anagain

Headed Ooop North To Where It's Grim...Just Hope I Don't Crash And Burn - Blackburn Rovers (A New Chapter) As I mentioned previously, I was getting some attention from historically bigger clubs. Fulham were first and then Blackburn signalled their interest. Then, one morning... I had to accept the offer. They won the Premier League once. I was loving Wycombe. The flirtation with the play offs last season and we're still somewhat holding our own this year. I was starting to have grumbles from the players. Egbo, Adeniran, Scowen, McNally and Ejaria. All wanted new deals or more game time. You can't just ditch players doing well so I made my excuses. None were particularly happy but that's football. Adeniranw anted a new contract. I told him the club didn't have the money. He didn't buy it, but it's the truth. Blackburn's wage budget is significantly higher than ours. Did I say they once won the Premier League? How Did November Go For Wycombe? We had started off with a tough nil-nil against Barnsley; a team improving, and had then easily beaten Millwall despite a first half in which they pushed and in which we had John Woods stupidly sent off. Our second half was so much better, Owen scoring again and then Emmanuel banging in a penalty. Millwall will be gutted but it was pleasing to see the team regroup with ten men. I had had news from Blackburn about whether I'd like to take staff members with me the day before the Brentford game and it was on my mind whe we took to Adams Park for the match. Grumblers McNally and Scows got a chance due to fitness levels and I pushed them to deliver. The whole team did in the first half and we found ourselves 2-0 up at the break; a lovely Owens goal that stretched their defence and a truly amazing finish from Scrimy for the second. Brentford turned the tables in the second half and we were probably lucky to get a point. The next morning... I am sorry to leave Wycombe but it was too good an offer to refuse. I would, if I am honest, have preferred Fulham, but Blackburn are a club that really want to get back to the Premier League. They have the wage budget that, if I can repeat my success at Wycombe, will allow me to get this team there. Right now they're struggling. Many will look at where Blackburn are and ask, "why go to Blackburn?" "Money". Yes, I'm a greedy good for nothing footballer...well, manager. They're too good to be down there. Famous last words? ~~~~~~~~~~ Blackburn - The Lowdown There's 🎶 4000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire 🎵 That's what John Lennon said. I don't know if it's still the case but Blackburn is an industrial town in central Lancashire, aout 20 miles northwest of Manchester. The town is a former textile powerhouse and has struggled in a similar way to other northern towns since the decline in the trade. It is currently a seat of investment and redevelopment, mainly thanks to the European Regional Development Fund. Well, so much for that. Sorry, no politics here. Recorded in the Domesday Book as Blacheborne in 1086, the town's name is said to be a combination of the River Blakewater, and an Old English word "burn", meaning a stream. It is said to have been the site of a major river crossing Roman times and then, as I said, a big textile town from the 13th century. Landmarks in the town are the cathedral and, of course, Ewood Park. You might wonder why Blackburn has a cathedral and is no a city. If you want to know I'll direct you to this article. There is also a statue of Queen Victoria, to commemorate a visit, an italianate town hall and a renaissance styled technical school. The pride and joy of Blackburn is, of course, the football club. Blackburn Rovers FC Blackburn Rovers was established in 1875, famously one of a few clubs to be a founding member of The Football League, in 1888, and then the Premier League, in 1992. The club moved to Ewood Park in 1890. Rovers' first trophy came in 1884 when they beat Scottish club Queen's Park in the FA Cup final. Blackburn would go on to win the competition four more times before 1891. Rovers first won England's top division in 1911-1912 before winning it again two years later. Rovers were runners-up in the second season of the Premier League before winning outright in 1994-1995. This was an incredible achievement for a team led by manager Kenny Dalglish, Alan Shearer's 34 goals, Tim Sherwood as captain, Tim Flowers between the sticks and current pundit Chris Sutton backing Shearer up. It may have been the first SAS in football. Rovers have been a Championship club since relegation from the PL in 2011-2012 (despite one season in League One). Last season was their best finish for years, ending the season third and losing to Norwich in the Play-Off semi-final. Rovers have competed in Europe seven seasons and got as far as the round of 32 in the UEFA Cup in 2006-2007. As I join the club they are languishing down in 20th in the Championship. They are surely too good to go down. The club agree. They want a play-off spot in the Championship by 2027-2028. Let the challenge commence! I'll come back with a squad run down.

Is realism the reason SI gave for removing logs of conversations? I never did see a reason. Likewise the decisions to remove all mentions of the weather from match screens. It's so damn hard to see what the weather is supposed to be now, and I believe it should be so significant. I wonder if they think we're supposed to know from the graphical display? Yeah, QoL of life is not something you should remove from a game, regardless of the age of your playerbase. To be honest, I might not remember Dominic O'Brien either...ironically. He looked familiar to my old mind. In reality, I have this crazy need to have to try and be funny. My intent was that I'd go to google and find someone instantly recognisable as a memory genius. Then I could make my joke. He was the best I could do. Sure he was on Record Breakers, or something.

Here is an example of another player conversations that doesn't have enough options, or the right options. There seems to be numerous 'I won't give in' options or 'I cave in' options. There's also plenty of 'just tell him to accept it' options. But so few 'challenge him to improve' options. Madela Egbo came to see me to say he wasn't happy with his game time. He's not played well all season, and that's why I haven't started him as much. There was one option to say I wasn't happy with his play. Mandela goes on to challenge me with what he needs to improve. I'm a confidence manager, not a tactical manager. Why can't I just say 'you need to improve...go out and play better'? Let me just challenge him to prove he's good enough, much like I can in a team talk. I told him to improve his distribution and he suddenly got very angry. I just feel like I'm constantly battling with the options offered. I know everyone is different but Egbo supports me. My team supports me. Would he not say 'I'm gonna listen to you, boss...I'll show what I have'? I'm sure SI are on top of things. I've been told they're aware of issues with promises. To be honest, I'm not sure if conversation options need condensing or adding too. I think it's a bit of both. Conversation options seem to follow the same format of convince, insist or threaten but don't follow the press conference pattern of selecting a stance to go with an option. Instead of having each question repeated under insist, threaten and convince, how about just have an option to, a) agree with the play, b) challenge the player, c) berate the player or, d) friendly convince (among other possibilities). With each you can change the tone, much like you would a press conference. Simplify, but improve the variety of options. I'm sure it can be done. The game also desperately needs to remember and catalogue the conversations we have with people in the game. It used to until a couple of FMs ago. For some reason, SI suddenly got rid of things like that. Are we all supposed to have the memory of Dominic O'Brien (look him up, kids. I'm sure he was on telly late 80s/90s)? I'm closing in on 50 and work long, stressful hours. I can't remember what I did yesterday sometimes. SI expect me to remember what I said to a player 3 days ago? Logs, SI. The game can do it. It does it for press conferences. Why can't it do it for conversations? We have to bash what we love to make it perfect. As I said in another post, I love this game. I'm in love with FM again after some number of years where I struggled to keep going. There's so much social element that just seems to be chucked in to the game but not refined or perfected. Before much more is added lets get what's there perfected. Bring back logs for all conversation - not just press conferences Refine the questions asked in conversations and improve the layout to replicate press conferences Give us better options to ask questions or reply to demands with more pertinent responses Reflect that managers can be confidence or motivational managers, and not always tactical I have motivation of 20, why can't I tell a player he hasn't performed but I challenge him to go out there and prove me wrong? Outside of a team talk, I mean Let's do away with responses that don't make sense considering a player's personality or relationship with the manager Players seem to be either furious or appeased. There's so rarely anything in between Be better at getting across how a player will react, and make that more obvious if I've known them a considerable amount of time. Game rarely does that. I know it's all a work in progress but the social element of FM really needs to go somewhere in FM23. I don't wante asy mode...I realise it may sound like that in some things I say. If I screw up then players should be angry. Considering I know these players and train with them daily, it's often amazing how little I seem to know them. I suppose I should be graetful for one thing. The game can become easy with time at a club. Having constant battles with my players over wants and desires and a lack of options to converse can slow down running away against the AI. I am sure I could probably be better at managing my squad too.

October 2025 - Mid-Table Form...Still Challenging We can't string two results together... Our form has been very patchy for the past couple of months but we're still in and around the pack chasing for the top six. Brentford seem to be the only club that appear to want to win this league though, with many other teams, including ourselves fighting amongst ourselves. Southampton have been the surprise package because they don't seem to be able to find true form. On the other hand, you might call Peterborough the surprise package. The promoted team are emulating the us of last season and are right up there. First up in October was a tough game in which we welcomed promotion chasing West Brom to Adams Park. Both sides fought hard and created a number of chances but the keepers were on top at the end of the day. O'Hara, as is so often case, was our man of the match. The goals continued to go missing a week later as we entertained Reading in the late Saturday game on Sky. Only our center back pairing of Hamilton and Zaletel really turned up for this but they were unable to stop Reading snatching a great win with two well taken goals from young forward, Jack Joyce. There is a man who has an England career in his grasp. Our own forwards were blunt as a pencil in front of our own fans. I wanted a response when we travelled to Birmingham a few days later and I got it from the late entrance of our TV game's under performing Scrimy. Brum opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Zan was harshly adjudged to have pushed his man. We equalised before half time thanks to a lovely grass skimming effort from Adeniran. The second half was a tight affair and, with ten minutes left, I decided to offer Scrimy the chance to rectify the poor effort a few days before and try and grab us the winner. Three minutes in to stoppage time and some neat interchange between Kane and Watts gave the latter the chance to play in Scrimy. The ball was a peach and Scrimy did what we know he can do best. He latched on to the inviting ball, made space for himself and slotted it in the back of the net. We were back to winning ways...at last. Could we actually string two wins together a few days later as we travelled up to Sheffield to meet United? The answer would be a humbling no. The Blades were the better side throughout; their midfield providing a real challenge, especially Gonzalo Vilar who got the winner after having a fantastic game. Scrimy had gotten his second goal in two games to level the tie after an early back post finish from Tzolis but we just weren't in the game in the second half. My right side aren't firing and Owen shows just glimpses of form without serious end product. ~~~~~ We're still in the chase but there are worrying signs that this season will fizzle out in to mid table obscurity. Belief among the squad has never been higher and even Zan supports me, despite his grumbles about not fitting in. I may have found the answer to that for the January window though...if we can find the money. We're still challenging for the play offs right now but we'll need to find some steady form. Brentford and Southampton are the teams that have forged ahead at the end of October. The Bees had a huge lead until losing at lowly Preston. That is the beauty of the Championship. And just as we are thinking things could do with a boost we lose a man who has always delivered when called upon. If it wasn't for Kane's consistency Caleb would be first choice. What the Ozzie has shown an ability for is playing just behind Scrimy. Caleb can see a pass like a camel can see water. We plough on... Elsewhere... English Premier League It is still Everton and Arsenal at the top whilst City have opened a three point gap in third. Everton have been surprising all comers and have had two fantastic 1-0 wins over City and Liverpool; the Merseyside derby win coming in front of the cameras this month. Dominic Calvert-Lewin has banged in seven goals for the Toffees but we can't rule out James Ward-Prowse's eight assists. Brighton are the next best surprise package, in fourth, but Spurs and Manchester United continue to struggle lower mid table. AFC Bournemouth finally climbed out of the relegation zone this month, mainly thanks to a late Stuart Armstrong goal to beat struggling QPR. The Cherries also nearly gained a famous win over City in the League Cup, losing an entertaining match on penalties. European Continent Bayern are showing the rest how to win a league at a canter in Germany, but then they have a point to prove after last season. PSG are still battling in France though, with Monaco topping the pile. In Scotland, Celtic have gained some ground but Dundee United still surprisingly head Rangers at the top. This month we'll look at the league of one of our loaned out young strikers. That is the Cymru Premier and Jayden Wareham's Bangor City who are starting to lose ground on TNS. TNS have lost just once, to Bangor in September, but got their revenge with a win on the Menai this month. Jayden has five goals this season and I'd like to see him continue to impress. We'll have a look at the European Qualifying tournament for next year's World Cup next time. The group stage ends midway through November and we'll look at who's headed to the USA, Canada and Mexico for certain. As a little taster, England are more or less there. There is another big European nation with two games left to avoid a play off. Former Club Watch October hasn't gone well for Weymouth. The Terras lost twice and drew once to drop back down to 12th in their league. My old team are out of the FA Cup too. They beat Margate but then lost a reply to Cambridge United in the Fourth Qualifying Round. Weymouth have a tough November in which they face first and second in the National League South. Poole Town are solid bottom of the league and haven't won since mid-September. November I said above that Southampton and Brentford are the two teams forging ahead and making a real go at winning this league. Guess who we face in November? Barnsley, Sunderland and Fulham are having mixed seasons but have the ability to really test us. We really have to get three points against strugglers, Millwall. In one last piece of news. I've been linked with vacant jobs at Fulham and Blackburn this past month. I didn't come right out and say it but if offered the Fulham job I would have to seriously consider it. The nice balance we had at the start of the season is dwindling fast. We're only just over our wage budget but we lose more each month than we make. I am sure it will hold out. Ejaria is wanted by a Spanish club though. If they bid I'd accept and hopefully get a nice pay day. We're still a selling club really.

September 2025 - Our Good Start Is Halted The reality of the Championship hit us hard in September with two games in which we conceded a whopping eight goals. We did manage a good draw at a favourite to end the month better though. We started September by welcoming Forest to Adams Park. We suffered a humiliating defeat to a resurgent Forest side with Alex Mighten putting in a match-winning performance. We made up for the disappointment a little a week later as we welcomed Preston. It was a tight game that was level at half time and still level with ten minutes remaining. I opted for a change and brought Eddie de Zeeuw on up front. It paid massive dividends as Eddie latched on to a lovely Kovacevic ball to fire home the winner. Being back to winning ways didn't last long for us. Just four days later we travelled to Peterborough to face a team that we should really be beating. We got stunned in to last week though as Peterborough dominated us with a great display. I looked on in disbelief as they routed us 4-1. Only Ali Koiki came out of the game with any credit, scoring our only goal. A game to forget. It wouldn't get any easier either as we continued our season in East Anglia just a few days later. This was our annual trip to Norwich and we've always given the Canaries a good game since they came down and we went up. The trend continued as the game ended 0-0. If truth be told we had the better chances. We just failed to find the net. Norwich, for all their effort, failed to break us down and I think they'll be happy with a point. Despite the poor month we end September in third place in the league but there are teams around us with a game in hand, most notably Southampton and current top of the pile side, Brentford. Elsewhere... English Premier League Arsenal and Everton are still top of the pile in England. Brighton and Manchester City make up the top four. Manchester United and Tottenham have had awful starts and find themselves in the bottom half. Bournemouth grabbed their first win of the season in September, 1-0 over Stoke, but losses to Spurs and Brighton see the Cherries still in the bottom three. European Leagues Bayern are back on top in Germany, with Dortmund this year falling behind. PSG also have gotten over their early poor form to find themselves a point behind Monaco. The real shock in Europe is in Scotland. Dundee United still lead the pack, with Rangers a point behind, but Celtic are way down in 8th at this early stage. September's guest league is for our new striker from Croatia. The end of Spetember finds Rijeka and Dinamo Zagreb top of the pile. Former Club Watch Weymouth have had a slightly better month than August and they find themselves up to tenth in the National League South. There was just one defeat for the Terras at Farnborough. There was also a dominant 3-0 win in the FA Cup against Paulton. In the Third Round the Terras travel to Margate. October October is another short month, thanks to another international break, with just four league games. West Brom are second and will be a tough game, but Reading, Birmingham and Sheffield United have had poor starts. That doesn't, of course, mean they'll be easy games. The story with Zaletel will hopefully improve in October. I've left it to now to say that he came to me this month to say he wasn't happy and wanted to leave. Having only been here a few weeks I suggested he get his head down andtry to fit in. Zan played in our last game against Norwich and did well. Hopefully it marks a change in mentality. Looking forward, I hope he doesn't prove to be a poor signing.

Thanks. I hadn't seen that acknowledgement

I hope SI still read this thread. They need to do better in FM23 when it comes to player promises. Let me outline for a situation that is just ridiculous. In my second season in the CH I wanted a new CD. My scouts come to me with a Slovenian playing in Holland. He's cheaper than any English player of the same ability and will get a work permit. Long story, short, a short while later I have my new center back. Zan Zalatel. The caveat is he wants me to sign someone to help him settle. A former teammate or someone of his nationality. Now I know many will say "don't do promises" but this would happen in real life. Well, it could. Some settle better than others. I like to leave things like that in because it feels more real to me. Now it gets stupid. I spoke to Zan about recommending a player I could sign. I assumed he would recommend someone to help him settle - what with the promise, and all. He recommended a South American. I'm not even sure they were teammates. I forget, but I couldn't scout him without paying. His wage demands looked beyond me. Okay, I'll ask for another position. For some reason you can only ask a player to recommend by position. Not, as would be totally reasonable, ask for any player. Oh look, I can't. The option is greyed out. Wonderful. If he recommends a South American then surely someone from Croatia - who speaks a language Zan speaks - will do. I sign a young Croatian forward on loan. I needed another forward, he's good and surely Zan will like him. I'd already tried signing a forward from Zan's former club and he didn't get a work permit. Work permits were an issue here. Zan is an international. Zan's not happy in promises. I haven't made enough effort to sign a player to help him settle. A few days later: I have a chat with Zan. "I'm not happy you broke your promise", he says. He only gave me two weeks but I didn't get a chance to say that. Work permits were a problem. I couldn't say that. I really tried, Zan. I couldn't say that. I didn't know who you really wanted. Guess what? I couldn't say that. "I'm sorry, Zan. Can we start again and I'll work hard to make amends?" I'm grovelling. "Nah, you ******* ****, I'm ******* furious. I want to leave." He didn't swear in game, but it looks more dramatic. He's only been here two weeks and played about ten minutes of football. He's on an intensive language course. We're 5 points clear at the top of the table. He's still not happy. I'll have to suck it up. I tried to pacify him. I offered him my brand new sports car. Well, I would have. It gets worse. Next day: What is this, SI? This is utterly pathetic. The promises system in this game is not fit for the purpose it is supposed to serve. There is no interaction after the original promise There is no information on how to achieve a promise There are other tools, that should be able to be used in conjuction with the promise, that are inadequate Meetings with players give no options The outcomes are beyond stupid This, in my mind, has now become priority number one to be fixed for FM23. Promises ruin the game in their current state. The idea is great. It fleshes the game out...or would if it worked. There needs to be: Dialogue with players at all stages of the promise. Inception, development and finalisation Managers need a checklist of exactlty what the player wants that will fulfill the promise Players don't go overboard like this, surely. Especially if they've been at a club 2 weeks. If a player is unhappy - not saying it can't happen - the meeting needs more responses than sorry or shut up! This has been discussed so many times though. I'm sure SI know what's wrong. It has to be fixed. If not fixed, then removed. It would be better out of game if it isn't improved. I love this game. I've passed 700 hours on FM22. I love my save. I'm truly in love with FM again these last few editions. It is a fantastic game that has given me more money's worth than 99% of other games. A classic game deserves great mechanics that work. The team meeting went quite well actually. I'm amazed! I hope someone from SI reads this. I love your game, but please fix this great idea for a mechanic that just, sadly, does not work. I'm sure you have loads of examples from people of what is wrong with promises. I did make a copy of my save, however. If anyone would like it just ask.

August 2025 - Off To A Steady Start We have made a steady start to our Championship campaign; strong defensively but perhaps lacking a little in attack. We've not scored in abundance but we've conceded just the loan goal in the league. It's wonderful that our goals have come from a number of sources too. We kicked off our Championship campaign by welcoming Blackpool to Adams Park. In a tight game Ovie Ejaria was the loan scorer, slotting home at the near post following great work down the right by marauding wing back Egbo. After a brief interlude for the League Cup, we took the boys up to Huddersfield for an away game I thought would be tougher. Again we won by a single goal margin as Riley Owen latched on to a keeper's parry midway through the second half. A week later Middlebrough gave us a similarly close game that we were probably lucky to sneak a win in thanks to a Dijksteel own goal late in the game. So, unbeaten in three, but only having scored three goals, we took ourselves next to Luton for a game against a side that had struggled in the early days. Bizarrely, Luton were the sternest test yet and scored the first goal against us in these early days of the campaign. My new right winger, John Woods, hadn't had the best start to his Wycombe career but I chose to perservere with him and he thanked me with the first goal in this game; a lovely cushioned volley finish from the edge of the box. Luton equalised shortly after but Scrimy won us the points when he ran on to Caleb Watts' wonderful through ball. We'd had bad news in the week leading up to the Luton game with Ejaria suffering an injur that will keep him out for a few weeks. That meant a change of system with Caleb moving in to the playmaker role between midfield and attack. I felt it a good decision when the young midfielder played that ball beautifully into the path of Scrimy. We ended the month with a trip to Ewood Park and recorded another narrow win by a goal to nil. It was Oliver Pendlebury that this time thanked me for my confidence in him. I bought the youngster on to replace a tired Riley Owen midway through the second half and he struck with a first time effort that seemed to puzzle the Rovers keeper and sneak in at the near post. League Cup First Round In the first round of the League Cup we drew relegated Brentford. I knew this would be a tough game but we performed admirably to take the match to a penalty shoot out. Caleb Watts was our scorer in a much changed side from the season opener against Blackpool. Caleb equalised a Daramy opener for Brentford. Ironically, it was Caleb that missed the decisive penalty in the shoot out. There's no blame attached to his miss. Caleb will take this moment and learn from it So, the end of August sees us sensationally top of the Championship by a massive five points from favourites Southampton. We've played a game more than the rest though. I never saw this start in my wildest dreams. Transfer Window Closes With an international break in early September I'l cover the closing of the summer transfer window now. To start, there was one signing I mentioned previously and he arrived midway through August, after an application for a work permit. He got that and so I welcome: Žan Zaletel Zan (not doing that character every time) joins us from Feyenoord for a good amount of money but I have faith he can be a great recruit for us. Like Cihan, Zan speak little English so I have offered him an intensive language course. Zan would also like me to attempt to find him a former team mate or Slovenian national to help him settle. I will do my best with that but some sales may be necessary. Zan is a tough tackling and composed center back with 3 caps for the Slovenian National side. When he learns the language Zan could be a great bet for captain. Deadline Day Deals Juwon Whichelow Juwon is a young winger that joins us on loan from Fulham. I wanted another right sided player to push the, at the time, underperforming John Woods. My scouts came to me with Juwon. He's raw but Juwon has determination in abundance and will be an able replacement on either the right or the left. Zlatan Košćević We've signed Zlatan. Just not that one. Zlatan Koscevic is a young Croatian forward that we have secured on loan from Dinamo. Okay, so chiefly this is an attempt to appease Zan's desire to have someone to help him settle. It is also a desire for more up front though. Zlatan is a creative and determined forward that can fill Ejaria's role or drop a little deeper in to advanced midfield. If Zlatan does indeed appease Zan I'll be very happy. I'm worried he won't. We have just the one outgoing on deadline day. To free up some wages Jack Sparkes has headed out on loan to Northampton Town. The big story of the transfer window in the Championship was Southampton, signing Daniel Braganca for £47.5million on deadline day. Fulham have let go a whopping 33 players though. So where are we in terms of wages now that the window has closed? Well, we're still remarkably overperforming our wage paying power. We're plucky. Elsewhere... English Premier League It is early days in England's top division but Arsenal and Everton have the early lead, both unbeaten after three and with +5 goals. It has been a dreadful start for Liverpool and Spurs who are both yet to win. An even worse start is on record for Bournemouth. The Cherries are yet to score and lost to Srsenal, Newcastle and Manchester United in August. They sit bottom. Europe It is early days on the continent but Bayern look to be eager to get one back on Dortmund this year and the giants have started unbeaten. In France it is not a great start by PSG with Lyon already leading by three points. In Scotland, Rangers and Celtic have both had poor starts and Dundee United lead the pack. In honour of our new foreign import, I have chosen Zan's home nation Prva Liga as this month's guest league. Mura lead the pack after seven games in Slovenia, with Zan's former club Celje second. Also in Europe, the group stages for the three continental competitions have been drawn as follows: Former Club Watch It has been a mixed start for Weymouth. Under the continued reign of Danny Thorpe the club won two and lost two of their opening four games. Looking closer, we see it was their first two games the Terras lost but they've come back strong with two wins, the latest on deadline day. Home town club Poole have faired even worse with just one point and one goal so far. It could be a long season. September With me changing the order a little, how does September look for Wycombe? Well, there are just four games, but a tough test against Norwich at the end of the month. In a final piece of news, Zan Zalatel was not impressed that I didn't sign a player to help him settle. So much for searching high and low for a player from his region that speaks a language Zan speaks. Zan is now very unhappy and wants to leave. He's only played about 10 minutes!! FM22 is terrible for this utter ridiculousness. The game gives you no idea of what constitutes an applicable player and doesn't let me ask Zan? When I asked him to recommend a signing he recommended a player in South America!! I should have signed an Englishman, but Zan was as good as I could get from here and cheaper. Much cheaper. I have an unhappy baldy at the club. Do better in FM23 please, Sports Interactive Cya all at the end of September. Maybe Zan will have stopped sulking.

Thanks. Its a fun save.

Wycombe Wanderers - Season 2025/2026 - English Championship Pre-Season, Transfer Window and Season Preview Transfer windows with Wycombe are a challenge. I must have seen reports for 500 players. I've trialled many. Finally signed some. Am I happy with our business? Well, we'll have to see. I'd have loved better, but when the board give you less than a mill kitty and £122k for a wage budget you have to cut corners. I really do not know how we managed 5th last season. If we make play offs this season I deserve to be hailed a hero. Or, FM is just easy. Transfer Window Outgoings Let's start with transfers, and those that have left the club first. Only Tafa has left the club permanently to date (other than Stan retiring) but there have been a number of loan moves for our youngsters. Jayden Wareham and Karl Lee are new signings that I have sent back to their original clubs for a season on loan. They're stars for the future and I'll introduce them below. This is unlikely to be all. I'll assess a few more players over the first few league games and decide whether any more young players need a season's loan. This depends very much on any other incomings. EDIT: Four players also were released or left of their own accord. Incomings Yes, we've spent a lot more than we've made. I was expecting transfer interest in my bigger stars but it hasn't yet materialised. Two names you'll likely recognise. Riley Owen has spent the last two seasons on loan here and Caleb Watts played regularly towards the end of his loan spell last season. Caleb's contract was expiring at the end of the season and I decided to further his time here. Riley will be our main man wide left and Caleb will push Herbie Kane for a spot in midfield. I should just buy Riley. He is valued at £1million though. And contracted till 2028. Spurs clearly rate him for the future. Josh Emmanuel Josh is a Nigerian born full back with English and American nationality and joins from MLS club Minnesota United for a fee of £200k. Josh can play on either side of our defence, although he is most comfortable on the right. He could also play further forward, if called upon. The fans are reasonably happy and I look forward to seeing what Josh can do. John Woods Finding a right winger has been a challenge for me for a couple of seasons now. We have the aging David Wheeler that can be called on for a number of positions and Stan filled in there last season. However, John Woods is a dedicated right winger that didn't get the reception I hoped for when he signed. I think that goes down to the fact that he's an aggressive young man and seems to have a history of rubbing people up the wrong way. Good. I hope he gets stuck in and shows some passion. Is he good enough for this level? I think so. His pre-season form was patchy but I hope to get the best of him in our first game. John is an American with English as a second nationality (helps with the work permits) but has spent most of his career in England. He joins us after his Plymouth contract expired and will hopefully prove himself to the fans. I did suggest the fans weren't too keen on John. Ali Koiki And now on to my search for a left back that can take this club forward. Someone who can secure the left back spot as their own. The first of two new signings to battle it out at left back is Ali Koiki, a former Palace youth player who joins us from Northampton Town on a free. Northampton Town might raise a few eyebrows, but this has been a challenging position to fill. Ali has a future, even if he might not be quite there just yet. Ali is primarily in my plans as a left back option but he is equally promising further forward. John Sparkes is our other option on the left that Ali will battle with. John proved to be better more advanced and did well last season. I think Ali is better though. I like versatility. Moussa N'Diaye Moussa is the player I signed with the intention of him being first choice at left back. He might be better on the left of central defence but that is a dilemma that will reveal itself as the season gets going. Mousa is a Senagalese U20 international who joins us on a free from Barcelona. Yes, we signed a player from the Spanish giants. He even played a game for Barcelona; he started as Barcelona lost 2-0 to Real Sociedad in May. It was a strangely makeshift line up in a game fourteen days before the Champions League Final and the title was out of their grasp. Anyone who can say they played for Barcelona must have some talent though. Moussa is just 23 years old with great physicality. He made need to work on his technical skills but I have high hopes for Moussa. Jayden Wareham Jayden is the first of three youngsters that I have brought to Wycombe as prospects for the future. Jayden is a 23 year old that was once on the books of Chelsea but joins us from Bangor City. Jayden is another player the fans didn't rate but I believe there is promise here. Jayden is quick and has some natural finishing ability. He scored 18 goals last season as Bangor finished third in the Cymru Premier and qualified for the Europa Conference League. The Citizens are sadly out of that competition but I've let Jayden return to Wales on loan for a season where he can hopefully get some more experience under his belt. I had a memorable time as manager of Bangor City in a past FM, so it's nice to sign a player of theirs. Cihan Buğdaycı That's the last time I'm typing the characters, but I'm a stickler for realism on occasion. Cihan is a young Turkish right back that my scouting team spotted whilst playing for Hatayspor in the Turkish Super Lig. Cihan is a kid with a lot of good opinion of his skills. I'm not sure he's at the level we require yet but there's promise here. I am looking for a loan deal for Cihan so he can learn the English game. We shall see how he performs. I've also sent the lad on an English course that the club will fund. Cihan is an impressive player physically and he is future captain material. We need to see some progress in his technical ability though. Hopefully I have spent £135k wisely. Karl Lee The last incoming, for now, is a young Northern irish full back who joins for £50k from Glenavon. Karl is a year older, and probably slightly better, than Cihan and has agreed to head back to Lurgan for a season. Karl is perhaps even more confident than Cihan. He expects to be playing first team football next season, and he expects to be an important player. Good luck to him. Go out and impress me, Karl. Eddie de Zeeuw impressed me on loan at Woking last season and I've decided to keep him here for this coming season because of that. Let's see if Karl can replicate that accomplishment. We have one final deal in the works but it's not quite over the line yet. I'll update that as it happens. Pre-Season We had a rewarding pre-season that started with a training camp in the Netherlands. In four games, all be it easier tasks, we came away with four wins, 15 goals scored and just 2 conceded. I took a number of triallists with us but sadly none have done enough for me to sign them. One or two were close but we have to be frugal with our wage budget. If I'm to spend money it has to be well spent. Back home, we lost two close games to Bournemouth and Reading. 2025/2026 English Championship - Season Preview It is safe to say that we're not fancied this season. We start the season home to Blackpool before travelling to our first away game in Huddersfield. Our first huge test is at the end of September when we face last season's underachievers, Norwich. Our first relegated opposition is not until November when we face Brentford. Scarily, we face Southampton a week after that and Fulham a week after the Saints. Erk! Our final game is home to Wigan. Boxing day sees us face newly promoted Charlton and we play WBA on New Years Day. We're not fancied this season. Of course, we were odds on for relegation last season and we finished 5th. Can we recreate that famous season? I have included the media's Dream Eleven so you can see how fancied Southampton really are. The red is them. All of them. I'll beat them...for Bournemouth! The Saints have had a clearout too. Just to show what we're up against, too, Southampton spent £28m of the above money earnt on this okayish fella. He ain't bad (not fully scouted, sorry). I was going to have a look at manager movements in the lead up to this season... ...but there strangely have been none. I'll just move on to us one final time (this is getting long). Wycombe Wanderers Squad (as of Friday, 8th August 2025) Goalkeepers Kieran O'Hara is number one again. Cieran Slicker and Alex Kovačević can fight it out to see who can play cup games. I want to keep two reserve keepers around. Defenders Our starting back four will likely be Mandela Egbo, Jamie Hamilton, Moussa N'Diaye and one from Kaelan Casey and Luke McNally. The transfer in the pipeline is for a defender that should slot in as first choice, alongside Hamilton. He's a right footer so Jamie might have to switch to playing left side. Scott High and Josh Emmanuel will start as back up for right back. Josh and Ali Koiki for left back. In the center Scott O'Reilly looks to be headed out for a year. Moussa is also back up in the center. Herbie Kane and Josh Scowen could play there in an emergency. Midfielders My first choice midfield is John Woods, Herbie Kane, Dennis Adeniran and Riley Owen. I'm a little concered about the right still. I haven't been able to find further competition for that spot, but 34 year old David Wheeler is competent back up for now. Josh Emmanuel could do a job there, I expect. On the left, Riley Owen's competition is John Sparkes and Ali Koiki. In the center Caleb Watts is an able deputy for Herbie and Scows will push Adeniran, along with Kaelan Casey and Scott High. Oliver Pendlebury is 23 now and has spent the last few seasons on loan. I've decided to keep Oliver around this season and he will provide a more attacking option in central midfield as well as being able to do a job in a 4-4-1-1. Not sure I have ever introduced Oliver. Forwards Our first choice front two will be Ovie Ejaria and Jake Scrimshaw. As I said earlier, Eddie de Zeeuw is staying at the club this season and will be backup. David Wheeler is also an option up front. We're light up front. I would love another man but pickings have been slim. I did look at bringing back Aaron McDonagh but his wage requirments left me little to play with for replacements I had to make. Ideally I would like someone who can play up front or wide right. I have the perfect guy but he is unlikely to get a work permit. I tried last season. Maybe you recall Filip Stuparevic. The search continues. There is one last point. Our probable next signing would like me to try and find a player to help him settle - yes, he's not English - so maybe he can recommend a forward. For now that's our lot. Bring on Blackpool. A former favourite wants to say something. C'mon Wycombe! Thanks, Adebayo. I'm starting to like this club. They won their League One opener today 3-0 against Burton with goals from Wheeler, Scowen and former player of mine, Mehmeti. Good omens? Blackpool start with a B.

Yep. FM is far from perfection. It has issues each version. What it is is always playable to an extent at which it becomes better value for money than almost any game on the market. What else can you spend £40 on and get 700 hours enjoyment from? I make that 5p per hour of enjoyment.

That's only true for certain updates. Perhaps there are things that don't work in my save (league rules in some countries) but it hasn't affected my enjoyment of the save. Besides, you have 12 months to enjoy the game. Unless you're like me and it takes you a month plus to run a season then what's the problem? Start a save at release and then start a new save with an update. Some people get through seasons in a day. I suspect it's more of a problem for people who enjoy countries that may have been programmed wrong but they still work. Don't they? I think of FM as a snapshot in time. An laternate football reality that isn't always the same as the real world. In this current reality (FM22) top players tend to play until they're about 38 and youngsters struggle to make teams unless they're outstanding. It's the age of the bionic near 40s footballer. Next FM will be different. I have near 700 hours of enjoyment in this FM. I had a few hundred hours in FM20 or 21 (I forget which - old brain). The database I was using was the beta one and I was managing Bangor City for 5 or 6 seasons. The league sorting rules in Wales were messed up beyond. I had northern teams in the Cymru South, and vice versa. Also the League Cup didn't include teams from the Cymru South and North. It was broken. I still happily did all those seasons until a small error broke my game. I got my money's worth and above. Is it ideal that there might be errors with rules? No, of course not. SI will most likely say that too. Can the game still be played at first release. Clearly. I'm evidence of that. FM is a huge game. Mistakes happen and they work hard to fix them. I believe that most ME errors or things that don't work great will be playable updates, i.e. you can continue your save. Again, FM is a snapshot. It's never going to identally mirror the real world. You know what? I see no harm in waiting a year and buying it on a sale. If that's what people want to do then that's their choice. I've missed a version before. I needed a break from the game that I play so much. I just think people fail to see that imperfections are going to happen and that game is playable from day 1. Compare the state of FM at launch to something like Cyberpunk. Many AAA games are broken months after release and cost a lot more for less hours content. And to finish. Criticism is valid. I've never said it isn't. In many, many cases on this forum it's far from constructive though. It's simply wrong that the game isn't playable until the 3rd update, as many allege.

Well... How about you don't download the latest super tactic and use it to exploit the game and make it too easy? The game's not hard, I agree, but I think you need to understand AI and difficulty in games first. Many games, think Civ, create artificial difficulties to help the AI. These don't truly make the AI better, they just give it advantages that make the beating of the AI by the player easier. Other games, think Dark Souls, will give enemies insane health bonuses to make them harder. That's not all but it's part of it. There's little FM can do to boost the diffulty of the game in these ways. The problem however is that boosting the AI to a level at which it can compete with us is not simpler. I am in no way an expert on this but I do know its a subject that has come up before and I looked into aswell as read stuff by others here. AI will generally be improved by writing more code but for every little bit of code you add you make the game more demanding. Is giving yourself caveats such a bad thing anyway? I've been playing the game to Llama rules for years. It still gets easy but I hardly see it as a negative to stop myself doing such things as using player search or downloading tactics. For what it's worth I really do wish the game was harder. I've become very disappointed with the AI squad building this year. The AI relies way too much on old stars rather than buying youngsters. AI will improve with time, and computing power, but we have to be realistic.

I love that so many people that go on to overly criticise FM feel the need to point out how they've played FM since it was on the Amiga. Does that make grumbles more effective?

Wycombe Wanderers - 2024/2025 - English Championship - Season Review Player Stats Not included in the above table: Junior Stanislas (retired before I could do stats) Aims For Next Season Despite what has been a fantastic season I don't think my aims are to recreate the play off accomplishment. We've already lost Stanislas and Tafazolli is off to the States. Much of this season's success is down to the goalscoring of Aaron McDonagh and I honestly don't know if he will be here next season. Surely Chelsea have their eyes on him and, if they don't give him game time themselves, they willw ant him to play top level football. That doesn't mean I won't try to nab him. Scrimy has signed a new contract and he showed, at the tailend of the season, that he was good enough to be our goalscorer. Jamie Hamilton is another question mark. It seems Jamie is being looked at by a number of clubs and they will easily meet his release clause. The board did just put £2.5m in to the club to ease troubles so I wonder if selling the likes of Hamilton is they proper thing to do. If he gets offers, of course. So, what are my key needs for next season? Left Back - someone who can really make the place their own. Leif Davis' loan will end soon and Marshall has decided to leave. Neither were good enough this year. Right and Left Wing - Firstly, I need to replace Stanislas on the right. Secondly, I may need a new left winger. Riley Owens is out of contract at Spurs at the end of the season but will he join us? Forwards - If we can't get McDonagh again then we need new faces up top. How much farther will I get? I don't know, to be honest. I am enjoying the save more lately and I might try to get another season in. I'm enjoying playing other games too so I doubt it'll be quick. I'd actually like a third club, and one with more money. I don't know what happened to the interest in me.

Championship Play Offs - Season 2024/2025 Semi-Final First Leg - Tuesday, 20th May 2025, 19:45 With both teams bizarrely in their change kits we started well against Rangers. With 25 minutes gone the ball broke from midfield for Riley Owen to slot on to. The young winger took his time and placed the ball calmy past Seny Dieng in the QPR goal. Sadly, the lead didn't last long and QPR levelled with a stunning effort from the left of the box by Andy Rinomhota. Following a Rangers free kick a period of head tennis found Rinomhota in acres of space on the edge of the box. He duly turned and fired an unstoppable effort past O'Hara. That was the action until right at the very end of the game. QPR had the best of the play throughout and made us pay seven minutes from the end. A cracking left wing cross from Gibson perfectly found the head of Raniel and he fired a bullet of a header past O'Hara to give the Londoners the lead in the tie. There was still time for drama however. In to stoppage time and we won the ball at left back. Leif Davis looked up and saw Scrimy signalling a run. His ball was a peach but James Dunne managed to get a foot in to deflect the ball. Unforetunately for Dunne, McDonagh was also present and our top scorer collected the clearance before playing the ball on for Scrimy to fire past Dieng! - OFFSIDE - But the lino was flagging for offside. Jake had just strayed in to an offside position as the defender cleared. We'd come so close but would have to be content with travelling to London a goal down. We could do it! ~~~ Semi-Final Second Leg - Saturday, 24th May 2025, 15:00 In a fantastic game we came so close to reaching a Wembley final. Rangers must have been confident as they made a number of changes. For us just Tafa replaced Kaelan Casey to add a bit of experience. It would also be the big man's last game for us if we didn't win. The game started as well for us as the first leg had. Denis Adeniran's ball into the box was turned on to Owen by Scrimy. In a similar manner to our disallowed goal a few days previous, a defender got a foot in and the ball landed at the feel of Aaron McDonagh. Our top scorer shot himself this time and the ball nestled in the back of the net to put us one up. QPR's first half was poor and it wasn't until after the break that they made some threat against us. We held firm against the challenge but couldn't find the goal that would give us the overall lead in the tie. That meant the match went in to extra time. I just wasn't sure how we'd find a second goal as we hadn't looked like adding the second. QPR did score though. Just when we thought we might hang on for a shoot out Raniel broke our hearts again. Chris Willock broke from midfield and played a great ball in to the path of the onrushing Raniel. The striker fired past O'Hara and we had some work to do. I immediately pushed the lads on more even though I feared this might open us up. We had no choice now of course. What we witnessed was special. The ballw as laid off to Stan, out wide right, and the veteran put in a quick cross that found McDonagh free in the middle of the box. The young striker connected beautifully on the volley and the ball soared past a stunned Baxter in the Rangers goal. We were level again! But it didn't last... Just when we thought we were headed for a shootout Rangers showed just what they had. With four minutes on the clock, Toffolo sent in a deep cross from the left. Raniel went down in a clash with Tafa but the ball landed at the feet of Sam Adegbenro, free in front of the keeper. The substitute finished easily and any penalty claims went unheard. We had to do it all again. But there wasn't enough time. We'd given it all but fell ever so slightly short. ~~~ In the other semi-final, Norwich beat Blackburn 4-2 on aggregate and the team that had underperformed all season would face QPR in the play-off final. But we'll face Norwich again next season as they lost on penalties to QPR, who go on to play Premier League football next season. Final Championship table Elsewhere... English Premier League Manchester City regained the title they last won in 2021 by eight points over Chelsea. City held on to the lead they had at the end of March, losing just one of their final eight games. They even added to the humbling with a 1-0 win over Chelsea and a 2-0 defeat of Liverpool. Also enteriung next season's Champions League are third placed Liverpool and fourth placed Arsenal. Everton and Newcastle finished 5th and 6th to qualify for the Europa League. Manchester United continued seasons of underperformance to finish 7th but qualify for the Europa Conference League. Bournemouth had a great season to finish 10th under Mowbray. Patson Daka top scored for the Cherries with 10 goals but it was an all around performance that also saw Grady Diangana get player of the season with 8 goals and 5 assists. What was sure to put an even bigger smile of the face of many Cherries fans was the relegation of near neighbours Southampton. The Saints dropped down to the Championship alongside Fulham and Brentford. There was almost some joy for Southampton as they narrowly lost the FA Cup Final on penalties to Manchester City after a 2-2 draw. The League Cup went to Liverpool as they beat Chelsea 2-1. Rest Of England It was a much better end to the season for Weymouth as they clawed their way back to earn a play off chance on the final day. The Terras then beat Dulwich Hamlet before losing on penalties to Havant & Waterlooville in the semi-final. It will be the National League South again next season for Weymouth. Europe European Leagues Yes, Dortmund and Lyon overturned the odds in Germany and France. PSG finished some way back in France. And end of season review is to come. This post is long enough already.

April/May 2025 - Forcing Our Way Over The Line April I had said it didn't look like we could make automatic promotion. That didn't prove quite so certain through much of April, but whatever the outcome a play off spot was ours to lose. Watford had a poor April and found themselves slipping back in to the pack. The Hornets lost 3-1 at home to Stoke midway through April and that left the door open for one of the chasers to steal their spot in the automatic places. At one point we looked like doing just that. It didn't start well, however, as we lost at home to Luton in a game we were never really in. The only good news was the scoring return of Jake Scrimshaw. If truth be told, Jake hasn't played anywhere near as much as he'd have liked. Ovie Ejaria's form had been poor though and I decided to give Jake a chance. Jake truly thanked me for the chance in our next game at Millwall. We'd started okay but had lost impetus in the second half, allowing Millwall an equaliser and a way back in to the game. I geed the team up and Scrimy delivered with a fifteen minute hattrick to win us the game. We followed up the good win over Millwall with a 3-0 demolition of Swansea. This win occured at the same time as Watford were losing to Stoke and left us as close to automatic promotion as we had been for some time. QPR and Blackburn were in the race too. Of course, we threw away any chance of that second spot with two frustrating draws to end of the month. In a case of taking the positives, we should probably have lost to Huddersfield but snatched a point. In a dramatic finish to the game we thought we had hung on for a point when Smail Prevljak scored his second of a game in which he bossed us throughout. Queue the re-emergence of Scrimshaw again though as the young striker pounced with a leveller just two minutes later. Our game plan against West Brom was then ruined as Stanislas collected two yellow cards to allow our opponents right back in to the game. We held on for a point when we probably shouldn't have. The bigger picture at the end of April was that we needed just a point from two games in May to secure a play off spot. We wouldn't catch second though. The world of football is never kind though. As well as losing Stan for at least a game in May we would be without Scowen and the overperforming Sparkes too. With Denis Adeniran on his way back from injury we were light a ball winner. Scott High would have to prove his versatility. May An uninspiring draw with Reading gave us the point we needed to secure a play off spot and that left us nothing to play for in the final gameagainst Bristol City. I decided to give Cieran Slicker a game, and rest O'Hara before the play offs. That proved to be an inspired decision as Slicker kept us in the game with some great saves. However, a safe win, courtesy of a brace from Scrimy, sent us to 76 points at the end of the season. That is a club record finish and sends us in to the play offs. If we were to secure promotion to the Premiership it would surely be the most incredible underdog story of all time. That just leaves the play offs; two semi finals to decide the participants in what is dubbed "the richest game in football". Can we be in it? We'll have to get past QPR first, and we haven't beaten them. More on the play offs in another days report, and more on the final state of play across England and Europe then too. Can we do the unthinkable and reach the Premier League? Find out soon. RL: I did intend to finish this over this weekend and write it all up as one, or maybe two entries, together. My body has rebelled and I'm not well though. I'll be back when I have more energy for a longer session.

Thanks. Enjoying the save at the moment. Don't play as much as I did early FM22 release but that's probably helpful. Too hot to do much for me so might try and finish the season today.

March 2025 - Can We Play At Home Every Week, Please? Any thoughts of a title challenge are probably gone after a mixed month of March. Blackpool won't relish meeting us again, and Watford may just be wondering what happened. Boro and Barnsley will be very happy. March started so well, with a 5-1 thrashing of Blackpool, a team whom, if you recall, came up with us last year. Aaron McDonagh continued his fine year with a hattrick but Jack Sparkes was my hero as he came on and changed the game. We had taken the lead early through McDonagh but were failing to find a winner. Riley Owen wasn't getting in to the game and I decided to throw Sparkes on in the 68th minute. 15 minutes later Jack had a brace and we were firmly in control of the game. Sparkes had ignited and it opened the floodgates. Jack Sparkes had been in my mind as an occaisonal sub to replace tired legs when I started this season but the winger/full back has done great when called upon. He was loan listed in January but changed my mind with his performances. The above all prompted me to start Jack in our next game in Middlesbrough but as is often the case a player couldn't follow up a great game with a second great game. We were poor at the Riverside and fell to a humbling 3-0 defeat to a side under new management and underperforming in this year's Championship. Things didn't get much better with a dull 0-0 against Pompey. We were up against Watford next and I feared the worst. I needn't have feared. The boys pulled a great win out of the bag in the way minnows so often can do against firm favourites. Riley Owen scored our winner midway through the second, finally coming good after a few poor games. I hoped we could take confidence from the Watford victory to win away at Barnsley but fell to another humbling defeat to the play off chasing side that were so much better than I had expected them to be. Cauley Woodrow destroyed us down the right. Could he finally solve my long term failure at finding a steady right winger? He's 30 but a possibility. He's also on a huge wage that I'm not sure Wycombe can match. Or could we? Some news to come...you'll have to wait. After that mixed month we're down to fourth and have become the target of a chasing pack. Watford and Stoke are faltering but I really don't think we can overturn them. April... Seven games to go. Five of those are in April. I'd like to see us buck last month's poor form away from home with games at Huddersfield and Millwall. Surely we can beat Luton, Swansea and West Brom at home? Only West Brom, of those three, have slim hopes of the play offs. Swansea are battling a drop down to the third tier. That News? I finally hit 200 games in management. A nice personal milestone. ... But, you didn't think that was it, did you? It's not talk of a takeover but if Couhig leaves does that leave room for someone to come in with some money? Does it leave us without money and having to cut wages in a big way? I really don't know what to expect. Elsewhere... English Premier League Manchester City have blown Chelsea away in March to find themselves eight points clear at the top of England's pyramid. City won three out of three whilst Chelsea could only manage a point home to Brentford. The Blues lost 2-1 to Spurs in their other game and Liverpool have closed the gap to just one point despite losing to West Ham. Liverpool also got one over on their London rivals at Wembley in the League Cup Final. Mo Salah missed a penalty for the Reds but goals from Keita and Adeyemi edged the game in favour of the Merseysiders. For Bournemouth, a mixed month kept the Cherries with an outside hope of Europe in 10th. Wide memn Ryan Christie and Grady Diangana are the key men for Mowbray's Cherries. Diangana has 8 goals and 5 assists where as Christie has 5 goals and 7 assists. European Leagues It is still neck and neck in Germany and will surely go down to the wire between Dortmund and Bayern. In the other European league upsetting the odds we still find PSG languishing a little behind Lyon. Ferencvaros are storming away in March's guest league; the Nemzeti Bajnokság I of Hungary. The title is surely theirs. Internationals It was a good month for England as they won two games in the World Cup Qualifiers European Group E. Of course, had they not beaten Gibraltar and Luxembourg there would have been questions. Harry Kane scored his 83rd England goal as part of a hattrick versus Luxembourg. It was bad news for Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Scots suffered at the hands of Belgium whilst Northern Ireland lost to Slovakia. Former Club Watch Weymouth finished March unbeaten but are still seven points shy of the play off spots in the National League South. Weymouth can only hope to keep winning in April and push for the play off spots. In losing to Weymouth, Poole find themselves just two points clear of the last relegation place. Nervous times for the Dolphins. ~~~ My record in those 200 games? Not too bad.

February 2025 - Creaking, But Still Defying The Odds Going in to February we knew we'd start to feel the strain. We'd had a marvellous half a season but knew our small, cut-price squad would surely feel the pressure soon. Playing top of the table Stoke in the first game of the month would be the tester. It turned out to be a great month. Aaron McDonagh scored his 15th goal of the season - and the first of five in February - early against Stoke to give us a marvellous platform. The Potters controlled this match throughout and the pressure told mid way through the second when substitute Lezcano made an instant impact to fire Stoke level. We held though for a great point. It was a similar game against a Sunderland side that have been there or therabouts all season. Ejaria gave us the lead early in the second half before a late equaliser earned Sunderland a point. Our two toughest games of the month were out of the way and we continued the month with two good wins over Preston and Ipswich - Caleb Watts and Leif Davis scoring their first goals of the season along side two more from McDonagh. Next up were two challenging games, away at play off chasing Blackburn and then the welcome of Forest. We found ourselves 2-0 up within half an hour against Blackburn but Rovers put on a great display in the second half to nick a point. It was hard to take but I can't fault the effort of the lads. I would have taken a point, if I was brutally honest. Overcoming the disappointment of the Blackburn game, we ended February with a fantastic win over the six-game unbeaten Forest. To be fair, Forest could have been home and dry in a first half they dominated but Egbo's wonderful cross right at the death found the head of McDonagh to head us level. Could the old football cliche of scoring right before half time work for us? You could say it did turn the tables. The second half was more even and the football Gods granted us luck late in the game as we earned a penalty. Surprising me, Nya Kirby forced his way forward to take the kick in his first game in a while. Let it happen, I decided, and Nya thumped the ball home to seal a lovely turnaround win. March... We're in to the run in now, with just 12 games left in this stunning season. Possibly Stoke and Watford are heading up but can we hold on for a play off place? Only Millwall and West Brom are realistically chasing promotion and all of March's games are winnable. Are months like this the ones that ruin hopes though? Do the wheels fall off in an easier month or do we march on? Elsewhere... English Premier League Manchester City managed only three draws in February and Chelsea are the new Premiership leaders. Thirteen points from five matches have taken the Blues to the top of the pile, though they have played a game more than City. It could have been worse for City if a 90th minute goal had not stolen them a point away at Burnley in a 3-3 draw. AFC Bournemouth are on a march. Two wins this month have seen the Cherries up to tenth. The south coast club are into the FA Cup 5th Round too. Tony Mowbray is pulling punches. I'm sure many thought he wouldn't be the man. European Leagues It is still a chasing game for Bayern in Germany as they're still a point shy of Dortmund. In France, PSG have slipped to five points shy of pack leaders Lyon. Is a shock on the cards? Real Madrid, Juventus, Celtic and Ajax almost have their leagues tied up. The same is looking likely for Salzburg in this month's guest league, the Austrian Bundesliga. African Cup Of Nations 2025 Early February saw the final of the African continent's major international tournament between Ghana and Nigeria. With 120 minutes unable to seperate the teams, the match went to penalties. What ensued was a mammoth battle of wills over 31 penalty kicks. Wilfred Ndidi suffered the bitterest pill as he missed his second spotkick and Emmanuel Gyasi stepped up to score the winning penalty and give Ghana the trophy. Former Club Watch For Weymouth it was another uninspiring month that sees the team still down in tenth in the National League South. They lost in the FA Trophy too, so there'll be no cup glory. With ten points now seperating the Terras from the play offs there will need to be a huge improvement in performances or another season in the National League South will beckon. Poole Town have continued their good form and are now in 18th, eight points clear of the drop.

Late to the party but enjoy your break. I know how much it is needed from time to time.

That's just an opinion, not a fact. As is; I've been playing FM22 since release in the same save. Still enjoying it.

January 2025 - Faltering Steps January proved to be a tougher month against tougher teams and it saw us slip down the table a little. THisd was also the month of our big FA Cup tie against Manchester City. We performed admirably but it wasn't to be. On a personal note, despite all the attention I had received for my services, only Blackpool sought out those services with the ofer of an interview in January. I turned this down. First up was QPR and a poor display that surprisingly only saw us lose to a late Lyndon Dykes penalty. We then claimed our only win of January a few days later with a good win over Wigan that saw McDonagh score an excellent brace to take his season's goal tally to 14. This victory put us in a good frame of mind for our big cup tie a week later. We'd need all the luck we could get. FA Cup Third Round City honoured us by bringing a good team to Adams Park on a rainy day. On the field were Ruben Dias, Declan Rice, Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Stirling, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden and it was Haaland and Rice that got the goals to beat us. Keiran O'Hara was our best player and the Irishman made a number of great saves to keep the score down. It was a great test to face City and we gained £275k from the tie, a new gate receipts record for the club. Back in the Championship, the end of January didn't get any easier as we faced Sheffield United and Norwich over two weekends. We were 3-0 down to Sheffield in half an hour. Our second half performance was better but we got just a consolation from McDonagh. Against Norwich we were much better but fell to a tight defeat to a Canaries side that have underperformed all campaign. As January ends we find ourselves fourth, six points behind joint leaders Stoke and QPR. Stoke have been in great form under Carlos Vicens and have had pundits applauding their football. It's bad news for us. We face them next. January Transfer Window I didn't expect to do any business in this window. I am happy with my squad and would like to keep my players. We're performing way above expectations so I see no reason to spend more money than we really have on players we don't need. The goal is just avoid relegation and I'd honestly be happy with a mid table finish, despite our good start. As it turned out we saw just one bid and that was an insulting £48k for Jordan Marshall. It was a no brainer to turn that down and we saw out the window with just one future transfer sorted. That transfer will be a goodbye to a great servant for this club. Ryan Tafazolli will be joining MLS club Colorado Rapids in July. Tafa has spent five years here and made over 150 appearances. He is 33 now and in the twilight of his career. With so many great young center backs at the club I saw no reason to intervene and hold Tafa back. He will go with my best wishes and thanks from all Wycombe fans. Watford were the biggest spenders in the window, bringing in Korean midfielder Kang-In Lee for £25.5m from Mallorca and Max Ullmann from Brugge for a fee rising to £5.25m. Watford will be dangerous as they push for promotion. Underperformers Norwich bought just Jacob Greaves, a center back from Brentford whilst letting go of six players. Are the Canaries content to stay in the league? Stoke's title charge will be be aided by the loan signing of Antonio Carlos Braga from Manchester City whilst QPR's money was spent on youngsters. At the bottom, Ipswich splashed out just £20k to bring in five players. Sonny Perkins, on loan from West Ham, will be the most dangerous of these players. The top English transfer of the window was that of Sander Berge who moves from Shaktar to Arsenal for £72m and Arsenal were the biggest spending, shelling out a huge £199m for five players. At the end of the window the numbers for wage expenditure in the Championship makes for interesting reading. In short, we're a bit behind. It makes it all the more wondrous how well we are doing. And how well below expection Norwich are doing. February... Ties against Stoke and early front runners Sunderland will be a tough start to February. Preston, Blackburn and Forest will not be easy but I'd be hopeful of a win over bottom of pile Ipswich. Hopefully we can get back to winning form and maintain our place in the play off pack. Elsewhere... English Premier League January sees Manchester City pulling away to a six point gap over Liverpool. Four goals for Haaland and three from Sterling have been key to this hold on the lead. Manchester United's poor form over the past few seasons has continued with the Reds losing to and drawing with Brighton to find themselves struggling in 7th place. United also lost in the FA Cup, to Villa, and the semi-final of the League Cup, To Chelsea. For Bournemouth it has been mostly good. January saw wins over Brighton and Arsenal twice. The Cherries have moved up to twelth in the league. European Leagues Bayern are still behind Dortmund in the Bundesliga but have come back to just a point behind their rivals now. In France, PSG are now down to third, behind Monaco and Lyon. In this month's guest league it is a close run thing for FC Kobenhavn and Midtjylland in the Danish Superliga. European Club Competition The Group Stages are completed and we have the draws for the knockout rounds in this season's three European competitions. Champions League Europa League Europa Conference League Former Club Watch Things are not great for Weymouth in the Conference South. Form has been mixed and the club are outside the play off spots. Things need to get better from manager Danny Thorpe in February. Home town club Poole are on a very good run of form. The Dolphins lost to just Chesham in January and have risen to 19th in the league. It's good to be back.

Football Manager really needs to offer up ways to discuss promises with players. I recently made a promise to loan a player on the fringe of my squad out. A little time after that I found him more in my plans because of inuries. He played in a few games and did really great. I now want to keep him around. There's nothing I can do to discuss keeping that player at my club rather than loan him out. Maybe in time he'll decide he wants to stay but I can't rely on that. Instead I have to wait for him to become unhappy at not being loaned out. Maybe then I can say to him that he has earnt the chance to stay and play more. ~~~~ I do like the increase in interaction options over the years but it could do with going further. I'd love to see further options to talk to players about a number of things. There might even be more in game but it is rarely clear what things do. For example, I can change a player's playing time but it's just a button. I click it and have no real knowledge about what is going to happen. The option to praise or criticise conduct is a similar thing. What does it mean? ~~~~ I am supposed to know these players really well. I never feel like I do. I feel like they're somoene on the end of a phone line sometimes. It's like I'm getting through to an automated switchboard and can select options for vague department headings. FM creates a promise for each player that I can look at. Would it really be so hard to add in an option to discuss that promise?

Little update in case anyone is reading or awaiting the next installment. I've not had much interest in hitting that play button for FM the last couple of weeks. I've been enjoying a few other games. At times I think I have the interest but when it comes to pushing play I think otherwise. Sure I'll be back at some point before October. Tempted to start a new career is Asia with some add on leagues. Vietnam maybe. This career isn't dead though - just on hold.