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

[MaxeyN17]

Notts County, Coventry City or Swindon Town.

Sorry, should've put in that I'm looking to try a League Two club. Cheers for the suggestions though buddy!

[xantheose]

For League Two, I can suggest Portsmouth or Carlisle.

[Jogo Bonito]

In the January 2015 transfer window there wasn't a need to change much within my Preston squad. However, mindful that two of my central midfielders (Gary Gardner and Josh Brownhill) were only on loan to me, I took advantage of the opportunity to sign Dan Gosling on a free transfer (wage of £2.6k p/w) with an eye to next season. Also, at a time when my first and second choice left-backs (Ross Gaynor and Dave Buchanan), plus back-up left midfielder (Will Hayhurst) were all out injured, I took young Newcastle winger Rolando Aarons on loan until the end of the season. Leaving the club was squad-filler Nicky Wroe, with £40k received from Mansfield for his services. Transfer income for the season totalled £1.7m after that, with only £1m being spent (all on Callum Wilson).

Our League 1 form - with the exception of an awful February - has been decent enough. In the last few games I have adopted a more cautious approach as the 'outscore the opposition' theory was testing my patience a little bit. Whilst my three main strikers (Joe Garner, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Wilson) continue to deliver goals, I'm pleased with the improved defensive stability - especially the win over 2nd placed Birmingham in our last encounter. The two of us have been occupying the top two slots for at least four months now, but not always in the same order (we currently head them with 77 points from 40 games, whilst they have 74 points from 39 matches).

Our extended FA Cup run gave me a nice financial bonus, but came to an end after an extra time defeat in a 5th Round replay with Burnley. The home encounter against them had attracted a fantastic 23,404 fans to Deepdale - obviously way in excess of our season average of 9,735.

Results from January to March, 2015

[Jogo Bonito]

Season 2 is complete...

Following a good run of form, I'd secured automatic promotion on 11th April after a solid home win over Bury. In the penultimate game our run of six successive victories was ended by defeat at home to Crawley, so that left us going in to the last round of fixtures two points clear of Birmingham and with a superior goal difference.

Looking to clinch the title in style, we roared in to a three goal lead at Leyton Orient after just 14 minutes - but let them respond with two of their own before the half-hour mark. Despite those two lapses, we held strong and saw the game out to win 3-2, thus enabling skipper Paul Hanlon to lift the League 1 trophy.

Here are the final results...

The final league table (relegated were Swindon, Burton, Bury and Port Vale)...

The star players were undoubtedly the strikers: Sylvan Ebanks-Blake (24 league goals), Callum Wilson (22 league goals) and Joe Garner (16 league goals). Here are the end of season squad stats (all competitions)...

I'm delighted to secure promotion, and have so far made no signings for the following season. I'll have a look at the new budget and see whether I can keep hold of loanees Jordan Pickford, Gary Gardner and Josh Brownhill - possibly even Rolando Aarons. I don't expect to do much else in the market, but might try and add another good quality central defender as cover for Hanlon and Bailey Wright.

[MaxeyN17]

Started a new save as York City in League Two. Not a bad starting squad and low expectations from the board makes this a good starting point. Aiming for a top half finish in the first season, with a small transfer budget looking only for free transfers to bolster the squad a little.

[lewis999]

Going to start a Pompey either tonight or tomorrow. Had my most challenging and enjoyable save as them when they were in administration in the Championship on either FM12 or 13. I had to play youth players and scrap for every single point. My tactic was basically counter and get Huseklepp in behind. We got in the play-offs and lost in the final to I think it was Millwall or Watford. Whoever Darius Henderson was playing for as he put me out.

I went to play the second season and they unrealistically wanted me to win the league and nothing else. I was 3rd after around 10 games and the board weren't happy. I didn't get sacked but I stopped playing it for a few weeks and unfortunately my computers hard drive went. I think it was the first year when SI introduced the board confidence and expectations feature and it wasn't working quite how it should so it kind of ruined my save.

I'd like to try and bring them up from further down just before FM15.

[MaxeyN17]

@lewis999 Erik Huseklepp! I remember him from either FM10 or 09, signed him for my Peterborough side and in 6-7 seasons scored over 150 goals in the league alone, absolute beast he was!

I'm also planning on having a Portsmouth save at some point, probably once I get inevitably sacked by York - always struggled in League Two saves for some reason.

[Jogo Bonito]

I did Portsmouth on FM13 and it was tough with the board expectations. I also did quite a few seasons with them on FM14 (original database), which is probably taking up quite a few of the earlier pages in this thread!! I tried to re-sign Huseklepp but couldn't get him in due to his wage demands. Good luck with them, and also to you at York (Maxey).

[MaxeyN17]

Man, League Two is HARD. Into September with York and despite some really good signings, I haven't managed to win a single game, including my pre-season friendlies. I really need to learn to abandon my free-flowing style of football in the lower leagues - barely any teams have the players with the ability to play that way.

[Jogo Bonito]

Tough start Maxey! I'd suggest keeping it simple, not too many instructions, and perhaps counter attacking 442? You mentioned some good signings - what is your squad looking like?

I'm just about to start pre-season friendlies at Preston (season 3). We were given £500k for transfers ahead of the new Championship season (still only 10% given to me on any revenue made). I've renewed seasonal loans for Jordan Pickford, Josh Brownhill and Rolando Aarons (all with no contribution) but didn't want to pay 50% for Gary Gardner so he returns to Aston Villa after two years on loan with us (56 league appearances).

I've snapped up Jeff Hendrick from Derby for a bargain £40k as his contract was about to expire, promising Irish central defender Andy Boyle from Dundalk for £25k after tracking him for two seasons, and Tyler Blackett on a free transfer from Man Utd. I've also taken Chelsea winger Christian Atsu on loan for the season and feel he could be an exciting addition at this level. This one happened after I'd already extended Aarons loan, and in hindsight one of the pair would have been enough, but I'm hoping the 20% wage contribution of £2k p/w on Atsu will be money well spent. I'm probably going to re-train Jonny Steele as a left-back option, as I also have young prospect Will Hayhurst (available after a six-month absence due to a broken leg) in the mix for that left-sided midfield role.

The only senior player leaving the club so far has been Graham Cummins (contract expiring), but I really had to give serious consideration to bids for Joe Garner (£1.8m) and Bailey Wright (£2m). I've decided to reject the offers for now, although the decision on Wright is a real gamble as he is currently refusing to sign a new deal to remain at the club beyond next season. However, as both of these are 'Preston originals' and because we would only have 10% of the cash to spend, it doesn't seem worthwhile selling either of them.

I've retained all bar two of my original U18 squad from two years ago, which was a reward for their landslide victory in the U18 league last season (by a 14 point margin). They also reached the U18 Cup Final last term (only losing to Ipswich in extra time) after taking the scalp of Man Utd on the way. Some of these players now join my U21 squad, and as I have decided to finally enter a team at U21 level this time, I've put a couple of young first team players back in to that group.

I'll update after the pre-season friendlies or start of the season/end of the window, although I don't think the 24/25 strong first team squad will be much different by then.

[MaxeyN17]

I appear to have started to turn the team's fortunes around. Three games into September and we've won two, drawn one. Beat early league leaders Mansfield 2-0 at home, Chesterfield 4-2 away in the FL Trophy with a 1-1 home draw with AFC Wimbledon sandwiched between them. Switched from my fancy 4231 formation to a 41221, playing high-tempo, direct, counter-attacking football.

Here's my squad.

[MaxeyN17]

Annnnnnd nope, just like that a 5-0 loss to Wycombe spells the end of my career at York City

[Jogo Bonito]

Oops...the board didn't give you long despite your troubled start. Hopefully you'll pick another club and try again.

By the way, does anybody know how you take over at another club. I am continuing at Preston, but Coventry were relegated after season 1 and I quite fancy trying them in League 2 before the exodus of all their decent players. I saved an 'extra' game but the job isn't vacant - would I just need to wait and hope that Pressley is sacked or is there another way to take charge of them ahead of season 2?

I also looked at Coventry after the end of season 2 in my proper game, and they didn't get promoted so will be in League 2 again for season 3. They were taken over by a Bahraini, with the same name as my real life CEO when I was living/working there, and the job is now available. I'm quite tempted for all those reasons, but for the fact that all of the decent players had been sold by then. If I can't do option 1 (for season 2), I might save an 'extra' game for season 3 and take them on as an additional save.

[MaxeyN17]

Two ways - one is hope his job becomes insecure and then on their team screen you can declare interest in the job, or you could retire your user and add another taking over Coventry.

[Jogo Bonito]

Cheers Maxey, I don't want to quit Preston and I'm looking forward to season 3 there.

However, I've managed to make an extra save, added a manager, retired the first one, and taken over at Coventry too (ahead of season two). If I'm lucky, the Bahraini takeover may still happen. For now, their squad is good with the only key departures being Christie (already signed by me at Preston) and Moussa who has left for Shrewsbury at the end of his contract. Hopefully, the likes of Wilson, Fleck, Willis, Clarke, Adams and Murphy will remain as they should be decent at L2 level.

For now, it's back to the main game with Preston though...

[Jogo Bonito]

I've reached the end of August 2015 with Preston and, following promotion from League 1, my team seem to have adapated quite well to Championship football. Despite a narrow loss in our last fixture, we sit 7th in the table with eight points from the opening five games. We exited the COC at the 2nd Round stage after a narrow 3-2 defeat at Huddersfield.

No further signings have been necessary since 1st July, so just £65k was spent on my new recruits this summer. The only other departures since my last update have been Paul Huntington (£150k to Dundee United) and Ben Davies (loan to Bury).

I've continued to reject constant seven figure bids for a fair few of my players, as I value the positives that evolution and continuity amongst the squad can deliver. Further to that, I've also recently managed to sign both of my key central defenders - captain Paul Hanlon and Bailey Wright - to new contracts until 2018. The pair are now joint-highest earners on £6k p/w, with Jonny Steele (£5k p/w) the only other player to reach the wage barrier that I imposed upon the squad at this stage.

Early results are indicating that my three strikers will continue to score goals, although the loss of Kieron Agard (broken leg) for six months after an impressive pre-season leaves me a bit short of specialist cover in attack and on the right side of midfield. Rather than sign a new player, I'll hope that loanees Christian Atsu and Rolando Aarons can perform occasionally on the right when Chris Humphrey is unavailable/unfit or can't complete a match. Youth striker Lyle Magolis (now 18) has impressed for two years at U18 level, so will be used as my 4th striking option if the need arises.

I didn't renew staff contracts of Andy Fensome, Hermann Hreidarsson or Matt Jackson at the end of the season, but have added Adrian Whitbread (coach), David Moss (scout) and Gordon Cowans (U21 coach) to my backroom team. Whilst all three are good quality, the latter was a real coup - especially on cheap wages until 2019. Now that I have finally entered an U21 team, I promoted Matthew Jones to the role of U21 manager (previously one of my U18 coaches).

* I've also started a parallel save with Coventry as they start season two in League 2. That one seems to be a much tougher task, and my next update might be covering the situation there.

[MaxeyN17]

Giving it one last go as a League Two club, went with Morecambe - small squad, no expectations, still a little bit of the wage budget left to play with.

Currently into March of the first season, 36 games in and I'm third in the league, five points off of top placed Oxford. Apart from a four game losing streak in November, my form has been quite impressive given the expectations of the club at the start of the season. My new rigid 4-4-2 seems to be quite well suited to the league and the players I have. Made a few signings but none of them have really been for the first team apart from fullback Grant Basey. I acquired Ipswich Town as a parent club, only got one player from there so far but I'm sure it'll be better if I do get promoted this year, plus it's 34k a year that the club wasn't getting before. Also made 90k in January when selling Andy Fleming. On paper, one of our best players but he really didn't suit either of the central midfield roles I employ so he'd be restricted to sub appearances and when he made noises about wanting to move to a bigger club I didn't stand in his way.

Five players will be leaving on frees at the end of the season, all backup members of the squad that I'm confident I can replace with some loan players and freebies come the transfer window.

Padraig Amond has been a revelation so far. Been playing him up top as a supporting defensive forward (something I'd never used in FM) and he currently has sixteen goals in thirty-four appearances. Jack Redshaw recovered from his starting injury to score seven goals in twelve games before then tearing his hamstring.

I'll be delighted if we secure automatic promotion but given how the season has gone so far, I'll be more than happy with just a play-off spot. I am worried that we might not be good enough for League One yet but the club is 1.1M in the red and moving up a league would certainly kickstart our finances a little.

[lewis999]

Are you guys using the sortitout data update? All the transfers done but no alterations to CA or PA abilities which is perfect for me. Starting to think Pompey might be the easy team to be. Want it to be a bit more challenging I think.

[MaxeyN17]

Managed to earn automatic promotion and a two-year contract extension.

Had a mixed pre-season - results were inconsistent but I did manage to make a few decent signings (or I thought they were decent) to strengthen the squad with the aim of avoiding relegation. Unfortunately, so far, the step up to League One has proved extremely difficult. No wins in my first five games, conceding fourteen goals in the process. In an effort to tighten up my defence I've switched to a 4-1-2-2-1 but it has had little effect so far.

[Jogo Bonito]

Congrats on the promotion Maxey. It's a tough ask to get them promoted in the first place, so staying up will be a real test. Hopefully the board give you time, that's the least you deserve after last season.

Whilst my Preston side is doing well enough in the second tier (season three) my Coventry side is really struggling in League 2 (season two) despite only having lost Christie and Moussa from the official 'FM14' squad. That's surprised me a bit, and my job is on the line after virtually every match. I'll update properly on that soon.

Lewis, I don't have any update. I always wait for the new version to come out so it's a fresh experience at that time.

[MaxeyN17]

Just had an interview with Birmingham and they've offered me the job. They're also in League One after being relegated last season, struggling in 17th place. Their board want promotion. Such a tough decision to make.

[Jogo Bonito]

Just had an interview with Birmingham and they've offered me the job. They're also in League One after being relegated last season, struggling in 17th place. Their board want promotion. Such a tough decision to make.

Perhaps save both like I did? Then if one goes wrong, you can always focus on the other (or try both anyway).

[MaxeyN17]

I did end up saving both but carried on with the Morecambe save first. Unfortunately, despite refusing the Brum job, my board were not happy at all and along with the poor start to the season decided it was time to terminate my contract. So, it looks like I'm forced to play as Birmingham which I must say I am not disappointed at at all.

Currently into January 2015 and in the space of four months I have taken them from 17th to 2nd, losing only four league games in the process. I'm currently on a run of three straight wins and recently went on a six game winning streak that was ended by league leaders Wolves (who lost in the Play-Off semi-finals last season and now have Karl Robinson at the helm).

Taking over after the summer transfer window ended meant I was limited to free transfers for a short period - I picked up former Southampton winger Lloyd Isgrove during this time who has so far proved to be well worth the 7.5k I am paying him every week. The January transfer window has so far seen me bring in seven players - Britt Assombalonga and Michael Bostwick both from Peterborough, Tyler Harvey from Plymouth, Luke James from Hartlepool, Will Keane and Luke Freeman on free transfers and Denver Thompson, a regen from Linfield. The reason for the influx of attacking players is purely down to the fact that the only recognised striker at the club when I took over was Chris Brown who, to put it bluntly, is useless.

[Jogo Bonito]

That sacking was rather harsh Maxey - but then I think that it happens all too often in reality. Boards seem incapable of realising that they probably overachieved with the promotion in the first case (as in your scenario). Had the manager not got promoted at all, but was working towards it, they would be kept on as they are 'doing a good job'.

Anyway, back to Birmingham. That's some progress you're making there, with some very good signings for L1 level - you must have had a bit of cash to get that lot in!! I thought my Coventry team would do something similar to that (in L2, and with a very decent squad) but it's proving much harder than I expected. I'll have to progress a bit more with that and, if I avoid the sack, will add a proper update soon.

[MaxeyN17]

Overall, I've spent just over 4.75m, most of the transfer budget appeared to come from the sales the previous manager had made - he totaled almost 8m in player sales.

Midway through March and we're still in second place, five points behind Wolves and four points ahead of Swindon in third, eight games to go. I'd like to think we could catch Wolves but it seems unlikely so automatic promotion is what I'm aiming for.

[MaxeyN17]

Forgot to mention in my transfer post that I also signed Jermaine Anderson from Peterborough.

Secured automatic promotion with two games to spare, finishing seven points clear of Bolton in third place. Sixth placed Swindon went on to win the play-offs and join ourselves and Wolves in the Championship for the 2015/16 season. The media predict a sixteenth place finish for me and my board only expect a mid-table finish so I'm glad that despite being in charge of a fairly 'big' club, I'm not expected to make stupidly fast progress and can hopefully spend a season or two consolidating before making a major push for promotion to the Premier League.

I'm yet to make any signings this pre-season, however I'm looking to bring in a backup goalie as Colin Doyle's contract expired and he was not worth the wages he was asking for to be a backup. This is possibly the first time in an FM save where I've had a mix of experience and youth in the squad and not felt like the older players are dragging us down. My computer is for some reason not letting me upload screenshots so I'll list my first team squad below and in brackets are their ages and bolded are the players I've brought to the club:

GK - Lee Nicholls (22)

DF - Neal Eardley (26), Will Packwood (22), Mitch Hancox (21), Sotiris Kyrgiakos (35), Aaron Martin (25), Michael Bostwick (27), David Murphy (31)

MF - Craig Gardner (28), Callum Reilly (21), Conor Newton (23), James Vincent (25), Lloyd Isgrove (22), Luke Freeman (23)

FW - Britt Assombalonga (22), Tyler Harvey (20), Luke James (20), Will Keane (22)

I'm considering bringing in a more experienced striker and maybe letting either Harvey or James out on loan to a League One club, as yet I'm undecided though.

[MaxeyN17]

Oh, and also, Craig Gardner won the League One Player of the Season. 37 appearances, 10 goals, 16 assists, 7.20 average rating.

[Jogo Bonito]

Well done Maxey, that's a great job considering their position when you arrived. Despite the excellent season from Gardner, I wonder if you might be a little light on quality in CM for Championship football, but it's nice to see a young mainly HG squad assembled. I'd love to manage Assombalonga myself, if he is able to perform like he does in reality. Good luck with your next season.

[MaxeyN17]

Three players have now joined me so far. Gael Kakuta arrives on a free transfer and gives me a fantastic option on the wings, Gary Gardner has signed for 275k from Aston Villa (couldn't resist having two brothers play in central midfield together, and he does have good stats for that price) and finally Leonardo Ulloa joins from Brighton for 2.5m. A steep price to pay but I really think we lacked experience up top and now I can send Luke James out on loan to get some first-team experience as I don't think he's quite up to Championship standards just yet.

James Vincent has left for 825k to Brighton, initially I wanted to keep him but he kicked up a fuss about me rejecting the offer and I'm not the sort of manager to keep players against their will. Currently in the same situation with Will Packwood, looks like he'll be joining Bournemouth very soon.

With currently only five players with the ability to play in central midfield, it's certainly an area I'm looking to add to but unfortunately it'll either have to be loans or freebies as my transfer budget has already gone and there's no wage budget to convert into transfer funds.

[Jogo Bonito]

Ulloa should be a fantastic asset to you, I'd say that's good value at £2.5m. I had Gardner myself (on loan) for two years at Preston. He was injury plagued in the first, but decent enough in the second (at L1 level). I like the 'brothers' thing too - a nice little twist. I haven't had any experience of Kakuta for three or four editions - he could be a hit or miss (but hopefully the former not the latter). He's probably a bit like the Atsu signing for me at Preston, the jury is still out on that one. Interested to see how this turns out for you.

[wiganlover11]

I've decided to try my first save in League 1 as Notts County! Wish me luck

[MaxeyN17]

Managed to figure out why my screenshots weren't uploading, so thought I'd share this result with you all:

[MaxeyN17]

Into January 2016 now and my first season in the Championship with Birmingham has so far been well above my expectations. We're currently sat in fourth place, three points behind automatic promotion in second and six points behind first place. We are only three points ahead of seventh though. A big problem so far has been the number of games we're losing, as silly as that sounds. We've lost ten games of the twenty-four we've played and nobody in the top ten has as many. We have won thirteen games to offset this but it's a worry that we seem to be incapable of grinding out a draw if we need to - a few times this season we've been drawing with a few minutes to go and piled on the pressure to go for the win only to have our opponents counter and nick a goal.

I ended up adding one more player to the squad in the summer window, Emyr Huws joined on a free from Manchester City to add to our central options.

In terms of player performances, there haven't been any big disappointments. My only criticism is Leonardo Ulloa hasn't scored as many as I would have liked, however he has laid on thirteen assists to add to his seven goals so he has not been a bad player by any stretch. Britt Assombalonga is currently my top scorer with twelve goals, followed closely by Will Keane who has notched ten so far.

Given that my expectations of the season were purely mid-table, a play-off spot would be outstanding however I won't be too disappointed if we don't manage this. I have no money in either budgets to improve the squad in January, although with a few players' contracts expiring at the end of the season I may look to make a little money off them now.

[MaxeyN17]

Denver Thompson, the regen I signed from Linfield has been sold to Newcastle for 1.7m + 25% of the profit of his next transfer fee. I signed him for 110k, he hadn't made a single first team appearance and with his contract out at the end of the season and him not wanting to sign a new deal, this was the best move for everyone I think. This has given me 1.1m in my transfer budget which I've reduced to 905k to add some money into my wage budget.

[MaxeyN17]

Two players joined in January - Greg Cunningham came in as a replacement for Neal Eardley who is leaving at the end of the season and Adam Reach joined for peanuts just to give me another option out wide.

Some fantastic form after January against a lot of teams around us has propelled us into first place with the last day of the season to play, with a playoff spot already guaranteed. A win at home to 19th placed West Brom would win me the title. A draw would mean I need at least Blackburn in third to drop points to guarantee me automatic promotion. If I lose, I need Crystal Palace AND Blackburn to lose to win me the title, but if just Crystal Palace lose then I should get automatic promotion. Crystal Palace are away to Swindon, Blackburn at home to Doncaster.

We could only manage a 0-0 draw, although if it wasn't for keeper Lee Nicholls, we certainly could've lost. Thankfully, Palace could also only draw 0-0 and whilst Blackburn beat Doncaster 3-0, our draw was enough to secure us the Championship title, only a season after being promoted from League One! Will write up a complete review of the season sometime today.

[MaxeyN17]

Despite gaining promotion to the Premier League it's been a difficult season. So many frustrating losses, had we turned just five of those into draws we'd have been in the title hunt long before the last game of the season. We only took top spot after the penultimate match, more than anything I think we have our fantastic form at the end of the season to thank for promotion.

Our first season back in the top division is certainly going to be difficult. Had I envisaged we would be in this position, I possibly would've done a little different transfer wise and started to prepare for life in the Premier League in January. Unfortunately this was not the case and I face a summer of much importance. First priority is my defence. We shipped far too many goals in the Championship and whilst this may also be down to my tactic, I certainly feel we need to improve the players we have at the club in this area.

Another priority is central midfield. Despite another outstanding season from Craig Gardner (who had our highest average rating for the second season running), the only other central midfielder currently at the club that I feel is good enough for the Premier League is Callum Reilly. Jermaine Anderson shows potential but he is still a way off yet. Gary Gardner performed well when called upon but spent much of the season injured so I will possibly look to offload him. Conor Newton has been limited to sub appearances and doesn't seem up to scratch. I obviously do have Michael Bostwick who can play in that central midfield role however, unless I sign some excellent defenders, he will certainly be used in the centre of defence.

I could use another winger, preferably one who has Premier League experience, however this is by no means a priority. Exactly the same goes with my forwards. Leonardo Ulloa had a fantastic second half of the season and ended as the club's second top scorer behind Will Keane and nobody laid as many assists for the team as Ulloa did. 52 of the goals we scored this season came from the strikers; Ulloa, Assombalonga and Keane. Kakuta and Craig Gardner got into double figures whilst Aaron Martin and Lloyd Isgrove bagged fifteen between them.

I'm merely aiming to avoid relegation our first season back. If that's successful, I hope to be pushing for a Europa League spot within three seasons.

[Jogo Bonito]

Wow, you've been busy there Maxey. Another season completed, and a great promotion - well done. Interesting that you had the same issue as me with fitness of Gary Gardner, but good to see his brother continue his fine form. I'm pleased to see Ulloa and Britt do well for you - both players I like. Good luck with your squad building ahead of the Premier League campaign.

[MaxeyN17]

I've started to build what I think is a squad that can survive the drop, however my board have been trying to make it as hard as possible. My wage budget barely changed from last season, my transfer budget was only 6m which I've reduced to 3m to add some money to the wages and worst of all I now only get 35% of any revenue made from transfers to use myself. All this when the club projects a balance of 25m by the end of the season.

[lewis999]

Started on the latest sortitoutsi update with Portsmouth so transfers and everything done just no CA or PA changes which is best for me. I have made some really good signings for league 1 never mind league 2. Playing a narrow diamond formation so hoping for a good season.

[MaxeyN17]

Good luck to ya Lewis! What sort of signings have you made? I used a narrow diamond in one of my Posh saves, worked brilliantly until we made it to the Premier League and the better teams just tore us apart.

[MaxeyN17]

Just a quick update. Past the end of the summer window and after four games, I'm fourth in the league with two wins, a draw and one loss. The loss came to champions Tottenham, a 3-4 defeat at New White Hart Lane. I beat Reading and Huddersfield 4-0 and 1-0 respectively, whilst drawing 1-1 away to Watford.

Made quite a few signings during the window and I really do think we're stronger for it. Alessandro Diamanti, James McArthur, Joleon Lescott, Jesse Joronen and Julien de Sart all joined on free transfers, Nabil Bentaleb and Guillermo Varela joined on season loans, Milos Veljkovic joined from Spurs for 300k and Martin Kelly signed from Liverpool for 2.3m. Also joining was Luke Barker, an English regen striker signed on a free transfer from non-league Worthing. How another team hadn't picked him up is beyond me, he has the potential to be a future Premier League star and could already do a job in League One.

Just on a little side note, I took over as the United States manager at the start of the season too. Kicked off my reign with 2-1 and 4-0 wins over Costa Rica and Haiti respectively, putting us top of the World Cup Qualifying 3rd Phase group, I have home ties against Canada and Costa Rica coming up as well as away friendlies to Colombia and Turkey.

[lewis999]

At the moment I have brought Max Clayton in, Manny Smith, Tom Taiwo, Kelvin Mellor, Cyrus Christie and Steven Lawless from Partick Thistle.

Edit : Just got my choice of parent clubs from Derby, Blackburn, Everton and Man Utd. Safe to say there's only one choice.

[lewis999]

Players available for loan :- Will Keane, Tom Thorpe, Sam Johnstone and they want to listen about my offer for Jesse Lingard. Brilliant.

Edit : Sorry for all the edits and posts just a mini update. Started the season with a very good win at home to fellow promotion favourites Plymouth 2-0. We have just followed that up with a brilliant 3-1 demolition of League One Bristol City away at Ashton Gate. Fantastic performance and should of been about 6-1.

[Jogo Bonito]

Welcome back lewis, and good luck with Pompey. The starting squad with your update is stronger than the last official one, and the likes of Clayton and Christie should be great at L2 level.

Solid start Maxey, hope you continue to enjoy it in the Premier League.

[MaxeyN17]

Very good form towards the end of the 16/17 season sees us finish our return to the Premier League in tenth place. Initially I was only hoping to avoid relegation so to manage a top half finish makes this a very successful season in my eyes.

The January transfer window certainly helped. Leonardo Ulloa was just not good enough for the Premier League and I couldn't justify the wages he was on so I took a 1.1m loss on him, selling to Racing Club for 1.4m. Alessandro Diamanti also left for 92k, merely to get him off the wagebill. Six new faces joined the club, three of which were young players unlikely to see much game time until next season; Ville Palosaari is a Finnish regen centre-back, Andreas Christoffersen is a Danish regen striker and Xiker a Spanish centre-back who has spent his career so far at Athletic Bilbao. Our other three transfers were absolutely key to our end of season form and together they cost us a measly 4.55m. Tom Cleverley joined from Manchester United for 850k and was a very solid addition to the centre of midfield. Jelle Vossen was nearing the end of his Genk contract and whilst I originally agreed a Bosman transfer, he ended up joining instantly for 1.3m, going onto score seven goals and making six assists in his sixteen appearances. The final purchase is quite possibly one of the greatest deals I have ever completed on FM. Lucas Ocampos was nearing the end of his Monaco contract and I jumped at the chance to sign the twenty-two year-old for a bargain 1.5m. From the right-wing he made twenty appearances, scoring ten goals and making five assists. He's already worth 9.25m and thanks to his form for me has earned a recall to the Argentina squad. I also arranged the bosman transfer of Asier Goni, a French regen striker also from Monaco.

In terms of the upcoming season, I'm looking to offload a few players who just aren't good enough for a team in the top half of the Premier League so I expect to see Greg Cunningham, Lloyd Isgrove and Britt Assombalonga leave at the least. I am tempted to keep Britt as he did a good job on the right-wing when called upon, his sale will depend entirely on what price I can get for him. In terms of players coming into the club, I'm really only looking for one or two squad players and hopefully a few youngsters who can develop into Premier League players. Expectation-wise, I'm hoping for another good season and hopefully another top-half finish, moving closer towards the Europa League spots.

[MaxeyN17]

Just thought I'd share this guy with you all, only cost me 1.9m and he's described as a wonderkid.

Joining the club along with Gustavo have been Nabil Bentaleb who joined permanently for 1.6m after his season loan, John Travers signed for 2.1m from Hibernian and shows good potential, Nicky Hendry joins from Aberdeen for a 300k fee also showing some decent potential, Brandon Barker has signed on a free as a cheap option out wide who could improve a little too and finally, in my most expensive transfer of the save, Joe Allen joins from Liverpool for 6.5m.

[Jogo Bonito]

Nice one Maxey, a very good season there. Good luck in the next year.

I've not made much progress with Preston (season 3, Championship) or Coventry (season 2, League 2) but should get a chance to go forward on them soon.

[Shambolic]

Hi guys, I decided my last game on this years FM would be with my local team Gillingham who start in League One. I'm playing with an updated database so we have all the players that were signed over the course of the summer.

I am currently just about to start my third season at the helm. First season we were expected to finish 21st and managed a 10th placed finish. I would be pretty delighted with that except at Christmas we were top of the league, then an injury to Marlon King occurred and we just capitulated. Last season, we were exceptional, rarely dropping out of the top two. In the close season after season 1 I cleared out all of the deadwood like Cody McDonald and the like and brought in, young, hungry players who would be fit for the challenge of getting out of the league. I went across the pond to South America for my first two players bringing in Brazillian striker Willian Jose after his release from Real Madrid's B team Castilla, and bringing in Argentinian left winger Jonathan Cháves after his release. Willian notched 38 goals in 57 appearances and Jonathan grabbed 18 in 56 as we managed a brilliant 2nd place, pipped for the title on the last day by Colchester. I also managed to nab the JPT as well to add a first piece of silverware to my reign at the Priestfield.

Now, the topic of the day is for my new look Gills side to cement their status as a Championship club. I play a 4-2-3-1 and the main spine of my team will be staying in order to keep the winning mentality at the core with just a sprinkling of Championship quality on the sides to give us that extra bit of steel. The team that got me out of League One was this;

Stuart Taylor

Jordan Clarke - Frederik Frans - Shaun Brisley - Cristiano Biraghi

Bradley Dack - José Semedo

Jake Sinclair - Amine Linganzi - Jonathan Cháves

Willian José

I have already earmarked some potential areas that will be in consideration for change and as such have already tied up deals to bring Wilson Palacios and Gael Kakuta to the club on free transfers as they were unattached. In addition to this I have secured the contracts of Jack Dunn from Liverpool and Andreas Pereira from Manchester United as both young lads were told they were surplus to requirements for the coming season. Jake Sinclair has sadly gone back to his parent club Southampton and if I cannot get him back on loan a right winger will be a main priority along with a right back as I'm not sure young Jordan Clarke is up to Championship scratch just yet. Other than that I will be looking to add some much needed strength in depth.

[Jogo Bonito]

Good work and enjoyable update Symbolic. I'm at a similar stage to you, having reached October/November of season 3 with Preston (promoted in season 2). I managed Gillingham for quite a few seasons in FM13, so realise it's not the easiest club to make progress with. At the moment I'm also managing Coventry in League 2, with both Clarke and Brisley in my defence. Good luck in the Championship.

[Shambolic]

I support them so I wanted to try and get them up to the PL before the new game as I haven't done it on this years one yet. Made some fantastic signings going into our first year back in the Championship, got my first game soon. Will update on a month to month basis, if Uni work doesn't slow me down.