warlock

According to Wikipedia, they are - imaginatively - known as The Dark Blues

Sinners & Saints October 2027 Somehow I seem too have played through two months without an update... we might be having too much fun In September we carried on our good form, with only the Norwich result to blot our record. Although, with the exception of Man City in the Community Shield, we have yet to play any of our strongest rivals and Norwich, who were in second place when we met them, were no pushovers. Otherwise, I couldn't be happier with the way we're playing and the results we're getting. And we opened our Champions League campaign with another two wins. And there was more of the same in October: The draw at Bournemouth was irritating but the rest of the month went to plan. It took penalties to edge us past City in the Carabao Cup but given that we were 2-0 down at halftime it was a storming comeback from the lads. Carnesecchi was the hero, saving two spot kicks to give us a 4-3 advantage in the shootout. Our schedule looks to be a little more difficult in November where we'll play Arsenal twice (in the Champions League and PL), and then league matches against Chelsea and City (again!). We'll have a better idea of how good (or otherwise) we really are. For now, we're still top of the heap:

Banana!

Absolutely! A great turnaround. Hopefully, you can keep it up for a while

I enjoyed the media reports, but often found myself struggling to understand the overall picture of league position, team performance, etc. The additional info about those things in recent posts helped, but the fact that they were spoilered meant a bit of additional clicking on each post, which was a bit irritating. I'm sure you can find a happy medium, but I'll be reading regardless.

Potential for some good results there. Valerenga would be a bonus. Here's hoping...

I see that pinch of good fortune was lost in the post! February was good, March not so much. Keep the faith... you're due an upturn in fortunes!

Hurrah! Good to see the season underway. Not a bad start... could have been better, could have been worse. Forward through progress

Sinners & Saints August 2027 Thanks to everyone who has read, commented, upvoted and encouraged this save. You've inspired me to do another year here at St Mary's, a year that will see us defend our Premier League title, and compete at the top level of European competition. Transfer window I indicated that our business would be driven by incoming offers for our players. That turned out to be largely true, although I instigated rather more of that business than I expected. The problem was unrealistic expectations on the part of a number of players - players who weren't performing as well as some of their teammates but who wanted more playing time, more money or both. I'm not above handing out pay rises to players who've earned it on the pitch - especially as some of our recent signings have pushed our wage structure ever upwards. First among the outbound players were CBs Buongiorno and Doyle. The former had been a pain for months so as we approached the end of the season he was offered out and Leeds duly paid £45m to take him off our hands. Doyle I'd have liked to keep and have him compete for time, but he declined the option and requested a transfer. Eventually he went to Valencia for £24m (a £9M profit). DM Joris Chotard had spent the previous season out on loan but was eventually sold to Leicester for £33.5m, while DM Reis had his head turned by the Saudis and moved on for £44.5m. One I was reluctant to lose was AML Stefan Mitrovic, one of my favourite players of the save, but another who hadn't performed this season yet demanded a new contract that would treble his wages and make him the highest-paid player at the club. Which was simply out of the question, so he joined Fiorentina for a fee that should reach £30m. We're also at a stage where a lot of talented prospects are not quite at first-team level but need regular football. Some 15 of them were sent out on loan, often for very good fees. In total we received more than £175m in transfer income. To cover the outgoing centrebacks we signed two Nathans. The first is natural left-footer and replaces Doyle: Zeze is pretty agile for a big fella and still has room to improve. He cost us £25m from FC Nantes. The second Nathan joins us from relegated Brentford for £22.5m: He'll compete with Omobamidele on the right side and helps us out with homegrown registration requirements. One of the changes I made this summer was to extend our scouting range from Europe to worldwide for the first time, and one of the first names to come up in scout reports was this guy: Even at 19 he's our best LB and one of the best players at the club. We didn't need a leftback but for just £11.75m from Argentinian outfit Estudiantes, he could be the bargain of the century if he develops as the coaches expect him to. With DM Reis departing, we needed cover and - ideally - another homegrown player. I settled on this fella: We paid Aston Villa £50m for his services, but I think it will be money well spent and he will surely strengthen us in the middle. Finally, I had an issue at AMR as an ageing Adam Armstrong had struggled to perform over the last six months of the season. After considering our options I decided to move Franco Gonzalez out wide and brought in a new player for central midfield duties: Veloso can play CM or AMC, either as a playmaker or a more direct attacking threat, and I was delighted that we could do a deal with Benfica that cost us £22m. In all, we spent around £130m, which represents a good profit on our business for the window and still leaves me with a rather embarrassing transfer budget going forward: Early form We've looked very good in our first month of the season: In the Community Shield we gained a modicum of revenge on City for our FA Cup semi-final victory in May, and then produced an unbeaten start to our league campaign. New boys Veloso and Collins opened their scoring accounts, and - the mad gunslinging exhibition against Villa aside - have looked pretty good at both ends of the pitch. For what it's worth, we're top of the league with the best attack and second-best defence. Couldn't be happier

So tough to compete in Europe and domestically, but you're not far off the pace. A little pinch of good fortune would be very helpful

That never-say-die character can be invaluable at both ends of the table. Some good results so far, and a few players with an eye for goal. We share an eye for staff, too - Mr Ward was one of my first hires for the Southampton scouting team and he could be a difference-maker, as you say.

Yeah, we've all had those players! Good luck - hopefully, this season will be a little more comfortable.

Oof, that's harsh. Couldn't have been closer. Better luck next time

I'm guessing you're enjoying life on the south coast more than on the Yorkshire riviera? A great first season against some incredibly tough opposition. Good luck this time around!

I don't know much about Barnsley - managed them a couple of times back around FM21/22 - but that's a well-explained tactical post. Nicely done

As I thought - gives you plenty of time to close that gap.

Two good months. How many games do you play in the season?

Sinners & Saints May 2027: Europa League Final Ah, what could have been... It was a very close match with very little to separate the two teams: Ultimately, it was a game of two goalkeepers who were by far the best players on the pitch. You could argue we should have won in normal time - we had the better xG but couldn't find a goal. Porto 'keeper Vicario did a great job of keeping us out. We had the best chance in extra-time when Nino managed to put the ball in the net but it was ruled out for the narrowest of offsides. And we could have won it in the penalty shootout when they missed two of their first three penalties. But we then went on a run of misses - eventually it took 12 penalties on each side to determine the winner - Armstrong, having scored his first spot kick, missed. Mitrovic, having missed his first, scored: A disappointing finish to an otherwise fantastic season.

Sinners & Saints May 2027: the Premier League Well... Penultimate game of the season, everything to play for: A bit of an anti-climax, to be honest. I was convinced it was going to the last day. Arsenal and us played on the Sunday, City had played the previous day and made their task impossible by losing 2-4 to Spurs. We got off to a poor start when Sforza gave away an 8th minute penalty but the midfielder redeemed himself by scoring the equaliser shortly before halftime. In the second half, things were pretty even but I sent Missori on as a substitute after the hour mark and it took him just 6 minutes to set up Abraham for the winner. It was only after the game that I realised Arsenal had been playing at the same time and lost away to Man Utd. So really, we owe much of this success to our Top 6 rivals - Arsenal and City for a late-season collapse, United and Spurs for denying vital points to our closest challengers this month. Our final game against Palace at St Mary's is not quite a dead rubber since we'll want to finish on a high in front of our own fans and Palace are still trying to avoid the drop. We'll almost certainly have to play a rotated squad, though - the Europa League final is just three days later.

Agreed. I think I've had one player decide to re-sign after exploring his options but most are set on leaving. Makes sense to get them gone.

I think you have to accept that! If you have anyone even close to his level, that's a huge financial boost for the club. At first sight, Lomeli doesn't look far off. But I have to say, I'm in 2027 but if that's how transfer fees are going, I'm not looking forward to the next couple of years

Sinners & Saints May 2027: Europa League semi-final Having recovered a touch of good form in our opening game of the month, could we overturn a single goal deficit in the Europa League semi? Why yes, we could: A fantastic performance by the team, with Abraham in a rich vein of scoring form and Gonzalez, playing at AMR, setting up the two goals - the first a driven cross from wide for Abraham to tap in, and the second a corner that beat the Chelsea defenders allowing all 5'8" of Will Smallbone to head home - probably the first headed goal of his career. In the other semi-final, Porto beat Fenerbahce to set up our season finale at the Parc de Princes in Paris. The remainder of the schedule for the month includes an away trip to Wolves, safely in mid-table with only pride to play for, and a visit from Crystal Palace, mired in the relegation zone and badly needing wins for survival. Our inability to match the fight and determination of relegation battlers has been a theme of the save so I hope we're up for this one.

Sinners & Saints April 2027 Thanks all for the support and encouragement... the stern conversation has been had, and I'm in this for the long haul now. Despite what happened in April... Let's deal with the easy stuff first. We're still fighting in the Europa League - a convincing home leg was enough to see us past Athletic of Bilbao, setting up the semi-final against Chelsea. Away at Stamford Bridge we were less than convincing but kept the deficit to a single goal and we're optimistic about overturning that at St Mary's. The FA Cup semi-final was a heartbreaker. City dominated throughout but thanks to a heroic defensive effort and a stellar performance from Carnesecchi in goal, we took the game to extra time. Sadly, we were just minutes into the first period when Barghji was forced to leave the field injured, leaving us to play the remaining 25 minutes with just 10 men. It took another ten minutes before City found the breakthrough but it was enough to claim the victory. And so to the ups and downs of the Premier League, and what a rollercoaster it has been, and continues to be. We lost our hold on top spot in the opening game of the month... a draw against Brentford wasn't good enough and allowed City to overtake us. But wins against Norwich and Sheffield United were enough to lift us back to the top, although Arsenal still had a game in hand. So the trip to Chelsea, again!, was something of a must-win game and we fell just short: Chelsea took the lead on 33 minutes, but we battled back and took a 2-1 lead into the interval. Some 20 minutes into the second half, Chelsea found an equaliser before, with time running out and a draw looking likely, young substitute Deivid Washington found a yard of space on the edge of the area and fired home for the victory. Doom and disaster, then? Well, no! There were more twists in the tale. Although City beat Palace to go top, Arsenal could only achieve a draw against Spurs. So it was City first, Saints second, and Arsenal third. So bonus content: the next fixture, the first in May: The Hammers were pushing for European competition and lurking in 8th place, so no pushovers, but the lads rose to the occasion and secured a vital win. It was always a nervy match but we were good value for the victory. And - another twist - it meant this: City were held to a draw by Newcastle, and Arsenal could only draw with Liverpool so even their obligatory game-in-hand won't be enough to topple us. It's all going down to the wire

No See earlier post. Edit to add: I've figured out my confusion - Chelsea were in the other half of the FA Cup draw (and will play City in the final); because we had a two-legged semi to play against Chelsea in the Europa League, I got confused. Sorry!

You're absolutely right. I'm an idiot