[FM13] NML's Journeyman Career

[NML]

In my ever-present quest to really get into Football Manager, I'm having another go of it from a different approach. I think, at least part of my issue in developing a long term game, is that I get bored with the same team over and over again. I'm not sure if I've ever made it past four seasons - normally by then, I've accomplished a lot but my bigger goals seem decades away and I give up.

FM is such an awesome game - the main reason is that you can customize everything in terms of if you handle it or let the CPU run the show. Another issue I have is hurrying through a season just because I've already got my eye on the next year, my next goal, the next signing. So because of this, I tend to miss a lot of the cool features about the game.

My final issue is that the game gets unrealistic is some aspect. For example, a lot of the club and country saves I've done I start but editing a bunch of things and by year three I realize that this wouldn't ever happen IRL, so I stop.

Add all that together and you get this attempt at a journeyman dynasty.

For those who don't know, a journeyman save is when you start unemployed and try to make your way through the coaching ranks. A lot of times, players use multiple leagues and countries - however, my computer is shit, so I'll just do the 6 levels of the English pyramid, which would be a long road to the top anyways. I'll start unemployed and see who hires me, and then just start playing.

There will also be no editor data of note used - just basic edits to names (i.e. European Cup is now Champions League). It's more a "right out of the box" game.

Finally, I'm truly going to manage as if I was actually in control of a football club. I'll be more hands on in the day-to-day happenings, including scouting, training, etc.

The main focus, or at least what I imagine the main focus will be, is tactics. Most of you know that I coach IRL as well (certainly not at this level, but I'm still paid), so I'm interested to see if there is a real life translation within tactics. Certainly, if it's possible, FM is the place it will be.

I'm really going to delve in here. I'll be starting from scratch - no downloaded tactics that let you go undefeated with West Ham. That's not what this is about. It may get a little technical, but that's the fun part. If I'm losing - why am I losing? If I'm winning - how do I keep this up? I don't know about you'll, but I have two tactical moves within a game - get more attacking (increase level of tactic, bring on second striker) and more defensive (waste time, lower level of tactic). It's such a shame to waste this great engine like that. I'll try to spend more time looking at the 'analysis' tab and things like that.

I hope you'll enjoy it and you may even learn something. I've actually already started the save so, spoiler alert, I was hired almost immediately. We are in pre-season so I'll start posting some results and tactical discussion soon.

 

[NML]

History​

Year 1: Hayes & Yeading
Conference South, 8th place
FA Cup, First Round
FA Trophy, First Round

Year 2: Hayes & Yeading
In Progress

 

[NML]

Introduction to the Tactics

In real life, I've taken a liking to the style of soccer made most famous by Jurgen Klopp and Borussia Dortmund, gegenpressing. Loosely translated, it means counter pressing. Here's a good excerpt describing the style:

Gegenpressing means to press the opposition right after losing possession, i.e. to press as an organized unit the moment you transition to defense. The entire team hunts the ball and, in the ideal case, immediately wins it back from the opponent. The aim is twofold; to prevent the opponent’s counterattack and to win the ball.

Most are familiar with how Barcelona players - high line, press all over the field, and completely dominate possession. This strategy has the first two qualities, but the latter is much different. Once they win the ball back, they are looking to score as quickly as possible. They will try to find the high striker who is on the last defender, or the outside man cutting in. The midfielder playing under the striker will drift side to side, while two "holding" mids form a double-pivot in the middle of the field to switch the flank if necessary. Like most high pressing system, the fullbacks get very high and join the attack often, supplying early crosses and being an outlet for the winger in the corner.

In theory, the tactic results in getting the ball already in a good position (basically, in the opposition's half) and with good numbers support (as the entire team is also in that half). Players are typically encouraged to look to score as quickly as possible, which often time means a long shot. There's some debate on this, as the low percentage shot is often an undesired side effect of the system. Dortmund especially is well known for taking a high number of shots but with a low percentage on target. In past years, they've gotten away with it because Lewandowski was such a tremendous player in the final third, his finishing percentage was much higher than normal. We saw signs this year that without an elite finisher, the team can struggle. Without getting on too much of a Dortmund-focused tagent, they also struggled with scoring from the midfield - Reus was, of course, great, but his time missed with injury showed how poor the rest of the squad was. Sahin, Kagawa, Mkhitaryan, and Gundogan combined for 9 goals across all competitions. Compare that to the previous season when the three main midfielders (Reus, Mkhitaryan, and Aubameyang [who moved to striker this season]) combined for 62.

The team must work extremely hard for the entire match, however. Here's another excerpt on the fitness-aspect:

Fundamentally, gegenpressing is a rather simple tactical approach: A team simply plays at full pace for 90 minutes, approaching every moment as though they are down a goal late in a major final. After losing possession, players will swarm their opponents, giving them no time on the ball regardless of position and location.

Early on in his Dortmund career, Klopp came under criticism when his squad couldn't compete in Europe. The issue was they were playing at full speed on Saturday, and three days later, running for another 90 minutes in a different part of the continent. It didn't work, and Dortmund struggled to stay fit and compete. Then two things changed - one was that the squad got deeper, and second and most importantly, they learned that how to slow the game down when they had the lead. They began to slow the tempo a bit and simply keep possession in the latter stages of the game, especially in the Germany. When they faced the bottom feeders and got up 3-0 in the first half, they were able to rest their legs more and started having success, culminating in 2013 when they reached the Champions League finals.

I'll get more into the specifics of the tactic itself, but my personal reason for becoming such a fan of this system is that it tends to help a lesser squad compete with the more technical teams. My club team had very little quality, but we almost always outworked the other team and were well organized, so we could compete with anyone, including beating the 4th ranked team in the state 3-0 in a tournament final. Will that translate to Football Manager? I guess we will see.

 

[NML]

Team Shape

I'll start getting away from the real life implications of the system, and begin focusing on the tactic within Football Manager itself. Here's a good overview from a screenshot, showing our average team position. For comparison's sake, the right image is our opposition's average position. Ignore #11 on our side, as he was subbed off after about 5 minutes with an injury.

​

First thing to notice is our formation. It's actually not a 4-3-3 as the image would suggest. We play a 4-2-3-1, similar to that of both Bayern and Dortmund - you can see a better version of this in the previous post, in the picture of Bayern's pressing. Our outside wingers play as an "inside forward" with an "attack" mentality, so they tend to stay very high and pinch in when they have the ball or when the opposite winger does. Our fullbacks push high, so they will almost always be above our centerbacks. I'll go over more individual roles in the next post, but this helps lay the foundation for the team.

The second noteworthy part of the picture is how much higher are team's average position is. Compare our left winger (#23) to the other team's (#11). We are probably 12 yards higher on average. My CAM is in a similar position to their striker. Obviously this is a direct by-product of the high line and high pressure. This tends to be the first thing to look at if we aren't controlling the game - if we are averaging a lower starting position, than things aren't working as they should. If we have to bunker in, we will struggle.

Finally, notice our balance compared to theirs. We are almost completely symmetrical, implying that despite chasing the ball, we remain well organize both on the ball and while defending. The opposition, on the other hand, seems like we pushing them in on their left, as the LST, LCM, and LCB are all dropped inside. An opposition off-balanced is a recipe for success.

Defensively

Here's a good look at our well-organized defense. To set this up, our right center mid has chased his man down, while the CAM filled in for him so that we still have the double pivot in the middle of the pitch. Our back-line looks great - we are flat, well-distanced apart, and compact. Certainly one of the biggest weaknesses of this system is shown here. Both our wingers are still up and not in a position to help defensively. If the opposition was more aggressive, they could push their fullbacks up to support or overlap, and that would really test our wingers work rate. But, as a byproduct of our system, the opposition's fullbacks hold back (their RB is not pictured, but he is goal-side of our LW). So while we are only defending with 7, they are only attacking with 6. And we still have a 3 on 3 if we were to win the ball and counter quickly - it would possibly be a 3 on 4 if the RCB recovered quick enough, but we could also catch him out as he is on the wrong side of midfield.

This is a good shot of the high press in action. The opposition had the ball in the corner but was overwhelmed and tried to play it up to the right striker, but our fullback was tight and stepped in front. Now our left back is pushing into space with lots of options. A good passer would play the CAM first time, who found space between the RCB and RCM. As it turned out, our left back took the space, pulling their center mid (who's in no-man's-land in the shot) out, before laying it off for our RCM, who was 4 on 3 against their two CBs and left back. We didn't score, but it's a great opportunity.

You can also see the great movement immediately after their pass (when we are about to win the ball) from our LCM (N'Diaye) and CAM. Instead of ball-watching or staying in the corner, they running central to create the overload. The winger will stayed wide to give us width, but the space is in the middle so they need to play off that.

Here's another weakness, and a shot of the high press. We've just cleared the ball and are doing a great job of stepping to recreate the high line and make the game compact. However, a simple pass to the other CB here and our striker is caught out and not in a position to help the press.

You can see that's exactly what happened. Our striker, and pretty much everyone else on the team, realizes that we are not in a position to press here and are organizing themselves to defend. However, our right winger doesn't and is going balls to the wall after the ball. Appreciate the work rate, but you can't press alone. You can probably expect what happens next...

The CB is about to play the left back into an acre of space. We overpressed and if our midfield doesn't react quickly enough, they will have a great counter opportunity. The pass is made and then our right back gets beat, and the left mid plays 3v2 and gets a good look at the goal. Luckily, they don't score, but the screenshots show the other big weakness defensively. Getting caught out.

Offensively

Now we move to the other side of the ball. This is a good look at our offensive team shape in the middle third of the pitch. Our left back has received the ball from the center back after a win, and immediately we are looking to get forward. We aren't always this well organized, but we've got many options when we do. To his right, he's got two triangles built around the LCM who is showing to the ball. The big switch to the opposite full back is on. Our striker is making a run behind the RCB (who is again caught out). The left winger is showing down the line. Basically he can play any pass he wants.

Also note our double pivot in the middle. They are actually a little closer together than I'd like, but the idea is good. If their RCM looks to take away the pass to our LCM, the ball to our RCM is on, who already has a triangle in place with the right back also having the option to make a run, as their winger in pinched in too far. The other run, that doesn't look like it's being made, is our opposite winger. This is a very tough ball, but it could be on. If we assume that the striker continues his run, the CB will likely track him, opening a ton of space right in the middle of the field. Hopefully, our winger is faster and can exploit that.

Here's a look closer to the final third. Our right back has made a great run and, like his winger-brethren, has cut inside and beaten the wide midfielder. You can see our striker hanging right on the shoulder of the last defender, waiting to make the run between the center backs. Our right winger has an opening in front of him because the right back has to step up to deal with his counter-part. Our backside winger has also just started making a run inside. We don't score here, but we are set up to. A better quality team probably does.

It's also worth noting how compact we are. I took the screenshot of the entire field so that it's more obvious. We have taken the outside 10-12 yards of each side out of the game. Our entire half is empty. If we lose the ball - if, for example, our fullback tries to beat everyone with a through ball to the striker and it's stolen, we are in a great position to press. You can already see how everyone is matched up, ready to go, if we lose the ball.

Now we can see it in action. Our left winger has just received the ball on the wing from our LCM, and is ready to take on the fullback. We haven't stepped up yet, so the numbers aren't on for an immediate attack and we have to be a little more patient. He is going to cut inside and beat his man. I think a missed run here is the CAM - who has done a nice job drifting over the create the overload, but I think if he just runs down the line we are in a good spot. Instead, he's going to circle back inside and let the winger have the space. His run pulls both the CM currently marking him and the center back out of the way. The full back really has to chase him, all the way down to the corner of the box.

Our left back makes a great run in the space left by the winger's inside run. It's about a 60 yard sprint to get behind the midfielder and the winger plays a nice ball to him out wide.

Now we are really set up. Because our CAM went inside instead of out, we have completely overloaded them in the box. This great pass is going to pull both the right back and right mid for the opposition onto our left back.

The cross comes in and we are 4 on 4 in the box, but they are poorly marked. This ball falls right to our striker who hammers it home to give us a 1-0 lead.


That was quite the tactical post, and I apologize if some of the terms were too technical. But it gives a nice outline of what we are trying to do with this system.​

 

[Yankee151]

I used to/still run a counter pressing formation as well. Most of my games ended up high scoring one way or the other but it was pretty exciting at least

 

[Travis7401]

to me it Sounds like puber tactics to me.

 

[Yankee151]

Jurgen Klopp confirmed puber

 

[NML]

I used to/still run a counter pressing formation as well. Most of my games ended up high scoring one way or the other but it was pretty exciting at least

I haven't played enough to be sure, but my games have been reasonable. I had 4 clean sheets in 5 games during the preseason, but that may have just been the quality of my opponents.

to me it Sounds like puber tactics to me.

It 100% is the same thing the messicans do online in Fifa. I tried to play like this on FIFA and I just felt like an asshole.

 

[Travis7401]

I haven't played enough to be sure, but my games have been reasonable. I had 4 clean sheets in 5 games during the preseason, but that may have just been the quality of my opponents.



It 100% is the same thing the messicans do online in Fifa. I tried to play like this on FIFA and I just felt like an asshole.

I don't think I've ever really run a system quite like what you've got there. Usually my CBs aren't well rounded and fast enough to play such a high line without getting torched on counters if I'm playing fast/direct build up. I think I tried it a few times during games as tactical adjustments against better teams who had a lead and were pushing their FBs forward and it seemed like the games ended up extremely up and down the field with both teams getting constant chances. I gave up a ton of chances which either resulted in me getting slaughtered or winning a heroic victory when my GK played like a stud. I definitely think this setup works a lot better once I got a fast CB and a BTT CB that I set to cover/stopper roles respectively. You've got some nice CBs for each role if Fifa is any indication.

In my only regular high line tactic I definitely still press, but then have it set to slow down tempo and make short passes and work the ball into the box when I get the ball back. Not quite a "Barcelona" set up because I've not got "keep possession" selected, so they rarely pass backwards to get out of trouble. That's the setup I have to play against teams that bunker against me because the wings cut inside and the FBs get forward and provide extra men on the attack. Occasionally I get hammered on a counter of the other team has a fast striker (which is why I bought Aboubakar away from one of my rivals, got tired of watching him score on me as the only offensive player in their formation).

Anyway, looking forward to following and getting trapped back into my own save!

 

[NML]

I'm definitely not sure how this translates into the game yet. Those screen shots are from friendlies where I had some success, but against small clubs. Now that I'm getting into the competitive stuff...

One thing I have noticed, and ur right on this point, is having speedy CBs is so important. The team that hired me (not Dortmund, btw) has this ogre CB that is really struggling. I'm thinking I can use him on the road, where we might sit a little deeper, and his size and good heading/marking will be more useful. If we open up the game, he gets torched.

I have seen some tactics where people do the cover/stopper combo. I may try it, mostly out of necessity with this mong, but I prefer symmetrical formations.

 

[Travis7401]

I think having two well rounded CBs is better as well, ideally. My over/stopper combo was employed mostly because I could never find good value in complete players (which is pretty realistic). I could always find good value in players who were missing one piece of the puzzle and complimented each other well.

I don't know why I brain farted and thought you had access to Dortmund's players either

 

[NML]

Pre-Season Preview

As you may have guessed from the logo above, I was hired almost immediately by Hayes & Yeading - who start the game without a manager. Here's a quick wiki except about the club (slightly edited to related to 2012, the in-game date).

Hayes & Yeading United Football Club are an English football club currently based in Maidenhead, Berkshire awaiting the construction of their new ground. The club participate in the Conference South, the sixth tier of English football. The club were formed in 2007 following a merger of Hayes and Yeading. They play at the Kingfield Stadium agreeing a groundshare with Woking. In the 2011-2012 season, whilst playing at Kingfield, consistently poor league form meant that the club was relegated back into the Conference South

So I'm very much starting at the bottom of the pyramid. I'm two divisions away just from league play, so there's a long road to go. Furthermore, while H&Y are fresh off playing in the division above, the team was very bare and not in a good financial position. I came in just before their second friendly and got to work right away. You know about the tactic, which I made my focus in training. I signed a couple coaches to build a nice staff and one scout to round it all off. It was too late to arrange any money making friendlies, and my schedule was pretty tight as is anyways. We added one away match just to work on fitness, going twice a week until the season starts.

I was very impressed with our pre-season. We came out right away with a 3-0 road win. The team picked up the tactic right away, dominating the game and keeping it entirely in their half. It was an 8th division side, so nothing to get too excited about. We struggled the following game, and despite having more possession and more shots, we couldn't finish. This was also the first sign that my big ogre CB Pele couldn't make it. We won the following match, again on the road to an 8th division side. A first half goal allowed me to work on killing the game out, which we did well. Our final two matches were against Conference N/S sides, winning the first home match with a dominating 4-0 effort. It was completely one way and I felt excited about the team. It wasn't as good the following game back on the road, drawing nil-nil. Our finishing was awful - despite three 'clear cut chances' we couldn't put anything away. 12 total shots should be enough.

The positives, as a team, coming out of the pre-season definitely started defensively. Despite playing four matches on the road and five total, we kept four clean sheets. We played really well at home and always created a few chances each game. Not so great news is that our finishing was very spotty. On the road, we struggled to put away our opportunities and were shutout twice. There were also a few moments where it was clear that we were still learning the tactic, which is to be expected.

Speaking of which, here it is in FM form:

Positionally, I left camp thinking I had a good grasp of my team.

GK: Brandon Hall had a solid camp for us, posting a 7.03 rating. Four clean sheets is enough that this is his job moving forward. A pair of non-contract guys back him up.

DEF: Our combination of Tom Cadmore and Pele was great, with a 7.32 and 7.04 respective ratings. Pele, as I've mentioned, does scare me with only a 6 pace, but he is so good in the air and in the defensive third, it's tough to sit him. He's also one of my most expensive players, making 800/week. Adam Bygrave isn't nearly as technically good, but he's more athletic. He had good showings when given the opportunity (7.00). Sam Cox played out of position for us at right back, but hopefully that will happen less and less as we just signed someone to fill in for him more permanently, Frank Sinclair. His current back up, Elliott Legg, is no good and has been sent to the reserves. Ronnie Bull was a nice addition, and he was great at left back (7.23 rating with an assist and nearly 6 tackles a game). A pair of youngsters will battle to back him up.

MID: Adam Watkins was a great loanee at the CAM position, posted a 7.08 rating, 82% passing, and covering over 7 miles a match. Josh Ekim is a good back-up. The two center mid spots are likely Luke Williams and Alassane N'Diaye's to lose, but they didn't have a great pre-season. N'Diaye didn't do enough defensively for a ball-winning midfield (2.5 tackles/game, 3 interceptions all pre-season) and Williams had just 1 goal and no assist, with a 72% passing percentage. Mark Bentley can come off the bench at either spot. It's also Sam Cox's natural position. Might also be an area we look to address later in the transfer market if we continue to struggle or get an injury.

Daniel Wishart was the surprise of the pre-season at LW, with three goals and an assist. Not sure if that'll keep up. Daryl McLean will start on the right despite an underwhelming start, with just a 6.92 rating and one assist. A couple of youngsters back them up, but any long term injury will need to be addressed in the transfer market.

ST: Only running a 1-striker system, two, I find, is all you need to carry on your squad. Kudus Oyenuga was the player of the pre-season, with three goals and two assists. Wouldn't mind seeing a better strike rate, though, as he was at fault for a handful of our missed opportunities. Troy Hewitt was brought in on loan from QPR to back him up, but he really struggled, not putting a single shot on target yet. Neither have good work rates, either, which worries me going forward.

Here's all the moves I made during the pre-season:

The main area of weakness coming in - fullback - was address with our only big salary addition (Sinclair is making 700/week, which bumps to 900 after 15 appearances). Bull is on a non-contract. Both Hewitt and Watkins' salaries are covered by their club. Watkins is a full season loanee, Hewitt is just three months until I make a decision if we can get away with his low work rate. KAA will back up both winger spots on a youth contract.

The club's expectations are a respectable league finish (anyone know what position that entails?), a first round appearance in the FA Cup, and finally to make it to the second round of the FA Trophy. I think that all seems reasonable. I'm excited to get started with the club but, assuming I have success, I'm not sure how long I can stay around. The club is not in a good position financially and the attendance is the worst in the league - nor do they even own their stadium. I'll do my best to help those situations, but a lot of that is out of my hands.

 

[goblue96]

Respectable league finish means above the middle of the table but below the playoff spots.

 

[NML]

August Recap

After a great pre-season, we came into the start of the season with high hopes. Unfortunately, our fitness was still an issue and that showed in the first month of matches, which were coming fast at two a week.

We were unfortunate not to have more than five points out of these four games. In both of the first two games, we had a lead headed into the last 10 minutes. Unfortunately, our fitness let us down and we allowed a pair of late goals. In the Boreham Wood match, we had almost double the shots, but again our lack of quality in front of goal. We wrapped up the month nicely though with a dominating 2-0 victory.

Tactically speaking, Pele and his lack of pace continued to be an issue. In the 0-2 loss, the striker got behind him both times, and he was caught out on more than one occasion in other matches. Adam Bygrave filled in nicely in the Basingstoke victory, so as I mentioned previously, I may alternate he and Pele depending on the match-up. If I think we will sit in a little more, I'll likely stick with Pele and his dominating defensive presence. But if I think we will be taking the game to the other team, Bygrave's pace is preferred.

In addition, Brandon Hall had a major error in the Boreham Wood game, getting beat on a cross back post from about 45 out. He played a pass right to the striker in the Billericay match, so I decided to make a switch in goal. His back-up kept a clean sheet, but he's not talented enough and we need to fix this issue for the long term.

Cup Matches​

We didn't have a cup match yet. Next month, the FA Cup kicks off with us joining in the second qualifying round. We are expected to make the first round, which is quite an ask since that would require three straight wins. Hopefully the draw is kind.

The FA Trophy is still a few months away.

Transfers​

No moves yet, although Frank Sinclair picked up a knock in the last match and the physio says he'll be out the better part of the month. May bring in an emergency RB replacement, although Sam Cox has done a decent enough job there. We will be looking to add a keeper sooner than later, I think.

 

[NML]

September Recap

We wrapped up August on a high note, and like the pre-season before it, we came into this month with high hopes and expectations.

We continued our winning ways with another dominating effort against Welling at home. Our trip to Havant was eerily familiar - getting up 2-0 in the first half only to piss the lead away with more late goals. It was at this point that I started to question myself when it came to "running out the clock" strategies, but I'll talk more on that later.

The rest of the month was a struggle. We were constantly working hard to comeback against Dover, but never managed to. Salisbury we simply couldn't put the ball in the net. We had the better of possession (56%) and shots (12 to 3), but our finishing let us down and there's didn't. We wrapped up a bad month, league-wise, with a bad defensive effort in Eastleigh. Pele would start his final match for a while, and this was the last straw with Brandon Hall in goal.

As I mentioned, the big change tactic wise is that no longer will I switch things up to kill a game out. Normally, I add the shouts of 'retain possession' and 'take a breather' while also doing some time wasting. It hadn't worked yet, so that's the end of that.

Defensively, we struggled mightily this month. Pele was definitely a factor, but our keeper situation was bad and we did ourselves no favor in the midfield. Our defensive work will be a focus in training for a while.

Cup Matches​

We did not get an easy first draw, with almost 80% of the field being below us in the pyramid, we got stuck with one of the other teams on our level. Lucky enough it was at home. However, we fell down very early, going into half down 2-0. After 20 minutes of nothing from the team, I brought on another striker, going with a 4-1-3-2. We scored three goals in the next 15 minutes, and came back to win 3-2.

Our next draw was significantly easier - although we are on the road, it's a seventh level side, so we should expect to advance.

Transfers​

We brought in Jake Newton as some cover to our right back position, with Frank Sinclair out all of this month. He probably won't seem many games, but we had no one to back-up Sam Cox in case of a two match week.

 

[NML]

October Recap

I'm really trying to bang these out - I'm already into December in my save and it's tough to go back and remember my thoughts this far back. Here's how October went:

After a very frustrating end to last month, we came out firing to start. The Staines match was one of our most dominate, with Adam Bygrave picking up man of the match in place of Pele, who moved to the bench. Our offense was stellar against Bath, although our defense had some hiccups, Bygrave still got MOTM. A late goal given up against Chelmsford stopped our winning streak, which was followed up by one of our worst efforts against Farnborough. A few days later, we allowed another goal in the last 10 minutes to drop two more points, although Pele came back in and got a MOTM effort himself.

The biggest switch I made during this time was changing our passing style to 'more direct.' Through a lot of these games, we were getting 50, 55, even 65% possession, but eight shots. That's not how this should look. I think it was after the Salisbury match that I made the switch, and it helped us in the FA Cup (see below).

I also started getting away from running a more defensive tactic on the road. I kept the attacking mentality up and we seemed to create a lot more offensively.

We had some knocks this months that didn't help us - Adam Watkins, who's been a stud for us at CAM, is out for 6 weeks. Josh Ekim has filled in decently, so far. Frank Sinclair missed some time, and in general, we have heavy legs with almost constant two matches a week.

Cup Matches​

We tried to fuck up our easy draw. Got up 2-0 in the 63rd minute, but a questionable penalty and yet another 80-90th minute goal forced us into the replay at home. I yelled at everyone and they seemed to respond. The next round was at home but against a BSP side, the level above us on the pyramid. Still, we more or less dominated the matched and met our goal of a first round appearance.

Heading into the draw, I wanted either a easy home draw or a L1 away draw for the cash. We got the latter - which we desperately need if I'm going to have any kind of wage budget next season (assuming I'm still here).

Transfers​

A busy month of transfers. We started by grabbing Buchel, a Lichtenstein international, to finally fix our goalkeeper issues. His last four matches we only allowed a goal a game, which is good for us. He's not elite, but he's better than what we have. His international matches will force us into using Brandon Hall some too, however. Vilhete is an outstanding right winger. He scored two goals in his first three matches (two of which were sub appearances). He seems to be a very useful loanee. Deane and Mannion are young players who will provide cover at keeper and striker, respectively. Troy Hewitt refused to extend his loan after only making about 10 total apperances (although he did have six goals), so had a lack of depth there. Deane is a guy I've signed a lot so I know he can be useful. Our final loanee is Fakinos, who is going to provide cover at CAM for the injured Watkins.

 

[NML]

November Recap

Finally caught up. After yet another up-and-down month, November was set to revolve around cup play, with us taking part in both the FA Cup and FA Trophy. As it turned out, replay's and advancement meant it was a quiet month in league play.

That 4-4 draw was far and away the most frustrating game I have ever played on FM. I was almost scoring at will, but no matter what I did, I could not stop them answering. I had a one goal lead four different times in this match, including twice in the last 12 minutes, and only managed a draw. The final two goals they scored, it was immediately after the kickoff. There was just nothing I could do. The Bromley match likely would've been as frustrating, as I lead 2-0 at the half and then allowed two in the span of 3 minutes, but we stole the game late with a goal in the 86th minute.

This was the first time I tried playing without the offsides trap. For the first 70 minutes, it seemed to worked great. Then our poor marking came back. I really don't know if it's just a lack of talent defensively - my guys are all pretty decent - or a lack of pace - most of my back line is under 10 - but it needs a lot of work. I think it's the latter, but we are a bit far in to try and completely rebuild the back line. Offense is doing great, doe.

After all of this craziness, we find ourselves in 14th place. A bit lower than the board would prefer, but we just haven't been able to handle the congestion. Hopefully some good pick-ups in the coming months combined with some rest with help us go up the table.

Cup Matches​

This is where we spent a majority of our time this month, and with decent results. Obviously, drawing on the road to a league one side is a huge achievement, but in all honesty, we were the better side and deserved the win. We came back from 0-3 down in the home leg to make it 2-3, but we got caught chasing in extra time and dropped out.

All in all, it was a great run for us. We made our goal, and the MK Dons draw was a huge money maker for us. We made $102k off the gate, plus the return leg was picked up for TV, which was another $55k. We also had far and away our biggest home crowd, putting the total income of that one match around $175k. For the entire season, we've made $345k. Add in the $45k of prize money, and it's a good 60% of our income for the season.

We drew with fellow sixth division side Hinckley at home, but responded nicely on the road with a 3-1 win. Another seemingly favorable draw of 8th division side Maidstone was our undoing, knocking us out a round earlier than expected. We were just exhausted and it was very much a thrown together side. We played six matches in 18 days, and it doesn't get any easier heading into December. The next time we will go into a match with a full week of rest is 12.22 - nearly a month and half of two matches a week straight.

Transfers​

No transfer news of note, other than one expiring cover loan. We may be looking to upgrade our left side soon, with neither position very strong or with any talented cover. Both Ronnie Bull and Daniel Wishart are better off as back-ups rather than full-time starters.

The other area to look at is rebuilding the back-line. With most of the guys who start being under contract, we will have a difficult time doing so. But I'll look into the possibility at least.

 

[Travis7401]

I'm definitely enjoying the frequent updates, but if you find that you are wanting to play more than you are wanting to post about playing, I'd suggest going to quarterly updates. That really helped me find the right balance between playing and posting about playing. Just take the league season and use that to determine quarter break points, because cup games can make the total game count a little wonky and unpredictable.

Here's the 5 event per season format I found really worked well for me:

Season Preview/Transfer Madness
First Quarter Review
Second Quarter Review/ Winter Transfer Madness
Third Quarter Review/Youth Intake
Season Review/Financial Review/Youth Progress Reports

 

[Schauwn]

Is there a domo for this game?

 

[NML]

I'm definitely enjoying the frequent updates, but if you find that you are wanting to play more than you are wanting to post about playing, I'd suggest going to quarterly updates. That really helped me find the right balance between playing and posting about playing. Just take the league season and use that to determine quarter break points, because cup games can make the total game count a little wonky and unpredictable.

Here's the 5 event per season format I found really worked well for me:

Season Preview/Transfer Madness
First Quarter Review
Second Quarter Review/ Winter Transfer Madness
Third Quarter Review/Youth Intake
Season Review/Financial Review/Youth Progress Reports

It's not so much the frequency, just that I got way ahead before I made any posts. I use to do three, pre-season, midway, and recap - but part of my effort to delve deeper into the game is the monthly updates. Hopefully catching up will fix it, but we will see.

Is there a domo for this game?

I'm not sure, I've never played a demo. That said, this is the version from 2.5 years ago, so it's probably only $5.

 

[Yankee151]

Im pretty sure there is one, iirc you can only play one year though or something

 

[Travis7401]

Just don't burn out!

 

[NML]

Just don't burn out!

Not sure if "burn out" is the issue...

Three straight losses puts my in 17th place. We had two red cards during that time and the other was a road match against a top 5 team that was 0-0 until the 83rd minute - they scored one, and then two more while we were chasing the game.

I've got a pair of home matches on deck, but things aren't looking good...

 

[NML]

Beat the 6th placed team 2-1

 

[NML]

December Recap

As you may have guessed from the above post, we hit a bit of a snag this month. I thought with the end of cup competitions, we'd finally get in a grove...

We didn't. Our fill in left back, Daniel Brathwaite, was sent off in a 1-1 game against AFC Hornchurch, where we looked the more dangerous side, and it cost us three points. He was released a few days later. We followed that up with a well-earned draw on the road, before another red card, this time by Frank Sinclair, led us an embrassing 3-0 loss. Sinclair also picked up a 4-match ban for his two-footed tackle.

The Dover match was one of our worst. We tied it at 1-1 in the 62nd minute, and then Adam Bygrave earned himself some serious bench time by getting beat three times in the next twenty minutes. I pulled him off because he was so worthless. We fought hard in the Boreham Wood match, but they were the better side and we allowed two in the last 10 minutes (really three, but one was offsides).

I made a few changed ahead of the Maidenhead match - we switched our centerbacks to "limited defenders" and our keeper to "sweeper keeper." That seemed to work pretty well. We got up 2-0 in the 55th minute, so I tried to pack it in a bit. They scored in the 60th minute and we worked our ass off to hold on to the three points and my job.

The two changes I mentioned will be carried over, and hopefully they help. I also made the wingers have "support" duty on the road, and the RCM to "defend." We defended pretty well in the Boreham Wood game, so we will keep that for now.

I really just tried to go back to basics with the Maidenhead match. I went back to Cadmore and Pele in the middle and didn't try any of the speed signees on the outside. Even though we won, we stayed in 17th and after our last match of the month got postponed, we actually finished in 18th. So it's still very much a hot seat that I'm in.

Cup Matches​

No cup play. We are eliminated until next season.

Transfers​

Scannell is a full-year loanee - he's got some quality and can play on either side. With Vilhete's loan wrapping up at the end of the month, and his club refusing to extend it, he will be useful. He started very slowly, doe. The other four are all speedy defenders who failed miserably when given the chance. Three of them have been released already.

 

[goblue96]

Doing all the finances in US Dollars.

 

[NML]

January Recap

Remember when I said I thought we were going to get into a groove heading into December? I was a month early...

We just went HAM this month. The draw to start the month was a well-fought match and could've gone either way. The other draw, we were up 1-0 and dominated the first 20 minutes of the match before my left back, Ronnie Bull, picked up a second yellow and we played over an hour down a man. We did a great job to keep a point.

And the rest was domination. Three of the games weren't even within a goal after the first half, and the Basingstoke match wasn't as close as that - they only had one shot on goal.

I think our biggest factor to our success is that I haven't messed with anything - it's been, more or less, the same 11 game in and game out. They've gotten in a rhythm and frankly can't be stopped. Cadmore and Pele have been absolute rocks in the center of defense, with Pele getting the player of the month award in the BSS.

The other huge factor has been David Grof, who we brought in from Walsall on loan after our old keeper's loan expired. He's been outstanding - every game, he's making 2-3 saves that I wouldn't have expected are old keepers to make. His contract with Walsall expires at the end of the year and I would love to bring him in with us permanently. Hopefully we can get that done this off-season, although we may need to get promoted to do so.

Cup Matches​

No cup play. We are eliminated until next season.

Transfers​

As mentioned, Grof has been brought in until the end of the year to play keep. Harry Pell is a guy I'm familiar with from FIFA, so to seem him as a possibility on the loan list was a nice surprise. He's super athletic, if not great technically, and has already had a pair of goals from his head (he's 6'4"). He can cover us on all three midfield spots, but currently he starts opposite N'Diaye at the 'deep lying playmaker' role.

 

[Travis7401]

Man I love that feeling when you get on a run, especially when it comes after a really terrible run like you had in December. You can just tell that 2-1 win was the turning point... then once you got the 4-2 victory you really took off.

 

[NML]

February Recap

After our greatest month ever, we headed into February with some momentum and an eye on the playoff spots.

We continued our great form for a couple matches, but the Farnborough match was very tricky. We faced our old loanee, Troy Hewitt, who had a hat trick. We also gave up a penalty, which Groff initially saved, but parried right back to the taker who taped it home. Just a match where the other team took advantage of every half chance. Eastleigh was a solid draw, as they sit in 4th place currently.

I worry that our "magic" form is gone... we just weren't as sharp the last two games, and really the signs that it was fading were there against Truro, who we had to hold off until the very end to get the three points despite going up 3-0. Pele's form has dropped big time, after being the player of the month in the entire division in January.

David Grof also wasn't quite as sharp. After a great month, he allowed a few in that he saved last time out. All these people suffering a drop in form at the same time is not a recipe for success.

Frank Sinclair missed some time too, which didn't help. Our captain, Sam Cox, has been a huge disappointment this season.

Cup Matches​

No cup play. We are eliminated until next season.

Transfers​

Ronnie Bull, our normal starting left back, picked up his 10th yellow, meaning he got a two match ban. Jordaan Brown was brought in as coverage and did a solid job, posting a 6.90 rating. He can provide cover at both fullback positions the rest of the way. Ricky Shakes is an interesting player - he may be the fastest player I've ever had on my team in FM, with 17 pace. But everything else is pretty meh. I thought he'd be perfect to bring in off the bench late and run past the tired defenders, but it just hasn't clicked. He's here until the end, but he's not cracking the game day roster right now.


Another noteworthy thing - our finances are just awful. We are still rountinely seeing less than 60 people despite our good run, and the board finally had to step in.

Never seen that before. Doesn't bode well for our wage budget next year...

 

[NML]

March Recap

Here's the results from our next to last month....

As expected, our shitty form from late last month carried over into March. Luckily, we were able to turn it around at just the right time before we fell back into the mid-table crowd. Here's the table with 5 matches to play

5 points out of the playoff spots. It's a tough ask, but maybe not impossible. We have to almost win out to have a chance. If we do manage to get into the playoffs, our form will be good enough that I give us a shot to go up. No clue how that would go with our current money issues (see below).

Cup Matches​

No cup play. We are eliminated until next season.

Transfers​

Since Troy Hewitt left, we've lacked another striker off the bench. Kudos can, and has, play almost every game, but we lacked anything off the bench. Insert Jake Hyde. Only issue is that we can only carry a max of 5 loan players, and with Ronnie Bull picking up a knock, Jordaan Brown had to be brought back into the line-up.

Also this happened again...

That's 210k the board has invested in the past 30 days. Yikes.


Probably going to switch to a game by game update from here on out. Playoffs or bust, leggo.

 

[NML]

I've already played the first two matches of the month. We open against the first place team at home, and while we dominated the first half, Frank Sinclair picked up a second yellow just before the break. I was furious and took two weeks pay. He's also suspended for a pair of matches, so we won't see him until the next to last match. Sam Cox stepped in nicely in the next match, and we dominated with a 2-0 home win. Here's how 3rd to 11th place looks right now

3rd - Salisbury, 60 points, +11 GD
4th - Eastleigh, 59 points, +14 GD
5th - Dover, 59 points, +9 GD
---
6th - Boreham Wood, 59 points, +7 GD
7th - Weston-super-mare, 56 points, +14 GD
8th - Welling, 56 points, +9 GD
9th - Dorchester, 56 points, +3 GD
10th - Hayes & Yeading, 55 points, +7 GD
11th - Staines, 55 points, -12 GD

That's everyone who still has a shot. Being 10th with three matches to go does not signal a good shot at cracking the top five, but it's very crowded. We probably will need all 9 points. Worst case, we finish about where we were expected and I likely still have a job next season.

We finish with:
@ Bromley, 18th
vs Eastbourne Boro, 20th
@ AFC Hornchurch, 2nd

That last match is a bitch. But if we managed to make it mean something, then we did pretty damn well.

 

[NML]

We lost to Bromley, eliminated from the playoff spots. Commence drinking

 

[NML]

Season Recap

We finished 8th place. Pretty solid and right about where most figured we would. A tough start to the season was a little too much for the side to overcome in trying to find their way to the playoff spots.

We finished as the highest scoring team in the league, with 75 goals in 42 matches. In total, we scored 97 over 51 games. Really good numbers there. Obviously, the other side is less good. 69 goals allowed, 18th in the league, and 84 across all competitions. This will be our main focus this off-season.

GK: David Grof was great for us when he came over, posting a 7.02 rating over 19 appearances. He kept four clean sheets and his 1.47 goals against average was much lower than everyone else (1.78). He was on loan from Walsall, although his contract does expire at the end of the season. We will definitely make a run at him, but not sure if he'll be interested in signing. Brandon Hall was the back-up, making nine appearances total throughout the year. He had a pair of nice matches in the FA Cup, and is serviceable. I wouldn't feel great if he was our starter next season, but it could be worse. Gareth Deane was our reserve keeper, although very average, but he could be decent in a couple years. He's also a Northern Ireland international, and a good #3.

- Off-Season Goal: Attempt to sign Grof, look for season-long loanee from L2/L1 club.

DEF: Tom Cadmore appeared in 47 total matches, with a 7.19 rating. He is solid all-around, and will be brought back. He's got the pace (9) to at least be serviceable, but the rest of his game is very good for this level. Pele wasn't far behind ratings wise, with a 7.18 over 33 matches. He is a great defender in our final third, but is really slow. He's also 35 and will probably be asking for a raise on an already high wage ($800 p/w). He's likely gone. Adam Bygrave was okay, with a 7.06, but our team goals allowed per 90 was much higher (1.79 versus 1.66 of Cadmore). He's on a non-contract, so he will be back, but hopefully not starting. Frank Sinclair had a good season for us, but he's 41 and already on a high contract. His pace dropped to 7 throughout the season, so he's gone. I actually really liked Ronnie Bull's season, despite being another non-contract guy. He's not as great defensively, our team goals are higher, but he's really aggressive (over six tackles a game, along with 14 yellows) and had a very solid nine assists. Don't see any reason to move him along. We have nothing behind them though, with Sam Cox being awful at RB. Need to get some depth.

- Off-Season Goal: Resign Cadmore, release Pele, Sinclair, and Cox. Find partner for Cadmore, new right back, and back-up to both fullbacks.

MID: Adam Watkins was the best player of the season for us in that CAM role. He had nine goals and 12 assists, and has the lowest team goals per 90 on the team. His 85% passing rating and amazing 51 key passes were so important for us. Unfortunately, he heads back to his club Luton Town soon, and is under contract for another season. Could we possibly look to bring him back again? If not, this will be a major area of concern. N'Diaye was solid, if unspectacular, at the ball-winning midfielder role. Probably will bring him back, no need to try and upgrade a decent enough spot. The opposite midfielder is a different story. Harry Pell was great offensively, with three goals and six assists in just 15 starts. I would've liked to have seen more from him defensively though. However he's headed back to AFC Wimbeldon, don't think I'd bring him back even if he was interested. Both Mark Bentley and Luke Williams spent time in that role, but were pretty poor. They contributed very little defensively (3.24 and 2.30 TGA/90 respectively), and a combined two goals and five assists in 61 appearances. Bentley will definitely be let go with his high wage, but we will probably sit down with Williams. Nothing else behind these two, so lots to address here.

Daniel Wishart never really wow-ed me this season, but he had a very respectful nine goals and 13 assists. He also does a good job defensively and will be resigned to hold down the left side again. Damian Scannell was brought in on loan, but wasn't that great. His five goals and five assists were meh, while Daryl McLean, the guy he replaced, actually had a better line of seven goals and five assists in less starts. McLean will be brought back, ideally as pace off the bench to back-up either right winger or striker (where he was actually at his best). Scannell will almost definitely want way too much, so it's an area to look at. We also have no solid back-ups.

- Off-Season Goal: Get Watkins back? If not, find replacement. Find partner for N'Diaye and rotation, find new right winger

ST: Kudos Oyenuga often felt like he was missing so many chances, but at the end of the day, he had 20 goals and 14 assists. I tried to extend his contract a couple times during the season, but due to our unknown financial situation, wasn't able to. I'd love to bring him back, but he will want to get paid. As discussed, McLean backed him up and did a relatively good job. Neither Troy Hewitt nor Jake Hyde did much on their loan spells. Ethan Mannion seemed overmatched out there, with one goal in ten appearances.

- Off-Season Goal: Resign Oyenuga, bring in back-up.


The main thing is waiting to hear what my budget will be next season... Due to the investments from the club and a few friendlies I lined up at the end of the season, we will finish with a positive bank account. But, surely they will lower the wage budget, which is only at 7k currently. That will be a major factor in terms of who comes back.

 

[DeadMan]

You got an away game against MK Dons and still needed $210k from the board? Yikes.

 

[goblue96]

Hayes and Yeading going broke.

 

[NML]

Well I loaded up on away friendlies versus EPL/Championship clubs. We will probably pull in a few hundred K just in friendlies, which was about our entire income last season.

The bigger positive is that we are now in our own stadium. So not only are we traveling for home games with almost no attendance, but we will also save 40k in rent. I'll be interested to see what my new attendance numbers are.

I also scrapped the entire youth team and setup, so there's some more money saved.

 

[NML]

Pre-Season Preview

I've touched on a handful of the non-soccer related moves, such as moving into our own stadium and scraping the youth set-up. Here's how the pre-season itself went:

As I mentioned, I lined up a ton of friendlies against top competition. This did two things - the first and most important, is set us up with a solid financial future for the year. We pulled in almost $300k in one month, compared to $358k all of last season. We've got $188k in the bank, which will be vital moving forward. Secondly, we are fit and well versed in our tactic. 10 of my 11 starters are 100% match fit and we are about 95% familiar with the tactic. That's a huge head start on everyone else, which is important as we head into the congested beginning of the year. Only down side is that we aren't in the best form, but morale is still very high amongst the players.

We came out sharp, getting really nice road wins against Championship and League 1 sides. I credit that mostly to our short off-season, so we already had a good grasp of our system and we're pretty fit after a couple weeks of training. We didn't get another result the rest of the way, but due to our competition, isn't a huge deal.

Tough to grade our players after this doe.

Here are the goals I laid out for roster moves headed into the off-season:

GK: - Off-Season Goal: Attempt to sign Grof, look for season-long loanee from L2/L1 club.

DEF: - Off-Season Goal: Resign Cadmore, release Pele, Sinclair, and Cox. Find partner for Cadmore, new right back, and back-up to both fullbacks.

MID:- Off-Season Goal: Get Watkins back? If not, find replacement. Find partner for N'Diaye and rotation, find new right winger

ST: - Off-Season Goal: Resign Oyenuga, bring in back-up.

GK: Grof was released from his club, but wanted more than I could offer to bring him back. Brandon Hall was also signed away, leaving us with only Gareth Deane headed into the season. We did exactly as we hoped though, bringing in Joe Day from Peterborough on a season-long loan. He's not quite as good as Grof, but he's more than serviceable.

DEF: Check marks for all of these too. Ben Glasgow from Stoke and his 15 pace and endless motor are a great fit for right back. He's only here for a couple months, so we will reevaluate if he's our last season-long loanee. His main competition for that title is Scott Garner, a centerback from Cambridge. He's got the pace (10) to work in the system and is solid on all his other skills. A good compliment to Cadmore. Ronnie Bull and Adam Bygrave are both back, but now under contract after they were chased by other teams. A couple non-contract guys can back us up on the outside.

MID: Biggest hit here was that neither Daryl McLean nor Daniel Wishart were willing to resign, and I've got no clue why. We spent big here, bringing in higher quality players. Theo Lewis is the best of the bunch, and he'll do great cutting in on his right from the left. Kieran Hughes-Mason will start on the right, and has a very similar skill set. Adam Watkins did agree to come back on a season long loan, which I'm very excited about. All three of these are interchangeable, which I think will work better than having huge drop offs in quality every where. We were unable to find a top quality DLP to pair with N'Diaye, so Luke Williams is the de facto starter, although he will miss opening day with an injury. Philip Appiah is a non-contract guy, but definitely has some quality. He'll start the first match.

ST: Kudos was our first resigning effort, and he's back. We were also able to bring in a Crystal Palace loanee, Kwesi Appiah (don't think there's any relation to Philip). IRL, he has five caps for Ghana. He's quality. I wasn't really keen to bring in someone full year to back up Kudos, but I couldn't pass him up. He's actually going to start for now, but having Kudos coming off the bench is great.

As I mentioned, I tried to get players who could play multiple positions, so we can carry a shorter bench. In addition, I tried to get my work done earlier so that we aren't trying to plug and play guys once we've started.

Our wage budget went up slightly, to $7.25k from $7k. Our cup goals are the same, reach the First Round of the FA Cup, and to reach the Second Round of the FA Trophy. However, we are expected to challenge for the title. Ruh roh.