when Haaland bundled the ball over our goal line in a scramble but were relieved to see it ruled out for offside. A point gained, or two points dropped? Our task became no easier as we travelled away again, this time to Tottenham. The cautious approach had served us well in Manchester so I repeated it here: And it worked even better as we grabbed a second-half lead and - this time - held on to take the victory. And then we got the news: It's a kind of magic

Sinners & Saints April 2028 - Part 1 Champions League We continued our European adventure with a trip to Naples. And if you'd offered me a draw I'd have snatched your hand off. For a very brief while, it looked as though we might do better than draw as AMC Valentin Carboni fired home in the 40th minute. Unfortunately, we couldn't hold on to the lead until the break as Napoli found an equaliser right on the stroke of halftime. Things took a turn for the worse just four minutes after the restart, and then with less than 10 minutes to go, the home side extended their lead further. A 3-1 deficit was looking like a mountain to climb in the return leg. But we fought back and Nino, on as a sub for the ineffective Abraham, scored to give us hope. At St Mary's our prospects took an immediate nosedive as Napoli extended their lead inside 20 minutes, but 7 minutes later Abraham turned provider and set up Nyheim to pull one back. and midway through the second half we levelled the tie when Veloso slipped a through-ball to Gonzalez cutting in from the right wing and he drilled a shot into the far corner. Unfortunately, it took Napoli less than 5 minutes to find the net again and restore their lead. As the clock ticked past the 75 minute mark, I switched to an attacking mentality and it paid almost immediate dividends as inside the last 10 minutes of normal time, the excellent Carboni converted a cross and we were headed to extra time. I decided to stick with the attacking mentality and we produced another of our late blitzes: One of those glorious European nights with excellent football and edge-of-the-seat drama. Our reward is a semi-final tie against Real Madrid! FA Cup We enjoyed just three days' rest after that epic before we headed to Wembley to face Championship side Crystal Palace in the FA Cup semi-final. After the high drama of Europe, this was simply a ruthlessly efficient performance: We denied them the ball, and scoring opportunities, while we created the better chances and Roony put away the best of them to seal a 1-0 win. We'll face Manchester United in the final.

Well played It's the drama that makes the game . Isn't it?

I'm only guessing, but it looks as though you simply dropped down from Champions League qualifying, to the Europa League league phase

Sinners & Saints March 2028 Our game load in March seemed like a holiday compared to the 7, 8 and 9-game months we played all through the winter. But thanks to an international break, the five games were crammed into a three-week spell. I flagged the Chelsea game as a tough one, given their position as the in-form team of the Premier League, and so it proved. It was a very close contest: They outplayed us at our counter-attacking game and took their chances, while we were unable to convert a lion's share of the possession into good scoring opportunities. But we were back to winning ways for the rest of the month. Arsenal took the odd decision of firing manager Luis Enrique - after just 100 days in charge - just ahead of the return leg of the Champions League tie, leaving the Gunners in the hands of u21s manager, Man City icon Shaun Goater. We capitalised, adding to our 2-0 away win with a 3-1 victory as St Mary's. They did take the opportunity to injure Tammy Abraham (denying him the chance of a hat-trick), ruling him out for the remainder of the month with sprained ankle ligaments. In the FA Cup quarter-final we faced League One Huddersfield, who left me wondering how they'd managed to make it so far. We were 3-0 up in the opening 15 minutes, and led 5-0 at halftime. A towering header from CB Michal Helik from a corner was pretty much their only contribution to the game. Then it was Arsenal, again!, before we finished the month with a trip to Nottingham. It was a similar game to our Carabao Cup final against Everton - an even contest for much of the game as the lead changed hands four times. And then, in the final 15 minutes, we blew them away with three late goals. I wonder if the low intensity of our tactical approach is what gives us the ability to surge past tiring opponents late in games, something we've done often this season. In April it's back to the grind, with 8 games on the schedule, including our Champions League quarter-final where we'll face Italian giants Napoli. I'd also like to get the Premier League title sewn up sooner rather than later, as our last four domestic games couldn't be tougher: Spurs, Liverpool, Man Utd and Newcastle. Not forgetting the FA Cup semi-final against Crystal Palace at Wembley. Onwards and, hopefully, upwards

Well, we lost Abraham with an ankle injury - only two weeks (hopefully) but he'll miss some big games. But we've been very lucky with injuries, so I can't really complain about that either

Hmm... not what I had in mind .