FM13: Oxford City F.C. Fight to be top Ox

[JojoVillaHursty]

Im looking to start a second version of the tactic to try and make it a bit more effective in attacking as I feel the defense and build up are fine but there just doesn't seem to be an end product with smaller teams.

[jayare35]

Hey guys I will post a season review when I finish my season - things have been a little hectic IRL so taking the chances I have to actually play through my campaign.

[Fabian Jonsson]

A short update: my gamble with the 3-5-2 paid off and the third season in BSP was a success. The team got off to a rocky start with 2 wins, 2 losses and (IIRC) 6 draws, but some small tactical changes and a team meeting later, the team went on to win 12 and draw 2 for a decent first half of the season. The spring was largely a matter of not dropping too many point against the promotion rivals, and we ended up winning by 12 points.

I'm nearly done with the pre-season leading up to our first year in league 2, and I'm pleased with how the transfer dealings went. We managed to keep all the best players, snapped up one of the loans on a permanent deal, got to loan another one of the more successfull loanees on another campaign, and got a couple of really good players on free transfers. All in all, I'm looking forward to the new season!

[jayare35]

Well done Fabian!! good luck in league 2...you should do well if you kept a lot of your team. Cohesion will happen quickly!

I haven't quite completed my season yet...I am off on vacay and then traveling for work. Won't be able to get back to my save until mid-April.

I should be raring to continue my glacial march up the leagues. Keep us posted on your exploits in League 2 Fabian!

[Fabian Jonsson]

Well done Fabian!! good luck in league 2...you should do well if you kept a lot of your team. Cohesion will happen quickly!

I haven't quite completed my season yet...I am off on vacay and then traveling for work. Won't be able to get back to my save until mid-April.

I should be raring to continue my glacial march up the leagues. Keep us posted on your exploits in League 2 Fabian!

Thanks jay. I'm struggling to find time to play at the momoent, so I've only been able to play the opening game of the season (a comfortable 3-0 against one of the touted relegation candidates). I was expecting to face Oxford in a couple of exciting derbys this season, but discovered that they've played the last couple of seasons in League 1 on my save. Hopefully, I'll face them next season then!

[Fabian Jonsson]

Well, I finally found some time to play again, and I blasted through half a season.

We got knocked out of Johnston Pain Trophy (against Oxford United IIRC ) and the Capital One Cup (against Watford), both in the first rounds, which was annoying but ultimately of little importance as the board don't care about those cups. In the league we're doing better, and after a decent winning streak we're in 2nd. It's very even though, and at the top there are 8-10 teams all within a few points. In the FA cup we beat fellow league 2ers Crawley to advance to the 2nd round, where we'll meet a L1 team I don't remember the name of. All-in-all I'm fairly pleased with the first half of the season.

[Fabian Jonsson]

A quick summary of of the fifth season managing Oxford City:

The spring turned out to be very successful where the team achieved a level of consistency I've not seen before. I did pay a lot more attention to detail during the mathces than I usually do, and maybe that helped (I want to believe that's the case ). Anyhow, because the other teams dropped a lot of points left and right, I was never really worried, and we ended up winning the league by 13 points. For a team expected to finish 24th, that's not too shabby!

I've already scouted a couple of very good players that are sitting on expiring contracts, so come end of May, I will make a stab at signing some of those. Otherwise I will keep the majority of my squad and only look to strengthen the weakest areas (such as the right-back position, which is very weak at the moment).

I will try to make an update with the results of the transfer dealings once I'm done with the pre-season.

[jayare35]

Congrats Fabian! Well done.

[Fabian Jonsson]

Well, I've had a lot of sparetime lately so I've been able to get a lot of games in.

The first season in League 1 started out very good and for a long time I was in the promotion race, but the opposition started playing increasingly more defensive as the season progressed. I failed to find a good response, and the season ended with a dissapointing 7th (1 point away from playoffs, again!).

The squad remained more or less the same leading up to the second season in League 1, but I managed to sign a young English striker who had been tearing up the Blue Square Bet Premier the previous season, and it turned out to be a very good deal. He scored 20 and assisted 10 in the league, and helped us secure the 2nd place and promotion! I admit it was a struggle (and at times I was sure we wouldn't make it), but the team that had been occupying the 2nd place for almost the entire season (Crewe Alexandra) had a terrible spell of losses and ties at the end of the season and we managed to sneak past them.

Speaking of Crewe, they got the promotion they wanted in the end (won the playoffs), and was bought by a Belgian tycoon that gave them a 40M transfer budget for their first season in the Championship. I had a 0.5M tranfer budget for our first season in the Championship...

Anyways, I've strengthened the central line (picking up a DC, a DM and a ST on free transfers) as a couple of our players retired, otherwise the team is intact. I'm pretty pleased with the team, but I'm a little bit worried about the flanks. If I get overrun there too much, I might have to look into strengthening those in January.

Edit: btw, Oxford United is still in League 1 so I guess we've passed them now, although they are still ranked above us in stature...

[jayare35]

Yes Fabian! Movin' on up!

Good luck in League 1.

I have just gotten back into my save and have rattled a number of games off in the last couple of days.

I should finish tonight or tomorrow so will post an epic/disappointing update when the league is over.

[Fabian Jonsson]

Thanks!

I'm really enjoying this save (it's the best one in any FM for me), so I've been playing like crazy!

Like I wrote above, the second season in League 1 was very good and we finished 2nd. I kept the team almost completely unchanged and tackled the Championship. I was expecting to struggle there, but it was soon apparent that my team was more than good enough to play at that level. In fact, it didn't take long until we were heavily involved in the promotion race. Again, I had one of those seasons where a couple of teams run away, only to stumble the last couple of months, and I managed to snatch the 2nd place!

So the first step of my crazy goal of winning the Champions League with Oxford City within 15 seasons is completed. We managed to get to the Premier League spring 2020!

I'm so happy I started this save!

[jayare35]

Oxford City in the Premiership...Well done Fabian!

2 seasons in league 1 and one in the Championship...outstanding work. I always found the Championship the hardest league to get promoted from but you proved that wrong.

I just finished my first season in L2 last night and will be working on my review today.

[jayare35]

Season Review - League 2.

We were mid-table up until beginning of December when we started on a remarkable run of games. I believe I had a 7 game winning streak and another 9 game undefeated streak during that time until the run in to the end of the season. I picked up a few loan signings to bolster the depth of my squad - one being a short term signing of the enigmatic David Bentley. He really didn't influence the team except from dead balls - his free kick taking was outstanding and we generated more goals from FK and Corners than we did without him.

As we rolled into February we sat in 3rd place behind Oxford and York. We held onto that place into late March with 40 games played - then the proverbial wheels came off. Our next 2 games had us away against York and Oxford. We struggled in the first match to generate the opportunities we needed and eventually lost 3-1. Our hated rivals waiting for us as we rolled into town. What a match for the neutral - 6 goals in the first half alone - match all square at 3-3. score stood that way until 90+2 when the referee awarded a pk to Oxford...in it goes and we limp home with two losses on the bounce. We sit 5th.

Next had us at home to Fleetwood, we dominated in every facet of the match but had trouble breaking them down. we eventually scored and collected the 3 points needed...still 5th.

I then experienced my most bizarre game that I have managed since I took over at Oxford City...I can't remember the team we played...it was away. Game ended with a 6-4 loss. But it was back and forth and in a 10 minuted span in the first half a remarkable 5 goals were scored. We just could not defend to save our lives. Still in 5th.

Next two were at home to a bottom dweller and Portsmouth who sat in 6th. We won both games to collect the 6 points and finish in 4th place...Portsmouth finished in 7th.

So onto the Playoffs - first up an away match against the same Portsmouth that we beat just 10 days before - the game was never really in doubt ended 3-0...they did not have a shot on goal.

return match was a bit more even,we scored the first goal just before half-time. They scored with about 20 minutes to play and that was it, we were into the final.

Final - League 2 playoffs vs Southend. We were storming the game in the opening 35 minutes...it was no contest. We were up 2 goals and should have had at least one more if not 3 but it was not to be. Right before halftime they scored from a corner to pull one back and make for an interesting second half. Less than 2 minutes after the restart they are awarded a penalty and bring the game back to level terms. Literally in less than 3 minutes of game time they pulled 2 goals back...I was gutted. We still were the better team creating more while in possession, then in the 86th minute the referee wants to get into the game as he had not blown his whistle for awhile...another penalty for Southend. They go up 3-2 and I make changes to bring on another forward and do away with any defensive duties...we are rewarded with an equalizer in the 90+2 to force extra time. Extra time was much the same as the game, we were perhaps the better side but neither team was doing much in the attacking third, until the 118th minute. Southend was awarded their third PK of the night, I am going ballistic at this point as I was convinced that the electronic moron in charge of the game got this all wrong. Final 3-2, Southend go up to League 1.

After my rage had left and I was able to reflect on the season - I was pleased with how it turned out. 4th place for our first season in the league proper is a good showing.

As the start of the next season is nearing I have purged the team of bloated contracts that dont play important minutes for us. I have kept all the starters we had from last season and look to build with either better players or back up loan players. I have lots of Transfer funds available and salary available to me if need be...but i dont think I will get up there unless I go out for a proven star player.

I should note that we scored the most goals in the league last year. Had two players in the team of the year and had the leading goalscorer in league 2 with 29 tallies to his name. He is only rated at 2 stars by my assistant but he seems to be scoring goals for fun at this level..

[jayare35]

Fabian,

Quick question - how do you deal with teams parking the bus when you are playing at home?

Being one of the top teams is really bringing this out in my opponents.

[Fabian Jonsson]

Fabian,

Quick question - how do you deal with teams parking the bus when you are playing at home?

Being one of the top teams is really bringing this out in my opponents.

Actually, since I climbed the ladder rather quickly I've had the odds heavily stacked against me for most of the save. Consequently, ultra-defensive opposition has been very rare (much more so than I'm used to in FM, as I tend to only manage IFK Göteborg, which is a top team in Sweden). On the few occations where I have faced defensive opponents, I've chosen to go for my tried and true possession approach.

What I do, in short, is the following:

1, I adopt a control strategy (to win the ball quickly and takes some - but not too many - risks going forward)

2, I use two holding midfielders that hold the fort together with my central defense and dictate the tempo of the game

3, I keep one player in a high and wide position on each flank (to spread the opposition defense)

4, I push two central players up (to pin the opposition defense back)

5, I employ one or two (depending on if I use 2 or 3 centre backs) players to roam around the area between the opposition central defense and central midfield

As this really is my preffered way of playing, I tend to sign relatively speedy defenders, and that helps a ton to thwart any counter attacks.

Key things to look out for:

1, make sure your central midfielders don't try (too many) attacking passes (usually I go with players with relatively low flair but high creativity)

2, make sure your roaming player(s) do try many attacking passes (high flair)

3, make sure the tempo isn't too high or low (too high and they make rash decisions, too low and they dwell on the ball too much). This can be hard to spot sometimes.

4, make sure they are using the space given by the opposition (best seen in 2D view, in my opinion).

Well that's about it, I think.

Hope that helps.

Oh, and btw, I finished my first season in the Premier League. We finished in an honourable 8th, and I'm largely happy with how things went. I've only signed one player in the summer (one that I'm not even sure I'll use as a starter), but I'm thinking of switching it up and move from a 3-5-2 to a 4-1-2-2-1 tactic. Mostly because I want to try something new. Might get cold feet if the opening games go poorly though...

[jayare35]

Fabian,

8th in your first season is very respectable and easy to build off for future campaigns.

I play the 4-1-2-2-1 and is the first time I have attempted to use that set up...it has been fun to see how different players play each position.

[Fabian Jonsson]

Fabian,

8th in your first season is very respectable and easy to build off for future campaigns.

I play the 4-1-2-2-1 and is the first time I have attempted to use that set up...it has been fun to see how different players play each position.

Yeah, I was very happy with the first season in the PL. Not so much with the second. After a completely horrific first half of the season (hovering around the relegation slots), a strong spring form saw us finishing 12th. I hadn't spent much money on the squad thus far (had set a limit of 2M Euro as a max for any player I bought), but I decided the team was developing too slowly and that I needed to strengthen up the first team to allow the young talents at the club some more time to develop before they took over as first teamers. I splashed some 20-30M on new players, and I feel the squad we have now should be much better equipped to cope with the PL.

Will keep you posted once I get the time to play some more.

Oh, and btw, part of the reason why the team was so poor in the beginning was because I fiddled around with the 4-1-2-2-1, but after a while I decided the team wasn't ready to play how I wanted them to play, and went back to the simpler and more direct 3-5-2 tactic I've used for most of the save. It's not the most beautiful football in the world, but it really seems to suit my players well. Might try to incorporate some of the concepts I wanted to try in the 4-1-2-2-1 tactic eventually though...

[jayare35]

I have finally had time to play my save again. I struggled to remember where I left off and how to deal with the AI during matches.

Our second season in League two was a struggle. I did well against better or same level of clubs. But I still really struggle with teams that sit deep and park the bus. We ended in 7th position, loosing out on the playoffs on the last day. We were in 6th place - we tied a bottom dweller and Colchester moved past us.

I signed most of my starters to new deals and let others leave for nothing. I still have a rather strong squad and we should develop into one of the top teams if I can figure out how to beat lesser teams.

[jayare35]

I am midway through November in our third season in league 2. We are up at the top of the standings between 1st and 3rd depending on weekly results. We have been playing extremely well in the league despite some crushing injuries.

My squad has been kept mostly intact from last season. I have mostly strengthened through loan players. I loaned Andreas Weimann from Villa to help give a little more class for those tough to break through games. As for my signings - I signed a young striker who could be quite useful as a Target Man, A young GK that has the potential to be a premiership quality GK according to my scouts and coaches. I also signed a 17 yo DC as well as had a DC come through my youth system (1st decent player) that has gotten spot duty if we are winning by a large margin.

We are into the QF of the JPT and have crashed out of the FA Cup to BSP side Ebbsfleet. We tied the fist match with a late strike from Weimann at the field. As I stated I really struggle with breaking down teams that park the bus. I had 74% possession and 24 shots. 9 on goal with only 7 long shots. Couldn't beat their keeper. They nicked one on a well crafted counter and we lost 1-0. Frustrating I want to do well in the league to move up.

I have found an excellent regen in Northern Ireland...just have to convince him to play for us. He is valued at 160K but pretty sure I can afford him as I have 8K in unused wages.

[jayare35]

I have negotiated my way to mid February...we are firmly entrenched in 3rd place. We are behind Forest Green and Portsmouth who are battling for top spot. I sit 5-8 pts back every week and 4-6 pts up on 4th place. Positive news is that I have more home games on the run in. as of the beginning of February I have the least amount of home games played in the league. My home record is very strong.

My team has seemed to figure out how to play against the minnows of our division when they play ultra defensive. I either Win or end in a 0-0 draw where their keeper does really well and they have very few forays into the final third. Teams have now started parking the bus at their home grounds when I come calling so my reputation has increased.

We are into the South Final of the JPT against Ipswich. They currently are the top side in League 1. We lost a hard fought battle 2-1 at home where they scored at the death. Onto their place to try to get ourselves into the final.

[jayare35]

Well, I finally won a league championship trophy. I was firmly entrenched in 3rd and was planning on staying out the playoff picture. I couldn't gain ground on the leaders. With 10 games to play. Portsmouth were 1st and Forest Green 2nd. With 6 to play the standings were the same except Forest Green had a game in hand. 4 games to go and Forest Green were in second, one pint up on us. 2 games to go Forest Green were 2 points up on us and Portsmouth were holding onto 3rd, barely. We won our game 1-0 and Forest Green tied. We were first by goal differential. The final math did not change anything between us. Portsmouth ended in forth and lost in the playoffs.

Onto league 1!

[jayare35]

First season was a successful one in League 1. I mostly kept my squad that had won the League 2 trophy the previous year. One of my starting DC's decided his future was best played away from Oxford City. That led me scrambling to improve my back line. Also, my starting AMR Inside forward had significant bids that my chairman decided to cash in on.

I brought in a new CF and two DC's and filled in the rest of the squad with season long loans.

We started the season OK but we were a draw machine. A win here, a loss there, and in between draws and lots of them. That left us wallowing in the bottom half of the table. Around mid October we started to figure out the league and went on a 21 game run without a loss that propelled us to the playoff positions. During that time we had a solid FA cup run and a dismal JPT and Capital One Cup run. We lost to ManU at Old Trafford in the 5th round with a late strike from them to lose 2-1. We really needed the financial boost.

I was sniffing around the top 2 positions and a chance at automatic promotion but just couldn't barge my way in The run in was certainly interesting and we bounced around from third to fifth. Funny enough the final positions didnt get solidified until the final whistle went to end the season. Before the last match it was Stevenage 87 pts, Charlton 87 pts, Ipswich 86 pts, Oxford City 85 pts, Plymouth 84 pts. I played a bottom dweller and won quite handily and had to wait and see if it was enough. So the final standings - Charlton 90 pts, Ipswich 89 pts, Stevenage 88 pts, Oxford City 88 pts, Plymouth 87 pts. What a race...very close at the top. That meant we played Plymouth and had to deal with their prolific strike pair. I believe they each scored 28 times in the league.

Playoff Semi-Finals - 1st match was away to Plymouth and a pretty dull affair. Just they way I liked it. We drew 0-0. The return leg at our place was not much better but we scored in the 25th minute and held on to the final whistle.

Playoff final - This put us through to play Stevenage in the final. I wanted to make their life uncomfortable and I pressed high up the park to hopefully make mistakes leading to chances. It worked but we couldn't finish our chances. Luckily they couldn't make me pay when they broke down our solid defense. We finally broke the deadlock with a goal from a freekick where my CF beat his man to the ball and slotted home into the far corner. 1-0 at half. We dropped back a bit after half time and tried to control play a little more with a slow build up. We scored five minutes after the restart and two minutes after that to grab a strangle hold on the game. They pulled one back in the 85th but had little else after that.

So after spending only one season in League 1, we are off to the championship.

Should be fun!

[Fabian Jonsson]

I have recently resumed my Oxford City save, and have since completed the 24/25 season. Yet again we failed to break into the top four, but we were closer than ever before. So far my record in the premier league has been 7th (first year) - 12th - 9th - 5th, so we're getting there. My team was very very young for the top flight this year, but thanks to some excellent development across the board, they look to be truly ready for premier league football the coming season.

I have already signed a couple of promising youths during the season that are all arriving this summer, but unless I loose some key player, I don't expect to sign anyone else of note. My squad is small but very good, and I don't really rotate enough to merit having a large squad. The average age is still stupidly low (only three players are over 23, and most of the key players are between 18 and 20), so hopefully they can grow to become even better in the coming years.

My goals for the coming season are 1) finish top 4, 2) reach at least a quarter final in the europa league.

If I succeed with those two goals I feel I've taken the club to the next level, and away from beeing just another midtable team.

[jayare35]

Fabian, good see Ox City surviving in the Premiership. Good lick on achieving your goals.

I am currently played into the middle of November. We sit in third in the Championship. Whether it be that my players are used to my system quicker than in past seasons, I am better identifying players to fit my system, or players are more adaptable at more roles/positions. We are currently on a 15 game undefeated streak that has vaulted me to the top three.

Will keep up posting!

[jayare35]

Oxford City were one game away from making a historic appearance in the Premier League. Lost 3-1 in the play-off final to the one team that finished below me in the playoffs. Hartlepool went up with a victory where they jumped on us early and was 3-0 before the 20 minute mark. We never recovered and scored our goal late.

A good year that saw us hover around third place until the new year where we had a terrible run of form and dropped out of the playoffs. We put in an excellent run of games to end the season and carry over to our playoff semi-final games where we destroyed Swansea by an aggregate 7-1.

Just need to get rid of the bad run of games and we should have an easier time to gain automatic promotion.

We just underwent a change of ownership that injected some much needed cash into the coffers. I dont have a lot of spending money but think that I will strengthen my two fullback positions and maybe another solid AMR.

I think I am going to give 2014 a pass until I finsh with my Oxford City save as I am enjoying it and dont play enough to make it essential to get it right away!

Happy playing everyone.

[Fabian Jonsson]

Aah, tough luck. Hopefully you'll make it next season!

I'm almost exactly at the half-way point in my 24/25 season now (haven't had much time to play recently), and so far it's looking promising. I'm sitting in 2nd place, 3 points behind Arsenal, and with Southampton (!) 3 points behind me in third. We won our Europa League group convincingly (against Oomonia, Benfica and a French side... Nantes or something, don't remember), and have gotten a pretty good draw in the first knockout stage where we are to play FC Copenhagen.

We've had some issues with injuries the last couple of weeks, but hopefully my team will be able to keep up the good form, so that we can finish strong.

I've had an increadibly young squad the last couple of seasons (most of the first team choices are still under 21), but they are slowly beginning to reach their potential. I now have a bunch of players who are capable of putting in world class performances and the big teams are starting to come in with inquiries and offers. I reject all forms of attempts at my best players though, naturally.

[Fabian Jonsson]

Yes!

I finally did it! We won the Premier League!

The season I was describing in the previous post was actually 25/26 (I remembered wrong), and for a long time we were a couple of points behind Arsenal. They looked unstoppable and their star player N'Goma (who's won the best player in the world award something like 5 years straight) were banging in hat-tricks left and right. Then it happened, he got injured. Suddenly they started drawing and even loosing games, and we were not late to jump on the opportunity. In the end, we secured the title with two games left of the season, and my start striker Antonio Marcos is looking to snatch the top goalscorer award right from N'Gomas hands, as he leads by two with two games left.

In the end, it took me 5 seasons in the top flight to get there, but I'm absolutely delighted and it's been by far the most enjoyable save I've ever played on any FM.

Who knows, maybe we'll see eachother as fellow City managers in FM14?

Ps. In the Europa league we lost to Dortmund in the quarter finals. Having won the away leg 1-0, we lost the return game at home by 4-1. Terrible, but I don't really care!

[Alden91]

This is GREAT! I also had a great 20+ year run with City which saw them become the top club in the world! The biggest bummer was the board building a new stadium John Woodley Arena the first year in the PL with an expansion capacity of 26,922 so they'll be stuck with it until at least 2042 despite winning multiple CL and consistently selling it out.