Karnage94 Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Hello Everyone. This is hopefully my attempt at a Journeyman Career thread. I have wanted to do one for a couple of years now but a dodgy laptop meant that gameplay was shockingly slow. However I’ve recently got hold of a new computer with some decent specs so I can finally have a good crack at this. This I hope will be one of very few saves I do this year and doing this thread will hopefully keep me interested. The general aim of this save is to not set any restrictions on what I do or where I go. I’m not going to unrealistically turn down an offer if it’s going to help my career unless I want to start to build a dominant force through a youth academy approach for example. Apart from that, I’ll just play the way I feel works best but advice on my save or how I’m updating this will be greatly appreciated. Also I’ve noticed that in some career threads, people like to holiday the first season. I understand that approach but in this I will play from the start and hopefully pick up a job at the start, if not then at some point during the season. So this is my profile screen off at the start of the game. Looking forward to building the career here. This is the countries and leagues I have loaded. There are around 90,000 players and I’m running a large database. I hope you all enjoy the thread Let the game begin... Career So Far Havant & Waterlooville - 2012/13 - Blue Square South - 6th - 1st Round FA Cup, 4th Round FA Trophy Havant & Waterlooville - 2013/14 - Blue Square South - 5th (Semi Final Playoff Defeat) - 1st Round FA Cup - 1st Round FA Trophy (Left at end of season Louletano - 2014/15 - Campeonato Nacional da Segunda Divisiao Zona Sul - 2nd (Goal Difference) - 3rd Round Taco de Portugal (resigned at end of season in rage) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 So this is the first and only job so far that interests me. Havant & Waterlooville. For a first job I can't be too picky but this looks decent enough for now. The contract is for a single year but I would expect to get at least 2 years out of this job. Bring it on!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - History Havant & Waterlooville Football Club is an English football club based in Havant, Hampshire. The club participates in the Conference South, the sixth tier of English football. The club formed in 1998 after a merger between Havant Town and Waterlooville. Nicknamed The Hawks, they play at West Leigh Park. In 1998 Havant Town and Waterlooville merged to play at Havant Town's West Leigh Park ground. In their first season as a merged team, Havant & Waterlooville won the Southern League Southern Division under the management of former Crystal Palace and Portsmouth defender Billy Gilbert. There was also instant success in the FA Cup, a penalty shoot-out defeat to Hayes was all that denied the Hawks an opportunity to visit league side Mansfield Town in the first round proper. After Billy Gilbert left Havant & Waterlooville, Mick Jenkins and Liam Daish were appointed joint managers in April 2000. Jenkins and Daish guided the Hawks to notable successes in the FA Cup where they reached the first round, the first of four occasions achieved by the club. In 2000–01, Havant & Waterlooville lost 2–1 at home to Southport of the Conference North, and 3–2 away to another Conference side, Dagenham & Redbridge in 2002–03. The 2002–03 season was also notable for the Hawks' FA Trophy run when Havant & Waterlooville 'giant-killed' Forest Green Rovers en route to the semi-final where Hawks lost 2–1 on aggregate to Tamworth. During a 5 year stay in the Premier Division, Havant & Waterlooville's best season came in 2001–02, finishing 3rd after leading the table during September. In the 2003–04 season the club struggled and this led to the pair being dismissed in January 2004. However the club recovered and finished 12th in the Southern League and qualified for a place in the re-structured Conference South. Ian Baird took over the part-time managerial post at Havant & Waterlooville in November 2004. In 2005–06, Havant & Waterlooville missed out on a place in the end of season play-offs by a single point because of a controversial three-point deduction for breaking a gentleman's agreement with Weymouth that Havant & Waterlooville's ex-Weymouth player Tony Taggart would not play against his former club. Hawks manager Ian Baird claimed that an injury crisis had forced him to field Taggart in the home game with Weymouth. In the 2006–07 season the Hawks qualified for the end-of-season promotion play-offs but were beaten in the semi-final by Braintree Town.The club met a Football League club in a competitive match for the first time in the 2006–07 competition, losing 2–1 to Millwall in a home match played at Fratton Park. Baird resigned as Havant manager on 1 October 2007 to become manager of Eastleigh and was replaced by Shaun Gale. In the 2007–08 FA Cup, Hawks beat Bognor Regis, Fleet Town, Leighton Town, York City and Notts County, before causing a shock by defeating League One side Swansea City 4–2 in a third round replay. In the fourth round they played Premier League Liverpool at Anfield, and caused a sensation by leading twice before losing 5–2. Havant & Waterlooville player Alfie Potter, on loan at the time from Peterborough United, was voted player of the round. The Hawks were involved in a relegation battle in the 2008–09 season despite being among the favourites to win the league at the start of the season, but ultimately secured Conference South survival with three games remaining. 2008–09 did, however, see diverting runs in the FA Cup, which ended with a first round home defeat to League Two Brentford and to the FA Trophy quarter final (2–0 defeat away to York City). In 2009–10, Havant & Waterlooville made a late run that almost got them to the play-offs but Woking pipped them to the post by one point. In July 2011, the club played a "once in a lifetime" game against La Liga side Real Betis, losing 7–0, after the Spanish club's original friendly opponents (Portsmouth) found themselves unable to play the game. The 2011–12 season was a poor one for Havant & Waterlooville, and after dropping to second from bottom in the league following a defeat at Basingstoke Town, Shaun Gale was sacked on 1 April. Assistant manager Steve Johnson and stadium manager/fitness coach Adrian Aymes were placed in charge on a caretaker basis. In a tense finale, the Hawks avoided relegation with literally the last kick by a Havant & Waterlooville player in the entire season; Joe Dolan's 93rd minute winner in the final match against Staines Town ensuring that Maidenhead United (who believed themselves to be safe having scored a last minute winner themselves) would fill the final relegation spot. On 8 May 2012, the Hawks appointed Stuart Ritchie as manager and Sean New as his assistant, the combination having been very successful in partnership during eight years at AFC Totton. Ritchie played 53 games for the Hawks in their first two seasons as a combined club (1998-2000). Sean New was replaced just 1 month after by Barry Blankley over a "failure to disclose particular information" scandal. Just ten games into his reign, Stuart Ritchie was sacked after just one win in those ten and a shock loss to Southern League South & West side North Leigh F.C. in the FA Cup. On 9 October 2012, Lee Bradbury was appointed manager. Information taken from Wikipedia.org So The club barely escaped relegation last season. This should be interesting. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ Havant & Waterlooville - The team Right the squad that we have is not full of greatness it must be said, nor a lot of great depth. In saying that, I like to give most players an opportunity to prove their worth, so I won't be shifting too many players on. Hopefully I'll be able to bring in a few names to give more options across the park. The best player I believe currently on the books is Steve Ramsey, but overall with this squad I wouldn't be expecting promotion first season The team report is below. I think it shows well the lack of depth we have. We have ok players for a first 11 but this is a demanding league and a few more faces need to appear. 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Karnage94 Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - Preseason A mixed preseason and by the end of it I decided to go away from a 4-4-2 and went to a 4-5-1 (3CMs and 2 Wingers) before the first game of the season. I know it will take time for things to click but there wasn't a lot of promise from open play. Despite this and the fact I have changed my formation I feel that the team is good enough to survive this season but a few additions will go nicely. The games vs Wigan Reserves and Wycombe were before I took charge. At this point I should add I have players brought in but I'll show what I've done in the window once 1st September rolls around (which is where my game currently is at). .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ....................... Havant & Waterlooville - August We have started the season reasonably well, just the 1 defeat at the start. First game out was vs Chelmsford. Right up until our goal things went well for us. The ball was knocked around well and the movement was as good as a BSS team would be expected. Between that goal and after the 2 Chelmsford goals they had all of the control. so surely some tactical change was made by the AI manager that gave them the upper hand. I should have made some tactical adjustments once we went ahead but a first home loss was inevitable. We didn't create much going forward despite having more shots and more possession. They defended well so I can't argue the result. A very convincing 2-0 away win at Truro preceded a very unconvincing 0-0 draw vs Bath where rotating the squad left the quality of the team a bit weaker. I was lucky to come away with a point. Finally 2-1 win at home to Eastleigh, the highlight being not a goal but a shocking miss Kabba. If I can get a video up it is well worth the watch. If I had a face cam set up then that probably would have been even better to watch. Not sure how he missed but Ronny Rosenthal was firmly put in his place EDIT:- [video=youtube_share;SEddFCjyAaA] Enjoy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - September A very frustrating month as We only won 2 games of the 6 we played despite leading in 5 of them. Only the game vs Bromley did we not take the lead. We don't have a consistent or reliable supplier of goals but at the same time I'm not playing overly aggressive. Disappointed most of all with the defeat at home to Tonbridge as they pickpocketed us to gain all 3 points. I also don't really have too many great performers in the side. Taggart on the left wing has a good left foot on him and has come up with a couple of assists but going forward things aren't quite flowing yet. Defensively we're ok but I'd like to stop losing leads as soon as possible, because a playoff spot I reckon is possible. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iHeadHunta x Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Average first few months, hopefully you can turn it around! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 Average first few months, hopefully you can turn it around!Yeah it's been a tad frustrating but I'll keep at it. Average probably is the best way to describe it. Sitting 12th there when the prediction from the media is 13th. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - October A much better month and a nice run of clean sheets. First game was a bit on the meh side still but a very good performance against promotion contenders Maidenhead in the cup got our month up and running. Another couple of tight 1-0 wins were we defended well and didn't let a lead slip for once was very nice, then a great 4-0 win vs Farnborough. They aren't exactly doing well but it's always nice to get a big win regardless of the opposition. The 2 draws at the end of the month were frustrating as we were good enough to win both. But not every good performance will equal a win. Those results leave us creeping up the table and just outside the playoffs but we have a long way to go yet and it's still tight at this point. Progress is being made and I'd like to make changes to the squad in January where I can. Just while I'm at this point I'll stop and show some stats of my squad. Top performer by Average Rating is my CB Sam Pearce with an Average of 7.42. He's been a rock at centre back so far this season and hopefully he'll continue his good form. His rating isn't skewed either by a lot of goals so he's done really well at the heart of the defence. One last thing... More money woooo! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitalo Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Things looking to go up! Clean nice thread you have here! Keep it up Goodluck with the FA Cup Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Things looking to go up! Clean nice thread you have here! Keep it up Goodluck with the FA Cup Thanks Pitalo Even though there isn't a huge amount of interest in this I'll keep going because I'm enjoying the save and I enjoy posting updates. Speaking of which, I haven't got through the next month yet but I do have something to show nice and early from it. [video=youtube;H5zrG0Q0RC0] I thought this was worth putting in here now. Take that Becks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - November League Games 3 Good wins this month. Home game vs strugglers Welling was expected but I'm pleased to have got the 3 goals. Establishing ourselves as a good team. The win away to Weston was especially pleasing as they nicked a win against us in the home game (which is still our last league defeat) and a tight win against Bromley. We have defended exceptionally in the league lately and Sam Pearce has been instrumental in that, winning absolutely everything in the air which is crucial in a league full of 4-4-2's. League Table So this month has put us up into the playoffs and 2nd place,. however we have played at least 1 game more than those around us. But we now have the best goal difference in the league, so things are definitely going well as we head towards December Cup Games So we couldn't cause an upset against Bristol Rovers but we kept them quiet for the first hour and despite the stats showing we didn't do much going forward, they didn't dominate as much as expected. The first game vs Crawley Down in the FA Trophy was an absolute nightmare. I got complacent and didn't put out my strongest side and forgot to do OI's as they were 2 leagues below us. This resulted in us going 3-0 down inside half an hour to 3 right wing crosses. I had to change something so a couple of subs later and an aggressive attacking strategy for the second half meant that we did claw the 3 goal deficit back. In the replay we won comfortably, so I'm glad to avoided that banana skin. Chippenham proved little competition as we swatted them aside, Adam Dawson scoring a rather ridiculous goal as you can see in the previous post. Personal Acknowledgement Hopefully the first of many Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitalo Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Thanks Pitalo Even though there isn't a huge amount of interest in this I'll keep going because I'm enjoying the save and I enjoy posting updates No problem mate. Most people on the forums browse through the various threads and mostly reply when your further down the path. Seems a perfect month almost gets you to first! keep it up, the season is still long Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iHeadHunta x Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Good couple of months, progressing nicely! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
col_nufc1 Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Good start to your save Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 No problem mate. Most people on the forums browse through the various threads and mostly reply when your further down the path. Seems a perfect month almost gets you to first! keep it up, the season is still long Good couple of months, progressing nicely! Good start to your save Thanks guys Hopefully I'll have 1 more update out tonight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 13, 2013 Author Share Posted January 13, 2013 Always good to break a record. The team is so good defensively as of late. I feel confident even if we only score 1 that we can shut the opposition out Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - December/Mid Season Update League Games Another good month in the league with 4 wins from 5. All of the wins were comfortable but only in the Staines game did we actually dominate. I think we might have had 1 game this season with more than 15 shots to our name. I don't mind much, defensively we are still doing well and unbeaten since the start of October in the league. I have a disliking to Tonbridge as they beat us at home earlier in the season and we couldn't return the favour, and we play them next in the FA Trophy. Bring it on though!! League Table So this month we close to within 3 points of the lead with a game in hand. Progress has been superb as after 9 games we were 11 points off the pace so to rally back this quickly is fantastic. Cup Games Needed 2 bites at the cherry vs Bognor Regis. Developing a habit of not doing the job against teams in lower divisions which isn't amusing me as this is another game that we had to replay, stretching a thin squad. This leads me to a couple of new additions to the squad New Additions A couple of loan signings. Adrian Sear will provide cover for Defensive Midfield as I have been playing centre backs there all season who aren't a natural for the role. Whilst he is not the best he will cover if I need. The same applies for Warren Whitely on the right wing. I have Dawson on loan who has done well and Nanetti who is better suited to the left flank, so another body on the right wing is helpful. I got him purely on the basis that he's quick enough to stretch defenses, just need to wait till he comes back from injury to see if he can actually play. Key Players Sam Pearce - This guy has been a monster at the back, winning so much in the air. Winning headers is a big deal in leagues that play a lot of long balls, and he has won 95% of his headers. Defensive set pieces aren't a problem with him in the side. I've given him a new contract to run to the end of next season as wel Tony Taggart - A great left foot on him and an eye for goal. Has come up with a few key late goals and the odd free kick which is nice. Really happy with how he has played and he has got himself a contract for next season along with Pearce. Ollie Palmer - A slow start to the season and isn't the most prolific striker but he holds the ball up well and lays it off. I'm not a huge fan of a target man style striker but he's been the best up front so I'm doing my best to try and play to his strengths. He is improving and has won 90% of his headers, so I can't complain with his performances. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyepye Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 Going very well I started my Journeyman career with Havant and it took me 3 attempts to get into the BSP. If you can keep your league form up, you should manage it at the first attempt! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 Going very well I started my Journeyman career with Havant and it took me 3 attempts to get into the BSP. If you can keep your league form up, you should manage it at the first attempt! Thanks I have hit a problem at the beginning of this month. Player fitness is a massive issue especially as I can't rely on my fringe players to step up. The next update should give a good example of that Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 No problem mate. Most people on the forums browse through the various threads and mostly reply when your further down the path. Seems a perfect month almost gets you to first! keep it up, the season is still long That's precisely what I've been doing. Anyway fantastic run to get you into a promotion fight. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - January League Games Well... Not good. The loss to Chelmsford was bearable despite being very close as we performed ok. But the home games this month were dire. 1 point from 3 home games vs teams in the bottom half is not good enough. The only excuse I have is that the players were pretty shot by that point and the fringe players aren't good enough to step up and challenge for a spot on the team. The win away to Boreham Wood was greatly needed as it was a return to a solid performance and a game where the opposition didn't get a shot on target. We were due to play Basingstoke as the last game of the month but that was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. League Table Despite the poor month we hang on to 4th place in the table but now looking less likely to threaten the leaders Hayes & Yeading. At least the run of having 2 games a week every week is pretty much over now, so the players will be able to perform to a standard I know they are capable of. Cup Games Yet another replay and yet another win in a replay vs Tonbridge set us up against BSP side Gateshead. I was expecting maybe a closer match but they offered little going forward and we eventually got our goal for Palmer again. We play Forest Green in a 2 legged semi final which despite it being more games to contend with, I'd like to go all the way and win Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitalo Posted January 14, 2013 Share Posted January 14, 2013 What a pity you had a terrible Januari! Hopefully things will swing 180 in Februari! Still promotion spot and only 9-points away from league leaders...Give it all and give 'em hell Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 14, 2013 Author Share Posted January 14, 2013 That's precisely what I've been doing. Anyway fantastic run to get you into a promotion fight. Thanks Delta What a pity you had a terrible Januari! Hopefully things will swing 180 in Februari! Still promotion spot and only 9-points away from league leaders...Give it all and give 'em hell Yeah it was just one of those months where I thought that I could get away with playing tired players or my lesser players in weaker games and it backfired badly. Still close to the top and less midweek games to destroy my teams fitness so I can crack on again Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 I've had a couple of teething problems with my new computer. Had a couple of blue screens appear and forced shutdowns. Thankfully the worst of the damage is a loss of 2 weeks of my save bringing me back as far as my replay match vs Tonbridge. I'll try and approach the matches as before and I'll be happy with the exact same outcome for all the matches. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - January Attempt 2 League Games Somehow managed to make things worse. Lost 1 and drew 1 of my last 2 games. The defeat to Boreham Wood was odd. We dominated the game up until we scored. That was grand. Then out of nowhere they hit 2 quickfire goals and never threatened after that. It's happened before and I found it quite strange how teams can put a couple of goals past us with 5 minutes of attacking effort. Next month please. League Table Even worse than before. But I have played the first league match of the next month at home to Basingstoke and we grabbed a good win to hopefully set us up again for another good run. Cup Matches We got the win over Tonbridge, less convincing than the first time through and I couldn't repeat the pleasing victory over Gateshead, despite probably our best attacking performance of the season. My left back Ronnie Bull was having a shocking time in that match. As I went to sub him his last action was to miss his tackle out on the flank and the resulting cross was the only chance of the game Gateshead had, which they took. Got yet another replay to deal with. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 15, 2013 Author Share Posted January 15, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - February League Games Another meh month. Goals are in short supply right now and only come in bursts. Which is never a good sign. I just don't have the best finishers. The defeat at Welling was easily the worst performance however as we were 3-0 down at half time and for the first time this season we were getting battered. To come out of that match with that scoreline was almost a miracle, because we by no means deserved to concede as little as 3 and score as many as 2. League Table From sitting second 3 points behind first with a game in hand to this is... well... not so good. But we are still within a shout of the playoffs. 10 games left so the season is not all over. Cup Game Finally knocked out of the FA Trophy after a close game in the replay but Gateshead had just enough about them to nick a winning goal. To get this far in the competition is a great achievement but all the replays we've played in cups this season have done us no favours. Youth Intake The top player out of the first Youth Intake is Eddie Crittenden. However I don't see him being anything special during my time but I'll try and give him a chance. I don't expect to stay with the club to see him fully blossom but he has the potential to be good at this level, so it will be interesting to see how he turns out. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - March League Games An improvement... finally The first 4 games were pleasing and I was glad to see some sort of improvement. The football wasn't exactly great, scrapping for any sort of attacking threat but 2 wins, and 2 draws from them 4 games were a great boost to what we have left of our playoff chances. The defeat to Truro though was untimely and we were't good enough to win. I can't be too disappointed by this month A little word should be mentioned to Steve Ramsey who in the last part of this season has probably held this side together. Sam Pearce got injured and upon his return hasn't been as assertive and dominate in defence as before. So the main man in midfield has done a good job trying to give us a good finish, so much so he won Player of the Month This month. League Table So 5 points off the final playoff spot with 5 to go. Can I do it? (I know if I did or not as I stayed up to finish the remaining games last night ) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pitalo Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 and? did you do it!? You can cut the tension with a spoon, dude! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - April League Games So by no means a perfect month. 8 points from 15 is ok but it wasn't to get me into a playoff place. For the last 4 games, knowing I had little to lose I switched my from the 4-5-1 I had been using for most of the season to a 4-4-1-1. I'm looking for a bit more support to the striker as his goals tally this season for a lone striker is not the best. It also is a move to try and get the absolute maximum out of Ramsey as I feel he would thrive in the role. So 2 wins and 2 draws for those for games sounds decent, but we played well enough to win all 4. Creating enough goal scoring chances this season has been a huge issue but this was especially promising. There was good movement off the ball and the ball was moved around with more purpose. League Table So unfortunately we finish 1 position outside of the playoffs. That mid season slump really hit us hard but at least we finished the season on a more positive note. A full Season Review to follow Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Tough luck missing out on playoffs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyepye Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Dang, after early season promise that mixed form really did you in. Fix that, + a few more strengthening players and you'll surely get that promotion next season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - 2012/13 Season Review So my first season of FM 2013 down. I'm pretty happy with how the season went although I probably didn't pay enough attention to tactics and almost tried to speed run through this season. I probably didn't have the personnel to reach the playoffs but I came close. I had a lot of fun with Havant & Waterlooville this season, we went on a fantastic run right up to Christmas, but I feel that it was a bit of an over-achievement as in hindsight, there were plenty of games that we maybe didn't deserve to win during that run. Then the world came crashing down once the fitness levels tumbled. In the midst of this mess we had a nice cup run which added some money to the pot. Blue Square South - Final Position - 6th Results 1 - Results 2 If I was said at the start of the season that I'd finish 6th, I would honestly have been delighted. I haven't built a new squad from scratch and I haven't brought in that many players. That will change for next season but to be 1 place off a playoff spot is encouraging. In saying that, we could and should have finished higher. We had the opportunity to do so but once 1 or 2 bad results hit you along with a very tired squad, it wasn't going to end well. Thankfully once the games became once a week, we managed to put up a better fight. FA Cup - Knocked out 1st Round A good effort to get as far as Bristol Rovers, but they were just too strong for us on the day. I was quite pleased with the win over Maidenhead but had a close scare vs lower leagued Sholing. 1st Round is about as much as I could ask from the squad. FA Trophy - Knocked out in 4th Round A cup run is almost always nice, but the amount of replays and considering how deep into the competition we got, it really took the fight out of us. 9 games to get to a quarter final exit is quite the effort but we performed well for the most part. Transfers Only Adam Dawson really did much from our transfers. Billy Tsovolas was one I had high hopes for but he underperformed badly. Hopefully I can bring in much better players for next season to try and mount a title challenge Squad Stats We had some good performers this year. The wingers Taggart and Dawson did a great job along with Ramsey in chipping in with goals and assists to help out Ollie Palmer up top. I let Clark Masters play in goal for the last 4 games as his attributes increased plenty, so much so my Ass Man rated him as better than Bevan. So I gave him a try and he was fine. I would like more goals out of my lone striker but I think I now have things set up much better tactically to score goals for next season. Final thoughts Something that I hadn't mentioned before was if I was actually staying for next season. I did accept a new contract offer. 1 Year and £500 a week. Hopefully I can gain promotion next time around but I'm not sure if I will stay on after next season. I want to move about a bit but I'll see what happens over the next season. If anyone wants any screenshots of anything else in the FM world, let me know and I can provide Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 Come across a problem. I didn't have the wage budget at the end of the season to renew all the contracts that I wanted to. No big deal, it happens. But now that I do have a wage budget there is nobody good enough who would come to my team. I can't get the board to increase my scouting range so what else can I do? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - 2013/14 Pre-Season Transfers By some minor miracle I have enough players to make a reasonable squad. I spent plenty of time scrounging around trying to find someone who was free and capable of making some sort of impact in my side. Not everyone fits that criteria and I am seriously short of quality on the flanks and I have little depth in key areas. I honestly can't find anyone who wants to join on a reasonable salary. I had to stretch the wage budget to its limits and more just to get players in. Outgoing I wanted to keep Richards who was very good at full back, Masters my keeper and Woodford my Defender and holding midfielder. The rest I was happy to let go but I couldn't find any real replacements for them. The bright spark of the window was Charlie Collins who I hope will score plenty up front. I aim to play a 4-4-2 or a 4-4-1-1, depending on my options in midfield, but he'll be the spearhead anyway Also the board refuse to upgrade the scouting which is not cool . Current Squad The squad is not the worst in the world but I feel it will be a struggle once the tough run over the winter comes and we are playing 2 or 3 games a week every week for a couple of months. But I'm in this position now and I'm not going to quit. I'll give this season a good bash Friendlies Surprisingly good considering the mess of a pre-season we had. The draw at home to parent club Portsmouth was particularly nice especially as we deserved the draw on performance. Board Expectations I honestly think mid-table is about as good as I can ask for in all honesty in the league whilst I'm happy with the cup expectations. My aim is to not get sacked this season so I don't dent my reputation. I'll move on after this year or if I'm offered a job I'll take it very seriously, almost regardless of the team Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - August/September League Games I'd say par for the course over these 2 months. Reason for the 2 month update is because I got a bit forgetful and was at the Chelmsford game when I realised I hadn't got any of the screens or done an update for August. FM is like that sometimes. Get so into it that you lose a sense of time Performance wise we've been great and woeful in equal measure both attacking and defensively. Playing a 4-4-2 because I wasn't quite getting the attacking threat with 1-1 up top. And it gave me an excuse to throw the big guy Palmer on. Reason for Palmer being played is This injury to Charlie Collins. First game of the season and all. For the results the biggest disappointment was the Sutton game. We did absolutely nothing going forward. Was demoralizing to say the least. Chelsmford was the biggest frustration as we had an easy 2 goal lead and then Hughes on a hat trick took a penalty. His penalty taking rating is a world class 2... He scuffed his shot tamely to the keeper. From then on Chelmsford got more into the game and my full back gifted them the second goal with a terrific through ball. But that's lower league players for you League Table Sitting 10th after 10 which I'm grand enough with. Not expecting too much this season with the squad that I have here. It will be stretched to its maximum all season and I will have to trust my back ups this season so I'll be rotating as frequently as possible. What's Next? We play strugglers Maidenhead and high flyers Farnborough at home in the league. In between that is an away trip to lower league Gosport in the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round. If I come out of those 3 undefeated then I go away to Eastbourne and then Welling. There is an 11 day gap between them so I'd assume the FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round is in that gap. The 2 away games will be far from easy but player permitting I think I could maybe scrape this month unbeaten at best. I don't want the silly defeats to cramp our season. The Kingstonian defeat was pretty smash and grab for them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 A takeover by Barry Hearn. Surely not?... 1 day later the following message appeared Shortest takeover saga? Wouldn't have minded Barry as a chairman. He's of the ambitious type so he probably would have given me my scouting upgrade that I want Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - October League Games Turns out I was an idiot and forgot all about the Maidenhead game at the end of September. No harm done, I've got all definitely right this time. Happy enough with the month, the defeat to Eastbourne was a bit poor to be honest. Another game where we did nothing going forward. The 2 wins however were both very pleasing, we played well in both and deserved to win, whilst the draw vs Maidenhead was a tad unfortunate. All in all, I'm pleased League Table Sitting 10th just 2 points off the playoffs and 5 from the relegation zone. A typically tight midfield. A good or bad run now might heavily influence our season but I'm happy enough with where we sit. Cup Games 2 away game vs teams in lower leagues. Both games were dominant but we were a lot more clinical in the game vs Gosport. Very pleased to avoid replays What's Next? We go away to Eastleigh in the cup. That should be a tight game. After that it's away to Staines and home to Boreham Wood. Dover is next away followed by 3 home league games vs Tonbridge, Gloucester and Bromley. If I get past Eastleigh then I would expect at least 1 more cup game during this month, so a busy time ahead. Again the goal is to try and stay unbeaten, especially in the home games as I reckon we have a good run of home fixtures Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 Could not have a tougher first round match. Doncaster are top of League 1. Still want to have a go at them if I can get past Eastleigh in a replay Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 New Signing I hope will give me some extra cover up front as I've had to survive on 2 strikers since the first game. Looks like a promising Poacher Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - November League Games A solid month but the cup games have changed the fixture list somewhat. 2 wins and 2 draws is playoff spot sort of form so I'm pretty pleased. We looked pretty good in all of our games which is pleasing and once again we are playing well in the run up to Christmas. I do have a problem in that Ramsey is out for a month and captain Hutchinson is out for 4 months, so going to have to be adaptable in the middle of the park for a while. League Table Just outside the playoff places on goal difference which is not bad by any means. The players are all doing reasonably well so a push into the playoffs is by no means being over ambitious. The next month is crucial I feel Cup Games We got past Eastleigh in the FA Cup and faced Doncaster. What a game that was and it was a shame that we didn't win it. Despite conceding 4 we didn't play all that badly. Tactically I think I got things well and we controlled the midfield well, just superior finishing from them did it for us but to do so well against the top team in League 1 was very pleasing. They didn't put out a weak squad either. Defeat to Truro in the FA Trophy wasn't a huge blow. It's not nice to lose but once again we did play well. And it means we can focus on the league What's Next? Well it's league games from here on out so hopefully not too many fixture changes. We play Boreham Wood at home followed by 2nd placed Basingstoke away 3 days later. 4 days later we play Tonbridge at home follwed by a 10 day break with Eastleigh coming to us. Then it's a tricky trip to league leaders Salisbury on Boxing Day who battered us at home early in the season and to round off the month we play Dorchester a couple of days later at home. The target is to win all the home matches and avoid defeat away as we play the top 2 away during this month. Even 1 defeat would be fine this month but I would be disappointed with less than 2 wins this month. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - December League Games Meh, I could see this coming. The team for a while was without any fit senior CM's. So I had to bring in a rubbish lad on loan and put one of my better CB's there. It was pretty messy but we didn't really play all that bad. The away draws to the pair at the top of the table was quite pleasing as in both games we actually played pretty decently. For the first time I've been playing a Defensive strategy just to try and lure the opposition forward so we can have more space to play with. But goals are a serious problem, my wingers are simply not good enough to get past their man and put a good ball in the box. But a priceless win over Dorchester who were 3rd at the time has given the team a bit of hope of staying within reach of the playoffs League Table 5 points separating 5th and 18th is insane. We sit 10th and despite dropping a few positions, overall we are still as close to the playoffs as before. A good run now would be great What's Next? Bishop's Stortford is our last midweek game until April, so the fixtures will ease up nicely from here on out. We play them first then Dartford at home on the Saturday. I'd like a win and a draw at least out of those games. After that it's away to Kingstonian and Wealdstone, who both have done extremely well on their first season up. I would like to say 2 wins but their squads aren't all that bad so a couple of draws would be grand. Finally it's a home match vs Truro. Anytime we've played them, the away side has won. So hopefully I can break that little record at the end of the month. If I can stay within reach of the playoffs I'll be pretty happy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltablue Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Quite a lot of work ahead to get into promotion contention. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DazRTaylor Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Still a chance of a promotion push. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Quite a lot of work ahead to get into promotion contention.Definitely but we aren't far off. Even at this stage, 18 teams realistically are in contention so if anyone goes on a hot streak for a month or so then that will propel them up the table. From here on out we can't be making too many errors because so many teams are in contention.Still a chance of a promotion push. Indeed. Going to enjoy the challenge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Not exactly what I had in mind when trying to bring in a loan signing but if the takeover goes through and the new man in is willing to put money towards the club then I won't mind Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Never mind. Only took 2 days to resolve this time Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK22 Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Looks like a bit of a battle so far. Not sure if you're winning it, either Hopefully once the takeover has been resolved, you can get on with things on the pitch. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Havant & Waterlooville - January League Games A really good month right up till Wealdstone where we got an absolute battering and offered 1 shot from range in the whole game. Completely stumped as to what happened. Some shocking football by us. But all was good and rosy before that. The win vs Kingstonian was more down to them being very poor and playing 3-5-2 so we hammered them down the flanks. I can't complain overall about the month but our squad is now stretched very thin. I just about can put 5 subs on the bench each game now, but I've just brought in a couple of loans. I should mention that the game vs Truro was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. League Table So we sit 8th with a game in hand. Really hope we can get into the playoffs but still plenty of time left to go. Transfers Jamie Collins - Should give us a bit of bite in midfield, something that we have lacked since Hutchinson got injured. He's here till the end of the season Merrick James-Lewis - Cover for the left flank as I'm down to just Tony Taggart on the left of midfield. Nanetti and Arthur are both injured for a while so it's much needed cover for the oldest member of the squad. He might start over Taggart. He's with us for 3 months What's Next? We play Sutton United on the 1st with the rescheduled Truro game on the 4th. On the 8th is a trip to Chelmsford and... That's it? No games for 3 weeks? Fine by me. A couple of players might be fit my the 1st of March then I want 7 points out of the 9 available for this month then. I think it's achievable against this opposition Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRL88 Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Still got a good chance of making the play-offs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karnage94 Posted January 18, 2013 Author Share Posted January 18, 2013 Still got a good chance of making the play-offs.Cheers SRL. Considering how I thought the season would go at the start of the season I'm really happy to just be in contention Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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