FM19: The English Football League thread

[Spike]

Aston Villa Season 2 update

So with the end of the season approaching and us currently sitting in the 7th and final European place by a couple of points we faced a make or, more than likely, break run of fixtures (Arsenal away, Chelsea at home, Burnley away & Man City at home).

I targeted a victory away at Burnley and didn't really expect much else from the other three games, but as we all know best laid plans very rarely play out as you would expect;

I'm not going to say we particularly deserved the results we got, particularly as Arsenal and Man City played us off the park and only the heroics of Jack Butland kept us in those games. The Chelsea game was just shaded by them and they probably deserved a point, and bizarrely we totally outclassed Burnley in all areas but lost 3-0......go figure!

Anyway, that run of results was enough to comfortably secure 7th place and European football next season

[Mindtrick_42]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

Josef Martinez is very good - he's doing well in the EPL in my game. Petagna and him should be a good combination for sure. Best of luck! 

You are correct, Martinez is actually looking quite good, and to be honest he was my second coiche target behind musa barrow. 

Petagna also looks good, but he only fits one out of four requirements that I have for new signings (at least first team signings) so I'm still a little bit disappointed 

 

[Mindtrick_42]

@Spike nice! Following Villa in Europe will be fun do you know what transfer budget you get for the next season yet? 

[karanhsingh]

51 minutes ago, Mindtrick_42 said:

You are correct, Martinez is actually looking quite good, and to be honest he was my second coiche target behind musa barrow. 

Petagna also looks good, but he only fits one out of four requirements that I have for new signings (at least first team signings) so I'm still a little bit disappointed 

 

what are your four requirements, curious to know

[karanhsingh]

1 hour ago, Spike said:

Aston Villa Season 2 update

Anyway, that run of results was enough to comfortably secure 7th place and European football next season

Great job  who was your best player? how is Grealish getting on? he looks very good in my game now but Villa won't sell for less than 50m

[Mindtrick_42]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

what are your four requirements, curious to know

I look at the following:

1. Does the player fit the role/roles I want him to play? Here I look more at specific attributes than if he is 100% natural in a specific position and role. For example I play a central defender as a bwm in central midfield as he has the attributes I look for in my system. 

2. Does the player fit my club DNA for specific attributes? For example I want all my players to have high determination 

3. Does the player have a personality that I like? I tend to look for determined, professional, resolute and so on. 

4. Does the player have any cons? I don't want players with injury risks, that are inconsistent or that does not like to play big matches. 

 

This is just how I do it, and I'm sure all of you have your own ways when it comes to looking at players

oh, and when it comes to Petanga he ticks the first one (I want a big and strong support striker for that role,  which he is), but he has quite low determination, is fairly ambitious and does not enjoy big matches

[warlock]

7 hours ago, Mindtrick_42 said:

may I ask what roles you use for your frontmen?

It varies! But I usually want want one dropping a bit to provide the link-up play, and the other pushing up against the defence and leading the line. The first is usually a DLF and the second can be either AF or Poacher. If I have a good targetman I'm happy to play him in the support role, and I like the Pressing Forward role this year. I have nothing against some of the more exotic roles but I haven't had a decent F9 since FM16, and I don't think I've ever had a natural treq. I do like a Complete Forward but they're also hard to come by at the lower levels of the game.

Rough rule of thumb is one to do a bit more creating and the other to do a bit more scoring. Within that, I'm happy to play them in whatever role suits them best - I'm not enough of a tactics expert to know the fine detail of roles, movement and the other stuff so I like to keep things simple.

Good luck with Blackburn in the PL - looks like you managed some good signings even if you didn't get all of your targets. Wallace strikes me as a good man to have in a 442, and Pereira between the sticks should be worth a few points this season.

[Mackem742]

On 24/11/2018 at 08:41, karanhsingh said:

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

I looked at Marin but he wasnt interested in a loan move and his club wanted crazy money for him so I ruled him out. May look at him again if I get promoted to the Prem, I havent had the chance to look at your other suggestions yet but im off work until Monday after today so hope to get a decent chunk of the season done. Ive had a good start in the Championship and im currently 2nd. I signed a lot of players and a couple of others on loan who were with me last season.

[Mackem742]

On 25/11/2018 at 20:16, warlock said:

Sheffield United: Season 1 - The Dream Dies

After starting the season well, we fell into the usual mid-season slough of despond but, remarkably, so did all of our rivals with the result that we got to mid-February holding on to top spot in the Championship. But eventually, a series of injuries took their toll, leading to the inevitable run of poor results. Although we managed to pick up some creditable draws and a couple of unexpected wins, we were overhauled by the likes of Bristol City, West Brom and Aston Villa. Even up to the last couple of games we were within touching distance of the title, but the lads simply crumbled under the pressure. Leon Clarke - who had been the leading scorer in the first half of the season - bagged two goals on Boxing Day and never scored again. The defence, which had been so impressive for four months, simply fell apart with all of the CBs regularly turning in performances with 6.0-6.4 ratings.

I strengthened the squad in January. FB George Baldock left after Stoke triggered his release clause but I bought in Moses Odubajo from Brentford to replace him. McGoldrick left for Bristol and was replaced by Palace's Alexander Sorloth on loan who did well. Marvin Johnson returned to Middlesbrough and was replaced by West Ham's Charlie Taylor on loan. All three did well, but the two FBs missed several weeks through injury.

In the end, we finished in fourth position and the play-offs. Unfortunately, the poor form of the end of season did not turn around. In the first playoff game away at Brentford we were 1-0 down after 70 minutes and I was hopeful of overturning that in the home tie, but we collapsed to a 3-0 finish. In the home game we played better and produced a 2-0 victory but it wasn't enough.

The killer issue with this save is the Championship requirement for 'home grown at club' players. Of the current first team squad only Billy Sharp qualifies, and he's been awful for the last few months; I don't feel I can rely on him going forward. Outside of the first team squad, I have a goalkeeper who is miles from the required standard, and a couple of youngsters who are even less impressive. I've scoured my scouting lists for candidates and there are only a handful: David Brooks, who won't even discuss a loan return; Phil Jagielka, who is 36 and done; and Kyle Walker and Harry McGuire, who will cost me more than £50m apiece. It's the little things that kill you... .

If we'd got promoted I'd have happily stuck with this save for at least another year. But, again, it's time for pastures new! Like Mr Taylor, I'll get back to you...

Its alarming that this seems to happen a lot, the same happened for me in the latter stages of my League 1 campaign, Baldwin was a rock at central defence but then fell apart after February and didnt get above a 6.4 average rating. Very disappointed with him to be honest and Ive been ruthless in the summer transfer window and upgraded on him.

[Mackem742]

On 25/11/2018 at 21:35, Jogo Bonito said:

@warlock So close, a great effort there. I actually quite like the fact you're managing different teams, at the end of the version I'll be left thinking there were too many I didn't get to try and you'll feel you have. I remember in FM18 struggling with the HG player rule at Forest Green. For much of that I had to go with six substitutes for a few years until the least-worst of my U21 players was fit for any pitch time. Maybe you (and all of us) need to factor this in to our choices if the plan is go to more than one or two seasons.

@DefinitelyTaylor Sorry to hear you've finished with Carlisle, I thought it was a good choice. I agree though, if you're not enjoying it, there's no point. Good luck with your next pick.

I've delayed three times on signing Jack Rodwell for Grimsby, and think this one will be cancelled. Pros and cons made it a very close call.

Dont do it! 

[Dong21]

@warlock I noticed in your write up you described Marco Matias as mediocre. I currently have him on trial at Charlton and was considering offering him a deal to provide depth to my wing options. Would you suggest I avoid? I expect we will be involved at the opposite end of the table, so maybe will be judging on a different criteria! 

Edited November 28, 2018 by Dong21

[warlock]

9 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

How is Penney going along, are you playing him at LB or LW? I was scouting him for Pompey and came close to buying him. He looks like a poor man's left footed David Beckham.

Sorry, missed this earlier. Penney has only played a couple of games because of injury and I played him LB in the 4141dm. Now that he's fit again and I've switched to the 442 I'll be using him as a winger, rotating with Adam Reach. He looks a good prospect.

[DefinitelyTaylor]

@warlock: Surprised to see you're giving it another go in the Championship with Sheffield Wednesday this time. However, if they were a team you were eyeing up to manage then it makes sense. Glad to see you had a number of HG players to help deal with those issues; nothing worse than getting to the first game and then realising you don't have any - as that happened to me at Carlisle and I was forced to put Jack Egan on the bench every week .

A very strong start given the circumstances with injuries and a lack of quality in different areas. I think the expectations of the board are realistic and therefore should allow you to achieve them, if not better them. Shame to see you crash out to L2 opposition in Colchester, but it allows you to turn your attention to the league until January, which should help given the number of injuries you've had.

@Mindtrick_42: Best of luck in surviving in the Premier League. Some good signings made and hopefully they'll combine well with the current squad to allow you to start the season well and build on that. Petagna is a very good piece of business!

@Spike: Very interesting to see you beat all the teams you expected to lose against, but lost to the one team you expected to beat. Football is a funny game at times!  

 

[warlock]

23 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

Marco Matias... Would you suggest I avoid?

Tough one... he simply hasn't performed for me - 1 assist in 7 appearances, avg rating 6.5. He's quick and his technical attributes are OK but he's really poor for workrate and teamwork. I think his weak mentality shows in game where he often bounces between complacent and anxious. I think you can do better.

[warlock]

@DefinitelyTaylor I looked long and hard at Notts County but -surprise! - they have no HGC players in the first team squad, and only a couple in the u18s who are so poor you might as well just go with six subs every game. And having just checked their most recent line-up in my save it looks as though they are playing with only six on the bench. I spent hours going over a number of teams but there was always something that bothered me. I'm sure we all know that feeling!

[Jogo Bonito]

3 hours ago, Mackem742 said:

Dont do it! 

I delayed three times and then didn't play FM for several days whilst considering it further. Logged on last night and had to finally decide, so welcome to the club Jack...nah, I cancelled it, too much of a risk. Of course, if I was a Sunderland fan I would be saying don't do it too! Anyway, I'm cracking on with my squad of 22 and finding it easier in many ways to have a smaller pool of players (so far).

[karanhsingh]

2 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I delayed three times and then didn't play FM for several days whilst considering it further. Logged on last night and had to finally decide, so welcome to the club Jack...nah, I cancelled it, too much of a risk. Of course, if I was a Sunderland fan I would be saying don't do it too! Anyway, I'm cracking on with my squad of 22 and finding it easier in many ways to have a smaller pool of players (so far).

Wow you really gave that a lot of thought! Poor Jack...

[Jogo Bonito]

Just now, karanhsingh said:

Wow you really gave that a lot of thought! Poor Jack...

Haha, yes. I also feel sorry for Jack, but then remember he spent several years doing absolutely nothing for what was it, £70k per week?

[karanhsingh]

Squeaky bum time... past couple of months have brought some excellent results, with Cummings, Loftus-Cheek, Roberts & Loader forming a formidable front 4. Sergio Gomez has also had a promising start. 

However frankly I am only hoping to hold onto a top 4 place, our final 9 games include away trips to Liverpool, Man City, Spurs and Chelsea! Talk about a tough end run

[Spike]

8 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Great job  who was your best player? how is Grealish getting on? he looks very good in my game now but Villa won't sell for less than 50m

Grealish was easily my best player of the season and has just made his international debut for England in the last round of fixtures;

[Jogo Bonito]

On ‎24‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 23:02, 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?

Available now for even less, now more tempted...

[karanhsingh]

Just lost at Anfield thanks to the worst penalty decision I have ever seen. Even the game commentator thought it was the wrong decision. I literally saw the replay from like 3 angles... 

[warlock]

@karanhsingh You're working miracles... pushing for the title! Hope you can clinch a Champion's League spot, at least, but that is a tough run-in.

[Jogo Bonito]

1 minute ago, karanhsingh said:

Just lost at Anfield thanks to the worst penalty decision I have ever seen. Even the game commentator thought it was the wrong decision. I literally saw the replay from like 3 angles... 

Going amazingly well though, incredible to see where you have got them in the Premier League. Sorry about the travesty here of course  

[Jogo Bonito]

Oops, welcome Jack

[karanhsingh]

Well now you can say you have an England international in the ranks! 

[Jogo Bonito]

Indeed, and this is Grimsby, so would be viewed as a coup when you consider he's actually getting games with Blackburn in the second tier. I'll be following Mowbray's lead, so if he ever plays it will be as a centre back or holding midfielder.

[Spike]

11 hours ago, Mindtrick_42 said:

@Spike nice! Following Villa in Europe will be fun do you know what transfer budget you get for the next season yet? 

£52m & £1.2m in wages.

[kozmik]

Good luck with Rodwell @Jogo Bonito - I don't know what he's like in the game but his real life reputation would be enough for me to stay well away.

Great to see @karanhsingh and @Spike doing well in the premier league! It can be a pretty unforgiving place sometimes and qualifying for continental football in the first premier league season is no mean feat. Speaking of which, I'll be posting my 3rd season update shortly...

[kozmik]

I wish I knew how this happened! Crazy stuff. And what's even more crazy is that in the end I was a little bit disappointed with our position - as late as gameweek 21 we were top of the table. Around 15 games into the season we were 6-7 points clear at the top. Our form before the turn of the year was brilliant, w14 d4 l3, after that it was considerably worse with w8 d5 l4. Our form had been declining before, but the final nail in our coffin in terms of fighting for the title was when our best CB Luperto broke his ankle in February, missing the rest of the season. Up to that point we had 16 clean sheets, after that we only got 2.

The most surprising thing about the season was our record against the (so-called) top six. I usually struggle pretty badly against them after promotion for a couple of seasons at least, and get a fair few absolute hammerings in the process. This season our record against them was w7 d2 l3 and the only hammering we got was a 4-1 at Stamford Bridge. Even at Old Trafford we only lost 2-1 and their winner was a Fergie time penalty.

In terms of transfers things were fairly quiet, although we did break the club's transfer record by paying 25 mill for Seri from Fulham.

Dean Henderson signed permanently on a free transfer, while Brahim Diaz and Theo Hernandez went back to their respective clubs only to be loaned again soon after. Had a couple of issues with game mechanics. Jay Dasilva's loan was renewed. First choice RB and CM targets Zappacosta and Doucoure went elsewhere, second choice targets Bereszynski and Seri were both very, very good, Seri in particular with 3 goals and 10 assists. Also signed our first 1st team regens, Villafane, Castro and Flores.

Speaking of regens, this kid came up through the ranks:

Championship level ability at 16 years. Gave him a start late in the season as I had a few injuries and he scored 4 goals. Personality is driven and there are no nasty weaknesses in his coach report (yet). If that PA rating is correct, he could be a club legend in the making.

As for next season, I hope to renew loans for both Pellegri and Hernandez but both are at good premier league level so I suspect it won't happen. I didn't get a great deal of money and I already spent a load of it on a great player but for a position I'm already stocked in, so will have to wheel and deal quite a bit as I need both quality and quantity. A few players will be released and two will (hopefully) be sold, but realistically I'm looking at a right back, a center back, one or two left backs (depending on Hernandez), two midfielders and a striker (unless I manage to renew Pellegri's loan). All of these need to be premier league quality (or close to that with potential to improve sooner rather than later) and some of them need to be UK citizens. Ideally at least a couple of them will be starters. And all of this needs to be done with 32 million for transfers and 265k per week for wages. Easier said than done, and even saying it isn't that easy.

[Jogo Bonito]

@kozmik You may be disappointed, but that's an amazing achievement anyway.

I've asked this before, but does FM19 seem a bit easier to most of us? In my BETA save with Liverpool I was top of the table, virtually never conceding goals. My first full game with OH Leuven we were top of the league (2nd tier) and hardly conceded many goals, and it's fair to say I expected life at Grimsby to be tougher than season 1 turned out. I'm using a basic 442 with no additional instructions, so hardly deserve a tactical genius tag. I do like that I don't concede a late goal in every game any more (usually to lose or draw), as that used to frustrate me a lot, but closing games out seems to be easier to me. 

[kozmik]

26 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@kozmik You may be disappointed, but that's an amazing achievement anyway.

I've asked this before, but does FM19 seem a bit easier to most of us? In my BETA save with Liverpool I was top of the table, virtually never conceding goals. My first full game with OH Leuven we were top of the league (2nd tier) and hardly conceded many goals, and it's fair to say I expected life at Grimsby to be tougher than season 1 turned out. I'm using a basic 442 with no additional instructions, so hardly deserve a tactical genius tag. I do like that I don't concede a late goal in every game any more (usually to lose or draw), as that used to frustrate me a lot, but closing games out seems to be easier to me. 

Definitely seems easier. Considerably easier, even. I can't imagine doing as well as I am with the team I have in previous FM's. Not without ME exploit tactics anyway.

[warlock]

20 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

does FM19 seem a bit easier to most of us?

Not to me!  In all three saves so far I've put together some good early season runs, but they've come to a crashing halt by Christmas (although not so far at Wednesday) and I've been unable to really turn things around. On the other hand, I do recognise that a few people seem to have raced up the league ladder to the upper reaches of the Premiership without much difficulty. Maybe if you have the right tactic for the right group of players things generally go our way, but on most of the FM blogs I follow nobody seems to be enjoying runaway success.

[warlock]

@kozmik That's a great season by any measure. And Middleton definitely looks like a star in the making.

[Jogo Bonito]

Interesting to hear your replies, hopefully more opinions will follow. I have to say that it's less stressful and more 'fun' this way, even if it seems (to me) easier to achieve success.

[karanhsingh]

@Jogo Bonito - I somewhat agree, although I don't think it's that easy. Its similar to FM18, maybe a tad bit easier. On last year's game I managed to get a double promotion with Blackburn and then into the European places  in the EPL, same thing now with Pompey. It's obviously a lot easier than real life though, that's for sure  

So last night I fired up FM when the wife went to sleep at 12:30 am, thinking I will play for an hour, get through my regular dose of 3-4 matches. I had a horror run of games, with Spurs, Chelsea & Man City in the space of 8 days. But I figured I will at least get one or maybe two results and be happy enough with that. 

Next thing I know, we have lost 3 on the trot, including two stoppage time winners of which one was totally undeserved. We are also now on the verge of dropping out of the top 4 with both Arsenal & United breathing down our neck. Obviously, I couldn't bring myself to sleep at this point.

So I trudged on, played through the last 4 games, completed the season, and finally hit the sack at 3:30 am. Full season review coming up soon! It's a mix of some eventual disappointment and some elation. And I am definitely taking today off FM!!

[karanhsingh]

@kozmik - that's a super season, and the new-gen looks bloody amazing.  Well done! 

@Spike - good stuff with Grealish, are you playing him left wing? BTW  I am so envious of your finances, my board is still giving me a measly 450k wage budget into our 2nd year in the Premier league. No idea how they expect us to get by! 

[karanhsingh]

Pompey 2020-21 season review

Here's our final fixtures - 

As you can see, we really struggled against the big sides away from home. However, fortunately the 3 wins on the bounce against WBA, Saints & Newcastle saw us over the line. I was particularly pleased to do the double over our South coast finals, and by the fact that home-grown hero Jack Whatmough scored a brace against them.

However, the most heart-breaking result was -

After getting past both the Manchester clubs, we were handed league topping Chelsea in the semis, while Southampton & West Ham played out the other fixture. We battled our way through to half time and then even managed to take the lead through a well flighted Gomez free-kick onto Vela's head. However, Chelsea equalised soon after through a set piece of their own. And then, deep into stoppage time, Andreas Christensen (?!) pops up with a belter of a shot from the edge of the box. When I was just waiting for full-time to make some tactical changes. Saints won the other semi so we would have had them in the Finals! Really wanted to bring home the Cup, so this was very disappointing. 

Anyway, here is the final league table:

Obviously delighted to finish 3rd and clinch CL football for next season. Luckily both United & Arsenal dropped some points at the end, otherwise we would have slipped out of the top 4. 

Squad stats (ordered by appearances, couple of fringe players missing) -

Cummings finished as joint top scorer of the EPL, along with Aubameyang on 27 league goals.

Danny Loader has been excellent, is now rated as a wonderkid and contributed 13 goals + 8 assists from the left. 

Patrick Roberts also done a good job on the right, with 9 goals & 10 assists. 

Josh Vela & Andre Dozzell continued their excellent partnership in the middle of the park, Andre's loan is now up so I will have to activate his buy-out clause.

Jack Whatmough as you can see managed to score an incredible 10 goals from the back. 

Mentions also for Ezri Konsa, Jamal Lewis, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, who made strong contributions. 

Looking ahead,

We have been given 44 million to spend, but only an extra 25k/ week in the wage budget. I have also promised around half my squad new contracts, so not sure how that is going to work. 

The hard part is trying to improve the squad now to push for trophies. All the guys have done really well, so I don't know who deserves to be replaced. And at this point, it gets very difficult to find players who will significantly improve our quality. 

The only thing I can really think of, is getting in another prolific striker to play alongside Cummings so we have 2 players capable of hitting 20+ goals. This would mean selling Assombalonga who was our record signing, but he took a really bad hit thanks to the 8 month injury and just doesn't look the same player. 

[karanhsingh]

Now just posting a couple of players first that I think people should have a look at: 

Danny Loader - picked up for a couple of million from Reading after the first season, now rated a wonderkid and developing well.  What I like best about him is his spread of physical stats, pace, strength & fitness. He tends to score a fair few headers by dominating his full-back. 

Jason Cummings - top scorer in the Championship & then the Premier league, don't think anyone has done that before! Usually easy to get from Forest on loan, and I put in a 7 million clause when he had come. Has been quite lethal.

Andre Dozzell - similarly easy to snare on loan from Ipswich, he has developed into a top quality DLP. His range of passing is brilliant and he contributes a good number of direct assists. Hoping to buy him permanently now.

Finally a couple of new-gens that I have high hopes for, both were spotted and brought to the club by my HOYD.

Westbrooke - is soon playing for England in the U20 world cup

Shuttleworth - signed from Swindon for 300k, has become the club's youngest ever scorer since and even scored a hat-trick against Stoke in the FA Cup!

EDIT - Westbrooke & Shuttleworth also helped us win the FA Youth Cup this year!

Edited November 29, 2018 by karanhsingh

[DefinitelyTaylor]

@kozmik: Champions League qualification is still a fantastic achievement. Congratulations! Some very shrewd business conducted I have to say, very impressed. Middleton looks an amazing prospect!

@karanhsingh: Shame that you couldn't win the cup like you wanted, but you've enjoyed a great season in the league nevertheless.

Great to see you both doing very well!  

 

[Muttley84]

Our for has slipped a bit in the past months (actually December was all about draws), but somehow we are still leading the league going into the new year. 3 points ahead of Northampton and Lincoln City and a lot of points to the last play-off positions so pretty sure we got that at least this season. But direct promotion is looking really achievable right now. Using a 4-2-3-1 wide for most of the games, and Nouble is leading the league in asissts. You can notice some of the players have a little mark (*) next to their names - I tried to mark those produced by our academy in the past (not sure thats true for all of them, but in their history Colchester appear as their first club). Will need to check that out somehow, as I will tend to favor as a priority them remaining at the team.

[Burnley92]

Hi everyone, long time lurker - first time poster.

 

I usually always play as Burnley, hence the username. But with it becoming increasingly easier to manage the clarets, I've decided to try something new. So I've made the drop down to League 1 and I'm the proud new manager of Luton Town. 

 

I'll be giving updates in due course :)  I can't wait! 

[steveyisatard]

Will be cracking on with my standard Norwich save shortly, anyone played much with them specifically this year yet?

[sedge11]

On ‎26‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 08:18, kozmik said:

I actually wanted to loan Geubbels after the lavish praise @sedge11 was heaping upon him

It is true, I have praised him an awful lot. He was great on fm18 for me, so far on fm19 he seems so much better, top class striker.

He's developed incredibly well too, shame he's not actually my player and is only on loan.

[sedge11]

7 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Anyway, here is the final league table:

Great season brilliant work.

44 mil is a tricky budget to be able to get ready for the champs league, especially with a low wage budget. But top work so far with some great bargains.

[sedge11]

Well it's been a few days but here's an update on how season 6 is going.

Just to recap we finished 9th our 1st season in the prem in season 5 and won the fa cup.

So the league table at the end of Feb.

We are doing well and looking good for a top 7 finish and a European spot.

Our Europa league campaign is going quite well too. Only lost 1 game and with Marseille in the 2nd knockout round, a good chance to get to the quarters.

I made one big signing in jan for 24 million

He's had a good start, and adds abit extra to the wings, as my wingers have struggled abit this season.

Foden whose on loan, and Ndombele have been excellent, along with Geubbels (no surprises there). Murillo and Whatmough have formed a great cb partnership and with Wan Bissaka and Tymon at full back, we got a pretty good defence.

We have struggled abit up front, with Aubayemang having a poor season, he is 34 though. Jamal Lowe has also struggled this season in the league, but has been good in Europe,  and Bowen has been hit and miss. So means we have been quite reliant on Geubbels and our midfielders Mctominay and Foden, hence the Burke transfer.

But hopefully finish the season strong.

 

[karanhsingh]

Good going 

Burke looks like a beast in your game! I had him on loan in the championship and he did well but decided not to renew. Those physical stats are mental. I find it quite interesting how players develop differently on each save. 

[karanhsingh]

Guys something really weird to report in my game. So managed to convince the board to expand Fratton Park and work is now underway to add about 9000 seats which will take one whole season. I don’t remember seeing any news item about playing elsewhere while the work is going on. 

One week later when I confirm a transfer it mentions something about Stanford Bridge on the confirmation page. Confused I go to our club info page and lo & behold we are playing at Stamford Bridge London. It says we are due to move back to Fratton Park in May 2022. 

My geography isn’t the best but I don’t believe London is very close to Portsmouth. I am wondering what has happened here?! 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

@Muttley84: Glad to see you still leading the way at the top of League Two. Fantastic stuff so far and hopefully you'll be able to remain there come the end of the season. How have Dickenson and Szmodics performed for you? Two players I rate very highly.

@Burnley92: Good luck with the Hatters. A good side to start with a lot of talent to build on after promotion last season.

@steveyisatard: Personally haven't managed Norwich, but good luck!

@sedge11: Brilliant news on winning the cup. Glad to see Burke doing well for you, as he has a lot of talent waiting to be uncovered. A very high fee, but at least he's justifying it. Nothing worse than paying a load of money for a poor, under-performing player.

[Muttley84]

1 minute ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

How have Dickenson and Szmodics performed for you? Two players I rate very highly.

Definately two of our best at the moment, but Dickenson is asking for a lot of money for a new contract, a bit out of our reach now, and I've found Szmodics a bit to incosistent for my liking (and picking up some small bruises easy). That being said, they are instrumental for our promotion bid, but wont shed any tears when (hopefully after some more years as we dont have good enough replacements now) time comes to say goodbye.