FM18: The English Football League Thread - EFL in FM18

[Jogo Bonito]

3 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Thanks for the warm welcome guys. Just beat Villa 1-0 at home with a stoppage time winner from Lolley while being down to 10 men! Which sees us climb up to... well 19th in the league

I also went a little overboard with the loans and I now have confirmations pending for -

Niasse (375k a month)

Okaka (275k a month)

Robson-Kanu (275k a month)

Leko (5.5k a month)

MacLeod (72k a month with option to buy)

Jordan Mutch (230k a month)

Baningime (4.3k a month)

Sam Field (35k a month)

Obviously don't need all of these guys... figuring which to confirm. Any ideas?

Cannot have more than 5 loan players in the squad too. 

I am thinking I could terminate Colback's loan and get in field or Baningime. And maybe Leko just for another pacy option on the flanks.

Niasse/ Okaka would be solid at this level I feel, but have got Johansson in already and want to give Brereton some playing time too. Plus its pretty expensive.

The second signing I already made was again from Germany, Ermin Bicakcic on loan from Hoffenheim for 3.4k a week. He's just the kind of CB I like, strong, pacy and a tough tackler. 

You can go back a page or two to see what Leko did for me at Fulham, he was outstanding and so cheap. As for the others, I'd say preserve your cash unless critical. All you need to do is survive this season, and then go again next year. If you need a midfielder, I'd say Sam Field out of that lot - but of course Baningime is much less costly. I'd play Brereton over all of those strikers except Niasse, and that's a lot of cash for him. Choose wisely!

@kozmik Good luck in the run-in and welcome back to lewis999 too.

@Dan McCullough You do like challenges, I hope you enjoy your spell with Burton. You said I may have partly inspired you by juggling two clubs at once. I do find it tough sometimes to pick one up after stopping, hopefully you won't lose your spark with either.

 

 

[avillafan.com]

So I opted to try and get rid of one of Kodjia or Hogan - Neither had much interest on the permanent route so I allowed Hogan to join Sunderland on a loan deal with them covering all of his £35k wages.

Other notable transfers in January:

And the departures:

 

At the end of the season, I won the title, quite comfortably in the end. Below is the league table and the player stats:

 

Now the hard work begins..

 

 

[kozmik]

Congrats @avillafan.com, back where you belong

Meanwhile I'm sitting here wondering whether it's possible to die of nervousness.

Had a run of 5 straight wins, then crashed to defeat against 23rd placed Bolton at home, then went 2-0 down against Leeds only to fight back to win 4-2. Now all we have left is Brentford at home and Derby away. Win both and we're up. Tough, tough ask.

[avillafan.com]

5 minutes ago, kozmik said:

Congrats @avillafan.com, back where you belong

Meanwhile I'm sitting here wondering whether it's possible to die of nervousness.

Had a run of 5 straight wins, then crashed to defeat against 23rd placed Bolton at home, then went 2-0 down against Leeds only to fight back to win 4-2. Now all we have left is Brentford at home and Derby away. Win both and we're up. Tough, tough ask.

Haha - My defeats came against the bottom sides bizzarly! Best of luck!

[warlock]

Peterborough - League 1

When I left you last time we were going well in the upper reaches of the division, and in the run-up to Christmas continued to rack up the results that saw us briefly return to the top. But Wigan and surprise package Fleetwood kept winning as well, so it was impossible to open up a gap. Then on Boxing Day came the onset of The Slump. Away draws turned to defeats, home wins turned to draws, and it took us to February 3 before we managed another win in the league. The complete loss of league form was hard to fathom, given that in the same period we strung together some really good results in the various cups, including wins against Plymouth, Fleetwood and Rochdale in the FA Cup, and against Charlton and Cambridge in the Checkatrade Trophy.

After an appalling goalless draw at home to Oldham, followed by a 0-2 defeat away at Bury I decided drastic action was needed. Having lost Leo DaSilva-Lopes to Newcastle on a £2.5m release clause, I decided to switch to an old favourite 433dm wide. Every save I try not to use it, and every save it ends up being my go-to formation. I first used it in the FA Cup at home to Derby - a bit of a risk, but since we were expected to lose I figured why not? From then you'll see we've won five straight league games by convincing margins and climbed back to third spot, four points behind Fleetwood (I fear Wigan are out of sight now). I'm hopeful we can overhaul them to secure an automatic promotion, but if not we're well on course for the promised playoff spot.

Edit to add: Our FA Cup journey ended at the hands of Championship Birmingham, but we have a trip to Wembley where we'll face Scunthorpe in the Checkatrade Trophy final.

[warlock]

11 minutes ago, kozmik said:

Congrats @avillafan.com, back where you belong

Second that. Hope you can consolidate in the Prem.

11 minutes ago, kozmik said:

Meanwhile I'm sitting here wondering whether it's possible to die of nervousness.

Yeah, that looks like a real nailbiter. Good luck!

[kozmik]

3 minutes ago, warlock said:

The complete loss of league form was hard to fathom, given that in the same period we strung together some really good results in the various cups, including wins against Plymouth, Fleetwood and Rochdale in the FA Cup, and against Charlton and Cambridge in the Checkatrade Trophy.

This drives me insane when it happens. Breezing through anyone and everyone in the cups, combined with a complete inability to either defend or score in the league. It's baffling.

 

4 minutes ago, warlock said:

Yeah, that looks like a real nailbiter. Good luck!

Thanks, I have a nasty feeling we're gonna need that by the bucketload...

[lewis999]

18 minutes ago, kozmik said:

Congrats @avillafan.com, back where you belong

Meanwhile I'm sitting here wondering whether it's possible to die of nervousness.

Had a run of 5 straight wins, then crashed to defeat against 23rd placed Bolton at home, then went 2-0 down against Leeds only to fight back to win 4-2. Now all we have left is Brentford at home and Derby away. Win both and we're up. Tough, tough ask.

Hope you do it Kozmik, what formation did you decide on seeing as you didn't bring in many players? I'm thinking 4411 and 4141 as the main two then possibly a 3 at the back one for if I need something different. 

[kozmik]

34 minutes ago, lewis999 said:

Hope you do it Kozmik, what formation did you decide on seeing as you didn't bring in many players? I'm thinking 4411 and 4141 as the main two then possibly a 3 at the back one for if I need something different. 

I went with a 4123DM, which is what I most often use. There's a pic of it with some further info near the bottom of page 6. Feel free to PM me if you want to know more.

I do have a back three formation trained but have very rarely used it, and haven't done particularly well when I have. Out of 4411 and 4141 I'd go with the latter, I love my DM's. By all means post your system here when you settle on something, will be interesting to see.

[kozmik]

Middlesbrough lost their last game so a draw would've been enough for us to finish second. Alas...

Rarely been so gutted.

We'll be facing Brentford in the playoff semis. We won both encounters earlier in the season, so I'm fairly optimistic. Just have to hope that if we make it to the final it will be Ipswich (who we also beat twice) rather than Middlesbrough (lost one, drew one).

[warlock]

Peterborough - League 1: The run-in

We were talking about nailbiters earlier. Here's mine:

We've been solid while Wigan and Fleetwood both slipped up, but I can't begin to work out the various possible outcomes of this scenario. The good news is that Wigan and Fleetwood have to play each other, so one or both will drop points. Fleetwood also have to come to the ABAX - an honest-to-god six-pointer. I think we also have the toughest run-in having to play 3rd, 4th and 5th, the latter two away. Eeek!

The last month has seen us resort to yet another change of formation. Slattery broke his leg and is out for the remainder of the season, and Anderson suffered broken ribs, so for some games I had only two or three CMs available. So I went to 442 and that has produced four wins in a row. Hopefully, it will see us through the last four!

@kozmik: Hard to bear! Hope you can win through in the playoffs.

[Dan McCullough]

@avillafan.com: A brilliant season from yourselves there. Congratulations on a return to the Premier League, hopefully you can establish yourselves as a force once again.

@kozmik: Very unlucky to miss out on automatic promotion in the end, but you have had an incredible season nonetheless. Good luck in the playoffs, I am confident you'll be able to pull it off and achieve promotion. The way you lost out though, that is absolutely gutting.

@warlock: That is a very close run-in! Unlucky in losing Leo, he is a very talented player and I have used him to great success in previous saves. Hopefully it's you and Wigan who go up. Definitely could have done with a more generous final few games though, some very difficult games to play.

 

[kozmik]

Yeah, I won't. I've never been promoted through playoffs. And with my main Knasmullner in s**** form, this obviously happens to his backup:

2-2 first semi at Brentford.

[lewis999]

4 hours ago, kozmik said:

I went with a 4123DM, which is what I most often use. There's a pic of it with some further info near the bottom of page 6. Feel free to PM me if you want to know more.

I do have a back three formation trained but have very rarely used it, and haven't done particularly well when I have. Out of 4411 and 4141 I'd go with the latter, I love my DM's. By all means post your system here when you settle on something, will be interesting to see.

Just had a look at the setup mate and I can see why you have been doing well, very balanced and no crazy amount of TI's which always helps. The injuries at the start are going to be annoying but hopefully I can get past that part. Definitely think less is more in regards to signings too as I don't want to get off to a bad start waiting for a lot of new players to settle in. 

[kozmik]

I can't believe it! Big thanks to the football gods for Eisfield's injury, Boro had used all their subs by that point so went a man down, not at all convinced we would've won otherwise. My first playoff promotion!

And now that I can finally calm my nerves down I'm off to bed.

[warlock]

11 minutes ago, kozmik said:

And now that I can finally calm my nerves down I'm off to bed.

You go, boy! That's a great result.

Meanwhile in my save (and I was determined to see it through before bed)...

We started with what was - on paper - the easiest of the remaining games, at home to 13th place Rochdale. Having taken an early lead, we then conceded one of what I have come to think of as 'magic' penalties - they hoik it into the box, several players jump for it, one of the AI forwards goes down and - bingo! - penalty!! Which they scored and it ended 1-1, They think it's all over - it isn't yet.

Next up, a tough away game to 4th-placed Blackburn, and we secure a 2-3 win.

Next, the six-pointer as Fleetwood visit the ABAX, and they take a 0-1 lead in the second half. But two goals from Marriott and Anderson give us the points and... we're promoted! Let joy be unconfined!

Last game of the season, which I had written off as irrelevant until the pre-match press conference where it was pointed out that if we won this, and Wigan lost, we'd have the divisional title. So, away to Portsmouth and we jump out to a 0-2 lead. Eventually, Portsmouth get one back but it's not enough - for them, or us, as Wigan secure a last-game victory and win the division, but we're comfortable runners-up. Championship here we come!

By the by, we did add some silverware to the trophy cabinet as we claimed the Checkatrade Trophy with a 3-2 win over Scunthorpe at Wembley. 

[Jogo Bonito]

Congratulations to Aston Villa, Peterborough and Barnsley on your promotions, Some tense finishes there!  The bar has been set very high for me at Peterborough and lewis999 at Barnsley to get anywhere close to those achievements. For our Forest and Burton managers, perhaps it might be slightly slower progress.

In addition to my Posh effort, I have also set up with Reading in league 1 after their first season relegation in my Fulham game. As you can imagine, the wage bill for League 1 was unsustainable, and all these 'great' players that took the club down think they are way better than that level and want out. So, there was a load of unhappy and under-performing players to shift, morale was low, and a massive overhaul is underway.

Because I inherited this one after 'retiring' the manager, there were also some things out of my control. For example, I know from my time at Posh how effective Joseph Mendes would have been, but having not been used much by the previous manager (Nigel Clough), he wouldn't even talk about a new contract so has now been released. Clough had also agreed a £1.7m deal to sign a player they had on loan in the first season (Craig Forsyth from Derby), and unfortunately he has joined permanently ahead of the second season. I mean, every club needs three starting quality left-backs in League 1, don't they Nigel?

On the plus point, I have recouped £22.5 million so far on player sales (12 players from the first team have been sold in addition to a number being released). Bizarrely, Ipswich (who beat Fulham in the Play-Off final), think that the way to Premier League survival is to sign five of my relegated chumps - madness! The biggest sale has been John Swift to Swansea. He was one I tried to keep, but he wanted out, was on a massive wage, and £8m (rising to £10m) from Swansea was eventually accepted. Joining the club were two new goalkeepers for a combined £825k (I had none by this point), a Ligue 1 midfielder for £750k, a rising star from Leicester on loan for no contribution, and Mo Eisa - bought for £325k from my 'own' Fulham side! I also extended the loans of two men from Bournemouth (one actual player, and one that is now an England international who was brought in by Nigel and amazingly wanted to stay another year). Total spent so far £3.6m, including the £1.7m on Forsyth - who I am now trying to sell!

[warlock]

3 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I have also set up with Reading in league 1 after their first season relegation

Good luck with that! Everyone seems to think that relegated clubs are prime candidates to bounce back up, but it's rarely the case, I think. A massive clearout could be the right way to go. As for AI squad-building, it isn't very impressive but I've often thought the same about football clubs in the real world. When you hunt through the divisions looking for a save candidate, you often find 'real world' squads with three RBs and one - or none - at LB, or just two CMs in the first team and three capable backups in the reserves but all out on loan.

I'm expecting a tough start to life in the Championship and expect we'll be favourites for relegation. And I doubt my £5m transfer budget is going to stretch very far, so a cunning plan will be required. Which I don't have yet .

[kozmik]

Congratulations for the promotion @warlock! And silverware too

I've now had time to reflect and consider the squad that I have. I've been given a 30 million transfer kitty with a wage budget of 378k p/w. Considering the demands of the premier league, the squad really is woeful. In the XI that started the playoff final there are 5 players I'd be relatively comfortable with in the premier league: right back Yiadom, midfielders Knasmullner, Field and Gardner and striker Mousset. And the latter two can't be loaned again as their respective teams want to use them in their first team. Also need to consider whether Field is one who I'd want to spend a domestic loan spot on. CB Lindsay isn't premier league level but is young-ish and has potential to improve so I think I'll give him a starting spot next season.

So, where does that leave me? A new striker, at least one new winger, a new midfield, new CB and LB, and GK? I was in a similar situation when I was promoted to premier league with Lincoln, but then we got the sugar daddy takeover which enabled me to strengthen everywhere and actually get quality additions. Perhaps the best course of action would be to get as many good championship level players in as I can, so they won't be knocking on my door with transfer requests when we inevitably get relegated.

Then there's also the small matter of tactics. Considering how we fared against the better sides in the championship last season it's pretty safe to say that without a new starting XI we'll be annihilated in the premier league. I had a fantastic underdog tactic in FM17 that got my Ebbsfleet side to 6th place in our first premier league season but the few times I've tried it it hasn't really worked too well in FM18. But I might go with that anyway, unless the transfer market happens to provide me with other ideas.

Looking at the market I noticed that Fiorentina has been relegated from Serie A. There's a few fantastic players transfer listed, and on modest wages too. Interesting. They obiously don't fit in with the idea of getting in players who won't want to leave if we get relegated though...

[Jogo Bonito]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

Good luck with that! Everyone seems to think that relegated clubs are prime candidates to bounce back up, but it's rarely the case, I think. A massive clearout could be the right way to go. As for AI squad-building, it isn't very impressive but I've often thought the same about football clubs in the real world. When you hunt through the divisions looking for a save candidate, you often find 'real world' squads with three RBs and one - or none - at LB, or just two CMs in the first team and three capable backups in the reserves but all out on loan.

I'm expecting a tough start to life in the Championship and expect we'll be favourites for relegation. And I doubt my £5m transfer budget is going to stretch very far, so a cunning plan will be required. Which I don't have yet .

Cheers, I do agree with you about unbalanced squads (real life and in FM). The similarity probably ends when League 1 side Reading are including a current England international on loan for the second successive season though...

Good luck with your second season. £5 million isn't so bad as you can usually get some decent players on pre-contracts (or if compensation is due, just offer a token amount as a transfer fee). For example, my number one choice for 'keeper at Reading was Wayne Hennessey, released from Palace. Wages of sub-£10,000 were agreed, but the transfer was gazzumped at the last minute by somebody who latched on to his availability and paid him double. Don't forget there are some decent young Irish players you can attract from season 2, keep Darragh happy!

 

[Jogo Bonito]

@kozmik It looks like a busy summer ahead of you at Barnsley. Good luck with your plans for next season.

[warlock]

@kozmik The perils of rapid success! Over the years I've taken a few teams up to the Prem and what has always worked for me - at least, for the first three or four months - is an out-and-out counter tactic: sit deep with two DMs and hit them with pace. Because you're the newly-promoted weaklings, most of your opponents will expect easy wins at home and away. A striker who can put away chances and a couple of fast midfielders who can supply him will wreak havoc against a lot of teams, until the AI starts treating you with more respect. Then it becomes much more difficult but hopefully you've amassed enough points by then to be safe. Good luck!

@Jogo Bonito I'm in contract talks with Jon Bond to stay on as 'keeper since Reading hadn't renewed his contract, ditto Joe Rothwell from Oxford. Also picked up Brian Lenihan on a free from Hull to butter up the boss. I've had to move quite a bit of the transfer budget into the wages. Also struggling to  upgrade the coaching staff because Darragh is a bit tight-fisted with staffing costs.

[kozmik]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@kozmik It looks like a busy summer ahead of you at Barnsley. Good luck with your plans for next season.

Thanks mate!

19 minutes ago, warlock said:

@kozmik The perils of rapid success! Over the years I've taken a few teams up to the Prem and what has always worked for me - at least, for the first three or four months - is an out-and-out counter tactic: sit deep with two DMs and hit them with pace. Because you're the newly-promoted weaklings, most of your opponents will expect easy wins at home and away. A striker who can put away chances and a couple of fast midfielders who can supply him will wreak havoc against a lot of teams, until the AI starts treating you with more respect. Then it becomes much more difficult but hopefully you've amassed enough points by then to be safe. Good luck!

That fast-paced counter is something I've never really done, but I have considered it now. I'm a bit in two minds. I'd love to go with the system I mentioned - on the other hand I'm not sure whether it will work, as I've tried similar this year but it hasn't really worked as well as it did last year. On the other hand I haven't tried it in this situation yet, a low rep team with an inferior squad. That's the situation it was designed for, although my Ebbsfleet side had a much lower rep than we have now. But looking at the market, there is basically a ready made midfield available for reasonable prices for that system, so I probably will take a chance and see what happens. If I do get relegated then, well, that was just always going to happen, wasn't it?

[Dan McCullough]

@kozmik: I knew you'd pull it off. Congratulations on a dream season there, it'll be interesting to see how you build for next season with that budget. I would try and keep most of the squad and look to improve in the areas you feel are the weakest first. It's definitely worth looking at some of the obscure nations to try and find quality players for cheap, Scandinavian nations tend to have a few hidden gems I've noticed. Lindsay is a very good player from past experience and he grows into a top player, I would definitely agree with you on playing him regularly. Good luck!

@warlock: Great job on sealing promotion. Very happy to see Wigan win the title, like they will do in the real world.   £5,000,000 is a fairly decent budget to work with, definitely try and poach the top players from League One for cheap if you can, that's how a lot of clubs seem to work in the Championship these days.

@Jogo Bonito: Good old Nigel... That's a lot of money recouped in sales, so you will certainly be able to bring in your own squad to try and get promotion at the first attempt. Forsyth is a very good player in my opinion, but I suppose when you have a lot of talent in one position someone has to go! Hopefully Eisa does well for you, although he was a great player for me at Cheltenham, he often had little dry spells, fingers crossed he avoids these for you.

 

Burton is a massive challenge but one I'm really enjoying. I'm a couple of games off the halfway point and I'll do an update there. 

 

 

[Jogo Bonito]

@warlock Some sensible low-risk signings mentioned there, they should fit in well I think. By the way, how did Kanu do for you? He had 28 goals in 14 games for the U23 team when I last checked, so might be one to monitor if you're there for a few years!

@kozmik I crumble at the thought of managing in the PL, even with a good Fulham team. I hope your tactical ideas pay off.

@Dan McCullough Thanks. I won't be bringing too many players in really, so far just two loan extensions and a handful of new players. I have a fear that you might be right on Mo, but I am trying to limit my number of strikers so that he at least gets opportunities to succeed (or fail). Yes, I agree on Forsyth. I like him myself, he's had some good years at Derby and is a player I have sometimes tried to bring in at other clubs on loan or if the fee is small. But ahead of him are two home-grown players, both good enough to play and both much younger. It really doesn't make sense what Nigel did, but at least I can console myself knowing that you put him out of a job at Burton too

A question to the forum, or more of a Con-undrum really. You have two strikers in League 1 and are given an opportunity to sign a third. One of your strikers is Jon Dadi Bodvarsson, a hard-runner, decent in most areas including aerially, perhaps not the greatest finisher, ideally suited to the defensive forward role. The second is Mo Eisa, unproven and raw, doubts over consistency and only capable of playing as a poacher. You play only one up front and have wingers either side with pace. You have three loan players in your squad, and don't particularly want any more - even though you have the slots available. Do you take Connor Wickham on loan from Palace, paying 20% of his £60k per week wage (costing you £52k per month until the end of the season. Or do you take Conor Washington on a permanent deal for £235k, paying him £4.7k per week. You could take both, should you do that?

[warlock]

36 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

By the way, how did Kanu do for you?

I've only played him in a couple of pre-season friendlies but I've certainly got my eye on him long-term. My coaches keep telling me he'll be better than Jack Marriott!

And I'd take Washington over Wickham - half-a-million for a year's worth of Wickham seems like a lot.

[Jogo Bonito]

@warlock Thanks for your view on my striker options.

I'm watching the big one tonight. Yes, Fulham v Reading. What do you mean, is there another big game on tonight? Anyway, because of this, I will have time to ponder this decision until much later or tomorrow, so anyone can feel free to add their opinions.

Here are the comparison stats, Wickham seems to be more of a goal threat (I would have had that in reverse), and aerial threat, slightly better technical overall. Washington has the slightly better physical stats (not as strong, but a bit sharper and better balanced), again I would have had that in reverse other than Wickham being more of a static lump of course.

[Dan McCullough]

I was just about to type up my progress with Burton to see my game file has corrupted and stupidly, I hadn't backed it up. Frustrated isn't the word! I was up in 18th having a very good season... **** sake Dan! 

I don't think it can be sorted can it? If not it's back to the drawing board... suggestions of the next team? Open to any of the three leagues in honesty, more so Championship and League One.

[karanhsingh]

Guys, do you’ll use any particular site or program to attach screenshots in the middle of posts or just attach them as files? 

Havent uploaded any screen grabs yet and want to do a proper update on my forest game. 

@Dan McCullough how about Coventry or Portsmouth . Sucks about your last game! 

[warlock]

33 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Guys, do you’ll use any particular site or program to attach screenshots

I use Imgur - free, easy to use, and with basic editing tools when you've uploaded your pix.

@Dan McCullough Man, that's a blow! Autosave, buddy... rolling autosave!

[Dan McCullough]

5 minutes ago, warlock said:

I use Imgur - free, easy to use, and with basic editing tools when you've uploaded your pix.

@Dan McCullough Man, that's a blow! Autosave, buddy... rolling autosave!

I usually do, not sure why I hadn't had the sense to do it with this one. Royally annoyed with myself 

[karanhsingh]

21 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@warlock Thanks for your view on my striker options.

I'm watching the big one tonight. Yes, Fulham v Reading. What do you mean, is there another big game on tonight? Anyway, because of this, I will have time to ponder this decision until much later or tomorrow, so anyone can feel free to add their opinions.

Here are the comparison stats, Wickham seems to be more of a goal threat (I would have had that in reverse), and aerial threat, slightly better technical overall. Washington has the slightly better physical stats (not as strong, but a bit sharper and better balanced), again I would have had that in reverse other than Wickham being more of a static lump of course.

Wickham looks the better player and I think a loan signing makes more sense for you because if you do get promoted Washington will definitely be out of his depth in the championship 

[karanhsingh]

18 minutes ago, warlock said:

I use Imgur - free, easy to use, and with basic editing tools when you've uploaded your pix.

@Dan McCullough Man, that's a blow! Autosave, buddy... rolling autosave!

Thanks I’ll check this out

[Jogo Bonito]

32 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

Wickham looks the better player and I think a loan signing makes more sense for you because if you do get promoted Washington will definitely be out of his depth in the championship 

I had exactly that same thought on Wickham as a short term option, and not being stuck with him beyond the season. If he exceeds expectations, I can consider extending his loan but I wouldn't really want either of them if we got promoted. Washington might be more effective in League 1, but unless the deal was only until 2019 would I want him for a second year? Of course, we may not get promoted...pros and cons, Or Cons and Conns perhaps.

@Dan McCullough That's very unfortunate!! Not tempted to start again there? Try and make the same choices, but may get to the same point quicker if you already had the set  up in place? If not, as a lover of challenges why not try Bristol Rovers?

 

[smplfc123]

Sunderland it is!

[Dan McCullough]

16 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I had exactly that same thought on Wickham as a short term option, and not being stuck with him beyond the season. If he exceeds expectations, I can consider extending his loan but I wouldn't really want either of them if we got promoted. Washington might be more effective in League 1, but unless the deal was only until 2019 would I want him for a second year? Of course, we may not get promoted...pros and cons, Or Cons and Conns perhaps.

@Dan McCullough That's very unfortunate!! Not tempted to start again there? Try and make the same choices, but may get to the same point quicker if you already had the set  up in place? If not, as a lover of challenges why not try Bristol Rovers?

 

I think I was quite lucky in honesty with what I had happen etc. I managed to get Josh Morris in on loan from Scunthorpe and Kienan Davies from Villa, as well as signing Kris Commons and French full-back Florian Merangue on frees. I had quite a few injuries occur, including Lloyd Dyer for 6 months which was frustrating to say the least though. Brayford was also quite prone to injury. 

I would try and start again but I can never find that motivation again once I have failed with a team/lost the save etc. but I wish I could, it was a very enjoyable save which I was hooked on. I would definitely recommend them! 

@smplfc: Good luck with the Mackems.

[Jogo Bonito]

2 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

Sunderland it is!

Haha, great. It will be good seeing you try to get out of League 1 in season 2

@Dan McCullough Morris and Davis were good signings. Good luck with your next pick

[Dan McCullough]

Anyway, there's a moral in all of this: Always make sure you have a back-up save! 

[smplfc123]

@Dan McCullough Cheers mate, any nearer to find a replacement for the Burton save?

@Jogo Bonito Haha thanks mate, i'm hoping that some of the players are rated high enough in game to keep me above the relegation scrap, that's the plan anyway. How is your Reading save coming along?

[Jogo Bonito]

24 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

@Jogo Bonito Haha thanks mate, i'm hoping that some of the players are rated high enough in game to keep me above the relegation scrap, that's the plan anyway. How is your Reading save coming along?

No progress since my last update mate. I'm in pre-season, still deciding on Wickham or Washington...

[Dan McCullough]

1 hour ago, smplfc123 said:

@Dan McCullough Cheers mate, any nearer to find a replacement for the Burton save?

I have simulated three times to look at League One and what has happened each season. I find this is quite a good way to help me decide what team to be sometimes. Interestingly enough, beside one season where surprisingly Peterborough were relegated, Rochdale, Plymouth, Bristol Rovers and Doncaster were relegated or just surviving in 20th position. Therefore I think I'll choose one of these teams. Each stand out as really good saves too.

[duds]

Sky Sports have an article about and an interview with Mo Eisa. I know Mo gets much love in this thread:

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/11325243/mo-eisa-interview-from-sudan-to-cheltenham-via-the-eighth-tier

 

[smplfc123]

@Jogo Bonito I'm sorry mate but I can't really make a case for either of them haha

@Dan McCullough Any closer to choosing one of those 4 you mentioned mate?

I have to admit that whilst searching around on the first day, I've got drawn in to Bristol Rovers and having already had a crack at the Championship, I've decided to put Sunderland on the back burner and have a crack with the League 1 club. Predicted 20th, hopefully the board won't expect much and will give me a bit of room to play with unlike my Sheff Wed save.

[Dan McCullough]

16 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

@Jogo Bonito I'm sorry mate but I can't really make a case for either of them haha

@Dan McCullough Any closer to choosing one of those 4 you mentioned mate?

I have to admit that whilst searching around on the first day, I've got drawn in to Bristol Rovers and having already had a crack at the Championship, I've decided to put Sunderland on the back burner and have a crack with the League 1 club. Predicted 20th, hopefully the board won't expect much and will give me a bit of room to play with unlike my Sheff Wed save.

Bristol Rovers are a good club to go with. Mind you, the ground is a bit of a dump! I have chosen and I'll post soon  

[Jogo Bonito]

@smplfc123 Bristol Rovers is a good choice, I recommended them to Dan on the previous page, although I think he will be heading somewhere else!

I'm normally very decisive about who I want in my squad (and even more so about who I don't want), and in League 1 there aren't really any better options for me to supplement the two I have (unless I spend big, which I don't want to do). This one is a real 50/50, in fact I might get them both in even though I know that's greedy.

@duds Thanks for the link, I'd seen it before as I keep a close watch on Mo - but it's good to share and others may not have seen it. You're right, he does get lots of love in here!  

[kozmik]

I'm finally ready to start the new league season. I ended up getting cold feet re: the possession style I was talking about, so ended up with basically a polar opposite. A 442 with DM's and a target man. Andrea Petagna being available from relegated Atalanta was basically what made the decision final. A perfect fit for the system I devised. I did end up with replacing 8 players in the starting eleven too, Yiadom, Lindsay and Knasmullner being the only ones who keep their place. I'm a bit nervous about how it will go but going by previous experiences, quality is more important than stability.

Anyway, transfers:

Managed to get almost all transfers done early on. Might have missed out on a few bargains but all in all I'm very happy with the players we brought in. I've really struggled to offload players that are no longer needed but thankfully their wages are so low that it hasn't really caused me too much problems. A few remain, though obviously many have been moved on.

Here's the system I'll be using, at first at least.

I have to say that the fixture computer has been extremely unkind to us:

Will be a huge shock if we have more than 3 points on the board after the first five games, not a huge shock if we have less than that. On the other hand, after that there's a run of 9 games before United away on Dec 15 which are all winnable (in theory), so a good opportunity to go on a good run and pick up points.

[Dan McCullough]

@kozmik: A lot of business conducted there. Coco stands out for me as I remember managing him at Guingamp before and he was very good for me, hopefully he does well for you. You've pulled off a lot of bargains there I think, well done. Although hopefully Cornelius enjoys a better time in England than he did in Wales with Cardiff!  Samper for that fee is a right little coup!

Good luck for the upcoming season.

[kozmik]

17 minutes ago, Dan McCullough said:

@kozmik: A lot of business conducted there. Coco stands out for me as I remember managing him at Guingamp before and he was very good for me, hopefully he does well for you. You've pulled off a lot of bargains there I think, well done. Although hopefully Cornelius enjoys a better time in England than he did in Wales with Cardiff!  Samper for that fee is a right little coup!

Good luck for the upcoming season.

Yeah, no idea how good Samper is this year as I think he's been nerfed every year since FM15, where he was my go-to DM. Decent premier league player atm, potential to be good according to my assman. But his CA distribution makes him a very good DLP, 15+ in all key attributes, a bargain for that money. Making bargain signings was definitely a chosen strategy, had to do that to put together a capable squad. The aim was to put together a match day squad's worth of players I'm comfortable with and I think I managed that.

I actually remember when Cornelius signed for Cardiff, I had signed him for my United team in FM and purely based on that expected him to do pretty well. Turned out quite differently... He's basically second choice behind Petagna for me so probably won't be playing that much. He has already scored a goal though (against Blackpool in the league cup) so I'd say he's already done better than he did in Cardiff.

Anyway, have to share this one... Against Spurs, Pool and Chelsea we didn't really stand any chance although we only lost 2-1 against Spurs. Then this happened:

Means we DO have 6 points from the first five games, as we managed to scrape past Newcastle in a 2-1 win.

[Jogo Bonito]

@kozmik Best of luck with your new like side! I see that Yiadom is one of the few originals remaining in the first team, is that because he is really good or you just haven't found an upgrade yet?

I managed Diop at Toulouse and Coco somewhere else in France (possibly Nice) on previous versions. Diop was always a very reliable centre-back, hopefully he turns out like that for an English side too. Coco was decent but I'm not sure if he would be PL class, likewise Cornelius. I remember managing him at Copenhagen years ago before he moved to Cardiff, and he did earn a good reputation there. As has been said the move to England didn't work out for him at all, but at the time I don't think anybody saw him as a bad transfer (although the fee did look high). He was a young, raw, foreign player who wasn't given much support or trust, and became a scapegoat in the owner v manager row at the time. True, he didn't score but only made 8 PL appearances (11 in total). Hopefully his career was revived back in Denmark and this move to Atalanta will work out for him. I would argue that Petagna is your stand out signing there, I like him but lots of expectation must be on him to deliver.

Well done on the City result, although I have no idea how that happened. Six points is a decent enough start anyway.

[kozmik]

@Jogo Bonito Yiadom isn't that great tbh, but I couldn't afford to buy in every position. He's the captain, always fit and played very well last season so wasn't a difficult choice to let him keep his place. I might have given Omeruo a run at right back though but he broke his leg on international duty. With many of my signings the point was that even though the transfer kitty was 30 million, I simply couldn't afford to buy quality players in every position I wanted to. I could've gone for, say, a better AF than James Wilson but that might have meant that I'd have Isgrove as first choice right winger etc. All in all my squad looks like a very good championship side, with a first XI of good championship to leading championship/decent premier league level and a bench of mostly the same quality. Petagna is undoubtedly the star man and the only good premier league level player in the squad. Currently we're struggling with Wilson's poor form - he was brilliant against City with 3 goals and an assist, but has just one assist and no goals in other matches. And his backup Cartabia got a torn hamstring so I'm out of options in his position. Might try going with a Cornelius-Petagna pair but Cornelius is too slow for the AF position and Petagna isn't exactly what I'm looking for in an AF either.

I think the squad is good enough to stay up if I can get my tactics right. If we do get relegated, I don't see too many players demanding to leave. Petagna definitely will, probably a couple from Samper, Chochev, Diop, Kempf, Coco, but I can live with that. Even then I'll easily have the makings of a stronger squad compared to last season.

Re Cornelius irl it looks like he's done pretty well at Atalanta. Not a prolific goal scorer by any means but has played quite a lot and scored a few, 6 in 26 last season and 6 in 30 so far this season in all comps.