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FM16 - The Sky Bet Football League thread


Jogo Bonito

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just coming up to end of October ,we are on a 14 match unbeaten run sitting top of the league got to play Man utd in the league cup 4th round.Also I noticed tha Michu and Mazuch were free agents so snapped them both up bringing some more quality to our side

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I've started a Swindon save as my first crack at FM2016

Big changes at Swindon with a mass exodus after failing miserably against Preston last season in the play off final so I'm not as familiar with the Squad as I usually am.

However, a fairly solid spine to the team to build on. I am not expecting promotion first season so I think in Jan/Summer I just have to spot some good opportunities.

To start, I bought in David October (Free agent) as I only had 1 left back in the Senior Squad, I also bought in Steven Hewitt for a bit of creativity from the middle of the park.

So far so good in mid October - I am 2nd in the league, only lost to leaders Burton. I also went out in the 2nd round of the Capital One cup to Watford but that's fine.

Also into the JPT quater final after avoiding any L1 opposition so that's promising.

My strengths seem to be using inside forwards and overlapping fullbacks whilst the central players sit in and defend - I have the least goals conceded in the league so far.

I think this is a testament to my lack of creativity as I am just lumping the ball at Wes Thomas and it seems to be working.

I'm sure they will find me out at some point but hopefully that's after January when maybe I can bring in a good winger or attacking mid or something...

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30 games into the season and this is how we sit - https://gyazo.com/e80c31ddb3d6170d37775be12f78a331

Reasonably happy although as you can see 13 draws is too much and a lot of points dropped which has been frustrating. Portsmouth had a poor start but was always expecting them to go on a run and now they are setting the standard, but I do believe we have it in us to win the league. Having targeted a top 7 finish I should be delighted where we are but still a long way to go, promotion by any method is the target.

January came and I knew I had to strengthen my defence with injuries and a bit of inexperience was having it's affect on us leading to some dropped points. Brought in Alan Tate from Port Talbot on a short-team deal to the end of the season and he has been very good, he's tutoring Rhys Marshall and also playing ahead of him at the minute. Johnny Burn signed from Boro on loan and has been very impressive in central defence, with Tom Hitchcock's loan also extended to end of season, he has been a nice signing.

This has been our results - https://gyazo.com/f7446f881fef85fdf8a30e5b5a3fe1d2

These are our remaining fixtures, out of 16 games I would be confident 30 points would see us automatically promoted. - https://gyazo.com/a80916ab71ed6bb075e2488d7fd66de5

Come on the lads

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Preston North End!

Anyone, had any joy with them?

I see so many people take over clubs rated to finish in relegation spots, yet finish up near the playoffs and I just always wonder how?!

£1 mil budget, yet no decent championship players are interested in coming, I've tried with Preston 4 times now to attempt to stay in the Championship, to no avail, so many different variations of tactics, it's a nightmare.

Please someone tell me they've had some joy? My latest save I've lost my first 5 games on the bounce. Defensive / counter tactics verses controlling possession tactics makes absolutely no difference when your team will not perform.

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Preston North End!

Anyone, had any joy with them?

I see so many people take over clubs rated to finish in relegation spots, yet finish up near the playoffs and I just always wonder how?!

£1 mil budget, yet no decent championship players are interested in coming, I've tried with Preston 4 times now to attempt to stay in the Championship, to no avail, so many different variations of tactics, it's a nightmare.

Please someone tell me they've had some joy? My latest save I've lost my first 5 games on the bounce. Defensive / counter tactics verses controlling possession tactics makes absolutely no difference when your team will not perform.

Look around foreign leagues and free transfers where you need to strengthen, loan signings etc and that'll help alot. I'd never go for control with Preston and I wouldn't use defensive. Iirc you have good enough strikers, try and play the ball down the flanks to those strikers.

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After starting up a Leeds game I got sacked just before the last game of the season even though I was in 4th place (new chairman didn't help). Gillingham offered me a lifeline halfway through the 2nd season and managed to go 16 games unbeaten and win League 2.

Now back in League 1 starting my 3rd season I need a list of possible transfer targets please. First thing I did was get Man Utd as a parent club so hopefully grab a few players off them on loan

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New signings for Sheffield

Kyle Bartley (1.1m), Gabriel Torje (1.4m) and Nicolo Cherubin (Free). Got rid of a lot of the dead wood which helped, came within an inch of signing Dembele from Spurs for 1m but I couldn't afford his wages so I then resent the offer to Spurs with a 1.2m fee plus them paying 35k of his wages which they accepted but he wouldn't restart negotiations :(

Team is now:

Sam Johnstone

Tyias Browning-Kyle Bartler-Igor Bubnjic-Brad Smith

Che Adams-Chris Basham-Louis Reed-Martyn Woolford

Gabriel Torje-Rey Manaj

Fraizer Campbell will be in and around the team when he recovers from a torn hamstring, Sharp is also quite good. Next season I will try and secure Johnstone on a permanent deal or buy a different goalkeeper and buy a new LM as Woolford is now 31. If we go up I will probably go for a new midfielder to replace Basham too. Currently in 11th, six points off 6th and nine points off top. 18 games to go though so a little while yet, will post some screenshots when this season is over.

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Preston North End!

Anyone, had any joy with them?

I see so many people take over clubs rated to finish in relegation spots, yet finish up near the playoffs and I just always wonder how?!

£1 mil budget, yet no decent championship players are interested in coming, I've tried with Preston 4 times now to attempt to stay in the Championship, to no avail, so many different variations of tactics, it's a nightmare.

Please someone tell me they've had some joy? My latest save I've lost my first 5 games on the bounce. Defensive / counter tactics verses controlling possession tactics makes absolutely no difference when your team will not perform.

Played only 7 games with Preston but it's not a bad start

Rotherham 4-1 win

Ipswich 4-0 win

Oldham 2-0 win (CAP)

Burnley 4-3 win (CAP)

Hull 1-2 lose

MK Dons 1-2 lose

Nottingham 0-1 lose

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Starting the second season with Morecambe, following last season's last-gasp-heroics to survive, we had a busy summer in the transfer market, shifting some of the high earners and bringing in some more quality to the squad. We're now within the wage budget (with £10 to spare :p), so that's much needed, as when I inherited this squad we were leaking money left, right and centre.

Transfers

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Jordan Marshall - we had 0 natural left-backs at the club last season, so this area was a priority, in comes the young left-back on a free. Looks pretty solid for this level, and is earning peanuts too.

Sebastian Malkowski - Both our keepers last season were poor, and both were out of contract, so they both left at the end of the season. Scouting around for a decent replacement and I came across this guy who looks solid enough. He's spent most of his career in the Polish leagues but somehow ended up at Frackley last season before being released by them (after having a pretty good season with them, ratings-wise).

Jordan Millar - Will be backup to Malkowski - he's young and cheap so perfect just to sit on the bench and have a handful of cup games this season.

Andy Mangan - Probably my biggest coup of the window, i'm expecting him to score a fair few goals this season for us, he's more than capable.

Jack Kelly - backup left-back, but can also play left-midfield. He's cheap, and young.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin - managed to sign him on a season-long loan from Sheffield United, he looks to be a very dangerous player for us, already scoring 3 times in our opening 2 games. We could have a gem on our hands here for a season.

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Got some players for anybody who wants them:

Morten Koch - L2/L1 CB. Free signing whos been released from some Danish side. Wants paltry wages.

Let me second this! I just signed him for my Sheffield United upon seeing this and he looks very, very good. And only wants £1.4k a week, no clauses/bonuses. (NOTE: You will need Denmark database loaded)

I've spent hours on this save and i'm still 2 days away from pre-season friendly number one, been pouring A LOT of time into looking for signings. I've never really dabbled in lower league football on FM so taking my time on this to get it right before season starts.

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Let me second this! I just signed him for my Sheffield United upon seeing this and he looks very, very good. And only wants £1.4k a week, no clauses/bonuses. (NOTE: You will need Denmark database loaded)

How much?!?! That'd make him my top earner here at Morecambe!!

:D

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Really great thread guys!

Currently end Nov season 1 with Sheffield Utd and currently sit 2nd. Been a very unpredictable season, as you'd expect from League One football. Struggling to get any real consistency at the moment, but we're playing some good football, just seem to be leaking goals.

Anyone had any success with building more of a stable defence in this league/decent CB's to use? I seem to be able to score goals for fun, and look good going forward - just seem to be a little poor defensively (still not convinced with the DC options at Sheffield Utd - am waiting until Jan to hopefully make some changes here)

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Sorry, just to enhance on the above post. Not necessarily looking for in-depth tactical advice, just that in past FM's I've always got away with playing a pressing, technical passing game, even at lower league level. However, it really seems that on this FM, it's more difficult to do that (which is great as adds to realism).

Might have to take a momentary hit on my preferred playing style, for a more pragmatic approach in order to get promotion. Then look to build from that stable base in the championship - hopefully!

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I have never really got into regens, always wanted to but don't know why. Well I vowed to in this Sheffield United save and in my first season I got a class regen named Tom Stabb, rest of the players were crap. Hadn't included him in a squad before because he wasn't ready and I had a lot of strikers, but then in my second season I had a home game against Stoke where Campbell, McNulty, Manaj and Torje were all injured and Billy Sharp (hadn't scored in eleven hours) was my only fit striker, so I put Stabb on the bench. With 15 minutes left it is 1-1, Sharp scored and is playing ok but we need something different. I scour the bench, Woolford could be an option at left wing or Ryan Flynn could replace the tired Che Adams on the right. But i see Stabb and just decide its his time, he comes on. 84th minute, Adams plays him through and STABB SCORES! I know it is probably routine for most of you but just felt so good.

Only bad thing is that he is a Sheffield Wednesday fan :(

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.......

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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.

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It was a mixed season for us, we finished 19th but with 5 games left we look like an outside shot for the top 6, unfortunately five straight losses ended that dream. The season started off poorly as we were in and around the relegation zone for a lot of the time, but a tactical switch to a more defensive minded formation guided us up to tenth by start of January. We begun the new year well as Gabriel Torje and Kyle Bartley hit the ground running, but eventually the injuries caught up as we were left with one fit striker in March (two in the entire club, including youth teams), not ideal when you want to play a 4-4-2. Rey Manaj and Louis Reed were our stars, as they along with Tyias Browning, Tom Stabb, Brad Smith and Che Adams look like being the future of this club.

Table

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Transfers

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Main Tactic

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Season Review

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End of season Awards

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End of season stats

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Great work lewis, well done. Shouldn't you have just managed Leeds :lol:

Lucas, it's a shame that the season ended poorly, but you survived and can build on that. Good luck for the next year!

With all their talent and not having Barnsley in the Championship it did cross my mind for a few seconds as I like to have a save in all divisions at some point but it wouldn't sit or feel right with me being from Barnsley.

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With all their talent and not having Barnsley in the Championship it did cross my mind for a few seconds as I like to have a save in all divisions at some point but it wouldn't sit or feel right with me being from Barnsley.

Can't believe you openly admit to being from Barnsley ;), which part of Barnsley are you from?

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Happy days in the north-east, Middlesbrough are back in the Premier League after beating Ipswich 1-0 in the Championship play-off final.

Players worth mentioning:

The Italian goalkeeper Michael Agazzi on loan from AC Milan started the first few games of the season on the bench, but after an injury on Dimitris Konstantopoulos he got his chance and he really impressed me. 18 clean sheets and some good performances. Returning to Italy when his loan expires.

Ben Gibson did really well for us. A central defender and a local lad who did some really good games during the season.

I brought in Miguel Ángel Cifuentes from Elche for £425k in July, my only signing, but what a signing he was! No doubt my best player during the season. I used him as a wing back on the right flank. Highly recommended.

Vice-captain George Friend has to be mentioned. Never did a poor game.

Emilio Nsué almost signed for Fulham at the start of the season but I decided to keep him. Was used as a wing back or as a striker and just like George Friend he never did a poor game.

Adam Clayton was a bit of a playmaker i central part of the pitch. Was used either as a half back or as a roaming playmaker. Became one of my favourites. Never injured or suspended.

Grant Leadbitter the captain of the club who played almost every game. A very good leader and someone I talked a lot with during the season.

Stewart Downing scored the vital goal against Ipswich who secured promotion back to the Premier League. Was a good player for us.

David Nugent and Christian Stuani both scored 16 goals each.

Due to some financial problems at the club I will try not to sign many players. I also want to keep most of the players who helped us back to the Premier League. We need a new goalkeeper, one central defender, one defensive midfielder and one striker. Jonathan Woodgate will retire at the end of the season and will be offered a staff-role in the U18 squad. Rhys Williams contract expires in the summer and will leave. So will Seb Hines, Damià, Yanic Wildschut and Carlos de Pena.

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Hey Lucas could i please have a screenshot of Smith and Browning and Adams?

Sure man, here you go. Browning's stats are so well rounded and Che has started the season off well.

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Cheers Joga Bonito, after I got safety and couldn't get promoted I kind of took the foot off the gas. But I have signed a few good players, so think I can challenge for promotion. Signed Matt Jarvis, Craig Gardner, Zeki Fryers and Chelsea's young Croatian keeper Metaj Delac on frees aswell as Leandro Bacuna for 250K. Made almost 1.5m on transfer fees so I still have a fair bit in the bank, Left back and at defensive midfield are probably the only two weak spots.

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Cheers Lucas.

Smith I rate, but I'm aussie too so that helps haha.

With Adams have tried him as an IF at either RW or LW?

And Browning looks good do a solid job at either fullback or centre half. Where you play him?

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Cheers Lucas.

Smith I rate, but I'm aussie too so that helps haha.

With Adams have tried him as an IF at either RW or LW?

And Browning looks good do a solid job at either fullback or centre half. Where you play him?

Smith is always solid, and is the most defensively minded of my two full backs despite what their stats and reports might suggest and he rarely makes mistakes. The Aussie factor always helps haha

Adams I play him at RW or RM as a Winger usually, I reckon I have played him as an inside forward for like half a game a couple times but can't remember how he went. He gets loads of assists and started chipping in with some goals at the back end of last season.

Browning plays as a right full back for me and is surprisingly very good going forward and great at crossing despite having an 8 attribute for crossing. Makes a few mistakes though but to be expected when you are bombing forward a lot. Might fill in at centre back a bit for me this season because I now have a very capable back up in Bacuna.

Watch the Melbourne derby last night?

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Smith is always solid, and is the most defensively minded of my two full backs despite what their stats and reports might suggest and he rarely makes mistakes. The Aussie factor always helps haha

Adams I play him at RW or RM as a Winger usually, I reckon I have played him as an inside forward for like half a game a couple times but can't remember how he went. He gets loads of assists and started chipping in with some goals at the back end of last season.

Browning plays as a right full back for me and is surprisingly very good going forward and great at crossing despite having an 8 attribute for crossing. Makes a few mistakes though but to be expected when you are bombing forward a lot. Might fill in at centre back a bit for me this season because I now have a very capable back up in Bacuna.

Watch the Melbourne derby last night?

I'm currently in season one with Pompey but will look at smith and Browning for next season. Need to upgrade fullbacks. Thanks.

Watch it? I was there! Not the result I was after (in fact last four results :/). Terrific game of football though.

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Hi all, thought i'd join the fun here.

Anyway, i took over Crewe at the end of December. They were 24th but still in the mix for staying up. I didn't manage to win until my fifth game in charge, beating Millwall 2-1 away. They were 3rd at the time so it came as a bit of a surprise. I actually only won 2 of my first 10 games but only lost 3 of my last 14 after a change in formation. Ended up 19th but did sort of crawl over the line!

Not too many positives so far, Della Valle signed a new deal after bagging 18 league goals and Callum Elder, my only signing of the season was different class at Left Back. Hoping to sign him permanently when his Leicester contract expires.

Besides that, David Fox one of my better players wants 3k a week to sign a new deal, which is way out of my budget. Ben Garratt who is far too good for league one to be fair, wont sign a new deal so he's probably going to leave on a free. Got 3 players leaving shortly following their loans expiring and set a few more for release in the hope of freeing up a bit of the wage budget.

The only reason i chose Crewe in the first place was because of the facilities but they've already been downgraded due to financial issues so that backfired....Anyway, hoping to do a little better next season. Would take around 14th and hope to avoid another relegation battle like this season!

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Just reached the end of the transfer period at the start of my Sheffield United save, so thought i would update how the pre-season and early season has gone.

The pre-season went pretty well results wise, 5 games, 4 games, 1 defeat. The highlight being a 2-1 win against West Ham to end the pre-season.

And luckily we've carried that good form into the League Season. We sit top after 5 games, and unbeaten at that. 4 wins and 1 draw. Out of the Capital One Cup though, lost 3-2 to Cardiff away, thanks to 2, yes 2, own goals from David Edgar. He rose brilliantly both times to thunder headers into the bottom corner of his own net, under minimal pressure both times. 2nd one was in the 92nd minute to top it off. Laptop just about avoided going out the window.

The signings:

- Jason Cummings, 375k - The man i signed to bang the goals in, and it looks like he's accepted my challenge. 7 goals already this season, to go with the 4 he scored in pre-season. Looks absolutely lethal with any half chances.

- Morten Koch, free- Young Danish centre back i signed on a tip from this thread. He looks very solid and has fought his way into a starting position.

- Christian Pander, free - Brought in to be cover from McEveley but had a belting pre-season, so is now starting left wing back.

- Marco Da Silva, free - A quality looking DM. Great stats, only 23 and 4 1/2* potential, excited to see how he evolves, got high hopes for him.

- Luke Wilkshire, free - Extremely solid stats at right wing back. Brought in for cover of Alcock while i await Brayford coming back from his major injury.

Just looks like injuries are out to foil me. To go with the injuries the team start with, James Wallace is now out for 2 months, Cuvelier has gone for the season, 9-11 month injury. And Koch is out for 2 weeks after the last game.

I plan to keep updating as much as i can!

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Can't believe you openly admit to being from Barnsley ;), which part of Barnsley are you from?

Darton, not sure if you know it. Was behind Martin Cranie in the co-op the other day. He had all his Huddersfield gear on and was tempted to ask him if he could come back and rescue us. I know what the answer would be, he's too good.

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So the second season has started rather promisingly so far. I’ve continued my good form from the end of last season into this one. After 11 games I’m 3rd. Only the one defeat away at Oldham with 8 wins and 2 draws.

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Was pretty happy with the standard of players I managed to attract in the summer. I actually agreed to sign Callum Elder once his deal had expired but he couldn’t get a work permit even after an appeal?! Couldn’t complain at getting Conor Townsend instead though and he’s already got 4 assists in his first 3 starts. McCarey and Beeney will battle for the no.1 spot, Coulibaly will probably cover Dalla Valle and Donacien will probably play alongside Davis (if they’re ever fit at the same time).

Anyway, last season I really suffered from lack of squad depth. I didn’t really have anybody to cover the front three if they got injured but I’ve definitely got that this season.

A negative point is definitely the amount of injuries I’ve had/have. Before the season had even begun I was without Townsend, Dalla Valle, Turton, Ngoy, Saunders and Davis. To make matters worse Coulibaly my new signing was away on international duty with Ivory Coast. It meant Andre Brown, a striker who I was developing in my U21’s had to start the first two games of the season. He certainly delivered though, scoring the winner in the opener against Plymouth and then setting up my 2 goals in the 4-2 defeat to Huddersfield. After that he got injured too….

Got a few promising young players out on loan who I might add to my squad at some point in the next two seasons.

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A good start to the new season, despite the injuries. Good luck.

Meanwhile, I have my second English save underway after putting my Mansfield one on hold after the first season ended in disappointment (I expect to pick up on that sometime later).

This is the club I was actually managing on FM13 when 'Plainlayzee' had the original idea for making this thread, so it has a special memory for me. And what better time to announce the following...

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Transfer summary

In

Jesse Joronen - Free (released from Fulham) - 6'6" GK to replace the outgoing loan star Vigouroux

Dominic Poleon - Free (released from Oldham) - Pacey poacher, should make a decent impact sub

Aidan White - Free (released from Rotherham) - It says he is a left back but I think he is going to be defensive winger which should be a useful tool in a probably relegation battle.

Michael Harriman - Free (released from QPR) - Fairly standard right back

Tijani Belaid - Free (released from Club Africa) - I was missing a AMC, Astrit Ajdarevic was floating around but I prefer this guy

Adil Chihi - free- not the best winger but good pace to perhaps make a sub impact along the way

Maxime Chanot - Free - relatively substantial looking centre back

Rory Donelley - £400k from Gillingham - inside forward/striker type

Jamie Reckford- free - young right back, nearly cocked up contract negotiation but rescued it by inviting him to trial which seemed to make him want to come. God knows why :D

Adam Armstrong - Loan from Newcastle - I'm sure most people are familiar with his Coventry exploits

Miquel Palanca - missed out on a couple of wingers I wanted and then a scout offered me this guy so took a chance

Jason McCarthy - Loan from Southampton - had him last season and he was a star performer so I thought I'd try him again.

Out

Raphael Branco - free to chesterfield - barely used him

James Brophy

Ryan Rawlins

Miles Storey

Tommy Holland

Lee Marshal

Jeremy Balmy

Ryan Wood

Nathan Marks

Josh Cooke

Tom Smith

Jake Evans

Ellis Iandolo

Connor Johns

Will Henry

Drissa Traore - all the above released!

Jonathan Obika - Free to Sheffield Utd - didnt want to sign a contract til late at which point I decided I didnt want him

Fabian Robert - £100k Portsmouth - too injury prone

Nicky Ajose - £100k Wigan - massive wage for lack of quality

so quite a change!

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Yeah it can be tricky, good luck. If you need any suggestions let us know what difficulty level you're after!

In my opinion, the best lower league saves are the ones where it takes some time to get success. Last time with Exeter and Carlisle it took me several seasons to get out of League 2, and I think with Exeter I was two or three seasons in League 1 too. Back-to-back promotions is nice and rewarding, but pretty soon you're in the top flight and there's so much money on offer you can sign anyone you want really. I appreciate we all like different challenges, though. Just my views :)

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I agree, I would much prefer a bit of a long-term thing. Don't get me wrong, it's great getting to the PL within 3 seasons but it just feels so unrealistic.

In terms of teams I'm looking at, I don't really know where to begin. I'd like to try and play fast, counter-attacking football and have a team of players that maybe aren't the best technically, but give 110% for 90 minutes. Any ideas?

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