cjgoodsell Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Looking at doing an MK Dons save with my Palace Save what have others tried with the Dons? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PVPV Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 The game does reflect Man City as being an affiliate of Bury, with loans being part of that agreement. It is kind of rare though, and I would imagine in reality it's more likely a development benefit to each club, and not really done to give the smaller outfit a financial boost. I think that's the point that Gripper might have been trying to make, but I'll let him answer for himself The text for all 72 club previews has now been done. I might add more bits and pieces as we go, but that's enough to help people pick a club, consider which players might be most important, and perhaps give some transfer options from those named within. Hope it helps a little. Yeah Jojo, when we had Jordon Ibe on loan there was an agreement that Liverpool had first refusal on Demarai Gray if we chose to sell,definitely benefits both clubs in that respect. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PVPV Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Looking at doing an MK Dons save with my Palace Save what have others tried with the Dons? MK Dons are doing well on my save, in 5th place just 2 points below me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animasta Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 So, looking through the clubs... Nothing really stood out to me, so I went to my old standby of playing a team with an American in it. So, here I am, the new Chesterfield boss. I also like the look of the squad, to be fair. I only needed a few ins: Bevis Mugabi from Soton for 130k, a centerback I hope can develop into a premier league player Oliver Burke on loan from Forest for RM cover and two Spanish guys I only found because I was looking for a different Diego and some regen Diego popped up as a scout... Fer, a backup ball winner, and Miguel Angel Riau, my starting left back. However, I did sell two players: I hated Sam Morsy when I used him in my Turkey save so I got 675k for him, and I got rid of Harrison because I only needed three strikers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaaamiebeach Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Birmingham fans - Are any of you managing to keep hold of Gray past January? He has that £5m minimum release clause and won't sign a new contract for me, ended up with him going to Watford. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelBrown Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Great thread, enjoying it (as Head of FL research).PVPV - isn't it kinda cheating to get a parent club in, seeing as that is not really an English thing? For some suggested difficult League Two challenges, why not try Newport or Hartlepool? Or go unemployed and apply for jobs that come up as managers are sacked in the autumn, so that you are taking on a team near the bottom of the table in the first season. Taking on one of the biggest clubs like Oxford, Luton or Pompey at the start is a little too easy. I note someone above said that Pompey gave the manager £1.5m in the first window, which seems very unrealistic to me. I'd have definitely logged that as a bug if it were in my savegame, especially as Portsmouth are not a sugar daddy club. Also Crawley and Wycombe don't have a reserves or youth-setup at all, so a long-term save there would involve you persuading the board to invest in those areas as you grew as a manager, and add to the challenge/difficulty level. I don't know the specifics, but would this be realistic if the manager had a good cup run, or sold players/lowered the wage bill? Portsmouth on my save have made a few changes to their squad, with a wage bill at nearly £3m pa, £500k more than Notts. County Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MichaelBrown Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 Just to add about Yeovil - I think the prediction of fourth is a little harsh - their squad has a lot of injuries, thus having no star quality throughout the side. Plus, they have a pretty low wage budget, meaning signings are restricted (unless you sell one of your better players) to loanees and free signings. I'm near the end of my first season, and I'm stagnating at the minute. I've got the 16th highest wage bill and the 14th best away record in L2, yet I'm still surviving near the playoffs. For those who want a good AM, look at Liam Kelly from Reading. I'm playing him as a shadow striker and he's pretty much my best player, providing the majority of my shots (albeit, long shots in his case, but I'll explain that in a few days) and he's my secondary playmaker. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliotb888 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 So, I am in 2020 at the minute as have been on this save since the BETA. I will give you a quick rundown. I started my career at Leyton Orient in League 2. We had a great first season, and won the league on the final day, snatching it from Portsmouth. We moved up to League 1 and performed very well, leading the league for large parts of the season but a poor Christmas and end of the season meant we finished three points off the playoff spaces in 7th. We almost did the same in my third season as manager but we crept into the playoffs in 5th, and after winning against Oldham in the semi-final, we narrowly lost to Wigan in the playoff final 1-0. The fourth season went poorly and although we were mid table, I was sacked. So I eventually got a new job at the new League 1 side Ipswich, who had been relegated from the Championship. They had a lot of unhappy players and although the squad was excellent, I needed to make a lot of changes. I sold a number of key players and brought in some of my own, including four loans. We did excellently, taking a while to reach the top but keeping it comfortably and we won by 10 points. That brings me to where we are now which is 4 games into the 2020 season, where we are in the Championship and we are sat in 4th place having won three and lost once. Looking okay - kept the squad largely the same from the season before, bringing in Fabio and James Tomkins on frees, Walter Kannemann for 2.6 million from Liverpool (Left-back who starts at Atlas in Mexico) and Eder from Sampdoria for 1.6 million. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealpete Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Getting sacked after having a decent run with a club is a hard pill to swallow, at least you moved your career up (technically). Meanwhile I've managed to bankrupt Bury so they sacked me in 2017 (actually had a bit of a giggle about it). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrientTillIDie Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 I'm struggling to find a save to commit to. Always do a Football League one (normally Orient but they sacked me in March on the beta) but every time I start one I get a few games and realise I don't care enough about them to make them good. Any suggestions... I do like a challenge so maybe Newport or Crawley would be an interesting one. What do you guys think? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
idol1 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Birmingham fans - Are any of you managing to keep hold of Gray past January? He has that £5m minimum release clause and won't sign a new contract for me, ended up with him going to Watford. I managed to keep hold of him until around 2020 in a british only players save, and can tell you he is worth keeping hold of if he's open to it. Was fully capped for England and him and Jesse Lingard were my standout players on either wing in Europe. I should add through gritted teeth I ended up selling him for between £30-40M plus addons a few seasons on, as I couldn't keep up with his demand. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted November 19, 2015 Author Share Posted November 19, 2015 Good to see a varied bunch of clubs as usual, between us we should try and manage all 72 @lewis999: Would appreciate your help as last year on the transfer budgets if you don't mind? If ok, I'll copy them in to the opening posts. Cheers mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis007 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 Not a bad first season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewis999 Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Good to see a varied bunch of clubs as usual, between us we should try and manage all 72 @lewis999: Would appreciate your help as last year on the transfer budgets if you don't mind? If ok, I'll copy them in to the opening posts. Cheers mate. Not a problem mate, how did I get them to you last time? Been a while since then that's all. Did I just post them in the thread? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
therealpete Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Nice first season with Rochdale Lewis! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animasta Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 I got promoted as Chesterfield, 2nd place (after a pretty hectic final day, 4 teams could've gotten the promotion spots) and I realized that my team wasn't ready enough for the championship. and I was right to a point, my first season in the championship was a slog. We were never above 12th, and though we ended 16th... we were still only 4 points above the drop. We played a counter attacking style mostly, bottom of average possession, bottom of completed pass percentage, etc. my transfers: the important ones were Selling Miguel Angel Riau was important to fund a lot of it, and he was mediocre at best anyway. Lawrie Wilson, who was probably my most consistant signing. Fran Ganfornina, (who I really want to rename to Fran California) who was my playmaker and did it alright for the most part. Dani Pacheco, who I signed as a striker but is probably going to be my main playmaker now that I signed a new striker; Sergi Enrich from Eibar despite the fact that he scored literally zero goals for Eibar in La Liga, which I just noticed. Oh well! My top performers were Charlie Raglan, who was the rock in the back and was often the only defender with a rating above 6.3 Despite the fact my assistant still doesn't think much of him. Gboly Aribiyi, who is an incredible winger and made the jump from League 1 to the Championship perfectly. Hopefully he gets a call up soon League table: Soton was so very very close to being relegated twice in two years, in which case I might've been tempted to join them and see if I could bring them back up. Hopefully we don't get dragged down in the relegation scrap again... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted November 20, 2015 Author Share Posted November 20, 2015 Nice updates guys. @lewis999: I think you just posted them in here, and then I was able to find a way of also adding them in to the OP. Cheers mate. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ty Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 I will be doing an update later, I have completed my season in League One and currently sit 2nd in the Championship in February. I only spent £365k this season, a few decent freebies and loans have carried me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewis999 Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Joga I have them here but i'm going to put them as links in case people don't want to see them. Championship budgets : https://i.gyazo.com/ca79e9a3857b3c3080451117ee880b9c.png League One budgets : https://i.gyazo.com/2e5be317c445d24d4adf271e2cde6e68.png League Two budgets : https://i.gyazo.com/1c9a32e15609214065a7260022cad5f9.png Hopefully that will be some help to people in here when picking their team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elliotb888 Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 IPSWICH 2020-21 HALF SEASON UPDATE Following from my earlier post, I have reached the half-way stage in the 2020 season with Ipswich. Been a decent start to our return to the Championship. We are sat in 7th after 24 games, as we reach the January transfer window. We have been going in spells, a run of good form to open the season, a run of poor form towards the middle and then the recent form has been excellent. The best performances have come from left midfielder Josh Murphy, who has 6 goals and 8 assists, Andre Dozzell who has done well in CM and the two loanees - Jamie Bell, the AMC has 9 goals in 15 games and Moussa Dembele, the Fulham striker has 5 goals in 5 games so far! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted November 21, 2015 Author Share Posted November 21, 2015 Joga I have them here but i'm going to put them as links in case people don't want to see them.Championship budgets : https://i.gyazo.com/ca79e9a3857b3c3080451117ee880b9c.png League One budgets : https://i.gyazo.com/2e5be317c445d24d4adf271e2cde6e68.png League Two budgets : https://i.gyazo.com/1c9a32e15609214065a7260022cad5f9.png Hopefully that will be some help to people in here when picking their team. Thanks a lot mate, all added to the OP now. Not sure why L1 & L2 isn't alphabetical order but very useful info for people when picking a team. Cheers As with last year, these confuse me a little bit anyway as the balances shown in the editor never seem to match what the club values and loan debts are on each club's page. Using Northampton as an example, their 'landing page' says they are worth £1.5m and have £15m loan debt, but the transfer budget says their club balance is £1. Wycombe, on the other hand have a minus balance of £240k in the editor and yet a club value £1.8m (loan debt £1.2m) in the 'landing page'. Anyway, I think it gives people good info on the transfer & wage budgets, even if I'm not convinced which part is more accurate on balance/debt! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhroX Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Well, I've been rather slowly working my way onward as Cambridge, and at the end of the calendar year, I'm somehow in third place. I say somehow as my team's been pretty inconsistent, and I've not really been able to put any kind of run of form together, and so picking up 40 points from 24 games is quite a surprise. Definitely been my defense that's got me there, it's the third best in the league, while I'm only 14th on goals scored. Having said in my first post in this thread I wasn't going to spend money, I went and bought a young Scottish winger/forward by the name of Alan Forrest for about £50k, and he seems like a good buy so far - of sufficient quality for League 2, with bags of potential, he's joint top assister and 2nd on goals for my team, despite missing the first month of the season. Probably looking to strengthen a bit in the January window, preferably through loans, but I'm yet to find anyone I want. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted November 21, 2015 Author Share Posted November 21, 2015 Alan Forrest at Ayr Utd is a good pick. Did well when I was at Aberdeen in FM15, so nice to see you sign him. Good luck with your promotion push! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewis999 Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Thanks a lot mate, all added to the OP now. Not sure why L1 & L2 isn't alphabetical order but very useful info for people when picking a team. Cheers As with last year, these confuse me a little bit anyway as the balances shown in the editor never seem to match what the club values and loan debts are on each club's page. Using Northampton as an example, their 'landing page' says they are worth £1.5m and have £15m loan debt, but the transfer budget says their club balance is £1. Wycombe, on the other hand have a minus balance of £240k in the editor and yet a club value £1.8m (loan debt £1.2m) in the 'landing page'. Anyway, I think it gives people good info on the transfer & wage budgets, even if I'm not convinced which part is more accurate on balance/debt! Ah yeah well use these then.....i've done them again. League One : https://i.gyazo.com/89f747a8f6ce47af72dd65a1e055720e.png League Two : https://i.gyazo.com/59e4d9fa17d9ee3ccb67bcf0f7c24362.png To the balances, on the landing pages it says estimated value which means it will be the overall worth of the club including stadium worth, facilities, player value (possibly), sponsorships maybe. Just the overall worth not how much the football side of things has in the bank. As an example I just started a game as Southampton and on their landing page it says value : 260m but in my finances page I only have 16m. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted November 21, 2015 Author Share Posted November 21, 2015 Ah brilliant, makes sense now you explained it. And thanks for re-doing those. I just assumed the editor wanted it in that order - didn't expect you to do them again mate, but appreciate it as usual Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewis999 Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Ah brilliant, makes sense now you explained it. And thanks for re-doing those. I just assumed the editor wanted it in that order - didn't expect you to do them again mate, but appreciate it as usual If we're going to do something, we gotta do it properly, right? Let me know if you need any help with anything, never a problem. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted November 21, 2015 Author Share Posted November 21, 2015 Haha, I like your style. Cheers mate. Now I just need to decide who to take on. I think everything here confirms Northampton are the hardest test this time, financially...but whether that's enough for me I'm not sure. Surprised by the transfer funds of Carlisle (must be down to Dempsey & Potts sales). Cambridge look minted, relatively speaking. But maybe I should try something above League 2. Decisions... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewis999 Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Haha, I like your style. Cheers mate. Now I just need to decide who to take on. I think everything here confirms Northampton are the hardest test this time, financially...but whether that's enough for me I'm not sure. Surprised by the transfer funds of Carlisle (must be down to Dempsey & Potts sales). Cambridge look minted, relatively speaking. But maybe I should try something above League 2. Decisions... I always think Crewe is a great save because of their academy and youth players coming through who you can either develop or sell on with %'s. Added to that their team is one of the worst in League One it has both difficulty and promise. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Animasta Posted November 21, 2015 Share Posted November 21, 2015 Lloyd Isgrove is a Chesterfield legend! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smplfc123 Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 @Jogo - I think I'm ready for my first proper attempt at the Football League, now to find a team..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plainlayzee Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 I've actually got no clue who to pick so I'm going to load the game up to start in December and decide from there. Whoever is not having a good season I'll take a punt at I think Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted November 22, 2015 Author Share Posted November 22, 2015 Well done Animasta. Welcome back smp, knowing you it will be one of the really poor teams! Ah, Mr Layzee, welcome home. Good luck whoever you pick, I'm looking to set something up too... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plainlayzee Posted November 22, 2015 Share Posted November 22, 2015 Cheers mate Ive had a look through all of l2 and none of them are inspiring me so think it will have to be L1. Lower end, proabably whoever is in the relegation zone when it loads up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pompeyboyz Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Was looking for Unique Portsmouth FC thread but see Ty is here so will post my update later. Midway through season 2 after winning League 2 and now in the play off places in League 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pompeyboyz Posted November 23, 2015 Share Posted November 23, 2015 Portsmouth FC 2015/2016 Season I started this season using my own tactic which I hoped would be really good but ended up being really poor. I then switched to a couple of tactics from the forums and won't name or show which and it was very good going for a long time that I started running away with the league. But just as I got within 1 win of securing the title, I went on a run of 3 successive defeats and struggled over the line. Season 2015/2016 Table Season 2015/2016 Transfers I went a bit mad on long term loans that really bit me hard as I ended up returning most to their clubs when I couldn't get anything out of them. Del Piero was amazing in League 2 even at 41. My top scorer and highest ave rating was Kyle Bennett with 16 goals in 41 games at 7.30 ave.r Portsmouth FC 2016/2017 Season (so far) In Pre-Season I find that the tactics that I previously used were no longer effective and needed to create my own. The Tactic I had to tweak this to bits before I got consistent results. Learning from the previous seasons loan mistakes and armed with a healthy £1.5m transfer kitty, i went about strengthening my team to suit. Season 2016/2017 Transfers Season 2016/2017 Table so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pompeyboyz Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Just a very quick update as I played a couple of games this morning before work and thumped top of the league MK Dons 3-1 at their own place. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 Pompeyboyz, you must really not rate your original team - that's an incredible turnover of players! Well done on the promotion anyway, maybe it will be two in two. I think I'm ready to get going myself now. I have set up about 10 teams from L1/L2 and a couple of Championship sides. I've made up a shortlist of players I will look to sign for each of those clubs, and I have picked the first team to try. I've done pre-season and the first few official matches, so assuming it hits the spot, I shall continue and reveal all soon. Special prize (of kudos if nothing else) to the first person that gets my new club right - but you can only guess once! League 2 and low budget is the only clue for now... Who else is active and with which clubs? I see the Barnsley thread is going well, they're definitely a good one to try in my opinion. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pompeyboyz Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Jogo, I actually stuck by the initial team pretty well for the first season but when I changed tactics I had to make major changes to the squad as they were not up to the task. PS...are you gonna be Newport county Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plainlayzee Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Accrington Jogo? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted November 24, 2015 Author Share Posted November 24, 2015 Two wrong guesses so far Nine games in now, with a record of 3-0-3 in the league (11th) and out of the COC and JPT. But my best striker just got his first competitive minutes off the bench in the last game after getting injured pre-season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo7 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Really enjoying this, playing as Notts County, still in the first season, played around 20 games and I'm 2nd, 4 points off Portsmouth at the top. Haven't signed anyone of note, as I always tend to give the team that I inherit a season to see who's good and who's crap. Going well so far, Izale McLeod is my top goal-scorer averaging nearly a goal a game Will do a proper update at some point when I'm at my laptop and have a bit of spare time, but it's going well! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo7 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Oh, and Jogo - are you Northampton? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shakey.bridge Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Really enjoying this, playing as Notts County, still in the first season, played around 20 games and I'm 2nd, 4 points off Portsmouth at the top. Haven't signed anyone of note, as I always tend to give the team that I inherit a season to see who's good and who's crap. Going well so far, Izale McLeod is my top goal-scorer averaging nearly a goal a game Will do a proper update at some point when I'm at my laptop and have a bit of spare time, but it's going well! I've just started a Notts County save, transfer budgets off as well, so I will have this squad until Jan, They have a big squad for league 2 and the wage bill needs trimming, any tips Gizmo ? It looks like 442 with Stead and Mcleod up top at first glance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo7 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Yeah the squad already has enough quality for this league, so no signings needed straight the way, it's just a REALLY old squad! I did pick up Marvin Elliot on a free, but apart from that I have the same team. I'll concentrate on trimming the wage budget at the end of the season when a lot of their contracts are up. I'm lining up a little like this, in a 4-4-2: --------------Carroll---------------- Hewitt - Hollis - Amevor - Adams Jenner - Elliot - Thompson - Burke ------------ McLeod - Stead --------- Realy strong strikeforce for this level Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shakey.bridge Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Yeah the squad already has enough quality for this league, so no signings needed straight the way, it's just a REALLY old squad! I did pick up Marvin Elliot on a free, but apart from that I have the same team. I'll concentrate on trimming the wage budget at the end of the season when a lot of their contracts are up. I'm lining up a little like this, in a 4-4-2: --------------Carroll---------------- Hewitt - Hollis - Amevor - Adams Jenner - Elliot - Thompson - Burke ------------ McLeod - Stead --------- Realy strong strikeforce for this level Cheers Gizmo, Yes agree with you on the strike force, I notice you haven't got Noble or Aborah in your team, I was looking at those 2 as my centre mid pairing. Still tinkering in Pre Season at the moment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gizmo7 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 I do rotate a bit so Aborah tends to feature still. Don't really know what happened with Noble, we've had a bit of an argument so he's sulking and I will probably sell soon, he looks to be a good player though, maybe just a bad attitude, which I will not tolerate! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigpapa42 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 There is a stand-alone Hull City thread, but I figured I would mention it here. As one might expect for a side favored for promotion, its not that difficult to get promoted with them. They have a solid squad. Done very well with a counter-attacking approach, with Hernandez and Aluko being reliable goal-machines. Not much for young prospects and the facilities aren't great either so plenty to build up in terms of infrastructure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 Good to see Notts County managers in the house. With Izale in the team it should be fun, and there's lots of potential to revive that club in time too. @Gizmo: Nope, although that kind of challenge interests me. My best mate lives there, and a very old ex gf has done for years. Sadly, I just don't like any of their squad so didn't start there. @Bigpapa: As far as Championship teams go, I really think Hull is one of the best picks. But yeah, promotion isn't hard and then it's effectively a Premier League save which just doesn't interest me. Each to their own Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pompeyboyz Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Minor update of my second season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted November 26, 2015 Author Share Posted November 26, 2015 So, here we are with my first serious dip in to FM16. And what made Roy Race pick League 2 strugglers Mansfield Town for his return to club management? Well, the media prediction of 23rd and the lack of any transfer and spare wage budget was part of the attraction. I like that they have an all-seater stadium, modest as it may be. I like the fact that the U21 squad has a few younger players that aren't any worse than some of the first teamers, meaning I can phase out the old guard and give immediate first season opportunities to some of the youngsters. I like the that most of the player contracts expire in 2016, and that they have spare loan slots if they are needed. I also like the fact that there is some pace in the squad, and particularly the fact that returning striker Matt Green is listed as a club legend at the start of the game. Unfortunately, so was previous manager Adam Murray who - despite being a player manager - couldn't be kept in when I (oops, when Roy Race) arrived. The final reason for picking The Stags was that they provided me with the rare opportunity of starting a career in England with a player from Tanzania, my second home in recent years. So, step forward striker Adi Yusuff and consider yourself promoted from the U21 squad in to the first team. Transfers With some careful movement, I was able to create myself a bit of a budget - something approaching £100k in fact - but I didn't actually spend any of it on transfer or agent fees. I always select the lowest bonus options, which means that there is some scope to trade if necessary. More importantly it helps with the short-term financial planning, and hopefully keeps the board on side too. I identified that I wanted an centre-back, another winger, a central midfielder, possibly another striker - and definitely a younger goalkeeper. The first arrival was an out-of-contract Hungarian left-winger called Jozsef Piller. In recent years he has been troubled by injury, but as I know one of his parents I decided to give him his first crack at English football. The two 'keepers I inherited were aged 34 and 40 (the latter a very mediocre goalkeeping coach too) so a younger option was wanted. That prompted me to take Jonathan Mitchell on loan from Derby for a season, and although there were doubts as to whether he would be ready, I decided to make him my first choice in goal. I tried hard to take Wigan central defender Jack Hendry on loan for the season too, but although his club sanctioned it, he repeatedly turned me down until I gave up. A handful of strikers I had in mind also didn't come off, but Cork City central midfielder Garry Buckley has signed a pre-contract deal and arrives in January. I added a couple of teenagers to my U21 squad on free transfers, as they are low-risk signings that can't really fail - midfielder Kyran Wiltshere from Maidenhead and ex-Norwich forward Lewis Byrne-Hewitt. I don't expect either to make an impression, but it would be a nice bonus if they do enough to earn a stay beyond this season. There were no departures, although I did try to off-load a few unwanted players. They're now placed in the U21 squad and have no future with the club. Staff I always like to have my own men around me, although attracting much quality here was a difficult task. Nearly all of the staff had their contracts terminated, and that area of the club has definitely been improved. The new men are ex-Liverpool and Ireland star Ronnie Whelan (DOF), ex-Newcastle man Kenny Wharton (HOYD), Darren Patterson, Paul Murray and Chris Kiwomya (coaches), Scott Green (U21 Manager), Richard Naylor (U18 coach), Paul Teather (physio), Bobby Dickson (scout), and my new Assistant Manager - former Holland international midfielder Orlando Engelaar! Early progress Pre-season and early form has been mixed, and interesting. I'm set up in a standard 442 with minimal instructions. I want to clear the ball to the flanks, run at defences, and hit low crosses. I want my defence to be solid, and I'm happy to play counter-attacking football - even at home. Unfortunately my best striker (Green), who I was pinning most of my season hopes on, got injured early in pre-season and only returned from the bench on 5th September. Since then he has found good form (four goals in four starts), alongside my Tanzanian forward Yusuff (five goals and seven assists already). The recent trend has been that we score and concede at a staggering rate. And look at the own goals in recent games, I'm not sure if that's typical of this version or just me? I am looking to find a way where we can tighten up at the back, but the latest results show that might not be an easy fix. So far we have won five and lost five in League 2, with no draws at all. We are second top scorers, but with the second worst defence. That's not my style at all - but it's been enough to see us sitting in 9th at the end of September. I've given the young players their heads, and that may be part of the reason why we are a bit unpredictable so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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