FM16: Barnsley F.C - The Only Way Is Up Surely?

[Adamm90]

John Stones has just moved to Manchester United. I've received £3.8M, and £1.4M over the next twelve months. Finally.

[Dorsetblue]

I've just had Williams receive Asian player of the year, Chuffed with that

[lewis999]

Yeah the Stones money went on training facilities and youth facilities for me. Williams was brilliant for me in League One, after that I had quality wingers unfortunately for him.

Talking about quality wingers, look who couldn't get a game at his club and has joined in January and took a wage cut. January in my first season in the Premier League.

Just gonna let him fly down the right hand side and whip crosses in.

[Welshace]

Hey Lewis, Brilliant thread, and Barnsley look like a great team, very strong young side it seems..

Any chance of some screenies of Bree and some of the other originals you still have?

[lewis999]

Hey Lewis, Brilliant thread, and Barnsley look like a great team, very strong young side it seems..

Any chance of some screenies of Bree and some of the other originals you still have?

Thanks Welshace, yeah no problems.

Bree - He's been my #1 RB every season until this one. He's still played a bit just rotates more. He is 2* current ability out of 3.5 gold and another 1 black so 4.5 if that makes sense so plenty of potential left.

Smith - He has a bit less potential than Bree and is the same current ability wise and the coach with 19/19 JPA/JPP says they are both Championship players at the minute with potential to be Premiership players.

Scowen - He's an original I have and he's probably the best player we have irl. Never drops below a 7/10 and often is higher. The strongest area of my team is CM so he's less than a back-up unfortunately so he may be sold soon but some Championship team is going to get a brilliant player.

Mawson - Again a very solid Championship defender. He has the potential to be a decent Premiership CB and he is back-up at the moment.

I still have Digby and he still has good potential but he's 23 now and out on loan. His hidden attributes aren't good enough as he never seems to have many green arrows however much you play him. I imagine he could become a really good player if someone had a good tutor. Unfortunately with Barnsley at the start you don't have much budget.

Whoever has done this facepack as well has Digby's picture as Ben Pearsons.

[lewis999]

Just for context as well Welshace or anyone else wondering whether to throw them in. I just beat Man City and deserved it. More chances, better quality of chances, more of the ball with both Smith and Bree at full backs and look at their team. Cost a fortune.

[Nozzer]

Well at the end of season 9 I've now won everything there is to win with Barnsley. Premier League was the final trophy, I came close in seasons 7 and 8 but fell away at the end, however I managed to go all the way this year. I have 1 year left on my contract so I'm thinking I'm going to stay for that then move on to somewhere else

I won't take another top flight job so I'll be looking at someone lower down in England or abroad to start the whole "Barnsley" process again

[Welshace]

~Cheers for that Lewis, very interesting prospect for a save.

[lewis999]

Well at the end of season 9 I've now won everything there is to win with Barnsley. Premier League was the final trophy, I came close in seasons 7 and 8 but fell away at the end, however I managed to go all the way this year. I have 1 year left on my contract so I'm thinking I'm going to stay for that then move on to somewhere else

I won't take another top flight job so I'll be looking at someone lower down in England or abroad to start the whole "Barnsley" process again

Glad you won everything mate and congratulations too, gutted you're leaving though. Hope this means you will try them again next year maybe? Any chance of some screenshots of your players?

~Cheers for that Lewis, very interesting prospect for a save.

Yeah they are this year with the new direction the club has gone in, in real life. I know it's started a bit slow and we are near the bottom but we at least have a philosophy and way of doing things now whereas before we were just trying to cling onto championship survival every year by signing ageing, veteran players looking for one last pay day and they weren't bothered. Now we have young players from League One and below who are looking to make their mark and in the last month we look like that plan is starting to come together a bit more.

Last year we did have Mason Holgate who was looking like a brilliant player before his head got turned and off he went to the Premier League and also before that as you know we had John Stones who doesn't need any words.

[lewis999]

2017-2018 End of Season Review!

Our first season in the Premier League after consecutive promotions and avoiding relegation on our 9m budget was the main priority. The signings I made are at the bottom of page one and I my January signings are at the top of this page. We played on the defensive for most of the season and managed to finish the season in a brilliant 8th place.

We ended up just 6 points away from Liverpool in a European place and the 4th best defensive record is something i'm quite proud of. We had some brilliant results along the way as well against some of the big teams. I instantly saw Crystal Palace go down and they have my old friend Demarai Gray who i'm going to do my best to poach. They bought him from Tottenham after I had him on loan when I couldn't afford him which I was gutted about.

None of my players were in the team of the year or in the running for any awards so when I got this message it had me very surprised. It was a massive compliment to our defensive work and being next to two of the best keepers in the world it made it even better.

The club end of season awards were a slight surprise that the fans player of the season wasn't Clough as he top scored and scored some important goals for us. Those three and Daniel Bentley our GK were the best players. I 100% agree with the signing of the season. I loaned him in on the last day of the January window as something of a panic buy as I only had Okore and McNair and together they weren't brilliant, he turned out to be absolutely solid and always rated in the 8's in the games against the big guys.

The cups weren't anything to shout about and disappointed me in all honesty. This year i'm going to really go for both of them in the hope we can increase our reputation and get into Europe via them if we don't manage to break the top 6-7. The Rotherham game really frustrated me as even with some fringe players we did more than enough to win but their goalkeeper put on a "Goalkeeping clinic" so it wasn't to be.

[lewis999]

2017-2018 - Best Performances

[lewis999]

2018-2019 Pre-Season Transfers In

After my 8th placed finish in our first season I can't see any reason why we shouldn't be able to better it or at least match it, no point in managing if you aren't going to be ambitious, right? So with that thought I waited for the man above (My chairman, not the holy guy) to give me my budget for the forthcoming campaign. I had made so much profit on our small wage bill last year that he gave me a whopping.......

I know it's a lot. My first instinct was not the spend the whole lot and I haven't up to now but I set about trying to make our young talented squad even more talented and adding some quality in key areas to try and give us some more threat going forward. That didn't mean I want fancy dan's and people who don't want to put the hard yards in, that's the basic requirement if you want to wear the Barnsley shirt under my tenure. My first signing was someone who I had my eye on last season.

Louis Schaub - 8m from AC Milan - The Austrian international is a very versatile player and can play in any of the front positions and also central midfield. He is the complete midfielder as he the vision and technique of a flair player combined with fantastic mental abilities and high work rate along with good strength on the ball and a turn of pace.

Ante Coric - 8m from Dinamo - Similar to Schaub in that he can play in a variety of positions but has that extra skill that can unlock even the best defences. 19 technique isn't to be scoffed at and couple that with 17 dribbling, 16 vision and 18 flair this guy will be my oppositions worst nightmare. If I can get my central midfield pairing right I may sacrifice my DM to play Coric in the hole and let him wreak havoc. Only 21 years of age and already worth 14.75m. 15k a week is peanuts.

Brendan Galloway - 8m from Everton - I tried to loan him last year but Everton wouldn't let me so I tried my luck with a 8m bid and they accepted. At 6ft 2' and with 15 for tackling, marking, positioning and jumping he can play in the heart of my defence which is where he will likely be. He has fantastic physicals for his age meaning I can play a high line if I need to squeeze teams in. I will get him in the England team alongside John Stones mark my words.

Lewis Cook - 8.5m from Leeds - The once mighty Leeds were relegated to League One again and that was enough for me to come in and snatch a few of their players, the first being the massively rated Cook. He's nearly an all round midfielder with his only weakness being his marking (8) which I can work on but everything else is top notch at only 21 years of age. Future England international i'm 100% sure.

Charlie Taylor - 2.5m from Leeds - Another player I raided Leeds for is Charlie Taylor who can play all the way down the left hand flank which is going to be vital. Not only can he fly forward from full back but if I need an insurance policy late on-in games he can play just in front of the LB and help out there like Mr. Gibbs does for Mr. Wenger. He can defend as well as attack and has a lot of pace too. Bargain.

Sam Byram - 1.9m from Leeds - Think they're glad to see the back of me after I took the 3rd player. He's probably the worst out of the three at the minute and older at 24 but like Taylor can play all positions on his respective flank. Has a full star to go on his potential so hopefully will turn into a key player and possibly an international. He will certainly get enough chances to get there.

Joe Gomez - Season loan from Liverpool - After I sold some back-up players from last season and a few loans went back I was left short of defensive cover and as Joe has high potential and can play all across the back four and has a lot of athleticism I thought he'd be an ideal fit. Hoping to get him permanently in January or at the end of the season.

Andreas Pereira - Free agent - Fresh from being released by Man Utd after giving him hardly any appearances and taking years of his career and developement I jumped in and saw a clearly talented player who at worst could be sold on for a high price. He's only 22 and instantly worth 7.75m he will get a lot of football, from the bench to start with rotating with Lucas Moura, Coric and Schaub. Looking forward to watching him develop and for someone who cost me £0 it's a win-win.

[lewis999]

I love this guy, even more when I remember he only cost me 2.2m when I got promoted.

[lewis999]

We're all going to Wembley...na na na na, NA!!!

[lewis999]

2018-2019 Season Overview

Finished my 4th season and my second in the Premiership and although we finished a place below in 9th and on less points I feel it was a more successful season for a few reasons. I feel more tactically astute with my squad in terms of how I want to play and when to change to different systems against which teams. It was also another year for my young players to be a year older and a lot of transfers last season meant my team were hardly ever fully fluid on the tactical familiarity front. This year with some strong additions i'm going to be aiming for top 6 which in this league is going to be tough as the quality is insanely high in the top 10. I have some new faces in the team and my central midfield is very, very strong, young and has a load of potential. Over these last two years I have been brilliant at the back keeping clean sheets and need some more goals going forward so I have decided to push my ML and MR upto AML and AMR in a bid to add some goals. If this is mis-guided and doesn't work then they will be going straight back and I will modify a TI or two.

I'll do a quick run-down of how the season went and then do a more in depth analysis of my transfers that i'm quite excited about, partly because they're players I have never managed before.

The league like I said above went good considering the issues I highlighted above. I conceded 6 less than last season but I also scored 5 less. I don't think it helped that my first choice striker was injured for the last couple of months.

The only award any of my players won was the goal of the season which I don't think I have ever won before. It was Danny Welbeck on loan from Arsenal who scored an absolute belter from about 35 yards.

In January of the season I brought in Lucas Romero for 8m and Ryan Gauld for 2.4m who were both very important players as soon as they joined. I also brought in German wonderkid Florian Ulrich for 1.1m which is brilliant business and young Manchester United striker James Wilson for just 4m. He scored some important goals in the last 4-5 games when my first choice striker was out.

2019-2020 Pre-Season

The board gave me 40m to spend again which was nice. We had more matches on tv this season and also more fans in the stadium consistently so the bank balance was in a healthier position than last season. Joe Gomez who was on lon from Liverpool went back which set us back as he averaged 7.36 over 31(1) games in all competitions which was impressive. That meant we needed a RB and as some of my central midfielders (Delaney and Poli) were getting older I didn't just need younger legs but I also needed that extra bit of quality to open the opposition up as just being solid wasn't going to cut it anymore so 3 central midfielders came in. I'm sure you will agree when you see them that they are very, very good and much needed.

Adama Traore - 4.3m from Monaco - No, not the pacy ex-Barcelona winger but the very cultured attacking central midfielder. I'm sure usually he would get more than enough games for Monaco but they have just broken Paris St. Germain' dominance and they have some brilliant players so we picked up a bargain. We may lose him to the African cup of nations every so often but we have enough talent in the centre of the park that I can see past it. As an added bonus he is on just 20k a week which i'm very pleaed about.

Joshua Kimmich - 10m from Bayern - This guy i'm excited about. He has 20 determination and a driven personality which is going to be invaluable as a tutor as he ages with us but he is also very good at most things. He's maybe a bit weak but at just 24 with room to get better i'm sure that will improve. He has some fantastic PPM's for my deep lying playmaker role and will help my team keep the ball well. Only on 25k a week and instantly worth 18m. Bargain.

Adrien Rabiot - Free from PSG - Going to be world class and I got him for £0 which I couldn't be anymore happier about. He's on 12k a week, yes just 12, you know 2 more than 10. Straight away he's worth a massive 20.5m and has the aerial prowess I need from goal kicks and set pieces. I have high hopes for him and i'm planning on him being worth 40m+ and up for the big awards. He still has some potential to go which is scary.

Lucas Moura who has been absolutely brilliant for us ever since he joined last season for just 9.5m asked me if he could have the permission to join FC Porto as they were in the Champions League. I said if they come back in with an offer i'll look to sell you and they didn't so he got his head down and that was that. In the off-season he had a minor concern about a better contract as he was only on 35k a week as he was getting no minutes in Paris and he was my best performer so he did deserve it but he wanted 100k+ and I couldn't justify it for lowly Barnsley so I didn't offer him one. Porto came back with a 32.5m offer in the summer and triggered his release clause for Champions League clubs and off he went. A lot of money but possibly our best player, gone.

Now my budget was a massive 60m+ so I went to look for a younger, potentially better replacement. I found him on the transfer list at Dortmund and he was and still is a wonderkid. Dortmund couldn't give him the game time he wanted so he chose Oakwell as the club to develop him into the world class winger he could well be. He's very raw at the moment but explosive pace and a good personality. My first job was to make him learn the 'knocks ball past opponent' PPM to make the most of that acceleration.

Another area I needed to invest in, is a goalkeeper as my goalkeeper last season was Dragowski the young polish lad who I had on loan from Real Madrid. He was fantastic all year so I have decided to loan him in again but i'm also on the look out for a permanent No.1 and my main target is the namesake of and the next Gianluigi Buffon, Gianluigi Donnarumma who is warming the bench at Bayern Munich waiting for Manuel Neuer to hang us his gloves. He does want to join and upto now i'm having bids of 11m turned down as I expected but as planned I got this message.

I'm hoping the combination of me, keep putting bids in for him and showing I clearly want him and Bayerns unwillingness to give him the minutes he wants will do the trick and they may let me have him for between 15-20m which I will definitely pay as world class goalkeepers are under-rated and very hard to come by.

I know not many people play as Barnsley or even give us a try and i'm probably writing this to myself but if you are stuck for a lower league team to play as with plenty of potential then come and have a go and keep me company.

P.s As always the links of the players can be clicked on from their names in red.

[AIRTyke]

I did it, won league 1 in second season. I don't know how to post images as it seems to require a URL but whatever, we finished champions. Ryan Williams, Simeon Jackson (20+), Scowen, Hourihane, Wabara, Nyatanga, Smith, Davies, take a bow!

[Adamm90]

Just sold Adam Davies, in August 2016, to Premier League Burnley. I got £1.2M (all up-front) for him and had already signed Ben Garratt from Crewe earlier in the summer. I could've signed a transfer-listed Alex Smithies for £400k but thought I'd let Garratt develop and signed Matt Gilks on a free as back-up/under-18 GK coach. One day after the transfer window closed he got injured for the best part of the season. Just my luck. Managed to bring in Michael McGovern on a free transfer to deputise.

My biggest coups of the summer were David Meyler on a free transfer, and Britt Assombalonga from Forest (who were relegated). I've also brought in three Romanians on loan that I stumbled across. They're all probably good enough of playing at the top end of the Championship but have wages around £1,800 - £2,500.

So far I've won one and drawn four of my opening five games. Fairly happy with that.

[Dorsetblue]

First game in are brand spanking new 42,000 stadium Redfearn Park with room to expand to 65,000

[lewis999]

I did it, won league 1 in second season. I don't know how to post images as it seems to require a URL but whatever, we finished champions. Ryan Williams, Simeon Jackson (20+), Scowen, Hourihane, Wabara, Nyatanga, Smith, Davies, take a bow!

Install Gyazo mate, it's what I use, it's the easiest thing in the world. Glad to see Jackson with a load of goals, he didn't do much for me.

Just sold Adam Davies, in August 2016, to Premier League Burnley. I got £1.2M (all up-front) for him and had already signed Ben Garratt from Crewe earlier in the summer. I could've signed a transfer-listed Alex Smithies for £400k but thought I'd let Garratt develop and signed Matt Gilks on a free as back-up/under-18 GK coach. One day after the transfer window closed he got injured for the best part of the season. Just my luck. Managed to bring in Michael McGovern on a free transfer to deputise.

My biggest coups of the summer were David Meyler on a free transfer, and Britt Assombalonga from Forest (who were relegated). I've also brought in three Romanians on loan that I stumbled across. They're all probably good enough of playing at the top end of the Championship but have wages around £1,800 - £2,500.

So far I've won one and drawn four of my opening five games. Fairly happy with that.

I hate playing against Assombalonga, he's so over-rated on this game, he just bulldozes his way through like Drogba in his prime. Great signing. Meyler is brilliant as well, an all-rounder. Who are the romanians?

First game in are brand spanking new 42,000 stadium Redfearn Park with room to expand to 65,000

What a great stadium name. I'm hoping I can become a legend before we get a new stadium and I may be in with a chance of it being named after me. How do you know what it's expansion potential is?

[lewis999]

Quite boring, but very effective. I suppose it's a success seeing as that's what i'm aiming for.

[Adamm90]

I hate playing against Assombalonga, he's so over-rated on this game, he just bulldozes his way through like Drogba in his prime. Great signing. Meyler is brilliant as well, an all-rounder. Who are the romanians?

I'm building a fairly hard to beat team in my second season. We're only 12th but only lost five games, and conceded the least amount of goals in the league.

Gabriel Iancu, Steliano Filip and Cosmin Matei are the three Romanians. Matei hasn't done a great deal but he's not featured much. Iancu has been outstanding behind Assombalonga, and Filip has an average rating of 8.00 at left-back. I've signed Filip on a free for next summer, but I'll probably not be able to afford Iancu unless I get promoted.

Has Mason Holgate moved on anybody's save? I got the chance to sell the sell-on fee for £1M.

[lewis999]

I'm building a fairly hard to beat team in my second season. We're only 12th but only lost five games, and conceded the least amount of goals in the league.

Gabriel Iancu, Steliano Filip and Cosmin Matei are the three Romanians. Matei hasn't done a great deal but he's not featured much. Iancu has been outstanding behind Assombalonga, and Filip has an average rating of 8.00 at left-back. I've signed Filip on a free for next summer, but I'll probably not be able to afford Iancu unless I get promoted.

Has Mason Holgate moved on anybody's save? I got the chance to sell the sell-on fee for £1M.

Yeah Chelsea bought him on mine for like 18m and he's an England regular but I didn't receive anything.

[Dorsetblue]

It said it in the news article when the ground was completed

[lewis999]

It said it in the news article when the ground was completed

Ahh that's a nice little new feature then because I swear before it didn't tell you that.

[Dorsetblue]

[Dorsetblue]

[samwilzrhcp]

Just checking in having made the purchase two minutes ago, what a way to spend new years eve ey?

Anyway, obviously my first save will be tarn, will post updates when i get going.

Feel free to offer some tips regarding players to buy, sell, tactics to use etc etc.

[Adamm90]

I was going through a slump in form through Janaury 2017, so I brought in Nouha Dicko and Adam Reach, after I received another £1M+ from the John Stones deal. Both of them were fantastic and I somehow managed to sneak into the play-offs during the final two games. I finished third, but lost both legs against Cardiff. Happy with the season, and I probably wasn't ready for promotion anyway. I've got about £7M to spend, and I've already signed Matt Ritchie for £900K from West Brom.

Just checking in having made the purchase two minutes ago, what a way to spend new years eve ey?

Anyway, obviously my first save will be tarn, will post updates when i get going.

Feel free to offer some tips regarding players to buy, sell, tactics to use etc etc.

The squad is pretty good as it is, it's just maybe a bit lacking out wide. I brought in Shane Griffin and Jack Barmby on loan, although I did also add Hammill in via the editor before starting. I had plenty of joy with a basic 4-4-2, with Smith as the target man and Winnall/Jackson playing off him.

[samwilzrhcp]

The squad is pretty good as it is, it's just maybe a bit lacking out wide. I brought in Shane Griffin and Jack Barmby on loan, although I did also add Hammill in via the editor before starting. I had plenty of joy with a basic 4-4-2, with Smith as the target man and Winnall/Jackson playing off him.

I have also added Hammill via the editor along with Isgrove, White and George Long. I also put Michael Smith and Conor Wilkinson back to their clubs and made Jackson a free agent.

In game i have sold George Smith and James Bree for 300k each along with add ons and a percentage of next transfer.

Scouting is pretty sparce at the minute so struggling to find players, could do with a left back and a attacking midfielder, oh and another striker.

Still in pre season, takes me ages what with tinkering about with staff and training etc.

[Dorsetblue]

Gonna start my Barnsley save again, I'm currently ten years in easily established top 8 team but its stagnating now and I feel I could have done more in the way of back room staff and investing in youngsters so i'm gonna start again and be a bit more in depth rather than just clicking through each week.

[Adamm90]

I have also added Hammill via the editor along with Isgrove, White and George Long. I also put Michael Smith and Conor Wilkinson back to their clubs and made Jackson a free agent.

In game i have sold George Smith and James Bree for 300k each along with add ons and a percentage of next transfer.

Scouting is pretty sparce at the minute so struggling to find players, could do with a left back and a attacking midfielder, oh and another striker.

Still in pre season, takes me ages what with tinkering about with staff and training etc.

You may regret letting Bree go for that amount. He's currently my first choice right-back, and I'd imagine he'll carry on that way into the Premier League. One of my better players.

[Dorsetblue]

I've started a new save and rejected 3 offers from Watford already getting up to 750,000 so far

[samwilzrhcp]

You may regret letting Bree go for that amount. He's currently my first choice right-back, and I'd imagine he'll carry on that way into the Premier League. One of my better players.

I planned to keep him but he got the monk on when i rejected an offer from Palace, he ended up at Southampton.

[Nozzer]

After 10 seasons as Barnsley manager I've tried starting about 5 new games and none have stuck with me so I'm starting again with Barnsley. Hopefully I will have the same success as on my last game

I think I should get to the PL earlier this time as I have a brilliant 4-4-2 tactic that seems to work with a number of different teams. Barnsley are well suited to it so promotion in the first season should be straight forward as long as I can find a decent deep lying forward

[Dorsetblue]

Restarted my save, straight up first season.

[lewis999]

After 10 seasons as Barnsley manager I've tried starting about 5 new games and none have stuck with me so I'm starting again with Barnsley. Hopefully I will have the same success as on my last game

I think I should get to the PL earlier this time as I have a brilliant 4-4-2 tactic that seems to work with a number of different teams. Barnsley are well suited to it so promotion in the first season should be straight forward as long as I can find a decent deep lying forward

Hope you go straight up, i'm on a break from my Barnsley save at the minute. I will definitely be going back to it soon.

Restarted my save, straight up first season.

Brilliant season. Who were your top scorers? Did you use a 4-4-2 as well?

[chef]

good info at the start of the thread lewis999.

for that I am going to be starting my first long save with Barnsley, how long I will last who knows?

less of the talk now's the time to be playing

[lewis999]

good info at the start of the thread lewis999.

for that I am going to be starting my first long save with Barnsley, how long I will last who knows?

less of the talk now's the time to be playing

Welcome chef and thanks for the kind words. Do let us know how you're getting on and who you have signed/let go of. Always interesting to hear other peoples stories.

[chef]

i will do but it takes me ages to play the game

when you lot are on 3-4 seasons I'm still half way through season 1

[Dorsetblue]

[jamtheman123]

Finally folded and bought FM16 last weekend (for the first time in 3 years) and settled down with Barnsley for no other reasons than they have their own thread and decent facilities. The northern connection doesn't hurt either. Have always played fm with one save, and am hoping Barnsley is it. Created my own tactics (never very well, but I like the realism of success coming slowly) and surveyed the team.

Davies is solid (had my eye on garratt's contravt though)

Mawson will do very nicely, nyatanga I liked the look of (more fool me as I'll explain later) and signed songo'o on a free as backup with roberts.

Smith and wabara, with bree, Williams and Evans as cover seemed solid too.

Pearson as a DM when needed and a youngster from reading on loan whose name I'm not even going to attempt to spell (Icelandic?)

Hourihane as the playmaker, scowen as the steel, and digby covering (bree also as cover)

Williams, Watkins and adil chihi (on free also) to rotate

Winnall and Bennett (on loan) as cover

Attempted to offload Jackson, roberts and Evans for various reasons, couldn't sell any of them. Signed George green as a gamble on free (high wages by comparison but worth it) and a large amount of wide players and midfielders on loan (abused the system but only chapman had any lasting impact) and I was ready to go.

Will update later on season 1's roller coaster ride, before a summary of my season 2 start.

Hi by the way, Boro fan irl, and Barnsley have cost me on every accumulator I've ever included them on, so I'm hoping that I get an experience on FM that matches my Notts county, Plymouth and Southampton joys on previous games to make up for this.

[lewis999]

Finally folded and bought FM16 last weekend (for the first time in 3 years) and settled down with Barnsley for no other reasons than they have their own thread and decent facilities. The northern connection doesn't hurt either. Have always played fm with one save, and am hoping Barnsley is it. Created my own tactics (never very well, but I like the realism of success coming slowly) and surveyed the team.

Davies is solid (had my eye on garratt's contravt though)

Mawson will do very nicely, nyatanga I liked the look of (more fool me as I'll explain later) and signed songo'o on a free as backup with roberts.

Smith and wabara, with bree, Williams and Evans as cover seemed solid too.

Pearson as a DM when needed and a youngster from reading on loan whose name I'm not even going to attempt to spell (Icelandic?)

Hourihane as the playmaker, scowen as the steel, and digby covering (bree also as cover)

Williams, Watkins and adil chihi (on free also) to rotate

Winnall and Bennett (on loan) as cover

Attempted to offload Jackson, roberts and Evans for various reasons, couldn't sell any of them. Signed George green as a gamble on free (high wages by comparison but worth it) and a large amount of wide players and midfielders on loan (abused the system but only chapman had any lasting impact) and I was ready to go.

Will update later on season 1's roller coaster ride, before a summary of my season 2 start.

Hi by the way, Boro fan irl, and Barnsley have cost me on every accumulator I've ever included them on, so I'm hoping that I get an experience on FM that matches my Notts county, Plymouth and Southampton joys on previous games to make up for this.

Welcome mate. I've not been on FM for a good while. Waiting for the new update now which should be one or two days away as the Chinese transfer window shuts tonight. We have signed Chapman on loan in real life so looking forward to seeing him and hopefully he's still here when we're playing at Wembley. You couldn't sell Roberts etc. because it is their first season at the club. He should be getting a slight upgrade in the update anyway as he's currently a L2 defender at best.

[jamtheman123]

Welcome mate. I've not been on FM for a good while. Waiting for the new update now which should be one or two days away as the Chinese transfer window shuts tonight. We have signed Chapman on loan in real life so looking forward to seeing him and hopefully he's still here when we're playing at Wembley. You couldn't sell Roberts etc. because it is their first season at the club. He should be getting a slight upgrade in the update anyway as he's currently a L2 defender at best.

Explains why he booted off when I transfer listed him. However he did turn out rather useful...

[jamtheman123]

Season 1 summary

So with two tactics (a counter attacking 4-1-2-2-1 and a controlling, easy on the eye 4-2-3-1), two signings (green, songo'o) and a clutch of loan signings i embarked. Interestingly i also signed Chapman on loan, before Barnsley got him in real life. I started the season like a house on fire, winning games at home with lovely football, and scraping victories away with counter attacking goals. I was top at christmas and everything was rosy. Hourihane was a sensation as an AP in CM (both tactics), Winnall had 16 goals as an advanced forward, Green as an enganche in home games was firing in goals and assists and Chapman and Williams were doing the job from wide. All good.

Then (rather like my beloved Boro do every season) the wheels came off magnificently. Winnall went on a brutal goal drought (2 more ALL season), hourihane got injured, the tactics stopped working and the defence fell apart. Nyatanga went on a streak of poor form the like of which i have never seen on FM. Mistakes every game leading to an insane amount of 1-0 defeats. Songo'o (really only a backup signing) stemmed the tide but i just couldn't win. Slipped out of play offs by mid-March and never got back in. I don't know if the match engine really brings the pitch condition into account with your tactics, but if it actually does that might explain why the fancy football stopped working (clutching at poor tactical choice straws???).

Finished season in 10th with a 8 match run of no wins. Adil Chihi was sensational when fit but had a six month injury and demanded silly money on a renewal so i let him go despite his efforts. The run in really turned me off a lot of players so i decided to focus on youth (like always) and building using free transfers (like always). Finances were looking okay, but i still wanted to do a big rebuilding job. Bree left when Watford bid 500k but a 50% sell on fee (not percentage either), Winnall went for 1.7m, Scowie went for 1.2m (discipline annoyed the hell out of me, was suspended for a total of 8 matches in season), Davies left for 500k (never convinced all season), Digby for 600k (50% sell on again) and let basically everyone in U-21s and U-18s go. I had three players from the intake who looked decent (a striker, CB and LB) and then went to work.

The 55% revenue on transfers annoyed me, but the players i let go i figured i could replace (short term with players, long term with better prospects from academy). Upgrades to training facilities, youth and scouting range cost a lot but long term benefits are more important to me. Then i went on a revamp of the coaching and playing staff. All signings were free or loans

Cuvelier (good CM/AM similar to Hourihane)

Faure (CB, but a mistake, my scouts were VERY wrong and the trial utterly lied to me, awful signing)

C Evina (rotation with Smith at LB, fast and direct, good option)

Spiegel (GK, lost out on Garratt!!!!!!!!!!! still annoyed about this, dirty, horrible cheating LEEDS!!!!!)

T Moore (RB, cover for wabara who has been excellent)

Tunnicliffe (hopefully a more disciplined Scowen)

Fewster (striker to have the boro connection, has potential and is actually my nephew irl)

Coulthirst (striker, pacy, direct and seems good)

Watmore (RW and ST, bit of a no-brainer)

Loans;

H Wilson (player of year in league 1, over the moon to get him)

R Burke (solid CB, immediately became a starter)

B Pearson (again a no brainer for second season)

I Brown, K Palmer, J Swift all from parent club.

also i did have to bring in Bree on loan on deadline day (an admission of guilt?)

Adapted with a new tactic that allowed for fast, direct and attacking footballing as a counterpoint to my controlling fancy one (should be good now the pitch was relaid).

Have started well, with a lot of 1-0s again, and not many defeats. Currently second, behind Blackburn (running away from everyone). I have struggled to score goals (none of the three strikers have scored consistently) but Hourihane, Cuvelier and Harry Wilson have been sensational. Bringing a goal scorer is aim number one, so until then I'm playing my youth academy striker, as if none of them are scoring anyway i may as well give him some experience.

Coaching team & facilities are now up to at least championship standard, so feeling confident I've got the beginnings of my standard long term save.

[lewis999]

Solid first season mate. Let us know how you go on in the second season. Just about to start as Barnsley now on the new update. Will update the first post as well this week.

[Sir-Rik]

I've started a game with the updated transfers, as a Barnsley fan i should know enough about the squad its to be able to make a reasonable crack at promotion in the first season (famous last words).

i will be on the look out for a striker (probably 2) as i will be playing 442 and Sammy Win will need a partner and Flethcher and Watkins aren't great on the game (like both in real life though). Anyone got any suggestions? The midfield is very strong and the defense seems fine but maybe lacking a little cover, i should be able to use the loan market for that.

[lewis999]

If you're looking for a striker then try Ryan Seager from Southampton. Good player.

[Sir-Rik]

I'll take a look into him thanks. I did want Gallagher from the Saints, but he plumped for Dem Blades of all clubs. Needless to say i wont be revisiting that one!!!

[Gungner]

Just started my Barnsley save. Haven't made any signings or played any matches yet. I shall return later with updates.

Here's to a long save!

Btw lewis999, WHO was the colombian that you signing in season 2, alongside Zach Clough? Can't seem to find a name...

[Gungner]

I've made two loan signings so far: Jack Barmby from Leicester and Aaron Kuhl from Reading.

Waiting for my board to finish their search of a parent Club.