FM13: Grimsby Town - Living In A Black And White World

[andy1010]

Grimsby Town FC

History and Information

History

Despite them being in the fifth tier of the Football League system they are still a professional team competing in the league with the likes of Mansfield, Luton and Wrexham, all teams that have played in the Football League in recent years. The club play at Blundell Park, which has a capacity of 10,033.

Recently the club has started to become a little poor of the other teams in Lincolnshire. However the club can boast that it is the best team in Lincolnshire because it is the only team from Lincolnshire to say that it has played top-flight football. It is the only one to reach a FA Cup semi-final as well, which it has done on two occasions. Grimsby are the only club as well to succeed two finals at the Old Wembley as they beat Bournemouth in the Play-off final and Northampton in the play-off final.

Grimsby have been managed by the late Bill Shankly, who since managed to guide Liverpool to various titles. Another manager is Lawrie McMenemy, who moved to Southampton where he won the FA Cup with them. However Grimsby's most successful manager of all time is Alan Buckley. He has had three stints at Blundell Park as manager in 20 years. He has managed to take the club to Wembley twice during the 1997-98 season winning both times and he also took them in 2008 but this time he lost in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy. Grimsby were relegated from the Football League in 2010 and that makes them the fourth team to compete in all of the top 5 divisions. Last season they finished in again in mid-table, but became slightly famous for scoring the most goals at home during the middle of the season. More information is on the link here and here

Information

Player Reports

Goalkeeper

For goalkeeper, you have two very good keepers for this level. James McKeown and Greg Fleming are both rated 4* in potential, with James having the lower CA at 2.5*-3*. However both are adequate for this league and the league above, if you don’t find anyone better. I would advise against signing anyone for the goalkeeper slot, unless you sell either of the keepers, and with Greg arriving this season, you shouldn’t need to sell anyone drastically.

Right Back

At right back, you also have two very good players. Sam Hatton arrived at Grimsby over the close season from AFC Wimbledon and he will probably be your first choice for the season as he is rated at 3.5* with 4* potential. You also have cover here with Bradley Wood, someone who has stayed with the club since we have got relegated and is rated at 2.5* with also 4* potential.

Left Back

At left back, you only have one recognised left back in the team. Aswad Thomas signed for Grimsby in the summer from Braintree, where he played some mesmerising performances there attracting interest from league clubs, before signing for Grimsby. He is really under-rated on the game though, and only offers you 2* current ability with potential of 2.5*. However Bradley Wood can also fill in at left back if required too, so for the first season you may opt to go with Thomas unless you can find someone better for cheap wages.

Centre Back

Here you have 3 players who are capable of playing here week-in-week-out. You have Simon Ford who should be one of the first names on your team sheet with him being a 4.5* current ability player. You also have Ian Miller who is at the club offering you 3.5*. These should be your normal partners in central defence. You have Shaun Pearson though who is slightly under-rated on the game too, offering you 2.5*. If needed you can play Nathan Pond here too, but his best position is in central midfield.

Right Midfield

On the wings, you will find that Grimsby don’t have any real strength in numbers here. Joe Colbeck signed for Grimsby over the summer from recently relegated Hereford, but he is only a 2* player, but offers you a lot of pace, something required in this league. If given the chance, he will provide you with a consistent performance, and probably get a few assists over the season from the wing. You also have Louie Soares who can play on the right of midfield, but he is only a 1.5* but will happily fill in if needed at all.

Left Midfield

The left wing is yet again somewhere that Grimsby lack in strength and depth. They only have Frankie Artus, who is a natural left winger, but he is only a 1.5* player offering 2.5* potential. In the reserves you will find Dayle Southwell too, but he isn’t any real talent on here either. Soares can fill in if required, but like I said above, he is only a 1.5* rated player.

Central Midfield

Central midfield is somewhere that hasn’t really worked for Grimsby over the past seasons. Many of the fans however were happy when they had found out that they had signed Derek Niven from Chesterfield, with many touting him as ‘the missing man’ that was required for Grimsby or their final piece to their midfield puzzle. He is a tough tackling ball winning midfielder, and offers you 4.5* in current ability. Partnering him in midfield should be either Craig Disley or Andi Thanoj, depending on the team that you are playing. Disley is also a defensive minded player and should play when you are playing some of the better teams in the league. He is rated at 3.5* CA. Thanoj on the other hand is a more creative player and would benefit from playing when you are trying to grab a goal back or when you are playing a poorer team in the league. However he offers you 2.5*CA but has 4.5* potential. You also have Nathan Pond, who can play best in central midfield and offers you 3* but is yet again defensively minded. If you require another creative midfielder, you can play Frankie Artus there, but he is better off on the left wing, his better position.

Striker

Here you have 4 strikers, that can find the net if needed. Your first striker on the team-sheet should be Liam Hearn. He is your best striker and offers you 4.5* CA and plays as a poacher. Your other place up front, can be decided between three people. You have Anthony Elding, who is a target man and is 3.5*, Andy Cook who is a young target man with 2* CA and 4.5* PA, and then Greg Pearson who is rated at 2*. Out of these three I have had more success with Andy Cook playing alongside Liam Hearn.

Start of Season Expectations

Your start of season expectations are that you play possessional and attacking football, which considering the wing-backs you have, can be done pretty easily too. Transfer budget wise you have 10k to spend, which isn’t that much and you have 1k spare on wages, meaning that you can bring in a couple of signings if needed,

Staff:

Your assistant manager isn’t the best but he will do for the first season, as his contract is up at the end of the season and you will be able to find a new/better assistant manager. The head of youth development lacks any real experience, but can do the job for the season too. You also have a goalkeeping coach, which many teams in the division don’t have, and he is quite a good goalkeeping coach too so should be a good enough to tutor the current goalkeepers. The head physio too can probably get rid of providing you have the spare money in the finances, as he only has a physio rating of 10 and is on £600 a week. You can do with getting a couple of new scouts too as when you start as when you start you have a regen head scout, and his JCA/JPA isn’t that good.

Targets to bring in:

I would bring in a new left winger. Craig Forsyth of Watford would be a fantastic signing for the league, but when you start the game you would have to try and bring him in straight away as interest in him is high. Alternatively you can go for Scott Neilson from Crawley.

Thank you for reading:

If there is anything that you are unsure on about Grimsby then please ask and I will try and help/guide you to the best of my ability.

[johnstonpickle]

My first long term save is with Grimsby, clocked up some major mileage on it thus far whilst not actually playing that many seasons!

Currently sit mid-table in my first season in League 1, season 4 of my save.

A few star players that I signed along the way;

Noel Makombo-Eboma - Alloa 18s. = £20k. Signed him in the first season, he's only 16 but has plenty of potential (even in League one aged 19 he still is rated by my staff as a potential Leading Championship striker). Barring the first season where i eased him in he's been my top scorer with 20+ each year. Plenty of good attributes for the lowe leagues and had Celtic sniffing around at the close season.

Calum Butcher - Hayes & Yeading = Free. My very first signing and along with Noel is the one of the two surviving players from the BSP days. However the first season is probably the only one that he was consistently in the side. Fills in at RB and CB when my main men are injured. Good solid player.

Keith Keane - Preston = Free. Managed to get this lad in the second season after promotion to LG2. A midfielder that can do it all and has since become my captain. Versatile too, can play RB, DM, CM and has the attributes to be creative as well as solid. We don't play as well without him and he is an excellent tutor too.

Alexandr Geynrih - Bosman after the 2nd season. Uzbek striker that also plays in the hold behind the strikers as well as centre midfield. Getting on a little bit now but still is a key player, doesn't command too much in wages either. Worth a punt.

I actually don't have any players that were in the original team, I moved a lot of them out quite sharpish and filled the gaps with loan signings, don't get too much of a wage budget even when you're promoted!

I would post some screen shots but i'm at work . Just thought i'd contribute, Grimsby are a great team to start with! Proper under acheivers that you can turn around quite easily

[Addave]

OK so hopefully me and others out there can help boost this thread again.

Johnstonpickle sold it too me well. Grimsby are huge under achievers and can be brought back to the big time.

Get used to not having a transfer budget. Loans and free transfers are the key. Get a director of football very quick as they can find targets for you which you can scout - otherwise its a bit like finding a needle in a hay stack.

First Season | Finished 1st in Blue Square Bet Premier, Won FA Cup Trophy.

First XI: No transfer budget, Wage: 17k per week

-----------------Ranieri-------------------------

Thomas -----Pearson----S Jones--------Mtandari

Niven----Soukouna

Jamie Devitt ----------------------- Marcus Marshall

Hannah ------- Hearn

Subs: McKeown, Disley, Wood, Miller, Lenell John-Lewis.

Signings: Ranieri, S Jones, Mtandari, Ladjie Soukouna - (All free)

Loans already in place worth keeping: Devitt, Marshall

Notable loans that helped during season (3-6 months spells): Andy Iro, Lecsinel Jean-François, Tom Clarke

Released / Sold (for Free): Hatton, Fleming, Cook, Colbeck, Ford, Soares

Star men: Pearson - rock at centre back. Soukouna - mr versatile - can literally play anwywhere. Hearn & Hannah - great strike partnership - both scored 30+

Season 2: Currently in play off places after 10 or so games.

No transfer budget again. Wage 20K per week. TIP Arrange friendlies with top teams to generate a little extra cash.

First XI:

-----------------Ranieri-------------------------

Thomas -----Pearson----Eastham--------Mtandari

Devitt ------J Rooney--------Diao--------- C Edwards

Chopra ------- Hearn

Subs: McKeown, S Jones, Doug Loft, Soukouna, Gnakpa, Lenell John-Lewis, Hannah

Others: Niven, Wood, Adam Blakeman

Signings: Gnakpa, Loft, Ashley Eastham, Devitt (All Free)

Notable loans that are helping so far: S Diao, Chopra, Carlos Edwards, John Rooney, Adam Blackman.

Released / Sold (for free): Miller, Thanoj, Disley

[alcatel]

anyone got anywhere with these?

[XxBowmanxX]

Season 1 -

Blue Square Premier - Winners ( Pretty much top most of the season, won it by 8 points, Forest green pushed me the whole way but Cambridge won the play offs)

Fa Trophy - Winners ( beat Weston Super Mare 5-0)

Fa Cup -Lost in the 1st round

Season 2 -

League 2 - Winners (By 8 points again a little bit tougher than last season)

Capt 1 Cup - Lost in 1st Round

JPT - Lost In 1st Round

Fa Cup - Lost I 4th round

Season 3

League 1 - Winners ( Won the league by 6 points, an absolutely mad season only lost 8 league games)

Capt 1 Cup - Lost in first round

JPT - Lost in North Final

Fa Cup - Lost in 2nd round

Season 4

Championship - 2nd ( finished 3 points off southampton who beat me on the last day, had a good start, a bad run then a great winter run and then a little blip but managed to snatch 2nd from swansea)

Capt 1 Cup - Lost in the 2nd Round

Fa Cup - Lost in the 3rd round

Can't believe i've managed to get promoted every season, i signed Noel Makombo-Eboma mid way through the first season and he's the only player to have made it through each year, the only other player ive signed for a fee was a regen from coventry for £70k was going to wait until his contract expired but West brom forced me to bid early!

Finances have never been great so always relied on signing young players on free transfers, normally for better quality players i had to wait until mid season to get them as they where never interested!