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

[rodesire]

What a thread, hats off to you, Jimbo

[Jimbokav1971]

7 hours ago, deez0r said:

Youth recruitment is now 17 but junior coaching I have struggled with. Only on 3 now. 

Well maybe that's the comparison to be used, (assuming that nothing is too skewed in either edited database). 

If I'm at 20+12 and you're at 17+3, that's still a significant difference. I will try and catch up on your thread over the next couple of days. 

[Jimbokav1971]

7 hours ago, rodesire said:

What a thread, hats off to you, Jimbo

Thanks very much. It actually feels like we are just getting started, (haven't even turned Pro yet), so I'm ready for the next stage of the save now I think. 

I'm just not sure how long real life will afford me the luxury of sitting at home playing FM while getting paid.  

[Jimbokav1971]

20 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Youth Intake preview. Dec 2034. 

Youth Intake day. Mar 2035.

Although this intake is still classed as a "Golden Generation", just 1x 5.0 PA player would suggest that this generation might be significantly less "Golden", than previous generations. 

I think we all appreciate now that "Golden Generation" is an enormously broad term and not something to be taken to serious, (despite the Youth Intake envy from @deez0r)

Squad by PPA. I have saying that says, "any intake with a 5.0 PA player is a decent intake", but when you are used to getting all 16 come through at 5.0, it seems a little meagre in comparison. On the plus side the best player is a striker, and has a good personality, and just to put the icing on the cake, has a 2nd Nationality that we haven't seen before. (We have had Dominica come through before, but not the Dominican Republic, which if I remember the map correctly is just to the West and a little but North). Our top 4 players have 1.5 CA, which is pretty middling, and then we have 2 more players ranked lower who also have 1.5 CA, but it's interesting to note that both of them have L.Det personality. 

Nations already represented by previous intake. 

New Nations represented in this intake.  (I have double-checked this, but @nie jem frytekor anyone else, please feel free to correct me). (and indeed his has corrected me, again!) 

 

(35a) Liriano (NED) (DOM) Pro. is pretty raw at the moment. The suggestion at the moment is that he is best suited to playing as a TM, but I don't see it. Yes he can head the ball, but that's about it. I'm certainly nor prepared to shoe-horn him into my tactic as a TM at this stage. His mentals look decent though. 

Something that has been on my mind recently, (mainly due to conversations I have had in here with @Thebaker), is my dissatisfaction with some of the personalities coming through. That, linked with our Training and Youth Facilities, and the relatively low level we are playing at in comparison to the players we are producing, means that it's very hard/impossible to develop some of these players to get them even anywhere near 1st team never mind about their PA. 

Over the last few seasons there has been a greater demand for some of of young players to go out on loan, (generally those on a Youth contract and this has only happened since we went to P/T contracts so it wasn't allowed until then), but it made me think of another way to approach this problem. 

Let's look at the personalities and "nasty DNA" with this intake again, and I will keep them in the same order, (so highest PPA at the top). 

I'd say that's a pretty poor batch in terms of personality, but let's break it down further and see what's ok and what's not.

Here is the same list again, but I have highlighted the problem areas. 

You will know that I have ringed (35c) Unambitious as a problem, but you will also see that neither (35k) nor (35p) are deemed a "problem", despite them also being Unambitious. The problem isn't specifically the low Amb rating. The issue is the low Amb rating twinned with the low Det rating. We are still a small club and we can't be expecting to pump out M.Pro players. We have to be realistic. At the same time though, we also have to be realistic in terms of how much we are going to improve these players, playing at this level and training at these facilities. 

I don't think I'm being negative, (and more about (33k) CA 44 PA 52 in a separate post), I just don't think we can expect to improve players as much as might usually be the case. It's been brilliant to get some of the facilities upgraded so that we produce decent players, but we don't actually have the facilities to improve them. 

Now I have been shouting from the rooftops for all to hear, "SIGN ALL 16 OF YOUR YOUTH INTAKE", and when I suddenly changed from that a few seasons ago and decided that I was thinking of not signing all players, (based on personality), (and particularly casual and slack players but also unambitious linked with low Det was the precise thing being discussed back then), @Thebakerrightly called me out on it and questioned my thinking. Although my thinking was clouded then, (neither option was really working for me so I found it hard to marry myself to either and also found it hard to justify to you in here, I think I have now come across a solution, (for this period of this save), that not only fits well with how I feel, but is also easy to explain to those following, (I think). 

In an idea world I would sign all 16 players to Youth contracts and then sign all 16 youth players to 1 Pro contract, (semi-pro contract in this case).

We're not in an ideal World though. We are at a cash-strapped Semi Pro club and we can't sign all 16 players to Semi-Pro contracts at the end of their Youth contracts. 

Working backwards here, if we can't offer them all Semi-Pro contracts when their Youth contracts expire, will we be in a better position to work out who deserves a Semi-Pro contract at that stage? Yes, of course we will. The Coach/Ass Man opinion will be much improved over those 2 years and we will be in a much more informed position. 

Ok, so the next thing is can we offer them all Youth contracts while the club is in such a perilous financial state? I think the answer has to be yes, (and this was the argument used by someone earlier in the thread), who mentioned the Youth Income grant. We currently receive £57 per week by way of a Youth Grant income.

When I look at the total weekly bill for Youth players at the club, (excluding this intake that arrived today), there are 20 players currently on £5 per week contracts with the bill for those 20 players obviously being £100 per week. The reason that we are not receiving £100 in Youth Grant income is not known to me, but it could be related to how many players are a certain age at a certain time or something similar to that. 

Actually, it will be interesting to see what the Grant value rises to after this intake all sign their contracts. 

In any case, we're saying that the cost right now is £43 per week which equates to £2,236 per year. If I was being a real stickler then ok right we could possibly tighten up in this area, but is this something we want to do in a Youth Only save? No, I don't think it is. For the sake of £2,236 per year, I think it's good practice to sign all 16 players to a Youth contract in a save like this, even though money is an issue. 

So we know that we are going to sign all 16 to Youth contracts, and we also know that we are going to make an more informed decision when it comes to offering them Semi-Pro contracts 2 years later. Basically it's a question of, is it likely that this player will impact on the 1st team or generate a profit, and of course where there is a tough decision or some extra depth is required, non-contract terms can still be used. 

We now have the 16 Youth players at the club, but how do we train them so that we get the best out of them in this save? Those like (35a) Liriano (NED) (DOM) Pro are likely to develop quickly because of their good personality and we think they also have good PA, so there is a reasonable chance of game-time before they are ready. Others like (34a) Nieminen (FIN) (Driven)* and (33b) Dean Cooke (Pro) * almost walk straight into the 1st Team and so their development is advanced as a result. That's even without mentioning the likes of (30a) James (DMA) * who hardly featured for us and is now playing in the Premier League with the big boys. How we deal with these players is easy. The problem is how we deal with players like (35c) who has an Unambitious personality and also has low determination. He has come through the intake and we think his PA is decent, (it's all we have to go on at this stage, but it's pretty realistic that he might have the highest PA in the whole intake). We have signed him and over time we will develop a more informed opinion of him, but will we be any good at actually improving him? Will we make him a better player? Will we see his CA rise significantly? 

The answer I'm afraid is no, (and more about (33k) CA 44 PA 52 soon I promise). Let's say we keep (35c) for 2 years on his contract. We're never going to get him good enough to play in the senior team on merit, (even if I force him into the line-up before he is ready). We have to do something else. The answer is that we have to loan him out to start with. This allows us to do something that we couldn't previously, get feedback on his match performances, and it also allows the player to play competitively AND, (yes it's a big and), TRAIN AT FACILITIES THAT ARE BETTER THAN OUR OWN, despite the fact that we are playing at a higher level. 

Let me show you. 

We have a player on loan at AFC Sudbury who play in BetVivtor Isthmian Premier. This is the level of their facilities. 

We have a player on loan at Whyteleafe who play in BetVivtor Isthmian Premier. This is the level of their facilities. 

We have a player on loan at Rugby who play in Conference North. This is the level of their facilities. 

The middle one has the same facilities as us, but Sudbury are a little better and Rugby are way better. Sending "problem" players out on loan like this is a good way to develop them when we can't. 

If they STILL don't develop to the stage that we want to offer them a Pro, (or P/T in this case), contract, then we have to be willing to just release them. Let them go and hope that they are snapped up by someone who will give them game-time and have the facilities to improve them. THEN at a later date, they might have developed in so much as they are now able to compete in the senior squad, and at that time we can bring them back in, (after someone else has done the work). Yes it means we might have to pay for them and likely pay higher wages, but the important thing is that this is a tool to allow these players to get near their PA when we just have to acknowledge that we can't do it ourselves. 

Looking at the above list again, casual players I really don't like and low Amb twinned with low Det is another, but while low det on it's own isn't a disaster, I might also be tempted to get them out on loan and see if someone can "take the edge off" their low det. (Remember, they don't have to improve it much. At this stage I would be happy with 10). 

Sorry, I've really prattled on here but have been away for a few days and not played much, but at the same time had lots of thoughts flying around that I wanted to get down here. 

Edited July 22, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[nie jem frytek]

26 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Nations already represented by previous intake. 

 

I can't find Belgium on this list, so it might be a new nationality too?

[Jimbokav1971]

55 minutes ago, nie jem frytek said:

I can't find Belgium on this list, so it might be a new nationality too?

I was sure we'd had a Belgian through.......

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, nie jem frytek said:

I can't find Belgium on this list, so it might be a new nationality too?

I've just checked and you are right. No Belgians.

Thank you. 

I hereby name @nie jem frytekChief Overseas Development Officer. 

[deez0r]

I dream of having anything above a 2 star potential player!

[Thebaker]

I'm surprised by the lack of Belgium's previously , i would think they are more common in English leagues.  To be fair i always drop slack and casual players, there is just no hope with them and i don't want them affecting other players like some sort of disease.

Have you tried getting a parent or feeder club to share training facilities with. (i think the option exists for both) to improve yours.

[Jimbokav1971]

Shortlist. Mar 2035. 

I'm not going to show you the whole list because there are 87 players still in the game who have come through our Academy and are now not at the club, but I will show you at least down to our level and then pick out a few players to focus on. 

(30a) James (DMA) * is the player playing at the highest level. He is a regular in the Premier League for Burnley, has scored 9 goals in 20(1) Premier League appearances this season and is valued at just under £30M. It's interesting to note that while he's now a Resolute personality, he came through as F.Det. Burnley are 16th in the Premier League and still in danger of going down so he needs a few more goals over the last few matches. 

(31a) Liam Watts (FIN) * is playing for Crawley in League 2, (after gaining promotion last season). He is a regular International for Finland, (13 Caps and 4 goals), and although he is only valued at £215,000, my scouts think that it would take a bid of £2.8M to prise him away. He's scored 9 goals in 26(2) appearances this season, (which isn't great), and as a result Crawley are in serious danger of being relegated. He didn't have any PPM's initially, but I notice he now has the "winds up opponents PPM". 

(28c) Ryan Chance (JAM) has moved for a fee of £375,000 and I think this is a record with products of our Academy. Although he's a regular at League 2 level, he hasn't been amazing, although Lincoln in the lower half of the table. He has collected 23 senior Caps for Jamaica and has a F.Pro personality after coming through the intake as Spirited. 

[Jimbokav1971]

7 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

I'm surprised by the lack of Belgium's previously , i would think they are more common in English leagues.  To be fair i always drop slack and casual players, there is just no hope with them and i don't want them affecting other players like some sort of disease.

I'm worried that if they have decent PA then they might retire if released early. At this stage I would prefer to sign them up and then see how someone else develops them later on, (but that might be worth a go just to see. 

[Jimbokav1971]

8 minutes ago, Thebaker said:

Have you tried getting a parent or feeder club to share training facilities with. (i think the option exists for both) to improve yours.

I have tried and tried and tried but with no luck. 

While they have been great at getting Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching increased, they have not agreed to anything else at all. 

[Thebaker]

18 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I have tried and tried and tried but with no luck. 

While they have been great at getting Youth Recruitment and Junior Coaching increased, they have not agreed to anything else at all. 

I think it depends on the board or more precisely the attributes of the chairman.  his ambition and business i think would be the main ones.

I had a board who would not agree to a single improvement in facilities with 4 million in the bank. After a takeover they agreed to improve everything!

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Youth Intake day. Mar 2035.

Ok, so the next thing is can we offer them all Youth contracts while the club is in such a perilous financial state? I think the answer has to be yes, (and this was the argument used by someone earlier in the thread), who mentioned the Youth Income grant. We currently receive £57 per week by way of a Youth Grant income.

When I look at the total weekly bill for Youth players at the club, (excluding this intake that arrived today), there are 20 players currently on £5 per week contracts with the bill for those 20 players obviously being £100 per week. The reason that we are not receiving £100 in Youth Grant income is not known to me, but it could be related to how many players are a certain age at a certain time or something similar to that. 

Actually, it will be interesting to see what the Grant value rises to after this intake all sign their contracts. 

In any case, we're saying that the cost right now is £43 per week which equates to £2,236 per year. If I was being a real stickler then ok right we could possibly tighten up in this area, but is this something we want to do in a Youth Only save? No, I don't think it is. For the sake of £2,236 per year, I think it's good practice to sign all 16 players to a Youth contract in a save like this, even though money is an issue. 

All the 2035 intake have now signed £5 pw youth contracts so let's see what the Youth Grant Income is now....

It's risen by £12 per week.

No, that doesn't make any sense to me either. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, Thebaker said:

I think it depends on the board or more precisely the attributes of the chairman.  his ambition and business i think would be the main ones.

I had a board who would not agree to a single improvement in facilities with 4 million in the bank. After a takeover they agreed to improve everything!

I had a takeover last season. Can't remember if I have tried again since then. So.....................

I only had 2 options. 1 was financial and 1 was loaning players in without paying a fee. I went with the loaning players in option even though I won't use it. 

Will have to see who they give me now. 

[Jimbokav1971]

3 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I had a takeover last season. Can't remember if I have tried again since then. So.....................

I only had 2 options. 1 was financial and 1 was loaning players in without paying a fee. I went with the loaning players in option even though I won't use it. 

Will have to see who they give me now. 

I'm not overly keen on this DoF. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Ill Discipline. Apr 2035. 

This was the 40th of 42 league games and we won despite the 7 yellows.

We're top, (by 2 points), but Rugby have a game in hand. 

It's going to the wire!

[RoguPL]

7 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

I've just checked and you are right. No Belgians.

Thank you. 

I hereby name @nie jem frytekChief Overseas Development Officer. 

@nie jem frytek should get yourself a portion of chips for the good work lol 

[iamnobody]

I read this entire save today.  Top notch job.  I wish I had the discipline to do this.

[Jimbokav1971]

15 minutes ago, iamnobody said:

I read this entire save today.  Top notch job.  I wish I had the discipline to do this.

Thanks very much. This was my 2nd save this year, (I usually only do 1), and I have really had the time because I was furloughed. 

I expect to be made redundant tomorrow so this might continue for a little bit. 

[Pompeyboyz]

7 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Thanks very much. This was my 2nd save this year, (I usually only do 1), and I have really had the time because I was furloughed. 

I expect to be made redundant tomorrow so this might continue for a little bit. 

Sorry to hear that about your job fella.... 

But bonus for us to see more of the save progress 

[Jimbokav1971]

10 hours ago, Pompeyboyz said:

Sorry to hear that about your job fella.... 

But bonus for us to see more of the save progress 

Thanks very much but I'm lucky enough to be in a position where it's not as serious as it might be.

As one door closes another opens as they say. 

[Pompeyboyz]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Thanks very much but I'm lucky enough to be in a position where it's not as serious as it might be.

As one door closes another opens as they say. 

Ex wife is in the same position.....was furloughed for about 3 months and last week was told her job was ended.  But She already has a new job and a possible one available too  elsewhere.  It is not all doom and gloom

[Jimbokav1971]

I resigned before all this Covid thing started. Had just had enough and needed a break/change. They gave me almost a months paid leave while they tried to change my mind and during this time Covid started to become a big thing. In the end I went back because I guessed it would be a tough time all over and I expected to be furloughed. 

I agreed to go back and after a couple of weeks I was furloughed until tomorrow.

I was prepared to walk away with nothing before Covid, and now I have sat at home for.... I've honestly lost count of how long, getting paid the whole time, and also get a little redundancy package that I would have missed out on, so I can't really complain. There are people in a FAR worse situation than me. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Season Summary. May 2035. 

Conference North. We started off well, with maximum points from our opening 7 games, and 47 points from a possible 60 after our opening 20 games. We were top of the table and flying. As we came to the business end of the season however, the wheels well and truly came off as we gained only 7 points from a possible 24 over the final 8 games of the season. I don't think this is a coincidence that it has happened again. I think this is a direct result of having such a young squad. 

Playoffs. Well we did better than the 6-2 battering they gave us a couple of weeks earlier, but we are still in the National League North next season. 

Final League Table. 

FA Cup. I'm quite happy with this. It's the 2st time the club has reached the 1st Round proper of the FA Cup. Although League 1 Oldham beat us 3-0, it was a very even game. 

FA Trophy. We don't seem to be great in shoot-outs. 

Goal-scoring keepers. A meagre return for (31i) Aaron Fowkes with 8 goals and just 4 assists. 

Overall Best XI. If I can keep (27i) Steph Lewis (WAL) (NIR) at the club he is likely to break the appearance record next season. Without promotion though I'm not sure how likely that is. He is already getting paid £450 pw and I think we are going to have to let him go. 

Awards.

(32e) Big Craig (F.Det) 6'6" * has been better than decent for us and scored 32 goals in all competitions in his 1st full season as a starter. He is contracted for another year and I would hope that we get an offer for him. 

Squad by Appearances. 

Discipline. 

Finances. 

Facilities. 

Transfers. 

Tracker. 

Records. 

[Edit]

To include final league table. 

Edited July 23, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

(33k) CA 44 PA 52. May 2035. 

During my chats with @ThebakerI decided that I needed to track exactly how slow the development of Unambitious players who also had Low Det was. I knew it wasn't going to be good, but without tracking it, how do we actually know right? (I should say that a big part of this is also influenced significantly by our appalling Training Facilities, so if your facilities are better, then you should expect better results. 

Well now we know, (and it's not pretty). 

Although I managed to teach him a PPM, and get all 3 of the passing attributes to pop, he then regressed and as well as losing 2 of the 3 passing attribute points he had gained, he actually dropped a whole CA point. (44 to 43). I think enough is enough and I have to accept that at least while the facilities are like this, we can't even try to train players like this.

[Jimbokav1971]

Forward planning/contracts. May 2035. 

I'm finding this part of the save quite challenging. We have finished Runners Up in the league for the last 2 seasons, and crashed out in the Playoffs each time, so while we are certainly there or thereabouts, the youth and inexperience of our squad is costing us. 

The problem with that is that if we were at a pro club, I would just put the best young prospects on long term contracts with options, but we just can't work like that as a Semi-Pro club and I feel like my head is going to explode trying to juggle it all. I over-spent a little last season, over-confident that we would get promoted and all would be well with the World, (at least the FM World). Well we didn't get promoted and all is not well. 

I'm looking at who I want to keep, who I need to keep and who I can realistically keep.

I've ranked the players by PA and I'm looking at the contracts page, (when they are expiring, what sort of contract they are on and how much we are paying them). 

I need to constantly try and cull players to keep the numbers down, but it's not easy. 

(34a) Nieminen (FIN) (Driven)* is at the top of the tree. He's already a starter, is developing really well, (although has moved to a L.Heart personality from Driven and is contracted for 2 more years. I would hope to get lots of goals from him and/or some cash when he is sold. He scored 11 league goals this season which I'm delighted with. 

(35a) Liriano (NED)(DOM)Pro * has just come through the intake and it's to my detriment that he is yet to make his debut. I didn't want to introduce him into a losing side and then we were in the playoffs and then we were out of the Playoffs. I think the answer is that I need to start him in games next season, even if the Ass Man drags him off at half-time. You can see the development he;s making and this is obviously influenced by hos Pro & Det levels. I need to really crank it up with this bloke. 

(32a) Fredrik Jensen (NOR) *. I'm really torn about this bloke. I love a foreigner in a Youth Only save and he has already been called at U21 level by Norway. I look at his L.Det personality and I wonder about his Amb and Pro. I think if I was going to be play him next season, then I should have been playing him this season, (but I obviously haven't), and I'm not sure why when I see that (31i) Aaron Fowkes is on non-contract terms. Why is that? Why have I played the bloke on NC terms and then signed this to a PT contract and NOT played him. I think I've made a mistake here and I'm not sure what the answer is. 

(35c) Craig Barnett (Unamb) * is an awful conundrum. I've basically just said in my last post that Unamb players who are also L.Det are a waste of my time, and now I'm looking at this bloke, (who also fit into my formation), but I think he looks great, (everything is relative remember), and I think we are especially weak at ML and I wonder if I could start him there and see how he goes....... The attractive part of it is that it's a problem area, but also that he is on a youth contract for 2 years, so by playing him there it might allow me to release other players and maybe keep one of our best players for another year. I'm so torn. If I have decided that I was going to keep these players until their youth contract expires, then if they are good enough they should play right? 

(34b) Sam Siddons (Pro) * has dropped from Pro to F.Pro, but he has also become our starting DL. he needs to continue to improve physically, but is making great strides and it's important that he is contracted cheaply for 2 more seasons. 

(33b) Dean Cooke (Pro) * is the best player at the club. He's contracted for another season, but League 1 Mansfield Town are sniffing around him and if they came in with an offer for him I would probably accept if I could include some nice add-ons. We need to start getting some regular 50% clauses coming through, but seem a long way off that at this stage. He's another who has dropped from Pro to F.Pro. 

(35e) Neil Dunkley (L.Heart) * is yet to make his debut and although his physicals are a little poor, I like his mentals and we could do with some depth in this area. 2 years on a youth contract + maybe another couple on a cheap PT deal and he could do well for us. L.Hearted is a strange personality in that the positives are pressure and sportsmanship, which ls him not at all to develop, but his Det is already decent. I suppose the answer is that I keep an eye on his physicals and hope he develops to such an extent that I consider him for selection. 

(34d) Ritchie-Smith (Bal) * is only 17, but started 20 league games this season. That's an investment that I hope he is able to repay in the next few years. He's very raw and struggled this season, but we were weak in this area so it made sense to blood him. 

(32b) Jack Green * is the player who plays when (34d) Ritchie-Smith (Bal) * doesn't. I think he's more suited to the MCR position in the team and his performances have been better as a result. He's still not what I call a strong player though and it's very much a case of potential over ability with him at the moment. 

(34d) Ritchie-Smith (Bal) * is another in a little line of strikers that have come through in recent years and he scored 7 goals in all competitions last season. I have to develop him because I think it's hugely likely that (34a) Nieminen (FIN) (Driven)* will develop beyond us unless we can somehow fluke a couple of promotions on the bounce, and I need to have the next striker ready to step in. I would love to get to the stage where we have 21 year old's starting and then 4-5 years development time for players before they have to be relied upon. We really need to get into Conference National though.

(32c) Declan Barry (IRL) * is another striker on the production line who I loaned out this season just to encourage his development. I think I need to do this more, especially those with personalities that I'm less keen on. 

(29i) Jordan Barron * was the starting right back at the start of last season, but now he's 2nd choice right back and his contract his up, can I afford to keep him on despite really wanting to. ideally I would keep him and then we would be able to sell 1 of the right backs, knowing we have another available. I really might have to squeeze a new contract for him.

(35g) Aidan Shaw (SCO) (Bal) is someone I have hardly looked at until now. My eyes are immediately drawn to the top left hand attributes and when you see they are in single figures, I sort of just move on quickly. Actually though, his positioning is very good and in fact his mentals are decent. He's better than I initially gave him credit for. 

(31c) Zakim Back * is a player I made a mistake with. I don't think I used him enough last season and I think if I had used him more we would be playing in Conference National next season. Because this is a Youth Only save there obviously has to be a focus on Youth Development, but some times you have to just accept that you need to play the better players. I got that badly wrong in this instance. He only played 12(17) games last season and now his contract us up. Ideally I would love to re-sign him but I'm just not sure how realistic that's going to be. Maybe NC terms is the answer for him. The more I look at his mentals, the more I realise what an awful decision it was last season. HUGE mistake. 

(35f) Kitchen (Casual) is a lefty who plays on the right and we have a problem on the left flank. I would love him to be the answer to it, but I think that's highly unlikely with a casual personality. 

(32d) Big Baptiste 6'5" * is the 2nd half of our starting centre-back pairing. While he's not going to be a World-beater, I actually think that helps us on occasion because it increases the chances of the player staying with us. If they are too good then their development soon takes them past the level we play at and we see little benefit from them. This bloke would seem to be a decent fit for a while at least. 

(33e) Lee Ward (NIR) (Bal) * is the 3rd GK on this list, and we still haven't got to our 1st choice GK. No wonder I was confused. I actually think this bloke might be my starter next season, but of course his contract is about to run out. Do you see what I mean? This is hard. It's 1 thing picking the best players, but when you also have to keep players that you think have the ability to be better than your current best player in that position, then it becomes a nightmare!  

(32e) Big Craig (F.Det) 6'6" * is my 2nd starting striker and the main man. He scored 32 goals this season and I expect him to improve on that next season, (assuming nobody comes in for him). 

(27a) Haynes. * is not just another example of a mistake by me, but a double mistake by me. He was nicked by League 1 Shrewsbury after a decent season with us and stayed with them for 6 seasons as a fringe player in the squad in League 1 and League 2. When he was released I snapped him up, (paying a premium in wages), despite the fact that he was a Low Det Unambitious player. I didn't forget. It wasn't that I hadn't noticed. I just couldn't resist the lure of bringing a good player back home. (Mistake 1). When he was back home he did ok early in the season. We were winning and he was playing ok and everything was fine. The problem was that he was playing instead of youngsters who had better PA and so I dropped him and brought in the kids. Now though I had a player being paid £400 per week not even making the bench. I know what I will do, I will loan him out to someone who pill pay some of his wages and all will be wel with the World, We will get some cash to offset his wages, the player will get game time and our youngsters can continue developing in our 1st team. He went to Rugby, who are the team who pipped us to the title and while certainly no prolific, scored 9 goals in 19 appearances for them. (Mistake 2). His contract is expiring, (thank God), and there already a number of Conference clubs after him. I should never have re-signed him. 

(33h) Nick Johnson (Fickle) * is our 2nd choice left back and his Youth contract is just expiring. He's wanted by quite a few clubs but I have hopefully secured him for 1 more season. 

(31d) Christopher Lloyd * is a player who I thought was going to develop into a 1st team starter, but it just hasn't happened. His physicals just aren't good enough and despite his potential I think I'm going to let him leave now as his contract is up. 

(33c) Jack Bowyer (IRL)(Bal) * is a player I feel forced to keep in case either of our starting centre-backs are poached away. He's not great at all, but he's what we've got. He could probably do with being loaned out for a full season. I'm just not sure that we can do without him.....

So that gives you a bit of an insight into the best players, (by PA), at the club. It's really not easy at a club like this and especially not when you are making the number of basic errors than I am. We're doing ok though. We've finished 2nd in the league 7 seasons out of 17 in this save so far, so something is working. We just need to improve some of our youngsters a little bit more and get that next step up the ladder. We seem to be right at a tipping point financially though and I'm loathe to do something risky that could but the save in jeopardy. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Leaving on a free. May 2035. 

There is a significant cost in losing in the playoffs 2 years running and rather than financial, it's the loss of the following players on a free. We just can't afford to keep them. 

(30b) Saric (CRO) (RSA) doesn't have much footballing ability, but more than makes up for that in physical prowess. He has been our starter on the right hand side for the last 3 seasons after returning from a development period at Brighton in the Premier League. He will be hard to replace. 

(27a) Haynes. * you already know about. I should never have signed him, (and certainly not on that money). I should have known he was a wrong-up when I saw the PPM "doesn't dive into tackles"! He is somehow a Conference North Champion, and we're not! 

(27i) Steph Lewis (WAL) (NIR) just wants too much money and we can't pay it in Conference North. He would have broken our appearance record this season had he stayed too. He's already enjoyed 4 promotions with us, and it would have been nice to make it 5. 

These 3 players alone will save us £1,350 per week, and that's significant money at this level. Will we be able to qualify for the playoffs without them? I'm not really sure, but we are going to have a right good go!

[Jimbokav1971]

International recognition. Jun 2035. 

Considering we are still in Conference North, we have had a lot of Academy products represent their Nation at U21 or Senior level

(30a) James (DMA) * seems to be going from strength to strength, but I'm not sure he has the quality to play for England at senior level. He's maybe just lacking a little by physically. Still an absolutely mental player and why oh why oh why can't we get a player like him through now! He was capped at Senior level by Dominica, (but only in friendlies), so is allowed to change his allegiance to England. Can you imagine the goals he would have scored playing for Dominica? It would have been 6-8 every game! 

(28c) Ryan Chance (JAM) has received the most Senior International Caps with 25. 

(31a) Liam Watts (FIN) * is a player that interests me. He's scored the most International goals of our Academy products, but has also agreed a transfer to UD Almeira in Spain. They have paid £425,000 + clauses for him, so he will shortly also become the Academy product who had been transferred for the biggest fee, (although I expect that (30a) James (DMA) * might have something to say about that when Liverpool come calling shortly. (No, I am not making this up). The other thing that interests me is that despite Liam Watts having a pretty English name, he is very much Finnish, and so is our current 2nd choice striker (34a) Nieminen (FIN) (Driven)*. I would expect to see these 2 playing together for the National team before too long, so I would be quite happy to get more Finnish players through, Could give quite a nice little sub-plot to the save. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Bid. Jun 2035. 

Championship side Hull have come in with a bid for (34a) Nieminen (FIN) (Driven)*. 

Their initial bid was only £21,500, but if we could get him back in on loan for 2 seasons, (yeah I know that's pushing it but it's worked before), and we were guaranteed 50% of his re-sale value and a friendly, then I think I would agree. 

Having said that, they're in the Championship so we should be able to eke a few quid out of them. 

I can only get him back on loan until the end of this season, but let's give this a go. 

Part of me thinks we should ask for more, but we also need to remember that we are in Conference North. This would be our biggest deal even based on the £50k up front fee. Let's see what they say. 

They have countered with a flat £23,500 and nothing else. 

I was getting all excited there. 

 

[Jimbokav1971]

Transfers. Jun 2035 continued. 

No we seem to be getting somewhere. 

There were 3 clubs for our best player (33b) Dean Cooke (Pro) *. 1 of them pulled out when I countered with some add-ons but kept the deal very low, but the other 2 have come back in.

I accepted the Bolton and Bristol deals, (both the same), but what this means now is that if he goes, (and he's bound to go), then we get him back in on loan for free so I effectively have an extra £220 pw to spend on wages. 

I might be able to keep (27i) Steph Lewis (WAL) (NIR) after all. 

Edited July 23, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Hopefully the 1st of many. Jun 2035. 

This is the sort of transfer that I hope becomes far more regular over the next couple of years while we try to boost our finances and turn professional. 

Bolton are in League 1 and have finished in the top 10 for the last 6 seasons. (Last season they were 4th).

The actual transfer fee is minimal, but we get the player back for a whole season, (and pay no wages), we also get a friendly, (and I will work out what that generates when we play the game, but I suspect it's similar to the transfer fee), and then we get the big one. 50% of any future fee. We need to really start kicking on with this. The other thing of course is that the player will be happy and not only that, can't be unsettled over the course of the season, (because he is already a Bolton player). All in all a very good deal for us. 

Edited July 23, 2020 by Jimbokav1971

[Jimbokav1971]

Season Expectations. Jun 2035. 

We've finished 2nd in Conference North for the last 2 seasons, so I think it's fair that the expectations are increasing. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Wage budget update. Jul 2035. 

This is quite a significant update. 

I was expecting to lose 2 of my best players in (30b) Saric (CRO) (RSA) and (27i) Steph Lewis (WAL) (NIR). Both contracts have expired, however they remain at the month, (for the time beiung at least), on month to month contracts as follows. 

Despite them still being here, we are now back under budget, (including their salary). These 2 players account for 22.6% of our total salary. 

If I could get these players to re-sign then it would go a long way towards achieving a successful season, and in an ideal World we would also be able to sell them too. The fact that nobody has been in for them in advance suggests to me that their PA might not be as high as some of the others, but with these 2 players I don't care about PA. It's all about CA. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 hour ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

Hopefully the 1st of many. Jun 2035. 

This is the sort of transfer that I hope becomes far more regular over the next couple of years while we try to boost our finances and turn professional. 

Bolton are in League 1 and have finished in the top 10 for the last 6 seasons. (Last season they were 4th).

The actual transfer fee is minimal, but we get the player back for a whole season, (and pay no wages), we also get a friendly, (and I will work out what that generates when we play the game, but I suspect it's similar to the transfer fee), and then we get the big one. 50% of any future fee. We need to really start kicking on with this. The other thing of course is that the player will be happy and not only that, can't be unsettled over the course of the season, (because he is already a Bolton player). All in all a very good deal for us. 

I've just noticed that (33b) Dean Cooke (Pro) * is still at the club rather than on loan so I checked my old transfer messages. 

[Jimbokav1971]

Sell-on clause. Jul 2035.

This is only £12,000. I know it's not a lot of money. But I want it to become more regular so for this phase of the save I will be showing you all the sell-on clauses we receive. 

[RoguPL]

Really enjoy following your thread. 

Hope you can produce more players like (30a) James (DMA) *  in the future, and sell them for nice sell on fee. He is really doing well being worth 36mil now. 

 

[deez0r]

As you say the money is minimal (I got incredibly lucky in mine with a massive sale quite early that meant I could go professional in National League) but it will definitely start helping build up the cash reserves!

[Jimbokav1971]

2 minutes ago, rrozek93 said:

Really enjoy following your thread. 

Hope you can produce more players like (30a) James (DMA) *  in the future, and sell them for nice sell on fee. He is really doing well being worth 36mil now. 

 

Oh I hope so, but I think it's pretty unlikely at this stage. I think he is a proper generational talent as far as we're concerned. 

[_Ben_]

Some really interesting things in here @Jimbokav1971 that I want to dig into over the next few days of reading etc and I must admit that I appear to have been very wrong about (30a) James (DMA) * as he truly is special!

One thing that always gets my attention when you have a lot of lower leagues loaded (and I noticed this with the @Makoto Nakamura save with St Buryan when I think Team Solent made League One - he may remember better) but have you had any other teams climb the ladder with or make big strides? I've seen Rugby at your level (can't remember where they started) and with good facilities too and I recall Walsall being there a couple of years back but is there anything else that has happened interesting like that?

[Pompeyboyz]

As a matter of interest as I know you have mentioned using the in game editor for research purposes, but have you checked out (30a) James (DMA) *  CA and PA?

[Jimbokav1971]

11 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Some really interesting things in here @Jimbokav1971 that I want to dig into over the next few days of reading etc and I must admit that I appear to have been very wrong about (30a) James (DMA) * as he truly is special!

I think it's impossible to tell a decent Championship player from a Premier League star when they are this low down. Everyone looks like a star to us. 

[Makoto Nakamura]

13 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Some really interesting things in here @Jimbokav1971 that I want to dig into over the next few days of reading etc and I must admit that I appear to have been very wrong about (30a) James (DMA) * as he truly is special!

One thing that always gets my attention when you have a lot of lower leagues loaded (and I noticed this with the @Makoto Nakamura save with St Buryan when I think Team Solent made League One - he may remember better) but have you had any other teams climb the ladder with or make big strides? I've seen Rugby at your level (can't remember where they started) and with good facilities too and I recall Walsall being there a couple of years back but is there anything else that has happened interesting like that?

I think both Team Solent and maybe Fry's Club made it up to a decent level but I don't recall any tiny clubs making the Championship.  

[Jimbokav1971]

12 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

One thing that always gets my attention when you have a lot of lower leagues loaded (and I noticed this with the @Makoto Nakamura save with St Buryan when I think Team Solent made League One - he may remember better) but have you had any other teams climb the ladder with or make big strides? I've seen Rugby at your level (can't remember where they started) and with good facilities too and I recall Walsall being there a couple of years back but is there anything else that has happened interesting like that?

Rugby won our league last season, but I haven't really looked at other leagues. 

Nobody unusual in the Premier league last season. 

No surprises in the Championship. 

Cardiff are in League 1. 

Bromley, FC Utd, Fylde & AFC Telford were in League 2 last season.

Boston Utd, South Shields & Canvey Island decent risers in the Conference National. 

Rugby won Conference North last season.
Jersey Bulls are in Conference South. 

I think that's just about it. 

[Jimbokav1971]

23 minutes ago, Pompeyboyz said:

As a matter of interest as I know you have mentioned using the in game editor for research purposes, but have you checked out (30a) James (DMA) *  CA and PA?

No, the only player who's CA or PA I have checked is a player that I have re-named (33k) CA 44 PA 52 in an experiment to see how I could develop an Unambitious Low Determination player while training with 2.1 facilities. (It turns out I couldn't). 

I'm purposefully not looking at it in this save. I looked at every intake in my Welsh saved and found it reduced my enjoyment so not doing that here. 

[deez0r]

5 minutes ago, _Ben_ said:

Some really interesting things in here @Jimbokav1971 that I want to dig into over the next few days of reading etc and I must admit that I appear to have been very wrong about (30a) James (DMA) * as he truly is special!

One thing that always gets my attention when you have a lot of lower leagues loaded (and I noticed this with the @Makoto Nakamura save with St Buryan when I think Team Solent made League One - he may remember better) but have you had any other teams climb the ladder with or make big strides? I've seen Rugby at your level (can't remember where they started) and with good facilities too and I recall Walsall being there a couple of years back but is there anything else that has happened interesting like that?

Just on this, I started in Tier 11. A couple of clubs have went up 3 or 4 divisions in 5 seasons that I have plated. Bromsgrove Sporting are now in the National League North and Hythe Town have made it up to National League South. Havant & Waterlooville are up 3 leagues to league 2 as well. 

[deez0r]

@Jimbokav1971 I am gatecrashing slightly but....

[Jimbokav1971]

Wow.  Aug 2035. 

Just 5% of this deal would have given us £3.15M. 

[Jimbokav1971]

1 minute ago, deez0r said:

@Jimbokav1971 I am gatecrashing slightly but....

See, oh you of little faith. 

Build it and they will come. 

[deez0r]

3 minutes ago, Jimbokav1971 said:

See, oh you of little faith. 

Build it and they will come. 

Already locked him down for 3 years! He also scored on his debut:

Edited July 23, 2020 by deez0r