[FM20] Irchester Utd. Tier 10. England. Home. Youth Only.

[Jimbokav1971]

Problem solved? Oct 2050. 

I mentioned fielding a really weak team against Forest and the thinking behind that was to really focus on this game. 

(44b) Big Don (JAM)(Bal)6'5" * has scored 3 league goals in 43 league games before this and I have spoken recently about the problems we have in this area. I played him as a WP(a), but his "form" shows that he actually played as a winger. It could be that the Ass Man over-ruled me. 

2 goals were scored at the back post from open play and the 3rd was scored from a 2nd ball after a long throw. He was also unlucky not to have an assist. I wasn't able to tell from the highlights whether he played as a WPM or a W but I will keep an eye on it. Either way, this is progress. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Return. Oct 2050. 

One of our old U18 coaches was poached by Man Utd and then moved on to the senior job at Bolton. 

Hands off! 

[Jimbokav1971]

Facilities. Oct 2050. 

The money we have pumped into the Facilities in the last 10 or so years is absolutely mind-blowing. 

We're doing ok financially though and have a number of players we could sell if needed without weakening the squad significantly. (Mainly strikers). 

[Jimbokav1971]

3rd fine of the season. Oct 2050. 

It wasn't the 6 yellow cards that were the problem, but the 1 red card in the 2nd minute certainly was.  We lost. Heavily. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Oct 2050. 

Championship. We had a tough month in terms of fixtures with a Cup game away against Premier League opposition squeezed in between tough away games against title contenders Charlton and Fulham. 

Cup games. 

This was the 1st goal against Charlton that gave an under-strength side a valuable point. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Not the solution I thought it was. Nov 2050. 

This is the 2nd hat-trick in 7 games for (44b) Big Don (JAM)(Bal)6'5" *, but it still isn't the solution. All 3 of these goals were scored from long throws and I still haven't found the answer to the problem of what role/duty to give him. I think the answer might be to revert to a W(s) in the ML slot and just look to utilise him from set-pieces. I seem to have got the long throws sorted and now I need to look at corners and then free-kicks. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2050. 

Championship. I picked a rotated squad for the Stoke game and they smashed us so severely that the players offered to refund the fans the cost of their tickets. The plan was for us to bounce back and win the Blackburn game 3 days later with a stronger and fresher team, but we couldn't finish them. (44b) Big Don (JAM)(Bal)6'5" * scored another hat-trick, (did someone say that we don't score enough of them?), but despite scoring 4 goals against Rotherham, we came away with no points. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Problem? What problem? Dec 2050. 

After scoring 3 goals in 43 games, (44b) Big Don (JAM)(Bal)6'5" * has come in this season and after my tinkering has scored 3 hat-tricks in 8 games. 

I decided to go back to the W(s) role because I don't think the tactic was broken. I just don't think I had paid proper attention to set-pieces, (not like me at all), and now that I have rectified this all is well with the World. 

Not only did (44b) Big Don (JAM)(Bal)6'5" * score a hat-trick, but so did (43e) Mario (JAM) (L.Det) * and (39a) Harri (M.Pro) * scored a brace.

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2050. 

What do I want? 

Full backs or wingers I think. 

• Another Golden Generation. 
• Lots of full backs, (1 of whom is decent). 
• A decent striker. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2050. 

Championship. We've really hit form and what a contract it is to this time last season where we couldn't win for toffee. 

Cup games. This loss is down to me. I rotated the squad to give more youngsters a game, but although we played well and had the better of the game, we didn't stick the ball in the net and they did. Twice. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Big Bid. Jan 2051.

The board accepted the offer and I wasn't paying attention. The 1st thing I knew about the deal was when I saw this message. 

He's rejected the offer from Southampton and the only reason for this can be that they are currently 19th in the Championship and we're sitting in 5th. We're paying him a paltry £3,000 per week and he has 2 and a half years left on his contract. He's the best player at the club and I think I'm going to offer him an improved contract to try and keep him here longer. If we don't get him to sign a new contract now and then get promoted this season, we will have to pay through the nose to get him to re-sign as a Premier League club. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2051.

Championship. The Watford and Portsmouth losses were not disasters because we were away and they are good teams, but I was really annoyed that we lost to Coventry who sit in the relegation zone.

[Jimbokav1971]

Feb 2051.

Championship. A really good month saw us go top of the table after the Blackburn game, but we then went and blew it by losing to Rotherham. 

[TheMadMonk]

As part of my 'Dirty Leeds' save - this season I'm top of the fouls committed table - but also have conceded more goals than anyone else from IDFK.

My initial thought was the goals from Free Kicks was due to poor defending - or Free Kick set up - but thinking it through if I'm conceding more fouls then I'm going to be conceding more Free Kicks.

As your running with a 'fully committed' team are you also losing more goals from (Indirect) Free Kicks than the rest of the league. ? - or do the two stats not have to go hand in hand and do I need to work on my defence?

[rodesire]

wonderful going Jimbo, team is firing on all cylinders now, surely

[Jimbokav1971]

2 hours ago, TheMadMonk said:

As part of my 'Dirty Leeds' save - this season I'm top of the fouls committed table - but also have conceded more goals than anyone else from IDFK.

My initial thought was the goals from Free Kicks was due to poor defending - or Free Kick set up - but thinking it through if I'm conceding more fouls then I'm going to be conceding more Free Kicks.

As your running with a 'fully committed' team are you also losing more goals from (Indirect) Free Kicks than the rest of the league. ? - or do the two stats not have to go hand in hand and do I need to work on my defence?

To be honest, we concede lots of goals full stop.

For the last decade or so I haven't been even watching highlights, (until I tried to fix the ML problem this season). Let's have a look now though. 

Goals conceded. We knew it was going to be a lot, but that's LOADS considering we are challenging for the title. 

Conceded from corners. My initial reaction is that we have a GK who was a teenager at the start of the season, but the reality is that we are just a bit short in this area I think, (albeit with 2 decent centre-backs developing). The truth though is that I probably need to look at this again. 

Conceded from DFK's. If we are giving away more free-kicks then it stands to reason that we are going to concede more goals from DFK's. I actually did a fair but of work with this initially, (in terms of putting round pegs in round holes), but much like the other set-ups it hasn't been updated in decades. 

Conceded from IFK's. I think this is a good "base level" to compare things like corners to. If you are conceding more of 1 then you know that there is a problem with the other that can be resolved. Unfortunately we are poor at both. That being said, things have improved since I looked at my ML set-piece roles. This is something I need to do more regularly when I have big players playing in the side other than at centre-half. I hadn't updated these for 2 decades+. 

Clean sheets. This stat really jumps out at me because it doesn't sit in line with the others at all. How can we concede so many goals, but at the same time keep so many clean sheets. This is by design rather than by accident and is down to my rotation policy which allows me not only to rest and rotate players, (in order target specific games), but also allows me to introduce youngsters who are not ready for 1st team football yet. We often keep clean sheets when I go with a rested strong team, but when we go with a really rotated side we sometimes get hammered. Our rotated sides have conceded 4 goals 3 times and even 5 and 6 goals on 1 occasions each. When we are bad we are really bad, but again, that's sort of the plan if it allows us to collect 3 points in the next game rather than maybe 1 point in each game or 1 point from the 2 games. It's one of the most key aspects of my save. 

Fouls made. I'm frustrated that this isn't higher, but how can it be when we are near the top of the league? 

Tackles won. At 1st glance I look at this and I think it's reasonable that we are so low on this because we have more of the ball, and the only way our foul count is so contrastingly high is because of the pressing and PPM's that the squad has developed. The teams currently in 1st and 2nd place in the league, (we're 3rd), are below us on this list. 

Tackles won %. This is more concerning but also makes sense I think. I'm asking players to dive off their feet and into tackles and it stands to reason that this is going to encourage mistakes on occasion. Also, every foul is a lost tackle right? 

Penalties conceded. I think this is penalties given away rather than penalties that the opposition have scored from, but it's to be expected. 

In summary, I don't like to look at individual stats in isolation, (because we can often come up with poor conclusions). Also, there can often be mitigating circumstances that explain why you are conceding in a certain area, (like developing a young GK for example). That being said, (and I speak from personal experience here), it's really good practice to regularly, (I mean at least once per season), go and look at your set-pieces, (both attacking and defending), and look at not only if your 1st choice players are available do they fit in with what they are being asked to do, but also if things fit quite so well when your 2nd choice players are playing. My ML position discussion is a perfect example of that. I'm going to give (44b) Big Don (JAM)(Bal)6'5" * important specific roles at set-pieces, (attacking and defending), but what happens when he's not there? The players who are asked to fill in have to not only be able to perform in that role. They also need to be able to fulfill his set-piece duties. So if you have a particularly big full-back for example you might want to make use of him, (or more likely a striker), but you also need to think about who is likely replacement is and what happens when they play. This is certainly an area that I fell down and by being more aware of that it has contributed to an up-turn in performances and form. (Round pegs in round holes). 

Edited September 14, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

44 minutes ago, rodesire said:

wonderful going Jimbo, team is firing on all cylinders now, surely

It's amazing isn't it. Fix that ML problem, (that didn't really need fixing in the 1st place), and suddenly we are a decent team. Small things matter in FM. 

[Thebaker]

Great performance this season. Perhaps when you concede you concede a lot of goals, Could point to your defenders and goalie being very inconsistent in performance.  Are they all quite young?

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

Great performance this season. Perhaps when you concede you concede a lot of goals, Could point to your defenders and goalie being very inconsistent in performance.  Are they all quite young?

I think I've covered that in the most recent post but you may have missed that. 

We do have a young GK but I think the biggest factor is that the figures are skewed by the fact that we rotate so much and I effectively give up on 1 game in order to specifically target the games on either side. We've had some great results with weakened sides, (although we have also got hammered). 

The other thing I would say is that we have had more early red cards this season than i can remember in a while. If you get a late red card then it's far less likely to influence the scoreline and result than a 1st half red card. It's not impossible to get a result with a 1st half red, (because we have), but it's pretty bloomin hard). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Rotation Policy. Mar 2051. 

I've been getting questions about my rotation policy so thought I would explain. 

It's basically all about marginal gains. 

When we have a period of 3 games in a week or so, I often choose to target games 1 and 3 with the same string side and then field a significantly weakened side in the middle fixture. Even if we lose the middle game, 6 points from 3 games is a decent return. It's important that we win often though because draws are no good in this strategy. 

This was early this season. We had 2 league games with a Cup game against weaker opposition in the middle. It stands to reason that we will go "big" in games 1 and 3 and "weak" in game 2. This is an extreme example because Notts Co play at a lower level, but you get the gist. Obviously there is no guarantee that you will win the "big" games, and we only drew against Watford here. 

This is a better example. Forest are a big side in this league and we are away. Some people would go "big" against forest and "weak" in the other 2 games, (or even play pretty much the same squad in all 3 games, but I don't think that's the best idea. We are not one of the top teams in the league. We are "punching" even to be up there at all. The very nature of this save means that I need to give 1st team exposure to players before they are ready, so if I go "big" against Forest and we lose, (because they are better than us), but our "weakened" or "fatigued" team also fails to get a result against Crewe and/or Sunderland, then (1). Where do we pick up our points? and (2). How do we blood our youngsters? I basically forfeit the Forest game, (and anything we get is a bonus). I completely rotate the whole squad apart from GK, (1st choice starters ideally shouldn't even make the bench), and concentrate on winning, (or at least getting results in the games either side). In this case we didn't win against Crewe, but we smashed Sunderland. 

This one is a good example. I prioritised the 1st and 3rd games. Ipswich are poor but both Portsmouth and Charlton were title contenders. We beat Ipswich, somehow managed to get a brilliant point at home to Portsmouth with a rotated side and then because our 1st team were fresh from not playing mid-week, we got another brilliant point against Charlton, (who were a much better side than us). So we got the 3 points against Ipswich and then basically nabbed 2 points from the other 2 games when we would have expected to get 0.

The other thing to mention here is that there is not just a condition saving in terms of 1 game to the next, although that's significant, but there is also a lack of fatigue as the season develops. Players are playing less minutes so the hit they take each game is less severe. 

We seem to do better in really  busy months and poorer during quiet periods where there are few games, (although December last season was an obvious exception). 

Of course there are times that it doesn't work, and here is an obvious example of that. The 1st and 3rd games were "weak" squads with us going "big" or "strong" against Blackburn. The Stoke game wasn't a disaster because that's why we play the weakened squads, to get a hammering while the 1st team boys rest up to win against Blackburn, but when we don't win against Blackburn then the whole thing seems pretty stupid. 

In this case we got battered by Stoke, only managed a draw against Blackburn and then only made a game of it in the 2nd half against Rotherham when (44b) Big Don (JAM)(Bal)6'5" * came on at half-time and tore up the place. 

It's far from fool-proof as you can see from the last example, but without it there is no way on earth we would be where we are now in this save without it. 

[enterprise1]

On 12/09/2020 at 11:18, Jimbokav1971 said:

Sorry, forgot to respond to this bit. 

I don't scout opposition instructions because I don't play the games remember. 

Because I use an IR button there is no opportunity to do team-talks or opposition instructions or to react to anything at all. There is quite a different method to playing the game like this and opposition scouting just tends to cloud the issue for me. Instead I just want to focus on what we do, and do it as well as we can. The biggest way in which use of the IR button impacts on a save like this is that you can't put n young players on the bench and expect your Ass Man to use them. He just won't. You just have to accept that and find an alternative solution as to how you blood youngsters. My method is to start them rather than put them on the bench and allow the Ass Man to drag them off at HT. 

Can still be useful to scout the opposition under these circumstances. I have 3 different tactics and will decide which one to use depending on which formation the opposition is vulnerable to (according to my analysts/scouts).

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, enterprise1 said:

Can still be useful to scout the opposition under these circumstances. I have 3 different tactics and will decide which one to use depending on which formation the opposition is vulnerable to (according to my analysts/scouts).

Yeah, of course you are right, but the whole point of the IR button was to speed things up and allow me to get through the seasons and develop players. Swapping between tactics, (while completely sensible in terms of results), doesn't really fit with the whole feel of the save that is basically, "Individual results don't matter. Development and a general upwards trend do."

I know we have done really well to get where we are, (considering where we have come from and the limitation we have placed on ourselves), but this save isn't really about that. It's FAR more about the development of players and club than winning this or that, (even though we are obviously attracted to shiny things with blue ribbons on them). 

[Jimbokav1971]

Foreign Tycoon. Mar 2051. 

I really don't want this to happen. This would be a disaster. 

[Pompeyboyz]

3 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Foreign Tycoon. Mar 2051. 

I really don't want this to happen. This would be a disaster. 

Not like there is much in the way of facilities to invest in now 

But if they want you to buy players and you are wanting to invest in youth, that might go against you...especially if they want instant success

[Jimbokav1971]

15 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2050. 

What do I want? 

Full backs or wingers I think. 

• Another Golden Generation. 
• Lots of full backs, (1 of whom is decent). 
• A decent striker. 

Youth Intake day. Mar 2051. 

A Golden Generation with 0x 5.0 PA players? 

Squad by PA. 0x 5.0 PA players and 0x 4.5 PA players but 4x 4.0 PA players. I guess we will keep and eye on it and see how they develop. It's a little gutting to not get any 5.0 players, but then again when we have good players at the club now it's possibly to be expected. Still strange that it's a Golden Generation with nothing above 4.0 though. 

Nations represented by previous Youth Intakes. 

New Nations represented by this Youth Intake.  I was sure that we had seen a THA player come through in this save, but he's not on the list so I'm guessing it was the Ton Pentre save. (This has made this intake for me by the way. It's not that good really, but another Nationality! woop woop). 

(51a) Vigani (ITA) (Unamb). I quite like that he is Italian only, and if you look at the history of the save, we have produced quite a few high PA "foreigners" so I wonder if he might actually be better than 4.0 PA. I certainly hope so. It's early days yet but he looks pretty decent. 

(51d) Muangparn (THA) (F.Pro). This is probably my favourite player from the intake. He's physically good for a 16 year old, technically lots of his attributes are nearing double figures and his mentals are very good indeed. The personality is a decent starting point and the PPM "cuts inside" mirrors that of (48a) Doyle (F.Pro) who is now our 1st choice, (although I haven't worked out how best to utilise his PPM yet). 

(51e) Jordan (F.Pro). What catches the eye initially here is passing, technique and first touch. I like his personality and the "long Passes" PPM although "doesn't dive in" is less appealing. Vision is a small issue but that maybe lends to him starting at MCR and then moving to MCL over the course of his career. Needs a little work physically but not loads. I really like him.

(51o) NdM (BEL) (Pro). There are 2 reasons that I am showing you him. (1) is that he has a good personality, and I think the game tends to under-value players with good personalities for some reason. (They are often better than the initial report suggests), but also (2) He's a foreign player with no English as 2nd Nationality and we have seen quite a few of these come through over the years and they are often better than the initial reports. It's no guarantee, but I will be keeping an eye on him and seeing if the report changes significantly. 

Looking at the HoyD..... he says that he has been influential in bringing through (51n) Alnwick (L.Det) in terms of "playing style". (51n) Alnwick (L.Det) is a GK and to be honest I don't really understand this..... oh hang on. That means Physical, Leader, Distributor, Intelligent, Creative etc etc doesn't it? and in this case he's "Assertive". It would be better to see that on an outfield player I think, or maybe the HoYD is a GK specialist? (but I have just checked and he's an ex real player who was a midfielder).  He says that he has shaped the "mentality" of players such as (51d) Muangparn (THA) (F.Pro) and (51e) Jordan (F.Pro), (who just happen to be 2 of the players that I have picked out), but all in all I think the personalities of the players are largely pretty poor. 

I think I'm going to bite the bullet and replace him. (I looked at this a few months ago and he was on a rolling contract, Please don't let me have renewed it.....)

Meet our new HoYD. 

He looks good in terms of attributes. 
I obviously love his personality. 
Preferred formation is 442. 
Tactical style is not ideal at all but we will just have to see how that manifests itself in terms of players. 
WWY is 16. 
Biggest coaching area of strength is Attacking. Does this mean we are likely to see better attackers produced than defenders? 
Despite his tactical style being "Route 1" he has a preference to "work ball into box" and doesn't "use offside trap". 

I guess we will just have to see how he develops. Our old HoYD has been with us since 2035, (so 16 years), so he has served is really well until now, but now we need a change. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Pompeyboyz said:

Not like there is much in the way of facilities to invest in now 

But if they want you to buy players and you are wanting to invest in youth, that might go against you...especially if they want instant success

Yeah. Or even if they want me to buy foreign players from their home Nation. 

I think I mentioned previously that the way I play is much more conducive to a Fans Consortium because I don't want him to throw money at us. I am happy to generate all the money myself. 

[Thebaker]

Usually if they are a foreign tycoon , you end up with loads of youth players coming through with that nationality. Not sure about buying players from that country.

[Jimbokav1971]

Board Takeover. Mar 2051.

I thought it was just a rumour. It appears not. 

I've looked and there are no messages other than the rumour one. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Potential deal. Mar 2051. 

This is club legend (44c) Hamilton (F.Pro) *. We sold him to Forest 3 years ago for £7.5M but for whatever reason has hardly featured over the last few seasons. It would be really good if we could get him in, (oh damn, but if we are in the middle of a Takeover then there should also be a transfer embargo that nobody has told me about). 

[Jimbokav1971]

15 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Board Takeover. Mar 2051.

I thought it was just a rumour. It appears not. 

I've looked and there are no messages other than the rumour one. 

Developments. Mar 2051. 

No bids have been made. So we are not in the process of a takeover then? 

[deez0r]

Just now, Jimbokav1971 said:

Developments. Mar 2051. 

No bids have been made. So we are not in the process of a takeover then? 

Finley O'Neill. I wonder where he is from

[Jimbokav1971]

4 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Potential deal. Mar 2051. 

This is club legend (44c) Hamilton (F.Pro) *. We sold him to Forest 3 years ago for £7.5M but for whatever reason has hardly featured over the last few seasons. It would be really good if we could get him in, (oh damn, but if we are in the middle of a Takeover then there should also be a transfer embargo that nobody has told me about). 

Update. Mar 2051. 

We've managed to sign him for £600,000, 3 years after selling him for £7.5M. 

He's still only 23 so I have signed him to a 4 year deal. 

Because we still had a 50% clause on him, we actually only paid them £300,000. 

He's a "lefty" striker so time to sell one of the existing lefty strikers I think. 

[Jimbokav1971]

5 minutes ago, deez0r said:

Finley O'Neill. I wonder where he is from

Actually he's not. 

[deez0r]

1 minute ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Actually he's not. 

Bloody hell must be an immigrant

[Jimbokav1971]

27 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

Usually if they are a foreign tycoon , you end up with loads of youth players coming through with that nationality. Not sure about buying players from that country.

I thought I had seen others talk about Tycoons asking them to sign players of their own nationality. Maybe that's something else. 

[Thebaker]

Forest paid the player 10%  of the remainder as well, that seems a shocking deal on their part

[Thebaker]

Just now, Jimbokav1971 said:

I thought I had seen others talk about Tycoons asking them to sign players of their own nationality. Maybe that's something else. 

Perhaps it depends on the country involved.

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

Forest paid the player 10%  of the remainder as well, that seems a shocking deal on their part

I noticed that too. Where as I highlighted Brighton for being a particularly well run club in terms of transfers, Forest are an absolute shambles if this is anything to go on. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Mar 2051. 

Championship. A big result with a weakened side against West Ham kept us unbeaten this month, (and assisted the demolition of Brentford3 days later). Fulham and Charlton above us are in terrific form though and actually moved away from 

[Jimbokav1971]

Labelled the next. Apr 2051.

A feature in the game I have always really enjoyed is Media comparison.

(47a) Best (F.Det) * could be the next Peter Shilton. 

(48j) Sharpe (F.Pro) labelled the next Harry Kane. 

(49a) Parsons (Unamb) Touted as the next Michael Owen.  

[Jimbokav1971]

Ex Academy watch. Apr 2051. 

Remember the Spanish centre-half (39b) JFC (ESP) (Perf) 5'10" * who went to Valencia and then Brighton and then onto Wolves? 

Well he's looking pretty damn fine. 

It's just a shame that he went to Wolves rather than a big club.......

Wrong! 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

1600 up. Apr 2051. 

[Jimbokav1971]

5th fine of the season, (I think). Apr 2051. 

We won. 

[rodesire]

what a career JFC had!  so glad you gave him a chance early on!

[Jimbokav1971]

Poached. Apr 2051. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, rodesire said:

what a career JFC had!  so glad you gave him a chance early on!

I'm not positive, but I have a feeling he was just good enough straight away. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Tycoon Takeover? Apr 2051. 

But not a foreign one.

[Jimbokav1971]

Apr 2051. 

Championship. My recent ridicule of Forest came back to haunt me as they smashed a weakened team 4-0, but while I would like to say that it was the Southampton result that cost us, except that even had we won it we would have still fallen just short. The truth is that Fulham and Charlton were too good for us and we need to pick ourselves up and go and beat 1st West Ham and then whoever wins the other Semi. 

[rodesire]

my body is ready for more playoff pain

[deez0r]

Your keeper to miss a penalty in the last minute in biggest bit of irony we have seen in football. (side note I hope this is not true and you go up!)