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Thread: Football Manager 2021

  1. #1551
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    I don't know if you play the matches using the 3D view, but this version has this thing where the striker is one-on-one against the keeper and the defender makes a tackle from 5-yards behind and blocks the shot at the very last second. Well <the one with a ridiculous amount of H's in his name> was the master of that.

  2. #1552
    I used to be funny.
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    You're the real Angel of the North. You can eat for free in Greggs for life.

  3. #1553
    Isn't he banned? Baz's Avatar
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    I don't think we'll ever catch United:

    I'm a twit

  4. #1554
    Fuck like you cook.
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    Wrexham Football Club - 2036/2037

    Season Summary


    Our season kicked off against the Premier League champions Arsenal in the Community Shield. We'd been here two years prior only to lose to Man United but there would be no repeat as we claimed it for the first time. Braces galore but we were worthy victors.



    We'd finished runners-up to The Gunners last season and although we got off to a slow start this time round, we soon found ourselves up there in a congested top five as ourselves, Arsenal, City, United and Liverpool took turns at the top of the table and with three games to go, we all had a shot at taking it. Our game in hand against Wolves is what took us back on top and in doing so knocked Man United out of the equation with the final day approaching but with Arsenal as our opponents and Man City facing already relegated Sheffield United, it was tense. Not helped by the fact that Liverpool could leap frog us both if results went their way, had they not beaten us a a few games earlier then they'd have been out of it too. Man City won 4-0. Liverpool won 1-0 thanks to 37 year old Joao Felix's solo strike. Did we follow suit? YES! We recorded a 4-0 rout.

    Champions.



    EFL Cup

    We won both domestic cups last season, the EFL being one we'd won three times in the last ten years but it was disappointing to go out in the manner that we did, especially to Man United who fielded a weakened side. We didn't. The Red Devils vs the Red Dragons.




    FA Cup

    We first reached the FA Cup final in 2032/33 only to lose against Chelsea but we put that right last season by defeating Man United to win our first. This time round it would be Manchester City who were also our most competitive challengers in the league. It didn't matter.



    A domestic double as Jones and Blake made it comfortable late on as the Citizens threw everything our way. We should have gone out at Anfield, a ground we'd stopped using only earlier in the season as we moved into our expanded stadium. The Racecourse now houses over 40,000. Lovely. So was the occasion.

    Champions League

    We qualified from the group with ease despite how it looks. Our youngers lost to both PSG and Trabzonspor but only once we were assured of our place in the knock out rounds. I thought we should be confident as we'd gained enough experience in the competition. 0-0 at home in the first leg against Juventus sowed a seed of doubt but Alec Blakes lone effort in the return ensured we were progressing. Tougher than anticipated though and it didn't get better as we returned to Italy a few weeks later only to record another 0-0 draw this time with Inter. The return again was a positive but I thought it would be a breeze. Rinse and repeat because the semi's brought PSG, if we'd gone on the group stage results they would have beaten us 5-4 on aggregate, a 1-1 draw in the first leg meant we once again had it all to do at home but the away goal was a bonus. As it is, we didn't even need it as we romped home 5-1 but three goals came in the final five minutes so one strike for PSG could have sent alarm bells ringing throughout.



    But now...here is where it really gets interesting.

    We lost to Man United in the final in 2035 on penalties, the following year Arsenal dumped us out on away goals and this time we'd face Barcelona. It wasn't too much of an issue because we'd shown we were capable but what made this match different was one man.

    Bret fuckin' Parker.

    Bret had left the club in January to join the Spanish giants, for a giant fee too and challenging for the Champions League was the reason he gave and kicked up a stink to begin with. He had one year left on his deal and despite our recent form in the competition, he felt a move to one of the heavyweights would give him a better chance of claiming it. That's all fine and dandy but to see him in the starting line up....well, you just knew what was going to happen init.

    Only it didn't. Mateo Simon scored from the spot within minutes of kicking off, a goal we failed to respond to until the hour mark as the underrated Lewys Jones levelled proceedings. A back and forth final half hour in which Parker went very close on one occasion saw both teams unable to be separated and so extra time would be needed. I did wonder if it was too much given our long ass season, not helped by that stupid International Cup competition that kicks off 16 days after each seasons end but we pushed, we pushed and OMG!! Jason Haynes!! 111"minutes on the clock and we were staring victory in the face. We were going to be European Champions!

    Then it happened. Stoppage time. Eric Claude. 2-2. Fuck. Memories of two years prior came flooding back. Surely it would be a cruel twist of fate to lose a second European Cup final on pens. Right? Well, a cruel twist of fate did occur.

    It just wasn't for us. It was for Parker who missed his bloody penalty.



    If you've reached this far and read. You'll have counted.

    One. Two. Three.

    Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League. The treble baby!!





    No words. Perfect timing too. With the exception of Cummings (Pontypridd), Ben Hughes (Rhyl) and scorer of the winning penalty Russel John (Cardiff) the rest of our starting eleven were/are all from Wrexham and all through the academy.

    Not sure this will be topped by myself and so with FM22 now available, it's time to retire. A European Champion. A treble winner. A true Wrexham legend joining the likes of Joey Jones, Tommy Bamford and Arfon Griffiths.

    Buzzing.

    I'll have a little update tomorrow with a bit of history from the last 17 years, who's still knocking about etc but what a bloody enjoyable save that was.



    You don't win anything with kids?

    2020/21 - Vanarama National League Champions
    2025/26 - Sky Bet League One Champions
    2027/28 - Carabao Cup winners
    2028/29 - UEFA Europa Conference League winners
    2031/32 - Carabao Cup winners
    2031/32 - International Champions Cup winners
    2032/33 - Uefa Europa League winners
    2033/34 - UEFA Super Cup winners
    2033/34 - Premier League champions
    2034/35 - International Champions Cup winners
    2035/36 - Carabao Cup winners
    2035/36 - FA Cup winners
    2036/37 - Community Shield winners
    2036/37 - Premier League Champions
    2036/37 - FA Cup winners
    2036/37 - UEFA Champions League winners

    Goodnight!

  5. #1555
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Now you can retire in peace Smiffy. That's an impressive list of accomplishments, especially seeing as you won all European cups.

  6. #1556
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    What about the World Club Cup?

  7. #1557
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Year 2039. The apocalypse is nigh.

  8. #1558
    I used to be funny.
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    That's a big shift on the bins.

  9. #1559
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Won the Premier League twice, the Champions League 3 (!) times, along with 3 FA cups and 5 League Cups in 20-odd seasons.

  10. #1560
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Well, that was easy:



    It doesn't come as too big a surprise that we managed to retain the title, seeing as we were really dominant last season, but I am nevertheless happy that we did, and that it was that easy. Obviously, it helped that all the traditionally big teams of the last 5 years or so collectively sucked, allowing for Chelsea and Arsenal to get back to the Champions League after such a long time, and Swansea, who somehow had a ridiculously good season, as they also won the FA cup. That might well be the first time in eons that both United and Liverpool miss out on European football. In terms of our actual performance, we didn't hit the highs of last season in terms of points, goals scored and goals conceded, but that's really only because we won the league with 7 games to go and only fielded our second-string for the remaining games, resulting in 4 draws and 3 wins. A special mention has to go to Sheffield Wednesday, who won the cup last season, qualifying for the Europa League (while finishing 17th) and then went on and won the whole thing this season, beating Benfica, Marseille, Roma and Liverpool in the knockouts. Ridiculous that United, Liverpool and City are missing out but Sheff Wed will be there.

    Apart from the league, we also won the Community Shield (against Sheff Wed) and the League Cup (against Chelsea), while we succumbed to Liverpool in the FA cup quarters, in one of just 4 losses across all competitions.

    When it came to the Champions League, we were given the easiest group draw I think I might have ever seen, with our group consisting of Lazio, Club Brugge and Salzburg. We had no troubles topping the group with 16 points, while also finding the opportunity to play some of our younger players in a few games. Sadly our luck draw ended there, as we were drawn against title holders Real Madrid in the first knockout round. We somehow managed to get an undeserved 2-1 win in Santiago Bernabeu, which really increased our chances of going through. The return fixture had me stressed, however, as we had no fewer than 5 central midfielders injured, meaning we fielded a defender and a winger in the centre of the midfield. Still, we dominated the game, even if it somehow ended at 1-1, with them grabbing a penalty goal deep in injury time. Next up were PSG, who have been somewhat of a bogey team for me in the last few FM versions. That said, this is the first save where they just haven't done anything impressive in Europe, with them having 7 quarter-finals and no semi-finals appearances in 20 years. That proved to be the case in the field as well, since we easily beat them 3-1 both home and away, with those scores even flattering them a bit. Next up were Everton in the semis. The first leg at our place was one of those games were we should have won fairly easily, but it ended 1-1. In the return fixture, they grabbed an early goal and we then proceeded to miss chance after chance before equalising in the 77th minute. Disaster struck soon after as we had a player pick a second yellow card, but it was evened out a few minutes later, when one of theirs was sent out for a two-footed tackle. They managed to grab an undeserved goal in the 98th minute, but we just bombarded their box and ended up winning 3-2, meaning we were through to the finals for the first time in our history. Atletico were waiting for us, the team that knocked us out of the competition in the previous two seasons. So how did it go?

    Toggle Spoiler




    Once again, a case of the front four taking turns in single-handedly winning games for us. The young AM, Paul (don't let the name fool you, he's actually Romanian), was definitely the revelation of the year. Bartos was injured early in the season, so the youngster found himself in the first-team and he delivered, so he usurped the former in the pecking order. Miquet was once again amazing, as was Reyes who's been in devilishly good form for a couple seasons now. We also had the chance to play a few of our academy products in Europe and the cups, with some very promising results. One of them scored 5 goals in 4 starts, including a hat-trick against Oxford in the FA cup. We also brought in a couple of young stars in January for a combined 31m, while we received 85m from the players they were replacing:

    Toggle Spoiler


    And, we have also agreed to bring in a new right back in the summer, costing us a fairly hefty 52m, but I think he'll be worth it. Ideally, we would keep Smicer as back-up, but that will create issues with the squad registration rules in Europe, so I imagine he will be leaving us for a similar fee. We also have a new central defender to come for a bit of squad depth, at a cost of 14m :

    Toggle Spoiler


    So where do we go from here? I think I will stick it out for a couple more seasons, to see if we can become an established CL contender, but I reckon I could even stop here and be very happy with the save.

  11. #1561
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    What a tale of success these past few posts have been.

    Fair play Smiffy, not a bad way to sign off a save with an academy team like that. Very poetic that your old boy missed the penalty too.

    Adra, that's about a dominant a season I've seen. Not to mention those signings you've got in the pipeline are phenomenal. Couple more seasons and then FM22?

  12. #1562
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Well if you think those guys were phenomenal, how about this one:



    It's the guy I was throwing money at Chelsea for last summer and they wouldn't sell for even up to 150m. Joined us this summer for 83m after he requested a transfer. I will be using him as a striker most likely, but he's equally good at all of the positions he can play in. Just insane.

    Ye I think I'll do a few more seasons and call it a day. I am starting a new job in a week anyway so I'll have nowhere near the same amount of free time. As for FM22 I usually delay getting them until like the first patch, but I might bite the bullet and go for it from the start this time around.

    EDIT: Our new right-back is banned for our first Premier League game, even though he's never played in England before.
    Last edited by Adramelch; 23-10-2021 at 08:00 PM.

  13. #1563
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    Wow. I don't think I've seen a more complete forward. His wages seem relatively low for his ability too.

    My 10th season with Slough is over, and we ended in a really solid 10th position. Considering my wage spend and the overall ability of my squad compared to the majority of the division, it was a very successful season. Unfortunately, my budgets haven't really changed much for the next year despite this - we've only got a wage budget of £69k p/w to utilise.



    We weren't really outclassed at any point during the season, and we recorded wins against a number of the top teams (West Brom, Brentford, Cardiff, Stoke, Sheffield Utd). A little more consistency and we would have been pushing for a playoff spot. The team was quite settled throughout, but we definitely could have done with more depth at the winger position. Both Alex Jordan and Robert van Dijk were very disappointing. I don't know what I'm doing wrong with van Dijk - all my staff think he's one of the best players in the squad, and he's now wanted by a number of Prem teams as we enter the summer transfer window. If I get a ridiculous bid, I might take the money.



    Club favourites like Dennis Ball and Luke Dreher keep performing despite the jump in divisions but we have a number of contracts expiring and I need to bring in some quality with the small amount of wages I have left to spend. I've already managed to tie down Matthew Morgan-Parker to a permanent contract which gives us two fairly solid strikers, but a lot more needs to be done.

    We have had some really good news from the board though.





    We're finally moving back to Slough and owning our own stadium! We currently play at The Hive (capacity just over 6,000) and sell out every week, so it will be helpful to drag in that extra revenue as well as finally be home. Plus our Youth Level is being upgraded, and I was able to poach a number of top quality staff members to help with training and scouting. Now the hard summer work begins.

  14. #1564
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    I've found wingers to be the ones that need a decently long stretch of games before they find any kind of form. Whenever I've got into a "swap them in and out" habit, I've noticed they've been at their worst.

    Undoubtedly a great first season in the Championship. We finished 20th (49 pts) in our first and 11th (67 pts) in the one after that, so you're already much better. If we extrapolate that, you'll be winning the premier league 6 seasons from now. Just some quick maths.
    Last edited by Adramelch; 23-10-2021 at 11:48 PM.

  15. #1565
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    As we drop points against Burnley yet again, I realise we won the league in the two seasons they were stuck in the Championship, so no league title for us this season I guess.

  16. #1566
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    I wish there were generic roles available across all positions, not just defensive/central/attacking midfield.

    I also wish that I could adjust where they're supposed to stand like Pep Guardiola's favourite game, CM01/02.

  17. #1567
    mischamischaracterisation Dquincy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adramelch View Post
    Well, this happened:



    Our form just never dropped, especially when it came to playing the top teams, seeing as we only dropped a total of 7 points against top-half sides. Even more importantly, we managed to beat United in both league games, when our previous record against them was 0-3-11 with 11 goals scored and 35 conceded. Had those two games gone the other way, they would have won the league instead. Our defence was definitely our strongest point, with just the 23 goals conceded, the 6th lowest in Premier League history.

    In terms of cups, we stuck to playing our second fiddle, which inevitably failed when we were drawn against Liverpool in the league cup and Arsenal in the FA cup. As for Europe, we beat Milan 5-0 on aggregate, to set a quarter final tie against Atletico. We had an annoying first leg at their place, where we conceded three goals in the last twenty minutes. Still we gave it our best at home, going into half-time at 2-0, however we never managed to get a third and they even scored a goal in injury time when we went full out for a goal. Still they were the better team over the two games, so the result was fair.



    I am really happy with every player in the squad really. Diaz picked a 2-month injury again, but he still managed to pick 29 goals, which, while far fewer than his best, was still an improvement over his previous season. Renan, Reyes, Bartos and O'Shea all took turns in singehandedly winning us games. That said, the star of the season was definitely Miquet, even managing to finish with the highest average rating in the squad. He only picked 3 player of the match awards, which means his rating wasn't down to the odd "superkeeper" performance, but just him being consistently good.

    Plans for next season are to keep the same squad and just sign a high quality central defender to partner with <I will not attempt to spell his name>. Which we already have:



    Cost a combined 110m which is a ton of money, but it feels like he was worth it, especially given how rare good defenders seem to be in my save. We brought in 130m by selling youngsters that didn't cut it, as well as Rogelio Gonzalez for 50m, so all in all, a profitable window. I also attempted to sign a great young english striker from Chelsea, but they wouldn't sell for even 150m, so I let it go.

    Where do we go from here? I guess consistently winning the Premier League is our next goal, and eventually winning (or at least challenging for) the Champions League.
    Great update, Adra. Made some amazing signings. I also really enjoy it where to talk about your sales and the net profit (or loss). Good to see the balance sheet sensible.

  18. #1568
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Thanks @Dquincy. Yeah I was kind of forced to go down that road, seeing as our new stadium is capped at 30k seats, we sell it out every single game, yet the board refuses to build a new one even though we have 350-odd million in the bank. Those are my stats when it comes to transfers:



    We've made one hundred million profit in raw transfer fees, but I'd imagine that evens out if we factor in signing on fees and the likes.

    I've gone on and played through another two seasons after the one we won the Champions League in.

    Season 2039/40



    After two seasons of storming the league, something just changed and we almost went and lost the whole thing. We basically reverted to old habits, with our wheels falling off on the home stretch, as we only got 14 points from our last 10 games, including losses to the likes of Watford and Swansea. We went into the last game needing at least a draw against Everton at home and, to my disappointment, we were losing at half-time, but we turned it around and saved our season. We also made it to the FA cup final, but proceeded to lose to Leeds.

    In Europe, we were defending champions for the first time in our history and we showed the world that it wasn't a one-off, as we went past Inter (3-0 agg), Atletico (3-2 agg) and Dortmund (7-3 agg) to setup a final against Barcelona:

    Toggle Spoiler




    Thompson definitely delivered and proved he was worth every penny. Now the skeptics would argue that Diaz got as many (and some times even more) goals in a few of his seasons, but the main difference is that he would have a lot of games where he would grab 3-5 goals and then not score for a few, while Thompson was just very consistent. The big disappointment of the season was Renan, who, apart from getting injured a lot, just didn't play to the same standard he usually does, to an extent that our championship-level academy product Sean Morris contributed more overall. We also had a lot fewer goals coming from the central midfielders, which is probably what made the difference in the league, as we had nobody to pick up the slack when our forwards were off their game.

    Season 2040/41



    Back to our best. This was undoubtedly our best season league-wise as, not only did we break our points/wins records, we also conceded just the 20 goals and we even got to play second-string players quite a bit. Things were not as glamorous in the domestic cups, as we got instantly knocked out by Arsenal in the league cup, and we only managed to reach the FA cup quarters, where Everton were waiting to stop us, in our first loss at home in 3.5 years (!) across all competitions.

    Our dominant form in the league was replicated in Europe, as, despite getting a fairly hard group consisting of Atletico, PSV and Leipzig, we finished with 6 wins in 6, 19 goals scored and just a solitary goal conceded. In the knockouts, we went past Rangers (4-2 agg), Watford (7-2) and Inter (3-2) to setup a final against Atletico (in what is the 10th game between us in 5 years). Before getting into that, honorable mention has to go to Watford, who finished 7th in their first season back in the Premier League, then 6th, missing out on Champions League football by a single point, went on to win the Europa League the season after that, to end up making the Champions League quarters this season (through a group of Valencia, Lyon and Salzburg and a knockout win over Dortmund). Sadly the extra games took a toll on them this season as they also got relegated. Still, if I was a Watford fan I would be chuffed to bits. Onto the final:

    Toggle Spoiler


    We also played in the Club World Cup this summer, where we finished third, after being beaten by Everton on penalties in the semi-final.



    A few new faces in there that I will show you in a bit. Our front 4 were just ridiculous. I can't remember the last time I had 4 people on 20+ goals in a season. Now for the new faces (and an honorable mention to a player that's been with us for a few seasons now):

    Toggle Spoiler
    Last edited by Adramelch; 26-10-2021 at 01:53 PM.

  19. #1569
    DEATH TO THE WEIRD Raoul Duke's Avatar
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    Those signings are bonkers

  20. #1570
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
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    Gateshead v Watford in the CL quarter-finals is a proper English backwater takeover.

  21. #1571
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jimmy Floyd View Post
    Gateshead v Watford in the CL quarter-finals is a proper English backwater takeover.
    Sheffield Wednesday were in the first knockout round the season before, courtesy of them also winning the Europa League previously.

  22. #1572
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Some cheap Johnson and Johnson knockoff.

  23. #1573
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    True domination now Adra. Those signings are genuinely incredible. I'm looking forward to getting to that level, although it may take a few more months at this rate.

    Will you just pack the save in after another season, or move to someone else?

  24. #1574
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Just the one season and then I'm done I reckon. Probably move to a FM22 save or something.

    After having achieved that, I don't think one more season at Gateshead or anywhere else would do it for me:


  25. #1575
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    Slough Town - 2028/29 - Early Season Update

    There's good news all round regarding the facilities as the board agreed to upgrade our youth and data analysis facilities for a combined cost of £2.3m. This, along with the new stadium due in late 2029, is great news to make us a more viable Premier League club when the time comes.

    Summer was busy - a lot of youngsters brought in on frees and subsequently loaned out for first team experience, a number of solid signings to improve the team, and one very high-profile sale that has boosted the coffers of the club. One of my favourite signings was David Nagy, a young Hungarian international signed on a free from Debrecen. He's slotted right into the centre of midfield and chipped in already with a few goals.



    I broke the bank for this one - Shay McDonagh signed from Bournemouth for £200k, rising to £350k if he plays 50 times. That fee SHATTERS the previous record transfer fee paid by the club (£18k for Colin Fielder from Farnborough Town way back in 1991). Considering they'd paid £2.7m for him a few years ago, and he's a current Irish international, it feels like a bit of a bargain. He does lack a little in a few stats, but he's a very solid Championship defender, and he's proved it so far with a number of good performances.



    We also snapped up a couple of loanees from Blackburn who add real depth to the defence and midfield, and a striker from Southampton, who are in the league with us.

    Regarding outgoings, we had a number of enquiries and shit offers for Robert van Dijk, the winger who managed ZERO goal contributions last season, but was still seen in high regard, both by my coaching staff and other teams. It was getting towards the end of the window and I got an offer from Norwich that would eventually reach about £10m if it met all conditions. So I suggested a flat fee of £11.5m up front, and they instantly accepted that as a reasonable price to pay for him. At that value, I wasn't unhappy to see him go. I couldn't really work out how to play him to get the best of his stats, and that £11.5m has instantly helped us towards facility upgrades and paying off the loan for the stadium.



    So far the season has been solid, if unspectacular. A number of good results against promotion contenders but a few slip ups against weaker sides, and a definite lack of goals up top has hurt us in those games. Letting late equalisers in against both Peterborough and Fulham was frustrating. Defensively though, we're the best in the league, keeping clean sheets for fun against some really quality attacking teams.





    It leaves us unbeaten and in the playoffs as we enter the second international break at the start of October. I'm scheduling more attacking training and looking to adjust the tactics a little as we do need to score more goals to be effective, but the defence is currently keeping us in with a real chance to continue this form and push for the top 6. Not going to get ahead of myself yet and we'll see where we sit in January.

  26. #1576
    Senior Member Gray Fox's Avatar
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    He's our inside left
    He's our number 10
    We watch him have shots
    And hit row Z
    He'll shank the ball
    Crap as you like
    He's Robert van Dijk. He's Robert van Dijk...

  27. #1577
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Good start that thommo. Too many draws might come back to hound you though. I developed a habit of just going all out for a win if I'm drawing at home against a team of equal or lesser quality. Sometimes it will backfire, but if it means I win one and I lose the next one, it's still a net point gain. Hungary is always churning out good midfielders and full backs in my games. Also getting 11m for a player in your second season in the championship is bonkers. I'd have sold him for that even if he was our best player.

    Now for my final update for this save and this version.

    Season 2041/42



    League was a cakewalk once again. We even ended up breaking up the Premier League record for goals scored with 114, and came close to equaling the record for points (102), but 19th Burnley held us to a draw in the last game. The "surprise" of the league were Liverpool, who appointed OGB, and he somehow led them to second (they didn't make the top 7 in the last 3 seasons), with a disgusting 50 goals scored in 38 games. In other league matters, we are currently unbeaten at home for 116 league games. We've been beaten at home 4 times in 6 years across all competitions, all of them being cup games where we fielded a weakened team. Just ridiculous. We paired the league title with our second league cup win, however we stumbled once again in the FA cup (which remains the only trophy of any relevance that we haven't won), as we lost on penalties against Chelsea in the quarters.

    We were just as dominant in the Champions League, where we scored 45 and conceded just 6 in a total of 13 games. Highlights being our 9-0 win in Turkey against Besiktas in the groups, and a 6-0 win over City at our place in the quarters, with 5 of those goals coming in the first 20 minutes. Overall, we overcame a group of Valencia, Brugge and Besiktas, and then went on to beat Ajax, City and Real to make it to the final against Bayern:



    We were by far the best team from minute one of the game, so it was a travesty that they took us to extra time. Still we kept going and eventually found our way to two more goals to seal our third Champions League title in 4 years, which finally made us the most reputable club in the world.



    Stamenkovic was just bonkers this season with 49 goals in 51 games and the highest average rating we've ever had (tied with Diaz in his second season where he also scored 49 goals in 51 games coincidentally). He was the top scorer in the league with 33 in 32 and the champions league with 9 in 9. Our record signing, Milunovic, is not in there, but not for lack of effort. He finished with 18 goals and 10 assists in 36 games, but missed about 4 months through injury. Paul, Thompson and Renan were their usual selves, but this time around they are joined by Bruni and O'Shead who had a great season.

    Recap

    So my stint at Gateshead comes to an end after 22 seasons. During that time we won 5 back-to-back Premier League titles, 3 Champions League titles, 1 Championship title, 2 League Cups and an assortment of super cups. Our league positions for every season:



    And now a look at most of our current players as well as a few that were integral to our success, that are no longer at the club:

    Toggle Spoiler


    And that's all folks. See you in FM22.
    Last edited by Adramelch; 27-10-2021 at 04:56 PM.

  28. #1578
    Senior Member Manc's Avatar
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    Top stuff, Adra. What happened in the summer of 2037 for you to improve by 20 points?

  29. #1579
    Senior Member niko_cee's Avatar
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    Probably signed that defender and/or goalkeeper.

  30. #1580
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Ye defender and goalkeeper mainly. We scored our usual amount but conceded half the goals. Mostly the goaliee seeing as we had him since the summer, while the defender joined us in January.

    Edit: Oh we also got Glavacevic who was twice the player compared to our previous left back and a new right back that was a notable improvement too. So, all in all, just a massive overhaul at the back.
    Last edited by Adramelch; 27-10-2021 at 05:40 PM.

  31. #1581
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    Just lost a Champions League semi-final tie on away goals with Marcus Rashford scoring at 90+3.

  32. #1582
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    Slough Town - 2028/29 - Mid Season Update



    A short update as we enter January. After drawing 8 of our opening 12 games, we've hit a better run of form of late and find ourselves in the thick of the promotion fight. Sheffield United seem like they're running away with it and beat us fairly comfortably at Bramall Lane in November. Following that however, we won 6 on the trot, including some really important wins against West Brom and Reading. Our winning run was ended by one of the more frustrating games I've had in this save...





    29 shots to 6, that's FM for you. Our midfielders are doing the majority of the goalscoring, and our strikers are really struggling to find the net consistently, so I may look for an upgrade in the January transfer window. I'm also looking for a right winger to bring in on loan, as Lukas Puntigam picked up a 5 week injury.

    Playoffs has to be the aim now after such a solid first half to the season. We can hold our own in pretty much every game, and it's only Sheffield United that have properly outclassed us so far.

  33. #1583
    Isn't he banned? Baz's Avatar
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    Might as well post this:



    The boiz:



    Was great to go back to. Really enjoyed the challenge and glad I managed to win the PL in just 5 seasons.
    I'm a twit

  34. #1584
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    Just won the title. Here are some of the heavy hitters:
    Toggle Spoiler


    Starting to wonder if Fournier should drop to midfield given his marking, tackling and positioning being a waste at forward.
    Last edited by Panda Bear; 29-10-2021 at 09:54 PM.

  35. #1585
    Bookie Sir Andy Mahowry's Avatar
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    Did you have your keeper on pens, Baz?

  36. #1586
    Isn't he banned? Baz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sir Andy Mahowry View Post
    Did you have your keeper on pens, Baz?
    Yeah. Not sure why but I put it so he was on them every season.
    I'm a twit

  37. #1587
    Man(c) of the People igor_balis's Avatar
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    I'm having an absolutely cracking time on FM21, using the database that bloke made transposing the CM01/02 database. Jason Roberts is roughly Robert Lewandowski levels.

  38. #1588
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    You can post in the other thread really. There's already a few people that are playing older versions and the more the merrier.

  39. #1589
    Man(c) of the People igor_balis's Avatar
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    I'll post where I fucking please, cunt.

    Toggle Spoiler

  40. #1590
    Senior Member Adramelch's Avatar
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    Fite me.

    Toggle Spoiler

  41. #1591
    Man(c) of the People igor_balis's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Adramelch View Post
    Fite me.

    Toggle Spoiler
    alright prick, lets have a fantasy draft on FM 21

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