Football Manager 2022

[Baz]

You’re making me rethink my inverted wingbacks.

[Bernanke]

You’re making me rethink my inverted wingbacks.

Do what I do:



The IWBs end up sitting like two DMs in attack, and the wide midfielders still get to the touchline fairly regularly.

Added instructions:

Keeper: Pass it shorter
IWB: Dribble more, shoot less often, tackle harder
BPD: Pass it shorter, dribble more, shoot less often, stay wider, tackle harder
DLP: Dribble more, tackle harder, mark tighter
W: Pass it shorter, take more risks, cross from byline, shoot less often, tackle harder
AMs: Shoot less often, roam from position, move into channels, tackle harder, mark tighter

[Smjffy]

Season 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Toggle Spoiler

Season 01

Toggle Spoiler

Season 02.

Toggle Spoiler

Derby County - Season 2022/2023

After waving the white flag early doors last season, our stint in League One was always going to be one of change. The aging rear guard all left for pastures new, high earner Tom Lawrence left for Reading for £250,000 which was decent given he only had 21 days left on his contract, he would have taken the 25% decrease in wages due to us being relegated but he was far from irreplaceable. Louie Sibley joined West Ham for £8M rising to just over £10m, the Hammers even offered to loan him back for a season once the deal had been struck so we snatched their hands off.

Summer signing Erik Palmer-Brown came, saw, conquered then left for Charlotte for £5.5M, an easy sacrifice given our past form with financial mismanagement, you just can't turn that down for a free signing. Akin Famewo (Loan - Norwich), Harry Toffolo (£190k - Huddersfield), Tyler Walker (£275K - Coventry) and Dane Scarlett (Loan - Tottenham) were just some of the success stories in what was a very rewarding campaign that saw us break records left, right and centre. None more so than freebie signing and new number one, Matija Sarkic (£34K - Wolves) who broke a club record for most clean sheets, a record that hadn't been bettered since the 1970's.

We shall not be moved indeed.





An immediate return and we do so in much better shape than last season both on the pitch and financially. A nice £12M transfer budget available too with a huge excess in our wage budget. Prudent.

In the domestic cups our luck wasn't quite with us as Mansfield raced into a 3-0 lead to knock us out of the FA Cup first round, 3-2 while Bradford's 91st minute equaliser gave them a lifeline in the EFL second round before they went on to eliminate us on pens. At least there was the EFL Trophy though, we eased through our group with 1-0 win over Fleetwood, a 0-0 penalty victory against Manchester City U23's and Salford 4-0. Mansfield were first up in the knock out rounds, a 2-0 win gained a small measure of revenge for the FA Cup loss, a victory by the same score line saw us defeat Tottenham U23's but we came undone in the quarter finals as Dylan Levitt's sole strike was enough for Man United U23's to progress at our expense. They went on to win the whole thing beating Rotherham in the final.

Promotion was always the sole goal but it was nice to do so by recording a club record most points in a season (98), most league wins (30), most clean sheets (28), in fact, we hadn't conceded a single goal in League One until match day 8. The same day our unbeaten run ended as it happens. Screw you Rotherham.

We did have to wait a while to claim the title officially despite being so far ahead, this was largely in part to winning only one league game throughout April, three draws and two defeats could have proven to be the ultimate bottle job if Doncaster and Wayne Rooney's Huddersfield had capitalised.

Next season is still up in air, it could be nice to see if we can challenge for the playoffs with a few additions but equally, a move could be on the cards as this doesn't have to be a one club save.

All in all though, top effort. On we go.

Season 03a.

Toggle Spoiler

After speaking to Shaun Bailey about the clubs long term goals, the new chairman simply couldn't satisfy me that he wanted to take The Rams to the promise land so I promised to land a bombshell on his table the following day.



Although he was courteous, it was hollow words. Perhaps it was his inexperience, or mine but I was Smjffy and I just landed a league title so, you know, gotta look after ones 'stock'. I decided a holiday abroad to catch some rays would be a good idea only I got turned away for looking like Steve Buscemi in Mr Deeds.

But then an intriguing offer landed in my inbox and the financial package was enough to overlook the fact that they are a bit of a cuntish club. I could change that, perhaps even alter the perception but ultimately, it'll be a short term affair, I imagine.



Oof.



Millwall, just like Derby, were relegated dead last in the Championship last season and an inconsistent start to life in League One meant they departed with Luis Freire. No one should have been surprised given the 38 year old had never shown himself to be a long term option in any of his previous jobs, barely lasting a year in his last five positions.

On we go.

Season 3b.

Toggle Spoiler

Millwall - 2023/2024

The Lions were sitting in 13th place after 15 matches before the Welsh Dragon took control of the reigns, twelve points off table toppers Sunderland but with enough of the season left to turn things around and challenge for the playoffs at least. The media had put Millwall down for a 4th place finish at the start of the campaign so I assumed the quality was there somewhere.

With just twenty four hours to go until the first game of the new management, it was suggested that we'd take things slowly instead of tearing up everything from the get-go but what was the point when last seasons efforts with Derby County were still fresh in mind? No point so we told the players what we expected and quite frankly, if they didn't abide by it, they'd be out in the January window.

All that said, we beat AFC Wimbledon 2-1, a nice start. We followed it up with a 5-0 win over Northampton in the FA Cup first round, then wholesale changes for the clubs final EFL Trophy game saw a 0-0 draw against Portsmouth turn into a penalty shootout win which put us through to to the knockouts. The well rested first team however returned to action a few days later and got done over 1-0 by Oxford. We beat Leyton to 'turn the corner' only to get smashed 6-3 away to Sheffield Wednesday. Annoying as we took the lead twice.

December hit and the pace picked up but so did the victories, we started the festive period with a 1-1 draw at home to Blackpool then recorded eight on the bounce with six coming in the league. The turn of the year saw no change as we defeated Charlton (5-0) and Wycombe (4-1) which meant our next match, in the EFL Trophy saw us with a chance to make history. Not since 1928 had Millwall won ten on the spin, we'd matched that and now had a chance to surpass it against Fulham U23's. Four goals later and we did exactly that.

It ended the following game however, along with our participation in the FA Cup as Lincoln eased past us 4-2. No drama as success was never on the cards and the league was where our priorities lay. 7 points out of 9 for the remainder of the month continued our good work. Shrewsbury freed up a few dates by knocking us out of the EFL Trophy quarter finals.

February saw us sitting in 3rd place and four wins in five cemented it but March was going to be the decisive one.



Ten games from greatness?



Avoiding defeat against those in and around us was the aim but we'd been so used to winning that we felt we had more than half a chance.



And so it came to pass.

Rampant.

Sunderland taking the points at the Stadium of Light kept them in it but with the Wigan match being moved, we always had that game n hand. The Latics were eventually relegated but we still had to come from 2-0 down to defeat them which would have been an absolute bottle job as Blackburn were on the prowl.

It was Rovers who were our final opponents of the season in fact but at that point, a win for either side would have seen the victor crowned Champions.

Well, League One baby. Not only champions but we did so by recording a new club record for most points (96) Our golden oldie on this occasion was our goalkeeper Bartosz Bialkowski who at 36 years of age kept 20 clean sheets, a club record. He also became the oldest player in the clubs history in May 2024. Lovely.

The final record was Liam Cullen's 18 overall goals.







Transfers

Aaron Pierre and Mads Bidstrup were swiftly snapped up on free deals in the first few weeks of taking charge and we brought in Arsenal's David Oliver (Loan) on deadline day only for him to go and suffer a broken cheekbone in his first training session which ruled him out for over six weeks. He did eventually get on to the field but only managed five appearances.

Meanwhile, George Saville (St.Gallen £2.1M), Abdul Abdulmalik (Derby £165k), Junior Tiensia (Bolton £105k), Issac Olaofe (Plymouth £84K), Oliver Norwood (Sunderland £1M) and Michael Craig (Stoke £65K) all left the club. The fans weren't too pleased about some of them going but £4.4M in the coffers for players who were nearing the end of their contracts wasn't too shabby.

Anyways, who the hell are they to argue, they just got launched back to the Championship. Now do I accept the new deal or...

Season 04

Toggle Spoiler

Millwall - 2024/2025

After securing our passage back to the Championship, we felt it was important to add some quality to the ranks in what we anticipated to be a tricky campaign and so with that in mind, the Lions welcomed the following during the summer window:



Sheer firepower. Oli McBurnie, Piroe, Minamino and the January arrival, Mika Biereth all got into double figures, over sixty goals between them with Mason Bennett and Helder Costa providing the assists as well as twenty goals between themselves.

It was our attacking play that led to us securing our league status well in advance and gave us the platform to go into the final day of the season with a chance of making the playoffs.

Former club Derby County lay in wait, they had beaten us 3-1 earlier in the season and football being football, you just sensed they would come back to haunt me again but alas, it never occurred. Costa's penalty ten minutes from time was enough to secure the win, the points and the final spot. QPR drew 0-0 nonetheless.

Brentford were our opponents but we somehow found ourselves 2-0 down at half time, the Millwall faithful furious, it didn't get any better as Samuel Gigot made it 3-0 with minutes to spare. Takumi Minamino's late late strike gave us a glimmer of hope in the return but losing at The Den hurt.

The return offered nothing. Sod all. We lost 2-1. What an anti-climax.



I suppose we could at least say we lost to the eventual winners but what use is that. Steven Gerrard's Sheffield United losing in the finale.

In the domestic cups our luck was borderline non-existent as Crystal Palace knocked us out of the EFL Cup third round, the Eagles eventually getting relegated from the Premier League again. Whilst in the FA Cup, Swansea scored in injury time to put us out in the third round, Mason Bennett's 68"minute red card not helping the situation.

My contract ends in one month time and that'll be all she wrote as far as Millwall go. The board should have been happy but were left frustrated that we failed to grow the clubs reputation (I mean? WTF?), we finished higher than our preseason prediction and after a year long drama of listening to players moan about salaries, it's done. Over. Fuck 'em.

One has to think of their own careers so off I trot. Disappointing year though.

Season 05

Rangers 2025/2026

After running down my contract with Millwall, the Rangers job was staring one in the face and a stint in the SPL was a prime opportunity to add some more silverware to the two League One titles my fledging career had obtained.

With that in mind, we looked around the market with our limited funds and settled on the following:



Ebere Eze, a former Millwall player himself along with Davinson Sanchez were both picked up on loan from Tottenham, Louie Barry joined from Aston Villa, also on loan to add some depth up front and in midfield whilst January signing, Joshua Aryee found himself without a new deal at Dortmund and so we grabbed him to replace Jamal Lewis who we thought would go at the end of the season, as it is, he left in the January window himself so we asked Borussia how much they wanted to bring in Joshua early, £190K they said, OK. He would have been free otherwise.



Those leaving the club, of which there we a few in the end, all left in the winter window with the exception of Filip Helander. Ryan Kent left for Real Madrid for £30M rising up to £38. Alfredo Morelos went to West Ham for £25M, Jamal said au revoir and joined PSG for a whopping £35M and Linus Wahlqvist moved to Championship side Wolves for £10M. In total we sold £103M worth of talent but we knew by then where we stood and it would have taken the mother of all bottle jobs to have cost us the division. In hindsight, it may have been more prudent to have kept a few but I had no idea what was to come at the very end of the campaign.

It was a bit of a travesty not to go unbeaten given we were so close to doing so but we did smash a number of a records, goals for, beating a long standing one held by Hearts in the 1950's, and 103 points was a club record tally. If we hadn't dropped silly points to Celtic and lost to Hibs of all people, we may have landed a new Scotland record too but alas, a win is a win.



Domestically we were dominant throughout and secured both the Scottish League Cup and the Scottish Cup beating Celtic in the final of both.





Goals came easy and I imagine if we'd kept the likes of Kent and co we would have claimed many more records, our teenage wonderkid who was close to joining Man United before I kicked up a stink was very nearly ready to smash Henrik Larsson's grand total of most goals in a season too. As it is, Dylan Munro will have to wait another year, if of course either of us are here.



33 league goals in 33 games. 52 in 55(6) overall and he's most definitely got further improvements in him.

That's the good news.

The bad news.....we were knocked out of the Champions League as both Liverpool and Juventus finished above us. Why is that bad?

Well....you be the judge.



Bloody Shakhtar of all people. If we beaten them on the final match day then we would have qualified for the knockout rounds but it wasn't to be and so we dropped into the Europa League.



That goals against column makes for awful reading.

Europe's second competition was still European football and we wanted to make a dent and it is fair to say we did that.



But the final in Turkey was no delight. In fact, it was a bloody nightmare.



Rinsed.

On the personal side, accolades kept coming.



Manager of the Month in all but two to go alongside the Manager of the Year award, the Football Writers Manager of the Year award and it should have been the Players Manager of the Year award too given the win percentage but promoted side Inverness saw their manager, former Rangers striker Billy Dodds claim it. Wanker.

Records taken during the season was most points (club) with 103, biggest sale both for the club and in Scotland, initially it was Ryan Kent but days later Jamal Lewis took it with his transfer to PSG. Dylan Munro's 52 goal total was the most overall goals by a player in a season, Ianis Hagi's 32 assists was a club record although Kent probably would have surpassed him, Liam Kelly's 28 clean sheets was a new record and finally, Munro's 14 man of the match awards was a new one also.

All in all, a very good campaign and now we have money to play with along with both the youth facilities and the training ground getting a face lift.

I do want to stick around perhaps a little while longer but I have doubts that we'd taste European success and there isn't much to achieve on the home front so instead I'll keep an eye on the job market, specifically Marcelino's time at Newcastle as their 14th place finished has left him in a precarious position.
Brendon Rodgers (119 days), Manuel Pellegrini (292 days), Unai Emery and Diego Simeone all failing to win so much as a bean with the Toon Army, Marcelino looks like he's next on the list. 16th, 16th, 16th, 13th, 14th.....one would say the takeover hasn't exactly gone to plan.

On we go.

Toggle Spoiler

Season 06

Wales - 2026/2028

Well, I'll be damned. After Pepe Mel was let go, installing a bit of passion is what it was all about as far as the FAW were concerned, a bit of pride in the shirt given the big names had long since retired. Gareth Bale deciding to stick to golf, Joe Allen deciding to become a Director of Football after ending his playing days with Frontale and then Jeonbuk whilst Aaron Ramsey seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth.

No bother though as our Nations League group was one that we eased through but the real fun was just about to start.


Our European Qualification group gave us an awesome chance of reaching the competition proper and we'd start off against the Italians.



A famous win against the Azzurri to give us a great start and we never looked back.



Italy avenging the 3-1 defeat with one of their own proved too little too late as our goal difference was superior.



I said prior to the competition kicking off that success would be getting out of the group stage and seeing where we ended up. We were drawn against Poland, Portugal and Denmark but other than the Portuguese, I didn't think it was too big an ask, really. No Cristiano Ronaldo either as he retired in 2025 after leading Man United to a league and FA Cup double.

We never let ourselves down and found ourselves in the luxurious position of being able to rest many of the big hitters in our final game against Denmark who at that point had been eliminated.



Easier to qualify than it was to be sent home but the victory against Portugal was another scalp in the eyes of the media. I wondered how long it would take them to realise that we are Wales.

We drew Croatia in the second round, a hurdle for them itself given they were eliminated by England at the same stage in 2024 and by Portugal twelve years earlier. In fact, the 2008 quarter final run was the countries best effort and in recent times, we could lay claim to being closer.



It turned out to be a routine win. Nothing too dramatic, just a bog standard professional job which was great but France beating Sweden 4-0 meant our own exit was looming against the 2024 European Champions.

But what?!!



Au revoir! 0-0 at half time, neither team really threatening to make a go of it until Dylan Lovett popped up with a fine strike. The former Manchester United midfielder had found himself surplus to requirements at Old Trafford and left for Holland in 2024, two seasons in the Eredivisie saw a £68M transfer to Newcastle United. Bossed it but as the Camp Nou went wild, and I mean wild, the French were in a state of shock and that allowed Tomas Johns to wrap up a quick fire double! There was no coming back although the final ten minutes was nail biting against the world number #1.

We had reached the semi finals (again!), knocked out the current previous champions and struck lucky by drawing plucky Norway. We couldn't screw this up against them, surely?



Nope. Hysteria. The Welsh in dreamland and instead of a home nations final, the final would see us pick up where we started our qualification, against the Italians.

We had both recorded a 3-1 win against the other in the run up so it was up for grabs even if it seemed highly unlikely that it would be us. I mean, we're Wales init.

But fuck me.



We went in 1-0 down at half time as Nicolo Barella's strike separated the two teams but Matthew Owen's leveller early into the second half ensured it was game on. Ben Woodburn then got in on the act to put us 2-1 up and when the ref awarded a penalty which Dylan Levitt duly dispatched, we were already celebrating the most unlikeliest of successes.

But then....Lorenzo Lucca made it 3-2 with ten minutes to go.....AND THEN.....he grabbed his second two minutes later. 3-3! Heartache. We were like a rabbit in headlights. Dumbfounded. Lost. WTF?! We'd thrown it away and extra time would be needed.

After 105 minutes, nothing. No chances, no one wanting to take that leap of faith but with six minutes to go before the dreaded penalty shootout, one man leapt higher than most as Ethan Ampadu rose to score what turned out to be the decisive goal. Italy 3. Wales 4. CHAMPIONS of EUROPE! WOW.

It meant a lot but for the CV it meant I could now lay claim to being the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be. For Wales at least.



Lovely. We started off under my reign ranked 50th, a long way from the 8th we once occupied but we climbed back to 17th with a moment to remember.

Cymru am byth!

Now it's time for a six month sabbatical before seeing what club jobs are available but I think it is fair to say I should have my pick.

EDIT: It's written, 'mon Newcastle.



Career To Date:

2021/22 - Relegated (Derby County)
2022/23 - League One champions (Derby County)
2023/24 - League One champions (Millwall FC)
2024/25 - Playoff finalists (Millwall FC)
2025/26 - SPL champions, Scottish League Cup winners, Scottish Cup winners (Rangers)
2028 - European Championship winners.



Scenes.

[Dquincy]

Our first game in the top flight. It's going to make an interesting season! We're predicted to finish 15th (second from bottom).

Loving this version of FM.

[Raoul Duke]

Congrats Smiffy - excellent achievement

[wullie]

Coventry City season 2021/22

Back at the ex-Ricoh, hoping for a top half finish which looked hopeful after a bad start but then a ridiculous run of wins shot us up the table and then good form saw us into the playoffs, where we absolutely fucked the first semi against a Barnsley side who beat us handily five times over the course of the season. Still, not bad for a team in League 2 five minutes ago



One problem is a team without any functional wingers or money to purchase them so it was a case of playing various strikers there and hoping for the best, which worked in the case of Tyler Walker and to a lesser degree Martyn Waghorn who definitely didn't play enough to make team of the season and somehow convinced Preston to pay £1.2m for him



So far in 2022/23 I've learned nothing. Strikers on the wing and the exact same record after the first 15 games, having half our defence go back to Chelsea and refuse to entertain coming back certainly didn't help. Karel Poborsky has taken over and given me a new contract but he's otherwise unwilling to open his Czechbook (weeeey)

[Jeet]

Anyone noticed the lack of goals from wingers? I'm in February and my wingers haven't scored once in 3D matchday mode ( played 3 going on holiday and they scored in all them games)

I went down to 10men vs a 20 matches unbeaten ManUtd team and played 3 CBs, only, went on to win 3-1 (Only conceded by set play) I was more in control at the back than I was with 11 men. Decided to play 3 at the back again next game and won 5-0 vs West Ham - 3 CBs, 2 CM (AP & DP) 2 inverted Wingers with Support, AMC and 2 STs.

The 3 CBs just sweep everything up. This is a bug due to the wide players hardly scoring or crossing. I am seeing wide players in a goal scoring position and they just go wide with the ball haha.

[Dquincy]

Does anyone know where in the datahub I can see the following data? Thanks.

[Smjffy]

Season 07

Tottenham Hotspur - 2028/2029

After eight games without a win, Tottenham decided to pull the trigger on Ronald Koeman who lasted just 280 days in the role, Ronald joining the likes of Marcelo Bielsa, Robert Mancini, Massimiliano Allegri and Thomas Tuchel in failing to make the grade for the unpopular Daniel Levy.



Dylan Munro stuck out like a sore thumb (so did his weekly wage!), the Scottish striker tore up the SPL with myself and Rangers but evidently pushed for a move after I left for Wales, a rather poor £28.5M received however their loss would now be our gain although there are rumours surfacing that he wants to join a bigger club. Tottenham having spent nearly £300M in the last two seasons but recouped around £250M. Net spend and all that. I had a lukewarm welcoming from the clubs interim manager, former Celtic midfielder Scott Brown. Go fuck yae self ya wee coont. I'll keep him on hand for the remainder of the season but he's a goner in my mind. Not just because of his Celtic connections but for idiotic statements like this:



Of course, mate. We'll forget the fact that barely twelve months separates them and one has nearly 200 more career goals to their name.

Sitting in 11th place and with Champions League spots too far away, I tasked the players with securing Europa League football at the bare minimum and by my calculations, we had three opportunities to do so. The league route, the FA Cup route and indeed, the Europa Conference League route. All of which were obtainable.



Remaining Fixtures.



Newcastle were drawn in the semi finals who themselves had only replaced their own manager a few months earlier, a position I applied for but was ultimately unsuccessful in getting. Too late to the party they said so now the task was to be the party pooper.

Southampton took the lead through an own goal by Dragowski but an equaliser just before half time and an impressive second half performance secured the clubs first win in the league since January 17th.

This was followed up by a 4-0 dismantling of Beskitas who themselves were well off the pace in the Super Liga and a much changed line up in the return saw no difference as Munro and Gibbins both grabbed a brace each. 8-1 on aggregate. Panathinaikos were to be the semi final opponents, Sevilla and PSV making up the other tie.

Our next game was at Wembley as we took on Newcastle United, safe in the knowledge that our opponents in a potential final would be Chelsea and not Man City. Gabriel Jesus coming back to haunt his former club as the London side won on pens. A double by Colombo (was Brown right?) saw us ease through 3-1 to set up the showpiece finale. Tottenham had reached the 2026 final too only to lose to Man United. Incidentally the clubs next opponents in the league who were spearheaded by the 35 year old Harry Kane.

He didn't score, he didn't even play but despite taking a 1-0 lead, we were trounced 5-1 to bring us back down to earth with a bump. A proper reality check so to speak.

As it transpired, we weren't going to break into the top six and ultimately finished just two positions higher than when I took over.



Chelsea finally ending Manchester's eight year stranglehold on the Premier League, they also ended our hopes of FA Cup success as Lukaku showed age is no barrier although it was a little tough to swallow knowing that we were just 45minutes away from victory before bottling it in typical Spurs fashion.



The Europa Conference League now became our last chance to get back into Europe for next season. I wanted it but at the same time, a season without European travel could have lay the groundwork for some serious upheavals and bringing the club back in line with those above it except we were never going to lose to PSV Eindhoven, were we?

Well, no effin' comment.



Disaster. Huge work in the summer is now planned but very disappointing as that could have been two further additions to the CV. To have lost the Europa League final and now the Europa Conference League final in my career, along with the relegation with Derby, the playoff final loss with Millwall......we have work to do!

[Jeet]

Ah, so if I set my wingers to "hold the ball" they will either wait for team mates to catch up and pass or hold it up just outside the box then cut in and have an attempt instead of just running straight to the byline where instructed not to cross from, so they just feck about.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

As if fucking Diljeet has just decided to waltz back onto the forum.

After-eventing cunt.

[Adramelch]

Asteras Varis Season 2022/23 Update

Our first season in the professional leagues and it was always going to be an interesting one given the league structure. Our group consists of 15 teams, 3 of which are B teams and can't be promoted or relegated, therefore in reality you have 12 teams vying for each position. Five teams get relegated so we had to play good to avoid that. Goal was to get more than 30 points from our 28 games and then see how it goes from there in terms of relegation. Much like last summer, a massive overhaul took place with 9 players coming into the first team, most of them as starters.



I am genuinely happy with where we finished, however, we were actually higher at the mid-point of the season, and then proceeded to only get 6 points in 9 games, which made me worried that we were going to get sucked into a relegation battle. We bounced back thankfully with four wins out of our last five outings and ended up at a very respectable 5th place. We were the second highest scoring team in the league, however our defence somewhat let us down.



The big news here is that our best eleven contains a striker with 3 goals in 14 appearances. That's how bad our options in that position were. Karalis scored 9 in 27 which is better, but still not good enough. That is mostly on me, as, during our overhaul, bringing a new striker was low(-ish) in my priorities given the performances of Karalis last season, and, when I decided we would need a better striker, we had already gone above our wage budget and couldn't bring anybody good.

The squad is going to be overhauled yet again, as some people don't deserve a new contract, some people don't want to sign one (De Corte being the main guy here; he wanted to sign a new contract, we didn't have the room in the wage budget, I sold a player two days later and by then he had decided that we are not good enough for him) and some are flat out retiring. The real question, however, is what happens with me. Do I stay or do I leave for greener pastures? I am leaning towards the former, but just for one more year and then I am gone. There's no real prospect of us getting promoted, so there's no point staying any longer. Mostly staying that extra season in order to build my reputation a bit more as I am currently at 15% (or 0.75 stars).

As a sidenote, it is refreshing to have 30-game seasons, after a barrage of 60-game ones in my Gateshead save.

[Smjffy]

If you hadn't taken six points from a potential twenty-seven then you might have stood a chance. You weren't 'that' far away from the top two. Does second place face a play off against a relegated side from the division above or is it automatic promotion?

I'd stay the extra year too in this instance. You're probably only going to move sideways if not.

[Adramelch]

The top team (which in this case was Chania since Olympiakos B doesn't count) plays the top team of the other group (which was Xanthi that demolished them) and the loser of that tie plays the second to last team from the division above. But even though we did deserve some extra points from that 9-game run, we did get away with murder in other games so I reckon we got the points we deserved more or less. My main issue is that there's no improvement to be had in the squad. Our wage budget remained the same and the club is hemorrhaging money. Meanwhile I can only offer 1-year contracts (which might be a bug - doesn't seem reasonable for a professional league), meaning that any good player just doesn't want to renew their contract. So basically I think I'll get one more season of the same and then just move on. I was already approached from another team in the same division, but they were in the same predicament so moving there didn't make much sense.

[Baz]

Nearpost corners seem overpowered.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Of all the weird local rules I've ever stumbled upon in this game, La Liga having a minimum weekly wage of £3,000pw in order to league-register a player is one of the top few. Is also a major problem for me and my absolutely dogshit moneyball squad with plenty of players on less than that.

[Baz]

Just lost 6-5, despite being 4-0 up at one point.

[Smjffy]

I swear I read recently that Dani Alves wage was going to be one Euro a week with Barcelona. How have they got by that if that's the case?

[Gray Fox]

They haven't, really. They had to let Messi go after he'd agreed to halve his wages. They had to sell Greaseman back to Atletico at a vastly reduced fee. They could only bring in free signings after that but could only register them once the former two left.

They've had to work very hard around these rules to even get Pedri and Ansu Fati new contracts as both expired this year. Ousmane Dembele and Coutinho were both bought for £120m+ and both walk away for free at the end of the season, as it stands.

They now have Aguero who is probably on something like £150k-300k p/w who might never play again, or at least not for a long time, sat on the books too.

It was that bad they went up to Pjanic and Umtiti and asked if they could terminate their contracts, just to get them off the wage budget. Both told them to piss off.

The likes of Biscuits who is 33 now, is on mega money when he really shouldn't be. In fact the only player they really have who is top drawer these days is Frenkie De Jong. And I bet he'll be off to either Bayern or the Premier League in the summer.

Barcelona are still very much in the shitter. They've got to go through more pain yet. The likes of Pique, Alba and Biscuits are still regulars in the team despite being the very wrong side of 30 now. They need an entire new defence and midfield really, yet they've got loads of debt to pay off.

[Smjffy]

I was referring to Jimmy highlighting La Liga having a minimum weekly wage of £3,000pw in order to league-register a player yet I read Alves weekly wage is one Euro a week so how has he been registered if the rule is legit?

[Adramelch]

Nearpost corners seem overpowered.

Set-pieces in general I'd say. I had defenders scoring a good 10+ goals a season from far post/6-yard box. Just near post is a bit better than those.

@Smjffy: The few spanish articles I've checked talk about "lowest possible wage". It could be that someone unaware of the rule thought "does that mean £1" and ran with it.

[Lofty]

I seem to have entered one of those phases where the opposition are just pinging absolute screamers in from all over the shop, regardless of the team's/player's actually quality.

[Bernanke]

In addition to echoing the near post thing, the fact that every full back is able to have a throw-in reach the far post regularly seems really dumb.

[Jimmy Floyd]

AS say that Alves has 'the lowest salary in the squad' but a shit ton of bonus triggers. Then again, they also say that Raheem Sterling is about to sign for Arsenal, so I dunno.

I signed a Norwegian forward from Bodo/Glimt on 2,700 euros a week and am now unable to register him because it's under 3,000 euros. Utter nightmare, at least as far as anything in FM league registration issues can be an utter nightmare.

Also, I've noticed some very weird transfers in this game from the big English clubs. They have been raiding the likes of me, Levante, Granada etc for bang average players and then not fielding them. Man Utd signed a 27 year old forward from Levante B for £1.2 million and he played once in the Carling Cup.

[Adramelch]

The spanish sites have similar reports in regards to his contract.

As for the big clubs making pointless transfers, it's been a thing for quite a few versions now. It mostly happens with English, French and German clubs in my experience.

[SincereTheRebel]

Im thinking of a team to go with. I like the idea of going down a homegrown route by only having players from the nation the team represents.

Arsenal look good for this given they are shit. A.Bilboa would be perfect

[John Arne]

Started my journeyman save... loaded 52 leagues from 22 countries all Asia.



Holiday'd for 2 months then started applying, minimum rep and experience. Got turned down for many, however, the first job offered to me, happened to also be the one with the biggest budget.

Welcome to FC Shurtan Guzar in the Uzbek 2nd Tier. They finished 6th of 10 last season, and the board expect another mid-table finish.

Seemed to have landed on my feet finance-wise, with a $120k transfer budget and $12k wage budget.... unfortunately, nobody wants to join.

oh, and this pops up on my second day in the office...



Cushty.

[wullie]

Fuck this.




Not the result, the idea that any Cov fan paying for a ticket doesn't do so knowing a battering is always on the cards. It should let you override it and fine everyone involved

[Adramelch]

Just signed a player on July 1st and he asked me to leave for a bigger club (to improve his chances at playing for Mauritania) on August 1st.

Edit: 8 days later he wants a chat because he can't settle and he kicked up a fuss when I declined to sell him. What a start to his tenure here.

[igor_balis]

it is amazing how broken the player interaction is after all these years

[Adramelch]

It's gotten a bit better as of late in fairness, but you do get the odd case like this one.

[Lofty]

Third season with Barrow on my 21 Touch save. After briefly entering the play off berths the previous season I tried to upgrade my keeper and attack to push the team over the edge in terms of quality. Playing route one football with a 4-2-3-1 I found some success:



This run saw me sitting top of the table in the run up to Christmas. Somehow without any changes (though admittedly some injuries) this suddenly led to a bit of a collapse:



I fell down into the melee of the top 10, and every game seemed to be a humdinger as the season reached a conclusion. This was a particular highlight:



Between my players managing to either cough up a penalty or get sent off every game and an unprecedented amount of 25 yard plus thunder bastards rattled past my keeper I ended up with everything to play for in the final game of the season.



A tepid 1-1 draw saw this narrowest of failures occur. The board are loving it but I am annoyed I didn't make the playoffs this time. Have got pretty much all the best available kids being released from top clubs incoming on free transfers. I am upgrading my staff wherever possible to try and get an extra boost that way. I think if I sign or develop a top striker I will take the next step, and if I'm honest I fucked up a bit leaving myself short at Right Back too.

[Adramelch]

That looks like most of my seasons in this game regardless of version Lofty. And it's very typical that the slump happens from mid December to mid/end February.

On the matter of Journeyman saves, it always bugged me how much coaching licenses affect your reputation. It should play a role but I think it's way too much currently, especially for the early ones.

[Smjffy]

Season 08

Tottenham Hotspur - 2029/2030

After finding ourselves without European football, the target set to those who remained was top four. No if's or buts, it was essential and a great opportunity to do so. It would also have been the first time in over a decade as the last time Spurs finished in the qualification places was 2018/19. As ever, we decided to dip into the transfer market to bring in as we moulded the squad in my image but it wasn't quite as extensive as we had initially planned. It was our outgoings that took up much of the summer.

Transfers In.



£145M was a huge sum given I had spent just £7M throughout my entire career to date but it was all for the greater good.

Carlo Mann was pricey but one for the future more than the present, 9 goals in 12(21) wasn't a bad return given who he had to try dislodge from the first time.



Arbnor Aliu found himself surplus to requirements at Bayern. He enjoyed a solid twelve months at the back although there are doubts about whether he's a long term solution to LB/CD.



There are however zero doubts about Bryan Statie or Ibrahima Correa.



An impressive season for Vitesse saw his big money move to the Premier League, the winger grabbing 13 league goals and 11 assists. His biography states he's a global superstar and it's difficult to disagree. Definitely one that excites. Not as much as our Senegalese striker though.



40 league goals in 35 games, 15 assists and had he grabbed two more he would have surpassed Clive Allen's 1986/87 record of most goals in a season as his total tally of 47 in 46(1) helped him secure personal accolades the Golden Boot, the PFC Player of the Year, the Footballer Writers Footballer of the Year, the PFC Young Player of the Year, the CAF Striker of the Year, BBC African Footballer of the Year....immense effort. He's also a former Golden Boy winner, claiming that honour off his strike partner, Dylan Munro albeit both before I joined.

Our outgoings saw £343M worth of talent sold starting although it wasn't entirely of our own choosing as our failures last season saw many want to leave for European football.

Season Summary

We were doing very well for the most of the season and it was evident after the turn of the year that we would have to repeat last years bottle job to relinquish a top four place but it took Man City taking 2 points from 9 to give us a real stab at challenging for the league title.



Man United never really threatened half as much but as the season unfolded, they would technically be our closest rivals. It was our win over their neighbours at the beginning of May that really got tongues wagging though. We even dropped four points in the final three league games but our goal difference and superiority suggested nothing would have stopped us in our pursuit.



We were just magical, as was Munro who added 36 goals to his and our totals, a great partnership up top and youthful enough to continue for years to come. Tottenham league champions for the first time since 1961. Lovely.

It didn't stop there though.

A rampant start to our EFL Cup adventure saw us march all the way to the final.



Tottenham had lost the last three finals in the competition to Man United (2009), Chelsea (2015) and Man City (2021) so it was more a case of fourth time lucky and in hindsight, it was quite lucky as penalties were needed to come on top of Leicester City.



A domestic cup, a step in the right direction as we didn't imagine winning the league at that point.

It didn't stop there either. We went the whole hog.



A return to Wembley, a second FA Cup final in a row but the story told this time round was much different. We'd face long time enemy, Arsenal and we were aching to set the record straight after the defeat to Chelsea last season.

"BOOM".



There wouldn't just be a DVD of the success, there would be a lifetime of ribbing the Gunners who bizarrely are now managed by Jurgen Klopp after he left Anfield for London.

A domestic treble, the second of my career after landing a similar feat in Scotland with Rangers.

The good news kept coming too.



Our stadium was largely full throughout and the increase means we'll be just 4,000 odd shy of having the biggest stadium in the league.

I felt it would go alongside what became the biggest ever win in the same competition (and for the club)



Magical and totally unexpected too as although we'd recorded some handsome score lines throughout the season, April itself wasn't one of them.



We did set a few new records, most points in a season (89) surpassing the 2017 total and most league goals (139) which was held by Aston Villa for nearly a century.

It all seemed to be an awful lot so very soon in the day when you consider the FA Cup final was just my 67th game in charge of Tottenham, we'd plundered 239 goals throughout that time.

Plenty of stories to tell the non-existent grandkids one day.



I imagine I will see out the entire contract at Tottenham although when the Liverpool job became available, I was tempted to apply but there is still work to be done here now that we'll be competing in the Champions League. Daniel Levy was rumoured to be selling the club earlier in the season, that didn't materialise and tbh, he hasn't been much of an issue.

We keep rolling on but I sense my time in England will soon have to be scrapped as European success is all that remains and then it may have to be a move abroad. I have no long term plans other than to keep improving the CV but two clean sweeps in two different countries did plant a seed.

COYS.

[thommo]

We're getting to the business end of our first season in the Premier League and this is how it looks as we enter April.



We managed to record back-to-back wins over West Ham and Blackburn in February, as part of a 4 game unbeaten run which dragged us out of the relegation zone for the first time all season. Unfortunately we followed that up with a late loss to Southampton which closed up the points gap once again, the goal coming in a scramble in the 89th minute. Next to visit the Warren Harris Arena were Manchester City, and we displayed real signs of improvement in a late comeback to earn a vital point.



Considering we'd lost 6-1 at the Etihad in November, I was chuffed. It was fitting that it was Dennis Ball who scored the equaliser - a landmark goal as he now holds the record for most league goals for Slough Town.



Ball is now 27, and not improving any further. He's not really PL quality, but I'm remiss to just chuck him aside. He's a true legend of our rise through the leagues and has scored goals at all 5 levels he's featured for us. Ideally he can get a continental goal before he's phased out of the first team picture.

We've got Everton and Newcastle to play in our last 7, but we also have some tough games against Spurs (2nd), Watford (5th) and Liverpool (8th). Newcastle themselves are currently on a run of no wins and just 4 points in their last TWENTY-TWO games, and they've only scored once in their last 10. I'm dreading us turning up at St. James's Park and being the opposition they break their duck against.

A quick word to our January transfer dealings - I spent about £6m on some good reinforcements. Jermaine Yearwood, our new right-back, is now our record signing at £3m, but the one I'm most excited about is Stefan Krstic. I'd had my eye on him for almost a year as he developed at Partizan, and snapped him up for £1.9m thanks to a release clause. I think he could be something special.

[Serj]

Last time I wrote about how my squad needed an overhaul. I was going to tackle that in the summer transfer window, but it turns out I was being a bit optimistic.



I thought I could move on at least one of the three players who are on 8,500€ each to free up some funds, but nobody wanted them (understandably, as they are terrible) and the board blocked me from releasing them. So I was stuck with scintillating attacking talent such as this:



Joint-highest earner in the squad everybody. This is an end of season screenshot, but he wasn't much better at the start. Thank god he's retiring.

The result of all this was that I could not offer any players the wage that they demanded, not even on loans. I tried getting around that with the monthly playing fees on loans but this then exceeded the transfer budget. The best I could do was to bring in four okay players whose clubs accepted me paying nothing and just giving them playing time. This is the best of the bunch:



So, how did that turn out? Much better than I'd feared, actually.



Same amount of goals conceded as last season, with +17 scored. My guess is that two things helped massively.

1. My acceptance within the squad rose a lot due to me having been at the club for a while. Someone upthread commented on the effect of coaching badges, and I felt that a lot in the first season. I started with a "National B Licence", which lead to the Managerial Support being "Very Poor" initially. Going into the second season, this rose to "Average", which I think must have helped with team morale.

2. I streamlined the tactics, taking DS's advice on having the same tactics in several slots. I binned the 4-4-2 I was trying to make work last season and settled on a 4-3-3 (it's the Netherlands, after all) with a DM and cautious mentality. The same tactic is in the second slot, slightly tweaked to make it more suitable for away games. Plus I kept my 5-3-2 Catenaccio when playing against 4-4-2s or massive favourites.

The most significant result of this is that my target man (or target forward nowadays, apparently) finally started scoring, posting much improved numbers compared to last season.



Since he's quite versatile, he sometimes plays as inside forward from the left, with the loanee target man up front.

Toggle Spoiler

I've found it much easier this way to actually get crosses to both of them than when I'm playing them as a proper front two.

Now, with about 2/3 of my budget being freed up by the three high-earners leaving, I can finally strengthen the squad. I desperately need a centre-back and a goalkeeper, then maybe somebody creative in midfield.

[Smjffy]

WTF?

[Adramelch]

We've conceded 20 goals with 13 xG against this season and it's been quite frustrating to watch. We're also the worst team in goals scored/xG in the league.

[Smjffy]

Last time I wrote about how my squad needed an overhaul. I was going to tackle that in the summer transfer window, but it turns out I was being a bit optimistic.

I was always so poor on FM with the financial side but it is worth taking the time to do what you can to help yourself so one of my biggest things is when sorting out contracts, I don't just cave in any more and would rather pay a little extra in appearance fee's than outright wage, same with the unused sub one, I try to remove that most the time. If player rejects and I have to wait a while to try again, so be it but long term it has paid dividends.

Except maybe current season as I simply don't give a hoot as Tottenham seem to have an abundance of money and the contracts for the top players in the team are already overly excessive so unless they are sold, I ain't fixing that shit given I'm only sticking around until the end of next season.

[Adramelch]

I was always so poor on FM with the financial side but it is worth taking the time to do what you can to help yourself so one of my biggest things is when sorting out contracts, I don't just cave in any more and would rather pay a little extra in appearance fee's than outright wage, same with the unused sub one, I try to remove that most the time. If player rejects and I have to wait a while to try again, so be it but long term it has paid dividends.

Except maybe current season as I simply don't give a hoot as Tottenham seem to have an abundance of money and the contracts for the top players in the team are already overly excessive so unless they are sold, I ain't fixing that shit given I'm only sticking around until the end of next season.

Yeah it's been the same for me. Up until a couple versions ago I didn't care all that much, but now I push every negotiation to its limit.

[Serj]

Definitely doing that as well on this save. I've already walked away from a couple of negotiations because they wanted 300 Euros per week more than I wanted to pay.

In the case of the borked budget above I inherited all the nonsensical contracts though, and had to wait for them to expire. It basically ruined three transfer windows for me. Since I also have attribute masking on, finding bargains (aka free loans) is a bit tricky as well. I have to say, though, getting to a mid-table finish overcoming those obstacles is quite satisfying.

[Smjffy]

The Wrexham save I did on the last version was the most satisfying one I think I had ever had on FM, I hadn't really done or stuck at at YDWAWK save before. I would have done it on this version too had it not been so recent but truth be told, I struggled a little at times simply because I wasn't signing anyone, you'd a top newgen and there was no "should I, shouldn't I" moment because it wasn't permitted but the financial side of it is what really stuck with me, helped by being able to offer contract extensions etc at an early age but I definitely laid the groundwork to understanding the finances a bit better and in a way it was more enjoyable taking extra time to familiarise myself with the contract, the players attributes and history etc. Normally I fly through the game so fast that you miss a lot of stuff that's actually happened.

So far this version is right up my street, good balance between speed, interaction, current tactic is working wonders and learning how to adjust it little by little. Not DS levels but enough to be getting the most out of the starting line up. I don't really play the game for the tactical side, it's more the 'storyline' for me and it always has been which is why I enjoy doing the write ups in here. I'd expand even more if I knew I wasn't hogging the thread but then I finish work around 2pm every day so I've got at least 8 hours plus game time 7 days a week. Oof.

[thommo]

Slough Town - End of Season Update - 2029/30

With 7 games to go, we were 2 points clear of the relegation zone and I was quietly optimistic that we could keep ourselves in the PL. However, we stumbled a little over the line, losing to Norwich and Watford before hosting Liverpool and somehow pulling it out of the bag thanks to our legendary talisman, Dennis Ball. His 79th minute goal secured a 1-0 win and a vital 3 points. Our next two games were eminently winnable; Newcastle (20th) and Everton (17th). We scraped a draw at lowly Newcastle, confirming their relegation despite being under the cosh for the entire second half, and followed it up with a much more assured performance against Everton, but with the same outcome.

Despite these inconsistent results, we'd stretched the gap to 4 points with 2 games to play. Our last home game was against a Spurs side fresh off battering Barcelona 6-1 in the Champions League semi finals. We showed some good signs but ultimately they were too strong, and we lost 2-0. Thankfully, we were still 3 points clear going into the final game, and with 6 teams battling to avoid the final two relegation spots, it was very unlikely that we would end up in the bottom 3.



A solid 1-1 draw away at Middlesbrough ensured survival, but we were safe nonetheless, with Southampton and Sheffield United both losing on the final day. We were really helped by the sheer number of poor teams in the league this season. 34 points was a low total to survive on, and then when you consider we actually finished 14th with that tally, it's surprising to say the least. We improved massively throughout the season, most notably on the defensive side of the team. Once they developed partnerships and were confident with the tactic, we were much more solid at the back and this is evident in the stats. We conceded 36 goals in the first half of the season and only 22 in the second half.

A quick look at the team that managed to keep Slough Town in the PL at the first time of asking.



The loanees will all return to their clubs, and we have a few contracts expiring, but there is a good young core in this team that could really improve together. Papadopoulos was a bit lost to start the season but he came into his own with some important goals and performances. I'm excited to see how Krstic develops up front - we'll definitely need to improve the service to him next season, and that could mean more chances for our playmaker option, Florian Girard.

We also went through a takeover in April, and our budgets have been announced for the upcoming season.

[Adramelch]

On the matter of wages, I have a wage budget of 9k and I am paying 11.5k (don't know how the board even allowed it to begin with) with a lot of haggling done. Meanwhile my squad is 20 people. That's how little money we have.

[Baz]

I see other teams set their players' value as 'not for sale.' Can I do that and if so, how?

[Baz]

Stumbled over the finishing line which ended up costing us the title but really happy to be promoted and even more happy to have managed to get the players to sign new contracts rather than effing off in the Summer.

[Baz]

Got these two bad boys to lead me to glory for years to come:

Toggle Spoiler

Here are those 2 after their first season under my tutelage.

Klefisch didn't really set the world alight but his attributes look decent enough. He's insisted on a 250k minimum fee release clause in his new contract so I imagine he'll be off soon.

Toggle Spoiler

Amyn's a striker now and slowly en route to becoming Cristiano Ronaldo, and there's no release clause in sight:

Toggle Spoiler

Full squad stats:

Toggle Spoiler

Amyn delivering corners to Greger at the nearpost has been fruitful.

[Gray Fox]

I'm loving all of these read ups.

Best thing is you all seem to have branched off into differing parts of the world.

[Danny]

Same. I havent updated lately but I am a couple of seasons further in.


I saw someone on Reddit say they ordered one of those mystery shirt boxes for their game of FM. That is tempting me for when I grow tired of my current game.

[Bam]

Ordered a what?