Football Manager 2021 [Archive] - Page 4

Smjffy

23-09-2021, 02:54 PM

Wrexham FC

Season 20/21

Crowned National League champions.

Season 21/22

Finished 2nd in League Two

Season 22/23

Avoided relegation and finished 19th.

Season 23/24

Lost to Rochdale in extra time after reaching the Play Off final.

Season 24/25

Lost to Fleetwood in the semi final of the play offs, 1-1 at home was followed by a 1-0 defeat in the return.

Season 25/26

Romped to the title with 101 points. In hindsight, the prolonged stay in League One probably helped our youngsters more than a quicker promotion would have.

Season 26/27

Some big teams in the Championship and most notable amongst them were Crystal Palace and Newcastle but the Toon Army fell away after looking dead certs for the title whilst unlikely front runners Blackburn appeared to be on course to land it. We plodded along in the play off spots for much of the season but then Rovers tripped repeatedly, Newcastle rediscovered their early season form and we somehow found ourselves robbing 2nd place. To the Premier League!

Season 27/28

And a long hard slog it was. We eventually finished 15th but just two points clear of the drop as the final weeks of the season saw anyone from 11th and below at risk as just five points separated the lot of us. Remarkably though we not only survived but won the EFL Cup beating Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea along the way.

Season 28/29

We won the Uefa Conference League at the first time of asking to qualify for the Europa League group stages which is just as well as we finished 15th in the league, again retaining our top flight status and on course for steady improvements. Young enough, good enough, hopefully a few more additions from the youth team to provide some serious competition and then who knows, perhaps a period of dominance in the next 5/6/7 years?

Here's the starting eleven based on the last season.

https://i.imgur.com/Becectf.png

https://i.imgur.com/XOsuqWu.png

https://i.imgur.com/8Qs8V2p.png

https://i.imgur.com/HKXjaIq.png

https://i.imgur.com/qD80V72.png

https://i.imgur.com/XF16h0m.png

https://i.imgur.com/IkxHKbP.png

https://i.imgur.com/aT3m3jv.png

https://i.imgur.com/a9ivzNo.png

https://i.imgur.com/NUBWhNB.png

https://i.imgur.com/U8I5FV2.png

Baz

23-09-2021, 03:15 PM

I wish my job was dead so I could play FM all day. All these saves have got me in the mood.

Preordered 22 too.

Smjffy

23-09-2021, 03:19 PM

Craig Cummings.

https://i.imgur.com/VVWUnXo.png

Class of 2019.

Landmarks.

Broke EFL League One record for the youngest player to score in a match, at the age of 15 years and 317 days.

Broke the Wrexham record for the youngest player to score in a match, at the age of 15 years and 317 days.

Made debut against Sunderland aged 15 years and 317 days.

Scored first senior goal against Sunderland aged ^^

Broke EFL Cup record for youngest player to score in a match, at the age of 16 years and 95 days.

Broke the Sky Bet League One record for goals scored in a season with 41.

Boke the Wrexham record for goals sored in a season with 46.

Broke the Wrexham highest everage with 7.41 in 49

Appointed Wrexham captain in 2026

Competitions.

Uefa European Championship U19 runner-up
First U21 cap against Czech Republic aged 16
First international cap against Paraguay aged 18
First international goal against Paraguay aged 18
Sky Bet League One champion 2026
Carabao Cup winner 2028
Uefa Europa Conference League winner 2029

Awards

2023 Welsh Young Player of the Year
2023/24 Suppers Player of the Year
2023/24 Sky Bet League One Player of the Year
2023/24 Sky Bet League One Top Goalscorer
2024 Welsh Young Player of the Year runner-up
2024/25 Supporters Player of the Year
2024/25 Sky Bet League One Top Goalscorer
2025 Welsh Young Player of the Year
2025/26 Supporters Player of the Year
2025/26 Sky Bet League One Player of the Year
2027 Welsh Young Player of the Year
2027 Welsh Footballer of the Year
2027/28 Supporters Player of the Year
2028 European Championship Goal of the Tournament
2028 Welsh Young Player of the Year
2028 Welsh Footballer of the Year
2028/29 Players Young Player of the Year
2028/29 EURO Cup II Golden Boot winner
2028/29 Supporters Player of the Year

https://i.imgur.com/pwKyRhH.png

Giggles

23-09-2021, 03:40 PM

I wish my job was dead so I could play FM all day. All these saves have got me in the mood.

Preordered 22 too.

Yeah that yev one has me wanting to try out a lower league game like that, I’ve never done it before. I’ve managed similar level and financed teams in League of Ireland games but there’s nothing to aim for there as you’re already in one of the top two divisions so can never improve finances.

Then again, I’d probably load it up and just glaze over again when I see how much you have to do to get a game going.

Yevrah

23-09-2021, 09:58 PM

Oxford City End of Season Update 2025/26 - League Two

So our second season in League Two ended with us in 11th, one place above our highest ever finish for the club last year.

https://i.postimg.cc/fWdNMgHg/3-League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)[/url]

[url=https://postimg.cc/DJ6xHk31]https://i.postimg.cc/5ydDHbPK/1-Best-Eleven.jpg (https://suwalls.com/games/star-wars-the-force-unleashed)

Bugarin was back in player of the season for us form, but biggest win of the season bar staying up was the first £1m sale.

https://i.postimg.cc/1t6j1b9G/4-Finances.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Cracking season on the finances, although no idea what happened to the fund raising department this season. The improved position has led to our highest balance to date:

https://i.postimg.cc/GhJ9mpMN/3-League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

And in turn, our highest transfer and wage budget:

https://i.postimg.cc/T3twn4vJ/2-Budgets.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Absolute key this summer is getting some more quality in the first team. A left winger and two centre backs being paramount. The playoffs has to be the aim at the very least.

Baz

23-09-2021, 10:23 PM

I've started a save with Liverpool with the sole aim of trying to concede less than 10 in the league all season.

Transfer listed everyone outside the main 22 or so players.

Dquincy

23-09-2021, 10:32 PM

Yeah that yev one has me wanting to try out a lower league game like that, I’ve never done it before. I’ve managed similar level and financed teams in League of Ireland games but there’s nothing to aim for there as you’re already in one of the top two divisions so can never improve finances.

Then again, I’d probably load it up and just glaze over again when I see how much you have to do to get a game going.
I am so close to pre-ordering FM22 like Baz...

Edit: I feel I may be in for a shock considering my version is 11 years old.

Yevrah

23-09-2021, 10:39 PM

It's great, but there is a lot of shit and everything is much harder (players whinge more, minimum fee release clauses mandatory etc). Plus there's Brexit, which unless I'm missing something completely rules out signing any foreign youngsters if you're managing in England.

Baz

24-09-2021, 12:26 AM

I've started a save with Liverpool with the sole aim of trying to concede less than 10 in the league all season.

Transfer listed everyone outside the main 22 or so players.
Made it through preseason, phew. Managed to sell some duffers from the kids teams as well as Neco Williams, Divock Origi, Adrian and Loris Karius for about £35m, but honestly don't need to buy anyone so whatever.

Made a tactic that's nothing like Liverpool but should put me in good stead for not conceding, especially as the overall mentality is defensive. :drool: Milner's ideal as a defensive winger on the left and I'm unsure whether Harvey Elliott will keep his spot on the right when Ox is back. I somehow beat Arsenal 3-0 in the Community Shield and then trounced Watford 4-0 in the opening game of the season.

Games remaining: 37
Goals conceded: 0

Yevrah

24-09-2021, 12:31 AM

What a bizarre but intriguing challenge Baz. :cool:

Yevrah

24-09-2021, 12:57 AM

thommo

24-09-2021, 01:40 AM

I had England approach me after I got out of the National League too. Couldn't believe it at the time, but I turned them down. I've barely touched international management and I didn't fancy doing it in this long-term save. Although it was tempting to give some of my shitters a few caps...

Dquincy

24-09-2021, 06:21 AM

And talking of bizarre...

https://i.postimg.cc/3NR5QYwk/3-League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

So I can't get any players beyond goat herders and kids to join me, but Germany want to put me in charge of all of theirs. :cab:

Take the job! (whilst keeping your current job). If only to extend your scouting network into Germany.

In 2 years time, Oxford is full of up and coming Germans :drool:

Dquincy

24-09-2021, 06:24 AM

Forgot to mention that I'm England manager on my Gills save. But I let my ass man pick the squad. And then holiday each international match so the ass man is effectively managing them. :D

I'll just take over when we reach the major tournaments. He'll be furious.

John Arne

24-09-2021, 07:17 AM

For one season at Aberdeen, I let my Ass Man take 80% of the games. He won manager of year ahead me, the cheeky twat :D

Dquincy

24-09-2021, 07:26 AM

For one season at Aberdeen, I let my Ass Man take 80% of the games. He won manager of year ahead me, the cheeky twat :D

:lol: Like it. Did he sign any worldies? (did he control on the matches)

On a separate FM22 note - where abouts are you cool cats pre-ordering from? ta

John Arne

24-09-2021, 07:27 AM

:lol: Like it. Did he sign any worldies? (did he control on the matches)

On a separate FM22 note - where abouts are you cool cats pre-ordering from? ta

He did fuck all, except pick the starting XI. No transfers, no tactics, nowt. He also stunted my youth players by not playing them.

Yevrah

24-09-2021, 09:25 AM

Take the job! (whilst keeping your current job). If only to extend your scouting network into Germany.

In 2 years time, Oxford is full of up and coming Germans :drool:

Sadly Brexit has put paid to that. I’m 100% an Oxford City man too.

Dquincy

24-09-2021, 09:31 AM

Does Brexit really fuck it up that much in the game? Or is it just because you're a lowly rep/league team currently.

I.e. if I was at Liverpool, could I sign up all my favourite South American and European wonderkids?

John Arne

24-09-2021, 09:34 AM

It kinda can ruin it. It means you basically can't sign any decent South American wonderkids, unless you are happy to farm them out on loan for 3 seasons.

Dquincy

24-09-2021, 09:43 AM

Thanks. Is the 3 seasons so they obtain UK status??

What about Europeans?

John Arne

24-09-2021, 10:51 AM

Thanks. Is the 3 seasons so they obtain UK status??

What about Europeans?

Yeah, 3 season for the WP. Same with everyone except UK players. There does seem to be a clause for certain players, I've had a few given a WP even they they probably shouldn't. Most versions of Brexit also limit you to maximum 17 non-UK players.

Baz

24-09-2021, 02:25 PM

On a separate FM22 note - where abouts are you cool cats pre-ordering from? taFM22 is only £32.99 on cdkeys - reddit (https://www.cdkeys.com/football-manager-22-pc-eu-steam?mw_aref=rapdab)

It's gonna be on gamepass if you have ultimate, but I like them in my Steam library.

Dquincy

24-09-2021, 02:30 PM

FM22 is only £32.99 on cdkeys - reddit (https://www.cdkeys.com/football-manager-22-pc-eu-steam?mw_aref=rapdab)

It's gonna be on gamepass if you have ultimate, but I like them in my Steam library.

Cheers. Price has gone up! Used to be on twenty odd quid...

Giggles

24-09-2021, 02:38 PM

I thought it wasn’t out until November.

Baz

24-09-2021, 02:39 PM

I thought it wasn’t out until November.

It’s a preorder. Think it includes wanky beta access 2 weeks before proper release too but I haven’t bothered playing a demo since 03/04.

Dquincy

24-09-2021, 02:44 PM

If i pre-order, I will be playing the beta. :dc:

wullie

24-09-2021, 02:54 PM

https://www.shopto.net/en/dwnld65016-football-manager-2022-p1151983/

£26 here, unless this place is dodgy

Baz

24-09-2021, 03:03 PM

https://i.imgur.com/r8ogTu8.png

:drool:

John Arne

24-09-2021, 04:29 PM

24 quid :drool:

https://gyazo.com/8dedf5a7ccf983f7664fae1ee5743c0c.jpeg

Giggles

24-09-2021, 05:58 PM

I’ll fire up one of the ones I have on Steam that I barely played, I think 2019 is the last one, and see how quick I give up before buying.

Giggles

24-09-2021, 05:59 PM

I think there was a big fuck up they did since 2019 too (tactics screen maybe?).

Shindig

24-09-2021, 06:01 PM

I should just load up 13 and take he easy Rangers route.

John Arne

24-09-2021, 06:22 PM

I think there was a big fuck up they did since 2019 too (tactics screen maybe?).

Was that the time they inexplicably flipped the tactics screen to a horizontal one. Really didn't work.

EDIT: Just Googled and can't find anything did I imagine this?

Giggles

24-09-2021, 06:24 PM

Did they keep it that way since?

Baz

24-09-2021, 06:57 PM

Was that the time they inexplicably flipped the tactics screen to a horizontal one. Really didn't work.

EDIT: Just Googled and can't find anything did I imagine this?

I've no memory of that.

Giggles

24-09-2021, 07:08 PM

They definitely did some stupid shit on the tactics or team select screen that made you see way less that you used to. I’d say if going back you’d find ones in this thread saying how shit it was. Whenever it was.

Baz

24-09-2021, 09:28 PM

WTF my board actually agreed to try and buy Joshua Kimmich and succeeded. :youpi:

thommo

25-09-2021, 11:48 PM

So we're reaching the end of September in Slough Town's first season in League One and there's been a lot going on, starting with the transfer business we did over the summer. Thankfully, both Swansea and Brentford relented and allowed us to extend the loans of both Aaron Jones and Lukas Puntigam for another season. They were key in getting us promoted and have already proven they can perform at this level in this fledgling campaign.

https://i.ibb.co/SXBWSg6/jones.png

https://i.ibb.co/5htzQpM/Puntigam.png

Outside of these extensions, I was able to actually chase down some targets with a lot more ease than usual. Our rise to League 1 has definitely improved the reputation level of the club, as we were to get into talks with a lot of players. I was granted £32k p/w as my wage budget, but I've been keeping it pretty tight with regards to the wage control throughout the squad.

First through the door was a young left-back, released by Spurs, by the name of Oliver Hoare. Very pleased with this as he was first choice for improving the position and his wage demands were not too ridiculous.

https://i.ibb.co/HKGnnx0/Hoare.png

Gordon Rodgers was next in on a free, after being released by Stevenage. He'll mainly be a squad role, filling in and coming off the bench if we need to move to a more attacking setup.

https://i.ibb.co/X7TYcXX/Rodgers.png

Rounding off the window, we picked up two more Welsh loanees from bigger clubs. Newcastle were happy to lend us David Williams, a young striker who has some great stats in the right areas, and is already pushing Aaron Jones for the first-team striker spot.

https://i.ibb.co/HK7xC02/DWilliams.png

And finally, my favourite signing of the window. Ian Harding, who I had scouted months before when scouring the youth teams of the British Isles. Cardiff loan listed him very late in the window and I was straight in there to get him in our midfield. Those passing and technique stats :drool:

https://i.ibb.co/XZJzqkW/Harding.png

-------------

We've had a congested start to the season, as expected in the Football League, but it wasn't helped by me having to request a couple of postponements due to international call-ups for the Welsh contingent in the squad. However, we've started incredbly well, and I can't be disappointed whatsoever.

https://i.ibb.co/7gwkgPY/first-10.png

Even in the losses, we've played well, creating chances. The 3-0 loss to Cambridge United looks especially bad, but we conceded two stoppage time goals as we piled forward in search of the equaliser. And this is how it leaves the early league table looking:

https://i.ibb.co/6m17B14/table-first-10.png

6th with a game in hand is incredible. The fact we've also beaten Walsall and newly relegated Portsmouth is brilliant. I can't get ahead of myself though - my first target is 50 points and staying in the division. My tactic and dynamics are working now but it only takes a few bad losses to send the team into a downward spiral.

Yevrah

26-09-2021, 07:04 AM

Nice work thommo! Agree on the downward spiral, it’s brutal in this game if it happens.

Mike

26-09-2021, 11:30 AM

Always use Steam Cloud saves on my FM save. Formatted my laptop today, just loaded up FM and it's gone back two weeks. Sucks.

Spikey M

26-09-2021, 12:02 PM

I started a new game last night. Guided Wales to the final of the Euro's beating France (who injured Bale and Ramsey) before losing to fucking Holland in the final.

I then resigned, went on holiday and set it to apply for any top level job. I ended up at Burnley :moop:

Could be a good game though, they are absolutely shit and every cunt is 30+. Managed to beat Spurs 5-3 in the first game, lost 6-2 to Chelsea in the next, then beat Fulham 3-0.

Yevrah

26-09-2021, 12:17 PM

Is that FM21 Spikey? Didn't realise Burnley had such an old squad.

John Arne

26-09-2021, 12:28 PM

Dwight McNeil is a baller, too.

Spikey M

26-09-2021, 12:40 PM

Is that FM21 Spikey? Didn't realise Burnley had such an old squad.

Yeah, FM21. Our left back is 35 with 2 years on his contract and a year extension if I play him 15 times. :face:

Giggles

26-09-2021, 12:48 PM

Is that Stephen Ward?

Spikey M

26-09-2021, 12:50 PM

Can't remember, I'll check when I play again tonight.

igor_balis

26-09-2021, 04:21 PM

In November 2000, semi-obscure 30 year-old Slovakian right back Igor Bališ joined West Bromwich Albion for the princely sum of £150,000. For context, that would have been enough to buy my mum's modest 3 bed terrace in Rugby...about 10 years ago. Might be able to get a flat in a rough bit of town these days.

https://i2-prod.birminghammail.co.uk/incoming/article171173.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/igor-balis-682409771.jpg

After missing out in the play-off semis against Bolton (remembered mostly by me, to my immense shame, for the abuse me and some other lad kept giving Jussi Jääskeläinen during the drawn first leg - I definitely shouted "your name sounds like a disease", which should probably see me retrospectively cancelled, despite only being 9), Gary Megson's ragtag bunch of misfits were again favourites for relegation despite their shock run to 6th.

Despite this, utilising a revolutionary 5-3-0-2, with the back 8 basically there to kick people, come March, Albion were in with an outside chance of promotion again. With 8 games left, 11 points behind the dirty Dingle cunts down the road, my dad decided to write "boing boing look out dingles" in the dust on the back of his transit van, à la "I wish my wife was this dirty" style vandalism you see done by Absolute Legends all the time.

https://i.ibb.co/yk89tr2/jdtdtjtdj.jpg

It was clearly an omen. To quote from some bloke's website where I stole the above excellent graphic of the league table:

With Wolves’ run-in looking the more testing, Albion were scenting blood. Comfortable wins over Crewe and Barnsley followed, then another Taylor-inspired 1-0 win at Coventry, against a lacklustre Lee Hughes.

Across the Black Country, Wolves choked against Man City at home (0-2), and then lost at Millwall (0-1) in a Friday night match.

Albion now had control of their destiny, and moved into second with a home draw against Rotherham the following Sunday, leaving two games remaining. “I feel like a golfer who’s got two putts to win The Open,” commented Megson.

The penultimate match was at the now freakishly-oversized Valley Parade. Its cavernous stands were fuller than usual, with thousands of Albion fans unable to squeeze into the away end.

They witnessed a tense but drab game, which appeared to be heading for a draw — with the initiative swinging back to Wolves — until that man Taylor tumbled under a clumsy challenge from Andy Myers in stoppage time, and the referee theatrically pointed to the spot.

When the travelling hordes had stopped celebrating, reality dawned: Albion had missed seven out of 11 penalties awarded that season — and the unlikely player now entrusted to take them was wing back Igor Balis.

The funny thing about the penalty thing is that supposedly Balis had been a penalty taker back in Slovakia, but had been unable to communicate this to the coaching staff due to his lack of English skills, and Gary Megson and Frank Burrows (see below) don't really strike you as the sort to know much Slovak.

https://i2-prod.birminghammail.co.uk/incoming/article8366568.ece/ALTERNATES/s1227b/BP1681405.jpg

Balis scored 11 in 242 appearances for Spartak Trnava which means it might be bollocks but I choose to believe it, cus it's funny. Anyway, up he stepped and:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWCFYp3F4Ck

https://i0.wp.com/brummieroadender.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/taylor-palace.png?fit=840%2C480&ssl=1

https://i.ibb.co/BCtCnmq/Untitled.png

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BI-DBUDCUAATrty?format=jpg&name=small

A year later we got absolutely fucked up in the Premiership, and Balis fucked off back to Slovakia and was forced to retire, bizarrely, due to recurrence of tinnitus, never to be heard of in the world of football again...until....

Spikey M

26-09-2021, 04:47 PM

The fraud is pretending to be a football manager now Manc

igor_balis

26-09-2021, 04:55 PM

The fella with the sad blanket in the final photo above has, for obvious reasons, held a long standing grudge against Mr Balis. Because he's a thick dingle twat, it's taken him twenty years to track Balis down in the beautiful town of Križovany nad Dudváhom, a place, according to wikipedia, most notable for being where Balis is from. Here's a church there:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/Kri%C5%BEovany_kostol_01.jpg/250px-Kri%C5%BEovany_kostol_01.jpg

Nice church.

Anyway, the yam yam finally found him, and gave him an ominous threat:

Yo am moving to West Africa or ar will kill yo and your family.

Because of the incomprehensible black country nonsense and Balis's tinnitus it took about 10 minutes, but finally he got the message. I'm not really sure why he wanted him to move to West Africa but go with it, okay. Anyway, Igor and the family Balis jumped in the trusty Lada, and chugged it down to Bratislava airport:

https://www.welcometobratislava.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/letisko-BA-696x392.jpg

Nice airport.

Anyway, armed with nothing but a couple of Wolof and Yoruba phrase books, some Youssou N'Dour cassettes, and some FM21 data files that will probably corrupt and prevent him getting past his first season, Balis must...I dunno. Be a good enough football manager that the Wolves fan leaves him alone or something. Based on the photo, your mans probably about 50 now which I think is roughly the life expectancy in Wolverhampton, so he might as well just take the threat seriously until the balti pies catch up with him, and now he's here he might as well enjoy himself:

https://i.ibb.co/9pG5DPP/leagues.png

https://i.ibb.co/R3Lp45j/advanced.png

https://i.ibb.co/HHcxY8p/Capture.png

I'll be back when he gets his first job.

Manc

26-09-2021, 06:06 PM

Is the fella with the sad blanket Smiffy?

igor_balis

26-09-2021, 06:53 PM

Despite the impressive 10 in adaptability, Bališ didn't seem to be that enthusiastic about the start of his managerial career.

https://i.ibb.co/r5cRC02/Capture.png

Early reservations aside, Bališ got stuck in and applied for about 150 jobs. While the second tier of Gambian football didn't massively appeal, his new chairman made the fair argument that joining his side would certainly make visas and other paperwork a lot easier:

https://i.ibb.co/j5Wy9p5/immig.png

Immigration FC, or as google seems to think they're called, "Gambia Immigration Department Football Club" are an amateur football club based in the capital city of Banjul, not to be confused with Bangui, the capital city of the Central African Republic (like I just did).

https://gffprs.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Immigration-Logo-.jpg

Banjul looks pretty cool, it's right in the northwest of the country, on St Mary's Island, but based on a quick look at google maps it seems like that's just a name - it's actually a peninsula.

Here's "Arch 22":

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Gambia_banjul_arch22.JPG/1280px-Gambia_banjul_arch22.JPG

Here's a view of King Fahad Mosque:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/80/Banjul-King-Fahad-Mosque-2007.jpg/1280px-Banjul-King-Fahad-Mosque-2007.jpg

Wikipedia says "Poverty and royalty lives close together in this city." I'm sure the lads at the immigration department will try to pull some strings, but based on the £0/week wage, I think Igor is more likely to be hanging out with the former.

Bališ has not got high hopes for the season:

https://i.ibb.co/2MzB370/Capture.png

The fact that Immigration FC are deemed 12 teams worse than Steve Biko, a South African anti-apartheid activist who died in 1977, is not promising.

https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.300423361.1916/farp,small,wall_texture,product,750x1000.u1.jpg

They play at the "Fifa Goal Project", which seems like it's some sort of field:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WpxfFRrj81E/VlAioMS8fuI/AAAAAAAAYVk/vvyeBTORvzM/s640/az2.JPG

Anyway, here's the best outfield player. As a fellow right back, I'm sure Balis will be confident of getting the most out of him.

https://i.ibb.co/bNDFRJB/Capture.png

This is the guy who's gonna be pulling the strings

https://i.ibb.co/JFJNG89/Capture.png

Uvidíme sa kecy v predsezóne, or in English, see you cunts in preseason!

igor_balis

26-09-2021, 07:05 PM

Jimmy Floyd you're the African football bod on here, any advice for our Slovakian manager?

Jimmy Floyd

26-09-2021, 07:12 PM

Anyone with pace will slay the leagues you're in.

You'll then struggle in the opening rounds of the African CL unless you get a good draw / find some players.

Smjffy

26-09-2021, 07:13 PM

Yevrah

26-09-2021, 07:14 PM

Africa. :drool:

Spikey M

26-09-2021, 07:15 PM

Sign anyone with the surname Toure.

Baz

26-09-2021, 07:43 PM

Yev getting us all back into FM. :nod:

igor_balis

26-09-2021, 07:49 PM

Hmm, the season runs November to June, but the transfer windows are Feb-March and May-June. Eh?

I've just signed a few players and they don't join until half way through the season. Oh well.

Yevrah

26-09-2021, 08:15 PM

Oxford City Season 26/27 - League Two Run In

So our third season in League 2 is drawing to a close and we're roughly where we've been over the last two seasons, outside the playoffs, with a slim chance of making them.

https://i.postimg.cc/3x5MGkxH/3-League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Games left:

(a) Scunthorpe (18th)
(h) Mansfield (7th)
(h) Accrington (23rd)
(h) Bolton (5th)
(a) Colchester (14th)
(a) Notts County (4th)

Not a bad run in and if we can win the next three I might start to believe.

Spikey M

26-09-2021, 08:17 PM

Hmm, the season runs November to June, but the transfer windows are Feb-March and May-June. Eh?

I've just signed a few players and they don't join until half way through the season. Oh well.

Gives you time to get all the bribes to the relevant governmental officials.

Spikey M

26-09-2021, 08:22 PM

Is that Stephen Ward?

It isn't.

Senad Lulic. I slightly misremembered, he only has 1 year on his contract. 2 when he hits 15 performances. Which he will, because he's my only left back.

Just checked and Stephen Ward is now at Shamrock Rovers. Played one game. Scored one and Man of the Match.

Dquincy

26-09-2021, 08:51 PM

At the ripe old age of 100 years old I've decided to retire my FM11 career. 72 years of good fun and a fair few trophies.

The intention is to buy FM22 when it comes outs and post here my updates. No doubt I'll be shit for a while. :D

My FM11 career stats to sign off.

https://i.ibb.co/RSqXRyR/Dquincy-Profile-Attributes.png

https://i.ibb.co/K79PN51/Dquincy-History-Overview.png

Manc

26-09-2021, 09:00 PM

How on earth did you manage a domestic player bias of 1%?

Baz

26-09-2021, 09:08 PM

We're a quarter of the way through the league season and have, annoyingly, already conceded 4 goals. :(

https://i.imgur.com/vfC7H5N.png

Yevrah

26-09-2021, 10:38 PM

Oxford City 2026/27 League Two - End of Season Update

https://i.postimg.cc/HktgCbQk/3-League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

We didn't make it in the end, but in our last game against Notts County away, we drew 2-2 and would have done had we managed to get a winner. Annoying. Still, it's some progress, improving on the 12th and 11th place finishes over the last two years and 69 points in our highest to date in League Two.

The things that make this so hard, are:

Brexit - You literally cannot sign anyone from abroad at this level now. Or rather you can, but you just can't play them.
Reputation - At one and a half stars, we're far from an attractive choice. Established players shun us regularly if there's interest from other clubs, even when I attempt mad shit like offering them a 50% sell on clause. Which leaves young players as seemingly the best option.
Young Players - Some decent ones do want to join me, but if they're under contract the selling clubs invariably ask for more than we can afford.

Which is why I still have a £200k transfer budget burning a hole in my pocket.

https://i.postimg.cc/1X1CtjSh/2-Budgets.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

I'll be attempting to spend it again this summer and now I've got the centre backs sorted I need a striker for depth who's good enough to play and two new wingers. Getting the loanees back in the first team below would be useful too. If not, the centre backs aren't sorted and I'll need one of those too.

https://i.postimg.cc/ncH2P7ck/1-Line-Up.jpg (https://postimg.cc/G95vB4D8)

Bugarin now has 158 goals for us. :drool:

https://i.postimg.cc/4dQt6LtT/Bugarin.jpg (https://postimg.cc/CBdzY4mv)

Dquincy

26-09-2021, 10:56 PM

How on earth did you manage a domestic player bias of 1%?

Not really sure to be honest. Think I would often search different countries and try to hoover up their wonderkids, which meant I'd often buy foreigners.

I'll post a final update shortly now I've brought down the curtain on my FM11 career.

Giggles

27-09-2021, 05:17 AM

I went on to see which versions I had on Steam and I see 2020 Touch but not full-fat 2020. Could they be bought separately for PC like that?

Smjffy

27-09-2021, 05:30 PM

Heading into 2030, the festive period now over.....it could be a great season.

https://i.imgur.com/m3HIN3b.png

https://i.imgur.com/w3EQVj2.png

https://i.imgur.com/JQpeBmQ.png

https://i.imgur.com/TbLuz8C.png

https://i.imgur.com/mH4UmfY.png

We've got Marseille in the knockout round of the Europa, a good chance of landing the EFL given the remaining teams are Leeds, Watford and Everton. Peter Blackwell is currently having a stellar season to compliment our main man Cummings.

https://i.imgur.com/VkLkVYJ.png

https://i.imgur.com/EpEOpBh.png

https://i.imgur.com/6ulu7vF.png

https://i.imgur.com/JW5YEof.png

:drool:

Well, I mean, It had potential to be a good season, right? I suppose I should be happy with further improvement both in terms of position and points, status retained but there is still a lingering sense of 'what if?'.

As it is, we finished 9th. Our poor form from March onwards costing us an opportunity at another stab at Europe but maybe a relaxed schedule will help the kids or maybe as I half expect, the summer is going to be one of rats deserting a ship.

https://i.imgur.com/iGfPGAc.png

Losing to bottom feeders Huddersfield in the last three games probably cost us a European slot.

https://i.imgur.com/V99OQB7.png

A true bottle job.

Elsewhere, we reached the semi finals of the EFL Cup and I fancied our chances, the fact I flapped my gums about that ensured we were well and truly spanked so I sodded off back to North Wales with my tail between the legs.

https://i.imgur.com/apJql6X.png

FA Cup = Screw you, Watford.

https://i.imgur.com/WhsHs3A.png

The Hornets were quite the pain in the ass as it happens and we've only beaten them once in any competition since our initial promotion to the Premier League.

Europe was fun whilst it lasted. The group stage should have seen us qualify a little earlier but Ludogrets somehow got the better of Atletico Madrid. Marseille were disposed of easily enough before our exit to eventual runners-up Napoli who lost to Juventus in the finale.

Exactly 3600 days in, a decade in the job and now for a summer of change. It's time to streamline all three squads, release those who aren't going to make it and check up on those who were poached back in the early days. This season we lost Harri Jefferies for a small fee to Hull, he flunked there. We lost Einion Filbee to Leicester for £7.5+ future add ons but I have my doubts as to whether he'll make it anyway. The kicker was losing long time right back in the January window as Osian Gray departed for Germany for a touch near £30M. Ten seasons at the club, nearly 300 appearances and off he trots without a care in the world. Shit fee too considering.

Hopefully we can make amends next season and clinch European football again. It's all on the summer at the moment.

Smjffy

27-09-2021, 06:48 PM

Where Are They Now - 2022/23

https://i.imgur.com/u4eWyHD.png

The first season in which we were powerless to resist the offers being received and the board forced our hand each time.

https://i.imgur.com/aYuQVv4.png

https://i.imgur.com/we8Qlr1.png

https://i.imgur.com/jcESKup.png

https://i.imgur.com/Vhr4AVu.png

https://i.imgur.com/KR3IKO1.png

https://i.imgur.com/0va4t1h.png

https://i.imgur.com/ESznwi3.png

https://i.imgur.com/bjvtIU1.png

https://i.imgur.com/LoNith8.png

https://i.imgur.com/J1i1pra.png

https://i.imgur.com/4bTNhoC.png

https://i.imgur.com/0jJg8Xn.png

Baz

27-09-2021, 08:40 PM

I'm just over the halfway mark with Liverpool and have already conceded 8. :moop:

https://i.imgur.com/Y8K53un.png

Dquincy

27-09-2021, 10:32 PM

Sir Andy Mahowry

27-09-2021, 11:48 PM

Marseille 2044/45 Season Update:

Transfers Out:

https://i.imgur.com/gVrwcu1.png

I wanted to shift some more over 21's that were in the squad but that's all I could manage in January.

Transfers In:

https://i.imgur.com/4gxTsCA.png

https://i.imgur.com/625ox7v.png

I have too many CB's now but he can play at RB/LB too (only accomplished) and he's French so I felt I had to.

https://i.imgur.com/5WVgcJY.png

I also have too many ST's but I felt this was a bargain. The guy could be amazing.

https://i.imgur.com/YwxlUrc.png

Too much for him I feel but I did need more cover on the wing.

https://i.imgur.com/gKyhzrl.png

I really like my current RB but he's 25 and this guy has the potential to be better than him.

League:

https://i.imgur.com/L3iwBa9.png

https://i.imgur.com/9Im1q6Q.png
https://i.imgur.com/RjYvSbu.png

We started so damn well and were leading for a while:

https://i.imgur.com/RNuJbN1.png

But we just couldn't keep it going. We got hit hard by a lot of injuries and I was doing a lot of squad juggling to keep my best players fit for Europe. I thought getting fourth would be a major accomplishment but we looked really good.

Annoyingly, I told the pricks we'd be aiming for Europa League qualification next season (the highest I could target in the meeting) and they all got pissed off as I was being unrealistic...

Cup:

https://i.imgur.com/IMHeuT1.png

Went for too many backups against Lyon which is a shame but oh well, it was probably for the best.

Europe:

https://i.imgur.com/wwelHgw.png

I thought we fucked it when we drew to Valur (played my second string) and then lost to Spurs but we recovered well. In the knockouts it was close as fuck, especially the semi-final. We were losing but then Harry White scored in the 76th and 78th minutes to put us through.

https://i.imgur.com/Jp3wLl6.png

It was so damn close and either of us could have taken it. I wanted to bring on Ugur in the 60th minute but I accidentally brought on my reserve CM to play at ST and I only noticed in the 80th minute. Just after ET began I finally brought him on and he immediately had an impact. He also had 2 goals the game before and a goal the game before that (also against Bordeaux).

Club World Cup & Super Cup the only ones left on the list. Plus the European Championship.

Squad:

https://i.imgur.com/lPHK5Z5.png
https://i.imgur.com/vq1CbYx.png

Still want to cut quite a few more players and stay for a while to turn the club into a giant.

Special mention to Perkins who is becoming a real beast:

https://i.imgur.com/3jjFSOX.png

Luke Emia

28-09-2021, 05:54 AM

Such an odd concept, but you do you.

You're top of the league, when did you get good at this? I remember reading your FM threeways with Reid and Mike back in the good old days. And (no offence) you always seemed to be the one struggling.

It’s literally impossible not to win the league with Liverpool in the first season in this version.

John Arne

28-09-2021, 06:05 AM

It’s literally impossible not to win the league with Liverpool in the first season in this version.

I saw a twitter thread recently where some guy played a aging English CB as a striker for PSG and basically managed to win the lot :D

John Arne

28-09-2021, 06:08 AM

Managed to find it by thinking of old, shit English defenders... Clint Hill... Dawson. 2nd guess :D

1405318003890311173

Dquincy

28-09-2021, 06:52 AM

Baz

28-09-2021, 09:27 AM

It’s literally impossible not to win the league with Liverpool in the first season in this version.

Yeah they’re very very good.

Salah broke his leg in an U23 match with Partick Thistle and we haven’t missed him.

Alisson is the GOAT. Always 10.0 for training rating and loves me putting my arm round him and telling him he’s doing great.

Sir Andy Mahowry

28-09-2021, 11:20 AM

Nice update Mahow. The challenge is to complete your remaining targets before the new FM22 comes out.

Some of the playing roles (Mezzala for Phil Perkins??) are very foreign to me. Do you prioritise setting the team so each player plays with their preferred playing role, or do you say that the overall formation and style take precedent and the player may have a different role to what his preferred is?

Formation/style is king.

I play a 442 with one DLP and one box to box. Perkins is more suited to being a DLP but as he's the best on my midfielders I'll play him in his slightly worse role.

igor_balis

28-09-2021, 06:28 PM

There's a fella playing for another team in the Gambian second tier that played in 7 MLS games two seasons ago :moop:

igor_balis

28-09-2021, 07:43 PM

First league game:

https://i.ibb.co/6ms0s2d/Capture.png

:drool:

thommo

28-09-2021, 07:45 PM

igor_balis

28-09-2021, 07:49 PM

General question for all of you - do you play with attribute masking on?

I've had it on for the entirety of my Slough Town save and it's driving me nuts now. I can't even scout outside the UK so if I want to buy/sign anyone from a foreign league, I'm buying completely blind. :moop:

I turned it off for the stupid lower league Scottish game I was doing, and to be honest it contributed to me losing interest as it all felt a bit too cheap. Once I got to a decent level, it made finding foreign bargains far too easy, cus I could just filter out unreasonable targets and just look for the big attributes on the screen.

Baz

28-09-2021, 07:56 PM

General question for all of you - do you play with attribute masking on?
Nope. Can't be doing with fog of war. I always disable it.

Yevrah

28-09-2021, 07:58 PM

Baz

28-09-2021, 08:01 PM

What about attribute masking though?

Yevrah

28-09-2021, 08:02 PM

That's always off too.... :henn0rz:

igor_balis

28-09-2021, 08:17 PM

I thought my manager's reputation was too high - 5000 current rep, 4000 home rep and 1200 world rep. To more fairly represent Igor Balis, I have triangulated the reputations of some other early 00s West Brom players on the database editor - Richard Sneekes, now Redditch United assistant manager, Brian Jensen, now Shrewsbury's goalkeeping coach, and Danny Dichio, now managing the Toronto FC Academy.

We're now looking at 2500 current, 3250 home and 500 world (all out of 10,000, of course). I feel like Igor Balis being called "a respected manager", in the Gambian second tier, after playing some premier league football and having 40 Slovakian caps is fair enough, but being offered the Austrian u21 job before Immigration FC came knocking was not.

igor_balis

28-09-2021, 08:23 PM

https://i.ibb.co/nn7NBV9/Capture.png

Not even at half time in the first home league game, and a key problem with my squad has been exposed. Shit. Pray for Jadama.

Sir Andy Mahowry

28-09-2021, 08:26 PM

Giggles

28-09-2021, 08:37 PM

What do you see when it’s on?

thommo

28-09-2021, 08:41 PM

What do you see when it’s on?

It depends on the reputation of the player. I can pretty much see each stat for world-class players like Mbappe et al.

But I literally see zero attributes for players of my level that I haven't scouted or played against. If I play against teams and players or do an initial scout report, I'll get a range for each attribute, and if I scout them fully you begin to see the correct value after about 2-3 weeks of scouting (also dependant on the ability of the scout).

igor_balis

28-09-2021, 08:41 PM

What do you see when it’s on?

https://i.ibb.co/sgHZ0dT/Capture.png

something like that. that's someone at my divisional rivals Steve Biko - if it was some random swedish league player for example it'd all be -

igor_balis

28-09-2021, 08:41 PM

yeah what thommo said

Dquincy

28-09-2021, 08:50 PM

Having retired the FM11 save, here is my final update.

Started the season with winning the Charity Shield. Wasn't a great game and did worry me that we may struggle in the season coming.

https://i.ibb.co/rphjkLQ/Sheff-Utd-v-Gillingham-Information-Overview.png

Next up was the European Super Cup. Needless to say we won convincingly.

https://i.ibb.co/ccBH6KJ/M-laga-v-Gillingham-Information-Overview.png

Next up was the Club World Championships where we faced Corinthians in the final. Again, we smashed the granny out them.

https://i.ibb.co/tBt3Zqj/Corinthians-v-Gillingham-Information-Overview.png

At the point of retiring, the league table looked like this. We were dominating.

https://i.ibb.co/4fqQJzm/English-Premier-Division-Information-League-Table.png

And finally, a special mention for my star striker. Look at those goals so far this season.

https://i.ibb.co/2drd5j0/Hugo-Miguel-Santos-Profile-Attributes.png

I look forward to updating you chaps with FM22 where no doubt I'll be dogshit.

Yevrah

28-09-2021, 09:01 PM

Oxford City 2027/28 League Two Mid-Season Update

4th season in league two has reached the halfway stage so it's time for an update. Realised I neglected to post the finances at the end of last season, so here they are.

https://i.postimg.cc/TPmW3FpJ/Finances.jpg (https://postimages.org/)[/url]

Not really any exceptional items in there, so if we don't sell players or have a decent cup run, we lose money over the course of a season. Not that one year of doing that is too much of an issue as we're still pretty well set due to the Max Roberts sale for £1m.

Transfers

We're starting to get more highly valued and decent players appearing in the interested list, which is nice and there were a number we went for that would have improved the squad significantly. Sadly, we still have the reputation of a radio DJ now who operated in the 70s so we lost out on all of them and were left with this chap as the only cash money signing:

https://i.postimg.cc/Tw3G4WM5/Ross-Lang.jpg (https://poemsonly.com/category/other)

£96k from Boreham Wood (a record signing) - I like his pace and dribbling a lot, but not much else.

These two also joined on free deals.

https://i.postimg.cc/VN6m7Ccr/Seb-Houlden.jpg (https://poemsonly.com/poem/1208)

https://i.postimg.cc/hvqFqJN0/Adjei.jpg (https://postimg.cc/62zbrQW7)

With a number of the original Oxford City players leaving on frees (they were too shit to stay) and Stockport finally seeing sense when it came to loaning us Georgiou again (they wouldn't), the squad was a tad threadbare, so once again we moved into the loan market, bringing in four players who I really liked.

https://i.postimg.cc/nzpYbp0D/McGowan.jpg (https://postimg.cc/4K2hpkCf)

[url=https://postimg.cc/SXRnSTnw]https://i.postimg.cc/HL4XtFds/Burns.jpg (https://poemsonly.com/poem/1208)

https://i.postimg.cc/Sx4Wzybt/Griffiths.jpg (https://postimg.cc/0bt6T1Qp)

https://i.postimg.cc/6qs7J091/Yates.jpg (https://postimg.cc/k6cMWWRx)

This left us with in my mind the best squad we'd had so far and a real chance of going up. So how have we fared?

https://i.postimg.cc/9FCMdzzT/Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Frustratingly would be the honest answer. We've played excellently at times and then really poorly at others. Perhaps most annoyingly though we have a real habit of chucking in a two footed lunge to kill a good patch of form. I'm still quite hopeful we'll at least make the playoffs though.

Onto the cups, they've been very interesting.

https://i.postimg.cc/Dwt3cY5D/Schedule.jpg (https://postimg.cc/NK7nsD37)

The league cup gave us a nice home attendance vs. West Brom and the EFL Trophy continues to be a complete waste of time (I've been playing the reserves in it to preserve morale for the last two seasons now), but the FA Cup has been cracking. Through to the third round for the first time and we play Jose Mourinho's Tottenham (reigning Premier League champions no less) in our next game. I should rest the first team as we'll get humped whoever we put out, but I can't do it to the lads, so they will all start if fit.

Baz

28-09-2021, 09:11 PM

Well we've 10 games left and need 10 clean sheets, after conceding goal number 9 against Southampton in game 27.

https://i.imgur.com/c9qfvV5.png

It's looking less and less likely we'll concede less than 10 goals, given we've got Chelsea, Arsenal and City left to play.

Also still in all the cups, including the league cup final against Man Utd.

Virgil van Dijk just scored a hat-trick of headers. :cool:

Yevrah

28-09-2021, 09:22 PM

Spurs put their kids out and we got humped, but look at that attendance.

https://i.postimg.cc/6qYf9gyp/FA-Cup.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

£1.4m in gate receipts, less £300k VAT.

We've also sold a player. Didn't want to, but he was whinging badly.

https://i.postimg.cc/J4Y5vffT/1-Keano-Shaw-Transfer.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

And that little lot takes us to this in the bank:

https://i.postimg.cc/MZPBpy9H/Balance.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

:chief:

Now to get promoted.

Yevrah

28-09-2021, 09:56 PM

Holy shit.

https://i.postimg.cc/cHJjypxX/Max-Roberts.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

We've lost our last two league games and selling him will do nothing for our promotion hopes this year, but fuck me, that deal (even after the fee to Bromley) is equivalent to six years of our wage bill.

Yevrah

28-09-2021, 10:05 PM

Roberts out. We now have £6.4m in the bank and a transfer budget of £2m. :jayjay:

Spikey M

28-09-2021, 10:08 PM

Yevrah outing himself as Daniel Levy is a move I didn't see coming.

#TheGameIsAboutProfit

Shindig

28-09-2021, 10:12 PM

I did the same when Spurs came in for David Romo. £7m in 2001 money was a lot for Swansea.

Yevrah

28-09-2021, 10:26 PM

Yevrah outing himself as Daniel Levy is a move I didn't see coming.

#TheGameIsAboutProfit

:D

Given I'm seemingly consigned to a life of mid-table in League 2, the profit aspect of this has been the most enjoyable aspect for ages. Sadly.

Dquincy

28-09-2021, 10:38 PM

The non-masking of attributes has rocked me fellas, I'm not going to lie. Surely switching this off takes away from the realism of the game?

Presumed we all 'masked'.

Baz

29-09-2021, 06:11 AM

The non-masking of attributes has rocked me fellas, I'm not going to lie. Surely switching this off takes away from the realism of the game?

Presumed we all 'masked'.
So does having your staff sort out training schedules, attend press conferences, play all your friendlies and probably loads of other stuff. I want to play a game not have a second job.

Dquincy

29-09-2021, 07:00 AM

So does having your staff sort out training schedules, attend press conferences, play all your friendlies and probably loads of other stuff. I want to play a game not have a second job.

But then what's the point of the scouts if all the attributes are visible?

Baz

29-09-2021, 07:06 AM

For star ratings and nothing else, for me.

Shindig

29-09-2021, 08:28 AM

And they might find something else out like him being accident prone or a BOTTLER.

Baz

29-09-2021, 01:16 PM

Gah. Game 29 and a Newcastle penalty sees us concede our 10th goal. Also ended our 37 game unbeaten streak with the 1-0. Shucks.

Will go again next season now everyone can speak english, play the correct roles and have useful player traits. Hopefully I can win some silverware to raise enough money to buy Sergej Milinkovic-Savic off Lazio cos he's 5 star everything with 100 scout recommendation. Will push Kimmich from CM to DR, and play Trent at right mid (and bin off Dani Alves).

EDIT: Also James Rodriguez on a bosman is a must!

Yevrah

29-09-2021, 01:22 PM

Oxford City End of Season 2027/28 Update - League Two

So our 4th season in League Two drew to a close and we'd finally managed to string enough form together to have a serious chance of the playoffs and an outside chance of going up automatically.

https://i.postimg.cc/kg0HXTyN/1-Run-In.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

More injuries and nonsense red cards hampered us somewhat, but we made it, a playoff berth at the 4th attempt.

https://i.postimg.cc/sXVwvqGW/2-League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)[/url]

Given we were 4th in the second half of the season table, I really fancied my chances going into the semi-final against Fleetwood.

[url=https://postimages.org/]https://i.postimg.cc/5yX5zV4X/7-Playoffs.jpg (https://banks-nearme.com/wells-fargo-near-me)

A cracking and comfortable win to set up a final against Gillingham, who we beat in our last game of the season.

https://i.postimg.cc/d0W4Zn2S/3-Playoff-Final.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Gutting. Absolutely gutting and if I'm honest, we were never really in it despite equalising twice. A fifth season in League Two awaits.

Baz

29-09-2021, 01:36 PM

Five seasons, crikey. :D

Jimmy Floyd

29-09-2021, 01:42 PM

Sod that, I want to see the end of year accounts.

Yevrah

29-09-2021, 02:07 PM

Sod that, I want to see the end of year accounts.

:D They're coming and it's a special year.

Kikó

29-09-2021, 02:31 PM

Managed to find it by thinking of old, shit English defenders... Clint Hill... Dawson. 2nd guess :D

1405318003890311173

This was superb.

Shindig

29-09-2021, 05:22 PM

Was that Warnock story at PSG as well or was that Barcelona?

Yevrah

29-09-2021, 06:09 PM

Oxford City Summer Business Update - Season 2028/29 League Two

Long post is long.

Starting with the finances, a cracking year's business for us, with two key things that finally brought us FINANCIAL STABILITY.

https://i.postimg.cc/kGWYKfHW/1-Finances.jpg (https://postimg.cc/m12SGNBr)[/url]

The Max Roberts transfer was huge, bringing £5m in (albeit we had to pay £800k to Bromley for their sell on clause), which was also then supplemented by selling Keano Shaw to QPR for £550k (+ clauses). Biggest lol about Roberts is that after basically whinging for two years about playing in the Championship he now finds himself in the national league on loan at Swindon. Third round FA Cup bants at Tottenham also pushed our gate receipts higher than they've ever been before and all in all we ended the season with over six million quid in the bank. Leading to the following WARCHEST:

Transfer Budget of £4.8m and a Wage Budget of £38k p/w.

It was time to go shopping and nicely timed at that as our appearance in the playoff final also raised our rep to two stars.

Players Out

While the first team is pretty good, the squad itself still had more than a whiff of Vanarama about it so it was time to be brutal and cut ties with the players that had served us so well over the last 4 to 8 years. Contracts were expiring, so out went Ben Erickson (who was so upset by the news he quit football altogether - once you've had Yev you never go back I guess), Josh Ashby, Alex McSkeane, Joseph Hungbo, James Roberts, Fenton Green, Amarie Brown, Thomas Angell, Alex Sharpe and Ciaran Jones. Jayden Harris (£20k) and Sam Cartwright (£7.5k) also left for actual money.

This left us with a first 11 give or take, which I then (out of an abundance of caution) added to with loan renewals for the five players who'd joined us the season before. I'd hoped I'd be so successful in replacing the shit that I wouldn't need to use these players much and instead spend the season fending off their arse hole managers whinging about them not featuring. Better than being moaned at for playing them in the wrong role I guess (what a feature that is btw).

As it turned out, we had a splendid summer window of INs, to the point where I'm not sure what my best eleven now is.

Players In

[url=https://postimg.cc/rKzZ7chL]https://i.postimg.cc/3JZM4xmW/Hines.jpg (https://keyboardtester.co/keyboard-tester)

Joined from Rochdale for £170k. 16 finishing and 15 determination for a twelve year old looked seriously promising. Now just need to get him to use his right foot.

https://i.postimg.cc/rw8DxsHH/Harris.jpg (https://postimg.cc/4mS4Tfsv)

A £300k signing from Premier League Fulham. My board went nuts and rated the deal an F, but the fans loved it and I managed to get him without a sell on fee percentage. Which, for the type of operation we're running here, is the motherload.

https://i.postimg.cc/gk4z9DMM/Edozie.jpg (https://postimg.cc/gnXF8vbR)

A former Millwall youth product who was picked up (and then binned off) by Man City. I seem to struggle to attract decent left wingers, so he had to do. £43.5k from Hull.

https://i.postimg.cc/28yJ67k9/Murray.jpg (https://postimg.cc/gn94tR63)

Made in Man City (where he failed), moved to Southampton (where he failed), he now joins the Oxford City PROJECT for £26.5k as our joint highest earner. I think that made him feel special, but what I didn't tell him was our board now allow wages of up to four grand a week.

https://i.postimg.cc/Gt3cYRxy/Jones.jpg (https://postimg.cc/HcKDDfKY)

Former Man Utd man who joins from Swindon for £425k and becomes our record signing. Central midfield was an area we had to shore up with wank so much last season and I loved his key stats.

https://i.postimg.cc/mD0jVJ1t/Brown.jpg (https://postimg.cc/1nrD3WHQ)

Listed by Champinship Blackpool for £59k. His well roundedness made the deal a no brainer.

https://i.postimg.cc/1zbDZ6md/Mason.jpg (https://postimg.cc/CZHRGRfC)

One for the future I hope. Joined for £2k from Boreham Wood.

https://i.postimg.cc/Qd9tZzFX/Hughes.jpg (https://postimg.cc/QFDsp0gP)

Ball Winning Midfielder from Blackburn, who didn't win many balls for Blackburn. Signed for a bargain £6.75k.

https://i.postimg.cc/bwkhTfG2/Starkey.jpg (https://postimg.cc/4YfqfMQJ)

Continuing our trend of signing Premier League rejects, Starkey (released by Liverpool) is the first of five free transfers we did over the summer.

https://i.postimg.cc/HLKWZ9Yr/Davison.jpg (https://postimg.cc/p9fty8nv)

And was joined by his mate from Liverpool, Davison. Tried to get this dude on loan last year and he turned me down. How the mighty have fallen.

https://i.postimg.cc/ZRNSnkrc/Holmes.jpg (https://postimg.cc/7GqctWtG)

From Chelsea's academy.

https://i.postimg.cc/9fM9vbGV/Linkers.jpg (https://postimg.cc/LJchPzC0)

Released by Ajax and no English heritage so I wasn't expecting him to get a work permit, but he bizarrely did at the first time of asking. Lovely stuff.

https://i.postimg.cc/L4zrq31m/Bignami.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Lh8ywfDW)

This guy didn't get a work permit, but a recent experience I had (more on that below) made a punt on him potentially worthwhile.

Which leads me on nicely to perhaps our best addition and not a new signing at all:

https://i.postimg.cc/05chtDCm/1-Laly.jpg (https://postimg.cc/c6tDCK24)

Signed in 2024, this lad was my first pain brought about by Brexit as he sat in our reserves for two years, failing appeal after appeal. I guess playing for the international powerhouse that is Indonesia wasn't enough to swing it. He then spent the season before last in Hungary at Ferencvaros and then at Real Valladolid, improving hugely. With stats that don't belong in league Two I'm hopeful he can spearhead us finally into League One. Only downside is that he wants to leave and won't sign a new contract.

And that is it, business done. I won't try and start all of these new players at once as that would be insane, but if I can integrate them in an even semi-decent fashion we should be set for promotion this year, at the 5th time of asking. Now is the time. I can feel it in my bones.

Baz

29-09-2021, 06:22 PM

Considering van Dijk has 13 freekicks and scores them for fun, Fred Laly should get one a game.

Raoul Duke

29-09-2021, 06:44 PM

Laly looks mega, as does Zak Brown. Looks like you won the goat herder transfer window

thommo

29-09-2021, 08:39 PM

Dquincy

29-09-2021, 09:55 PM

Baz

29-09-2021, 10:09 PM

Just lost the FA Cup final cos Alisson rolled it out to Che Adams in the six yard box in the 85th minute. :moop:

Yevrah

29-09-2021, 10:11 PM

Goals against...74. :D

I think we know where your problem might be.

Yep, we are a sieve. I've tried three or four different approaches and it doesn't make a difference, we just concede for fun.

Baz

29-09-2021, 10:31 PM

And we've got absolutely nowhere near conceding less than 10:

https://i.imgur.com/bvI8OCj.png

Seasons done. Champions League final to play, having already won the League Cup and lost the FA Cup, so a good season, but failed my one and only target. Thinking of trying to buy Skriniar to tighten up at the back, with my initial budget set at 107m lol.

Yevrah

29-09-2021, 10:56 PM

Those outgoings were utterly mental. How good is that Roberts bloke? £5m seems an utterly ludicrous fee to be paying a League 2 side. My record sale for comparison is still £135k!

In terms of your summer signings, you definitely have a squad fit to go up there. Dynamics will now be the important thing - integrating them in with your current squad. I reckon that Shaun Hines should get 25+ goals at League 2 level if he's the first choice man. Is Bugarin still your main man up top?

Here's Roberts now:

https://i.postimg.cc/vZmhv7FK/Roberts.jpg (https://postimg.cc/JG9jrkh3)

https://i.postimg.cc/BnyTcdC8/Roberts-History.jpg (https://postimg.cc/QFQKjYws)

He was a starter for us, but certainly dispensable for £5m. IIRC one team came in with a bid for £2.5m, which I accepted and then I offered him out for £5m and Roberts' first choice of Watford matched it.

Baz

29-09-2021, 11:00 PM

He's trash.

Yevrah

29-09-2021, 11:12 PM

Oxford City Mid Season Update - League Two 2028/29

Halfway point reached in our 5th season in League Two and just before the window SLAMMED SHUT there was another twist in the tale with another too good to refuse bid being received for one of our players.

https://i.postimg.cc/5yhJm9j7/2-Laly-Sale.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

At this point I'd say we've won the game in terms of lower league financial management, having over £9m in the bank (was over £10m when we sold) as we do. Sadly that's the only thing we're winning.

https://i.postimg.cc/fLkhnS9q/Tabke.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Not too bad I suppose, but after a succession of draws to start the season we hit our stride and were top for a bit before the shit set in AGAIN. This time it's our strikers. I have four good ones now and they've all stopped scoring.

We're through to the third round of the FA Cup again, with Cambridge away - an eminently winnable game, but I don't care, I just want to get out of League Two. :moop:

thommo

30-09-2021, 12:12 AM

That is obscene money. If you get yourself out of League 2 this season, go crazy with the facility upgrades. If you can get the youth recruitment and facilities up to speed, you could have a conveyor belt of homegrown talent into the first team within a few seasons.

As for Slough Town, we're now just into January in our League 1 campaign. Our fixtures since the last update have been as follows:

https://i.ibb.co/dPcmLF5/fixtures-2.png

The two 0-0 draws with Aldershot and Oxford were a little worrying as we couldn't really break down two of the worst teams (and defences) in the league. Charlton then really tonked us in the next league game and I was wary that that was to be the start of the slump. But we responded brilliantly despite the congested schedule (9 games in 29 days) with 4 consecutive wins over Christmas. Our most recent defeat to Nottingham Forest came out when our left-back was sent off for an innocuous challenge inside the opening half hour. We were bombarded, they hit the woodwork about 4 times, and yet we still almost stole a draw at the death. That leaves the table looking like this:

https://i.ibb.co/tBPwxd5/new-year.png

Playoffs is definitely possible, but we need more goals out of the strikers. The midfield is great at chipping in with important goals, but Aaron Jones had a period of about 10 games without scoring, and David Williams is a little inconsistent with his performances. The club in general is in a great position - £1m in the bank, and new training facilities just completed, plus a youth level upgrade planned for the summer which will hopefully see our Under 18s enter a league at last.

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 02:21 AM

I should definitely be asleep by now, but this season is turning into a classic. After not being able to score I've gone into every game since January with a cautious mentality and it seems to be working.

https://i.postimg.cc/wT5hygFF/Table-End.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Tightest finish I can recall in sight.

https://i.postimg.cc/nz7XyGPT/Fixtures.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 03:03 AM

A loss to Aldershot, then wins over Northampton and Grimsby leave the table like so.

https://i.postimg.cc/C53wC3N4/Run-in.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Giggles

30-09-2021, 05:33 AM

You better not have went to bed.

Dquincy

30-09-2021, 06:34 AM

Yev, completely sorted out the defence this season 👍🏼 Well played.

Love a save that stops you from going to bed. :drool: I still remember a Dortmund save with Pablo Aimar running riot (must have been back when it was CM rather than FM). Not much sleep was had then.

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 08:57 AM

Two absolutely horrible games followed, the Port Vale one in particular properly hurt.

https://i.postimg.cc/vBy4VnN2/Port-Vale.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/xdDCwHnj/Salford.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

My team used to shit the bed when we reached the dizzy heights of the playoff spots, now they do it when we're in the automatic promotion ones, so I guess that's progress.

However, results elsewhere went our way and we're still in 3rd.

https://i.postimg.cc/QM02QG4L/un-in-table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Albeit, it's now out of our hands.

Walsall away and Tranmere at home to finish.

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 09:00 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/D0dHw9bY/un-in-table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Port Vale drop points, but Leyton Orient win to overtake us.

Giggles

30-09-2021, 09:06 AM

Poor Tranmere.

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 09:17 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/NFdvQKVz/Walsall.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Starting to think the game hates me. At 2-1 up and just before they equalised Bugarin went clean through, rifled a shot past their keeper and it hits the bar. Hines then went clean through in injury time too, only to see his shot saved.

https://i.postimg.cc/BZYzQfbk/Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Any one of six teams can clinch the last automatic promotion spot and any one of the six can also miss out on the playoffs entirely.

https://i.postimg.cc/B6vCdtT6/Last-Day.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

You'd have to think neither Crawley nor Leyton Orient will blow it, albeit I can still finish ahead of the latter even if they win.

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 09:19 AM

And with Scunthorpe playing Port Vale and the goal differences involved, we're all but guaranteed a playoff spot.

Jimmy Floyd

30-09-2021, 09:24 AM

If you lose 4-0 and they draw, you've had it. Set up to defend and accept the playoffs. This is the mature approach to life.

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 09:25 AM

What in the actual fuck?

https://i.postimg.cc/50tZn4j5/Postpone.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Does the rest of the 'final day' go ahead without me?

Browning

30-09-2021, 09:27 AM

:drool:

That's the dream, going into the final day with no doubt as to what is required.

thommo

30-09-2021, 09:28 AM

No way a new stadium suddenly gets a waterlogged pitch. Good work by your groundsman there.

Where's the stream? Stick it on comprehensive highlights and get us in there as assistants.

Browning

30-09-2021, 09:29 AM

You'll have to attend another game to maximise the drama.

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 09:31 AM

Seems that it does go ahead without us...

https://i.postimg.cc/XvqRgNrf/Final-Results.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Crawley muffed it, but annoyingly Leyton Orient won big.

https://i.postimg.cc/wvh0XnQ5/League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Goal Difference and then goals scored are the separators, so we need to win by six against Tranmere to go up automatically. However, if we lose by three we don't even make the playoffs.

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 09:32 AM

No way a new stadium suddenly gets a waterlogged pitch. Good work by your groundsman there.

Where's the stream? Stick it on comprehensive highlights and get us in there as assistants.

My pitch is always getting waterlogged, it's a shambles.

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 09:44 AM

I don't know what is wrong with this team.

https://i.postimg.cc/9ftrhpmX/Shambles.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 09:46 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/1z2PbV6R/Playoffs.jpg (https://postimg.cc/8FRq65tx)

We're in appalling form with one point from 12 and our strikers missing chances all over the shop, so we're going one up front and stinking the place out for the playoffs. It's the only way.

Browning

30-09-2021, 10:01 AM

One thing I'd recommend if you miss out this year (or even if you go up really), if you don't already, is looking at the Media Dream 11 and the other key players on that page and seeing if any of them play for clubs that a bit hard up for cash. When I was in League 1/League 2 this helped out immensely as there doesn't seem to any substitute for players who just know the division.

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 10:02 AM

A sixth season in League Two beckons.

https://i.postimg.cc/PJkBWWGc/Shit.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 10:03 AM

Cheers Browning, where do you find that?

Browning

30-09-2021, 10:04 AM

I played the touch version so it might be slightly different but I think it's in the same section as the media predictions etc.

wullie

30-09-2021, 10:05 AM

Always a pleasant surprised to see all these League 2 tables and Cov aren't there. Unless we're non-league by now.

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 10:09 AM

Looks like Coventry have been mirroring our fun in League Two, in League One.

https://i.postimg.cc/zB5BxPgS/Cov.jpg (https://postimg.cc/d7Hw16nL)

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 10:13 AM

I was going to wait until we got promoted to the Championship to start upgrading facilities, but given that's not going to happen I may as well start now. Here's what we're currently working with:

https://i.postimg.cc/kg4hbnYW/Facilities.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Pretty shit, it must be said.

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 10:17 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/6pt4jqxG/Budgets.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

I mean, if I actually spent all that we'd be screwed.

In other news, the board will relay the pitch and improve youth recruitment but improving the training facilities is a hard no.

Luke Emia

30-09-2021, 10:28 AM

Yev. Youth recruitment levels & junior coaching and the cheapest and easiest ways to increase the standard of regens you get through without having to spend fortunes on the facilities.

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 10:36 AM

Cheers Luke.

Asked for all the Youth stuff I can and the board accepted this too.

https://i.postimg.cc/15m1t1GZ/Youth.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

wullie

30-09-2021, 10:36 AM

Looks like Coventry have been mirroring our fun in League Two, in League One.

https://i.postimg.cc/zB5BxPgS/Cov.jpg (https://postimg.cc/d7Hw16nL)

Dramatic freefall and then a few playoff flops later, ouch. I've still seen us have worse runs of seasons mind you

Sir Andy Mahowry

30-09-2021, 01:27 PM

https://i.imgur.com/KLTWR0K.png

The Super Cup still eludes me :(

Gray Fox

30-09-2021, 03:30 PM

Did the mighty Tranmere go up in the end?

Yevrah

30-09-2021, 03:33 PM

They did indeed.

Gray Fox

30-09-2021, 03:36 PM

https://media.giphy.com/media/lqYiaEP2N5Zc8pjltl/giphy.gif?cid=790b76113e2681f39d219b58acf940cd44b2 a1baf3c74ca4&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g

Sir Andy Mahowry

30-09-2021, 04:07 PM

thommo

01-10-2021, 09:40 AM

The playoff push may have hit a fairly sizeable speed bump - both of our loanee strikers have picked up 6 week injuries and we've stumbled through February without recording a win.

We're still clinging onto 6th place as Walsall and Notts County are both similarly shite right now, but fitness levels are shocking throughout my squad and everyone is picking up niggly injuries every week. I think promotion to the Championship would probably be too early this season but I'd really bought into the possibility of a 3rd consecutive promotion push, so it's a little disappointing.

Yevrah

01-10-2021, 11:16 AM

That's rough.

I've decided that my 10th season with Oxford City will be my last if we don't go up.

SvN

01-10-2021, 11:35 AM

Don't do that to us Yev.

SvN

01-10-2021, 11:35 AM

Actually, if you do, post the save on here so we can have a go ourselves.

Yevrah

01-10-2021, 05:51 PM

Oxford City Mid-Season Update 2029/30

Our 6th season in League Two and starting with playoff HEARTBREAK happening in the last two.

Business was kept to a minimum over the summer, with the rationale being another year bedding in for all of the players I bought last summer really should be enough for us to go up.

With that in mind, I brought only two of the loan players from last year back and made one signing. Another raid on Ajax frees, this one didn't get a work permit first time though so he went straight out on loan.

https://i.postimg.cc/vm38M8pK/Malamba.jpg (https://postimg.cc/2qLN7Yjd)

In other news the board let us upgrade our Youth Recruitment for a second time, admittedly after I whinged a bit.

https://i.postimg.cc/q7Mh2Fr9/Youth-Recruitment.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

But most importantly, what's been happening on the pitch?

https://i.postimg.cc/vT9cQF76/League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Is this finally the year?

Giggles

01-10-2021, 05:56 PM

It had better be. I’m watching this instead of telly tonight now.

Yevrah

01-10-2021, 07:49 PM

First choice goalkeeper out for 2 months. :moop:

Yevrah

01-10-2021, 08:19 PM

A disgusting run of form since posting the table above.

https://i.postimg.cc/L83BKXpf/Fixtures.jpg (https://postimages.org/)[/url]

My strikers have all forgotten how to score again. Does anyone else get that, or is it me? It happens every single season and only changing tactic stops it.

[url=https://postimages.org/]https://i.postimg.cc/nc0cybWr/Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Baz

01-10-2021, 08:42 PM

Liverpool's board refusing to budge on their 'sign U23 players' so cancelled my £69m offer for 24 year old Mikel Oyarzabal, who instead signed for Chelsea and is worth £78m. :mad:

So tried just signing Lautaro Martinez, hoping it could go through before he turns 24 next month but he's opted for Man City instead.

My top target, Milinkovic-Savic is 26 so I might have to buy some random under-23s first to try and get my dumb board on side.

Yevrah

01-10-2021, 09:40 PM

Automatic is surely gone, so four games to secure a playoff spot (and win) to save the save.

https://i.postimg.cc/7YLP3PH9/Run-in.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Spikey M

01-10-2021, 10:00 PM

6th in a 3 horse race. Get the fuck out of here Yevrah Flopchettino.

Yevrah

01-10-2021, 10:06 PM

Honestly, it's nuts. And it's all down to strikers stopping scoring. Go on a good run and it's inevitable it'll happen.

Dquincy

01-10-2021, 10:14 PM

Sack the current strikers and get new strikers! Solved it.

Yevrah

01-10-2021, 10:19 PM

They all have scored loads of goals at one time or another and they are again now. It won't last.

https://i.postimg.cc/WzTyG407/League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

We spunked a 2-0 lead at home, so that could have been one point behind.

https://i.postimg.cc/285crMG3/Final-Day.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

I don't know how it's still mathematically possible to go up. We've won 8 games since the turn of the year.

Dquincy

01-10-2021, 10:33 PM

Yev! Yev! Yev! Yev! Yevvvvvvvvv!

Ps. Goal difference is in your favour. #PMA

Yevrah

01-10-2021, 10:35 PM

Swindon won so it was academic, but we lost anyway for good measure.

https://i.postimg.cc/cJQyw2V0/Playoffs.jpg (https://postimg.cc/675mNjWm)

Dquincy

01-10-2021, 10:36 PM

Yev out.

Yevrah

01-10-2021, 10:40 PM

:D

I will be soon, I don't doubt.

Yevrah

01-10-2021, 10:49 PM

Well well well...

https://i.postimg.cc/sXm29vtj/Playoffs.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

igor_balis

01-10-2021, 11:00 PM

I actually think this trajectory is ideal Yevrah, I had a similar game on an older FM where I fluked promotion in my second season in the championship and got absolutely skull fucked every week while Gabriel Jesus earned about half the wage budget to score about 5 all season. In hindsight, getting stuck for half a decade would have been much better.

Yevrah

01-10-2021, 11:12 PM

Cheers Igor. We won the second leg too, and would face Shrewsbury in the final who ran out 9-6 winners over Walsall.

https://i.postimg.cc/vBtvrtY4/Playoff-Final.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

:jayjay: Probably the most 'enjoyable' single match I've ever had on FM :jayjay:

Raoul Duke

01-10-2021, 11:20 PM

Nice :cool:

thommo

01-10-2021, 11:39 PM

Baz

02-10-2021, 06:48 AM

Finally!

Giggles

02-10-2021, 06:57 AM

:cool:

Dquincy

02-10-2021, 07:08 AM

:D

I will be soon, I don't doubt.

I never doubted you. :D

Can't help but feel it was us fans that got you this promotion.

Foe

02-10-2021, 07:17 AM

Was expecting disappointment but what a surprise!

You got any championship quality players, or is a complete overhaul necessary?

Spikey M

02-10-2021, 08:38 AM

He's got to get through League One first. :uhoh:

Yevrah

02-10-2021, 10:30 AM

Cracking effort. The 46 game season combined with the 3 cups makes it a real bloody slog to get through. Disheartening to slip up in the playoffs twice, but brilliant that you've made it through now, on penalties and with 10 men for added drama too. :drool:

Who's been the season hero? Is Bugarin still chipping in?

Can't really say anyone was the hero given how the season went, but it would have been Bugarin had he scored in the 4th minute of injury time in the Playoff final when clean through, but he hit the post.

https://i.postimg.cc/XqKcXstH/Bugarin.jpg (https://postimg.cc/K3zgHDGB)

Still, 216 goals for us is not too shabby.

Yevrah

02-10-2021, 10:32 AM

Was expecting disappointment but what a surprise!

You got any championship quality players, or is a complete overhaul necessary?

I'll keep the core of the squad and just buy quality where it's available. Not sure how much difference there is between League 2 and League 1, I'm hoping not a lot.

Yevrah

02-10-2021, 10:33 AM

I never doubted you. :D

Can't help but feel it was us fans that got you this promotion.

I did want it so much after the support for the save. I realise now I can't let this club and their 300 season ticket holders (+ 1,200 more interchangeable fans) down.

We are going to the top!

Spikey M

02-10-2021, 10:35 AM

I'll keep the core of the squad and just buy quality where it's available. Not sure how much difference there is between League 2 and League 1, I'm hoping not a lot.

Whenever I've done a lower league save I always find the hardest steps to be from Conference to League 2 and Championship to Premierleague.

That's not to say League 1 is easy, but it's similar to League 2. I normally take 2 seasons to get promoted again.

Yevrah

02-10-2021, 10:41 AM

Two seasons would be lovely.

Foe

02-10-2021, 10:44 AM

He's got to get through League One first. :uhoh:

Christ. So he does…

RIP Yevsitcom

Yevrah

02-10-2021, 10:49 AM

Oxford City Season 2029/30 - Some Things

I whinged again at the board about our Youth and they caved again.

https://i.postimg.cc/q7HtvSP2/Youth-Recruitment.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Leaving our Facilities looking like so:

https://i.postimg.cc/gkfjg1k1/Facilities.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

This is the WARCHEST for League One

https://i.postimg.cc/Wzdpn7R2/Budgets.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

More on that later, but basically my board are morons.

And we have three players going to the World Cup!

https://i.postimg.cc/J7Y5z7PJ/World-Cup.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/MKkbQ3JK/Grant.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Jtqkwqh9)[/url]

[url=https://postimg.cc/VSnJK9TZ]https://i.postimg.cc/d0SGt49F/Harris.jpg (https://bettafishcaretaker.com/supplies)

https://i.postimg.cc/4NTVdKpY/Holmes.jpg (https://postimg.cc/CdmzrxP0)

All from English academies and moulded at Oxford CITY. I'm so proud of them.

Dquincy

02-10-2021, 12:21 PM

Your tranny budget must be one of the highest in League One.

Baz

02-10-2021, 07:12 PM

Nobody wants to buy any of my players (well, Minamino and Jota both rejected Spurs' contracts) and my board won't let me sign players over 23. So annoying. :mad:

Panda Bear

02-10-2021, 07:36 PM

I keep getting the feeling that my players match ratings lag behind what the AI gets in their games. Even in seasons I'm absolutely cruising, and games I'm winning 6-1 like this one, often barely anyone cracks an 8.0. Is this a sign of simply using an overpowered tactic?

https://i.imgur.com/ZlcBh6u.png

that tactic looks like a fish hook or anchor

Shindig

02-10-2021, 07:43 PM

An arrow pointing down.

Panda Bear

02-10-2021, 08:42 PM

An arrow pointing down.do we count keepers when describing how a tactic looks?

if so, this is the reverse challoner arrowhead

igor_balis

02-10-2021, 08:55 PM

Switched my computer off at the plug when I was pissed and have thus lost a couple of games (that's bad), but it included the game where our best player got injured for 4 months (that's good).

6 points from 12 for Immigration FC now. I have two 5 star players, then my next best starter has 1. I have no natural CMs in the squad except some lads with like 3 tackling, so my ENGINGE ROOM is my 2nd and 3rd best right backs, slowly being retrained to CMs.

On the plus side, I have another four 5 star players recently signed, but they can't be registered until roughly half way through the season.

igor_balis

02-10-2021, 08:55 PM

One of my starting XI has 3.5 grey stars :D

Baz

02-10-2021, 09:20 PM

Considering my sole aim is to concede less than 10 in the league all season, this start to season two was not appreciated:

https://i.imgur.com/uE4XT8X.png

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 02:27 AM

Oxford City Mid Season Update 2030/31 - League One

Our first season in League One starts with a look at the finances and a realisation our current position is unsustainable.

https://i.postimg.cc/D0Qn8BR0/Finances.jpg (https://postimg.cc/p5dgSYWM)[/url]

With wages at over 50% of income and even factoring in some of the tax bill was due to prior year profits, we're on a run rate of losing over £1m a year. Things get worse as well when you consider that the wage figure there relates to League Two's bill, which was about £40k per week. Now we've gone up and the promotion clauses have kicked in it's more like £55k. Yet my insane board are happy for me to spend £5.5m on transfers and £65k on wages.

On the plus side, prior year sales mean we've still over £5m in the bank (as of now) so we have some time, but we need to get out of League One and into the Championship as soon as possible.

Transfers

With the above in mind, deals were kept to a minimum over the summer, with a couple of loans renewed and the following new players brought in:

[url=https://postimg.cc/w33fSB5z]https://i.postimg.cc/pVJw5hpm/O-Donnell.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

On loan from Man City for the season, will probably play left wing.

https://i.postimg.cc/0ybF4VZS/Shipley.jpg (https://postimg.cc/K1h0kr6c)

£190k from Burton. We needed a centre back and this chap will do nicely.

https://i.postimg.cc/Kv40cRLS/Corness.jpg (https://postimg.cc/gnFVNcNN)

Quite excited about this one. Released by Man Utd and wanted ten grand a week, but we got him for £7k + a 50% of any next transfer fee. He's costing over 10% of my wage bill, so he'd better deliver.

On the transfers out side of things a couple of players were released and we pulled in £700k from the sale of Bignami, who finally got a work permit but with only a year left on his contract it was clear he wasn't going to sign another one so we cashed in.

Facilities

Two huge things happened here. First our 3rd upgrade on the Youth Recruitment front:

https://i.postimg.cc/9fXpS0cn/Youth-Recruitment-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

And perhaps more importantly, the board have finally agreed our training facilities should be upgraded. Under the guise of a reward for me, the perverts, but no matter, it was much needed. My players seem to develop more on loan (at any club) than they do while playing for me.

https://i.postimg.cc/DwvLfNRW/Facilities.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

FFP

Oh yes, my favourite subject has come to haunt me, we've failed it.

https://i.postimg.cc/v8741zr5/FFP.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

The game doesn't explain how the limit is calculated, but I assume it's different for every club and is based on a % of income, so given our wage % of revenue it sort of makes sense that it's caught us. We're still only pulling 2,300 fans a game in League One, the lowest in the division by a mile and it kills us. As well as being under a transfer embargo, my board also won't let me renew contracts, or rather they will, as long as my players accept £20 a week. :cab:

No matter, a couple of sales/loans out in the January window should sort things.

On the Pitch

It's been brilliant, and at the turn of the year we're in the playoff spots.

https://i.postimg.cc/K8fV4dzC/League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

There have been a couple of humpings, but the best result of the season so far was this on the opening day:

https://i.postimg.cc/rFQC4c1G/Oxford.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

No idea whether we'll hold on and I'm not that bothered, we've already secured survival and that was the main aim before a ball was kicked.

Leicester up next in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 02:31 AM

Just found the FFP rules. Max 60% of turnover on wages, with U21 players excluded from the calc.

Raoul Duke

03-10-2021, 11:36 AM

Is the Oxford Derby actually counted as a proper one?

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 11:39 AM

In real life?

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 11:41 AM

In the game, no.

https://i.postimg.cc/d1GH6TqZ/Untitled.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

It does say we have 'top billing' when we play each other though.

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 11:46 AM

My youth intake is absolute toilet, so much for having 'Excellent' Youth Recruitment.

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 12:37 PM

The run in message hasn't appeared in my inbox, so I'm going to have to do it myself.

Coming to the end of our first season in League One and we're still in CONTENTION.

https://i.postimg.cc/KjcZyTvC/Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

(a) vs. MK Dons
(a) vs. Charlton
(h) vs. Blackpool
(h) vs. Lincoln

Blackpool game will be huge and while beggars can't be choosers, if we are to make the playoffs 4th or 5th place would be a right result.

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 12:46 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/cJyq73Yw/Fix.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Huge win in Milton Keynes and pleasing to see we didn't get humped by Charlton.

https://i.postimg.cc/3rLPSVmK/Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

All on Blackpool. :eyemouth:

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 01:07 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/02430SmZ/Fix.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Blackpool was brilliant and never in doubt, but results elsewhere meant we needed to follow it up with a win over Lincoln to both guarantee a playoff spot and finish 5th. In previous seasons we'd have fucked it, but this time the LADS cruised home. They've come of age. :cool:

https://i.postimg.cc/tTgtcSG6/Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

wullie, we are coming for your boys!

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 01:21 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/RZV12Xt4/Semi-s.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Hold me.

Giggles

03-10-2021, 01:23 PM

It's on. Be some kick in the hole for Crewe and their 92 points too :cool:

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 01:35 PM

Well...

https://i.postimg.cc/Tw9gkbPp/Promotion.jpg (https://postimages.org/)[/url]

:jayjay:

[url=https://postimages.org/]https://i.postimg.cc/851rrCbD/Final.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Absolutely battered them.

https://i.postimg.cc/CdyhkPVD/Report.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/vZtn89WX/Dickheads.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Dickheads. They've been pissing about with a takeover for the last two months too, which still isn't finalised.

thommo

03-10-2021, 01:35 PM

I wish I had your wage bill. Clarke Corness looks brilliant but I wouldn't be able to afford those wages. I'm predicting a 3-2 extra time win in the final. Bugarin off the bench for the winner!

thommo

03-10-2021, 01:37 PM

Never mind my prediction, 4-1 is bloody comfortable. How many goals did Hines manage over the season?

Also, the board are only "pleased"? Wow, talk about a tough crowd. What was the pre-season expectations? If I so much as draw against a top-half team, my board are bloody ecstatic so I feel like you've got some hard-to-impress bellends up at Oxford.

Giggles

03-10-2021, 01:38 PM

https://c.tenor.com/EJ6Bm6cGg4IAAAAC/farmerfran-waterboy.gif

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 01:44 PM

We were expected to battle bravely against relegation, but my board are such wankers. 'Rewarding me' with training ground upgrades and pissing about with takeovers. Tossers.

Hines is the real deal I think.

https://i.postimg.cc/WpdfDpY0/Hines.jpg (https://postimg.cc/w3dkZzpB)

He got 27 this season, but was rampant in the run in. I've tied him down with a 3 year + 3 more optional years deal as well. Mwahahaha.

John Arne

03-10-2021, 05:57 PM

2034, Barca never learn.

https://gyazo.com/7419a43e5989a0e2d2563f802e93531f.jpeg

Sir Andy Mahowry

03-10-2021, 06:03 PM

Holy shit.

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 06:04 PM

Oxford City Season 2031/32 Championship - Summer Update Stuff

Starting with the finances for our League One campaign.

https://i.postimg.cc/MTr978kF/Finances.jpg (https://postimg.cc/jwP6TmSH)

Another season, another loss, but we did spend £1.6m on ground improvements that were much needed. Wages were back to a reasonable level of turnover too, even stripping out the income from player sales. Heading into our debut season in the Championship we have £6m in the bank, leading to a WARCHEST of:

https://i.postimg.cc/W4y9rvcf/Budgets.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Flush with cash still, we did two things next. First, sent the chaps on their first training camp abroad.

https://i.postimg.cc/QdxSytXy/Training-Camp.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

And tied Corness down for 4 years.

https://i.postimg.cc/mDMSH1wt/Corness-Contract.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Obscene terms, but I genuinely don't think we'd have gone up without him.

Another whinge and another upgrade to our Youth Recruitment.

https://i.postimg.cc/ZRk84KSZ/Youth-Recruitment.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

And talking of which. Sad times, but sadly he was technically bereft.

https://i.postimg.cc/G3KySjHb/Bartlett.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Facilities are now at a semi-reasonable level.

https://i.postimg.cc/nzkCgHV3/Facilities.jpg (https://postimages.org/)[/url]

The Championship

First news on our upcoming season was a far more sensible set of FFP rules. Gone is the % of revenue bollocks and we're now dealing with pure profits and losses.

[url=https://postimages.org/]https://i.postimg.cc/Px3d1N5n/FFP.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Which will be helped by this news.

https://i.postimg.cc/NF2vT4nR/TV-Money.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

:chief: Six times what we received last year and ten times what we've been used to over the last few years.

Hopefully more media exposure will lead to the lazy fucks of Oxford coming to see us. Not a high bar to beat.

https://i.postimg.cc/pV5dKYz0/Attendence.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

And finally, the opening fixtures.

https://i.postimg.cc/vZbHRJjj/Opening-Fixtures.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Scary stuff. I'll do the summer business in another post as I'm still looking for a centre back to round things off.

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 06:37 PM

A couple more successful board requests.

https://i.postimg.cc/prtjj0GF/Junior-Coaching.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

And having had a request to improve the training facilities turned down I then asked about the Youth Facilities instead.

https://i.postimg.cc/N032hJwz/Youth-Facilities.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

If I'd known that was gonna cost £1.6m I might have thought twice. Down to £2.5m in the bank now.

thommo

03-10-2021, 06:49 PM

That is 2 great seasons of promotion and investment in the club. Need the crowds to start turning up now, otherwise it's going to be hard to keep the bank balance in the positive, especially with the wage budget and the inevitable running costs behind the youth setup and recruitment.

I'm down to the final 5 games of the season with Slough, and we've got a favourable run-in and the injured players returning. Another playoff appearance is definitely in reach.

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 06:54 PM

Summer Business

Distinctly underwhelming in terms of new arrivals now, but in looking for players I could attract I realised I simply don't have the pulling power or financial muscle to take this team to the Premier League and beyond without taking a punt on youth.

So in now, we have:

https://i.postimg.cc/5NVG9b3x/Burns.jpg (https://postimg.cc/K40QJXwV)[/url]

Had him on loan from Southampton a couple of times already, this time we got him permanently on a free.

https://i.postimg.cc/G2D7r5T8/Potter.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

From Aldershot for £250k. Unbelievably perhaps, he becomes our first choice left winger.

https://i.postimg.cc/VkNK56bc/Razak.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Vd3qVzR7)

Former Leicester man, £500k from Bromley.

https://i.postimg.cc/1zqcNNmb/Carew.jpg (https://postimg.cc/7CqTFhTN)

On loan, but much needed.

https://i.postimg.cc/brzQMCxj/Valpoort.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Q9y9KqY6)

£700k from Ajax, he won't join for 18 months, but that means I get to enjoy their youth training facilities for that time and he's already been given a work permit. No idea how.

https://i.postimg.cc/W4gg4LSv/Oliviera.jpg (https://postimg.cc/cK1rDzV9)[url=https://postimages.org/]

Also £700k from Benfica. No work permit this time, but he has technicals at 16 that are better than most of my first team players.

West Ham away to kick the season off in a week.

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 07:10 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/NMVK8dd4/West-Ham.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

:uhoh:

Bernanke

03-10-2021, 07:29 PM

https://i.imgur.com/UD6uGPc.png

I think I'm gonna sell either of these guys, but not sure who...

Raoul Duke

03-10-2021, 07:52 PM

Aguirre seems the better keeper (in places where it counts), aside from physicality

Yevrah

03-10-2021, 09:25 PM

A point per game was the target and after 10 games we're 40% ahead of that.

https://i.postimg.cc/h4kpndxJ/ixtures.jpg (https://postimg.cc/F1xjg1Tm)

Hines and Koumis have been brilliant. Just as pleasingly we don't seem to be haemorrhaging cash either. Attendances are up to 4,500 on average (so it might be time to think about asking for a new stadium) and with the TV money we're covering the wage bill.

https://i.postimg.cc/QxD1Sk1q/League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Gray Fox

04-10-2021, 12:33 AM

2034, Barca never learn.

https://gyazo.com/7419a43e5989a0e2d2563f802e93531f.jpeg

Please tell me he's injury prone.

wullie

04-10-2021, 07:25 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/RZV12Xt4/Semi-s.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Hold me.

I was rooting for you this whole time but you can fuck right off now

John Arne

04-10-2021, 08:17 AM

Please tell me he's injury prone.

Quite the opposite. He's a machine - less than 8 weeks out over about 7 seasons;

https://gyazo.com/0b12161fcefc57a9a418398504191dab.jpeg

Stats wise...

https://gyazo.com/af2e51e4ccdbee2a18212ac652fe6c5a.jpeg

Giggles

04-10-2021, 08:19 AM

Did you not sell him?

John Arne

04-10-2021, 08:25 AM

I'm at Dynamo Dresden (2.Liga)... my record selling fee is about $1.2m :D

He's still negotiating with Barca by the looks of it.

Baz

04-10-2021, 10:34 AM

Cristiano Ronaldo’s regen. Although 12 for freekicks is a little high.

thommo

04-10-2021, 01:29 PM

It came down to the wire for my first season with Slough Town in League One. Despite a number of injuries and a worrying February where we didn't win, we still found ourselves in a good position to secure a playoff position and a possible third promotion in a row.

https://i.ibb.co/SKTTVp0/last-5.png

The fixture list was quite favourable, with 3 matches against teams fighting relegation, before a huge away trip to Charlton and a home game against Northampton to finish off the season. We slipped up a little in a draw to bottom of the table Aldershot, but 8 points from 4 was solid. TQ Addy came off the bench to rifle in an absolute screamer to win us the game late against Oxford, and we were really good in the away draw at Charlton, and possibly should have won it late on.

https://i.ibb.co/m9pVDGR/run-in.png

All this meant we were 4th going into the final round of fixtures, level on points with Nottingham Forest and Notts County, and two points ahead of Charlton in 7th. Charlton had a home game against already relegated Port Vale, Notts County were away to 20th-placed Oxford, and Nottingham Forest were at home to Swindon, a tough match.

We were also at home, playing Northampton Town. We were unbeaten in 12 going into this game, and Northampton had lost their last 5 games after at one point looking like a playoff challenger too. Surely we could get the win that would guarantee a playoff appearance?

https://i.ibb.co/Gd39MBN/bottle.png

Ouch. This one hurt. We hit the woodwork three times and had a couple of clear cut chances, but Northampton's subs did the damage and with us piling forward late on, they rubbed salt in the wounds. But there was still hope. If Charlton had failed to win, or one of Forest or Notts County lost, we'd still sneak into the top 6.

https://i.ibb.co/3sB8pTL/table-bottle.png

:moop:

What a bottlejob that was. Charlton won 4-3, Notts County drew 3-3 and Nottingham Forest held on at home to Swindon for a dour 0-0. All that hard work down the drain, but a 7th-place finish is still an incredible achievement for a club the size of Slough Town after back-to-back promotions. It at least gives us a really good base to work from next season, but I can't deny I was gutted after that last game.

-----------------------------------
https://i.ibb.co/Pw2yfCz/l1-lads.png

A quick look at the squad that got us through this 8th season with Slough Town. The midfield 3 were strong all year and provided a lot of goals for us. Luke Dreher grabbing 10 goals as a ball winning midfielder was a really nice bonus, and Sion Spence again easily hit double figures for assists, playing as the attacking CM of the 3.

Dennis Ball once again stepped up to the level and was fantastic on the left wing, and the forwards were all fairly good in bursts, if a little inconsistent. David Williams was fantastic coming off the bench, grabbing a lot of important goals, but was never as influential when starting games. I'm not sure whether I'll look to get the loanees back yet. Ian Harding has his contract running out at Cardiff so I might look to secure him permanently if he doesn't demand insane wages like a lot of the players I aim for.

https://i.ibb.co/2jv4vxD/budgets.png

Budgets for next season are fairly conservative, although that's the first time I've had a transfer budget over £125k. I'll probably put it towards upgrades or scouting rather than shelling out fees for players. I'm currently spending £23k p/w so we've got a lot of leeway regarding wages which will be helpful when chasing players with their contracts running out.

https://i.ibb.co/9Vp5bXV/youth.png

This was nice to see - I requested an increase in our youth level, mainly as I finally want our Under 18s entering a league to help with development, and the board agreed to go for a big youth facilities upgrade so this can happen. Hopefully we can start churning through a few youngsters, either so we can sell for some profit, or use in the first team.

In general, this summer will be a lot of work as we have a ton of contracts expiring and I'm not sure who to retain. It all depends on the quality of player we can attract to the club as we've still got a lot of squad players from the National League days who are unfortunately not first team level anymore.