Gundo

We have seven Welsh players in the first team squad now after some ok work on the transfers during the off season. As a result, the media have as 7-1 odds for the title (7th out of the 24 clubs). However, one of our early objections moved slightly further away after Wrexham, unsurprisingly, gained promotion to the football league via the Conference National playoffs. The most talented of those new arrivals looks to be Striker Aaron Williams. And there was also fullback Mathew Blake, signed at the backend of last season, who looks to be very promising. I was a little disappointed to miss out on a decent Welsh Goalkeeper that was released by Cardiff at the end of the season. He joined us on trial and we offered him a contract, but Brackley swooped in and snatched him. It is a reminder to act fast with regards to signings, especially because the player pool is so much less for us. Chester are almost ready for the first full season with Gundo at the helm.

@anagain I remember you. And thanks for the luck, I'll need it! @Swaban Thanks. It's a cool city.

A New Beginning in Chester – 2022/23 season Profile I managed to secure the Chester job on the 23 February 2023. Their former manager, Calum McIntyre, did a fairly poor but not a completely disastrous job during his time at the club. The club sat in 18th position, five points above safety, with just 12 games left to play. Luckily, there wasn't too much discontent within the squad – most players seemed in average mood, however, the major thing was that nobody wanted to negotiate a new contract until the club was safe from relegation. So I had to get straight to work at the Deva Stadium. I opted for my favourite formation, 433, and it seemed to work out pretty well. I also decided to keep things simple – and minimal in sense – from here I could make small adjustments. It seemed to work. We lost only two of those last 12 games of the season, drawing 5, and winning 5. And once our survival was secured, all but one of the squad were happy to negotiate; so I went and offered new deals to those that I think can offer us something next season and beyond. I'll go into more detail about players next season. But one player who performed nicely for us this season, was Kurt Willoughby. The youth intake was a little disappointing so not much to mention here just yet. The Squad How it finished It was comfortable in the end. Next season, the board wants a top half finish – this was a little more comforting than the playoff finish laid out in the initial exceptions when I joined. For now I can breathe easy and try and add 3 or 4 new (Welsh) faces before the start of next season.

Haha thanks @Deisler26. Level one complete:

Somewhere on the Wales/England border. Okay, it’s been a while – several years, in fact – since I last documented an FM save in one of SI’s Forums, but I finally have the time to play and time to share another FM adventure. Many moons ago, I was fairly active on here, mostly running Gundo’s European Adventure Challenge in the CES Forum. Remember me? *tumbleweed blows gently in the wind across a desolate landscape* Anyway, on with the save game plan. The Premise I will start in the most realistic way, as an unemployed English/Norwegian manager with Sunday league playing experience and no coaching badges. I will then try to get the Chester FC job in the National League North. For me, I feel this also ramps up the difficulty at the start of a save – it’s often not straightforward trying to win over a squad that is reeling from the last manager’s poor decisions and one unwilling to believe in the new guy. But I will try to steer a likely underperforming wayward ship on the right course, and I will do so with a strict set of guidelines in place. But first let me tell you a little about the club. The Club Chester FC – formerly Chester City – is an intriguing little club in the city of Chester in Cheshire, England. It isn't my hometown club, but I did grow up only 20-odd kilometres away. I also used to play amateur football in the Chester and District football league for many years. Enhancing my affinity with the place further, Chester is also my favourite English City. The club plays its home games at the Deva Stadium, a modest ground with a capacity of 5,453 (4,157 seated). The stadium sits in an interesting position on the outskirts of the city – the pitch is actually located in Wales with only part of the office in the main building located in England. And it was this geography that thrust the club into the spotlight recently during the pandemic. ‘Chester is an English Club, says chairman after Covid “rule break”’ – you can read more about that here. The Rules With this glorious geography in mind, my save game will be a youth only save, except, I will also be allowed to sign only Welsh players. However, I can only sign Welsh players that have been scouted by my staff. Welsh players offered by agents are also allowed. No loans are allowed. One exception to this is if we are able to gain a Welsh parent affiliate club – realistically, this means it will be either Cardiff or Swansea – then we can loan Welsh youngsters from them. Any loan players already at the club when I take over, can be used until their respective deals expire. Goals My aim(s) are simple. Firstly, I want to overtake local rivals Wrexham (I loved the documentary, Welcome to Wrexham, btw). Then, I want to take Chester back into the football league. I want to gain promotion to the hallowed ground of the Premier League with them. Before, finally – and albeit an unlikely ambition – win PL and Champions League. I wanted something to restrict my progression in my FM23 save, but I wasn’t so enthusiastic about just a youth only save alone in England (it can be such a slog with so many teams and divisions). When I was researching this save, I also asked myself this question – where would the Wales national team finish if it was a club playing in the English pyramid? I settled on the Championship, but in all honesty it's not an easy question to answer. Chester FC – A Brief History The Club was founded as Chester FC in 1885, but wasn't elected to the Football League until the 1931/32 season. If you don't count the old Third Division North, which ran in parallel with the Third Division South, Chester's highest league finish was a 5th place standing in the 1977/78 season in the old Third Division (3rd tier; comparable to League One these days, I believe?). They changed their name to Chester City 1983 (which happens to be the year I was born!). The club was members of the football league until their first relegation to Conference national in 1999/2000 season; they bounced back into the league in 2003/04, but dropped out of the league for a second time in 2008/09 season. Chester City was wound up in 2010 due to financial difficulties; that same year, Chester FC – with the same name as the original club – was formed by the fans (City Fans United). The club had to start again lower down the English pyramid in the 8th tier, the Northern Premier League Division One North. With Neil Young at the helm, three successive promotions followed, and a return to the Conference Premier in 2017/18. But Young left, and the club stagnated, eventually coming to settle in the Conference North – step forward Mathew (Gundo). Wish me luck!

450 hrs

Crespo might not be quite at Awudu's level just yet but damn those are some nice starting attributes – Crespo certainly has the potential to be a beast of a striker. Good luck with the fight against relegation, @Jimbokav1971. In my own experiences, I know a close fought survival can often be as rewarding as a league win or promotion.

Nice run of form, @Jimbokav1971. And Awudu’s 14 ratings for finishing, dribbling, heading, technique, composure, off the ball and acceleration is the stuff of dreams!

Thanks for sharing your experiences, it’s great to hear it can handle a big setup and run the match engine on high settings. @Raymond85, and hopefully they can continue to fine tune it and iron out any issues you are having.

I bought a MacBook Pro with an M1 pro processor recently and I’m interested to know how FM22 or FM23 is performing on m1 or m1 pro machines. I ask because I’m curious to find out what type of settings and game setups it can run with. – what graphics details in the match engine are you able to set without any problems? – how many playable leagues have you got loaded? – how many loaded players do you have? I’d be grateful to hear your experiences. Thanks in advance.

Hi, yeah, not so bad, thanks. I'm going to indulge in some FM again in order to get me through the darker months here in Norway. I hope you are doing good, too? Ahh ok. I was curious – if your goalkeeper goes forward to take a free kick, how often has it led to your team conceding?

Nice save game concept. And great start to the current season, @Jimbokav1971. It’s even more impressive if you consider the lack of signings. It amazes me that you are still using goalscoring keepers! I will look to utilise this in this year’s instalment, too.

Never too old. 39 here, been playing since the cm days. Still enjoying the game as much as I ever did.

I’d also be interested to know the answer to this.