Football Manager 2021

[thommo]

Just a quick post to sum up probably my most successful season so far in the save. It's been my 9th season at the club, and the 2nd season we've had in League 1 and we stormed to the title with 5 games to spare, as well as winning the EFL Trophy on the way. Our squad dynamics and cohesion are as high as they can possibly be, and it's definitely been a factor - the actual ability of most of my squad should not have propelled us to such a dominant season. We did tail off a little towards the end, but we still managed to scrape 3 wins from our last 3 games to take us up to 97 points.

https://i.ibb.co/52KJtQb/s9.png

And as for the squad, what an effort from them all. Dimitris Papadopoulos, our Greek wizard in the middle, was fantastic, and we've already had to reject an offer of £2m+ from Burnley this summer. Lukas Puntigam and Ian Harding will be joining us on permanent deals as their contracts are expiring at their parent clubs. Our biggest issue next season will probably be at striker - I think I will have to dip into the loan market and get the best prospect possible from a Premier League club. We will also need a new GK - Allsop was brilliant this season but he's getting on a bit and his contract demands are frankly ridiculous.

https://i.ibb.co/1qxy9Dq/lads-s9.png

It's shaping up to be the busiest summer so far. A number of club stalwarts are going to be leaving - as much as I'd love to keep them throughout our climb they're lacking in quality and want quite large wage increases to stick around. We've only got £60k p/w to spend on the squad so I can't have too much dead wood.

However, I do now want to fund our new affiliate Oxford City to see if they can climb up the divisions using our loanees. :D

I'm willing to put aside a few thousand in wages to sign up some youth prospects and send them out on loan to help out this season! I'll post an update once all transfers are finalised and we're underway in the Championship.

[Yevrah]

:D Such a shame it gets cancelled when you meet each other in the same division.

[Adramelch]

https://i.gyazo.com/1a1c30b02f3d13cc6b44f67c3786026d.png

Suffice to say, it's been a significantly better season than last time around. But what's even more satisfying is that we haven't looked out of our depth at all. We only lost one game by more than 2 goals, a 4-0 at Stamford Bridge and even that one was a travesty, with our keeper having a shocker and he's getting replaced next week so there's that.

Edit: And as I say that we inexplicably lose our next game 0-5 at home against Watford of all teams. Sure they scored with basically every chance they got but now our morale is shot for no apparent reason.

[niko_cee]

Pretty much safe short of doing a Hull though.

Seagulls. :(

[Smjffy]

Take over Paris FC. @ Smiffy.

I'm currently on a sabbatical as discussions with the Welsh FA drag on before 'Project Cymru Am Byth' can be launched.

[Adramelch]

Pretty much safe short of doing a Hull though.

Seagulls. :(

They've had a weird journey. They made the playoffs 6 seasons in a row until managing to win them last season and now they suck big time.

[Dark Soldier]

I know I'm United as my last hurrah to FM21, but still, LOL. Even missed a penalty.

https://i.imgur.com/35b5HrW.jpg

[Dark Soldier]

Tactic is my own, as ever:

https://i.gyazo.com/0ff0b1dc2f6b68dde3e03dec021ae202.png

[Yevrah]

That is insane DS.

[Dark Soldier]

Yeah its kinda broken the game a little, was running a 4231 but struggling then switched to this after the Ajax draw:

https://i.gyazo.com/2e7b695703b8fb73e9febb466f181f99.png

[Manc]

Extremely urgent pressing is OP teh fuck.

[Dark Soldier]

Aye, they've claimed they've fixed pressing for the new version. I'd bet my remaining good bollock they haven't.

[Baz]

Can you concede less than 10 in a season?

[Dark Soldier]

7 conceded in 19, we'll see. 81 scored.

[Yevrah]

Oxford City 2036/37 End of Season Update - Premier League

AND IT'S LIVE!

Second season in the Premier League after our relegation two years ago and Championship winning promotion last season.

A tale of two halves this one.

https://i.postimg.cc/65h2s81P/Fixtures-1.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Having started the season so well with 4 wins in 6, including one over reigning champions Spurs, we were struck with a 3 month run of injuries that is about as bad as I've ever seen playing FM. Top of the injury charts for the Premier League for that whole time, there wasn't a day where we didn't have at least 6 players from the first 11 and bench out. Valpoort got injured three times in that period, the second and third times before he'd even set foot back on the pitch again, and even Shaun Hines (who is never injured) got in on the act.

Towards the end of December the players were all coming back and the plague stopped, but when we lost to Spurs on New Year's Day we were 18th in the Premier League again.

https://i.postimg.cc/mkgxt6BC/Fixtures-2.jpg (https://postimg.cc/ftpqPC3R)

I was planning to bin the FA Cup off as I did the League Cup earlier in the season, but with our strongest first 11 available for selection and relatively fit for the first time in months I played them all and it was something of a turning point. A much needed win, the first for two and a half months, and we were up and running. We then went on a cracking run (including the best performance in my time at the club with a 6-0 demolition of Everton) to secure Premier League survival fairly comfortably in the end.

https://i.postimg.cc/vB1qkFYP/League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)[/url]

The top 6 looks something of a closed shop, but as we shouldn't be flirting with relegation again, the next aim is to get into Europe. Burnley, we are coming for you.

In the middle of all that another work permit was granted.

https://i.postimg.cc/GtxkSqy7/Cak.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

So more dirt cheap Eastern European talent entered the first team squad.

https://i.postimg.cc/9QMGJPFb/Hines.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Hines got the Golden Boot and with it his 30 goal a season bonus of £185k. Rapidly becoming my favourite player ever in FM and I'd love to see him get an England cap. He's still inexplicably nowhere near Slaven Bilic's (lol) team.

https://i.postimg.cc/cLrnQsX5/Best-11.jpg (https://postimg.cc/87gcGV8h)

First time I can remember I was so settled on what my best 11 is. Shame two of them are loan players. Oh and special mention to Koumis, he's been with us since League One and I've no idea how he's made the step up to the Premier League, but he has. His stats aren't even that good, but he's my Ji Sung Park or Dirk Kuyt in that we're so much more solid when he's in the team.

https://i.postimg.cc/N0tQQD97/Koumis.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Yvd531xh)

This summer's warchest:

https://i.postimg.cc/xCxQySst/Warchest.jpg (https://postimages.org/)[/url]

And more pissing about with the stadium.

[url=https://postimages.org/]https://i.postimg.cc/0yRsCnfR/Expansion.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

We hadn't even begun the pitiful expansion of 2,700 ish seats announced last year when this news popped up and now we've got to go and slum it in Milton Keynes for a year while our current piece of shit is expanded to a level that's not even upper Championship tier. I assume we're restrained by planning permission and we'll need to build a third John Woodley stadium to finally get a decent capacity, but for the love of God and all that's holy, just fecking do that now.

And talking of John:

https://i.postimg.cc/vmDwYK8n/Legends.jpg (https://postimg.cc/gw9T4NZc)

I don't know what it'll take to get above him in that list, but I'm bloody doing it.

[Adramelch]

I had this problem with injuries in our previous time in the premier league Yev, so now I have a squad of 25 people which can do a passable job at the very least, so I am not stuck playing strikers in midfield. Makes a big difference. And apart from the full-backs, the rest of backup players are at least "good for championship" level so it kinda works out.

I can't even begin to imagine how demoralised you must have been around the end of the year though. Reminds me my end of the season run of games from two seasons ago.

[Raoul Duke]

How come you got so messed up with injuries? Shitty physios? Or just a small squad/bad luck?

Solid season back in the BPLSBB though. Not sure why you wouldn't just play at Reading's stadium instead of MK mind

[Yevrah]

I can't even begin to imagine how demoralised you must have been around the end of the year though. Reminds me my end of the season run of games from two seasons ago.

I definitely need more squad depth. It's why I'd opted on binning the cups off (even though it goes against my very soul) in an effort to stay in the Premier League at all costs.

And yes, the 13 game run without a win was horrendous. I was thinking to myself the whole time, we have a far better squad than we did two years ago but we're doing worse now than we were then. But in the back of my mind I knew if I could get the players back out on the pitch we'd been fine. What I'd seen in the first six games was enough to know that - it was light years ahead of last time.

[Yevrah]

How come you got so messed up with injuries? Shitty physios? Or just a small squad/bad luck?

No idea really. I've never seen it before to that level in this save or any other and having experienced three months of it, it just stopped.

[Adramelch]

What's really been annoying me A LOT this season, is that every player believes he deserves a first-team status. I have Dunn who's been with us for 5 seasons now, my coaches say he's at League One level and yet he won't sign a contract with anything less than Regular Starter status. I guess I'll just let him go, but I wanted to keep him for that sort of emergency situations with injuries etc (and he's british so there's that).

[Yevrah]

What's really been annoying me A LOT this season, is that every player believes he deserves a first-team status. I have Dunn who's been with us for 5 seasons now, my coaches say he's at League One level and yet he won't sign a contract with anything less than Regular Starter status. I guess I'll just let him go, but I wanted to keep him for that sort of emergency situations with injuries etc (and he's british so there's that).

That was exactly the point I was going to make with the squad depth bit above before my mind fucked off to the pub, in that it's a bloody nightmare keeping a stocked squad happy in this game. Once we get to Europe it'll be easier, but for now I'm basically playing 40 games a season and if my best 11 are available, they're starting.

[Jimmy Floyd]

One of the things I found the last time I played a proper save was it was as vital to find willing bench stooges at a certain level as it was to find the big stars. Stats only tell half the story, in some cases.

I am gagging to play again with all the great saves in this thread, but holding out for '22.

[Yevrah]

Really looking forward to 22 as well. Think I'll continue this save for a bit, maybe even overlapping into the launch of FM22, get a new laptop then go nuts on that game with all the logos and facepack graphics.

[Smjffy]

Project Cymru Am Byth.

After a two year sabbatical, former Wrexham manager, me, announced his next project. Wales had directly benefited from the work done at the club with many of the clubs players past and present taking the nation to new heights.

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

https://i.imgur.com/Vh35ft2.png

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

Now it was time to take Wales from 11th to 1st but in order to do that, the game in Wales itself needs improvement. At time of writing, the JD Cymru Premier is ranked as the 59th best league in the world rising 9 places last season but has just one Champions League spot available and three Europa Conference League spots. No Europa. Top ten would be nice.

The FAW have agreed to invest in facilities across the country in a bid to follow Wrexham's model and every club who gains promotion from 2040 onwards will be included but by way of recognition for services to the Welsh game, it was agreed that the first club to benefit above all would be my own home town who will no doubt join the top tier again next season and right a wrong from the 2031/32 campaign.

https://i.imgur.com/tVrTHu7.png

For now though, the summer is approaching and we're in direct talks with Wrexham to link up but we'll also need to enter the transfer market to a) get promoted and b) bring in players of a decent enough reputation to help boost the club/divisions rep.

This can play out now until the next version. :cool:

[Yevrah]

I had an aborted game in the depths of Wales before I started the Oxford City one Smiff, it was absolute hell.

I'd love to take a shit league to European glory in this game, but the game is now realistic enough I'm just not sure if one can. Good luck though, I'll be following with interest.

[Adramelch]

Yeah, I just end up getting bored whenever I get to the state where I dominate the league with my B team and then hoping we make a deep run in Europe.

[Yevrah]

https://i.postimg.cc/9QcY74kP/Neville.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

:cool:

His brother is OGB's Assistant Manager.

[Yevrah]

Hmmm...

https://i.postimg.cc/J0t9m6Nn/Oliveira.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Smjffy]

More Welsh.

Alec Blake (Wrexham) currently holds the record of most goals by a player in a season with 9.

https://i.imgur.com/dAJVKp4.png

Danny Ward holds the record for most clean sheets with six but he retired in 2033 after finding himself in Belgium with Royal Antwerp. The goalkeeper had also played for Al-Duhail, Augsburg, Gladbach and Freiburg after leaving Leicester.

https://i.imgur.com/qbC80uK.png

Reasons to be optimistic.

Alec Smith, Paul Rogers, Glyn Jones, Osian Gray and Danny Evans all came from Wrexham.

Jack Jones initially started out at Haverfordwest, Simon James started out at Connah's Quay, Tim Holden came through Brickfields academy back in 2026, it was actually League Two AFC Wimbledon who spotted him initially three years later.

Andrew Chesterfield is a difficult one though as he just emerge with Reims last season but initially born in Port Talbot. :D

It's going to be every bit as important that the other clubs in the top league perform too.

[Yevrah]

If ever there was something that illustrated perfectly how desperately we need a reputation boost, it's this.

https://i.postimg.cc/MKHQ2ygF/De-Smedt.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

He's playing in Belgium. Belgium.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I could be wrong and it's easier said than done, but I think winning a trophy (any trophy) is the way to boost rep. Sack off the league and try and win the Coca-Cola.

[Adramelch]

It's not necessarily to do with where he plays anyway. It's as if say Southampton tried to buy Haaland from Salzburg back before he went to Dortmund. It'd never happen even though pretty much every other player of theirs would make that move in a heartbeat.

[Yevrah]

Hopefully I'll start well enough in the league to be able to give it a go.

The base of the squad is pretty much sorted for the next season and it's only early July, but with Oliviera gone I have over £150m burning a hole in the club's coffers. Such a struggle to find players that will both improve on what I have while being willing to join.

[Yevrah]

It's not necessarily to do with where he plays anyway. It's as if say Southampton tried to buy Haaland from Salzburg back before he went to Dortmund. It'd never happen even though pretty much every other player of theirs would make that move in a heartbeat.

Yeah, that is a fair point. Wolves were sure enough he'd join them to make a bid mind, which thankfully Anderlecht rejected. They're only 3.5 stars, so that elusive half a star could be absolutely key.

[Adramelch]

I've had a fair share of players from say Partizan or some Brazilian team reject me in a similar way, only for them to join the Arsenals and Dortmunds of the world within a month or so.

I think I might take the short-term hit and overpay for a few young british players in the summer.

[Adramelch]

https://i.gyazo.com/1a8391c2a16a1d6d94ae87bcaeeb6f7a.png

If you told me we'd finish 10th this season, I'd be chuffed, but the way things panned out, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed, as we could have very easily claimed a spot in Europe, seeing as we were 7th (or higher) for a big part of the season:

https://i.gyazo.com/268eea6753a471fae19b9b2f94e7b601.png

We only earned 5 points from our last 8 games, and while our schedule was fairly brutal, we actually played really really well. If our wingers knew how to finish a ball, we'd have a good 7-8 points more just from those last games alone. But as you can see, our wingers were an utter disappointment:

https://i.gyazo.com/09b641c4643b3addb444c33b3c8f4273.png

My tactic plays around the wingers quite a bit and they do usually tend to bag 10-15 goals a season but this didn't happen at all this time around, and it's not like they created heaps. I guess some investment on that front is paramount this summer.

[Raoul Duke]

Getting to Europe this soon might have been a poisoned chalice though - loads of teams get shafted by the extra load of games and their squad is too thin

[Yevrah]

Oxford City 2037/38 - Premier League

A few more of the youth queued up joined, which left our only major signing as this chap.

https://i.postimg.cc/DwqF3xL7/Trovato.jpg (https://postimg.cc/w1Tnhcwr)

£6.75m clause-tastic from relegated West Ham. He wanted £120k per week so we ultimatum'd the shit out of it and West Ham agreed to pay some to let the move happen. As a man stuck in the early 2000's I don't think I'm ready to pay £100k p/w yet.

https://i.postimg.cc/vTrFwBx3/Fixtures.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

A disappointing start to the season, with the forced sale of Oliveira seemingly hitting us hard up front as we stodge the shit out of things on a game to game basis. Hines is still scoring, but not as much and the fluidity we ended last season with has (hopefully only) temporarily left us.

https://i.postimg.cc/j2Zcf0pR/Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Very much a not bad, not great situation there. Worry is that there's surely no way Chelsea will stay in the relegation zone. We play them away next.

[Yevrah]

Oh and we've hit 3 and a half stars for rep, but it doesn't appear to have changed much so I've now realised 4 stars is what we actually need.

[niko_cee]

Well, you did say you were gunning for Burnley, so at least things are looking up on that front.

[thommo]

I've brought in a ludicrous number of youth prospects on free transfers (of which only about 30% will ever progress to near the first team), and only 1 of them has so far agreed to go on loan to Oxford City. :D

[Yevrah]

:drool: I need a feeder club.

Oxford United would be pretty swish. :cool:

[SvN]

I wonder how many fans switched allegences once you flew past them.

[thommo]

At the stage you're at, surely the board will allow you to choose one? My first feeder, Woking, was offered to me but I could choose the second.

[Baz]

I’ve never chosen one and had it agreed.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yeah they'd never manage to get who I requested so I stopped bothering and just let the board choose.

[Adramelch]

Getting to Europe this soon might have been a poisoned chalice though - loads of teams get shafted by the extra load of games and their squad is too thin

Yeah I am not that disappointed that we didn't make it to Europe, just that we had such a poor finish to the season. But again, 10th in just our second season in the BPLSBB is more than good enough.

[Adramelch]

So the summer is over and we've been busy. I'll split our signings to the ones that go straight into our first team and "the others":

First team

https://i.gyazo.com/9f451ccd0dc58867ee65306faf75d34b.png

A significant upgrade over our previous left-back, with an added advantage of holding an English passport courtesy of his coming through Liverpool's ranks. Picked him up for 16m.

https://i.gyazo.com/366946e9e83cdbaca5c83716bc334d00.png

An even bigger upgrade on the right-back position with this Croatian that somehow found his way in Mexico. Cost 15m, with half of it spread over the next 3 years.

https://i.gyazo.com/eb0c7cc7f0ccfcfabcad2c3cdb9d5009.png

This one feels a bit bitter-sweet, as we had a much cheaper and somewhat better Swede lined up for this position that agreed terms with us about 5-6 times since January but failed to get his work permit, and then picked Arsenal over us in the summer when he had 2 more caps and was thus eligible for a work permit. Instead we brought this guy for a club record 19m and we finally have a set-piece specialist so hopefully it pays off.

https://i.gyazo.com/25728bafdb41114da0f95be74cfa4903.png

I wasn't looking to replace Blanco after his performances with us last season, but I saw this well-rounded beaut and decided to go for him. Again, there was a similar level of player that we could have gotten for much cheaper but he chose to go elsewhere, so we ended up spending 16m on this guy.

https://i.gyazo.com/a1128070e31d5c2acfdcfe057e20c8e0.png

This guy I am really excited about. Signed him in January for just 5m, but arranged the transfer to take place this summer as we'd already field our "u21 from abroad" quota. He's miles better than what we had before so I have high hopes there.

https://i.gyazo.com/e6cf3e894046f2dc0ad9ab9112d04b33.png

This is a weird one. I wasn't looking for a replacement for Bartos, but our search for a good left winger failed miserably (the only good option decided to go to Chelsea for half the money and less playing time, as per usual), so I decided to play Bartos there and bring in another striker. Given that we found this guy for just 5m, I am quite happy, so let's hope Bartos delivers on his new position.

Squad players

https://i.gyazo.com/f3abd1f82a11e19b9e6634ca9ae2c195.png

Similarly to Reyes, this is a guy we signed quite a while ago (last summer if memory serves me well), but we delayed the transfer to abide to rules. He cost a measly 1m and he looks like he could even lead the line for us, but I don't like having African forwards in the first team, since the African Cup is a thing and it comes in the busiest time of the year.

https://i.gyazo.com/15c6069c6e20b737474b00abf9f41d19.png

Comes to offer some depth in the centre. At 12.5m, it would seem like we overpaid for him (compared to our other transfers), but he is British so I'll take a deal like that any time of the year.

https://i.gyazo.com/15d4aa597370da6b2769cf66eccf9a3c.png

Not a Premier League level of player, but he's happy with rarely playing, is home-grown and doesn't ask for much money. Only cost 3.3m as well.

https://i.gyazo.com/10cadb8d976f7b05f19ca98c4840d4ce.png

Doesn't look like much at the moment, but has good mental attributes for his age, is home-grown and only cost 750k. We instantly shipped him off to Derby on a loan and he's been in the first team so far so hopefully he develops nicely.



And with all that sorted, we started the season fairly spectacularly:

https://i.gyazo.com/f5b737e86b528b24ed2a67f5f3180af9.png

Of course there's the disappointment that is the Burnley result (who had 0 points from the first 3 games and we beat 4-0 at their place last season), but we all know how FM likes to do that kind of stuff. Still, a great start with the Man City win being the highlight. If you'd told me we'd get 6-7 points from the first 4 games, I'd have taken that in a heartbeat, so having 9 points is magnificent. Diaz, Reyes and Antunovic have already proven their value with some great performances, while Bartos is somewhat struggling on the left wing. The surprise so far is Markovic, of course, so there I could see a case where he might be starting over Bartos, although that kind of feels like a dirty thought, given how I am not playing the latter in his strongest position.

Much like Yev, the board decided to expand the stadium more, even before the previous expansion had started, so for the time being we are ground-sharing with Middlesbrough, which feels a bit weird with Newcastle and Sunderland right under our noses, but what can you do.

[Adramelch]

https://i.gyazo.com/1287d2734aa19524f99d22b4c016a2f1.png

I don't know about our status in terms of football, but we most definitely have the best construction workers in the country.

[Yevrah]

Just been utterly screwed.

Had four more u-21 forriners coming in January, not realising there was a limit of six per season. The game just cancelled two of them, including the seriously promising centre back, without giving me any sort of choice.

What a bollocks.

[Adramelch]

Just been utterly screwed.

Had four more u-21 forriners coming in January, not realising there was a limit of six per season. The game just cancelled two of them, including the seriously promising centre back, without giving me any sort of choice.

What a bollocks.

Yeah I got fucked by that last season, so now I am checking and I am "postdating" some transfers so that they roll over to the next season. Especially players that I sign for the future and are getting first team football wherever they currently are. It's like a loan of sorts.

[thommo]

That Marcos Diaz you signed looks amazing Adra. What a bargain.

Luckily the UK didn't leave the EU on my save (I think there were more possibilities in FM19) so no such worries with the foreign youth. Of course I need to get to the Prem first to truly reap the benefits...

[Adramelch]

Yeah he's scored 18 league goals in the first half of the season. I was willing to pay up to say 20m if needed, so getting him for just the 5 was quite the steal. Speaking of which, here's our first half:

https://i.gyazo.com/eff04f298db443bb9629ccd0392133ee.png

Some improvement over last season, which is great, since we already did really well by that point last season. If we can keep any sort of consistency in the second half, that'd be insane, but honestly anything north of 25-ish points and I'll be chuffed. We've started to match all the big teams with wins over City (3-2 H), Arsenal (3-2 A) and Tottenham (3-1 A), a draw with United (2-2 H) and two 2-1 home losses against Chelsea and Liverpool which should have definitely been at least draws. The downside is that we are a bit inconsistent when it comes to beating the "lower" teams, but I guess you can't have everything. We also made the League Cup quarter finals with only our B team, beating Liverpool in the process, which was nice. And since I mentioned that game, those two games were within 10 days of each other:

https://i.gyazo.com/1945d357d956880f8516773a44be9db2.png https://i.gyazo.com/b4a24bd6629c6e9238104b6056ba8afe.png

:cool: Talk about mental fortitude.

I have two weeks of no-lifing left before I start my new job, so the goal is to have won something in Europe by then.

[Dark Soldier]

United, unsurprisingly, was a cakewalk. Won everything first season so resigned. Holidayed til a job I fancied appeared, and up pops Sevilla. 12th in LaLiga, struggling hard. Decent squad just not working. Plugged in my formation, got the job after the Valencia game:

https://i.gyazo.com/35f38ca880b12dc7e099d7e506c762a6.png

Anybody wanna give it a crack for shits and giggles considering new one should be out in 7-10 days, here ya go:

https://ufile.io/pwws8mhq

[Dark Soldier]

Also signed my favourite bargain player this version. Always 5-8mil, incredibly well rounded, multiple positions and some potential. Guy's a machine:

https://i.gyazo.com/68371c69679333a322690145bbb3441d.png

[Baz]

A FM page I follow on Instagram posted a challenge to win the Premier League with Rushden & Diamonds on CM01/02 before FM22 is out so I'm playing that. The only rules are you can't sign Tsigalko, Kerr or To Maderia. :harold:

[Danny]

We need updates if you do that.

[Adramelch]

But only if there's a matching sock/rug photo with every update.

[Mellberg]

David Collins from Radcliffe. Stick him behind the front 2. 12k, I think. Bought him for Stalybridge Celtic and we did great things. Can you get Haracimowicz at that level? Think he was cheap too.

[Baz]

Already got Collins. :D

[Mellberg]

:cool:

Feel like a proud dad. Keep us in the loop. Tempted to follow in.

[Mellberg]

Also, know I'm a bit of a ghost these days, but I check this thread every day. Was on a night shift when I read about Yev's relegation and it ruined my Pot Noodle. Good stuff lads. Keep it going :thbup:

[Yevrah]

https://i.postimg.cc/L4bPkSny/Man-Utd.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

:eyemouth:

[Baz]

We need updates if you do that.As you wish.

I've done all my wheeling and dealing. Rushden start in Division 3 but with £6m to spend. I transfer listed (and sold) the majority of the existing squad. Any that haven't been sold have been sent to the reserves and not given squad numbers. This is the motley crew I've assembled to hopefully blast the league to smithereens:

https://i.imgur.com/CgRHcP0.png

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

Some familiar names in there, I hope. :)

Chanko was only signed cos Wirtanen got injured, which has probably cost him his place in the starting 11, sadly. Will kick Marchant off the bench when he's back though cos I had nostalgic love for our Tommy.

Mike Duff and Jamie Victory are off limits cos they play for rivals Cheltenham. Will hopefully get Duff somewhere down the line when he realises we're better, mind.

Got too many "Fgn" players so Tomaschek will hardly play, even though he's probably better than Andrade, and player-coach Gerasimets probably won't make a single appearance. :rosebud:

Also don't remember Alexandersson being that good but 20 finishing and 17 off the ball have seen him score 5 in 3 so far, and he's only 16:

https://i.imgur.com/8XVjF9s.png

He can fill the void until I can turn Cherno Samba's head, I guess.

[Yevrah]

CM 01/02. :drool:

[Danny]

:drool:

No Carl Laurie?

I used to raid Djurgardens and sign Said every game :lol:

[Baz]

I've got Carl Laurie. :) Probably won't play much though.

[Danny]

I've got Carl Laurie. :) Probably won't play much though.

So you do. Carry on.

[Baz]

He plays an art.

[Yevrah]

Oxford City End of Season Update 2037/38

Another season of two halves, this time not to do with injuries but more to do with who I had in the team and where. First half looked like this:

https://i.postimg.cc/VsgxKYMc/Fixtures-1.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

That little lot left us 17th and then in January the following things happened. My two players who could play at LW were out for a game and I had to move Cipric there, he was a revelation, but that also allowed me to play the two cracking right backs I had, moving Kolar to left back. Additionally Chavez my diminutive Peruvian finally pissed me off one too many times with his shit performances, so I binned him off on loan to Turkey and installed Koumis as our number one attacking midfielder. The transformation was unreal.

https://i.postimg.cc/HL5NCmh3/Fixtures-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

An amazing run of results that sees us 10 games unbeaten and the best win of the save so far by a country mile. Sadly, our shit start meant we finished mid table again but at least top half this time.

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

https://i.postimg.cc/j5MQpktZ/Best-11.jpg (https://postimg.cc/sQZhSmBh)

A slower season for Hines, but always a man with a sense of occasion his winner against Reading was the goal that did this:

https://i.postimg.cc/xjF3g7sd/Hine.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Which pushed him to icon status.

https://i.postimg.cc/269hcb7t/Icon.jpg (https://postimg.cc/ftXVkbF7)

[Adramelch]

Gotta love turning it around like that when all hope is lost. I know it's not 30 goals, but still I'd take a consistent 20 a season from a striker, until challenging for Champions League football becomes a thing. That said Diaz, grabbed 33 league goals for us this season in 38 games, yet he only fiinished second since Man Utd appear to have a beast that scored 39 in 33.

In our news, here's a snapshot of the youth that came through our ranks this season:

https://i.gyazo.com/2c85747969a245c24c5952e4522ddcc0.png

Sure I was a bit miffed that I was getting garbage for years despite the tens of millions that we have invested in our set-up, but boy this batch just made up for it. I think when our current upgrades end, we'll have the best possible anything in terms of infrastructure/networking.

[Yevrah]

Oxford City End of Season Update 2037/38

Onto the facilities and finances. Starting with the former, we're back home.

https://i.postimg.cc/wTm4Ng6z/Stadium.jpg (https://postimages.org/)[/url]

And have now finished the facilities.

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

A quick look at the spreadsheet shows us it cost £96,115,930 to get there.

https://i.postimg.cc/9MsK3MWx/Finances.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

The finances are in staggeringly rude health, with a £97m profit posted for the season, and this wedge in the bank:

https://i.postimg.cc/YC2gHzDP/Balance.jpg (https://postimg.cc/BXyt5H05)

leading to a WARCHEST of:

[url=https://postimages.org/]https://i.postimg.cc/G2TgjCkv/Budget.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Plans for next season

I've been playing the kids I've bought too soon and I need to sort that with better depth in the squad, the sort of player Jim was alluding to. I've also got some crap that needs to be shifted now. Corness, for example, sadly isn't good enough. As a result I'm going through the squad assigning a 'keep', 'loan' or 'bin' to each player and then filling in the gaps for what I need with the budget space I have. We're only £700k on wages now too, so we've a million to play with there as well as the ludicrous transfer budget.

I'll consider anything less than a top 7 finish next season or winning a trophy, a failure. It's time to kick on.

[Yevrah]

Cheers Adra, I'd die for youth like that. None of mine have hit any more than 3 stars yet. What does the five star one look like?

[Adramelch]

Oof, your finances look way better than ours. We finished the season with around 60m in the coffers. Probably because I tend to spend fairly big. Spent 120m in the last two seasons compared to your 50ish.

https://i.gyazo.com/edd8f088cf169e63d9fb19c6339e39fd.png

Gotta love that determination. :drool:

[Yevrah]

Yeah, loving that.

It might just be confirmation bias, but I'm finding work rate and determination to be so useful in this game. 32+ for both combined and the player in question seems to perform so well, irrespective of their technicals, Reis Bartlett aside.

[Yevrah]

Scrap that, might be 30+ as that's all Koumis has and he's a legend.

[Adramelch]

This was our season:

https://i.gyazo.com/73de8b47d3f93fa1b34bb0b434761e8b.png

I said in my mid-season update that 25+ points would have me relatively happy after a great start to the season, and we went and got exactly that, with a good old Gateshead classic of 5 points in the last 7 games. We actually didn't fall below 6th once. I am obviously happy to be in Europe next season, but I think our league performance will inevitably suffer from the extra games. Also, after years of extremely low expectations, the board came to me with this gem:

https://i.gyazo.com/b003011120010b469e3e87bdb4d4b1a5.png

Is it just me or is that quite optimistic for a first season in Europe? I guess you get straight to the 2nd round by topping your group but still feels a bit much.

And some player stats:

https://i.gyazo.com/d5fce19c326cb09c19b854fdbe66ef1d.png

Diaz smashed it out of the park, although he is a bit of a "0 or 3 goals" player with no inbetween it seems (he even scored 5 in one game). Bartos never adapted to the left wing position so he was dethroned by Markovic, who, while not spectacular, contributed his fair share. The unsung hero has to be Rumble, who can seemingly score from anywhere in the pitch as long as it's 20+yards from goal. Ismoilov was injured for the last couple months or so and Rumble stepped up to the plate. Speaking of injuries we did have an injury plight in the last couple months in general, with all our first team midfielders and wingers being injured at the same time for a couple games, our central defenders missing 4-5 games in a row together and even our goaliee missing 3 weeks. Oh well.

[Yevrah]

Cracking stuff Adra!

[thommo]

Cracking seasons for you both then - finally crossed over to be established PL clubs it seems. That does seem like quite a tough objective for first time European competitors Adra, best of luck with that!

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

I've reached the end of the transfer window at the start of season no. 10 with Slough Town. As I'm still on FM19, the English transfer windows end infuriatingly early compared to the rest of Europe. As such we didn't have much time to really upgrade positions that I wanted to, and I'm not particularly confident entering this season. A lot of my targets wanted ridiculous money or refused to talk to me whatsoever based on the club rep. I'll go through some of the more important transfers that we brought in.

https://i.ibb.co/YNN8RxX/Jinadu.png

Firstly, with Allsop leaving, we needed a first choice keeper. Daniel Jinadu was being released by West Ham and he looks like a really solid option with a little room to grow. Could become our number 1 for a few seasons.

https://i.ibb.co/xm7tBHD/Wharton.png

I may have overpaid a little on wages for this transfer - he's the highest paid player in the squad that we currently own, and realistically he will rotate at the LB spot with Oliver Hoare. However, he's a little more versatile and probably will be the first team choice once he beds in. He joined on a free from Middlesbrough.

https://i.ibb.co/PMS9Hvs/Mmp.png

Quite excited about this loanee - Matthew Morgan-Parker arrives for the season from Leicester as a natural pressing forward and has already chipped in with an important winner at home to Aston Villa. His contract expires at the end of the season so he may be a free transfer target at the end of the campaign.

https://i.ibb.co/qpCzsw8/Jordan.png

Speaking of Aston Villa, we picked up Alex Jordan from them on a season-long loan deal to rotate in on the right wing.

https://i.ibb.co/m6pWhyM/Vvd.png

Lastly, this signing was a little out of the blue. He was brought up in the scouting meeting as an out of contract prospect and I had no information on him whatsoever. I needed a left wing option in the squad so got the scouts to take a look, and as the days passed he looked better and better. I was just a bit surprised no one else was in for him - I've got high hopes that he can really develop into a key member of the squad.

As I mentioned previously, I signed two former loanees on permanent deals after their contracts expired, as well as a bunch of cheap youngsters that I've farmed out to various lower league clubs with the hopes they can either perform for the first team one day or I can sell them for a bit of money.

However, as the transfer window closed, a news item was brought to my attention that really confirms we're in for a fight this season.

https://i.ibb.co/Yp7Czyb/uh-oh.png

:uhoh:

My budget is only £60k p/w so it's not even like I have a lot left in the bank to spend on improvements. And with money being fairly tight, especially with the ongoing upgrades to the youth facilities, it brings me to my final, and most irritating, problem that I have so far encountered this season - the courting of young Dimitris Papadopoulos.

He genuinely looks like he will be a Premier League talent soon, and curled in two free-kicks on the opening day in our 2-1 win over Southend. We had a couple of small bids from PL teams, around the £2m mark. But it wasn't until this last week, after the English window closed, that I've had an issue. Marseille came in with a £1.5m bid, rising to £3.1m, and I rejected it outright. And he immediately kicked off, no matter how many team leaders I asked to have a chat with him. Understandable - Marseille are in the Champions League and we'll be fighting relegation in the Championship. But I couldn't lose a player of his talent without the ability to replace him.

And now they're back in again - this time offering a non-negotiable £3.8m, rising to £8.75m if he plays 10 league games and gets an international cap. It's big money for a really unsettled player. But he's my best player in the squad and I can't replace him until January. I've stalled the offer as I really don't know what to do.

Just the small matter of Brighton away first - they've only got a front 3 valued at £112m.... IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP....

[Adramelch]

I just decline those offers thommo and have them kick up a fuss. As soon as the window (for Marseille in that case) is closed, they just drop their interest and said player is "happy to stay". Or do what Bayern seem to be doing in my save, where they have a bunch of 20yo request transfers and yet the asking price is like 10 times the player's value.

As for the Brighton thing, the difference in level when a (relatively) big team gets relegated from the Premier League is astonishing.

I like the look of that striker, a bit of an all-rounder which tends to work very good in the lower leagues. Do you have a senior affiliate? If not I'd definitely ask for one and try and get a club from the bottom half-ish of the Premier League. Big clubs are kind of a bust when your reputation lags behind that much as their youngsters just don't want to play for you.

[Raoul Duke]

Yeah, loving that.

It might just be confirmation bias, but I'm finding work rate and determination to be so useful in this game. 32+ for both combined and the player in question seems to perform so well, irrespective of their technicals, Reis Bartlett aside.

I always prioritise those and Natural Fitness - anyone who doesn't have a decent level in them won't get signed. For me they're the core fundamentals of a good player.

[Shindig]

A FM page I follow on Instagram posted a challenge to win the Premier League with Rushden & Diamonds on CM01/02 before FM22 is out so I'm playing that. The only rules are you can't sign Tsigalko, Kerr or To Maderia. :harold:

Pffft. Joao Paiva, Eldar Hadzimehmedovic and Kim Kallstrom will make fine back-ups.

[Baz]

Paiva’s not in if it you patch to .68 (which I have cos I’m not a doof) :(

[Manc]

Kim Kallstrom was the absolute nuts year on year. Researcher had to be on the take.

[thommo]

I just decline those offers thommo and have them kick up a fuss. As soon as the window (for Marseille in that case) is closed, they just drop their interest and said player is "happy to stay". Or do what Bayern seem to be doing in my save, where they have a bunch of 20yo request transfers and yet the asking price is like 10 times the player's value.

As for the Brighton thing, the difference in level when a (relatively) big team gets relegated from the Premier League is astonishing.

I like the look of that striker, a bit of an all-rounder which tends to work very good in the lower leagues. Do you have a senior affiliate? If not I'd definitely ask for one and try and get a club from the bottom half-ish of the Premier League. Big clubs are kind of a bust when your reputation lags behind that much as their youngsters just don't want to play for you.

I rejected the bid but it did take a lot of thought. Our current balance is under £2m and it would have been a massive amount of money for a club of our size, but he's too valuable right now and has 3 years left on his deal, so we'll see how it goes. Into September and he's still unhappy for now.

We ended up losing 1-0 to Brighton. Considering they had 30 shots to our 1, not a bad effort. :D

Regarding a senior affiliate, I have asked the board so many times for one. Each time they agree, and then come back a few weeks later saying they haven't been able to find a suitable club. Extremely frustrating, to say the least.

[Adramelch]

Might be a reputation thing, where no Premier League club wants an affiliate with League Two(-ish) reputation, which based on my experience you're probably at and you can't have an affiliate in the same division so no championship clubs either.

[Yevrah]

Oxford City Season 2038/39 Summer Update - BPLSBB

After scouring the market I failed to find anyone knew I wanted to get so the only players to join us were the two young uns that had fallen foul of the limit on forrin under-21s joining in January and Jose Carlos Ruiz, who we signed permanently from Valencia for a record (for us of) £23m. Many loans out were done and we ended the summer with with a 24 man first team squad that was hopefully ready to go. And third time lucky (well fourth really) we started a Premier League season superbly.

https://i.postimg.cc/7hmzSdtS/Fixtures.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

So pleased to win the first four (including a last 5 minute turnaround against Everton), our second team then lost to Villa before we encountered some next level bullshit against Man City. 3-0 down inside 8 minutes we were utterly ruined for 90 minutes. That seemed to spill over into the Chelsea game and when we found ourselves 2-0 down against Southampton I was fearing the worst. Shaun Hines got us back on track and another 7 points from the next 9 puts us 2nd.

https://i.postimg.cc/pT9Vs7dD/League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

I'm really only looking at the gap between us and 7th at the moment (which would be nice to have been more than six points given our start), but if we're still in the top four come the turn of the year I might start to believe we could actually make the Champions League.

[Adramelch]

I see so many crazy good forwards that are cheap as fuck and I genuinely need to muster all my strength to not sign them.

Insanely good start there Yev. Not like you had that easy a schedule either.

[Yevrah]

Had a similar issue in the window above and too had to use all the will power I could muster.

[Baz]

https://i.imgur.com/Mk7IqnC.png

What a bunch of lads.

[Shindig]

Simon Grayson's never had it so good.

[Adramelch]

In other news we are now the 13th highest English club reputation-wise. Finally. I imagine Europe will increase that even more, but let's see.

[Yevrah]

That's four stars, isn't it? I am so jealous.

Will every player bar those at top 5 nation Champions League clubs now join you?

[Adramelch]

It's just below 4 stars. Haven't tried to sign anyone of note this summer, so I couldn't tell you. The one big signing I went for ended up choosing Chelsea over us which makes sense. I didn't bother this summer, but I reckon next summer I'll have to put in a lot of work on sorting out the abundance of foreigners in our squad, seeing as we've been "abusing" the u21 rule so far but most of them are starting to pass that age threshold.

[Yevrah]

I'm in a similar boat. I need good English talent and a fair bit of it quite soon.

[Baz]

Jeez, playing 01/02 again has really highlighted how clunky FM is nowadays and killed my enthusiasm for FM22.

[Adramelch]

Yeah modern versions have so much unnecessary clutter.

[Yevrah]

https://i.postimg.cc/FRS0D6Sw/Stadium.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

An increase of 5,000 seats. :moop: We fill the current stadium every single week. Utter morons.

[Baz]

https://i.imgur.com/27EoMBH.png

Not sure how this has happened!

[Danny]

Behave :D

[Shindig]

So does that give you European football?

[Baz]

442Baz really was the worlds greatest. A legacy I'm proud of.

And err I dunno? United are on course to win the Premier League though.

[Danny]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001%E2%80%9302_FA_Premier_League

Chelsea got a UEFA Cup spot as runners up in the FA Cup that year. That was the "its only Ray Parlour" final.

[Baz]

Awesome! Money in the bag.

Okoronkwo has just agreed terms too. Division 2 won't know what's hit it. :drool:

[Shindig]

Millwall in 2005 as well.

[Adramelch]

Yeah until like 5-6 years ago the runner-up got to Europe if the winner made it through the league.

[Danny]

Generated player finder was the goat back in the day. Pretty sure Chris Waddle was still on 01/02. Picking up his regen the next season :drool:

[Baz]

Generated player finder was the goat back in the day. Pretty sure Chris Waddle was still on 01/02. Picking up his regen the next season :drool:

Oh yes. I made sure to make a snapshot as soon as I created my game. :D Roberto Baggio is the one. Or Bebeto.

[Danny]

I feel like Waddle and Hassler were the very early ones I defaulted to, maybe even Ian Rush but I am not 100%

[niko_cee]

Was it still possible to have the old player on your shortlist in 01/02 and have their regen replace them on the list once they retired?

[Shindig]

I don't think so. Even giving them a nickname didn't carry with the regen.

[Yevrah]

Oxford City Season 2038/39

Taking things up to he turn of the year.

https://i.postimg.cc/Dyhrns8s/Fixtures-2.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

20 for Hines. :cool:

And I guess we're in a race for top 4. :eyemouth:

https://i.postimg.cc/0NSjzW4N/League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Bam]

I don't think so. Even giving them a nickname didn't carry with the regen.

I seem to remember it did but got patched. If you didn't have access to the internet at the time you could by the CM magazine from a newsagent that had a disk you could use to patch the game with. :cab:

[Adramelch]

Any bogey teams Yev? Seems like Burnley have definitely had our number over the years. 7 points in 10 games against them with just the solitary win (which surprisingly was a 4-0 at their place), but also a 4-1 and two 5-1 losses.

[Yevrah]

Brentford. Shower of absolute cunts. I pray they never make it to the Premier League.

[Adramelch]

https://i.gyazo.com/cd945f098e90c7f7e6e5bdaee6167fdf.png

Not very lucky with the Europa League draw if I may say so. We were seeded 3rd so we were never getting something piss easy, but both Milan and Anderlecht were the strongest teams in their respective seedings.

[Giggles]

Can you still get 01/02? I’ve lost my disc.

[niko_cee]

I think I've got a disc knocking around somewhere, although I've not had a drive to run it on for years. You must be able to get it in some other form.

[Dark Soldier]

Can you still get 01/02? I’ve lost my disc.

Yeah its actually free to anyone, SI made it freeware.

Everything is here on Downloads section:

https://champman0102.net/index.php?sid=0c756594663deb061ae9e11d4192b2a5

Tried it myself a while back and with a patch setting gamespeed to max you can do a season in like an hour.

[Dark Soldier]

I recommend this patcher:

https://champman0102.net/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=1392

[Dark Soldier]

And here's tactics from the original The Dugout, including ones from myself, WWW, FC and others:

https://www.champman0102.net/viewtopic.php?t=1014

[Baz]

I presume 442Baz is in there?

[Panda Bear]

And here's tactics from the original The Dugout, including ones from myself, WWW, FC and others:

https://www.champman0102.net/viewtopic.php?t=1014WWW's wife is petite but has really big jugs, he'll have you know.

[Dark Soldier]

I presume 442Baz is in there?

of course

[Adramelch]

https://i.gyazo.com/e93ffd5fc76d49bc29ba6187f500c063.png

That Diaz boy seems a bit good. Just a casual 13 goals in 4 games.

Also just had a penalty shootout of only 14 penalties per side:

https://i.gyazo.com/44f7ae205cc47b44a99c4c43e6fb3aae.png

[SvN]

What year is it? Is that THE Andy Robertson?#

And lol at Joel Ndlovu :D

[Yevrah]

End of January and we're still in the hunt!

https://i.postimg.cc/NMpT7zp8/League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Baz]

What year is it? Is that THE Andy Robertson?#

And lol at Joel Ndlovu :D
It is Andy Robinson, not Andrew Robertson.

[Adramelch]

Yeah, and it's 2034 anyway.

[SvN]

Not sure how I misread that so badly.

Out of interest, what year did Robertson retire?

[Adramelch]

He actually retired this past summer. :D

https://i.gyazo.com/44def3cf3a7454323dde511651af079e.png

[Yevrah]

The Champions League is slipping away.

https://i.postimg.cc/02dKqNTW/League-Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

But, the FA Cup is ON!

https://i.postimg.cc/3xxN5FCN/FA-Cup.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

https://i.postimg.cc/mkSLKPP7/Semi-Final.jpg (https://postimg.cc/64yxv5LQ)

[Mellberg]

Taking your frustrations out on my fair city there, Yev.

[Yevrah]

Had to be done Mells. :devil:

[Yevrah]

All to play for...

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

[Adramelch]

That United game though. Tense stuff.

[igor_balis]

Is it 1st-4th all straight into CL group stage and 5th straight into Europa group stage, Yevrah?

[Yevrah]

First 4 go into the CL groups for definite, not sure about the Wafer qualifying. I quite fancy the Conference league if we don't make the CL though. Albeit maybe we're already guaranteed Europa due to Liverpool being in the CL.

This shit was much easier to follow when I was younger.

[Adramelch]

Yeah, he has Europa group stage guaranteed essentially (either he wins the cup or Liverpool do and the spot goes to 6th in the league) and fighting for Champions League. I think 4th going straight to the Group Stage depends on who wins the Europa League, but for the most part it is the case.

You're not mathematically guaranteed since the runner-up doesn't get the winner's spot anymore, but it'd be pretty suicidal to not make it from here, given your schedule as well.

[igor_balis]

I think I'd almost rather get Europa, if only because I always felt qualifying for the champs league "ahead of schedule" sort of bypassed a fun bit of the save where you're pushing on from mid table to challengers.

[Yevrah]

Yeah, it'd be nice to play in all of the European trophies at some stage. Sounds like I've bypassed the Conference league, for this season at least.

[Yevrah]

We're running on empty....

https://i.postimg.cc/8cRT8j0T/Fixtures.jpg (https://postimages.org/)[/url]

And the CL is definitely out.

[url=https://postimages.org/]https://i.postimg.cc/Dyh2rPS0/League-Table.jpg (https://keyboardtester.co/keyboard-tester)

[Adramelch]

At least Europe is guaranteed by the looks of it?

[Yevrah]

It is now. We beat West Ham 3-0 and Bournemouth draw with Leicester so 5th is secured. It has come at a cost though.

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

[Yevrah]

https://i.postimg.cc/5t5dp66J/1.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Yevrah]

https://i.postimg.cc/3JksVLdn/2.jpg (https://postimg.cc/RNzpnL1H)

[Baz]

\o/

[thommo]

Great season by the sounds of it, and class to top it off with a trophy. Now comes the fun of mounting a European challenge while keeping up in the league. How many goals did Hines end up with this season?

[Adramelch]

So the first half of the season is over and, boy what a ride it's been:

https://i.gyazo.com/c1c07f11f3179882902c92e0a72f2ea8.png

Given our notorious habit of garbage finishes to the season, I don't think it will amount to much (especially since we have most of the top 7 away from home still), but I will enjoy it while it lasts.

Things were just as good in Europe, as it turns out my fears of getting a tough group were unwarranted:

https://i.gyazo.com/a8c880fe70ed85d2e29d4be8f83574f8.png

We even fielded the second string team at home to Portimonense and away at Anderlecht, while I even fielded some youth in the last game away in Portugal. We ended up paying for that, but the game was meaningless anyway as we had secured first place after 4 games. A good thing did come out of that game though:

https://i.gyazo.com/c07dc3866fc001d1dac334237bb06060.png

Club legend in the making. He is the 5-star winger we got through our system last winter. He even bagged an assist.

In terms of players, Diaz has been on fire again with 28 goals in 22 games (18 in the league and 10 in Europe), while Bartos took advantage of injuries and got his way back into the first team and hasn't left since, contributing 13 goals and 8 assists in 22 games. The rest of the squad have all played their parts, to the point where I'd be fine if we stayed with that squad as is for the next few years (but it's FM so we all know that's not happening). We seem to have relatively sorted our defensive woes, with 32 goals conceded in 27 games, while we our attacking record is one that any team would be jealous of, with a stunning 75 goals, averaging just below 3 goals a game.

A solution for our lack of British players even presented itself, as 5 players that were in the first team when we first got into the Premier League are still here (in backup roles now) and they will all have gained citizenship by the end of next summer. My original plan was to replace our backup players with British ones next summer, but it seems things will just fall into place. By the time those players won't be at the standard I want in my squad, the others like Bartos etc will have gained citizenship, and hopefully some of our youth will break into the first team, so I reckon it won't be much of a problem for the foreeseeable future.

[Panda Bear]

https://i.imgur.com/HBRdXQP.png
I tied against Norwich a week ago. :cool:

[Panda Bear]

Update: We won our remaining two matches. So did Liverpool.

[Giggles]

Yeah its actually free to anyone, SI made it freeware.

Everything is here on Downloads section:

https://champman0102.net/index.php?sid=0c756594663deb061ae9e11d4192b2a5

Tried it myself a while back and with a patch setting gamespeed to max you can do a season in like an hour.

Sound job thanks.

[Raoul Duke]

This seems like a pretty cool addition: https://www.reddit.com/r/footballmanagergames/comments/q8rx2j/absolutely_huge_news/ - Dynamic Youth Ratings: the quality of a nation's youth coming through will change in relation to the team's standing. Means a Club & Country type game should be more viable long-term now

[Yevrah]

Indeed. That, is massive.

[Spikey M]

Finally, a change that actually improves the game. Assuming it works properly, obviously.

[Yevrah]

Great season by the sounds of it, and class to top it off with a trophy. Now comes the fun of mounting a European challenge while keeping up in the league. How many goals did Hines end up with this season?

He was BACK TO HIS BEST again.

https://i.postimg.cc/jd6rvXvD/Hines.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

:cool:

[Adramelch]

Any noticeable rep boost from the cup win?

[Yevrah]

Still 3 and a half stars sadly.

Players out of favour at big clubs are now interested in joining me though, so we're getting there.

[Yevrah]

We'll kick the roaring 40s off with a stadium that'll hold over 30,000 fans.

https://i.postimg.cc/jj73XFg7/Stadium.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

That almost feels like actual progress.

[John Arne]

I decided to start a quick new game before Fm22. Went with mega bucks Newcastle, and decided to buy English. Managed to get some quality second-tier players that should help us push into the Champions League.

Managed to offload a load of tripe, albeit for not much.

IN

https://gyazo.com/b167f1b3631ba727884231a22385be31.jpeg

OUT

https://gyazo.com/a10bd4a6fc8187b03a192bf07ef39d0d.jpeg

[Shindig]

Man, Joelinton for free. Fuck you. :D

[Spikey M]

I decided to start a quick new game before Fm22. Went with mega bucks Newcastle, and decided to buy English. Managed to get some quality second-tier players that should help us push into the Champions League.

Managed to offload a load of tripe, albeit for not much.

IN

https://gyazo.com/b167f1b3631ba727884231a22385be31.jpeg

OUT

https://gyazo.com/a10bd4a6fc8187b03a192bf07ef39d0d.jpeg

Is there an edit file for Billionaire Newcastle? Or did you do it yourself?

[John Arne]

Man, Joelinton for free. Fuck you. :D

:) Anything just to get him off the wage bill. Useless.

[John Arne]

Is there an edit file for Billionaire Newcastle? Or did you do it yourself?

There's one on Steam already.

[Spikey M]

There's one on Steam already.

Swish. Might have a quick go at that until the new one comes out too.

[Danny]

This seems like a pretty cool addition: https://www.reddit.com/r/footballmanagergames/comments/q8rx2j/absolutely_huge_news/ - Dynamic Youth Ratings: the quality of a nation's youth coming through will change in relation to the team's standing. Means a Club & Country type game should be more viable long-term now

I would have sworn this was already in the game. Maybe not as well as it should have been but still.

[John Arne]

I had also assumed that was in the game :D

Explains why my Aberdeen save never produced any decent youngsters.

[John Arne]

I still have Curtis Jones set to sign in the next few days, using up all my $550m transfer budget

https://gyazo.com/7497ed39b1a01f7a391b3591af33d34e.jpeg

[John Arne]

Summer spending over as Curtis Jones ($80m) and Chris Mepham ($28m) concludes our transfer business - just the $663m spent and $103m recouped from sales :drool:

Our first squad selection contains just 1 non-UK player, Frenchman ASM starting on the left. 8 debutants in the team, however, despite the lack of squad cohesion, Calvert-Lewin scores a hattrick on debut as we smash Brentford 4-1.

https://gyazo.com/db3743153bc19813097c51fdaf371f29.jpeg

[Adramelch]

Well this is tense:

https://i.gyazo.com/54bf9af5174bf66a75507592bdfd2e62.png

We play United, Arsenal play 18th placed Watford and City play Liverpool, all of us at home. As expected, Arsenal demolished Watford, however City only managed to draw against Liverpool meaning that all we needed was a draw against United to qualify for the CL:

https://i.gyazo.com/8174a74005900b5d624ebc0757b5a422.png

Our singular home loss of the season, with their goalkeeper being man of the match. :moop:
Still, as disappointed as I am that we didn't make it, we were 13 minutes away from qualifying, which, if you factor in the fact that we had all those extra Europa League games and that Diaz got injured for the last month or so, is really good and shows that we are up there with the best of them.

I have already spoiled the fact that we didn't make it to the CL, meaning that we didn't win the Europa League either, but we were relatively close as we easily beat AZ and Club Brugge to set up a semi-final against Lazio, who beat us 3-2 on aggregate in quite the infuriating series:

https://i.gyazo.com/7366ed8c039a1d7d56980c5e116d924b.png https://i.gyazo.com/255a2b657ee505a4eda50abe8afaf905.png

3 goals from long-shots for them while we hit the woodwork a majestic 5 times across the two games. They ended up losing to Arsenal in extra time in the final.

https://i.gyazo.com/064194c823186356269f4bff498ec62d.png

Diaz was in majestic form once again, picking up the Europa League Golden Boot with 13 goals in 8 games, while still losing to the same player in the league charts, despite scoring 32 goals. The "surprise" of the season was definitely Bartos though, who, after a mediocre first season and a below average second season, took advantage of some injuries and proved he can be a real asset. I am generally quite happy with all my players, with maybe Antunovic and Luce not living up to my expectations. While I won't actively be looking to replace them in the summer, I won't pass any good opportunities that might come our way.

We also had another good batch of youngsters come through our ranks:

https://i.gyazo.com/288ee43f5cf08feeea9a84eadba26b45.png

[Baz]

Spending all that and still having Karl Darliw.

[Yevrah]

Good effort Adra.

I see Liverpool are a relentless league winning force in your save too.

[Adramelch]

Yeah, won the league 7 times in the last 9 years (runner-up for the other two), as well as the CL 3 times.

On a separate note, is "isnt willing to talk due to a previous breakdown in talks" a thing in real life, and one that lasts for a month at that?

[igor_balis]

Brand awareness in the groupchat :cool:

https://i.ibb.co/Cn7zTzY/MILK1.png

https://i.ibb.co/rZ8FZ7w/MILK2.png

https://i.ibb.co/0YVK7zp/MILK3.png

[Baz]

https://i.imgur.com/IohlDm0.png

Alright, calm down dickhead.

[Yevrah]

Another trophy:

https://i.postimg.cc/RZ6s6gW3/Charity-Shield.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

I could get used to this...

[Baz]

Another season done here. There's major unrest in the camp. Agahowa and Kallstrom both came for one very good season but their clauses have been met so are off to Bayern for 7m and Celtic for 5m respectively. Welcome back anytime, lads.

The heroes:
https://i.imgur.com/kKIOBSf.png

The league:
https://i.imgur.com/TTFjcLN.png

We also got to the quarter final of the UEFA Cup :D and got bummed by Parma. It absolutely destroyed our fitness levels though. 65 games, man. 65! Goalkeeper played them all. :cool:

Actually was 66 games, which makes more sense mathematically. Pinheiro was suspended for the first game, but then didn't miss a minute after that.

[Yevrah]

That is awesome Baz. Feels good seeing that CM01/02 skin again.

[Adramelch]

What feels good is the distinct lack of tabs both at the top and on the left.

[Yevrah]

The tactic cracking fairy has definitely paid us a visit.

https://i.postimg.cc/05fxNyS6/Hines.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Such an easy start as well. Should have had 9 points from that lot.

[Yevrah]

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

Could have been a fair bit better given what was in the pots.

[Adramelch]

Was it just the tactic cracking fairy or did she bring her dear friend the finishing fairy with her?

Yeah that group looks fairly rough in that there are no obvious easy games.

[Smjffy]

Sees Oxford in Europe.

Rapidly goes back a few pages. WTF did I miss, Yev!?

[Smjffy]

Get Neil Mellor in, Baz.

[Yevrah]

Was it just the tactic cracking fairy or did she bring her dear friend the finishing fairy with her?

:D

The Burnley game was even on chances, about 9 each (so for them to score four was so lol), Wolves we shat our way passed and then Newcastle outclassed us. A change to the 4-2-4 it is.

[Yevrah]

Sees Oxford in Europe.

Rapidly goes back a few pages. WTF did I miss, Yev!?

Many things, it's been quite the ride.

The tldr is we finished 5th and won the FA Cup last season.

[thommo]

A small update for me - we've reached the second international break in October and we've adjusted pretty well so far. In fact at one point we were comfortably in 3rd, with wins over both Brentford and Aston Villa, but we've dropped off a little since, and haven't won in our last 5. Still, if I was offered this start at the beginning of the season, I would have taken it for sure.

https://i.ibb.co/L0qffjZ/s10-start.png

https://i.ibb.co/7WJk7fZ/s10-start-table.png

Fulham were relegated last season and are still spending £850k p/w on wages and yet have 8 points in 12 games. :D

I made a few more free transfer acquisitions to fill out the squad depth. In came a 34 year old DeAndre Yedlin to offer some cover at right-back, and a young Ethiopian international by the name of Samuel Mebratu, who only wanted £400 p/w and can fill in as the ball winner in midfield. Finally I picked up Padraig Walsh, a striker that I have been approaching and offering contracts to since June. 3 months without a club finally pushed him to drop his ridiculous wage demands, and he joins as our highest earner. A goal on his debut was a good start, albeit in a 4-1 loss, and he should offer a different dimension up top.

https://i.ibb.co/SBz31xT/Paddy.png

[Adramelch]

Is there a way to somehow put a player in between the centre of the pitch and the edge of the box when you are taking a corner? Virtually all the counter-attacks the opposition gets seem to be from the ball being cleared towards that part and my defenders being 20 yards further back.

Also I was going to say SI did a horrible job with VAR and the whole "interfering with play" thing, but let's be honest, that's how it is in real life too. :D

[Adramelch]

https://i.gyazo.com/d05a27f29c1be036cfb97e567be1396e.png

Just a league cup game where I fielded my second string but still.

[Giggles]

I dug out CM08 after. Was that post CM/FM split?

[Shindig]

By a few years, aye. 03/04 was the last one they worked together on. I've still got a copy of Football Manager 2005 somewhere.

[Yevrah]

Why did they split?

[Shindig]

Creative control. Both sides wanted more of it and SI wanted more royalties. So you end up with CM4 and 03/04 were completely busted.

[Giggles]

CM didn’t last too long I think. This one is a weak enough affair but it’s probably the era I was most into world soccer so it’s enjoyable enough. I’ve a young Luka Modric ripping it up for Liverpool.

[Yevrah]

Oxford City 2039/40 Mid Season Update - AND IT'S LIVE

4th season back in the Premier League and with the Wafer Cup to go at and a 30,000+ capacity stadium on the horizon, things were looking very promising.

Only two things of note happened in the window.

https://i.postimg.cc/nc3MzTJ8/Bernabich.jpg (https://postimg.cc/vc6G2rTX)

This LAD joined from the free transfer list, having been released by Inter. No pace whatsoever, but happy to be a fringe player which was much needed.

I also got involved with a protracted contract negotiation with Valpoort, which I have to give kudos to SI for as it felt like the sort of thing that happens in real life. Back and forth we went, with Valpoort starting by asking for £130k per week (I'm loathed to break the £100k barrier), refusing my offer, having a mini-tanty, coming back to the negotiating table, rejecting it again, asking for £160k, asking to leave, then asking to stay and finally, fucking finally, signing.

https://i.postimg.cc/hPDb6CrN/Valpoort.jpg (https://postimg.cc/c6zn8BPc)

With that done we reduced the number of loans out, to settle on a squad of 28 hopeful heroes to make an assault on five fronts.

BPLSBB

5th last year, we've had a cracking first half of the season, book ended by shite.

https://i.postimg.cc/3x7Rn6FD/PL.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Some brilliant wins and the nine game winning run was immense.

https://i.postimg.cc/dt9vt0GL/Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Not sure we've got enough in the tank to sustain a title challenge, but with a seven point gap to 4th I'd be disappointed if we didn't get the Champions League.

Domestic Cups

https://i.postimg.cc/BvTBRRr9/Cups.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Cracking to win the Charity Shield and take home the delicious hall of fame points. The Spurs loss in the League Cup was annoying and the start of our weak end to the calendar year. Another Premier League team drawn in the FA Cup, we seem to do that very often, more than is statistically likely. But as holders, we'll be taking it seriously.

Europ

https://i.postimg.cc/d0sBdwHH/Erop.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

Nailed our wafer cup group, which was cracking and raked in about £4m prize money.

https://i.postimg.cc/9QnMPB16/Erup-h.jpg (https://postimg.cc/zyT88Ks7)

Topping it means we skip straight to the last 16, but on the downside PSG muffed their CL group and are a potential opponent at some stage. Is the draw for the last 16 random?

The finances remain in rude health as we sit on £182m in the bank, but contract renewals have pushed the wage expenditure up to £1.3m per week. I remember a time when we wouldn't spend that in a year.

[Shindig]

Burn a bitch? :D

[Yevrah]

I hadn't seem that. :D

[Yevrah]

https://i.postimg.cc/HLQsX1NN/Graph.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Manc]

Creative control. Both sides wanted more of it and SI wanted more royalties. So you end up with CM4 and 03/04 were completely busted.

I rate 03/04 quite highly.

[Yevrah]

PSG are going in hard for my Belgian full back. Just rejected a £70m bid but he has a min fee clause of £103m and I suspect as we're only 5 days into the window they're going to meet it.

[Shindig]

I just remember it as the two games where you could break the engine with 1930's tactics. :D I think I took Newcastle to a Champions League win in my first season. Hugo Viana scoring about 50 in a five man attack.

[Gray Fox]

Was 03/04 the one that was a complete write off, and they knew it, so instead of starting over they just released it and were done with it?

[Adramelch]

PSG are going in hard for my Belgian full back. Just rejected a £70m bid but he has a min fee clause of £103m and I suspect as we're only 5 days into the window they're going to meet it.

As tough a pill as it would be to swallow, having to play with my back-up full back for half a season, I think 100 million in the coffers would probably soften the pain a bit.

[Gray Fox]

PSG are going in hard for my Belgian full back. Just rejected a £70m bid but he has a min fee clause of £103m and I suspect as we're only 5 days into the window they're going to meet it.

I'd say draw up a list of targets now.

That money will pay for your next 3 stadium upgrades at least, even if you buy a replacement.

[thommo]

Yev, how did that Russian lad develop? The Belgian full-back always looked like he'd be a star, but I had high hopes for the Russian wing-back too.

[Giggles]

I cannot get that CM01/02 to install on my laptop at all. Baz did it just work for you or did you have to do anything different?

[Foe]

This has been great reading as an observer.

I’ve had one FM game of note on FM09 I think with arsenal which lasted decades, never had the motivation to manage a rise from the depths. Must be brutal in these new versions.

Might dig out fm09 next week when I’m on leave and see if can run it on my beat up MacBook Pro.

[Yevrah]

Yev, how did that Russian lad develop? The Belgian full-back always looked like he'd be a star, but I had high hopes for the Russian wing-back too.

https://i.postimg.cc/MKm280Lh/Winger.jpg (https://postimg.cc/VdvHqtmR)

He's now in the first team squad (with limited opportunities) having been out on loan for the last two seasons at Shrewsbury. Not great yet but still promising. I'm still re-training him as a winger on the back of your shout that sounded like a great one.

[Yevrah]

I'd say draw up a list of targets now.

That money will pay for your next 3 stadium upgrades at least, even if you buy a replacement.

The money in the Premier League is so nuts that we don't really need it, as much as it would soften the blow. Finishing top 5 is more than £130m alone in tv and prize money. I would like to get £1bn in the bank at some point though. Never done that in a save before.

[Adramelch]

Topping it means we skip straight to the last 16, but on the downside PSG muffed their CL group and are a potential opponent at some stage. Is the draw for the last 16 random?

Just that EL group winners are seeded while the first knockout round winners are unseeded as far as I know.

[Smjffy]

Wrexham FC - 2035/36 Mid-Season Review

(I decided to just stick at it until the next version)

Arsenal top the division and seem pretty darn solid at the moment, I'm sure they'll drop points but as to whether ourselves or Liverpool will capitalise is another thing. Man City's season being a bit of an odd one too. Draw specialists.

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

Erling Haaland is still going strong for Liverpool and has now scored 537 times in his time at the club (£95M back in 2022). We do however have our own in both Craig Cummings and Alec Blake who is now for sure going to eclipse whatever Cummings has done. Even internationally he's making waves. Cummings has 35 goals in 73 games for Wales, Blake now has 23 in 35 for the national team. Liverpool and Chelsea linked with him repeatedly, Liverpool also pissing me off sending TAA and Haaland out to the press in a bit to steal Brett Parker. Parker himself has found his position up front removed and he's now stuck out on the wing.

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

Nice to see Peter Blackwell doing well for West Ham. He's now vice captain and has scored more for the London club in three years than he did for us in ten.

Domestically we might just take the EFL Cup again and I'll be a little miffed if we don't given how the quarter finals went.

https://i.imgur.com/E45fz6U.png

Brentford and 'Boro are both Championship teams but then Newcastle (along with Arsenal and Everton) are one of the three teams to have defeated us thus far so we'll see. Confident though.

In Europe we were the groups second seeds, Rangers the first but it was no surprise we qualified given the strength of those involved. We've drawn Dortmund in the knock out round so we'll see if we can make amends for last seasons final defeat.

https://i.imgur.com/d9cnEBC.png

We've sent over thirty youngsters out on loan this season and we've left ourselves short at times so if the injuries start rolling in then we may be up shit street but thus far the lads are doing grand.

The Run Down.

The six players signed weren't actually signed, I simply missed the youth intake so I had to sign them up but otherwise, not a single one.

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

League

https://i.imgur.com/Vm1RrKC.png

EFL Cup

https://i.imgur.com/Fk3pG6c.png

FA Cup

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

Community Shield

https://i.imgur.com/f1G1rhi.png

EFL Trophy

https://i.imgur.com/YEtV94x.png

Europa Conference League

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

Europa League

https://i.imgur.com/AQd7GWV.png

Champions League

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

Super Cup

https://i.imgur.com/7Gt4NrY.png

International Champions Cup

https://i.imgur.com/YZswsp9.png

Facilities -

We're at Anfield whilst The Racecourse gets revamped but a steady improvement in the size of the ground. I would like to outright buy it at some point.

https://i.imgur.com/vBIg5nZ.png

Finances

https://i.imgur.com/akJRzu0.png

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

https://i.imgur.com/lpBY3Tw.png

Club Info

https://i.imgur.com/CGo4umF.png

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

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

[Adramelch]

So, we're at the halfway point of the season, so I figured it's time for an update. First a few of our signings:

https://i.gyazo.com/0ae0f421883e918dede45a34c2264eab.png

Our scouts brought this guy to my attention, and, with him being available for 15.5m (half of which will be spread over the next few years), I just couldn't say no. What this means, however, is that "operation make Bartos play at yet another position" is still a go. Ramirez will slot in on the left, with Bartos playing behind the striker. He started last season there due to injuries and he did pretty well so it's not completely new for him, but still, this guy could have gone on to have a great career if he hadn't agree to play for a mental manager like me.

https://i.gyazo.com/6a804fef715e25e6b7937f1d3d39f1dc.png

Speaking of left wingers, I also brought this guy in for just over 7m. He's not anything special, but comes with heaps of potential and is at a similar level as Markovic, who we offloaded for 25m, so I'll take that deal any day of the week.

https://i.gyazo.com/53f03372d6e928d56626d33e461e0183.png

Yet another left-back who holds an English passport. This guy found himself on the transfer list at City, so we came in and scooped him up for a fairly pricey 22m. Still, he is an improvement over our previous starter and we managed to offload our previous backup for 10m so not that big an expense all things considered.

https://i.gyazo.com/538501f1be51a16647ae2cd04be1f77f.png

Finally, this guy joined us for 9m, to add some depth in the centre of the defence, since Stankovic was stagnating and we ended up selling him for 14m.

And now on to the action:

https://i.gyazo.com/bbea296a8cd762a9ac0e54613244cacc.png

Much like Yev's Oxford (City), we've put ourselves at a good position to challenge for a Champions League spot. We are essentially 7 points ahead of our competition, as, whatever steroids Sheff Wed are on, I expect won't last long. We've been quite good in terms of performances with some high profile wins with a 6-3 home win against City and a 4-2 win at Anfield being the highlights. At the same time, we've had some very disappointing performances at home, with draws against Swansea, West Brom and Bristol City, the latter coming with a 96th minute equaliser in our last game. We suffered the same fate at Fulham as they equalised in the 94th minute. We play a high tempo/pressing system so generally the players are spent towards the end of the games, but it's still infuriating to concede at the very end, especially since they typically come from the "over the top" balls that have been prevalent in the last few versions of the game. On that matter, I have to say I am starting to reminisce over the "superkeeping" days of old. With that rant over, I am not holding my hopes too high in terms of us finishing in the top 4, as we are notorious for our weak runs late in the season, but at least this time around, we have a more reasonable schedule ahead, having 6 of the top 10 (well 9 if you exclude us) teams at home.

As for Europe, the group was a cakewalk once again:

https://i.gyazo.com/7be8d8ee6ff39b507796b40c30cfbc7a.png

We conceded 4 goals from 5 shots on target (and a combined 0.63 xG) in those two away games, which was infuriating to watch, but I guess, in the end, a win is a win. City and Chelsea are still in the competition so it'll be a tough ask for us, however we won't be meeting them until the quarters so that is the minimum I expect from us.

In terms of players, Diaz has been his usual self with 23 goals in equal games, 19 of which in the league. Bartos has had troubles continuing from where he left off last season, but that was to be expected since he moved to a new position. Still him, Reyes and Ramirez have contributed a total of 20 goals and 18 assists between them so I am quite happy.

There was talk of a tycoon taking over the club in October, but thankfully it did not come to fruition. Still, we are amidst a takeover from a consortium at the moment, which I hope resolves itself soon enough as we're nearing January and the transfer of a goalkeeper I had lined up fell through due to the embargo.

[Yevrah]

I too would hate it if a Tycoon took over. Would completely ruin the whole save really.

[Adramelch]

I'd be ok(-ish) with it a few seasons later, after we've won the league once or twice, but it'd definitely leave me with a sour taste if it happened now.

[Adramelch]

We of course lost the aforementioned goalkeeper to Chelsea who snapped him up while we were under the transfer embargo. And of course he chose to go there as a backup over first-team status with us (and more money). :moop:

On a different note, an English cup has the Champions League 10 times out of the 15 seasons in my save, with a ridiculous 7 different clubs in that list (City, United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Southampton and Everton).

[Yevrah]

A tough run of games.

https://i.postimg.cc/brmMwpQt/League.jpg (https://postimages.org/)[/url]

[url=https://postimages.org/]https://i.postimg.cc/tRdnm75T/Table.jpg (https://banks-nearme.com/huntington-bank-near-me)

Grrr.

And this is both awesome and annoying.

https://i.postimg.cc/SND2k5Hb/Europa-League.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Adramelch]

They were a total pushover when we met them last season, with 5-1 wins in both games, albeit in the group stage.

[Dark Soldier]

Look at the state of this filth at Inter, Ronaldo mk.2:

https://i.gyazo.com/ba310017838ce3c54d22c70fa9bb6260.png

[Yevrah]

Jesus, he is immense.

[Adramelch]

Only 19 for Determination though, that just ain't gonna cut it I'm afraid.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

He's bonkers.

[Dark Soldier]

I'm at Barca after they came knocking, tempted to just spunk every penny I have on him, not that I need a striker. I currently have Rashford :henn0rz:

[Yevrah]

https://i.postimg.cc/7Yv2YdH5/1000.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

:cool:

[Yevrah]

1-0 win (3-2) on agg against Milan and we're in the Quarter-Finals.

https://i.postimg.cc/Tw6PXMqx/PSG.jpg (https://postimg.cc/06Vvp4BX)

PSG in the semi's should we make it.

[Baz]

I cannot get that CM01/02 to install on my laptop at all. Baz did it just work for you or did you have to do anything different?

Was dead easy. And the .68 patch. I already had the nocd crack too cos I’m weird so all straight forward. But gamecopyworld will have it, if it still exists.

Does the Setup just do nothing? Cos Mike had that problem and clicking a button in Task Manager sorted it. He sent me this: https://imgur.com/a/b9gWTs7

[Giggles]

I had tried that too and it ended up working in some XP comparability thing.

[Baz]

I had tried that too and it ended up working in some XP comparability thing.

Get yourself 442Baz and enjoy yourself. :thbup:

[Yevrah]

https://i.postimg.cc/fLCwd81Q/Europa-League.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

:uhoh:

[Smjffy]

:drool: We have a 100% recod against PSG.

Played 1. Won 1. :D Good luck, Yev.

I'll be needing some myself.

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

Arsenal have Chelsea, Everton and Sheff United left. We have West Ham and Tottenham.

[Adramelch]

Yeah that seems a bit tough. Best case scenario needs Arsenal to drop 4 points.

[Yevrah]

First leg down.

https://i.postimg.cc/gjRQbjdc/Europa-League.jpg (https://postimg.cc/2Lk24zVg)

[Adramelch]

My semis last season were us, Lazio, Leeds and Arsenal. Yours seem bonkers in comparison.

[Yevrah]

Gutted.

https://i.postimg.cc/mgMY39jg/Europa-League.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

I knew after about 20 minutes that we were bound to lose on away goals.

And here's the league table.

https://i.postimg.cc/kMpKksh5/Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

[Adramelch]

Assuming the favourites win their ties our run is Real Sociedad>Porto>City>Chelsea, so I figure best case scenario is the semis for us as we don't have the squad for all those big games.

They need to do something with chance conversion at some point. Sure it should happen here and there, but it definitely happens way too often in FM.

[Smjffy]

Wrexham Football Club - 2035/2036

League
Arsenal retained the title, the eight point gap too much to bridge in the end which is sad as we won 10 out of our final 12 league games, the four points we dropped against Sheffield United (home) and Chelsea (away) sticking out in the final run in. We did however claim our highest points tally in the top flight, two more than when we won it ourselves in 2033/34. Defensively we made huge improvements this season compared to the previous lot and conceded under 30 league goals, the last time we did that was the season we rinsed League One ten years ago.

Alec Blake took the golden boot with 29 league games but he also took the piss too winning the English Footballer of the Year, Players Player of the Year, Players Young Player of the Year and the Supporters Player of the Year award. Not bad!

Here's hoping he smashes the Euro's in the summer as Wales have to be one of the favourites.

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

EFL Cup

The big boys all going out in the quarter finals opened up our route to the final and it would have been criminal had we not won the entire thing from that point. Thankfully we did, the youngsters doing us well in the semi finals, the final being so one sided it wasn't worth playing. Newcastle outspent the entire division last season but found themselves relegated on the last day. Since Bruce left, Vincent Kompany, Nuno Santo, Filippo Inzaghi, Luis Freire and for the last two months, Arne Slot. :D Either way, they are gone and we claimed our third EFL Cup. We've reached the final four times in nine seasons but you know, EFL init.

https://i.imgur.com/x6lcK0N.png

FA Cup

Beating Liverpool, Everton and Man United to claim our first ever FA Cup was nice, clubs with a bit of history about them throughout the run. Blake being Blake but the FA Cup was mostly about Blessing who tbh is overpaid, rated highly but not entirely sure what he even brings to my team except he's influential so I have to be delicate with the little flower.

https://i.imgur.com/P9CwRwa.png

The success gained a small measure of revenge after last seasons Champions League final loss, an experience Man United themselves felt only days ago as Arsenal beat them on penalties. No Champions League next season for either Manchester club.

Talking of....

Champions League

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

F'kin Arsenal. :moop: Our group was straight forward, the victories over Dortmund much the same but Solomon Benjamin's 70"minute strike for The Gunners dumped us out on away goals. Gutting but they then went on to win it so not so shameful losing to the eventual champions, right? Right?!

Next season is going to be of change. We deliberately loaned most the youngsters out this time round and those who won't make the grade will be sold in the summer. I really want to add a few of the many awesome looking players around but I've got this far so we might as well keep it as YDWAWK, which of course you can as we've done it.

Next I will start from the very beginning.

The Class of 2021.

[Yevrah]

It's so tough maintaining a challenge on all fronts.

Final table.

https://i.postimg.cc/cLRWnsK8/Table.jpg (https://postimages.org/)

9 points more than last year but 5th again. Not bad, not great.

[Adramelch]

It's heavier rotation that's needed and I doubt either of our squads can afford it. Sure I'll field the second string in the cups and pointless European games, and I have decent faith in my backups to fill in for injuries and the likes but I will always pick my strongest XI when possible in the league and it ends up costing in the long term.

I think given how easy the Europa League groups have been for me and you, the play is to definitely rest players even in away games and the likes. Also completely write the cups off, until Champions League is a guarantee.

[igor_balis]

Igor came, saw and conquered in Liberia.

One season, one domestic title.

Liberian press did ask "Do you consider your title legitimate after you ragequit the game after losing your penultimate game of the season 3-2 after leading 2-0?", but he made the very valid argument that it wouldn't have happened in the first place if he hadn't been 2 bottles of cheap red wine down and being a bit ZANY with the tactics. Canon or not, you can decide. Either way, this is where Igor stands after his 4th year in West Africa:

https://i.ibb.co/q7K0nBz/career1.png

https://i.ibb.co/k5nZ4C2/career2.png


Currently waiting to hear back from the team in Guinea-Bissau he's applied to be manager of.

[Gray Fox]

The Thursday-Sunday rotation is horrible to maintain. Once the domestic cups come into it your team tires our real quick unless you have amazing depth.

[igor_balis]

The Thursday-Sunday rotation is horrible to maintain. Once the domestic cups come into it your team tires our real quick unless you have amazing depth.

Get over to West Africa mate, half the leagues last about 20 games. I think it will be incredibly difficult to stomach the 60 game seasons in long-term English saves after this. The triple punch of pre-season staff and transfer fuckery, early international break and league cup 1st round makes me feel ill.

[Adramelch]

Also becomes easier when you start building your UEFA coefficient, meaning easier groups, so more opportunities to rest players. Sadly after one season you will still be seeded 3rd, but after two we'll probably get bumped up to 2nd.

Until then, just sacrifice the cups, as well as some of the group games.

[Yevrah]

Best 11 after 20 years at City.

https://i.postimg.cc/zfXH32dK/Best-11.jpg (https://postimg.cc/gxQ2Tsb2)

[Adramelch]

Just had a player sent off for being the last man and a penalty be awarded. Someone should inform SI of how the rules work nowadays.

[Baz]

Simon Grayson's never had it so good.

https://i.imgur.com/St8gXjR.png

He needs to fuck off.

[Adramelch]

The Thursday-Sunday rotation is horrible to maintain. Once the domestic cups come into it your team tires our real quick unless you have amazing depth.

Thursday-Sunday is one thing, this is another:

https://i.gyazo.com/ca9e3fa68bec8e1892bcc8b1c34482b4.png

Been happening in FM ever since I can remember. Last 4 are all league games.

[Yevrah]

Indeed. The stuff nightmares are made of.

[Smjffy]

The Class of 2021.

In the summer of 2020, Wrexham FC announced it would rely on its brand spanking new youth academy, courtesy of new chairman, Hollywood movie start, Ryan Reynolds. It was a sure fire success, a box office hit so to speak. Here is the first intake.

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

Skimming's was our number one goalkeeper back in 2023/24 before eventually being displaced midway through the following season. He stayed at the club for 13 years before a loan move to League Two Crawley encouraged QPR to take a punt. £160K and no starts over two years suggests he made a poor decision. Just 91 career starts in fifteen years...he's stole a living, really.

https://i.imgur.com/h00wRtK.png

After ten years at the club, Osian made a £30M move to German club Hertha Berlin in 2029, two seasons in the Bundesliga was followed by a £41M move to Inter Milan which saw him win the Serie A title and was a star performer in the European Championships as Wales conquered all. Chelsea brought him back to the Premier League last season and he's now their regular in either full back position.

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

We lost Sam to Southampton back in 2022 as the board deemed the £5.5M bid to be too good to refuse. With the exception of a loan move to Bristol, the midfielder didn't really set the world alight on the coast but the Saints still profited when selling him to Marseille in 2031 for £22.5M. Another European Championship winner with Wales although his only other honour is the Coupe de France which he claimed four years ago now.

https://i.imgur.com/1OEI5oL.png

Glyn left Norwich and if I'm not mistaken, maximised all the add ons so the eventual fee was £16M. He adjusted to the Premier League pretty swiftly scoring eight times before sealing a £46M move to German champions, Bayern. Five seasons in Munich were followed by five in Dortmund where he remains. We bumped into one another only a few months ago as we dumped his club out of the Champions League. He has won three league titles to his name now, two with Bayern and Dortmund's 2033 success. 108 caps to date.

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

Neil leaving was one of the saddest moments of the save but I couldn't deny him the move after being a loyal servant. He had long been a first team regular but the 2032 season saw his spot under threat, he asked to leave, seeking a new challenge, that challenge arrived in the form of a £27.5M move to Augsburg, a record signing for them. He also broke the clubs record for most assists in a season which was a surprise as he's added goals to his game too. Two time Carabao Cup winner and last year he scored his first goal for Wales although in fairness, he's only really been part of the Welsh team since moving away from us.

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

Elfyn had long been the clubs record holder for most assists (Alec Blake actually took that record this year) but we lost him before we got promoted to the Championship as he joined Sheffield United for an eventual fee of £11.75M. Seven years in Sheffield before moving to Hertha where he stayed for a solitary season before joining RB Leipzig for a touch over £20M. He probably could have gone much further in the game than he has done.

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

Leeds stole him but it was to be expected when teams stuck in decent figures at that point. He stayed at Elland Road for just one year before Southampton raided the club. Southampton yoyo'd like a modern day WBA throughout his time at the club before sealing a move to Villa. It didn't work out in the Midlands so they loaned him to Benfica who made the loan move permanent the following year. Another part of the Welsh 2032 Euro winners squad but he's won very little in terms of honours.

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

The surname caught me straight away. Could you get a son in season one of the main game? Well, I don't know the answer even now but he wasn't related anyway and it is just as well given he left the club to join Everton although ultimately he played more for Derby in his two loan spells than he ever did for his parent club. He did finally break into the first team before Tottenham splashed nearly £20M on him. Tottenham have been a nothing club on this save, a move to Bournemouth followed after three unproductive seasons in London but even that move failed to offer much. Now at RB Leipzig and another who didn't really develop as anticipated.

https://i.imgur.com/RQtETk5.png

Jared retired young but he can at least say he 'made it'.

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

Another who 'made it'. He never actually made a first team appearance for Wrexham, a loan spell to my home town club is the extent of it. He moved to Newtown after we released him in 2028 but surprisingly he went on to have a relatively decent career with them although the last two have seen his playing time cut drastically. I bet he cherishes the 2023 U18 Youth Alliance Cup that he won...his sole honour in the game.

https://i.imgur.com/k9zx8Kz.png

We had high hopes for Paul but like a few from the first intake, money spoke eventually and given our standing in the game at the time, it was no surprise our club owners snatched their hands off. In this instance the end fee was £8.75M from the Saints who as mentioned above, became something of a yoyo club. He moved to Burnley for £21M in 2030 but made just four starts before leaving for Germany. Eintracht Frankfurt first for £7.25, his two year spell there being enough for Hertha to throw £16.5M at him. Last season was a career best in terms of goals but I still think he could have gone further once upon a time. Six caps is just shit. That being said, he won the FA Cup in 2025, some eleven years before we managed to.

All the above is purely for myself but hope you enjoy chaps. It's only by writing it that I have discovered no one remains at the club from the first intake. Sad times but careers were made.

[Adramelch]

Even worse when the first of those matches is this:

https://i.gyazo.com/5cc51450205b1ef5701bea1d33472751.png

Like, come on. It's why I am thinking I need a better keeper. His average rating is fine and he does have some games where's bossing it, but I have too many games looking like the above.

[Raoul Duke]

What's Bugarin up to now Yevrah ?

[Smjffy]

That xG. :oof:

Four games in a week is a bit rough too tbf.

Question chaps. What do we do with Blessing Mhlanga? I just don't feel I am getting enough out of him and can't for the life of me understand why he's a leading Premier League player, to date still uncapped and the cheeky git asked for a new contract last season seeking over £400K a week. Naturally I said a big FU to that but still....I just don't know what to do with him.

https://i.imgur.com/Py7M20W.png

https://i.imgur.com/EbXZ6xN.png

I look at someone like Ben Hughes who has lit the torch on loan at Nice as someone to replace him but before a hasty sale, I just wondering if there is something I am missing with Blessing. Where should he be playing?

(Ben >)
https://i.imgur.com/0WlPfBL.png