Neo_Geo

SQUAD | TACTICS | SCHEDULE HEARTBREAK AND JOY FOR UNITED IN SEASON 4 First and foremost the joy, Crewe United are going to the Premiership! In incredible season in the league saw Crewe United beat the record for the most points obtained in a season in the Championship as Ballinamallard United kept pace with us the whole way until the split. I could just end the season summary here and be more than happy with it but the cups are where it got really interesting. Once more we overachieved in the Clearerwater Irish Cup making the final once again and once again facing Larne in the final. This time it was 3-0 with a bizarre own goal where my defender doesn't control the ball properly and then the ball trundles towards the goal and my keeper just watches it (see below) After I then tried to go for it to get back into the game they cut me open fairly early in the second half and it was always game over by that point. 3 days later we had the Intermediate Cup Final against Warrenpoint which was the more winnable of the two but given the potential of European football for the Irish cup I had to play my strongest team for that. This decision came back to haunt me as we ended up losing this final too 4-3 AET. There were a lot of games towards the end of the season and there just wasn't enough quality in depth to be able to compete on 3 fronts. The main thing was winning promotion! The other cups were not so great but it's just as well as the fixture pile up wouldn't have been ideal. I did make a small tweak to the midfield to make it asymmetrical by having Watters Y3-A in the MC position to provide a bit more central support for the front line and it did seem to help, Braniff Y1-A has improved as a defensive midfielder and was able to hold his own more by himself rather than needing another DM next to him. Club News Youth Intake Admin Next Season

Congrats @glennuk really well deserved You can always tell when players are getting close to completing it, glad you got it over the line the season after missing out.

So my new captain, Dean Sloan Y1-A, who is now a decent Premiership level player had some interest from Crusaders in the summer window and kicked up a stink. Due to the nature of the clubs status I can only offer 6 months for a players new contract if I offer it around the turn of the year (when they can be approached as they are in their last 6 months). So I've had to look to build in extensions and Sloans from the season before had triggered to take him to 2028. Approaching the January window I decided that he was just going to leave as Glentoran were also interested so I offered him for £20k and 25% of next sale. Glentoran met this and I accepted and gave Crusaders an ultimatum and they refused at which point Sloan said he was happy to stay at the club because Crusaders were no longer interested (even though he could get a deal with Glentoran). I immediately offered him a new deal and..... I think its the first time I've actually managed to achieve this

SQUAD | TACTICS | SCHEDULE United in near logic defying season There are some seasons where you can't explain the events unfolding before your eyes, sometimes you suffer a terrible run of results after a great start and find yourself fighting for your job and sometimes your squad manages to punch well above its weight. Season 3 for Crewe United was fortunately the latter with a 4th place finish missing out on the Premiership play-off by 3 points (having been sitting in 2nd on the final day of the season on goal difference). I wanted safety and got far more than I had anticipated and was actually top for a week or two until Bangor found their purple patch and rocketed up the league. The games came thick and fast towards the end of the season and my squad doesn't have the quality in depth so having to rotate my 4/5 star defence for 2 and 1.5 star deputies it just wasn't to be. The league wasn't the only crazy story of the season. In the Clearerwater Irish Cup first round I got drawn away to Clitfonville for the second year running which was great for the balance as it added about £20k but this year I managed to get through taking them to extra time, nicking a goal in the first 4 minutes of extra time and then holding out to claim an historic victory. Lady luck was again on my side for the draws as I drew Armagh from the division below then Bangor and Dundela from the Championship. Ultimately we made the final to play against Larne who had finished second, I wasn't sure if this meant I'd get the Conference League spot from the cup even if I lost but to make the final was just incredible. 0-0 at 22 minutes Sloan Y1-A at right back lifted the ball over the Larne defence with my right winger Williams Y2-A bearing down on goal to the right of centre. It was a chance that HAD to be taken if I wanted any chance of success......the ball cannoned off the keeper and the defence cleared their lines. 3 minutes later Larne break through with an almost identical chance, ball lifted over and the midfielder (this time to the left of centre) slammed the ball into the far corner. 3 minutes later a corner to Larne was headed clear to the edge of the box where Bonis hits an unstoppable half volley in off the bar. I made a few tweaks to not concede any more by half time which were successful and I could then make some subs at half time and change it up and get some more energy. 5 minutes after coming on Daniel Anderson Y3-A in defensive midfield got sent off for a two footed lunge about 35 yards from goal. The adventure was over and Larne added another two to the scoreline which did NOT flatter them and for that reason I'm quite content being in the Championship for another season. Club News Youth Intake Admin Next Season

Yup, it certainly does suck at times

I think I’ve had one model citizen in all my attempts and you get four in one

@Padders you needing a new pair of undies after the last game of the season That must have been some relief but your squad does look a little threadbare for PL.....good luck for season 94

I had this with my FC Chiasso save in Switzerland I'm sure and the link was removed when I won promotion.

SQUAD | TACTICS | SCHEDULE Unexpected title win for United I wanted to blood the youngsters and consolidate our place in the 3rd tier but instead we ended up winning the league and therefore promotion to the Championship. The addition of the two centre backs (Dwayne McDonald Y1-A and Jake Porter Y1-A) and an excellent new right back (Dean Sloan Y1-A) helped provide much more stability at the back as we only conceded 30 goals this time around which I think made the difference overall. With 4 games to go we were 7 clear of Banbridge in second but then seemed to do our best to chuck the league with a 2-2 draw at home to Tobermore, then losing in the Intermediate Cup Semi Final, then losing at home to Rathfriland Rangers 1-0 after Jake Porter Y1-A got sent off on the stroke of half time for a stupid lunge. This brought the lead down to 4 points with an away match to Portstewart and then rounding the league off at home to second placed Banbridge. I wanted to avoid a title decider in the last game and fortunately they team turned out a superb 3-0 away win to clinch the title with a game to spare! Cup wise we didn't do as well in the Irish Cup however being drawn away to Cliftonville did give the club a bit of a cash injection which was much needed as income is scarce in this league. Club News Youth Intake Admin Next Season It will be interesting to see how the squad copes with the step up, with 1 automatic relegation place and 1 play-off place I'm hoping I can beat Banbridge (who came up via the play-offs) or some other team in the division to finish 11th or above. It will be a tougher year this year as there are 38 games to be played in total rather than the 26 I have been used to so I will need to utilise my squad more this year and probably sacrifice the cups to keep the overall fixture count a little lower. P.S. See if anyone can guess who my manager profile is based on

Nice one @Ron_Swanson (not quite FM'd Feyenoord but close )

The first season always feels like the trickiest in terms of winning over the squad, keeping them happy when they complain about squad depth and obviously being able to renew the contracts of the best players. I'd love to know the percentage of these challenges that fail in the first year, reckon it would be rather high. Good luck in Iceland......wanted to do Iceland myself but the fact it was completed was always too big a negative for me.

If you are referring to the base game leagues then Peru is a no go because it has one division only. Colombia has 2 division but doesn't have relegation from division 2 meaning no promotions and no previously unplayable clubs so its also not eligible. Unless I have missed something I don't think either are eligible for the challenge

Spanked-oria

Started season 2 and I've just destroyed Ballymena Utd who are 2 divisions above: Won the first two games of the league campaign as well and in the 3 games have scored 12 and conceded just 1. Great start, hopefully can keep this up!

SQUAD | TACTICS | SCHEDULE Back in the swing of things! Its like riding a bicycle, you never really forget no matter how long its been.....boy have I missed this challenge! In an eventful first season Crewe United avoided the drop by some margin with a 4th place finish in the Northern Irish 3rd tier. Few would have predicted that with a squad of 16 (reduced to 14 in the first few weeks as 2 players left due to turning down clubs previous contract offer) with two half star centre backs (one was 38 years old and the other a right sided defensive midfielder) would result in being 9 points behind the play-off position and 28 points clear of the drop zone. Goals were not hard to come by as my striking partnership of Mark McCullough and Jack Sharvin scored 52 goals between them in all competitions. The defence tried their best but conceding 45 goals in 26 league games was always going to make it tougher to succeed. In the cup competitions Crewe United gave a good account of themselves in the Clearer Water Irish Cup and Mid Ulster Cup beating Sports Direct Premier side Dungannon Swifts and Playr-Fit Championship sides Warrenpoint and Ballyclare. An opening day 4-3 defeat in the Bet McLean cup to rivals Ballymacash Rangers fortunately didn't set the tone for the rest of the season. Off the park 3 coaching badge course have been funded by the club however they refuse to improve youth recruitment or junior coaching (the former being the far more important one to improve). Intake Details A promising intake preview led to a decent first intake and much needed options in key areas of the park (notably 4 central defenders). Pick of the bunch for me was my Jamaican D(LC) Dwayne McDonald. I needed someone to come in and settle the back line down and he has done that. There is a long way to go to train him up (he seems to be better suited to left back but I needed central defenders so that's what he's going to be) but I've been encourage by the performances in the first 2 games since the intake. Dean Sloan Y1-A at right back and Jake Porter Y1-A at centre back are another two players who started both matches since their arrival at the club. 2 players have retired with a further 2 soon to retire so the youngsters will definitely get their chance next season, a season where I intend to consolidate my position in this league and improve the youth players as much as possible. See the Squad in full I opted for a 4-2-4 DM formation out of necessity, I have 2 good strikers and left winger and whilst my inside forward on the right was good he was showing signs of age and is one of the players retiring. I'll be sticking with this formation next season as its certainly served me well offensively and I believe the backline should be better with the new recruits from the intake. See the Current Tactics I'll be tracking player records over the course of this challenge as I think (and hope) it will be a long challenge seeing many talented players come through the ranks at the club. Admin Here are the transfers in the first season with the two players that left early doors. Next Season With the slight turnover of personnel I will just be looking to integrate the youth players and look to get a comfortable mid-table finish, its definitely way too soon to be thinking of promotion and with the squad as it is I think we'd come straight back down which always runs the risk of getting sacked.