FM20: The English Football League thread

[warlock]

Darlington, May 2024

After a string of victories in January we entered February with confidence high. We all know what happens then...

After four straight draws I began to wonder if we'd win again. And while we managed to steady the ship, from mid-March onwards things took a radical turn for the worse. There were probably a number of reasons. The keen-eyed will note the absence of Joe Hardy's name in those results. Just as he did in 2023, our top striker performed brilliantly for the first half of the season... and then simply stopped. Injuries also played their part as most of my wingers picked up knocks that kept them out for two or three games. Worst affected was Gilmour who produced his finest performance of the season to bag a hat-trick against Southend before limping off before full-time and missing the rest of the season. And we had problems in central midfield where three of my most experienced players threw tantrums over playing time - despite none of them performing - and I was forced to turn to the free transfer market to pick up Sean Goss to plug the gap. Happily, he made an immediate impact with 3 goals and 3 assists in 8 starts (and incurring our only red card of the season).

While we were struggling, so were our rivals. Notts County supplanted Scunthorpe as our nearest challengers and we entered April with what looked like a comfortable 8pt lead. Starting the month with two draws and a defeat gave that lead a severe trim before the home win against Newport secured automatic promotion with two games to play. When we concluded those games with just a single point I thought we had blown our chance, until the post-match roundup revealed that the Magpies had suffered a loss and the title was ours.

It's a measure of the second half to the season that Hardy remained our top scorer, and winner of most PoMs while doing precisely nothing at all. To be fair, Ogunseri did his best to take the honours with a total of 16 league goals and 9 assists for the season but came up just short.

In other news, the takeover finally happened in April but nothing changed - a fans consortium took control but made no investment in the club.

Preparations for life in L1 will mean the biggest overhaul so far. Few of the squad look capable of making the step up although Kendrick is solid as keeper, Ishida's loan has been renewed for another season, and I have a bid tabled to sign Ogunseri permanently as his contract with Forest is about to expire. The board has given me a generous transfer budget of £145k but automatic wage rises probably mean some of that will have to be reallocated, so I'll be looking hard at the upper league cast-offs and hoping to uncover some gems.

Onwards and - at least temporarily - upwards 

[Jogo Bonito]

@warlock Tremendous to achieve what you did, even if the second part was a bit of a struggle. Very well done, and it should be an exciting summer ahead of the next challenge in League 1!

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

it should be an exciting summer

Well, it's already been rather more 'exciting' than I hoped. A truly weird situation developed when the squad returned from their hols. Everyone seemed happy, the pre-season squad meeting went well with a 100% green response, no-one had any issues. Then out of nowhere I had a full-blown dressing room rebellion on my hands with everyone complaining about my bad management and the poor morale around the club . It became obvious that the source of the rebellion was Thelo Aasgard, my most influential player purely by dint of being the longest-serving member of the squad. I can only guess that, because he was now the player of lowest ability in the first team having struggled all the way through L2, he recognised that his playing time was under threat although there was nothing in the team happiness screen, nor his personal info, to confirm that. So I quickly shipped him out on a free. Job done, I thought.

Two days later, another rebellion followed by another team meeting. Same complaints and similar source - Jack Diamond, the other team leader and like Aasgard, one of the worst performers since we won promotion from the VNN. He, too, was shipped out as quickly as possible, and peace now seems to be restored. But we're just days away from the end of the window and I need two rotation wingers. To rub salt into my wounds, Ogunseri spurned our contract offer, lured away by the heady heights of footballl in... um, Alloa . I haven't found a likely replacement for him - transfer deadline day might be a nail-biter!

[Jogo Bonito]

10 hours ago, warlock said:

Well, it's already been rather more 'exciting' than I hoped.

The game coding and interactions must be incredibly complex, but that's all a bit hard to fathom and somewhat distracting! Hopefully now the rotten apples have been binned, everything will calm down and you get the players in you need.

[warlock]

53 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

that's all a bit hard to fathom

Yes, I was utterly baffled by it - not seen the like before. And my interpretation of the root problem is pure guesswork but seems to have solved things.

But the blows keep coming. First my regular LB, Muscatt, did his knee ligaments and will be missing for 10 months, then Gilmour - first-choice LW - suffered a broken leg and will miss the season completely. Still only have one first-team striker with an u23 prospect for rotation so we've been forced away from the 442. Other recruitment issues (basically, nobody wants to join us) mean I've already had to sign 6 loan players and still have a couple of major gaps in the squad. Worse, there are some great prospects out there in the free market - Adam Idah for one - but they won't even consider contract talks .

The plan at the moment is to throw some youngsters into the mix and see if we can at least stay above the drop zone until January when I might be able to bring in the cavalry. But nobody said it would be easy .

What are you up to? Still in Cyprus, back in France, or somewhere else entirely?

[Jogo Bonito]

@warlock That sounds like a testing period indeed! Give some youngsters a go, if you have enough around them they won't singlehandedly ruin anything. A season of consolidation might not be a bad thing, or at least stumble through until January comes along. Obviously you're many years on, but you could see if Yahya Kalley (Malmo) is in your database, as he would be a fantastic left-back at your level and might be free (signed for me in League 2 at Grimsby before). Brambilla would tear up the English lower leagues as a midfielder if he hasn't regressed much with age.

I'm still at APOEL, but have only been able to play a couple of games in the last few weeks. I'm nearing the end of the January 2023 transfer window and hope to do another update when that closes.

Edited September 20, 2020 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

hope to do another update when that closes

I'll look forward to it 

[Jogo Bonito]

58 minutes ago, warlock said:

I'll look forward to it 

Cheers, and I edited my above post due to just-seen shocking typos 

[karanhsingh]

On 19/09/2020 at 17:48, warlock said:

Well, it's already been rather more 'exciting' than I hoped. A truly weird situation developed when the squad returned from their hols. Everyone seemed happy, the pre-season squad meeting went well with a 100% green response, no-one had any issues. Then out of nowhere I had a full-blown dressing room rebellion on my hands with everyone complaining about my bad management and the poor morale around the club . It became obvious that the source of the rebellion was Thelo Aasgard, my most influential player purely by dint of being the longest-serving member of the squad. I can only guess that, because he was now the player of lowest ability in the first team having struggled all the way through L2, he recognised that his playing time was under threat although there was nothing in the team happiness screen, nor his personal info, to confirm that. So I quickly shipped him out on a free. Job done, I thought.

Two days later, another rebellion followed by another team meeting. Same complaints and similar source - Jack Diamond, the other team leader and like Aasgard, one of the worst performers since we won promotion from the VNN. He, too, was shipped out as quickly as possible, and peace now seems to be restored. But we're just days away from the end of the window and I need two rotation wingers. To rub salt into my wounds, Ogunseri spurned our contract offer, lured away by the heady heights of footballl in... um, Alloa . I haven't found a likely replacement for him - transfer deadline day might be a nail-biter!

That's strange! Can't say I have seen this before. They weren't even showing up as unhappy?

Anyway, hope you have it all behind you now. Good luck for the new season!

[Creativity]

I've been looking for a final save to see me through until FM21 and having listened to a few podcasts by Sir Les -  I really got intrigued by QPR. It looks as great a challenge in game as does in real life to transition the team into one that can challenge for promotion to the Premier League. Remaining very competitive in the league, whilst look after the finances is the exact type of save I'm looking into (loans at the club are being repaid totalling 375k a month, which will cripple the squad/recruitment the longer we are in the Championship). 

I'm not going to go in-depth into the pre-season, as the start of a save tends to be very uneventful for me as I like to use the starting squad to at least the first January window. An initial analysis of the squad shows we have 3 star players in Ryan Manning, Ebrechi Eze and Bright Osayi-Samuel. The plan is to keep all 3 until next summer, where one will leave (ideally Bright Osayi-Samuel) to raise funds for the rebuild. 

We also have a number of the older players out of contract being Marc Pugh, Angel Rangel, Grant Hall and Geoff Cameron - none will be given new contracts, allowing us to save just over 40k a week in wages. Alongside those out of contracts players we have 3 players going back to their parent clubs after their loan spells end - Luke Amos, Jack Clarke and Jordan Hugill. Again the plan is not to keep either 3, but Luke Amos depending on his performances may get reviewed at the end of the season. With those players leaving its another 42k saving in ages so nearly 85k wages being saved, I'm firmly confident I can rebuild the squad to attack the league next year with a little more than half that money. 

The big changes I made to the club before the season was the scouting set up. I don't mind increasing the expenditure and quality in this area as a strong recruitment set up pays for its self in the long run. As you can see nothing outrageous but concentrating on cheap emerging talents in league 1 & 2, English youth leagues for out of contact players, Wales/Ireland and cheap talent in Eastern Europe.

The season started very encouraging, seeing off two League 1 teams in the Carabao cup in Mk Dons and Oxford whilst rotating the whole squad. The rotation you can see the benefit of from a storming start to the league winning 4 of our first 5 games, drawing 1 - eventually humbled by Sheffield Wednesday a game where the performance was good enough but that little bit of quality was missing, which I expected anyways. Very happy with how August went, next month brings the small task of an away trip to Spurs in the Carabao - good money I guess but tough.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2020 by Creativity

[Dong21]

40 minutes ago, Creativity said:

Very happy with how August went

Welcome @Creativity - an interesting update and a good start to the season 

[warlock]

27 minutes ago, Dong21 said:

an interesting update and a good start to the season 

Seconded!

@Creativity Always interesting to see how others approach a new save - I often follow the same route as you, sticking with what's there until I've seen how they play. Good to see it paying off for you in the early stages. 

[Dong21]

Bolton Wanderers - Season 6 - Part 1

In our opening five games in the Premier League, we lost resoundingly to Tottenham, Chelsea and Man City. This was fully expected, so I actually came away from this period very happy as we managed to beat both Newcastle and Bournemouth. Both wins were scrappy, a late penalty in one and a late winner in the other, but in this division it's just points that matter. I played a full strength side against Lincoln in the Cup and that win successfully built morale.

Tedic was the star against Watford, coming off the bench to score a brace. Up till that point I'd been operating with Wearing as loan striker, however after his brace I switched to the 4-4-2 that had served us well in the Championship and he went on to score 4 in 3. I played a fully changed side in the Cup and got knocked out by Barnsley; lesson learned. We secured a big win against Wolves and were unlucky not to draw against Burnley as we missed a penalty. We got our most convincing win of the season against Villa, a game in which they had Grealish sent off. Discipline has also been a challenge for my side too, with three league red cards so far - I'm not sure if it's the pressure or they can't handle the pace of top attackers and take them down.

Then came the worst result of my management tenure, we got pumped 8-0 by Liverpool. They opened the scoring in less than 2 minutes and we just could not stop them scoring.

This was a nice touch, from FM and the players!

So after 10 games, things have gone as well as they realistically could have. We've been thoroughly outclassed by the top 6 and are holding our own against the other teams. I'm hoping the 8-0 pasting doesn't damage morale too severely, it's certainly taken a hit on the goal difference, as we now have the worst in the league.

[warlock]

4 hours ago, Dong21 said:

So after 10 games, things have gone as well as they realistically could have

That's a fair assessment, I think. Always tough in the first season up, and never easy when you face the big dogs early. But if you can keep racking up a point-per-game you'll be OK. Looks like there's a good four or five teams that will be worse than you 

[Creativity]

 

Another solid month in the league, ending with us top of the league. Tough to see how we will stay there as we are so reliant on the first XI playing every game. That's not to do a disservice to the team, 9 goals in 3 games and only a loss on penalties away at Spurs is very promising. I think if this form carries on and we are around the promotion spots come January I may rethink my transfers plans of waiting until the summer and enter the loan market to strengthen the team. Jack Clarke has been the biggest surprise of the season. I believe he's second top scorer with all of his goals coming from the bench, very effective against tired legs. 

We've also had the first whiff of a takeover in the offing. I'm not overly fussed about investment but if new owners clear the debts - it would be very welcome as the club is bleeding money with the nearly 400k monthly repayments. 

 

Edited September 27, 2020 by Creativity

[nextqprmanager]

Looks like it`s too easy Creativity?

[Jogo Bonito]

Nice updates from QPR & Bolton @Creativity and @Dong21 

I'd say both of you are doing much better than you would be expecting. QPR with no transfers have no right to be up there at the top, but still having Eze and Bright-Samuel gives you the attacking flair that hides the lack of great strikers. Bolton in the PL seems surreal even though it was hard-earned success that got you there! I like the ticket-refund bit, as you say it's a nice touch. I guess it won't matter if you have a badly negative GD if you finish outside the bottom three, just beating the teams you need to is plenty good enough. Best of luck to both of you.

I've just finished my 4th season with APOEL and was considering leaving it there. But I've shipped out a few players at the end of their contract and made a couple of very good signings on free transfers, so it looks like I might have to endure another year in Cyprus as I want to manage these new players. For the last week or two I have really been thinking about EFL clubs again, whether that's on the 20.4 database, create a club mode, or an updated database with a new squad at my disposal. I've no doubt I'll be back in here again soon, keep up the good work guys.

[Creativity]

3 hours ago, nextqprmanager said:

Looks like it`s too easy Creativity?

It's alright atm, a lot more micromanagement in games than I like to do - but its getting results.

 

32 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Nice updates from QPR & Bolton @Creativity and @Dong21 

I'd say both of you are doing much better than you would be expecting. QPR with no transfers have no right to be up there at the top, but still having Eze and Bright-Samuel gives you the attacking flair that hides the lack of great strikers. Bolton in the PL seems surreal even though it was hard-earned success that got you there! I like the ticket-refund bit, as you say it's a nice touch. I guess it won't matter if you have a badly negative GD if you finish outside the bottom three, just beating the teams you need to is plenty good enough. Best of luck to both of you.

I've just finished my 4th season with APOEL and was considering leaving it there. But I've shipped out a few players at the end of their contract and made a couple of very good signings on free transfers, so it looks like I might have to endure another year in Cyprus as I want to manage these new players. For the last week or two I have really been thinking about EFL clubs again, whether that's on the 20.4 database, create a club mode, or an updated database with a new squad at my disposal. I've no doubt I'll be back in here again soon, keep up the good work guys.

 Cheers! Hugill isn't bad at this level, I could do a lot worse. If we don't go up this season then I don't think I'm going to invest in a striker as he's likely not going to be good enough when I'm promoted - so I'll likely use the loan market. 

[karanhsingh]

14 hours ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Nice updates from QPR & Bolton @Creativity and @Dong21 

I'd say both of you are doing much better than you would be expecting. QPR with no transfers have no right to be up there at the top, but still having Eze and Bright-Samuel gives you the attacking flair that hides the lack of great strikers. Bolton in the PL seems surreal even though it was hard-earned success that got you there! I like the ticket-refund bit, as you say it's a nice touch. I guess it won't matter if you have a badly negative GD if you finish outside the bottom three, just beating the teams you need to is plenty good enough. Best of luck to both of you.

I've just finished my 4th season with APOEL and was considering leaving it there. But I've shipped out a few players at the end of their contract and made a couple of very good signings on free transfers, so it looks like I might have to endure another year in Cyprus as I want to manage these new players. For the last week or two I have really been thinking about EFL clubs again, whether that's on the 20.4 database, create a club mode, or an updated database with a new squad at my disposal. I've no doubt I'll be back in here again soon, keep up the good work guys.

Dunno about you, but I really want to give Wigan a go - however I think I will hold off till FM21 arrives. 

Nice updates from everyone else on here, I am enjoying reading about your saves.

[smplfc123]

Hi everyone,

Great to see the progress being made by some in here 

Stupidly, I thought going away for a week wouldn't impact my desire to keep my Derby County save going. Unfortunately, upon loading up for the first time in a week last night, that desire had gone.

What it does do is open up a new door, 1 that sadly, I haven't really yet opened in FM20 - A venture in to League 1 or 2. 

Whilst away, I was thinking about how can I open up tactically so that I'm not stuck to my 4-1-4-1 preferred tactic all of the time. 

Now I just need to decide who to start with. I don't want a division favourite, I want room to grow without too much pressure in my first season. Any suggestions?

[karanhsingh]

Are you playing on an update? 

I had a fun save earlier playing a 3-5-2 with MK Dons. Crewe as well could be fun with Harry Pickering as LWB. 

[smplfc123]

Just whatever the latest steam update is @karanhsingh. I don't use extra updates to bring the leagues in line with current leagues as I like to save that for the next FM.

[smplfc123]

So as I couldn't find a team that I wanted to start from scratch with in Leagues 1 and 2, I decided to start unemployed and look at what jobs became available.

End of October and only Newport County have sacked their manager, with the board stating that they're going to give the assistant chance to turn their fortunes around.

So, as nothing else was on offer, I decided this option was too interesting to turn down:

Can I avoid relegation with Stoke and then rebuild them finishing off what Nathan Jones just couldn't seem to get going!?! Wish me luck.

[warlock]

49 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

Can I avoid relegation with Stoke and then rebuild them

Of course you can! It's always difficult clawing your way back from that kind of morale-destroying start, but it's a decent squad that should be capable of stopping the rot.

As for moving away from the 4141 formation, I managed to get Stoke to the PL with a wingerless 4132/4312 system so you might look at that.

Good luck 

[smplfc123]

Cheers @warlock.

Appreciate the formation suggestions but CM at the moment is a real problem area in this squad. Allen and Clucas are the only 2 first teamers fit in that position, with untested youngster Oakley-Boothe offering the only real back up. With that in mind, I think I'm going to operate with either a 4-4-2 or a 5-2-3 until the window. They have some great CM options out on loan in Woods, Nidaye and Etebo so will see if any of them can be recalled.

[warlock]

@smplfc123 Woods is a bit meh IMHO, but Ndiaye and Etebo were both very good for me and worth bringing back if you can. Not sure if he's still on loan in the updated database, but I brought back Afobe and he was outstanding. 

[Jogo Bonito]

@smplfc123 Good luck with Stoke, a team I have never managed myself. 

[warlock]

I'm at a bit of a crossroads and not sure where to go...

Feels like I've taken Darlington as far as I can without playing on for several seasons and slowly rebuilding (low rep, little money). Took a look at my parked Forest save... I was committed to at least one season in the PL but it's just a painful slog. For reasons we don't need to explore here, I thought about a Shrewsbury Town save but while they look a good long-term prospect they start the season with about half the first team squad out on long-term injuries. There's a bit of money, but they've already signed 5 loans and the first 6 months looks particularly unenjoyable.

So, I'm open to suggestions. Not fussed as to division but would prefer L1/L2, the Vanorama National is also a possibility. Any overlooked gems down there? 

[Jogo Bonito]

43 minutes ago, warlock said:

I'm at a bit of a crossroads and not sure where to go...

Feels like I've taken Darlington as far as I can without playing on for several seasons and slowly rebuilding (low rep, little money). Took a look at my parked Forest save... I was committed to at least one season in the PL but it's just a painful slog. For reasons we don't need to explore here, I thought about a Shrewsbury Town save but while they look a good long-term prospect they start the season with about half the first team squad out on long-term injuries. There's a bit of money, but they've already signed 5 loans and the first 6 months looks particularly unenjoyable.

So, I'm open to suggestions. Not fussed as to division but would prefer L1/L2, the Vanorama National is also a possibility. Any overlooked gems down there? 

You're right about the injuries at Shrewsbury, I forgot to mention that! What sort of challenge in League 1 or 2? Are you looking for an immediate promotion challenge or prepared to build?

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Are you looking for an immediate promotion challenge or prepared to build?

Not looking for odds-on favourites for promotion, would like  a squad with the appropriate number of functioning legs, don't need pots of money but would prefer it if the bailiffs aren't constantly at the door. Something entertaining, enjoyable with neither success nor failure guaranteed.

Not asking for much, eh? 

[Jogo Bonito]

@warlock Assuming you're on 20.4 database, starting in 19/20 season. I checked out page 1 of your guide, tough to help you but perhaps one of these:?

• Oxford, Blackpool, Lincoln, Gillingham or Bristol Rovers in League 1?
• Swindon, Salford, Exeter, Grimsby or Port Vale in League 2?

Or join me in Cyprus, it's easier than you might think, good fun, and sunny 

Edited September 29, 2020 by Jogo Bonito

[warlock]

20 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Or join me in Cyprus

Appreciate the offer, but I'm a Wet Tuesday Oop North sort of football fan .

Funny you should mention Salford - I was looking them over this afternoon. I've also looked at Gillingham before. I'll have a ponder... 

[Jogo Bonito]

17 minutes ago, warlock said:

Appreciate the offer, but I'm a Wet Tuesday Oop North sort of football fan .

Funny you should mention Salford - I was looking them over this afternoon. I've also looked at Gillingham before. I'll have a ponder... 

Fair enough! Stoke then (again) perhaps...

Salford owners would be right down your street wouldn't they? Good luck whoever you go with 

[warlock]

5 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Salford owners would be right down your street wouldn't they?

Yes, there's a certain appeal there. Don't think I've ever managed them, either.

[Creativity]

A tougher month than those prior, which maybe indicative of where we are as a team, however we still managed to hold our position at the top the league. The Cardiff loss was particularly disappointing as it was an error of judgement on my part - which I have outlined below. The wins over Blackburn and Brentford were top performances, especially Brentford where an early lead was quickly levelled up after half time, but the introduction of Jack Clarke who scored a goal after dribbling from one end of the pitch to the other got us a result I think we deserved - a goal which I think be a goal of the season contender. Reading was a game we dominated but when one of our better players are not available, I.E Eze in this game, then we do struggle as the quality just isn't behind the first XI. Something which could really be the difference between promotion and not this season. 

As I mentioned above, the Cardiff result was a error on my part. Josh Murphy is probably the player of the season so far, at the time of this game he had already had 18 goal contributions to his name. Clearly he was the threat, now usually I'm not one for overly tinkering with my tactics pre-match, I may make changes in game, but I like to put out first XI that make sense - in respect of being balance, countering an oppositions strengths and exploiting their weaknesses. 

From moment I started to select my XI I knew I had to counter Murphy down their left and that Todd Kane would need help in the game. I got overly confident and went against my judgement and played Bright Osayi-Samuel - when I knew I Marc Pugh was obvious choice. 

Why?

As outlined below, I've highlighted the key differences. Bright Osayi-Samuel has a teamwork attribute of 9 and work rate of 12. Marc Pugh has a teamwork attribute of 14 and work rate of 17. Marc is much more likely candidate to help out his full back. Naturally due to my error, Murphy ran the game picking up a goal and an assist. 

Bright Osayi-Samuel

 

Marc Pugh

I actually re-ran the game for "science, bro!"... Marc Pugh played on my right, we won the match 3-1. I watched Marc Pugh closely, he ended the game by dispossessing Murphy 4 times, blocked 3 of his crosses and fouled Murphy 4 times. Murphy only managed to complete 6 of his 14 passes, none of his crosses, had no shots and was subbed off after 54 minutes - with 5.9 rating. Hope there is little nugget people can take from that, tactics don't have to be the instructions, picking the right XI makes all the difference.

[smplfc123]

Great update @Creativity and a good learning point about team selection.

It looks like I may be the 2nd coming of Tony Pulis, rather than that of other fellow Welshman Nathan Jones, with this happening in just my 4th game at The Potters:

Grinding out a solid 0-0 draw at home to play-off chasing Blackburn, despite having Batth sent off after 23 minutes. The players showed fight and determination. It's a start!

 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Creativity said:

Hope there is little nugget people can take from that

Every day's a school day - thanks for the lesson 

49 minutes ago, smplfc123 said:

The players showed fight and determination

Always useful, and a point with 10 men is never a bad result 

[smplfc123]

Especially as we backed it up with an excellent 3-1 away win at Hull!

My main concerns for this squad are that they don't really excel anywhere. They're not the most technically gifted, with our vision and flair showing up as one of the lowest rated in the division. The same goes for our positioning, so we're not exactly tactically astute either. Our defence is the slowest in the league and most importantly for me, our determination is the lowest of the 24 clubs.

Now as recent results and performances show, some are proving that statistic wrong, but in it is something I'm looking to alter long term. I've decided on a way of playing I want, going against my usual pragmatic style and aiming for a high pressing style of play (Ironic that I choose Stoke to first try this right ).

Depth in CM is my first concern transfer-wise, with the window just 2 weeks away. We have too many players that don't come close to justifying their ridiculous wages, but I also think that whilst I'm in a relegation dogfight, ripping the squad apart in January is the opposite to what I want to be doing. This is going to be slow burner of bringing in the right players to suit the style I want over time.

 

[karanhsingh]

Nice updates guys.

@Creativity I love little anecdotes like that.

@smplfc123 good luck at Stoke, a club I have always found intriguing but somehow never got around to managing.

@warlock did you make a decision about the new save?

[Ronaldo Beckham]

I am enjoying my Leeds save after watching the Spurs documentary and seeing Dele Ali I have been inspired to start a new EFL game and I am going to try find the new Dele Ali with .......

To make it as hard as possible I am doing it as Youth only. My aim is to turn MK Dons into having the best production of youth internationals. I am going to do this save as my last FM2020 save so I am hoping to get a lot of seasons done in the next 6-8 weeks.

I hope you all follow and enjoy it with me.

First update coming tonight.

[warlock]

58 minutes ago, karanhsingh said:

did you make a decision about the new save?

Took my first tentative steps as Salford manager last night 

It's certainly a full squad and arguably capable of playing any kind of tactic. There are enough CBs for a back 3, and some capable wingbacks, and enough strikers for 2 up front. Having considered the options, I will be playing the comfortably familiar 41221 .

No transfer business actually needed but it looks like a newly-promoted VNN squad and there are certainly a couple of areas I'd like to strengthen, particularly at GK. But of course there's no money, so all I've done so far is ask the board for a senior affiliate, hoping for one of the Manchester clubs... what I got was Liverpool. I feel so dirty but if they can bung us a couple of wonderkids I'm sure I'll get over it .

[warlock]

2 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

First update coming tonight.

Excellent! One day I'll do a youth save... but today is not that day 

[karanhsingh]

43 minutes ago, Ronaldo Beckham said:

I am enjoying my Leeds save after watching the Spurs documentary and seeing Dele Ali I have been inspired to start a new EFL game and I am going to try find the new Dele Ali with .......

To make it as hard as possible I am doing it as Youth only. My aim is to turn MK Dons into having the best production of youth internationals. I am going to do this save as my last FM2020 save so I am hoping to get a lot of seasons done in the next 6-8 weeks.

I hope you all follow and enjoy it with me.

First update coming tonight.

I had a fun save earlier with MK Don's, and they do have a strong predilection to developing their own youth. If memory serves, Kasamu became a useful player for me. Good luck! 

42 minutes ago, warlock said:

Took my first tentative steps as Salford manager last night 

It's certainly a full squad and arguably capable of playing any kind of tactic. There are enough CBs for a back 3, and some capable wingbacks, and enough strikers for 2 up front. Having considered the options, I will be playing the comfortably familiar 41221 .

No transfer business actually needed but it looks like a newly-promoted VNN squad and there are certainly a couple of areas I'd like to strengthen, particularly at GK. But of course there's no money, so all I've done so far is ask the board for a senior affiliate, hoping for one of the Manchester clubs... what I got was Liverpool. I feel so dirty but if they can bung us a couple of wonderkids I'm sure I'll get over it .

Liverpool  how did Neville and Co allow that!? 

Good luck, this should be a fun ride. 

[DefinitelyTaylor]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

Took my first tentative steps as Salford manager last night 

:O I never thought I'd see you lower yourself to managing $alford! 

[Jogo Bonito]

1 hour ago, warlock said:

Took my first tentative steps as Salford manager last night 

It's certainly a full squad and arguably capable of playing any kind of tactic. There are enough CBs for a back 3, and some capable wingbacks, and enough strikers for 2 up front. Having considered the options, I will be playing the comfortably familiar 41221 .

No transfer business actually needed but it looks like a newly-promoted VNN squad and there are certainly a couple of areas I'd like to strengthen, particularly at GK. But of course there's no money, so all I've done so far is ask the board for a senior affiliate, hoping for one of the Manchester clubs... what I got was Liverpool. I feel so dirty but if they can bung us a couple of wonderkids I'm sure I'll get over it .

Argh. I was really hoping you would try without an affiliate club just as something different, but completely forgot to suggest it.

Oh well, at least you got Liverpool as punishment 

[warlock]

25 minutes ago, Jogo Bonito said:

Argh. I was really hoping you would try without an affiliate club just as something different, but completely forgot to suggest it.

Well, for this first window it isn't going to make a lot of difference - the players I'd like are either already out on loan or not available to a lowly team such as ours.

35 minutes ago, DefinitelyTaylor said:

I never thought I'd see you lower yourself to managing $alford!

Ouch - straight to theheart!  In my defence I've never paid much attention to the goings on at Salford, but I can assure you that it isn't a sugardaddy save... if there's pots of money around, they're keeping them well hidden.

[Jogo Bonito]

30 minutes ago, warlock said:

Well, for this first window it isn't going to make a lot of difference - the players I'd like are either already out on loan or not available to a lowly team such as ours.

Ouch - straight to theheart!  In my defence I've never paid much attention to the goings on at Salford, but I can assure you that it isn't a sugardaddy save... if there's pots of money around, they're keeping them well hidden.

I only suggested them for you because of the MU connections as I thought that would connect you to it. Hopefully it won't mean they have too much money and you have to work hard for any success. And you can terminate the affiliate anytime my friend 

Edited September 30, 2020 by Jogo Bonito

[Ronaldo Beckham]

Already breaking records with MK Dons

 

[warlock]

1 hour ago, Jogo Bonito said:

I only suggested them for you because of the MU connections as I thought that would connect you to it

It was a good suggestion and I'm happy with the challenge. And to be honest, the best thing the Class of '92 could do for the club would be to come down and take a few coaching sessions.

[Creativity]

6 hours ago, warlock said:

Every day's a school day - thanks for the lesson 

 

Its an under appreciated part of the game. Tactics are boring after a length of time, putting together teams that make sense is lot more enjoyable.