FM19: The English Football League thread

[john1]

31 minutes ago, Brutalyouth said:

So jan has been and gone

As suspected mid slump in full effect dropped out of playoffs#

Hoping a bold changed of tactic will help end this form

I wouldn't just change tactic just yet, narrowly losing to Newcastle and a draw against Stoke, is good.

[Brutalyouth]

9 minutes ago, john1 said:

I wouldn't just change tactic just yet, narrowly losing to Newcastle and a draw against Stoke, is good.

got an attacking formation as a second may test vs smaller teams

Edited May 31, 2019 by Brutalyouth

[john1]

 

First game of the season, and surprised to see us dominated the game.

[john1]

Transfers so far, disappointed to lose Simmonds, but had to accept it due to club finances in the ****. Pleased with the players I have brought in on free  HOWEVER, Danny Graham, got injured 2 days before first game, out for 3 months after being injured in training ffs.

Edited May 31, 2019 by john1

[Jogo Bonito]

On ‎31‎/‎05‎/‎2019 at 10:44, karanhsingh said:

Hey guys! Just jumping back into my favourite thread on here  Have been catching up over the last couple of days and really enjoyed reading about everyone's saves. 

A special mention however is needed for @Jogo Bonito for somehow not spending any of that crazy transfer budget! That takes some self-control... 

I have decided to dive back into an EFL save myself, which hopefully will be my proper long-term save for this edition of FM. More on that in the next post.

Welcome back (entertaining start at Ipswich) and thanks for the shout out.

To be honest, I would have spent big on the GK or striker, but couldn't get interest from the people I wanted. I offered £14m to bring Nick Pope back, £12m to bring Ademola Lookman back, and had loan offers of £30k per week (Tammy Abraham) and £28k per week (Kelechi Iheanacho) accepted, but no players of that quality would consider joining. Even the likes of Benik Afobe (£3.1m) and Michael Hector (£1.7m) shunned me after bids were accepted.

My striker saw search was particularly frustrating as I also saw unsuccessful moves for London-born Josh Maja (Bordeaux), ex-Charlton striker Karlan Grant, and a host of others around the world. The only decent(ish) striker I could sign was John Mary, a Cameroonian playing in China for Meizhou (£500k deal and terms agreed) but he couldn't get a WP. It became obvious it wasn't going to be easy to use my £37m so eventually I just accepted the club's reputation was too low this year. This did lead to a flurry of deadline day loan deals, but I only had 21 players at that point.

Charlton Season 2 - Part 1

As mentioned, I was armed with a £37m transfer budget for the new Championship season

But the club reputation wasn't good enough to attract the majority of players I wanted (see above)

That left me with the following ins and outs as I looked to build a reasonable squad

I'm most pleased with the signings of Tomori and Palmer on loan from Chelsea (the latter has HGC status at Charlton)

I hope that McLean, Ajayi (another with HGC status) and Obita will also be capable at this level

The two teenage strikers Redan and Parrott are highly-rated but are very unproven

However by deadline day I only had two strikers registered and knew that my senior pair would sometimes be on international duty

The third deadline day deal was the loan of West Ham winger Diangana, who may provide the odd spark from the bench

This sadly took the loan contingent to five (I wanted only two or three) but it was necessary to cover the relevant positions 

Leaving the club were those listed, plus Marshall, Ajose and Williams and a host of sub-par youngsters (Pratley hasn't found a new home yet)

Don't forget there were also six loan players leaving from last year, so it was an unusually large turnover for me

The final 24-man squad therefore is as below

Dillon Phillips gets an unexpected opportunity to retain his place in goal, as I couldn't get a marquee signing in

The rest of the squad is fairly well covered and balanced, although the wingers will again struggle for any game time

With consideration of how to get most of the best players on the pitch at the same time, I've gone for a new formation to start this season

This has been used through pre-season and August, and has been generally quite successful

I don't change player roles much, but do change between cautious and positive during matches depending on how it's going

And here are the results and performance so far, which I'm pretty satisfied with

It's early days, but Taylor seems to have made the step up despite a lukewarm first season at the club

The goals against column was looking good until the last few games, but hopefully I can get that back on track

And if I can stop the run of consecutive league defeats, I'll be confident that the board's objectives can be met

Edited June 1, 2019 by Jogo Bonito

[Brutalyouth]

Well things just got a bit interesting

2 Games to go im sitting in final playoff postion

[john1]

@Jogo Bonito Good start  especially win over Bournemouth  

@Brutalyouth Very weird timing to get takeover approach with 2 games to go  

[Jogo Bonito]

Thanks @john1 You're also doing well with Cheltenham.

@Brutalyouth Good luck with your last few games. At least the embargo is out of the window (but doesn't mean you'll keep your job, wherever you finish in the table).

[Brutalyouth]

FINAL DAY DRAMA 

 

 

[john1]

3 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Thanks @john1 You're also doing well with Cheltenham.

@Brutalyouth Good luck with your last few games. At least the embargo is out of the window (but doesn't mean you'll keep your job, wherever you finish in the table).

Sadly my Cheltenham save have kind of gone stale   Might do quick save in leagues that I haven't managed in a while.

[Jogo Bonito]

Good luck @Brutalyouth you're in an identical last day situation as me (although mine was for auto promotion) in that you need to win and hope your rivals only get a point maximum, so GD might see you through like it did for me. 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

16 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

As mentioned, I was armed with a £37m transfer budget for the new Championship season. But the club reputation wasn't good enough to attract the majority of players I wanted (see above).

A decent start to the season. I think we perhaps saw your budget and leapt to conclusions about the calibre of players you would be able to bring in, not considering the fact you're a newly promoted side to the Championship, so naturally, the attraction isn't there for a lot of players. You have done well with the signings brought in and despite bringing in more loans than you may have liked, it's something which is common in the Championship, so I wouldn't be too frustrated by it. Ultimately, it helps cover gaps in the team and I'm sure you'll be able to manage these players well. I definitely agree that Tomori and Palmer are two loanees to be pleased about getting through the door and the signing of Ajayi is another to be pleased with. I'm intrigued by the idea of playing a flat back-five, it's something I have used, but not often. It's given you some decent results so far, though.  The board have high ambitions, so it'll be a challenge to ensure you're consistently meeting them, but good luck! 

2 hours ago, Brutalyouth said:

FINAL DAY DRAMA

Glad to see the Allams gone. It'll allow you more freedom, with a board who actually have the interests of the club at heart! You've enjoyed a brilliant season, so whether you achieve a play-off place or not, you should be pleased with such a good finish. Both yourselves and Derby have tricky fixtures to finish the season, so best of luck, if you haven't played already! 

2 hours ago, john1 said:

Sadly my Cheltenham save have kind of gone stale   Might do quick save in leagues that I haven't managed in a while.

 That's a shame. Do what you feel is best! 

[Brutalyouth]

Not to be playoff hopes over

 

 

And of course the man who the board want in was in the crowd

[Brutalyouth]

Now im favorite for sacK

Need advice do i resign and apply for jobs or wait and see if they keep me

[DefinitelyTaylor]

Just now, Brutalyouth said:

Now im favorite for sacK

Need advice do i resign and apply for jobs or wait and see if they keep me

Shame about the play-offs. How is your board's confidence in you? If your job security is described as secure or more, stick around. 

[Brutalyouth]

4 minutes ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

Shame about the play-offs. How is your board's confidence in you? If your job security is described as secure or more, stick around. 

precarious status

This new chairman hates me hahahahaha 

Edited June 1, 2019 by Brutalyouth

[Constantine]

Finally got to the January. Took me longer than usual, thanks to The Orville and Good Omens but i'm here.

First in the league!! In my online save, i only got promoted in season 2. This time it might be bit faster. And all thanks to my defense. Dean and Roberts are brilliant, especially in the later part of the year.

9 games without conceding, one of the best runs my teams ever had. Mostly we play attacking football, Keegan style, so this is nice change of pace. 

Finances are still dire. Would've liked to sign some rotational players, few of my own are at best at League 2 level but our pockets are empty. Wage budget non existent. Board injected cash into club two or three times so far. We need that sweet, sweet PL money so, so bad!!

Our top scorer is AMC. Adams is disappointing so far. Had two or three great games, scoring goal or two per match and then just disappear. Jota is amazing on the left wing. Can't say anything bad for these guys, their run of games is unreal.

But we're only halfway there. Lots of games left to play.

[Brutalyouth]

Season 2 at Hull

Not been sacked yet after new owners wanted to replace me

Aiming for playoffs after missing out narrowly last season

Going have to make a good start as im sure any poor form could spell the end as board confidence is still low (bloody owner)

Transfers

 

 

 

 

[Brutalyouth]

2 Games into season 2 Wins yet they wanna sack me Christ why they hate me so much

This takeover hasn't been kind to me

[Brutalyouth]

ITS OVER SACKED

Lost on pens in cup to derby

Then board request meeting

I tell them to have faith in me (they wernt interested)

Told um if they sack they will be an unhappy dressing

Axed

So gutted i was enjoying hull makes no sense sacking me narrow missed out playoffs

Was top all be it after 2 games

Problem now is do i start a fresh save or take a new in this save

 

[Brutalyouth]

Hull is dead

Onwards with a new save with Bury

will update transfer tactic and result at end of august

Hope you enjoy this and lets hope there not as many twist and turns like hull

still bitter over the sacking delted save in rage hahah

[Brutalyouth]

First month of games under the belt with bury

Promising start

Brought in plenty loans due to a lack of funds and the need to rotate

This bury team have plenty of young talent imo my 3 stand outs are Saul Shotton (CB) Bobby Copping (CB) and Joe Adams (AML)

Im trying to give these guys first team football as and when i can

 

 

 

 

 

[john1]

Such a shame you got sacked Good luck with Bury   

Edited June 2, 2019 by john1

[Brutalyouth]

12 minutes ago, john1 said:

Such a shame you got sacked Good luck with Bury   

Hull was a basket case never seen so many strange thinks go on

Enjoying bury so far very interesting team. Amazing training and youth. Poor finance mixture of incredible youth and experience 

See real potential here

So far so good up there in auto promotion in october

[karanhsingh]

On 01/06/2019 at 03:09, Jogo Bonito said:

Welcome back (entertaining start at Ipswich) and thanks for the shout out.

Cheers  good start to you as well , hopefully you can attract one of two better players in the Jan window 

[karanhsingh]

On 01/06/2019 at 23:45, Constantine said:

Finally got to the January. Took me longer than usual, thanks to The Orville and Good Omens but i'm here.

First in the league!! In my online save, i only got promoted in season 2. This time it might be bit faster. And all thanks to my defense. Dean and Roberts are brilliant, especially in the later part of the year.

9 games without conceding, one of the best runs my teams ever had. Mostly we play attacking football, Keegan style, so this is nice change of pace. 

Finances are still dire. Would've liked to sign some rotational players, few of my own are at best at League 2 level but our pockets are empty. Wage budget non existent. Board injected cash into club two or three times so far. We need that sweet, sweet PL money so, so bad!!

Our top scorer is AMC. Adams is disappointing so far. Had two or three great games, scoring goal or two per match and then just disappear. Jota is amazing on the left wing. Can't say anything bad for these guys, their run of games is unreal.

But we're only halfway there. Lots of games left to play.

Excellent work there. I've always found 4-2-3-1 too open and struggled to get the AMC to do well so good job. What role are you playing him?

Financially, it's much the same for us too. Only the PL can save us  

[karanhsingh]

9 hours ago, Brutalyouth said:

Hull was a basket case never seen so many strange thinks go on

Enjoying bury so far very interesting team. Amazing training and youth. Poor finance mixture of incredible youth and experience 

See real potential here

So far so good up there in auto promotion in october

You seem to be flying through the saves 

Bad luck with Hull though, you had definitely done enough to stay on

[karanhsingh]

IPSWICH TOWN 2018/19 MID-SEASON UPDATE

We are on a bit of a hot run right now, as you can see

Which leaves us surprisingly at the top of the pile, with half the season gone -

Results so far -

Two big highlights results wise.

The first a thumping 6-2 win over rivals Norwich in the East Anglia Derby. They are a really strong team as well and will definitely be in contention for the promotion places.

The second, was a hard-fought 1-0 away win at the Emirates against our senior affiliate club Arsenal in the Carabao Cup. Even though they played a second string, this was still hugely impressive.  Unfortunately we went out on penalties to Saints in the next round. 

Player Performances

Alan Judge has been phenomenal as an inside forward and is currently our top scorer. Which is also pleasing because the tactic is set-up in a way for the AML to be the main threat with a W(s) and PF(a). 

Jack Clarke has enjoyed a good start to his Ipswich career and leads the division in assists. Excited about the future for him.

In midfield, we have seen some good performances from Dozzell, who is coming along nicely, and also Huws & Nolan. A shout-out also for Nydam who has chipped in very well and is being coveted by a few EPL clubs.

Up-front, on-loan Colin Quaner has been quietly doing the business even though his finishing lets him down at times.

While at the back, the recalled Josh Emmanuel has been a revelation and got rewarded with a new contract. I think I am also settled on Nsiala & Pennington now as first choice CBs. 

The exciting thing is that we have in all seven academy products currently in the first team squad - Dozzell, Nydam, Bishop, Emmanuel, Kenlock, Downes & Lankester. Of these,  I am most excited about the first 3 who will hopefully be able to continue their good development so far. I may have to look out for loan moves for Downes & Lankester to get more game-time. Bishop seems to be stagnating a bit and unable to break into the squad even though he's oldest of the lot.

[karanhsingh]

Screenshots of the top 4 young players for those  interested, of which the first 3 are from the academy.

Edited June 3, 2019 by karanhsingh

[Brutalyouth]

1 hour ago, karanhsingh said:

You seem to be flying through the saves 

Bad luck with Hull though, you had definitely done enough to stay on

the joys f two days off work plenty of fm time haha

[karanhsingh]

And just like that, we are out of the FA Cup. Check this out. 

First game, we probably under-estimated them and played a complete second string. Still we easily dominated and they somehow snatch a late equaliser from a corner. Earn themselves a replay, fair enough.

Now the second game, we absolutely battered them from start to finish, and were comfortably 2-0 up when Angel Gomes stupidly gets himself sent off.  Of course they come back to bring it to 2-2, including a late equaliser again which was a 35 yard volley Messi would have been proud of!! Absolutely ridiculous. 

Of course we had to go on and lose on penalties too, to go out the same way we did in the Carabao. Bishop missed the last penalty, and I reckon that is the final nail in the coffin for him at Ipswich. He's probably the only player who has been garbage all season long. 

As you may have seen we have also done some business in the winter window.

Out have gone a few players who weren't getting game-time, Edwards, Sears and ward for some decent money. Also I sent out Lankester on loan to get some more games under his belt.

Coming in to the first team squad are -

Arvin Appiah  - exciting pacy youngster from Forest who seems to have some good potential. Has anyone else managed him? He scored on his cup debut as well. 

Angel Gomes - 6 month loan from United to cover our AML and AMR spots. Goal & red card on debut, not sure what to make of that!

[Constantine]

9 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Excellent work there. I've always found 4-2-3-1 too open and struggled to get the AMC to do well so good job. What role are you playing him?

Financially, it's much the same for us too. Only the PL can save us  

Shadow striker, no instructions.

As for 4231, i don't know what to tell you. Dean and Roberts are quality CD's, Pedersen and Colin are IWB's on support duty (i'm changing them to limited FB's as soon as we score first goal) so there's that. If i notice through balls are getting past them, i just lower defensive line a notch. Basic stuff, really.

[Carefree_Since_1905]

20 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Arvin Appiah  - exciting pacy youngster from Forest who seems to have some good potential. Has anyone else managed him? He scored on his cup debut as well. 

I bought Appiah on my Norwich save in January of the first season. I had him training with the first team immediately when he joined. When i had tied up promotion, i gave him 3 sub appearance and a start on the final day. Scored 4 goals (2 from the bench, 2 in his start) in 4 appearance which i wasn't expecting.

Edited June 4, 2019 by Carefree_Since_1905

[karanhsingh]

21 hours ago, Carefree_Since_1905 said:

I bought Appiah on my Norwich save in January of the first season. I had him training with the first team immediately when he joined. When i had tied up promotion, i gave him 3 sub appearance and a start on the final day. Scored 4 goals (2 from the bench, 2 in his start) in 4 appearance which i wasn't expecting.

Thanks for the feedback. He’s been quite promising so far for me

[karanhsingh]

And we're back with the full season review - 2018/19 Ipswich Town FC

Out of both the cup competitions, we raced through the rest of the season with a set squad & tactical framework. Here is how we got on -

The away win against Villa I felt was a huge test that we came through, as it was after an unlucky defeat and we came from behind to win. After that, we never really looked like losing our grip on automatic promotion. After this was confirmed, I holiday-ed through a bunch of games and results consequently suffered. So much so that our lead over Leeds was cut to 2 points going into the final day of the season, where we played, well Leeds. However in a tight fought game, we came through with a solid 2-0 win to lift the trophy in front of our fans! 

Final league table

Squad stats

We dominate the Team of the Season

Ipswich academy boy Josh Emmanuel picks up Young Player of the Year

And finally, our Icelandic hero gets Manager of the Year too

I actually thought this would propel me into the Hall of Fame for Icelandic managers, but apparently not, with 80 points we are still just outside the top 10. 

If anyone wants player screenshots or anything else, let me know! Premier League, here we come.

Edited June 5, 2019 by karanhsingh

[karanhsingh]

We have been given 35 million to spend and a wage budget of 500k per week for our tilt at the Premiership (current wage bill being half that). 

My first order of business is to decide which loans to renew, from the below, of course we can have 2 domestic based players only.

Quaner - finished our top scorer but was also quite wasteful. Huddersfield want him back (they got relegated) so I have to buy him if we want to retain.

Pennington - he was very solid at the back and Everton are ready to renew.

Chalobah - did quite well in the DM role and Chelsea are ready to renew.

Bree - Villa want him back and no point in renewing anyway as he would be back-up to Emmanuel.

Gomes - was a decent squad player, probably will not renew. 

Also on the list of very urgent things to do is to renew Alan Judge's contract which is out in a month, however his agent is being a right little pain with crazy demands and a complete unwillingness to negotiate. Tried to persuade him to sack the agent but to no avail. Currently it looks like we may actually lose what was probably our best player of the season.

In terms of transfers in, I am going to take a new & realistic approach, which will hopefully add to the challenge of this save now that we have Premier League money. Will only buy players that my scouts find, and will try to base it as much on stats (not just attributes) as possible. For example, even though my scouts have located Brenner in Brazil, it would be unlikely IRL that a newly promoted club would go for an unproven South American talent over established players closer to home. Currently I am trawling through all the best performers in the Championship this season to see what pops up. Anyone else follow a similar approach?

[torquayfmer]

8 games left to go for me and this is how the table is looking

Chelsea is the big shock of the season, they sacked Sarri and they were interested in my services which really did tempt me, but I decided against applying. Probably going to miss out on the European places this season, but we certainly aren't far off and I'm delighted with how the season has gone overall so far.

[Dong21]

Charlton Athletic - Season 8 - Part 2

We began October in fine form, with a trio of victories that included a 4-1 mauling of Atletico Madrid - one of the most satisfying results of my eight year tenure with The Addicks. That game was somewhat of an experiment too as with Diogo out injured I opted to start midfielder Mulatierri up front, rather than one of my other forwards - it paid off as the Italian bagged a brace. We then fell to a surprise defeat away at Leicester and then drew with Lyon and Chelsea. A draw against Chelsea seems like a good result on paper, but it was in fact a very frustrating affair as they had two players sent off in the second half and, despite us taking 20 shots, we were unable to capitalise on their lack of discipline.

December was a big month for Diogo and Foden who both hit great form at an important stage of the season. I thought that putting five goals past Watford would be the highlight of the month but that was well and truly trumped when we beat both Arsenal and Liverpool in the space of three days. The away victory at Anfield demonstrated the strength in depth in the squad as I made nine changes to the line up that beat Arsenal. These results meant we went into 2026 full of positivity and in touching distance of European qualification positions.

Victory in St Petersburg in the final round of the Champions League Group Stage meant that we qualified for the Knockout Rounds. It came down to goal difference in the end, but the players did great to escape what was a very tough group. A huge challenge now lies ahead as we were drawn against German giants Bayern Munich in the First Knockout Round.

January Transfers In

If I had to choose a word to define the January transfer window, it would be firepower. I identified the need to bring another striker in as, although Diogo was doing fairly well, my other forwards were making little impact when they were coming off the bench and we needed more goals. I bid for two forwards, thinking that I would end up signing just one of the two, but in the end after some deliberation I decided to sign them both. Firstly I signed the experienced Mauro Icardi from Man Utd. Icardi is no spring chicken at the age of 32 and demanded big wages, but his attributes are brilliant and therefore I decided he was worth giving an 18 month contract to. I am hoping he can be somewhat of a talisman too. At the other end of the experience spectrum is our other new arrival Artur Ferriera who is just 20 years old but has equally impressive attributes. Bids were accepted from a number of big clubs, so I was delighted when he chose Charlton as his destination. My scouts rate both Icardi and Ferriera four stars.

January Transfers Out

With the arrival of Icardi and Ferriera we were left with a large number of forwards, particularly when you consider that I operate with a formation which has a lone striker. I therefore shipped Cannavo and Markovic out on loan - with the view that I would consider selling them in the summer, depending on how they get on. One of the most pleasing things was that Sassuolo agreed to pay 70% of Cannavo's large £130k wages.

We kicked off the New Year with a disappointing draw against Newcastle - the result was poor but the most upsetting element was that the in-form Foden tore his thigh muscle which ruled him out for two months. The one benefit was this means I can give more playing time to Frydek and Mulatierri who I suspected were soon to become unsettled by their lack of playing time. Results have been great from there onwards. Icardi scored on his debut and Ferriera did the same a week later. In the FA Cup Millwall equalised in the 90th minute after we had dominated them all game, which means we have added a replay to our already busy schedule. The month ended with a draw against Spurs, in a game where I thought we were the better team.

So, we currently sit 6th in the league but are only a point away from 2nd. It is extremely tight at the top with only ten points separating eight teams. I expect us all to swap positions many times before the season is concluded, I just hope we are the ones left smiling when it is all said and done.

Edited June 8, 2019 by Dong21

[Jogo Bonito]

@Dong21 Another great update, you've really established yourself there at Charlton and seem to make gradual improvements every time you tell your story. Best of luck in taking that next step!

@karanhsingh Incredible results with Ipswich, an absolute miracle in my opinion. I'm looking forward to my first effort as a Tractor Boy in FM20 - especially now that my little snippet of 'transfer intel' has been confirmed today (James Norwood signing for next season).

I've finally managed to play another couple of months with Charlton, an update will follow. I've also started off with SLB in Portugal (and going to Lisbon in 10 days) so that has been keeping me occupied too.

[Jogo Bonito]

Charlton Season 2 - Part 2

As you will see below, progress has been slow recently but I'm still picking up some decent results

Lyle Taylor is doing much better at the higher level, and on-loan Chelsea midfielder Kasey Palmer has been productive

The flat back five in my 532 is still doing reasonably well for me, and all five (plus back-up Pearce and Phillips in goal) average over 7.00 so far

I've also found that a surplus of central defenders can be useful at set pieces, with Bauer and Tomori amassing nine goals between them to date

This sees my side sat in 7th at the end of November, not bad at all on my Championship return

In addition to the league, I've also managed to have a good Carabao Cup run - with a winnable Round 5 tie against Reading to follow

[warlock]

Turning into the Charlton thread .

@Dong21 Going well, as always! You're an inspiration.

@Jogo Bonito Some good results there, and there's no shame in the losses you've suffered. As you say, more than decent after a promotion.

@karanhsingh As Jogo says, that's an absolutely stupendous performance. Having endured a torrid few months in my abortive Ipswich save I am beyond impressed.

In my Derby save we're going along pretty well. After starting the season with 13 games unbeaten, the wheels fell off a bit with back-to-back defeats (albeit away to two tough opponents in Villa and Norwich) and a spanking against Man City in the Carabao Cup. We stopped the rot somewhat with a disappointing draw against a mediocre Wigan side, but followed that with a win in our most recent game. Just coming up on the end of November and I'll post a full update at the halfway point of the season, but we're currently sitting in 2nd place behind a rampant Villa who are unbeaten in all 17 games so far.

[warlock]

Derby: season 1, halfway

Seems like an age since my last update (and since my holiday, come to that!). As indicated above, we've performed above expectations so far, although we suffered two blips in form at the end of October and beginning of December. That most recent slip has cost us our 2nd place, even though Villa also suffered their first losses of the season. I can take the latest losses, both away against decent teams (although we should have done better against a struggling Boro), but the home draws against Wigan and Bolton are harder to stomach.

The medical centre has been the main feature of the save. We started the season with an injury crisis and things haven't improved much. Tom Lawrence, Andy King and Martyn Waghorn all suffered month-long injuries (although not all at the same time, thankfully). And then there's George Evans... I'd call him a walking A&E department except he's barely been able to walk all season. He was out until October, made a couple of U23 appearances, injured himself in training and missed another month, and then before he was back to match fitness, injured himself again and is out until January. £6k a week and hasn't played a competitive minute!

Some of the injuries have had additional impact. Curtis Davies has managed just 2 starts since he returned and was poor in both. Lawrence started the season well but since he returned to fitness his performance has been awful, averaging 6.6 in 11 appearances with no goals and no assists. Similarly, Waghorn has struggled to return to form, with just 1 goal and 1 assist in his last 11 games and a string of sub-par performances. Dave Nugent doesn't have the excuse of injury... after a flying start to the season with 4 goals in August, he hasn't scored since in 11 appearances.

Thankfully, it isn't all doom and gloom. After a slow start, Marriott has found his shooting boots and is averaging better than a goal every other game. Jozefzoon and Mount have 6 goals apiece and also share the honour of leading creators. We're also doing well in defence, with Bogle, Ambrose, Pinnock and Keogh among our Top 6 performers. In goal, Carson can boast 14 clean sheets in 25 games.

So we're just 2pts off the top and strongly placed in the playoff positions. Our prospects depend on Marriott staying fit, and Lawrence and Waghorn finding better form. Lawrence is a particular concern because we've already had one major falling-out... I called him on his poor form, which he accepted but less than a week later demanded more starts. When I told him he'd have to earn it he took it badly but has since dropped his concerns. Had the same issue with Huddlestone but after a string of mediocre games and at 31 he wasn't going to get a commitment from me, so he's transfer listed and is likely to leave in January. A bigger miss will be Ambrose who is odds-on not to have his work permit renewed; he asked for a transfer and I reluctantly agreed.

Some cause for concern, then, but plenty of reasons to be cheerful.

[karanhsingh]

@warlock - some good work there. Hope you have better luck with injuries in the second half of the season and the team is more settled. Wilson not doing the business for you? I see you didn’t mention him. 

Thanks for the kind words guys about my Ipswich season. Unfortunately I have put this save on the back burner after getting spanked by Man City first game back in the PL. I realised I would have somehow enjoyed things more if we had taken two seasons to get promoted and been able to develop the youngsters more. Maybe I will come back to this one later. 

Meanwhile I wanted a save where I don’t stick around at any one club too long and am always in the hunt for silverware each season. Want to try to break into the hall of fame which would be a first for me. Have started with Fenerbahçe in turkey after reading about their FFP issues. Of course that doesn’t belong here so I will probably start a thread in the career updates forum once I’m through a little bit. Good luck to everyone and I will of course keep checking in! 

[warlock]

2 hours ago, karanhsingh said:

Wilson not doing the business for you?

He's been pretty good - had one brilliant game that he bossed from start to finish, but that was a standout. He has a tendency to drift out of games. Currently he has 3 goals and 6 assists from 16(7) games.

Sorry your stay here has been so brief. With a newly-promoted side in the PL you're always going to struggle against the top 6 so I wouldn't be too disheartened. But good luck in Turkey.

[Dong21]

Really good start to life in the Championship that @Jogo Bonito - much better than my first season in the division!

Reading about all your injury woes @warlock, I expected to see you much lower down when I looked at the table! Strong start with the potential to do even better when your squad gets fit.

Thanks both for your comments on my save - I thought the forum had gone dormant after I posted 

[Jogo Bonito]

@warlock Thanks for the kind words, and hopefully I can achieve a top-half finish. You're doing very well to overcome injuries (and loss of form after them) and very well-placed with Derby. Marriott always seems to be getting goals in my saves, so not a big surprise he is now firing for you. Bogle and Pinnock are also good young payers to call upon. Also a little surprised that Wilson hasn't been the stand out - for me at Swansea he was absolutely fantastic. Speaking of which, they're doing well to be sat in 2nd in your game!

@Dong21 Thanks for your comments. It is going well, but doesn't compare to what you have done with Charlton. Sorry it went quiet after your post, definitely not as a result of your progress though

@karanhsingh Yeah, the PL is tough on promoted teams, so I can understand you stopping. Maybe you will be one of the many likely to take them on in FM20! By the way, good luck in Turkey. I was lucky enough to go to Istanbul a few weeks back en-route to Bahrain and I've been mulling over a first-ever adventure with one of the Istanbul clubs since then. The squads haven't really appealed too much for me so far (apart from a strong admiration for Diagne at Galatasaray), but I believe you can have 14 out of 28 as 'foreign players' so there is scope to create a squad of your liking. I'll keep an eye on your progress, if you post about it anywhere.

[Dong21]

Charlton Athletic - Season 8 - Part 3

February and March saw us embark on an FA Cup run in which we saw off Millwall, Tottenham and West Brom. Our Champions League run however, came to an end, although it was fine margins that saw us fall to European giants Bayern. A draw at home, in which we limited them to only one away goal, gave me hope that we might progress. Unfortunately a penalty and a late winner saw the Munich side defeat us on their home soil.

Our league form in February was a mixed bag. We beat Brighton and lost to the eventual champions Man City - both results fairly predictable. The disappointing part was when we were defeated by a poor Blackburn side. Form at the end of March was much better and included a pumping of Nottm Forest in which both of my new forwards scored.

Diogo went on a run of scoring three goals in three games against Tottenham, Everton and Bayern. It is worth noting that the forward is still only 20 years old, and I am excited that he has the potential to get even better. I signed him so young that he will become a home grown player at the club during the summer - The switch to signing younger players several seasons ago is starting to pay off.

April saw us lose twice in a week to our landlords Chelsea. The FA Cup Semi Final was a very close affair in which we were only defeated on penalties. This was particularly upsetting as I am certain we would have beaten Watford in the Final, to add another trophy to the cabinet. The league result was nowhere near as close - I trialed a 4-4-2 to change things up from the cup game and it simply did not work.

We rounded the league campaign off in good form winning three out of four, including beating Liverpool for the second time this season, before eventually losing to Arsenal on the final day.

We finished 5th in the Premier League which is our best ever position, and with our highest points to date by an increase of five. I cannot help feeling underwhelmed though after missing out on retaining a place in the Champions League. The Premier League is a fun challenge because it is so tough and there are so many top (and rich) sides to overcome, but there comes a point where you think can I take this side any further? I will be thinking long and hard whether to take Charlton on for another season, or whether it's time to finally take on a new challenge.

I spent a lot of money on centre back Renato Gomes at the beginning of the season, so I was delighted to see this vindicated when he won three of the four in-house awards at the end of the season. Gomes and Kamara formed a quality partnership in the middle of defence. 

Young Diogo scored several important goals against top opposition, but his tally of 14 as top scorer sums up one of the biggest problems we had this season, an inability to be high scoring. Wingers Chong (6 goals, 7 assists) and Tasdelen (8 goals, 9 assists) did contribute creatively, but I needed more from my forwards.

Phil Foden was the star performer of the season (glad I decided to sign him up on that free in the end!), creating 7 assists and bagging 10 goals. He achieved all this in just 24 games, as unfortunately he spent almost the entirety of the second half of the season out injured. If he had managed to stay match fit all season I might now have been writing about a top four finish and an FA Cup triumph. 

Edited June 12, 2019 by Dong21

[warlock]

6 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

We finished 5th in the Premier League which is our best ever position

Good job. Again 

Can appreciate the question of whether to continue... takes a certain kind of determination (which I completely lack!) to stick to it. As I've said before, the lure of a new save is always more compelling. 

[Jogo Bonito]

@Dong21 Another excellent update and a very good season for you! I always find it enjoyable reading about your players and how they have performed, so thanks for sharing these details. You've come a long way since the likes of Pratley and Reeves were showcasing their talents at The Valley!

I'm not going to offer any input on whether you should stay or go, you've got my respect whichever decision you make!

Edited June 12, 2019 by Jogo Bonito

[john1]

Brilliant season @Dong21  Good luck with whatever you decides to do next