FM14: The Sky Bet Football League Thread - Sponsored by William Hill

[JackJCFC]

Also at Peterborough i've seen in another thread than Conlon can become a very good midfielder so do whatever you can to aid his development.

[smplfc123]

Oh my, i've been searching for inspiration on who to go, Jogo has been piling up the suggestions for me and it was right there infront of me all along!

JackJCFC, I plan on emulating your success with Gillingham! I will stick to it haha!!

[JackJCFC]

Oh my, i've been searching for inspiration on who to go, Jogo has been piling up the suggestions for me and it was right there infront of me all along!

JackJCFC, I plan on emulating your success with Gillingham! I will stick to it haha!!

Good luck, i'm sure you'll do well!

[JackJCFC]

Well the summer transfer window has officially closed and it's been another busy one! After making so much money last season, i've finally been able to go out and spend some real cash in the market. With that said, i've been very strict when it comes to wages with new players, refusing to give out contracts over 25k a week which has meant missing out on some very good players. But i'd rather seek out the bargains than just offer out paydays as i feel as though it's more rewarding. Our salary per annum has increased by just over 4 million which isn't too bad, we're still the lowest in the league, just lower than newly promoted Huddersfield.

Transfers

Transfers Out:So as i mentioned earlier in the thread, my aim was to get rid of some of the poorer squad players such as Fanchone, Wabara, Vigurs and Rivero. I found it quite hard to find buyers for a lot of these players and only got a reasonable sum for Rivero. But in the end i was just happy to trim the squad down to avoid spending too much on wages and having a bloated squad. Schieber also left this summer for 1.8million as he wasn't all that great last year, Said was also sold for a small fee but should he reach his potential i've got a percentage of his next sale.

Transfers In

Rick van Egmond: 19 year old with massive potential signed at a bargain price. I'm taking a risk by making him my first choice striker but he's just about good enough at this level and he can only get better.

Peter Lomas: Been chasing this guy since December last year, came through the Chestfield youth academy and had been plying his trade as an 18 year old in League Two despite being Championship standard. I was finally successful with a bid of 1 million with a few add on's depending on how well he does. Could turn out to be a cracking player, he will be my backup this season.

Cyril Perrion: Young, physically imposing defender. Has the potential to be a very good player but at the moment he will be a backup.

Gabriel Kruger: Very impressive LB, to get this guy on a free transfer is a real bargain. Around the time i agreed the contract he made his first appearance for Argentina at the age of 21.

Martin Linnes: Having missed out on a very promising Croatian RB, my attention turned to finding someone who could do the job as a backup. This guy was my best option, a decent all rounder with plenty of years left in him.

Will Hughes: Still at Derby at the age of 22 having not reached his potential. Decided to take a punt at 4 million with the potential for it to increase to 8, he still has a couple more years of growth yet so i'm sure he can still turn out to be a good player. Will probably start the season as a rotation player to see how he does.

Alen Brgles: Talented 18 year old CAM, will only be a backup player for now but in the future he could be a real gem. Low risk signing too at just 500k.

Bertrand Traore: Only a loan signing to flesh the squad out a little, so i'm under no pressure to play him. A good little player though so i'm sure he'll have his uses.

James Restrepo: Signed for 2million which is an amazing bargain, this guy has the potential to be one of the best CM's in the world i think, already very good for his age and an upgrade on anything we currently have.

Jozo Begovic: My DoF bidded on this guy on deadline day, he plays for our newly found feeder team RNK Split in Croatia. A good all round midfielder already at the age of 18, he's been sent back to RNK Split on loan for the rest of the season which is probably for the best as we're well stocked in the position at the moment.

Igor Rotan: 19 year old CB, been following this guy since January when i tried to get him on a free transfer but he renewed his contract. Didn't plan on buying him in this transfer window but on deadline day Levante and Hannover both put in bids so it forced my hand. Fortunately he agreed a contract with me and for now i think he'll just be a rotation player; he needs to work on his marking and on the mental side of the game for now.

League Update: We're 2 games into the league season, the first game was at home against Newcastle which we won comfortably 1-0. The second was a bit of a meltdown, 5-0 defeat against Southampton. We conceded 3 5 minutes before halftime after a decision went against us and upset the players rhythm.

We also played in the Capital One Cup 2nd round against Northampton, which we won 3-0.

[Jogo Bonito]

Good luck with Gillingham 'smp'. I had a good 4/5 seasons with them last year but Jack has set the bar high for you!

Jack, I like to keep wages down too, so that's sensible planning with your self-imposed wage cap. Hopefully the Southampton game will just be a blip.

[JackJCFC]

I've reached the end of January 2018. We're 7th in the league after 24 games, my aim to to get 6th place which would get us into Europe, currently in 6th place is Hull who are just a point ahead of us. We're 4 points behind Man City in 5th too but the top 4 are miles away and we have no hope of getting near them.

We lost the Capital One Cup 3rd round with a heavy 4-0 defeat against Liverpool. In the FA we've had an easy ride so far, beating Plymouth in the 3rd round and playing Stevenage in the 4th, we drew 1-1 with them at home so will have to replay play them again soon.

Transfers

It's been a fairly quiet January transfer window for us as i've been fairly happy with the way the squad looks at the moment. We've had one or two youngsters leave on loan to get some experience, for the likes of Paddy Harris it's the last chance to show some signs of growth before i let him go. The one signing i did make was 16 year old Domenik Barcal for 1.2million. I found him when my chairman recommended the team he played for as a feeder team (i opted for Videoton instead), he's already at an amazing standard for his age and i can see him being in the first team by the time he's 18.

[JackJCFC]

Gillingham 2017/18

Results

After such a promising first half of the season, with a top 6 position still on the cards, it's fair to say the season ended on a bit of a damp squib. We managed just 4 points from the last 8 matches which took us down from 5/6th place to 8th and almost 9th place. We finished the season on the same points tally as last season and one position to higher which is disappointing as i was really hoping for more progress. That blow was softened by a good run in the FA Cup, we made it all the way to the final where we lost 2-1 to Man City, not helped by our dreadful morale at the time. We were quite fortunate that City were able to steal a CL place with 2 games to go otherwise we wouldn't have been in Europe!

Another positive from this season was the performances of Kanga who scored 18 goals in 35 games from midfield. He won Player of the Year and was in the Team of the Season despite his form falling off a cliff at the end.

All facilities are being upgraded and i believe a new stadium may be being built, ready for 2020 though i'm not sure how many it holds. Financially we were just about breaking even each month, obviously not helped by our 12,600 capacity stadium at this stage so i will have to keep wages down until the new stadium arrived. We have 30 million in the bank at this moment in time, hopefully European football can give a little boost to that next year.

[Jogo Bonito]

That's another solid season though Jack, and the FA Cup journey brings you a new and interesting challenge for next season. Hopefully if you can earn some money from that, and with a new stadium in the future, you should be able to go a step further in due course.

[JackJCFC]

The summer transfer window has now closed! It hasn't been quite as busy as previous years as i'm fairly settled on the team and i'm only looking to add real quality rather than strength in numbers, if need be i can sign more in January.

Transfers

Transfers Out

Leaving the club at the end of their contracts were the likes of Kakuta, Fleck and Enwistle, players who helped me get promoted to the Premier League but don't really serve much purpose here. I sold Marchese for 190k, at 33 he was declining and he was on 17k a week which is a lot for a backup player. Linnes left for free having been signed for 3.3 million last year, a real disappointment and one i hope not to repeat. Jakob Johanssen was sold to Reading for 250k, he'd done a good job as a backup for a couple of years but it was just time for an upgrade.

Transfers In

Wallace: A very good midfielder who suits the deep lying playmaker role well. At 1.5 million he could turn out to be a real bargain.

Ristovic: A young goalkeeper with plenty of potential to improve. Much needed to give Samassa some competition who wasn't all that great last year.

Jose Caballero: A very good 18 year old ball playing CB, the clubs most expensive player ever but i'm certain to make profit on him should he ever leave. Was glad to get him on low wages too.

League Update: So far in the league we've played 2 matches, the first was a 4-0 defeat to Liverpool which was very disapointing as they may well be our rivals this year, the second was a 2-1 win over Hull.

In the Euro Cup we faced AaB in the playoff final, drawing the first leg at home 1-1 and winning away 1-0, not impressive performances but enough to get us to the group stage. This is the group we are in, I think all teams there have the potential to be difficult for us on their day but i'm sure we can do enough to get the 10 points or so needed to qualify.

[Leedsfan111]

Gillingham 2015/16

Results

Wow, i can't quite believe it but we've managed to finish 2nd to get automatic promotion to the Premier League!! We started the season well but never did i imagine we'd be finishing the season like this. We were consistent throughout apart from a small blip in during the November/December period. As the season progressed i became more and more sure that we'd be able to snatch a playoff place but our form in the last couple of months was amazing; we won 9 of the last 11 games, including the last 6 matches in a row. The last day of the season was incredibly nerve-wracking as we needed a win at home to Nottingham Forest whilst needing Reading to drop points at home to Millwall. We took an early lead from a John Fleck freekick and dominated the match without adding to the scoreline, we came close to conceding on a couple of occasions but kept ourselves in front and on the final whistle i was delighted to see that Reading had been held to a 0-0 draw, taking us up to 2nd place with what must be one of the worst squads to ever win promotion .

I'll post the first 11 below so you can see how bang average this team is!

GK: Samassa

WBR: Wabara

CB: Duffy

CB: Ibanez

CB: Wiemann

WBL: Farchone

CM: Linganzi

CM: Dack

AMC: Fleck

AMC: Higginbottom / Kakuta

ST: Kane / Bent

Transfers

Gonna need a big overhaul if this team is to compete in the Premier League, although based on the cup games we've had against the top teams, we can definitely give them a run for their money. Not sure whether i should go all out spending wise in order to stay up or whether to consolidate, fight to stay and and if we do go down, be in a much better financial position than we are now with parachute payments and to go at it again.

One transfer that has been pre-agreed is that of Wesley Said from Stade Rennais, he's a 20 year old striker with leading Premier League potential only at a League One standard at the moment, hopefully in a couple of years he'll be a real corker.

Hey Jack

Really struggling in the lower leagues with tactics. Have you stuck with your tactics throughout your rise to the Prem? Can you show exactly how you team lines up i.e is it a flat back 5 or are your wing backs pushed forward? Do you play Narrow etc?

Anybody else with tactical tips is greatly appreciated

[JackJCFC]

Hey Jack

Really struggling in the lower leagues with tactics. Have you stuck with your tactics throughout your rise to the Prem? Can you show exactly how you team lines up i.e is it a flat back 5 or are your wing backs pushed forward? Do you play Narrow etc?

Anybody else with tactical tips is greatly appreciated

Hi Leeds fan, yeah i've been using the same tactic since day one, only changing from that for maybe two matches.

All details of the tactic i use can be found here: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/393245-How-to-dominate-with-a-lesser-side! The OP and post 22 are the most useful if your thinking of using this setup!

[MichaelBrown]

I'm currently still writing up my update, I deleted the last post so I wasn't updating little bits at a time.

A mate sent me this screenshot today, Leeds are currently in admin in league one. Released most of their team and left with youth, here's the result..

[lewis999]

12 shots on target and 11 goals.....Only the AI!

[JackJCFC]

Would be a fun challenge to try and restore them to their former glory!

[JackJCFC]

Just got to the end of January and we've had a slightly more busy transfer window than the summer. I'll start with the transfers out; last season's player of the year Kanga was sold for a measly 1 million, he tore his hamstring 7 games into the season and his stats plummeted dramatically making him a shell of his former self, i decided to cash in while i still could. Paddy Harris also left the club, signed him when he was 16 in my first season, has leading Premier League potential but at 22 he's still only Championship standard despite a lot of first team football, i have a % of next sale too.

The first signing of the summer was young David Belak from Sparta Prague, he's a very gifted attacking midfielder, if i can get some of his physical stats up then he could be a real handful, very cheap too at 1 million. Sebastian Druissi arrived on a free transfer to replace Kanga, i was looking at him in the summer but didn't want to pay his high wage demands. They'd gone down a bit by January and the money received by Kanga helps to offset the difference between the two. Another free transfer was that of Helton Luis, a fantastic young Brazilian striker whom i found just a few days before his contract ran out, he has no real weaknesses and will no doubt be a big player for us. Our last signing was a loan from Man City, Petkovic is a very promising young left back and comes in to provide some backup/rotation to Kruger, replacing Harris in that role until we find something more permanent in the summer.

Transfers

In the league we're going strong after a fairly poor start even by our standards. We currently sit in 6th place, 2 points behind 4th spot and 7th points ahead of 8th so i'm hopeful we can improve this year. In the FA Cup we beat Southampton in the 3rd round, Millwall in the 4th Round and will face Sunderland next. We topped our Euro Cup group with ease, picking up 16 points, in the next round we will play Vit.Guimaraes.

[Jogo Bonito]

Excellent stuff Jack, keep up the great work.

[JackJCFC]

Gillingham 2018/19

Results

Well we've qualified for the Champions League!! We've been absolutely brilliant this season, helped of course by the January transfers who played a big part in this. We managed to go from the end of December to the beggining of April unbeaten in the league which catapulted us from 7th/8th right up into 4th/5th. We were able to get a lot more points from the big teams this season as i adopted a more defensive tactic just for these matches. The most important of which came 4 games from the end where we beat Chelsea 4-0 at Stamford Bridge to go 5 points clear with 3 games to go.

Our team's efforts were rewarded in the Young Player of the Year awards where all three places were taken up by Gillingham players.

Kruger and Van Egmond were also selected in the Team of the Year.

I sacrificed our Euro Cup hopes in order to push on for 4th place as i didn't want the fixture list to be too busy with the FA Cup as well. We lost to Spurs in the 2nd knockout round. In the FA Cup we almost repeated last season's run by fell short in the semi-final where we suffered a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle.

The summer coming up is going to be a very big one for us, a lot of players are approaching the last year in their contract and will need to be renewed, no doubt for large sums i can't afford. I've already had Van Egmond hand in a transfer request when i refused to pay him 40k a week, he now wants 50k after 19 goals 14 assists in 37 games. I also fell out with Ristovic at the end of the season who wanted his wages trebled after just one year.

Now i've reached the Champions League and have that bit better financial footing i think i will be trying to offer them new contracts, had we failed to finish 4th i would have without doubt be selling them and had already begun scouting replacements.

[smplfc123]

@JackJCFC Awesome fair play mate great achievement.

@Jogo - Don't worry, i haven't given up on the Football League's, i'm just keeping my new team quiet for now so i don't go talking myself out of it. When i get to about november, i'll put an update on here Makes it all the more annoying that Leeds sacked me though :2

[JackJCFC]

I've reached the end of the summer transfer window, it's been a fairly busy one for us but our most profitable one so far.

Transfers

Transfers Out:Shane Duffy was sold this summer, got a decent sum for him considering he wasn't playing that often for me anymore, just not quite good enough for a club in our position. Youth product Coyne was allowed to leave for free, he once had Premier League potential but injuries had meant that was no longer possible. Begovic was sold for 3.5million, a nice profit from the 300k he cost us, he could have done a job being a backup but there wasn't really much need for it. Billy Jones left for 140k, now 32, he didn't have a lot more to offer. Wallace was sold for 25.5 million to Barcelona as both they and Spurs met his release clause, he arrived last summer for 1.5million so i've made an amazing profit and he didn't really perform that great for me anyway. Likewise, Nardi had his release clause met, a lower 13.5million, i did try and offer a new contract but i couldn't compete with Monaco. Finally, young Larsson was moved on for 750k, has potential but it's not enough for him to be able to push into my side.

Transfers In

Rilwan Friday: Strong young CB, got him at a bargain price due to a release clause but probably over paying on wages. Should do well in rotation.

Israel Fontella: An impressive 23 year old RB, with very strong physical stats. A huge upgrade on Billy Jones and should be with us for years to come, a bargain at 2 million.

Younes Bois: Young LB brought in as cover for Kruger, has the potential to be a good player and will be useful against some of the weaker teams. Another good deal at just 3 million.

Victor Hugo Castro: A ready made replacement for Wallace at just 4 million, a very good piece of business for the club.

Ibrahim Fofana: Signed for 7 million as Nardi's replacement, meaning we once again make a nice profit. Not quite as good as Nardi but still strong enough to be a starter for us.

League Update: We've not had the best of starts to the season, drawing 2 and losing one, sitting in 15th but we've fared better in the Champions League. We faced Sporting in the playoff, winning the first leg 5-1 and losing the second leg 3-2 to get us into the group stage. We were in pot 4 for the group stage which was always going to leave us with a tough draw, as you can see we have 3 strong teams to face but i'm hopeful at getting 2nd place.

[Jogo Bonito]

Nice stuff Jack, and good profits made in the transfer window!

smp, good luck on getting to November

[smplfc123]

BOOM!

I've reached November! Update will follow shortly

UPDATE

So i've reached December 1st and this is what has happened so far.

I wanted to go a team who had the potential to play the defensive, possession style I was looking to impliment, but one that didn't have brilliant finances so it wouldn't make the game easy.

I settled on............Brighton and Hove Albion.

I've set up 3 tactics, 2 x 4-5-1 and 1 x 4-2-3-1 all based around ball retention, pressing, shorter passing etc.

My aim for Brighton is to finish in the top 10, then to kick on next season.

I was given a small wage budget to work with and not the biggest transfer budget.

Ins:

Foster - Hibernian - £700k

Briggs - Free

Outs

Brezovan - Arsenal - £100k

Ward - Loan returned.

As you can see I was happy enough with the squad to get me a top 10 finish with just 2 add ons. A late £5m bid came in from Liverpool for Solly March, which was too good to reject, but he rejected them on personal terms, which was brilliant news for me.

Leandro Ulloa has been my stand out performer, scoring 15 goals in 17 games. Solly March has got 6 in 12 from the right wing position. Tomas Kuszack has been very good in goals.

We are currently sitting 6th after 17 games, having won 8, drawn 5 and lost 4.

I don't think i have a deep enough squad to compete with some of these teams in the play off positions at the moment and ultimately i think i'll just miss out come the end of the season. However, a good start has given me something to build on!

[Jogo Bonito]

Good luck with Brighton, Ulloa might well be good enough to keep you in the top six until the end of the season.

[smplfc123]

Good luck with Brighton, Ulloa might well be good enough to keep you in the top six until the end of the season.

Cheers mate, hope so. If not i'm going to struggle to keep hold of him.

[smplfc123]

Absolutely devastated!

A quite brilliant season saw us amassing up a brilliant 83 points, only to miss out on 2nd placed Reading by 1 point.

An away 1-0 defeat followed by a 1-1 home draw to Boro saw us defeated in play-off semi finals. I couldn't be more gutted.

We really missed Ulloa, buckley and briggs who had all picked up injuries , causing them to miss the last few games of the season.

On a limited squad, playing good football, i'm pleased with how we did and I want to get that one step further this season, but I will have to be very shrewd in the market if I am to emulate this season.

Can't wait to get my teeth stuck in again.

Ulloa was the stand out player, scoring 29 in 45 appearances.

[Jogo Bonito]

That's very unlucky but you had an excellent season. If you hang on to Ulloa you should have a great chance. Glad you're enjoying this one mate.

[smplfc123]

Well that was an active window. I felt despite finishing 3rd I would need to add more strength in depth to my squad if I was to compete for the top 6 again with the likes of Norwich, Fulham, Palace, QPR, Southampton etc all vying for the top spots.

There were a few players who didn't get much game time who wanted to move on and a few i felt weren't good enough.

Outs

Agustein - £475k

Rodriguez - £250k

Lopez - £250k

Hoskins - Free

Mackail-Smith - Free

Ince - Loan

I wanted to bring in a few players, but with only £1.4m and £30k to spend, i had to be shrewd so i went for young players on free transfers.

Ins

Cyrus Christie - Free

Connor Coady - Free

Ben Alnwick - Free

Edson Braahfield - Free

Jonathan Obika - Free

Marcus Pedersen - Free

Ignasi Miquel - Free

Jacob Mellis - Free

Lloyd Isgrove - Free

Adil Nabi - Loan

So as you can see i've brought a lot of players in, but I feel this makes my squad much stronger.

So far:

Brighton 2-1 Sheff Wed - Obika, Buckley

Brighton 5-2 Bristol Rovers (COC) Nabi x3, Bedia, March

Bolton 1-3 Brighton - Bedia, Buckley, O.G

So far so good. Hopefully we can keep it up.

[Jogo Bonito]

Plenty of new players for no outlay, and a bit of cash received for sales too. Hopefully that good form will continue, and with Ulloa you should always score goals.

I'm still with Hereford but plan to try another FL save again soon.

[lewis999]

Thinking of being a team i've never been and going Blackburn. I used to be mates with Jordan Rhodes at school and play with him for Barnsley when we were younger so that's most of the reason behind it but they're a big club, the only trouble is they have a load of high earners and are impossible to sell.

[lewis999]

Double post.

[MichaelBrown]

I'm back from tenerife!

[wiganlover11]

Has anyone tried managing Rotherham in the Championship? If so, is it a good save?

[MichaelBrown]

They start at League One on the game unfortunately. Fortunately, the squad you inherit is easily good enough to win promotion or maybe the league.

[wiganlover11]

I've got a transfer and league update, so I've got them in the Championship haha

[Stfc mason]

I have a save with Rotherham currently 3rd season in the championship, won League 1 on the first season, got to the play off final in the second season only to lose 5-4 to Charlton!. 3rd season we have started really well only lost 1 in 10 and won the other 9 league games.

[smplfc123]

I'm back from a long lay-off from FM due to work commitments. Currently looking for a new challenge in the Football Leagues.

Any recommendations?

[Jogo Bonito]

Lots of love for Rotherham here. I was tempted by them but thought some of the better players were rated a little low, and the loan spots were all taken up so it seems a bit restrictive in season 1 (unless using a transfer update). On the plus side, they have a good new all-seater stadium, they're sound financially, and have some good players.

I'm currently managing in Spain as, despite living there for a bit, I had never managed a Spanish team in FM before. I've got Coventry and Leyton Orient at the front of my thoughts for my next FL72 challenge.

[DaveMUFC]

Lots of love for Rotherham here. I was tempted by them but thought some of the better players were rated a little low, and the loan spots were all taken up so it seems a bit restrictive in season 1 (unless using a transfer update). On the plus side, they have a good new all-seater stadium, they're sound financially, and have some good players.

I'm currently managing in Spain as, despite living there for a bit, I had never managed a Spanish team in FM before. I've got Coventry and Leyton Orient at the front of my thoughts for my next FL72 challenge.

Leyton Orient seem like a decent shout with the new update, seem to have attracted a fair few good players for their level!

[karlcole]

Just about to start as leeds with LFCs update lots of potential to do good things!!

[smplfc123]

Just about to start as leeds with LFCs update lots of potential to do good things!!

I think i might join you with that one mate

[Vladis]

Middlesborough F.C. [2013 -2014]

Fantastic result. Before the start of the season my main target was play-off but the team has been played much better than anyone expected.

Fixtures 1 leg

Fixtures 2 leg

Talking about the squad first of all i disabled transfers in the summer before the start of save so i made only two loan signings in the summer: Shane Duffy and Apostolos Vellios (both from Everton) Duffy has played only 3-4 matches and i decided to terminate loan in october. But Vellios became the key figure of the team (42 games: 29 goals + 11 assists). Steel and Gibson (12 goals for CD(!!!)) also had impressive season. In january Jordi Gomez arrived on loan from Wigan and replaced in the squad Ledesma who joined Crystal Palace. Also in March on free was signed experienced Molinaro from Stuttgart.

Team stats

BPL is waiting for us now. Our finances are not so fine so aim is to keep core of the team first of all and than brought in some players who can really strenghen the squad.

And sorry for my English.

[Jogo Bonito]

Well done with Middlesbrough, a great first season for you. I like the fact that you used most of the originals, without lots of signings. I might try them on FM15 as I think their new squad looks decent.

Everybody else seems to be using a new transfer update (Rotherham/Brighton/Leeds etc) but as I'm not clever enough to do that, I will have to wait for the next version to come out for 'new squads'. I've taken a break from English leagues for a bit, but expect to try one more FL club to see me through to the next version.

It will be good to read your updates in the meantime.

[RickH]

Couldn't help but notice a lack of Colchester United discussion/saves. Historically I've been one to take either Colchester or another of my local teams Braintree Town as far as I can go with a thread to follow it so I thought I would get up to speed with an update...

Saving this for when I've got time later this evening/weekend

[Jogo Bonito]

There was a guy who supported Colchester or lived near there that always had a crack with them in this thread and/or last year's one - but he usually rage quit IIRC!

It will be good to read how you get on. If you pick Braintree, there is a pretty good Skrill thread too, on the same lines as this. Depending on which team you pick, and on which database, you should get great returns out of Dan Holman. He's never let me down at five or six clubs (up to L1 level) on both FM13 and FM14.

As for me, I have a couple of saves in progress across Europe, but I've just started a new L1 save too. It's early days, but I'll pop an update/essay up about it soon. I think the start of the new FL season (and transfer deadline day) has got me back in to a league club

[jac4121993]

You talking about me in that first sentence Jogo?

Dan Holman actually signed for Colchester over the summer. Interesting little tidbit for you all.

[Jogo Bonito]

Haha, I might have been jac

Yeah, I was pleased to see Holman sign. How is he getting on in reality?

I've settled in to my new L1 save now (not using any transfer updates), but had a tough job choosing who to go with! Coventry was going to be my first choice, but I had six seasons there in FM13 and now that they are going home, I will take them on again in FM15. I enjoyed a great pre-patch save with Leyton Orient, and their players are rated much stronger now too, bit I thought it's a bit too 'samey' to head back there. I'd coasted Wolves to the title after one season but parked that one up before the players went on holiday (may go back to them later), and Shrewsbury was my first effort on FM14 (when it was really buggy) and I couldn't endure that challenge again.

Peterborough ticked every box (and had Britt!) but I managed them on four or five previous versions, I'd taken Gillingham to the PL on FM13 and they're not blessed with any decent players, Crewe I did in FM13 for several seasons, and Bradford I'd managed a few years back too.

Rotherham (too many loanees and key players rated weak), Brentford (just didn't feel it in the end), and Sheffield United (with their current squad, FM15 may take me there) all came in to consideration before my search directed me to Swindon. I've never managed them, they're a decent little club, and they had a couple of players I like - but they had Nile Ranger and I couldn't do that. I was nearly clicking 'confirm' at Bristol City (great potential and a few players there that I like), before I finally landed up at...

[dino]

For a moment then, I thought you wouldn't actually pick a club.

[lewis999]

Preston?

[Jogo Bonito]

Preston North End, a club with a proud past, good fanbase and tidy stadium. They've been languishing in League 1 for several seasons and fighting financial problems too, but hopefully I can help them stabilise and begin their journey back towards a higher level. I doubt I can replicate the glory days of the Tom Finney era, but I really don't want to be remembered as a less successful David Moyes! If I do a really good job, these slightly scary looking fans that greeted my arrival may even get a flag done to celebrate my work...

The PNE board are expecting promotion, which might be a little optimistic, and the media prediction for the season is to finish 7th. And so we begin...

Staff

My first task, as always, is to evaluate the staff. Contract terminations were agreed with Stuart Delaney (HOYD), John Dreyer (coach), and John Guy (U18 physio), but I was happy to retain the services of Glynn Snodin (Assistant Manager), Alan Kelly (GK coach), Adrian Lamb (Fitness coach), Andy Fensome (U18 coach), Nick Harrison (U18 coach), Nicky Reid (Head physio) and Matt Jackson (physio).

Joining the club were Tom Vernon (DOF), Nick Marshall (HOYD), Alan McLeary (U18 Manager), Andrew Cole (coach - attacking), Hermann Hreidarsson (player/coach - defending), Matthew Jones (U18 coach), Paul Montgomery (Chief Scout), Paul Butler (scout) and David Geddis (scout). With no U21 squad registered, there was no need for staff members at that level.

Squad & Finances

I like to focus on young, hungry, fit, fast and strong players. I also like to have players with adequate technical ability so that (with decent training) they can progress as the club does. I'm really in to having native and home grown players from whichever country I take a job in. I also have fairly strong opinions on most players, and usually have my transfer strategy and targets identified before taking over at any club.

On arriving at Deepdale, I could see we had a solid but unspectacular squad. There were a load of strikers, but Joe Garner was the only one that stood out. The others would be put up for sale, although I knew that Kevin Davies was probably going to be unshiftable due to his recent arrival. He's slow, old and not what I want at all, but hopefully I can find a new home for him. The midfield was decent but could be supplemented by shifting two of the promising youngsters (Josh Brownhill and Alan Browne) in to my main squad. The defence was quite well balanced and had reasonable cover, but I like to make my teams strong at the back, so I knew I wanted to add more quality there too. In goal, both keepers were fine, although the first choice (Declan Rudd) is only on loan. The squad had two other loanees, both of which were good enough to stay (Craig Davies and Paul Gallagher). We had six reserves out on loan already - five seniors that were not wanted, and a decent young left-back (Ben Davies) that I would be happy to have back next season.

With limited funds of around £100k, and only 10% of any generated income available, I knew that I had to make plenty of sales from my squad to be able to make the two key signings I wanted. Our wage bill was quite high too, but with a bit of the allocation unused. The board agreed to increase my revenue percentage, but only up to 25%. I also have a habit of setting low squad bonus levels, in order to (a) make the board think I am frugal (b) squeeze some more funds in to the transfer kitty. Finally, I asked the board for a parent club in order to gain extra income from the deal (I'm not expecting any loans), and they found me a good one. Our new partners are Manchester United - a perfect fit, given that they were willing to pay the most, and also because I like to have a local club in such an arrangement.

Transfer Business

So, in to the market we went. First of all, I wasted no time in offering out many of my first team squad at face value, to see what interest there was. Additionally, a senior reserve still at the club was made available, and the five senior pros out on loan were offered out on permanent deals too. This exercise usually confirms what a tough task it will be to improve a squad, but this time it worked rather well. We received some fair bids for a handful of players (not Davies, obviously), and after raking in better than expected sales of £2m by 7th July, even with just my 25% share, the two preferred new signings were completed by 9th July.

I was also able to land a couple more loan players for depth by the end of the month, the experienced overseas recruit being on a short-term loan until the end of his MLS contract in mid-December. With the surplus available, I made one further signing of good pedigree at the start of August - courtesy of an instalment plan. I sent a couple of my U18 squad out on loan after that, but had done all my incoming business by 5th August - rumour has it that Jim White was not best pleased. To be fair, there was actually one deadline day deal that did take place - a seasonal loan that I converted to a permanent deal for £5k. That was done solely in order to maintain my freedom of choice when complying with the league ruling of a five-man maximum for loanees in any matchday squad.

It's not the fabulous four, famous five or magnificant seven, but here are hopefully the 'solid six'. Paul Hanlon is a left-sided central defender who is expected to be an important player and first team regular. Stevie May should score well at this level and I am expecting him to grow in to an even better striker as we progress. Cyrus Christie cost more than I anticipated, but is a solid right-back and should be part of my long-term plans. Ross Gaynor is a player that I have managed before, and provides solid cover for any role on the left. Paulo Nagamura is only with me on loan until December but has all the attributes required for a central midfielder. Gary Gardner is a young central midfielder on loan for the season at no cost to us. Hermann Hreidarsson (at the ripe old age of 39) will almost certainly never set foot on the pitch, but would not accept a coaching position without clinging on to a player contract too. His wage was cheap though (£800 p/w) so I could live with that.

Results: July - September, 2013

I was fairly content through pre-season, but after a good win over Wolves on the opening day, we struggled to string a good sequence together for a while. Injuries to May and Garner (and to a lesser extent Gardner) held us back, but a few subtle tweaks to my 442 formation and the return of the two strikers has seen us settle down nicely now. After seven league games we had won all four at home, and lost all three on the road - but we now have an elusive away win under our belts. The defensive record has improved, and despite conceding a late equaliser in our last home match, we sit in 6th place with 16 points from nine games.

[lewis999]

I knew it was Preston!

[Jogo Bonito]

Good guess Lewis - I wish I had 'known' it was Preston before taking so long to decide! And I should have just answered 'yes' to your last question and saved myself the trouble of my latest novel/update

Dino, you're not the only one that was thinking that!