Northernpilgrim Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Hello, and welcome to another Northernpilgrim career save. The Manager As with the majority of my saves recently, I'm playing as myself, but in a slight twist, I have tried to get my attributes as close as possible to a former Plymouth Argyle manager (I'm not going to reveal who, but many of you will probably work it out quite quickly). Here I am and it should be fairly obvious from the title, but I am going to be managing The Challenge Fun Trivia Fact: Since Hull City gained promotion to the Premier League, Plymouth is the largest city to have never had a top flight football club. The challenge here is to put that right. Yes, I'm going to try and get them promoted from the fourth tier to the first. I know Ryan Lowe secured promotion IRL this season, but for some reason, FM has us down to finish seventh. That is enough for a League 2 playoff spot, but any team that finishes seventh is probably not going to win the playoffs, so I want to do better than that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 Preseason results were encouraging, as we won all except one match, and didn't concede more than one in any of the games Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 We were quite busy in the transfer market, although much of the action happened before my arrival My signings were: Right back Shaun Cummings and these three youngsters were signed by my DoF, who had responsibility for youth transfers when I arrived, but I have since taken control. We begin with Meite, a striker Josh Williams is a left back and Jordan Clarke is a left sided midfielder. This is the squad I will take into my first season at Home Park Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 We started the season with two draws, which was frustrating, but we went the whole month unbeaten and that left us just outside the automatic promotion spots, in fourth place Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 10, 2020 Author Share Posted July 10, 2020 September was another decent month, although we were poor in defeat at home to Cheltenham and we remain just outside the top three Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 11, 2020 Author Share Posted July 11, 2020 What a response in October, although there was to be bitter disappointment in the Devon Derby. The only consolation was that it wasn't as bad as the real life version, as we only went down 1-0 and that saw us climb into the promotion spots, and we are top of the table. Now to try and stay there Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 11, 2020 Author Share Posted July 11, 2020 We struggled a bit in November, although there were only three league games, and we did win two of them and would probably have got at least a point against Bradford with 11 men. The red card proved costly as they scored a late winner but we remained top of the table, 9 points clear of fourth placed Cambridge and the board decided to offer me a new contract, which I've of course signed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 11, 2020 Author Share Posted July 11, 2020 December started well enough, but there was another wobble although the 3-0 win over Stevenage saw us end the month back on top of the table, but the gap to fourth place, now filled by Mansfield, is just four points Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 11, 2020 Author Share Posted July 11, 2020 For anyone who is interested, I'm using my own tactic. I started with the Gegenpressing 4-1-2-3, but changed a few of the roles to end up with this tactic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xray1324 Posted July 11, 2020 Share Posted July 11, 2020 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Northernpilgrim said: For anyone who is interested, I'm using my own tactic. I started with the Gegenpressing 4-1-2-3, but changed a few of the roles to end up with this tactic. Neat, I think I was using a 4312 system (3 midfielders, 1 attacking midfielder, 2 strikers), and it was tika taka. Though, general advice I've received is not to use two DLPs etc in the same system. Don't know if that's still what should be done, though. Following, by the way. Edited July 11, 2020 by xray1324 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 11, 2020 Author Share Posted July 11, 2020 The arrangements for Brexit have been announced. I won't have a problem complying with this for several more years yet Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 January wasn't bad either, with four wins and two draws from 6 league games, even if a draw with Crawley was disappointing and that leaves us still top, and we're four points clear 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitner Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 Good luck buddy. Cheers, Bitner 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 27 minutes ago, Bitner said: Good luck buddy. Cheers, Bitner Thanks Bitner. So far, so good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitner Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 I've seen. Hope this doesn't jinx you ahhaa. Cheers, Bitner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nobby_McDonald Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 I knew you wouldn't be inactive for long. Started very well at Plymouth. As expected. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share Posted July 13, 2020 10 points from 6 games in February, but it could have been worse if we hadn't battled back from 2-0 down to get a point at Bradford and that was enough to keep us top, 2 points ahead of Mansfield, 8 ahead of 4th placed Swindon. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 An unbeaten, but frustrating March, although a draw from 3-1 down at Grimsby ranks as a point gained and that sees us fall off top spot, but still on track for promotion Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitner Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Keep on going. Promotion is the goal, and you're pretty good by now. Cheers, Bitner 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 Unbeaten in April, but there were two draws Oldham deserved a draw against us, but Northampton were very fortunate, a point their manager readily conceded after the match but what would that mean for the final table? We got promotion, but the two draws cost us the title Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xray1324 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 2 minutes ago, Northernpilgrim said: Unbeaten in April, but there were two draws Oldham deserved a draw against us, but Northampton were very fortunate, a point their manager readily conceded after the match but what would that mean for the final table? We got promotion, but the two draws cost us the title That sucks, but congrats on promotion! Any targets to try to make sure you don't come straight back from League One to Two? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 1 minute ago, xray1324 said: That sucks, but congrats on promotion! Any targets to try to make sure you don't come straight back from League One to Two? I've signed Alex Palmer and Ryan Hardie permanently following their loan spells. I've extended Josh Grant, Tyreeq Bakinson and George Cooper's loan spells for another season. I've promoted Adam Randell from the U23s (he's been around the first team squad IRL this season too). I'll be looking to give Mike Cooper a few more games in goal. I'll be looking to say goodbye to Gary Sawyer and Ryan Taylor (they are both on too much money for their ability), so clearly a left back and a striker are areas I will look to bring players in. I also need a right back, but other than that, I think we're well set to avoid getting involved at the wrong end of League 1. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 15 hours ago, Bitner said: Keep on going. Promotion is the goal, and you're pretty good by now. Cheers, Bitner Job done. Thanks Bitner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 Time to round up the season, beginning with our club awards night winners and our season stats Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 The review of a successful season, which for some reason shows us climbing to 1st place on the final day, which of course we did not. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 George Cooper set a new Argyle record for assists this season Callum McFadzean set a club record for man of the match awards and Alex Palmer broke our clean sheet record Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 We will be joined in League 1 by our Devon rivals after they overcame Bradford in the playoff final Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitner Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Well and truly promoted. That's the goal. Hope you have a nice second season also, which is generally harder than the first Cheers, Bitner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 14, 2020 Author Share Posted July 14, 2020 One piece of financial good news over the summer and one very bad. It's things like this that make FFP irritating and irrelevant. How can we fail FFP when we have millions in the bank, we're under our wage budget, and we're profitable? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 On the pitch, preseason went really well Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 Off it, Ryan Taylor was released at the end of his contract. I couldn't justify £2100 p/w wages on a bench warmer with our FFP issues leading to a transfer ban We did manage to make four signings before we were put under a transfer embargo Ryan Hardie's loan becomes a permanent transfer as does Alex Palmer's Myles Kenlock replaces the departed Gary Sawyer and Santos-Clase is a young striker who I hope will get a lot of game time off the bench, and sign permanently when his loan ends Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 All of which leaves the squad looking like this ahead of the new season 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 A decent start to the season, despite a disappointing first couple of games and after 7 matches, we're in a playoff place that would represent a massive over-achievement if we can stay there Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xray1324 Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 11 minutes ago, Northernpilgrim said: A decent start to the season, despite a disappointing first couple of games and after 7 matches, we're in a playoff place that would represent a massive over-achievement if we can stay there good stuff, looking like you're not getting trounced too much here my friend Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 Just now, xray1324 said: good stuff, looking like you're not getting trounced too much here my friend We're not, but we do have the worst defence in League 1 (as well as the best attack), which is weird, because we got promoted on the back of a solid defence and didn't score that many last season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 September was a frustrating month. No complaints as we were second best against Wigan and deserved to be beaten, but we absolutely battered Southend Burton and Mansfield and those draws mean we drop away from the playoff places into mid table. We need to get a bit closer to the top six, but I would be happier finishing just outside the playoffs than in them, as I think we need quite a few squad changes before we're ready to be a Championship club 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 Unbeaten in October and no complaints with the draws against Coventry or Accrington, but we deserved better against Lincoln and we remain just outside the playoffs 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitner Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Good season so far. Avoiding defeats should guarantee you L1 status! Cheers, Bitner Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbokav1971 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Tony Pulis is Welsh so it's not him. Paul Sturrock is Scottish so it's not him. Carl Fletcher is Welsh so it's not him. John Sheridan is Irish so it's not him. Derek Adams is Scottish so it's not him. 39 years old.... Ian Holloway is too old. Paul Mariner is too old. Peter Reid is too old. Have you really taken over from Ryan Lowe, pretending to be Ryan Lowe? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimbokav1971 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 On 15/07/2020 at 00:55, Northernpilgrim said: One piece of financial good news over the summer and one very bad. It's things like this that make FFP irritating and irrelevant. How can we fail FFP when we have millions in the bank, we're under our wage budget, and we're profitable? Is it based on & of turnover? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 3 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said: Is it based on & of turnover? Nope, it's to do with wages. We can easily afford our current wage bill, but because of a ludicrous rule about wage increases, we are now under a transfer embargo. They are literally trying to sabotage us for being successful with a smaller wage bill last season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xray1324 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 1 minute ago, Northernpilgrim said: Nope, it's to do with wages. We can easily afford our current wage bill, but because of a ludicrous rule about wage increases, we are now under a transfer embargo. They are literally trying to sabotage us for being successful with a smaller wage bill last season that's silly, but what's your projection on next season's balance? More or less, or around the same level? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 4 minutes ago, xray1324 said: that's silly, but what's your projection on next season's balance? More or less, or around the same level? They're projecting us to lose £1.5m per season for the next two seasons, despite profits last season of £1m and a profit of £800k so far this season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 17, 2020 Author Share Posted July 17, 2020 6 hours ago, Jimbokav1971 said: Tony Pulis is Welsh so it's not him. Paul Sturrock is Scottish so it's not him. Carl Fletcher is Welsh so it's not him. John Sheridan is Irish so it's not him. Derek Adams is Scottish so it's not him. 39 years old.... Ian Holloway is too old. Paul Mariner is too old. Peter Reid is too old. Have you really taken over from Ryan Lowe, pretending to be Ryan Lowe? No. It's only the attributes that are copied, not the nation / place of birth / age of manager. But it isn't any of the managers you've suggested so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 18, 2020 Author Share Posted July 18, 2020 Only two league games in November, but we're out of the FA Cup already and we really should have put 10 man Luton away but we're only 2 points off a playoff spot, which is absolutely where we want to be 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 18, 2020 Author Share Posted July 18, 2020 In mid-December, I was offered an interview, despite not applying for the job. I'm nowhere near finished at Argyle, so won't be attending Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xray1324 Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) 2 minutes ago, Northernpilgrim said: In mid-December, I was offered an interview, despite not applying for the job. I'm nowhere near finished at Argyle, so won't be attending I had a lot of job offers in my save with Fleetwood, so I know how annoying this is lol (It was a 1 club save, too) Edited July 18, 2020 by xray1324 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 18, 2020 Author Share Posted July 18, 2020 1 minute ago, xray1324 said: I had a lot of job offers in my save with Fleetwood, so I know how annoying this is lol (It was a 1 club save, too) I don't think it's annoying, not in this case anyway. Oxford are a Championship club (promoted last season), so they do represent a step up from where I am now. They just don't know that I can't leave Argyle until I get them to the Premier League. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northernpilgrim Posted July 19, 2020 Author Share Posted July 19, 2020 A perfect December, six league wins and cup progress, and no goals conceded and that sees us in the playoffs, right on the coat tails of the top two. This isn't how it was supposed to go Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xray1324 Posted July 19, 2020 Share Posted July 19, 2020 You might want to start throwing some games if you don't want to be in the playoffs Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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