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Catching up on recent posts and great to see the usual suspects back and getting started with EFL teams. Will be particularly interesting to see the differences between @warlock and @Jogo Bonito‘s approaches to managing Ipswich! 

I’m going away for the next few days and won’t be able to play till I’m back... so just thought I’d mention that I have settled upon a club. I fancied a challenge and with their 12 point deduction and thrown-together squad, Bolton Wanderers was the one for me! Starting from scratch, rebuilding the squad and trying to restore them to their former glories, over a long period of time, appealed.

My aim is just to avoid relegation in the first season, but then I hope to try and move them up the divisions over the coming years, whilst keeping an eye on the finances! 

I’m pleased with my transfer dealings so far, but I’ll leave that for a proper update once I’ve played some more games.

Edited by Dong21
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@Jamesbfc1887 Xadas has started well with and assist and a goal in first 3 appearances playing as an IF on the right. New signing has caused a possible change in tactic pushing him more centrally. Good Luck with your Barnsley save mate. Can't wait to sit down and have a read tonight!

Love the Ipswich save @Jogo Bonito & @warlock. Great squad with Downes, Bishop and Dozzell. I am currently scouting Dozzell & Downes in my Bristol City save. Let me know how they get on and what role you are both using them in.

 

Bristol City Update:

Only the 3 outgoings this window. Will look to sell Lowe when J DaSilva is fit.

3 more signings came in before the window closed.

Fourth signing was in fact Cole DaSilva for 190k, a LB with 4.5* potential. Very raw stats but will get plenty of game time as my first choice for the season. This is such an enjoyable signing as he is now at the same club as his brother J DaSilva who he holds as an influential player.

Fifth signing was R Goncalves for 21.5k, a 16 year old cm with 4.5* potential. Became available for transfer, very low fee so low risk. Will add to my much needed HGC tlent for future years.

Last signing was purely because of opportunity and my love for the player IRL. All July I tried to get Tahith Chong on loan for reduced wages (5k & under) which all got rejected. With 3 days left in the window he became available for transfer. Valued at 8mil, I managed to negotiate a loan with 10k wages & 8k a month to United with an option to buy for only 2.4mil at the end of the season. Have 2 mil in the bank and will raise funds to complete deal for hopefully 20/21 season.

Game 1: Beat Leeds 2-1 (H). Afobe came of the bench to score in 86min & 92min to grab a late (undeserved) win.

Game 2: Beat Birmingham 1-0 (A).

Game 3 Beat Charlton 1-0 (H) Carabao Cup.

Game 4 Beat Blackburn 2-0 (H)

 

P4 W4 D0 L0. The performances aren't matching the results at the moment. May just take some time to gel the new squad.

Good Luck everyone! Love reading all the saves. Please keep updating all transfers in & out. Love constantly scouting players.

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15 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

Catching up on recent posts and great to see the usual suspects back and getting started with EFL teams. Will be particularly interesting to see the differences between @warlock and @Jogo Bonito‘s approaches to managing Ipswich! 

I’m going away for the next few days and won’t be able to play till I’m back... so just thought I’d mention that I have settled upon a club. I fancied a challenge and with their 12 point deduction and thrown-together squad, Bolton Wanderers was the one for me! Starting from scratch, rebuilding the squad and trying to restore them to their former glories, over a long period of time, appealed.

My aim is just to avoid relegation in the first season, but then I hope to try and move them up the divisions over the coming years, whilst keeping an eye on the finances! 

I’m pleased with my transfer dealings so far, but I’ll leave that for a proper update once I’ve played some more games.

Welcome back @Dong21 and good luck with Bolton. I also love the challenge of -12 points although wasn't too keen on some of the players they signed (although IRL they did well to get them) so went with Ipswich first. Best of luck.

@Reece3 It's good to have two pieces of Silva in your squad! I enjoyed managing Bristol City a few years ago and quite like them and the stadium, definitely a club with potential.

I've been using Downes in the middle of my central midfield trio as BWM (D) and he has been steady. Sean Dyche must have bought a home and away season ticket as he is watching him week in, week out. So far Burnley haven't made a bid, but maybe they will in January. Dozzell is probably my 5th choice CM candidate and I don't think he will become a worthwhile Championship transfer target, but it's early days.

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28 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

Bolton Wanderers was the one for me!

Brave! Will watch your progress with great interest.

3 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

It's good to have two pieces of Silva in your squad!

Oh, well played sir! :applause:

33 minutes ago, Reece3 said:

I am currently scouting Dozzell & Downes in my Bristol City save. Let me know how they get on and what role you are both using them in.

Glad you're not scouting Bishop, because if he was a horse I'd have him shot. I'm now in December - he made four appearances off the bench, and then his first start saw him off with a dislocated shoulder; he'll be out until January. I've played Dozzell as both DLP and AP in centre-mid and he's been very good. Not quite first choice but I'll play him without reservation. Downes has done OK but has not been as reliable. I'm happy with him as a rotation option, though. Both will improve, and I've just noticed that both are wanted by Brighton :herman:

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2 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

@Jamesbfc1887 Thanks, hopefully the 532 will continue to work well. I'm happy with Nelson & Connolly for sure. I'll take a look at your Barnsley topic too :thup:

Interesting arrivals at Cambridge @robterrace and as for you @DefinitelyTaylor the only words of encouragement I can give you is that your selection dilemmas will be much easier this year, with only 71 teams to choose from :lol:

Thanks.

It took me until the January to realise that I get decent knowledge of Belgium thanks to Luke Chadwick, so, its a good thing to have :D

 

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9 minutes ago, robterrace said:

Thanks.

It took me until the January to realise that I get decent knowledge of Belgium thanks to Luke Chadwick, so, its a good thing to have :D

 

Yes, scouts with overseas knowledge can be really useful and throw up some surprising names! Ipswich have a guy on the staff with some knowledge of Turkey, although that's not really something I tend to use as I pick my players myself. One of the two guys I would be keen on in Turkey is way too good for Ipswich (and now on loan in Belgium), whilst the other is a really promising young player who is being linked with some big teams but is Nigerian so would never get a WP here.

@warlock Bishop was finally fit enough to start a cup game in November, lasted 42 minutes and became injured for six weeks. Huws is still unavailable more than available, which may give Dozzell a few more opportunities, Downes just got a straight red card after 7 minutes of my FA Cup tie (my first one so far) but luckily a bizarre hat-trick from my centre back Nelson saw me through (two headers from Judge free kicks and the mandatory penalty that comes along in most games).

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Ipswich: Season 1, January

I've now reached the beginning of january, with one match more than half the season played. And it's all gone a bit pear-shaped. So far we've played 23 games - here's how the first half (12 games) looked:

6pZI3NWh.png?1

And here's how the second half (11 games) have gone:

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And I'm at a complete loss to explain why. At least in part, it's simply down to striker performance - at the end of September Norwood led the scoring chart with 6; at the end of December he has 8. His strike partner Jackson had 5, he now has 7. Through October and November others in the team picked up the slack, notably Edwards at right-wing who scored a few, and CB Wolfenden who scored half-a-dozen from set-pieces. Now we're struggling to score from anywhere. But there are also problems at the other end. In the first 12 games we kept 9 clean sheets; we've managed only 3 in the last 11.

Off the pitch there are also issues. Through the return of one junior player from loan, and a few new contracts across all playing squads, we're now exceeding the wage budget. Not by much but it's adding up. I'll probably have to terminate the loan of Racic in January, which will be a shame because he's been pretty good. After several returns from injury we're also carrying a large squad - I've put a couple up for transfer, and a couple more for loan, but there's little sign of interest so far. If Brighton come through with their interest in Dozzell and Downes it will be hard to resist (and manager Graham Potter has been a regular at our games this last month).

Here's the table:

3FTLdcdh.png?1

Despite relinquishing first place, we're still in good shape for promotion, but it's all pretty tight at the top. Unless I can halt the slide I have severe doubts about my job security.

Edited by warlock
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15 hours ago, warlock said:

And here's how the second half (11 games) have gone:

It's amazing how quickly results can change. Thankfully your league position hasn't been affected as much as it could have been, although results will need to improve if you want to win automatic promotion! Fingers crossed the goals start to fly in again soon.

3 hours ago, robterrace said:

This is how my season ends.. :(

Incredibly cruel. Hopefully you can take the extra step next season and this additional season in L2 can act as a year to further improve the squad.

 

I've managed to narrow my search down to two teams. One from League One and one from League Two. Quite proud of myself :lol:.

Edited by DefinitelyTaylor
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35 minutes ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

It's amazing how quickly results can change

True - the New Year's Day games saw Lincoln lose to relegation candidates Peterborough, while we travelled to Wycombe and won. So we're back on top but by the narrowest of margins.

36 minutes ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

I've managed to narrow my search down to two teams

:D

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Very close @robterrace but it will make it even sweeter when you get promoted next season.

@DefinitelyTaylor I'm shocked you have it down to two clubs already, top work! Your return is more keenly awaited with every day that passes.

@warlock A bit of a slump but you're doing much better than me! I'm still struggling with Norwood too. Have you not incurred payment obligations by keep playing Jackson? That might have harmed your financial status? Maybe give young Tyreece a go as TM (S) if you're still struggling for goals?

I should hit the January transfer window tonight so hope to post another brief update.

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24 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Very close @robterrace but it will make it even sweeter when you get promoted next season.

Thanks.

I'm just at the start of the transfer window in June (done some proper stalker level scouting of the European Leagues :)), and I've got most of my transfer business done already. :D

Matthews comes in on a free transfer from Raith in Scotland.

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Stefan Tielemans comes from Helmond in the Keuken Kampion Divisie, having been backup there. Has a lot of good attributes to show, and can improve in the weaker areas.

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Simons agreed his move in January, and will probably be the 2nd striker alongside Cernaz.

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Ametov comes in as a versatile option all across midfield. Needs some work, but, then again, he wouldn't be in the Regionalliga in Germany if he were the finished article.

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Uche is the 3rd striker, and will probably get a lot of time off the bench, and as a bigger option than Simons.

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Jurgensen was another player I found on my trawl of Europe. He's not overly fantastic, but, will hold his own as a 3rd or 4th centre back. 

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Croat/Austrian Oroz comes in from the Red Bull setup at Liefering, I see him as one for the future, and he will be given opportunity in the U23s.

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Deslandes comes in from Premier League Wolves, having not done enough to get an extension there. Capable of playing at left back or in the centre, he is good in the air, and provides some physicality.

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Also arriving from Wolves, Johnson spent time playing in the SPL at Kilmarnock, as well as making a couple of appearances in the Europa League for Wolves. Another physical player, he has room to improve, only being 22.

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Last of the confirmed signings so far, Edun is another player capable of playing in many positions. He'll provide a challenge to Joe Muscatt on the left of defence, as well as being more than capable of slotting into the midfield. 

In the long term, he may be a sitting midfield option.

image.thumb.png.c438f4d2c03c34349ecf86e1177e90b0.png

 

 

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I'll have a look. Thing to remember, is I've lost my top scorer in Sam Smith, as well as Jack Roles, who was a big influence in the middle. I've also had 3 senior players retire, so I've got rid of their wage, as well as released another half dozen. I need to refresh the playing staff, and at the same time, try and keep a settled core.

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1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Have you not incurred payment obligations by keep playing Jackson? That might have harmed your financial status?

Not so far, I don't think. Just checked and we'll pay out £50k after another 3 appearances - he missed a few games through injury and since we hit the downturn in form I've been dabbling with a 4-3-3 so he's been in rotation.

1 hour ago, robterrace said:

I've got most of my transfer business done already. :D

I may have said it before, but I simply love following your ducking and diving in the transfer market :applause:

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427532036_ITFCLeague1header.jpg.78f943938444a5f5effa05216cbef76c.jpg

Over the last two months we have been grinding out results without really looking as good as we expected to be

Much of the autumn period was spent in 5th place, but in the last two weeks we have got closer to the top

It's very tight from 1st to 5th, with just two points separating us - and Blackpool below that have two games in hand too

My inability to lose in the newly-named Leasing.com Trophy is as frustrating as it was in older versions of the game and we are still enduring it

Judge has been lifting the team with goals and assists in tight games, but I still need more from Norwood

There have been lots of takeover rumours in the last couple of months, but I hope that doesn't actually happen for authenticity reasons 

The transfer window is now upon us, but it's more a case of trying to ship out Jackson, Roberts and Rowe - incomings are unlikely

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9 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

My inability to lose in the newly-named Leasing.com Trophy is as frustrating as it was in older versions of the game

:lol: I lost our first two group games on penalties and thought I was done. We then won the last game and by a sufficiently large margin that we topped the group on goal difference :seagull:. Finally managed to exit against Arsenal u23s.

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3 minutes ago, warlock said:

:lol: I lost our first two group games on penalties and thought I was done. We then won the last game and by a sufficiently large margin that we topped the group on goal difference :seagull:. Finally managed to exit against Arsenal u23s.

Congratulations on your exit :lol: 

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41 minutes ago, warlock said:

I may have said it before, but I simply love following your ducking and diving in the transfer market :applause:

I get fed up of going after the 'same old' names every time, so I love trying to find the players that can push on with me and the like. Hopefully, I've not gutted the team too much.

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Think I've got my final two signings made.

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Season long loan from Liverpool, lots of energy and will go up and down my right flank all day.

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The 'water carrier' for the midfield. Won't do anything flash, but, will be at the heart of the midfield, and allow the more attack minded players to push on.

 

Lastly, my French Algerian centre back, who I signed on a free last season, looks set to leave for £200k, the sort of profit I really like.

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image.thumb.png.64a7dcf7bb7eeb271afe1b7011bc8525.png

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22 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Over the last two months we have been grinding out results without really looking as good as we expected to be

As long as results come, that's all that matters. Hopefully Norwood can get his head down and kick on. As for your grievances with winning in the Leasing.com Trophy (again), at least it gives us something to laugh at. :lol:

20 hours ago, robterrace said:

Think I've got my final two signings made.

Your ability to unearth gems, not particularly with these two signings, but certainly with the outgoing centre-back is brilliant! 

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1 hour ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

Your ability to unearth gems, not particularly with these two signings, but certainly with the outgoing centre-back is brilliant! 

Thanks.

Quick update of where I am coming to the start of the season.
 

We've been made 4th favourites for promotion, which, I'm happy to go along with. 

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Valentin Cernaz is amongst the favourites to be top scorer in the division, which, given how we played last season, doesn't really surprise me. I just need him to stay fit.

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Finally, Laurens Symons is one of the favourites for Player of the Season, which, if he plays as well as he has threatened in preseason (a goal a game), he'll be a great prospect.

fm_qljUHvM1yF.thumb.png.d16b2f2c37bca07b559891f00d593ba4.png

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Ipswich: Season 1 - the finale

ZN8N9Y1h.png?1

We're at the crunch point where it's all or nothing. After our crisis of confidence at the end of last year, we've recovered somewhat (although we're nowhere near as dominant as we were in the opening months of the season) and hold a 5pt lead with five games to play. We have two home matches that look distinctly winnable (although experience suggests that's where we might slip up) and two away matches that look very tough indeed, before a final game against mid-table MK Dons at Portman Road. Lincoln begin their run-in with two tricky matches against 4th and 5th, while Blackpool are the form team of the moment, unbeaten in their last 19 matches :eek:. If we can win our home games I think we should secure automatic promotion at the least, but it's high-stakes poker from now.

Edited by warlock
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Don't think my nerves can stand this... First of the final run-in games, at home to Bolton, we won 3-0.

Second game, away to Shrewsbury, we scraped a 0-0 draw.

Third game, one of the "easy" ones at home to Rochdale, we lost 0-1. Rochdale took the lead despite having no shots on target, thanks to an own-goal. Thankfully, both Blackpool and Lincoln also lost, so we got into the final fortnight with a 4pt lead and two games to play. But the momentum is all with Blackpool who now look like strong candidates for automatic promotion, if not the title :eek:

Edit: Thought I'd hold a team meeting to boost morale ahead of the last two games. Told the players we'd done really well all season and just had to keep it up to win the title. 22 out of 23 players reacted negatively, saying we were playing nowhere near good enough to win the title. "Overwhelmed by the feedback" :seagull:

Edited by warlock
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Ipswich: Season 1 - champions

Kubh2Zmh.png?1

Well, we did it - by the skin of our teeth, but it was as much to do with the frailty of our opponents as our performances on the pitch. But this save is done. Usually, I develop an affection for the squad in my save, but I seriously dislike this bunch. They're lacking professionalism and commitment. The older, experienced hands like Skuse and Chambers have been poor on the pitch and regularly the worst performers in training.

The majority of the squad should have been very good in L1 but weren't, and I can't rely on them in the Championship. Of a squad of 25 players, only four performed at an acceptable level, and two of those are loan players: Will Norris in goal, and Luke Garbutt at LW. Edwards at RW and Huws in midfield were the other two, and Huws took more than 7 months to show what he's capable of.

At least some of the blame is mine, because I tinkered too much with tactics in November and December. But I simply can't face the task of rebuilding this squad to compete in the Championship. So it's farewell Portman Road - I don't know where I'll go next but I hope the players are more reliable than this bunch.

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Congratulations @warlock that was very tight but you should be proud of how you managed the pressure. Sorry that you didn't enjoy the squad, that's a real shame. I look forward to seeing where you go next though!

I'm at the start of February in my game so still lots to get through. Made no effort to sign anybody in the transfer window, still cannot get shot of Jackson and saw the board block a transfer for Chambers as they said the money wasn't enough! I did manage to get Roberts and Rowe out on loan with future fees after 10 appearances each.

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10 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I'm at the start of February in my game so still lots to get through

I raced through the final three months last night - kept thinking I should go to bed but played one more game... and then one more game. And then it was the final push. The only player to leave in January was one I wanted to keep. Brighton came in for Dozzell and he wanted away, but it solved our financial problems with an £8m fee plus additional clauses. Promoted El Mizouni to replace him and the youngster did well enough to hold down his place. I had Rowe, Roberts, Sears, Skuse, Keane and Wilson on the transfer list but Wilson was the only one to go, out on loan to Harrogate at the end of February.

As much as the squad issues, the real problem with the save was the board. They were never happy, and even when we held on to first place for months they were rating me C+, complaining about player performances, the lack of entertaining football, and the 'disappointment' of losing 1-2 to Southampton in the FA Cup :idiot:.

I was looking forward to repeating my Mansfield save, but with them predicted to win L2 I don't think I can face a similar season of high-pressure whining. Anyway, I'm starting to whine myself!

Hope you find success in the remainder of your season and manage to keep make the board happy :thup:

Edited by warlock
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I'm also managing Ipswich, there are some fantastic young players both in the first team and in the development squad.  Won League One with 100 points in the first season and currently have the following squad in the Championship:

 

GK:  Harry Wright, Marek Stech (free back up)

RB: Javi Manquillo (signed for free this season), Dylan Crowe

LB: Aaron Hickey (£195k from Hearts 1st season) David De La Vibora (£3.5k Real Madrid First Season), Tommy Smith (also plays centre back)

CB: Luke Woolfenden, Timothy Fosu Mensah (loan), Jonathan Panzo (£1.9m from Monaco this season)

DM: Ben Sheaf (£78k from Arsenal first season), James Garner (loan from Man Utd 2nd season in a row), Teddy Bishop, Flynn Downes

CM: Andre Dozell rotated with one of the DM's.  Also given some game time to Liam Gibbs

RW: Andre Gomes (paid £425k to Man Utd as I didn't want to risk missing him on free) Miguel Rodriguez (£67k from Celta as a 16 year old first season)

LW: Scott Banks (£240k from Dundee Utd first season) Gomes can play here too and I gave a lot of game time to Dobra last season who is now out on loan.

FW: Pietro Pellegri (loan 2nd season in a row, got 26 in 39 in league one) Willem Geubells (also on loan from Monaco) Zac Brown (youngster is 3rd choice while Lankester and Folami are out on loan.

Spent £700k first season and recouped £6.75m

This year spent £2.3m and recouped £2.9m.

Left with a pretty small squad but the youth players have such good potential it's a positive imo.

 

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Update at the end of August 2020.

image.thumb.png.5e5535880e22ebff206ab286d9653ec2.png

Using a 4-4-2, with 2 pressing forwards, allows Symons and Cernaz to play off the shoulder of the centre backs, and the likes of Edun, Evans and Grant Ward (signed last season on a free post injury), creating chances for them, with young Welshman Evans, creating 5 goals, as well as scoring 3.

Symons has 9 goals in as many games, laying on 2, and has been called up to the Belgian U21 squad, Cernaz has chipped in with 5, and we're top scorers in the division.

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After the departure of Mesbah, Connor Johnson and Sylvain Deslandes have stepped up and filled the hole in the centre of defence, and a steady stream of youngsters have arrived to fill the youth squad, signed by my HOYD.

Still a long way to go, but, Symons is ridiculous to watch.

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Season 1: Birmingham City

I've found my next club in England's second city. I've had a feeling for several FMs now that Birmingham should be doing better than they are. After nearly a decade out of the top flight, they still retain a number of advantages, including a good stadium of 30,000 capacity, great training and youth facilities, and one of the best Heads of Youth Development in the game in Kristjaan Speakman. And - although I had no idea until I took the manager's seat - they have one of the hottest prospects in the game in the form of 16-year-old Jude Bellingham:

vI3PrS8h.png?1

Good physical and mental attributes, professional personality and already valued at better than £4m.

Although there are areas of weakness in the first team squad, there are also a number of good players and, again, this is a team that should be enjoying more success. They're predicted a finish in 15th place, while the board expects slightly better than that with a top half finish and promotion in 2023, so there's no immediate pressure. But if we're in the playoff positions in March/April there'll be plenty of self-imposed pressure :rolleyes:. But I'm looking forward to this save.

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9 hours ago, warlock said:

Season 1: Birmingham City

I've found my next club in England's second city.

Although there are areas of weakness in the first team squad, there are also a number of good players and, again, this is a team that should be enjoying more success. They're predicted a finish in 15th place, while the board expects slightly better than that with a top half finish and promotion in 2023, so there's no immediate pressure. But if we're in the playoff positions in March/April there'll be plenty of self-imposed pressure :rolleyes:. But I'm looking forward to this save.

Good luck with Birmingham. A team I have never managed, but have considered this time around. They seem to have a decent defensive core with Dean and Roberts, and a really good youth system that has delivered Trueman, Harding, Seddon, Boyd-Munce, Lakin, Bailey and of course Bellingham. I'm not very keen on their midfield or strikers apart from the youngsters, but a low-pressure save with them would be fun I think.

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14 hours ago, The Art of Drowning said:

I'm also managing Ipswich, there are some fantastic young players both in the first team and in the development squad.  Won League One with 100 points in the first season and currently have the following squad in the Championship:

 

GK:  Harry Wright, Marek Stech (free back up)

RB: Javi Manquillo (signed for free this season), Dylan Crowe

LB: Aaron Hickey (£195k from Hearts 1st season) David De La Vibora (£3.5k Real Madrid First Season), Tommy Smith (also plays centre back)

CB: Luke Woolfenden, Timothy Fosu Mensah (loan), Jonathan Panzo (£1.9m from Monaco this season)

DM: Ben Sheaf (£78k from Arsenal first season), James Garner (loan from Man Utd 2nd season in a row), Teddy Bishop, Flynn Downes

CM: Andre Dozell rotated with one of the DM's.  Also given some game time to Liam Gibbs

RW: Andre Gomes (paid £425k to Man Utd as I didn't want to risk missing him on free) Miguel Rodriguez (£67k from Celta as a 16 year old first season)

LW: Scott Banks (£240k from Dundee Utd first season) Gomes can play here too and I gave a lot of game time to Dobra last season who is now out on loan.

FW: Pietro Pellegri (loan 2nd season in a row, got 26 in 39 in league one) Willem Geubells (also on loan from Monaco) Zac Brown (youngster is 3rd choice while Lankester and Folami are out on loan.

Spent £700k first season and recouped £6.75m

This year spent £2.3m and recouped £2.9m.

Left with a pretty small squad but the youth players have such good potential it's a positive imo.

 

Very interesting and a great first season. To get those transfer numbers you must have really ripped up the squad in the first season with the senior pros being moved on? You now have a curious mix of young guys who have potential but would probably be far from my first choice as ready players for the second tier (in season 2) and some players that I'm surprised to see at Ipswich Town!

Great work on having Pellegri in League 1 (that must have been fun) and to have him back again with Geubbels for the second year is exciting. I like the signings of Hickey, Panzo, Banks and I guess Angel Gomes, there seems to be good potential with them. I like Wright in goal too (son of their former keeper Richard), I'm going to be promoting him next season too. Hopefully your youngsters won't let you down.

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I did not realise he was Richard Wright's son!  Even more reason to have him as first choice then.  I only play one up front so Geubbels is having to be patient, he doesn't look that good on current ability but he's a useful sub to have on small wages.  You are right I tried to sell a lot of the pros first season to focus on youth and bolster the numbers with loans (Rhian Brewster, James Garner, Pietro Pellegri, Marc Guehi & Cardoso from West Ham).

First season sales were: Jordan Roberts (£190k), Cole Skuse (£245k), Alan Judge (£275k), Will Keane (£375k), Luke Chambers (300k), Kayden Jackson (£250k), Danny Rowe (£20k) James Wilson (£7k) Myles Kenlock (£450k), Gwion Edwards (£600k), Freddie Sears (£550k), Bialkowski (£1.9m), Tomas Holy (£190k), Emyr Hughes (550k), James Norwood (£90k), Nisiala (£300k) and Jamie Hopcutt (£525k, after signing him for free and flopping)

Banks is fantastic.

B58916E154ADC297AEDADC4E60B7BEF95759145B

 

 

 

 

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@The Art of Drowning You got some good fees for some of them. The board blocked the sale of Bialkowski for me at £1.1m (they insisted on £1.2m and Millwall would not go to that), they also blocked the sale of Chambers for similar reasons. I could not get rid of Jackson and only managed to get Skuse, Rowe and Roberts out on loan with low future fee clauses. Judge has been absolutely epic for me, and Norwood was one of the reasons I took the club on.

As for Tommy Smith, I almost got lucky with the senior one returning on loan at the start of the first season from Colorado (was going to be out of contract after that too) but the wages were a touch too high and he then signed a new contract. The younger version doesn't seem ready to me yet.

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Yeah the young one probably isn't ready really but it's nice to give him minutes when there are injuries/when the title was wrapped up.  He managed 12 games in the league and 20 in total thanks to a quarter final run in that Johnstone Paint thing.

A lot of them players I was trying to sell for ages but got nowhere, Scottish and American clubs eventually being my saviour for some decent fees.  The board rejected way more for Emyr Huyws at the start of the season which was annoying, I only looked to sell him after reading a few on here talking about him being injury prone.

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So, end of September comes around. Couple of youngsters head out on loan, and another loanee comes in, 20 year old centre back, Zech Medley from Arsenal, mainly as a left footed backup for when Deslandes is playing at left back, which, given that Joe Muscatt has had a slightly shorter preseason due to injury and is struggling for fitness, may occur more regularly than I want it to.

image.thumb.png.2b0ec5b992028f2baa1d423d31e23c72.png

We remain clear at the top, having remained unbeaten throughout, dropping points at home to Newport, for which I was missing Symons due to his international callup. 

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Cernaz and Symons are the top scorers in the division, with 10 and 9 respectively, and Grant Ward finds himself topping the assist charts with 5, Jack Evans right behind him, finding himself topping the Key Pass and Average ratings, which is an indicator of how important he is to the side this season.

So, we keep plodding on, with the aim of seeing how long we can keep the run going, and trying to keep the setup we're playing working as well as possible.

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On 30/11/2019 at 02:43, warlock said:

But I simply can't face the task of rebuilding this squad to compete in the Championship. So it's farewell Portman Road

Classic from you ;):lol: Good luck with Birmingham, the second season of saves seems a bit mental this year I do have to admit.

@robterrace How on earth do you find all these gems? Do you not have attribute masking on or something?

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1 hour ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

Classic from you ;):lol:

:) First save is always just figuring out the match engine. Birmingham will be a real test and seems likely to need several seasons. It always takes me a while to figure out tactics, too.

I'm still following your adventure with Barnsley - hopefully things will take a turn for the better, or perhaps you'll find something a little more enjoyable elsewhere.

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57 minutes ago, warlock said:

:) First save is always just figuring out the match engine. Birmingham will be a real test and seems likely to need several seasons. It always takes me a while to figure out tactics, too.

I'm still following your adventure with Barnsley - hopefully things will take a turn for the better, or perhaps you'll find something a little more enjoyable elsewhere.

Yeah I'm not sure how much longer I'll continue it, I always enjoy managing Barnsley until I rip the team apart and it starts to get unrealistic, I can deal with having Accrington in the prem but I don't manage Barnsley long term.

Very restrictive policy, I've tried to stick to no loans, although that's not in the game it would be an excellent addition to Barnsley's club vision imo.

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7 hours ago, Jamesbfc1887 said:

 

@robterrace How on earth do you find all these gems? Do you not have attribute masking on or something?

It took me 9 hours to get to the first day of the game when I started, as I like to have a look through the 'known' players available. Cernaz and Mesbah (who left for Burton) appeared in the free transfer lists, and matched what I wanted (quick CB and CF), and wanted to come (both have EU 2nd nationality).

The same applied for the guys I got this summer, I spent ages going through free transfer lists and release lists from the European leagues, and again, ones who matched (or came close) the filters were looked at further.

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289942100_ITFCLeague1header.jpg.cb7080c376b8a778f3dce4803f6f08e7.jpg

Here is the latest from Portman Road

The New Year started off very well for my side, and I even managed to finally get knocked out of the Leasing.com Trophy!

I was pitted against Old Farm rivals Norwich in FA Cup Round 4, and was very unlucky to lose to an 83rd minute goal in front of 27,359 fans

I recovered well from that with three clean-sheet league wins, but then a couple of below par results in February put pressure on my side again

A fantastic win at high-flying Sunderland saw a return to form, but a good Oxford side then turned my boys over as I battled to stay top

The last game of the month was an epic, with a trip to a Blackpool side behind me only on GD and with a game in hand

After going a goal down I was delighted to grab a point, although how I had 22 shots with only 39% possession is a bit of a mystery

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It's really tight at the top still, with Blackpool looking very strong as we head in to the final few months

1652476173_ITFCprogress1.3.thumb.png.7233b649c87ef91d4b5084ebbe7d029a.png

On the pitch, the 532 with wing backs is still working pretty well and there is no reason to change that at all

The winter transfer window saw no new players coming in, and the only departures were Roberts and Rowe, both on loan with future fee clauses

The board blocked the sales of Bialkowski and Chambers, which was disappointing - but I would still prefer no takeover to happen

And then I just saw this, tough task masters indeed!

809227463_ITCboard01_0320.thumb.png.dd1d8e18bbfd6d21e1fe94a7022d18bd.png

Edited by Jogo Bonito
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41 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

tough task masters indeed!

Tell me about it :rolleyes:. Pretty much what I had right up until we won the title.

But it looks like your save is mirroring mine - similar results, with Blackpool and Fleetwood pushing hard (although it looks like Lincoln have slipped up in your universe). Looks like yiou're getting more goals out of Norwood than I did.

I have every confidence you'll be in that No.1 position at the end of the season :thup:

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