[[FM21] BackTheBulls - Jersey Bulls: a charge into the football league]

On 11/06/2021 at 23:55, Jtomsett11 said:

Thanks for reading and for the feedback!

I did think distance might be playing its part in keeping players, but I'm not sure how well this is coded in FM? It may also have something to do with database size and the number of players at this level who are probably of a similar ability, meaning reduced transfer activity? These are just guesses as I don't know enough about the mechanisms of the game to understand it. 

I agree regarding Level 7 due to there only being 1 automatic spot in my opinion and teams paying much higher wages at Level 8. Level 10 was easy to get out of as if your team is okay, then it's probably better than others. Level 9 there's two promotion spots so again a bit easier. The play-offs at Level 8 are also epic in scale, with so many teams involved so you have no real clue as to how they're going to play. I don't mind a few seasons at this level if we end up stuck here, as we're still making money so we could feasibly scale up training and youth facilities and progress the club even if we don't progress up the leagues! Where are you up to now with Guernsey?

Hi! Real life dragged me away from the computer and the forums for some time... I've been playing on and off and we've finally made it to the Prem in 2037! Although I'm 100% sure we're going back down thanks to absolutely 0 quality being present in our last few youth intakes... Anyway I've caught up and loved your save so far!!!

8 hours ago, Jtomsett11 said:

April and May 2031

One strange thing to leave this post with is this.

Can someone explain to me how on earth the board can say we've not used the youth?! I've given 4 home grown players debuts (50 odd appearances between them) this season and add to that a significant number of younger players who played last season getting minutes. I'm almost a victim of my own success as I play young players and then I guess they don't count as 'youngsters' anymore? I noticed this as we won promotion and it's slightly soured it for me. I'm unlikely to be sacked, but this takes what should be an A+ rating to a B-, so if we get into a tricky spell this could be a problem for me.

I think I can explain... This happened to me in the Championship a few seasons ago. It seems like playing the same core group of players (even if all of them are homegrown) for a few continuous years messes up the game's perception of who are the "youth players", and even 21 yr stalwarts still don't count. The few youngsters I did give an opportunity to weren't sufficient to appease the board too!

[3124 - The future of football?]

I think this thread from a while back is quite useful. Regarding the Piszczek issue, a workaround was an IWB (de), as @Crazy_Ivan deduced. I myself tried it out a while back, and it is one of the most defensively solid tactics I've used before.

https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/548131-thomas-tuchels-tactic-at-chelsea/page/1/

[[FM21] BackTheBulls - Jersey Bulls: a charge into the football league]

Love what you've done so far! I have to say in my Guernsey save, level 7 was the hardest to get into and stay... although i do have to say working out the rules with regards to promotions and relegation always took me forever. Also, i too noticed that contract offers from other teams were few and far in between. Maybe due to how far away the islands are??? I've been able to keep one of my star players on an expired contract for a year now (sadly he refuses to sign a contract with me) without worrying about his performances attracting any interest whatsoever.

[FM21: The English Football League thread]

We actually did it! The entire team consists purely of Guernsey born and bred lads and we did it! Onto VNS and above then!

[FM21: The English Football League thread]

Just a Quick Update 2 seasons on...

At such low levels, youth intakes are a god send , however poor your HoYD is
 

 

 

On the other hand, we've been cruising along in the league in the first season where weren't predicted to finish dead last (18th of 22!). All thanks to the goalscoring antics of Jamie Clements, whose attributes barely stand out in any form.

 

Cool thing i've noticed is that we have some absolute giants all over the pitch (notwithstanding the current intake). Realistically, despite having a go at promotion, I really doubt that this squad has the ability to stay up next season in Vanarama South... :/ 

[FM21: The English Football League thread]

15 hours ago, warlock said:

An interesting challenge . I wouldn't like to pre-judge, but I suspect you're struggling for decent youth intakes. On the other hand, I see you've been close to promotion in recent seasons so you must be doing something right.

Your assessment is spot on... but my team is quite poor in the first place so there are at least 2/3 immediate first team candidates every year. But at this low every year we are able to beat teams 1/2 divisions higher in the FA cup. 2/3 rounds in and that guarantees finances for the year

[FM21: The English Football League thread]

well i finally got bitten by the LLM bug and now im deep in a  youth only guernsey save... it's been quite the ride so far, especially since we've been prime relegation candidates nearly every season :)

[FM21 - Total Football, A club dna project with positional play]

Amazing thread @04texag I've been trying out your shape in my LT mainly youth chelsea save and been rather successful. Oddly enough we play better against the big sides than against the lower teams. though i suspect that has to do with their defensive shape. I found that a BWM-d to be more effective than a CM-de, especially with players like Kante though. The CM-de tends to sit too deep for my liking  leaving too big a gap in attack.