FM19: The English Football League thread

[DefinitelyTaylor]

5 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Some really great updates in here, really good to see and read them all. Sorry not to comment on them all, but just too many!

The most unbelievable post? Nope, not the back-to-back promotion kings or other great performing managers. For me, it's seeing that @DefinitelyTaylor has chosen his team at last! A really good overview of your team and approach, which I like, and it's a very good pick in Carlisle too. I managed them a few years ago and really enjoyed it, so will be backing you all the way. By the way, I had a free transfer deal for Glendon awaiting my confirmation at Grimsby ahead of season 2. I couldn't get better for free, he was willing to join and the wages were modest. Then I looked in to him in more detail to see how prominent he was over the last season or so, and realised that bringing him back to the Cleethorpes area wouldn't be the smartest move. Deal cancelled.

Haha  I've surprised myself in finally picking somebody, truth! Glad you enjoyed my post, I wanted to give some reasoning behind why I chose the club, as I'm always intrigued to find out why somebody chose a team myself. They're a good club personally and the ground is quite interesting, with each side being different to the others. I went there last season to see them lose 2-1 at home to Vale and loved the place, despite how bloody cold it was!  Glendon is a great player. I do find it interesting that he's at Carlisle irl, but it could have something to do with *that* despite being cleared. 

[Jogo Bonito]

It's always good to have strong reasons for picking a club. Brunton Park is one of the few Northern away grounds I never made it too, and I probably never will now.

I do recall seeing Bennett play for Barrow a couple of years back (Taunton Town in the FA Cup would you believe) and am sure you'll be really keen to get some good performances out of him. Danny Rowe should do really well for you, and a couple of the others look fairly decent for League 2. I'm not too keen on any of your defenders, but that's always the hardest part of the team to get right at that level.

[rbird2012]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

You liked the squad but shipped out six players!?   Not saying you're wrong, and it's obviously working for you, but I'd hate to see what you'd do with a squad you didn't like!

@DefinitelyTaylor Thanks, and I'm certainly hoping for improved away form.

I like Grealish,Mcginn,Chester,Adomah and Nyland.   Abraham on loan was very good too.    I just felt with some more quality depth around that group they could be superb and they have shown it so far!

[DefinitelyTaylor]

 

I don't think I have the words to describe this game, erm. 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

54 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

It's always good to have strong reasons for picking a club. Brunton Park is one of the few Northern away grounds I never made it too, and I probably never will now.

I do recall seeing Bennett play for Barrow a couple of years back (Taunton Town in the FA Cup would you believe) and am sure you'll be really keen to get some good performances out of him. Danny Rowe should do really well for you, and a couple of the others look fairly decent for League 2. I'm not too keen on any of your defenders, but that's always the hardest part of the team to get right at that level.

That's a shame. I have to say it's one of the ones I have enjoyed the most, simply because of the unique factor it has. Maidenhead United appeals to me for that exact reason too (have a Google if you're not familiar!)

Bennett was a really useful striker for us, despite the fact he was only there for a single season. He formed a really impressive partnership with Byron Harrison that gave us a lot of success that year, including making it to the 3rd round of the FA Cup and finishing in 7th in the league. I was really surprised I was able to attract Rowe, honestly, he strikes me as a player who could have probably got a better move; but I'm not complaining as he's certainly doing a fantastic job so far. The defence, as shown above, is probably the weakest part of the team at the moment. Gillesphey is really the only player I'm fairly impressed with; as the rest have been really poor - including the new signing van der Strejik. It's definitely an area I'll be looking to improve on in January.

[Spike]

11 hours ago, warlock said:

Not at all... promotion and on-going success is what we're all aiming for. The only limitation on the thread is that our teams start in the EFL. I guess Tuanzebe might have tripped going in to the dressing room!? 

 

Possibly, nobbled by the ref?

2 hours ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

@Spike: Very impressed with those signings. You've made use of your budget very well over the Summer and the loan signing of Stefano Sturaro stands out to me in particular. You have depth in areas and definitely should have enough to survive this season. Good start to the season with a win too over a well-established side in Everton

 

Thanks

Thought it was best to bolster the squad rather than just bringing in 2 top class players.

Wanted to sign Sturaro permanently but had run out of transfer budget, but have agreed a fee of £7.25m to make the deal permanent (currently valued at £14.25m).

[warlock]

45 minutes ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

I don't think I have the words to describe this game

Looks like you're in for an exciting season 

[Spike]

Best result so far in the Prem

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Fantastic result @Spike!

[Jogo Bonito]

2 hours ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

 

I don't think I have the words to describe this game, erm. 

Wow. Now you can see why I needed a better defence at Grimsby too!

I'm edging towards the competitive start of season 2 and have so far limited myself to just three players on loan. I really need one more sale to help a final purchase for the last obvious weak spot (central midfield) but finding the player to meet my expectations (and who is willing to join) is not proving so easy.

Talking of Danny Rowe again, I have a left winger joining when his contract in USA expires at the end of November, so am about to pull the plug on signing Rowe for £55k. In the meantime I've recruited Ryan Giles from Wolves on loan for that role instead. He's a good talent and it's costing me nothing, so it seemed to make more sense in the end.

@Spike Another great result for Villa, well done!

 

[Mindtrick_42]

Nice to see so many ongoing stories in here! Very good reading when commuting to and from work!

@karanhsingh great job with Pompey! I'm keen to see how your 442 will do. 

[Spike]

Aston Villa Season 2 - Update

So it as been an entertaining start to the season so far;

August

W4-3 v Everton (A) - Kodija 2, Abraham, Demme

L2-3 v Tottenham (H) - Grealish, Kodija

L4-5 v Liverpool (A) - Abraham 2, Jese, Bedeau

L2-4 v Southampton (H) - Jese, Luiz (og)

September

W3-2 v Brighton (A) - McGinn, Chester, Hogan

W2-0 v Derby (H) - Jese, McGinn

W1-0 v Man U (A) - Bailly (og)

W1-0 v Newcastle (H) - Kodija

There have been two major turning points already this season.

The first being losing Tuanzebe and Wober, my first choice centreback pairing, during/after the first game against Everton. This left Chester and the rookie Bedeau as my centrebacks going up against Tottenham & Liverpool. This proved costly, particularly against Tottenham where we conceded two goals from corners to Alderweireld. Ultimately though we put up two performances that gave me confidence we would be able to steer well clear of the relegation battle.

I was hoping to get back on track at home to Southampton, but unfortunately we ended up losing a game we dominated, partly down to playing the last 30 minutes with 10 men following Abrahams straight red.

The second and most significant turning point so far was the Brighton game. At half time we were 2-0 down having conceded 13 shots while not mustering a single shot ourselves. A half time bollocking produced a stunning second half comeback to secure our second win of the season.

With the return of both Wober and Tuanzebe from injury three more wins followed, and more importantly three cleansheets, with a string of world class performances from Jack Butland helping considerably.

After 8 games we currently sit in the lofty heights of 6th. Only Liverpool & Tottenham have managed more than our 19 goals so far, but the 17 conceded is third worst in the Prem. Hopefully though the last 3 games are a sign of things to come defensively. 

Jack Grealish has continued where he left off last season, with 1 goal and 7 assists in 8 games so far.

Edited November 23, 2018 by Spike

[Mackem742]

Finally finished my first season with Sunderland, after a fantastic campaign  we kind of limped our way to the finish once promotion was secured, suffered a couple of more losses, including a 3-1 defeat at Peterborough which confirmed their playoff place (You are welcome Posh fans :) ). Now the hard work begins, I need quite a few additions to get the squad ready for the Championship as I was very disappointed with how some of the players tailed off towards the end of the season. Baldwin has been superb all season but the last 5 games his average rating is 6.4, same for Maguire, Reece James and Max Power. These all need improved upon. Any ideas on who I could realistically sign? We get given a £21 million budget which was surprising!

[rbird2012]

Aston Villa Season 2 update

The season has been fantastic so far with wins away at Liverpool and Tottenham.   Tie away to Chelsea and a tie at home to Man Utd.  We did lose to Arsenal away 4 to 1 but we followed that up with wins against Derby,Brighton,Burnley and Leciester.   We are currently tied for 4th in the league!

Not all is good news.   We were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Everton.   Man Utd,Juventus and Inter are all pushing hard for Tonalli but won't meet my price, so far it hasn't bothered him but I would be loath to lose him.  One of the big problems I am having is with the Youth I am using they get tired very quickly and I lack depth and it showed in my last game away to Fulham we had a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes left only to see them come back and win it in injury time.   

I have some money for the next transfer window so I will be looking at some more depth for my squad to hopefully maintain our form and push for a European spot

[rbird2012]

Oh yes in my game and I am wondering if this happens in all games the work permit rules have changed because of Brexit.   It seems all that matters now is the wage the players are making which will make it far easier to sign South American talent

[warlock]

@rbird2012 Looks like you're doing really well in the PL. As for Brexit, there are several different scenarios - the wages one seems to be quite common this year, but I think you can also get limitations on number of foreigners, and a hard one where every foreign player needs a work permit. Luck of the draw, I guess.

[rbird2012]

21 minutes ago, warlock said:

@rbird2012 Looks like you're doing really well in the PL. As for Brexit, there are several different scenarios - the wages one seems to be quite common this year, but I think you can also get limitations on number of foreigners, and a hard one where every foreign player needs a work permit. Luck of the draw, I guess.

 

It has been a weird season so far.   Arsenal is hasn't lost a game so far they are 14-0 and Aubameyang has 21 goals.    Man City is in 9th and they sacked their manager.  Man UTD is in 12th.   The top 4 is Arsenal,Liverpool,Wolves then Us.   

[MaxeyN17]

On 20/11/2018 at 14:03, warlock said:

Hope I'm not too late, but is this the contract agreement bug where you can't continue? If so, use Ctrl-S to save your game, then reload it. I think you can also go on holiday for a day or two, but the save and reload routine seems quicker to me.

Afraid it wasn't. It kept getting to the 14th November and would crash on that date and not let me past it. I tried holidaying and saving the day before to go past but it wouldn't

Not to worry, at least I wasn't massively ahead but I now have learned it's best to keep rolling auto-save on ha!

[sedge11]

On ‎22‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 08:57, karanhsingh said:

Some great transfers there, Loftus cheek and Roberts in particular.

Hopefully the season is going well.

[sedge11]

So it's been a few days but I finally got round to completing the summer and starting the 6th season.

We were given 53mil to spend, I didn't really want to spend it all and rely on abit of wheeling and dealing.

My main areas of concern were the keeper, back up left back and a replacement for Geubbels, whose loan ended and Monaco wanted to give him a chance.

We brought in Henderson for our keeper and he will battle for the number 1 spot, signed Rodrigues as a back up left back to Tymon. Now as you can see I signed Geubbels again, so even after they wouldn't let me extend his loan, 6 days after he returned to them they listed him for loan again, so Geubbels joins us for a 3rd year in a row on loan, which is very pleasing.

Murillo and Aubameyang bring plenty of quality and experience.

I needed another dm and having done a save with Lyon on fm18, I knew Ndombele was a good player, he was listed and I had most of my budget left so went for it on deadline day, I did have to pay him a lot, so he's now my highest paid player by far, as I have done well keeping it quite low.

Our best 11 going into the season looks like this:

After winning the fa cup in the 5th season we were in the Europa league and this was our draw.

Not a bad draw and I reckon we can get 2nd in the group.

We have also had a great start in the league, we were given a tough run of fixtures to start but have got through it brilliantly.

[warlock]

1 hour ago, MaxeyN17 said:

I now have learned it's best to keep rolling auto-save on ha!

Funny how many of us learn that the hard way!

Let us know how you get on when the new save is up and running.

[SlobaFMB]

 

 

 

I finish with 3rd season and I'm very pleased with results.

[Mindtrick_42]

7 hours ago, SlobaFMB said:

 

 

 

I finish with 3rd season and I'm very pleased with results.

Nice job! I'm just about to start my second season with Blackburn, and we are newly promoted to the pl. May I ask you if you still have any players from the first season that are performing for you in the pl? 

[karanhsingh]

On 23/11/2018 at 12:03, Mindtrick_42 said:

Nice to see so many ongoing stories in here! Very good reading when commuting to and from work!

@karanhsingh great job with Pompey! I'm keen to see how your 442 will do. 

Thanks! We’ve made a good start to life in the premier league but it’s early days yet. Unfortunately not getting too much game time these days. 

[karanhsingh]

21 hours ago, Spike said:

 

Jack Grealish has continued where he left off last season, with 1 goal and 7 assists in 8 games so far.

Great going! How are you playing Grealish? Left wing? I really want to manage him in this game. Unfortunately Villa are in the premier league as well so tough to get him. 

By the way have you managed to develop the other youngsters at the club?

[karanhsingh]

19 hours ago, Mackem742 said:

Finally finished my first season with Sunderland, after a fantastic campaign  we kind of limped our way to the finish once promotion was secured, suffered a couple of more losses, including a 3-1 defeat at Peterborough which confirmed their playoff place (You are welcome Posh fans ). Now the hard work begins, I need quite a few additions to get the squad ready for the Championship as I was very disappointed with how some of the players tailed off towards the end of the season. Baldwin has been superb all season but the last 5 games his average rating is 6.4, same for Maguire, Reece James and Max Power. These all need improved upon. Any ideas on who I could realistically sign? We get given a £21 million budget which was surprising!

That’s a crazy budget. Can check for the usual suspects Marin Tonali Xadas. 

Otherwise loan signings are your best friend. 

I made two permanent moves when I got promoted - Josh Vela and Danny Loader. Both have been excellent

[karanhsingh]

10 hours ago, sedge11 said:

Some great transfers there, Loftus cheek and Roberts in particular.

Hopefully the season is going well.

Thanks! Yes good start, hopefully will get some time to play forward soon. Premier league games are taking more time, also in the past couple of seasons I ended up holidaying a bunch of games when we were topping the league. 

Some great transfers for you too, although I have to say I’m surprised that Lowe and Close are still keeping their place in the first team. How is Foden looking? Another player I really want to manage in this edition. 

Edited November 24, 2018 by karanhsingh

[Jogo Bonito]

@SlobaFMB A very satisfactory season, well done.

@karanhsingh I agree with what's been said - some nice signings particularly RLC. I'm definitely going to be managing Portsmouth at sometime, can't wait to manage Lowe again (rated much better then when I signed him in FM18) and Curtis. The squad there is so well balanced for an enjoyable season or two. 

I'm almost at the end of August 2019 (season 2) with Grimsby and now have my squad sorted. It's not exactly what I wanted but let's see how it goes. My update will follow later.

[karanhsingh]

3 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@SlobaFMB

@karanhsingh I agree with what's been said - some nice signings particularly RLC. I'm definitely going to be managing Portsmouth at sometime, can't wait to manage Lowe again (rated much better then when I signed him in FM18) and Curtis. The squad there is so well balanced for an enjoyable season or two. 

I'm almost at the end of August 2019 (season 2) with Grimsby and now have my squad sorted. It's not exactly what I wanted but let's see how it goes. My update will follow later.

Thanks. Look forward to your update. 

Strangely RLC has probably been the worst of the new signings so far. But maybe it’ll take him a while to adjust to the striker role. 

Our record signing Assombalonga did his cruciate and is out for 7 months so that’s a big blow. Don’t know if he will come back the same player. Burgess had the same injury last year and took a bad hit ability wise. 

I didn’t end up using Curtis much, Lowe has been great and in the first season Andre Green was the pick of the wingers. Eventually moved him on and he’s had another transfer since. 

What I like best about the original Pompey squad is the defence. Whatmough Clarke and MacGillivray is a core that can be taken all the way to the premiership. 

[SlobaFMB]

10 hours ago, Mindtrick_42 said:

Nice job! I'm just about to start my second season with Blackburn, and we are newly promoted to the pl. May I ask you if you still have any players from the first season that are performing for you in the pl? 

Of course. Raya, Mulgrew (best assistant in all three season), Williams, Evans, Armstrong and I think maybe one or two more players. On winter I sold Smallwood and Nyambe. 

[Jogo Bonito]

GRIMSBY TOWN - SEASON 2 (LEAGUE 1)

After a very unexpected promotion campaign, I've got the team back in League 1

My own goal for the season is to avoid being involved in the relegation scrap, and I wouldn't be disheartened by any bottom-half finish

I've made a conscious decision to reduce the number of loan players at the club (six last season) even though I could have renewed most of them

I'm fairly happy with the squad that I have assembled, although as always when you have a modest budget, it could have been better

The 22-man squad is deliberately tight as I want everyone to at least think they have a chance of playing their part

In the U23 squad, I have youngsters Callum Ellesley (centre-back) and Ahkeem Rose (striker) to promote if the need arises

The defence was the area of the squad that needed most attention, and three permanent defensive signings were made (and one loan) 

 Jack Simpson was one that I thought longest and hardest about, but I finally agreed to pay a club-record £200k transfer fee to Bournemouth

James Clarke (£16.5k from Bristol Rovers) brings some experience and can play two positions in defence

Luke Leahy was one of the most satisfying deals, and he's likely to be the first-choice left-back after joining on a free transfer from Walsall

Tyrell Warren also joins on loan for the season from Manchester United (no wage cost or monthly fee was required)

In midfield, I've added ex-Bolton man Tom Walker and George Glendon on free transfers after their contracts at Salford and Carlisle expired

Glendon was a late one, but after cancelling the original deal I had to back-track as the season opener arrived and a better option had not been secured

I've also added another promising youngster, with a loan move for promising young Wolves winger Ryan Giles (at no cost to the club again)

In attack, I'm quite hopeful that Josh Bohui could be a significant acquisition in time

He's quite highly-rated at Manchester United, and I was delighted to bring him in on a free transfer when his contract expired

Finally, I relented on my plan not to re-sign any of my successful loan men from last season to bring back Rodel Richards

The Tottenham man had done a great job at the end of last season, and I needed some more firepower (again there's no cost to the club)

Leaving the club on free transfers were Paul Dixon, Andy Dales, Alex Whitmore, Harry Cardwell and Wes Thomas

In addition, Jake Hessenthaler was sold to Burton (£75k) whilst JJ Hooper has been sent on loan to Notts County (they're paying full wages)

The biggest disappointment was not being able to land Ayr striker Lawrence Shankland as I'd been chasing him since January

Despite being eligible on a pre-contract since the New Year, he only once agreed to enter talks (in July), but snubbed my best wage offer

I tried repeatedly to get back in for him, but he kept refusing and then joined Aberdeen at the end of August for half of my wage offer! 

Apart from that, I'm probably only really missing one man of superior quality in central midfield

Unfortunately all of my best targets for that role (even released players) didn't like what they'd heard about this grim little fishing town

Anyway, it is what it is, and the season has started...

I couldn't have been happier with pre-season (Aston Villa needed a stoppage time equaliser to prevent a 100% success rate)

And the League 1 campaign has been very satisfying so far with only one loss (at home to Luton)

The only other defeat was in the Round 2 of the Carabao Cup, and even Leeds needed penalty kicks to finally see off my team  

It's early days of course, but being 5th in the league at any stage of the season is more than I could ever have imagined

The strikers are still demonstrating their ability despite the higher level, and on the whole the defence seems to be pretty solid too

And the club is in a healthy financial state (only Simpson earns more than £2k per week) and should only get stronger on that front

[Jogo Bonito]

One more thing. I've been trying to move on Elliott Whitehouse and hopefully a non-league team might come in for him

If he hadn't turned down a £38k move earlier in the summer, he'd be comfortably settled at a new club by now.

Today is also the free transfer deadline, so should I or should I not do this?

Edited November 24, 2018 by Jogo Bonito

[dothestrand]

2020-21 Premier League season was expected to be a torrid battle against relegation....instead a pleasant surprise as we finished 10th. Check the goal difference though, almost as bad as Swansea, who finished 19th! We copped some hammerings against the big guns, but we were pretty effective at single goal victories against our rivals.

Joshua Onomah and Patrick Roberts were the only guys who averaged higher than 7. The defence found it tough but it's hard to improve much - we had signed Panzo from Monaco in January. Midfield probably needs beefing up - and I'll aim for Cholobah in the Summer. Jack Marriott was a surprisingly effective front man, having cost just £4m from Derby.

The club's infrastructure is poor so we're trying to improve that. Hopefully we get enough cash this Summer to invest in this as well as the playing squad. 

[warlock]

51 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Today is also the free transfer deadline, so should I or should I not do this?

Personally, I wouldn't. I don't like his mentals - especially that determination - and I seem to recall he's terribly injury-prone. Unless you really need a DM, I don't think he's worth the money either.

Otherwise, it looks like you've recruited well, and early results are certainly promising .

Meanwhile, at Bramall Lane, I'm in another one of those slumps. Don't know why it happens to me every new year, but it does. This one isn't horrendous - we've gone five games without a win, although only one of those was a loss. Somehow, despite that, we're hanging on to first place by our fingertips. But injuries are taking their toll - I'm currently without GK Henderson and Washington up front, and for a month I was down to one RB, one LB, two CBs... Hoping for better luck in the coming weeks.

[Jogo Bonito]

6 minutes ago, warlock said:

Personally, I wouldn't. I don't like his mentals - especially that determination - and I seem to recall he's terribly injury-prone. Unless you really need a DM, I don't think he's worth the money either.

Otherwise, it looks like you've recruited well, and early results are certainly promising .

Meanwhile, at Bramall Lane, I'm in another one of those slumps. Don't know why it happens to me every new year, but it does. This one isn't horrendous - we've gone five games without a win, although only one of those was a loss. Somehow, despite that, we're hanging on to first place by our fingertips. But injuries are taking their toll - I'm currently without GK Henderson and Washington up front, and for a month I was down to one RB, one LB, two CBs... Hoping for better luck in the coming weeks.

Well, they do say it's tough at the top! I'm sure it will all sort itself out and you'll be flying again soon.

I've got five central midfielders, one of whom I am trying to get rid of. I wouldn't say he's essential, I just thought the wages were reasonable for somebody I might be able to get a big fee for in a year, and like the fact that he can play DC/DM/CM. I totally agree about the mentals, but the technical and physical attributes seem decent for a club of my type. I'll probably delay, save and sleep on it.

[warlock]

6 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I'll probably delay, save and sleep on it.

Good idea. Hope it works, whatever you decide.

@dothestrand That's not a bad season in the PL, although yes, you probably want to do something about that GD! What's happening with the new stadium... are you moved in yet?

[Jogo Bonito]

@dothestrand Good job on a mid-table finish, any of the originals still playing a significant role?

[dothestrand]

5 minutes ago, warlock said:

Good idea. Hope it works, whatever you decide.

@dothestrand That's not a bad season in the PL, although yes, you probably want to do something about that GD! What's happening with the new stadium... are you moved in yet?

@warlock Yes, we are. 17000 capacity, though no chance to upgrade that yet. There's still people in Ealing or Slough who need a team to support!

[dothestrand]

4 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@dothestrand Good job on a mid-table finish, any of the originals still playing a significant role?

@Jogo Bonito Most of the defence is the same (Mepham, Henry, Konsa). Yennaris is still around, and Watkins is on the periphery somewhat these days. Otherwise, everyone else has moved on.

Chalobah is coming and didn't even ask for more wages (35k).

[warlock]

4 minutes ago, dothestrand said:

There's still people in Ealing or Slough who need a team to support!

Lol! Another season in the PL - and maybe a bit of silverware - and you'll be packing them in.

[karanhsingh]

8 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

One more thing. I've been trying to move on Elliott Whitehouse and hopefully a non-league team might come in for him

If he hadn't turned down a £38k move earlier in the summer, he'd be comfortably settled at a new club by now.

Today is also the free transfer deadline, so should I or should I not do this?

Go for it - he looks good for this level. Would be a good statement signing as well

[karanhsingh]

6 hours ago, dothestrand said:

@Jogo Bonito Most of the defence is the same (Mepham, Henry, Konsa). Yennaris is still around, and Watkins is on the periphery somewhat these days. Otherwise, everyone else has moved on.

Chalobah is coming and didn't even ask for more wages (35k).

Good job. How are Mepham Henry and Konsa coming along? Konsa has been promising so far for me at Pompey

[Dong21]

10 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

One more thing. I've been trying to move on Elliott Whitehouse and hopefully a non-league team might come in for him

If he hadn't turned down a £38k move earlier in the summer, he'd be comfortably settled at a new club by now.

Today is also the free transfer deadline, so should I or should I not do this?

Great update. I wouldn’t sign him personally - always apprehensive about players with a natural fitness rating south of 10. I’ve been burnt before! 

[dothestrand]

2 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Good job. How are Mepham Henry and Konsa coming along? Konsa has been promising so far for me at Pompey

Pretty well. Certainly no need to try to improve upon them. Konsa's been talked up for England squads without making them.

[Spike]

Our best result so far....

While masterminding this 4-2 win over Liverpool I was watching Vila beat Blues 4-2 irl, happy days  

[warlock]

36 minutes ago, Spike said:

Our best result so far....

Quality! Good to see Hourihane performing... I signed him for Man Utd in FM17 - the fans laughed but he did very well. 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

After making the 600+ mile round trip to Aldershot yesterday to watch my team (we won 2-0! ) I got stuck back in with Carlisle. I left us on a poor run of form and that has only continued. We lost 6 of our last 8 games and admittedly, my enjoyment for the save has gone. Usually I thrive in situations such as this, but I feel like the save has been rushed and therefore it was only a matter of time before a run like this occured. 

I'm quite disappointed to have neglected this save in the way I have, but ultimately I just weren't finding the enjoyment. So, in @warlock fashion, I am going back to the drawing board and finding another team to go with and document my progress; where I am ensuring things won't be rushed. 

[warlock]

1 minute ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

So, in @warlock fashion, I am going back to the drawing board and finding another team to go with and document my progress

You might want to take your time with this one .

But there's no shame in picking another team - life's too short for saves you're not enjoying.

[DefinitelyTaylor]

2 minutes ago, warlock said:

You might want to take your time with this one .

But there's no shame in picking another team - life's too short for saves you're not enjoying.

That's the way I'm trying to think of it! 

[kozmik]

@DefinitelyTaylor Shame to see you drop Carlisle, was just about to say how nice it is to see someone do a save with them. I had a great save with them back in FM16, even though it ultimately ended in disappointment with three (iirc) consecutive second place finishes in premier league. Hope you find yourself a more enjoyable save next time around!

I've been away from the game most of the week but have finally got cracking in the premier league. Wanted to share this, first match of the season:

We were in complete control until about the time they got their penalty, after that they were absolutely bombarding us left right and center, but Dean Henderson in goal kept everything out. Finished with an 8,3 rating.