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Premier League 2036/37 (season 13) Season Summary Great season! The change of tactics paid off this season. We managed to get 58 points, a 9th position in the league, and thus in the end qualification to continental football after the summer break. We also had a very great FA Cup run, but in the end, we lost 3-2 to Man City in the final. As a result of the tactical change, the team does not score that much anymore. We only scored 55 league goals compared to 63-78 in the last 3 seasons. Thus my offensive players don't have the same high ratings and stats. However, my first-choice striker Jamerson scored 15 goals. However, the defense was much more solid. We only conceded 49 league goals compared to 77-97 in the last 3 seasons. A massive improvement. But strangely, me goalkeeper dropped in his average rating. It was great to see the NXGN list this season. I had 4 players on the list. None of them are top-rated but they are also young and haven't had their breakthrough on the first team. Hopefully, they will get lots more first-team game time in the next season in the European Conference League. The young players on the NXGN list already have experience with continental football as the under-18 team won the UEFA Youth League. The youth intake preview was great. 5 stars and an A and a B's. The actual intake was okay. 2 elite talents, but the personalities are a bit disappointing. I had no transfers of significance this season, only a few loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades I do not have the option to ask for any more facility upgrades. However, after the season the board announced to expand the stadium with MASSIVELY 323 seats... Next season Next season, I hope to give young talented players more game time in the Conference League. And hopefully, get another mid-table position in the Premier League.

Thanks! So far I haven't done much regarding the party king. I have changed my formation to be less dependent on him. It is not very funny when the planned starter doesn't show up to a match. He is of course fined with a two-week wages fine every time he misses training or matches. So far he has paid close to half of his wage this season back to the club as fines. I try to speak to him every time as well. I think I will give him another season and see if he will improve his behavior. But I don't know how to handle him.

Premier League 2035/36 (season 12) Season Summary A new season. Same position as last year, but we got 4 more points. We also had a great Carabao Cup run where we were knocked out in the semi-finals by Tottenham. I continued playing with my 3-4-3 tactic, but with 8 games to go, I changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation. Primary because one of my former stars, Santangelo, suddenly became a party king and missed double-digit number of matches and training. He also had a drop in attributes. The new tactic is less dependent on him. Kadeem Jamerson was again my top scorer and best performer. Kane Burton also did well with 16 goals. My goalkeeper Smith played well again too. Strangely, he keeps performing well according to average rating, while we have the worst defense in the league. I hope the new formation will help out our defensive problems. I "only" had one player on the NXGN list, O'Halloran (41st) again. I hoped a player like Sinclair would make it on the list too. The youth intake preview was great. 5 stars and two A's and two B's. The actual intake was good. 3 elite talents, but the personalities are a bit disappointing. I had no transfers of significance this season, only a few loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades I managed to get an upgrade of my training facilities. They are now State of the Art. The board also promised to upgrade the youth level to level 1 after this season. I hope they will succeed. Next season Next season, I will try to survive once again. It will take a few years before we can start to challenge for European competition spots.

What do you do in a case like this? Santangelo is one of my best players. Suddenly he starts to miss training this season. 3rd case now! In a normal save, he would be gone in the next transfer window. But I don't have a replacement. What to do?

I am quite certain that Hungerford is a bigger challenge. I admire your persistence. Your Scarborough save will forever be the most legendary YAC save.

Premier League 2034/35 (season 11) Season Summary Second season in the Premier League! It was bit tougher than the first season. We had a long streak of games without any wins where I thought we were going to get relegated. We didn't win any league games in January, February, and Marts. 12 games in a row. But then April came and we won 3 games in a row. Once again we scored lots of goals, but conceded way to many. Kadeem Jamerson developed well from being our 4th best striker before the season to the best player on the team. He scored 34 goals! My goalkeeper Smith played well once again. And Santangelo and Karakas had a great season too. Young players like Sinclair, O'Halloran, and Mustafi have also developed well this season. Kadeem Jamerson was second on the topscorer list, just behind Haaland. He also won the Golden Boy award! I only had one player on the NXGN list, O'Halloran (49th). I was actually a bit disappointed as players like Santangelo, Langley, and Mustafi also had the age to be on the list and were better players than O'Halloran at the time of the list. The youth intake preview was great. 5 stars and two A's. The actual intake was good. 3 elite talents, but the personalities are a bit disappointing. I had no transfers of significance this season, only a few loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades I managed to get 3 updates of my training facilities and 1 of the youth facilities. Upgrade-wise it has been a great year! Next season Next season, I will try to survive once again. It will at least take a few years before we can start to challenge for European competitions spots.

I hope you managed to turn it around. My only advise is to do everything possible to keep the players' morale high. Take a team meeting, praise good training (above 7.9) or criticize bad training (below 6.4) every week, and play friendlies against the weakest team available when ever possible (mostly during international breaks, as the schedule is packed in the Championship). EDIT: and of course try to have a team bonding session every week in training. I have had success with timing a team meeting after a bad form just before a "must win" match against an opponent from the bottom of the league.

The hidden attributes like professionalism, ambition and so on are very important for player development. Therefore, you should take notice of the personality and media handling style of your youngsters as they reveal the hidden attributes. From my experiences a 3.5 stars PA player with e.g. a resolute personality will develop much better than a 5 stars PA player with a bad personality. Take a look at the guide here: https://www.fmscout.com/a-guide-to-player-personalities-football-manager.html

First, Dulwich is already a pro team at the beginning, which is a big advantage when you start. It means a much better player development early on. Furthermore, the team is good for the level and thus, I managed to gain a promotion in the first season as I have also seen a few others do with Dulwich here. I don't think it is unfair to state that the difference in difficulty between starting pro or semi-pro is at least 5-10 years. Second, pure luck with the intake in the first few seasons: When I took over the team I had two great regens, where one is still a starter on my team now, and the other, whom I lost on a free transfer at some point, is now playing in the Championship. In season 2, I got 5 players that were starters when I won promotion to Premier League, and in season 3 I got 3 more players that were starters when I won promotion. That was almost a full team before I entered the football league. Third, I also hope my experiences with this challenge have significance for the success.

Premier League 2033/34 (season 10) Season Summary First season in the Premier League! I am very happy with the team. The games were nicely distributed, which allowed for moments with very good form and others with very bad form. We performed well against the teams below us. But only managed to get 5 points in 14 games against the top 7 teams. We scored lots of goals, once again. 78 goals are the third highest in the league. However, the many goals for are perhaps at the expense of the solidity of our defense. We allowed massively 97 goals against us. As our goal score could indicate the strikes played really well. I have 4 strikers with an average rating above 7. They all scored double-digit goals and contributed with double-digit assists (except for Jamerson with only 8 assists). I am very happy with the performance of my strikers as the best striker left before this season to Saudi on a free transfer. More surprisingly my goalkeeper who allowed a ton of goals also had a very high average rating. But I think my team lacks depth. I only have 14 players with a higher CA than 2. That is my starting XI, 1 striker, and 2 defenders. I had two players on the NXGN list. Jamerson was 2nd ranked while Santangelo was 15th ranked. I had expected and hoped that players like Mustafi and maybe Langley also would be on the list. But I am happy with two players. Jamerson is probably my fourth best striker. But he gets lots of game time as a play a 3-striker-formation. Hopefully, he can take a few steps and develop to be my best striker. Santangelo is my first-choice left-midfielder. He has developed well this season from 2.5 CA to 3.5 CA. The youth intake preview was okay. "Only" 4.5 stars and but only a lot of Cs. The actual intake was okay, maybe a bit disappointing with only a 4 star rating. Wilson is clearly the most talented. Hopefully, he can develop well. I had no transfers of significance this season, except for Frederick leaving for free. I had a few loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades The board promised to increase the Youth level to level 2 after this season. With the inflow of Premier League money, I also managed to get 2 updates on the training facilities. There have been a few rumors about a new takeover of the club. I actually hope it will soon happen, as the board keeps reclining my requests to improve the youth facilities. Next season Next season, I will try to survive once again.

Sky Bet Championship 2032/33 (season 9) Season Summary A great season, that ended with a promotion to Premier League! We played very well at the beginning of the season. But we were close to throwing it all away with 5 games without a win. But we managed to win the last two games and secure promotion. We scored a lot of goals. But we also have the worst defense in the Championships. It is going to be interesting how that will end in Premier League... As our goal score could indicate the strikes played really well. The only 4 players with an average rating above 7 are my strikers. Frederick is, by far, my best player. Both by attributes and by performance. He was topscorer in the league for the second year in a row. However, he is not going to follow the rest of the team up to Premier League. He has not been willing to renew his contract in a few years. So now he is moving to Saudi... It is going to be difficult without him. He has been great for my team in a few seasons The youth intake preview was okay. "Only" 4.5 stars and one B. The actual intake was okay, maybe a bit disappointing. Where Sinclair is by far the most talented player. Kadeem Jamerson was on the NXGN list for the second time. He is the one labeled as "the next Michael Owen". I think he will play more and hopefully develop well now that Frederick is moving. Jamerson will now be the 4th best attacker instead of the 5th best, and we play with 3 in front. I had no transfers of significance this season. I had a few loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades I did not manage to get any upgrades. But the youth category rating was improved to category 3 and the board is increasing the stadium capacity. This season we played at Craven Cottage. Hopefully, I will manage to get a few more upgrades next season with the inflow of Premier League cash. Next season Next season, I will try to survive. But at least I will be financially secure and hopefully get a lot of upgrades of the facilities.

I have two brothers on my team. They are somehow both called Kadeem Jamerson. I don't know what the parents were thinking? The oldest brother has a great potential while the younger is quite poor. In FM23 I actually had a father and son on my team. The father was a great club legend who was with me and scored goals from the National League North up to the Champions League. 1 or 2 seasons before his retirement his son came through my youth intake. However, the son was sadly quite poor too. The only first team minutes the son played was when I substituted both the son and the father on the pitch in the last league game before the father's retirement.

Sky Bet Championship 2031/32 (season 8) Season Summary A great season that somehow left me disappointed in the end. First season in the Championship. We played very well and ended 4th in the league. And thus qualified for the play offs. In the play-off semi-final we were up against Leeds. They are probably the best team in the league, but they are also a UEFA Conference League finalist, so they had a very tight schedule throughout the season. But unfortunately not around the play offs. First leg, they smashed us 4-1. I couldn't see us getting back in the second leg. And I was right, we lost home 2-3. Frederick had a wonderful season with 41 goals. He is the primary reason why we played at the top of the league. In general the squad depth is not great. I have 9 players which I think are good enough for the level with 3 or more stars. Plus 4 with 2.5 stars. In every game I play at least one player with only 2 stars. Frederick is, by far, my best player. Unfortunately, his contract only runs for one more season and he is not willing to enter negotiations. I might have to sell him this summer to secure the club financially. I hoped a promotion would mean I could keep him. The youth intake preview was fine. 5 stars and a few Bs. The actual intake was okay. Where Mustafi is by far the most talented player with a good personality. I think I will play Mustafi as a central defender in the future. I had no transfers of significance this season. I had a few loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades I managed to upgrade the youth facilities and the board promised to increase the youth level after this season. But financially we are not well with a negative balance at over 2 mill £. Next season Next season, I don't know what to expect. It depends on whether or not we can keep Frederick.

Sky Bet League One 2030/31 (season 7) Season Summary A picture is worth a thousand words: WE WON THE LEAGUE! But goddamn it was close in the end. 3 teams with 90 points and 6 within 3 points. It also did not help that we did not manage to get a win in the final 4 games of the season. But in the end, we won because of our great goal difference. We scored a lot of goals. More than 3 per game on average. However, we also conceded a ton. We probably need to fix the defense before next season. Maybe a 3-4-3 (with wide midfielders, 3 strikers, and no wingbacks) will not work in the Championship. The primary front trio Karakas, Frederick, and Morris all had a great season with 26, 28, and 27 goals respectively. Karakas was really great with most assists too. Sometimes he plays like a lower-league Messi. Baba Asanta, my top scorer from the previous seasons, was unfortunately injured a lot this season and thus only scored 6 goals. Jamerson, however, a young striker from the intake of last year, had a wonderful debut season. He scored 20 goals, which is very promising for the seasons to come. The youth intake preview was a bit disappointing. Only 4 stars and C was the highest rating. The actual intake was also okay, maybe also a bit disappointing. The most promising players are Santangelo and Burton. They are, however, both strikers. A position where I already have four star quality players and 3 promising players with potential. On the last day of the January transfer window, Nottingham Forrest bid for one of my players. The finances were in red and the projections did not look good too. So in the end I accepted the bid. Cardines was gone. Cardines was one of two options, that rotated on the left midfielder position. However, he was not a star player. I though it was better to save the finances be selling him, instead of a star player. I had no other transfers of significance. I had a few loan-outs. Finances and Upgrades With the money from the Cardines transfer, I had the opportunity to start upgrading the training facilities for the first time in this save. We also started to upgrade the youth facilities. Next season Next season, I just hope to avoid relegation.

Sky Bet League One 2029/30 (season 6) Season Summary Wow, the seasons are long here in England. 66 games... The season started well. We managed to take the step up from League Two and were actually number 1 in the league after 21 games. But then the game congestions started. I was maybe greedy as we competed well in the Carabao Cup. We managed to win against 3 Championship sides, Luton, Ipswich, and Fulham, before we lost over two games in the semi-final against the later winner Arsenal. 7-1 on aggregate. In the FA Cup, I managed to get two replays, which contributed further to the game congestion. We managed to beat Fulham, again, over two games, but lost to the League One winners, Coventry in round 5. All the games and too little depth in the team resulted in bad form around Christmas. In the end, we managed to win the 6th position, 10 points away from direct promotion. I am quite certain that we could have scraped 10 more points if we just had given up the cups early on. However, the cup runs contributed financially. In the playoffs, we were up against Bristol Rovers. In the first game, we managed to get an early send-off and commit a penalty. We were down 1-3 after the home game. I had almost given up. However, it was quite close in the away leg, where we managed to win 3-2 but also missed a penalty. No back-to-back promotion to me. Baba Asanta had another great season with 30 goals! A few other players like Frederick and Baxter did well too. But no one was outstanding. We are playing an offensive 4-4-2 (or 4-2-4 or whatever you wanna call it). But I am wondering if I should try a 3-4-3 tactic with 3 strikers. The youth intake preview was okay. 5 stars, but C was the highest rating. The actual intake was also okay. The personalities are a bit meh. But I hope Jamerson and Godwin have what it takes to get to my first team. No transfers of significance. I had a few loan-outs, where a few developed well and others not so well. Finances and Upgrades A takeover finally happened after a few years of rumors. The new owners lowered the dept a little. Because of the cup runs, I managed to get an upgrade of the youth facilities and youth recruitment. Hopefully the new youth facilities will allow us to move up a youth level as the board promised. Next season Next season, I hope we can make the final push and be promoted to the Championship. EDIT: Well, the new board would also like to add some debt.

Phew! I got the possibility to cancel the transfers when I received the confirmation mail. No wasted money that could be put into the youth setup instead. And no unhappy players on my reserve team.

Unfortunately, I can't. At least not right now. I hope I get the chance to cancel before the confirmation of the transfers

Just got a takeover. On the positive side, they invested £2.5 mill in the club. But on the other hand, the new board is also buying two players. What are the rules here? They are put into the reserves when they arrive and sold as fast as possible?

Sky Bet League Two 2028/29 (season 5) Season Summary I hoped we could compete for promotion this season, as last season ended well. And I was damn right! We won the league! With 4 games in hand. After 12 games we were at the top of the league. A position we held for the rest of the season. I changed my tactics a bit before this season. We said goodbye to an old left back which left us with two options, a 16-year-old and a centre back. Mostly I played with the centre-back in the full-back position as the new role of an inverted full-back. Thus the tactic was tweaked to be a bit more defensively. In the FA Cup, we lost to Wolves in the 3 round and in the Carabao Cup we lost to Sunderland in the second round. Baba Asanta had a great season with 41 goals! I will present a screenshot of him further down. Because of a GK injury, Smith got the chance to play. He developed okay and I thus gave him the starting spot when Lakin was back. Smith's ability was lower but he has the potential. In the end, Smith developed into the best keeper in the squad. The squad has 5 backbone players, Asante, Morris, Frederick, Eze, and Gilbey. Asante was my topscorer this season. My MVP in the league this season. Morris has a great speed at this level. 18 acceleration! Frederick is my other striker. He didn't play great this season. But he was my topscorer the last two seasons. He looks like a typical topscorer. And now to the defense. Eze is an important and clever defender. Gilbey is another clever defender. He played mostly as an inverted full back on the left this season. But I hope I can play him beside Eze in the central defense in the future if other left backs develop well. The youth intake preview was a bit disappointing. "Only" 4 stars and C was the highest rating. The intake was also a bit disappointing. No 5 star potential and the CA is also not very great. Hopefully, a few players will surprise me. Most potentials are okay but not great or bad. No transfers of significance. But for the first time, I tried a few loan outs. They all developed okay and I hope Nembhard will be part of the first team next season. Finances and Upgrades Because of the continued financial trouble, we did not get any upgrades this season. There have been several rumors about takeovers. We also had an actual transfer ban around christmas. I hope someone will come and clear the debt. However, I managed to get the Continental Pro license. Next season Next season, I just hope to not get in relegation trouble. If I can keep my best players, I think the team is great. I furthermore hope to develop the team.

A really nice write up!

Interesting write up about your backroom staff. But why do have two scouts and a Director of Football? It seems overkill with a tight budget and no need for any scouting of transfer targets. I do not think more than one scout to get reports of the opponents is necessary.

I just give them what they want. Especially the biggest talents with ok/good personalities. Of course you can/should leave out low potential players with bad personalities. How are your finances?

You are "just" close to administration. I and my club, Dulwich Hamlet, have survived 2 years now after this message. Cross your fingers and hope for the best. Maybe the board will invest some funds into the club or you will see a takeover. Maybe it was just an extraordinary cost and the club will be just fine from now on.

Sky Bet League Two 2027/28 (season 4) Season Summary Was excited to see how we could compete in the football leagues. It started great. In the second league game of the season, we beat Gillingham with massively 9-1. But then October came and we lost 6 league games in a row. But when the calendar said 2028 we started playing great again. In the end, we secured a 5th position and a play off spot. We continued to play a very offensive 4-4-2/4-2-4 tactic, and scored lots of goals again. 120 goals in 46 games. We also had a great FA Cup run where we beat the two League One teams, Exeter and Wimbledon, but lost to the Championship side Bristol City after a replay. In the play-off semi-final, we were up against Yeovil. I hate Yeovil. At least in this save. They usually beat me. In my first season, Yeovil won Vanarama League South with four points more than us, and we had to be promoted via play-offs. In my second season, we ended one position above Yeovil, with 3 more points. In my third season, Yeovil again won the league while we were second and had to go through play-offs. And then this season the beat us again. 6-2 on aggregate in the semi-final and no promotion for us. On the positive side, Yeovil ended up winning promotion so next season is Yeovil-free! The most important players are my front four. The striker duo, Frederick and Asante, scored 32 and 27 goals respectively. While the wingers, Morris and Baxter assisted 18 and 15 and scored 13 and 12 goals respectively. Unfortunately, both Morris and Frederick have been a bit unhappy throughout the season. Hopefully, I can keep the four for another season. Karakas from the 2027 intake was my super sub on the left wing and two striker positions. He scored 13 and assisted 10. Another important player is my Segundo Volante, Shukunbi. He scored 15 goals this season. Binnom-Williams was again important with 17 assists from the left full-back position. Morrow was sold in the summer transfer window. He was very angry and has a temperamental personality. I sold him for 750K£ and some add-ons. But the transfer date was agreed to after this season. The youth intake preview looked okay with 5 stars but not a single A. The intake was okay. Jacquart will probably be a starter next season on the left full-back. Cotton and Ezeh will also be a part of the first team as rotational players. Smith is my first young goalkeeper with both great potential and a non-bad personality. I hope he will develop into a future starter. As mentioned Baxter will leave after the season. Otherwise, no transfers of significance. Finances and Upgrades We moved into our new stadium before the season. Because of the continued financial trouble, we did not get any upgrades this season. There have been several rumors about takeovers. I hope someone will come and clear the debt. However, I managed to get assigned to a few new trainer courses, and I am currently studying for the continental Pro license. Next season Next season, I hope to gain promotion. If I can keep my best players, I think the team is great. I furthermore hope to develop the team.

I have had great success with playing my young talents at a young age. My theory is that when the training quality is so poor in the lower leagues it is better for their development to get game time. I see the best development from the players I use a lot. But this could of course be biased as I may tend to use my biggest talents most. But be aware, I have no great insight and it is only based on my own experiences.