AI Experiment - what would happen if?

[kipfizh]

Best and Worst

New records:

Highest League Position: 10th in Championship (previous: 14th in Championship)

Highest Attendance: 139992 v Arsenal, League Cup Quarter Final

Highest Gate Receipts: 3.4m v Man City, League Cup Semi Final

Average Attendance: 98647 (previous: 92900)

Highest Transfer Fee Received: 8m for Ryan Morley, to Chelsea

This season:

Best player – Bartley, 7.50

Top scorer – O’Neill, 25

Worst player – Harris, 6.22

The Bandits remain fifth in the rich list.

Rich Clubs

[kipfizh]

The ‘Ryan Morley’s of the world

Ryan Morley made his big move to Chelsea, after just one season with the Bandits. They paid 8m for the services of the young striker, who has now reached a CA of 170 (+15), closing in on his potential of 186. Still only 21, he will surely achieve this.

Despite only making eleven starts, and adding twelve substitute appearances, Morley racked up a highly impressive thirteen goals for his new club, picking up a Premiership medal in his first season there. Last summer, he fired England to glory in the Under 21 European Championships. He has five goals in eight appearances for them.

[kipfizh]

Goalkeeper 1 – Retired 03/07/2032

Club Career:

Bandits: Apps 128, Conc 123, Cln 33, MoM 14, YC 15, RC 0

Blackburn: Apps 176, Conc 236, Cln 38, MoM 14, YC 24, RC 1

Arsenal: Apps 852, Conc 929, Cln 263, MoM 76, YC 69, RC 5

Total: Apps 1156, Conc 1288, Cln 334, MoM 104, YC 108, RC 6

Honours:

Premiership (Arsenal 2020, 2028, 2031)

Championship (Blackburn 2010)

Conference South (Bandits 2007)

FA Cup (Blackburn 2013)

League Cup (Arsenal 2023, 2025, 2031)

FA Trophy (Bandits 2007)

UEFA Cup (Arsenal 2015, 2018)

Intertoto Cup (Arsenal 2014)

Super Cup (Arsenal 2018)

International Career:

England: Apps 92, Conc 20, Cln 72, MoM 3, YC 3, RC 0

Honours:

World Cup (2014, 2026), Confederations Cup (2013, 2017, 2025), European Championships (2016)

Personal Awards:

European Goalkeeper of the Year (2019, 2021, 2022)

European Goalkeeper of the Year 2nd place (2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2023)

European Goalkeeper of the Year 3rd place (2017)

Notes:

The player who stayed with the Bandits the longest, he enjoyed three seasons with them before finally making his move to Championship Blackburn. There he would play a huge part in their return to the Premiership, winning an FA Cup along the way, before catching the attention of Arsenal, who signed him for a massive 27m.

Always a consistent performer for Arsenal, he won man of the match many times (over a hundred throughout his career), and helped them to a whole host of trophies, only missing out on the Champions League. In all, his 1156 club appearances were the most for any of the ex-Bandits, in a long a fulfilled career.

At international level, he was often behind Goalkeeper 2 in the pecking order, but they shared a healthy rivalry and he still managed to amass 92 caps. In that time, he was a part of many of England’s major honours, and remarkably, only conceded twenty goals in his international career, never once letting two past him in a match. A truly incredible record, partially backed up by their dominant side until they all retired a few years ago.

On a personal level, he was regularly in the running for European awards, and picked up European Goalkeeper of the Year three times in four years at his peak. He came second a further five times and was clearly well respected around the continent.

He will be remembered as an Arsenal hero, tying up their back line superbly and helping them to many major honours, and for him, he will look at his medal cabinet and smile. Only the Champions League eluded him for club and country, but what a career.

[kipfizh]

Goalkeeper 2 – Retired 27/06/2032

Club Career:

Bandits: Apps 14, Conc 6, Cln 8, MoM 1, YC 0, RC 0

Leeds: Apps 1038, Conc 1192, Cln 279, MoM 130, YC 96, RC 4

Total: Apps 1052, Conc 1198, Cln 287, MoM 131, YC 96, RC 4

Honours:

Premiership (Leeds 2016, 2019, 2029)

Conference South (Bandits 2007)

League Cup (Leeds 2012, 2029, 2030)

FA Trophy (Bandits 2007)

International Career:

England: Apps 137, Conc 28, Cln 117, MoM 2, YC 6, RC 1

Honours:

World Cup (2010, 2014, 2026), Confederations Cup (2013, 2017, 2025), European Championships (2016)

Personal Awards:

European Goalkeeper of the Year (2020)

European Goalkeeper of the Year 2nd place (2011, 2012, 2017, 2019, 2021)

European Goalkeeper of the Year 3rd place (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2026, 2028)

Notes:

After leaving the Bandits following one season, he joined Leeds, and spent longer at one club than any other ex-Bandit – an incredible 25 years until he retired. In that time, he became the only ex-Bandit to play over a thousand games for one club, amassing an enormous 1038.

He helped take Leeds to where they are now – regular challengers for the Premiership and a genuinely big club. His consistent performances won him man of the match well over a hundred times in his Leeds career, as he helped them to a whole host of domestic honours, including the Premiership three times.

In Europe, he was less fulfilled, as Leeds always struggled to make it to the latter stages, perhaps relying a little too much on him. At a bigger club he may have completed his medal cabinet, but he has played a huge part in Leeds’ history nonetheless.

For England, he was first choice for much of his career, and racked up a huge 137 caps, conceding only 28 goals in that time. He won seven major honours for his country, more in fact than he won in his 25 years at Leeds. England will miss him.

Despite being in the top three of European Goalkeeper of the Year twelve times, he actually only managed to win it once, in 2020, shortly after Leeds had reclaimed the Premiership title.

He will be remembered as a true Leeds legend, who gave a quarter of a century to the club, helping them rise up to being regular Premiership challengers. Without him, it is fair to say they would not have the stature they have today. He may not have the fullest medal cabinet, but he will go down in history as one of the greats.

[Guest]

I've just finished reading over the thread, and all I can say is... wow. I must admit I've been much more interested in the Bandits than their one-time 17 year old wonderkids. I'm eagerly awaiting more updates to see if they can hold firm in the midst of their player loss crisis - Morley was a huge loss. Cracking stuff, keep it up

[emgergo]

Soild season

The challenge is there for Gamble, I'm really interested how he'll handle the situation. Usually I find in my saves that when an overachieving smaller team is picked to pieces by bigger clubs, there is a serious problem next year.

The Bandits have the money & facilities, so they should be able to replace the losses though.

[Meitheisman]

Great update (as usual) Kipfizh!

Goalkeepers avg: 7.4760 in 1104 games

GK1: 7.4862 in 1156 games

GK2: 7.4648 in 1052 games

So now that we have every position here's the final avg rating ranking by position:

Strikers: 7.6450

Goalies: 7.4760

Side Mids: 7.4381

Center Backs: 7.3649

Side Backs: 7.3291

Center Mids: 7.2913

Idiots: 7.2729

In terms of number of games played in their career here's the ranking:

Goalies: 1104 games

Side Backs: 914 games

Side Mids: 874 games

Center Backs: 859 games

Center Mids: 812 games

Strikers: 775 games

Idiots: 618 games

I don't think there were enough players to base a theory on the numbers I combined but I'm very surprised to see that the Center Mids don't get really high ratings and don't have a very long career... it definitely looks different in my saves but maybe it has to do with my formation.

[Phippsy]

who gives a ****.

[Dreaded Walrus]

Sorry to be a bother, but looking at the interested players, there is a winger up there, Joan Casado, right at the top of the list. Would it be possible to see a screenshot of his profile page?

It's just, the left wing seems to be a weak spot for the Bandits, looking at the top 20, with the fact that Ryan Stephens is 29 and only getting older now. Add onto that the fact that the only other senior left winger, 23-year-old Andrew Nurse, had the lowest average rating for the season, and it is quite important, I'd say, that a left-winger is signed, or comes up from the youth. While I think there's basically no chance that Gamble will actually go for Joan Casado, it would be nice to see what he looks like.

[Dreaded Walrus]

Oh, and Ignored post by Phippy. My first one.

Still, keep up the good work Kipfizh. Can't wait to see what happens next year, not least because I'm an Albion fan in real life, and we'll be in the same league.

[brianb]

Usually I find in my saves that when an overachieving smaller team is picked to pieces by bigger clubs, there is a serious problem next year.

I agree, the AI seems to really struggle when the team is gutted like that, although teams in real life have the same problem, in FM it seems to hit them doubly hard, and often the following season becomes a relegation battle. Looking forward to seeing what happens

[kipfizh]

Thanks all

Meitheisman - keepers coming second behind strikers, I wouldn't have predicted that.

Phippsy, after 19 pages and nearly six months, congratulations on becoming the first complete moron to spout off.

Dreaded Walrus, here he is:

Joan Casado

His CA of 156 and PA of 173 suggest he could be excellent, but looking at his stats I'm not convinced. He has pretty good physical stats (not spectacular, but decent), and has some flair to him, but he doesn't strike me as rounded enough to merit that CA. What do you think?

[kipfizh]

Team analysis

Time for a new feature. While we already take a look at the relative squad strength of the Bandits as they grow as a club, we don’t examine the balance within the squad. Where are they strong? Where needs some addition? Is there a position they are particularly weak in? And of those great players – are they actually playing well?

The Bandits generally line up in a standard 4-4-2, so that’s how we’ll look at them.

Goalkeepers

Rob Spellman (28, 150/150) is the man with the gloves, and his 7.41 average means that in theory, this position is sewn up. But the 28 year old is likely to leave this summer when his contract runs out.

Ben Abbott (31, 129/133) is the reserve, but his contract also expires in the summer. Behind that they have only youths.

Summary: All is fine as long as Spellman stays, but if he does let his contract run out and leaves this summer, he will need replacing.

Defenders

Martin Stevens (26, 125/125) is the first choice left back, and averaging over 7, but while he is a natural on either flank, he is right footed. The problem is that their next left back is Matt Arnold (31, 101/106), and he’s a big step down.

On the right, Neil Mitchell (31, 113/121) was a regular until Keith Hatch (29, 141/148) was signed in January. Since then, Hatch has been the main man.

In the middle, it’s been two from three all season, between Matt Nicholson (21, 135/153), Andy Baker (29, 128/136) and Alan Townsend (32, 110/116). Behind them, Jon Robbins (21, 131/149) is pushing hard for a place.

Summary: A new left back would be a priority, because Stevens would make a better backup that a first choice. Robbins will presumably oust Townsend in the middle, but a fourth centre back would be useful.

Midfielders

Ryan Stephens (29, 118/119) has been decent this season, but nothing special, and is nothing more than a journeyman at this level. His backup, Andrew Nurse (23, 101/103) is plainly not good enough, having played extremely poorly when required.

On the other flank, Sebastien Perrin (31, 135/149) has been superb, but with his move to St Etienne already wrapped up they need to replace him. Looking in the reserves, Craig Pullen (27, 117/121) and Lee Canning (28, 114/119) are better served as backups.

In the centre, Colin Harris (21, 148/157) has been an ever present, but his extremely poor average rating of 6.22 demonstrates that he is not being best used – he is more comfortable as a stopper in front of the back four, rather than the more advanced position he has been assigned.

His partner has been one of Christian Thompson (31, 123/134) and Anthony Kirk (33, 119/135). Neither have been any more than adequate, and both are aging. Even more worryingly, there is next to no backup.

Summary: The Bandits really need to strengthen their midfield. Their left winger isn’t contributing much, their right winger is leaving, and the central men are not performing as well as they should. If an attack minded central midfielder is signed, Harris could play the destructive role he is more suited to.

Strikers

Rob O’Neill (22, 141/148) and Mark Bartley (31, 152/159) have formed a formidable partnership this season, but Bartley looks set to leave when his contract expires in the summer. O’Neill will need a new partner, which could either be the still impressive Pat Mike (30, 112/112) of a new signing. Mike is doing a superb job as a supersub, so to allow him to carry on a new first team striker is required.

Summary: If Bartley leaves, as seems likely, they need a new striker.

Summer shopping list : Left Back, Left Midfielder, Right Midfielder, Attacking Central Midfielder, Striker

Five signings needed!

First XI Average Ratings:

GK: Spellman – 7.41

LB: Stevens – 7.02

CB: Nicholson – 6.78

CB: Baker – 6.79

RB: Hatch – 6.76

LM: Stephens – 7.00

CM: Harris – 6.22

CM: Thompson – 6.42

RM: Perrin – 7.20

ST: O’Neill – 7.24

ST: Bartley – 7.50

[hailhail7]

Been following this thread for a while, great stuff. Gonna be interesting to see if the Bandits ever break through to the Premiership, and if once there they become a contender. Past history suggests it will happen even if it takes a number of years.

[Skunner]

Do the players decide they want to sign for the likes of Chelsea or is the manager selling them?

I find it quite interesting since Bandits don't really need the money, why would the manager sell players, surely with that kind of money, he could keep them and then work on signing better players aswell.

Seems odd to me.

Great update though.

[waz_nufc_awk]

This thread continues to keep me riveted, from the saga of the young players development to the barren early years of the bandits league performances.

Now is the time for the Bandits to fulfil the hopes and dreams of all of us 'Bandidos' who are hoping that the signings The Gambler makes are going to be theones that propel us up the championship table and perhaps, and one can only hope, at long last for the team to become all it can in the premiership.

Failing that let's hope we beat that B*&^%rd - Edinburgh's Everton in one of the Cup finals.

Viva La Bandidos

[gcormack]

lovin the thread kipfizh!

do you think you could check the bandit's U18 and see if there's any players with high PA's that we should look out for?

[LCFCtillidie]

Glad to see the bandits reaching a point of stability, be interesting to see if he brings in some real talent.

Great Thread Kip

[cr4z3d]

I've been reading this for about 6 hours and I must congratulate you on coming up with such a cool idea and actually putting it into motion.

Man, if only the manager would spend the 200m he has in the bank!

I am also very interested in knowing why management keeps selling talent? Earlier the club had Wells and Kish (sp?) as their star strikers, however they didn't get sold, while other younger players who had a high PA did.

Thanks for all your hard work and I hope to see more

[Dreaded Walrus]

I think if there's one thing this experiment has taught us, it's that the game needs to seriously reconsider the transfer module works.

Examples: Why have no managers (up until now in the Championship) actually spent the money they had? Why did it take 7 seasons for one of the richest, most well-supported clubs in the country/world to get promoted from the Conference National, 8 seasons from League Two, and another 8 from League One? If the AI managers had "looked at" their transfer budgets, and their wage budgets, and their finances in total, they would have spent money on the players that were clearly interested in joining.

In fact, I'm willing to bet that if a club in the Championship was willing to offer the wages the Bandits are*, then there'd be a large amount of excellent players willing to drop down a league just for a season or two, if it meant a wage much higher than their current one.

How else could we explain the real-life transfers of Beckham to MLS, or all these players that go to Qatar, despite still being good enough in some cases for lower-Premiership sides?

On a slightly related note, the system needs to be a lot less rigid, too. Who here has signed Freddy Eastwood for £1.5m? Has anyone tried replicating the Beckham-to-LA Galaxy move, with any success whatsoever? I recently tried buying Denílson, but about five attempts with appeals, and he couldn't get a work permit. How, then, have Arsenal signed him?

And then there's the whole thing with it being literally impossible to sign under-17s who have agreed a future professional contract, even when the club accept your offer.

But if there's two things it's taught us, it's that the transfer module needs and overhaul, and that that Kipfizh needs to quite his job and get hired to write a column by someone.

*There's a thing. Could we have a look at Finances > Salary, perhaps?

[prince_capri]

Kipfizh, I have read through your thread with eyes wide open, and with great interest. Very interesting work.

Although I have a question, which I dont think has been touched upon yet (or I have just missed its mention):

In all these years, have the Bandits, with all the money they have, ever expanded their stadiums? Its not a very urgent question, but would be great if you can answer...

Cheers.

[DS]

Was Kinch completely removed from the game world after he retired or did he become staff? Would be interesting if he did since he is a legend at the Bandits and maybe he would become manager of them.

[DS]

Originally posted by prince_capri:

Kipfizh, I have read through your thread with eyes wide open, and with great interest. Very interesting work.

Although I have a question, which I dont think has been touched upon yet (or I have just missed its mention):

In all these years, have the Bandits, with all the money they have, ever expanded their stadiums? Its not a very urgent question, but would be great if you can answer...

Cheers.

I think the stadium could not be expanded any more IIRC but anyway the stadium is big enough already and it dosnt require expanding since they dont sell it out.

[prince_capri]

Fisher Athletic, the worst ranked side in the Conference South, have been replaced by 'The Bandits', who have been given a tidy bank balance of 25m, a stadium with a capacity of 80k which they regularly fill, and a chairman who as a sugar daddy would look to see the club rise up the divisions. They were also given a top notch youth academy.

DS, this is what Kipfizh said from his first post. Surely if they are regularly filling up, they would try to expand?

[CanaryLawn]

Highest Attendance: 139992 v Arsenal, League Cup Quarter Final

They must have expanded for this to have been possible?

I would say one of the most interesing aspects of this experiment so far have been the avg ratings. In my experience, I've often found it difficult to find full-backs who perform consistently, whereas my central midfield is usually strong. This however doesn't seem to be replicated in either the form of the stars or the current Bandit squad where the CMs have been not only outperformed by the full-backs but by everybody else as well! I wonder if this is down to the tactics they play, the style of management they're under (AI being different from Human in the ways already discussed) or just reflective of a wider theme within the game I hadn't picked up upon before. Any theories?

[prince_capri]

Originally posted by CanaryLawn:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Highest Attendance: 139992 v Arsenal, League Cup Quarter Final

They must have expanded for this to have been possible?

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yup..think I missed it!

Thanks Canary.

[Rostby]

kipfizh let me join everybody else and praise you for a great and inspiring thread.

[kipfizh]

I'll answer all the points when I get a moment, but I just wanted to say thanks for continuing to read - we've today hit a remarkable one hundred thousand views

[xxx-demon]

You are still listen as Amateur

[williamshankley]

KUTGW took me a long time to read but enjoying it!

Come on the bandits

[shota92]

Yet another first time poster long time reader.

I am just wondering out of all the legendary players the bandits have had over the years who have became favoured personnel.

[kipfizh]

Skunner: I think it's just a case of the club thinking they can't hold the player back - in today's football even ambitious clubs in lower divisions have to sell - it'll take them too many years to reach Chelsea's level.

gcormack: No-one coming through the youth system of any note - I'll say if I see one!

cr4z3d: The difference with Wells and Kinch is that their PAs weren't actually that high, so they were probably at the highest level they could play effectively.

Dreaded Walrus: It's hard to say why the managers didn't sign players, it's almost as if they thought the return on investment wouldn't be great enough so they only went in for tweaking. To see whether it is more the chairman or the manager will be an angle examined in experiment 2.

Money is a massively motivating factor - look at Qatar, as you say, Gretna, of some of the Brazilians playing in the now rich Russian league, a destination they would never otherwise consider.

As these shots show, they use only 25% of their wage budget, as that two players have managed to secure themselves amazing deals:

Finances - Salary

Contracts

No one earns more than 15k, apart from two players. Abbott, once the first choice keeper but now reserve to Spellman, earns a whoppin 89k, while Townsend, the old centre back, who is now third choice, earns 76k. How do you explain that? Abbott's contract was signed six months before Spellman arrived, when he was still in favour.

Cheers for the column comment - I do actually write a footy site, which is in my profile, but it's embryonic

prince_capri: I set their stadium capacity to 80k, and their max attendance to 140k. They've expanded the stadium accordingly, to 140k, and it makes no sense to take it further.

DS: Kinch left the game with no interest in coaching.

CanaryLawn: Like you, my central midfielders are often the best performers, so why these played poorly I'm not sure. Wrong formations?

[SpeccyMatt]

Wow! Those two contracts are immense in comparison to the rest.

Kipfizh - is there any chance of you looking at those two players' stats (hidden and visible) and seeing whether they are particularly nasty b******ds or greedy or, just got lucky!?

Also, it's interesting that the rest of the squad haven't noticed this and started demandind more, I know I would.

Maybe the overall squad mentality is low ambition or fairness or just playing for the love of the game. Who knows?

Cracking read as ever, kutgw kipfizh.

[Guest]

Townsend earns way too much for a backup player!! Does he get many/any games?

[Rostby]

Nice contracts for Championship. not very realistic though is it?

[Dreaded Walrus]

Well, this experiment wasn't set up with realistic foundations. They have a stadium that can hold 140K, have made millions of pounds profit every single season bar one, and at last check, have just under £317m in the bank. So, for a club with that much money, the league a club is in is barely of importance. Just look at the examples in real life, such as Qatar, and as Kipfizh says, Gretna and the Russian league.

If anything, surely this club should be spending more on salary and transfers.

[gcormack]

if you re-do the experiment kipfizh, the you should start the bandits with no money and see how much their stars can earn them.

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

I done a very quick version of this sort of experiment with FC United, I put them in the Conf North, with a sugar daddy chairman. 50k stadium and I put full detail on all the english leagues and they spent money and got consecutive promotions and made it to the EPL in 6 years if I remember right.

I think actually doing the full matches makes a difference in calcualting results, kipfizh i don't think did this. Manager and Chairman seems to be a major factor, I made the chairman an ambition of 20 and interference of 1 and the manager was half decent in attributes and he spent his money. Infact when FC Utd made it to the just the Championship they spent £18million on players and then £62million upon promotion.

I;ve not had time to read through this whole expereiment, but i've really liked what i've read and i'll share the full detail of what i've done in my little experiment based on this either here or on a different thread (up to you kipfizh)

[Meitheisman]

Originally posted by gooners_4_life:

Townsend earns way too much for a backup player!! Does he get many/any games?

He played 36 games last year including 5 as a sub.

You can see that in the link called Stats in Kipfizh's post from July 5th at 09:24 GMT.

[nk86]

not sure if this has been mentioned before but since the players have very little ambition would they be more likely to just retire from football altogether and not become coaches or managers etc?

[waz_nufc_awk]

Originally posted by nk86:

not sure if this has been mentioned before but since the players have very little ambition would they be more likely to just retire from football altogether and not become coaches or managers etc?

Yep, it has been mentioned by Kip before and you are right, he made the same assumption that little or no ambition would mean that they are happy with their lot as a player and would not be likely to pursue once their playing days were over.

[koertvs]

After 25 seasons and 19 pages still the most interesting and best thread on the forum, KUTGW Kipfizh

If I look at all the results of the experiment, and all the comments about similar experiments, it seems that ambition is the key factor to succes.

If the results of Obi wan kenobi's quick experiment are reliable, with the same chairman, but now with high ambition, the Bandits would rise to top division in a short time, just like I was expecting at the start of the first experiment.

But I think high ambition players would make an even bigger difference. I think it would mean they would leave the bandits sooner then in the first experiment, but I am expecting a much bigger honours list, as they would'nt waste years at the bottom end of the premiership, and probably end up at the highest rep clubs, like R Madrid, Barca, AC Milan and Man Utd.

As you can read, I am still enjoying this experiment, but already 'eagerly anticipating' the next experiment. Sorry for being so unpatient

[kipfizh]

SpeccyMatt: The squad level is professional, and apart from having high controversy (Abbott 20, Townsend 17), the two are nothing out of the ordinary. However, Abbott was their star keeper at the time of signing, and Townsend is a Bandits legend having played for them his entire career - a whopping 18 years.

gooners_4_life/Rostby: Not too much at all, when you bear in mind how rich the club were, and the status of the two players when they signed the contracts - they were probably the two highest profile players at the club. They've just fallen out of favour since.

gcormack: I don't think that'd be valuable - the players would still leave, and the Bandits would just become like any other club.

Obi-Wan Kenobi: You're right, full matches does make a difference, so experiment two will have this set, and a few clubs set with different types of staff. I'd still be interested in hearing your results though - yours sounds very interesting!

nk86: Precisely - Marc Vaughan himself said as much

koertvs: Don't worry about patience, I'm glad to have interested readers

[kipfizh]

Season 2032-33

Club report

2006-07, English Conference South - 1st, FA Trophy - Winners

2007-08, English National Conference - 7th, FA Trophy - Final

2008-09, English National Conference – 7th

2009-10, English National Conference – 9th

2010-11, English National Conference – 6th

2011-12, English National Conference – 18th

2012-13, English National Conference – 5th

2013-14, English National Conference – 1st

2014-15, English League Two – 21st

2015-16, English League Two – 21st

2016-17, English League Two – 6th

2017-18, English League Two – 6th

2018-19, English League Two – 7th

2019-20, English League Two – 6th, Johnstone’s Paint Trophy – South Semi Final

2020-21, English League Two – 10th

2021-22, English League Two – 1st, Johnstone’s Paint Trophy - Final

2022-23, English League One – 13th, Johnstone’s Paint Trophy – South Semi Final

2023-24, English League One – 11th, League Cup – Final

2024-25, English League One – 11th, League Cup – Semi-Final

2025-26, English League One – 18th

2026-27, English League One – 17th

2027-28, English League One – 14th

2028-29

English League One: (Pos 20), P 46, W 14, D 11, L 21, F 55, A 68, GD -13, Pts 53

(Media Prediction: 17th)

FA Cup: 2nd Round

League Cup: 1st Round

Johnstone’s Paint Trophy: South 2nd Round

2029-30

English League One: (Pos 1), P 46, W 22, D 9, L 15, F 65, A 57, GD +8, Pts 75

(Media Prediction: 20th)

FA Cup: 2nd Round

League Cup: 1st Round

Johnstone’s Paint Trophy: South Quarter-Final

2030-31

English Championship: (Pos 14), P 46, W 15, D 18, L 13, F 63, A 60, GD +3, Pts 63

(Media Prediction: 22nd)

FA Cup: 3rd Round

League Cup: 1st Round

2031-32

English Championship: (Pos 10), P 46, W 18, D 12, L 16, F 71, A 64, GD +7, Pts 66

(Media Prediction: 22nd)

FA Cup: 3rd Round

League Cup: Final

2032-33

English Championship: (Pos 12), P 46, W 17, D 12, L 17, F 66, A 66, GD 0, Pts 63

(Media Prediction: 13th)

League

FA Cup: 5th Round

League Cup: 1st Round

The Bandits were in serious danger last summer – after losing Ryan Morley the year before, three other stars, Bartley, Perrin and Spellman were set to leave, ripping a massive hole in their squad.

Gamble paid 525k to sign Scott Nicholson, a superb replacement for right winger Perrin, and Bartley’s breach up front was managed by old man Pat Mike stepping back into the first team in style. As for goalkeeper Spellman, Gamble splashed out 2.7m on a replacement and then convinced Spellman to sign a new contract after he had let his expire.

In addition, more players were brought in, both in the summer and in January, and the squad suddenly looks healthy again.

Much like their first season in the Championship, the Bandits finishing position of 12th is somewhat deceptive, after the spent much of the season in the playoffs. Fading away in the last fifteen games meant they finished down in mid-table, but after a season of squad comings and goings, that’s not a bad result at all.

Positions

Having reached the final of the League Cup last year, their interest in the competition ended in the first round this time out, themselves victim of a shock as League One Exeter dumped them out on penalties. In the FA Cup, they reached the fifth round, knocking out Premiership Sheff Wed on the way, before eventually losing to Aston Villa.

Danny Gamble has bought wisely this season, plugging a lot of the gaps in the squad with quality players. If he can avoid losing his best players again this summer, they could begin to challenge for the higher positions in the league. They are certainly capable of it.

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Player reports

Goalkeeper 1 – Retired from playing 03/07/2032

2032-, Sunderland (scout), CA 170, PA 170

Although listed as an assistant manager when first available as a staff member, it is as a scout that he begins his coaching career, at high-flying Sunderland, who finish fifth in the Premiership. He is capable of much much more.

Goalkeeper 2 – Retired from playing 27/06/2032

2032-, Tottenham (scout), CA 170, PA 170

Also begins his coaching career as a scout, joining Left Back 1 at Tottenham, who finish 12th and win the League Cup.

Left Back 1 – Retired from playing 30/06/2030

2030-2031, Scunthorpe (fitness coach), CA 110, PA 110

2031-, Tottenham (assistant manager), CA 110, PA 110

Continues as Tottenham’s assistant manager, and stands in the dugout as they win the League Cup, also finishing 12th in the Premiership.

Left Back 2 – Retired 30/06/2026

Right Back 1 – Retired 25/06/2026

Right Back 2 – Retired 02/07/2027

Centre Back 1 – Retired 13/06/2026

Centre Back 2 – Retired 13/05/2029

Centre Back 3 – Retired 26/06/2026

Centre Back 4 – Retired 29/06/2026

Left Mid 1 – Retired 30/06/2026

Left Mid 2 – Retired 29/06/2027

Right Mid 1 – Retired from playing 25/04/2026

2026-2027, Aston Villa (youth coach), CA 130, PA 130

2027-, Chelsea (assistant manager), CA 130, PA 130

As champions, Chelsea have a poor season, sitting around ninth for much of it until a late surge sees them rise to fourth and claim the FA Cup. They currently have no manager – could he make the step up?

Right Mid 2 – Retired 23/06/2026

Centre Mid 1 – Retired from playing 02/07/2030

2030-2032, Liverpool (youth coach), CA 110, PA 110

2032-, Reading (coach), CA 110, PA 110

Moves on from Liverpool to join up and coming Reading, initially as a youth coach but now with the first team, and helps them finish tenth in the Premiership.

Centre Mid 2 – Retired 13/05/2027

Centre Mid 3 – Retired 13/05/2028

Centre Mid 4 – Retired 22/06/2026

Striker 1 – Retired 24/06/2026

Striker 2 – Retired 27/06/2026

Striker 3 – Retired 30/06/2026

Striker 4 – Retired 29/06/2027

Idiot A – Retired 13/05/2026

Idiot B – Retired 22/06/2023

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Other stats

After beating Finland and Sweden, England finished second in their European Championship group, losing 2-1 to hosts France in their final match. A hattrick from Chelsea star Nicky Perkins was enough to see off Turkey 3-1 in the quarter finals, but Portugal knocked them out 1-0 in the semis, before going on to beat France by the same score in the final.

England’s manager was sacked, and was replaced by someone who didn’t appear to be that great, while after Spain’s poor performance, their manager was replaced by Frank Lampard. Meanwhile, despite their semi final exit, England’s Nicky Perkins picked up best player and top scorer award, after knocking in seven goals.

England have started their World Cup qualifying campaign in traditional style, with four wins and no goals conceded.

The Premiership was a two horse race, with Arsenal and West Ham streets ahead of everyone else. It was Arsenal that would eventually clinch it by five points, with West Ham a further sixteen points ahead of third placed Leeds. Chelsea’s last surge took them up to fourth, while after a good start, Man Utd plummeted all the way down to 17th.

Premiership

Chelsea’s late run also included an FA Cup final, as they beat Aston Villa on penalties in the final, while Tottenham beat Reading in the League Cup.

Real Madrid claimed the 20th Champions League trophy in their history, and their tenth in the last sixteen years, beating Milan in the final. Milan have now lost the last three finals. Spain also had reason to celebrate in the UEFA Cup, where Seville beat Juventus.

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Summary

Danny Gamble did a good job maintaining the mid table safety of the Bandits while mixing round the squad – the loss of Bartley and Perrin were considerable, but while Bartley hasn’t been fully replaced yet, the squad doesn’t look any weaker than it did, due to some shrewd signings.

There weren’t the cup dramatics of last season, but instead a season of consolidation. With less players likely to leave this summer, can they now push forward?

None of the ex-Bandits are yet a full manager, but many have the capability to become so – will any of them show the ambition required to take up the helm?

Arsenal won the Premiership again, ahead of the ever impressive (and often second) West Ham, with the rest of the field way back. Is this a sign of things to come? Also, Man Utd skirted dangerously close to relegation again, are they likely to drop back into the Championship as they have twice before?

As for England, they lost out in the European Championships and now have no star Bandits to call upon. Will they now have a dry spell at the top?

Bandit’s former manager watch

Justin Edinburgh’s Everton rose one spot to 16th in the Premiership.

After finishing seventh last season, Steve Brackstone was sacked by Norwich with them bottom of the Championship towards the end of the season. It was too late to save them, and they finished bottom, ten points from safety. Meanwhile, Brackstone was hired by Sheff Wed, also fighting a relegation battle in the Premiership, in 18th, but he couldn’t save them, finishing in the same spot.

After guiding Sheff Utd to the League One title last season, Gary Perry finds himself back in that league after instant relegation from the Championship position of 22nd.

Dean Glover has retired.

Martin Lawton’s Wrexham rose from tenth in League One to finish fifth, but lost in the playoff semi final to Charlton.

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Bandits squad

General

Stats

Finance Overview

Interested Players

Once again, the number of interested players reached a new high, demonstrating the increased appeal of the Bandits, this year rising from 7388 to 7483.

Top 20 in Squad (sorted by CA)

Name, Pos, Age, CA-PA

Wade, GK, 21, 153-164 – new signing

Mackie, MC, 29, 150-156 – new signing

Spellman, GK, 29, 150-150 (0)

Harris, DM, 22, 148-157 (0)

O’Neill, ST, 23, 145-148 (+4)

Boyce, DLC / ML, 25, 142-151 – new signing

Robbins, DC, 22, 139-149 (+8)

M Nicholson, DC, 22, 137-153 (+2)

Hatch, DR, 30, 137-148 (-4)

S Nicholson, AM R, 29, 136-136 – new signing

Abbott, GK, 32, 128-133 (-1)

Stevens, D/WB RL, 27, 125-125 (0)

Baker, DC/DM, 30, 120-136 (-8)

Tomlinson, ST, 21, 120-120 (+6)

Leary, ST, 25, 119-119 (+3)

Thompson, MC, 32, 118-134 (-5)

Stephens, AM L, 30, 118-119 (0)

Tillen, DC, 19, 117-148 – new signing

Razak, AM RL, 32, 113-116 – new signing

Mike, ST, 31, 112-112 – re-entry in top 20

Players in last season’s top 20 who have left the club:

Bartley, ST, 31, 152-159

Perrin, AM R, 31, 135-149

Butler, ST, 23, 127-127

Pullen, AM R, 27, 117-121

Canning, AM R, 28, 114-119

Players in last season’s top 20 who have dropped out of the top 20:

Mitchell, D/WB R, 32, 109-121 (-4)

Kirk, MC, 34, 106-135 (-13)

It’s been quite a season of comings and goings, which makes it all the more impressive that Gamble was able to keep the Bandits in the top half of the Championship. The loss of Bartley was an acute one, but certain positions were ripped out of the squad – of the five players from last season’s top 20 who left, two were strikers, and three right wingers.

But they’ve been smartly replaced – in goal Wade was signed to replace Spellman, who ended up staying, while Mackie and Boyce bolster the midfield. Nicholson was Perrin’s replacement, and while no striker was signed, Pat Mike stepped back into the first team after two seasons away, to score 23 goals.

Mackie, signed for 4.9m, becomes the club’s most expensive ever signing.

CA of X or above:

190 : 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

180 : 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

170 : 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

160 : 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0

150 : 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 3, 2, 3

140 : 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 5, 5, 6

130 : 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 5, 8, 10

120 : 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 1, 2, 2, 6, 6, 7, 5, 5, 12, 13, 14

110 : 0, 2, 2, 3, 2, 6, 7, 6, 6, 7, 8, 7, 7, 9, 10, 10, 12, 12, 13, 13, 16, 23, 25, 23

100 : 2, 4, 7, 7, 6, 13, 13, 12, 13, 13, 16, 12, 12, 12, 16, 16, 19, 21, 20, 18, 24, 31, 32, 28

90 : 7, 11, 10, 9, 10, 16, 17, 15, 15, 20, 22, 16, 15, 17, 20, 22, 29, 33, 26, 24, 29, 32, 36, 31

80 : 13, 14, 13, 13, 16, 21, 21, 18, 16, 21, 26, 20, 22, 21, 26, 26, 34, 36, 32, 31, 33, 40, 40, 33

70 : 19, 22, 21, 20, 22, 27, 25, 19, 23, 25, 30, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30, 35, 39, 38, 35, 37, 42, 43, 36

60 : 26, 26, 25, 23, 24, 32, 30, 24, 26, 30, 32, 26, 28, 28, 38, 33, 40, 44, 41, 37, 40, 45, 45, 38

50 : 30, 31, 31, 26, 26, 35, 33, 28, 32, 34, 35, 30, 32, 34, 42, 37, 43, 46, 43, 42, 44, 49, 49, 45

An increase at the top ends means that the Bandits have a better first team than they’ve ever had before. Gamble did however clear out a lot of the deadwood from the back of his squad, so there are much less players with a CA lower than 100.

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Best and Worst

New records:

Average Attendance: 99813 (previous: 98647)

Highest Transfer Fee Paid: 4.9m for Bobby Mackie

Total Transfer Spending: 11.25m

This season:

Best player – Spellman, 7.42

Top scorer – Mike, 23

Worst player – Harris, 6.47

The Bandits remain fifth in the rich list.

Rich Clubs

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The ‘Ryan Morley’s of the world

Ryan Morley continued his rise up the world ladder, reaching a new CA of 175 (+5) at Chelsea, approaching his PA of 186. He scored 18 goals, quite often as substitute, and at 22 made his debut for England in a World Cup qualifier in Austria, in which he scored. He has since played his second game, and scored in that too.

He also picked up an FA Cup medal this season, coming on in the final, and won Premiership player of the month for April. Chelsea will not sell him for less than 34m. His star is on the rise.