WTF my board actually agreed to try and buy Joshua Kimmich and succeeded. :youpi:
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WTF my board actually agreed to try and buy Joshua Kimmich and succeeded. :youpi:
So we're reaching the end of September in Slough Town's first season in League One and there's been a lot going on, starting with the transfer business we did over the summer. Thankfully, both Swansea and Brentford relented and allowed us to extend the loans of both Aaron Jones and Lukas Puntigam for another season. They were key in getting us promoted and have already proven they can perform at this level in this fledgling campaign.
https://i.ibb.co/SXBWSg6/jones.png
https://i.ibb.co/5htzQpM/Puntigam.png
Outside of these extensions, I was able to actually chase down some targets with a lot more ease than usual. Our rise to League 1 has definitely improved the reputation level of the club, as we were to get into talks with a lot of players. I was granted £32k p/w as my wage budget, but I've been keeping it pretty tight with regards to the wage control throughout the squad.
First through the door was a young left-back, released by Spurs, by the name of Oliver Hoare. Very pleased with this as he was first choice for improving the position and his wage demands were not too ridiculous.
https://i.ibb.co/HKGnnx0/Hoare.png
Gordon Rodgers was next in on a free, after being released by Stevenage. He'll mainly be a squad role, filling in and coming off the bench if we need to move to a more attacking setup.
https://i.ibb.co/X7TYcXX/Rodgers.png
Rounding off the window, we picked up two more Welsh loanees from bigger clubs. Newcastle were happy to lend us David Williams, a young striker who has some great stats in the right areas, and is already pushing Aaron Jones for the first-team striker spot.
https://i.ibb.co/HK7xC02/DWilliams.png
And finally, my favourite signing of the window. Ian Harding, who I had scouted months before when scouring the youth teams of the British Isles. Cardiff loan listed him very late in the window and I was straight in there to get him in our midfield. Those passing and technique stats :drool:
https://i.ibb.co/XZJzqkW/Harding.png
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We've had a congested start to the season, as expected in the Football League, but it wasn't helped by me having to request a couple of postponements due to international call-ups for the Welsh contingent in the squad. However, we've started incredbly well, and I can't be disappointed whatsoever.
https://i.ibb.co/7gwkgPY/first-10.png
Even in the losses, we've played well, creating chances. The 3-0 loss to Cambridge United looks especially bad, but we conceded two stoppage time goals as we piled forward in search of the equaliser. And this is how it leaves the early league table looking:
https://i.ibb.co/6m17B14/table-first-10.png
6th with a game in hand is incredible. The fact we've also beaten Walsall and newly relegated Portsmouth is brilliant. I can't get ahead of myself though - my first target is 50 points and staying in the division. My tactic and dynamics are working now but it only takes a few bad losses to send the team into a downward spiral.
Nice work thommo! Agree on the downward spiral, it’s brutal in this game if it happens.
Always use Steam Cloud saves on my FM save. Formatted my laptop today, just loaded up FM and it's gone back two weeks. Sucks.
I started a new game last night. Guided Wales to the final of the Euro's beating France (who injured Bale and Ramsey) before losing to fucking Holland in the final.
I then resigned, went on holiday and set it to apply for any top level job. I ended up at Burnley :moop:
Could be a good game though, they are absolutely shit and every cunt is 30+. Managed to beat Spurs 5-3 in the first game, lost 6-2 to Chelsea in the next, then beat Fulham 3-0.
Is that FM21 Spikey? Didn't realise Burnley had such an old squad.
Dwight McNeil is a baller, too.
Yeah, FM21. Our left back is 35 with 2 years on his contract and a year extension if I play him 15 times. :face:Quote:
Originally Posted by Yevrah
Is that Stephen Ward?
Can't remember, I'll check when I play again tonight.
In November 2000, semi-obscure 30 year-old Slovakian right back Igor Bališ joined West Bromwich Albion for the princely sum of £150,000. For context, that would have been enough to buy my mum's modest 3 bed terrace in Rugby...about 10 years ago. Might be able to get a flat in a rough bit of town these days.
https://i2-prod.birminghammail.co.uk...-682409771.jpg
After missing out in the play-off semis against Bolton (remembered mostly by me, to my immense shame, for the abuse me and some other lad kept giving Jussi Jääskeläinen during the drawn first leg - I definitely shouted "your name sounds like a disease", which should probably see me retrospectively cancelled, despite only being 9), Gary Megson's ragtag bunch of misfits were again favourites for relegation despite their shock run to 6th.
Despite this, utilising a revolutionary 5-3-0-2, with the back 8 basically there to kick people, come March, Albion were in with an outside chance of promotion again. With 8 games left, 11 points behind the dirty Dingle cunts down the road, my dad decided to write "boing boing look out dingles" in the dust on the back of his transit van, à la "I wish my wife was this dirty" style vandalism you see done by Absolute Legends all the time.
https://i.ibb.co/yk89tr2/jdtdtjtdj.jpg
It was clearly an omen. To quote from some bloke's website where I stole the above excellent graphic of the league table:
The funny thing about the penalty thing is that supposedly Balis had been a penalty taker back in Slovakia, but had been unable to communicate this to the coaching staff due to his lack of English skills, and Gary Megson and Frank Burrows (see below) don't really strike you as the sort to know much Slovak.Quote:
With Wolves’ run-in looking the more testing, Albion were scenting blood. Comfortable wins over Crewe and Barnsley followed, then another Taylor-inspired 1-0 win at Coventry, against a lacklustre Lee Hughes.
Across the Black Country, Wolves choked against Man City at home (0-2), and then lost at Millwall (0-1) in a Friday night match.
Albion now had control of their destiny, and moved into second with a home draw against Rotherham the following Sunday, leaving two games remaining. “I feel like a golfer who’s got two putts to win The Open,” commented Megson.
The penultimate match was at the now freakishly-oversized Valley Parade. Its cavernous stands were fuller than usual, with thousands of Albion fans unable to squeeze into the away end.
They witnessed a tense but drab game, which appeared to be heading for a draw — with the initiative swinging back to Wolves — until that man Taylor tumbled under a clumsy challenge from Andy Myers in stoppage time, and the referee theatrically pointed to the spot.
When the travelling hordes had stopped celebrating, reality dawned: Albion had missed seven out of 11 penalties awarded that season — and the unlikely player now entrusted to take them was wing back Igor Balis.
https://i2-prod.birminghammail.co.uk.../BP1681405.jpg
Balis scored 11 in 242 appearances for Spartak Trnava which means it might be bollocks but I choose to believe it, cus it's funny. Anyway, up he stepped and:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWCFYp3F4Ck
https://i0.wp.com/brummieroadender.c...40%2C480&ssl=1
https://i.ibb.co/BCtCnmq/Untitled.png
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BI-DBUDC...jpg&name=small
A year later we got absolutely fucked up in the Premiership, and Balis fucked off back to Slovakia and was forced to retire, bizarrely, due to recurrence of tinnitus, never to be heard of in the world of football again...until....
The fraud is pretending to be a football manager now @Manc
The fella with the sad blanket in the final photo above has, for obvious reasons, held a long standing grudge against Mr Balis. Because he's a thick dingle twat, it's taken him twenty years to track Balis down in the beautiful town of Križovany nad Dudváhom, a place, according to wikipedia, most notable for being where Balis is from. Here's a church there:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._kostol_01.jpg
Nice church.
Anyway, the yam yam finally found him, and gave him an ominous threat:
Because of the incomprehensible black country nonsense and Balis's tinnitus it took about 10 minutes, but finally he got the message. I'm not really sure why he wanted him to move to West Africa but go with it, okay. Anyway, Igor and the family Balis jumped in the trusty Lada, and chugged it down to Bratislava airport:Quote:
Yo am moving to West Africa or ar will kill yo and your family.
https://www.welcometobratislava.eu/w...BA-696x392.jpg
Nice airport.
Anyway, armed with nothing but a couple of Wolof and Yoruba phrase books, some Youssou N'Dour cassettes, and some FM21 data files that will probably corrupt and prevent him getting past his first season, Balis must...I dunno. Be a good enough football manager that the Wolves fan leaves him alone or something. Based on the photo, your mans probably about 50 now which I think is roughly the life expectancy in Wolverhampton, so he might as well just take the threat seriously until the balti pies catch up with him, and now he's here he might as well enjoy himself:
https://i.ibb.co/9pG5DPP/leagues.png
https://i.ibb.co/R3Lp45j/advanced.png
https://i.ibb.co/HHcxY8p/Capture.png
I'll be back when he gets his first job.
Is the fella with the sad blanket Smiffy?
Despite the impressive 10 in adaptability, Bališ didn't seem to be that enthusiastic about the start of his managerial career.
https://i.ibb.co/r5cRC02/Capture.png
Early reservations aside, Bališ got stuck in and applied for about 150 jobs. While the second tier of Gambian football didn't massively appeal, his new chairman made the fair argument that joining his side would certainly make visas and other paperwork a lot easier:
https://i.ibb.co/j5Wy9p5/immig.png
Immigration FC, or as google seems to think they're called, "Gambia Immigration Department Football Club" are an amateur football club based in the capital city of Banjul, not to be confused with Bangui, the capital city of the Central African Republic (like I just did).
https://gffprs.com/wp-content/upload...tion-Logo-.jpg
Banjul looks pretty cool, it's right in the northwest of the country, on St Mary's Island, but based on a quick look at google maps it seems like that's just a name - it's actually a peninsula.
Here's "Arch 22":
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...jul_arch22.JPG
Here's a view of King Fahad Mosque:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...osque-2007.jpg
Wikipedia says "Poverty and royalty lives close together in this city." I'm sure the lads at the immigration department will try to pull some strings, but based on the £0/week wage, I think Igor is more likely to be hanging out with the former.
Bališ has not got high hopes for the season:
https://i.ibb.co/2MzB370/Capture.png
The fact that Immigration FC are deemed 12 teams worse than Steve Biko, a South African anti-apartheid activist who died in 1977, is not promising.
https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.3004...50x1000.u1.jpg
They play at the "Fifa Goal Project", which seems like it's some sort of field:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WpxfFRrj81...M/s640/az2.JPG
Anyway, here's the best outfield player. As a fellow right back, I'm sure Balis will be confident of getting the most out of him.
https://i.ibb.co/bNDFRJB/Capture.png
This is the guy who's gonna be pulling the strings
https://i.ibb.co/JFJNG89/Capture.png
Uvidíme sa kecy v predsezóne, or in English, see you cunts in preseason!
@Jimmy Floyd you're the African football bod on here, any advice for our Slovakian manager?
Anyone with pace will slay the leagues you're in.
You'll then struggle in the opening rounds of the African CL unless you get a good draw / find some players.
Heading into 2030, the festive period now over.....it could be a great season.
https://i.imgur.com/m3HIN3b.png
https://i.imgur.com/w3EQVj2.png
https://i.imgur.com/JQpeBmQ.png
https://i.imgur.com/TbLuz8C.png
https://i.imgur.com/mH4UmfY.png
We've got Marseille in the knockout round of the Europa, a good chance of landing the EFL given the remaining teams are Leeds, Watford and Everton. Peter Blackwell is currently having a stellar season to compliment our main man Cummings.
https://i.imgur.com/VkLkVYJ.png
https://i.imgur.com/EpEOpBh.png
https://i.imgur.com/6ulu7vF.png
https://i.imgur.com/JW5YEof.png
:drool:
Africa. :drool:
Sign anyone with the surname Toure.
Yev getting us all back into FM. :nod:
Hmm, the season runs November to June, but the transfer windows are Feb-March and May-June. Eh?
I've just signed a few players and they don't join until half way through the season. Oh well.
Oxford City Season 26/27 - League Two Run In
So our third season in League 2 is drawing to a close and we're roughly where we've been over the last two seasons, outside the playoffs, with a slim chance of making them.
https://i.postimg.cc/3x5MGkxH/3-League-Table.jpg
Games left:
(a) Scunthorpe (18th)
(h) Mansfield (7th)
(h) Accrington (23rd)
(h) Bolton (5th)
(a) Colchester (14th)
(a) Notts County (4th)
Not a bad run in and if we can win the next three I might start to believe.
Gives you time to get all the bribes to the relevant governmental officials.Quote:
Originally Posted by igor_balis
It isn't.Quote:
Originally Posted by Giggles
Senad Lulic. I slightly misremembered, he only has 1 year on his contract. 2 when he hits 15 performances. Which he will, because he's my only left back.
Just checked and Stephen Ward is now at Shamrock Rovers. Played one game. Scored one and Man of the Match.
At the ripe old age of 100 years old I've decided to retire my FM11 career. 72 years of good fun and a fair few trophies.
The intention is to buy FM22 when it comes outs and post here my updates. No doubt I'll be shit for a while. :D
My FM11 career stats to sign off.
https://i.ibb.co/RSqXRyR/Dquincy-Profile-Attributes.png
https://i.ibb.co/K79PN51/Dquincy-History-Overview.png
How on earth did you manage a domestic player bias of 1%?
We're a quarter of the way through the league season and have, annoyingly, already conceded 4 goals. :(
https://i.imgur.com/vfC7H5N.png
Oxford City 2026/27 League Two - End of Season Update
https://i.postimg.cc/HktgCbQk/3-League-Table.jpg
We didn't make it in the end, but in our last game against Notts County away, we drew 2-2 and would have done had we managed to get a winner. Annoying. Still, it's some progress, improving on the 12th and 11th place finishes over the last two years and 69 points in our highest to date in League Two.
The things that make this so hard, are:
Brexit - You literally cannot sign anyone from abroad at this level now. Or rather you can, but you just can't play them.
Reputation - At one and a half stars, we're far from an attractive choice. Established players shun us regularly if there's interest from other clubs, even when I attempt mad shit like offering them a 50% sell on clause. Which leaves young players as seemingly the best option.
Young Players - Some decent ones do want to join me, but if they're under contract the selling clubs invariably ask for more than we can afford.
Which is why I still have a £200k transfer budget burning a hole in my pocket.
https://i.postimg.cc/1X1CtjSh/2-Budgets.jpg
I'll be attempting to spend it again this summer and now I've got the centre backs sorted I need a striker for depth who's good enough to play and two new wingers. Getting the loanees back in the first team below would be useful too. If not, the centre backs aren't sorted and I'll need one of those too.
https://i.postimg.cc/ncH2P7ck/1-Line-Up.jpg
Bugarin now has 158 goals for us. :drool:
https://i.postimg.cc/4dQt6LtT/Bugarin.jpg
Not really sure to be honest. Think I would often search different countries and try to hoover up their wonderkids, which meant I'd often buy foreigners.Quote:
Originally Posted by Manc
I'll post a final update shortly now I've brought down the curtain on my FM11 career.
I went on to see which versions I had on Steam and I see 2020 Touch but not full-fat 2020. Could they be bought separately for PC like that?
Toggle Spoiler
Well, I mean, It had potential to be a good season, right? I suppose I should be happy with further improvement both in terms of position and points, status retained but there is still a lingering sense of 'what if?'.
As it is, we finished 9th. Our poor form from March onwards costing us an opportunity at another stab at Europe but maybe a relaxed schedule will help the kids or maybe as I half expect, the summer is going to be one of rats deserting a ship.
https://i.imgur.com/iGfPGAc.png
Losing to bottom feeders Huddersfield in the last three games probably cost us a European slot.
https://i.imgur.com/V99OQB7.png
A true bottle job.
Elsewhere, we reached the semi finals of the EFL Cup and I fancied our chances, the fact I flapped my gums about that ensured we were well and truly spanked so I sodded off back to North Wales with my tail between the legs.
https://i.imgur.com/apJql6X.png
FA Cup = Screw you, Watford.
https://i.imgur.com/WhsHs3A.png
The Hornets were quite the pain in the ass as it happens and we've only beaten them once in any competition since our initial promotion to the Premier League.
Europe was fun whilst it lasted. The group stage should have seen us qualify a little earlier but Ludogrets somehow got the better of Atletico Madrid. Marseille were disposed of easily enough before our exit to eventual runners-up Napoli who lost to Juventus in the finale.
Exactly 3600 days in, a decade in the job and now for a summer of change. It's time to streamline all three squads, release those who aren't going to make it and check up on those who were poached back in the early days. This season we lost Harri Jefferies for a small fee to Hull, he flunked there. We lost Einion Filbee to Leicester for £7.5+ future add ons but I have my doubts as to whether he'll make it anyway. The kicker was losing long time right back in the January window as Osian Gray departed for Germany for a touch near £30M. Ten seasons at the club, nearly 300 appearances and off he trots without a care in the world. Shit fee too considering.
Hopefully we can make amends next season and clinch European football again. It's all on the summer at the moment.
Where Are They Now - 2022/23
https://i.imgur.com/u4eWyHD.png
The first season in which we were powerless to resist the offers being received and the board forced our hand each time.
https://i.imgur.com/aYuQVv4.png
https://i.imgur.com/we8Qlr1.png
https://i.imgur.com/jcESKup.png
https://i.imgur.com/Vhr4AVu.png
https://i.imgur.com/KR3IKO1.png
https://i.imgur.com/0va4t1h.png
https://i.imgur.com/ESznwi3.png
https://i.imgur.com/bjvtIU1.png
https://i.imgur.com/LoNith8.png
https://i.imgur.com/J1i1pra.png
https://i.imgur.com/4bTNhoC.png
https://i.imgur.com/0jJg8Xn.png
I'm just over the halfway mark with Liverpool and have already conceded 8. :moop:
https://i.imgur.com/Y8K53un.png
Such an odd concept, but you do you.
You're top of the league, when did you get good at this? I remember reading your FM threeways with Reid and Mike back in the good old days. And (no offence) you always seemed to be the one struggling.
Marseille 2044/45 Season Update:
Transfers Out:
https://i.imgur.com/gVrwcu1.png
I wanted to shift some more over 21's that were in the squad but that's all I could manage in January.
Transfers In:
https://i.imgur.com/4gxTsCA.png
https://i.imgur.com/625ox7v.png
I have too many CB's now but he can play at RB/LB too (only accomplished) and he's French so I felt I had to.
https://i.imgur.com/5WVgcJY.png
I also have too many ST's but I felt this was a bargain. The guy could be amazing.
https://i.imgur.com/YwxlUrc.png
Too much for him I feel but I did need more cover on the wing.
https://i.imgur.com/gKyhzrl.png
I really like my current RB but he's 25 and this guy has the potential to be better than him.
League:
https://i.imgur.com/L3iwBa9.png
https://i.imgur.com/9Im1q6Q.png
https://i.imgur.com/RjYvSbu.png
We started so damn well and were leading for a while:
https://i.imgur.com/RNuJbN1.png
But we just couldn't keep it going. We got hit hard by a lot of injuries and I was doing a lot of squad juggling to keep my best players fit for Europe. I thought getting fourth would be a major accomplishment but we looked really good.
Annoyingly, I told the pricks we'd be aiming for Europa League qualification next season (the highest I could target in the meeting) and they all got pissed off as I was being unrealistic...
Cup:
https://i.imgur.com/IMHeuT1.png
Went for too many backups against Lyon which is a shame but oh well, it was probably for the best.
Europe:
https://i.imgur.com/wwelHgw.png
I thought we fucked it when we drew to Valur (played my second string) and then lost to Spurs but we recovered well. In the knockouts it was close as fuck, especially the semi-final. We were losing but then Harry White scored in the 76th and 78th minutes to put us through.
https://i.imgur.com/Jp3wLl6.png
It was so damn close and either of us could have taken it. I wanted to bring on Ugur in the 60th minute but I accidentally brought on my reserve CM to play at ST and I only noticed in the 80th minute. Just after ET began I finally brought him on and he immediately had an impact. He also had 2 goals the game before and a goal the game before that (also against Bordeaux).
Club World Cup & Super Cup the only ones left on the list. Plus the European Championship.
Squad:
https://i.imgur.com/lPHK5Z5.png
https://i.imgur.com/vq1CbYx.png
Still want to cut quite a few more players and stay for a while to turn the club into a giant.
Special mention to Perkins who is becoming a real beast:
https://i.imgur.com/3jjFSOX.png
It’s literally impossible not to win the league with Liverpool in the first season in this version.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dquincy
I saw a twitter thread recently where some guy played a aging English CB as a striker for PSG and basically managed to win the lot :DQuote:
Originally Posted by Luke Emia
Managed to find it by thinking of old, shit English defenders... Clint Hill... Dawson. 2nd guess :D
Nice update Mahow. The challenge is to complete your remaining targets before the new FM22 comes out.
Some of the playing roles (Mezzala for Phil Perkins??) are very foreign to me. Do you prioritise setting the team so each player plays with their preferred playing role, or do you say that the overall formation and style take precedent and the player may have a different role to what his preferred is?
Yeah they’re very very good.Quote:
Originally Posted by Luke Emia
Salah broke his leg in an U23 match with Partick Thistle and we haven’t missed him.
Alisson is the GOAT. Always 10.0 for training rating and loves me putting my arm round him and telling him he’s doing great.
Formation/style is king.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dquincy
I play a 442 with one DLP and one box to box. Perkins is more suited to being a DLP but as he's the best on my midfielders I'll play him in his slightly worse role.
There's a fella playing for another team in the Gambian second tier that played in 7 MLS games two seasons ago :moop:
First league game:
https://i.ibb.co/6ms0s2d/Capture.png
:drool:
General question for all of you - do you play with attribute masking on?
I've had it on for the entirety of my Slough Town save and it's driving me nuts now. I can't even scout outside the UK so if I want to buy/sign anyone from a foreign league, I'm buying completely blind. :moop:
I turned it off for the stupid lower league Scottish game I was doing, and to be honest it contributed to me losing interest as it all felt a bit too cheap. Once I got to a decent level, it made finding foreign bargains far too easy, cus I could just filter out unreasonable targets and just look for the big attributes on the screen.Quote:
Originally Posted by thommo
Nope. Can't be doing with fog of war. I always disable it.Quote:
Originally Posted by thommo
I always have it off.Quote:
Originally Posted by thommo
What about attribute masking though?
That's always off too.... :henn0rz: