[FM18 Network Game] Harrogate & Salford [Seasons Complete: 54 | Total Trophies: Harrogate: 95 / Salford: 114] Finished

[santy001]

Also, a bit of a curve ball...

Tycoon owned Morton have become Scottish champions

[BoxToBox]

Some quite different transfer strategies there.

[santy001]

I try to sign free agents and turn them around to make some money on them if possible, or at least get a bit further with a solid base in the team. A few good sales each year is what is mostly keeping the club ticking over financially, this year despite him being one of my best strikers I sold Hakim Abdallah to Rotherham for £750k (kind of depressing that the team who got promoted with me can blow me out of the water in terms of wages). 

@oliscott was mentioning how he prefers loans since it saves more money, and he can't really find the players he wants to sign full time. 

Never put too much stock in that myself, run the risk of losing your best players for nothing and not being able to get them back the following year. I loaned a few players in during January to basically pad out my squad for the final promotion push. 

- - -

The main problem facing us both right now is that despite improvements in our reputation signing players is still proving nearly impossible. Strangely enough, in the game reputation I'm ranked pretty much below all League 1 sides, and several League 2 sides. I'm sure my reputation was better last season when I checked.

[Nobby_McDonald]

On 21/11/2017 at 18:43, santy001 said:

Just a small post for @Nobby_McDonald seems like the collapse is truly on:

It gets even better. Vale dropping like a stone and Billericay promoted to the Football League.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Another great season for you both.

[santy001]

Season 7:

The seventh season seemed to hold so much promise right up until the final moment... and then it became bitter defeat. @oliscott lost 5-1 to Mansfield in the first leg, and won the second 3-2 after a disappointing late collapse cost him an automatic spot. With a defeat to Bristol City and a draw with Peterborough costing him 4 points in the run-in. Meanwhile, over at Salford things were very different. All season I had been building up, after only 1 point from the first 5 games, but on the final day of the season I needed to better Wolves result for the 2nd spot. Unfortunately Wolves dispatched of relegation candidates Blackburn quite comfortably (and sealed their relegation in the process) as well as pushing my Salford side into the play-offs, despite a comfortable 3-1 win over Sheffield United who were also in contention for that 2nd spot. A 4-2 loss to Middlesbrough in the first leg was met with a 4-2 win in the 90 minutes during the second, but it went to extra time and Middlesbrough pulled 3 goals out. The small comfort is they went on to lose 3-1 to Sheffield United in the play-off final.

Both teams are really struggling for reputation in the world of football right now. Which is impacting upon upwards mobility in football.

League One Table:

Championship Table:

Harrogate Transfers:

Salford Transfers:

[oliscott]

Two more wins and I've had been up again, got twatted in the first round of the play offs and there wasn't any coming back from that. Build for next year now and try to improve for the title.

[oliscott]

Some great news that passed my by earlier.

 

[santy001]

Here's my shocking start to last season that ultimately cost me a fair few points:

During international breaks and a squad with next to no internationals (only 1 I think) I do tend to arrange friendlies to keep players fit and get fringe players some game time as well. But only 4 points from the first 21 on offer. 

Jack Fitzwater alone is the main reason I begun to turn it around I think, at 6'2" tall, he can pass, he's got good anticipation and positioning, and he's reasonably quick in terms of acceleration. He's what I'd consider premier league defender material on a budget. You can easily find better of course, but this is the kind of player who could be a perfectly capable squad member in a top half Premier League team and not look out of place. His concentration and decisions are all that really holds him back, but the rest of the package makes up for that I believe. 

[santy001]

On account of @oliscott going to Barnsley I figured I'd offer up a preview post of sorts for my upcoming season.

Season 8 Preview (Salford):

After last season there was a glaring issue that just couldn't be ignored any longer. My defence is a shambles. Last season bringing in Kyle Naughton and Jack Fitzwater was probably what saved me from relegation, and with that tinge of better quality at the back almost provided a platform for promotion. While very much subscribing to the belief that outside of the premier league, attack is the way to go I usually do like to have a strong defence. Salford have had two crippling problems though, a smaller transfer & wage budget than contemporary clubs at every level, coupled with a very low reputation (last season in the rankings half of League Two were still ahead of me in reputation).

This season however, I still want automatic promotion.

I'm fairly happy with my attacking front-line, Connor Mcbride is now 23, a free signing from Falkirk in 2021 he's scored 58 in 116 games (bit strange, actually a flat up 1 in 2 striker so far) and looks a threat. Morgan Gibbs-White is predominantly an AMC, but upfront he bagged 18 last season and I'm expecting him to be stronger this season and at 24 there's not much to worry about. The weakest of the three is 28 year old Bradley Fewster, signed back in 2020 from Vanarama North side Spennymoor and when I was still in League 2 he has stepped up admirably but dropped to 11 goals in 44 games last season. I only have the ageing 33 year old Borja Garcia and fellow 33 year old Jack Redshaw competing for this slot. 

In midfield there is Gus Mafuta, a stalwart of the Vanarama North days, but alongside him Brad Walker, George Saville and Toby Edser all provide a solid platform. None of them particularly do anything spectacular, but they provide a solid working foundation in the middle of this 5-2-3/3-4-3 formation. 

I've prioritised the top two rows of my team almost exclusively, until the disappointing run of results at the start of the season. I knew it was an issue, but again in January I couldn't find anyone I wanted. I brought in a new head scout, upgrading from 3 scouting slots to 5 and going from 1.5 stars to 3.5 stars. I prioritised a favourite haunt of mine, the Scottish leagues as it seems like the best place to pick-up bargains within my scouting area. Lower wages, and hopefully young potential players without silly asking prices. 

I identified 2 central defenders, and a full back, just what I feel is needed.

First up is Danny Finlayson:

Second up is Craig Barclay: 

Both of these 2 are raw and young, but a marked upgrade on Cian Harries, Ellis Plummer and Addison Garnett my first choice 3 at the start of last season.

The full back is Liam Palmer, with a wealth of Championship experience behind him:

He'll serve as cover for both left and right back positions in my side, as I also brought in a new left back 34 year old Danny Rose:

I still feel as though I need 1 more defender, in what has already been a predominantly defence focused summer, I'm swaying between a veteran CB who has got a good head on him to marshal this relative inexperience in the middle, or a genuinely quick defender to compensate for the others being more middle of the park. In a normal world I'd expect the full backs to pick up these players, but I'm going for superior technical and mental attributes in the full back (with Kyle Naughton and Danny Rose it feels like could be the start of a 2014 Tottenham side ten years on) spots rather than speed. I think resolving the defensive issues would be enough to see me to the Premier League, this league history graph needs 1 more notch on it with an 8th league showing I think:

[BoxToBox]

Finlayson looks brilliant!

[santy001]

Season 8: Catastrophes all round

Well it was a brutal season for both of us, failing to live up to our aims. For myself at Salford it was all down to one huge mistake, going for experience and technical ability in the fullback roles meant I was hamstrung. I didn't have the budget to change it once I'd committed and it was an enormous mistake. While early in matches the technical superiority of Rose and Naughton would shine through, late on they would tire and be horribly exposed. I tried to compensate with other fullback options, but there was no one in the right mould to put it right. For @oliscott he suffered a similar recruitment issue but in goal. His goalkeeper, who has conceded an impressive 500 goals in 6 seasons, really has been the bane of his season. While goalscoring for both of us hasn't been a problem, we've both suffered defensive frailties and that has led to our undoing.

League One Table:

Championship Table:

Harrogate Transfers:

Salford Transfers:

[oliscott]

When the team play well they really play well, makes the terrible loses harder to understand.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Double playoff heartache then dropping a bit.

[santy001]

Yeah, last season I suffered massively from the fact I just completely misjudged what I should've been going for. With a drastic shortage of money (budget around 100k p/w) and little to actually spend there just really wasn't anyone I could attract even loosely in the mould I'd prefer so opted to go for ageing players with good technicals. 

It was strange, because it worked fantastically for 50-60 minutes. However, in that last stretch of the game the fullbacks were just getting overrun and were horribly off the pace. 

This season I've got 2 new full backs, while still nowhere near what I'd like, they're at least a bit faster, got a bit more stamina. It's helping to shut up shop at the end of the game, but after 30 games there is still something like 10 points between top and tenth. 

[oliscott]

The annual bottling has began

[Nobby_McDonald]

The bottle twins.

[santy001]

@Nobby_McDonald it's an absolute calamity, in any other league I would've been promoted by now but in the Championship there is an insane financial gap. We've finished the 9th season, I'm going to post an update tonight but Sheffield United were paying a player £90k per week, which is 80% of my entire team wage budget. 

@oliscott will be in the championship during season 10 however, so we'll see how he copes with a limited budget as well. 

I actually have some money this season (£2m transfer budget) and £140k p/w wage budget which is still a pittance compared to the other end of the Championship scale but I'm hoping I can finally invest in some promising youngsters and begin to make some money to fund a proper promotion bid.

[After]

Nice to see you in the same league again.

[santy001]

Season 9: The thin slivers of luck

Season 9 was characterised by fortune right at the last for both teams. Going into the final 2 games for both @oliscott and myself automatic promotion was possible. League One was arguably the tightest it could have possibly ever been, with Harrogate emerging as champions. While up in the Championship my side just faltered at the last again, the squad not quite strong enough to see it through and over the line. The play-offs were lost thanks to a completely innocuous second leg goal against Reading who went on to win promotion to the premier league. Harrogate got the business done and have come up to the Championship on the back of strong goalscoring performance.

League One Table:

Championship Table:

Harrogate Transfers:

Salford Transfers:

[santy001]

One of my big issues at Salford is just the sheer lack of trust from the board with money, their reluctance to give me any decent money to spend has left me getting blown out of the water left, right and centre. Even though for the last 18 months or so a lot of players have been willing to join me, I've still suffered the fate that a lot of league 1 teams can offer better terms than I can. 

What money I do get I have been putting into youngsters with a bit of potential to attract interest if they perform well. Sadly its not quite materialised that way (several players now worth north of £5m but no bids) which has been my limiting factor. Identifying the players I want, and are interested is fine but actually being able to negotiate with them is a real barrier.

It seems I have an incredibly unambitious chairman however, there is no option to request improved facilities despite the fact I haven't had a single upgrade to training facilities since the game began. While I can request an improvement to youth facilities it never gets greenlighted and the clubs youth level is 0/unrated. The chairmans status has dropped down to enjoying life at the club, so I'm hoping he'll be looking to move on soon. It feels like a chairman willing to be a bit more ambitious, let the club spend some of its money on improvements and we could be well on our way. 

[santy001]

Sometimes you have to assert your dominance:

[Black and Yellow]

That looks an incredible title race - 1 point between the top 5!

Where were Harrogate before the final day kickoff?!

[santy001]

Harrogate were top going into the final day, no one else dropped the ball for @oliscott to get promotion, it was very much a case of everyone was waiting on a slip up by his team. We're rapidly closing in on the end of the 10th season, just 5 games left to go.

[santy001]

Season 10: Goals Galore

There's only one way to accurately sum up season ten... blunt force trauma. Both Harrogate and Salford were in blistering form offensively, Salford scored 130 and Harrogate 109. I was quite surprised @oliscott was able to score so many, but as the league table below shows, it was definitely needed to keep him in the league. Meanwhile, at Salford I've been bemoaning my defensive frailties for years, they were finally resolved with the signing of a targetman-esc forward. At 6'4 and good at bringing the ball down it relieved so much pressure and prevented so many failed attacks from turn over with slighter forwards. As for Harrogate and their defensive frailties, perhaps Oliscott will have gotten a better understanding through the course of the season. It was a good year for us both, although the pressure is now on Oliscott to get to the premier league quickly to prevent too large a rift forming between us.

Championship Table:

Harrogate Transfers:

Salford Transfers:

[Nobby_McDonald]

Salford join the two Manchester giants. Now to just stay there...

[santy001]

Sadly our save has been afflicted with a bug (capacity expansion bug at Salford) so its put a little downer on it for the last few days. I'd thought I'd have to take a new club as I thought the editor only worked with the full version but@oliscott is suggesting I use an editor he linked to me as there doesn't appear to be a workaround to fix this issue so it may be that we use that. Shame that such an issue arose after 10 years. Although come January in the maiden premier league season I'm in the top half, but it does seem like editing the capacity up to 12,500 (as the game tried to do) would seem to be the best way. 

[BoxToBox]

I guess if it's the only way. It'd be a real shame to loose a 10 season save, especially one as cracking as this.

[santy001]

Season 11: Back to bottling...

Firstly, it seems the stadium issue affecting me at Salford has rectified itself. After reloading tonight and checking it over as I was about to make a post on the bug forums, the club information was actually then showing the right information (one of those rare cases of turning it off and on again working!)

This season both myself and @oliscott got back to doing what we do best, bottling it in the final few games. Harrogate needed results to go their way paired with a win on the final day of the season. With 4 games to go European qualification was on the agenda for Salford, but after I threw it away against Tottenham, Stoke and then Liverpool (who were battling for survival) the last game of the season became dead rubber. What had felt like a promising campaign for us both fizzled out, and as Oliscott did not secure promotion so begins another period of time where we avoid playing one another.

Championship Table:

Premier League:

Harrogate Transfers:

Salford Transfers:

[santy001]

Season 11: A little more on Salford

This year was a little different as it was the first time serious cash was coming in. Despite getting a transfer budget of £40m I was extremely frugal. There were some bargains to be had on free transfers, Luke Shaw and Mensah adding some real experience and quality (although Luke Shaw deteriorated drastically across the course of the season) and I was somewhat confident that I didn't need to go all in to stay up. This was mostly due to how the team got promoted, with the signing of a 6'4 striker in Christiansen in the championship I had a player who could hold the ball up. Signings like Finlayson had proven to be a rock at the heart of defence. 

Gus Mafuta is the only player to have made the whole journey with me. From Vanarama North to Premier League. 

He only got 5 appearances mostly due to injury and the fact Joseph Minala was rarely injured. 

Bradley Fewster has also transitioned from the Vanarama North to the Premier League, although he was very much a pace player and sadly a series of bad injuries over the last 3 years have relegated him to 6th choice striker. He did still manage 2 assists in his 5 games this year, which shows he hasn't completely lost it but Chris Knight the free signing from Tottenham became my new pacey outlet upfront to work in conjunction with the physical outlet of Christiansen. 

The main catalyst to success in recent years has been Lee Jordan. He's had 4 seasons on loan with me, and I've been trying to get Man Utd to sell him to me, but no such luck. He's valued at £31.5m now after several good years, but I do have him on loan for one more year. Perhaps this time I'll get lucky, but if not then I think I'll have to let him go back and try to find a permanent option of my own.

Finally, the club announced a £79m profit for the year and the clubs balance left sitting pretty on £88m after having wiped out £11m of debt that was accrued at the start of the year on improving the stadium. It's been a good year, but the clubs facilities are a million miles behind. Going into the new season though I sit on a £65m transfer budget, and the clubs wage bill has been more than doubled from £400k to over £950k. 

[oliscott]

Just took charge of my 600th game so thought it would be interesting to put up my record so far, the goals conceded is brilliant!

[oliscott]

Here we go

[oliscott]

Quote from Michael Sant "Your top with the three games left, your not really gonna **** this up are you?"

 

Hold my beer.

[oliscott]

Never make it easy on myself

[Nobby_McDonald]

Some game to clinch the Championship.

What is this stadium bug?

[santy001]

Season 12: Re-united and it finally begins.

This season @oliscott secures his timely promotion to the Premier League with Harrogate, to prevent falling too far behind financially. Europa League qualification was very nearly on the agenda for Salford but not quite meant to be. There were no great dramas as Oli did manage to avoid bottling it in the end, despite tempting fate in the final couple of games.

Championship Table:

Premier League Table:

Harrogate Transfers:

Salford Transfers:

 

[santy001]

Also @Nobby_McDonald it seemed to be a bug that ultimately fixed itself. 

Salfords ground has an expansion limit below the premier leagues 12.5k minimum, when getting promoted the game still had an expansion and initially the club information read as a 12,500 all seater stadium, with 9,800 seats. The club information changed multiple times through the season, but when reaching the start of the next season it actually was at the correct 12.5k capacity so it was in fact fine. It just seemed to be superficial elements getting it wrong (news items etc)

[Nobby_McDonald]

Not the best thing to see on the game though.

Well done to Oli. How long until the Premier League one-two?

[oliscott]

Sometimes you just have to assert your dominance Nobby

[Nobby_McDonald]

Where was the dominance?

[oliscott]

A 2-2 draw against that B*stard is the best Ill hope for as this thread continues.

[Nobby_McDonald]

If that is asserting your dominance then you're ****ed.

[oliscott]

That much has been certain since this game began, just counting down the days until his tycoon takeover.

[oliscott]

Just about to finish the January window in my first season in the Premier League, things are going as I expected them to really for the first year. Try and survive whilst upgrading the whole squad to the level needed which I think will take around four to five years realistically. Need to shore up the defence properly this summer when I can attract better players to the club, still smashing them in up front but as always the defence is keeping me held back.

[oliscott]

Crosses fingers for Tycoon.

[Nobby_McDonald]

No prizes for predicting the three teams that will be relegated.

[oliscott]

12 hours ago, Nobby_McDonald said:

No prizes for predicting the three teams that will be relegated.

If I recall Nobby it was then that went down, we finished the season last week but didn’t update the thread just yet. Currently in about feb of the next season and left it the other night with a league and cup double header against each other to come back to.

Sant is top if I recall and I’m fourth but first to fifth is depressed by about four points so we’re both still in the running and the league game between us could go a long way to deciding it.

[oliscott]

Come on you know you want to invest...

[santy001]

Season 13:

Nothing too spectacular of note this season to be honest. My European challenge fell away in the final few games again, and @oliscott relied on blunt force trauma with goals scored above all else to keep his head above water. Aided by the fact there were 3 utterly dreadful teams in the league, it seemed as though none of the bottom 3 had any right to be in the league as they got it so catastrophically wrong. While there's nothing amazing to get behind, it was ultimately a strong team for both sides on very little financial outlays. At Salford I continued to keep my spending at around £22m per season, and Oliscott came in a little higher at just over £25m.

Premier League Table:

#

Harrogate Transfers:

Salford Transfers:

[santy001]

We finished our 14th season on Monday. I've been a bit lazy updating the thread during the last week, mostly owing to illness and going straight to bed as soon as our sessions finish, rather than mooching around for another half hour or so.

Since we're both in the top flight now I'll be aiming to grab screenshots of a few key signings each season or maybe all signings and just provide links to them. On one hand I don't want to risk bloating the posts too much with endless reams of pictures, but we are definitely at the point now where the transfers in/out has lost meaning beyond the totals spent as the players are now becoming regens.

We play through seasons fairly quickly, so there's never too much in the way of mid-season updates just because there isn't time as @oliscott keeps complaining he's waiting for me to continue. 

The last season was an interesting one though, Oli opened up the taps and spent big hitting around £65m in transfer outlay, whereas I've been a lot tighter with the money and kept the spending below £30m again and actually around £22m for the third year running. At Salford though I am now sat on a bank balance of a little over £200m so the warchest is building (I had a takeover last season and the new chairman has somewhat ambitiously given me over £200m to spend next season)