SkiIIs

Season 2039/40 - Macclesfield FC - Premier League Our first season in the big league and I couldnt have asked for a better start. We won our first game at home and by our 10th game we were sitting in the European spots in 6th position. The 3 games leading into the 10th match of the season were a 3 - 3 draw at Man City (copped a 91st min equaliser), 1 - 1 draw against Arsenal (copped a 76th equaliser) and a strong 3 - 1 win at Stamford Bridge. We then slumped to 5 straight defeats but against teams that all finished in the top 10 but managed to turn it around for 3 games, beating Fulham 4 - 0 and Villa 2 - 0 and drawing with Newcastle 1 - 1 away. We then crumbled and pretty much threw the season away losing the next 15 out of 20 matches. With the riches of the TV rights, we managed to improve the training facilities but kept getting denied with the Youth Facilities for some reason until the end of the season they agreed to improve the Youth Rating to 1 which enforced improvements to said YF. The board also approved plans to expand our stadium from 14k which we sold out every game to 21k which is a decent increase. We then were put under a club embargo for a takeover which promoted the fact that Wayne Rooney would take my position. Luckily tho, after months of anxiety that takeover collapsed and I find myself still at the role. Youth Preview A much better preview which got me really excited, I had forgotten what the letter A looked like Youth Intake Bit of an anticlimax with only 1 elite prospect and that only being 4.5 stars at that Isaac Umar 40A is the pick of the bunch although im not sure how he's managed to defend in his youth days with 5 tackling. Faris Tunnacliffe 40B looks ok, is pacy and determined but still very raw. Dom King 40C might be the one who excels the most as his attributes arent too bad for a playmaker.

I faced something similar the season before. I ended up selling one player which then provided the cash injection to adjust the wage budget and managed to resign others during the season

Excellent first season in the top league and the talent seems to be coming in thick and fast too!

what I have found useful is to delay the transfer date to the end of the season. Especially on players where their contracts are running down and wont resign

Never done a post like this but thought it was worthy as I'm quite proud of these lads... note im saying this before kicking a ball in the premier league and my view could change very quickly! In goals we have the one time capped Greek International Theofanis Dalamitras 32A who played about two thirds of the season. He was injured in the middle of the season and our 19 year old German keeper deputised whilst he was injured and did a really good job and kept Theo on the bench. We play an attacking brand of football and we do leak a lot of goals but he will be key for us if we are to stay up next year. Alex McParland 34E is our right back who has really developed and made this position his own over the past couple years. Still think there is more to come from him as he can sometimes rate poorly even in solid wins. Charlie Cooper 35A is our first choice left back playing his second full season with us. As an 18yo in League 1, out of necessity he was thrown into the squad early and has done ok. We dont really have much competition for him and so had to play him even when his form was a little off this season. We're working on his forward output and would love to see more assists to his name. Our best centre back is Leighton Truffas 31C. Somehow we've managed to keep him on the books having to fight back numerous offers over the years. His rating isnt great but thats a bit of a result of how we play. Was just about ever present over the season and is quite versatile if required. His main partner in CB is Tommy Malone 31E who has remained as unambitious which is probably why his physicals just havent developed over the years. Both my centre backs came in the same youth intake and have a great partnership in the heart of my defence. Tommy is usually the one sacrificed when I play my third rotational defender hence only starting 34 league games. I rotate my B2B midfielder as I have two equally as good players for this position, however Luke Harvey is my more defensive workhorse. Only league 26 starts is symbolic of how i try to rotate the team where I can but bobbed up with a few crucial goals and assists as well. Luke really came of age in his loan to Hyde as I never really had him earmarked for the first team before that even tho he was top of his class in 2030. Our Mezzala is probably pound for pound our best player. Can play both behind the striker and in our Mezzala role and really drives the team forward. He is also our penalty taker and does miss more than he scores which really annoys his coach and does hurt his overall rating (not at home in time of writing this so can state the figures but its not a good record). 30 goal contributions in 39 starts is an amazing season averaging almost a goal every third game out of midfield over his career for us. Our right wing is one of our weakest positions and is currently filled by Josh Hamilton 35F. Gave this kid a lot of game time this year as we really do lack depth on the right and when available, he did quite well. Started the season strong but then was injured and never really found the form that we know he's capable of after that. Andrew Rees 31D is our left wing and came out of that amazing intake of 2031. Started his junior days as a striker however I've retrained him as a left wing as we've generally had good depth of talents up front. His pace on the left is crucial in the way we play and broke the record of assist in the Championship this season with 26. I'd say he's not too far off being called up to the Wales national team if he can continue to perform well. Our Shadow Striker is Leighton Dorney 33A who replaced Cole Hay this year. Similar to Rees, his best position is up front and you can tell by his attributes below that he's made to be an Advanced Forward but we had a hole to fill and he filled it well. Was virtually ever present and definitely had his best ever and most consistent season for us to date. Had previously played him up front and never really scored as many as you'd like when you play with 1 striker. Our record break and man of the moment is definitely Kyle Wood 34A. What an absolute breakout season he had. Scoring 40 (no penalties) in his first full season as a starter was an absolute stellar performance scoring many crucial goals and winners along the way. They were rarely in big batches but more spread out evenly just about every game which is what you like to see in this game. His goals will be crucial for us if we are to stay up next season.

I'm a bit surprised myself, most of my players are league 1 level at best. Will post something shortly

Season 15 - Macclesfield FC - Championship The past few seasons it's been consolidate the first season in the new league then the second season in that league would end with promotion. This was our second season in the championship and it would be rude to ruin that trend wouldnt it? You're damn right it would be! An unbelievable season where we really grew into the season. After 13 games, we were sitting in 19th spot coming off 4 straight defeats and headed towards a real dog fight to stay up. just kept getting stronger and stronger and results just kept coming and coming. But that would be our lowest point as we won 8 out of the next 9. We would then only lose 4 out of the next 24 games with the majority of those results being wins to put us in a nervy battle for the automatic play spots. In the last 5 games we had QPR, Brentford and Palace and managed to beat both Brentford and QPR but lost to Palace which put them 3 points ahead of us. Going into the last game, we had already secured promotion thanks to our healthy goal difference but the cherry on top was Palace losing away to Bristol City which allowed us our second ever league title. I seriously didnt expect this and we are by no means ready to play premier league football, but i will make use of the riches that comes with. We had another international debut for our young Bulgarian who at that point only appeared once off the bench for us. He did get a little bit more game time towards the end of the season and even notched his first goal playing as a mezzala. Youth Preview I really need to understand what is going wrong here. It cant be that our senior players are getting better only cos these really suck Youth Intake Only one decent player again and just wait till you see his stats... One of my bug bears is having an attribute of 1 and Georges Ewington 39A has it for the most important attribute in Determination. Seriously! Here are B and C who arent worthy of having their names typed. I will post a complete squad write up tomorrow when I get a chance, showing the Macclesfield names who will go down in history as the ones who got us to the top flight!

Season 14 - Macclesfield FC - Championship First season in the Championship i honest thought we would struggle to stay up. In Cup games against this level we have fought strong but struggled however the season surprisingly started off well and we were sitting second after beating eventual champions Everton after 5 games. We then continued to hold our own and by the time the transfer window opened up in Jan we were sitting comfortably in 10th spot only a couple games away from play offs. We then had a poor transfer window which ill touch on in a sec and post January, we hit the type of form that would get a team relegated and hence dropped down to 18th, 10 points above the relegation zone. That dip in form is really ominous of what next season could potentially be for us. Transfer window - so all the talk was about Cole Hay who i touched on in the prior update. I was really trying to renew his contract and he was willing to sit down and talk however we just couldnt offer the 20k weekly wages he was demanding. I gave myself until the last week of Jan to twist his arm before offering him out and at that point, a few of the clubs from his hometown in Scotland had offered to sign him on a free. He had accepted Heart's contract however I managed to negotiate an early sell from them of 3m which is better then nothing i guess. Not well played on my behalf and a definitely learning curve for me! Funny that he only wanted 100 a week to play for them which is friggen frustrating! Our club form really did dip without him.... Other News We got another international cap in the form of our Greek goalkeeper. Theofanis Dalamitras 32A finally got some game time for Greece as he's been called up many times. Unfortunately for him it was a 3 - 0 loss to Denmark. We have our first affiliate in FC United for us to loan our players to. Not sure how useful this will be but they are professional and ply their trade in the VNL. Was looking for an affiliate to help our youth academy but I think this is the wrong type of partnership. I was also offered an interview with Chelsea who are struggling in the premier league which is a nice compliment. And we also played in the final match of the Moss Rose stadium as our new stadium is finally complete after two years of patiently waiting. Really cannot wait for the financial benefit to come through with capacity now at 14k. At the end of the season we were given a bit of cash through league standings and season tickets and whilst my attempt to improve the youth facilities was denied, a week later they approved my request to move to Youth Category 1 which meant we improved the youth facilities anyways. And a week later the board approached me and asked to improve training facilities, again a week after they rejected us so that was good. Youth Preview Another really bad preview with no good prospects. Youth Intake Much to my delight, there's a really talented lad and a couple of others that might develop into first team players. One Scott to replace another. Peter McJannet 38A has the potential to make Cole Hay a fond memory. He has the making to be a great behind the striker player where his lack of speed and physical presence can be hidden. No doubt he will be locked into gym for a few years. Matt Ellis 38B is another who could be vying for that Advanced Playmaking role. Let's see if they can really push each other to develop into the best players they can be. Darragh Girdwood 38C needs a bit of work and could be a squad player in years to come. Lacks pace, crossing and dribbling so wont be holding my breath.

I'm feeling your pain! I cant remember previous versions being this difficult financially once you got to League 2

getting a ready made player in the youth intake at this point is gold!

ive been trying to but no luck. I thought going up a division would help but i can only offer 7k when he wants 20k. Almost 5 months into the season now so getting to the point of no return

Season 13 - Macclesfield FC - League 1 It took us two years in League 2 to get out and we witnessed a similar pattern for League 1. We played in the playoff last year but this year we didnt need to as we finished atop of the league to win our first ever league title. Quite remarkable that we will find ourselves in the Championship next year with only 1 league title in our trophy cabinet. Nevertheless, it was one that was truly deserved. It took us until round 24 to hit 1st but once there, we were never going to relinquish it and clinched the title with a few games spare. Promotion really has come at the most opportune time cos we are haemorrhaging cash each month to the tune of 500k. We are 4m in the red at the end of the season and still have to wait for the end of next season for our new stadium. Hopefully TV money next year helps out cos im afraid we would have to lose a player of value or two to balance the books. . Especially with clubs circulating around Cole Hay who has been getting paid less than the rubbish that is coming through my youth ranks since day 1 lol With one year to go, i cant offer him what he wants even though he's willing to stay so my hands might get dealt. He also just became a Scottish international scoring on his debut. Youth Preview This is getting worse and worse and I have no idea what to do. Youth Intake So frustrated that I forgot to take a pic of these. I only signed 5 or 6 of them. Hugh Sibbick 37A is probably the pick of a bad bunch. Every club needs a fair few GK's floating around.

Season 12 - Macclesfield FC - League 1 First season in League 1 i was worried we would struggle as we were pretty much rolling with the same team as last with not many new prospects nearing the first team. We started the season quite well and were sitting 3rd after 5 games but then reality set in losing 5 out of the next 6 games to sit a few spots above the relegation spots. We then turned the season around winning 8 out of 10 to put us into contention for the play off spots. We lost a few games towards the end meaning we were 3 points away with 2 games left. Going into the last game we were 8th and 2 points away from 6th but with a better goal difference, so we needed to win and results go our way. That's exactly what happened as Walsall drew with Carlisle who needed a win to stay up, but a draw was enough for us and Torquay draw with York City at home meaning we would play Reading in the play off with the first leg at home. In the first leg at home, we managed to overcome an early goal by scoring twice in the second half and with the tail behind us, were pushing for a more comfortable lead into the second leg. We then copped a scrappy goal with 5 minutes to and made a really bad decision of going attacking to find a goal which we then copped 2 injury time goals to pretty much end the tie. Lets just say the second leg didnt go to plan. We did however win the club and manager's first ever silverware in the EFL Trophy beating Wigan, Man City and Arsenal u21's then Carlisle in the semis and Colchester in the final 3 - 1. Im uber proud of the players achieving our first trophy together after 12 seasons! Finances arent great and alsost hit 1m in the red despite the trophy win and also making it to the 4th round of the FA Cup, so there were no improvements. After the season however, the board did announce that we will be building a new stadium with a capacity of 14,177. Our current stadium capacity is only 5,907 which we fill just about every home game. Looks like a juicy loan to build it so lets see how that goes for us... Youth Preview Will give the new HOYD a pass being his first intake. Youth Intake The only good thing about this intake is the amount of colour of the flags. Very diverse group of players! Keelan Crabtree 36A (love the name) looks more like a forward than anything but might come in useful as a backup if he can develop. Zakaria Bader 36B is my first Bulgarian. I'd be surprised if he gets any caps in the senior team at any point

My new HOYD

Season 11 - Macclesfield FC - League 2 After getting a taste of play offs last year, I was hoping to push on and challenge for the auto promotion spots. Thats exactly how the season played out with us sitting in either 3rd or 4th position for the majority of the season. We did hit top of the table at the midway point but we were never really that consistent to challenge for the title. We also were relatively successful in the cup competitions apart from the League Cup which we were knocked out against Watford from the Championship away from home in our first game. In the FA Cup we made it to the 3rd round where we got a premiership team away in Leeds, we battled hard but two second half goals was enough for Leeds to win. In the EFL Trophy we made it all the way to the semi final knocking out several League 1 teams along the way. I was playing heavily rotated squads for this comp but we kept on winning. The Semi Final was a real turning point of the season for us. Leading up to the EFL Semi Final it felt like we lost focus on the league with form of 3 losses and 2 draws mostly against teams from the bottom which was super frustrating. But after the semi which was lost to Stockport from League 1, we then won the remaining 7 games to pip above Notts County for 3rd spot. Nothing overly exciting off the field, I did get a couple of interview opportunities in Preston and Everton. After seasons completion, the board did announce they are going to explore options to build a stadium so will wait and see what they come back with but our tiny 5,907 capacity is just too small for us. Finances have been tough even from the windfall from our Cup adventures. We also had another international player, this time for Jamaica! Youth Preview Ive seriously had enough of this HOYD, another poor preview. Youth Intake Will not be renewing this guy's contract which ends this year. Our last few intakes has really hampered the squad. Kyle Wood 34A is the best of a bad bunch but could potentially be a good player for us in the future, perhaps on the left wing

I instant a lot but play key games and cup matches

Season 10 - Macclesfield FC - League 2 Our first season in League 2 and surprisingly we werent the favourites to automatically go down. From experience, I know the rise from VNL to League 1 or Championship can occur quite quickly and that's what I was quietly hoping for. After a decent start the season we became quite mediocre in the middle of the season and were sitting midtable. We hit some for towards the end of the season and for a minute were in with a shout for the automatic promotion spots but a draw and a loss in the last two games of the season meant that we finished 6th. Into a 2 legged play off against Colchester with the first game at home. We dominated but didnt really reflect it on the scoreboard only winning 2 - 1 on the night with a disallowed goal in the 78th minute to give us a deserved two goal cushion for the away leg. The away leg was the complete opposite, they scored early and then again late in the 80th minute to get the advantage. We went all guns blazing and forced the tie into extra time thanks to a 92nd minute goal from Cox 27C. In extra time we couldnt handle them and they eventually scored to go through to the final where they lost to Wimbledon 1 - 0. At the start of the season we had a planned stadium expansion approved to get around an additional 1000 capacity however that was unfortunately scrapped cos we couldnt get our council permits. This is really hampering us cos now that we are Youth Level 2, we are for the first time haemorrhaging money. So additional improvements will be few and far between now. It doesnt help that our training facilities were downgraded at the end of the season either! I did though get approval to be fully licensed which will finish next season. Youth Preview Average at best with only 1 A in defence Youth Intake Anyone seen my Elite defender? Anyone? Im giving this HOYD one more final chance to deliver something next season! Only one player worth mentioning and I think i got a decent striker out of this intake in Kyle Wood 34A. He should develop along nicely and at 15 has a lot of time on his side with decent physicals and a couple important technicals for an advanced forward

congratulations buddy! what holds next??

Season 9 - 2032/33 - Macclesfield FC - VNL After just missing playoffs last year, I wanted to improve on that and challenge for promotion. We started off well but Maidstone started off better winning their first 12 games and put a sizeable gap to the rest of us. That remained for the majority of the season until with 11 games to go, they started dropping points and with 3 games to go we had caught them and sat first on goal difference. We played against Eastleigh away and didnt really turn up and lost 2 - 1 with Maidstone winning which put us 3 points behind. We both won our next game meaning they would need to lose away to lowly Chelmsford and we were home against Rochdale. Maidstone copped a 96th minute goal to lose, however we also crumbled at home losing 3 - 1. The semi final was at home against Leyton Orient who we had drawn and won during the season. We undeservedly went behind just before half time but fortunately we equalised before halftime. Second half we blew them away winning the game 4 - 1. That gave us my first trip to Wembley and with only Sutton Utd in between us and league football. We had beat them twice in the league so we went into the final with the mental advantage. Both teams had chances but we made the most of ours and won the game 3 - 1 with two goals in 3 minutes in the second half which gave us a comfortable lead. Promotion has come at a really good time as there's lots of Premier League teams and others in higher divisions sniffing around our talent so hopefully I can keep them away for a little while. After promotions, the obligatory conversation occurred on turning professional but we also needed to install a grass pitch as part of the league rules next year. That's how well Im going thinking we had been playing on grass already?!?! That set us back a little but we still made a profit this year and also got 50% of Jevaun Morgan's transfer from Lincoln to Oxford which was 77k. Another lovely surprise after gaining promotion was Robbie Savage approaching me and asking if I would like to improve our Youth Level to take us to a Level 2 setup. Youth Preview This again might be due to last year's change of HOYD but I wont be keeping him around if this is what he's promising. Youth Intake I forgot to take a snapshot of the whole intake, but as you can see only two players worth noting. Both of them light hearted isnt strange. Leighton Dorney 33A is probably the best prospect. Good physicals and good front three technicals in dribbling, finishing and first touch. Martin O'Neill 33B is the other player that might have a future. Pacy, flairy with good technique and passing gives him the attributes that might make him exciting, but we'll see if he develops further.

thats what you call a great escape!

you're so close, any season now!

was in the midst of a change in HOYD but seems to be a common issue for me tho Old New:

the following year was a bit of a disappointment but i think we have the talent coming through to start challenging multiple promotions

Season 8 2031/32 - Macclesfield FC - VNL Was going to be a difficult season after losing Jake Jones up front with no real obvious replacement, however when resigning a few of my players they started wanting 'gaining promotion by year xyz' in their contracts. Season started off slow and it took us a while to adjust to our new frontline but we did get it together somewhat and with 3 games to go we were in 6th position with another prospect of playing in the play offs again. We lost the next game then conceded an 87th minute equaliser in the following game against second place Maidstone Utd. Going into the last game we were 9th and needed to win and results to go our way to keep our season alive. We were doing out bit up 5 - 2 away to St Albans who had nothing to play for and other results were also in our favour and then this happened: No improvements this year and instead we have slowly accumulated a bank balance of 1.5m so hoping the board agrees to improve youth facilities next year, hopefully before Robbie Savage decides to move on. Youth Preview Im hoping this is just the transition year between HOYD's as this is not a great preview Youth Intake Not the deepest intake and quite dissapointing with overall talent. Shining light could be my Greek GK who will start for me next year from day 1. Ive been playing Haydn Hibbs 29C for three seasons (126 games) and he is still stuck on 1.5 stars. Thefanis Dalamitras 32A is exactly what I needed with good technicaals, determination and personality. Bit on the weak side but hopefully that builds as his body fills out. Dave McCarthy 32B is the only other player that has potential to make the first team. No where near the talent we got in Blackett and Hay last year however so might have to develop in the u18's or on loan when hes a little older.

Season 7 2030/31 - Macclesfield FC - VNL Had a bit of a boost towards end of last season that Cieran Walsh 27A who was still upset about being relegated the year before and refused to open up contract talks approached me saying he felt he was being underpaid, so I signed him up quick and proper. Season opened up with 4 losses and 2 wins which is how i expected life in the VNL would go but over Nov and Dec we won 10 out of 12 games to sit as high as fourth. We remained in the play off spots for the remainder of the season and with 2 games to go, still had a mathematical chance of clinching the title from 3rd spot. We dropped a home game against Boreham Wood 3 - 2 which cost us avoiding to play in the playoff first round which would eventually be our last game of the season as we lost to Dulwich Hamlet at home 2 - 1. We had another international and this time it was from.... Angola! Pretty cool that we have two African internationals in my defence, but would love to replace them both in the starting XI. Managed to get two coaching courses approved which will get me to Cont A once complete. We also had enough cash to upgrade our training facilities which will complete next season and move us from Good which i think goes to Great next. A big shout out has to go to Peter O'Brien 27P who was an absolute beast this year winning the top goalscorer and POTS awards playing in right wing, scoring 33 goals in 42 starts and chipping in with 11 assists as well. This is a player that was rated the worst of the intake Youth Preview Im in desperate need in defenders and didnt look like I'd score any this year with the preview not showing much depth. Youth Intake The preview was right that it wasnt a deep talent pool, but the best talents are really good with great personalities! Colin Hay 31A looks a proper talent at only 15yo. Technically gifted but at this level but is matched with good determination and leadership qualities. Made his starting debut in the Mezzala role which didnt suit but once played behind the striker, scored in each of his last 4 game include the playoff becoming the youngest ever goalscorer for our club. Cornelius Blackett 31B comes in and is pretty much our best option as our box to box midfielder. Strong, aggressive and tough tackling is whats needed in front of a toothless defence right now. Had 7 starts for a rating of 7.21 and chipped in with 3 assists. Leighton Truffas 31C is an absolute bonus from a preview that didnt have any top defensive prospects. He will probably need a bit of time but could be the pick of the lot once he gets going. We're about to lose our Striker after just two years as I had completely forgot to add in 3 club extensions onto contracts (ive now done that to my youth players). I fought back offers all year in the hope we could get promoted then miraculously turned his head to sign but it hasnt happened.