neilhoskins77 Posted July 29, 2018 Share Posted July 29, 2018 I have had a long held desire to have a really good crack at one of the many Challenges that exist in these Forums. The challenge section of the forum is a very busy page however, and the constant need to upload pics is a bit over the top for my liking. So I have decided to bring a challenge to our little section of the boards. Where necessary, I'll post links to pics instead of filling the page with screenshots as per house rules. This is my first ever save on the latest version of Football Manager 2018, so it is also serving as a test, and I have elected to have a shot at the FM18 Youth Academy Challenge. As per the rules, I have loaded England only, with playable Leagues down to Level 11. I have chosen that tier as it is the lowest level where clubs are almost entirely semi-professional. This challenge will be difficult enough already, trying it with an amateur club would make it virtually impossible. In Game Editor use has been disabled, and Key Staff will not be added. As per the challenge guide, I have got the clubs from Tiers 12-14 running as unplayable leagues, this will ensure that these teams will have some players when/if they are promoted. The idea is to run a club without ever buying a player, so you will rely entirely on the players at the club, and the youngsters that arrive in the Youth Intakes. I have copied and pasted the general rules below from the challenge thread..... --------------------------Steps When Getting Started • Add yourself as an unemployed manager. Call him holiday man if you want.• Go on holiday until the reset date of your nation or the day before if you’re planning on reloading.• Retire the manager• Add a new manager with your chosen nationality and the lowest possible reputation and qualifications• Choose the newly promoted club of your choice Rules for the Challenge • No loans or transfers in are allowed but you can sell and loan players out.• If you are sacked, sorry, you have to start again.• No save game editors are allowed. Only cosmetic database edits are allowed. (Team/competition names/logos)• No international management until completion of challenge.• Signing backroom staff is allowed. Signing players on trial or signing grey players isn't allowed.--------------------------- So after being on holiday for the 2017/18 season (I had a lovely time, thank you so much for the asking, though the hotel has seen better days), I retired my dummy manager (I know what you're thinking, don't go there), and brought in my normal manager profile. With the lowest reputation and no qualifications. I set about compiling a list of the clubs promoted into Level 11, of which there were 45. I then started to look into the clubs, and try to make my decision which one was for me. <Manager Profile> It became immediately clear that no matter who I chose, the first season was going to be a struggle, and the aim will simply be to stay up, and not get sacked. That's because the clubs all bring nothing more than a skeleton squad with them into Level 11. They all have one thing in common too, they don't have any strikers. They also have fairly poor training and youth facilities, and in the case of my chosen club, minimal junior coaching and limited youth recruitment. Yikes! <The Announcement> As you can see from that linked photo, the club I have chosen to lead is Poole Borough, a fairly new club at less than 20 years old, and just promoted from the Dorset Second Division into the County Premier League. <The Squad> And from that photo, you can see my skeleton squad, which includes no recognised striker, no recognised team leaders, and no reinforcements on the way until the next Youth Intake late in the season. Our poor facilities mean that even when that happens, we are not likely to be unearthing any world beaters. We are going to be dependent on a solid system and making ourselves very difficult to beat if we are to achieve the predicted 12th place finish in the 382nd most reputable League in European football. Every one of our players is currently on an amateur contract, and the Board will not currently allow us to discuss part time deals right now. That could be problematic should they start to attract the attentions of other clubs, We certainly cannot afford to lose any players in season one. The Transfer Budget is zero, which is fine in these circumstances. The weekly Wage Budget is £725 a week, of which we are currently spending nothing, and are unlikely to be by the look of it. We have a Scouting Budget of £10,800 for the season. Apart from checking up on future opponents, that money is useless to us, not least as we don't have any Scouts employed. In fact, we don't have anyone employed apart from me. We'll call that job number one then. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted July 30, 2018 Author Share Posted July 30, 2018 July 2018I am 5/2 second favourite to be the first manager from the Dorset Premier League to get the sack. That's not exactly a huge endorsement is it? The Board are looking for a mid table finish if I'm to survive my first season in the job, which I fully expect to be the most difficult It's a quiet month with no player recruitment to concentrate on. So instead the backroom staff roles start getting filled up. I do it in what I consider to be the correct and proper manner, firstly putting out adverts to fill a couple of roles, and then start asking my new staff members for reccomendations to address some of the gaps that are a bit slower to be filled by the ad route. Before long we have the core of the backroom in place, and we are already leading the Division in each category. Hopefully that will go some way towards keeping some of our players happy, as the club will not allow me to offer anything other than amateur contracts to players right now, and we are receiving offers almost daily. In fact, the only person at the club who is getting paid is Khalid McDonald, our newly recruited Chief Data Analyst, who is earning £50 a week. <The Backroom Staff> August 2018As my Assistant Manager isn't going to bother arranging us any Friendly matches, I sort one out for us myself. We'll be visited by Shirehampton, a side from Bristol who play in the Somerset County League Premier Division. They will be quite a bit further down the fitness road than ourselves, as that will be their fifth pre season match. I won't be expecting too big a crowd at the match, based on our season ticket sales....... <Season Ticket Sales> A mid August opportunity to give the players a bit of an extra run out was taken, all the First Team squad with the exception of injured right back Ross Baldy-Probert, were made available to play for our Under-18's against Colchester United's Under-23's at home. We were 4-0 down with a minute to go, before 15 year old grey striker Lenny Gibbons pulled one back. The visitors immediately reinstated their four goal advantage, before midfielder Lewis Stephenson netted deep into injury time to make the score look a touch more respectable at 5-2. SportPesa release their odds for the season with just a fortnight before the action kicks off. They make us 50/1 to go up, and as short as 13/10 to go right back down. I am sensing that there is little faith in us achieving much from anyone outside of the club. Our one and only pre season match for the First Team ends in defeat after a late Shirehampton winner at Turlin Moor Recreation Ground. Our 4-1-4-1 DM left us with a striker who isn't a striker too isolated, and the wingers will have to push further up the park into inside forward roles to try and help us keep the ball at the sharp end for longer. <A Very Short Pre-Season> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted August 1, 2018 Author Share Posted August 1, 2018 September 2018The opening day of the month brings the opening day of the new football season for us, and we start with a 1-1 draw against Merley Cobham Sports. It would have been an acceptable result before the match, but it was a little disappointing when our visitors played the last half an hour with ten men after full back Michael Douglas was given a second yellow card. Ambitious 20 year old left winger Leon Jones took the honour of the first goal for Poole Borough under their new boss. We improved on that result a week later with a 2-0 home victory against Holt United at Turlin Moor Recreation Ground. It was Jones who was the hero this weekend, netting either side of half time to give us our first notch in the win column, as we were once more aided by a red card for the opposition. But it was very much a bitter sweet day, as we lost both of our centre midfielders to injury. Lewis Stephenson was the luckier of the two, as he only twisted his ankle, but it will keep him out for up to six weeks. No such luck for Andy Davis, who is likely to be out for most of, if not all of the remainder of the season, causing us a huge problem...... <An Unlucky Break For Andy Davis> Those two missing midfielders caused us a big headache as we travelled for the first time this season. With a winger and a centre back in midfield, we were outclassed by Milborne Port, who scored in each half to inflict our first defeat of the season upon us. We missed a perfect opportunity to get back into the winning habit the following week as we returned to home action against Hamworthy Recreation. A new club record attendance of 139 thought that was exactly what would happen when Aaron Mahoney put us in front with just under a quarter of an hour to play. But a mistake from right back Ross Baldy-Probert with just seven minutes to play meant we dropped two valuable points. We would finish the month with a trip to managerless Swanage Town & Herston. Midfielder Lewis Stephenson was fit enough for a place on the bench, which was good news. Going behind to a 15th minute shot that took a huge deflection, was not however. Not to worry though, as we were level within a few minutes thanks to a penalty from Peter Gibson, his first goal for the club. On a day when our keeper and defenders were kept very busy, we were pretty happy to walk away with a point. As a bonus, Stephenson got 15 minutes at the end of the match too, though defender Neil Porter did go off with an injury. Fortunately, it was nothing more than a slightly twisted knee, which would keep him out for only a few days. <September's Results> <September's League Table> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted August 3, 2018 Author Share Posted August 3, 2018 October 2018The draw is made for Round Two of the Dorset League Cup, and we have a home match against Westland Sports in early December, a week after we face them in a League match. The Board expect us to make it through that match and into the Quarter-Finals to meet their objective for the season. As far as the Board were concerned, last month was ok. We were just £18 away from breaking even, and they were happy that we're making good progress on the mid table finish ambitions. More than that, they are very happy with the control I have over the dressing room, and that the players are showing good respect for their manager. Admittedly, it's not too hard to keep the players happy when they pretty much have to play. On the plus side, Vice Captain of the squad, Flynn Oldring has become a highly influential player for us. With an absolute lack of team leaders, this qualifies as good news for us. It is slightly surprising however, as Oldring has been playing out of position in centre midfield since Andy Davis suffered his broken leg. <Vice Captain Becomes Dressing Room Leader> With both Neil Porter and Lewis Stephenson passing fitness tests, though the latter was on the bench, we had just one player missing as we opened the month at home to Axminster Town. After recording a club record attendance last home match, we set another one today, however this one was a record low, just 16 people watching the 1-1 draw, Aaron Mahoney giving us an early lead with a superb looping header for his second goal of the season. But once more we couldn't hold on, conceding the equaliser midway through the second half. As frustrating as that result was, a 1-1 draw next time out away to Bridport Reserves was seen as a very good point for us, despite the hosts finishing with ten men after Renny Baxter was injured midway through the second half and all the subs already used up. Julius Echiejile was our scorer today, the attacking midfielder turned reluctant striker scoring his first goal for us at the sixth attempt. But Aaron Mahoney suffered a twisted knee, and we were now winless in five matches. He would be fit enough only for a place on the bench for the home match against Parley Sports. A win would see us leapfrog our guests, but in front of a much improved crowd we didn't even manage a shot on target, and a goal in each half at the other end saw us succumb to a 2-0 defeat. The winless streak is extended to six, and the fans are starting to get a touch restless. A Monday morning team meeting seemed to lift the spirits around the playing staff, and despite Neil Porter missing most of the week's training with a tight thigh, we were favourites heading into the final match of the month, an away game against Gillingham Town. With our fair share of the ball, and some chances being created, we looked in pretty good shape for an away clean sheet, and maybe even snatching a winning goal. That was until the usually dependable Peter Gibson got trapped near his own corner flag with the ball, and tried a suicide pass back to keeper Owen Shama, home striker Alistair Parsons gleefully accepting the gift with a bow on it. Our misery was complete when 20 year old left back Ross Hamblin became our first player of the season to be red carded, collecting a second booking in injury time. Now winless in seven matches, we would need to have a rethink if we are going to improve performances and survive the season. <A Very Difficult October> <Being Dragged Towards A Relegation Fight> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark wilson27 Posted August 4, 2018 Share Posted August 4, 2018 Loving the idea of this Neil, which database are you using for this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted August 4, 2018 Author Share Posted August 4, 2018 10 minutes ago, mark wilson27 said: Loving the idea of this Neil, which database are you using for this @danbhtfc's England Level 22 database. Link below for you Mark. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted August 21, 2018 Author Share Posted August 21, 2018 November 2018The previous month had been pretty kind on the finances, and a profit of £5,500 meant that the coffers currently held £37,686. I sincerely doubt that the club will be considering professional status anytime soon, but I'd be happy with us getting to the point where I can offer the players part time contracts to prevent the deluge of offers we keep receiving, and allow them to progress quicker through more training sessions. We went into the opening match of November with a new look formation, brought about mainly through necessity, as left back Ross Hamblin is suspended after his late red card in the defeat to Gillingham Town. So we are trying three at the back, five across the midfield including a defensive midfielder and two defensive wingers, and an attacking midfielder playing just behind the lone striker. It could not have gone too much better for us either as we notched our second victory of the season and leaped over opponents Blandford United in the process. Julius Echiejile had us into an early lead, and Aaron Mahoney nudged back ahead of him and onto three goals for the season with an outstanding finish from 22 yards out that crashed in off the underside of the bar. An emphatic win was completed by winger Leon Jones, who tightened his grip on the clubs leading scorer honour with his fourth goal of the campaign. Wins have come at a costly premium for us this season though, including this one. That's the last we'll see of Aaron Mahoney this season, and we hope he makes a full recovery...... <Horror Injury for Aaron Mahoney> It had taken us seven matches since our first win to get our second on the board, and while Ross Hamblin was back for the next match, Ross Baldy-Probert had now reached five yellow cards, and would serve a suspension of his own, meaning the experiment would continue for a little while longer at least. We were not expected to be particularly competitive in our away match against Wareham Rangers, but Julius Echiejile opened the scoring once more, and we preserved that lead all the way to the 90th minute, when unfortunately we were opened up by a close range Tony Wrigglesworth volley in injury time. Just failing to hold on was a huge blow for us. Part of the reason it was such a kick in the guts was because we were being given very little hope of gaining anything from our final game of three November fixtures. So it would prove too, as we were beaten quite comfortably at home to Shaftesbury Reserves, with a goal 14 minutes into each half. <An Improvement In November's Results.......> <.....But The League Table Doesn't Lie. Still Plenty Of Work To Be Done> Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted August 23, 2018 Author Share Posted August 23, 2018 December 2018Another small profit for November keeps the bank balance ticking upwards, even if it's at a slow pace. Despite our issues, the Board remain satisfied with the way things are going, and they are particularly pleased with that win over Blandford United last month. We miss a chance to improve our position though when we open the month with a goaless draw away to Westland Sports, who we could have moved above with a win. While they created more chances, we had more of the ball and created the better quality chances as we continued with the three man defence. Things could always be worse of course, bottom of the table Broadstone sack manager Roy Plummer just 150 days into his reign at Plainfield Farm Playing Fields. Clearly it's starting to dawn on clubs that we are now hurtling towards the halfway point of the season, which we'll reach at the turn of the year. Soon we will be at the point where moving up places in the League will become harder work. But as has been the case with our season so far, a positive result is followed by a bad one. A rare midweek game as we ready ourselves for a weekend Cup match doesn't go well, as we fall a goal behind early against Hamworthy United Reserves who are second in the League. Again we have more of the possession and the better quality chances, but a second goal fifteen minutes from time means we have a mountain to climb. Flynn Oldring nets the first goal of his career, but then adds his first red card after two bookable offences and an injury time strike from Lyle Holloway means a 3-1 defeat, and three defeats from our last five at home. We would have a Saturday lunchtime date with Westland Sports to try and make some progress in the Cup and forget about our League woes for a little while. Again we would fall behind early though, but at least this time we managed to get ourselves level, a Julius Echiejile close range finish on the half hour mark put us right back in the game. With neither side able to find a breakthrough in the second half, the match would move into extra time, and we thought we had earned the upper hand in the 101st minute, but Leon Jones' goal was chalked off. Instead, we would find ourselves behind just four minutes later, and when Lewis Stephenson was sent off in the 108th minute, our hopes of a Dorset League Cup run were over. If we were looking for a silver lining at this point, it would be that at least we are not losing players to other clubs, just injuries and suspensions. A prime example of that would be centre back Matt Dawes, who has continually ignored attention from other clubs, and explains the reason why. <Matt Dawes Staying Put> The three man centre back tactic may also be in danger now, as the news comes through that Neil Porter has suffered a pulled calf muscle in training that will keep him out until the new year. We are really starting to run low on players now, and that worries me for our prospects in the second half of the season. <Neil Porter To Miss Out Through Injury> With our spirits pretty low, nobody gave us a much of a chance away to mid table Dorchester Sports. Maybe that worked in our favour, as we put in one of our better performances. A 16th minute penalty from Peter Gibson after a trip on Julius Echiejile put us in front. It even felt a little like armageddon as the rain began to pour down right after the goal. It would be a backs to the wall performance for large parts of the second half, particularly when Ross Baldy-Probert had to head the ball off the line to preserve our lead. Goalscorer Gibson picked up two of the nine yellow cards handed out, and was given his marching orders in the 89th minute. We held out though, and moved ourselves up into 14th place. Despite that win, when Axminster Town sack Dominic Proffitt, it emerges that I'm the new front runner in the Dorset Premier League's 'Sack Race'. In fact, at 2/5 to get the bullet next, you'd be forgiven for thinking that they might know something that I don't. Onwards and upwards then. Well, that was the plan at least. We were given little chance of achieving that in our penultimate match of the calendar year, a Christmas run in trip to 4th placed Merley Cobham Sports. There is a return to the squad ahead of schedule for Neil Porter, who is given a spot on the subs bench. We find ourselves behind as early as the 6th minute with a cool finish from 17 year old striker Taner Šen, the first goal of his career. In yet another game played in torrential rain, we levelled early in the second half with one of the most ridiculous own goals you will ever see, Thomas Black managing to slot a back pass beyond his own keeper. With an unlikely point looking on the cards, we were then dealt a bad hand, as Jake Curtis tripped Šen in the box, and the ref awarded the penalty despite the striker having been clearly offside before collecting the ball and subsequently being fouled by Curtis. The teenager took the kick himself, sending Owen Shama the wrong way and earning the hosts the points. Our misery was compounded when Ross Hamblin had to be escorted from the park in injury time, suffering from concussion symptoms after a late clash of heads, ruling him out for three or four weeks. It never rains....... It emerges that I could, should I wish to, move out of this difficult situation. BBC Sport in Wiltshire are reporting that I'm wanted by Wiltshire Football League club Westbury United. With no relegation from that League, and a rule that anyone 17 years old or over must be paid a minimum of £160 per week and contracted, life would be easier, even though they currently only have half a dozen players. Clearly, by the nature of this challenge and where it's located, I'm not looking for easy, and distance myself from the rumours, to the delight of the Poole Borough Board. We return to work after the festive period to the news that my assistant manager Brett Doswell has completed his course and earned his FA 'C' Licence. I am in the embarassing situation where I am one of the very few members of staff at the club that doesn't have a Qualification. Neil Porter has passed a fitness test and is available to play in the final match of 2018, and we can use him at left back to replace the concussed Ross Hamblin. This is a match that we are looking to take a win from, as we host bottom of the table side Broadstone. A win could see us put some valuable distance between ourselves and the danger zone, while a defeat could see us enter the new year in the relegation zone. In the end, neither event ocurred. Neil Porter scored an own goal that was every bit as ridiculous as the one that Thomas Black scored for us last week. Fortunately, he was able to redeem himself on the half hour mark, a corner was cleared to his left back spot, and he lifted it right back across the park and picked out Flynn Oldring, who timed his run to beat the offside trap and sent his shot across goal and in off the inside of the far post, his second goal of the season. Oldring would be voted man of the match, despite being forced off with a thigh strain in the 65th minute. That will keep him out for five to six weeks, another blow to our fragile and under staffed squad. So we end the year with five points from a possible fifteen in the League, and nudging ourselves up a spot to 14th place. There is still plenty of work to be done in 2019 if we are going to achieve our first goal of being around when the first Youth Intake arrives at the club. <December's Results> <The Halfway Point of the Season> I decide to test the waters on my chances of making it to the end of this season with Poole Borough. Right now, I am on an amateur contract, and I ask the Board to consider a deal that will allow me to continue the work I have started at Turlin Moor Recreation Ground. They agree, but only offer me a duplicate of my current amateur deal, providing me with no security whatsoever. <A New Contract Is Signed, But I'm Still Not Getting Paid> The final piece of news of 2018 is, thankfully, some of the good kind. Andy Davis has begun the next phase of his rehabilitation work following his broken ankle. The 25 year old left footer still has plenty of work to do, as it will be at least a month, if not more, before he can resume full training. As he managed just two League matches before the injury, his return will be almost like having a new player at the club. Or, as close as we are likely to get during this save. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talbot41 Posted November 1, 2018 Share Posted November 1, 2018 I'll be following this thread fervently. Assumed by topic title that it'd be another Poole Town story, but was pleasantly surprised to see the mighty Poole Borough featured. I play for PB reserves (Dorset League Div 4) but when we're not playing I'll be watching the first team (Dorset Senior League). Turlin Moor has a bit of a 'reputation' locally as a rough estate but it's a great club to be involved with and a good set of lads. I wish you all the best and hopefully you can take us to the big time. UTB! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
neilhoskins77 Posted November 2, 2018 Author Share Posted November 2, 2018 20 hours ago, Talbot41 said: I'll be following this thread fervently. Assumed by topic title that it'd be another Poole Town story, but was pleasantly surprised to see the mighty Poole Borough featured. I play for PB reserves (Dorset League Div 4) but when we're not playing I'll be watching the first team (Dorset Senior League). Turlin Moor has a bit of a 'reputation' locally as a rough estate but it's a great club to be involved with and a good set of lads. I wish you all the best and hopefully you can take us to the big time. UTB! Hi Talbot, As you can see, this thread hasn't been updated for a while as I'm trying to get a fair bit in front on my main current save. I'm hoping in the next few weeks, you'll see some more updates on both this save, and my International project in Iceland. If anything, the fact that a reader is directly involved with the club is going to give me a bit of motivation to get Borough moving in the right direction. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talbot41 Posted November 2, 2018 Share Posted November 2, 2018 2 minutes ago, neilhoskins77 said: Hi Talbot, As you can see, this thread hasn't been updated for a while as I'm trying to get a fair bit in front on my main current save. I'm hoping in the next few weeks, you'll see some more updates on both this save, and my International project in Iceland. If anything, the fact that a reader is directly involved with the club is going to give me a bit of motivation to get Borough moving in the right direction. Yeah I think in my excitement to post I went in a bit quickly. I should have probably looked at when the last update was. Good luck if you do get it going again though, feel free to ask if you'd be interested in any further info on the club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.