Football Manager 2021 [Archive] - Page 5

Yevrah

04-10-2021, 06:10 PM

Oxford City End of Season 2031/32 Update - Championship

Starting with the finances.

https://i.postimg.cc/rw12CRGP/Finances.jpg (https://postimg.cc/G4mfb25F)

Our first profitable season for three years, with much going on. Firstly, we're now a PLC.

https://i.postimg.cc/pTp2ZXL5/PLC.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

And the loan was cleared upon takeover.

https://i.postimg.cc/Vs0f06h3/PLC-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)[/url]

Training Facilities were upgraded again:

https://i.postimg.cc/BnQRD76X/Training-Facilities.jpg (https://postimages.org/app)

And more yuff stuff.

https://i.postimg.cc/QMvz2XqT/Academy.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Would be nice to finally get someone decent through my Youth intake.

Perhaps most excitingly though, it's stadium expansion time.

https://i.postimg.cc/W4Z8J0Md/Stadium.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

And we get to play at Oxford Utd's ground (with their 13,000 capacity) while it's built.

Season Happenings

A moment, if you will, for Erik Bugarin.

https://i.postimg.cc/Wzq12bRc/Bugarin.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

I really wanted to have him score a goal in each of the top six tiers for me, but he wanted a new challenge so it was time to part ways.

https://i.postimg.cc/NMSr8nBY/Bugarin-History.jpg (https://postimg.cc/MM0Tqdnr)

An absolute hero.

Leicester came calling:

https://i.postimg.cc/5yJfM5mL/Job-Offer.jpg (https://postimages.org/app)

But I told them to do one.

January business was kept to a minimum but we did pick up this chap.

https://i.postimg.cc/fT2QHQ1x/Segura.jpg (https://postimg.cc/svhLXqjX)

No work permit as of yet, but hopefully some loans will change that.

The Table

https://i.postimg.cc/QNm2tr8R/Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Chuffed to stay up so comfortably but it puts into sharp focus the size of the task to go up. With parachute payments to those coming down I could be in the Championship for longer than I was in League Two.

https://i.postimg.cc/L81QzdS4/Line-Up.jpg (https://postimg.cc/XrngbzXt)

Happy with much of the squad now, but half of it is not even Championship quality and arguably the only player I have who could cut it in the Premier League is Hines. As soon as he works that out we'll be in trouble.

2032/33 Season

Started with this lovely bonus.

https://i.postimg.cc/2jWxcQJT/Solidarity.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

But even then it's only enough to give us this as a WARCHEST:

[url=https://postimages.org/]https://i.postimg.cc/Qd8kdRMn/Budgets.jpg (https://postimages.org/app)

But I thought I'd treat the boys and they're off to Portugal to double team some schlags, or whatever it is footballers get up to these days.

https://i.postimg.cc/qB28Xkh5/Algarve.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

In terms of expectations for the year ahead, I don't think we're close to being good enough for a playoff place, so survival is the aim again.

Bam

04-10-2021, 07:16 PM

How do you hammer through seasons so quick?

Smjffy

04-10-2021, 07:22 PM

https://i.imgur.com/SZq1UAy.png

:drool:

https://i.imgur.com/ghHMoo9.png

It is on?

Yevrah

04-10-2021, 07:25 PM

How do you hammer through seasons so quick?

Play a lot of Football Manager.

igor_balis

04-10-2021, 08:04 PM

I fucking love this league :D
https://i.ibb.co/6rJH08W/10-6.png

Yevrah

04-10-2021, 08:07 PM

10-6. :d

Smjffy

04-10-2021, 08:45 PM

https://i.imgur.com/vKw6EZz.png

Arsenal Fixtures.

https://i.imgur.com/50e4cif.png

Liverpool Fixtures

https://i.imgur.com/7uTeNnb.png

Final game of the season

https://i.imgur.com/bJhZXd8.png

We needed to ensure we matched Arsenal's result pretty much, this wasn't current Arsenal, this was 2027/28 Premier League winners Arsenal. As is, we both won by two goals and we finished above them by virtue of goals scored.

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

From National League to Champions League in ten years. :drool:

Glorious.

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

https://i.imgur.com/a5iQcAF.png

https://i.imgur.com/LyTma8A.png

Dquincy

04-10-2021, 09:53 PM

Cracking effort that Smiffster.

Who are your star men in your current squad? And what formation are you playing?

Dquincy

04-10-2021, 09:58 PM

Yev, amazing scenes over the last two pages.

Surprising it has taken this long to start increasing stadium capacity. Surely you need to be getting to 15,000+ before you can start pulling in some decent £££ and having a serious chance of achieving Premier league.

Can you also start pilfering the Premier league rejects to improve your squad?

Yevrah

04-10-2021, 10:39 PM

Cheers Quince. Genuinely no idea what it'll take to go up. The money the teams get for playing in the Premier League (+ parachute payments) is so obscene that even Roberto Martinez would struggle to not get them back up again - one season of it is more than Oxford City have earned in 12 seasons of this save.

I'll do it eventually though and then we're onto the Eibar phase of the save. :drool:

Queenslander

05-10-2021, 05:07 AM

Your current save has got me roaring back into Football Manager for the first time in 10 years.

Get my head around it while failing upward with Real Madrid.

wullie

05-10-2021, 08:32 AM

Leicester came calling:

https://i.postimg.cc/5yJfM5mL/Job-Offer.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

But I told them to do one.

I take back my harsh words earlier and can only apologise, I'm back on side

Adramelch

05-10-2021, 02:32 PM

It's a bit baffling how they still haven't figured out the club reputation stuff. This has been my save so far (I am in the middle of the 2024/25 season) and the club's reputation is still below all League 2 clubs.

https://i.imgur.com/Jj0yBqO.png

The only players I could approach the previous summer were National League level players.

igor_balis

05-10-2021, 06:37 PM

Failed to get promoted, finished 4th in the end but...

https://i.ibb.co/kxxxtf2/cup.png

:drool: :drool:

Apparently we've now qualified for the African Confederation Cup as well, which is the African Europa League. Cool.

Smjffy

05-10-2021, 10:07 PM

Cracking effort that Smiffster.

Who are your star men in your current squad? And what formation are you playing?

This season saw us switch to three at the back so it's been a 3-4-1-2 for much of last twelve months.

The star men, firstly it has to be Craig Cummings who now has 207 goals in 314 games for us whilst grabbing 31 in 51 for Wales too, at just 24 years old, he's almost certain to break Daniel James record for most goals for Wales.

Sticking with Daniel James, he left Man United to go to Celtic, Man City snapped him up thereafter before stints with Dortmund and Leicester. As to whether Cummings can outdo Ben Davies's 140 caps remains to be seen.

https://i.imgur.com/n3aHSfJ.png

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

Bret Parker seemed to have come of age this season. He did well last year scoring 14 in 29 and getting called up to the national team but he's kicked on rather impressively and now challenges Cummings as our most important player.

https://i.imgur.com/rUY3QQC.png

Loaning him out proved to be a bit useless so we persevered and come up trumps.

https://i.imgur.com/pD7Szlf.png

As for the national team....

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

The kids are alright, init. Wales have benefited hugely, two French invitational wins, the 2030 U19 European Championships, I just need Tom fuckin' Regan to piss off so I can have a stab at the job myself. He's a newgen(?) who hasn't had a single club job and has been in charge now for seven years.

Fielding a first eleven of home grown talent all from the local area is standard form. Not one signing, we've got just over £400M in the bank, the aim is to purchase The Racecourse again, as it is, we have to settle on just expanding at the moment and that is why we've been sent to Stoke but our latest expansion is by nearly 10,000 seats which will help nicely.

Dquincy

05-10-2021, 10:16 PM

Smiffy, how the frig are you paying such low wages for players worth up to £67m, whilst Mahow spunking out wages like it's going out of fashion?

Shindig

05-10-2021, 10:21 PM

They live in Wrexham.

Danny

05-10-2021, 10:40 PM

Dan James :cool:

Smjffy

06-10-2021, 09:20 AM

Smiffy, how the frig are you paying such low wages for players worth up to £67m, whilst Mahow spunking out wages like it's going out of fashion?

Every player has come through my youth team so I hammer them with 3 year optional extension. Parkers value only shot up last season and this. I'd say Cummings is still the man though.

I'll do a where are they now shortly.

Smjffy

06-10-2021, 11:42 AM

Where Are They Now?

The first players to depart the Youth Project were Glyn Jones, Paul Rogers, Dylan Owen and Sam Orchard. On each occasion the board overruled me and accepted the bids. I was happy to go without the financial gains but something has to pay for our facilities.

https://i.imgur.com/lE6aWSG.png

https://i.imgur.com/0b72QeG.png

Glyn Jones

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

Now at Bayern and with two Bundesliga titles to his name. He made his Wales debut in 2022 against Norway and has added an impressive 62 further caps since.

Paul Rogers

https://i.imgur.com/VgL4gav.png

Southampton really did a Liverpool on us tbh. Rogers was an ever present in our League Two promotion but it took him some time to get going at Southampton and the fact they just sold him to Burnley suggests to me that he wasn't really all that. Just six caps for Wales, media opinion is that he should find a new club so the transfer to Lancashire might give him the kick start he needs. He did win the Fa Cup with Southampton, the same season they were relegated.

Dylan Owen

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

Currently on loan to Benfica and with over 20 caps to his name, he's given things a good stab although he's teetering at the moment I would say. Leeds snapped him from us, Southampton went in thereafter, an exchange deal meant he went from the Coast to the Midlands. Like Rogers, he won the FA Cup, he was also involved in the Nations League final last month which Wales lost 4-0 to Italy.

Sam Orchard

https://i.imgur.com/fP7XGNn.png

Starting to find his feet with the Saints and finally won his first Wales cap this year. The former 2022 Welsh Young Player of the Year runner up had long been a regular in the U21's but his stint in the Championship last season, culminating in a title win has helped him a fair whack.

Wales Ranking Changes

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

Wales Records

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

Competitions

https://i.imgur.com/GR0fvun.png

Made the 2026 World Cup for the first time since 1958, eventual winners Germany knocking us out in the quarter finals.

Germany also knocked us out of the 2028 European Championships as we again reached the final some twelve years after losing to Portugal. 2021 and 2024 saw group stage knockouts.

Rogen really needs to go so I can have a go at the job.

Wrexham Records

https://i.imgur.com/fMnfP1y.png

Sir Andy Mahowry

06-10-2021, 12:21 PM

Smiffy, how the frig are you paying such low wages for players worth up to £67m, whilst Mahow spunking out wages like it's going out of fashion?

I only have one player who is earning over 100k (he's on 125k and only just got that contract, he was on 59k before that) with the next closest being on 58k.

thommo

06-10-2021, 03:29 PM

So my 9th season with Slough Town has begun, and our second season in League 1. Realistically, we should be aiming for a top half finish this time around, but after missing out on the playoffs on the final day, I'd really like to get into another playoff chase and actually make the top 6 this time.

Quite a few club stalwarts from our National League seasons had their contracts expire in the off-season, and while I was tempted to renew a number of them more for nostalgia than anything, I knew we needed to build the depth for the league a little more wisely. I know you're all sad to see the likes of TQ Addy leave the squad, but I think the signings made have definitely improved the general ability of the squad.

https://i.ibb.co/SQB8ByM/s9-signings.png

I brought back three loanees from the previous season (David Williams also extended but he's not shown here), but I decided against bringing back Aaron Jones for a 3rd loan spell. The signing of Jamie Ashton forced my hand here - I didn't want to have 3 strikers of similar ability fighting for the starting role. I'd changed the formation slightly and incorporated a pressing forward, something that Jones wasn't particularly good at, so I brought back Williams instead.

A number of the signings on the list were youth signings that didn't want high wages whatsoever - worth taking a punt on and maybe loaning out for the season. Two of the signings were youth recruits I'd let go days before, but I brought back as League 1 rules demand you have to have one 'home-grown at club' player in the 18 - if Dennis Ball gets injured, they can take a bench spot so I comply with the regulations! Ryan Allsop comes in as first-choice keeper, Simba Griffiths will be the back-up left back, and Tyree Wilson can play anywhere across the front 3 to a good ability.

Max Broughton was let go by Fylde, in the division below, but he definitely is good enough to be a first-team player for me at the back. The only blemish I see in his stats is that god-awful positioning. Otherwise, it's great to have a defender that can distribute the ball well for counter attacks.

https://i.ibb.co/BwsDpzP/Broughton.png

Brett Mannings was someone I had my eye on for a loan a couple of seasons ago, but I kept him on the shortlist and when I was told he was set for release, I went in for him. He's not incredible but those physical stats are really very good, and should get him out of trouble a lot of the time. He's a clear step up on what we had in the squad.

https://i.ibb.co/D4cyMRy/Mannings.png

Finally, we picked up this gem from Cardiff Met Uni. He came through their ranks and was on an amateur contract towards the end of last season, so I went straight in to snap him onto the longest contract I could (annoyingly only 3 years). He looks really good though and has already contributed this season so far. That determination :drool:

https://i.ibb.co/NpT1p4v/Dimitris.png

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

https://i.ibb.co/sFKS066/start-s9.png

We've reached the end of August, and safe to say, it's gone really well. Barring one disaster loss to newly promoted Oldham (where their centre-back turned into Roberto Carlos and curled in 2 30-yard free kicks inside the opening half hour), we've been brilliant. David Williams has been prolific up top and won both the Player of the Month and Young Player of the Month awards, and the midfield is chipping in with assists and goals constantly. All this leaves the table looking like this:

https://i.ibb.co/Z8QLFTd/table-start-s9.png

That start earned me the Manager of the Month award, and while we're only very early in the season, it's a great indication that we have a formation that works and a squad that can definitely push for promotion this year.

Yevrah

06-10-2021, 03:37 PM

Those three players look cracking Thommo.

Raoul Duke

06-10-2021, 03:41 PM

Giggles - you were asking about this the other day I think: https://www.footballmanager.com/news/major-changes-fm22-touch-and-beyond#desktop

Jimmy Floyd

06-10-2021, 03:45 PM

Have we got any new features for the main game yet, or do I need to sign up to Miles's OnlyFans and wait for him to cum them onto a blackboard?

Giggles

06-10-2021, 03:45 PM

That’s me out then. Not a chance I’m getting a Switch.

Browning

06-10-2021, 03:52 PM

Did we really need a full history in essay format for them to announce it'll still be out on other platforms but they're changing the name?

Sir Andy Mahowry

06-10-2021, 03:58 PM

I'm surprised it wasn't longer tbh.

Baz

06-10-2021, 08:50 PM

Anyone who wants to play a streamlined version of FM anywhere other than Switch will still be able to do so, but the game won’t be called ‘Touch’.

This doesn't really go anywhere either.

Smjffy

06-10-2021, 09:12 PM

Smiffy, how the frig are you paying such low wages for players worth up to £67m, whilst Mahow spunking out wages like it's going out of fashion?

https://i.imgur.com/JO4g6ZF.png

Were your ears burning, Dquincy ?

Fortunately. He's a good egg.

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

Smjffy

06-10-2021, 09:56 PM

Welcome to the Champions League.

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

https://i.imgur.com/g9JIY3c.png

Quite poetic to meet Porto too given Wrexham's history against the Portuguese club back in the 80's.

Dquincy

06-10-2021, 10:25 PM

I only have one player who is earning over 100k (he's on 125k and only just got that contract, he was on 59k before that) with the next closest being on 58k.

Yes, currently. But at Man Utd and Leverkusen?

Dquincy

06-10-2021, 10:32 PM

https://i.imgur.com/JO4g6ZF.png

Were your ears burning, Dquincy ?

Fortunately. He's a good egg.

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

Timing :D Do you have spare budget to give salary increases?

Also, what did you say to him that worked?

Sir Andy Mahowry

06-10-2021, 10:57 PM

Yes, currently. But at Man Utd and Leverkusen?

I made them both hundreds of millions and I reduced the wage bills at both whilst I was there.

John Arne

07-10-2021, 07:16 AM

I've been thinking lately... FM really should be a massive online game by now. Football Manager Live probably arrived a little too early, but I've been surprised that they haven't gone back.

It's probably too in-depth to do a full career kinda thing, but one-off seasons etc, it really should be more popular.

wullie

07-10-2021, 07:22 AM

That's my favourite addition to the conversation nonsense, they've been kicking up a stink with the other players and as soon as you ask them about it they back down, just being happy you know who they are. Iron fist.

Smjffy

07-10-2021, 08:41 AM

Timing :D Do you have spare budget to give salary increases?

Also, what did you say to him that worked?

We are loaded tbh, we've had to sell along the way but we're massively under budget and ave around £400M in the bank. Our outgoings are very small too.

Smjffy

07-10-2021, 10:55 AM

Our first game in the Champions League. Milan won it two years ago. :drool:

https://i.imgur.com/jBWnaM4.png

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

Milan and Porto left....it's in our hands!

Sir Andy Mahowry

07-10-2021, 11:18 AM

Smjffy

07-10-2021, 12:01 PM

We found ourselves 3-2 up at the San Siro until Facundo Pellistri levelled things on 78"munutes, Stipe Rasic secured the inevitable quick fire double as Milan swung the tie in their favour. Barcelona winning at Porto meant they qualified so we now needed to beat the Portuguese ourselves and hope the Catalan club did us a solid otherwise we'd be dropping into the Europa League. I have to be honest, either or as far as I am concerned at this stage as I feel it's more important to have a few seasons as European regulars given Chelsea and Man United seem way too far ahead in the league to think about title challenges, especially given I'm reliant on what I have.

As it was, we gave Porto a footballing lesson with a solid 3-0 win but Barcelona and AC Milan played out a 1-1 draw meaning we were eliminated regardless. We've drawn FC Admira Wacker in the first knockout round of the Europa, mindful that Bayern Munich have found themselves in the competition also.

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

Domestically we just knocked Newcastle out of the EFL Cup quarter finals to set up a tie with Premier League side Brentford, fellow top flight sides Man City and Bristol City are the other semi final whilst in the league we somehow find ourselves five points clear of 5th place Everton after 15 games (could have been 7 had we beat them in our last match), we're 7 clear of Arsenal and nine clear of Liverpool. This could be good....

Parker contract saga less so....

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

He wants ten times what he is on now so I told him straight, sack Dwyer! Then he did but now I've got to deal with the emotional Millie Saunders so I don't expect to get away with it much longer.

In other news, both Aaron Windsor and Russell John make it eight current first teamers in the international squad after winning their first caps, thirteen current/former Wrexham players in total now.

https://i.imgur.com/VsXePUe.png
Fast tracked into the first team due to a lack of left wingers, Windsor took the bull by the horns and is steadily learning on the job. Winning his first cap is a milestone added to scoring on his senior debut against Watford, winning the desirable Disney Cup and the U18 Premier League in 2029.

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

Russell John on the other hand, his impressive loan with League One side Charlton played a big part in the decision to switch to three at the back.

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

That very same three at the back decision saw Iolo Renshaw and Sam Davies both leave the club as we put an end to full backs/wing backs.

Baz

07-10-2021, 12:43 PM

I’d be well up for an FM MMO right now.

Sir Andy Mahowry

07-10-2021, 05:16 PM

https://i.imgur.com/Ae2w4yR.png

Revelation :cool:

Jimmy Floyd

07-10-2021, 05:31 PM

He's certainly revealed some forehead.

Smjffy

07-10-2021, 05:44 PM

Wrexham FC - 2031/2032

League

We found ourselves in a perfect position to obtain Champions League football for a second successive season.

https://i.imgur.com/e9nt3J4.png

It is fair to say that May as a month from hell. Unexpected too given our exploits throughout the season.

https://i.imgur.com/US3mprb.png

I suppose a sixth place finish isn't to be sniffed at given where we've come from but still....it doesn't get any easier either.

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

After finishing 3rd in our Champions League group, we found ourselves flying through the Europa League until we faced Benfica in the semi finals. A 3-1 loss in Portugal meant we needed to win by two clear goals to progress to the final, we did this with an emphatic 5-0 home win (still in Stoke, mind. Side Note: We loaned our young striker Alec Blake to Benfica and for some reason he played against us!) where we would face Arsenal and not Man City as anticipated, not that it mattered as we lost 6-5. :moop: No Champions League.

Back to the domestic side of the game and Man City, we beat them in the EFL Cup final to win it for a second time, despite being record holders, Man City have now lost their last four finals in the competition. Tottenham knocked us out of the FA Cup on penalties although we really should have advanced, 3-0 up with ten minutes to go, 3-3 at full time, Brett Parker looked to have given us a reprieve in extra time only for Dylan Brownlee to level once again. Spurs scored their first three pens, we missed all three of ours. Although I didn't clock it at the time, perhaps this was a heads up that we were a bunch of bottlers.

On a plus note, we've qualified for the International Champions Cup which may fuck up our pre season but some pretty big names. Our group contains Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Libertad, Lyon and Villareal.

Summary

Brett Parker (now on £85k a week!) and Craig Cummings carried the team in terms of goals with the pair netting 109 between them, next in line was Peter Blackwell with ten in 5(12) appearances. Our form in May means a rethink tactically but going back to Parker, he ended Liverpool's Erling Haaland's five year grip on the Premier League's golden boot award whilst landing the 2031 Welsh Young Player of the Year, the 2031 FIFA Best U21 Men's Player and the 2031 European Golden Boy award. I warned him after the latter as Peter Blackwell won it just two years ago and he's stagnated since.

Next season will be much of the same, I'll be looking to go three up top and three at the back if able, 3-4-3, more central as we have many advanced forwards. I have told myself that the project ends when the inevitable takeover arrives, we've been rumoured to have one on a few occasions but nothing ever happened. One day...

Where Are They Now and Top 5 Youngsters coming soon.

thommo

07-10-2021, 06:08 PM

https://i.ibb.co/h9h8C6f/wtf.png

:moop:

Note Jamie Ashton getting injured in this game. He's our backup striker, out for about a month. A few days later....

https://i.ibb.co/fXC1xv2/injury.png

:facepalm:

Yevrah

07-10-2021, 07:33 PM

Oxford City End of Season Update 2032/33 - Championship

Second season in the Championship complete and probably not a surprise to say we're still in it.

Summer Business

Only added two permanents, but did bring the three loan players back. Joining the PROJECT were:

https://i.postimg.cc/KzX5zy7L/Murtagh.jpg (https://postimg.cc/p9ZjG46X)

£325k from Sheffied Utd, goes straight into the first team.

https://i.postimg.cc/3JbmNTYR/Hamblin.jpg (https://postimg.cc/vcfc2C1F)

On a free having been released from Chelsea. Quite excited about this one, or at least I was until he got injured for 6 months. :cab:

https://i.postimg.cc/CMrzHstr/Valpoort.jpg (https://postimg.cc/dDdsJrJG)

One of the deals we agreed last year also joined in January. He looks pretty good and came with a work permit, but the winger we have on loan from Man City has kept him out of the side.

https://i.postimg.cc/qq60GyhW/Segura.jpg (https://postimg.cc/4HGrfK11)

And not a new signing, but Sagura's been on loan at Eibar to get him a work permit and he's improved hugely while playing in La Liga.

Facilities

No further improvements as the finances don't really allow it, but we did complete the stadium expansion.

https://i.postimg.cc/DztKwmYg/Stadium.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

For some games we are now taking as much as £200k. :cool:

The Season

https://i.postimg.cc/mgkx37vj/League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Really pleased with how we did, but we never really properly threatened making the playoffs. That will have to be the aim for next season now though.

https://i.postimg.cc/yYWnvnND/Best-11.jpg (https://postimg.cc/LnKzstLS)

Good performances all round, with Hines still being the star of the show.

Finances

https://i.postimg.cc/DzMFtxT8/Finances.jpg (https://postimg.cc/sB7tW91r)

£1m loss for the year, which is a bit of a worry given the season is pretty representative of life in the Championship. Our bonus costs rose ludicrously, which I can only assume if the price for finishing 8th, which is technically worth no more to me than 18th.

The above also screams out when you look at our transfer budget for next season, which is the lowest for years.

https://i.postimg.cc/05GFSVBD/Budgets.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

If I don't get out of the Championship in the next year or two I might have to sell a first team player or two.

Baz

07-10-2021, 08:46 PM

And not a new signing, but Sagura's been on loan at Eibar:eyemouth:

Adramelch

07-10-2021, 08:52 PM

Yeah, I am in the same boat with you Yev. I am in my first season in the Championship and I don't see a way out for quite a few years since our budgets are so much lower than everyone else at the moment.

Yevrah

07-10-2021, 09:44 PM

:eyemouth:

As soon as they made an offer I rejected all other bids. :cool:

Yevrah

07-10-2021, 09:45 PM

Adramelch

07-10-2021, 09:52 PM

Gateshead. Mind you I expected to go down since the squad I managed to assemble was ridiculously substandard (my coaches reckon that a good 80% of the squad are decent to good League Two players), but it somehow happened. The only good thing about it being that we are not hemorrhaging money (for the time being) since the budgets are that low. I think hitting gold with loanees is the only way it's going to work to be honest.

Shindig

07-10-2021, 10:06 PM

Did they let you expand the International Stadium much?

Adramelch

07-10-2021, 10:07 PM

We had no sellout games, even in the Championship, so no need for it yet. Them having a fairly large capacity for a non-league team is one of the main reasons I went with them to begin with.

Bernanke

07-10-2021, 10:28 PM

He's finally back after however many seasons in Manchester:

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

Paying 140 million for a 30 year old attacking mid might sound like a bad decision, but this save has gotten really stale at this point, so I just want 1-2 seasons of my dream midfield where he was a necessary inclusion. He'll join two other AMCs in a narrow 4-2-3-1, with the Danish lad being an absolutely absurd player:

https://i.imgur.com/wsiH3Zb.png

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

Capping it off up front is this two-footed monster who has been at the club since he was 17:

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

All hitting their prime at the same time. :drool:

Dquincy

07-10-2021, 10:48 PM

I made them both hundreds of millions and I reduced the wage bills at both whilst I was there.

Not answering the question though, treacle. :)

It wasn't a dig and I don't why you took it as one.

Adramelch

07-10-2021, 11:19 PM

So I have my assistant manage friendly games, and he just fielded a player that's injured for the next 5 months, and he even scored a goal.

Baz

08-10-2021, 06:37 AM

So I have my assistant manage friendly games, and he just fielded a player that's injured for the next 5 months, and he even scored a goal.Yeah mine played The Ox at the start of the first season when he’s very much injured. :cab:

igor_balis

08-10-2021, 07:32 PM

Just after the season finished I asked my board about my professional status - we were amateur, and I thought with a bit of begging we MIGHT have gone semi-pro. Immediately get a notification that we're going PROFESSIONAL, the first Gambian side to do so. In the second tier. With us boshing some Djiboutians in the prelim round of the African equivalent of the Europa league, it's turning into a fucking weird save. I will probably leave Gambia before Igor gets a crack at the Gambian prem cus, er, since we went pro we haven't exactly had Yevrah's control of the finances...

igor_balis

08-10-2021, 07:34 PM

Well shit, in the first round proper we've got the 3rd best Dr Congo team, one of whom's players is worth over 100k. :uhoh:

Adramelch

08-10-2021, 07:48 PM

The board just requested a meeting to extend my contract, I told them we should spend the money on the training facilities instead and they told me that we've had a poor run of results so I don't get to ask for anything. :moop:

Giggles

08-10-2021, 07:51 PM

igor_balis

08-10-2021, 07:57 PM

Can never understand why they don’t fix that shit.

The worst is the way that when they occasionally get presented with shit like that, Sports Interactive people always reply like politicians being grilled on the news. "Uh, actually it's a realistic reflection of blah blah blah.." The SI forums are hilarious/infuriating to read whenever it's about bugs and general game problems for this reason.

Giggles

08-10-2021, 07:58 PM

Yer man that makes it is meant to be a total wanker that refuses to change anything isn’t he?

igor_balis

08-10-2021, 07:58 PM

Lost 6-1 in the first leg of the DRC game so I guess I'll just slog through the domestic season to get my first league of the journeyman, even though it's the 2nd tier. Maybe have a crack at the top tier if I haven't totally bankrupted them.

igor_balis

08-10-2021, 08:00 PM

Yer man that makes it is meant to be a total wanker that refuses to change anything isn’t he?

Yeah, he's a proper twat. It's mean to criticise people's appearances (and rich from me), but he absolutely looks like your man in this as well:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/John_Henry_Fuseli_-_The_Nightmare.JPG

Smjffy

08-10-2021, 08:29 PM

Wrexham Football Club - 2032/33

Departures.

Mike Maddocks - Sold to Ipswich having failed to make the grade or an appearance for the first team. A mixed loan spell at League One side Rochdale told us all we needed to know.

Billy Wood - Part of the 2026/27 intake, the winger was loaned out on no fewer than five occasions but still failed to make a dent at his parent club. A £4.3M transfer to Sunderland brought us time at the club to a swift end.

Gus Levitt - At times it looked as though Gus was going to navigate the path from U23's to the first team but after half a season in the top flight, it was clear he needed more time and at a lower level. A reasonable loan spell to Bristol Rovers was arranged and it was hoped he'd return for the 2030 season ready to stake a proper claim, that never materialised. Two further loan spells to both Sheffield Wednesday and Aberdeen were arranged, neither were overly successful so when Italian side Bologna bid £6.75M we duly accepted.

Shane Wandless - Another who looked to have made the jump and represented the club over sixty times in the Premier League alone but he fell out of favour in 2029/30. Loan spells at Bournemouth (twice) and Rangers followed before Celtic took a £13.25M plunge.

Matty Graham - Three loan spells in League Two with Barrow, Scunthorpe and Exeter were followed by a £73,000 move to Coventry. We did have hopes he'd be a reliable option once upon a time but he was forgotten about relatively quickly.

Neil Smart - Perhaps the saddest departure of the lot as one of our longest serving players decided he needed first team football. After over 350 appearances, the defensive midfielder opted to join Augsburg for £27.5M. I wasn't too fussed where he chose, he earned the right, I guess.

League

https://i.imgur.com/MFf8qG7.png

We improved on last seasons position and points total with our 5th place finish but we were never really near the Champions League places after continuously throwing away hand delivered opportunities to close the gap. It still bodes well for the future and as can be seen, we got into the top competition anyway...

32 year old Erling Haaland reclaimed the Premier Leagues Golden Boot award, Craig Cummings only managing 21 this season although much of that was due to the emergence of Alec Blake. Blake had a short stint on loan at Benfica at the back end of last season and has really come on this year.

https://i.imgur.com/jbiZXh4.png

12 in 19 is a decent return for the youngster and he also played his part in our cup runs.

Talking of which....

EFL Cup

Kieran Hayes last minute strike at Stamford Bridge kept us in the competition but the return was a true annihilation. It's just a shame it ended up with us relinquishing our trophy and to Man United to boot.

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

FA Cup

Reaching the first FA Cup final of the clubs history, another Wembley appearance only this time Chelsea avenged their EFL Cup defeat with a heavy win. Deserved too which rubs it in somewhat.

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

Europa League

We weren't exactly European heavyweights but we felt like we could hold our own these days and reaching the final last season merely confirmed that. We started with great intent this time round by rinsing the group, causing a national emergency in Spain after trouncing Atletico and then Basquing in the glory of a second successive final, we had only Portuguese giants Benfica to overcome.

https://i.imgur.com/kokTNo7.png

https://i.imgur.com/Y27bMgq.png

And overcome we did as both centrebacks scored late on to hand us a second trophy of the season and a ticket back to the Champions League.

Wait.

Second trophy, Smiff?

......

https://i.imgur.com/RMz2F1D.png

Whatever the International Champions Cup is, we won it by winning the overall table. :drool:

Maybe it is a yearly thing now as we've qualified for it for the upcoming season too.

Squad Summary

Liverpool have shamelessly courted Brett Parker for months now with Haaland and TAA both coming out in support of the transfer. Parker has since claimed the FIFA Best U21 Men's Player, the Welsh Young and Football of the Year Awards whilst he was runner up in the 2032 FIFA Ballon d'Or. He's a diamond. An expensive one, mind.

Craig Cummings grabbed 36 in 37(7) as he found himself struggling to contend with Alec Blake's emergence. Tim Hunter and Charlie Summers both chipped in with double figures in goals and assists but neither have realised the potential they had a few years back. Hunter is probably close to leaving the club in truth.

That said, fellow strikers Peter Blackwell (former Golden Boy winner) and Jac Carroll both look set to join him.

Next Season

We'll finalise the first team squad during the pre season but I would like to see us finish closer to 1st and to at the bare minimum get back in the Champions League.

If we don't then we are definitely going to end up losing one or two of our big names.

Dquincy

08-10-2021, 10:27 PM

Smjffy

08-10-2021, 11:11 PM

Wrexham Football Club - 2033.

Tim Beck

Surpassed Gary Bevan as the clubs number one and the end of last season and so this season we've decided to go with him. Tim has had three loan spells away from the club at Barnet, Cheltenham and MK Dons but now the hope is he cements his position between the sticks long term.

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

Mark Thomas

Another new name and an important season for the wingback. After spending half a season on loan at Scottish side Rangers, we ended the deal early and brought him back. He's going to be first choice this time round but he'll do well to stay there.

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

Ryan Young

Young completes the trio of fast tracked youngsters although in case of the full backs its because we sold the previous two occupants when deciding on a formation change. Just five first team starts at the end of last season means both he and Mark Thomas have a lot to prove this season.

https://i.imgur.com/Dv3l3Wy.png

Russell John

Although he's still to hit the heights expected of him, the wantaway defender is still arguably our second best at the back. This season will be his fourth in the Premier League and I'm anticipating a better average rating than the 6.86 of last season. If we can keep him that is as I have promised he can leave....

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

Eddie Eardley

One of the clubs longest serving and most impressive. 383 league appearances and he's won everything we have along the way.

https://i.imgur.com/1cLSYoN.png

Steve Richards

We threw him in as a teenager back in our debut season in the top flight before realising it was far to soon so we sent him on loan to Championship side Norwich. A season long move to Premier League club Bournemouth followed and he's been a regular for us for the last two seasons.

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

Blessing Mhlanga

Blessing was said to be one of the players of his generation when he arrived at the club in 2024. He made his debut in 2029 against Heracles, had to wait a full two years before his first strike but it's long been apparent that goals isn't his forte with just six career strikes to date.

https://i.imgur.com/Q0ldhwE.png

Jordan Hopkins

One of the clubs most dependable players and another long time servant. Often linked with moves away but rarely kicks up a fuss.

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

Kieran Hayes

See Jordan.

https://i.imgur.com/AmxSb25.png

Brett Parker

Quite simply one of the best players in the world, heavily linked to the big hitters in the game. He'll not stick around much longer but he's tied down for the foreseeable so he'll have to like it.

https://i.imgur.com/0J6OSY2.png

Alec Blake

It takes some talent to keep Craig Cummings out the first team but Alec seems to possess it and we're expecting big things from his this season. If not, Craig comes back in although he's currently miffed after we rejected a few bids from Man City for him north of £80M+.

https://i.imgur.com/zTRJo7R.png

John Arne

09-10-2021, 03:12 AM

The second "teaser" for FM2022 dropped yesterday, and it really does look like a data update - like the only new feature is the DATA HUB, which I imagine most of us lot probably will never touch :D

It's not too surprising, but it does mean no new real features for another 2yrs, given it sounds like FM2023 is gonna be the same, but with all the development going into adding the women's game.

Raoul Duke

09-10-2021, 07:25 AM

I can't see why adding in the women's league would be that big an effort. Mostly it's just a new database? Sure there'll be some logic changes but can't see it being a multi-year project

John Arne

09-10-2021, 07:28 AM

I can't see why adding in the women's league would be that big an effort. Mostly it's just a new database? Sure there'll be some logic changes but can't see it being a multi-year project

That's what I thought - but they've already confirmed that they started work on it some time back, and it's basically a lot more difficult than anyone who doesn't work for Miles thinks.

Bernanke

09-10-2021, 07:52 AM

Those players. :drool:

Are they giving you world domination?

Well, the season played out just according to plan. :nodd: I struggled for the first half to get the tactics right, but after switching to a vertical tiki-taka variant in Feb I was coasting.

Beating Hertha at their home-turf, with Zapata scoring the nail in the coffin in stoppage time:

https://i.imgur.com/y5yYwmh.png

And elsewhere things fell into place too:

https://i.imgur.com/xT30W2H.png

Best part of it, that midfield trio delivered:

https://i.imgur.com/IG258ST.png

All three defenders and Aguirre are mine too.

Sir Andy Mahowry

09-10-2021, 12:57 PM

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

Seems I've finally got a decent regen coming in:

https://i.imgur.com/n3Ue1Og.png

He's not amazing but he looks like he could be very good.

Giggles

09-10-2021, 02:24 PM

thommo

09-10-2021, 04:59 PM

I've reached the turn of the year with Slough and the good form has continued. In fact, we're currently running away with it and it would require a fairly sizeable bottlejob to not finish the job off.

https://i.ibb.co/z5vw7Zj/jan-27.png

Win our game in hand (a home game against Oldham) and we're 11 points clear. Even the long-term injury to our main striker didn't slow the team down - the wingers and midfield have chipped in constantly with goals and assists. It's been pretty remarkable and I don't remember being so dominant at all throughout the save, at least not since the days of the National League South. Our run of form from mid-October shows this:

https://i.ibb.co/pydmm1t/form.png

You can probably notice one name in there - Bobby Decordova-Reid joined us on a free after the injuries to my strikers and while being generally a bit sluggish, he's chipped in with a few goals. I had to take the opportunity to sign him - he may not have ever played for Fulham in this FM19 universe, but he's as close as I've got to a Fulham link.

We've got West Ham away in the 3rd round of the FA Cup, so we should get a big influx of money to the balance in a few days time. With all the away games, we just dipped under £1m in the bank. No further news on the new stadium either, it's still in the planning process.

Yevrah

09-10-2021, 04:59 PM

Oxford City End of Season 2033/34 Update - Championship

Third season in the Championship, with the aim having to be to make the playoffs after last season's 8th placed finished.

Transfers

With a few players shipped out on loan and with some done to get work permits, our only sale in the summer was Liam Potter to Swindon, for £250k. With finances at a minimum only two players joined:

https://i.postimg.cc/3JJQ3CX2/Benarama.jpg (https://postimg.cc/9zSnp9Nf)

Joined on a free and immediately packed off on loan.

https://i.postimg.cc/pX14RNXt/Oliveira.jpg (https://postimg.cc/YhYbzsWX)

£700k from Benfica. With the deal done a while ago Daniel had progressed nicely since it had been and joined armed with a work permit. Lovely stuff.

Kolar joined at the turn of the year:

https://i.postimg.cc/jdWv6DKG/Kolar.jpg (https://postimg.cc/MvSyqKnD)

And then this happened:

https://i.postimg.cc/JzZqgSsx/Gonzalez-Transfer.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Which was massive. He'd never played for us as he hadn't yet got a work permit, but had been doing pretty well on loan. Palace came in with a bid I managed to negotiate up to £5m and then decided to whore him out for £10m in the hope of some takers. Premier League Everton bit and we now had some money to do something in the January window.

After scouring the market I couldn't find anyone to buy to improve the first team, so whacked the increase in budget into wages and snapped these two up on loan.

https://i.postimg.cc/jdzc3GwX/Crooks.jpg (https://postimg.cc/rKw5KZ90)

https://i.postimg.cc/VkgRmnF0/James-James.jpg (https://postimg.cc/VJSMFSpz)

Both went straight into the first team, improving the spine of our side immeasurably and hopefully giving us the push to make the playoffs.

The Championship

https://i.postimg.cc/zXSwFK62/Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

The thing to note here and what I was absolutely ecstatic about was that the three newly relegated sides (Palace, West Ham and Watford) all had shocking seasons, which made the points required pretty low. It all came down to the last day and we needed a win over Palace to guarantee a playoff spot. The other dynamic was hoping to avoid Derby in the semi's if we did make it as they were in fantastic form. We drew with Palace, but Boro coudn't manage a win and we'd made it. Perhaps even better Norwich lost again and in form Derby snatched the second automatic spot, setting up a playoff Semi against the East Anglian side.

https://i.postimg.cc/76nPWP44/Leg-1.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

An absolutely brilliant win, with Shaun Hines coming up with the goods. Could we see it out at Carrow Road?

https://i.postimg.cc/WbHNKfBd/Leg-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

No words here really. Shaun Hines needs the freedom of the City and we're in the playoff final against Birmingham

https://i.postimg.cc/Kz0ST1F1/Final.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

:jayjay: I genuinely thought we'd fucked it with half an hour to go and then again when Birmingham equalised in extra time, but Shaun Hines was on hand to grab the winner and take this tiny club into the Premier League after fifteen seasons of grind.

niko_cee

09-10-2021, 05:18 PM

Nice.

It's been awesome following this save for the past 10 seasons or so [not in on the ground floor]. You going to be tooling around in the prem with that tiny stadium of yours or does the game have an answer to that?

Yevrah

09-10-2021, 05:19 PM

Cheers Niko!

Finance and Facilities update incoming.

Adramelch

09-10-2021, 05:31 PM

Great job Yev. That Portuguese striker looks great.

This is where I'm at the moment:

https://i.gyazo.com/dc99786805b20bc0bad5baad7b4e5c13.png

I don't think I've ever had that close a season ever before. We're basically all collectively shit so nobody gets to build a lead. Had the chance to do so but we went and lost to 20th Preston instead. Doesn't help that our top three scorers were all injured in the same game a couple weeks ago.

Yevrah

09-10-2021, 05:36 PM

Oxford City End of Season 2033/34 Update - Championship

Finances

https://i.postimg.cc/TwtjX6q8/Finances.jpg (https://postimg.cc/62G4dFmz)[/url]

Hopefully what you see above our the last set of finances from the football league, but I imagine staying up is going to be tricky.

The thing that should stick out like a sore thumb there is caused by this:

https://i.postimg.cc/NjtxTp0z/Stadium.jpg (https://banks-nearme.com/arvest-bank-near-me)

Guessing the existing one couldn't be expanded any further, we play at Reading's ground until it's complete.

https://i.postimg.cc/zvmhNGbc/Reading-Move.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

We now have this debt to pay off too.

https://i.postimg.cc/RhfcJHxm/Loans.jpg (https://banks-nearme.com/suntrust-bank-near-me)

Within there was also a little bonus for me!

https://i.postimg.cc/KvPPZB5r/Yev-Bonus.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Looking forward to next season and the money involved is obscene.

https://i.postimg.cc/7ZP2wchw/TV-Money.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Leading to this WARCHEST.

[url=https://postimages.org/]https://i.postimg.cc/qqdNYDWf/Budgets.jpg (https://banks-nearme.com/)

Quick fag packet calc looks like they're being conservative with that given the tv money coming in, but at least I can spend it all safe in the knowledge it won't bankrupt us. I can now offer £76k p/w wages, my highest earner (Hines) is on £15k a week at the moment.

I can finally have a full compliment of backroom staff so key tasks are sorting that and going shopping for a goalkeeper, a quality centre back and a quality midfielder.

Yevrah

09-10-2021, 05:37 PM

Adramelch

09-10-2021, 06:08 PM

Alas, it wasn't meant to be. We drew all three remaining games (including at home against 23rd Stoke) and then lost to Brentford 3-2 in the playoffs. Just one win would have meant second place but our abysmal finishing let us down.

This reputation thing is annoying though. I just told the players that we should be able to avoid getting dragged into a relegation fight (which in itself is preposterous seeing as we've been 20th>11th>5th in our three seasons in this division) and they all got angry as it's apparently unrealistic expectations. Oh and yeah, that minor thing of us losing potential signings to relegation fodder and League One teams.

thommo

09-10-2021, 06:13 PM

Can we get a profile update on Shaun Hines? He must be a club legend or icon at this point. Cracking promotion, I presume 17th is going to be the target any way possible?

Yevrah

09-10-2021, 07:19 PM

Yevrah

09-10-2021, 07:22 PM

Can we get a profile update on Shaun Hines? He must be a club legend or icon at this point. Cracking promotion, I presume 17th is going to be the target any way possible?

He's still only favoured personnel. Only I've managed to become and icon, but no one touches John Woodley.

Here's Hines:

https://i.postimg.cc/ZYyxCCmn/Hines.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Lh21W4nF)

https://i.postimg.cc/rs6WSNTm/Hines-History.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Q9bHD5HG)

He's a legend to me.

And cheers Thommo, just staying up will see me well chuffed.

Adramelch

09-10-2021, 08:07 PM

So I have this young left winger who was so-so for me, valued at 325k and I got two bids that I negotiated up to a total of 7 million. Fucker rejected both contracts. :moop:

As a sidenote, if we had a million for every time we hit the woodwork, we'd have bought Mbappe by now.

Jimmy Floyd

09-10-2021, 08:17 PM

Nothing better than getting people for £170k from Rochdale and them going on to do that.

Giggles

09-10-2021, 08:28 PM

Yev :cool:

Baz

09-10-2021, 10:24 PM

So the new stadium is going to have the same name as the old one? Nobody does indeed touch John Woodley. :cab:

Gray Fox

09-10-2021, 10:30 PM

Yev smashing through the 20 year barrier there. I didn't think it was possible.

I reckon they've gone conservative with the budget as they'll be expecting a struggle to stay up.

igor_balis

09-10-2021, 11:33 PM

Just about to start my first (and almost certainly last) season in the Gambian top flight. We're already 30k in debt and projected to finish the season -100k. :uhoh:

Incredibly, this is based off only spending half of our frankly insane £4600/week wage budget, so I'll just blame the board.

igor_balis

09-10-2021, 11:36 PM

Whenever I have previously attempted journeyman saves, I've gotten too attached and ended up staying with the first team, so this is almost two birds with one stone - the extravagant spending makes the teams really good in the short term, but fucks them up so badly long term that I have no reason to stay.

Gray Fox

10-10-2021, 12:49 AM

Igor Redknapp :cool:

Dquincy

10-10-2021, 07:46 AM

Presuming it doesn't work, but thought I'd post it just in case.

1446897008829247502

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 07:53 AM

I would feel so dirty doing that.

Dquincy

10-10-2021, 08:34 AM

Rest assured that I subsequently read it doesn't actually work.

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 08:50 AM

Not surprised, they'd have patched that in two minutes I'm sure.

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 08:55 AM

I reckon they've gone conservative with the budget as they'll be expecting a struggle to stay up.

They might not be wrong. There are free agents that won't even speak to me and the Costa Rican I had out on loan won't sign a new contract.

Baz

10-10-2021, 11:58 AM

Not surprised, they'd have patched that in two minutes I'm sure.
Not necessarily. There was a game breaking transfer exploit on FM20 that got discovered too late in its life and SI’s response was basically “there will be no more patches. Preorder FM21 here…” and washed their hands of it.

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 11:59 AM

Gotta love SI. :D

Gray Fox

10-10-2021, 12:00 PM

After a transfer was accepted by the AI, you could right click on the figure and change it to whatever you want.

Shindig

10-10-2021, 12:02 PM

You could do that in CM2 with ease.

Adramelch

10-10-2021, 12:03 PM

Yeah, I think if we go up this year, I might be conservative with my spending and play the long game. Build some bank and raise the club's reputation. And if we can actually avoid relegation like that, even better. Yevrah

On a different note, how many back to back goals does SI think happen in real life. Seems to be in one every four games of mine or so that one team scores and then the other one equalises/scores straight from kick-off.

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 12:13 PM

I've nearly finished my summer business and it would have been genuinely hard to spend £80m had the board given it to me, as it is I'm struggling to do the £30m. Most depressing was having a bid accepted on a good midfielder only to see he was more interested in Championship sides than me. I pulled the stops out with the wage offer and he still joined one of them. :moop:

Adramelch

10-10-2021, 12:15 PM

Yes, and often he joins the lower division team as a squad player or something.

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 12:41 PM

Oxford City Season 2034/35 - The PREMIER LEAGUE

To immerse us all in the game World a bit more (and especially me as I've been paying no attention to what's been happening at the top of the game) I thought I'd do a bit of a recap of the last 15 years. For part one, we'll look at the International game.

World Cup

https://i.postimg.cc/bNftbBvf/World-Cup.jpg (https://postimg.cc/PNKJnKZS)

England made one final, but yet to win it (I am shocked). Waistcoat was sacked after the 2021 Euros, having not quite had the luxury draw he did in real life, falling to France in the second round. Sean Dyce then took up the helm, inexplicably lasting for 6 years and 354 days, before handing the baton to Paulo Fonseca and then the current manager Jose Bordalas. It's nice that England haven't won anything yet as it sort of keeps me interested in managing them one day.

England's finest:

https://i.postimg.cc/x8ZwBzpW/England-s-Finest.jpg (https://postimg.cc/rRSZrKkJ)

For those wondering what hosting fun was being had in 2026, it was split between the US, Canada and Mexico. Is that the deal in real life?

Onto the Euros:

https://i.postimg.cc/kXkqD0MW/Euros.jpg (https://postimg.cc/dLmzxSy0)

So Portugal and France the powerhouses of the modern international game. The current 'best player (chosen by value)' from each:

https://i.postimg.cc/fbSHyPLS/Portugal.jpg (https://postimg.cc/67wV1YCB)

https://i.postimg.cc/KY51PG46/France.jpg (https://postimg.cc/xkcjYSv5)

Balloon Door Winners:

https://i.postimg.cc/fThjfLbL/Balloon-Door.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Dai Chao the first newgen to win it.

https://i.postimg.cc/SKwzQT2s/Dai-Chao.jpg (https://postimg.cc/f3fbBvvn)

Offensively good.

Mbappe left PSG on a free and went to Liverpool. He retires at 35 years old tomorrow. Ronaldo and Messi seemed to go quite young too, so I hope they sort that for FM22.

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 12:58 PM

Oxford City Season 2034/35 - The PREMIER LEAGUE

The European Game

https://i.postimg.cc/YS501vxq/CL.jpg (https://postimg.cc/ns1nxc56)

Proof, I think, that the game is in safe hands with UEFA and the closed shop the super league would have brought about has been gladly avoided.

https://i.postimg.cc/GpwnKG6N/Europa.jpg (https://postimg.cc/75VRYGHM)

And that definitely doesn't read like a list of teams who finished third in their Champions League groups.

https://i.postimg.cc/nzSdRtCz/Conference.jpg (https://postimg.cc/TLmq1FjM)

Which ironically leaves it up to a tournament nobody asked for, nor wanted, to actually provide some diversity with its winners.

The Europa Conference League, you are in Oxford City's sights. :cool:

Adramelch

10-10-2021, 01:05 PM

Building on my list of grievances (although that one is just dumb luck and not the game's fault), in the last three years we've had FA cup ties against Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool, and they are all at home. I did manage to draw with Tottenham and we made 2 million from the game at their place, but then my electricity went off and we lost that sweet cash.

The Europa Conference League in my save:

https://i.gyazo.com/ffc421218da54487ab7e718f2955b22e.png

Not as many unexpected winners as yours, but Brest did manage to win it, so there's that.

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 01:23 PM

Oxford City Season 2034/35 - The PREMIER LEAGUE

Domestic Football

https://i.postimg.cc/FFdRTg6F/Premier-League.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Bt346DsR)

Man Utd the team to beat. I was gonna post the cups too, but they've all been won every year by either Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea or Liverpool. bar one year for both where Wolves somehow snuck in.

https://i.postimg.cc/5tVLVKZm/Sponsorship-Income.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Sunderland should really be sacking their commercial director. We're 2,000-1 to win it, not sure what that would make us to stay up.

Oxford City - Summer Business

The (hopefully) magnificent seven brought in to help us avoid the drop.

https://i.postimg.cc/rwJ5NXnt/Martin.jpg (https://postimg.cc/0zz693q8)

Former Southampton man, brought back to England for £5.25m from Vancouver.

https://i.postimg.cc/m2TDNc08/Wesley.jpg (https://postimg.cc/XXD4nvNC)

£6.75m from Bournemouth.

https://i.postimg.cc/T3FfSh48/O-Donnell.jpg (https://postimg.cc/qNsP6BrQ)

Been on loan with us for the last four years. City released him on July 1st and we swooped.

https://i.postimg.cc/KYtSHfTL/Brobbey.jpg (https://postimg.cc/nsVPsv0c)

On loan from newly relegated Villa.

https://i.postimg.cc/j251t4DM/Stewart.jpg (https://postimg.cc/G8WKjYJD)

£7.5m from Brentford. Becomes our record signing.

https://i.postimg.cc/fbfqdrXH/France.jpg (https://postimg.cc/f3kvn58X)

On loan from Man Utd.

https://i.postimg.cc/d0hmsN6k/Derosa.jpg (https://postimg.cc/8FVrwHqN)

£750k from Bournemouth.

Just gotta sort the backroom team and the massacre can begin.

igor_balis

10-10-2021, 04:01 PM

https://i.ibb.co/3vjLMPh/finalleaguegam.png

Pity. Real cunts beat us on pens in the final of last year's cup AND on pens in an early round this year. Oh well, Igor's off before he gets sent to Gambian debtors prison.

https://i.ibb.co/B48TPH3/watang.png

An upper mid table side in the Liberian top division, aim is to stick around a couple of years and try to win the league. 22 game league season is terrific quite frankly.

https://i.ibb.co/1GtXFTS/careernow.png

Sir Andy Mahowry

10-10-2021, 04:12 PM

Immigration FC > Watanga.

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 05:36 PM

Oxford City Season 2034/35 Aug to Oct update - Premier League

AND IT'S LIVE!

https://i.postimg.cc/sxdWkXS6/Fixtures.jpg (https://postimg.cc/G8K9YbXG)

A brilliant start to the season, but one that illustrates how fragile the grip on our stay in this division is. I'm simply not going to take any points from the top 6/8 clubs and will struggle against the next four to six, so it's vital we beat or at least don't lose to the shite. We've done that very well so far with an opening day win over Sunderland followed up with wins over West Brom and Reading.

https://i.postimg.cc/3xV2XnNQ/League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

38 points remains the target. 32% of the way there.

Oh and the money in this league is amazing. We were in the red in July once we finished our spending and we've now got £13m in the bank. :drool:

Sir Andy Mahowry

10-10-2021, 05:37 PM

https://i.imgur.com/P3gJ77v.png

What a comeback :cool:

Panda Bear

10-10-2021, 06:16 PM

You ever accidentally let your Director of Football speak to a player who wants out, knowing that you could persuade them to stay, only to see that the DoF has agreed to sell the player?

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 06:47 PM

No, but this might have been just as traumatic...

https://i.postimg.cc/BQjN98dp/Liverpool.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

:eyemouth:

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 06:49 PM

And we break a 110 year old record.

https://i.postimg.cc/Z5r846j8/Record.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

:cool:

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 07:51 PM

Oxford City Season 2034/35 Mid Season Update - Premier League

https://i.postimg.cc/HLsXCnx3/Results.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

A tough run to say the least, but vital wins against Wolves and Bournemouth (I punched the air for both Corness goals) to keep us 15th.

https://i.postimg.cc/3NnW1CjT/League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Squad morale was damaged by both Grant and Murtagh whinging about inconsequential shit as we headed into December, so they'll both be gone in January. The players will learn, nothing gets in the way of us staying in THE BEST LEAGUE IN THE WORLD.

thommo

10-10-2021, 08:11 PM

Our incredible season continues, and we're even making a visit to Wembley.

https://i.ibb.co/x6f4prD/Final.png

We've had a number of niggly injuries that have kept players out, but the squad depth is noticeably better this season and we've just kept marching on. We just managed to scrape a 3-2 win away at Colchester, courtesy of 89th and 92nd minute goals, to keep our unbeaten streak in the league alive. The title really is ours now, and Championship football awaits.

https://i.ibb.co/HG5NWhf/last-9.png

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 08:16 PM

Cracking stuff thommo. Fancy your chances of winning the cup/staying up?

thommo

10-10-2021, 08:19 PM

We should win the cup, we've beaten Wigan 1-0 and 4-1 so far this season.

To stay up, I'll definitely need a few signings, but the team cohesion and dynamics are all off the charts, so I'll look to keep the old heads on as backup players to keep the harmony rolling. The Greek midfielder has been amazing too, and is now wanted by the majority of the Championship and some of the lower end Premier League teams. Might be a struggle to keep him.

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 08:26 PM

The board have given me a new deal.

https://i.postimg.cc/zGtK8hQv/New-Deal.jpg (https://postimg.cc/68Zyh8tx)

thommo

10-10-2021, 08:29 PM

4 and a half years! That's faith in the manager.

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 08:33 PM

True, but I have been there for 15 now. I'll earn more in a year on that deal than I have in my entire time so far. :D

Baz

10-10-2021, 08:51 PM

I hope you have a son come through soon. Let the Bin-Maan name live on.

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 09:17 PM

A son would be amazing (I've never had that in a game before), but just one usable newgen would do me. Reis Bartlett was the best and he was ultimately rubbish.

Shindig

10-10-2021, 09:25 PM

Yeah, just adopt a regen and nickname them. BinBoy.

Adramelch

10-10-2021, 10:13 PM

https://i.gyazo.com/9e1bcadc17b6e88d333c322dfd705978.png

:jayjay:

While we were 2nd for most of the season, it wasn't as easy as it seems. Just Brighton decided to not go for it by the looks of it, with them getting just 19 points from their last 15 games and then getting trumped by Middlesbrough in the playoffs.

We will be working with similar budgets to Yev:

https://i.gyazo.com/ee0898551408385930b2b67bd54d8528.png

and a new stadium:

https://i.gyazo.com/009dd5c52b7f5b77b781752bbd643e5a.png

Sure, I got them from Conference North to Premier League in 10 years, but they'd rather name it after a defender who (credit to him) played for them for 13 seasons in the Conference. I'm totally not salty about it. :moop:

And now time for a few of our stars:

Jabulani Sithole (GK)

https://i.gyazo.com/78cdc405b00cea2c16f11cc68217c225.png

Picked him up for a measly 400k when Nottm Forest were relegated a couple seasons back and I am pretty sure he will be our first choice goalie for the next few.

Jamie Dunn

https://i.gyazo.com/002c73ad1c919eba41fe8d073842b30e.png

Signed him from Chelsea for 300k last winter and while he initially struggled, he came up big this season with 12 goals and 7 assists in 43 games.

Simeon Barthram

https://i.gyazo.com/5e86006e1e2e17a4622763899c2fcf82.png

The first of a trifecta of loanees that have been with us for the last three seasons. 42 goals and 32 assists in 144 games.

Keith Campbell

https://i.gyazo.com/46bb09b66931cc1ce05c9a90423df96f.png

Had a very average season this time around but was very important the previous two. 35 goals and 21 assists in 127 games.

Darren Tinto

https://i.gyazo.com/72aa5d2d9b45b17c090a8b4777a00af5.png

The man of the hour. 82 goals and 19 assists in 133 games, including an insane 34 and 9 in 44 games this season. He's not considered Premier League standard, but with Fulham being relegated this season I think I'll try and pick him up (for a low price hopefully).

I think my plan for next season will be to not overspend, try to mostly pick freebies and loanees and I won't be very disappointed if we get relegated, as long as we keep it competitive.

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 10:16 PM

Jabulani looks amazing.

Adramelch

10-10-2021, 10:25 PM

The funny thing is that whenever I bought him, we didn't really need a keeper. It was just too good an opportunity to not go for it. And then West Brom came knocking for the one I had signed on a free 6 months earlier and they gave me a combined 6.5m for him (I probably could have gotten even more but I was afraid they would pull out of the deal).

Dquincy

10-10-2021, 10:52 PM

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 11:28 PM

Oxford City Season 2034/35 Jan to Mar Update - Premier League

First some business in January. In came:

https://i.postimg.cc/YCx0HLdV/Humeljak.jpg (https://postimg.cc/v4cb7TFL)

£800k from Dinamo. No work permit, so straight out on loan.

https://i.postimg.cc/MKM1q5BL/Chavez.jpg (https://postimg.cc/kBC2yxfN)

And this chap, who might turn out to be the best or worst bit of business I've done. Man Utd and PSG were sniffing around him at the same time our £600k bid was accepted by Leon. The kid then wanted £25k p/w, which both horrified me and intrigued me in equal measure. Is he a complete chancer or really that good? Further down his list of contract demands was a minimum fee release clause, normally they're set fairly low and the type of kid who'll join Oxford City can easily be persuaded to remove them, normally. His was hard coded and set to a mind boggling £78m and to clubs in a continental competition (the first player to ask that of me). Thinking I wouldn't get him anyway as some big boys were after him and even if I did how would he get a work permit, I perhaps foolishly (or brilliantly) offered him £40k p/w. The first of two surprises happened when that was enough to seal the deal and the second was that he only went a got a bloody work permit too (confusing me even more as to how those actually work).

The shithouses mentioned earlier also left the club.

https://i.postimg.cc/sXHK0XFG/Fixtures.jpg (https://postimg.cc/LYfzJm8m)

Grim stuff this, punctuated by a cracking win over Newcastle.

https://i.postimg.cc/fWXBvM2y/League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Tight and nerve wracking as fuck. Our final 8 games:

https://i.postimg.cc/R0kw3HzR/Fixtures.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

I think I'd give up an organ for a win over Fulham.

Yevrah

10-10-2021, 11:33 PM

Oh and we now have £40m in the bank, having trousered £77.7m of TV money so far this season.

https://i.postimg.cc/MZPKd8nk/Balance.jpg (https://postimg.cc/4ncgxqvw)

Utterly nuts.

Smjffy

11-10-2021, 01:01 AM

Wrexham Football Club - 2033/2034

Season Summary

The summer turned out to be much busier than expected as over £200M worth of talent was let go with the likes of Peter Blackwell joining West Ham, former number one Gary Bevan joining Championship leaders Aston Villa, Danny Evans making a big money move to Man City, an £85M bid couldn't be rejected given our latest tactical switch meant he'd be a bit part for a while..

Neil Gibbon and Jon Saunders both left to Newcastle and Crystal Palace.

After our Europa League win last season we would get the opportunity to square off once more against Arsenal albeit this time in the Super Cup. Arsenal beat us in the Europa League final the year before we landed it but on this occasions, we were far too much and a nice early piece of silverware added to our small collection.

https://i.imgur.com/PHrY47k.png

Seeing Parker, Blake and Cummings all on the scoresheet too was pleasing as our formation change was made deliberately so all three strikers could always start. It came at the cost of our wingers receiving much less game time all season but it was a vindicated decision in the end.

EFL Cup

After reaching the final last season, I felt we had a shot but that was quickly put to bed as Man City knocked us out. Parkers late goal didn't even spark a late onslaught.

https://i.imgur.com/BAk647t.png

FA Cup

We didn't fare much better here either as Watford sent 1,110 away fans back to North Wales knowing that there would be no domestic cup success this season.

Champions League

Winning the Europa guaranteed the club entry into the group stage, a group that contained Bayern Munich, Levante and Benfica. It was the Germans we would face first and we looked to be stealing a point until Andy Appleyard-Clamp scored from the spot with five minutes remaining sending us home empty handed. Levante and Benfica both arrived next to The Racecourse, the Spanish side swiftly put aside by 4 goals to nil whilst a stoppage time winner from hattrick hero Craig Cummings saw us come from 2-0 down to win 3-2 against Benfica A draw against the Portuguese followed in the return fixture leaving us top of the group after Bayern's surprise defeat and with just two games remaining, qualification was firmly in our hands. We thought we'd done it when Brett Parker bundled what looked to be the winner over the line with barely two minutes to go. Impressive not just because it was Bayern but because we'd played the entire second half with ten men. Sadly, football stops for no one, David Morris (92") and Kevin Bohm (95") snatched all three points from us. Victory in the final match against Levante would still do but alas, it never happened either. In fact, we lost 1-0 and finished bottom.

https://i.imgur.com/A1QXEhp.png

But would we be returning to Europe's top competition any time soon?

League

Since reaching the top flight in 2027/28, the club had finished 15, 14th, 9th, 4th, 6th and 5th so it was hoped we'd do one better this time round, a year wiser, the players a year older, physically, mentally. We knew before a ball had been kicked that if we could get a decent result on the opening game of the season at Old Trafford and against Everton thereafter, we had a rather favourable looking fixture list to get some point down early doors but taking maximum points was way more than we expected as we beat Man United 4-2 and Everton 3-2. A 5-2 win away to Burnley followed, Alec Blake grabbing three and his strike partners Cummings and Parker continuing to mesh well as a trio. A slight slip up against Brentford (0-0 against the team who ended up finishing bottom) reeled us in a little but we responded with five successive wins against Brighton (3-2), Bristol City (3-2), Newcastle (6-1), Sheffield (2-0) and Leeds United (3-1). It wasn't until travelling to London to face Arsenal once again that we suffered our first league defeat of the season but sat on top of the pile and we had done since our victory over Newcastle which was September 25th.

No one expected us to stay there. Rivals. Fans. Players. Myself. I anticipated the inevitable slump, the run of defeats, the usual but it just didn't occur and each title challenger started to fade away expected Man United. The Red Devils were busy playing catch up fixtures wise but still, we were little Wrexham, we'd buckle like the bottlers I accused us of being not twelve months ago.

https://i.imgur.com/mZ1mnBK.png

Eight points is all well and good, better to have them on the board but in my mind, it was five. Five points.

We were just relentless though. Cup disappointments aside, we were either a long term fluke this season or the kids really came of age.

https://i.imgur.com/nei3Zhr.png

No matter what happens. I'm proud. At least that is what I told my entire squad of homegrown players. I imagined we would take it to the final day but as was the case with so many things this season, I was wrong again because Man United slipped up on match day 37 by drawing meaning we could seal the league with a victory later in the day against West Ham.

We did.

We actually did. We won.

The Match.

The League.

Madness. Perhaps if the fixtures were less favourable, perhaps if Man United had points instead of games in hand we would have felt the pressure more, who knows but one thing I/we do know is, Wrexham are the English Premier League Champions!

https://i.imgur.com/w7yTEzu.png

Player Analysis

Craig Cummings

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

There were rumours during the summer that he would seek a new challenge after being forced out of the starting eleven for the first time at the back end of last season but a tactical rejig meant he returned as an automatic starter this time round and it paid dividends as he ended the campaign as the clubs top goal scorer with 40 in 47. Such form helped him win back the Welsh Footballer of the Year Award too after losing it to team mate Brett Parker.

Talking of whom..

Brett Parker

29 goals in 48 was less than last season but he's got a slightly altered position. He's probably the best we have at this stage but it didn't make it any easier finally buckling to his massive contract demands. £300,000 a week! Thankfully we have plenty but that's besides the point. Another good campaign though.

Alec Blake had his most eye catching to date grabbing 27 in 40. Bit part player and rarely used Lewys Jones somehow helped himself to 16 in 13(12) .

Just really really unexpected.

Now to push on. Again, the YDWAWK ends if/when we finally get taken over but it rarely ever seems to happen.

Manager Stats

Time at Club - 5057 days
Players Sold - 32
Total - £446M

Games Played - 773
Games Won - 422
Games Drawn - 144
Games Lost - 207
For - 1,675
Against - 1,085
Win Percentage - 54%

6 Cup Wins
3 League Wins
4 League Promotions

Adramelch

11-10-2021, 01:14 AM

Just realised that Solskjaer is still managing Man Utd in my save. One league title and 3 FA cups in 10+ seasons. Huge success.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 10:26 AM

He's still managing Man Utd in mine too and Lewis may want to look away here...

https://i.postimg.cc/jj3SBxmV/HoF.jpg (https://postimg.cc/QB5DT3jS)

4th most successful manager of all-time. :cool:

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 10:51 AM

Oxford City End of Season 2034/35 Update - Premier League

We did indeed beat Fulham, but then in an admitted tough run of fixtures, hit a wall.

https://i.postimg.cc/k5WC9Wjd/Fixtures.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Which left the final day looking like this:

https://i.postimg.cc/N063ZBMs/Final-Day.jpg (https://postimg.cc/d70NyMrp)

If we beat Bournemouth away it wouldn't matter what happened in the 16:30 kick off (witafbtw) between Reading and Derby, if we didn't a Reading win would send us down.

https://i.postimg.cc/5tyPSJCK/Relegated.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

We lost 4-2 and then I had to wait in agonizing fashion to see that Reading had won 2-0. We are down, in 18th place. :moop:

Onto the finances, with a comparison to our very first season.

https://i.postimg.cc/t4K5W69J/Finances.jpg (https://postimg.cc/SnGCpJ2b)

That tv money. :drool: Closing the season out we had over £60m in the bank.

SvN

11-10-2021, 10:58 AM

You'll come straight back up, at least. Gutting to lose it on the last day.

As ridiculous as this question might be - any danger at all of the sack?

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 11:02 AM

Yeah, I hope I'll come straight back up, we should be pretty well set for it with two shit teams going down with us and Villa and Palace coming back up the other way. Due to the way the funding works we should have an obscene WARCHEST if we do come back at the first attempt.

The board seem fine, so it's looking ok on that score and while some of the players won't sign new deals they're not agitating for moves (bar one, who I'll detail in the next update).

Baz

11-10-2021, 11:04 AM

lol GET DOWN

Well done on not save scumming

SvN

11-10-2021, 11:11 AM

I once had a game crash after losing a cup final. I relaunched the game again and won it, and it felt so dirty, so I closed it and lost on purpose.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 11:18 AM

Yeah, it just feels so dirty if that happens.

Which makes me realise, kudos to SI for the stability of this version, I haven't had one crash in 16 seasons and that's on a shite laptop too.

niko_cee

11-10-2021, 11:28 AM

Ah, unlucky Yev, although staying up with 30 points would have been a bit of a miracle, maybe so eve for 33. No harm in getting some sweet sweet parachute payments.

What's the deal with some of those club badges? Chelsea and Everton appear to be the wrong way round, although Everton's actually looks more like Leeds and Chelsea's god knows what.

Manc

11-10-2021, 11:41 AM

Loving the realism of Oxfords climb. What's the strategy for the summer window? Are you going to try and secure Premier League ready talent or invest in youth?

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 11:58 AM

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 12:01 PM

Loving the realism of Oxfords climb. What's the strategy for the summer window? Are you going to try and secure Premier League ready talent or invest in youth?

It's got to be youth this season as for the most part Premier League ready talent still won't join our club and its 3 star reputation (which we pleasingly held onto after relegation). If I do go back up and have £60m or so to spend on players I might try and get a couple of heavy hitters then.

Adramelch

11-10-2021, 12:50 PM

I am still very early in the season, but I think I'll be following you down to the Championship Yev. I am fairly happy with the squad I have assembled but it feels like we are significantly weaker than everybody else. Still though, you will be in the Championship with a much stronger squad than last time around so it should be fairly easy to get back up.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 01:03 PM

Where are you lacking most do you reckon?

For me it was centre backs, almost impossible to attract genuine Premier League quality ones and without which you just get torn a new one by the Premier League calibre forwards.

Adramelch

11-10-2021, 01:28 PM

It's the defence for sure. Centre backs and left back. 7 games in and we've scored 11 which I am very pleased with, but we've also conceded 15. We could have very easily conceded more than 20 though.

I got some prime attackers and midfielders by scouring the Balkans and Latin America, but didn't have any luck with defenders. I found some good ones but their clubs wouldn't sell.

Here's the cream of the crop:

https://i.gyazo.com/fd14786d58768715f74e147690867b56.png

Picked him up on a free the previous winter.

https://i.gyazo.com/f9d446d9f730f1b57123c5986d3dc702.png

Kind of a last minute signing cause we had no other competent right winger. Cost around 5 million but he's so young, I will at least make great profit even if he doesn't deliver.

https://i.gyazo.com/8d481419badab3e6314349b032c863a8.png

Steal of the century. 700k is all he cost and asked for very low wages comparatively.

https://i.gyazo.com/b65d533909423b99d62530cc3d348df3.png

Saving the best for last. We had to fork out a bit more than 10 million for him but he's the only player in the club that's genuinely Premier League standard.

Adramelch

11-10-2021, 03:55 PM

And this is us at the half-way point:

https://i.gyazo.com/88727b6e7027838489cfffe2e54a501b.png

Things are looking a lot better now, courtesy of us getting a good run in December with 8 points in 4 games. Our home record is abysmal with just 6 points in 9 games, but we've won 4 in 10 on the road which made up for it. Defence is definitely our weak point, with 45 goals conceded, which is joint bottom, tied with Cardiff. The one saving grace being that 29 of those goals have been against the big 7. I have arranged a good left back to join us in January but I doubt it will make things much better.

Jimmy Floyd

11-10-2021, 03:59 PM

I always find that once you hit the elite centre forwards (say, those with 16+ in the key stats) they will just smash goals in with ease, usually in the first 20 minutes of games, unless you have elite defenders to counteract them. It's been that way for quite a few years.

The only way the game stops them scoring 100 a season is via the curse of shit finishing. It's impossible to defend as a team in the way real life sides might.

Adramelch

11-10-2021, 04:08 PM

It's even more infuriating that a lot of the goals seem to come from the edge of the box from players that are surrounded by defenders. And while it's okay when it happens with the Haalands of the world, it seems to happen way too often for my liking.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 04:23 PM

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 04:25 PM

And cracking stuff Adra, looking pretty positive there. We conceded 98 goals in our debut season, so it looks like you're headed to improve on that. :D

How are you finding work permits btw? I'm starting to suspect the more wages I offer a player the more likely they are to get one.

Adramelch

11-10-2021, 04:30 PM

Yeah I haven't had many issues with work permits this season. Even players from the backwaters of South America seem to get them easily.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 04:50 PM

Oxford City Summer Update 2035/36 Season - Championship

God it hurt typing that last word. Anyway, gonna do this piecemeal as there's a shit ton to get through in what I think has been our best off season yet. Starting with finances, some exciting things happened in mid June.

Firstly our three star reputation led to some new sponsorship deals being done:

https://i.postimg.cc/fyKTG680/Sponsorship.jpg (https://postimg.cc/RJWBfb5M)[/url]

Bringing £14m into the coffers and up from £1m the previous year.

Then the parachute arrived:

https://i.postimg.cc/BvXLxQM7/Parachute.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Unlike the tv money in the premier league you get this in one lump sum and we were now sporting a bank balance of over one hundred and ten million quid. Our wages would go on to rise a bit but they're still under £500k a week, so the £25m per annum cost there would take a while to touch the sides. Safe in the knowledge of financial security for at least three seasons, I peppered the board with requests to get the Oxford City structure up to snuff.

And one after the other, they accepted...

https://i.postimg.cc/7ZXt5XWM/Training-Facilities.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/Wpr9Gsy4/Youth-Facilities.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/xdc5cQHn/Academy-Coaching.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/QCrJ4Wzd/Youth-Level-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

In addition, the John Woodley II Stadium completed:

https://i.postimg.cc/cC96KpfG/Stadium-Move.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Which took our facilities to a frankly outrageous level:

[url=https://postimages.org/]https://i.postimg.cc/T2LPQ4j1/Facilities.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

The board have just recently agreed to this as well.

https://i.postimg.cc/QtBj4FTw/Youth-Facilities-NEW.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

So I think that's just one more training ground upgrade to go and maybe a bit more on the Youth/Junior side and we're perfect. After that it's just the stadium, which I did ask to expand (about a month after they'd finished building it) but they weren't having it.

Still, excellent progress.

Adramelch

11-10-2021, 04:55 PM

Yeah I've been pestering our board for facility upgrades every chance I get too. Helps with increase the club's reputation too which is a nice extra benefit. If I am to join you in the Championship, I am thinking of just sticking to the squad I have now (bargains excluded) and go all out in the season after.

https://i.gyazo.com/c71cc2bebdb3403a8591b57b5f3a0d6f.png

Game sort of sums up our season so far. We could have easily been 2-3 goals up before the scored their first (from a long shot of course). If this happens against City or someone, I'd be fine, but it's Aston fucking Villa. Just have us lose 1-0 or 3-2 or something and I'd be fine, but now we take a hit on morale for no reason.

Smjffy

11-10-2021, 05:00 PM

:drool:

Chaps.

You couldn't have written the script if you tried. We made it out of the group stage for the first time and...

https://i.imgur.com/A5OiVd1.png

Just how many column inches would have been devoted to Wrexham, a Welsh club plying their trade in England, rising from the National League to the Premier League using only players that had come through the academy, no new arrivals not already ad the club, not a penny spent on transfer fees and only £4.8M paid to agents in nearly 15 years and yet here they are as champions of England ((technically, we still were at least) ready to take on Manchester United in the Champions League final, at the Welsh national ground, the Millenium Stadium in a bid to become Champions of Europe whilst fielding an entire team of Welshmen with seven of the starting eleven being local lads from the area. Even former servants to the nation like Sam Vokes, James Collins and record holding Ben Davies played their part as long term members of the backroom staff.

It's the only game we have left to play so proper update coming shortly but I can't bring myself to press continue at the moment. It's too poetic.

We have now won everything bar the FIFA Club World Cup which we feature in for the first time in December 3037 and the FA Cup has remained out of reach thus far along with the prestigious Community Shield, the season opener merely adds to the above as it was Manchester United that we kick started the current season against, losing 4-3 at Wembley in the early season showpiece.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 05:01 PM

Humping the fuck out of the xg only to lose or draw against someone shit 1-1 at home has been my 'favourite' part of this whole journey.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 05:03 PM

Cracking stuff there Smiff. I'm genuinely having dreams about the Champions League now.

niko_cee

11-10-2021, 05:43 PM

How are you finding work permits btw? I'm starting to suspect the more wages I offer a player the more likely they are to get one.

Isn't this how it works 'IRL' now?

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 05:44 PM

Isn't this how it works 'IRL' now?

Is it? Haven't heard that much noise about it yet.

niko_cee

11-10-2021, 05:46 PM

I think they changed it so the bigger clubs could just chuck wages at someone without the necessary caps etc and they could get one.

It always was a bit of a bizarre system.

I'm sure under the old system Michael Essien was touch and go as to whether he could get one when he went to Chelsea because Ghana were so shit at the time (in terms of rankings at least).

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 05:57 PM

Oxford City Summer Update 2035/36 Season - Championship

Onto the player movements. This was our best 11 in the Premier League.

https://i.postimg.cc/159VMZBS/Line-Up.png (https://postimg.cc/XXzv7mt1)

Hines and Valpoort the star performers so I'd love to keep hold of them both, a decent bid received for anyone else wouldn't bother me too much, albeit we have a few relegation release clauses that could be an issue.

Players Out

https://i.postimg.cc/9FFzZYXF/Hamblin.jpg (https://postimg.cc/vDkQd96p)[/url]

Hamblin was the first to exercise such a clause as he moved to Premier League Palace for £14.75m. Annoyingly he also trousered half of that himself.

Valpoort then signed a new deal that got rid of his clause, which just left Derosa who followed suit the week after. A few other players on the periphery left, before the motherload happened.

https://i.postimg.cc/KcTCf6z0/Segura.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/bYLk7Jsr/Segura-Profile.jpg (https://postimg.cc/xqJXH9GV)

Clearly a fantastic player, but try as I might I couldn't get a work permit for him and as he only had a year left on his deal I had to tout him for sale. Selling him to a future relegation rival might prove to be a mistake, but the 50% of profit from next sale could well make up for that.

And finally this chap, who became a fan favourite at the club, holds our record for league appearances with 462 and played in every division with us bar tier 6.

https://i.postimg.cc/ZqpvqYHG/Lo-Tutala-Profile.jpg (https://poemsonly.com/poem/1208)

https://i.postimg.cc/fTy39f5j/Lo-Lutata.jpg (https://postimg.cc/WhRbRrBh)

Shame his only Premier League game was that one against Liverpool. Just checked and he's since found a home for himself at League Two Wrexham.

Players In

We set up deals for a shit load of youngsters, including raiding PSG's youth squad three times, but in terms of first team squad INS, you're looking at the following:

https://i.postimg.cc/HnJM00HN/Kolar.jpg (https://postimg.cc/0KsrPwzG)

Not a new signing, but bought three years ago and he's been out on loan since. Finally got a work permit for him and he's absolute mustard.

https://i.postimg.cc/GhFFXQv0/Archbold.jpg (https://postimg.cc/RN0JFwPG)

Former Man City Man who can basically play anywhere on the right side of the pitch. Picked up on a free, albeit we did give him a £350k loyalty bonus to seal the deal.

https://i.postimg.cc/4NWd4Hg7/Felipe.jpg (https://postimg.cc/KRgFJz4x)

Former Atleti' player who also joined on a free. £450k on the loyalty bonus for this one.

[url=https://postimg.cc/XBfLYdQn]https://i.postimg.cc/kGZpwySR/Demane.jpg (https://poemsonly.com/category/sad)

£9.5m from Bristol City, becomes our record signing.

https://i.postimg.cc/HxnzKydw/Forrester.jpg (https://postimg.cc/DJV14mW0)

£550k from Bradford. Brought in for backup reasons really. I'll do a separate post for the kids as it'll be facking huge. Oh and Brobbey and France came back on loan as well.

Danny

11-10-2021, 06:25 PM

Is it? Haven't heard that much noise about it yet.

I think they changed it so the bigger clubs could just chuck wages at someone without the necessary caps etc and they could get one.

It always was a bit of a bizarre system.

I'm sure under the old system Michael Essien was touch and go as to whether he could get one when he went to Chelsea because Ghana were so shit at the time (in terms of rankings at least).

https://worldfootballindex.com/2020/12/work-permits-premier-league-post-brexit-english-clubs-efl-libertadores/

The rules are nuts but it does lend itself to Adra being able to snap up South Americans.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 06:46 PM

Cheers Danny. You still/ever play FM?

Adramelch

11-10-2021, 07:39 PM

Well that was miserable.

https://i.gyazo.com/93b6dd53cf99a5c2ba9bec9e05679456.png

Apparently you don't deserve to stay in the division if you only get 1 point in 13 games:

https://i.gyazo.com/3e11c5ebaabc531fdc5c080145d89aba.png

What's most infuriating is how close most of those games were and in fact we took the lead in half of them and then just squandered it away. It looked like we would make it at some point, but I guess it was a big ask to begin with.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 07:51 PM

Tough break Adra, the squandering leads thing rings so true. Board take it ok?

Adramelch

11-10-2021, 08:02 PM

Yeah, they are still in a "pleased" status. I've been considered a Legend at the club every since we reached the Championship or so, so it'd be a bit out of left field if they got rid of me now.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 08:06 PM

Oxford City Summer Update 2035/36 Season - Championship

Youth signings

Some joined now that had been queued up previously and some (actually many) were arranged for a later date. Those who joined the club in the window are:

https://i.postimg.cc/L5B2QTLX/4m-from-Blackburn.jpg (https://postimg.cc/wRvC7DW8)

£4m from Blackburn. On loan now, but injuries mean I could actually do with him back. Forgot to put an option to recall in the deal though. :cab:

https://i.postimg.cc/d0kvcvrg/750k-from-Red-Star.jpg (https://postimg.cc/wtpnDCWk)

£750k from Red Star. No Work Permit, so off he trots.

https://i.postimg.cc/gJb99hY6/Free-Transfer.jpg (https://postimg.cc/8F4XMjf1)[/url]

No work permit and looks more than a bit suspect physically, but I need to take a chance on youth, centre backs especially.

Future Ins

Some of these were queued up before, but most done after we were relegated:

[url=https://postimages.org/]https://i.postimg.cc/m2tmwD4x/Future-Youth.jpg (https://keyboardtester.co/keyboard-tester)

https://i.postimg.cc/jSjnNwYN/2.jpg (https://postimg.cc/QHRMZMtx)

Into Jan 2036 now and this one has just joined.

https://i.postimg.cc/j2JJDBp1/1.jpg (https://postimg.cc/4Hs3M2Nv)

https://i.postimg.cc/mD4bYJ1q/3.jpg (https://postimg.cc/yJf4BfPX)

https://i.postimg.cc/MHF2FFXz/4.jpg (https://postimg.cc/LgLbqvzW)

https://i.postimg.cc/HscfL3V7/5.jpg (https://postimg.cc/WhV9WGm2)

https://i.postimg.cc/XY6DYbRT/6.jpg (https://postimg.cc/PPKMSBr4)

https://i.postimg.cc/ThMQ1V4r/7.jpg (https://postimg.cc/GTKvSyr2)

https://i.postimg.cc/zvW6xGmF/8.jpg (https://postimg.cc/XBjsJ3Yr)

https://i.postimg.cc/SxV5TPP3/9.jpg (https://postimg.cc/v4g3D0bt)

https://i.postimg.cc/T2msM1Sr/10.jpg (https://postimg.cc/dDs6GsJ1)

https://i.postimg.cc/T3k7qDLX/11.jpg (https://postimg.cc/zygFq3Fd)

Quite hopeful on a fair few of those.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 08:15 PM

Oxford City Mid-Season Update 2035/36 Season - Championship

And to get us bang up to date, our first half season back in the Championship.

Firstly, more upgrade news:

https://i.postimg.cc/kGpGvwmb/Training-Facilities.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/FFdY95gb/Fixtures-1.jpg (https://postimg.cc/3Wh8BqqW)

https://i.postimg.cc/Wzgp0VXQ/Fixtures-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

A bit of a dodgy start but we then hit our stride. We really should be top and both finished and started the year in incredibly frustrating fashion drawing 1-1 (always 1-1) against some relegation fodder, so instead we sit 2nd.

https://i.postimg.cc/Y9gBs3YF/League.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

The further good news here is that Huddersfield haven't been in the Premier League before so if one or even two of the teams going up (hopefully with me) are in that boat it'd be fantastic. I still have £100m in the bank so lord only knows what budget I'd get while they're falling victim to the prudent approach of understandably cautious chairman.

Adramelch

11-10-2021, 08:24 PM

That Belgian wing back looks sick.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 08:26 PM

That Belgian wing back looks sick.

Yeah, I have particularly high hopes for him, the Serb midfielder and the Polish striker.

This window is a nightmare so far, I'm having to fend off bids from lower half Premier League teams and Chinese clubs at every click of continue.

Adramelch

11-10-2021, 08:28 PM

I just noticed that our reputation took a nosedive again. We were below 7-8 championship clubs a couple months back and now we're below most of them. Pretty infuriating that.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 08:31 PM

Did you go from three stars to two and a half when you went down? Mine did temporarily but then I went back up to three again shortly after.

Adramelch

11-10-2021, 08:32 PM

Nah, still at 3, just fell below other 3-star ones. I wonder how big a difference winning the Championships would make, versus just getting promoted.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 08:34 PM

Just checked and I'm behind almost all of the teams in the Championship on the list and even a team in League One (Norwich). :moop:

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 08:51 PM

Not even half way through January yet.

https://i.postimg.cc/xd7cHnKP/Unhappy.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

All shocking bids as well.

thommo

11-10-2021, 09:01 PM

Shame about that relegation Yev. Going to be all the better when you do reach the top though. Has Hines kicked up a fuss at all?

+1 for the Belgian wing back looking insane. He will be some player. I also like the look of the Russian full back - he looks like he could be retrained into a more attacking position easily.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 09:03 PM

Hines has been a legend. Not a peep and Watford just came in for him with a £22m bid and he didn't even want to talk to them. :cool:

Danny

11-10-2021, 09:34 PM

Cheers Danny. You still/ever play FM?

I buy it every year, play it for a few month and then sack it off.

This thread picking up its pace has had me want to fire it up again though. I am figuring I can save that energy for 22 though.

Adramelch

11-10-2021, 09:48 PM

What's your media prediction out of curiosity Yev? Ours is 11th.

Sir Andy Mahowry

11-10-2021, 09:55 PM

Marseille 2045/46 Season Update:

Transfers Out:

https://i.imgur.com/2Bpq4pc.png

Harry White and Bittner were the only starters for me but I tried to sell White last year so he was always going. Bittner went in January as my youth RB Ammerpohl was looking almost as good as him and I couldn't refuse £60m plus 50% next sale.

Transfers In:

https://i.imgur.com/iIbGt2e.png

https://i.imgur.com/96ADlt0.png

I didn't really need a keeper but I couldn't say no to a cheap French lad.

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

He was a starter for me for a while and he was doing fairly well but then he damaged his spine and was out for a good few months so didn't get too much action after.

https://i.imgur.com/h5NMHPK.png

I'm not too sure on this lad but he was cheap and my scouts love him. I doubt he'll ever really get game time for me so he's been bought to sell on.

https://i.imgur.com/iW27pKp.png

I think he looks class and wasn't too much money. Had a stint where he got quite a few starts and he did well too.

https://i.imgur.com/BGPd5qU.png

He doesn't suit my system but he was damn cheap and I do quite like giants.

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

Speaking of giants. I bought him to United for £40m and I decided to bring him with me to France when Harry White sold. It's a bit on the high side but I like height in the centre of midfield and he brings a lot of that as well being pretty well rounded.

https://i.imgur.com/mm23BC5.png

I had this guy on a shortlist for a while but never ended up buying him as I'd have other options or his club was asking too much. I got a notification that his contract was expiring so I got him to sign and then asked his club if we could sign him now. I'm glad I did as my strikers had turned a bit shy and he came in and just starting firing. 20 goals and 3 assists in 21(3) matches with 16 of those goals coming in 14 league appearances. He'd have played in more but he got injured for the final few weeks.

https://i.imgur.com/3O2J1WV.png

Tried to sign him twice before and he stayed at his club both those times. I needed a backup LM so I went back in for a third time and he accepted finally. He was called upon a lot more than I thought due to injuries and he was great.

https://i.imgur.com/43igtjN.png

I tried to sign him but another club (Cremonese) came in and he accepted their loan offer. I went back in and gave him the exact same offer and he was at my club a few days later. Strange but oh well. He's going to be a God tier finisher.

League:

https://i.imgur.com/cU3EgSO.png

https://i.imgur.com/p7u3eMU.png
https://i.imgur.com/NacSvso.png

We struggled a bit at times early but we led the league for most of the season, I was sure Lyon would catch us at one point but they were unable to do so.

Cup:

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

The last two games were tough. In the semi-final we scored an equaliser to make it 4-4 in the 88th minute and then had our RM sent off just before full time. They then scored a fifth fairly early in extra time but thankfully Zucco and Leask scored a goal each in the final 5 minutes. In the final we were just fucked, so many injuries or players who were unfit so we huffed and puffed but thankfully we got it done.

Europe:

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

We went through as group winners by head to head over Hertha and then we smacked Palermo but Man City were sadly just too much for us. We were doing well in the first leg but they scored two goals just after half time and it seemed to take the energy out of us.

https://i.imgur.com/2Guz4H3.png

Still can't win the damn thing.

Squad:

https://i.imgur.com/LQcIJ1z.png
https://i.imgur.com/VXKRKTP.png

Leask was a great addition and Perkins runs the team. I think the team is lacking depth in full backs but other than that I'm happy right now, I'm going to stay here for a while and I'm looking forward to seeing these players kick on.

Here are some select few btw:

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

The pre-concern is concerning because he's looking like a star already. He's willing to listen to a contract but I don't want to give him one yet as he's got 4 years left already so I'd just be giving him a fat pay raise.

https://i.imgur.com/G30PAm6.png

I almost didn't buy him but decided to go for him after some injuries a few years ago and he's kicked on nicely. He rarely has a bad game no matter who is next to him.

https://i.imgur.com/K0UrRk1.png

I bought him when I was at Leverkusen and they gave up on him which was great for us. He can sometimes go missing which is a shame but when he's on it he's brilliant.

https://i.imgur.com/uem2c0a.png

The head is almost as big as his potential.

Shindig

11-10-2021, 09:56 PM

So when he peaks his head will be normal size?

Sir Andy Mahowry

11-10-2021, 10:04 PM

I think it's just going to keep rising and then stop when he manages to peak.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 10:08 PM

What's your media prediction out of curiosity Yev? Ours is 11th.

14th. My board expected mid table too.

Sir Andy Mahowry

11-10-2021, 10:28 PM

https://i.imgur.com/vsSaE2r.png

I think I'm going to have to buy him and not just because of the name and the fact that he looks about 40.

thommo

11-10-2021, 10:30 PM

Wembley outing number 2 for Slough Town...

https://i.ibb.co/Mc3xvMN/EFL-trophy.png

:rave:

When Molumby was sent off I feared the worst but they only threatened late on. I did worry when 5 mins of added time were played and there were about 3 highlights back-to-back but we held them out.

Unfortunately I lost in the league the game before which ended my 22 game unbeaten streak dating back to October. We're only 1 win away now from securing promotion to the Championship.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 10:51 PM

Great work thommo! My solitary trophy remains the Vanarama South.

thommo

11-10-2021, 11:08 PM

Cheers! Not a trophy I marked as important but once we'd got through to the latter rounds, the chance of silverware suddenly became real.

We've very quickly made it a double, despite a draw with Leyton Orient in the next game - champions of League 1 with 5 games to spare! And the board have already outlined our initial budgets for the Championship...

https://i.ibb.co/T8Tn8C9/27-28-budget.png

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 11:17 PM

https://i.postimg.cc/nhHW9wfd/Fixtures-3.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

A cracking run that saw us unbeaten for nearly two months in the league has put us on the brink.

https://i.postimg.cc/7YNs4MJS/League.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

thommo

11-10-2021, 11:18 PM

18 in 17 for Hines there. :drool: What a man.

Yevrah

11-10-2021, 11:59 PM

And we're back.

https://i.postimg.cc/kgYDkznz/Promotion.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

:cool:

SvN

12-10-2021, 10:50 AM

The board and media expectations are always so much lower than they should be when you climb through the ranks like that. Which is a nice bonus I guess as it takes the pressure off a bit, but it feels like a bug rather than a feature.

Congrats on the instant bounce back. I reckon you'll be top half next season.

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 10:55 AM

I think on the way up it's been fine, but getting relegated and finishing mid-table in the Championship would have been an absolute joke with all that cash flying about.

And I hope so. Not finished the summer business yet, but I think we've already got a better squad than we had at the first attempt. The field might be slightly stronger though. I feel if we manage to stay up once, that'll be it and we'll be an established (albeit at the low end) Premier League side.

Adramelch

12-10-2021, 02:13 PM

It's all connected to the club reputation that has been slow to update for quite some time now. And while it does create lower expectations which takes the pressure off, it's also what keeps you from signing players that match the level you're playing at.

I think I'll spend big on central defenders when we inevitably go back up Yev. The rest of the squad felt decently good (and I've kept all of them), but the defenders definitely let us down. I might also have to do some tweaks to tactics, as we concede quite a few in " one striker vs two defenders" scenarios. Often the one defender will push forward to mark the solitary striker, miss his interception and then the other defender seems to always be just a bit too far to catch-up to the attacker. Defenders with great positioning should alleviate the problem, but I am not sure I'll have many options there.

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 02:22 PM

Indeed. They're like bloody gold dust. I went big on young centre backs in the last summer window in the hope of one of them developing into a top half Premier League player in due course and I'll be doing it again if I can find any this window. The number of defenders with 15 for Tackling, Heading, Marking, Strength, Anticipation and Positioning is pitifully small. Even worse if you try and add decent pace and acceleration into the mix.

On the flip side, fast and composed strikers, who can dribble, seem ten a penny.

Adramelch

12-10-2021, 02:34 PM

You know what's even more elusive than good centre backs? Players that can score penalties. Now that's like looking for a needle in the haystack.

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 02:37 PM

I would say you need a Shaun Hines, but while he's still a legend I think he only has a 12 rating for penalties and he has missed a few.

Adramelch

12-10-2021, 02:43 PM

I had a midfielder back in League 1/2 who scored something like 12 out of 13 over two seasons and then proceeded to score 1 in 7 the season after. That said, the opposition seems to miss just as many penalties and courtesy of our shitty defenders, we give away more penalties than we get, so the shitty penalty taking kinda works in our favor. On that topic, a good set-piece specialist is also a thing I will be out for. I ran a fairly bad player that was good at taking corners in our first few seasons in the championship and he got a good 15+ assists per season.

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 02:48 PM

Another thing I need is a proper leader. Shaun Hines is my captain now, but he doesn't particularly have the stats for it.

I also need more English players. We're ok for now, but with a 17 foreigner limit I could see us being a bit screwed in a couple or few seasons. My supposedly Level 1/Exceptional Youth Academy could really do with producing someone.

Adramelch

12-10-2021, 03:29 PM

Something tells me we'll be back in the Premier League next season:

https://i.gyazo.com/2eb061121b6bcde8f3dbf36310ad4012.png

secretly preparing for 1 point in 13 games again

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 03:57 PM

Making light work of that. :cool:

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 04:37 PM

Oxford City End of Season 2035/36 Update - Championship

To tie up the loose ends from last season.

https://i.postimg.cc/TPSmvjLc/Fixtures.jpg (https://postimg.cc/4K6nz91K)

The Birmingham defeat made it three in a row and I really was starting to wonder if we were going to fuck it. I shouldn't have worried as we got back to winning ways against Notts Forest and then sealed promotion with the win over Blackburn. The game at home to Watford was amazing. Full house in attendance to celebrate our promotion and they were treated to a special performance. 4-0 up, then back to 5-3, then 5-4, we eventually ran out 8-5 winners with Hines scoring 4 and that was it the title sealed. Only my second trophy in 16 seasons.

https://i.postimg.cc/nL7VMqS2/League.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Only downside was that West Ham beat Huddersfield to take the other automatic spot. However, 6th placed Stoke sneaking in is very pleasing.

We celebrated the championship with Hines signing a new deal.

https://i.postimg.cc/kGhPT5hD/Hines.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

No '10 goal contributions' bonus for this man. Straight in with pure goals and 30 of them before he gets anything. After seeing that I just gave him the £40k a week wages he wanted.

https://i.postimg.cc/tgbwtPC2/Best-11.jpg (https://postimg.cc/jD8MRDf7)

Best 11 for the season. Think I'm gonna let France go back to Man Utd and see if I can get a better central defender on loan. Happy enough with the attacking midfielders and forwards, so the defensive side of things will be the focus.

Some records were also broken.

https://i.postimg.cc/856Z2z5j/Record-Breakers.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

And we did some more facilities stuff.

https://i.postimg.cc/vBrW7gTL/Youth-Level.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/vBrW7gTL/Youth-Level.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

And here's our WARCHEST:

https://i.postimg.cc/6pVtXB8b/Budgets.jpg (https://postimages.org/)[/url]

Was perhaps expecting more on the transfer budget, but the £1m for wages is :alan: We're only spending about £500k p/w at the moment so we can flip some of that should we need to too.

[url=https://postimages.org/]https://i.postimg.cc/FzKV9FFy/Finances.jpg (https://postimages.org/app)

Another corking season for the finances, as I type we're sat on £90m in the bank. :chief:

Smjffy

12-10-2021, 04:52 PM

Wrexham Football Club - Season 2034/2035

Summer Summary

Not as hectic as last summer as only three players departed this time round. Goalkeeper Callum Maggs joined Hibs for £1.5M, Jamie Shaw ran off to Preston for £350K and his attitude means he'll never make it whilst Charlie Summers joined Leeds United for £30M.

League

Arsenal claimed the honours this time round and although we weren't exactly close, we weren't completely out of it until late on. We did outscore the rest of the division for a second successive season but that's by the by really, isn't it.

Erling Haaland once again scored the most goals, meaning he has claimed it in eight out of ten seasons. Only Fabio Silva (17 - Man United) and Brett Parker (35 - Wrexham) have stopped him making it a perfect 10.

Craig Cummings grabbed himself 30 league goals and even that wasn't enough. 314 league goals in 456 games for CC now. Career total though is 584(28) games and 446 goals. :drool:

Anyways, 3rd is OK, it sealed European football again and cements us as one of the top flights big boys, I guess.

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

EFL Cup

Stevie Balfour's goal for Leeds five minutes from time killed is tbh. We'd lost the first leg 2-1 but Cummings did what Cummings does and we looked set to reach the final once again but alas it wasn't to be as extra time came and went and we were eliminated on pens.

https://i.imgur.com/DK6thbf.png

FA Cup

We were knocked out at the first hurdle by Man City who stuck five past us. 34 year old Phil Foden opening the scoring right before being loaned to Burnley. :moop:

Champions League

We progressed from the group stage for the first time, undefeated too which was pleasing. A hard fought draw in Italy against Inter was followed by a rout at home, a feat we repeated in the quarter finals against Liverpool. Borussia Dortmund took us to the edge but our quality told in the end. There wasn't anything fortunate about it.

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

I already made mention that you couldn't really write it much better, a Welsh club reaching the Champions League final for the first time in their history just as the final is held at the Wales national stadium. Surely it was written that we would over come Man United. We may have lost to them in the Community Shield at the beginning of the season but that was their only win in the last five games against us.

After 90 minutes though....we couldn't be separated.

https://i.imgur.com/i1YqTfW.png

After extra time, we couldn't be separated....the 2035 final would go to pens.

To sudden death as Silva and Gvardiol missed for Man United, Stead and Cummings missing for us but someone had to be the fall guy....Joao Vitor stepped up for Man United and BOOM! 7-6. Tim Hunter had to score to keep us in it.

Tim Hunter had scored just two goals all season. Eight starts, twenty-four as sub, he is and forever will be the epitome of useless. He fucking missed.

:cry:

I think as far as this save goes, that is all she wrote. At least with me and Wrexham. It's time to depart after 15 years and seek a new challenge. Heart broken.

Adramelch

12-10-2021, 05:53 PM

I don't think I'd be able to stop a save where I got so close and didn't get to taste success. 15 years are quite a long time though.

Smjffy

12-10-2021, 06:20 PM

We did win the Premier League the season before tbf. Maybe one day I'll return with some unfinished business in Europe?

Looking for my next challenge and stumbled across this. I haven't paid a great deal of attention to what has gone on outside of Wrexham but Kylian Mbappe stayed at PSG from 2017 until 2035 before joining Real Madrid for a season and then swiftly retiring only to become PSG's next manager. He won the league in his first season but PSG have won 19 in a row to date so you know..

https://i.imgur.com/Gz4BDAU.png

https://i.imgur.com/10GCFtz.png

Lofty

12-10-2021, 06:23 PM

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58873132

Seems bad for FM in particular, if successful.

Shindig

12-10-2021, 06:33 PM

I don't think that will get through court. It's numbers anyone could count.

AyDee

12-10-2021, 06:34 PM

Are you all using your own tactics? I tend to start FM saves with the best of intentions but end up resorting to a plug-and-play tactic after realising that setting up and tweaking tactics remains a ballache compared to old school FM.

Getting inspired by the TTH exploits, though.

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 06:36 PM

Take over Paris FC. @ Smiffy.

Adramelch

12-10-2021, 06:36 PM

I am making my own tactics, and tweak them until I get them to a plug-and-play level. It's been harder for me in this version, but I now have something that seems to be working fine.

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 06:41 PM

Same here. I alternate between a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-2-4, the latter being born out of sometimes needing two strikers.

And yeah, this version is the hardest one I've played by a mile. It's been six years since I played properly and the step up is out of this World.

It's torturous, but I'd suggest just sticking with something and it'll eventually click. I learnt more in my six years in League Two than I have at any other point in this save I reckon. Which I know sounds like total wank, but it's true.

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 06:42 PM

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-58873132

Seems bad for FM in particular, if successful.

I really don't know how SI have got away with what they do for so long. They're not even changing the names of a lot of the clubs they don't have licenses for, like EA do or Konami did.

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 07:34 PM

This summer is shaping up to be the best yet. We've got some properly good youngsters either here or on their way now. :drool:

I probably need an older English head or two to bring the PASSION in addition to Shaun Hines, but things are looking promising.

Adramelch

12-10-2021, 09:13 PM

https://i.gyazo.com/5d60a661abc44fd1dc5ee97399256dc3.png

A picture is a thousand words and all that. We broke all kinds of records, winning the league with 6 games to go.

In sort of annoying news, those are the budgets we'll be working with:

https://i.gyazo.com/c196de054d7527263e835ac074c4e5c4.png

Seems a bit too stingy all things considered. Maybe it's time to give the squad that smashed it this season a chance, with a few strong additions in the defence.

niko_cee

12-10-2021, 09:14 PM

Seagulls! :cool:

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 09:24 PM

Nice one Adra, smashed the fuck out of it.

Adramelch

12-10-2021, 09:24 PM

Also Southampton, that finished in 14th place, won the Champions League, beating Dortmund, Bayern and United in the process. They only qualified for it by winning the Europa League the year before.

thommo

12-10-2021, 09:41 PM

https://i.ibb.co/gP1YwVM/oxford.png

:D

I got the option to choose my own feeder team so of course I went for Oxford City. Hopefully I can send out some decent youth - they're still in the National League South.

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 09:45 PM

:D Could be awesome to see how far you could get them with your feeder players.

Danny

12-10-2021, 09:49 PM

For a second I thought that was Yev bringing us a ridiculous bug or I was reading it wrong and he was lauding it over Oxford United :D

Raoul Duke

12-10-2021, 09:50 PM

Big fan of your chairman being called Peter Griffin too

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 10:07 PM

We're gonna sell about 11,100 season tickets this season, so the board have agreed to expand our stadium. Don't get too excited though, I did and it was wasted.

https://i.postimg.cc/L40qbXV2/Stadium.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

If we need a John Woodley stadium III to get a decent capacity I'm going to cry. I like when they say start immediately they actually mean in 10 months. :cab:

Adramelch

12-10-2021, 10:40 PM

So I offered a guy 80k p/w, Star player status, huge signing and appearance fees, but he chose to go to Villa as a squad player for 55k p/w. :moop:

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 11:04 PM

I feel your pain. Lost out to someone who chose Bournemouth instead in exactly the same circumstances.

Adramelch

12-10-2021, 11:06 PM

https://i.gyazo.com/581b88d15ab05cce7357a3fae5548123.png

30 seats more you, so we are clearly the bigger club Yevrah

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 11:26 PM

Oxford City - Season 2036/37 Summer Business - Premier League

So business done.

First off, another on the work permit conveyor belt:

https://i.postimg.cc/PJpvfsMC/Humel.jpg (https://postimg.cc/q6rvQFSr)

Been out on loan for the last couple of seasons and has broken into Croatia's first team squad. Looks a promising box to box mid which will allow me to move my 5' 5" Peruvian Chavez further forward.

https://i.postimg.cc/ZqbHLHmw/Duez.jpg (https://postimg.cc/k2HWJxBS)

Duez who we signed last summer has landed and with a work permit. He'll play second fiddle to Kolar this season, but Kolar is whinging about moving to a big club and only has two years left on his deal so will be moving on next summer.

https://i.postimg.cc/hvTVnQgJ/Cipric.jpg (https://postimg.cc/m1ZPNDPR)[/url]

At £21m from Dinamo he becomes our record signing.

https://i.postimg.cc/sDzhSXsc/Crooks.jpg (https://thesawmillgrill.com/)

Was with us on loan from Chelsea in 2033/34 in the Championship and he's improved hugely since them. Will hopefully add the steel we need in midfield.

[url=https://postimg.cc/BPtqn188]https://i.postimg.cc/BbBtNT4C/Ruiz.jpg (https://thesawmillgrill.com/)

Another loan, but should strengthen us at centre back. That position still remains a problem, but we did find one for the future this summer that I'm very hopeful about.

https://i.postimg.cc/63dQ5r2N/Mendes.jpg (https://postimg.cc/2bSY0B7H)

At £11.5m from Palmeiras he's comfortably our most expensive youth signing, but with 15 tackling, 14 Anticipation and glowing reports from my scouts about his future I'm very hopeful he'll become what I need after he joins in 18 months.

And bar a couple of other youth signings who're not much to write home about at this stage, that is pretty much it. The Polish striker and Lyon keeper signed last summer will join in August when they turn 18 and the former will act as backup to Hines.

We start with Liverpool away then Spurs at home. :eyemouth:

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 11:26 PM

Oh and we're also now spending £700k p/w on wages. It's amazing how the renewals add up. Every fucker wants £30k p/w minimum as well it seems.

Panda Bear

12-10-2021, 11:39 PM

https://i.imgur.com/mvs8c6s.png
Thought I'd drop in a screenshot of this kid that I just nabbed from Porto.

Yevrah

12-10-2021, 11:45 PM

Who are Crescentwood FC Panda? Create a Club?

Sir Andy Mahowry

12-10-2021, 11:46 PM

Serge :cool:

He'll finish everything.

Panda Bear

13-10-2021, 12:00 AM

Who are Crescentwood FC Panda? Create a Club?Yeah, Create a Club that replaced Portsmouth in League One. Named in honour of a team I used to play for called Crescentwood Saturday whose founders were Portsmouth fans.

Yevrah

13-10-2021, 12:44 AM

https://i.postimg.cc/BvJdr2Tz/Spurs.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Well this didn't happen last time.... They rested a few looking at their squad, but Spurs are reigning Premier League champions and that's our biggest scalp by a country mile.

Adramelch

13-10-2021, 01:07 AM

We've had quite the busy summer, and I am generally quite pleased with how we did transfer-wise:

Goalkeepers

https://i.gyazo.com/0073374f37b6a90d2cf0ba0c2479b752.png

Only cost 1.4m euros and has heaps of potential so hopefully he will be here for quite a few years.

https://i.gyazo.com/376b00ca908bab99bcee048099a14f00.png

Joined us on a free and promptly returned to Argentina on a loan, I could see him being our first team goalie next season unless we buy some big name instead.

Defenders

https://i.gyazo.com/e8ee3e79fb6c58390dc8a1166e08dd0c.png

One of our most important signings so far. Only cost us 10.25m courtesy of his relegation release clause at Blackburn and I think he'll be a mainstay for the next 4-5 seasons.

https://i.gyazo.com/635d6d58a72c380441e6f39afba7b355.png

Not super-happy with his aerial ability, but he has quite great mental skills for his age, so hopefully he'll be our (much lesser version of) Cannavaro. Only cost us 5m.

https://i.gyazo.com/b6ccb8600e30fc6e4e10c0382614822b.png

Signed him this past winter for 5.25m, but let him spend the remainder of the season in Brazil and he did become a bit better.

https://i.gyazo.com/cb203120cb54ec48138aaa7fd99cce0a.png

This guy we signed last summer for 2.2m and he was really great for us in the championship, but I am afraid he will play second fiddle this season

Midfielders

https://i.gyazo.com/7093b49897f13ac4d986267a590bdd60.png

Another transfer I am very happy about, as he comes with insanely good mental and physical attributes. Joined us for just 8.5m euros.

https://i.gyazo.com/4a6b346269a1070b349fedf0255b830e.png

Joins us on a loan, with an optional future fee of 23m. If he delivers he might well become our biggest signing by quite some margin.

Attackers

https://i.gyazo.com/02a7a09d39953f571ccdce8bf8eb5beb.png

He doesn't have any particularly exceptional attributes, but he seems to be good at everything so I am sure he'll prove useful. Only cost 3.5m.

https://i.gyazo.com/2f4ff21a1b234132f0c7a353f5994831.png

Our scouts insist we should sign him no matter what and I just obliged seeing as we only had to pay 3m.

https://i.gyazo.com/9f698973d8f874331ead8500ee3cacea.png

I don't think he's ready for first team football, but he will provide depth to the squad and has tons of potential. For 1.4m I consider him quite the bargain.

https://i.gyazo.com/35c72616fb41e5f501c26de42aaae7d9.png

Our record signing and one I am really proud of. He cost us 13.75m but he's already started paying off with 5 goals in 5 games.

And with all those guys, I really do fancy our chances, especially given our start to the season:

https://i.gyazo.com/cf128726c4ec2d0acf32499eab89e945.png

We were the better team against Watford as well, and while we were bested by City, we more than held our own, so thinks look good.

obligatory we are going to get 1 point in the next 13 games disclaimer