[FM17] The Students who become the Masters

[Black and Yellow]

Fingers crossed this might see us able to get some youth recruitment. They've taken a bank loan of £35,000 however, so it may not be the lucrative takeover I need..

[Black and Yellow]

Season In Review - Europe 2017/18

 

Champions League

Bayern Munich took charge of the CL this year, comfortably beating Juventus by three goals to nil in Kyiv. The Bavarians topped their group before breezing past Manchester United in the first knockout round. A quarter final meeting with Valencia ended 3-2 on aggregate, leading to a semi final with Real Madrid. A 1-1 draw in Germany was followed up by a super 4-1 win in the Bernabeu. In the other semi final, it was Tottenham who fell to the sword in Turin, losing the second leg 2-1 (3-2 on aggregate). Holders Paris Saint Germain did not even make the knockout stages, finishing third in a group with Atletico Madrid and Manchester United. 

Europa League

It was a magical tournament for Leicester City as they ended up with their first ever piece of European silverware. The Foxes had a phenomenal run in the tournament, topping their group with 14 points. In the first knockout round, a superb 4-0 away win in Braga saw them progress after losing 1-0 at home. That led them to a tie with Fiorentina, but both legs ended in comfortable victories, winning 6-1 on aggregate. The final eight saw them face Sevilla, and they scraped through 4-3 on aggregate. In the semis, they dispatched of PSG after a comfortable 2-0 win in England (3-1 aggregate win). FC Porto met them in the final in Amsterdam, and it was Leicester who won through, winning 3-1 on the night. A truly wonderful tournament for the Foxes!

UEFA Super Cup

Tottenham won the season curtain-raiser, beating Paris Saint Germain by a single goal in Skopje. 

---

And onto the domestic scene...

Premier League

Arsenal made it two titles in two years, finishing seven points clear of second placed Manchester United. Tottenham and Leicester made up the top four, with Chelsea and Liverpool finishing in 5th and 6th. At the bottom, Everton came in dead last and were joined by Crystal Palace and Wolves, who face an instant return to the second tier. 

Scottish Premiership

Celtic continued their dominance, finishing 11 clear of St Johnstone. Rangers could only muster a third place finish, while at the bottom it was Kilmarnock who faced the drop. Falkirk survived the relegation playoff. 

Welsh Premier Division

TNS had an incredible season, dropping just 6 points and completing an unbeaten campaign. They finished an astonishing 38 points ahead of the rest. Rhyl and Newtown both found themselves relegated ahead of the 18/19 campaign.

Danske Bank Premiership

Linfield dominated the Premiership for the second year running, with a 12 point gap over their nearest rivals. Crusaders and Cliftonville ran it close for second, with the Crues just about edging their opponents out. At the bottom, it was disaster for PSNI who suffered an instant return to the second tier, while Warrenpoint also joined them after losing to Queens University in the playoff. 

 

 

[Black and Yellow]

Despite the new board coming in in early pre-season, the finances have not been boosted whatsoever. The bank loan has now gone, we're in the red again and we still have no youth recruitment to show for it. We have 13 players at the club. Simply, the infrastructure is not there to continue, and now we're in the top flight I honestly dread to think how bad it'll be. 

Then.. while browsing the job centre just to see what was available, one grabbed my eye. I decided to try my arm, and, well..

This would be a trip across Belfast to our much more illustrious neighbours. They themselves have not had much success recently, so it would be a job to catch up with the likes of Linfield. However, I really fear I cannot continue in the youth challenge with the current situation at Queens Uni. It is very frustrating. 

I was the heavy favourite to take over at PSNI but I have no interest in that job at all. They've just been demoted back to the Championship after a torrid season in the top flight.

The new chairman called me in to try and get me to stay: this all hinged on one thing, in my head..

And unfortunately they did not feel the same way. 

We'll wait and see what Glentoran come back with. If not then I guess I will try and see what else I can do with Queens, until another job catches my eye. But if this happens, it will not be pretty.

 

[Black and Yellow]

Back to the grind, then. 

I have decided that I am going to sign the 'greyed out' players in my U18s if I need them over the season. They won't be good enough to play but this will be purely to ensure I can fill my bench on a weekly basis.

Season 2018/19 aims

* Survival at all costs.

* Win a cup to try and get into Europe.

* Get some youth recruitment. 

[Black and Yellow]

WORLD CUP 2018 - RUSSIA

I stopped with the NI updates really as I missed a couple and then forgot completely. So I thought I'd update the whole tournament here. Basically, we did pretty rubbish in qualifying and didn't manage to get to the Finals in Russia. 

Germany were rampant in the group in the end, winning 9 of their 10 games. Norway finished comfortably in second, six points ahead of Czech Republic. We were in fourth, just edging out Azerbaijan. While only losing three matches in qualifying, we only won two (both games vs San Marino), so we drew too many. Hopefully we'll have a better time in qualifying for the 2020 Euros. 

GROUP STAGE

European Champions Portugal exited in Group B which was a very tough group, especially for poor Costa Rica. Also a surprise in Group C as Germany just sneaked through by virtue of goals scored over South Korea. That was a group where you'd expect Ze Germans to record comfortable wins, so it's a surprise to see them finish in second. DR Congo had a great group stage, topping Group D ahead of Belgium.

The surprises continued as France packed their bags early from group E. Colombia, Argentina and Spain were the only three sides to win all their group games, but there was no other major surprises in this side of the draw. 

Germany really found their scoring boots - they clearly were in first gear during the group. They obliterated DR Congo before hammering Mexico in the quarter final. They went on to comfortably beat the Argies before beating Belgium in 120 minutes in the final, recording back to back World Cup victories. 

No other major surprises in there really - perhaps Belgium's hammering of Italy in the Quarters stands out, while Argentina edged out Brazil after a penalty shootout. Infact, Argentina were the only side to win a shootout in the whole tournament, against Brazil and Uruguay before that. 

 

[thehazeofspades]

We couldn't have 2 Glentoran stories now could we  

[Black and Yellow]

 That did cross my mind before applying! 

Also.. delighted with the start we've made to the Premiership - we've got more points in 5 games than I managed in 25 with Wakehurst!!

[Black and Yellow]

This is good progress. Hopefully I'll be able to start the next one soon.

--

This season is actually going a thousand times better than anticipated. I have had to take on a few of the grey players that were in the club - I suppose in a way that's the same as getting a youth intake. Those players will hopefully tide me over now until we actually get our own youth recruitment in place to start developing our own talent.

We're doing well in the league currently, with some of the best home form in the division. We've had an attendance of over 800 (granted, 700 were Glentoran fans) but that is huge progress on previous years.

Also:

We've gone up against Linfield once already and were well beaten 3-0. I expect a defeat but it is nice to be challenging for honours.

[Black and Yellow]

Really unlucky not to hold on to our half time lead, but Linfield were getting a lot of shots away. That attendance has really helped our coffers too which is great.

I'm so impressed with how we've made the step up so far. We've lost our games to the likes of Linfield, Cliftonville and Glenavon and generally done okay against the rest. 

Compared to the lower divisions the prize money in this league is excellent and so hopefully we'll start to see improvement in the finances from now on.

[Black and Yellow]

We've got five games left before the league splits in two. We are looking in a fantastic position to perhaps even end up in the top half which would be a phenomenal first season. We have been so contrasting, with impeccable form at home but we've struggled on the road. Most importantly, we have beaten the teams near the bottom most of the times we've met them in the league. Obviously if we finish in the top half we have no relegation concerns at all and could also possibly sneak a European spot(!!). If we finish in the bottom half, I'd fancy us to finish 7th, which will see us into the European Playoff Quarter Finals. I'm not entirely sure how it works, but teams from 3rd-7th go into a playoff, where 7th will play 6th in the quarters, then the winners of that match will go into the semi final draw with the teams in 3rd, 4th and 5th. 

Either way, it's been an absolute dream to be miles clear of relegation - it'd take almost inhuman form for Knockbreda to catch us. I must say, sitting four clear of 7th - I want that 6th spot! Our remaining 5 games are:

Cliftonville (a)

Coleraine (h)

Glentoran (h)

Ballinamallard (a)

Crusaders (a)

If we can escape from Cliftonville with a point then I'd fancy our chances, based on our home form, to pick up some decent points in those two home games. We've won at Ballinamallard before this season, and beaten Crusaders in two of our meetings thus far.

Either way, it's been a remarkable season in the league - the players have generally stepped up really well. Defensively we are shoddy, mind with only Ballymena conceding more than ourselves. 

Despite the success, we're still in the red in terms of finances so if we could sneak into Europe then it'd be a monumental boost for all concerned!

[Black and Yellow]

WE'VE DONE IT!

Despite picking up just two points from 12, we've done enough to guarantee a top 6 finish, meaning we will definitely be involved in the European Playoff, regardless of our results. Chances are that we won't finish any higher than 6th as they've all pulled clear, so we've not really got a lot to play for - nor do I expect us to pick up many points (if any from now on).

A quick look at our finances shows our balance at -£1,463, having made a loss of £3,614 over the course of this season. We still have no youth recruitment or junior coaching, which - while it isn't as big an issue as it was as I have given contracts to the grey players in my youth team, is still extremely frustrating. We are still having to use some players who should be playing 4 leagues below our own level.

In the build up to our final game of the season, away to Crusaders, and this comes up:

A move to one of our more illustrious city neighbours, and I must say it is tempting. They are not at the same historic level as Linfield and Glentoran, but they are a big step forward on our position in terms of facilities. 

I may go along to the interview and see what happens. It is frustrating that the Queens Uni chairman and board are rejecting everything I try to do. On the other hand, we're painting a history at the Uni and we have made phenomenal strides in 2.5 years thus far.

Decisions, decisions...

 

[Black and Yellow]

I went for an interview, which went rather well. They agreed to boost their junior coaching at my request, as well as upping the budget for me to make any staff changes. It was a world away from my current role where everything gets rejected straight off the bat.

Despite this, they decided to hire somebody else. Oh, and we lost 3-0 there the day after my interview. 

Anyway, the split itself was five tough games against teams who finished miles ahead of us. But, we were two games from Europe...so we always had a chance of topping off a mad season.

We were drawn against 5th place Coleraine in the Playoff Semi, while 7th place Portadown hosted Glentoran..

What a time for him to rediscover his scoring touch. We'd not scored for four matches before this one!!

Being one game from Europe is remarkable and incredible rolled into one!

 

[Black and Yellow]

We've been, and won here before. We've met Glentoran five times in the last two seasons - we won our first two encounters before they've stormed back to win three in a row. They've heavy favourites here, they finished 19 points ahead of us. Still, we got a confidence boost against Coleraine and we've nothing to lose and a hell of a lot to gain from this match.

Lets have it!!

[Black and Yellow]

If I was the Glentoran boss I'd be absolutely livid at the smash and grab that's happened here. Fortunately, I'm not, and so I am bloody delighted!

[thehazeofspades]

I feel so conflicted at that result but good job mate  

[Black and Yellow]

SEASON REVIEW 2018/19

After nearly leaving the club for pastures new in the summer, the move didn't quite work out and so we persisted. Avoiding bottom place was the target, but we far surpassed that, finishing in a remarkable 6th place which is fantastic for a first season in the top flight. The rate of progression on this save compared to my previous effort with Wakehurst is just ridiculous, but I'm not complaining. Our 6th place finish was quite flukey really, but more than that, we qualified for the Europa League courtesy of winning the European Place Playoff. An outrageous end to the campaign really, we didn't deserve it but I'm not complaining. The money just from being in the competition will make a phenomenal difference to us as a club, as I'm hoping for around £200,000 to boost the coffers.

Danske Bank Premier - 6th place

We'd actually have finished in 9th place if it wasn't for the split, which just shows how fortunate we have been. Our defence was the worst in the division, as we conceded over 80 goals. Fortunately our attack were half decent and we scored a fair few too. We took just one point from 15 once the league split, but managed to come good in the two playoff games.

Linfield romped to the title again, with a 14 point gap over Glenavon. At the opposite end, Portadown had a super second half of the season while Ballymena and Knockbreda suffered relegation to the Championship. Dungannon and Warrenpoint will replace them.

Our form from January onwards was bloody horrendous - those 6 games before our playoff fixtures were horrendous to see as we were just getting hammered. Ironically that point was our first ever against Linfield so that's a positive. 

In the cups, not a lot to report really.

 

We reached the County Antrim Final but lost out to Linfield. The League Cup and Irish Cup were both ended at the first hurdle which was disappointing.

We have a new POTY as Sean Walsh takes the trophy home this year. Michael Mackerel (a grey player I signed) won goal of the season and young player of the year, which is a good haul for a 17 year old.

We really tailed off near the end - we were miles off the top 5 and were protected after the split. Delighted with the progress again though!

Aims for 2019/20:

- Use the Europe money to get some youth recruitment/junior coaching.

- Top half finish

- Better Cup success.

[Black and Yellow]

We're heading to Malta. This is a side who've been in the Champions League qualifying rounds in recent years, and had a little bit of success. It was the easiest draw of the lot, however, so it's the best we could have hoped for - Brondby and Rangers would have been tougher!!

As you can see, we'll be at Windsor Park for the first leg.

[Black and Yellow]

EUROPEAN REVIEW 2018/19

Barcelona won the Champions League after a resounding 4-1 success in the final over Tottenham in Milan. The Catalans had come second in their group behind Bayern Munich, before knocking out Zenit St Petersburg in the last 16. They met Bayern again in the last 8, and came out on top 5-1 overall. It was an El Clasico semi final but Barca won 3-0 at the Bernabeu in the first leg to effectively seal their place in the final. Madrid did win at the Camp Nou but their 2-1 wasn't enough. Tottenham had a great run to the final, passing Juventus and Manchester United in the first two knockout rounds. In the semi-finals, it looked like they would exit after losing their first leg match at home to Paris Saint Germain. However, an outstanding second leg saw Spurs hit seven in Paris, finishing 2-7 winners on the night and 4-8 overall(!).

In the Europa League, it was Roma's year. They narrowly squeezed past Dynamo Kiev in the final in Vienna. The club had started in the 3rd qualifying round, so it was a remarkable feat for them to go all the way, knocking out Valencia, Chelsea, Monchengladbach and Inter Milan before the final. 

DOMESTIC LEAGUES

Premier League:

Arsenal won it for the third consecutive season, although this was won on the final day after an extraordinary run in. Before the last round of fixtures, both Arsenal and United had knocked up 93 points apiece. United faltered at home, drawing to Spurs, while Arsenal won at Southampton to finish two points clear. A truly mad season at the top. Man City finished way clear in third, while Chelsea scraped through in 4th, two clear of Leicester and Tottenham. At the other end, it was a tough season for Derby, Swansea and Brentford who all suffered relegation to the second tier.

Scottish Premiership:

Another year, another comfortable win for Celtic. They won it by 17 points this year which is extremely easy for them. Aberdeen just edged out Rangers into second place, while at the bottom Inverness were relegated. 

Dafabet Welsh Premier:

TNS, like Celtic, are just too dominant in their top division, comfortably winning the WPL once again. Nobody is even close to challenging them.

Danske Bank Premier:

Linfield won it for the third straight year, and at a canter again. It is worth noting, however, that they have lost their manager to Eastleigh, and you'll never guess who's heavily linked to it...

 

[Black and Yellow]

[Black and Yellow]

We've only gone and done it! The first goal in this second leg was going to be huge, so when James Lavery found the net, that was basically that. Then came a red card for our hosts, and things were getting even easier. They found some resistance to equalise with 20 minutes left, but Lavery put us back ahead in the 87th minute, before we concede in stoppage time. Absolutely bloody delighted to get through as it's worth a huge amount to us. 

We're only turning up here to ensure we get our money for appearing in the second round. Could be a cricket score.

 

[Black and Yellow]

That isn't too bad. I expected worse than five goals against considering they have over 60 shots in the two legs.

We've raised £400,000+ from this which should hopefully finally see us get some youth recruitment and junior coaching. That second leg attendance is also a club record.

[Black and Yellow]

Finally. 

 

[Ceching You Out]

49 minutes ago, Black and Yellow said:

Finally. 

 

Congrats! I'd been quite curious myself as to whether you could eventually get it.

[Black and Yellow]

So had I! I've asked so many times over the seasons to no avail. The money from that short run in Europe is huge considering our balance was at £15,000 prior to those matches - now sat at £350,000 after the JC boost. If they rejected my advances despite having that sort of money then I'd have had to move elsewhere. A positive is that our training facilities are fine for now so all money I get can be pumped into youth.

I await my first intake with interest! 

[deltablue]

Not a bad European experience. 

[BillHoudini24]

Any chance to show us your tactics and the thoughts behind them? I'm doing a similar save in Wales with Cardiff Met University and I'm struggling like you did at first.

Following.

[Black and Yellow]

Yep no problem, if I get time later I'll go into some more detail on it. I've kept the same tactic since the beginning really due to the lack of players I've had at my disposal. As simple as it sounds though, I sorted a tactic that was focussed around my best player and fortunately I've not really looked back! Also, I didn't have such a problem with keeping my key players where a lot of other people doing this kind of thing seem to.

 

[pheelf]

Very impressive so far, to get to the DBP and finish 6th without any new players whatsoever is remarkable. Now that you have youth intakes I can see this career really taking off ✈️️...will be following

[Black and Yellow]

I did give contracts to the grey players I had in my U18's as I only had 10/11 players otherwise, so in effect that was a bit like a youth intake. As you'd expect, they were generally pretty rubbish, and I have been indebted to a small handful of players who've really risen as we've gone through the leagues.

I do hope we get a bit more of a take off now. The money from that short Europe spell saw our budget boost to huge levels - we've used the money to do the junior coaching and also relay our pitch - something I've wanted for about two years now. Hope we're in a position to begin closing the gap on the top 4/5 teams soon.

@BillHoudini24 I will aim to do a tactical post this weekend, sorry for the delay!

[Black and Yellow]

TACTICAL ANALYSIS

At the request of @BillHoudini24, here is a post detailing my tactics that I have used over the last three seasons in charge of Queens University. I don’t often do these in-depth, so here goes. 

Formation

The base formation that I have used – infact, the only tactic that I have actually trained – is a variant of a 4-3-3. The game calls it a 4-1-2-3 DM Asymetric, but 4-3-3 seems easier. This is a tactic I have built that is very simple, as you’ll see from the team and player instructions, but aims to get the best out of our better players. Due to this being a youth only challenge, and us not having any actual youth intakes yet, I have had to rely on my better players, and pray that they avoid serious injury (which has been fine so far!).

 

The back four is as you’d expect – they’re all generally lacking in quality and so I have not asked too much of them. All of my back four (five including goalkeeper) have defensive roles, with the focus to get the ball out of that area of the pitch.

Into midfield, then, we have a DM-RC who acts as a protector of the back four. In the past, we have had games where the age of our central defenders has added to 70+ years, so I felt it was important to give them a bit of extra protection. The defensive midfielder also has a defensive role, and he tends to sit deep and almost act as a 5th defender in tougher games. We also have a CM and LM, who aim to support the front three where they can. 

In the final third, we have an AM-R (a), DF (d) and AF (a). These three tend to work quite well together which was initially a surprise but it has carried us to where we are today. Between the three main starting players, the AM-R has hit 35 goals, the DF has 29 while the AF has hit the net 58 times. That has been the bulk of our goals to be honest, so the way these three have worked have really helped us through the divisions. 

Team Instructions 

I keep this very simple. Over the years I have tried different ones but have generally had more success with just this one instruction from the start. During games, depending on how they are going, I will tend to add others (e.g. Be more disciplined, stay on feet if we are winning games or picking up too many cards). ‘Exploit the right’ is the most used instruction.

I feel that too many instructions is unhelpful, and with the standard of players I have, it would only confuse matters. We try and exploit the right in order to make the most of our AM-R, who is the best player in the club. 

 In the post below I will go into the player roles I have chosen and why.

[Black and Yellow]

reserved for further tactical analysis

[Black and Yellow]

Ah, poo. I've just gone to try and load the game today and have come up against the dreaded crash dumps. I do have a back up but have not had auto-save turned on for a while and it's back 18 months ago.

I am really not keen to try and re-do the last 18 months again yet, and so I'm going to have to stop this for now. I may well come back to it again in the future but it'll be like a new save. Incredibly frustrating. 

Cheers to all who've been reading this journey, anyway.  

 

[BathCity]

On Friday, March 10, 2017 at 22:42, Black and Yellow said:

Ah, poo. I've just gone to try and load the game today and have come up against the dreaded crash dumps. I do have a back up but have not had auto-save turned on for a while and it's back 18 months ago.

I am really not keen to try and re-do the last 18 months again yet, and so I'm going to have to stop this for now. I may well come back to it again in the future but it'll be like a new save. Incredibly frustrating. 

Cheers to all who've been reading this journey, anyway.  

 

So sad to see this, would love to see you try again tho...