Barnet: How High Can They Go?

[Carambau]

Looks like your defense is playing well together lately. Keep this up and you won't have anything to do with relegation battles...

[Hootieleece]

Like always just Burnley it up! and you will survive.

 

[scott92507]

Perhaps Monty’s days in Barnet are numbered. He is mentioned as a candidate to fill each new coaching vacancy. Several teams have offered contracts of 400K per year, and last-place Barnsley offered 600K. Yet the directors just offered him a three-year contract for 166K per year. That is a 10 percent raise. No annual raise clause. A relegation penalty of 35 percent, and a promotion raise of 15 percent.

Fifteen percent.

However unlikely it is, if Monty can take them to the Promised Land, where they will make at least 90 million pounds, they are willing to pay him less than 200K per year.

He said, “Let’s pretend we did not have this conversation. We’ll talk at the end of the season.” Then he walked out.

The current payroll is 3.8 million. I think a fair formula would be 5 percent of that, with the salary going up or down with that payroll figure. This means Monty would get 190K. That is low for the Championship, but considering the size of the club, he thinks it would be fair. If Barnet manages to avoid relegation, that payroll would go up, and so would Monty’s compensation.

I think the club will have a profit this year of 3 million, several times more than last year. And the directors want to give him a 10 percent raise? Really?

(One point of reference for my formula is my Ross County save. The Staggies have a payroll of 62 million, and Angus McDangus is paid 3 million per year. About 5 percent of the payroll budget.)

Edited October 3, 2019 by scott92507

[scott92507]

About halfway through the season.

All the home games have been sellouts. The board still thinks expanding the stadium is not needed.

Edited October 4, 2019 by scott92507

[Carambau]

Good things come to those who wait

[scott92507]

Mid-point of the season. Out of a playoff spot by goal-difference. Above relegation by 17 points.

And this offer is made:

Realistically, there is little chance a young man would pass that up. Monty could stay in London, coach in the Premier Division, and make nearly a million pounds per year. Even if he were dedicated, for whatever reason, to Barnet and taking the team as far as he could, he would most likely take that offer. He could coach Crystal Palace for a few years and then buy Barnet.

There must be some algorithmic limitation on the Barnet board’s offer. Although Monty is listed as “untouchable,” and although he gets repeated offers from other teams (Hull offered 600K just before the Crystal Palace offer came in), the Barnet board always offers a 3-year deal for a maximum of 166K. They won’t accept bonuses. They won’t take a one-year deal.

Their minds are stuck in League One. Monty needs the team to be sold to people with deeper pockets.

Edited October 4, 2019 by scott92507

[Hootieleece]

Win with the Palace...Trounce Barnet every chance you get...play an annual "friendly" with them.

Nobody in Monty's situation would turn down the Palace job...especially for 6X the salary!

[scott92507]

Welcome to the multiverse. 

In Universe One, Monty takes the Crystal Palace job, even though they are in woeful shape — last place, with 4 points in 17 games.

Buys a 3-bedroom condo about a mile from Selhurst Park, so he can continue his tradition of walking to the stadium with his dog.

And starts dating a London glamor model.

In Universe Two, Monty remains stubborn and keeps his job at Barnet, not out of loyalty to the Barnet board that gave him his first coaching job, but out of his determination to prove that he can transform the club into something more substantial than it has been. So he keeps his 151K salary, his 1-bedroom flat about two blocks from The Hive, and his regular booth at The Three Wishes Pub. 

We will continue to follow Monty in Universe Two, with occasional reports from South London and Universe One.

Edited October 5, 2019 by scott92507

[Hootieleece]

Had to try...I'm sure Monty can find a Hottie at the Three Wishes! LOL!

[scott92507]

Has anyone seen this before? A cross-platform glitch of some kind.

On my iPad save, Monty's Barnet salary is 151K per year. I just downloaded the saved game to my PC, and his salary is 196K.

[Carambau]

5 hours ago, scott92507 said:

Has anyone seen this before? A cross-platform glitch of some kind.

On my iPad save, Monty's Barnet salary is 151K per year. I just downloaded the saved game to my PC, and his salary is 196K.

Is it the same currency?

[scott92507]

Carambau -- That was it. I had just installed FMT 2019 on my PC, and US Dollars was the default currency. Thanks.

The PC version of FMT offers options unavailable on the tablet version. For instance, news articles appear about job offers from other clubs, and Monty is asked to comment. That way he can send signals to the directors about his potential departure, and that might trigger a new contract offer. On the tablet, he gets the job offer, but there is no request for comment and no news article that I have seen. I do not know how aware the board is about Monty's offers. There also is more information about players and their health/match fitness, etc.

It seems like some folks on the Barnet board would want to cash out at a moment like this. Barnet is at its peak value. Although it may go higher, as we seem to have a good chance of escaping relegation, but there is no guarantee of that. There must be some members of the board lobbying for a sale of the club. If we can get some new owners, we can get a stadium expansion.

 

 

[Nobby_McDonald]

So you're now managing two clubs in two different game worlds in one save?

[scott92507]

Nobby, isn’t it technically two saves now? But yes, Monty is managing Crystal Palace in one; just finished the friendlies on the mid-season break. Getting to know the team will be slow, and I am concentrating on Barnet. Monty did arrange a friendly with the Bees, and embarrassingly the Palace drew with them, 1-1. Palace is in kind of bad shape — no victories in 17 games. I bet they get relegated and Monty has to bring them back up to the Premier next season.

In Universe Two: Barnet lost no league games in January and is sitting in a playoff spot, 24 points above relegation. The transfer window just closed with no changes for us. Received a couple of bids on players, but I can’t really plan for next season since I don’t know where we will be. Bids came on a couple of players whom we may not keep at the end of their contracts this season. I was not worried about getting cash for them because the bids were relatively low and we have a 4 million pound solidarity payment coming. We are not worried about 30K at the moment. The directors gave us a boost in the salary budget, to 4.1 million, but that doesn’t leave us much room for the kind of players we need. 

All of our league games at home have been sellouts. Our cup game against West Brom was a sellout and set the club record for gate receipts. That is good news, but that record sum is just 230K. We need a stadium expansion!

Edited October 8, 2019 by scott92507

[Carambau]

Bin that palace save! Barnet are coming!

[scott92507]

In Universe One, Monty was replaced by a 58-year-old Irishman. They are paying him 152K per year. Just 1K more than Monty made. At least the Barnet directors are cheapskates with everyone.

[scott92507]

February is finished. The weather is miserable for London, but the sun continues to shine on Barnet, at least in the standings. We are hanging on to a playoff spot by one point.

Not sure how we are doing it. Team effort, I guess. We have no players in the league’s top 10 for goals, assists, or POM. We have one player in the top 10 for average rating, a striker on loan from Middlesbrough (7.13). 

Every home game is a sellout,  but we are last in the league for attendance. This stadium issue cannot continue.

The multiverse is interesting. Crystal Palace played a friendly against Barnet, and playing against my team was interesting. Also, scouting players from Barnet is intriguing, as a different staff gives insight on players I had used for several seasons. 

Edited October 10, 2019 by scott92507

[scott92507]

It was an away game we should have won, a 3-3 draw with Portsmouth, but the lads are celebrating because they avoided relegation.

There are 8 games left in the season, but Barnet is 25 points above the drop zone. And still hanging onto a playoff spot, although now it is by goal differential, as we are tied for points with Middlesbrough.

Monty hopes the directors will call him this week with a new contract.

Edited October 10, 2019 by scott92507

[scott92507]

 

We can’t complain.

We were close.

In our final games we faced several top-of-the-table teams. We lost our showdown with Middlesbrough, which sealed our fate. 

 The best news is the directors plan to build a new stadium! I wonder if they will move the team back to Barnet.

And our new budget allows for nearly a million pounds for transfers and 6 million for salaries!

Edited October 11, 2019 by scott92507

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, scott92507 said:

 

Just for a second I thought you had re-signed Jamal Lowe, (product of the Barnet Academy in real life). That would have earned you serious kudos from me. 

[scott92507]

Jimbo: That would have been cool. In that vein, we signed Dillon Barnes the season before last, and he started his career at Barnet. I did not know that when I signed him. I do not know if he was an academy product. But he is no longer with us. He wouldn't shut up about playing time last season and started skipping training sessions. I sent him packing. 

Edited October 12, 2019 by scott92507

[Hootieleece]

Congrats on a great season. That New Stadium is gonna cost a lot of money...hope your directors aren't to optimistic about size of the Stadium!

The increases in Transfer Budget and Payroll are just enough to POSSIBLY recreate this season's magic.

[scott92507]

I looked on Google maps today at the site of their previous home in Barnet, Underhill Stadium. It was demolished, but the site is still empty. They could rebuild there. 

[Jimbokav1971]

4 hours ago, scott92507 said:

Jimbo: That would have been cool. In that vein, we signed Dillon Barnes the season before last, and he started his career at Barnet. I did not know that when I signed him. I do not know if he was an academy product. But he is no longer with us. He wouldn't shut up about playing time last season and start skipping training sessions. I sent him packing. 

Haha. 

Yes. He is another product of the Barnet Academy. The club has "lofty" ambitions to become known as the Crewe of the South, (at least in terms of developing their own players). Dillon left to pursue his "modelling career" only to turn up a while later at Colchester, (although Wiki says he moved to Fulham). 

Of the current squad, Johnson, H Taylor, J Taylor, Fonguck, Vilhete, Azaze, Syla, Mason-Clarke, Tompkins, Vasilou, Hernandez & Box are all products of the Academy. 

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, scott92507 said:

I looked on Google maps today at the site of their previous home in Barnet, Underhill Stadium. It was demolished, but the site is still empty. They could rebuild there. 

It was sold to a company intending to build a "Jewish free school", but who have been unable to get planning permission at this time. 

[scott92507]

Welcome back to the multiverse.

In Universe Three, Monty accepts a fat contract offer from Leicester City.

Nah, I am joking. Monty finally gets an offer from Barnet and will stay put for a tenth of the money he could have made.

Not sure why he is so determined to stay put. Is he just that stubborn? Is he a Barnet boy, loyal to the part of London where he was born and raised? Is he having a Mrs. Robinson-style affair with the Barnet president’s wife?

Who knows?

The offers were getting ridiculous. I think he had 10 before Barnet raised their offer to something more than 200K. Their offer seems cheap considering their 6 million budget for players, but I didn’t want to risk them letting Monty leave.

I haven’t played much in Universe One, with Monty at Crystal Palace, so I do not know if they get relegated there. But in Universe Two, with Monty at Barnet, Palace does slide down to the Championship League, so I wonder, in this Sliding Doors football world Monty now lives in — or this Rick and Morty world, if you want a more recent pop culture reference — if some disturbance in the time-space continuum would make it possible for Monty to be coaching both teams in the same game in the same stadium? What happens when he shakes his own hand at the end of the match? Do the two Montys meld into one person? Do they explode? Do they create a black hole that sucks the world inside it?

Edited October 12, 2019 by scott92507

[scott92507]

1. There is something seriously wrong with the Crystal Palace team in Universe One, and I have not figured out what that is yet. It will take some time.

2. Have you installed a logo pack for FM 2019? Does it work as it should?

[scott92507]

I hope the new stadium is something modern. I like Chesterfield’s Proact Stadium. It seats about 10,000, but a similar design could accommodate 12,000.

Or this stadium for the Heracles club in Netherlands. It seats about 12,000.

In the meantime, we were shopping before the new season.  Our biggest challenge was to replace all of our starting strikers. Two were on loan — we failed to get one on an end-of-contract transfer and the other we were not that impressed with. The third was longtime Barnet player Shaquile Coulthirst. He has left the team. I do not have much left in the transfer budget, but I have a million available in the salary budget, so I may loan a high-value striker from a top team since I could cover their salary.

We had some trouble landing some of our candidates. They opted to go with other teams possibly because our reputation is still small. These are the new members who will get time on the first team:

I wish we could replace the silhouettes with a face of some kind.

Edited October 12, 2019 by scott92507

[Carambau]

As these are silhouettes, they should have a unique ID.

Just save the faces of the below players with right-click and add them to the facepack you are using. 

How to add graphics to FMT:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/872820/discussions/0/3247562523070030355/

Peter Gwargis: https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-2019/player/93083203/peter-gwargis

Dylan Crowe: https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-2019/player/29191776/dylan-crowe

Ahmed Salam: https://sortitoutsi.net/football-manager-2019/player/29169817/ahmed-salam

 

Edited October 13, 2019 by Carambau

[scott92507]

Thanks, Carambau. I wonder if I could create a faces folder and place in it only the images I wanted to apply. Would the game use those and keep using the photos for players it already had? Or would all the players not in that faces folder turn into silhouettes? 

I loaded a logo pack last night, and I don’t like it much. The quality is not great, which becomes apparent for the thumbnail logos that appear next to teams in the results and the league tables. When they are large, they seem fine. I wonder if there is a big difference in quality between logo pack creators.

Edited October 13, 2019 by scott92507

[Carambau]

I think you can only use one face pack at a time when playing FM Touch. You could try placing those 3 new faces into the face pack folder you are currently using and create a new config file via FMxml from that folder, replacing the old config file with the new one. 

Edited October 13, 2019 by Carambau

[scott92507]

 

Say goodbye to the multiverse. At least for awhile.

Monty may have thought he was in the Good Place with his Premier League job at Crystal Palace, but he was mistaken. He is definitely in the Bad Place. In that show, Eleanor realizes that what she thought was Heaven is actually Hell, and she is being tortured.

In retrospect, he would never have taken the job. He would have been aware how badly the team was playing, how unhappy all of the players were. Perhaps he would have taken the job after the Eagles had been dumped from the top league, but not before. Rebuilding the team would be much easier than repairing it. Returning the team to glory would be easier than saving it from disaster.

If you are familiar with The Good Place, you know that in season two, the experiment on our heroes gets reset many, many times as the demons try to make their project work. The same is going on at Selhurst Park. I have played games multiple times to figure out the team. Different line ups, different formations, different tactics. Lose, lose, lose. Is it their defense that is bad? Their offense? Both? Is the key the midfield? The wingers? The strikers? I think the fullbacks and wingbacks are definitely not good. (All this is made more difficult by me being relatively new to this kind of football.)

In the permutation I have saved, Monty had managed to win three games, putting up a wall of defenders and playing direct counter attack. Then we ran into Manchester United, Manchester City, and Liverpool. Lose two, tie one. Monty guided a winless team to 10 points in six games. Pretty good? Nope. The directors are talking about firing Monty. It seems the artificial intelligence for the directors is holding him accountable for the dreadful start to the season.

So I am putting that aggravation aside and concentrating solely on Barnet.

Edited October 14, 2019 by scott92507

[Nobby_McDonald]

Excellent season with Barnet.

[Hootieleece]

Barnet would probably beat that Crystal Palace team...

Experiment tactically with Barnet until the new version comes out. That is what I am doing in my current save.

[scott92507]

CP played two friendlies with Barnet. Both ended 1-1. 

I found this tactics video instructive. I think one problem CP has is losing the ball in transition a lot. They got outshot every single game, as if they had trouble ever getting the ballot of their own end.

 

[scott92507]

Back to the real Good Place.

A decent start to our second season in the Championship League.

We lost to Tottenham in the Carabao Cup competition, as would be expected. Sharing the ticket sales from that one game at Wembley Stadium rivaled our entire match day ticket sales from last season.

Edited October 16, 2019 by scott92507

[scott92507]

In the Multiverse Derby, Barnet wins the Universe Two meeting with Crystal Palace.

But the bad news is we lost a first-team fullback for a few months when he broke his leg playing for U21 England. That will slow his development this year.

Edited October 16, 2019 by scott92507

[scott92507]

Something like this, but with a 12,000-seat capacity, would be nice. Big stadium experience in a small package.  Mixed-use, making the stadium integral part of the neighborhood. I could totally get into a stadium editor in the game.

https://www.frameweb.com/news/bord-studio-bottles-a-big-atmosphere-into-a-small-stadium

Edited October 17, 2019 by scott92507

[scott92507]

 

Christmastime in London. The mid-season of good cheer.

The mid-point finds Barnet in a playoff spot. (Last season we were 11-5-7 at this point, with a goal difference of 3.)

Our best run in league play was an unbeaten streak of nine games.

Our  biggest victory in the first half was this drubbing of Barnsley. (We also beat Reading 4-0 just before the break.)

Our toughest loss was this close match against Cardiff, when we blew a 3-1 lead and gave them an own-goal.

We might have won more games if we started our best 11 more often, but I rotate players pretty heavily. They rarely start two games in a row. But that keeps them fresh and gives young players the chance to develop.

 

 

Edited October 20, 2019 by scott92507

[Hootieleece]

Good Work!

Rotating the young players is important. It allows you to build a Dynasty and not have a large drop off when a starter retires or transfers. It is one reason why Human managers do better than the AI. In my current save I identify the players I want when their young from my youth system or another team's and bring them in train them for 3 years in my system and then loan them out afterwards to my rivals. If a first teamer retires or transfers I have a ready replacement and I never spend more than $5million in transfer fees.

It took 8 years to win my first League Title but I have now won 2 of 3 and have 5 2nd place finishes.

I really hope they upgrade AI Squad Building in FM2020!

[scott92507]

Thanks, Carambau. In my Ross County save, once we became the dominant team in the league, the game turned into a player-development challenge more than a game-winning challenge. I had more fun developing academy players and finding future stars among the youth players on other teams. 

[scott92507]

Posting this to note West Brom’s goal difference! They are tearing the league apart on their way back up to the Premier League.

Nice to see our defense is not far off their pace.

Edited October 21, 2019 by scott92507

[Nobby_McDonald]

Having a very good season with Barnet.

[scott92507]

Thanks, Nobby. Winning is fun, but I think promotion would be disastrous — unless the board viewed it as a smash and grab. Get in, lose all the games but make tons of money. Then take parachute money back to the Championship and spend it on building a team with a legit chance of staying in the top league. Instead, they probably would just fire Monty for getting relegated. 

[scott92507]

Ten games left in the season and we have avoided relegation.

In the Multiverse Derby, we lose the away game. Crystal Palace wins the derby on goals, 3-1.

Edited October 22, 2019 by scott92507

[BillHoudini24]

Don't worry about going up, I had a similar level squad at Basingstoke and our first year in the Prem we've been fantastic, 8th place after 10 games and knocked out Arsenal in the League Cup.

[scott92507]

I am so forking sick of defenders and their unnecessary, counterproductive heading of the ball. It drives me crazy. 

For example, the opponent's goalkeeper kicks the ball far downfield. My fullback sets to receive the ball in his corner of the field. He is 20+ yards from the goal line, and there is no one in front of him for 10+ yards. So he leaps to head the ball, sending it toward the midfield -- where there ARE opponents. Let the ball bounce! Use the empty field behind you to get control of the ball! Bring it back into play in a disciplined, effective way! This is an aspect of the game I rarely see IRL. I am ready to shoot someone.

I wish there were special instructions for "head the ball in penalty area only."

[scott92507]

It came down to the last game of the season.

After spending much of the season in playoff contention, we lost our form and fell out in the last week. A combination of injuries, fatigue, and simply stupid play led us to into 7th place. West Ham, Derby, and Barnet were tied with 78 points, but West Ham led with 25 goals positive; Barnet and Derby were tied with 18 goals positive.

In the last day of the season, West Ham was beaten by Norwich, Derby tied Luton, and Barnet beat QPR, 3-0. 

We finished in 5th, and sad, wealthy West Ham remains relegated.

And the Multiverse Derby continues, as we will play Crystal Palace in the playoffs.

Monty collected two bonuses: 23K for avoiding relegation and 23K for qualifying for the playoffs. Although he enjoys walking to the The Hive each day through the streets of Edgware, he finally bought his first car (at the age of 30): an Audi Q3. 

(Why a Q3? Because I have been coveting one IRL. This is a fantasy game, after all.)

Edited October 24, 2019 by scott92507

[Hootieleece]

Nice ride for Monty, but wouldn't a 30 yo want something a little more sporty?

Should have taken the bonus on holiday in Ibiza! 

Good Season nonetheless keep up the good work. Your close to the promised land of the Premier League!

[scott92507]

The bad news:

Somehow I failed to grab any screenshots of our playoff matches with Crystal Park.

First game at The Hive, 0-0.

Second game at Selhurst Park, 2-2. (They tied the game in extra time.)

Lost in the penalty shootout.

The good news:

The directors have made plans for a new stadium, seating 18,989. Somehow they will do this for 37.5 million pounds. Not sure how that is possible. Surely we cannot get much modern amenities for that price.

The MLS club in Kansas City plays in a similar-sized stadium, Children's Mercy Park. It looks great, but it cost about $200 million to build.

 

San Antonio plans to expand its soccer stadium to about the same size, hoping to lure an MLS franchise there. It looks great, too, but the expansion alone will cost about $47 million (which is about 37 million pounds).

 

Barnet's new stadium will be about the size of QPR's Loftus Road and will probably look just as "modern." A big box to play football in.

Edited October 25, 2019 by scott92507