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

[Jimbokav1971]

Nov 2051. 

Premier League. I'll be completely honest with you here. I was hoping for at least 5 points from these 3 games. I thought we would beat Leeds and I thought we could draw the other 2. We almost did beat Palace, (leading into injury time), and Leeds scored with a dodgy penalty and we couldn't put the ball in the net so we end up with just 3 points from the 3 games and we lost our best right back for months.  

On the plus side, w're becoming more competitive now and all the games have been won by a single goal with the exception of Brighton, (very good team now), Man Utd and Chelsea. I don't think we are a million miles away from where we want to be. We're only 2 points off Leeds in 17th and had we beaten Palace it would have been a different story. 

In other news, these are our December fixtures. Charlton and Everton look to be our best hope of points here so I will be sending a weakened squad out against City, (could get messy), and Spurs too, (because we have Sheff Utd on New Years day). If we can win 2 out of those 3 games and pick up 1 point elsewhere I will be a happy man. (I know those expectations are pretty modest but all I'm aiming for is 17th). 

I've gone back to IR'ing the game and then covering the screen so I can't see the result and then watching the highlights. It's 2051 and I'm as hooked as I have ever been on this save. In many ways it's better because it's so hard. 

[P.oPpolicchio]

I think you are doing pretty much good,

about playing friendly game, I never did that.  I prefer talk to every player one by one all the time,  to keep the mood up.

[P.oPpolicchio]

besides, did you play friendly game instead of premier league game which were then rescheduled?  this is another thing I never thought it was possible to do.

I mean it's kinda like an exploit

Edited September 17, 2020 by P.oPpolicchio

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, P.oPpolicchio said:

I think you are doing pretty much good,

about playing friendly game, I never did that.  I prefer talk to every player one by one all the time,  to keep the mood up.

A friendly increases fitness as well as morale. You can;t improve fitness by talking to the players. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, P.oPpolicchio said:

besides, did you play friendly game instead of premier league game which were then rescheduled?  this is another thing I never thought it was possible to do.

I mean it's kinda like an exploit of something that shouldn't work like that, so I don't like that much xD

No. The friendlies aren't instead of Premier League games. They were played in the gaps between the league games. 

[P.oPpolicchio]

ah okay, sounds better then, since I saw you were the only one who played less game in premier league I thought of something like that.

 

 

Edited September 17, 2020 by P.oPpolicchio

[Jimbokav1971]

Just now, P.oPpolicchio said:

ah okay, sounds better then, since I saw you were the only one who played less game in premier league I thought of something like that.

No. Our stadium is not big enough for Premier League so we can't play there. Instead we are sharing with MK Dons. Because we are sharing we can't play games at same time unless they are away. 

[Sonic Youth]

Tough start, but still in the right distance that a couple of good results changes everything.

Are teams consistently lining up with 3 forwards against you like Wolves did?

[Jimbokav1971]

6 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Tough start, but still in the right distance that a couple of good results changes everything.

Are teams consistently lining up with 3 forwards against you like Wolves did?

Yeah. Overall I'm not too unhappy with how things are going. I haven't had many tough seasons all the way through the save so it's only right that I embrace this one. 

I'm not actually sure what formation teams have played against us. I will have look later, add opposition formations to the fixture schedule and see what's what. 

[Jimbokav1971]

8 hours ago, Sonic Youth said:

Are teams consistently lining up with 3 forwards against you like Wolves did?

It's a bit of a mixed bag really. 

The games we have taken points from have only played 1 up front, but then again our opposition in those games were the weaker teams in the league who you would expect to play a more conservative brand of football. 

On the other hand, we lost by a single goal to Wolves, (best team in the Country right now) and Villa who both play 3 up top. 

[Sonic Youth]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

It's a bit of a mixed bag really. 

The games we have taken points from have only played 1 up front, but then again our opposition in those games were the weaker teams in the league who you would expect to play a more conservative brand of football. 

On the other hand, we lost by a single goal to Wolves, (best team in the Country right now) and Villa who both play 3 up top. 

Not sure what to take from that, except that most of your positive results are on TV 

The other thing I see is you play better when teams are wide, and have seen most of your heavy losses when they are narrow.

Could you change the team settings while keeping the tactic? If your wider when they line up narrow, could you match them (narrow the instructions a bit)?

[Jimbokav1971]

13 minutes ago, Sonic Youth said:

Not sure what to take from that, except that most of your positive results are on TV 

The other thing I see is you play better when teams are wide, and have seen most of your heavy losses when they are narrow.

Could you change the team settings while keeping the tactic? If your wider when they line up narrow, could you match them (narrow the instructions a bit)?

You need to remember that for games like Brighton (0-4), Man Utd (0-4), Chelsea (0-3) and Liverpool (1-4), I really wasn't expecting anything out of these games so we weren't at full strength. 

On the other hand, against Villa (1-2), Fulham (1-1), Burnley (2-1), Boro (1-1), Leeds (0-1), Palace (2-3) and Bristol (2-1) we fielded our full-strength team. 

[Jimbokav1971]

4th fine of the season. Dec 2051. 

We lost. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Transfer Target. Dec 2051. 

When I look at my shortlist, (players who have come through our Academy before leaving), and rank them by Scout recommendation, (HG47) Brendan Gillies is now ranked 7th with a score of 76. 

I only bid £5M for him before, but I think now it would be reasonable to go back in for him in a bigger way. 

Leicester have said that they want £20.5M +20% profit. That's a LOT of money, but you also have to understand that we are hugely limited to players we can buy and he's playing in the Championship at the moment with Leicester and they are 2nd in the Championship. It's quite possible that we will get relegated this season and they will get promoted and we will have lost our opportunity. 

We currently have £74M in the bank and we have a transfer budget of £37M, so a deal is certainly doable, but obviously I don't want to pay £20M for him and I also don't want a % of next sale or % of profit clause. 

I've rejected the deal rather than negotiated it, (so that I can completely remove the % profit clause), and will go back in with an improved bid.

I went in with £10M straight cash which I know is cheeky, but nothing ventured, nothing gained eh!

They've countered with an £18M straight cash bid and I wonder if I cane get them down to £15M? The question is, (before I press "make offer"), is if I am prepared to pay £15M for a player. I think I am. 

They have accepted the £15M offer and now I just have to get the contract done.

For those who look at his name and wonder why I am able to buy him, he was a product of our Academy who was poached while still at our Academy by Leicester. 

After all that I couldn't get a contract done. GAHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!! 

He's 21 but wanted to be a star player and even offering him £40k per week and £1.3 cash bonus I couldn't get him to sign. He's currently being paid £2,800 per week at Leicester. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Scouting. Dec 2051. 

The deal might be dead right now, but never say never. 

I'm going to go and watch Leicester twice in December and I will try again in Jan. 

[DSousa06]

JimbOUT!

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, DSousa06 said:

JimbOUT!

[Jimbokav1971]

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2051.

I'm not really sure what position I most want now. A central midfielder perhaps? A big left winger or a normal sized right winger? 

Not a GK or a centre-half though. 

Lots of full backs with 1 of them decent. 

2 decent strikers. 

A Slovakian attacking midfielder,  but not sure what side he plays on. Have we had a Slovakian before? 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Rotation policy. Dec 2051. 

The results aren't coming quite yet, but the performances certainly are. We've just played a completely rotated side, (with 2 more players injured), against Man City and only lost to a 96th minute goal. The idea is that we basically gave up any chance that we had of points in this game, (almost no chance), in the hope that we would gain points 3 days later at Everton. Instead our youngsters almost grabbed us a point. 

The problem now though is that if we don't get something out of the Everton game then we have wasted this. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Job offer #49. Dec 2051. 

I was really surprised that I was offered the Welsh job, but I had forgotten that my in game character is Welsh in a hat-tip to my recent Ton Pentre save in Wales. 

I won't be taking the job because I'm far too busy with club football at the moment. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Clauses. Dec 2051. 

See this is really strange. We are getting 50% of the add-on clauses, but we didn't get 50% of the initial sale!

Bu the way I did report it as a big and SI got back to me to tell me that they had investigated and replicated and were looking to resolve. So that should be that. 

[Jimbokav1971]

5th fine of the season. Dec 2051. 

8 yellows and 2 reds isn't going to win us many games. It's certainly going to help us win away to Spurs with a weakened line-up. (Good to see that the back-ups know how to get right stuck-in though). 

I know that the message says it's 2 cards. but I promise you it's 5.

That's 5 fines before New Year. I'm pretty sure we have never managed that before.  

[Jimbokav1971]

Dec 2051. 

Premier League. This month didn't go exactly as planned, but it wasn't far off. We won against both Everton & Charlton, but could only manage 1 point in our 3rd targeted game against Bournemouth. In our defence we were missing 2 players against Bournemouth. That we almost picked up a point against Man City is ridiculous. 

We're 3 points outside the relegation zone, (which is brilliant), but it's early days yet. 6 league games plus an FA Cup game in Jan will be pivotal in deciding the outcome of our season. 

Goal-scoring keepers. (47a) Best (F.Det) * has 2 goals from free-kicks, but he has also missed the 1 penalty we were awarded.

It's interesting that where as previous keepers preferred wider positions when scoring free-kicks, (47a) Best (F.Det) * has now scored 2 from very central positions. I wonder if it's less about the free-kick taker and more about the position of the defending keepers. The keepers we have come up against previously have been of a lower standard and I wonder if that's why they were more easily beaten from wide positions, (positioning themselves poorly). Now that the keepers are better, we either need a top-class free kick or a deflection or some swervage like this one. 

 

Edited September 17, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Facilities. Dec 2051. 

We just need the Youth Recruitment to go up now but it's still not available to ask. 

Has anyone ever managed to get to 20.20.20.20 before with a small club? Is it reputation I need or something else? 

Edited September 17, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Poached. Dec 2051. 

This is as good a time as any to re-visit the transfer deal and see if I can get it over the line this time. 

I've tried with a £14M bid and I will just add the missing £1M to his bonus to sweeten the deal if I can. 

In fact, in view of this, I've withdrawn the £14M bid and will make a £10M bid in a couple of days. 

They rejected £10M so I went in with £12.5M

Looks like neither our fans nor the Toffees fans are overly keen. 

The Everton manager doesn't sound keen.

I watched him for the 2nd time away to West Brom and it was his 1st League start. He didn't have a good game, was booked and was withdrawn after 61 mins. 

It still bothers me that the media are talking about the deal being worth £5.5M and we are paying more than double and close to treble, but I have such few players I can sign that I don't feel that I have a choice other than to pay over the odds. 

They rejected our £12.5M but so I countered with a £14M bid. 

They rejected £14M so I made my last bid at £15M. 

We finally get our man. 

And just to remind anyone who isn't aware, although he shows as coming through the Academy at Leicester, he was actually poached from our Academy, (hence I'm willing to sign him). 

(40a) Sjoberg (Bal) was snapped up for a modest £88,000 to come in as our 2nd choice right back, (and he will move to back-up after (43j) Richard Jenkins (Res) returns from a broken ankle), but because we had a 50% clause on him we pay just £44,000. #Bargain He's not brilliant, but will do a job. 

I think that's our transfer business over for this window. 

[Jimbokav1971]

We've hit form. Dec 2051. 

We missed a penalty and STILL scored 6 (SIX) goals. 

New boy (HG47) Brendan Gillies scored 1 goals and created 2 more on his debut. 

[Jimbokav1971]

New records. Jan 2051. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Job Offer #50. Jan 2052. 

This is now the 3rd time that Chelsea that have offered me the job but it's the 1st time that a top 10 Premier League club has offered me the job. 

Spanking 6 goals past them last week must have made an impression. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Jan 2052. 

Premier League. A brilliant month and better than we could have hoped for. In a perfect World I thought we might have got results against Sheff Utd (twice) and Boro, but I thought that there was no chance in getting anything at all from Liverpool or Chelsea. As it happens we battered Chelsea and had to field a weakened side against Boro in order that we were fresh for Villa on 3rd Jan. 

We've now moved a whopping 9 points clear of the relegation zone as the 3 sides at the bottom seem to be falling slightly adrift. 

Cup games. We were battered and it could be 5 or 6. 

[Jimbokav1971]

6th fine of the season. Feb 2052. 

6 yellows really isn't a problem, but once again an early red card, (21st minute), is obviously hard to overcome. We drew. 

 

[Watson156]

This is amazing, have just read through all of it and have come to one conclusion. I hate you!!

I had finally managed to get into a game past 2 seasons, and now after reading through all of this, I am going to stop playing it and try a youth only challenge. Thanks!!!

 

[-Jef-]

Cracking stuff mate

[Jimbokav1971]

8 hours ago, Watson156 said:

This is amazing, have just read through all of it and have come to one conclusion. I hate you!!

I had finally managed to get into a game past 2 seasons, and now after reading through all of this, I am going to stop playing it and try a youth only challenge. Thanks!!!

 

Haha. 

I'll take that as a compliment. Thank you. 

[Jimbokav1971]

8 hours ago, Watson156 said:

This is amazing, have just read through all of it and have come to one conclusion. I hate you!!

I had finally managed to get into a game past 2 seasons, and now after reading through all of this, I am going to stop playing it and try a youth only challenge. Thanks!!!

 

Yeah, we're going ok at the moment, but \as mentioned I think it benefits us when the games come thick and fast and that period is over now. Will  be interesting at least. 

[Jimbokav1971]

When you to load last game and there is no save there.......

I've still got the last save point but it's not showing up as last game. That's a little strange. 

Yep. Has loaded in the correct spot. [breathes a sigh of relief]

That reminds me I should probably save to cloud today. 

 

[deez0r]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

When you to load last game and there is no save there.......

I've still got the last save point but it's not showing up as last game. That's a little strange. 

Yep. Has loaded in the correct spot. [breathes a sigh of relief]

That reminds me I should probably save to cloud today. 

 

That happened to me today as well!

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, deez0r said:

That happened to me today as well!

Maybe it's linked to the pretty sizeable update that I got today. Strange time of year for that though. 

[Makoto Nakamura]

Just now, Jimbokav1971 said:

Maybe it's linked to the pretty sizeable update that I got today. Strange time of year for that though. 

It may be because FM20 is free on the Epic store until next Thursday. 

[jcoll]

Class work Jimbo. 6-1 against Chelsea is a cracking result, hopefully you keep building that gap between you and 18th.

[Jimbokav1971]

4 minutes ago, Makoto Nakamura said:

It may be because FM20 is free on the Epic store until next Thursday. 

Yeah, I considered that, but wasn't sure how that would effect existing games. You could be right though. I've got no other explanation and the timing is right for that. 

[B.W.G]

Cracking win over Chelsea and great to see you pull away from the bottom three.

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, jcoll said:

Class work Jimbo. 6-1 against Chelsea is a cracking result, hopefully you keep building that gap between you and 18th.

I was really surprised by that result. We even missed a penalty so it could have been 7. 

There were no red cards or serious injuries either. 

Maybe they played a weakened team, (I never checked), because we both played an FA Cup game a few days earlier. I went weak in the FA Cup because survival in the Premier League is my priority and it cost us in that we lost, but then to win scoring 6 made it a good decision. 

These are the ages and the player values for the Chelsea starting XI to see if they went with a weak starting XI. 

GK. 23yo MEX International with 25 Caps valued at £39.5M

DL. 24yo ENG rotation player valued at £9.5M
DC. 21yo BRA with 13 Caps valued at £40.5M
DC. 20yo ENG rotation player valued at £5.5M 
DR. 32yo ENG 1 club experienced Pro who has made 400+ league appearances for Chelsea valued at £25M

MLC. 24yo ENG 1 club player valued at £59M
MC. 21yo NED with 4 Caps valued at £33M
MRC. 21yo ENG 1 club player valued at £39.5M

SLC. 27yo POR with 20 Caps valued at £43M
SC. 17yo LVA valued at £18.75M
SRC. 23yo ENF valued at £12.75M

So yeah they were weak at the back and their central striker was only 17, but Chelsea have the best Academy in the Country, (still ahead of us I think), and there is no excuse for any team they put out losing to us. 

If they had matched us up and gone 442 they would have battered us. Even playing players out of position. 
 

[Jimbokav1971]

32 minutes ago, B.W.G said:

Cracking win over Chelsea and great to see you pull away from the bottom three.

Yeah thanks. I was a bit engrossed in the game yesterday and didn't comment on it too much, but it was a mixture of us resting all 11 players in the Cup 4 days earlier, (we lost 0-2 to Stoke) and them being in a bit of a hole. They have a phenomenal youth set-up but it's just not working for them at the moment. They have offered me the job 3 times now, (not an interview, the actual job), but this season will be their 6th consecutive season without European football and their last trophy was in 2044. 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

7th fine of the season. Mar 2052.

We are absolutely smashing the ill-discipline, (and everything and everyone else), and we must surely be getting close to whatever the discipline record for the Premier League. 

I've just checked the discipline record for the Premier League in recent seasons. 

We've already absolutely smashed it and I must have missed the message. 

The most yellows collected by any team in Premier League history, (in the game), was 97 by Wolves in 2041/42, and we have already smashed that by 10. 
The most red cards collected by any team in Premier League history, (in the game), was 10 by West Ham in 2020/21, and we are just 3 short of that. 
We still have 9 games remaining. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Party Animal. Mar 2052. 

This is the 2nd time recently where (47a) Best (F.Det) * has been out on the razz and missed training. He's been our 1st choice for 3 seasons now and is very good, but I wonder if now might be the time to cash in on him and send him on his way, (although he is contracted for 4 more seasons). 

We have some depth at GK right now and while I never usually rotate keepers, I have done so this season. 

18yo (50b) Okoro (NED) (F.Det) is already above 21yo (47a) Best (F.Det) * in terms of CA, and it seems silly not to give him games when I am rotating the squad. His average rating is also better, despite the fact that he has no goals or assists to his name, and despite the fact that he's also obviously playing with poorer teams and against better opposition. 

Thoughts? 

At the moment I still think (47a) Best (F.Det) * is a better keeper and while things are tight with relegation I don't want to lose any 1st choice player as it could be the difference between relegation and staying up. I'm starting to accept that (47a) Best (F.Det) *'s days are numbers and (50b) Okoro (NED) (F.Det) is the future, (and to that end he currently has a 2+3 contract, but I don't want to lose both of them and must plan for the future. 

It also needs to be mentioned that while (47a) Best (F.Det) * has scored 2 free-kicks this season, he's also missed all 3 penalties he has taken. 

[Tajerio]

12 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Party Animal. Mar 2052. 

This is the 2nd time recently where (47a) Best (F.Det) * has been out on the razz and missed training. He's been our 1st choice for 3 seasons now and is very good, but I wonder if now might be the time to cash in on him and send him on his way, (although he is contracted for 4 more seasons). 

We have some depth at GK right now and while I never usually rotate keepers, I have done so this season. 

18yo (50b) Okoro (NED) (F.Det) is already above 21yo (47a) Best (F.Det) * in terms of CA, and it seems silly not to give him games when I am rotating the squad. His average rating is also better, despite the fact that he has no goals or assists to his name, and despite the fact that he's also obviously playing with poorer teams and against better opposition. 

Thoughts? 

At the moment I still think (47a) Best (F.Det) * is a better keeper and while things are tight with relegation I don't want to lose any 1st choice player as it could be the difference between relegation and staying up. I'm starting to accept that (47a) Best (F.Det) *'s days are numbers and (50b) Okoro (NED) (F.Det) is the future, (and to that end he currently has a 2+3 contract, but I don't want to lose both of them and must plan for the future. 

It also needs to be mentioned that while (47a) Best (F.Det) * has scored 2 free-kicks this season, he's also missed all 3 penalties he has taken. 

I know your quick-and-dirty way of assessing a goalkeeper is to look at the top three numbers on the left, but my way is actually to look at Positioning, Reflexes, and One on Ones.  By that measure, Akoro is appreciably ahead of Best (13-15-13 to 13-13-11). He's also got significantly better Handling. They're pretty close on mentals, though Best edges it there by virtue of his superior Composure, and on physicals, although Best has the Agility edge.

I'd probably swap them and play Akoro over Best right now, especially if Akoro is the one with the future with the club.

[Jimbokav1971]

23 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2051.

I'm not really sure what position I most want now. A central midfielder perhaps? A big left winger or a normal sized right winger? 

Not a GK or a centre-half though. 

Lots of full backs with 1 of them decent. 

2 decent strikers. 

A Slovakian attacking midfielder,  but not sure what side he plays on. Have we had a Slovakian before? 

 

Youth Intake day. Mar 2052. 

As always, any intake with 1x 5.0 PA player is a good intake. 

It's not a Golden Generation though. (Is that a 1st?)

Squad by PA.

Nations represented in previous Youth Intakes. 

New Nations represented in this Youth Intake. None. 

(52a) Marko (SVK) (Bal) is another of these foreign players who don't have English as a 2nd Nationality. It's interesting how many of them we have got all the way through this save. Technically and Mentally he looks great, but he's lacking a little physically. 

(42b) Elding (Pro) looks typical of the strikers we have produced recently. Quick dribblers who aren't actually great at putting the ball into the net. Lots of PPM's that suit him.

(52c) Big Martin (Bal) 6'5" is a bit of an unusual one in that he's half-way between a pressing forward and a TM, but he's also left footed and 6'5" and that possibly opens up the possibility of me playing him on the left flank if either of the other "Big" players are unavailable. I love his aggression and will be seeing if I can get him to learn "dives into tackles". 

[Edit]

Interesting..... 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[nie jem frytek]

(42b) Elding (Pro) should be (52b)

[Jimbokav1971]

3 minutes ago, nie jem frytek said:

(42b) Elding (Pro) should be (52b)

Sorted already, 

[rodesire]

I'd defo play Akoro, to me he's a much better GK, I swear by handling/reflexes/positioning/agility and he's superior there at 18 already.