dafuge's FM11 challenge

[fcunitedfan]

Fine players for getting send off - i always fine 2 weeks for a red card, 1 week for a 5 or under performance - and praise for a good perfomance - keeps discipline good

Thanks for the advice. I do praise the best performers, and discipline for sending offs. Strange that my striker (The player I've praised the most) is the one who's complained.

[Jaffa]

My star striker just came to me saying he's unhappy about the lack of discipline in the club. What can I do to improve this, as I've promised him things will get better?

Start fining players for getting sent off, and having private chats with those who either play badly, or train badly (read the training reports). All contributes.

On another note, just won my L2 opener at home vs Tranmere 4-3 :0

[PVentress]

The players are out at Wembley,

Its a huge task for little Hastings but the dream of League 1 football could become a reality

1st minute, Fredricks surges down the right to whip the cross in, McGregor is coming in at the back post......................

Penalty, Penalty it has to be....................GIVEN

What a start

Ndumbu-Nsungu steps up and Fires it home, Was never in doubt

1 - 0 to Hastings

7th Minute, Ndumbu-Nsungu gets down the left, he's heading for the byline

A little trick and he's got a yard, the cross comes in ..........................

Emillson at the far post .....................GOAL

He plants the header home

2 - 0 to Hastings after 7 mins (This is incredible)

13th Minute, A Gillingham Corner

Its whipped into the near post.................

Nicholson gets his head on it to clear, and Edge thumps the clearence to half way

Fredericks and McGregor are away on the break ..........................

a quick one two and McGregor slides the through ball ahead of Fredericks.............................. He's Through

Keeper comes out.................. He's Chipped him...................and ITS IN.................

3 - 0 to Hastings, 13 minutes gone (I dont Believe what i am seeing)

23rd Minute, Hands has the ball deep in the pocket, he's playing like a quarter back,

Has he picked the pass.................. He Has.....................The through balls for Ndumbu-Nsungu...............Its split the defence and he's through

Can he finish..............................

You Bet he can.....................GOAL.........................

4 - 0 to Hastings 23 minutes gone, (Its Just Like Watching Brazil)

HALF TIME

Hastings 4 - 0 Gillingham

The players are out and the 2nd half is underway

Hastings have been on Fire, but can they finish the job

64 minutes, Gillingham corner

Its Whipped to the far post....................IS there anyone there.................You Bet there is

Neil Green with a thumping header for Gillingham...............The half time substitue has had an impact

4 - 1 to Hastings 26 minutes to go

The full time whistle sounds and the Hastings players drop to their knees, They've done it

Promotion to League one has been won with an epic performance

All the damage done after a Blitzkreig in the opening 25 minutes,

Gillingham restored some pride by winning the 2nd half but the damage was done

What a Day, What a Performance

League One Here we come

[fcunitedfan]

Go hastings go!!

[Gypsum]

Bloody hell, Hastings are walking it!

[jordanswinburn]

Christ on a bike! Go Hastings!

[Gypsum]

Lost to MK Dons in the playoffs. I think the extra hassle of a cup run didn't do us any favours this season. But still, it's above expectations, and a good platform for next season's campaign.

[KLH84]

Go Hastings indeed.

Just to balance this, my Hastings can't buy a win in League 2. Literally.

We can, however, score Beckham-esque goals against keepers with Formula 1 names.

[Gypsum]

This was unexpected... I just informed my board have decided to build a new stadium! I was expecting an expansion or something, but this is very ambitious. God only knows how we are going to afford it!

[Quavis]

Gypsum: Congrats! First new stadium of the challenge I think! Were you selling out the current ground? I still can't get anyone to show up to our matches lol. How much of a drag on your finances is that loan?

[roganp]

I went crazy in the transfer window with all these players coming in

Hopefully they gel quickly. Not doing a bad job so far sitting 8th after 5 games with 2 wins 2 draws and a defeat.

[Gypsum]

Gypsum: Congrats! First new stadium of the challenge I think! Were you selling out the current ground? I still can't get anyone to show up to our matches lol. How much of a drag on your finances is that loan?

Thanks. It's going to be a modest 11,000 seater, but a nice improvement! By the end of the season I was selling out virtually every game, so I was expecting an expansion. But a new stadium was a total shock. The loan is massive, and I really have no idea how we'll afford it. Over the past couple of years, thanks to a couple of cup runs we've done ok financially, but even so we've not really made any money. How we're going to pay the fifty-something-thousand a month I have no idea!

[Quavis]

Thanks. It's going to be a modest 11,000 seater, but a nice improvement! By the end of the season I was selling out virtually every game, so I was expecting an expansion. But a new stadium was a total shock. The loan is massive, and I really have no idea how we'll afford it. Over the past couple of years, thanks to a couple of cup runs we've done ok financially, but even so we've not really made any money. How we're going to pay the fifty-something-thousand a month I have no idea!

50k/month.... ouch lol. I thought my Chippenham side was hermoraging money, but we don't even lose that New stadium rather than an expansion is actually probably more likely in our case. We don't actually own the ground (at least I have a board option to buy our ground), so paying to have it expanded doesn't make much sense

[jordanswinburn]

Go Hastings indeed.

Just to balance this, my Hastings can't buy a win in League 2. Literally.

We can, however, score Beckham-esque goals against keepers with Formula 1 names.

Goal and a half!

[Yidd0!]

Vey very bad day at the office

Tyler Blackett who plays for that Rushden team is actually amazing. Got him in my game, played two seasons averaging over 7.0 and can play anywhere across the back four (and score goals, was near double figures last season)

Highly recommend his signature for all BSS/N or BSP teams.

[Supermas2]

@ Gypsum - congrats with the new stadium! I always like getting new stadiums on these sort of games should boost your revenue aswell to be fair!

In my game, I have ditched last seasons defensive 4-4-2 - and also most of last seasons team - for a 4-1-2-1-2 (or 4-4-2 narrow diamond...) simliar to one I used in Gundos challenge last year. So far, its been a bit mixed results, I've lost 3-0 and 3-1, aswell as won 4-0, 3-2 etc. The goals are definitely flying in though - you cant accuse us of being boring any more:D

Currently 12th after 9 games with a 4-1-4 record - 6 points back from the playoffs, but hopefully as the team gels we will improve.

One thing that has been frustrating is in the last couple of games we have just thrown away total domination - losing 3-1 to bottom of the league Ashton, and then drawing 1-1 at home to Romulus in an FA Cup 2nd Qual round game - despite having FIVE CCCs compared to their ZERO.

Gone to a replay, could of done without that congesting the fixtures to be honest!

[Supermas2]

gone and lost the replay 2-0 now aswell - bloody typical! Deserved to lose to be fair.

Oh well, at least we dont have to worry about the FA Cup now...

[Gypsum]

50k/month.... ouch lol. I thought my Chippenham side was hermoraging money, but we don't even lose that New stadium rather than an expansion is actually probably more likely in our case. We don't actually own the ground (at least I have a board option to buy our ground), so paying to have it expanded doesn't make much sense

Yeah, in the long term it should be a good investment. But it's going to be tough if we don't reach the Championship in the next couple of seasons.

[edin-dzeko]

edin-dzeko's Bradford Park Avenue - npower League 2 – Season 2013/2014

Season Summary

Media Prediction : 24th

Actual Finish: 1st (League Table)

FA Cup: 1st Round

Johnstone’s Paint Trophy: 2nd Round

League Cup: 2nd Round

THREE...IS A MAGIC NUMBER! Third successive promotion is simply incredible, and definitely unexpected. If I had read this from somebody else, I would assume they had cheated or used an editor, but I assure you this is completely genuine. I feared the worst after a terrible start left us near the bottom with most of the defeats occurring between September and November. But once we get winning, and morale is high, the team using this tactic is virtually unbeatable at this level. Discipline improved considerably which also helped our cause. Transfers proved to be a bit hit and miss this year though, and we have a rapidly increasing debt to deal with (roughly 300k now). Cups were sacrificed for league position, but once again, cannot complain, a fantastic year from the lads.

Squad: The usual deluge of signings, but kept the core of the team intact. Solved the long standing issue of fullbacks and keeper with two of the better signings, but many disappointed on arrival. The best of the year are as follows:

Jordy Brouwer (Scored 20 in 40, 13 Assists, Av Rat 7.34) The classy hitman signed on a free from Liverpool slotted in no problem, combining the best qualities of both Rigters and Saric.

Speaking of which...

Maceo Rigters (Scored 21 in 40, 17 Assists, Av Rat 7.28) Really upped his game after a poor first season. Repaid faith shown in him by fantastic work rate. Finished top goal scorer.

Nikola Saric (Scored 16 in 41, 20 Assists, Av Rat 7.21) Not quite so stellar as last season, but still phenomenal overall. Injuries dampened his year a bit, but I still love the little Bosnian

Awards:

Top Goalscorer: Maceo Rigters (21 in 40)

Highest Av Rat: Jordy Brouwer (7.34 in 40)

Most Assists: Nikola Saric (20 in 41)

And the now-traditional alternatives:

The Nemanja Vidic ‘Don’t F*** With Me’ Award: Bent Haga. He’s six foot 6. And Norwegian. ‘Nuff said.

The Owen Hargreaves Award for Worst Injury Record: Sean McDermott. Two sports hernias in his first few weeks at the club. Then complained he wasn’t playing first team football. Sacked

The Ade Akinbiyi Award for Most Useless Player: Kaby. The pint sized (5’5) midfielder couldn’t pass, tackle, or anything it seems. Sold at the end of the season

The Juninho Pernambucano Award for Best Name: Gerasimos Sfakianakis. Young right back loaned from Leeds. Utterly unpronounceable. Runner up was Hearts’ young striker Willie Burns

The Edin Dzeko Award for ‘Unbelievablest Tekkers’: Joint award to all three of my leading strikers. A combined total of 57 goals and 50 assists led to a goals scored total in the league of 96 in 46 games.

Couldn’t have wished for a better start to this year’s challenge. League One already! Didn’t think I’d make it past a season before returning to the likes of Man City and their pots of leprechaun gold. So here’s to another fantastic season

[Quavis]

Chippenham Town are finally in the FA cup proper! It took drawing 4 non league sides to get there, but at least we made it! I tried to give some of my backups some games during the run, and they have done very well. I was hoping it would help get people interested in them, but so far I haven't had any luck.

It definitely seems harder to move players for any type of fees this year. It has been hard enough to generate any interest at all even on frees. I finally managed to get rid of my biggest mistake from last year. One of my DCs was making 350 p/w. I had originally though he would be the rock at the back, but he has only made like 5 appearances last year. He was still valued at 20k, but I was unable to get rid of him until I offered him for free. At least it frees up a good chunk of wage budge and I didn't have to mutually terminate him.

TNS and Llanelli are interested in half my first team, but I really don't want to move any of them. I've set high values, and if they are met I'd probably sell, as we are still WELL into the red. If I lose more than 1-2 I'm going to have real trouble getting promoted this year unless they can be replaced around Christmas by players who currently won't talk to me.

edit: We've drawn Salisbury at home in the 1st round. I have mixed feelings on the draw. A home tie to a BSP team should be winable, but Salisbury have destroyed us every time we played them last year. In addition, the home tie against a BSP team means that it won't be much of a money maker at all and we still might go out

[jordanswinburn]

Thanks to Sheffield Wednesday, I'm now up to SEVEN injuries.

Dominic Shimmin: 2-4 days

Paul Konchesky: 7-10 days

Frederic Veseli: 2-4 weeks

Dennis Cagara: 2 weeks

Francisco Javier López Sánchez: 6-8 weeks

Steven Reid: 4-5 weeks

and surprise surprise...

Owen Hargreaves: 4-5 weeks

I have three available defenders. THREE!

[Gypsum]

Gypsum's Chippenham - End of season update - 2014/15

League 1

Media prediction: 24th

Final position: 6th / League table / League positions chart / Playoffs (Lost to MK Dons 3-2 on aggregate)

A decent run through the first half of the season saw us hold steady around mid-table. But later in the season we really began to push up the table thanks to the signing of Marlon Harewood, and the revelations of Ben Coleman and Portilla on the wings. A good late run of form saw us finish in the playoff places, where we faced MK Dons, winning the first leg 1-0 and losing the second 3-1. Despite that disappointment, I was pleased with our performance overall, especially as I had concerns over our lack of signings at the beginning of the season.

FA Cup: 6th round - Lost 3-2 to Liverpool

A fantastic (if somewhat flattering) run saw us reach the 6th round of the FA cup, facing only one team higher than us in the league system. We were then drawn to host Liverpool in an epic match that had all the makings of an FA cup classic. Going 3-0 down before half-time, it seemed there was no chance of an upset, but an own goal in our favour just before the break gave us hope. In the second half it was a different story, my team really started to threaten, with Coleman and Portilla taking turns at terrorising Glen Johnson, until they got another breakthough, with Nikola Saric scoring on 60 minutes. From then on, we went all out to push for an equaliser and a lucrative replay at anfield. But despite a disallowed goal from Le Fondre, a denied penalty claim, Reina heroics and goalline clearances we just couldn't score. And by the narrowest of margins, we missed out on one of the great fairytale FA cup moments.

Chippenham info;

General squad info

Transfers - The vast majority of our transfer income came from the sale of Pat Hoban to Coventry. As he was inconsistent to us, it seemed like an excellent opportunity to cash in.

Average league attendance: 3938 (Capacity: 4000)

New stadium! - Due to selling out virtually every home game in the latter half of the season I was expecting an expansion of our ground. But I was amazed to get the message that my board would be investing in a new, 11887 seater Chippenham Stadium. A very ambitious step considering our financial situation, but exciting news nonetheless!

Star players;

Marlon Harewood - ST - Signed just before the January registration window, Harewood played a couple of FA cup games for us before making his league debut. And despite only being with us for half a season, he made a huge impact. The powerful striker scored 14 goals in 21 appearances with a 7.46 rating. An excellent signing for us.

Ben Coleman - MRL - A real revelation this season, Coleman wasn't even a first team player early in the campaign. But his form and his rapidly rising stats saw him become an essential part of the first team. A particular highlight was his performance in the FA cup match with Liverpool, where he terrorised England RB Glen Johnson. I think there's a lot more to come from Coleman in the coming seasons.

Adam Le Fondre - ST - A free agent at the beginning of the season, Adam ended up being our top scorer, bagging essential goals during the long injury absence of Nikola Saric. The former Rotherham striker exceeded expectations as he claimed 22 goals and 12 assists in his first season at Chippenham.

Christophe Labejot - DRLC - A tough season for the young French defender saw him used in every position across the back line, but his exceptional level of ability made him more than capable. His 4 man of the match awards this season showed the potential of this 20 year-old.

Hot prospect;

Anders Pedersen - MC - Signed on a free in January, the former Brondby player looks every bit one for the future. In the latter part of this season he was pushing the experienced Peter Leven for his first team place. Next season he will get a lot more chances to prove himself, and if he continues to improve at the rate he has, he could be a special player.

Year                  League                           Position                                   Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2011/12               BSS                               2nd                                       Playoff winners
2012/13               BSP                               1st                                       FA cup 4th round
2013/14               L2                                2nd        
2014/15               L1                                6th                                       FA cup 6th round                               

Aims for next season;

Promotion seems like a realistic goals now. With the new stadium being built and the loan repayments coming out, it seems like we are relying on success to stay afloat, so anything less would be a disappointment. I am happy with my squad, young guys like Coleman and Pedersen coming through are exciting, and proven goalscorers like Harewood, Le Fondre and Saric make me confident in our attacking ability. Our centre-backs Miquel and Labejot could do with some quicker full backs alongside them, so they will be a priority. And while Hansen has performed heroics at times in goal for us, a better goalkeeper is always worth looking out for.

[Terk]

Unlucky on the play-off defeat, Gypsum But good news about the stadium I remember my first season in the Premier League in last year's challenge, whilst we waited for our new stadium to be built we had to play a season with just a 500 seat capacity! Lack of match day income was a bit of a problem

[jsar]

Not sure if you other Chippenham players are finding the same, but this guy is simply awesome! Has rubbish stats but if he doesn't play then we don't play!

Mr Chippenham

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[Terk]

11 games into season four now. We've taken 25 out of 33 points so far in the BSP and sit top by four points over Salisbury. We've gone back to conceding a few too many for my liking, but so far we have been scoring for fun (32 in 11 games). Richard Adams has 10 in 10 so far whilst Bagshaw isn't far behind with 8 in 10 and my third striker, Cillian Sheridan, has 6 in 9. Not bad.

[Quavis]

Gypsum: Great update! 6th is still a great run in League 1. 6th round tie against Liverpool is what its all about! Too bad it couldn't have been at Anfield I'm still super jelous of your avg attendance lol. Hopefully eventually I will get that many people into Hardenhuish Park. GL for next season!

[Terk]

Not sure if you other Chippenham players are finding the same, but this guy is simply awesome! Has rubbish stats but if he doesn't play then we don't play!

Mr Chippenham

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Not surprised that he's playing well at BSP level, a number of his key stats for a centre back are high for the level (jumping, heading, tackling and marking all in double figures).

[Gypsum]

Gypsum: Great update! 6th is still a great run in League 1. 6th round tie against Liverpool is what its all about! Too bad it couldn't have been at Anfield I'm still super jelous of your avg attendance lol. Hopefully eventually I will get that many people into Hardenhuish Park. GL for next season!

Thanks!

Unlucky on the play-off defeat, Gypsum But good news about the stadium I remember my first season in the Premier League in last year's challenge, whilst we waited for our new stadium to be built we had to play a season with just a 500 seat capacity! Lack of match day income was a bit of a problem

I had the same thing with King's Lynn in last year's challenge, it was enough to make me quit actually!

[jsar]

Anyone else notice that holding on to a job seems remarkably difficult this year, i think every manager in every league apart from me seems to have been either threated with the chop or actually fired over the last 12 months

[jsar]

Not surprised that he's playing well at BSP level, a number of his key stats for a centre back are high for the level (jumping, heading, tackling and marking all in double figures).

Yeah i guess he does, i just get surprised by the fact that he is the 8th best DC at the club and is still the first name on the the Team sheet!

[Terk]

Yeah i guess he does, i just get surprised by the fact that he is the 8th best DC at the club and is still the first name on the the Team sheet!

I never take much notice of how my coaches rank my players. Apparently Callum Bagshaw is the fourth best striker at the club but 69 goals in 136 games would beg to differ

[Ridleys]

He now knows who's boss.

[jsar]

Question of the Day:

Dafuge's Challenge has fairly few set rules. It is pretty much up to each individual to decide how hard/easy they want the challenge to be. Many things affect this, club reputation, loans, parent clubs, ect. What if any personal limitations/guidelines do you put on yourself to make the challenge more difficult/easy?

I'll start with some of the ones I am using. Most of these I've picked up over the past few challenges from others stories. I've attempted to make this challenge more difficult each year, even though I've never successfully completed it.

1) <1000 rep club - This one wasn't an issue for me this year as Chippenham (who I've used the last 3 years) is still sub 1000. It may cause a dilemma in the future if they become a >1000 club.

2) No Loans period - I've used loans in the past and tbh I think they just make it too easy. In past years, I've limited loans to only clubs within 2 divisions (which I felt was realistic). This year I've decided to take it a step further and not take anyone on loan at all. Loaning players to other club is fine. I'm actually surprised and quite pleased that probably the majority of you this year have also gone this route. I'm not seeing any teams of max loans ripping up the leagues.

If by some chance I'm unable to reject a parent club loan, the player will sit in the reserves until the loan finishes. I considered going with no parent club at all this year, but Chippenham town start with Swindon as a parent club. So far they haven't tried to send me anyone, and the financial aid they send me each year is only 6k, so it hasn't been a big deal.

3) No Signings over age 25. This rule probably has very little affect on my games anymore. I originally implemented it several years back when I was having a horrid time bringing through young prospects, both in the lower leagues and on my Manchester United games. I decided that the easiest way to learn was to force myself to do it. Its something that I've just continued to use because I enjoy bringing in prospects and watching their careers develop. Implementation of this one was really easy, I have a permanent filter set on my search screen that eliminates anyone over 25. I've probably limited it down even more than that now. I rarely sign anyone over 22 (this also speeds up scouting as I see loads less players). My average squad age is usually less than 20 until later in the challenge.

This does not mean that I never have anyone over 25 on my teams, just that I won't bring anyone in over that age (Player/coaches are not counted in this, but they also don't play). This does pose a challenge early on as it means I have no tutors to help the younger guys. It also means that my squads the first few years are VERY inexperienced, which probably hurts us in those big games.

4) Friendlies: In an attempt to both make the challenge harder, and to feel more involved in Chippenham Town, I've changed the way I use friendlies. When I first started they were a profit machine. I really didn't care who we played and regularly scheduled Prem teams, and big foreign clubs (and their reserves) to make loads of money. Last year I struggled feeling "at home" with Chippenham Town. Being in the US, I had no idea where Chippenham Town even was in England, much less anything about them. I did some research and used Google Earth to explore the region. I tried to make my friendlies more realistic, and played the local club sides. A Big money game is still sometimes necessary to try and balance the books, but instead of playing Manchester United or Real Madrid, I now play Swindon or Bristol City. The closer to home I keep the friendlies, the more realistic it feels, and that helps to keep my game interesting.

I probably have many more that I use subconsciously, but I can't think of any atm. Another one that I've seen other people use include not signing ANY foreign players. I've never used this as in years past its been virtually impossible to sign any decent English players at all (Last year our BSN/BSS teams were almost all Ex-Celtic/Rangers players). This year it seems much easier to sign English players and I may try and implement this one from the start either next year or if I restart after the January patch.

NOTE: THESE ARE NOT DAFUGE'S CHALLENGE RULES! YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO READ OR FOLLOW ANY OF THESE. I have only posted this get some conversation going and share ideas.

Well here is my response to the question of the day......

1. Well this is only my third try at this challenge but have been Chippenham all three times, i originally choose them due to being a sub 1k side and i like the challenge of being in that bracket. But am now kinda attached to Chippenham so if next year they where a +1k club am seriously not sure what i would do!

2. So far this year i havent had any loans but that hasn't been through lack of trying just no one will come and play for me on loan. In previous years i have used loans quite a lot and good some pretty awesome players (most of whom dont seem to exist any more even tho i am sure they are actually real players! where are you Kris Renton!)

3. This one i definatly do not subscribe to, personally most of my signings are at one end of the scale or the other, pretty much pre 20's or over 30's is the middle bit i tend to avoid! Not through choice as such just the way i tend to play! The Under 18/19/21 internationals and the old has beens are the first place i tend to look for a bargin!

4. Tend to try and stick to close by places but am not against the idea of some high profile friendlies. Always with UK clubs though. I personally think Chealsea reserves playing at Chippenham is realistic, its close to their training ground and i know they would play Aldershot which is a similar sort of Club level (as i live in Aldershot) where as AC Milan, even if it is their reserves i find unlikely!

[jsar]

I never take much notice of how my coaches rank my players. Apparently Callum Bagshaw is the fourth best striker at the club but 69 goals in 136 games would beg to differ

Indeed i guess our JA is much better than theirs!

to be fair i tend to find i ignore them when it comes to squad recommendations pre match as well, im looking at the guy they say i should drop due to bad form and seeing his 7+ in the last 4 games im not sure what they are talking about!

[Dons]

wtf... (filling in to get 10 letters)

[Terk]

wtf... (filling in to get 10 letters)

Think my answer would be

"get tae f*ck"

[dafuge]

Question of the Day:

Dafuge's Challenge has fairly few set rules. It is pretty much up to each individual to decide how hard/easy they want the challenge to be. Many things affect this, club reputation, loans, parent clubs, ect. What if any personal limitations/guidelines do you put on yourself to make the challenge more difficult/easy?

I'll start with some of the ones I am using. Most of these I've picked up over the past few challenges from others stories. I've attempted to make this challenge more difficult each year, even though I've never successfully completed it.

1) <1000 rep club - This one wasn't an issue for me this year as Chippenham (who I've used the last 3 years) is still sub 1000. It may cause a dilemma in the future if they become a >1000 club.

2) No Loans period - I've used loans in the past and tbh I think they just make it too easy. In past years, I've limited loans to only clubs within 2 divisions (which I felt was realistic). This year I've decided to take it a step further and not take anyone on loan at all. Loaning players to other club is fine. I'm actually surprised and quite pleased that probably the majority of you this year have also gone this route. I'm not seeing any teams of max loans ripping up the leagues.

If by some chance I'm unable to reject a parent club loan, the player will sit in the reserves until the loan finishes. I considered going with no parent club at all this year, but Chippenham town start with Swindon as a parent club. So far they haven't tried to send me anyone, and the financial aid they send me each year is only 6k, so it hasn't been a big deal.

3) No Signings over age 25. This rule probably has very little affect on my games anymore. I originally implemented it several years back when I was having a horrid time bringing through young prospects, both in the lower leagues and on my Manchester United games. I decided that the easiest way to learn was to force myself to do it. Its something that I've just continued to use because I enjoy bringing in prospects and watching their careers develop. Implementation of this one was really easy, I have a permanent filter set on my search screen that eliminates anyone over 25. I've probably limited it down even more than that now. I rarely sign anyone over 22 (this also speeds up scouting as I see loads less players). My average squad age is usually less than 20 until later in the challenge.

This does not mean that I never have anyone over 25 on my teams, just that I won't bring anyone in over that age (Player/coaches are not counted in this, but they also don't play). This does pose a challenge early on as it means I have no tutors to help the younger guys. It also means that my squads the first few years are VERY inexperienced, which probably hurts us in those big games.

4) Friendlies: In an attempt to both make the challenge harder, and to feel more involved in Chippenham Town, I've changed the way I use friendlies. When I first started they were a profit machine. I really didn't care who we played and regularly scheduled Prem teams, and big foreign clubs (and their reserves) to make loads of money. Last year I struggled feeling "at home" with Chippenham Town. Being in the US, I had no idea where Chippenham Town even was in England, much less anything about them. I did some research and used Google Earth to explore the region. I tried to make my friendlies more realistic, and played the local club sides. A Big money game is still sometimes necessary to try and balance the books, but instead of playing Manchester United or Real Madrid, I now play Swindon or Bristol City. The closer to home I keep the friendlies, the more realistic it feels, and that helps to keep my game interesting.

I probably have many more that I use subconsciously, but I can't think of any atm. Another one that I've seen other people use include not signing ANY foreign players. I've never used this as in years past its been virtually impossible to sign any decent English players at all (Last year our BSN/BSS teams were almost all Ex-Celtic/Rangers players). This year it seems much easier to sign English players and I may try and implement this one from the start either next year or if I restart after the January patch.

NOTE: THESE ARE NOT DAFUGE'S CHALLENGE RULES! YOU ARE NOT REQUIRED TO READ OR FOLLOW ANY OF THESE. I have only posted this get some conversation going and share ideas.

Great post this, I'm always interested in the extra rules that people set themselves.

For me, my rules are very similar to yours.

I always go for a club with a low reputation, but I'm willing to sacrifice that for an interesting club, like a local one.

No loans. I always like to plan for the future, so every signing is made thinking a few years ahead, which loans don't fit into.

I lover feeder/parent clubs, just not for loans, so I set up as many as possible.

I always let the assistant set up the friendlies, then add games against the reserves to fill the gaps.

If they don't appear on my player search, I won't scout/trial them. Unless maybe they are linked to me through the media.

All tactics and training schedules must be my own.

There's probably loads more....

[jsar]

anyone else noticing that a 4-5-1 formation seems to be a little overpowered this year? changed to it after my pre-season loses in and 3 straight defeats in the BSP, and am now on a 6 game unbeaten streak! despite this i still sit 17th though!!!!

[jsar]

Another bad player who does great things!

Speed really is king it seems at the bottom end of the League!

Sam Mir

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[Terk]

I f*cking HATE Gateshead. Completely dominated them yet lose 2-1 at home. Now played them 5 times in this challenge, lost 3 and drawn 2. Think I've found my bogey team.

[Terk]

AFC Wombles have just appointed Joey Barton as their new manager (having sacked Louis Saha). I now instantly dislike them.

[jsar]

On this point, I do read other people's updates, click on profiles, etc as I'm interested to see how other people are building their careers. However, I do not use that information within my own game. For example, if someone has a great experience with Player A, I won't go into my game and search him or sign him based on that. If I come across him within my own game (play against him, read a news report about him, etc) I may choose to have my scouts look over him, but I would treat him like any other player I was scouting.

In FM I've always been someone who plays along the principle of trusting the word of my scouts. I generally start in about March planning for the following season, sending scouts out en masse to look at players and have a couple of plans of attack based on what level I may be playing at or what budget I think I might get from the board and so on. I don't like using the player search screen, although I do on the odd occasion submit to temptation, but even if I do identify someone in that method, I still won't sign him without a positive scouting report. I guess that's my biggest self-imposed rule.

Like many others in this thread, although what we're trying to do is essentially unrealistic, I try to play the game in as realistic a manner as possible. So I'm not going to go after unrealistic loans that wouldn't happen in real life, but if the opportunity comes along to take one that I judge within the realms of reality, I'll happily take it. Given that this challenge is based in the English leagues and feeder clubs are banned in English football, I have imposed a no domestic parent/feeder club rule on myself for the duration of this challenge.

I always take a look at other peoples suggestions and sometimes even scout them, i have yet to sign any of them. Have to admit that is not due to choice just the fact they they are at clubs. For example so many Borini fans but in my game he is at Coventry after his 425k move from Chelsea in the 2010/11 season!

I also love having new players though and being able to add to the "Pot" of players that people doing this challenge, especially for the first time will use to build their teams!

[roganp]

Just had my most dramatic game so far great comback!

[Welsh Wizard]

Great post this, I'm always interested in the extra rules that people set themselves.

For me, my rules are very similar to yours.

I always go for a club with a low reputation, but I'm willing to sacrifice that for an interesting club, like a local one.

No loans. I always like to plan for the future, so every signing is made thinking a few years ahead, which loans don't fit into.

I lover feeder/parent clubs, just not for loans, so I set up as many as possible.

I always let the assistant set up the friendlies, then add games against the reserves to fill the gaps.

If they don't appear on my player search, I won't scout/trial them. Unless maybe they are linked to me through the media.

All tactics and training schedules must be my own.

There's probably loads more....

Very similar rules to mine. I also don't sign people who I don't like for certain reasons.

[Dons]

This is so unfair, I have never felt so robbed in a fm game before

[Gypsum]

This is so unfair, I have never felt so robbed in a fm game before

That's ridiculously unlucky!

[Ridleys]

Christ, unlucky Dons

[Yidd0!]

My scouts picked up this guy. Bid for 30k, accepted and contract negotiations have gone well.

Looks like he will be a BIG player, if he buggers off in a few years, he should be worth a few bob by that point.

Also, he will be the first player I have actually paid for for FC United.

[Supermas2]

This is so unfair, I have never felt so robbed in a fm game before

Well and truly robbed unlucky mate.

Ive been throwing away chances recently, last game 5ccc to the opponents 2, and lost the game 3-1. Wish we could finish.

Not sure I'm being too rash, but scrapped my 4-4-2 diamond now in favour of the traditional 4-4-2 again, the diamond just wasnt working - midtable again in October.

Its frustrating because we have better players, but at the moment, I cant see much progression from last seasons inconsistentcy.

[Quavis]

Dons: Clearly the referee was on the take! Bit odd though, you'd think the bookies would have wanted the upset as all the money would have been on Bolton. I would have expected the penalties to go your way. At least the 3rd round tie was away to Bolton so you should have made some decent money

The referees decided my 1st round FA cup tie as well. Fortunantly it went in our favor. The game is even more lopsided than the stats show. We were badly outplayed and Salisbury had not 1, but 2 goals disallowed for offsides. Both were good goals and should have stood. I guess accidentally stepping on the sideline official's glasses during the pre-match handshakes works out sometimes!

edit: Someone out there is really looking out for me atm. The 2nd round draw couldn't have been any better than this. If i manage to blow this oppertunity to set up a potential monster 3rd round tie, you won't need my update to hear the result.