LeLaga

Season 3 (2019/20) - Half-season Update: While We still lacked consistancy, first half of the season was better than in previous two years, which gives me hope that even if progress is slow, We're on the right track. We gathered 24 points in first 21 games. Last season at this stage it was 20 and two seasons ago - 21. In FA Cup, We fell short of getting past qualifying rounds, but We had tough draw in 4th and final qualifying round, playing one of the top Vanarama National team on the road. In FA Trophy We got further than in past two seasons already, with a nice upset win against top 3 Vanaram North Team in Boston United, which was additionally satisfactory for the fans, since Boston is one of King's Lynn's main rivals. In January, We'll play Sutton United, who are at 21 position in Vanarama National currently. Playing at home, I think We might have a chance to do something there so I'm looking forward to that challange. Some other points: 1) Young Ally McBridge established himself as Club's leading scorer, with 11 goals. Joe Brennan slowed down a bit with 6, but Luke Willsmer - another youngster who didn't seem all that promising early on - stepped up with 8. 2) Biggest issue for me remains finding reliable left back. I'm usually playing one of the veterans, Jordan Yong in there (Club's record holder in most league appearances), but He's very offensive minded and I'm usually playing more defensive football, where I don't want my side defenders too "adventerous". I tried to give a chance to couple youngsters, but They dissapoint thus far and might need a bit more time. 3) I didn't mention my tactic yet, so I should probably give at least basic overview: I play with one formation, 1-4-1-3-2, only playing with instructions based on opponents. I'm playing structured, old school Football, with not much involvement in offence for defenders. I rely on long balls and quick counters after interception. One more modern "flavor" in my tactic is using defensive forward alongside more classic Advanced forward.

Season 2 (2018/19) Second season came to and end and it was one of the most fun seasons for me managing lower leagues. It started a bit rough, as my young striker - who I was hoping for to provide goals and replace Zielonka, suffered bad injury in pre-season which put him out for solid 3 months: Without him, I had a lot of trouble scoring early in the season and after 15 games I was "occupying" last place in table: While I was struggling in a league, one exciting part about this season was getting opportunnity to host some higher league teams at home, after solid cup runs: A lot of it was down to lucky draw - in FA Cup We played only lower league teams, at home at that - in 3 qualifying rounds and got a chance ot play league 1 Plymouth, which provided a much needed bust for Club's budget. I was even briefly leading in that game, but We were quickly brought back into reality: After our Cup "adventure" was over, We were able to put our focus into league more and after 30 games, with important win over fellow relegation candidate - We got ourself out of relegation zone: McBride was also getting back from injury right around that time and We had a good run to finish the season: In March, for the first time in my career with the club, We were able to win 3 games in a row, although pretty brutal defeat to Spennymoor followed to bring us back to eart. Win over Altrincham put us over the line in terms of avoiding relegation and in final 2 games, I gave chance to some of the youngsters and played around with tactics. We finished up at very solid 15-th place, what I consider big success: Season Summary and some take-aways: 1) Heathcote was holding our defence together and I don't even want to think what his injury would mean to us. Thankfully, He seems to be blessed with good health. 2) Wilson Carvalho was biggest surprise to me. When I came to the club, He had serious knee injury and was sidelined for basically all of first season. After Lee Smith hit poor run of form, I gave Carvalho the chance and He was magnificant for us, scoring and providing crucial assists. 3) Joe Brennan is another crucial player, leading the team in goals and assists. 4) After coming back from injury, Ally McBride showed his talent in second half of the season and continues to develop, giving me hope for the future. His good performances also resulted in surprise international call for Scotland's under 19 team! 5) In terms of youth intake, there were some interesting ones again and I'm very happy with the job that Head of Youth Development is doing. Out of the lot, Clive Austin is considered the biggest talent by my staff: 6) Here is how Club's financial situation looks like: If not for cup runs and game with Plymouth, which provided record 65k gate, We'd be in trouble. 7) After the season, I got rid of couple players, which were disappointing in 2 years: The biggest gamble was passing on Jack Turnbull, who was objectively one of the more skillful player of the team, but He was competing for first team with Jake Heath, who was team captain and slightly better player - and He asked for even higher purse than Jake. His departure will be a chance for Danny Morrison, good little player of his own, who began to break into first team at the end of last season already: 8) I began a coaching course to get my first badge and I should be able to finish it before start of next season, which should allow me to help out in training a bit more. Next Season goals: I think for the first time, I'm in position where I'll have reliable replacement on every position... probably outside of Heathcote as best Central back, who remains my best defender by far. I hope He stays healthy and if that's the case, I think that upper half of the table is not unrealistic... but I'll be happy with any progress. Other than that, I hope that young players continue to develop as We build the winning culture and hopefully build a team that could eventually compete for promotion.

I tried to take on this challange - with King's Lynn as well - some time ago, but failed. I took a little break from FM, but after watching some Football at the start of the season, I felt like playing some again - so thought I'll make a topic again and see how it goes. Still didn't buy new computer, so still playing the old FM. Goal is to see how far can I take King's Lynn, taking it after promotion to Vanarama North, using only youth academy to recruit new players. Little spoiler alert -I already played one season, didn't want to start a thread in case it was going to end after 1 season with relegation, so here is a little season overview. (Season 1: 2017/18): Team Squad: Couple Key Players: Table at half-way mark (Season 1: 2017/18):: Season Ending Table (Season 1: 2017/18): Season Review: X Overall, it was a solid enough season. I knew that staying up will be difficult, there's just not much depth in the team. I lost first couple games, but after getting first win I was above the water and never got into relegation zone again, always winning some important game when it mattered most. One regret is losing in FA Cup Second (First in which We competed) round against lower league team. It was my poor tactical decisions which costed team the win. I was trying to play more defensive Football and I hope to build a good defensive team eventually - but it's not easy when that's how We compare to other teams in the league: ...considering that, We were probably solid enough defensively. Here are two best players of the season which made the biggest difference for us: Youth intake was solid, there were couple players I was able to bring into first team rotation almost immediately. Here's the biggest talent of the bunch, Ally McBride: Evan Collins also played a bit in first season: - Coming into second season - all I ask for is a progress, however small - and the goal will be to make something happen in Cups this time around, as We ended the season with significant debt. I re-signed most of the players for second season. One gamble I took is getting rid of my best league scorer in Jacek Zielonka: He was very streaky, scoring 12 goals in a season... but two hat-tricks, so that's half of them in just 2 games. He also lacked in ambition - and I'll try to give a chance to some of the youngsters instead, mainly McBride. To sum up:

For my excuse, more often than not it's the save that doesn't want to stick with me - rather than me not wanting to stick with a save! I really enjoyed that one, true roller-coaster... just did not manage to keep the team up. @argento Ha, thank You! Is Jacek Zielonka rememered fondly :)?

Sadly, I was relegated... Heart-breaking. We had a lead in final game which would've guaranteed us staying up, but late goal came in for AFC Telfrod... and that's All She Wrote. I had a lot of fun, but second half of the season was a nightmare, lack of depth really hit us, I had to play greyed-out players in many games and struggled to get team's morale up after series of losses. I think I'll re-start, but won't start new topic - I have to stop spamming the forum, hah.

Hi, The one I used was this https://www.cmrev.com/fileplanet/plik/FM-Revolution-Reforma-Polskiej-Ligi-ESA18.html It re-organised the format of competition in some ways - and added level 4 of competition. There's also another one: https://www.cmrev.com/fileplanet/plik/FM-Revolution-Polska-Liga-Update-2017-1_7-Beta.html I did not use that one, it keeps regular format - but adds leagues all the way to level 8 I think.

I'm restarting my journey with King's Lynn Town. In first try - I found myself eventually going away from style and approach I wanted to implement at the start, almost unconsciously - when I struggled to make more defensive/counter-attacking style work - but I found that I wasn't enjoying the save anymore at that point. I really want to make it work with counter-attacking and direct style of football - so I'll give it another go. After re-loading a game, I got a bit different squad this time. It's less deep, with only 15 men so it will make it fresh and (even) more difficult. I might be taking on impossible task - doing the Youth Academy Challange - but hey, let's see what happens. - Short introduction into the story. In 2016/2017 season, King's Lynn gained promotion to Vanarama North for the first time in history. Success was surprising even to Chairman of the club. King's Lynn Town is small club without major ambitions and promotion to higher league, which comes with further travels, bigger wage demands from players and other expenses wasn't welcomed with expected enthusiasm. Chairman wasn't willing to strengthen the squad, which led disillusioned Manager - Gary Setchell - to resign. Finding another manager proved difficult, with team lacking squad depth or quality for that level of competition and Board looking to save on everything, including Manager's wage. 2 months before the season would start, Jacek Zielonka - Polish player who played in King's Lynn Town for couple years - recommended his old friend, Julian Karmazin, for a job. Karmazin was young coach without any experience and was happy taking lower pay and do his best with given conditions. Before the season, Chairman gave simple task - Fight bravely against relegation, to keep fans happy enough. If somehow the team stays up, We'll sit down after the season and take it from there. That's how the story begins. - Squad at the start of a season Here's Jacek Zielonka, Polish player and old friend of mine, who got me the job basically: - I played first half of the season already, since I didn't know if I can even do anything with that squad and did not want to start new topic not knowing if I won't get automatically relegated. Season 1 (2017/2018) - Mid-Season Update Games Fixture: League Table: We were able to get through pre-season without major issues, but just before the first game my first team full back pulled his hamstrings, what put us in difficult situation, having to play my defensive midfielder at the back. Beginning of a season was extremely difficult. We gathered only 3 points in first 8 games, with a lot of individual errors and lapses in concentration costing us valuable points. We were able to escape with a lucky win in our 9-th game, but quite surprisingly - it was only after one of the team leaders and best left back - Jordan Young - got injured, that things began to turn around for us. Jordan is not going to be back until next season most likely, but I think his natural tendency to come forward makes him more suited to play as left winger in my formation. I had to re-train one of my defensive midfielders to play at left back - player who's additionally permanently crippled with recurring knee injury - but somehow He was able to do better job than Jordan Young. We went 3-3-0 in next 6 games, which took us couple points safe off relegation zone - and We played consistantly well up until the very end. Final 2 losses I put down to injuries and discipline suspensions, which forced us to play very experimental squad. We're only 7 points above relegation zone, which is far from safe - but I'm cautiously confident if We're able to avoid serious injuries. I think I was able to figure out tactics that is working well enough around our weaknesses. Big problem for us is lack of aerial presence - We're dead last in the league in headers won tally and don't have many players who excell in jumping or heading ability, but I try to work around it utilising our wingers more. Hopefully We'll get a good Youth intake in March. I'm badly in need of side-Defenders in particular and it will be nice to have some depth finally.

DM is always key player in my formations and your new signing looks like DM of my dreams. Hopefully He performs!

You were lucky They (apparently) fired me in your alternative time-line! Also, little tip so that You get along with Your Polish defender. Łuczak is spelled kinda of like "Woochack". I'm sure He'll appriciate You taking effort to learn proper Polish pronounciation and He will be very loyal to the team in return .

I wanted to ask - You never played any of the newer versions, or just got back to FM13 because You found it the most enjoyable?

Aaaah, that's how it works - I read first page, then came here and was a bit confused. Now read up more on page 3 and it's more clear. Interesting idea! Will follow along for sure. You'll probably go to Premier League (Or whoever the highest tier is called in your system) quicker than me anyway.

Hey, How many leagues below Vanarama are You competing in right now? Margate, Basingtstoke, FC United - also King's Lynn, all sound familiar from my time in Vanarama North,

Season 3 (2019/2020) - End of Season Summary Season Review: League Table: Season was underwhelming, but after total collapse of the team in second half of last seaon, I was fearing the worst - so I'm actually quite positive about it. We never had as bad streak as during last season, so We were more consistant - just not on great level. Some playing around with tactics, using 1-4-5-1 DP more often, allowed us to have our best season in terms of home games performance. We found better rhythm late in a season, so there's a chance We can take it into new season. Our defence was still very leaky - and since I promised the board building good defensive team, They were understandably not very happy about it. I was able to take it out from our deal after signing new contract. I'll still try to play defensively, but it's not easy with one of the worst defensive lines in the league. I'm happy that Nathan Millichamp was able to find his form and had his best season with us after last year's disappointment. Sadly, We performed very poorly in cups. We lost in first round We joined in, second qualifying for FA Cup and Third qualifying in FA Trophy - to Workington (Regional Premier Divisions) and Darlington (Vanarama North). Because of that, our finances really took a hit - and I don't think club can afford another season like that, so We have to be on form early. That's why I ordered my players to be back from summer break early. Youth Development As season went on and I realised play-offs will be out of reach, I gave a chance to larger number of youth players. For some, it was too soon and were not able to adapt, but here's couple (In addition to Tommy Bennett who remains my best home-grown young player) that I was able to use in first team multiple times and who were all able to handle themselves: Calub Gibbon Dennis Stevenson Jamie Bunyard Simon Stainsby Simon will be getting even more opportunities next year, as veteran striker - Leon Mettam, is set to retire. One problem that remains for me is the fact that I have a lot of strikers who are good as Defensive strikers or more providing, Deep Lying Forward, but I don't have a quality, classic Advanced Forward that I could count on to consistantly provide goals. 2020 Youth Intake Preview Overall, it's been disappointing again - so I fired another HoYD... but here's one stand-out. I think He might have a chance to break into first team in a year or so - if He works on couple flaws that set him back 2020/2021 (Season 4) Goals: After good first season, I thought that I might use the squad that I "inherited" at a club to advance to Vanarama National within couple season. I now see it was overly optimistic. It's more likely to take couple years, as the players I have now reach their peak - They are still mostly in their 20s - and perhaps I get lucky with some real talents coming through eventually. Goal for next season will be modest - improvement on this year, both in the league and in Cups. I hope to utilise the new tactic at home more, it was really successful last season against lesser teams and those were the games that I really struggled in in previous seasons. Positive thing is that Board is still very happy with me, so I'll have a comfort of work without added pressure, only that which I put on myself. We're still being predicted to finish last by the media season after season, no matter how many times We prove them wrong - They still feel it's a fluke apparently. Here's little summary of how We're doing thus far, overall, since I joined the club

Season 2 (2018/2019) - End of Season Summary After solid first half of the season, I had positive outlook for the future... but second half of the season was plain AWFUL League Table: Results: We started pretty well, but then couple injuries hit, I also tried to play with tactics... and the team hit the slump and didn't recover until end of a season. I'm not sure what happend, the tactics that worked for us previously - suddenly stopped working. Have the teams figure us out, or perhaps They were taking us lightly previously? Not sure, but it's not looking good. I'm hoping maybe it's the impact of team captain's being injured and things will go back to normal once He comes back next season. Here's how team performed: Our defenders were horrible. Joe Brennan was hit with injury and wasn't able to regain his previous form until end of a season. To add to our trouble, second Youth Intake was even worse than the first. Here's the player that is considered by our Head of Youth Development to be the most promising. I'm not impressed. Well, now for positives. We were still predicted to finish dead last at the end of a season, so board is still happy enough. They are pleased with my low wage expenditures and the opportunity to young players being given... so I'll get a chance to keep working and hopefully figure something out. Season 3 (2019/2020) Goals: After shocking decline in performance of the team in second half of last season, I don't know what to expect next. My goal now is to regain the form from before Ferbuary 2019, before it all suddenly fell apart, first thing first, before looking further. I hope that players will be able to clear their heads during the summer break - I gave them a bit more time than usual, allowing them to come back week later. With Right Back being my weakest link, I'm going to give a chance to another one of my youngsters next season. I wasn't thinking much of him at the beginning, but He showed himself a hard working player and quick learner.

Hey! I believe that people will not absorb excess information anyway, so I try to keep it short and condensed. I'll take a look at your topic, I missed it before. Here is my HoYD. ... or rather - was. He's not keeping his job! I think He probably lied about his resume!