[FM07] Exeter City's travels

[Farina]

There's this old save with Exeter City in FM07 I still play every once in a while. It's currently in the Championship but I intend to take the team into Europe before I call it quits. I used to writes updates about it at the forums of dugout, but that site vanished so I'll continue it here. I'll start with posting the previous updates I had written (and had the foresight of saving), before continuing.

Maybe nobody reads all this, but you're just an excuse to maintain my logs anyway.

 

***

 

Well, I guess I'll talk about my game with Exeter City if nobody minds.  

I'm in my 6th season now (2011-12): in the initial two seasons I won titles in the Conference and League Two, thus promoting to League One. In the first season there I ended third and subsequently got booted in the playoffs. 
I didn't mind all that much because my team was bumping up against the limits of its growth. I sold a winger for €2 million to Hibernian (or rather, my chairman made me sell him), which brought in additional funds for new training facilities and an eventual expansion of the stadium. In the following season I switched from 4-4-2 to 4-1-3-2 and subsequently 4-1-2-1-2, but the results were wanting so I returned to the bog-standard 4-4-2 and finished a decent 8th.

In the final year in League One Exeter returned typical form, supported by defensive solidity, consistent results, and the €120K winter transfer of the striker Charlie Sheringham, who turned out to be an superb scoring machine. A string of 5 victories in a row, and 6 games without conceding, brought the team to the top of table by the season's end. Additionally during the season the stadium expansion to 11,000 was finished, so I felt ready for promotion. 

However, just as I was ready for the final push towards the title the team narrowly lost 2-1 against number 1 rival (for the title and otherwise) Plymouth, losing the #1 spot again. A dashing 4-0 against Darlington seemed to indicate Exeter hadn't lost its form. However this was followed by embarassing away defeats against Leyton Orient and Yeovil, both relegation candidates. A home game against another relegation candidate, Barnsley, was again won convincely by 4-1, yet before the final game of the season I was only one point ahead of Gillingham. I needed to win the away game against Leeds to be certain of promotion. Leeds had missed the playoffs spots, but this was mostly due to weak performances in the first half of the season. In the second half they were definitely one of the strongest teams so this wasn't going to be easy. Fortunately Gillingham had an away game against another top team, Stockport. The deciding game started horribly, with a Leeds goal after a mere 2 minutes, and despite a good deal of chances Exeter failed to undo this. Wonder of all wonders, Gillingham had only managed a draw and they ended up behind me on goal difference.

During my preparations for Championship I thoroughly renewed the team, with 11 new signings, although I spend only €220K. My most notable signing was that of John Welsh from Dunfermline Athletic on a free transfer, who's already valued at €1.8M. Results in the friendlies were promising with amongst others a victory against Standard Liege.
My first official game was away against no other that Plymouth, against whom I hadn't managed to win during my previous 4 encounters. The renewal clearly made its mark as Plymouth struggled to contain my team, though the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
The following game at home against Wycombe Wanderers (ended 12th previous season) brought confirmation: after falling behind 0-2 in the first half, my team managed to score three in the 2nd half, thus gaining Exeter's first victory in the Championship. Lamentably, Sheringham, my star striker who had scored twice, was seriously injured in the final minutes of the game. He has to spend months on the sidelines, which has seriously diminished my optimism...

 

***

 

It's fairly smooth sailing for Exeter City in the championship so far. Held Sunderland to a draw and defeated Watford, which are both considered top teams. Wycombe, against whom I had my first victory, is currently co-leader with 5 victories out of 6... Hence, I'm feeling rather confident about my team's prospects. 
Coming up are an away game to Leicester, who were tipped to become champions but are currently 23rd, and a home game against West Brom, the other co-leader.

Decided not to sign another striker to replace Charlie Sheringham, which so far is turning out to be a good decision. One of my strikers of old, James Sinclair is showing he can cope with the championship. He is a bit prone to injury however.
I had to sell my right winger, Kevan Hurst, as he felt he was getting too big for my team. I was counting on him, but I can't say I'm really disappointed, because I sold him for a neat €900K to arch-rivals Plymouth. I had bought him for only €40K and I didn't consider him to be truly CH-quality to begin with.
I signed Nathan Dyer as replacement, who is probably the fastest player in the league, but has otherwise mediocre to weak attributes. Curious how he will turn out. I had also previously signed Faroe Islander Toneguzzo, who is a more balanced player, but is out with fractured ribs.
Finally, I refused a €1.1M offer for 21-year old Belgian defender Nick Simons, as he's crucial to my defence. His contract does contain a €2M release clause and if he keeps up his current average of 7.67 in the league he may very well be gone by next season.

In other news: Inter Milan got a little frustrated at not winning anything and signed Mourinho, Cronaldo, Sneijder and Cambassiano for €100M. Manchester United decided they don't need any proper wide midfielders. They haven't managed to win anything in 4 years and it doesn't look like that will change (Fergie retired). Chelsea, with an unorthodox 3-4-1-2, looks set to keep dominating the PL under the management of Valery Gazzaev.

 

***

 

Ugh. Exeter City received a thorough 4-1 spanking at the hands of Leicester. My midfield was shockingly inept to prevent through balls and crosses, and my defence couldn't cope with the runs of their strikers. Didn't have a clue what to do about it. 
With a bit of luck the following home game against West Brom ended in a draw. However, striker Lee Miller, who I had intended to use as a targetman partnering Sheringham (who got a torn calf muscle), picked up a fractured skull. Both my main strikers out for months. I had only 2 usable strikers left, so I decided to sign an unattached French striker as a backup and after barely 2 reserves games he ALSO fell out injured with fractured ribs. 

On the bright side, I gained my 3rd victory, against Southampton, and drew against Hartlepool. I'll probably be okay as long my remaining strikers don't get injured.

I'm halfway+1 game my first season in the Championship now and things have been going moderately well. I'm 12th with only 6 defeats out of 24 and an unbeaten record at home (that's what playing home games as if you're on an away, plus a bit of luck, gets you). Particularly nice is that I've managed 3 draws and 3 victories against the top 6 teams. On the other hand, I also tend to lose points against the bottom teams which is definitely something I need to work on if I want to secure my position in the league.

Something that may help is the return of Charlie Sheringham and Lee Miller from their long injuries. Of the other strikers I have, James Sinclair, has been doing alright, scoring 8, but another, Jamie Mackie, is lacking for this level of football. Why he's valued at €1M I have no clue. 
My CB Nick Simons continues to be a dream: steady performer, focused, good tackler, dominant in the air, fast, can pass a ball, doesn't get injured and doesn't want to leave. I'm considering giving him a new contract though there's still 3.5 years left on the current one, because I want to get rid of a €2M minimum release fee clause. However, the other CB spot is something of a problem. The current options are either old/slow (Grimaldi), weak at marking and otherwise average (King) or unreliable (Dosoudil). Something I plan to resolve by next season. 
Another sore point is my DM/CM John Welsh, a new signing. I had hoped him to be a key player but his performances have been rather mediocre. I hope he's still just gelling in.

I've regularly been switching tactics. My original and most used formation is the 4-4-2, slow/mixed passing. However, after Lee Miller got injured I only had Sinclair and Mackie left, who are pacey strikers, so I eventually switched to direct passing to make use of their runs. I've also regularly been using a 4-1-4-1 to bottle things up with a triangle of DMs, and a 4-3-3 to utilise Nathan Dyer. He is an excruciatingly fast winger but on the face of it useless in a 4-4-2. That 4-3-3 resulted in a fine 3-0 victory over the Wolves, but due to injury of Dyer I've been unable to replicate its succes. A final formation I used was a 4-2-3-1, placing a CM with good tackling in the #10 spot to prevent the opposition DM dictating the game. Once Sheringham and Dyer have returned from injury I may flip between a direct passing 4-3-3 and 4-4-2, depending on the opponent.

In other news: ManU have climbed to the 11th spot after spending a month or two in relegation territory, while Chelsea continues to rule over the PL under Gazzaev and his 3-4-1-2.

 

***

 

Exeter City have fallen on hard times, having failed to win for 7 consecutive league games and getting booted from the FA Cup. Currently 19th, though still 5 points ahead of Cardiff. The thing is that I'm actually having the feeling I've found the right tactical mix and that my team is relatively injury free. I'm just not having any luck. All of the games I've lost, I lost with a margin of one goal and I usually got at least as many shots on goal. Though merely creating as many chances may not be enough, as my strikers are usually of lesser quality than those of the opponent.

Next game away against Watford, the leader... Hopefully, I will turn things around in the game after, against Hartlepool, who is only 1 point ahead of me.

 

***

 

(in respone to another poster:) Thanks for your best wishes, though it isn't working so far...

The West Brom vs Exeter game:

Shots: 11 - 12
Possession: 52% - 48%
Passes completed: 65% - 66%
Goals: 6 - 1

...

What can you do about it? Not much I guess. Normally I'd thinker furiously with the tactics, but things just aren't going my way. At times like these you just hate football (manager).

Signed Agbonlahor on a free. I already have 5 usable strikers, and I already have Sheringham, Sinclair and Mackie as pacey strikers, but unlike them Agbonlahor is able to outrun any defender. Should help me in counter-attacks. I'll probably have to do some serious purging in the summer but those are concerns for later.

 

***

 

Didn't chance my tactics after the 6-1 hammering and I now haven't lost for 5 games in a row. Feeling rather smug for staying the course.  James Sinclair is surprising me: he's already scored more in the CH than he did the previous season in L1 and the one before that.

 

***

 

I succesfully concluded that first season in the championship, finishing 11th with 63 points. Had a good start to my 2nd CH season, winning thrice in a row. However that was followed by a long and disconcerting drought. I failed to win for 13 games in a row which brought me near relegation territory. After a lot of tactical thinkering I managed to get my team winning games again, though results have remained somewhat unsteady. Nearing the end of the season with 6 games to go, I'm 9th with 55 points. I managed a 7 out of 12 against Birmingham and Ipswich, the 2 top teams in the league by some margin.

I also made life hard for Chelsea in the FA cup, by boldy (if I do say so myself) placing a 4-3-3 against their 3-4-1-2 formation, denying space to their trequartista Kaka, while attempting to exploit their 3-man defence. I got ahead due a Sheringham goal, but in the end I was undone by a Podolski double strike. Despite the loss, the coolest match I've had with Exeter City.

I still have too many strikers, after signing Juray Piroska, a Slovakian international, on a free from Celtic. Curiously, Exeter may have one of the most valuable striker forces in the CH, with Agbonlahor and Piroska valued at €3.6M each, Sheringham at €2M, and another a million or so for the other strikers combined. I'm hoping to get transfer bids from other teams since I can't afford to renew the top strikers' contracts and I'd hate to see to leave them for free. Helpfully, Charlie Sheringham felt he was getting too big for modest Exeter City, so I put him on the transfer list. 
I'm also hoping to get bids for Nick Simons (CB, valued at €1.8M), Jamie Silver (DR, €1.7M) or Matty Ritchie (ML, €2.6M). Nick Simons has been a bedrock for my team (average league performance of 7.31) but I feel there are sufficiently good replacements available.

I do need money, because my stadium can hold only 12k (after a minor expansion in the summer), which is far insufficient if I ever want to get promoted to the PL.


***

 

(in response to another poster:) Perhaps not the best, Chelsea was clearly the superior team, but it was pretty neat going up against Kaka, Podolski, Pirlo, Carvalho, Terry and the like and actually have a fair shot at winning it. Kaka was invisible, Alves never got going and both got subbed. Only Podolski proved too slippery to handle. 

And yes, Charlie Sheringham is the son of Teddy.

 

***

 

Ended my 2nd season in the CH with another comfortable mid-table finish. 12th with 65 points, two more than in the previous season. My bitter rivals Plymouth got relegated, which officially makes Exeter City the biggest team in all of Devonshire. Hooray!

I'm facing the disconcerting prospect I'll be keeping all my best players. Disconcerting because I need money to expand the stadium or perhaps build a new one. 
I must say player valuations in this game are a bit confusing. The value of Charlie Sheringham keep rising (standing at €2.9M now) though nobody is interested, I'm not spotting any change in his attributes and his latest performances weren't good.

Also extended the contract of Nick "He who gave the Belgians their rep for braveness" Simons by another 2 year, including a release clause of €3.5M with only a small wage raise. Though he picked up 'only' 2 MoM performances, he's been the 8th best performer by rating in the CH this season. A gift that keeps on giving.

In other news, Arsenal picked up another PL title after the return of Wenger. The decline of ManU continues and they embarrassingly ended 11th. Chelsea won their 3rd CL trophy. And Leeds is marking their return to the Championship.

 

***

 

(in respone to another poster:) I regularly do such signings (Nick Simons was one of such ones), though I don't seem terribly good at developing their attributes.

Still no interest for Sheringham, but there's a prospect I may be selling Piroska (Slovenian forward) to Cottbus instead. He's worth €3.5M and I've signalled he can go at the right price. If I manage to sell him I'll attempt to get Sheringham sign a new contract.

And since we're on the subject of transfers anyway: I've gotten rid of an excess targetman and some other deadweight for a few pennies. I've also spend a little on several signings:

- Marvin Hunter (17, AM RC): bought him for €30K, scouts told he has premiership potential and I figured there isn't much risk in it.
- Kris Duxbury (21, DC) and Daniel Thurston (22, DC): got decent rapports from scouts (especially Duxbury), have good enough attributes and cost a combined €17K. There must be a snag somewhere, but again not too much risk in it.
- Preston Edwards (24, GK): I'm hoping he'll become a stalwart of the team. Has nice well-rounded attributes and a leader personality. Only his composure is a little low.
- Ashlex Cox (20, D/WB/AM L): Free signing and it could be a golden one. Well-rounded attributes, determined, natural on the entire left wing.
- Frank van Mosselveld (Dutch, 29 D LC): Probably my most important signing in the short term. Described as consistent, a teamplayer, determined, influential, a bit of pace and good passing. Hopefully an ideal partner for Nick Simons at the back (provided he stays). Also for free.

Overview of the senior team:

Finally, CH season 2013/14 has gotten underway. It set off with a 0-0 at home against Southampton. Bit of a disappointing result against a mediocre team, but I'm happy enough with the performance. My team looked comfortable (72% pass completion), didn't give away many chances (only 1 shot on target for them) and created a fair number of good chances. Nick Simons picked up his first MoM award.
I feel confident in another comfortable finish for Exeter City and I'm hoping for a good cup run to spice things up.

 

***

 

(in respone to another poster:) Hopefully not. I have no hopes of competing in the PL with a stadium capacity of only 12.000.

I've managed a big sale. Juraj Piroska has moved to Copenhagen for a transfer fee of €3.8M and + 10% of next transfer fee. There's still no interest in Sheringham though, so I've taken him off the transfer list and I'm hoping he will sign a new contract.

Meanwhile in the CH Exeter City has won one, lost one and drawn three. Not the best of averages but sufficient for the moment. Nick Simons and Frank van Mosselveld, my centre-back pairing, have already collected 3 MoM awards among each other.

 

***

 

AAARGHHH this is so infuriating.

So I'm 2 games away from entering the playoffs for PL promotion and having a big game against another promotion contender. My team is playing extremely well, yet in the final minutes they're only 3-2 ahead. Hence I decide play more defensively and I set defensive line and mentality on 5, forward runs only for the strikers, tight marking etc. Now, the AI's 4-2-4 is always a hassle but my defence actually wasn't having too many problems (in spite of those 2 goals) and with those settings the last thing you ought to worry about are balls dropped behind the defence, right? Guess what.
And I've been having this crap since forever. Some...how, despite a deep defensive line and a low mentality you still have a lot of problems with counterattacks and the AI constantly manages to drop balls behind your defence. If there's one thing that really puts me off from FM2007 it's this. I can accept the AI managing to equalize in the final minutes of a game, but not due to a counter attack when you're supposed to dropping deep yourself.

 

***

 

Since those updates 2013/14 and 2014/15 have gone by, with Exeter City in a steadily upwards trajectory: finished 9th and 7th, thus narrowly missing the playoffs. I am now starting 2015/16 being tipped as one of the leading promotion contenders, like last season. 
However, as before, I still don't want to get promoted before I have (much) bigger stadium. And in this regard Exeter City is progressing very little. There was a small expansion before the start of the previous season, taking the stadium's capacity to 14,000, but there has been none this year. Worse, my sponsorship contract was renegotioated on worse terms than before. Instead of getting €270K/year, I'm now only getting €200K/year. Even worse, I'll also be getting slightly less TV money.
The upshot is that I'll still have to rely on transfer money to break even, giving me little opportunity to build a squad I feel capable of competing in the PL.

And speaking of transfers: somehow that gift from heaven centre-back Nicky Simons still is at the club, as for some reason there has been very little interest in him, despite being one of the league's best defenders. Chalked up 9 MoM awards and the highest average rating in the league during 2013/14, and 5 MoM awards and second highest average rating last season. Yet, even though he has been crucial in Exeter's performances in the CH, I do hope he'll attract buyers. His wage demands for a new contract are well above what I can afford and I want the millions for a new stadium (expansion).
I almost had let go of Agbonlahor on a free transfer because I couldn't afford to offer him a new contract either and nobody was interested. Luckily a few weeks before his contract ran out I got a €875K offer from Crystal Palace, which I eagerly accepted. He was absolutely immense last season so it feels a little meagre. On the other hand he arrived as a free transfer, I got to enjoy his qualities for the full duration of his contract and for a relatively small wage (he's now earning 4 times as much at Crystal Palace). I can't really complain.
I can complain about the free transfer of Charlie Sheringham (Teddy's son) last season. He was worth €3.2M but that little **** wouldn't sign an extension on reasonable terms either and nobody was interested in him before his contract ran out. He also arrived at my team on a free transfer, but still. Little ****.

Anyhow, despite the loss of Agbonlahor, I'm mildly optimistic for this season. Next to Simons (value €2.6M), I still have quality players such as experienced leftback van Mosselveld (€1.7M), versatile left winger Matty Ritchie (€3.2M), influential striker Thomas Necid (€4.2M) and highly promising attacking midfielder/winger Marvin Hunter (€1.7M), who has just participated in the U19 European Championship. I feel my tactics are sound, exemplified by a narrow loss against Manchester United in a game in which Exeter City had more of the ball and more goal scoring opportunities. 
Truth to be told, that game may be more telling of the quality of ManU than of my team, as they still are in the slump they have been in since the retirement of Ferguson. They were in the danger zone for a good portion of last season. Manchester City got relegated instead. Chelski won the CL for the 3rd time in a row and 5th time in total, yet haven't won a PL title for 3 years. They bought 2 players for €50M each and a 3rd player for a half that. And Barcelona have only managed to win one Cope del Rey since the start of the game in this delicious parallel timeline.

Anyhow anyhow, some screenies:

last season's table



the squad



regen Chelski bought (could still improve on his long throws)

 

***

 

(after a long break:) Posted a number of times about my game with Exeter City in the Championship in this thread. Wasn't having good results at the end and I sort of rage-quit FM07 entirely. I got sick and tired of fiddling around with sliders with uncertain results. Have learned a good deal about tactics in FM since then and I'm now trying tactics based on the tactics creator. Still with the goal of bringing Exeter to the PL. 
First game went well, a clean 2-0 against Coventry. Second I lost by 3-1 against Fullham, but I discovered afterwards I made an error putting the tactic together for that game (used mentalities for a balanced tactic but had everything else set up for a defensive one). Third game away against ManU in the cup I lost by 2-0, but my team handled themselves pretty well, so I'm hopeful.
 

***

 

(in respone to another poster:) Something else that funny to see again is the omnipresence of the 4-4-2. Even Barcelona, heartland of the 4-3-3, plays a 4-4-2, with Messi as wide midfielder. 

It looks like I got the Exeter train back on track. Games against Nottingham Forest, Swansea and Scunthorpe ended in 1-0, 2-0 and 1-0 victories, which included my first away victory. All in the dreary Exceter way. I did lose 2-0 against Bristol City, but I've climbed from the relegation zone to mid-table.

Meanwhile I'm looking for reinforcements, as I've come to realise that a bunch of players don't suit my tactics or just aren't good enough. My best defender, Nicky Simons is still on his way out due to a transfer request, but I'd actually be glad if he gets sold because he's not the profile I want anymore and I'd like the money in order to fund future stadium expansions and training ground improvements. Unfortunely nobody's interested. The guy collects MoMs for fun, consistently has one of the highest ratings in CH, is in the team of the year, still is young, and nobody wants him.

 

***

 

Subsequent two games: a close 1-0 victory in the final minutes against Huddersfield, a header by Duffy, who is terrible in the air, and 6-1 against Wrexham, who were placed 2nd. Exeter is 6th now, though a lot of teams have played a game or 2 less. Never the less, the train is well and truly back on track.

Unhappy Nick Simons aside, my strikers are also causing me some concerns, though also delivering a happy surprise. The happy surprise is Frenchman Guy Ferrand, who I had only signed as a back-up player. Someone who's good in the air for when I want to pump the ball in the box. He's become my top scorer and a focal point in the attack. The concern are Tomas Necid and David Clarkson, who are supposed to be choice #1 and #2 as strikers. Clarkson I've sent to the reserves, because he's been missing everything, even in the reserves. And Necid never is able to impose himself on games, even though he's been at the club for 2 years and he's got the attributes. He's nominally worth over 4 million and I was hoping I could sell him for such a sum, but that's not going to happen with his mediocre performances. At this rate, I may need to bench him for Darryl Duffy.

 

***

 

Well, looks like I've been to soon to declare my troubles over, as 5 out of the past 6 games have ended in defeat, with one win. Exeter has now lost 13 out 24 games, though amazingly, the team still is 12th in the Championship.
Most of those defeats were narrow and should have ended in a draw or a victory rather than defeat, but that doesn't make the situation less worrisome. Ferrand has buckled under the pressure of public expectations and he's no longer performing, while my other strikers have also been needing too many chances to score. There's been some improvement with Necid though, and I did finally manage to get a performance worthy of his qualities out of him, when he scored a hattrick in the one victory I've had. Telling him he's got my faith before every game appears what's needed.
Meanwhile at the other end of the field the opponents often only need a half-chance to score and Exeter hasn't had a clean sheet for 6 games in a row, which is completely unacceptable. My team may fail to win, but they must never concede. Hence, I'm considering to sign former ManU goalkeeper Ben Foster on a free. It's a difficult decision because Edwards, my current goalie, is captain and respected across the team, but my patience is wearing thin after two years of mediocre performances.

 

***

 

My up-and-down season with Exeter City has gone on a major up. Firstly, the streak of games in which my team conceded a goal eventually had gone on for 11 league games before there finally was another clean sheet. A "low" point was Exeter's 4-3 victory over Southampton. Horrid result for someone who's aiming for soul-crushing 1-0 victories. There shall not be spectacle. However, of the following 16 games (including FA Cup), no fewer than 11 ended in a clean sheet. 8 victories, 5 draws and only 3 defeats.
I credit this succes with some more tactical thinkering, inspired by Leicester City's miracle season, and the signing of Ben Foster. Foster's average rating is actually lower than that of the goalie he replaced but I prefer to believe I didn't sign him for naught.

With the proper pep talk my lead striker Pavel Nevid's finally has been scoring in line with his abilities. He's scored 3 hattricks so far, making for a total of 20 goals in all games this season. However, his contract will end the following season and since he's asking for 30k/week (a quarter of my current wage bill) I'm going to try to sell him in the summer. His value has rocketed to €5.25 million and that would be a nice sum to have.
Top-defender Nick Simons still hasn't been sold, despite some interest, lowering the asked fee, as well as offering him to clubs multiple times. He then asked to be taken off the list, after which he again demanded to be sold. And then began whining to be taken off again. No, you're leaving buddy. I don't understand why nobody will buy him though.

But back to the team's performances: Exeter climbed to 8th in the Championship, 6 points behind a playoff spot, with 6 more games to go plus a game in hand. Not only that, we've also reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in Exeter's history. Admittedly, we've had some luck with the draw as we've been only encountered other Championship teams and smaller so far. Even so, the last round, against MK Dons, had to be settled by penalties after successive 0-0 draws. 
In the semis my team will be up against Charlton Athletic, who are 7th in the Premier League. Not only do I believe we can overcome that hurdle, I believe we have chance to win the trophy itself. In the final we would encounter Ipswich Town (8th in PL) or Aston Villa (1st), so fingers crossed it'll be the former.

In other news: Jürgen Klopp got sacked by Aachen (though he seemed to get decent results there) and Jena is in the relegation zone in Germany. Jena who? FC Carl Zeiss Jena (4th tier league club IRL), who promoted to the Bundesliga last season, went on to win the title in their first season there, breaking a succession of Bayern titles, and may very well get relegated again in their 2nd season. 
Oh, and I've just signed Adam Lallana (27 as in real-life) for 80k. Got to love this parallel universe thingy that comes with an old FM save.

 

***

[Farina]

 

 

My team ended up losing the semis against Charlton by a mere 1-0. That was a bummer, but atleast I got a good deal of money out of it, which turned out to be needed.

Exeter City ended 10th in the league, with 67 points. Not the best result I've ever had in the CH, but neither was it the worst. The team did concede 54 goals and lose 19 games, which was the worst I've ever had. As I've said before, the foremost priority is not to concede and therefore not to lose, so this is very disappointing.

2015-16 table:

 

Congratulations to Leicester for winning the title! Better luck next season City. Unfortunately Guardiola is only a physio in this game.  

 

Regarding my personnel: Thomas Necid's final goal tally was 20 goals in the league, and 23 altogether. Decent, but not enough to get interest in him from other clubs. Irritating, since I've put him on the transfer list in the hope of a payout. Still valued at €5m one season from the end of his contract. Nicky Simons has become a real bother, still transfer listed by request, still unhappy, and still no transfer bids. I've lowered the asking price to €1.2m, though he's supposedly worth over double that. Central midfielder Maurizio Ambra will be a goner, as 4 teams have made a bid. I barely ever fielded him in the starting XI, but he’s actually a decent player and he’ll bring in a tidy €450k.

And I'm offloading, or trying to, a few more players, because the board decided to build a new stadium. Capacity: 19.598. Normally I'd be delighted, since I believe I need a stadium of at least that size to compete in the PL, but the timing is terrible. It had been only a 2 years since they spent millions on an expansion, and yet more millions on another expansion 2 years before that. All this money is pretty much wasted. Meanwhile they've borrowed €60m for the new stadium on which €550k a month have to be paid in interests. That's €6.6m/year set against revenues of roughly €20m on which I barely break even. I had hoped to have a decent sum in the piggy bank before they’d build a new stadium, exactly to avoid this scenario. Now I’ve got to sell players to pay interests and pray increased attendance will pay for those in the future. Ofcourse, it’d be easier to get those attendances with good performances, which would be easier to achieve if I wouldn’t be forced to sell players.

Ugh, rant over. One of the players I’ve transfer listed to deal with this mess is attacking midfielder Marvin Hunter. Signed him for €40k when he was 17, and now at age 20, he’s worth €4m. I’ve already had enquiries, so I’m confident the sale make it possible to cover this year’s interest at least. Another player might be winger Matty Ritchie, who had been an important player over the years but stopped performing. I normally wouldn’t doubt giving him another season, but at €400k/year he’s one of the biggest earners in the team and he’s still valued at €1.5m (signed for €24k).

I’ve also made a new signing: 19 year old right fullback Richie Mills. At real team player, undaunted, hardworking, determined and excellent stamina. Signed on a free and already valued at €650k. Might become another good piece of business in the future. I’m also looking for a new right winger to replace Hunter, who I’ve always played on that position, and I might try to loan a player for the very first time during my career at Exeter. You can’t resell loaned players but these are unusual circumstances.

 

Elsewhere, Arsenal celebrated its 3rd PL title in 4 years. Portsmouth had won last year. What makes this so remarkable is that Chelsea has been utterly dominating the CL during those 4 years, winning the cup 3 times (5 in total). They also own 3 of the 5 most expensive players in the world (though one just got signed this summer) and 4 of the 10 most expensive players. No other team owns more than 1. Manchester United finished 12th. Ben Sahar became world footballer of the year and player of the year. Respectively the 3rd and 2nd time in a row that a Tottenham player won the award. Ciprian Andrei Marica was the previous recipient. Never mind.

 

[Farina]

 

 

Well, 2016-17 went by and I’m about to start the new season. The save is still progressing at roughly the same pace as real life.

 

Recap: the board took out a massive loan to fund a new stadium and in order to prevent a debt spiral I was seeking to sell players.

It didn’t go so well at first. Nick Simons (DC, DM), Marvin Hunter (AM RC), Matty Ritchie (AML) and Tomas Necid (ST), all of my main sell target didn’t get a bid during the summer transfer window. That was especially problematic when it came to Simons and Necid as their contracts were going to run out by the end of the season. Renewing their contracts would substantially raise the wage bill. I did decide to remove Ritchie from the transfer list again, but I was going to enter the season with unhappy star players. I also offloaded deadweight and several older players to get rid of their wages. My ever dependable defender van Mosselveld went to Manchester City, rightback Jordan Lotiès moved to Millwall and midfielder John Welsh went to whatever, that last guy never performed to my standards.

Aside of Adam Lallana (DM, AMC) and Ritchie Mills (DR) that I had already signed, I also made 2 speculative-slash-backup signings: Billy Stewart (D/WB/ML), a young talent, and Donovan Simmonds, an aggressive, physical beast of a striker.

 

Sure enough the start of the season was difficult. Few games ended with a clean sheet, my strikers rarely scored and Exeter remained firmly in the lower regions of the table. At one point the team was even in the relegation zone and the sword was hanging over my head. I decided to change tactics. Since there was a fair amount of passing ability in the backline and in my midfield, I had tried a short-passing game with a playmaker. That had been much too ambitious and switching to more direct passing seriously improved the attacking game. By NYE Exeter was safely removed from the relegation zone.

Aside of Necid, whose form was poor (not unexpectedly), another notable disappointment was goalkeeper Ben Foster. I signed him with high hopes and on high wages, but he performed no better than the goalie he benched. Threw him onto the transfer list to get rid of his wages and into the reserves squad out of spite. Didn’t manage to sell him during the transfer window, but I did finally get rid of Simons, who went to Bruges for €1.8m. An altogether decent sum. Selling Clayton McDonald, another centre-back netted me another €400k. With these fees and having pushed down the basic wage bill below €100k/week I felt I could safely see out the remainder of the season financially. Signed Simon Jackson (DC) and Kris Burt (DRC) as replacements. They didn’t ask much.

Further on, letting the team play with a more defensive mentality also improved the defensive aspect of Exeter’s game, with clean sheets half the games, despite the quality loss at the back. Removing Hunter and Necid from the transfer list brightened spirits and the team firmly planted itself in the middle of the table until it finally finished 12th. Conceded 51 goals and lost 17 games. Not as bad as the previous season, but not good enough. Donovan Simmonds turned out to be a great signing. He proved a good fit with Necid, and his tireless running, speed and strength made him a torment for opposition defenders. Even bagged several MoM performances. Winger Ritchie rediscovered his past form. 11 assists, his 2nd best total during the 6 seasons he’s been at Exeter. Tomas Necid ended up scoring 18 goals, with 5 assists and 4 MoMs. Not bad for a player who was unhappy the entire season.

 

After the season ended, St. Johnstone came knocking for Hunter and I was happy to oblige. He’s a talented player, but his natural position is in the hole and I played him on the right wing of my 4-4-2. His performances rarely matched his talent. Sold for €3.8m. I signed Dutch 20-year old Rob Peters as a replacement. A natural winger, fast and with a mean cross. And surprisingly, Coventry asked to buy Necid, whose contract would run out during the summer break. Fine by me. €1.6m. In came 29-year old Gianluca Litteri from Italy, a fast striker with a deadly finish.

Other signings have been Georg Kulovits (20, ST, Austria), who is strong in the air and has a good dribble; Roar Marjava (19, MC, Norway), an athletic midfielder; Niels Beck (17, DRLC, Denmark), a versatile defender; and Paul Halliwell (21, AMRC, England), who is athletic and versatile. Combined transfer fee for all summer signings: €10k. Combined value: €4m.

I managed to bring the base wage bill down to well below €80k/week, from €120-130k a year before, and I feel finances are secure for the following season. Hopefully revenues from the new stadium will cover the interest thereafter. I’m confident the team will achieve another mid-table position, although results may be inconsistent since there’s a lot of youth in the squad. I’m betting they will develop and their value will grow accordingly.

 

In others news: Chelsea won the PL again after a 4-year drought. Everton got relegated 2 years after their previous drop. 7 years ago they’d been champions. ManU finished 3rd, first time in ages they gained a CL-spot. Sevilla became champions of Spain, which Barcelona haven’t managed to do in 11 years. Tottenham won the CL. The 7 most expensive summer signings so far have been by Chelsea and Real. My archrivals Plymouth are returning to the CH. They’re now backed by a sugardaddy and they’re spending millions on players. Ugh.

 

 

[Makoto Nakamura]

That's one hell of a long time between updates, good luck with the new season! Still a surprise seeing Man City in League One even though they won't be next season, kutgw!

[Farina]

Thanks. City were in the Championship actually.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Over a year between updates. I thought I was slow!

[Farina]

 

End of transfer windows update:

 

Exeter have been off to a flying start of the new season, winning 5 out of 5. May well be my best start ever in this save. Oddly enough, it’s been the defenders who have been leading the way. Centre-back Gerrard has scored 2 headers from corners and right-back Mills has rifled in no fewer than 4 free kicks. Altogether, 10 out of 12 goals have been from dead-ball situations. Though the team has been fairly solid, I don’t expect things to continue to go so easily given these statistics. My biggest signing, striker Litteri, has also been a bit disappointing so far, having scored only once. I hope he’s just still getting used to England.

However, I got booted from the League Cup in first the round. A defeat against L2-side Kettering. Resting my entire first choice squad perhaps was a bit optimistic. It did take 30 penalties in the shoot-out to settle the game.

 

There’s over €4 million on the bank balance and starting the season with 15/15 is better than not starting with 15/15, so life’s good.

 

Elsewhere, Plymouth has had a good start in their return to the CH, winning 3 and drawing 1. Plymouth are a bunch of stinky pants.

Chelsea has ended up buying players for €222m, though also selling for €119m. Real spent €256m (€85m outgoing). By 2007 standards, these are massive sums.

[Farina]

The winter transfer window has finished, with 2/3rds of the games played, so this seems a good moment for another update.

Things are going very well. As I mentioned in the previous update, Exeter had a flying start to the season, eventually clocking up 8 victories and 2 draws before the first defeat. When the goals stopped coming from set pieces, the strikers took over and most notably Litteri, with 2 hattricks. The team then went through a bit of a slump however. The main cause was an irritating tendency to concede and after a particularly poor display (conceding 3 goals twice in a row) I benched a portion of my defensive compartment. Most of them returned to the starting line-up, but goalkeeper Preston Edwards stayed on the bench in favour of Matthew Harper. I also re-educated myself about media and teamtalks and decided to play more defensively around the same time. Whatever the exact cause, we only conceded in 5 out of 15 games since then. Now we’re 3rd, right on the heels of Newcastle and Everton. Everton has been stumbling of late and Newcastly sold its 2 best players, so a promotion spot looks very achievable. Regardless, 2017-18 is already certain to be the best season in the Championship yet. Even better, Plymouth with its new-found wealth is merely 8th, though we only managed a 0-0 draw in our encounter.

Things didn’t go so well in the FA Cup however. As in the League Cup I got booted in the first game, this time against Leeds. Guess that’ll help keeping my players fit.

I wasn’t very active on the transfer market during the window. I did sign Italian centreback Lorenzo Iori (24) for €150k, who was a panic signing when the team was struggling. He presents me with a bit of dilemma: on the one hand, he’s probably intrinsically the best of all my centre-backs, but on the other hand, the current centre-back pair has been doing excellently. Gerrard and Duxbury have together collected 8 MoM-awards. Another arrival has Christian Lindsetmo (19, DRLC, Norway) who I had a signed for free in the summer, but who could only be transferred in December because of reasons. A talented player who’s already put in some good performances and who’s valued at €1.5m. A final sign was Matthew Sinclair (19, ST, England) a fast back-up striker. I also accepted an offer on leftback Billy Stewart to make some space on the bench.

Meanwhile Manchester United has been continuing its revival and is leading the PL. Chelsea is surprisingly only 5th and they’ve spend another €62m buying a midfielder. Similar story in Spain, where Real is only 4th. Together they’ve spent €584m this season. Carlos Vela became world footballer of the year. Alan (Souza Francisco) world player of the year.

Table:

[Farina]

I did it! I’ve taken Exeter to the Premier League. And in impressive fashion at that.

I’m struggling to write a coherent account though, or to come up with a solid explanation for what happened. Certainly, I was confident of reaching a mid-table position before the season, but I also felt the the individual level of the squad was barely sufficient for the Championship. Yet, Exeter won the title with a record amount of points. From late November, the team went on an unbeaten run of 25 games, only failing to break the league record because the season was over. Somehow, the team would grind out results, one game at a time. Most victories were with a margin of 1 goal, including a stretch of 5 1-0 victories in a row. The typical title of a post-match report was “Exeter steal narrow win”. Somehow, every time things could have gone either way, it went the way of Exeter. If the AI were capable of emotion, it would have been exasperated. I always felt things wouldn’t last, yet Exeter at first overtook Everton and Newcastle to reclaim the top spot. Then on the 40th matchday it pulled 6 points clear of Newcastle. And after the following fixture it was also 5 points clear of Everton. And it stayed that way, without drama or fuss. To illustrate the scale of the performance, the aforementioned pair each ended with 93 points, which in any other season would have guaranteed the promotion. Exeter also didn’t lose a single game against anyone else from the top 6. Finally, I beat Plymouth in the return derby, after falling behind. Most satisfying game of the season.

As for explanations, it wasn’t because of absent competition, as the strong finishes of Newcastle and Evertons show. Getting media comments and team talks right probably was a big factor. Going with “they could cause us problems” and “wish luck” most games kept pressure at bay. Switching to more cautious tactics and replacing Edwards with Harper in goal kept things tight in the back. The fact that time and again the team managed to score that crucial goal from the few chances it created is the big mystery. Litteri did well, scoring over half his games, yet many of those goals came from the early season. When he didn’t score, there somehow always was someone to take his place though, often from a set-piece. Having been booted out of the cup tournaments early, so my players were fitter, as well as sheer luck must also have played a role.

Anyhow, the promotion couldn’t have come at a better moment. I had always wanted to enter the PL only once the grounds would have a capacity of at least ~20k, and the new stadium of that size will be finished in the summer. I also expect promotion to provide the revenues to pay for the debt taken on for that new stadium. So it all works out very neatly.

Now next season. That’s a big headache. My players performed heroically, but I definitely don't trust them to keep Exeter up next season. Can’t replace the entire team though, so I’m focusing on a new centre-back and a new holding midfielder, as well as a new goalkeeper to lesser extent. I’ve already signed Christian Hallgren (21, AM/FC, Sweden) for €20k, and Kenneth Holm (23, AMLC, Norway) for free. That’ll bring the size of the Nordic contingent at my team up to 5, of which 3 from Norway alone.

Arsenal once more became English champions, although a resurgent ManU and a surprising Liverpool put up a strong fight. ManU won the CL as consolation prize. Chelsea only finished 4th and haven’t won a single trophy. I guess they’ll spend another couple of hundred million this summer. Real got more out of its spending splurge, winning the double in Spain.

 

Final table:

The unbeaten run:

Squad:

[Nobby_McDonald]

Very well done Farina.

[Farina]

Well, the 2018-19 season is about to start, the first in the PL, so I figured I’d write another update.

Made far more signings than originally had been my intention. 12 so far, of which 5 currently are first-team choices. Together they’ve only cost me a little under €1.4m though, of which €400k in actual transfer fees and the rest in signing bonuses. With one of these signings I did raise the club record for highest transfer fee by €10k (previous record was the €190k I paid for Keith Southern, way back in 2008). My wage spending rose by over a half, from ~€80k/week to €127k/w. Yet, that’s still only 3/5th my allotted wage budget. Seriously, at some point I’m just going to use whatever funds the board provide to me and to stop penny-pinching.

It’s not as if I need to be terribly concerned about finances at the moment. The club has already sold over €10m in season tickets and will be getting €19.75m in TV money. Previous season’s total revenues were only €18.6m. There was a hole to the tune €4m I had to plug by selling players, but if I assume total wage costs will double from last season’s €6.2m, I should still end up with a surplus. With money from those 2 sources alone. It won’t come as a surprise that I’ve told the board to spend on upgrading the training facilities.

Let’s discuss the squad. Without a doubt my top signing of the summer is that of 22-year-old Giorgi Shengelia, from Georgia. He’s above all a physical monster: fast, strong, with a good leap and tireless. He also provides excellent passing, dribbling, finishing and dead ball ability. On top of that he’s fearless and determined. How he came to arrive at the club is something of odd story. Previously, he was loaned out by backwater club Dinamo Tblisi  to Serie A clubs for 2 consecutive seasons. First to Mantova, and then to Atalanta, with which he became champions of Italy. Then his contract ran out and he had half of Europe watching him, including major sides Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool, Inter, Lazio and Juventus. Yet when I took my chances and approached him, nobody made a rival offer. Doesn’t matter, I look forward to making him a major part of my team. He will be partnering Lallana in the midfield, who will replace Gilmour as the number 6. Was thinking of Letting Gilmour go, but decided to retain him for another season. To provide a bit more continuity and as a thank-you for past services.

The next most important signing is that of Christian Horvath, a 24-year-old Austrian goalkeeper. He’s a first-rate shotstopper and courageous. He’s also fairly eccentric, which I normally avoid, but he was one of the best keepers I could find who was interested to join and available for free. Plus he’s young so there’s resale value. I feel a bit bad about relegating Harper to the bench as he made a lot of great saves to help win the promotion, but I’m just not confident he’s good enough for the PL.

Then there are the Nordic signings I mentioned my previous update : Kenneth Holm, 23, from Norway and Christian Hallgren, 21 from Sweden. The Norwegian I plan to play as a left-winger in place of Exeter-grandee Ritchie, but he’s equally comfortable in the midfield or in the hole. He’s quite the all-rounder, technically excellent, creative and a flair player, but also someone who’s willing to get stuck in and put in an extra shift. And a bit of an athlete too. The Swede is also an athlete, a bit faster even, who also knows how to pass the ball and to put in some hard work. He’s naturally an AM, and I’ve been toying with a 4-4-1-1 in the pre-season to field him there, though he may yet play as a second striker in a 4-4-2 or end up on the bench. I plan to play Litteri as main striker in any case, and Kulovits as the first substitute. Rob Peters will stay on the right flank.

For the central defence I signed César Gutiérrez, (26, Chile) and Krzysztof Lagiewka (35, Poland). I’ll probably partner the Chilean with captain Anthony Gerrard. I might replace him during the course of the season with the Pole or with Iori, but for now I’m keeping him there for continuity and to provide leadership. Ritchie Mills will stay as RB, but Lindsetmo will replace Taylor on the opposite wing. Mills got into the semi-finals of the WC with Wales, playing most games until he got red-carded. I hope he won’t be fatigued by the end of the season.

Then there’s a few more back-up signings: Josh Dutton-Back (30, AML/R, England); Louis Castles (27, ST, England), who is the record signing I mentioned before; Jordan Lotiès (34, DR, France), who had a previous stint at Exeter and I let go for some reason; Paul Gallacher (39, GK, Scotland) as another back-up keeper; and Magnús Skúlason (19, DRLC, Iceland), who is the 6th Nordic player at the club.

The friendlies went well. Of the encounters against PL-sides Middlesbrough and Aston Villa, plus Espanyol and AC Milan from abroad, the team won twice and only lost against the Milanese. Though I alternated between a 4-4-2 and 4-4-1-1, I otherwise left my defensive counterattacking tactic intact.

According to the bookies Exeter will be battling the drop and it’s hard to disagree. The club already was amongst the smallest in the Championship, but in the PL it’s a dwarf. Early performances may be especially difficult, with all these new players gelling in. The team won’t have to play any of the big 4 until late October though. I do believe I’ll succeed in avoiding relegation. And then to turn Exeter into a stable top-tier club and get closer to the dream of an European adventure. Maybe win a cup too, with a bit of luck?

Elsewhere, Arsenal is tipped 3-1 by the bookies to succeed themselves as champions, followed by ManU, Chelsea and Liverpool. Chelsea broke the world transfer record: €89m for someone called Soares and that probably won’t be their last big signing. France won the WC, and they feel a lot more plausible as a winner than was the case with the previous ones, Croatia and Nigeria.

Giorgi Shengelia:

Christian Horvath:

Kenneth Holm:

Gianluca Litteri:

Line-up:

Squad overview, good thing there aren't homegrown rules:

[Farina]

The debut game was away against Manchester City, who were starting their second season in the PL since their promotion. They’re one of the lower-rated teams, so a good opponent to ease into the season. Unfortunately, I had to miss Litteri for several weeks due to injury. I replaced him with Castles, instead of Kulovits, hoping I could utilise his speed. The game was fairly closed but even. City got a few chances in and so did Exeter, although Castles was ineffective. I was satisfied with a draw until the 90th minute, when Shengelia played a lovely ball into the run of substite Kulovits, who proceeded to dribble past his marker and ram it into the far corner. First game and first victory. Shengelia was a major presence in the midfield and MoM.

For the next game Exeter received Tottenham for the first competitive game at the new stadium. They’re one of the bigger teams in the league and feature former Ballon d’Or and FIFA World PotY Ben Sahar. The final score was 0-2, which was hard to argue with as they were clearly the stronger side. It wasn’t a totally one-sided contest however and the team created a couple of good chances, while Horvath stopped a penalty.

It was a similar story the following away game against Aston Villa. Exeter did initially manage to go ahead: Shengelia impressively ran with the ball from well within the own half, straight through the center of the pitch, when he was stopped by a last-ditch tackle when facing the goalkeeper, upon which Kulovits nicked in the loose ball. Villa quickly equalised through a penalty however and scored the deserved winning goal in the second half. The worst was that Kulovits got injured by the end of the game, with what turned out to be a months-long hip-injury.

The following game against Portsmouth was going to provide a good measure of the team’s value. Against a middling team (though they did won the title several seasons ago) in a home game, Exeter should at least get a draw. A defeat or a poor performance would not augur well for the rest of the season. Litteri had only just returned from injury so I chose Simmons as lone striker, hoping for the best. It turned out to be a corker of a game. Exeter won by 4-0, which was a just reflection of my team’s superiority. Simmonds rose above himself and netted a hattrick. Holm was another player who delivered a standout performance, with 2 assists, while Shengelia again was a huge presence in the midfield and scored from a free-kick next to delivering an assist.

So, 4 games in and it’s going as well as can be expected. The overall picture I have is that the team can compete at this level. I’m quite happy with how the 4-4-1-1 is panning out. The midfield triangle pushes opponents to the wide areas (few of them play 3 central midfielders) and the crosses they put it from there are typically dealt by the aerial presence of the centre-back pair. This pair is providing a solid defence and Gerrard actually has the highest average rating in the squad after Shengelia. Quite surprising for someone I once signed as a back-up rightback. Behind him Horvath is the shotstopper I hoped he would be. Replacing a striker with an attacking midfielder has also been allowing the team to keep possession within the opposition’s half, while maintaining sufficient counterattacking threat. Shengelia is providing dynamism, passing and direct runs with ball. On the flanks, Holm is providing creativity and skill while Peters is providing speed. Holm will play in the hole the next game though, as Hallgren is injured. It is possible I will play him there permanently in the future, since he would add dribbling to the position, as well as passing and running. However, that probably would require me to sign a new left-winger first, unless Ritchie or Dutton-Black surprises me. Simmonds’ performance does create a dilemma. Litteri is mostly fit now, but I can’t very well bench Simmonds after his hattrick. At least I won’t have to choose between either and Kulovits for a while.

The league as of mid-September 2018:

 

[Farina]

The 4-0 victory against Portmouth was soon followed by the first League Cup game, against L1-side Barnet. Last year I hadn’t played a single 1st team regular in that game and the team got booted from the tournament by L2-side Kettering Town. For some reason I figured that couldn’t happen again, so I again chose a team consisting entirely of substitutes and reserve players.  0-4. It was only the League Cup, but it still was a come-down from the high after Portmouth. It also showed that while my first-choice team may be competitive in the PL, there isn’t much depth in the squad.

In the PL Exeter went through a string of 9 games without a victory. The heaviest defeat was at Old Trafford, where Exeter were beaten by 4-0 and Horvath in particular was poor. The margin was exaggerated though and my team deserved a goal or two. I also wasn’t too worried about the winless streak, since performances were decent enough and aside of United the team also had to face Liverpool and Arsenal. Exeter were even equal to Arsenal although the gunners were more efficient and won by 2-0.

The next victory arrived in the away game against Wigan, who simply got run ragged. Yet the final 0-1 scoreline was the result of a howler of an own-goal. That illustrates the problem I was having at the front. Litteri’s performances were very mediocre and he had yet to score a goal. Simmonds was equally unconvincing and Kulovits was still injured. Litteri did finally score in the following game’s 2-1 victory against Middlesborough, after 10 hours of play. In the defeat against Chelsea Exeter were hopelessly outplayed, although the damage was limited to 2-1.  Then came 2 more victories. First a simple 2-0 against Hull, in which Kulovits returned and immediately scored a goal. And then there was a narrow but deserved 2-1 victory against competition leaders West Ham, despite a red card for Holm halfway the game. In others words, 4 victories in 5 games and none of those were stolen. After 17 games played Exeter are now sitting 9th, comfortably above the relegation zone.

I’m rather happy with my team so far and I probably won’t do any signings during the winter transfer window. If I do sign someone it's likely to be a left winger, since Hallgren has been injured twice already, which required me to play Holm as AM for much of the season so far. Litteri doesn’t seem cut out either to play as a lone striker, either to play at this level of football. It wouldn’t be so bad that he can’t keep the ball if he would score, but he doesn’t. I’ll probably continue with Kulovits, who provided far more of both in the few games he’s played.

I also just realised that the ratings system in FM07 seems geared towards defenders. 9 of the 10 players with the highest average rating in the PL are defenders. I had been rather impressed with with Gerrard’s performances so far, he has the best average rating in the team behind his CB-partner Gutierrez. However, realising how ratings are skewed puts those performances in a different light. Gerrard is injured now and Iori, his replacement, instantly put in a MoM performance against West Ham with a rating of 9. I may continue to choose Iori over Gerrard, although that would leave me without a leader figure in the 1st eleven.

 

[Nobby_McDonald]

Excellent start to your debut Premier League season.

[Farina]

On 21/05/2018 at 23:37, Nobby_McDonald said:

Excellent start to your debut Premier League season.

 

It got even better. There first was bad news though: Shengelia twisted his ankle at training and was going to be out for 3-4 weeks. Exactly during the busiest period of the season. I also had to miss Holm for  3 games due to his red card against West Ham. Yet, despite missing 2 of my best players and after a tough game, my team returned victorious from Goodison Park, with a 1-2 result. The following game Exeter undeservedly beat Newcastle by 2-0. 4th win in a row. 7 games unbeaten. Another surprise was that Ritchie scored for the 2nd game in a row and was the team’s joint top-scorer, with a tally of 4. The game against City ended in 0-0 draw and the takeaway from this game was that Iori got his 2nd MoM award in 4 games. He then got his 3rd MoM against the Tottenham. Exeter spectacularly was leading by 0-3 by halftime, although the Spurs pulled back 2 goals during the 2nd half. Another minor point was that Holm got injured and I again had to miss him for several games. All in all, Exeter won 5 games and drew once during the month December. Iori became PL-player of the month while I bagged my first manager of the month award.

Early 2019 continued in the same vein: 2-1 home against Aston Villa, 1-1 away against Portmouth, 2-0 home against Ipswich, 2-2 away against West Brom and 1-0 home against Derby. The upshot of this unbeaten run of 11 games is that Exeter is no less than 6th in the league, with 46 points. As many as big bucks Chelsea.

Things didn’t go as well in the FA cup however. After the humiliation in the League Cup I fielded a team that mostly consisted of 1st team regulars in the game against low ranked CH-side Barnsley.  Despite that I only managed to win by 1-0 after a difficult game. The next game was against fellow PL-side Sunderland and ended in a 0-2 victory for Sunderland, after a particularly poor performance. 5 players had a rating of 5. There’s the mitigating circumstances that Holm and Shengelia weren’t fully fit, and that I had to revert to the 4-4-2 due to other injuries, but it was still very disappointing.

Did one signing in the transfer window, that of the Swiss winger Rapp, but he’ll only be joining next summer. With Holm, Ritchie, Hallgrenn and Dutton-Black injured in short order I was looking to sign another left-winger or an attacking midfielder for additional depth. I came close to signing winger Orlando from Portsmouth for €850k, but in the end we couldn’t agree on wages. Still might sign him later on. Udinese made an enquiry for defender Lindsetmo, which I rejected, which made him unhappy. He’ll get over it.

Looking forward, I’ll probably avoid relegation. I have games against Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea coming up so I may lose a few games, but I’m having the hope Exeter will already qualify for Europe in its first season in the big boys club.

In other news: Abramovich sacked Gazzaev, who promptly disappeared from the face of the earth. The sacking was enderstandable: while he won 3 CL’s with Chelsea, he only won 2 titles in 7 years. His 3-4-1-2 will be missed however. Chelsea also made a few more big signings. Brings their total for this season to €196m. Their total over the past 4 season is €779m. Remember, this is by the standards of 2007. West Ham is looking an increasingly good prospect for this season’s title. They’re 9 points ahead of Arsenal. Their striker duo, Bourgeois and Aguero are topscorer and vice-topscorer. The former also became world footballer of the year, despite often not even getting called up for the French national team.