dafuge's FM17 challenge

[fairsy]

After near on 100 attempts to try and land one of Leiston Town or Needham Market (2 teams right at the top of Ryman Prem....) I have gone for Suffolk's other representative Lowestoft.

Am hoping to pilfer the academies of Ipswich (Where I know all about the youngsters.....) and Norwich as the only local clubs.

Squad is short on wingers, so will be looking to play a 433 this year - will keep you all updated!

[Hypanimz]

Unfortunately I have had a shocking season 2. Won my first 2 games convincingly and thought we were in with a chance after our end of last season. We then lost 12 of out next 14 games in the league. I have decided its time to restart as I didn't have a clue what I was trying to do tactically and I want to try it again with a clear idea of the football I am trying to play. I will post my new profile once I pick a team.

[Mr_Demus]

Currently reloading. Really aiming for Merthyr. Will probably get bored and end up somewhere else. Slough and Basingstoke are my current favourites.

[Hypanimz]

Time for the 2nd attempt. Basingstoke are the team I will be using this time. Hopefully it goes much better.

[altviewdelete]

Leamington Challenge

Quote

"To create the Dortmund of Britain"

Season			League					Position		Expectations					Achieved
2017-2018		Vanarama National South			19th			Attempt to avoid relegation			Yes!

Season 2017-2018 - Review

After the good mid-season form, we some what came unstuck and suffered more defeats than anything else. But after reverting back to our most successful tactic, the 4-3DM-3, we scraped a few great results, but also cruelly lost a few games in injury time.

Come the last few games of the season, and Oxford City slipped up, whilst we had to play 3 of the top 4 in our last 3 matches. We managed a W1 D2 L0 finish to the season, seeing us finish 19th in the National South, avoiding the drop!

I have seen another manager in the thread who took Leamington to 2nd in his first season, and I will be the first to say I made some poor signings during the season and stuck to my tactical guns (playing anti-football, which is something in years of FM, I have never done). But I am very proud of the squad. We had the most fouls in the league, and also the highest cross completion, according to the League Stats. The crossing stat is poignant, as soooo many goals where from my inside forwards squaring it the box to Joey Johnson. Check out my squad here for more stats.

Here's to another season and my young squad flourishing.

[oohlala111]

23 minutes ago, Hypanimz said:

Unfortunately I have had a shocking season 2. Won my first 2 games convincingly and thought we were in with a chance after our end of last season. We then lost 12 of out next 14 games in the league. I have decided its time to restart as I didn't have a clue what I was trying to do tactically and I want to try it again with a clear idea of the football I am trying to play. I will post my new profile once I pick a team.

Unlucky  Hopefully it goes better for you next time

 

 

                                                                                                                                   

 

                                                                                                                                         Dulwich Hamlet

 

I have finished pre-season. A screenshot has been included so you can see my results. As you can tell, it started shockingly but a combination of new players and a new tactic saved us from complete pre-season humiliation. I will try and post a list of transfers in and out when the window ends but I can tell you I have made 10 signings and 2 sales in an attempt to refurbish our squad. I'm fairly confident about this season and I hope it goes more the way of pre-season part 2 than 1. 

This is it. There's no going back...

 

 

[Tecmo]

58 minutes ago, Mr_Demus said:

Currently reloading. Really aiming for Merthyr. Will probably get bored and end up somewhere else. Slough and Basingstoke are my current favourites.

Simming two seasons is your best bet to get Slough, I've done it many times. Never seen or heard of them coming up after the first season.

[Moriean]

This just happened: 

And this guy was kind of important to me so far:

[dafuge]

That's horrible

[Moriean]

1 minute ago, dafuge said:

That's horrible

I am in first place now, but the only guy I have to replace him with started of for me this season with a 15(!) match goal drought. Hope I can hang on to the play off places. 

[G_D_K]

4 hours ago, Balahara said:

Deciding to start again with this challenge. I signed far too many donkeys on part time deals at the beginning of the season that were hogging the wage bill once vastly better players joined the club. Ended up focusing on transfers rather than the tactics and I was only just hovering above relegation zone by Christmas. Hopefully my new attempt will get off to a better start.

Wanted to get King's Lynn again but am fed up of reloading, so I begin as manager of  Grantham Town F.C

Check page 1 post ---5 or 6....I've got a King's Lynn save hosted and linked

[Moriean]

1 hour ago, Moriean said:

This just happened: 

And this guy was kind of important to me so far:

At least my back-up striker did well for 2 games. And then this happened: 

I like it when the game makes things difficult, but it is getting quite tough now. 

[G_D_K]

MIDSEASON REPORT

So far, so good with my would-be temporary start this year with Chippenham.  Through December, we sit top of the table w/ 43 points (1 point ahead of Margate w/ 1 match in hand).  Just lost 3-0 to Margate, our worst result of the year, and actually things look to be slowing down, as we've only scored 1 in past 3 matches.  Granted, Striker David Pratt (8 goals on season) has been out for the at least 2 of those), leaving striker partner Andy Sandell (9 goals) with a converted MC up front.  Pratt is back in early January, so we might be able to get back to our scoring ways.

But the real strength of the team has been the defense.  I've not tallied it up, but I'm pretty sure we're conceding fewer than 2 SoT against us through 20+ matches.  We are leading the league in fewest goals conceded, clean sheets, and a host of other defensive categories.

The top teams have closed the gap (at one point we had a 7 point lead on the 2nd place team), but hopefully we can keep up the strong showing down the stretch and earn at least a playoff (but still hoping to lift the title).  If we can avoid a slump, and avoid any serious injuries (I've only had a couple so far) then we have more than a chance.

I need to take advantage of it now, as I've already gotten at least 3 starters who have announced their retirement --- and the single scout I could hire (retired player whose asking price started at £110/wk, instead of the usual £200/wk --- which I couldn't even come close to offering) is not gonna be able to find me replacements in time for the new season!

[oohlala111]

 

 

                                                                                                                       

 

                                                                                                                         Dulwich Hamlet

 

The season is underway and we've made a very strong start in our opening 4 games. Only one defeat so far as we sit 2nd in the table behind promotion favourites Boreham Wood. We take on the league leaders next as we look to put together a strong bid for promotion...

One annoying thing is having our GK injured. We had to put an outfield player in goal for the last game but luckily we survived to claim a precious victory. Apart from the one defeat (where the opposition had ONE shot on target), I'm very pleased with our start to the league and hopefully we can press on with it.

Three players have 2 goals at the moment and our many transfer deals have paid off so far. I don't know if I'll make any more signings because it may cause disharmony in the squad- although I think 10 new players is already a lot to cope with!

 

Thanks again for reading and I'll try to update again tomorrow once I've played more matches  

                                            
                                                                                                                                                        

[Tecmo]

1 hour ago, Duroliponte said:

I saw them twice in three and a half hours of reloading. Rare but not impossible!

Well I have more loading to do tonight then

[Warhawk]

Well, gonna give this a shot for the first time this year.  Gonna do it in between my various other saves, so updates might be rather sporadic.

Face isn't mine, just used the random generator.  Here we go with... Enfield Town.

EDIT: Looks like I forgot to remove the second nationality and languages.  But screw it, I don't want to start over and it doesn't actually matter all that much.

 

[QSF25]

Some of you guys are wizards I don't know how you get consistent results. In my save is like a railcoaster of emotions from beating the leader 4-0 to losing to the last place 6-0.

[Mr_Demus]

10 hours ago, Tecmo said:

Simming two seasons is your best bet to get Slough, I've done it many times. Never seen or heard of them coming up after the first season.

I have reloaded about 30 times. Slough has come up 2 or 3 times. King's Lynn as well, which I also kind of fancy

[glynnbob]

any of you helpful people on here got a barwell save for me please? fed up with reloading already.

[fairsy]

Here we go then............Lowesoft Town!

Started off with a small clearout and bringing in a dozen players that scout recommended

The 2 strikers I have brought in - Charlie Dunkerley and Dumebi Dumaka (who ITFC were linked with IRL at one point) have netted 13 goals between them in 7 games. Dumaka is an excellent target man in the 433 I am playing and Taylor Tombides who was a current member of the squad has been excellent in a midfield role

After 7 games, I have won 6 and lost the other and am top of the league with a goal difference of 13 - media prediction was 7th so am hoping to keep this up and better that!

 

 

[Fizzle]

If anyone has a St. Ives save I would much appreciate it, been reloading a couple of hundred times, no luck

[glynnbob]

1 hour ago, Duroliponte said:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/ow5mnxxtlzkcaub/St_Neots_-_Barwell.fm

thanks  mate your a star gonna get myself a lovely barwell shirt for xmas too!!! its a bit bright google it if ya get chance

[XaW]

Halfway into my first season in Vanarama National, and I'm having a hard time, just as expected. In the relegation zone, but we have a decent chance of survival. In the FA Cup we are into the 3rd round where we are drawn against Crystal Palace away. Hopefully this will help the finances!

[Kaiserwatman]

Stafford Rangers

Season Report 18-19

League Table    Finances

Following an unspectacular first season within the Vanarama North the first challenge was to fix the defence which led the league in terms of conceding . Gianluca Havern was signed from neighbours Telford to lead the back 4 and a few systematic changes ensued to create another headache, the overall balance of the side was effected as my attacking players were now having come too deep and goals were hard to come by . This impacted the results and The Boro dropped into the bottom three for a period around Christmas before finally getting it right and moving away from relegation.

Cup runs were once again short and sweet as Stafford Rangers didn't make much impact going out in both competitions in the second qualifying round , defeat to Rivals Tamworth in the FA Cup didn't exactly go down well . Finances are still in a pretty poor state though losses are much lower than the season before . With me only signing locally based players I was able to offer lower wages and get away with working on a shoestring for the time been.

As for Player of the Season I have a feeling Gianluca will get the award though wouldn't be surprised if Jake Twyford was given it for his performance following his move down the A34 from Stoke .  I will be persisting with my local based signings , have subscribed to all the local clubs so hopefully might be able get a few better players to aid the promotion hunt next season from them

 

Season	|       League	      |     Position	   |    Europe	  |      Top scorer       |    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18	|   Vanarama North    |       16th	   |      N/A 	  |  Harvey Knibbs (15)   |   Avoided Relegation
2018/19 |   Vanarama North    |       16th         |      N/A     |  Harvey Knibbs (11)   |   Avoided Relegation   

[glynnbob]

hows this for a shirt!!!

[BillHoudini24]

Kingstonian

Vanarama South 2017/18

Remember when I said that I was enjoying life? That didn't last long. Until our 15th League game, things were looking good. Playoff contention, nice football, the board and the fans were loving me. Then, this run happend. We couldn't win, no matter how good we played, our defence was letting us down every time. This had to change. I embraced Ranieri's approach with Leicester (drop deeper, narrow, direct passing and waiting from our DFs to save the day). Apparently, it worked well. From 20th position, we ended up 16th, 5 points clear. We only lost against promotion candidates. Against St.Albans we were really unlucky (3 CCCs, 2 times we hit the woodwork) and against Turo we lost 1-0 without a single shot on target for them. (GK owngoal after a desperate cross).

Overall I'm very happy with how we dealt with the pressure from the fans and the board. The problem is that we are -300k and I have to release a lot of players who's contracts are running out. 

League Table  Squad  Attacking Tactic  Counter Tactic

Player of the season: Jack Maloney 

He was very good as a very poor man's Jamie Vardy. Clossing down the opposition's DCs, scoring important goals and assisting when needed. His 6 in Finishing is troubling, I'm trying to find a better player and use him as an DF(D) behind the new transfer.

[LeProfIamNot]

On 10/20/2016 at 14:19, LeProfIamNot said:

I'm in with Dorchester Town.

So that was a disaster.  We won our first 2 of 3 matches and then took a big dump.  We just didn't have the quality to compete.

I've re-rolled with Dulwitch Hamlet.  The board is expecting a playoff berth and the team is full of talent.  Hopefully I can motivate them.

[oohlala111]

8 hours ago, LeProfIamNot said:

So that was a disaster.  We won our first 2 of 3 matches and then took a big dump.  We just didn't have the quality to compete.

I've re-rolled with Dulwitch Hamlet.  The board is expecting a playoff berth and the team is full of talent.  Hopefully I can motivate them.

A fellow Dulwich Hamlet manager!  The very best of luck to you!

[Äktsjon Männ]

Thought I'll try and give this another go this year. All my best FM saves have been dafuge challenge games but I haven't bothered posting them here so that's going to be a change. Looks like I'll be heading to West Midlands to manage Stourbridge.

[LeProfIamNot]

5 hours ago, oohlala111 said:

A fellow Dulwich Hamlet manager!  The very best of luck to you!

You too!

[Warhawk]

Probably going to do an end-of-September update on how things are going with Enfield Town later, I have just one more game to go, a bear of an FA cup draw away against league leaders Welling.

Teaser: I'm in second place.

EDIT: Second Teaser: That FA Cup game was both great and terrible.

[oohlala111]

32 minutes ago, Warhawk said:

Probably going to do an end-of-September update on how things are going with Enfield Town later, I have just one more game to go, a bear of an FA cup draw away against league leaders Welling.

Teaser: I'm in second place.

Nice going with the league- very interesting how Welling are first in your save but second to bottom in my save!  

[Warhawk]

Just now, oohlala111 said:

Nice going with the league- very interesting how Welling are first in your save but second to bottom in my save!  

Just looking at the comparison screen on the team report I expect them to run away with it, it's like looking at the comparisons with a couple of the teams a couple levels higher than us that we played in preseason.  

[XaW]

Season Summary - XaW - Folkestone Invicta - 2019/20

Table | Past Positions | Squad | Transfers | Finances

Our first season in Vanarama National. At the end of last season our wage budget was cut a lot, down to about £4k p/w, but I was far higher than that of course. This meant the recruitment this summer was a rather slow one. We got in a couple of new goalkeepers since we lost both we had, but other than that we had the same squad more or less. At the moment I have 11 players of part time contracts, while the rest have a pay-as-you-play contract. Even with this I'm still way above my budget, even if we have the lowest wage in the league. So, we are just not making much money, and with the lowest average attendance I can understand it. Still, it kind of stops us from progressing at the moment. In the league we started great and after 12 matches we were comfortable midtable. Then we hit some very bad form losing 8 of the 10 next matches, then, and for the rest of the season we were in a battle to survive relegation. While we lost a lot of matches, we still picked up the odd point here and there and in the end we managed to stay up. Our problem is that we are conceding way to many easy goals, but most are from personal mistakes, so I'm not quite sure how to eliminate them. I'm more than happy to stay up though, and hopefully we can improve with some non-contracts this summer.

In the FA Cup we run wild and got quite far as we beat Potters Bar, Mansfield Town, and Barnet before losing to Premier League outfit Crystal Palace in the 3rd round. The FA Trophy however went poor as we lost against Hendon at the first hurdle.

The best players this season was reliable midfielder Jim Kellermann, strong defender Seth Owens and top scorer Harry Smith.

 

Season	|       League	      |     Position	   |    Europe	  |      Top scorer       |    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18	|   Vanarama South    |       11th	   |      N/A 	  |    Ben Pattie (17)    |   Mid-table
2018/19	|   Vanarama South    |       4th	   |      N/A 	  |    Ben Pattie (24)    |   Promoted through playoffs
2018/19	|  Vanarama National  |       17th	   |      N/A 	  |    Harry Smith (22)   |   Survived relegation

[oohlala111]

                                                                                                          

                                                                                                             Dulwich Hamlet

 

SEASON UPDATE 1- August+September

 

My first season at Dulwich Hamlet is well underway now and I have played a total of 12 games- 10 in the league and 2 in the FA Cup. The transfer window closed last month and I will post a screenshot of all the deals done (hint: quite a lot!) I will upload screenshot of my latest fixtures along with a screenshot of the GOTU (Game Of The Update) and of course, the league table and stats. This update's GOTU left my heart racing all through the match- my pulse only returned to normal a couple of minutes after the game, after the score and result had sunk in!

We sit top of the league, 2 points clear of promotion favourites and recently relegated Boreham Wood. In the FA Cup, our 3rd round qualifying match is away against Oxford City- the team we beat 1-0 at home on the opening day. Finally, the FA Trophy 3rd qualifying round draw is in mid to late November; more on that in the next update.

So, here are the screenshots:

 

                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                            

  

Thanks for reading; I'll continue to read yours and I hope to see you for the next update  

[Hypanimz]

On 10/26/2016 at 19:09, Hypanimz said:

Time for the 2nd attempt. Basingstoke are the team I will be using this time. Hopefully it goes much better.

I never actually got round to starting up as Basingstoke as I didn't realise when posting this they start as a professional team. Back in FM13 (I think) I played as Kettering who were professional and I found is a lot easier so I decided to go back and reload and I am having a 2nd attempt at Enfield Town.

[Swindon69]

Hayes & Yeading Season 2017-18 Conference South (Mid-season review)

After my narrow escape from relegation there was a small overhaul of the squad - results up to mid November were fairly poor. At this point I switched to a 4-4 -2 narrow which has lead to a run of P6 W5 D1 F 20 A 5 including knocking out a Conference team in the FA Trophy.

Unfortunately I've just lost Daniel Williams (out for 7 to 9 weeks) a striker who's hit 12 in 25 plus 5 assits 7 of those goals coming in the last 6 games.

In the following game I lost my starting centre-half for 8/9 weeks, and my other starting striker for 4/5 weeks, could be a tough period coming up.

Also losing money hand over fist.

And now had a complete collapse in form - I have a feeling I'm in a death spiral.

12 without a win

Phew that was a close call finished 18th - so at this rate it'll take me 14 years to make the play-offs

[Crispypaul]

Errrr....Jamaica just won the 2018 World Cup in my save 

[Warhawk]

12 minutes ago, Crispypaul said:

Errrr....Jamaica just won the 2018 World Cup in my save 

Feel the rhythm!  Feel the rhyme!

[Warhawk]

Enfield Town FC

Vanarama South 2017-18

September 30 Update

Starting out in late June of 2017, I found there was a lot to like about Enfield’s squad, with useful players at most positions.  Nothing in particular stands out, but while I’ll be looking to upgrade in many areas in the coming season(s), the existing squad provided a good foundation, and the majority of my signings have been meant to supplement that. 

Indeed, I have acquired 13 players (and let some dead weight go as well), though several are prospects I have stashed on the U23 squad.  The four most important signings are the four wage players.  Liam Adams and James Hammond, both under 20, have put in solid performances, starting over half our games and managing a rating over 7.00.  They will hopefully be able to grow into their roles.  Jimmy Nottage, on the other hand, has been my worst rated player, and has only started 4 games, though I am hoping he will improve with time.  Finally, well after the season started, I added Jordan Fagbola to our defensive center backs.  He is not as technically skilled as some of the players I have on the team, but he has good physical attributes, and is a good option to play over Adam Bailey-Dennis against some teams where Dennis’ extreme lack of pace, acceleration, and agility can be a liability.  Fagbola has 2 sub appearances and just had his first start as I got him into match shape.

Looking over the roster, an argument could have been made for either a flat 4-4-2 or a 4-1-2-3 DM Wide, but I ultimately chose to go with the latter.  This led to me inadvertently angering right midfielder Ryan Smith, who I had offered out but who, unknown to me, had only signed a contract a couple months before.  As I got no bites and saw he was competent at right fullback, I decided to take him off the list and re-train him, and he became accomplished right away.  This turned out to be an excellent decision in hindsight, as my first major injury was to the player I planned to start in that position, Paul Hinshelwood, who has only just returned from strained knee ligaments after getting hurt early in the preseason.  A chat with the captain got Smith to drop the issue, and everything is copacetic.

Preseason started on an inauspicious note, as we went down 2-0 in the first half to our U18 team of grey players.  We got it together and salvaged a 2-2 tie, and proceeded to have a meandering preseason through teams at various levels and trying out quite a few trialists, of which we signed several (including the aforementioned Hammond, Adams, and Nottage).  For the most part we played better than our scorelines would indicate, so I wasn’t overly concerned about the results.

We began the season with a somewhat undeserved loss at Eastborne Borough, before setting out on a 7 game unbeaten streak, including 5 wins, highlights of which included an action-packed start to our game at Dartford that saw us in a 2-2 tie at 21’ before we pulled away to win 4-2, a winning goal by Nathan Corkery in the 88th minute home against a solid St. Albans team, a stellar performance against Whitehawk in a game we were given 7-1 odds to win (the 2-1 scoreline did not reflect our dominance, and we hit woodwork twice), and an absolute gift against East Thurrock (who lead the league in both possession and cards) where we were dismal for 75 minutes before getting some good offensive movement going and scoring the winning goal on a shot the keeper deflected that slowly rolled down the line and crossed just before the far post.  The last one put us into 2nd place on goal differential to Welling.

After a drubbing away at Bath, we were a bit fortunate to win 3-0 in our FA Cup Second Qualifying Round game at home against Folkstone, in a game which was pretty even by most statistical measures – they actually were the better team in the first half, but after some adjustments we scored three times in the second.  This was followed by a thrilling game against Bishop’s Stortford, which saw us go down 2 goals early, battle back to tie it at 2, then to tie it at 3, before James Hammond, with the first competitive goal of his career, won it for us in stoppage time.

Finally, on the last day of September, we traveled to Welling, the toughest FA Cup draw we could have gotten for the third qualifying round.  Sitting ahead of us in first place in the league, their league goal differential of +15 is more than 3 times better than any other team (ours is the second best at only +4).  So, I set us to play a structured counter game, dropping deep and narrow, and closing down more, hoping I could at least steal the draw.  So I was shocked when we hit goal after goal after goal on the break, racking up 17 shots with 8 on target, and racing to a 6-0 lead by the 64th minute, before closing it out 6-1.  A hat trick from Bobby Devyne and two goals from Liam Adams, with Nigel Neita contributing four assists and a goal of his own to boot.  Everything would have been perfect – if Nathan Corkery, my starting striker in every game and the league leader in goals (in a tie) hadn’t gone down with a knee injury – which turned out to be the same injury that sidelined Hinshelwood, strained ligaments.  So in the aftermath of the celebration, I have a decision to make – do I move Devyne, a player with poor finishing, from the right wing to striker and rely on Adams as the full-time starter on the wing, do I try to use one of the two young strikers I have stashed in my U23s who might not be ready to carry the load, or do I try to find a striker to sign, of which there aren’t any I’ve fully scouted that really catch my eye?  I’m inclined to try the first option until I can find someone who fits the bill for the third option, but replacing my leading scorer won’t be easy.

       Schedule                                                        League                                                FA Cup at Welling

   

[MadCatPT]

Blyth Spartans - 2018/2019 - Vanarama National League North

League Table | Finances | Transfers | End of Season Awards | Season Review | Youth Candidates | Injuries

Preseason:
This year tried fitness training and was met with lots of injuries, so next year will change it back to balance or try mental. Played just against weak teams, the 4-5-1 was not working so used a 4-4-2 with success for the friendlies.
Already had a long term injury from last year, and after the first two friendlies had 5 long/medium term injuries.

Season:
The 4-4-2 again didn't resist the test of fire of true opponents, had to change to 4-5-1, tried again in a couple occasions, couldn't get it to work, the opponents would get lots of changes and I didn't. It started slow, more inconsistent than last year, allowing lots of leads to be tied or turned, still I was making enough point to be safe, but not for any chance to reach the playoffs, the lack of some important players also didn't help.

After two 0-3 losses in a row, a team meeting changed our season, we won 8 straight games! After that the team tightened up at the back and we became a hard team to score on, and even if we didn't score many goals it was enough to almost reach the playoff spots where we had been after our best run. Whenever we were favourites we struggled, which was normally when we were about to get to a playoff spot. After awhile we started to be able to win some of those games, but the distance was already there.

We where about 6 points behind when an injury crisis happened, right when my youth influx appeared. It had a good player and two backups. Ian Williams is the heir apparent to Stephen Turnbull, and jumped right into his place. Then a game crash happened! Luckily didn't lost the youth, but lost half the injury crisis, it didn't help that my best scorer and my best midfielder/player were the first ones to be injured.

But the injury crisis was not to be averted, so again most of my midfielders were injured, just the goalkeeper and the defence unscathed, the 5-1 of my 4-5-1 was all injured. I was able to scrap some results, but did't get there.

At the end of the season I played my rivals, if won/drew against them, they would not go to the playoff spots. It was a drab game, each squandered a chance, then they scored. On the final seconds of the match my midfielder wins a desperation long ball/clearance by our central defender on the line, crosses, in comes our forward, the best youth from last year, heads it but it misses by inches!!!

Of course our rivals won all three playoff games. 

Finish 10th, out by 6 points from the playoff spots, best defence in the league, 19th best or 4th worst attack in the league.

Squad:
Extended most contracts to 2020, some players it took a awhile, some of my better player ask for more than I can give and lengthy negotiations start. My two older midfielders are the only ones who I didn't extend to see if any degrading happened. Stephen Turnbull did start losing physical stats, luckily got a youth to replace him, it's painful seeing him go for a ball and it seem he has a truck tire tied to him, was able to resign him for cheap, he will be the backup for next season.
Matty Pattinson was extend one more season, he was even better than the precious year.

Players:

GK:
Ross Dalton made a good improvement this year. I started to watch him make more saves than last year and kept us in some games, something that didn't happen last season. 19 clean sheets and just 40 goals conceded, part team effort, part Ross Dalton, making more saves and getting more crosses.

Adam McHugh had to enter in one game when Ross Dalton injured a finger in a second half and didn't suffer goals.

FB S R:
Andrew Cartwright has lot of room to improve, but didn't improve as expected.

FB S L:
Michael Liddle played well, he is young and highly determined but has already reached his potential. Got 3 straight yellow cards in the end of the year, hope it doesn't carry into next year.

CD D:
Nathan Buddle is the rock in our defense, he has a professional personality but he started with 4 determination when I arrived at the club. He is now up to 8! Discipline really works, it's not always and he doesn't' give many reasons for it. At this rate he'll have a decent 10 next season.

Emmanuel Kanteh is another evolving slowly, got lot's of room to grow, he got injured in the hip on the start of the season so was limited to 30 games this season.

Danny Parker played 20 games this season due to Emmanuel Kanteh's injury.

All D:
Alex Nicholson played 23 games(19 from the bench), all over the defence, mostly when someone has a yellow, is tired or is playing bad. Also had to play a couple of games in the mid due to injuries, will probably give him some additional training as a last resort M/DM.

W(M) S R:
Daniel Emmerton, was injured, was able to get him by 30% of his previous contract. Probably because the injuries seem to have sapped him of his potential, he is young but seem to have topped off at 2.5*.

W(M) S L:
Sean Whelan started the season injured, had to return and play due to other injuries, so while he didn't play bad he didn't do anything special. Still has room to grow.

Both W:
Reuben Dass has the ability to work both flanks and still has room to progress, he will take care of the right wing next year. Has a room to grow, currently my second player with the most potential.

DLP D:
Stephen Turnbull, has degraded but still a useful player. Losing second balls to speed is now in his repertoire unfortunately, so he has became the backup to Ian Williams 19a. Last year there were people praising left and right, not one such piece of news this year. Luckily he resigned for cheap(was never too expensive).

Ian Williams 19a, is not an ideal fit, but he has most of the good stuff, vision, flair for someone that could launch some killer passes. Already saw him recover some balls, and his mobility compared to Stephen Turnbull is day/night.

MC S/A:
Jarret Rivers is definitely our best player, in the MC A he makes a difference with goals and assists, was injured for 40% of the season. All the injuries have also dropped him to 2.5* when he top of both ability and potential, he was still our best performer with 7.31, and his 9 goals and 3 assist always handy.

Matty Pattinson, upped his game this season, he puts his foot in, assists and usually scores great goals, 9 goals and 9 assists this year. He is getting old but still didn't start degrading, but is asking crazy money to renew, will wait for the start of the season to see if he comes down to earth, may not be able to hold to him. 

Michael Richardson, the next man up, can replace Jarret Rivers but misses a lot of goals.

Michael Montgomery 18b, hard worker but is lacking a bit on the passing department, he is still young, and he doesn't need much of an improvement for the league average.

DLF S:
Louis Robles was injured in preseason, regressed and was never able to regain his goal scoring habits from the previous season, is on a month to month contract, doesn't want to renew, I may dismiss him.

Luke Armstrong is my best fit, but he squandered chances last season, this season he kept squandering chances until he suddenly got a killer instinct, he started scoring more until he got injured, never regained the form and them got injured again. He was missed, top goalscorer for the team with 19 goals, top assist maker with 13.

Chris Roberts 18a is my next best fit, he also misses lots of goals, has the "Shoot from distance PPM" which makes him sometimes shoot from distance, he score a couple of great goals though! He is developing so I hope to get him fighting for the start place. Played in 24 games, most from the bench and scored 3 and assisted 3. Missed a header that could have made him into a legend for the supporters.
Trying to make him lose the "Shoots from distance" PPM.

Dan Maguire was able to get just a few games, he scored a goal. He is a bit wasted because I can't get 2 forwards working, but he is cheap so I keep him.

Youth:
U18 champions!!!

Y17:
Lots of dead wood from the unplayable season, I may keep two.

Leigh Bond-Wellard 17d is a Professional goalkeeper, no talent, but I like to have 3 GK, it's like having the strong foot on the side of the field you play. I'm weird that way. 

Peter Farrell 17a is improving, could reach a decent backup place and be able to cover 3-4 places.

Y18:
May have picked more than I needed, didn't have the same mistake this year.

Y19:
Got just 3 players, Ian Williams 19a was discussed above.

Paddy Doyle 19b is a natural Wide Midfielder something that I want to start playing, will wait for some improvement before I play him.

Andy Bottomley 19c, is now higher rated than Paddy Doyle 19b. I want him to became a decent left fullback that could cover the wing in an emergency. Will play in the U23, U18 until there is an emergency or someone better appears.

Finances:
I am getting a huge debt, I don't know how that works in this version, last youth save my best players would refuse to renew and leave so my wage was low that I slowly made money, with the sale of a youth or some cup luck I would get enough money for the youth upgrade and would then get enough talent to get promoted. I only played one club in administration a lot of years ago, can't even remember the version, I know that they would take care of buying and selling players, would that break the challenge?

This save my best players renew but at the maximum I can pay, so I am accumulating some debt, I have made it to the 3rd and 1st rounds of the FA Cup, so made some extra money or else it would be worst, also my board made some money injections. My best players are young, so I'll probably try to keep them and keep pushing, hopefully I'll break through before I go to administration. One of my best is 32 and has a contract for one more year and I have some youths at midfielder, so probably will go youth at the end of next year and he accounts for 10% of my budget.

[saints94]

Have Weymouth popped up on anyone's save yet? 

[Mr_Demus]

42 minutes ago, saints94 said:

Have Weymouth popped up on anyone's save yet? 

I have had Weymouth on about 5 of 75 reloads (very rough numbers)

There's also a save on the first page with a Weymouth in

[saints94]

18 minutes ago, Mr_Demus said:

I have had Weymouth on about 5 of 75 reloads (very rough numbers)

There's also a save on the first page with a Weymouth in

Cheers geezer 

[Swindon69]

Ok - now going through my 2nd takeover in two years!

[Kaiserwatman]

Stafford Rangers

Season Report 19-20

League Table     Finances     Profile            

Following two steady but unspectacular seasons in the Vanarama North , Stafford have finally started to make inroads within the division . A goalkeeping crisis at the business end of the season lead to a disappointing finish . When the u18 reserve keeper ends up been NO1 you have to expect things to go pear shaped and the Boro failed to break the clubs best ever position eventually slipping down to 11th 4 points short of the playoffs. Overall the local boys done the club proud , Harvey Knibbs was excellent throughout and won the Top Scorer Award whilst ex Wolves attacking midfield player Sam Green picked up Assist King. The Club has still yet to progress to the first round of either of the cup competitions going out to York City in the FA 4th qualifying round . The FA Trophy was a complete write off falling at first hurdle to Salford City.  

I have redefined my catchment area to try and keep my save as realistic as possible and it will probably lead to my downfall later on but all players will be born or come from clubs within this zone. I have left Crewe as my most northern point as they are my parent club currently not that they have actually been useful in sending down youngsters or anything .

 

Season	|       League	      |     Position	   |    Europe	  |      Top scorer       |    Achievements
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2017/18	|   Vanarama North    |       16th	   |      N/A 	  |  Harvey Knibbs (15)   |   Avoided Relegation
2018/19 |   Vanarama North    |       16th         |      N/A     |  Harvey Knibbs (11)   |   Avoided Relegation 
2019/20 |   Vanarama North    |       11th         |      N/A     |  Harvey Knibbs (27)   |   Mid-table

[Drew the Cookie Eater]

Lowestoft Town | Vanarama National | Season Three

Final Table didn't live up to last years expectations, and fell away massively, I think having players on non contracts had a small effect on us.

Finances

Transfers now this screen may also be the reason we didn't perform that well, for the majority of the season we were under a takeover, and with a takeover you cannot sign any players, at all.

Squad

Bradley Catton key for us in defence

Max Sheaf key in the middle of midfield, need some goals from him though

Jake Reed best striker at the club, unfortunately  wants too much money and will be leaving, if anyone is looking for a striker the Jake is your man, scores an absolute bucket load at lower levels.

 

[Warhawk]

Welp, Corkery came back, scored 4 in 5 games, and then dislocated his shoulder and will be out for 2 more months.  So now I'm relying on Danico Johnson, who I signed when he was out the first time, scored 6 in 9 in that period.

EDIT: And down go Devyne and Neita in the next game, for 2 months and 3-4 weeks, respectively.

Both knee injuries, again.  Seems to be a trend.

[Swindon69]

I'm finding it very hard to find players my scouts think are Conf South level that are prepared to join me - this could be because there are many teams from the level below who have a higher rep than me.

[Warhawk]

36 minutes ago, Swindon69 said:

I'm finding it very hard to find players my scouts think are Conf South level that are prepared to join me - this could be because there are many teams from the level below who have a higher rep than me.

Some of those are actually probably better than that, you just have to look at the attributes.  It's about finding guys who might not be as highly regarded but have the right skills and personalities to be effective in your system.