FM15 - The Sky Bet Football League thread

[Stfc mason]

Secured the title with a nice win over Peterborough and once again we have been in reasonably good form, 3 of my players are in contention for the Sky Bet League 1 player of the year the only bad point is the 3-1 defeat at home to MK dons.

Only 4 games left in the season (Preston at home is the covered fixture on my second picture) as there is nothing to play for and I have reached the magic 100 points total ,it may be a case of fringe and youth players playing these games.

[Jogo Bonito]

Stfc mason, nice one. I thought this was deja vu, but your last update was on getting promotion wasn't it? And now you added the title, with games to spare!

I could have signed a few Swindon players for Exeter second season (Williams and Gladwin on free transfers, Michael Smith on loan - plus Louis Thompson on loan from Norwich), but I'm sure to manage your lot when the transfer update is done and some of the squad are rated more accurately. Because of that, I didn't want to 'waste' the new experience that will come later with those players.

[Stfc mason]

That was indeed for promotion, interesting about Williams getting released on your save would of thought the AI manager would of kept him. On the transfer front on my team the signings of Brad Smith (2nd attempt) and Sean st Ledger have been confirmed and will go through in June and I have offered a contract to Joey Barton although the only way to get him to accept the term I was offering was to insert the match highest earner clause in:D

[lewis999]

Be wary with St. Ledger, he suffers a lot of injuries, so annoying.

[Jogo Bonito]

@mason: Well done on Brad Smith - not sure about Barton & St. Ledger but offer some good experience I suppose. Regarding Andy Williams, he was released on a free at the end of season 1 in my Bristol City save too. Despite both times hitting plenty of goals, it seems the AI manager of Swindon doesn't want to keep him on.

@lewis: I tried for a year to get SSL to Preston in FM14 when he was a free agent. You would think that being a former club that he liked would help? Not a bit of it.

[lewis999]

Yeah you would think that to be honest. He probably only signed for me because we almost have the reputation of a championship from previous seasons.

[Jogo Bonito]

1. Player update, summer 2015

After a good first season, it was time to try and assemble an Exeter squad that would make another play-off challenge in season 2. I decided to offload seven players, whilst Matt Oakley retired and joined the staff as a defensive coach.

With my self-imposed restrictions of signing players from UK & Ireland only, with no transfer fees or agent fees, and not exceeding £800 p/w maximum wage, it wasn't the easiest close-season I have ever had.

The first priority was to renew the loan of Kieron Morris, my young winger from Walsall, and that was done without any problem at all. I also had the opportunity to renew the loan of Luke McGee for another year, but as I want to keep loan numbers to a minimum, I instead decided to sign Joe Day after his release from Peterborough as a challenger to Christy Pym. Joining him on the same day was Adeoye Yusuff, a young striker with potential that had been released by Dagenham & Redbridge. Until this point, everything was going along smoothly, and I was looking forward to grabbing my other targets.

From then on it didn't really go too well. I had a host of players in mind, but for various reasons they could not, would not, and did not join the project. I won't name all the players that I thought I could recruit, but it was disappointing to be knocked back on so many good ideas - especially as I thought our performance last season may have helped us attract people more easily.

With injuries piling up in pre-season, and down to just 14 fit players for my 4th friendly, I realised I needed to lower my sights a little. We still needed a second right-back, another central defender and another central midfielder. On top of that, I wouldn't have minded another winger capable of playing both sides, and a really prolific striker. I almost forgot, we only had two left-backs at the club, and they were both injured by this point, so add one of those to the list too.

My search took me to Liverpool youngster Daniel Trickett-Smith for the midfielder, and he was prepared to join on a season-long loan. He looks to have solid attributes across the board which could help him play a variety of roles in the centre, and I even had the crazy notion of using him as a stop-gap right-back if my one specialist was unfit or unavailable. Next, after delaying so many times that the deal was cancelled, I was forced to go back and complete the free transfer signing of former Newcastle youth Jeff Henderson. He had been playing in Ireland but was now unattached, and could provide cheap cover for the central defender positions.

I'm still not happy that I had to make this signing, as I had been trying to grab free agent Anthony O'Connor all summer, and he would have covered both CB and RB positions. Unfortunately his agent wouldn't even let me make an opening offer, and despite praising him to the hilt during a two week trial, that situation never changed. I'm sure that after spending a year at Plymouth (and Torquay and Burton before that) we really would have been able to meet his demands, but he'll probably be the latest player that will go and sign for somebody else on less wages than we would have given him.

O'Connor (or more accurately his agent) had therefore ensured I still needed a right-back, and I finally found a suitable fit a few days before the season started. Available on a free transfer after his release from Everton, Ben McLaughlin was only 20 and seems to have the right schooling to serve us well over the next few years. By this stage, I had decided not to bother about the winger, and after being knocked back by both Will Grigg and Andre Gray for the striker (both on loan), I decided to sit tight on that position too.

However, I was still short of a left-back, and refused by anybody of note (including an offer to trial Aidan White after his release from Leeds), I had to make a call on signing Danny Potts from West Ham on a six-month loan, or Chris Stokes on a one-year contract after his release from Forest Green Rovers. After much deliberating, I went for Potts - meaning my loan tally had matched last season's effort of 2.5 units again - and he joined a day before the new season started.

I think that will be it now, unless anybody of exceptional class becomes available, or the injury situation doesn't improve. After missing most of my players at certain parts of pre-season (including David Wheeler and Ross Allen for most of it), we now only have five or six out - and at the time of writing, we can field specialists in every position again. That in itself is a massive plus. Here is a summary of our business ahead of the season opener...

2. Staff update, summer 2015

My only member of staff for the U18 team, coach Lee Skyrme, was allowed to leave after a lack of cooperation in contract negotiations, and I added a few new members to my backroom team. John Taylor (ex-Cambridge striker) took over the vacant role of U18 manager, and former Grecians player Matthew Gill came back to the club as his assistant. Another man with an Exeter playing history, Trevor Morgan, was installed in to the vacant U21 manager role - and I brought in ex-Tottenham and Millwall defender David Tuttle as a scout (partly because I know some of his family from years gone by, which seemed as good a reason as any). Finally, after board approval to a request of more staff, Paul Ashworth joined to help out with tactical coaching of the team. As mentioned before, we also added Matt Oakley to the coaching roster (defence) after his retirement.

3. Financial update, summer 2015

The board initially gave me a small, but acceptable, budget to work with for the season. After choosing to take lower competition bonuses, this was increased, so we have about £8k p/w in wages spare (currently spending around £16k p/w) and £169k for transfers if needed. Of course, neither of these budgets should now be touched, and so the club can make best use of this cash during the course of the season. Due to my control of finances, the club have also increased the percentage of transfer revenue to 45% - not that anybody is likely to leave. By being very strict on myself, the improvement in the balance sheet looks remarkable - and the club should now be well set for pushing on. Here is the latest position, at the start of the new season...

4. Club update, summer 2015

Last year when I asked the board for a senior affiliate partner, they were not interested. This summer they agreed. However, they didn't give me a choice, and announced a deal with West Brom before I could make any comment. I wasn't bothered about taking loan players, but thought the cash might be useful. Strangely, within a few weeks, they came and said they have three alternative options which they felt were better suited, and I had the choice of Leicester, Hull and Manchester United. I took the option of Leicester, simply because I felt we had more chance of borrowing players if I ever needed to. That deal is in place now, really just for financial benefits as far as I am concerned.

I recall at the end of last season that our youth facilities were downgraded, and I won't be able to forget that the pitch condition was terrible - after every game the opposition manager was complaining about it. Maybe in the future the club can address both of these issues, but now is not the time. On the positive side, I feel we had a good pre-season, and we start our season at home to promoted Barnet. That prompted me to look and see who else got promoted, and the fans will be delighted to discover that it was local rivals Torquay, re-joining League 2 after just one year away. The Devon derbies with them and Plymouth will be tasty, and should draw some better crowds.

5. Pre-season results, summer 2015

Given all the problems we had with the squad, the friendlies couldn't have been much better. We had a great draw with a strong West Brom team (arranged whilst they were affiliated, played after the partnership was cancelled), and a fine win over Lokeren. The other matches we performed solidly, including the Guernsey match which was part of the transfer deal for Allen. The only blips were in the James Coppinger testimonial requested by Doncaster (nice touch, I never had one of those before) and the draw at affiliate club Dorchester, when we only had 14 (mainly unfit) players to choose from. Here is a summary of the results...

[fyrefuze]

Welcome to Sheffield! I'm sure between us we could throw a few names at you. What positions are you looking for and what budget do you have?

Well the standard 400k +6k surplus wages. To start with I am looking for some decent zero fee loans. Squad is pretty much decent but lacks a quality RB and GK. Planning to play 442 or 4411.

I have a few targets in mind -

1. CB, Edgar Ie (Barca) , loan - already have 3 CBs at club want one more to cover the busy schedule and fatigue.

2. CB, Vujadin Savic, free - Not that interested but could lure him with high wages if Edgar Ie rejects the loan move.

3. DR/DM, Thomas Monconduit - Mainly a future prospect and his versatility could be an asset at this level.

4. DR, Ivan (Levante), loan - have a 11.5k pm loan offer accepted for him, looks a definite addition am keeping my fingers crossed.

5. DM/MC, Marcos Llorente (Real Madrid), loan - cover for mid-field.

6. DM, Ben Pearson (Man Utd), loan - wanted to have him straight away but in this patch his asking price is soared up.

7. DL, Mohamed Yassin, free - great youngster with lot of potential but chances are less he'll join Blades.

8. LW, Ezequeil, free - a luxury signing, I have offered him club record wages but with a lot of Championship Clubs in the play I doubt our chances.

I am finding it tough to ship out some dead meat but would be open to other positions if good prospects props up. Any suggestions would be welcome.

[fyrefuze]

Sheffield United Football Club

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Goal Keepers: Average

Mark Howard - is a decent number one.

Ian Turner - no more than a back up, only contracted until January 15.

George Long - future prospect, should be kept around to replace Howard eventually.

Left backs: Good

Bob Harris good wing-back type player.

Jay McEveley close opponent of Harris for first team spot, can also play centre-back.

Right back: Good

Craig Alcock - good enough for this level but no cover available for him.

Centre back: Decent

Andy Butler - will be first choice, has potential to be a championship player.

Neil Collins - looks decent but his wages seem far too high for his ability.

Harrison McGhaey - looks a decent youngster, 'faster' of the lot if you choose to play a CB-cover.

Central midfield: Good

James Wallace - will be the first starter, looks a great player.

Stefan Scougall - my choice for second MF spot along side Wallace. has decent pace, passing and stamina could be a RPM/BBM. retrain to CM though.

Basham - is again a good DM/BWM for this level. the third of your midfield triumvirate, if you like to play 3 in mid.

Michael Doyle - (though Club Captain) has served the club well but it's time to move on also get rid of those high wages.

Stephen McGinn will be looking to sell again.

Wide midfield: Great

Jamie Murphy - Only option for the left wing position, looks too good for this division.

Campbell-Ryce - is first choice while Ben Davies and Ryan Flynn are all good enough back up for right winger.

+A lot of good potential players in U21 squad who can fill either of these positions.

Attacking midfield: Great

Jose Baxter - another too good player for this division and will be first choice AM. But I am retraining him to play as striker (Trequartista).

Scougall and U21 players can also play here.

Centre forwards: Good

We have a good mix of players here a Target Man, a Poacher and a DLF

Michael Higdon - looks decent and good enough for the championship.

Marc McNulty (Poacher) - good prospect, try and give him some first team action to develop well.

Chris Porter - decent backup, but provided I'll be using Baxter as forward will be looking to sell.

[Jogo Bonito]

An excellent squad analysis fyrefuze. The reputation of your club should have some strong pulling power, even at L1 level. I see you listed some targets earlier, so it looks like you are on the right path to success. They have everything in place to make it back to the top flight.

I was reading some stuff about how Exeter plan to use the cash from the sale of Matt Grimes, and it seems they want to upgrade their youth category from 3 to 2. In game, my youth category was reduced from 3 to 4 at the end of the season, and I was considering asking the board to improve youth facilities to keep it realistic with real life (although I don't plan to sell Grimes).

I have never done a youth or training improvement in FM, but notice you cannot find out the cost beforehand. So, I saved my game so I could ask the board about this, and was quoted £650k. I am not sure if this will be a good investment or not as I don't want to harm the club financially.

How does the cost for this get allocated, is it monthly over a certain period of time? I've stopped for a bit to think this over carefully, but any advice welcome.

[Gizmo7]

Decided I'm going to give this a crack with a League One team.

Out of curiosity, how many leagues have people got running? I don't need many running because I obviously don't intend on moving clubs in this save, but I also want a good number of players for me to select from.

[Jogo Bonito]

Welcome back Gizmo. It was me choosing Leicester as my senior affiliate wasn't it?

I only load England down to Conference North/South, but include players of UK & Ireland nationality plus a few others. I think I have around 70,000 to 80,000 players in game.

Good luck in League 1, whoever you pick!

[fyrefuze]

Decided I'm going to give this a crack with a League One team.

Out of curiosity, how many leagues have people got running? I don't need many running because I obviously don't intend on moving clubs in this save, but I also want a good number of players for me to select from.

Hey Gizmo join me with Sheffield United save. I have loaded England league 2, Spain divison 2, Germany divison 2 and top leagues of Italy, France, Holland and scotland.

[Gizmo7]

Welcome back Gizmo. It was me choosing Leicester as my senior affiliate wasn't it?

That definitely had a part to play in my decision

Hey Gizmo join me with Sheffield United save. I have loaded England league 2, Spain divison 2, Germany divison 2 and top leagues of Italy, France, Holland and scotland.

For the leaguesl, I've decided to just keep things British, so I've loaded all the English, all the Irish, all the Scottish and the Welsh league, with a large database and the approximate player count is 20,000. Does that seem right? Should be enough players for me.

Anyway, I have decided on my League One team to manage, stay tuned for my first update...

[Jogo Bonito]

Excellent. I'm on a 'UK & Ireland' theme too - there are so many players from the region who can enjoy some rare time in the limelight (within the world of FM).

[Gizmo7]

So my chosen team that I will be managing is Notts County!

The oldest professional football team in the world, I think that's the main reason why I chose Notts to manage, as it's been 22 years since they were last in the Premier League, and a team with such great history deserve better! I also work in Nottingham, so often see their stadium and I went to watch one of their games a few years back, so I thought they'd be a good fit for me to manage.

--

After a quick look through the squad, our stand-out player is 36-year-old goalkeeper Roy Carroll, who is rated as a good Championship keeper. So that's nice to know we have a safe pair of hands in goal for at least 1 more season. We also have experienced defender Hayden Mullins as the club captain, and 33-year-old Alan Smith is a player here too, so lots experience on show! We also have a few younger players, including left-back Blair Adams, who looks very decent, and defensive midfielder Drissi Traore, so it's nice to have a few young prospects here too.

I have noticed a few glaring gaps in positions, which will need filling before the season starts, so I'll be looking to bring in a few new faces this summer, but I don't intend to massively overhaul the current squad, so we shall just see how we go.

I'm also quite a slow FM player, so you will all have to bare with me. But it's a challenge that I'm looking forward to, and hopefully we'll see the resurgence of Notts Country under my management!

[Jogo Bonito]

Nice to see a different pick Gizmo, I can't recall anybody in these threads managing Notts County in the last three years - and you have very understandable reasons for doing so.

You're sadly a year too late to enjoy the benefits of Sheehan and Grealish, but that will make it even more rewarding if and when you return them to glory. Don't worry about how fast or slow you play - but as I'm one of the few on the forums that was around in 1862 when they were formed, try not to take another 22 years to get them back up

Good luck!

[Gizmo7]

Thanks, yeah I often drop by in these threads and I don't recall anyone sticking one out with Notts County either, so hopefully I enjoy my time here. I'll be sure to keep you all updated and keep posting in here as much as I can.

Media predicts us to finish 16th, but first season I just want to get to know my squad, bring in players that I want at the club, and get rid of the ones I don't want, and also settle on what tactics I will be using. So I think I have realistic exceptions for the first season. But like I say, I'm looking forward to the challenge

[Jogo Bonito]

Excellent, good to have you on board and I hope you enjoy it. Will enjoy your updates as and when possible.

[lewis999]

Have you started your season Joga? You hoping to go one better this year or are the play-offs the aim?

I'm currently in my Carling Cup quarter final match against top flight Newcastle and at half time these are the stats.

They have a fairly strong team out and we should be putting our chances away. I know whats coming

[Jogo Bonito]

@lewis: Good luck against Newcastle. If my injury-affected Exeter team could draw with West Brom in a pre-season friendly, you might be able to pull off an upset or at least run them close.

I've started season 2, happy so far - but still in August. You don't happen to know about the youth facilities questions in post #460 do you?

[FjollFan]

So today I decided to try out a lower league because in my years playing FM/CM I actually never tried managing a team lower than PL. And so I choose to take over a club I am somewhat familiar with as I always raid their U18's when playing a PL-club, I am of course talking about Crewe!

Will see how it goes, what's the worst thing that could happen?

[MichaelBrown]

Wilfred Gnahore Adamm ^ try him.

[Jogo Bonito]

So today I decided to try out a lower league because in my years playing FM/CM I actually never tried managing a team lower than PL. And so I choose to take over a club I am somewhat familiar with as I always raid their U18's when playing a PL-club, I am of course talking about Crewe!

Will see how it goes, what's the worst thing that could happen?

Welcome and good luck with Crewe!

[lewis999]

@lewis: Good luck against Newcastle. If my injury-affected Exeter team could draw with West Brom in a pre-season friendly, you might be able to pull off an upset or at least run them close.

I've started season 2, happy so far - but still in August. You don't happen to know about the youth facilities questions in post #460 do you?

I'm pretty sure it's one lump sum mate. That's what it shows out of your balance anyway, even if they pay it monthly behind the scenes, they take it from your 'clubs' budget so it's then gone and you can plan without the cash.

[lewis999]

So today I decided to try out a lower league because in my years playing FM/CM I actually never tried managing a team lower than PL. And so I choose to take over a club I am somewhat familiar with as I always raid their U18's when playing a PL-club, I am of course talking about Crewe!

Will see how it goes, what's the worst thing that could happen?

Good luck wit Crewe, I had a good save with them last season. They have lost Kelvin Mellor, Mark Ellis, Max Clayton and Chuks Aneke but some of their youngsters are rated a lot better this year in terms of current ability so they should help you out over the seasons.

[Jogo Bonito]

I'm pretty sure it's one lump sum mate. That's what it shows out of your balance anyway, even if they pay it monthly behind the scenes, they take it from your 'clubs' budget so it's then gone and you can plan without the cash.

OK cheers, not what I wanted so maybe I will wait until we hit League 1 to do that.

[Kaiserwatman]

Good to see some new saves been fired up and people making progression through the leagues. Hopefully will have an update on Shrewsbury Town's adventures later

[Stfc mason]

Since winning the league (4 games ago) I have not won 3 draws and 1 loss to be exact. Probably complacency but I am not too bothered by that run.

Need strengthening in two areas for the championship, a new centre mid and a striker. Can anybody recommend players that are worth looking at?

[Jogo Bonito]

August 2015

Just a quick update for the first month, as it went pretty well. After we allowed Barnet to come back and grab a point on the opening day of the league season, we had a tricky tie (again) in the Capital One Cup. We matched Fulham all the way until they fired home the only goal from long range after 82 minutes, but I'd seen enough to feel content with my team.

From there, it was back to league action - and an important early fixture - with a Devon derby, but we came back from Plymouth with maximum points to keep the fans spirits high. We then outclassed Southend (managed by Exeter legend Paul Tisdale - who moaned about the state of the pitch, as everybody we beat does), and followed this up with fine victories at Newport and in our home game with Tranmere.

Unsurprisingly, we sat top of the table - but only on GD from Mansfield, who have also started in fine form. The way the team is playing has got me quite excited about our chances this season - and all of this was achieved with only a seven minute appearance from top scorer Ross Allen, who made his injury return from the bench against Tranmere. Lone striker Tom Nichols has already matched his league goals tally (four) for the whole of last season, so the absence of Allen was not missed as much as I expected. The remarkable play of wingers Kieron Morris and David Wheeler shows no signs of stopping - these two are operating from standard midfield winger positions, not even as advanced wingers.

There have been no more transfers since the season started, and the window is now closed. I have, however, allowed young forward Matt Jay to go to Bath on loan for a month.

In terms of League 2 awards for August, I was given the Manager of the Month, Wheeler was voted Player of the Month (with Nichols second and Morris third), whilst Morris was given the Young Player of the Month award. With only three injuries remaining now, things are looking good - we're in a much better state than our St James Park pitch, that's for sure!

[lewis999]

@Joga - great start to the league there mate. Got a feeling the Grecians will be in League One next season no pressure!

I did manage to beat Newcastle thanks to Serge Gnabry on loan from our parent club. I'm in the middle of extending his loan until the end of the season and hopefully he agrees too. The semi final is where my journey will end I would imagine. Liverpool went through, Everton are against Derby and Man City are against Chelsea in the other fixtures so unless Derby get through and I can maybe beat them I can't see us beating one of those top, top teams unless they field a fairly weakened side.

Quick edit : Chelsea will be coming to town in the first leg of the semi final so hopefully they play some weaker players, possibly defenders so I can target them and maybe sneak some chances. If Hazard and Costa are playing i'm just gonna shut my eyes, hope and pray.

[smplfc123]

@Jogo - Excellent updates mate Cracking start in the league. Promotion the aim now then?

@Lewis - Well done, great result mate.

@Fjollfan and @Gizmo - Welcome and good luck.

@kaiser - I look forward to your update

Loading up my Cheltenham save now. Hoping to make some progress tonight and cement that League 2 position.

[lewis999]

Just looking at the Championship table Joga and have noticed sitting in 23rd are Matt Ritchie, Callum Wilson and co. I hope they stay there and I can get myself a bargain. Would be a dream!

Just come upto the 1st of January and all the players on my shortlist whose contracts are expiring have come to my attention and I like the look of this guy.

My thinking is.....next year my second tactic will be a 3-5-2 with wing backs and he is really good going forward and the chances are if he's at Barcelona he will have decent PA (Well good enough for the Championship at least.) His personality is professional which is also a plus.

EDIT : Just managed to bring in........

On a free transfer. 3k a week and is squad status is rotation which is brilliant. If I can re-loan McLaughlin as well next season I have two solid full/wing backs.

[smplfc123]

Some nice transfer activity there mate

[smplfc123]

Cheltenham

So this how we finished the season:

Not sure whether to be happy or disappointed. After the start we had we were not far off the play-off spots going in to the new year and had an FA Cup 3rd round tie against Burnley to look forward to. Needless to say I wasn't expecting anything against Burnley and we got nothing in a 3-0 defeat. However, the injury to Raffael De Vita hurt my season so much. 3 months out with a torn hamstring really scuppered our chances of a top half finish, add to that to the niggles you normally pick up and the squad just wasn't strong enough to cope. I went on a terrible run which ended in us dropping as low as 20th in the table. Thankfully, a good end to the season with 1 defeat in 8 games helped me finish 16th.

Now this summer is potentially harder than the first.

I have a transfer budget of £61k and a wage budget of £4k.

Now that may seem like I have some room to maneuver, but with Taylor, Hall, Black, Dale, Haworth and Elliot all gone from the squad I had last season and Naylor on loan from Derby also refusing to now sign on a free, I have a lot of reinforcing to do and if I want to improve on 16th, I'm going to have to chose very wisely.

I was predicted by the media to finish 22nd and I was asked by the board to avoid relegation. So 16th I do see as some sort of minor achievement. I met my goals whilst trying to play decent football. I think this season may be a tougher ask though and with only a one year extension on my contract, I could be facing an empty pay packet not too far down the line. I'm determined to get this season right.

I need to work on the defensive side of my game, so that's where I shall be looking to recruit in particular.

Wish me luck

[Jogo Bonito]

@Stfc mason: How is the recruitment drive coming on at Swindon?

@Kaiser: Will look forward to your latest Shrews update.

@lewis: Well done beating Newcastle, and good to see your squad improving. Fisher was one I looked to loan in season 1 and 2, but he wasn't interested in Devon country life.

@smp: To me, that looks like a solid start and something to be content with. A negative GD is never a good thing I guess, but other than that you did a decent job finishing safely in 16th. When you say wage budget of £4k, you mean that is the spare amount? If so, that's not bad. Combining that and £61k for transfers should be adequate resources to grab a few new players. I won't suggest any names for defenders, as I think you like finding your own men - but I could if you're struggling. Good work so far mate.

@Exeter: I managed to complete September, and we just lost our first league match - we dominated but gone done by a smash and grab. But yes, as you guys mentioned above, I'm hoping for a play-off spot as a minimum this time. We will see if that is too ambitious - injuries to key players (which I am still getting frequently) can soon take you off track. In-form striker Tom Nichols got injured just one game after my last update, but luckily Ross Allen was just returning. Kieron Morris has been out on two different occasions already (last year was similar) and Christian Ribeiro also seems to struggle with fitness. Anyway, so far it's going OK.

[FjollFan]

@Jogo and smp: Thanks!

@lewis999: Yeah, but the loan of Jamie Ness that they start with is pretty awesome and as you mentioned, several of the youngsters are looking pretty sweet

Currently entering September and I got Manchester United as a parent club and thus I have loaned Andreas Pereira (AMC) from them

Besides him I have currently brought in Lescinel Jean-Francios (LB) and Stephen Foster (CB) for free

As there was a distinct lack of wingers in the squad I have decided to roll with a 4-1-3-1-1 which seems to work OK so far with victories against Fleetwood, Barnsley and most surprisingly Sheffield W away in the Capital one. I have only got one loss so far although it was due to 2 own goals....

Edit: And now this happens

If I were Hull I would be spitting chips

[smplfc123]

@Jogo - Yes it does sound a decent amount, but the clubs finances are in very poor condition, so I don't want to use all of the transfer and wage budgets

@Fjollfan Great result away to Hull there mate

[nWoTrezeguet]

Haven't seen anyone do this one... Im into the second season with AFC Wimbledon, a club that i've got in my heart after reading their history and watching a lot of stuff. I decided to get them back to the top like they were in the old Wimbledon FC times...

First Season

Sky Bet League 2

It was a decent season to start. The defence was absolutely terrible as you may see the 83 goals conceded, but the attack saved us the season to be honest. We could've pushed for the playoffs but the defence was just not up to it. A very good run in the FA Cup was keen financially for us. I didn't really cared about the Johnstone Paint Trophy.

Fixtures

Second Season

Sky Bet League 2

An amazing start saw us get a 12 points differences in the first games of the season, but going out in penalties against Southend seemed to really affected our players and we could never go back to it, that spectacular form just went away and sadly never returned, anyway an improved defense and some improvements in the attacking department saw us getting promoted. It was a very hard season, we were on top for a good part of the season but couldn't keep the form in some points and i saw how we had to wait until the 45th Match Day to see if we could get promoted.

Fixtures

On our way to League 1... Some amazing news were informed to us by the board, but that meant that the finances were going to be even worst...

Third Season

Sky Bet League 1

Sixteen games gone, League 1 has been a surprise so far. With a victory over MK Dons who are top of the league sadly, we are looking like we could fight for the playoffs if we keep our form. The board and everyones expectation is for us to battle relegation, but i expect at least a high mid table finish. The team that we have is not amazing, i decided to change the 4-4-2 that i've been using the first two seasons and changed to a 4-1-2-3, incredibly ambicious, but we are doing well.

Fixtures

[Jean0987654321]

Its almost March and I'm 5th with the Cov. Back to back promotions maybe??

Transfer update

In

Ongenda free

Outs

lots of deadwood that somehow had a contract here on a free

Hope to get Mason on a free as well. Don't think spurs even want him so theres a chance. Same with Bertrend Traore for Chelsea. Also hope to grab Pavel and Mastour on a cheap from thier parent clubs or at least renew their loans for another year

[Stfc mason]

In two minds whether to buy Adam Campbell, he has been brilliant for me this season but I'm not sure about spending that amount of money on him. What are your opinions, should I buy him or not?

EDIT- his Scout report for anyone that is interested

[Gizmo7]

In two minds whether to buy Adam Campbell, he has been brilliant for me this season but I'm not sure about spending that amount of money on him. What are your opinions, should I buy him or not?

That is a hell of a lot of money to be spending for a League One club, are you sure you can afford it? I don't think I would, personally.

[Stfc mason]

That is a hell of a lot of money to be spending for a League One club, are you sure you can afford it? I don't think I would, personally.

I have won the League so soon to be a Championship club. I am very confident I can afford it its just whether I think he is worth it or not

[Gizmo7]

I have won the League so soon to be a Championship club. I am very confident I can afford it its just whether I think he is worth it or not

I think it depends on what sort of a % of your budget would that one transfer eat up? And are you looking to make many signings to your team or just one or two quality ones?

[Jean0987654321]

Screw that. I say get him. Gets to be really good in this game and previous. If you need to fill the squad, just go for frees and loans after that

[Kaiserwatman]

On the field the 2019/20 season has been quite frankly wonderful as Imoh Ezekiel bamboozles championship defenses week in week out to great aplomb. For the Shrews who are currently enjoying their most elevated football league position things should be bliss but off the field problems are beginning to derail and could eventually lead to the breakup of the side which for the most part has been stable over the past couple of seasons now as agents try to cash in on an overachieving side.

Key players Towell and Lester both currently unhappy as no progress has been made on improved contracts , Will Grigg wants to leave the club as soon as possible and several others are beginning to indicate they also would also like a rise.

But anyways back to the football.

If he stays fit for the remainder Imoh in the Prem. Breaking that down its 8 goals more than anyone else. He also leads the league in POM, Shots on Target Ratio , AVG Min per Goal and AVG Rating.

Top fives also in assists , key passes and distance covered per 90. Imoh Ezekiel truly rocking the league. Tottenham Hotspur as expected are pretty much walking the league at a canter given their talent will probably break all records this season.

Elsewhere Bolton Wanderers have truly hit rock bottom as they plummet down the football league at an alarming rate . Sky Bet League Two Table 19/20

Anyways the current 19/20 championship table with my Imoh Elevated Position

[Mr.Delph]

Hey guys,

I only play with teams in England and mostly the FL so I can't believe I haven't posted here before!

Starting a new game with Sheffield United and I'll post some screenshots up in the near future. It took me half the day to finally decide what team to be so hopefully I can get into this save!!

[Mr.Delph]

First of all I looked at the squad and released Davies & Porter because no other clubs wanted them and I didn't want them sitting in the reserves starting u21 matches. My first signing which took up my whole £400k transfer budget was James Wilson on loan which in my opinion had to be done to add some much needed pace to the attack. Alexander was a player I found from this thread so I checked him out and brought him in on £700 per week which is quite a bargain to replace Davies. Hassell signed a one year contract as he is 34 years of age but he has decent mental attributes and can cover DC/RB which was massively needed.

Second thing I did was to replace all the staff and aim for at least 4 stars in each category. I was quite lucky that the owner already allowed 10 coaches but I thought I'd try my luck and ask him for more which he was OK with so that 12 is the maximum of coaches allowed for the first team now!

My tactics:

Pre season went OK. I was disappointed at losing to Southend but I did have three U21 players in the team. As you can see I lost my first game and I decided to sign Wilson after he had a great game against me

I'll do another update possibly after 10 games, will see how it goes!

[smplfc123]

Potentially tricky opening fixtures there for you Mr Delph, Good luck

[Mr.Delph]

Potentially tricky opening fixtures there for you Mr Delph, Good luck

Thanks buddy I'll post some pics up.

I've just reached 10 games in the league and Wilson has been out injured for 5 weeks and has only just returned which was a real shame but Higdon stepped up with 6 goals in 9. On the transfer front I wasn't going to be doing any business but with Wilson kept out for 5 weeks without training I brought in Johan Audel in on loan who was absolute crap tbh. I had an inbox from an agent offering me Peter Ramage so I took him on trial until he was fit and snapped him up on a 2 year contract on £3k a week. Kennedy and Girolamo went out on loan to lower league clubs.

Fixtures:

Table: