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

[Nozzer]

So Promotion in 2nd place first season, was bottom half most of my first season in the Championship but under no real threat of going down. Finished the season strongly and ended up in 12th position. 17 games into 3dr season and I'm currently top of a very strong Championship. Have the following squad

GK: Adam Davies, Ben Garrett (free transfer from Crewe)

CD: Alfie Mawson, John Egan (free transfer from Gillingham), Sean Morrison (free transfer from Cardiff), Lewin Nyatanga

FB: James Bree, George Smith, Reece Wabara, Matthew Targett (season long loan from Southampton)

DM: Liam Bridcutt (free transfer from Sunderland), Paul Digby

CM: Sam Morsy (free transfer from Chesterfield), Ryan Tunnicliffe (free transfer from Fulham), Conor Hourihane, Josh Scowen

Flanks: Ryan Williams, Callum Gribbin (season long loan from Man Utd), Michael Kightly (free transfer from Burnley)

ST: Allan Armstrong (season long loan from Newcastle), Duncan Watmore (free transfer from Sunderland)

Really happy with the squad even though I am unable to find a permanent striker to lead the line. Missed out Danny Graham last season due to wages and was unable to sign Fraizer Campbell after last seasons loan. Over the moon with the progress made in 3 seasons as I have only spent 250k for Gribbin's loan (last seasons, this seasons there was no fee) and still have a core of players that I started out with

[fenlander]

On promotion to premiership was given £20m and a wage budget of £470 a week,i bought the following players

IN.................................................................... OUT

CM Kasami Southampton £6.5 ................ AML Williams Charlton £2.2m

AMC Siem De Jong Newcastle £2.1m.............. GLK Davies Wigan £115k

LB Fox Charlton £1.4m.............................. CB Malarczyl Lech £450K......THIS REPRESENT A LOSS OF £750K IN 1 SEASON

RB Jenkinson Aston Villa £1.8m..................... GLK Haugaard QPR £500K

GLK Vorm Spurs £500k........................................... White These 3 were all given free transfers

................................................................................ Watkins

STR Woodrow Aston Villa loan.................................. Templeman

GLK Johnson Man.Utd Free

Am nearly half-way through my 1st season in the premiership will update later.

[lewis999]

Just got my laptop back from repair so lost my save unfortunately but I will get one up and running in the next few days if I get time. Brilliant that everyone is doing really well, wonder who will win the Champions League?

[Dorsetblue]

We are off to the promise land

[fenlander]

Barnsley started their premiership season without awin in the 1st 5 games but then went on a good run which took us up to 10th at the turn of the year,we had a dip in form in January only picking up 2 points,we recovered and eventually finished in a very respective 9th place.May was our top scorer with 17 goals but the real star turn of the season was Woodrow on loan from villa who scored 10 goals and had 9 assists and formed an excellent partnership with May,have had a transfer offer accepted and he will be joining us perminately in the new season.The f.a. cup was a disappointment being knocked out in the 4th round by Norwich,we fared better in the league getting to the last 8 before going out to man.city

The board have given me a transfer pot of £62m for the next season and wages of £820k so am now off to spend it.

[AIRTyke]

I got sacked first season, end January, out of the blue, I was in 14th position. I'm absolutely gutted, going out to get drunk now.

[Adamm90]

Good thread, Lewis. Nice to see some non-fans giving it a go with Barnsley too.

I've not got round to starting a game on FM16 yet but fully intend to this weekend. Any immediate must buys to look out for?

[lewis999]

We are off to the promise land

Brilliant mate, glad to see you up in the Premiership, please keep letting us know how you're doing.

Barnsley started their premiership season without awin in the 1st 5 games but then went on a good run which took us up to 10th at the turn of the year,we had a dip in form in January only picking up 2 points,we recovered and eventually finished in a very respective 9th place.May was our top scorer with 17 goals but the real star turn of the season was Woodrow on loan from villa who scored 10 goals and had 9 assists and formed an excellent partnership with May,have had a transfer offer accepted and he will be joining us perminately in the new season.The f.a. cup was a disappointment being knocked out in the 4th round by Norwich,we fared better in the league getting to the last 8 before going out to man.city

The board have given me a transfer pot of £62m for the next season and wages of £820k so am now off to spend it.

What an amount of money to be given, make sure you spend it wisely it's not something we do in real life we just sell to anyone for the first offer we receive. Fantastic 9th placed finish too even if a Sheff Wed player was the star, he saw sense and moved to our parts.

I got sacked first season, end January, out of the blue, I was in 14th position. I'm absolutely gutted, going out to get drunk now.

Haha once the hangover is gone get back on here and go have a look at Cleon's two new threads in the tactics and training part of the forums. In fact i'll link you them now.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/445500-The-Art-of-Possession-Football & http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/444680-The-Art-of-Counter-Attacking

Obviously don't copy them like he says because different players with different attributes against different opposition isn't going to work out the same but incorporate some of his concepts and his reasoning behind things and I guarantee you to not get relegated at a minimum, my only advice is keep things simple with roles and instructions and you can usually add a few things as and when you see fit.

Good thread, Lewis. Nice to see some non-fans giving it a go with Barnsley too.

I've not got round to starting a game on FM16 yet but fully intend to this weekend. Any immediate must buys to look out for?

Thanks for the kind words, yeah it is a first, it's only taken me 4-5 years to get some non fans to try and i'm glad they're not only doing well but enjoying it too. Another in here is brilliant so let us all know how you are doing and the signings etc. I'm into october myself. Will update when I finish the January window.

[lewis999]

So in my save Chesterfield are struggling and in the relegation places and their best player (in my opinion) is transfer listed by request. At his current ability he is a leading player for Championship clubs so would be perfectly fine for next year too if I manage to get promoted. I have 100k transfer budget and they want 500k. I have offered them a structured deal as its popular in real life. Some after x amount of months, some after appearances and some after goals etc. My budget will allow it I will just have nothing afterwards and a bit will be taken out of my next 2-3 budgets but I see him fitting in really well with what we have at Barnsley. He's young, homegrown and has good saleability in the future if I wish to do that.

Here he is :

He is only asking for 2k a week which is perfectly fine and is in line with most of my other players and as you can see he has 14+ in tackling, work rate, positioning, teamwork, stamina, strength and leadership which is absolutely world class in League One. One thing which is bugging me is that he is only one footed and the only other thing is that it will be all of my budget and my original idea was to keep the 100k and go around when the England get their youth intake and see if their were any lower league gems from League Two or the Conference.

What would you guys do?

[lewis999]

Just received this news item in January.

I now have 2.5m to spend.

[Adamm90]

Just received this news item in January.

I now have 2.5m to spend.

Not bad at all. Is that in the first season?

I'm only a couple of games into my season. First thing I did was send back Conor Wilkinson, and replaced him with Jordan Hugill, on loan from Preston. Sadly, he did his cruciate in pre-season so I had to send him back too. I've brought in Jack Barmby and Shane Griffin on loan, and Paul Taylor on a one-year deal.

[lewis999]

Not bad at all. Is that in the first season?

I'm only a couple of games into my season. First thing I did was send back Conor Wilkinson, and replaced him with Jordan Hugill, on loan from Preston. Sadly, he did his cruciate in pre-season so I had to send him back too. I've brought in Jack Barmby and Shane Griffin on loan, and Paul Taylor on a one-year deal.

Yeah first January transfer window. I am really into this save so I totally forgot about the mid-season update and just blasted ahead and am now close to the end of the season. It's neck and neck between me and Wigan for top spot and when you see the final league table you will see how strange of a season it is for a lot of different reasons. Just won the Johnstones Paint Trophy on penalties against Millwall 7-6 and I think my heart rate has only just returned to normal. We should of won it in normal time but we got the job done eventually.

Davies got injured just before the game so Nick had to come in......

Not a bad debut Nick.

[lewis999]

2015/2016 Season - League One - Barnsley

League Table

End of Season Awards

Hourihane rightfully won the award, if there was such a thing he would of been my managers player of the year as well. He was brilliantly consistent all season, always reliable and fit for every game and got good ratings nearly every game even when the rest of the team were underperforming.

George Smith was brilliant all season too for an 18 year old. Played 55 games in all competitions with an average rating of 7.14 which shows his consistency well past his young age. He has improved a lot throughout the season and will be my first choice in the Championship too.

Winnalls goal of the season was a brilliant moment and critical to our season, we were 2-1 down in an important league game and he smashed it in from 25 yards with about 3 minutes remaining.

Winnall finished the season as the top scorer with 17 goals with Marley Watkins in a close second with 15 despite both of them not playing much in the second half of the season because of better options and consistency problems. Ryan Williams got 13 goals and Hourihane a handy 10 goals so the whole team shared the load which is what I prefer really as that way one injury can't cause problems.

As I mentioned in my last post I won the JPT so we managed to get a domestic double which is a great start to life in my hometown. Hopefully of many more trophies to come. We were also in the top two 99% of the season so we did deserve to go up even if I do say so myself. We went on a run of 1 win in 9 in March which nearly cost me the league title as Wigan went 7 points ahead of us at one point as we just couldn't score as every team were parking the bus. I somehow managed to change a few things and we then went on a 9 match win streak which clinched us the title as Wigan dropped plenty of points as did everyone else all season long.

Got my new initial budgets for the Championship which were more than I thought I would get. Probably not spend it all but it's nice that there is some left over.

Only agreed one first team transfer so far which was Ryan Tunnicliffe for 65k. I could of waited until he had no club but I didn't want to risk competition and he can play in a lot of roles in my midfield. Going to need workmanlike players for the new season. I'm sure i've missed something off this update and if I have someone let me know if anyone does read this.

[lewis999]

On the back of my comments of how good Conor was all season he rightfully got the player of the year.

I also got the manager of the year which is nice.

[Nozzer]

Started my 7th season with Barnsley over the weekend

S1: Promoted from League One in 2nd place

S2: Finished mid table in the Championship (11th or 12th I think)

S3: Promoted from Championship in 1st place

S4: Finished 9th in PL and won the league cup

S5: Finished 10th in PL and won the FA cup

S6: Finished 5th in PL and won the FA Cup and Europa League

S7: Currently 4th after 7 games, won Charity Shield. I have won 1 / Lost 1 in Champions League group stages

Really enjoyed my Barnsley save but I'm starting to get put off now as the Premier League is ridiculous, if you can manage to stay up first season then you are sorted as the money you get is massive. I have 250m in the bank and 188m to spend. In 6 and a bit seasons I have spent less than 30m and have brought in treble that. My highest earner still only earns 50k a week and I am 2nd bottom in the annual wages table despite being in the league for 3 completed seasons

I already know I'm not going to start any saves with Premier League teams. Think my FM16 careers will be abroad or in the lower leagues. I am going to stick with this save for now mind as I am really enjoying it but that is only because I started lower down

[lewis999]

Started my 7th season with Barnsley over the weekend

S1: Promoted from League One in 2nd place

S2: Finished mid table in the Championship (11th or 12th I think)

S3: Promoted from Championship in 1st place

S4: Finished 9th in PL and won the league cup

S5: Finished 10th in PL and won the FA cup

S6: Finished 5th in PL and won the FA Cup and Europa League

S7: Currently 4th after 7 games, won Charity Shield. I have won 1 / Lost 1 in Champions League group stages

Really enjoyed my Barnsley save but I'm starting to get put off now as the Premier League is ridiculous, if you can manage to stay up first season then you are sorted as the money you get is massive. I have 250m in the bank and 188m to spend. In 6 and a bit seasons I have spent less than 30m and have brought in treble that. My highest earner still only earns 50k a week and I am 2nd bottom in the annual wages table despite being in the league for 3 completed seasons

I already know I'm not going to start any saves with Premier League teams. Think my FM16 careers will be abroad or in the lower leagues. I am going to stick with this save for now mind as I am really enjoying it but that is only because I started lower down

Good progression there. It's brilliant to see a non-Barnsley fan really getting into the save and 7 seasons in. Season 6 was a very impressive one with a double and Champions League through the Europa win. Interested to know who your team is out of curiosity and what they look like if you have the time mate.

[lewis999]

No offence intended to any Sheffield United fans as I am a Barnsley man but I thought this was a good response to be able to choose.

[Nozzer]

Good progression there. It's brilliant to see a non-Barnsley fan really getting into the save and 7 seasons in. Season 6 was a very impressive one with a double and Champions League through the Europa win. Interested to know who your team is out of curiosity and what they look like if you have the time mate.

Yeah I'm still enjoying it but if anything I wanted my rise 'to the top' to take a little longer. I have made massive improvements to my youth recruitment so was hoping I would have to blood quite a few home grown talents, however I do realise that I've only been able to improve the facilities due to the success I have had

Sunderland (my team / season ticket holder) look as if they could be on their way to League One this season, although it is early days. I think the only reason I would leave Barnsley is to save them. I think it would be quite challenging as they are a mess financially. The last 2 versions of FM make me think Sunderland's researcher is a Newcastle supporter lol

I still have Adam Davies, George Smith, Paul Digby and James Bree as backup. Alfie Mawson and Josh Scowen are on loan at Wolves but were 1st teamers until this new season. Both Scowen and Mawson have been brilliant for me and were captain and vice captain until the summer when I've signed a number of quality regens, I'm a bit disappointed they don't feature anymore and was similar when I sold Hourihane

My main successful transfers apart from regens have been:

Sandro (free from Barcelona / sold to Bayern for 20m)

Adrien Rabiot (free from PSG / sold to Koln for 27m depending on add ons)

Josh Vela (1.5m from Bolton / sold to Man Utd for 17.5m)

Bryan Heynen (free from Genk / sold to Chelsea for 47m depending on add ons)

Zac Clough (5m from Bolton)

Cauley Woodrow (2.5m from Fulham)

Simon Gustafsson (1.5m from Cercle Bruge)

Jordan Obita (3.5m from Reading / Sold to Real Madrid for 25m) - ridiculous this as they had about 5 better left backs already

Ergys Kace (4.1m from somewhere in Greece)

[lewis999]

Good to hear you still have a few players from the original squad and Scowen and Mawson have been good even in the Premiership. I'm struggling to find people to bring in so far in pre-season before the Championship. Did you buy all those players in the Premiership? Some great fee's as well, well done.

[lewis999]

What a way to start life in the Championship. Probably one of two of the hardest games all year along with Southampton away.

[lewis999]

I just realised that Brazil didn't have an U23 manager so I applied for it on the off chance. Their national team manager offered me the role for the olympics. They won the first group game managerless 2-0. In charge of my first game now and Neymar introduces himself like this. I just sat, watched and well.....I don't have anything to say.

[Nozzer]

Good to hear you still have a few players from the original squad and Scowen and Mawson have been good even in the Premiership. I'm struggling to find people to bring in so far in pre-season before the Championship. Did you buy all those players in the Premiership? Some great fee's as well, well done.

Who have you brought in then mate? My best Championship signings were all free transfers although Callum Gribbin was amazing for me on loan, had him for 2 seasons in the Championship. Fraizer Campbell (loan), James Collins, Sam Morsy, Sean Morrison, Duncan Watmore, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Allan Armstrong (loan) were all really good signings

I'm 25 games into season 7 now and I'm 3rd in the league. Out of the FA (4th round) and League Cups (semi finals) but somehow qualified from my CL group with 9 points and play Marseille in the 1st knockout round. I've amended my tactics slightly to make us more of a goal threat and it has worked a treat, especially at home where I am scoring for fun. I'm quite poor at getting results away from home against top teams though. Whilst each season I am progressing I think it is going to be almost impossible to win the league as Man Utd have the best side I have ever seen on an FM game

Has anyone else noticed that the number of excellent regens seems to have increased on this version? There must be about 50 world class ones at various teams. They also seem to be mostly poachers / advanced forwards with high pace

[lewis999]

Who have you brought in then mate? My best Championship signings were all free transfers although Callum Gribbin was amazing for me on loan, had him for 2 seasons in the Championship. Fraizer Campbell (loan), James Collins, Sam Morsy, Sean Morrison, Duncan Watmore, Ryan Tunnicliffe and Allan Armstrong (loan) were all really good signings

I'm 25 games into season 7 now and I'm 3rd in the league. Out of the FA (4th round) and League Cups (semi finals) but somehow qualified from my CL group with 9 points and play Marseille in the 1st knockout round. I've amended my tactics slightly to make us more of a goal threat and it has worked a treat, especially at home where I am scoring for fun. I'm quite poor at getting results away from home against top teams though. Whilst each season I am progressing I think it is going to be almost impossible to win the league as Man Utd have the best side I have ever seen on an FM game

Has anyone else noticed that the number of excellent regens seems to have increased on this version? There must be about 50 world class ones at various teams. They also seem to be mostly poachers / advanced forwards with high pace

I don't play with a cam but I have looked at Gribbin. He's on my shortlist and has undoubted potential so if he does ever become available for a more permanent contract then i'll definitely do it and try and re-train him. Gonna do a pre-season update now mate with my signings.

[lewis999]

Second Season 2016/2017 - Pre-Season update

I was given 6m to strengthen for the assault on the Championship play-offs (My very high, probably unrealistic target for this season) and made a number of signings, no real stars as I am trying to give my existing squad a good go and hope their togetherness from last season helps win games as a few are good enough for this level. I did manage to strike a deal to buy back Oakwell which was a big target of mine as I hate not owning it but their was a downside to that. I now have a 40m debt and have to pay 450k per month but for me it was worth it as I hardly ever spend big.

Both my training facilties and my youth facilities are being upgraded and both are nearing completion.

As I said before my transfers were mainly for depth and some good young prospects. (Gray to Keane go straight into the first 11).

Shane Bentley and Grant Rowe at the top are two regens who have good potential. They are being tutored and have been put on specific training schedules to boost their lower attributes.

Michee Efete is a fantastic back-up, has potential and can play everywhere across the back and has good pace. Only thing he lacks is height and jumping which means if he were to play CB i'd have him on the cover.

Ryan Tunnicliffe you know all about. He's back-up at the moment but has got a bit more potential left in him to make him a good back-up in the premiership. If it doesn't work out then i'll make a profit on him.

Harry Toffolo is a young LB with potential and back-up to George Smith, again as above i'll make a profit on him if he doesn't progress like I hope.

Tafari Moore was released by Arsenal and my scouts only had good things to say about him, didn't want high wages and is on a hot prospect contract and cost nothing so a no-brainer.

Kyle Walker-Peters is my first choice RB and i'd recommend him to anyone, he's as good going forwrd at this level than i've ever had. He's like a younger Clyne down the right. Just drives past everyone and if he makes a mistake in defence he has a lot of pace like his namesake. Trying my best to keep loaning him until he's close to the end of his contract.

Isaac Hayden is back up at the minute too for two reasons. I'm giving my League One team a chance as usually I make wholesale changes, he'll play 25+ games easily and i'm hoping to loan him until his contract runs out because barring a massive capitulation at Arsenal he's not gonna get near their first team.

Cedric Hountondji is a very tall africa CB. He is solid and can tackle, mark, head and has a decent turn of speed (13 acc & 12 pace). His only low attribute is his anticipation and he lacks ball skills a little at the moment but I don't want him for that, when he plays I want him to just bully the striker. He is 6ft 5, only 22 years of age, a regular for his national team (Benin) and is only on 1.5k a week. Bargain!

Jordan Williams is another in the Isaac Hayden category. I 'doubt' he'll get near Klopp's squad and is incredibly versatile, natural at RB, CB, DM and CM. He's only 20 year old and has a 'professional' personality which is fantastic for a tutor when he get's older.

Demarai Gray speaks for himself. Doubt I will be able to get him permanently because he has a lot of potential and is very good as he is but I will try to if Tottenham keep consistently getting European football and buying big names, they might let me do a deal fingers crossed.

Will Keane looks very good. All his scout reports said good things, and the thing I like most about him is that he has a fairly strong weak foot which is very important for me in a lone striker because he has to be able to go both ways and finish from all angles. Thinking of making him learn a few PPM's because he is going to be very important this year and is my highest earner on 10k but I know if I can make him realise his potential i'm going to have a 10m pound English homegrown striker on my hands. At the minute his only bad points is his strength (10) and his dribbling (10) so those two are what i'm going to be focusing on all season as everything else he needs is 13+.

Emmanuel Riviere is a try before you buy signing as he is older than my other signings at 26 and is pretty much a complete package for this level. His history says he made just 1 sub appearance at Newcastle and moved to Malmo and made just 4 starts and scored 2 which has made his stats drop a little but I think he can be good. He has fantastic physicals which will help on the counter attack.

I still have just over 3m to use if needs be but i'm not going to spend it for the sake of it. If I can have a good first half of the season my rep might increase enough to get some pretty good players on frees before the next season. Or alternatively I may try and snap up some young english regens from further down the leagues.

[Nozzer]

I don't play with a cam but I have looked at Gribbin. He's on my shortlist and has undoubted potential so if he does ever become available for a more permanent contract then i'll definitely do it and try and re-train him. Gonna do a pre-season update now mate with my signings.

Some good signings there mate. I have looked at Keane, Hayden, Walker-Peters and Toffolo myself but they were never available for the right price whilst I was in League One / Championship. Have you got a settled formation? I struggled for the first half of my first Championship season due to me changing tactics and rolls often.

I would imagine with the players you already have plus the lads you have brought in you will be fine in the Championship. I bet you have a 'promoted to PL' update within the next 2 seasons

[lewis999]

Well seen as even at home teams are going to come at me and concede space in behind I have put together a counter attack tactic that seems to be doing okay at the moment. After beating Norwich who were just relegated at their place 2-0 I just followed it up by beating Huddersfield at home 4-1. There's nothing complexed about it with a load of intructions, its just a simple plan and the players seem to be perfecting it, long may it continue.

[Dorsetblue]

I got to the premier league and got relegated but didn't get sacked after a few heated meeting with the board I hung on by skin of my teeth and they set me a target of 9 points from first five games in championship I got ten and we are 3rd at mo and they love me again,

[lewis999]

I got to the premier league and got relegated but didn't get sacked after a few heated meeting with the board I hung on by skin of my teeth and they set me a target of 9 points from first five games in championship I got ten and we are 3rd at mo and they love me again,

Glad to hear you kept your job mate, suppose on the bright side of it all you have a near Premier League squad and are better equipped to go up again which might hold you in good stead unless a load of players are kicking off and wanting to leave? Keep us updated fella.

[lewis999]

Managed to add another trophy to the list.

I resigned afterwards as there were no more games for 4 years until the next olympics.

[lewis999]

Two very important games coming up.

[Nozzer]

Well there is season 7 finished. Could have won the league but only took 1 point from the last 3 games and came third. I was knocked out of CL in 1st round of the knockouts, lost in semi finals of the League Cup and in the 4th round of the FA Cup. I did win the Charity Shield like ha

The summer has seen big changes, none that directly affect my first team but has seen the last of my original players move on to make way for younger players to provide cover / competition for the first team. James Bree, George Smith, Josh Scowen, Paul Digby, Adam Davies and Alfie Mawson have all left for around about 15m with those funds being spent on players 15-18 ready for the future

I'm starting this season as genuine title challengers in my view, I don't have a squad as strong as others but if I'm lucky with injuries I think I could do it. Must do better in the CL this season as I only scraped through the group stages with 9 points then lost 3-0 on aggregate in the 1st knockout round

[lewis999]

ust brought in my new central midfielder and at only 18 and capable of regularly playing Championship football from the get go I have very high hopes for him. Can play in every single CM and DM role too except maybe a ball winner.

Only cost 600k which is a bargain.

EDIT : Said I weren't going to buy anyone but I have my second signing on the 3rd day of the window. To be fair I have been after him since the summer but they wanted 6m. Got him now for 2m as Bolton are struggling in League 1.

[Nozzer]

ust brought in my new central midfielder and at only 18 and capable of regularly playing Championship football from the get go I have very high hopes for him. Can play in every single CM and DM role too except maybe a ball winner.

Only cost 600k which is a bargain.

EDIT : Said I weren't going to buy anyone but I have my second signing on the 3rd day of the window. To be fair I have been after him since the summer but they wanted 6m. Got him now for 2m as Bolton are struggling in League 1.

Zac Clough is still brilliant for me, fantastic signing that for the Championship and at such a good price. Easily good enough for the Premier League and England. If Bolton are struggling financially I would also recommend Josh Vela although you may not need him looking at that central midfielder you have signed

[lewis999]

Zac Clough is still brilliant for me, fantastic signing that for the Championship and at such a good price. Easily good enough for the Premier League and England. If Bolton are struggling financially I would also recommend Josh Vela although you may not need him looking at that central midfielder you have signed

I was tracking him all summer when I went up and he ended up going to Burnley who had been promoted to the Premiership for 6.5m which was a lot more than what I had. He's young and english and if Burnley go down this season which is looking likely along with Derby and possibly Bournemouth (Hughes, Ince and Callum Wilson) will all be on my radar if I can cling onto 2nd spot or get lucky in the play-offs.

[lewis999]

Going into my last 4 games in the Championship, things are looking tight.

All season we have been pretty good against the better teams and dropped some stupid points against lower teams although saying that, this is the Championship and anyone can beat anyone so it's the same for all teams. We just played Nottingham Forest and lost 2-0 at their ground and dominated them from start to finish, the difference in budgets was massive as Assombalonga scored two brilliant individual efforts where he's clearly a class above. It's my defence that is the problem which is usually the opposite for me historically on FM.

[lewis999]

GET IN THERE!!!! We needed to win our last game as it was in our hands and we threw away 3 leads to Ipswich as we drew 3-3 I just couldn't keep the lead. That result had me waiting on Brentfords match against Cardiff that has just come through as a 1-1 which means we are up. So happy with this season. Zach Clough and Riviere up front have been fantastic in this 4-4-2. Riviere is the top of minutes per goal and he was only a try before you buy signing so the 900k fee I have agreed at the end of his loan is going to be an absolute bargain.

[Nozzer]

Good stuff mate. How many of the original squad do you think can do a job in the top league then? I suppose it depends on how they have progressed on your game but James Bree, Alfie Mawson, Conor Hourihane performed well for me and George Smith and Paul Digby were decent squad players

Mind it took me a season longer to get into the top league so my players may have been further long towards their PA

Will be interesting to see who you bring in

[Dorsetblue]

We're heading back up

[Adamm90]

How is everybody finding Sam Winnall? I'm struggling to find a way to fit him in.

Luckily Simeon Jackson and Michael Smith started a decent partnership upfront for me, and 6 goals in 7 games from loanee Andy Little has added to that.

[lewis999]

Good stuff mate. How many of the original squad do you think can do a job in the top league then? I suppose it depends on how they have progressed on your game but James Bree, Alfie Mawson, Conor Hourihane performed well for me and George Smith and Paul Digby were decent squad players

Mind it took me a season longer to get into the top league so my players may have been further long towards their PA

Will be interesting to see who you bring in

Adam Davies is still with me although he is back-up but a very able one. A few clubs are after him.

George Smith was first choice in the Championship all season and did brilliantly again, he is progressing well and this year he might have to play in easier games.

James Bree started last season as back-up to Kyle Walker-Peters who was on loan from Tottenham again and when he got injured Bree came in and showed me what he was capable of and kept his position. Currently he's my first choice RB but their is others who can play there so i'm going to be loyal to him to start with.

Alfie Mawson is still here and again currently he is going to be first choice alongside a new signing. He wasn't fantastic last season as our defence was the weak point as we scored a lot of goals but he was playing next to two teenagers (Smith and Bree) and next to Nyatanga who was okay but not brilliant. In Alfie's coaching report it says he is a decent Premier League CB so I will start the season with him and put the new signings on the bench.

Lewin Nyatanga played all last season and after checking just now he actually averaged a better rating than Mawson but Alfie has the attributes and age on his side and Lewin always seems to have a mistake in him. To be fair to Mawson he had a long injury last season as well. Nyatanga will just be back up this season as I have brought in some CB's this season.

Ryan Williams wasn't brilliant last season but in truth I didn't give him much chance as I had Demarai Gray, Jesse Lingard and George Williams as first choice for the MR and ML positions. This year he will be back up again as he can play in a number of positions and still has a full star of potential left.

Josh Scowen also played less games in the Championship. Partly because of the form of other players and partly because I changed to a 2 man central midfield which meant less opportunities. I do think he is good enough this year but I have brought in a few central midfielders with a lot of quality so he's going to be a back-up again this season unless he steps up. Majority of this season their will be a 3 man midfield so he needs to impress.

Conor Hourihane - saving the best until last, this fella has been nothing short of world class these last two seasons. He's now worth 5.75m and is at full potential but he has managed to break into the Republic of Ireland team. He had a long injury last season which meant he missed 1/3 of the season but still managed an average rating of 7.21 in a very tough league. He will keep his place this season out of loyalty also.

I do still have Digby but he never managed to do much for me and was just bang average even in League One and his attributes never really improved. Loaned him out to League One last season and my scout just kept coming back saying he played badly every week which wasn't encouraging.

We're heading back up

Fantastic mate, bouncing straight back after a relegation is a tough thing to do, now you will be wiser and more experienced for your second shot at the big league. Fingers crossed for you.

How is everybody finding Sam Winnall? I'm struggling to find a way to fit him in.

Luckily Simeon Jackson and Michael Smith started a decent partnership upfront for me, and 6 goals in 7 games from loanee Andy Little has added to that.

He was good for me in League One and if I had to start again he would play in a 2 striker formation as I think that's what he needs. He was always up top on his own for me so he was a bit of a square peg in a round hole. In the Championship he didn't get a look in and I just sold him to Walsall for 400k.

[lewis999]

A little update from the end of my Championship season, my star player who I can't get back this season, Demarai Gray swept up on the awards front and even got the Championship player of the year at the young age of just 20.

As I said before he took home all the club awards at the end of season.

An honourable mention must go to Emmanuel Riviere who was absolutely unbelievable in front of goal for us all season. He got 27 goals in 33(3) games and for the first 12-13 games he was back up to Will Keane who didn't do as well as expected as we started with a 1 striker formation until Zach Clough came in and his goals just kept coming so it's a "what if" in regards to if I would have played him all season.

[lewis999]

2017/2018 | Pre-Season | Premier League

After promotion the board gave me a budget of 9m to keep the club away from relegation. As that isn't much my task this year is to simply just stay up, not too bothered about cups although I will be trying my best with my best teams trying to take advantage of the top teams resting players. Back went my star man Demarai Gray who Tottenham said they were going to play him in the first team thanks to how much he developed when he was at Oakwell, he now has Barnsley as a favoured team so if Tottenham upset him and he ends up wanting away he will be my #1 target. My other star man on the other wing George Williams went back to Fulham and he's also someone I really want back here. He also has Barnsley as his favoured team and me as his favourite personnel so i'm keeping an eye on him too.

Transfers in

Thomas Delaney - What a fantastic player and at only 2m was an absolute bargain. He's going to be responsible for the screening of the back with his perfect PPM's and his impressive personality he is already tutoring a highly thought of youngster at the club. With a leadership stat of 15 I may make him captain straight away as whenever he is fit he's going to play. With 14+ in every single attribute that is needed for a defensive midfielder he could probably play at a better club than us. I'm not complaning. Can also play CB if needed.

Iver Fossum - This young lad was attracting the interest of Atletico Madrid, Paris St. Germain, Chelsea and Borussia Dortmund until I stole the march on them all with a quick bid of 2.2m and the promise of first team football to whisk him to South Yorkshire. He is very energetic with 18 for teamwork, work rate and stamina this lad will run all day which is what will be needed this season. His two PPM's of 'Gets into opposition area and Gets forward whenever possible will be very important in our counter attacking system as we will need box to box guys to try and nick some smash and grab performances.

Ryan Christie - Another central midfielder, Ryan has the added bonus of being able to play RM, LM and filling in at ST if needed. He has the attributes for all those positions and his only weakness may be his work rate of 11 but i'm hoping I can improve that for him. He is on a low wage of 7k and only cost 1.5m so for someone who is already good enough for this league I think it's a very good signing.

Isaac Hayden - I rate him in real life so when I got the opportunity to loan him on this years game as he has been massively upgraded I took it with both hands. Unfortunately he only played twice and as I wasn't playing towards his wages I kept him around and kept him fit with matches for the reserve teams. I had 5 first team loans in the squad last season so that's the only reason he missed out. Arsenal let me make his loan permanent for just 725k which for a versatile young englishman with potential left to fill, low wages and a good personality is yet another no-brainer for me. He will probably start as back-up and I see him filling in at CB and DM this season.

Jordan Williams - Another player I had around last season and he impressed me as he has well rounded attributes and he is natural in 4 positions (DR, DC, DM and CM which is vital for me. Like the other transfers he is a good personality to have around (professional) and still has potential to get even better. At 1.3m and no cons on his scout report I couldn't turn him down. He is stronger than James Bree at RB and in tougher matches he will play as he can do a bit of everything.

Tyrone Mings - Not quite sure what's happened to this guy. I know he starts the game with a very serious injury but he seems to have declined a lot. I know how good he is at the start of the game before the injury takes hold and he's good enough for the Premiership there and then so i'm hoping Barnsley can be his long term home and I can get his career back on track. Bournemouth went down so I thought I may of had some resistance but they transfer listed him for just 275k which I couldn't believe so I got that deal done quick before they realised what a mistake they had made.

Dan Burn - I was dubious about this fella to begin with as he only seemed to be good enough for the Championship. I then had a closer look myself and realised that a big, tall, commanding centre half was exactly what I needed, especially with the added reliance on set pieces this season both attacking and defending and very strong mental stats I overlooked his lack of pace and agility as for 90% of matches this season we will be playing deep which won't be much trouble to him. My top coach says he is a good player for most Premier League clubs so the 600k I paid for him seems like peanuts.

I still have a few more players to bring in and I have only played one pre-season friendly at the moment so still plenty of time as I like to my transfers in early and then look to add a bit of quality with loans. I will update as and when I manage to bring in some more guys. The only notable outgoing so far is Sam Winnall for 300k to newly promoted Championship team Walsall.

*You can click on the player names for their profile.

[lewis999]

Brilliant form at the end of the season Joga, unlucky in the Carlisle game, hopefully next season. Do you think you have a shot at promotion?

I've added a few more players since last night, a few loans to try and add some depth for the Premiership.

Melker Hallberg - Loan from Udinese and a back-up as he can play a lot of positions, well rounded and has good potential.

Jores Okore - Ready built Premier League centre half. Tempted to put him straight in ahead of Mawson next to Burn but i'm hesitant to change the whole XI as one it's not fair and two it might come back to bite me.

Emmanuel Riviere - 1/2 of the star double act with Demarai Gray last season, comes in on loan again, I needed to strengthen the defence and midfield so ran out of cash so another loan with a 900k future fee is a win-win.

Tom Walker - Had a bad season last season for Bolton in League One ratings wise but has impressive stats for a 21 year old. He's a bit of an all rounder and only wanted a hot prospect contract on 6k a week. Might end up being loaned out for the first half of the season to see if he can cut it there.

Julian Green - The flying winger from Bayern Munich can't get into their star studded side and was sat in their B team so I took a chance on him and every scout report I got was nothing but positive. He's quick, direct and full of running, something i'm going to need on the counter attack. He's capable of playing on both wings and all my coaches say he is currently good enough to play in Premier League so he may be first choice.

Sheyi Ojo - Comes in from Liverpool and is someone who i'm trying to get in permanently if the board give me funds in January. Has a lot of potential but is already Premier League quality now and is big, strong, technical and quick. I've had a crazy idea with him as well that if I can improve his finishing he would make a brilliant deep lying forward.

Richairo Zivkovic - Another loan with a 7.5m future fee. I don't have that at the moment so if he can impress and I get given some money mid-season I may look to make that permanent as he has undoubted potential. Ajax let him go on loan because he had a bad injury last season so i'm hoping to revive his career. Him and Clough will be first choice and they may force me to play with 2 up front more than I thought I would be.

About to play my first game against Tottenham at home. Will prbably need a bit of luck if i'm to come away with anything. Gonna go and have a look at their team now to see if I can spot any weaknesses.

[lewis999]

Zach Clough scores our first goal of the season as we go 1-0 up!

[Dorsetblue]

We're currently dreaming

[lewis999]

good going mate, hopefully you get a fair bit of money in January to try and get a European spot.

[Dorsetblue]

[lewis999]

Just played West Brom, ended up winning 2-1 at their ground and I know he's old but look who was playing for them............

His stats are still world class. They also had Coentrao at LB. How Tony Pulis has convinced skilful players like that into his methods is beyond me.

[lewis999]

Two new signings, really happy with the McNair one as he has potential and can play in 3 different positions.

Another direct, quick winger. He's just got injured but he has started the last 7 games since he joined, I really like his PPM's on the counter attack. I don't have a future fee set which I should start doing really as I keep developing players and their parent clubs getting the rewards.

[Adamm90]

Well, I did it, somehow. I was going into the final game of the season, on the back of one win the last seven games, needing to match Walsall's result to win the league. Walsall were 1-0 at Port Vale, and I finished up drawing 1-1 against Wigan. Genuinely thought I'd messed it up and finished second, until I noticed a 92nd minute penalty meant Port Vale pulled one back against Walsall. Hopefully I can start the new season better than I ended this one. One win in the final eight games was very poor.

I kept hold of Michael Smith in January for £150k, and he ended up with 17 goals for the season. I also brought in Jamal Campbell-Ryce (who I have now released along with Simeon Jackson) and Chris Herd on free transfers, in January. So far in the summer I've brought in Sam Clucas and Stuart O'Keefe, with Ben Garratt and Marvin Sordell set to join on 1st July 2016. Any other recommendations guys?