erik45

March 8

Season review. Finally! We got promoted and we did in style! We scored so much!!! Stalybridge is on a different level with their tycoon budget, but I think we got deservedly promoted, although there was some luck involved (more about that later in this post).

Players sorted by minutes. These were all the players who started at least one game this season. I think the top three were available for the games the first XI played, that level of fitness and consistency will be needed in the next division. I might need to re-think our defence as we conceded 70 goals in the league and our CBs got quite low average ratings throughout the season.

Players sorted by goals. Strikers delivered very evenly this season! Reddy and Walcott 31k were on fire most of the season and Scott 27c & Dugdale 31c backed them up really well. The players from 31 intake are on youth contracts, so I definitely get to keep them at least for another year, hopefully Reddy and Scott 27c want to stay as well. The surprise name on the list is Jamie Doyle, who got a new role for this season - and made it his own! 9G+15A in the league, 11G+15A in total. Those are numbers I've been expecting from CM(a) but he's the first to deliver.

Dugdale 31c also needs his own mention. Look at these rookie year numbers?!

The reason for our promotion can be found from the screenshot below. Our attackers were so active and efficient that they made the promotion possible.

Season end When looking at the

Tracking. As one can see, this was our best season when it came to final position (and promotion). But if we look at the xGD or xPts, we've had multiple seasons better than this. I said earlier that we need some luck to get promoted and this season it happened through our attack being very, very, very efficient. Hopefully we can keep that up, but probably not gonna happen.

Contract extension. Promotion means +1, yee-haw! :cool:

March 8

:hammer:

Playoff final. WE DID IT?!?!?!! We took an early 2-0 lead and hoped for the best after that. Trafford kept coming and coming, shooting whopping 28 times! :eek: We didn't budge until the 91st minute when they got their first good change: open goal from 2 meters. But it wasn't enough, WE GOT PROMOTED!!!

Seventh time is the charm, right?? And we did it playing the 2nd XI in the final! I think it was destiny as McMahon, who's been so unhappy with his playing time, scored the penalty. That told me that anything is possible. I'm just so happy and relieved that we actually made it through the playoffs! :cool:

March 8

Playoff semi final. What???? 3-0?! Let's gooo!!!! We were so good, maybe not 3-0 good, but still the only side that deserved to go through. All the three strikers scored and our defence left opponent shooting from poor positions, I'm so happy with this! :hammer:

Playoff final. Away from home, just three days after the semis... this is going to be tough. I am going to make a bold decision and start our 2nd XI. This is a mid-week game so it's their turn! I think Trafford won't change that many players in the starting line-up so we have the fitness advantage if we use 2nd XI. It is a high risk tactic, but I want to do it.

The previous games have been very even against Trafford. The only worry is that we played against them just a few weeks ago and lost 3-1. But that's not the whole truth as the game was really, really, really even. Just look at the numbers:

March 8

April 2032. Two clear wins, two almost-as-clear losses. Trafford had the chance to overtake us if we failed to collect more points than them. Did we fail?

Final league table. Yes... but we still got the home advantage! :thup: But only for the semifinal, so if we progress we need to play away from home :thdn: and the final is just three days after the semis! :eek: Also, please take a look of our goals for column! 113 goals, that's new league record :cool:

Semi-final opponent. Atherton have been in solid form, winning 6 out of last 8 games, losing only once. They have been a very very difficult opponent for us, we've beaten them only once. But on the flipside, the only win came this season, just a few months ago when we demolished them 6-3!

Expectations. Both the board and the fans think we are going to lose the game... :herman: I think we are slight favourites, but we really need to find the game balance after losing the last two games of the regular season.

March 8

March 2032. We are scoring SO much! 22 goals in six games is something I can't remember doing earlier in the save. On top of that, we are winning everything we can (Nantwich was just too much, they were the better side). And both our 1st and 2nd XI are doing their job. :cool:

Table. Even with our form, we are definitely not running away from our competitors. We have almost guaranteed our place in the playoffs, but we want to do better than previously and get the home advantage.

Transfer out. Losing our 5-star PA goalie just before the most important games of the season is...not optimal :seagull: Spooner 29f went up one step in the league pyramid and still is the first choice keeper for them. That tells something about his current level.

The new #1 is Parillon 30e. A year younger than our previous #1. Parillon 30e has a bit over 20 starts with the first team, so he's not a total rookie. He has really big shoes to fill - and he needs to fill them fast - but I think he's quite decent option at this point.

U18 champions. This is the third time our U18s won the league, this time they did it 5 games before the end. :applause:

Upcoming fixtures. Oh dear... I'm feeling nervous. Not because the fixture list, but because this is the end of the season and probably our position in the table will be decided in the game against Trafford (who are currently 3rd). The first two should be relatively easy, but then... let's see

March 8

Youth intake 2032. Oh my days, this is an amazing intake! Both high PA & CA players! Four players who have 2,5 or better CA :applause: If there's something negative to be said, it is that two of those players have a challenging position: ML (we don't use) and RB (we already have two exciting talents).

Players. All the English players are from the island. Once again, we have some Swedes in the intake. Is there some reason for it? Viking connection? My favourites are Adigun 32a, Mardic 32d and Alie 32p (yes, the one with the worst star rating). Their and other high potential players' player profiles can be found below.

Intake tracking. Once again, a lot of high potential players AND even more players with a decent starting CA. Stats-wise this is a good intake, but not the best. What impresses me is the small number of negative personalities, that's a good sign for the future!

March 8

March 2032. Oof, this is a bit of a blow. We are playing in the same way as earlier, but we don't have the luck we had.

Table. Our blip in form means we didn't gain any advantage in the promotion battle. It is very close and teams in positions 2nd to 8th are all very close to each other. I know I'm a bit too optimistic at this point, but I really want us to get to the 2nd place so we could have home advantage in both semis and in the playoff final. But first we need to secure playoff spot

Upcoming fixtures. I was too eager to play and took the screenshot of the fixtures (and the table) after the first round of March. Target man hat trick, I love it! :applause: Nantwich Town is going the be THE challenge of the month. The 2nd XI will get their chance in the mid-week games.

Also, it is youth intake time!

March 8

January 2032. The league leaders were too strong for us, but it didn't stop us from continuing our strong form in other games. I love how the team bounced back after the loss by scoring six goals against Atherton who are in promotion battle with us.

I forgot to take screenshot of the table, but at this point we are third in the league table, Stalybridge being 1st and Trafford 2nd.

Transfer out. Gibbons 30b is from the last intake who didn't get youth contracts so he was free to leave whenever. Cannon Woods started from the level 10, but they got bought by a tycoon in 2025 and are now a top half side in Vanarama South. :eek: Gibbons 30b was available for a loan but he decided to join Whitehawk who play in the Isthmian Premier (can't blame him). He was our best CB, let's see how our team can cope.

Upcoming fixtures. I forgot to screenshot at the turn of the month, so a bit different view this time. Staveley Miners Welfare has been a tricky opponent for us and they are playing well at the moment. Rest of the teams should be winnable.

March 8

December 2031. Yeeeeees, what a month - again!!! 15 games undefeated in the league! We are playing so well! We are not dominating the game, but we are scoring so efficiently that the opponents can't match that. Kian Reddy has found his form after a minor injury. He's been here from the beginning and even if he's not the most consistent player, he surely is a deadly striker.

Table. Our amazing form means we are in the playoff zone! Stalybridge looks too strong this season (and they are, their wage budget is 1< m€), but we are just one point away from home advantage.

Youth intake preview. Not too many A grades, but three players for ST, CM and CB positions is something to wait for! Also, it is supposed to be a 5-star intake, let's hope it will be!

Upcoming fixtures. Most exciting game of the month is going to be against Stalybridge. They are absolutely flying in the league. They are both the best and the luckiest team in the league as they have best xPts and their are outperforming it the most.

March 8

November 2031. Undefeated month! Two trashings and then three dull 1-1 games. I'm happy with everything but the Avro game. They are so bad, but we just couldn't score until the 83th minute when they were playing with 10 men. As Kian Reddy was injured for good part of the month, Walcott took his role - and was even better than our all-time leading goalscorer!

Table. Many draws meant we couldn't get higher in the table. I really want to get to the promotion battle AND get a home advantage, but we still have 7-point gap between 3rd place and us.

Job interview. I haven't had these in a while. Exeter are doing quite well by playing in the Championship. But I'm dedicated to FC Isle of Man, so I say no to this possibility.

New contract. 2 + 1 (activated if promoted). Same amount of money, but I'm all about the commitment

Media. This is the first time I see one of our own youth products is considered for an international team. Jatta 28n plays on the third level of Swedish footballing pyramid. He has some U21 games for Sweden, but he's eligible also for The Gambia and England. I kind a hope he chooses the Gambia as I see it as the most realistic team to get some minutes.

Upcoming fixtures. Difficult start for the month as we face Nantwich. If we want to be in the promotion contention, we need to be able to handle these kind of games. The 2nd XI will get some minutes against Barnoldswick. I think I start to get some friendly games for the 2nd XI to keep them fit.

March 8

October 2031. Out of all the cups, but we are playing better and better in the league! We gained 13 out of 15 possible points, that's really good! I'm especially happy about our target men (Dugdale 31c, Walcott 31k & Broe 31d) who all got in the score sheets this month. I was worried that after Robert Jones retired we would not have any good target men, but seems like my worries were not justified. I can't remember the last time I've had such young TMs playing so well!

Table. We shoot right up in the table, but there's still some gap between us and the teams in playoffs. For some reason, I've had very good feeling about this season - and now the results match my feelings

Transfer in. Phizacklea 29b sounds like a Greek-ish name to me, but I just learnt it's an old Anglo-Saxon last name. As he's born here in Isle of Man we were able to re-sign him. He will become part of the 2nd XI sooner or later. I was particularly happy with this signing as we took him away from our direct competitor, Nantwich Town. :cool:

Finances. I added this here as it's the first time we have surpassed the 1m€ line!

Upcoming fixtures. Only league games left, and all on Saturdays. First XI will play in all of them, I think we have a chance of being at least almost as good as this month.

March 8

September 2031. Solid in the FA Trophy, but not in the league. It was our 2nd XI taking care of the cup games, maybe they need to get more game time (although they were the ones losing to Buxton)?

Table. Not where we want to be... we are already 11 points behind the top two :eek:

Upcoming fixtures. Busy month, both XIs will get plenty of playing time! This shouldn't be the most difficult month even if we meet the league leaders Silsden.

February 29

August 2031. Amazing start in the cup, but then... :rolleyes: We should've won against West Auckland, but we just didn't find the net. We were the better team in both games. On top of that, tycoon owned Stalybridge demolished us and our 2nd XI could only get a draw at home against Mickleover. Not the best start to the season, only way is up?

Ex-player. One of our first players to play in Vanarama North just transferred to Ipswich Town who play their 2nd season in the Premier League! :eek: Morris 27g is in their U21 team and he has quite nice valuation (and it has gone up in few weeks to 4,1-6€m!). We didn't get anything from his move from Gateshead to Ipswich as it was a free transfer. Maybe next time we will get some solidarity payments.

Upcoming fixtures. Some fixtures got moved because of cups and it meant we didn't have any game during the last weekend of August. I arranged a friendly to keep our fitness levels and hopefully a win against a weaker opposition will do wonders to club atmosphere.

February 29

On 25/02/2024 at 16:19, shd34_216_42 said:

The big issue with going pro is the youth contracts go from cheap to not cheap. (In FM22 it went from ~5 pounds/wk to ~150 pounds/wk, it might be a bit higher now.) I think you would need a balance of 1.2 million euros or so to make it viable for the board to consider it (or have a tycoon, like some teams that keep failing to be promoted) and then you would have to be far more selective about which youth you keep from intakes.

Realistically, I think you have the same issue in that you really need to be promoted to make going pro a consideration.

I'm guessing the allowed free agent options are terrible.

Yeah, there really aren't any good options in the market - and that's been the case after the first season. We've recruited couple of free agents to be rotational players, but hadn't had any proper options that would strengthen the first XI. I think Louis Parral has been closest to that and we signed him on 2024

And I know that the real risk with going pro is youth contracts. I would try to take the risk if I have the feeling that we can either a) get promoted every year from here onwards or b) get bigger teams to buy our players with high sell-on clauses. Preferably we would need both options to happen

February 25

Season preview. Our progress has stalled quite badly in the last couple of seasons, but optimism is still there! We are financially stronger than ever and contract situation of the players is much better than previously. Now we shouldn't lose our players before their 18th birthday! Some of the "older" players haven't been willing to change their non-contract to a youth contract, so there are still some young players we are in danger of losing. In our first XI, only 2 of the 11 players have a youth contract, so 9 can leave when they want to. It seems like that if the player is asking for a non-contract with appearance fee of 50 € or more, they do not accept the counter offer of giving a youth contract.

League preview. We have the same odds and predicted position as last year. Those were a bit better before we lost two first team players, but at least we are not worse than last year. We have new oppositions to face as Belper Town and Coventry United were moved to this division. Belper Town might be a really difficult opponent as they gathered more than 90 points last season in Div 1 East and lost the title by 2 points. All the promoted and relegated sides we have faced before.

Media considers our best player to be our starting GK Spooner 29f, which I agree. They consider our back-up GK Parillon 30e to be the hot prospect, but I think we have more interesting options for a breakthrough star.

It is so stupid that the league's season preview shows projected line-up as 5-2-3 even though the preview page recognises the preferred formation being 4-3-3 narrow... :rolleyes: I think this is because I chose 5-2-3 as my manager's preferred formation, but I haven't used it at all after that.

Tactic and starting eleven. I made some changes to the system. As I'm lazy and I let the assistant to take control of the friendlies, I don't know how well the changes are working. In an ideal world this system would work as 4-3-3 defensively and something close to a 3-4-3 when we have the possession. I also want us to press little higher. It's a risky tactic but it will hopefully make me and the players feel more alive.

Comparing to the last seasons 1st XI, we have three new names in the sheet. We lost our starting DLP in the summer, so I moved McCaffrey from CM to DLP. Doyle was previously in the role of Carrilero, but as I opted for Mezzala, I put Doyle in the CM position. As Mezzala, I chose Adams 30c. The other two new players are in the attack. Robert Jones retired and Lonsdale 28b left the team ( :mad: ), so I have Walcott 31k as Target Man and Magiola 28l as DLF. If they perform, they get to keep their positions, but there are multiple options right behind them in the pecking order. I'm still hoping to get a proper quick striker. Then I would move Scott 27c to DLF, which suites him a bit better.

The 2nd XI is all about the potential. There are three players who are 20 or older, rest of the players are 17 or younger!

Reputation. Our reputation is still obscure and I don't think that will change until we get promoted. Reputation-wise we are considered a bottom half team, but our home attendances tells us we are one of the bigger sides in the league.

Transfers. We didn't have any transfers in, but quite many out. Almost all of them could have had a role in the team in the near future, so I'm not happy losing them. But the only major losses are transfers of Young 29e and Lonsdale 28b who both were starting players in the 1st XI. Neither of them got any better contract and now they both are considered as fringe players in their new teams, but at least they get to represent a team that plays in a higher division.

Pre-season friendlies. Very good, very nice! Only loss against a League 1 side :thup: , we scored a lot of goals :thup: and conceded 12 in 8 games . The wins against Guernsey (1 level above us) and Halifax (3 levels above us) were the highlights of July as well as Ethan Walcott 31k's scoring record (9 goals in 7 games).

Upcoming fixtures. First competitive game is in the FA Cup against Pickering Town, who are a mid-table side from the league below us. We should be clear favourites for the game. After that we face two tycoon-owned sides away from home, no points expected there. From the home games we need wins and it is possible to get them, but we need to be at our best as games against Mickleover and Leek Town have been really evenly contested.

February 24

Season 2030/2031 review, part 2. I continue the season review by adding some random screenshots that feel significant to me.

Legend retiring. Robert Jones, who's been the target man for our team, decided to retire as 35-old club legend. He's been one of our most consistent performers throughout this save. In the end he was only a 1,5-star player, but he almost always played very close to his best capabilities. We have one or two options to take his place, but I felt that in Football Manager my target forwards are usually a bit older players, who have good mentality (and of course at least okay stats for TM role). I don't know if it just me but I feel young target men just can't play well in their natural role. Maybe it is about not being able to be consistent, maybe about their lack of physicality. Next season we will have a young target man, whether I want it or not

Transfers. We had two players coming in this season. Monsterratian Lee Dyer was a good 2nd XI centre back and I hope he stays in the team as there are some contract offers from other teams on his table. When I signed O'Reilly 27i on loan to us I did just because I could. I didn't see him having a major role in the team. Three months later he was the only proper left back in the team and ended up playing almost 30 games. As Hyde United set him for release at the end of the season, I decided it was time to get him back to the club permanently.

Professional status. I tried to ask us to go professional, but the board didn't agree with the need. No problem. But I thought the reason of rejection was so funny: "People love to root for the underdog." :lol: That is an excellent way of saying that they don't want to take this financial risk.

February 24

Season 2030/2031 review. I'm not going to do a deep dive, but I picked some stats that I find interesting.

League progress. This might be our worst season in the Northern Premier League Division 1 West so far. Yes, we were better than media prediction or board expectations, but that's not interesting for me. For me the interesting thing is comparison between seasons. For me, it looks like we are not making progress in the league. Yes, we have a lot of high potential young players, but it doesn't benefit us if they don't develop and stay with us. I think now we are in a better position as I changed how we handle contract negotiations during youth intakes. All the players got youth contract until end of 2032/2033 season, so I think that will benefit us a little next season and a lot season after that.

Player stats. Lonsdale 28b was our best player. There are two players with higher average rating, but Lonsdale 28b was the most consistent player of the season. He is playing as DLF (su) and he's numbers suggest he gets 0.82 goal contributions/90 mins, which is good for a 19-old player. As I'm looking at these numbers, I'm actually quite satisfied with them. No-one has elite numbers in the attack, and only disappointment is McCaffrey, who I think should do better in CM (At) role. I might try to use him in a more defensive role and put someone else as the attacking player of the midfield three. There are couple of younger players, who could be good in a box-crashing midfielder role.

Tactics. I use the same 4-3-3 format, but I have made quite a bit of changes in the roles and team instructions. I've tried to simplify things, but I feel things are quite the same in the end. What we need to do is get better defensively as we conceded over 70 goals in the league. If we can keep scoring 80+ goals a season, but concede 50 goals or less, we would be in a good position. Maybe I can get one of the midfielders to help out more without losing our attacking threat?

I think the biggest challenges are: we are letting opposition to shoot too much and some of our defenders are losing too many aerial challenges. As I would like to keep the 4-3-3 system we maybe need to change the roles of the players to make the difference. Maybe less symmetry so we can have three "defensive defenders" and one with more attacking freedom - and having one of the midfield three in a wider role? Or maybe we need to win the ball higher up the pitch which means more pressing with the forward line?

February 24

April 2031. This month describes our whole season very well. No consistency, too many goals conceded, but also surprising wins! The good form from March didn't continue, but that was somewhat expected as the oppositions this month were much tougher. I was happy to end the season on a positive note against Trafford. The win meant we overtake them (and Hanley Town) in the last round.

Table. As said, we leaped over two teams in the last round and that meant we finished on the top-half of the table. The board had expected us to avoid relegation, so we did much better than that. I felt we could be able to be in the playoff fight, but we didn't have any consistency. This was the first season that two teams got over 90 points - and they went all the way to gain more than 100 points! :eek: I really hope Stalybridge get promoted as they have massive financial advantage (tycoon owner).

xG table. We got the points our xPts suggested we should get. As we don't have too many solid players for this level (we have 6 players who are regarded as "good" players for this level) and our tactics haven't been excellent, we need a little luck if we want to get promoted. This season the xPts was positive for teams that were already doing well, maybe we can say they "deserved it" as they were playing well.

Objective. Board is delighted that we got a top-half finish, but it's a bit sad that they're expectations have gone down for the last two seasons.

Finances. Next season we will have more than 1m€ in the bank! I'm saving it so we can turn pro. It is a high risk, high reward strategy - and there's no guarantee the board wants us to turn pro - but it is the most interesting strategy for me.

Transfer clause. We have first clause we can sell! 35k is nothing for us at the moment, so we will keep the clause. Bury just won the Vanarama North and Fagan played in 15 league games, so I think he's value will just go up. The only negative thing is that he's no longer getting called up for Ireland's U19s, but he's only 17 so no need to get worried (yet).

February 24

March 2031. We won four games, what is this?? Against Runcorn - who are going to get relegated - we couldn't get anything done until they had a player sent off, after that it was a smooth sailing. Clitheroe and Leek Town losses meant that our slim hopes of getting to 5th place were practically demolished. I don't know if that helped the team relax or that we got our best GK back from injury, but the latter part of the month was really good!

Table. Five games left, 9 points to the last playoff spot (and 5 teams between us and the 5th). We are not going to make it to the playoffs, but we can get as high as 6th if the good form continues.

Upcoming fixtures. The last month of the season is full of tough opponents. 5th, 7th, 1st, 3rd and 9th - that's some tricky run. In a way I'm happy that we are not fighting for the promotion anymore because these matches will get me nervous anyway

February 23

Youth intake 2031. In the preview it said we had only one position with A-grade talent (full-backs). We have 5-star PA talents for all the outfield positions. On top of that, we have 4 players who's CA is already 2,5 stars or more! :applause:

Now that I'm looking this more closely, this is a very good intake, close to being my favourite so far. We got a right back with quite good physicals, a potentially new target man and a quick forward - all these were on my wish list! In addition, we also got a good central defender(s) and some interesting options to midfield. Interestingly there are much less different nationalities than before.

My top three of the bunch: Stewart 31a, Allard 31n & Jordan 31p (the player with least perceived potential of the intake!). Here are their profiles:

Stewart 31a is the best player of the intake. He'll be in the first XI in no time. He has good stamina and work rate, which are important in his positions and he isn't slow. He needs to get better defensively, the future will tell if he can.

Allard 31n is so low in the "ranking" as he doesn't have 5 star potential. But he is tall, has quite good mental stats and he can tackle & head the ball - what's not to like? At the moment he's not the strongest nor does he have good defensive positioning stats, but he will be in the first team next season anyways.

Jordan 31p has the lowest potential, but he has one unique quality that sets him as one of my favourites: his quickness! If he can develop it even further (and get better attacking mentals) he might become an effective lower division advanced forward.

---

I think I sign all the players from the intake. Some of them have awful personalities, but... maybe I can change him?

For the first time I tried to offer players only youth contracts (not non-contracts they've ask for) and to my surprise, it seems like it works! With youth contract they will be with us at least until June 2033. I think other teams can try to sign them, but then we get some small compensation. Here's our star with his new contract:

Edit. Did I miss a future superstar?? Walcott 31k did something special in his U18 debut! If he develops nicely, he might become the first XI target man in a season or two.

February 22

February 2031.

The funniest thing is that we kept our only clean sheet in the game where our goalie got injured in the first half and we didn't have another goalie on the bench so the tallest player was subbed in (and he even got one save in the game ). I'm very lost with the team and the tactics. I don't want to keep chopping and changing, but at the same time it feels there needs to be something radical happening so the team starts to perform again. We are still unlucky, but on top of that our level of playing has dropped quite a bit.

Table. It seems very unlikely we will be in the playoffs this season. I just hope youth intake gives us a boost for the next season (and maybe some ideas how to play).

Upcoming fixtures. Two games against teams in the relegation zone before three very difficult games. And then we end the month again against a relegation battling side.

February 22

January 2031. Hey, this is an okay month! Not great, but okay! If we had gotten a win against Warrington in a very even game, this would have been a very good month. We lost to a better side in the league cup, but I don't really care about that competition, it's all about the league.

I have tried to simplify our tactics so we don't end up in situation where the opposition can get easy chances against us. I'm not a tactical mastermind, but I've never had any major issues with tactics in the earlier editions of game. In this game I have one issue and it is: How the **** do I defend cutbacks and low crosses???? :mad:

It seems it's literally impossible to do anything if the opposition gets the ball near the goal line - doesn't matter if they are close to the goal or not. I know that in many of these situations my full-backs are alone 1vs1, but that doesn't explain why my centre-backs are totally lost when the cross/cutback comes...

Table. We are one position worse than the month before, but still 6 points from playoffs. The tycoon side Stalybridge looks like they can actually get promoted (finally ).

Upcoming fixtures. The only somewhat exciting game is the game against Buxton, who demolished us 4-0 in the reverse fixture. I'm looking for a revenge (and many wins)!

February 22

December 2030. Christmas didn't come early, it didn't come at all.. In the first game of the month,against Kidsgrove, we had 2 man advantage for almost 15 mins, but we couldn't equalise. In the last game against Trafford we were leading 2-0 until the 80th minute. Then GIbbons 30b conceded a penalty and got a yellow from it. Still leading 2-1. But minute later he took another yellow and in the 84th minute Trafford equalised.

These two games tell the story: we do not have the luck on our side as we should be winning a fair amount of games. We do not have enough quality and consistency to fight for the promotion without some good luck - and we haven't had that yet.

Table. Even after a quite disastrous month, we are "only" six points from the last playoff place.

Youth intake preview. This is the worst preview so far, but it is still a 5-star intake. Having full-backs as the most promising position is really nice, my dream would be a physical beast as left or right back

Upcoming fixtures. New year, same old opponents. We need to find our form to be able to at least challenge for the promotion spots. Warrington are the best side of these, other teams should be close to our level.

February 21

5 minutes ago, shd34_216_42 said:

I wonder what happens if you delay the new contract for youth players until absolutely necessary, given that the non-contract at 17 doesn't keep the player around that long if at all.

What database are you using, out of curiosity?

Almost all the players have signed a pre-contract so when they turn 17 they automatically switch from youth contract to non-contract. The contract negotiation happens when I sign them from the youth intake, I do nothing after that. Only the players with least potential want to have youth contract. But it would be worth trying to try give also better players youth contracts only, which I guess they see as worse option than the non-contract.

I'm using @ivanwright26's (I don't know if this is the same person, but it's the same as his Steam handle) "England Level 10 League & Data Updates" which I got from Steam Workshop. It feels realistic enough, and has worked very well so far!

February 21

November 2030. Good month - really good! Hanley Town were better than us, but even in that game we were close of getting something out of it. We didn't concede for four games, that's just amazing!

I forgot to take a screenshot of the league table, but we are 8th in the league, two points outside of playoff positions.

Transfer out. We lost our best outfield player... after he got the non-contract on his 17th birthday, he stayed in the team for less than a month. He was our starting left back, and what made it even worse was that three weeks later we lost his backup as well. :seagull: We've lost 9 players so far, but only four of them had some kind of role in the first team.

Upcoming fixtures. No cup games this month (we are still in the league cup), but many difficult league games. Kidsgrove is the only side from the bottom half. We also face two of the leagues sides owned by tycoons, Atherton & Stalybridge who both have 1 m€/year wage budget

We also get our youth intake preview. I'm hoping for quick and/or strong strikers and wing-backs with good physicals.

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Posts posted by erik45