AM23

Pre-season 24/25 This year's pre-season was mostly about strengthening the squad, while also getting rid of some deadwood. Some postions have been a lot harder to find players for than others, which means we have a bit of an imbalance of squad depth at different postions now, though I hope to fix that in the remaining time of the transfer window. Some good performances against lower league sides before Cheltenham demolished us in the first half an hour. Overall though, we weren't that bad against Cheltenham, so I would call this a good pre-season. Budgets No transfer budget as expected, however the board did give us some extra wage to work with in comparison with last season. Might have to do with the fact that the finances are looking relatively healthy: A small loss over the course of last season, but nothing to be too worried about I think. Transfers First of all, there is nothing to be seen on the outgoing front as I have only release some players / let their contracts run out, so here are the most important players from last season that won't be back: Tom Goodwin: was talked about before, as he is 34 years old and had a lot of declining attributes after his big injury. Daniel Lewis: played a lot at right back and centre back, but is also getting old and just not up to standards anymore. Adam Worton: I think he played every match for us last season, as our only real left back in the squad, but sadly he decided to retire. He is still at the club as a coach. Lance Jones: looked like one of our best players last season but never showed his ability on the pitch. Honestly very happy that he is gone as he also started complaining about a lack of playing time. Sergio Gomes: the most notable of all. I am heartbroken that we needed to let him go, as he was my favourite player in the squad. Our 3rd highest goal scorer, and the best developing player at the club. I don't know how he got a work permit for last season, but I am happy we had the pleasure to have him then at least. Now onto the incoming transfers: Ifan Knott and Rhys Wilson (profile below): two goalkeepers, although I was actually only looking for one. Knott is a back-up with potential, whereas Wilson just fell into my lap as a very good first choice. Wilson's arrival means I am looking to move Niki Lee-Bulmer to another club, as he earns way to much to sit on the bench. Callum Humphries (profile below) and Louis Bradford: two central defenders who could well be playing together in the starting XI. I am most excited about Humphries, who is not all that great defensively, but is a big aerial threat. Bradford still has some growth in him, and can also slot in at right back and defensive midfield which is always handy. Adam Boydell and Paul Johnson (profile below): both well-rounded central midfielders in their prime. They give us some good options to work with on that part of the pitch. Billy Osborn: might be the player I am most excited about bringing in so far. He is a very good player for us already and is still only 19 years old. He played in the Watford youth before Ruthin picked him up on a during last season, but now he has chosen us. Eric Durnell: a player mostly there for squad depth, as he can play on the wing on both sides. Only 19 years old as well. Only thing left to speak about is what we still need, as there are some positions where we are lacking at the moment: Left back: I've got only one player there at the moment, and he came through our youth intake and might not be quite ready for the first team just yet. I had good hopes of signing a very good player here, but he chose for a Cymru South club. At the moment I have another two offers waiting to be answered, but once again with other clubs bidding as well. Right wing: This is a position we really lack in quality. Once again, I was eyeing a great player here, but he too chose another team. The situation now is getting a little bit precarious actually, as I am having a hard time finding any quality players here. Striker: Just the one option now besides the 'Danger Duo', which means I would like to get an extra back-up here. The player we were eyeing for the right wing was perfect, as he could also do a good job as a striker, so really gutted to miss out on him. Tactic Last season went well, so still using the same tactic. I do hope that we will become a little bit less dependent on our strikers for goals. Squad So, Rhys Wilson should be the man to do it for us in goal this season. Looking at the salaries, it is clear why I want to get rid of NLB. In the centre and on the right side I am happy with our options, though it is obvious that I am desperately looking for a decent left back. It is needless to say that Wayne Staines will be first choice on the right side. In the middle I will start with Jordan Ambris next to Callum Humphries, as he has already shown what he can do for us last season. On the left side I will probably go for Ben Davies for now. We are looking very good at the center here, but on the sides there is much to be improved still. Billy Osborn will be our defensive midfielder, with Paul Johnson and Adam Boydell battling it out for the other central spot. Archie Bales has to be credited for his performances last season and thus will be starting on the left. On the right side I will go for Eric Durnell for now. Rhys Evans might look out of place here, but did a good job last season as a back-up, while also being assistant for our u19 for free. The same guys as last season. As said, I am hoping for one more striker option, but if the 'Danger Duo' of still operates as good as last season that won't be a big priority. Jamie Breese still is the big earner of the squad by a mile. Season preview Predicted just a little bit higher than last season, but outside of the relegation spots this time. We are a bit unlucky I think with both the relegated teams coming into our league. I am also surprised with newly promoted Rhyl being so high up, but we'll find out soon enough if this can be justified, as they are our first opponents. Yeah, I think Jamie Breese still deserves his wage Don't think he will get close to topscorer though, as he will be playing as our pressing forward again, so not the main goal scorer in our system. Board expectation For some reason they are not ambitious at all yet again. At the end of last season I got a mail in my inbox that mid table was the expectation, but they have backtracked from that. I want to do a lot more than the board expect of me. Mainly, I am looking at the Tier 2 League Cup, as I think this is a great chance at our first price with just 5 wins needed. As for the league I hope to do better than last season, which would mean finishing top half.

Season review 23/24 First season has gone very well for us. I am pleased with how we did here, and glad to be here for another year. Going into next year I hope to seriously strengthen the squad, aiming at a place in the top half this time. The only thing I wanted this year that I didn't get was a coaching course, as the club say they think I will leave them for a bigger club as a result of it. Competitions So this is how we went about in the league. The start saw us perform as we were predicted to, hovering around the relegation spots and only winning 1 of our first 7 league games. Then October came and we suddenly went on an amazing run of form with 13 points from 5 games, which saw us climb to 7th in the table. It was also here that our 'Danger Duo' of Jamie Breese and Jack Orbell really started to play together well and score goal after goal. After that a little bit of a winter dip came, with just 4 points from 8 matches, though we did have some tough opposition around that time, as well as the Tom Goodwin injury happening there. We never really came into danger of relegation again luckily, as we always stayed at least 3 points above the relegation zone and got well away from it towards the end of the season. In the end we were officialy safe after matchday 27, and got a steady mid table finish in 9th place. Nothing special in the Welsh Cup where we knocked out lower league opponents before league rivals Chirk outplayed us. The League Cup is where we really showed ourselves early in the season. Against lower league side Penrhyncoch we played our first competitive fixture and immediately got our biggest win of the season. After that we met two Cymru Premier sides. First we had that amazing game against Newtown, where we were 2-0 down after 10 minutes, but had a spectacular game in the end with Jamie Smallwood getting us the win in the 86th minute. Our campaign ended in heartbreak away to Penybont, as they turned our 1-0 lead around at the death to keep us away from the quarter finals. The Tier 2 League Cup is the only competition I was disappointed in our doing. This was the only competition were we had any hopes of winning this season, but those hopes were gone early. Squad I mostly agree with this best XI on the right, though I would get Archie Bales in for Rhys Evans here. He got 11 assists and was our best provider with those. On the goal scoring front it is somewhat worying to see how dependent we have been on only 3 players, although this is also a consequence of the tactic we play. Looking towards next season, I want to do a bit of a squad overhaul, especially as our reserves are just not up to par. For the rest I am searching some direct reinforcements for our defence and central midfield. Tom Goodwin will be the most notable player we won't be seeing back next year. His attributes declined a lot with his injury and he is also already 34 years old, so time for some fresh blood. For the rest, Adam Worton retiring is also worth mentioning.

April 2024 Two games to go. Hope to finish the season on a high against (probably) relegating Bangor in front of a home crowd. Holywell - Llanidloes xG: 3.10 - 0.46; Shots: 21(12) - 4(2); Possession: 59% - 41% Relegation averted, focus gone. That seems to be the case here for us. Holywell are not a bad team, but they should never be this much better than us. We were lucky that the score didn't end up much higher and that Rhys Evans even saved some honour for us. Hope to end with a win against Bangor, although they are still fighting relegation as they grabbed a late winner today. Llanidloes - Bangor 1876 xG: 1.76 - 0.61; Shots: 9(3) - 11(5); Possession: 43% - 57% We seal Bangor's faith in a boring affair where a penalty was a fitting end. They just couldn't break through our defense, which was nice to see for once. No coaching course for me still is my only complaint. Great to see us end the season in 9th. In the end we got a good margin from the relegation spots halfway through the season and never really got in danger again after that. For the rest of the league, Bangor were the biggest underachievers, as they were expected to finish around 5th place. Chirk on the other hand surprised everyone. They were predicted dead last but defied expectations in the league and also managed to win the Tier 2 League Cup.

March 2024 4 of the remaining 6 games being played in March means we have the chance to secure our spot in the league this month already. Buckley away is a game we should be looking to get 3 points from, as they are in last place. The next 3 games are all against top half opposition, but as two of them are at home, I do hope to get some result there too. Buckley - Llanidloes xG: 1.51 - 0.54; Shots: 12(3) - 4(3); Possession: 42% - 58% A pretty weird game this. In the first half every shot seemed to go in with some questionable goalkeeping on both sides. Then two of our players went off injured before we got that red card too. In the end I'm honestly happy we managed to keep it at a draw. Most notable moment for the rest was Wayne Staines getting his first goal contribution with an assist from a cross. We picked him up in december and he has become our starting right back since then. Llanidloes - Guilsfield xG: 1.53 - 0.83; Shots: 11(5) - 9(4); Possession: 52% - 48% Oh yes this was just amazing! Not the most comprehensive of victories, but we definitely played the most beautiful football I have seen from us all season. Guilsfield didn't know what was happening to them, as we were all over them combining through their defense with some terrific attacking plays. We were very unlucky to go into to break with the scores tied, but luckily just kept going in the second half and got the result we fully deserved. That man Sergio Gomes just keeps going on and on. I am hoping for a miracle that gives him a work permit for next season. One more win can secure us staying up now, as well as any loss by teams below us. Let's get it done next match! Airbus UK Broughton - Llanidloes xG: 1.15 - 0.32; Shots: 14(3) - 6(3); Possession: 56% - 44% And there is our confirmation! Not a classic by any means, as we did not show any initiative after Rhys Evans opened the scoring early with a shot from outside the box. A good chance to give some defensive praise though, as we kept them quiet for the whole game except for a late push. Wayne Staines has been training to become familiar at the defensive midfield position and played an absolute masterclass there today at only 17 years old. Niki Lee-Bulmer has been criticised by me a few times but kept his goal clean today for the first time since early november. Very happy to go into another year here. I have had a great time this season and hope to continue that in the next. Also, it would be nice if the board would now let me take a coaching course as that still hasn't happened yet. A little bit of a wage rise makes me the best paid person at the club by far Llanidloes - Chirk xG: 0.83 - 1.02; Shots: 12(4) - 10(6); Possession: 59% - 41% First dead rubber and a boring game immediately. Their 3 goals came from set-pieces, and a draw would have been a better reflection of play. Bright spot for us was Harri Edwards coming of the bench and scoring his first goal for us from the left wing. The result wasn't the worst thing to happen today though... A big injury means our 'Danger Duo' won't finish the season together. In the worst case scenario Jack Orbell will even miss the start of next season. Very nice to see us there mid table, let's try and keep that position in the last two games. Elsewhere Flint Town have sealed the championship and promotion in what has been a dominant season by them. Youth intake We have also had our youth intake last month. All players were actually given 5 star potential, but I don't think that means too much at this level. As the youth contracts do take up some space I only signed the players with good personalities. Rúben Faria being Portuguese will be there to remind us of Sergio Gomes when he will be gone For the rest there are two players close to the first team already: Cian Daniels Jonathan Jones

February 2024 A month with possibilities, as we meet 8th through 10th in the table, with two home games as well. A good set of results here could definitively put an end to any relegation fears for us. Llandudno - Llanidloes xG: 1.28 - 0.78; Shots: 14(4) - 7(2); Possession: 57% - 43% Not a single thing happening all the way through this match until suddenly Daniel Lewis, fresh of the bench at right back, hammered home a free kick from an odd 30 meters out. Of course it wouldn't be a match of ours with some more late drama to get the Llandudno a deserved point. All in all not a bad point to take, just a shame about the late equaliser. Llanidloes - Gresford xG: 2.19 - 2.45; Shots: 10(5) - 14(4); Possession: 57% - 43% A game of two halves if there ever was one. We got totally dominated in the first half and should have been 2 or 3 down at the break, but instead Sergio Gomes provided us with some magic which gave us hope that more could be done. We didn't let Gresford get back to what they had been doing in the second half, and with Gomes getting into double digits for the season in all competitions we even got the lead. The icing on the cake was Archie Bales finally scoring his first goal for us. Llanidloes - Porthmadog xG: 2.14 - 1.27; Shots: 11(6) - 10(8); Possession: 33% - 67% Well... Only have ourselves to blame for starting so bad really. Always up against it that way, especially if you can't keep them away from your own goal even in the few minutes after you've scored. They had everything going for them as it seemed that all their chances were going in, and this means we have now lost both our games to Porthmadog. Sergio Gomes again our best man with two assists this time. Don't want to jinx it, but it feels like we are going to be staying up. The teams at the bottom have just not been able to string a few good results together so far. At the top of the table Flint Town have hit a rough patch for the first time all season and are suddenly not so sure of the championship anymore.

January 2024 Really don't understand the league planning here, as playing Caersws on New Year's Day means we will have played 2 teams back-to-back in the league now. First two games are going to be tough, but the second half of the month should see us get some points. Especially at home against 13th placed Denbigh, looks like a good chance for a win. Caersws - Llanidloes xG: 3.57 - 0.68; Shots: 23(10) - 6(0); Possession: 53% - 47% An abysmal performance on all sides of the pitch. We only had our first shot after the 60th minute, but by then the game was already beyond us. Wayne Staines made his starting XI debut at right back and had an awful time out there. He gave away the penalty and was put out of his misery at halftime. I praised our relatively good goal difference earlier in the season, but we are slowly losing this advantage with performances like these. Llanidloes - Prestatyn Town xG: 0.88 - 1.66; Shots: 7(2) - 15(9); Possession: 45% - 55% I actually felt like we were a tad unlucky when they opened the scoring, as the match had been very even up to that point with us having the best chance. After that two defensive howlers saw them extend their lead, most notably a long pass from 40 meters which our goalkeeper Niki Lee-Bulmer totally misjudged as it flew over his head into the back of the net. To be honest, not a bad performance at all against the league number 2, just disappointing that the scoresheet doesn't reflect this. Since the Tom Goodwin injury we have suddenly conceded 10 goals in 3 matches. I knew his injury could have some impact, but didn't expect it to be this big. Mold Alexandra - Llanidloes xG: 0.83 - 1.88; Shots: 9(4) - 15(6); Possession: 49% - 51% Not good enough. We're just giving away the goals too easily at the moment. Not one player who played a good match here. Mold Alexandra go past us in the table with this result as we slip back down to 13th place. Still a 4 point cushion to the relegation spots, but we do need to start winning again soon. Next up is Denbigh at home. Should take at least a point there. Llanidloes - Denbigh xG: 1.10 - 1.08; Shots: 11(8) - 13(3); Possession: 49% - 51% Some very important points to end the month with. This match could have gone either way, so it's nice to be one the good side of the result. The early goal helped settle the nerves and Sergio Gomes, back at central midfield after a bit of shuffling around following Goodwin's injury, showed he still has the ability to chip in with a goal at the right time. Jack Orbell set up both goals and deservedly went home with yet another MOTM award. Not a great month, which is shown in the table as we drop from 8th to 11th. However, a clear gap is starting to form between the bottom 3 and the rest of the teams, so that's very positive for us. If anything, this month has once again shown how important our 'Danger Duo' up front is for us. When they don't score, we don't score and we lose. Our reliance on them is partly due to our tactic, but also because no one else besides Sergio Gomes has shown the ability to consistently score goals.

I think I remember your thread from last year, though I can't recall how far you actually came with the challenge. Anyways, good to see you give it another go and good luck!

December 2023 When we met Ruthin last month, we had both found the way up and had our respective unbeaten runs. After that fixture, which we won, both teams lost 3 games in a row, so the atmosphere around this game is totally different than last time around. We have had 3 free weeks to work on our game since our last fixture though. For the rest there is just one more game for us in December, which will be a tough home game against Caersws on Boxing Day. Ruthin - Llanidloes xG: 0.93 - 0.82; Shots: 8(2) - 6(3); Possession: 61% - 39% Not a classic by any means, with close to nothing happening in the first 70 minutes. The match seemed to be destined to be one of the most boring draws one will ever see, but then a little magic happened. We crossed a ball into the box and it was Jamie Breese who opened the scoring with a bicycle kick from an impossible looking angle. It was only after this moment that the game opened up and we finally saw James Smallwood get his first league goal of the season. We could not keep the clean sheet, but that does not bother me at the moment really. Most important is that we are back to winning with this second away win in the league. A man who has not yet been among the goals but is having a great season so far on the left hand side is young Archie Bales, who took the MOTM award today as he provided 2 goals bringing his assist tally this season up to 9. As a result of this match Ruthin have fired their manager Phil Hudson, who is incidentally the one who prevented me from getting my first manager of the month award back in October. Some bad news too in this match, as we have to deal with our first big injury. Tom Goodwin has been steady for us in defensive midfield all season, starting in all but one game. He will be missed, and I think this injury might also mean the end of his time at the club, as I have not yet offered him a new contract. In his absence I will move Sergio Gomes to the be our ball winning midfielder, while it does open up an opportunity for Lance Jones to finally prove how good he can be. Never have I agreed more with anything Llanidloes - Caersws xG: 2.65 - 2.27; Shots: 15(9) - 16(5); Possession: 48% - 52% Scintillating stuff really. Absolutely unbelievable. We had our biggest crowd turn up of the season for this Boxing Day fixture and then we go on to play our worst half of football. Without Tom Goodwin all balance seemed to be gone. With 1-4 at the half I was mad, so mad I threw the first water bottle of the save. The players were not happy. We've had some good comebacks againt us, but this one tops all of those. The 'Danger Duo' gave the fans their money's worth in that second half. Jack Orbell, you beauty. First hattrick of the save and even getting an assist too. In minute 73 it was Orbell to Jamie Breese with a cross from within the box followed by a free header. Minute 89 saw exactly the same happen, albeit Breese to Orbell this time. Hope started to come, a chance, but Orbell shot it so far wide that it literally hit the corner flag. All seemed to have been for nothing. 95th minute, a desperate ball over the top by left back Adam Worton, suddenly Orbell appears again behind the defense and calmly puts it past the keeper. Ecstasy. Yes, half of our xG came in extra time. We kept our comfortable spot in the top half and can even relax a little at the moment. In other news Flint Town have finally lost a game, against Llandudno of all teams. Great moment for Archie, who got there with 3 assists for the month. Transfers A few free agent regens have started popping up now and I have already given a contract to another one. Wayne Staines looks like a great little talent and might be our starting right back very soon. With a bit if training I think he should also be able to do a good job as a defensive midfielder. Contract news With the last 6 months of contracts entering, I have also started to renew the contracts of our more important players. The following players have renewed so far: Goalkeeper Niki Lee-Bulmer. He has been solid so far, not amazing, but he is a good goalkeeper for us. Jordan Ambris did not have the greatest of form at the start of the season, but he has been better recently and is the leader of our defense. Also, his personality and determination make him a great mentor for younger players. Our leading player in assists is Archie Bales, and because of that he fully deserves the contract extension. Only 20 years old as well and has shown some steady improvement in his attributes so far. Last but not least, how could anyone forget them, is the 'Danger Duo' of Jamie Breese and Jack Orbell. We have been very reliant on them, with 19 of our 28 league goals scored by the two of them. Besides that they also have 6 assists between them. Especially with Breese there was a little bit of suspense to if he actually wanted to extend his contract, as there was some interest from Cymru Premier sides at the start of the season. Luckily we got him to sign and he even agreed to a pay cut of €2000 per year. Jack Orbell Jamie Breese A little bit of bad news too, sadly, as we probably won't have Sergio Gomes with us next season. He was a real revelation in the first half of the season as a midfielder, being our top scorer for quite some time actually. He does however not qualify for a work permit, and it does not look like he will in the near future. Don't know how he got one in the first place, but happy we at least got to play him this season, as he has been an important player for the team.

November 2023 We start the month by playing in-form Ruthin, who have won their last 4 matches. After that, some weird fixture scheduling sees us play back-to-back games against unbeaten league leaders Flint Town, before we cap off the month in a winnable game away at Porthmadog. Llanidloes - Ruthin xG: 2.71 - 0.39; Shots: 25(12) - 4(1); Possesion: 49% - 51% The danger duo up front did it once again for us in an amazing allround performance. Going into halftime we only had ourselves to blame for not having scored at least one goal. Luckily we did so early in the second half and gave away absolutely nothing at the back. Our second goal came from our 20th(!) corner of the match and made an end to any doubt there might have been, as Ruthin's good streak comes to an end. Crazy to think that a little bit more then a month ago I almost wanted to start changing tactics, while now all of a sudden everything seems to be clicking within the team. Will be interesting to see what we can do against Flint Town. Llanidloes - Flint Town xG: 0.74 - 0.44; Shots: 7(3) - 7(4); Possesion: 42% - 58% Another great defensive performance, and we should have gotten a draw. Their goal came from a shot just outside the box which seemed to be going straight at our goalie Niki Lee-Bulmer but somehow it went in. The fans did not get to see a great spectacle today in what was only our second home loss of the season. Flint Town - Llanidloes xG: 2.56 - 0.52; Shots: 17(7) - 9(5); Possesion: 56% - 44% Expectedly, they were a lot more dominating at home, and had the upper hand throughout most of the game. This time out however, it looked like we might take the point we deserved last week through a Jack Orbell header. Sadly that was not to be as an unnecessary foul by Adam Worton gave them the chance to take the lead from the spot before another defensive mistake saw the game end in 3-1. We shouldn't worry too much about these defeats, as Flint Town really look to be in a league of their own at the moment. Instead, we should try and bounce back next game, when we take on 13th placed Porthmadog, who have just appointed a new manager. Porthmadog - Llanidloes xG: 2.33 - 0.00; Shots: 19(7) - 0(0); Possesion: 64% - 36% Awful really... Don't want to spend a lot of words on this, just that I can't remember ever having an FM game where my team did not have a single shot. The send off was fully justified as Josh Hartrick came in with a two-footed tackle from behind. Just gonna leave this graph out there. We are yellow for anyone interested. The win against Ruthin saw us get a little bit of air with 6 points above the relegation spots, but our defeats after that mean that this margin has already been halved. Still, nothing to complain about being mid table halfway through the season. In other news, 5 of the teams have already sacked their manager. Transfers Also, I have made the first signing of the save! We picked up regen Harri Edwards as a free agent. He looks like a good prospect, and is actually already a decent player for our first team. I don't really see him as a winger though, so will try to retrain him to a central (attacking) midfielder.

October 2023 4 games in this month where we look to bounce back from our recent dispiriting results. Mold Alexandra were predicted as relegation candidate but have been doing surprisingly well. Llandudno too should be a winnable fixture. The two away games are against more difficult opponents. Llanidloes - Mold Alexandra xG: 1.32 - 0.54; Shots: 13(6) - 11(2); Possesion: 42% - 58% Great way to start the month! I have said his name before and I'll hopefully say it again: Sergio Gomes. The 20 year old has now scored 7 goals in 11 matches he played from midfield. He did pick up his 5th booking of the season which means he misses the next game, but we won't let that spoil the fun. Someone who I have not named a lot yet is Tom Goodwin who has been solid as our defensive midfielder and scored a beautiful free-kick to give us the lead in this game. After that we never looked back and thank god we did not give up 2 late goals again. Denbigh - Llanidloes xG: 1.33 - 0.74; Shots: 17(2) - 8(4); Possesion: 56% - 44% A stolen point here really. Only thing we did well this game was not letting them come to close to our goal, but for the rest we were totally dominated all throughout. Gomes' suspension gave Lance Jones another chance to show himself, but he did not live up to expectations once again. This meant Ed Clarke got his first minutes this season from the bench and he linked up together with fellow substitute Rhys Evans to create our only real chance of the game, which sees us return home with a cherishable point. Next up is a clash against Llandudno, who have taken over our 14th position. With it being a home game, this is a big chance to get a little bit of a margin on the relegation spots now. Llanidloes - Llandudno xG: 2.83 - 0.92; Shots: 14(5) - 9(1); Possesion: 50% - 50% Best game of the season so far! We blew them away in the first half, and got our first clean sheet since mid August. After missing an early chance Jamie Breese went on to terrorize Llandudno's defence, who had no grip on him at all. Our best defensive performence goes to Drew Reynolds who has been solid for us all season and kept their striker in check. We finish the month with a tough away fixture against Prestatyn Town. I would be happy to come away with anything there. Prestatyn Town - Llanidloes xG: 1.16 - 1.65; Shots: 11(3) - 12(4); Possesion: 55% - 45% Great win to finish of the month. Jack Orbell and Jamie Breese are getting better and better together up front, with the rest of the team also starting to click now. We opened the scoring with a nicely built up attack over the left side and gave away nothing in the first half. They came out of the dressing room furiously, but when the goal they wanted did not come they calmed down again quickly. The match then died down a bit and our 2-0 looked to seal it, but a mistake by goalkeeper Niki Lee-Bulmer gave them the spirit again and had us longing for the final whistle. In the end it means our first away win of the season and that too against the team 3rd in the league. Nothing to complain about here. We have shot up to 9th place in the table, though we are still only 3 points of the relegation spots. Something that might really help us later in the season if we can keep it up is our goal difference, which is a lot better than that of the teams below us at the moment. Flint Town were favourites for the title and are showing why so far, while Chirk who were the big favourites for relegation are proving everybody wrong. For the rest Bangor and Broughton are the biggest underperformers so far. This month has been great and I have already praised our striker duo a lot, but what has also been really important in our success here is our defensive performance, with only 3 goals conceded in the 4 games this month. I just miss out on my first personal prize. Would have been nice but Ruthin came from the same spot as us even winning all of their games, so not a lot to do about that. We do have our first players in the team of the month, though I have absolutely no idea how Josh Hartrick managed to get in as he did not do a whole lot this month apart from 1 assist.

September 2023 A healthy amount of 6 games in this month, which could even become 7 with a win in the Welsh Cup. We start the month by travelling to Chirk twice. They were predicted dead last at the start of the season but have actually started well with 9 points from 5 games. Then we have Airbus UK Broughton coming up at home again. Last month we beat them 3-0 in the league, so let's hope for more of the same. Then two more league games with us being most likely to gain something from the Gresford game. After that another big game in the League Cup, where we will be playing Penybont for a spot in the quarter finals. Aside from the league, my focus will mostly be on the Tier 2 League Cup, as this realistically is the only competition we really have a chance of winning this season. Just the 5 wins there would get us our first trophy, and only teams from the Cymru North/South participate. Chirk - Llanidloes xG: 3.22 - 2.56; Shots: 21(6) - 13(5); Possesion: 44% - 56% Oh man, this one hurts and I only have myself to blame really. With only 15 minutes to go I thought we had this game in the bag and decided to give young right back Joshua Peck, who is not quite ready for the first team yet, some game time. He had not even been on the pitch for 5 minutes when he made a mistake to bring Chirk back into the game. After this our defence crumbled and the 2-2 fell quickly. Before all this it was Jack Orbell who once again proved me wrong in not having him in my starting XI early in the season. He won us a penalty and looked to secure us our second league win of the season, but that wasn't to be. Very tough one to take this. I hope we can bounce back next week against them in the cup. Chirk - Llanidloes (Welsh Cup) xG: 2.08 - 1.51; Shots: 17(7) - 11(3); Possesion: 43% - 57% No revenge for us here. Not our game really. Jamie Breese missed a penalty in the 34th minute. We did manage to score the 1-1 eventually, but after they grabbed back the lead right away we never came close to another equaliser. First competition we crash out of, and the next game could make that two of we don't watch out. As I said, the Tier 2 League Cup is our best chance at a prize for now, so hopefully we can get through this round. Llanidloes - Airbus UK Broughton (Tier 2 League Cup) xG: 2.31 - 1.77; Shots: 20(10) - 16(10); Possesion: 49% - 51% A crazy first 45 minutes saw us give away the lead twice, after which they scored the winner from a corner in a more quiet second half. Rhys Evans was given his second start of the season, this time on the left instead of an out of form Archie Bales, and once again showed us he is a great rotation option. We have the right to feel a tad unlucky to not have come away with the win here, given the fact that we actually had the better of them in the second half. All in all a disappointing and unnecessary early exit in this cup. Back to the league now where we do need to start picking up some points. Llanidloes - Holywell xG: 1.91 - 0.63; Shots: 19(8) - 10(6); Possesion: 59% - 41% I cannot believe this... Their midfielder Ryan Edwards had scored a grand total of 14 league goals in 11 years and 248 league appearances prior to this game, but today everything he touched turned into gold. We absolutely one of the favourites for promotion and with revelation Sergio Gomes chipping in with another goal and assist we looked to set to send Holywell back empty handed. Even in those last 10 minutes we had the better chances, but a last second free-kick left us disappointed once more. Giving up leads of two goals in the last 10 minutes in our last 2 league games has done something to the morale of the team. Next game though, we take on Gresford at 'The Rock' (great stadium name) who are currently in last place. Great opportunity to bounce back. Gresford - Llanidloes xG: 0.51 - 0.81; Shots: 7(2) - 8(4); Possesion: 38% - 62% We really can't catch a break at the moment. They had one chance all game and it went in. Drew Reynolds has been our most solid defender all season long, but today this was not the case. He forgot to mark his man which gave them the lead, and then got two yellows in a second half where we desperately tried to break through their backline without any success. We finish the month with an away trip to Penybont for the League Cup. They are in 5th placed in the Cymru Premier, which is two places below Newtown who we beat in the last round. Given our current form of 6 winless games I don't have high hopes for this match at all. Penybont - Llanidloes (League Cup) xG: 3.03 - 1.37; Shots: 24(9) - 6(2); Possesion: 55% - 45% This is getting tiring. I am not gonna claim we were the better team here, but giving up two late goals again really feels like a punch in the gut. We actually kept them away from our goal for most of the game, restricting them to long distance shots and crosses. We did however give up two identical free-kicks at the end, both of which were chipped over the wall to an unmarked player to end our last ongoing cup run. Especially their second goal hurt us, as the game would have gone straight to penalties after 90 minutes otherwise. Just the 2 points in the league this month, but it should have been so much more. As for the cups, the three eliminations have really affected our morale. All this means we currently have a 7 game winless streak across all competitions, but to be honest it feels like this was not needed at all. Giving away leads in 4 of our games this month is just disappointing to see. One part of me says that I should start looking at a chance of tactics, though that might not even be the right solution at the moment, as we did have the upper hand in about half of our games this month but just failed to capitalize.

August 2023 A nice sequence of 4 home games will hopefully see us pick up some wins. Buckley are predicted mid table, so I hope to come away with at least a point there in front of our own fans. Following up on that game we take on Cymru Premier side Newtown in the League Cup, where we will need to be at our very best to be in with a chance. Then a tough home game against Airbus UK Broughton (who apparently finished last season's Cymru Premier with -4 points). We close of the month with a cup game against lower league opposition and finally an away game to Guilsfield. Llanidloes - Buckley xG: 1.22 - 1.44; Shots: 12(1) - 11(1); Possesion: 56% - 44% Ouch... This one was really unnecessary. Jamie Breese making his first appearance in the starting XI after his injury failed to make an impact, while his partner up front James Smallwood squandered the few chances we did have. On the defensive front we did very well though, aside from Adam Worton giving up a free-kick with a stupid tackle and then pulling down his man when the free-kick was crossed to him to give up a penalty. I am not panicking just yet, but have decided to shuffle some players around a little bit. Mostly, I have been very disappointed with Lance Jones, who plays as our central midfielder and should be one of the best players in our squad. Also, our biggest talent according to me, Sergio Gomes, is yet to put in a good performance at right back, but given that he can also play in midfield, I have decided to give him a go there. For the rest James Smallwood has been missing chances left and right, so he will be replaced by Jack Orbell for the time being. Llanidloes - Newtown (League Cup) xG: 2.69 - 2.04; Shots: 9(6) - 16(6); Possesion: 48% - 52% Wow. Just wow. What a game. After 10 minutes I had a déja vu to our first round match, when we were the team with the comfortable early margin. After that total madness broke out, though, with Sergio Gomes showing he can absolutely play in midfield. At half time I thought most of the spectacle was already behind me, but boy was I wrong. After they took the lead again we totally turned the game around with a quickfire two goals. That lead did not last long either, and after they scored the 4-4 I mostly just hoped we could see the 90 minutes out to get to penalties. But their red card was the start sign for us to throw out one more attack, which was headed home by James Smallwood coming from the bench. A man who may not be visible on the scoresheet, but should definitely be credited as well is Josh Hartrick. Despite two braces he was the one coming away with the MOTM award, as he provided three assists today. Let's take this momentum into our next league game please! Llanidloes - Airbus UK Broughton xG: 1.83 - 1.22; Shots: 12(4) - 13(5); Possesion: 55% - 45% We have our first points on the board in the league! The scoreline does flatter us a little bit, but I could not care less really. Sergio Gomes proving my choice to put him in midfield to be right once again. More of the same, as Josh Hartrick got MOTM once again too. Next is the opening round of the Welsh Cup, where the bookies somehow prefer tier 3 side Brickfield over us. Llanidloes - Brickfield (Welsh Cup) xG: 1.42 - 1.91; Shots: 11(6) - 10(4); Possesion: 51% - 49% A little bit of a rotated side made it a lot harder than it should have been. Rhys Evans got his first minutes of the season as we rested Hartrick, and repaid faith with a goal and two assists. On the other wing Archie Bales did well to pick up his 4th assist of the season already. I am happy we are through, but a little bit disappointed at conceding 3 goals against such opposition. We have certainly given our fans their money's worth so far, with 24 goals coming in our home games, 16 of which scored by us. Guilsfield - Llanidloes xG: 1.76 - 0.63; Shots: 11(8) - 10(4); Possesion: 44% - 56% The small winning streak we were building comes to a screeching halt in Welshpool. Sergio Gomes again with a goal, but even in the 40th minute it already felt like a consolation, and that about sums up our afternoon here. Already a little bit further into the save and forgot to take a screenshot of the league table, so that will make its delayed first appearance next month. I can tell you that we are currently in 14th place. We've got a big month coming up with three league games, as well as (at least) three cup games. Still enough to sort out going into September where we hope to get out of the relegation spots.

July 2023 We start our campaign with a League Cup fixture, where we have a very good draw, as it is a home fixture against one of only two lower league sides (apparently wild-cards). Would be nice if we could win that one and immediately gain some momentum there. The game against Bangor is a hard one, as they are predicted to finish 5th despite them being newly promoted. Only negative we have so far is that our star man Jamie Breese picked up an injury in pre-season, which means he will probably miss both of these games. Llanidloes - Penrhyncoch (League Cup) That's exactly how you want to start a season! Did not expect to be able to relax after 10 minutes into this match. Our young left winger Archie Bales led the way, getting assists on the first two goals. After this we never really got in danger and managed to get two more goals at the end to make the result look even better. The draw for the round of 32 has not been kind to us, as we will take on Newtown FC, who play in the Cymru Premier. Bangor 1876 - Llanidloes Sadly we could not build on our previous result. After their 1-0 our poacher James Smallwood missed a penalty, and despite us getting some chances, we were never really looking good enough to get away with anything here. Next month the season will really break loose, with two cup games and also our first home games of the season.

Thanks! I'm excited to get started. I always find it fun to discover some new leagues. Also, I love the amount of cups there is, because who doesn't love a little cup run.

Pre-season Pre-season was short, as I only came in two weeks before our first competitive fixture. It was mostly about figuring out the squad, which was quite imbalanced with more than 35 players in it. As I disabled the first transfer window, this only really meant that I terminated some contracts of players I was pretty sure I was not going to use anyway. I was not there yet for the first game, so I actually managed to go unbeaten, albeit against Welsh and English lower league sides. For the rest it is clear that this does not have a whole lot of meaning. Tactic Well, I have heard the talk about the 4-4-2 being awful defensively, but given my players I still thought this would be my most logical formation. I also just didn't feel like going for another gegenpress system, so we'll see how this goes. For the rest it seemed logical for me that a team expected to fight against relegation would use a little bit of a more defensive tactic, and given the fact that I have played a save with a very succesful defensive 4-4-2 last year, I thought I'd give it another go. Squad I will only give a short overview of the squad here, and probably show some players in more detail later in the season. Of the 36 players we started with I already let a few go. Also, only 6 of our players are actually earning some money. In goal it is an obious choice, Nikki Lee-Bulmer will be our man in between the posts. Immediately it is clear that we are short at the backs, especially on the left, with only Adam Worton being a real defensive option here. On the right my first choice will be Sergio Gomes. In the center it will be Drew Reynolds and Jordan Ambris to start with, though we do have enough back-up options here. As said before, we only have one defensively minded left back, but Jones and Archie Bales, do give us some options there, although Bales will also be my starting winger on the left. On the right this honour goes to Josh Hartrick, who looks better than the star ratings suggest. In the center it is clear that the defensive midfield postion goes to Tom Goodwin, with Lance Jones next to him filling in a little bit more attacking role. Jamie Breese is our star man, and really should perform as well, as he takes up 30% of our wage budgets. But with him listed as the third best player in the league, I hope he will show us he is worth it. He will be our first choice pressing forward. Next to him I think I will start the season with James Smallwood as he has some great physical attributes with which I hope he can disrupt some defenses. Season preview With three teams going down we are looking like one of the favourites for relegation. Let's hope this won't happen as it would mean that I would get fired at my first job, which would not bode well for the future. For the rest we really should not be thinking about anything else, with only the top team going up, which seems very far out of our reach. Board expectation The board is mild, only expecting us to fight against relegation, as well as being competitive in all three cups we play in. Not a whole lot of ambition from their side. I personally hope to go on at least some kind of cup run. If we were to cross anything of the list this season our best (and probably only) bet would be the Tier 2 League cup, though this will be very tough too.

Job hunt Searching for a job was relatively easy, helped by the fact that at the start of the save there where two Welsh second tier teams without a manager. After applying to some jobs in Wales and Ireland, I eventually got offered both the job at Trefelin BGC (Cymru South) and Llanidloes Town (Cymru North). Both teams were predicted towards the bottom of their respective regional leagues, and have a comparable wage budget. Not a lot to seperate the two really, so what my final choice came down to is the fact that Llanidloes Town play in green and yellow, which are the same colours as my favourite team plays in. The club Llanidloes Town FC was founded in 1875, and is based in, of course, the small town of Llanidloes. Llanidloes in the middle of Wales and is inhabited by around 3000 people. The club has the great nickname 'The Daffodils', and play their matches at Victoria Park, with the beatiful old stand you can see above. In its long history, the club has never had too many succes, mostly playing in the Mid Wales league system. They did win some Mid Wales league titles and cups in this time. In 1992, they became one of the 20 founding members of the new League of Wales, but their precence here was short-lived, as they got relegated in the first season of the league's existence, and are yet to return. It even went from bad to worse, as they dropped back into the third tier in 1999. Even then, the worst was yet to come, as from 2008-2010 the club played at the 4th tier, which was the lowest level they had ever played at. But they found the way back up, winning the Montgomeryshire League in 09/10 and a few years later in 12/13 also managing to win the Mid Wales League, bringing them back up to the second tier after 14 years of absence. After 2 years though, a relegation followed, and it took them 5 years to get back into the second tier, where they have now spent two seasons at the lower end of the table again.

Introduction Well, after pondering about it for a while I have now decided to give documenting my save another try. Last year I did so for the first time and actually really enjoyed doing so. Sadly my career did not last long as my laptop died only 2 months into the save. This actually also demotivated me from playing the game, so I have only picked it up again now with the release of FM24. Anyways, I did have a lot of great save ideas in mind, but all through different reasons did not yet follow up on those ideas. Eventually the memory of the British & Irish steel challenge popped into my mind, and since I have never managed in any of the British or Irish leagues besides some short spells in England, I thought I'd give this a try. I have done a few journeyman saves before, but never managed more than 4 different clubs, as I usually get attached to a club at some point. Also, I have never managed to keep a save going for more than 10 seasons. All in all I have set myself up for failure with this challenge, but you can never be too ambitious right? All that being said, I guess you will have a great struggle to enjoy The Challenge Basically, the goal of the save is to win all playable leagues and cups in the UK and Ireland, as well as all European competitions and the Euros, World Cup and Nations League. If I remember correctly, the original challenge only allows you to use players from the UK and Ireland too, but I won't be following this rule. If I am correct, these are the 49 leagues/cups I need to win: Game setup I have of course loaded up all of England, Ireland, N. Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as well as some extra European top flights. For the rest I have disabled the first transfer window. As for the manager, I will be starting without any coaching badges and playing experience. Let's hope I can manage to land a job somewhere in Wales or Northern Ireland with this.

Really liking the more realistic career path you have chosen. Good to see the improvement with Latvia, would be great if you could surprise with them and take Latvia to the Euros, though that might be very ambitious

July/August 2022 I have still not managed the time to play the game a lot in the past weeks, but I did finally manage to get through the first few games. We have a mixed start to the season in terms of opposition, playing against two other newly promoted sides (Elversberg and Bayreuth), as well as a relegated side in Ingolstadt. For the rest we also play Duisburg, which is our biggest rival after Schalke, so that will be quite an important fixture for our fans. All in all I definitely see some chances to get points on the board early, so let's hope we can start the season positively. RW Essen - SV Elversberg A really disappointing start this is, given the fact we played against a fellow promoted side, and even more so as it was in front of our own fans. We did have a good start to the game, creating the best chances. It was unfortunate that our attacking playmaker Clemens Fandrich had to leave the pitch after only 15 minutes due to an injury, and after that our chances in front of goal dried down. Elversberg got one past us just before halftime and we never recovered from that with our only real chance being squandered. Although we managed a higher xG, we never really managed to get close to the goal, which is shown by our shot map. Most of our shots came from outside the box, and only one of our 13 shots was on target, opposing their 3 of 7. Enough to think about going into our next match against Duisburg, who are expected to fight for promotion. MSV Duisburg - RW Essen Goalscorers: Götze (45'), Fandrich (63'), Heber (83'), Berlinski (90') Well, that was quite the match. We got absolutely dominated by Duisburg in the first 30 minutes, after which one of their CB's got sent off with a second yellow. This completely changed the game of course, as we suddenly had way more room. We exploited this by stretching the field, which worked out excellent as we scored all our 4 goals from a cross, albeit 2 of those came from set-pieces. The game was however closer than the scoreline suggested, and we only managed to pull away from them at the end. This really was the game of our wingers, with Thomas Eisfeld getting the first two assists, after which Isaiah Young took over and also got two, even though he only came on in the 75th minute. Our shot map looks quite the opposite from last game, with the vast majority of our shots coming inside off the penalty area this time around (9 out of 12). The fans can be quite pleased with this, getting our first three points away from home against our biggest rivals in the league. I suspect the 20 minute bus ride back was pretty nice for the over 4000 travelling fans. RW Essen - FC Viktoria Köln Goalscorers: Fandrich (20'), Engelmann (79', 90+3') Quite similarly to the next match, we won by a good margin, but had it a lot harder than shown by the scoreline, with us only pulling away late once again. After his first two matches I already started having some doubts about Simon Engelmann, who barely appeared in the play in those. Those doubts were silenced by his masterclass today. After giving a selfless assist early on, he got his first goal of the season in the second half and topped off his performance by scoring a penalty. Our defensive showing was very solid, and resulted in our first clean sheet of the season. We managed to keep our opponents away from our goal for most of the match, which prevented them from getting a lot of good chances. Borussia Dortmund II - RW Essen Goalscorers: Berlinski (75') The league planners have kept us from travelling a lot to start the season, as we played another very close away game. This time against Dortmund II, who had shown to be hard to beat in their 5-2-3 formation, with scorelines of 0-0 (2x) and 1-1. For a long time it looked like another 0-0 was coming, but luckily for us, we managed to break the deadlock. After the midweek game against Viktoria Köln we had to make some changes due to fatigue, with most notably 31- and 33-year old Fandrich and Engelmann not able to play 3 games in a week. Fandrich got replaced by Oguzhan Kefkir, which saw Eisfeld move to midfield, and Engelmann's place was taken over by Ron Berlinski. For both of them this meant their first place in the starting XI of the season, and incidentally (or not), it was exactly those 2 who linked up for the only goal of the game, with Kefkir giving a nice through ball to Berlinski who slotted it home. In the end, we probably were deserved winners of the match, having been the more dangerous team for a big part of it. Once again a rock solid defensive performance. RW Essen - FC Ingolstadt 04 Goalscorers: Engelmann (5', 71'), Kefkir (50') This was probably our best game yet. Putting on such a dominant performance against a team predicted as one of the most likely to be promoted really gives me high hopes for the future. We came blazing out of the starting blocks in both halves, and were not fazed when they scored the 2-1, immediately getting back control over the game. Simon Engelmann scored his second brace which got him his second MOTM-award early in the season, really showing why he is our first choice striker. After his good performance last match, we gave Oguzhan Kefkir the nod ahead of Eisfeld, which paid off as he scored a brilliant free-kick. Our dominance in this match is best shown by the average position maps. Seeing almost all of Ingolstadt's team on their own half, and our striker nearly halfway their half shows how much we really pushed them back. SpVgg Bayreuth - RW Essen Goalscorers: Engelmann (27') This is turning into an amazing early season run of form. We were probably a bit lucky to come out on top in this one, but we could care less. A big chance 20 seconds into the game did not initiate a lot more, with our only other first half shot being the only goal of the match. Bayreuth actually was the better team in this first half, but did not convert their chances. During the break I decided to let the team play a little deeper, and this resulted in a boring second half, with us taking the 3 points back to Essen. I did experiment a bit in this match, with second choice striker Ron Berlinski getting game time on the right wing, a role he can fill in, but did not today. Results have been above all expectations these first months, and this means we are topping the table! I could not have asked for a better start to the season really. We should not get too carried away though, as we came out on top in some very close games, and probably do have some more points than we should have. We will certainly enjoy our position for now. Highlighted Player I am planning on going into some more detail about one of my players every month to show my squad a little bit. For this first month I have chosen to go with the 34-year old veteran Felix Bastians, who is the oldest player in our squad. He has been absolutely rock solid for us as our left central defender, and is one of the main reasons we have conceded such a low amount of goals. He is also our outfield player with the most minutes, missing just 35 minutes due to fatigue in the week with two matches. Bastians can play at either left back or center back, but will play mainly in the center for us. His tall appearance and strength make him an imposing figure. Defensively he is very adequate for our level, and mentally he is great overall. Especially the combination of high bravery and aggression can be very important to nip opponents' attacks in the bud. I made this overview of defensive stats, although it is not great yet due to a lack of data from center backs other than Bastians and Heber, which makes it that I am comparing with fullbacks and defensive midfielders as well. What does immediately stand out, is that Bastians is very strong in the air, winning 88% of his headers, while also going into a whopping total of 22.46 aerial challenges per 90 minutes. For the rest he wins more possession than all of our other defensive minded players, and has the highest rating out of the five. Taking the comparison onto a league basis, we can see that Bastians is really one of the dominant defenders in the air, having a relatively high winning percentage of headers, while also having a lot of them. On the front of winning possesion he has also been a standout player in the league. Let's hope he can continue his form throughout the season and help us keep up our current pace.

Quite the ECL run that is! Will be fun to see your results against the best Swiss teams. Are you getting a lot of regens with Liechtenstein as their nationality? I would suspect that improving facilities could lead to more Swiss youngsters coming through the ranks. Well, let's hope for some Liechtensteinian (yes, I had to google that word ) wonderkids coming through.

Pre-Season This won't be a very long post, firstly because, as said before, I have the first transfer window turned off, and secondly because I just haven't got a whole lot to tell yet. This is for a big part as I usually don't really like the first pre-season, due to the fact that I really need the competitive games to get into a save. Anyways, here are our friendly results: All in all, the results look okay, but do not tell the whole story. All matches came against German teams from tier 4 and below, except for Beerschot, who play in the Belgian second tier. Losing against Velbert is already not a good sign, but the fact that we were actually outplayed in this match quite worries me. Our best performance came against Beerschot, which was also the only match we started (and kept playing) with the first XI I have in mind. Most notable thing is our disappointing defensive performance, conceding so many goals against lower league sides, but also giving away a lot of chances. The conclusion is that I am not totally sure about the tactic yet, but we'll go with it for the start of the season and tweak/change it if necessary. Tactic We will start the season with a pretty basic 4-3-3. I normally like to use less common tactics, and actually had 5-3-2 in mind for this save. However, that did not turn out to be a great idea for this first season, as we lack depth at center back, and on top of that it would mean we would not use our abundance of wingers. For the rest I will not go into a lot of detail yet. Big chance that the instructions will look very different in a few months, so I plan on doing a more detailled tactical post when I feel like we have actually gotten to a good tactic. It may take some time though, as I am not really a tactical genius in this game. Squad I am planning on introducing the individual players to a more detailled degree as the season goes on, so for now just a small summary of every position. Between the posts we have two young goalkeepers to choose from, with more experience as a third choice. Jakop Golz will start the season as our first choice, although some bad performances may lead to Felix Wienand getting a chance, seeing he has a lot of potential. In defense we have a lot of options. In the center we have more experienced players as well as some talents. Daniel Heber, being our captain, will start the season on the right side of the center, whereas veteran Felix Bastians will do the job on the left side. At right back we have an attacking option in Wiegel, while Plechaty and Sponsel are pretty similar players with a more defensive mindset. As Sponsel is in on loan, we will give the nod to Sandro Plechaty. On the left side Felix Herzenbruch is the obvious first choice, because Niemeyer will be out injured for the whole duration of the season. Not that many midfielders to choose from, although we have wingers like Harenbrock, Holzweiler and Eisfeld that can also do a good job here. We will actually start the season with Felix Götze, who is naturally a center back, as our half back. Björn Rother as our ball winning midfielder and Clemens Fandrich as our advanced playmaker finish of the midfield We do have more choice on the flanks, where we will probably also see the most changes between players during the season. For now first choices are Isaiah Young on the right and Thomas Eisfeld on the left, but especially Lawrence Ennali is already very close to my first team aswell. It will be Simon Engelmann to start the season up front, although Ron Berlinski in particular is a very good back-up. The other two might not get as much game time, although injuries may change things there. Season Preview Not a lot to say about this. We definitely should not be caught in a relegation battle, and for anything higher than 9th we would need luck to go our way. Freiburg and Dortmund Second team's are not in here. Board Expectation 3. Liga will be the only competition we play in this year, as RW Essen did not win their regional cup (which is not in FM) last year. Top half finish should be doable.

Game setup Besides having Germany, of course, loaded to the 3. Liga, I have also loaded 6 of the biggest European top leagues. I hope this will keep the in-game world realistic if I would ever have the joy to qualify for European football. All other European top-flights are on view-only. For the same reasons of keeping the game realistic, I have also selected a custom database with all players in continental competitions loaded. I hope these settings will keep the game running smoothly on my laptop. For the rest it's important to mention that I have disabled transfer activity in the first transfer window. This is partly because I like to get a bit of feel for the real life players at the start of a save, and being able to realisticly compare with real life in the first season. Another reason is that once I start a save, I am always very eager to get to the competitive games, so not having to worry about transfers yet makes pre-season go by a lot faster. I did think about using a custom database to add the Verbandspokalen (Regional cups), which in real life serve the purpose of qualifying for the DFB-Pokal for teams not in the first two tiers. I eventually decided against it though, as my last save stopped because of an error in a custom database, and I did not want to risk that happening again. Manager As for the manager, I like to implement a little bit of my past saves into my new ones. For this save I have chosen the character of Bojan Dobaj, who was an amazing Slovenian regen striker in one of my FM22 saves. I have sort of taken over the recommended coaching licence and experience level, apart from tweaking it a little bit to suit Bojan Dobaj's character. So that is that, all is set and I am ready and raring to go. It may take 2 or 3 days until I come with the pre season update, but that remains to be seen. First I have to get a good feel of all the players and set my tactics up.

The Club Founded in 1907 as SV Vogelsheim, the club eventually got its current name after some mergers. Not surprisingly, the club colours are red and white. In its first years, RW Essen led a pretty anonymous life in German football. Short before the second world war, they managed to break into the top-flight, which consisted of 16 regional leagues at that time. After this, RW Essen quickly became one of the best teams in their regional league (Gauliga Niederrhein), although they never won it. After the war, RW Essen managed to get to the top-flight quickly again, getting to play in the Oberliga West, which was one of 5 top leagues. This started the most successful period in the club's history to date. In 1951 RW Essen acquired Helmut Rahn, who went on to become a German football legend after scoring 2 goals to help Germany come back from 2-0 behind in the 1954 World Cup final (The Miracle of Bern). With him in the side, they managed to win the Oberliga West for the first time in 1952. The following season, RW Essen won their first major trophy, beating Alemannia Aachen 2-1 in the DFB-Pokal final. The club reached its pinnacle in 1955, after winning the Oberliga West for the second time, they even went on to become national champions this time around. Because of this championship, RW Essen became the first German team to play in the European Cup, which had its inaugural season in 1955/56. The European Cup saw RW Essen get easily beaten by Scottish side Hibernian, and in the league the heights of the championship season were not reached again. They even got relegated from the Oberliga West in 1961. This also meant they were not one of the founding members of the Bundesliga, which was established in 1963. However, eventually RW Essen did manage to get promoted, and in total had 3 spells in the Bundesliga of 1, 2 and 4 years respectively. In the 1976/77 season they got relegated from the Bundesliga for the third and up to date final time. Succeeding their last Bundesliga relegation, Rot-Weiss Essen spent most of their time in the following 20 years in the 2. Bundesliga, though they also played some seasons at the third tier. A highlight during this time was reaching their second DFB-Pokal final, which they lost to Werder Bremen. At the end of the century, however, RW Essen fell to a new low, getting relegated to the fourth tier for the first time in its history. The club did suffer from financial problems during a big part of this period. Luckily RW Essen managed to get promoted in its first season at the fourth tier, and some better times followed on the field. The club even got to play in the 2. Bundesliga again in 2004/05 and 2006/07, though they could not survive relegation in either season. After the last relegation things went downwards again really fast, with RW Essen dropping down to the fourth tier within a season, although partly due to a league restructuring. In 2010 the all time low was reached, as the club went down to the fifth level due to insolvency. After getting promoted back to the fourth level within a season, RW Essen spent 11 years in the Regionalliga West. With only the team ending in first getting promoted, as there are five leagues at this level, it is extremely hard to get out of. Last season, RW Essen finally overcame the struggles, finishing in front of Preußen Münster on goal difference. Currently, they are getting along nicely in the 3. Liga, being 7 points clear of the drop in 13th place. The City Unsurprisingly, RW Essen is based in the city of Essen. Essen is the 9th biggest city of Germany, not far behind the likes of Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Dortmund with a population of around 580,000. The city lies in the west of Germany and is part of the densely populated Ruhr area. The Ruhr area is known for its industries, most notably the production of steel and coal mining. The area has around 5 million inhabitants, and besides Essen, contains other big cities with traditional football clubs like Dortmund, Gelsenkirchen, Bochum (all Bundesliga), Duisburg (3. Liga) and Oberhausen (4th tier). Zooming out to the metropolitan Rhine-Ruhr area, which is the third biggest in Europe, we can see that other big cities like Düsseldorf, Cologne, Mönchengladbach, Wuppertal, Leverkusen and Bonn are also not far away. The Stadium RW Essen play in the 'Stadion an der Hafenstraße'. The stadium is still pretty new, as it was officialy opened in 2012, and it has a capacity of 20,650. It is not your traditional arena as it has open corners. This does however mean that there is a lot of room to expand the capacity, apparently to around 35,000. As is usual in Germany, the hard core supporters stand on a big terrace behind one of the goals. The Fans Rot-Weiss Essen has a very loyal fanbase. Despite playing at the 4th tier for the last 10 seasons, they always averaged an attendance of above 7,000 per game. Last season even of above 9,000 per game. Notable is that giants like Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund are less than a 40 minute drive away. The Rivals Being located in such a populated area, RW Essen has a lot of rivalries, though some are bigger than others of course. Historically they have had a city rivalry with Schwarz-Weiß Essen, but this has died down due to the decline of the latter club. Their biggest rivals are actually Schalke 04, even though they have not played a competitive game against each other since the 1992/93 season. This means that more recently the rivalry has actually carried to matches between RW Essen and Schalke's second team, which is active in the Regionalliga West. The rivalry with Schalke is not only born out of the fact that the two cities are directly next to each other, but also due to the 1971 Bundesliga scandal, in which RW Essen was the victim and got relegated, after among others Schalke players were bought to lose a match. Another big rival is MSV Duisburg, also from a neighbouring city, and playing more in the same league as each other. This season they also play in the 3. Liga. Other rivals include mostly teams from the region like Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, Alemannia Aachen, Preußen Münster, Fortuna Düsseldorf and Wuppertaler SV.

Thanks. While searching for some info about the club, I actually found out the Ruhr region even contains another Rot-Weiß club in Oberhausen, with them also being one of the rivals of RW Essen.

Very well written first post! Gets me interested before the FM part has even started