Good effort, Jimmy.
I'll be finished the latest season tonight but
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Robbed.
Good effort, Jimmy.
I'll be finished the latest season tonight but
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Oxford City - 2026/27
The Squad
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Results
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Summary
The media had us down to finish rock bottom and odds of 3/5 (bizarre!) to finish last reflected that. We opened up our debut season in the Premier League against last seasons champions, or rather the champions for the last three seasons, Liverpool. In fact the last decade had been the usual two with only Tottenham breaking it up back in 2020/21 with a second place finish.
Anyway, we got spanked 5-3 and although we were good going forward, defensively we struggled although that's not too surprising against one of the best two teams in the division. We bounced right back with victory against Leicester at our makeshift home ground, drew 1-1 away to Stoke (not a Tuesday) before claiming another three points at home to Ipswich. Early days but we were flying considering what I was anticipating.
We were swiftly brought back down with a crash after Nottingham Forest stole a 1-0 win again at our temporary home The Kiyan Prince Foundation Stadium....god knows who it belongs to. Manchester City were up next and I anticipated a beating. As it is we lost 2-1 and never really looked back. In fact with the exception of Southampton, the only games were lost for the remainder of 2016 were against those who occupied the top six. Not a bad effort by any means.
As we headed into the January transfer window we decided to bring in a couple more options, most notably in midfield but also up front with a former loanee returning as Oliver Williams sodded off on loan further down the leagues. Cheers Barry!
January Signings
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You what?! Yep! We were flying and then some! For a short period it looked as though we might actually gatecrash the top six but our form against those very same clubs is what stopped us. As we headed into the final few games of the season we found ourselves so clear of 8th that we were hoping Chelsea or Tottenham slipped up. As it was neither of them did but in the case of Spurs, we went into the last game of the season needing Liverpool to win (they did) and for us to beat Manchester City (we didn't), if we had managed to do that (again) then we would have stopped them winning the title in favour of Liverpool. That would have been spesh.
As is, the season was special and it's completely reignited the game as I was expecting an absolute slog of a campaign. Woop!
Europe baby! However....it wasn't always like that.
Domestic Cups
FA Cup - We started in the 3rd round and went on a mad 'un against opponents Colchester beating them 7-2. Plymouth were drawn in the 4th round and a 3-0 win achieved. Brighton came in round five and again we scored three times albeit the third arriving in extra time to set up a quarter final tie against Liverpool. After a 1-1 draw over 90"minutes we were undone by two goals in extra time to knock us out. It was wishful thinking but then so was:
EFL Cup - Ipswich were drawn in the 2nd round and we played out a 2-0 win in front of a smaller than usual crowd. Newcastle arrived in the 3rd round and as far as domestic cups go I felt we owed them one for knocking us out of the FA Cup twice in our earlier days so it was pleasing to beat them by 2 goals to 1. Reading were drawn in the 4th round and another opportunity to land a win against lower league opposition, 2-1 was closer than we wanted but it set up a quarter final match against Tottenham and our inevitable exit....
But no....absolutely no.
Riquelme with a penalty in the dying minutes was enough to prolong our stay and the resulting penalty shootout win sent us to our second Carabao Cup semi finals in succession after losing at the same stage to Aston Villa last season. This time round we'd face Man United so the same was expected.
But again...
A mental ten minutes gave us an unexpected win under the floodlights and Oxford was bouncing all the way to the 85th minute of the 2nd leg where you could hear a needle drop. We had thrown it away. 3-1 down at Old Trafford, 4-3 down on aggregate and heading out but that damn beauty Riquelme. It must be the name.
Ohhhh you beauty!! What a hit son.....what a hit! Our first final! But against Man City so meh. At this point I had hoped it was the FA Cup as at least we'd then qualify for Europe as runners up but ......but.....
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We qualified for the Europa Conference League! The first team in England to qualify for Europe which I made a point of telling the non-existent media that gathered round in my room because yes, I did do a live interview to thin air TV.
But more to come....because Chelsea reached the Champions League final and Tottenham reached the Europa League so we needed Chelsea to lose, Tottenham to win and then we'd take the Europa place instead of the third rate version and so it came to pass.
Madness!
I really wish I could keep Riquelme but fact is he's way outside our means and even Pepe is going to take some convincing to stick around. He wants a new deal less than 12 months into his current one but with a minimum release fee included. Well, unfortunately for him I still have a bad aftertaste of Maupay leaving the club after his got activated. Not happening.
Pennies!! I don't think I could have asked for much more from the season.
Next Season
Keep going. We've got a number of players who find themselves out of contract and none will be renewed as we start building for the future. With that in mind, we went on a little snoop around the grounds and well....sorry Man United fans but there was no way I was leaving this beaut. Maddison spent much of the season on the left wing and with Riquelme leaving he should get more of a chance as he doesn't score half as many stuck out wide. I want better quality all round but mostly at the back so I think another CB and two good full backs are the order of the day. We'll see. I'm going in a little blinded.
I think pouching others is the best route to go at the moment although our own youth facilities were meant to be completed in a couple of weeks time but it has been pushed back in what I can only assume is the board increasing it further?
One more season then we get our own stadium back and I'd like to greet it with more European football. Hopefully this up coming season brings it and I haven't just had a good first season. I actually found this season 'easier' than the Championship slogs.
Lovin' it. Good for morale this one.Goodnight!
The utter state of that Premier League money boom. £93m more from the end of your last season to this one.
I also love how someone is labelled both the next Paul Gascoigne and a similar player to Youri Tielemans.
I revisited my save from FM19 the other week and have chipped away at a few games when I've had time. In my 3rd season in charge of Slough Town and I'm still in the National League South. I can't understand how to get this rapid rise everyone else can achieve so easily. It doesn't help that it's only the champions promoted with 2nd-7th going into the playoffs - both seasons have had leaders streak away and I've failed in the playoffs both times.
Not everyone else - I am also a rank average player. I just use my own tactics that seem logical with the players I have, no game breaking stuff.Originally Posted by thommo
I've gotten to League One from National League North and I've really hit the ceiling now. I just cannot seem to push any further.
I've stuck with the same 4-2-3-1 for all 3 seasons so far, with pretty simple lower league instructions. I don't like replacing players who I have some connection with either - for example, Slough have a non-contract right winger, Warren Harris, who only excels in crossing and pace. But in real life, he's scored over 100 goals for the club and I'm remiss to replace him, even if he is rated at 1.5 stars.
I can't wait to get into the league just to force the board to go professional. I've had a few ok youth players come through in the first season's intake but they will not develop because of the part-time training.
It's the tactics as opposed to me. I'm using something called 442deeks at the moment but as with all tactics that I downloaded, I use it mostly as a base and modify it so little that it's practically plug and play. The save I am currently playing also has the scout 100 players a day and all players interested options ticked so take all successes with a pinch of salt. I've long played FM as less of a strategy game and more of a RPG of sorts. The story I write in my mind as I play is what does it for me and is probably where my interest comes from. It's also why I use fast result a lot unless it's a game I really need to be on top of hence the quick seasons.
If it was left to my tactical nous then I'd still be in the Vanarama I imagine.
Another issue I don't have as one of the unlocked things, either scout or all players interested actually turned us from semi-pro to professional as soon as it was clicked. Facilities are/were still shit though.
It's disgusting but at the same time so are the transfer fees and wages that are thrown around as a result.
What’s this?
I'm a twit
Fast result.
January transfer window:
By contrast...
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We've got the better deal, aye? Van Leeuwen is an elite striker apparently.
Look away, Fox.
Yeah, your guy is miles better
Could do with shifting a few pounds.
Might put down my XCOM EW ios save for a bit because it turns out, as Ian noted, playing that concurrently with an XCOM 2 save is insanity and I'm burning out on the tactical goodness a bit.
So I am going to load up FM Touch again, my journeyman save is running too slow on the PC so the choices are Touch or Mobile.
Pick me a fallen giant to resurrect.
Man Utd.
Southend United.
Going for either Oldham Athletic, Swindon Town or AFC Wimbledon, the former two having previously been in the prem.
Wimbledon. Only sign homophobes with 20 aggression.
Oldham Athletic.
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First game, friendly just to see what this shower of shit can do:
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First game of the season, against vegan wankhouses Forest Green:
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Oldham is a great choice, there isn't a more 'meh' nothing club in the football league, at least from my southern pansy perspective.
Even Paul Scholes couldn't tame the might of Oldham
If you buy Touch on iOS, there’s fuck all you can do about the names/kits/logos/etc is there?
Apparently you can if you connect it to a pc and edit the files that way.
On iOS? I didn’t think you could access app or system files at all, even using that method. Does it need to be jailbroken or something?
Interesting though, I’ll do a bit more searching. It’s a complete non runner without proper names and all.
People reckon you download the files you want and make the correctly.named folder then drag and drop it onto the app when connected. Might try it tomorrow.
Found this for 2019.
https://www.reddit.com/r/footballman...ce_packs_into/
Oxford City - Season 2027/28
The Squad
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Transfers In
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Summary
After finishing 7th last season I thought maybe we would push on but truth be told the whole season was just one giant stretch of boredom. I've never been so firmly stuck in one position for the duration.
That's half a season firmly lodged in 10th.It's like we flatlined.
It also confirms that there will be no European football as we open our new stadium after two homeless years. Minor annoyance but at least we retained our top flight status, I guess.
Domestic Cups
FA Cup - After Craig Laycock's treble in the 3rd round against Stevenage we had hoped for another cup run and another domestic cup final but the 4-1 win clearly gave us ideas above our station as Championship side Blackburn Rovers swiftly knocked us out three weeks later in round 4. Urgh.
EFL Cup - Everton only just avoided relegation from the Premier League by time the season ended but they also knocked us out at the first hurdle with a 3-1 win at our ground. Pepe's opener wasn't enough to even get going let alone go through.
Europa League - Our debut season in Europe and straight into the group stages where we'd face Rangers, Ferencvarosi and Sevilla but it was easier than expected.
We were given a bye in the next round (?) which set up a 2nd knockout round tie against Italian giants Inter Milan. Luis Molina's late strike in the first leg at the Giuseppe Meazza gave us a 1-1 draw and an away goal but few expected the 4-0 drubbing we gave them in the return to progress. As it is, I doubt few expected the drubbing we would receive in the next round as Lyon demolished us 5-1 in France. Benoit Badiashile's stoppage time strike giving us a tiny tiny chance but despite Pepe's hattrack in the return fixture the 3-1 win wasn't enough and we bid fare well.
Meh.
The jump in sponsorship money was pleasing but with our new stadium close to completion it's time to start bringing in a few bigger names along the lines of Yan Canta as we're the worst club in the division as far as our commercial exploits go. I had the chance to bring in Mo Salah in the summer who would have added to shirt sales according to his report but age and lack of physical stats turned me off. I wish I had now.
Next Season
I need defenders of quality as we concede too many and perhaps a big name midfielder but we'll see. I need to have some sort of plan in place instead of just signing anyone who looks half decent after 1st July. We need to spend freely so we can hit Europe on a regular basis now I reckon. Maybe take some time out to scout the world for more youngsters and build an actual reserve squad.
Not one for big writeups, but heres some pictures from my Championship Season with Southport.
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Cancel the Christmas party next year, Mike.
Season trois - With the club heading into a European campaign for the first time since 2009, myself and Gilles worked tirelessly over the summer to beef up a thinning squad. Arriving on bosman deals were Pione Sisto, Eliaquim Mangala & Steven Nzonzi, tidy work. Sisto a like for like replacement for the departing Max Gradel, Mangala for Rami and Nzonzi for Cabaye. The fans are less than pleased with my experience is key approach, but I will continue to bang the drum as it both suits our style of play and has a great impact on the youth players via mentoring. Other departures were Sankhare to Dijon and Bagayoko to Red Star.
With January arrived floods of offers and we waved goodbye to another academy star, Bafode Diakite moving to Lazio for a whopping £40m. Agustin Rogel quickly followed suit in a move to Fenerbahce for £10m. With my defence now threadbare, Akanji in his wisdom decided that 12 months with the club was enough and he needed to move on. Never one to stand in a players way I agreed to sell the Swiss, but only if a significant fee was received. It never came. With a surplus of cash and our strikers struggling to find the back of the net, £11.25m was spent securing the services of Jean-Kevin Augustin from Red Bull. He would go on to score 6 goals in 20 appearances.
UEFA Champions League: Runners up in Ligue 1 we were thrown straight into the group stage alongside Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Hapoel Be'er-Sheva. I would have happily taken a third place finish prior to the first game however, we progressed to the last sixteen thanks to the bizarre antics of the Israeli side who beat both Bayern & Chelsea. We did not suffer the same fate and a home victory against the English mob resulted in a second place finish via goal difference. We would return to London for the next round this time to face Jose Mourinho's Tottenham. A predictably drab 0-0 in the South of France provided a platform for us to steal the tie via a sole away goal on foreign sole. I had beaten Jose at his own game and in the process denied him a quarter final reunion with his beloved Barca. With Mane added to the triple threat of Suarez, Messi & Griezmann, we never stood a chance. Barcelona would go on to lift the trophy.
Domestically we would finish in fourth spot with a 1.81 PPG record. The gap to PSG was closed to just eight points however, both Lille and Monaco finished the season stronger and on another day could have easily upset the odds and clinched the title. PSG are having a bit of a mare having done nothing of note in Europe and the French Cup has now gone to Lille for successive seasons. Our performance in the cup was also one to forget as we fell in the ninth round to our fierce rivals Bordeaux, on what would be our third Derby de Garonne defeat that year.
Our academy producing former names such as Moussa Sissoko, Philippe Mexes, Etienne Capoue & Issa Diop is now starting to come good. Working in tandem with the internal recruitment, I've had Grimandi and his team scouring every inch of Africa. This season alone we've imported youngsters from Tunisia, Senegal, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Ghana & Algeria. With the Europa League lying in wait I'll be hoping to give as many opportunities as possible.
I may as well do a short mid-season update for my Slough Town save. In the middle of the 3rd season (2020/21), and we're fighting for a playoff spot once again, and not too far off of a potential title and automatic promotion to the National League. Cup commitments have put us a couple of games behind, but it also means a jam-packed January.
We've stumbled a little over December, with 2 points in 3 league games, twice conceding late equalisers (one of which was a 93rd minute penalty) but we've games against Dartford and Wealdstone in the next few weeks so we need a return to league form quickly.
In the cups though, we've been great. We stormed through the early round of the FA Cup, including hammering Whitehawk 6-0, and we saw off National League opposition in Maidstone and Stockport in the 1st and 2nd round proper. I was hoping for a bumper tie in the 3rd round, but we were drawn away to Coventry, still in League One. Bit disappointing as we weren't on TV, and an attendance of under 6500 meant not the swell to the coffers I was hoping for. However, we battled hard and almost pulled off the upset.
Under the cosh for the majority of the game as I sat deep with a defensive tactic, but it was a great feeling to equalise in the first half (with our only shot) through Warren Harris, on a non-contract but a modern Slough icon. Martin Atkinson then decided he couldn't have the underdogs fighting back as he awarded an extremely dubious penalty, but we hit back when Mason was sent off for a professional foul, and Bradley Ede (also on a non-contract) thumped in the resulting free-kick.
However, up against 10 men for 15 minutes, I didn't know whether to hold on or push a little in search of the winner. Staying on positive left gaps at the back and McNulty was able to break through, round the keeper, and end the dream. There was still time for a goalmouth scramble and a last-gasp clearance in stoppage time as we charged forward in search of a 3rd equaliser, but it wasn't to be.
We've also done well in the FA Trophy, with a 2nd round tie against Barnet coming up soon. Hopefully we aren't utterly shagged as we've got about 8 games in 4 weeks coming up. Playoffs is the minimum aim.
Oxford City - 2028/29
Transfers In
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Summary
League
We wanted to finish higher than 10th for certain and claim European football again so we could fill out our new stadium and as it happened we managed to do so with relative ease. I think if we had a couple more decent options then we'd have taken 4th off Man United too as we were very much in the running throughout despite never really getting there. In fact if Man United hadn't beaten Manchester City with a game to spare in the league then it would have went to the final day but alas, we've got to be happy, I guess. Chelsea lucked out the crafty bastards. Five entrants next season for England. As far as being the most successful club in England btw way...Liverpool now have 24 titles.
Would we have managed top four if we managed to keep hold of Pepe? Who knows but for a man we brought in on a free, to get the sum we did off Tottenham was too big to turn down, or rather we refused to offer him a new deal that removed his minimum release clause but meh. We needed the cash, I guess.
I had hoped his departure would give Mohammed Hassan some game time but too much too soon for our 17 year Qatari international so it was left to Abdoulaye Dosso to fill the void. He didn't fare too well but that was owed to being on international duty for what seemed forever and a few injury issues. Twat.
EFL Cup - The fourth round was as far as venture. We had knocked out Bristol City in the 2nd round, survived an almighty scare against Championship side Crystal Palace in the 3rd having to rely on penalties after throwing away a 2-0 lead before Man United at Old Trafford put us in our place 3-2.
FA Cup - I hate Manchester. This time it would be Manchester City, again in Manchester that ended our run in the quarter finals but given the teams remaining were the big boys, I doubt we would have stood much of a chance even if we hadn't lost 2-0. Bournemouth, Middlesbrough (replay) and Derby were all eliminated but it's always a waste of time when you reach a certain stage and end up with nothing. It's not like we're reliant on the TV money any more.
Next Season
We've got to keep going and adding to what we have so we'll be raiding the top clubs for their youngsters again whilst making a couple of big purchases to push on and hopefully challenge for the Europa League itself and domestically, finish in the top 4 so we can start making headway on the bigger clubs in the division. We might have to bring in one or two oldies in the hope they rub off on some of our own youngsters. Paul Scott lost his next Paul Gascoigne label.
On the plus side, we asked for a stadium increase and we got it whilst the board have agreed to raise the bar as far as our youth facilities go, both are currently still 'average'. We've had to move to Stadium MK for the season too which is a minor gripe. I'm probably going to take a day off today as although it's been a great way to escape, I've lost way too much sleep.
Watch this space.
Sanca could be anything. Get him in the first team.
Summer at Ferencvaros. Regretfully I had to give my marauding winger Ivan the Terrible back to Shakhtar, as they wouldn't take another loan and he wouldn't join permanently. I needed an equivalent who was equally as too good for the league, and found it in the German second tier (says a lot about our league) in the form of Paderborn's Marlon Ritter. I also added Morgan Fox from Sheffield Wednesday, and a couple of Hungarian shitters to make up the numbers. We're a bit thin in some areas but that's where the local 'versatile' (i.e. shit) players come to the fore. I also have a teenage Chilean right back who I picked up for buttons who is absurdly good at this level.
In the early running in the league, FC Vidi, having lost 17 points to us over the last 12 games of 19/20 to bottle the title in the biggest collapse you have ever seen, continued their Felix Baumgartner effort by taking one point from the first six, including a 4-0 home defeat to us. Every week there would be a new set of media ranting from their pisshead Yugoslav manager Marko Nikolic, who somehow still hasn't been sacked. 18/19 champions Debrecen are doing almost as badly and despite heavy rotation due to Europe, we appear to have basically won the title already, being 10 and 12 points ahead of them.
So, Europe. We have a very low club coefficient of 7.5 which meant no seeding in the Champions League qualifying except in the first round where we got past Ventspils 6-2 despite making a slight meal of the first leg. Next up we drew Red Star, which on paper seemed a tough one but we went there and completely dominated possession, winning 2-0 with about 70% of the ball. We saw that one out 1-1 at home and that took us through to face a reasonably favourable draw against Norway's Brann, who had defied their seeding to oust Steaua Bucharest. We went up to Bergen for the first leg and absolutely throttled them 4-0 in one of our best performances, to guarantee European football through to Christmas. However, there was still another playoff round to go to try and make the CL proper and that was against Rangers, the Scottish champions, who had seen off Olympiakos in the previous round. Again we were away in the first leg, and this time we absolutely mugged them off with three set piece goals in the first half. They got one back at the end but we still took a 3-1 lead back to Budapest, and although they scored early, we pinged them on the break as they became desperate in the second half and won that 2-1.
I came back from that game to find we had been awarded over £13 million for appearing in the group stage. To put into context what that means for a Hungarian club, our previous bank balance was £2.9 million. This money should give us the platform to really get to the next level.
Being by far the lowest seeded side in the CL group draw, I was just hoping to draw at least one vaguely beatable opposition to get a few more coefficient points (our useless compatriots have not helped with the Hungarian ranking) and maybe sneak into the Europa League in 3rd. Remarkably, we managed to avoid the smorgasbord of big guns and drew a pretty favourable group of Spartak Moscow, Besiktas and Benfica. My hopes are not necessarily high, but I think it's possible we could get 3rd in that. 2nd would need some proper heroics.
It'll be worth throwing everything at those home ties in the Champions League. At least on 19, you could get £2.42m per win in the Group Stage, which is basically a years worth of funding per win for your team.
The only downside is, it does pull you away from the rest of the league fairly quickly.
Are we likely to see a Debrecen/Vidi revival?
That is a slight worry, as we want the league to stay fairly interesting and keep the coefficient rolling forward, but the big guns' transfers this summer have been awful and made them worse. I guess if we can drag the league rep up a bit it might help? Who knows.
In theory Ujpest, Honved and perhaps MTK could be able to be decent in the long run, the rest of them are just peasant teams playing on bogs.
Accidentally let my heart do a transfer rather than my head. Spent my first money in the save too, bringing in a 33 year old Andy ‘Robbo’ Robertson in for £5mil and making him my highest paid player on over double the wage of my star striker!
I was tempted to do similar with a 35 year old VVD but my head ruled. In other news, dip ship Smiff brought in a loaned player from Liverpool and completely bypassed the fact that I agreed a £60M mandatory fee instead of optional. FML.
Just offer him a shite contract so he won’t sign?
I'm sure I had to offer the contract after the loan was approved, no?
Well then. You’re fucked.
Is he at least a good prospect?
Update coming up but as it transpired, he's repaid it already.
Oxford City - Season 2029/30
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Be warned, it's an absolute mammoth of a post picture wise.
Love the addition of the golden oldies. Kane with 7 pace at 36 years of age is a bit of a stretch.
I still can't wrap my head around Canti. 200lbs and under six foot.
The mentals on Canti are obscene for a 21 year old.
Less than a week to do 10 seasons is mental as well.
Managed to get King's Lynn into the Championship today courtesy of a crazy end of season run in League One winning 7 of the last 8 and then going up via the playoffs. Stadium is half the size of the next smallest in the division and my wage budget is half the size of the next smallest in the league and a 20th the size of Reading who are top.
I hardly bought anyone in hoping that I would have enough to stay up this year and then invest to push on next year. Looks like it could be tight as after 14 games I've got 16 points.
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